1st Doctor Appointment-A Sad Day

 Well Bryce had his first Doctor appointment on Monday-it was his 3 day check up or whatever you call it. I was glad Landon had the day off so he could go with me, because he also had to have his circumcision at this appointment. It was so sad I couldn't bare to watch :(. The doctor said he was doing well though and had only lost about 3 oz which is less than most babies lose, so apparently he is eating well. He also told Bryce that he was going to need to man up his cry just a little bit-LOL. Poor Little Guy-all in all he handled things well though.

Baby and Ball Games

This weekend was super busy! Mainly because of the birth of Bryce but added on top of that was the fact that Tanner also had a Fri./Sat. baseball tournament, luckily it was in town, and a basketball game. Poor Landon was run ragged by the time Saturday night rolled around-luckily he was able to take off a couple days this week to catch up. I think he was up for like 3 nights straight- Thursday night with me in labor and then we pretty much never went back to sleep, Friday night Tanner had two games and one of them didn't start until 8:00 pm. The next morning Landon had to have Tanner at a basketball game by 8:00 am after that he came and took the baby and I home from the hospital and then it was back to the ball fields for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

Tanner's baseball tournament went really well. His team went 2-2 and the 2 games they did lose they only lost by 1 point so it was a great tournament for them. Tanner had a sweet play at third, and didn't have any fielding errors-his hitting wasn't the best-but I think I would partly blame the cold there.

In Tanner's basketball game Landon said he played really well. He even score five points-one of them being a 3. That is a first for him :) I think he did it for his baby brother.  

Even though Tan had ball games he never really wanted to leave his brother he would say I need to hold Bryce for 5 minutes before I can go.

Visitors

The first few days after Bryce was born we had lots and lots of visitors. We are so lucky to have such supportive family and friends. Bryce is a lucky boy to be so loved already.

Bryce's Giraffe

 This little giraffe has a very special story behind it. As those of you who know me know that I have a very special to me little boy I have worked with for the past 3 years. I love him like he is one of my own kids. He was one of the hardest parts of me deciding to stay home and not go back to work. Well on Friday one of the ladies I worked with stopped by to visit me and the baby, with her she brought a gift from that child and his mother. His mother gave me a big box of newborn diapers, which we really needed since he is so so tiny he doesn't really fit in the 1's we had stocked up on :). The little boy sent this-his very own giraffe that he has had since he was a little boy. He wanted Bryce to have it. I guess he was crying when he gave it up and they told him he didn't have to but he said he really needed it to watch over my baby and all he wanted was a picture of his giraffe with the baby. Note-this child does not show emotion-his Mom says he has maybe cried like 6 times in his life. This was the best gift that Bryce and I could have received and we will always cherish it.  

Bryce is Here!!!

Bright and early Friday morning little Bryce made his arrival. 

He was born at 3:40 am January 25, 2013

He weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19.5 inches long.

His full name is Bryce Eldon Ellison

I had been having contractions pretty bad on and off all week. In fact anytime I would be up at all I would have contractions. My goal was to make it through the week so I could accomplish a few things and start training the lady that was going to replace me. Well I made it until Thursday night, when after having consistent contractions all day decided I had better go in and get checked. Well they checked me and I was still only a 2.5 but I was having contractions every 2 to 3 minutes and they were getting harder and more painful, so they kept me another hour to monitor and then checked me again and I was a 3 so they kept me. Contractions continued to get worse and they quickly got me an epidural. Things went slowly for awhile. The doctor came in a little after 10:00 and broke my water at that point I was a 4. The last hour I moved really fast though and between 2 and 3 I dialated my last 4 centimeters in an hour. The doctor came in just after 3:00 and by 3:40 little Bryce was here. They were a little worried about his lungs at first but after having the specialist listen to them or half an hour they determined he was good to go. They never had to give him oxygen or anything for which we were very grateful. He is such a blessing to us already.

 Once he was born and cleaned up a little my mom brought the kids over to get their first glimpse of their baby brother. Then they went home to wait until the next morning when they could come back and hold him. She said Chloe went back to sleep fully dressed and was up ready to go by 7 once she finally fell asleep. 

Vegas Tournament Update

Landon reminded me in a comment that I had forgotten to mention the fact that they saw the famous tennis player Andre Agassi and his wife and the ball tournament. Apparently he has a son Tanner's age that plays on one of the Vegas teams :)

Baby Shower

Last week on Wednesday a few of the ladies I work with threw me a baby shower. It was lots of fun! Lots of people from work showed up and we had a good time visiting and opening presents and looking over all the cute baby stuff.

One of the janitors makes cakes on the side and made this awesome diaper bag cake.

 We came home with a trunk full of goodies to add to our growing pile of gifts, and Chloe had fun going through them all and showing them off to Landon. 

