Bennett's His Middle Name

One night in the hospital was enough for us!  Tony is such a light sleeper even in our own bed, but at the hospital it was worse.  I didn't sleep all that well either.  That being said, the doctors consented and gave us the ok to go home the evening of September1st.  I was a little apprehensive to be leaving the hospital so soon because I loved that the nurses took care of me and that all my meals were made and brought to my room  Despite these luxuries, I wanted to be able to see Sawyer and spend a little time with my mom before she had to leave the next day. 

Since it was our last day, I wanted to enjoy it to the fullest.  Our morning was really quiet.  Tony and I got to watch cable t.v (what a treat) and hold our new baby.  I was dying to try the delicious congratulations gift the hospital had given us... a big, beautiful cupcake (pictured here).  OH MY GOODNESS, it was pumpkin chocolate chip with a delectable cream cheese frosting and I was in heaven with each bite I took.  (I got to eat some of Tony's too because he didn't love it like I did!) 

Nanna & Dawsen in his socks

Tony was anxious to go home to take a shower and see Sawyer.  He left around 11 a.m. and didn't come back until almost 3:30 p.m.  I should have revelled in the time alone with Dawsen, but I kept thinking, "Why aren't they coming to see me?"  Once my mom, aunt, Tony, & Sawyer finally came to get us, we had to make a decision on Dawsen's middle name.  Tony really wanted Fynn and I wanted Bennett (like Tony's middle name, but one letter different).  I thought he should choose, so as I was filling out the paperwork for the birth certificate, he decided on Bennett.   We eventually got all of our ducks in a row and were cleared to go home right before 4 p.m.  My mom dressed the baby, we packed up all our goodies, took photos, and then we were off.  

Our first family photo

Arriving home was bittersweet.  I was happy to be home, but my house wasn't what I wanted it to be.  I had worked so hard to clean and organize before I had the baby that walking through my door to an explosion of baby gifts, new toys for Sawyer, and the realization that there was no place for Dawsen to sleep (Tony had been putting off the bassinet building) was overwhelming.  I am sure my emotions were running high and that didn't help, but our first night home was a little rough.  It was a big adjustment for all of us and we all were over-tired.  We had a few quick visitors (The Daniels family & The Calls) in the midst of dinner and the bassinet construction.  Needless to say there was crying involved, but we finally got settled and into bed for our first night home.

Not a fan of his car seat!

Dawsen's Birth Story

At the hospital: 40 weeks 4 days

Monday, August 30th I went to my doctor's appointment, hoping to have progressed and be showing more promising signs that our baby was ready to come into the world.  After an hour of waiting, my doctor came in and said I was dilated to a 4 and still 60% effaced (not a whole lot of progress).  I was a little disappointed, but wasn't set on being induced yet.  We scheduled an NST for that Thursday, so we could make sure he was happy and healthy and not getting too big and I went home. :( 

The rest of the afternoon, I hummed and hawed around the house, took a nap, and then called my friend Tera to see if she wanted to get ice cream with me at Sonic.  We shared a campfire blast shake and each had a cheeseburger.  It was nice to vent my frustrations and eat an unhealthy, comforting meal.  When Tony came home, we went to a couple stores to look for party supplies for Sawyer's birthday.  That evening I normally would have done my dishes and made sure my kitchen and house were all cleaned, just in case, but I was feeling frustrated.  Instead, I just went to bed.  At about midnight, I woke up to what I thought was a need to use the bathroom.  I went to the bathroom and then went back to lie down.  About a half hour later, I felt like I needed to go again.  I knew my bladder was a much smaller version of it's old self, but it hadn't been that bad!  I tried and nothing happened.  I went back to bed and about fifteen minutes later I felt the same pain sensation.  I woke up Tony to tell him I was pretty sure I was having contractions.  All of my getting up and down woke up Sawyer, so I put him in bed with Tony and set to work.

Even though I was over my due date, I wasn't completely prepared (imagine that).  My contractions were approximately 20 minutes apart at that time. I was focused on cleaning my kitchen, packing my bag, and throwing a bag together for Sawyer.  Once my contractions continued to be consistent and become closer together I called my mom (at about 2 a.m.).  She was startled, but said she would get ready and head our way.  I got myself ready and at about 3 a.m. called my doctor to see when and if I should go to the hospital.  She said I could go when ever I thought I was ready.  By this time I woke up Tony and told him it was time to go!  My contractions were becoming more painful and lasting longer.  He called his friend Tyson who volunteered to watch Sawyer and off we went. Sawyer was really confused and much more awake than I thought he would be.  He cried as Tony dropped him off.  I wanted to tell him "goodbye", but I was too busy focusing on getting through the pain and to the hospital in enough time to receive the epidural. 

