Happy Birthday London!

So, here's the story of our little lady London's birthday. There are a whole lot of pics below and I wanted to add some sweet video clips that would have detailed everything out, but blogger was having a hard time with the videos, so I'll go with what I got. Our tale starts out Wednesday night. Becki didn't sleep much that night and she started having some serious contraction action. I was up early studying for my last final of this semester later that day when Becki told me to take Kingston to our neighbor's (Thanks Heather!) because she was on her way in to get checked out. I was instructed to go about my day as planned until further notice. So I went to work then to school and took my 3rd final in 3 days. Meanwhile, Becki's contractions progressed and it was concluded that today was the day of deliverance. Here is my beautiful bride below waiting so patiently in triage all day until the Dr.'s (and me) were ready for the C-section. I got to the Chandler Regional Medical Center around 3:20. By 5:00 we were all ready to go into the O.R. to have ourselves a baby. I'm not gonna lie, I really enjoyed wearing the scrubs and the hair net. Maybe a career as a lunch lady would've been a better choice for me.

Becki's sister Carli kept Becki company that morning as she waited for surgery.

All right it's go time! I think they call that a hitchhiker's thumb. I know...pretty sweet.

Becki was so excited to be having London. Here she is in the O.R. all drugged up and getting sliced open but just smiling away! I must say, I'm all for medical advancements that make our lives easier. With Kingston I didn't even look so this time I wanted to. If you know me, then you know stories about me fainting as I pulled a splinter out of my pinkie when I was like 9, passing out when I was 12 getting my blood pressure taken, fainting 3 times getting my shots for my mission, and again passing out on a first date just from her telling me a gruesome story. Well, I didn't pass out as I watched the Dr.'s work away or as I smelled the cauterizing of...well...my wife, but I did get very naucious and "green" as the nurses told me. They ended up wheeling me out in a wheel chair right after London came out. I'm just glad I didn't faint and got to experience the birth. I wanted to post some of the bloody pics to show why I got sick, but I decided they're too gross for the general public, so you'll have to take my word for it.

Here's my baby girl London! She yelped for just a minute, but is so calm and content. Is it just me, or isn't she a good looking baby? I mean, Kingston was all weird looking and squished and had a really odd shaped head. But London was hardly nicked up at all. That's my girl!

After I recovered I got to hold my baby for the first time. Man, what a moment. It's so surreal to hold your own baby. Cool feeling. Very cool.

She weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces (just 3 oz bigger than King) and was 20 inches long (1 inch longer).

Before her bath:

And after: I'm telling you, she's such a good looking baby! Like not even a scratch on her.

After she got all weighed, measured and bathed, she got to go back and see Mommy. Becki was all stitched up and was feeling naucious from all the meds (she puked a few times) but was so excited to get to see her precious baby doll.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit that night to meet their new beautiful granddaughter. They are taking care of Kingston for now which is a huge help. I think London has already stolen her Grandma's heart.

One of Becki's best friends Rennai was there from about 5pm on. She brought Becki and London amazing flowers and brought me some Chipotle for dinner. Thank you soooo much Rennai for everything.

London was pretty tuckered out from the whole ordeal and didn't seem to want to party too much for her birthday. She preferred to just sleep. Becki made her this pink beanie. Her first little outfit. I'll say it with you, "Ahhh."

We are so glad that everything went so great. The timing was just perfect. Becki was so ready to have her and I just got done with finals. A few other little miracles happened along the way. We feel so blessed to have her and Becki healthy and strong.

Mamma and little lady London. Her middle name is Ily which stands for I Love You. Becki and I always say it to each other when we text each other and it was a name Becki thought of years ago. I've always liked it and like that it's different and unique and has significant meaning to us. I think we'll be saying it a lot to our little girl as well.

Again, happy Birthday London!

Lazy Boy

Camera Phone

I was going though the pics on my phone and found some funny ones from the last few months. Yay for having a camera phone handy when you don't have a camera.

Here is Kingston modeling one of London's dresses for us. If she looks anything like KB she will be such a pretty girl. Yes, Bret was 100% against this activity.
Mommy wasn't quick enough getting KB down for his nap so he fell asleep mid playtime in the the middle of the living room. Haha.
Kingston drinking his own yoohoo at 11 months. Gotta love the weird chocolate drink made from earths mystery chemicals.
The toy box is always more entertaining then the toys in it.
Kingston learned to color in nursery and now it's one of his favorite things to do.
Using my tummy as a recliner...
Using my tummy as a sketch pad.
Kingston's chillax chair for his videos.

