Israel's Newborn Pictures

The fabulous Tabitha did Israel's newborn shots and I'm completely obsessed with how they turned out. She did such an amazing job. He was exactly two weeks old at the time. It's crazy to see how much he's grown since then.

Enjoy.

His little nose is about the cutest thing ever. See what I mean?

My four darling boys. I am one lucky momma.

Look at that darling hairline... And that shoulder.

Stretch.

Oh hello cute baby.

I was overjoyed when I saw this one.

These are the moments I like for as a mom.

Best Big Brother Ever

Watching the youngest become a big brother is one of my favorite parts about having a baby. Gouverneur might be the cutest big brother of all times. He is very interested in Israel and loves to give him hugs and kisses.

This boy melts my heart. He is so happy and sweet.

 He still loves to stand and look at the baby in his crib. He did this non-stop for the first few days that Israel was home. 

 

  It wasn't long until we found him in the crib with Israel. He was trying to give the baby his binky. Darling big brother.

I can't wait to watch these two grow up together. I get the feeling that they are going to be great friends!

3 WEEKS OLD

Our sweet little Israel is officially three weeks old today. I'm always amazed at just how fast the first few weeks go by. Too fast if you ask me. We have not done much but sit and around and kiss on this baby.

Grandma Hawkins has been such a huge help. She has kept this house running while I sit and nurse the day away. We try and make sure she gets lots of holding time in. When shes not cleaning, cooking, or holding this sweet baby, she is reading and making up fun games with the big boys. We don't know what we'd be doing without her here. 

Dad and Israel.

 Israel is a dream baby in every way. He is darling as can be and really sweet. He is a fabulous nurser and a great sleeper.

 

This is how I can be found most days.

 Loving every minute of it!

BIG DAY

Today was a big day at our house. It was the primary program and Israel's first time at church.  This was Sterling Henry's first primary program and he is a fabulous job. He sat up there and sang and even waved to us a few times. He did his part perfectly. We are so proud of him. 

Israel was a total champ at church. I always love taking a new baby to church. It's fun to be back and to be able to show off a cute baby at the same time. Here he is with his dad after church.

This picture of my boys might be the cutest picture we have. Sterling is such a darling dad and it's fun to see him surrounded by so many darling boys who love and adore him.

4 BOYS IN THE TUB

The boys take a bath at nights. I usually bathe the baby in the morning or during the day. The other night I decided to put Israel in with the big boys. They loved it. He was only in there for about one minute with Grandma standing guard during the picture to make sure he was safe. I'm not sure at what point they'll all be in the tub together again but I'm glad it happened at least once.

 These pictures make my heart melt. We sure are having a lot of fun with all these boys.

Frankenstorm/Sandy

We have experienced some seriously interesting weather since we've lived in Virginia. This last storm, named "Frankenstorm" was the most interesting. We had a good five solids days of warning to prepare for this storm and we were lucky to not have had any lasting damage because of it. My brother lives in New Jersey and they were without power for a whole week. And then there's all the devastation on Stanten Island.

After being without power for four days this summer, we prepared heavily when we heard about this storm. Sterling made lots of preparations so that we would be fine regardless of what happened. Having grandma Hawkins here and a one week old baby made things a lot more enjoyable. 

It started raining on Sunday afternoon and rained all night and then all through the day on Monday. The wind picked up late in the afternoon on Monday and our power was out by 8pm. Sterling started a huge fire for us and kept it going for the next 30 hours to keep us warm. 

Sterling had just set up the boys' new beds that day and we only had one mattress, so it worked out nicely. We put the big boys to bed in the same bed that night, and they kept each other warm and looked really cute doing it. Yes, they fell asleep holding hands.

Sterling and I slept out in the front room with Gouverneur and baby Israel to keep them warm.  I was very cozy on the couch as you can see.

The boys couldn't figure out what was going on in the morning. They were happy that the fire was still going strong.

For the next day, we sat around in our pjs. Grandma played about 30 games of Memory with the boys. And she easily read hundreds of books to them.

Sterling did take the boys on a drive later that day to check out the damage. Just down the street from us a huge tree had fallen and taken out a huge power line. 

Here it is from a different angle. 

Here are some other huge trees that are down. 

We feel really lucky that we didn't have more damage or anything really lasting. The whole two days ended up being a lot of fun. Dad was home and he got lots of projects done. The kids were entertained by grandma and dad. And I got to sit and snuggle my sweet new baby all day long.

HALLOWEEN 2012

We had a great Halloween this year. My boys are still at an age where I have some say as to what they are going to be. I really wanted them to be super heroes. I sewed up the capes one weekend when Sterling was out of town and the rest was super easy. I would have made something for Israel but I wasn't convinced that he'd even be here for Halloween. He would've made a really cute super baby.

Sterling took the two big boys to our ward Trunk or Treat. They loved it! They got lots of candy and toys and had a great time. Here they are. Batman (Dellin) thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Gouverneur got to go trick or treating with the big boys on Halloween night. He loved every second of it and got the hang of it fast. Batman once again was a character for the pictures. Sterling Henry was dead set on being Robin even though that cape is a big smaller. Gouverneur made a darling Clark Kent.

