Melts my Heart

Seeing these two together! They're already two peas in a pod.
I'd like to think that I am striving always to see the good in life and to be grateful
for all that I have. I have been grateful, but I have not felt THIS kind of gratitude
in my whole life. I love this new addition that we have and I love the joy he has brought
to our little family. I don't know if I could ever feel more joy than I have in the
past 4 weeks...

(Daddy reading the news to Stryder... He's already so well informed)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to anyone who still reads this blog. Hope
you are able to spend this week stuffing your faces with good food and
filling your hearts with those you love.

Introducing:

Stryder Crandall Low

October 23, 2011

7 lbs. 1 ounce

20.12 inches

WARNING: information overload

5:30 on Saturday morning my water broke. Steve and I headed to the hospital kind of in denial that we were going to have a baby. I thought that if your water broke that you were supposed to go into labor. I was actually the most comfortable I'd been in days. We walked around the hospital to start contractions for an hour or so. After that I got the petocin (spelling?) to get them going more. We had a fairly chill morning. Contractions got pretty unbarable by the afternoon and I got the epidural around 1:30. It worked exactly like it should have! It was wonderful. We had a few visitors in the afternoon since I was taking a long time to progress. There was a bit of a scare with his heartrate that night and they were worried about having to do an emergency c-section. Thankfully he leved off and that didn't have to happen.

At 12:05 am the doctor said it was time to start pushing. It was just Steve, the nurse, the doctor and myself there. At 1:48 am Stryder was born. He was and is perfect and I have turned into the uber cheesy mother I always said I wouldn't be.

The next day we were woken up by Stryder's doctor telling us that he had pneumonia. My heart literally broke. The doctor told us that since they found it early that he wouldn't have to go straight to the NICU. Said that if he could keep his oxygen levels and sugar levels in the normal range then he could stay in the nursery and get his I.V. antibiotics there. The biggest veins in babies bodies are in their head so he's had an antenna for the past little while. I've been lucky enough to be able to stay here at the hospital with him. He's doing great and getting better each and everyday. Steve gave him an amazing blessing and we've been so grateful for all of the love and prayers sent our way.
Stryder is already quite the stud and has a large fan base.

I'm pretty sure that dad is his biggest fan though... Besides me, of course!

I really am just overwhelmed with gratitude for all that I have and we're looking forward to this new chapter in our life. We're one happy family.

Nearing the end

37 Weeks
38 Weeks

Friday I'll have 1 week left until my due date!
Keep your fingers crossed for me that he comes ASAP...
It's kind of consuming me.

A time for FIRST'S

It's been a while since I've posted, but life happens and things get put on the back burner. We bought a house!!! It's in Sandy and we're super excited to be starting this new chapter in our life there. We're ready to start great memories there.

Owning a new home means that you need things you don't necessarily need when you're renting. We have made 3 big purchases lately for house. 1- Lawn Mower 2- Washer 3- Dryer

Steve is working a lot on the yard and that lawn mower has already been put to great use. It was so pretty when we first got it. Shiny and new.... That lasted about 30 minutes. I think Steve is more proud of how it looks now: used.

We have been so blessed with showers and gifts from so many people that we love. It's so great to be able to share all of this baby excitment with people that we love and look up to. This baby is going to be loved! We finally got our stroller/carseat travel system. We're really happy with it. I think Steve is feeling better now that we have the carseat. Even though I've got 3+ weeks left, he was getting a little concerned that we didn't have that yet. Now he can breathe easy until I go into labor.

Because I love those that are requesting belly pics, here you are. As you can see, the guy is growing rapidly. Above I'm at 32 weeks and below was the other night at 36 weeks! We're hitting 37 this week. I'm able to stay really busy with the house and organizing. It's perfect for my need to nest. I just went on maternity leave from school which means that I can nap every day until this baby comes if I want to! I find that the only time I can sleep an entire 2 hours in a 24 hour period is from 2-4 in the afternoon.

I'm getting quite nauseas again and really tired. I'm feeling very large and starting to stress about labor, delivery, taking care of a baby, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm worried about the post baby body sludge. One step at a time though, right?

So... If anyone else is up in the middle of the night for any reason and just need someone to talk to, I'm your lady!

Happily Tired

We've been having a busy, but wonderful summer. I've been really tired, but didn't realize how tired until I started looking at pictures... AHH! I look exhausted in ALL of them. Hopefully it'll get better in 18 years or so, right? Baby Low is obviously growing and is moving around a lot. He likes to kick for dad every morning before dad heads for work. School is going great for me. I'm starting to get heat flashes and dizzy spells and back pain and nausea again, but all is well. Steve has honestly been amazing! I can't imagine going through this without his love and support. I'm looking forward to my mother coming home from her vacation. We have bought all of the fabric for his room, we just need to start sewing and I don't trust my skills without supervision!

Third trimester is around the corner... (next week).

What are you glad you did before your first baby came? What do you wish you would have done? What are some things you did for yourself? For your spouse? For baby?

Official Announcement

Missing... Me...

I feel so incredibly blessed for all that is going on in our lives. A quick update?

I'm in hair school which is something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do!!! I love it even though it's been hard with the pregnancy sickness.

Steve got a great promotion at work and is getting into the role. He's taking the GMAT in a month or so and will be starting the Professional MBA program in January.

We're starting to look for a place to buy when Steve's parents get home from their mission. We're on the 3-5 year plan now.

So many great things to feel so excited and happy about... But all I feel is gross and sick. I now have the flu this week on top of it all. I'm nearing 13 weeks and hoping that I will start to feel a little like myself again.

Please tell me this is normal. Am I the only one who has felt completely lost in their first trimester?

Sorry for the confusion people...

So I'm attempting one more time from my iPad to announce that we are growing... Well, I'm going to be doing the growing and then in October, our family of two + a dog will become 2 parents, 1 ignored dog, and 1 LOVED BABY!

We are very excited and I am ready to stop vomiting, but that hasn't happened yet... 12 weeks today baby. Please stop making me sick.

Do Unto Others

AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU...

SNOW!!!

So much snow last night. As some of you know, Steve and I are house sitting for his parents while they are serving a mission. Well, last night we got the biggest dump of the season! We went to a movie while the wind was blowing and the drive-way was clear.

We got back to 14 inches in the drive... When I say drive way, I don't mean like a regular drive. It took us 2 hours to shovel about 1/5 of it and we finally gave up. We met at the movies so we drove separately. I tried to pull into the drive with my old car and got stuck. I tried to back up and slid into the road/sidewalk...

While there were many cars on the side of the road and many cars just driving by probably saying: "Look at those poor shmucks!", there were the few that stopped to help. TWO people stopped to help us. Honestly, it took 20 minutes for all of us to get my car out. If it was just Steve and I, we probably wouldn't have been successful since I had three men pushing. Sorry babe, you're strong, but two extra guys helped a lot.

That is when I realized how we all can do better with helping others. Life is busy, but it should never be too busy to help someone out in need. Steve and I decided after our little experience how great it would feel to help out a little more. That is our goal and I will report. I challenge any of you who read this blog or have gotten through this post to do the same.

How have you helped others in need or how has some stranger helped you?

And we're off!

TO MEXICO...

Please let there be LOTS of sun!
Be back in a week.

Ahhh........

One of the many reasons why I love that guy I call my husband. Last week I went out to do the grocery shopping and run errands and this is what was waiting for me in the drive way.