Twin Mattress

I was wondering if anyone has a twin mattress they aren't using that we could barrow while my mom is in town. We don't have an extra bed or anything and our couch is too small to sleep on for more than 1 night. Anyways, Get in touch with me if you have one we could put in Kingston's room for a week or two and then of course we will give it right back :)

Thanks!

Vote 4 Kenzie

Kingston's little friend Kenzie is a finalist in a baby contest. Take a quick second to vote for her because she is the sweetest little cutie ever and deserves to win. All you have to do is go to this BLOG and vote Makenzie in the 0-2 years group. Thanks a bunch!!!!!

ps. don't forget to tell your friends to vote too!

My big sis Elisha and her husband Eric went out of town for a few days and asked if I would mind watching their kids. I excitedly accepted and Kingston and I had a fun little visit while they were away. The kids were in school the first few days but we still had some fun. Mal gave me a pedi while we watched Kylar, Keaton and Kingston take a bath.

Always happy in the tub :)
Friday night I brought the kids out to Mesa (except Brayden who went to Joe's). Bret's awesome company Infusion Soft was hosting their company party and it was totally set up for kids entertainment. They had SOOOO much food and treats and fun bouncy thingies.
Kingston somehow managed to find this football in someones cube and carried it around as long as we let him.
They had fun prizes...
face painting...
and character drawings. Hooray!
As you can see it wore Kb out but it was such a blast. Thanks Infusion Soft
People say Kingston looks like Keaton, What do you think?

All the Perks (continued)

... here they are crashed out in my living room after making it through 5 min. of space chimps.
Since their parents decided to stay another day in Las Vegas we took our own little mini vacation to the Renaissance Fair.
The girls were so excited to see the fairy first thing.
Keaton did the maze and got a little coin at the end.
then the girls took a ride on the elephants... (I didn't get a good pic though :(
The Wildman show was our favorite.
Kingston was riveted by their mudcapade.
Actually I think the tree man thingy fascinated him the most.
..and of course KB had to pet the dog. He sat in the audience saying dog in SL the whole time till he could finally go up to him after the show. lol
Lets see, there was lots of food and other shows and walking and other stuff we did there but I am too tired to type it all out. But we had a blast.

We stopped to get stuff to make our own chocolate covered bananas to eat and played some wii. Then surprisingly I had enough energy to play in the back with Bret and the kids. We played some football keep away game that Bret made up (lots of running). I figured any rigorous activity is welcome at this stage if it will encourage labor.
Kingston gets so excited to be outdoors especially when their is a ball to play with. He falls a lot when he is excited and it's really funny. I'm shocked he was still so happy and energized at this point in the day after skipping 2 naps.
I had so much fun hanging out with the kids and I am glad my sister let me watch them. I am lucky to have lots of awesome nephews and nieces who play with kingston and help me out. It's pretty much the greatest.

Yes I Dare

Sometimes I feel like blogging about thoughts or inspirations but then I decide not to because I know not everyone is religious or wants to hear about the things I think about and frankly I am sorta afraid of putting my feelings out there. On the other hand, some of the materials I have been into lately have given me the courage to post anyways. After all, you don't have to read it or agree with me. I've also made a resolution to do more things that are uplifting to others and I'm hoping this counts.

