living in the lone star state

howdy ya'll! yep. we're here. it's been a while since we posted, so in case you were wondering, yes, we did make it safely to texas. after 3 LONG days of driving, we arrived in hot and sticky san antonio! so, without trying to overload ya'll (yes, i'm embracing that one!) with pictures, here's a quick update as to what we've been up to!

like i said, it was a long three day drive from utah to texas. and, since we have two cars, that meant that we couldn't all be together. peter and i caravanned and traded the kids back and forth throughout the drive. the plan was for each of us to have one child at all times, but as it turned out, william always wanted to ride in the same car as clara, so peter and i took turns having some alone driving time. which actually turned out to be kind of nice. to help william with the long drive, we had a bunch of little surprises for him that we'd give to him during the trip. one of these little surprises was my very old digital camera. i think it was from college--the very first digital camera i ever owned. anyway. he loved it. it really kept him entertained for the whole drive. here are a few shots that he took at a couple different stops on the drive:

 and here's a quick shot as we crossed into texas:

since we've been here, we've had a lot of fun. one of the very first things we did was buy a season pass to sea world. that's right. we've got our priorities straight! the sea world here has a pretty awesome water park as well, and we found out that all of the stay at home moms in our ward pretty much go there for playgroups since it's just too hot to go sit at a park. works for us! will LOVES it and clara doesn't mind a little sunbathing either.

in addition to peter starting classes, he's also been on a big camping kick. but, since it's just too hot to make poor little clara suffer all night in a tent, we've decided to wait to go on a real camping trip until the weather starts to cool off. so, in the meantime, we've had ourselves a couple of s'more roasts and actually, as i type this, peter and will are in the backyard in the tent. we'll see if they last all night :)

will and clara in the tent

we've also enjoyed a lot of good food since we've been here. one night we went out for a 42" pizza with friends, and we've also eaten at Rudy's "the worst BBQ in san antonio" which is actually the best BBQ i've had so far. it was seriously good. and then, we've also eaten some good ol' kids-eat-free dickey's BBQ as well.



while peter is at school, will, clara, and i do a lot of this:



just hanging out. clara has recently gotten too heavy for her swing--which was a very sad day for us. she loved that thing and would fall asleep in it and everything. but then her weight got the best of her and the swing. it no longer swings when she's in it. she's just too heavy. so, i'm stuck holding her most of the day (she doesn't last too long in the bumbo or bouncer), which means we don't get a lot done. besides go to sea world, that is :) anyway, and since will loves to cuddle too, that's just what we do a lot of the day! i really can't complain. there's nothing i'd rather do than hold and cuddle my two kiddies, but the housework and getting unpacked has really been neglected . . .

on another note, we had a great 4th of july this year. it started out with a long bike ride for peter and then a run for me. then we undid all of that calorie-burning by eating BBQ at Rudy's. after afternoon naps, we loaded up and went to Boerne, a small town about 20 minutes outside san antonio. we went to their little town carnival (will tore it up in the bounce houses), grabbed burgers at a local spot, and then settled down in their city park for the fireworks show. it was a great independence day spent together as a family.







so that's pretty much what we've been up to the last couple of weeks! if any of you are itching for some good BBQ, hot weather, and a day at sea world, come on down! we'd love to have you! these two crazy kids will be sure to show you a good time :)

will, our gangster ghost

mild milestones.

this week we hit some mild milestones.  first off.  william started reading books back to us.  it was too funny not to post.  his latest favorite book is the very hungry caterpillar by eric carle.  if you have a few minutes, let him read it to you too.

also.  after hours of work and years of effort, we finally have our house to a presentable state.  just in time to rent it out and move to texas.  check out the before and after's if you please.

Before

Now

It's Good to Be Home.

So, I've been home about a week and IT HAS BEEN AWESOME.  So, my trip home from my deployment took me through Germany.  I was really hoping I'd be able see my buddy Mark while I was waiting at the German airport, but he called me and got me paged overhead for a phone call, so that was good enough.

When I got to my real home, the scene was awesome.  I couldn't believe how cute my new little daughter was.  Will and Emily made this sign, bought some rad balloons and brought the ruckus.  Will was a little shy/tired/confused at first, but after his buddy/cousin Simon gave me big hugs, Will was back to normal in no time.

Here's the prep and the waiting.

And my view from the top.

Here are a ton of pics.  They speak for themselves.

 Our first day home, William and I put on our matching clothes and did some catching up.

We've had a ton of family fun at home, going to parks, hanging out with cousins, and taking care of our little baby.

 will decided to soothe clara all on her own.

 (eating with Mater teeth)

We got to take Clara to church for the first time.  

 

We took Will to the largest open mine in world, a.k.a. Kennecott Copper Mine.  Will LOVED the "big huge dump trucks."  

We have gotten out and about for some classic Bountiful family dining, including this classic Robintinos...

 Several trips to City Creek.  Will and I love BOSE sound systems.  

And spending lots and lots of time with our little 1 month old.  

