The Meaning of Christmas

This is a beautiful video. . .
Good Tiding of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus Christ

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

     For those of you who heard we moved to Arizona and started picturing sunshine and desert and lizards you were right.  But you were also wrong.  At 7000 ft Flagstaff isn't your average Arizona town.  First off, we have trees.  Next on the list, we get snow.  A lot of snow.  Despite the fact last year was supposedly extremely mild, according to history we get an average of over 100 inches per year.  That is more than Salt Lake's average of 70 inches.  It is even more than Rexburg, ID, also known by some as "the snow globe".  This weekend we got our first storm.  Just in time to really get in the Christmas spirit.  I will admit I actually love snow up until January. Then I would be fine never seeing another flake until the next December.  Also, I prefer to sit inside in sweats drinking hot chocolate, knitting, and watching it rather than playing in it.  I know, I am 29 going on 200 years old.

      No surprise that Dan is awesome about getting out and shoveling (he is a hard worker after all)  and playing with Shad.  After yesterday's horrific news in Connetticut Dan came home early and played with Shad all afternoon.  After hearing of such an enormous tragedy all we can do is pray for those dealing with the ultimate loss and hold our loved ones close.  He picked up a kids size shovel and sled on the way home.  Seriously, he is the ultimate dad!  They shoveled our driveway, then the back deck, then built another snow house.  Except this one has a window apparently. (I didn't venture out to the other side of the yard yet to see.)  Pretty awesome.  This morning, they got up had breakfast and were headed out to shovel again before I even got out of bed.  They are now taking Solo to go hiking and sledding.  Glad Shad has one parent that is the ultimate in fun and making memories.  

Loving it, even if he probably makes shoveling harder.

We don't have tall bushes.  That entire pile is the snow from the driveway from less than 24 hours.  Luckily, they are great about plowing here so the streets are pretty clear.

They shoveled the deck yesterday, but it looks like this now.

The doorways were much bigger before it continued snowing all night.

The view out our dining room.  Not exactly cactus and palm trees.  Fortunately.

Dads are SO much more fun!

      All of my in-laws are great organizers and planners.  As a result of this trait they were all prepared to send us home from Thanksgiving with our Christmas gifts.  Great thinking, and I am sure it made it more fun to be able to purchase gifts without having to worry how much it would cost to ship it.  The only down side to this scenario is that Shad is old enough this year to understand about Christmas presents.  From the moment they were loaded into the car he was asking to "mopen" them.  Despite a few days of telling him no it was not getting better.  Leave it to Dan to think of the genius idea of making a count-down chain to help him understand that three weeks is a LONG time.  Dan brought the construction paper home from school ( I know, super mom, I didn't have any.)  and helped Shad make it and explain what it was etc.  He also made some paper snowflakes and hung it all up in Shad's room. So incredible.  Shad was ecstatic. 

I am not sure if he likes it or not.  

 After this super Dad move I shouldn't have been surprised when on Saturday while he was cleaning up the garage he actually built Shad a house with the box to the water softener that had just been installed and another empty box.  Ironically, I actually had thought of using the softener box for something like this.  But Dan is so much better about actually doing things and obviously got around to it rather than just thinking about it.  Not to mention the fact I would have simply handed Shad a Sharpie and told him to draw a door and called it good.  I came out to the garage to find Shad playing in his house and riding his bike as happy as can be.

Yeah, it even had a functioning window.

Climbing in.

Looking out the window.

Happy Baby

Okay, so I am terrible at taking pictures.  Every time I do actually get my camera out my pictures are really bad and kind of discourages me from bothering.  Especially when I have several friends who are amazing child photographers.  I use to love photography but I realize that was back before every thing was digital and so complicated. . . and when I primarily took pictures of flowers.  So much simpler.  Seeing as I never have pictures I have a hard time convincing myself to update my blog since I know from reading other blogs that pictures make it so much better.  That being said, I am vowing to do better and actually get out my amazing massive camera and overlook the fact that all of my bad pictures are due to user error.  So, finally pictures of Bailey for everyone's enjoyment.

