Joy

2 Nephi 2:25
Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

I have felt so much joy in raising these children. My life is blessed and my heart is full.

Boo!

Growing up, my mom had a rule that once you were twelve you were deemed "too old" to go trick-or-treating. In hindsight, I agree with this rule. There comes a point when you are just too old. This didn't stop me from resenting the rule as a child. I would sit at the door and pass out candy to all of my friends. Poor me, right? In the end, Halloween became a holiday I didn't care about.

Fast Forward a decade (literally) and Halloween took on a new meaning. Why? Kids of my own to have fun with and dress up! This year was my first with two kiddos to dress but the weather threw a wrench into Kate's costume. She was going to be a lady bug but the weather was so warm that she would have overheated in her costume. Alas, Halloween goes on!

 A spider web who caught a lady bug (..or Minnie Mouse, but whatevs)/Calvin & Hobbes

Round #2 of Halloween 2014 was spent with Ruth & Dan. Their ward has the ultimate trunk-or-treat. And is there anything cuter than a little lion careening down an inflatable slide? I think not.

Potty Training

Potty training is not fun.

At first, it's totally not worth it. 

At all.

But one day (I hope!)

it will be worth it.

Someday there will be no more accidents & no more diapers.

That will be a beautiful day indeed.

In all honesty, Vincent is actually doing an awesome job.

I'm just a lightweight.

Meet Kate.

I suppose a proper introduction is needed for our little sleepy addition.

Meet Kathryn Olivia Hannibal, better known as Kate. She joined us on June 30, 2014 at 2:55 pm. She weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

I'm a planner and thus I opted for an induction. I also didn't mind that this meant having Kate early, because no one wants to be 40 weeks pregnant. We got a phone call around 0530 saying we could still come in at 0600 to get the ball rolling. I was thrilled, but after a night of poor sleep (can you say pregnant and antsy?) I was already exhausted.

Our previous experience with L&D was not great. I expressed this to my nurse. She totally understood and did everything in her power to make this experience the complete opposite. And so she did! Kirstin was the best nurse I could have asked for. We also had a student nurse. I have a soft spot for students since my BYU days are still fresh in my mind. It's frightening to walk into a patient's room and ask to do procedures that you don;t even want to do because you're inexperienced! Luckily, I'm an awesome patient and give the students ample opportunity to practice.

Paul was a doll and kept a timeline of events for me. Check out this man's handiwork:

Baby Timeline
6:10 am - Arrive at hospital.  Nurse Kirstin and student Sandra
7:10 am - IV in, very fainty, lay back, get ice chips. Tight 3 cm, 80% effaced, -2 station
7:40 am - Started Pitocin (contractions were about every 10 min naturally)
8:00 am - Contractions getting closer (about every 3 minutes since starting Pitocin)
8:10 am - turn up Pitocin (contractions every 2 to 6 min, ranging between 10 and 50 sec)
8:30 am - Break Water, estimated baby wieght: 7.5 lbs
8:40 am - turn up Pitocin (12mu/min)
9:15 am - Turn up Pitocin (16mu/min)
9:35 am - Anesthesiologist comes in
9:45 am - Epidural is in.  Anesthesiologist said he went into a vein, but pulled it out, into the epidural space.  95% chance he did it right, but he might have to come back in if pain won't go away with the anesthesia.
10:00 am - Blood pressure dropped to 60/30. Pushed 10 ml of ephedrine to get it back up. It took 15 minutes to get it back up to normal (100/60).
11: 15 am - Pitocin up to 20 mu/min
12:15 pm - 4.5 cm, 90% effaced, -1 station
1:45 pm - 8 cm, 95% effaced,
2:00 pm - baby is moving down. Early decelerations. Baby's head moving down. Nurses prepare room for delivery.
2:30 pm - 9 to 10 cm, fully effaced, call doctor. Baby might be posterior.
2:40 pm - Doctor Heather Dabling arrives.
2:55 pm - After 3 contractions, Kathryn Olivia Hannibal is born.
3:23 pm - Skin to skin and breast feeding.
About 5 pm - move over to mother baby area.

