My bUsY, cRAzy, bEaUtiFul LiFE!!

I would really like to update according to the week but my weeks are so blurred together I have no idea what week it is. Maybe I will try to figure that out for my next post...we'll see!

This past month we have celebrated and celebrated! We have so many birthdays in March, 3 of them being my children, 2 of our Grandmas, and 2 nephews. IT IS A CRAZY busy month.

On the 17th we celebrated Caleb's 3rd birthday. We had a small birthday for him, but it was fun for him. We ate hot dogs and made a Buzz Light-year cake. He got Tinker toys, a water gun, A Lightning McQueen car, a car poster and new McQueen swimming trunks. He also got MANY toys from family.
One funny story about Caleb...My Mom gave Caleb a Buzz toy that talks. One of the things Buzz says is "Star Command...do you copy?" After Buzz said that Caleb looked at my Mom and said "Grandma we don't drink copy" we laughed so hard! I am so glad he has listened to some of what we try to teach him!
One other story about this boy...the other day we we going to Idaho Falls and I sent Caleb downstairs to get dressed. When he came upstairs he had on jeans, a polo shirt and a white undershirt. I told him how nice he looked and he smiled and showed me his undershirt and said "Look Mom, these are my garments." So cute!

On the 30th we celebrated Emily's birthday. Most of our family came over for her birthday. She is cute because she enjoys her Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunt and Uncles almost as much as new presents. She got new playdough, new clothes, a princess poster and a stuffed animal lobster. And MANY great things from family, including Tangled. I LOVE that show!
A cute story about this girl...A few months ago we watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet she LOVED it. On the show it has a crab named Krusty (She thought it was Rusty) and Crusty would say "Flatbush" and it made Emily laugh every time for some odd reason. So for her birthday she wanted that crab. I did my best and settled for a lobster. She loved it! We often call Emily "Giggle britches" because she laughs so easy and it is so contagious! We love this girl!

In the picture below Emily is modeling her new clothes and play make-up she got for her birthday. I thought she looked WAY too cute!

One other highlight of our lives is Nathan's Baby Blessing. Ben blessed him last week at church.It was special. For Nathan's blessing outfit he wore Ben's blessing outfit,, a sweater and booties my Mom crocheted and gorgeous blanket my Mom also crocheted.  THANK YOU MOM, I LOVED THEM! One day they will be as special to him as they are to me! He looked so handsome and his blessing was very special, Ben did a great job!

In this picture I had just picked Nathan up and he was so excited to see me, it made me so happy!! We love that boy.

Thats is all for now...coming next post, our trip to Bear World and LOTS of Baby Smiles!!!!

Finally...

Introducing

Nathan Robert Willoughby

March 1, 2011

12:39 pm

8lbs. 2ozs.

21 3/4 inches

We welcomed this little guy into our lives on March 1st. So that makes him 3 weeks old today...sniff, sniff! This sweet boy had a rough start but is doing well. 

Here is a little picture story to share:

We got to the hospital around 9:30 am and started the normal routine of C-sections (observation, consultations, etc.) Here is me before I got dressed down (I was HUGE): 

  

While in the observation room I learned that my cousin Heather, who was due a day later than me, was in dilated to an 8 a couple rooms down from me. I was so excited to have babies on the same day. Heather and I are only 1 month and 2 days apart in age and I thought this was a once in a lifetime experience! Here is Heather and her cute little family. Jane was born at 1:24 pm and she is adorable!!! 

 

So right before Nathan was born I heard the Dr. say "We are ready to go..." and seconds later I heard a screaming baby followed by the Dr. say "This little guy has the shoulders of a linebacker." They struggled to get him out and in the process he inhaled amniotic fluid. As they sent him through a window to the nursery I could hear him screaming and screaming. I was happy he was okay or so I thought....when I finally came out of the recovery room I learned that he was having trouble breathing and I wouldn't be able to hold him or take him back with me. It was really sad and hard. 

