Harper’s Birth Story

About ten days before Harper’s due date, my mom flew in to town followed by all of my sisters the next day. They didn’t come down for the birth but we joked that it was a very good possibility while there were in town. They all came down just for a little girls weekend but with me being so pregnant, there wasn’t a ton we could do. We stuck to ice cream and the pool, especially because our AC was having trouble that weekend. As the weekend went on the joke turned into me going into labor just as they had to leave for the airport. Well, that turned out to be more accurate than we could have imagined! 

Yes, doing a handstand less than 24 hours before giving birth is exactly as hard is it looks over on the left 😳😂

Saturday, July 14th, we were in the pool the majority of the day. I could definitely feel that she had dropped but that doesn’t always mean you’ll go into labor soon so I brushed it off. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. 

Sunday, July 15th, I woke up at about 5:30 am with contractions. They weren’t unbearable yet but I knew they would get that way so I got up and started getting ready. I showered, got myself put together and finished packing all the last minute things. Then Adam started waking up so I told him he should probably stay awake because we were going to have to go to the hospital soon! I had been timing my contractions since I woke up and from the beginning they had been about 10-20 seconds long and about two and a half minutes apart. But again, not unbearable. Adam knows me way too well and after he heard that, he knew that we needed to get to the hospital ASAP. 

I went to wake up my mom to let her know and my sisters just in case I didn’t see them before they had to fly out that afternoon. They were all kind of in shock that it was happening like we had joked and it was pretty early still so that didn’t help anything. I am SO grateful they were all there to take care of my boys though. That sure took a lot of stress off of Adam and I. Adam kept telling me to call my midwife and let her know we were on our way. After I finally called her, we headed to the hospital. 

It was about 8 am at this point. We got to the hospital about 10 minutes later and got right in to be checked. I was already dilated to a 6 when we arrived so I assumed I still had hours to go since that was the lowest I had ever been
 dilated when arriving for previous deliveries. My contractions we getting worse at this point. But they still quickly got rolling on all the paperwork and IV’s needed before they could get me an epidural. I was wheeled into my labor and delivery room pretty fast and that’s when my contractions started getting pretty bad. After the epidural fully kicked in, my midwife asked if I wanted to take a little nap first or if I wanted her to just break my water and get the show started. I knew if I didn’t try to get a little snooze in, it would be a while before I was able to. With me only having had about 6 hours of sleep the night before, I chose a nap. Well that only lasted about 20-30 minutes before my water broke. I immediately had Adam page the nurse and my midwife. They both ran in and I was pushing within a couple of minutes. Two pushes later and she was out!

Delivery was super speedy and decently easy. I am so glad my epidural actually worked this time - it did not with Cameron. I was snuggling her for a few minutes before we decided on a name. When we finally decided on the name, Harper Joy, we sent and picture to our family letting them know she had joined us 6 days before her due date! It was about 11:30 am when we texted our family and I assumed my sisters would already be at the airport since their flight was supposed to leave around 12:30. Well to my surprise, their flight was delayed just long enough that they were able to come say hi and meet Harper real quick before they booked it to the airport! They got to meet Harper when she was less than an hour old! After that experience, I really wish they had all been there with Cameron and Daxton too! Having them all there right after she was born was so awesome! But they were literally there long enough to say hi, take a few pictures, and say bye before they were gone again. 

After they left, it was just back to Adam and I taking turns snuggling our baby girl. It was normal adjusting, healing, and doctors and nurses coming in and out of our room for the next day. Then we found out Harper needed to be put under the lights for jaundice. All of our kids have had to so it was nothing new for us. But then I had to be discharged and she had to stay in the nursery for one more night. The next morning when we went back to the hospital, she was good to go! Thank goodness! So we finally got to bring her home on July 18th! 

30 weeks with baby girl

This pregnancy has been a bit different than the boys. The first trimester was rough! I did not know I could be as tired as I was during those first few months. And of course I was dragging right after we moved. I had a bit of nausea but not terrible. I just always felt like I was sick to my stomach. 

