Baby James turns ONE

Well, our baby is one! And I'm only a month late with this post! I'm not going to lie, it took me a couple minutes to ever remember how to start a new post. This poor little blog is falling behind!
But back to the boy of the hour... James! How can it possibly be that he has been in our lives for over a year now??! It blows my mind.
His party was so fun! I love having more family living around to make birthday parties more lively.

Dear Jamers,
You are ONE! Holy Moly, what a quick year that was! You came into our family at a crazy time. We had been living in the tiniest house and had just finished the addition a week before you were born. But from the moment I knew about you, you belonged. You were meant to be a part of our family and you filled a hole none of us even knew was there. You are my little baby. my "forever baby" I call you. You stayed in the newborn stage what seemed like forever. When your cousins Easton and Beth came and visited when you were all around 4 and 5 months old, they were NOT newborns. But you were. You were perfectly content to lay there and sleep. I carried you around like a newborn waaay longer than most babies would let me. But I absolutely loved it. And now at one you don't show any interest in walking, and you have no teeth (well, you do now. but when you turned one you didn't, so let's just pretend I was on top of writing this letter!) If anyone tries to guess your age they are always way off. You just seem so much younger. You will always, always be my baby. You are my first baby to make it one year (and beyond!) with breastfeeding, and I am so proud of us for that! You are such a mommies boy and it couldn't make me more proud. If you have the choice you (usually) choose me. When dad gets home from work you usually avoid his eyes and when he picks you up you immediately reach for me. But you do love your dad. No one can get you laughing like he can. You are my snuggle bug. Everyone comments how much they love when they pick you up and you instantly lay your head on their shoulder. But for such a snuggle bug you sure hate sleeping in mom and dads bed at night. Whenever you are having a rough night and I try to bring you into our bed, you toss and turn and kick and reach your arms out to feel my face. All. Night. Long. You are so so so sweet. everything about you is sweet. From the way you melt into my body when I hold you, to the way you give me kisses, to the way you just want me to hold you, to the way you cry when you hear loud noises. You're just such a tender heart. But your silly side has started making an appearance and it couldn't make me happier. You love clenching your fists and tensing until your whole body starts to shake to make everyone laugh. You love playing peek a boo, even though you haven't quit figured out how to cover your eyes and usually just put your hands on top of your head instead. Your favorite game is sitting on the couch while mom or dad crawls around and jumps up to get you. You laugh and laugh and laugh. I love how excited you can get. I've been trying to get you to stand up on your own but every time I stand you up and start counting, by the time I get to three and let go you are so excited that you lose all control and fall right down. The other day at the park you were on the playground and I was playing with you between the bars and you got so excited and lost all control and tumbled down the stairs. It was sad but I couldn't help but giggle at how cute you were. You love feeling like a big boy. When I set you in the front seat of the car, or let you swing on the big kid swing (while I hold onto you, of course) you smile from ear to ear. You watch your big sister and brother and your cousins and you want to be doing what they are doing. Soon enough, you will be running right along with them. But for now, I am soaking up every bit of my baby James that I can get. I love you so much!
Love,
Mom

Nora turns TWO!

My Nora girl,

You're two years old! I couldn't be more in love with the girl you are growing up to be. You are so full of sass. You've already got a full eye roll going on and one of your favorite words is no. All your facial expressions kill me. You've got the cutest little petite body with a big ol' belly. When you build a tower with blocks you stand up and say "uh ohhhh" and then bump your belly into it to knock it down. You've been known to use that belly to hit your big brother with, too. And can we just take a moment to talk about your bum? I know this is going to embarrass you someday but one of my favorite things is watching your nakey bum as you run for the bath. It's just so cute. People ask me all the time if I've cut you hair because your once crazy mullet has grown into the perfect natural side swept bangs with perfect little curls in back. And your voice!  When you were 18 months old I took you into the doctor so worried because you could only say two words and now you have a vocabulary of more words than I can count. I still can't tell the difference between "bink" and "drink" ("dink") or the difference between fork and work ("towk"). I love that you have never called James by his name. It's always "beeb!" When he is doing something that you don't approve of it's "BEEB! BEEEEEEEB!"  And Owen is "Oh-hen!" and boy do you love your big brother. He calls you "such a little copy cat". You could follow him around all day doing everything he is doing. When we are eating a meal I see you watching him. When he takes a drink, you take a drink. When he dances, you dance. When he falls down, you fall down. When he laughs, you laugh. You want to be just like him and I think it's so sweet. I love that you think the sole purpose of pockets is to hold candy. The moment you reach down and notice that the pants you are wearing have pockets you get so excited "pocket?! Nany!!" You love to sit on laps. I can count the seconds between when we all sit down for dinner to when you are shoving your plate and cup towards mom or dad saying "lap! Llllllap!"  And you love Curious George so much. You are constantly bringing me the tv remote begging for "OoOoAhAh! OoOoAhhhhhhAhhhh!" Oh, I'm going to miss my little one year old Nora but I think Owen is right when he says that he thinks I will like little two year old Nora, too. 

Love you to the moon!

Mom

Owen is FOUR!

