Check Tom's Blog & Update

Tom actually posted something new (I know, hard to believe). He has a tribute to our new little one and I wanted to post it on my blog, but since Tom made it and he needed some help in actually getting a new post up on his blog, I let him post it. Check it out here.

Well, Carter and I are home now! We left the hospital today (Friday) around 4:00 pm. We are both doing great!

Here is how the delivery went: We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am & my doctor came and broke my water at around 8:00. We had a little scare when the doctor thought the umbilical cord might come out before the head... causing an emergency C-section. But, they moved the baby around and fixed the problem. Once I started having a few stronger contractions, they gave me my epidural (yeah!) around 9:00 and started pitocin, which helps move labor along. Then we just waited until I was fully dilated and the doctor was ready to deliver. I think I pushed about six times and then Carter arrived!

After delivery, we moved rooms and enjoyed a "Celebration Meal" that Tom also got to eat for free. We could order as much food as we wanted (and we did!) and it also included a bottle of sparkling cider served champagne style. The rooms were complete with a double bed (with vibration and massage features), wireless internet, and even remote control window shades. Today, I also enjoyed a complimentary massage! It was great! I'm so glad I chose to have Carter at this hospital.... they really make their patients feel comfortable.

Last night, Jordyn, Evan, and my mom and dad came to meet the baby. Evan really wanted nothing to do with Carter and kept pushing him away when we'd try to get him to hold him. Jordyn seemed happy to meet her brother. I included a video of what Evan was doing most of the time at the hospital. Be sure to watch it until the very end.... it is really funny!

Now we are home and trying to adjust to our new lives. I'm so glad we have my parents to help us until the first of the year. I think it's going to be quite the transition for us! Evan is warming up to Carter too... he kissed him twice tonight and has been walking around imitating the "coos" and "cries" from Carter. We'll keep you posted on our new little guy!

Announcing...

CARTER JAMES BYBEE

Day: 12.27.07
Time: 12:02 pm
Weight: 8lbs. 0 oz.
Height: 19.75 in.

Mom and baby are doing well! We will post more information and photos tomorrow!

Christmas!

Just a quick note before I write about Christmas. I am being induced tomorrow morning at 7:30am! Yippee! We are very excited & nervous too. I'm sure things will go great though. We will post photos on here as soon as we can!

We had a great Christmas. I actually think it was better to have the baby after Christmas. This way, I could fully enjoy Christmas, get lots of sleep, and spend quality time with family. My dad arrived last Friday. Then my brother Dave and his wife Mel, arrived on Saturday. It was so fun having everyone stay here! It really makes you miss family and wish you all lived in the same town. Sunday night we had a nice dinner with everyone, including Mel's parents and Mel's sister & her family. Christmas Eve we went out to breakfast (see post below) and everyone finished up some last minute shopping. Then we head over to Mel's sister's house for a tasty Turkey dinner. We also had the kids act out The Nativity. It was cute! Christmas Day we opened gifts and had a relaxing day. Thank you everyone for the gifts we received! I have to brag about my favorite gift. Tom got me a Garmin Forerunner! It's a GPS system you wear on your wrist, for running. It has all kinds of crazy features to help you train and improve your running. I can't wait to actually be able to use it!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas too! The next post you see, will FINALLY be pictures of the baby!

Mel's niece, Mia, as Mary & Evan as Joseph

Jordyn as a shepherd. Notice the sheep on her lap!

Evan waking up Christmas day and seeing his presents
and toy piano.

Jordyn with one of her favorite gifts, a scarf she got
from one of her teachers at school.

Video Below: One of Evan's favorite gifts was a little piano. Someone actually gave it to us because their kids had outgrown it. We decided to just give it to him as one of his Christmas presents. Imagine, the one present we didn't buy for him was his favorite!

Happy Birthday Jenny!!!

We all want to wish Jenny a Happy Birthday!!! Here we are after our "Christmas Eve" breakfast, in honor of Jenny. I think this might be one of the best traditions ever! And it was probably one of the best breakfasts we've ever had too. Happy Birthday Jenny! We love you!

(In case you can't tell, the sign says "Happy Birthday Jenny". Dad took the photo too. If you want to play a fun little game, try and find dad in the reflection!)

I should have known!

Bad news everyone... I am not being induced this week! I felt like crying after my appointment! I KNEW my doctor wouldn't remember last week's appt. or that he would change his mind! Why did I get my hopes up?... WHY WHY WHY!? And why do doctor's say one thing and then do another?(sigh) I guess I have to get over it now.... or in a few days.

I am still dilated 4cm. I waited for my doctor to talk about inducing me and when he never did... I brought it up. He said he would induce me next Thursday (however, because of this appt. I am NOT going to take what he said as a fact! And of course he didn't schedule it or even write it down.) He is leaving town this Friday and will be back next Wednesday. I could tell he was extremely busy today in his office, probably getting ready to go out of town. I wonder if that is why his attitude about inducing changed so much from last week. Oh, he also told me that I am going to have a good sized baby! What?! Can you believe we were so worried about this baby coming early and NOW they are saying it could possibly be big!? I think I'm gonna go crazy!

Now we are all convinced I am going to have the baby on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day because of my great luck so far! But, once again, I have to remember that this baby will come when it wants to come and I just have to go with the flow. I can't do anything about it!

My next appt. is on Wednesday and hopefully then I will have better news!

Our First Tree

These pictures are from the first part of December, but I am just getting around to posting them! We got to buy our first Christmas tree this year! For the past 5 years, we've always traveled to Montana and Wyoming and spent at least 2 weeks with family. We would always decide not to get a tree because we wouldn't be around much to enjoy it and because of the lack of money! This year, we had to stay home, due to Tom's new job and having the baby.

