The Stork Has Landed!!

The Stork Has Landed....

and brought the most beautiful baby in the whole world!!! It is said that pictures are worth a thousand words - but I don't think there are words or pictures enough to describe this baby. Pictures just don't do his cuteness justice (as confirmed by my mom =) and words just fail. However, since it's the best we can do for now, just look and imagine "100 times cuter" and you'll be in the ball park.
James Pearson was born Sunday, November 27, 2011 at 10:41pm. He was beautiful from the getgo with tons of black hair and dark bluish-grey eyes (that we think will probably turn brown). Weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs, 1.4 oz, he passed his first tests with flying colors. Everything regarding the labor and delivery went as smoothly as it possibly could with our doctor declaring me 'an OB's dream!' (although I wondered if he says that to every laboring woman) and no complications. The hospital staff was nothing short of fantastic and we felt so well cared for. I was pleasantly surprised that he looked liked me with Jared's nose and lips! Most of my nieces and nephews seem to look more like their other parent, so I was truly surprised, but so excited!



My original due date was Tuesday, November 22nd. When that day came and then went uneventfully, it turned out to to be a great blessing because I could thoroughly enjoy my utterly amazing and wonderful parents who came up for Thanksgiving/baby time. We lucked out with the gorgeous weather and went for a pre-dinner hike before turkeying it up!

A few days later (Saturday) I called the nurse just to ask about a few things and she recommended us coming in just to check things out - I was sure I'd be home in my own bed by 11:00pm. Lo and behold I was in LABOR and ended up staying. Then, ta-da! A baby! Jared was a fabulous support - he was exhausted afterwards! I can't imagine why...

Here is our week in a nutshell:

My sweet boy.

On his way home from the hospital.

He is very content with Grandma.

Reading the Ensign with Dad at family scriptures.

His faces are the SADDEST but they make me laugh they are so cute! There is one we call the 'the angry elf' and 'the turtle' - this one is 'the saddest boy in the world'.

Recognize those lips anyone?

Two days old!

It is hard to believe I'm this tiny person's mother.

He's so delicious I could eat him!
Five days old.

Three days old.

My angel mother! There is truly nobody like your mom.

Our first family pictures.
Six days old

His little hands are my favorite!

I know, cheesy but who really cares? It was the photographer's idea and we loved it. Don't mind that I'm still in maternity clothes...

He is our angel but we left his diaper on for a reason.

I wish you could see how he smiles in his sleep, the dimples in each cheek, hear his coos and feel his impossibly silky smooth skin. I love this little person and feel like Christmas has come early this year. It's hard to imagine him as a sassy teenager or anything besides a darling sweet boy, but hopefully we can be good parents and he grows up as perfectly as we imagine. But for now, I'll just enjoy every minute of his babyhood.

I'm So Sneaky...

Compliments come in the weirdest ways. Here's how it happened...

This weekend was the last Hawkeye home game of the year and Saturday morning at the institute breakfast some friends gave us tickets! J was thrilled to pieces and so we helped clean the chapel, and then joined the masses heading over to beautiful Kinnick Stadium. J had on his Hawkeye shirt, but since mine doesn't fit at the moment, I was wearing the only thing I had with the right colors - a black hoodie with the gold letters, "Rangers." It was a perfect day for football - fresh blue sky, pleasant 60's, and fantastic electricity in the air since the Hawkeyes were on a home game winning streak with this team. I was happy just being outside in the sunshine. As we passed through the gates, there of course was tons of security milling about.

A policewoman came up to me, "Excuse me, may I check your pockets?" She must have signaled another officer because suddenly there were two of them right by me.

"Sure!" I tried to pull my not-so-loose hoodie pocket futher out so they could peek inside. Then it hit me.

"Oh!....No, no this is my belly..." My poor brain started working over time to think of how else to explain my protruding front.

The second officer started laughing, "Can't be sneaking those babies in now can we?" as the first officer kind of just melted away.

Oh the funnies of life - they were just doing a very thorough job at keeping everyone safe - except that they let my purse through which was a tad bigger than it was supposed to be. (Later laughing about it we brainstormed what I could have been smuggling - my favorite basketball I couldn't go to the game without? Our super cool Hawkeye pumpkin? J said I should have just showed her my bare belly...)

What a compliment - she didn't even think I looked pregnant. Here's for hoodies! At least the male officers steered clear - that would have been even more awkward...

Eight days and counting....

