Beautiful Babies

"Faith Proceeds the Miracle" (Kimball) ---he was quoting F.M. Bareham.

"We fancy that God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time He is doing it with beautiful babies. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world."

July, month one

Birthday: July 3, 2010

Day One July 3, 2010: Everett was born after a night of contractions, and a fantastic epidural; and about a half an hour of pushing, at 12:58 pm. We are thrilled to have him here finally~ everyone has commented on what a beautiful baby he is, gorgeous complexion, long fingers and toes, bright eyes, and sweet little whimper. We can't stop staring at him!

Our Dr, Scott Hansen delivered Everett, he was having an early Independence day barbecue, and smelled like BBQ sauce when he came in to deliver :)

Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell and Stephanie and Jarom were the first visitors to the hospital, they arrived from the family reunion in Ophir about an hour after he was born. That night Grandma Debbie came to meet him and brought all the uncles: Jared, Jeremy, Jeffrey, and Joseph, and Aunt Jana. They all took turns holding him and saying hello :) We had our first Family prayer tonight, all three of us, it felt so good, and the spirit was with us.

Day two July 4, 2010: A good first night, John was a big help, none of us got much sleep, but when we weren't feeding or changing him, we couldn't stop staring at this beautiful child, our first born. We are so thankful to Father in Heaven for trusting us with this precious spirit, already he has a calming presence, and such a sweet disposition, his cries are soft, and come only when he wants to be fed or changed. John and I both LOVE holding him while he's sleeping. We can't get enough of his facial expressions, he is such a hoot! Grandma's LeAnn and Debbie both came to visit, and Uncle James and Aunt Meikka along with Seth, Jacob, and Lia. Lia was especially enamored with Baby Everett, she wanted to hold, kiss, and play with him, though she's still working one being gentle. :) She wanted to honk his little nose, she would giggle after she pinched it, it was so funny and adorable that she wanted to play with him so much. She also brought him everything she could reach, juice, applesauce, binky's etc...so fun :)

Day Three July 5, 2010: Everett passed all his tests and we brought him home today!!! So relieved to be home, and surrounded by family to take good care of us! Grandma LeAnn, and Steph and Jarom prepared a welcome home display with balloons, flowers, and signs! Grandma LeAnn has been taking such good care of me, and gets lots of snuggle time with the baby. We treated ourselves to Iceberg Ice Cream Shakes after dinner, delish! Everett is such a pleaser, content as can be as long as he doesn't need fed or changed :)

Day Four July 6, 2010: Tonight the Young Women (My Mia Maid class) Came to see the little man. They had so many questions about him, and he was such a good baby being passed around, they couldn't get over his little hands and feet! :)

From and email from Aunt Amy, William and Lily's response to the arrival of their newest cousin: {After Courtenay had Everett, Stephanie sent a picture message via cell phone. I handed the phone to William to show the kids and Lily peaked over his shoulder and said, "Aaahhh, he's so cute. I want to hold it." She took the phone out of Williams hand and walked off cradling the phone, staring at it's tiny screen. I heard her say in her most sweet voice, "I want to look at him for a while."

William was also excited about the newest addition to the Mitchell clan. As soon as we heard about Everett's arrival he said in a dutiful yet excited manner, "Well, I guess I better make him a little invitation to the 'boy club!' Because he's, you know, a baby. So he's little. Get it?'"}

Day five July 7 2010: In the evening we took Everett on his first walk in his stroller, we went around the neighborhood as far as I could manage, I'm still sore and tender, still healing. When the neighbors saw us coming, tons of them came out to say hello and meet our little fella, is arrival was much anticipated by the ward members. It's fun to show off such a handsome little man!

Earlier in the day Bruce and Carol Jolley and Jenni Woodmansee came to visit! It was SO fun to get to see them, Carol was like a second mother to me growing up. John's Uncle David and Aunt Darcy also came to visit!

Day Six July 8, 2010: Daddy forgot to put baby's "trigger" pointing down during a diaper change, and Everett pee'd all over Mommy and she had to do a load of laundry in the middle of the night, but then in the morning Mommy was changing a poopy diaper, and baby pooped in the middle of the change, and mommy didn't catch it all, it got on the bedspread, soaked through the sheets and the mattress pad, John used a half a bucket of oxi-clean to get the yellow stains out! We're learning :)

Day Seven July 9, 2010: Today was the first doctors visit. Everett impresses everyone with his beautiful complexion, and his size :) He is in the 75th percentile for both head and weight, and in the 90th percentile for his height. Everything looks great, he now weighs 8 lbs 13 ounces, only 4 ounces less than his birth weight, and he has no jaundice :) My Aunt Marilyn came to visit today :)

Day Eight, July 10, 2010: ONE WEEK OLD! Jarom and Stephanie came to visit again, and we took Everett on his first shopping trip to downeast. He was content to stay bundled up in my sling while we shopped, such a trooper :) We sat outside for awhile in the evening, and he enjoyed the summer breeze :) He has had some sad goopy eye boogers in his right eye, hoping his tear duct opens up soon :)

Day nine, July 11, 2010: Sunday, we stayed home from church but still played sunday dress up, Sister Marilyn Barney made Everett the cutest onesie with a red and white striped bowtie attached, it is so adorable! Grandma LeAnn combed his hair with a part in the middle like a barber, it's so cute!!!