We finally got to go back to the NICU later that night and see Nathan. When we got there the were doing an echo cardiogram on his heart to make sure there were no serious problems. I was totally freaked out!! I sat there and cried the entire time, it was horrible! Luckily they ruled out his heart and took some x-rays of his lungs and did some blood cultures and found he had problems in both of those areas. While we were watching him get his ultrasound he was breathing anywhere from 165-180 breaths a minute. It broke my heart to watch him struggle so much! They ended up putting him on antibiotics and oxygen. They kept him sedated most of the time so his lungs could heal. Here is one picture I took:

To make a long story short, they finally let us go home one week later (barely...story for another time, hence the oxygen going home with us). I have to say that I had THE BEST nurses and staff to take care of me and Nathan. I got to stay at the hospital with him and they would call me when he needed fed. They worked so hard to get him better and I can never thank them enough!!

Going Home:

We are so happy to have this little guy in our family! We love him SOOOO much and are so happy he is doing well. Here are some random pictures I wanted to share (it was hard to just choose a few):

Meeting Emily and Caleb:

 It is always a fight over the baby:

Total sweetness!

 LOVE this boy SO much!

So now back to my crazy, beautiful, wonderful life that I absolutely love...most days ;) !!!

P.S.-Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped take care of my family!!! I could NOT have done it emotionally or physically without them. We are so blessed with close family and friends! We are also so blessed to have the gospel in our life to turn to and find strength in. 

US-Week 9

We honestly did nothing this past week.

Ben: Once again put together another piece of furniture for our new baby. I think we are pretty much done with that! I am sure Ben is tired of being bossed around. He has been a good sport though!!

Jessica: The highlight of my week was a date Ben took me out on. We went out on Saturday and enjoyed our "last" alone time for a while. We went to Johnny Carinos and it was oh so wonderful!! Then we went shopping together-not too exciting necessarily, but it was fun to be together...alone! I love how Ben loves me unconditionally all the time and makes it a priority to spend time with me. I couldn't ask for a better man!

Emily: This girl really didn't do too much this week. Her highlight has to be a new dress her Grandma Sheri bought for her. Ben's sister Stephanie is getting married in June and Emily got a "fancy" new dress to wear. She looked SO beautiful and just like a princess!!!

Caleb: One cute thing Caleb did this week-We were watching Facing the Giants and the end was a happy that makes you cry ending. Ben looked over at Caleb and he was on the verge of crying and Ben said "Whats the matter Cabbie?" and Caleb said "Na-ting" but I knew it touched him. A few seconds later he was watching the couple and then started saying "Don't Kiss, Don't Kiss" So cute!

Baby Boy: Ready to make his appearance!!!!!

This week we watched 2 different movies as a family. Facing the Giants (as mentioned above) and Fly Away Home. Both were such good movies and we were able to enjoy the fact that they were adult movies, yet my kids could watch them with us. I love being able to teach Emily about feeling the spirit and feeling good from bad. It was nice to not have to worry about what words they would or would not say and so on.

Anyway this is my last night as a pregnant girl and I am excited and very nervous! Ben gave me a blessing tonight and in it he blessed me that I would be surrounded by angels and have faith that everything would go well. I love that man!!! Adios Amigos! Next post will be pics of new baby!!!! Yay!!

US-Week 8

We had a pretty typical week. Not much of anything, but every day is new and fun in our household.

BEN: I think Ben had a pretty fun week this week. Friday night he had a Wii night with the Elders in our ward, he said it was a lot of fun. On Saturday he went to the Gun Show at the Shilo Inn with Caleb, my dad and Ben's friend Kieth. Afterward they went and shot guns. I am glad he got to do something "manly" and fun before the baby is born!

JESSICA: This week was a busy week of running errands, cleaning, shopping and working on Young Women stuff. On Saturday while Ben was off doing "manly" things I kidnapped my Mom and took her all over Idaho Falls. It was so much fun-at least for me. My poor Mom got stuck helping find a new pair of shoes (which I am so picky about)! We got so much accomplished. While we were driving home it started to snow and the snowflakes were seriously the size of golf balls, it was crazy! Thanks Mom for going with me.

