Deja Vu

This is my niece Jocey.

She is exactly one year younger than Preston . . . . and she is a girl.

That is where the differences end.

Wordless Wednesday

He's One in a Million

Preston is a character.

He is adorable, and trouble all rolled into one.

It's a deadly combination.

Luckily he saves the 'trouble' for me.

When he is with other people he is just adorable.

Last week I took the two big boys to the nursery during my Relief Society Birthday Dinner. When I picked them up afterward I was greeted with a very familiar:

"Is he yours?! He is so adorable!"

To which I responded:

"Yep, and it's a good thing he's cute. It's the only reason we haven't sold him to the Gypsy's."

At times it can be too easy to focus on the tantrums and mischief.

Like the morning he threw a fit because I wouldn't sort his Apple Jacks by color.

I made him eat both the orange and the green ones.

There are several things he is doing and saying right now that are adorable, and I want to remember them.

Like the way he counts. He can say his numbers one to ten, but for some reason when he is counting objects he forgets one, two and three.

It is always "fourteen, sixteen, eleventeen."

Or the way he wants everything "like a bana." When I give him a granola bar or string cheese he insists that I make it "like a bana," by peeling down the sides of the package like a banana peel.

He loves to sing and dance like "Apple Jackson."

He puts on his beanie, aka his Apple Jackson hat, and jams out to Beat It, and Smooth Criminal.

Oh, and I can't forget his version of the famous Little Richard Song, Tuni Fruni on Runi.

Or the way he belts out, "She love you, ya ya ya."

The Beatles would be so proud.

Thanks to his father and big "brudder" he is constantly quoting Harry Potter:

"Wingardium Leviosa" and "swish and flick."

And at the end of the day he insists on taking his turn reading the

"Book of Norman."

He really is an adorable child.

When he's not screaming or breaking my stuff.

Happy {early} Mother's Day to Me!

In an effort to avoid getting another slip 'n slide, I bought my own Mother's Day present this year.

(In fact, when I told Dan that I bought myself this gift

Tyson leaned over and whispered in his dad's ear,

"Dad, I think we should get her a slip 'n slide."

No joke.

I told Tyson we could give his Dad a slip 'n slide for Father's Day instead.)

Anyway . . .

I've been eyeing this necklace for months.

I made myself wait until after Nolan was born just in case we changed his name at the last minute.

Isn't it beautiful?!

It's an r house Three-Name custom necklace.

In case you aren't savvy on adoption blogs, the r house is awesome.

They created this etsy store,

the r house couture

to help fund the contested adoption of their son, Gavin.

(They won, BTW!)

My necklace came in this lovely box with a message:

"thank you so much for your purchase and for being a part of r adoption story!"

and was accompanied by several adoption pass along cards.

Awesome!

I love this new generation of pass along cards.

Ours were so ghetto.

Seriously.

The r house couture is having a sale right for free shipping on items for Mother's Day and Birth Mother's Day. If you want to know more about the r house couture click here.

Say Cheese

If he keeps losing teeth at this rate he going to need dentures.

Nolan Jacob Feb 2010

Did I mention how much I love my photographer?!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Finger Lickin' Good

Would you judge me if I told you this was the THIRD time Preston was covered in chocolate that day?

(this specific time was caused by a chocolate covered donut.)

Assume The Position

I put Nolan in the sling the other day.

Using the sling always makes me feel like I am pregnant again.

Without hesitation Nolan assumed his own version of fetal position:

All curled up with one foot sticking straight out.

It was all so very familiar.

That little foot was well acquainted with my love handle.

Another One Bites The Dust

This tooth was pulled out for a piece of chocolate, leaving a HUGE gap in it's absence.

He looks like a vampire(minus the sparkles and fancy cars, of course)

Tyson can be found singing "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" and testing out his lisp when he thinks no one is listening.

Where Did The Time Go?

Nolan is a month old.
Hard to believe, isn't it?
I don't believe it myself.

