Blessing day!

On January 27th, while my parents were in town, Bruce gave Zabien a name and a blessing as customary in my church.  Throughout the meeting, I felt humbled by the fact that I was entrusted with this pure and precious spirit.  Who is really prepared to accept such a responsibility? I love both of my children, deeply, but sometimes it still feels a bit surreal.  Really??  I am given the wonderful yet overwhelming opportunity to be a mother??  And of two beautiful, innocent, and wonderful children??  Let's just hope that someday I will be able to measure up to the task.

It's a good thing we decided to bless him when we did.  Although he was barely 4 weeks old, this blessing outfit would not have fit him even a week later.  I managed to squeeze him into it long enough for a few pictures and the blessing itself.  It's a good thing I brought an extra outfit with me to church, because the blessing suit gave him a bit of a rash because it was so tight. 

The blessing itself was beautiful.  I'm really glad my parents could be here for it.  Some of Bruce's students even showed up for it. 

Zabien was blessed that he would continue to be healthy and strong and to grow both physically and by learning the gospel.  He was blessed that he would listen to his parents and by his mother and father learn the truths of the gospel and how to grow into being a young man of God in the world.  He was blessed that he would learn in school and develop his talents and abilities.  He would spend his youth preparing for a mission and learn the gospel at home, in primary, in young mens, and in scouts.  He was told to find good friends those that would strengthen him, help him to be good, to make good choices, and help strengthen his testimony.  He was blessed that he would prepare to marry int he temple a choice daughter of God and to raise a righteous family.  He was blessed that he would feel the love of Heavenly Father and know that Heavenly Father is mindful of him.  He was blessed that he would be a great brother to his sister and a continual blessing to his family.  He was told that he is loved by his parents, sibling, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, and that as he spend time with them, they would share a love and come to know them. 

It actually brings comfort to me to hear that my son will know and love his extended family.  Living on the other side of the country from our family, limits our ability to see them often (usually about once a year).  This was something that I worry about - that my children won't know their grandparents for the wonderful and amazing people that they are.  I worried that they won't develop fond memories of their grandparents, cousins, aunt, uncles, etc. That makes the moments we do get to spend with them all the more meaningful. 

Welcome to our family little buddy.  We are happy and blessed that you are part of our family.  We sure love you!!

*Those are the only 3 pictures we got with him in his blessing outfit.  Unfortunately, we were rushed to make it to church on time, and I couldn't bear to force him back into the outfit for a second time in one day. 

Snow

It has snowed a total of about 5 times this year - only twice did it actually stick (for about half a day), and only once was there enough to actually do something with. There have been a couple of days in January that we played at the park. 

On the one snowy day, we got Eliza all bundled up and ready to play in the snow for her first time

 

She reluctantly walked in it; although it took a lot of coaxing.

 

At first, she wouldn't even touch the stuff.

 She definitely didn't want to sit in it. 

I guess her curiosity got the best of her because she decided to give the snow a chance. 

Bruce showed her how to make a snow angel (of which she wanted nothing to do with), and managed to imprint Illinois in the snow from the back of his jacket.

She lasted outside for about 5 minutes before calling it quits and coming inside.  So far... she's not a big fan of the snow. 

Surprisingly enough, she actually likes the snowsuit and boots.  She wants to put them on all the time.  When Bruce went outside to shovel the driveway a different day, she wanted to "help."  After getting bundled up again, she refused to even walk in the snow.  She stood inside the garage until Bruce had cleared the driveway.  Even then, she wanted to be carried.  She loves putting on her boots (wants to wear them around the house); but every time we put them on her, she refuses to walk in the snow- silly girl, that's what they are for.  These boots were given to me; I'm debating whether I should buy her some for next year or not. 

A few photos of newborn Zaby

The first four photos are courtesy of my friend Carrie Skinfill - she's trying to build her personal photography business. 

 

 

These last ones are with my old point and shoot camera! Yes this 3 month outfit was almost too small at 1 week old.

 

He is a cute and snuggly baby - he loves to cuddle and loves to be held. 

