Genetics

How about them genetics? I said right off the bat that Jace looked like Hallie. Well, I started looking through old pictures of the girl and here is what I have come up with:

Hallie brand new:

Jace brand new:
Hallie about a week old:
Jace about a week old:

OR...I have been thinking that Jace looks more and more like Devin.

Jace newborn:
Devin newborn:

Crazy, right? The funny thing is, I don't think Hallie looks much like either of those pictures now. She changed fast and Jace seems to be too. He just is following the same pattern of looks that she did. Quite funny. I guess it is safe to say that they are siblings and though they may or may not look like Devin or me, they are both our children! :)

Let's back up a bit

We just barely finished Jace's nursery a few days before his arrival. Here is the finished product for those who want to see it. This is Hallie's old room, but we moved her downstairs and she has been a happy camper down there (as have we- she sleeps longer due to it being darker. Yay!)

Also, the Saturday before Jace's big arrival, Devin and I dedicated the day to Hallie and let her choose what she wanted to do. We knew it would be one of her last days as the only child and that her world was about to turn upside down a bit.

Her first choice? Noodles and Pizza for lunch. Sound familiar? She wanted the same thing when Che and Landon had her on Jace's birthday. What a spoiled girl. We took her to Pizza Pie Cafe and enjoyed the BYU basketball game (the last one before the huge Davies blowout) at the same time. Hallie and Devin love their Cougs! Hals was sitting on the opposite side of the table and then insisted upon moving so that she could see the TV better to watch the game. She really does love basketball. You can see they were both enthralled by the good food and good game.

Our next order of business was to watch "Toy Story 3", which we rented from the Redbox. She said she wanted to go to the movies, but there wasn't anything great showing at the dollar movies and we are too cheap to pay for the regular priced movies. She loved Toy Story 3 though (and so did we- definitely a keeper). It is really hard to get her to sit through a movie, so the fact that she did was something special.

You can see in this picture that she was cuddling with me and wanted to be held like a baby. Regressing already. Love it. She brought down her milk in her sippy cup and would not feed herself. She kept saying "Feed it to me mom! I need my bottle." She also made me feed her yogurt (the go-gurt kind from a tube). Quite funny. She definitely had a sense of what was to come.


We also allowed as many outfit changes as she wanted that day- which was about 3 0r 4. She also wanted to go without pants, as seen here. Sure, why not?
After Devin left for work, Hallie and I read nearly every book she owns and put together all her puzzles. We had a smoothie for dinner (her request) and then she was off to bed.

Hopefully we will have more "Hallie days" as she gets older and can implement this with each of our kids, too. It was a lot of fun!

Jace Christopher

We welcomed our little boy, Jace Christopher, into the world on March 1, 2011 at 4:22 pm. Warning- Long post and lots of pictures to follow!

Leading up to Jace's birth, I had a big decision to make. Remember how I wanted to go overdue in the beginning so that we could get our extra hospital policy insurance money? Well, I said ask me in 9 months how I am feeling to see if that is still true. I had had a few hard weeks at the end of the pregnancy. My body is weird I have decided. I had constant contractions from 36 weeks on and was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced at 36 weeks, then dilated to a 4 from 37 weeks on (sorry if that is TMI for some). I knew my body was getting ready for "labor", but it felt like I was in labor already for 3 weeks.

Devin and I weighed the options carefully- to induce or not to induce. My doctor was fine inducing me at 39 weeks and each day that seemed better and better. The only thing is- I felt guilty that we would miss out on the insurance money. But in the end, there are a lot of reasons I chose to be induced on the 1st (right on the 39 week mark): I dilated from a 5-10 with Hallie in about a half hour and the thought of doing that with a 20 minute drive to the hospital just did not sound appealing, my doctor was going out of town for a bit after the first and someone else would have to deliver me, I wasn't sleeping at night because of the contractions and pelvic pain, and I was just done with the constant limbo game. I couldn't concentrate on anything other than "should I pay attention to these contractions, or should I pretend nothing is happening?" It was maddening, I tell you. Also, for the induction, we could plan for childcare for Hallie instead of possibly trying to find someone in the night or whenever I went into labor. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I didn't think I would make it to the 11th anyway, so either way we would be missing out on the insurance money. So- we decided the Thursday before that I would be induced on the 1st. We called the doctor and everything was set.

