Weekend Recap!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap!

Friday...Cooper's first bath...He didn't like it at all! 2 days old! Cooper at 3 days old...he likes his swing!

Brooklyn's Timeline of her life for school. She loved picking out her pictures and decorating her poster. She was so excited to take it to school!

Brooklyn and Easton working for daddy to earn money to spend in "Daddy's Store."

It was a thumb's up weekend!

We had a great weekend with Papa here too! It was relaxing and layed back. Grandmommy and Papa took the kids to the movies to see "Tangled"...which they loved. Thanks for visiting for the weekend, Papa! We miss you already!

Grandmommy will be here until Saturday...it is so nice having help with the kids so I can spend time with Cooper!

Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day 2010

We were all very THANKFUL this Thanksgiving to have our sweet, healthy little baby boy here! Cooper had his first Thanksgiving...only being 1 day old! My mom bought him this cute Thanksgiving outfit! We had a wonderful, relaxing holiday. My mom cooked up her wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. I enjoyed holding my new bundle of joy and relaxing by the fire! We sure have a lot to be Thankful for!

Daddy's favorite thing to do with Cooper!

Cooper Bruce Redford

COOPER BRUCE REDFORD

His name..."Cooper" We know a family in Utah that had a Cooper and we liked the name. It immediately became a favorite on our list. We always pick a couple of names and then decide when the baby comes. So he was going to be either Cooper or Carson. We liked Cooper! "Bruce" is my dad's name. And "Redford" was the easiest part in the name process!

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Tuesday Morning, I had a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch (next time I will have a BIG breakfast). And then around 10:30 we headed off to Walmart to pick up a few things since I wasn't feeling any contractions and nothing seemed to be happening. We were in Walmart for about 10 minutes when I decided I better go to the restroom and see what was going on. Well my water was broke and leaking down my pants...lovely, I know. I immediately called Eric at work. He anwered the phone, "Are you ready to go" and I said "YES!" He was surprised..he said it joking. He left work to meet us at home. My mom and I hurried and finsihed checking out. The kids weren't too happy since they didn't get to look at toys with Grandma. My mom told Brooklyn that we had to go because I was going to have the baby. Brooklyn then repeated it very loudly, "You are having the baby!" It turned a few heads my direction. I was a little embarrassed. We hurried home and I showered and got new dry clothes.

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We drove the 50 minutes to the hospital...feeling nothing much happening. I was so worried about driving over the mountain with full on contractions. I am glad it was a nice comfortable ride. We arrived at 1:30pm and found the family birth center. I would say it was more a "family birth hall." They had discharged the only patient that morning...so I was the only one there. I got lots of attention from the nurses. Char was my first nurse and her daughter, Faith went to preschool with Brooklyn. It was nice to see a familiar face. She was great. She even let me eat a little bit of food. I was starving...my cereal at this point was gone! Crackers and fruit never tasted so good. I spent the afternoon watching tv and feeling light contractions about 3 minutes apart. We started the Pit around 3pm.

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The contractions didn't get much stronger until around 8pm. My night nurse was Amy. She was again a familiar face...her daughter, Bailey was in Brooklyn's kindergerten class. She was so supportive during the hard part of labor. I really appreciated her help and support. She had Eric and I walk up and down the little hall for a half hour...Eric was making the nurses laugh like crazy. He asked if they had a bath...they said "Yes but she couldn't go in it because her water broke" and Eric said, "No for Me!" He kept pushing me to walk faster during the contractions...it was hard but it helped. As soon as we got back in our room, the contractions started to get stronger. I tried really hard to watch the finale of dancing with the stars. I was waiting all day to watch it! After an hour of hard contractions...you know the ones you can't really talk through...I decided that I needed the epideral. (Which I was very lucky I could get...my platelet count have been very low during the pregnancy and they checked them in the hospital and they were 116 and they had to be over 100 get the epideral. The next day they were back down to 100..I am so thankful they were up enough during labor..what a blessing for me!)