This last month has been wonderful. He is such an easy baby.
And I can say that because I have had two hard babies.

He doesn't spit up much. No Reflux!
He doesn't cry much either. No Colic!
I've never had a baby without colic. It's heavenly!

He eats great.
He sleeps wonderfully too.
At two weeks he was sleeping a 4 hour stretch at night. And now, he has started sleeping 7-8 hour stretches at night.

He is just a mellow, easy going kid.

Everyone loves him.

Gesundheit!

Conversation of the Week

Grandma: Preston, I love your sparkly eyes.
Did you know you have sparkly eyes?
Preston: . . .(long pause) . . . . . . no comprendo.

Cousins, Identical Cousins . . .

Landon & Nolan

Born 4 days apart.

Alright, so they aren't identical. . . similar but not identical.

It's quite easy to tell them apart.

Landon is the one with the cheeks!

Grandma & Papa are enjoying their "twins"

It's nice because there are plenty of babies to go around.

There's much less fighting among the Grandparents.

Wordless Wednesday

Reminiscing

I was sitting in the rocking chair in Preston's room one afternoon as he drifted off to sleep for his nap. He was nearly asleep when he suddenly started speaking in a wistful voice:

"I shook Chuck E. Cheese's hand. His teeth were brown. Daddy stayed home from work. We went to Chuck A Rama and Falaga*."

And then he fell asleep.

Apparently, he was reminiscing the "good ol' days" when Mommy was in the hospital and Daddy was in charge.

Daddy is obviously much more fun than Mommy.

*Dan took the boys to Trafalga (a local mini-golf arcade). Tyson keeps calling it Chuck A Rama. Preston's confusion is understandable.

For the Love of The Games

I love the Olympics, always have.

Dan teases me about it. I love watching the Olympics, but hate watching almost any other sporting event.

It may have something to do with the fact that I was born during the Olympics.

(1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. My mother was in labor during the famous USA-Soviet men's hockey game.)

I didn't watch as much as I would have liked this year.

I was a little preoccupied.

I did enjoy watching Apolo Ohno, Lindsay Vonn, Shawn White, and others.

I was also impressed with how many Olympians were from Utah.

(Thirteen athletes grew up in Utah and 40-something live or train here now. More than any other state!)

(Tyson and Preston in their own personal bobsled.)

The boys watched with me a few nights, although their attention span is short.

Tyson loved watching Bobsled racing, and Preston only has eyes for snowboarding.

What about you?

What's your favorite Olympic sport?

What was your favorite Olympic moment?

Baby Nolan Bar

Preface to this story: There is one word that neither of my boys can say correctly:

Granola.

Tyson says ganilla and

Preston says 'nola.

I was sitting on the couch nursing the baby when Preston came running up.

P: I hungry mommy. I want a 'nola bar.
M: (seizing a teasing moment) A 'Nolan Bar'
P: Yeah, a 'nola bar.
M: A Baby Nolan bar?
P: (pausing) . . . . (thinking) . . . .Mommy, I want a Preston bar.

He's the Cutest Baby in the Whole World

The boys think Nolan is the greatest thing since Easy Mac.

Preston calls him "my baby," as in

"Where is my baby?"

"I need my baby."

"I hold my baby."

"Mommy, my baby is hungry."

"I give my baby his blankie."

In fact, if anyone even thinks about giving Nolan his binkie

Preston will freak out.

That's his job.

Tyson has told me numerous times that Nolan is the cutest baby in the whole world.

"Mom, Nolan is the cutest baby ever.

He is even cuter than you."

Another day Tyson and I had this conversation:

T: Mom, Nolan has my nose!

M: How did he get your nose?

T: I don't mean he has my nose. I mean he has the same nose as me.

M: Sure buddy.

T: He also has my skin color.

M: Yep (who am I to burst his bubble?)

