Henry's favorite new toy

Is also Grace's favorite new toy...

Merry Awkward Santa Photo Christmas!

This week's happy thoughts

Here are some things that have made me happy this week:

I love Christmas cards. I love getting them in the mail. I love posting them up somewhere prominent in my house to look at them all month and think about how many people I love and who love me.

I got the card below in the mail as a belated birthday card and it made me laugh out loud for a good minute or two.

Inside she wrote, "Sorry, I ran out of birthday cards." Ha ha! It still makes me smile.

On Friday was the wedding of one of my dear, dear young women. She was in the first group of my Mia Maids class over five years ago. She's still a good friend. She asked me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding and it was beautiful! I love live sealing ceremonies!

I wish I had gotten a picture of her and me together, but I didn't bring my camera.

Last month I was release from YW and called as the primary music leader. As a primary we sang at the ward Christmas party last Saturday and will sing again on Christmas at church. I was really nervous when I was first called, but I like this calling more with each week. It's so fun to feed off the kids' energy. I especially love singing Christmas songs. I got to sing a solo at the Christmas party, too, because the original soloist fell sick. I feel so grateful for my talent that I can step in and be of service at the last minute in a situation like that.

One thing that hasn't made me happy this week is this:

Henry is sick with the croup, and we've all been struggling with viruses. Grace is near the end, but Henry and I are right in the middle of yuckiness.

Speaking of Henry, I discovered something today that makes his hair even more awesome.

Do you see that random streak of RED in his hair?!?!?! Most of the hair growing in is a medium brown color. Parts are blonder, but none are quite like this tiny streak of pure red. Neither Scott nor I have red in our gene pool that we know of so this is a fluke, and we don't know if it will last.

Lastly, Gingerbread houses. They always make me happy. We made this little one with Grace about a week ago.

She's been trying to eat it ever since.

Last night I finished this big one.

I think the part that makes me the most happy is the icing along the border of the roof. I think I've heard it referred to as frosting lace. I saw it first done on a cake competition on the Food Network and I've wanted to try it ever since. This is pretty simple compared to what they did, but it's a start. And it was fun. And it made me happy.

Happy Christmas!

Thankful Thoughts

I have so much to be thankful for.
A handsome, hard-working, helpful husband who loves me,

Two adorable children, a family that is connected through eternity,

Basic necessities always abundant: food, shelter, clothing, indoor plumbing! heat in the winter and cool air in the summer,

A healthy and capable body, intelligence, competence, creativity, music

Knowledge of truth and reality, a testimony of Jesus Christ, the whole plan of why we're here and where we're going. I'm so grateful for life and mortality. I'm so grateful for beauty and truth. I'm so grateful for friends and family. Perhaps this sounds a little generic, but I genuinely feel so grateful for each of these things, along with so much more. I am so blessed! I hope you each had a Happy Thanksgiving and may our hearts be full of gratitude all year.

A Paradise of Leaves

All about Henry: 2 months

Weight: 12.8 lbs (73%)
Height: 24 in (84%)
Head: 15.75 in (48%)

We are so happy to have Henry in our family! He makes it feel more full and complete. Here are some things we love about Henry at two months:

• The first thing anyone says about him is "Look at that hair!" I love his hair. Some people have mentioned how he already needs a hair cut, but no way. Not yet. It's too much fun. Maybe when he can hold his head up I'll reconsider.
• He loves to eat and it shows! He's growing into a little chunk and he's heavy, especially compared to Grace at this age.
• He loves to talk. If you make eye contact with him, he'll strike up a conversation with you and has been known to keep up back and forth banter for up to a half hour! During these conversations sometimes I sing to him and he "sings" with me, smiling all the while.
  
• He is strong. I really have to work to get him dressed some days when he just wants to keep his arms and legs locked straight.
• He poops out of his diaper at least once daily. I guess this goes along with the loving to eat thing. We don't love this part as much, but it is something memorable for the blog.
• He doesn't spit up. However, he is a messy eater. He frequently lets go while nursing just to see how quickly he can latch on again, over and over. This results in a lot of dribbled and squirted milk.
• He's a happy boy overall, Grace loves him and so do we! We're so happy they get along so far.
  

