It's a Boy!

We are so excited to finally have our baby boy! He is adorable, if I do say so myself! I was only in labor for 71/2 hours and pushed for only 45 minutes...it was a cake walk in comparison to Brielle! I'm already feeling pretty good...all things considered. He was born with all his fingers and toes and no major problems...although the cord was wrapped pretty tight around his little neck! The Doctor says he is a healthy little boy. He is eating and sleeping and sleeping and sleeping...just like Brielle did....except for last night I think he got his day and night mixed up, because we were up from 2:30 to 7am...I'm blaming this on the fact that he was circumcised and it made him extra sleepy all day. Today he has been awake a little more and I'm hoping he'll sleep better.

These four pictures are pretty self explanatory...Baby Dean in his hospital Crib; Brielle, Baby Dean and myself a couple of hours after he was born (once Brielle heard his cry over the phone, she was sure that she needed to get to the hospital ASAP because she needed to make funny faces at him to get him to stop crying); Chris and Baby Dean, a couple minutes after birth and the last picture is his first picture after being 'cleaned up.'

We are all so excited and we can't believe how much we already love him!

Brielle was SO cute today and last week at Ballet that I could not help but post these pictures! They are doing Cinderella right now (obviously) ! It;s funny because in both of these pictures she is standing next to the shortest girls in the class...but who are we kidding, she is taller then almost every other 3 year old and some 4 year olds!

Tomorrow is the big day...I am being induced...apparently this kid has no plans of coming on his own so we are taking matters into our own hands! Hopefully I will not have to endure the 23 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing that I did with Brielle....I am optimistic that things will go better, it can' get too much worse!

Still waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

Ahhh! I swear if one more person says "Gosh, you are still pregnant" I am going to scream! I am officially 'overdue,' my 'due date' was on Friday, Sept. 7th...it came and went and still no baby. It is actually quite depressing! My mom was 2 weeks overdue with me and 2 1/2 with Nat...I can't imagine how depressing that would be! I've been dialated to a 3 for several weeks now and I was 75% effaced a week and a half ago...so I've been thinking for weeks that the baby would come any day now! I have now come to the realization that I am going to be pregnant forever! I am going to the doctor again tomorrow and they said if I had not had the baby we'd schedule an induction for this week. They 'stripped my membranes' on Thursday, but it obviously did not put me into labor and I imagine they will try that again tomorrow...how fun! Hopefully it will work this time and I'll have the baby tomorrow, but I don't want to have the baby on Tuesday because it is 9/11...but beggars can't be choosers! I really don't want to be induced...but I also don't want to be pregnant forever and this kid is getting HUGE!!! The whole induction thing did not go very well with Brielle, but hopefully if I'm induced it will go better this time! I'll keep you all posted!

Ready and Waiting...

We are now officially ready for the baby! The carpet is in, the base boards are finished, all the paint has been redone, the light & power switches have all been changed to white (Chris did not like the way the cream looked with his white base boards and trim)...we practically have a new house! I am so happy with the way that everything turned out! Chris did SO much work, I am so lucky to have a husband that can do anything...and is willing to do it all twice!

I thought I was going to have the baby for sure on Saturday night or Sunday because I was so sick to my stomach and I was having a lot of cramping and contractions...however they were not very consistent. Unfortunately...it has all come to a stop today! No more contractions or nausea. I am trying lots of tricks though...last night my sister Natalie and my friend Brittany both insisted on rubbing my feet -- concentrating on the 'reflexology' points that are supposed to induce labor. Tonight Chris and Brittany made me jump on a trampoline. I've been walking like crazy...I don't know why he does not just hurry up and come out...maybe he wants to wait until his 'due date' (Sept. 7). All I know is that the longer we drag this on the bigger he is growing! Brielle was 8lbs 11oz (and she was a week early)! Oh well, as Scarlet would say... "tomorrow is another day!"

Busy Brielle...

