Carter's Birth Video

Here is a video I made using the pictures from Carter's birth and our stay in the hospital: http://youtu.be/8b3tlaLKtrA.  If you choose to watch it I hope you enjoy it.

Carter's Birth Announcement

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Carter - 2 Months Old

Carter is now 2 months old. Of course he is still cute and adorable. He makes eye contact now. He often smiles at me when I talk to him. He makes gooing and cooing noises now. His eyelashes are getting longer and darker. He is 23" long and weighs about 10 1/2 pounds. He doesn't have his 2 month appointment with the doctor until the 9th. He will get his first shots then and I'm not looking forward to it. He still pulls lots of funny faces. He moves his arms a lot but not as much as he use to. He doesn't do the arm straight in the air thing as often anymore. He moves his legs a lot more now than he did before. If I come into a room he is in and start talking he will recognize my voice and start looking around. Unless he's playing his new game of pretending the person trying to get his attention doesn't exist. He will then look anywhere but at them. It's quite funny.

He is still pretty good in the car although when he feels like he's had enough he lets me know it. As soon as I take him out of his car seat and lay him down he immediately raises his arms above his head and stretches out as long as he can. We went to Yellowstone this last weekend over Labor Day. Sadly it rained most of the time. So Carter basically spent 3 1/2 days in his car seat and was so good. Unfortunately we saw very few animals.

On Aug 23rd Carter rolled from his stomach to his back. It makes tummy time a little difficult now. He enjoys swinging in his swing and stretching out on the floor. I still have to fight my Mom for him and my Dad is so cute with him. He and Carter like to nap together. Sometimes when Mom has been tending I'll come home and go looking for them and find Mom and Dad in bed with Carter in the middle. It's really sweet. 

He is growing too fast. He is such a good baby and we are still having lots of fun with him.

Carter - 1 Month Old

Carter is 1 month old today. I can't believe it's already been a month. He is the cutest thing. Definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me. He's my little love bug.

We went to Park City for several days last week with Mom, Dad, and Janalee. Marlee, Tom, and Matt were there for a day or two. Carter did great. It was really hot in the condo and he loved to lay in just his diaper and kick and stretch. We are now in Bear Lake and he is happy here too. Luckily he is really good in his car seat and in the car. He fusses here and there, but for the most part dozes off.

Carter moves his arms all the time. Even in his sleep. He isn't a quiet sleeper. He is always making noises. He's been that way since the first night in the hospital. He must have bad dreams because he will cry out in the saddest voice when he's sleeping. His sad/upset cry is different than his mad/frustrated cry. I'm starting to get them all straight.

Mom is a huge help. I have to fight her to get to hold him. Every few nights she will get up with him during the night and let me sleep. She loves him so much and is so good to him. I am very blessed to be living with her and Dad. At first Dad seemed really nervous to even touch him, but now he'll take him and hold him and talk to him. It's cute. They were hanging out on the front deck today looking at the lake. He's definitely the family favorite. The only one who doesn't take him to hold immediately when they come in the door is Tyler. He steers pretty clear of him.

It amazes me how I instantly fell in love with this little guy when he was born. As soon as I saw him I loved him and would have done anything to protect him. It's an incredible feeling. I wouldn't have thought I was someone who could sit and talk to a baby about nothing, but we have great conversations. He has randomly smiled since he was born and has even giggled in his sleep a couple of times. Tonight Mom was playing with him when she was getting him ready for bed and he smiled at her. I think it's the first time he's smiled at something in particular.

He has a good grip and loves to get hold of your finger. I can't believe how soft his skin is. He has a darker skin tone than me. Hopefully he won't sunburn as easily as I do. He eats 3 to 4 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. Breast feeding hasn't gone well and he is mostly on formula. I give him what I can pump, but it's only a couple of ounces a day.

He pulls the funniest faces. He likes to pucker up his lips. When he does he gets a kiss from Mom and then he gives me a dirty look. He will lift his right arm up straight out in front of him a little above his head and stretch his hand out fully. He gets high fives when he does that. He currently has big blue eyes. We will see if they stay that color. 

