Slackers Catch Up (in reverse order)

Well, since we haven't posted on the Blog since Bethany's birth, we are going to do a massive glossed-over catch-up month by month, in reverse order.  So without further ado.

August 2015
This month we took a couple short family trips.  At the beginning of August we spent a day in Jackson Hole and then in Star Valley, WY with Steve's family.  In Jackson, we went shopping on Main Street, ate some good BBQ, and Abigail's favorite--swimming (though it was actually just in a large whirlpool/jacuzzi).  In Star Valley, we were able to go to a fair, spend time with Oma and Opa, and enjoy the beauties there.

Last week, we went "camping" in a cabin in Midway with Alison's family.  It was a beautiful little getaway.  We were able to have a fire and introduced Abigail to s'mores (though she preferred to just eat plain unroasted marshmallows).

Also, at the end of July/beginning of August, Bethany became mobile.  She never army crawled.  She just went from sitting (her favorite position), to reaching, to crawling.

July 2015

July was a rough month.  We celebrated the 4th of July, but the aftermath was pretty rough.  After several nights of fireworks right outside Abigail's window, it took most of the month to get her back to sleeping in her room through the night.
We also "celebrated" Steve's birthday, but couldn't really enjoy it because he and the girls were all sick with colds.

June 2015

In June, we celebrated Abigail's 3rd birthday.  She wanted a rainbow party, so we had rainbow food, made rainbow necklaces, played pin the horn on the unicorn, had bubbles, and did a rainbow piñata.

We also had our niece Aurora here from Colorado for a week.  We were able to spend a lot of time with her going to the Aquarium, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, and having family dinners.  Abigail loved it!

The last weekend of the month, we surprised Steve with a Father-Sons getaway with his dad and brothers.  They went to St. George and played 9 holes of golf, went to the temple, and saw Jurassic World.  While they were gone, we were able to have a get together with all of the Harris cousins.

May 2015

In May, Steve and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  In the morning, we went and got family pictures taken.  Then, we went to do sealings in the Draper Temple where we were married and went to the second Avengers movie.

Later that month, I took Abigail on a mommy-daughter date.  We went to Build-a-Bear, where Abigail chose a green dinosaur to build.  She dressed it in a tutu and named it Belle :).  Then we had Cold Stone.  It was nice to have some one on one time with her since Bethany's arrival.

April 2015

In April we enjoyed Easter.  We had a couple Easter egg and basket hunts and dyed eggs, but also tried to focus on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  One of Abigail's favorite things to look at was our "Jesus Eggs" as she called them, which had various items symbolizing Christ's final week of life and his Crucifixion and Resurrection.

We also enjoyed the freak snow storm at the end of April.  It was Bethany's first time out in the snow and Abigail had fun sledding and helping me build a snowman family.

March 2015

March was a special month as we were able to bless Bethany.  We chose to have the blessing on the same Saturday that our niece Kaytlyn was baptized, which allowed many family and friends to be present.  Bethany slept soundly through the blessing (thankfully, because she was a very sensitive crier at that time... and still is sometimes).  Steve gave a beautiful blessing that was definitely very tailored to our sweet, sensitive girl.  As the blessing ended, she woke up and looked around smiling at everyone there.

February 2015

For our Valentine's Day, we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity and then had a family fondue night.

January 2015

In January, Bethany was starting to grow out of her colic and was learning new skills like focussing on objects, grasping toys, sitting supported, and spending a few minutes on her tummy.

We were also able to meet our sweet new niece Eden, who was born at the end of December.

December 2014

In December, at almost 2 months old, Bethany gave us her first smile.  Since then, she has been a very smiley baby (as long as she is content).  Abigail was getting used to being a big sister, and has been improving each day with getting along with Bethany.

 On 12-13-14, my little brother Travis got married to Malory.  It was a wonderful ceremony and a happy occasion for the whole family.

We enjoyed celebrating Bethany's first Christmas.  It was a time spent with family and remembering the birth of our Savior.  It was Bethany's first big day out and about and both girls did well.

Well, if you've made it this far, congratulations!  We love our little family through all the ups and downs and are grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends that surround and support us.

