Sushi and White Elephants

Mark likes to experiment with cooking.  A couple of weeks ago, he made some sushi.  The first roll was really big and fell apart.  After making a few revisions, this is what he ended up with. 

It was really tasty (and that's from someone who isn't a sushi fan).  I look forward to his next experiment.


A different happening in our family is that we got a "Mr. Bean emergency diaper" in a white elephant game.  So, of course we had to take pictures of C in the diaper.  He's such a cutie in it. 

New Jammies

When I saw these Christmas Jammies at the store, I knew that Calvin needed them.  He looks so darn cute in them.  Also, we introduced him to the binky and he seems to like it.  Enjoy a couple of pictures. 

Two Weeks

My little buddy is two weeks old today.  We have been having an adventure trying to figure everything out together.  I think we are slowly getting an idea of how everything is supposed to work.  Several times a day, I tell Mark how much I love our baby.  He is such a sweetheart and I love watching him grow.  He is already growing fast.  We love our little boy!

Calvin James Arrives!

Our precious baby arrived a week ago.  I looked forward to the happy event with much anticipation.  The day before he arrived, we met with our OB to discuss our options as we were two days past due date.  Our doctor was leaving town on Monday morning and wanted to induce us.  We decided to wait and see because we were anxious to not be induced.  After we left the doctor's office, we stopped at my sister's house, then came home and went on a walk.  We worked on a little sewing project together and then decided to go to bed.  I jumped on the bed for a few minutes and then got in the shower.  That's when the contractions started.  This was around 11 pm.  At midnight, I decided it was time to go to the hospital.  Mark had fallen asleep at 11:30.  He was groggy at first, but eventually the excitement kicked in.  After getting dressed and gathering all the stuff we needed, we headed off to the hospital.  We checked in about 1 am.

Our nurse checked our progress and told us we were dilated to a 6.  She inserted a heparin lock into my right hand and gave me some fluids.  I felt really nauseated and threw up.  After getting samples and monitoring the baby for awhile, I was allowed get into the Jacuzzi.  I spent an hour and a half in the Jacuzzi and threw up again while in there.  After heading back to my room and climbing back into the bed, my water broke.  The nurse checked me again and dilation was 8 cm.  The monitors were put back on and labor became more intense.  After awhile, I really had to use the restroom.  We took the monitors off and headed into the bathroom.  I felt the urge to push.  Mark went and got the nurse, and she called the doctor and let everyone know to come to our room.  I remember her exact words were, "Room 9 is dilated to 9 plus and is feeling pushy."  After everyone that was needed was there, pushing started.  I would estimate that I pushed for about 45 minutes before Calvin was born.  When he came out, he peed all over the doctor.  Mark got to cut the cord and then Calvin was handed to me. 

As soon as I saw Calvin, I was in love.  He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  He was born at 4:46 am on November 23, 2013.  He weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.  I have loved snuggling with him and getting to know him this week.  I am so grateful to be his mommy. 

This birth was almost everything I wanted (it would have been perfect, except I had a couple of tears).  I know that I wouldn't have been able to have this wonderful experience without the help of my amazing sweetheart.  Mark was the perfect birth coach.  He helped me through each contraction and helped me to stay focused when I started to freak out.  I love my husband very much, and I feel so blessed to have gone through this experience with him.

And now for some pictures.

Waiting

This little baby of ours isn't "due" until tomorrow, but I feel like we've been waiting forever for him to come out and meet us.  I feel like all I've been doing for the past several months is sitting around and waiting for this little guy to come.  Now that it's down to the last few days, I'm getting pretty anxious. 

A Work of Art

I got a cross stitch kit of Greg Olsen's "Light of the World" painting for Christmas of 2009.  I worked on it during summers and holiday breaks because I was always too busy during school.  I finally finished it this September.  That is a little over three and a half years.  After putting so much time and effort into this 11 x 13 picture that is almost continuous stitching, I decided to get it framed.  Without further ado, here are pictures of the finished, framed product that I spent 3 1/2 years of my life working on.

If you want to see it in person, it is now hanging in my living room. 

Also, a shout out goes to my mother for teaching me how to cross stitch when I was a young girl.  She fostered my love of the craft and has always supported me in my favorite hobby.  Happy Birthday today!!!

My Birthday

My birthday was last Friday.  It was great.  Mark had the day off and we both got to sleep in together (as opposed to me sleeping in by myself...).  My former roommate Kim Allred came and picked me up for lunch.  We went to a little Mexican restaurant in Logan and had a good time catching up.  Then we had a little excitement in the parking lot when Kim and another driver backed into each other.  There was hardly any damage, but we had to wait for the police to come and check it because the other guy wanted to get a police report.  So a police officer came and assessed the damage and then just told us the insurance companies would have to sort it out.  It was my first ever car accident.  Luckily for me, it was barely a fender bender and I wasn't driving.  Interestingly, there was another car accident at the same time in the same parking lot, and I saw two other accidents that day. 

After Kim dropped me off, Mark and I went to Michaels.  I have been working on a cross stitch of Greg Olsen's painting "Light of the World" for almost four years.  It is finally finished, and after all the work I put into it, I wanted to get it professionally framed.  We went with some coupons, but it ended up being pretty expensive anyway.  When we get it back, I'll be sure to post a picture of the completed project.

We went out to dinner at Angie's, (where the locals eat).  It was pretty fun and delicious.  After dinner, we stopped at home and grabbed our swimming suits and headed over the mountains to Crystal Hot Springs.  It was kind of chilly that night, so it was fun to be in the hot water.  It was awesome to go swimming with my pregnant belly being so big.  Since I've gotten into my third trimester, I get severe pain in my pubic bone after I do a lot of swing dancing.  I had been dancing the three nights before my birthday, and it hurt really bad just to walk around.  With the water helping me hold up my big belly my pubic bone didn't hurt at all.  The freedom from the pain was amazing.  When they were closing, I didn't want to get out of the water.

Mark made me a tatting pin because I've been tatting up a storm lately (hair clips and bookmarks).  A tatting pin is like half a crotchet hook at the end of a long necklace.  He was so excited to give it to me he wanted me to stay up until midnight the night before my birthday.  He's such a cutie.  I had a great day on Friday.  It's weird to think that on my next birthday I will have a child.  I'm looking forward to it though.