39 week picture. Right before we left for the hospital.

39 week picture- when we arrived at the hospital.

JACE'S BIRTH STORY:
This may be too much information for some- but I like hearing other's birth stories and this is good for recording purposes for me, too. So here are all the gory details. Proceed at your own risk.

The doctor wanted me to come into the hospital about noon on Tuesday. His practice is in Pleasant Grove and the hospital is in Orem (I delivered at Timpanogos this time...which I LOVED. I had Hallie at American Fork and it wasn't as good of an experience). So because of the distance, he wanted me later in the day, I think hoping that I would deliver after hours so he could still see his patient load for the day. So, Devin and I arrived at noon, ready to go. Things proceeded kind of slowly at first- we had to wait to get the pitocin going because my nurse was in an emergency C-Section. I started the pit around 1 and the nurse checked me for the first time. I was at 5 cm. She told me if I wanted an epidural to get it right away since I was at a risk to go pretty fast once they got the pit going. I agreed that the epidural was a great idea and got it right away.

The epidural was the most painful part for me- I am not sure why, but I don't remember it hurting with Hallie at all, but this time I felt it for sure. It was probably because with Hallie I was feeling really painful contractions and this time I was not. Anyway- the epidural was really "dense" as my doctor put it. I couldn't feel a thing! With Hallie, I remember the unmistakable urge to PUSH when the time came. This time, not a thing.

Getting ahead of myself. The doctor came and broke my water around 2:30 and I was at 7 cm. The nurse kept saying that she thought things were going to go really fast once my water was broken because with each contraction, she could see his head pushing down really far. The doctor decided to hang around so that he wouldn't miss anything. I felt really bad when I was still at a 7 an hour later. Oh well...makes up for Hallie's birth (says Devin) when he ran in for the last push.

After being told I was at a 7 for the 3rd time, I started to get really worried that I was going to be in labor forever, after all. About five minutes after the nurse told me I was a 7, the doctor came in to check me and said I was at a 9. I told him that couldn't be because the nurse just checked and I was at a 7. He said "It's all relative!" Ha! What does that mean? Right after that, the nurse came back in and said "He says you are at a 9. I want to check myself!" So she checked me and said, "oh wow...you are complete. He is right there and you are ready to push." Wahoo.

The first few pushes, I started laughing hysterically because I couldn't feel a thing. I am not sure why I thought that was funny, but I thought it was funny and therefore, those pushes were not the most productive. The nurse kept telling me that I was not supposed to be laughing. Finally, I buckled down and gave a few hard pushes. I pushed for maybe five minutes and Jace was delivered at 4:22 pm. He came out with the cord wrapped around his neck, so even before they delivered his body, Devin cut the cord and then they pulled the rest of him out. That was scary for a few minutes as he was not breathing as well as he should have been. They cleared him out quickly though and he was fine.

He weighed in at 8 pounds even (which is totally what I was predicting) and was 20.5 inches long. I looked at him and said to Devin right away, "He looks like Hallie!" He has the same round face, big cheeks, and lack of hair. :) Today, I think he looks a little bit more like Devin, but we will see how he changes as he gets older.






This picture, above, particularly looks like Hallie to me. Look at my sidebar for a picture of her right after birth and see what I mean. I was totally surprised to see him look like her, because I expected a darker baby with dark hair for some reason. He has very blonde, peach fuzz hair. He is blonder than Hallie- she had dark hair at birth.

