Christmas in Coeur d'Alene 2013

Already one month old.

I can hardly believe it. This past month has been a whirlwind but that hasn't stopped him from growing. I just love having a baby. I can hardly handle it ;)

Cole turns 3!!

On December 20th Cole turned three years old. Honestly I just can't even believe that I have a three year old. It doesn't feel like three whole years ago that he was born! And now he's so big! I tried to make his birthday as special as I could: we took him to the dollar store on his birthday and let him pick out any toy that he wanted (I know, we really went all out ;) He chose a bouncy baseball that is attached to some elastic string that attaches to his wrist. It was a good choice I guess because he has played with it non stop :)

"Mimi" made him a chocolate cake, which is what he requested. I was so grateful for her help with his birthday because I'm still trying to figure this "being a mom of two" thing out. I seem to hardly have time to go to the bathroom let alone plan a birthday party for Cole! Next year I hope we can have a cute themed party with all of his friends. He would love that so much :)

But for this year he sure did get some awesome presents! Steve and I got him some new books, an art set with water colors, crayons and colored pencils and we also got him a Texas Rangers hat! It seemed perfect since he is a Texas boy after all and he loves hats :) And he definitely loves his hat!! I think he tried to wear it to church last Sunday!

Mimi and Papa got him some hockey sticks! My parents got him the cutest German toys and a new book about a cat named Mr. Wuffles. And Uncle Craig got him a cute little baseball mitt! And he loved it all. At the end of the day after he had opened all his presents, he ran around the house wearing his Texas Rangers hat with his hockey stick in one hand and his baseball mitt on the other ;)

He sure is a lot of fun. What I love about my three year old is how much he loves to play with kids. It doesn't matter how old they are, if they're somewhat small like him he wants to play with them. Even to random kids he sees at the playground or at the store, he'll always say "Oh! Hi, friend!!" It's pretty adorable :) And we have gotten so many comments from people about his "cute little voice." Since Cole is our first, we have nothing to compare his little voice to but of course we think it's cute.

I also love seeing how Cole has interacted with his new little brother. He really is such a good big brother. He asks to hold Logan all the time and likes to pet his head and face :) And he hasn't shown any jealousy so far which has surprised me! He's always so gentle with him. He's such a loving, caring little boy, I can't help but feel proud to be his mama. I hope he knows how much I love him. Both Steve and I talk about how "freaking cute" he is every night before we go to bed. We are such lucky parents. Here's to many more birthdays with our little munchkin man!

   

Christmas!!!

Christmas is over and my family is on their way back to Germany as we speak. I was no good at taking pictures with my real camera but at least I got all these iphone pictures, right?! Honestly, with all that we did I'm surprised I didn't get more pictures. In the past we week a lot has happened!

+We celebrated Cole's birthday.
+Blessed baby Logan
+Had Christmas with my family
+Visited downtown Coeur d'Alene twice!
+And decorated giant gingerbread men!

I'll have to post more about these things later. Not to mention Steve graduated, we packed up our apartment and moved across the country and now live in Washington! Whew! Life has been crazy! I'm just so glad that I got to spend time with my family this Christmas. I don't get to see them nearly enough :( Thanks to everyone for all that they did for us; coming to Logan's blessing and all the lovely gifts that they got us. We really got spoiled this year :)

The day Logan was blessed ♥

Logan's birth story

It seemed like he would never come. Seriously. I tried so hard to have him early since we are moving in a week from tomorrow. I just couldn't handle the thought of him coming late. So at the beginning of November I started doing everything in the book to help him come early! I ate tons of dates, took evening primrose oil every night, did my squats and had accupuncture done on me three times a week.

At my 38 week check up she told me that I was dilated to a 2 and 1/2 and that gave me a lot of false hope. Maybe he really would come early?!? But no. At my 39 week check up I was dilated to a 3 and 1/2 and she also stripped my membranes for the second time. And for that next week I tried so hard to have my baby! I did jumping jacks, danced in the living room with Cole, chased him around.....yep.

On Wednesday 11/27 I called up my midwife and told her that I didn't think this baby was coming on his own. Not for another two weeks at least. And we couldn't afford to wait that long since we were moving. So I asked her if she would break my water for me which really is just another way of saying I was getting induced which I initially didn't want but I was getting really desperate, obviously. She even offered to have me come in right then at 4 pm when I called her but I was like "noooo, it's ok." The next day was Thanksgiving anyway so we set the date for Saturday 11/30. When we set the date and time I was so happy! There was an end to this pregnancy in sight!!

