The birth story!! (part 2)

I promised everyone part 2 of Taylor's birth story yesterday and that did NOT happen.  Lo siento amigos!  Yesterday was a difficult day for Hayden, and I've been running on very little sleep.  I'm staying up late at night trying to finish my bachelor's degree and the boys haven't been sleeping too well.  So there's my excuse :)

First time holding Taylor.  He screamed for quite a while before he felt safe.

My big boy!  11 days early and he comes in at 19in, 8lb 1 oz.  For comparison, Hayden was 12 days early, 21in, and 8lb 5 oz.   

Anyways, so if you read my last post, you know that on January 31st, Hayden's birthday, we made an unsuccessful run to the hospital.  6 days later we made another trip.  My mother-in-law Bonnie met us at the E.R. (at 2:30am!) and we gave her our car with Hayden happily sitting inside.  my contractions were 4 minutes apart and i wasn't sure how much time I had, so that's why we woke Hayden up and had Bonnie meet us there.  

My Hayden  boy!  Notice his bare feet?!?  So funny.  He's also wearing his FAVORITE shirt that Auntie Lesley gave him for his birthday.  I love this super active boy!

After about an hour in the exam room they decided to admit me (YAY), which meant we would have a baby within the next 12 hours or less.  we had a nice sleep and in the morning I had my epidural (about 6am).  At 8am the doctor came and checked on me.  Dr. Evans got to deliver Hayden and Taylor as well!  It was kind of cool.  So he checked on me and said in a few hours I'd be ready to deliver.  I had to come into the hospital at 5cm dilated and 100% effaced.  All we had to do next was wait.  I was pretty tired and I kept trying to sleep, but my epidural numbed me a little too high.  It made it slightly difficult to breathe and I was afraid if I went to sleep I would stop breathing.  This sounds really bad as I type it!  I knew at the time my epidural felt a little different from when I had Hayden, but I wasn't sure why.  My legs were easier to move and, like I said, it was difficult to breathe.  My blood pressure also dropped dramatically.  The nurse had to give me a few shots of...idk, something, to get it back up to where it should be.  It wasn't a horrible experience.  I was monitored closely and taken care of.  If I were having another baby, I would still choose to get an epidural.  But when you get one, you have to understand the risks.  They are small, but things can happen.  

Paul Holding hours old Taylor Michael.

Fresh after his bath!  We've figured out that after baths, Taylor's hair gets really fluffy and yellow blonde.  I think he looks like a little chick--quack quack!

Ok, so about 2 hours later I could feel that the baby was ready!  You just feel this intense need to push.  Even with the epidural, you can still feel it.  The longer you wait to push, in fact, the more painful it becomes (yes, even with pain meds!).  I told my nurse how I was feeling and she said to let her know when the contractions that made me feel like I needed to push were getting closer together and stronger.  In my head I was like....ummmm...it's time NOW!  She left my room and after only 2 minutes I was seriously like...ummmm...yeah get someone in here...now...  A nurse came in and checked me.  I was SUPER READY!  I was told NOT to push (which is really all you feel like doing) because the Dr. and my original nurse were next door helping another woman.  I could hear her screams from down the hallway.  I jokingly said to myself, bet you wish you had the epidural now, don't ya!  ha ha, I kid.  I only had to wait about 10 minutes before the Dr. and my room were ready for a delivery.  I think I pushed for about 3 minutes and the baby was out!  (after the baby's head was out I had to wait to push again because his cord was wrapped around his neck twice!  I'm glad doctors check for that now).  So, at 10:17am Taylor was born.  

Hayden is sort of into ears right now.  It only makes sense that he had to check and make sure that Taylor  had some!

Aaaaaaaaaand here Hayden's checking to make sure his own ears are still in place ;)

The next 24 hours were filled with visits from Hayden, Grandma Kirby, and Lesley, as well as a Redbox movie, a "Stork Dinner" for Paul and I, and more pain meds, ha ha.  I was super nervous for Hayden's visit.  I made sure that my IV would be removed before he came.  When I visited my mom in the hospital after she had Lesley, I was scared to sit by or even look at her because of the things coming out of her arms!  Hayden came right in though and made himself at home.  He took off his socks and shoes and jumped right onto my bed.  All he wanted to do was hold his baby brother and inspect his little body.  It was pretty sweet!  

Hayden in his jammies!  Taylor and I went to his 2 week appointment that morning so Grandma Kirby came over to watch him.  It was really nice because A) Hayden HATES the dr.'s office.  We're not sure why, but he just hates it, and B) We also had to stop at the hospital for the baby's PKU test.  I doubt Hayden would have enjoyed that one.

