Where has the time gone?

Wow, I cannot believe the last time I posted was after Drew's blessing.  He was 6 weeks old...now he is 7 months!  Life is busy!  Sadly,  I have had no desire to blog and record what has been the most wonderful, crazy, exhausting, and adventurous time of our lives!

Drew is the best little thing that has ever happened to Andy and I.  He is such a happy and calm little baby.  He is quick to smile and very friendly.  It always makes us laugh when strangers talk to him when we are out and about and he'll interact with them and then they will get so excited and say "he like us!"  We just laugh because Drew smiles at everybody!

The last 6 months have been filled with lots of "firsts".   Drew is changing and discovering new things daily, it truly amazes me.  At 7 months he has 8 teeth, he sits and scoots all around, he grabs everything in sight and then it goes directly in his mouth.  He babbles and says mama!  He loves books and going on runs in the jogger.  Oddly enough, the chubby little thing still hates baby food!

Given his size,  one would think the kid eats everything in sight! But no, he only likes breast milk!  I'm terrified I'll be nursing until he starts school!  He purses his lips when I try to feed him solids and if I do sneak in a bite he gags and spits it right back out at me.  Then he smiles and laughs!  He is a smart little booger!

I love being a mother.  Drew lights up my life.  A challenging and difficult day at work is soon forgotten when I get home and see his sweet little face.  Nothing makes me happier when I walk in the door and he starts kicking his feet saying, "mamamama".  I was terrified he wouldn't know who his mother was and would think it was his babysitter...that is definitely not the case.   I often struggle trying to find that balance of work and home.  I often feel guilty and inadequate in all arenas.  I'm trying to realize that I don't have to be perfect, I just need to be me because that's who Andy and Drew love.

 Some of my favorite things we have been doing lately have been weekend trips to Seattle, baseball games, planting our first garden, BBQs, swimming, running with friends and enjoying this new family we have made!  Life is good, life is hard.  Life has it's challenges but it is most definitely rewarding!

Dear Drew,

I can't believe you will be two months old this week! You have become mommy's little side kick, playing tennis, meeting me at work for lunch and lots of cuddle time when I get home. You are such a sweet and easy going baby. You rarely cry, infact the only time you ever did was when we tried to trim your fingernails and missed! Mommy and daddy felt so bad! When you're hungry, instead of crying you just grunt. It's really funny! If you get too hungry, you start snorting like a little piggy, it makes us laugh so much! When Daddy brought you to visit me at work we weighed you on the infant scale and you were 15 pounds! I can't believe how big my little guy is getting!

The past two weeks of your life have been filled with lots of adventure. You were blessed by Daddy on December 4th. It was a special time for our family. December 3rd would have been your Papa Joe's 58th birthday, but you probably already knew that. Your aunt Shelley and I promised we would always get together on his birthday and your blessing day helped bring our family together to celebrate you both. Many people that love you so much came for your special day. Daddy, Mommy and you drove to Seattle the day before your blessing to pick up

(Uncle Tyler's house in Seattle)

Nano, Aunt Shelley, Uncle Mike and your Uncle Jeff who came all the way from Arizona just to see you. Uncle Jeff is Papa Joe's younger brother. He reminds Mommy so much of Papa Joe. Uncle Jeff was apart of your blessing circle and he even wore Papa Joe's shoes to remind us of him.

Your Aunt Beth even came from Seattle to visit and play with you! You like to call her Auntie Gaga. She even stayed for the rest of the week to take care of you while mommy went back to work. She took such good care of you & spoiled you rotten! She wrote you a song and when she sings it you smile so big! You love her so much!

Daddy's sister, Aunt Brittany and Uncle Lance came with three of your cousins Louesa, Eve and Thomas. Grandpa and Grandma Martin were there as well to give you lots of love. Daddy gave you a beautiful blessing and then we came back to our house for some yummy Mexican food and lots of desserts! We watched football and played all day together.