Che and Landon are such champs. They had Hallie the whole day- see the other post for info on that- and then came to see us at the hospital. They are so supportive of us and we love them.
They brought their baby Hudson along- who is 10 weeks old- and we had a great time comparing he and Jace. They are nearly the same size! But, Hudson was 6 weeks early, so ya know. They are going to be best buddies, we are just sure.

I stayed in the hospital over night and all day Wednesday. I was supposed to go home Thursday morning (today), but by Wednesday night I had had enough of that place and asked the doctor to discharge us. He was happy to comply. What a good doctor we have. We really do love him.
All dressed and ready to go home!
Someone else's turn in that awful bed...I am telling you, I cannot sleep for the life of me in those beds. I think I slept from 5 am to 8 am the night I was there, that's it. ROUGH!
Today has been a great day. Devin has been home with me all day and has been awesome to help with everything. He has kept Hallie entertained for the most part, which is nice. Jace is a pretty good baby so far. He sleeps a ton (what newborn doesn't!) and LOVES the binky. This is totally weird for us as Hallie never did take a binky very well. He has to be sucking on it at all times or else he gets mad. Heaven help us. I wonder what we are going to do when we have a 3 year old who still wants a binky? Just kidding- we won't let it get to that!
We gave Jace his first bath today. Hallie loved helping by dumping water on him. He didn't like it so much.
See his cute blonde peach fuzz? I think he looks more like Devin today, or at least Devin as a baby.
These are the gorgeous flowers Devin brought me in the hospital. What a sweet husband I have. I think I scared him Wednesday morning after that horrible night. I called him (he had a test so was in class) and told him that I woke up bawling. I was kind of weepy after I had Hallie and I did the same thing with Jace. I just was crying for no reason that I could pin point. The new nurse for the day came in and her student who was shadowing her- a male- and there I sat just bawling for no reason. The poor student looked rather alarmed. I told him I would make a good case study to write about. Crazy women after child birth. ha ha.
Devin and his kiddos. I am so grateful for him. He is such a great husband and father and I love how much he is involved and dotes on me and his babies.
We had a few more visitors today- Devin's sister Kirston and her kids came and brought us the most DELISH dinner. Kirston is a saint. Not only is she pregnant herself, but she has 3 kids to take care of. That didn't stop her from taking Hallie over night for us on Tuesday and then bringing us a four course meal today. She is so amazing. This is Ryder (Hallie's age) holding Jace. He was so cute with him.
Well, there you have it. Way more details than you ever wanted to know! We are grateful for our healthy baby and for the happiness he brings us already. He is so cute and such a joy to have. I love just sitting and holding him. I can sense his sweet spirit and am excited to see what his future holds.

We named Jace after my brother-in-law Chris, who you all know passed away from a brain tumor two years ago this April. Chris and Jace share a birthday as well, so that makes it extra special. Though Jace won't know Chris in this life, we hope that he emulates some of the same characteristics that Chris had that made him a courageous and incredibly strong individual.

More to come!

Hallie and Brother

Everyone I talk to asks how Hallie is adjusting to Jace. I was quite worried about this actually. I am not going to lie, I had a moment the night before Jace was born where I got kind of emotional thinking about Hallie in this process and how things were going to affect her. Going from being an only child with all the attention to having to share has got to be hard (although a good thing). We have been talking about the baby coming for a long time and she knew his name and where he was, etc. but how much can a 2 year old really understand?

Hallie got to spend Jace's delivery day with two of her favorite people in the world- My cousin Che' Lyn and her husband Landon plus their adorable Hudson. She was spoiled rotten. First she requested noodles and pizza for lunch, so they took her to pizza pie cafe, where she tested every dessert pizza (well of course). Then they took her to the park and to the store to buy new gorgeous jewelry. After watching "Finding Nemo" she wanted chicken nuggets for dinner, so they made a stop off to McDonald's on the way to the hospital. What a lucky girl, eh! Sounds like a great day to me.