Headed to his 2 week check up!  He did so well.  At 3 days he had lost weight (7lb 7 oz) but then he went up to 8 lb 7oz.  He also gained 1.5in and went up to 20.5in.  Oh, and his head?  It's in like the 10th %ile.  Small heads are good!

Did I mention Taylor can roll to his side?  He's been doing it since about 3 days old!  He just rolls over to his side and sleeps like that!  It's amazing.

Wook at the wittle face!  The blanket was made by a few ladies from church that stopped by for a visit.  So nice!

Big brother and little brother!  Hayden is always loving on Taylor.  He gets so excited when I let him hold him in the boppy.  I'm not sure how much Taylor likes it though!

I love this video because it shows how quickly Hayden can turn it on and off.  And I love his little, "okaaay"!

So, to sum things up, I:

• have a 2 year old
• have a newborn
• have survived almost 3 weeks of having the above 2 things
• am off of pain meds
• am incredibly grateful for the family that I have...including a husband that will wake up with the baby at night when my body just won't let me do it one more time!

Hayden turns 2!

So January 31st, 2013, turned out to be quite the eventful day.  After making a trip to the hospital and returning at 4:30am (read about that post here), we got 2 hours of sleep.  Hayden was up and ready to start his birthday!  Paul made french toast (Hayden's favorite breakfast) and that seemed to help wake us up.  

Later that night we had a little party for Hayden.  Grandma Kirby, and Auntie Lesley came.  Great Grandma Sutton dropped by for a few minutes to give Hayden his gift, but left to take care of Great Grandpa Sutton.  Hayden wore his Happy Birthday shirt for the occasion.   It was actually a hand-me-down from Ammon's 2nd Birthday.  Mandy gave it to me a long time ago and I've held onto it for years just waiting for the day that Hayden could wear it.  (Mandy if you want it for Maddox's 2nd birthday, let me know.)     

See his cute shirt?

First we unwrapped presents.  Grandma Sutton got Hayden some clothes and some $$ to put into his savings account--which is always welcome!  

Like  his chocolate "Zorro" mustache?!?  Someone had a lick of chocolate frosting!

Hayden got some trucks, cars and a red flannel shirt from Auntie Lesley.  He LOVES that shirt--I think he wore it for 3 days straight after he got it!  

This is THE shirt!  This picture was taken February 7th, the day after we had Taylor.  And yes...Hayden insisted on taking his shoes off at the hospital.  Silly boy!

From Grandma Kirby he received a bunch of shirts and jeans (which he really needed), a book and dvd about farm animals, and a bubble gun.  We can't wait for summer to come so that he can have a bubble war outside with daddy!  

Hayden reading his book.

My family got Hayden a Radio Flyer car and ramp.  He loves the car but isn't quite interested in the ramp yet.  We're working on it!  

This picture was taken about a month ago.  It was he first time Hayden got brave enough to sit on and ride his Radio Flyer!

Aaaaand, from mom and dad Hayden got a box full of musical instruments to play with!  (We also bought him a big dinosaur floor puzzle that came in a cute little suitcase, but he found it the day before his birthday and started playing with it!  I just let him have it.)

Maracas, egg shakers, train whistle, drum, triangle, and xylophone   You can tell I'm 37 weeks pregnant here.  These pictures of me were the last taken before having Taylor!  

After presents, we ate cake.  Of course.  Hayden was so timid in approaching his cake!  It was the funniest thing.  He didn't dare pick it up and take a bite.  

I figured out that he wasn't eating it because he didn't want to get his hands dirty.  Can you believe that?!?  Ha ha, so I cut the kid's cake into bite-sized pieces and he dove right in.  He's such a funny boy!

January 31st will forever live in infamy! (Or, Taylor's birth story part 1)

(The next few posts are a little late--having two babies now has been more time consuming than I thought.  And just writing that seems like...DUH ALLIE!  Of course raising two little ones takes up your time!  Yeah, it really does.)

Anyways....

I had been preparing for Hayden's birthday since November.  I wanted to get him the perfect present.  Knowing that his brother would be born close to his birthday, I needed something for him that he could do on his own and would keep his attention for more than 30 seconds.  Don't think I'm crazy, but I decided on getting Hayden his own set of musical instruments.  I picked up a drum, egg shakers, maracas, an xylophone,  and a triangle (all for around $2 each!) at Michael's.  I picked up a Sterilite plastic container from the dollar store to hold his new toys and called it good.  Hayden LOVED the present and instruments really aren't that loud.  He can even play with them while the baby is sleeping and it doesn't disturb him!

