50th Birthday

My cousin, Travis, and his wife and two kids were staying with my parents on their way up to Idaho and N. Utah for family reunions. They were leaving on my mom's birthday so we had a surprise party for her at the park the day before when they got to town.

The birthday girl.

Crue having fun playing with the kids. Kate, my cousin's daughter (Tamara's), had been kissing Crue and giving him kisses right before I got this picture. It was so cute!

Cute stinker

I realized I sounded like I can't stand Crue in my last post. I figured I'd better say that I absolutely LOVE him, but just like every parent probably understands, he can definitely drive me crazy. I'm sure it's just the terrible two stage, and getting a new baby that I have to be with a lot more instead of being able to play with him. He really is the cutest little boy in the world and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

I had the camera out the other day and he wanted me to take some pictures of him. Here he is with his "big smile" that he has recently started doing when you take a picture of him. He's so cute!!

Here's one more with Crue giving Cooper a kiss (which he LOVES to do).

*I will post pictures soon from when Cooper was born. Things are still just a little crazy around here (it doesn't help that I was planning on cleaning, doing laundry, and getting things ready on Saturday before Cooper was born and instead ended up having him Friday and not getting home until Saturday).

It's only the beginning....

On Wednesday I put Cooper on my bed and went to the bathroom real quick. Crue was playing in the family room by Loni and I didn't think anything of it. All of a sudden I hear both boys crying and remembered that Cooper was on the bed (where I could hear them both crying). I ran into my room and Cooper was now on the floor and Crue was getting up off the floor. Somehow Crue managed to get Cooper on the floor (luckily he was face up but somehow his feet were under the bed) and I think it scared him. Once I picked up Cooper (after screaming "Crue!") and he was ok I handed him to Loni who had also come running in and held Crue for a minute. I think he was just as scared as I was. When I went running in there he was crying and shaking. Poor boy. Luckily they're both ok. Unfortunately, it's only the beginning of more to come I'm sure. Today Cooper was on a bed in another room and I took something in my room and then went back in the room he was in (the rooms are right by each other). Crue was trying to get up on the bed right where Cooper was. He LOVES to kiss Cooper so I'm sure he was either trying to kiss him or wanted to be on the bed so he could hold him. If I hadn't been fast, I'm sure we would have had both boys on the floor again. This is definitely going to be an adventure!

I have to say the hardest part about having a newborn is his 21 month old brother. Crue has gotten into the bad habit of not listening to me when I tell him no or not to do something until I get up to spank him, and then he starts running. I get so frustrated with him and have thrown him in his crib (without his binkie) and slammed his door so many times. He used to be really good. I could ask him to pick up his toys or help me pick up the blocks and he would do it. Now he'll just throw the toys or go start playing with another toy. Anyone have any suggestions? Or is this just a phase every kid goes through and I have to just patiently wait it out? Hopefully it ends soon - I miss my cute little boy that was so good most of the time and so fun to be with!

Hospital Pictures

*Hospital Pictures*

These were taken when he was only a few minutes old. My mom was the only one at the hospital when he was born. Everyone else came Friday after a good night's sleep.



Here's the ones that came that day:

Jared stayed that night obviously but I thought it was a cute father-son picture.

Aunt Kelci

Big Brother Crue

Aunt Loni

Uncle Kyle and Crue

Grandma Little with her two grandsons (they are the first grandkids on my side so you can imagine how spoiled they are:))

Grandpa Peterson

Rachael, Crue, and Grandma Peterson

The story

(Warning! It's long - for journal purposes)

