Easter 2012

 Easter! See, what did I tell you? I'm catching right up! Only 4 months off, woo hoo! 

Easter in Michigan for us consists of 2 big events. Playgroup egg hunt and the Greencrest (our street) backyard egg hunt. Here is a group shot from the playgroup one. It was a bit cold, but sunny and bright.

 There is our Eleanor, under dressed in a purple sun-dress with a cardigan sweater... next to the kids with good parents who put them in parkas.

 In my defense, look at how sunny it was!

 Cutie.

 With her sweet friend, Kinsley.

 Could they be any cuter?

 The moms! And some of my best friends. For my benefit, back row L-R: Nora & Jody Evans, Jessica Allee, Delicia Coupe, Maureen Clark, Crystal Clark. Front row, L-R: Me, Tiffany Alldredge, Marissa Christensen, Amy Nielson and Emily Becker. We are missing Laurie Johnson, Sarah Stradley, Janine Fredline and a handful of others. Awww, I miss them!

 Me, Delicia and Jody, who was hosting and so kind to let us huddle indoors when it got cold. She was also due soon with her latest gorgeous baby. (Honestly, her kids should all model.)

 A few days before Easter Clayton's cousin Charlotte came over to visit with her kids, Damon, Claire and Anne. They recently moved to Kalamazoo and it was fun to see them a few times before we had to  move. Here they all are dyeing Easter eggs.

 I love Anne. I love all those kids, but she is just such a cut-up. Eleanor adores her, of course. And I love Charlotte's blog. She recounts the hilarious stuff they say, it's always worth a read. One funny story (to me anyways) from the day- Charlotte is a much better mother than I am, and is fairly health conscious about what they eat. Or maybe she's just normal, but compared to me she is a regular dietitian. She and the  kids drove up that day and we show them around when suddenly Claire starts exclaiming, "Mom! Look at all the CAAANDYYYY! Look at it!  I've never seen so much candy! There is just so much candy!" I started to look around, and darn it if she wasn't right- there is candy everywhere in our house. Especially around Easter. I had little bowls of something or other in every room and on almost every decorative surface. Um, yeah. If you've ever been to my house, you probably can picture this easily.  I wish I could say this was a wake up call to better health, but hahahahha. No, the joke's on Charlotte- I just filled their pockets as they left and threw some in their van for good measure. It's ok, I like to be thought of as a modern day Willy Wonka.

 For our backyard Easter hunt this year we decided to forgo the brunch and just do treats. With neighbors and modern day pioneers Lexie and Ruth having moved away, Angela and I (The modern day lazy ones? JK Angela- you are awesome) wanted to keep things easier. On the day of, Angela's bunny cake got ruined so my ever-ready, Sam's club, tub-o-frosting helped make it back to it's fluffy, cute self. It may have been 70% frosting by the time I was done with it.

 Ellie pulling Kinsley and Kate in our wagon out back.

 Emily shooting Kinley, Eleanor and Liya. (Josh in the background.)

 Ivy, Jaquie (running behind), Lily (draped in fur, of course), Liya, Eleanor, Nora and Malina all out for a ride.

 The 3 and under gang waiting for us to open the gate to start their hunt. The 4+ gang went first.

 Eleanor and Lily were totally matching. Sadly, they didn't find it as photo-worthy as the moms and weren't keen on a picture right then.

 Cutest boys ever.

 Laurie and her Kinsley, we miss them!

 Eleanor and Kinsley, did I mention that we miss them? We miss all of them, you will probably be reading that a lot in the near future.

 Kate, Nora, Lily, Eleanor & Kinsley. Our 3 and 4 year old bunch. Miss them.

 Baby Bennett! I don't know if I can say Bennett without baby in front of it. He is Winston's best little friend from Michigan along with baby Charlie. Miss them.

 Our family Easter shot. Nice, E.

 And this little gadget. Gosh he's adorable.

