First Trip to the Ranch

So -- our little guy had his first trip to the ranch. My crazy sister and her whole family were there -- and it was wonderful! Packer was a trooper and just about everyone held him. We got there on Thursday evening and I got to listen to my mom and her sister Rhonda chat. It made me happy to see these two sisters laugh their heater laughs together. Then my sister showed up and Packer got to meet all of his cousins. Even though some of the semantics such as bath and bed time were a bit rough due to some inclement weather, but it was totally worth it to see all my wonderful extended family. It was also fun to have some of Cristian's family there to see how beautiful the ranch is! Every time I go there, I see some gem that I didn't get before. I am so grateful that I have this place to go to in my mind and in reality to calm down and ground myself in what really matters -- family.

Here is my Dad holding his grandson Paul's hand (named after my grandfather who passed away) -- it kind of made me tear up that the beat goes on . . . 

 

Yeah -- As stunning as this photo is, it doesn't do the location justice. This was taken in fall canyon behind the ranch house.

 

This was just a good photo (through the car window -- you can see the reflection) of some of the pretty fall colors. Dad said it was 'God's Gold'.

 

 

Here is me and my baby -- his 6 year old cousin Elisa found some stickers to put on his cheeks. They matched.

 

I just really loved this picture of my Grandpa Foote and Packer -- giving him a 'squeeze'.

My dad talking to Cami's son Sammy

 

The sisters! My sister Cami and myself and Elisa (red sweater) and Mary (purple sweater). 

Normally I want to put only flattering photos up on the blog -- but this was really funny of Grandma Foote and Packer. She looks like she is not quite sure what to do with him.

This was just a very . . . telling thing about my dad. Grandpa Foote found some signatures in the rock from the 1800s. This is Dad sharing an interesting lecture regarding the history of the ranch and why they were there.

Good Book to read: Wraith by Edie Claire This is a light, enjoyable read. So if you want just a quick afternoon of fun, this is the book for you. 

Good Series to Watch: Warehouse 13 This is just one of Jameson's and my favorite shows. We can't wait for more episodes to show up on Netflix!

First Trip To Lander Land

There has been a TON that has happened. However, I want to focus on our trip to Lander earlier in the month for labor day. It was so much fun, and we had a blast. We went down on Saturday morning. Packer was a trooper and slept the whole way there and back. There was a definitely a learning curve with the whole breastfeeding/timing thing. It was kind of awkward to be in a different place, but we had some fantastic family support and everyone was really excited to see our little man. He definitely delivered with lots of smiles (lots of crying too -- but we will just gloss over that)!

Here are a few photos of the event:

This is a picture of my baby boy on my bed taking a little cat nap in the sun. Yeah -- he is adorable.

I loved this picture of he and I -- mostly because he is conveniently covering up my cleavage. However, it is a nice shot of his volcan ear -- plus all babies are super cute!

This is a picture of my mama and my brother playing with him. He was pretty happy!

There was a lot of dancing and playing in the sun. It was so much fun! Jameson went shooting with Rob and his friend. I think that was a nice change of pace for him. It was so fun to visit my family, and I can't wait to see them again.

Good Book to Read: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson -- If you are looking for a good Halloween holiday read, this is a great option. It was the inspiration for Steven King as well as the movie 'The Haunting'. 

Good series to watch: My Boys

WICKED!!

There are some events in a young girls life that mark milestones of womanhood. The first kiss, marraige and motherhood are a few. The first time she ever gets to see her favorite musical of all time is another one. Jameson bought me tickets to go and see Wicked for my Christmas present. This last Saturday was the event. We went to Kneaders in City Creek to grab a delicious bite to eat. In a magical turn of events, my shoes made my feet feel like they were going to fall off as we were walking around, so we went into Forever 21 and found these shoes that I could wear to the event instead of the ones that matched my outfit:

Totally Worth It! Cutest little Witch Shoes Ever!!

Then we went to Capital Theater, and watched my favorite musical! Here we are outside the theater:

I don't really want to discuss that I am still working on losing baby weight. Best date EVER!! With the sweetest husband EVER!!

It was really hard for me to leave my bug-a-rug with Debbie, but it was worth it. He is still the cutest and sweetest boy in the world. I promise. Here he is with his friend Jackson Hume who was born about a month after him:

I realize that I have the worst cleavage in the world in the picture (try having my boobs, and NOT having horrible cleavage when you bend over. Try hard to ignore that and focus instead on the cute babies.

Anyway, it was a glorious week. I had so much fun with my family. Here is a link to learn a bit more about Wicked.

Good Book to Read: I have finally also finished MWF seeking BFF by Rachel Berche that I posted about a few weeks ago. It was a very interesting book I would recommend for just about any woman. It goes over female relationships and why they are so necessary. I found it particularly interesting how it helps a marraige for a woman to have many female friends. I even kind of felt guilty because I was looking at the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda from the lense of the book I am reading. It felt a bit like entertainment adultery.

Good Music: The entire soundtrack of Wicked. Here is one of my favorite songs: Popular.

Bug's Fishing Trip

This week was a busy one! It is so fun to have so many 'firsts' with our little guy. This week Packer had his first fishing trip down to the Jordan River Parkway with his Uncle Taylor and his Dad. Reports of the size of the fish that Jameson caught were wildly exaggerated.