Bailey is a super happy, content baby.  If she isn't okay playing on the floor or in her booster seat you can bet she is hungry or tired.  Like Shad she is amazing about going to sleep by her self.  I lay her down with her binky and pull her blanket up to her face  ( she pulls it over her eyes.  Ever since I quit putting socks on her hands she likes her blanket over her eyes) and she rolls over and goes right to sleep.  She is finally sleeping through the night too.  She still wakes up around one sometimes but if I give her a binky she goes back to sleep.

Of course the one with her smiling AT the camera was taken on the wrong setting. . . seriously.

Any time I try to take pictures of Bailey Shad joins in.  I love that he loves his sister, but sometimes he loves her a little too hard.
 

She gives very sloppy kisses, or considering who we are talking about, she may be trying to eat him.

She is getting very smiley and laughing out loud now.  As cute as those squeal laughs are it is more rewarding to get a belly laugh.

She definitely wants EVERYTHING in her mouth.  She wasn't really interested in solids but then something clicked on Thanksgiving.  I ground some turkey and sweet potatoes and she hasn't stopped eating since.  She tried to eat the plate at outback and was literally shaking and biting me for more bread.  Typical girl.

Yes, she is wearing tiger stripes.  Fitting considering she looks just like Aubrey in this picture.

Don't Sleep at the Wheel

  Apparently I feel like getting some things off my chest, I am going to make another confession.  I am a terrible driver.  Not just mediocre, or less than great, but horrific.  Learning to drive with my dad was one of the worst experiences of my life.  So, take these skills and combine them with the ridiculously enormous truck grocery carts at Safeway and you have a recipe for disaster.  I was doing my best to maneuver through the aisles when a woman approached me laughing.  "I know, haha, I suck at this just be glad we aren't on the road" I am thinking.  She then tells me Shad is fast asleep.  I look down at my driver and sure enough he is totally out on the steering wheel.  This was a huge shock considering he is normally hanging out of the cart or climbing on top of it, unless of course he has buckled the seat belt which he can't undo himself.   At least we had an excuse for how our cart was driving that day.

Who Says Church is Boring

So I will start off with a confession;  I almost didn't go to church yesterday.  Dan is out of town so I would be alone with both kids and it was Stake Conference which means two things.  1.  We wouldn't be taking the sacrament.  2.  No one would notice we weren't there.  I had it all settled as I went to bed Saturday night.  Being up from three AM until Six and then woken up again at Seven sealed the deal.   Then I realized I would be alone with two kids all day on a day we couldn't go run errands, go swim at the gym etc.  I had no idea how we were going to entertain ourselves and decided to brave church after all.  I know, embarrassing.  So I scrambled to get us all ready, got dressed, braved the icy roads to the Stake center and was there a full thirty minutes early.  Seeing as it was Stake Conference that was intentional.  I picked a seat at the end of a row right by the door and settled in to let Shad play cars on the floor until the meeting started.  Then I realized I had picked a seat right next to the cold air return.  I tend to run on the cold side anyway and I happened to have soaking wet hair.  I was freezing.  Just then a friend walked in and invited us to sit with her family so her teenage kids Shad adores could help with him.  I promptly took the chance to change from my freezing seat to a warmer one with child care.  It didn't take long for Bailey to decide she didn't want to be in church after all and I got up to do our regular hall pacing.  It's how we make friends at church, meeting all the other parents pacing with rambunctious kids.  I was pretty disappointed since Elder Holland and Elder Eyering were speaking and I really wanted to hear their talks.  Fortunately, Shad was being quiet and entertained.  However,  after a while Susan got up and carried him over to the hall crying.  That is when I saw it.  His piece of Big Red was firmly stuck in his hair.  Apparently, he somehow flung his gum, got upset that he lost it and then got even more upset when he found it in his hair.  Susan spent the rest of the meeting in the hall with him trying to get it out with an ice cube.  Shad was soaked, shivering and very sad but AMAZINGLY good.  I would have done the honors however Bailey had fallen asleep in my arms.  I told her I would simply cut his hair but she felt bad since she had given him the gum.  Never mind that I had given him a piece on the way to church which he had given to me about three minutes before taking hers.  Finally, it was to the point where we were going to have to cut a few hairs to get the large chunk of gum out.  We borrowed a pocket knife and he was free.  Sadly, we missed most of the talks which seemed very good.  Elder Holland was especially jovial which I had never seen before. Shad was definitely not as calm about it when I tried to get the last few pieces out with Peanut Butter when we got home.  It was probably a good thing Susan did it, because he started screaming bloody murder as soon as I touched it later.  Certainly can't say it was a boring day at church.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday my Dad would have turned 61 years old.  It was a crazy busy day so I didn't get a chance to post.  However, I did get the chance to go out on a trail ride with one of my Young Woman.  Her mom was gracious enough to make this possible by providing the horses, thirteen year old guide, and watching both of my kids.  It was perfect.  Never mind the fact we got lost and their dog didn't make it back. . . hoping the dog shows up and and wasn't a snack for the coyotes we saw.  I wanted to do a post about the things people might not know about my dad.  Here goes:

