Gardner Village

We headed to Gardner Village two weekends ago as it was Scott's last work-free weekend. What we didn't realize was that it was also UEA (Utah Education Association) weekend, meaning that all the kids were out of school.  So, it was super busy!  It was so busy that they were paying for parking, which is something I've never seen before.  We invited Scott's parents and Andrew to come with and I felt bad that it was so crowded.  I wanted to do the witch scavenger hunt again, but with it being so busy, it just wasn't worth a $.50 cookie (which last year, it was $.35).  We did check out the small farm they have there and Scott's parents bought Kylie a pony ride!  It was the highlight of the trip and Kylie loved it so much.  She just loves horses and riding them.  It is so much fun to see the joy in her eyes when she's able to ride a horse.  We had to wait about an hour (maybe more) though to ride, so that was the least enjoyable part of the day.  It was fun to get out of the house and it was a good opportunity to test out the double stroller.  Now that I'm not a teacher, I forget the days that students are out of school and I will make sure not to go anywhere during fall break in future years.

Jordan's Birth Story

Labor and delivery with Jordan went quite well.  I had heard that labor and recovery can be easier with each child, as your body has already been through the process.  Just like with Kylie, we didn't get much sleep the night before as I had horrible heartburn and Scott just couldn't sleep.  At 6:30am, I called the hospital to see if things were still good for me to come in that morning at 7:30am.  They asked if I could come in now and I said yes and ran upstairs to wake Scott up.  I called my mom to tell her that we were leaving.  Scott's parents were still staying with us, so Kylie wasn't alone while waiting for my mom to show up.  My mom was very kind in watching Kylie Friday and Saturday.  Kylie had a lot of fun hanging out and having a sleepover with grandma.  It sure took a lot of stress away not having to worry about Kylie.

We arrived at the hospital around 7:00am and got all checked in.  I received pitocin to help get labor going and decided to wait until I was further along to get an epidural.  The day went by very slowly.  Since I wasn't having any contractions before I went in, I'm not surprised that it took all day for things to get going.  I pretty much just slept, looked at Facebook and watched TV.  After a couple of hours, I wasn't progressing a lot, so the nurse found a doctor to come in and break my water.  I got an epidural pretty soon after that and then just waited some more.  At one point, the nurse came in and told me to keep my legs together and that the doctor was on his way.  Haha, I was ready to have this baby!  I pushed 3 times and then Jordan was out!  I had a much easier recovery this time and I didn't even tear at all, meaning I didn't need stitches.  Getting stitches definitely makes recovery last a little longer.  Jordan was born at 4:20pm and weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 20 inches long.

All the nurses kept saying I was their dream patient as I didn't have any complications and was feeling really good.  I didn't even need hardly any pain medications.  The few times I did need them is because I was having pretty painful contractions.  I didn't remember having them with Kylie, but I guess it's pretty normal after delivery to have them for a few days.  I was surprised at how well I was feeling, but very grateful that everything did go so smoothly.

Kylie, my mom, Dean and Nadine all stopped by around 7:30pm.  It was so fun to see Kylie so curious about her baby brother.  They all stayed about an hour and then it was just me, Scott and Jordan the rest of the night.  Jordan was a very sleepy baby the first few nights and even slept for about 5 hours the first night. That was a little scary, but Jordan was just fine.  We headed home Sunday afternoon where Scott's parents and my mom made dinner for us.

We are so grateful that everything went smoothly in getting Jordan here and that he is doing just fine.  We are so happy to have him here and we love him so much.  We are grateful he is a part of our family.

Weekly Wednesday Recap

I have two days left until I get induced and we meet baby Jordan!!  I am so tired that it makes it hard to make sure that everything is ready before the baby comes.  I did some light cleaning today and I need to grocery shop tomorrow and then I'll be ready!  It will be surprising if anything happens tomorrow as not even sweeping, mopping and vacuuming did anything today.  I still have a few nerves since I've never been induced before, but I also have a feeling that everything will be okay. 

38 Weeks.

This picture is from over a month ago, but when we were setting up the crib, Kylie went in with her baby dolls one morning and climbed into the crib.  She sure was proud of herself for getting in there!

