Now We Have Two!

I took a month off from almost everything and have spent it soaking in my family.  For those of you who are a little concerned I am STILL pregnant, I am sorry I didn't update sooner.  I am definitely not pregnant and have spent the last month soaking in all the family time that I can!  My mom was here for a week and David got three weeks off of work, so I have been spoiled and loved it all!

The thought of having two kids still baffles me.  I still can't believe it is here.  We are loving this little guy to bits, but still can't believe I am not pregnant anymore (glad I am not) and that we have two kids we are responsible for.  Who said that was alright?!  Here's how the whole birth happened.

My due date, October 9th, came and went with no excitement.  My body and my babies just like to hang out in my belly and there was no signs of any sort of labor coming our way.  At my appointment that day, my doctor said that she wanted me to get a non-stress test to make sure the baby was doing alright and if that didn't go ok, then I would be induced that day, otherwise we scheduled to be induced on Sunday the 14th.  The only day possible to do the testing (ultrasound and and hour of monitoring the little guy) was Saturday the 13th.  I didn't want to have a baby on the 13th.  I didn't want any sort of bad luck to be associated with his birthday, so I was hoping we would be cleared.  Silly, I know, but if I had a preference I would choose another day...and even numbers are more favorite for some reason anyways :)

So the testing was borderline and they were about to have me induced then, but left it up to us and we weren't really expecting to be induced that day and were over prepared for Sunday, so they let us come back Sunday to be induced.  

Sunday morning we dropped Katelyn off at a friend's house (Thanks Jackson's) and they took good care of her for the next 24 hours and we didn't worry about her one bit.  We headed to the hospital with too much stuff and were ready for the big day.  I didn't sleep too well the night before...part excited, part nervous wondering if I was prepared physically and mentally as I wanted to be.  As we checked into the hospital they said they were a bit full, but made room for us...too many people having babies!  Everything was pretty slow getting started.  We got there at 8 and by the time they had the IV in and they started the induction it was 11.

Here we go!  There's the last of that giant belly! I had no idea my maternity shirts didn't make it all the way around that belly.  Sorry everyone!

 They didn't use pitocin this time around.  They used a little pill that started contractions and softened the cervix and it worked great.  It lasts for 4 hours and then my body was in the labor mode so they didn't use another pill or pitocin as it wasn't needed as long as my body was progressing on its own.  David and I were just hanging out.  We wished we would have brought some games to play...card games, board games.  We didn't really want to watch the movies we brought so I pulled up a newlywed game sheet of questions and we had fun answering those and talking about them. I had to do something to keep my mind off of contractions and this was fun and had us both laughing.

At 5 pm or so I was starting to get uncomfortable with the contractions and was wondering how much my body had progressed.  If I was all the way dilated and ready to go, then great!  I wouldn't get the epidural.  But, I was only at a 5.  They broke my water and I told them to send in the epidural.  I am so glad my water has never broke in public.  It is the most uncomfortable feeling and I was secluded in my own hospital room feeling like I was wetting myself any time I had a contraction or moved or the baby moved.  Last time I already had the epidural so I couldn't tell what was going on, but this time I was grossed out by the uncontrollable leaking.  

The anesthesiologist was giving someone their epidural and then I was next in line.  I had to stop watching the big clock right in front of me because it made me mad that time was going so slow as the contractions kept coming more frequently and I didn't have my epidural yet.  It is hard to be patient when it hurts!  Finally he came in and got the epidural kicked in at 7 pm.  I was loving the painless contractions!  I was not a fan of a nurse that stepped in to help during the epidural.  She seemed to question my requests, like the one for an epidural.  I hate the question, "How much pain are you in?" especially when I had just asked to get the epidural...Last time around, I told them I was at whatever I needed to be to get my epidural.  This lady wasn't taking that answer and asked me again.  I remember her sounding annoyed, but I remember having a very strong contraction when she was asking me again, so maybe it was just me, but I was annoyed with her and wanted my sweet regular nurse back.  During the epidural, I was having another contraction and I was trying to sit as still as possible so the anesthesiologist could do his job the best and my nurse was trying to move me around and adjust the monitor straps on my belly.  I was annoyed with that too, but then again I was having a contraction.  This nurse seemed to only be annoying to me when I was having contractions, but that is when she was trying to help me, so I am not sure who is at fault here :)

