Hallie LaRue Peters a Birth Story, Part 2

09/22/14

Do you know that I was embarrassed to announce my pregnancy this time? I didn't even tell Steve for several days.... do you want to know why? Both Em and Ry took such a long time to conceive and Hallie did not. Em took around 18 months with a miscarriage prior, possible loss of her twin as well (not confirmed, just speculated by the doctor). Ry took around 2 years, with a miscarriage before as well.... Hallie was conceived the very month I went off birth control, and I felt guilty. Very guilty. I know what it's like to have a hard time conceiving and then have other people's pregnancies thrown in your face, and I didn't want to do that to anyone. I knew people would know we got pregnant fast because of how soon it was after Ry was born, only a month after his first birthday. So, I thought it was important to get that out, because I actually experienced that guilt for most of the pregnancy.

Now onto the rest of the birth story.....

Today is the morning of my induction, I wake up feeling the same as I have for the last 2 weeks, but more pressure and actually a little bleeding. We got both kids bathed, Em ready and off to school on the bus. We had the kids bag packed for over a month now. Also, made arrangements for the bus driver to drop Emarie off at my step-dad's place (they're only a couple blocks away from us), we were going to drop Ry off there on our way to the hospital.

Finally, after relentlessly cleaning and trying to organize things to kill the time, the hospital finally called a little after 11:30 and told me to check-in at 12:45. So we finished up all the last minute prep, and got going, dropped Ry off and headed to the hospital. Once I was all dressed down and hooked up, a nurse checked me and I was surprised that I was nearly a 4, so labor was finally beginning anyway! They still started pectocin anyway just because things had taken so long to get to that point, and the plan was to have my doctor still come and break my water when he got a moment. I was glad about that, because it doesn't seem like anything really happens until my water breaks. And he came a couple hours later, and I still hadn't dilated any more, even on the pectocin, that was about 3:30. By 4:30 I was feeling a lot more pressure and strong contractions that were mainly in my hips. The nurse checked at that time and declared I was a 7, and thought the baby would be here within a half an hour.... Figured it was time to text Lacey to let her know she needed to be there soon if she was going to get pictures. She was still in Provo, but said she could head to American Fork as soon as she dropped off her husband. Less than 20 minutes later, I knew it was time, and the nurse confirmed I was fully dilated, and went to call Dr. Haskett, which they had a hard time getting a hold of him, the hardest part was trying not to push as I felt the urges. My doctor wasn't there, and my photographer was doing everything she could to make it in time, luckily it all worked out AGAIN! Just like with Ryker's birth. Lacey walked in about 3 minutes before my doctor finally made it. I pushed 4 times max and again for only a couple minutes and she was out by 5:02 pm. I knew she was bigger than my first two because I actually had pain pushing her out (even without an epidural, I didn't feel much pain pushing Ry out and I didn't feel Em at all), it still wasn't that bad, and for the first time ever, even with a baby a lot bigger than what I'm use to, I didn't tear at all, so no stitches. I think I can chalk that up to all the Evening Primrose Oil I'd been using in hopes of inducing labor myself! So, Dr. Haskett was in the delivery room less than 5 minutes! I guess he raved about me in the office the next day and said I was his easiest delivery ever.... at least that's what his associate told me when she came to check on me the next day.

Hallie came out so fast that she was quite swollen and had some bruising and petechia, she still has small hints of this even 3 weeks later, mostly in her eyes. Most of the comments from the doctors and nurses were about her full head of long, black hair! In fact, when I stated that her head was harder to push out than my other two, Dr. Haskett said, "It must be all the hair!".... I remember the nurse who took her to wipe her down said, "Oh she has a dimple!" I was SOooo excited about that!! It is one of my favorite features about myself and I have always hoped one of my kids would inherit them.... even if she only has one, I was so happy! Dr. Haskett thought it was funny I was so excited about that and said, "I figured you'd be most excited about all the hair?".... I told him, "Eh, my babies always have hair!" Hahaha.