Coming Home

For the record, I was terrified to bring Nolan home from the hospital. He and I spent two blissful days and nights

snuggling and kissing and cuddling.

While I was more than ready to get out of that hospital room, take a shower, and sleep in my own bed without a nurse coming in every two hours,

I was scared spitless.
Why?

Because there are two loud crazy obnoxious boys that live at my house. I was afraid for my sweet tiny baby. I was also a little (a lot) scared for myself.

For the last nine months I've had countless people tell my how the transition from two kids to three is the hardest. And knowing how high-maintenance Preston has been lately nearly brought me to tears. (Not nearly. It did.) I knew Dan was going back to work (not that he ever fully stopped working). I was an emotional wreck bringing that baby home.

But I am happy to say that my fears were unfounded.

The boys adore their brother. The transition hasn't been very difficult at all.

Sure, I've had my moments.

Like the morning that I had intense neck and back pain and was already maxed out on painkiller from the migraine the night before, Preston was completely wigging out, and Dan was walking out the door to work.

Yeah, that morning sucked.

But we survived.

And it's only getting easier.

Life is good.

Nolan's Birth Story

I felt like a ticking time bomb for weeks. I was dilated to 4cm and 90% effaced. I was having regular, time-able, mildly painful contractions for weeks. The problem: they weren't intense enough to do anything. So I waited and waited and waited, very uncomfortably.

One other problem: I tested positive for Group B Strep.

Translation: I needed to be on IV antibiotics for 4 hours before I delivered to protect the baby from picking up the bacteria which could potentially make him very sick.

My labor with Preston was only 4 1/2 hours long. That included over an hour of pushing. So, if my doctor was right and I had a faster, easier labor this time with much less pushing I was not going to have enough time for the antibiotics.

So you can see why I was nervous about the whole situation.

On February 9th, at 2pm I had my 39 week doctor's visit. She told me I was 4+ cm, "paper thin"and as close to going into labor as anyone could be. Because of the Group B Strep it was not safe for her to strip my membranes as many doctors will to "help things along." But she could be "less gentle" when she checked me. We both hoped that would be enough. She said that she was on-call at the hospital that night and that if I was able to get my contractions regular enough she would do everything in her power to keep me there.

I left the office and started walking. At 2:30 I went over to the hospital to visit my dad who had just had knee surgery. I walked the halls near his room for a while until I was too uncomfortable to stay any longer. Around 3pm I went home and asked Dan if he was ok having the baby that night. He said it was ok with him so I continued to walk laps around my house. I'm surprised I didn't wear a path in the carpet. The contractions kept getting more intense and closer together.

At 4pm I called my niece, Anika, to come over to babysit for the remainder of the afternoon and kept walking. When I was on my feet my contractions were more intense and practically on top of each other (about 2-3 minutes apart, lasting well over a minute) but when I sat down they eased up (much less painful and only 5-7 minutes apart). I wasn't sure if they were painful enough yet since I could still talk through them, although I wasn't very nice to anyone who tried to talk to me :)

Dan started loading my stuff into the car and I gave Anika some last minute instructions about dinner. I kept walking. By 5 pm I finally got to the point that I couldn't walk or talk through the contractions. I said those infamous words,

"Honey, it's time."

I waddled out to the car and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Time goes very slow when you are in labor and Dan about lost his life in his effort to grab "just one more thing".

We made the quick drive to the hospital, and I was able to walk, slowly and painfully to Labor and Delivery. They hooked me up to monitors, checked me : 5cm. A quick call to my doctor confirmed that I was in active labor and could stay!

We were settled into our own room by 5:30. They quickly hooked up my IV and started my antibiotic. I felt so relieved! Next the anesthesiologist came and gave me my epidural.

More relief.

The four hour countdown began. Unless the baby showed signs of distress they were going to leave us alone for 4 hours to let the antibiotic do it's thing. Time flew by as we visited with family and listened to music. Soon it was 9:15 and the nurse came in to check me. I was only at a 6. But not for long. A few minutes later my doctor came in to break my water. We all knew it was down hill from there.

