All of our big news for the week happened over the last two days. We have been promising the kids pets for some time now, and yesterday was the day. Ben brought two new friends home. The first picture is of Sia. She is a very friendly cat who loves to constantly rub herself all over you. We just got back from church and have no idea where she is. Probably sleeping after her busy night of roaming around and meowing loudly.

This next picture is of Landis. She is still pretty nervous about being here. She stays downstairs and is posing here in the middle of the trashed playroom. I just had a baby. Give me a break.We decided to just keep the names they came with to answer that question.

Our other news is about this little guy. Tyler is growing so fast. I had to snap a picture because he looked so funny with his hands like that when he is sound asleep.

Tyler was blessed today. Yes, he does look like he is being devoured by a white tuxedo. He was really good during the blessing, which I was worried about because he woke up and totally wasn't supposed to. It is days like this that I am reminded how grateful I am for the priesthood. I love knowing that my husband is worthy to do this for my children and will continue to be there to provide this power for our family.

I'm back in action! I am happy to report that my health has greatly improved over the last couple of weeks. I still get sore and tired if I do too much, but everything else seems to have resolved. I even went to church today! It was so good to take the sacrament and be back with the Primary kids.

Tyler is doing great. He is growing so much. I can't believe he is already a month old! He is still a great baby and was kind enough to sleep through all of church today.

Zack is getting better and better at walking. He likes to chase the girls. He laughs and laughs as he follows them around. If he catches them, he will often wrap his arms around their waists and sit down because he's big enough to take them down with him. He went to nursery for the first time today and really liked it. He is developing some jealousy of Tyler and will throw tantrums occasionally if he wants me to hold him instead.

The girls are still just stilly girls. Sydney was curious about why Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove used cucumbers on her eyes. She kept asking me if she could do it, so when I was making a salad for dinner one night, I gave the girls a few slices. Ben also intentionally dressed Tansy in the most mismatched clothes he could find in her drawer. That was not my fault.

It's been great to have things get back to normal around here. Ben hasn't had to do quite so much around the house, but he is still incredibly helpful. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or kids.

Quick update on my quest for health: I landed in the ER on Saturday to check out an infection that had developed around my c-section scar. Fortunately, it wasn't serious and it is clearing up with the medicine they gave me. However, I couldn't get the doctor to even check out the abdominal pain and low-grade fever I also had so I went to the doctor today. Turns out that my ear is really red and one of my tonsils is huge. She said it looked viral and recommended pain killers, liquids, and rest (yeah, right). My lower back was also completely twisted and my hips weren't aligned at all. She gave me an adjustment and hopes that once the nerves are no longer pinched, the pain should go away. We can only hope.

Enough about me and my broken body. Let's talk about the boys. Tyler had his first bath last week since his umbilical cord finally fell off. You can see just how thrilled he is about it. He is healthy and growing well. At least one of us came out of this okay.

And the most exciting news of all. . . Zack has started walking! He has been working really hard since he took his first steps almost two weeks ago. The physical therapist was glad to see he was still making progress since we had to take a two-month break for bedrest and my recovery. He is really proud of himself. He is actually a lot better now than he was in this video, which is about a week and a half old.

The first picture is Tyler at two weeks. The second is Ben. Tyler is a bit sleepy, but I think it's easy to see who he takes after.

WARNING: This post contains a birth story. Although I have tried to refrain from providing "too much information," it is what it is, so consider yourself warned.

Now for the much-anticipated story of our latest arrival. This should have been posted last week, but I will clarify now why it has taken me a while to get back to the blogging world.

On Sunday, January 24, my mom flew in from Utah. Ben and the girls picked her up from the airport, and we were able to spend a nice afternoon and evening with her getting settled in for the week.

At 6:00 a.m. on Monday, January 25, I checked in to Western Missouri Medical Center for a scheduled induction. The nurse got me all ready and my doctor came by at about 8:15 to get things started. The pitocin started working around 9:00 a.m., and we were on our way.

I expected to have a labor much like with Zachary and welcome the baby by lunch time. However, things progressed more slowly than we anticipated and lunch came and went. Things started getting fairly painful so I got the epidural and settled back in to wait things out. Shortly before 2:00 p.m., the nurse checked me and found that I was complete and ready to push, except that my water hadn't broken. They called the doctor to come break my water and broke down the bed so I could deliver the baby. This is when things went BAD.

Once my water was broken, the doctor checked for the position of the baby's head. She told the nurse that I wasn't ready and that I couldn't be more than six centimeters dilated. Her face suddenly became very serious, and she said, "That is not a head." I was in shock. People were suddenly rushing everywhere and an ultrasound machine was brought in. The doctor quickly ran it over my belly to discover that when they had broken my water, the baby had pulled back and put his head on my left hip. The doctor was feeling his hand, which was now in the birth canal. Then she uttered that word I dreaded more than anything in this situation: c-section.

Things got even crazier. More people appeared in my room. The bed was quickly reassembled. Ben disappeared. I was on my out of my comfortable labor and delivery room to a bright and forbidding operating room. I managed to hold it together until the added medication made me numb to my armpits and they strapped my arms to the table. Finally, Ben came in dressed in scrubs. I cried through the entire process. They kept trying to get me to take deep breaths, and Ben kept reassuring me that everything was okay. All I could think about was the fact that there was now a huge hole in my belly. I couldn't even process that the sound I was hearing was my baby's cry. Although I was allowed to see the baby before he and Ben left, I didn't get to hold him. I felt completely devastated by what had happened.