The night before he came I wasn't nearly as nervous as I had been with Cole. I was still nervous but mainly just excited to have him finally come and to meet him. I got up early Saturday morning and made sure to actually do my hair and makeup this time ;) I also made sure to eat a nice breakfast because when I was induced with Cole I was starving the whole time! 

We got to the hospital at 7 am and checked in. Baylor Irving Medical Center is much smaller than Plano Presbyterian and we really liked it that way. The nurses were so nice! Maybe the fact that I brought them a plate of brownies helped ;) Their names were Heather and Christine. I got changed, got my IV which hardly hurt this time. I had been dreading that but my nurse was awesome! Rachel my midwife got there at 8:30. She checked me; I was dilated to 4 and 1/2, almost a 5, she said. Seriously?! How did that baby not fall out of me?! Then she broke my water which didn't hurt at all; it just felt weird. Then they let us walk around to get the contractions going. They said I was already having contractions when I got there but I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks so that didn't mean much to me. We walked around the hospital floor. It was really quiet and empty probably since it was a Saturday morning. I was definitely having contractions but they weren't really hurting. I'd had Braxton Hicks contractions during the past weeks which had hurt much more so I didn't think much of them. We were allowed to walk around for 40 minutes but we spent most of the time in our labor and delivery room. Steve tried to get me to do squats when I would have a contraction but I refused haha. Squats are the worst when you're huge and pregnant.


^^After getting my IV, before Rachel broke my water^^

While we were in our room we realized that the contractions were actually getting kind of close together. They still didn't really hurt though. They were kind of uncomfortable but I was still up pacing the room and talking/laughing with Steve. When the 40 minutes were up, Heather my nurse came back in to put me back on the monitor for 20 minutes. She asked me what my pain level was. It's always so hard for me to gauge so I said a 2. ??? I didn't know where I was on a scale of 1 to 10. How does anyone ever know!?

After being monitored for those 20 minutes, Heather came back in to see if I wanted to get up again and I definitely did. It was about 10:15 am at this point and Heather said she would be back in at 10:30 with Rachel to check me again and see if I'd made any progress.

Within those 15 minutes a LOT changed. I remember being up pacing the room and saying to Steve "Hey, that one actually hurt!" and then I would just laugh about it because it didn't hurt for very long and then I was fine. And then I got another one and it REALLY hurt and I told Steve "I have to lay down now." And so I kind of just curled up on the foot of the bed because I didn't have the energy to scoot all the way up into the bed. My contractions really started hurting and I remember thinking "ow ow ow ow ow." Then Heather and Rachel came back in the room. Heather said "Well things have really changed since I was in here 15 minutes ago!" Rachel told me to tell her when the contraction was over so she could check me. They helped me up into the bed better and when my contraction was over Rachel checked me. I was dilated to an 8! She told me that if I wanted an epidural I needed to get it right then.

I was happy that I was already dilated to an 8 and I couldn't decide if I wanted an epidural or not! I seemed so close but at the same time it hurt SO bad. But not having to deal with getting a huge needle put in my back? That sounded nice. I've never been against getting an epidural but they still make me so nervous. I mean, getting paralyzed is one of the risks even if it is super rare. I asked Rachel what she thought I should do. Did she think I could do it without? She just wanted me to do whatever I was most comfortable with. She could see that I was having a hard time deciding so she said they would give me and Steve 5 minutes to decide.

They left the room and we talked about it for a minute and then I got a contraction and I thought I was going to DIE!!!! And that helped me make my decision! I want the epidural, I told Steve. I want it, I want it, I want it! I told him to go tell them. It'd been like 1 minute since they left ;) And that's when it got really bad. I'm pretty sure I was screaming and stuff even though I can't even picture myself doing that now haha. I think his head was starting to come down the birth canal because I started to feel this weird, painful pressure down there and I started freaking out. I was acting in so much more pain than when they had checked me 5 minutes prior so they checked me again. They didn't tell me how dilated I was, or maybe they did and I just don't remember but suddenly Heather was telling me "Lauren, you're not going to be able to get the epidural, this baby is coming now!" And I was like NOOOOOOOOO! The thought of pushing him out and actually feeling all of it really scared me. I totally started to panic. I remember briefly seeing the anethesiologist in the doorway but then he left.

Pushing him out is all kind of a blur now. All I really remember is that it really hurt, like really bad. I think I only pushed like 5 times but it felt like an eternity. Every time I pushed and he wasn't out, all I could think about was how I would have to push again! And I didn't want to push again! The pressure was so intense that it was really a mental block for me to get myself to actually push into that pressure. I didn't want to! I could feel it pushing my bones apart and I thought they would break!

