Abby Road

So, the "new mother" road is getting a little less bumpy. I'm getting a little more sleep, and things are a little more calm. A little.

Abby had her 2 week check yesterday. She's up to a whopping 7lbs 6 oz. and has grown an inch! The bambino is almost freakishly long and skinny. Serious. Her arms are so long, she can touch her hands over her head. That's crazy for a baby! She's like a little green-bean. A delicious, cute little green bean with crazy long arms and legs. She loves to be held and cuddled, which I must admit, I am enjoying. My other two kids weren't much for cuddles and closeness. Maybe my breath just stinks. Kate tells me so.

In other news - this is the crazy truth - the day before I was to have Abigail, the bishop called me to be the Young Women president. When he extended the call, I started crying, and the Bishop looked at me like, "crap. Did I just push her over the edge?" He asked if it was ok, and I assured him I was crying because I love the young women so much and knew that the calling was from the Lord. I wasn't lying, but a tiny bit of me was crying from a feeling of slight over-load. I have some great councilors though, and I plan on wearing them out. I just keep telling myself, "focus on the essentials, and everything else will fall into place." Find a happy place. Find a happy place. Find a happy place. It's a good thing I love those girls so much. I've been with them for 4 years already as the 2nd counselor. I might as well watch them grow old. Our first activity as a new presidency was last night and we had a blast! Tons of laughter. That's ALWAYS good.

In sad news, Neal's grandma died on Tuesday night. She's been sick for about 2 years with lung and brain cancer. The last year, she's been in a care facility, and has just been fading. It's sad, but she's definitely in a better place. We're leaving tomorrow to drive to Boise for her funeral. Wish me luck with a tiny baby on a long trip.

Am I a wuss, or is it always like this?

I don't remember the first week being this crazy. It's kind of been a blur, because I've turned nocturnal. Actually, I think that's the wrong term, because nocturnal creatures sleep during the day, and come out at night. What's it called when you're up all of the time? Insane? I feel like it. All I do is sit on the couch and lactate. I'm not complaining! I wasn't this sucessful with my other two girls at the whole "Mary Moo-Cow" role. Abigail is a born sucker. Which poses a problem we must work through; PAIN! And, she loves to go to sleep after about 15 drags, so our feeding sessions can last quite a while.

Yesterday my Mom left to go home. Oh, whatever will I do? What do I do without her? She was and is awesome! She helped so much, and made me feel all better. But, she needs to get home to take care of her mother. Talk about stuck in the middle. I appreciate her so much. She took a week away from work, at her busiest time of year! And bigger than that, she lives next door to her ailing parents, and her mom, my awesome grandma, is failing. My mom does so much for them every day. Runs errands, feeds them, works with doctors and nurses, takes them to the doctor, every single day. And on top of that, she has a busy job, seven kids and 14 grandkids. I don't think anyone really knows how much she does for her parents. I'm lucky to have a mom like her. I hope I can be the type of mother she is. And to top it all off, she's really fun to be around and pretty cool.

So, here I am starting our second week as a family of 5. I hope to see some sort of settling of things around here. It's hard not to be overwhelmed with some of the other major changes in our lives right now. Luckily, they're great changes. It's amazing how a little baby can make me feel powerless.

But . . . . .

All the sleep deprivation, chaos, tears and frustrations all go out the window when she wakes me up, I peer into her crib, and just melt.

Pictures!!

Well, here she is! She's awesome! Things are going great here at the Peton house. I'm a little sleepy, but other than that, we're loving it. Abigail is a great baby (so far). She's feeding really well, which makes me happy. So far, it's a great experience. She weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 20 inches long. She's down to 6 lbs 4 oz. now, but she's eating well and filling her diapers, so there's no worry. She just looks a little bit like a starving old man. Her legs and butt are literally skin and bones! How is it that I gained a ton of weight, yet the baby barely tips the scale? She weighs in again on Saturday, and hopefully she'll be a bit chunkier. If she goes like the other 2 Peton girls, she'll be looking like a football player pretty soon.