1.  He grew up farming in Provo, worked at Geneva Steel through college, and had a total cowboy accent when he left on his mission.  ( I know this, because we heard a tape from his mission and couldn't believe that hick was him!)

2.  He was told to quit dentistry due to back pain about twenty years ago.   A massage therapist kept him working.

3.  He has been known to eat Bean and Bacon soup with spiced gum drops in it, and preferred his cereal soggy.  He would actually put his Lactaid milk on and then put the bowl in the fridge for a while to sog up.  He didn't understand why this was disgusting and unacceptable.  If we didn't finish cereal he would threaten to save it for later and we knew he wasn't kidding.

4.  His idea of cleaning up was threatening that anything he found on the floor in ten minutes was going to DI.  I have a distinct memory of being five or six in our old house and him pushing a laundry basket on the floor in his old green bathrobe (which it took about twenty years too long to get rid of.  Thankfully, the Japanese Exchange Student we had when I was fifteen gave him a kimono one he wore until about a year ago when Mom bought him a more fitting Harley robe.  Hilariously, I remember the same robe being worn by my Mom as she dyed her hair back when it was dark and she did it herself.)  We were all running around crying and screaming trying to pick our toys up before they were put in the basket and gone forever.  It may have cleaned up the house but I doubt the ensuing chaos and tears was worth it.

5.  He learned to water ski behind a tractor in a canal.  It took him until he was forty to finally get his first boat.  They replaced that original Reinell only a couple years ago.  Our happiest times as a family were on that white and maroon monstrosity.

6.  He was a sucker for the style of clothes sold in Chadwicks.  I know this because strangely enough he told me.  He also said once when I was younger that he loved my mom's hair best pulled back in a french braid.  If you knew my mom, you know this couldn't be further from her style.  Flowing long denim skirts and blousy shirts with lace panels in the back with a french braid show he was really a country boy at heart.  With her form fitting "black, white and bling" my mom couldn't have been more different. She may have owned a lot of boots but none of them looked anything like a pair of ropers, and they all had high heels.  He never expected her to be any different than she was though.

7.  He thought being kicker would be the ideal position on a football team.  You play the least, don't have to learn all the complicated plays etc, and when a field goal wins the game you save the day.  The fact you would also be blamed for  just as easily losing the game didn't faze him.  He wasn't afraid of challenges and when told he couldn't do something he would do everything he could to prove you wrong.

8.  He use to pinch our bums when he would hug us after family prayer at night.  When we got to be teenagers it got a little wierd and I remember kind of trying to dodge the hug.  He was just oblivious to the fact we weren't little girls anymore.

9.  He always wished he had a nice singing voice, hopefully some talents are easier to develop in the next life.

10.   He was extremely sentimental and a pack rat.  He took our mother's hand made (by her) formals to  Good Will without batting an eyelash but still had school work of his own from elementary school.  He also saved cards for years.

