Thanksgiving 2011

This year we headed up to Coeur d'Alene for Thanksgiving. We didn't know if this would be the last time we would see Carla and wanted to spend as much time with her as we could. Jeremy's brother James was also able to make it for the holiday.

With all the boys there, I decided I was going to try my hand at making the full meal deal. I have always just helped my mom or someone else with cooking, I've never had it all on my shoulders.

I bought everything at the store and brought it with us. I had everything planned out and had asked my mom for any advice she could give. I planned on getting up in the morning and slowly getting things ready with a finish time in sight. Jeremy and James would be available to watch Aaron so I could be working in the kitchen.

However, we didn't plan on Carla being in the hospital. She hadn't felt very good after chemo and was pretty dehydrated. We stopped by the hospital on the way into town to say hello and check in on her. She was able to be released Thanksgiving morning and Jeremy, James and Jerry went to go pick her up. Thank goodness Aaron took a nap for a few hours so I was able to work in the kitchen.

Overall I did pretty good with dinner only being an hour late. I got several compliments and we had lots of leftovers to eat on.

We were able to visit with Carla the next day for a little bit. She came out and sat on the couch watching tv. She loved on Aaron a little bit and ate some leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner.

New truck

Jeremy and I had been bouncing ideas around on getting a truck for him. We even went in to talk to someone and get some prices based on what we wanted.

Jeremy was super excited and figured things out with having another monthly payment but as usual I was dragging my feet. Big money purchases always scare me and I need time to let it sink in before I give the go ahead.

We decided to hold off on it and wait until a little later. Ironically a week later we started having problems with our Pontiac. Our car doctor told us we had about $1000 of work and to get rid of it.

So...now we had to get a truck and we got a great deal on one. We were also able to sell the Pontiac to a friend. In the end everything worked out.

Halloween

I was so excited to dress Aaron up this year. Jenny found the perfect little dinosaur costume at Costco and Aaron looked so awesome in it.

I already had decided to head to Tri-cities to show Aaron off so I didn't have to be home for all the trick or treaters.

My mom and I went to see Grandma Doris and we took great pictures with Aaron sitting on her lap.

Jeremy even drove to Tri-cities to escape the trick or treaters.

Cannon Beach 2011

We weren't sure if we would be able to go to both Montana and the beach this year, but we were able to fit it in. We had planned to leave Sunday morning but when I got home from work Saturday night, Jeremy mentioned us leaving that night. I kind of brushed the comment off and didn't think he was being serious. He mentioned it again and I asked if he meant it. He said he was wide awake and if we drove through the night, Aaron would sleep the whole time and I could sleep as well. So I got into action and finished packing things up and we left the house about 10:30pm.

I dozed off and on while Jeremy drove and listened to music. Going through Portland was a breeze in the middle of the night. Jeremy tried to drag out the trip so we would pull up at the beach house just a little before my parents woke up but we ended up getting there about 4am. We parked outside and reclined our seats back and tried to get some sleep. It wasn't very comfortable and then Aaron woke up and needed changed. Jeremy took a picture of the front of the house and sent it to my moms phone. When they didn't answer, he sent another one and finally we saw them looking out the window. They were so surprised and excited to see us.

It was great showing the ocean to Aaron for the first time. He didn't even flinch when we put his feet in the cold water for the first time. Our time there was spent walking through shops in town, catching some waves, eating pizza at my favorite place, buying ice cream cones, spending time with mom and dad, getting pictures and eating s'mores at the bonfires.

Montana

This year we decided to vacation in Montana and meet up with Jeremy's Aunt Jane, cousin Paul, his wife Heather and their son Rylan. We headed to Flathead Lake in Polson for a week of camping.

Now realize that Aaron was only 5 months old and we were taking him "tent camping"! Was I crazy!!

First of all I am not a camper and so packing was difficult to try and remember everything especially all I needed for Aaron. Thank goodness he wasn't eating baby food yet because it was much easier to get bottles ready for him.

The drive was uneventful and Aaron slept most of the 6 hours it took to get there. Our campsite was quite a distance from Paul's and so we spend most of the first day at theirs visiting. Jane had planned a get together lunch for family from the area to come.

After everyone left the boys went to our campsite and put our tent up. While they were gone, the clouds started building and getting darker. We started hearing thunder and seeing lightening. I kept hoping the boys would get back soon and they did right as the rain started to fall. They barely made it under the cover before the rain started pouring. Jeremy came right over to me with a blanket to cover Aaron and he tried to shield us from the rain. It felt like the rain wasn't going to let up and I was a little worried about sleeping in a tent. The storm didn't last that long and we enjoyed the rest of the night.

Jeremy's mom and stepdad arrived the next day and checked into their room at a resort close by. That next day we took advantage of the shower in their room and as I finished getting ready, Jeremy said he had a surprise for me. He knew I had a chance to spend the day on a boat out in the water and so he rented one for all of us. I was super excited and his mom Carla was nice enough to watch Aaron for the day. We drove across the lake to put on our suits and pick up Paul, Heather and Rylan. We had a blast going all over the lake and I got really burned but it was worth it.

