Baby Hadley

I can't believe she is here. Our angel finally made it yesterday (after what has felt like the longest pregnancy ever). She was born at 12:30 and is perfect. Maybe a little too perfect. My nurse told me that she nurses like a three week old she is so good at sucking and I am hurting because of that...but besides the normal discomforts of recovering after having a baby I am doing ok. 

We checked in the hospital on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning around 2:00 am after driving down from Flagstaff. We got checked in, got my IV, the nurses (who were all fabulous) started me on the antibiotics for Group B Strep, Ty and I both slept a little off and on in the early morning, then around 6:00 am they finally got me started on the pitocin. I was dilated to a 3 before the pitocin and the pitocin got me to a 5 pretty quickly without too much discomfort. A resident tried to break my water, but was only slightly successful. However, after that the contractions picked up and I got to a 7 pretty fast. The discomfort picked up too and I was in quite a bit of pain before I got my epidural. Thank goodness for epidurals. I hate feeling numb and my legs went numb super fast, but I still had quite a bit of feeling where it counted on one side so they upped my dose of the medicine. By the time I delivered I was completely numb from my chest down. It was hard for me to breath and talk and not very pleasant, but considering the pressure I felt with such a strong epidural, I think being numb throughout my entire body was worth it. Once I got my epidural, things went extremely fast and I felt ready to push for a while before my doctor came rushing in, had me push 3 times and then put my baby in my arms (that were kind of floppy because the epidural got to them too). 

It took a while to get to our new room and they had to take me down on a stretcher because even three hours after delivering I was still completely numb. I couldn't even sit up on my own because I had no control over my torso. It was kind of embarrassing. Right after getting into our new room Kristi and Whit stopped by. It was so sweet of them to take the time to do that and it was nice to have some visitors. The rest of the evening was spent nursing and getting feeling back in my legs and body. Today has been more of the typical stuff like hearing screenings, and getting things ready to check out in a few hours.

Hadley is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. I am so glad she is here and healthy and a GIRL! I think her hair definitely has a reddish tint to it, but we will see. My nurse yesterday told me she was voted the prettiest baby on the floor and I agree. I just need to look at her every time I cramp, nurse, go the bathroom, or look at my still very large belly (all the things that I forgot about but are the worst about postpartum recovery) and remember that all this is worth it when you see the angel that Heavenly Father has allowed to join our family. It really is so amazing and I feel so blessed and lucky. I can't wait for her to meet the boys and to see their reactions. 

We love our baby Hadley Dru!

Decorating

Putting our new house together has been so much fun for me. I have worked really hard knowing that once the baby comes, life will change drastically. Feeling like I had a timeline was good motivation to get a lot done and try some things I have wanted to try for a while. So here is the house after a month of moving in.

Boys' room:

I still want to make fabric padded headboards, but besides that, it is pretty much finished. The vinyl is too high, the drapes aren't perfect, the carpet is awful...but those are things I can live with. My favorite thing about their room is their airplane pillows and and the vintage airplanes I bought a couple years ago and have been holding onto waiting for the day I got to put their big boy room together.

Baby's room:

I still don't know how I want to finish her room, but I love it for now. The crib skirt will add a lot and that will be done soon and there are so many other ideas I wanted to try in here (I have a collection of white frames that I wanted to use with fun prints and fabrics and pictures inside), but I feel like I ran out of room so fast and don't want the room to become busy. My favorite thing in this room is the gray stripe and the white shelf with the gray H and yellow bird. There is something about walking in this room (I do it multiple times a day) that gets me so excited for the little angel that is about to join us.

Master bedroom:

This is the same as it was in our townhome but we had to paint over a horrible dark red wall and so we ended up with a gray wall and I love it. I also splurged on the yellow lamps which I think add so much to the room and make it feel different. I needed that because I have been so tired of our bedding but can't justify new bedding even though it has been 5 years. I will never buy Pottery Barn bedding again because my tastes change so often I don't think it is every worth it to spend that much money on it.

