Natural childbirth part 1: Baby birth is serious business!

Hey there my lovely followers!(or the empty space I pretend to be filled with followers.) I thought it would be a good time to share my natural birth story while the details are still fresh in my mommy-brain. Come along with me on the journey of the hardest and coolest thing I've ever done.

Hurry up and wait!!!
 I had an "induction" scheduled for the day, we weren't your usual induction scenario though. On Tuesday I had an appointment with my doctor and she informed me that Dexters head wasn't "engaged" yet. (This is doctor speak for 'the baby is still floating around in his watery paradise') I was pretty frustrated with that news. My pelvis had been giving me more problems than ever before and even my normal daily activities were becoming impossible. My doctor felt the baby was ready even though I was only 39 weeks along so we made a plan. We scheduled the induction but before we started anything she would check to make sure his head had dropped. If it had, she would break my water. If it hadn't we would wait.


So it's wednesday morning and I am waiting on the call from the doctor. We all went about our normal business. Richard went to work, caydance went to school, and I got pretty for the day! (OK that last one wasn't the usual but I figure it's a good way to kill time and couldn't possibly hurt.) It was about 11 am and I decided to have a bowl of cereal and wait for them to tell me that today wasn't the day. Just then the phone rang and they told me to head over. I arranged for our roommate James to take Caydance to school and watch Athena. I called my mother-in-law Reata who was supposed to drive me and we headed out.


I must go off on a tangent here for a minute, so please forgive me, but I feel like the best memories come from the unexpected moments of the day. Reata, my dear dear mother-in-law, was a crazy driver. I'm talking I feared for my life at moments LOL. She tried turning left into on coming traffic and took the wrong freeway exit leading us in the opposite direction of the hospital. All the while talking loudly over her LOUD car engine that we compared to the sound of a helicopter. It was hysterical! Needless to say, she got me there in one piece. The doctor did her little lookie-loo check and informed us excitedly that it was in fact BABY DAY!!!

Last Minute Madness
Can I just say that I am amazed that people just spontaneously go into labor? There are so many little details to attend to like babysitters, bags, labor coaches, husbands leaving work, camera memory cards. . . .I could go on for days. Anyway, we were mostly prepared so I only had to make a few calls. The 1st call went to Richards work to let them know I was "in labor" and to let him leave.(This was followed immediately by a call directly to Richard to tell him to go to the grocery store for snacks and to buy a memory card for the camera. Poor guy had a LOT on his plate!) The 2nd call went to my mom. She was going to finish her lunch and shopping with Nana and then head up. (That woman knows how to manage time like nobodys business.) I called my dad to arrange pick up for the girls. And I called the school to let Caydance know what to do. Lastly I called Teressa, my sister-in-law/labor coach/amazing cave woman. ***** DEEP BREATH***** ok NOW we can have a baby.

A Wife, A Mother, and A Child.

I feel I should let you know before reading that this post doesn't match the lighthearted and comical warm fuzziness of my usual post. This one is going to be sad. It's OK if you don't read it. I mostly just needed a place to put down the things in my head. Thanks.

I found out yesterday that my dear friend is now counting down the moments she has left with her mother. You see, her mother has been very ill and her amazing spirit is leaving us far earlier than anyone could have expected. I couldn't have known how this would make me feel as her friend and honestly don't want to imagine how it must be for her.

 I was given this statue a few years back by my ex-husbands family. It has always made me smile thinking of that special magic I have with my children. That bond between mother and child that lasts so much longer than the time they are physically connected to our bodies. Today it's making me think of how my heart feels for this friend of mine and her mother. It's as though every piece of my heart breaks for them for different reasons.

My friend heart aches at the fact that aside from being present and available there is nothing you can do for someone in a time like this. No way to fix it, or help them, or ease their pain for even just a moment. It seems like some horrible curse that we are able to find people in our lives that we love and care for so much but that when they could really use our help most we have so little to offer.

