Welcome Geek Baby #2!

August 26th 2011 @ 1:16pm Weston Cade was born!  He weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 19.5 inches long.  I was induced, but still was able to labor and deliver naturally.
We are really enjoying him and adjusting to our new life.  I hope to write the story down soon.  But for now pictures will have to do.

A few hours old

 Getting his hearing test (he looks like he's jammin')

 5 days old

Driving, Vacations and More

We survived our long vehicular summer vacation, super prego, sprained foot, toddler and all.

What summer vacation, you say?
Well, Matt's family had a reunion in Utah.  So the question is... what is the quickest way to get from Texas to Utah?  Flying of course!  Well, it sure wasn't the cheapest.  So we looked at other options.  If we went to Colorado and stayed with my brothers instead of driving straight there, we'd add only 100 miles to our trek.  So thus began our fabulous vacation.

We started out bright and early on a Saturday morning.  We were thrilled to just be out on a vacation, it didn't matter where.  About two hours into the drive, we got stopped on the road.  The man that stopped our car said, we have to stop traffic because they have to land a helicopter on the highway.  (how cool is that?!)  Then he continued for accident victims.  (ok, that's a bummer)  So, while waiting, I figured, let's eat something.  I pull out a mango we hadn't managed to eat before leaving.  I brought paper towels, a knife and a bowl, surely I was prepared.  HA!  That sucker was so juicy that it got everywhere.  And did you know that mango is super slippery?!  Yeah, went right down into that place by your seatbelt and the console... that teeny whole that you hate wedging your hand into on occasion when you drop some item that CANNOT be left behind?  yeah, that one.  Well, I might have let it go, except for the GIANT wasp that flew into the car through our open windows!  AHHH!
So, I'm trying to get the food cleaned up, with my totally mango juice covered hands... in the mean time, Matt's trying to wave the wasp out of the car, with his mango covered hands.  Oh and let's try and keep the wasp out of the back seat, because I do NOT need a wasp stung toddler on my hands while we drive for 14 more hours!
Thanks to a cheezit box and quick automatic windows... we managed to get the wasp out of the car.  But then it was chasing Matt around wanting the cheezits!  So he jumps in the car, and we sit there breathing trying to pretend we did not just run around like crazy trying to get a wasp out of our car.

After that we were grateful to get going on the road and had a wonderful drive to Colorado.  Reid made it 12 hours before we put a movie on!  I couldn't have been more proud.  (don't worry, he didn't make it more than one hour by the last trek of the drive)

In Colorado and had a blast with two of my older brothers' families.  We had an ice cream tasting contest (which me and my 9 year old niece won on a team effort!), we played hours of games while it rained and poured, we thoroughly enjoyed the cool nights, we toured geeky things like NIST and NOAA, played an hour or two of tag (which was pretty hilarious), and got spoiled as my dear sisters-in-law fed us and let us relax for a few days!

After that, we headed to Utah for the family reunion.  To give us a little time to rest up, we stayed at my aunt's house for one night.  They have a gorgeous home and are so gracious to share it with us.  They fed us and even watched our son so we could attend the Salt Lake Temple.  (something we both have wanted to do for years!) 

Then with a little grocery shopping, it was time to head to the family reunion.  Matt's aunt found this beautiful huge cabin in the mountains east of Salt Lake.  It was so nice!  Tons of rooms, big open social areas.  Not to mention sand volleyball court, tether ball, hammock, two playgrounds, fishing, fire pit, lovely front porch and lawn, Oh and the gorgeous Utah air!  The only bummer, which isn't completely bad cuz it was beautiful, was the creek that was a raging river due to all the snow melt.  We got to share our room with Matt's sister, and I hope she slept ok with a toddler in the same room!  (she was polite if she didn't)  The funny thing is that it was on the 3rd floor, so all the heat of the day was in there by the end of the day, and I was sweltering by the time I would put Reid to bed.  So I did my best to open up the windows to cool it off... and man, that's so fun to just open the windows and enjoy the beautiful cool night air, and even be quite chilly in the mornings!
A family favorite at these reunions is playing Rook.  It is hard to play Rook with just me and Matt, so we did our best to get all of the playing in that we could.  Matt's cousins and aunts and uncles are quite skillful at this game... so it is a fun challenge.