Second trimester was not bad at all. My exhaustion and nausea lightened up big time. Thank goodness! 

Now we are on to the third trimester and some of the exhaustion is coming back. Not as bad as first trimester but I definitely feel like I need more sleep right now. 

Daxton has been so cute about everything. He told us it was going to be a girl from the very beginning. He always rubs my belly and tells the baby hi. At least once a week he will ask to check my pregnancy app on my phone to “check on the baby”. I took the boys to my last ultrasound and Dax thought it was the coolest thing to see his baby sister moving in Mama’s tummy!

 

Cameron, as much as we love him, has turned into a little monster! Haha He is becoming more and more clingy to me as the days go on. I’m hoping it’s not because he knows he won’t be the baby for much longer but I’m guessing that’s it. We are hoping to turn that around a bit before the baby comes. Needless to say, I don’t think he’s completely on board with this whole baby sister stuff. 

Adam and I are having a rough time narrowing down our long list of potential names. In the past we have taken in 3 names to the hospital and then made the final decision after the baby is born. At this point, we have just barely been able to narrow down the list to about 10-15 names. We still aren’t sold on any one name yet, but I’m hoping we will get there!

 

It has been so much fun looking at all the pink, sparkly, and frilly clothes and accessories for her! I have to resist so often! I can’t wait to have her here so I can dress her up in all the headbands, ruffles, and sparkles! 

We only have 10 weeks until she comes! That seems crazy because the first trimester went by so slow. But now time is going super fast and we are all so excited for baby girl to join our family! 

Chapter 7: The next move

We've hit our 18 month mark in San Diego so I guess that means it's about time for our next move (insert sarcasm here). That's been about the average time we have stayed in an area since we've been married. Some places a little shorter, a couple places a tad longer. We thought we would be here for a bit longer but this is a really good opportunity for Adam and we support him in what he feels is right for his career.

We have absolutely loved living in San Diego! Between the perfect weather, our friends, the beach, and of course Disneyland, it has been amazing! There have obviously been more visitors come see us here than any other area because let's face it, who wouldn't want to visit San Diego?! We are sad to be leaving this area and there are so many things we will miss but alas we our heading to the seventh home in our six years of marriage.

Normally our moves happen within a month from when we are told of the change. This time has been so different. We have known for close to 6 months that we were moving and where to, but didn't have an exact move date. I think I prefer to have everything happen pretty fast. This waiting and unknown stuff is not my favorite. So now that we do have a move week, I finally feel better about making the announcement more public.

We are moving back to Phoenix, Arizona!

This will be the first time we are moving back to an area we have already lived. Adam will be working on a project at the airport. We are pretty happy with this move because we have lived there before, we already have friends there, and I have a cousin who lives in the area! We haven't had many chances to live around family so I'm pretty excited about that! We are really excited about the great schools there because Daxton will start Kindergarten next fall!

The move date: we move the first week of November and it is coming up really fast! We will go house hunting within the next couple of weeks and then head out soon after. This next month is going to be so crazy busy for us with all of the beach trips, organizing the house, house hunting, and everything else that comes with moving.

Here's to the next great adventure!

Idaho, water, and fireworks

We just got back from a wonderfully relaxing vacation to Idaho and Utah! It was much needed, especially for Adam, to get away from everything and just relax. So we headed straight up to Idaho so we could be there over the Fourth of July.



On Saturday, we were able to go to the Madison County Rodeo! It was Adam's (and also Daxton's and Cameron's) first ever rodeo! I always love going to the rodeo, although I don't go to many.

Sunday, because our entire family was together for the first time since Cody left on his mission, we went to take family pictures! They turned out so great! We went out the the sand dunes and found an amazing spot with several different back grounds we could use. The boys even did better than expected!