We got into a room by about 4 a.m.  The nurses were super nice and got us all settled in.  I requested the epidural promptly for fear that I was too late.  They assured me that I would still be able to have one, as I was only dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced.  Once they had the iv and the fluid in, I was sooo ready for the wonderful anesthesiologist to make my pain go away.  The epidural made me itch, but was totally worth it.  By 6 a.m. I was comfortable and resting.  Tony kept talking to me, so I didn't actually fall asleep, but it was peaceful and quiet at least.  When they came to check me around 7 a.m., my water had broken and I was fully dilated and effaced.  They called the doctor and she told them to let me labor down and she would come in as soon as she got her kids on the bus for school.  My mom arrived at 7:30ish.  I was starting to feel a lot of pressure during each contraction because he was ready to come out.  They had to move the baby's monitor a few times and re-situate me to make sure he was safe.  I was getting worried about him.  When I would have a contraction, he would struggle a little bit, but they said we just needed to wait for the doctor.  I remember feeling scared that we had come so far and I was going to be really angry if something went wrong because the doctor wasn't there. 

The baby's nurse came in to prepare all the necessary items and then we waited for what seemed like FOREVER for my Dr. to arrive.  As soon as she got there, she took off her sweater, put on her gown, and told me to push.  3 pushes later our sweet baby was born.  I was so relieved and grateful my doctor knew what she was doing and we were all healthy and safe.  I didn't have any tearing and I felt great compared to when I had Sawyer. 

Tiny little thing!

Tony and I rock paper scissored for the spelling of his name, I won (though I can't remember if it was rock, paper, or scissors that led to my victory).  Dawsen ? Bastar was born at 8:52 a.m. 7 lbs. even and 21 1/4 inches long.  We couldn't decide on his middle name and decided we would table that item until later. 

Our first photo together.

After a short time my Aunt Tessie arrived and stayed with me until my mom and Tony came back with Sawyer.  I got in the tub and Tony and my family took the baby to the nursery for his bath and check up.  I remember feeling oddly good.  I was expecting to feel like a truck ran over me like after I had had Sawyer, but that wasn't the case.  I was fairly awake and feeling awesome.  They had built a new wing of recovery rooms since I had been there last, so we loaded up our things and moved to our own little room. 

Sleepy boy!

It was so fun to look at his little features and try to see Sawyer, me, or Tony in there somewhere.  He looked totally different than Sawyer did though.  His head was perfectly round and his nose had more of a bulb at the end.  We had only a few visitors (my Aunt Debbie, and Angela & Ellie), and then my mom and Tony went to go get some food and run some errands so it was a pretty quiet rest of the day. 

August

  

August 3, 2010  36 1/2 weeks

Dinner at Jaker's

 So August was the month I thought would never pass, yet it did (along with September and October) and now I am really behind on my posting.  These are my attempts to update the last few months. 

On August 3rd we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary.  This is the 2nd anniversary I have been pregnant, so eating out is the preferred activity.  We celebrated at Jaker's because I get a 20% discount and a free HUGE slice of mudd pie.  I am not sure if any of you have met me before, but I L-O-V-E ice cream!  This pie was so delicious and the fact that it didn't cost a penny made it even better!  We had sandwiches (Tony the french dip and me the crab avocado), Barb was our server, and it was fun to go out just the two of us, even if it was a short evening.  Tony brought me home these gorgeous flowers and I wanted to take him to a movie, but that still hasn't happened yet :(  We will have more dates in the coming years I just know it!

Beautiful flowers, lucky me!

All but one year since we have been together we have driven to Kelly Canyon and hiked back to pick scrumptious little huckleberries.  On August 13th, despite my gigantic pregnant state, we decided we needed to carry on the tradition.  I was a little slower than normal and Tony was a little panicked that I might go into labor and he wouldn't be able to carry me back out to the car, but we made it.  We shared our berry picking spot with a young moose, much to Tony's dismay and Sawyer and I ate most of our berries instead of putting them in our buckets, but it was a fun adventure.  Since my husband is really good at picking those little round morsels of goodness, we have a bag of frozen berries to enjoy in the future.

