No Toilet, No Problem

There is a park and a trail not even a block away from our house and we love love love it. We try to go as much as we can and even though, it isn't far from the house, at this age, kids would rather have an accident, then go home to the potty. So Doug did some training...I laughed so hard and, of course, Weston thought it was pretty cool.

My boys

Trying to keep Weston busy and entertained is a challenge when I am getting used to leaving the house with 2 kids and nursing and lacking sleep, etc. So we have been painting a lot, playing too much Candyland, and heading to Grandma's. Doug is superdad and helps me out so much...sometimes it is trouble especially when Dad gets Weston out of the bath and does this Rico Suave hairdo. I really should take a picture every Sunday before church to document how handsome my boys are.

Easter 2010/11 & Blessing

I know it has been a while...but I have gotten a semi-routine down and hate to disrupt it with blogging.

Most important first...We blessed Trace a few weeks ago and it was so sweet and special. I was so worried that he would scream all the way through like Weston did...until I heard him coo and talk, then I just cried because that is how sweet he is. He giggles and smiles and we love him to bits! It was nice to actually hear and enjoy the blessing this time around. West is such a good brother and has been adjusting to sharing the attention, but is getting better at it. Trace will be 3 months next week and I can't believe it!

I go to my mom's about 3 times a week and work out there. All other gyms are just as far from here to there, plus I can put a movie in for West and put Trace in his carseat and not worry about anyone watching them. The other days I just run outside on a trail not even a block away from our house where there is a park, too. And, yes, Trace just sits in his carseat and talks to me telling me to run faster the whole time. I cannot even believe he is willing to sit there and be that good!

The weather is awesome and soon we will be able to take full advantage of Grandma's pool! Doug loves work and has been out of town a little bit the last few weeks and we miss him tons, but I'm so happy he is happy at work.

Easter was fun and so was having Doug's parents here just the week after for the blessing. I decided since I was such a slacker last year to post this year and last year's Easter pics since I took more last year. The ones from this year are with West in his alligator jammies and the rest are last year with some pics of the boys on Trace's blessing day. More pics to come! (And they are in complete random order because a certain 3 year old is begging me to play Candyland for the billionth time)

Some Smileys

Some sneaky leprechauns came to our house on St. Patty's day and turned our milk green, spilled all the green jelly beans, messed up West's toys, tied his shoes up on the towel rack, left glitter and footprints and used green ribbon to climb to the doorknobs to hide his chocolate gold coins. I got the idea from a friend and now West calls everyone a sneaky little leprechaun.

Here is a smiley baby. Trace is so so happy and have I mentioned how cuddly he is?? He snuggles with us and coos. I have been reading Baby Wise and trying that method. However, I was being really flexible with it because Trace seemed to do it on his own up until last week. I could not get him to fall asleep and stay asleep unless he was being held. So Monday I started being strict about it and it seems to have made all the difference in his naps. We'll see if it actually makes him sleep through the night by 7-9 weeks as promised, but as of right now he sleeps about 4 hours, then wakes, then sleeps about 3.5 hours through the night. Not too bad, but somehow I am still exhausted.

We have come to the conclusion that Weston has my looks and Mausser personality and Trace has Mausser looks and my personality. My mom and I were talking about good, happy, and snuggly he is and she said that is how I was as a baby so I have my karma baby :)

Introducing Trace Aaron Mausser

Words cannot describe how much I love this little guy. He is the sweetest, cutest thing that exists.