It is so hard to believe it has been over a year and a half since I last saw them both.  Sometimes it seems so much longer,  and other times I can still hardly wrap my head around the fact that they are gone.  Wish so badly we could have called to wish him a Happy Birthday yesterday.  I look forward to that happy reunion when we are all together again.  In the meantime, we will shed a few tears, share a few laughs and remember a talented, respectable, friendly man.   A great man I simply knew as Dad.  Love you Dad!

Happy Halloween

This fall has been absolutely gorgeous here and we have loved it.  Living right off a major trail head it has been great to just walk down the block into the mountains to hike and let the dog run.  I absolutely love the fall colors and love that we now live somewhere where I can see the leaves change from my living room window.  When we lived in Salt Lake I would complain about not having trees around and peoples response would ALWAYS be, " You can drive up the canyon to see the leaves change."  Yes, the canyons in the Salt Lake valley are beautiful, but I don't want to drive to see the seasons change.  I love fall here in Flagstaff.  The fact it has been in the sixties and seventies certainly hasn't hurt either.  People say this is freakishly abnormal.  I'll eat it up while we can.  We will have snow soon enough I am sure.

Dan was so cute and took the kids and got pumpkins one day before I had the chance.  He is great about getting on the kids level about holidays and really getting them excited.  He was horrified I hadn't planned to dress Bailey up.  I frantically found a costume for her at the last minute and am so glad Dan had pressed it because Shad was so excited for Bailey to dress up too.  He really is a sweet older brother when he isn't loving her to death.

Shad showing us the scary face he wanted on his pumpkin.

Pulling out the seeds

      We carved our pumpkins Saturday, and roasted the seeds.  Combined with the fact I had halloween decorations up all month (Thank you mom for supplying them)  I actually felt pretty festive.  Shad wanted a scary face on his pumpkin.  He wasn't thrilled about getting his hands or clothes dirty, until we told him he could be "in his body".  He promptly took his shirt off and got filthy.  He was so excited to light the candles on the pumpkins every night with Dan.  I meant to get a picture of them doing it, but it tended to coincide with feeding or putting Bailey to bed every night.

Someone got ahold of the sharpie Dan used to draw the faces on and decorated his scary face. . . definitely made it scarier.

Bailey's silly faced pumpkin.

Almost got a smile

Our little Fireman and Ladybug

For actual Halloween we took a Halloween hike.  Frankly, most of our hikes could classify as this since the trail leads up to a grave and the burned down houses of a family that lived here.  It was a beautiful day and the kids and Solo were happy.  We then got Shad and Bailey's costumes on and headed over to the ward Trunk-or-Treat.  It was perfect, exciting enough for Shad to wear his costume, low key enough for the less Halloween enthusiastic.  You know your kid had a great time when they fall asleep in the car at 6:30 on the three minute drive home.

Chase

For those wanting to follow up on Chase I started a blog for them:  prayingforchase.blogspot.com.   There is a link on the right hand side to add yourself to the e-mail list.  This is a much easier and more efficient way of spreading information so please help me out with it.  Thanks!

Praying for Chase

October 11th my sister, her husband and three other children welcomed the arrival of their healthy and handsome fourth baby.  Things were good but crazy as they moved the same week.  He is a very good baby and my sister said sitting and holding him is heaven.  Saturday he was taken to the hospital because he was panting and later that day he had to be life-flighted to LA due to a couple congenital heart defects.  He will have to have open heart surgery to repair the defects in his heart.  They are unsure when surgery will take place or how many separate operations it may take.  He is in the NICU on a ventilator and nutritionally being sustained through IV's.  Sadly,  his family can't hold him in their arms right now.  I am sure he has a set of angel grandparents that are wrapped around him now and  I am grateful for that.  He needs them more than we do.  If that is the only positive thing I could say about losing my parents (and it isn't)  it would be enough to make it worth it.  At this time he is stable and his family is being helped and supported by their friends, family and ward.  However, I ask anyone who reads this to please pray for Chase.  And also pray for Chase's mom, dad and siblings as they carry this tremendously heavy burden.  It is just another reminder of how grateful I am to know that no matter what happens our Father in Heaven is in the details and loves us and most importantly we will all be together in the next life.  I am also grateful to know that little children are saved.  If Chase leaves this life much much too soon for all of those who love him, he will be escaping a difficult world and be reunited with God, our Savior Jesus Christ and all of his loved ones on the other side.

