More Pictures

I just had to post some more pictures from this past few days/week...

Isn't he just so cute??

Another so cute boy playing outside! It's already springtime here...so nice!

Sam eating at Arby's after his blood was drawn (he loved his green bandage).

Sleeping chub...

This was this morning before my mom left...don't mind me...I had just woken up.

Joshua on his 1st walk today! It was so hot outside! About 90 degrees in Phoenix even!

I love when babies stretch and stick their booties in the air...me and my sisters call it the "booty snatcher."

The brothers!

Josh trying to eat Sam's arm...he tries to eat anything that gets close to his face.

Sam in the bath...so photogenic!!

Grandma and her new grandson...



Our 1st family pic...again, taken this morning when I first woke up...

And more of my beautiful Joshua...

Sam's Results

Well, as I mentioned before, we had Sam and Joshua's appointments yesterday. Joshua is already 9 lbs. 2 oz. at two weeks old! He is getting so big and so fast! I definitely don't have to worry if he is eating enough... Everything else is going great with him also! Other than the fact that he still has his eye infection, but we are still working on that with the drops.

Sam is doing good too...he is only 25 lbs. 4 oz...which for a 2 year old, is small, but he is growing and is on the charts and thats all that matters. His ears and throat and everything looked good, according to the dr. He was such a brave boy too! I was so proud of him. He did cry when he got his shot but he got over it quickly and wanted to keep looking at the "sticker" (band-aid) on his leg. Then we went over to the lab and I held him while a nurse held down his arm and the other one stuck it. He was in such a good mood and flirting with the nurses. They couldn't stop saying how cute he was. When they tied the tight rubber band thing around his arm he said, "too tight," but he kept smiling away...he had no idea what was coming. So when they finally poked him it took him by surprise and he was crying so hard and squirming all over the place. The vain rolled, of course, and they had to dig to find it again, which they couldn't do while he was squirming everywhere, so I kept telling him how good of a boy he was and asked him to be still and he did! He was so good. When he stayed still, other than the fact that he was whimpering still, he did so good! And we showed him his blood going up the tube and I kept telling him how good he did so when they were done he was so proud of his green band-aid and couldn't wait to go out and show Grandma!

Anyway, his dr. called me today with the results they already got back and apparently everything is perfect and fine (his CBC, his immunities, etc.)...so the dr. doesn't think he has a problem. So we'll see. We'll just see how he does and keep an eye on him and then if anything else weird happens I guess we'll go from there! I'm glad he is okay though (as far as we know)!

Boys in My Life

I want to mention happy birthday to my boys! With the stress of the new baby I couldn't really mention on here happy birthday to Dave and Sam! I love my guys. And I wish that on Dave's b-day/valentine's day we could have celebrated but we had a 4 day old baby! It's interesting how all 3 of my boys have birthdays within 4 days of each other... In my family growing up, December was always the crazy month. Now in my family, it will be February. Anyway, I love you guys and happy birthday!

My mom is here this week and will be until Saturday and I have been so glad both moms could come! It's been so nice for Sam to bond with her and spend time with her. It'll be lonely when she's gone and it's back to me and the kids all day alone together. Hopefully I don't lose my mind... I'll post some more pictures of her and the baby this weekend.

Another update on Sam...his 2 yr. checkup (along with Josh's 2 week) is tomorrow and we are going to be doing blood work to see what's up with this whole illness and fever thing. He had a bad ear infection over the last 2 weeks and just finished an antibiotic, but has still had a low-grade fever the whole time. So something is definitely going on. I just hope and pray that the dr. is sensitive to our needs and doesn't blow us off! I'm also dreading the fact that Sam will be getting blood drawn on top of his immunizations... :(

I just wanted to post a couple more random pics...

When Grandma Meyers stayed with Sam when we were still in the hospital, Great Grandpa Walt and Great Grandma Kathy stayed the night too and had fun spending time with Sam!


Sam's been having a rough time eating dinner the past week or so for some reason (very picky!) and this night he did NOT like Grandma's enchiladas...

His new favorite discovery is sour cream. He loves it and wants to eat it on everything...he'll even eat it by itself. That and ranch dressing. He calls them both "yogurt." He even was dipping his strawberries in ranch the other night...ew.