Bethany's Birth

Here is the story of our sweet Bethany's arrival into this world.  Bethany was due to be born on Oct. 23.  Since Abigail was 5 days late, we were planning on an overdue delivery for Bethany as well. The week leading up to her due date was full of plans for final get togethers and final preparations before she arrived.  So, when I began having contractions a week early, on Oct. 16, I was caught off guard.  The contractions started about 1:30 AM and they felt different than the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had been having throughout the pregnancy--I could feel these ones in my back.  At first they were not too intense, I could easily breath through them and they were coming every 8-12 minutes.  This cycle persisted for a couple hours.  Around 3:30, Steve woke up, so I told him I'd been having regular contractions.  I still thought they might go away soon, but they kept on coming. Steve helped me time the contractions and would push on my back to help ease the pain.  Looking back now, I realize that the contractions were slowly getting more intense, but I wasn't acknowledging that.  Since they weren't going away yet (they would stop, right?) I decided I should probably pack a bag for the hospital just in case.  By 5:30 AM, the contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes.

Abigail woke up at 6:00, so we brought her into the bed with us.  She kept asking, "Mom, what ya doin'?" and "Mom, you wanna get up?" How do you explain contractions to a 2 year old :). We made our way out to the living room, where I laid on the couch in intense pain.  The contractions still weren't consistently 5 minutes apart, so we kept putting off going to the hospital.  Abigail was able to eat breakfast and then we decided, we should probably leave by 7:00.  Steve got everything loaded in the car and I hobbled out.

While in the car, my contractions started coming on really strong every 3-4 minutes!  Unfortunately, traffic was starting to build, so all I could do as they came was squeeze the living daylights out of Steve's fingers.  We arrived at the hospital by 8:00 AM and Steve pushed me into the Labor and Delivery area in a wheelchair.  I was in agony at this point.  They took me right back and checked to see how far along I was.  When they announced that I was dilated to 7.5 cm I was shocked.  No wonder I was hurting so much!  I thought my water would have broken long before that point, which is another reason we kept putting of going to the hospital.  I immediately requested an epidural. When they paged the anesthesiologist, he said that he was just getting ready to start a C-section and wouldn't be able to come out for about 45 minutes.  I thought I was going to cry.  The nurse explained to him that I was moving really fast and asked if he could come before starting.  They got my IV in and he was able to come right away (Thank goodness!!!). After giving me a fast acting medication through the epidural, I was feeling relief within a few contractions.  I could finally relax and prepare for the arrival of our little girl.  My water had still not broken, so the doctor broke it for me.  The amniotic fluid was slightly discolored, so they were concerned that the baby had passed some meconium into the fluid.  They call the nursery nurses in just as a precaution.

Grandpa Kenny and Grandma Kathy arrived at the hospital in time to take Abigail to a family waiting area while I got ready to push.

By 9:45 AM the doctor was in and I was ready to deliver.  My legs were completely numb, which was different than with Abigail, and I was pretty tired from laboring, so pushing was harder this time around.  But at 10:16 AM (on 10/16/2014) Bethany was born.  She quickly cried and her examination was perfect.  There were no problems, for which we were very grateful.  She weighed in at 8 lbs. 12.7 oz. and was 20.5 inches long (thank goodness she came a week early, or I would have been giving birth to a 9-10 lb. baby!).

After Daddy and I held our little girl, Steve went to bring Abigail in to meet her new sister.  She was very sweet and excited. I am so grateful that she was able to be there to be the first (non-parent) to meet Bethany.

Abigail did a good job spending most of the 2 days at the hospital.  Steve went home with her the first night and on the second night she slept over at Grandma and Grandpa Harris's.  We were grateful for those who were able to come visit and who expressed their congratulations in other ways too.  On Saturday morning, we were able to all go home together as a family.

Bethany has been a wonderful addition to our family.  It takes some adjustment, of course, but we couldn't imagine life without her.  We are sleep deprived, but know that won't last forever.  Abigail has been adjusting well.  She has some hard times, but for the most part is very sweet and excited to have a sister.  She always wants to check and see if Bethany is okay (even when Bethany is sleeping). Abigail likes to hold her, pat her head, and say nice things like, "It's ok Bethany, I protect you."  Thankfully, Steve has had the past 2 weeks off of work, so we have eased into the 2 kid thing.  We've been able to spend one on one time with Abigail, while the other cares for Bethany.  We've even managed to squeeze in a couple naps.  Well, onto new adventures, growth, and happiness.