I got the epideral at 10pm. It felt so nice to relax. I was shaking like crazy before I got it. At this point I was an 8 and almost there.

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The doctor came around 10:30. I slowed down a little bit but once at 10...I could start to push. Which is soooo hard with an epideral...it's like pushing against a wall. So hard to do! I pushed from 11 until he was born. Almost an hour and a half. His little heart rate kept going down during each contraction. The doctor said it was because the cord was probably getting stretched while I pushed. So between contractions we had to wait for his heart rate to come back up. I started to get nervous at this point...no mother wants to hear that the heart rate is too low. At the end...the doctor said we needed to get him out in the next two pushes or he would have to vacumn him out. That doesn't sound fun for me or him. Well I pushed and pushed and finally at 12:20 he was born. His first cry was such a relief...he was healthy! I held him for about a half hour to keep him warm...except I was shaking like crazy at this point. My poor body just was going crazy.

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Cooper had his first bath in our room..which was cool for me to watch. He never left our room except to weigh him. I was so tired and hungry at this point. They brought us some sandwhiches and fruit. It tasted so great until it decided to leave my stomach the way it went in. No fun. I was so exhausted..I just went to sleep. Little Cooper kept choking on his mucus during the night. So I held him so he didn't choke. At 5:30 they woke me up to take my blood...I was so bugged. I went to bed at 2:30 and they wake me up at 530 for blood work..come on people...let the new mommy sleep!

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Wednesday was nice...we had a few visitors including the kids. They were so excited to meet their little brother for the first time. They loved to hold him and just see how small he was. Eric took advantage of the nice roll-a-way bed they brought in and took a few good naps. I enjoyed the time holding and feeding Cooper. He was awake most of the day...which totally shocked me. He was just looking around and so alert.

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After they did Coopers PKU test and hearing tests (which he only passed one of...too much white stuff still in his ears.) We went home around 9:30pm. Yes that is right...Cooper wasn't even 24 hours old yet. We didn't see the point of staying in the hospital when we were taking care of him the whole time anyways. The hospital is very small and they don't really have a nursery. I was ready to leave and sleep in my own bed. Hospital beds aren't too comfortable. The food was ok...but I was ready to eat some real food.

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Cooper did great his first night. Once alseep he only woke up at 3am to eat. Not bad for a day old!

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That's it! That is how Cooper entered this crazy world we live in! He brings so much love and joy into our home. He is so adorable, so little and so good!

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A few pictures along the way....

Hooked up and ready to go! 1:30pm at the St. Helena Hospital

Cooper's Big Arrival- November 24, 2010 00:20am (12:20).

Weighing in at 7 lbs 8.4oz and 20 inches long!

1st bath...he didn't like it very much!

Brooklyn and Easton's first time meeting their little brother!

They were soooo excited to finally meet him. They love to hold him.

Grandmommy and Cooper!

A very happy Daddy!

Our First Family Photo! Wow...a family of 5!Our view! IThe weather looked beautiful..even though it was very cold outside.

Getting ready to go home...9:30 pm

What a cutie!

First Ride in the carseat-over the St. Helena Mountain. And boy was it cold...in the 20's. Cooper did great and enjoyed the ride!

Coopers visitors at the hosptal...Kara, Brooklyn, Easton, Grandmommy & Sue and Val. Thanks for visiting and meeting little Cooper!

We're off!

My water broke at Walmart (11 am)..yes Walmart!

We're off to the hospital...Stay Tuned!!!!!!

(40 weeks and 1 Day)

Leaving for the hospital at 12:30pm, Tuseday November 23rd.

40 Weeks and 1 Day....and counting!

Dear Little Baby Boy,

YOU are WAY too comfortable in there! Please get moving and get busy! Let's get this party started! We are very excited to meet you! You are definitely testing your mommy's patience. Please Please come today!

Love, Mommy

I am not a fan of going over my due date...I have spent 9 months looking forward to November 22nd! I never looked forward to Nov 23, 24, 25, 26....I just hope he comes very soon. I feel a little too good. I have a few contractions here and there but nothing too painful. He still loves to move and KICK my ribs at night. He is enjoying his warm, cozy tummy bath!

