My baby is getting so big!

Connor Scott Tyrrel

December 1st 2009

6:15 p.m.

7 lbs 4 0z 19 1/2 inches long

Perfect in every way!

Connor Scott Tyrrel

December 1st 2011:

Sleeps in until almost 9 a.m.

Has eggs, cereal, clementine and animal crackers for breakfast

Has successfully kept mommy running since he got out of his high chair- currently begging me to peel yet another clementine.

Plays in toilets, gets into his aunts rooms to play with their stuff, sneaks behind the coffee table to have his private poop time.

Big brother for 6 1/2 weeks- the best little helper mommy could ask for!

Gives brother his binky when mommy is busy, throws away diapers, brings mommy whatever she asks for, (had to just take a break to peel the clementine) and lights up whenever Parker is in the room! He gives him sweet kisses and loves, and has never once been mean to Parker. He adores him and is the perfect big brother!

Connor is a little smarty pants and I wouldn't even be able to post all the words he says. He has a book that has 100 words in it, things like different foods, activities, cars, etc. He can say just about every word! And his aunt Desi has him saying words like boobies and "botha" which is her signature word...it means "bother" haha. He copies just about everything we say and do! He loves to turn "bights" on and off, and will get his step stool so he can reach the light switches to turn them back on when he's turned them off.

He loves Thomas the Train and calls it "Toot Too-eht" He says certain words so cute! When it ends in an ooo sound he seems to add an ehhh. Like Juice is Jooo-ehs. It cracks us up and my mom loves to hear him say Toot Too-eht! Even though we go crazy hearing him say it at least 15 times as we are struggling to get it turned on as fast as we can! He definitely has the patience of his grandpa Scott-NONE. Haha.

He says his own prayers now (with help of course) which is sweet to hear every night. He knows the little patterns in the wording and at the end of his prayer it goes something like this:

Mommy: In

Connor: In

Mommy: the name

Connor: of

Mommy: Jesus

Connor: Christ

AMEN!

He does that throughout the prayer and always ALWAYS blesses the piano. He LOVES THE PIANO or Mano as he calls it. A sign? I think so! Right now he's sticking his bowl in my face and all over me so I will get him more clementine. PIG! Pause....

Ok wow that was a long pause. One of those moments I'm still getting used to as a mommy of two, Connor fell and bumped his head and Parker was screaming for the boob. Ha ha...one kid on each arm both screaming is what you might call a bad moment but for me it was a heart warming one, reminding me of my most important role in this life. To comfort, raise and teach these beautiful children. Anyway, that was a big side note in this post that is supposed to be ALL about CONNOR! :)

I used to do a funny thing where I'd talk like I was the announcer at a horse race starting with "And he's off!" when Connor would wake up in the morning. He has such a routine that we can't stay ahead of! He opens cupboards (which now are almost all locked), dumps all his toys out, opens all the doors and runs to get the most forbidden toys (we have door locks but he outsmarted them so now we have to lock the doors....) and he'd constantly go up and down the stairs just to make us crazy! He loves going down there to get into my sisters rooms, play the piano and just make a mess. It's too big of a house for a little boy! He has been in his terrible twos for 6 months now. My mom tells me often "Man my girls were never this busy....he's SO BUSY!" He really is. I don't know if all toddler boys are like this, but he's adopted certain nick names in this house which I'm trying to stop...such as "Psycho, demon child, crazy, etc." There have been times when even with Ben, me, my parents and my sisters we STILL can't keep up with him! NO EXAGGERATION!!!!

But man is it fun. This is what he's supposed to do and I'm so thankful he's healthy, strong, smart, happy and continuing to be more of all of those things everyday! Not to mention he's SO CUTE! We love his big eyes, long eyelashes, sweet little lips, and everything that makes him Connor. He has been such a joy to me. I have gone through phases with him when he's especially naughty where I just don't think I can do it! But more often than not I look at him and my heart skips two beats and I thank Heavenly Father for entrusting me with his sweet little spirit. I know he will grow to be a very good and sweet man. It is a lot of pressure to do my job right to make sure of that, but he makes it such a fun job! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday my first born sweet son! Mommy loves you!!!

Two times the love

The only thing better than being a mom is being a mom of two! And I'm sure I'll change that each time I have another sweet baby. I used to blog a lot about how hard of a baby Connor was...or at least I feel like I did. That kid had COLIC. I looked at moms who also had babies who didn't look totally beat and wondered how they did it. My neighbor in Cedar had a baby about 6 months after me and she told me how she had gone to see the midnight showing of the newest Twilight movie. She timed the feedings and went to the movie with her friends. It was her THIRD baby. I had NO comprehension of how she mustered the energy or desire to go to a midnight movie. But I sorta get it now. She had a good baby that had no colic! Connor was round the clock crying, feeding, and more crying. He didn't sleep in his own cradle for the first few months, rather in our arms or in the middle of our bed. It was really REALLY hard. I was prepared for that with Parker. I was even prepared mentally for the agonizing feedings that would accompany this new baby. I had a REALLY hard time breastfeeding Connor. I was still crying a month after he was born cuz it hurt so bad. They were bleeding, and I thought about to fall off- literally.

WOW what a difference this baby is! Parker is the polar opposite of Connor. He has been on a sleeping schedule that he created on his own for the past week and a half at least. Funny thing is even with daylight savings he is STILL basically on the same schedule! Asleep for the night by 10:30 or 11, and up for a feeding at 4, then asleep til about 7 and then a nice long morning nap. Sometimes it fluctuates and he'll sleep even longer, til 6 or so which is AWESOME. That usually happens if he has a good feeding and poops before bed. And he sleeps in his cradle. Rarely in my arms, and if he does fall asleep in my arms he doesn't wake up when I put him in his bed.

