Two Months

Oh this sweet girl.

She is squishy and cute. Her cheeks kill me, and so does her fuzzy hair.  She also has the longest tongue and loves to stick it out.

She is a smiley girl, especially when someone sits and talks to her.  She always wants to be held upright.  She is getting better head control and loves to push up on her legs.

She is my first to not like sleeping in the swaddle.  She does great sleeping on her stomach and only wakes up once a night most nights.  She may be my best sleeper yet.

She is definitely growing but still is my petite lady (at least compared to my boys.). It is fun to dress her up and put bows on her.

She loves bath time and showers. She loves being outside.  She loves being snuggled with a blanket and her binky.  She does not like being cold, and she really doesn't like her car seat.

We love having little Everest in our family.  Ephraim thinks she is the cutest thing ever and loves to talk to her.  Asher kisses her all the time and so do I.  I can't resist those cheeks.

We love you little Everest.

Everest's Blessing

Little Everest was blessed in church today.

As usual, we had so much support from our family and friends.

Also, Stephen's Mom came to visit and show her love the week before the blessing.

Stephen, his dad, my dad, Jonathan,  Zak, CJ, Ben, and Mark Cook were in the circle.  In her blessing she was given a name: Everest Rose Beckman.  She was counseled to look up to Ephraim, Asher,and especially her elder brother Jesus as an example.  She was told to seek exalted things especially eternal marriage and temple blessings.  She was also counseled to look to her mother as an example and serve a mission if her heart desires it.  She was blessed with the things Heavenly Father wants for her.

Here is the story of how we chose Everest's name:

As usual, we struggled settling on a name we both liked.  Right from the beginning I suggested Rose.  Stephen didn't love that one, but Ephraim did.  Ephraim really wanted to name the baby Rose and then Zelda Rose.  Stephen liked Zelda, and Samus best and I liked Paula and Naomi best.  We also discussed Evelyn, Ada, Dorothy, and Jean.  Neither of us were really sold on each other's favorites.

Once she was born I really pushed for Paula and Naomi.  I loved that she was such a tiny little thing and that Paula meant small or little.  A day passed and one of the only things holding us back from going home was selecting a name.  I really thought she would end up being Naomi Rose, but I came back from leaving the room for a minute and Stephen said, "What do you think about Everest?"  I kind of felt it was out of left field, and it took me a minute to wrap my head around it.  It kind of was inspired by Evelyn, but Stephen liked the symbolism of Mount Everest and how she would be able to do hard things if she set her mind to it.

As I thought about the inspiration behind it, it grew on me.  We kept Rose as the middle name because Ephraim loved it so much and it is Stephen's Grandma's name.

Our little Everest Rose.  She can do hard things and is so loved by her brothers, and that is what her name means to us. 

Five Years Old

I am seriously so in love with this little boy.  I am still trying to wrap my head around how my toddler turned into such a big kid!

He is one of the friendliest people I know.  He will talk to and play with anyone who he can recruit.  He loves to say hi to everyone we see.  In preschool he was given the "Mr. Goodbar" award for being such a good friend to everyone.

He has endless energy.  He loves to wrestle and run and play games.  His favorite games involve pretending to be Pokémon.  Everywhere we go he starts up a game of Pokémon or Zelda or Pokémon Zelda with anyone who will give him a chance.

He is a sweet brother.  Asher is a typical two-year-old who is sometimes hard to share and play with, but he always looks out for him and they love to chase each other.  Every night they cuddle together and sleep in the same bed.  He always checks in on his little sister and thinks she is the cutest thing.  He loves to show them off and tell everyone about his baby brother and baby sister.

He is super independent.  He likes to do everything himself, and sometimes he thinks he knows better than I do and tries to argue with me.

His favorite thing by far is Pokémon.  Anything Pokémon. He also likes Zelda and Minecraft and anything he can play with his daddy.  His favorite games involve sword fights and pretend Pokémon battles.

