Calvin is born! 8.21.14

Calvin was due Thursday, August 28th, 2014 which was a little problematic because Devin was starting his 6th quarter of law school on Monday, August 25th. Luckily I had an understanding doctor because after talking it over with her we decided that I would be induced the weekend before when I was 39 weeks so that Calvin wouldn't be born without Devin. 

We had to go in to the hospital at 5:30 am so the night before his induction, I went to mutual to get everything settled then went home to do the last few things to prepare. Once I was home I couldn't stop nesting. I was obsessed with having everything just so before going into the hospital. Devin gave me a blessings and I finished the last bit of laundry before going to bed. I tried to go to bed by 10. I was actually in bed by 11, But I don't think I fell asleep until 1:30 our 2 am because I was so anxious about the next day. I was extremely nervous about how the induction would go. I heard Amanda come in around midnight and the next morning she got up with me around 4:30 am to talk to me while I got ready for the hospital. We got everything ready and Devin made us eggs and english muffins to eat on the way to the hospital. I planned to have Devin take a picture of me in front of the hospital but we go there around 5:40 and I was rushed since we were late so I never got one final pregnancy picture. Here I am once I was in my hospital gown get up.

The nurse we had was about to switch shifts but she got my IV started and got me into my gown so I was ready to get started with Pitocin. After that the night shift anesthesiologist came in and talked to me. Then the shift change happened and I got a new nurse named Marta who was hilarious and so so nice. I always luck out and get great nurses when I deliver. She also said to ask for an epidural as soon as I wanted one. My kinda lady!

At this point I was a four and the contractions were staring to get worse so I had the anesthesiologist come and get the epidural started. I was pretty uncomfortable with the contractions but no where near as miserable as when I had Gabe.After the got the epidural in they had me lay on my right side. My whole right side went numb but I could still feel it on my left side. There was a spot up higher where I was feeling every contraction. They continued to turn up the Pitocin and I continued to feel it! They tried having me lay on my left side to get the medicine to drain over but it didn't work. Finally the anesthesiologist came back and gave me more meds and it all numbed up for the most part. Around 9:30 or 10 Amanda called asking when she should come to see baby and take pictures. I thought I still had a while to go so I told her I would call her when I progressed more. At that point I still thought I was a 4 maybe a 6. At 11am the nurse came in and said my doctor would be there soon at that she would check me when she came. At 11 my doctor showed up and checked me and I was at a 10! She said it was baby time. I called Amanda to tell her but knew she probably wouldn't make it in time to take pictures since she still needed to drop off Gabe. My legs were so numb the nurse and Devin had to do most of the work and I had a hard time feeling whether I was pushing or not. After pushing twice Dr. Brachovec quitely said to the nurse to call the NICU team. I calmly asked her why. I wasn't freaked out but I wanted to know what was going on. She said the cord was wrapped around Calvin and that she wanted to be on the safe side. The NICU team came in but then had to leave while I was pushing to help with twins. I think by then the doctor was less concerened. I only pushed 4 rounds and Calvin came! Because of the cord being wrapped around him, his hands and feet were purple. The first thing I noticed was his dark hair! I was so so excited. He weighed in at 7lbs. 10 oz. just one ounce bigger than Gabe.

They let him lay on me for about 5 minutes before taking him back to wash him. I always wish they would leave the room so you could have time alone with baby but they always stay there cleaning things up.

I felt like they kept him back in the warmer forever! Poor guy got some pokes too. 

Devin learned from last time and was better at taking pictures. It always makes me laugh because we get so in the moment both of us forget until the nurses remind us. Thank goodness for kind nurses. 

Finally I got the chance to hold our sweet boy. Calvin didn't look as much like Gabe to me as others thought. He has a shorter face and was a little more smooshed in general with all of his features, just not as elongated. I was so excited about how much hair he had and that it was dark! I really hope he stays brunette.

We had about 30 min-an hour alone with him before Amanda and Annie showed up. It gave me the chance to nurse him a little, and sing his two songs, "I am a Child of God" and "A Bushel and a Peck:. It tradition. 

 

Amanda holding Baby C

Annie holding him.

Sweet Annie started crying when she got to hold him. Little love. She could feel just how special he was.That afternoon Amanda ran and got us Pei Wei. We ate and hung out and held baby. Then a little later she went and got Gabe. 

(Get pictures from Amanda)

We stayed in the hospital from 5:30 am Thursday until about 4 pm Friday. On Friday, Lee and the Porter kids came into town. They wanted to come visit at the hospital but there were big signs saying only siblings were allowed. Calvin slept great the first night. Every two-three hours just like a good little newborn should. Several longer stretches too. He was just so tired from all the work of being born he needed a good long rest. The next morning we ate bad hospital food for breakfast and so Devin went to the store to get me a few things and to get us Taco Bell. Shanda Farley came to visit but Calvin was gone so we just visited. Then they took Calvin to get circumcised which left me alone for almost 4 hours. You think I would have been able to sleep but no, kept waking up from the nurses etc. When Calvin came back they monitored him for a it and then we were cleared to go home. Babies always look so teensy tiny in their carseats. 

