Best Christmas Ever

This year we packed up our diaper bag and flew to Utah for Christmas. Although Trenton, Deven and I each had our turn getting sick, no one was sleeping because Trenton was screaming through the night, we became far too familiar with the snot sucker, saline solution and baby tylenol... I would have to say this was the best Christmas ever. Just look at this sweet face and you can understand why...

The only thing that outweighed my nervousness about traveling with a baby was my excitement for the family to finally meet him! My sister Taylor and brother-in-law Bryan, made a special trip from Maine to meet Trent. I was especially excited for Trent to meet 2 sets of his great grandparents!

The adorable couple, Taylor and Bryan. The beautiful Ekins sisters.

Creating Parker's Wii character.

Santa came to meet Trenton too!

Later Great Grandparents.  Trent's cousins Tyler, Ethan and Hannah.

And the end result.... a very happy baby!

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving! Good food, good friends, and some more good food!! And we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Mostly a healthy baby boy and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We are also thankful to have friends like the Gruwell family to spend Thanksgiving with. Jake, Sunnie and their 4 kids are so much fun and we feel so comfortable hanging out in their home.

Deven made a beautiful turkey... yes Deven. I love his new found skill, and hope we can make this a new tradition.  I made the gravy, stuffing, a green bean dish, pumpkin pie and sweet potato casserole. Deven is still asking for an apple pie. I say we don't need to eat or cook again for a week.  

Trent was somewhat attention deprived while Deven was out playing in the "turkey bowl" and I was busy, busy in the kitchen.

Trent's "arranged" best friend Cole.

Of course we watched some football that weekend. Specifically BYU vs. Utah. And yes, BYU won in overtime. Wahoo!

His Frist Halloween

Yes, I could have dressed him as a fuzzy animal but I just love Superheros and Deven just loves spandex! Trenton was very tolerant of Deven and I's excitment for his 1st Halloween and the whole "trunk-or-treat" experience. Deven loves doing the "superman move" with Trenton where he lifts him high over his head while I humm a little superman tune... so the outfit was quite appropriate for us. The best part... I didn't spend a penny. Amazing what you can find just lying around the house!

SuperDad and SuperBaby! I think Trenton is looking more and more like Deven... What do you think?

After eating all that candy, Trenton needed a nap!

Trenton's Newborn Portraits

Meeting Baby Trenton

Like many expecting new moms I had planned out the ideal delivery scenario in my mind for months... just to be disappointed! Not that I had a bad delivery by any means, it was just not the "labor at home for a few hours, go to the hospital, couple pushes and poof..." However, it was still a successful day because in the end I had my husband by my side and a beautiful, healthy baby boy in my arms.

I was so glad to have Deven, my Mom, and a wonderful Doctor and Nurse staff there to support me. They made a great team! Deven was the quite teammate at my side, careful not to be too overbearing while providing a gentle soothing touch. My Mom was the vocal and compassionate cheerleader who sympathized with every difficult contraction. The Doctor and nurse were my motivational coaches. That must make me the MVP! Just kidding... the MVP was definitely Trenton!

The entire delivery took about 9 hours. He was born at 6:32 pm on August 13th.

This was my Mom's first time to Texas and first time to watch a delivery!

We didn't decide on his name until midnight!

He was 7lb 14oz. and 21.5 inches. Deven was 24 inches long when he was born!

The outfit we bought to take him home in was way too big!

Bringing him home was so exciting and a little bit nerve racking because he seemed so fragile.

Trenton will be such a blessing in our lives! We love him very much!

Pregnancy!

In December 2008 we announced our exciting news to our families. We were so glad we were able to tell everyone in person so we could see their reaction! We decided to wrap up a little box with baby socks inside and give it to our parents for Christmas. It took them a minute to put two and two together... but once they realized the socks were too small for them, they were very excited for us. It was so much fun!

To be honest, I loved being pregnant... well most of the time. The first trimester was a breeze without any morning sickness. I was eating healthy, exercising and continuing to work without a problem. Nobody knew I was pregnant unless I told them. I started collecting pregnancy books and studying up on anything pregnancy related because I wanted to do everything right. We bought our first baby item in the after Christmas clearance isle; a Christmas stalking-- one pink and one blue! At our very first doctors appointment we were able to see our baby in an ultrasound which was amazing! I made the nurse give me an educated guess on the gender of the baby despite her hesitation. The best she could do was say "I don't see anything down there." I over analysed that to mean it's possibly a girl!

Second trimester I was still feeling good. I started to get annoyed with my stomach that didn't quite look pregnant but just looked like I ate a big breakfast! However, I got on the scale almost everyday and praised myself for every pound gained. I was able to train my clients, teach my dance classes, run a 5k and read up on our baby's development faithfully. Our families almost had us convinced that we were having a girl, so you could imagine our surprise when the doctor told us it was a BOY!

Third trimester came along and I was still feeling like I could possibly luck out with the easiest pregnancy ever! I was able to finish teaching the dance semester, attend a week of girls camp in 100 degree weather and still get to work by 6 am every morning. Then the terrible 9th month came when my every day tasks like tying my shoes or getting in and out of the car became painful! My back was hurting, my feet would swell when I stood on them too long, I didn't want to eat healthy anymore, I felt like an old lady when I struggled to get out of bed.  I wanted to nap everyday and became uninterested in reading anymore pregnancy books! Reality set in that I was going to have to get this baby out of me and then know what to do once he was here!