More photos

New photos and some old

I have not posted mostly because I use my spare time sleeping or snuggling but here are some photos to tide you over.

Hello

"Are you sure my sister should be holding me like this, I think I am slipping!"

Don't worry buddy we are always watching we know she loves you, sometimes a little too much!

The moment

All my life I dreamt of being a mother and that sweet moment when you first hold your baby in your arms. With the girls that moment took days almost a week. This was my moment of shear joy when my heart melted and I fell in love. He is perfect!

One week

My little Man I love him so much, can't you see why!

My man

Just photos of my new love.

Snuggles

The best part of having a newborn is all the snuggles!

Such a good baby

My little Damon is such a great little baby. this is his bath time, he is just chill. He is either sleeping all snuggled up, eating like he has a bottomless pit, or just chilling. He is so content. Today he broke out in a sob while I cut Brian's hair. It was all of three minutes long and when I picked him up he grabbed tight to my shirt curled up into a ball and was asleep in less than a minute. He gets worried if I go too far away. He is my little boy, he is a mamas boy already. And in case I thought he wouldn't asleep without being cuddled, last night was his record of sleeping five hours straight all cozy in his bed. He is the perfect baby, I don't know how I got so lucky.

Welcome baby Damon

Week after a very busy day on Wednesday of shopping I came home all ready for bed at 4. But instead of crashing Brian came home early and we cleaned the house. I did five loads of laundry and thought you know what instead of putting it all away I'll think ahead and pack the girls over night bags for nana and papas. Thursday morning was rough I thought I had the flu but after getting up and showered I thought I would have the girls clean the bathrooms and then cook their own lunch. Thank goodness too because starting at one I felt like I had food poisoning I was so crampy. Little did I know it was labor.

After an hour Brian headed home and we got the girls all together, called the hospital and checked in at 3. The girls were running around like chickens with their heads cut off for the hour it took from the time I told them I think the baby is coming until we all parted.

Once at the hospital we waited about three hours of monitoring and blood tests before we got the go ahead that or little man was coming. Within a half hour we were walking down the hall to the OR with a very happy and not so ready mom and dad. With in a half hour our perfect baby boy was born. Everything went perfect.

At 7:04pm on March 15,2012 or baby boy was born weighing 9lbs 6oz and 20 3/4 inches long. And after hearing him cry and seeing him over the curtain I spent the next ten minutes with tears streaming down my face as I watched Brian help get him all ready for me to hold. It seemed like a dream but that moment when I kissed his perfect chubby cheek and held him up close my heart melted and all my dreams came true. It was more precious then I ever dreamed. For the first time as a mother I held my newborn baby without tubs, ivs, monitors, or emergency. I held my healthy man so strong. It was a miracle from my father in heaven I will never be able to thank him enough for.

My little man

Watch "Damon 13 days old" on YouTube

I thought I'd post a little video of my cutie for grandma to see what an adorable little guy she has to look forward to see soon. I simply adore him, he is the best part of every day... He makes or family complete.

Going crazy

You know when you are used to being pregnant for only 32 Weeks and at least three if those are spent on bed rest it makes you a bit nuts waiting for your 38 and a half weak baby to get going and come. I never thought I would be one of those women out shopping and scrubbing toilets until the moment she pops. Yet here I am trying to clean my house when I am do huge and low I can't even reach the water inch the kitchen sink without having to stick my butt out and lean over awkwardly.
Yesterday I got all the groceries for the next two Weeks and them did a two mile walk with Brian and the girls, and nothing. Today it was the door doing trip with Easter dresses and a stop by state to restock or hair care products, six hours later, nothing. Do I am making three meals
Right note for the well them headed to do my online class meeting and off to bed for a horrible nights sleep.

Tomorrow might be mall shopping for next years school clothes and more shoe searching for my skinny footed friends. I may be fully ready for next school year with two Weeks of meals and scrubbed bathrooms and a completely homemade nursery by the Weeks end if this kid doesn't come soon. I am not made to wait like this, i'm going crazy.

the end is near

Well, yesterday me and little Isa had our practice run for the big day. I had a busy day on thursday and tried to get some must need things done before baby such as restocking our fridge and freezer. When the end of the day came and the kids were all in bed my husband can home and immediately pulled out his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff with a worried look. Sure enough I had jumped up super high for me. So I rested the night and took it easy in the morning, alas when I went to pick up Isa from school yesterday it was still high. I have a doctors appointment Monday so I thought I will call leave a message and maybe I can go in and do a protein test to make sure if they think it is necessary. I did not envision they would call and have me go to labor and delivery for a full work up.

