changes

A few months ago, I started craving salt and knew I had to take a pregnancy test, because I just don’t crave doritos and mcdonalds french fries like that usually.  Even though it was 3 days early, I found out I was in fact, pregnant.  I was due in January and was really excited to add a 3rd little one to our family.  I got carsick easily, and was tired, but other than that I didn’t have much morning sickeness.  I had my first appointment at 9 weeks, and the doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat.  Miscarriage  number 2.  She gave me the choice of waiting to pass the “products of pregnancy”  or getting a D&C like I did last time.  Being put under is just about my worst nightmare.  I am a control freak.  Putting the control of my whole body into someone else’s hands is too much for me to handle, that plus I was in a lot of pain the last time I had the surgery, so I opted to wait it out.  Well of course my uterus is an iron trap (previous problems with delivering Carmen and such),  So even after waiting 5 weeks I still had to go in and get the D&C.  SUCK.  The surgery went fine, however,  and I am feeling my old self again.

I decided not to try again for a while.  It’s not the right time now.

Instead I decided I would have a different kind of baby… A ZUMBA BABY!

I have actually signed up for the training to become a zumba instructor.  It’s at the end of this month.  I asked my sister to come down and do it with me, and she said yes, so I couldn’t be more excited.

Two years ago, I went to my first zumba class (with Dionne, the best zumba instructor ever!).  It changed my life.

Up to that point, I had literally never worked out.  I like to be comfortable.  I had gym class in high school and that’s the extent of my fitness history.  I took that first Zumba class and had my eyes opened.  I had no idea you could work out and have fun at the same time.  I had a smile on my face the whole class.  I had found what was missing in my life.  It gave me a small break from my kids each day (which really helps me harness my chi), helped me lose the 49 pounds I had gained while pregnant with Moseley, and transformed my body from soft and squishy to tighter and (slightly) more defined (now if I could only quit pioneer woman). :)  I even have somewhat of a booty again, which had pretty much deflated after my first two giant babies (which might also be thanks to pioneer woman ;).  Plus it just let me JAM, which I haven’t ever really done before, since I never took dance or anything as a kid.  I told my sister about it, and she got hooked too.

I will keep you posted if I ever actually teach a class, but I am so excited to be one step closer.  I have been saying I wanted to get certified for forever and am so glad I am finally just going to do it.  The training is with Gina Grant, who is the hot chick from the zumba video game commercials… so it should be pretty amazing.

baby blessing

We are going to bless baby Moseley on  Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 8:30am (yep mother’s day).

Anyone who would like to come is invited.  We will have a light lunch and treats at our house after church at 12:30.  So everyone come and celebrate the birth of our baby boy.  Not just family is invited… friends and ward members too, so let me know if you would like to come and I’ll be sure to have enough food there to feed you :).

baby mose

Moseley Xander
Born February 24, 2009
At 10:48pm
8lbs 12 oz
19 3/4 inches long

He is my angel sent from heaven!

Just look at those lips…
Yeah for all those newborn baby girls out there, if you like it, then you better put a ring on it.

