Slowly but Surely...

I think I'm getting the hang of this 2 kids business. Kind of. We have a new normal here at our house, but it's a great normal and I'm loving it. Declan is already 2 1/2 months old! When did that happen?! I'm scratching my head trying to figure it all out. Time is going by so fast, I just know graduation is going to be here before we know it and then we'll officially be in the real world. With a job, (hopefully) and a bigger living space (maybe) and a yard? (perhaps). Regardless, we'll be done with school.

DONE.

FOREVER.

HALLELUJAH.

We're excited.

But anyway, back to the kids. Claire is thoroughly enjoying her role as big sister and helps me with Declan as much as possible. "Claire, can you go get the remote for the tv?" "Claire, please don't stick the bottle in his mouth, he doesn't need it right now." "Claire, don't poke your brothers eye, please." "Claire, can you get Decky's pacifier? No, don't stick it in your mouth!" All joking aside, she is a good helper and she adores "Gucky/Decky". The poor kid gets more kisses between the two of us, and he is probably sick of it, but I just can't help it. Those cheeks! They're just so kissable!

Declan is sleeping through the night now, usually going to bed around 10:00-11:00 and waking up around 6:00-7:00. I know, I am so spoiled. I feel so lucky. And I am finally getting more sleep, so I'm able to function better. My house, however, still looks like it is somewhat of a disaster zone. Laundry and a very energetic 2 year old can do that.

Declan is such a happy kid. Holy cow, he's sweet. He just smiles all the time, occasionally laughs, and every once in a while just wants to be held and makes it known to us all. He eats like a champ and at his two month check up weighed in at 12 lbs, 1 oz and was 22 3/4 inches long. I think he's gonna be bigger than Claire, though that's not hard to accomplish, as she is a little wisp of a thing. He captures the hearts of all he encounters, especially when he busts out that dimple. I will never be able to refuse that boy anything with a dimple like that! He's lost quite a bit of hair, but more is growing in and he's getting super long eyelashes. I'm only slightly jealous. Why do boys always get the long eyelashes?!

Oh, important note: We blessed Declan on March 2. It was a Saturday (it worked better for everyone than doing it in Church on Sunday) and Dallin did a beautiful job. We had quite a bit of family there and we felt so blessed that everyone came. Saturdays are busy! So it meant the world to us that everyone dropped all they had going on to be there. I borrowed a blessing outfit from my sister Tara,  and Declan looked so handsome. It was a very special day.

So, right now, that is life. We're job hunting, raising kids, finishing school, going to church, trying to fulfill our callings and loving life. Overall, life is just good.

And now, the pictures!

 

Midnight Musings From a Sleep Deprived Mother

I'm typing this all out on my phone as I sit and feed the worlds hungriest newborn. He's growing like a weed. A very cute, chunky weed.

This morning before Dallin left for school, we were talking about how we wanted to look like we did 5 years ago- when we started "talking". We both commented that that seemed so long ago, that it was almost hard to remember. I specifically said, "I can't really remember what it was like, just the two of us. It seems like we've been parents forever." Dallin wisely responded, "it was good. This is better." I whole-heartedly agree.

Even with the sleepless nights, the temper tantrums, the stretch marks and the growing pile of laundry that seems to multiply by the minute, I wouldn't trade this job for anything. I live for the moments of Claire giving me kisses and telling me she loves me, the moments when Declan is half asleep and smiles and giggles, Claire jumping off the couch yelling "to infinity and beyond!", getting lost in the deep blue eyes of Declan. Being the mother of these two children is the most difficult, rewarding job I will ever do, and I love it.

These two and Dallin are my happy ever after. They're the ones I get to spend eternity with. The ones I want to go "to infinity and beyond" with. This is my dream come true.

Declan Henry Calaway: A Birth Story

Declan Henry Calaway was born on December 30, 2012 and has proceeded to melt everyone's heart with whom he has come in contact with. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19 3/4 ins long. I say whopping, because he was 2 lbs heavier than Claire when she was born. Granted, he came 2 weeks later than she did, but still! Anyway, here is his story. Pull up a chair and get comfy, it's a little long!

I went in to my Dr. at 36.5 weeks for my strep B test and weekly check up and was fully expecting him to tell me that I was at least a little dilated and maybe a little effaced as well. Since I had delivered Claire at 37 weeks and 1 day, I just figured this little man would come the same time she did, which was totally fine with me, as my 37 week mark was after Dallin was done with classes. My Dr. didn't disappoint! I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced! I left the office that day contracting hard and feeling like this little boy would be here soon, only to have the contractions stop that evening and not resume again until about a week later.

