Pre-Christmas

Our weather this week has been frigid and white. I used to joke, when I moved here from Nebraska, that I was always "dreaming of a white Christmas." Now, for the last three years, I have had a white Christmas. Justin says to blame global warming! Either way, the snow is beautiful! It pales compared to the drifts and feet upon feet of snow Justin and I would get in Nebraska and Wyoming, but it has a different beauty.

Justin has been able to take Levi out in the snow quite a bit this week, which has made Levi the happiest little boy around! He's eaten snow, made a snow man, gone sledding, accidentally white-washed himself, discovered snow is actually cold, and learned ice is very slippery. He will wake up every day and yell, 'It's snowing', even if its not. We went out and bought him a new coat and snow pants since K-mart was having a sale and he needed the pants. Hopefully both will last him through next winter too.

Hazel discovered the snow too. I took her outside for a brief moment to get a picture and then ran back inside for warmth. She did quite well, and didn't even squeal once. I went out to run errands a few times during the week and she did well on those occasions too. As I mentioned, she is a very mellow baby. She's had some bad gas lately so she's cried a little more than usual, but I'm sure she'll be back to her usual peaceful self soon.

On another note, our family has been sick sick sick. Well everyone except Justin, thankfully. I've had a cough since before Hazel was born, and Levi has been on and off sick for longer than that. I started getting sick again yesterday and Hazel started getting the same symptoms as well. We would have stayed home from church today but it was the Christmas program so we stuck it out as long as we could. We made it through half of the first hour and headed home. I think we spent more time getting ready than we did at church. But we did our best and that's all we can hope for. I think Levi is getting hit the hardest, as he seems to be the grumpiest about being sick. He goes from super grump to super sweetheart and back again in two seconds flat. But at least we get the super sweet moments too.

That's all the pre-holiday stuff from us. We look forward to seeing all the family coming into town on both sides for the holidays! We are just so excited to see everyone! My sister has already encountered aftermath from the winter storms, as her flight from Chicago was cancelled. Portland airport is pretty much shut down, so no flights in or out. She managed to get a flight into Seattle and then will drive down with her family. Hopefully the drive will be safe, for her and our other family members driving this upcoming week! We love you all and wish you the merriest Christmas!

Christmas Spirit

So we have had a full week, as can be expected with a new little one at home. However, I have never felt overwhelmed or like it was too much. Maybe that's because Justin was home to help, but even when I had both kids to myself I felt alright. We did have help with dinners at the beginning of the week, which was very nice. Both of my visiting teachers are pregnant, and one of them went into labor two weeks early and delivered her little boy the same day I did. My other visiting teacher was great, especially since she has three girls already at home! Our home teachers were nice as well, they took Levi one afternoon for a play-date with their 3-year-old boy. All in all it was a good but full week.

We have been doing our best to curb Levi's acting out, which dramatically increased when Hazel came, as expected. We have been trying to give him the attention he needs without missing Hazel's constant needs. I even had a moment today to take Levi to run some errands with me one on one. He seemed to really enjoy his mommy time too, and I think it helped his behavior the rest of the day. He does love his sister though as he still showers her with kisses and cute comments like, 'Don't be sad Hazel.' and 'Oh, poor baby Hazel.' Even when we had our one on one time today he asked a few times, 'Where's baby Hazel?' He is a very sweet older brother! One attention getting antic was tonight when he found the jar of Vaseline I'm using for Hazel and smeared it all over the front of him, literally from head to toe! His socks were covered, and it didn't end until his hair (which had a few globs). I was in the shower with Hazel at the time, and I'm not sure what Justin was doing, but I know we've all had those moments where we look away for a minute and a disaster happens. Unfortunately for him the hot water was almost gone so half his shower was in luke-warm water. He was not happy. I just reminded him that this is what happens when we make such big messes. I think it'll still take a couple more showers to get it all out of his hair though.

