The Terrible Twos Begins

I walked into my bedroom to find the following shortly after Noah was born:

Harper has realized she can get into quite a bit of mischief while I am nursing on the couch.

Visit from Derek, Alexis, Evan, and Greta

Since Oma was in town and her birthday is June 30, Derek and Alexis's family came down on June 29 to celebrate Oma and meet Noah.  Evan was very interested in holding and cuddling Noah.  Harper spent most of her time in their Minivan with Derek looking at Evan and Greta's baby album.  

 Aunt Alexis and Noah

 Cousins:  Greta and Evan (age 11), Harper, and Noah.

 L to R: Alexis, Evan, Derek, Greta, Holly, Noah, Harper, James, and Oma

 Evan and Noah 

 Happy Harper

 Noah gives Evan a big Yawn

 Mama and Noah

 Uncle Derek was so good to Harper.  He hung out for quite awhile in his van with her.

Daddy and Noah 

Harper and Noah

Harper likes to hold Noah but when she is done she will push him away.  I was pretending to be Noah and called Harper "Sis".  She thought I was calling Noah "Sis" and so she will say to him "hey Sis."  She is usually really sweet with him.  She will kiss him and wants to hug him.  I think she really wants him play with her; she will try to give him pretend food or other toys.  It is cute to hear her say "Oh Noah."  She has had no trouble with his name.  In the hospital she called him "Nona" but the next day she was saying "Noah".

Harper is trying to put her slippers on Noah

Its a good thing our bouncy chair broke so we had to order a new one. 

Now Harper and Noah each have their own.

Harper's first popsicle

Every Monday night our friends, Laura and Brent Hunter and Callie and Steve Hensley, come over for FHE.  On June 24 Laura brought popsicles for dessert.  This was Harper's first popsicle and she loved it.  Harper loves Laura, loves dessert, and loves to sit on Laura's lap for dessert.

Family Walk

We decided to go for a walk on our dirt road and get Noah some fresh air.  He was just a couple of days old.  He had a little bit of jaundice and the sunlight was good for him.  When Harper gets tired of walking she will stand in front of us and tap her neck and say "head".  This means she wants to ride on our shoulders.

Oma comes to visit

Oma arrived on June 16 to help me for two weeks.  Harper was in heaven; she loves her Oma.  They played outside, read books, played kitchen, watched too many videos on Oma's iPad, and FaceTime with Opa numerous times a day.

Harper laid in Oma's lap and Oma stroked her hair.  

Then all of sudden Harper fell asleep.  

This is unusual for Harper who is almost always on the go.

Harper and Oma wash Harper's picnic table while daddy washed his car.

Welcome home Noah. Oh by the way, I have a heat rash.

Harper was still with Fory and Leann when we got home from the hospital.  About 30 minutes after we got home, Fory called and said Harper had a rash. So James walked over and got her. Sure enough she had a rash all over her body. With the help of Terri via text and google, we figured out it was a heat rash.  So, I bathed her in lukewarm water with baking soda and then we let her run around in her diaper.  It took about 3 days to totally disappear.

My first few days of Life

While in the hospital Noah mostly slept.  One day he slept 6 hours straight, which worried me since I needed to feed him.  The nurse said it was fine if he slept.  He also was really cuddly and loved to be held.  The first night I held him most of the night.  I didn't get much sleep but that is okay.

 My first diaper.

 Finally nice and cozy.

 Cuddling with mommy.

I'm braking out of this joint and heading home.

Noah James Edwards is Born

I was scheduled to have a C-Section on June 18, but my water broke on June 13, 2019 about 2:30pm while the last part of our driveway was bring poured. I hung in there till about 3:30pm and told James that we needed to put Harper's handprints in the driveway now and then head to the hospital.  I called Leann Edwards to come watch Harper but couldn't get a hold of her (we found out later Leann and Fory were out doing yard work).   So, I called my friend Juliana Wallace.  She was in Elma which is 10 miles away so she rushed over here.  We left for the hospital around 4pm.  My contractions were about 10 minutes apart and we got to the hospital around 5pm.  I had to complete paperwork which was a little uncomfortable while I was having contractions.  The receptionist told me that Dr. Sorensen was on call  which I was so happy about.  Dr. Sorensen was the doctor that delivered Harper and I wanted her to deliver Noah; tender mercy from the Lord.