Look How Cute I am!

Baby Abby Is Here!!!

Nat finally had her little one at about 11 PST.

She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz, and is 20 inches long. She has a tiny little face and mouth, but a big set of lungs. When I spoke to our Mom, I could hear Abby just a hollerin'.

Granny says that she has lots of dark hair and a cute little dimple on her cheek. I'm sure that someone will post pictures when we get them.

Nat only had to push a few times, and everything ended up going well. Everyone is so excited to see her.... Nat, Mom says that you will come home tomorrow, so I'm thinking that you should drive to Utah on wednesday. Would that work for you?

Congratulations you guys!!

She's Almost Here!!!

This is Natalie's sister posting on her behalf.

Nat was supposed to be in induced at 8 this morning, but she started having contractions at 6 pm yesterday. Neal took her in at 6 this morning, and they broke her water at about 7:30 PST (I think).

I just called our Mom for an update and she told me the following....

She is currently at an 8, and little Abby is getting into position. They found meconium in the water, so they brought in some specialists to take care of the baby when she comes out. So far the baby doesn't seem to be under any stress, so that is good. Nat's blood pressure dropped really low when she received her epidural, so they are giving her medication to keep it up. So far her pressure is okay.

Nat's pregnancies and deliveries are alot like mine were, so I'm guessing that she will be ready to push by about 9 her time.

I will keep everyone posted when I hear more.

Push Nat, Push!!!

Kate nailed it

Yesterday, Kate said a profound truth. I was trying to remove a sliver from the bottom of her foot. She was FREAKING! I pretty much have a hypochondriac for a daughter. Pretty wussy if you ask me. Anyway, she finally pulled away and screamed, "I want Dad to do it! He's WAY more gentle than you!"

To which Sarah responded, "yeah, Dad does things softly." They are right.

I said to Kate, "Just wait till you see him with the baby. He's the most gentle, softest daddy in the world. He was so gentle with you guys when you were babies."

Kate smiled and said, "Mom, it sure was a good thing you married Daddy. You're lucky." She is so right. Seriously.

WALL-E World

I've said this time and time again. Sarah mixes up her words. She gets it from her Daddy. Last night, Neal had a great idea to go see Wall-e for Family Night. Great idea! He reminded me that it was our last family night as just the four of us. So that means it's the last family outing without diapers, naps, bottles, schedules, strollers etc. We've had it pretty good for the last couple of years with older kiddos. By the time our next family night rolls around, we should be hanging out at the hospital, welcoming the newest member of our family. How's THAT for having a ready-made lesson and activity. Isn't that the ultimate Family Night? Definitely journal-worthy.

Anyway, Neal gets home and says, "Hey! Let's go see Wall-e World tonight!" I said, "Isn't that from the Griswald's first vacation? You know, the one before the European, Christmas, and Vegas Vacations?" I had a good laugh at that. Primarily because just a few days earlier, we were talking about social networking web-sites. You know, "Face Space, Space Book, and My Face?" Seriously. I laughed my guts out at Face Space, so Neal corrected himself with Space Book, and then with My Face. He couldn't win for loosin'. I love that guy!

By the way, Wall-e was the best! At first, I was thinking it was going to be a little preachy about the bad humans ruining the environment, but it ended up being so good! The humans were the problem and the solution! It was very artistic and really cute. Tons of meaning, without being preachy. A very positive message! There were a few parts where I laughed really hard. Even though there was very little dialogue, the kids were glued. For sure a must-see. Oh, and the Pixar short film at the beginning was the best one yet!

4th of July and update

Alright - this was my first 4th of July with a personal injury attorney present. I would think that with my husband's worry-wart and risk-adverse nature (hello, before law school he worked with life insurance and annuities), our fireworks would be pretty boring and safety minded. I was wrong.

We had a great 4th at my aunt Carol's house. We ate tons of GREAT food (literally tons. I surprised even myself), and the kids played fun treasure hunt games. It was a blast. Later that night, we came home to light our measly "value-pak" of fireworks we purchased legally at the corner fireworks stand. Ok, ok. Score one for the personal injury attorney. At least our fireworks were legal.

