Names

For the sake of posterity, I thought it might be nice to record how and why we have chosen our girls' names.

Rebekah (nicknames: Bek, Bekah, Bekah Lou)


Seth and I had this name picked out before Bekah was born. Before we were married. Before Seth left on his mission. In fact, in my Comm 111 class my freshman year of college, we were assigned to write our obituary. I listed four children in my obit, including our oldest daughter, Rebekah.

Why did we choose it? Because we like it. And because we like Bible names (although only two of our daughters have Bible names ... there are fewer girl names to choose from). That's why we spell it this way instead of the more traditional spelling of "Rebecca." Rebekah was Isaac's wife.

Analee (nicknames: Ana, Ana Banana)


I've always wanted to give a daughter an An- name. My parents told me that I was, in part, named "Andrea" so I could kind of, almost be named after my mom, Annette, without having the same name. I thought it would be nice to pass that on to one of my girls.

I compiled a long list of An- names: Angelina, Analiese, Angela, etc. Seth and I had a hard time agreeing on one of them. Annalee had been on my list for a while, but it wasn't until Seth heard a song — "The Weight (Take a Load Off, Annie)" with the lyrics "Do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?" — before he was sold on the name. He liked the look of "Ana" versus "Anna," hence the spelling of her name.

Miriam (nicknames: Miri, Miri Biri, Mir-Bir-Tiddly-Ear (bestowed by Bekah))


Our other Bible name. We chose this name for two reasons: (1) Miriam was a sister to Moses and watched over him as he floated down the Nile as a baby. (2) Myriam is an incredible lady Seth knew while on his mission in south Texas. 

I met Myriam while Seth and I were engaged. She came to the Logan temple to receive her endowment, and we drove south to meet her there. We've only been able to see her a couple times since then (once when she came to I.F. for another missionary's reception, and once in Laredo, Texas, when we visited Seth's mission areas), but Myriam is such a good example and a sweet person that we thought it would be nice to share her name with our daughter. However, we decided to keep the Bible spelling again.

Gwendolen (nicknames: Winnie, Gwen, Win-Win, Winston, Winifred)

After naming three other girls, we weren't sure what we were looking for in a fourth female name. We turned to our family trees for ideas. In Seth's line, there were several Gwendolyns. Both of us liked the sound of the name, but we decided to go with the traditional Welsh spelling, which is sans "y."

I think she has the most nicknames because she has more people at home to create them. Or maybe we're just playing around with the new name in the house, and in a few years we'll have settled on just one or two nicknames. (Seth used to call Analee "Zombie Buffalo," but that one didn't stick ... thank goodness.)

Gwendolen's 2-month check

Winnie was a champ at her 2-month checkup. Here are her stats:

Weight: 9 pounds, 4 ounces (10th percentile)
Length: 22 inches (33rd percentile)
Head: 15.25 inches (70th percentile)

We found out a couple of interesting things. First of all, her birthmark is totally normal.

The doctor said it's not uncommon for red marks like this to show up a little while after the baby is born. The good news is that it's on the back of her head. And there even appears to be hairs coming from the spot, so she shouldn't have a bald spot there.

Secondly, she has a little bit of a heart murmur. The day she was born, the pediatrician at the hospital told us she had a murmur then. He said that, in most babies with that type of a murmur, it would correct itself within 24 hours. He reported to us the next morning that it was gone.

Now she has this murmur. Our pediatrician says he believes it's benign. He'll continue to listen for it at her well-baby checkups and document what he finds.

Winnie also got a round of immunizations. She was none too happy, but she settled down fairly easily afterward, and she fell asleep almost as soon as she got buckled in her car seat.

 Three sets of shots in her two scrawny legs.

And I managed to almost catch her beautiful smile on camera.

Nearly a smile. She had a full-blown one (and a full-blown diaper ... hmmm ... those two may be related) just a moment before.

She followed her smile with a few words.

You can compare her with our other little ones by clicking here.

Budding poet

The other day, Rebekah left this out on the counter for me and then ran away and hid:

"Belle's dress is yellow just like your hair. If you don't come find me, you'll be Slytherin's heir." (Spelling and punctuation corrected for your ease of reading.)

A few more Winnie pics

'Cause you just can't get enough.

Miriam thought Winnie needed a couple of her lovies while she napped in the carseat.

Analee reads Hop on Pop to her baby sister early one morning.

Perhaps we ought to retire this particular blanket.

Miri-ism #8

Last night, Miriam took my nearly cup of juice and did something unconventional with it ...

Andrea: Miri, did you spill juice on your forehead?
Miri: I have juice on my forehead?! (While spinning in circles and slapping her head:) Get it off! Get it off!

This girl is quite the little corker.

Arizona wedding

Seth's "twin cousin" (the cousin closest to his age) Diane celebrated her nuptials November 10 in Mesa, Arizona. When we first heard the date and location, we assumed we'd send a card and stay home with the baby. Then we started having second thoughts. We knew we'd love to support Diane and Michael on their special day, but how could we swing it?

Option #1: Take the whole family down there. This option was immediately dismissed because who wants to travel with a young family of six from Idaho to Arizona for a mere weekend?