Ready to go with dad.

The boys were really only gone for 20 minutes or so and loved it. They each got more candy than they ever could've imagined. Here they are eating away.

Like I said, I totally can't believe I don't have a single picture of Israel dressed up as something. Next year I'll make it up to him.

FIRST BATH

There are few things that I enjoy more than bathing my sweet babies. The first few are a bit awkward with that ambilical cord, but totally worth it for the finished product.
Israel liked his first bath at home. He actually screamed through the whole thing but settled right down when I bundled him up after. All the pictures during the bath were pretty sad so I'm only posting this darling one of the finished clean babe.

We sure love this little cub and love having him around!

Israel David Fillmore

It's taken a bit of work to get this post up. For some reason, we've been really crazy busy around here. It might have something to do with preparing for Sandy/Frankenstorm and then our internet and power being out. Now it's on and here is the story of our little Israel.

My original due date was October 29th. I have never gone into labor with the other boys so I definitely didn't plan on it this time. I have been induced each time and had an induction set for the morning of the 29th. 

On Sunday, the 21st, we went to bed as usual. I had a crazy feeling that maybe I was going to go into labor. Not because I was having contractions, but I just sort of felt it. Sure enough, I woke up just before 3am to my water breaking. I wasn't quite sure if that is what was happening but after a call to my doctor and me waking up a bit more, we decided to head over to the hospital. My neighbor came over to sit with the boys and off we went. 

We luckily snapped this picture as we were walking out the door. I have steered clear of the camera for months so this is the real deal. 39 weeks pregnant.  Check out that belly! I think I look pretty calm for going into to labor for the first time.

We got to the hospital and checked in and sure enough, things had started. I was at a 2 which is sort of a big deal for me. Sterling and I both couldn't believe that it was really happening.

After my epidural not working with Gouverneur that was my next priority.  After I got my epidural I was able to relax. At 8am my doctor came in and hooked me up to some petocin to get the baby moving. By 11am, I was only at a 5 but I could tell my body was ready to have this baby. The contractions got pretty intense after that and I was super nauseous. At about noon, I told the nurse that I was ready to push. She went and called the doctor and after what seemed like forever, my doctor walked in casually eating an apple. I told her that this baby was ready to come and I needed to push. She ditched the apple and got ready to deliver this baby. After three very short pushes, our darling little boy popped out.

I'm always amazed at how fast things can happen. One minute, I was going to bed, and 12 hours later, my baby was born.

Israel David Fillmore

8 lbs. 12 oz.

21 1/2 inches 

Born at: 12:38pm

He screamed from the minute he was born. We've never had a baby cry so much. He is our biggest baby, outweighing Sterling Henry by two ounces.

 He settled down a bit when they wrapped him up. 

This staff was an all female team and it was a lot of fun. The anesthesiologist was a woman, my two doctors on call were women, and all the nurses of course were women. Dr. Lashgari, on the left,  was the one that delivered me.

Sterling left pretty soon after to go check up on the boys. My bff Sarah was watching the boys for us. (Thanks Sarah!)  Sterling got the boys and brought them in later that night to meet Israel.  These pictures are just darling. The boys really have been very excited to meet the "new" baby for quite sometime. Even Gouverneur seemed to like him.

Our new not so little family of six. I feel like one lucky momma to be surrounded by so many darling boys.

Sterling is such a proud, cute, daddy.

Here is the sweet little lamb right after his first bath in the hospital. He was super alert and calm for the first time that day.

 

Sterling spent the next day with the boys while I got to spend a lot of time by myself with Israel. I love the quiet one-on-one time that you get in the hospital. I'm usually quite anxious to get out of there, but this time it was very enjoyable. I just sat and snuggled this cherub all day long.

Sterling brought the boys in on Wednesday to bring me and the baby home. I was so happy to see my boys. I missed them so much! They were excited to see me and to bring the new baby home.

Sterling always dresses the new baby to take him home. This time I hadn't bought a coming home outfit so Sterling took the boys to the store and they picked one out.  He did a great job.

I am in love with these pictures of the boys watching dad change the new baby.

Israel is so lucky to have three big brothers to look up to.

Here we are in the car already to go home. We moved Gouverneur over and put the baby's seat in. I love this view of my two babies.

We always take a picture of Sterling with the new baby in front of our house. This daddy brings home the bacon and the babies.

The boys were happy to have him home as well. I still can't believe we have four boys. What a dream!

Grandma Hawkins flew in later that day to come take care of us. She will be here for a month and something tells me that we are going to need her.

All in all I would say that Israel's delivery was perfect. It was really fun to have my water break and go into labor. It was fun that it happened in the middle of the night. I love that my epidural worked perfectly. And most importantly, he arrived safely.

We spend all our time at home with grandma, snuggling our darling new baby. I'm not sure when we'll leave the house again, but that's fine with me.  We love you Israel and are so happy that you are in our family!