Cameron Brant Carpenter

Welcome Cameron Brant Carpenter!!!

Born: April 29, 2013

Time: 12:57 am

Weight: 7 pounds 8 ounces

Length: 20 inches

Here's my {long} story about his birth:

Three weeks before I was due, I went into early labor. I was having contractions that were consistently 3-5 minutes apart all day. And so that afternoon Brant and I went in to the hospital fully expecting to have our little boy that night. But sadly, I wasn't very dilated and wasn't progressing, so we got sent home with the hopes of returning that night or the following morning. Well...that didn't happen. In fact, not only did it not happen, but the contractions stopped completely for the next month! That's right... I didn't just go full term (40 weeks), I actually went over my due date by a week! Not cool!

On Sunday, April 28, Brant and I headed to the hospital bright and early to be induced. We got checked in to our room just after 7:30 am and around 8 I got hooked up to the pitocin with the hopes of meeting the little one in a few hours. Cameron didn't respond very well to either the labor or pitocin and his heart rate became a little worrisome, so the nurse wanted to get internal monitors put in me instead of the external ones. So the doctor came in and broke my water and put in the internal monitors.

Not too long after, the contractions got progressively stronger, so I got an epidural. I'm not one for going the natural route. If that works for you, great! I'm impressed. But I know myself enough to realize that I'm not that strong. Anyway... The contractions were getting strong and very close together. Cameron wasn't responding well to that at all so the nurse cut down my pitocin from 4ml to 2 (side note: most people get around 15ml of pitocin or more. But apparently my body reacts quite well to that drug and the highest we ever got was 4ml. Most of the time it was at 1-2ml or off completely). For the next few (read many) hours, the nurse was constantly changing how I was laying and the amount of pitocin I received to try and get Cam's heart rate to be normal. It's normal for a baby's heart rate to go down before and during a contraction, but Cam's heart rate kept going down after the contractions. They were quite worried about it and we were on constant watch.

Around 6 pm, we started discussing the possibility of needing to do a c-section because Cameron's heart rate just wasn't responding well to labor. At one point it got down to 60 bpm (it's supposed to be between 120 and 150 bpm - so scary!!!). So we got all prepped to do the c-section. My doctor came in, the anesthesiologist gave me the full epidural to numb me completely from the waist down, and the OR was prepped and ready for us. My parents even came to the hospital (against my wishes I might add) because they didn't want to be far away while I was getting the procedure done.

Because my doctor is a family practitioner and not an OB, she had to call in an OB to do the actual procedure. When the OB checked the monitors, she noticed that Cameron's heart rate had become normal and was now only going down with the contractions, and within the allowed parameters. So we decided to wait it out and try for a vaginal birth. So back to more waiting. At this point I was dilated to a 5 and progressing slowly (obviously since I'd already been in labor at this point for over 10 hours!).

As we were passing the time watching Psych, I noticed that I was starting to feel the contractions more and more. And not just noticing when I was having contractions, but actually feeling the pain. So I hit the button on the epidural machine to get more medicine, but nothing changed. In fact the contractions just got worse and worse. I hit it a couple more times but still nothing. Finally it got to the point when I couldn't hit it any more because I was in too much pain to do anything besides squeeze the heck out of Brant's hand. The nurse was in the room at this point and when Brant pushed the epidural button he asked what the error message on the machine meant. The nurse came over to look and found out that while they had hooked me back up to the epidural machine after deciding not to do the c-section, they forgot to turn the machine back on. So the epidural had run out and I was feeling every bit of those contractions.

They immediately called the anesthesiologist in get me back on the good stuff. But since it takes a while for the medicine to fully set in, I got to experience natural birth for a good 30 minutes. And let me tell you...I will NEVER go natural after feeling that pain! Oh...and I should add that they had upped the pitocin again and so my contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes. Yeah...I didn't even have time to catch my breath between them. It was awful!! But luckily, after almost squeezing Brant's hand off, the medicine kicked in and we got back to less painful waiting.

