We are a happy fam-i-ly!

On December 5th, at 1:01 AM, we welcomed baby Keith Axel Larson into our family!

It was QUITE the experience.

Tuesday night, my back had been hurting (like it had been for the past month) which I figured was because the doctor had stripped my membranes the day before, which he'd also done the Monday prior, and my thinking was that it had just left me feeling crampy. When he'd done it the first time, my back had hurt also, but nothing happened. Moving on though...

9:00 PM - I decided to take a bath which offered some sort of relief for my back. I got up out of the tub, and while walking over to the sink -splash- my water broke. I wasn't sure if it was my water or not, because I'd just been in the tub. So I ran back to the tub, and just stood in it. I text my cousin, who is a nurse in labor and delivery, and we came to the conclusion that my water had broken. At 9:30 pm, we left to go to Alta. On the way there, the contractions started. Poor Justin. He'd ask me if the temperature in the car was okay, and I'd respond with "Don't talk to me right now. I don't care." I told him how the pain was definitely similar to that of a kidney stone (yes, I'm part of that club) in the sense that there is just SO much pain, and no relief. You wiggle and adjust and move your body in hopes of finding some position that will ease the pain a little. But there is just nothing you can do. We parked at 10:00 PM, with a contraction in the parking lot, and then went up to the L&D floor. I got into a room, and they checked me out. I was a 3 and completely effaced at 10:15. They said that my water had broken, and I'd get to stay.

11:00 PM - I'd called my mom on the way to the hospital, and told her that we were on our way, and we'd call her if we got to stay or not. When they told me that I'd get to stay, Justin called my mom again and told her that this was the real deal. He told her that I was at a 3, and she said that once I'd progressed a little farther, then she'd come. Well, after getting IV's, being set up to receive antibiotics, and enduring more contractions, I finally got the epidural. Which by the way is a gift from God. It was amazing. I finally got to breathe. They checked me again a few minutes later, and I was a 7. The nurse said that things were going great, and soon I'd be pushing. I was totally surprised. Not too often do you hear of someone going in, and having things go so fast, let alone do they happen to you... so I was overjoyed. Justin called my mom, who was completely shocked, but said she was on her way and was picking up my sister.

11:45 PM - I started pushing. It's kind of hard when you can't feel anything from the waist down. But I was pushing, and soon after my doctor came in to really get things moving.

1:01 AM - My baby Keek was born! It was amazing! 3 hours of labor, and my little boy was here. I got to hold him, and love him, and enjoy becoming a mom. Which I definitely did. Then it was Justin's turn. Talk about heart warming. I loved seeing him look at Keith with nothing but love in his eyes.

2:00 AM - Baby Keek got to meet Grandma Peterson, Grandma Larson, Aunt Christy and Uncle Adam. We really have the most amazing families ever.

We were definitely in for a long night, but it was worth it!

I'll be posting more pictures later, I just need to find my cord :)

Oh hello again

So we're officially moved in to our house! It's been so many different emotions, it's hard to keep track of them all. I think the number one emotion felt though, was stress. Moving while 38 weeks pregnant is not awesome. I was completely helpless, and just sat there and watched it all happen. It was okay though. My husband is pretty awesome, and so is my family. The guys all deserve a round of applause. So, we moved in Friday/Saturday and slept here Saturday night. And we've been here since! It's so nice to have our own place to be proud of. To be able to decorate without worrying about what someone will think, or having to pay for it later. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love it!

Unfortunately we didn't have internet until last night, and our computer still isn't hooked up (I'm writing this on Justin's tablet, which is NOT the easiest thing ever) so I can't post pictures quite yet. I will soon though. Needless to say though, Justin and I both went over on the data plans on our phones. LAME!

Now that it's Friday, I officially have 8 days until my due date. What the?! Where has the time gone??? Honestly. It feels like just the other day I found out I was pregnant. But as it goes when you get older, the years start flying by. I can't believe it's almost December! I remember as a kid how LOOOOONG it took for December to come, and then the wait for Christmas... it was brutal! Nowadays, I think there are plenty of people who would give anything to have an extra day or week in December. There is just so much to do and see, it seems like you don't actually take a breath until Dec. 27th. And this year, my December will be a doozie. We have baby keek on the way, we're spending our first Christmas in our own house, um I am going to be having a baby, I'm not working for the first time ever, and did I mention the baby? I guess it's hard to focus on anything else...

Hopefully Justin will be able to hook up the computer tonight, and we'll go get a tree tonight (our first real tree!) and I'll be able to post pictures tomorrow. WE still have a lot left to do, like unpack the office *groan* every box that we didn't know what to do with either went into the basement, or into the office. So it's a little hard to maneuver in there right now. The basement can wait, but I do want to get shelves so that I can get organized as soon as possible.  Good habits start now! For example, I've made our bed every morning, except for one when I had a doctor appointment. I feel that's QUITE a success.

My next appointment is on Monday, and I'm hoping that things will get rolling after that. The past few weeks have been a tiny bit stressful, so I'm hoping it's all downhill from here!

Fingers crossed!