At my 37.5 week appointment, I had my Dr. check me again and lo and behold, I was a 4 and 90% effaced. He was convinced I was going to have that baby the next day, and to tell the truth, I was pretty sure that was how it was going to be as well. He told me he wasn't even going to wish me a Merry Christmas, because he just knew he would see me in the hospital before then. Well, Christmas came and went and I was still very much pregnant. At this point, I just decided that I was going to make it to my due date, as disheartening as that was to admit to myself. I felt I was going to be pregnant forever and told Dallin as much. He just laughed and assured me that I would not. I wasn't convinced.

The day after Christmas, I went in to my 38.5 week appointment, and once again was checked. I saw a different Dr. for this appointment because my regular Dr. was on call at the hospital. He told me I was dilated to a 5 and 90% effaced and then asked if I wanted to schedule an induction. I told him yes, I very much wanted to have an induction date set up! I was so excited because I finally felt like there was a light at the end of, what had been up to this point, a very long tunnel. He said he was sure I wouldn't make it to the induction date, but I knew better. I had been told for the past 2 weeks that I was going to go into labor at any moment, and thus far, nothing had happened. So, the date was scheduled for the 30th and I went on my merry way home. A couple nights after the appointment, I started having harder contractions, and knowing how far dilated I was, I started to get nervous that I needed to get to the hospital. With Claire, my water broke at 10:30 am, I went to the hospital at 1:30 pm, was dilated to a 9, and delivered her at 4:56 pm. Yeah, it went fast. I figured it would probably be the same with this pregnancy, so at 1:00 am, I called our good friend to come stay with Claire and headed to the hospital. After being evaluated for 5 hours, I came home at 6 am with no baby and no more contractions. False alarm!

Finally, Saturday the 29th came along, my mom arrived here in Salem in anticipation of Declan's birth, and at 7:30 am on Sunday, December 30, I went to the hospital. It kind of took forever to get things going, but by 10:30, I finally had an IV in and the Dr. who would deliver me arrived. She broke my water and I started walking the halls of the birthing center. Nothing was happening. He was moving happily inside of me, but I was having NO contractions. I know I should have learned my lesson at this point and should have stopped comparing pregnancy/delivery expectations with how Claire's was, but I couldn't help it. I thought once my water broke, I would just start contracting fast and furious as I had done with her and have that baby in minutes! After walking around for about an hour and half with no progress, they asked if I wanted to start Pitocin. I said yes, and within literally 2 minutes of it hitting my blood stream, I was contracting hard.

I had been unsure if I wanted an epidural with this delivery because when I had Claire, I was in so much pain by the time I got to the hospital, that when I got the epidural, I just kept hitting the "Happy Button" and got myself so numb that I couldn't communicate from my brain to my body how to push the same way twice. I ended up pushing with her for about an hour or more. Once those contractions started with Declan though, I immediately requested the anesthesiologist to come in and get me numb. He was there within 5 minutes, and my right side numbed right up. Unfortunately, my left side was not numbing at all. My contractions at this point were basically on top of each other, because they had the Pitocin going still, so I had no down time at all and was in a ton of pain. After waiting for about 45 minutes (the anesthesiologist told me the epidural would take full effect in 30) I called him back in, and he got my left side numbed. I thought maybe I would get to rest for a few minutes after that, but my nurse checked me and I was at a 10 and fully effaced. My doctor came in, was just about to tell me to push, when another nurse came in and said that the girl in the next room, who did not have an epidural, was ready to push, so she told me to hang tight and she would be right back. She was gone maybe 10 minutes, came back in, and told me to start pushing. I pushed 3 or 4 times, it took maybe 5-10 minutes and Declan entered the world at 3:08 pm.

He wasn't breathing at first, so we had to slap him on the back a few times and suction out his mouth and nose really well. I was so dazed because of how fast everything had happened that it took me a minute to realize that my baby wasn't breathing. He finally started crying and I think I resumed my breathing at that point. Then my Dr. said they needed to check his clavicle because she had heard a pop as he was coming out and she thought it could have been his collarbone breaking. I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing again at that point, but then I saw him moving his arms up and down and I figured he was ok. We think he broke a big blood vessel in his right arm, because it was black and blue and everything else looked fine. Well, his face didn't look fine. The poor little guy came down the birth canal so fast that his face was totally black, blue and puffy. When I first looked at him, I thought, "Oh no, I have an unattractive baby." I know, that is the worst thing a mother could think, but he looked awful! (Pictures to follow)

Despite my thinking he looked awful, I fell instantly in love with him and am falling just a little more in love everyday. He is the sweetest baby in the entire world. He only cries when he is hungry or needs his diaper changed and he makes the sweetest newborn sounds. Claire loves him, but as she and I have been awfully sick the last few days, I have made her keep her distance from him. I am sure as soon as she is feeling better, and when I give her permission, she will love on him all day long. Whenever I change his diaper, she always points to it and says, "baby poopy!" Maybe this will trigger some sort of interest in potty training?? One can hope. Buying two sets of diapers sure does take a toll on the pocketbook!