I think the nurse thought I was being a big wimp because according to the monitor, my contractions, though very close together, weren't very strong. But when I described how intense they really were, she decided that my internal monitor must have gone bad and needed to be replaced. Once they put in a new one, the monitor showed how really intense my contractions had been.

By now it was 9:00 pm and I was still only dilated to a 5. My doctor hadn't been too worried because the monitor showed that my contractions weren't very strong. But once she saw how strong they had been for the past 3 hours, she told me that she'd give me another 30 minutes to dilate more. If after that I hadn't progressed any, then we'd be doing a c-section. So they upped the pitocin again and we waited the 30 minutes. Well...I guess my body responds well to threats because in those 30 minutes, I went from a 5 to a 10! That's right. When my doctor came to check me, I was fully dilated and ready to push! So I began to push.

My doctor said that Cameron was still pretty high up there and so I had the choice of waiting to see if he'd drop on his own or to continue pushing. She said that if I continued pushing I'd probably be pushing for 4-5 hours. So I decided to wait a bit. 30 minutes later, the doctor came in to check and Cam had indeed dropped - a little. So we decided to push. I pushed for an hour before they (the OB had been called in to consult at this point) told me that my pelvis was too small and that most likely, we'd have to end up doing a c-section. They told me that I could continue pushing for another hour or so to see if he would fit through if I wanted to. By this point I had been in labor for 16+ hours and was so tired. I told them I wanted to throw in the towel now and just do the c-section.

So I stopped pushing and we got prepped for the procedure. They called in the anesthesiologist, but he was currently with another patient. As I waited for him to come, the pain and pressure from my body wanting to push became so overwhelming. I thought that those contractions I'd felt earlier were bad? Nothing compared to the pain that I felt at that time. I honestly can say I've never been in so much pain in my life and hope to never be again! Maybe the fatigue and exhaustion were factors in how I felt, but either way... WORST PAIN EVER! I had never been so relieved to see someone as I was when the anesthesiologist walked in the door. I told him that he was definitely my favorite person in the room right then :).

Well...after the full epidural kicked in and I was once again numb from the waist down, they wheeled me in to the OR and started getting everything ready for the c-section. Overall, the procedure went very well and was pretty quick. The only bad thing that happened was that I got the shivers so bad! I was shaking and shivering horribly! I don't know what the lower half of my body was doing as it was behind a curtain, but my entire upper body was shaking! The doctor said that it was completely normal after all the medicine I'd had pumped through my body. Plus I was losing a lot of blood and so my body was in a bit of shock. And I'd also been in labor for 17 hours and I was exhausted! He assured me that it would go away eventually. Thankfully Brant was by my side the whole time and so I was able to hold on to him for support. It wasn't the most enjoyable thing I've been through.

After about 30 minutes of surgery (at 12:57 am!), I finally heard my baby's first cry. It was magical! I wish I hadn't been so tired so I could enjoy that moment more, but all I could really think was how much I just wanted to sleep. They took Cam immediately to the nursery to clear out his lungs and do other stuff. So I wasn't able to hold him immediately after he was born. But we were able to get a small glimpse of him through the window as they worked on him and the doctors stitched me up. I wish I could have held him in my arms, but I guess it's a good thing that I couldn't because I was still shaking pretty badly.

Once I was all sewn up, they wheeled me back to my room where we waited to see our little boy. Cam had a little trouble breathing at first, so they needed to keep him in the special care nursery for a few hours before they could bring him to us. As much as I wanted to meet the little guy, I was OK with the few hours of sleep I was able to get at that point. I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open as the doctors tried to tell me what was going on. I'm not exactly sure what they told me at that point.

