Guess what. Having two kids is kind of time intensive. I am really amazed by my friends that consistently update their blogs. I even have a friend who is a mother of twins that updates hers at least once a week, though usually more. You rock Val.
I know that I have posted a few times about how I was going to try to post more and nothing ever came of it. Pathetic, I know. This time I am getting my dear husband involved. He has agreed to remind me to post when The kids are asleep or when one is, he will watch the baby. We'll just have to see if this works, I guess.
I have decided to devote this post to something that is easy to talk about. Can I just tell you all how much I love being a mom? It is the hardest thing that I have ever done, by far, but it is the best. I don't think that I ever could have imagined just what it would be like. The other day I made a mental list of all the things that I love about it, and it was pretty long. Here is a condensed version:
1. My children are truly the cutest children in this world. I know that most moms believe this, but I really do. I don't think that it would be possible to convince me otherwise.
2. I get to play with toys again. Ethan loves when I make car noises or stack blocks.
3. My kids think that I am funny. I can be my dorky self and they just love it. My boys laughs are the best.
4. Impromptu dance parties in the living room. 'Nuff said.
5. Children remind you that the world is amazing. They are experiencing everything for the first time, so everything is so wonderful and exciting to them. It is good to remember these things.
6. There is nothing more peaceful and serene than the face of a sleeping child. I love to hold my babies while they sleep.
7. I get to see my husband be sweet, fun, and helpful to my kids. They adore him. It is so great to watch.
8. I get to work on all of my weaknesses, like patience. I mean this one. I need all the help that I can get. I want to be a better person. Serving my little ones helps me with this.
Nothing on this list is glamorous, or exciting, or even very unique. Yet I have spent most of my time doing the things on this list. Isn't that wonderful?
The other things I have been doing I will use other posts to talk about (hopefully). Things like moving to Duchesne, Utah, of all places, sending siblings off on missions, and learning new things.
Till next time,
Amy
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Baby Eli is here!
Well folks today, June 12, was my due date. Was.
Thankfully, instead of being in labor right now, I am holding my sweet 2 week old son in my arms.
Everything went great, but was not according to plan at all. I shouldn't be surprised by this, since a lot of my life happens this way, but I feel better when I have a plan. I was visiting Marc's parents in Manti for Memorial Day weekend when I went into labor. The strangest part is, I was warned in a way. The night before we drove to Manti I had a dream that I was in labor at Marc's parents'. In the dream my mother-in-law said, "I guess you'll just have to have your baby at my hospital." She works as a nurse at San Pete Valley hospital. I also had felt that my baby would come early, but dismissed it as wishful thinking.
The night before I hardly slept a wink on a thin mattress. In the morning, I thought I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions until I realized they were starting to be pretty regular, 10 minutes apart. I was in denial though. I wanted to have my baby with my doctor in St. George. I wanted things to go according to plan. I kept telling everyone that it was no big deal. DENIAL.
Around 6 that evening, there was no denying it any longer. The contractions were getting more intense and now were 5 minutes apart. I told Marc, "I think this is the real thing. It actually is the real thing!" Luckily, my mother-in-law knew exactly which doctor was on call that weekend, Dr. Armstrong. Not only is he the family doctor that saw Marc growing up, but Marc is also friends with his kids. That's Manti for you. We called him at home to come to the clinic and check things out. I cried on the way there. I just kept saying, "I don't want have my baby. I'm not ready! We don't have any clothes or anything!" When Dr. Armstrong took a look, he didn't waste any time. He told Marc to drive responsibly, but that we needed to get to the hospital right away. The baby was coming whether we liked it or not!
The drive to the hospital is half an hour. I called my family and told them what was going on, and they couldn't believe it. My wonderful father helped me to stop crying about the situation by reminding me that though it wasn't according to plan, it would all be okay. He even added his new mantra: "It's just adversity." He and the rest of my family helped me to get through contractions and even made me laugh. They even called my sister in N.C. and held up the phones to each other so we could talk. Here are the pictures that they took to chronicle the situation:
We pulled into the emergency entrance and a nurse with a wheelchair was waiting. It was a slow day at the hospital, and here we came with plenty for everyone to talk about and do! We went straight to the delivery room and got down to business. Dr. Armstrong was hot on our heels, and arrived a few minutes later. A few minutes after him, my mother-in-law arrived. Dr. Armstrong said that I would be ready to push very soon. With a marvelous nurse on my left and my husband and mother-in-law on the right, the moment had come. I pushed and they all saw some red hair! About 40 minutes from admittance, we had our second son.
7 lbs even, 18 inches long. Auburn hair! Perfect.
This little guy decided to convenience everyone by coming on a holiday weekend. None of my siblings at home had to work, and they came to visit the next day, bringing Marc's sister with them. Marc had work off as well, which we had been worried that he wouldn't when the baby came. It was also great to have people to babysit Ethan while all of this was going on.
I had forgotten how much peace a newborn can bring into a home. They are just so small and sweet and sleepy. We love him so very much and look forward to getting to know his personality and see him interact with his brother.
Thankfully, instead of being in labor right now, I am holding my sweet 2 week old son in my arms.
