One Week

Today Sadie is one week old. So I thought I would share a few thoughts and pictures of the last week.

Going home.

We kept commenting to each other at the hospital how small she looked. But it didn't really strike me that much until we put her in the car seat and I had something to compare her with.




First day home



We always thought Novalee looked so small until she held Sadie. Now we keep saying we can't believe Novalee has gotten so big. :) It's funny how perspectives change.



One thing is for sure. Sadie definitely had her nights and days mixed up. For the first three or four nights she was awake most of the night and then would sleep most of the day. Great if it is your first child and you can sleep during the day with her but when you have two kids awake during the day, you get tired really quick.

While being as tired as I am I should look forward to the nights, I actually dread them. I never know if she is going to sleep or if I am going to have to muster all my energy to pull through another (almost) all nighter.

Here she is finally sleeping. Wes looks a little tired. :)


On Sunday we took Sadie to church. I didn't even think about it until we were there and people would ask how old she was. I would reply, "Three days." Only to have people reply with a little shock that they were surprised that we were at church already. Then I realized that perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing ever...mainly since I was exposing her to all sorts of germs. Oh well, live and learn...

Later that day we went for our first walk.



Here are just some cute photos of her. For the family that lives far far away...






Jared and Novalee had some firsts this week too.

Jared got stuck in a Wash. We were all (Jared included) having fun seeing if he could get out. Here he is pretending to be sad.



He also showed me the other day that he could jump out of a swing while it was swinging. Yay for peer influences...(sarcasm).



Our dear Novalee also learned something really cool yesterday. It was really neat to watch her realize how to follow a pattern. It's always neat when you see your children have an "ah ha" moment. She did this all by herself.


Good Job Novalee! We are really proud of you.

And just this morning on Sadie's one week mark this picture was taken. I have such sweet girls.


(Now I realize that Sadie looks super freaked out here. But lets all just say it's due to lack of muscle control because she seriously loves Novalee giving her attention...for the most part.) :)

Our Sweet Sadie

This week on Wednesday, September 8th I went in for what I hoped would be my last OB/GYN appointment. (However I wasn't holding my breath.)

The week before my Doctor told me that he would induce me on the 15th of September if I hadn't had my baby by the 8th of September.

I was pretty upset to hear that since my doctor in Oregon told me my due date was the 29th of August. (Having to wait any extra days when pregnant is so frustrating!)

Anyways, my regular doctor was out of town on the 8th so luckily I got to see one of his associates. He is a little less conservative than my normal doctor.

On the 8th, once again, for the fourth week in a row, I went into my appointment only to be told I was making no progress.

However, this doctor said something like, "I bet you want to get this baby out of you. Either way, you are either a week past your due date or you are due today. What do you think about going in... tonight?"


I was so shocked and excited. But I didn't want to look too excited and have the guy change his mind. So all I could do, not to give myself away, was choked out a "sure."

So it was set that I would go into the hospital at 8pm that night and hopefully have the baby the following day.

That first night was pretty bad. I couldn't sleep because I was so full of anticipation for the next day. I was also getting woken up every 30 minutes or so to adjust something or check something else. So finally at about 2 or 3am I asked for something to help me sleep.

I don't think I've ever taken a sleeping pill before, but all I can say is, "Holy Cow, they work!"

The next day at about 7:30am the doctor came by to check on me. At that point they artificially broke my water and started the Pitocin.

At about 11am I got an epidural. Lovely.

At about 2:00 I was checked only to be told I was ready to have the baby.

Which I was excited about but also really nervous about.

I told Wesley I wasn't sure I was ready yet.

To which he lovingly replied, "Sweetie you've had nine months to prepare." :) Stinker.

The doctor arrived at about 2:25pm.

We added our beautiful daughter to our family at 2:39pm.

She was 7lbs, 12.6oz and 19.5 inches.

We were thrilled to see she has a full head of hair. And today we both agreed, that she currently has beautiful blue eyes.

Meet our Sadie LuAnn Crockett.








The kids were so excited to meet her.



So was Grandma Crockett



And now, we have three children, our hands full, and more happiness than we could have possibly imagined.

Thank you Sadie for being part of our family.

Is There a Doctor in the House? & Mount Lemmon

Is There a Doctor in the House?




Why yes, there is!



She happens to be a very well trained pediatrician. :)


(notice she is holding the stethoscope in the generally right location (it's a little high) to hear Wes' heartbeat. Yep, she's smart.) :)

Mt. Lemmon 9-04-10

Today we decided to give the dog a little exercise. After researching a little we decided to go to Mt. Lemmon for two reasons:

1. We haven't ever been there.

2. The elevation would hopefully lower the temperature.

At about 8000 feet elevation we made it just past Ski Valley. Yes they have a ski resort here in Tucson, crazy!

There we decided to hike The Meadow Trail which is only 1.5 miles round trip.

It was lots of fun besides people asking me how much longer I had until my due date. It makes me a little apprehensive to tell people now since I'm either past it or just about at it, depending on which of my doctor's opinions you would like to go with. Either way, I think when I told people, while they were excited for us, they were also nervous that we were out hiking, out of range for cell phone service.

Oh well, we had fun.

Here are some of the pictures from today.

At the beginning of the hike.


These cool flowers are for you Christine. I bet you wish these were in your yard. :)




Where the fairies live...