Then after a few days there, we headed back to Arizona for a quick stop in.  The best part of the travel was carpooling with Matt's parents and sister, so we got to have some great chats while driving out on the open road.  Reid was struggling by this time, but other than his break down when I didn't realize how late it was and how hungry he probably was... he was a pretty good sport.

In Arizona, we visited with a few friends (the dentist included for me) and family.  I enjoyed getting my Eegee's and Frost cravings satisfied, and visiting with great people!  Reid really enjoyed some one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa A at the house he mostly remembers as home. 

We only stayed for one day, just to break up two super long days of driving.  Then we headed back to Texas.  This drive was painful and hard, and altogether worthy of forgetting.  We got stopped twice in the last couple hours because we had a headlight out.... which we knew about, but what can you do?
(When we got home I am proud to say that my husband manned up and saved us $100+ by changing the headlight himself!)

A great family vacation with lots of family visited and enjoyable times had!


Super prego, yeah how's that going?
Yes, I figure we drove about 52+ hours on this vacation.  I was 30 weeks when we left, 31 weeks when we got home.  Just got this trip done in the knick of time!
I am now 33 weeks and I'm not allowed to leave town once I'm 34 weeks.  I'm starting to get ready for this baby.  Car seat covers are being washed, birth plans have been updated, hospital bags are being packed, and labor/birth education courses are being reviewed.
This baby is measuring 70%+, and so am I.  I guess that belly measurement they do shows me as big.  It makes sense to me, because I was over 8lbs at birth, and Reid didn't even make it to 7lbs until he was a week old.  So this baby may be getting the taller genes in the family... we'll see!


Sprained foot!  What the ...?
So 2.5 days before it was time to be driving out of the driveway, I was rushing down the stairs and rolled my ankle.  Yeah, that's to be expected.  I don't have the greatest ankles, and I'm all loosy-goosy from being prego.  Well, the sprained ankle I can deal with.... it was the other foot that I landed on that was killing me!
After a rough night involving me at the church with 8-12 year olds, nail polish, Matt home with Reid and a power outage, and LOTS of pain... we sent Reid off to an air conditioned house and headed to the ER.
Can I just tell you how frustrating it is to feel like you have broken a bone?  In the same general of your body as the ONLY other broken bone you have had?  And getting this injury on the same apparatus as before?  Yeah, its frustrating.   And no one in the ER wants to give a 29.5 week pregnant woman painkillers without checking with the doctor first... so wait we did.
Of course it wasn't broken!  GRRR.  But it was pretty badly sprained.  So basically I went to the ER to get some painkillers to make it through the next few days.
My tailbone also hurt some, so they sent me to labor and delivery to double check that all is well with the baby, and it was.

We finally got home @ 2am, and thank goodness to amazing friends who made it possible to sleep all day long while she kept Reid at her house.  THEN she came over the next day and packed for me!  LIFESAVER!

So as if tredging around on vacation while super pregnant isn't fun enough... I was also sporting a big black ortho boot and donut pillow.  If I got a dollar for every look that said "ohhhh", "poor her", or "oh man!"  I would be a very rich woman.  I really did look pathetic.... plus, I was still dealing with pain because I couldn't take pain killers because I needed to help drive.  Oh man, was that fun!

3 weeks later it is finally getting better.  I no longer wear the boot, but I am currently still sitting on my boppy pillow because let's face it a bruised tailbone takes like 100 years to heal!  Really I'm doing just fine, I have to admit... I'm wondering if a bruised tailbone is gonna make labor hurt more?  Anyone know?

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So, that's our summary for now.  Add in doctor appointments, playgroups, church callings, work, and pregnancy exhaustion and that's what kept us busy this summer.  Hope your lives are a little less crazy!

Dogs, Birds, and Lamaze

So, this week has been INSANE! Every night we have had something going on. Well, I'll just tell you about the interesting ones...

1) Wednesday night we started Lamaze class. Now I know some people think I'm crazy for being interesting in wanting to have this baby natural... but just hear me out.

