Baby Tucker is here!

Tucker Jackson Sutherland

2.15.13

9 pounds 1/2 oz
21 3/4 inches long

All this little guy has done for the last 24 hours is sleep!  Add that to the fact that we have both been really stressed getting over the delivery & this is the 1st picture Tucker got by himself!  The picture below shows off his huge cheeks.  We think he looks almost exactly like Tommy did as a newborn.

Here is Whitney & Tommy meeting Tucker.  Tommy LOVES him & Whitney isn't so sure about us calling someone else the baby.  Tonight she told me "WeeWee the baby". (She calls herself "WeeWee")  I figured she'd have a hard time with it so we'll she how she does this next week!

Here's one to show he has a lot of hair in back.

Tommy, the tickled pink big brother. He is constantly asking to hold him although he really only wants to for about 3 seconds before he drops him to run off & play.

 I just realized this is the only picture I have of Vic & Tucker so far!  [His workers threw him a surprise baby shower.  It was so sweet & thoughtful!! :)]

And now for the labor story that TRAUMATIZED me (us)!....

I was past my due date so the doctor let me be induced.

7:10am: Doctor broke my water & I started walking laps around the halls to bring on the contractions happily looking forward to another easy labor & delivery like Whitney's.

10:30am: Doctor told me my platelet count came back from the lab & that I would not be able to have an epidural.  I panicked & said I couldn't do it without an epidural so since I was so close to the cut off she had my blood drawn again & requested it be manually counted as that usually increases it quite a bit.  I had total faith it would be fine & kept on with my walking.

11:30am Lab work came back & it was even lower so I for sure couldn't have an epidural.  I was so shocked & freaked out.  The doctor & nurse kept asking me what the game plan was going to be... did I want to start pitocin, keep walking, do a water birth, ball in the shower, ball by the bed, etc.... WELL... I had NO CLUE! I have never in my life even considered for a second that I would do a natural birth nor have I ever had the desire to brave one.  I was so freaked that I couldn't think or make a decision.  All I wanted to do was run away & come back another day when my platelets were high enough for an epidural.  The contractions started coming every 3 minutes & had to do the heavy breathing thing to get through them.

12:30pm:  I finally called my sister-in-law that is a Douala to ask her for natural birthing advice & that definitely helped calm me down a little & brave me up (slightly).  Thankfully she was there for my first labor & was able to remind me of all the things we did to coach through & suppress the pain.

1:00pm:  Contractions became too hard to stand through & I started laboring on a ball which was helpful, but crappy because they were so hard that I would cry after getting through each one & stress more of what was about to come & wonder how I was going to do it.

1:30pm:  The doctor came in to check me & I was at a 7 1/2 so it was too late for the IV pain killer that they can give you because I guess its too hard on the baby if its too close to delivery.  She gave me a little pain killer though, but right after that the contractions intensified 10 fold & I kept bawling & telling Victor I couldn't do it.  The next hour became one giant BLUR of pain.  They hurt so bad that I couldn't even tell the nurse I was ready to push.  I just started screaming like I've never screamed before & the doctor heard me down the hall & came running in & told me to get up on the bed.  She could already see the head so nurses frantically started spilling in the room & setting up.  Lucky for me they were all so busy setting up that no one was rushing me to push.... because I wasn't about to inflict more pain on myself.  I was in so much pain that I couldn't open my eyes or even think straight.  I just screamed at the top of my lungs!  The only thing I remember is two different nurses kept getting right in my face & telling me to breath so the baby could get air & then seeing Vic standing there frozen & crying.  Another lucky thing... mother nature took over my body & forced the baby out on its own.  It was still fast like my last 2 deliveries, but not quite as fast so it gave me time to stretch & I didn't tear near as bad this time. (The only good news of all of this!)

2:27pm: Baby Tucker arrived!  Poor thing didn't get immediate love as Vic was in shock & I started shaking with the chills like crazy & couldn't calm down for an hour afterwards.