EMILY: This week she got to do a few fun things. On Tuesday she had her friend Violet over to play. This was fun for me because I met Violet's mom Vanae in Preschool in 1986 and we have stayed good friends ever since. It was fun to see our little girls play together like we used to do and I also got the chance to sit and talk with Vanae for a couple hours. Adult conversation can do wonders for pregnant women (which we both are). Emily also got to go to the dentist on Wednesday and then shopping with Mom and Grandma on Saturday. I enjoyed spending time with her!

CALEB: The highlight of his week was going "gun shopping" with Daddy and Grandpa Empey. He is such a boy and loves guns. I think he even got to shoot of couple of guns while he was with daddy. Very scary thought! Caleb also got to go have his teeth cleaned for the first time. He has been 1 time before to have his teeth checked, but this time they cleaned and polished his teeth and gave him a fluoride treatment. Plus, he had X-rays taken. He did so good and held so still. I had a hard time not cracking up the whole time. By the time he was done my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Baby Boy: Still in the oven....

That was pretty much US in a nutshell. And JUST IN CASE I haven't said it enough....ONLY 8 MORE DAYS (hopefully less)!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!

Is this really real??

So I decided to just sit here and post something...anything, mainly because my kids are asleep, my house is cleaned from top to bottom (in hopes that I end up in the hospital first thing in the morning) and my husband is off at an Elder's Quorum party. BUT I really have thought ALL day about this little guys being born and it seems SO unreal to me. I am not sure why. I have looked at several of my used-to-be-pregnant friend's blogs today and to my surprise and unbelief there really was a healthy baby inside of them that came out. Sounds silly coming from someone who has done this 2 other times, but I really am in denial that this child will ever come out! I think my anxiety is getting the best of me and it takes all I have got to not burst into tears at any given moment. I know I have done this for 9 months, so 10 more days should be a breeze, but really I think they can also be the very hardest.

So to get my mind off of baby, I am taking my mom shopping tomorrow. We are going to get all of the "last minute" necessities. I am going to walk and walk and walk in hopes it will bring on labor...we'll see how that goes! If you are wondering, yes this blog was pretty much part of having the "whine flu" but now I am done and I think I will go take a hot bath and scavenge through my house to find some chocolate-possibly even break into some frozen cookie dough that has been calling my name for almost a week. YUM!

US-Week 7

I can't believe it is already the 2nd week of February! I can smell, feel and see that Spring is closer. I think it is funny that 37 degrees feels like a heat wave to all of us. I am excited for what Spring has in store for my little family.

BEN: This week we spent a lot of time together. Ben didn't end up going on visits, which usually happens on Wednesday. It was a nice night together as a family. Ben also took Friday off work and spent the day helping me get some things done like grocery shopping, laundry, entertaining the kids, etc. He helps me in so many ways (which is in almost everything I do at this point in my pregnancy)!

JESSICA: I had my 36 week doctor's appointment on Tuesday. My due date was set back a day (March 1st) so I would be 39 weeks ON THE DOT when I went to the hospital. I was close to tears, but in the long run I am sure it is for the better. This baby really should cook as long as possible-and really can any woman ever be completely prepared to bring home a new baby?? I am sure I will find something to do! One highlight of my week was a spontaneous Family Baby Shower my mother-in-law threw for me. She called it a "Downpour of Dinners". It was a blast!!! The idea behind the shower was to have everyone bring frozen meals instead of gifts. I thought the idea was awesome! She had a waffle bar there and a few games. My freezer is now full of cookie dough, casseroles, enchiladas, soup and so many more wonderful foods. This will help my family so much for the first month, I can't say how much I appreciated it!!!