So after bout 3 hours, the nurse finally brought Cameron in for us to meet for the first time. Holding my baby for the first time was something I hope I never forget. Yes, I was still so tired, but I was also so happy to have my little boy in my arms! I got to hold him as they wheeled us to our recovery room and they played the lullaby over the loud speakers (LDS hospital does that for each new baby - so fun!). Then Brant was able to hold him for the first time when we got to our room. I knew then that Brant was going to be the best dad. I could see the love he has for our little boy and it made me so happy.

I received a short lesson on breast feeding and then tried it out. Cameron latched on pretty well and I was able to feed my little boy for a bit. But after, we let the nurse take him to the nursery so we could get some much needed sleep.

The next day (or actually later that day), was filled with friends and family coming to visit. It was so fun to have people come and share in the excitement of our new little one. The nurses would come in every so often to check on me and the baby and to see how we were doing. On one of these visits, they did a blood test on Cameron (it was his second one) to check to see how he was doing because I had gotten a fever while I was in labor with him and they needed to make sure it hadn't gone to Cam. Well...the blood test came back and showed that he had a slight infection, so they would have to give him an antibiotic via IV. He'd only need it for 3 days though, so we'd be able to go home when expected.

Well...to make a long story short (too late!), instead of getting better, the infection got worse that night and so Cameron would need to go on a stronger antibiotic that would take 7 days. So we knew we'd be in the hospital for at least a week :(. And he was having a bit of trouble breathing, so they had to put him on oxygen as well. That meant that he could no longer be in our room with us - he'd need to spend the whole time in the special care nursery. We could go visit him anytime we wanted, though - thank goodness! So we spent a lot of time in there holding and feeding him over the next week.

But that wasn't the end of our worries. Cameron became really dehydrated and didn't really want to eat much. And he didn't have a wet or messy diaper for 24 hours! That's scary!!! So they had to put him on an IV to make sure he was getting enough nutrition. It was so sad to see my little boy hooked up to all those monitors and IV's and oxygen. It was heartbreaking! Also, in order to try and figure out where the infection was, they tried 3 times to do a spinal tap and was unsuccessful each time. Luckily they gave up after the third time. I don't like having my baby go through that!!

So many prayers were said on Cameron's behalf by our friends, family and ward members. Not to mention Brant and me. Thankfully, Cameron took well to the antibiotics and after a few days, his infection had gone down significantly. Eventually he was able to get off the oxygen and was able to spend some time in our room with us! This also just happened to be the day that I was discharged from the hospital and moved in to what they call a "hotel stay" where I was no longer a patient, but we were able to stay in a hospital room for free while Cameron was in the special care nursery.

Over that week time, Cameron became strong and healthy and we were able to leave the hospital and bring our baby home on May 6, 2013. It was so fun to be at home as a FAMILY for the first time! It was a very long week in the hospital and we are so grateful to be out of there.

Recover for me hasn't been easy. I wasn't sure what to expect with a c-section since I didn't think I would need to. I still don't feel like I can be a mom to Cameron because bending down, getting out of bed, moving around the apartment, and pretty much every other day to day activity is difficult to perform. Luckily my mom is close by and can help me every day. I'm just looking forward to when I feel normal again. Or at least like a mom. It's hard to take care of myself, though, when I have this adorable baby boy to think about.

He's Coming!!! Oh...Just Kidding

Monday was a very exciting, happy, boring, frustrating, then disappointing day. I woke up around 8 (yes...I can't get out of bed before then lately...don't judge) and while getting ready for work started having contractions. I started timing them on the clock in the bathroom and they seemed to be roughly 5 minutes apart. So I pulled out my iPhone and started to actually track the contractions.

Over the next few hours at work, they stayed consistent at around 6-7 minutes apart on average. Around lunch time they started to get a little closer together and a bit stronger. Not like in the movies where the woman is clutching her stomach and screaming. Just enough to take my breath away for a few seconds. But they were now consistently coming every 3-5 minutes. And that is what my doctor had told me to look for. I called her just to make sure that I should head to the hospital and she gave me the green light.

