West

Our little guy finally arrived! He was born on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 12:10 a.m. He was 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We are so happy to finally have him here!

I had been having contractions since last Friday. I actually stopped at the hospital the Friday before on my way home from work because my contractions were regular (3-4 minutes apart), but not very intense. The nurse told me that I should go home and lie down and they would go away. Which they did. For awhile.

On Tuesday, I had an emotional breakdown! I was crying over everything! I think my hormones were out of control. Then the following Wednesday I was supposed to go to work (my last day) but I did NOT feel good. I called in and said I wouldn't be there. I had a doctor appointment that day anyway, so we made an appointment for induction on Friday, November 19. It seemed like an eternity away, but at least there was an end in sight! The contractions were continuous, but not too intense at this point.

On Thursday morning around 4:00 a.m. I started keeping track of the contractions. Shawn had to go to Salt Lake not only for work, but also to take his grandparents to the airport. I figured I'd be fine for awhile, but around 6:00 a.m. I called him and told him he'd better come home! I did NOT feel good, the contractions were regular, and I really felt like I should go to the hospital. I called my mom and asked if the kids could come over, and we headed for the hospital around 7:30 a.m. For some reason, Shawn decided to take a very odd route to the hospital. We were in a residential area and got pulled over by a cop for speeding and not having our license/registration. It was so weird, like you see in the movies with the wife in labor and speeding to get the hospital! The cop said he didn't want to deliver a baby so he let us go without a ticket.

I checked in to the hospital, was asked like five billion questions, and was hooked up to the contraction machine. They were regular, and I was at a "4." Things were moving along nicely, I thought! But, not everyone thought the same way because the doctor said that things needed to be moving along faster or I would need to go home. So the nurses told me to walk around for 45 MINUTES. Ugh. I walked laps around the labor/delivery for that long with no real problem, just occasional pains. When I went back to the evil nurses, I hadn't progressed much so they told me that I needed to come back later. I was upset because how could I be having painful contractions and be told to go home!?! I was so mad. I wanted this baby out. Shawn tried to cheer me up so we went to a craft fair and then had lunch at Union Grill to kill time. Then I went home and laid there. There was no way I was going to walk more, I was a sight because my tummy was huge!! I did not look like I was in any condition to be walking!

Around 5:00 p.m. I couldn't stand it anymore; I was in a lot of pain. I called the hospital and asked if I could take anything for the pain because I was miserable. The nurse told me that if I was in that much pain, I should probably come in. So, we again loaded up the kids to take them to my mom's and hauled down to the hospital. Little did I know that my poor brother-in-law was sick as a dog, lying down on the bathroom floor because he couldn't move!! I felt so bad dropping them off there but I was ready to be lying down on the bathroom floor myself.

When we got to the hospital I was having a hard time talking between contractions. I was at a "5" so the nurse again called the doctor. The doctor told her, "If she (me) is not at a 5, I am holding you personally responsible." What?! I guess he was concerned because I was only 38 weeks and so I couldn't be induced or helped along in my labor in any way. You have to be at least 39 weeks for any artificial "help." The other nurse confirmed that I was a "5, almost 6" so they got the okay to take me back and schedule my epidural. I could not wait for that epidural! Yes, it's painful to have it but it is NOTHING compared to the pain of the contractions! I have no idea how people give birth without drugs. I think I would pass out.

Anyway, things started moving along after the epidural! I was kind of shaky and cold, so I had to keep my eyes closed and just rest so I didn't throw up or anything. But it beat having contractions! I laid there while Shawn and his mom watched Top Gun on TV. It was so nice to just be able to listen to the movie instead of be concerned about when the pain was going to begin again.

I was kind of hoping the baby would be born at 11:11 p.m. on 11/11 but I was too slow. After I was fully dialated I only had to push four times and then the baby popped out! It was so awesome. It is the craziest thing to witness a human life come into the world. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I could tell he was small; he looked teeny to me! He felt so huge in my stomach but he was just teeny. I was so happy he was finally here! So was Shawn, he was just beaming. The baby was wide, wide awake and only cried for a second! He was just looking around at everything! I can't imagine what a weird feeling it must've been for him!

Shawn decided to name the baby West Dale Redd -- West is his great, grandfather's middle name (Hugh West Jacob) and Dale is my dad's and grandpa's first name (Dale Bradford Warburton; Dale LeRoy Warburton). I think it's a good name -- not common, but not weirdly unique. Just right!

West has been a good baby so far -- he wakes up about every three and a half hours to eat. When he was first born, he always had this mad face with his eyebrows together. He's sort of stopping the mad face now. He's also starting to open his eyes more and more. I love when he's half-asleep, half-awake and gives little smiles and other facial expressions! We think he's adorable.

The kids have loved having the baby around, although the other day Chance told me the baby was boring. Maybe I should start waking him up to see how exciting the baby is in the middle of the night! We are calling Hannah "Little Mama" because she is my right-hand gal. She loves helping me take care of the baby. I put her in charge of the baby monitor so she stares very intently at it to see if West is moving in any way! It is so cute.