Brielle has been very busy lately! She started preschool and she LOVES it! She honestly thinks it is a party every Tuesday and Thursday! I am so glad that she enjoys it so much! The top picture was her first day of school and the second picture is in front of her school. The third & forth pictures are at The Dairy Keen in Heber, after we went to Swiss Days in Midway. She is with her buddy Cash, she has been practicing her big sister skills on him and she is getting pretty good! The last picture is at Ballet. She is in a 'Fairy tale Ballet' Class. Each session they do two Fairy Tales -- the last session they did The Wizard of Oz and The Little Mermaid. Each week they dress up like a different character from the story -- Dorothy, Munchkins, the Wicked Witch, Little Mermaid, Sebastian etc. She loves it! She is such a happy girl, I hope that her little brother will be just like her (knock on wood)!

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"Nesting" for people with OCD!

"Nesting" -- for those of you unfamiliar with this term, it is the 'motherly instinct' to get everything ready for her upcoming child...in our case it is also a fatherly instinct!

We have officially taken "Nesting" to a whole new level! About two weeks ago we decided to do a few things around the house that we have been wanting to get done...however we needed to act quick before the baby! We put granite in the kitchen...the only 'minor inconvenience' was that we had to go an entire week without the plumbing hooked up in the kitchen (no sink or dishwasher), annoying but nothing to put you over the edge. Then we painted (I say "we" but this really means Chris) the Kitchen, family room, hall and entry (for the second time in a year)...then things really got out of control and Chris tore out all the base boards upstairs and replaced them. Tonight he moved all the furniture out of the bedrooms and tore out the carpet because the carpet layers are coming on Thursday! Are we crazy? Then, Thursday night we have to move everything back to the bedrooms because they are coming Friday to do the Family room! Who does this a week before their baby is due? I don't think I really thought this all through when I suggested we do the carpet...I forgot we'd have to move EVERYTHING, including all the stuff in the closets --- this time when I say 'we,' I am included...so are my parents and brother in law, Ben! Thanks for the help guys! Now I'm exhausted and huge!

People keep asking me if I am ready to have this baby....I feel like screaming "Are you kidding me?" It looks like 'Hurricane Dean' hit our house! I can't have the baby until at least this weekend!

Hey Baby Lets Go To Vegas!

Last weekend we decided to do something crazy...take a trip without Brielle. We went with our friends, Brittany and Mackay (who were fantastic trip partners!), to Las Vegas. We were only there for 3 days...but it was just enough time to relax a little. I was a little nervous about traveling, considering I was 3 weeks from my due date, but luckily Chris did not have to deliver the baby on I-15 and we had a wonderful trip! We stayed at Ceasers Palace (where they upgraded our rooms to 'mini-suites' just because I was pregnant), they had 3 great pools and we had a great time sitting by the pool sipping our virgin daiquiris! We also did lots of shopping...and when I say lots I am talking about six or more hours a day! The boys were fantastic shoppers, in fact sometimes Brittany and I found ourselves waiting around for them because they were so into it! Food, Food, Food...Vegas is famous for food...we ate at The Cheese Cake Factory three times in three days, obviously we are not very adventurous--but it was great food! We also went to see the Cirque de Soleil Show "O", it was entertaining and we were on the second row, so we saw everything really well...but there were these WEIRD clowns and it was a little to long --we went to the 10:30 show and by the end I was ready to go to sleep! My only complaint about our trip was that it was 110 degrees! Are you kidding me? How do people live in a city that hot? Oh yes, and my other complaint is that my daughter could have cared less that we were gone. She had LOTS of fun with my parents, probably because they catered to her every demand...especially my dad! My mom said that she came home one night to find Brielle on their King size bed with a tray of crackers, cheese, juice etc... watching cartoons! No wonder she loves her Bobpa so much, he takes very good care of her. Our first trip alone since Brielle was born was a HUGE SUCCESS, thanks to my parents taking Brielle and Britt and Mackay being such fun travel friends!