On December 3rd, the day before you were blessed, your Great Grandfather Shelley passed away. He was mommy's grandpa. I'm so sad you didn't get to meet him but I know you will one day. Grandpa Shelley was a tough old cowboy in his day and when you were born and he found out you were a boy he said, "oh good I got me another little roper"! Mommy wanted to be there for his funeral so you and I made the journey to Arizona together. Oh man was it an adventure! Our flight got cancelled and we were stuck at an airport and didn't make it to Mesa until 26 hours after we should have been there! Mommy was so sad and upset but you just smiled the whole time, you never even cried. Mommy was the one who did all of the crying! Everyone in the airport and the plane kept saying what a good baby you were.

In Mesa you were able to meet the rest of your cousins, Bailee, Hunter, Jalen, Jaxon and Brigham. Your cousin Brigham absolutely loves ice cream! He was eating some while you were asleep on our drive to Nano's from the airport. He told me that if you were awake you would want some and when you woke up he was going to give you a bite! Don't worry, Mommy didn't let him, but she promised he could give you a bite when you got a little bigger.

Drew, you truly are such a sweet and happy baby. You make us smile everyday. We love you so much! Happy 2 month Birthday!

Drew

Drew will be three weeks old tomorrow! I cannot even believe how fast time is going. He seems to be growing so much. At his 2 week appointment he weighed 10 pounds 3 ounces and was 23 inches long. He seems to be growing like a weed. He is really the easiest baby. He rarely cries and when he does it's usually when I'm changing his diaper...he's modest like that ; ) He is sleeping very well through the night and doesn't seem to have his days and nights mixed up. My favorite thing about him as of late is that he literally cracks up laughing in his sleep. I'm not talking the baby "gas smiles". When he laughs, his whole belly shakes. I think it's his Papa Joe telling him jokes from Heaven.

Having my mom here after he was born was wonderful. It was great to have her company and be given reassurance that I'm doing things right. My mom is known as Nano (long story) by all of her grand kids, even the neighbors and my nieces boyfriend LOL : ) She really is the best Nano. She will be the one to give Drew his first Rolo cookie and chocolate milkshake!

Drew already loves his Nano very much. His favorite blanket to sleep with is one that she made and he loves his Owl quilt. He literally started smiling when I layed him on it. My mom is so talented and crafty, not sure what happened to me. I absolutely love the sign she made for his room, it looks great hanging on the wall. Since having Drew I have been so homesick for Mesa. I haven't been this homesick since I first went away to college almost 10 years ago. There's just something about having a baby that makes you need your mama. I never really understood it until now.

Andy is such a great dad! He loves to help out and is always volunteering to do things. Drew loves his daddy very much and gets excited when he's home from work. I am so thankful for a husband that is always willing to help me any way he can.

Legends Are Born In October...

Drew Joseph Martin was born on October 20, 2011 at 5:05 pm weighing in at a very healthy 9.9lbs and 22.25 inches long. This little man has completely stole our hearts. We are in love. When the nurse announced his birth time the first thing Andy said was, "awesome that's the start time for game 2 of the World Series"! My midwife asked if he was always this funny, I said "he's serious about this, not joking".

How it all began...

My due date was October 18 and there was no sign Drew wanted to make an appearance on his own anytime soon. My midwife did an ultrasound and guessed he was close to 9 pounds and decided it would be best to just induce me. So the date was set for us to go into the hospital Wednesday evening at 9pm. We checked in and got as comfortable as possible and the nurses started the process. I was given Cytotec to begin with, a pill to "ripen" the cervix. My third dose was given to me at 7:30 the following morning and not much was happening. I was laying in the hospital bed waiting for them to come check me again thinking I really needed to use the bathroom when all of the sudden my water broke at 8:15am. My midwife walks in and I said, "I'm pretty sure my water just broke but I definitely could have peed my pants"! Sure enough it had broke but I was only at 1 cm. This made me nervous thinking about the possibility of a C-section if things didn't start moving quicker. Sure enough the contractions started kicking in and I was hurting. It was all back labor at that point and was not coming and going like everyone said contractions do. I wanted to wait as long as possible to get an epidural just in case I didn't get keep progressing. Hours went by and I was feeling aweful. Finally I told the nurse to call anesthesia for an epidural or I was gonna cut this baby out my self! She gave me some Fentanyl to help me relax but all that did was make me vomit a billion times. Finally anesthesia arrived and it was my friend from our ward..."nice he gets to see my butt" thoughts ran through my head, however I really didn't care at that point.