Behind Wes is the city of Tucson. It was pretty neat to look out and try and guess where our apartment was at.


Just another picture of the pretty landscape.

(I really think the dead trees look cool but Wes wasn't so sure. What do you think?)

Two great highlights from the hike:

1. Our Annual National Forest pass got us in for FREE! Sweet!

2. I got to hear Wesley say he, "Loved it," there. Twice. Once about the forest and once about the smells. It was neat to see him so at home. I pretty much love him lots and lots.

!!!TARANTULAS!!!

So tonight Wes and I decided to take the dog for a walk. Since we just recently got an Annual National Park Pass we thought we would put it to good use and go to the Saguaro National Park.

It is way cooler there in the evening than in the heat of the afternoon. We saw a beautiful sunset and the cutest little frog ever. We were so sad that we didn't think to bring our camera.

On our way back I decided we should jog a little, just for fun, back to the car. I started to get going and was wondering why Wes wasn't reining in the dog when all of a sudden Wes grabbed my arm and said, "Brandy a Tarantula!"

Which totally startled me. I would have seriously squished it with a couple more steps forward.

All I have to say is that it was HUGE and so so cute. I was a little nervous to get close to it because of it's size but they are the cutest spiders. The little guy was just lumbering along in no hurry, totally just enjoying his day.

Wes said that it was the biggest one he has ever seen in the wild.

So besides the fact that most (well all) other spiders creep me out, this one was the highlight of my day. Perhaps the highlight of Arizona so far.

(The tarantula in the picture looks almost identical to the one we saw. It's called a Mexican Blonde Tarantula).

Happy Birthday & New Things

So today we did several new things that we haven't done before as a family or as individuals but before I blog about that I wanted to at least post a couple of pictures for Meala's Birthday.

Celebrating a dog's birthday is also a new thing for us too. Jared asked a while a ago if there was a day for dogs. And sure enough, National Dog Day on the 26th of August and so we decided to make it Meala's first birthday. (She's only six months old).



We made her a special dog cake. It was so disgusting to mix all the ingredients together but she really liked it.


Is that a smile?


We even made birthday hats from cereal boxes, it was kind of fun!




And she got presents, lucky dog. :)



Now on to today. Today is August 28th, one day before my supposed due date. I would just like to note that before we begin because we walked SO MUCH today!

First we went on a hike to the Saguaro National Park. (It was only 2 miles but it was super HOT).


This first picture is a tribute to my dear Wesley, who grew up in the desert and finds it to be so beautiful. He always used to talk about how pretty it was and I always had doubts about it.


But he was right, it's just like the sign says.



Barrel Cactus.

Pretty to look at,



Not really fun to sit on.


(Jared's face is sincere. They were both pretending to sit on it but one poke actually got Jared. Not bad, just enough for all of us to have a good laugh).

More pretty things...


Yes these pretty things are hanging out on horse dung but still pretty.




Wes stopped at this plant, it's called a Creosote Bush. He said that it was what makes the desert smell so good after it rains.

So I broke off a piece and smelt it. HOLY COW! It totally smelt like cat pee! I really had to laugh at that.



But just to be fair, later we did walk by another one and it smelt way better. I guess you aren't supposed to break the plant.


Then we came home and I took a nap. Super tired.

Then we decided to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum for a special night showing.

It was so neat. Definitely a must see if anyone is ever in Tucson.

The kids in front of the bumble bee.

Both kids have decided they are master ninjas, so there may be more photos of them trying to pose as ninjas. I'll try and weed them out.

They got to get into some of the planes which was pretty neat.





I know they are my kids so I am biased. But they are too cute!



Jared finally got to do something that he has wanted to do for a LONG time (which when you're five means like DAYS!)

He finally got to eat astronaut food!



The Space Gallery



The even got to ride on a hover chair. Too Cool!






Novalee wanted to pretend she was getting eaten by this plane called the "Dirty Dawg." :)



The first sunset I've seen here in Arizona! It was very pretty. There was rain, lightening and this.




It doesn't get any better.


Well, those were our adventures for today.

Arizona

So I have been in Arizona now for almost two weeks. I would say my feelings for the state are definitely mixed. Here are some things I have noticed and my feelings about them.

Things I don't care for:

1. The cold water is not cold, so you never get to brush your teeth with cold refreshing water.

2. Just about everyone smokes (at least in Tucson). I was totally under the impression in Oregon that we were really getting a hold on the no smoking thing. Here it is totally the opposite.

3. The temperatures are unbearable right now. Every time I step outside (except yesterday) my skin feels like it is being seared off.

4. Everything is made of Stucco and landscaped with rocks and cactus.

5. There are pockets of the Ghetto/Slums everywhere (at least in Tucson).

Things I really like:

1. I love LOVE LOVE that we drove through our first monsoon last weekend. SO COOL!

2. On that note, lightening is so amazing! I got to see it during the day for the first time this week.

3.I really like that the topography reminds me of Mexico and if there was an ocean nearby I would feel like I was on vacation all the time.

4. I love that there are so many resturants around. I drive around and keep mentally adding new ones to my (must eat there list). Now if we had the funding...

5. I really like the mountains surrounding our area. They remind me of home.

6. I have yet to see one but I am looking forward to the much talked about beautiful sunsets.




Happy to be here, happy for the adventure, happy it's not permanent.