EMILY: This past week was Emily's first time to celebrate Valentine's Day with other children. She was SO excited!! On Wednesday night we sat down for over an hour and made homemade Valentines.  I got the idea here, we made the owls for all 19 of her classmates. It was fun to see her bring home Valentines the next day. She even told me that a boy in her class said "I love you Emily" She said she ran and told her teacher. I laughed so hard! I know she secretly liked it!

CALEB: I love how this kids watches and learns so much from his sister. He is telling me all kinds of things that he has learned from Emily. This week in Sacrament Meeting he looked at the picture of Jesus calming the sea of Galilee and told me that in the picture Jesus was saying "Peace, Be still." Pretty good for a 3 year old. Last night we were all laying on our bed watching Chronicles of Narnia and Caleb started rubbing my legs (Ben rubs my legs a lot because of those darn pregnancy leg cramps) and Caleb leaned over to me and said "You like it when I rub your legs? I love your legs!" He is so sincere and sweet!

BABY BOY: This kid is still moving and grooving. Although on Thursday night he moved, squirmed, wiggled and kicked for almost a hour straight. So on Friday he went most of the day without hardly a kick-I think he wore himself out. I was really worried up until about 10 p.m. when it started all over again. I was so relieved. Pregnancy can be really scary at times! 

As for us the funnest thing we did was pop popcorn and play UnoFlash. We all love to play that game and it is easy for even Caleb to get the hang of it...sorta. I recommend it for all ages!

Here are some pictures from my Baby Shower-of course I forgot to take pictures, so a big thanks to my mother-in-law for taking these:

 

Here is one of those awkward pregnancy pictures...my belly is H.U.G.E.!!

US- WEEK 6

It has been a week of staying in the house away from the bitter cold and wind. We also have been trying hard to avoid illnesses, that is the last thing I want with a new baby. When I was pregnant with Caleb, I got the influenza 2 weeks before my C-section-it was miserable! As for us here are our "adventures beyond belief" for the week....hahaha

BEN: He is currently Elder's Quorum President in our ward and I admire his diligence! He is always thinking about how to help his quorum whether it be visiting someone, calling someone or preparing a lesson or activity for them. They are planning a Wii night in a couple of weeks and he hopes to get a good turn out, not just because "the more the merrier" but so they can feel more like a quorum and learn to care for each other. I feel like Ben is really good about balancing his time and making sure he spends time with me and our kids. He truly is a wonderful husband and father!


JESSICA: This week seems to have drug on a bit (just like any other 9 months pregnant girl's week I am sure)! I think it took me all week to do our laundry. YET despite all of my set backs my house remained fairly cleaned and I had dinner ready 3 out of 4 days this week...wahoo! Ben and I made the final rearrangements for this baby to come. My bassinet is set up and my basement is completely cleaned up and arranged the way I want it. As the days go on more and more people glance my way in pity and most of them even comment on my "can't walk so I waddle" or the "I'd rather be at home sleeping" look on my face. Today a man at church offered to "roll" me out the door instead of having me walk...how generous! I sure do want this baby to come NOW...but I know it is better if he cooks longer-dang!

EMILY: This girl has become more and more help to me this week! One of her favorite things is to clean the toilet and I decided to take FULL advantage of this while she "likes it". The things she has helped me with this week are: putting away the laundry, dressing Caleb, vacuuming the floor, putting away the dishes and dusting anything and everything. One cute thing she did this week was on Friday morning she woke up early and made me breakfast. It consisted of a carton of yogurt with a big blob of cool whip on top. When she brought it to me I said thank you and then noticed the bowl it was in was not looking so clean. When I asked her where she got the bowl she said "Oh, it was in the sink, but I washed it out in the bathroom." It is the thought that counts, right! Oh how I love that girl!

