Interesting Mommy Day

Tha AC has been broken in the Xterra for a while now and since I have taken over driving it there hasn't been a need since it has been so cold. However, with the sun peeking out more and more and with a new baby in the car I thought it important to get that fixed.We took it to Meineke and got a quote of $260.00 OUCH and had it scheduled for last Saturday.
   On friday, my dad reminded me of a family friend that fixes cars and had actually fixed one of my cars in the past. If I could get the part he would definately charge me less labor that Meineke. I called Ricardo and he said he knew how to fix our problem and that he could do it on Monday. I was so excited. Halsy called around to auto part stores and found the part we needed at Autozone - although it needed to be ordered. The part was to be delivered Sunday or Monday. I was really hoping we could just go and get it on Sunday after church (no worries we pre-paid :) because we would already be in town, but the part hadn't arrived yet.
   So Monday morning I called and it was there. Also, when I asked about the pre-pay they said their records didn't show a payment - I told them I would bring my bank statement to prove payment. Of course, gung ho me, I packed Katey and Cameron into the car and headed to Autozone. As we pulled up Katey was screaming and Cameron had crumbled his bread all over him and the car seat. As I pulled Katey out of her car seat to burp her, she pooped her pants!! I then got Cameron out of his seat and told him to leave his bottle in the car, however after a fit in the parking lot I gave in and let him bring in the bottle - what does it matter really I figured??  We got in there and they couldn't find the part or the debit card payment in their system. Here I am with two little kids waiting in a very non-child proof store for 20 minutes while the retards finally found my transaction and the part. We got back into the car and headed to our next destination.
  We got to the hospital to deliver a thank you to the nurses that took such good care of me. We went up to the third floor to say hello, then hung out in the waiting room while I changed Katey's diaper and nursed her. Luckily Cameron didn't destroy anything as he was climbing on chairs and tables because he knew I couldn't get up. We headed back to the car and as I went to put Cameron in his seat he told me he was poopy. ARGH - changed him, folded the stroller, and on we went. We went to the office to drop of the Xterra and do a little work for Dad. AFter getting back home I got a call from Ricardo saying that Autozone gave us the wrong part. WHAT!?!?! I just spent a stressful day in the car with two kids for the WRONG PART. I almost called them right then and there to yell and berate their intelligence, but I knew I would probably sound insane.
   Luckily, my uncle was able to find the right part at another store for $20 cheaper and they had it next day. So I am now getting ready to go into town and get my new AC working vehicle.
   Another bonus to the story - when I told Ricardo how much I wanted to pay him, he absolutely refused and only upon great insistance did he let me pay with cookies!! Thank you Ricardo - a student's life is always in need of some extra cash!

Katey's 2 Week Check up

Katey Jane has officially surpassed her birth-weight and is now weighing in at 7 lbs 6 oz and is 21 inches long! You are in the 25th percentile for your weight and the 50th for your height! Way to go little Miss!

Katey Jane's Fact Sheet:

** You are the best behaved baby I know! You hardly cry, spit up, or put up a fuss!
** You are absolutely beautiful to look at!
** You make noises like a little billy goat while you are sleeping. At first it kept me awake at night
     wondering if that meant you were waking up, but my ears are now trained and I am able to tune you
     out :) No offense!
** You love to be swaddled and be warm. So unlike the rest of your polar bear family! You get the extra
     blankets at night!
** So far you enjoy car rides, I hardly hear a peep from you while driving....heaven!

We are so excited to learn all about your little personality and fall more in love with you every day!!

Cameron's 2 Year Check up!

Height: 33 3/4" (50th percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs 3 oz (5th percentile) 

   You passed with flying colors, physically you are doing wonderful and you are meeting all your milestones. You have Dr. Palmer wrapped around your finger with those big baby blues. You let Dr. Palmer check your eyes, nose, mouth, everything and put up no fuss about it!