The rest of the trip was spent visiting, eating Jeremy's awesome steaks, sitting around the fire and playing games. Camping turned out to be a really fun experience and we had a great time.

4th of July

I was excited this year for the holiday because I could go to the parade I had missed the past few years and Jeremy and Aaron could come with me.

We set our chairs up in the same place with our same friends. I had brought Aaron's frog chair for him to sit in but the majority of the time he was passed around. I made sure to watch for when a loud noise was coming and to cover his ears.

I was curious to see how Aaron would react with so much going on. He did great and even fell asleep for the last part of it!

The afternoon was laid back while we got ready for the bbq. Before heading to the river I opened up some sparklers I bought. I wanted to see what Aaron would do and he was pretty much in awe! I was a little worried about taking Aaron to the river to watch the fireworks but he ended up falling asleep and not making a peep.

It was a great holiday spending it with family.

Jeff Dunham concert

Jeff Dunham is such a hilarious comedian. Randy I work with found out he was going to be at the Toyota Center in Tri-Cities and asked if Jeremy and I wanted to go with him and his wife. Jeremy loves watching Jeff and I knew he would say yes.

We bought tickets right away and the concert was only a few days after Jeremy's birthday. What a birthday present!

We all started counting down the days and then suddenly Randy's wife's brother died suddenly and they weren't able to go to the concert. Randy brought over their tickets to see if we could find someone else to go with us so the tickets wouldn't go to waste. At the last minute we were able to get Scott and Tamera.

The night of the concert we left in plenty of time and went to dinner at Red Robin. We had pretty good seats and had a great time. There was lots of laughing that night. We were sad Randy and his wife couldn't join us but were glad we were still able to go.

Aaron's dedication and first Mother's Day

We found out that they were having baby dedications on Mother's Day. How perfect was that!

Jenny was going to be home that weekend and so we invited mom and dad and Jenny to go to church with us. Jeremy and I stood up front with a sleeping Aaron and three other couples to have Pastor Dave let the congregation know we were dedicating our children and vowing to raise them in Christ. We also received a certificate we can show Aaron later.

Aaron did great throughout the rest of the service and afterwards we stood around and visited with Ron and Lori and their kids. Then as a treat we went to La Palma for lunch and it was delicous.

After lunch we came back to our house and had a very relaxing afternoon. We opened cards and gifts and Jeremy opened some gifts early for his birthday.

It was a wonderful first Mother's Day!

Aaron's first Easter

We knew this Easter wouldn't be as fun as the next years to come because we couldn't do an Easter egg hunt for Aaron.

We didn't get our act together in time to make it to church. So we took our time getting ready and dressed Aaron in a new outfit to go spend the day at my parents.

My mom made a wonderful meal and we had cousins John and Larry over. After we had dinner and took the twins home, we headed to visit with G-ma Doris. She held Aaron and we got some great pictures.

We are already looking forward to next year when Aaron will be walking and we can hide Easter eggs for him to find. We will probably have to help him but it will be so much fun!

Aaron's professional pictures

Shara, a friend of ours had told us after Aaron was a few weeks old she wanted to take pictures as a gift.

Of course Aaron didn't want to fully cooperate. He didn't want to go to sleep and then needed to nurse. We started with the awake pictures and then got some great sleeping pictures once he gave in.

Shara did an awesome job and she made him look like a baby model! We will definitely be using her talent again and again.

Aaron's Cardiologist appt

At Aaron's newborn check, the dr noticed a heart murmur. He wanted to be sure everything was ok and sent us to a pediatric cardiologist in Tri-Cities.

The appt was the same day Jeremy took off for his basketball tournament. So my mom came early to the house to help get everything in the car for our week stay. I felt like I was packing up half my house.

I was hoping Aaron would do great since he was only a week old and I didn't know what all was involved with the appt. First the nurse gave him an EKG test and his whole body was covered with wires. Then it was next door to have an ultrasound. Aaron did such a great job! He held one of my fingers and laid very still on his back. The tech was great and explained everything he was doing and gave us some pictures.

The cardiologist told us the ultrasound looked good and it already seemed like the hole between his ventricles was closing up. She said there were no limitations and that even if the tiny hole never closed, he would be fine. She said to come back in a year for a check up, otherwise we didn't have anything to worry about.

Jeremy at state, Katie in Tri-Cities

Basketball still wasn't over when Aaron was born. During the first week of March, Jeremy's basketball team from Umatilla were in the state championship in Coos Bay, OR. Of course I was going to let him go. He had been looking forward to this for a long time.

It was good timing because I was going to stay at my parents house while he was gone. My sister had already planned on coming for an extended weekend to see Aaron for the first time.

It was great to have lots of help whenever I needed it. I was nervous even thinking about staying at home by myself taking care of Aaron while Jeremy was gone.

Our mini vacation with Grandma and Grandpa was great. Mom was a big help to me and even got up with me when I had to get up in the night to feed Aaron. Jenny fell in love with Aaron from the minute she saw him and loved holding him. We had a steady stream of visitors and lots of congratulations and pictures taken. I only held my son when he needed to eat.