But we got the call and off we went. Isa is the most adorable kid to take on these trips because she is so quiet and content. She had my kindle and snacks so he set up shop in the corner of the room and did her thing. We took a bunch of tests and monitored our man and he is GREAT. All our tests are good and just laying there not moving for an hour and a half my blood pressure returned to its usual crazy low of 100/60. So I am told don't be gun shy on the calls if my blood pressure goes up for if I get head aches or too dizzy but all in all I did it and made it safely to FULL TERM! Crazy seriously crazy but so exciting. They said I don't need to slow down or worry just do what I do and keep a close eye on myself and if I have signs of preeclampsia I will come in and get checked and if it is creeping up its baby time. That is exciting and terrifying all at once. Either way we are down to 18 days until our scheduled c-section so today is a homework, clean the house, and put together more freezer meals kind of day. I forget how hard the after surgery part is and must prepare.

I know that it won't be the full 4-6 week recovery before I am back to myself but at least two weeks of wanting to cry when I stand up, sit down, roll over, or laugh is to be prepared for. Oh the joys of major surgery but you know when I think about having to push my giant of a child out I am perfectly happy with the way I have to have kids and don't feel like I am missing a thing! Plus little man will be in my arms just after birth, that is what keeps me moving.

I will post more later but really any day now any day!

Beanies

I made four beanies so far. I really love them and crocheting really helped out when I was trying to stay in bed more and keep my blood pressure down but needed something to do other than watch endless tv with the kids.

The preemie hat
that is the link to the pattern if any of you crochet!  
This one might fit the first day he is born but he might have become too big. If it is too big I will take it to the NICU and give it to whatever baby boy is born small the day our little man is born.

The Bear Hat
Again above is the pattern link
I think this one should fit just fine and is simple and will do with everything. However once I made this little guy I thought I needed a challenge and so I bought a pattern kit and made two really fun ones.

This is a bear hat that I bought the pattern to and Layla's doll is my model. I think it is so cute but my favorite is this next one!

This is my favorite hat modeled by Isa's doll. I love it so much and can't wait until my little man can wear it.

Quilts

These patterns are just made up so there are no tutorials but we like them. We did one for our little missionary, a chiefs quilt for football season, and a nice cozy baby boy print one just for fun. I also have a cars/train quilt that does have a pattern to follow but it isn't finished since I am making him a bit thicker and wanted to put batting in that one. I usually use soft fabrics such as minky, fannel, or felt for most of the quilts so I do not have to use batting and can just sew the top together and then put a solid soft fabric for the back and it is just thick enough to wrap up the little ones with. I also make a few thick quilts for floor quilts to put the baby on in public when I don't want them to touch any part of the floor. These are the thinner ones and my mom is making the thicker ones for me this time around since they are her specialty.

Nursing Cover

I made this for my best friend Kristi as my trial and she said she used it all the time so I pulled out my scraps and bought the black fabric to match and whipped it up and I love it too. I think it is just girly enough for me but manly enough that it should help people guess there is a boy underneath. And I like that it cost me a total of $4.oo to make instead of buying one for $35-$50.

Make it and Love it Tutorial

There are a bunch of tutorials out there but this one has always been my favorite and it really isn't too hard at all and isn't so boring!

Emergency kit

I think this one is going to be a life saver for me. I didn't want to simply use a pot holder for mine for I made a slightly larger pot holder from scratch with material I had that match my diaper bag stuff pretty good. Plus it matches the girls travel kits for the car so I know how to recognize it and find it if I take it out of my diaper bag. I put everything you can think into it.

Emergency Clutch Kit

In mine I have the following:

• feminine pads
• lotion
• chap stick
• hair rubber bands
• bobby pins
• tiny girls hair bands
• Clorox wipes
• Kleenex
• hand sanitizer
• band aids
• eye drops
• Imodium
• Tylenol
• Ibuprofen
• cough drops
• gauze patches
• alcohol wipes
• q-tips
• tweezers

I think that should help out in all sorts of emergencies. I just have to get some benadryl and a small cortisone bottle and I am set. 

Burp Cloths

I love to have a bunch of cute burp clothes for all the spit up my little ones provide me. So I made two different kinds this time. I made the usual ones that use a cloth diaper because my mom had a package and they are so quick. And and tried to make a few from scratch with some left over fabric I had laying around. I like them both and am so glad I have a good stack of about 22 to keep on hand since I am going to need them  more than I remember I am sure.

This is the tutorial I used for the one above that I used scrap material for, it is from

HOW DOES SHE Tutorial

These I make on my own but I have a link to a tutorial that does them the same way I do so you can have a guide if you haven't made them before. I always use scraps from all the quilts I make to make burp cloths so they match. I know so cute right!

