Friday the 13th...is it lucky?

We think it is! We finally got our Baby Girl on November 13, 2009.

These pictures were taken with in the last week of the pregnancy.
I was a little bit tired.

Time Line:

Thursday my friend Diana and I went to Jamba Juice because we were both still hanging out and wishing our babies were here. About 9 pm Diana called me and told me I needed to go into labor and meet her at the hospital. I wished her luck and planned to go to me doctors appointment the next morning since I wasn't having any contractions at all.

About 2:40 am Friday morning my water brake. I wasn't really sure that was what happened since there wasn't a lot of fluid. I sat for about 15 minutes before waking Andy. I went from no contractions to intense contractions very quickly.

We dropped the kids off at our cousins house and arrived at the hospital at about 3:45 am. They wheeled us up to the labor and delivery. The nurse asked how long I had been having contractions. Since it was only about 45 minutes they wanted me in the exam room. I told her that she needed to hurry because we didn't have a lot of time. She looked pretty shocked, but did hurry to get someone in to check me. They checked me and found that I was already at an 8 and the babied head was engaged. They hustled me into the labor room in between contractions. They were now only about 1 minute apart, and sometimes they came one right after another.

They got me settled and in the labor room and Andy said he needed to move the car and get the camera. I told him he had better hurry! As he walked out our friend Scott caught him in the hall. He and Diana had checked in around midnight. Then Andy headed out. It had only been about 30 seconds since he left and I felt like I needed to push. The nurse started to call for the doctor and I asked them to call Andy back. Scott ran out looking for him, but couldn't find him.

Andy was only got for about 5 minutes and our Baby Girl made her entrance into the world without him. I felt so bad, but there is nothing you can do when the baby is ready.

Eliza Marie was born at 4:07am

7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long

Check out her hair!!

Even though she didn't wait for her Dad to get back for her arrival, she did warm up to him very quickly once he returned!

Since she came so quickly I didn't even have an IV in. This makes the recovery time pretty fast once they get here. I was able to shower and get dressed by about 9:30am. I was a little bit tired though!

The boys came that afternoon round 2:30 0r 3 pm. They loved her right away. However, they were pretty interested in the buttons on the side of my bed too. They make the bed do all sorts of cool things!

Our friends got their little girl about 9 pm Friday night. This is Alyse and Eliza Saturday morning.

Alyse has the cutest chubby cheeks and red hair just like her Dad! We are so glad she made it here safely and can't wait to get more pictures with her. (She was a full pound bigger than Eliza.)

The boys were excited that we were able to bring the baby Eliza home with us on Saturday.

Eliza lost more weight than the doctor liked, but she has now regained all of it and passed her birth weight. She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. on Monday (11/16/09) and 7 lbs. 15 oz. today! (11/19/09) They aren't worried any more!!

Eliza is sleeping and eating well. We hope you enjoy all of these pictures as much as we have!

November 13-19, 2009

Candy Land

This weekend I got out our new game of Candy Land. I don't know how long I have had it, but I figured the boys were old enough to try it now. They were very excited to play. It was a little bit frustrating to play with Daniel, but Bradley caught on quickly. After playing one round it was time for bed. We started cleaning up, but Bradley didn't want to go to bed. He wouldn't put his blue ginger bread man in the box. This is the conversations that Andy had with him trying to convince him to put the blue man in the box.

Dad: My name is Mr. Green man. I am tired! I am going to bed in the box.
Bradley: I am not tired.
Dad: Hey Mr. Yellow man. Do you want to play with me in the box? Yes I do Mr. Green man.
Bradley: (Giggles)
Dad: Mr. Blue man do you want to play with us too?
Bradley: No! Mr. Blue man is sick! He can't play.

We were both amazed at his creative and logical answer! Eventually we got him to put his piece away and get ready for bed. Sometimes I wonder what to do with him! He is cute, so I think we will just keep him. :)

Halloween Randomness

At our ward Halloween Party they had a pie eating contest. Andy did pretty good until he got pie in his nose and couldn't breath!

Checking out where the competition was.

Getting started!

They had play equipment set up on the stage for the kids to play with. Bradley and Daniel played on the toys all night. I could only get Bradley and Daniel to play two of the carnival games that were set up. Bradley won at the milk can throw.

