A day in the life of Sam

We decided to start early with mission prep with Sam. Here he is learning how to go tracting. Notice he has his suitcase? Yeah, he plans on being so eager, he won't even drop off his stuff at his apartment first. (I think he'll need to tame down his hair though, I don't think that's mission-approved.)
Sammy just loves his baby sister, Wiwwi.
But he just can't understand why she has bows stuck to her head... and he can't resist trying to pull them off... every time. (Even when I'm looking apparently.)

Should I be worried?

Is this starting already? He's only 2!
Sammy's little neighbor friend, Allysa, likes to come and play with him. Sam, being quite the little host, often puts on a movie for them to watch... and cuddle? I just hope he learns that girls have cooties by the time it really matters!

Livia's Blessing Day

We will be blessing Livia on November 2 at 1:00 PM at our chapel located at 1250 S 400 E in Springville, just a few blocks from our house. You are all invited so hope to see you there!

Delivery details

Well, it's taken me longer than I expected to write another post. (I'm actually not surprised.) But here are more details about Livia's entrance into this world.

During my pregnancy, especially towards the end, every time I would rub my belly, or say it hurt, Sam would come and kiss my belly to make it feel better.
7:00 PM:
A little after 10:00 PM:
Our sweet angel fresh from heaven:
Here are the details:

On Monday, September 22, my doctor stripped my membranes twice. I didn't really feel any difference through Wednesday. But I had heard that if it's going to work, it will work about 2 days after the stripping. So we went to bed like normal on Wednesday night, but shortly before 2 am I woke up suddenly, surprised at how much this 'cramp' hurt. I glanced at the clock and 10 minutes later, it happened again. I kept watching the clock and every 10 minutes I would be wincing in pain. So after about 4 rounds of that I woke Jason up and told him my contractions had started. I hadn't had the chance to shower the day before, and I really wanted a shower before going to the hospital, so at about 2:30 I hopped in the shower... and the contractions slowed to about every 20 minutes. Darn shower! So I tried to get some sleep, but would wake up every 10-20 minutes with a contraction. Very long and miserable night. And the next day didn't go much better. All day Thursday I had contractions ranging from 10-40 minutes apart. If I laid down to rest, they would get more painful, so I tried that often, hoping they would come every 5 minutes so I could just go to the hospital already! They didn't until about 6:30 pm. We got all our stuff in the car and took off about 7:00 pm. As we were turning onto the hospital's street, we passed a lady waiting at the stop light. I was in the middle of a contraction right when she looked over at us. The look on her face was priceless. Both Jason and I started laughing so hard. Let me tell you, it's not an easy thing to laugh out loud and deal with a contraction at the same time. Ouch. But it made my day nonetheless.
We got to the hospital about 7:30 and I was dilated to a 6. I was worried they wouldn't let me get an epidural, but they called the epidural guy (I have no idea how to spell his title) right away. He walked into my delivery room with me... I was impressed how fast he was available. When I was dilated to an 8 they broke my water... which I don't think Livia liked too much. After that, every time I contracted, her heart rate would drop. They kept having me lay or kneel in different positions to see if it would help, but nothing really did. They added more liquid, but that only helped for a short time. They told me to relax and try to get some rest before I would need to push, and that they would watch the monitor to make sure the baby was ok. All of a sudden they came rushing in and the doctor came in and was getting me set up to start the delivery. They were very professional, but we could tell they were a bit anxious about the baby. The heart rate had dropped as low as 30 at one point and later I was told that a baby can't handle that for too long. I got a little panicked when they were so set on me pushing the baby out in just a couple of pushes. Luckily, she was so tiny that I could, since they were just about to do an emergency C-section if she didn't come out by the time she did. I only pushed for 4 minutes, but those 4 minutes were some of the most stressful and intense minutes of my life. Everyone was so relieved when she came out. She was born at 9:59 PM. It actually took what seemed like at least a full minute to see whether she was a girl or a boy! The reason she was so stressed was because the cord was wrapped around her stomach and up and over one shoulder and she was gripping it really tight with one hand. She was a not-so-humanly shade of lavender, which quickly changed once they cut the cord. She was so beautiful... and so tiny! She only weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.
She is a good eater and a great sleeper for the most part. She goes to bed between 10 and midnight, but only wakes me up once or twice most nights... which I am fine with! She is so very sweet and loves to be cuddled. Sam is so sweet with her, other than when he pokes at her eyes to tell me whether she is 'wake' or 'go night-night'. He loves to hold her and lay next to her and 'gently' touch her head. He is a very good big brother, even though it's hard to share his mommy and daddy with someone else.
Livia has already brought so much joy and peace to our home, we are so grateful that she is here and is healthy and strong. And that she is a part of our family forever.

