Blessed

I haven't been able to post for awhile because Don and I sold our computer. We decided to cut down on our gadgets and gizmos for a little bit. Lots has happened since I last posted!
We spent Thanksgiving with Don's family and a few of his cousins. Which meant TONS of food and lots of kids for Carter to play with. I love this time of year.
At the beginning of December, Carter and I spent a week at my mom's in Idaho. My sister also came and I got to meet my new adorable nephew, Levi! It felt nice to squeeze on a little baby that doesn't crawl or run away from you. My little brothers loved playing with Carter. We had lots of fun goofing off. I also got to spend time with my best friend, Kasey. I would like to post our trip with pictures some other time. Hopefully soon!
This Christmas season I have felt especially grateful for everything that I have. Going to Idaho and seeing my old friends and loved ones who helped shape me into who I am today made me feel so blessed and loved. I also recently had a friend who's husband passed away suddenly. She wasn't a close friend, but once I heard I immediately fell to my knees bawling and praying for her. The next day was the Conneticut shooting which also brought me to my knees. I was in a daze for a few days. These incidences just put me in shock of how precious and fragile life is. It's times like those where I feel so selfish like what do I have to complain about?
I have the world at my feet.
I live in a beautiful, free country.
I have a loving family.
A sweet husband.
A son who I get to squeeze and love everyday.
I have awesome, fun friends.
A healthy body.
A roof over my head and food on the table.
I've got it good. I am blessed more than most people in the world and often wonder what I did to deserve it. I just want my friends and family to know how much I love them and want every happiness for them.
Merry Christmas!

DIY Project and Other Things

Ta da!

This has been my project for the last couple of weeks. I got this filing cabinet for free from my boss at CMI a couple years ago and it's been an eye sore. It was dark grey with a bunch of stickers on it including a big sticker of my old boss's chihuahua...it was lovely. I forgot to do a before picture, but this  was the end product. I got the idea from pinterest. (gotta love pinterest!) So if you want a how to go to my page. All it took was spray paint, mod podge, and material. So easy! Now I'm working on a giant painting of tulips for my sister in law. I don't think I've ever done anything so big. It's intimidating because it's so large and also it's nerving to do something for someone else. Hope she likes it!

In other news, Carter has been officially walking for a few weeks now! I have been dying for him to walk for MONTHS. It is so fun! Who cares if he gets into everything! Yesterday I put shoes on him for the first time at Wal-Mart. (K, let me rephrase that...he has worn shoes before, but never walked by himself in them.) He wouldn't take a step at first, but after some convincing I let him roam around the store. He was laughing and falling and had a good ole time. We also let him loose when we watch his cousins' football games. Don's family usually sits on the grass on the sidelines. A luxury of going to a small school! You don't have to sit in the stands. Carter loves it.

On Sunday, people kept asking me at church if I was so ready to have Carter go to nursery and I have to say that Carter must be really good for his age cause he doesn't bother me at all. Maybe he'll be terrible in a month or two? We teach primary and he just walks around the classroom, eats snacks and doesn't really bother anyone until he gets tired then one of us takes him out. Carter is the sweetest boy. He is so calm and just plays by himself all the time. Sometimes when I try to play with him he doesn't want to, he rather play by himself. Carter is also very sensitive. When we tell him no he immediately gets his feelings hurt and I laugh almost every time cause it's so cute haha. One thing Carter does do is throw tantrums. He doesn't have a lot of patience...at all. He does the roll on the floor kicking and screaming thing. It's my favorite. Other than that, he's awesome. He'll randomly come up to me and give me a hug and a kiss. SUCH a sweetie. I love having a momma's boy. I love getting to know his personality.

Naked boy! Not afraid of taking showers anymore!

Carter helping dad play video games. I LOVE video games....(lot's of sarcasm)

It's been raining lots! We love sitting on the porch and watching it.

After playing hard at a football game

Playing in our new grass. We are the only ones with grass on our road.