He is still a pretty picky eater.  Dinner is a battle pretty much everyday.  All he really wants to eat is waffles and pizza pockets.  And treats of course.

This next year will be a big one.  He is starting Kindergarten.   I am feeling sad that I won't have my main little buddy with me all the time anymore but he will do great.  I hope he brings his enthusiasm for life with him wherever he goes.

I love you Ephraim.  Thanks for being my boy.

1 Month Old

One month with this sweet baby.  It's crazy how time flies once they are out of your body!

She is still a tiny little thing, but she is packing some chub onto that petite frame.  At 3 weeks she was already over 8 lbs and I am sure she has gained more than 2 pounds since birth.

She still sleeps a lot, which is great with all the running around that we do.  She eats a lot, especially at night after the boys go to bed.  She gets a little fussy at this time.  It's like she knows that they are going to bed and it's finally her time to demand attention.

She is a noisy baby.  She is always grumbling, grunting, and squeaking.  I think she is going to be a vocal one.

Everest loves bath time.  No matter how fussy she is, once she gets in that warm water she is totally relaxed!  She does not like getting out into the cold air.  She also does not like diaper changes or getting dressed.

Everest has started to give me little smiles occasionally when she is content.  She loves to be snuggled and talked to.

Everest does not like to be put down...ever.  Haha, if she is sleepy she will sleep contently wherever you put her, but if she is not sleepy, then she is not happy unless she is being cuddled.

Her brothers love her, and she loves when they talk to her and give her kisses. She is a little less sure about being held by them, and sometimes Asher's attention is a little boisterous, but we are working at that.  They are so in love with her, and I have a feeling that she is going to feel the same way as she gets bigger.

We love you Everest!

One Week Old

Everest is such a cuddly, sleepy newborn. She eats and sleeps and poops (A LOT!).  Basically, she is doing a great job at being a newborn.

Everest had a little bout with jaundice, but after one day and two nights on the lights was all clear.  Greatly assisted by her love of eating,  she gained 5 oz in one day during this time, and if I had to guess, I would say she is already past her birth weight at one week.

She likes her binky, being cuddled, and laying on her tummy.  She does not like diaper changes or clothing changes.

She is a little fussier at night, but generally sleeps pretty well swaddled in her bassinet.  She is a trooper and has already had quite an adventurous life, with a trip to the park, the pool, a petting zoo and a couple other places.

She is definitely a cutie, and we are pretty excited to have her in our family.

Ephraim and Asher meet Everest

Since we were discharged by lunch on Sunday we decided to sneak over to Ephraim's recital dress rehearsal and surprise him, and let him meet little Everest.  He was so excited and loved how small she was.  He kept grabbing his friends and bring them over to see her, and telling everyone about how cute she was.

Once we got home, Asher was sleeping but when he woke up he came out to meet baby sister.  He was smitten and showered her with kisses, and soft touches.

Once Ephraim got home he wanted to hold baby sister.  We sat him down and let him hold baby sister.  Asher was in the kitchen, but once he realized what was going on he came running over to the couch and said, "MA baby sis-er."  They both love to hold her.  Asher is very much in love, and is working on holding back his enthusiasm and not literally smother her with his loving attention and curiosity.

Little Everest is going to be so spoiled by her loving older brothers.  She is a lucky girl.

Everest's Birth Story

Friday, May 19th started off like any normal day.  We went to the park with friends.  Stephen was working late that night so we went out to Chick-Fil-A and to run errands at Walmart in the evening.  

I was feeling pretty huge and waddling around,  but not any different than I had in prior weeks.  I got the boys ready for bed and into bed.

It wasn't until I went to the bathroom and realized I had lost my mucous plug that I began to wonder if this little sister would make her debut long before her June due date.

I still didn't really think that I would go into labor right away.  I settled down to chill and watch family feud as Stephen got home from work at around 8:30 pm.  I was having a few Braxton hicks contractions, but they were super close together, super short, and not painful.  