This new found strength began when I started reading Broken Things to Mend by Jeffery R. Holland. There are lots of things I would like to share from his book but this post is dedicated especially to some of the things John Bytheway talks about on the John Bytheway Collection I got for Christmas. One of the talks is titled Turn Off the TV and Get a Life Already. Dare I even go into this talk knowing that I prob have the TV on more than most people do since I am a stay at home mom. Most of the time I just like the background noise while I am working but shameful to say it's usually always on or the radio. His whole talk is one simple truth after another but I will try not to go too far into detail in case you want to hear for yourself. He offers lots of statistics that are astounding but not surprising when I truly think about it. One is that American's watch an average of over 1600 hours of TV a YEAR. This makes me sick to my stomach to think about. Holy Shmolly! He suggests thinking about all the things you could do in 1600 hours. That's 66 days people. Over 2 months! Again I am sick to my stomach when I think of what I could accomplish in 2 months. That's 66 days to spend more time with your kids, to learn to play an instrument, to read more books, to explore the out doors, to help out a neighbor, and so on. John repeats multiple times "Why would you want to sit around watching other people fulfill their own dreams on TV when you COULD be out completing your own dreams. He once decided to cut out his TV watching and wrote his first book in 4 months. Crazy!!! So I thought If I only watch 1 hour of TV a day that's still 15 days a year. 15 days seems like too much TV still but it certainly is a realistic goal. Biggest Loser would be the only show I would really miss anyways and it's only 2 hours a week so I am ok with making that commitment to myself. John talks about all the things that you accomplish watching TV which of course is NOTHING. Actually he says it's MORE than nothing because you actually lose your intellect by watching TV. I won't go into all the statistics and test results they have researched on time spent watching TV because it's just depressing. I will say however that by turning on the TV you are electing to have any of the messages during that program to be permanently permitted into your mind. I feel so guilty when I think of all the shows I watch that have sexual, violent and explicit messages in them. Pretty much every show has something questionable woven in with all the drama and glam of Hollywood and sad to say it's become acceptable and the norm.

Hardly anything on TV is educational, uplifting or motivating these days and there for by watching them I am fulfilling the cause of Satan. What? I am submitting to Satan's plan for me? Yuck! John sites this awesome quote in another talk of his titled No Brainers. I forget who the quote is by but it went something like this "Good and Evil are like two wolves tearing and gnashing at each other inside me. When asked which wolf is winning he states the one I feed the the most." Double Yikes right? He sited this quote when talking about the problems with pornography addictions. He talked about Ted Bundy's last interview the day before he was executed and how he said over the LONG years he spent in prison the one he had in common with his fellow criminal inmates (rapist, murderers, etc) was their involvement with pornographic material. So John asks "Do you really want to be involved with the same trash as the people like Ted Bundy?" Idealy it would be great if you never started any addictive behavior. If you don't drink one beer you can't drink two. But of course part of the problem with any addiction is if you do it once it's hard not to do it again. Which is why I love the quote about the wolves because even though addictions may be hard to over come they DO become easier the more you feed your spirit with wholesome materials like the scriptures and other uplifting and encouraging material. I may not have any serious addictions like drinking or what not but other habits are also difficult to break, like sarcasm, having a bad attitude or watching TV. I hate the feeling I get after I've spent too much time watching TV or doing other activities that have no reward whatsoever. I feel guilty for not spending enough time doing things that are super great and make me happy like reading awesome books and spending time with my family. I've never felt guilty or unhappy after teaching Kingston or reading the scriptures with Bret and yet those are things I tend to drag my feet on. Watching TV may seem easy but really, is it easy to to break the habit? Is it easy to deal with the negative thoughts and images that replay over in your mind at any time? Pushing it even firther is it easy to repent for the sins or depression you run into after having your spirit weakened from being desensitized by the things you watch and listen to? I submit that it is NOT! (LOL)

I am 100% NOT telling anyone what to do nor am I trying to give anyone advice or a guilt trip on what they should and shouldn't watch. I merely wanted to relate my personal experience this last month as I slowly started changing the little things in my life and the HUGE impact they have made. Just from reading/listening to those books and talks I have felt a change in me to be kinder to my husband and to be more sensitive to the spirit. I've felt less like watching crude TV or listening to inappropriate music. I can't wait to start my new goal to limit my time spent watching TV and I welcome the positive changes I know will take place in me and my home. So yah, those are my thoughts :)

Baby Shower

My friends Shye and Trina from my ward threw me a sweet baby shower for London. It was so thoughtful of them to plan one for me. Shye likes to go all out and spoil me sometimes which makes me one lucky girl.
This was the delicious spread of snacks and dessertsShye put together that I stuffed my face with.
Kingston stuffed his face too...
We had a big crowd of guest come and go and Trina put together some super cute games that had us all thinking. My favorite was the candy bar game... Can you guess why? lol
And of course London's wardrobe doubled in size from all the thoughtful gifts! She got lots of cute stuff I can't wait for her to see.
I just want to Thank Shye and Trina again for all their efforts and kindness and everyone else for coming and their adorable gifts and thoughts. I truly am blessed to have so many great people in my life. London will have lots of awesome people to meet when she is born :)

50% OFF

I just posted pictures and a list of all the Whippy stuff I have left and it will ALL be 50% off while supplies last. There isn't much left so Check it out!