He Said What!?!?

     Shad is at a really funny stage right now.  Fortunately, we haven't hit the "why" phase.  However, he is pretty curious and has an unbelievable imagination.  The real reason for this post though is his frequently humorous vocabulary and pronunciation.  Some of my favorites include:

I dink- I think. . .often starts sentences this way.
wherewears- underwear
lizick-  music
little big one-  something small.
later- when he is bigger
help you- meaning he wants you to help him
stinky breath-  how we get him to brush his teeth.  We remind him he doesn't want to have stinky breath for [insert whatever girl he has recently been playing with in nursery here].
Baylay-Bailey
Mitamins- Vitamins which are oddly a highlight of the day.
scaping- we aren't sure if this is suppose to mean surfing or skate boarding because he is insistent he means scaping.  It involves putting on your swimming clothes and throwing all the pillows from mom and dad's bed on to the floor and then  acting like a crazy person.  As I said, we have no idea what he means.

 and last but my personal favorite. . .
f@$%ing-  football game (which is what he calls a football)  and yes, it sounds like the f-bomb.

     Don't ask me where he got this, but he insists on wearing his bike helmet and running around screeching like the whistle whenever we watch football.

     Recently he has also starting praying on his own which is both cute and hysterical.  Sometimes he just says "thanks for Dad" three times, "thanks for solo" and then  "Jesus Christ . . . pause. . .Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Amen"  But it is said so earnestly, and with his eyes squeezed shut as tight as they can be, it is adorable.

  Shad thinks being a big brother is pretty fun however, I am not sure Bailey feels the same.  Brandi swears younger siblings walk around with a force field protecting them, but Bailey either got a defective one or hasn't developed it yet.  She will be lucky to see her first birthday at the rate we are going.

Bailey's blessing

 We were lucky enough to bless Bailey with all of Dan's family and my sister Brandi's family as well as my brother Dustin.  We were enjoying our annual Phillips family vacation in St George (blog post to come later) and everyone gathered in support of this special event.  It was a beautiful day and she was an angel.  The family made an amazing luncheon and were so gracious to share this day with us.  I felt bad expecting it to be a low key affair and not really realizing all the trouble everyone else went to until Sunday morning.  I should have known.  Karen and the Phillips clan know how to throw a party and this was certainly no exception.  I am lucky to have such amazing in laws and I am grateful my children have wonderful grandparents willing to spoil them enough for two sets.   I am grateful to my husband, for being a worthy priesthood holder able to provide these special blessings.   We were glad to be surrounded by so many people who love us and Bailey.  Being St George at the end of July I thought we would keep her cool in a summer dress.  I made the shoes before she was born and they just happened to match a dress my sister's gave me perfectly by coincidence.  The blanket was crocheted by Grandma Joy and the flower in her hair came from my mother's wedding dress.  

Montana 2012

I had about four pages of a post typed and then decided I wanted this sweet and simple.  Like the trip we went on and the people we honored.   We went up to Montana for the one year anniversary of my parent's accident.  My dad's brothers had rebuilt his bike and a family friend rode it up so they could then have it finish the trip.  As my uncle put it, it was kind of a holy mission of sorts.  We spent the fourth of July watching fireworks in beautiful Kalispell and reminiscing on how perfect it was that my dad, the most patriotic person I have ever met spent his last night on earth celebrating Independence day on a motorcycle trip with his wife and brothers.  He also happened to eat dessert before dinner that night.  So perfect.  You always knew my mom was having a great day when she sent out upbeat mass texts.  Her last message to her children told us in part, " . . .light some firecrackers for us. . .  I love you"  We watched fireworks and thought of her and root beer floats and lighting fireworks on Mormon Circle.  

