Gabe's Blessing

On Sunday, May 1st our little Gabriel was blessed. Rob did a great job, blessing him to be able to feel the Spirit, to some day marry in the temple, and to have a special love for the people around him. Gabe looked so handsome in his suit (sewn by me!), baby blue tie and all (tie not sewn by me)! I felt so blessed as I looked around the Sacrament room and saw all the family that was there supporting our baby Gabe. Thanks for all that made it out! It was a great day.

Pictures of Gabe

Me and Gabe ready to go for our first walk. He looks so tiny here!


I'm decorating Gabriel's room in a pirate theme, so I made him this blanket and my Mom crocheted him these cute little pirate booties!

I made him this monkey hat forever ago and it's fun to finally have a baby to put it on!
Sucking on Aunt Missy's chin. Who needs a napkin, eh?
Big sister Ava :)
Big sister, Jocelyn. She looks so grown up here to me!
No little boy has ever been as cute as my Gabe. Check out those luscious lips! Don't you just wanna kiss 'em?
That's all for now, folks. Just wanted to show off my baby :)

Gabe's Birth Story

Gabriel Glenn was born on February 5th, 2011. He weighed 9 lbs even, and measured 20 1/2 inches long, with a head circumference of 15". Here is his birth story.....

At about 3:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, and at 40 weeks, 4 days gestation, I awoke to my first contraction. It was strong and very obviously the real thing, after having "practice" contractions for several weeks now. I was in bed alone because every Friday night Rob and Jocelyn have a sleepover in the living room. I went back to sleep but kept waking up with each contraction, about every 15 minutes. At about 4:00 I decided to go tell Rob that things were starting, but that I was still in the early stages and that I planned on going back to bed. He was so funny. I nudged him awake and said, "I'm in labor..." His eyes popped wide open and he said in a panicked whisper, "OK...What do we do?!" I just laughed at him and told him, "Nothing. I'm going back to bed, and you should too." I should have known he wouldn't be able to do that though. I went back upstairs and soon heard him clanking around in the kitchen and vacuuming the living room. Cutie. :)
So this is when I called my sister, Missy, who had a three hour drive from Vernal, and then next I called my mom. Mom showed up probably around 5:00 a.m. and we just took it easy in my bedroom until Missy pulled into town at about 7:30 ish. I could tell that I still had a while to go, but the contractions were all very strong and coming on about every 6-8 minutes. This is when we called my midwife, Heather.
Heather and her two assistants got here around 8:00,I think, and we waited for a while before I decided to get checked. When she checked me I was 5 cm dilated.
I got into the tub, which felt great. My mom, who also played the role of doula, helped me stay relaxed and remind me of my Hypnobabies techniques. Now I'm going to come right out and say that this was not my relaxing Hypnobabies birth like Ava's birth was. I don't know if it was because Gabriel was bigger, or if it was because I wasn't able to get in as much practice before labor, but it was definitely harder. Each contraction was very strong and I had to keep saying my cues like, "peace" and "relax" as I had a contraction to remind myself to be limp and not to resist.
The water eventually got cold, so I ended up back out in my bed. My birth team was so awesome. Everyone was involved with counter-pressure, doing the knee press, light touch massage, or whatever I might have demanded at that particular moment. Things were pretty intense at this point.

After a few hours I was back into the tub, just trying anything to be more comfortable. The tub ended up NOT being what I wanted, and within just a few minutes I was climbing back out. My midwife suggested that I try the birth stool, which is basically a toilet seat looking thing that allows you to squat and not have to support your entire body with your legs. At this point my contractions were right on top of each other. As soon as a contraction ended, I stood up from the tub and before I could climb out, another one was right there. I was feeling very grunty and pushy at this point and was full on pushing by the time I sat on the birth stool. With each push I could feel Gabe's head coming down another inch, closer and closer. My mom sat behind me and supported me while I leaned forward into one of the midwives. At this point my water broke and Gabe's head was right behind. Rob was right by me and as Gabe's head came out I heard him excitedly say, "Holy crap! It's a baby, Miggy!" Yes, Rob. I am VERY aware. Hahahaha...

With another push Gabe's shoulders came out and I couldn't push another second. I told the midwives, "Just pull him out now!" Which they did :)

Right off the bat Gabe was SCREAMING! It was very reassuring to hear that, because if he could scream like that he had to be healthy. He was placed right in my arms and he screamed for about 20 minutes non-stop. My midwife actually took him at one point to make sure there wasn't something obvious that could have been hurting him. There wasn't, though, he was just letting us know what he thought of this cold, bright, loud world. :)

We made our way to the bed, nursed, & cut the cord. A while later we measured him and found out that he is quite the big boy! I was so proud. :)
After a few stitches, some Papa Murphy's pizza, and some clean up, the midwives took off and left us with our new little man. The girls came over (they were at Rob's parents) and met their new baby brother, who they loved immediately. We sang him "Happy Birthday" and just nestled in bed for the rest of the day.
Although this wasn't a text-book Hypnobabies birth, it was still wonderful. Intense, yes. Hard, yes. In total it was about a 9 hour labor, similar to Ava's birth, so I feel like that wasn't too bad since Jocelyn's birth was 15 hours of labor in a hospital, hooked up to all sorts of drugs and two hours of nurse-directed pushing. Even though it was hard, it was short lived and nothing went wrong. Most importantly my sweet baby boy is here and I'm obsessed with him in every way.
Every time I have a baby I am so surprised at how much I can love them. I never imagined that boys would be as much fun as girls but I was SO wrong. Welcome, baby Gabe! We are SO happy you're here.