Hazel has been a complete delight and joy! She would be classified as an 'easy' baby for sure. I am not trying to brag, and please remember that I did have a fussy and harder baby with Levi, so I'm not without sympathy for those who have hard babies. She is eating about every three hours during the day, and sleeps anywhere from 4-6 hours at a time at night. Levi was up every two hours on the dot, so I know those nights! She doesn't cry much, and when she does it is the sweetest little cry. I don't know if its because I see it differently because she is a girl or what, but it seems everything she does is sweet and precious. As I said she is an absolute joy in our home, and has made the transition for us so easy. She lost her umbilical cord remnant yesterday, so she got her first bath. Unlike Levi who screamed the whole time his first time, she loved every minute! I didn't even have to use a towel to keep her warm. She sat and licked at the water falling down during the shower and fell asleep during the bath. She must be a woman! Justin says its because I took at least one or two showers a day when I was pregnant with her, but who knows! All in all she is more than making up for the hard pregnancy that I had.

We have been out and about a little this week, and even made it to Christmas Storybook Land in Albany twice. Essentially it is a large display of a vast variety of small scenes from children's stories; from Disney to Mother Goose. They have lots of Christmas trees decorated with lights, and a model train display. I'll give you one guess at to Levi's favorite part! Trains! It is something he asks for every day. He's a boy, he loves trains! At the end is Santa. Levi sat on his lap without crying, but this year he played shy. Another thing Levi is enamored with is Christmas lights, so we have been taking him to the Pepsi plant here in Corvallis that has a big light display. There is a radio tower right by it that they turned into a huge tree with lights. Levi calls it the volcano. So every day he begs us to take him to see the volcano. We've indulged him many times, but I can't seem to do it every night.

We went and had a professional photo taken this week as well. My mom got a coupon for a free sitting with one 5x7 photo free, and she gave it to us. Levi, who usually loves to have his picture taken, was shy the whole time, and we had to bribe and prod to get anything out of him. Luckily my mom was there to help, I don't think we would have got even one shot without her. I'll post the picture when we get it back, but we don't even get to see the pictures until next week.

As for the happy parents, I am healing nicely and seem to be doing just fine with daily tasks. I think once Justin goes back to work I will have my real test, but I have no worries. Justin does head back to work next week, and will be back hardcore! He said he is ready to really bust it out while he is off from school. This will be very helpful during the holiday season.

Well, thank you to all who sent cards, gifts, or even just stopped by or called to say hello. We appreciate all of you and all that you do! We love you all and wish you the best Christmas!

Welcoming our Christmas angel

So as most, if not all, of you know Hazel Anne joined our family on December 4th! I'll keep my labor story brief for those interested. I started feeling contractions on Wednesday at 3:30 PM. My mom took me walking around various stores in town until I went into the hospital at 9 PM. Shortly after I got there they had me take a bath, and after that my contractions became very close and very intense. In one hour I dilated 4 cm. By 10:30 I was pleading for pain meds. I didn't get them until almost midnight however. I first received IV drugs, which worked for about half an hour. They then checked me and saw I was progressing very fast and knew I would need to push soon. So instead of an epidural they gave me intrathecal drugs. Basically, I could feel pressure and sensations, but no pain at all. I wasn't numb, and mostly my body just felt very warm. I think if ever my labor progresses this fast again I will get this, I liked that I could still feel things and walk around. They came in around 1 AM to check me and realized she was crowning, so it was time to push. Hazel came out at 1:52 Thursday morning! The midwife I had let Justin help pull her out, "catch" her, and cut the cord. He was excited to do it all! He said he even got to put the two clamps on her cord before cutting it. It was a totally different experience than Levi's birth, but I guess they can all be different somehow. Hazel was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches long. Unlike me, Justin, Levi, or most people in our families, Hazel was born with lots of hair! And its brown! We know it'll change and probably become blonde, but right now its so weird to see our baby with brown hair. I think she looks just like Levi did at this age, except the hair. Anyway, Hazel checked out fine, and so did I, so they let us go home Friday afternoon. Hazel is doing great, and although she is feeding okay, she is still not catching on as quickly as I would like her to. She wants to feed on her schedule, which can be anywhere from mild snacking to waiting 4 hours in between feedings. I was able to get Levi on an every-2-hour schedule pretty quick, so this is a bit frustrating for me. However, I know she'll catch on in her own time and I'll soon have a schedule with her too.

Levi is an amazing big brother! He is adjusting to her wonderfully. Don't get me wrong, his two-year-old attitude had become much worse and he is looking to get into trouble at every turn, which I expected. But his treatment of Hazel is one of the sweetest things to watch. He always wants to give her kisses, and he is always concerned where she is and what she is doing. He loves to hold her and he wants to help with feedings and diaper changes. Now if we can just keep his behavior in check!