At the end I know I was screaming with every push and Steve said that he screamed with me as moral support but I don't remember him doing that! He said that the nurses laughed at him for it, but they also said that he was a good coach :) During the last couple pushes I remember telling them "Get him out of me!!!!!" How was I still pushing? How was he not out yet?! I was pushing so hard that every muscle in my body was sore a few days later. Even my teeth started hurting a few days later! I must've been biting down but I really just don't remember.

Finally I pushed one last time and he was out!!! They immediately put him on me and I remember the nurses saying "Wow! Look how long his arms and legs are!" They also commented on how perfectly round his head was! Since it all went so fast, he wasn't in the birth canal long enough for it to get molded into a cone head. Ha!

I held my sweet baby for the first time and I don't remember him crying. He was SO cute. I noticed his blonde hair first. I just thought it was perfect. He was so sweet. I remember I couldn't hold him very well because I was still in a lot of pain. I thought I would feel immediately better once he came out but it still hurt/ached quite a bit. I didn't want to shift in bed because it still hurt so bad. Rachel stitched me up; luckily I only got a little 1 degree tear.



I was so happy that he was finally here and that he was finally out of me! We tried nursing a little bit but I didn't have the strength to hold him up the right way to latch on. I initially asked for some Tylenol for pain relief but then realized that was going to do nothing for me and finally gave into the hydrocodone. Those strong drugs always make me nervous but I only took one so that's good. And it definitely worked for about 4 hours so I can't complain!



I thought that having him would be more of a magical experience, especially since I didn't get an epidural but I think I was in a little bit of shock afterwards. I mean, I've never been in that much pain before and it all happened so fast! During the next few hours after he was born all I could think about was "WOW. That really hurt." I was also kind of in awe of myself for actually being able to do it and that I survived! Both the baby and I were fine! I'd been dying for him to come for so long and here he was!



I spent those first few hours of his life just looking at him and stroking his perfectly cute face. We call him our little cuddle bug because he loves to be held and snuggled and I just love it so much. He really is such a blessing in our lives and I'm so happy he's mine :) I'm a lucky lucky mama.

I love you, little Logan and I'm so happy you're finally here :)

^^♥ Logan and his daddy ♥^^

Hi Baby Logan!

Cole is a big brother now!! It's been fun seeing how he interacts with his new brother. There hasn't been any jealousy at all which has been nice. He always wants to know where baby Logan is and when he cries he talks to him the same way I talk to him. He says "Shhhhh don't cry, sweetheart." :) He's always calling him "cute" and asks to hold him all the time. I just love my boys so much. I can't believe I have two now! I'm so happy that they have each other as brothers ♥ And I hope they'll be best friends one day :)

My sweet little Logan

He's here!! And I'm so happy!! I have a million pictures of him that I want to post already but I thought I'd wait until I have a chance to write down his birth story. So for now I'll just introduce my sweet little baby boy.

Logan Ryan Byers

born November 30th, 2013 at 11:17 am

7 lbs. 12 oz. 20 inches long

And he has blonde hair! We're so excited about that. And I think he looks like me as a baby in the picture above :) We are completely in love with him and we're so happy to have him as part of our little family. Cole loves him to pieces and always asks about "baby Logan." He calls him cute all the time and especially thinks he has the cutest little hands :) We can tell already that Logan especially loves his daddy. He seems to calm down easily with him; I think it's Steve's voice that he likes. And Logan has already gotten the nickname "cuddle-bug" because he loves to be held and to be snuggled so much more than Cole ever did as a baby. I'm not complaining at all ;)

We're also so grateful to have "Mimi" here with us right now. She has spoiled all of us rotten but especially Cole. I think it has made the transition so far much better for him.

We're feeling so happy and blessed here at the Byers home. We just love our baby so much. I will have to write down his birth story soon :)

Just the three of us.

Well today is my due date! And baby most definitely is not here yet!! I can laugh about this because my midwife is breaking my water for me tomorrow morning so I know that there is an end in sight. Otherwise I think I would be a wreck...kind of like I've been all week. It's my own fault for trying so hard to have this baby early with all the accupuncture, dates, evening primrose oil, squats, jumping jacks etc. He is just not coming out!! Even though I'm dilated to 3 and 1/2 and 80% percent effaced. I seriously think he would stay inside me for two more weeks which we just can't do since we're moving. If we weren't moving I don't think that I would care so much but oh well, that is just life.