They waited 20 minutes before checking me again; 8cm. One contraction later I was 9cm. They started prepping the room for delivery. By the time they were done I was completely dilated and ready to push. It was all so surreal. I couldn't believe I was about to have a baby! It took about 3 contractions (about 10 minutes) to push him out.

He was so tiny and calm. I was a little nervous because he wasn't crying very much. (Preston screamed his bloody head off, so that's what I was expecting). I looked around at the doctor and nurses, who did not seem concerned at all. So I took the cue from them and relaxed. They laid him on my chest for a moment while Dan cut the cord. Then he was whisked away to be cleaned off and measured.

Once he was diapered they brought him back and I snuggled him skin to skin.

It was lovely.

Pure heaven.

It was obvious he wanted to eat. The problem (for other people) was that he didn't want to stop eating. We had family waiting to see him, and I made them wait outside the room for a tortuous 45 minutes while he ate and I snuggled.

(Sheeby and Cheryl waiting in the hallway calling the rest of the family)

Finally, their waiting paid off, and they were able to come in and have some snuggle time of their own.

The whole experience is a wonderful memory.

Things could not have gone better.

He is a sweet snugly baby and we are so in love with the little guy.

He's Here!

(I realize this post is nearly a week late. Please forgive.)

I'd like to introduce you to someone special

Nolan Jacob

February 9th, 2010

10:27 pm

6lbs 11oz

18.5 in.

I will post his birth story

and highlights of his first week later.

Maternity Pictures

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Good News

Do you remember this adorable couple?

They have an

exciting announcement

to make.

Did I mention I love Daisies?

Oh, and February is a great month for a birthday!

Paperback Swap

I have discovered something great.

I've been swapping books for about a month now. And I really like it.

It works well for me because I don't have free access to a public library and I have books I don't want anymore. I like to convenience of not having to go further than my own mailbox to send or receive books.

I've sent out three or four books, and requested three.

I have several credits just waiting to be used. So, if you have any book recommendations for me, I'd love to hear them!

Stroller Review

I finally broke down and bought a double stroller.

Although, technically it's not a double stroller. It's a tandem stroller.

It's very versatile and so far I like it.

(I haven't actually used it yet)

The front seat is for the new baby, as demonstrated below by Preston.

My new car seat snaps into the front (and matches perfectly even though they are different brands) for when he is still little.

As he grows he can ride in the regular stroller seat.

The back seat is for Preston.

He has the option to sit in the removable regular stroller seat (not shown)

or sit on a small bench when the seat is removed (see below)

or stand on the platform.

There are several things about this stroller that I'm not in love with,

(the tires aren't rubber, it's not ultra-lite, it's going to take some practice to get the back seat in and out quickly, etc.)

but I think it will meet our changing needs.

Scripture Power

"Look Mom, I'm Nephi!"

"Take another picture with me holding the Liahona."

Can you tell we've been reading our scriptures? :)

Will Work for Food

Tyson has had a loose tooth for weeks now. I've been encouraging him to wiggle it because it had a chip in it, was turning grey, and was making his smile lopsided. Anytime he wiggled it he would complain that it hurt and stop.

Last night, we were at my parent house for dinner. Tyson had already finished his dinner and had eaten seconds.

He asked me if he could have another piece of ham.

Jokingly I told him that he could have the ham if he pulled his tooth out.

He immediately went to work on that tooth.

I was amazed.

He pulled and wiggled and twisted it very intently.

His gums started to bleed, but he was not deterred.

A few moments later his tooth popped out.

After a quick drink of water he claimed his prize:

That must have been some good ham!

Don't Let 'em See You Smile

Tyson brought home his school pictures this week.

I only ordered a class picture because I had Tammy take his school pictures earlier this year.

I am so glad I did!