How It All Went Down: Winston Edition

Here are the details of Winston's birth. Warnings. One: This is awfully long. I can barely match my clothes on the amount of sleep I'm getting, let alone write a decent summary, so I didn't summarize. At all. Second: This probably isn't required reading for a few people, say, my dad, Adam or well, any guys. This post may or may not include words like "dilating", "effaced", "cervix" or worse. So all you menfolk just wait for the next post which will be back to sunshine, rainbows and pictures of little people.

So. I made it to 40 weeks with no big problems. I was actually feeling better at 39, 40 weeks than I was at around 36, 37. Back then I was googling "castor oil" and wondering if doctors took bribes. On June 9th, the day before my due date, Eleanor and I picked up my mom from the airport, hoping that my contractions might start on the ride home. Nope. Friday the 10th came and went with no action either. I still naively thought that I would surely have him before my next doctor's appointment the following Tuesday. Well, the weekend was lovely with my mom around, but not so much as a twinge. Maybe a few twinges of guilt when I had to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break and a snack, because my poor mother would get excited to hear doors and noises, thinking we were getting ready to head to the hospital. Tuesday's appointment found me barely dilated and not effaced at all. And can I just add for your gross out factor that it was the most painful check I have ever had? Well it was. The NP who I normally love did it and originally I was going to ask her to strip my membranes but chickened out once lobster-hands pronounced me completely unready. I like to think that I am pretty tough with pain, but this one had me in tears and shouting (well, not really shouting, but saying-out-loud which is something I never do at the doctor's) "Ouchouchouchouchouch!" I meekly inquired about their induction policies explaining that my mom was in town and our only babysitter for our daughter. Total fib by the way, I have awesome neighbors and a ward full of friends, but you know, they don't need to know that, and I really wanted my mom to meet the baby before she had to fly home. They told me to come back the following Tuesday, the day my mom flies home. Booo.

So that day I went home and mowed the lawn. What could it hurt, right? Turns out a lot of achy, already loose joints, that's what. And however proud I was of my hard work, it didn't create so much as a single contraction. Well, this story is already getting old. Long story shorter, Thursday morning I was up at 4 AM with Eleanor, she had a bad dream or something. Once she was back down, I couldn't get back to sleep, so the second the doctors office was open I called in to see what could be done. They had me come in for testing, which includes being monitored for about an hour, given a quick ultrasound to see if the amniotic fluid levels are good and then given another physical check. Unluckily for delivering, but lucky for health of the baby, everything was great. He was happy as a clam (huh huh) and had no intentions of leaving anytime soon. The doctor however was awesomely sympathetic and put me on the waiting list at the hospital. I went home to wait for a phone call. Later that day they told me I tentatively had a "spot" on Saturday at 1PM, only I had to call at noon to make sure they weren't full. Not exactly awesome news, but I guess it could be worse.

Saturday I called and as expected (my neighbor Lexie went through this whole rigmarole with her son 9 months earlier) they couldn't take me. So we beat feet for the lake, as it was the sunniest day we had had all week. After the lake we sent Clayton to a matinee while we finished projects and made dinner. Lexie texted me to say I should call the hospital again, even though I was supposed to wait for a call from them. By this point I felt like I was bothering the entire world with my "poor-me" bit. Millions of women have gone way longer than I have and I'm sure grandmothers everywhere have missed births, but did I mention: This was happening to meeeeeee. So against my "don't bother people" mentality I called again around 6 PM, and to my surprise, they said come on down!

Once they got me gowned up and checked our labor and delivery nurse gave me my IV. She had me take off my wedding ring so it wouldn't get dirty, which I thought was odd, I've never had that request before. How "dirty" could it get? Um, pretty freaking dirty. There was blood all over when she was done and it hurt like the dickens. She had to get a second kit and do it over. When I finally got brave enough to look down I saw that the freaking thing was jammed way too far under my skin. It was killing me. She knew it was off, but I think she was afraid of having to do it all over. When she asked how it was, I was afraid of having her start over as well so I asked if she could just pull it out a touch. She did, and while it wasn't perfect, it was better and stopped burning after an hour or so. So far so... well, so far ok. They started the pitocin drip and things started progressing. I hate how they ask you to rate your pain all the time. Um... I don't know, a two? A seven? Worse than a bee sting but better than being eaten by crocodiles?