Burp Cloth Tutorial

The Carseat Cover

So we are trying to be really thrifty with this baby and keep our budget small since we are poor students still with a lot of debt piling up with medical school and two kids in elementary! So we are using a carset my brother had for his daughter that my mom purchased. However it was PINK and when I say pink I mean it was FLAMING PINK and that just won't do for my boy who needs to feel manly as much as he can since he lives with a house full of girls and glitter. I made a carset cover for my friend once and it turned out pretty good. I decided to take it a bit further and try to redo the whole thing from scratch using the backing of the old carseat as my guide and padding. it turned out just as I hoped and I love it. Here it is and the tutorial!

MAKE IT AND LOVE IT CARSEAT COVER TUTORIAL

I love her tutorials I use a lot of them for my projects. She uses enough pictures that I never get lost and can easy follow a long without getting too frustrated! I think the carseat came out perfect for what I wanted. I was going for manly. We just have to get him a head rest/body rest to keep him snug and he is good to go!

Baby Projects

To keep me sane during these last few months of waiting to see if I am going to have problems I have been making all sorts of things for our guy. I will take photos of all my projects and then give you the links to the tutorials that I used. I am making just about everything I can think of for him so that I keep busy and he has his own stuff since the girls have kind of ruled the house the last 3/4 of a decade!

Anytime now baby anytime

I have officially hit my goal week of 36 weeks today. And you know it is only by a miracle that I did. We have definitely seen the Lord's hand in our lives. The more we work at doing as he would have us do and take care of our little family and those around us that have needed us the more blessings we have seen in our lives. I am so thankful for this wonderful blessing we have been given to experience the birth of a child on time, we will get to hold him moments after he is born. We will not have to wait and wonder his chances of survival. That is a blessing that we have waited over 7 years for and it is finally just around the corner.

Little man is not so little anymore. He is at least 7 pounds now and technically I still have another 25 days until I am scheduled for my c-section. Thankfully I need a c-section because he is so large they don't think I would be able to give birth naturally. I know that is an amazing blessing and experience but you know just getting to hold him on his first day of life is miracle enough for us.

We are now in the waiting boat to see if I go into labor naturally. It is so anxiety driven for me because I feel so unprepared. I really didn't even think about it ever over my whole pregnant/married life. I was caught off guard with Layla and after that thought it would never happen to me. Now that I am here just waiting for these painful contractions to actually become regular is making me a bit crazy. However it is a fun experience for our family. Brian goes back to school on Monday which should be fun. He is going into one of the most intense sections for the year so that should be fun to have a baby in the middle of. Oh and not to mention that our doctor is out of town the one week the girls are off school and brian is less busy and is a week before our scheduled c-section. that is sure to be when little man comes when mom is stressed to have some surgeon she does not know slice her open and sew her up. My doctor is aparently amazing and you heal fantastic, that is why I picked him. That and he is so fun and makes me really feel looked after. He has been up to date on my case every week and when I see him around he always knows who I am and checks up on you. It is kind of like being in Reburg again where you do to church with you OB.

So now we wait! Anytime I go into labor now I am good to go into the surgery no time to wait, brian will have about a half hour or so to get to the hopsital once I get there so he is going to be ON CALL every second and ready to drop the world to meet me 25 minutes away. Thankfully our doctor is also an alumni and is super great so he will wait as long as we need for him to get there. And I do feel a bit better that the doctors that are covering for my doc when he is gone are also guest lecturers for brian's school.They take good care of their own and they tell everything to you straight which we love. So we will keep you posted on what our man in doing but it all clear skys from here on out!

I am so proud of my Baby!

I am sitting here at the computer edema free (for the most part that is) with a lovely blood pressure of 114/70 which is high for me but really healthy for the world I suppose. And thankfully I can say I have no spilling protein and thus no bed rest. My visit to the doctor today was wonderful and he is very proud of me and little man. He said I am really making him look good. Nothing is nicer than having him walk in all smiles and say "what is this normal blood pressure thing you have at 33 weeks?" I really am proud that I can say that today is the first night of uncharted territory. My little Isa made it so much farther in development then her sister and only stayed in the NICU for 10 days without ever being on oxygen and that big day marker in pregnancy was this morning. Now our little guy is beating his sisters and doing so wonderful.

I am also very happy to know that his baby doesn't have to stay in forever since he is HUGE and making me understand why women cry out to get the baby out and get it out now toward the end of pregnancy. The braxton hicks contractions people speak of that apparently don't hurt are make me want to curl into a ball and sob for about 1 minutes until I think my uterus might just make it without pushing the low riding man out. Thankfully if I drink 10 gallons of water they don't come around much. That just means a million trips to the restroom in which the last 100 have me waddling and near tears because my guy has taken up residence beating up my pelvic bone with his head and fists. It's fun this pregnancy thing I tell you fun.