Here are all the nitty gritty details of the happenings of the past week:
I went into my doctors appointment on Tuesday morning to find out what was going to happen with my labor situation. I thought they would just schedule me an induction and I would go home. Instead she did an ultrasound and told me he was measuring in at 9lbs 10oz. She immediately sent me over to the hospital, and told me she would be in later to break my water. Which ended up happening around 4pm. I got the epidural a few hours later… Which by-the-way was the worst part of the whole labor. I don’t know if the guy did it wrong, or if my body didn’t react well to it, because it didn’t feel any thing like it did with Carmen. It only made me numb for about ten minutes. Then my skin felt like it was crawling, I was all pins and needles, and it made my skin very sensitive to anything touching it. I was more uncomfortable like that, than I was with the pain, so finally after much begging and pleading the got the anesthesiologist back in there to make it a little better. A couple hours later the baby’s heart rate started dropping with every contraction and everyone got a little panicky. They flipped me as much on my stomach as they could and it relieved it, so the baby’s heart rate got strong again. Thank goodness, because they were about 5 seconds from throwing me on the waiting gurney and taking him out c-section. I was dilated to a five when all this was happening, and I thought I would be there all night, but miraculously 45 minutes later I was a ten, and they just needed to wait a little longer for the baby to descend on his own, so the pushing wouldn’t stress him out. I pushed for about 10 minutes and he was out… A million times easier than it was with Carmen (although I did have to get another apesiotomy… :( ). They put him on my chest and I was pretty sure that he was not bigger than Carmen… Which he wasn’t. My doctor thinks it is because he is shorter than her, and had a pretty big head and belly, that he was measuring big on the ultrasound.
After I had the baby, I got an x-ray, because I had been feeling a lot of pain in my tail bone for the past few weeks. “Grandma fell down and broke her coccyx” as uncle rico would say. Yeah, when I fell down the stairs I broke my tail bone. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do about it… But at least I know now why I was so extremely uncomfortable in the last few weeks of my pregnancy.
The day after he was born they told me I could go home as long as he peed. So while waiting for that golden moment, they moved another girl in to share my already cramped tiny room and I had to get the heck out of there. And to top it all off, just as I was going to change into my clothes to go home… I had plopped my big naked self down on the toilet only to have my roommate’s husband walk right in on me. Perfect… Just perfect. If I hadn’t literally been leaving that minute, I would have lost it.
Lee then brought Carmen in, Moseley got the lo-jack taken off of his umbilical cord and we went home!
Baby Moseley is the answer to my prayers. He is such a good baby. He takes a binky (hallelujah!!!). And he doesn’t have to be held every minute of the day. He only nurses for short spurts, which is nice because even though it is pretty often, it is possible to do other things once in a while (Carmen was a super long nurser and always wanted to be held or snuggled up with mom… which wouldn’t be possible now that I have 2). So I am thinking I can possibly do this. I’m sure that confidence will be shattered the moment my mother leaves, but at least I am feeling optimistic. It is so funny how your memories are refreshed with the second baby… Even the smell of the hospital baby wipes bring back my time with baby Carmen. It is so much less stressful the second time around…which is a relief.
Carmen LOVES having the baby around, she loves to touch him. I can’t really keep her fingers off his face, which isn’t so great since we all caught colds the day he was born. She loves to cuddle him, and when she looks at him she always says “Oh… so cute!”
We have had a few signs of jealousy…Particularly when she prays at night for “the baby to be back in mommy’s tummy.” But I think she will be ok. She is going to be a great big sister.
He loves to be swaddled all the time and really only cries when he is getting his diaper changed… and those wet wipes are cold.
I took him to the doctor and he is doing great, he already weighs 9lbs 2 oz, two more ounces and he’ll be as big as Carmen was when she was born.
I am just so happy he is here, and healthy… and adorable. My heart could explode.

Photos by the ever wonderful blue lily photography

suspended in mid-air

I am waiting.

It is all I do.

I have not been this bored since I became a mom.  In fact I didn’t know that being bored was even a possibility for me anymore… Well yes, in-fact it is.  When you are trapped in your own body, you get bored.

I am pretty uncomfortable.  The fact that I cant bend over, or stand up or lift my foot 2 inches off the ground without a huge effort, or not have my hips ache all night  is getting really old… But for the most part I am just bored.

I hate going anywhere, because it makes me really tired… especially when I have Carmen with me. And don’t even get me started on the clothes situation.  So I stay at home.

I have been trying to keep my house relatively clean, since I wont have the chance to do much in the weeks following the delivery.  But I usually get discouraged because with the fact that I don’t take Carmen anywhere to get her energy out, she gets it out making messes around the house, so it’s like- what is the friggin point?

I have now painted my toenails 3 different times (each time thinking it would be the last time before the baby came) but I get bored with the color and think “hmm, I think I would rather look at red than pink while I am pushing this baby out.”  And painting my toenails is no easy task, since like I mentioned before I cant bend over.

Some things I am grateful for that help me pass the time…

Facebook-  I only check it about 467 times a day and there is never enough new stuff to read… so for my boredom’s sake- go update your status so I’ll have something to do. but for pete’s sake don’t ask me when I am due… IT’S THE 27th PEOPLE! whoa sorry for that little outburst, but I really should just buy the T-shirt, or get a tattoo (or I guess I could make that my status update… but that would be, like, right).

Flight of the Conchords re-runs-  I have watched every episode of this second season at least 3 times.  My favorite highlights are the sugalumps and friends songs (that I always have stuck in my head… there are a few naughty words so click at your own discretion), and from last weeks episode when Jemain’s Australian girlfriend tells Murray that her accent sounds like marlyn monroe and he responds “maybe if you squint your ears”.

Cheer up Murray is one of my favorite songs from last season.