LOVE him to pieces.

Happy Fourth Anniversary!

On our fourth anniversary I'd like to do something a little special for the blog and write our story...however long it will take. We'll see how well I remember everything...

August 2007: I moved to Thatcher and started school at Eastern Arizona College. There was an opening social held by the institute at the ball fields which included food, music, and dancing. It's also the same day Sophie and I started hanging out. Our anniversary is sort of our friendship anniversary too with the Weech's. Anyways, Don was not going to school that semester yet. He was living in Mesa at the time, but came to visit his parents that weekend and crashed the party. He told me he saw me and said I was cute and wanted to date me the next semester.

Snowboarding

January 2008

Later that semester, Don and I "technically" met even though I didn't remember him at all. His friend, Aaron, was sort of dating Sophie (I say sort of because she was just waiting for Phil to get home from his mission). Aaron convinced Don to go to Thatcher one weekend with him to see Sophie even though Don really didn't want to go. The only reason he went was because Aaron told him that Sophie was friends with me. And when they came to Sophie's apartment there I was sitting on my boyfriend's lap being all smoochy. Yeah, you can say it, I was a hussy. That was why I didn't remember meeting Don. Don did not have a good weekend.

So Spring semester came and Sophie and Don were in a class together. We "officially" met at a dance. Sophie introduced us and I told her I thought he was cute. Later, Don told her he wanted to ask me out and she gave him my number. (This is so high school, right?!) I get a text from Don saying, "Can I have your number?" He didn't want to be creepy having my number without asking for it. I was thinking who is this weirdo? Don was really nervous to ask me out on a date and let me tell you our first date was so AWKWARD. It started out with Don saying, "Man, it's cold out tonight..." then wonderful awkward me says, "Well, I hope you brought a jacket cause I'm not keeping you warm!"

Going to a dance

April 2008

Surprised we made it to a second date? Me too. Don was good at creating fun dates. We went on Mount Graham with a bunch of people and watched a scary movie and had a bonfire. And this was another awkward moment. We were sitting on camp chairs and I wanted to make a cuddling move and put my head on his shoulder, but the camp chairs were too far away and wouldn't allow it so my head pretty much just rested on my own chair. So Don tried to put his arm around me, but it was uncomfortable. Then on the way home he told me all about his recent ex girlfriend and how they were going to get married and she all the sudden broke it off on Christmas over the phone. A little much for only a second date, but we both were getting over bad break ups so it was nice to have him to talk to. And that's what I instantly loved about Don. I could be completely honest and say anything without being judged or anything. I felt completely myself around him despite all that breaking the ice awkward beginning.

Other dates included going snowboarding, going to Red Knolls, making tin foil dinners, and he took me to a special secluded spot, played music in the car and danced with me. Don didn't kiss me for two weeks after we started dating. Funny thing was that Phil and Sophie and Don and I had our first kiss the same night. The four of us watched a movie together that night and Don and I kissed on the floor and Sophie and Phil kissed outside on the front step. So romantic haha.

(Yes, we're matching again.)

Before we took a motorcycle ride to Mesa

April 2008

I did break up with Don once before spring break. Anyone who knows Don knows that he is extremely sarcastic and I was not used to that. I also got offended way too easily. This may sound terrible, but I was used to guys groveling at my feet saying how wonderful and perfect I was (may sound nice, but it was annoying) and Don was not that way. I wanted someone that was real. Don told me when I was being a butt. I have never fought with anyone so much in my life! But it was good for me. Don appreciates my good side AND my bad side. That's when I figured out that he was the guy for me. We got back together a week later. I saw him at the institute and we started talking again and we ended talking for 2 hours on the curb just about anything and everything.

In May I went home to Idaho and brought Don to meet my family. When I dropped him off at the airport we sat and talked for awhile. That's when we talked about marriage. He said, "I could marry you." and I said the same thing. It felt weird saying bye to him. It just didn't feel right. I stayed home for a week and decided I had to go back to Arizona. Don's parents graciously let me stay at their house that summer.

