Grayson's 1st Bath

He loved having his hair washed!  Yes, he has hair to wash - so fun!  

Grayson James Palmer

The bump at 39 weeks -

Church activity - Luau - Friday, April 12th
I was having contractions but nothing regular.  One of the dancers made me do the hula (against my will). 

Hazel loved the party, and she, on the other hand, was very willing to dance.

Apparently the hula was all it took.  At 4:30 am I woke up having what I thought were Braxton Hicks.  Usually I can fall right back asleep, but I noticed they kept happening about every 15 minutes.  Then they were about 10 minutes apart, but I was still questioning if it was labor because I never went into labor with Hazel.  I just thought contractions had to be more painful at that point, so I was in denial.  I texted my mother-in-law so she could come over in case I wanted to go to the hospital.  The last thing I wanted to do was get James up, go to the hospital, and get sent home.  I talked to my mom, and she was pretty convinced I should go get checked since I could time the contractions.  So, I got James up at 7:30 (who was very confused by the whole thing) and Barbara came over at 8:00.  By that point, I was convinced I should at least go get checked out because the pain was getting worse and the contractions were even closer.  We checked into the hospital and what people say is true - when you're in pain, it's so annoying to sign papers, answer questions, etc.

James got this picture in between contractions - 

Turns out, I was dilated to a 7.  I was terrified I wouldn't have enough time to get an epidural, but they assured me I would.  It took awhile to get it all going and for the epidural to kick in, but thankfully it did!  Heaven!  I thanked the anaesthesiologist about 100 times. 

Grayson made his debut at 9:45 am at 8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 in.-- just 2 oz bigger than Hazel at 6 days before his due date.  It's the most surreal experience to witness a birth.  It just doesn't seem real when they place a newborn in your arms for the first time.  The only reaction I can come up with is tears.  What a miracle.

Proud Daddy and son

 

I love how much they change everyday.  It's so fun to just stare at your newborn all day (and night) in the hospital.

Here's Hazel meeting her little brother for the first time.  It went SO much better than I expected. 

First family photo

So blessed!  Welcome to the family, Grayson!

Easter and Conference Weekend

We did a few egg hunts in preparation for Easter, and Hazel loved it.  We'll have to get more into the reason for Easter next year when she'll understand a little more.  

This is Hazel with Jones, Cohen, and Jaxon

Here are Hazel and Grace at our egg hunt at the park with church friends.

Easter Sunday

Then there was General Conference the next weekend, and we surprisingly got to see most of it - even with a 2 year old!  Hazel enjoyed coloring her "Red Monson."  Only the best color for the prophet!

 I just feel like you have to have sweet rolls on Conference weekend, so I tried out the Pioneer Woman's orange rolls.  Yummy.

I love being uplifted every 6 months from the messages from Conference - what a great tradition.

How Firm a Foundation

So we've had some serious issues with cracks in the walls, doors that stick, baseboards and columns that separate from the wall, etc. so we had our foundation checked out.  The previous owners had several steel piers put in on the outside of the house, but as it turns out, the middle of the foundation wasn't holding up and needed extra support.  So, we put 5 more steel piers in the middle of our house, and hopefully that will take care of everything.  It kind of made me crazy to pack everything up, cover everything up with tarp, and deal with a mess for a few weeks -- especially with a baby on the way.  I wish we would have snapped a few pictures of the workers waist deep in the floor and mounds of dirt piled up everywhere.  I left for most of the day, which was better since I had a hard time seeing them hack at our beautiful wood floors!  Here are the patches we had for a few weeks.  It was quite the challenge to cook while 9 months pregnant with that big patch in the tile, but we made it work.

 And here's the guy fixing our floors - bless his heart.  He did an awesome job making it blend in with the rest.

 

 And here's my dear husband cleaning our floors after the fiasco - on his hands and knees.  I sat idly by, eating some blue bell.  What a man.  He's so fast, he's blurry.

Although we had a sewage leak afterward because of the shift in the foundation, it turns out it will only require a big hole in the garage, not in the wood again.  Whew!  We're just grateful it was all finished before baby Grayson made his debut.