We are quite proud of our first tree. We tried to keep it as cheap as possible. We found a great deal and bought our "pre-lit, 6.5 ft." tree on sale for $45! It's almost impossible to find a decent tree for that cheap! We were really surprised at how great it looked after we set it up. I bought just a few decoratons to put on it and then we were lucky enough to recieve some very cute ornaments and decorations from Tom's sister, Linda. Thanks Linda! So, I think we outfitted our entire tree for about $60! Now if I could just find a nice looking tree skirt that didn't cost a fortune!

Jordyn really enjoys looking at the tree. One night she managed to roll and scoot her way over to the tree and was kicking the branches and knocking the ornaments off. Evan even does great with the tree. He went a little crazy when we were setting it up and was throwing ornaments everywhere. But, after a few time-outs, he hasn't removed an ornament since!

The Finished Product



My sister-in-law, Maria, tagged us awhile ago to share stories about our
favorite Christmas tree ornaments. So, here is a picture of the FIVE ornaments
we owned before this year! Unlike many in my family, neither Tom or myself came into this marriage with any ornaments! The bride and groom ornament we recieved from my Aunt and Uncle for our wedding.The "Merry Christmas" ornament was made by an eldery lady in one of our first wards after we got married. The others we recieved from family members through the years. I'm sure we will gain more sentimental ornaments over the years.

Growing up, my favorite ornament was a little beaded angel. I remember fighting with my brothers and sisters over who got to hang that ornament. Anyone else remember that ornament? I also loved the stuffed Santa we had that sat on the fireplace.I am keeping my eye out for a cute stuffed Santa to sit on our fireplace! Isn't it funny how you want to have some of the same things for your kids that you remember having when you grew up? I also loved our tree skirt. I'm not sure if I understood what a "tree skirt" was, because I would always wrap it around my waist and pretend it was a real skirt!

Evan eating the decorations.

Appointment Day

Anyone else tired of these updates? I am!

I had my appt. today and not much has changed (surprise)! I am still dilated 3+ and 80% effaced. The doctor says he doesn't know how I've held on this long because the baby is very low. But, he said I still could go another 1-2 weeks.... or have the baby any day! He also acted as if this baby will come very quickly when I do go into labor. That makes me very nervous!

But now for the good news. He asked if I wanted to have the baby before Christmas and of course I said yes! So, he said we would see where I was next week and possibly induce before Christmas! Yeah! I am trying really hard not to get my hopes up, because you know how doctors are... next week he might say,"I don't remember saying that, I don't want to induce you!" But, we figured that he probably would rather deliver a baby before Christmas than on Christmas!

Ward Christmas Party!

The Past Few Weeks

Jordyn starting riding a cute little red bike at therapy! Last week she tried it for the first time and was grinning from ear to ear. This week I got video of it and even though she isn't smiling, I could tell she enjoyed it again. She also works with the therapy dog every week too and they go on a bike ride and walks together. I know most parents think their kids are the cutest and love every little cute thing they do, but I have to say I think this might be the cutest video ever! I think it is the fact that you know Jordyn can't pedal a bike on her own, so to see her pedaling is so cute! (the bike pedals automatically when it's pushed forward)



Most of you know that my mom was kind enough to come and stay with us while we wait for the baby to come. First of all, I have to mention a few things that I have been LOVING while my mom is here. 1. She does the dishes after EVERY meal! I don't know about you, but our sink is usually overflowing with dishes at the end of the day. I don't think I have washed a single dish in the last 2 weeks. 2. I have hardly cooked a meal in the past 2 weeks. She cooks almost everything 3. I have someone to talk to ALL day long! 4. And of course, I have had a lot of help with Evan and Jordyn! Thanks mom!

So, what have we been doing the past few weeks while my mom is visiting? We spend most of our morning taking care of Jordyn & Evan and then getting ourselves ready for the day. The we get Jordyn off to school and usually go shopping to one or two stores, until I get too tired and my feet are sore! We've been taking Evan to the library story time every Tuesday also. Then my mom and I go check out books and other magazines. We also went to the park last week. It was a little cold, so we didn't stay TOO long. But, the kids really enjoyed it, as usual. Today we are baking cookies to freeze. We already froze a pan of turkey enchiladas and blueberry muffins. Isn't baking so fun? Maybe it's because it always taste so good!

We are looking forward to Grandpa's arrival.... we aren't sure when it will be. I guess the new baby will decide that! We have all kinds of activities planned and places to go, but decided it would be more fun to wait for Grandpa for some of them.

The last photo I included is of Evan "cooking". I am sure other parents do this, but it seems like if Evan shows any interest in something, we think that is what he will grow up to do. Now we think he's going to be a chef. He loves to get the pots and pans out and pretend to cook. He also likes to watch the cooking segments on shows. He will even "cook" something and then pretend to feed it to Jordyn! We also think Evan's favorite animal is a dog, because he barks at every animal he sees and seems to LOVE dogs. But, isn't barking one of the first animal sounds most kids make? It's funny how you can take your kids' actions and interpret them! Evan started imitating me when I put my deodorant on and he "styles" his hair in the mirror, like Tom. Oh, he also loves to dance! I've been trying to get video of it, but it seems like he stops whenever I tape him. Hmmm dancing, cooking, and being vain? Maybe we should be worried about Evan!? :)

ANOTHER Update

Had another doctor's appointment today. Once again, nothing too exciting. I am still dilated to a three, almost a four. The doctor said now it is just a waiting game every week, because we really don't know what will happen. I have to keep reminding myself that making it this far and even farther along, is a good thing! I think I keep forgetting how early it still is. If I make it to next week, I will have made it past the time I had Evan! So, that really is a good thing. Hopefully, this week I will get around to posting something other than appointment updates!