My mom arrived two days ago and is waiting patiently. My dad arrives on Wednesday and says he will take me for a bumpy drive if I haven't had the baby by the time he gets here. Poor Eric was expecting to take a few days off work...but so far no luck. He calls me during the day to check in...he is always disappointed to hear that I feel just fine!

I have been walking, walking, vacuuming, cleaning, etc...doing whatever I can do start something. I am not willing to drink oil though..no thanks!

I guess he will enter this world when he is ready...I just hope it is really soon!!!!!

We have a Woodstove...YEAH!

After years of talking about getting a wood stove...it takes having a new baby to finally get one. And I am SOOOO excited to have a warm house. The last two winters I have lived in slippers and a robe (even over my clothes) to stay warm in the house. We keep our heater at a cozy 63 degrees and still would pay a nice expensive heating bill because of the size of our house and the type of heater we have....so since the new baby is arriving (any day) we knew we needed to have another heating source to keep him warm.

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Last month I found a great wood stove online with free shipping and large enough to heat our house...or at least it says it will. Eric said just order it and we did! Ordering was the easy part...after a couple of weeks now of getting permits, inspections, figuring out the dimensions, laying the granite, spending lots of money on piping (who knew the piping would be so much), moving the 580 pound wood stove into the house (Thanks to all those strong guys who helped), Eric finally finished it last night at 2am. It looks awesome! The granite tile matches perfectly with our carpet and the stove looks amazing...and I am sure it will feel even better!

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Can't wait to fire it up tonight!!!!! I guess I will have to learn how to start a fire now!

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Thanks Eric for all your HARD WORK and thanks to all his friends who spent late nights installing pipes and tiles!

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This baby boy can now come home to a WARM house...I joked with Eric that he wasn't going to come until the stove was done...now he has no more excuses!!!!

What Easton is thankful for...

Easton had his "Harvest Party" today at school. They went around the table and said something they were thankful for...Easton said,

"My Baby Brother."

And then to top it off they have a turkey on the wall that says what they are thankful for and Easton wrote,

"I am thankful for my mom carrying my baby brother!"

How stinking cute is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish I had my camera today in class...I will have to post a picture later!

My New Goal...

I do LOVE a nicely made bed!

I have decided to make myself a new goal...and by posting it on the blog...maybe I will follow through!

My New Goal...Is to make my bed for 30 days!

3 Days down...only 27 more to go!

I am hoping by the end of the 30 days I will have a routine down and it will just happen each morning! I love my bed made...it looks so nice and it makes me happy to walk into my bed and see it...even though no one else sees it and it bugs Eric to take off the decorative pillows!

To baby brother..

To baby brother,

I will love you when you come.

It will be exciting for you to come to my house.

"Happy Birthday Baby brother"

~Brooklyn

A little note Brooklyn wrote to the baby...thought it was too cute not to share!

Brooklyn's Messy Room Book!

I got this book in a book pack from the book order. I can't believe how well this book relates to Brooklyn...It fits Brooklyn Perfectly...Too Perfectly!

This is the book..

I like my room messy.
It's my room. So there!
I like paint on my table.
I like socks on my chair.
I like books on my bed.
I like toys on my floor.
I like shirts on my dresser.
I like shoes in my drawer.
I like my room messy.
I like it a lot. I like it! I like it!
But Mommy does not!

That is our Brooklyn!!!!

Well all except for the paint...I would never let her have paint in her room! I would replace that will PAPERS on her table! She always has school papers/projects or just random papers that she writes on or cuts out in her room. I usually throw away a garbage bag full of papers when I clean her room. And I would add that socks get left ALL over the house and not just in her room.

Her room is always messy...but we still love her!

Our Sacramento Getaway...

