Carter Jefferson

We are so grateful to announce the birth of our precious Carter Jefferson! We feel blessed to have another son. He is a peaceful baby with dark black hair like his big brother had! They have their definite similarities and differences.
William has been great. He does know there's a change, but has been remarkably patient and loving towards Carter.
My mom arrived Sunday night, so Monday we did a few last minute preparations to get ready for baby, including getting pedicures! It was such a fun treat. I got loads of advice from a woman sitting near me including, "don't take your kids to McDonalds. It gives boys boobies." Ha to laugh at that!
Tuesday morning at 6 am I was I induced. At 7:30 am the doctor broke my water to get everything rolling and the petocin started. Since I took so long to progress with William and had such a hard time resting, I had prayed hard that Heavenly Father would help me to relax and allow my body to work. It's hard for me to not tear up at the vast number of prayers my Heavenly Father answered for me. Resting was the beginning of tender mercies I received.
Rich and I chatted, he disconnected all my plugs about a thousand times so I could make potty runs, and we enjoyed some good ol' TV (we don't have cable or anything at home..) I tried really hard to be positive in my mind as I went through each contraction. I'd really focus and talk myself through it- reminding me that my body was doing what it needed to, that t was helping me progress. It made a positive difference to my spirits.
At around 3 or 4 pm I was at 4-5 cm dilated and beginning to really feel the contractions come on. My doctor told me I could have the epidural whenever I wanted to, and I mentioned waiting a while longer so I still could get up. He said I would most likely progress fast from that point and wouldn't wait too long. I said a prayer asking for help knowing when to receive the epidural. I felt that I should wait a half hour then receive it. I also prayed in anxiousness that the anesthesiologist would be skillful and I wouldn't be hurt (so many worries!) I was tremendously grateful for those prayers being answered. This epidural was so much better than my first, it's impossible to even compare the two! The man who did it popped back in after I delivered to say congrats- a huge kindness in my book!
Roughly a half to one hour after the epidural I was ready to push! It went so much faster than I imagined!! Since I pushed for a half hour with William, I anticipated the same with Carter. Much to my pleasure, I pushed all of about five times, or for three minutes and Carter was born! And maybe this is TMI, but whatever.., I was incredibly blessed not to tear. That alone has made recovery so much more bearable. I count both the speedy deliver and no tearing as huge tender mercies.
Carter was weighed and measured: 8 lbs 9 oz, 20.5in long. He seems so little compared to big brother William!!
My mom, bless her wonderful heart! Was with William all day, and they were able to come meet baby brother. William didn't really care much for him- he didn't touch him but wanted to look at him. They stayed just briefly, then Rich took Will back with mom to help out him to bed.
I have felt so blessed to have another baby boy. It truly is a tender miracle to bring children into this world. I thank God for the bit of heaven He has placed in my life. There isn't a way to describe the breathtaking experience of looking down and meeting your baby for the first time; the one you have carried, prayed for, and thought about every day since you knew you were expecting.
My emotions have been tender since being home. I hear William playing with Mumsie (my mom), laughing and exploring and tear up as I realize that playing in him little world has been my life since he joined our family. Now I get to share that time with another little boy, and I pray for to have success in being apart of both their lives. I want so much to be able to do everything and be everything for my boys, that I forget that I do that through simple day to day living, and that "routine" living will come as time goes on.
Most of all I feel blessed. I feel Heavenly Father's love for me in a very real, powerful way. I feel deep love for my family; a love that I am sure is only a portion of what our Eternal Father feels for us. I am thankful to be on this motherhood journey with God to pray to for help, a spouse to turn to for comfort, and a mother to ease me into this period of life.

Hot hot Heat

Although I have no time to really write, I wanted to share some pics from Rich's birthday, our pool time fun, my huge belly, and some sweet William-isms. He loves blankets on his head and loves his Little Einstein shows. Two more weeks until baby #2 arrives. I can't wait! I'm running out of room and my hormones are going wild- which leaves me curious how they'll be post-pregnancy ;) here's to hoping it all goes well.

Summer Around the Corner

I have never been more excited for the month of June to roll around in my life! That's saying something big since it's typically marked by my birthday, Richard's birthday, and once upon a time, school letting out. Three out of the four members of our family will share June as their birthday month. We're just waiting to see what day baby C picks as his special day. I hope it comes quickly...

William is growing like crazy. He is babbling a lot and saying "ut-oh!", "nigh nigh", and of course "mama" "dada". Not much else, though he tries. He has learned to give us kisses and hugs, enjoys playing with his cars and trucks, and is basically full of life and energy!

We've been working on completing our backyard some more. We filled in our three planter boxes with topsoil recently, and are attempting to grow plants. We'll see how well they do. We got a small pop-up pool that has been really enjoyable! Will and I played out in it for an hour today with some friends. It's large enough for big mama to fit, but shallow enough that Will can touch the bottom and walk around.