Daniel loved the cup cake walk. He wanted them to keep playing the music so that he could run around the circle. He didn't even care about the cup cakes!

Elvis made an entrance.

Daniel with the Pest control.

Our cousins

Daniel at the cake walk.

A couple of Andy's scouts.

Diana & Airplane Scott

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Cup Cake Decorating: We got some cupcakes from Playgroup on Friday to decorate, but since we were so tired we had to take them home and decorated them on Saturday.

Daniel was more interested in the eating of the cupcakes than the decorating of the cup cakes.

Bradley had lots of fun decorating the cupcakes. Who doesn't love baby chocolate chips and sprinkles!

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Photo Shoot:

Saturday morning the boys played for over an hour before they came to find us. They found the camera and did a photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites.

You can tell we weren't up because Daniel isn't in his room and he still has his binki!

I guess they were practicing close ups on body parts in preparation for our Baby Girl!

Following the photo shoot I found that the little screen on the back on the camera no longer works. It will still take picture, but you have to look threw the small window at the top and you can't see the picture until you change it to the viewing setting. Just another reason why we need a new one!

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Bradley at playgroup. Some of the kids dressed up for playgroup. Bradley was excited to get into his costume, but I couldn't talk Daniel into dressing up.

October 30-31, 2009

Carving Pumpkins

We got together with our cousins and some friends the Saturday before Halloween to carve pumpkins. It was lots of fun and the kids did very well together. After looking at the pictures I am reminded again of how badly we need a new camera!

Here are all the kids watching a movie. This was at the end of the night and they were all muddy! They were so cute!
The Magic School Bus kept their attention very well!

Pumpkin Cookies are very tasty!

Bradley, Aiden & Daniel couldn't resist the sand box even though there were mosquito's every where!!!

We had to move the carving party inside since we were getting eaten alive outside.

The master carvers!

Airplane Scott is back and we enjoyed getting to visit with him. The boys quickly put him to work helping them with their pumpkins.

Grace & Anna cleaning out their pumpkins.

Ben with his personality shirt! He is so cute.

Diana supervising the pumpkin designing.

Bradley wanted a skeleton pumpkin. Dr. Scott drew the face and Dad carved it. Turned out pretty cute.

Aiden & his dad Joe working on their pumpkin's face.

Getting started on the pumpkins. All of the kids had lots of ideas about what they wanted. The trick was getting ideas down on the pumpkins.

We had lots of fun and fortunately no one got hurt during the carving process.

October 24, 2009

Baby Shower

My cousin Angie threw a combined baby shower for a friend, Diana, and myself. Diana is due the day before me with her first. We are both having little girls!! Here are a few pictures of the shower and those in attendance. Unfortunately my camera doesn't take very good pictures indoors. (However, I am pretty well acquainted with Santa and I know for a fact that we are getting a new one!)

Diana opening presents.
Maria, her friend, and Cathryn
The refreshments were delicious! Thanks again Angie!!

We did play a matching game. We had to match different phrases with each other. There were candies to go with each phrase. The one I got was "Baby name dilemma" and a "Whatchamacallit" was the corresponding candy bar. It was lots of fun!

Me opening presents. I may have to steal some pictures from Diana. I know someone was taking pictures with her camera. Until then, enjoy the blurry pictures!

Oct. 14, 2009

Baby Update:

A couple people have asked for more updates on the baby, and since her arrival is rapidly approaching I thought I had better get a move on it and post something. For the most part this pregnancy has been pretty good just like the first two. The morning sickness did last a little bit longer this time, but was gone by about 18 weeks. We went in at 20 weeks to find out what we were having and the tech. wouldn't tell us for sure one way of another.

Part of it was that they were training a new tech and it took her a long time to get all the pictures the Radiologists wanted, so by the time the instructor took over the baby didn't want to cooperate anymore. My appointment lasted almost an hour and a half! They were kind enough to let me go to the bathroom during that time, but by the end they couldn't get a clear shot of the spinal cord or between the legs. The tech kept saying, "I don't see anything that looks like a boy." I asked if that meant that we were having a girl, and he would respond, "That's not what I said...I don't see anything that looks like a boy." Finally he gave me 50-50 odds. I told him I could give me those odds before the appointment, so he changed it to 60-40 odds. I had to come in the next week so they could get a look at the spinal chord, so I just went with that.