My daughter heart has trouble imagining at a young 25 how I could possibly finish out the rest of my years without my mother? At least a bigger chunk of them. The bond she has with her mother is so strong and always amazes me how the strength never changes through distance. Whether she is in the basement of her mothers house or thousands of miles away their bond remains as strong as ever. I hope in my heart of hearts that a bond like that can span the heavens. That the feeling of closeness and love and best friend-ship doesn't require you be on the same planes of existence because I can't bear the idea of anything less.

My wife heart thinks 30ish years just isn't enough. It's not enough time to say all the things you want to say, dream all the dreams you want to dream, and give all the love you have in your heart. When you vow to love someone for the rest of your lives, as I recently did, you just expect that time to be so much longer. What a bittersweet thing it must be to have had so many great years with the person you love but to be be unjustly robbed of what the future may have held.

My mother heart. I think this may be the hardest one of all. How do you have these amazing children, children that have accomplished HUGE things, yet so very little in the big picture of things, and find peace while knowing that you will be leaving them? I think that is a feat that must require the assistance of a being much greater than ourselves. Please let that be the case. That there is some way to find peace in knowing that you have raised them to be outstanding people with big hearts and big dreams and smarts for miles. That they will go on to do the things you hoped and wished for them and that they will carry you everyday in their hearts.

I've never been a religious person. But I send all my love and light their way. That their remaining moments be as pain free and joyous as possible. I know anyone who reads this will do the same.

My camera was Hi-jacked!!

It was June 11, 2011 and Richard and I were headed out for our week-long honeymoon. We had to stop and fill up the gas tank at Smiths before hitting the road. So while Richard pumped the gas (What?!?! It's HIS job, don't judge me!) I decided to take a look through the camera. You see, the camera was at the wedding but we didn't know if anyone had taken any pictures with it.

Boy did I get a surprise! Richard got in the car and I was laughing so hard I was near tears. When he asked what was so funny I handed him the camera. The girls had stolen the camera and taken over 100 pictures of themselves and their world.

 A couple of very cute close ups!

Some Facebook style photos or ones they took of eachother!

There were about thirty pictures they took of their TV playing snow white while they watched.

And lastly I found possibly the sweetest most heart-melting picture ever.

Honestly! How could I have been mad that they stole the camera?!

Our very first family vacation!

In January Richard had a long 3 day weekend. These things almost never happen. So we took advantage and decided to take our first ever family vacation to sunny St. George! (Hey, baby steps people!)

The girls had never been on drive this long before. In fact, they think the hour long trip to Papa D's house is REALLY far away. We did our best to prepare accordingly. We packed lots of snacks and drinks and got some portable DVD players to keep them occupied. (Truth be told, these were promptly wrapped in their original packaging and returned to the nearest Walmart when we got back to town. Shhhh!)

They did surprisingly well! I was impressed. I think the only whining happened literally 2 minutes from our destination.

Richard drove a large chunk of the time and was obviously a little tired by the end. We had a lot of fun doing our thing though. We got to talk a lot and sing loudly to our favorite songs. I think long drives in the car are some of my favorite times with him.

We stayed with Richards sister Teressa (one of my favorite people) and her husband David. It was a full house between us, them, their kids, and Grandma LaRue but we managed to all fit comfortably. We spent some downtime while the kids all played together. Us women watched the food network and took naps while the men played video games. After all that resting we got out of the house and did some awesome hiking.

Seriously, this guy is such a hunk! He climbed up every scary looking, super high thing he could find and then stood on it just like this.

 Caydance tried to find every hole that she could climb up to and then sit in so that I could take her picture.

Athena really liked the running and hiking part but was more mellow when it came to climbing. She stuck by her Richard most of the time.

The weather was amazing. It was January and I was hiking in a tank top without any complaints. It was in the high 50's and sunny. I talked about how great it would be to live there. When I went back in June I realized that when you start that warm you can only get more and more hot. Blech!