And the feedings- yes they are sore but NOTHING like before. I think I had to condition these stupid nipples of mine! Guess what? I have actual scars on them...you can see where the damage was done with Connor. I don't know if they are just better now cuz I've done it before and the worst is over, or if it's since the weather isn't as cold and they aren't as dried out...or if I just know what I'm doing more now. The nurse at the hospital told me I had great technique. Well that's cuz despite what everyone SAID...I DID know how to latch my baby on...I just have (Let's be blunt as the nurse said this very thing to me) really big boobs and he has a very small mouth hahaha. Ok nuff of that. But seriously feedings are a joy and Parker has something Connor didn't have at this age--fat rolls on his thighs! Haha they are small but they are there! I'm so proud. I prayed so hard to have better success with nursing and this is just what I needed. I feel like such a good mom and like I have a better perspective on the whole experience. My mom NEVER had the pain I had which makes me realize some women are lucky and it's only sore for a little while. Then there's me...it takes a good 6 weeks - 2 months to not feel a stab of pain! :-)

Parker is my answer to prayers. Everything about his little existence has been so EASY. We got pregnant with him on the first try, he had a flawless pregnancy, easy birth and now he's a gem of a newborn. Thank goodness cuz if we had a repeat of Connor we might be DONE. Now thank goodness we both want more babies! (Assuming we ever get a job and can provide for more chillens).

I had a special moment with Parker today. Connor was at lunch with his aunt Desi and I had just changed a big poopy diaper and gotten Parker all dressed. He was just happy as can be hanging out on my bed so I started talking to him. He was looking me right in the eye and listening to my every word. And then he gave me the cutest little smile! I thought it was a fluke at first but I KNOW he was smiling at me. Then a minute later he did it again! I sent a text to Ben and my parents and they all said yeah it was probably poop...but as mentioned above he had already DONE that ha ha. Mommies just know and I KNOW he smiled just for me. Ben is in California and said "I always miss something" because when Connor started cooing he was in New York. Even my mom who is at work said she's sad she missed it. But I personally think those smiles were just for me...I am after all the one who feeds him and holds him the very most and takes care of him all day! He knew that smile was just what mommy needed to get through the day after last night. Connor kept us up kicking us in our bed all night...oy. Again- Parker is our better sleeper haha.

But let's not make Connor out to be too horrible...he weaned himself off of his binki. That's something this kid has always been a champ at. He transitions well with EVERYTHING. The bottle wasn't hard to take away, and he was always a great eater (now he just wants to play and hates to sit there and eat) and now he's tossed his binkis. He still steals Parker's a lot and chews on them. But he started realizing bed time and binki go hand in hand so he would throw the binki out of the crib and think that would make bed time go away. NOPE! He even chewed the nipple part off of the binki a couple times. So that's that. I know he has a stash somewhere and probably sucks on them for a minute when we're gone but after 2 days of screaming in his bed for every nap and bed time he is finally adjusting and didn't cry today. Speaking of BED...that's another awesome treasure from Connor, he has not yet tried to get out of his crib. He will scream in there for an hour sometimes and still not even try to get out. Which is funny cuz he has a night stand right by his crib and it'd be REALLY easy I think to try it. But thankfully he doesn't. His room doubles as our storage/misc junk room right now and there'd be WAY too many things for him to get into. We're going to have to figure that out though...we bought him a big kid bed for Christmas. Can't wait to post about that! Anyway, in spite of his awesome tantrums- Connor is SUCH a good big brother.

He loves to throw away diapers, bring me clean ones for himself and Parker, throw other things away, put dishes in the sink (sorta scary sometimes) clean up his toys, and talk sweetly to Parker when he's crying and mommy can't run right over to get him out of his swing. He is so tender with the baby and touches him softly and carefully. He is not even 2 yet and has such a respect and love for his baby brother. Makes me want to cry. I know Parker was meant to come into our lives right now. We've had struggles and his sweet spirit has just brought joy and love into our home. My sisters love both of our kids and have fun keeping Connor occupied when I need the help, or holding Parker when he's not fussy :).

My mom and Ben both got hired for seasonal part time jobs at Deseret Book and it has been a totally different life the past 3 days. Not having them here has forced me to be more assertive with my life and taking care of my kids. The first day my sisters basically watched Connor but yesterday I made dinner and actually felt pretty great. And today both boys are napping as I type this and I'm going to join them if I ever stop...

I'm so thankful Ben got at least a little job to help pass time and keep us out of debt. He's really enjoying it so far. He is in California today for a job interview. We want this one SOOOOO badly so we'll see what happens. I told him the other two jobs were just practice rounds for this one. Man I really hope this is it.

If you read all of this you're amazing. Mostly it was for my own memory and history. :)

I really should get a picture of me with my boys...the only ones I have are in the hospital. hmmm....

Busy 2 weeks!

Life is really falling into place and I am finding my stride with two kids! Having Parker is SO fun and I don't care what anyone says, I'd so much rather have my newborn here than be pregnant! I get better sleep now than when I was pregnant! haha I know that's not always the case for people but Parker is an AWESOME sleeper and eater and just a little jewel of a baby. Makes my life pretty enjoyable! After having a colic ridden baby in Connor this is such a nice change. Let's just hope it stays this way for a little while! I have so much more patience this time around than the first time. I understand a lot more what it means to sacrifice- my sleep, my energy, my entire body- for this little person who we created and brought into the world! It's been two of the best weeks of my life, and while I've had a couple of post-partum break down cries it has been all part of a very healthy process of becoming a mother to a new person. I have so much fun watching Connor as a big brother as well. Here are some pictures of the fam with Parker as well as some visitors! I of course regret I haven't taken his picture with every visitor, my brain isn't ALWAYS on...but this is what I do have! I'm challenging myself to take as many pictures as I can since I know there's that trap of not taking as many pics of your second child as your first. I know I haven't taken as many...but I'm working on it! :-) And probably took WAY too many of Connor so it's all good!