Hallie met Jace at the hospital within a few hours of his birth. She was really cute with him and wanted to hold him and put his binky in his mouth. She had a few moments where she tried to shove him off her lap when she was done and we had to remind her that he is the real deal, not a dolly.

Since being home, she has had a bit of harder time, though she is still really sweet with him. She has just been more clingy and wanting more attention from Devin and I. She has been a little bit more sensitive and crying about things she normally wouldn't. However, she hasn't directed any of her hard feelings (yet) toward Jace, so that is good. She sang some songs to him, played peek-a-boo, and held him.

I think she understood more than I gave her credit for, honestly. I think she has adjusted well so far...but time will tell how she does with the long haul!

Cute sister and brother. Love Hallie's cheesy grin.

Hallie has enjoyed all the extra baby items we have around the house now. She is making good use of them with Jace and with her babies, as you can see here. She got the baby buckled in the car seat all by herself, though not quite in the right area and was hauling the carseat around the house saying "It's heavy! It's heavy!". Haha...yeah.

(Please keep in mind that Hallie changes her clothes 98 times per day, so thus the multiple outfits.)

Revisiting a Classic!

So apparently, last time I was waiting to deliver a child, I discovered this great website. I was reading old blog posts today and came across my last blog on this and thought it would be a great idea to see what Hallie would look like through the years. Never mind the tongue hanging out and the cheesy grin; those pictures seemed to work best for her. Great entertainment, I tell you.

Going backwards, here are some classic shots of her over the years:2000: What a beauty! Definitely would have been getting the guys, I'd say. Never mind that her mother never did--I was always the dork that tried too hard and didn't quite make it. Ahhh, gotta love the high school years.

1992: I think this is wishful thinking. I am pretty sure Hallie will never have this much hair, judging by the puny amount she still has in her 2+ years. Luckily, if she ever does get this much hair, I am really skilled at ratting jobs. What a cool mom I would be to help her rat her hair! (Let's actually just hope this style never comes back in...)
1984: I love the huge bow!!! I think so far, this look suits her best. And- she does love bows, so bonus there.
1974: Ahh, the feather hair. Classic. If only her eyes were open and she had a normal look on her face, she might look just like my mom, who sported this hair for a good number of years, if I do recall correctly.
1970: I always wondered what Hallie would look like black! She is gorgeous!
1962: I think this one looks pretty natural, too. The little bow is pretty cute. I will keep this hairstyle in mind for when she has enough hair. Possibly she won't be wanting me to do her hair when she is 16, but I can always assure her that I am available...

What fun. Please forgive my boring posts these days...I am definitely feeling my late pregnancy state and not energetic enough to do much.

Hallie-isms

*The other day, Hallie and I were talking about the baby and what it was going to be like when he comes. She told me that she will share her toys, bring diapers, feed him bottles, and give him his binky. Then she said, "I want to hold him!" So I explained that she can hold him once he is born. She refused to accept this as an answer and said, "no, I hold him now!" She then proceeded to grab both sides of my belly with her two little hands and "hold" the baby for a time.

*Prayers are always classic. One began this way: "Dear Heavenly Father. It's me again...."

*When Carlie was here one day, Hallie was asking about Carlie's boyfriend Beau. She got really quiet and then said, "Beau is handsome!" A little crush, maybe?

*When Devin comes home from school, she often asks him "How was school, daddy?" She seems genuinely concerned about how his day has been.

*On the same note, she has a pretend phone that she plays with sometimes. One day, she pulled out the phone and had the following conversation: "Hi Buzz! How was scouts? Pretty good??" I thought this was pretty funny because 1) Buzz is Camille's husband and its not like we talk about him all that much... 2) Buzz is in the Scouts and somehow she must have remembered that from one of my conversations with Mille.

*The other day, she saw my belly after I got out of the shower and commented on how it was wet. I then said, "yeah...is mommy's belly big?" And she responded with, "getting huge, mommy." very matter-of-factly. True. And oh so kind.

