Christmas time

Ok, I am a serious slacker when it comes to this blogging thing! I love reading what is going on with everyone else, but as far as me actually writing something I think I am the biggest failure ever!

With Christmas just around the corner, I had so many big plans for exactly what we would do.  Images of a warm fire in the fireplace, a perfectly decorated tree, the smell of cookies wafting through the air- all off the postcard Christmas thoughts were rushing through my head. Unfortunately, the only thing on that list that has happened so far is the fire in the fireplace! That I attribute entirely to my wonderful husband bringing wood in and starting the fire to help keep us warm and toasty in this cold weather!

Last night, I was feeling like a complete failure.  I went to my mom’s house where everything is perfectly decorated, clean, and I made some homemade pizza (YUM!)  Then, I came home to my messy house where the tree is still in the box! 

I decided that this needed to change.  I woke up early and started working on getting the house clean so that we could set up the tree. (Yes, it is going to be covered with blue bulbs for my amazing husband!)  I also started working out baking cookies and finally getting Christmas cards put together.  Feeling like a little bit better wife, I decided to sit down and wait ‘til the kiddos wake up before I make too much more noise.

This year, we have so much to be grateful for.  Our absolutely perfect little boy is healthy and strong.  He is growing well and has NO evidence that he came into this world in such a rough way!  I may have been really sick with his pregnancy, but he is the happiest, most wonderful baby boy ever.  He has four little teeth growing, he can roll over, and his smile is continually lighting up the room.

Olivia is growing up.  She is intuitive, creative, smart, and the funniest person I have ever met. She daily says things that surprise us with smiles.  She brings so much joy into our home and reminds us the wonderful blessings that come with being an eternal family.

Tyson, who has been working so hard for so long, is finally seeing the fruit of his labors.  He was sworn in at the Sherriff’s Office this last week.  He has been working since September to be certified with them, so this was a huge thing!  His law school applications are in. Now we are playing the waiting game.  We are seeing our future coming together beautifully.

I am finally feeling better after having Carson.  The lingering effects of pregnancy are slowly diminishing.  I am blessed to be able to stay home and take care of our children and create a home filled with love and warmth for my husband.  I am blessed to raise the two most beautiful children and shower an amazing man with love.

We even have a wonderful kitty who is not only patient with Olivia trying to pack it around the house and Carson trying to eat it’s tail, but also comes abundant with loves and purrs.

Although I haven’t been able to get on top of the decorations and parties just yet, I am so grateful that the real spirit of Christmas has been here in our home.  There is so much love and friendship.  Livie knows the story of Jesus being born. She knows that we are going to ‘Have a party for His birthday’.  I am grateful for that incredible sacrifice and blessing of His life.  I am grateful for this time of year where everything points to Him.  I am grateful for the knowledge that my Savior loves me and I am SO thankful for this wonderful life that He has sent.

I pray that as Christmas quickly approaches that we will be able to keep that divine spirit in our home through the presents and Santa.  I pray that we will be able to feel those things that really matter and remember our Savior always.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Our wonderful Carson

So, I decided that now would probably be the perfect time to finally write another post on our blog!

The last few months have been crazy with doctor's visits, bed rest, heart problems, throwing up, and other delightful experiences of pregnancy.  My body has been pretty well shot and Tyson has been running himself ragged trying to keep up with the demands of everything our life on his own.  Thank goodness for the Lord and all of his tender mercies! People have been so willing to help us out anytime we have needed it!  Tyson especially has been SO wonderful dealing with everything that has been going on. I couldn't imagine trying to do all of this without him! He definitely deserves both the husband of the year award AND the dad of the year award for everything he has done.

Livie has been pretty resilient and has been mostly ok with being passed around without momma able to do much. She told Grandma the other day that mommy stays at home and watches movies ALL DAY LONG. She was pretty much right, but at least she wasn't terribly upset about it!  Instead, she has been rolling with the punches and in general has been incredibly patient waiting for baby Carson to make his debut.  I think Olivia was probably the most excited person besides mom and dad for him to come! That has been a lot of excited to shove into one little girl!  Diaper bags have been constantly packed by her, blankets are always getting folded, refolded, and moved around, and I always catch Olivia's toys in the bassinet and Carson's toys in the playroom.  She was just SO excited!

On Monday the 12th, we FINALLY were able to reap the reward of being patient through all of this.  We went to the doctor and he was measuring really big. (They thought about 11 lbs!) The doctors took pity on us and when the test results came back that his lungs were developed, they scheduled a C-Section for later that evening. (Thank goodness we decided not to eat just in case they would want to induce or c-section us! Otherwise we would just now be getting Carson!)
Carson Ty Raymond was born September 12, 2011 at 9:22 PM.  He was 21 inches long and weighed 9 lb. 13 oz. They were worried with him being so big that his lungs would have problems, but we both were breathing WONDERFULLY after he was born.  It is amazing how much room a baby that size really takes up!

Tyson was able to be in the operating room with Carson and I.  He was able to watch Carson being born and watch me be a complete mess crying after he was finally out and they let me see him for the first time!  They also let him go with our little man into the NICU when they weighed him, measured him, bathed him, and hooked him up to oxygen to help clear his lungs a little bit.  It is so amazing to me how technology works! Not only were they able to birth Carson safely but they can do so with Tyson never having to leave our side!