We both have talked it through several times today & we both are still pretty traumatized by it all.  Poor Vic was wondering if I was going to die since I'm usually really tough about pain.  Thank goodness this was our last one as I don't think I could deal with the stress of thinking about doing that again!

Now that Tucker is here we are so delighted.  He is super soft, sweet, & tiny.  We love him to death! :)

Princess Whitney & Vday

I started an activity chart for Tommy at the beginning of the year where I've tried to have a structured daily schedule & in that is an art project every morning & a lesson on numbers, shapes, letters, etc. in the afternoon.  Tommy has been loving the attention & learning new things.  It made me realize that my little princess needs special attention of her own so I started to let her get ready with me & instead of scolding her when she got near my make up I let her put a little on & she was delighted!  It really looked like a bunch of bruises to me, but she thought she was beautiful & that's what matters.  She is definitely all girl :)

Speaking of princess, I LOVE Whitney's room after we got the bead board up & painted it, but I just barely took the time to take a picture!  I kept thinking I'd do something cute & clever with her name above her bed, but that will just have to wait until we have a permanent house & I know the wall size.

 Whitney was so happy about make up that I decided to finally paint her toes for the first time.  She is pretty obsessed with them & every time she doesn't have socks on wants to point out how pretty each foot is.

 For 3 days in a row I had the kids work on a Valentine box & cards for a church Valentine party.  They really loved it.  Tommy loves the concept of friends & giving presents to them. Lately he has been pretty passionate about making me happy & asking me all the time if he makes me happy.  He's a sweetie!

These two LOVE presents so I got them a few little treats & toys for Valentines Day so they didn't feel left out that Mom & Dad got a gift.

Stacation #2

I am not proud to post about "stacation #2" for 2 years in a row, but we saved Vic's vacation time (that is use it or lose it by February) for a Disney cruise & Florida visit, but my little (or not so little) baby bump vetoed that trip and I'm too pregnant to drive very far so we stayed home.... again.  At the beginning of the week I envisioned a week of "me time", lounging in bed without getting ready, & getting to work on scrapbooks that I desperately want done before baby #3 gets here.

Instead here is how the week ran:

Sunday: get up early for the new church time, letting Tommy practice his talk, and trying to get all that Sunday stuff in.

Monday: clean house after the weekend, workout (a new goal I've been getting better at), let Vic run to gym for 2 hours, & get ready for Vic's 5 hour long birthday date. We went to the Hobbit & a Thai place that was pretty good.  Then when I got the kids to bed I ran to the store really late for all the birthday food. (Which is just super exhausting to do when I'm pregnant.)

Tuesday: (Vic's 33rd birthday): get up early to make requested breakfast crepes & bacon, do all dishes, dirty diapers, open presents, & chase kids around while Vic took full advantage of his birthday relaxing (as he should).  Then work on requested Cafe Rio enchiladas that always seem to take forever, but worth the time, make Vic's fruit pizza, get house clean for friends over, dinner, & then have friends over for cake, ice cream, & games.  Vic forgot that when he requested all this detailed food that I just spend the entire day on my feet in the kitchen so he said to remind him next year not to do that again (now documented for proof!)

Wednesday:  I watched the neighbors kid in the morning, cleaned up party mess, & then ran off to visit teach.  Also, I brought in & washed all the Tommy's old baby clothes & got them all hung up & ready.  Really can't remember the night, but probably just maintaining two busy toddlers!

Thursday: got asked to work, watch neighbors kid, & panic that I still haven't had any "me time" so after Vic got done working out at gym I finally put 3 hours into continuing-ed credits (to keep up my license) while Vic took the kids to the library.   Hmmm... not exactly how I planned out my "me time"!  

Friday: another day of work & then took the kids swimming, even worked out, & more CE hours

Saturday: Vic went to paint for service project in the morning & go workout, & then I worked on CE's again.  Vic finally rented a  movie so we could relax on our stacation, but of course we didn't get to watch it until 10 o'clock at night so really just made us tired for the next day!

Sunday: I woke up with no voice & Whitney & I had hacking coughs so we stayed home from church sick

:(  Since all I could manage to do was lay in bed I started my 1st I-pad app & as predicted I am now fully addicted to it (a knock off of Wheel of Fortune)!

