Elliot's Blessing

My great grandfather, James E. Harvey, was born in 1886. His mother hand crocheted a Christening gown for him by candle light in a dug out in Iowa. The christening gown was put into storage until my mother had her first baby and the gown was given to her. My grandmother helped my mom replace the damaged material in the exact replica of the original gown, saving all the original lace. This christening gown was then used to bless everyone of my siblings including my brother Heath. It is now a cherished family tradition. All but one of my neices and nephews were also blessed in the dress. Many of my cousin's and their children have also been blessed in it.

The christening gown is now 126 years old and has a lot of history to it. Many people initially question why a boy is wearing a dress to be blessed but it is such a fun family tradition that I hope Elliot will one day feel honored to have been a part of.

This is 3 generations, Elliot, Jed, his mother and grandfather.

I love the under slip almost more than the actual dress itself! The lace is so beautiful!

I was so worried for years watching my sister's bless their children in the dress...I got really possessive of the dress and wanted them to change their babies out of it the SECOND they were done being blessed...because I wanted to make sure that my children had the opportunity to be blessed in it.

Now I feel really bad because it was so fun to see Elliot in it that I wish I wouldn't have been so critical of them and I would have let them have their moment in the dress...Sorry you guys, especially Hilary!
Above Elliot is sitting in a little rocking chair that my grandmother gave me. It was her oldest sister's rocking chair who passed away as a young child. It is great to see Elliot surrounded by family history!
Jed was so great with Elliot and did a great job blessing him. I am very grateful to have a husband that has the priesthood, and he was able to perform that ordinance.

Trip to Utah

Things have been so busy around here that I haven't had time to blog! So for documentation purposes I will be doing three blogs posts tonight and I hope you go back and read all of them and get caught up!

Jed and I decided before Elliot was born that we would go home to Utah to introduce Elliot to the family and to bless him there. The trip was so great! It was so fun to see family and to see how excited everyone was to meet Elliot. Everyone was so excited to see him and hold him, he was spoiled rotten.

Aunt Hilary who particularly loves to spoil Elliot by sending him all sorts of fun blankets, outfits, hats and someday I really hope when he is 13 that she will send him a pink bunny outfit for christmas...which I will make him wear!

This is Elliot and his oldest cousin on the 'Hayward' side Jewell...she was so excited to see him she schedule two weeks in advance a time so she didn't have to fight anyone to hold him.

But the greatest part of all was just being home.
I love home...there is nothing more true that the phrase "There's no place like home"....I love the above picture, I love my mom's kitchen--the smell of the well water, looking out the window across the pastor of young lambs running, the sounds...I love it too much and I get really home sick when I think about it.

Below is mix of my two favorite things my mom in her kitchen! I love my mom she is the sweetest lady I know...and the best grandma! She was so great when she was able to come up here and help when Elliot was born.

above...a brand new baby lamb was born while we were there and it was fun to go out to the barn and see it, my parents still had my old rubber boots. In high school I spent a lot of time with the sheep and a lot of time in those boots, so much that I actually started to wear them out! Those are great memories! My dream is to again live on a small farm, but rather than sheep I want Alpacas!

Jed is such a good dad...here he is giving Elliot a bath at my mom's house.

While we were there Elliot really mastered his smile! He had a lot of people to show off to so he had a lot of opportunities to practice.
Above is Aunt Heather and my mom...you can see how happy and proud my mom looks!

Below is Jed's mom...she was soooo excited to see Elliot! She hasn't had a grand baby for almost 12 years! She was so cute with Elliot and loved spending time with him, she even got to baby sit him while we went to my big movie premiere!

There is nothing like proud grandparents

We had such a good time and there were many family members and pictures taken, but I can't post them all...so check them out on Facebook!

