Way behind...Birthdays, Blessing and Yard

Wow, I'm way behind on things I wanted to blog about so I'll just have to mash it all together in one blog post. Life has been so busy I feel like. I had a birthday, Caden was blessed, Darrin had a birthday, and I finally have "after" pictures to post with "before" pictures of our yard that we've been working so hard on.

I'll start with my birthday. It was on a Sunday, which also happens to be the Sunday we decided to have Caden blessed, September 7th. It was so special to share my birthday with Caden and family who came from near and far to share the occasion with us. To celebrate my birthday I had two seperate birthday breakfast dates with my two best friends, my parents took me to dinner and shopping, and Darrin surprised me with a dinner date to "THE ROOF"! That was so special to be able to have such a fancy dinner date with my hubs. It was by far the fanciest dinner date we've had and we both agreed if you're going to spend a lot of money on dinner, that was the place to do it. The atmosphere was amazing and the view was obviously unbeatable. On the actual day of my birthday I was spoiled and felt so loved. I woke up to gifts on the couch from Darrin and the boys including a lamp that I've wanted all set up looking amazing in the living room. Darrin got me the lamp, sewing scissors, a remote for my SLR, a phone cover, some clothes (I picked out myself :)), the date to The Roof, and BEST of all, the sweetest coupons EVER which included: 3 massages, 3 do the dishes, 3 dirty diaper changes, 3 vacuuming, 3 put the kids to bed, a home cooked meal, and hanging a mirror and shelf I've been wanting hung. Are you kidding me?!? He's the BEST! I cried I loved it so much and you better believe I've been using those coupons and savoring each one :).


Caden's blessing was beautiful. It was so special and wonderful to have most of our family here for it. We missed those who weren't able to make it. Here's some pictures from his big day:


Darrin's birthday was fun. It was his BIG 30! So I knew I had to do something out of the ordinary. So I decided to do a surprise birthday party for him with his family since I knew that he would prefer it that way. I told him that I had a special birthday date planned and that my parents were going to babysit. So the day of (2 days before his birthday), we went to drop the kids off for my parents to babysit, when SURPRISE, his family was there to surprise him. I had gone earlier that day and set up dinner and decorations. He kind of ruined things since he decided to work from home that day and knew I was over at my parents "hanging out and helping my mom clean for a get together they were going to have the next day". If he hadn't worked from home it would have been perfect. Another little give away is that Parker had told him that he was going to get to wear a party hat at Grandma's when he was getting babysat...BUT it was still a surprise for the most part. He was just a bit suspicious that something was going on.

We had a dinner of some of his favorite foods and then we split into three teams and were off to the PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT that I put together. Here it is for any who are interested in using some of them for a scavenger hunt of their own:

1. Go to the nearest Harbor Freight and get as much free crap as you can for Darrin with the coupons provided (each person on the team can get one free thing (including kids :))) 5 points per item you get for Darrin
2. Make a chalk outline around one team member's body (like in a crime scene), then take a picture of just the outline, with at least 2 team members looking sadly down at it. 5 points
3. Video at least one team member doing 30 jumping jacks. 5 points
4. Go to a near by 7-11 and get a slurpee but not until you have tate tested every flavor and taken a video :) 10 points
5. Take a picture of 2 or more team members playing on a playground. Plus 2 bonus points if one team member is hanging upside down from something. 10 points. Plus 2 bonus if someone is upside down
6. At a thrift store pick out an outfit that you think Darrin would wear and model it. 5 points
7. Make a "Happy 30th Birthday Darrin!" sign and take a picture with all team members and the sign. 10 points
8. At a thrift store pick out an outfit that you think Darrin would NOT wear and model it 5 points
9. Ask someone (not on your team) to sing "Happy Birthday" and video it 15 points
10. A team-member break dancing in the middle of a store (any store) 10 points
11. Video of someone on the team singing (or saying the words) to a famous song from a famous movie 10 points
12. Find a Geocache and take a picture with it 15 points
13. Get a guy on the team to try on a dress at a thrift store 10 points
14. Go through a fast food drive through WALKING and order something from the dollar menu 10 points
15. Video offering to pump someone else's gas for them at the gas station 10 points. 5 bous points if you actually pump their gas
16. Buy $0.50 of gas and take a picture of the total-extra points for whichever teams gets closest to $0.50 10 points. 5 points. 5 bonus points to whichever team gets closest to $0.50
17. Vido Ding-dong ditching someone's house 10 points
18. Something Darrin would love to get for his birthday 5 points
19. Something Darrin would hate to get for his birthday 5 points
20. Find something the color of Darrin's eyes 5 points
21. Something Darrin already has 5 points
22. Something Darrin does not own 5 points
23. An item that starts with the letter "D" 5 points
24. The cheapest thing you can find (price must be in picture)-bonus point to the team with the cheapest item 5 points. 5 bonus points to the team with cheapest item
25. The most expensive item you can find (price must be in picture)-bonus point to the team wiht the most expensive item 5 points. 5 bonus points to the team with the most pricey item
26. Try on the tackiest outfit you can find-bonus points to the team with THE tackiest outfit 10 points. Bonus 5 points to the team with tackiest outfit
27. The heaviest item you can find 5 points
28. 3 different kids of m&m's 5 points
29.Video singing "Happy Birthday Dear Darrin..." with the whole team singing. 5 points
30.Video singing "Happy Birthday Dear Darrin..." in a different language 10 points
Total possible points: 267