She came out screaming her entrance and was the first of my kids to not have the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, so Steve actually was asked for the first time ever if he wanted to cut it, which of course he declined! I'm still surprised he stays in the room for the birth of our babies, he gets really queasy and doesn't like the thought of the pain it must cause.... funny, huh?! My labors with both my girls have been extremely painful, but birthing them is not.... nothing about Ry's labor and delivery were very painful.

I got a lot of skin to skin time with Hallie and she took to breastfeeding great and right away! I couldn't decide who she looked like, but Steve thought she looked more like Emarie than Ryker, and I started to see that too. She mostly gets comments on her hair and her lips. It's debatable where those lips came from since Steve and I both have pretty full lips, but her hair definitely came from me since I had a full head of black hair when I was first born as well. Either way, we both agreed that she is beautiful, and BIG! She came out weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 10 oz beating her brother by a pound and her sister by 2 pounds! Quite long again at 20.5 inches (which is what Ry was as well, but a pound less). Her complexion was pretty dark coming out like her brother's, so I was pretty sure she'd be showing some high bilirubins like he did as well, and I was right, but I'll get to that later.

Her first visitor other than Lacey, was my mom that came just an hour two after her arrival. Other than that we didn't have any more visitors until the next day. We had a perfect first night together (Steve went home so that Em and Ry would be able to sleep in their own beds). She breastfed every 2-3 hours through the night, and snuggled with me. They gave me two vaccines that night, a flu shot on my right arm, and per a strong suggestion from them since my asthma was reported to be pretty bad during my pregnancy, a pneumonia vaccine. I had never had one of these before, and also have actually never had pneumonia, but I didn't think too much of it. I regretted getting it though!

Our next day was nice, Steve came and brought the other kids to meet their new little sister the next morning, and we had a few other visitors throughout the day (Steve's parents, grandpa Mitch ((my step-father)), my grandma and grandpa Wilde and my cousin Alexis). That night is when things started to go south. I had been feeling great postpartum (I usually do feel pretty well since I have such difficult pregnancies, I usually feel so much better when I'm not pregnant), actually I felt better than ever since I didn't have any stitches, so really just had the postpartum contractions to deal with, but even they were not very bad and didn't last nearly as long as they usually do. I actually wasn't taking any narcotics, just the ibuprofen. But that all changed when I woke at 2 am on the 24th..... I had the most searing pain in my arm where I'd got the pneumonia vaccine, I could barely move my arm, couldn't put any weight on it (to pull myself up in the bed), and honestly the pain was liken to a broken bone. I called the nurse and when she came in, I let her know that something wasn't right. So, she checked it and said, "it does look awful red, they can become irritated, I'll grab you a heat pack".... Irritated??! No, my flu shot area was irritated, this was WAY worse! And yeah, the heat pack didn't help much and I was rating my pain at 9 at this point. The nurse knew then that something was off, because she could see in my chart that I hadn't rated my pain above a 4 since having my baby. So she called the doctor and they suggested it was probably an allergic reaction and ordered benadryl. I still wasn't terribly satisfied with this, but being as I'd never had a reaction to a vaccine before, I didn't know what to expect. The benadryl knocked me out though, so I fell asleep until Hallie woke up again at 5 am, that's when I took this picture....

                                                

It started with two bright red, thumbprint sized welts and the pain was unimaginable. I knew when I saw it that it was infected. But still no one would listen to me. Every time the nurses came in, I was rating my pain and saying it was only coming from my arm. I kept saying I thought it was infected, they gave me more benadryl, even sent in someone from the pharmacy to train me in reactions and what to avoid. I told her that I knew it wasn't a reaction, she told me to keep an eye on it. By the time I was getting ready to be discharged that afternoon, the two little welts had morphed into a large red patch, but still they gave me more benadryl, then sent me home.