The day of the fifth we went over to the bridge where they took their last picture together and once again talked about how perfect it was that "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was one of Dad's favorite songs.  Amazing how something in us can sometimes sense things we could never anticipate or imagine.  Something in that song spoke to him long before it would be a perfect analogy to how they left this earth.  It was gorgeous there and our family that couldn't be with us was certainly missed.  Aubrey was sweet enough to blow these pictures up.  The one of my parents from a year ago and our family picture our parents had framed that says, "Burningham Family is Forever" She wanted them and Ryan to be with us.

My dad's brother Gary and his wife Jeanna were amazing to come back and share this trip with us.  We missed those who had planned to come and weren't able to make it.

We stopped at the same place they made their final stop for some cookies and snacks.  Thanks to Jeanna and Gary even Bailey was wearing appropriate Harley attire.

Jeanna spoiling Bailey, Bailey ate it up.

We then rode out to the site of the accident.  I was grateful to have seen so many pictures prior to being there, it felt familiar.  Although the two crosses were a new addition.  I am grateful to the organization who places them for all highway fatalities in the state of Montana.  We spent several hours in the peace and quiet there talking and simply feeling close to them.  There was no question that we didn't ride alone that day.  It was a beautiful thing to be able to ride on the back of that motorcycle with my husband without fear.  I know that my parents are just on the other side of that gateway known as death and we will be with them again.  It felt safe, and carefree, and beautiful and sacred.  It felt like coming home. Just off the road is a lake and sitting next to the water my siblings and I laughed at how it made us all want to get in a boat and spend a day on the water just like we use to.  My parents happiest days were either on a motorcycle or a boat. 

Me and Fuzzy- he was amazing to make the trip and honor my parents by riding their bike, and letting us girls ride with him.

Gary, Jeanna, Kayla (seriously what a stud, she just got her bike and made this big trip) and Fuzzy and I.

Who could resist?

Us girls taking a moment by the Lake admiring the trees and Canadian Roses that brought Jeanna comfort the year before.  The necklace we are all wearing is the same one my mom was wearing that day.  My sisters and I had given one to Jeanna and my aunt Kris who had also been with them, and then they gave each of us one.  It is a special treasure.  I love that it is so big and blingy because people comment on it and I get to tell them why it is important to me. And it just screams Brenda. . .

Despite plenty of familiarity with motorcycles, Dan and I had a iffy start. . .he is a little smaller than my dad and that is a BIG motorcycle.  

My uncle was cursing we were going to have a repeat.  I just assured him that accidents at five miles an hour don't result in fatalities.   As we picked up speed Dan certainly regained his comfort level.

Despite searching for a long time for every possible piece last year apparently this one was missed.  My brother in law found it right next to the fence where the bike ended up.  The scrape it made in the rode as the bike went down was still there too. . . some wounds take a long time to heal and leave scars for a lifetime.

   It was hard to pull away and think of my dad's brothers and their wives having to get up and leave that spot one bike short a year earlier.  Fittingly, his brother and sister rode his motorcycle away from the accident site this time.  It was a beautiful symbol of healing, coming together as family, and moving forward.  It was been a very long, hard year.  We are so blessed to know we will be together as a family again and to have so much love and support around us.  In some ways our family has grown larger since losing two members.  Mom and Dad, I miss you every day and love you. . . can't wait to see you again at the end of the ride.

June

Okay, so I am a little behind.  June was busy to say the least.  Not only did we have a brand new baby but we also had tons of visitors.  It was great to have so many people excited to meet Bailey and travel so far to spend time with us.  Dan's parents left about ten days after Bailey was born but by the weekend of my birthday we had house guests again.  My brother Dustin was suppose to just drive through Friday night but unfortunately he blew up the engine of his car on the way here from Vegas and was lucky enough to stay with us with a newborn.  Fortunately for him, he can sleep through anything.  Sunday my sisters got here to visit and get to know their new niece.  All three of them were here until the following Tuesday.  It was fun to all be together although Ryan was missed.  It was an impromptu Burningham reunion but it wasn't complete with just four of us.  About a week later Dan's sister and her family came to visit.  We headed to Sedona one day and ventured out to Slide Rock for the first time.  Getting in a swim suit two weeks after having a baby wasn't my idea, but we had a great time.  We also went to Out of Africa again- Despite having been with Dad and Grandpa the week before and the extreme heat Shad was just as excited to go this time.  Bailey was a trooper and a very good baby although she had to be woken up to eat similarly to Shad.  It was much easier the second time around and when she woke up she was definitely more alert and interactive.  After our visitors were gone we just spent time together as a family adjusting to live as a group of four and Dan being home for the summer.  One other big event  . . . Shad learned to ride his two-wheeler. . .without training wheels.  He is still too short to start on his own so we hold the bike while he climbs on and then he takes off.  He could ride for hours and has amazing balance and control although he does occasionally forget to watch where he is going.