Grandpa's second boy!

Proud Grandma!

Connor with his aunts

Chill time

Grandpa and Grandma Woolsey came to visit on Saturday the 22nd and played with Connor and his trucks and met baby Parker!

Watching popcorn pop and then watching Curious George with Grandpa

Connor watching Parker get his diaper changed.. everything is so interesting about this new baby!

Carving pumpkins! Connor loved pulling the guts out!

Visit from auntie La La! So glad she happened to be in town from Texas! Love my bff!

So if you missed it on Facebook, we aren't moving to Santa Fe. They pretty much decided not to hire anyone for the position right now...so they're basically idiots who had no idea what they even wanted in the job. So we're on the hunt again but I'm actually a lot happier with the prospects we have right now. I'd rather live closer to home and these are much closer than Santa Fe! So here's to hoping we have a job by January! :-)

Meet Parker!

I wanted to do a timeline because I am already forgetting the timing of things. The day moved so fast I didn't even have time to chart it as we went but this is how things were to the best of my memory!

October 16 2011

8:30 p.m: Mommy takes a sleeping pill and two extra strength tylenol to get her to rest.

10:30 p.m.: Daddy tries to go to bed and hears mommy's monstrous snoring and decides to sleep in the living room.

October 17 2011

2:58 a.m.: After sleepless hours, worried that the alarms would not go off, Daddy suddenly wakes up and realizes that the alarms indeed did not go off. Daddy calls Labor and Delivery to make sure the induction is still a go, and gets a "Yes! We'll see you at 4."

3:00 a.m. - 3:20 a.m.: Mommy and Daddy get ready, and Mommy gets a blessing from Daddy and Grandpa Woolsey. Mommy and Daddy hit the road to Cedar City.

4:15 a.m.: Mommy and Daddy check into Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City.

4:40 a.m.: Mommy is all hooked up to her IV, and gets her first Cytotec. Nurse Whitney check Mommy to find she is only at a 1 with no other progress to speak of. MOmmy and Daddy take a short nap.

7:40 a.m.: Nurse Ginger checks Mommy's progress. She's at a 2+ and starting to have mild contractions. Mommy eats breakfast, her last meal as she enters active labor. Nurse Ginger gave Mommy a second Cytotec. Daddy and mommy watch an episode of Psych but mommy falls asleep towards the end and her contractions start dying down for a little bit.

8:30 a.m.: Mommy sits up and after painful contraction, her water breaks. She's not sure if she peed her pants or her water broke, so the nurse checks, and it was her water! Mommy is excited it broke on it's own!

9:00 a.m. - Nurse Ginger checks mom, and she is at a 3.

9:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.: Mommy puts on her big girl panties and walks around until the contractions get too intense. Laurie comes to check on mommy, and tells nurse Ginger to start her on Pitocin because the contractions are getting closer together.

10:50 a.m.: Nurse Ginger checks mommy to see if she made it to her goal of making to a 4. Mommy is happy to hear she is at a 4 and asks for the epidural.

THE LONGEST 40 MINUTES LATER!!! Mommy's contractions have gotten so intense, mommy wants to scream at the nurse every time she offers any words of encouragement.

11:30 a.m.:Wayne the anesthesiologist finally arrives.

11:55 a.m.: Mommy's epidural is in place. Nurse Ginger tells mommy to let her know if she feels any pressure, but mommy doesn't say anything because she thinks the pressure is from the meds kicking in, and enjoys the sweet relief of the drugs. Ginger starts a pitocin drip at level one...which really wasn't needed....

12:15 p.m.: Nurse Ginger puts in mommy's catheter. Mommy tells her she has some pressure, so the nurse checks her again. Nurse Ginger, "This is why I wanted you to tell me immediately when you had pressure. You're complete!"Mommy: "As in it's about time to push?!" Nurse Ginger told mommy that she guessed baby would be here within the hour and had her do a test push to see how things were moving. She got Laurie and let her know of mommy's progress.

12:22 p.m.: Daddy calls grandma Betsy to see where she is. She is on the Boulevard, still in St. George. She's surprised to hear that little Parker is on his way out so fast but says she'll hurry! She has grandpa Scott, aunt Tasha and big brother Connor in the car with her and aunt Desi and her friend Gabby are 4 miles behind them on the freeway. Mommy tells nurse Ginger and worries they will all miss it. She tells mommy that we can wait to push and don't have to rush it as long as baby keeps doing ok. We made guesses at the baby's weight- Ben didn't even know what to guess but I guessed he'd weigh 7 lbs 7 oz and Ginger guessed he'd be 7 lbs 6 oz. I think I even guessed he'd be 20 inches long.

Laurie keeps checking mommy to make sure the baby isn't popping out on his own. Mommy keeps her legs together to keep baby in until everyone arrives! She tells Nurse ginger to holler for her as soon as she sees the whites of grandma's eyes!

1:21 p.m.: Grandma Betsy and Tasha come into the room and Laurie says, "OK grandma's here, let's open your legs and have a baby!" Soon after mommy gets into position aunt Desi and grandpa come in too. YES mommy lets her dad be in the room to see it all- mommy isn't shy!