In Idaho

May 2008

Our engagement...neither of us remember what day we got engaged! How sad. It was either the end of May or the beginning of June. After church we went up on Mount Graham and had a picnic. He took me on a four wheeler ride and I totally knew it was going to happen. I just wanted to reach in his pocket and say, "AHA!" But of course, I didn't. We were on this really pretty cliff and he said, "Woah! What's that?" I turned and looked, but nothing was there and said, "What are you talking about?" When I turned back around he was down on his knee. It made me laugh.

The spot where we got engaged

Mt. Graham

May or June 2008

Showing off the ring to the family

The next couple months of our engagement were the worst months of my life. Seriously. For many many reasons. It felt like everything was against us to get married, but we did it! We were married August 7, 2008. Right after we got married it started pouring and I wouldn't have it any other way. That's what made it so fun and so memorable. Don still carried me through the threshold when we were drenched and the ground was slippery. We had a honeymoon in Sedona and after hiking and exploring we went back to the hotel and watched the olympics among other things ;) so it's kind of fun watching the olympics now and remembering that.

The Big Day

August 7, 2008

Now here we are four years later, a family. The longer our marriage, the more I love my husband. He is fun and crazy and I have so much fun with him. We are COMPLETE opposites in just about everything, but that's why we go together. You...complete...me...

All ready for our hot date.

Don wanted to take a picture with out medals haha 

we're trying to look tough

And of course we did not take a normal picture

August 7, 2012

Love you, Donald! Happy Four Years!

Just a Good Day

Went grocery shopping and stayed on budget (It's hard to go to Wal Mart and not get distracted!)

Having a hard time getting Carter to eat solid food, but when I took him outside he ate dirt and wood chips.

Sprayed the weeds. I thought I kept spraying myself when it turned out it actually was raining.

Sat on the porch while it rained. The husband ate potato chips while I ate chocolate.




At the end of the day all I can think is "It's a great day to be alive."

11 Months

I can't believe this little fart is going to be one at the end of the month. I get all sentimental when I look at his baby pictures. I LOVE this stage though. Carter is hilarious. He keeps me entertained all day. I also clean up after him all day too. He's discovered toilet paper and I used to let him play in the cupboards, but lately it's gotten a lot worse. For example, he got the tin foil out and unrolled the whole thing in less than a minute, I swear. He loves helping me put dishes in the dishwasher. Wherever he is in the house it's like he knows when I open the dishwasher. He comes crawling at lightning speed with a huge grin on his face. Carter also laughs at EVERYTHING! And talks gibberish. He loves to be swung around and played with. He says some words like mama and dada and no no...not all the time or on command, but he says them on occasion. And when I point to a snake in one of his books he says "ssssss."

Also, I did start Insanity. I started last Monday and lost 3 lbs at the end of the week. It is hard core, but I just tell myself to push through, it's only 30 minutes. I love it though. It helps me feel energized for the day and makes me feel better about myself. I did take a day off though last week because Carter got really sick. He threw up almost everything he ate for 2 days. He's slowly getting better. Today he's been acting like his regular self. I hate when babies get sick. It is so sad and so disgusting.

Well, that's all the news at the Thompson house....same old same old.

Insanity

right? RIGHT?

I just did something crazy and desperate.


Anyone heard of Insanity? Check it out. It's supposed to be a very intense at home workout/weightloss plan that helps you lose weight fast. My sister in law mentioned it to me the other day and Don and I know a bunch of people doing P90X that are getting into great shape. (Insanity is like the sister to P90X.)

So that is my birthday present to myself this year...getting into shape.

