Happy Mother's Day

I thought I would post some new pictures of Noah! The first layout was a picture taken when he was one week old. The second layout was of a picture I took yesterday, at almost 3 weeks old. The time is going so fast! He is such a fun and wonderful baby! For all the fear I felt for 9 months in having him join our family, it has been relatively easy! He is a dear blessing!

Noah is HERE!!

I know I'm a few days late posting all the details of Noah's birth and pictures, but things have been so crazy!

I went in Tuesday morning to be induced. It was kind of nice to be able to know that morning that I was really going to have a baby! It was also Mitchell's birthday, which he has been very excited about!

I got there a little after 8 a.m. but by the time they got everything going and my water broken, it was closer to 9:30. The deal was they were going to let me have an hour to see if things kicked in on their own, or they were going to start the pitocin. Of course, nothing happened, so at about 10:30 they started the lowest dose of pitocin. I think the waiting was the worst part of all of the process. I was just ready to be in labor!!!

Finally, after them turning it up every half hour, by a little after 12:00, things started to pick up and begin to be fairly steady. They were a bit painful, but not bad at all. They gradually got closer and harder and after about 2 hours, I was getting tired. They still weren't too painful to endure, but I didn't want to wait too long and then not be able to get the epidural. At this point, I was at about a 5.

They ordered the epidural, and I was amazed at how quick it all went. Soon after receiving it, my blood pressure dropped (I had prepared them for this, because it wasn't the first time) and they immediately gave me a shot of Ephedrin (which is basically speed). It took away the dizziness and naseau and my blood pressure immediately jumped back up where it should have been, but it left me feeling almost giddy! It was a crazy feeling and I had tons of energy! Not that I could do much but lay there and wait! LOL! So, that was all finished by about 3:30 and I told them I would be ready to push in an hour to an hour and a half. They nodded, but I'm sure they didn't believe me. I was still only at a 5, so I think the poor doctor figured he would be hanging out most the evening.

Sure enough, right about 5 p.m. I began to feel the pressure with each contraction (I wasn't in pain, just could feel that they were going on) and when they checked me, I was ready to push. They got everything set up, and in less than one push, his head was out! It went very fast! His actual birth time was 5:22 p.m. and he weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 22 inches long!

He scored great on his apgar and looks great! He is still doing very well, except for some jaundice that they are keeping an eye on. He's a very alert baby and very mild. He only cries when he's hungry!

Here are some pics of our sweet little man:

Wow! It has been forever!

I finally got around to changing out our Christmas decor here and updated it for spring! Granted, with the snow that fell last night, it felt more like Christmas than April!

I'm really going to try and be better about posting, and I'll start with an update on us!

We are all healthy and happy and still LOVING our home here in Utah! We survived the winter, and actually, I never tired of the snow! Abby turned eight recently and was baptized this last weekned. What a special memory it must be for her, to have been baptized on Easter weekend. It just seemed to add a little extra meaning! A lot of our family were able to come and visit and it was great to see everyone!

The kids all love school and it's so fun to see them growing and making new friends and surviving all of life's little lessons!

Our newest addition should be arriving any time now! I'll be 40 weeks on Sunday (as you can probably tell from the picture above!) We are getting very excited to meet little Noah and welcome him into our family!

John found out on Sunday that he passed the Utah Bar and that was very exciting news for us! February was a very stressful month as he studied and prepared! It's so nice to have that behind us!

My business is growing and I love designing so much! In fact, all the little goodies in the header are my newest creation! I had so much fun designing spring, even if I couldn't see it outside yet!

Sam is doing great, loves school and is trying so hard to talk! Most of his words are vowels only, but we are adjusting well to his little language and it's fun to hear him express himself! Olivia is our little sunshine and such a fun girl! I truly can't believe she is almost 3!!

So, there's the update for us! I promise to post details and pictures, as soon as Noah makes his appearance!

Please Help...

Here is a link to the blog of another family with a son who has xxyy syndrome. Currently, many of our boys as they become adults have to wait years and years to be approved for assistance, such as job programs, special housing, etc. We will face this with Sam, when the time comes, as the chances of him ever being fully on his own are very unlikely. Through the link on this blog, we can all vote to change that and make it easier for adults with disabilities to get the help we need. I'm referring to individuals with developmental disabilities not a job injury. It will make a difference to our family, someday, and to many others in the meantime.

http://www.1specialplace.blogspot.com/

Thanks for checking it out!

Miracle in the Making

So, one of the perks about being a designer when pregnant is that I can create endless amounts of baby kits to scrap with! I'm sure that my customers are sick of so many baby kits, but I'm having a blast! I finished a new kit today, called "Elephants on Parade" and then scrapped one of my favorite baby photo's of Olivia! I have so many baby books to finish, before this baby makes his entrance! Anyway, you're probably all sick of me talking so much about scrapping, but here is the new page I did:

There is more information about this kit and even a quickpage I made of this layout, where all you have to do is drop in your own photo and you can check it out on my design BLOG.

I hope everyone is having a good evening. I feel so blessed by the many friends I have and your comments always make me smile or bring a tear to my eye! I just feel so grateful to each of you!