Heber Weston

Our second baby boy made his entrance into the world on June 19th!

The day before Emmitt was born, I went into a cleaning frenzy and deep cleaned the whole apartment. Still two weeks before my due date, I didn't think for one second the baby would be coming the next day, but Tom came home from work and took one look at the house, then looked at me and said, "Are you going to have the baby tomorrow?" (I guess that says a lot about how often I deep clean: About as often as I have a baby.) He then put his hand on my stomach and said, "Emmitt, if you're coming tomorrow, kick me." And he did! This has been a favorite story of ours to tell, so about 3 weeks before my due date, I started trying to "clean myself into labor" and Tom asked Heber if he was coming the next day every night before bed. Heber was a much less active baby in my tummy than Emmitt was, and Tom never got an affirmative kick to his question. I was getting soooo impatient as the days went by. I had it in my head that all my babies should come two weeks early. About a week before my due date, I gave up on the notion and started thinking about induction, which was something that made me really nervous. But three days before my due date, when the house was messy again and Tom asked his question, wouldn't ya know it, we felt a kick. Tom was ecstatic but I was thinking, "Yeah right."

At about 5:00 AM, Emmitt woke up and crawled into our bed. About half an hour later, I woke up two seconds before my water broke. I scrambled out of bed and urgently whispered to Tom who had to take a minute to decide if he was dreaming, if I was sleep talking, or if something was wrong with Emmitt before he registered what I was saying. I ran out of the room and Emmitt got really upset. This made me feel awful, so I asked Tom to bring Emmitt to me so I could hold him while I stood in the bath tub. After we were all fully awake and Emmitt had calmed down, Tom called his brother Dave to come stay with Emmitt so we could get to the hospital. We were much more prepared this time around because Emmitt had caught us completely off guard when he was born. Like I said, I was really impatient so I packed the hospital bag multiple times to make sure we had everything we needed.

We reached the hospital around 7 AM and it was too early for staff to be at the front desk, so we went straight in to Labor and Delivery and checked in there. The nurses treated me quite a bit differently this time around. Since it wasn't my first rodeo, they didn't ask so many questions and I got into the birth room a lot faster. After the IV, Tom and I just waited. From there on out, everything was almost exactly the same as Emmitt's delivery. I had fun talking to Tom about this and that, we flipped through some channels on the TV (this time, we got to watch the World Cup), and my nurse would pop in every hour or so. Around 9, the contractions started getting pretty painful, so I took some medicine and got reeeeally drowsy. The nurse told me I could take more after about an hour. When she came in again to offer me a second dose, I thought, "But it's only been like 20 minutes!" but it had been an hour and 20 minutes. Let's just say, if I were a drug addict, I know what my poison would be. At 10:30, I started hurting pretty bad, so Tom came to hold my hand and play with my hair and coach me a little bit. Not long after, I told my nurse I needed to get this baby here. My doctor came in and set everything up and after 10 minutes of hard labor, Heber was born at 11:05. *I really don't know how some women go longer in labor. I needed every bit of encouragement and advice from the doctor, nurses, and Tom. About 5 minutes into it, I got pretty discouraged because I didn't feel like I was making any progress and I was so uncomfortable. Kinda wimpy. Good thing for modern hospitals and good husbands! They plopped a dark haired baby into my lap while they cut the cord. I was so surprised by this! In my head, I was just expecting another little blonde, nearly bald Emmitt, but Heber is anything but blonde or bald. But just the way it was with Emmitt, I thought "How can he be so perfect?" There's something to be said for the miracle of birth, but I really don't know how to say it. So I just cried and Tom and I enjoyed taking it all in.

 

Heber is such a content little baby. He was bright eyed and wide awake for about the first 90 minutes of life, but he didn't make a sound until he had to take a bath. He really likes to be held. I wanted to keep him with us in our room through the first night, but when he didn't want to sleep in his bassinet, I finally surrendered and asked my nurse (who just so happened to be my Relief Society president!) to take him for a few hours so we could get some sleep. I was so happy when he came back in. Those first few days are so precious, I didn't want to miss much if I could help it.

My mom was able to come up as soon as she heard I was in labor, so she came into the room soon after he was born. Then she went to take care of Emmitt who by then was with a good friend of mine (Maurie, thank you!!!). Then it was off to get cleaned up and move to the Mother-Baby room where they have comfier beds and a fridge full of pudding and a cupboard full of cookies and crackers! Woohoo!