We were all ready for Hayden's little family party to happen when I went into labor.  Or what I thought was labor.  Or better yet, what SHOULD have been labor.  I'll explain.  I started getting painful, regular contractions on Jan 30th.  I timed them for about 2 hours before I was sure I needed to run to the hospital.  Contractions were 5-6 minutes apart.  Lesley and Lindsay raced over to the house to stay with Hayden and Paul and I headed out.  We had a 15 minute drive to the hospital and, upon arriving, were taken to an exam room.  All the nurses were excited because, now that it was after midnight, it was Hayden's birthday.  If baby was born in the next 24 hours, the boys would have the same birthday!  

Madison Memorial Hospital

After 4 hours and multiple calls to the Doctor  that night, we were sent home.  I was frustrated and kind of shocked.  My contractions were showing to be as painful as possible, as well as regular, on the NST screen (you know that uncomfortable machine they hook you up to...?).  Dr. Allred decided to have me go home and rest to see if contractions would stop.  Apparently the baby's head wasn't fully engaged, and with me being 37 weeks, he wanted to delay labor if possible.

Gee thanks.

My nurse was so nice and apologetic.  She was sure that, if I wasn't back to the hospital in the morning, I would have the baby within a week (AWESOME foreshadowing!).  

So we rolled into the driveway at 4:30am tired as...well....we were tired.  And hungry.  Paul had worked a full day and was exhausted   Poor guy!  We went to bed and I tried to get sleep.  The contractions finally relaxed enough for me to get 2 hours of sleep.  

And then I woke up to a BIG 2 year old who had 10 hours of sleep and had no idea what we had just been through.  Here we go......I thought.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!

Hayden eating morning snack.  Not sure why he's not wearing a shirt...

Personality Quiz!

My friend Roxanne blogged about a personality test that seemed to be really insightful.  I of course was intrigued and had to take it too!  There's something about tests that I love--I think it stems from when I was a pre-teen.  I LOVED reading Girl's Life when I was in middle school.  I thought it was so cool and grown up.  The magazine had lots of different quizzes and tests you could take about everything!  I could find out how much of a mall diva I was, or find out what my favorite colors and numbers said about me.  So cool.  Anyways...what was I talking about...

OOOOOH yeah, so I took this test.  

I am:  Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging (INFJ).

That really didn't make sense to me, but here are some of my characteristics:

• Quiet exterior
• Holds deep convictions about the weightier matters of life
• Champion of the oppressed and downtrodden
• May fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. The concept of 'poetic justice' is appealing
• Accurately suspicious about others' motives
• Is not easily fooled or led
• Sympathetic to most
• Selective about friends
• Has a knack for fluency in language and communication
• Nonverbal sensitivity to be able to know others intimately
• Amazing ability to deduce the inner workings of the mind, will and emotions of others 
• Caught between the desire to express their wealth of feelings and moral conclusions about the actions and attitudes of others, and the awareness of the consequences of unbridled candor
• Vents emotions in private to trusted allies who are chosen with care
• Is a true introvert, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates."  This is a necessary escape valve , providing both time to rebuild depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload
•  inherent giver
• well-suited to the "inspirational" professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices

So the question is, is this me?  How well does this describe my personality?

When I'm in large groups I'm often quiet and observe.  I have to ascertain what is appropriate for the current environment and then, when I have something to say, I say it though that particular filter.  Is that weird?  Does that even make sense?  

I am always trying to figure out what others motives are, whether innocent or otherwise.  Between that and being able to read nonverbal communication so well, I swear I should be a private detective!  

Lastly, I've always said that I would make a great teacher.  It's just what I do.  I think that comes from my dad--when he was my Bishop I loved listening to his talks and his insights.  As far as church callings, I'm always called to teach something.  From teaching Gospel Doctrine with the adults to teaching 3 year old sunbeams about God's creations and love, I've taught it all.  

Kay, just kidding--this is last.  Can't believe I almost  forgot it.  I have an absolute passion for language and communication.  I love it and I love that most people don't understand its inner-workings.  Sick and twisted, I know.  I can better express myself through written language because I can edit my thoughts better this way before releasing them.

There you go--that's me!  What do you think about the results?

Quotes from FAMOUS INFJ's:

I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.  --Mother Theresa

We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.--Nelson Mandela 

 I`ve learned by hanging out in Hollywood, where I disagree politically with most people, that most people`s hearts are in the right place, and the only thing we have to argue about is the way to solve the problems.--Tom Selleck

Elaine:  Ugh, I hate people.

Jerry:  Yeah, they're the worst.--Jerry Seinfeld

  A lot of times, discipline and hard work can make up for the talent you don't have.--Mark Harmon

Our year in review

I hate writing "The Christmas Letter" every year.  I do!  So, this year I thought I'd try just summarizing our year for friends and family on the blog.  I feel like our family blog is so much more informal than "The Christmas Letter" is.

