My Little Star Shining Brightly

2'8"  23 lb

16th percentile weight 

10th percentile height

Eve is Two.  It kills me, it just kills me.  And I mean that in mostly a sentimental way, though my patience levels have dipped to a new low with her lately--she's terrorizing the house, the cat, her new Finding Nemo DVD.  I blame part of it on the weather socking us inside all day long, all winter long, and a lot of it I feel I'm to blame because I should be more patient and considerate of her feelings and not stoop to her level and throw a fit when I don't get my way and keep the whining out of my voice.  But I am also human, with another little human constantly stuck to the breast (also my choice, in a way) and sleeping in my bed (also because of my laziness).  And now I'm thinking that the previous sentences aren't really making sense, but I'm not even going to reread them.  I think you get the point.  

Kissing Theron with Granny P

No--Eve is glorious.  I adore her.  I love her.  She is the most wonderful part of my life.  I love that she has such vast curiosity, a keen desire to help me with everything, and an enthusiasm for life that knows no bounds.  It's piontless to put new child safety locks on the doors because she's too smart for them now, and besides, she knows where everything is and what she wants.  She is talking all the time, and singing.  Her singing is adorable.  I tried to video tape it the other day, but it didn't work. 

 

 Running away when we want her to come

 Blowing the candles out on her chocolate peanut butter pie

 Eating birthday pie

 

But let's talk about Eve.  She is finally reaching into the growth charts again, and is finally getting closer to being in her age appropriate size clothing.  All her teeth are in and look fabulous.  She loves little animal toys, bouncy balls, the cat and trying to put clothes on and off everyone or thing.  She loves to stomp in puddles.  She pats Theron's belly and tells him to open his eyes.  she loves to give kisses and has given me several wet open mouth kisses right on my mouth.  It makes me laugh each time.  She has very mysterious and in depth phone calls on my cell phone in a language I cannot understand.  She paints, draws, runs, splashes and thinks it's funny to walk around the house with something over her eyes and then bump into things and fall down.  Favorite show: Finding Nemo.  Favorite Song:  "I Love to See the Temple."  Favorite Animal:  all of them.  Favorite Color: purple.  Favorite Food: noodles.  Favorite Person: Daddy.  Favorite Sport: Basketball.  Favorite Candy: Candy canes with M&Ms coming in a close second.  She has every family member's name memorized and will constantly list them over and over again.  And of course, there is the intense, high pitched shrieking.  All.  Day.  Long.  Oh--and she finds is hilarious to do the opposite of what I say.  Ha ha Eve.

She watches this movie constantly.  

You'd think she'd show a little more enthusiasm to get it as a gift.

A Funny Eve Story:

Richie was being silly with her one morning at breakfast.  He started singing "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" in a very deep bass voice.  Eve kept saying "Calm down, Daddy, sshh!  Calm down!"  the whole way through the song.  

Birthday bathing: the joy of eating bubbles:

So Happy Birthday, my darling, delightful girl.  I love you.  Please don't grow up too fast.  Because I can't keep up with you!

A Christmas Extravaganza

I thought I had downloaded pictures from Eve's birthday, but I haven't yet, so I will regal you with tales from Christmas instead.  Actually, there isn't too much to be said except that I accidentally erased two of my favorite pictures!  Grrrrrr!  We spent the 23rd in Salt Lake with Richie's family, then my parents and sister came and stayed with us the 24th-26th.  On the 26th Theron was blessed.  Then we had a brief respite and then the next weekend for New Year's Richie's sisters Karen, Holly, and her family came and stayed with us.  She has four kids and they are Eve's only cousins, and she ADORES them.  We cooked up a seafood feast with lobster bisque (courtesy of Uncle Marty), scallops, and three different kinds of shrimp.  It was a lot of fun.However, I am glad that the holidays have passed and hopefully February won't take to long to pass and then onto March and Spring!  Glorious Spring.  I know that in Logan, Utah, March is still the dead of winter, but to me it will always mean Spring and my birthday.  So, without further ado, here are pictures.

 I love how beautiful and "Christmasy" my house is at Christmas!

 Theron meets his Great Grandpa Petty

 Opening gifts Christmas morning

This next series of pictures is a failed attempt at a belated Christmas photo shoot with my new camera and cute children.  It was fated from the start when I wanted to take these pictures two weeks before Christmas, not two weeks afterwards.   Then Theron was the angriest I have ever seen him, basically screaming his head off all day long.  He didn't even make it to the first session.  As you can see, my backdrop is no beuno, Eve won't hold the candy cane correctly or smile at the right time, and because I'm still used to my little point and shoot, most of the flash is obscured by my finger.  

Starting out okay...

 but soon becoming this:

No longer wearing matching Christmas clothing, I just try to get some shots in of them together.  This is the same outfit Theron wore when he was blessed.