Obligatory picture of the new parents. 

Mom and Calvin

Dad and Calvin

Finally of Dad carrying baby out of the hospital.

We were lucky enough to get a new (to us) car before bringing Calvin home. Here he is with Devin. 

Once we got home, we got settled in and the Porters got back with Gabe from Chuckie Cheese. It was Gwen's birthday and so they had played all day in Waco. All the kids took turns holding Calvin while Amanda made us homemade pizza for dinner. 

(get pictures from Amanda)

Fourth of July in Valley Mills, Texas

This year for the Fourth of July we decided to drive northwest of China Spring about 20 miles to a small town called Valley Mills for a parade and fireworks. We woke up a bit late and got to the parade about 15 minutes before it started which turned out the be great! We found spots at the end of the parade and were one of the last ones to park so getting out of there and back home was easy! We missed most of the traffic. Now this definitely wasn't the Macy's Day Parade or even a parade like we'd watch back in Phoenix for the Tostitos Bowl but it was sufficient for Gabe to get a little bit of candy and to see a few fire trucks.

Here we are waiting for the parade to start. Gabe's in a forced smile phase, but I'll take what I can get.

Squinties swore it was too bright to smile here even though it was rather overcast outside. 

My 32 week pregnant belly is hidden behind Gabe in this picture. 

Once the parade got started, Gabe happily waved to all the passersby.  

He was especially excited for the firetrucks.

But the real action began when people started throwing candy. 

There was a total of one legitimate float in the parade, but we enjoyed the covered wagon, old tractors and horses too.

That afternoon we invited over a few family friends for dinner. We all grilled and enjoyed each other's company. I made homemade chocolate and oreo ice cream that was delicious. 

Gabe was most excited for that night when we got to go see the "sparkly" fireworks. We had been talking about the fireworks for about a week beforehand and Gabe was asking every morning if it was the day we got to go.  We headed back to the town of Valley Mills to try and get a seat at their baseball fields for the show. We were positive that because we left a little bit late we were either going to miss the show, not be able to find a seat or both. 

We got to the baseball fields about 20 minutes before the show started and to our surprise most people were tailgating or sitting near their cars and the baseball fields were surprisingly not crowded at all. We saw the fireworks were set up in the outfield of one of the baseball diamonds and so we sat just behind the dug out.

We spread out our jean blanket with a pillow for Gabe to lay on and put up some camping chairs and got to watch a 30-40 minute show in front row seats! Gabe turned to Devin and said, "I can't believe my eyes!" as the show started. He watched the whole thing and was so excited. Annie thought the fireworks were a little bit loud but she seemed to like them well enough. We brought rice krispy treats courtesy of Devin with red and blue m&ms in them for a treat.  They started the show and ended it with a cannon sounding firework that we literally felt the sound was so loud and in true Texas fashion the guy in charge also shot a blank from his rifle at the beginning. 

We almost left early to try and avoid traffic but we were able to get out of there fairly fast. On the drive home we had our windows down (still no A/C in the Kia) and it was nice and cool outside. We talked about how great the show was and determined that small town 4th celebrations are generally the absolute best. 

Birthday Fun

For my birthday this year we decided to go to Sunsplash Lite or the Mesquite Grove Aquatic Center. All morning it looked like dark clouds were headed in and it rained off and on so it was the perfect day to go since we knew it wouldn't be crowded. All of the sisters and kids came to play. 

We played for a long time and the decided to go home and give our kids and ourselves naps so that we could rest up for Joe's farm grill that evening. Emily and Julia came prepared for Joe's with fry-sauce in tow.

Gabe was really excited for life. In his defense he had just woken up from a two and a half hour nap.

We hardly recognized Eden because in the middle of our festivites she went and cut off her long and luxurious hair to donate to locks of love.

After dinner, Devin and I went and saw The Amazing Spiderman. It was a very good birthday with lots of love from family and friends. And per usual it will turn into birth week since Emily is taking me out tonight and our family will have dinner on Sunday. My family is the best.

Just for funsies- I was looking through our pictures to upload these and found our pictures from my last birthday. Here we are at Joe's eating. I am pregnant and sweaty.

This year Devin and I spent our sixth anniversary by going to dinner and a movie. Original right? We mostly just spent the whole night wishing that Arizona wasn't so hot and thinking back to our fifth anniversary when we were in Oregon sans sweatstache.  We went to eat at a place called Zinburger, shopped for Julia's birthday present, and then went to see the Avengers. 

