He's here!

Wow, I wasn't planning on writing this post for a few more months, in fact, we haven't decided on a name for him yet so I wasn't even planning on updating this until we did, but I'm sitting here bored in the hospital and decided you'd probably all like to know what happened, even if you don't know who I'm talking about! Our little baby boy #2 arrived this Tuesday, August 25 at 4:38 pm! He is darling and tiny (actually big for being born at 31 weeks - 3 lbs. 11 oz.) and makes cute little squeaks... and was quite a surprise! Tuesday morning Jonathan, Easton and I went to pick up the car (since someone backed into it last week and the door had to be replaced) and then went to breakfast. This is how the rest of the day went:
9am- occasional pains, nothing too serious
11:30- Jonathan left for work, more-often occasional pains, but still not super painful
2- Put Easton down for a nap then laid on the couch to take a nap myself but couldn't since for the next hour my stomach hurt every 5-6 minutes. Hmmm...
3- Called Dr's office and left a voicemail for the nurse asking if I should be concerned. I still wasn't too worried because it didn't feel like a contraction to me so I thought it must be something else.
3:15- Got a call back telling me to come get checked just in case, although it may just be intestinal; called Jonathan and asked him to come home from work to take me to get checked because the pains were starting to hurt into my back
3:20- Bearing down pains start!
(I'm trying to forget the time period in between here)
3:55- Jonathan walks in the door to a screaming wife and Easton crying because Mom won't pick him up.
4- We hop on a busy freeway in Washington, DC during rush hour traffic, but luckily it's not for too long
4:20- We pull up to valet parking and a security guard wheels me up to labor and delivery where I immediately scream to everyone that I am having a baby RIGHT NOW!
4:22- 5 nurses are rushing all over and find out that I am completely dilated and ready to go, but they think the baby is breech so I have to wait for the doctor. Are you kidding me?
4:28- Doctor arrives and confirms that the baby is breech so we need to go to the operating room
4:30- In the operating room, we're waiting for anesthia whom of course nobody can find so they finally just slap a gas mask on me to knock me out since I'd been begging for an epidural since I got there and all anyone keeps telling me is not to push the baby out yet
4:38- Our little guy is born... apparently. Not that we had any idea because I was unconscious and Jonathan had gone down to registration as soon as we got to the hospital. He said when he made it up they told him congratulations as they were wheeling the baby to the NICU.
So that's the story! Now our October baby has ended up being an August baby and instead of moving home this weekend like we had planned we'll be staying out here in Virginia for about 6 weeks. We thought we would be able to renew the lease on our apartment since it was supposed to be up Monday, but we can't so it looks like we'll be staying at the Ronald McDonald house here by the hospital. Since I had a C-section, I can't really lift Easton at all and can't do a whole lot of anything yet, so my mom took a medical leave of absence from work and she's going to stay with us for a while to help out with him until I've recovered enough to take care of him. Our ward has been so nice and people have been offering help with everything and bringing meals over. It's kind of crazy how fast all of our plans and everything have changed, but everything happens for a reason and I'm sure it's the same with this. I was feeling pretty down last night about not knowing where we were going to stay and living out here away from everyone for another month and half and not being able to be with the baby, but Jonathan talked to me about how everything has a purpose and this is just another trial we have to go through and that he feels like everything is going to work out just fine and we'll be stronger for it. I'm so lucky to have him, especially to help me keep focused on what's really important during this time. The baby is doing well and they're happy with his progress and I'm so grateful he is being taken care of. I'm so happy to have him and Easton and now to have a place to stay and my mom to help us out. I'm doing good and got to experience a natural labor like I always wanted to, minus the best part which is when the baby comes out :). My labor nurse told me that I just about got to have a natural c-section too, but they realized they were going to have to pump my stomach first so they decided to give me some gas. Overall it was a crazy experience that seems to keep getting crazier with little surprises and changes of plan, but if this is what we have to do to get little whatever-his-name-is here then I guess we'll take it!

