The Early Word

A Few Pictures Finally

2008-09-09T11:57:00.005-06:00

First of Many Inquiries

2008-08-28T09:24:00.002-06:00

Get used to me posting mom related questions as I stumble through these first few months. Who has little boys that pee all over when you change them? What do you do? I would really like to solve this one soon as my little guy pees all over his face every time I change him and I am just not quick enough.

Ian Jacob Earl is Here!

2008-08-26T19:10:00.003-06:00

On August 20,2008 at 7:39 am Ian joined our family weighing 7 lbs 8 ounces and measuring 20 1/2 inches. This is really the first few moments of "free time" I have had since his birth and am excited to finally sit down and write out his birth story. So here goes...I had been dilated to 3 cm and 75% effaced since my 36 week appointment and was not so patiently waiting to go into labor. At my 39 weeks appointment I was dilated to 4 cm and I asked my doctor to strip my membranes. I immediately started having regular but painless contractions on the way home from my appointment. This was at 4:00 pm. I had a baby shower to go to but decided if this was really the day I would like to spend some more time at home with Avery and finish cleaning the house a bit. We carried down all the hospital bags and got some other things ready. But since I had had a few nights of false labor prior to this I wasn't getting my hopes up that this could really be it. We went to bed around 11:30 pm. Avery woke up at 1:00 am and as I was settling her back into bed I had a strong pain in my back. After that I just couldn't go back to sleep and the contractions were picking up in intensity. I went downstairs and started trying to time them on Contraction Master. They were still only 10 minutes apart but were really becoming kind of painful. I started figuring this was really it though. Around 2:30 am I decided to get in the shower and see if things picked up or died down. Well they picked up and while I was putting on makeup and drying my hair, contractions were now about 7 minutes apart. I didn't think I wanted to wait until they were 5 minutes apart because given my family history of super quick labors I could be having him at home if I waited too long. I called my mom to come get Avery at 3:11 am and she arrived at 3:40 or so. We left for the hospital. When we arrived I was checked and the nurse said I was only having mild contractions and they were still only 7-10 minutes apart. I was so afraid she was going to send me home but when she did an internal exam I was 6 cm dilated! We were admitted. She must have thought my labor was going to progress very slowly from here because she said I could have some pitocin around 7:00 am when the doctors were up. I got my epidural right away which was nice. Then I just lay there and shook like crazy and waited. She check me again a short while later and I was 8 cm at about 6:00 am. We called Laura to come and said it shouldn't be long. I got a catheter inserted and noticed that I felt it go in and did not like it. Then I started to notice that I was feeling a lot of pressure and urgency to push which I never felt with Avery. We figured there was something wrong with the epidural and so called in our nurse. She said I could get a special boost from the anesthesiologist. Well when he got there and checked me out he said "oops! your epidural tube is disconnected!!" Now I am at about 9 cm dilated with no epidural! He was able to give me the extra shot but said it would take a bit to work. I am wanting to push so bad and am moaning in pain. Plus my doctor is 25 minutes away. At 7:30 pm he arrives and gives me a local anesthetic because he said I am going to tear. I am able to push immediately and 5 pushes later little Ian is out. I was able to feel him come out which was cool and I looked down after his head was out and saw his little body slide right out. They laid him on my chest immediately and he was perfect. He scored 8/9 on his apgar test. He is nursing well and he sleeps ALL THE TIME! I have to wake him up to feed almost every feeding. He is such a sweet boy and we are all so in love. Avery had a bit of a hard time adjusting but I think things are getting better there as I try really hard to spend all my extra time with her. Ian is a week old now and I will post about that when I get a chance!

38 Weeks!!

2008-08-12T22:37:00.004-06:00

Well, here I am...38 weeks!! I can't believe it is finally almost time to meet our little guy. Every day is very suspenseful as I am hypersensitive to all of the prelabor symptoms I am experiencing...I think I have everyone convinced that with each new day I am certain I will be going into labor. But nothing yet. This is good and bad. Good because it gives me extra time to spend with Avery and bad because all I want to do is clean my house and be 100% ready at any given moment to head to the hospital. It is driving me and especially Chad a little nuts. You could call me the queen of nesting.

