Four

Four year old boys. They love to build things, they love to imagine, and they have the most interesting questions. Questions I don't always have the answers to. I think Braden has picked up on that because if I hesitate when answering him because I'm trying to figure out what to say, he jumps in and says, "Just because, Mom?"

Braden has been planning his birthday for months and knew he wanted an orange cake. An orange dinosaur cake, to be exact. Cake decorating is on my list of skills-to-acquire-someday, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Thanks to bettycrocker.com, I was able to come up with something that at least resembled the aforementioned orange Prehistoric creature. The truly great thing about4 year-olds is that if you say it's an orange dinosaur, then it is. I guess I still have a few years left before my kids have enough life experience to second-guess me too much!

Here is the birthday boy with his slightly lumpy sugary dinosaur.

And here is the birthday boy opening some puzzles. And you also may notice that I am holding a sparkly object in the picture. This is called a "Make-a Wish" according to my children. We used to have a red one that I had as a child but it was misplaced about two years ago and Braden has been trying to figure out how to get another one since. Thankfully, I went on Amazon and typed in "sparkly glitter wand" and his birthday wish came true (and Keri got one as well to avoid the inevitable constant fights that surely would have occurred).

He also got some Kid K'Nex (from his grandparents) and some Lego blocks. He and Keri have been happily building ever since. You might think I am kidding, but they honestly spend at least an hour or two each day building the most random things out of their various wooden block/Lego/K'nex collections. They love it and I love it because there is nothing better than children happily and independently playing :)

And that concludes our birthday festivities until Tom's birthday in October. I wonder what kind of cake he wants?

A Baby Story

I always love reading and hearing other people's labor and delivery stories...but if you are not one of those people then feel free to skip this post! Or, if you'd prefer, I can give you a Readers' Digest Version (this is the version I told Braden):

[A few weeks ago] I went to the hospital because the doctor was ready to take the baby out of my tummy. His name is Grant.

But the rest of the story goes like this:

My due date was Tuesday, May 10. I had a doctor appointment that afternoon with The Crazy Doctor. I like all of the doctors at my OB practice except for one (thus the name I have given her). I'm not discriminating when I say this, but she is foreign and, for whatever reason, we just don't understand each other even though we both speak English. Anyway, the past three doctors I saw in the weeks prior to this appointment all said I was a good candidate to be induced whenever I wanted to after I reached 39 weeks. So at my 39 week appointment I got scheduled to be induced 2 days after my due date, but was seriously hoping this baby would come on his own before then.

So on my due date, The Crazy Doctor basically tells me to come back in a week. I looked at her like she was crazy (which wasn't hard because she is). I mentioned that I was scheduled to be induced in 36 hours...and she says, "Induced on THIS Thursday? Oh no, you are not induceable. You have much further to go." So she asked who had agreed to induce me and then said that if I wanted to, I could, but that it would probably take a long time and she didn't recommend it.

I looked at her again like she was crazy (because I got induced with Keri for being 9 days overdue and it took 3 hours start to finish).

So I asked if I could talk it over with the doctor inducing me and she got her on the phone. I was already nervous about getting induced because I generally prefer to just let my children come when they are ready to. But I also wanted to be able to take advantage of my family being here to help and I also didn't really want to be 9 days overdue again. The Normal Doctor reassured me that she never would have agreed to induce me if she didn't think it was a good idea and I left the doctor's office, totally perplexed.

I went to pick my dad up from the airport. I told him about my afternoon and he said, "Well, I'm here now so you can go into labor anytime you want." I told him that would be great but I wasn't getting my hopes up since both of my other kids were at least a week late. Later that night we went out to do some errands and I was getting tons of Braxton Hicks contractions (which had been going on for weeks). When we got home Tom and I decided to go for a walk because I figured why not give going into labor on my own my best shot? So we walked lots of hills and it was keeping my contractions going, but none of them were the super painful type yet. I went to bed around midnight and at 2 am I woke up and it felt like there was an electric shock in my abdomen for a few seconds. Then I started having contractions 6 minutes apart. They were painful enough that I got up and was timing them but since I seriously doubted they were going to continue I laid back in bed after an hour and fell back asleep until 5 am. This time I woke up to the kind of contractions you have to breathe through. I timed them and they were anywhere from 3-9 minutes apart. But they were definitely hurting more and more so I decided to hop in the shower and get ready just in case.

Tom woke up and by then I was really hurting but since they were so irregular I hated to make him stay home from school if this wasn't the real thing. With Braden I had 2 days of painful, irregular contractions before finally being admitted to the hospital...so I was dreading that possibility. But finally I told him to not go to school and apologized in advance if he missed it for nothing.