Tagged

My friend Nicole tagged me in her blog last week. She asked me some of these questions and it was fun to think about these this week...so here are the questions:

What is your favorite book and why?
I have never been a big reader, in fact I didn't really learn how to read until I was in sixth grade when my neighbor made me read out loud to her on the bus everyday. She finally caught my attention by having me read some young adult LDS novels. Since then I have read a lot of different books but I still have fond memories of one of the first books I ever read, it was by Anita Stanfield called "First Love & Forever". It's horribly cheesy and I like to make fun of it a little bit but it's about a BYU student who had the choice to marry a handsome rich Australian, but who wasn't a member of the church...or a return missionary. She choose the RM, and after ten years of marriage was so unhappy and questioned whether she made the right decision, then the handsome Australian re-enters her life. It is a gripping story!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In ten years...that is crazy, I saw on my friend Courtney's blog when she answered it saying we would be almost 40 and I'll have a ten year old! I am hoping that in ten years, we have finally finished our degrees and we are in careers that we enjoy. I would like to have a few more kids, own a home or have a reasonable interest rate on our mortgage, with a garage or shop for Jed and a little craft/sewing room for me. I see myself doing the same routine, church, mutual (or whatever the new calling is) boy scouts, then family activities camping and hiking...but it will be more fun with a child who is old enough to enjoy some of these outdoors activities.

Where is your favorite restaurant and what do you order there?

I think I have a few favorites, but my favorite in Utah is Barry's the little hamburger place in Spanish Fork, I always get the deluxe cheese burger with a dr. pepper. I love their white sauce! In Alaska my favorite is Bear's Tooth and their ooooh sooo delicious nachos! I love them! in fact I wish I could have some right now!

What was your first childhood memory?
I think my first memory was when my mom got pulled over in our big green van. I remember crying really hard and being in the car seat. I can't really expand much on that memory because that is basically all I remember, I think I was scared of the police officer and me crying was making my mom stressed out. I had to have been really small to have been in the car seat maybe 2 or 3 years old. LOL I also remember one time playing in the garage with my siblings and they had me on top of the chest freezer and I had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't get down from the freezer so I went in my pants...I think I was still being potty trained but my older sister got mad at me because it was really messy and she had to clean me up.

What is the most daring thing you have ever done or what are you the most proud of accomplishing?
This one is easy! It was when I finally made the decision to move to Alaska for a boy, with the hope that we'd actually get married. That was the scariest thing I think I've done. I packed everything in my little car and picked up my friend Becky, we drove for 5 days and on the fifth day we got to Tok, and I freaked out so rather than driving to Anchorage...we detoured and drove to Fairbanks. Once we got to Fairbanks I puked in the Fred Meyers parking lot because I was so nervous. I finally made it to Anchorage and was more calm about my decision, until we had to take Becky to the airport. We helped her get checked in and walked her to the security area and said our goodbyes and cried. I watched her walk away and then Jed and I walked out holding hands I realized that he was all I had, I had moved away from everything I had know, family, friends, my hometown, my college...I gave up everything just to date Jed. Good thing we got married! It has been the best decision I've made and it's helped me grow so much.

My List

Before I had Elliot I was worried about what I would do during my Maternity leave. I thought that it was going to be a long 8 weeks before returning to work, so I started a mental list of things that I could do to keep me busy while I was stuck at home. That list included:

• Make a quilt for Elliot
  
• Edit all our home videos with iMovie and post them on YouTube for the family to see
  
• Go to the Apple store for some One:One training on how to use iMovie
• Blog
• Get caught up on my DVR recordings
• Rent all the cheesy chick flicks, and Disney movies that Jed would endure watching with me but would not enjoy...so I thought I could get them out of the way while he was at work.
• Finish some other craft projects that have been lingering for longer than two years.
  
• Take naps
• work out and get my rockin' body back ;)
  
• Read a book
  
• Re-pot one of my house plants
  
• Have the house clean and dinner ready when Jed got home from work

Guess how many of those things I've been able to do in the last six weeks? Well, I have a quilt top done for Elliot, but that is because my mom helped me with the hard parts while she was here. I've been able to read 1.5 books, which is kind of a big deal since I am usually in school and I don't have time to read anything (really I just don't want to because I am too tired). Taking a nap hasn't happened, because by the time I get the laundry changed and eat breakfast/lunch/dinner Elliot is ready to eat again. My DVR keeps backing up and I haven't rented any movies yet...you have to leave the house to rent a movie, except with netflix, but I keep forgetting to update our Que to add all those cheesy movies. As far as having the house clean and dinner ready for Jed when he gets home...I think it is an unrealistic goal and it probably won't ever happen.