Tammy saved me from having this mug shot framed in my living room for a year:

Thanks to Tammy I have this instead:

I seriously wonder if the school's photographer even asked the kids to smile.

Tyson was only one of five boys in his class that isn't smiling.

I'm Still Baffled

Tyson: Gravity is the force that pulls things down, right?
Me: Yeah that's right.
Tyson: Except worms.
Me: Worms?
Tyson: Yeah, worms.
Me: Then how do worms stay on the ground?
Tyson: Multiplication?

I Was Just Kidding

Apparently my little baby has taken this Eviction Notice a little too seriously.

Apparently he doesn't yet appreciate his mother's sense of humor.

And apparently, he reads my blog :P

Friday was a regular day. I did the normal "mom" things.

I also had a fun maternity photo shoot with Tammy and attended a wedding reception.

Normal, right?

By that evening I started feeling more uncomfortable than usual. By the time we got home from the wedding, I was having contractions. That isn't too unusual for me. I've been having sporadic, contractions for months now. Although lately they've become slightly more painful. Still, they weren't regular enough to worry about, just something I deal with.

Friday night was different.

Dan put the boys to bed while I dutifully laid in bed, on my left side, chugging water.

Normally, this would settle my contractions.

But not this time.

They stayed.

Not only did they stay, they got closer together and became more uncomfortable.

I asked Dan to call Labor & Delivery to see if they thought I should come in to be monitored. unfortunately, the nurse said that legally she couldn't tell us what to do. That we needed to talk to my doctor about it. Dan called my OB's office and talked to someone.

(I'm not really sure who, someone on call at midnight.)

She said that it was up to us and it never hurt to be on the safe side. By the time they were about five minutes apart I asked Dan to call his brother because I needed a blessing. Rob came right over.

After the blessing I started to feel very tired.

So I fell asleep.

I woke about an hour later, still contracting, they were every 6-10 minutes. I tried walking around, I tried drinking more water. I tried Googling things. I started to worry.

Not because they were painful, but because I couldn't get them to stop.

I couldn't sleep. So at 3am I decided to go to the hospital just in case. I really didn't want to bother any one at 3am so I left Dan home with the boys and I went by myself. I promised Dan that if I needed him to come I would call, and he could get a babysitter then

(For some reason the prospect of waking someone up at 4am was better than at 3am.)

Since we only live 5 minutes from the hospital he agreed.

When I arrived I told the nurses that I was only 35 weeks and was not ready to have this baby. I wanted him to bake a little longer. They checked me, I was 2+cm and 85% effaced. Only a minimal change from my doctor's visit three days before. They decided to monitor me for an hour to see what was going on. Once hooked up to the monitors we discovered that the contractions were now 3 1/2 minutes apart. They weren't very painful. They were highly uncomfortable - bordering on mildly painful.

An hour later they checked me again. 2+cm and 90%. Not much of a change but enough that they had to check with the on-call doctor before they could do anything. Because I insisted that I wasn't having a 35 week baby they gave me a shot of Terbutaline to stop the contractions.

It worked instantly.

They monitored me for another hour. When they were satisfied that I was no longer progressing, even minimally, and the baby was doing fine they sent me home.

That's when Warden Dan put me on bed rest.

I spent the weekend in bed reading, watching movies, resting, etc.

My niece came over Saturday and watched my kids all day.

Dan took over on Sunday.

I am feeling fine now. My contractions have gone back to "normal."

(Which means one every hour or so)

I was even tempted to go to an hour of church on Sunday except for the fact that I now have pink eye.

(Where the heck did that come from?)

I am anxious to get back to being a functioning person again. My calendar is pretty empty this week, thankfully.

Other than taking Tyson to school I don't even have to leave my house all week.

And that's not even until Tuesday thanks to this three day weekend.

It's only 10 days until I am 37 weeks, and my baby will be considered full-term rather than near-term. My plan is to take it really easy for the next 10 days.