So I called Brant and told him to meet me at home. We were going to meet our little boy that night!! We were both so excited! We got our bags packed and everything ready to go. We turned in our taxes on the way to the hospital (yes...this tax accountant turned in her taxes on April 15). We drove to LDS Hospital and excitedly told the receptionist that we were there to have a baby. My contractions had been getting stronger on the ride to the hospital and we KNEW it was the real thing.

They put us in one of their large delivery rooms, I got changed into the little gown and we got ready for the good news that our baby was coming.

About 40 minutes goes by before a nurse comes in to hook me up to the monitors and check my progress (they were short staffed when we got there and someone was delivering a baby down the hall). I was a bit frustrated at this point because the contractions had seemed to lessen since being checked in to the hospital. They were still coming, just not as strong or as close together.

Then the nurse gave us the disappointing news that I was only dilated to a 1 cm. But they would monitor me for an hour to see if anything changed. We watched a movie on Netflix on my iPad during that hour and I TRIED to keep my mind (and eyes) off the monitor showing my contractions and my baby's heart beat.

After an hour (or more), the nurse came back in to check my progress. I was now at a 1+ (like there is that big of difference between a 1 & 2). But they wanted to keep us at least another hour because my baby's heart rate had gone down after one of my contractions and they needed to make sure that everything was okay with him.

So for this hour we watched Psych (and the monitor). After which we got the news that nothing had changed and that most likely I was just in "early labor" which could last a while. My contractions were still consistently at every 3-5 minutes, just not super strong yet. So most likely we'd be heading home to wait it out, but she needed to talk with my doctor first. 30 minutes later, we were sent home with the reassurance that we'd be back in later that night or early tomorrow morning.

Three days later...I'm at work. Having very few contractions. Still at a 1+ (we went to the doctor yesterday afternoon). And thinking this baby is never going to come. People keep telling me that my body is getting itself ready for the real thing and that any day now we'll be welcoming our little boy home. But I'm losing hope.

Tuesday was probably one of the hardest days I've had. The contractions had pretty much completely stopped and my hope of getting my baby that day were shattered. I couldn't face going to work, so I called up my mom & sisters and spent the day with them at my mom's house. It helped so much to be with them all day where we just talked, ate lunch, and baked peanut butter bars. Brant also made it clear that he was having a hard time dealing with it, because after an hour of work he called me to say that he was heading home but that I should stay up at my mom's and he'd see me that afternoon. I guess we both just needed a day to wrap our minds around the fact that our baby was playing tricks on us.

The past two days have been better though. I've come to terms with what happened and am dealing with the fact that I'm still pregnant. Don't get me wrong...I'm still anxiously awaiting my baby's arrival and hope that each day will bring on contractions and/or my water breaking. And I still hope and pray that I don't make it to my next doctor appointment or my actual due date (the 23rd). But at least I can function like a normal person (well...normal 9 month pregnant one).

So wish me luck! And keep your fingers crossed that this little boy of mine comes sooner than later.

Signs of Labor/Easter Weekend

This weekend was supposed to be a lot of fun. On Saturday, my family planned a shower for me and two of my cousins' wives (Trish & Sarah). Then after, Brant's family had their traditional Easter party where they do a big scavenger hunt, eat yummy food, and hang out. Then Sunday my family got together for a big Easter dinner at my parents' house. Doesn't that sound like such a fun weekend?

Well...while all those things did take place, and I heard that the activities on Saturday were a great time, Brant & my weekend was a little different than that...

I went to bed on Friday not feeling the greatest. We had gone out to eat at a Mexican restaurant for dinner and I figured I had probably over ate a bit. But nothing to worry about - the heartburn and overstuffed stomach feeling would go away with the help of Tums and rest. Right?

WRONG!