Now the waiting game began.  I continued to dilate little by little and everything was going well.  David and I took a nap even!  I started to feel some contractions at 9, so I called someone in to bump up the juice.  If I was going to pay for the epidural, I didn't want to feel those contractions.  They relieved the pain and I was a happy camper and took another little nap.  

A little after 10 they came in to see how I was doing.  I was doing too great!  The little guy was ready to come out!  My doctor was finishing up a c-section and they weren't sure if there was enough time to allow her to finish up to come and deliver our baby.  The epidural was a little too strong and I couldn't feel or move anything at all and I wanted to have some control, so I had them lower the pain juice.  We were all a little nervous that the baby would slide out without me knowing.  I had David check a couple times while we were waiting just to make sure :)  We waited for the epidural to settle down and for my doctor to be ready for us.

At 11:30, I was feeling good and my doctor and nurses were ready to go.  I had some feeling and had control of my legs again and didn't need anyone to move or lift them for me, but the epidural was still doing its job and I was in no pain.  With David on one side and my nurse on the other I pushed my baby out in 6 minutes!  David was brave and cut the cord this time.  This was a big step for him!

David Benson (we call him Davy most) was born at 11:36 and I was entirely shocked to find out that he weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces!  He was 20 7/8 inches (since when did they try to be that precise?  With how wiggly he was, I wish they would have rounded it off to 21 or down to 20 1/2)  How in the world was he so big and thick and everything went so smoothly?  Seriously, I didn't even tear down there and needed no stitches! ...I am not sure if I want to be happy that there was no tearing, because to me that means those parts are a little too stretched out for that to be normal.  My doctor said that it was fine and not to be worried.  I am glad though because it has made for a very nice recovery!

I was so shocked by how fast and smooth everything went that I didn't have time to cry any tears.  We were all laughing for awhile in unbelief and my doctor was very happy it went so well.  She had delivered 5 babies that day, and mine definitely went the best!  As I snuggled up with our new little boy, he calmed right down.  As big as he was, he was still a floppy sleepy little baby and I enjoyed spending time just looking at every inch of him, still shocked. 

His birth still amazes me.  I am so grateful for how well everything went.  The recovery has been great too.  My lower back and hips feel like they are back into place and don't ache so much. My hospital stay wasgreat except for the food.  Last time, the food was great and this time it was pretty bad.  I would always order way more than I could eat hoping that I could find something I liked to fill up on. 

We are loving this sweet boy in our family!

Halloween

Still catching up with our life...

So, Halloween was fun this year.  We had a ward Trunk or Treat that was nice.  I am used to wards doing the carnival games as well and this ward didn't, but I can't complain because I didn't plan it.  I am just used to it that way and I sort of missed it.  Maybe next year I will take charge :)

Katelyn wasn't too fond of the idea of talking to these somewhat-strangers until she realized they had candy...especially chocolate!  I would prompt her in a whisper to say trick-or-treat and she would whisper it back to me and then shyly eye the candy hoping it was good enough.  It always was and everyone gave into her sweet shy-ness, but she always said "Thank you." so that made me proud!  She liked the whole getting candy part.

Dressing up was half way fun.  She was a cute witch and I made her a tutu with ribbon and tulle and she loved/still loves it.  She still likes to dance and spin around and asks for music each day.  She's got some good moves and that tutu brings out the best ones!

