10ish weeks.

Here is Thomas at a little over 10 weeks old:

And here is Evelyn at 10 weeks old:

Evelyn Wray Edwards

This is going to be a long one...it's mostly for me so that I can remember :)

My due date was August 18th, but with her being breech, I was scheduled for a c-section August 12th.  However, I had been telling people that I thought she would be early.  I had also been having a great deal of false labor--once I had contractions for over 3 hours straight!

The first weekend of August, my brother-in-law came to stay with us.  He wanted to come visit before all of the baby craziness.  We had been all over Greenville on Saturday--flying kites, shopping, etc.  I was exhausted.  We joked about the baby coming that night and how nice it would be that Will was at our house, because he could take care of Thomas.

At 3:00 am (Saturday night, but technically Sunday morning August 3rd), I went to the bathroom for one of my normal nightly potty breaks.  I noticed something strange while on the toilet--we'll leave it at that ;)  Returning to bed, I tried to get back to sleep, but I felt the urge to return to the bathroom.  The second bathroom visit confirmed that my water had broken.

I went back to bed and told Jake the same words I had told him 3 years prior, "Hey Jake, I think I'm in labor."  We called the doctor.  We called family.  I sat on the toilet for a long time while I gushed liquid and directed Jake as he packed our bags.  Jake woke up a sleepy Will, assuring him that it was not a joke and that I really was in labor.  Then we were off.  I experienced my first contraction as we pulled up to the hospital.

It took a while, but eventually we were wheeled back to a room.  I was soaking wet.  They hooked me up to all kinds of machines and ran an IV.  We were waiting for the anesthesiologist and the doctor to arrive until about 7:15 am.  During this time, I experienced quite a few painful contractions which they said were good for the baby, but which I did not appreciate considering that they were going to be cutting me open anyways.  The ultrasound machine confirmed that she was still breech.  The doctor finally arrived and explained that they would take me to the operating room without Jake, but that he would be called in as the baby was being born.

They wheeled me into the room and it was cold (physically and emotionally).  It was awful.  People were running around everywhere and ignoring me as they seemed to speak another language with all of their medical terminology.  There were torture tool sets arranged all over the room.  Machines cornered me on every side.  I hobbled over to the operating table and they helped me climb on.  I sat up and began crying as I waited on the anesthesiologist.  Some nurses noticed and tried to comfort me, but I felt cold and alone and really afraid.

The anesthesiologist injected me with a nerve block, and then two doctors helped me quickly lay down, so that the nerve block would move down to my legs and not upwards.  I waited for it to set in.  A nurse kept pinching my legs and various other parts of my body to ensure that the medicine had kicked in.  I was worried that it hadn't and she assured me it had--she pressed something cold to my arm and then to my belly.  I couldn't tell that it was cold on my belly, so we knew things were on track.

They put up a screen and taped my arms out (spread-eagle).  Then they began cutting.  I began to worry that Jake would never arrive.  I just laid there surrounded by the doctors and nurses as they worked for what felt like quite a while.  Finally my husband was ushered in and they pulled the baby out almost immediately.  He says it looked like something out of a horror movie when he arrived--kind of gory.

Evelyn was born at 8:09 am and weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz.  She was 19 inches long and I couldn't hold her, because they still had me strapped down and were sewing me back up.  It was painful not to be able to hold her.  After weighing and measuring her, the nurses bundled her up and handed her to her daddy.  He held her and made goo-goo eyes at her for what felt like forever before finally bringing her over to me so that I could see her up close.

I was surprised that she looked very little like Thomas.  Her nose and eyes and small, round head were all very different.  I inspected her ears, because Thomas had had a crinkled up v-shaped spot on one of his ears when he was born.  There was no v, but her ears were folded up flat.  They took several weeks to completely unfold.  She was beautiful.  But covered in gross-ness.  They told me that the new hospital policy was to wait a few hours before washing babies.

After an eternity of stitching, we were congratulated on our new baby and wheeled to the recovery room.  Here I was finally able to hold my baby.  I was still extremely numb from the nerve block and felt great.  It was wonderful and my scared, alone tears turned to joyful tears.  Everyone wanted to come in and see the baby, but they were only allowed back one at a time.  We broke the rules and had 2 come in at a time--first the grandmothers, followed by the grandfathers.

