Catching up

I have, obviously not been very consistent with this whole blogging thing, but it was fun to read the few posts that I had created, so I'm determined to try again! 2013 was a wonderful year for our family, which brought us our first daughter! We welcomed Charlotte Jane into our family on November 11, 2013! My pregnancy with her was fairly easy, other than the fact that I was constantly reminded how incredibly large people thought that I was. I hear that many pregnant women get this all of the time! But for me, it was like a flashback to my childhood. You see, I was always an overweight kid and I was made fun of for it! I worked hard after high school to lose all of my excess weight ... not without difficulty, I might add! So, gaining weight, even though it's for a good reason, isn't easy for me! It definitely wasn't easy when people would let me know how extremely large they thought I was getting and insisting that there MUST be 2 babies in there! And then 2 weeks before my sweet daughter was due, Patrick's last week of vacation was scheduled, even though he was supposed to be able to use it after Charlotte was born .... and we were still waiting for a baby. And then my best friend, Kuulei Harker left for Utah for 5 or 6 weeks. Then my baby brother Stein and his family left for Arizona to have a heart consultation (that's another story in itself). After Stein's consultation they wanted to do his heart surgery right away, so he was scheduled to have open heart surgery the 15 of November! Just 5 days after my due date. So, needless to say, I started stressing out over my daughter coming! So I waited and waited and waited, what felt like forever! Then the Sunday before Charlotte was due, Stein came home to get some things in order and Amber left with him to Arizona. I was devastated! I was scared. I was angry. I didn't blame Stein for wanting family around him, but I also didn't want to have my baby alone. It was a hard time for me. You see, I tend to have very fast labors and I was afraid of what might happen if I went into labor while Patrick was at work and I was at home, alone, with my 2 boys, and my entire family was gone!? It scared me. Anyway, on top of my entire family getting ready to head to Arizona, my other dear friend, Carrie Jones was moving (I miss that family!), my 2 sister missionary friends were both being transferred on November 11... November 11, is the morning that I got a call from Dr Vigneri at 730 in the morning. He called to tell me that he had an opening that morning for an induction. I immediately said I'd take it! Then he reminded me that inductions increase your chances for a C-section and complications, so I prayed and I talked to Patrick quickly, and felt like it was the only choice after Dr Vigneri let me know that he would be leaving town on Wednesday! My first thought was, "Is this a joke!? How is it that my family is leaving (Stein, Kyla and Amber were already gone and parent's were leaving on Wednesday, the same day as Dr Vigneri), my 1 best friend is gone, my other best friend is moving TOMORROW, these 2 missionaries that I love are both being transferred today, Patrick is out of vacation time AND my doctor is leaving too!?" I literally felt like I was cursed. So, off to the hospital I went! I arrived at the hospital around 8:30 a.m. Dr. Vigneri came in around 9:30 a.m., after I'd gotten all of my paper work done and I.V.'s in. He started the induction process by inserting a pill that would cause my cervix to soften and possibly start dilating. He told me that we would just have to see what would happen and he would be back around noon to check on me and break my water. So... the process began. I lost track of time, but the Sister Missionaries stopped by to say "Goodbye", which was wonderful! And I miss them! They, literally, missed meeting Charlotte by about an hour! Anyway, somewhere in between 9:30 a.m. and noon my contractions starting getting hard and lost my resolve that have that baby without an epidural, like I had done with McKay. So, I got the epidural, which sadly, never fully kicked in! It took the edge off of the pain that I was having my back, but that was about it ... not worth it! If I have another baby, I'm making myself stay strong and do without the epidural! Then my mom showed up at about noon to see how I was doing; Dr. Vigneri came in behind her to check me. So, my mom stepped out to grab some lunch in the cafeteria. Dr. Vigneri checked me and I was dilated to an 8! He said, "Oh, she'll probably have 2 more contractions and be ready to go! She goes fast!" I laughed, in my head! I thought, "Ya right!" Well, it was probably 2 contractions later and felt like I needed to push! She was coming!!! FINALLY!!! So, I push the first time, expecting