More Birthday's, Birthdays!!

My little boy Harper turned 2 on 2/10, and all I can say is that it has just flown by so much. Just thinking about it right now makes me almost cry. To think that 2 years ago I brought such a beautiful baby boy into this world and he keeps growing so tall and big. Next thing you know he is going to be going to kindergarten, then he will graduate from high school and then he will marry some wonderful women hopefully and have kids of his own....wow I am really getting a head of my self.

Well we wanted to make his birthday special so we went to my parents house and had a party for him. Becca of course made the cute cake pictured below and some little cupcakes to go with it. Harper got a xylophone, a little pop up tent/tunnel, a tricycle, magnadoodle, books, bath crayons and a hand made painted stool from Aunt Ruth.. After he opened all of his small gifts I got his tricycle from the living room and brought it down the hall to the kitchen and Harper was so excited and confused at the same time. He got right on it however and Aunt Shannon pushed him around on it. It will take him a while but he will eventually learn how to pedal himself.

On his actual birthday we were at Becca's house doing the daycare thing so Danny got up and brought him over some balloons for himself, Ella has balloons from her birthday a few weeks prior and Harper always tried to play with them but Ella didn't like to share them. Anyhow they both had their own balloons and they ran back and forth in the house with them for about 20 mins. After they got that out of their system we got out the play doh and played with that for a while. We cleaned up and fed the kids lunch, then they went down and Danny had to leave for work. That night Becca and her kids and Harper and me and Laney all went to McDonald's to play. Harper had a hamburger happy meal, his first happy meal may I add. But he didn't want to eat to much because he was having to much fun playing with all the kids on the toys. All the fun that day wore him out and he went to bed at 8pm...ya! But he had a happy birthday.

Harper on the toys at McDonalds

Birthdays, Birthdays!!

Well as some of you may know I had my birthday on 2/6 and I turned the big 25! Normally I take the day off from work and relax however I started doing daycare for my sister 2 days prior so I could very well take that day off. So I started my day off at 6am to get the kids up and out of bed and to Becca's house for work. I had a long day of watching kids but Becca was so nice and watched Harper and Laney so that Danny and I could go out on a date.

I got off work at 5pm and left for home, Danny was at my parents house working with my Dad on fixing his mirror on his car and was supposed to be home shortly after me. When I got home and walked in the kitchen he had balloons, a Happy Birthday sign, flowers, card and a present waiting for me on the table. Let me tell you it is really hard to surprise me but he managed to this time. I was all smiles when I was opening my present because it was a small jewelry size box, and I was right it was a necklace from Kay Jewelers. The open hearts necklace from the Jane Seymour collection, sterling silver, no diamonds and it is very simple and pretty, just what I like!

Danny walked in the door about 5 min later and after thanking him of course and giving him a hug we got ready and went out to dinner. I chose Red Lobster because I was craving shrimp, and it was really good! After dinner we planned on going bowling, I though it would be something different and exciting for the both of us. Plus I planned on kicking Danny's butt! Unfortunately the 2 bowling allies that we tried going to were so busy with league nights that it would have been over an hour wait so we chose to.......go grocery shopping!!! I know, fun right?

After we went shopping we went and picked up the kids from Becca's house and went home and were up till about 1am and fell right to sleep. Unfortunately we didn't get to sleep in either, however it was a fun date night that we so desperately needed. Thanks Becca!!

Funny side note, Becca had paid me for the first few days that I watched the kids and I put the check in my back pocket instead of my purse. The next day I couldn't find it in my pocket and I thought that I had put it in my purse..It kind of slipped my mind until Sunday and when I couldn't find it I finally got the guts up to call Becca and tell her that I lost the first paycheck, it was kind of embarrassing. She wasn't mad at all, I just wanted to tell her that she may have to cancel the check. I tried calling Red Lobster but they didn't have it so I called the Winco and they had it! Apparently someone found it in the bathroom, so it dropped out when I went to the potty. I was so happy that I found it and learned my lesson..

Small Update on us

I know it has been a while since I have blogged...but I really don't have anything to say, but here are a few things.

Just to let everyone know Danny is being laid off yet again, this week is his last week at work. If you know of a good job that he may qualify for or you can help us get him a good job then let me know, but I won't count on it.

