All is Well

Thanks for the sympathy, my gentle readers.

An update:
B's surgery went well this AM. Her eye's a little bloody and her balance is off with all the drugs, but she's coming around. She's enjoyed the "clear liquids" aka Sprite that she's able to drink right now.

And there's no snow in Chicago so E's parents should be in time for a midnight celebration. Of course, "little stinky"--as we affectionately call her--was up a bit last night so let's see if I can prop my eyelids open to welcome the new year.

But SHE did NOT have her crying spells for the last 2 nights. Yay! Let's make it 3!

So, even though we're a bit tired from reporting to surgery early this AM, we're no worse for the wear. Someone asked Eric in the waiting room if he was jealous that S had so much more hair than him (refer to newborn pics). He said yes. But I think we're over our vanity now. Almost.

Happy New Year!
Pictures will come as soon as I can find the blasted cable.

"Mental Breakdown"

Well, we've had a busy holiday season. And, as of yet, I have not uploaded new pics from the last few weeks. SORRY.
To top it off, this week B is having eye surgery. NO. The PATCH did not work. :(
And it's New Year's Eve. (Happy New Year's Eve everyone!)
And E's parents are coming on New Year's Eve.
And S has started crying jags from about 9 p to 12 A. Sound familiar? Yes, B did the same thing.
And S has her first sickness--nasty yellow snot--welcome December baby.
And in all this craziness I like to think on funny things. I laugh at much of the crying stuff. And watching TV on mute while the baby is crying makes it much more enjoyable. That way I can actually get something out of the hour.

But to get to the point, I have this cool friend named Steph. Actually, I have a couple cool Steph's that I know. But this one lives in Michigan. And we have been lucky enough to be friends for years and still keep in touch. Well, a funny phrase I picked up from her is "mental breakdown." She sometimes uses that in describing a 2 year old tantrum or something like that. It really fits. She's pretty funny too. And so you want to laugh when she says it. Especially as the 2 year old is flailing on the floor because they can't have something or whatever. And normally you would probably not be happy. But because she is funny and says "mental breakdown" it makes it better.

Anyhow, tonight when I was putting B to bed after doing the dishes and nursing the baby and shopping for a space heater after nursing the baby after taking a nap (yes!) after a crazy morning where I was still in workout clothes after showing up to workout to cancelled aerobics after a bad night because the baby couldn't breathe after . . .

Anyhow, AFTER that I was thinking, I am going to have a "mental breakdown" if I HAVE to do something else tonight. And I just wanted to say thank you to Steph, who has brought some humor to my life. Because then I thought of myself as a 2 year old and it was much more funny. Because even in this situation where I want to cry, I can laugh when I remember the way she says "mental breakdown" and life is better. :)

What we've been up to . . .

Of course our posts will be more scarce now that we have another little one in the house and the holidays are almost here.

So, what have we been up to? ? ?

Getting some zzzzzz's . . .

And

Trying on cute headbands on a cute little girl:


Making, decorating (and eating!! of course!) rice krispie treats:


With Grandma!


Playing in one of the first snows (or "nose" as B says):


And taking care of baby: (note B's great imitation of feeding her baby)


More later!

She's ready for her close-up now

Here are the first pictures of our little Sierra:

1 minute post partum:


5 minutes post partum with beautiful mom:


The new addition:


Finally a moment of peace to catch her breath:


Whoops...that didn't last long...it's bath time:


Somewhere in the middle of all this she finally found her voice:


Hanging out with Big Sister (the tousled look is in, right?):


Don't worry, there are years of pictures to look forward to.

Congratulations, it's a....

The much anticipated arrival of Little Girl #2 is finally over. We went in this morning to see if our little stinker could be turned ("verted") from breech to head down. An epidural was placed to relax R's very toned abdominal muscles and her OB/GYN (with the help of her trusty OB intern) was able to turn the baby on the first try. She actually turned so easily that we worried about her flipping back to breech so we decided to just go ahead with the induction. R started out at 1 cm when the Pitocin started at around 1030, and she was fully dilated by about 5 pm. We had actually dozed off a little when the doctor came in and said that she had noticed some decelerations on the monitor and that she just wanted to check R. The next words spoken were, "Looks like it's baby time!" and six pushes later we had another beautiful daughter. Isn't modern anesthesia wonderful! She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19.5 in long. Our petite little girl!!! Pictures coming soon. Thanks to all the family and friends who have offered to help, we love you all.