Birthday Pics

Labor Story (if interested)

Well after we moved down here to Albuquerque (more on that later), I found a doctor and he said I was almost dilated to a 3 at 36 weeks. I was so relieved I wasn't going crazy thinking this baby should come any time. The next week I was dilated just over a 3 so not too much progress. My doc said, "If you could just hold on 2 more days until you are officially 37 weeks, that would be great." Well, Trace had his ear pressed against the womb and decided that is when he would enter the world. I was having worse inconsistent contractions on Saturday. Then we went out to eat that night. I came home and threw everything up and thought it odd. As soon as we put Weston to bed, I began having contractions continuing through the night. We woke Weston up and told him we had to go because baby Trace was coming. He threw his fists in the air and said, "Yay!" Then we dropped him off at my parents at about 4 a.m. and headed to the hospital. It was all very calm and I was only dilated to a 4. Then at about 2 p.m., the doctor on call came in and said if I wanted to push, I could or we could wait since I was dilated to an 8. I said let's give it a go and Trace just kind of fell out after 20 minutes. Maybe that is a little graphic, but honestly it was so easy and stress-free and that doctor was so wonderful. It was a sure sign of things to come.

The spirit was so strong in the room, at one point, I had to focus on a spot on the ceiling just to block it out because I was getting really emotional already and still had 2 more pushes to go. He was 6 pounds 8 ounces and 19 inches long. For comparison, West was a very stressful, induced delivery at 6 pounds 4 ounces and 18 inches long.

TRACE

Trace has blonde eyebrows and eyelashes and light brown hair (it could also be red...TBD because Doug's beard is red, yikes!) He has the shape of Weston's face as a baby, but looks so different and luckily, because he is healthy, is growing much faster and is already getting so big! I can't stand it and love it at the same time. I now understand why moms are so enamored with their new babes. It is something I missed out on with West because he didn't feel good and cried ALL the time.

He is perfect. I was dreading this newborn stage and am still eager for a full night's sleep, however, I really feel like it is a cinch compared to West. I think, wow, I can do this -it's easy! The first week was an adjustment and nursing has been and adjustment as well since I could only nurse West for 6 weeks, but Trace is so easily soothed and happy, I feel like he is a complete blessing. We had to be at the hospital all day for West earlier in the month (see below) and my mom said, "Is Trace like this all day long?" meaning how good he was being. I said, "Yeah, pretty much." She said, "Wow! Lucky!" I teared up because we had been there all day and West had yet to go in for his scope and hadn't eaten all day. I replied, "Well, I think it is a well-deserved blessing.

WEST'S MEDICAL UPDATE

Well, right before we left I took Weston in for labs so I would not have to worry about it when we got to Albuquerque and before I had the baby. Unfortunately, they said his blood count was extremely low and that I needed to have labs drawn again in 2 weeks. Upon getting those numbers, we discovered an even lower blood count and went to the hospital for a blood infusion the following day. Then we discussed options for having surgery at Primary's as soon as possible to put a shunt in to redirect the blood flow since his portal vein is clogged, creating a very large spleen (probably as big as mine in his little body). Just what we needed, huh? It was super stressful, but my prayers were answered as I felt so strongly that Heavenly Father knew of everything going on with Weston, with the baby coming, with just moving to NM and He knew what I could handle so I would do what was needed. A week later the baby came allowing fantastic timing for us to go to UT for the surgery. However, his numbers have improved and so the surgery has been temporarily suspended. I guess I am happy about it. I just still worry about his spleen and the discomfort he has because of it.

He will eventually have to have the surgery, though, it's just a matter of how urgent it becomes if his numbers worsen again.

NEW PLACE, NEW JOB

When Doug & I prayed about whether or not to have a baby, our answer was that it was our choice. We could wait or we could go for it. When Doug & I prayed about whether or not to move to Albuquerque and take a new job, our answer was that it was our choice, but that our financial position would never increase if we stayed in UT. So we chose what we wanted and felt good about both. We didn't mention it and it happened so fast because they needed someone to fill the position quickly, but we only found out about a week before the move. We had been anticipating getting the job, though, so we knew it was coming for about a month.

