Andrew's here!

Finally!!!! Andrew Julius Caswell was born on 12/31 at 9:00AM weighing 7lbs 12oz and measured 20.5in.

Basically, the way it went was that after I got my membranes stripped and walked and played basketball, then ate some spicy food for dinner, my water broke (slow leak) at 9:35pm on 12/30, and we headed to the hospital that evening. I "labored" all night- I played Sudoku all night while Elijah snored up a storm on the couch and my mom slept sitting up. Around 8am, Dr. Irion decided I had a high leak which was keeping me from progressing faster, so he came in and artificially broke my water again to get things going. My pitocin was turned up along with the AROM and because I was delivering naturally, the contractions got extremely intense and painful once I hit the transition stage. But with encouragement from the nurses and Dr. Irion, I delivered Andrew. My OB, Dr. Kaelberer, didn't make it in time because I transitioned way too fast for him to get there. However, he did come at the end to put me back together :) Delivering naturally was far beyond any kind of pain I've ever had, and even though I felt like I had been hit by lightning right after it was over, it definitely was worth it- I felt a lot better faster and I feel like my body is healing quicker compared to when I had Jacen with the epidural.

Andrew LOVED his bath. The kid hardly made a peep.

That would be me, of course. I'm surprised my hair was decent. By the time I went to sleep on New Year's Eve (I didn't even make it to 10:30pm), I had been awake for 38hrs. Hopefully next New Year's Eve I will be more alert.

Jacen met his brother around 11am the morning of the delivery. He first thought he was cute and wanted to look at him a lot, then eventually in the evening, he decided he wanted to hold his baby brother. He was so excited and kept giving him kisses, and waving his hand right in front of his face saying, "Hi baby Andrew!". It really was adorable!

First family picture :)

We noticed Andrew looks like the male version of me when I was born, but somehow when we took him home he looked just like Jacen as a newborn.

We sure love our little family and we're so grateful to be healthy and safe :) I hope everyone had a great New Year's!

Christmas 2010

 We had a lot of fun on Christmas. Jacen learned that Santa Claus is the one that brings presents, and that he eats cookies and Rudolph eats carrots when they stop by our house. He asked Santa Claus for a soccer ball when Santa made a pit stop at the Ward Christmas party, and Santa must've thought Jacen was a good boy last year because he got what he wanted!

I think Santa must've thought he was the nicest boy in town because he also brought Jacen a toy story table and chairs set. He loves coloring and eating his meals on it.

Needless to say, the child was very spoiled for Christmas. After all, it was his last Christmas as the only child and we wanted to make it extra special for him. He loved all his gifts!

Lots of stuff rolled into one post!

Wow, I haven't updated this blog in how long?! Since September things have gotten hairy over here, to say the least. Right now I'm on bedrest and will be until the end of the pregnancy (why can't I have a healthy pregnancy for once?!!?) and I'm almost done with school. Yay.

Since I'm terrible at keeping up with this blog, it seems nowadays, I'll just kinda post pictures of what I've taken since last time. I haven't taken any pictures until Thanksgiving, so this should be easy.
We went to Thanksgiving at Elijah's mom's house. I love her meals! 

And I've been promising pictures of our new crib to my parents now, so here they are...

I love this picture of Victor... it looks like I caught him in the bathroom in the middle of a big poop. HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

 

And this is me... pregnant with Andrew. I'm 33w3d. Good thing the picture is blurry :)

We're planning for an early delivery, so we may have a baby before Christmas. I'll definitely put some pictures up when that happens.

If today was your last day

This summer was pure chaos. Between finding out we were expecting, having my dad here for 2 weeks, seeing my mom move to Texas, and moving ourselves, volunteering with three different companies, then starting school two weeks later threw me for a spin. I felt like I didn't relax at all!

Now that school started I've been having a hard time getting used to the schedule, while taking care of a toddler and being pregnant. It's been tough. But in the spring, when I was struggling to make it, I always listened to this song by Nickelback- I listened to it especially before I walked into a lecture hall to take a test. It's very inspirational and I hope you find it as well. I know that all these struggles are temporary and are for the benefit of not just me, but my family as well. Don't pass up on great opportunities because you feel inadequate and that you think you can't do it because no one else has. You'd be surprised at how much you can accomplish if you set your mind to do it. I love uplifting songs with words of encouragement! I'll underline my favorite lines to the lyrics as well so you can read it.



My best friend gave me the best advice

He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

From Brazil and Japan with love!

On June 21st, my dad and his wife, Neiva, arrived from Brazil. It had been over 2 years since I last saw them. It was so fun to hang out with them and take them places! We went to the Red Butte Gardens, drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon, took them to Millcreek Gardens (they own a flower shop in Brazil), and did all sorts of touristy things.

Then on June 25th, we headed back to the airport to see my brother coming back from his mission in Japan! We were so thrilled! It was actually kind of a funny story of what happened at the airport: we were all at Terminal 2 waiting at the bottom of the escalators, as well as some other families that were waiting for their missionaries to come home. Since it was a straight flight from Tokyo, we knew they had to go through customs, and that would take a while. His plane landed around 11:30am. By 12:15, still no missionaries. Then all of the sudden we hear screaming from another family- there was one missionary coming from behind us! What in the world was going on?! We then overheard him saying they were at the International Terminal, so we all took off running to the other terminal to see the rest of the missionaries. As soon as we got there, some of the missionaries had come out already, but Victor hadn't. It wasn't even one minute until he came out! It was so exciting!

Then on July 1st, my dad and his wife wanted to go see the Bellagio water fountains, so we headed to Vegas. We stayed at Bally's (center strip) for next to nothing (avg $51/night)! It was way too hot there, around 110F each day, so we got out mostly at night, but still sweating bullets it was so hot! Vegas is too busy and makes me feel uncomfortable, but the smile on my dad's face while he watched the fountains was worth the whole trip :)

 

We heard Nathan's had the best hot dogs in the country, so we had to eat there. It just happened to be at the mall inside Bally's. They were okay, I guess. Not that good.

Then on friday we were supposed to go to the Grand Canyon because my dad wanted to see it, but everybody voted "NO" to the 6 hour drive to get there. So we hung out in Vegas. We headed to the pool at Bally's. I couldn't get in the water because of my heart monitor, so I just sat out in the sun sipping on some cold water until I thought my monitor was going to melt - it was #$%^#%$^& hot!!!!

It was a great vacation and it was awesome to see my parents :) We'll miss them!