We turned on the tv and got to waiting, luckily there was a House marathon on tv that I was enjoying. Clayton tried to take a nap on the bizarre lounge chairs that all hospitals have that fold out to an inverted "V" shape. So cozy! Around 2 AM the contractions were coming regularly, every minute or two and within an hour they were pretty painful. My water broke on its own and then within a few minutes they got really really painful really really fast. I inquired about the epidural only to find that the anesthesiologist was helping with a C-section right then and would be a few minutes. Those "few minutes" turned into almost an hour and forty minutes. I was NOT prepared for that level of pain. I had blithely ignored all the hypno-birthing or Lamaze techniques during pregnancy as I was planning on having an awesome epidural. I ended up doing every lame thing I could remember from all the baby shows on TLC and from watching those labor videos that always have those horrible "hippie mammas". Don't get me wrong, I have lots of perfectly normal friends who go natural. I'm talking about the ones who chant through contractions buck naked with their birthing sensei or wizard or what-not while burning incense and summoning helper-spirits through glass beads placed around the room. Seeing as we didn't have any patchouli oil or guardian candles on hand, I did the best I could. In other words, I knew to breath out a bunch and maybe vocalize through each one or something. At one point I made Clayton turn off the tv as it was just too much. How people go natural is beyond me. How much worse can it get? Ugh.

Anyhow, the magical anesthesiologist arrives, Clayton goes off to find something distracting (needles and Clayton are on fighting terms) and I get my happy, happy, happy drugs. Oh, to feel the drugs slowly wash the pain away almost makes it worth going as far as I did. Almost. The contractions were getting easier and easier until I was comfortable enough to try and nap. Whether you ever have a baby or not, everyone should get an epidural at least once. I couldn't shut up about how good it felt. My L&D nurse was probably so sick of me waxing poetic about pain relief, but oh. It was so nice, I let Clayton turn the tv back on. After a short nap they woke me up saying the baby's heart rate was too low and they wanted me to move. They strapped on the oxygen mask and would "tickle" the baby's head. Each time she did his heart rate would go back up. At that point they said I was at a 10 and should try pushing. They got the on-call doctor from my doctor's office in there and I tried to push. They didn't have me push along with the contractions like they did when I had Eleanor, they just had me push and push and push. I hadn't pushed the epidural button, so it wasn't as strong as at first, but after a few minutes they said my pushing wasn't productive and they wanted to wait a half hour for the epidural to wear off a bit more. That is when I threw up. Charming. I was grateful to have only had ice chips in the last couple of hours. I think it was the overly plastic smell from the mask.

So we waited, and my previously numb legs were slowly waking up. Soon I had full sensation in my feet and legs. I could really feel the contractions but they were still blessedly muted. Thankfully after almost an hour Clayton asks the nurse how much longer, they had said 30 minutes after all. I was getting nervous that I was "feeling" way too much. Why get an epidural if you don't get to use it, right? The nurse calls the doctor and they tell her to have me try pushing a few more times to see how well it does before they come back. So I do, and I guess I passed as they got back in there. I should say so! I could completely tell that the baby's head was waaaay down and trying to come out. Oh, and it was hurting like crazy again. Long story short(er) the doctor comes in and I get to push. After a few minutes of burning like the fires of hell, the head made it's way out and everything after that is easy peasy by comparison.