I got a kiddie sized witch hat...I went to 4 different stores around town trying to find one... and added some of the same tulle and ribbon to it and it was cute and matchy...and she wanted nothing to do with it.  So, most everyone didn't know what/who she was, because what is a witch costume without the pointy black hat?  She was dressed in all black with her tutu, but no hat.  I didn't fight it too hard, but for all the effort it took to find it...oh well.  She wore it for about 5 minutes at the dinner party...Yay!  These are the best shots we got!  You better watch out for this scary witch...she breaks in to houses, but always rings the doorbell first!

Davy used the Tootsie Roll costume that my mom made for Katelyn a couple years ago.  It is a fun one that makes everyone smile.

On Halloween we went over to the party house from our ward...they have something going on a couple times a month if not more...and we had a yummy chili dinner and then headed out for trick-or-treating in an awesome neighborhood.  It is one big loop, almost everyone sits out in camp chairs in their driveway handing out candy, they all strictly follow the hours of 6-8 pm and there are tons of people everywhere.  This neighborhood is known for its trick or treating and home owners are "warned" to be prepared with tons of candy or turn the lights out!  We heard that some people went through 7 large bags of candy and they only gave out one piece per person.

Katelyn had fun running from place to place with her friends filling up her bucket.  She was getting tired because her bucket was full and heavy but DID NOT want us to touch her hard earned candy and empty her bucket into our pockets fearing that she would never see that candy again!  It was so pathetic and cute and she was so torn about the whole situation and decided to just carry the load.  A few of the houses had thier dogs sitting out with them and Katelyn loved them even more than the candy.  She would put her candy down and go pet them for a bit until we made her go.  She would also call all of them Maggie, the name of my parents' dog, and one of them was actually named Maggie and the owner was a little surprised she knew the dog's name until we told him how every dog is named Maggie.  Funny girl loves those doggies!

We had a good night and David cheered when Katelyn would pick his favorites over my favorites.  He's a Butterfinger guy and I like the Whoppers and Snickers.  We let her have a few pieces on the way home and then a piece here and there, but we will admit that we have had way more of her candy than she has!  We are just great parents like that ;)  

My Trip Home-Part 5...Just For Fun

Tennis-One of my favorite things to do when I am home is to get in a few games of tennis.  My dad often asked me before I came if I had been practicing and would try and intimidate me by telling me how good he was getting with no one to play at home :)  I had been jogging through the pregnancy so I was pretty sure I would be able to play a little bit, but I knew I definitely wouldn't be as good with my 7 month pregnant belly slowing me down a little bit.  The first thing he mentioned when he saw my belly as I got off the plane was how I wasn't going to be playing tennis and he was a little bummed!  Poor guy!  I did bring my racket though and we got out to play a few times...and I am not the only one in the family that brought their rackets either!  We had a few nights and mornings of some fun games of tennis.  I was able to play and won a few games against everybody, but I definitely wasn't able to move around and play at my best.

 Dad got tired of beating everyone so he had to take a break with Jake...rough life.

One of the tennis playing crews...

Anytime anyone would hit a ball just over the net making me run to the net to save it, I pretty much had to let those ones go.  I am glad I was able to move around and play as much as I could, but I am excited to have my mobility and my body back to myself once this little guy gets here.  Then I will be ready to take my Dad down on the court again :)

Moses Lake Water Park-After the wedding was over and Matt and Chelsea headed out on their Oregon Coast honeymoon we all headed up to Moses Lake and spent the day at the pool and water park.  We were going to go white water rafting, but with all the little kids that wouldn't be able to go and we didn't want to leave anyone behind to watch the kids...and three of us were pregnant too...so we decided to head to the water park instead.  There was fun for everyone there so it was perfect!  There was shallow water and small slides for the little ones, big pools, a lazy river, and a splash pad for the big little ones and pregnant ones, and big water slides, high diving board, regular springboard, and body boarding and surfing for the brave big kids.  And...to top it all off, Christine's family brought stuff to make Sno-Cones!  They were a hit and were a perfect addition to the fun day!  We all had blue mouths and we didn't care one bit.  My dad did some gymnastics and also some swim and dive team so he was able to show off his tricks and would get in trouble for some of the risky ones that people often hurt themselves on, but the lifeguards would tell him no just because they had to and loved watching someone do neat tricks and flips off the board in good form even!  The rest of us have picked up some of his tricks, but he can easily out preform all of us combined :)  It might have been over 40 years since he competed on the diving board, but he's still pretty good...but Dad, no matter how good you are, you will never be allowed to wear a Speedo again.  Those days are long gone and your tricks won't ever be  worth your family seeing you in a Speedo :)