Phew, did you make it through all of that? Anyway, the part where I said I'm an awesome patient might have been a lie. I was very faint throughout the day and thus required a lot of attention. Turns out Kate was extremely unhappy with me when I was turned on my right side. My blood pressure would plummet and I would get nauseous. I spent most of the time on my left side to keep both baby and myself comfortable.

Other items of mention: My epidural was a dream. We had a bit of a scare but it all worked out. I could move my legs (which freaked me out since they were completely dead with Vincent) but still felt no pain! I had one "hotspot" where a few pain receptors shouted at me, but it was worth it to be able to move so quickly after labor. 

Also, I felt so different after labor this time! I think I was overly drugged with Vincent and the beauty of the moment went over my head. I was exhausted and couldn't help but cry after his birth. Not happy tears, but empty & helpless tears. I was starving and couldn't stop shaking. With Kate, though... oh it was so very different. They put her on my chest and the very first thing I noticed were her fuzzy, rolly arms. The second I saw her I knew she was going to be a squishy baby. She also latched and began nursing like a pro. What a relief!

For a long time I felt guilty that Vincent's arrival wasn't that perfect moment that so many people describe. With time and the opportunity to compare birth stories, I've realized that there is no reason to feel ashamed. Circumstances were so different between the two and there was nothing I could do. In the end, the important thing is that both instances resulted in perfectly healthy babies. What a blessed woman I am.

Worth it.

Nine months of pregnancy. Contractions. Pain. Severe Hypotension. Epidural. Pushing. Tearing. Bleeding. Nursing. Sleepless Nights. Exhaustion. Tears. Infection. Fever. Chills. Hot Flashes. More Medication.

And?

You're worth every bit of it.

Birthday Boy

Vince turned two at the beginning of the month. This is totally unbelievable to me, but mostly just because it means I'm having another baby in 2 months. We threw a small party for our little man and he had a great time.

I love having this little boy in my life. He is wild and sweet. He's polite and says "excuse me" whenever he has to move a toy. He recently learned how to gallop and he adores running and running all around the house. His best friend is, without a doubt, his daddy. Vincent wrestles with Paul each night and gives him the biggest hugs. Unfortunately, he's still not the best of eaters, but he's a great sleeper and it's worth it. He's a parrot and consistently says 3 word sentences with the occasional longer sentence that blows us away. I love him so much.

A few fun facts I want to remember about my toddler boy:

Favorite Food: Mac & Cheese
Favorite Movie(s): Peter Pan, Frozen & Finding Nemo
Favorite TV Show: Super Why
Bedtime: 8pm in his toddler bed
Wake up time: 9am.... oh how I will miss these glorious days!
Favorite Activities: Swimming, playing at the park, playing with cars and going for bike rides
Can count to: 15 (but usually skips the number 14...)
Favorite Book: Trucks go to Work & Go, Dog. Go!
Favorite Color: Hard to say, but if I had to guess I'd say Orange or Blue
Bedtime essentials: Blue bear, giraffe & paci

23 months.

Okay, let's just start with the fact that the most exciting thing about Vince turning 2 is NOT referring to his age in months. After he hit 18 months it all went downhill and I couldn't keep track of how many months he was and it just became ridiculous. In fact, for the past few months I've been saying "he'll be two in May" just to avoid using months. So hooray for his upcoming birthday so I can say it like it is.

The biggest news of this month is that Vince is now sleeping in a "big boy bed"... mostly. We still have the crib up and if he can't stay in his new bed then we put him back in the crib. Some people just go cold turkey but the crib threat has really worked to our advantage because he so badly wants to sleep in his new bed. It's great incentive for him to stay put.

Vincent loves going for bike rides with Paul. Last year we found a killer deal on a bike with a child carrier attached to the back (is that even what they're called?) and we snatched it up. He constantly asks to go for rides now. I love that the boys can have some special man time together :)