By that night, I spiked a high fever, tremors, was delirious and exhibiting other flu-like symptoms, so Steve took me to the ER where I was diagnosed with a serious case of cellulitis. I was given an IV and an infusion of an antibiotic, as well as started an oral antibiotic and was sent home even though the doctor said he would normally admit me under the circumstances, but with all the sickness they had and likely my immune system was compromised when it was doing all it could to fight this infection, he didn't think it would be safe for me there. So I was given the script for the orals, then given instructions on going to outpatient IV therapy.

                                 

We took Hallie's newborn pictures up in Salt Lake the next day since we already had the studio reserved. I didn't feel well all that day even after having the two different antibiotics in my system. I went to my first outpatient infusion that night and after getting home, I felt horrible, and that's when Steve noticed how much the redness had spread on my arm. It was also incredibly swollen at this point.

                                            

I was so exhausted, I ended up falling asleep, but woke up in the middle of the night with such pain in my arm and now feeling it in my side and back, so I went back to the ER at 4 am. They added another oral and another infusion. He told me that these were the strongest antibiotics I could be on, so if they didn't work, he wasn't sure what the next step would be, I became pretty scared at this point. So I went to IV therapy morning and night for up to 3 hours at a time for a total of 8 days of treatment. It took until I took my very last oral antibiotic for the pain to completely go away, but my skin is still darkened (bruise-like) where the infection was the worst, it took the longest to get out of my elbow. But I finally feel better from it all, though it was one of the hardest things medically I've gone through, and definitely wasn't fun dealing with it right after I had a baby.

                                             

                                                          My picc line I had for 8 days

All of this pretty much made Hallie completely shy away from breastfeeding, so once again I'm exclusively pumping and she is getting bottled breastmilk. So, once again my supply is ridiculously abundant and I'm making way more than she's eating. So far I haven't had any signs of infection, but that could be that I still have a lot of antibiotics in my system.... but I hope not. I've already begun donating since I'm putting more than 40 ounces in the freezer on top of what she's eating everyday. She is getting her lip tie revised next week, and I'm hoping to go back to lactation and hopefully get her back to breastfeeding again.

And yes, she had pretty high elevated bilirubin levels, actually got above the 20 mark, but thankfully our pediatrician took pity on our situation (when I was getting treatment), and she never had to go under the lights even. We just did our best to make sure she was getting enough food (and it really helped when I just gave up and let her have bottles for every feeding) and keeping her near the window and even taking her outside once and awhile. Her complexion is still quite dark though, and I know Ry's had completely corrected itself at this point, so I don't know if it is part of her coloring now.... so, we shall see.

But that's it, now for the good part.... here's her birth video (G rated again!), pictures were all by Steve and Lacey Lynn.


   

Ryker Brooks Peters

A Birth Story

One week post-partum, everything fresh in the brain still, still sleep deprived but no longer clouded by narcotics ;) Actually stopped those after day 3.... really prefer the pain over the way I feel on them. 

So here it is. And truly it was perfect in every sense of the word. Better than I could possibly ever imagine. 

With Em, my pregnancy was rough and labor was even rougher... luckily her delivery was not bad at all. Ryker's pregnancy was even more difficult with an emergency gallbladder removal at 20 weeks, and a broken rib due to excessive coughing from bronchitis at 30 weeks, which lead to pre-term labor, stopped with nifedipine taken every four hours until I hit 35 weeks when my doctor felt comfortable for me to go off of them.

Contractions started early on in both my kids' pregnancies, around 24 weeks with both. Though mostly inconsistent, and pretty sporadic. They begin to get more frequent and consistent toward the end. 

I have measured at least two weeks ahead of my original due date of December 10th from the very beginning, so I got bumped up to weekly appointments sooner than normal. My first weekly appointment, I was measuring the same as I had the week prior. My doctor was a little concerned since I was really good with growing each time, but not enough to have her considering any action yet. But she thought that by the next appointment, if I was still measuring the same, she would consider inducing me. Now this is where a lot of confusion came in from my family. This is also where I want to say that I have the most amazing doctor this time around, and I could not be happier with my instinct to go with the doctor that had ended up delivering Emarie (even though she was not my doctor for her pregnancy). I couldn't say enough to have a woman OBGYN. Not only does she really know the female body, but she's had four kids herself, so she really knows pregnancy, labor and delivery too. Now she does not believe in inducing unless there's a problem or you are past your due date..... Ok, so now that we've got that out of the way... on with when labor began....