Doug now works for the same company as my sister-in-law as a technician for mail equipment. He really loves it and I think it will be really good for us in the long run. My parents are still down here for the time being as is Kacey and Aaron and Kristen Lee. We are eager to make some new friends especially for Weston, however, we love having aunts, uncles and grandparents around all the time. According to Weston, "Grandma is a nice lady," so he loves it the most. Plus, I love seeing the blue sky almost every day!! For those of you who don't know Albuquerque very well, it is super dry, but not hot like AZ. Most people do associate it with that type of weather, but it does not get nearly as cold or as hot as UT. The average temp is 70 degrees! You can't beat that!

Lots of changes in our lives and we are excited and loving our little family. Hope all is well with you and yours... enjoy these pictures! More to come!

Life and all that it includes lately

As far as all these pictures, some are self-explanatory, but as is with all holiday seasons, I don't have much time to rearrange so I'll just post. Weston LOVES his Grinch shirt. He would wear it everyday if he could. He was super hyper one day and tore off his shirt. Since he has no bum, his pants frequently fall off. I told him to pull up his pants...so he did :)

He saw Santa on Saturday with his friend Audrey and it was like America's funniest home videos with the one child much louder than all the rest: "It's Santa! Santa! Where's my dinosaur?!" I've been getting the question a lot lately, "Is he always like this?" Hmmm...yes. He talks your ear off if he feels comfortable, but he can be a little shy. I wanted to put the last three halloweens for Weston. His first, he was in the hospital. Second, my little ninja. Third, Dash and this last one, he was a tiger. We went trick or treating last year, but this year tops it all. He tried to make conversation with everyone and next year, I vow to take my video camera as with Santa, too.

So here is the update on our lives. We had a good Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's house. I took a little spill on their steps and a few days later had some bleeding. I went in for an ultrasound and everything is A-OK - except they thought it was a girl for a minute. Imagine my dismay, when something decided to show its ugly head to confirm it was another boy :) Feeling good in pregnancy except ever since about week 20, the days and weeks seem to be going by in slow motion.

Possible baby names: I hesitate to share with you because it is rare that Doug and I agree on names and I do not want to confuse you that your opinion actually makes a difference :) My top 2 names are strongly vetoed by a certain husband (Theodore/Theo and Brooks). Doug's top name is last on my list (Van, short for Donovan), but still on my list nonetheless. We do have 3 names we agree on: Trace (#1), Kipton (yes, from the Bachelorette) and Shannon. Trace is number one, but we don't really have a middle name set because I don't like single syllable first names with single syllable middle names, make sense? Kipton, I love love love and it would be Kipton Paul (my dad's name), which I think just sounds fantastic. However, I do NOT like that Kipton sounds so similar to Weston. If I had a child in between the 2, I would not mind so much, but whatever.

Gluten-free update: Weston is doing really well on the gluten-free diet. He is a true trooper and goes along with everything I say he can or can't eat. He is so smart. I cannot even begin to tell you. He has been giving himself his medicines out of the syringes himself for a while now. However, now it is, "What's this medicine called, mom?" I say, "It's prograf or propanolol" whatever the case may be. AND NOW... it's "What's this medicine called, mom?" prograf "What does it help me do?" it helps keep your liver healthy. "And where is my liver?" etc. etc. There is no end to his questioning until I say that's enough. When we had cookies with Santa, I just asked for a little bowl of frosting instead of the cookie lol! He took a couple spoonfuls like it was ice cream and called it good. He probably had less frosting than the other kids did on their cookie and he didn't feel left out at all.

We had labs done this morning and as I walked into Primary Children's and saw West's excitement to all the Christmas trees decorated, I was so overwhelmed with gratitude. I remember being snowed in at the hospital and all we have been through and how grateful I am for Weston and his endurance in this life. We went and had labs, which he seemed especially upset about and, as a result, so was I. We both had breakdowns, but mine lasted much longer.

We have been very crafty lately. Weston has been making Christmas cards and ornaments, frosting gluten-free sugar cookies (which are, let's face it, basically an edible plate for frosting), finger-painting (which apparently is just painting because a certain toddler does not like anything on his hands), etc.