Posing

Well, obviously there's no where else to take pictures in our house except in front of our red wall and couches. Sorry for the washed out flash pictures.

So, here modeling her new Christmas dress from Grandma Freeman is B!
And of course she HAD to wear my high heels and hat. :)


Thanks Grandma. It is perfect!!

Now on to another model of a 9 month pregnant woman:


There. Ya happy Nate!? Can you believe someone's belly can stretch that far?! Anytime in this next week SHE may be making her appearance sooner or later. We're ok with later.

This Week

Hello my gentle readers,

In lieu of a better: Here's a two week old picture of Bella putting away the last of our Halloween decor:


This week we had a great Thanksgiving! (thanks to the people who helped organize it all and reserve the church). We got together with friends and had tons of food. It was great!

Then Eric, the most awesome husband ever, volunteered to get up early and hit the sales since I have been a little sick and not sleeping very well with the little kicker inside me. He IS AWESOME. So, he pretty much covered our Christmas shopping in one day. Did I say he is AWESOME??!

On the downside, this baby is back to breech!?@! So, I'm scheduled to have an eversion done and possible induction on Tuesday in the hospital. 50/50 chance of turning. Sigh.

Let's just say I attempted to do a handstand today to enlist gravity's help in our efforts. :)

Also, as a new little one is about to join us I just wanted to forewarn you that we will probably be making this blog private SOON!! We think it in the best interest of our two little munchkins and anyone else we happen to feature here with pictures or names. More on that later . . .

Oh yes, and we decorated for Christmas yesterday!!! We have our 1st Christmas tree! We shopped the sales last year after New Years and got all this stuff 70% off. Eric helped me then too. Awesome.

And I took a belly picture this week for all of you to see. I know. You can hardly wait. I can just see the anticipation gleaming in your eyes. Pictures will come later.

And on a final happy note, we were lucky to trade babysitting and went out on a big nice date last night as our final Christmas/pre-baby date. We went out to Carabbas. Yum! And saw Eagle Eye. I recommend that movie. Very entertaining. Dad, if you're reading this, you would like it--all about spy and intelligence. Pretty cool.

So, all in all it was a WONDERFUL WEEK.
Gotta go! Pictures to come later!

Late night?!?

B stayed up late watching the BYU/Utah game. You can see how she felt in the morning . . .

Where has summer gone?

One of our last warm days at the park a couple weeks ago:


AND . . . the baby is now transverse! She's still not head down but it's better than breech right? Right now we'll just watch and wait (and try funny positions) until next Wednesday. Thanks for your well wishes!

Too funny

I'm trying to talk E and some of his friends into doing this for our upcoming stake variety show:

http://meridianmagazine.com/youtube/081106swim.html

Try not to laugh. ;)

Butt down, Eyes out

Hmmm . . . now what do you think that post means?!

Well, for one this baby is BREECH! Yes, her cute little butt is squished down in my pelvis and unless we can get her to turn that means I get a C-section in a couple weeks.

Second health-related news of the week is that B will probably have to have eye surgery as she has two "lazy" eyes. They tend to rotate out. We're trying "the patch" for 6 weeks to see if it helps at all. But who knows. So please keep a little prayer in your heart especially for Bells as this is pretty hard for her (she cries every day over this).

BUT, to add some humor to the situation, I'm listing here some of the "17 Ways to Turn a Breech Baby" (courtesy http://pregnancychildbirth.suite101.com/article.cfm/turning_a_breech_baby). I guess you do whatever you can do. But see if you find them as humorous as I do at 9 mos pregnant. I chose the best to share:

#3. Headstand - with assistance and in a pool frequently as possible. (Hello?!)

#4. Breech Tilt - begin at 32-35 weeks gestation. Do 3 times daily for 10-15 minutes each time, when you have an empty stomach, and the baby is active. Prop one end of an ironing board securely on a sofa or chair 12 to 18 inches high (or may use slant board). Lie down, bend knees but keep feet flat on board . . . Gravity pushes the baby's head into the fundus, tucks it, and baby can then do a somersault to a vertex position. (I believe Lynnsey said she would pay to see me do this . . .)

#5. CD/iPod headphones - place them inside mom's pants toward her pubic bone and play classical music for 10 minutes 6-8 times a day. (Anyone have an Ipod I can use?!)