Like I said contractions were no stranger to me and by Thanksgiving, I was having some pretty good ones, so I knew labor was coming. By that Sunday, I was having very frequent, strong contractions, I thought we might have our baby by that night. But I figured if I could sleep through the contractions, that they probably weren't enough to send me to the hospital. Besides, I had a doctor's appointment next morning, the appointment turned into an all day thing though. After checking in at 9:15, I was told that they were already behind.... really behind! Apparently she'd had a scheduled c-section, followed by an emergency c-section and then when I was lead back to a room because she would be on her way there (already undressed mind you!) I was apologetically told that she had to attend to TWO more deliveries after her c-section. Many patients were talked into rescheduling, or coming back later... but I was already undressed and curious to see where I was at. Finally after being at the doctor's office for 3 hours, Dr. Grover finally got there, and honestly I felt bad for her! She looked so frazzled and you could tell she felt really bad for making me wait. She is amazing and I can't say enough about how glad I am that she is the one that cared for me and my baby boy for 8 months! She was aware of everything with Em and did not press me to do any prenatal testing, nor did she think I should have to go through the same torture again that I did when Emarie was born. So she did check me and I was 3 centimeters which surprised me since I never dilated on my own with Em. However, I was only about 50% effaced and my uterus was still pretty posterior (really far back and hard to find.... excruciating for them to try and check too!). I was not measuring the same anymore, but only a tiny bit more, so she wanted me to go in for a non-stress test to make sure my fluid levels looked ok. She didn't think she would have to intervene unless things looked worrisome there since she was sure I would be having this baby within 48 hours on my own. Non-stress test was scheduled for later that afternoon, fluid levels were fine, but his base heart-rate was a little low at first... they kept me a little longer, and it looked better toward the end. 

That night we went to get some more painting supplies to finish up the baby's room. While we were there, I was feeling really frequent contractions, about every 9-10 minutes. Again that night I was thinking we would have a baby, but I was able to sleep through the contractions again... though this time it was much harder. I was up for good at 5 am on November 27th and couldn't go back to sleep, and at that point, I was pretty sure we were going to have our baby that day. Still, I didn't want to go to the hospital until they were 7 minutes or less apart. And they still didn't seem strong enough to me. In fact the contractions I had at 30 weeks were much stronger. Steve didn't go to work, but I thought it might still be awhile, so he put a coat of sealer on the floor boards in the baby's room, which had a really strong odor and was really making me sick. So after a bath and getting myself dressed and then Emarie ready for school (we asked grandma to take her though), we decided it was time to go to the hospital, my contractions were 7 minutes apart at this point, but I still didn't feel they were that strong, so I was expecting to get sent home to be honest.

We arrived at the hospital at 11:30 am that morning, and after getting dressed in my gown the nurse came in to get the monitors on and check me. Well, I was dilated to 4 1/2 centimeters by that point, but still only about 60% effaced and very posterior still (man it was terrible for them to check me when it wasn't in the right place!). After an hour, the nurse came in again to check and see if I'd made any progress to see if I was staying or not. Not a whole lot of progress, so she said it was likely that I was going to go home, but that she would call and talk with my doctor. At that moment a commercial came on for Dunkin Donuts and I decided that I needed a donut. Steve graciously complied and hurried downstairs to get me one. While he was gone, the nurse came in with an IV bag and a bunch of other supplies and asked, "So do you really want to go home today..... or would you rather have your baby??!" I was a little taken aback, so she explained that Dr Grover thought, given my history of Em's delivery, that my posterior uterus might not move on it's own, just like I didn't dilate on my own with Em. So she wanted to keep me there, come and break my water in a bit... possibly start pectocin if needed. So when Steve came back with donuts in hand, I excitedly told him I wouldn't be able to eat it! He was confused of course, so I asked him if he wanted our baby to come today? 