1:26 p.m. : After one push Laurie tells mommy to look down and see the head- she's hesitant but looks anyway, and then Laurie has mommy reach down with both hands and pull baby Parker the rest of the way out and onto her tummy!

The rest is messy and medical but Laurie did a good fast job of getting mommy ready to take care of Parker. Parker started nursing almost immediately. He has been a good little eater so far!

Connor got to come in and meet his baby brother after he had started nursing- so about 15 minutes after he was born. He had such big smiles when he saw Parker for the first time and called him by name and kept saying "Baby!" It was so awesome and sweet. I wish I had 10 eyes so I could have taken it all in, but a lot of it is on video I hope!

It all happened so fast I didn't even cry at first. I was so SO exuberant to have that little boy here! While we were waiting for everyone to arrive I felt so peaceful and mellow. I even told Ben I felt like I could just take a little nap! After such hard fast contractions it was so nice to lay there and have a small break before he came into the world. It was my goal to make it to a 4 before the epidural, and thank goodness I didn't go any further because I think I barely got the meds in time! Right as the pain was edging off the urge to push appeared so I know I was close to having this baby au naturale!

After holding Parker on my chest for a little while, getting to know him in those first few minutes I felt such a joyful love for him and started to cry a little, knowing my little baby boy was finally in my arms. It wasn't chaotic but with how fast he came I felt like it was so unreal and couldn't even remember that Ben had been holding my leg up! But then I realized I couldn't have reached down and pulled baby to me if I had been holding my own leg. Chalk it up to exhaustion and the excitement of the moment! It was so SO different from Connor's birth. The room was better lit, there were less nurses but more people there- Ashlee was on Skype watching as well. I think next baby will be born with just mommy and daddy in the room. It was fun to have everyone there but I think it would have been relaxing to have just us and maybe my mom there. It was awesome letting my sisters be there and experience the miracle of bringing a baby into the world though!

I couldn't stop saying how easy and fun and wonderful the day had been. I felt like such a champion! I had endured some horrid pain and pushed through it so I could get this boy here sooner. I definitely surpassed my pain tolerance from my childbirth with Connor. Ben said he had a hard time not laughing at some of my contractions because I was making some fun noises! He kept waiting for the swear words to pop out and said he almost told me "Oh just swear! You'll feel better!" But I had a hard enough time keeping my breathing steady and had no time for cursing :-)

Having Parker has made me love life so much! It has increased my love for things so much more- including my love for Ben and Connor. It is so much less intimidating and scary to have this baby home- I don't feel quite so overwhelmed. Having the help of my family is definitely awesome and I don't know what I'd do without them! My mom is a huge help and has made life so much better! Poor Ben has had a cold but was such a great support to me. Walking the halls he was such a good bear hugger when I'd need to stop for contractions. Smelling him was so soothing to me and really made the pain easier to bear. He's such a good husband and father and I'm so glad he doesn't have a job right now for the sole purpose of being home with his family!

Recovery is going well and since I didn't have to push hard and didn't hardly tear, I'm just mostly trying to get rest when I can. I had to type this before I forgot any details. I'll probably add more later on as I remember things!

We were lucky my mom won a newborn hospital session at the What Women Want Expo in April, so Rachael Steele of Steele The Moment Photography came and took some pics of Parker yesterday! Here are those pics as well as some from delivery :-)

Us and Laurie

WOW...

Family Picture

Connor giving Parker knuckles! Haha

Love this one...

Whole lotta summer...

Somehow I got behind on blogging....I really don't know why! I was pregnant with nothing to do, but I just didn't realize how many pictures I had taken that had gone unpublished! We did do a lot of fun things in the last months of summer. We took Connor to Kid's day at Fabulous Freddy's because he is OBSESSED with animals due to his Baby Genius Baby Animal DVD. We thought he'd love the petting zoo, and we were right! He had a BLAST and we had fun watching him have fun.

Riding the horse was fun but he was VERY focused and somewhat nervous! I couldn't get him to smile cuz he was so concentrated on what he was doing, but I know he loved it!
Petting all the animals....which later we suspect led to a slight e-coli infection. Yuck.

Connor got a fake tattoo, stood in the firetruck and chased bubbles from the Little Mermaid ship!

Also, the splash pad! I have been invited many a times to go to the splash pad with other moms and their kids but I just didn't want to go. I envisioned my child running like a crazy person, tripping and falling from the wet ground and me trying to chase after him with my big fat pregnant self. But on a REALLY boring day I finally got brave and took him with Ben and my parents. He LOVED it and I felt bad that I hadn't taken him sooner! It was actually a nice cool day which made it colder for Connor but he didn't seem to care one bit. Notice in the pics he's looking down at the spot where the big water spurts out....and then in the next picture he's running away crying? It got him right in the face poor kid! The water wasn't running very consistently so he got bored and we took him to play in the creek area. He loved that as well! I'm such a lame mom for not taking him sooner but he did enjoy going a few more times after that.

Connor had mixed emotions about the carousel. He didn't mind it at first but by the end he was crying and pretty upset. Something about horses I guess...ha ha. He is such a precious boy, I love this shot below.

When Ben officially graduated in August we had a little celebration for him. I don't remember if I blogged about this yet- but anyway we had a little sign on the door and some of these happy balloons in the yard and then I surprised him with a night in town at the Hilton. It was kind of a retreat for us both and we had a nice quiet stay. I didn't take any pictures really, but we did meet my mom and dad and Connor at Cracker Barrel across the street for dinner and my mom got a shot of us. It's the tiny one in the top corner haha. Had to get this pic in of Connor and my dad. They are best buddies and Connor follows him everywhere outside helping with yard work. It's hilarious!

