2 Years Too Late

For the last 2 years I have been needing and wanting to record Tate's birth story. I guess adding one more little kiddo made time to do so a lot less. ;)

Because it's 2 years too late, it might not be as detailed as it would have been, but I want to get it recorded before baby #4 comes and I'm really short on "extra" time.

Stephen was working in Elko, Nevada, about four hours away, during my pregnancy with Tate. He would leave on a Sunday night or Monday morning and come home on a Thursday night or a Friday...maybe occasionally but very rarely a Saturday. I had been having irregular contractions for a couple weeks, so waiting to see if they would get more intense or closer together was a constant part of my day. Stephen left Sunday June 30th in the evening for Elko after we had gone to his cousin's house in Herriman to visit his Aunt who was in town. I had been having contractions, like I mentioned that was just a normal part of my day, and I kept hoping that they would turn into something more so he wouldn't have to leave that night, but as typical of the last little while they never seemed to indicate labor. just cause me discomfort, HaHa. He left his cousin's house straight for Elko, and I remember driving home being extremely uncomfortable and having painful contractions. I was scheduled for an induction that weekend so that we Stephen would be in town and then not have too take too much time off of work after baby came, and because I was really close to my due date. I was due July 10th with Tate. I don't remember much about Monday, I am sure it was just a typical day. On Tuesday, the 2nd, however I woke up with really painful contractions. The odd thing was that I had actually had a good night sleep, which hadn't happened in forever! I remember feeling uncomfortable and having the thought that it was probably because Stephen took my pillow with him, but other than that I slept most of the night with no interruptions. I sent Stephen a text that morning after I woke up, letting him know I was going to see what the contractions would do, because they were more intense than normal. I was going to take a bath and then get a tiny bit ready, thinking the bath might help ease the discomfort and then getting ready incase I was headed to the hospital soon. Those thoughts pretty much went right out the window because my contractions were really painful and I had started timing them, they were pretty close together. I called my mom to come get me, and then a few minutes later decided I couldn't wait for her, so I called my really good friend Laura to see if she would take me and my boys to my mom's. Luckily, she and I work for the same company and they knew she was on baby alert, so she was able to get off of work and drive us up to my mom's. On the way to my mom's Stephen called his mom to meet me at my parent's house to take the boys. I felt so bad for my friend Laura, because I was in so much pain and just wriggling around complaining about it. (But she has 3 boys, so she knows what it's like ;)). We got to my mom's and it was basically a whirlwind, I jumped in my mom's car, Laura sat with my boys until my mother-in-law got there, and she (my mother-in-law) pulled up right as we were backing out to head to the hospital. We said a super quick "Hello" through rolled down windows and I was off to the hospital. When we got up to Labor and Delivery I could barely stand it anymore, and I was having to hunch over and hang onto anything I could. I know my mom was stressed out anyway, but the women at the desk didn't seem to be in any hurry and that made her even more anxious. They got me in a room to check me and monitor me to see if I was "really" in labor. The first nurse to check me said I was at a 7, then minutes later a different nurse came to check me and she said I was at an 8. Everything was happening so fast, I was further dilated than I imagined, and I started to worry Stephen wasn't going to make it for the delivery. By this time he was on his way back to Utah, as I mentioned before a pretty far distance away, about 4 hours. I apparently had forgotten to pre-register this time, so the poor nurse was trying to hurry and get all my information so they could admit me and get me my epidural. One reason for the rush of the epidural was to hopefully help slow down the labor a bit to give Stephen time to get there.

I finally got into a room and didn't have to wait too long for the epidural. Man was I ready for that! I had never made it that far into labor without an epidural, and it was REALLY painful. I don't know how women do it without meds! I was calling Stephen every so often to see where he was and probably stressing the poor man out. My doctor came in and checked me and said that I was basically ready to go, so we would just wait for Stephen to get there. I'm not sure what time it was at that point, but I know I was ready to deliver for an hour or two before Stephen actually got there. Once Stephen arrived, my doctor literally followed him through the door, everything was all set up and ready to go, and I started pushing pretty much right away. I don't know how long it took, or didn't take, but Stephen said Tate was born about 5 minutes after he got there. Talk about a whirlwind for Stephen, also!! By the time I started pushing the epidural had worn off some, so though I couldn't feel contractions, I could feel everything happening elsewhere. It was pretty painful, and I remember crying a little and saying that I couldn't do it. But of course I did (and again, I don't know how women have done or do that without any meds, feeling everything! I couldn't feel the contractions on top of what I did feel and it was hard!. Tate came out with a full head of blonde hair that shocked us all! He was a beautiful baby! I think I put his "stats" in the post I posted announcing his birth, but I will have to check and include them in here also. ;)

So kind of a jumbled mess, but finally have it "written" down! It has been 2 years, but some days feels like yesterday! We have been so blessed to have our little Tater-tot in our lives!

November, TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN, WHAT?!

I honestly don't know how we got here. So much time has passed! I feel so bad for all I have missed "writing" down and recording. In the moment you always feel you will remember it forever, but unfortunately that is not always true. Hopefully I can be better about updating, even if they are short and sweet!

So many things have changed! We are now in a new city, in a new home, and we have a new one on the way! Part of that was planned, the other was a complete surprise! ;) However, all have felt meant to be.
Our announcement to friends and family about the surprise:

Me at almost 20 weeks:

I have so much catching up to do, that I don't even know where to start! I probably won't ever be able to "catch up"...I will just have to try to do better in the future! I have a 2 year old, 4 year old, and an almost 8 year old now (How did THAT happen?!) and they are the reason this mama is so busy and doesn't have much time to blog! ;) But they sure are handsome...

Add another one to that mix and life is going to get even crazier! ..As a side note, baby #4's gender is going to be a wait-until-the-end Surprise! The pregnancy was a HUGE surprise on its own, the 1st time getting pregnant with no medical help, so might as well make it a complete surprise, right?! ;) We are all so excited to add another one to the family!

Though life has it's typical ups and downs, we are so blessed, and life is good! I hope to be able to blog more about our everyday lives, I don't want to forget...even the difficult moments. :)

A Few Of My Heart's Favorite Things..

As a mom (or let's be honest, as a woman) there are little moments that make you melt. Sometimes those moments are messy, or silly, or loud, but lately for me they usually come softly, even silently at times.

Whenever I give Noah a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or anywhere, he will give a little smile and "stamp" it in with his hand. This makes my heart all gooey. It especially turns it to mush when he does it during one of my (many) apologies. Even if he is still mad at me he will always stamp it in. I love that! It makes me feel like even though I am unsuccessful in many ways of parenting, that he is soaking up the love I have for him, and I hope in those moments he truly feels that love!

It always seems to come at exactly the right time, when I need a little lift. Everett's sweet and sincere words of gratitude, "Mom, thank you for the yummy dinner!" "Mom, thank you for opening that for me." "Mom, thank you for putting underwear in my drawer" ..Yes, that one is a true story. I love that his little heart feels gratitude for the simplest things, and that he, unprompted, is willing to share that with me! It is nice to feel appreciated, especially for the simplest things. He is also my affectionate one. He always says, "Mom, I forgot a love!" or "..you forgot a love!" and his little arms will wrap so tightly around my neck. He often wants to give me a turn at night to get my back scratched, so he will tell me to roll over so he can scratch my back. (At night I scratch their backs for a few minutes before they fall asleep.) My heart is filled through his words and actions.

There isn't much sweeter than when you are holding your baby/toddler and for no reason they lay their little head on your shoulder. I love when Tate does this, and I love when I catch a glimpse of his reflection in something while he's doing it and I see a smile, it makes my heart smile!

So many little moments, these are just a few, but they are some of my very re-ocurring favorites. I know even if my mind forgets, my heart will always remember.

Sometimes my energy is low, sometimes my patience is lacking, but my heart is always full. I love my three little misters so much, there aren't words to describe!

Last of 2014 Recap

I got a new laptop for Christmas, which means I can now update and be better about staying current on the blog. I realize that there probably isn't anyone who reads it anymore, HaHa, but I love having something to help me keep a record of our lives, and it is fun to be able to share that information with our family and friends if they'd ever like to know/look. ;)

I last blogged in June...wow, so long ago, yet doesn't feel that long at the same time!
In July our cute Tate turned 1!! We had a little family party for him that was going to be a Jeep theme, but I didn't do much for it as far as the theme goes, except try to make him a shirt that said "One rocks" with a Jeep crawling over some rocks, but it didn't turned out, HaHa. My sweet sister-in-law made yummy cupcakes and put a cute Jeep on Tate's, so that's where the theme was able to come in. Thanks Liz!! :)

In August Noah started first grade, seriously still is blowing my mind! ..And Everett started pre-school!! They are both loving school and doing great! They both have fantastic teachers that they love and that I love for them!