So it began.... 

After they started my IV, they were supposed to watch me and see my progression, but my Dr believed she would need to at least break my water to get my uterus to move in the right position and avoid a c-section. They asked me if I wanted an epidural or anything for pain, I declined seeing as my contractions were still not bad and I figured I would get one after she broke my water. The nurse wrote the date on the white board, and below that "Welcome Baby....." and looked at me expectantly. I had to tell her that we hadn't completely decided on his name yet, and we had decided to wait to see him for that. She was just fine with that, so finished it with a "?". My contractions progressed and got stronger and closer together, but still not too bad. Steve and I talked about what he would look like, if he would look like me, Steve or Emarie. We watched a little tv, talked about Em and how she was at school and if anyone suspected I was having my baby today. 

We had decided long ago.... even before we were pregnant about how we wanted things to go differently the next time we had a baby. I don't say this ever, But Steve and I both worried the day Emarie was born that we might not ever take her home.... we did not know if she would live with how her birth went and how they were talking. And the grief of that day was publicized for everyone that was at the hospital, which was a lot. We have no pictures from her actual birth since it happened so fast and they whisked her away for several hours afterward. It has caused me so much pain to think about that day.... so much so that I have a hard time hearing other people's birth stories, or seeing their wonderful pictures and videos. I wanted everything to go different this time. That meant that we didn't want anyone there with us until we had our time with him. Some people may still not get this, and that's ok, it's what I wanted, and that's all that mattered. And we were very blunt about this from the get go. I worried that I might need to keep people from knowing I was in labor, to make sure that my wishes were respected. But a few people ended up knowing. 

Because of the no pictures from Emarie, I wanted the complete opposite for this baby. I thought about hiring a birth photographer, even though Steve would have his camera, I wanted pictures captured of all of us, at all the key moments. So I asked my best friend if she would be willing. Lacey has taken some amazing pictures for us before , and since she knows us, I know she would be best to capture everything I wanted. She has a new little guy of her own at home, who is just over a year. So I was worried that the birth would come at inconvenient time. What's even harder is that she had just started a new job this month and was worried about it happening during work hours. But I had to have the mentality that we would still have some amazing pictures from Steve even if Lacey couldn't make it.... but luckily, everything worked out perfectly. And a lot of the pictures in the video below are ones that Lacey captured. 

Going back to the birth. I had gone until 5:30 and had dilated to about 6 centimeters and 90% effaced, but still that darn uterus was very posterior, so that is when Dr. Grover came in to break my water. I was relieved to hear that the fluid was clear, since Emarie's was anything but! Almost immediately after she broke my water, my contractions finally started to get strong! I thought maybe it was time to get an epidural..... however the first nurse I told must have forgot since half of the nurses had to respond to a "code white" in the ER parking lot.... which I was assuming was a baby being born there. But after another nurse came in, she got the anesthesiologist and I got my epidural around 6:30. Things became a little easier after that, and the next time I got checked around 7:30, I was a 7, baby's heart rate was dropping a bit at this point too, so they put me on an oxygen mask. By 8:15, I felt the urge to push and told the nurse.... she was skeptical since I was only a 7 about a half hour ago, but she checked me and with eyes wide she said, "You're right! You're ready! I'll call the doctor, she's only 5 minutes away!" I had been sending Lacey updates so that she could be ready to come at the final moment too, she as well is only about 5 minutes from the hospital, so I told Steve to text her to come. 5 minutes later, Dr. Grover walked in, and two minutes after that Lacey did. Oh, and I had had them turn off my epidural about an hour before this because I wanted to be able to feel my legs and know exactly when to push. I did not have to push Em and so I was excited and a bit nervous for this part. It took maybe 5 good pushes and less than 5 minutes and our little boy was here! 

