Just Stuff

I’m just playing catch up on things we’ve been up to these daysThere haven’t been too many snowy days this winter, so when they did come, you couldn’t drag the boys back inside.Being outside is definitely better. This was their idea of playing the game Apples To Apples…not my favorite idea.

St. Paddy’s Day. The boys woke up to a tricky leprechaun who colored on their faces while they were sleeping, and turned all our food green. We made a trap, but somehow he got away. Ellie is just as cute as ever.  She is 2 months, already 11lbs, and growing like a weed.  She is smiling like crazy and just starting to laugh.  She loves tummy time, and is very entertained by her brothers.

And then Ty had his greatest accomplishment. The potty train was a major success! He has wanted nothing to do with any kind of potty for a long time…in fact he was just plain terrified of the potty. But one day, he told me he wanted to use the potty, he did and he has used it ever since. Easiest potty train ever.  We celebrated with a molten lava cake.  Yum.

And then we got a new cousin!  Baby Tate Ryan.  He is so, so cute.  We did a little comparison of Tate and Ellie…That’s what happens in 2 months time.  Crazy. Congrats to Ryan and Rebecca!

Ba-da Da-da Daaaa! (that’s a drumroll)

Introducing….Ellie Jayne Casper

Born January 24, 2012 at 2:59am

7lbs. 13oz. and 20 inches long

 

Ellie Jayne’s Birth Story

Monday at midnight, I started having minor contractions 2-3 minutes apart.  We headed to the hospital.  I was only dilated to a 2 & 75% effaced, so we walked around a bit and changed to a 3, but my contractions slowed after that so the nurses sent me home, but was confident that I would be back later that day. 

3:30pm on Monday, I had a regular checkup with my dr. I was now a 4 and she said if I could get some good contractions going to go to the hospital and she would break my water.  Awesome.

Ace and I went over to a Wal-Mart close by and did some laps hoping to jump start some contractions.  No Luck.  We headed home, and I took a nap.  Around 8:30pm my contractions were back and we were on our way back to the hospital.  As luck would have it, I got a nurse who was just a real beast.  She told me I was still dilated to a 4 and that my cervix was way too high, and I wasn’t in labor.  (I tried to explain that I have been told this on both my other pregnancies and my cervix moves down fast, and my labors are fast after that…she didn’t listen) Even though my contractions were hurting and were 2-3 minutes apart.  She said I wasn’t having this baby for another week.  I found out later that she lied to my dr. and told her my contractions were irregular and 10-12 minutes apart.

She wanted to give me a shot of morphine and send me home.  I thought getting a shot of morphine seemed ridiculous, so I said no to the morphine, but since she told me I wasn’t in active labor, we headed home (again). The drive from the hospital to home is a good 30 min drive.  On the drive home, the contractions started to really hurt.  I convinced myself that I just needed to go to bed and relax.

I tried to sleep, but the contractions almost instantly became unbearable.  Ace said we are going back right now.  I hated the idea of getting sent home again (I mean, really, it’s my third kid…I should know when I am in labor right?), but at this point I knew the feeling of the contractions I was having…it was the kind where, during my other deliveries, I am requesting the epidural.

I couldn’t get up off of my hands and knees.  Ace and my mom got me into the car, and we were off to the hospital…again.  But this time, I thought it was very likely she was going to be born in the car.  It was snowing, the roads were wet, and Ace was going as fast as he could, going straight through red lights and everything. 

We got to the hospital in record time.  The dumb nurse was there, and as I am hanging on Ace barely able to stand, she had the nerve to say, “Well, let’s see if it’s the real thing this time.”  I wanted to slug her, but then my water broke (or more like exploded) all over her floor and I was satisfied with the fact that she would have to clean it up.  She checked me, and I was dilated to an 8 and completely effaced.  And guess what…the cervix was low and the head was right there…weird. 

My favorite person came in, the anesthesiologist.  He said I was going to deliver before an epidural would take affect so he gave me a partial spinal tap or something (I didn’t really care at this point) and it worked almost immediately. Yay.  My Dr. came in, apologized for the idiot nurse, and then I pushed a couple times and out she came.  So, we arrived at the hospital at 2:20am and Ellie was born at 2:59am.

I am happy we made it, and that I got an epidural.  She is perfect, and healthy, and we love her tons!