Expecting Everett

John and I wanted to start trying to get pregnant in August 2009 hoping we could time it just right so that I could be pregnant all through the school year and then deliver when school got out. We knew the odds of things working out that way were slim, but we tried :) In September I was late and so excited, I took a pregnancy test, but it was negative. I was devastated, I was so sure we were pregnant. Then in October I felt some symptoms, a little sick, tenderness, really tired, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. One night I tried to convince John that I should take a test because of my symptoms, but he said we should wait another week to see...lame! I wanted to know! We went to bed that night, and I was sure of my symptoms, so when the alarm went off in the morning I sprang out of bed and went straight to the bathroom to take a test. I let the stick sit there while I watched it turn into a pretty pink plus...I was so crazy elated! I hurried into the office where John was and I was crying and smiling holding the pee tick, he smiled so big and wrapped me in a huge hug! I remember crying and whispering "you're gonna be a daddy!" And he kissed me. Ahhh, it was the best news ever! I called my parents first thing, it was 5:45 their time, but I couldn't wait! It was the day before Halloween, and we had no school, but it was a teacher work day, I went into one of the meetings and told my friends Sarah Wright and Brooke Deardorff, later that day they took me to a clinic to get a blood test to be positive :) The next day we had a huge party at Ben's for Halloween, it was so fun, and we told everyone we were expecting! Best. News. Ever.

Pregnancy was fairly low key for me, I was exhausted every day after school, some days I would nap, and I didn't feel too sick. I didn't feel well in the mornings, but I tried to eat breakfast to help the baby grow :) By December I was craving things. I always wanted citrus, yummy oranges and grapefruit. I loved strong flavors like vinegar :) I had a craving for grape juice one Sunday, and John and I were on a walk in the snow, I couldn't get any grapejuice, but he picked me some grapes from a neighbors vine, so I could suck on them...lol...

I started to show at about 16 weeks, but I didn't need to wear maternity pants until I was about 24 weeks. At my 20 week appointment at the beginning of February, we got to see an ultrasound of our little one, and found out without a doubt that we were going to be parents of a healthy baby boy! We were so excited, we both had a feeling it was a boy, John said he was happy we were having a boy because everyone needs a big brother :) And he said that if it was a girl, he wouldn't know what to do with it! LOL!

I felt really great through my second trimester, I was able to work out some (not enough) and I had more energy, and got plenty of rest. When I hit the third trimester, I started to get insanely swollen in my feet mostly. When I was 27 weeks we went on a big camping trip to Death Valley and San Clemente. I was surprisingly comfortable and slept well. We went to Disneyland and I was so tired by the end!

By week 34 I had horrible heartburn, and my potty stops were so often I lost count. Sleeping was restless, and teaching during the day got harder and harder. My feet were so uncomfortable and the swelling went to my hands as well, staying on my feet was difficult, and I was SO tired all the time! I craved Watermelon and Grapes, and anything juicy...Jamba Juice was a frequent indulgence :)

Luckily I didn't get many stretch marks on my body, some unsightly ones around my bely button but everyone said I couldn't complain, so I tried not to :)

Being pregnant is so fun, even though it's hard, I loved it! Especially when I started to feel baby in my belly, it never gets old! At 37 weeks it feels like he is outgrowing this space fast! He moves all the time, and his body changes the shape of my belly, it's so entertaining to watch, and feel. He started getting hiccups too LOL!!! One of the best parts about being pregnant is letting everyone feel him in my belly. Some women hate it, but to me it is magical to let them experience a bit of what I do as I am growing this little one inside me. My students are especially fun, they always want to know what he's doing, and feel him move. Some of them are so interested, they are like magnets to my belly at all times, poking and prodding, asking which body part they are feeling. It really is magical, the look on their faces when they feel him move is priceless. I love it. It was also fun to let my mom and Stephanie feel him, on a family get together in Las Vegas we had fun watching him in my belly :)

The most fun though is lying in bed at night with John, and that's when he is most active, and John gets to feel him move, we both just watch my belly for 10-15 minutes before we go to sleep at night, we talk about what we think he'll look like, and be like. John is going to be the BEST dad that ever was, I am so excited for both of us. He loves to feel him move inside me, and he laughs and adores my huge belly. He loves to kiss it all the time, and hold it, and rub it. He tells me all the time how cute I am, how beautiful I am, and when I complain about being so huge he just says how "light" am. "Light as a feather and so dainty" LOL...it makes us both laugh, but it's the sweetest ever. He waits on me hand and foot, does the laundry and dishes and makes my lunch for school every day, I really am the luckiest woman alive! He always puts me first, and is so considerate and sweet. Ahh, my prince.

Its been fun to read books together about the baby, we've been reading "What to expect when you're expecting" and "baby wise". I love talking to him about parenting ideas and techniques, we agree on pretty much everything, and it's fun to plan how we will be.

We are nervous, anxious and above all ecstatic to meet out little Everett. I wonder what he will look like, the suspense is killing me! I have dreams all the time about him and I am so excited to be a mommy! To be Everett's mommy!