Kylie loves to brush her teeth and she'll do only do it while sitting on our bathroom counter.  It provides me time to be able to do my hair and makeup at the same time.  One day, she got finished before me and so I gave her an empty blush container and a brush and she pretended to put on makeup.  It was so stinking cute to see her do that.  She is definitely watching and observing everything Scott and I do.

Kylie is also still into painting and coloring.  She'll grab crayons out of the large desk and then head to her small desk to color.  When I don't want to deal with a huge mess, I put an apron on Kylie and let her paint at the table.  She does really well at not painting the table or chair, but she still will paint her hands and sometimes her face.  I need to start increasing her art supplies and find activities she can do while I'm taking care of the baby.

Helping paint the baby's dresser knobs.

Kylie is also becoming a little helper in the kitchen.  Most of the time, she'll help for a few minutes and then start eating the ingredients. Haha.  She helps make pancakes, french toast, smoothies, macaroni and cheese and now cookies!  She also helps sprinkle cheese on things.

Last week we decided to go out to eat as a family, since we probably won't actually go out to a restaurant any time soon after the baby is here.  We used a gift card and went to Olive Garden.  The food was delicious, but Kylie was a little whiny the whole time.  She didn't eat much and kept saying she was "all done", but since we didn't let her down she got upset.  We still have some gift certificates to the movies and I think another restaurant, so maybe we'll have a date night after the baby comes.

Love these two.

37 Weeks

It is surreal how close we are to meeting the newest member of our family!  I'm excited, but I'm also feeling very unprepared.  Maybe it's because I have these little things to finish still and with Kylie, we had things bought and ready months ahead of time.  It is hard to imagine how much our lives are going to change when this new baby gets here.  Instead of a family of 3, we're going to become a family of 4! It is exciting to think about that.

At my doctor's appointment two weeks ago, my doctor mentioned that because I'm a second-time mom I could be induced if I wanted to.  I told Scott and we started thinking about how maybe it could be a good idea as there was worry if I would go into labor while Scott was in school or work.  There are a lot of unknown facts with induction and committing definitely took some thought.  Since I wasn't induced with Kylie, there is always the worry of how my body will handle induction.  Kylie's birth went great and I want a repeat of that.  However, I really didn't want to go into labor while Scott was in the middle of class and had an hour drive ahead of him or while he was at work and couldn't leave quickly.  We had one date in mind that we were going to talk to the doctor about (September 25th), but it made me nervous because it took off a whole week!  I started getting scared that he would be here so soon and I didn't feel ready.  When we talked to the doctor at my last appointment on Monday, he said that the 25th wouldn't work as I wouldn't be 39 weeks and the hospital is very strict about that.  So, October 2nd was our only other option.  It's two days before my due date, but it's nice to know that there is an end date rather then wondering when he could come (like Kylie, who was 3 days late).  October 2nd is a Friday, so Scott will take work off beforehand and I told my mom, who can make herself available to watch Kylie.  Who knows if this baby will come before my induction date, but for right now we'll be meeting little Jordan Dean on October 2nd!

Here's my last questionnaire before the baby comes!

How far along?: 37 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss?: I've gained at least 30 lbs
Maternity clothes?:Yes.
Stretch marks?: Have some small ones around my belly button
Sleep?:Sleeping pretty good except when I wake up to go to the bathroom, I can't go back to sleep.
Missing anything?: Being able to take less than 5 minutes to get up off the couch. Haha.
Movement?: Yep!
Food cravings?: Same answer as before with ice cream.
Anything making you queasy or sick?:Not really
Have you started to show yet?: I'm going to say yes.
Gender: Baby Boy!!
Labor signs: No. I've felt a few Braxton Hicks contractions here and there, but nothing consistent.
Belly button in or out: Still an innie.
Wedding ring on or off: Off. My fingers swell during random times during the day, so I keep it off all the time now.
Happy or moody most of the time: A little moody when I'm tired or hungry, but I'm pretty happy. :) 
Looking forward to: Meeting our baby boy!

Kylie giving kisses to her baby brother.