So tomorrow is the day! I am soooooo excited to meet my baby!! And I'm nervous too!! I'm sure I won't be able to sleep at all tonight even though I really should. I keep wondering what he's going to look like and just what he's going to be like and how Cole is going to react to all of these changes! Last night as we put Cole to bed we got a little emotional since the days of just the three of us are coming to an end. Steve's mom is coming in this evening and so last night really was the last time where it was just us putting him to bed. It's been a wonderful three years of just us. We're nervous and excited about the new baby but I know once he finally gets here we're going to wonder how we ever lived without him. Gahhhhh!! I just can't wait to meet him :)

Coppell 3rd Young Women

Look at these lovely girls. Aren't they just beautiful? And if you could know them in person you would know that they are not only beautiful on the outside but on the inside too :)

My life is on the verge of so many changes! Not only are we about to have a baby, Steve is about to graduate and we are moving in a month from yesterday! And because we are moving, I will no longer have my calling as the Young Women's President to these lovely girls above. And it just makes me sad to say goodbye! When I first got called I was literally in shock. I felt so completely inadequate and overwhelmed. How could I teach these girls anything?! But as time went on I came to understand that I was called to be in charge of this group of girls for a very specific reason. I believe that that reason was for me to learn how to lead in a close knit group of girls who truly love each other for who they are. These girls aren't afraid of being themselves around each other. I love how they so easily share their testimonies with each other without feeling uncomfortable. Because of the comfortable environment that they create among themselves, their testimonies are more easily developed which is so important for them as they go throughout their lives. All I know is that I've been able to learn so much from them and that I want to create the same kind of comfortable- testimony-bearing environment in my own home for my children. I'm so thankful for this time I've had to be with them and serve them and I most definitely will never forget it.

This past weekend I was able to finish my Personal Progress, something I've been working on throughout this year alongside the girls. It brought back a lot of memories of when I finished my Personal Progress when I was a young woman myself and at times, I felt like a teenager again ;) For my projects I finished reading the Book of Mormon again, I finished putting together Cole's baby book (just in time!) and I drew a series of pictures that I'd like to hang in the boys' room one day. It feels good to have it all finished. Just in time before the baby comes. And just in time before I get released from this calling.

Like I said, my life is on the verge of lots of changes. Hopefully me finishing this goal has made me prepared for what's about to come :)

Twenty-seven!

A few weeks ago I turned 27! I used to say that I never felt old until my 24th birthday but I take that back now. Somehow the jump from 26 to 27 has really left me feeling old! The fact that I found my first white hairs growing out of my head just this past week hasn't helped. Seriously though. How crazy is that?! I guess it's time to get my hair done......

My birthday itself, however, was lovely. My visiting teacher and YW's presidency took me to lunch and I was overwhelmed with the kindness others showed me throughout the day! People got me birthday cakes and dropped off goodies and sent texts and wished me a Happy Birthday! I've been so amazed lately at how willing the people around me are to serve others and go out of their way to brighten someone's day. To all of my friends out there who were so kind enough to think of me I just want to say thank you! You are all so sweet to me and I don't deserve it :)

Not to mention Steve stayed home from the clinic on the morning of my birthday to make me breakfast in bed and spend time with me :) And my sisters both sent me the best birthday gifts in the mail! New makeup and a new curling iron! And gift cards from my parents!! They really spoiled me :) Thank you so much!

The pictures above are just from my phone from the past few weeks. It might be 80+ degrees today, but the past few weeks it has gotten kind of cold. Cole loves it because he seriously loves wearing hats. I mean, he's wearing a hat in like every single picture above! People always comment on his hats; I think they're surprised that he'll actually keep his hat on. But he really does love them and he makes sure to put one on every time we leave the house. I don't mind; I think it's adorable and consequently he has wayyyy too many hats ;)

Pretty soon here he won't just be the only child anymore and I know he doesn't have any idea how much his life is going to change. I'm so excited to meet my new little one but I will also always treasure the time that I've had with Cole, just me and him. He is such a sweet boy and loves to give me kisses, loves to tell me he loves me and loves to tell me I'm pretty :) I know he's going to be a great big brother I just hope the transition goes well once baby brother actually arrives.

Two more weeks to go!!!! I'm feeling very ready :)

What does the fox say?!

So long long ago when Steve and I were first married, I was little red riding hood for Halloween. I went to the DI in Provo, and found this perfectly bright red, huge button down shirt and bought it for a couple dollars and then went home, cut it up and hand sewed it into this little hood. I didn't own a sewing machine so it was very primitive but I was proud of myself for putting it together so I held on to it.