As a little Christmas story for you, here's a cute moment from Levi. Justin and I have been trying to teach him about Jesus as well as indulging in his childhood joy of Santa. We seem to have a good mix right now for his age, and what he can understand. However the other night at our Stake's Creche Exhibit Justin asked Levi where baby Jesus was, expecting him to point to one of the hundreds of nativity sets around the room. Instead he answered, 'He's at the North Pole with Santa.' It was the funniest little connection he's made yet!

Well that's all for this week. Hope yours was as wonderful as ours!

Turkey and Tree

So this will probably be my last post until after Hazel is born, but since it has been over a week and a holiday has occurred, I figured I should write before I have a lot less time to do so.

So for the most part, pre-holiday, we just got our house ready and cleaned (again!). Justin and I really pushed it out and crossed a lot off our to do list. The house really looked great and stayed looking great after we were done. We've been doing good to keep it clean since I think we both don't want to have to do another deep cleaning before Hazel comes (which we are really hoping for any day now). When I did the laundry this last Tuesday I really thought it would be the last I would do it before she came, and yet I have a feeling I am going to make it through another laundry day. Last night I thought she was coming, and in fact Justin got so excited he could hardly sleep (welcome to my world). I was having a lot of pressure like they were contractions, but I was not feeling a great deal of pain. They progressed steadily until they were 3 minutes apart. I called my mom and asked what I should do since they weren't painful and didn't remind me of the contractions I felt with Levi. Her answer was to call my OB, and we both thought that meant I would have to go in and be checked. However, upon calling, she told me not to worry and to just wait it all out. She said it sounded like my uterus wanted to contract but I was not dilating, so there was no pain. She didn't want me to come in, but call her back if they became painful. So I waited. No pain. In fact, they faded away like she said. I did have one contraction that was very painful, but nothing followed it up so I was left again waiting. Here I sit 24 hours later and still nothing. I think she will come within the next couple days, but we shall see.

As for our holiday it was wonderful. We spent Thanksgiving with Justin's family in a nice day at home. Justin played football with his brothers and their ward from church in the morning while his mom, sister, and I watched the Macy's Day Parade. Justin didn't know that, that was ever a tradition in my family, so he learned something new. I love watching the parade, and I hope our kids will learn to cherish that tradition too. I made orange rolls, green bean casserole, and a carmel pecan pumpkin pie to bring with us for dinner. The orange rolls didn't come out the best, but Justin said my other two dishes were the best I've ever made them. His family seemed to enjoy my traditional food dishes too. The dinner was excellent and everything I could have wanted for a great Thanksgiving meal. After pie and disappointing football games, we played a game as a family. Heading home that evening we let Levi see some Christmas lights and he has been raving for them ever since. I have a feeling we will be going out in the evening a lot this month to see the lights. Luckily we have a business in town that has a huge light display (we've been there once already).

The next day my mom and I went shopping. Usually we wake up early and hit the major sales and massive, yet horrific crowds. But yesterday we slept in and went out around 8:30 instead. We still found some good deals and just enjoyed being out. Justin and I decided we should get out decorations out and up since we didn't know when Hazel would come and we wanted to get it all up before she did. So yesterday we got all our decorations up. Levi loved it and really enjoys our Christmas lights. Today we went back to Wal-Mart and got a fake tree for $25. It is a 6.5' pre-lit tree. We enjoy it and are glad not to have to spend $30+ every year for a tree. We figure in about 7-10 years when we have the money we'll replace it with a really nice fake tree, like my parents. They bought their first fake tree this year, and it looks great! They spent 10 times what we did, but wow is it worth it! Their tree really is beautiful. They also bought a train that attaches to the middle support and circles the tree about halfway up the tree. Levi loves this and asks to have it played as many times as anyone will let him. But back to our tree, we like our tree a lot and it serves all our needs right now, so we shall stick with this one for a while. Although upon inspection you can tell it is fake, it still looks really nice. Once we got all the decorations on it, it looked even better! We tried to put up our typical Angel Moroni as our tree-topper, but it was too heavy. In fact any star with lights would have been too heavy, so we employed Levi to do some drawing and finger painting to create a star for this year. He did a good job, and it came out looking lovely! It makes the tree look even better (that's a mom talking isn't it!). Now all I can think of is how nice it will be not to have all the needles to clean and the messy water to fill every other day. I will miss picking out our tree every year, but Justin said we should come up with a new tradition to do. We thought of picking out one nice ornament each year as a family, going out for hot chocolate and sledding, or maybe both. But we'll see. So our tree and decorations are up and we really are all set for Hazel to come... in fact both of us are quite anxious.