This is bedhead Henry (and bedhead mama)

Henry was blessed on November 6th. Here are some highlights of what he was blessed with:

• With all the knowledge and information available, he will have an open mind and find what is good.
• A willing heart to serve and lead
• An obedient heart that will listen to wise council
• A strong body with full faculty in pursuing goals, sharing knowledge and resources
• Able to find joy that transcends happiness. This will enable him to serve.
  

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Happy Birthday Scott! We love you!

Trick or treat!

This little lady came home with a boatload of candy. They couldn't resist the cuteness, and she took full advantage by taking handfuls of candy from the candy bowls. Good thing for parent tax.

Halloween Hooray!

Guess what? I found a craft that Grace likes!

Painting! She still doesn't care for crayons, markers, paper crafts, play-doh is ok. It's acrylic that caught her fancy. She loves the vibrancy of the colors and the texture of the paint. While we were painting, she kept saying "I love blue" and then "I love yellow" and on and on with every color as she was using it. When she was all done she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I like painting!"

Oh, it makes my heart happy!

Cribs

This is Grace's crib.

She loves it. She is the Queen of her crib.

We've been trying to ease her into a bed by putting her in the bed for naps. That has just given her more time to perfect the art of climbing in and out of the crib. We put her to nap in the bed, we find her asleep in the crib.

She is much more likely to climb into her crib than out of it. She will play in her crib for an hour at a time.

Such a silly girl! I thought kids were supposed to get all excited about not being contained in a crib, but not her. She likes the security I guess.

By the way, I gave Grace her first hair cut! Her nervous habit of pulling her hair out had resulted in a toddler mullet. Not anymore!

This is a classic Grace expression. I love it!

Baby Story, take 2

I had been having false labor on and off for three weeks. It always came in two hour increments and sometimes the contractions were as close as five minutes apart, but they never felt strong enough to be real. Scott was gone on an out-rotation for two of those weeks. He came home September 10th and Henry was Due Wednesday, September 14th. My mom had been visiting while Scott was gone, but she would have to leave by September 17th, so I had a window of just a few days with both my mom and Scott to help out.

Monday, Sept 12th I had a routine doctor's appointment at which I was dilated 2 cm but not effaced. At the urging of my mother, I had the doctor strip my membranes in the hope of hurrying the process along. When the Doctor realized the timing of my mom's visit, he offered to have me induced the following day. I was hesitant, but I wanted my mom to be there when I delivered (and so did she). After talking it over with Scott later that day, I decided to be induced.

The hospital called me around 10:00 a.m. Sept 13th to let me know they had a room ready for me. So, off to the hospital we went! I was hooked up to the pitocin, blood pressure cuff, contraction/heart monitor, and antibiotics (I was group B positive) by 11:15, and then we waited. I labored entirely in the bed, switching from side to side. By 1-2 o'clock my contractions were getting pretty painful. I didn't feel quite as in control of the pain as I had been with Grace. By 3 o'clock they were bad and I was starting to panic just before each contraction because I couldn't find that calm breathing and mental relaxation that helped me so much before. I, instead, felt a tingling sensation all over my face and down my arms as well as the brutal pain of the contractions. It was distracting and caused me to feel jittery and out of control. I later talked with a sister-in-law who has felt the same feeling during some of her labors and she attributed it to the antibiotics. I will, too. I think they were screwing up my mental/physical equilibrium.

Lucky for me, at 3 o'clock the nurse came in and told me I was progressing quickly, but the Doctor wouldn't be back for another hour, so she stopped my pitocin to slow down my labor. The result was almost instant. After 2-3 more contractions, my contractions were about 25% less painful, far more (dare I say) comfortable with more breathing time in between, and labor continued to progress.

The Doctor got there around 4 o'clock with a Resident in tow. They set me up in the stirrups (which are the most awkward invention for mothers ever) and waited. The Doctor asked if I felt the urge to push. I said no. Then near the end of one of my next contractions I said yes, but only slightly. So we waited. I remember Scott, the Doctor and the Resident making small talk about medical school and what-not. They were chatting and laughing. I didn't mind because I felt less pained than I had been an hour before. The Doctor and Resident were sitting in chairs about five feet away from me. The atmosphere was relaxed and completely opposite to my previous birth experience. I remember recognizing that and being grateful. I went through about three or four more contractions before I really felt like pushing. The nurse was there, too, and she was very gentle, but very persuasive in getting me to push more per contraction than I thought I could. I think I pushed Henry out in three contractions. Unlike Grace, when I pushed Henry out, there was no obvious head and then the rest of the body came easily. He was like a log! His head and body were bulky.