And that is how baby Evelyn joined our family.

Big Head.

Thomas loves to wear his daddy's hats.  The funny thing is that his head doesn't really have to get much bigger before he'll be able to wear them normally.  Thomas' head size must come from my side of the family :)

Scrapers.

Thomas is such a little boy.  One of his favorite things is "scrapers" (his generic term for any type of construction equipment).  I've tried teaching him the proper names for each of them, but the only ones he has picked up so far are cement truck and dump truck.

While on a father/son date last week, Thomas got to pick out a toy from K-mart.  He picked a set of 5 small scrapers.  It's been one of the most beloved gifts he has ever received...and for under $10, you can't beat that!  Here's his overjoyed little self as he showed me his prizes:

Nursery.

We've just about finished baby girl's nursery.  There's a daybed with a white comforter on the other wall, and we just need to re-cover some old pillows in lavender fabric--then we'll be completely done.

It looks prettier in person...I'm not particularly gifted in photography.  Can't wait to have a baby to put in it.

Four.

Jake and I have been married for FOUR years as of July 29th.  I can't believe how fast time flies as you get older.  (Except for the last month of pregnancy, that definitely doesn't fly.  It makes time suddenly grind to a halt.)

It's been a wonderful 4 years.  I feel like I've grown and learned more in these past several years than I have in my entire life.  One of my favorite lines of poetry comes from Poe's "Annabel Lee."  It makes me think of Jake.  "And we loved with a love that was more than love."

I love talking to older couples who have been married more years than they were apart, and one day, I hope to be one of those couples.  I wish I'd known Jake when he was a little boy or a teenager or a newly returned missionary.  I'm blessed to have him now.

Can't wait to see what the next 4 years bring...

Flip Flop.

Last Friday we went to the hospital to try to have the baby flipped upside down so I wouldn't have to have a c-section.  No luck.  Total flop.  

It's really frustrating when I think about it, so for the most part, I try not to.  However, I must point out that there are really a thousand other things I'd rather spend a thousand dollars on.  Also, I was bruised and in pain for days afterwards.  I had to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to the hospital where they stuck me with multiple needles and made me sit around for hours with a dumb IV stuck in my hand (does the IV sting ever go away??).  Totally not worth it.  Boo.

On being Bad.

Thomas:  I'm being bad.

Me:  I like it when Thomas is good.

Thomas:  I'm bad to the bones.

Here are some of Thomas' bad to the bones faces--

Heads Up.

The doctor told me that my baby is breech last week.  They won't even try to deliver a breech baby anymore, so that requires an automatic c-section.

There's some type of inversion procedure that they say has an 80% success rate at flipping the baby (if done during your 36th week of pregnancy).  The longer you wait, the bigger the baby gets and the less room there is in your belly to turn her.  Youtube has a plenty of videos, and it doesn't look pleasant.  When describing it to me, the doctor called it "very uncomfortable."  Hah!

If she has not flipped by Wednesday, we're going to give that a try since I'd rather avoid a c-section if at all possible.  We're praying hard that she'll just flip on her own.

Myrtle Beach Days.

We took our last vacation as a family of 3 last week.  As usual, we visited Jake's parents in Myrtle Beach--one of my most favorite places in the world.  It was wonderful.  We went shopping, swam in the pool, soaked up the sun and peace of the beach, and ate lots of good food.  We also spent time with family and good friends.  Wish we could go back...

Logic of an almost 3-year-old.

Jake:  Who made this mess?

Thomas:  I did.

Jake:  So how about cleaning it up?

Thomas:  I'm very tired.

Turtle Power.

Thomas knows that his Grammy will give him just about anything he asks for and what he wants (frequently) is a bath.  After his bath, he wants his Ninja Turtle towel.  Once he has his turtle towel, he runs up to me and shouts, "Turtle Power!"

Conversation with an almost 3-year old.

Thomas:  Trade?

