Babies, birthdays, christmas days.. oh my!

Yeah, we haven't been busy....

BABY SAMUEL IS HERE!!!!!

He arrived on January 2nd at 2:57 a.m. Mommy went into labor at around 12:30 that night (or I guess that morning), so as you can imagine labor was fast, hard and unimaginably painful. But... we all survived, and I am very proud to have had my natural VBAC as I had wanted and prepared for. We are home and doing well.

Time is short, and we are tired people right now, so I won't be writing too much more about the experience until later, along with more pictures of this sweet new guy, and also pics of Elliotts 4th birthday (I know, I still can't believe it either), and Christmas morning.

Loves and well wishes.

December 20th...

Elliott is taking a nap. I shoudl be, but the energy I have today will not permit it. I think I have cleaned the kitchen 6 times now.. what else is there to clean in here?! I am about to climb up on a chair and wash the ceiling in the bathroom.. but I won't. I want to.. but I won't.

Finals were this week. Didn't even make it into math class for the test Friday. Thursday night was the biggest false labor alarm we have had.. just about everyone was ready to head out to the hospital... then, the contractions came to a dead stop. Well, not completely. Had a few good ones wake me up through the night. By morning, things seemed back to normal, but with the storm of doom on its way into town, I decided to lie low and chill at home. This 'false labor' stuff has been quite a ride. My darling doula says I am a rare exception that most women wish they were though... instead of hours of hard labor to get to were I am at (4cm, 80 % effaced - if not more after the other night).. I am doing it gently over a months time! :) It helps keep a positive perspective on the whole situation. At least maybe labor will be short?... Hopefully not too short though.. depending on the time it happens. Oh man.. just a few more days to weeks away... think days.. but, weeks is ok too. Its what it should be....

37.5 weeks

I can't believe Christmas is almost here! Elliott is getting the whole Santa thing this year. He is just as excited for daddys to get his presents under the tree as he is for his own..lol! Such a sweet guy.

Alright, its time I get off of this thing. See you sooner than later...

Hair cut for X-mas

As heart breaking as it was to see my sons gorgeous locks drop to the floor, we decided to give him a haircut for X-mas. Well, it is really a kind-of X-mas gift for all the old folks in the family....lol! Anyways, he is still adorable as ever.. see:

Hahaha! Oh my boy.. waiting on some pics from aunt Lisa of Elliott and Mason and Charlie together. What a bunch of handsome kids we have.

Well, just a week left of school. I have absolutely no motivation to finish up my finals, but, I guess I have to. There are more importnat thing I would rather do, like, ..sleep, fold baby clothes, refold baby clothes...lol!

Nice big storm we are having outside. Got a ton of snow yesterday too. Dad left just in time. He came out for the week.. (((SO nice to see you dad!!!!))) I told him its kind of pointless to leave since he will just have to turn right back around once he gets there so he can come see Samuel... :)

Ok. Time to work on finals I guess.

new car and false labor...

This is not going to be the most exciting post, but i figure i havent updated for awhile and should...

Well, I have 1 month left til Sammy makes his big arrival... I have been dealing with false labor for almost 3 weeks now.. not very fun. But, it is slowly geting things moving along and preparing my body and mind, so... I thought he was coming last Tuesday, but, it was just a teaser. A VERY uncomfortable one. I am glad he is still inside, cookin away to be a healthy guy. I have more hypnobirth practice ahead, plus school in still in session for another week.

Well, the POS Mitsubishi finally had its last run.. so we got ourselves a 'new' car. 06 Nissan Sentra (what else would we get, right?). Awesome little car. I would include pics, but, unless I HAVE to, I dont go up and down those stairs anymore. Even getting up off a chair throws me into a bout of contractions.

I started seeing a chiropractor, and wow has that made a difference in my confort. Sammy has more room to move around and he dropped signifigantly after my last visit. Midwife says she doesnt think I will make it to term, but, we will see. It took hell to get this little boy, I can only imagine it will be just as rough getting him out. Have another appointment tomorrow to see how things have progressed. I am nervous, and anxious, and excited... natural birth.. the birth of my new son.. OMG! SO much to be overwhelmed with.. in a good good way.

Beaner is holding on by a thin string. We have exhausted every resource to 'fix' her, though there really is no fixing her problem, just trying to keep her comfortable, and we even lost that battle. So, it is up to her to let us know when she is done fighting. For now she still loves like crazy, eats like a pig, and has found her place in Elliotts room.

The tree is up, lights in the windows, and we got a nice snow yesterday. I might actually feel the Xmas spirit before it is all over. Dad is in town, so that makes me very happy!!

Ok, pictures next time... whenever that may be.

Oh, and Depeche Mode is working on a new album! AAAAHHHHHHHHH YEAH!!

Halloween

Here is Elliott. Dressed as Link from the videogame Zelda. His costume could have been a lot cooler, but something told me not to try too hard. Good thing I listened.. You should have seen the fight just to get him to wear it. We eventually got him to go trick-or-treating with aunt Lisa, Aunt Sharon, Rick and the boys. I would have loved to go with, but walking tends to get my BH contractions going, which is accompanied by shooting pain and fire down my legs... so, I sat at g-mas and did my math homework. He went to one house, got some DOTS, then came back and told me he wanted to go home........ huh. Maybe next year.