The next week we kept busy. We had Annie's seminary graduation and high school graduation. For seminary graduation, Annie graduated with Kimball stake and we got a picture of her with all of her Lyn Rae friends. 

Emily and Julia were working and couldn't come but the rest of us did. Amanda even wrangled her 4 kids so she could come and see Ms. Annie.

 

Two days later we had real graduation. We were a little rushed getting her ready and over to MHS so this is the best picture I took before she graduated.

We made lots of signs for her that mostly just sat on the ground because we go there too late to sit close enough for Annie to see them. 

We started our this summer by swimming a lot. Gabe loves to swim.

Now we only slave over Julia's wedding. It is so much fun... but I am pretty sure by the end of it my finger prints will be non-existent from the number of times I have burned myself from hot glue. 

Touchdown!

Lets just start by saying I am not a football fan. The only thing football is good for is providing me good food and decent commercials once a year. However Devin thinks football is entertaining and is determined to indoctrinate the boy at a a young age.

So the boy and his dad watched the Rose Bowl game on Monday. Oregon won so life is good.

I at least got a good picture out of it. See top of post.

The handsome lad SMILES!!!

New Year's Eve

It is a time honored tradition that for New Year's Eve we go to the Tostitos Bowl Parade. My mom's side of the family has been going for years and it only gets better with time. Sure you may think parades are lame, but it only happens once a year, there is tasty food and here are some of the things you might just catch a glimpse of.

1. Clubs of all varieties. The highest bike riding club, the comic book association of AZ, the Star Wars lovers group, the list goes on and one. This year our favorite was seeing a Star Wars rebel fighter in a jazzy. There is no picture. Sorry. But here is Darth Vader in his white convertible.

2. Camels. When is the last time you saw camels?

3. A cute baby and your sister asleep. Okay so maybe this parade wasn't as exciting as I am making it out to be. But it's once a year and it gets you out of your house and we heart it.

Side note. Here is a picture of Devin having his first drink of soda for a year. He went from December 28th, 2010 to January 1st, 2012 without drinking soda or having any sweets (cookies, candy, cake, ice cream and the like). We were supposed to do it together. I lasted until March.

Fail.

The Glass Castle

So I never reported back on The Glass Castle and I didn't end up reading all of the other books I said except for Royal Panoloply which I will report on. Instead I read the rest of the Maze Runner series and loved them. I will also write more about them.

But anyways, The Glass Castle is cray cray. Like you need to read it. Now. Its about this girl who has the most insane parents on the face of the planet and about how she grew up. It is almost unbelievable and seems like it has to be fiction at times. But its not. Its her life. And she turns out pretty normal. The most frustrating part of the book is that her parents are really really smart but suck at being parents slash normal humans. As I read this I pretty much told Devin about the whole thing so now he says he doesn't need to read it. But he still should. Because it is that good.

In conclusion, I give the book an O for Outstanding.

Side note. I found this ladies blog who reviews books for those of you looking for something new and good to read. Its called blogginboutbooks.com. She reads and reviews close to 200 books per year and I have to say I agree with most of her reviews. She rates her books A-F and tags her book reviews by rating so that can find just all the books she rates A and get new suggestion on what to read. Check it out. You'll thank me later.

Bebe Gabe!

So Gabe and I hang out at Amanda's house frequently. Its pretty awesome because it gives me something to do and gives Gabe a pretend brother and sisters to hang out with. Today Delia said their morning family prayer and said thanks that Annie and I were there. She forgot about "Bebe Gabe" as Gwen calls him. So for the rest of the prayer Gwen whispered to Delia getting increasingly louder, "Bless bebe Gabe! BLESS bebe Gabe!"

"BLESS BEBE GABE!!"

It was hilarious. I love their loveship.

2 Months Old

Gabe is 2 months old and we are finally out of the "feel like we are playing house" mode and it feels like he is actually ours. For the first month I kept wondering when his mom was going to come get him because I felt like I was just babysitting someone else's kid. Here is what he is up to.

• Smiling!!!
• Sitting up(ish) with a hand supporting his back.
• Cooing like crazy. Especially when he hears music, someone is singing to him or he is taking a bath.

1 Month Old

Gabe is 1 month old and loving life. We can't get enough of him. Here are some things he has been up to.

• He laughs during his sleep. (cutest thing ever)
• He is learning to hold his head up and love to lay on my chest.
• He hates to be swaddled.
• He loves bath time and his swing.

Devin claims that he loves to watch football. I'm not so sure on that one. But Devin loves to make him do adult things i.e. watch youtube videos, listen to music with him, and read 18th century poetry. You know so he becomes an intellectual. By 2 months Devin will probably have him smoking a pipe while wearing his reading robe.