Jake:  Trade what?

Thomas:  I wanna trade this cereal.  I want brown cereal.

I walked into the dining room to find Thomas with the large bowl of Cinnamon Life cereal and a big metal spoon.  In front of Jake was a small plastic bowl of Lucky Charms and a purple & blue spoon.

Grammar Fail.

Jake:  Come here, Thomas.

Thomas:  I'm coming.  Here me is.

As a mother, this is absolutely adorably cute.  As an English teacher, I can't help but cringe a tiny bit (on the inside).  Thomas and I have a long way to go before he reaches kindergarten ;)

Don't you just love my rounded 3rd trimester face?  At least I don't have a double chin...yet.

Tender Mercies

Lately I've been thinking about how unfair life can be and how so many people have to experience awful things.  It makes me sad.

However, reading Jean A. Stevens' talk, "Fear Not; I Am with Thee" helped me to put things into perspective a little bit.  Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“I pray because I can’t help myself. … I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

"But truly our Father knows us and hears the pleadings of our hearts. He accomplishes His miracles one prayer at a time, one person at a time.  We can trust that He will help us, not necessarily in the way we want but in the way that will best help us to grow. Submitting our will to His may be difficult, but it is essential to becoming like Him and finding the peace He offers us."

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it lives in our hearts. The gospel “is not weight; it is wings.”⁴ It carries us."

“Fear … not; … I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; … I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

The Lord's plan may not be my plan for myself, and even though we all have experiences that make us feel miserable, the Lord does comfort us and strengthen us to get through them--He has a plan for us that will make us happy in the end.

Krispy Kreme

I think my son is the only kid in the world who will beg for a donut, take 2 bites, and then pop a piece of minty gum in his mouth and call it a night.

To be fair, he ate another 2 bites of his donut for breakfast this morning asked for one more bite about an hour later--you know, as a snack.

Insomnia.

Last night I day-dreamed...or should I say "night-dreamed" (only I was awake) that the doctors had gotten my due date wrong and that I was in labor.  I hate to wish away my summer, but I'm so ready to have this baby in my arms rather than in my belly.

Infomercials.

Thomas is borderline obsessed with mops and vacuums.  To be fair, he's also extremely interested in weed-eaters and leaf-blowers.  If he notices them down an aisle of the store we're in, he requests to go and see them up close.  He also goes around pretending that his popper toy, measuring tape, fly swatter, or even just a big stick are all weed-eaters.

One day, Jake turned on the TV and there happened to be an infomercial for mops.  Thomas was fascinated.  Lately, he has been asking to watch the mops rather than Curious George as he eats his morning cereal.

That particular channel seems to have the same Shark steam mop infomercial on every morning, and Jake and Thomas are currently watching mops as they eat their breakfast together :)

Upgrades.

Jake and I have been saving up for a new vehicle for the past year and a half.  With the impending arrival of our new baby and the deteriorating condition of the Echo (my 16th birthday present), we decided to move forward with an SUV or minivan.

After weeks and weeks of agonizing, researching, and test-driving, we decided upon the Mazda5.  The Sienna was our first choice, but it was huge (would barely fit in our one-car garage) and expensive.  SUVs are nice, but I really wanted sliding doors.

The Mazda5 is like a mini-minivan.  It's red...we seem to have a habit of buying red cars in our family.  We were originally looking for a black one, but we got a good deal on the red.  It seats 6 and has sliding rear doors.  The trunk is pretty tiny with the 3rd row seats up, but we don't really need the 3rd row until we have a 3rd baby, which should be a while.  When we do have a 3rd child, we can put one of the back row seats down and still have a decent amount of storage.

We bought the Mazda a little over a week ago and sold the Echo (using craigslist) about 3 days later.  Everything worked out perfectly, and I am loving the new car.  The sliding doors are invaluable when dragging a little t-rex in and out of his carseat.  I really enjoy having bluetooth, and driving a shiny new car is just fun.

Jake claims he misses the Echo sometimes, but I think the Civic is treating him pretty well.  He's loving the power windows and keyless entry.

Sleeping through the Restoration.

