Albric is Two Months Old

My baby boy is already two months old.  I love him so much.  How did we survive without him?  He is a chunky monkey and turns heads with his cheeks alone.  Strangers always tell me how cute he is, and I'm convinced that his cheeks are the culprit behind all the praise.  He has started to smile at me when I talk to him, and I absolutely love it.  It is my favorite thing to do with him.  I took him for a check up yesterday and he weighed in at 14 lbs.  That is 85th percentile for his age.  He was also slightly taller than average at 23 1/2 inches.  His baby hair fell out from the top of his head, but his hair is growing back.  He has two hair whorls going opposite directions and it looks like he may end up with a natural mohawk.  His hair is lighter than Calvin's was, but still has a hint of red in it.  His eyes are still blue and we are wondering if we'll have another blue-eyed kid.  He loves his brother and turns his head to hear what he is doing. 

Huckleberry Camping 2016

Every year, the Lindsay clan goes huckleberry picking in Strawberry Canyon in Idaho.  One of our first dates was huckleberry picking.  I remember hiking up the mountain with the cutest boy I've ever interacted with and drinking Gossner's milk with him.  I love reminiscing about that day every year when huckleberry season comes around in August.  This year was a little different because I had a newborn and I felt like I should be home with him.  I sent Mark and Calvin for some Daddy/Son bonding time.  They camped overnight and I stayed home with Albric.  It was a good thing I stayed home this year because I got a migraine and it would have been no fun camping with a migraine.  I was able to go up the next morning though, so I didn't completely miss out on camping this year.  However, I did miss out on huckleberry picking because there weren't any huckleberries.  We still have a few in our freezer from last year to tide us over til next year.  Calvin had a good time playing with his extended family.  Albric enjoyed sleeping in my arms and nowhere else.  Mark had a good time camping.

Calvin and his cousin Damon putting on 'shows' while standing on tree stumps.

Calvin only wore the helmet long enough for me to take a picture.  He was sad we wouldn't let him ride, but he refused to wear the helmet.  Maybe next year he will get to go for a ride. 

Calvin's Summer Adventures 2016

Calvin got a new baby brother

His grandma gave him a dollar and he started learning about money.

He ate smoked ribs that Popie made and loved them.

He took this toy apart with Mom's help.

He went to Dad's company party at the park.

He rubbed zucchini slices all over the kitchen floor.

He got his toes painted like Mom.

He got to water color for the first time. 

Mommy made moon sand and he spread it all over the kitchen.

He played music with Mom.

He helped wash Grandma's car.

Some Hiking Adventures

We live so close to the mountains.  Sometimes while Mark is in class, I will drive up Logan canyon just to be in the mountains, even if I don't get out of the car.  It is so beautiful, and it usually calms Calvin down when he can't go to class with Daddy.  A few weeks ago, Mark wanted to check out one of the quarry sites used for the Logan Temple.  We drove to Green Canyon and proceeded to have an adventure.  We hiked up to Scout's Cave.  Calvin loved throwing rocks around and got really dirty.  We had a difficult time with him when we decided it was time to move on.  When we got to the trail for the quarry, he soon found more rocks and refused to put them down.  He fell down on some rocks and found different ones.  Mark got a little ways ahead of the kids and me.  I was carrying Albric and helping Calvin navigate through the tricky parts.  As I walked past one tree, I heard a rattlesnake.  Calvin and I were wearing shorts, so I was nervous about it, but we were in a place where the trail was very wide so we were able to avoid the snake on the way back.  Mark and Calvin climbed up a steep hill, and were exclaiming that something was cool, so I followed them.  They had found a huge pink hammock that someone had put up.  They had gotten into it and they were very cute pretending to be spiders.

The next week, we went on the Logan River Trail.  We parked at Second Dam in Logan Canyon.  We walked all the way around the dam and then up the trail for a while.  We found a wooden pipe on the mountain that Mark and Calvin followed for a bit.  These two little excursions have me hungering for more.

Albric's Blessing Outfit

I almost feel like I could start my own blog just about the things I sew/tat/crochet with all the projects I've been doing this year.  I told myself that I wouldn't sew anything until Albric was a few months old.  Then I decided I wanted to make him an outfit for his blessing.  It seems like it took longer than usual, but that is because my boys needed my attention.  I made a vest, a pair of pants and a tie.  The vest was made of linen with lining, the pants were just linen, and the tie was satin.  I felt like the vest fit him well, but I had to take the pants in 5 inches.  I don't understand why there was such a difference in size between the vest and pants, but I was able to work around it.  This pattern could potentially fit Calvin, so I think I am planning on making at least two more so the boys will have matching suits.  Mark has some ideas that he would like me to try.  If I do end up taking on that project, I'll be sure to document it and do a post.  For now, here is my sweet baby in his outfit. 

Does This Post Need a Title?

This post is a couple of pictures of Albric with the things I made specifically for him.  The first two are pictures of him sleeping on his new sheet.  The third is of him wearing his matching tie with Dad and Calvin.  Next time he wears it I will have to take a close up of just him.  The last picture is one of my favorites of him so far.  I sure love him and I am so glad that he is here and healthy.  We are so lucky to have him in our family.

