Introducing.....

Tyler Rex 

Our little Tyler was born on Christmas day! He came at 12:15 pm, weighed 8 lbs 1 oz, was 21 inches and as perfect as a baby can be!

Labor and Delivery Story

I want to preface this story by saying that I spent my WHOLE ENTIRE pregnancy saying "As long as he doesn't come right on Christmas day....". Welp, I guess Heavenly Father was reminding me who is in charge- and its certainly not me :) Now on the details.... 

Christmas Eve- Go to sleep at Mike and Erin's house anticipating the arrival of good ole St. Nicholas and  having absolutely no clue that I was going to have a baby the next day.

5:30 am Christmas day: Woke up with a start and felt like I was peeing!!! I tried to stop it but couldn't. Started to get nervous and waddled to the bathroom. As I got up to go to the bathroom, a sizable gush of fluid came out and I started to get REALLY concerned. It took a good ten minutes for me to convince myself that this was really happening and that my water was indeed broken. After I finally accepted reality, I woke Steve up from a deep sleep and the conversation went something like this:

Me- tapped Steve on the shoulder: "Steve, I'm pretty sure my water broke..."

Steve- immediately sat bolt upright in bed and urgently said: "We have to get to a hospital right now!!!!"

It was just like in the movies :) I convinced him it wasn't quite time to go to the hospital but decided to call my midwife and ask what exactly I should do considering we were in Parker (about an hour away from our hospital). She reassured me that it would probably be a good long while until I even started laboring let along need to come to the hospital. She told us no rush- to have our Christmas morning and call about 8 am and update them on my progress. So, we decided to do just that. We woke up the family, and let them know our news and we started Christmas morning! 

6:30 am: About the time we got everyone gathered to open presents, I started having contractions. Luckily, I had downloaded an app to help me keep track of them. They were lasting about 20 seconds and 9 minutes apart at this point. I felt pretty good still and quite calm and maybe a little in denial :)

7 am: We were still opening presents when the intensity of everything amped up quickly. My contractions were lasting one minute about six minutes apart and I told Steve, we had better just finish opening up our presents and get out of here. 

7:30 am: We finished opening our presents and started getting packed up. Steve, Mike and Brent gave me a blessing before we left that all would go smoothly

8:15 am: Unbeknownst to me, Mike and Steve decided that they need to print of directions from google "How to deliver a baby in the car"- you know just in case. 

8:45 am: We finally get in the car to start driving to the hospital, and I start puking my guts out. The family tried to convince us to go to the nearest hospital but we decided to press on and go to Boulder to our hospital. Did I mention that there it snowed about 4 inches the night before and road conditions were less than favorable?!?

8:45-10:15 am: The drive to the hospital was pretty excruciatingly long and painful. I was having contractions that lasted a minute or more about three minutes apart. Poor Steve was trying to drive on snowy roads and coach me through the contractions. He did a great job maintaining his cool - I was not quite so able :) I'd say this had to be the longest car ride of my life! 

10:15 am: Get to the hospital, hooked up to the monitors and immediately get into a warm bath where the contractions got more intense and more painful very quickly. I don't remember a whole lot of details after this  point because I became some kind of delirious. It was almost like I had an out of body experience and I can remember kind of what happened but forget that it was happening to me- does that make sense? 

11 am: My midwife asks if I want to have my progress checked for the first time since I had arrived. I said of course- I needed to know how much longer I was going to be in pain! I was a little in shock when she said I was dilated to a 9 and would be ready to push soon. Right after she checked me, I'm pretty sure I hit the peak of transition labor- I was in so. much. pain. Luckily, I had my trusty husband right there beside me coaching me through each contraction and continuing with his calm encouragement.

11:15 am: I had to get out of the tub and move to bed to start pushing. It took a couple of positional changes to figure out where I would be most 'comfortable'. I did a couple of practice pushes and then the real thing came. Holy Moly. They talk about a 'ring of fire' but it more like my whole pelvis on fire! It hurt when I pushed and when I stopped. Once again, Steve kept coaching me and my nurse and nurse-midwife were great. They just kept encouraging me through the whole thing.

12:15 pm. Tyler Rex Hale made his grand appearance in the world. I was greeted by the most perfect little person laying on my chest. He was absolutely calm right after and just laid there looking around at his new surroundings. Steve and I were in awe of our perfect little man. 

I have to admit I didn't have euphoric moment that everyone says immediately follows a natural birth- more of a calm shock and happiness. It was crazy how in an instant all of sudden Steve and I were parents! 

Tyler has long feet and big hands. He loved having his hands right up by his face. He stayed perfectly calm and alert most of the afternoon and eventually fell asleep. Steve and I spent a good portion of our afternoon staring at this baby in awe. 

