Hello. I’m Jack.

Jack Kristopher Hunter

November 21, 2011, 9:49 P.M.

7 lbs. 11 oz., 19 1/2 in.

We started our weekend anticipating Jack’s arrival on Saturday, November 19th.  We couldn’t get scheduled to for our induction till Sunday the 20th.  Little did we anticipate having to wait even longer!  Our hospital got crazy busy.  Seriously, who would’ve expected that there would be so many pregnant ladies all having their babies all at once!?

Sunday was rough.  We sat.  We waited.  Looked at the phone…over and over and over.  We thought the hospital would call that afternoon.  They didn’t.  We hadn’t planned for this and we were so disappointed at how things were going.  Monday morning we sat.  We waited.  Nothing.  We went to our doctor.  I’m not sure why it seemed like a good idea, but it was better than sitting at home!  Then we got lucky!  As we were driving out of the parking lot the phone rang!  I even had my hospital bag in the car, so we went right over because we didn’t want to miss out on our spot! (Thankfully we did, since we got the last room!) 

Monday afternoon around 3:15 they got me started on Cytotech.  I was only dilated to a 2 1/2, so I had a ways to go.  When my hour was up, they took me off the monitors and we walked.  And walked.  And walked.  At 6:45 p.m. they checked me again and I was…a 3.  Really?  A 3.  I just thought, Awesome…this is going to be an all-nighter!  They gave me my second dose of Cytotech and I was pretty uncomfortable.  Lying flat on my back was miserable, and then the contractions started. 

At 9 o’clock I was off the monitors and texting a friend when the contractions got bad.  And by bad, I mean BAD.  I laid on the bed and called the nurse and asked for something for the pain.  Not an epidural, but something to take the edge off.  Yeah.  I never got that.  I was dilated to a 5.  Then I was dilated to an 8.  Then I pushed out a baby!  He didn’t even wait for the doctor to come, or for the nurses to be ready, or for anything!  My nurses delivered him (he kind of just arrived and surprised everybody!) and then the doctor walked in a few minutes later. 

I didn’t plan for an epidural, but I did plan for the IV meds.  Truthfully, there’s something amazing about giving birth totally natural.  I feel like Superwoman.

Jack is healthy and strong and handsome.  So far he’s not a crier.  More of a squeaker and a whimperer.  I don’t expect that to last.:) 

His sisters got to see him this afternoon.  They were very impressed.  I can’t wait to get them all home together.  It’s going to be SO MUCH fun! 

I spent a couple days feeling so grumpy because my baby wasn’t here yet.  This is what they mean when they say, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.”  I missed a few days of putting things I am thankful for up on Facebook (November tradition!) because I was definitely NOT feeling very thankful.  Fail on my part…especially since I have so much to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for my sweet little family and my 3 cute little kids.  I’m thankful for the safe arrival of Mr. Jack.  I’m thankful to feel so much love from the people around me.  I’m thankful for all the hope that a brand new person, straight from heaven, inspires.  I’m thankful my Heavenly Father loves me enough to allow me to be a Mom.

Emily’s 1st Birthday

Our Emily turned one…seriously, I wasn’t sure we’d make it to this day! It has been a very rough year, from the months of endless crying (thank you, colic), plus Mom being pregnant with Jack – I didn’t know how it would all turn out!

Emily is a blessing in our home. She’s definitely a Mama’s girl! If Mom is home, nobody else matters.:) She has an infectious laugh that just melts your heart. She loves books and babies and pretty much any toy her big sister has (which makes for some SERIOUS tantrums!).

Emily has been walking since 11 1/2 months. Its GREAT! She is so much easier and happier now that she’s 100% mobile.

For her birthday, we laid low since Jack was expected any day. We had some yummy cake and ice cream at home, which she loved!

October Update!

I’ve had things to blog about all month.  Have I done it?  Nope.  And next week is November.  Where is time going?!  It’s crazy to think in just a few short weeks we’ll have Baby J here with us and then it will be Christmas…especially when it sometimes seems like we just brought Emily home from the hospital and were celebrating Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma Hunter!  I can’t believe how fast this year has gone.