It's been super nice being home.  We've had lots and lots family bonding time.  

good-bye grandma jenny

tonight, after 3 weeks, we said good-bye to grandma jenny.

thanks for playing hide and seek, soccer, and frisbee. thanks for cooking and doing all the dishes. thanks for the groceries and everything else. thanks for feeding will all of his meals--he probably would have gone hungry if you weren't here. thanks for holding clara while i showered. thanks for taking her in the mornings so i could get some sleep. thanks for just being here. we love you and we'll miss you!

clara's birth story

almost a week later, i am finally getting around to putting up a post and some pics about my baby girl's delivery. and really, i'm only able to do this because both of my kids (weird that i have kids-plural!) are sleeping at the same time and i'm feeling well enough to sit up and do this!

i thought i'd present clara's birth story in a manner like this:

total time being pregnant: 39 weeks and 3 days

total number of vomits: innumerable (including one final one right after the birth!)

total number of doctors prior to birth: 1

total weight gained: i am not telling, so don't ask.

total number of WEEKS of pre labor: 6 and a half. and a full 4 days of contractions at 10 minutes apart!

total number of hours pre-epidural: 4 (but felt much longer . . . )

total hours of active labor prior to water breaking: 4 hours and 45 minutes

total number of pushes/contractions until clara came out: 4

total hours of entire labor: just under 8

as you can see, clara's birth was much different from william's! everything about this labor and delivery threw me for a curve ball! besides not having to push too long. my doctor told me i was a champ when it came to pushing :) and yes, i just bragged about my pushing abilities!

so, now that you've got the details, i'll give you the story.

after weeks of pre-labor and 2 false labors, i finally went in at 8:30am on April 10, 2012 to be induced. who would've thought that after weeks of contractions that i would have to be induced! i got to the hospital and was still only dilated to a 2. so, at 9:00am, the nurses started me on pitocin.

i knew that induced labors tended to take longer than naturally going into labor, so i was hesitant to get an epidural too early. i didn't want to have all of that anesthesia in me for hours and hours. so, despite the fact that my contractions were quite painful, i held off as long as i could. which was until 1:00pm. then my anesthesiologist came in and instead of getting right down to business and giving me my drugs, he gave us all a lesson in epidurals and all kinds of things i didn't really care about at the time! but he was nice, and finally shot me up so that my pain and "pressure" was more bearable.

at 1:45pm, my doctor came in and broke my water. i was still only dilated to 4cm when he did this. then my contractions really started picking up. a little too much, in fact, so that baby clara wasn't happy. her heart rate would drop with each contraction, and so a couple hours later the nurses started pumping her with more fluids and turned off my pitocin per the doctor's orders. after that, clara was much happier.

then, the "pressure", as my anesthesiologist would call it, really amped up. i think i'd call it pain, but hey, he's never had a baby, so let's go with his words! anyway, i was facetiming (the apple version of Skype) with peter during this whole time, and he told me i was ready to have the baby. he remembered that last time with will, all of a sudden i felt the same continuous "pressure" through my epidural and when checked, it was time for me to start pushing. i thought he might be right, so i called the nurse in, and lo and behold, i was dilated to a 9 and just about ready to go.

so, my nurse called my doctor and told him to get his booty to the hospital. it was about 4:15pm, and he was scheduled to be to the hospital around 4:30pm. ten minutes later he rolled in, saw that i was fully dilated and rushed off to change into scrubs. meanwhile the nurse got everything ready to go, the iPad with peter anxiously watching was set up on the table by my feet (yep, he watched the whole thing from that angle), and my team got ready.

my dream team: my mom, sister, elise, and sister-in-law, jill. with my husband being gone, these three were the next best support and they were awesome.

my mom and elise each took one of my legs. btw, elise wasn't entirely prepared for that one. the nurse was needing to do other things, so i assigned elise my right leg and she stepped up like a pro. although i was worried she was internally freaking out. for the first little while she just looked at my face, but then when clara made her grand entrance, elise couldn't help but watch the miracle take place. my mom said that her face showed utter amazement and horror at the same time. pretty awesome. i wish i would have noticed her face, but i was focused on other things at the time.

anyway, i started pushing, and it only took 4 contractions, and at 4:49pm, clara popped on out! elise had the honor of cutting the umbilical cord (yes, elise received an entire education that day!) and then the doctor held baby clara up to the iPad for peter to get a good first look at our baby girl.

i had many mixed emotions when clara was born. i was relieved, soooo happy, and so sad at the same time. sad that my husband was on the other side of the world when one of our babies was born. but, that being said, under the circumstances, i think we were able to make the best of it. the timing worked out perfectly so that peter was present (via FaceTime) the entire labor and delivery. the wifi never went out once, and he was able to witness the birth as much as was possible. still, i got a little teary eyed holding my baby girl and looking at my husband through the iPad.

the next morning my mother-in-law brought william to the hospital to meet his brand new baby sister. it was so sweet to see his excitement. he immediately wanted to hold her and has been nothing but kind and happy to help since she's been around. in fact, he always gets very concerned whenever clara cries, and he comes running to see what's bothering her. the other day when he heard her cry, he ran into my room to see her and said to her, "don't cry, i'll keep you safe." it was the sweetest, most tender thing i've ever heard. i know he's going to be a wonderful big brother to little clara.

so, that's my little clara momoko's birth story. we are thrilled to be a family of 4, and we're anxiously awaiting daddy's arrival so that he can meet her!

UPDATE: for more pictures from my sister's photoblog, click here.  - petey