Funnest Week Ever

I got to spend a week with this stinker, and it was the best week ever!

All of my family (except for Justin, Molly, and I) went to Disneyland. The happiest place on Earth. SIGH. Since Justin and I are saving for a house/baby, we felt the best choice for us was to not go. It was a hard choice, and it took a lot for me to be okay with it... but honestly, how much fun could 3 days of Disneyland be for a 6 month pregnant lady? My feet swell enough as it is, I don't think walking around all day would help that at all. But in the end, I got over it, and Molly REALLY helped with that. She's such a fun little girl. SOOOO cute, with her dang dimples! There were plenty of times where she'd smile at me, and I'd melt. I guess that's what being an aunt is about. I don't have to tell her no! :)

These two pictures are from Day 1. She is so stinking funny! She loves to make faces and be silly, which is good because I do too.

Day 2: It's surprising how hard it is to keep her clothed. But she loved the blankie dress Justin made for her!

We went on a walk, and the sunset was QUITE pretty.

Then we found a giant spider on our wall. NOT AWESOME.

Day 3: The car and slide came! She had SO much fun with it. It was so funny watching her do it over and over and over.

This was pretty much every night.

Yet again, making faces. 

Like I said, every night.

Then she learned how to make this face come Day 5, I think it was...

Molly: "I want go outside!"
Tracee: "I want to finish my dinner!"
Molly: See picture

And then at some point Justin got my phone, and there were about 10 pictures of him making different faces...

Day 6: We went to the park, and got Chili's to eat there. I got Molly the quesadilla, but she just wanted the celery. Really, she just wanted the ranch. She took maybe one bite of celery, spit it out, and continued to scoop the ranch out with the celery, and lick it off. Then finally just started licking the cup. 

I think Max got a bit of separation anxiety, because he was SO snuggly. He wanted to be right by me, all the time.

I have the cutest video of Molly in the tub, but for some reason I can't upload it :( The dogs would lick the side of the tub, just licking the water off, so Molly started to do it, and thought it was hilarious. So Max was licking, and she'd lick, then laugh hysterically, then lick, then laugh even harder... it was cute.

It was SUCH a fun week. If it's possible, I got even more excited to be a mom. If I love my niece that much, how is it going to be when it's my own? I know there will still be hard times, but he'll be mine!

Hooray!

So I'm officially 30 weeks.

I passed the glucose test. (Whew, that drink was not my favorite.)

We're going to go register for baby tonight. YAY! Although Justin did specify that he gets to hold the scanning gun.

Baby is moving all the time. I like it though. Although every now and then it hurts. Haha.

Waiting to hear from the mortgage guy is like watching paint dry. It's taking forever.

My appointments are down to every 2 weeks, which makes me feel like we have no time to get ready.  Baby, you better not come early.

Here's to hoping that things work out!

Ever have one of those really really really tired days where you almost can't function you're just that tired? Yeah that's me today.

I'm not sure what's come over me, but I am SO insanely tired.

A recap of the last few weeks.

The end of August, we moved back into my sister's house. They were kind enough to open their home back up to us when I told her about rent costs, and how we wanted to save money, and how getting into a house was our #1 priority. She felt comfortable offering the basement to us again because we have a plan. We're not just going to mooch off of her. And we're off to a good start. Our savings is higher than it's ever been, and it's only going to go up. WAHOO!

We have started the process of house hunting, getting a loan officer and what not. Yesterday he emailed me saying, "Tracee- I received your 31 page fax. Thank you." Hahahahaha I felt a little bad about that, but they need a lot of information, so what else could I do? So he's going to review that information, and hopefully we'll be able to take some more steps soon.

I am about to hit 30 weeks, which blows my mind. Justin and I realized that we have next to nothing if the baby decided to come early. The crib is in storage, the swing is the box, and the few outfits that we have are still tucked away in some drawers. No car seat. No diapers. Nothing. So hopefully baby is like his mom, fashionably late, rather than like his dad who is always early/on time.

As of Monday, I've put in my 8 weeks notice. November 16th will be my last day working. I'm so excited! I'll miss the money, yes, but I can hardly wait to be at home with my own little family. In my own little home (fingers crossed). I gave them such an early notice so that my job has the chance to have a few weeks for interviews/hiring, and then a week or two with me training them. The week after the 16th is Thanksgiving, and then baby is scheduled to come 2 weeks after that. AH!

Last night, right before getting in bed, Justin spotted a HUGE spider chilling out on our tile. It was NOT awesome. After seeing a spider, I always have the feeling that they're either lurking on me, or where I'm going to step next. It was nasty, and when he squished it, he yelled, "Ew! I felt it pop!" And I died. Right there. Not really, but I wanted to. Disgusting.

And now, I'm working. Mentally preparing myself for the glucose test I've got to take today. I get to leave work early (YAY!) to go get my blood drawn (boo) after drinking a super awesome drink an hour before. So woo hoo for that. Hopefully the numbers are all normal, because I don't really want to do this again. It's too stressful.

But, when I get home, I'm going to take a bomb nap!