I want to thank my mom for coming down here and helping for the first week of Declan's life. She has been my lifesaver. Being a new mom is hard with the little sleep you get, but add a nasty cold on top of that and it's just plain miserable. She let me sleep and held him off with a bottle on many occasions, sacrificing her own sleep so I could get some. She cooked, cleaned, played with Claire, and was just helpful with everything. Thank you for everything Mom, I love you!

And now, onto the pictures!

Obviously this is me BEFORE the Pitocin. There wasn't a whole lot of smiling going on after that. Well, until I got my epidural, then the smiling resumed. :)

Do you see how bruised his little face was?? It was so bad! He was totally black in the face while the rest of his body was fine.

Daddy holding him for the first time.

He loved his first bath, can't you tell??

When the nurse started spraying water on his head, he calmed right down. She said most babies loved it when she did that.

Declan and Grandma Henry! She's the best looking Grandma I know!

He was folding his hands so sweetly while Grandma was holding him, I just had to capture it. By the way, can you see how HUGE his hands are? He also has really big feet. I think we're gonna have a big boy!

I caught these next two while he was napping today. So peaceful!

Dallin caught this picture on his phone a couple nights ago and I am in LOVE with it. He was smiling so big in his sleep and it just melted my heart. The dimples! Oh the dimples!

Where Oh Where Have I Been??

Sorry about being MIA for the last month or so! It's been rather busy around these parts. We had an eventful Thanksgiving break, which included Dallin receiving 7 stitches in his face and lots of good food! Once we got home, a dear friend of ours passed away and we were fortunate enough to provide music for the funeral. Since then it has been decorating for Christmas, preparing for baby boy to make his arrival, last minute Christmas shopping and gift making! Most nights I fall into bed exhausted, until I get awoken by kicking, contractions, or having to make yet another trip to the bathroom. I'm feeling incredibly blessed right now as I reflect on the events of the last year, however and am so grateful for the life I have.

Dallin is 3/4 done with graduate school! Hooray! One semester left and then he graduates in May with his MBA. I couldn't be more proud. He works so hard and has been the absolute best husband any pregnant woman could ever ask for. Somehow, he still thinks I look beautiful, despite my increasing belly (and the ever increasing numbers on the scale...) he always volunteers to take Claire and run errands (usually picking up an ingredient from the store that I forgot to get at an earlier shopping trip) and he gives me foot massages. Really, what more can a girl ask for?!

Claire is keeping us busy, busy! Her vocabulary is slowly but surely getting bigger and better and her favorite words these days are "lis-lis lies" (Christmas lights) and "me miss-moss" (Merry Christmas) She loves all animals, but cats and dogs seem to be the favorite. She's a picky eater (surprise, surprise, as I was deemed failure to thrive when I was her age because of how picky I was!) but will surprise me every now and again by eating something totally out of the blue. She loves tutu's, dancing, music and singing. She is able to pick up on songs so quickly. One day she randomly started singing Jingle Bells, and Dallin and I still have no idea where she learned it. We have been listening to Christmas music for quite a while, so she must have picked it up from that, but neither of us taught it to her. She sings along to the theme songs of her favorite tv shows, Arthur and Little Einsteins and can usually be heard singing both of those songs as she falls asleep at nap or bedtime. She runs everywhere, climbs as high as we will let her and would spend all day, everyday outside if we would let her. She's stolen our hearts as well as the hearts of all her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. We think she's pretty special!

At my Dr. appointment last Thursday I was dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. We thought for sure this little man was coming that day or the next, but he has decided he really likes where he's at for the time being! I have another appointment this morning, so I will update if anything new has developed. We thought for sure this pregnancy would be just like Claire's and that he would come at 37 weeks, but I'm almost 38 and he doesn't seem any closer to coming, so who knows! I pray I don't go full term. I will be the grouchiest lady that ever lived if that happens!

