Seven months! Where does the time go?

Sorry for anyone who may actually be interested in my life... it's been busy. Hopefully I can post more later, but here's a naked gent for your viewing pleasure.

From Fort Collins to Denver!

The adventures have continued here in Colorado with Jett and Spencer. We established a routine while staying at the hotel which included: sleeping in an extra hour or two after Spenc headed off to Verizon, eating breakfast while watching the View, going on a nice walk outside or down on the treadmill if the weather was too cold. We'll play in the afternoon and I've done alot of drawing while Jett has napped.

This trip has been a nice little vacation, but we are all excited to get back home. Our time here was alot of fun though, especially the time I was able to spend with Sarah in Fort Collins. Spencer had to go back to Idaho and work in the Pocatello store Friday and Monday, so Jett and I were able to spend February 23rd through the 29th with the Tanners. We started our week together off right by going to IKEA! It was my first experience and I'll tell you, I loved every bit of it! I love little things to decorate and accent rooms, I wish I had a whole room to put together and a large budget to do it! But... I did buy a rolling pin, much needed chip clips, and a cute lil' shelf for Jett's room.


The weather was lovely while in Fort Collins, and we took the boys to the playground nearby while. A good walk always puts Jett right to sleep, especially with a few bumps to rock him.


Sarah took me to see the organic farm that she and her boys work on. She will soon be milking this cow (she's pregnant right now) and drinking its milk... ugh... I think she's especially excited about making her own butter. She's really into organic stuff and this is a great way for her to get some good produce and teach her boys how to work hard.


The boys had a good time playing in the dirt, doing what boys do best - getting dirty. I snapped this picture, snickering the view of Bennett's little plumber :)


The boys were great with Jett and loved bringing him toys and shaking them above his head. Jett has become much more vocal over the past few weeks, cooing and talking when he's talked to, smiling at you and moving all around excitedly.


We were excited when Spencer came back to us. He and Abe were able to go to a Nugget's game. They had great seats! This is them standing in front of their seats. It was a great game! Sarah and I hung out at the hotel, the boys had a blast in the pool and we played a game of Rhumecube.


We have now created a tradition with the Tanners that we go out to the places that Man vs. Food had visited when we are with them. When Spencer visited on his own, he tackled the West End Tavern's wing challenge in Boulder. Last time we indulged on Buejo's Pizza in Fort Collins. And this time we visited Jack-n-Grill, where they have a 7 lb burrito! It's bigger than Jett when he was born! He didn't finish of course... he's a little more health conscious these days, but it made for great pictures and a good story.


I discovered the Park Meadows mall this week and did some perusing of my own. Thankfully Nordstroms had a great women's lounge, so we were able to prolong our stay there :) I found cute new things for Jett and spoiled myself a little bit too.

We are excited to come back home and get back to real life. We are especially excited to meet up with family and friends with Jett and show everyone how big he has gotten and share his sweet little personality.

Adventures in Denver

Spencer, Jett and I have made our new home in a Denver Marriott hotel room for 4 weeks. We've nearly been here a full week, and so far so good. Jett and I get to hang out all day, sleep in, and go on walks - luckily Denver is one of the sunniest places in the US. It's been beautiful! Perfect light jacket/stroller weather.

We were a bit worried about traveling because Jett seemed to be coming down with a cold on top of still being fussy from his 2 month shots he got 2/10/11. We lost a little more sleep those few days, but he started feeling better just in time.

The trip here couldn't have gone much better! Security was a little hectic, cuz he was ready to nurse, but the Idaho Falls airport wasn't busy, and there were nice people who helped us. Jett slept through the whole flight in my arms and snoozed in the shuttle from the airport to hotel too. :)

The Tanner family (Spencer's sister)lives in Fort Collins, so they are so excited that we are so close for a whole month. Sarah and Abe even brought us a vehicle for the week (and most importantly, to come to visit them on the weekends). Tuesday we went to the Denver Mint! It was very educational. Coins are cool! I think I liked seeing the architectural restoration in the last few minutes of the tour best. Cool chandeliers, stone floors & pillars, and beautiful murals near the exit.

