4 Years in the Making

Our little family, one day before our 4th anniversary. Ruth is 18 months, Will is 5 days and we are on Ritter Island.

What we've done in our 4 years of married life:
Moved to Roosevelt, Provo, the Amenity Inn in Provo, Tigard Oregon, Twin Falls and finally into our house three weeks ago.
Paid off my credit card
Finished our degrees at BYU: me in El Ed and you in Philosophy
Had two children: Ruth in Provo and Will in Twin Falls
Got an amazing job in Twin
Bought our first house
And we've both gained too much weight :)

This is us at an Athlete concert in London, fall 2005. We didn't know what this would turn into!

May 20, 2006 outside the Medford, Oregon Temple

Just over a year later, vacationing in Seattle, Washington

Another year later at an Isotopes ball game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was a couple months pregnant with Ruth.

May 2009 downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ruth was about 6 months old.

Today these were delivered to me. The card said "To four great years of growth and love. You are the Northumberland of my England. -Brad" I wasn't going to explain what this means but I want our kids to understand its significance. He's saying that I am the best part of the best experience of his life. It's sort of like saying you're the apple of my eye.

The Last Week or So

Aside from bringing home baby and having an easy and fast labor I've had a fun past week or so. Last Thursday my new friend Shirlaine threw a little party with other girls from church so I could meet some more people, how nice is that? She had super yummy munchies and we had a blast chatting while our horde of children ran around her house and backyard. (This ended up being a really great thing for us too because Ruth got a chance to get used to her house before "the night.")


Friday was another great day. Ruth and I spent a good amount of time outside playing on her car, picking dandelions and going on a short walk around our neighborhood. That evening we got to go to dinner with Jennefer and her fun family (she's basically the HR person for Brad's company). We had such a nice time chatting and eating. Jenn told me I should hurry up and have the baby so she could come see him before they had to go back home to Utah...hahaha...funny right?! Luckily, about 24 hours later I got a visit in the hospital from none other than Jennefer! I thought that was too funny for words.


After we got home from our evening's activities we headed out to the backyard. We had a fabulous time running around, playing with Ruth's giant pink ball and taking pictures. This one is about 7 hours before my water broke.

We put Ruth to bed and I laid down in bed to read while Brad did more home improvements. LUCKILY, on our way to bed Brad mentioned that we needed to put some plastic down under our sheets to protect our new bed if and when my water broke. (We were expecting my water to break to start labor because that's what happened with Ruth.) So we got some giant trash bags under my side of the bed and went to sleep around 11. Then at about 3 in the morning I woke up to what felt like someone throwing an enormous water-balloon on my lap. It was a very shocking way to be awoken. After sitting up and realizing that my water had broken I "ran" to the bathroom and rinsed off and put some clean sweats on, as well as the biggest pad you've ever seen. Again, luckily, I had pulled out all the things we would need for the hospital and for Ruth to spend the night at Shirlaine's that day. Why had the trash bags and the hospital bag stuff all gotten done literally hours before we needed them? I don't know but I'm SOOOO glad that they did. We got Ruth out of bed, grabbed our bags, dropped her off at Shirlaine's house, went to the hospital and got all settled, checked in, birth plan in place, monitors on, etc. by 4 am.



When we got there I was dilated to a 2. At about 5:30 I got in the shower for about 5 minutes until I couldn't stand how much the contractions had picked up. They checked again and I was a 4. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural. He was great. I responded very well to me when I told him I was having pain, he would make adjustments and I have recovered from that much better than I did from my first epidural with Ruth. This time around the epidural didn't slow my contractions down so no pitocin was needed; they checked me again in 2 hours, 7:30, and I was at a 6. By this time all the excitement had worn down and Brad and I were tired, and since I had that wonderful epidural in, we could both sleep. Just before 9 I woke up and was having lots of pressure. The nurse came in and said I was complete and ready to go, and the pressure was from the baby's head. I was so shocked that in just over an hours worth of sleep my body had worked so hard! I woke Brad up and said, "We're going to have a baby." He just sort of smiled and was like, yeah. And I said, "No, honey. We're having this baby in the next couple of minutes." His eyes shot open and he sat up, we were both surprised how quickly this had all happened. Dr. Crandall came in just after 9, we pushed 3 times and Will came sliding right out. 6 hours of labor brought us our darling little guy. This was such a great labor too. I had no complaints about our experience with Ruth, I really enjoyed it. But everything this time around was even better. The entire hospital staff was SOOO friendly, helpful and genuine. They didn't act like this was just their job but were truly caring and helpful. The labor process was comfortable and enjoyable and only having to push 3 times was marvelous.