At 4:39 Henry's 7 lbs 8 oz was born with a head full of dark lush hair. The nurses just cooed and I couldn't have been more pleased. The whole experience was so much more peaceful with a healthy pregnancy and robust baby. The Doctor was calm and gentle. The hospital stay was fabulous. I loved every single one of the nurses and dining at the hospital was like going to a healthy, trendy restaurant for every meal! Taking Henry home with his full head of hair was exciting and joyful and I'm so glad my Mom and Scott were there.

Updates

I have had SO many ideas for blog posts lately, but alas, reality limits my time right now. Here's one of those posts that tries to catch you up on interesting points in each of our lives - oldest to youngest.

Scott is amazing. I don't even have words to praise him high enough. He's such an amazing, playful and attentive father. Grace adores him. I'm so glad he's done with his out-rotations so we can have him at home, even if he gets home at 7 every night and leaves at 5:45 in the morning (which is the case this month). His current rotation is Neuro-ophthalmology. I know, sounds impressive.

We were informed this week of some unfortunate events regarding Scott's residency potential. Of the four places he traveled to do auditions for residency, two of them are closing down their programs immediately and a third might also. This includes the rotation in Michigan that we were most excited about and Scott had the best impression at. Suffice it to say, we are seriously considering how realistic the dream of going into ophthalmology is with these new circumstances or wondering if we should look into a new specialty. Application deadlines have passed, so we're in a bit of a pickle.

Britta is kind of making everything up as she goes along. This week I've finally had days where I physically felt normal and happy! It's an interesting balance to have two kids, but so far we haven't had any catastrophes. I'm eating a lot more cereal and sandwiches than I used to, but hopefully I'll get back into the swing of cooking in the next couple weeks.

I'm also starting to work a little bit again. I finished the book cover for the sequel to Psion Beta, if any of you read that book. The new book, Psion Gamma, will come out 11-11-11.

Grace is adjusting to having a new baby brother really, really well. She is so smart, gentle and obedient! I am loving this adjustment. I guess I expected it to be a lot worse, seeing that she's two. The worse part is that I don't have the energy to play with her as much as I used to and that makes me sad. She watches a lot of Backyardigans and VeggieTales on the computer.

I decided at the new year that when she expressed interest in changing her own clothes, I would tackle potty-training. I assumed she'd be interested earlier, but sometimes it takes a kick in the pants, like a new baby brother, to realize that you can do things for yourself, like get dressed. This week was the first time she picked out her own clothes and got entirely dressed on her own (except I still put the diaper on). The ensemble is pictured above. She was so pleased with herself that she happily posed for the picture (rare) and even said with a big smile, "CHEESE!"

Henry is starting to focus and look at us more. He is such a handsome little man. He eats a lot and sleeps a lot and cries a lot. You know, the normal stuff that comes with a baby. I feel like he's huge now, even though he's probably only two pounds heavier than at birth. Some days I look at him and think, "you were smaller this morning than you are now." Seriously, he grows that fast some days. We don't mind, though. Every step is exciting.

I love his hair. I'm learning how to style it with a tiny bit of gel, but I don't do it that often because I feel like I'm soiling it somehow. Below is a shot of his unadulterated hair, freshly cleaned. It's pretty crazy, but it's also got cool blond highlights at the tips. If you enlarge either of these photos of him, you'll see it. As one of my sisters said, Henry has "cool guy quality." His hair is even getting in on the action.

2 week stats

Weight: 8.5 lbs (41 %)
Length: 20.75 inches (50 %)
Head: 14.5 inches (42 %)
Hair: LOTS
Sleeps: Most of the night. And most of the day. Wakes up twice at night to eat, then goes back to sleep. Hope we can keep the sleeping at night thing up.

Oh Henry!

I'm trying to make up for my delay in posting photos by posting many photos. Enjoy!