Jane Elizabeth Close is here!!!

As of today, our sweet Jane is 2 weeks old! She was born on May 2nd at 10:12 am, weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long! Here is her full birth story below. All 4 of her older sisters absolutely love her and can't get enough snuggles. We love her and Dad and I cant believe that we have FIVE children!! We are so very blessed.

Baby Jane Birth Story:

We checked into the hospital at 6:15 am. First one on the schedule. Had a room with a view of the temple and it was a great reminder that families are forever. This is a sacred time for our family and having a little one so close to heaven brings the spirit so strong. 

Did the IV and started pitocin at about 7:30 am. Boose came straight from her night shift to be there. Doctor came in and broke my water about 8:30. Epidural right after that. Only worked on my left side. Right was still feeling everything but finally got it working. I was measuring a 5 at 9:30 and Cade called his mom to come over just in case. Measured me at almost 10:00 and I was complete and ready to push. Pushed through three contractions and baby came at 10:12. Doctor announced “its a girl!” She was 7 lbs 10 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Has some dark hair (but blonde eye brows and lashes). In my opinion looks like Lucy when she was a newborn. It was fun not knowing the gender this time around and waiting for that announcement from the doctor. It’s funny, Cade and I were thinking it was a boy for most of the pregnancy but as soon as she was born it just felt right. She was always meant to be in our family. 

We named her Jane Elizabeth Close. Elizabeth was James Godson Bleak’s wife’s name. I walked in her place when I did trek and felt that bond to her. A very strong woman with a great legacy she left behind. 

We love our little baby Jane. The girls came to visit around 3 pm and they were all SO excited. Reese (our baby lover) did not stop smiling from the moment she came in the room. They will all be such great big sisters. 

Went home after just over 24 hours. Wanted to be at home with the family and wanted to sleep in my own bed. Passed the jaundice testing just fine so we got the okay to go home. Life with little Jane is exciting!

The girls come to visit:

Baby Jane comes home:

Easter Fun

Our annual tradition of watching the Sunrise together. It’s a favorite tradition of ours and hopefully he girls will remember how much we love our Savior and believe He is the light and life of the world.

We also enjoy having a big breakfast together and finding Easter baskets. This year was a treat because we had Daddy with us ALL day which is rare with his calling in the bishopric. We loved the extra time with him.

This year we were invited to a neighborhood  Easter party for the neighborhood just to the East of us. Cade is in the bishopric so they wants to invite us. I was very happy because that meant I did not have to do an Easter egg hunt for my girls this year (especially with baby being due so close). It was at Bro. and Sis. Beal’s house. We had an egg hunt and breakfast and was a great time with ward members. Funny thing...just the night before, Emma & Reese had counted their stuffed animals and Emma counted 24 and Reese 25. We talked about how maybe they had enough and could donate some to others. Then at the Easter egg hunt each of the girls got a stuffed animal to choose from and of course Reese and Nora picked giant bunnies :). It was awesome.

Spring Break Fun!

This last week was an absolute blessing. I was able to spend some quality time with my girls before baby comes to our family. We just stayed around home but had an amazing week playing with each other. On Monday, we went to Provo to meet up with Steph and Kristen and their kiddos at a park and have a picnic. Emma has a blast climbing down this pole with her boy cousins for literally a hour and half. Reese and Nora played a lot and Lucy and Sophie were inseparable. After the park we killed time waiting for Aunt Boose to wake up by going to Barnes and Noble and then getting ice cream. When I said, "should we go get some ice cream?" and the girls screamed "yes", Reese said, "BEST DAY EVER!!!" After saying hi to Boose at her apartment, we hurried home to make dinner for a family in our ward who was joining us for dinner.

Tuesday we spent a lot of the morning at Kangaroo Zoo here in PG which has a new giant play area. Our next door neighbors, the Kotter’s, joined us. Then we went home for lunch and nap time (I napped, while the girls watched a movie :)) and then we went back to KZoo before meeting Daddy at Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner.

Wednesday was a great day. We went to Bountiful and spent lots of time with Gma and Gpa Bleak. I grew up going to my Dads work cafeteria for lunch while on school breaks and I love going there still. The girls got ice cream so they were excited. Then we went to Gma’s music classroom and got to play all of her instruments and play some games like "Ghost in the graveyard" and the parachute. They loved it and Emma wants to go back already.

Thursday morning we spent time doing lots of cleaning since we had played so much. For lunch we had a tea party (which Steph reminded me about that spring break tradition). Then we just ran some errands and then went swimming with Dad when he got home from work. The girls LOVE swimming but it’s hard for me to ever go by myself.

Friday we met up with Jennie and her kiddos and went to a Dirt Cycle Park. The girls had never done anything like that so it was fun to try something new! I made the mistake not scoping the place out first and just sending them down a path that was definitely hard if you’ve never ridden on anything except asphalt. Oops :). Once Emma and Reese and Nora tried this tiny loop that was really easy, they were brave enough to go down other areas. This activity ended up being one of their favorite activities of the week! We then played at a park in Draper and then went home. We ended with a family movie night- “A Goofy Movie”. Saturday and Sunday were General Conference and we spent more time in Bountiful with Grandma and Grandpa and lots of cousins. Emma and Reese especially loved playing catch with a football with all their boy cousins and uncles.

I was so grateful for the time I could give to my girls. Emma mentioned she didn’t want to play with friends this week. She just wanted to spend time at home and with family. Which is huge for her cause she’s always been such a social bug. But I am glad she wanted to be home with us.

This was the week before Spring Break, but Boose talked us into going up the canyon to hang out and I'm SO glad she did. Man, I love being in nature and God's creations. Even if its not super green yet, it was amazing being in the outdoors. Also, I forgot a fork for my salad so I had to improvise with straws...which wasn't very easy! :)

Painting Date Night

Cade has a great idea to take our girls to Painters Palate. They teach you how to paint a certain painting and you take that canvas home with you.  Our cute Emma and Reese LOVE to be artistic and paint, draw, color, and create. We had a great time with them. If course Reese’s favorite part was the ice cream afterwards :). We love our girls!

St Patrick’s Day

Well this was our first year doing more than wearing green. The girls were so excited to have our cousins over and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (Even though I have no idea why we celebrate :)). It was simple. We invited Kristen and Andrews family over and had a fun green dinner with green chicken Alfredo, green homemade bread, green salad and veggies, green smoothie and rainbow fruit kobobs. Emma also did a treasure hunt for the kiddos where they got to find a pot of chocolate gold at the end of the hunt. It’s fun having older kids that get into things like this.

Disney on Ice

This was my first tile going to Disney on Ice and the last time Cade took Emma and reese they were only around 5 & 3 years old so they didn’t remember it at all. It was so much fun! I wish it were t so expensive or we would make it a yearly tradition. Most of the show was princesses and so it was perfect for my little princess loving girls. Our favorite parts were probable Rapunzel and Ugene flying on some silks high up in the air. That was not expected but an amazing part. The show did not disappoint!

Wrestling with Daddy

I just have to make a quick post about one of my absolute favorite things about our family. Every time Daddy gets home from work or right after we are done eating dinner the girls ask, "Dad, can we wrestle??" They LOVE to get on Dad's back and go for rides or have him throw them off. Of course someone usually gets hurt each time but it doesn't stop them from wanting to do it again. Cade is a trooper and pretty sure that is how he gets holes burned in his jeans so easily. They love their Daddy and it makes me so happy to see them all having fun together. Family is where happiness is at!