Shots and a Present

Mason is (was?) on a delayed vaccination schedule, and until yesterday was caught up to his 12 month shots. I decided that I better get his done before he sees Sawyer have to get his first set and have that image in his head.

He had to get three shots, and was SO good. He chose to get them in his arms, so he sat on my lap and she did the first one. Then I had to turn him around for the other two in the other arm. I was worried with how long the process took, but he didn't even cry till the last one and it was hardly anything. He was happy again by the time he got a band aid!

Afterwards, he picked stickers at the clinic and I took him to choose a treat at the store. He picked a juice with a soccer ball lid!

Curious George was a happy sticker recipient.




My anniversary present! A new double jogger! I am so excited. We have been putting it to good use already. Mason really enjoys it, and Sawyer's carseat snaps in so he is nice and cozy too. Spencer and Avilee will ride their bikes while I push the stroller and we all get some good exercise. It feels great to be active again! I can't wait till I am able to run, I am craving it!

First Day of School

In retrospect, the summer really flew by...I can say that now that I am no longer 9 months pregnant in July! It is really hard to believe the kids are back in school! Avilee is in 3rd grade and has Mr. C as a teacher. He was Spencer's 3rd grade teacher too and we were really excited to hear she would have him too! Spencer is in 5th grade, which means he is in middle school! Taking him was almost as hard as taking him to his first day of kindergarten! His teacher has a really fun classroom full of fish tanks and terrariums. Pretty cool!

Here they are holding their fingers up for what grade they are in. I don't know what grade Mason is in!

Spencer's Fossil Dig

Spencer loves fossils, rocks, minerals...all things geology! Grandpa and him had planned a special day for just the two of them. My Dad took Spencer to Fossil Butte outside of Kemmerer. There they learned how to use the tools on the dig and look for fossils. Then they went to Ulrich's Quarry to search!

Spencer was so excited for this trip, I was worried he might be disappointed afterwards. I mean, what are the odds they would actually find any fossils right? I prayed they would have a great day together, but I never imagined what they would come home with!

He was absolutely GLOWING!

It was so good to see Spencer this happy! I never dreamed they would have this much success. I just wish we all could have gone!

Hogle Zoo

Grandma took the three older kids to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake towards the end of her stay when I was doing much better. They had a great time!







This seems to be Spencer's picture face of choice lately...










The train is definitely Mason's favorite part!





I am looking forward to being able to do these things with my family again, but cuddling with Sawyer is pretty great too.

Hospital Photos

Hospital Stay

On Saturday, the other kids and Grandparents were able to come visit us at the hospital. It was so fun to see Spencer, Avilee, and Mason meet baby Sawyer! It was also really good for Mason to come visit. We haven't really been away from each other, and coming to see us helped him to understand where we were for the rest of our stay.

"Baby out tummy!"

Welcome Sawyer Joseph!

I started having contractions right after lunch on Friday, July 29th. I had been having a few on and off for the last couple weeks, so I was trying to ignore them rather than getting too excited. Spencer and Avilee were out playing with kids in the neighborhood and I had Mason and my daycare kiddo down for a nap. My contractions were definitely starting to get my attention, but I was still thinking they would stop soon.

I decided to watch a movie and lay still to see if they would go away, but an hour and a half later they were stronger and closer together, even though I had been resting and still the whole time. I was thinking this might be it, but I didn't want to false alarm Matt or send my daycare baby home just yet, so I tried moving around to see if that would change them. I packed the last minute items in our hospital bag and ran around picking up the toys and lunch dishes. At this point I had been contracting regularly for over two hours and they were 4 minutes apart. Matt was in the mountains, but his office was able to catch him on the radio and told me it would be about an hour for him to get home. I called my daycare mom and her husband picked up the little guy.

Spencer showed up and I called for Avilee to come home too. I had a heck of a time finding someone to come stay with them, but fortuneately someone tracked down Matt's mother and she got to our house a few minutes before Matt did.

The car ride was tough, I was really hot, uncomfortable, and in enough pain that I had to totally focus with each contraction. It was a strange situation...I didn't want to fight against my body, but I also didn't want to give in all the way, knowing that we needed to get to the hospital. By the time we got there, I was two minutes apart and vocalizing with each one.

Matt took me into the ER and a nurse waited with me while he parked the car. The nurse tried to take me up to L&D, but I wanted to wait for Matt. Two contractions later though, I told the nurse I'm sure Matt will find us and so he took me up.

It felt SO good to be able to stand and move around! Being able to rock and sway was great relief! They had called my Dr and then procedure said I had to get on moniters. That was the worst! Being strapped to the bed made the pain much worse and my contractions started lasting 3-4 minutes. My Dr showed up and said, "Huffing and puffing? Let's have a baby!"

I was able to walk to the OR and they got me an epidural. It felt a lot different than the spinals I had gotten with the other kids. Even though I was really hurting and I was about to have a c-section, I still felt upset getting an epidural, like it was a failure...I'm just really excited I was able to labor as long as I did this time. I seem to do much better emotionally when I get to labor before the surgery, than when I make it to my scheduled date and just walk in.

He was born at 8:04 PM and weighed 7lbs 4oz.




Proud Daddy




They were able to stay with me in the OR for awhile. It made me really happy!




While I went to recovery, Matt and Sawyer went for his first bath.



They combed his hair with a tootbrush...he was not impressed!




The first time I was able to hold him. I couldn't stop crying!