Our first visitor besides my mom was Maurie. She is absolutely amazing. She took Emmitt shopping for a bunch of goodies that she brought to us. She put together a hospital survival kit and there wasn't a thing she didn't think of. She also decorated our apartment with "It's a Boy!" balloons and banners. I felt pretty special!
A few hours later, after slaving away in our kitchen and filling our fridge with several delicious meals, my mom brought Emmitt to meet his baby brother.

While Heber didn't keep his attention for too long, Emmitt was curious to see what all the excitement was about. He was soooo hyper! He had had such a fun day with Maurie and my mom, I don't think he could contain himself. He's such a lucky kid! Tom's mom sent him such a fun package and gave Heber an adorable outfit and then she ordered us a pizza since she lives 12 hours from here. Thanks, Mary, for being part of it all! My Dad came up the day we came home from the hospital. Weston is my dad's name, so I enjoyed seeing him hold his little namesake!

We are so happy to have Heber join our family. I'd forgotten how fun it is to have a newborn at home. Tom and I sometimes fight over who gets to hold him. (: Emmitt has done really well adjusting and sometimes he'll ask if he can hold the baby. I'll hold Heber out to him in my arms and Emmitt will put his arms under Heber then turn and say, "Daddy! 'ook!" Two seconds pass and then he says, "All done!" Haha!

Here are some great newborn pics courtesy of my awesome sister-in-law Becky.

Heh heh

Perfect Parent

We just launched into week 37 of this pregnancy and it has sure flown by. I was just thinking some thoughts and decided to write them down while Emmitt is sleeping.

 

Naptime was a struggle today and it took two rounds for Emmitt to finally let me win. I get entirely too frustrated over these little episodes and when Emmitt finally falls asleep, it just takes one look at his peaceful face to be filled with all sorts of emotions: Guilt for getting frustrated, sadness that he's growing up too fast, overwhelming love, and recently, an odd almost regretful feeling that soon I won't be able to give him all the attention I have in the past.

Then I feel pretty awful for feeling anything close to regret that soon we'll be welcoming another sweet boy into our family. It's a weird emotion.

People tell you, you don't have to split your love for your kids because your heart grows for each child and you can love them all. While I'm sure it's true, I'm only human. I'm not nervous about not loving my children. I'm nervous about not putting the time in to show it.

 

Then I started thinking about my Heavenly Father. He knows me better than I know myself and that's true of all of us. He sees me not as I am now, but with all the potential I have. I have no idea how he does it, but I can feel his love for me. I know that this life is a test and we all make mistakes. However, through the Atonement of Christ, we can become like Him and our Heavenly Father and Mother. We can be perfect parents, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, you name it.

 

 

Tom and I teach a Marriage and Family Relations class in church and one of our class members made a comment once that stuck with me. It was something to the effect of, "Even though not every child will be born into privileged or ideal circumstances in this life, they came from and have experienced a perfect home and family before." I believe that as we experience the good in this life, it will remind us of that perfect home we had before and make us want to do better so we can experience it again.

 

 

 

So that's where my thoughts have been today. Only 3 weeks away from my due date and I'm beyond excited to become a mom all over again, but this time around feels completely different. I'm not anxious about the same things like giving birth, being prepared with enough baby supplies, and all of that. Now, I'm asking myself things like, "Will Emmitt love his little brother?", "Will we be able to take care of both of them and give them enough time and attention to teach them all they need to know?", and "Am I learning and becoming Christ-like enough to show these two boys how to get back to their Heavenly Father?" Families are so important. I realize not everyone's is the same as some deal with childlessness, abuse, neglect, divorce, and a ton of other far-from-perfect situations. But families help us to grow. I'm not the same person I was on my wedding day. I've been taught so much by a sweet husband and a sweet little boy and I look forward to learning much more as we spend eternity together.

 

 

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/suffer-the-little-children-to-come-unto-me?lang=eng

 

Things I want to remember

I've needed to write this post for a while. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything. Recently, Emmitt has been surprising us every day with words he'll say or things he'll do. Kids really pick up on more than you think. A lot of it may just be special to Tom and me, but I think a lot of it is hilarious too, so I hope you enjoy.
-Words-
Both button and ladybug are "butty"
Both french fries and butterflies are "bybyes"
Both basketball and vegetable are "bitabal"
Both house and mouse are "piece-piece" (Let me 'splain. He's really trying to say "squeak squeak", and since his rhyming book has mouse and house on the same page, they are one and the same.)
Snow is "no-noch"
He says "nice!" whenever he thinks something is cool.
If you ask him if he wants to do something that he obviously wants to do (go to the park or eat ice cream, etc.), he doesn't just says "Yes." His mouth turns into a perfect O as he gasps in air and raises his eyebrows, then he exhales out a breathy "WOW!" I have no idea where he got it, but it's awesome.
When he's looking for something, he goes around the house saying the object's name, followed by "Weaou?" (Where are you?) When he finds it, he says "Der i' is!"