The triage nurse had me change and said she had to check if my water broke which meant sending a sample to the lab.  I could feel water leaking and when she was getting the sample she said, "We don't need a sample to tell us your water broke; it has definitely broke." Well, the hospital was really busy with other women having babies so we were told we would be taken back to the OR around 7:30-8pm.  Well, 7:30pm came and went, then 8pm.  My contractions were really close together and I wanted to push so the nurse gave me a shot to slow the contractions down.  I also had a cold and phlegm was running down my throat.  When I coughed it would cause a contraction.  James got the throw-up baggy for me so I could spit the phlegm out; not a pretty sight.

Finally around 9pm I was taken to the OR.  My contractions were really close and painful.  They had me sit on the OR table kind of hunched over so the anesthesiologistcould give me the spinal.  This was hard to do with contractions but a nurse, Jensen, stood in front of me and held my hands and gave me support.  I had two really big contractions in this position and my water burst all over the operating table each time.  Finally they had me lay down on the operating table and I had one final contractions and I felt the water shoot out of me and then the spinal took effect and I couldn't feel anymore contractions.

The anesthesiologist asked me what kind of music I liked so he played 80s. I remember during the C-Section hearing "Come on Eileen" by Dexy Midnight Runners.  Once I was all ready they let James come in; he had to prep too.  During the C-Section James was able to look and he saw Noah's little head poking out of my abdomen.

Noah James Edwards was born on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at 9:58pm. He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 18.75 inches. He had a full head of black hair and olive skin.  He was delivered by Dr. Laurie Sorensen via C-Section.  He cried and let us know he was not happy to leave his comfortable and cozy home for the last 9 months.  They laid him on my chest for a little bit and then James got to hold him.  While we were in the recovery room I got to nurse him.  He is a real cuddler and did great nursing.  

KayLynn and Russ Larsen came to see us later as well as Peggy, Jon, and Courtney Schultz.  Leann and Fory brought Harper too.  My recovery went really well so we were able to come home on Saturday.

 Triage Room.

 Holding Noah for the first time.

 Mommy, Daddy, and Noah.

 It's a boy.

 Getting weighed.

Holding Noah in the recovery room.

I want my mommy.

Driveway Poured

After having a muddy driveway for almost a year, we finally had it poured.  Mark Doyle (who is in our ward) and his crew started the first week of June.  It was exciting and intersting to watch the cement poured.  Since our driveway is so big they poured it in three sections starting with the two outside sections. On June 13 they came in the afternoon to pour the center section.  While they were pouring, I was using the restroom when I felt something drop in my pelvis area and then a small trickle of water came out.  My water had broke.  I want to have Harper put her handprints in the cement and when I talked to Mark about it he said we could do it right before they did the brush finish which was the last thing to do.  Well, when my water broke they were still smoothing the cement out and were not ready for the brush finish. I debate if my water had really broke and I didn't tell James for 30 minutes.  About an hour later I started to get contractions so I told James if we were going to get Harper's handprints we needed to do it now.  James told Mark my water broke and he and James quickly put Harper's handprints in the cement.  We love our new driveway and it is a great play area for Harper.  She loves to be outside playing barefoot on the driveway.

 The first pour.

 Mark and Bobby Doyle smoothing out the cement.

 Pouring the center section.

 Mark and James helping Harper put her hand in the cement; she was nervous about this.

I wrote her name and the year but realized I wanted the date so Mark's worker put the date for us as we were leaving for the hospital.

Harper posing on our new driveway.