Harper is turning 2 in 2 weeks and I am turning 25 in a week and a half! Ya!! I'm not going to count on a big bash for my birthday either, not that it really has ever happened before anyhow.

Delaney has officially slept through the night 2 times now. Last Monday night and last night...I only wish that the 8 hours that she was sleeping I was sleeping at the same time. But she has gone from about 8-4am and 9-5am....Hopefully she won't just make this a Monday night occurrence and it will become more regular.

Also I have a new family blog that is for my side of the family, the Richards...If you feel like it you can check it out at: scottrichards9kids.blogspot.com

Harper and his girly ways

I though it would be funny to let everyone in on Harper's secret, he is really a girl at heart....So everyone thought that I had 1 boy and 1 girl, well you may just be wrong. Here are some pics to prove it..Harper loves to wear my head bands and he loves to put on lotion and at the Cinderella party he was wearing necklaces around the house. Looks like Danny needs to buff him up a little!

Mattson Family Christmas

Christmas has finally come and gone, and thank goodness for that! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but it can wear on your nerves and your money also. I can say that we had a good one, and next year should be just as fun with Laney probably going to be in the walking stages and Harper will be able to say 'Merry Christmas' and maybe understand who Santa is. For now I just happy that we had the blessed Christmas that we did!

Here are some pics for everyone to see....
Harper got Play dough from Me and Danny and Grandma Richards got him Play dough toys

We also got Harper a Alphabet phonics thing for the fridge...I can safely say that after 2 hrs of it already I am tired of it.... But he loves it!

Harper looks like he is happy but this is really a cringe because Laney was touching him and he didn't want to sit next to her! But they still look cute.

Here are our stockings. Danny's is blue, Mine is green, Harper's is red and Laney's is purple. This was Laney's first Christmas and the little bear in her stocking his her first stuffed animal. I can imagine her dragging it all around the house when she is older.

Harper playing with the aqua doodle that we got for him. He LOVES it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! We love all of you and for those of you who are far away we miss you too!

Delaney's Blessing

I have been so busy this month that it has been hard to have the chance to post blogs. So this one is about our little Laney Bug. She was blessed earlier this month 12/7/08 by my father Scott Richards. The blessing was short but sweet and it made me think of all the things to come in the future. I only want the best for my kids and it is so hard to be able to provide everything.

The blessing dress that she is wearing was my blessing dress. So just in case you don't know how old I am, this dress was used almost 25 yrs ago. It was really nice of my mom to keep this dress for me so that my daughter could wear it. Thanks Mom, I love you!

Here she is Delaney Jessalyn Mattson

More family pics

Mom and Dad with all of the grandkids: Emma, Orion,Olivia, Ethan, Ella, Harper, Samuel and Delaney

My sister Erin and her husband William and son Samuel

Me and Danny with Harper and Delaney

My sister Rebecca and her Husband Nate with Emma, Ethan & Ella

Rebecca's family again

Johanna did a great job! Thank you for being so patient with all of us.

Family Pics from 12/6/08

Recently my family had the opportunity to have someone take some professional pictures for us and they turned out great! I wanted to show everyone the best family picures that we have ever had!!
Melissa with her kids, Orion and Olivia

The whole Richards family

All of the Richards kids

The Richards kids

The whole Richards family

To Danny

Today is my Husbands birthday and it is a big one today! He's 30...I would like to say Happy Birthday to Danny. I love you and know that you are a good man. Thank you for you!

Sam and Delaney

This is a picture taken last week of Delaney and her cousin Sam. Sam is 4 1/2 months and Delaney is a few days shy of 1 month....Look at the size of this kid! He could roll over on Laney and you wouldn't even know that she was there! Sam is my sister Erin's son, and she has to wear a brace on her wrists because she is having pain from the weight of carrying him around. Don't get me wrong, he is VERY sweet and adorable but he is also a hefty boy.

Laney Bug's Room

After a month of our Little Laney sleeping in a bassinet by my bed I decided that she needed to have her own crib in another room so that I wouldn't constantly hear her moaning, groaning and stretching all the time. I needed some peace and quiet! Laney has a bad habit of being very noisy when she eats and then carries it after the feeding to when she lays down to go to sleep.