And lastly, and most exciting, here is Sam on his new potty! He started out VERY well and as time goes on and the newness and excitingness of it is waring off, he wants to do it less and less. Oh well. It's ok. He'll come around and at the moment, I'm in no HUGE hurry.

More Thanks!

Quickly, I just wanted to shout out a couple more "thanks!" There are so many helpful people; we are truely blessed...sometimes with the mixture of no sleep and everything going on, my mind blanks on things and I knew I'd remember people I had left off the list. I also want to thank my mom for coming this week and helping out! She got here the day after I wrote that post and she has already been such a huge help!! It takes off so much stress! Thank you!

Also, thanks to the families of both moms for sacrificing to let them come! I know it's not much of a sacrafice for my family because they are all grown and mostly gone, but thanks so much to all of Dave's sisters and dad!! You will never know how much I appreciate it...I know it was truly a sacrafice for you all and I owe you guys big time!

Joshua Keith Davenport

Well, I'm only 12 days late! As you can imagine, time has been very precious and so has sleep, so I haven't had much time for stuff like this. But I figured before I got too many complaints I should probably announce the birth of my son!

Joshua Keith Davenport was born on Tuesday, February 10th, at 10:34am! He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20.5 inches long (a lb. heavier and an inch longer than Sam was)! He was (and is) a big boy! He's another blondie like Sam, but doesn't have as much hair as Sam did.

My contractions started at about 4am and I could tell immediately that they were actual labor contractions and not just the braxton-hicks I had been getting. So I got up and started getting my stuff together, woke Dave up, we took Sam to the Bolinger's, and we ended up leaving Bagdad at about 6am. By then the contractions were about 8 minutes apart.

And just as luck would have it, we ended up having to drive to Prescott that morning on unusually snowy and icy roads. Because it's AZ and people don't know how to drive in the snow, we were behind slow people the whole way. Anyway, we made it to town at 7:30 and I decided I wanted to go and walk around Walmart before we went to the hospital because I'd rather be in pain there than in a hospital bed, and my contractions were a little more inconsistent at this point. So we went and did some shopping (we got Sam a potty! I'll talk about that later...). Every once in a while we'd have to stop while I leaned against Dave to get through a contraction and the Walmart workers were worried I was going to have the baby there. Come on people...the Hospital was only a minute from Walmart.

So when we were done we sat down and started eating a cinnamon roll and that's when the contractions immediately started to be almost on top of each other and a lot more intense, so we finally left for the hospital. When we got there I was thinking they'd check me and I'd only be at like a 4, like how it was with Sam, and that I'd have to wait for forever, which I was dreading since I was determined to do this one all naturally, but luckily I was surprisingly at an 8 already and things were moving along very quickly.

Long story short, we got to the hospital at about 9am and Joshua was born at 10:34am! It was quick and wonderful! Once it got further along the pain was so intense but I somehow was able to keep control and remain calm throughout it, and right when I thought I couldn't take it anymore the dr. told me I needed to start pushing...but I didn't even feel the urge to! I had always heard you will know because you will not be able to help but push (I didn't feel any of that with Sam because I had an epidural), but I didn't...so I just trusted the dr. that it was time. After a little while of pushing and I felt I absolutely couldn't do it anymore, Dr. Feingold (awesome, by the way) told me I was really going to have to push him out because if I didn't get him out now, they'd have to use the vacuum. That was all the motivation I needed.

Anyway, it was definitely the most intense pain in the world, but it was so nice to be completely aware of all my limbs and body parts and be able to actually feel what was happening! It was amazing. And the nicest thing about it was that after I had him I was able to get up and walk to my recovery room! To anyone who's thinking about doing natural childbirth, I highly recommend it! It's better in so many ways...especially if you find a breathing/relaxation technique that works for you!

Anyway, Joshua came through the birth canal so fast that his face was very swollen and bruised, but that went down quickly and by the time we left the hospital, he looked normal...besides his swollen eyes. He developed an eye infection in the hospital and after some testing, long story short, he is fine and we are still giving him eye drops today.

He is very healthy and an excellent eater! We went in for his checkup when he was 6 days old and he was already at his birth weight again, which is amazing! He is a big boy and it wares me out with how much he likes to eat, especially because it's almost impossible to keep him awake during the nursing sessions.