We were able to listen to the games on the radio and feel a part of the excitement. After Jeremy's team won 3rd place he came to spend time with Jenny and the family. He had really missed Aaron and couldn't wait to see him. I made sure to send him pictures every day.

Baby Aaron is born!

The weekend of February 20th when I was due my sister was in town and we tried everything to get me to go into labor but were unsuccessful. Aaron apparently had no desire to come out when we wanted but when he was good and ready.

I went into the doctor on tuesday the 22nd and had an ultrasound. My mother-in-law had just arrived the day before and was ecstatic that she got to come to the dr. appt. I had Dr. Jacobson who was a locum doctor and one of the best. The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid levels were low. She decided to send me up to the birth center at the hospital to be monitored.

Before heading upstairs I stopped by the xray dept to let them know what was going on. They were all really excited and couldn't wait to hear the news. Upstairs I was told to push a button when I felt the baby move which was easy enough. After 15-20 min the nurse came back in and told me when I had pushed the button I was actually having contractions! I had no idea because they weren't painful. After the nurse talked to the dr she came back and told me to get my affairs in order and to come back at 5pm to start the induction process. Yikes! That meant the baby would be here soon. We were excited and nervous all at the same time.

We went home and made sure our bags were packed and I had something to eat. We took a trip to Walmart for a few things and then came back to get showered. It was so surreal to think about what would be happening that night and that hopefully by the next day we would have a baby. Of course I also felt bad that my sister had just gone home the day before and wasn't able to turn around and come back.

After being admitted I changed into a gown and was hooked up to the monitors. Before being tied down they let me walk the halls for an hour. Jeremy and I walked downstairs and visited with Dave in xray and told him what was happening. Then my dad and I were able to walk and talk about what a great event this was. After getting back from walking an IV was started and fluids were initiated. They began a Pitocin drip to get the contractions stronger. The next couple of hours were uneventful just laying there waiting for something to happen.

I was moving pretty slow and not dilating very fast whenever they came in to check on me. The dr came in and decided to break my water and help the process. What a weird feeling that was! They kept increasing my Pitocin to get things moving and finally the contractions started coming pretty strong. They started out as back labor and it was awful. My mom and Jeremy switched holding my hand and fanning me. When a contraction came I was tensing my whole body and arching my back and getting extreme hot flashes. They really started to take my breath away when they started coming right on top of each other. I would just be getting done with one and the next one would start. These continued for a couple of hours and really wore me out. I was slowly getting more dilated and tried to get some rest but the contractions kept interrupting me.

Finally at 4am I was dilated enough to get an epidural which I enthusiastically said yes to. I knew Steve, the nurse anesthestist that came to put it in and he did a great job. Gradually my legs began to go numb and the pain from the contractions became a distant memory. My mom could watch on the monitor when I started another contraction and would tell me. It was great to just sit there and not feel a thing. It continued to be a waiting game as I dilated more and more.

When the nurse checked and I still wasn't fully dilated I began to wonder when this show would get on the road. About 10 min later the dr came in to check and all of a sudden I was dilated. Now things were getting closer and I was getting excited to see Aaron! We called my dad who had gone back to our house to get some sleep and told him to get back to the hospital. We also called Laurine and she got right in the car and drove to the hospital from Tri-Cites. My friend Heather also came to give support.

We started things off by slowly starting to push with my nurse. I would start pushing when a contraction would start. My mom and the nurse would count for me so I knew how long to push for. One of the best things about the epidural was that I couldn't feel the pain but could feel the pressure of the contractions so I knew when to push. My mom was on one side and helped hold up one of my legs while Jeremy was on my other side cheering me on. We had convinced Carla my mother-in-law to stay in the room and she was glad she was able to join in the experience.

We continued pushing with the nurse until Aaron's head came into view. Then the dr and another nurse came in. The other nurse held on to my other leg and helped me count and encourage me. Jeremy was great and never got woozy and stayed involved the whole time. He kept whispering to me how great I was doing and that he loved me. At some point the nurse grabbed my hand and let me touch Aaron's head before he came out. That was a little creepy! Finally at 9:57am Aaron was born!! They immediately wrapped him up and put him on my chest. I started crying right away and looked at Jeremy and saw him crying too. What an awesome moment!

Then it was time for them to clean Aaron up and weigh and measure him. The final numbers were 7lbs 7oz and 23in long! He was long and lean. While they were doing that, I was getting stitched up. Thank goodness I still had the epidural on board! After he was cleaned up we started him on breastfeeding to get the hang of it.

The rest of the day flew by with people stopping by and everyone passing the baby around. The dr had us stay another night which was nice to have the help of the nurses. The first night they took Aaron for a few hours so I could try and get some sleep. The second night they didn't take him that long so I got a start on my sleep deprivation! Besides the no sleep and hurting because of the stitches, it was a decent hospital stay.

Thinking about going home was both exciting and scary knowing we were on our own with taking care of Aaron. Can't wait to watch him grow and develop.