Option #2: Leave the three older girls with my parents and drive down. But when I looked up the distance and saw it would take us 15 hours of driving PLUS the time it takes to stop every three hours and feed a baby, I was concerned.

Option #3: Leave the three older girls with my parents and fly down. This would cost us a little more, but we'd spend a lot less time traveling.

Option #4: I stay at home with the girls while Seth either flies or drives down. This (obviously) would cost the least, but even though Seth could have traveled with other family members, he didn't want to go without me. (Awww!)

After debating about it and making a choice only to question it and change my mind several times, we opted for #3. Thus Gwendolen experienced her first flight.

Seth holding Gwendolen on our flight from I.F. to Mesa while Grandma Susan watches.

She was perfect on the flight. She slept, nursed, and looked around. No fussing, no wailing.

We left Friday, November 9, and came home Monday, November 12. My parents/sister watched the big girls while we were gone. While is Arizona, we spent a lot of time with Seth's Uncle Keith and Aunt Carol at their lovely home, we had a big family dinner at a Mexican restaurant, we witnessed the wedding (Gwendolen didn't so much ... she was under the nursing apron during the ceremony) and danced at the reception, we attended the televised regional conference on Sunday, and we enjoyed the flora. (This was my first time in Mesa.)

Seth holding Winnie at the wedding dinner. It was a lot cooler in Arizona than we expected it to be. We huddled under the propane heaters they had in the orchard, kept Winnie bundled in her blanket, and gratefully borrowed the sweaters/sweatshirts Carol brought from their home. 

Susan, Seth and Winnie at the wedding dinner.

Keith has several citrus trees in his backyard, including this grapefruit tree. I took pictures of a few to bring home and show the girls.

The thorns on the lemon tree.

Even though the big girls had fun at the "blue house" (where Grandma and Grandpa Scott have recently moved), Ana felt a little put out that Winnie got to travel by plane before she did. We promised her that she would get the opportunity to fly in the next few months when we take our family to Washington, D.C.

Dirty kid

Remember that time before we had four girls? This story takes place then.

One Saturday (September 29, to be exact), Rebekah and Analee were in Island Park with Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis. We had kept Miriam at home because she was still on antibiotics for her double ear infection. We were hoping the baby would be making her grand entrance any day, but because she was still safely tucked in my womb and I had a beautiful new bike to try out, we decided to hook the trailer to Seth's bike and go to the greenbelt.

We started in Freeman Park, admired the falling leaves as we went around the whole loop, and took the bridge that connects the park with the main part of the greenbelt. After going along Memorial Drive, we crossed Broadway and continued north on the trail. As we neared Pancheri, we could see that the paved path was overrun by water from the sprinklers.

Not wanting our lovely ride to end, we plowed through the water until the path was dry again. Then we heard a feeble, "I dirty!"

While following Seth through the water, I had noticed the muddy water splashing from his back tire up on the back of his shirt. I had not even stopped to think about what that tire and the runoff was doing to our 2-year-old.

We rode a little farther to the pier at Snake River Landing, and then I put the wipes in my bike basket to good use.

 Poor sodden Miri.

Getting cleaned up.

Seth and I awarded ourselves the Parents of the Year award, then took another route home to avoid the muddy path altogether.

Miri-ism #8

Rebekah and Analee arguing over whether or not Ana had agreed to give Bekah the book she was reading ...

Bekah: But you pinky promised!
Miri: (In a conversation with herself) Pinky promise! Pinky Dinky Doo! Pinkie Pie!

Winnie pics

The most recent of these pictures is more than a week old (which, for a baby, is a good fraction of your life), but I dug through some camera download folders and deemed these worthy of posting.

 

 At Winnie's 1-week photo shoot, Miriam had to get in on some of the action.

While napping, Winnie managed to get one arm out of her swaddle.

After her umbilical stump finally fell off, Winnie got her first bath. It was a hit.

I had lots of helpers.

Analee posing as a monster while holding her baby sister.

Winnie and her cousin, Emma. Emma was born nine weeks before Winnie.

All Hallow's Eve

In keeping with Grover family tradition, we carved pumpkins again this year. But instead of Seth and I going to town on our own pumpkins, we decided to let the girls choose the faces for their gourds, and Seth and I would help the girls carve them. The results:

We watched The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time last week, so the girls are on a Jack Skellington kick. Hence Ana's choice of pumpkin. Bekah designed the face on her pumpkin by herself.

Our traditional family picture by the pumpkins. Aunt Cathy grew these herself and let the girls take them home.

To see our pumpkins from other years, click here. 

For costumes this year, the girls were heavily influenced by the novels I read them this summer. 

Miriam as Dobby, Gwendolen as the golden snitch, Rebekah as Harry Potter, Analee as Hermione Granger.

 A close-up of our snitch.

The big day of trick-or-treating, we started by visiting Grandpa Wirkus at his house.

Dobby eating treats while Grandpa rocks the snitch.

Then we ran home for dinner before going to Old Grandma's house.

Old Grandma holding Gwen while Analee pets Grandma's pet bird on her shoulder and Uncle Doug works on his laptop.

