Grandma's visit

One of the perks of having a new baby is that no matter what your mom has to come visit. My mom brought my younger sister Madi who is Jameson's favorite. We planned lots of fun activities while they were here as Jameson and I were in great need of getting out of the house. We visited the park, the Woodland Park Zoo, the hands on childrens museum, Charlie Safari, and our own back yard. Gregson was an angel the entire time they were here. He would sleep 4-6 hours at night and was rarely fussy when he was awake. I was able to get some much needed sleep between 5 and 8am, it was great. Jameson is missing them already and keeps asking when we can go to Utah to see Grandma.

I am feeling very humbled having 2 kids. I keep asking how in the world people do it. I can't seem to get anywhere on time. Jameson will have undone himself by the time I get Gregson ready, and I am always amazed how much damage can be done to my house in the amount of time it takes me to feed the baby. I love all my boys don't get me wrong...I just find the whole experience humbling. I also feel like all I talk about with friends and family is breast feeding. I feel like I am doing this for the first time and I want so badly for it to be a smooth experience, but somehow it is not. I am trying not to give Gregson formula, but after 6 feeding in 7 hours I usually give in to the crying. Everyone keeps saying it will work itself out...I sure hope so.

Last of all Grammie there is a zoo picture on here just for you. I know it won't take you long to figure out which one.

Happy Easter

It seems like we have never really had an Easter celebration since Dave and I have been married. You know how it is...the Easter egg hunts are for the kids and when you don't have any or yours is too young to understand sometimes you just let it go. This year Jameson was old enough to understand and get into it, so we decided to indulge. I hid a bunch of eggs outside and thank goodness hit the 20 minute break from the drizzle. We bundled up Gregson and headed outside to find the eggs. I was manning the video camera, so there were no pics of the hunt itself, but I took some before and after pics to share.

I am finding as many of you with multiple children can attest, that having 2 kids is a huge adjustment and everything seems to take place in slow motion. I can't seem to get anywhere on time due to feedings or just getting both kids ready to go. Jameson seems to undo himself while I get Gregson ready. They say it will get easier...I sure hope they are right.

Sweet baby Gregson

It was 5:30am on 3/25 when I was awakened by Jameson kicking me in the back. Dave had just left not long before for seminary. I realized I was having some contractions, but as I had been having a lot of them for weeks...I passed it off as false labor. After a shower I realized they were getting stronger. I got dressed and did my hair and by then I figured I better call and have Dave come home instead of going straight to work like he normally does. I called Christie to let her know we would eventually be dropping Jameson off. I wanted to wait at home as long as possible since I was trying to avoid medication. But Dave burst through the door and he was rushing around grabbing everything we should need. By this time the contractions were really bad. I could hardly get in the car. We dropped Jameson off at the Carlson's and as we were pulling out of their neighborhood Dave said "so how does that epidural sound?" I said "better and better every minute." He laughed. When we got to the hospital I was in a lot of pain, but I was in good spirits. Everyone kept offering me a wheel chair and the maternity department is in the back of the hospital down lots of stairs. I insisted on walking although I had to stop and rest through the contractions. We were all checked in by 8am. They instructed me to give a urine sample. I could hardly get a few drops out and was hurting and feeling a lot of pressure. I had to have Dave pick my clothes up off the floor for me. The nurse checked my cervix and I was 8cm. She began to run around like a chicken with her head cut off. There were no labor rooms available and we were in a tiny little triage room. Though my contractions were really bad, they were spaced enough that I could get a few minutes rest. When they came with the wheel chair to move me to the first available labor room I could hardly sit down because the baby was so low. When I got settled in that room my Dr. came in to check me. She said there was a tiny lip left on my cervix and needed to give it 10 more minutes. She told me there was no time for an epidural and I had not had enough fluid to get IV pain medication. She said we would be doing this the old fashioned way. I was scared I admit. A sister who used to live in our ward is one of the charge nurses there and though they were slammed, she stayed with me through the delivery. Everyone was amazing. After 40 min of pushing Gregson was born at 10:19am. I was on a high. I just kept telling everyone; "I can't believe I did that!" He was 8lbs 1oz and 20.5 inches long. He was perfect! He is now 11 days old and the best baby ever! Besides the breast feeding that has been much more painful than I imagined, things have been great. I did cry last night in the drive through at Jack in the box. Dave started laughing at me. It was quite funny. I have no idea why I was crying. Jameson is doing great with him. It took him a few days to get used to being home with Dave and I, but he loves the baby.

Greeners

Here in Washington there are people we call "Greeners." They are the tree huggers who dedicate there lives to protecting the environment from injustice. You know you have lived here long enough when you get really ticked off when you see them clearing trees for new construction. In this case we had a bad storm that cost us a really funky tree in our back yard. I had to take a picture of it because I was really sad to see it go. I love living in the trees and definitely get ticked when they start ripping out trees so that people can live in their little neighborhoods where they can reach out and touch their neighbors house without leaving their's. So farewell to our funky back yard tree.