Welcome, Baby Parker!!

Parker Stone arrived healthy and strong to us last Wednesday. I went into the hospital Wednesday afternoon around 12:30 dilated to almost 7cm. I was determined to try this birth without an epidural. About 3 1/2 hours later, I was fully dilated and ready to push. After 5-6 contractions of pushing, the doctor tried to turn the baby's head (ya... OUCH!). At that point I became hysterical and demanded medication... so 4-5 more contractions later I got a spinal (immediate relief) with an epidural (delayed relief).

6 1/2 hours later... pushing on and off...

The baby was showing signs of distress while I was pushing (he was fine when I wasn't), and I was starting to get a fever. Both bad signs... The doctor said the baby kept turning his head the wrong way, plus my pelvis was a little oval-shaped (vs. round). The baby seemed too big to come through! So... at 10:20pm it was decided to do a cesarean section to make sure the baby came out safely. An hour later, Parker was born and started crying - a healthy baby boy!!

I guess in our house there's no such thing as a normal birth. Something always happens, but thankfully we have been blessed with 2 healthy boys. I feel extremely lucky to have them both in my life!

February 23, 2011

11:22 pm
8 lbs, 2 oz
21 1/4 in long

More Cousin Time

Lincoln & Flora May... Best Friends. :)

(January 17th, 2011)

Enjoying Ring Pops while watching us play XBox Kinect

(January 25th, 2011)

Swinging at the park

And a movie of them swinging at the park (thanks, Ash!).

Costco Shopping Trip

(January 7th, 2011)

The poor little guy couldn't wait another minute...

He was doing this the whole time (6-7 minutes) I was in the check-out line... and a LOT of people were laughing, including me!

Pretty darn cute, Lincoln.

Snow!

(January 3, 2011)

Early January it snowed and maybe a couple inches stuck to the ground. I woke Lincoln up, threw a coat, sweats, and shoes on him, and rushed him outside. That will probably be the last time he sees snow in a looooong time... especially in St. George!

He didn't want to leave the porch. I think it was a combination of him being half-awake, the bright whiteness, foreign looking white stuff on the ground... so I started making balls (which he usually loves) and tossing them up to him. Then I tried to get one of the snowballs to hit him (gently, of course) which is when Ashley & Kurt drove up. They thought it was pretty funny.

I eventually forced him off the porch, and tried to get him to play in the snow and help me make a snowman. He just kept tripping and crying and wanting to be held. Little baby...

Lincoln with my snowman (that melted FAST)

Lovin' the Stroller & Bike Trailer

(December 29th, 2010)

Lincoln LOVES LOVES LOVES to go on rides in his stroller and the bike trailer. If I need something from the garage, he insists on going with me, just because it may mean he gets to go on a ride. One day, after being in the garage for less than a minute, this is what I found:


He can get in all by himself. He even tries to buckle himself in. Pretty funny. And cute.

Ever heard of Groupon?

They have a sweet** deal going on... and it ends in 4 days. (Monday night, Feb. 7th)

Buy a $20 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble for $10.


Yes, $10!!! As long as you use it (in store OR online) before April 11th it will still be worth $20, and on 4/11 it will only be worth $10. (Limit 1 per person.. bummer.)

**Maybe I think it's such a great deal because Jesse & I love to buy books, especially children's books since Lincoln LOVES to read so much!

If you want in on the deal, go HERE: http://www.groupon.com/r/uu6863931

and look on the far right for the Barnes & Noble deal ($10 for $20 Worth of Toys and Games, Books and More at Barnes & Noble)

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UPDATE: They have fixed their login issues... so now you can log in without problems.
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I've gotten a few things from Groupon.. a 16X20 canvas print, a Winder Farms gift certificate, and now this Barnes & Noble gift card. I have been very happy with my purchases.

If you have never heard of Groupon before (or know how it works), here's a little explanation. You buy the coupon for a good deal. They email you a confirmation and charge your card IF enough people decide to buy the coupon. Once the coupon is available (usually the next day or two, this case maybe four), you visit the link that gives you instructions on how to use it. It is pretty straightforward.

FOR EXAMPLE:

These are my instructions on the canvas print, without the ID#.

______________________________________________
Your Groupon ID# is *******-**-*.

1. From 1/29 - 5/30, visit www.canvasondemand.com/groupon,
select the 16" by 20" Thick (1.5") option and enter your Groupon #
at checkout.

2. Enjoy!
______________________________________________

Any questions? Email me or leave a comment. I'd be happy to help you!

Christmas!

(December 25th, 2010)

It's pretty fun having a little kid to share Christmas with. The only big surprise is how LONG he slept in until!! Jesse and I both slept in past 8am, took our time getting ready, only to still wait for Lincoln to wake up! We ended up waking him up at 9:15am or so... since we were having breakfast over at Kurt & Ashley's.

Jesse helping Lincoln figure out how to tear open that paper

Playing with a couple of new cars

We also went to the family Christmas party earlier that week and Lincoln got to see Santa (I don't have the picture yet... I'm not sure who has it..).

And here's a video of Lincoln on Christmas morning (kinda long... 3 min)

The balloons are a tradition from Jesse's family... they mean that Santa has arrived! It's a pretty fun tradition (and kind of difficult to make happen when you are pregnant and blowing up balloons is extra hard!) and they stay around for a long time. Lincoln really enjoyed them! :)

Flooding in St. George

(December 21, 2010)

Back in 2005, St. George was on the news for their "100-year flood"...where houses were literally falling off the banks and floating down the river. This river is usually a little CREEK! Well, it happened again this past December. A lot of bridges were ripped up, but thankfully no houses this time (I think...).

Just down the street from Jesse's office

Lincoln enjoying the car ride as we drove around looking at the raging river.

You can see a few more pictures of the flooding HERE. (I only had my camera phone, so the pictures I took were pretty disappointing.)