She’s Still A Girl

I keep having dreams that this baby is actually a boy.  And then I have to return all the girl things that I’ve bought.  It has me a little paranoid to buy girl things, and the things I have gotten, I have yet to take the tags off and wash them.  I know, it’s completely ridiculous.  

I had another ultrasound to make sure everything was still okay.  It’s all looking good.  So, I asked the technician to double check. She said “definitely” a girl. 

Here’s a couple profile shots of our cute girl…

I am really excited about having a girl.  My crazy pregnancy dreams just keep making me nervous that I’m planning for the wrong gender!

Ultrasound Says…

I want to say first, that everything they saw on the ultrasound looked normal.  The placenta has moved out of the way, so they are just going to keep an eye on it, which is just the best news.  They didn’t get good images of the lip and spine, so I am going to have another ultrasound in 4 weeks to double check those things.

Now for a walk down memory lane…

I remember growing up, playing ‘house’, and dreaming about having a bunch of little girls…picturing boys as my children wasn’t even a thought process for me because boys were, well, gross.  And probably because the only little boy in my life was my little brother who (AT THE TIME) was my one, true enemy.

When I first got pregnant with Easton, I realized my thoughts had changed.  That I was thrilled about the idea of having a boy just as much as I was excited about having a girl.  

With Ty, I do remember thinking it would be nice to have a girl just so that we had “one of each”.  But I also thought how much fun two boys would have together…plus it would be ten times cheaper.  When we found out Ty was a boy, we were so excited.

I thought for sure by the time I was having my third, that I would be desperate for a little girl.  But that never really came.  I kept watching Easton and Ty playing together, and I was completely content with the idea of having another boy.  I mean, I just love boys!  Of course, Ace and I loved the idea of having a girl too, but I think we were both assuming it was a boy, and we were super excited about it.  Almost from the beginning, I guess out of habit, I was calling this baby a “he'”.  Easton and Ty both non-waveringly said it was a boy… Easton mostly because he is currently obsessed with patterns, and the pattern he really wanted was, “boy-boy-boy-girl-girl-girl-boy-boy-boy-girl-girl-girl”  No matter how many times I tried to explain that pattern would never happen just for the mere fact that there will NEVER be that many children, but still, he was sure that it was a boy. 

As the ultrasound was getting started, the tech was asking about my other kids.  I said, “We have two boys.” and she said, “Let’s hope this one is a girl.” (a comment I have heard a whole lot these days) I said, “Actually, we are really going to be happy if it’s a boy too.  I’m thinking it’s probably a boy.”

As soon as I said that, she stuck that thing on my belly and she immediately said,

“Oh!! Nope. It’s a girl!”

Both Ace and I said, “What?!  Are you sure?” She said, “I’m so sure.  That was the easiest gender telling I’ve ever done.”

It was as if this poor little girl was so sick and tired of hearing me say “boy” she wasted no time letting us know, she was no boy!

I was so shocked.  I still don’t know if it has sunk in all the way.  I went to the store with my mom (who, by the way, has wasted no time in purchasing a whole slew of pink), as soon as I was in the baby section I went immediately to the boy section…it took me a good 10-15 seconds before I realized I was in the wrong section!  

We are so excited to meet this little baby girl!  And more excited that she is growing and that everything is looking good.

Riddle Me This...

I sent this picture to all of our family. 

Some got it.  Some took a little while.  Some had no stinkin clue.

And so, just in case it doesn't make any sense...

Baby number three will be here right around February 6th!  

(Let me just point out, Easton's B-day is Feb 5th and Ty's B-day is Jan 10th...all three will be nearly exactly three years apart)

We are super excited, and can't wait to meet this little one!

This pregnancy has been a little bit different than my other two, though.  About three weeks ago,  around midnight (of course), I started bleeding... a lot.  I know that this is a pretty common thing to happen, but it has never happened to me.  Needless to say, I was in a major panic.  We went to the emergency room, and waited, and waited, basically thinking the worst.  

They finally took us in for an ultrasound.

And we saw a very healthy heart beating. (sigh of relief)

The babe was moving, jumping, and flipping like nothing was wrong.  Nobody in the ER really could tell us what was going on, but the baby was fine, and that's all we cared about.  They put me on bed rest until I saw my Dr.  Let me say how fun that is with two boys.  Ace was great.  He took work off for a couple days to help.  He cooked, cleaned, and served me anything I needed.  