Living area:

I love how this collage turned out even though I need to change a few things on it. The rest of the room I love too. I love the colors and I love feeling like I can repurpose all the things my mom has given me and make them work. It has been fun taking this room and making it work with what we already had, especially given the weird spaces and nooks.

Guest and master bath:
Nothing special...but before and after pics would be nice because the window coverings were awful before.

Kitchen:
No pictures because my kitchen has been dirty and it is nothing special. I do love having one eating area and having it be over tile though. Maybe someday it will be tolerable once we get the hens out of it, different window coverings, a cute centerpiece, etc., ...but for now it is just a normal kitchen.

So that is where we live. I love it for now. I love living close to friends, I love having a yard, I love having no stairs, and I love feeling like I was able to create a place that is mine and special for our family. It is so fun!

April 2012

April has been a big month! It is the last day of April and I am still amazed at all that has happened in such a short amount of time. The first weekend in April we moved! We live in a small neighborhood about ten minutes outside of town where most of our friends live and where all of Thatcher's friends live and we love it here. It is so nice to have friends, neighbors, a yard, no stairs, a third bedroom for the baby, and I think we are going to be happy here. It has been a crazy four weeks trying to get everything decorated and to make our new place feel like home (we have had to do a lot of tweaking, painting, and removing of window coverings and other funny style choices in order to accomplish it).

The boys have loved being outside more. While moving in, Ty and I looked out the window to see James intent on taking his clothes off. He pulled down his pants and started first with his diaper, then moved on to his shoes, then his pants. It took a lot of work, but the end result was exactly what he was going for. Pantless and playing in the sand...it doesn't get better than that!

The weekend after we moved was Easter weekend. Our fabulous friends the Mungers invited us to go to Phoenix with them for the weekend. We drove down early Friday morning and took turns going to the temple, stayed at the beautiful Biltmore hotel, swam, went to Cafe Rio for dinner then to the Mesa temple's Easter pageant.

On Saturday we had an amazing breakfast, spent all morning swimming (which involved my boys sitting on the pool steps and throwing a fit every time I tried to get them to go into deeper waters with me), then Ty and I went with the boys to Ikea (a painful, but productive shopping trip). We got home late that night exhausted, but we had a great time. On Easter Sunday the boys woke to a ridiculous amount of stuff left by the Easter bunny. They had a great time finding eggs hidden all over the house and playing with their toys, then after church we had some friends over for a big Easter dinner and the boys got to do a bigger egg hunt outside with a bunch of their friends. It was a fun, busy, and tiring weekend!

Aren't they handsome? These pictures were taken right before they both got haircuts. The haircuts needed to happen, but their long hair sure is cute too.

Here is me Easter weekend at 36 weeks.

The rest of April has been filled with getting ready for baby, teaching aerobics (last week I taught three classes on Monday, two on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday...much to my mom and Ty's protests...and I survived!), and the same old stuff. I watched Quincy for the last time last week. James has had fun playing with him the last year and they are pretty cute together even though their personalities are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum (as are their heads). I love this picture because it shows how smart James is. Not only are the cars slightly on top of each other, but they are color coordinated. What two year old does that? Anything he arranges he calls "towers" and he comes up with the best "towers" all the time.

April definitely ended on a high note with my birthday. We had a fun weekend where Thatcher got to go to his first primary activity, then we went to a big neighborhood party where he got his face painted like superman (and therefore turned into superman the rest of the day). James went on an egg hunt at the activity and hoarded his eggs for the rest of the day as he slowly ate his goodies and wouldn't share with a single person. Then Ty and I were able to go out to dinner for my birthday.

