Gingerbread Houses 2010

We have had a lot of fun this year making gingerbread houses with our friends. Of course we have to turn it into a friendly competition though. :-) So here you go...cast your votes! You can vote for your first, second and third choice.

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Monday...

Monday I return to work. This is bittersweet for me. I do enjoy my job, most days, and look forward to getting back to managing Auctori and continue the work that we started 3 years ago. There is a sweet satisfaction of being on the team that created this product and being the manager that continues to bring it to clients and progress it further. But that means I have to leave my new baby. She will be in great hands so I am grateful that I don't have that to worry about. But I am wrestling with those emotions of wanting to be home with my girls. I am fearing what is waiting for me at the office when I return and what has changed in the past 8 weeks. What will I need to catch up on, how will it be getting up in the morning and going to work after not getting much sleep the night before? Will I be able to get into a good routine? There a million things floating around in my head.

But for today...I will hold my baby and not think about Monday until Monday. :-)

Blessing Day

I have always enjoyed baby blessings. They have always been a big deal to me even before I had children. I feel it is so special because is a time when our Heavenly Father is able to vocalize special blessings to our children and they are given their official name. It is a beautiful thing. We had the wonderful opportunity to bless Peyton in church on Sunday. I am very grateful to my father for being able to bless her. It was a beautiful and I of course sat and cried. Peyton was quiet and just laid there in every one's hands all wide eyed. There was so much love in that circle for her. I would imagine she could feel that.

My brother and his family came in from California. It meant a lot to me to have my whole family there on this special day. Both of my brothers and their wives mean so much to me in their own unique way. I feel like I am constantly looking for their validation and it felt wonderful to have them all there supporting me. I was so very grateful to the friends that supported us also. I appreciate the ones that stood in the circle to bless Peyton and I appreciate the friends that came to see Peyton blessed that do not have the same faith as me. That meant a lot to me because they were there to support me even though they didn't believe the same as me. What true friends those are! How blessed Derek and I are!

I am so blessed to have the two girls that I have and to have an amazing husband to raise them with. My life is so complete right now and I am so overwhelmed with happiness. Thank you to my family and to my friends for their patience, love and support. Thank you to my Father in Heaven for his outpouring of blessings and for these two amazing girls that he has Derek and I to care for here on this earth.

Thanks Kim!

Kim doesn't know it yet but she saved Aubrey from dying from boredom this evening! :-) Kim posted on her blog a month or so ago a recipe for play dough. So Aubrey and I tried it out. It was VERY easy and a lot of fun. We did 4 colors: blue, green, black and orange. Aubrey used our Halloween cookie cutters and her imagination and made this "scene". (as she calls it) She is such a creative kid! The weather was PERFECT today so Aubrey even got to enjoy playing with her play dough outside so Derek didn't have a stroke about any of it possibly getting on the carpet. :-)

Aubrey was so excited to have me put these pictures on the blog.

Here is the recipe in case you want to try it out!

1 c. flour

1 c. water
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. cream of tartar or albumin

Cook and stir until it turns into a ball. Knead until smooth. (warning its HOT) Add food coloring. Keep in a Ziploc bag. I doubled this and it worked just fine.

Baby "P"

She finally made it! Baby Peyton Rachel Bemis entered this world on Wednesday, September 22nd at 10:27 pm weighing in at 7lbs 7oz. and 20 inches long. She has a beautiful dark head of hair and two adorable dimples. Here is how it all began...

As most of you know we were waiting for this day for quite some time. After weeks of the dr trying to keep me from going into labor... we then got the ok to go into labor at any time and we then began waiting to go into labor. :-) I went to the dr on Wednesday the 22nd to set up a day to be induced, only to find out I was 4 cm dilated. They asked if I was having contractions and I said no with a frown. They then asked if I wanted to have contractions. I immediately perked up and said YES! They massaged Peyton's head which was very low and I started having some contractions. They monitored me for about 10 minutes and then said well...head over to the hospital...you are having a baby today.