Thursday (June 11) we went to my last doctor's appointment before I was scheduled to be induced on Monday. They did a non-stress test because I was over 41 weeks. The baby's heart rate wasn't doing something they were looking for, possibly because he was sleeping. Dr. Sanders came in after a while to talk to us and showed us on the chart where there was a slight bump in my contraction line (it went under instead of up like a mountain) and said that where that was and with what the baby's heart rate had done right around that point made them worry that my placenta was starting to calcify from being old. If it calcifies, then not as much oxygen will reach the baby and he didn't want us to have a still birth Monday when they start me. My doctor and his office were going on a trip that weekend and he didn't want to have to worry about me all weekend. He asked us to go home and get our stuff, eat (I could only eat a little if I wanted to), makes calls if we needed to, and then head over to the hospital. I also had Jared give me a blessing before we left. We got to the hospital at 9 pm and he was there waiting for us. After getting changed the nurse came in to get my iv going. I had tested positive for Strep B so they had to give me two doses of antibiotics, 4 hours apart. The nurse tried the first time in my right arm. She had to move around a little trying to get the needle to thread. I started getting light headed and finally she pulled it out. I asked her about numbing it first (they had done that with Crue) so she tried on my other arm and numbed it first. She still couldn't get it in. She called for another nurse and then started trying again. The other nurse came in as the one was trying a third spot. She still couldn't get it so the second nurse put heat packs on my arm to try to get my veins to do better. After a while she came back and tried again. She ended up digging around for a while again but luckily this time I was numb. She finally was able to get it in. I now have 3 bruises from the first three tries. I felt bad for the first nurse, Krista, because she felt so bad and was having the hardest time (she said she's been a nurse for 9 years). The cool thing was the second nurse was Natalie, who was my nurse when Crue was born (I think she was new then) and I was in the same delivery room that I had Crue in. The 3rd nurse, Megan (who was my actual nurse - the other two were just helping) started the Pitocin about the time the first bag of antibiotics was empty. I had been having a few contractions that weren't too bad. It was mostly pressure, not pain. I have had them before and they only last that night and then go away. When I got to the hospital (and they started the Pit) I was dilated to a 5. After the Pitocin kicked in my contractions weren't measuring near as strong on the machine but they sure hurt a lot more. I was going to see if I could deliver without an epidural (basically hold off until I couldn't handle it anymore) because we don't have insurance and the one I had with Crue cost about $1000. My first contraction happened around 11:30 pm. After going to the bathroom around midnight I decided I'd better ask for my epidural because my contractions were getting pretty bad. Megan called for the anethesiologist and I was now doing what I could to make it through the contractions. After a little while I wasn't getting a break between contractions. I could feel the pain in my pelvic area still (a lot of it would go away but not all of it) and knew that another one was about to hit. I asked about the anethesiologist and she told me that he was on his way (she went and checked one of the times). She turned the Pitocin down since I was not getting a break. Shortly after that I felt like I needed to push a little with the contractions. I told Megan and she checked me. I was at a 7. That was when she went to check on the anethesiologist so I could get an epidural before I got to an 8. She turned the Pitocin off at that point. I think she recorded it and walked out. All of a sudden I really felt like pushing and started saying it - loud enough that the nurses could hear. Krista came in (it had been maybe 10 seconds since Megan had left) to check me and I told her Megan just barely checked me and I was a 7. She started to check me while my contraction was about over and I told her I was getting another one. She pulled her hand away and all of a sudden my water breaks. The baby is now crowning and I am unable to stop my body from pushing. She yells for Megan and all three of them are back in the room. They call my doctor (who was at home at the other end of town) and the respitory therapist and are doing everything they can to help me. They had me roll on my left side and for the first time I would feel a break between my contractions. Natalie was by my head talking me through it (like last time), Krista (I think) was holding the baby in until the doctor got there, and Megan was getting other things ready. I heard someone in the hall ask if we needed the anethesiologist and I jokingly said that he was too slow (I think they thought I was mad at him because I couldn't joke very well while in pain). I had gone from a 7 to water breaking, crowning and pushing in 30-45 seconds (not exaggerating). Doctor Sanders called and said he was in the parking lot so they rolled me on my back and he came running in. After about 3 good pushes, the baby came out. It was 12:51 am. I had been in labor for about an hour and a half. They didn't have time to get the bed apart or anything. It was crazy. It was so good though. I would definitely do it again without an epidural if it went that fast or faster. It was a lot of pain but I made it through, and I healed a lot faster. Two hours later I was able to walk over to the recovery room. Later Jared and I were talking about it and Heavenly Father was definitely there helping me. I went really fast which was good considering I didn't have an epidural. Cooper was a lot smaller than Crue (1 lb. 1 oz. smaller) and had a much smaller head, which was good since Crue had gotten stuck on my tailbone. When my water broke, Cooper's head was already past my tailbone so I didn't have to worry about him getting stuck. I think the fluid helped him over my tailbone. With his head being a lot smaller and him just being smaller overall, I didn't tear which was really nice. The doctor told me I just had some scratches. I was especially glad about that since I wasn't numb and was worried about stitches. Also, since we were worried about money, it was sure nice to know that the anethesiologist didn't get there in time so we won't have that expense. It was a really great experience and I'm so grateful for how everything went and for Heavenly Father's help through it all. There were so many times I didn't think I could do it, even though I really had no choice. And most of all I'm grateful for Jared. I felt so bad for how hard I was squeezing his hand but he said it was ok. After Cooper came out Jared was crying and Doctor Sanders asked if dad wanted to cut the cord. He said "If I can see through the tears!". Later he told me he had started crying because of how much pain I was in (I was yelling to get him out of me) and then they were tears of joy when he saw Cooper born. I have the most amazing husband, even though he doesn't believe me. I love seeing him be a dad to our boys. It makes me fall that much more in love with him when I see him playing with Crue or when he's holding Cooper. I love him so much! Plus, he gave us some really, really cute boys. :)

He's here!

I'll post the story later when I have some more time but I just wanted to say that he's here and we're all doing great. Crue has been having a blast hanging out with my parents and my sister (getting spoiled I'm sure) while we've been in the hospital. We just got home today. Here's a picture for you of Cooper and one of our family at the hospital.