Later in the evening, Steve's parents, came to the hospital to meet their newest grandson and best Christmas present ever! 

We LOVE our baby and are just over the moon with how sweet and cute he is. Can you tell we are new first time parents?

Reflecting

One year ago today, I was in the hospital for a D & C after finding about having a miscarriage. I've been thinking about my whole miscarriage experience and comparing it to what is happening in my life right now. I am three weeks away from my due date and bringing a little man into this world.

The other night I spent the evening making a crib skirt and decorating a nursery, when a year prior I had been laying on the couch trying to force myself to eat. Though the two experiences were polar opposite, and in spite of my extreme sadness and worry I still felt blessed last year and continue to feel so blessed and excited for the change about to come into my life.

I tried not to ask myself the question "Why me?" last year but it happened, and while I still don't know 'why' or if there really is a 'why', I feel like I've learned a lot about myself and my relationship with Steve and my Heavenly Father because of that trial. For that I am truly grateful to have had an experience that brings me closer to where I need to be. In many ways, I feel so grateful that I had to experience the pain and sorrow of a miscarriage so I could fully appreciate the happiness, anticipation, and excitement of being pregnant.

I really can't believe that my life could change any day now, I'm trying to get the finishing touches going on the nursery and I need to pack a hospital bag, and wash all of the little baby clothes etc. What I'm really trying to focus on is enjoying these last days/weeks I have with just me and Steve because I know it will never be quite the same after we bring our little guy home.

Wish me luck- I might be a mom by the time I get around to writing another post :)

September and October

We had an incredibly busy couple of months in September and October. We were lucky enough to visit family all over the place, move homes and start getting ready for this baby. We enjoyed every second of being with family and now are really starting to anticipate the arrival of our little man. 

We kicked off the Fall season with a visit from the Hale family over Labor Day weekend. Mike and Erin's new baby, Sarah, got blessed that weekend so Annie and Joey and Brent and Sandra came into town to celebrate with us. 

The 22 week bump

We spent a whole lot of time feeding lettuce to the giraffes at the zoo... 

And did lots of snuggling with this adorable little girl

Check out Abbie's face. Classic. 

At the end of September we moved! After 5 years of marriage we got our first non-apartment home!!!! We were hoping to rent or buy a house but the timing just wasn't quite right. We rented a slightly larger townhome with a two car attached garage- definitely a step up from our last place. This place is tall and skinny so we have lots and lots of stairs. It took some getting used to but now that we're used to it, it's not so bad. Its helping me get some exercise :)

A view of the new living room...

Kitchen- This one has more cupboards than we've ever had before! Woot woot! 

We took a drive into the mountains one Sunday to get a peek at the fall colors. It looked like we were about one week too late but still got to see some of the brilliant gold aspens against the deep green of the pine trees. 

The 26 week belly... 

One week after moving we took off to Utah to see BYU beat Utah State in a football game. It was also general conference weekend so we hung out with family and got in a leaf peeping trip up the Alpine loop and took part in the Annual Hale Family Leaf Peeping Photo Shoot. The colors were phenomenal and we so enjoyed listening to conference talks as we drove through the mountains. 

The 27 week belly... 

Our next stop was to Arizona. We had a whirlwind trip there that included an awesome baby shower given by my momma and cousin. I got showered with lovely gifts from family and got to hang out with my Mom and Dad and Megan! Unfortunately, we were sooo busy playing numerous games of dominoes, eating good food, and chatting that we didn't take too many pictures but snapped a few shots just before we got in the car to go to the airport. I LOVE my family, I really miss living two hours away and getting to see them pretty much every month. 

This is the 29 week belly...

Three days after we got home from Arizona, we hopped on another plan to Atlanta Georgia. Steve's sister and brother in law moved there last December and we have been looking for an excuse to get out there. When we found out that BYU played Georgia Tech this season, we decided that would be the perfect time. All of the Hale's minus Annie and Joey were there. We visited a Civil War battlefield, saw a football game, got some authentic Georgia BBQ and played lots cards. Laura and Jordan also happen to live around the corner from their cousins so we got to see some extended Hale family as well! It was a whirlwind of a weekend. The best part of the weekend was a Lucy story....

Steve and I stayed in Lucy's room so the first morning we were there, she came in and she and I played together while Steve was in the shower. A little later I had left the room and Steve was in there. Lucy came out had this casual conversation with Laura...

Lucy: "Hey Mom, who's that boy in my room?" 

Laura: "What boy?"

Lucy: "You know, Kalli's friend."