38 Weeks and Counting...

I thought this was too cute to pass up! Yes, it is a very adorable pregnant Jared - 38 weeks and counting - along with me!

Obviously, we had our birthing class last week. I was bit nervous we wouldn't make it in time for the class and be left all on our own. (As Jared put it, "But then maybe we would get a refund..." He was hoping because eight hours on a Saturday is a long time for any working man to give up - what a trooper!) As it turns out, things went on without a hitch! We, along with seven other first-time parent couples, watched video clips, practiced breathing, and scribbled notes on the phases of labor. We all took a tour of the hospital (the labor rooms are actually very pretty - not that I'll probably be noticing that much), swapped tips and enjoyed Bill Cosby's perspective. Of course the "empathy belly" was a hit with the moms-to-be as the teacher announced the different weights as she added them, "Each of these five pounds weights will rest right on your hips, and this one goes right on your bladder, and of course I heated this towel so you'll be nice and toasty..." (Although after watching all those videos I personally thought also being in stirrups would add much more empathy.)

All in all, it was very helpful and we are so excited to meet our little guy! (Still no official name but we're working on it.) Now just as long as we don't forget what we learned when it gets real!

The Iowa Artist

Home of the Hawkeyes

Hawkeye football here is crazy - Iowans know how to support their team! People come in the night before a home game with RV's and camp out - tailgating starts early. Houses near the stadium sell parking spots on their front lawns. If you don't watch the games, during them is the perfect time to shop because everything is empty and everywhere you go it's a sea of black and yellow. We have yet to make it to a game, but hey, we have shirts! (Even the baby has one waiting for him - a sweet baby shower gift.)

To show our team spirit for our adopted city, Jared carved the Hawkeye into our pumpkin. Our friends, Joe and Angela, had us over for a pumpkin carving evening and the boys worked hard! (Angela and I roasted the delicious seeds!)



I was so impressed with our Hawkeye pumpkin - great job JD! (Joe's was cool too.) But seriously, who could doubt our loyalties now?

Go Hawkeyes! (Unless of course they play the Cougars or the Huskers...=)

the test post

So I've been having trouble with posting and all that jazz so this is just a test. nothing interesting.

Our Twilight Home

(For some weird reason I can't seem to edit the other post, so please forgive the errors (especially my English teaching/loving friends) and we'll just move right along...)

Welcome to our home on the ever romantic....Twilight Drive! Who hasn't wanted to live on a street sharing the same name as the hottest teen sensation book series/movies? Well, we never did but we love it all the same!

So to continue with our tour (see previous post for other pics) - the rest of the house:

Here is the downstairs "spare 'oom"/study/library/music room. (This will be where you stay when you come visit!)


I know, I wish it was ours, but we are actually just piano sitting for some friends. What a blessing though because I'm now the ward choir pianist and practice like a madwoman every day trying to regain my much neglected skill. The cutest thing is, JD has been as well - I bought him some simplified music and he's been so diligent! He comes home, says hello, eats, and then goes down to practice! Someone called me once and after a minute asked, "Are you teaching piano lessons?"

Next, our deck. Do you LOVE the field? There are pipes or something underground so they can't build. Yippee! Our little guy will have lots of room to run around and play (or chase bazillion rabbits and birds we have here)!

Last but not least, the baby room! (If you see something you gave us, THANK YOU - we LOVE it!) This is hopefully a 'before' picture. I have plans for the walls, but we'll see how it goes...

Gotta love that rocker! Perfect for a baby room!

For the first few months, Little Man will sleep in our room in this beautiful cradle JD's dad and brother built. Until then, it's very content to stay behind the door next to the spare matress.

That's all from Twilight Drive! So there you have it, our home in a nutshell. Feel free to come anytime and stay awhile!

Our Garden Friends and the Baby Bump

We just love our little home but one of the very best parts is we get to have a tomato patch that, aside from the tomatoes not turning red (and it's September) has been wildly successful! At first it was mostly my thing. Then while I was gone this summer, JD watered faithfully and would give me tomato reports at night - he became hooked - look how attentive he is!

.

This last week I was out watering the plants busy telling them how great they were looking (everything responds to love, really) and just happened to look down before I stepped and this is what I saw...

Oh tell me about it - I screamed (not a pretty scream), jumped over the snake (while cutting my thumb on...something) and got out as fast as I could. I looked back and it was still there, so obviously, I assumed it was dead. (Why would it stay with that craziness going on?) Still... I did the icky dance for the next few minutes to the amusment of my neighbor. When JD got home, he went to take care of it. However, wasn't dead; merely caught in our mesh fence, so he kindly cut it out and sent it on it's way. No harm done, except for my bad dream that night (not even kidding).