This is the funniest show of all time, if you haven’t seen it yet… you are missing out.

My Etsy shop-  Because the one thing I can do while pregnant is knit, but it also tends to get old when it’s all you do (and how many times can you knit the same cozy and not get a little bored with it).

Nesting- It really is nice that we get that nesting instinct because it does keep you somewhat busy thinking about what else you need to do before the baby comes. But when you have pretty much done all you can do, the restlessness creeps right back in.

Carmen- While it is difficult being 9 months pregnant, and the mother of a very defiant little 3 year old… She does keep me going.  I think she maybe smarter than me already.

She pretty much knows how to use most of the functions of my iPhone.

She can get into almost every part of my house no matter how locked, or high up.

And she comes up with stuff that just blows my mind. Like today, when I asked her why she was eating a cookie when I told her she couldn’t have one and her response was “because I am not a good listener, I am a good naughty-er.”

Well sorry about all the complaint posts lately, but all you preggos know how it is… Soon there will be nothing but “gushing about my baby” posts, so that should probably make up for all this negativity.

So come on out of there baby… with each passing day you are giving me a new stretch mark.

baby shower

My super awesome friends threw me a baby shower.  Wendy had it at her beautiful home, and made me her specialty- Crepes.  MMMMMmmmm… bananas and nutella in a crepe… so delicious! Picture pages ain’t all she does folks!  Eve made the adorable hand knit decorations and party favors in orange and green, so cute!

All my closest friends gathered to celebrate the coming of my new baby boy.

They all pitched in and got me the one thing I really needed the most… A double stroller.

I hate being the center of attention but it was really worth it because I also got some other really cute baby clothes, and baby stuff that is super cute and will come in very useful for this new baby.

I am pretty excited to see him in this…

So thanks hunnys! You are the best.

piece de resistance

blue lily photography

Here they are all together.  It is crazy to look back and see how tiny my belly once was, I mean at the beginning that shirt practically drowned me.  Now it just feels like I am wearing one of Carmen’s shirts.  Now that I am this size I cannot ever remember not having this huge belly, so it is weird to look back and see proof.  I remeber this with my last pregnancy too.  You grow so accustomed to having a large belly that you start to see the world differently.  I would see my sister and be concerned that she was getting way too skinny.  Or I would see a shot of myself pre pregnancy that I thought at the time wasn’t that great, but now that I am way huger than that, I think man I looked HOT in that picture.  Oh well, it won’t be that way for too much longer I hope.  I am just keeping my finger’s crossed for another really thirsty baby.

month 9

Blue Lily Photography

Here is the final belly shot for this pregnancy… If I go another month, no there will not  be a 10 month shot (I’m joking, I already know my doctor will induce me long before this 9 pound baby turns into an 11 pound baby). Plus that is the last time I will be able to squeeze myself into those tiny clothes anyway.

I hope you have enjoyed watching me balloon up to record proportions…  Luckily I have the wonderfully talented Wendy to take these pictures, or things may have gotten really scary.

I am getting really excited to see what’s in there.