We kept timing them and they were 3-7 minutes apart...so I didn't even know if I should call the doctor to check when and if they wanted me to come in. But Tom told me to call. She finally called back after being paged twice and told me to come on in. I asked if she was sure since they were irregular and she said yes. I said goodbye to the kids and my dad and told them I'd probably get sent home and see them in an hour. The whole way to the hospital I continued to have contractions that were quite painful every 4 minutes or so. When we got there, I was so convinced they would send me back home that I left some of my stuff in the car.

We got to the hospital at 9 am. The triage nurse checked me in and seemed skeptical at first since I was pretty calm but after she saw one of my contractions and me breathing through it she seemed to take me seriously. She determined that I was definitely in labor and things were moving pretty quickly. I was shocked! I was so happy that A) they weren't sending me home, B) I was about to meet my little boy, and C) this meant that I am not doomed to always have extremely overdue babies! They moved me to a room after getting my IV started (after multiple tries...I seriously wanted to offer to start my own but was trying to conceal my nurse identity).

I got my epidural at about 10:15 or so and that was a welcome relief. The doctor came and broke my water after that and I quickly got to 9 cm. My contractions had still never gotten closer than 4 minutes apart so they gave me a small dose of pitocin to bring my contractions closer together. A few minutes later I was ready to push and after 7 or 8 minutes, our little baby had arrived. He cried right away and I was still in shock that he was here and it was over!

My hospital stay was a dream...I always love that part. I missed the other kids but it was so nice to just be able to sit and snuggle my new little baby and to rest. I even got to see Tom quite a bit since my dad was watching our kids and Tom didn't have much going on at school.

And now, we have been home for over two weeks! It was wonderful to have my dad here and also wonderful to have my mom come and help shortly after. It definitely helped ease the transition to three kids! But now we are on our own again and life with three little ones is busy to say the least. But I'm totally loving it.

Right now, the two older kids are at church with Tom and I am hanging out with a very cute little baby boy. I am trying to take every chance I get to snuggle him and take it all in before he grows up on me!

New Baby Boy

Grant Stephen Draper was born on Wednesday May 11 at 11:37 AM. 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 20.5 inches.

Here's some pictures! Meredith will add in all of the details in a future post. Everyone is doing great!













Home from the hospital:

What the Little People Are Up To

Braden and Keri have been keeping me busy! I feel so lucky that they have both been pretty understanding of my needing to rest or take it easy. They have been a huge help getting ready for the baby and it will be fun to finally have their little brother here since it has been a subject of daily conversation for so long now. I think we are all excited for a new baby for many different reasons:

• Keri and Braden are excited to hold him + take a field trip to the hospital + see their aunt/grandmas/ grandpa
• I am excited to hold him + have room on my lap to read stories to little people + be able to hold my snuggly toddler as much as she demands + stop living in the bathroom + did I mention hold him and smell his freshly shampooed little head?
• Tom is excited to hold him + have his wife back (the one who cooks real meals and whines less)

And the countdown is on...my due date is May 10. I think I would be absolutely shocked if this baby comes early knowing my track record, but at least we are in the final stretch.

Anyway, I am not a huge fan of posting unflattering pictures of myself, but I figure you all deserve at least one picture of me fully pregnant. So here you go, you're welcome.

Since spring was a little bit tardy this year, we have been seriously racking our brains to stay entertained here at home. After being inconsistent for the past two years, we have finally become regular story time-goers! The kids' favorite part is that they each get to pick one DVD after story time to check out. The little boy pictured here spends an exhausting amount of time selecting just the right one...

We also do our fair share of cooking. The counter is getting crowded these days and the "help" is sometimes a little bit rowdy, but they mean well. As much as it would be easier to cook solo, I know that they are learning and having fun and some of my fondest memories are of cooking with my mom...which I'm sure required some sacrifices on her part. So I've decided to just get used to having little helpers!

Other than that, we have been cleaning and organizing the house and heading to the park if the sun is shining and it is 60 degrees or warmer outside! Luckily spring seems to have arrived now.

Easter and The Big 5

Easter was just a nice, simple day this year...I probably should have mustered up the energy to go buy everything for a ham dinner or something equally delicious, but it didn't happen. So really, the extent of our celebration was just going to church and spending time together. But sometimes that makes it easier to focus on the actual reason for the holiday in the first place.

I did have a dress for Keri she hadn't worn yet and somehow we convinced Braden to wear a tie that sort of matched...well, not really but at least it isn't the red and black one he wanted (which he put on as soon as the pictures were over). He also didn't want to smile for pictures (not really because of the tie, he was just overtired). Oh well. The great thing about the end of pregnancy is that you start to just not care about certain things!

A few days after Easter, Tom and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Since my due date is less than two weeks away, we couldn't really go on a trip or anything, but some friends of ours did volunteer to watch the kids so we could go out to dinner. After we ate way too much, we went for a walk at the park and then went on the swings. It sounds simple, but it was fun to just spend some time together after a week of finals and busy kids.