I know many of you relate: My friends and family tell me that I look fine and, "You just had a baby!" But let's get real here. It's hard for me to accept those compliments. I know that I look "fine" but I don't want to look fine. I want to look and feel great. I haven't felt that way since I first got married. I was always the skinny girl and thought I'd lose the pregnancy weight fast, but there's an extra 15 lbs that I just can't shake off. No matter how much I run. I've seemed to hit a wall. And for the past 6 months or so, I've just felt blah. I don't want to go shopping! That is so unlike me. I look in the mirror and say, "Eh, I look alright." I haven't been obsessing over it, but maybe it's time to be a little obsessive and make a real change. In a couple months, I want to look in the mirror and say, "Hey, good lookin." This is the new plan. We'll see if this program works and you, my friends, will be my witnesses.

To motivate myself I will be posting embarrassing before and after photos as well as a weekly update of the progress I've made. Encouragement will be greatly appreciated!

Cheers to being healthy and fit!

Tagged

I was tagged in a post by a lovely friend of mine, Lauren. (No, not myself.) I've done something similar before, but this is a little different and lets me get out of my normal blog posts.

The Rules:
1. You must post the rules
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post
5. Let them know you've tagged them!


12 Randoms:

1. I LOVE obnoxious colors. Anything bright or neon. I could make love to the color turquoise...seriously.

2. I have loved art ever since I was in kindergarten. It was exciting to me to learn about the color wheel and the "rules" of art. In my fourth grade class I was voted as the best artist in my class and I got to miss a day of school to go to a chalk art festival. Every school in the area had a few "artists" from each school and got to paint chalk on the sidewalk on the outside of an art museum. My love for art escalated with my high school art teacher. He was amazing and made me feel like I was the only student. I pretty much took every art class I could in high school.

My high school art teacher did this out of wood. WOOD! Amazing, right?

3. I want to be more than just a mom, but I have no idea what. I have lots of hobbies and I like to do so many things. I don't know if I'd ever be content doing just one thing. I already went down the music road and found out that wasn't for me. For now, I'm loving just being a mom to the cutest baby on the planet.

4. I only shave my legs on Sundays. (No picture for that one haha)

5. I am not a clean person. Having a dirty house doesn't bother me. I'm only embarrassed when someone comes over. I don't get overwhelmed by all the stuff I have to clean. I just do it one day at a time, one room at a time. "No big deal" is my motto.

6. My toenails are ALWAYS painted. Never my fingernails.

7. I get bored very easily and I need change. I can't do the same thing everyday. It's probably the way I grew up moving around a lot. I have the inner need to always be accomplishing something and doing new things. I need adventure in my life.

8. I stare at people. I love people watching. I love to watch people react to things and see how they talk and move. Sometimes I will totally catch myself staring at someone. So if you ever catch me staring at someone it's cause I think you're interesting :)

Don't know who this is, but they've got good creep eyes

9. I love the ocean. Including all the little and strange creatures that live in it. I love having my toes in the sand. I could lay on the beach or hang out on a boat all day.

10. If I could be any animal I would be a dolphin. They seem so happy.

See? He's smiling.

11. It is very important to me to have children that eat healthy and take care of their bodies. I want my kids to love fruits and vegetables as much as I do! I believe a lot of depression issues start with body issues. I want my kids to be healthy and happy.

12. I love my husband. He amazes me with all of his technical skills. He's pretty freaking awesome and cute. I love that even though it's been almost 4 years, I still get giddy around him and I love hanging out with him. He's my best friend that happens to be really attractive ;) How often does that happen?! I'm a lucky girl.

Love them!

Now to answer some questions from Lauren:

1. What is your favorite food?

I love food period, but my favorites are pasta and seafood.

2. What's a song that best describes you?

"Make You Feel My Love" by Adele. Makes me cry every time.

"I could make you happy, make your dreams come true. There's nothing that I wouldn't do. Go to the ends of the earth for you to make you feel my love."

For my husband and kids.

3. What is one of your favorite quotes?

"If you think the grass is greener on the other side, try mowing your own lawn." I think my institute teacher said that and has totally stuck with me. That quote especially has helped me through marriage.