Hello from the East!

Whew! That was quite the blogging break we had there, but we've been pretty busy! We moved just outside of Washington, DC at the end of April and we have had so many fun adventures since we've been here! Oh, and we don't have internet in our apartment so my blogging opportunities are a little limited... or maybe I'm just lazy... either way it's been a while, but here we are! I will have to be picky on what I post because I have a million pictures from all of our adventures, but here goes! I decided to start with this one since this is the most asked for picture:
Finally a belly picture! This was taken last week at 26 weeks/6 months, which is why I have 6 fingers up, so I will remember. I look a little funny since I'm twisting to the side. So here is our little lump of a baby! He is over two pounds now and 15 inches long! I'm in the 3rd trimester now and so if he comes at the same time as Easton it will be in ten weeks! Ah I'm so excited!!! We still really have no idea on a name, so if you have any ideas let us know. Overall this has been a pretty easy pregnancy, especially compared with Easton, so hopefully that means he's going to be an easy kid! Speaking of Easton.... he is so much fun! It really is true that the older they get the more fun they are! And I'm constantly amazed at how much he can do! Here are some funny little quirks about him right now:
- Every night when I put him in his crib he waves and blows me a kiss. :)
- His favorite place to go is "da stoah" (store) and he gets so excited when I tell him we're going. We made a tunnel with a mattress in the bedroom and he crawls under it and waves goodbye to me and babbles but always ends with "da stoah" so I think he's telling me he's going to the store.
- He is overly organized! We never have an open door or drawer because he is constantly shutting everything. He also loves to put things away in the drawers or the trash and to do laundry. Now when he pulls all of his clothes out of his drawers he puts them all back, and tonight he was playing with blocks while I was doing dishes and when I was done I went over to play with him and he was putting them all back in the bag and when he got done he put away all of his books. Oh, and he has to have his books stacked in order of size at night before we can read them and then the smallest on top comes first all the way down to the biggest on bottom. I think it's a phase all little kids go through, but it makes me laugh every time there's something new.
- Jonathan works long hours and Easton LOVES when he does get to see him and since he's asleep when he gets home, Easton has to go wake him up in the morning. He isn't happy till he's seen Dad.
- He is obsessed with airplanes and will stop whenever he hears one and point to the sky.
- He is also obsessed with the moon and will find it in the sky and point to it when it's still daytime.
- He loves to dance! Finally! I didn't think he'd ever start dancing, but he started with just moving his arms a few months ago and now he goes crazy whenever he hears music. We were in a store and heard some bollywood/indian music and he started twitching and swaying all over and was completely in his own world! It was too funny.
- He points to his tummy when I ask him where the baby is.
- He gets excited to go on walks because he loves to push his stroller. Of course the only thing he can reach is the basket underneath, so he just crouches and pushes that. After we get back from a walk he won't go anywhere in the house unless he can push his stroller there. Seriously, if I want to give him a bath he has to push his stroller into the bathroom with him.
- I think he's figured out taking turns. We've been working on it, and the other day at the mall he was waiting patiently for his turn on the slide and bigger kids started running in front of him and he started shaking his head and saying "No, no, no" to them!
- He is now an excellent tantrum thrower... something else we're working on!
- He will fold his arms and bow his head at the beginning of the prayer, and then do whatever he wants during, but make sure he hurries and gets back into prayer position before we're done and then pretend he was like that all along. Little does he know we peek at him!
- He is very much boy. He loves vroom vroom, b-ball, airplanes, motorcycles, any sport, and baseball caps. Jonathan is very proud. :)
- Of course, he can also comb his hair, use an eyelash curler, help mom cook, do laundry, sing in a very pretty high voice, and he loves to clean! We give him a sponge and he's a happy camper! Hopefully these habits last!
- He is SUPER cuddly! He loves to give snuggles, kisses, hugs, and any sort of loves to mom, dad, and his stuffed animals. He even has a book with pictures of kittens in it and he gives them kisses and tilts his head to the side and smiles at them. Beyond those people, though, he's a little more reserved. In fact, one day at the store Taylee was trying to give him a hug and after three attempts they finally did it and started walking backward while hugging and both fell and smacked their heads on the hard floor! Maybe that's why he is a little anti-PDA with other people.
That's an exhaustive list for now, mostly for my family since they are probably the only ones who will read this, but at least it's something! I will work on trying to get more pictures up within the week! But just so everyone knows we are doing fantastic and so excited to come home to Utah!

