Reader's Digest: December

:: After some disappointed searching, we found an amazing Christmas tree lot filled with Oregon-grown evergreens. It smelled like heaven and the tree was perfect. We're definitely going back next year.

:: We took Colby to see Frozen, his first in-theater movie. He kept saying, "wow," over and over again, with big eyes. He's now obsessed with the soundtrack and busts a move whenever he hears a song from it.

:: Robb decked our house out in Christmas lights despite great risk to life and limb

And it sure looked pretty (I wish I took a picture when everything was up, but this was all I managed)

 :: The boys treated me to a pedicure since I couldn't reach my feet and then Colby decided my fingernails needed a little work too.

 :: Colby helped me unload the silverware the morning my contractions started

 and by 6:41 that evening Alice joined our family

:: We sent out our first Christmas card, which means we're officially adults now (just in case finishing college, the two kids, and buying a house didn't do it)

:: My mom came on the 13th to help out and by the next weekend my whole family was here for Christmas.

 We played games and finished a puzzle

Ate wonderful food

 Reenacted the Nativity

 Admired the Christmas lights 

(some of us were more alert than others)

And snuggled...oh, how we snuggled

Christmas Eve we opened our traditional Christmas jammies

The next morning I saw Colby's face light up when he spied the tree.

Christmas is such a magical time of year for a two year old

...and a 27 year old

And then they were gone, Robb went back to work, and I got to experience what being the mother of two is really like.

So far I'm loving it.

Alice Danae's Birth Story

::12:53am--I started having moderate contractions that felt better with walking. So for an hour I lumbered in and out of bed every 15 minutes until I took pity on Robb and moved to the couch.

::2:00am-6:00am--My contractions slowly moved from 1 every 15 minutes to every 6...and then to every 30. I was bummed. You'd like to think if you're awake all night with contractions, it would amount to something, but by the time Robb left at 7:00 they were 45 minutes apart.

::6:00am-12:00pm--Colby and I go through a normal morning, albeit with a few pauses every 30-45 minutes or so to walk out another contraction.

::1:00pm-2:45pm-Colby went down for an early nap just as the true contractions started. Pacing no longer worked, so I quickly looked up how to ease back labor on the internet (technology is amazing). Counter pressure and heat helped for awhile (although the next day I noticed bruising on my back from my attempts at counter pressure), but became less effective around 2:00pm.

::2:45pm--I wimped out and called Robb. He had a doctor's appointment at 3:30 and I thought I could hold on until it ended, but at that point I needed moral support and someone to help with Colby when he woke up. The contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes and my OBGYN told me to wait for an hour after that point before going to the hospital...I made it 20 minutes (mainly due to the fact the contractions jumped almost immediately to every 3-4 minutes).

::3:15pm--Robb packed up our things and our friend, Rhianna, came over and took charge of Colby. We got in the car and as we drove I prayed for three things: that I was far enough along that they wouldn't send us home**, that I wouldn't give birth in the car, and that if possible, I'd like to arrive in time to get an epidural.

::4:00pm-5:00pm--My prayers were answered. My contractions slowed to every 8-10 minutes while in the car, my water didn't break, and the nurse who admitted us measured me at 8 cm dilated. We spent a very long time in triage and then walked over to the delivery room.

::5:00pm-5:45pm--I'd taken an at home hypnobirthing course before with Colby and using those skills of deep relaxation was the only thing that kept me together. Eventually in the class you learn to remain in that state of hypnosis while moving around...but I never got to that part and so managed by closing my eyes and blocking everything else out. Our Romanian nurse hooked me up to a bag of D5NS and told me the whole thing needed to empty before I could get the epidural and then kept pestering me with admission questions, which made my feeble attempts at hypnosis difficult (fortunately, she had to leave to care for another patient and a nicer nurse replaced her).

::5:45pm--My friend, the anesthesiologist, came by, sat me in an upright position, and inserted the needle. Meanwhile, I felt an incredibly strong urge to push...and I did. My pain-ridden mind thought I was peeing all over the bed (my water broke) and I kept apologizing over and over for it. The epidural went in and I was checked again for progress--10 cm.

::6:20pm-6:41pm--we waited for the doctor to arrive before pushing and after 20 minutes our beautiful baby girl was born weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 19 inches long.

