Nixon Duke

The Duke is Born!

So I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post pictures or just to blog about little Nixon's arrival. However, if you really are my friend, you would have looked at my facebook and seen it all on there! I know I know, I posted on facebook from the hospital and not on here. I think it's cause I care more about what I put on here. This is like a journal to me, I feel my kids will have a pretty good insight into me from my blog, my scrapbooks and my poetry... no stone will be unturned. Anywho here's the buzz (I know, I know.. how lazy -copy & paste from facebook but I did add a little more explanation!)

Well, he's finally here! and what a week! On Tuesday I went in for a doctor's appointment and all was well. She striped my membranes to hopefully help me progress a little bit which really did a whole lot of nothing except make me even more uncomfortable than I already was. On Wednesday (the 9th) I went in for an ultrasound and he was small for dates, (no surprise there, so was Livi.) so the doctor told me to "hang tight" while she called my doc and then when she came back, she informed me that we were going to be having a baby! So the hospital called us and let us know that we could come in for an induction on Thursday night @ 8. (all explained in a little more detain in my post titled "d-day") So, we went in and they tried various ways to induce me but i only made it to 4cm. This time though I had Demerol (wonderful drug) and then an epiderral (God's gift to pregnant women) so I really didn't feel much pain. But unfortunately, even after many promising & encouraging contractions that Nixon did great through, we needed another c-section because we just weren't progressing. But he came on Friday night @ 11:23 p.m. and we're both doing great. Our baby boy is here weighing in at 5lbs 10oz and 18.5" long! When we got home, Liv was more excited to see me than to be bothered with a new baby. She missed me very much which is nice since she usually doesn't miss me much... just her dad! Anywho, the first day was kinda rough for that little tyke. She didn't understand why I couldn't pick her up and had a bit of trouble adjusting but the next day it was like Nixon had always been here. She just adores him and gives him lots of hugs and kisses and is very helpful getting and throwing away diapers and just doing whatever I ask. (my amazing little 18 month old!) So we are now a family of 4. I still am not quite sure how I feel having 2 kids as I haven't been alone since the hospital. When all the dust settles in 2 1/2 weeks and I'm all alone and ready to start my routine as a mom of 2 I will let you know how it all goes! It's been fun having people around, but I'm about done with visitors. I really just want to do my own thing and work on a schedule with 2 kids, but I really do need the help. It's really hard to move fast enough to keep up with Livi, and not being able to pick her up sucks too. Oh, so did I mention the whole Irony of the trip home from the hospital? Nick and I have never been in a car accident and of course the day we come home from the hospital with a brand new baby and me with major abdominal surgery it happens! I still can't believe it, we were about a block or 2 away from home at a stop light when someone rear ends us! What a day! We are all relatively ok, no major damage, just a dented trunk on our van and a sore back & neck for Nick & I. We are just happy that I didn't tear anything! So that's the story of little Nixon's arrival and the events shortly following. Our little man is here and safe -The Duke is Born!

Last Minute Preggo Pics

So Meg took these pictures while we were bored outta our minds watching the clock before I went in to get induced. We were just playing around but I think they turned out pretty dang cute!

Family, Food & Fun!

So Christmas was a good time this year! We were gone a little too long for our liking (a toddler away from home is a little hard for over a week!) but we still had a good old time! It was fun just hanging out with everyone! We had a lot of food and a lot of fun! Did I mention a lot of food? We really do like to spoil each-other though. I feel so blessed to have such an affluent family and one that is just so giving, not just to each-other but to others and to charities and those in need! They are just such a great example to me! I love them very dearly! I mean, when I say affluent, we do all feel that we've been greatly blessed but we are definitely not rich by any means, but we feel like it. They are so willing to share what little they have just to make someone else happy or to see their face light up and bring them a smile! I never forget the true meaning of Christmas when I'm around my in-laws. After, and often before all the wrapping paper has settled it is so humbling. We express our gratitude and feelings of the Savior, and share stories of thanks and gratitude and are so uplifted and reminded of how we can always do something. Christmas really is a time of family, food and fun, but most of all, a time of Faith!