Once the doctor had gotten things sewn up, it was off to recovery for two hours. I was shaking so hard I felt like I was going to fall off of the bed at times. My blood pressure was so low (80-90s over 30-40s) they wouldn't let me sit up at all. Once my blood pressure stablized, I was moved to my recovery room where Ben was waiting with the baby. I was still shaking a lot, so the nurse propped a bunch of pillows around me while I fed the baby so I wouldn't drop him.

That was my first real meeting with my son, Tyler Christopher Abshire. He was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. He was born at 2:30 p.m. Since he was sideways and they couldn't get him turned, the doctor had to make an extra incision perpendicular to the first one to just get him out. The initial attempts to get him out resulted in the bruising you can see on his chest in this picture.

Despite my desire to go home as quickly as possible after the baby was born, I was obligated to stay until Wednesday night. Shortly before I left the hospital, I started having some problems with anxiety. I assumed this was because I was nervous about caring for a new baby and three other small children right after having major abdominal surgery. The doctor approved a dose of anti-anxiety medication, and once that kicked in, I was on my way.

However, it quickly became clear that the anxiety was not a single episode. I started having horribly debilitating attacks that would leave me curled up on the couch for hours unable to even talk to people. My doctor ordered some medication for me, and I have been doing really well on it. I have even been able to back off it a bit at this point.

The night I left the hospital, I also started having stomachaches and nausea that kept me from eating for several days. After five days of nothing but toast, Coke, and the occasional chicken broth, I went to see my doctor. The next day, I spent seven hours in doctor's offices or at the hospital in Sedalia. My blood work indicated that there may be a problem with my pancreas. I had to have a CT scan, which meant I had to drink a lot of barium. Nasty stuff. The CT came back fine, and I started feeling better, so the theory on this is that my hormones caused a crazy reaction in my pancreas that calmed down when the hormones started regulating themselves.

On top of all of that, we discovered I had a UTI. Sure, why not. In the midst of all of this madness, my mom was scheduled to fly out on Saturday, January 30. On Friday night, we were still working to get the right medications to control my anxiety and eating next to nothing. She agreed to stay for four more days to help out and make sure I was really okay. I was finally able to eat just a few hours before she left on Wednesday. Not a moment too soon. She did so much to help me. Not only did she take care of the house and kids, she also took Tyler at night and only brought him to me when he needed to eat. The last night she was here, I wasn't allowed to nurse him because of the barium so she kept him all night. It did wonders to help me heal. I'm so glad I got a picture of her with Tyler before she left.

Ben returned to work on Friday. Since I'm still not allowed to drive or pick up the other kids, a neighbor took Sydney to school. Tomorrow will be the first time I have taken her since before Christmas break. I'm wondering if I will even remember how to drive after all this time.

The dizziness seems to have disappeared, but because I am still trying to recover from everything, I have had to continue to depend heavily on Ben. He is such an amazing and patient man. I'm really hoping to be back up to full speed next month.

The kids love the baby and are adjusting really well. They are naturally having trouble waiting for me to finish caring for Tyler before I can help them, but overall things are going well. It's nice to feel that our little family is complete. That is what helps me from getting too discouraged about the complications I have had. I know we needed Tyler to complete our family, and I am so glad he is here, healthy and happy.

I have finally gotten the Christmas pictures loaded! I tried to get a good picture of the kids in their festive outfits on Christmas Eve, but this is the best I got. Tansy kept insisting on putting her arm around Zack, and he would usually throw himself on the floor before I could get a shot.

Santa came to our house!

Tansy loved her new tricycle.

Zack got a baseball game that talks which he loved at first sight.

And Sydney is practicing her putt with her new Gator Golf.

But according to Sydney, the best present of all was the snow. We went to bed that night with freezing rain and not a flake in sight, but woke up to this. So nicely piled on top of the ice coating from the night before. Good thing we were staying in.

It was fun to have all of the kids old enough to open their own presents and be excited about what was inside.

Once all of the gifts had been opened, the girls just had to go outside.

Ben took them out for a snowball fight while I stayed inside with Zack. I figured the combination of the ice-coated stairs that I had already slipped on the night before, my precarious balance while eight months pregnant, and the fact that I can't zip up my coat right now pretty much ruled out playing outside.

Zack was less than thrilled with this arrangement. And, no, he isn't crying about the fuzzy, blinking tiara he is wearing. He wore it for quite a while that morning. He had been watching Dad and his sisters play in the backyard.

The fun didn't last long since the temperatures were in the single digits and the girls got really cold.

Here is my favorite Christmas gift! Ben surprised me with a KitchenAid! However, all of my pregnancy complications started the day after Christmas, so this is still sitting on my counter in pristine condition. Sigh.

I am going in tomorrow morning for an induction. We are hoping and praying that whatever has been causing my dizziness will be resolved by having this baby. My mom is flying out today so she will be here to take care of the kids. We have to be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. so it will be nice not to have to disturb anybody so early in the morning. Check back later this week for pictures and news of our newest arrival!

Yes, we are still here. We seem to have settled into our new way of life. Ben is absolutely amazing. He works all day then comes home and makes dinner, takes care of the kids, and does the housework. He has not ONCE complained about the ridiculous workload, which makes me feel bad about all of the housewife whining I have done over the years.

I also have wonderful friends helping out. I have had people drive Sydney to and from school, take me to doctor appointments (I figure that since I'm suffering from dizziness, having me operate a vehicle wouldn't be good for anybody), bring dinner, and drop off a supply of chocolate. I've been so blessed to be in such a wonderful place with caring people who allow me to take care of myself for these few weeks without completely stressing out.

But the end is in sight! I am scheduled for induction on January 25. My mom flies in the afternoon before and will stay with the kids. She'll be here for a week to help us welcome this new little guy to the family. It will be so great to have her here again, especially since we planned this visit in advance.