Alice is beautiful. She has dark eyes that I'm hoping will be hazel, a fair amount of dark hair, and long fingers and toes. When she cries, she looks exactly like Colby and has the small divot in her ears that marks her as a Hays child.

She voluntarily stayed awake for an hour and attempted to sleep the rest of our hospital stay. The nurses had to keep checking her blood sugar because we couldn't get her to stay awake long enough to eat (even when she got her Hepatitis B vaccine, which the nurse told me was painful, she only cried for a minute before zonking off again).

Colby met her the next afternoon. I guess we did a decent job explaining that the bulge in Mama's stomach was a baby because the first thing he did (after giving me a hug) was to point at the bassinet and say, "Alice." Then he smiled.

Our pediatrician gave us permission to leave after the minimum 24 hours, so once we filled out the paperwork and completed some last minute tests, we went home.

Just the four of us.

**I was induced with Colby after my water broke, so the whole going into labor experience was new to me

Twenty-Six

My birthday was low-key and wonderful. Robb came home early to make our weekly OB appointment (the doctor said last week he expected the baby to come in the next 7-10 days and this week he told me there was a 50/50 chance she'd come before my next appointment...I think he's starting to lose confidence) and then after presents, we dropped Colby off at the Halls' and headed out for dinner at Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink.

I love hanging out with him

We had fried stuffed squash blossoms for the first time (yum) and a pizza that was half crimini mushroom (also yum) and half yukon gold potato and pecorino (interesting, but difficult to eat). The building used to be a mortuary that they renovated (lots of gorgeous brick and vaulted window frames) and we'll definitely go again. 

Then we came home, collected my sweet baby boy and downed one third of a cheesecake with some friends in our neighborhood. Perfect evening.

Random bits of November

:: Our friends, the Caltons, offered to watch Colby while Robb and I went to the Mesa Temple. I love the feeling of utter peace I feel there and I'm so grateful we got to squeeze one last trip in before this baby comes.

On the way home we survived our first dust storm (also known as a haboob)

:: My friend, Victoria, and her son come with us on our weekly trips to the library

:: I found a dentist with a posh office and spent my 40 minutes or so check-up watching HGTV on the flat screen mounted above my head and chose "sugar cookie" from the list of holiday inspired flavors for the polish.

:: Does anyone else think this is a bad idea?

:: Colby took this awesome selfie:

:: And entertains himself in the morning while I exercise (by the way, I love him in footie pajamas)

:: Bugs are huge over here

:: Colby no longer goes grocery shopping with me. After an epic tantrum where even the staff at Fry's were feeling bad for me (one tried to give Colby a paper hat and another a balloon), I decided my sanity was too valuable to risk and now Robb and Colby enjoy a little manly bonding time while I do my hunting/gathering.
:: Colby helps weed by attacking the plants with a stick...most of the time he goes after the wrong ones, but it's the thought that counts.

:: I made an amazing pizza.

:: We weaned Colby from his pacifier by snipping little bits off the end for four days until he decided it wasn't worth using anymore.

:: Colby turned two
:: On the 22nd I broke down and wore pants for the first time since moving to Arizona and it rained for TWO straight days. My Oregonian soul was in heaven
:: We also turned our heater on and the air conditioning off

Random Sunday Picture

:: Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was the first time we had it as just our little family and it took six full meals to polish off the leftovers, but it was fun to celebrate it with my two favorite people in our own little house. We are so blessed.

:: And this is how I feel at 39 weeks:

Hopefully Alice will be here soon.

Colby James: 2 Years

Sometimes I just sit and look at Colby, marveling that I got to be a part of creating something so perfect.

:: He's sweet and sensitive  

:: Loves to learn and explore

:: My alarm clock in the morning and bedtime snuggle at night
:: My ever-willing helper
:: And my reminder to find joy in the little things

:: With an easy laugh and his daddy's silly sense of humor

Happy birthday, Colby-boy! We're so grateful you're ours.

To celebrate two wonderful years of Colby we had a very small party with strawberry-cream cupcakes (apparently the icing was highlight) and a load of presents that made his eyes get big with excitement.

And in case my heart wasn't already full with how much I love this boy, the next morning he ran up to me (in his diaper, we were working on getting dressed for the day) and spent the next ten minutes giving me kisses alternating with hugs. Motherhood is amazing.

Colby Update

I can't believe he's almost two.