However in the quiet hours when I get a bit stressed and worry about how in the world I am going to manage three kids or if this little guy is going to be healthy, he gets the hiccups and then brushed my belly with his foot and reassures me that everything is going to be alright. And I go to bed with a nice massage from the best husband in the world and get ready to start another day.

Sleep is something of a dream that only comes in short bursts and means a lot of moaning as I take 5 minutes to roll from side to side all while hubby half awake asks if he can help and then falls asleep before I even catch my breath to answer. But alas every time I roll over he wakes up to ask and that is just about as sweet as he can be with the 4 to 5 hours of sleep he is running on while preparing and taking finals.

Good news for the day is that in less than three weeks when I hit the 36 weeks mark little man is free to arrive. Since he is developing so well and larger than average the pediatrician and my doctor are sure he will do perfectly well from that point on. So if I go into labor which is something i never thought possible or I start to get high blood pressure or spill protein then our little guy will come via c-section as planned. If he holds out until he is scheduled then we will be headed to the hospital early in the morning on March 20th.

Either way I am really thankful and know this is our little miracle sent to let us know that we are blessed for taking a huge risk and trusting the Lord to bring the child we knew was waiting into our family. All I can say is I am very thankful for the temple and the opportunity we have to create eternal families.

P.S. I am also very thankful that our temple is almost done and we will be helping out and taking friends through in just 2 short months. Who knew I would finally have a temple here in what is my good old Kansas City Home!

Baby update

Well my little boy is growing like no other little person has before. It is an everyday question and worry that today will be the day that everything turns worse but we are putting our faith to the test that no matter what all will be okay. So far so good. My buddy is now a bit over four pounds which exceeds his sister Layla's birth weight of 3 pounds and 11 ounces. So I have great faith I will not have to hold another barely 3 pound baby as I did with her when she first lost weight in the NICU. Next he is tall with a big belly and lots of hair. The legs I understand since his sisters both have long chicken legs, the belly well he gets that from both parents, and the hair well he wouldn't be my child if he didn't come out with a head full so that is all to be expected.

I am so grateful that thus far I am still up and going and doing well. I have to say boys carry different and that means a lot of pelvic pain but I am trying to take it well since I hate the back pain I had with both the girls. Also I have hit that stage in pregnancy that I must hit the bathroom before sitting down with friends because lets be honest laughing can be a dangerous thing!

Every day is one more day closer to our goal and more growth for my man. Layla would be here in only 3 and a half days. I can't even imagine how I survived with any sanity. But the Lord took care of us and we made it through. The next big marker is that with Isa I was already on bedrest. Her mark to pass is on February 6th. We are hoping and praying to make it because that is the middle of finals week and although we can reschedule finals if need be it would be much better if we could make it to thursday afternoon just two days longer than we have ever made it before because then daddy has over two weeks off of school!

My blood pressure is a bit up nothing big just more "normal" a high of 118/70. For me that means I slow down a bit and watch my weight and swelling carefully. Normal people would be thrilled with those numbers as 120/80 is typically the healthy goal. I like to stay low, always have always will and think 100/60 is just right. But you know I have cried and been strapped up to a million monitors and had everyone crazy when I hit a nice 180/100 so I can't complain or worry too much.

Here is to little man betting the odds of 97% chance of the same problems thus far. We aren't shooting for perfect 40 weeks but we will take every extra day we can and put 37 weeks as our miracle.

Now time to clean my messy messy house that was clean this morning when our special visitor left. Of course I have no Brain and did not take a single picture but I will post our fun and thoughts tomorrow when i take another much needed blogging break!

Roller Skating fun with dad!

After conquering ice skating the girls wanted to show off how well they could roller skate. Of course they were a bit more hesitant because they were tired and already had sore feet. But they did great and had a blast with dad once again! 

I even went out to dance with layla for a couple songs since people with shoes were allowed. We however stuck to the back to no one knocked me down!

I think this face says it all don't you!

 The final dance and my adorable Isa who looks like she is using a walker but that thing is great to keep her up and moving without having to hold the wall the whole time!

Just a little date with dad!

Ever since last year when the girls watched a very exciting ice skating movie they have been bugging me to go ice skate. At first my excuse was that it was too cold, then it was spring and summer, now I am a fall risk! So over Christmas break dad stepped in and took the girls for me and they had a blast. Isa stayed very close to Brian but layla went off more on her own and walked along the outside chatting with her. 

As you can tell Isa wasn't so sure she liked it at first!

Layla on the other hand tried to balance perfectly just as she does with her dancing and gymnastics!

By the end we had two very tired but happy little girls!

I think everyone had very sore feet (even mom) but were so happy to say that they can now ice skate. It was just what they needed to get them ready for.... roller skating!