September was just getting used to being in school and starting that routine.

A huge change in October that wasn't really expected or planned, HaHa. We sold our house! I will fill in the details about that in another post so that this one doesn't get too long. We moved right across the street into a rental and will be here until our new home is built. We are super excited!
Of course have to mention Halloween. Noah dressed up as his dad, HaHa...looked like a construction worker, even wore Stephen's company's shirt. Everett was Batman at one point and Mickey Mouse at another, he just wanted to get out and get candy and didn't care about what he was dressed as. I squeezed Tate into the infamous lion costume, but he didn't wear it for long. They all looked super cute and had lots of fun! Stephen took the boys out trick-or-treating while I stayed home and passed out candy. Kind of a bittersweet day because we knew it was our last Halloween in our neighborhood.

November started the crazy holiday season and I started it with being sicker than I have in a long time, so I missed all the Thanksgiving fun. The older two boys got to go down to my sisters with my mom and they had the best time! They love it down there, we all do! Stephen and Tate went up to Stephen's parents' house for the evening and they also had a great time! Always fun to be with family during the holidays!

December brought Noah's 7th birthday! We had a family party for him and celebrated with just our little family as well. Last year we started what we are hoping to be a birthday tradition of taking Noah to Tepanyaki for his birthday, with just Stephen and I. We did that again this year and he loved it again! And of course Christmas has come and gone and it was really great also! Loved spending time with our little family as well as with our extended family!
December also brought Noah losing another tooth! We thought he might be asking for his two front teeth for Christmas, but it didn't come out until after Christmas. He sure looks cute with his toothless grin! (And kind of funny as I type this I noticed he was wiggling another tooth, so I asked him if he had another loose tooth and he said yes, then all the sudden he pushed it forward and it's ready to be pulled out, HaHa!)

New Year's Eve we went over to our neighbors/friends and the boys all made it way past midnight,which we paid for the next day. ;) New Year's day we just spent with our little family and ended up with all of us at Tepanyaki, and it was fun to be there all together and see the boys' reactions to everything. Noah was our experienced one, and had a good time! Everett loved it also, he tried everything they brought/made...and ate half of my salad, with his chopsticks no less! Tate did alright, but did not like how they start off with big flames on the grill. He did eat as quickly as I could feed him though, he loved the food!!

All in all it was a wonderful last 6 months and whole year! Lots of big changes, but everyone is doing well and is excited for the future! I will add pictures soon and more in-depth details about events as I add the pictures.
We hope everyone had a wonderful year, great holiday season, and that the new year brings you happiness!

Tate Update

I feel as if so much time goes by before I am able to record the progression of my littlest. He is now 11 months old! I have failed to even record his "birth story," just leaving it as a special treat for his 12-month birthday post I suppose. ;)

Eight to nine months Tate got his first haircut, he became mobile through a combination of rolling and scooting/army crawling, earned a toothy grin with his two bottom teeth coming in, and continued being his happy self!

At ten months, following suit, he began to crawl full-time. Sometimes it is a combination of one leg outstretched, propelling him forward, sometimes it's both knees on the ground, and sometimes it's the "Mogly crawl" or elephant walk with both legs extended. Whatever he decides in the moment he can get to where he wants to go! He also started pulling himself up anywhere he gets the chance.

At eleven months, his top two teeth broke through, making his grin even toothier. He has started to love bath time again; for some unknown reason he fought baths for a little while and absolutely did not want to be in the bathtub! He follows his brothers everywhere and wants to be in on the action..including wrestling. He thought up a new game where he pulls himself up while on the couch and will let go and fall back, letting himself bounce on the cushion (a parent is always right there to make sure he doesn't fall, of course), he LOVES doing this! He has tried that game while on the floor, still seems to like it, but it's much more fun for him on the couch where he bounces and lands on something soft. He loves to eat! He is a good little eater and has tried all kinds of food over the past few months. Getting ready to start the weaning process, so we will see how that goes!