He is such a sweet boy with a sweet spirit and when he just gazes into my eyes I can't help but just want to stare at him forever! He is so precious and such a good baby! I think he looks mostly like me (he has Sam's mouth though!), especially because he got cursed with my ears.

Sam loves his little brother and I think, thanks to Grandma being here and taking the reigns when Joshua was born, Sam's jealousy stage only lasted a couple days. It's definitely challenging trying to take care of both kids and trying to give them both the attention they need...it makes it almost impossible for me to even go to the bathroom! But I love my boys so much and I love being a mom...even when I am going on 2 weeks of only getting 3-5 hours of sleep a day!

To see more pictures of him and this past 12 days, go to this Photobucket album.

And there's more I want to write about but I will do that in another post! And HUGE thanks to everyone who has helped us out! Thanks to Nick and Destiny for taking Sam that day and to Morgan and Christa who gave me and Josh a ride home from the hospital (Dave unfortunately couldn't make it back to the hospital...the joys of living in Bagdad...), to all the families and people in the ward who have brought us meals, and mostly to my wonderful mother-in-law for EVERYTHING she did for us that week! We were sad to see you go a couple days ago! I honestly don't think we could have made it without you! You're amazing! Love you all!

And I have to personally thank my husband (even though he wont read this). He is truely the most amazing and supportive man I know and I can't even believe how blessed and lucky I am that I found him! I don't know what I'd do without him! He helps so much and is so selfless and understanding. Every time I hear horror stories about unsupportive husbands during these types of times, it makes me more and more greatful. Thanks honey...I love you!

Big Boy Potty!

Well, I am excited to say that on Saturday Sam went potty in the toilet for the first time! We aren't potty training him, and we don't even have a potty for him, so it just kind of happened. He has slowly started to show little signs that he has been ready though. I just wanted to wait until things settle down with the baby to try...and I don't want to do it unless he is ready. Anyway, he tells me lately when he goes in his diaper and stuff, so he recognizes it, and on Saturday I was running his bath water after his hair cut and he was standing naked on the bath matt and he goes, "Sam pee pee," and I turned to see him starting to pee on the rug, so I told him to stop, which he did (also a good sign!), and then Dave came in and held him over the toilet and we told him, "Okay, Sam, go pee pee in the potty like daddy...like a big boy!" (saying "like a big boy" always works with him...he loves being called a big boy), and he went! It was kind of on and off for a minute, but he went and he LOVED it. He thought it was so cool and was laughing and smiling the whole time. So of course, we made a big deal and clapped when he was done and told him how much of a big boy he was. Ever since then, he has now started to develop another sign that he is ready, which is, when he goes poo poo he hides. He did that yesterday morning before church and was hiding around the corner and wouldn't let me see. I think we will be potty training our boy sooner than we thought!!! Which will be soooo nice not to have to change two different diapers! Next time we get the chance to go to town and go to the store we are going to get him his own potty.

Anyway, unfortunately, there is nothing new to report with the baby. I have felt closer and closer every day, and honestly felt like yesterday was going to be the day...but I don't know if that was intuition or just wishful thinking. My contractions have felt differently since yesterday morning and I have had SO much more pressure (as if I thought that was even possible) down there...and overall, I just feel differently. So I know it's close! We have been trying "home remedies" to induce myself, so we'll see...

Other Updates

Not much else going on. Sam is sick...AGAIN, believe it or not. Luckily, this time it seems to be just a cold with runny/stuffy nose and soar throat. Hopefully it stays that way and doesn't get worse and hopefully it's gone by the time Joshua decides to show up.

I am officially ready for that boy to come. The house is as clean as I think it's going to get and no more big events planned now. On my appointment on Monday I was dilated to at least a 1 and still 80% effaced. The reason I say dilated to at least a 1 is because she didn't really know. I have the problem (all the women in my family do) of my cervix being so incredibly far back that doctors always have a hard time reaching it. My doctor with Sam always had to get someone else to come in and help (woo-hoo). Anyway, she reached as far as she could and could only reach far enough to fit 1 fingertip through...so at least a 1...maybe more if she could reach it. Sorry to any of you that that grosses out. Just a part of life... :)

Anyway, with Sam I didn't dilate at all until the day I went into labor, so hopefully that means I'm coming along and it should happen any day now. I've been the same "thinned out" though for the past 2 weeks. With Sam, I was 80% effaced for about a month before I had him. But she said on Monday that the baby's head is much much lower than it was last appointment (which I can feel!!!)...in fact, it's even lower than the cervix opening, which I don't get. But she didn't sound worried, so...