#6. Flashlight - try moving slowly down from the top of the uterus toward your pubic bone while you are in a breech tilt position. (So not only will I be upside down on an ironing board--but with a flashlight making runway signals--Steph I could use some help with this airline maneuver).

#8. Clothespin - place on the small toe of each foot at the outside corner of the toenail; sideways so that the toenail and toepad are stimulated for 30 minutes per day, this is an acupressure point that is a "moving down" point. (ouch!)

#11. Pelvic Tilt- with an ICE PACK (Hello?!!) on the top of your tummy on an empty stomach, 10 minutes twice a day. Do this while lying on your back on the floor with knees flexed and feet on the floor with three large pillows placed under your buttocks. Try this in conjunction with headphones and visualization. (cold)

#14. Belly Relaxing followed by Inversion - Partner places a sheet or towel under mom's hips as she lays on the floor. Lift up on the corners of the cloth and shimmy her from side to side moving your hands up and down to wiggle her belly from side to side. These should be very small movements which mom should find very relaxing. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then mother kneels on the stairway landing. Walk your hands down 2 or 3 stairs into an all fours position; have your partner support your shoulders to balance you. Remain in this position for about 5-10 minutes or as long as comfortable. Also do this on an empty stomach. (Umm . . . can we say Not Relaxing)

I will plead the 5th when asked if I have done any of these. But let's just say if I call to borrow an ice pack, head phones, an ironing board and clothespin, or to use your pool--JUST SAY NO.

Uncle Steve

Why is Bella crying you may ask?! Because she realizes one of her favorite uncles, Steve, is not coming back to visit us for a while.


He had business in a nearby city and we were lucky enough to have him visit us for the weekend. It was so nice to have company and he was super helpful--taking Bella to the park, treating us to Red Robin burgers (yum!!), vacuuming our WHOLE house (!) and humoring me in my hormonal pregnant stage.

Here can you see the brothers resemblance? (sorry for the glare---who was taking that picture?!) I've heard alot about E growing up with his big bro Steve. They are over 10 years apart in age but Steve would let E tag along when he was little--which I guess he knew would result in a deeper bond when they were older. E feels very lucky to have Steve in his life as his older brother and we just wish we lived closer.


Of course there isn't much to do here when it's cold. But we got this Californian to brave the cold wind and decided to visit a local farm to pick our pumpkin for Halloween (yes, I know I'm a bit late posting this). B was excited that "pa-ga Seeve" (grandpa) could come with us. She often confused "uncle" Steve with this title of her other favorite male relatives. But S was a good sport about it.


Of course B had to stop at the bunnies before we could set out on our trek to find the "perfect" pumpkin. She was very good about using the complimentary hand sanitizer after touching the animals, although she forgot one minor detail--to remove her gloves. . .


And thus our trek began. We trudged through knee-high straw--at least to Bells' knees.

Then on to the tractor ride . . .

And finally after much search and debate we found THE perfect pumpkin!

B was not letting it out of her sight!

She also helped clean it to prep for carving. But that's for a later post . . .

Like the 70s hair style she's sporting these days?! We're going for Farah Fawcett by three.

Of course she had to ride the tractor. Yes, Steve and I (and some random people) are in the background.

Can you guess where we went?

Thanks so much for visiting Steve!!! We were all so glad you could come!

Finger-lickin good!

I can't recall what was in this bowl--although it was sweet and chocolatey I believe.
(note the tail of B's new friend the "whale" in the background) And yes, B is wearing the robe my mom made me when I was little!!

Annual Pumpkin Show

Hey everyone! Here's another thing we did this last month! We headed down to the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show--about 45 minutes away. It's like a huge fair and attracts 100,000 people per day! Luckily we beat the crowd and got to enjoy some pumpkin treats (they have anything pumpkin you can imagine), see a record-setting huge pumpkin pie, checkout the local vendors and of course see the 1st prize largest pumpkin (over 1000 lbs!)


It started off chilly so Bella opted for the hat look. Note her orange pumpkin shirt.

They pretty much close down all the streets surrounding the show and people just mill around everywhere. People watching was B's favorite pastime. She looks pretty comfy on Eric's shoulders.

Mmmm! For dinner we grabbed some burgers and grilled corn on the cob. Yummy!

And of course, some pumpkin soft serve ice cream for E. (note to self: get B to look at the camera)

Mmmm. . . Bella finally looked at the camera . . . since I got close enough that she could touch it.