Laura: "You mean Uncle Steve?"
Lucy: casually- "Oh yeah. Uncle Steve."

Steve didn't like that he was forgotten so he worked extra hard to get Lucy to love him :) The fastest way to her heart is through reading her a book... Steve did lots of that to win her back. 

The Hale clan at the battlefield. It is the one "mountain" in Atlanta. It was a beautiful fall day and so cool to see this historic sight. This is the 30 week belly :)

Babymoon a little late :)

Hi there- Remember me?! I'm back and I have about a million pictures in this post so consider yourself warned! 

Back in August, Steve and I went to British Columbia for a second honeymoon/five year anniversary/babymoon extravaganza. We spent the first couple of days with Steve's relatives and stayed with his Grandma and Grandpa Ursaki. We were fortunate to pack a lot of activities into a couple of days with his relatives.  I hadn't met all his Canadian relatives so it was great to meet some and spend more time with the others. We played several games of extremely competitive Bocce Ball. I am proud to say that Steve's Grandma and I beat Steve and his Grandpa! 

We also got to meet baby Adam- just a few days old! He is so precious 

Steve and his cousin Dave went on this crazy hike the Grouse Grind which is like miles of climbing up stone steps- I didn't go thank goodness! They had a great time and I think they had a better time since I didn't go- ha!

Steve's Uncle Len took us and Dave on a tour of Vancouver one afternoon. We got some delicious Indian food and then went out for a bike ride around Stanley Park. Stanley Park is like the Central Park of Vancouver. It is HUGE and really beautiful. We rented bikes and spend a few hours riding around the seawall and exploring different parts of the park. 

This is Grandma and Grandpa Ursaki's backyard- they kept saying how disappointing their garden had been that year- Steve and I thought it was a beautiful oasis- Isn't it lovely?

From Vancouver, we took off on our own up the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver. It is full of cute beachy towns that are chock full of bed and breakfasts and beautiful scenery. On our way up the coast we stopped at a sandcastle building competition and here are just a couple of the works of art we saw...

I had never seen a bald eagle before this trip- We saw tons of them and they really are cool looking creatures. They are also really good at posing for pictures- they stay in the same spot for long periods of time and change positions frequently to give you a really good look :) 

We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast- the Beacon B and B. This place was own by some of the most eccentric people I've ever met by far. We stayed for a couple of days with them and enjoyed it. They definitely made Powell River BC an unforgettable place for us!

Another Bald Eagle

We took a Zodiak boat tour of the Desolation Sound. It was a breathtakingly beautiful place with glacier carved mountains and low hanging clouds. I loved this boat tour!

We got to see some seals from afar on this trip the tour guides don't like to spook them by getting too close- from our vantage point without a camera or binoculars we couldn't really see them clearly- they kind of looked like rocks 

Our Zodiac tour left from Lund, BC. I felt particularly fond of this teeny tiny town just because of the name!

Some more of the scenery in Powell River

The biggest, grossest slug I've ever seen in my whole life- These guys were everywhere! 

One of the amazingly delightful breakfasts served by our hosts- ham, asparagus and mushrooms served over poached eggs and toast. YUM!

After we finished up in Powell River, we drove south to Egmont, BC and stayed in a lovely hotel there. We had a nice room with a private balcony, from which you could see the ocean. We had a raccoon try to get into our room a couple of times- this little critter was not shy at all. He would climb up the tree next to our balcony and try to jump onto the balcony! Steve would get mad at me every time I squealed because it scared the raccoon away but this thing was seriously so unafraid of us it made me more scared of him!

We took a hike to see the largest salt water rapids in North America- the Skookumchuck Narrows. Skookumchuck means "strong water" or "strong flow" in the native language. Let me tell you- this place is aptly named! Twice a day- each time the tides change this place gets crazy! These pictures really don't do them justice. It was definitely one of the coolest things we saw on our trip. It doesn't hurt that Steve really latched on to the word Skookumchuck and referred to EVERYTHING for the rest of the week as "____ Skookumchuck". He felt like it was a universal word that could be used in any situation. I thought he was a little crazy and pretty cute too :)

We went sea kayaking one day and had a fun time looking at the sea life and trying to figure out how to maneuver our kayaks- those things weren't easy to steer! Steve also had a seal pop up out of the water like 5 feet from where he was paddling- this seal followed our group around for a while and was pretty cute when he poked his little head out of the water

These last few pictures were after our special anniversary dinner. We ate at the restaurant at our hotel and had delicious meals- like to die for food! We enjoyed the view from our table outside overlooking the mountains and ocean. This vacation was so great for us. I'm so happy we were able to get away just the two of us and make fun happy memories in a new place. I love you Steve!!!