*She often chants a phrase that is something like, "hup two three four, keep it up two three four..." which totally confused me because I had no idea where she got this. (It sounds like something from the Jungle Book or something?) so one day I asked Devin about it and he told me that uses that with her sometimes when she is cleaning up toys or something similar. Mystery solved!

*One Sunday she got a cookie in church and ran around the house shouting, "Woodhouse made it!!! Woodhouse made it!" (her nursery leader's name is Sister Woodhouse). I would try to correct her and say "Sister Woodhouse made it" but she refused to use the "Sister" part. The next week, I asked Sister Woodhouse if she had in fact made the cookie and told her what Hallie had been saying. She laughed and said that she has no idea how she knows her last name as she hasn't ever told her and they don't really use them in class since most of the kids don't understand anyway. Kind of funny the things she picks up on.

* Hallie is really into knowing who bought things that she has. So she will ask at least a million times a day, "who bought the shirt, mom?" or "who bought the bathtub, mom?" etc. etc. etc. for every item imaginable. It can get a little difficult to answer this question when she asks about things like body parts.


What a cheeser. We sure love her. Her little world is about to be turned upside down. But, we can't wait for another one to bring us just as much joy and laughter as she does.

Quick Cap

I know you all think we fell off the face of the earth, but in reality, our internet has been out for 3 weeks. Darn the internet company who told us that it was fixed continually, but yet, it was not. Finally, we are back in business. So in order to spare you all the details of our lives for the past month, here is a quick recap of the highlights:

Jazz Game: We hit a Jazz game with Jennifer and Steve a few weekends ago. They were kind enough to bring us along on what was supposed to be Steve's Christmas present. We went to Cheesecake Factory first for dinner, which we love, and then headed to the game. It was the first game with the new coach, so we thought it would be pretty exciting. Well, the Jazz were kinda lazy and didn't do so hot in the second half, but it was still fun. Swimming with Grandma and Poppy: Hallie got to go swimming with Grandma and Poppy and all of Dave's kids and their kids one Friday night. She loves swimming and Devin and I were glad that Grandma was willing to swim with her so that we didn't have to get in. Yeah, me in a swimsuit at this point? Not going to happen.

BYU Game: That same weekend, we got to go to a BYU game with my dad and Sharon. What fun. Hallie loved Cosmo. She kept asking where he was when she couldn't see him, until my dad told her that he was gone to the bathroom (in order to get her to stop asking, you know...) Then, after the game, we went to the bathroom and she stuck her head under a few stalls, yelling, "Cosmo! Are you in there?!" before I got a hold of her to stop that sort of behavior. Embarrassing, but kind of funny.
Pregnancy: Yeah, that hasn't changed. Still pregnant. This is 36 weeks, though I am 38 now. Not alot to say on this topic....other than I AM READY TO BE DONE!!!!
Girly Girl: Hallie has taken to entertaining herself in various ways when she is supposed to be going to bed. One day, I went in to get her and she had changed entirely out of her pajamas, into an outfit of her choice, had a bow in her hair, was wearing a tutu, and had a purse and a bag on her arm. Yeah, she slept the whole night that way, I am pretty sure. Awesome.
Boots: In addition, Hallie has an obsession with her snow boots. I always swore I would not be one of those parents whose child wears snow boots in the summer. We might just be those people, though. However, so far, we have not left the house wearing them, thank you very much. This is another night, when she fell asleep wearing her beloved boots.
Again, the boots. Must we? Yes, we must. And yes, our two year old loves to play the game "angry birds." Don't we all?
Allllllrighty, that's it for now. Bear with me and I will try to update more often. Particularly when our life gets more exciting....like when we have a baby.

First Article of Faith

This is just too funny not to share. Hallie has been learning the First Article of Faith. Usually she just repeats each word after me, but tonight she wanted to try it on her own. She did pretty good, for being 2! Love this girl, she makes us smile!