On my actual birthday Thatcher said "Happy birthday to you" at least 30 times. I was spoiled all day by phone calls, texts, emails and people just being extra thoughtful and sweet. Kristi, Jed, and Logan were in town so they stopped by with ice cream and to look at the house which was so nice. Then Di, Tiana, Heidi, and Natalie came over and pampered me for over an hour. They gave me a foot bath and pedicure complete with a food massage, then forced me to put on a face mask complete with cucumber slices. They also came with plates of cookies and chips and salsa. It was the sweetest thing and definitely made me feel special. After all the pampering was over we went to the Mungers for a fabulous dinner and amazing birthday dessert. It was a really great day and I felt very loved.

So that is it for April. I can't believe we are here. We are moved in, the house is mostly decorated, I am done with my big test, and even though life is going to get a whole lot crazier because of having three kids, I feel really happy and at peace about everything (for the first time in a while). I am so grateful that things work out in the end and that Heavenly Father has watched out for our family as we have tried to make the right decisions for us.

Here is a picture of me last night at 39 weeks after teaching my last aerobics class. I can't wait to be a non-pregnant aerobics instructor! Now all there is to do is drive down to Phoenix tonight, get induced and welcome baby Hadley into the world. I can't wait (for her, the actual thought of labor and delivery is kind of freaking me out right now)!

My boys

I love my boys. It is amazing to think of what they have been through the last couple months and how great they have done. They are so much fun and I feel like they have been pretty neglected with moving and me studying for my test and with me not feeling that great at times. They play together and are so much fun so much of the time. They have loved their big boy room and have done great in their big boys beds. Every time I have added something to their room, Thatcher has been so excited which has made it even more fun for me. They are both super excited about the baby too. They love playing in her room, looking at her things and climbing in her crib. They both seem to understand what is coming and hopefully it will be as exciting in reality as it is in theory. The other big thing they have loved has been their backyard. They have play outside every day and it has been such a huge blessing. A blessing that came with a trampoline! The boys love the trampoline that Ty got and jump on it multiple times a day. It is amazing how quickly they have become coordinated to jump really well on it and it has saved me this whole month as I have been trying to get things done and they have been so entertained by it.

Thatcher: Thatcher has been progressing with his letters a ton. He loves identifying the first letter of every word he says. He loves trying to spell new words and has mastered hat, cat, gap, hot, and best. The other day he made a birthday card for his friend and wrote every letter in Happy Birthday just with me telling him which letter was next. He is progressing so quickly and I love that letters interest him. Just yesterday he spent a good part of the afternoon making letters with a bunch of skewers he found in the kitchen. He is so clever and I love seeing what he comes up with.

Thatcher has been doing little soccer and t-ball camps at the gym and has loved having something cool like that to go to. I don't know how much he is grasping of the actual games, but he loves the stretches and always shows me his butterfly stretch and other things the "soccer ladies" show him.

Pirates and pirate treasure have been huge interests lately and Thatcher loves collecting treasure in his special treasure box (my old jewelry box). He will create elaborate scenarios and explain them to James about how the couch is a pirate ship and how they need a map to take them to the treasure.

Thatcher has always been a sweet, tender-hearted kid, but we have had some special experiences lately that make me feel so blessed to be raising such an amazing little person who I know was saved for these scary times. When we were at the temple over Easter weekend, Thatcher and I went to see the Christus and Thatcher would not leave. We sat on one of the benches just looking at the sculpture of Jesus. He didn't really want to talk, it just seemed like he wanted to soak it all in. Later that night we came back for the pageant and we went through the same routine again, then Thatcher said he wanted to watch a movie about Jesus instead of joining everyone else outside. He talked about that movie, the statue of Jesus, and the pageant for weeks afterwards and it is amazing to see how much he understands. That same weekend he gave his first talk in primary and he did incredibly well. He spoke clearly and loudly and was such a sweetheart. Just yesterday while I was laying in bed on my birthday I heard Thatcher on the floor in my room, flipping through the scriptures and talking about "scriptures, prophets, Jesus, Joseph Smith, and Thomas S. Monson". I feel so blessed to have such an angel in my life and know I need to be better at teaching him the gospel and being an example to him.