Me too! Me too!

So, these blogs are out of date and out of order but I am trying to catch up! (And torture you while you wait for blogging & pictures of Nixon!) So here are the pictures that I promised of our little niece Fin! She's doing great and is an adorable little munchkin. When she was born and we went over to the house to welcome her home Olivia was hilarious! I wasn't sure whether to laugh or start worrying because she was just sooo intense! All of the other kids were excited too but Olivia was borderline hysterical! She started pushing everyone out of her way yelling "baby! baby! baby!" she had to be next to Fin and pretty much HAD to be holding her too! Man oh man, "I'm in for it" is all i could think, but the next time we saw them, Livi had calmed down remarkably and was pretty much normal! She loves babies but I couldn't help thinking if little Nixon was a good idea this soon... but it doesn't look like we have a choice now do we?!

The Big Girl Bed

So my little monkey is really just that- A monkey! Either that or an acrobat contortionist of some kind! (P.S. I spelled that all by myself without the little red line telling me it was wrong... 'cause it wasn't!) So we know she's been climbing out of her crib, but it took a while before anyone actually witnessed the event take place So she stands at the corner of her crib (remember, it's on the lowest level and the sides are up), kicks her foot up so it's next to her head, wraps it over the top of the crib (which is at her eye level) and hoists herself up and over in a very muscular but graceful sort of way so that she ends up facing her crib and gently lowers herself down! (So I can spell contortionist right, but I leave the "a" out of "head"! Not to mention that ridiculous run-on sentence! -my teachers would be proud!) Anywho... so my sis-in-law suggests putting her in a pack-'n-play 'cause kids don't get out of that, well... have you met this child?! At my in-law's over Christmas (and yes it has happened over there before) she made her way out of the pack-'n-play with the utmost of ease, opened the door and cried for me at the top of a very scary staircase! -Scary because it's wooden and has a chest at the bottom of it! So, when we got home from Christmas at the in-law's we went to Ikea and got her this awesome toddler bed that I've been eying since pre-child life (hmm...that sounds nice sometimes...). Anywho, this bed has coily things that keep them in the bed so they don't fall out and it extends into a single! It's adorable too and Olivia loves it! We were so shocked, we thought we'd try it out but leave her crib up since it would probably take a while to make the switch. Wrong! It was soo easy! She took a nap in it and then slept in it that night! I think she likes the freedom to get in and out of it. She's pretty good at staying in it when we put her to be too, but when she's not there is a child lock on her door handle so she can't get out and she cries/plays in her room and when she's tired (which is usually pretty quick) she goes over to her bed and climbs right in! She really is something else, especially since most 18 months are not sleeping in a Big Girl Bed!

Reading a story with daddy in her new bed!

The Zoo (Just trying out a new website)

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

D-Day!

So I was planning to write in here.. but this post is not what I was expecting to be writing! Today I had a routine ultrasound.. well, routine for me as I have a million the last 2 months of my pregnancies. Anywho, I had my ultrasound today and Nixon is on the tiny side... not too big of a surprise considering my little princess. Anywho, afterward in the consultation room the doctor told me she was going to call my doctor so I should hang tight. Well I did, and she came back with the news... "looks like we're having a baby!" Now, I have NO idea what the look on my face was when she told me that... may have been happy, may have been surprised... I think it was pretty straight though. (Word to the wise- don't play poker with this momma!). So... in the 20 min it takes me to get home, I had already called my mom, tried Nick's parents a few times, called all 3 of my sis-in-laws (2 were together), and my husband about 4 or 5 times all for different reasons! And when I got home, the nurse from the hospital had called me 3 times already! So it's set.. tomorrow at 8pm I go in! Now.. how do I feel? Still somewhat shocked... and not sure what to think. I knew I was having a baby relatively soon... I was expecting 2-3 more weeks but hey!; Tomorrow's great too! (sarcasm??? maybe... maybe not) So that's the deal.. tomorrow's D-Day! (although he probably wont come until Friday.)