Our huckleberry adventure

Sawyer thoroughly enjoys water and bubbles!  He would have spent the entire summer in our backyard with his "wayer" if I would have let him take the small, blue squirt bottle outside and dampen the entire backyard daily.  This day we went out to water our very small bush and blow bubbles.  When I was done with the hose, he decided it needed to be used to fill his empty bubble bottle, as captured here. 

Enjoying the water

July Part 2

In my endeavors to try and save money, I thought I could use Tony's dull clippers to cut Sawyer's hair.  I set everything up and all was going well until Sawyer headed in the house.  I went back in and grabbed him and proceeded to fall out the back door with Sawyer in my arms.  He was safe, but my shins were the only thing to catch us.  It must have been because I am pregnant, but it turned out to be incredibly painful, swollen, and it made me miserable for almost a week.  And Sawyer's hair turned out to have long and short spots throughout.  Guess I will get some sharper clippers and not carry him out the back door anymore.  Haircut saving: $11.  Two nights of lost wages at restaurant: $80.  Savings: -$69.  :(  My mom had come into town for the weekend, so even though I was in pain, it was nice to spend the weekend with her too. (We didn't take any photos though.)

One Saturday in the middle of the month (with my persuasive skills), I talked Tony into driving us to Ross Park to play in the water.  We hadn't been swimming all summer and I just knew Sawyer would have fun.  The first part of the day was a little chilly.  Tony is very much against the cold and he was wanting to go home.  We got out and dried off, enjoyed some taffy, and then headed back for more.  It did eventually warm up a little and Sawyer started to enjoy the kiddie play area.  I liked the lazy river.  We couldn't stay as long as I would have liked because I had to work in the early evening, but I thought it was fun anyhow.

As much as I have tried to keep it on the down low, I suppose the secret must be let out.  We bought a mini van.  I was having car alarm issues, so I stopped locking my car and some punk kids stole my extra car key out of my car.  This led us to finally decide that my car needed to go and we needed something that would accommodate our growing family, yet was still cost effective for us.  Tony found a mini van in good condition and  for the right price on KSL.  So we loaded up and made an early morning adventure to Salt Lake (like 5:30 a.m. early).  By about noon we had two vehicles to drive home.  I wanted to run to the Gateway really fast and make a  Build-a-Bear for the baby (because we had done it for Sawyer before he was born), and to let Sawyer play in the water fountains.  We ate our peanut butter and jelly I had packed us as we made a quick jaunt into downtown.  I got to make a bear that looks similar to Sawyer's and has the same Harley Davidson shirt.  I didn't get to name him though because we still hadn't agreed on the baby's name yet.  Tony took Sawyer to go play in the water and he thought it was awesome.  Even though the signs say to exit the water area once the large fountain show starts, no one seemed to heed that warning and so Sawyer continued to play as well.  Once the water stopped, he was sad and very ready for a nap, so we drove home.  With road construction and a couple car accidents, it ended up taking us over 4 1/2 hours to get home.  I was very happy to see our house.   

July Part 1

Sorry for the backtracking, but I was so hung up on getting our vacation posted that I couldn't move on until it was done.  I am so relieved to have that out of the way and now I can update the last month at least before the baby comes.  The first of July my friend Kari and her family come through town on their way to a weekend with family.  I got to meet her new baby, Nate (whom I failed to take a photo of) and we ate some delicious lunch at Jaker's.  Jayci and Sawyer had fun playing in the windowsills at the front of the restaurant.  It was great to see Kari and her sweet little family!

Waiting for the parade to start.

Sitting tall with Hailey.

 We celebrated Independence Day Saturday and Sunday this year, since there were festivities both days.  The parade was sooo cold!  Tony and Sawyer were bundled up in blankets and jackets.  I was comfortable with a sweatshirt on for a little while, but then I had to borrow some blanket too.  In the afternoon, we went to a BBQ at Tyson & Angela's.  Sawyer loved jumping on the trampoline.  At about 7 p.m. we headed down to the river to find the perfect firework viewing spot and some yummy food.  It took us an hour to walk from the car to our spot, about 45 mins. to get food and get back to our spot, and then 30 mins. to wait in line for the bathroom.  We walked out of the port-a-potty with about 10 mins. to spare before the big show.  It was a great fireworks display as always.  I love watching Sawyer enjoy them.

Disney World: Day 6

Topiary display at the Epcot entrance.

Shaking a maraca in Mexico.

Dancing with the music.