And I missed it

It's a good thing, I taught my mother in law how to use the video feature on her digital camera.  Of course, the day Zabien was born was the day Eliza took her first steps alone.  I was super excited when I found out about it, and she did wobble over to me to give hugs when I got home.  However, I'm not too shy to admit that I am/was extremely jealous of grandma - she got to witness and participate the shrill joy of a baby's first steps into toddler-hood; while I missed it.  I will also make a full confession that I did in fact shed some tears over it in the privacy of my own bedroom after I put Eliza to bed.  It wasn't just post-partum hormones either, I was really distraught that I missed such an important milestone in my eldest daughter's life.  I'm just grateful that my mother in law got it on camera so I could watch it later



I actually attribute Eliza taking her first steps to a number of things:

1)  She had been working with a physical therapist (more on that later) a couple of weeks before the taking of her first steps.  A friend from the ward suggested I call early intervention and get her evaluated because at 17 months, she wasn't even standing alone, or able to get up from a seated position without a lot of help.  After the initial visit, she exhibited the skills of an 11 month old, and therefore qualified for physical therapy services.    She only had a 24% (instead of the required 25%) delay in speech and communication.  So, although at this point she didn't say any words except cuckoo when the cuckoo clock went off, she didn't qualify for speech therapy  - she probably will now. The physical therapist said she has very little arch support in her tiny feet, that her ankle ligaments are twice as stretchy as they should be, and that she has low muscle tone. All of these factors put together would make it difficult for her to walk independently. She had been walking with support (holding onto both my hands) for around 4 months (about the same time she started crawling), but this was the first she did it alone.


  2) We got her a baby doll and stroller, and a walking toy for Christmas. These toys helped give her the balance and the confidence she needed to try and venture out on her own.

3) Her cousin Lillie (10 days younger) was visiting from Utah.

Lillie could walk and talk which Eliza found fascinating because Lillie was just her size. You will notice from the videos that AFTER Lillie stepped to grandma, Eliza decided to try it.


 

Having Lillie here was wonderful. The two girls played well together, and they taught each other some new things. It was after Lillie left that Eliza made huge progress with her ability to walk, and she started to try to talk more. She finally started using some of the sign language I was trying to teach her because she saw Lillie do it. I can now wash her hair without her fighting and screaming because Lillie likes getting her hair washed. Eliza taught Lillie that books can be a lot of fun, and how to share your toys. Eliza loved having Grandma Richards, aunt Angeline, and cousin Lillie here to play. I loved that Eliza was well taken care of while I was in the hospital. After our guests went home, it took Eliza a couple of days to stop looking for Lillie - she missed her. What cute girls!!

Arrival Story

Feel free to skip this post if you are not interested in my labor and delivery story.  I really only post it for myself so that I can remember, and for posterity sake.  I usually don't share these stories (for good reason as you will soon find out) unless asked.  Without further ado...

To start out, I will flashback to 37 weeks.  I woke up in the middle of the night to painful back spasm/contraction things.  I remember having two days of sporadic back contractions prior to Eliza's arrival, and I thought this was a similar thing.  However, these back spasms were much more frequent and severe.  They came about 5 minutes apart and lasted a minute for around 3 hours.  They were so severe that I couldn't move - the baby was literally "on my nerves" making it impossible to walk or even roll over.   Even though I told Bruce this is what was happening,  I didn't feel like I was in true labor - I figured the baby would come in the next couple of days.  I suffered through the sleepless night when the spasms eventually subsided, and stayed home from church with Eliza who had a cold.  I expected to be told I had made progress at my next OB  appointment.  However, at 38 weeks, I had nothing to show for - no dilation, no progress.  Over the next couple of weeks, I felt absolutely nothing - not a single contraction and very little movement.  I began to wonder if he was ever going to arrive. 

38 Weeks. Bruce took this picture because he said I looked significantly bigger - I was not thrilled with the idea.

At my 39 week appointment, I was dilated to a 2 and 50% effaced - yeah!!  The doctor said there was a 50% chance I would make it to my next appointment, but she guessed I would have him over the weekend. (This would have been the weekend before Christmas).   I waited and waited, but still felt nothing.

39 weeks plus a few days

 

At my 40 week appointment (with hospital bag packed and in the car, just in case), I was at a 3.  The doctor said they don't induce unless I am a week overdue.  My mother in law was in town, and I really wanted to have him before she had to go home.  The doctor said she would make an exception if I wanted to be induced, she would schedule me on January 2, 4 days after my due date.  Quite frankly, I didn't want to be induced, nor do I ever really want to be induced.  The doctor decided to strip my membranes hoping that would put me into labor.

40 weeks - taken the day before delivery

 

My mother in law suggested that we go shopping - thinking that walking around would jump start things.  We shopped for food and clothes, all the while I felt nothing - not a single contraction, not a single bit of discomfort, and no pain.  At 10:30 that night, I decided to call it a day thinking that no baby was coming any time soon. 