I wanted to plan an overnight trip with Eric before the baby came. So after a month of planning...we finally went on November 5th. It was a surprise to Eric..I told him the night before. It was hard to keep it a secret since he was planning on fixing our van that weekend. But he was excited once I told him. Eric worked a half day and then we headed to Sacramento. We checked into our hotel and then did a little shopping before dinner. We went to Applebee's for dinner. And then headed over to see a Comedy Sportz show. We use to go in Utah so I was excited to find one in Sac. It was fun...it could have been funnier..but we enjoyed ourselves. Saturday we had a great free breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the temple for a session. It was a busy day at the temple. It was nice to go to the temple...it might be awhile before we get there again with the new baby.

Me...Prego at 37 1/2 weeks.

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After the temple...we went to the factory outlets near the temple. We did a little Christmas shopping, Inn & Out for Lunch, went to the movies and saw "Life as we know it." (It was a good movie...but a little slow.)

Then off to Costco...can't go to the city without stopping at Costco!

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Then we drove home!

It was a nice relaxing, layed back weekend.

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BIG Thanks to Michelle and SuSu & Val for taking the kids so we could have some time together! I think the kids had just as much fun as we did!

39 Weeks...1 weeek to go!

Today I am officially 39 weeks prego! Brooklyn and Easton both came 5 days early...please baby come early! I haven't felt much happening besides some braxton hicks(hard tense stomach). It is hard to sleep...he likes to kick my ribs at night. I think I will start to do some walking this week! Maybe I can get something to start...

I have been working on getting my To-Do List Done before the baby comes. So far...

1. Brooklyn blanket sewed together! Done... just need to still cut.
2. Christmas gifts made and wrapped for family members...Done and Done!
3. Baby Clothes, swing, bouncer, carseat, bassinet all washed and ready...Done, done, done!
4. Christmas bought for the kids...Done! Thanks to eBay and other online websites!
5. Storage Room cleaned out and yard sale! Done!!!!
6. Temple Trip..Done!
7. Transferring all our MiniDV home Videos to DVD...DONE! I transferred almost 40 tapes to DVD...it was very time consuming but fun to watch the kiddos when they were young! (A little advice...don't ever watch labor videos before you have a baby...I am alittle scared now!)
8. Clean, Clean, Clean the house...Still have to work on this. Today hopefully!
9. Overnight trip with Eric to spend time together! Done...Thanks to SuSu and Val!
10. Get a pedicure...Not done...maybe tomorrow!

Eric's has been VERY busy installing a wood stove in our house...it has become a bigger project than expected...I guess that is how life goes. At least we will have a warm house for the new baby! And Eric has been busy replacing the transmission in our van for the second time. Caravans are not easy to work on...I feel bad for him. He has been working, working and working...usually from 6am till 10pm! And to top it off he has been helping me clean my job because it is too hard to clean for 2-3 hours straight. So I do some and he then he finishes. Hopefully life will slow down a bit when the baby comes...so he can enjoy the baby too!

Soccer ended on Saturday...one less thing to do each week. The kids had a great season. Brooklyn loved being goalie. Easton loved defending his goal as well but also loved to make goals.

Stay tuned...hopefully the next post will be pictures of our new little boy!

Halloween Fun!

Costume Parade!!!

The School Halloween Parade is always a big hit. All the classes walk around the school and playground to show off their costumes. The rain was a little iffy this year...but it all worked out perfectly!

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Spiderman (Easton) leading the parade with his class!
Candycorn Witch (Brooklyn) walking with her class!
My delicious Candycorn!

This is Brooklyn's 2nd Grade Class all dressed up!

After the parade both classes had a little Halloween Party...lots of yummy food!

Ward Halloween Party!

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The Kids Pie Eating Contest!

Brooklyn's hair kept getting in the way...she had fun though!

Go Spiderman! Suck up that pie!!!!

Easton and his friend, Avery before going to school!

Pregnant M&M!

Brooklyn wanted a picture with all her candy...they both got plenty! Too Much...which also means Mommy is eating too much too! I have a bad sweet tooth! Happy Halloween!