Cameron's Fact Sheet:

** You can put sentences together: "Jackson closed the door" "Mommy, what are ya doing?" "I love
     you"
** You can almost get your shoes on by yourself!
** You love cars, tractors, trucks, and trains.
** You love dinosaurs, expecially your e-rex and e-neck (T-Rex and long neck)
** You are the sweetest older brother and you ask to hold Katey and give her loves all the time.
** You love to dance with me! We crank the tunes and sway and move all around the living room. This
     makes your mommy very happy.
** You are such a good helper!
** You really like to feed the cows with Grandpa!
** Luckily you haven't figured out how to open doors yet!
** You give the sweetest hugs and kisses!
** I am continually amazed at your smarts! You can figure things out and really picks up on things fast!
** You are spitting out new words daily
** Your favorite things to eat are: Hot dogs, cheese, apples, milk, cake, marshmallows, candy (any
    kind), pickles, pears, corn, and green beans.
** You say your prayers with mommy and say thank you for the most random and adorable things;
    people, toys, and places, etc. I love hearing your little voice pray!
** You are very polite, you say "thank you" "excuse me" "please" and most times you don't need
    prompting!!

I love you my dearest Cameron boy. You bring your mommy a lot of joy!

The Guilt has set in.......

It's official.......I have already taken at least half the pictures of Katey than I did of Cameron. I don't even have my camera charged and ready. I know I gotta give myselft a break - she is only 2 weeks old for heaven sake - but I need to make a resolution to do better!

I WILL DO BETTER AT TAKING PICTURES OF BOTH OF MY CHILDREN.

We'll see how that goes......wish me luck!

Beautiful Baby Girl - Weeks 1 & 2

   After such a wonderful birth experience, Katey continued to be so. She is such a wonderful baby!! She hardly cries, she nurses well (no nipple shield), she sleeps well, and SHE DOESN'T PUKE!!! I am loving all the pink, purple, and ruffles. I have to change her clothes at least 2 times every day to be sure she gets to wear all her cute things!
   I had a rough 1st week at home. I had the baby blues pretty bad, worse than with Cameron. Also, with my extensive stitch job I was in a lot of discomfort and was not enjoying life. I went back in to see my OB and they gave me some medicine to help with my hormones and emotions. Luckily, my depression faded in a few days and I at least "felt" better. However, my body wasn't doing so well. I think I tried to do too much during week one that I didn't let my body heal as it should. AFter going back to the doctor again to make sure everything was healing correctly, I was given more meds and under strict instruction to sit/lay down more often. I took that advice very seriously and within a few days my body started to feel much better.
   I am now 2 weeks post delivery and feeling great! My body is almost healed and my emotions are as they once were.

The Arrival of Miss Katey Jane Carter

We were in Eugene vising Halsy's family and were very excited to take Cameron Easter egg hunting with all his cousins, but all our plans changed when my water broke at 6:30am, waking me up!! I yelled for Halsy (sleeping in the other room because Cameron needed a buddy) and recieved a groggy reply. "Honey, come here please!" He arrived at the door half asleep, "So uh, my water just broke" to which he answered "Holy Crap, well okay then what do we do?". I told him to get all our stuff packed as fast as possible and I called my doctor. I have never seen Halsy move that fast! He packed EVERYTHING in less than 20 minutes.....I was so impressed. He woke his parents and they made Halsy and Cameron breakfast so we could head out the door.

   We made it to Legacy Meridian Park Hospital in 1 hour and 20 minutes.....definately speeding the entire way. We walked in around 8:30am and they got me into a room so they could check me. We called my parents to come and get Cameron and started the waiting game. They checked my cervix and I was still only dilated to 2 cm and 70% effaced. Also, they said that my water still hadn't officially broken. Apparently in most women the 2 layers of the amniotic sac are fused together, but in my case I had two layers of amniotic fluid and only one had broken. I was so bummed, but they said thay wanted to keep me in the hospital to see if I was going to go into labor since I was having semi-regular contractions.

   A couple hours passed and my cervix wasn't making any progress and they were starting to talk about the possibility of sending me home. Halsy and I went for walks around the hallways and whenever I was out of sight of the nurse station I was jumping!! We came back to the room and they decided to give me meds to help me sleep and when I woke up I would either be in labor or they would send me home. They gave me two shots in my butt - YOUCH and off the dreamland I went. I woke up at 2:30pm and my water broke!! YAY!! They weren't going to send me home!! We were so excited!