It's been over a month since our big boy turned four! I'm slacking on this little blog.

We were lucky enough to spend Owens Birthday in St. George with my family. And then a couple of days after we got home we had family and friends over for cake and ice cream. He insisted on it being a "surprise" party so we took him over to my family's house until everyone got here and then brought him over so everyone could tell surprise! Ha ha. Funny kid. 

Owen,

You are FOUR! It feels like you've been a part of our lives forever, but really your life if just beginning. You've brought this family so much joy. We love your crazy ways and constant chatter. there is literally not a quiet moment at our house from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep at night. Your preschool teacher, Miss Jill, told me that you are so quiet and shy and I was shocked because at home you are anything but. She said she'd love to see you be loud, and it made me laugh because your grandma says my teachers said the same thing about me. I love that we are the same in that way.  You are the best little sunbeam.  Not a Sunday goes by that someone doesn't come up to tell me how well behaved you are. I love being the Primary Chorister so I get to see you. You are such a wild thing. I have to tell you over and over again to be gentle, don't hit Nora. Don't hit James. "But they are love hits, mom" and I know they are. You love so fiercely.  Oh, Owen, you have such a tender heart. You love all your "baby animals" and I wish I could bottle up the sound of your voice when you talk to them. The other day you were so sad because you found a rolly polly bug and you wanted to keep him so badly but you also wanted him to be able to go home to his family. You cried and it was the sweetest, saddest, cutest thing.  You can't wait to be a Grandpa someday. "I can't wait to have a baby and for my baby to have a baby so I can be a Grandpa". And boy are you smart. It always surprises me when you say things like "look at the crescent moon" or "you need to pick an item" and "We better get on I-15". You have quite the grown up vocabulary. I love when I ask you something and you say "You bet me, mommy!"  or when you say "oh gwacious!" Your little brother and sister love you. I hope you know how much Nora looks up to and wants to be just like you. She copies absolutely everything you do and say. If you run in circles, she runs in circles. And the second you fall down, she falls down. You still like me to lay by you until you fall asleep at night. you roll over and lift your shirt up for a back scratch and then after a few minutes you pull your shirt down, roll over to face me, and wrap your little arms around my neck and put your face right next to mine, and it's my favorite thing. You love the mornings when you get to eat breakfast with your dad, and I know that he loves them even more. I love you so much, Owen. You are the one who made me a mom first, and that will always be so, so special to me.

I love you and I don't love you,

(Because I love you a lot and I don't love you a little bit) 

Mom

Meet Our James

On Saturday evening, October 17th, we went to Jakers pumpkin patch with the kids. It was a rainy day and all the way there I was thinking that we should just turn around, but we got there and the rain let up and we had so much fun! I'm so glad we went because not even realizing it then that was our last night as a family of four and I'm glad we got out and did something fun and the kids had a blast! So we got home around 6 or 7 and I started getting some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I had the thought that tonight might be the night so I tried to really cherish putting the kids to bed. We all sat on Owens bed while Clark read bedtime stories. Then Clark put Nora to bed (this has become his thing since we started laying her down instead of rocking her.. Which I couldn't handle doing lol) and I laid with Owen and continued to feel contractions. After the kids were in bed Clark and I watched Friends. After one episode I finally told Clark I was having contractions. I had had three during that episode which is less than 10 minutes apart! My parents were in Japan and my sister Brenna mentioned that she might stay the night at their house after work so I texted to ask if that was the plan. I was hoping she was in case she had to come over and stay with the kids, but didn't want to say anything yet. Then the contractions started to go away. I was pretty relieved because I was not ready! I hadn't packed my hospital bag, there were still things coming in the mail for the coming home outfit, and I had loads and loads of laundry that had to be done. But I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. We went to bed at 10:00 and as soon as we laid down the contractions came back, pretty hard. Clark fell asleep instantly (as usual), I laid through about three contractions and then got up. I took a nice long hot shower. At midnight I finally woke Clark up and said that I think it was time to go to the hospital. I texted Brenna to come over and started to pack a bag. The contractions were hard but still not super painful, which made me worried I would get sent home. With the other two I started getting contractions and they got progressively more painful really quickly so this was different. We got in the car and I got another one, I had to get out and stand up through it. It was still pretty rainy as we drove to Provo and I had a few freak outs on the way there. What if it's a girl?! What will we name her?! What if it's a boy?!  Ah! I tried to breath through each contraction and think about my kids, my happy place. We got checked in, and to our room and the nurse came in. At 1:00 She checked me and said I was dialated to a 5 and 80% effaced. At my last doctors appointment I was at a 1 and 80% effaced so I was a little disappointed that I hadn't progressed too much. She would come back and check in an hour and see if I was going to stay. She asked if I was planning on an epidural and I said no. I had been thinking about it this entire pregnancy and really wanted to try to go natural. She asked if I had taken any classes or anything and I said no. I knew she thought I was crazy. I only lasted about half an hour before I was calling her back in begging for the epidural. Ha! Who was I kidding thinking I could go unmedicated. As soon as those contractions came on strong I was grabbing the bed rail and I remember I just kept saying "please, please" begging Clark and the nurses and anybody around to please do something! The nurse checked me again and said I had progressed enough that I was staying and said they would get the anesthesiologist and oh boy was I glad to see him. It was a hard epidural to get since the contractions were coming 2 minutes apart and they were SO hard to sit still through. He kept trying to get me to lay on my side and I just couldn't do it. But as soon as I got it and it started kicking in I was in H E A V E N!! Oh my goodness, it was the best feeling ever, like this warm feeling going through my body and the contractions went away and I felt so calm and relaxed. why I ever thought I didn't want an epidural is beyond me. I loved it. And this epidural was especially awesome because I could still move my legs! I literally wanted to tell that man that I loved him. After that it was smooth sailing. There was a shift change and I got another nurse. They continued to check me periodically. We tried to get some rest and I may have fell asleep for a minute.  When my cervix was gone they said they were going to let the baby start to descend through the birth canal on its own, without me pushing. They called it "rest and descend" I think. Doctor Dewey showed up and they broke my water. I pushed once and the baby's head was out! I pushed one more time and that was it! 5:30 am I heard the doctor say "it's a boy!" I was shocked! I don't know if I was secretly thinking it was a girl, or if I would have been just as surprised if the doctor said it was a girl but I couldn't believe it! A boy! Clark and I shared a look of excitement. They cut the cord and instantly laid him on my chest. I know I say this every time, but that is always by far the best experience. You look at this precious little baby who is literally straight from heaven and you can feel it. You can feel heaven all around you. He was covered in that white film because he was so early but goodness was he precious. I thought he looked just like Owen. After a minute the nurse took him to clean him up and get his height and weight. 6 pounds 15 ounces, just like Nora! And 19 inches tall. They gave him back to me and we got to do skin to skin for a while and try breast feeding. After a while we were taken down to our recovery room and then we got to go watch him get his bath. After that Clark and I laid down for a little bit before Clark left to get the kids.