The next week I had a different tech who was fabulous! She had been doing ultrasounds for like 15 years, and she was able to get a very clear shot between the legs. We are definitely having a little girl!! We told the boys they were going to get a little sister and they were and still are very excited.

I had to take the glucose test early since they found some sugar in my blood work the first go round. The early test showed that my levels were normal, but that didn't get me out of the 28 week glucose test! That test also came back normal, but they found that my platelets and iron were slightly low. They suggested I eat more iron and protein rich foods, and get my blood drawn again in 4 weeks. At 32 weeks I had my blood drawn again and the iron levels were back up, but my platelets had dropped little bit again. They wanted me to have my blood drawn again in 2 weeks to keep an eye on the platelets. At 34 weeks, after my trip to Hawaii, my platelets had come up a little, so they felt good about that. I felt good about that too, and NO I didn't tell them I was going to Hawaii at 33-34 weeks along. I wanted to go and enjoy some time with just Andy. We had lots of fun and I only had some good contractions a couple times, none of which were on the plane. I just laid around the hotel room for a while and they went away!

Anyway, Baby Girl, as Bradley and Daniel call her, is growing just like she should. She did drop at 33 weeks just before my Hawaii trip, but she is still hanging in there. Our goal is to make it past Halloween, and then she can come anytime. A couple people have let me know what day would work best for them for her to be born and I have advised her, but ultimately it is up to her!

As for me, I am doing pretty good. There are some days that I feel more tired than others and on those days Bradley will say to me, "Mom, is your baby telling you to take a nap." He is such a perceptive little kid! I have had a few different aches and pains with this pregnancy and more problems with my hands and feet swelling, but I have a wonderful husband who can be talked into rubbing my feet when they are the worst. I am sure it isn't his favorite thing to do, but he is willing to help out his favorite wife! :)

I have entered the nesting period. I have been reorganizing and getting things cleaned for her arrival. I felt time was running out after everyone at the baby shower kept saying they hoped I didn't have a Halloween baby. That was great motivation for me! Now the boys have an overnight bag packed, just in case, and the baby and I do too. I made Andy vacuum out the car and install the base to her car seat this weekend, and I have pretty much all of the baby accessories cleaned and ready to be used. I am not having a lot of what I would call false labor yet, but it never hurts to be prepared. Now the only big thing left to do is figure out a name! Baby Girl will only work for a short period of time.

I do realize that I haven't posted hardly any pictures of me and I promise to do that. My sister Bethany said that she was glad she got to see me since she had never seen my pregnant before. Most of my family has never seen me this far a long before, so I will sent some pictures. I haven't been good to take pictures of me sideways a long the way, but the end is what everyone really wants to see anyway. Until the next post...I hope everyone has a great weekend!

NO Wheels!

This first picture is just cute! The boys share a full sized bed to sleep on. They do very well together. Occasionally we find them spread out all over the place in all kinds of funny positions. They were pretty tired after spending time riding up and down the back porch!

We found this little bike for Bradley at a yard sale. It is pretty used, but it works and is the right size. The training wheels were so bent that Bradley had to be leaning pretty far to the side for them to even touch the ground. He loves to ride and recently he would say, "Look Dad, I am riding in the middle." He was riding with out using the training wheels! Then on Wednesday one of the training wheels fell off, so Andy decided to take the other one off as well. We both thought it was time. Bradley was a little bit nervous at first but did very well and caught on quickly.

The pictures are a little bit blurry because our camera is just about dead! It is a good thing that Black Friday is coming soon!!

It only took Bradley about a day to figure out how to get on his bike and start pedalling with out any help. He was get frustrated some times and come in the house and tell me how angry he was. Then he would calm down and go back out to practice. He is really good now and has taken a couple long bike rides with Dad. We love that our Dad has had two four day weekends in a row! We are getting spoiled!!

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This is Bradley riding his bike the very first time without the training wheels. I am not sure who was the most excited, Bradley, Daniel or Dad!