Our littlest angel

Our sweet baby is here! Livia Elsie arrived at 9:59 PM on Thursday, September 25. She is so tiny!! She is smaller than anyone expected. She weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was only 18.5 inches long. (For anyone that remembers Sam as a baby, he was more than 2.5 lbs heavier and 3 inches longer.) So I'm still trying to figure out what to do with such a little being!
These pictures are a few of Serena's 'photo shoot' that she did at the hospital. It's nice to have snap happy friends and family that actually have nice cameras! Thanks Serena!!


I will post again soon with a few more details of the day and delivery (without getting too graphic!) in the next few days. I know some people have been anxious to see what she looks like so here you go! We seriously have no idea who she looks like... any suggestions?

My sweet hubby-bubby

I am so blessed! I have such a sweet and thoughtful husband. Lately, I know I haven't been a very easy person to live with, and it's probably not completely fetal child's fault. Yet, still, Jason has been so patient with me. I have been having a really hard time being patient with Sam lately, I don't know if he can just sense a big change coming or what, but Jason has been so understanding of my little emotional break-downs. He brought me flowers for no reason last Friday and it almost made me cry. He doesn't complain about my lame excuses for meals, or the fact that the same lame ones are repeated often, which I am grateful for, because I know he's got to be tired of eating the same things over and over. He helps me with the laundry and cleaning the house and the dishes. I am grateful that I have such a loving and caring husband, who is mindful of my physical, mental and emotional limitations right now. I love you, Jason!

Jelly belly

Just a comparison between my pregnancy with Sam and my current pregnancy, both are taken 3 days before the due date and I am wearing the same shirt. I tried my best to be standing in the same position, to show the difference in my belly size.

This first picture was taken yesterday:
This picture was taken 3 days before Sam's due date. And I even went a week past his due date, and gained about 5 pounds in just that last week! Which means I only got bigger from there.
Maybe it's just me, but that is a pretty big difference!

What is your guess?

So, now that we are within a week and a half of finding out all the fun stuff about our baby... let's see how inspired our friends and family are. We'll can assume the baby will be born on September 26, but if you think differently, let me know...
Put your guess down on:
the day (if different than the 26th)
the gender
the weight
the length
the time of day
and anything else that's fun to guess about babies!

I'll keep track and post who was the closest on all the different guesses. Happy guessing!

No more painting!

As I mentioned previously, I have been meaning to paint the two upstairs bedrooms since we moved in. Well, I painted the baby's room last week, and really wanted to believe that I would be motivated enough to paint Sam's room as well, before the baby comes. And I did it! This last Thursday I painted from about 8:30 in the morning until almost 10:00 at night, taking a short lunch break and a little time to make and eat a quick dinner. My knees are still killing me and my back, well, let's not mention what that feels like.
I really wanted to finish it in one day, since tape is way too fun to pull off for a 2 year old if left alone with it. I wasn't sure how Sam would do with my face to the wall all day, but he did so good... with a little help (ok a lot of help) from Buzz, Woody and Jessie. I'm embarrassed to admit that he watched Toy Story 2 three times in a row that day... I know, I'm a bad mom. But that is not, nor will it be a frequent adventure for him. He was content to just be watching his movie with me in the room. I wanted to get done with the top half before laying him down for his nap so that I would have the maximum amount of undisturbed time to do the bottom half, where he can actually reach. Right before I was about to lay him down, he saw his friends playing outside and ran out to play with them. I watched him from the window as he sat on the curb and hang out with them. (It was super cute to watch, they all ranged in age from about 2-5.) After a while he made it back to the house and I could hear him down in the garage doing whatever he does in the garage.
At 6:00 when Jason came home from work, I was pretty confident that he was still in the garage just playing around. Jason came upstairs and asked me if I knew where he was. I told him he was in the garage. He then asked if I knew what he was doing... and I got worried. Until Jason started laughing and told me I had to see for myself. I went down to the garage, and this is what I found:

Poor Sam, I could see as he was outside that he was pretty exhausted looking. I figured it he came upstairs and was crabby then I would just lay him down for his nap. But he never made it upstairs, I guess he was just too tired! We put his extra car seat in the garage when we switched vehicles, so he just crawled right in and took his nap... better than the dirty garage floor! While he was asleep some neighbor kids were riding a 4-wheeler pulling one of those little battery operated jeeps that little kids can drive. They were turning the corner in the cul-de-sac and scraping the plastic tires on the street, making a ton of noise, and it didn't even make him stir. I guess I should have laid him down after all! Yet another bad-mom-moment I guess... I really am a better mother most days!!