Of course we got plenty of baseball themed apparel :)

Vegas Tournament

Over the three day weekend Tanner had a baseball tournament in Vegas. I didn't go down for obvious reasons, but he and Landon went down for the games Saturday and then back for the games on Monday. He opted out and didn't play in the Sunday games. I'll have to admit I literally cried both times they left because I was worried something would happen while they were out of time and I would end up in the delivery room without Landon. Tanner's team did really well. They made it to the Silver Medal Championship and ended with a 3-3 record. The best thing is that they beat a St. George team that has been a thorn in our sides for a long time. Tanner made some good plays and played 2nd or left the whole time-no errors. He hit good and only struck out a few times. The only thing is that luck wasn't on his side as even though he was hitting he never made it to base cause someone was always right there to snag his hit and get him out. I guess I shouldn't say he never made it to base, he did get on base once and even made it home when they had to sub him in for a kid on second who had to go pee-ha ha.

Another cool thing is that they got to play several of their games on the field of dreams, which is a facility with  about 8 ball fields each patterned after a major league ball field. Here is a picture of Tanner playing in front of the green monster, which for those of you who don't know is the green wall at RedSox Stadium.

Getting their trophies at the championship game...

Well that's the scoop for now. There is another ball tournament in St. George this weekend as well as Chloe and Tanner both having basketball games this week, so it should be a fun filled week. I think we will be super busy with at least a few events per night-wish us luck ;) and who knows we might throw having a baby into the mix, as it seems I have contractions anytime I am up for long at all.

Thoughts on Life

As I sit here awake at 4:30 in the morning miserable and unable to sleep I am thinking of what a challenge the last 8 months have been. A lot of it has been related to my pregnancy I have been sick, sick, sick, miserable, and uncomfortable. To add to the pregnancy issues there has been a lot of other stress and turmoil in my life during this time. My Grandpa passed away, I met my biological Dad and half-siblings for the first time, my parents got a divorce after 30 years, my dad got remarried, and there has been countless other events of stress and trauma between extended family on both sides. To add to it the kids and I have caught a lot of stuff going around we have all had bad colds, Tanner got a Sinus infection, we all had the stomach flu, and I had strep throat. Man it seems like we have been living a nightmare, but as I sit here and reflect I realize that even though all this has gone on-I'm happy. Sure it's been hard at times, but as Landon reminds me at least we have each other, and the kids and that's what matters, and very soon now we will have our little baby Bryce as well and then all the hard times and suffering of the pregnancy will soon be forgotten. I am just so grateful I have my family, and the gospel in my life I know that without them these last few months would have been unbearable but with them we have all survived and somehow been made better for our struggles.

Beckett's Bassinet

 For some reason Beckett thinks that the babies bassinet is for him. Every time it is close enough to the bed for him to get into; he gets in in and lays down. We'll definitely have to break him of it, since we don't want him jumping in on top of little Bryce. Silly dog I wonder what he is thinking. 

California Crispy

 Saturday Night while Landon and Tanner were in Vegas at a ball tournament Chloe and I went to dinner with my Grandma and Mom. We decided to go somewhere we had never gone before, and try something new. My mom suggested Benjai's Thai and Sushi, she had been there before, but the rest of us hadn't, so we decided to give it a try. It's actually kind of a more fancy place and Chloe of course loved it. In fact she was the only kid in the whole establishment. But I guess most kids don't like sushi after all. Chloe loved eating with the chopsticks and was actually able to do it well, since she had the kid version :) She tried everything and really liked most of it. She even ate sushi-cooked sushi that is-and absolutely loved it! It was actually a California Sushi Roll which they deep fried, so it is cooked, which makes it a California Crispy. The only part of it she didn't like was the seaweed. 

I had a few really bad contractions while we were at the restaurant, but once I got home and laid down they were done for the night. I accused my mom of taking us to that restaurant because she knew that the curry they used would put me into labor. HAHA I was kidding of course-I really don't think there was any curry in the food.

Baby Update and Getting Ready

 Yesterday I had a doctor appointment-the word was that I was 50% thinned and dilated to 2.5. Wow this baby could be here sooner than I thought. The doctor still couldn't give an accurate estimate on when he thought Bryce would come. He said it could be any day or sometime in the next couple of weeks, but I definitely probably won't make it to my due date which is Feb. 15. I think we are pretty much prepared physically but now it's time to mentally prepare. I was having anxiety all day yesterday just thinking about how close it was.

Chloe has been so excited helping get things ready for her baby brother. In fact for family night last week she was in charge of the activity and she chose to get the crib and bassinet set up. (To bad the blanket to go in the crib is the one thing I am still working on-it's one of those patch work rag type quilts and is proving to be a little time consuming). 

We bought a dresser several months ago and it is pretty much full-Chloe and I have spent lots of time organizing the drawers.

Of course we have stocked up on diapers and wipes as well. 

The one thing I really wanted was a swing/bouncer. Landon kept holding me back from buying one and I couldn't figure out why. Come to find out he was in cahoots with some very nice ladies who I have worked with for years on the PTO. They had bought it for me and presented it to me as a surprise at one of the meetings. Chloe, with a little assistance from Landon, put it together.

 Yesterday my mom and two of my sisters gave me a stroller and my other sister gave me a really nice labor/delivery kit, so I think we might be set.

 Now all we have to do is wait-for how long who knows-maybe another day or two and maybe another week or two, but I guess he will come when the time is right.