-Talents-
Lots of people tell us Emmitt has a good arm. Unfortunately this isn't always a good thing, as he likes to throw any small object he can get his fingers around. That might include TV remotes, little metal toy cars, pieces of his toy train track...you know. It wouldn't be a big deal, but he doesn't always wait till you're ready to catch it, so you might get nailed in the head if you're unsuspecting.
That brings me to basketball. Emmitt loves the little toy hoop we have suction cupped to our door. He's not a bad shot either. He loves it when Tom and I stand back and admire his shooting abilities. (:
We have a keyboard in our apartment and he's figured out more settings on it than we knew existed.
He's really good at Once there was a Snowman.
His dance skills are pretty sweet. They consist of spinning around in circles while looking out of the corner of his eye. I have yet to catch it on camera.

-Likes-
Curious George
Trains
The park
Strawberries
Cheese
The gym
Nursery
Outside in general
Balls
Flashcards
Cars/Trucks/Tractors
Mommy and Daddy singing
Books
His baby brother :)
Animals

-Dislikes-
Diaper changes (I keep trying to tell him how to avoid it, because I'm not the biggest fan either. No luck so far.)
The last 5 minutes of sacrament meeting
Going to bed
The car seat
Riding in shopping carts (he'd rather push).

We love our little Emmitt!

This is how you know if your chocolate chip cookies were a success.

Emmitt loves ladybugs, so I made him one. Apparently, he thought it needed to be guillotined.

Helping Mom make rolls in the kitchen.

Also, for some reason I can't upload videos, so here's a link.

Thankth to my huthband

Hello!
Since I'm graduating in 15 days, I'm feeling the bittersweetness of it all. Rexburg and BYU-Idaho have been so good to/for me. I've complained a lot along the way and even though it was tough at times to go to school, I wish I had a more positive outlook.
The happiest thing, though is that I'll be able to take the most important thing I gained here with me: my family. I don't know that I thank Tom enough for all he's done for me. In a culture where it's really common for a couple to move on as soon as the husband gets his degree, Tom saw the importance of me finishing school even more than I did. As soon as I found out we were expecting Emmitt, I sat down to do my grad plan and thought, "No way am I going to finish by the time Tom needs to be done." So I figured I'd just call it quits when it became too hard to go to school with a baby or when we moved away...whichever came first. When Tom heard that, he said, "Think of everything you've invested. Is it really worth it to just walk away?"

So Emmitt was born, we went to Oklahoma for Tom's internship, and we did classes online, and we were busy.

We came back and both went to school for one more semester, baby swapping between classes, losing sleep, and trying our best to make the grades, and we were busy.

Then Tom graduated with flying colors because he's really smart and he works crazy hard. Tom took a new job as a PSR worker and commuted every day to Idaho Falls, taking Emmitt to work while I stumbled through another semester, and we were busy.

Then the blessed day came when I finally landed an internship that worked for our family. It was close to home, I could take Emmitt to work if need be, and I could take a few credits as well. Tom quit his job and went back to working in Rexburg, we found out baby number 2 was on the way (Surprise!) and we were still busy.

This semester, we finally slowed down a little. I became a part-time student and I resigned my post at my internship. Through it all, Tom has been willing to work around my schedule and be an amazing father to Emmitt, trying to make sure that at least one of us could be with him at all times. Before I married Tom, I couldn't have dreamed up a more considerate, understanding, hard-working father and husband. I think of all the late homework nights he stayed up with me to make sure I didn't fall asleep, all the things he's teaching Emmitt, how he's worked to support us and how he holds down the fort while I'm at school. I really don't know how to thank him. It feels so good to be walking away from school and being able to say that I finished my degree. I couldn't have done it without Tom.

Review

I finally found the cord that hooks my laptop to my camera and I just wanted to post some pictures that haven't made it on here yet.

First Birthday!

Super Baby

This is how Dad enforces nap time.

Then the cold weather set in, so we gave Emmitt his first cup of hot chocolate.

Halloween Time

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa Petersen

 Then some cousin bonding time...we couldn't find swimming suits in December, so we settled for some pants that were too small. Whatever we have to do to get into the pool!

Thanks for coming!