All in all, we are grateful for this wonderful season and for the reminders of what is truly important. We're so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and for the health and happiness we have been so abundantly blessed with. Stay tuned for more updates, I promise I will get better at blogging again! This has been a great journaling tool for me and I want to keep it better updated, if for nothing else, than to have my kids look back and see what happened in our lives! And now, the pictures!

This girl LOVES her rain boots!

On the way home from church one Sunday

Anything can be used as a phone. Even PB&J's!

Any sticker will always end up on her cheeks.

The battle wound! A piece of hammer chipped off and flew into his cheek. It was bloody and took the doctor almost 3 hours to get it out.

The stitches! I was mistaken, there were 5, not 7.

Fall in Salem is beautiful!

This was me at 36 weeks. I'm much bigger now!

Our beautiful Christmas tree! I will be posting more pictures of our Christmas decorations in another post.

Fall

I love this time of year. There is something about the season changing, the cooler weather, all the delicious scents that are filling the air and, among other things, my birthday, that make this time of year just awesome. I've been impatiently awaiting the arrival of the cooler weather so that I wasn't sweating every time I put on my boots and sweaters, and the forecast as of late has been very obliging. Needless to say, I am in a happy mood!

There has been lots of baking and nesting going on here in the Calaway household and I have to admit, I am starting to feel like January 7 can't come soon enough. I am so excited for the arrival of baby boy and, as my chiropractor so kindly pointed out today, I've popped out quite a bit in the last week or so. {Although I really like my Chiropractor, let me just throw this out there- never tell a pregnant woman that she's gotten a lot bigger since the last time you saw her. That fragile self esteem during pregnancy gets battered and bruised pretty easily. Needless to say, I'm over it and I feel just fine about myself... most of the time! ;-) }

Anyway, this is pretty much a picture dump post, because I know that those of you who still visit are mostly family who just want to see pictures of my cute nugget and not hear about my ramblings of pregnancy, chiropractors and boot/sweater combos. So here she is, in all her sweet 2 year old glory.

She'll hate me one day for this picture, but my goodness, it sure is funny!

She'll probably kill me for this one, too. Once again though, I caught her at the best moment.

Just wearing a super saggy diaper and boots!

Daddy gives the best horsey rides around!

We got some free ride vouchers from friends that moved away from Salem and decided to use a couple of the yesterday at the carousel! She refused to take a nap, so she was a little tired during the ride.

The leaves outside our complex. I LOVE these trees!

I'll be back with another post sometime in the next week or so with a 30 week belly shot, thoughts on turning 25 {I'll be 30 weeks the week I turn 25 on the 30th of October. Confused? Yep, me too!} and other misc. things! Until then, enjoy this yummy fall weather!

The Condition of my Heart

I have a confession to make. For those of you not of my faith, this probably won't seem like a very big deal, but for those of you who are LDS, you'll understand.

 I don't read/study my scriptures very often. {gulp!}

I am so bad at making them a priority in my life. The thing about it is, I love it when I actually do take the time to sit down, open my scripture notebook, take notes, highlight verses, STUDY. It calms me, lifts my spirits and gives me insights that I know I need. I just have a hard time sitting and doing it. That is going to change though.

As I attended the General Relief Society broadcast a few weeks ago, I left with a theme running through my head. I don't know if it was the theme that all of you who attended walked away with, but it was surely what I needed to hear. The question, "What is the condition of your heart?" followed me home that evening.

I decided to take a little inventory of my heart, and found myself severely lacking in areas that were of great importance, scripture study and charity being chief among them. As I examined my life, my worries, my "necessities", I found that the bulk of my focus was on things that really weren't that important. TV shows, blogs, Facebook, Instagram, were just a few of my "frivolous" focus items. Not that those things are bad, but they were consuming the BULK of my focus, while other things such as my daughter, my husband, my spiritual well being, my home being clean, etc., were being neglected. I didn't like what I saw when I really looked at my heart. I want to like what I see and more importantly, I want my Savior to like what He sees.

Today, as I studied my scriptures, I found myself in Mosiah 15. Just a little background- Abinadi is addressing King Noah and his wicked priests on the atonement and Christ's sojourn on earth. As I neared the end of the chapter, one phrase particularly stuck out in my mind (He's referring to those who have willfully sinned and rebelled against God and have not repented. ) "... for He {Jesus Christ} cannot deny justice when it has its claim." The price has been paid for our sins, but if we are not willing to repent, or if we are willfully disobeying, Christ can do nothing for us. Justice has to be served somewhere. He has provided the mercy, and if we repent, then justice has been served. If we fail to make right our sins, however, that mercy has no claim, because justice has to be met.