Well, we FINALLY HAVE INSURANCE!! Yeah, talk about being excited!!!!! What a load of stress off! Of course, we are still planning a natural birth... I tell ya, its getting a bit scarier the closer we get. 9 more weeks.... Having a tough time finding time to practice my relaxation/ hypnobirth exercises. I have just about 1 week left of my online class, then I can start making time for myself! wow.. that will be an interesting thing. I really can't wait for this semester to end. December 19th... hurry and get here. And Samuel too... but not too soon. Elliot predicts Samule will be coming on the 24th of December, and that he will have brown hair/ eyes.. hmm, maybe one of our kids will look like a Cameron after all... :P

Well, I need to lie down.. somehow. Sitting for too long is getting to be a real pain.. literally. Well, so is everything. Ciao.

October

YEAH! Fall is finally here! October is always my favorite month. Ian and I just celebrated our 6 year anniversary!! With help from some very loved family members, we were able to finally celebrate an anniversary together this year doing something extra special. We booked ourselves a very cool room up in Park City, with a fireplace and skylight, so at night we could lie in bed and look up at the moon and stars. It was so nice just to be somewhere else....... and just us two! Well, 3 if you really think about it!! We are almost 7 months a long already! Samuel is already showing just how extremely different he is than Eliiott. I really didn't know babies could sit so low and kick in the places he does! Ellioot was always high up and kicking up into my ribs... little Samuel, .. I swear a foot is just gonna pop out from down below one day!! LOL! Ah, he is so sweet.. I know that already. He really loves his daddy.. he is most active when Ian is home... I am talking hours. *** During our stay at the hotel in P.C., I an decided to take some really great prego pics of me .. he is so talented:

Elliott still isn't quite sure if he is ready for a little brother. Somedays he likes to tell everyone about him, ask what he is doing, what he likes to eat, and even sings to him. Then there are days that he tells me he doesn't want to be a big brother.. he just wants to be a kid...lol! Whatever that means. I am a bit worried about how the adjusting will be.... He is so used to being the only buddy around. .... Yesterday it snowed and man was he excited! He keeps telling me its Christmas now. ... Grandma Gloria is helping me make his costume for Halloween.. he is going to be Link from Zelda. He is so excited, though when we went to grandmas to try on the costume, he decided he didn't want it to be Halloween anymore.. I think once he sees other kids dressed up he will have more fun. He gets to wear his costume to school on Halloween, then we are taking him trick-or-treating for the first time in G. Glorias neighborhood. I am a little nervous that he is gonna get scared.. but at least we will try! Oh, he is such a wonderful boy! His favorite thing to do lately is write and read letters.. he will do it for hours! He is getting very good at them, and he is even attempting to read from his books. What a little smarty pants.

Another semester has started at school. Last semester might have been one of the toughest yet, though I still survived with a 3.7 GPA.. lowest so far.. :( But, it's better than I thought I would get.. and most of that is due to absenties anyways.. This semester has already been a rollercoaster ride. I will spare the details, but all i can say is, this school REALLY pisses me off sometimes. I have some good teachers though.. I think. My biology teacher is already tossing around some attititude.. Don't think I am gonna put up wit that much longer.... December 19 is the last day of the term, then its just a few weeks rest (maybe) until Samuel makes his grand appearance. We are starting our hypnobirthing classes this week.., and still planning on a natural birth. I do have a feeling that he might come early.. not by much, I hope, .. and maybe I am wrong. But I knew Elliott was not coming on his due date, and he didn't. We will see. Either way, as long as he is healthy when he gets here, I will be happy.

half way there...

... well, a little over half... we are about 22 weeks now into this pregnancy.

Feeling great besides this awful head cold that came out of nowhere. This baby boy ( another boy!!! :) ) is a lot quieter than his brother was, until daddy is around, or when I lay down at night. Then it is like a circus show in my belly. His favorite thing is using my bladder as a trampoline.

Since we found out we were pregnant, I have been preparing for another boy, though everyone else thought or hoped for a girl. We had a name picked out for a girl, but the boy name .. no idea. After we found out he was a he... my mind was swimming. I had been looking names on line, tkaing suggestions .. nothing sounded right.. nothign 'clicked'. Then as I was blow drying my hair, a name passed through my mind, and I could almost see the face that went with it, and I knew it was this little boys name. Samuel. Samuel Arthur (my dads middle name). Perfect.

Oh my lord, I cant wait to meet this little guy and hold him in my arms!!!!!

This school semester is almost over. Got lots of stuff to do for my finals. We get 8 days off, then return back for Fall semester. That will go until December 13.... gives me jut about a month to really get ready for Samuel, due around the 6th-ish if January. Oh! And I might be starting an internship next semester for a wonderful lady who owns her own interior design firm. I used to house sit for her when I worked at the vet clinics. I really look up to her. Very strong and smart lady. So we will see what pans out.

So far we still dont have insurance.... There was some miscommunication (long story.) at Ians work, so we wont be getting it until November, and we still arent sure if I will be covered for this pregnancy. We are looking into some alternatives just in case, and might even consider doing a home birth with a midwife. No matter what, this baby is coming, so we just need to figure out the safest way we can do it. Unfortunetly it really cuts down the amount of doc visits, etc... I 'need'.. but everything seems ok, so I guess its no big deal. The family pulled together and helped us pay for the ultrasound on Wednesday.. something we are massively grateful for, and deeply touched. Thank you again everyone.

Well, I gotta get back to school work. More updates as we go along...