The epidural kicked in and I was feeling much better. I could still feel all of my contractions but they were much less intense. At 2 pm I was only dilated to 4cm and getting kind of discouraged. They were about to start Pitocin and I was in alot of pain on my left side. It seemed that the epidural wasn't quite positioned right so the nurse called anesthesia back to have them check it. Sure enough it was in a little too far so he suggested pulling it back to distribute the block better. At first I thought it had worked and then I realized I was feeling everything!

I told my nurse that something was wrong and literally was screaming "someone help me". She decided to check me at this point and I was already at 8cm. She convinced me that the pain I was feeling was just pressure but I literally could feel my pelvis pulling apart, I wanted to die! Two hours after starting the Pitocin I had gone from 4cm to 10cm and was ready to push.

My midwife was called but she was in clinic and wasn't coming anytime soon. I told the nurse I didn't care I wanted this baby out! Apparently like most things in life, I tend to think of them as a competition and child birth wasn't any different. I knew there was another lady near by about to deliver as well. When I heard a toddler crying in the hallway Andy told me I asked, "did she beat me?" My midwife and nurses were laughing hysterically! I pushed for an hour and five minutes (which seemed like forever at that time) and Drew was out! It was the most amazing and overwhelming feeling of love (& relief) all at the same time.

We never thought we could love someone so instantly and as much as we do him.

He was placed on my chest and they waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing before Andy cut it. Drew was so alert and his eyes were big and wide. He was so calm, he wasn't even crying. He just kept looking at me and with his sweet eyes and my heart melted. While Drew was getting cleaned up my nurse told me she was going to take out my epidural. Nurse looks at me and says, "Oh, no wonder you were having so much pain, it's already out". Yea looks like anesthesiologist pulled it out a little too far...Thanks for that!

We thought he'd be close to 9 pounds, not 10!

His little big feet barely fit on the card space

All cleaned up and so peaceful, straight from Heaven...

The following morning I was already itching to get home. Drew's Pediatrician is one of my Attendings at work, so once he stopped by and gave us the go ahead he didn't mind if we headed home early. I was glad to leave the hospital and bring this precious baby to his new home. We got him dressed and ready to go in his car seat and now he is ready to hit the courts!

I am so grateful for this wonderful blessing that has been brought into our lives. Now that he is here, I could never imagine life without him. He is perfect in every way. So sweet, so delicate, so heavenly. We love you Drew.

Our little man's room

Don't worry I won't be updating you about the status of my cervix and whether I'm dilated or not, some things are just better left unsaid!

Well, I had very high intentions of painting the baby's room & making it magnifico...then 37 weeks hit & I just didn't care anymore! Working 40 hours per week is enough for me right now and like Mandrew says, "the baby won't care"!

So here is a few pics of the before's and afters....

I'm kinda proud of myself, I learned what DIY finally means and turned this dresser and changing table from the salvation army into this (I even scored the mirror for free at the little white house in Loma Linda)

I wanted a nice crib and found this Pottery Barn crib on Craig's list, SCORE! I'm proud of my self for not going too crazy on baby furniture, after all they are a just a baby and don't care about their room decor.

& Yes I realize those are pillows in my baby's crib & that is dangerous...he will not be sleeping with them ummmkkk oh & I'm thouroughly aware that my child may grow up to have a phobia of owls since his room is covered in them & they are staring down at him! Oh and for the record, I loved hootie owls long before they were so popular and it kinda bugs me now that they are so trendy!