to feel pain relief like I did with McKay, but that was not the case! This baby was coming out face up, and let me tell you, that does not feel good! I won't go into too much gory detail, but I had to get an episiotomy, and he used forceps, and my epidural didn't work, so I felt EVERYTHING! But I have to say here, that I believe in God and His ability to help us when we ask for it! I asked for His help and I fully believe that he sent His angels to help me deliver a beautiful and healthy 7 pound 3 ounce, 21 1/2 in long, perfect baby girl! She was finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like I have been waiting for this girl for a long time and she finally decided to grace us with her presence at about 12:50 p.m. on Monday November 11, 2013! Now, let me fast forward to now. I think I'll start with a brief summary of who we are today and then go from there another day. Patrick is the best man I could've ever asked for! He is my right hand. He is my partner. He is the love of my life! I love the quote, "Everybody has a love story, but ours is my favorite." That's how I feel about Patrick. I feel so lucky that I found him! I'm so grateful that he has, and is willing to have, a job that is sufficient to support our little family, so that I can stay home and raise our children. I am so grateful that he's a father that is invested in the lives of his children! He loves these kids, and I really couldn't ask for more than that! Jeremiah is 4, soon to be 5. ... Just typing that brings tears to my eyes! I can't believe that my oldest son is almost 5! Where has that time gone???? He is currently in Preschool at Shepherd of the Hills and his teacher is Mrs. Hagan. He LOVES Mrs. Hagan! She is a wonderful teacher to these little people! He also gets to go to school with his best buddy and cousin Brody! A few weeks ago I attended my very first parent/teacher conference and it was wonderful! She let me know that there are times when Jeremiah likes to talk too much or that he has endless amounts of energy, but that he is a smart boy and he's a good boy! Let me tell you, if you know Jeremiah, you know these things about him! He starting talking at 10 months old and hasn't stopped since! He's a quick learner too. ... He loves school. He can write his first name, we're currently working on writing his last name. He knows all of his zoo-phonics and signals for the alphabet. He can recognize every letter in the alphabet. He is so cute lately. We'll say a word, like "Fridge". And Jeremiah will say, "Fridge. Like "ffff". Like Franky Fish!" It's so cute to see him discover the world of reading! His favorite book, right now, is "The Cat in the Hat". He'll stand up, pretend that he's balancing on a ball and say, "Look. I am The Cat in the Hat. I can do everything." And then he will fall down and bonk his head! Hahaha. It's pretty adorable! He's also a pretty good helper around the house. He will keep an eye on Charlotte for me when I have to leave the room for a few seconds, because McKay can't seem to not try and pick her up! He sets the table. He vacuums. He cleans under the stairs and he picks up his toys (most of the time). He even helped me make cookies today, and he did a really good job! He is a wonderful first child! So helpful! McKay is 2 and a little fire ball! He has become and loving little boy with a vibrant personality! He wasn't sure about Charlotte when we first brought her home, but he adores her now! In fact, today I was holding Charlotte on the couch and he jumped up and gave her a big kiss on the head! It was just about the cutest thing ever! McKay LOVES to tease! He will tell me that he's daddy's boy just to get me to tickle him! He thinks he's so smart and so funny! His most common phrase is, "Lights off scare me". He's afraid of he dark! But his vocabulary and ability to form sentences is just sky rocketing right now! It's so fun to hear him talk more and more every day! McKay loves Lightning McQueen and Spiderman (super hero's in general) and his Papa! Yesterday, he went and put his cowboy boots on, so naturally we asked where he was going? "To Papa's house!" he said! It was adorable. He is best buddies with his cousin Talon! McKay and Talon are only 10 days apart! It's so fun that they have been able to grow up together! Charlotte is 3 months old! Time is flying. She has been able to roll from her tummy to her back since she was only a few weeks old! She's strong, just like her brothers! (I guess she better be, because they're pretty crazy!) She is almost sitting up! She loves to make spit bubbles. She has excellent eye contact. She was 13 pounds last week at her dr. visit. She is the sweetest little baby! We all just adore her! She's the perfect addition to this crazy little family!