We didn't know that cat fish came this small.

We figure we is the equivalent of a 6 week old human baby. Here is a picture for reference. We let him go.

We also had our first 6 hour night this week. That was super nice (especially since it was last night!)! We also went to Oktoberfest this year with Alycia and Steven. We took some cute pictures, and saw a moose and leiderhosen (but not leiderhosen on a moose). These pictures are on Alycia's camera and will make an appearance I'm sure.

I finally finished Breathless by Dean Koontz. So. Freaking. Good. It actually made some interesting arguments against established scientific theories like evolution. Which normally I defend like crazy. Totally all about that. So that is just follow up on the Good Read I recommended the other day.

Good Song to Listen to: Some Nights by FUN

Packer Worth Jackson

So many of you know, and if you don't you will now, Jameson and I are the proud parents of our very own little boy named Packer Worth Jackson. He was born on July 9, 2012. He is so sweet and so wonderful and we LOVE every minute that we get with him.

I went into labor early on Monday morning. Little fun fact -- they make you wait an hour while you are in excruciating labor wishing you had an epidural. I thought I was going to die, and Jameson was in about the same place. Then the anesthesiologist was in a c-section, so he couldn't come for another hour. Our nurse was great though and gave me some serious meds! Yay for modern medication.

After the epidural, it was smooth sailing until it started to wear off a little more than I wanted. After I asked for a refresher, the doctor asked how far dilated I was. When I said I was dilated to a six, he said, oh, you will be here until midnight and gave me a lovely shot of numb. Half an hour later, the nurse came in and checked me. She then informed me that I was at a 10 and ready to push. After 18 minutes of pushing, Packer Worth was born at about 6:48 in the evening -- Awesome!

You know what's not awesome? When your baby tears your cervix, and they can't figure out why you keep bleeding. Then they have already turned off your epidural, so you can feel them digging around all up in there trying to find where the tear is. Then I got some serious pain meds that made me slur my words. I could understand what was going on, but was pretty low on communicating my thoughts. I kept trying to ask how my baby was, but couldn't quite get it out (I was also shaking uncontrollably and had a low grade fever).

Anyway, here are some pics of my bug-a-rug in the labor and delivery:

Love this little bug!

Jameson on a super uncomfortable bed that he hung out in for a few nights with his son that he can't wait to take duck hunting. 

Jameson just looks funny in this one. It's pretty awesome.

Also, you don't get any pictures of me. Not for a few more months at least. Just expect lots of Jameson and Packer.

Good Book to Read: MWF seeking BFF by Rachel Bersche -- it's a nonfiction about a woman in her early thirties who is newly married trying to find a best friend in a new city. It has a lot of research on why women need other female friends. Very insightful.

Good Music to Listen To: It's Not Your Fault by Awolnation

Fishing Trip 2012

I know everyone wants me to post about the birth of our first little boy, Packer. However, I am still figuring out all of our pictures. So . . . it will just have to wait like a day. Instead, I just wanted to post a few gorgeous pictures of a fishing trip that we took earlier this year.

This is Jameson setting up fishing -- he gets kinda bored unless he can continually cast and reel 'em in.

This was my view. Pretty.

This is just really pretty. Nothing like the sun coming up . . .

And here is Taylor -- he and his fiance Tiffany were with us!



I promise that there will be many hefty blogs laden with pictures of our little guy soon!


Good Book to Read: Breathless by Dean Koontz -- I am in the middle of this one. So it might end poorly, but so far so good!

Good Song: Ours by Taylor Swift 

Top Ten Reasons It Is Awesome To Be Pregnant

I'm going to be honest -- I am about 34 weeks, and it is NOT awesome to be pregnant. However, I need to be a bit more positive, so this is a list more of the 'silver lining' of being pregnant ( i.e. we are trying desperately to ignore the discomfort). Turns out that being so large you may have your own gravitational field has it's advantages.

Top Ten Reasons It Is Awesome To Be Pregnant:

10. Perfect excuse to 'pamper' yourself. No one will ever say you are selfish when you show off your ginormous feet.

9. For once, I am encouraged to eat a lot and gain weight (even if I still have the selfish inner battle that I am getting too fat). Slushies never tasted so good.

8. Giant Boobs. There really isn't a downside here.

7. Lots of extra love and attention from friends and family. And sometimes Jameson. :)

6. Lots of opportunities to bond with other women over pregnancy 'stuff'. Everyone has a story -- whether it comes from struggling to get pregnant to struggling to get the thing out.

5. I will never be bored again. I will have a constant source of entertainment. This is the only upside that my co-worker Matt can come up with. I often threaten to let his wife hold my newborn just because I know she is already wanting kids. He is terrified that he will come home to have his wife tell him she is pregnant too.

4. Watching how proud Jameson is of himself when he shows me off and says 'isn't she huge?' as though he were the one growing the human inside himself. Also, watching the horror on friend's faces when he talks about how 'fat' I am.

3. I have the right to either burst into tears or scream at someone and no one says a word because they assume it is just because I am pregnant.

2. While I would probably never wear them, I think that these shirts are funny.

1. I am safe from Predator.

I think that these pretty much sum up how I feel right now. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

Good Book to Read: Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

What is going on in my body at 34 Weeks Pregnant