I've been feeling like a total crazy lately! My child isn't even born yet & I already feel like an inadequate mother because... I am going to be a working mom, who can't sew and doesn't sing or craft. There I said it!

So, as I was on the verge of a meltdown, I thought about President Uchtdorf's talk at the General RS broadcast and realized it's ok! I may not be able to sew buttons on clothes, but I can totally sew your body up if you get a huge gash. That's almost as cool right ; ) Here's to the last 12 days (hopefully) of pregnancy!

So Thankful...

I am over 31 weeks along and cannot wait until I get to hold our sweet baby in my arms! I had an ultrasound done today with my new doctor here in Washington and it was so amazing to see how much this little guy has grown in the past 12 weeks since my last ultrasound in California. I use to say that I never wanted a 3D ultrasound in case our baby wasn't the cutest, but the doctor surprised me and showed me his face and he is absolutely perfect. I know every mother says that about their baby but he really is! The first thing the doc said to me when she started the ultrasound was, "does your husband have a big head?" Apparently our little man has a rather large noggin'. I'm not surprised, I had a very large, bald head until I was at least 2 years old! It should make for a fun delivery right! At 31 weeks and 2 days our baby boy weighs over 4 pounds. Let's pray he doesn't take after his father and weigh 12 pounds born 3 weeks early. Andy was so big he didn't even fit in the incubator in the NICU! Now I am going to post one of those creepy 3D photos for you all, even though I kinda cringe whenever someone else does! It's true, I am officially one of those people and I love it!

I have been really struggling with missing my dad. The year of 2010 was honestly the worst year of my life. Thankfully, I have a husband who loved and supported me through it all. I know my dad has continued to watch over me and protect me just like he use to here on Earth. 2011 has been a year of amazing blessings for Andy and I. Knowing that my dad is taking care of our sweet baby in Heaven brings me such joy. I have continued to feel my dad's presence in my life. I have continued to feel his love for me and our family. I am so thankful for those tender mercies sent from Heaven that remind me of my dad.

Before I was married my dad gave me a very special father's blessing, which was recorded and typed up. After he past away I begged the lady living in his house to give me the copy but she refused. I searched high and low looking for the copy my dad had given me nearly five years ago but I couldn't find it. Around Father's day I was especially struggling and missing my dad. I was going through some of the paper work we had packed and sure enough I saw an envelope that had my dad's writing on it. I opened it up and read the most beautiful blessing. Those words were exactly what I needed to hear at that time. I felt as if I could feel his presence and remembered that special day, the sound of his voice and his big strong hands.

Andy and I cannot wait to tell our kids all about their Papa Joe. Even though he is not here physically, I know his legacy will live on. My dad had a very strong personality and presence here on Earth, one too strong to just go away. I am so thankful for eternal families and I know we will be together again.

I love this beautiful view from our home. Heavenly Father has given us so much to be thankful for.

Fresh Pickins'

This past week Andy and I had the same day off so we took advantage of the beautiful summer and growing season here in WA and went to pick blueberries! It was so fun, I have never done anything like this before! Growing up in AZ I think I picked corn a few times with my mom, but berries are so much better, especially since you can pop a few in your mouth to taste test while you pick ; ) The owner of the farm said next in season is apricots and apples...can't wait! Fresh produce tastes amazing!

Andy and I went to a Blitzen Trapper concert at a really cool venue last night. It was an old church building and was a smaller show, the band was amazing live! My favorite part about it was that there were church pews for me to sit my pregnant self down on and enjoy the music. Check out Blitzen Trapper and Ages and Ages if your are looking for some good new music!

On the baby front, our little man is growing like crazy! I had a little freak out moment last week when I was exposed to a virus at work that can cause fetal death even as late as the third trimester. Thankfully after some prayer I know everything will be ok. Can't wait to meet this baby boy and bring him home! His nursery is currently a work in progress, but so much fun!

As my OB said at my last visit (the day this was taken) "you're face looks fuller" In other words..."your face looks fat"! THANKS!