So ya..... not so relaxing & fun as I had hoped for, but at least I got work in there for some extra money, most of my CE's done, & some work outs.  

Here is Tommy & Whitney last Sunday being cute little posers.

My New Year's goal this year was to run a tight schedule to make sure the kids got their learning time, play time, errand time, workout time, nap time, etc. in.  It has been going really well & I am loving having time at night to myself plus the kids seem a lot happier on a schedule.  At 5 o'clock we cook dinner & wait for dad to get home.  The kids think it is so fun to watch for him to come down the street which is nice for me to get get cleaning & cooking done without my wonderful "helpers". 

The kids spent 1 1/2 hours making Vic's birthday cards so they were quite excited and proud to give it to him.  Tommy wrote all the letters & drew his first person so it'll be a card to keep!

Newmans & Keenes

Vic's helpers to blow out the candles!

Whitney of course had to get a picture if everyone else was. Turned out cute so I'm posting it!

Buccaneer Bay where we took kids to swim.  We hadn't been here before & it is a really good small kid place as there is no area over 2 or 3 feet in the main pool.  It was well worth the money just for the hot tub.  After a long week I was aching all over & the hot tub wasn't hot at all so I got to get in front of the jets.  I was in heaven until one of the workers came over & turned up the heat... he probably thought he was being nice, but really just made it so a pregnant lady couldn't stay in!

Tommy loves this picture so I guess it gets a place on the blog!

Cute slide picture :)

 I finally made myself stand in front of the camera for a "37 weeks" shot.  I really hate being this big & am so glad that this will be the last time!!  I am to the point where bending down or trying to get off the couch or bed takes a lot of effort so hauling 2 toddlers around really wipes me out & I am SO ready for this baby to come!  I know this next month will be a long one, but hopefully with all the stuff left on my "to do before baby #3" list it will help the time fly by a bit faster!

Tommy's 1st talk

Tommy gave his 1st talk today.  He was really excited all week & practiced once every day & was really excited when we got to primary, but when I tried to make him sit up front with the kids giving prayer he panicked.  I was worried it wasn't going to happen, but luckily we had one Nilla wafer left in the diaper bag to bribe him with so when it was his turn he happily ran up there when it was his turn.

He thought the microphone was really cool so he of course started shouting the words into it.  The kids in primary all thought he was hilarious.  I'm guessing that made Tommy want to talk more because he did great & kept talking & pointing to his poster really good.  I would hardly know because I could barely concentrate because my mama bear instincts kicked in & didn't want anyone laughing at my baby boo.  Vic said he thought it was great, the primary kids had a good time, & Tommy had a positive experience & was proud of himself so it was a success.  

This mama just needs to learn to relax.  I was even stressed the night before because he didn't go to bed on time so I kept laying in bed worrying he wouldn't be cooperative & miss his opportunity that he had been so excited for all week.  I can't even imagine my anxiety when he goes to start school & I won't be able to be in the same building the whole time!!

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was feeling so worn out on New Year's Eve that if it was up to me I would have crawled in bed at 9pm, but Vic wasn't having that so he took us all to swimming & games at a community center.  I'm glad we went because Tommy loves "a party".

It snowed while we were gone so I was worried it would melt by New Year's Day, but it's been so cold that not a bit of it has melted!  I love seeing these two all bundled up!

 On New Year's Eve I was having trouble getting Tommy to sleep because he was so excited from "the party" so I told him how we were going to build a snowman outside the next day & he said "no snowman, I get mama with a giant snowball!" and was laughing & thinking he was so funny.  I thought he would forget about it the next day, but sure enough that is about all he wanted to do was chase me around!

 Whitney was really funny because she saw that it was exciting to have a snowball so she kept asking for one & we'd tell her "go get Daddy, Tommy, etc" & she would instead go & hand them the snowball :)

 It's nice when they are this little because the tiny 4 foot hill in our backyard was exciting enough to be a sledding hill!