Anytime I get a headache, or a discomfort... I deal with it, cuz its usually not that bad. I'm not a person to jump into taking medication. I think I was when I was little, and now I just don't like it. And, I have had pain that I would consider a 10 (you know when they ask you to state your pain level 1-10), mostly cuz I went into shock when I woke up from the surgery... I figure that counts as a 10. And I think that if I had been more aware and had known that pain would come, I could have dealt with it.

Also, a HUGE needle going into MY back? Need I say more?

And, I've heard some stories of the discomforts of an epidural: being stuck in 1 position, medication being too strong (can't tell when to push), medication not being strong enough, and not getting to eat afterwards! Bummer!

Now all of these are minor and can be dealt with... which is why I'm not dead-set against an epidural.... I just want to have another option. If I can do it without one, why not? Right?


Anyways, enough about that....
We also decided to do Lamaze cuz we're not sure what to expect, so might as well, take an education course that's geared to help me learn how to deal with the HUGE miracle my body will be performing.

So we started Lamaze class, and learned all sorts of cool things about the anatomy and how the body works. I learned in more detail what a contraction is, and how the muscle groups are working together to push the baby out. However, I have to say that the coolest thing I learned is that I'm having the Braxton-Hicks contractions! I HAD NO IDEA! hahaha! They just feel like the baby pushing on the outside of my uterus for a short time. But I learned if its a larger area than just 1 hand (or foot), its probably a Braxton-Hicks contraction. And, that this is the uterus's way of "working out" to "get in shape" for the actual labor. Isn't that fun?

I know some of you already knew, this, but I didn't and I think it's super cool! I'm thrilled to know that my body is already preparing for our little dude to come out!


2) Last night Matt was out visiting some people (doing his Home Teaching). And I had a committee meeting for my church responsibility (Activities) at our house. Well, our dogs get excited when people come over, so I put them outside. One person showed up, and we started chatting.

Well, after about 10 minutes of barking, Cleo wasn't calming down. So I went out there to see what her deal was. She wasn't barking at the back wall (like normal), she was barking at her crate.
I thought... hmm... that's weird. So I moved the crate.
And lo and behold I found a pigeon behind the crate. I thought well, if I let it go... NO! CLEO CAUGHT IT! AHHHH! OH dear, OH MY! (was about all I could think)
So I grabbed Cleo by the neck (of course she just happened to not have her collar on), and the bird gets away. But THEN Lightning gets the bird. And OH CRAP! What do I do now? Now I've got to hold Cleo with both hands at her shoulders to try and keep her contained (she's getting stronger, or I'm getting weaker, hmm?) ... I've got a pen and paper in my hand. So I release Cleo, grab Lightning's collar, and shove him inside, dump the pen and paper on the table, and go back out and grab Cleo and get her inside.
THEN BREATHE!

The poor visitor at my house was like, "WHAT is going on? Are you ok?!" Worried about ME, the pregnant lady!

Well, I tell her there's a bird outside, dying... cuz there was definite blood. So I look at her like... what do I do??? Well, she and I both know the humane thing to do. And we tried to... with a plastic bag over its head... But it DIDN'T DIE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!!!!
Neither of us have the gumption to try again, so we scoop it into the bag and throw it away. We each said a little prayer in our hearts for the poor little bird and that the Lord will put it out of its misery soon.

That was HORRIBLE! I've never dealt with that! I never thought my dogs would actually CATCH a bird to torment. I know its normal, but it seriously disturbed me! Not to mention, I'm pregnant! And I can't handle things like this... physically (chasing dogs and birds around the yard) or emotionally (death... of any kind).

I know I am a disappointment to many... but I just couldn't do it! UGH! Give me a spider any day! But some small animal... woe is me!

Anyways, after having to head out to Stake Choir after my meeting and talking with Matt, he's fairly sure that it is dead by now. And whether or not that is true... I choose to believe that it of course died quickly in that plastic bag.


Either way, that was just a little TOO MUCH adventure for me! I'll stick to crocheting my baby afghan, thank you very much!