I know, it's been forever since I've blogged and you're all missing me terribly. So here's what has been going on: I'm extremely pregnant right now. My "due" date is a painfully long seven days away, but I'm sure it will be more like a painfully long ten or eleven days away before our little guy decides to make his debut.....'cause that's just the way I roll. I'm heavier now than I ever got with my other two pregnancies and I'm definitely feeling it. Last Sunday I got to the point where even my Large size shirts are all not large enough to cover my protruding torso. After standing in my closet, throwing clothing here and there, I gave up. I put my pj's back on and dramatically flopped down on my bed and complained to Rob that I had "nothing to wear!" He calmly stroked my hair and told me, "You've got just a few more weeks, babe." To which I replied, "Two weeks is a long time to be in your pajamas!" and then I cried. But just a little bit. He may not have even noticed. But then I got over my moment of frustration and moved on with my day. But just a little bit.

Jocelyn turned 4! I just can't believe it. She started primary also, and she absolutely loves it! Apparently her class is one of "those" classes, you know, with the extra rambunctious children. Her teachers tell me, though, that she never lets it get to her. She sits in her seat with her hands folded, listening to instructions and always willing to give a prayer or answer a question when called upon. That's my girl. :) I'm so proud. For her birthday we had a Rapunzel party and her favorite toy ended up being a unicorn on a stick...the kind with the horse head that you can straddle the stick and ride around on.

Ava is growing too. In just a little more than a month my baby will be two and I will have a new one month old baby by then. I sometimes feel bad for her short-lived baby life, making her a middle child before she even saw it coming. But she is really so grown up. Her vocabulary is quite lengthy and developed and she has no problem keeping up with her big sister. I don't really want to say it out loud (so instead I will just type it), but she is very interested in potty training already. She will always tell me when she has just peed or when she is pooping and often asks to sit on the potty when her sister is going. Last night I placed her on the toilet and she pushed and pushed until a few tiny drops of pee trinkled into the toilet! I couldn't believe it. Then this morning she woke up especially early because she couldn't stand to be in her wet diaper one second longer. I'm not jumping the gun, though. I will continue to do this for her as long as it is fun but I'm going to let her take the lead. Jocelyn didn't potty train until she was 3 and Ava is not quite 2, so this could very well be a fluke. I also realize that as soon as the baby is born she will likely regress a bit and I would MUCH rather change a diaper than clean up poopy panties.

Rob started a new job yesterday! I know, I know. He starts a new job like every year. Well, actually just every time we have a baby. I don't know why it's worked out that way, but it has. The company he was working for was a good 45 minute (one way) drive every day and he was putting gas in the truck every four days, at $40 a pop. The programing team he worked with was also dysfunctional and so he was generally unhappy where he was. So he thought he'd start looking around, and what do you know, the first company he applied for he got! I know I'm biased and whatever, but Rob really is exceptional at what he does. This is really where his talent lies and I'm so glad that people are taking notice. I couldn't be more proud. So now he works just in Provo, about a 15 minute commute. We got a little raise, but besides that he will be saving probably $100/month just on gas, they pay 100% of our health insurance, and they pay for his phone contract. So yeah. Huge blessing. It has been a little over a year since our bout of unemployment and I still don't feel like we have been able to get on top of our finances. It will be such a nice feeling to get on top of debt and build up a good amount of savings.

Other than that things are just pretty chill. We're getting the house ready for the home birth and trying our best to stay healthy throughout the long winter that Utah inevitably brings each year. I'll keep you posted on the big changes that will be happening over the next few months....Peace!