The birthday money from Gma & Gpa Freeman and Dave and Rashelle came in handy as B just fell in love with these blow up pool toy animals. The "whale" was her favorite. Dolphin . . . whale . . . whatever. We decided since she had some "moneeee" of her own she could choose what she wanted.


At the end of the day after letting her choose her "whale," she ran ALL the way to the car with her "whale"--causing some chuckles from the crowd.



It looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship . . .

Beggar's Night

For those of you who wanted to see B decked out in her costume, here she is!!!!

What is she? you ask? A pink unicorn cowgirl of course! This costume is actually really cute but was kind of big this year and B wouldn't hold the reins so the head pretty much sagged the whole time.

Here's B and her little friends: Jeremiah the bullfrog and "Mymy" the flower. They have their eyes on the prize. :)
By the end of the night, B took turns licking tootsie pop suckers in each hand. And yes, it was cold--hence the jacket.


Here's our little pink unicorn after a night of trick-or-treating and handing out candy. Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

My 1st Tag . . . and a polar bear

Well, I knew it would happen sooner or later . . . That's right, I finally got some recognition for my AWESOME blogging skills. Ok, maybe that's a slight exaggeration--but at least I update it once a week, usually. And yes, I am a slacker and haven't updated any of the friends blog stuff--but you're still my friend!


So, in order to receive this great award (aka tag) you have to give one word answers to the questions below. Oh, and I'm supposed to "nominate" seven people at the end of this so . . .

The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? couch
2. Where is your significant other? clinic
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? motherly
5. Your father? working

6. Your favorite thing? chocolate
7. Your dream last night? aerobics (gymnastics while 8 months prego if you can believe it--some of you were there)
8. Your dream/goal? eternity
9. The room you're in? main
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? break-in
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? stability
13. Where were you last night? bonfire
14. What you're not? energetic

15. One of your wish-list items? garage
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? eat
18. What are you wearing? black
19. Your TV? loud
20. Your pet? dog (B & I both wish)
21. Your computer? slowing
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? always
24. Your car? Toyota
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? warm
28. Love someone? obviously
29. Your favorite color? green (beautiful rain forest green--not pukey light green)
30. When is the last time you laughed? AM
31. Last time you cried? weeks

Seven people who I nominate for this award:

1. Meg (x 2)
2. Tara
3. Heather
4. Lynnsey (how's your EYE?!!!!--yes, I heard)
5. Reba
6. Steph
7. Breanne

In conclusion, (what? no speech?) I'd like to thank all the "little people" that have made me who I am today . . . those people I nominated, Annie, Bella, and my dog "Roxie." :)

Oh, and for cuteness sake, here's a pic from one of our adventures in the past month:

Yes, that is a polar bear and yes, we ARE touching his/her butt.
MEGA POINTS to those who know WHERE THIS IS?!!!!!

This makes me smile . . .

We went to the bunny fountains this weekend. IT WAS GORGEOUS.

Can you tell Bella LOVED it?

Tired?!

A picture's worth a thousand words:

This is what happens when you mix water, sand, and a long drive home with comfort food. And yes, she drooled into the can still filled with chips while sleeping.

Both Eric, B and I are feeling this way after a busy week: two of our birthday's, Eric's working 75+ hours per week (and hasn't had a day off in almost 2 weeks), doctor's appointments (I am anemic and B just got tested too), work, a kicking little bunson (sp?) burner inside me all night long, and some late nights (me reading Breaking Dawn and Bella talking in her crib).

So we are tired but for the most part busy and happy. Of course we will all be a bit more happy when Saturday comes and E finally has a day off!

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

2 Years Ago, "Little Stinky" or "the Bump" (thanks Tress)--as we called her back then in pre-name days--was born. About 2 days after her birth (as we were getting kicked out of the hospital) we finally settled on Isabella Dora as our name of choice. Some of you may be thinking, "Schweet! Awesome naming your kid after a cartoon character!?"

Yes, we are awesome.

Actually, my grandma is awesome. And although she lives in another country and can not read English (or Spanish), she is Bella's namesake.


So here we are, two years later, with a sweet little girl aka feisty fiery munchkin who is my Bells.


I'm so glad she was born into our lives. She brings joy and learning with her everyday. I learn how to be more patient. She learns more about timeout. Ahhhhh . . . serenity.


But really, we are BLESSED and I thank God everyday for the opportunity I have to be in this little girl's life. Craziness and all.


Love you Bells!