You all know what I mean.

Anyways, here we go!

Winter:

End of December, 2011:  The Kirby family started the year off in Aurora, Colorado.  We moved around Christmas time and, on Christmas Eve, our apartment had a small flood.  Awesome.  We hadn't even had enough time to settle in and unpack, and were dealing with a flood.  It started in our bathroom and moved down the hallway, saturating the carpet in both Hayden and our bedrooms.  We were forced to shove all of our belongings into our TINY kitchen, dining room, and living room.  Our handyman was great to come and deal with the mess (when he was in the middle of plans with friends!).  He cleaned everything up, fixed the toilet, and then ripped up our carpets to put large, industrial fans underneath.  The fans actually worked to prevent the carpet from molding, which was great.  BUT...we had to have them running for 3 days straight.  That meant we slept in our crowded-with-stuff living room on our couches.  It really put a damper on our holiday!  There were no decorations, no Christmas trees, and there was no holiday baking.  Luckily we were invited out to dinner Christmas Eve and Christmas by our friends and family (thank you for saving us, Kevin and Judy Beckstead and David and Heather Crawford!).

Hayden playing with Christmas lights for the first time!  He was 11 months here.

Close up!

Right before leaving for Christmas Eve dinner at the Beckstead's.

At the start of the year, Hayden didn't have any teeth!  He didn't get his teeth until he turned 14 months!!

For Hayden's birthday (January 31st), I was thinking about making donuts and having a donut and hot chocolate birthday party.  Sounds fun, right?  I decided it would be a good idea to test out the recipe I had found on pinterest before using it.  Turns out it was a good idea, because they didn't actually work quite right....

Aren't these gorgeous?  Sour cream Old Fashioned donuts with a homemade glaze.  Looks yummy, right?  The next picture is really going to disappoint.

NAILED IT!  Yeah, that mess right there?  Those are my beautiful donuts with homemade  glaze.  Needless to say, we did not have a donut and hot chocolate birthday party for Hayden.

I just realized this is going to be the longest posting of mine, EVER.  We are still in January people.  Hang in there!!

January 31st, 2012:

Hayden's birthday morning!  The first thing I had him do was try peanut butter for the first time.  It was a big event.

He could barely see over the t.v. stand, let alone reach what was on top of it.  Yeah, that has changed!

So after my failed attempt at pinterest donuts, I decided to make cupcakes from a pinterest recipe.  The night before his party.  Without practicing the recipe to make sure it would work.  Great idea, right?

Wrong.

All the recipe said that I had to do was mix a box of cake mix with a can of pop.  That's it.  Nothing else.

Didn't work.  At all.

Here is the perfect picture of the pinterest example:

Soda Can Cupcakes from Cookies and Cups Blog  (link)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's mine:

Hmmmm...

 We ended up buying Hayden a piece of chocolate cake from the Safeway bakery.

As you can see, Hayden certainly enjoyed the cake!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand the sugar crash :)

February:  Did I mention we joined a play group?  Hayden got to meet lots of friends while I got to meet lots of mommy friends!  Every Tuesday we would do something fun.  On this occasion, we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Paul had the day off so he got to come with us, too!  Hayden had fun getting to be with mom AND dad all day.

Apparently Paul lost his razor that day!  But look how Hayden's face would just disappear when he smiled!  CUTE.

Here's Hayden and I looking at some animals.  He was actually a little afraid of the displays.  The reptile room with the snakes scared him the most--they had live snakes and the room was dark.  I think he was nervous about the whole thing, but Paul and I thought it was pretty cool!

Spring!  

This picture was taken late March.  Hayden would help me spring clean by moving chairs so that I could sweep and mop.  It became his new favorite activity.  And, if you look closely at his mouth, you can see his new teeth!  It took 14 months, but once it started happening, he all of a sudden had 6 teeth!

And just look at his chubby baby face!

Summer!  In June we got to do some camping with the Becksteads.  Hayden became infatuated with STICKS.  That and he followed his daddy around constantly.  Our camping location of choice was Pike National Forest--it's absolutely gorgeous!

Miss Mary and I--it was really cold that morning!  I wish I had been as bundled up as she was!  (That's our orange tent in the background.  It was a wedding present we got ourselves.)

Living in Colorado was a lot of fun.  There was so much to do so many places to go SHOPPING!  Ha ha.  In the summer, Hayden and I started walking with a friend from church who has a little boy named Kaden and is just a few months older.  After every walk we would stop at the park to let the boys play--we're so missing Kaden and his mom now!