Playing Catch Up

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Since my last post was back in July, I thought it was time for a new update. Fall has come and is nearly gone already! We went up the canyon to enjoy some of the pretty leaves before they were all dry and brown. It's been really nice to finally have some cooler weather. That being said, I don't know how ready I am for winter to come. Do y'all realize it's November already and mr. baby is going to grace us with his presence in only 3 short months?! Oh yeah...and I don't know if I posted about that either. We are having a boy! Baby brother is on his way and the girls are getting excited! We're going to name him Gabriel and when we talk about him, we call him Gabe. Jocelyn calls him "Gave", though, and although I've corrected her plenty of times, she is persistent and insistent that it is Gave, not Gabe, and that Gabe would be just a silly thing to call a baby brother. So, as Rob's sister Lindsey pointed out to me, Jocelyn called baby Ava, baby "Aba", and is now calling baby Gabe, "Gave". I'm not sure what went wrong there. Things straightened out for Ava though, so hopefully baby brother will get to be called by his real name some day too.
We are doing great these days. Rob got a really great and unexpected bonus at work, just because he is so awesome. His game, Plasma Cannon (Available exclusively to Palm Pre owners), has done great. He is almost up to 1000 sales and he won a $1000 Palm/HP credit in a contest for how well his game has done! We are really excited for him. Jocelyn is in desperate need of some socialization, and so come January I think we're going to try to put her in a preschool (when the new semester starts--who knew preschool had semesters?!) Ava is a little stinker and its lucky that one year olds are the cutest because that's the only thing that's saving her from a good bum paddling. She has started nursery at church, and because Jocelyn is still in there until January I thought the transition would be easy for her. I spoke too soon apparently because I am in there for the full two hours to avoid a tantrum that the nursery leaders have made it very clear, they do not want to handle. I'm sure she would do fine if she could just cry it out for a few minutes, but they are not up to it and I guess I can't blame them. So, as you can imagine, church is very fulfilling for me. After fighting with the kids for an hour in Sacrament meeting to sit down and convince them that they do not need to go out for yet another drink of water, I get to go play with the little ones in nursery. Woot. But really, it's not so bad. I'm just a little crusty sometimes. ;)
I am doing well, just cooking this baby brother and trying to get enough sleep at night. We're preparing for another home birth and so I've casually started to pick up my Hypnobabies practices here and there, and I am remembering how much I love hypnosis! It is so relaxing and makes me feel so much more positive about everything. I have a great midwife this time who is actually going to let me follow her as a doula to a birth or two in December so I can finish up my certification before the baby is born. I feel really comfortable with her as she is very knowledgeable and confident in the process of birth, and besides that is just a really awesome lady.
I have a bunch more pictures to post about my St. George trip, Halloween, and my new little hat business I'm starting, so stay tuned. Other than that, we're all healthy and happy!

Stupid Perfect Cat

I have blogged about Eddie before. About how Jocelyn will tackle him to the floor and read him stories and dress him up. You'd think he'd mind, but the dumb thing just purrs and purrs, so all I can figure is that he must actually love her back. Well, since those days began, Ava was born and lately she has decided to carry on the tradition.

It actually looks like he might be trying to escape here, but the expression on Ava's face is telling me he doesn't have a chance. "Don't even try, kitty" she thinks.

"Good boy", she says to herself.


Now, I wouldn't want you to think that just because Ava has picked up the habit of squashing the cats to death, that Jocelyn would ever dream of quitting. Here is a "puppy backpack", as Jocelyn calls it. But its actually a leash, disguised as something cute, so we can strap it to her back and she can't run away from us in crowded places. She has strapped it to poor Eddie and is saying, "Come on, Eddie! Lets go for a walk!"
"No, no! Eddie, you're not supposed to lay down! Come on! Get up!"

He gives up and thinks to himself, "This is so humiliating." (purr, purrr, purrrrrr)

Baby #3!

It's true. Baby #3 was in a hurry to get here and decided to surprise us all with a sooner-than-expected pregnancy. Although it surprised us, we have gotten over the shock and are excited for another bouncing bundle around the first part of February! I'm 12 weeks right now, and according to babycenter.com, our little one is about the size of lime, measuring about two inches from crown to rump. I'm getting fat faster than ever (yes I am!) and feeling all sorts of pukey.....so we're thinking this is another good, strong pregnancy in full swing! Fun, fun, fun :)

I don't think we have a preference of gender, Rob says he wouldn't mind having just girls, but it'd be fun to have a boy too. Jocelyn, on the other hand, says that (and I quote:) "boys are lame sauce" and is hoping for another sister. Now, she's not particularly chummy with the sister she's got now, so I don't know if she's just thinking she's going to get another shot at getting the kind of sister she expected or what. Ava is oblivious to my pregnancy, being only a babe herself (okay, 16 months is technically "toddler". But whatever. She's still my baby.) And I, like Rob, will love whatever comes our way.

The amazing thing about the whole situation is that I literally got a one week break from being either nursing or pregnant and that one week just happened to be the week I was in Maui without the kids. Did I say amazing? Because really, if I only get one week, Maui is definitely the way to do it! And when I say one week, I literally mean 7 days (okay, maybe 9). I nursed Ava for the last time on the night before I left on my trip, and two days after I got home I got pregnant. I think Heavenly Father knew that if I HAD to be pregnant again so soon, I needed a break from everything before I started in on the next kiddo. Merciful, merciful. Next time I go to Maui, being neither nursing or pregnant, maybe I should just STAY IN MAUI!!!

Just kidding, lime-sized baby. Just kidding. I definitely want you here.
For reals, though. I do.