Later, at 11:47, I felt my first contraction - it was moderate, lasting about a minute.  My second contraction came at 11:50, and my third at 11:53.  Being forewarned on many occasions that the second always goes faster than the first, and taking into consideration how quickly Eliza came once she decided she was ready, it was then I decided to call the doctor.  I explained that I only had three contractions, but they are 3 minutes apart and lasting about a minute.  (While on the phone, the contractions kept coming about 3-4 minutes apart.)  The doctor said if this pattern continued over the next half hour that I could come into the hospital, and they would begin to monitor me.  After hanging up the phone, I told Bruce that I though we needed to go to the hospital now - we shouldn't wait for the 30 minutes. 

By this time the contractions were picking up intensity, and I was worried we were running out of time.  By the time Bruce gave me a priesthood blessing, we got things ready, told my mother in law we were leaving, (I was so grateful she was staying with us), and got in the car, it was close to 12:30.  It is approximately a 20 minute drive to the hospital.  While in the car, my contractions were coming so quickly, they were one on top of the other.  I bit down so hard on my jacket zipper that I ended up biting off two zipper teeth.  It was then that I threw up, mighty glad that I told Bruce to grab a bucket (I knew this from previous experience as well). 

We pulled up to the emergency room entrance and I walked through the first sliding door.  It was so difficult to move, and my contractions were so overwhelming, I stopped and grabbed onto Bruce for strength.  A nurse came out with a wheelchair and asked what my name was.  Instead of  going through the slow process of admitting me - they immediately wheeled me upstairs and told Bruce to follow. 

By the time, we got to the delivery room, it was 1:00.  The nurse told me to put the wrap around my belly and slip on the gown.  I honestly tried, but I couldn't do it.  Bruce helped get my pants down and I laid on the bed and called to the nurse.

"Nurse??"  She must have heard the concern in my voice because she immediately came rushing into the room.  "I can't get the gown on."

"Okay.  Let me check you.  Alright, well the gown is the least of our concerns."  She turned to another nurse in the hallway and asked if Dr. Dennyson (not my doctor) was still around.  Negative.  "Is  Dr. Sendzik (my doctor) here?"  Negative.  He apparently hadn't left home yet thinking he wasn't in any hurry.  Within minutes, I had four nurses around me. 

After consulting with each other, the nurses agree that they don't need the doctor - they know what to do.  One nurse held my right leg, one nurse held my left leg, one nurse held the fetal monitor to my belly, and one nurse caught the baby.  Really, who needs the doctor anyway?? 

They waited until the last possible minute before allowing me to push.  Precisely 2 pushes later (and 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital), baby Zaby made his appearance at 1:23 am on December 29 (my due date).  The nurses decided to wait for the doctor to take out my placenta - the doctor has to do something to earn his paycheck, right? 

20 minutes after Zabien was born, Dr. Sendzik came waltzing in the room to offer his congratulations, take out the placenta, and stitch up my 2nd degree tear.   Counting back the time, my entire labor was an hour and a half - yep!  That's pretty speedy. 

It's a good thing I want a natural delivery because I may never have the chance to get an epidural.  In the words of the nurse, "You did amazing .  You were in the zone- you don't need an epidural."  I couldn't agree more!

Christmas

Eliza loved the jingle bells on our tree - we found them all over the house

Christmas this year was very relaxed and laid back, but extremely fun as well.  Eliza liked opening presents, but enjoyed what was inside even more.  Christmas is always special, but in the eyes of an innocent child, Christmas truly does become magical.  Although we didn't enjoy the presence of our sweet little boy at Christmas time, we enjoyed spending this one on one time with Eliza and seeing how much joy she experienced with her new toys - no matter how exhausting. 

 

As per tradition, we started our Christmas celebration on the 23rd of December by sporting our annual Christmas jammies.  I don't know what my problem was with making our jammies this year, but I made so many mistakes with every pair.  I'm actually amazed that I had enough material to make 3 complete pairs considering I had to re cut an entire leg.  Surprisingly enough, my pants fit over my enormous belly.  I guessed on Eliza's pair - not using a pattern.  They had some difficulty staying up. 

We invited some friends over for a pajama ableskiever party.  We enjoyed great danish pancakes and a few games of Guesstures and Catch Phrase.  Eliza helped make the ableskeiver being ever so talented to stir the batter with her mouth. 