I feel so blessed to have Tate in our family! He has helped me get through the toughest of days with his sweet personality and snuggles. One of my favorite parts of the day is when he lays his head on my shoulder while I sway back and forth singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" at night before I lay him in his crib. He melts my heart!

We finally got a "new" (new to me) laptop, so I will upload some pictures and post those babies here soon! Yay! :) ..I have been using instagram a bit lately, so if you are on there add me, and you will be able to keep up on pictures of the boys a bit better than here for now.

Quiet Thoughts

I know it may sound silly, but to this busy mom a shower is almost sacred. It's one of the few times I get to be alone with my thoughts. Normally those thoughts are lost or pushed to the back of my mind before I get the chance to express them to another human being, so tonight I thought I would "write" them down so I can look back and reflect on them, and also so I can be held accountable for change in my own life that should come from those thoughts.

I don't know why, but tonight my mind was focused on our opinions and perspectives of people. People make judgments by nature. We have to judge what we feel is best for ourselves and our families, or judgments of what we believe to be right or wrong, and the list goes on. We look at others' situations, physical attributes, behaviors and traits, and at times we are in awe of how amazing they seem, and sometimes even inspired to better ourselves in some way because of them. However, I feel more often than not we get wrapped up in the negative.

How many times are we taking something trivial, something from the heat of the moment, (or something down right none of our business) and thinking someone is wrong, questioning their motives, actions, or behavior, and/or thinking we know better, etc.?! The truth is we all have those of us we are close to or associate with on a regular basis that we probably don't want to see, realize, or admit it to ourselves, but that we are overly critical of. Unfortunately, once we allow that negativity to surface it seems as if that's all we see.

I am not a perfect wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, or neighbor. I am, unfortunately, not always kind. I have many character flaws. At this stage in life my kids, house, vehicles, and even myself are not always clean and put together, organized, or maybe whatever else someone thinks we/they should be. Here is the truth though, everyday I am trying to do better. I am trying to be a better person. I do not intentionally hurt others, let things go undone because I'm lazy, etc. I am trying. Everyday I try. Somedays I try harder than others because I have that extra motivation, and some days I have bad days and fight against battles unseen to the eye, so I do not try as hard as maybe I should, but everyday I am doing the best I can for that day. Why do I say all this? Because I need to remember that everyone else is doing their best, their best for that day and their best for their personal situation. Am I going to disagree with people? Yes. Am I going to question people? Yes. Am I going to think I sometimes know better? Yes. But what I do with those thoughts after I have them is what is going to make the difference. If I can remember that we are all just doing the best we can, the best for that day, the best for our situation, that we all (most of the time!) have good and sincere intentions, then I think I can be a little forgiving and less critical.

A quote by Mother Theresa came to mind when I was thinking about this, I can't remember it word for word, but it is along the lines of: when we judge someone we have no time to love them. What if we chose love instead of judgement, if we could be more forgiving instead of offended? What if we chose to see that a person is trying their best? What if we decided to realize our way is not the only way, and we do not always know best? We all have different circumstances, talents, and even flaws. Most of us are trying to better ourselves and overcome them. Most of us realize our flaws, and we do not need a cruel reminder, what we need is understanding and love not judgment. We are more encouraged to change our negative behavior when we feel understood and loved, not criticized and judged. And on the other side of it, what is amazing is once we start to look past another person's faults, we begin to see more and more to love about them, instead of adding on to our list of things we dislike.

The world would be such a better place if we could let go of negative, unnecessary judgment. If we could realize that we are all navigating this thing called life the best we can, and remember that we ALL (us included) make mistakes. We ALL have character traits, behaviors, etc., that someone, somewhere doesn't like about us. I truly believe that other people will rise to our perceptions of them. If you look at someone in a negative light, they will continue to act that way (maybe because you can never see anything beyond that and maybe because they do not feel they can ever "win" with you, so they do not even try), but if we see others in a positive light, they will live up to it..not only because we choose to look past the negative (because it will be there..again, we all have our moments) but also because you are helping them see what and who they can become, because you are helping them feel loved, and love is the most powerful thing I know of.