Steve had told me right before Dr. Grover got there that he did not want to cut the umbilical cord. He is grossed out by this, haha! But he didn't get the chance with either of our kids since they both had it wrapped around their necks pretty tight at birth. Which is why baby boy's heart rate dropped here and there. 

I have never been so relieved and happy than I was the moment I heard my boy's first cry! It took what seemed like an eternity for Em to cry.... and baby boy was almost instant after the cord came off his neck. Even though there's no sound to the video clips below, you can see me say "He's crying!!". I also was so excited for all the rest of what I didn't get to experience with Em's birth- them putting him on my stomach, being able to hold him, kiss him, talk to him and love on him. I held him for a few minutes, before they took him to finish cleaning him off and weigh him and such. 7 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 inches! Great size!! All the nurses were commenting on his crazy hair and perfect little head.... which I was Sooo relieved about, since Em's head was so small, I was worried his would be bigger and therefor harder to labor. But I guess I just have small headed kiddos! After all that was done, they gave him back to me in just a diaper for some skin to skin. After I had loved on him awhile, I told them they could wrap him and give him to Steve, and he had his little hand clasped on my gown and cried when they took him away from me! My heart was so full at that point. And I want to thank Lacey for being there, but also just doing her thing, so that at times it was like she wasn't even there. The nurses had heard bits and pieces of what our birth was like with Emarie, so they let us keep our little guy a lot longer than is typical. When I got him back from daddy, I nursed him and boy was it painful, but wonderful all at the same time! This was also a first for me since Em was never able to nurse. Then I realized he needed a name. So we said both names a few times to him, and it was easy to see that he was clearly a "Ryker" :) And I love that both of my kids are named after people that were taken far too young and still are very dear to me. Of course Emarie's middle name is after my sister Breanne, and now Ryker's middle name is after my cousin Brooks. Ryker also came on a significant day, his grandmother Karen's birthday! She has a twin (Kenneth) too, so it was Ryker's great-uncle's birthday, and another great-uncle (Bob) on my other side of the family. Also one of our wonderful Chromosome 18 mom's, Dana as well! What a great day for him to come to the world! 

And I guess it was the week for babies! As I had already mentioned how many babies my Dr had delivered the day before.... and while I was on the labor & delivery floor, they were completely full! No rooms left! And by the time we made it down to mother/baby, same thing... FULL! They were even over-flowing to the pediatric wing! So Ryker may meet a lot of kids one day that share his birthday! We were told that there were 9 babies born during the day that day, and another 12 that night! And of those 12, only one was a girl! Crazy!! 

Stress reeks havoc on Steve, and the poor guy began to suffer from an allergic reaction and had to leave to go get medicine. Luckily he made it back in time to capture some pictures of our Ryker in the nursery getting his bath and such, and I was taken down there shortly after. Once the nursery brought him back to me, I held him all night. Like I said, I didn't get that with Em, so I was absolutely content to just snuggle him all night long. And Steve was completely passed out from all the Benadryl, so I got him all to myself!  

The next morning is when we began to tell people that our baby boy had arrived, but we did not share his name or pictures yet. We wanted people to know his name when they came to meet him, and for far away family, when they received an email with pictures later that night. And we said we would be accepting visitors after his sister had met him later that morning. Em was a little unimpressed with him when she came around ten with Steve's parents (video and pictures of people that came to visit will be in the next post), but I was hopeful that she would warm up... and I was right.... mostly ;) 

We had many visitors throughout that day and evening and I was so proud to show off my new son! Em also came back and hung out with us that evening so her grandparents could go out to dinner. That night I did have him go to the nursery for part of the night since it had been an emotional day and I wanted to be able to get some sleep before we went home the next day. 