The rest of the hospital stay was great. The hospital food was good, Will started nursing right away with a great latch, I had NO pain other than mild cramping in my uterus while Will nursed, and my bleeding had nearly stopped by the time we left Monday morning! Labor, delivery and recovery has been so much easier this time around! I still am needing to take it REALLY easy at home. My bleeding picked up because I was trying to get up and down too much to play with Ruth and go to the kitchen and what not. So today I've been letting everyone bring stuff to me in bed so I can get completely better.

In other extremely lucky news, Paula and Kristen and Nate were all in Salt Lake this weekend. So when we called and said we were having a baby, they said they could come up the 3 extra hours to hang out for the week and help us out! I was a little worried that it might be hectic with them and their two kids, but it has been such a blessing. Nate has been able to help Brad with some projects on the house. Joey, who is a year older than Ruth, has kept her entertained with fun new games to play (like running up and down the stairs barking like dogs among other things!) and Paula and Kristen have helped keep things clean, cooked food, run errands and taken me to Will's Dr. appointment. And now that my hormones are crashing and I tend to be an emotional wreck about everything (like last night when I didn't bring enough diapers into my bedroom to keep Will clean and had to cry about it) (or this morning when we prayed over the breakfast Kristen made for us and I bawled) it has been nice to have the extra help and not have to worry about anything but making sure Will isn't losing any more weight.

So, thank you Brad for keeping the blog up to date with our news. Thank you for being a wonderful daddy. I'm so glad Will looks like you, at least his nose and chin anyway.

Thank you Shirlaine for being so generous, after all I've known you for about 3 weeks. I can never repay your for being able and willing to take Ruth in the middle of the night and then again and again offering to help in whatever way you can.

Thank you Paula, Kristen and Nate for coming out here, rearranging your schedules and being willing to do all the things you're doing for us.

Thank you mom and dad for your support and encouragement. On Mother's Day you told me that these kids were lucky to have me as a mom and those words have kept ringing in my head, I'm trying to live up to them.

Thank you Tia for your frequent emails, especially right before Will came. That was much needed bolstering. I can't tell you how much your friendship means to me. I'm so glad we both decided to marry these wild Laws boys.

Thank you Jennefer for the wonderful gift, it was so generous and those clothes are just adorable! I hope you had fun shopping!

Thank you everyone else for your emails, comments, thoughts and prayers. I'm so happy to be a mom of two. I already know that it's not going to be easy, there will be many more tears from me and the kids but I really can't imagine going back now. Being a mom is so fulfilling and I am so happy I get to stay home and care for my babies.

I love you Ruth. You've become such a big girl. In the few short days that I was in the hospital you changed so much. I feel a little sad because you haven't wanted to sit in my lap and read books like we used to do every day for hours. I know that you are adjusting to Will and I can't wait to see you two play together. I can't believe that you are 18 months today. You still don't say many words although you're trying to say ball, breakfast, and thank-you. You don't walk anymore, everywhere you go you like to run. You're still figuring out what to do in our backyard but you love to be outside and ask to go on walks in your stroller everyday. Your newest thing is that you love balls, the big plastic ones that bounce well. Every time we go to the store you point and shout at the balls. I've given in twice now and gotten you a giant pink one and a smaller purple one. You love to watch me and daddy bounce them high or kick them up in the air. You also like to pick dandelions, but not when they are yellow, only after they've turned into puff balls. The other day you picked a big puffy one and stuck it in your mouth!

