Big News part 1

So… this is going to be a LONG post! I have a lot of ground to make up for!

I am now the mother of three beautiful Children. And I honestly can't believe it! Long story short… we were blessed in May of 2014 to find out we were expecting yet again! We were shocked and so thrilled that a another little miracle was going to be joining our family! I had just gone in to the Doctor to ask him about going on a fertility drug that I had never tried before.. yes there is one I haven't tried. Shocking right? Anyway he said that was just fine… with a plan to start the meds in August after I had fulfilled my duties as camp director and on Trek. Well… apparently Heavenly Father knew I would never make it on trek even if I did have two adorable pioneer outfits… and I found out a week later that we were 6 weeks pregnant. No trek.. no girls camp. I was having a baby! Due January 16th, 2015.

Ultrasound 9 weeks

Its hard to even put into words how blessed I felt. How excited. How shocked. We were all so happy! Especially Abby! She was so excited.. and absolutely convinced it was a girl…. We later found out that we were expecting a perfectly Heathy baby boy! I have to admit I too thought girl for a very long time. But I was so grateful that the baby was healthy and that Coop would have a little buddy! It really was the best outcome possible!

Wood Family Film // 2014 from Kale Fitch on Vimeo.

 16 weeks along

So in the past I have always had really great pregnancies. Well the saying "third time is a charm" did not apply here! I had terrible morning sickness in my first trimester… also with a strict order to not lift anything including my two year old. That was miserable! I had terrible everything else sickness during my second trimester… and Gestational diabetes in my third trimester. All while being extra enormous starting from the very beginning… not being able to bend over, very uncomfortable and dealing with a very difficult two year old! But I was so happy! As hard as it was I know what a miracle it is that we were having a baby …. and I would do it all over in a heartbeat!

Like Cooper this boy was anxious to get here! I started dilating pretty early and I knew that an early delivery was in our future! I was dilated to a 2 with 6 weeks to go and at a 4 with 4 weeks to go. I had what seemed like millions of ultrasounds and NST's because I was so huge and the baby was not cooperating. He moved like crazy! And it hurt! But honestly there is nothing better than feeling your baby move inside you. Best feeling in the world! I was having contractions pretty steadily during my entire third trimester. It was insane! I tried to take it easy because I wanted to give this baby the best shot at a healthy delivery. Something I hadn't had with the other two. All I wanted was my Baby to not be in the NICU!  I practically put myself on bedrest. We knew that the latest he was coming was January 2nd because of the Diabetes, But I was really hoping to make it past Christmas…. with the ultimate goal being NO NICU!

Scott was worried sick. My contractions were so intense and so steady for so long… but I knew it wasn't time yet. They would come and go for the most part and I wanted to keep him inside of me as long as possible. I had an appt on Tuesday the 23rd of December. Dr Haskett (who I adore) said that if I have contractions even 7 minutes apart for 30 minutes I needed to head in. This was not good news! I had been having this for weeks… especially in the evening so I was so bummed. I knew were were having a baby anytime.

Important side note. During this whole time Cooper was extremely sick. He had a stomach virus for almost a whole week! I have never seen a child so ill. And it was so sad! And honestly.. pretty scary. I couldn't imagine leaving him like that! Tuesday night we took him in to the Doctor and got him some medication to hopefully help. When we got home, sure enough. The contractions came on very strong. I knew it was time and we couldn't put it off any longer. My family was on their way from California for Christmas, Cooper was unbelievably sick, and we were having a baby.

To be continued….

24 weeks

34 weeks

Recommitted

How many times have I written that before? I know I am always saying I will be better and keeping up... and then I fail... miserably. But this time is different. Scott gave me the most amazing priceless gift for Christmas. He went through all my past blog posts and he published it for me. Into the most beautiful book. It is  such a treasure. But it made me sad to think that in the last 3 years I have only done a few posts. So I am recommitted. Every Sunday I am going to write something. With or without pictures. The most important thing is the words. So I am not going to stress about pictures!

I am also not going to worry to much about back tracking. That would be entirely too overwhelming. Though I think I will try and hit the kiddos birthdays. OH And Abby's baptism. Other than that... its upward and onward.

Life is good. If I could keep my kiddos from getting sick for more than a few days at a time... life would be perfect. But for now, since my kids are constantly sick, life is just good! We had the greatest Christmas. It is so fun to have another little one around to enjoy the magic of it all with. He still doesn't quite get it.... but he enjoys the presents anyway! We had our family from California join us this year.. which was amazing. We Even had the best surprise ever when Elder Bennett joined us at the Temple when Katie went through for the first time. It was such a great experience. I loved being all together in the temple. It was perfect. Ok... Aside from me being deathly Ill it was perfect!

Cooper... oh that boy. He is All boy. Everything is a ball. He throws everything! I am loving every second of it. Our days consist of play play play. He loves to read, me reading to him and reading to himself (cutest thing ever). He is walking everywhere... and getting much faster and braver. Which is resulting in many bruises. But he is just as cute as ever. He talks. Quite a bit. His words that he has so far are : Mom, Dad, Hi, Dog, Ball, Sis, Bye, Night night, Jesus, and yes. Being a mom to a baby after such a long "break" doesn't come without its challenges. But I wouldn't change a thing. There is more joy than I can describe. We are so blessed.

Oh Abby. This girl. She is my dream girl. I couldn't ask for a better daughter. Does she have her moments? Of course she does. She is 8! She is opinionated. And she has a mind of her own. But she genuinely wants to do the right thing. She wants to be a good daughter, friend and big sister. And she really is amazing at all three. She is taking piano lessons, and has been since the beginning of 2nd grade. And we just got a piano a couple of days ago. Hearing her play around our house has been such a pleasure! It really has changed the spirit in our home significantly. I love her so much.