Derek and I were in shock and so excited. We promptly left the dr's office and walked across the way to the hospital. By the time we walked across the way the dr's office had already called and my room was ready. By now it was around 230 pm. They checked me in, hooked me up to monitors and decided I was a "keeper". Apparently this was a very busy day at the hospital. There was a full moon and they were busy. They were sending people home if they weren't far enough along due to room availability and nurses available. I was glad I as a "keeper". They started me on some pitocin just to get my contraction a little stronger and more regular. That seemed to do the trick quite quickly. The dr came in a while later and broke my water. It was about 530-6pm and I was then dialated to a 5 so we figured it would be a long night. I gave into the pain soon after that and asked for an epidural. I was fortunate that I didn't have to wait long at all. They came within 10 minutes. When they fist put the epidural in it went into a bad spot because I immediately started shaking uncontrollably and I felt like I was going down a deep tunnel. Everything started getting blurry and all noises and voices started sounding very far away. They immediately backed it off and I started to return to normal. They then reinserted the epidural and it was PERFECT! I was able to still feel my legs but didn't have any pain. I could feel my contractions but no pain was associated with them. It was fantastic!

After the epidural I was able to relax and enjoy the time spent waiting to progress. In a few hours the nurse came in to check and see where I was at. Derek was already predicting it was going to be late night so we were shocked when she said I was ready to push. I think she was shocked too. :-) She had me do a practice push to see if I was truly ready and boy did she jump after that. Things went so fast! She quickly got on her phone and called in 3 other nurses and the dr. She had me push a few times while waiting and then told me to stop and wait for the dr. :-) She laughed and said she didn't want to deliver this baby. Dr Jeff soon arrived and had me push a few more times. She was coming quickly. Thanks to my epidural I was able to enjoy all of this. I could feel my contractions coming and so I knew when to push. I could feel to push but there was hardly any pain associated to it what so ever. Just pressure. He then asked me to stop pushing so we could ease her out slowly but she quickly came out without me pushing any further. All in all I pushed for about 20 minutes. Not too shabby! I was able to sit up and watch Peyton being delivered and immediately put on my chest. What an experience! It was so wonderful to watch her emerge and to hold her immediately. I felt this overwhelming amount of joy and love for this little human being. She was beautiful! I was still in shock that I just gave birth to my little girl! This whole experience has been something I cannot put into words.

Peyton was perfect and she was finally here! My brother came to the hospital soon after she was born and took some wonderful pictures. After he left, Derek and I finally got to sleep around 2am that morning with Peyton by my bed. I just wanted to stare at her all night long. I couldn't believe she was here and we were her parents! Needless to say I soon drifted off while watching her sleep.

Everything since then has gone really well. I have recovered very quickly and feel great. (other than being tired!) Peyton is a wonderful baby! Aubrey was colic for so long I dreaded that I might be re-living that again with Peyton but she has been a dream. She eats every 2-3 hours but quickly goes back to sleep or just sits and quietly watches the things around her. She lost some weight at first but has quickly put it back on and is now 7lbs 15 oz. She still has her beautiful head of hair. I am still worried it will be like Aubrey's and fall out and return years later, but I am hoping it won't! It makes a cute little mohawk on its own which is just adorable. Aubrey hates it and is always trying to push it down, but it is a stubborn little mohawk! Derek and I were just talking about how we couldn't picture her without it!

Aubrey is a wonderful big sister. She loves to hold Peyton and is protective of her when others are around. It is very, very cute. Derek is quite smitten with Peyton as well. He is so fun to watch as a new dad. He makes my heart melt when I see how he looks at her with all the love in the world. He is an amazing father to both the girls and It makes me fall in love with him over and over again.

Having photographers in the family there are pictures galore of Peyton. You can see many of them on facebook or at Ben & Becca's blog: http://blimbam.blogspot.com They have done an amazing job at taking pictures and helping us capture the wonderful moments with Peyton.

Thanks to all our family and friends for all their love and support. It was so neat for Derek's sister to fly in right before Peyton was born and to be able to spend the first couple of days here. It has been fantastic to have family close by to check on us to see how we are doing and for friends that make wonderful meals! :-) Thanks for being in the delivery room with us Mom! Thank you to Ben and Becca for not only your fantastic photography but for taking such great care of Aubrey. She had a blast and I owe you guys big time! Thank you so very much for the visitors! Thank you for sharing in this remarkable moment of our lives.This experience has been something that I thought would only be in my dreams and I love that it has become a reality! I am so grateful for the many many blessings we have as a family.

Disney Land

So in the midst of all craziness I failed to publish any pictures from our vacation to LA this year. We love going to visit my brother and his family. The girls had a wonderful time at Disney Land. (I think the boys had a pretty good time too!) It was fun to see Aubrey light up when she saw everything and even be as adventurous to try a roller coaster. Thanks to my brother and sister in law for being fantastic as usual! :-) We miss you guys and can't wait to come back and visit again soon!