It was also Valentine's Day, and Spencer's birthday this week. So after the Mint, we waited for Spencer to get out of his training, then we made our way to Pizza Republica with the Tanners. My sweetheart gave me an awesome display of chocolate when we were in Idaho. Plus we spoiled ourselves with a brand new hp printer - so nice!

Here's our cute family at our Valentine's dinner.

I've got my happy baby back, that's for sure! He is so sweet. He still has a little bit of a runny nose, but if he's not hungry (the only time that he's ever upset) he'll smile at me even when I'm sucking his nose out with one of those suction bulbs.

This picture was taken right before we went out on a nice long walk to McDonald's (gotta have my Diet Coke). He's such a happy napper!

Here's more proof of my sweet little napper. He's been sleeping against my chest as I've been blogging. Love him!

I've also gotten on the Instagram bandwagon. I guess it's kinda like pintrest or somthing, in that you can follow people and put all kinds of pictures on there. But I like it because it offers a few quick photoshop-like tools. (Seen in the last three photos). So I just use it for that. Fun!

Getting Bigger Continued...

Highlights over the past few weeks...

• Jett was blessed 2/5/12 by his Dad, Spencer B. Ward, and was surrounded by many honorable men in the circle. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us. We have great friends and family. He was a perfect little boy all day, though he got tired in the afternoon - BIG DAY!

• We celebrated Spencer & Tae's birthdays this past week. It was fun seeing Tae and Chase, Beck is getting so big! See the cute cousins here!

• Spencer started his new job 2/6/12 at Verizon Wireless in Pocatello. Next week he flies out for a 4 week training session in Denver, CO. Jett and I are going with him! Wowza, living out of a hotel for a month is not going to be easy, but it will be better than being away from Daddy!

• Jett and I started walking and formed the Walking Moms Club. It's been nice to get out of the house more lately. Being in the mall has given me new motivation to get in a smaller sized pair of jeans too... I love window shopping!

• Jett has started sharing his smiles more willingly every day! If you are lucky, he'll give you a coo or two :)

• Jett had his first up-the-back blow-out 2/7/11. He also had his first BELCH (not to be confused with his always-loud burps) the day before.

Can you tell his cheeks are getting chubbier and chubbier??? He's in 3 month clothes now! How did that happen?!? I love it though! I dress him better than I do myself.

Getting Bigger!!!

Our little Jett is filling out and getting bigger! Can you tell? Probably not, he's still pretty tiny. He'd made it to 7 pounds 1 ounce at his 2 week appointment, which was good growth. They expect him to gain a half to a full ounce a day for the first couple of months, so he's probably very close to 8 pounds now.

He's my sweet boy! Put food in his belly and he is a happy camper! He really only cries or fusses when he's hungry (which sometimes to Mom seems like alot... especially when he's sticking to a 20 minutes on each side, every 3 hour schedule).

He hates his diaper changed... especially if it's done while he's trying to wake up. Change him while he's being happy and alert, and he's fine... but unfortunately for him, his dirty diapers come at all times of the day.

We had our 3rd bath today (it took nearly 3 weeks for his umbilical cord to fall off), he's liking them more and more! No crying at all today until I took him out of the water. :)

For family and friends: We are going to be blessing Jett on February 5th, at 10:00 am at our church building on the corner of 4th Street and Fredregill, Pocatello, ID.

I know that some might be disappointed with my picture posting... we've taken tons of pictures, but Jett has a very protective Mom and Dad (majority Dad when it comes to the internet stuff). I have no intention of making my blogs private, so the pictures will be minimal (sorry).

So, if you need to see more of this cute little blondy, please come visit us!

Best week of my life thus far...

Jett Spencer Ward
December 23, 2011
6 lbs 14 oz / 20 inches


Words can't express Spencer and my feelings over the past week. We've been SO blessed!
Jett is the light of our lives already, the reason to get up in the morning, and the reason to count our blessings at night. He's so precious.