At about 4:00 am, I woke up and realized that the sick feeling just wasn't going to go away laying there in bed. Figuring that it might help if I sat up, I went out to my big white chair to "sleep" sitting up. Brant joined me around 4:45. Shortly after, I succumbed to the signs and barely made it to the bathroom before all my dinner came up. (Sorry...that's gross)

Well...to make a long (and gross) story short, I spent the next 10+ hours visiting the bathroom about every hour to...clean out my system. I couldn't keep anything down. I tried to drink as much Gatorade as I could, but it didn't stay in my system for very long.

***Side note: I never throw up. To me, it is the worst thing I could do, so I suppress it as much as I can. I honestly can't remember the last time I had thrown up before Saturday - I never even did at the early stages of pregnancy. So for me to throw up 7 times in one day...let's just say has never happened to me.***

Needless to say, we missed ALL the fun activities on Saturday - even my own baby shower!! Luckily, around 3:30, I got a Zofran from my sister and the nausea stopped. So that night, though I didn't feel 100% better, I was actually able to keep down a little bit of bread, some saltine crackers, and even 1/2 a bowl of soup! And I was completely better on Sunday - enough to even enjoy some chocolate at my parents' house! So at least we got to have SOME Easter fun this weekend.

I'm 90% positive that I didn't have the flu, as I didn't have any other symptoms (no aches, no pains, no fever) - just an upset stomach. Maybe it was something I ate at dinner. Maybe it was my body getting rid of all the wast in preparation for child birth (see below). But whatever it was, it was awful!!

Most websites I found said that vomiting and diarrhea are signs of early labor. Add that to the fact that for the past two days my contractions have sure kicked up, and things are looking like my baby might be coming soon!! Honestly, I'm surprised that I didn't go into labor on Saturday with all that my body was going through. But I'm glad I didn't. I want an April baby :). And as of today I'm 37 weeks - so "full term"!! So...come on baby!

Getting Closer

I've reached 34 weeks! Only 6 more to go! I sure hope it's less than that though. I'm shooting for 4. But we'll see. I'm sure ready to have this little boy here!! Well...kind of. There is still A LOT to be done before I will actually be ready. Right now, his room is full of boxes and bags and random things from our move. We don't have a crib yet - my mom & I are going shopping next weekend for one. {Did I mention how my parents are back from their mission?!?!?!} The bassinet is up at my parents house & needs to be dug out from storage still. I don't have any bedding for the baby. I need a diaper bag. I need bottles, binkies, and other baby supplies... Yeah...I've got a lot I need to do/get in the next few weeks.

I hope the last 6 weeks go by fast though! I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable as my belly (and the rest of my body) get bigger and bigger. {How come your face, arms, butt, and legs all have to get fat along with your belly? One mystery of pregnancy that I just don't understand.} I always hoped that I'd be one of those lucky women who don't gain weight all over...but I'm not. Oh well. This little dude will be worth it.

My sister had her baby yesterday and we were able to go see her in the hospital! Holding that little girl made me even more excited to hold my little boy!! It's hard to think about anything else. I've been pretty ineffective at work. I'm getting so anxious for him to be here! I really just want to hold and kiss him. I warned Brant last night that he's going to have to pry his son from my arms in order to hold him.

Well...I'll give a quick update on the rest of our lives.

We moved into our new place and though it's small, we like it. It's a nice place and we are happy with it. Though I have to admit that I've recently had a STRONG desire to move back into my house in Woods Cross that we are still renting out. We've been talking about it a lot lately and we're hoping that either by August or next April we can move back there. But who knows. All I know is that I've been dreaming of having a house again so I hope it happens for us sooner rather than later.

My parents got back from their mission last Thursday (March 7). Just in time for Kacee to have her baby girl who came 3 1/2 weeks early! Everyone was very relieved. It's great to have my parents back! It's been so fun meeting up with them and especially having my mom here to help me with the final preparations before my baby comes. I'm so thankful they were able to serve a mission. I know that it blessed many people's lives - including mine! They are such wonderful examples for me. I love them so much!