At the first part of August my bestie Lauren came into town from Texas. Well not into SG town really, but me, Lyndsey and Rayni met up with her in Vegas and had a fun girls day/night! We saw a movie, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" which rocked my socks off and made me laugh til I almost peed my pants. Then we went to Cafe Rio for dinner with some of Lauren's other friends and her sisters and mom. After checking in at our hotel we met up with everyone at Fashion Show Mall on the strip and did some shopping. We got some frrrrrrozen hot chocolates at Serendipity and then headed back to the hotel. We bid farewell to Lyndsey who had to get back for work the next day and had a nice night at South Point. We had girl talk and then a nice brunch the next day before Lauren had to meet back up with her family. It was such a nice trip and even though I was somewhat uncomfortable and swollen I had a great time out with a few of my very best friends! The next day I did get to see Lauren again before she and her fam went to Tuacahn and she got to see Connor for a minute!

So that wraps up summer...I'm sad I didn't get this done sooner but hey at least I got it in there! :-)

The home stretch

So I'm at the dreaded end of this pregnancy and you'll hear me saying things like "This is the last time I'm doing this. And if he's not a good baby I'll REALLY be done..." I waddle around and stop mid stride when the baby pushes down too hard on my lady parts and a pained look has become quite normal to see on my face. I feel like a weenie that I whine like I do...but honestly feel like I whined more with my first pregnancy! I really am grateful for many people who say "Wow you don't even look like you're about ready to have this baby! You look great!" I don't believe them but it's nice to hear :-)

My hips are so sore, I toss from one side to the other at least 10 times a night! My dreams are CRAZY weird...including characters from Glee, Modern Family, friends I haven't seen in a LONG time and people who don't exist. It's a hectic night usually.

So aside from THAT fun business...I'm so stressed and really starting to feel like life is ALWAYS going to be frustrating and full of unreliable-ness. We still haven't heard from Santa Fe and were supposed to hear on Tuesday. SO either they are taking a while to come up with an offer, or they aren't gonna hire Ben. Either way, WHAT THE HECK!? Why are people so inconsiderate?! Yale took forever to call and that was BAD news so now we are just worried and paranoid. Everything went SO well while Ben interviewed and they acted like they loved him and wanted him to be happy with the area. He did everything right. So if they don't hire him they are STUPID IDIOTS. Thank goodness my blog is private....

Remember how I posted about that Empire Waste company that had a flying piece of particle board hit our car on the freeway in February? Could have hurt us real bad if it had gone through the windshield? Lucky that all it did was crack the front bumper and slice the bra.....but guess what? They are denying it happened, refusing to pay, and refusing to let their insurance pay. So we get the joy of taking them to small claims. When? I have no idea. The holidays are fast approaching and my baby is due soon. I hate I repeat HATE people. Ben pointed out that he has never encountered so many dishonest people, and the worst of them has been in Utah! Remember the people who screwed us out of $650 2 1/2 years ago when we almost moved into their condo for rent? They never returned our money. I'm so sick of feeling screwed over. I'm so honest in all I do and wish it would pay off. People are just MEAN. And we don't necessarily NEED the car fixed. But when we decide to sell it it's gonna decrease the value!

Still reading? I'm impressed....

I just feel very hopeless and the hormones don't help. Ben has a job working for Zion's Bank which he has been putting off so he could find out from Santa Fe. They've been patient with him for 2 weeks now but we REALLY need to know so he can at least start making some money til something else comes along. ARGH! Please pray for us. I'm so frustrated and really need something positive to happen....like the birth of our sweet boy. If only my induction was scheduled for tomorrow!

Santa Fe in pictures

Well it's been a long few days but a good and full few days. I'm typing this from the hotel room while I sit and wait for Ben to get back from his full day of meeting people and having interviews. Right now he's at some restaurant downtown with the marketing director. It wasn't really in the schedule to leave the opera, but the HR girl is out sick so things have been sorta thrown off anyway. This is all I know and Ben's been gone for almost 7 hours. I'm dying! But I did take a nice little walk today and explored the area around the hotel. Some of these pics are from yesterday and Wednesday as well.

The drive was actually really enjoyable. I watched two movies, took two naps and enjoyed the beautiful nature around us for the first part of the drive. The second half was rough with bumpy highways but we managed and our car has been PLUSH which this pregnant woman appreciates! I'll admit every time I had a Braxton Hicks contraction I mini panicked afraid I was going into labor...but that's everyone's fault who psyched me out that this baby was going to be born on the side of the freeway. He's STILL in my belly people! :-)

We had to stop for about 20 minutes due to some AZ road construction and I got some pretty pics of the surrounding beauty as well as of our nice rental car.