Thanks to all the family and friends who've expressed their love and congratulations to us. We've had lots of visitors - there's no doubt that this baby is loved!

The story:

There were several factors that influenced our decision to induce a week earlier than my due date: my doctor would be here to deliver, insurance coverage, deductible met... exc. I worked my last day at Idaho Central Tuesday, December 20th. We went in that night to be induced. Our bags were packed and we were ready to have a baby the next day :) They used a pill called Cytotec, checked on me periodically throughout the night while monitoring my contractions and baby's heartbeat. The doctor came in in the morning and tried to break my water... it just wasn't meant to be yet. My cervix hadn't budged from a 1 1/2 and it was too small to break my water and further my progress. Dr Carlson gave us some options, one being that we could try again, using a different and more expensive drug, Cervadell. So, after taking a little break, spending the day with Spencer, going to walk laps in the mall, and having a spicy Panda express lunch, we went back to the hospital. It was another night on the monitors and another uncomfortable night on a pull out bed for Spencer. At 4:30 in the morning, they took out the Cervadell only to discover that there was still no progress. The doctor came in again, talked to us about what we could do. Maybe I was one of those women who just didn't dilate... we could schedule a c-section that day... we could wait and see what happens, potentially just running into the same situation and having to c-section anyway, without my doctor (who is the best by the way). We left the hospital discouraged but happy with our decision. We were going to wait and see if I progressed, and scheduled another cytotec run with Dr. Jones on Monday. We were happy with the decision, figuring we didn't want to rush into it if it just wasn't meant to be right now and we'd give it one more shot - not wanting to just give in.

So we went home...again, Spencer ran some errands, came home, and I let him know the little bit of encouraging progress I'd had while he was gone. (MP if you're interested). He called his friend Jennifer Beck and scheduled a massage for me. We went to Aberdeen, all the while having small contractions (I'd rate these ones at a 3-4 on a 1-10 scale, not super uncomfortable). The massage was lovely! Jennifer said that there are certain pressure points that masseuses can focus on to help labor progress. The rest of our day was spent visiting with family and going to bed early. That was short-lived however, as I started waking up every 10 minutes with contractions. For a couple of hours I debated whether to call labor and delivery, and it wasn't until midnight that I woke Spencer and told him I was going to call the hospital to see if we could come in and get checked out. I rated my contractions at about a 6 at this point, super uncomfortable, not quite painful at this point.

We got to the hospital just after 12:30 am. The nurse (Wendy, who was amazing through my labor) and resident doctor checked my cervix: I was dilated to a 2, 100% effaced and my cervix was no longer posterior as it had been.

The doctor broke my water around 1:00 am. (Weird feeling) I was already hooked up to an IV, and the nurse soon started me on Pitocin and a Penicillin (I was possitive for Strep B) drip.

At around 3:30 am I got an epidural. I was seriously watching the clock the entire time after having my water broke and asked the nurse and resident multiple times where the anesthesiologist was! I don't do well with pain: I threw up several times, seriously considered never having more children, and questioned why in the world I didn't just go for the c-section! I was checked at this point and was dilated to a "7 or 8".

Once the epidural kicked in, it wasn't long until I was dialated to a 9 and they started having me push with each contraction. No pressure at first - not knowing if I was even doing it right. As they got more intense and frequent, Wendy was so encouraging and said things like "good push" and "best push yet". My sweet husband was there, apprehensive and overwhelmed, but super supportive and there by my side. I had my mom and sister there as well, and I was happy they could be witnesses to Jett's birth. I think Courtney was first to exclaim "blond hair!".

Jett was born at 5:22 am, 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. Spencer cut the cord and the doctors placed him on my chest. He was white from all the vernix (which I account for his beautiful completion now). They got him washed off and made sure he was breathing normally before Spencer was able to hold him and bring him back to his mom. He was so bright eyed! Pam (Nanny) and Sarah came in at this point too and everyone gawked at how cute he was, looking around and already content in my arms :)

Highlights from the rest of our hospital stay included:

• Nursing - he latched right away and I love being the one to provide him with comfort and nourishment
  
• Aunt SueAnn's helping Spencer give Jett his first bath and watching over him while working her shift
• Family and friends visiting
• Circumcision - Thanks to Dr. Fulks, this truely was a highlight. Spencer and I are both curious and wanted to be there for the little guy in his first surgery
• Getting discharged on Christmas Eve to spend our favorite Christmas yet with a beautiful baby boy

Time to call the Doctor!