Monday, we followed my parents on a four wheeler ride! My dad showed us a different route than I had ever been on, so that was fun! He took us up to a point where we could over look the whole valley around Ririe. He pointed out my grandpa's house, my mom was showing Daxton the different crops growing around us, and it made me fall in love with Idaho all over again. After we got back from our ride, we decided it was a terrible great idea to float in the canal that is still ice melt runs along my grandpa's property. We even took the boys with us! It was freezing and the boys didn't like it at first. But we were lucky and got the biggest tube, so the boys could stay out of the water, while mine and Adam's butts went numb. Although I can't complain because one of my sisters basically floated the whole thing submerged in the water because she and her boyfriend couldn't figure out how to stay on the tube. Haha! Then we headed over to join my grandpa, his wife, Linda, and some of her family who all rented a blow up water slide! It was a little cold and a couple people found out the hard way that "one last time" was a bad idea, but it was still so much fun!

Tuesday was the Fourth of July! We enjoyed the Rexburg parade, ate lunch where Adam devoured some Cheerwine on tap, and then headed to Rigby Lake! We only had a couple of hours to be there before we had to head back to grandpa's house to shower and get ready for fireworks! We had originally planned on going to fireworks in Idaho Falls but then decided we didn't want to fight the crowds and went to Menan instead. It was great to just hang out with everyone before fireworks started. The fireworks show was fabulous! We were a little worried about Cameron since Dax did NOT like fireworks when he was younger. But he surprised us all when he giggled, cheered, and squealed for more! Daxton loved the fireworks and his glow stick "magic wand" to go with them!

Wednesday, mom and dad had to get back home. But we got to go have lunch with all of my siblings in Rexburg! And we really wanted to walk around the BYU-Idaho campus because it has changed a good bit since we left. Fortunately for us, some good friends of ours happen to be in Rexburg that same day! So we met up with them, walked around campus for a bit and then took all of our boys to the splash pad! After they had to leave and my sisters were off work, we headed to the Sandbar in Saint Anthony! We only stayed there for a little while because the clouds rolled in pretty quickly.

After we were done with the Sandbar, we headed back to Rexburg for dinner! We went to the other place in town that had Cheerwine which made Adam a very happy camper! Then we all decided to crash Chelsea and Wyatt's house to play a game!

Thursday was the day we sent Adam down to Utah on the Salt lake Express. But before he left we had lunch with my siblings again! After we dropped Adam off at the bus stop we headed over to Rexburg Rapids, a little water park in Rexburg! Chelsea and Wyatt were so nice a decided to come with us! The water park is definitely geared toward younger kids and it was pretty busy but it was still fun! After the water park, we headed back to grandpa's house for some hot dogs and s'mores with cousins!

On Friday, after we cleaned and packed up our things, we headed to Rexburg for lunch one last time before we left Idaho. We had all of the siblings, except Chels who is always working in Idaho Falls when we have lunch, plus a few honorary siblings! 

After lunch, we headed to Utah and we made it just in time to have dinner with some good friends and their family! We have missed seeing them the past couple of times we have been in Utah, so it was great to catch up with them. 

Then Saturday was "guys day" for Adam and a few of his college roommates. This meant I had a little time to go see grandma Tracy and grandpa Chris! Thanks for letting us stop by for a visit! 

 Sunday was great! We were able to head down to Draper and see two of Adam's brothers, their wives, and their girls! We see my sister in law and niece, Kirsten and Hazel, fairly often. Often enough that Daxton calls some of his friends Hazel. haha! But we don't get to see Jared, Kristin and their girls hardly ever (which will hopefully change now that they moved to Utah). We had dinner with them and then took the kids to the park to get some energy out. It was so much fun to see all the cousins playing together and getting to know each other better! Then it was time for Jared and Kristin to head back to their house and for us to get our kids ready for bed.

It should have been bedtime for everyone, but I talked my brother in law (who's regular bedtime is around seven nine) into staying up late and playing Settlers of Catan with us! We love playing board games with them and we rarely get to do it. Then it was really time for bed.... or was it? Kir and I can never stay in the same place and get to bed at a decent time. We stayed up talking and didn't go to bed until we realized it was 3 am! Then shortly after, Adam and I gathered our family and headed out at 7:30 am! haha! 

But all in all, it was a great vacation and so nice to get away from real life for a second!