The Woes of Pregnancy

1) Our kids are doomed

My friends at work gave me this t-shirt. Needless to say, I LOVE IT!

2) Do I really look like a basketball?

People keep saying, "You look so cute, just like you have a little basketball under there!" Do I really? Is that good? Do I want to look like a basketball? And now I'm wondering, just how big of a basketball do you use?












(30 weeks)



3) What does 'fine' mean?

When I talk to most women, my pregnancy really hasn't been that bad. And I'm not one who likes to complain. But just so you all know the daily complaints that my dear husband gets to listen too.


back aches
inability to get up (after sitting)
NO bladder control... no really, NONE
painful hips
walking funny (and by funny, I mean waddling... UGH!)
inability to lean forward, while sitting, standing, anything
inability to get up
intense emotion
intense need to eat, or lack thereof
tired belly muscles
stressings over the whole labor thing
dry skin / ezcema (then add in the windy weather... oh the joy!)
over heating / freezing (mostly just over heating lately... hahaha)
memory loss and its antithesis (imagining conversations)
tenderness and soreness in lots of special places on my body
feeling like a whale, cuz I can't manuver my body


All in all, pregnancy is great! Our baby's room is coming along, and we are getting more and more excited. Matt is still working on the chair rails and crowning, but its gonna be a gorgeous room! I'm so grateful that Matt wanted to decorate the room. He really deserves all the credit! (he picked everything out!)

As for names, we have the first name narrowed down to 2 names, but still aren't sharing. The middle name is still up in the air. So you'll just have to wait until we meet our little guy and figure it all out!

As if Being Pregnant and Sick Wasn't Enough of a Party

So sorry I haven't posted (I haven't even been on facebook in the last couple weeks either), work has been crazy. We had some crazy deadlines and lots of work that needed to get done. So I basically was working constantly for 2 weeks. Which means long hours, and high stress... Really good things for your immune system, let alone your pregnant immune system.

Then I was surrounded by some people who were all getting over 'something'... and I think my body said, "I GIVE UP", and I got a cold. Of course the first day of my cold was my day off. My sister had all 3 boys home all week, cuz it was Spring Break. So we planned to spend a day together. We decided to take the boys swimming. (Gotta love this warm spring weather) Well, we had a great time swimming and floating and spinning and all sorts of fun. After an hour we were all starving and headed for lunch. We went back to my house to eat, and I felt terrible, cuz I just wanted to crash instead of still hanging out with them. But alas, I have a VERY understanding sister, and she ended our day of fun early. I crashed for a couple hours, and set my alarm so that I would be able to make Matt dinner.

Then that night, I spent many hours honking my nose, and trying to prop myself up so I could breathe out of my nose somewhat. However, I learned something very crucial that night:

IF

Pregnancy = Being Uncomfortable

Head Cold = Congestion = Needing to sleep in abnormable positions

THEN

Pregnancy + Head Cold = NO SLEEP

Needless to say, it was a rough night.

So, I took Friday off to try and relax and get some rest so my body could recuperate. Well,.... that didn't happen.

Matt took our bigger dog to the vet cuz she had been limping for about a week, and we found out that she tore her ACL. (or the comparable ligament in a dog) So, now we get to spend the next 2 weeks trying to keep our dog down as much as possible until we get her brace for her leg. It just kills me, she LOVES going on walks, and LOVES going to the park, and everytime she hears another dog she starts to whimper. I think she's super lonely. But alas, it's like kids right? You gotta do what's best for them, not what they want. It's just hard, and then you add in the additional emotions with pregnancy, and my heart just breaks everytime she limps around! Poor thing!

So here it is 5 days later, and I still sound like a frog, and I'm trying to keep my dog down and relaxed, and the baby kicks me everytime I cough! haha! I really don't blame him. But man, will I ever get better?

We found out....

Ok, so this is 2 major things....
1 - We are having a BOY! (Totally excited!)
2 - I am becoming a digital scrapbooker! Here's my first page to show everyone. (keep in mind, I didn't spend much time on this... I just wanted to get it on the blog quickly)

credits:
Sweet Dreams kit by Megan Turnidge at Elemental Scraps
Moody Blues kit at Shabby Princess