4. What's your favorite childhood memory?

Probably one of my favorite times was when we were in a hurricane at my dad's house in Florida. My dad was building a pool in the backyard and just got the cement in. We had to eat all the ice cream in the freezer because all the power was out and I was ecstatic. When the hurricane was over there were billions of tiny frogs in the pool and we got jars and caught a bunch of them. It was a lot of fun.

5. If you could hang out with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

Joseph Smith. He had to endure a lot, but yet he was a happy person. He would be a very good person to talk to and learn a lot from.

6. What's your favorite hobby?

Anything outdoors. Currently gardening is my new found hobby. I also love painting. It relieves stress.

7. What's a goal, big or small, of yours?

Running a half marathon in a couple weeks. That's a BIG one to me. I'm so not ready.

8. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad, but ended up really good for you?

Hahaha. My husband! I didn't like him at first. Well, I liked him, but I thought he was mean because he's so sarcastic and I didn't understand his sense of humor. I broke up with him and I was fine. Then one day we talked again in between classes at school and we ended up talking for 2 hours about anything and everything. That's when I discovered I was very comfortable around him and I hadn't felt that way about anyone. Then we eventually got married so I'd say it's ended up quite well.

9. What's the first memory you ever had?

I remember Hawaii a little bit. Just bits and pieces.

10. What makes you feel your very best?

When I know I'm doing the right thing. When I go to the temple.

Or even when someone compliments me. Either on something I've done or accomplished or even just my looks. It always makes me feel good. 

11. What is your pet peeve?

When people are whiny about their life and want to blame it on past things that has happened to them. You are what makes you happy.

12. What is something you're afraid of?

My husband dying or my house lighting on fire... you know, stuff like that.

Now, it's your turn!

Sophie 

Jessie

Rachel

Necia

Lacey

Kara

Allison

Kelsey

Marilee

Megan

Paige

Tawnie

Your questions:

1. What is your guilty pleasure?

2.  What is your favorite TV show?

3. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

4. Dress up or sweats?

5. Most embarrassing moment?

6. Favorite song?

7. Favorite childhood memory?

8. What is your pet peeve?

9. What is your favorite food?

10. What is something you cook often at your house?

11. If you could meet an actor/actress who would it be?

12. What is your favorite hobby?

Winter in Arizona

Warning: this might be a boring post of me just blabbing cause I want to blog, but I have nothing to blog about. I keep coming on here hoping something will pop in my mind to write about and I ask Don if anything interesting is going on in our lives and he says no. We are so lame!

We are excited about our tax return this year though! Woo! Having babies is pretty awesome. Carter is worth waaaaay much more than what we're getting, but it's nice to get a little dough back in our pockets. For forever, every time we went somewhere Don would think of things we "need" to get with our tax return and I was all, "Wow, we must be getting a million dollars back." So it's a joke now every time we go to Wal-Mart or something we point at random stuff and say we need to get that with our tax return.

Also, like always I'm late on book fads and I finally started reading The Hunger Games. It's so fast paced and I can't put it down. It might be better than Twilight! I'm really excited for the movie to come out too.

I've also been very diligent in running. I am sooo excited for May to go see family and run my first half marathon! I love having my iPhone when I run. I need a little holder cause I put it in a sock and stuff it in my sports bra that's two sizes too small. I have an app that records my runs and updates me every mile and I can set goals for times and make work outs. It's awesome. I really enjoy running. I did track in high school and loved it, but I hadn't run since till now. I'm beginning to have that runners high. It's my me time where I can clear my head and just focus on running. I come home from a run and I just want to go running again! I love going places I haven't been. I do love living in Arizona for this reason, that I can go running in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of winter.