struggling

Since I had my girls weekend last week, Lee decided he needed a guys weekend as well, and since his cousin (that he hardly ever gets to see because he is a military doctor) invited him to Mesquite to get some good hookups for golf… he jumped at the chance. Unfortunate timing, I would say, since I am in my last month of pregnancy and this baby is already so huge… but I let him go, none the less.
He is still there, and I haven’t had any signs of labor so far… so that is good. And Lauren’s husband was out of town too, so she came to stay with me just in case I did go into labor, I wouldn’t be alone. We got baby sitters both nights and went out to dinner and movies, which was really nice because I don’t know the next time I will get to do that for a while.
On the flip side, I seem to have lost my mind yesterday because I cant seem to go two seconds without getting hurt. Last night before we left, I was chasing my dear sweet 2 year old who refused to listen to me, down the stairs and slipped, landing right on my back and falling down a few steps. Luckily I didn’t land on my belly… but I did get pretty bruised up trying to catch myself on the railing (which didn’t work). I was ok enough to still go out, especially because that would be a lot less work sitting in a movie than it would be to chase Carmen around some more.
Then I thought the drama was over until I was rummaging through my purse this morning looking for my keys while walking to the front door to lock it. Unfortunately I was so flustered from trying to get that same dear sweet 2 year old ready for church and loaded in the car, that I forgot to look for the small step leading to our front porch. I then kicked it as hard as I could with an open toed shoe, and being top heavy as it is, went right down… hard. Once again I must have angels looking out for me because I didn’t hit my belly. The brunt of it was on my hand and knee, and when I realized what had happened I was laying on my side with the contents of my purse spilled out next to me.
Lauren was not fortunate to see either of these embarrassing feats of acrobatics, lucky for me, because I’m sure they would have been a sight to behold.
Needless to say, I am not feeling so great now. I feel like I have been in a car accident, which is really just wonderful because being at my huge pregnant state, I was already having a hard time getting around with all my joints aching all the time. Now I feel like I cant even move. I probably shouldn’t, since I cant seem to stay on my feet anyway, but that doesn’t make for such easy parenting.
I took a nap after our super early church ended. Carmen woke up an hour after I fell asleep, which was definitely not long enough of a nap after all that commotion. So I just thought I would put a show on in my room, and let her watch it while I slept a little longer. Not a good idea, since I really was exhausted. When I fell back to sleep it was like I took a sedative, and I had no idea what Carmen was doing. I woke up to see her standing next to my bed with white all over her face, holding a spoon. She said “Ice cream” as she ran back out of my door, but I thought surely she had just gotten a small container of yogurt out of the fridge right?… wrong. I staggered out to open the door to my bedroom to find the entire carton of ice cream sitting on the carpet and her and tiger helping themselves to a Sunday treat. Awesome.
I need Lee back here… I am losing it. And unfortunately as soon as he gets back, he goes right back to work. I don’t know how I am going to make it through the next few weeks.
I went to the doctor on thursday, and she said she will strip my membranes this Friday to see if that will get things moving. If that doesn’t work, I am going to probably be induced the week after that.
I have been so nervous about the actual labor and delivery, I have forgotten to be nervous about having 2 kids to attend to. And after this weekend of such sweet obedience (sarcasm, if you can’t tell) from Carmen, I am in for a real treat. Although I guess the reason I haven’t been stressing about that as much is because I am the type that feels like if I have my physical strength back, I can accomplish anything. It is just making it to that point that worries me, because I literally have no physical strength left anymore, and that just does not work with Carmen. She is way too strong willed, and smart. She knows if she can make it under the table or behind the chaise lounge, I can’t get to her to do anything about her behavior… and she’s right, I can’t. And there is only so much that can be done with threats. I guess you can never really appreciate your health and strength, until it’s gone.
Anyway so yeah, that was my fun, and not so fun weekend.
Sorry about that long post… rant over.

month 8

Blue Lily Photography

month 7

I heart Wendy and her amazing abilities behind a camera.
Here is my 7 month shot. Yes I know I didn’t  do a  6 month shot, and I also realize that I forgot my yellow bracelet  (which I am bugged about).  I am slacking… but this has been a busy couple of months so sue me.  At my most recent doctor’s appointment I found out that this baby is huge already.  He is weighing in at 4lbs 8oz and since they are supposed to just about double their weight in remaining weeks he is probably going to be of similar girth to Carmen (who was 9lbs 4oz).  I certainly have gained enough weight already. When your Dr asks you if it’s because of swelling and you say no, and then she says “Oh so it’s just Christmas huh?” you know you are packing on the poundage.   Let’s just be thankful that Lee and I produce very thirsty babies.

This month I also had Wendy take a bunch of other preggo shots, before I get so big that it’s just sad.  And since I am already testing the tensile  strength of that shirt as it is, I’d say it was a good call.  She did an amazing job with my pictures, and I could not be happier.

Oh, and by the way, In case you wanted to know, I think my husband looks freaking HOT in our family pictures!  That’s all, carrying on…

My little Carmie looks so adorable in these shots, I love them!

She is growing up so fast, the complexity of her personality grows so much all the time now.  She says the funniest stuff to me on a constant basis.  I wish I could remember them all but the ones off the top of my head…

I asked her if she needed to go potty, and she said to me “No mom, I just have a wedgie in my tail”.  That made me laugh pretty hard. (And she is finally potty trained… YAY for me!  Not changing diapers anymore is the best ever!)

The other day when we were eating at white lime, I asked her if I could have one of her gummy worms and her only reply was “Sorry man”.

And just now as I was typing this she walked up to me and said “Mom, you are beautiful… You’re spoken hott!”  I think she got that from Lee calling me smokin’ hott.  I seriously love my family, it doesn’t get any better than this.