I mentioned it to Stephen, and how I felt like she would be coming this week, but I hoped she would wait a few more days because this weekend was not a good one.  Nathan was graduating so it would be hard for my family to come as planned.  I needed to do laundry and get the house in order.  Sunday was Ephraim's big dress rehearsal for his dance recital.  

I decided to get into bed, but my tummy was grumbling and I started feeling nauseous so I was feeling pretty restless and having trouble sleeping. It was kind of rainy with some thunderstorms rolling through.

At around 2:00 in the morning I felt a distinct pop.  I lay there wondering what it was, but didn't get up right away.  At around 2:15 I decided to get up to go to the bathroom.  Once I stood up I realized my water had broken.

Contractions started to come on gradually as I woke up Stephen and we started going down the list of people to call to watch the boys while we were at the hospital.  I took a quick shower and hastily packed up a bag, while Nathan Harman came and saved the day by staying the night so the boys could sleep in their own beds.

The drive to the hospital was peaceful.  The normally gridlocked roads around here are pretty empty at 3 in the morning.  The rain had stopped but there was a beautiful lightening show off in the distance.  It was kind of cool.

We arrived at the hospital and got checked in.  Everything got situated and they checked how far along I was.  I was just about a four,  so I made a mental goal to make it to a five and then see how I felt before getting an epidural.  Stephen laid down to rest and I tried hard to rest in between contractions,  but between the hip pain, uncomfortable hospital bed, and increasingly uncomfortable contractions, that was not happening.  I started counting down the minutes until the nurse would come check me again.  When she came to check I was almost a 5.  It was shift change so I waited for the next nurse to come and told her I wanted an epidural, because I figured I was in for the long haul.  After all,  Ephraim's labor had been 36 hours and Asher's 12, and I didn't seem to be progressing quickly.  

Right as the anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural my contractions started to get really intense.  I was so ready for that epidural.  As it started to take effect the familiar feeling of complete relaxation came like it did with Asher's labor.  I was more comfortable than I had been in months.

That's when things progressed really quickly.  I think it was around 8 when I got my epidural,  and by 9 they checked me and I was just about ready to push.

I relaxed while we waited for the doctor to arrive.  They got me all prepped and I started pushing and then there she was!  Three pushes and one contraction!  I really couldn't believe how easy it was.

She was petite and had soooo much hair!  We did skin to skin,  and took guesses as to how big she was.  I figured she might be 7.5 pounds and most of the nurses were in the same range.  She nursed a bit and snuggled a lot.  She was healthy and alert.

Then they came to weigh her and check her out.  Nothing prepared me for how small she really was!  She was 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long.  My tiny little girl.  

We moved to recovery and she continued to be a great eater and sleeper.  She did not like to be disturbed if she was cozy and REALLY didn't like her bath.  My recovery was so easy!  I really recommend having six pound babies.

So many people came to the rescue for the boys.  The Harman's watched them all morning and Theresa took them to Claire's birthday party.  Then Kelsi DaSilva came and spent the whole afternoon with them.  Once the evening came Morgan Matheson came and stayed the night.  Not to mention that my family left immediately following Nathan's graduation to drive over night and be there Sunday morning. 

Stephen ran home to say hi to the boys and help get them in bed.  We facetimed and they got to say hi to baby sister (who was still VERY nameless.) Ephraim was so excited to see her that he didn't even say hi to me and immediately asked, "Where is baby sister?" and Asher was very interested in her as well.

Saturday night was a little rough, only because I couldn't sleep a wink on that stupid hospital bed. Sunday morning came and my family arrived to visit before they headed over to our house to get the boys.  We finally decided on a name and we pestered the hospital about getting out of there as soon as possible.  They were super helpful and responsive and they had us out of there by lunchtime!  

This whole birth experience was so smooth, made possible by wonderful nurses, supportive and selfless friends & family, and a tiny little girl who wanted to make her entrance into the world early and quickly.

Everest Rose Beckman

Born on May 20, 2017 at 9:37 am

6 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long