James: I can't believe in less than two days that James isn't going to be my baby any more. I think it is going to be hard on him even though I know he is going to adore the baby too. He is just the snuggliest most affectionate little boy and loves to have all the attention, hugs, and affection he can get from anyone. It might be hard having a little competition. He is such a smart little boy and great at expressing himself. He loves telling us that he loves us. The other day after being at the day care at the gym, Thatcher told me that when he got back from soccer 'his brother' came up to him and said, "I love you." James told me the other night, "Good job kissing me on the cheek." He is very quick to say, "good job, excuse me, bless you, thank you, sorry" or any other appropriate and polite little thing. He is good at reminding us to be polite and will never let a sneeze of his go without reminding us to say "bless you" after.

James loves to read and has spent a lot more time reading than every before. He has a great attention span when being read to, but he also just loves looking at books on his own. He also loves to collect things. His collections change every day, but they crack me up and he usually finds something new and different to carry his collection around in. Today it was his hamper which allowed him to cart around his blankets, pig and a few of books all morning.

James is still as naughty as every and the second he knows he shouldn't be doing something he thinks he is hilarious and runs in the opposite direction. One extra funny and naughty experience we had lately was a few weeks ago when he ran inside while I was outside with Thatcher and his friend Gavin. After a few minutes I decided to go check on James and found him just inside the sliding glass door devouring a cupcake. Then I realized he had locked me out. Once I convinced him to unlock the door and let me in, I found the remains of two other cupcakes around the house. He is so smart and it is scary sometimes to realize what he is capable of.

I love my boys. They make me laugh, they make me feel loved, they give me purpose, and they are my favorite little people in the world. They also exhaust me, overwhelm me, and make me feel like I am losing my mind, but the good moments definitely make the hard ones worth it. I am just so grateful they are mine and grateful for this time in my life.

March 2012

Trying to play catch up with very few pictures and pregnancy brain might not work that well, but here are a few highlights from March that I don't want to forget.

I found a beginner snowboard on clearance so I bought it for Thatcher and one Saturday we went on a search for snow. We ended up driving almost all the way up to Snow Bowl before we found a little stretch of snow we thought would work. Thatcher had such a great time. He is such a good sport when trying new things and Ty pushed and pulled him around on the snowboard until we were all pretty ready to go home.

Some of my personal highlights from the month include getting to see Suz, a friend from BYU I hadn't seen in almost 10 years. She and her husband were passing through Flagstaff and came over one night. It was so great to see them and remember what a good friend I have in her. Love her!

That same weekend we were able to go to the temple in Snowflake with some friends. We all took turns watching kids and doing temple work and then we had a fabulous picnic (where we set off the fire alarm at a nearby church...oops!). It was a special day and made me realize we need to make more of an effort to do temple work.

We celebrated Logan's birthday at the end of March with a special cake and dinner. The boys love birthdays and love Logan so it was a fun day for them too.

The rest of the month was spent teaching a lot at the gym, studying for my certification test, teaching relief society, planning and putting on a relief society activity, surviving being 8 months pregnant and living normal life (though it felt like all those things sometimes got in the way of really focusing on the boys and meeting their needs).

The last week of March was crazy. My friends Bridget Munger, Lizz Parker, and Sam Pickup threw me a baby shower and it was amazing. The food was to die for, so many people came, and I felt so loved and spoiled the whole night. It has taken a long time for me to make friends in Flagstaff, but I feel so grateful and lucky for the friends I have here. The next day I drove down to Phoenix and the next day I took my ACE (American Council on Exercise) Group Fitness Certification Exam. I had been studying for it for a while and was very nervous that I wouldn't pass. It was a challenging test, but I passed and was so relieved when I did. After the test I was able to go to lunch with my Grandpa and Joan and Erin Meyers before going to a doctor's appointment. I came home from Phoenix and started packing up our townhome and by Saturday afternoon of conference weekend we were officially in our new house in Bellemont. It was a crazy week!