I do not say this to sound negative or boastful at the same time, but just to use a real-life example. My husband and I each have our flaws. We each have behaviors we dislike in each other, and those that our families probably do not like about either of us. But love is blind, in a very good way. Because I love Stephen, I know his heart, I know that he has good intentions, even through any negative behavior, I can look past that, and I can see the truly incredible man that I married. No, he is not "perfect" in the eyes of the world, and of course he makes mistakes or has behaviors I do not love, but he truly is a wonderful man with a good heart. And it amazes me how I come to love him more and more, more than I ever would have imagined when we first got married. In marriage our flaws and irritations only become more evident as time goes on, so how do we come to love a person more after those surface? Because we know them, we know their heart, and we see their efforts. If we could take the same philosophy we have in a marriage of trying to love some more instead of less as more disliked behaviors surface, and we could actually apply it to our other relationships good things would happen. We would all be happier because we ourselves would feel more loved if others were practicing this, and we would be surrounded by amazing people, those that we could truly see how amazing they were.

The more time we spending judging someone, the less time we have to love them. My new (personal) challenge is to love more, judge less. To let go of the little things, or even those things that seem "big" in the moment, and instead to try to look at a person's heart. We are all fighting an unseen battle. We all need more love and less criticism. We all have the ability to become more than we are, and we can be helped along that path when those around us are a little more forgiving, more understanding, and less critical.

Everett is Three!!

(Imagine this to the tune of "Despicable Me" the theme song for the Despicable Me movies..)"He's havin' a birth, birth-day!
It's about time he gets a cupcake.
Celebratin' with whoever we see,
Oh, despicable THREE!"

Yesterday was Everett's 3rd birthday! We celebrated in the morning with a balloon, presents, and a breakfast "cake" (pancake). The opening of his present I filmed so daddy could see, and I also filmed us singing to him before he blew out his candles, but was able to snap two pictures of him at breakfast.

Then for dinner we went as a family to where else but McDonald's?! Happy meals and playtime equals a happy birthday boy!

At THREE years old Everett is still as busy as ever! He is a mischievous little man who has that innocent smile and look that helps him get off easy almost every time. He is my sweet, lovable, and affectionate little guy, and he just has that adorableness factor that makes it so you can't resist just loving him to pieces! He cracks me up every single day, even when he does something "naughty," so it is hard to be upset with him for long. He doesn't let anyone pick on him, and will stand up for himself, or at times even be the aggressor and just go after what he wants..lots of teachable moments. ;)

Following the same suit as with Noah's bday post:
Our three-year-old Everett likes:
*Playing outside, especially digging in dirt
*Playing with his best friend and big brother, Noah
*Building with blocks or Legos
*Playing like anything he can use is a "trailer" (couch, laundry basket, etc.) and packing up that trailer with things to haul around
*Taking baths
*Trying new foods, even vegetables! (He's really into this lately. So willing to try almost everything!)
*Riding his bike (he got one from Santa for Christmas)
*Teasing his family members
*Singing and dancing
*Laughing and making others laugh
*Helping pour the soap into the washer or dishwasher
*Helping scrub things
*His silky blankets - He turns to them for comfort even over me sometimes when he's upset.
*His "babies" which are teddy bears named Haylee and Hannah after the girls that babysit for me
*Our babysitters, Haylee and Hannah
*Nursery at church
*Library music time
*Having books read to him
*Watching Curious George
*Feeling like a "big boy" and keeping up with his brother
*Peanut butter and honey
*Being independent and doing as much as he can himself
*Brushing his teeth

Three-year-old Everett doesn't like:
*Helping pick up toys/cleaning up
*Having to stop playing to go on the potty
*Having to ride in the van without a movie (can you say spoiled?! ..I really try not to let them watch it for just everyday driving around, but sometimes I give in)
*Getting buckled in his carseat


We are having a "Despicable Me" themed birthday party for him on Saturday with my side of the family, and on Sunday with the Benson side. I will be sure to post pictures of the fun! We chose that theme because he loves that movie, and he will go around talking like a minion or singing, "I'm having a bad bad day, nobody better get in my way.." both which are adorable, HaHa! The singing is especially adorable b/c he usually has a huge smile on his face, which isn't a convincing look to go with the words of the song. ;)

Everett is such a light in our lives! We are so lucky to have him in our family. I love him so much! I can't believe he is three years old and going to go to Preschool next fall, but at the same time he has seemed so grown up to me for quite awhile that I have mistakenly thought of him as 3 well before yesterday! He is such a joy!