Drumroll Please...

Well, here comes another picture-less blog, but oh well. I planned to put some on, but I haven't scanned the ultrasound pictures onto my computer yet......wait, was that a typo? NOPE! I definitely said ultrasound pics because we are definitely having a baby!!! :) :) :) Of course there are a million other things I should post on here, but I thought I'd get the most important one down and see if I can get the rest on! I just found out that I am 12 weeks along and the due date is October 28! (I'm going to plan for the beginning of October, though, since Easton came 3 weeks early) I found out I was pregnant 5 weeks ago and had no idea how far along I was so we scheduled an ultrasound for this week, went in and found out we're almost in the second trimester! We are so so so sooooo thrilled and can't wait for this new little someone to be born so we can hold it! It's only 2 inches long right now but we could still see the little legs and feet kicking away in the ultrasound. It was adorable! I'm not quite sure how to help Easton adjust to the changes, though, so if any of you have some advice for me, I would really appreciate it!

Silly Boy!

So, Easton did the funniest thing last night and I just had to write it down before I forget. I brought him in the house and he was screaming because he wanted to go back outside so I was going to the kitchen to get him something to eat. Well, all of the sudden I saw something jump sideways on the floor and looked down and it was a big, blue spider! I am TERRIFIED of spiders so I stood there freaking out for a minute since Jonathan wasn't home to kill it for me. I finally grabbed the lid off the crock pot and threw it on the spider, which it trapped. On closer inspection, I realized it was just a piece of blue string, no spider. :) But amidst my little escapade Easton started laughing his head off. I thought back to what I had done but I had no idea. When I realized the "spider" was just a string, I said, "Oh shoot" and Easton started laughing his head off again. I must have said it when I was freaking out and for some reason he thought it was hilarious, so all night whenever I would say, "Oh shoot" he would laugh and snort! I know this is probably just funny to me, but I love to hear him laugh so I probably said it about a hundred times! What a funny kid!

A Little Bit of Everything...

So, this post is going to be a little out of order but hey, at least it's here, right?. First of all, I love this weather! Doesn't everyone? It's so great to go on a walk at sunset in a short sleeve shirt! Love it. Anyway, unfortunately Easton and I haven't been able to enjoy the weather as much as I'd like because we've been a couple of invalids the last few days. Easton started being really fussy and clingy on Saturday and in the afternoon I took his temperature and it was 102. From then until Monday it never went below 101 and even got up to 104.6. He was in a lot of pain and looked miserable, so I took him in Monday night. The doctor looked in his throat and found a bunch of ulcers (ouch!). He said he thought it was the Herpes Simplex Virus that 25% of little kids get and if it was we would have to give him really strong meds for a week and there was a possibility he would have to be hospitalized if he didn't eat enough(at the time we couldn't get him to eat much). Well, he wanted to me to bring him back in today to make sure it really was the herpes. Easton was so miserable all day, and then a little bit before his appointment he started acting fine. I took him in and he just sat and played and acted like he felt fine, a complete turnaround from the night before! The doctor looked in his throat and said if it was herpes it would have spread to his gums but since it hadn't, it was just a regular ole virus! Yeah, such good news! The funny thing is, as soon as we got home Easton got all fussy again and started screaming in pain and there wasn't much I could do to make it better. :( So I guess this little virus has a few more days up it's sleeve. Well, the doctor told me the ulcers were really painful, so I should give him benedryl at night to reduce the swelling and help him sleep better. So tonight I gave it to him and then he was screaming and hurting and I was doing everything to try and help him and then all of a sudden he stopped and looked at me and his eyes were all droopy so I picked him up to take him to bed and he basically collapsed on my shoulder and was asleep before we got to his room! It was pretty funny, but it was also good that he could sleep so he wouldn't be in pain. Monday morning I woke up with a bad cold, sore throat, and headache and I've just been really tired with it (especially since Easton's temperature jumps over 104 every night so i spend the night trying to cool him off without him getting chilled) so we brought our mattress out to the living room and Easton and I have been on the mattress and Jonathan has been on the couch next to us. Well, enough of the whining about me and our poor little Eastie, on to the fun stuff and pictures!