   The progress was so SLOW. Mom came to hang out with us and stayed all night - she was a trooper and kept Halsy from going crazy! She kept everyone updated for me via phone and texts and snuck in yummy treats. We watched Pretty Woman and quoted every line before it happened - driving Halsy slightly crazy :)

   It took forever to dilate even 1 cm, but the doctor didn't want to give me pitossin because I was a previous C-Section and they didn't want to stress my uterus any more than it was. So we waited. At 3:30am they decided to give me some pitossin because my contractions were spacing farther apart and becoming more sporadic. After the pitossin the contractions became more intense and at 5:30am I asked for the epidural. It was a little painful, but not unbearable, and after it was done I was in heaven. I mostly slept the rest of the time until the doctors checked me again around 9am. I had made progress!! Dilated to a 5!

   Mom slept in the waiting room and Halsy took the couch and we all tried to catch up on some sleep again. Around 10:45, I woke up and asked mom to get me something to suck on because my mouth was dry and gross. She headed to Fred Meyer down the road and as she left the doctors came in to check on me. I wasn't feeling any pressure yet, but within 15 minutes or so I felt a tingling in my bottom. I let the nurse know and she checked me. Sure enough I was fully dilated and close to pushing. I told Halsy to call my mom and get her back here ASAP. Mom thought he was joking with her, it had taken so long up until this point.....so she rushed back and got there in plenty of time. We called my dad and told him to hustle too!!

   The nurse started getting the room ready for delivery and said they would page the doctor when I go closer, and that it would probably be another hour before Katey comes. She had me do some practice pushes and said "oh wow, lets call the doctor, I think Katey is on her way right now!" The doctor came in and had me push a few more times, then said to stop while she got her equipment ready....20 minutes total pushing and out came Katey Jane Carter.

   The cord was around her neck, but not something that was uncommon. She was 6 lbs and 9 oz, 20 inches long. Halsy got to cut the umbelical cord and then they placed her on my chest and I got to cuddle and love on her for quite some time. Her eyes were wide open and she was perfectly pink and healthy. The doctors had to do quite the stitch job on mommy, but luckily the epidural saved me a trip to the operating room. I was bleeding a lot, but after 20 minutes of stitching the doctor was able to get it under control.

  This birth was amazing, I enjoyed it and hope that as I have more babies they can all come this way. I prefer this to a C-Section any day. We have our beautiful baby girl and we couldn't be happier.

Cameron came later that day to meet his new baby sister!

Cameron's First Experience with a Mascot

   We went out to dinner with Halsy's family at Home Town Buffet. I didn't know it, but apparently they have a mascot. A Big Bumble Bee. Now, Cameron likes bees - all summer long he tries to pick them up and give them kisses - so we thought he might like the bee. How wrong we were.

   The Bee came close to our table with a handful of balloons and Cameron was okay at first, but as the Bee came closer and closer a look of panic took over Cameron's little face. He leaned as far away as possible and no matter how much we looked like we enjoyed the Bee, Cameron was not having it. He started to poke his lower lip out and cry. I felt so bad!  Luckily the Bee caught on and moved to another table of kids.

    The rest of dinner Cameron couldn't eat unless that Bee was no where to be seen for at least a few minutes. He would watch the Bee like a hawk and actually called out to him, but if it came close at all the tears would come out. If the Bee went out of sight he would say "Bee?" and I replied "He's is taking a break buddy". "Okay Mommy". He was then able to eat some of his dinner until that Bee was spotted. Then we started over again. He would watch and then after he disappeared for a while he would ask if the Bee was on a break before continuing to eat.

    That stinkin' Bee didn't get it. He kept coming by the table and waving to Cameron - I was about to strangle a mascot! I got Cameron to say "No thank you Bee" and finally after 3 fly-bys he got the picture and left our area alone.

    I really wish I had taken a picture of the Bee for you all to see, but my camera was left in my purse at home. So just picture and red and yellow 5 ft tall bee holding balloons coming toward you slowly - I could definitely see how that would freak out a 2 yr old.