Introducing Albric Howard

Albric arrived 8 days past his due date on Wednesday June 22nd.   Our due date was June 14th.  We had scheduled an induction for Friday after Mark's calculus final.  I had several bouts of false labor and I was dilated to a 4 on the day before he was born.  We did a non-stress test and decided that everything looked OK enough to wait a few more days.  My committee chair was holding a meeting the night he was born.  I started having contractions at about 7, and the meeting was at 7:30.  I decided to go because I was sure they would stop, and I wanted to take my mind off the baby.  Well, that was the trick I needed.  I think I was stopping labor because I was scared, so taking my mind off of the baby let my body get to work.  I walked to the meeting and the contractions didn't stop.  I have to confess, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention at the meeting because I was in active labor.  I walked home and told Mark to call someone to watch Calvin because we needed to go to the hospital.  I guess he didn't hear me because I had to ask him again 20 minutes later.  I got in the shower to ease the pain.  When I got out, Mark was calling people.  We had asked 3-4 family members to watch Calvin for us.  None of them answered.  I started to freak out a little bit, but I remembered that a neighbor had told me she would be willing to help.  I told Mark that, and he said that felt right.  He called her and she came over.  I was throwing up when she arrived, but we were ready to head out the door otherwise.  Calvin cried when we left, but I heard that he calmed down quickly.  Mark's brother Tyler and sister in law Tien came and stayed with him after a few minutes.  She put him to bed and Mark's brother switched with her at midnight.  He said at about 4 in the morning, Calvin came out looking for us and wanted him to let him out the front door so he could find us. 

Meanwhile, I felt nervous as we drove to the hospital.  I remember each bump we hit on the road was painful.   When we arrived at the hospital shortly after 9:30, I had to stop walking a couple of times before we even got in the building to deal with contractions.  When we got to the labor and delivery ward, I expected someone to ask us for our insurance card and ID, but a nurse just let us in.  We had a CNA show us into room 4.  I got changed and got in the bed. The nurse came in and asked for my medical history and another CNA helped get the monitors on my belly.  At this point, our family members were calling back and Mark was trying to handle all that.  I got an IV, and they checked me. I was dilated to a 7.  I remember the nurse telling me to make sure and call her if I felt like pushing because she has seen women dilate from a 7 to a 10 in the matter of a few minutes.  Luckily, I had a little more time to prepare to deliver.  My regular OB was not available that night, so they called the on call doctor from my OB's office.  His name was Gary Fowers.  He came and met with us and asked us about our preferences.  He said I had "impressive control" after watching me handle a contraction.  We told him that being in the bath would help with the pain and he said that was OK because my water still had not broken.  He also said that he would stay close because this baby could come quickly. 

I decided a shower would be nice because then I could focus the hot water on my back where it was hurting the most.  Mark helped me get in the shower.  The hot water was perfect.  After a while, I decided that I wanted to sit down.  So we stopped up the tub and let it fill up a bit.  I asked Mark to give me a blessing and he did.  It was so comforting to have the Spirit there and that blessing helped to bring it.  After the blessing, I felt like I needed to get out of the tub and back in the bed.  I remember that I felt like I couldn't stand up and I told Mark that I couldn't do this.  He told me that I could and helped me stand up.  Then he helped me get dressed and we made our way back out.  This was about 11:20.  As I got back in the bed, I noticed blood running down my leg.  I pointed it out to the nurse as she was helping me back in the bed.

The nurse checked me again and told me that I was at a 10.  The rest of this feels like a blur because it all happened so fast.  I will try to recall it the best I can.  She called the doctor and said that I had a bloody show.  He came in and he offered a couple of different positions for delivery, I chose the same one that I had used with Calvin.  They had to take the bottom of the bed away, but had to wait while I had a huge contraction.  During this time, I had a couple of really bad contractions and I needed Mark to help me get through them.  He helped me by holding me and steadily breathing so that could breathe with him.  I never ever want to give birth without him there.  I remember the doctor getting a long stick thing and using it to break my water.  I did not think I would get dilated all the way to a 10 without a bloody show and my water breaking, but I did.  The "water" felt thick and kind of dribbled out.  There was a large amount of meconium in the water.  Mark told me it was significantly darker than when Calvin had it.  The respiratory team was called in.  They were all rushing in, and I remember them talking about how they had just barely found out about the meconium.  The urge to push hit me strongly and I said that I needed to push.  The doctor told me to go ahead, and Mark and the nurse held my legs for me.  I grunted as I pushed, and had the nurse count to ten for me.  I think I pushed about 7 times and I remember Mark telling me that the baby's head was out and that he was here.  He was born at 11:34.

The doctor quickly cut his cord and handed him to the respiratory team.  They took him to the other side of the room and started working on him.  I delivered the afterbirth and the doctor showed it to me and started to watch my bleeding.  I had one small tear that he hoped would stop bleeding on its own, but didn't.  He ended up stitching it.   I think the most painful part of the birth was getting stitched up.  I had so much adrenaline and was shaking from it.  I asked Mark to take a picture of the baby to show me, because I couldn't hold him yet.  I think we had a little miracle, because as they suctioned out his nose and mouth, they told us he had not swallowed or aspirated any meconium.  They observed him for 30 minutes and finally brought him to me.  I have been in love with him ever since.