This is what I'm talking about: Halloween 2009!!

Well this year I was browsing on pinterest and came across this pin and thought, HEY, I can totally turn my little red riding hood into a fox hood. And so I did and it was super easy! Magically I had white felt on hand and I just hot glued it right on ;) The only thing I had to sew were the ears because I couldn't figure out how to glue them on otherwise I would have ;) And isn't Cole the cutest Mr. Fox there ever was?! He probably would have preferred to be a super hero because he pointed out all of the Buzz Lightyears, Spidermen and Supermen at our ward trunk of treat. But I figured that as long as I have a say in what he is for Halloween, I might as well take advantage of it. I'm putting off that spiderman costume for as long as I can!


^^the cutest Mr. Fox. He was SO hard to take pictures of this year! Little boy does not want to ever stand still!^^

^^His first time trunk or treating! He was a little overwhelmed with all of it. But by the end he got a hang of it :)^^

^^Right before we had to go to the ward party, I suddenly felt guilty for not dressing up at all! So literally 5 minutes before we left, I cute out those paper ears and taped them onto a black headband I had. Voila! I was a pregnant cat for Halloween. SO cute :/ ^^

^^Sorting through his loot!^^

While we were there people kept saying to Cole "What does the fox say?!" I thought they were just trying to confuse him, since you know, what does the fox say?!?! Turns out this ridiculous song went viral on youtube a couple months ago which I had no idea about. You can watch it HERE. Seriously though. It's ridiculous and oh so European. Ha.

And I have to admit that Steve and I literally did eat all of his Halloween candy. Haha. Luckily Cole forgot all about his candy by the next day and so he never asked about it and I wasn't about to remind him of it :)

Next year when I'm not pregnant I will have to think up cute coordinating family costumes for a family of FOUR!! For this year though, Steve totally got off the hook ;)

And for fun you can see our past Halloweens together:

2010 as the Birds and the Bees
2011 as Taylor Swift, Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas
2012 as hipsters

31 weeks.

These were taken at 31 weeks which was 4 weeks ago because I am now 35 weeks! It was a good time to take "maternity pictures" because I am much much bigger now ;) Only 5 more weeks to go and I am getting incredibly excited to meet my little boy! Especially since Marie had her baby boy last night; it's starting to seem more real that he's coming. I feel like I am so ready but I'm sure as it gets closer I'll probably start to panic or something ;)

Steve took these pictures of me and I was happily surprised with how they turned out. Sometimes it's hard to have your picture taken when you know you're just going to look bigger than you feel like you should but Steve somehow has a way or bringing out the best in me. Throughout all of this pregnancy and my complaining he has always told me that I'm beautiful. And I know he means it. I love him so much and how he always makes me feel like a million bucks :) My hands, feet, face are all still swelling up with each week that goes by but I'm just going to be ok with it for now. We're both so excited to be parents again.

We will meet you soon little one!

GIANT tractor! What boys' dreams are made of.

If it's not obvious, he had a blast on this giant tractor at the pumpkin patch last week. He wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins there; he just wanted to hang out on this tractor. (And that old-timer truck too) He is all boy and I love him so much. Sometimes he is just too cute :)

See pictures from this same pumpkin farm from last year HERE. Little boy has grown so much in a year. *tear*

The Dallas Arboretum

It's October! I'm so happy! It's my birthday month and it's finally Fall! And most importantly, I can now say that I'm due next month. (Let's hope the baby actually comes in November ;)

Last week my visiting teacher invited me to come along to the Dallas Arboretum because she could get me in for free!! It was awesome. It had the craziest biggest pumpkin patch I have ever seen! I've never seen so many pumpkins all in one place before and I had never seen all those different kinds of pumpkins either! Cole thought it was pretty neat too; he kept picking up the ones that weren't too big to carry and throwing them down like they were balls or something. It drove me a little nuts but he had fun :)

He also got his face painted and would only agree to do a football. I tried to get him to do something "cuter" like a panda bear or a tiger but he wouldn't do it. When he saw another little boy getting a football painted on his face, he decided it was worth it to have a stranger hold his face and paint on him if it meant he could have a football on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror they provided for a long time. He loved it!

He also got to pet the animals in the petting zoo and splash his hands in the prettiest lily pond. By the time we got home he was completely exhausted and so was I. Sometimes I feel that Cole has no sense of danger because he would constantly just wander away from me and I would have to chase after him. And he's fast! I'm glad we got to go though because I don't think we ever would have gone if it hadn't been for free. That place is probably one of the prettiest places in Dallas but it is also really expensive!