I've recently given up sleep.  It's overrated...according to my bladder and my overactive mind.  My body tends to disagree, especially around 2:00pm when Thomas is about to wake up from his nap and I suddenly can't keep my eyes open.

Anyways, I was reading a conference talk this morning, and I really needed it.  It's President Uchtdorf's talk entitled "Are You Sleeping through the Restoration?"

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"Naturally, we all have a desire for recognition, and there is nothing wrong with relaxing and enjoying ourselves. But when seeking the “gain and praise of the world”⁴ is a central part of our motivation, we will miss the redemptive and joyful experiences that come when we give generously of ourselves to the work of the Lord."

"Those who wholeheartedly turn their lives over to our Savior and serve God and fellowman discover a richness and fulness to life that the selfish or egotistic will never experience. The unselfish give of themselves. These may be small gifts of charity that have a grand impact for good: a smile, a handshake, a hug, time spent in listening, a soft word of encouragement, or a gesture of caring. All these acts of kindness can change hearts and lives. When we take advantage of the unlimited opportunities to love and serve our fellowmen, including our spouse and family, our capacity to love God and to serve others will greatly increase."

"Addictions often begin subtly. Addictions are thin threads of repeated action that weave themselves into thick bonds of habit. Negative habits have the potential to become consuming addictions."

I think it's time for me to wake up and try to start spending my time more wisely.  I'm tired of spending my time feeling like I was half-awake all night and half-asleep all day.  From this talk, I learned that focusing on improving myself might not be the way to fix my time wasting problems.  I think service might be the key.

The potty.

Thomas is almost potty trained.  He's so close.  I'd say that 85% of the time, he makes it to a toilet.  I never expected this process to take so long.  There are so many pinterest pins that explain how to make potty training happen in a day, a week, etc.  Nobody ever says it can take months to perfect. 

I suppose that it must be done, but I'm pretty sure changing diapers was much simpler.  Why is everybody in such a hurry to potty train their children?  I know that it's probably the cost of diapers, but after cleaning poo out of multiple pairs of underwear, I'd say the money is well worth it. 

Baby Girl.

Evelyn Wray Edwards is due August 18th.  Hopefully she'll be early--I can hardly wait!

Evelyn we just liked.

Wray is my maternal grandmother's maiden name and my aunt's middle name.

Her initials will spell EWE...like a sheep.  Jake had 2 major stipulations when it came to selecting our baby girl's name:  she must not be named after a car (he claims that "Alexa" sounds like Lexus) and her initials must spell a word.

I'm pregnant again.

After experiencing pregnancy and childbirth and postpartum with Thomas, I was pretty sure that people who had a second (or heaven forbid multiple children) were clinically insane.  It was pretty miserable.  However, 3 years later, here I am reliving it again and even contemplating doing it a 3rd time in the future.  Nothing compares to the crazy love I have for my baby boy, and I can't wait to experience that again with my new baby girl.

Just probably.

Thomas likes to exaggerate.  I wonder where he got that from...

When he is wheeling and dealing and trying to get something, he commonly uses the phrase, "I just probably need ___."  Fill in the blank with things like going to the pool, eating more fruit snacks, or playing with daddy's tools.

Also, Thomas never WANTS something, he always NEEDS it.  He will tell me that he needs to go to the park and he needs some more juice.  And he most certainly needs to brush his teeth for the 7th time today.

Thomas also likes to make absolutely certain that you understand his position on things.  He will usually say, "Un-uh, no thanks" rather than just "no."  When he is agreeing to something (which happens very rarely), he will say "Un-huh, yeah."  Double answers.

I'm pretty sure I find nearly everything about him cuter than anyone else does, but that's just the way it goes.

My computer crashed.

Thomas nearly a year ago.

My excuse for not blogging for the past year and a half is that my laptop died and I didn't have access to anything with a keyboard.  Blogging on my tablet was just not appealing.  As a sort of early birthday present, Jake and I bought a new desktop today.  No more excuses.  The past year has flown by and I'm realizing that it's sad not to have recorded any of it, so here's to more blogging.  Cheers!

Another favorite from last year.