We ended the evening with a Christmas concert put on by our family members, and our traditional sleep over under the Christmas tree.  Eliza was so excited by this, it took her forever to go to sleep.  Finally at 11:00 pm, she dozed off with her head wedged between my shoulder blades.  Throughout the night, Bruce had to move her so I could roll over.  When I got up to go to the bathroom in the night, she must have sensed that I was no longer there because she woke up.  Sure enough, she could only go back to sleep with her head wedged in between my shoulder blades.  It wasn't the best nights sleep, but it's not really intended to be - it's a special tradition that I hope our children will remember and look forward to. 

 

 

Christmas eve was pretty low-key (we all took a couple of naps).  We watched Christmas movies, ate donuts, and cleaned up the house to get ready for Santa Claus.  I wanted to attend a Christmas Rhythms program advertised by the non denominational church down the road from us.  Thinking it would be a wonderful concert of uplifting Christmas music, I was ready to introduce yet another tradition.  Despite how unique the program was, we were sorely disappointed.  Not expecting a rock concert, nor the most nontraditional, undoctrinal Christmas sermon, we left without the feeling of peace and hope one usually expects to feel at a church service.  The preacher didn't even say amen - instead he ended by saying, "we're going to celebrate - let it rip" and walked off the stage as a drum line came pounding down the aisle.   Both Bruce and I agree that Handel's Hallelujah chorus is more powerfully done without drums, electric guitars, and hologram fireworks. 

When our door bell rang around 6:00 that evening, we were quite surprised to find a pile of presents on our front door step - we were "santa-tized".  With three additional presents dropped off by secret Santa and four gifts from the students I tutor and teach piano to, Eliza ended up with way more things than intended. 

Opening Christmas presents was an all day affair.  Eliza didn't care how many presents she had (which ended up being a lot), she was mostly interested in playing with the toys she was given.  We had to keep coaxing her to open another one.  We would let her play with her new toy for awhile before giving her another one.  We ended up opening presents in three shifts (morning, afternoon, and evening) - thus it really did turn out to be an all day affair.  We attended a brunch at our stake president's house that the whole ward was invited to.  The food was absolutely amazing and I didn't have to cook a bit of it.  Christmas brunch at the Peterson's house has now become a tradition of our family. :)


I found this child's rocking chair still unassembled in its original box at a garage sale for $4.00. She was thrilled that it was just her size; however, I think she will like it better when she can get in and out of it on her own.

Even though it was the second gift, this one took the cake. At first, she casually teared at the wrapping paper. When she saw what it was, she vigorously tore the rest of the paper off and wanted the doll out of the box immediately.

Once the doll was out, she never let it out of her arms - it went everywhere with her for the day, including the Peterson's brunch.

After opening the stroller, she immediately put the doll in the stroller and took off. Maneuvering down the hall proved to be a bit more difficult - she needed daddy's help I'm actually surprised she knew what to do with it; this is her first time playing with a doll. She played with this one for half an hour before we could get her to open another one. I'm glad that she enjoyed her gifts so much. She is such a little mom to this doll. She once tried giving her doll a bath, and here she is sharing her sippy.

I found over $100 worth of Little People houses and accessories for $10 at a garage sale.  She mostly likes driving around the car, and pushing all the buttons that make noise in the house.  She might be a little young for this toy yet, but I couldn't pass up the deal.  

 

Bruce gave me these storage tubs to help organize the oodles of baby clothes we have.  Unlike the cardboard boxes I used before, these totes are mouse proof  (more on that later).

 

Bruce and I must think alike, either that or we really wanted this game - we gave each other the same thing. (Anyone up for a challenge??)
 

By the end of the third round of presents, Eliza was pretty worn out and not at all interested in opening more presents (like I said she got too many - Santa only brought her 3). Here she is very tired and holding one of the secret Santa gifts.

As a family, we got a double bike trailer that we will be sure to enjoy when summer time comes around, and I got a deep freeze. I seriously feel like I have so much freedom with a deep freeze - when I find good sales on meat and other freezer food, I can now buy as much as I want.:):)


Backtracking even more, on December 15, our ward had their annual Christmas party. They had a wonderful program that was focused on the story of Christ's birth interspersed with some music. Santa Claus was sitting in the foyer at the beginning of the party to greet the children and was available for pictures. I liked that he was there, but wasn't the central point of the party like it most often is. Eliza fell asleep on the way to the party and stayed asleep for awhile. When she woke up, we tried getting a picture with Santa. She wouldn't sit on his lap, but she would sit on Santa's elf's lap. What a handsome elf with a great costume. :)

We had a wonderful Christmas - full of playing games and quality family time spent together. May all our days be full of such joy.