A Beaver On My Head

2008-06-29T17:34:00.002-06:00

Avery: Croup, Ear Infection, Pink Eye, Eczema Outbreak, Teething, Diarrhea (from antibiotic).
Dana: Heartburn, Nasty Cough, Hemorrhoids (sorry, if you don't already know, I am a very open person) Bloated Right Leg, Insomnia, Decreased Lung Capacity.

-Two trips to Instacare, five new medications, two missed swimming lessons, 20 hours of lost sleep, 21 eye drop treats.

This pretty much sums up the last two weeks for us. Avery had a fever for 5 straight days and I checked her temperature constantly. She would often say "I don't want to have a beaver on my head anymore."

Greetings Baby Boy

2008-04-23T21:06:00.004-06:00

For the 5-8 people that read my blog, 2-3 of you may not already know that we are having a boy!! For a little while, before we found out, I told people that I kind of hoped we would be having a girl for various reasons...I already have all the girl stuff...I didn't want to make new crib bedding...two girls close in age could easily share a room...Avery is an angel so I assume all girls are angels...boys seem loud and obnoxious and I am worried they won't like to snuggle or help me bake cookies...

But let me tell you how I glowed the rest of the day after our ultrasound when I thought about "my son." And I have convinced myself that he is going to be a calm, sweet, mother-adoring boy, (unlike his father who tore the legs off grasshoppers and ate rattlesnakes at scout camp and ran around non-stop sweating in his moon boots) because during his ultrasound he just lay very still, face down, a beautiful spine curving upward and yawned a few times. The technician was barely able to tell the sex for his lack of movement. Oh well...mothers can dream.

That said, I would appreciate any wisdom you could offer in raising boys.

Easter Angel

2008-03-23T21:04:00.003-06:00

We were blessed with decent weather on this very early Easter Day and although it was chilly in the morning before church, Chad was able to get some beautiful pictures. I do wish the grass were greener and the tulips in bloom (if we had them) but at least there wasn't snow on the ground. What a little angel in her new dress and shoes that she begged to wear almost every day since we bought them some weeks ago and I said no-we have to wait for Easter. Later, the temperature was warmer and we had a very fun but short lived Easter egg hunt followed by Chad and I eating all of her candy after she went to bed.

Girlfriends

2008-03-13T22:07:00.003-06:00

So...I wish so badly that I could post some pictures but my photographer has been out of commission and I am not aloud to touch the camera given my track record with electronic devices but I did want to post.

I always dreamed that someday Avery and I would do fun mother/daughter activities like go to the Nutcracker at Christmas time, or go shopping and out to lunch, or even go camping together.

It seems though that my dream has come true already. Lately we have been doing something that I have found we both really enjoy doing together and that is watching Rachel Ray "making food" and eating chips and salsa. We sit side by side on the couch and take turns dipping our chips and sometimes Avery will actually put her arm around my waist. We love to see what Rachel is going to make that day (we only watch the last 20 minutes of the show because I am not really a fan of Rachel Ray, but I do enjoy seeing her dish up gigantic portions of realistic food). Oh, I guess I should also add that we don't eat chips and salsa everyday although they have become a true love in this pregnancy.

I love having our little mother/daughter moment several days a week. It is pretty hilarious.