I feel so grateful that I am blessed with this body that's able to get pregnant quickly, have easy (ish) pregnancies, and easy and quick deliveries. I know so many are not blessed in those ways and I know it must be hard. James has been such a blessing in our lives already. He has a sweet little spirit and makes the perfect addition to our growing little family. 

Probably the Only Pregnancy Post

Here I am almost 38 weeks and I haven't documented anything! I've let this little blog slip through my fingers the past few months, not necessarily because I've been busy, although I have been, but mostly just lazy and unmotivated. Ha ha. I'm hoping it's just one of those perks of being pregnant and will get better once this babe gets here, but I've had a hard time mustering up the energy for anything.. Cleaning, my church calling, cooking dinners... You name it I probably don't do it.  So anyway, here is one of those lame pregnancy questionnaires just for documenting sakes ;)

How far along: 37 weeks & 3 days ( although the picture is from a week ago) 

Total weight gain: too much. I can't remember my exact pre pregnancy weight but I've gained around 30 pounds. 

Maternity clothes: oh yes! When I was pregnant with Nora I refused to buy any maternity clothes and I felt uncomfortable and fat the whole time so I did it different this time around. I've been exclusively in maternity pants since at least 20 weeks. 

Stretch marks: just the ones around my hips I got with my first pregnancy. 

Sleep: sleep? I don't sleep that great. I get up a couple times to pee, and to give Nora her binky. But I do usually get a nap every day while Nora naps and Owen watches tv. 

Miss anything: just being able to walk normal and pick things up. 

Movement: not so much. This baby is super mellow. At first it made me nervous but now I'm used to it. I'll feel little movements during the day and sometimes when I'm relaxing at night I'll feel some good kicks. The doctor says the head is sitting super low so when he/she does move I can definitely feel it "down there" which isn't the most fun. 

Food cravings: not really. I do love a big glass of milk. That's all I can think of. 

Anything making you feel quesy or sick: nope. When I first found out I was pregnant we had just moved into our new house so all those "new house" smells made me super quesy. And all my scentsy scents. And most soaps. I did love the smell of coconut though. And I couldn't stand soda. But I'm over it. 

Symptoms: Heartburn, leg cramps, the muscles on the top of my stomach HURT, the doctor says it's from my belly weighing them down ha! Swollen feet, and just being uncomfortable in general.  

Are you showing: uh yeah. Ha ha I started to show super early. 

Gender: we don't know, and I'm dying to find out! 

Labor signs: Braxton hicks. At my last appointment the doctor said I was dialated to a 1-2 and 80% effaced. And like I said before, the head is super low so sometimes I feel like he/she is just going to fall out. TMI? 

Innie or outie: full blown outie. 

Wedding rings on or off: off. Which is sad because I just got a new band and I can't even wear it. And my feet are so swollen too. 

Happy or moody most of the time: moody but I think that's just normal for me. Ha ha! 

Looking forward to: seeing this baby! I want to know if it's a boy or girl and how much hair he/she has. 

This pregnancy has been stressful with taking care of two kids and trying to get our house done. I feel like I haven't been able to enjoy it as much, but we moved into the addition last week and things have started to slow down slightly so hopefully I'll really be able to relax and enjoy these last couple of weeks. 

California

I'll just dump these pictures here... :)