Return of the Terror

Kingston is Home! (Which is why I haven't had time to post, lol) I couldn't wait to hang out with my guy so we took him to the park by our house. Kingston mostly just wanted to dig his fingers into the sand but he also liked the swing and the sea horse.

Notice how Bret and KB are making the same face. Haha
Happy Boy!
He always points and says what he is looking at like dog, car, bike etc. Lots of those at the park so lots of pointing.
I was worried he would forget how to sleep in his big boy bed while he was gone. His first nap home he got out of bed, pulled out all his toys and then got back in bed and took his nap. I know, I am soooo lucky!

Pea Pod

Kasha brought Jack over to visit last week and I got to hold him! He is so ity bity, I just love him! I tried to take him off her hands for a while but she wasn't interested. We put him in one of London's Pea Pods and had to take a picture. These little snuggly sacques are the perfect swaddleing solution for infants and are REALLY cute. My sister is selling them for $25 and you can get them in whatever color you like. You can even do a matching beanie for $5 more! Kasha already ordered one for 'lil Jack and I ordered a bunch! Let me know if you might like to order one for your little sweet pea.
Thanks Kasha for sharing Jack with me! I need him.

Small guy doing big things...

Kingston is my growing little boy, he doesn't grow so much in size but he is already onto to big boy things. We are so lucky that Kingston has been all about moving on and growing up. We're hoping it will make things easier when London arrives. Once he starts something new he doesn't look back. When we took away his bottle he never missed it for a minute. I was worried he was going to be too attached to it but he could care less. We also took away his crib and got him a toddler bed. I thought I was going to have to go through weeks of all nighters putting him back in bed and cleaning up what ever trouble he made behind closed doors. He was SOOO excited about the change, the first few days he played in his room with all the new open space. He climbed in and out of his bed and jump up and down on it, he was just so cute. The good news is he took to his new sleeping arrangements perfectly. He actually likes to go to bed and he almost always stays in it the first time and then when he wakes up he plays in his room by himself until he is ready to come out and then he will knock on the door for us to let him out. It's so great! We took a little video of him getting into bed but of course he didn't want to cooporate while we were recording it. Haha.

Don't Panic

If you ever get in your car and find and interesting stick on the hood and it starts to move don't panic... I already did. I didn't realize I was such a sissy until this creepy stick on my hood started mutating and doing weird things. Rennai had to keep me calm because I was too afraid to drive while it was on my hood. I mean a stick big could probably easily smash through my windshield and attack me or even open up the passenger door and climb right in to bite me or somethign. Luckily I kept my head about me and drove as fast as I could out of my parking lot until it splattered onto my window. EWE!

The Great Divorce

Any of you who have tapped into the wonderful world of C.S. Lewis know what I mean when I say "Woa!" I don't know why I waited so long to get started on his collection. The Great Divorce is the first I've read and I am hooked. I fell in love with his imagery and captivating & eloquent dialog. This book really made me rethink my views on Heaven and Hell and how we "chose" one or the other. Each character in this book depicts so many typical attitudes and lifestyle we take on ourselves and how our attitude enevitably decide where we end up. I was ashamed and humbled as I recognized a little of myself in some of the characters who just weren't interested in staying in "heaven". The book is far too complex to get into so I simply suggest you read it for your self. If anything you will be smarter from his dynamic vocabulary and the conversations that take place in the book. I truly wish adults still had such sophisticated conversations in our day. I annoy myself so much now when I find myself using my favorite words such as freaking, sucks, and holy crap. My goals from this book are to broaden my vocabulary, change which characters of the book I personafy and STOP using caddy and trashy phrases. (old habits die hard so stop me if you catch me in the act). Overall I'd like to find a way to remember the lessons in this book daily to keep myself from forgetting my true purpose in this tempory stage of God's great plan! I'm so grateful to have books, talks and music to reroute me when I sway to far. We are seriously so lucky to be in an age where these resources are so readily available to us. It should make living the gospel so much easier and yet I still feel so far from where I need to be. Urgh!