It's hard to believe that it has been five whole years! It has been so much fun. We were watching our wedding DVD after we picked the kids up and were showing them us coming out of the temple and everything. It was so weird to think that in five years we've gone from newlyweds to having (almost) three kids and being near the end of dental school. Crazy! I feel so blessed for how life has turned out though. Tom is a wonderful husband and being a parent has been so fun. It's so great to share life with someone who knows you well and makes you laugh.

Superheroes Among Us

[Editor's Note: This post was actually written a few weeks ago but due to my extreme laziness and the sheer difficulty of going ALL the way downstairs to get the camera and come ALL the way back up to load pictures onto the computer, this post is coming to you now. Yes, I finally sacrificed and lugged my pregnant self downstairs to get the camera.]

Braden is one of my biggest fans and I love him for it. Whenever I make something, he exclaims, "Wow!" and always wants to test out whatever it is. It's kind of lovely actually, to have a delighted audience to show my projects to.

So one day he was busy imagining up something and told me he needed a cape. I tried recommending a towel or blanket, but it just wouldn't do. So I sort of committed to make him a cape.

He asked me every day for the next week if we could work on it now. He wanted to make sure he could watch the whole thing. I told him I didn't have any fabric that we could make a cape out of. So he asked if we should drive to Joann's and get some (smart kid...he has been to Joann's more times than he can count!) I was too tired that day to go, but realized that this was a priority in his mind!

So we went to Joann's the next day. What color should it be? I asked. Orange. And Keri chimed in too. Pink. Ok, so now I am making two superhero capes! We bought some fabric and headed home.

It took another day or so to wash and iron the material so we could cut it. I am so mean to make them wait like that! Seriously, we talked about The Cape every twenty minutes from the time we had the material until we started actually making it. But one very pregnant person can only do so much in a day, ya know?

Anyway, I let them pick what they wanted on their cape and both wanted a star. Braden's was yellow and Keri's was...yep, you guessed it. Pink. I don't know why I even try buying her clothes that are other colors!

I managed to get one or two decent pictures. And I do mean decent. Braden told me that superheroes just wear their underwear, mask, and cape (he's kind of right, those skintight bodysuits don't really provide much coverage, do they?)

The second the capes were done they were dashing around the room. I was kind of amused since I wanted to see what it is that Braden thinks that superheroes do. He kept jumping and making various threats. I told him that superheroes usually try to help people who need help by using their special abilities. So then he started running around asking, "Does anybody have a cat stuck in trees?"

He makes me laugh out loud at least once, every day. And Keri too, she just keeps running around right behind him saying "Anybody?"

Laughing

Oh dear.

That phrase keeps running through my head. Let's just say that life got a little more complicated again today.

I was cutting Tom's hair and bent down to pick up something I'd dropped and when I went to stand back up my back spasmed and I couldn't straighten up again. And so I can't really walk right now.

But the weird thing is that right after it happened, I felt more like laughing than crying. Don't get me wrong, it hurts like crazy and it definitely adds a new dimension to the whole half-blind-very-pregnant-mother-of-two-just getting-over-the-flu dynamic I'm living right now. It's just kind of funny. Life, that is.

I've been thinking amidst these different challenges about how people respond to what happens to them and how it can really shape who you are as a person. It is really easy to get caught up in our own problems and to lose sight of the bigger picture. I am guilty of this myself as some things I've dealt with have thrown me off kilter, at least at first. But I am reminded that it is our trials and how we respond to them that really mold us into the kind of people that we are to become.

One of my favorite poems is this:

My life is but a weaving,

Between my God and me.

I do not choose the colors,

He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow,

And I, in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent,

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas

And explain the reasons why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the skillful Weaver's hand,

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

-Author Unknown

Anyway, one of the biggest reasons I can laugh about this happening today is because of Tom. He honestly is so fun to be married to. He makes me laugh out loud almost every single day. Luckily I was almost done cutting his hair when I hurt my back, but he wasted no time getting me to laugh while I was hobbling around. He's been humming and singing some Mother Goose song all day about a crooked little man who lived with his crooked little family in a crooked little house. And earlier when I was crawling around the floor on all fours since it was the only way to move, he got down on my level and asked me what animal we were pretending to be.

Laughing is definitely more fun than the alternative. I laughed again tonight when Braden asked me what we are going to do tomorrow. What he meant by his question is "What fun activities do you have planned for me tomorrow?' and 'Are we going to the library or the park or to do something else exciting?" I laughed because I'm really not sure exactly what we are going to do tomorrow, other than pretend we are different farm animals all day. As I mentioned, I have been crawling around getting a close-up of my rugs and hardwood floors today (and they are disgusting), so maybe I should teach the kids to vacuum and sweep the floors?

I guess I will figure tomorrow out when it comes. In closing, here are a few quotes I like about laughter:

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on. (Bob Newhart)

Laughter is the shock absorber that eases the blows of life. (Author Unknown)

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. (Irish Proverb)