I am so grateful to have such a healthy baby. I wish I knew why we have been blessed with three healthy babies, it is so humbling to think about. I am trying to get used to the schedule but no matter how tired or upset or emotional I get, I always try to remember how lucky I am to have this baby in our lives. He has been a blessing to all of us and we love him to death!!

A failure as a mother...

Really, how did 2 of 2 become BYU fans? I am doing something wrong.

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATIONS

Courtnie had a fun party at her house for Family Home Evening on the Monday before Halloween. She had the table decorated SO CUTE and of course, my camera was in the car. By the time I got it out, the table was destroyed! (In a good way! The kids had a blast with it!) But she had dry ice, spiderwebs, these freaky looking goblets with gummy worms - it was SO cute and the kids thought it was sooo cool! We carved pumpkins and the kids played Bingo. We'll have to make it a tradition, it was really fun! (of course I can say that, it wasn't my house that was hit by a hurricane of pumpkin guts and everything else Halloween!!)

I was cleaning off the top of the fridge and found this fake money that I had bought for some random reason. I wanted to do something with it for my pumpkin for the neighborhood pumpkin contest this year. Shawn and I started talking, and don't ask me how, but Shawn came up with the idea of President Obama stealing money out of a working man's pants. Here's how it turned out:

Oh yeah, first place baby!! Yet again!!

Other Random Happenings

Chance had a Toys-R-Us gift card and birthday money that he was DYING to spend, so I decided to be "fun mom" for once instead of "mean pregnant mom" and take the kids down to Layton. After wandering around that store for what seemed like FOREVER (hoping it would put me into labor! no such luck...) Chance decided to buy the game Mind Flex. Supposedly you can move these little foam balls around an obstacle course by using only your mind. Ooooh, eerie, I know. I made SURE we could return the game in case it didn't work. I just had a feeling that it was going to be a piece of $80.00 junk. Anyway, we took it home and played it for Family Home Evening the next Monday. It really worked!! You have to concentrate but somehow that freaky ball moves around the obstacle course! You have to try it to believe it. It was so funny to watch everyone concentrating so hard. Shawn had a dream that night that he was moving cement panels out of our backyard by using only his mind. We all think we have the "Force" now. Is this a look of determination on Shawn's face or what!?

If you look carefully, you can see the ball in the air - a little fan blows it up in the air and then you can change its direction with your "mind." I have no idea how it works.

I also wanted to post what Miss Hannah has been doing lately. Since the school year has started, she has been taking piano lessons from Bravo Arts Academy in Washington Terrace. She is going to a class called "piano team", which means there are 4-5 kids in her class that all take the lessons together. She really likes it, but I think this is going to be her last month down there. The piano method they use down there is... weird. To me. I think I'll just try to teach her at home for awhile and then put her in with a different teacher in a year or so. I guess I'm a piano snob. I had such an AWESOME teacher (my mommy) who actually taught me my notes rather than simply "where to put my hands." I want Hannah to learn the same way. I just hope I'll have time to focus on her piano with the new baby. I really want her to learn.

Hannah has also been taking tumbling at The Edge in Pleasant View. She LOVES it. She was so proud of herself to be able to do a backbend all by herself, and she is now working on her cartwheel. I can tell she's getting stronger and more confident. I figure if she starts young enough, maybe she'll not be scared to do back-handsprings like her mother was! I always HATED doing anything that made me go backwards. Hopefully Hannah will be a little braver.

The Cabin

We took a quick trip up to the cabin over Fall Break. Shawn went up on Thursday to go fishing with Brett, and the kids and I (and Rags) drove up the next day. Chance was invited to go with Brett and Shawn, but he is still traumatized from the last time those two took him fishing - he about froze to death!! It was such a pretty drive to Star Valley- I love driving to the cabin during the fall in the daytime. I did not take as many pictures as I should have, but I just had to grab a picture of Hannah with her slingshot sitting on the four-wheeler. "The boy we never had" as Shawn calls her. At the cabin, Laura taught Courtnie and I how to crochet and use knitting looms. It was fun! We made beanie hats and scarves. Then we took a trip to the Afton fabric store to buy some more yarn and check out the fabrics. I'M GETTING OLD!! While we were at the store, Shawn took the kids to Lance's pond for some fishing. I showed up just in time to grab a picture. The fish were jumping like crazy, and they are good sized! We took our trailer to the cabin as we have been doing for a few years now. It is nice to have our own space, plus to give everyone else more space within the cabin. Our family is getting too big for it, but it is so much fun to go! The kids put on a circus and another play for all of us. This is what I mean by not taking as many pictures as I should have! I have no pictures of it, but it was pretty cute. Everything seems to be extra fun when it happens at the cabin! Even cutting wood - I took this picture of Shawn so he could show his Crossfit buddies that he was a lumberjack Crossfitter.