Our first exposure to New Mexico was a little shaky...we stopped somewhere to pee. It was called Gallup, the first city we came to after AZ. I went in to the Shop and Stop to find a bathroom...it smelled like D.I. (which isn't bad I guess cuz I shop there a lot haha) and I was the ONLY white person in the place, just a little weird culture shock. And the back had a burrito stop or some sort. Ok so that was different....and we just felt SO out of place. We kept going though and it got more charming as we went on. We arrived just as it got dark in Santa Fe which is sort of a bummer, we felt really lost and had no idea or sense of where we were. Thank goodness for GPS! My second impression of New Mexico was better...I went to the bathroom inside of a Smith's grocery store which is my favorite store in the world (really it is) and there were some white people this time! (Don't get me wrong I'm NOT racist just NOT used to being a minority! Thanks a lot for THAT Utah...haha) Ben teased that I'd be ok cuz Santa Fe had Smith's and Redbox. It didn't feel to different from home at that point. We got to our hotel which let's be honest was a BIT of a disappointment. It reminded me of a revamped Motel 6. It is a small room, a lot like a Motel 6 and at 36 1/2 weeks pregnant the most uncomfortable thing you can do is try to adjust to a different bed. OUCH. Bad night. And the floors above us are thin so we hear every step people are taking. Talk about a bad combo. We had a hard time sleeping and I woke up VERY puffy in the face the next day. The altitude difference and lack of sleep made it hard for us to want to explore too much but we did the best we could. We saw a few apartments and found a condo we can see ourselves squeezing into for at least the first year here. It'd be a big adjustment from our spacious townhouse in Cedar, but hey I'm willing to give it a whirl!

The people here have been nothing but kind and genuine. They don't stare, they aren't OVERLY friendly like I would imagine some other cultures are, but they are just nice. And it's hard to know the locals from the visitors because there is a balloon festival going on here and so a lot of out of towners. But our first night here we got free KFC because the employee charged our card for the wrong amount then just credited us and didn't charge again. She said dinner was on her...so nice!

It's so confusing trying to get acclimated with where I am and where everything is but hey we've only been here a couple days. We drove by the Opera and both of us felt a weird tingle but weren't sure if it was just our lack of sleep fuzzy heads or if this might really be Ben's job soon. Can you get jet lag from driving???

I can't get over how it looks just like St. George meets Cedar City in terms of the scenery. Some of these pics show what I mean. The yellow on the mountain I suspect are the leaves changing...just as they are in Cedar right now. The bottom right pic is of part of the Opera theater space. These pics are taken from the opera, it has a fantastic view!

The many beautiful flowers of Santa Fe...and even a yellowed cedar tree. Couldn't get enough of all the pretty flowers!

Some interesting sights I saw on my way back to the hotel from McDonalds today. I walked half a mile there to get a Big Mac..it equals out right?! The pic on the top right is one of the prettiest parts of the Railroad park...

The pic on the bottom right is a funny tummy shot I took. The bump is ready to burst! :-)

This beautiful and unique park is right across from our hotel. Ben and I discovered it last night when walking to the farmer's market that was just ending. It was so pretty and we got to see a beautiful sunset. I didn't have my camera but went back over today to take some pics. The bench in the picture is the one we sat on.

The park has some interesting things to look at from the giant metal dog, the metal dinosaur I didn't get a pic of, the bus stop bench and the trails. I walked by the slides and almost didn't realize they were slides!

Below is my little squirrel friend who seriously looked like he was posing for the pictures. He didn't move hardly at all. :-)

So here I am still sitting and waiting. I last heard from Ben over an hour ago...can't wait to know what is going on. I'm really glad I came with him and have really enjoyed the visit to Santa Fe. The weather is great here too! I just can't wait to get home to my sweet Connor. My mom has been such a champ taking care of him. She got strep throat the day we left and still took care of him without complaint. Desi has been helping a lot I've heard which makes me feel a little less guilty. I just keep telling myself that if we move they'll really miss him so hopefully even though she's been sick my mom has enjoyed her grandma time. It is mine and Ben's last time to really have some quiet alone time before Parker gets here too.

Mini update on Parker: Laurie asked if I wanted to be induced at 39 weeks. I only hesitated a moment before saying....um...yes? Why not! I think it's because she knows we may be moving soon and my first induction went really well. Since it's not my first time having a baby I guess I get to cheat the system a little! I'm SO ready to have him here. It's hard to not bend over, to have to pee so often and to just feel SO overtaken! I just really can't wait to smell him and hold him in my arms. There's nothing better! So for now unless he comes even sooner, he'll be entering the world on October 17th! YAY!

I'll post as soon as we know anything about the job! Until then....happy day!

Updates

Well it's been a slow summer for blogging! Ever since we graduated it has just been slow going for life in general! It has been really nice living with my parents and not having the sole responsibility of chasing after my toddler...honestly the best EVER! My mom is so helpful, as are my sisters and my dad at keeping up with his ever growing curiosity and craziness! He's such a busy boy, and I just love it- but it's hard on a mommy who's growing another baby! So here are some updates I don't really want to forget about this phase of life...

Connor learns new words everyday and I find myself having a lot of moments that go like this:

Connor: M nnn M...

Me: Yeah..M n M...WAIT did you just say M&M? ok then! Ha ha as he has chocolate drool coming out his mouth. Lots of his new words I am stunned to hear come out of his mouth because I didn't teach them to him directly. His favorite words right now are ANIMAL (he loves watching baby genius DVD's and his favorite one is Baby Zoo animals. He LOVES requesting the "Animals" every day. He also says piano which sounds like Mano- and he'll say it every time anyone is playing one. He loves to pound the keys as well. He says Bike a lot, because anything with wheels is a bike. Shopping carts, his toy lawn mower I bought for $1 at a yard sale, etc. He loves hair dryers and still calls them "ahhhh" because of the sound they make. He has always told long stories but I'm just now starting to understand them...like the other day my mom helped him get a drink at the drinking fountain and he got water up his nose. So for the next 20 minutes he told anyone who would listen about "Wah Wah...Nose..." and I was able to translate for him! I love knowing a tiny bit of what he's trying to communicate! He HATES nursery unless his mommy or daddy are in there with him. And he really doesn't even pay attention to us while we're there but he notices right away if we're gone. Still working on that one. He would have been FINE but his first week he went ALL the kids were crying. Hasn't happened since- so sad that it was a fluke day! He calls keys "larlhhh" or something. Not sure what he's saying...it's one of many words we have yet to figure out! He has the SILLIEST personality and loves to make everyone laugh. He swan dives off of things with complete faith that someone will catch him. I love it but it makes me nervous! He is climbing on everything, asks for everything either by name or sign language, and is OBSESSED with shutting doors, plugging things in, switching light switches and all other buttons that are fun to push. I'm exhausted just thinking about it but it sure is fun! I really do look forward to waking up to him every day and am so grateful to be his mommy. I love hearing him say mommy and wanting me to kiss his owies better.