CALEB: One thing I love about Caleb is he always wants to be my "big chef" as I call him. Whenever I am cooking something he is on a chair next to me "helping". I hope he keeps his love for cooking as he gets older. Today we made cookies and I smiled because he knew how many were in a dozen. I love the "Mommy and Caleb" time I get to spend with him while Emily goes to preschool. I love to see him be himself and not always follow what his sister does. He is always doing something funny! This morning while get ready for church I couldn't find him and so in my searching I saw these big blue eyes poke out from inside the bassinet. He knew it was naughty and got out of being in trouble but flashing me the big pearly whites. Needless to say I got him out while laughing.

BABY BOY: He of course can't speak for himself, BUT if he could he would be saying "Need more room, need out soon!"


This week as a family we really didn't do anything spectacular. We have played the Wii a lot because sledding, bowling, swimming, skating....yeah pretty much everything is out for me. My family are all good sports and we can make fun out of pretty much anything. I love them and appreciate thier patience so much!!!!

I am trying to work on my scrapbook pages more. Here are some I have done recently:

US-Week 5

Last week was busy and COLD! We once again tried working on getting ready for our baby to arrive, yes that is pretty much all we do these days.

BEN: On Monday he took the day off work to spend some time with our family. He took the kids swimming, played games with them and read books to them. Surprisingly this took up much of the day but he really enjoyed it. He really didn't have a ton the rest of the week. He is patient and never gets bothered by my whining...well at least he doesn't say he does, hahaha!

JESSICA: On Tuesday I went to my 34 week appointment. Everything looked good and I was measuring 37 weeks. I want to carry this baby as long as I can, but having him right now sounds pretty fabulous! I laugh at all of the things I am told like "Oh, well that won't go away until AFTER you h ave the baby" or "That is caused from hormone levels, you SHOULD return to normal after delivery"- I am starting to wonder if I will ever be normal again. My wonderful Mom came down and helped me all day on Thursday. We washed baby stuff and started a quilt top that I have wanted to get done. It turned out really cute, I need to put a back on it but I love how it looks so far.

EMILY: This girl has been recovering from a sinus infection and has had a long couple of weeks. I can tell she isn't quite up to par, I hope she recovers soon! I learned this week that she knows the Pledge of Allegiance and the First Article of Faith and can recite them really well. She also informed me this morning that Pres. Obama is the "President of the Earth", it cracked me up. She is so smart and teaches us so many thing every day. She loves to play "Simon Says" and is very good at telling us what to do-I think this is her ideal game for life. I have no idea where she learned to be so bossy.....

CALEB: He is just busy being a little boy. I am trying to break some bad habits Caleb has. Every night around 3:30 am he thinks it is time to come climb in my bed. It was much easier to bring him back to his room when it was right down the hall, but now that he is downstairs it takes a lot more effort to get up at night. Persistence is the key, right??? We were playing a game with Caleb and Emily on Monday night and Caleb always has to be a jokester. He decided to try and laugh like we laugh and it only made us laugh harder. They faces he was pulling and the noises he was making made us laugh harder. Never a dull moment in this our as long as this boy is around.

BABY BOY: Still not sure on a name for this kid. I keep praying for some needed inspiration!!

FAMILY: One fun thing we did as a family this past week was to go ice fishing in Mackay. A "first" for us and so much fun! We went with our good friend Dustin and his 2 kids. The kids all had fun playing with the fish that were caught and sledding down the ice. It was a little chilly at first but turned out to be a beautiful day. We were all so tired when we got home.

Here are some random pictures:

US-Week 4

I really need to do this earlier because my weeks are starting to all blur together.....

BEN: Ben has been really stressed out at work and a lot of dorky things are going on at the INL, yet he handles them so well. Last week he helped me get our baby crib together, move our baby changer into our house, put the kids bunk beds downstairs and re-install our gate outside. I don't think any of those things were easy and I really appreciated him doing them. I promised him a relaxing weekend this week-I think sledding might be in the plans?!?!?!?