Two buds!  Aren't they cute?!?

Also in Colorado we joined a date night group.  This group pretty much saved our date nights!  Three Fridays out of the month, Hayden would be watched by another member of the date night group.  On the fourth Friday, we would watch all of the kids at our place.  So pretty much, we gave up one Friday a month so that we could have three Friday nights sans Hayden.  At first, Paul was not excited to join the group, but to this day he misses it!  The plan is to start our own date night group here in Rexburg.

Hayden reading a book and Isabelle watching a show during date night.  

I got to meet new friends through our date night group and hope we all keep in touch!  They were too fun.  Plus, every woman in our group announced that they were expecting!  One had her baby in September, the next is due around Christmas time, then there's me on February 17th, and then the last is due in March.

How funny is that?!?

This is our peanut at 20 weeks, 2 days.  This was the appointment we found out we are having a boy!

Hopefully by now if you're reading this you know that I'm pregnant with our second baby.  He is due February 17 so that makes me...32 weeks?  Something like that.  Hayden was due February 12 and we had him January 31, so we're *hoping* this little guy comes early as well.  Cross your fingers everybody!!

Oh.  We're naming him Taylor, but still no middle  name.  Suggestions?

I promise, the year is almost over!  We're getting close :)

Fall!  

Fall is gorgeous in Colorado.  Well, mainly I forgot what a regular Fall was supposed to look like!  We had been in Rexburg so long that you just get used to miserable snow and ice.  Ha.  Fall is about a week long in Rexburg.  In Colorado, it's an actual season!  

For Halloween I made Hayden's costume.  He was the cutest little rain cloud I've ever seen :)

Winter:

The very last day of November we moved back to Idaho.  It was sad but exciting all at the same time.  I have been missing my friends, my ward, and how everything there was so close.  I had a Walgreens across the street.  Here, it's a 15 minute drive.  But this is where we're supposed to be right now.  Paul is going back to school to finish his degree and we both know that he needs it!  We're glad to be back in our home and that Dr. Evans will be delivering our second baby (he delivered the Hayden as well).  We have friends and family here and it's nice to see them again.  

Oh, our move?  Paul drove the moving truck with his Tacoma hitched onto the back while I drove the Highlander.  That's right, I'm a big girl now!  Previously, I had only driven about two hours straight before getting a migraine and having to stop.  This time, I drove the whole way from Aurora to Rexburg.  It helped that the weather was PERFECT (excusing a little rain when we got into Pocatello, and wind crossing through Wyoming).  The drive was 13 hours long, and, being pregnant and travelling with a 1 year old, we thought it would be a good idea to stop at a hotel for the night.  This is where Hayden had his FIRST swimming experience!

Hayden didn't really like the water.  I think it was too cold for him.  

It was actually kinda fun!  So anyways, we're back in our house and loving it.  When we had been in Colorado, I bought a Christmas tree for Hayden's room and I finally got to set it up!  Here's a video of him looking at it.

That brings us to today.  Currently Paul is putting in a fireplace, book shelves, canned lights, and a surround sound system into our living room.  It's still a work in progress, but it's looking so good!  The new wall has been built, painted, and tiled. 

It's a shame that this picture doesn't do it justice!  The tile is a glass tile and it really is just gorgeous with the paint colors and wood tiles. Oh yeah, the hearth down there is made of ceramic wood tiles! It really looks amazing. Paul will be putting a mantle in that big space between the fireplace and t.v. eventually.  I can't wait for it!  He'll also be building some custom book shelves to go on either side of the fireplace that will be painted white.  They will house all the sound equipment (which is currently on the floor). 

Paul wanted to be sure to include this picture:

 You can clearly see the canned lights (there are actually 6 of them in the living room) that he installed. I love them! Before, that side of the room had no light--just a single floor lamp.  It was NOT working for us!The main reason Paul wanted me to include this picture was so that you could see the in-wall speakers he installed to created a 7.1 surround sound system. Whatever that means! It's important to him.  Anyways, there are 4 speakers in the sealing.  Can you see them?  

Aaaaaaand the most exciting news of all.......Hayden got an early birthday present from my family.  He did NOT like it at first!  I've had it out so that he can choose to play with it if he wants, and yesterday was the day!  

Hayden happily plopped on his car and started scooting around!  Too bad that a few minutes later, Hayden would take a spill on the bike that would result in a little bruise going across his cheek :(

Paul, Hayden, and Allison Kirby (4 months  pregnant with  baby Taylor!)

Well that was our year in review!  We hope all of our friends and family are happy and healthy and enjoying the special Christmas spirit of December.  Merry Christmas!!