Today was fantastic. ... I should say for the most part. I have been extremely tired the last few weeks, so slightly grumpy :( Poor Patrick. At least he's a fabulous, understanding husband for when I have an "off" day. Back to the fantastic part .... Yesterday Jeremiah told me that I didn't love him as much as I love McKay, that absolutely broke my heart! So we had a mommy/Jer date today and it was so much fun! We went to the Casper Aquatic Center and just played. Jeremiah has quite the imagination! We were water monsters ... haha. Oh you just had to be there. We drove a ship, we got eaten by a giant frog (the kid's water slide), and I even got put in jail! Where do children come up with some of the things they do? Tonight I got to go see Les Miserables. So good, so sad. But I loved it! I loved that Jon Val Jon changed, despite the fact that his country told him that he couldn't! He turned to Heavenly Father, repented of his sins and became an amazing man! I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ! Without the Atonement, none of us could change ... after one mistake, we would continually go downhill. But our loving Brother, even Jesus Christ, volunteered to be our Savior. We can repent. We can change. We can become better people because of Him. I love my Savior!!! He has changed me. His story, His life, His mission, had changed me and I am forever in His debt!

So, here is post number 2 for 2013 and we're only 21 days in!!! Woot, woot. Jeremiah started Sunbeams this year and he LOVES it. I was asking him about his friends in Sunbeams and he said, "Ya, there's Jasiah and .... Sequioa (insert big grin on his face)." He has his first crush and it's adorable! I want to track the boys' favorite things: Jeremiah LOVES to pretend. He loves to dress up as Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman. His favorite toy at the moment is a blue Lightning McQueen that he got from his cousin Brody, just before Christmas. McKay loves a lightning McQueen ball and his singing duck. McKay regularly says "mom, dad, duck." As for myself, I just a huge list of "to-do" projects that I need to get done since I've decided to become a crafty mom .... I think I might like checking things off of my list ... we shall see ;)