2008-02-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

AVERY AT AGE TWO

2008-02-01T08:22:00.001-07:00

Full Name: Avery Madison Earl
Birth Date: 12/28/05
Hair Color: Light Brown
Eye Color: Gray??
Weight: 25 Pounds
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Item: Elmo Knows Your Name Doll
Favorite Show: Elmo Potty Time, ANYTHING with Elmo in it or Sesame Street. And Curious George.
Favorite Activities: doing puzzles which you are amazing at (it makes me think you are a genius), playing babies: wrapping up dolls and stuffed animals and Elmo in blankets, feeding them, putting them in the high chair, strolling them, playing kitchen, playing with balls, “make a picture” (drawing) and you love reading (which I am so proud of) but also hiking and being outdoors with Mom and going to the zoo and other fun places. You love to be around your family.
Favorite Food: Hmm..this is hard because you will eat nearly anything.. you are the best eater in the whole world. Sometimes I swear you have no taste buds. And you will try anything at least once. We went to Marie Calendars last week for lunch with Nana and you passed up Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Cornbread and Pie for a plate of steamed broccoli, carrots and zucchini. So I would have to say your favorite food is cut up fresh fruit particularly grapes, oranges, apples, and strawberries. You also love corn and carrots, broccoli and peas. You have however politely said no to raw tomatoes and avocado and maybe squash some times. You also like pasta (a requirement in our house) cheese, waffles and nuggets. You love to “dip it.” And always ask for “dip it” You will eat salsa, sweet and sour sauce, and I swear you would eat Tabasco sauce if I let you.
Things to remember about Avery at age two: You have a memory like you wouldn’t believe and you are really good at remembering people’s names. You are fascinated by other people but a little slow to warm up to people you don't know or don't see often. You are very very curious and love to learn, explore, and ask questions. You love reading stories with mom. Your mother thinks you are a total genius because you can count to 13 already and count objects, you know some of the alphabet, can put together 30 piece puzzles by yourself, and remember and associate things you wouldn’t believe. But you are also sweet and affectionate. You love to give hugs and kisses and have “family hugs.”
You have more than made up for being a challenging infant by being a wonderful toddler (so far…except for sleep which will probably never change). Although you like to try to jump on the couch when you think I am not looking. You love to hop like a bunny. You love animals and making animal sounds and going to the zoo. You hold your breath when you cry sometimes until you pass out. It scares the daylights out of Mom and Dad everytime and we have almost called 911 a dozen times. But you always come to first. You are a good sport about not seeing Dad much and you love to see him when you can (although you are a total Mommy’s girl) and I love it when you call out “mommy where are you?”
You are starting to like to pick out your own clothes. Last week I tried to put a shirt on you and you started crying pretty strenuously and saying something over and over that I couldn't understand until I figured out that you were saying “deer” “deer” and I realized that you wanted to wear your shirt with a deer on it. I got a kick out of that. You like to put on and take off clothes. You make me laugh everyday and I am so blessed to be your mother!!

First Trimester Confessions

2008-01-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

So I may or may not feel better spreading some of this pregnancy insanity around to friends and family but here goes...

I confess that Avery has watched Elmo's Potty Time nearly 20 times in the past week because I couldn't bare to drag myself off the couch and play with her.

I confess that yesterday I hit a really good sale at Old Navy and bought some maternity clothes even though my regular jeans still fit and when I tried them on at home they were so comfortable I didn't take them off the rest of the night and wore them to my RS meeting.

I confess that today I accidentally ate 8 or 10 packages of fruit snacks because not much else sounded good to eat.

I confess that yesterday Avery fell down a few stairs and I was so near my emotional breaking point I cried longer and harder than she did until finally she was trying to make me feel better by kissing my face.

I confess that I am terrified that I will go to my first appointment this Tuesday and the doctor won't be able to find a heart beat.

I confess that I am terrified altogether of becoming a "new" mom again now that I know how hard it is.

Temple Quarry Trip

2008-01-13T14:04:00.001-07:00

Here we are, the day after Christmas, on a snowshoe trip to Temple Quarry Trail with our little hiker. Of course Grandpa carried her most of the way up comfortably in a backpack but she insisted on getting out and playing in the snow at trail's end and then refused to get back in for the trek home so I carried her in my arms the entire time. Despite the snow storm and the eventual cold and hunger, she held her own with only marginal complaint. A refreshing way to end the glutton and stress of the holidays.

Christmas Card Chaos

2007-12-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Nearly 100 photos and two photo sessions later we settled on a picture. This is the runner up which was vetoed by the photographer because he didn't care for Avery's expression. The one we settled on, the one that was sent out in Christmas cards, is the best we could come up with, I suppose. Those of you that received last year's card will remember how perfectly wonderful (well we thought so) our little darling's picture turned out and we had high hopes of carrying on this tradition. So this year don't look too closely at her bangs. Distraught mothers who have wrestled a two year old around for several minutes in order to achieve pigtail perfection should not go on to trim bangs thereafter. Actually, judging from my own childhood, mothers should perhaps not trim bangs at all. Oh well, Merry Christmas and next year maybe we can figure out how to get her to sit up straight, sit still, and smile.