After a few weeks off this is my realistic To Do list:

• Feed Elliot
• Eat Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner & snacks in between
• Remember to get a glass of water, my phone, the iPad/book, and TV remote before sitting down to feed Elliot ---because once I am down I am pretty much grounded and it can be really boring staring at the wall while he is chowing down.
• Brush my teeth---at one time I had the high expectation to shower everyday...but that was too much. I may actually be able to reapproach that goal now that Elliot and I have got a better routine.
• change out of my bathrobe---even if it is just into yoga pants
• Then if any time is left over I can reapproach my previous list of things to do.

So that is why I have been away, which I am sure I don't need to explain, most of you reading this have gone through this stage of life and probably even tried to warn me about it...but we all have to learn our own way.

Elliot is growing everyday! I don't know how big he is but I know he is out grown 90% of his newborn clothes. That is sad to see those little outfits be put away, I don't want him to grow up but at the same time I want him to grow up more than anything...no offense but newborns are kind of boring, Elliot is not much of a conversationalist. He is however, very alert and always wide eyed and watching me. He wants to see everything and I can see his little eyes watching and learning new things everyday.

As busy as things have been Jed and I have been able to get out a little bit and go on some hikes with Elliot which was fun. Elliot was really good he didn't fuss and he seemed to stay really warm ( I would assume he would cry if he was uncomfortable, right?)

I love this picture of Jed & Elliot on our hike on Flat Top, the sun makes it look like we are summiting the mountain but in reality we are not even close...and the sun is setting on us because we (rather I) was too slow.

This could be argued that it is a picture of a gassy baby, but he was smiling and I am claiming this as his first Captured Smile!

My Baby

It has been a very busy month! But can you believe it? It is already been 4 weeks. My little Paco is growing so much, he is starting to get little chubby rolls on his thighs and his arms. He is almost out of the newborn diapers and the newborn clothes are getting a little snug on him. He is overall such a good baby, he doesn't fuss too much---and now that I've figured out the breastfeeding thing I'm doing much better...and he is putting on the pounds. He is very wide eyed and awake most of the day and night. He usually just wants to sit up and look around...he will fight to stay awake, I don't think he wants to miss anything.
My mom came on the 26th to help and she has been such a huge help! She is so helpful and as a Newborn ICU nurse she had all sorts of tricks. She taught him how to take a Binky, which right now I am very glad he takes one but if he becomes dependent on it I know who to blame. Not only has she been very helpful with things around the house and with Paco, it has been so nice to have her here and to spend time with her.

She is in the bedroom right now packing her bags to go home.
I am really really going to miss her.

I know she is ready to go home but I am sad to see her leave...I miss my family.

Not only do I miss my family but tomorrow will be the first day that I am left alone. I am not so much scared of being left alone to take care of the baby I think I have that taken care of...I am sad to be alone.
I was putting left overs away after dinner tonight and thinking to myself, I will have to eat lunch alone tomorrow and it made me really sad...I think I will be very ready to go back to work just to have some social interaction.

Paco and his daddy...aren't they adorable? ;)

Our Birth Story

This was our plan...Jed started his vacation time December 8th, he wanted a few days to get things done and I had a final on the 10th...so we planned to finish my final on the 10th and then go to my work Christmas party so I could dance like crazy and we hoped that would induce labor so Jed didn't have to waste all of his vacation time at home alone...

To our surprise it actually worked!

Sunday morning I started having contractions, they continued to get closer together and finally that night at 11:30pm we decided to go into the hospital to get checked. I wasn't in such a hurry, the contractions were uncomfortable but not severe, I just didn't want to be one of those women that wait too long then are holding the baby's head in while they rush to the maternity ward. When we checked in I was only dilated to a 2, in an hour I progressed to a 3 so they kept us for a few more hours to see if I would go any further. They had me walk for a couple hours and I wasn't prepared for that and only had my big snow boots on, it wasn't very comfortable--and it led to nothing they release us around 4am. I continued to have contractions but they seemed to calm down. Monday Jed and I decided we needed to go walk and run some errands. We walked Costco for more than 2 hours, got some Christmas shopping done. The contractions didn't stop but slowed down. I figured nothing would happen and it would stop and in a few weeks I would actually go into labor.