Summary of 2012

I actually forgot that I ever started a blog! Lol! How sad is that! But this year I committed to learn how to blog so that I can track our family events and photos, since I'm horrible about keeping track of these things and I definitely don't scrapbook! Let me quickly catch up from 2012 before I move into 2013~ Or maybe the end of 2011 .. since we had our second son on December 21, 2011. Our sweet, little Patrick McKay joined us just 4 days before Christmas, talk about a fanatastic Christmas present. Jeremiah, who was 2 1/2 at the time, wasn't so sure that he liked his new little brother and asked me to put "BaKay" back in my belly! Haha. So Patrick and I got him a "big brother gift" - Truly, the BEST $20 I've ever spent! Ever since, Jeremiah has adored his little brother! McKay is quite the little guy. He rolled over from his tummy to his back before he was 3 weeks old! He started crawling at 6 months and walking at 9 1/2 months! He's been quite the little mover, he keeps us on our toes. In 2012, Jeremiah potty trained, learned to ride his bike (with training wheels) and has been the best big brother and mommy's little helper! Well ... he thinks he is a big helper! We bought a new house at the end of last year! It has been such a blessing. It truly has reminded me that all things come in due time of the Lord. Patrick and I bought a small house, for our first house. It was 1600 square feet, but we lived in only 800, since we had an unfinished basement. What does 800 square feet look like??? 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a tiny kitchen, small living room and small dining room. With a family of 4 in these conditions, we were literally living on top of each other!!!! AGHHH. Let me back up for a moment. Nearing the end of 2011, we started looking at houses because I was pregnant with McKay and we couldn't imaging bringing another child into our tiny house, however, we decided to wait until May of 2012 because that was our 3 year mark in our house and we had gotten the First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit - we had to own our house for 3 years. So, in April of 2012 we found a house that we LOVED, but the night we put in our contingency offer, 3 other offers were on the table :( We were crushed! We had our house on the market for about 4-5 weeks and decided to pull it off of the market because we weren't finding any other houses that we liked and our house wasn't selling. Needless to say, we were VERY disappointed. At that point, we decided that we just wanted to build a house and the builder that we chose couldn't start our house until the spring of 2013. So - we were going to be stuck in our tiny house for 1 more year. In September or October of 2012, we were getting ready to sign papers with our builder, but our real estate agent wanted us to get our prequalification letter first. We had submitted an application online and were waiting to hear back from the bank. Then, one day I saw a friend of mine had put her super cute house on the market. I must say, unfortunately this wonderful family had to move, but I loved her house. The same day that I saw her house on the market, we heard back from the bank. They had apologized for taking so long because their systems had been down and they would get back to us that week. Now, here is where I really feel that the Lord had stepped, because if we had heard back from the bank any sooner - we would've already signed papers to build a house the following spring. Anyway, I had seen my friends house before, but I wanted Patrick to see it and tell me what he thought of it. That same night, that we had heard from the bank, we went and had dinner with our friends and looked at their house - we both loved it. After praying we really felt that this was the house for us. SO a week of serious work and stress, we got an offer in on the house and our house on the market. I should note that the day we got our offer in, another offer came in toO!!! (Ugh, are you kidding me!!?? If someone needs to sell a house and have a bidding war, just invite the Martin's over! Lol) Luckily for us, the other offer wasn't good, so we got the house ... well, contingent on our house selling. ... And the long process began. I LOVE HGTV! I admit it ... I have a problem. But at least some of the information I got on there came in handy! 3 pieces of advice when selling a home. 1.) Stage it! Remove all unnecessary furniture and items. Make your house FEEL as big as possible. As I said before, our house was tiny ... that's why I emphasize FEEL as big as possible! We packed a good 40% of our house before we listed it ... the 2nd time. 2.) Take out all personal items - such as family pictures and religious items. Now, I struggled with the latter, because I am a proud member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, but that is what was suggested to be able to sell my house, so I did it. The reason they say to do that is because buyers need to be able to picture themselves in your home and you don't want anything out that might deter them from purchasing. 3.) Price it right! If you price it competitively, buyers will see how much more your house has to offer that other houses in that same price range. Pat and I spent 3 1/2 years and a lot of money fixing up our house, so we wanted as much money as we could get. Unfortunately, the market wasn't as good as when we bought the house, but we came out okay ... Now the GREAT news!!! Our house sold in 10 days and we got our asking price!!!! so there is my bit of advice if you're selling a home. Anyway, that was a tangeant! But, I truly feel that this was the house we were supposed to get because our plan was so different from what happened, but I feel that the Lord provided the way for us. And I am so grateful because now we have this beautiful house with plenty of room to continue to grow our little family! That pretty much sums up the last year in a tiny little nutshell. I'm excited to track our family and our progress this year! So ... here it goes for 2013!!!

Funny

Today I decided to put Jeremiah in the bathtub while I showered, because the last few times he just stands on the outside of the tub crying! And, to be honest, shower time is my relax time! Anyway, he was so funny, he just sat there playing with his toys, until I picked him up. Today, he finally realized that he could drink the water that was sprinkling down on him! He kept sticking out his tongue to catch whatever water he could! I love seeing Jeremiah's new discoveries, it's like seeing the world through completely different eyes.

Lately

So, Jeremiah has made up a game of "I know I'm not supposed to do this, but I'll just laugh and you'll think I'm cute!" My mom has a China Hutch that Jeremiah loves to go and open and shut the doors on, and one time he slammed the door shut and made the plates jiggle. My mom said, "That's enough." So I went and got Jeremiah and put him by me. Next thing I know he's crawling back to the china hutch, stops, looks at me, laughs, crawls...I say "What are you doing?" He laughs and opens the door to the china hutch! He kept doing it, and every time we go over, he does it again...I think it's his favorite game to play, so it's my favorite game too!!! ;)
He also likes to crawl to the banister at my parent's house and walk his way across it! It's so funny, he's such a curious baby and he turns 8 months in 3 days!!!!! I can't believe it.
This weekend I switched out all of his 6-9 month clothes, and swapped them for 12 month cloths...already!!! And, I need to go shopping!!!!! I love baby shopping though, so I guess it's okay ;)

HIGH CHAIR ;) (2/7/10)

So, after a few months of procrastination, I finally went out and got Jeremiah his first high chair! He LOVED it, I don't know why I waited so long. It was so much fun to sit and watch him eat his cheerios this morning...he's getting to be my big boy!