Two days later, I went out to water again and there was yet another friend in the fence. This time I saw it before entering, which saved me the humilation of another dance; our little neighborhood girls were out riding bikes and they loved it. They ran and got their moms and grandmas and it turned into a regular neighborhood powow. When JD came home (about 15 minute later) he became the neighborhood hero, again saving the snake from an agonizing death.

Who knew Dr. J was so versitile in his knowledge?

I haven't been back to water quite yet - thank goodness it rained. I am just not the greatest fan of our little scaly friends, regardless of how harmless. But so glad to know I am married to a fearless snake handler - at least the snakes don't have to worry.

Bump Watch

So I have had lots of requests for baby bump pictures. Here are the summer bumps:

July 2011- I had to resort to the self pictures - JD was so tired when he came home that it just worked better this way...

August 2011

September 2011 - I still have eight weeks left! How much bigger can I get? Probably a lot! =) I've been feeling fantastic for the most part. Being pregnant has been emotional in weird ways. (Example: I cried through the boy scouts in the Fourth of July Parade; I stood in the isle at Walmart fighting tears because the fabric was on sale for $1 a yard - I mean really?) However, I feel blessed to have had an uncomplicated time of it so far. I feel great and I'll be honest - it's so nice to have people treat you kindly when they see the belly. Sometime I forget that I'm so big and when people ask me innocently, "So when are you due?" I am impressed they are so 'in tune with the maternity vibe' until I realize that hello, how could you not be? Still, it's the most wonderful thing to celebrate and to let others be a little part of it just spreads the joy!

We Made It!

This blog has been a long time coming and although it is not the way I imagined it would look, all I can say is I am just glad it made a landing. Although being creative is in my family genes, I think this kind of creativity is recessive when it comes to me. Trying to set this up reminded me of holidays at home with my mom and sisters; they would pull out the cardmaking/scrapbooking/craftdoing materials and sit for hours, chatting and crafting/carding/scraping. I would join in for as long as I could before shuffling off with the excuse to *mumble mumble* and go throw the football with my dad or whip up a pie. Baking -love it, sewing - check, other things- yes please! Crafting/carding/scraping? Um, maybe not...

However, because this blog is the best way to communicate with all our wonderful family and friends from whom we so far, I bit the bullet and muscled my way through with a lot of help from my yang himself. I like to think everyone has a learning curve on things like this so this is my error filled first post. Just enjoy my feeble attempts to be hip in the blog world. I know, I know, some of you are thinking how easy it is to set these up. Well, you would fit right into my gene pool! Anyway, we sure love you all and hope you get a little window into our lives here for the next four years.

We love it here! JD's program is fantastic. (He came home only a couple of days into the program very excited that he'd stitched up a facial laceration - I was slightly confused, "Oh that's awesome!....Can you do that? Isn't this an oral surgery program?" Apparently, he can and they do...along with many other procedures even farther from what we would think of as the "oral" field.) The weather has been beautiful until just a few weeks weeks ago when it soared into the 90's with the heat index in the 100's. Really not too bad except I forget I'm pregnant sometimes and wonder what is wrong with me because I'm overheating...oh right - sorry about that little buddy. (His kicks are well-placed.) The sparkling fireflies are still so magical and the air is soft. Our backyard is a giant green field (with no plans for development because of the pipes underground) which we're very excited about so our boy will have lots of room to run and play. (It is the field we're sitting in in the first picture.) I really like my doctor and have started picking up the fun hobbies I enjoyed in my teens. We love our ward and feel very at home here. Life is good in the Midwest!

Here are a few pictures to help you visualize our little world. Our kitchen, our living room, our darling little tomato plot (which Dad and JD put in with only a shovel and their muscles-and our plants are past the second rung now - so pretty!), the front and back of our little home on Twilight Drive (we joke we should name the baby Jacob - not Edward!) and us on the Fourth of July. I will post more soon. (I'm 21 weeks pregnant in the picture at the top - can't you tell? =) Well, it totally depends on what I'm wearing if I look like it or not - I'll post some 'real' pregnant pictures very soon.)

We love you all and hope all is well! Any of you are welcome to come visit any time! In fact, we would give you the the entire downstairs. (Not pictured here except for the walkout sliding door, but don't worry, it's only one room!)