JESSICA: Another week in pregnancy for me-week 33. This past week our baby dropped-A LOT! I can breath more easily, but have to keep my legs crossed for fear a baby will fall out! I have finished putting the baby's room together and took the leap of change and put my 2 other babies downstairs. IT WAS HARD. I am so used to have them right down the hall and moving them to a different level of our house made me panic. It turns out that I am fine, they are fine and I need to relax a little. I think I need to be more adaptable to change and not shelter my kids so much....

EMILY: This girl never ceases to amaze me! She wanted so badly to have her OWN room downstairs and was such a big help when it came to moving all of her stuff. She is definitely an OLDEST child, she knows how to take charge! The first night they slept in their new room, she was SO excited but a little scared. As we were telling them goodnight she asked if she could sing some "pretty" songs. I thought it was cute that she was trying to be so brave!

CALEB: Mischief maker and always on the go! Caleb has learned how to swing on things-it doesn't matter what, our gate, the fridge door, any door, his bunk beds, cupboard doors-you name it. He has so much fun but knows that Mommy doesn't allow it. I even catch him saying "Sorry" before he swings. He is so sweet and loves kisses. Every night he wants me to give him lots of kisses. Sometime this week I gave him a kiss before bed and he later was sad because he was afraid he had eaten all of his kisses (because I had given him a kiss on the lips), it made me laugh!

BABY BOY: Nothing new with this kid, he is still working on his gymnastic and boxing skills. I got out all of our baby boy clothes and I can't wait to snuggle this little guy!! We did set an official C-Section date to February 28th-less than 5 weeks!!

JUST A NOTE: Something I have thought a ton about lately....My kids will ask me to do silly things with them and sometimes most of the time I am right in the middle of doing something. I have had to make it a priority and stop what I am doing and play with them. For example: The other day I was doing my hair in a huge hurry and Caleb walked up and wanted me to dance with him. My first thought was "Not right now!" and then I stopped and the better thought came to mind "Caleb won't always want to be seen dancing with his Mommy, so do it now while he enjoys it."
So once again I am reminded to enjoy my kids now while they still want me around.  
Find Joy in the Journey as President Monson counsels us!

US-Week 3

This past week has been busy! We are well on our way to getting baby prepared. I forgot how many baby things I have. So this past week here is what happened.

BEN: This week he was so much help to me! Ben helped me get all of our baby stuff out of our attic. There was seriously boxes and boxes full of stuff. He also helped me paint the room downstairs that Emily and Caleb are moving into. It is a lovely pale yellow color-which took 3 COATS. Ben is always so helpful to me and always so willing to take the kids so I can have a little break. He also is so sensitive and willing to listen to me whine about pregnancy aches and pains. Thanks for the support Honey!

JESSICA: What can I say I have the "whine flu"! I am 33 weeks pregnant today and it feels like I am more like 43 weeks. This baby is growing like a weed. So this past week I went and took one of my Best Friends out to lunch. It was nice to visit with her and let our kids play.  I have hit the nesting stage, I want to clean and clean and clean. It doesn't help that I have stated watching "Hoarders"-bad, very bad! I am getting so anxious but also very nervous. We still don't have a solid name to count on, any ideas would really help!

EMILY: She has been such a big helper this week. When we decided to paint her room, she decided she was going to help. Ben thought it was a good idea, Mom on the other hand didn't but Dad won. Emily painted a picture of herself and her name in BIG letters on the wall. Cute-but hard to cover up, you can still see it if you look close enough. Emily also wasn't feeling well this week and I wasn't sure why. Poor girl!

CALEB: What can I say that I don't always say--Caleb keeps me on my toes. He is always doing something. Caleb is such a good little guy and I know he will make a good Big brother. He doesn't quite understand the whole baby concept thing and I am excited to see his reaction. He loves to play with Emily's Baby Alive and feed her and comfort her. He may be more "help" than what I think.

BABY BOY: Still growing-obviously! This baby has started kicking and rolling every night around 11 pm. I enjoy feeling him move but sometimes it is right in my hip and can be very uncomfortable. I hope he isn't a total night owl when he comes out!

Just for FUN: The story of my life....