He also LOVES to kiss my tummy and says "baby!" and pulls my shirt up (not always convenient in public or in church when I'm in a dress) and goes "mmmm---muh!" on my belly. I know his brother loves him already and seems to move more when Connor is making a lot of noise. :-) I can't wait to have two little boys that will be friends and play together!

In other news, we are on the job journey again! If you haven't read anything on Facebook I'll give a brief update. I haven't wanted to say a whole lot because of what happened with Yale...but things are at a point where we'd appreciate prayers and such next week! It has happened really fast- Ben submitted his resume after making sure with HR that the job was still open. He heard back from them very soon after, and within 2 weeks of submission he had already had 2 skype interviews and an invitation to come interview in person! So they are paying for him to come out- and since they are only 10 hours away and flights are complicated with short notice and end up not being much shorter, he volunteered to drive. So after much deliberation I am going with him! Yes...at 36 1/2 weeks pregnant I am going with him on a 10 hour drive. We are breaking it up on the way there but not on the way back. I just really feel like I should go and see the place we might be living and get a feel for it! So I have a doctors appointment Tuesday to make sure I haven't progressed at all yet, and assuming all is well we hit the road on Wednesday. They want Ben to sight see and get familiar with the area- good sign- and then interview and such on Friday- which will be when I have my own time to explore. We head back on Saturday and hopefully with good news and the baby still in my belly! :-)

**** I realized after Robyn's comment that I neglected to mention at all where the job was! Ha ha that was completely unintentional. I set the blog to private for the very reason that I could be a little more divulging of details! :-) The job is in Santa Fe, the company is Santa Fe Opera, the Met. of the west coast! Fingers crossed!

So that's the update...the job is fantastic and we have some great feelings about it...but we've said that all before so we are being very cautious! So that's my update for now!! One more month til baby comes...YAY!

Well...it's a deep subject

Get it? Ha ha that's one of the many phrases my dad has under his belt. On his birthday we spent the whole weekend listing all the funny off kilter phrases he says. Some we have heard a million times, others only a few times. We tease him at how unoriginal he is but we really do love all the quirky comments!

Anyway....my last post was the result of a boring bad day. The night ended better, with my nails and toenails being painted by my baby sister Tasha and my hair being done by my other sweet sister Ashlee. And if Desi had been around I'm sure she would have done something too... :) Anyway I have a great family. We went out for ice cream after that and had a good laugh at my sour mood.

SO an idea I've played around with before but have been talked into by my sweet husband....I'm going to write a book. I won't give any details now but it'll be a short and sweet funny book...factual and fun. So yay that! I have something to fill my time with....and it'll be an entertaining process I think. :-)

I'm also going to spend some more time teaching Connor. It's amazing how fast he's learning right now. I just read a book with him and he was able to say what each thing on each page was. Made me realize maybe he's ready for a little bit of mommy preschool! I used to play school with my sisters and had Ashlee reading pretty big books at age 3. So hey...why not get started with my own kiddo!? Also...we're ready to start potty training at our house. YIKES. But he's ready. Everytime we sit on the toilet he wants to pull his pants off and sit on his. And he tells us when he's pooping or pooped...so yeah. Bring it on!

Pretty Bored...

Yep that's what I am these days. I sleep in as long as I can both because I seem to always be tired, and to kill as much time as possible. Then I eat breakfast, take care of Connor's breakfast needs, sit around while he starts getting into everything and plays with all his toys, and wait for the next meal. Then lunch time comes around and it's basically the same routine....and I am getting to the point where it is just hard to get him in and out of his high chair and I have to bug someone else to do it now. My belly is just in the way. Sometimes for fun I do dishes, clean up around the house and some days my mom, Connor and I go shopping. But we really don't have any money so it's mostly just along for the ride or returning stuff I bought previously..ha ha. We seem to go to lunch quite often but even that has become mundane. Around 3 in the afternoon I find myself watching the clock wondering when something exciting will happen. I look forward to nap time whenever that happens to be...it's never the same time everyday because he wakes up different times each day. So usually when I know napping is over, the next thing I have to look forward to is dinner and bed time when I can sit and veg and watch tv. I know this is a lame excuse for a day...and maybe some of you can either relate or are shaking your heads wondering how a person can be so lazy. But this is my life now. I spent the summer trying to stay busy, went swimming with Connor as often as I could and tried to survive the heat and Ben finishing grad school.

Well now school is forever done. Ben finished for good last week. I got my diploma in the mail the day he finished...how awesome :) It made it more real to me that I now have my Bachelor's degree, something I honestly never imagined having/doing. I'm pretty proud of that but can't help but feel like....well now what?

So I'm a mother, which I love. But sometimes it is SO boring. I even live with my family so it's not like I'm home alone all day. I even have Ben here all day. So is that maybe the problem? I am relying on everyone to entertain me and I've forgotten how to entertain myself???