Tuesday, May 11th-  Our last day was divided between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom.  We started out at Epcot, because I was set on getting a free 5x7 photo and meet & greet with the characters, thanks to our Disney Visa card.  It didn't start until 11 a.m., so we rode some rides in the World Showcase and let Sawyer play with some musical instrument squares beforehand.   Tony wasn't very hip on the idea of waiting in line for the photo, but since I wasn't giving in, I waited for about 45 minutes for us to have a one-on-one photo time with Mickey, Minnie, & Goofy.  I think it was totally worth it and we got some super cute photos of Sawyer.  The bad part was our photo wouldn't be ready until after 3 p.m., so we would have to make a trip back to Epcot before they closed in order to pick it up.  Despite this, we hopped on the Tronorail over to the Magic Kingdom to spend the rest of our hours there

When we arrived, the Celebrate Parade was just beginning and we got to see Woody and some of Sawyer's favorite characters.  We played and explored for a couple hours before we had reservations at the Crystal Palace at 3:20 p.m.

Tony and I have eaten with Pooh and his Hundred Acre Wood friends before, but it was Sawyer's first time.  Some of my favorite photos were captured here.  I love Sawyer's face and his affection for Eeyore.  Thank goodness we had the dining plan or there is no way we would have wanted to fork out almost $80 for just mine and Tony's buffets.  The food was delicious and there was such a great variety to choose from, but that is a lot of money for one meal.  Sawyer topped off his mac n' cheese and pizza with a gigantic sugardoodle.  It was an awesome way to end our meals on our vacation. 

We squeezed in one more castle family photo, a shot in front of the train station at the entrance, and the Tronorail as we skipped back to Epcot before the Illuminations fireworks show was over.

Disney World: Day 5

Monday, May 10th-  We/I started off kinda slow this day, since we had been up until the wee hours of the morning enjoying our extra magic hours the night before.  When we came back to our room from our late night adventures, we found Sawyer's toy Woody doll sitting in the curtains in our window.  Disney does the funnest things when you stay there!  Sawyer was ready before I was, so he climbed in his stroller and said, "go go".  He was pretty patient, but Tony took him to play in the Goofy water squirters to keep him busy/happy, while I was getting ready .

Tony decided we needed to spend the day in the Magic Kingdom and make sure we got to do everything there we hadn't done yet.  With only 2 more days, I was fine with whatever made them both happy.  I didn't seem to get very many photos this day.  Tony might have some on the video camera that I could use, I'll have to look.  Before we got in the park, I already had to use the restroom (surprise, surprise).  On my way in, there was a hidden mickey stamped on the floor.  I still am not totally sure how they got in on the ground, but it was awesome.  I was so caught off guard that I stepped in it, so you can see my footprint in the middle of his mouth. 

Disney World: Day 4

Sunday, May 9th-Each day we are on vacation, Tony is totally into getting up and ready as fast as possible.  Sawyer would stand at the window and say, "side" because of course that is where he wanted to be.  But since it was Mother's Day, I wanted to sleep in a bit and make myself look nice.  Much to Tony's dismay we didn't leave the hotel until 12 p.m. Can you believe the audacity, but  I knew we were staying in the park until 1 a.m. when the Magic Kingdom closed to resort guests, so I didn't feel so bad for them.  To prove that even they were exhausted, I captured a picture of the two of them on the way to the park that morning/afternoon.

We started out in the Magic Kingdom, where we were able to meet pirate Goofy at the Pirates of the Caribbean.  Then it was off to the Jungle Cruise.  Both of these rides were favorites of Sawyer because they have boats and "watey" or water as you and I would call it.  He LOVED the animals along the Jungle Cruise as well.  Before we left the park for my Mother's Day dinner, we made our way to FantasyLand where we found Peter Pan and Wendy.  They even had accents as they spoke to Sawyer!

Grand Floridian

I got to choose where I wanted to eat, since it was my day, so I chose the fanciest resort on Disney property, The Grand Floridian!  It was magnificent inside and out.  The Victorian decor, a piano player in the lobby when we arrived, and a jazz band playing as we left made me feel like we had stepped back in time.  Sawyer colored as we dined at our granite table.  Both dinner and dessert was delicious.  We got the cutest dessert sampler so we could try a little bit of everything.  It had key lime pie, tiramisu, chocolate mouse, and a lemon cheesecake, even the sign that said, "Celebrate Today" was made of white chocolate and sugar.  They gave me a white carnation for being a mom to top off a perfect meal.  It was a very special place to spend Mother's Day with my boys.

Me & my boy on Mother's Day