At the set time for the hunt to be over, we met at our place to look at everyone's photos on our TV through Chromecast and have Darrin's favorite dessert. It was a ton of fun and our team won :)! He also got some shooting targets, 2 pairs of shoes, 3D glasses for our projector, a new BluRay player and some trip treats for his business trip that he left on the next day.




And as for our yard, I can't really remember if I've talked much about it on my blog yet. But when we moved in we knew that the lawn was terrible. We never wanted a big yard (half acre/12,000 square feet of lawn). But we fell in love with the house and decided we could deal with the yard and pay for someone else to maintain it if need be. This last year we tried our best to salvage the lawn that was here. We hired a company to fertilize, mow etc to do their best to bring our lawn to the best it could be. Long story short-it was still terrible! So, we decided this year would be the year to re-do our lawn. And while we were at it we decided to put in a basketball court to take out some of the lawn area and we knew we wanted one anyway. We hired someone to remove the old lawn and someone else to re-seed etc. Well, we started in April and the guy who we hired to remove the old lawn bailed on us (that's a long story short!) and we couldn't find someone anywhere near affordable to finish the job the first guy started. So, we decided we'd better start removing the lawn ourselves. The whole thing was a WAAAAYY bigger project than we imagined and it was SO MUCH FLIPPING WORK!!!! I was pregnant and hauling HEAVY loads of grass into the truck and trailer and off to the dump and unloading at the dump since Darrin was working during the dumps hours. We had to get it done and get it done fast before weeds were everywhere. We had SAINTS helping us along the way (THE BIGGEST HELP BEING MY MOM-THANK YOU MOM-YOU WERE AMAZING, INCREDIBE AND STRONG!), our next door neighbor helped a ton, the elders quarum came twice to help and both Darrin's and my family helped a ton. It took a TON of sweat, sore muscles and tears. Well, we finally got the lawn removed, and then it was time to do some sprinkler work which Darrin and I did most of ourselves. Again, a huge project. Then we hired a guy to come and till the whole yard to prep for seeding. Well, he didn't do his job right so then again, we were fixing his mistakes for many a hours. Then came the time for seeding. Finally, someone who did their job right. It was now time to wait. And wait, and WATER, WATER, WATER, and WAIT. We were really worried since it took WAY longer to come in then the guy told us and the old type of grass was growing back in despite killing it with grass killer and digging it up. BUT its FINALLY looking great and we're excited to see how much better it even looks next year as we'll be able to get all the weeds gone and it'll fill in some spots that are sparse. We also LOVE the basketball court/hoop. So, that's were our time and money went this summer. Here's some pictures:

BEFORE:



DURING/The removal process:



Beginning stages of growth:


Growing in with lots of weeds and old grass-thinking "we just waisted a ton of money, it's hopeless-even after all our HARD work!":


What it looks like now. Still not perfect but we're happy and know it'll grow in even better next year and we'll be able to get rid of all the weeds:

A week has gone by

When I was at the hospital they recommended I get the whooping cough/tetnis shot. I got it right after I had Spencer and thought it was good for 10 years but the nurse said that they recommend it for every new mother that they get another one after a new baby. So I said yes. Friday night and all day Saturday I was feeling so awful from it. My arm they gave me the shot in was so sore, my body ached all over, I felt chills and felt like I was coming with something nasty. Maybe I had a worse reaction that most, but for them to give that to me with a one day old baby seems not fair.