The next week I went into my Dr.  And we had another ultrasound done.  

The baby was just fine.  

But then my Dr. pointed out a small problem.  I have a low-lying placenta, or Placenta Previa.  Basically, the placenta is in the wrong spot...too low in the uterus.  It can cause a serious amount of bleeding, and generally leads to a C-Section.  My Dr. said it is very possible for the placenta to move to where it is supposed to be, but for now, I am supposed to take it easy, (not total bed rest, which is good news).  

We are just so happy that the baby is okay, and grateful that we know what the problem is.  

P.S:  If anybody has ever had this before, I would love to hear what happened and maybe a little of what to expect.   

Ty is 1 !!

Ty has officially been 1 year old for a week. It is still so strange that it happened so fast. Here he is just 1 day old...

His naked baby photo

A glimpse of the swaddle and the bed that he loved so, so much

This one shows the hair issues


Some 1st birthday celebrations...

This is what chocolate does to a person

Easton was happy too

The morning of his birthday we had a special breakfast...
Ty got his first taste of "Whippee"
And liked it

Look at Ty's jealous face in these two pictures

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!!

And the sad news... we had our friends, Blake and Erin and their kids, Aiden and Hannah over for some cake and ice cream the next day to celebrate. I took some super cute pictures of everybody and then...I deleted them. Yep they're gone and I am to blame. I was sorting through some other pictures I took and accidentally deleted them.
I am so sad.


Some things about Ty:

-He weighs 19 lbs (10th percentile)
-He is skinny, but it is hard to tell because of his ridiculously chubby cheeks
-His length is 31.5" (75-90th percentile)
-He is very sensitive/dramatic...his feelings get hurt when you tell him "no", he lays his head down and pouts when he is sad
-He is still extremely flexible. He he throws his dramatic fits he bends himself in half to lay his head on the floor
-He loves his big brother and follows him around the house all day long
-He is a Mama's Boy big time. And I am not just saying that...every time I walk into the room he immediately starts pouting and chases after me... a lot of the time I have to sneak from room to room so he doesn't see me to get stuff done (mean, I know)
-He loves to cuddle. At any time of the day I can pick him up, give him a blanket and he will just lay his head down and cuddle.
-Every time he wakes up he gives me a hug (including patting me on the back)
-His first word was 'Thank you' ....so strange
-If you burp in front of him he will mimic it
-He has three and a half teeth
-He still loves his "waffle blankets" and prefers to sleep with two blankets at a time
-He still has a huge head
-He refuses (and always has refused) to have anything to do with baby food...as a matter of fact...he refuses to eat anything off of a spoon. But if I put it in front of him to eat by himself he will eat anything and won't stop
-Although he won't let me feed him, he is a clean eater...I mean WAY cleaner than his almost 4 year old brother is. Easton still manages to get anything in his reach as sticky as possible while eating, but Ty keeps the mess to a minimum...which makes me happy
- He has been a hugely expensive baby
-The last few weeks, his hair has been sort of flatter than normal...on the top anyway. Now he has this thing that can only be described as "peacock like" it starts at the back/top part of his head...just weird
-He freaks out every time we get into an elevator...he buries his head in my shoulder after the doors close and starts shaking...so sad and yet slightly hysterical every time


p.s the surgery is scheduled for Tuesday...we'll see if it happens this time...

Another Trip to Utah...

Pretty much every weekend for the last two months we have been out of town (by out of town I mean Utah). Although I love going to Utah and seeing everybody, it has gotten pretty old driving back and forth all the time! I feel like we have been living out of our luggage. We get home, I do the laundry and throw everything back in the bags! But this wast the last trip for a while, and a good one because we got to see our newest nephew/cousin, Carson. Ryan and Rebecca had their first little baby boy...adding to the number of grandson's... making it boys-5 and girls-0! He is way cute and we had a fun time hanging out with the Casper family all weekend.

Easton & Baby Carson

Right when we got there we did some fireworks for Pioneer Day with Papa Larry & Grammy

Ty has started to sit up really well


Ace and Ryan took Easton swimming

Here is Ryan teaching Easton how to spit water at people... Thanks again Uncle Ry!

Even though my mom and Lauren were in Cali, we stopped by to say hi to the cousins on our way home
(Jessica, way to be on soothing the child)

So we are back in the hot weather of Vegas and maybe now I can get back into a regular routine, and unpack for, at least for a little while.