Happy 31st Birthday, Krystal!

Dear K-Money,

It's so great to have a day to celebrate YOU. You are wonderful in every way. You're up for anything, even when you're 9 months pregnant. You push yourself to get better and love deeper. You tirelessly take care of the kids (and me) without complaining. You're an amazing example of how to follow Jesus Christ in the way you treat and serve those around you. I'm lucky to have known you for 1/3 of your life. Thanks for everything you do all year long that goes unappreciated. Thank you for always putting everyone in our house before yourself. I love you and I'm happy to have you by my side for eternity. I look forward to our adventures in the next 31 years and beyond.

Happy Birthday!

Love,
Devin

Tessly Devin Payne

Preparing for a scheduled C-Section is like preparing for an earthquake or volcanic eruption.  Science can predict when those things will occur but that doesn't mean that they can't happen sooner than predicted (as was the case with Quincy).  Being that we were in California, and far away from family, we prayed and prayed that this one would come as scheduled so that someone would be here to take care of Adalyn and Quincy.  And our prayers were answered.  So we celebrated the night before by going out to dinner for the last time as a family of 4...

Then Baby Day was here... July 8, 2014!  After some final preparations, and some extra waiting due to a delayed time, we were finally at the hospital and prepping to meet our new little girl.  Once we got to the hospital though, there was a lot more waiting.  So Devin passed the time by taking lots of pictures and writing posts on Facebook to recount our experience.  I'm so glad I have a guy like him by my side during these things.  He will always find the positive and can make just about anything funny.  So we laughed for a couple of hours as we waited for the triplets who were ahead of us to be born.  

And then it was time... I was taken back first and (painfully) given the anesthesia to numb me.  Then, Devin was brought in and the procedure began.  What is normally an hour procedure ended up taking 2 hours, due to an excess of scar tissue, a small scrape to my bladder, and having a resident as one of the doctors(meaning it was a teaching experience).  But finally, at 5:27pm, Tessly Devin Payne was here weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring 19 in long.  She was not afraid to let the world know that she was here with her great set of lungs.  Devin and I were immediately smitten with her sweet little face,  and although she cried continuously for her first little while in the world we could instantly feel the love and joy that she was bringing to our family.  

Once Tessly was checked and cleaned, Devin went to pick up the girls to meet their new baby sister.  They fell in love with her right away... literally.  They were so excited to hold her and didn't want to go home afterwards. 

We were so lucky to have my mom fly out to take care of the girls during this time and we were glad that she had a chance to meet her new granddaughter.  

Once this little sweetie got her eyes fully open the crying stopped and she has been the most amazing baby since.  With the face of an angel the hardest thing about her is putting her down (and changing her diapers since she pees or poops the second that you open her diaper)!

The girls came back for another visit during our hospital stay...

The new Party of 5...

Best dad in the world.  This guy never shirks from his fatherly duties.  In fact, I have never changed a meconium diaper out of all 3 babies because he insists on taking care of it.  But my favorite thing about him is the unconditional love I see in his face.  He is an amazing dad to all 3 of our girls.

Bringing home baby... Due to the fact that during the c-section my bladder got scraped, we had to stay at the hospital for 4 days so that they could make sure there wouldn't be any complications.  It was so good to finally bring Tessly home, though its always a bit surreal to me.

Naturally the girls were crazy excited to have her home...

Since she has been home, it is usually a fight for who gets to hold her.  I love that the girls love her so much!  They constantly want to be holding her or near her, singing to her, keeping her calm, and giving her kisses.  And even though she will easily lay down to sleep, it has been really hard to put her down because you just want to snuggle her sweet face all day.  

She had her first sponge bath at home and didn't exactly love it...

But as soon as she got wrapped up in a towel, she was content as could be...

After a week, we had to say goodbye to this wonderful woman.  We are so grateful that she was able to be with us during this time.  The girls loved having her here and it was so great having someone to take care of them, and help me recover.  She did so much for us, and we couldn't haven't done it without her!

And less than 2 hours later, another wonderful woman came to join us and met Tessly for the first time.  We are so grateful that she was so willing to come out and help as I continue to recover and we all adjust to a new baby.  

She even brought the girls their own babies so that they can take care of their babies while I take care of mine.  We even took them all for a short walk...

Tessly is 1 week old today and its hard to believe.  She is already such a strong baby, holding up her head and making it difficult to change her diaper, and she eats and sleeps like a champ.  She is a perfect addition to our family and she couldn't be more loved.

Last Celebrations

Devin's co-workers are so awesome and they threw us a wonderful baby shower.  They were so sweet to think of celebrating with us.   They even had a Big Sister cake for Adalyn and Quincy.  The girls were so excited to be a part of this celebration.   

They even decorated with this cute onesie banner...

The awesome group...

His team all put in to get us an Ergo carrier and gift cards to Babies R Us.  We were so amazed with all that they did for us.  We are so grateful to be surrounded by such good people.  

For the 4th of July we celebrated with our friends, The Derham Family.  We started with a BBQ and the kids had so much fun playing together.

Then we headed out to catch a firework show.  I am glad that we were able to get a quick picture of our family because this will be our last holiday as a family of 4.  It's weird to think that in a few short days we will be a family of 5!

Little Ruby could not get enough of Devin.  All night she was looking for him and wanted to be right next to him.  It was really cute!

We had a great night and I am so glad we were able to get out and celebrate.  The girls loved playing with their friends and snuggling up to watch fireworks with them.  So much fun!

June is Gone

During the last couple weeks of June we did our best to stay busy (mostly to keep my mind off of my extremely uncomfortable state).  It definitely made the time go quickly and here we are in July and just a week away from baby day!  

My sweet friend, Adriana, (who is also pregnant with her 3rd girl) put together a Bow-Making Baby Shower for me.  Knowing that we got rid of all of our baby stuff when we moved it was really sweet of her to do this for us.  And it was such a fun night making bows and celebrating new babies!

(Left to Right: Brittany, Laura, Adriana, Christina, Me, Chrissy, Olivia, Kate)

We enrolled the girls in a 2 week swim program and I am so impressed with how much they learned in such a short time.  Adalyn is completely capable of being in the water now without floaties, and while Quincy still has a way to go, she is doing things that she couldn't do before.   We are taking a break from extracurricular activities until after I recover from having a baby, but the girls can't wait to start another session of swim lessons. 

We tried doing as many activities as possible and seeing the movie How To Train Your Dragon 2 was on the girls' must do list.  We also spent many days at parks and the pool, prepping for baby, and having play dates.  

This girl, though usually quite cuddly, has been extra cuddly the past little while.  I'm pretty sure she knows that things are about to change and she is needing some extra snuggles to compensate.  My favorite is when she wraps her little arm around your neck and just holds on to you.  

These two have loved feeling the baby kick and hiccup and will often hug and kiss my belly and talk to the baby.  They are so excited to have the baby here and are counting down almost as much as I am.  They are going to be the best big sisters!

We have welcomed July with open arms and know that a great deal of change is headed our way in just a short time.  We look forward to having a new addition join our family and can only anticipate all that that will bring.