I look sooo pretty when I run

Carter is doing really good. 7 1/2 months now. He sits up unassisted now. And he is going to crawl any day, I feel it. He rolls around everywhere. Anything he wants, he will roll to. He grabs toys and pulls them towards him. There's tags underneath one of our chairs and I keep them on there because he loves them so much. Any string or tag he will find. He will get up on his hands and toes in a push up position. It hurts me just watching him, he is so strong. He'll figure out the crawling thing, I'm in no rush. At dinner I put cooked veggies on his high chair for him to grab and eat, but he just wants to play with it. He hasn't quite figured that out yet. And suddenly he wants nothing to do with vegetables so I just mix it with fruit and he eats it. Muahaha. His laugh is hilarious too. I'll make a noise and he'll just giggle. He's also VERY ticklish and loves to dance with me to music in the living room. He's growing too fast! When I get frustrated with him when he doesn't sleep and I'm trying to rock him I try to remind myself that this will be the only time I will get to hold him like this. It makes me so sad. He is my little big chunky boy!

Carter at play

Don's doing good too. He enjoys his classes and always comes home and tells me something new and interesting he learned in Anatomy. He's stressed, but he's continuing to stay his goofy, upbeat self. He's a fun dad and a wonderful husband. He always is concerned about my happiness. He does little stuff for me like the other day I heard a song on a commercial and told him I liked it and next thing I know he downloaded it for me. LOVE HIM. 

This post is almost like a Christmas Card.

Tough Stuff

Thursday was a bad day. Carter had been whiny and his nose started to run. He ran a slight fever that night and he wouldn't sleep so he slept with me. I think I only slept for 3 hours. He woke up early and I was a zombie. When it was time for his morning nap, I couldn't settle him down. He screamed and I got so frustrated, I didn't know what to do. I was tired, grouchy and I balled. When I cried he stopped crying and stared at me. When I looked at his big watered eyes I felt horrible. I thought, "I am so selfish. How can I get mad at this perfect little baby? He doesn't know how to communicate other than to cry."
It's days (and nights) like those that sometimes I feel am I missing something? Everyone seems so happy to be first time moms. Is this who I am now? A woman who's a hermit in her house, taking care of kids all day? I love my baby more than anything in the world, but man I wasn't prepared for this. This is hard work. I have never felt so physically and emotionally exhausted.
This morning I read an article that really hit the heart. It's called, "To a Mother With Only One Child" by Simcha Fisher. She is a mother of 9 and is telling first time moms that it's a lot easier with 9 than just 1. This is what made me feel so much better. She says, " When I had only one child, I told myself over and over that motherhood was fulfilling and sanctifying and was filling my heart to the brim with peace and satisfaction. And so i felt horribly guilty for being so bored, so resentful, so exhausted. This is a joyful time, dammit! I should enjoy being suddenly transformed into the Doyenne of Anything that Smells Bad." She also goes on to say,
"Dear mother of only one child, don't blame yourself for thinking that your life is hard. You're suffering now because you're turning into a new woman, a woman who is never allowed to be alone. For what? Only so that you can become strong enough to be a woman who will be left...don't worry about enjoying your life. Your life is hard; your life will be hard. That doesn't mean you're doing something wrong-it means you're doing it right."

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who understands. He comes home from work and tells me to go have some "me" time. So I go for a run. This is why I'm running a half marathon in May. Not only to get back into shape, but I want to accomplish something for myself. (And to kick my dad's butt...you know, quality family time ;)

Today I am...

This is something I've done before and I need to do more often on my blog, it's a cute idea. Try it!

Today I am:

Loving: the cold weather and snuggling with my boys!

Excited: for Christmas. I'm finally going home to Idaho for Christmas. It's been 2 years since I've been home and 3 years since I've spent Christmas with my mom. My mom is the epitome of Christmas spirit. Through the whole month of December she's always cooking goodies and singing Christmas songs. The part I'm most excited about is playing the violin with my mom and sister for church. I always miss it so much this time of year!

Laughing: at Carter. Lately he's been making this super weird noise. It's a cross between the noise off "The Grudge" and throwing up. He thinks it's really funny and laughs at himself. It makes me laugh every time and I have yet to catch it on video. He's a little weirdo already. It seems like just this last week his personality has started to really come out. It's so fun!

