A week long celebration!

We had a great Christmas week and hope everyone else did as well. (P.S. I can't figure out how to turn off the stupid underlining and it is really bugging me....just so you know-I am not doing this on purpose). We had dinner the Sunday before Christmas with my mom and her husband, then on Christmas Eve, we went to Shane's parent's home for a yummy dinner and presents. On Christmas Day, we went to my dad and his wife's house, then to my grandparents house a bit later. Busy, busy, but so much fun! i haven't uploaded the pictures from my camera yet, but here are some that Shane's mom took and added little features to. Enjoy!

This was us at Thanksgiving...before little Lexi joined our family.

On Christmas Eve....Kelly let me borrow this adorable outfit she used for Liz last year (thanks!) and I found this matching one for Kaden at Wal-Mart. We tried so hard to get cute pictures of them in the outfits, but Kaden was sick and did NOT want to sit still-especially next to his sister.

He was much happier once the booties were off and he had his toys (the binky helps, too). :)

She loves her tongue! So cute...she was a week and five days old here-growing so fast!

Lexi (or Ali...haven't decided yet) was hungry and showed me by eating her hands. :D

Merry Christmas!!

We hope that everyone has a GREAT Christmas!! Can't wait to see all the fun pictures!

Introducing Alexandria Jo Porter!!

Well, as impatient as I was, Alexandria did decide to come (finally...) last Friday night. We went into the hospital about 4:00 pm because I was having regular contractions, but the nurse (whom we nicknamed Cruella) made us walk for an hour (yes, again! I was in severe pain the entire time) because she thought I was "going backwards" in my dilation and didn't believe I was really in labor. We did NOT like her at all. At 5:30 her replacement came and checked me and, surprise, surprise, I WAS in labor! They admitted me and started me on the Step B antibiotics. A while later I got an epidural, which successfully numbed my legs....and nothing else. I could feel the contractions VERY well, so the drug doctor gave me a stronger dose of the stuff to see if that helped. It didn't. (By this time my legs were completely useless from the stronger doses I got...haha). He redid the epidural and this time it worked wonderfully. :) I love drugs! It was looking like I would have Alex around 2 or 3 am, but then my midwife checked me close to 11:20 and said I was complete and it was time to push! After everything was set up, Kathy (my midwife) asked how many contractions it took to push Kaden out. I told her two. She said oh! ok, well the second baby usually takes half the time, so you only get one this time. She was totally joking, but I said ok! One contraction later (about 30 seconds) Alexandria Jo Porter was born at 11:29pm! (Please no one hate me if you pushed longer...it is just easy to me for some reason). She weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long!! SO BEAUTIFUL! She is a MUCH better nurser than Kaden was, which I LOVE. The first couple of days home were not so fun because I was severely engorged and in TONS of pain. Thank goodness for pumps...and sisters with nice ones (THANKS SUZ!). Anyway, last night and today have been great. Alex sleeps a lot (of course) and eats about every 2 1/2 hours during the day and about every 3 1/2 hours at night. Kaden was up every hour and a half, so I am LOVING Alex's schedule. :) Here are some fun pics! Sorry it took so long to update the blog everyone!

Finally admitted! Give me the drugs!
Check out that cute little cone head

6 lbs 5 oz and 19 1/2 inches long!!

The wonderful Kathy Mark, my midwife

Shane was asleep when I was about to start pushing...it took 3 nurses to wake him up...lol

Introducing Kaden and Alexandria....how will he react?

Um, no thanks! He just kept gently pushing her away...he still just completely ignores her.

The happy family!

Proud papa-Shane is SO protective of her.

Kaden found a fun hiding place at the hospital-he was loving this closet.

Alexandria's take home outfit....it is a newborn size, but still swallows her whole.

Her first car ride!

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!