Getting closer...

I am now 37 1/2 weeks, so only 2 1/2 weeks until my due date... and the date that I decided this baby WILL come. I don't think I'll be one of those lucky women that goes into labor on her own, it's not really a common occurrence in my family. Since I went a week over with Sam, and he was a baby of 'goodly size' according to my doctor (8 lbs 12 oz) my doctor told me he's willing to induce me as early as 39 weeks. Jason and I discussed when we think it would be convenient to have another child and we decided to just go with the due date, September 26. (Unless I am the family freak and go into labor sooner...) So that is the plan! We will have a baby in 2 1/2 weeks! We still haven't agreed on any boy names, so it would probably be easier on me if it's a girl. But since I already have boy stuff, a boy would be nice too. Guess we'll all find out in 17 days!
I haven't really taken many prego pictures, I think I'm a bad pregnant lady. But here I am as of today. I personally don't think I look 8 1/2 months pregnant, but I am. This baby is apparently quite a bit smaller than chunky ol' Sam. I've been measuring on the smaller end my entire pregnancy, and since my insides appear to be a soccer field, my doctor isn't concerned about the size. I'm pretty sure I won't be meeting an 8 1/2+ lb baby though... which is fine with me! I think it also helps that Sam gives me a daily workout whether I want it or not...

My latest projects

Last year sometime I watched an episode of Rachael Ray and there were a couple of different painting projects on the show. I loved both of them, but couldn't do them since we were renting an apartment. A few months later, I saw that they were showing this episode as a re-run, so I taped it, so that I could do that when we bought our own house. So, for over a year now I have been visualizing these projects, and yes, I have watched the same re-run multiple times...

Last Friday, my friend, Megan, came and helped me paint the nursery. (Thanks Megan! You were such a big help!!) Each time I see this room, I smile, because it makes me happy. Not only because I think it looks super cute, but that I actually followed through with it! (I bought the paint like 3 months ago.)
Obviously, I haven't done any more with decorating the room. I am planning on doing a little shopping tomorrow... don't tell Jason... I'll probably post more pictures when the room is complete. I have been wanting a cute nursery since before Sam was born, and now I am finally going to get it and I am so excited!!

The other project, I actually did a couple of months ago, but there is one more step to it that I am afraid to do since I am clueless as to HOW to do it. (I have the materials though!!) This one is in our bedroom above the bed. I still plan on putting trim around it, like you would around a doorway. But if you can't tell, the background is tan and then I painted a red rectangle to fit nicely around the picture frame. It is pretty close to how I imagined it, so it works. I just don't know how to put up the trim so that it doesn't look like someone who has never done it before, like me, did it. That's tricky. (Any pointers would be appreciated from you talented handy people...)


I still plan on painting Sam's room too. I have the paint for that too. It will look like the nursery only instead of yellow and green, I will use two shades of blue. His room is much bigger, so I need to build up a little more motivation to start the taping again. (Taping the ceiling gets your arms really tired...) But it will be a nice feeling to actually open the cans of paint with a purpose!

Secret buttons...

Today I was at the bank to sign some papers. Of course, Sam was over-tired and quite hyper as usual. While I was waiting in one of the manager's offices for her to return with some copies, Sam wandered behind her desk because she had enticing little toys on her shelf. I asked Sam a few times to please come back over by me, a little worried that she would walk in and not appreciate a 2 year old behind her desk. Well, all of a sudden, she hurries in and asks me if he was behind her desk. I told her he had been and that I was sorry, as I wondered how she even knew. She proceeded to tell me that the secret alarm had been pushed and the police had just called to make sure they were being robbed. I was rather embarrassed and apologized again. She just laughed it off, but then told me that this branch had been robbed three times in the past year. I guess we were lucky that the police didn't actually come, or Sam may have been hauled off in handcuffs...