Nervous: about Don quitting his job. Yep, you read that right. Don's last day is December 16th. It's time to go back to school. His supervisor told him she would like to talk to him about staying part-time which would be amazing!! So cross your fingers they can figure out a schedule so he can go to school and work there part-time. Otherwise, he'll just be doing plumbing.

Feeling: like a whiner. Carter's going through a bad sleeping phase. He wakes up several times a night and occasionally has what might be "night terrors." He'll sometimes wake up screaming about an hour after I put him down and I can't go in and calm him down because he's so out of it. I hate it. It's only happened a couple times though. It's hard going from having a great sleeper to waking up every few hours, but I hear this happens a lot around this age. 

Proud: that Carter is sitting up really well. Not by himself yet, but I have a feeling it will be happening soon.

Admiring: my dishwasher. I seriously want to cry when I look at it. I love technology!

Listening: to silence! Blissful nap time.

Thinking: why do I insist on making holiday treats? Last week I made an apple tart for the first time because I had a bunch of apples that were going to go bad. I didn't eat a single bite! I just gave it to my mother in law because I knew I wouldn't eat it. Don and I are really weird. If I make cookies we won't eat them. If I make a birthday cake we won't eat it. Last year I made mini cheesecakes that were a hit at a party and had some leftover and we didn't eat them! It's not like we eat healthy or anything. I'll gladly eat desserts someone else makes. Maybe it's because I spend so much time making it, I don't want to eat it. Or maybe it's because I grew up on eating pie for breakfast, eh mom? ;)

Sometimes the Smallest Things Take Up the Most Room in Your Heart

Last day being pregnant!

Eeew...

I'm so glad my mother in law was there to keep me entertained

Don's mom and sister waiting in anticipation

Don's SUPER excited

My little cone head :)

Cleaning and checking him

His smashed little face just melts my heart

Happy and tired Dad

Our first family photo

He loves pacis and so do we

Man, I love him

"It's been a tough day"

I'M A MOM!!!!!!

Carter loves Grandma

He is a boy despite the pink boppy in almost every picture

wide awake

frog legs

First time in his car seat

Really excited to go home

Our favorite picture

My nephews put a sign and streamers on our door

First time in his crib

He's meditating

Daddy Time, Carter sneezes every time Don holds him haha he must be allergic

This face comes from Don

Check out that freakish thumb toe!! I have no idea where it came from!

CARTER'S BIG DAY!

I hope this isn't scatter brained as I write this because I'm half awake all the time these days, but I have to write everything down before I forget.

Carter Wade Thompson

Born 6/29/11 at 5:34 a.m.

8 lbs. 10 oz.

20 1/2 in. long

I went into my doctor's appointment Monday morning, June 27th still disappointed that I hadn't had my baby yet. I had my membranes stripped the appointment before and tried castor oil and all it did was give me bad diarrhea and give me contractions that lead to nowhere. Everyone swears by castor oil, walking, and sex, but nothing was working. I quickly realized that babies really do come on their own time. Carter was sooo stubborn! He hadn't even budged. I was dilated at a 2 1/2 for 5 weeks!! It just about killed me. Since I was a couple days shy of being a week overdue, my doctor asked if I would like to be induced or if I would like to wait it out. And I quickly responded, "I want to be induced!!" I never thought those words would come out of my mouth because I heard horror stories of women being induced and ending up with c-sections. But we needed to do it because Don had to start up work again and I had family coming. So my doctor said, "When? We can do it right now, tonight, tomorrow, next week...." and I decided to start Tuesday morning at seven a.m. because I wanted to clean the house and do the laundry before he was here...plus I was a little nervous.