Brant got a new job! He's working for Salmon Electric where he is going to pursue a career as an electrician. It's a good company to work for and he's liked it for the month he's been there. I'm glad that he's finally chosen a career path! And I think that he'll be happy doing this which I'm also glad about. Brant is such a hard worker, I think he'll make his way up in this company pretty quickly.

I think that pretty much sums up our lives right now. Maybe my next post will be to welcome my new little guy.

Busy

When I took this new job, I was told that winters are usually pretty slow. Not too much to do around here so it's a good time to think about the next busy summer time and get things all ready to go. Well... so far this winter I've had ONE week where I felt caught up on all I had to do and could do some administrative stuff that I'd put by the wayside.

I've been so busy at work that I'm a little worried how the next (and last) three months of pregnancy are going to work out. I'm starting to get extra tired now that I'm in my third trimester and I know it's just going to get worse as time goes on. I just don't think I can handle any more 12 hour days. Sometimes I wonder how I'm going to do 8 hours. Plus I don't think the stress is good for my little boy. 

Oh...and added to the busyness and stress at work is moving into a new place! It was a stressful time finding a place to live, but we were very blessed with an apartment that both Brant & I LOVE! But now the thought of packing up all our stuff and moving make me want to cry. I started packing this weekend, but we still have A LOT to do before we move on Saturday. (That's right...5 days!) I want to take a day off from work this week, but of course we had to get ANOTHER big snow storm that is going to keep my plenty busy invoicing and doing payroll. 

Maybe I shouldn't be blogging about it and I should actually be working. 

But everyone is out of the office right now plowing the roads and it makes me want to be at home and not here either. Plus being in the office on a snowy day means I have to deal with all our angry customers who feel like we aren't getting to their property fast enough. I hate being yelled at! Especially for things that are completely out of my control. During the last storm a guy had me in tears after the way he treated me for our guys not plowing his property yet. 

But I guess I should take advantage of a quiet office and get caught up on all that I need to do so that I can be fully prepared to deal with this snow storm. 

I don't know about you...but I'm sure ready to be done with winter. Bring on spring & summer!!! And a cute little baby boy to keep me busier (but happier) than work ever will.

2013

Can you believe that 2012 has come and gone? And we're already a week into 2013? I sure can't!! 2012 was an AMAZING year for the Carpenters. Seriously...a LOT happened during the past 12 months:

~ We got married!
~ We went on a cruise to Catalina Island & Ensenada, Mexico
~ Brant bought his truck
~ We went to Sweden to visit my parents on their mission
~ We went to New York to visit my old stomping ground and visit some of my friends
~ We became {almost} parents
~ We went on a LOT of camping trips with friends and family
~ We visited Yellowstone National Park & my cabin 3 times (maybe 4...I honestly can't remember)

There was much more to our year than that even, but I think that list covers that major events.

Looking ahead to this year, it seems like our lives won't be any less eventful than this past year. Some things that we're looking forward to in the coming year are:

~ Becoming parents to our little boy (3 1/2 more months!)
~ Moving out of my parents house and into a place of our own
~ Going on more camping trips with our friends and family (if you think having a baby will slow down Brant, you're crazy!)
~ Welcoming my parents home from their mission
~ Finding a new job for Brant where he can really start his career

While I haven't made any official new year's resolutions, I want to focus on coming closer to Christ and my Heavenly Father. I know that we are going to need His help in the coming year more than we have before. Looking at all that is ahead of us in 2013, I have realized there is no way Brant & I can do it all on our own. We've got some big decisions to make in the next few weeks and a LOT of adjustments to make in the next few months.

Yes, this year is bringing some big changes to our lives. It's going to be a tough year with some major alterations to our lives. But I also can tell that it's going to be another AMAZING year. I'm looking forward to 2013 and all the challenges and blessings that are going to come into our lives.