First, Christmas! For the first week of Christmas break we went up to Coalville and stayed with Jonathan's parents. It was soooo so much fun! We played games, ate way too much, and just hung out and enjoyed each other's company. We got to be there Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and it was fun to share Easton's first Christmas with them. Here's Easton with Aunt Jocelyn-
Here's Easton's very first Christmas present he ever opened! It was from his Virginia cousins and he didn't put it down all night! He still loves it and plays with it all the time. He didn't really like opening presents, though. I think he just didn't quite get it. Oh well, there's always next year!
Easton's cute Christmas outfit
Family Christmas Picture
We tried to take Easton sledding. First Jonathan tried...
... then Grandpa Dave tried...
...and this was the result of everyone's hard work. Not a happy camper! Luckily he's over that now and doesn't mind if we lay him in a sled and let him go down the little hill in front of our house.
We had such a blast up in Coalville! On Christmas Day we left and went to meet my parents and then start driving for California. We stayed there for the next week of Christmas break but I'm going to have to do an entirely different post for all of those pictures! We had a blast in both places and it was probably the best Christmas break ever!

Next, at the end of last year, I got a new sister! My brother David married Robin! It was a beautiful wedding and we had a luncheon here and then a reception a few weeks later in California. I just have a few pics of the reception, but I'll post more when I get them off my parents computer. I'll also put on a video of my brother singing! He played the guitar and sang "I can't help falling in love with you" for her and it was the most adorable thing ever! We were all crying! And the best part is he is not exactly the most amazing singer or guitarist in the world, so that made it that much cuter! I thought he did pretty good, though. Anyway, here's some pics from the reception:




If you can't tell, I couldn't quit taking pics of Easton in his cute tux! My camera died pretty quick so I didn't get many pics of David and Robin so I'll have to get some from my parents and post them later.

Next, Valentine's Day was a blast! During the day we went and did sealings at the temple, then at night my sister came over and watched Easton while we went to dinner. We went to this AMAZING place called The Tango House off of State Street/500 w in Provo. Jonathan went to Argentina on his mission and this is the first time we've been to an Argentine restaurant together and I absolutely LOVED it! Here's my crazy date-
Isn't he hot? Here I am eating my favorite part : Dessert! We got Dulce de Leche crepes and they're amazing! The owners are from Argentina and his wife makes all the food from scratch and it really is incredible!


Here's Jonathan eating the ribs we got. Wow these were good! I'm not a rib fan, but these were so good we were literally sucking on the bones! Embarrassing, I know!We were planning on going to Jump On It after, but Easton was ready for bed so we went and put him to sleep and just watched a movie at home. It was a very fun night!

But our Valentine's Day really started on Friday night. We went to a dance at the Orem Institute and it was a dream come true for me! I have always been obsessed with old musicals (Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelley, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, etc.) and I've always thought it would be so fun to own a club with a live band and play all the old songs. Well, that's exactly what this dance was! They had all these old men(and some young) playing and even had some crooners. Jonathan and I were able to do the waltz, tango, cha cha, and swing. It was such a blast!



Me and my love...Well, we've had a pretty exciting last month! I'm sure the next one will be even better!

My First Year

In Easton's first year of life he has...