Tuesday, June 28th I was determined to have Carter. I called the hospital just before we left to make sure they had room and sure enough, they did and we started to get nervous and excited. As soon as I got there they hooked me up to the baby monitors and started me on a pill called Cytotec to soften my cervix. They used Cytotec instead of Pitocin because it's easier on your body and gradually gives you contractions unlike Pitocin which can hit you hard. Cytotec is a teeny tiny pill they stick up there. It took a little longer, but I'm glad I had it because my water broke on its own. I had the pill placed in there 3 times. After each dosage, I had to lay for an hour then I could get up and walk around and get my contractions going. I felt good and had regular contractions for a long time. And I was able to eat regular meals. 

Around 5 or 6 pm (yes, it took THAT long!) the next shift of nurses came in. I LOVED my first nurse. She hung out with us and was really informational and super sweet. The next CNA came in and introduced herself and on her way out of the door I felt something kind of pop and water gushed out and I said, "Oh!" She turned around and I said, "My water just broke!" I was so happy my water broke because I knew it meant he was coming soon! But man did the contractions hit! Don held my hand and I breathed slowly through each contraction. It meant so much to have him there by my side. I always thought I would want him to stay far away, but I felt just the opposite. Every hour I got more dilated and I was in more pain. When I was dilated to a 5 I asked the nurse if I could have my epidural. Man, there's no pain like it. I didn't want to feel the pain anymore and it felt like forever till the anesthesiologist came in. He had Don stand in front of me and I put my head on his chest. It didn't hurt at all. All the nurses were so happy I had a very high functioning epidural. I couldn't walk of course, but I could move my legs and shift my body when I needed to. At that time they also gave me an IV. I laid on my side for a few hours and when the nurse turned me over I threw up all over the floor. I threw up a lot, it sucked. 

I don't remember exactly what time I was dilated to a 10, but I was dilated at a 10 FOREVER!! Carter still hadn't dropped all the way yet so they gave me pitocin. At 3 a.m I started pushing. It took me a few practice pushes to understand exactly where I was supposed to push, but I got the hang of it. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours. They could see his head forever. My uteris is behind my pelvic bone so it was really hard to push him out from underneath. He would look like he was coming then suck back in. I just wanted to keep pushing him out even when I didn't have contractions just to get him out. The doctor finally came and I pushed some more and Carter's heart beat was dropping so my doctor helped him out with a vacuum. At 5:34 a.m he came!! The doctor immediately placed him on my chest, but he wasn't crying. He had had the cord around his neck and had Don cut the cord immediately. I held him for literally 2 seconds and they took him away to clear out his lungs. He was put on oxygen for a day, but I got to visit him in the nursery and feed him. He latched right on which was super nice. It was sad to see little tubes coming out of his nose. I had him in my room that night. He wasn't on oxygen, but he had a monitor which was a pain. Every time he cried it would drop and start beeping. When he slept and got into a good sleep, it dropped and started beeping. At one time it wouldn't stop beeping and his oxygen level wouldn't pick up so the nurses took him and hooked him back up again just to be safe. We stayed another day in the hospital and he was off oxygen all day. I just loved holding him and eating really good hospital food and ice cream and cake :) 

Friday morning Carter got circumcised and we took him home! It was such a relief to be home. The first night was really rough. He woke up every hour to eat. Now he sleeps for 3 hours then is awake for 3 hours then finally sleeps again. Needless to say I'm constantly tired, but he is so darn cute. I have the cutest baby in the world! Breast feeding has been horrible. I have sores all over and I cry just about every time he eats, it's super. He had his first doctor appointment today and it turns out he was tongue-tied so the doctor clipped his tongue so hopefully it will be easier. I love talking to him when he's wide awake and he just stares at me. I love when he's hungry and he sucks on just about anything. I love when he lays on my chest and his face is all scrunched up and chubby. He loves having his hands on his face and he constantly kicks off blankets so the swaddling thing ended real quick. He doesn't really cry, he squeeks like a taradactle and it's hard not to laugh when he cries. We're having so much fun getting to know him and staring at him all the time. We couldn't be any more happier and our lives couldn't be more full. We love our little man.