Update

Soooo... It's been a while. I actually wrote a nice post about Thanksgiving. There were even going to be pictures. BUT stupid blogger told me that my picassa account was full and that I had to delete pictures from it in order to put pictures on my blog. Well that or pay money. WHAT?!?! So now I need to figure out how to print out my old blog so that I can then delete the pictures and not miss out on any of my old posts. What a lame system!!

Anyway...done with my complaining.

Life around the Carpenter home has been pretty busy! The week of Thanksgiving was also my and Brant's birthdays. We did something every night that week to celebrate (more on that to come when I actually post about it in detail).

Then there's been work. I'm discovering that I'm not cut out for being pregnant and working. I think my nesting instinct is already kicking in. I would so much rather stay at home and clean/organize my house than go to work. Sadly, at this time I don't have that option. So the house gets a bit neglected at times. I'm thinking things will be easier when Brant and I have our own apartment - it'll be smaller (less area to clean up) and we won't have to find places for our stuff a midst my parents' stuff.

Speaking of...it's getting close to when we really need to get serious about finding a place to live!! As in...we are hoping to be in our own place the beginning of February. Which is only 1.5 months away! WHAT?!?!?!

In other news - my belly is growing more and more every day. I'm not kidding either! I swear I've doubled (maybe even tripled) in size in the past few weeks! And with that has come the weight. I'm not too happy about that. Brant has to keep reminding me that putting on weight right now is a good thing. I need to for the baby. But I'm having a hard time knowing why the baby needs my arms, butt, and face to be fat as well as my tummy.

In all reality, this pregnancy has been great. I can't really complain. I'm sure it'll get harder as my belly gets bigger and my little boy starts draining more and more of my energy. But, until then, I'll just keep on enjoying being pregnant!

To answer everyone's question out there - no we have not come up with a name for our boy yet. We'll be lucky to agree on any names by the time he's born. We pretty much just avoid the whole topic, because I usually end up in tears or frustrated when we talk about it. Brant and I have such different ideas of good boy names. But as long as I don't end up with a baby named Fisk, Fritz, Johann, Bjorn, or Roarshnaque (yes...those are all REAL names that Brant has suggested and LOVES), I'll feel like I've won.

We've been able to feel our baby kick lately! Well, I've been able to feel him for a while, but his kicks have been getting stronger this past week and that means Brant has been able to feel him as well. This morning was the best one yet! As we laid in bed before Brant had to head off to work, our little boy was moving around quite a bit. So I had Brant put his hand on my tummy and about 10 seconds later, I received a pretty strong kick right where Brant's palm was. Needless to say, Brant was excited to feel an actual kick instead of those tiny bubbles he'd felt earlier. I was excited too. I love feeling the little guy and so I was excited Brant could feel him too.

As you can tell...my baby is pretty much on my mind ALL the time. But we do have other things going on in our lives. This month has already been busy with Christmas parties, and it's not going to slow down until after Christmas - well maybe not until after New Years. So far this year we've decorated gingerbread houses (well...graham cracker houses), I made all my ornaments for my Christmas tree including strung popcorn and cranberries (Brant helped string the popcorn). I made a cute JOY out of wood & a big ornament (man I wish I could post pictures of these things!!!). And we decorated Christmas cookies.

In the next few weeks we have 3 white elephant parties. 1 ugly sweater party. 2 normal family Christmas parties. And 1 work party. Pretty much every weekend is taken up with Christmas parties. I'm excited though. I love Christmas and it's going to be great getting together with family and friends. If only it would snow so we could have a white Christmas.

Well, I guess I better go. I'm at work and I should probably actually do some of those items on my To Do list. Wish me luck! Hahaha!

Hopefully next week I'll be able to post pictures and can post about Thanksgiving/birthdays. And also all the Christmas fun we've been having. We'll just see how motivated I am Saturday to print out my blog...