Everything went great, but was not according to plan at all. I shouldn't be surprised by this, since a lot of my life happens this way, but I feel better when I have a plan. I was visiting Marc's parents in Manti for Memorial Day weekend when I went into labor. The strangest part is, I was warned in a way. The night before we drove to Manti I had a dream that I was in labor at Marc's parents'. In the dream my mother-in-law said, "I guess you'll just have to have your baby at my hospital." She works as a nurse at San Pete Valley hospital. I also had felt that my baby would come early, but dismissed it as wishful thinking.
The night before I hardly slept a wink on a thin mattress. In the morning, I thought I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions until I realized they were starting to be pretty regular, 10 minutes apart. I was in denial though. I wanted to have my baby with my doctor in St. George. I wanted things to go according to plan. I kept telling everyone that it was no big deal. DENIAL.
Around 6 that evening, there was no denying it any longer. The contractions were getting more intense and now were 5 minutes apart. I told Marc, "I think this is the real thing. It actually is the real thing!" Luckily, my mother-in-law knew exactly which doctor was on call that weekend, Dr. Armstrong. Not only is he the family doctor that saw Marc growing up, but Marc is also friends with his kids. That's Manti for you. We called him at home to come to the clinic and check things out. I cried on the way there. I just kept saying, "I don't want have my baby. I'm not ready! We don't have any clothes or anything!" When Dr. Armstrong took a look, he didn't waste any time. He told Marc to drive responsibly, but that we needed to get to the hospital right away. The baby was coming whether we liked it or not!
The drive to the hospital is half an hour. I called my family and told them what was going on, and they couldn't believe it. My wonderful father helped me to stop crying about the situation by reminding me that though it wasn't according to plan, it would all be okay. He even added his new mantra: "It's just adversity." He and the rest of my family helped me to get through contractions and even made me laugh. They even called my sister in N.C. and held up the phones to each other so we could talk. Here are the pictures that they took to chronicle the situation:
We pulled into the emergency entrance and a nurse with a wheelchair was waiting. It was a slow day at the hospital, and here we came with plenty for everyone to talk about and do! We went straight to the delivery room and got down to business. Dr. Armstrong was hot on our heels, and arrived a few minutes later. A few minutes after him, my mother-in-law arrived. Dr. Armstrong said that I would be ready to push very soon. With a marvelous nurse on my left and my husband and mother-in-law on the right, the moment had come. I pushed and they all saw some red hair! About 40 minutes from admittance, we had our second son.
7 lbs even, 18 inches long. Auburn hair! Perfect.
This little guy decided to convenience everyone by coming on a holiday weekend. None of my siblings at home had to work, and they came to visit the next day, bringing Marc's sister with them. Marc had work off as well, which we had been worried that he wouldn't when the baby came. It was also great to have people to babysit Ethan while all of this was going on.
I had forgotten how much peace a newborn can bring into a home. They are just so small and sweet and sleepy. We love him so very much and look forward to getting to know his personality and see him interact with his brother.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
OOOPS!
Oh boy.
I promised that I would post so much more often. It hasn't happened.
How embarrassing.
I have composed a few posts that I didn't publish, but they don't count. So I will attempt to fill you in on what is going on. My friend Val told me that it doesn't have to be perfect to post, I just need to do it. She is right. I just need to post without trying to get it just so each time. That will take the pressure off.
Good news tidbit #1: Marc got a job, and another job!
Okay, so that no one is confused, no he didn't already have one. He has a paid internship with the USU extension, but once the funds are gone, he is done. Ever since we moved down here, he has been trying to find something that will add to his internship hours and will carry on when he is done. He was blessed to get two. One is as a teller at Wells Fargo, and the other is as a counselor at a non profit called Colored Country Community Housing. He works 25 hours a week at the first, 20 at the second, and still teaches a class and some other things for the USU extension. He is a busy guy!
Good news tidbit #2: Ethan is sleeping on a toddler bed!
I wanted to have Ethan used to sleeping on a bed before the baby came, and expected it to be a difficult transition. I imagined to myself the extreme sleep deprivation that occurs with a newborn getting up every few hours being compounded by a toddler who is now sleeping on a bed that he can get out of. The very first day that we had the bed (thanks Anjanae!) Ethan played on it most of the day. When bedtime came Marc suggested that we have him sleep on it, that Ethan seemed to want to sleep on it. I was pretty nervous. I didn't think that he was ready. Marc was right. He slept on it all night without getting up or falling off, and has ever since! It is SUCH a relief to have that out of the way.
Good news tidbit #3: My brother put in his mission papers!
It is so surreal that my baby brother, who is 7 years younger, is going to go on a mission. I can't believe that he is that old! He should have his call in a couple of weeks, but I haven't speculated about where he will go. There are just so many missions in the world now, it could be anywhere. I am excited for him because I know that he will be a good missionary. He is such a solid, faithful person. I love him so much!
In other news, my belly continues to grow with the baby. We are so excited to have another person in our family! I truly don't mind being pregnant, no matter how big and uncomfortable I get. I just get excited when I think of my sweet Eli coming along. I just love my boys!