The Whole Story

So, I had intended on doing a post about the birth story right after Bailey was born, but after reading Dan's post I felt he pretty well covered the important parts.  However, I have since had several people tell me they want more details, so here goes.  Disclaimer: if you don't like birth stories skip this post.


I will start by saying that I had absolutely no signs of labor prior to the 21st.  In fact at church the day before I had commented that I didn't think this baby was coming any time soon.  And truthfully, I really thought she would make it to being a June baby.  I had no cramps, back aches, anything.  That morning I woke up feeling awesome.  I slept better than I had in months and felt so refreshed.  I had a random thought that maybe I should pack a bag for the hospital that day but wasn't too stressed about it since it had been on my mind for a while.  About nine thirty that morning I had my first contraction.  It was completely bearable- more like cramps really and I figured with nearly a month until my due date and this being my second baby maybe it was just Braxton Hicks.  Never mind, that I never had a single cramp or contraction until real labor with Shad.  If not, this is exactly how my labor with Shad started and it lasted over twenty one hours so I really wasn't too worried about it. Dan was getting ready for a seven hour bike ride and I just mentioned to him I had a few contractions and make sure to answer his phone and he headed out.   The contractions continued about every five minutes for about an hour. They were not getting intense by any means so I still wasn't worried but I was realizing this was more likely labor than Braxton Hicks.  However, they weren't bad so I didn't tell Dan to come home just yet and continued to do what I had been doing which was painting the letters for above the crib and chatting on the phone with my older sister who was definitely more concerned than I was.  A little while later I decided I better tell Dan to come home since he said he was two hours away and I started making calls to try and arrange a baby-sitter for Shad if we in fact needed one.  I still wasn't too convinced since as I had previously mentioned this phase of labor lasted forever last time.  As I was still just going about my day I had the overwhelming impression, "Go get Dan now!"  It seemed a little weird since nothing had changed and I was still completely able to deal with these contractions no problem, but I figured I better follow the impression anyway.  I threw some things in a bag for the hospital in case I needed it, grabbed Shad and headed off to meet Dan outside of town.  I called him to let him know I was coming to get him and he told me he was at Snowbowl which is about twenty miles  away on a curvy slow road and takes about thirty five minutes to get there from our house.  On the way I coordinated with a friend in the ward to have her teenage daughter meet us in about an hour at our house to watch Shad still feeling like we had time and timing my  contractions they were still three minutes apart and only about thirty seconds long, nothing was changing.  About two minutes later I had a pretty intense contraction and felt a painful pop and felt a little damp.  This is when things got interesting.   I was pretty sure my water had broken.  With Shad this actually slowed down my labor so it never occurred to me the opposite situation could take place.  However, it did.  My contractions took a 180 degree turn for the worse and started being much longer and closer together as well as excruciating.  Driving suddenly didn't seem like such a great idea, but luckily I was only minutes from meeting Dan.  I pulled up at 12:59, opened the door and said, "I'm pretty sure my water just broke."  He responded, "are you all wet"  to which I said, "no, but I will be when I stand up."  Fortunately, we keep a blanket in the car because I effectively looked like I had wet myself the moment I stepped out of the car.  The contractions were continuing to get worse so I told Dan we probably only had time to go home and change his clothes (I didn't think to bring any of course) but not actually shower.  He pointed out we were passing the hospital and thought it would probably be better to get me checked in and then he would run home.  All I could think was that I didn't want to be left alone but seeing as I was moaning in pain and unable to hide it from Shad anymore and it was getting worse I agreed to head to the hospital. I tried to call our friend to tell her never mind, meet us at the hospital but she wasn't answering.   