The water slides were fun to race down with the two of them being side-by-side.  My mom went down a couple times and raced my dad, but I don't know if anyone beat my dad.  Maybe Chad?  Easton and Will loved the slides too and even though McKay wasn't tall enough, he was still able to go down until the day was over and loved it!  I didn't even consider going down the big slides, but I was caught off guard when I was taking Katelyn to the top of one of the 4 foot slides and after I sent her down, the lifeguard told me I wasn't allowed to go down.  They didn't want any pregnant/surprise births happening and weren't going to risk me going down that little slide and something happening :)  Made me laugh, but I was okay with it and made the walk of shame back down along with any of the other 2 and 3 year olds that couldn't handle it.

Here's some videos of the boys and Abby surfing...some of them got the hang of it and some need some more work :)




Blessing-Nick and Christine took advantage of having everyone home and had itty bitty Mikilah blessed.  With her family and our family combined there we took up a lot of the church that day.  Mikilah is such a sweet little girl and was passed around constantly.  Katelyn was never very happy when she couldn't be the one to hold, feed, or carry her around.  Katelyn clarified that she will be a very willing helper with this coming baby of ours.  My mom made Mikilah's blessing dress that was beautiful, but I don't have any of the pictures of it.  It was a sweet blessing for a sweet little girl from my brother.  After church we had a yummy BBQ  with our two families and all tried to hide from the hot sun in the shade.  The BBQ ended with some fun singing and guitar playing.  A wonderful Sunday filled with two families and all about a new little baby and her beautiful parents.

 The Law men singing and playing a classic drinking song that made us all laugh!

 Abby and Luke serenaded us all with a few fun songs, too.

 Four Generations that are all 22 years apart if I heard that right...cute!

Spoons and Games-With the ENTIRE clan gathered together we just had to crown a new champion for Spoons!  Brooks and John created a masterpiece that will show off the winners of our tournaments and made it very official and there is no question who the reigning champ is...Ryan :)  I came in third and David claims Katelyn is a distraction for him so he wasn't able to win.  Poor guy.

A night of Encore went well and we were singing and laughing all night long.  We played some Settler's, lots of UNO, Battleship, and I even challenged Grandpa Bob to The Farming Game!  He beat me really bad, again.  He knows how to roll the right numbers at the right time and in all these years, he just has it mastered.  I won't give up though and I will have to keep practicing even though I lost really bad.  I even played Julia who has never played before and she beat me...I don't know why I like that game so much when I keep losing so bad :)

Dairy Queen and Tillamook Ice Cream-Part of being home meant I would get to join in with Dad's addiction to ice cream.  Between Dairy Queen Blizzards and cartons of all sorts of flavors of Tillamook Ice Cream, he is one happy man.  Tracie's kids have spent the last few years in Germany and when Dad mentioned Blizzards they responded with, "What's that?"  He couldn't believe they were so deprived :)  We just had to let them experience American Blizzards and they seemed pretty happy with them!  Who would have guessed?!  Katelyn chowed down on one too and was in heaven.  David approved because I let her have an Oreo one...the only flavor worth the unhealthy-ness in his eyes :)  I didn't surprise Dad with any bean flavored Blizzards like last time!    The Tillamook Ice Cream just can't be replaced.  I have found some fun flavors out here on the east coast, but nothing will be the same as Tillamook and it will always be a favorite memory of mine of the west coast...and it is so good too!  Rich, creamy, flavorful (and lots of yummy flavors), and just right!