What we’ve been up to this month:

We opened our last jar of jam from last summer and I thought, “Seriously, where did all the jam go?”  I had some strawberries in the freezer, so in a mad rush I made 3 batches of strawberry jam (4 pints and 18 half pints).  And it was delicious!

That got me in a canning mood, so I also did 7 quarts of beans.  It was my first time, and we haven’t tasted them yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!  Hopefully before the baby comes I can get a good price on chicken and get my year supply of chicken canned.

 

I wanted to get a video of Emily walking, but I haven’t yet.  She’s taking a few steps on her own…she might just be walking by the time her brother gets here!  That’s what I’ve been hoping for!

Last weekend we had our baby shower.  I have AWESOME friends, family, neighbors, etc.  We had a great turn-out and got some fun stuff.  Now we just need a baby for it all!

Addie, Me & Danielle

Jen, Danielle & Me:)

I still can’t believe how fast this pregnancy has gone.  I have been heard saying, “This baby just needs to get here already…” and then I heard this lovely quote from Erma Bombeck: 

"If I had my life to live over...instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment, realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle."

That was such a great reminder for me.  So I am making it a priority to enjoy all the little things about being pregnant these last few weeks…uncomfortable as I may be! 

We got the girls all dressed up in their Halloween attire early so we could send out a card to all the family.  FAIL.  Here’s the card that never got sent.:)  Happy Halloween everybody!

Our Week, and General Conference

My baby is a climber!  Seriously, she’s always trying to climb into the bathtub, she’s going to fall in on her head one of these days.  She loves to get into Annie’s rocking chair, and up on the hearth at Grandpa’s house.  Who knows where she’ll go next!?

I am on a kick trying new recipes.  We’ve had tomato soup, pumpkin muffins, ham & cheese crescents and lemon bars.  The favorites were Baked Ziti and Chicken Bacon Parmesan Pasta.  Seriously…delicious!

The ziti was her favorite.:)

(ignore the Christmas plate)

This last week we also had another ultrasound for Baby J., just to check his size and make sure he’s doing well.  He’s a cute little booger.:)  Right now he’s weighing in around 4 lbs.  He’s measuring a little bit big, but not enough to worry about.  Seriously, it feels like the kid is 3 feet long.  I feel his little hands down at the bottom of my belly and I swear his feet are up in the middle of my chest!  I am UNCOMFORTABLE!

Only 8 more weeks to go, if he goes all the way to November 26th.  I just try to keep reminding myself that the girls both came 2 weeks early, which means I need to be ready in 6 weeks.  BAHAHAHA…funny, huh?:) 

This weekend was General Conference.  As a mom of 2 little people, I’ve learned that, these days, I learn best in one-liners.  I don’t get much out of regular church, just bits and pieces, here and there, so I went into conference listening for some good one-liners.  These were some of my favorites.

General Relief Society Meeting

Dieter F. Uchtdorf“God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.  Let me add:  God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not.” 

Saturday Morning Session

Barbara Thompson:  “I didn’t keep a testimony through those times, the testimony kept me.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (LOVE HIM!):

“Compared to God, man is nothing.  Yet, we are everything to God.” 

“You could pile up the accumulated currency of the entire world and it could not buy a loaf of bread in the economy of heaven.”

“The Lord doesn’t care at all if we spend our days working in marble halls or stable stalls.  He knows where we are, no matter how humble our circumstances.  He will use in His own way and for His own holy purposes those who incline their hearts to Him.”

Saturday Afternoon Session

Neil L. Anderson (one of my favorite talks!):

“We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the Earth remains in force. … We express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and wives, especially wives, in their willingness to have children.  When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord.  These are sacred decisions.  Decisions that should be made with sincere prayer and acted on with great faith.”

“Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”

“To a righteous father, there are no words sufficient to express the gratitude and love he feels for his wife’s incalculable gift of bearing and caring for their children.”

“Where is your faith?”

“If you are concerned about providing financially for a wife and family, may I assure you that there is no shame in a couple having to scrimp and save.  It is generally during these challenging times that you will grow closer together that you will grow closer as you learn to sacrifice and make difficult decisions.” (from Pres. Monson)

Ian D. Ardern:

“Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text.”

“Cyber acquaintances are no lasting substitute for real friends who can give an encouraging hug, pray for us, and seek out our best interest.”