No, it's not quite "time" yet, though I hit my 37 week mark tomorrow, which is considered full term. But I am going to call my doctor first thing in the morning (4 hours from now). I've had a head cold for the past week, but now I'm 99% sure I have pink eye as well. Yuck! I've never had it before, but my little niece and nephew have it (we saw them once before we knew and before they'd been treated for it) and apparently all over town. Double Yuck!

Ug.... So looks like it's another day home from the office for me. I didn't save all my PTO for THIS! But, the last thing I would want to do is spread it to my coworkers: Samantha, who works right next to me, just hit her 38 weeks in her pregnancy and another guy has a 3 month old, that would be bad.

In any case, I can't sleep, my eyes are driving me nuts and this is my usual time I wake up to go to the bathroom anyway. Thought I'd catch up on the ol' blog. The past month FLEW BY!

I had another baby shower, this one thrown by my lovely Ward sister-in-laws. The decoration & theme was so cute! (Sorry, pictures are still not on my computer and every time I think to put them on here, it's 3 o'clock in the morning and I can't find our card reader) Thanks to everyone who made it out to support us. We are so excited to have such a supportive family to bring this little guy into!

We were very busy at work, getting ready for our 100,000 member celebration! We gave away 2 New Ford Fiestas to lucky ICCU members. The parties went off pretty flawlessly! It was alot of fun. Being busy has sure made this pregnancy go by fast too.

I had a birthday this past month too! It was a biggy... 25!!! It was a great day, I took the day off and basically spoiled myself (with help from others). My co-workers got me a gift card to my favorite nail spa, so a pedicure was a great way to start my day. Spencer purchased me a 1 hour massage a while ago and I'd been saving it for just the occasion. I scheduled a maturnity photoshoot with my good friend Alisha and had some fun pictures taken.


Thanks Lee! The day was far from over, it was a girl's night from here on out. We went and ate

sushi at Sumisu and went to the Twilight premier. We went to the early showing, which was a little more expensive, but well worth it. So fun!
Thanksgiving was a definite highlight over the past month! We went shooting in the morning. It made for some good pictures and laughs when I got my prego self up to shoot. :) My favorite is always shooting clay pigeons, but I got lazy in my form and gave myself a good bruise on my arm.


Dinner was at my family's this year. We also had our good friends the Bravermans over. Dinner was amazing - Moms turkey was excellent, Grandma's stuffing is always my favorite, Angela's stuffed mushrooms were a hit, and I nailed my spinach poppyseed salad. I was also in charge of making a centerpiece: the thankful tree. We wrote what we were thankful for and put it on the branches of our tree. Spencer and I had many contributions to that one - we are so blessed!

We also made a visit to the Hancocks, where everyone was busy frosting sugar and gingersnap cookies. Here was my contribution.
It was especially great to see Jenna and Richard, as they live in Phoenix and we don't get to see them very often. Thankfully, I didn't gain 15 pounds over Thanksgiving like I worried I would. I actually lost a pound between appointments (not that I was trying of course - and of course they weren't concerned).

Another huge thing that JUST happened: we traded in the Pathfinder for a cute little Hyundai. It's not as big, not as spacious as we're used to, but it also comes with a title and no monthly payment. With a new baby coming and me quitting my job, we're preparing to tighten our belts on our finances. Dave Ramsey would be proud!

Short story is, alot has happened over the last month. I'm going in for weekly visits now, first appointment to check how I'm measuring (dilation and e-phasing) is tomorrow. We are excited for the holidays, and know that the next three weeks is going to go by SO quick! We still need a few essentials, but otherwise, we are pretty set!