Cooper West Peterson

June 12, 2009 12:58 am
8 lbs 5 oz 20.5 inches

Mean doctor

So my doctor isn't really mean. In fact, we really like going to him (yes, I make Jared go with me to all the pregnancy appointments). Yesterday I had another appointment and he asked about stripping my membranes. We were planning on asking him to do it so we said yes. I remember being scared to do it with Crue because almost everyone said it hurt so bad but it didn't really hurt and I was fine afterward (once I got some water). This time though, holy cow it was not so good! It didn't hurt really bad, like say a bad cut would, but it was sure some really uncomfortable pain!! Jared told me after that I did really good and I told him I held my breath through a lot of it because it was not fun. Then my doctor had me stick around and do a non-stress test and get an ultrasound to make sure there was enough fluid. He usually starts that at 41 weeks (which I am today) and you have to do it twice a week. So I'm scheduled to go back Thursday. I probably won't post about that appointment because there's not much to post anymore, especially since I just went yesterday. When the girl was doing the ultrasound she was using the small machine that can go from room to room instead of the nice one that they can project on the wall (that they use for the other ultrasounds) and the computer was turned just enough so I couldn't see it but I think Jared could. She asked if we knew what we were having and I said a boy. She said he was really showing it off. It was pretty funny. So look forward to the next post being about the baby getting here!

You might be a redneck if....

....you mow your lawn and find a vehicle. So I guess even though we didn't really mow our lawn but do have weeds like crazy and a torn apart vehicle in our yard, we must be rednecks. :)
My uncle took what he wanted off their suburban and then gave it to Jared so he could use parts off of it for his '86 Blazer he's been working on for rock crawling. He got the Blazer for really cheap and it's not the best condition so he's not worried about dinging it or scratching the paint or anything while he's four-wheeling/rock crawling. Plus the wheels and tires could be sold for more than he paid for the Blazer so that was worth it right there! Jared has sold some of the stuff off the suburban that he doesn't need and has already made more than it cost him to get it here so that's been good. He has gotten a lot off the suburban for his Blazer and that has been a great help. If Jared can just sell the tires and wheels off the Blazer (know anyone that wants them?) then he can buy the tires and wheels he wants/needs and then get those, the ball joints, steering linkage, and park brake all on/fixed then it will be street legal and good to go for rock crawling. He has to sell the tires and wheels because they're six lugs and he's putting different axles on that are eight lugs. I'm so glad it's almost done so we can take it out and have some fun in it now that it's warmer (it's hard to go in the snow).

By the way, my uncle is an awesome artist. He takes car parts and driftwood and turns them into amazing things. You can check out his blog here and see all the things he's made. (It's also listed in my blog lists under Tim Little's Fine Art.) If you're in Salt Lake I think he's got stuff in shows there and I know there's something about posts downtown that artists get to put stuff on top of and he was one of the ones selected so you can see them there. The shows he has stuff in is listed on his blog. If any of you have parts he can have, let me know. He's always looking for stuff from engines.

Sprouts!

Yes, we have sprouts! It's amazing! We are so excited. Everything has some sprouts except for the potatoes and two more rows of corn that we planted on Monday. We also got my tomatoes planted but they are plants, not seeds, so of course they're the biggest things out there. We've only had two of the circles with sprouts so hopefully the others are just taking their time. The ones that have sprouted are Montana Jack (a pumpkin) and another pumpkin that are supposed to be the big competition size ones. I'm excited. Here's some pictures of our sprouts. This first one shows most of the stuff that's in the rows. You can't see all of the sprouts because some are little but from the very top of the picture to where I'm standing there are carrots, yellow onions, green onions, beans, and then peas.

These are the beans and peas.

And here's the corn! I'm so excited for corn. I LOVE fresh corn. And I'm really excited to be able to bottle a lot of this so that we can have it all year long (and have some good food storage).

This is the Montana Jack - it was the first in the circles to sprout.
These are the large competition size pumpkins.

I'll post more pictures once we start getting veggies. One of the tomato plants has a little tomato growing on it so I'm excited for that. We have 5 Big Beef tomatoes (I think that's what they're called) and 2 Sun tomatoes (one of those has the tomato growing) and 7 grape tomatoes. Crue LOVES grape tomatoes so I figured it would be better to plant them ourselves and he can have them to eat whenever he wants instead of spending tons of money on the ones at the store.

Haircuts

Both Jared and Crue have been in need of a haircut. I cut Jared's all the time so that was no big deal. My sister-in-law, Molly, cut Crue's hair last time and showed me what to do so I could do it. I've tried a couple of times when he was younger but it was hard and I didn't know what to do - I've watched Jared's mom cut his hair so I knew what to do when I started cutting his. We hoped that if Crue watched Jared get his hair cut and then had Jared hold him, he might do good. It definitely helped but after a while he was ready to be done. I got it done and it looked pretty good. I was impressed. :) I took a picture and he loved smiling for me. It was so cute. Here's my little boy with his new hair cut. There was sure a lot of hair to cut off!

Another doctor visit...

I'm still a good 3 1/2 and he said my cervix is really good. He was really surprised at how patient I am - he's got some women that are ready to beat him if he doesn't get the baby out of them, especially if they go past their due date! He told Jared he has a really patient wife and it was even better when Jared said the same thing later. I have another appointment Monday night and we're thinking we'll probably ask him to strip my membranes then. It didn't work with Crue but we're hoping it'll work this time.