I love you Will. I am so thrilled that you are here with us now. You are such a handsome boy. I love to hold you and stare at your little face. You have your father's nose and your grandpa Lents' upper lip and great-grandpa Nelson's chin. You are a very calm baby. You really only cry during diaper changes. You are always very eager to eat and you are a very good eater. I am so excited to continue to watch you grow and develop and see your personality come out.

And the Name Is....

William Knight Laws

Yes that was the original name but after adventures through other options, we landed right back where we started.

Here he is!

We told Ruth last night that little Brother would be coming from the sky soon. She wanted to meet him half way:



He was born on May 15th, 2010 around 9:00 am. 20 inches long, 6.3 ounces. No name yet...

The Doc Says...

I'm 50% effaced and it's likely I could "go" in the next two weeks. Brian joked (he's here helping get the house painted etc.) that he'd be watching Ruth while Brad and I were at the hospital. I officially have 30 days left. He's also dropped down into my pelvis which has turned me into a very large duck...I don't like waddling. Also, I did not gain a single pound in the last month while we were away...hahaha!

This cartoon just reminds me of my current predicament with not being able to work on the house...which is why I'm blogging while Ruth naps instead of running errands, hehe.

The End of Our Trip

Two highlights from the last week or so were going shopping with grandma and going to the park with Tia and the kids. This was such a fun playground, the kids call it the "Castle Park." Brad got to come too, which meant fun photos with Ruth...

Ben was really cute about sharing this cool swing with Ruth. He put his arms around her to help keep her in and they swung all snuggled in together for at least 10 minutes.

Ruth loved to climb up onto this chair (which belonged to great grandpa Larz Nelson), I was surprised she could do it by herself

Ruth giving grandma's bunny hugs

Can you guess who took the next two pictures?

Can you tell what this is a picture of?

Cravings

For the last week I have craved sprouts so badly. I can literally taste and smell them throughout my day. Luckily I've been able to eat a turkey sandwich, piled high with sprouts and covered in bell peppers all on sourdough bread, at least once a day, everyday this last week. yum. Right before Ruth was born I craved canned soup with all the veggies and beef chunks in it...I was eating that at least twice a day for several weeks! Other cravings this pregnancy have included broccoli, potatoes, and peanut butter.

Updates

Since being in Santa Fe, we've been staying with Brad's parents, Paula and Asa. It has been so nice to "move" into their house for the past couple of weeks, especially seeing that the other option would be living in a hotel, yuck.


Ruth has had a bit of a hard time getting used to their house and having other people around all day...and learning how to interact with other kids, especially older kids. We've discovered that she is certainly not a wilting flower, if other kids try to tell her "no" or take stuff from her or push her around she pushes right back! She also does this other thing, I think she's trying to be intimidating, she claps her hands and kinda growl/shouts. It was pretty funny the first couple times, but now I just want her to be nice and to get along with others.



We've spent a good amount of time with Brian and Tia and their kids Lydia and Ben while we've been here because they live about a mile from Paula and Asa. That has been great fun, but has also been a lot of the reason Ruth has learned the growl-shout-clap your hands routine.


Luckily she's also learned some other cool tricks from Lydia and Ben. The first being how to make her car go, as seen above. She's also become much more of a climber.


She likes to climb up on their benches and chairs and can even climb onto grandma's couches. The same day she learned to scoot on the car she learned that other things scoot too.



We very much have enjoyed our time with our family here and appreciate their generosity. We're also very anxious to get back to Idaho and get settled into our house. We only have six weeks until our baby boy comes and we only have until the last day of April to get moved out of our apartment...and get it cleaned. I'm obviously feeling anxious about all that because last night I was having all these crazy dreams about cleaning apartments, except all my old roommates where there, not Brad, and I was back in Provo...it's funny how your brain interprets things when you're sleeping.

Easter/Family Reunion/My B-day

Here are pictures from our little family reunion in Santa Fe over Easter weekend. The pictures are in no particular order. We were all able to miraculously come together for the weekend, including grandma and grandpa Nelson. It was really fun to see everybody again and just hang out over conference weekend. Funny side note, pretty much everyone got way sick either at the end of the reunion or the following few days...which reminded us of a line from Nacho Libre, "I've had diarrhea since Easters."