As I read this, it struck a chord deep within me, because although I have been trying to make the condition of my heart more to my liking, I still fall short. I'm a natural {wo}man, you see. I am tempted to fall back into bad habits, and sometimes I succumb. I realized that I have to work so hard to not fall into those traps though, because if I am not willing to change, then mercy will not be extended to me. Now, I don't go around all day thinking of ways I can be bad or dishonest or spiteful, but I do make choices that can either help or hinder me on this mortal journey. I make the choice everyday as to whether or not I can have the Lord's justice or mercy in my life. I much prefer the mercy.

The beauty in all of this is that there is mercy. Even though we make mistakes and try so very hard to be better, we still fall short. But we have the wonderful, beautiful, infinite power of the atonement in our lives, and that makes all the difference. I am so grateful that, despite my imperfections, I can be made perfect in Christ; and with his help, I can improve the condition of my heart. So that is my mission for the present moment. Improve myself and my heart and take full advantage of the mercy that has so lovingly been extended to me.

I made up a little print that all of you are welcome to use, if you so desire. It's simple and plain, but it poses a poignant question. This is my own work, so please do not redistribute or sell it. For Personal Use only.

{Print is 8x10}

Rocking Chair Re-Do!

I love creating. I love having the ability to see something and know that it has potential to be anything I want it to be. There is something so satisfying in making what was once deemed "ok" into something fabulous! My mom and dad have had this little old rocking chair sitting in their garage for years and years and I decided that I wanted to give it a makeover and a new home. (I, of course, asked if I could take it, just in case you are thinking I ran off with it smuggled in the back of our truck.)

This rocking chair has history, too, which just makes it even more cool. This was my Grandpa Henry's chair when he was a little boy. 

That's my Grandpa and Grandma Henry. Wasn't he so handsome? I never had the opportunity to meet him, as he passed away about 3 1/2 years before I was born.

So here is the much anticipated "before" picture of the rocking chair.

 As I pulled off all the fabric, batting, padding and what have you, I found a penny, a bright light {raise your hand if you ever played with a bright light as a kid! *raises hand*} and other miscellaneous junk that I promptly threw in the trash. I did hold on to that bright light for a while though, just to savor all the good memories it held. I am sure I was the kid the stuck it in there. 

And now, the "during" picture. When all the junk is ripped out and you are left with a bare-bones structure. At this point I started thinking, "wait, I have never re-upholstered anything in my life. What if I can't get this put back together?? What was I THINKING?!" And then I promptly took it outside and spray painted it to death with that beautiful Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint (satin finish, if you're curious). It is my favorite off-white spray paint. If you go buy it and use it on your next project, you will not be disappointed. Seriously. It's amazing. And it has this 2x coverage feature that really makes it unnecessary to use a primer, if you don't want to. (I did use a primer with this project, but I have used the paint before and not done a primer layer and it was totally fine!)

After this, I looked at the fabric I had bought (in haste... gulp!) at Joann's a few months ago and realized, it just wasn't doing anything for me. I showed it to Dallin (who had been with me when I picked it out) and he said, "why did we buy that again?" Yeah. My thoughts exactly. It was nice. But that's all. I wanted something AWESOME that I loved! Not just nice. So, I went to the Joann website and could not find anything I loved that was less than $39.99/yard and I was not about to pay that much money for fabric. So, I then turned to my wonderful friend, Google, and stumbled onto this website. Behold, Warehouse Fabrics Inc. This place ROCKS MY UPHOLSTERY FABRIC WORLD. There were so many fabrics to choose from, I about had a heart attack. And all the fabrics I loved were only $7.99/yard!! {Note: not all their fabric is that cheap, it just so happened that all the ones I loved were that cheap.} I really debated between this, this and this, but ended up loving the red (it always comes back to red with me. I am so my mother's daughter it is uncanny.) Ok, and if I am being honest, this one and this one were totally in the running. I just really love owls.

So, here she is in all her finished glory!

 

We're still trying to decide if we want to add the arms back on or just leave it as is. I kind of want the arms on. Aesthetically,  it just looks better in my mind. But I think it is still pretty darn cute without. Please don't look too closely at the upholstery job I did. While it is just fine for me, it is by no means professional looking! There are a couple of puckers here and there and things aren't totally symmetrical, but it was for Claire and she loves it and it looks cute with the rest of the decor in the living room, so I would say... SUCCESS! It wasn't terribly difficult, and now that I have done it once, I will have more confidence to do something like this again! Thanks Mom and Dad for the rocker, she will be very much loved in the coming years. :)

Linking up here!