We have spent the last few days in the hospital trying to recover.  Carson is still trying to adjust to the outside world and is taking his time learning some things.  He has quite the little personality!  Slowly, he has gotten to the point he can clear his own lungs out and isn't storing his food in his cheeks like a chipmunk.  (Don't get me wrong, it was incredibly cute, but we thought it probably wasn't safe)  He's eating ok now, too.  Apparently, the bigger they are the harder it is to get them interested in food! It took a few days but now he is LOVING to eat.  It just seems to be taking him a little bit to get used to all the new things and experiences he is going through but after he learns them, he's doing so well.  We are grateful that he really hasn't had any problems with all the problems we had the last nine months!

I have been healing really well. I'm up and moving around without a lot of pain or problems.  I'm healing really quickly. The only problem I've had is I pulled a muscle lifting Carson.  They said that he weighs too much for me to stand straight up when I'm holding him... apparently when they say don't lift anything heavier than your baby they are talking about the 5 and 6 lb. babies so I need to be a little bit more careful with a big baby! That has been the only problem I have really had recovering so I don't think that is too terrible!  It has been a lot easier than we thought it would be. Hopefully it can continue that way.

Basically, life is just great!
Olivia loves baby Carson, I love baby Carson, and daddy is about the best daddy there is out there! He is SO proud of his little man!  Already he has brought so much joy into our lives. We love him so much and we can't wait to have him home safe and sound.

I'm not sure how to put pictures on, but I know there are some on facebook.  I'll try to figure it out sometime when I have a minute but until then, know he is REALLY cute! He looks just like his daddy when he was a baby and he reminds me SO much of Nyle (his grandpa) that I can't believe it!  We love him terribly and we are so grateful he is here safe and sound.

Crazy life!

So, since everyone we know has a blog, I decided that we would give it a try.  Maybe it'll help people know what's going on since I'm so terrible at communicating lately!

Things have really been crazy the last year!  We were married in September and shortly after that, my parent's house burnt down.  That in and of itself has taken a lot of time and effort on everyone's part to try to fix! They started moving in yesterday to their beautiful new home.  I think that my parents are beside themselves excited.  My dad wanted to pitch a tent in the back yard so that he could kind of move in last week! My mom made him wait and tonight should be their first night sleeping in the new abode.

Tyson has been working diligently trying to get ready for law school. This last semester, he founded a Criminology Society.  All of his hard work has really paid off.  There has been SUCH a great turnout!  There are many people coming and they have been able to do a lot of really neat activities.  I'm so proud of him! He's learned a lot and I'm sure it will really benefit him when he goes to apply for school in the fall.
We just have one semester left then he will be done with his undergrad work.  Then we get to jump into another four years!  Good thing he really enjoys learning!

Olivia is growing really big as usual.  She is talking up a storm at our house!  It is really fun but some days she uses it to try to be the boss over everyone.  We're working on using kind words and saying please.
We were walking to church the other day and she ran ahead of us yelling 'I'll meet you there! I'm going this way!'  This would have been great but her way included a street.  It was funny having an actual conversation with her about where she was heading.  Eventually she heeded our advice and said 'Ok, I'll go this way. See you' and bounded off towards the church building.
She's getting excited to have another baby in the house.  She doesn't understand what is going on as much as I wish she could.  All she knows is that her cousin Azzia is a big sister and she has a baby in the house.  Now Livie REALLY wants to be a big sister so that she can have a baby, too! I think she'll do really well with it.  She's pretty easy going and isn't really possessive over anyone but grandpa. :) Even then, she is usually willing to share as long as she still gets a hug and a kiss.

Our pregnancy is going really well right now.  The throwing up has come to a bearable level.  I'm off of a fair portion of my medicines and I'm not on a PICC line anymore.  It is SO nice to not have to go all nine months being horribly sick!
The swelling in my legs has leveled out.  If we keep an eye on it, I shouldn't have to go on bed rest for at least a while.  That is such a big blessing! I don't know what we would do if I had to just lay on the couch all day!
The only real complications that we're having right now is a difficulty with my blood sugar regulating itself and the baby getting too big.  When we went in last week I was measuring at 40 cm.  The doctor said that a lot of that is how I'm carrying him, but that he's still pretty nice size. We're excited for an ultrasound in a few weeks to check on him and make sure that everything is ok.
He's really active, so I'm sure that he is just a big baby that is sitting all out in front. :)

I'm doing well.  We just moved into a house in Menan. It is SO nice to have a yard! The house is really nice sized and laid out really well for our little family.   I have really enjoyed being able to play as loud as I want to (not worrying about the neighbors upstairs trying to take a nap) and being able to let Olivia loose in the yard while I do homework.  It has been a lot of fun!  We also have been blessed with a play room.  It is AMAZING how much easier it is to keep an eye on Livie when she has a room that she can't get into trouble in!

Basically, life is pretty good for all of us.  There are always little bumps, but we are grateful for where we are and where we are going.