Friday night (first night home with Caden) was really rough. Every single time I put him down he'd cry. He would not sleep and did not fall asleep until 3am. For reals-I couldn't believe it-aren't newborns supposed to sleep a lot? Why wasn't he sleeping? I think it was a combination of nights/days mixed up, wanting to feel safe and secure while being held and gas. After he finally got to sleep he was waking up every hour or so and I'd feed him because he was only eating for about 3 minutes before he was un-wakeable. Then the older boys woke up at 7 like normal and it was tough to help them out while being so sore and tired.

Saturday was a rough day. I will admit I had a breakdown. It seemed like Parker and Spencer were completely ganging up on Darrin and I and to everything we asked them to do or not do they'd say, "no!". Spencer had some accidents and my milk was coming in. I was feeling so down and doubtful if I could do this Mom of 3 thing.

Sunday was the most painful day with my milk coming in. I was so engorged and it was definately a no-hug zone kind of day. OUCH!!

Ever since Sunday has been wonderful though. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things a little better and life is good. I forget how much I LOVE having a newborn! He just smells so good, is so soft, and oh so cuddly! He doesn't talk back and is so forgiving. I love watching his smiles and expressions in his sleep, seeing his eyes open, and watching him streeeeetch :). I feel SO blessed to be a new Mommy all over again.

Another huge blessing is that Darrin has been able to work from home since Caden was born and will continue working remotely from home until next week! I have absolutely loved having him around and feel like we've really been able to take some time and bond with our new situation TOGETHER. He's such an amazing father and husband and I adore watching him interact with Caden and the other two boys. It's been so nice to be able to sleep in every once in while and take naps with Darrin around. Sleep is much appreciated here :).

We have been spoiled rotten with meals coming in, phone calls, and visits. Our ward has just been so generous. Today was our last meal that was brought. Seriously?! Who has gotten that many meals when they have a baby?! All in all we will have received 10 meals (Some of them to freeze)!!! The compassionate service leader called me after we received two meals already and said she just kept getting calls of people requesting to bring us food! It has been SO SO nice to spend the extra time spending quality time with my family rather than worrying about what to make for dinner and spending the time making it. Wow-we just feel so loved!

The boys love their baby brother SO much! They both get SO excited when his eyes open and want to hold him all the time Spencer talks about Caden constantly and says how cute he is, how he's out of my tummy now, tickles him and gives him sweet kisses. Parker is all about telling Caden about everything and anything he's doing. He wants Caden to watch him play basketball, watch him eat his dinner, watch him/listen to him read etc.

As far as how Caden is doing, he's doing really well. Sleeps A LOT. Our biggest challenge is trying to get him to eat a full "meal" since he just falls asleep. It takes a lot of effort and time on my part to tickle, change his diaper, take off clothes, stroke his face etc etc to get him awake enough and a lot of times I fail. But nights are getting better and he's just so much fun to have around!

Here's my attempt at doing my own newborn pictures. One week old!:

Welcome, Welcome!

Our sweet Caden Rian Simon made his way into the world on August 6th. I can hardly believe he's almost a week old!

As I said before, I was desperately hoping to go into labor spontaneously on my own before my induction date which was set for 40 weeks 3 days-August 6th. Well, despite my best efforts, it didn't happen. My body seems to dilate and soften plenty on it's own but as for being in full on labor, I need that extra push at the end. At my last midwife appointment I was almost dilated to a 5, 90% effaced, super soft and stretchy, and he was way way low (all according to my midwife obviously :)).

I was feeling quite anxious on Tuesday as is totally normal when you KNOW you'll be having your baby the next day. So, due to my sisters advice, I called my midwife to come up with a set game plan so I could know more of what to expect the next day. I would be induced at a new hospital with a new midwife (I've had OB's my last two pregnancies) and had some concerns. My concerns were that both of my other babies were induced and they both had rapid heart rates when they were born and I couldn't help but wonder if it was due to the pitocin or something. I also really wanted to do this non-medicated and was concerned about how much more intense it is when you're induced rather than go into labor on your own. I wanted to know what my midwife was thinking for a plan. I wanted to know how much she'd be there.