Garden-After all the commotion of everyone being home settled down, Mom mentioned she hadn't paid much attention to her garden and was wondering what state it was in.  Katelyn and I, with her baby in hand, headed out to check it out and found a lot!  A lot of weeds and a lot of food!  We worked on some of the weeds and Katelyn enjoyed showing her baby how to play in the sprinkler while I worked.  We gathered up some of the veggies and headed in!  Katelyn thought the tiny tomatoes were so funny and I thought she was funny!

Luke's yard work-Luke had some projects he was in charge of around the house and also at our neighbor's house.  He was getting paid to mow over at the neighbor's which we were all fine with, but when we all found out that my parents were paying him to mow the lawn at home we weren't as okay with that!  We all grew up mowing the lawn and I think I learned when I was 8.  I was excited to learn, but that excitement quickly went away when I realized that it wasn't that easy to push the mower and keep the lines nice and straight and to avoid the sprinklers and that I had to pick up the dog poo before I mowed.  So many things that I had to keep up with and I had a section of the yard I was supposed to do each week!  I specifically remember that I was never paid for that service I provided (though I probably made my dad pay to replace many sprinklers to make up the difference so I guess it evens out)  BUT, we all had a good time teasing them about loosening up on the youngest child because he is just too cute.  They also have a riding mower, which makes it pretty nice except it didn't always work so sometimes Luke managed to get the tough job done with the push mower.  One time was a little messy and he came in looking like this.  I guess my parents have no choice but to pay up!  One day before going out to mow, Luke found this little gem in the garage.  It is a solar powered AM/FM radio on an elastic arm band!  I guess this is what my parents used before iPods and all this fancy new technology came around.  Luke said it still worked even :)

 One time Luke came in and was a little messy as he had grass covering one of his legs.

Cooking-Katelyn always likes to know what I am up to and if it looks interesting she wants to join me.  If it doesn't look so fun, then she wants me to stop and go do something cooler with her.  Cooking and cleaning in the kitchen is one of her favorites that she always joins in on.  We made up some zucchini bread from our garden adventure and hit the jackpot by adding extra nuts!

Puzzles with Papa-Katelyn has a few puzzles here at home, but Grandma Gigi had way more and she loved going through the puzzles she had nearly every day.  Some she would tote around the house with her looking for someone to do them with her and probably lost pieces. She and Papa had a good time doing puzzles and she loves snuggling up to do them too.

Katelyn loved the toy room for all the new toys, but she will always have favorites with the baby dolls.  It looks like this baby wouldn't go down for her nap so Katelyn had to get in her bed and help!

Katelyn liked being in control of the radio too...anything she could get her hands on!

Peaches were just starting to ripen up at the end of my visit at home.  We have always gone out and picked some Elberta peaches and some Gold Medal peaches.  The Gold Medal peaches are the ones I always drool over because they are so big and soft and juicy and perfect in every way.  They weren't quite ready before I left, but the opening day for Elberta peaches was the day before I had to fly out.  I was a little disappointed   We showed up with about 8-10 boxes ready to be filled with yummy peaches.  The Elberta's are close to being as good as the Gold Medals and by far better than any peach I have ever had from a grocery store so I was ready.  The peaches weren't though!  Almost all of them were still green and Luke, Katelyn and I searched and searched and only found two boxes worth of peaches and only a few of them were ready to eat.  They were good, but I didn't get my fill!  About two weeks later my Dad mentioned that they just got back from the orchard and picked like 300 or 400 pounds of juicy gold medal peaches and I was bummed I missed out.  I always want to move back to Washington during peach harvest.  I just need my yearly fill of heavenly peaches!

Piano-Katelyn loved playing the piano.  She liked to flip back and forth from her two favorite songs from nursery, I am a Child of God and Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam.  Those were her special songs she would pound out and go to town singing and playing.  She liked when I would play along too while she would sing but often she just needed help at the places she would get stuck and was ready to finish the song without mom's help so she would interrupt me and then continue on.  She has a mind of her own and likes to run the show sometimes.