 The brief moment he wasn't furious:

 

By the end Eve was going crazy and Theron was apparently catatonic.  Oh well.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

Too Much To Catch Up On In One Blog Post

So I know that I completely bypassed Christmas, but with both Richard's and Eve's birthdays in January, I really don't have much of a chance for a breather after Christmas.  My dad's birthday is at the beginning of February, so really, the festive "feel" and holiday stress don't really leave me until after Valentine's day.  It's just one big party at the Petersons all winter long!  That being said, I will backtrack later and post pics of Christmas next time.  But there have been some monumental events in our family that are more recent that I want to address first.  

First:  Happy Birthday to my darling daughter, Eve!  I love you Evie!  She is the greatest, cutest, smartest, kindest, funniest two year old alive!  She is such a treasure in my life.  Corny--oh yeah--but true--oh yeah.  But, since her two year well check appointment is tomorrow and a little friend get together tomorrow night, I will delay posting on her birthday for a few days.  

Second:  Happy Birthday to my darling husband, Richard.  Ladies, you are looking at one fine specimen of a man: devoted husband, loving father, and an OCDish cleaner of dishes and laundry.  He turned 32 last week and I seriously could not live without him.  I am a very luck woman.  Some of his more recent accomplishments are being a key player during the winning game of Church Ball on Tuesday and getting a lot of compliments at work.  He continues to grow a sweet beard and endlessly quotes the Simpsons.  One of his goals for this year is to run another marathon.  He hates it when I remind him that he  is in his 30s while I am still well within my 20s.  Happy Birthday to my Man.

 A Party Pleaser!

  

  Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake...mmmmmmmm....

Third:  Theron turned two months old on the 17th!  He is growing so fast and getting so big!  I love it and hate it at the same time.  Luckily this means that he sleeps a little longer at night now; not waking until 3ish to eat.  So, if I'm good and go to bed early, I actually get some sleep!  He is doing well.  We love having him in our family, and Eve is constantly kissing him and telling him to open his eyes (she doesn't like it when he naps, mostly because I tell her to stop her constant yelling and shrieking).  He is getting very strong, loves to be up and looking around (not being on his tummy or back!) and loves to be around people.  He has the cutest dimple in one cheek when he smiles, which is often, though he is angry often too.

Two Months:

23"

12 lb 4 oz

70th percentile weight

50th percentile height

One Month Down...

Theron is One Month Old today!  It has gone by so fast.  When my doctor told me that I had to wait six weeks before lifting, bending and twisting, I thought that sounded like such a long time.  Now I wish she had said six months :)  Below is a picture of Theron's birth announcement, which I'm sending out today.  Sometimes I make things a lot harder than they need to be.  They did not turn out nearly as cute as I wanted, after spending more time than it was worth "making" them. I blame it on my crappy printer and the fact that I have no graphic design software.  Why didn't I just have it done cheaply online?  Pride.  And the fact that I wasn't originally planning on sending these so soon, but decided last minute to add them with the Christmas cards and needed them asap.  However, I won't complain anymore because my Christmas/anniversary/gift for every occasion for the next two years came earlier this week: a new, REAL camera!  I'm so excited and have already taken some awesome pictures. 

 

Some pictures of Eve.  The first one is her "growling" face when she's pretending to be some sort of animal.  It's a thing we do.  I also thought her hair was really cute that day, so there's a pic of that.  She has a band-aid on her nose because she keeps scratching a little owie that is now two months old and worse than ever.  

Blame It On The Post-partem Hormones

Toy Story 3 should NOT have made me cry as hard I did.  I really lost it at the end.

Another Crazy Delivery

There are a lot of labor and delivery stories out there that are crazier than Eve's, but I got to hand it to the little gal, she was pretty traumatic.  At least, for me.  And Theron's story is not nearly as ensnared in drama as Eve's, but I'm beginning to wonder if it is at all possible for me to even have a "normal" delivery.  Granted, this kid has been nothing but trouble from the start, ignoring my IUD and settling into my womb unannounced and uninvited.  But I'll let that one slide.  

This is me the night we went to the hospital--the end of 37 weeks.  Eve is kissing the baby

For about four or five weeks before he was born I started having contractions, but nothing big or regular.  My check up at 36 weeks was totally normal.  But about a week before he was born I started to get more contractions, and they started to get a lot stronger.  On Tuesday, Nov. 16 I woke up and felt really crappy.  I just didn't feel...right.  I was pretty sure that I would start real labor that day.  I ran some errands wondering if my water was going to break in the middle of Kohl's baby department.  I almost called my mom and Richie to tell them to get ready for a baby, but I didn't want to make it too real yet, and I had a doc appointment that afternoon, so I decided to see what she would say. 