Carter's Birth Story

Carter was due on July 24th. My "birth plan" consisted of my Mom and sisters being with me and having an epidural as soon as I could. My family typically spends the 4th of July in Bear Lake. My Mom left at 5:00 Wednesday night and went over to join pretty much my whole family. My youngest sister Marijka and I both worked Wednesday. I had an ultrasound scheduled to measure the baby on Thursday morning and Marijka needed to work so we were still home and planning on going over Thursday after we were done. I was looking forward to relaxing for a few days at the Lake.

At 8:30 I went in to go to the bathroom. As I moved to stand up I heard and felt a little pop. There was a little blood on the tissue. I went back to helping Marijka pick up the house but felt like I needed to go again. There was more blood on the tissue and some in my garments. I had a weird pain so I took a towel and went and sat in the front room. I had more uncomfortable pains. I was worried about the blood and did a little internet research but came up with nothing helpful. I didn't know if I was having contractions for sure but they hurt a lot. I started timing them and they were a couple of minutes apart. I called the hospital. She said she could get me in touch with the doctor on call. She asked about contractions. When I said they were a couple of minutes apart she said I could come get checked if I wanted. I said I was going to for my own peace of mind. When I hung up Marijka was standing there with the keys and said let's go. The only thing I remembered to take was a charger for my phone. I didn't even remember my purse.

By the time we were passing Gossner's the pain was unbearable and coming every 90 seconds. By 14th north I quit timing because I didn't want to know how fast they were. There were times I wanted to push. Marijka was holding my hand and being awesome. I kept telling her to drive safe. Marijka had called Mom but I called her again and told her to come now.

We got to the hospital and Marijka grabbed a wheelchair. I had a contraction getting in it, one in the elevator, and one at the admit desk. They took me back and wanted a urine sample and me to change into a gown, etc. Marijka got a gown on me and got me on the bed. I told the aide I needed to push. I think it finally got her attention. She grabbed a nurse from the hall. She checked me and calmly called on her intercom thing for a table and a doctor. I asked if I was dilated and she said I was pretty close. I was at what they called a full plus 3, which I later found out meant the baby was crowning.

The room filled with people. They were trying to get an IV in with no luck. Marijka was trying to help me breathe through the contractions which were coming constantly. Poor Marijka. I kept telling her to get pictures with our phones. She had everyone from Bear Lake calling her. She was awesome from start to finish. I wanted to push and the pain was unbearable. They kept telling me I had to wait for Dr. McCulloch. Then she got there and I had to wait for her to get a gown on. Thankfully she told them to forget the IV, we were having a baby now. A few long painful pushes and he was here. 

My water broke at 8:30. We got to the admin desk at 9:20 and Carter Ric Willis was born at 9:45. He weighed 7lbs 1oz. He was 19.25" long. He was fine until the next morning when his blood sugar dropped. The had to take him to the NICU to get it regulated. He did well and was able to go home with me on Friday the 4th.

I can't believe how much I love him. He is such a sweet baby. I couldn't ask for anything more.

My Mom

I meant to have this posted for Mother’s Day, but it didn’t happen. If you don’t know my Mom you are missing out. Life is never boring with her around. Mom is one of those people that bizarre things just happen to without her meaning to cause them. She definitely fits part of the blonde mentality. Mom has a big heart and is always worried about everyone’s feelings.  She doesn’t want anyone to ever feel bad or be hurt. My Grandma Ila use to always tell us, “Now don’t be saying anything that’s going to cause trouble.” Grandma didn’t like contention in the family and Mom is just like that.

Until I was 18 years old Mom provided child care in our home. She could have 10 kids under the age of 5 on any given day. I would have gone insane. I don’t know how she did it. It takes a special personality to be able to handle that. My cousins were part of “her kids” and as a result we are all very close.  They are all still “her kids”. When Jan and I got home from school we were expected to help. I am grateful I was taught to be responsible at a young age. Mom taught us well.