So this weekend Danny and I cleaned the house and took the couch out of his computer room and moved it to the living room and set up her crib in there. I then got to decorate one side of the room to be girly. Here are the pics of her new room. The bed theme is brown and pink polka dots courtesy of the best seamstress ever, Pam Price! Thank you so much Pam!! And the rest of the room is Lady Bugs which have dots on them, so do the dragon flys on the light switch.

The reason I chose lady bugs is because her nick name is Laney Bug, as I am sure you already caught earlier. She is a cute little bug and I just love her room, I can't wait to do a whole room as cute as this someday when she gets her own room.

Halloween

This year was Harper's first real year of trick or treating, last year we took him but he was only 9 mos old so he didn't know what was going on. This year Harper got to be a turtle, and he looked so cute! My sister Rebecca let Harper use it because she knows my obsession with turtles that I have had since 6Th grade. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect costume.

This is him after he was done trick or treating, he was already to eat all of his candy and when I wouldn't let him have another piece he went ape and had a fit. What's new?

This is his very first house that he went to. My parents neighbor Sis.Nelson who I have known for the 20 yrs that we lived next to her. He wanted to go in her house like many other houses.

This is Danny having to carry Harper off of the play ground equipment so that he could do the costume parade at the ward trunk or treat. He was so mad because he wanted to keep playing.

This is Harper and I walking around the circle in the costume parade. Seconds after the girls behind me (who shall be left nameless unless you know who they are in the pic) had just run over my heal with the stroller and I was in pain because they got me real good!

It was really fun for Danny and I, we enjoyed watching Harper have so much fun and it was one of those moments, you know....Our little boy is getting so big, I can't believe that he is already almost 2 and he just looks so cute....etc....

I can't wait until next year when I get to dress Delaney too!

Delaney pics

Johanna Hallenberger came over today to take some sample pics of my pretty little girl and while she was doing that I was able to slip in a couple of my own pics of her.

12 days old

The dreaded "Harper"

Sorry that it has been so long since I have blogged, not that people have missed it I'm sure...

It has been a very long week and a half since Delaney was born! Not only have I had to deal with the normal lack of sleep with a newborn but I have also had to deal with Harper being sick and getting everyone else sick. Let me tell you more..

Starting Friday the 17Th in the morning I woke up to get Harper and found him covered in throw up and so was his bed and carpet, it really made my morning! Danny of course was on his way out the door to go to work so I had no help. Luckily my 4 day old Delaney was sleeping so I was able to get Harper up, bathed and his bedroom cleaned up of yuck. The whole day Harper continued to throw up and into Saturday. Sunday he hadn't thrown up, it was just some runny poo so I figured that he was better and decided to accept the invitation to go to my parents house for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

This is when everything conspired, however no one new what was about to happen. Monday night Danny woke up at 1am and started his flu episode, he was the first of many to catch Harper's sickness. Next came my sisters Amanda and Shannon, then me, My parents, my other sister Erin and possibly my niece but they can't be confirmed.

So this whole week everyone has been sick, not very fun at all. As for me I got over it in a day and no I didn't throw up for all of you who know about my throwing up streak. Right now I am trying to deal with baby blues that seem to have hit pretty hard and Harper, he is driving me nuts. He is always crying for me or crying about something. He is acting out because of the baby and it is stressing Danny and I out. I knew it was going to be hard, but I already need a break from one of them and it would be Harper. So if anyone wants to take a kid for a few hours so I can take a nap or a break let me know!

And I know this is off topic but I weighed myself and I have lost 18 lbs so far. I only have 6 more pounds to lose and I will be at my pre pregnancy weight, but I am going for more than that so wish me some luck.

Delaney's Doc appointment

Delaney and I did eventually get to the doctor appointment, just a little late. The doctor said that she was doing well but that she had a little jaundice and she wanted me to take her to the hospital to have the billy ruben tested because she thought that it was getting kinda high.. For those of you who remember I had the same problem with Harper and he ended up being admitted to the hospital for 24 hrs after they found his billy ruben levels sky high.

I went to the hospital to get her blood work done and I was nervous that she was going to have to be admitted. After we got home the doctor call a little later and informed us that it was just under the level to be admitted so we dodged the bullet for the time.