Hopefully I won't have to go to my next appointment next Tuesday...and hopefully the next post you see from me will be announcing his birth! Please come by this weekend Joshua!!

"Mickey Party!"

Sam's birthday was on Tuesday and it went really well. He was so excited when I was putting up the decorations and couldn't wait. He kept saying "Friends, Mickey party!" Well, it was a lot more chaotic than I thought it would be (I've never had that many tiny people in my house at once...) and he had fun, though there were times he was a bit overwhelmed. A lot of the times he had a look on his face like, "What is going on here?!?" It was a little crazy, but I'm glad I had it for him. And now I know what to expect toddler parties to be like. :) Maybe it was just the fact that I was huge and tired and felt immoble. :) And next year he will be more aware of what's going on, but I just don't know what next year is going to bring. There are a bunch of little ones' birthdays in February in our ward so we talked about next year, if we're all still here, maybe doing one big party for them all. Anyway, I think, including Sam and little Brooklyn, we had about 13 kids over, so it was good! We didn't do any games or anything. We just let all the kids play while us moms chatted for a while, then we did cake and presents and it was done. And not that I didn't enjoy myself or having everyone over, but I have to admit I was a little relieved when it was over. :) Anyway, thanks everyone for coming and for Sam's presents! He loved them all and everytime he plays with any of them, he will say something like, "Puzzles, birthday party!" And thanks to all you moms who helped me out too!

He loved his Mickey ears...though they were destroyed within about 20 minutes.

Gotta love the store-bought cake. I even got one with some space where I could write on it, and I didn't even have time to do that... Oh well. He doesn't know the difference.

Sam's bewildered look while everyone sang to him. It was funny because, even though you can't tell in this picture, all the little ones were hovered around and throughout the song, and especially afterwards, they all tried blowing out the candles.

Lydia trying to teach Sam how to blow out the candles (Thanks for helping him so I could take pictures!). I thought he would catch on, because he blows on everything else, but he just wouldn't blow. He was too interested in watching everyone else showing him how.

Finally we just let all the kids help him out. This was right after Andrew blew out the "2" candle.

All the kids went outside to eat their cake but I thought that since Sam wasn't that experiemced with eating cake with a fork by himself, that he'd want to eat it with me and have me help him. But of course not! He saw everyone else out there and was mad when I tried. So I went and sat him out there on the ground with everyone else. (You can see his cute blonde head at the bottom there.)

He had a difficult time, but he figured it out. Eventually I saw him just stab the whole piece and take bites off of it.

Brooklyn practicing for her 1st birthday!

Sam opening his first present. It was a slinky. I had to get him one after realizing how much he loved the one at the Stewarts a few weekends ago. Notice the scolding hand in the background? This was another time the kids had a hard time not hovering. It's just so exciting and they all wanted to be a part of the present opening! I had to try really hard to keep Sam focused. It was cute...Will even stole one and started opening it and got so upset when Christa took it away from him! He just didn't understand why he couldn't...after all, his birthday party was just last week! Also, Colter would say funny things like, "Let's see if Sam knows how to open these," because he wanted to help so bad. And a couple times after Sam would open a toy, he would say, "Sam, you're going to share that with me, right?"

More presents! Sam would get so upset after each time he'd open something and I'd take it away to bring in the next one. He wanted to play with each thing right away after he opened them.

Superbowl Sunday

We had the Bolingers over on Sunday for the superbowl and I just had to post these pics of Brooklyn and Nick. She was a tired little thing...

Baby Shower Pics

I had to put one of the cute invitations Becky made...

Aren't these the cutest cupcakes you've ever seen?? My friends are all so talented...

The food table...

Destiny also made a bunch of really cute monster pillows (yes, I said "made")!

Dave and Nick sneaking a taste of Destiny's goodies before they took the kids...

Me, Denise, Destiny, Toi, and that's Tara in the background. I know I look an AWEFUL shape in the shirt in this picture...

Becky and Tara

Hangin' out...