One of the few constants in my life has always been my Mom. It is a great comfort to know she is always going to be there when I need her. All it takes is a phone call and she is on her way. No questions asked. Mom spent many nights in the hospital with Kyle so I could go home and get some rest. She always made sure we were both taken care of. Her and Dad took Kyle home and took care of him when I couldn’t due to work. They have been such a huge help and support for me. They are the perfect example of unconditional love. It never wavers.

Mom puts up with a lot from us kids. We tease her a lot. Years ago she took her girls, Emily, and Natalie to Disneyland. She looked the whole time for the perfect keychain that said Paula on it. She finally bought one on the last day. When we got home she got it out to show my Dad and the name on it wasn’t Paula, it was Dorothy. To this day we have no idea how she managed it. That same trip while walking back to the hotel from Disneyland at midnight she caught her foot on a crack and fell flat on her face in the middle of the crosswalk. We got her up and got her off the street. The next morning she had a bruise on her chin in the shape of a mickey mouse head. Mom spends a lot of time on the ground. She is well known for tripping and falling. The last few years it’s because of her legs, but she didn’t use to have an excuse. She was standing in the backyard last night and realized she was on really uneven ground and there wasn’t a smooth path out. She refused to move until we came and helped her walk to the sidewalk. I feel bad that she has to be that worried about it. Hopefully when she has her knee renovated again this fall it won’t be such a concern anymore.

Mom can drive me totally crazy and yet I couldn’t love her more. I will never be able to give back to her all that she gives me every day. I love her so much. 

Happy Birthday Marlee!!!

Today is my sister Marlee's birthday. Marlee is my best friend. She's the one I called the night my pregnancy test was positive and I went into panic mode. When the what was I thinking, I'm too old for this, etc. thoughts started running thru my head. She calmed me right down and reminded me this was a great thing and everything would be fine. I wouldn't have made it through the last few years without her love and support. She graduated from Utah State University last Saturday with her teaching degree in Special Education. She already has been offered a job. She is the new special education teacher at Sky View High School. I am so excited for her. On top of this great accomplishment she is marrying her sweetheart Tom on June 14th.

Things have not been easy for Marlee. In high school she became ill. She threw up everything she ate, and I mean everything. She missed a lot of school. They could not figure out what the problem was. They finally told her it was an emotional thing, but we weren't buying it. Finally once when she was really sick Mom put her in the car and drove her to Salt Lake to the emergency room at Primary Children's Hospital. It was eventually discovered she had a severe bowel blockage. After a stay there she was able to come home with the right medications and things got better. During this time she kept up with all her school stuff. When she finished she had a high enough GPA that she got a scholarship to Snow College.

College wasn't a great time for her. She and her best friend since 2nd grade, who basically lived with us for several years went their separate ways. College just wasn't a great experience for her. After a year and a half we were able to convince her to come back home.

She went back to school a few years ago and has worked so hard for her degree. I am so proud of her for overcoming everything she has and becoming the amazing woman she is. Marlee has a great sense of humor. The weekends she is in Idaho with Tom are very boring. I am not looking forward to her moving out after the wedding. I am going to miss having her around. I'm counting on the baby to bring her around frequently.

When Marlee was about 3 years old I came home and went into my bedroom to find her sitting on the floor surrounded by a mess. She had been pulling the tape out of all of my cassette tapes. She looked up at me and said, "It's not naughty, huh Kami." She always made it very hard to get mad at her. She use to put on one of our nightgowns, my Dad's cowboy boots, and sunglasses. She would get a mug and walk around to all of us, hold up the mug, and say, "Penny for the poor" and wait until you gave in. She tried the mug thing again recently and it didn't work nearly as well for her as it did when she was 4. 

Marlee has always believed she is a princess. I am so glad she found a great guy who treats her like one. Tom is a wonderful guy and we are so happy he is part of our family. I love Marlee so much. She is a great example for me. She has some big changes ahead of her and I know she is going to be awesome!