Wish me luck.

Baby Eviction Notice - Repost

Eviction Notice:

I am issuing 30 day notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 30 days in which he can either gather his belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, he will be physically removed from the property. He's being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made. Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper and lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances. After 30 days from this day that he doesn't comply to the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Wordless Wednesday

It's Game Time!

I was going to wait until I was closer to my due date (Feb 17th) to start this game, but after visiting my doctor today, I think I will start it sooner rather than later.

Click on the icon in my right sidebar to go to ExpectNet.com and enter your guesses in our Baby Pool.

The winner will get something cool.

Here's some insider info so no one has an unfair advantage:

Last time:

Preston was 7lbs 8oz and 19.5" at birth. He was born four days after his due date thanks to an induction. I was dilated to a 4 without going into labor on my own.

This time:

So far this baby is measure a "few days" smaller than his dates and my belly is measuring one week smaller than my dates. I am currently 35 weeks along. My cervix is 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. I have an induction set for Feb 17th.

Clean Up After Yourself Month

A lady (whom I have never met in person, yet I stalk her blog) recently posted about her New Years Resolution Idea. Rather than having a resolution for the whole year, she would have a new goal for her family each month.

This month is "Clean up After Yourself" month.

Genius!

Here are the rules:

• We are going to remind each other to pick up after ourselves in a cheerful way. "Remember, It's clean up after yourself month!"
• If there is crying/whining/refusal to clean up that person gets a strike.
• Three strikes and you are out.
• Those who stay "in" get to go on a fun family date night at the end of the month.
• Those who get out will have to stay home with a babysitter (or, in Dan's case, an extra chore list).

So far it's working great!

Dan and Tyson are much more willing to pick up after themselves in a timely manner. We are still working on Preston, although we've seen improvement with him as well.

The only problems I've had so far are:

*Tyson has complained a few times about doing other chores because it wasn't "his mess." He quickly changed his tune when I told him that I was only going to wash my own dishes and my own clothes. Everyone else can wash their own.

*Tyson gets frustrated when Preston isn't held to the same standard he is. I've tried to explain that Preston is only 2 and is still learning.

So far my house has been less messy and cluttered, and there has been less whining on their part and less nagging on mine.

Genius I tell you, simply genius!

Wordless Wednesday

Preston's Pictures

Like all my favorite professional pictures, these pictures were taken by my dear friend Tammy.

I just realized I never posted them.

They were obviously taken in the fall.

Aren't they wonderful?!

New Years Resolutions

Another year, another resolution. . . .

I am really bad at New Year's Resolutions.

Really Bad.

Last year I chose a word for the year, Organization.

Yeah, that lasted half way through January. Then I was too overwhelmed.

I quit.

My life might be a little more organized than it was in 2008 but it isn't anywhere near where I want it.

I am struggling to come up with a new word for 2010.

I just can't think of anything that speaks to me.

I thought maybe my word would be growth.

We will all be doing a lot of that this year.

(I only plan on growing for another month or two, at least physically, then I plan to shrink.)

The boys will be doing a lot of growing this year.

Tyson will be going to first grade this fall.

Preston will be potty training this summer.

The new baby will be doing lots of growing and should be crawling by the end of the year.

Dan wants to grow his Real Estate career.

(Shameless Plug: He's always looking for more clients)

We, as a family, will be growing spiritually. We've been challenged by our Stake President to read the Book of Mormon as a family this year. Tyson is really excited about it. We've read a couple different children's versions of the BOM to him, but we've never actually read the real thing as a family. We need to read 18 verses a day to finish by the end of the year.

We've also been challenged by our Bishop to do one nice thing a day for a member of our family. As parents, we get to do two nice things: one for a child and one for our spouse. He has challenged us to think "outside the box" and do things we wouldn't normally do. Which means washing the dishes and the laundry today does not count. The idea behind this challenge is to grow the love within our own families.