They placed little man on some towels on me and I got to see our son. Love at first sight. There is nothing like that moment when you just get to think: "He's all ours! He's here, he's finally here!" He was also pretty darn cute, although totally covered in vernix- which made him look like a little ghost. He took a few seconds to wail but didn't make too much of a fuss. Then they took him over to the heat lamps for measuring and all of that stuff. I was tempted at that point to push the epidural button, they even told me I could and should at that point, but I didn't want to be completely numb again. I ripped along my previous episiotomy scar and tore kind of all over so they stitched me up. That truly smarted. Ugh, see- no boys should be reading this! But the nice part about not upping the epidural was that I could get up and walk right after. With Eleanor I pushed the button right after I delivered, and I couldn't even get into the wheelchair. It was nice to have my legs working this time.

After a few minutes they left us alone to enjoy our little guy. We had decided by that point that his name was going to be Winston and not the runner up name of Desmond. I had originally planned on Winston Manning or Desmond Thomas Rex. Clayton suggested Thomas Rex for Winston and I was terribly pleased. Thomas is for my father and Rex is his dad. Seeing as Winston was born at 6:30 AM Sunday on Father's Day, it seemed perfect. And we can call him T-Rex if we ever feel like it. That's fun, right? After nearly two hours in that same room (You know you're not in Utah when a delivery room isn't needed soon. With Eleanor they couldn't get us out of there fast enough.) they finally sent us to the recovery room and took him off to be properly washed and immunized. Clayton went home for a nap and I did my best to nap as well before they brought him back.

Clayton came back with my mom and Eleanor. "Oh! A baby." she says. Eleanor was carrying a balloon and she tried to hand it to him saying "Here doo doh." Like it was no big deal. She was more interested in all of the neato things in the room, like the curtain that slides around and the leftovers of my lunch. My mom got to spend the night in the hospital Sunday night so Clayton could be at home with Eleanor and so she could have some time with Winston. Boy was it nice having her there. We chose to check out late Monday evening when Clayton was done with his class. Normally I think people who check out early are nutso, but Clayton had to take my mother to the airport shuttle at 3 AM that morning and we didn't want to harass a neighbor to watch Eleanor for 30 minutes in the middle of the night. Also, checking out bright and early Tuesday morning sounded equally lame. Tuesday happened I suppose, I don't remember much of it except that we had to take W to his first doctor's appointment. Wednesday Kathy, Clayton's mom, came and she was a miracle those first few days. Just as Eleanor would be getting up, baby and I would just be getting back to sleep. E loved the extra attention as well.

I'll be honest, recovery sucked. Ripped stitches and general weepiness are not high on my list. There were a few days where all I wanted was another epidural. I can say that now as I am feeling much better and I haven't used a pain pill or cried once today! Go me! Was this diatribe a bit too long? Yep. Is anyone still reading? Gosh, I hope not. I need another few weeks before the hormones wear off enough to write coherently. Let's all look forward to that! And the moral of the story is that little Win was worth every second of all of it.

I Win. Oh, you want to know why you lost?

Because, did THIS happen to you on YOUR birthday?


I didn't think so.

Although, to bring a little humility in,
when I asked her whose birthday it was, she answered:"A doggy?".

On the bright side, I got a honkin-mother of a Sam's Club cake.

I turned thirty something. Officially fudging any
numbers from here on out.

P.S. I am so behind on blogging. You wont even get Halloween for a few more days. Boooo.

Mending Hearts

Sorry about yesterday. Update: We are still sick here today at stupid-sick house. Shout out to my awesome neighbors for taking such good care of us! I hope that we are better by Sunday, but I'm thinking I might be a tad optimistic here. The good news of being sick is, of course, say it with me ladies: "Losing weight without trying!" Yay! Um, no. I stepped on the scale expecting pre-wedding numbers only to see that I have lost two pounds. Two pounds? TWO POUNDS!?!? I have two pounds of kleenex in every trash in every room of this house! How is that possible? Ugh! I should have abs of steal from all the coughing alone, but alas. Durr. Enough of my ranting. Lets talk blogs. P.S. I want an invite to yours. Moving on.