Fun Summer Day with Grandpa

Derek was out for part of the day on Saturday so my dad, being the wonderful father he is, made it possible for me to rest by taking Aubrey out for a date! They went to the science center and saw the Pirate exibit that Aubrey had been dying to see. Aubrey wanted to see the real pirate gold. They enjoyed a lunch together and then headed downtown to play in the fountains. She was even able to enjoy some homemade ice-cream while down there.

She had a wonderful time and my dad was able to capture some fantastic pictures. Aubrey just can't get enough water time! Thanks dad for making my day really easy!

Peyton's Baby Shower

My Sister in law Becca and my good friend Kym threw me a fantastic baby shower the other day. Everything was beautiful and I was in awe and humbled by the people that came to show their support of baby Peyton.

It was a wonderful time to visit and chat. We played the dirty diaper game where they melted chocolate in diapers and we had to guess what chocolate bar they were. There was a quiz about me. And then when it was time to open presents everyone played gift bingo.

Thank you Ben, Becca and Kym for all your hard work! Thank you for my mom for assisting and allowing us to fill her house. I am still amazed by the generosity of you all. Thank you so very much for making me feel so very loved.

1st Grade

Aubrey started 1st grade this week at the new school built just outside our neighborhood. She had a fantastic week and seems to really enjoy school! Where has the time gone?

Family Photo

I love how our family pictures turned out! Thanks Ben & Becca!

Baby Update

For those of you who don't know...here is a quick update. :-)

3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was put on a low carb diet and must check and record my blood sugars 4x a day. The main concern was how big would our baby get before delivery. The dr decided he would plan on me having her a week early just to be safe but we would monitor with ultrasounds to make sure she wasn't getting too big. So Friday was my first ultrasound since being diagnosed. I went in and everything was perfect with her. She looked fantastic. They did notice my blood sugars had been a little elevated over the past couple of days so they decided to give me a non stress test. They strapped me up to the monitors and came back 20 minutes later to find that our baby looked fantastic but that I was contracting 2-3 minutes apart. They quickly checked me and I was not dialated. They put me on a medcation to take daily to stop the contractions and bed rest for the weeked and then told me to come back Monday.

So...today I go back in, they strap me up again...just to find out that I am still contracting 2-3 minutes apart. They checked me once again and I am dialated to a 1 and the baby is very very low. They wisked me off to Labor and Delivery and admitted me. After hooking me up to the montiors they noticed the contractions were strong and good so they gave me a shot of a stronger drug to stop the contractions. That drug makes me feel all jittery but the good news is the contractions have stopped for now. They discharged me just a bit ago. Just in time to go to my first child birth class. :-) How ironic is that?

I am on "mid-level" bed rest now. I am allowed to go to work as long as I am not contracting. But that is it. I am not allowed to do stairs, shopping, walking etc. When I am not at my desk I am to be at home with my feet up. They told me gravity is not my friend right now. :-) So the ultimate goal is for me to make it 3-4 more weeks so I a 37 weeks along. They are hoping for at least 2. They told me to go home and pack my hospital bag, so I guess I better get that done.

Thanks for the prayers that are already being offered on our behalf and we welcome any new ones. :-) Our baby is currently 4.5lbs so we are hoping if we can hold out a couple more weeks she will gain a half pound a week and be at a much better weight. Every day counts at this point. We are anxious for her arrival and to hold her...but we are willing to wait. :-)

Here are some pictures from our ultrasound. She has some big cheeks!

Rain Rain Go Away!

The weather was on our side last night! We've had extreme heat and thunderstorms lately. But last night we caught a break just in time!

We decided we better document this miracle of me being pregnant. I was hesitant at first to do a maternity shoot for fear of how it would turn out. Needless to say I am overjoyed with the results. My brother Ben and my sister in law Becca are amazing at their photography. I loved watching them work together so well. Everything was perfect! Aubrey was happy, Derek wasn't dying in the heat and our baby seemed to be enjoying it all because she was bouncing inside me the whole time.

It's been a rough week in my pregnancy with things that have happened, so this was a blessing to have a beautiful view of this miracle.

Thank you Ben and Becca for you wonderful talent! Thank you for the amazing pictures! View their blog to see the full slideshow.