It took them both quite awhile to trust us to pull them around on the rope, but once they did they loved it.

 Later we went to another "party" at a friend's house & had a lot of fun.  It helped us realize we need to make a goal of having friends over at least once a month as we enjoy the company & it's fun to see Tommy get so excited about visitors.  He's quite the social bug.  Vic's main goal for the year is to start working out again & mine is to get more on top of daily tasks & schedules.  (Might be hard with a 3rd kid on the way!)

A Family Christmas

Last year we moved to Indiana 2 weeks before Christmas so we did Christmas alone, but this year we got to be with family which was such a fun change!  Here is Tommy & Whitney in front of our tree on Christmas Eve right before we left to go to Ben's house.  They aren't usually that helpful at packing or cleaning, but I took this picture & then told them to load the presents in the car so we could go & I've never got the car loaded faster!

Right when we got to St.Louis Ben had Christmas Eve dinner ready for us.

Kids table:

Adult table: It was fun to have my Dad there. I haven't spent Christmas with him in at least 10 years.

Here is the cousins before we opened our 1 Christmas Eve present.  I love seeing so many stockings all in a row!

We went to see lights afterwards at Santa's village. They had some cute displays...

...and A LOT of junky lights strung everywhere.  I wasn't a fan, especially because it cost $20, but the kids were excited & I guess that's what counts!

 My favorite memory of Christmas Eve this year was Tommy at 11 o'clock at night:  we got back from viewing lights & he was so excited for Santa to come that he was jumping all over the bed with a giant grin & chanting something. We were worried he'd be up late, but the instant we turned off the lights he konked out.  It made us laugh :)

Opening our stockings the next morning:

I knew Tommy would be happy to get "tracks" from Santa, but I had no idea how badly he really wanted them.  He has practically been permanently attached to them ever since!

Tommy & Whitney helped each other open all their gifts. I thought it was cute they didn't mind the other grabbing for their new toy.

Whitney & Evie are 9 months apart & I see a friendship blooming already. They were really cute together the whole time we were there.

 We had quite the lazy Christmas this year which is very different from what we are used to so it almost didn't feel like Christmas, but it was a nice break for both of us.

 Here is Whitney & all her gifts.  She got A LOT thanks to Kmart clearance.  I sort of felt like she needed all these anyway because up until now she's just played with Tommy's cars & toys.  Her favorite toy (besides the house of course) is the stroller with Minney inside.

 She doesn't really get that this part is supposed to be a doll house so she has fun laying in it & pulling the shelves off so she can play peek-a-boo through the windows.  I put the dollhouse part together while Whitney was napping one day & Tommy was my helper.  The whole time we were getting all the windows in place Tommy was so excited & kept saying he was going to play in Whitney's house.  Finally when I put the door in he looked very disappointed & declared "I'm too big" & lost interest in being my helper.  Later when I got it all finished I asked him if he thought Whitney would like it & he looked at me with another look of dismay & said "No, Whitney is too big"... so who knows how long it'll be before it is an actual dollhouse!  (Later when Whitney opened the house part Tommy was much more excited!)

 Here is Tommy with all of his presents.  His favorite toy when not obsessing over his new trains & tracks is pushing bubble Mater all over like a wild man.

 Here is me & my presents. (Yup, purposely placed the ipad in front of my 7 1/2 month belly!)  Vic also got me a new CD player installed in my car & that is a photo backdrop behind me.  I guess last year he felt I got him way more than he got me so he went way over the top this year spoiling me!

While we were in St. Louis Katie also dropped by for a day & helped watch the kids while we went to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  I was really excited for this since I love their Christmas songs, but I had no idea they were a bunch of 80's rockers!  We still really enjoyed about 1/2 of it (the Christmas part), but could have done without the rest (nasty long haired head bobs & overweight leather dancing)!

...and if you weren't one of my very few who got a Christmas card (went kind of lazy this year since I almost didn't do one) then here is our cuties all dressed up!

 I hope everyone reading this had an amazing Christmas as well!!! :)  We miss all of our dear Idaho/Utah friends & family and hope to be moving that way next year!