This post may contain way TMI for some of you, so feel free to skip it if you don't like pregnancy talk. :) Everyone is astounded that I have made it this far along. This last Monday, I started having really bad constant lower back pain. After a couple of hours of this, I couldn't handle it anymore and tried calling the hospital to see what the nurses there thought I should do. Well, lucky me, it was after hours so no one answered! I called my midwife, Kathy, but she didn't answer (I found out later she was delivering....). So, next I consulted with those experts who have had kids before me (meaning my friends and sisters) who all said it was time to go in. One, who will remain nameless, even scared the crap out of me by saying that her friends who have had that pain in the back ignored it, then when they finally went in, they were dilated to an 8 and had the baby very shortly after!! I was a bit panicked and Shane wasn't doing any better than me (although he was more excited, I think). Anyway, to make a long story short, we went in to labor and delivery (L&D) where they said I was dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced. They talked to my midwife who said to have me walk around McKay Dee for an HOUR and see if any progress happens. Shane and I walked and walked and walked...if you ever need help finding anything at McKay, call us and we can point you in the right direction. :) We went back to L&D where now I was still a 4 and 70%, BUT my water was "bulging." For this reason alone, they kept us another hour so they could monitor my now stronger contractions and make sure my water didn't break on the way home. An hour later, no change, so they sent me home, but kept saying that I would be back later that night or the next day because there was NO WAY I would make it to my next doctor's appointment on Wednesday. (big, sarcastic eye roll here) SO, at my appointment on Wednesday (the one that there was NO WAY I would make it to...) my midwife was shocked to see me and said that she was sure I would have delivered on Monday. She told me that she would strip my membranes, though, to help things along. I thought, "GREAT!" then, "Crap! I have heard that kills!" I didn't care, though, because I am SO done with being a whale. Kathy came in and checked me and said that I am now dilated to a 5 and 70% effaced--still with my water bulging!! She had no idea why I was not having contractions and/or my water hadn't broken yet. I asked if she was still going to strip my membranes and she said that she can't now because I am at a 5!! (I think she explained it was because I am Strep B positive with this pregnancy and it is illegal for her to do anything she KNOWS would break my water before 39 weeks or she could have her license suspended for a month....). LAME! She was absolutely positive that my water would break as she was stripping my membranes (eww! she said it wouldn't be the first time it has happened on her, though). So, she told me to hang in there and she will be surprised if I make it to my inducement date next Wednesday. WELL, it is now FRIDAY and NOTHING IS HAPPENING!! My mom asked me what is keeping the baby in...lol. I don't know!! Shane, by the way, has been anxious through all of this (to say the least). He calls me every hour (no joke) from work asking if my contractions have started or my water broken yet. Apparently he thinks I will forget to call him....lol. He also has been making me do everything possible to induce labor (none of which work)....this morning he made me jump on our mini-trampoline for 5 minutes-trying to make my water break from the force! :D Men... So, that is the latest update on me. At this point, it feels hopeless and I will just have to wait until next Wednesday to be induced. I am most worried that I will not have time to make it to the hospital and get an epidural before Alexandria makes her big debut. I NEED DRUGS!! My midwife told me to call her the MINUTE my water breaks so that she can meet me at the hospital or else she might not make it in time for the delivery. All along I have actually wanted Alexandria to come tomorrow (12/13/08), and maybe now I will see that she was listening to me! :) Any ideas for inducing labor (besides the usual: walking, sex, feet rubs, back rubs.....)??

Time flies....

So, it's been a long semester, but I survived! I thought it was about time to do a post on the most recent things that have been happening that I have neglected. Since I have pregnancy brain, this won't go too far back...lol. Starting with Thanksgiving:
We had a fun Thanksgiving full of turkey and pie (and eclairs! yum!). We celebrated Thanksgiving with my dad the Sunday before, which helped to space out the turkey hangovers a bit. :) Thanksgiving day we went to Shane's parent's house first (it was also a combined celebration of Shane's dad's 50th birthday the next day!! Woo! Half a century!) Kaden had his very first 4-wheeler ride! He was sick and it was freezing, so he didn't have the best time. He did keep reaching for the handlebars, so hopefully that means when it warms up he will be more open to going again.
After some DELICIOUS eclairs (I seriously LOVE those things!), we headed to my mom's house for some more yummy, moist turkey! Kaden enjoyed playing with his cousin, Taliyah, probably because she is the smaller than him and not mobile yet (close, though!). She is so photogenic (sp?) and loves to smile for the camera, so we got a lot of adorable pictures of her.
That is, when Kaden wasn't running in front of her to steal her spotlight, anyway.
It was a great Thanksgiving!
Lately Kaden enjoys putting things in boxes, bags, or anything else he can. The other day he took every toy out of his toy bin and then grabbed Puppy (of course) and a book and decided to relax in the toy bin! So I grabbed the camera...hahaha.
We have also stolen Liz to come play and she decided to get into the whole "let's see what we can sit in" thing, too. :D
Partners in crime...Liz enjoyed the toy bin, too.
I absolutely love Liz's face in this picture! It makes me laugh so hard. Kaden was excited about whatever movie we had on and apparently Liz didn't like the flash on the camera. lol

Liz's favorite spot in the apartment.
Kaden has also decided recently to see just how much food he can stuff into his mouth before gagging. Wonderful, right? Not! But it does make for some funny pictures!
This is a half of a cookie he got in his mouth....drooled all over poor Stephanie. haha Just prepping her for future kids.