The guys minus Asa and Nate


Grandpa Nelson dying eggs with Morgan, Lydia and Joey
Asa and I blowing out our candles Monday night for our b-days (we were both born April 5th)

The family pic...stay tuned for the Laws family rendition of "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man."

Morgan and Lydia in their adorable Easter dresses

Ladies' Night Out, we went to La Casa Sena where all the waiters are singers. I hadn't been there since Brad and I were engaged...4 years ago and it was way fun. I requested them to sing "There is Nothing Like a Dame," aside from just being a great song it seemed fitting since it was our night out! They weren't going to do it because only 2 guys were working that night...but then randomly another waiter came in on his night off so they did it for us!!!! What luck.

All the ladies again, minus the small ones.

Ashley with Ruth and Aubrey. Ruth was really great with her and liked to touch her little hands and point to her nose. Yay!

Ruth prancing around in her tutu sent from grandma Lents!

Probably the last family photo before the little guy arrives. Wow this mama is BIG.

The Easter Bunny I created from grandma Nelson's cheese dip.
Me with the Easter Bunny. The kids were kinda confused about eating the Easter Bunny.

The Last Two Days

Things have quickly fallen in to place. After all the waiting around the last two days have felt like a whirlwind. We finally closed on our house yesterday afternoon!

Before the real insanity began yesterday, Ruth and I spent time goofing around...and it turned into a fun photo shoot.





Once we closed on the house our amazing Realtor gave us our key and we went immediately to the house to begin the wall-paper demolition...and trash pick up and deep cleaning.

Somehow in three hours yesterday we were able to get all of this stuff including a disgusting range and vending machine full of pistachios moved out to the garage!


And not only that; we began tearing down wall paper (imagine navy blue plaid on the lower half of the wall topped by a border with ducks...it was ugly) AND we were able to clean the kitchen floor so that it was sanitary for Ruth to play on (imagine a giant kitty litter box that used to sit in the middle of the kitchen/dining room that was so full that the cat started using the floor instead of the box). Obviously, me being pregnant, Brad took care of the kitchen while I started preparing that hideola wall paper.

Today we spent 7 hours at the house working away. We continued to work on that stubborn wall paper and we got the carpet torn out!!!


I felt bad for the guy who came to do it, he was at least 60 years old. And with the amount of stains and nastiness that was in that carpet it had to have weighed a ton as he hefted it up the stairs from the basement and from the back of the house. Poor guy. I was able to clean up the walls, doors, counters and window frames in the kitchen and living room...which took a ton of scrubbing. I couldn't figure out how they had gotten brown streaky stains on the top of their doors. Brad changed the locks to the house and scrubbed the heck out of that wall paper. And Ruth even took a nap in one of the bedrooms in her pack-n-play!

We are all completely worn out. Tomorrow we hope to finish up the wall-paper removal, apply KILZ to the floors, and maybe paint the three upstairs bedrooms. But Brad has to do work at the office tomorrow and we have errands we have to run before we leave town on Saturday. We're going to Santa Fe so Brad can help run the hotel his company has down there after the current employees leave. Luckily, Ruth and I get to come along and hang out with the fam while we're there. We're expecting to be there for a month and it would have been really rough on us if we didn't all get to go. We'll be back the last week of April to finish up the work on our house and get moved in before we have to be out of our apartment. I'll also still have about 4 weeks left of pregnancy when we get back so everything should work out perfectly.

Updates

We may be closing on our house tomorrow. We may be going to Santa Fe for a month. We may have the wall-paper removed before we leave town.

Things we know for sure:
Today the doctor said that little man is not coming early, May 26th is still "the day."
Little man is in the 40th percentile for being nearly 31 weeks in-utero.
I gained no weight in the last 2 weeks!
Brad makes a very attractive Mickey Mouse.

We like Samoas better than Thin Mints.
Ruth can do all the actions to "Popcorn Popping."
Ruth can build ridiculously huge towers with her blocks.


My short hair cut is a million times better than long, stringy hair.
We are a happy family despite the anxiety waiting around to close on our house has created.
And finally, typing with one hand is no fun...but I've gotten pretty fast, as necessitated by Ruth's love for the computer...especially our blog!