Well, TTFN, hopefully I will post again really soon.
I promised that I would post so much more often. It hasn't happened.
How embarrassing.
I have composed a few posts that I didn't publish, but they don't count. So I will attempt to fill you in on what is going on. My friend Val told me that it doesn't have to be perfect to post, I just need to do it. She is right. I just need to post without trying to get it just so each time. That will take the pressure off.
Good news tidbit #1: Marc got a job, and another job!
Okay, so that no one is confused, no he didn't already have one. He has a paid internship with the USU extension, but once the funds are gone, he is done. Ever since we moved down here, he has been trying to find something that will add to his internship hours and will carry on when he is done. He was blessed to get two. One is as a teller at Wells Fargo, and the other is as a counselor at a non profit called Colored Country Community Housing. He works 25 hours a week at the first, 20 at the second, and still teaches a class and some other things for the USU extension. He is a busy guy!
Good news tidbit #2: Ethan is sleeping on a toddler bed!
I wanted to have Ethan used to sleeping on a bed before the baby came, and expected it to be a difficult transition. I imagined to myself the extreme sleep deprivation that occurs with a newborn getting up every few hours being compounded by a toddler who is now sleeping on a bed that he can get out of. The very first day that we had the bed (thanks Anjanae!) Ethan played on it most of the day. When bedtime came Marc suggested that we have him sleep on it, that Ethan seemed to want to sleep on it. I was pretty nervous. I didn't think that he was ready. Marc was right. He slept on it all night without getting up or falling off, and has ever since! It is SUCH a relief to have that out of the way.
Good news tidbit #3: My brother put in his mission papers!
It is so surreal that my baby brother, who is 7 years younger, is going to go on a mission. I can't believe that he is that old! He should have his call in a couple of weeks, but I haven't speculated about where he will go. There are just so many missions in the world now, it could be anywhere. I am excited for him because I know that he will be a good missionary. He is such a solid, faithful person. I love him so much!
In other news, my belly continues to grow with the baby. We are so excited to have another person in our family! I truly don't mind being pregnant, no matter how big and uncomfortable I get. I just get excited when I think of my sweet Eli coming along. I just love my boys!
Well, TTFN, hopefully I will post again really soon.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Introducing baby #2!
It's a...........................................
BOY!!!!
He was nice enough to stay still so we could get a good look between the legs. Very different from his older brother. At the end when we wanted to get a 3D image, he decided that enough was enough. He was wiggling and kicking, tossing and turning. What a stinker! Finally, we got this hard to decipher shot of him with a hand in his mouth.
It is exciting to be having another boy. We already have a name picked out: Eli. As my mother-in-law Korinne said "sticking with the vowels are we?" I promise that we aren't choosing this name to make life hard, though it gets tricky with an Ethan, Aiden, and Ian already in the cousin name pool.
I hope that my boys will be friends........someday. I am sure that Ethan will not like the fact that he has to share the attention around here. He really is king right now. I will try to prepare him as much as I can, but he will only be 2 when Eli comes. I'm sure that it will be a shock to his world either way.
Woohoo look at me! A post two days in a row!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Post Deprivation
My last post was in May. I visit my blog often for the links to other blogs I want to read. Each time, I feel this guilty twinge about not posting. I justifiably say, "I just don't have time to post. There is just way too much I have to catch up on. It is waaaayyy too overwhelming."
Ok, Ok, I know that this it is completely ridiculous.
The truth is, I do have some time, which I choose to use reading other people's blogs and a myriad of other things online. Basically, I waste my time much too often. I want to stop doing that, so I have kind of made it a goal of mine this year.
IT WILL BE DIFFICULT.
So, in an effort to keep myself accountable, I am promising the world out there in general that I will blog once a week. That is, until the arrival of my second child. It will get dicey again at that point, but I will do my best. I have no delusions of a large, loyal following of readers to this blog. If I have any followers, they have probably given up by now after months of post deprivation. So will pretend that you are there, and maybe a few of you will be.
The next question is, how on earth can I ever catch up on all that has happened since May? I have decided that is best for my sanity that I don't try. I will however abbreviate the two important thing in my continuing saga. (Can I say saga? Is my life that epic? Perhaps it can be once I stop wasting my time and start doing interesting things)
1. We moved to St. George!
What a great decision that was! I love it down here. We are enjoying wonderful weather, 50s, in January! We have a nice apartment for cheap, though with a few interesting neighbors. We have a great ward with a lot of friendly people in it. Part of enjoying the ward is that Ethan is in nursery now, which makes meeting and talking to people a lot easier. Marc is loving his internship. He even has some leads for jobs already! I have high hopes for us staying here.
2. We are having another baby! The due date is June 12th. I guess that is our favorite month in this family. Ethan's birthday is June 20th and our anniversary is June 28th. I told Marc that our next baby needs to be born in a different month, June is too full! Tomorrow is our ultrasound, so tune in for the news about the gender.
I think I will end with one last thing. I need to inform you all that I have the cutest son imaginable. It's official.
Even when he is naughty.
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