Trick-or-treating at the grandparents' houses is easy now that both sets live on the same road, one street over from our house.

The girls getting treats from Grandma Scott. Aunt Lenna made bead animals; the girls each got to pick one out.

The only picture (overexposed and out of focus) I managed to shoot at Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Susan's house. The girls were really quick to get in and out here, because they knew they were going door-to-door next.

Seth dropped Gwendolen and me off at our house so I could cater to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters while Seth took the girls around. Miriam reportedly threw her arms up in the air and shouted, "I love Happy Halloween!" between houses, so I guess you could say the girls had a successful holiday.

To read about past Halloweens, click here. To see more Halloween pictures, click here and scroll down.

Ana-ism #22

As Analee and I walked past other cars in the parking lot at her dance class ...

Ana: What is that smoke?
Andrea: That's exhaust from the cars.
Ana: What is exhaust?
Andrea: It's what comes out of the car after it uses the gas to make it run.
Ana: So ... are the cars exhausted?

Bekahism #48

Rebekah has been learning a lot of new vocabulary words in 2nd grade and tries to use them in her daily speech.

Bekah: Okay ... executing the baby ...
Andrea: What?!
Bekah: Executing the baby, I'm the only one in the family who has my own room.
Andrea: You mean "excluding."
Bekah: Whatever.

Miri-ism #7

Andrea, Gwendolen and Miriam were waiting in the van outside the school for Rebekah and Analee.

Andrea: Miri, can you count the buses?
Miri: One, three, six ... I can't count!

Little miracles

I should have included this in the previous post about Gwen's delivery, but somehow I forgot to mention it.

As the baby's head descended, the doctor saw that the umbilical cord was wrapped twice around her neck. She quickly cut it in two places, unwound it, and then coaxed the rest of the baby's body out. 

The doctor, the med student and the nurse were all surprised. The nurse asserted several times that she hadn't seen any signs of distress at all on the baby's monitor. Even the next day when the doctor came into my hospital room to check up on me, she again expressed surprise at the placement of the cord and the apparent lack of damage it caused. 

She said that because she hadn't broken my water until about two minutes before I started pushing, the sack was holding the baby up and alleviating any pressure the cord would have created around her neck.

I'm grateful my water didn't break on its own. I'm grateful the doctor finished her business at the office before coming into the hospital to tend to me. I'm grateful she didn't break my water until the last minute.

I'm grateful for little miracles.

Gwendolen Grover

She waited until after the Achievement Days activity. She waited until after the Primary program. She waited until after picture day at school. She waited until after the elementary school carnival. And she's here. At the perfect time. On the perfect day.

I woke up at 6 a.m. with a monster contraction. They continued pretty consistently throughout the morning, and I started writing down the times at 9:09. The confusing thing was the little contractions (or "aftershocks," as I was calling them) between the big ones. Did they all count? Or should I just count the big ones?

I tried calling my doctor's office to ask a nurse. When I couldn't get through to the front desk or the nurse's desk, I called the hospital instead. The labor and delivery nurse I spoke to said I ought to count the big ones. They were still 10 minutes apart, so I busied myself doing dishes, organizing the tupperware shelf in the cupboard, starting laundry, tidying up the baby's room (Miriam had pulled a bunch of books out of the bookshelf earlier), charging my cell phone and camera battery ... you know ... all the important things a mom needs to do while in labor.

At 10:30, I decided if I was, in fact, in the early stages of labor, we could all still visit Grandpa Wirkus. (There was no school today due to inservice.) So I got the girls in the van and drove to his house.

Rebekah found a praying mantis in his back yard. Analee ate five miniature candy bars. Miriam played with her hairless Belle doll and Terrence. My contractions got further apart, but consistently stronger.

Grandpa offered to treat us all to Arctic Circle, so we loaded back up in the van and enjoyed cheeseburgers, fries, chocolate milk and Halloween flashlights.

After dropping him back off at home, I took the girls to our house and attempted to put Miriam down for a nap. Analee and I read The Giving Tree and played Trivial Pursuit (which is interesting with a 5-year-old). By this time, my contractions were so painful I was wishing for an epidural. I've never had non-Pitocin contractions so blasted strong.

I called the doctor's office again and talked to a nurse, who said if the contractions were that strong and had been going on for so long (despite them lengthening out), I might want to go in. I called Seth and told him not to speed home. I called my mom and arranged to drop the big girls off at their soon-to-be home that was getting carpeted.

We got to the hospital around 3 p.m. I was in bed decked out in my hospital gown and hooked up to monitors by 3:30. By that time, I was a 6 or 7. The blessed anesthesiologist gave me my blessed epidural, and in a short while, I finished dilating, my doctor arrived, she broke my water, and I pushed.

Our beautiful dark-haired baby arrived at 5:41 p.m. She is 6 pounds, 5 ounces and 19 inches long. I pushed through one contraction and got a tiny first-degree laceration.

Gwendolen's happy, healthy and gorgeous. She's now sleeping in her plastic bed in our postpartum room while sporting a giant Halloween-colored bow on her head. Seth is back at home with the big girls. And I'm reveling in the post-delivery happy hormones as a mother of four.