Richard is working hours that hold no comparison to his last job. It's nice to actually see my sweetheart! We've been going on walks in front of our house after we lay Will down for bed (always so the house is in our sights). It's a nice time for us to tune into each other. I love Rich's adventurous spirit and positive support. I've been feeling really emotional lately about how impossibly huge I feel, and he has been a superb strength.

Speaking of impossibly huge... We had an ultrasound last Thursday. Baby C is measuring around 6 lbs, so we anticipate a close to 8 lb baby. Everything looked great on him, and despite me not being able to breathe or receive blood to my legs because of laying on my back, I enjoyed seeing our boy. I am anxious to meet this little one and begin the adventure of raising two children. I pray a lot to qualify to be their mother... One thing I am learning repeatedly is that I don't come close to knowing all the answers. I just hope the Lord sees that I'm doing my best.

We're really blessed in a lot of ways. I never thought I'd live in Vegas, but here we are, and we feel privileged to live where we do! Our neighbors, ward members, and friends are incredible. We are looked after, and I feel like that is a huge blessing.

March to April

The last week of March we got to go spend up in Utah with my family. William and I flew to SLC then drove back with Rich at the end of the week. I was really nervous to fly alone with William because he is constantly on the go. Thankfully a sweet young woman from our ward was flying to UT too, so we sat next to each other. It definitely helped me feel more comfortable!
We had such a blast with the cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. I love getting to see my cousins and relatives- it just doesn't happen too often any more. Will charmed them all with his instant smile and chuckle. He's a bit of a charmer ;)
We got spoiled by my dad in a thousand ways. He really is the most generous person I know! His heart is of pure gold, there's no debate. William really enjoyed his Poppa and Mumsie time. They were life savers in helping me lug my hefty toddler around.
We got to see one of Rich's best friends from back home, and then hit up a men's volleyball game (BYU). It was awesome! I forgot how much I like watching talented people play sports. It was fun to have something to cheer about/for. On our way home we got a call from Jena asking us to pick up some allergy medicine for mom. Apparently she was having an allergic reaction to something they had made.
When we got to Jena and Josh's house, my heart instantly sunk. Outside was an ambulance and a fire truck. We ran over (I didn't even wait for Rich to fully stop). As I rushed in Josh was nice and calm and told me my mom was fine. The poor dear was all sorts of uncomfortable and swollen. Her hands, feet, eyes, and around her mouth were all swollen. She was shaking and red from hives. The paramedics were talking to her, and were about to leave when mom started having a panic attack. They decided to take her to the hospital in the ambulance. Dad rushed out with them. Jena, Richard, and I followed behind. Josh was a sweetheart and stayed behind with the sleeping kids.
We arrived at the same time the ambulance did with mom. We then waited in the waiting room for what seemed like forever. We knew everything was going to be fine, but still we were anxious to get back and see how she was holding out.
Once we got to go back, mom was hooked up to the machines and they were giving her some medicine to help her relax. It worked like a charm! She became rather slap happy and then zonked out real quick afterwards. We stayed at the ER until around 1 am and then were given the go-ahead to leave. They prescribed some medicine to help her with swelling and allergies.
From what we can gather, she must have reacted negatively to the sunflower seeds they were using to bake with. It's the only thing she had that was out of the norm, and it was what she was eating when she noticed the reaction come.
Needless to say, our night was filled with anxiety and excitement! I'm so glad she is doing better. It's simple little things like this that make you want to be around them to pamper the health into them again. Sadly this happened on our last night there, so we had little time to help lighten the load on mom and dad.

On a totally different note, and back to the happy things we did, a couple of the really fun things we did were going to the Jump Zone in Logan and an Easter festivity at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved all of it so much! I only have videos of the Jump Zone, but if you watched them you would know how awesome it was! I think Jena and I had as much fun (if not more fun ;)) as the kids did. The Easter festivity was a lot of fun- the kids got to do an easter egg hunt (Will still really doesn't get it, but that's okay!) Then they went over and looked at all the animals. William loved getting to pet the horses. He tried climbing in the pen with the cows, and enjoyed the little birds (chickens, peafowl...) He was a happy camper! We got lunch there at the little cafe which was super delish and well priced. It was simply a blast!

There is little that can beat family time in my humble opinion :)

Since being back home, William has been ridiculously clingy and fussy. I'm pretty sure me leaving the room to use the bathroom is enough to send William into a full out melt-down. It hasn't been the prettiest... Yesterday, William was so exhausted at dinner time that he fell asleep while at the table! This is the first time that has ever happened. We carefully picked him up, changed him, and laid him down to bed without him waking up at all! It was a nice little reminder of how blessed we are to have him- even when he is whiny!