Ryker had a few minor problems while we were there. He had swallowed an excess of fluid, so had to be suctioned out and they even did a chest x-ray to make sure none was in his lungs. But he was clear. But he also had problems breast feeding, which I know is very common, but frustrating! His blood sugar was a little low, so we did have to give him some formula in the hospital since my milk still hadn't come in. He did not tolerate it though and threw up I believe every ounce of the two bottles he had! After meeting with a lactation nurse, she thought it might be a good idea to have the Dr clip his tongue since she could see it was tied in pretty much the same place Em's had been.... right at the tip. So Dr Bailey our pediatrician (also one amazing doctor!) did that and his circumcision the morning of the day we went home (which was Thursday the 29th). He did not like the tongue clipping, but surprisingly was not too bothered by the circumcision, and yes I was there for both! So was Steve, but he mainly stayed in the corner ;) We left the hospital around noon that day and I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was to leave with my baby! 

Adjustments have been hard, and no one's getting much sleep this week... but my milk came in on Friday the 30th (3 days later) and Ryker is slowly, but surely becoming a champ with nursing! Though it is clear that he has reflux just like his sister since he can projectile vomit up to 3 or 4 times during a feeding! We might have to do medication by his next Dr's appointment if it looks like he needs it. 

But he is the sweetest baby! Even when he cries like a pterodactyl! Not exaggerating on that one, I will share a video of it in another post! 

We are all in love with our little "Ry Guy" and we're so glad he decided to join our family! 

Now here's his birth video.... maybe it's my emotions, but I can't make it through without crying every one of the hundred's of times I've watched it! A million thanks to Lacey for the heartfelt pictures, and Steve for his pictures and videos. Now all those birth videos that I have always been so jealous of.... I have a perfect one. And it is clean, so no need for worry about what you'll see! Now for optimum viewing, make sure it's set to 720pHD and full screen :) 

Family Pictures November 2010

So once again my bestie Lacey Olsen took some wonderful pictures of my little family! These have been the best ones by far!!

Here are a few of my favorites

 We shouldn't have waited until the end to do the stand-up pictures ;) 

 

 She sure loves her daddy!

I know that was more than a few, but it was really hard to narrow it down!

To see the rest click here

Wilde family pics '09

Sorry, I'm so late in showing these, but they were a surprise for Christmas. I'm so glad we finally got this done though, the last time we did it, I was still in High School and Connor was 5!

My cute brothers, Connor and Bryan

The kids (Minus Breanne, but I know she's there in spirit)

My mom and her kids

My cute mom and me!

I love this one of all of us!

This was my mom's favorite of everyone (I love the shadow of the tree though!)

Seriously this was Emarie's attitude the entire time, even though it was like 10 degrees!

My favorite of the 3 of us! I love my cute little family!

Yeah, see our feet, it took the rest of the day to thaw them out!

Daddy's girl! Seriously can't compete!

Not kidding you, this was her attitude the whole time!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider!

Love this expression!

Still sweethearts after 6 years!

Sorry, I know that was a lot, but Lacey just did such a good job, it was even hard just to pick these few! Anybody wants her info let me know, cause she does an amazing job for a really fair price!

Family Pics by the wonderful Lacey Lyn, who happens to be my best friend!

It has been too long since there was a Peters' family picture! The last one was over 5 years ago, and didn't include the newest four additions (Ulises, Isabel, Emarie, and Kevin)! So, Steve and I told his mom at Christmas that that was what we were giving the family, but we wanted to wait for Kevin and Amber to be married, so we've just gotten them done!

So my best friend, Lacey took them for us up at the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake. Here are a few for you to see!

               My favorite group shot!

Another group shot, featuring all 14 family members!

    The girls, minus the babies

The three youngest boys jumping off the wall

The Peters kids, L to R: Brian, Steve, Amber, Mike, Cory, Rachelle, Jeff, Kristal. That's not birth order

The boys

Lacey made us do this! J/K, I love this pic!

Emarie being blown away by a gust of wind, haha!

The newlyweds, Kevin and Amber

       Kristal, Ulises and Isabel, the next Newlyweds 3 1/2 years

   The first married children, almost 6 years now!

Love this red bridge, in the Japanese Garden!