So that night I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke...but I wasn't totally convinced that it broke so I tried to go back to bed for a while. I let Jed sleep for a few hours and then woke him up and calmly said "hey babe, my water broke"---I've decided those word make men panic...Jed didn't exactly panic but was wide awake and ready to go in a matter of minutes.
Getting to the hospital and getting checked in was a little easier than the previous night, because my water broke I had the golden ticket. But things didn't go much faster after that, they made us walk for hours I walked the halls at Providence hospital...until the pain got to be severe enough that I didn't want to be out having people watch me.

By the way

Labor is painful!

I started to get really weepy and cried really hard a few times. Poor Jed didn't know what to do but was really supportive and tried to help.

After ten hours of walking and active labor I had only dilated to a 6 and they said they were going to have to give me Pitocin...that is when I decided I needed something for the pain. They suggested taking something to take the edge off, I should have just asked for the epidural but I took the medication and instantly it completely knocked me out. I was so loopy and it didn't help with the pain, it made me feel sick and I started to hallucinate the room had changed into a gingerbread house/land with royal icing and peppermint swirl fields...It was not good!-- and still it didn't help the pain.
I cried and begged for the epidural after only a few minutes. Just when I thought I couldn't do it any longer the anesthesiologist walked through the door.

I love him & the Epidural!

Unfortunately because I took that pain medication it made me & baby's heart rate drop really low, they had to stop the pitocin and give me oxygen. They scared us by saying that I may have to have a c-section if it continued. But as that other med started wearing off, our heart rates went back up. Once I was dilated to a 10 I pushed for an hour
&
Elliot Thomas Jones
made his appearance.

Child birth is nothing like anyone tells you...it was so surreal. We were pretty relaxed, we had casual conversation in between contractions and pushing...it was weird

....Child birth is just weird.

Jed didn't plan on watching it, but I really don't know how you can avoid seeing it, I was worried that he was going to get all wigged out or sick but he was awesome and said it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

First moments with Elliot
Jed got to cut the cord and help give him the first bath. Elliot did not like having his hair washed at all!
The nurse above was one of Jed's friends--they worked together several years ago. I met her for the first time when we were admitted...then we got to know each other very very well in a short period of time. Closer than any of my other friends have ever seen me! She was very nice and I think helped Jed relax. She said that if he passed out she would make fun of him for the rest of his life.

Elliot cried the first night non-stop and we were all exhausted...the mother baby unit at Providence was not that great. The nurse didn't introduce herself, and after we called for help she didn't come for an hour or longer...by that time I was in tears and so exhausted I couldn't stand it. They took him to the nursery which we didn't even know was an option...but isn't that the point of being in the hospital (besides the whole observation of our health and stuff) but to get a good rest before going home. We got to sleep for three hours and it made a huge difference.
His feet seem so big and long to me, I guess in comparison to his body...they still look really small in this photo.

Our first family photo.

Since being home things have gotten much better. He is doing well (for the most part) with breast feeding. It is so nice to have Jed around! Jed has been so helpful and it's great bonding time for them. Jed doesn't have to go back to work until the 2nd of January we are so glad he is around, because we would probably go insane.




Well stay tuned because there will be lots of updates about our little Paco!

37 Week Update

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. It was my 37 week check up... Today I am 38 weeks and celebrating that I am almost done with this pregnancy. Things are looking really good I am 1.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I did find out that I tested positive for the group b strep... so I will have to get an antibiotic while I am in labor and there may be a chance that they will keep me and paco an extra 24 hours to make sure that he doesn't get. I am feeling pretty good, really busy though.

This past week was a crazy week for us, I had a bunch of homework to finish up early this week. I did some Christmas shopping and wrapped presents. One of my co-workers passed away unexpectedly last week, she fell through some ice and got caught in the current was trapped under the ice. It was really sad and unexpected, so it has been a hard week at work for many of us. I went to her service on Wednesday, which was really interesting because it was a Buddist service, they did a lot of chanting and burning incents...it was cool to be a part of. And Paco loves chanting, he must be a little budha because in my yoga class he is very active when we chant. Then we also went to a charity event that Jed's job was hosting for the Make a Wish Foundation. Last night I finished up the last of my homework, and I am just getting ready to go take my last final. So after I take this final I am going to start walking ALOT. I also have my work Holiday party tonight so there will be lots of dancing....I want this baby to come early enough that Jed can be around to help, and since he is now on 3 weeks of vaction before the New Year....I am ready!