It is humbling when I think of what we have gone through in the now almost 11 years of marriage that Scott and I have now had. I am so grateful. There really is no better way to describe it. Our life isn't perfect. But we sure are blessed.

Its been exactly one year...

Its Been exactly one year....

Since the test came back positive.

The test I took to get the nagging thought out of my mind.

A thought that I know now was a prompting.

We were having a baby.

I was going to be a Mom again.

20 weeks... that would become just 16 short weeks away.

I will never forget feeling him move as I told Scott.

As he sat there in shock... mouth literally dropped to the floor.

You cannot know. Unless you have been there.

Unless you have done every treatment possible.

Unless you have done four rounds of failed invitro. Failed.

Unless you have been waiting for years for someone to choose you.

You cannot know what this meant to our family.

But I am sure you can Imagine.

Really there are no words.

Our family is all the better with him in our family.

We have so much love for one another.

It has grown more than I can measure.

Watching Abby be the big sister.... I see myself in her. I love it so much.

Watching my husband father a son. More Joy than I can stand.

Taking care of my children. Its what I always imagined.

Hard. Exhausting. And more rewarding than I have words for.

I. We. Are so very grateful.

We celebrated with family pictures of course.

Our new forever changed forever family.

I guess its a tradition now... the shot of Scott and I taken by Abby... I think its in her blood! 

My amazing sister... that allows me to boss her around as she tries to get the shot I am picturing... She is way to good to us! 

Our little Man is 4 months old!

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! And taking care of the cutest little baby boy ever! Seriously.. I can't get enough of this guy! He turned four months old two days ago. And he started to Giggle and laugh today.

Best. Sound. Ever.

Seriously there is nothing like it! I can't wait for a lifetime of laughter with my little man. I hope it never stops!

Having a Baby in October is not the best idea ever... of course neither of my children were able to be planned...so I claim zero responsibility.. but seriously.. this whole not leaving the house thing is getting quite old. I cannot wait to go on walks with my kids, play with them in the yard, and go on outings! And I especially miss church. I actually had the thought yesterday that maybe I should start taking him. But not going has worked so far. He hasn't been sick yet. And we only have 5 weeks left. So I think its best to stick with the advice of our pediatrician and stay home until April. But I cannot wait to go to church. I love the people there, I love the spirit that is there. I really need it. And I can't wait to have it back! Oh and I am so excited to show off our little man!

So we attempted a 4 month photo shoot... it didn't really go as planned. I learned a couple things about Cooper. He is very modest and doesn't like his picture taken while he is naked. And that I adore him even when he isn't smiling for my pictures.

So here he is. Cooper Jay at 4 months. And here are a few things about him

He loves his sister so much. She really can do no wrong in his eyes!

He is the very happiest when he wakes up in the morning. He laughs and kicks and makes the cutest             noises... We call it the Cooper show!

He has FINALLY started to enjoy tummy time (some of the time). We have had a rough go of it with neck strength but I think he is finally making some progress and tummy time isn't as bad as it used to be!

His Changing table is his favorite place! Has been since he was born. When he is beside himself.. just take him to his changing table and he is happy as can be!

He still sleeps a ton. We are up to 10.5 hours at night(8:30 until 7) and 2 three hour naps a day... and sometimes a 1 hour cat nap in the evening. This boy needs his sleep!

He is oh so close to grabbing his toes! I can't wait until he does this... and I can get pics of it!

He makes this tarzan noise... seriously it sounds just like him! LOVE IT!

He has had 5 hair cuts. The last one was right before these pics were taken. We cannot keep up with his hair on top.. but he is getting a couple of slight bald spots on the side and back :(

Put his clothes on and he smiles no problem! 

I hope he looks this cute as he rolls his eyes at me forever! 

We sure love him. And continue to feel very blessed.

PS... I am planing to take pictures of Abby this week.. then she can have her very own post too!

adjusting....

Not sure why the title of my posts are not showing up... anyway... the title of this one is Adjusting....

The other day my sister and I were playing skipbo... a recent obsession our ours..... and she reminded me of a story that I had forgotten... and I thought worth sharing.

So it was about this time last year that I talked Scott into starting the remodeling of our house. We were so excited. We took the month of April to Rip out the carpet and tile, and lay down black bamboo wood floors. We also painted the house, got new furniture and had some new and rearranging of some wall displays. Scott did an amazing job and I could not have been more pleased with the outcome... for a few minutes anyway...

After the furniture was delivered I was so excited for how everything came together. But then I found myself alone in my beautiful home.... depressed. And I spent a few days that way. I confided in both my mother and my sister... through tears.... that I was having a hard time being excited. I felt like the house did not look like the house of a mother... with small children running around. With toys splattered everywhere. It was too fancy... who was going to want to place their child for adoption to someone that had a house not suitable for small children?

Anyway... the depression passed eventually but it always sort of bothered me. When Katie reminded me of this the other day I had to laugh. Knowing what I know know... that I was 3 months pregnant when this all occurred.

Well yesterday as we were all hanging around in our pj's I took some pictures of my wonderful little family. A family that I would change nothing about. I love my kids. I love that I have a boy and a girl. I love that they are 7 years apart. And I love that they are both a testimony to me that miracles happen. And that Heavenly father is watching out for me... waiting for just the right moment to answer our prayers. I honestly would not give up that knowledge for anything. Our family is just how it supposed to be... and I think we have adjusted quite nicely....

House pre-remodel

House Post remodel

House post remodel... and post baby Notice the addition of a swing, bucket of toys, a quilt covering the ottoman to preserve it... and a huge thing of hand sanitizer... almost empty!

tummy time... 

I let her do this once... now she asks every time! 

Such a beauty-ful girl! 

You can say he looks like his Daddy all you want.. but this boy has his momma's eyes!