Let me explain an observation from our "hood." I have a theory about ghetto neighborhoods and the use of illegal and expensive fireworks. You would think that in an economically challenged part of town, the neighborhood firework displays would reflect the modest incomes. WRONG! We had quite the show on our block! There were bombs bursting in air, and all sorts of flying, sparkling projectiles being launched far into the night. It made our "value-pak" seem pretty wussy. It was. Even on our biggest fountains, the girls weren't even LOOKING in our direction! So much for the 21 bucks.

Anyway, as the fireworks went on, I told Neal to fill a bucket with water and keep it close by. You know, in case of a fire, and for a place for the hot left-overs to cool down. "Who invited Smokey the Bear to our party?" Neal said. I finally talked him into filling a bucket with water, but he kept it far far away by the hose. He teased and taunted me for my safety precautions. Even after Sarah's sparkler broke apart and the flaming part landed on my jacket (which was in the dirt where Sarah left it. Of course, she grabbed MY jacket to wear) which started on fire, Neal STILL wouldn't move the water. So much for personal injury awareness.

But, I must admit. I did a stupid thing that night. The girls were sitting on the grass, facing the neighbor's display. I thought I should get their attention, so I lit a little green "lightning ball" and threw it in their general direction. It didn't land really close to them, but when it broke apart, some of the sparks shot out and hit Kate in the back (her back because she was running away as fast as she could like a scared cat). I felt like a 12 year old boy - really stupid. Ooops. Sorry kids. Not one of my proud mother moments.

On another note, I went to the doctor today and was told I would be induced on Thursday. I talked him into doing it next Monday so my mom wouldn't have to change her airline ticket. So, Monday it is - if the baby doesn't come sooner on her own. We'll see what happens!

A Little Boring

I've been a little bored and lazy over the weekend and into this week. The van is on empty, and pay-day isn't till Friday, so I really have had nothing to do. The house is clean, and I'm kind of lazy anyway, so I didn't feel like starting any sort of project. Did you know that if you watch "The Price is Right," you feel decades older? All of the commercials mention medicare, scent-free options for bengay products, "Jazzy" scooters (those actually look fun. Reminds me of taking joy-rides late at night at the K-Mart as a teenager), or affordable life insurance. I must admit, I forgot how much I like "the Price is Right." As a kid, I would watch Bob and his Barker Beauties almost every morning at 9:00. I'm still dang good! I would have won BOTH showcases yesterday, I'm so good. I actually knew a girl in high school who's grandma won big-time on the show. Oh, and legend has it that my uncle was a camera man for the show, and some lady was running down the aisle (like they always do when their name is called), and her shirt fell down and showed boobies and all. Someday, I'm going to Burbank California with my home-made t-shirt, and I'm gettin' on the show! I would love that! Oh I need to have this baby.

Speaking of boobies, yesterday Sarah and Kate were playing in the other room with their friend, Julia. Kate came running down the hall to question me on a serious matter. "Mom, what's a bosom?" I correctly told her, "Their boobies." She cracked a big tooth-less grin and ran knowingly down the hall to correct her friend. "Julia! It's not called a bosom, it's just boobies!" It's a good thing I'm such a good mother and teach my kids proper.

I remember as a kid, my little sister, Laurel, learned what a bosom was. We were in Sacrament Meeting one Sunday singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," and when it got to the part, "oh, what rapture filled his bosom," Laurel and Ginger let out a giggle to remember. I still giggle a little bit when I sing that song. That song, and the one called, "In our Lovely Deseret." I love the verse, "That the children may live long and be beautiful and strong, tea and coffee and tobacco they despise, drink no liquor and they eat but a very little meat; they are seeking to be great and good and wise." Any song you can sing in worship service that mentions tea, coffee and liquor should elicit laughter. It does with me.

Another update on the baby. . . . I might get to wait till she comes on her own! That would be very nice. I'm having all the tests done on Saturday, so we'll see what happens.