Unfortunately, because we had Dan's bike on the car we couldn't park in the labor and delivery parking garage so we had to walk across the parking lot.  It was a long slow walk during which I froze in a cross walk as a contraction hit.   All I could think was, "stay standing because if you go to your knees in the middle of the street you might get hit by a car."  We made it to the elevator and I was desperately on the phone with our friend telling her to get to the hospital now and leaning against the wall through contractions.  Dan ran ahead and told the check in nurses his wife was in labor and needed a wheelchair but they weren't in too much of a hurry.  I hobbled in on the phone, told them I was having transition contractions and proceeded to crouch on the ground in pain.  They responded by asking me to fill out some forms.  (What is the point of all that pre-registering then?!?!)  I started swearing as they handed Dan a clipboard to hand to me while I was on all fours in the hall. I overheard a nurse say,  "yeah, she definitely is. . ."  and figured she meant that I was going to have to go natural because it was too late for the epidural so I pulled myself up to tell them I had intended to go naturally anyway and she said "No, you are definitely in labor"  SERIOUSLY?!?!  I told you that! I leaned up to tell them I had my last baby natural and wasn't exaggerating but they still didn't take me seriously.  The next contraction hit as I fell to all fours and it seemed the only thing keeping me from having her right then and there was sheer will and my shorts.  I yelled "I'm going to have this baby in the hall!"  Finally someone came around the corner to get me in a room.  We skipped triage thankfully and rushed into a delivery room where I proceeded to start ripping my clothes off.  The nurse checked me the one and only time I was checked this pregnancy and confirmed that yes I was indeed beyond ready to deliver.  Luckily, my doctor was already in the hospital for another reason so he rushed right in and told me to push.  Dan was in the hall with Shad so I hesitated through that contraction not wanting to have the baby without him.  The next contraction hit and the doctor was a little more forceful when he told me to push this time so I followed orders.  They told me she had a lot of hair and Dan walked in and grabbed my hand as I pushed the second and last time.  She was born at 1:34,  a mere thirty five minutes after I quit driving.  It was definitely more intense and dramatic than I had ever intended but I should have known better since I transitioned and delivered Shad extremely fast too despite the long labor.  A few minutes after I noticed I had a missed call from my sister and a text asking if I was actually in labor.  I called to tell her "not anymore" and she thought my labor had stopped.  Bailey got here before we even had a chance to let anyone know she was on her way. Fortunately, she was healthy and we made it to the hospital with a whole twelve minutes to spare and our neighbor got there just in time for Dan to be there for the delivery.  It was definitely one for the books.  If you want to hear it get even better ask Dan what happened next.

Family Life

Well we have a few more photos of Bailey for those of you that are anxiously waiting.  Most of these photos are from last week and she is even bigger now and not as yellow.  She has been doing really well but does like to be up at night.  Other than that she is eating really well and is pretty content most of the time.  Having a 3 year old boy makes and infant daughter seem like a piece of cake.  

Shad hasn't been sitting around quietly.  He has been riding a balance bike for more than a year now but just learned how to ride a peddle bike this week.  He often rides his balance bike on local trails and talks about taking his pedal bike "mountain biking".  People we run into on the trail think its pretty funny to see a 3 year old out there and every time he sees a mountain he talks about mountain biking.  He likes to watch mountain bike videos and I'm pretty sure he thinks he's doing the same 15 foot drops and steep downhills as the riders on the videos.

Shad and Bailey have both been doing really well!  Shad has been really excited about his new baby sister and likes to give her hugs and kisses.  He talks about how cute she is too.  His excitement is a big relief and hopefully it stays that way.  

Mikaela is doing well.  She has been really active.  She has been baking and we even went to Sedona with the family.  My parents who were nice enough to come help out came and it was nice to get out.  Mikaela looks like she's ready to ride her bike already but we'll hold off on that for now.