Discovery Gateway farewell trip

Forgive me. These posts are gonna be out of order for a bit but I want to get up all the pictures and stories.

Christmas 2009 Mom and Rog gave our family a one year membership to the Discovery Gateway childrens museum. Richard had recently taken on a lot of responsibility with the girls and they thought it would be a good way for him to spend time with them and make some memories. They must have already known we were destined to be a family! (Truth behold he never went without me! LOL)

Well January 2011 rolls around and we decided to get one more trip in before our membership expired.
For those of you reading this that have never been to the Discovery Gateway, I highly recommend it. My kids will spend all day here if I let them. They may even consider moving in. I only have pictures of the one area they seem to focus on which is this little land for little people so they can feel big.

 

One of their favorite parts is the grocery store. While there you can just shop, buy your groceries, and take them home. (We will cover that in a minute)

 Another option is to put on an apron and take over one of the many jobs available in the store. 

Caydance is a big fan of stocking shelves. I think she gets some kind of happiness about everything being in it's place, I just haven't found out how to transfer the concept to her bedroom at home!

Athena really likes to be the cashier playing with the cash register and bagging the groceries. She doesn't spend much of her time in this are though.

 

Another hot zone for the girls is the little house. I would say Caydance spends 80% of her time in this area. She is a future domestic goddess I am sure of it. 

 

She carefully pulls each item out of her bag , analyzes it, and decides it's proper place in the kitchen. Occasionally she finds something another child has left in a place she deems inappropriate and spends a few minutes talking about how silly it is and "EVERYONE knows _____ goes in the ______!!"

Athena spends her time in the house looking in the fridge and making endless (seriously) food for her mom and Richard to eat. She also likes to play with the baby dolls and do the occasional vacuuming. She liked it so much that we made this her chore at home, apparently she doesn't love it as much as she though.

The final area of interest is the water cycle exploration table. This is where it's at for Athena. There are all types of tubes and tunnels to put ping pong balls in and see where they go. Also splashing is not only allowed but more or less encouraged so the potential for fun is THAT much greater.

Our family gift in 2010 was a membership to the zoo that we haven't activated yet. I was feeling a little guilty about it but then I realized the later we do it in the year the later it carries into the next. That means not only will little Dexter be able to join us but we will be able to see the new polar bear exhibit that is supposed to open next summer!

Let's play the blog catch up game!

The last time I blogged I was barely engaged to the amazing guy that is now my husband. A lot has happened between then and now but things got a little crazy busy! (and I got more than a little lazy some days too!) Let's get you guys caught up with some stories and pictures!

Caydance turned 5!(This kid grows WAY too fast!)

I have to start by saying this was by far my least favorite birthday party I have EVER thrown for one of the girls. Everything was taken care of as part of the package (which was SO pricey) and it left me feeling like the party lacked that special sparkle I always try to create on their special day. I also felt totally out of control and rushed. That being said, the kids all had a fabulous time!

We had the party at Jungle Jims playland, a place where her mommy and aunts had celebrated many birthdays back in their day. Everyone feasted on pizza and soda and that got hours of playtime and game tokens. The cake was made by The Fabulous Grandma Trish and was a dress up chest. She even made it Caydance's requested flavor, which I want to say was chocolate strawberry, but my prego brain is a little fuzzy. My mother is seriously talented.

 Caydance and her cousin Tukker riding the merry-go-round.

I had to post this pic of Mr. Mav. What is that face? LOL

 Caydance got seated with this boy she didn't know and they chatted just like this through the whole ride!

 Snuggles with Grandma Reata

 Landon and Gracie on the rocket ships!

 Hanging with her 2 non-related friends on the rollercoaster!

 Dallas and Mav on the spaceships

 I think they were pretending to be the drama/comedy masks. . .

 Hanging with Grandma Trish and Grandpa Rog

 Mav the tank trying to break the pinata

Finally breaking it open with some help from "Step-dad".