Well, she made me feel much more calm and collected. Her game plan was this (if it was ok with me): I'd go in and she'd start off by breaking my water. Then I would pump (breast pump) for 15 minutes, walk for 30, repeat. If by 2-3 hours this method wasn't effective, then we could start me on a low dose of pitocin and go from there. I felt comfortable with this. She assured me that I could do it non-medicated despite being induced if I set my mind to it. She said she'd be there to break my water and then back at her office she has a monitor where she can see all my contractions, the babies heartbeat, all my stats etc. She once I was dilated to a 6 or so she'd come check on me and go from there.

I was supposed to call into Riverton Hospital at 6:30am on Wednesday morning. Of course I couldn't sleep past 6am, so I was up and took a nice bath before I called. When I called they told me to call back in an hour. Grrr-but that's ok. I called back at 7:30am and the charge nurse explained to me that I was third on "the list" and they had a couple people come in sick the night before and hadn't got anyone in yet for inductions. So, she said IF they were able to get me in it wouldn't be for at LEAST a few hours..."don't call us-we'll call you" she said. What?!? Are you kidding me? Torture.

Darrin already took the day off work, so we went for a big breakfast at Village Inn, went walking around Ross, Hobby Lobby and Target, and then we headed to a movie. We went to see IMAX 3D "Guardians of the Galaxy". We got through all the previews and just as the movie was about to start I got a PHONE CALL!! I ran out so I could hear what she was saying and she said, "Trisha? We're READY FOR YOU to come on in!" I went running back into the theater and jumped up and down to tell Darrin it WAS FINALLY TIME!!!

We already had the car packed up, so we headed right over to the hospital (after getting our movie tickets refunded :)). We got there at 12:30pm. They checked me in, hooked me up, asked all the typical questions and my midwife got there at 1:30pm. She broke my water right away and left to go get the breast pump with the nurse. By the time they got back I had already had two really strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. I started pumping and had two more intense contractions within about 5 minutes. I called the nurse and told her I wanted to stop pumping to get up and MOVE through these contractions rather than sit down while pumping. My midwife came back in and saw that this was the real deal. No pitocin or pumping needed. She stayed with Darrin and I the whole time. She helped me to try out a few positions that helped, she helped Darrin assist me in these positions and she and Darrin together pushed on my knees and back which helped. I was trying to keep a good attitude during my "breaks" between contractions. But my "breaks" were only about 30 seconds apart and so I asked, "Did you want to check me?" She said she did and so I got on the bed and she checked me quickly in between contractions. "You're about a 6 or 7", she said, "He's so so low, I'm sure you're feeling pressure but I can't have you push just yet". So she had me lay on my side while she and Darrin did counter pressure on my knees and low back. About 10-15 minutes later she said, "LET'S PUSH THIS BABY OUT!" I could hardly believe it! Darrin mentioned to her that I wanted the mirror down so I could see and she said, "Well, there's just no time!". Sure enough, two contractions later he was in my arms.

When they placed him on me I could hardly believe it. He was HERE! My baby boy was here! He was super purple which made me a bit nervous. The baby nurse kept rubbing him and rubbing him but he wasn't pinking up. The baby nurse was black and kept making black jokes because he was so purple :). So Darrin cut the cord and they took him to the lights to rub him some more and he pinked up. His cry was so soft. While he was getting pink, I was doing my best to deliver the placenta and it was difficult and painful. I was bleeding more than normal as well so they gave my cidatec to help with the bleeding. The cramping was really bad this time around. Later that evening I was shaking and shaking with terrible cramping. They said it was due to the cidatec but that it was helping my bleeding. They gave him back to me after he was pink and I just got to hold and cuddle him. Then for the first time, I was able to nurse him right away. My other babies both had to wait at least a few hours due to their rapid heart rates so they wouldn't aspirate. He latched on right away.

Darrin and I got to spend some time with him before the visitors came which was just so mellow and enjoyable. Parker and Spencer got to meet Caden within a couple hours of him being born which was so special. They were both so cute with him and wanted to hold him. Spencer was a bit confused about it all-like where in the world did my watermelon belly go and was this really his baby brother? Parker was just estatic and so excited.

We requested to leave the next day since 2 days seemed a bit extreme since we were both healthy. It was pretty boring in the hospital to be honest. I wanted to get home and so did Darrin. We both had a clean bill of health and were good to go the next day. Yay!

Picture time!

SO excited to be at the hospital and know I'd be meeting my baby soon!


Darrin caught a picture of me breathing through one the the earlier contractions just as I started to pump:


He's here! Welcome Caden! 8oz. 21". Had a bruised face due to his fast arrival:


It's nice to meet you!



Some more:


Post to come soon about how life has been the past week :)