Richie came to the appointment and Dr. Blackett checked my cervix.  "Uh, Renee, how often did you say you felt contractions?"  I told her that they were still random but coming more often.  She said "You're already dilated to a five.  What do you think about having your baby tonight?"  Richie was shocked but I wasn't that surprised.   I had a baby shower that night so I said "What about tomorrow?"  She didn't work.  "What about Thursday?"  She gave me a look like "it'd really be better to do it sooner."  Then she said that there was a good chance my water would break before then anyway. She asked about my hesitation and I told about the shower.  "Oh!" she said, "that's ok.  I'm a doctor who works crazy hours, just come to the hospital at 8 pm after your shower and we'll start you up."  

So after making our calls, we went home, packed our bags, I went to my baby shower where I dazzled and amazed all the women by the fact that I was half way there and having the baby later that night.  I think Marla, the woman who threw me the shower, was worried I was going to have the baby in her living room.  Richie and I went to the hospital afterwards where they broke my water.  After that things started happening pretty fast.  When I reached a seven I asked for the epidural.  I was not prepared for a natural birth, plus, I had all back labor, which was AWFUL, much much worse than normal contractions, and Theron was also posterior, facing backwards, which made labor much more difficult.  But the epidural kicked right in a was great, except it slowed things down. I was dilated to a 9.5 all night long.  They finally gave me a little potossin to get things going again.

Right as I reached a 10 and was fully dilated and pushing hard, my epidural wore off.  And even though I hit the button 3 more times over the next hour, it completely went away, and fast!  I was in so much agony!  The back labor was absolutely horrific and Theron refused to turn.  That was the second time Dr. Blackett has had her hand up inside of me.  I feel bad for her.  By this time I was starting to lose it.  I begged for a c-section.  Dr. Blackett tried to calmly talk me out of it but I knew that it really was what I wanted.  So they finally starting prepping for surgery.  And I had to stop pushing which was even worse than pushing.  It felt so wrong.  

I can't remember if this is the first time I saw Theron or not, still too many drugs in my system.  However, the funny thing is that when Richie took this picture, I thought I was smiling big and bright.  It looks more like the end of 10 hours of labor and surgery.

Now I'm in the OR and they finally have the spinal block for me.  They give it to me, wait five minutes...nothing, 10 minutes...nothing.  The anesthesiologist I could tell was perplexed.  The stupid block never worked!  I had to go under general anaesthesia again!  It was much better because at least I knew that my baby was okay and nothing was life-threatening this time around, but I must say that I was really disappointed to not be awake AGAIN for the birth of my child.  I can handle having the c-section, but really, general anaesthesia?  Sigh.  

 Theron in his "coming home" outfit

The c-section ended up being the right move, however.  Afterwards Dr. Blackett told me that when they opened me up, Theron had not descended nearly as much as he should have after an hour of hard pushing, and that where the previous section had been, my uterus was so thin that she could see through it.  What would have happened had I not chosen the section was that I would have either eventually ruptured or pushed for two more hours until they decided to do the c-section anyway.  So, any more pregnancies will be c-sections, no matter what.  I'm okay with that.  Maybe if I just schedule one, I can actually be awake for it.

Post Script--Aww, look at my cute little Utes.  Theron is crying because he is hungry--hungry for a BYU loss!  Which is just what happened.  And BYU should have won that game--Mmmwhahahahahahaha!  The sweet taste of victory.

Post Post Script--I've always felt that a natural delivery was the ultimate badge of womanhood--at least it was for me.  And I think that I will always have some regret not being able to even come close to ever doing it.  But I do feel as though those couple of hours in full-on labor without drugs gives me a good idea of what it is like.  When I told my friend Marla that she laughed and said "Is that womanhood?  Because I felt more like an animal."  And that made me feel better.  She is much more wise and experienced in this area.  Another of my friends, Sarah, lives in NY and she says there's a saying out there called "Too Posh to Push" and women just schedule c-sections as soon as they know they're preggers.  So is makes me wonder what being completely knocked out means--definitely not stylish, definitely not animalistic.  Lazy?  Smart?  Any good suggestions would be welcome!

Theron Thomas Barkume Peterson

He is here!  Yay!  I am so happy to have Theron in our home, and so happy to be pregnant no longer!  It was a crazy birth--not nearly as traumatic as Eve's entrance to the world, but definitely not what I was hoping or expecting.  I think I am destined to not have a normal labor and delivery story--ever. But that is not important--the important thing is that he (and myself, I suppose) are home, happy and healthy (though still healing) together.  A family of four.  I love it.  I love it more than I ever thought I could (tears!).  I do not think that I will write out the entire story tonight, but here are some pictures of my sweet little man.

  Theron Thomas Barkume Peterson

7 lb 13 oz 20"

Born 5:45 am November 17, 2010