So until she comes and we are home again as a new, bigger family, I bid you farewell!

News News News

Well we have had a week full of news, but not so much events.

Last week Justin's brother Neil found out he would be going to Mesa, Arizona to serve a mission for our church. He'll leave in mid-February. Justin served in the Phoenix mission, so he is really excited about Neil's call and has been talking to him about it a lot. He even tried to teach him some Navajo words.

Later in the week we found out that one of my mom's brothers was called by President Uchtdorf to be a mission president. So two mission calls in one week! He doesn't know where he is going yet, just that it'll be English-speaking. He finds out early next year, and will be in the mission in July of next year. Justin thinks it'll be funny if he is the Mesa, Arizona mission president. But I think that is a long shot.

In other news a week or so ago at my OB appointment the doctor told me Hazel felt small and wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure she was okay. I wasn't worried, it didn't sound serious at all. Its a good thing I didn't freak out either. Then at my appointment this week, the woman doing the ultrasound said that she looked five weeks too small and that they may have to induce me to make sure she is healthy. She opted to send me over to the hospital for a full ultrasound to make sure. Well, then I started to worry. I wanted Hazel to be born any time now, but mostly I wanted a healthy baby. So yesterday I had my ultrasound and they said she was measuring right on target for 38 weeks, and she looked very healthy. She was also measuring 7 pounds 3 ounces by the measurements that they took, which is very normal and sounds a lot like Levi. I did get some pictures out of the ordeal, which is nice. I've never had shots this late. However, they had to press hard in very sensitive areas to get all the shots they needed, leaving me feeling bruised and battered a little. But Hazel is fine, her head is down and she is ready to come at any point. I think it'll still be close to two weeks from now (I'm still hoping for 11-29), so we'll see! One picture is her profile, and the other is looking at her face-on.

That's our week, hope yours is great too!

Events

Well not much happened during this past week, but the weekend was eventful. On Thursday however I had yet another OB appointment (they are weekly now). The doctor told me that Hazel felt small. Which I found odd because she feels bigger to me than Levi did, and during the whole pregnancy she's measured larger than normal. One theory is that she's dropped, and that is why she "feels" small. I think this is the best option because when I walk it feels like someone is pushing a bowling ball between my legs. They are having me do an in-office ultrasound this upcoming Friday (my next appointment) to see if she's dropped or if she really is small. When I asked what it would mean if she was "too small", the doctor said it could mean she is under-developed or it could me nothing at all. So then I asked if she is under-developed won't she just develop by her due date. The answer was 'Most likely'. So then my next thought was, why do the ultrasound at all. But I didn't ask that. Anyway, so I am not worried at all, instead I'll just be excited to have another look at her before she comes!

On Friday we picked my mom up at the airport. She returned from a two week trip to Peru. She travelled with her siblings and mom. They did a bunch of touring and had a fairly busy schedule. She had lots of cool stories and fun pictures to share. She brought back trinkets and such for me and my siblings. All the girls got a sweater, and all the men got a leather belt. Justin and I both like our gifts very much! Levi was thrilled to see his Nana after the two weeks. When we were picking her up he ran after her as soon as he saw her. This made him run past the 'Do Not Enter' sign at the security check point. You should have seen the reaction from the two security guards. You would have thought a terrorist was running by. They both jerked in his direction and put their hand to their "weapon", I think a stun-gun. Now granted, at times, I want to use a stun-gun on my two-year-old, but really do we need to treat him like that? It was funny to watch though.

Saturday was just some garage-sales and shopping with my mom. Catching up on the three weekends we missed doing both. In the morning we took Levi to the local library where they were having a couple model train sets on display. Levi was in heaven! He didn't want to leave, naturally. Since then he keeps asking to go see the trains again. Maybe someday Levi. We had my niece's birthday in the evening, but otherwise uneventful.