I was trying to take a cute picture with Kaden and didn't realize he found the Nilla Wafers right before. I was laughing when I reviewed pictures a little later and saw this one. hahaha

That is what has been happening the last couple of weeks. Hopefully my water breaks soon and my next post is welcoming baby Alexandria! Woo!

8 things....

Thanks for the tag Megan!

8 T.V. shows that I like to watch......
1. Prison Break
2. One Tree Hill (don't laugh! It's better than you would think...)
3. Privileged (my guilty pleasure)
4. What I Like About You
5. Ellen!
6. House
7. I Love Lucy
8. Kitchen Nightmares (although I have a hard time eating out anywhere afterwards)

8 things that happened yesterday.......
1. I had a doctor's appointment and was told I am dialated to a 3 and 60% effaced!!
2. I worked
3. I took care of Kaden
4. I cleaned my gross apartment that I have been neglecting all semester-it took hours and felt great.
5. I talked to Kenzie forever on the phone
6. Listed my textbooks on Amazon and Half.com-hopefully I get more $ from these sites than the stupid buyback at Weber.
7. Tried to teach Kaden "Where is your nose?"...but he only randomly gets it right-lame!
8. Poked my belly to let Alexandria know I am 37 weeks now so she can come and be full term!

8 favorite places to eat...
1. Red Robin
2. Tempanyaki's (but it's too expensive to go very often...)
3. Texas Roadhouse
4. ABC Mandarin
5. Cafe Rio
6. Sweet Tomatoes
7. Maddox (the real one in Brigham-not the nasty drive through)
8. Papa John's (though we usually get Little Caesars because we are cheap...lol)

8 things I am looking forward to......
1. Alex's birth!!!!
2. Christmas (Shane got me some GREAT gifts this year-haha)
3. Never being pregnant again! Woo!
4. Buying a house (if we ever get one of the hundreds we have been looking at)
5. Kaden learning more words and sentences-I LOVE it that he can talk more now
6. Sleeping on my stomach and/or back (anything except my sides!)
7. My grandma's homemade rolls at Christmas dinner-nothing beats these
8. Our 4 year anniversary! (Not until March, but hey...looking forward to it!)

8 things on my wish list......
1. A healthy baby girl (I have nightmares about it)
2. A second car
3. Pizza and root beer! (sorry-current craving...Shane is bringing them home later hahaha)
4. New shoes (I have been looking for some for about a month, but no one is carrying the style I want...I don't know where else to look! Any ideas? I have tried Forever Young, Famous Footwear, WalMart, Target, and Payless)
5. A gym membership to lose baby weight!
6. A trip to Disneyland when the kiddos are a little older
7. Another easy labor and delivery (but can I really get that lucky twice?)
8. A deep massage

8 people that I tag.......
1. Hill
2. Kim
3. Linz
4. Angel
5. Jamee
6. Yuki
7. Suz
8. Crystal

Tagged by Jamee!

5 things that you love about your baby!!!

(Sorry it took me forever Jamee! Thanks for the fun tag!)

1) I love that Kaden looks so much like Shane and everyone notices! Their little facial expressions are the same and it is SO cute watching them play together. Kaden LOVES it when daddy comes home and roughhouses the way only fathers can do to their kids. :)






2) I love that Kaden is such a happy kid. He has been a happy baby from day one (which is the reason I was open to having one more kid....). Except when he is teething or sick, Kaden always has a smile on and some story to tell everyone and anyone who will listen. He loves to "talk," especially when he gets responses (my favorite to use is "really?!"...that one keeps him talking for a while).

3) I love that Kaden is a cuddly baby. He loves to cuddle in the morning with me and at night before bed with daddy. It is part of the nighttime routine (to watch signing times and cuddle with daddy).





4) I love that I have the cutest kid in the world! Who knew that something so stinkin' cute could come out of ME?! Although, remember, almost everyone says he looks exactly like Shane. lol



5) I was scared to death to be a first time mom, but now I love that I never have to give Kaden back to anyone at the end of the day. He's mine! I thought it would be so hard, and while motherhood is not always the easiest, Kaden's smiles, hugs, and kisses make it all worthwhile.



I tag Kelly, Megan and Steph Jorgensen!