I gave her an ounce of formula for dinner and before bed to help her get some fluids to clear up the jaundice since all I had was colostrum still. But good news this morning my milk came in, so now she is getting full meals instead of snacks. It's kinda fun having your boobs grow over night, it just sucks that they get full and hurt and leak etc..

Locked out!

Yesterday I had an appointment to bring little Laney to and Connie Wilkes offered to watch Harper so that I wouldn't have to take him, nice right? She is awesome....well we were taking Harper and the car seat out to her car and like a normal person I shut my door after I walked out. When we got Harper in the car I realized that I didn't have his sippy cut so Connie waited while I ran back to the house. I got to the door and I couldn't open it! I thought for a second that the knob was stuck, but it wasn't I couldn't get it open. I started to freak out and Connie came over to see what was up, I told her that the door was locked and I didn't have a key under the mat and the key pad on the garage door was dead... So she thought about the back door which I knew was locked but we went back to check just in case and of course it was. I'm sure that you can imagine at this time I was balling my eyes out because my 2 day old baby is inside in the swing.
Thank goodness Connie hadn't left before I had gone back inside because I would have been screwed! So we called Danny and he finally answered the phone after 3 phone calls, because he isn't supposed to have a cell phone at his desk. He was able to come home but it took him 15 minutes to get back. The whole time I kept thinking how stupid am I? Not only that but I had walked outside with a towel on my head because I had just gotten out of the shower, so I looked like a retard.
When Danny unlocked the door and we walked inside she was still sound asleep in the swing and fine. Danny had to rush back to work and I had to take her to her appointment. What a scary thing to happen though. I thought that it only happened in the movies, apparently not, the movies are just re enacting what the stupid people like me are really doing.

Welcome Delaney Jessalyn

I'm sure that many of you have been wondering if I have had the baby yet or if you knew that I had her you wanted to see and know more about the whole delivery. Well I went in on Monday morning and got the process started for induction and was blessed later that day with a wonderful 'little' girl. Let me give you some fun details....



Danny and I got up at 5am to be at St. Luke's at 7am.

7:05 the nurse took us to our room

7:15 had an enema (you may think yuck, but I say thank goodness)

7:45 was started on Pitocin

8:00 Nurse Rose did exam and I was 3cm dilated still

8:15 Dr.Klomp came in and broke my water, contractions started in minutes

10:00 wimped out and got an epidural

10:45 Nurse put in catheter so that I didn't pee myself Ya!

11:00 exam put me at 4.5cm dilated and 60% effaced



(yes that is less effaced than Dr.Klomp had put me at on prev appts)



11:15 I was given ephedrine because my blood pressure had dropped

12:45 exam put me at almost 6cm dilated and 90% effaced



At this point Nurse Rose wanted to change my position to help Delaney come down more, so I was put in a sitting position pretty much. Delaney's heart beat was suddenly gone, the nurse calmly tried to find it. After what seemed like minutes and she couldn't find it she panicked and had me move to my side, still nothing so I moved to my other side. She was finally able to find it but it was in the 80's so she grabbed an oxygen mask for me and called for help from another nurse. At the same time this was happening my wrist/arm that had my iv in it that was getting antibiotics for group b strep, it all of a sudden started to hurt really bad. The pain got worse and worse, it was pressure and burning and well it is hard to explain. But i came seconds away from ripping it out of my arm, the nurse said she had turned the drip off but it was going to take a min or so to run through the iv. It was very hectic in the room! Delaney's heart beat finally went up but very slowly and my arm finally felt better but after the iv ran for a few minutes. It was scary! After that the nurse didn't want me to sit up for fear Delaney wouldn't tolerate it again.



1:45 my exam put me at almost a 7 dilated and 100% effaced

2:10 I was fully dilated and had just a little rim so she didn't want me to push yet

2:25 I felt like I needed to push so she checked and I was ready

2:30 started pushing

2:45ish Dr. Klomp came in and took over

3:00 exactly little miss Delaney was born!!! it was wonderful



Danny got to cut the umbilical cord, I didn't have to have an episiotomy and I didn't tear. No vacuum for Delaney either. She did need to have some oxygen because she was a little blue on the tummy. Every thing went so well!



Delaney weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and 19 1/2 inches long

Her hair is strawberry blond and she has blue eyes

She is nursing VERY well