I sit around thinking of the things that stress me out...like our car problems- we just had the AC on our honda fixed. It's only been having issues for maybe 3-4 years??? Lame and it's still not all the way fixed. Still doesn't get very cold or blow very hard. But the mechanic said to totally replace it would be like $1000. Not gonna happen. Oh and then there's the big crack on the front bumper that we are waiting to repair when the insurance comes through. And the trunk that won't latch anymore and is now dented because the idiot mechanic dented it while trying to fix it...and acted like it was already there. And our jeep used to be the car with reliable cold air...and now that has gone out it seems. So we are getting rid of it before we have to pay for another stupid repair. I feel like we're going to have to give it away...but maybe someone will actually want to drive a jeep and won't mind getting a minor tune up to the AC. These are things that make the endless hours impossible to relax and enjoy.

I would love to start reading again, but don't feel like I'd ever be able to read very many pages. I don't want to expect everyone to have to take care of Connor while I have "a life" because he really is my life and I love spending time with him. But I need a purpose, or a goal or something. What do other moms do to stay sane???? My mom says it's probably worse because I am pregnant and getting antsy. This pregnancy never seems to end. I have been pregnant since January and I feel like....REALLY? I still have 2 months left?!

This is a post from a very negative nilly...I am not in the happiest of moods today. I seem to wake up every day with a head ache. I used to look forward to small things like a diet coke run with my mom. Trying to figure out who has the best ice. But my doctor has told me all I can have now is water and milk. So that excitement is out.

I guess I just need some suggestions on what I can do while we sit here day in and day out waiting to hear back from jobs that Ben has applied for. I really hope we are normal people some day who have a job and a normal routine. For now I'll just bide my time and try not to pull my hair out.

Hey tomorrow's Friday...that means my dad gets off work early and the weekend starts. Which is really no different from the weekdays...ha ha. PEACE OUT

Overdue Summer post!

Disclaimer: This is a long post for family history purposes...so enjoy the pics and read on if you want!

Finally I have enough pics for a decent post! Mostly because we finally did something out of the ordinary! We decided as a family to have a "stay-cation" of sorts since California is all booked up as far as time shares go, and WAY too expensive when you consider gas prices and hotel costs. Plus the pregnant in me just did NOT want to travel far. So....we enjoyed the splendor of Southern Utah! We were supposed to take a boat we rented out on Monday but the previous renters broke some things, so we changed our plans and went camping Monday night July 11th at Duck Creek. It was a LOT of work for a short amount of time! We always forget how much goes into camping, whether you go one night or 4. And to keep with tradition our air mattress went flat. Before we even slept in it. Before we even LAID on it! So I slept in the back seat of the honda, and Ben slept on the twin mattress that also went flat. We are cursed...what can I say? Connor slept nice and comfy and warm in his pack and play and I seriously considered crawling in there with him! He was in LOVE with the 4-wheeler which he calls a bike, because everything with wheels is called a bike. Or as he said it until today, "bite" ha ha. He wouldn't eat his dinner unless he was sitting on the 4-wheeler. And he ate so much since he was so preoccupied with pretending to ride it. Such a stud!!! He just keeps everyone busy and entertained 24-7!

We ate at Sue's Diner in Duck Creek and had some amazing burgers, fries, mashed potatoes and Connor even tried and devoured the scrambled eggs. It was rainy when we drove up but stayed clear until the next day when we were packing up to leave. We were nice and close to a bathroom, and had fun cooking dinner including dutch oven potatoes, chicken and peach cobbler. We even had a little room for S'mores later on that we enjoyed after Connor went to bed. It was a nice time out of the heat, but HONESTLY I'm not camping again unless I have a reliable bed in some sort of camper. It was horrid sleeping in a car!

The next day everyone did a little 4-wheeling and found an ice cave, but it was too cold to explore so given our exhaustion we headed home. I wondered why Connor was so quiet in the backseat...til i realized he had my makeup. I thought I got it all away from him but after another 10 minutes of silence I turned around to see this:

The pic on the left that is...

He's watched his mama do it enough times that he knows something goes on his lips, they were thoroughly glazed and powdered! :-) Love my kid....he's the best!

So after getting home and cleaning up THAT mess we went to Olive Garden to celebrate my dad's birthday which was that day! We all had a nice dinner and towards the end received a call that the boat was still not fixed...so we gave up on that plan. But at home Desi found another person renting their boat and it happened to be available. So we made last minute arrangements and headed out to Sand Hollow the next morning!

It turned out to be a lot nicer of a boat and we had a blast. The wind picked up after 4 hours so we decided to head out. It took a long time to get the boat in with the big waves, and we all had a nice laugh watching my mom try to back up the boat trailer and eventually ask a stranger to help her. Ha ha...we also got sunburned just sitting out on the boat which wasn't fun but Connor had a nice nap while the boat rocked back and forth!

Before all of this Connor and everyone had fun on the tube. I rode with Connor since it was a nice slow ride, and thought I could just die of happiness watching my little boy act so brave and studly riding that tube in the lake. He felt so cool and was so excited to get a turn! LOVE him!

Even Ben rode the tube and caught some great air..ha ha.

Of course Connor wanted nothing more than to drive the boat with his grandpa. He loved sitting there with him and did a great job driving! :-)

We tried our luck a couple hours later at Gunlock and were glad we did. The water was a lot calmer and we were able to spend a lot more time tubing and swimming. It was honestly SO fun and I wish owning a boat wasn't such a money pit! The guy we rented from really liked my dad and wants to rent to us again at a cheaper rate whenever we want! I hope it's soon!
It was such a fun stay cation and we didn't get too exhausted to get back to real life. We all got along and Connor had the time of his life. Thanks mom and dad for our fun summer memories!