- Been to the top of the Washington Monument
- Walked
- Eaten artichoke hearts
- Rode fourwheelers, boats, motorcycles, bikes, and soon snowmobiles!
- Been to both coasts
- Flown on 7 airplanes! (cross-country 4 times!)
- Been to the beach
- Said mama, dada, kitty cat, dog, look, vroom-vroom, cockadoodledoo (okay, maybe it was more like babble-babble-ooo, but he's trying :)) and attempted other words
- Hugged Winnie the Pooh
- Been everywhere in DC! And loved the Air and Space Museum
- Had a conversation with Beetle Juice
- Watched Enchanted a billion times
- Found his first love, Carrie Underwood, and watched her music videos ten billion times
- Been to Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, and Fish Lake
- Caused a security breach at the Holocaust museum when he left his diaper bag on a bench and they had to clear the area and call in the dogs to sniff it! Silly Easton! :)
- Been Christmas Tree hunting
- Ate cake, and didn't really like it, but loved ice cream!
- Watched Fourth of July fireworks on the lawn of the Lincoln Memorial
- Stayed in a casino (don't worry, non-smoking)
- Cut at least ten teeth, including a few huge molars
- Been to Disneyland, Sea World, and Universal Studios
- Been sledding
- Hiked Bridal Veil Falls and Mossy Caves in Bryce Canyon
- Been to the temple for 3 weddings
- Figured out what "Let's go" means and immediately waves good-bye and says "vroom-vroom"
- Fallen in love with basketball
- Been in the ICU
- Played with all of his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents many times and loves them!
- Had a flight canceled and got stuck in JFK airport
- Seen a shark
- Been to several basketball and football games and even a cheer competition
- Moved twice
- Played in sewer water
- Started biting when he wants to go to bed
- Charmed his parents into complete and total devotion!
Easton we love you so much and we are so glad you joined our family! This past year has been the best and we never knew we could be so happy! We love you!

Wow! Floods, Birthdays, and Everything Else!

My word, I don't even know where to start! I'm not going to lie, I've kind of been putting off updating the blog because so much has happened and it's going to take a while, but I think I'll just start throwing stuff on here and hopefully get enough out of the way that I won't put it off so long next time!
Everything is good at the Peck household right now! One fun change is that we got new carpet! Ha, that's because out apartment flooded with sewer water! It was pretty gross, but we were able to stay at my parent's house a half hour away and we got new carpet out of the ordeal(ours was gross so this was awesome!), so it was okay! Now we're back in and back to school school school! Jonathan and I are both in this semester so it's been a little crazy. Jonathan has his capstone class and an internship and I have two classes and three online. What's funny is the added stress has actually made my life better! I look back at my stressed out blogs and I realize that what I really needed was an out. Everyone told me that I needed to get out and do things myself but I thought, "No, I'm fine, I love being home all the time," which I do, but going back to school has made me so much happier! I have always loved school and it makes me so much happier and get less stressed at home. I highly recommend to any new mom that we all need to have somewhere to go do something on our own! It's also been nice because Easton gets a lot more daddy time and I love having Jonathan home because he accomplishes so much! I'm amazed every day when I come home by how much he cleaned and did while playing with Easton the whole time! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband!
Speaking of Easton... He is now a one-year-old! I'll have to post pictures of his party later, but he had such a fun birthday! And not only is he one, he is also a toddler! He's been walking between Jonathan and I for months but just wouldn't go farther than a few feet, but as soon as we got back from Christmas break he started taking off and by the time he had his birthday he was walking more than crawling! Now he rarely crawls and instead walks around with his arms straight out in front of him like a zombie! It's the cutest! Lately he loves taking his clothes off and like to walk around in his diaper with his hands on his belly. I don't know why he does it, but it's sure funny! He just entertains himself by walking from room to room(which is really nice for me!). It's amazing how much more interactive he is now and how much more fun! Today Jonathan was singing "76 Trombones" and marching and Easton was trying to march with him! It was so cute! Well, I think that is long enough for now, but I hope there will be many more posts!