Sunday I was able to get out and take some more autumn pictures, so I hope you enjoy. If you want to see all of the shots, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/JustDaCrooks/November2008

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

White Fleece - $4.50, An Adorable Ghost - Priceless

This past week was different for us as we usually, while Justin is at work, spend the evenings with my mom. Since she is in Peru until the end of this week with her siblings and mom, I was left to my own devices. We did just fine, but Levi did miss his Nana, and still does.

I took the extra time given and tried to get a lot of things put away and cleaned that have been piling up around the apartment. I was able to get all but one task completed with an immense help from Justin. I find I am out of breath and exhausted long before I would have ever been before. I also had to realize my limitations since my back and knee were still sore, which is aggravating since I don't like to let anything impede my tasks, even injury. Unfortunately I could not ignore any of these things and therefore had to rely a great deal on Justin.

Speaking of which he is doing well with his sciences. He constantly challenges me with questions regarding things he has learned. I almost always know the answer, which seems to only fuel his determination to ask me a question I don't know the answer to. He did get some joy in quizzing his 13-year-old brother yesterday and had fun explaining several "laws" he has learned in physics, which seems to be his favorite class. This term is different from the rest though, and he has found many struggles with certain areas. But I know him, and his determination, and I know he'll succeed.

This last week we had a great deal of sunshine before the typical Oregon fall began mid-week. I was able to take a few pictures of the sublime array of colors on the trees in the area before the rains came. I hope to get out soon and take more. Every time I pass a tree of wondrous color my heart leaps and I yearn for a camera worthy to take the picture. But alas I digress. Here are some shots I was able to get though.

Well as we all know, Friday was Halloween. The original plan was for Levi to be Old MacDonald, me a pig, and Justin a cow. However, although all costumes we already there and ready for us, I decided I didn't want to wear a costume at all. So I went and bought some white fleece and made a quick ghost costume for Levi, since he seems to be in love with ghosts. It turned out great, and in the end Levi enjoyed being a ghost. We took Levi downtown for some trick or treating after his nap. We showed up around 4 PM, when it began at 2 PM, big mistake. We found half the places were already out of candy. No worries though, so many people thought Levi was so adorable they gave him two or three pieces of candy. I've never gone downtown for this event before, so I didn't know what to expect. I was surprised by how many kids were there! Next year we will have to be a little more prepared with timing. Next we took him to our church's trunk-or-treat. Again, I was surprised, only this time by a lack of turn out. It seems over the past few years the idea has faded and people aren't as apt to join in. I remember a few years back when the whole parking lot would be full. Now, between two wards, there was maybe twenty cars there. Sad, but inevitable I guess. We then took Levi into the neighborhood above us. It is a very wealthy part of town and Justin was sure we would get "the good stuff". Levi actually did the best up there and we stayed longer than we had planned. He really got into it after the first few houses and was running from door to door. Then he would stand on the porch and say to his dad, "Wa-a-a-ait, then say Trick-or-Treat." Basically he was repeating what we had been telling him all evening. It was adorable though, and again he received extra candy from some people because he was so cute! I found it interesting that when some people saw my belly they offered me some candy as well, saying I probably needed it. I laughed and told them just some for Levi. We got some glow-lights for Levi and us to wear while trick-or-treating, and we had fun with them later that evening! All in all it was a good evening, Levi earned his keep this year!

Saturday Justin headed out in the morning to his brother's football game with Levi. This gave me most of the day to do as I wished. Unfortunately half of it was taken up by things I would have rather not done on my day off, but they needed to be done all the same. However, I did get about a third of my scrapbooking done that needed to be. I'm going to keep working the rest of this week to get all caught up if I can. I still have remnants from last year and all of this year to scrapbook. Normally it is a fun and enjoyable time for me, but when I am so far behind it only makes it daunting. Still, a profitable day. However, when Justin dropped me off at my parents that morning, I headed inside only to slip on my parents front porch (it was raining). I didn't fall on my back again, but I did twist and land on my bad knee. So now I am convinced it won't heal for a long time, if ever fully. I know I didn't tear or break anything, just strained it bad. I feel like such a clutz!

Well I suppose that is all from us here in rainy Oregon! Hope you all are enjoying whatever weather you are having!