:: Colby learned how to climb off and onto our bed independently and likes to snuggle up there and lounge with our pillows

:: We upgraded Colby to a toddler bed after we went to bed one night and heard a loud thud come from Colby's room, followed by his door opening, and the soft pat-pat of little feet making their way across the kitchen floor. I struggled during his first night in the new bed. I loved the routine of putting him into his crib and cuddling him when he first got up in the morning. The idea that he was too big to need that anymore got to me. But he isn't. Despite the fact he knows he can get out of bed independently, he waits for us to get him and snuggles are still mandatory.

:: He's my workout buddy

:: And Robb's fellow musician

:: He's obsessed with Thomas the Train (he saw some Thomas underwear at Target and insisted on holding them until check-out)

:: He loves our new park and we try to make it out there before Robb gets home (so he can go with Colby down the slides...Robb made me promise to stop now that I'm so far along).

:: He loves to hang out in the backyard. Unfortunately, there's not much to do there (yet), so we're improvising.

:: He randomly started saying the letters of the alphabet one day, which surprised me because at the time he only knew a handful of words. Now he can say all but 4 letters and identify all of them (I think it's because of the Endless Alphabet game we let him play on my phone because I haven't been pushing this at all) and he loves finding letters in books and on signs.

Here he is reading the tag on his Teddy

:: And suddenly he's started talking and expressing opinions, which is amazing and challenging at the same time. My favorite of his new words: Alice (usually said while patting my belly).

Recap of October

:: It took three weeks to get rid of all the moving boxes and another week to find homes for the random odds and ends I couldn't justify shoving in our closet. Then we moved on to painting. I've never been a huge fan of beige and the previous owners used it, in varying hues, in every. single. room (with the exception of the dining room, which is red). So we went to Lowe's, cleared out their grey paint chip selection, picked a color, painted a sample on the wall, bought 5 gallons, and realized our first wall of Suburban Sunrise was unmistakably blue. So we repeated the same process (minus buying 5 gallons) with three other colors before committing to Filtered Shade. It makes me happy and is 85% exactly the color we want...there may be a slight blue tinge the other 15%, but I've made peace with it.

We're 2/3rds of the way through painting. Once we're completely done I'll post pictures

Colby on one of our many trips to Lowe's

:: Sahuarita Lake: We finally took a walk around the man-made lake (bodies of water don't seem to occur naturally around here) that marks the center of the community. They're in the process of of draining it right now, but it still makes me happy.

:: We found the library! It's small and shares a building with our water company, but it has a great board book section, weekly storytimes for Colby, and an effective system for borrowing books from the larger libraries. I love it.

:: Canadian Thanksgiving:
Usually we celebrate this with my mom's side of the family, but since there's the issue of distance, we invited our friends, the Caltons, over and partied it up with them. Robb and I made a detailed plan of attack:

1:00 - Prep turkey Robb

1:00 - Prep bread pudding Lakin

1:45 - Put turkey in oven Robb

1:45 - Start slow cooker for bread pudding Lakin

1:45 - Start cranberry sauce prep Either

2:00 - Put cranberry sauce in oven Either

3:30 - Start stuffing prep Person 1

3:45 - Start mashed potatoes prep Person 2

4:10 - Put stuffing in oven Person 1

4:45 - Start gravy Lakin

4:45 - Prep veggies Robb

5:00 - Carve turkey Robb

And for our 2nd solo Thanksgiving dinner, I was pretty pleased with how everything turned out. I was also exhausted and hence forgot to take any pictures until the next day (mmm, leftovers).

:: Halloween: Honestly didn't turn out the way I expected it to. We carved pumpkins the Monday before (and cooked some spectacular pumpkin seeds), Colby spent most of the time watching from a distance before coming over to "help" with my pumpkin. By Thursday both pumpkins were rotting, mine was filled with hair-like mold and Robb's looked like an old man with tooth decay. The night of, Robb got dressed while I attempted to get Colby in his costume. He was supposed to be a werewolf. The ears stayed on 30 seconds and he wouldn't let me get anywhere near him with the furry feet covers (thank goodness we bought face paint). We hit up three houses before Colby was done and then we came back and passed out 250 pieces of candy in 2 hours. Robb eventually set up camp next to the door with a football game because there wasn't time to leave the door.

The next day we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat and I managed to throw a costume on this time (I'm a mummy).  I was kind of relieved  the next day when everything was over and we could throw the remains of our decomposing pumpkins away.

:: On a happier note: I love Arizona skies