The super-sad shots of Eleanor from yesterday's post were breaking my heart so I took some more last night. She was being super adorable around 11 PM after sleeping for most of the day. As seen here. I was trying to catch a shot of her bouffant hairdo from her coma-nap. It was classic.

Yes, she and I have been living in our pajamas. I'm cool with it, I hope you are too.

Something is sure keeping her distracted, must be the constant showing of zoo/baby shows that we find for free on the OnDemand section of Comcast. Eleanor crack.

TV off, she starts to focus on me and warm up. Then she decides...

...that this is her brand new "smile" when I take her picture. What the what? Where did this come from? Why is she so funny?

Just giant, opened mouth glee for the camera. Ok then. I'll take it.

Super pretty baby girl. Man I want to hug this picture.

And more of this. Seriously. She has more personality in her little toe than half of Hollywood combined. Love her!

I'll post the video tomorrow.

My Nemesis

It's becoming a problem. Luckily they should be off the shelves by about mid February. Just in time for Cadburry Eggs. It's much more calorie friendly than cake, right?

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

One piece at a time, baby!

See that? That one small slice of a Sam's Club bakery cake? That is the only bit of this cake that I didn't eat myself. Should I be proud or horrified? Don't answer that. I know I just grossed out more than half of my readers. The rest of you already know me too well. You know of my love for cheap, Crisco-based-frosting bakery cakes. And I really did only eat a piece a day. Well, except twice. But that's not so crazy, right? Can I get an "Amen!"? No? Ok. I treated myself for my birthday by getting it, but Clayton wasn't interested, so I slowly made it disappear. Ta daaa!

Who's With Me?

Maybe it's the rain, but I am feeling like the epitome of blah. No motivation, no energy. Just a huge desire to eat jelly beans and browse blogs. Only I'm almost out of blogs. (C'mon people! Write more!) It's almost noon and I am still in my pajamas. Not sweats, which we all know are ok to stay in all day. No. Actual pajamas, so I can't even answer the door if needed. Any ideas to get me out of this funk? Even projects aren't calling my name. The laundry really isn't calling my name. Ho hum. Here is a link to a funny web site where I found the above graph. Later.

Graph Jam

Pretty Pretty Baby Girl

Each Sunday we try to wake up insanely early (For us that is, it's about 3-4 hours earlier than we usually wake.) to get ready for church at nine. For me it is impossible to focus the mental powers needed to find cute outfits that don't do one of two things. 1- Are so blousy that I look pregnant. Or 2- Are so tight that I look pregnant. I think it's time to lay off the frosting. Or not, I'm not bothered enough to try that. Luckily getting Eleanor dressed is a cinch. She has more beautiful clothes than any little girl I know of thanks to her darling cousin Allie.

Here are Allie and Eleanor together at the end of our summer in Utah.

Allie had and has one of the greatest wardrobes ever seen. It rivals Suri Cruise. She was the surprise baby to my brother and his wife, joyfully coming 14 years after her brother and sister. She was long awaited for, and as a result everyone showered her with love. And clothes. Add her 16 year old fashionista sister (now starting college!) into the mix and she was and is one well dressed little lady.

The second magical part of this story is that due to Allie's wardrobe, Eleanor has received some amazing hand-me-downs. Lots of them. And we are so grateful! I love getting her dressed up in her pretty dresses. Each Sunday I mean to take pictures of her all dolled up, but usually forget. Or Clayton gets her undone before I get to the camera. But last Sunday we remembered.

So here she is wearing a special dress of Allie's. I call it her prom dress as it has a netting pinafore sewn right in. Allie had her pictures taken in it when she was about the same age.

Baby makes mom look thinner, cause who is looking at mom in these shots?

And with dad!

If I had an office, this would be on my desk.

Seeing Eleanor in this dress all day made me really miss Allie. Luckily we get to see her in a few weeks when we visit Utah! Well, just me and Eleanor. Clayton has to stay in school.