“Our greatest happiness comes as we tune into the Lord and to those things which bring a lasting reward, rather than mindlessly tuning into countless hours of status updates, internet farming and catapulting angry birds at concrete walls.  I urge each of us to take those things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be master over us.”

Sunday Morning Session

Henry B. Eyring:

“In one who is wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died.  And substituted therefor is a love of God with a fixed and controlling determination to keep His commandments.” (from Marion G. Romney) 

Elaine S. Dalton (another of my favorites):

“The most important thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother.  By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion and devotion.

Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood.  You are showing her that she is a daughter of her Heavenly Father.”

“Be an active part of her life.  If, in her teenage years, she should not come home from a date on time, go get her.  She will resist and tell you you have ruined her social life, but she will inwardly know that you love her and that you care enough to be her guardian.”

You are not ordinary men.  Because of your values in the premortal realms, you qualify to be leaders and to possess Priesthood power.  There you exhibited exceeding faith and good works and you are here now to do the same.”

Thomas S. Monson:

“Our code of conduct is definitive.  It is not negotiable.”

And…I pretty much missed the Sunday afternoon session.  Mostly cause I was fighting with my kids.  Sundays are never very good.

Sunday…and Our Week in Review!

 

We had a busy week this last week, but truthfully, I don’t remember most of what we did!:)  We had planned to start potty training Annie, but there was just too many different things going on.  Also truthfully, I’m HORRIFIED of potty training.  We’ll get to it.:)

Our Fall activity was to color leaves and hang them in our windows.  We put construction paper on the backs of them, so from the outside, we have colored leaves.  Annie loves to color, so she had a fun time doing this and helping Mom to hang them up.

We also made pumpkin muffins.  They made our house smell SO delicious!  Now, if it would just turn into Fall already!

 

Mom at 30 weeks…

30 weeks!?  Seriously, this pregnancy has gone SO fast!  Still feeling pretty good…nothing serious enough to complain incessantly about!:)  Uncomfortable, tired, a little sore…but I am just grateful that I finally look pregnant!

 My cute girls.  They have been doing pretty good to play together and have fun.  It’s about time!  I thought that day would never come.  Annie gets a little rough sometimes, but I think its just because she doesn’t quite know what to do with herself.  Or with Emily.  She’s 2, for goodness sakes!

Kris decided to cut his own hair.  Sad.

General Conference is coming up and we are looking forward to that.  It’s hard with little kids to get much out of it, but we try.  Kris will be working (as usual!), so its just the girls and me.  We’ll make the most of it anyway.:) 

Standing on a Corner in Duncan, Arizona

My Uncle John passed away over the summer, and since then I have been trying to get up to Duncan to see my Aunt Jenna (my mom’s older sister) every couple weeks.  I’ve taken my dad and my sister with me a couple times, and always the girls, but this week Kris was off and got to go with me. 

When I go, I take a couple meals for her and my cousin.  I’m not the best cook, but I love doing it, so its fun to get to plan different things I can take to her.  I love making food for my aunt for a couple reasons.  The first is that she makes me feel like I’m the most amazing cook ever!  She calls me and is so grateful and tells me how good everything was.  It makes me feel SO good.  The second is that a lot of the time when I’m cooking, my mind goes wandering to my mom and my grandma, especially when I know I’m taking the food I’m making to my aunt.  Its such a lovely time for me to get to reflect on my heritage.

This week was chicken & dumplings and macaroni salad (I should’ve taken a picture!).:)

After we visited with Jenna and Annie got to play with the puppies a bit (They are totally NOT puppies!  One of them comes face-to-face with Annie…she’s huge!), we stopped at the 3 Sisters Bakery on the highway.  We got cookies and ice cream.  It was a fun day and I was so glad we got to spend it all together!  

My Babies

 

“To you, everything’s funny…

you got nothing to regret.

I’d give all I have, honey,

If you could stay like that.”

Taylor Swift, “Never Grow Up”

My babies are SO MUCH more than I could ever deserve.  They love me – even when the dinner’s not cooked right or the house isn’t clean, if I yell or I cry, if I wear pajamas all day, if I’m fat or if I don’t have time to shower.  I love my children unconditionally, but the love they show to me in return is beyond unconditional.  It’s perfect.