the tangrens: February 2010

Just hanging on

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - Posted by Sunny - 9 comments

So things have changed here in the Tangren house. We've added a very cute but demanding little boy. We were so on top of things with Hyrum. Derek had changed the salutation on our voice mail to include Hyrum hours after he was born, had a log of all of his inputs and outputs from practically the first ones, had bought flowers for all three mothers in his life the day after we had Hyrum and had done a blog post about it before we left the hospital. This time around we feel a bit scattered yet. Thus we're just getting to a blog post now.

On Thursday I'd decided to end my self imposed bedrest but was too tired to really get out there and do much. Then on Friday I woke up feeling great with a ton of energy. That didn't bode well. But I made the best use of my energy and cleaned like MAD and got my sisters birthday present in the mail. By the end of the day I began to think...well maybe this is the nesting before labor. My in laws got here and the day went by without hearing from my doctor of when I needed to be at the hospital to be induced. It had been snowing all day and that had been sending all kinds of women in to labor...EXCEPT ME so she had been too busy all day to call. I ended up calling the hospital and they told me to be there at 7:00. That meant waking up at 5:30 to be showered and ready for the half an hour drive to the hospital. I was glad that this time I'd have a good nights rest before the big day. When the time came I could not sleep! UHG! So I probably got two hours at most. It was snowing as we headed off into the night. We got there and got into the gown and waited for the nurse to get things going.

The nurse came in a little later saying that she'd been attending to another mom who'd gotten into the hospital around 6 and had the baby at 6:15. That was the story of the day. Babies, Babies, Babies. Everyone seemed to be delivering at once and many of them premature. The NICU was to capacity and they had some of the older premies in the normal nursery. I hadn't eaten anything that morning afraid of heartburn but when the nurse went to put in my IV I just about passed out. I forgot that I'm a fainter and don't do well with needles or blood.

At about 8:15 they started the pitocin and we waited for things to get started as I closed my eyes and tried to sleep now suddenly tired. The first time the nurse came in to check on me she asked if I was feeling the contractions and I didn't even know that I was having any so they bumped up the pitocin. The next time she checked I was feeling them but still able to laugh through them so she bumped it up again. By noon they were pretty intense so I called for an epidural that they had been offering even before I could feel anything. The nurse anesthetist walked in as if he had a cape on! Honestly what other job requires so little risk to be looked at as a hero every day of your life. He of course gave me the speel about all the risks as he should but really who in that moment is going to say "Humm I may loose all sensation from the waist down or I might get a headache, maybe I shouldn't." Sure there are real risks and they should be considered but anyone in that moment is probably not going to consider them too carefully. The time to consider those risks is before you are in pain. :) He did a great job and I didn't feel the VERY NEXT contraction I had. Then we waited. As we waited Derek had discovered that we'd been put in a room with a view. This is what he saw

This is what I saw...

It was beautiful and sooo nice. I was feeling soo good. I'd gotten a lot of rest before the contractions got bad so I was feeling rested and peaceful as I watched the clouds float across the sky past the snow covered mountains. Heavenly...really!

As we waited Derek and I discussed what we were going to name this baby...yeah nothing like waiting until the last minute. We'd tossed some names around. Henry James, Noah David, Malachi, Connor... We could never come to a decision. We were never convinced of any of them. Derek had told me earlier in the week that since he pretty much named Hyrum that he'd let me name this one. I told him that I thought it would probably end up being Noah David because it had been around the longest ( We'd considered it for Hyrum) He of course was skeptical but we said if he comes out with dark hair then we'll know it should be Noah David (because my dad and the rest of my family has dark hair and he'd be named after my dad with the name David) In the delivery room Derek asked me what we were naming him.. I told him I wasn't sure. He said that he'd already sent out an email announcing that his name was Noah David trying to get me to decide but I knew that he hadn't. But after most everyone had gotten wet in the delivery room and then his stats started coming by twos (born on 2-20-2010 at 2:12 weighing 8lb 2oz, born when I was 40 weeks 2 days etc.) I KNEW his name should be Noah. And as it turned out his hair ( which is a bit thin at the top at the moment ) was fairly dark. Further confirmation. So Noah David Tangren it is. Although we can't stop calling him Hyrum. We're still getting used to his name even being absolutely convinced of it.

This is my doctor crossing the parking lot to come deliver Noah. She was the first to suggest we name him something that had to do with water. We'd already pretty much decided on Noah by that point so everyone thought it was perfect.

We thought that he would be a little clone of Hyrum since he looked so much like Hyrum in the ultrasound pictures ( I know I know how much can you tell in ULTRASOUND pictures for heavens sake ) and that there isn't too much variety in Derek and my looks that I thought our kids would all kinda look the same but Noah definitely has his own look. We can't wait to see what he's like.

Derek spent most of the day with Noah and I bonding and went back home at around 7. Hyrum had been having all kinds of fun with Grandma but around 6 when Derek usually comes home from work Hyrum started to miss us and went to the window to look for us and got pretty upset and clung to Derek when he got back.

There had been restrictions on visitors to mother and baby with the H1N1 flu scare but when I asked if they had been lifted the nurse said they had so Hyrum was able to come and meet Noah at the hospital. We were glad for that. Noah had been in the nursery when I was in the shower and when Derek brought him in Hyrum saw him but first saw the gift that Noah had gotten for him. A Cars movie and a couple Cars cars.

Initially he wanted nothing to do with me and clung to Grandma when I asked to hug him but he was won over by the fun folding bed.

When he calmed down enough to pay attention to his new little brother a fabulous big brother was born.

He is super sweet with Noah. He loves to pat him on the head and kiss him on the head. Every time Noah cries he says "It's alright baby Noah." which quickly became "It's alright baby Noah! I'm here." He loves his little brother and loves being a big brother. We can't wait to watch these little boys become the best of friends.

Animal Family

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - Posted by Sunny - 6 comments

Hyrum was playing with his animals the other day lining them up and having them race or be friends or pile in his school bus to go to Disney World to watch the fireworks and he had three of them together. He said "FAMILY!" Then he pointed to each of them and said "Daddy, Momma and Hyrum" Can you guess who's which?

Yeah it isn't too hard. Dad is the stately strong and toned horse, Mom is the rounder cow and Hyrum is the monkey. Sounds about right. I love that we match too! :)

Belly Baby

Saturday, February 13, 2010 - Posted by Sunny - 3 comments

**WARNING: Naked pregnant belly pictures**

So anyone who knows Hyrum knows that he is a skin fan and specifically a belly button skin fan (and the mole on my shoulder). It's his comfort when he sucks his thumb.

We've put onsies on him in the hopes of curbing this tendancy but he'll just go under the onsie through the leg and get his belly button anyway.

One morning we were in bed waking up slow and my shirt had worked itself over my belly in the night and Hyrum noticed. I decided it would be a good chance for him to get to know his brother and had him put his hand on my belly ( the baby was really active ) He put his hand on my belly button ( which of course is sticking out right now ) And I said. "Ok baby, kick Hyrum" And immediately he kicked. So ever since then Hyrum has understood there's a baby in momma's belly and has been fascinated with it. And almost every morning he'll come in and say "Baby, kick Hyrum!" and put his hand on my belly. If he doesn't kick he'll say "Baby, sleepy!" I'm sure it doesn't hurt at all that it's the belly we're talking about but he loves to give it kisses

And snuggles

and drinks

But sometimes when he doesn't think I'm looking I think he just likes to play with my belly button. It's a comfort thing...I get it.

He was further excited when I suggested he could help Dad put the baby's bed together. Hyrum had gotten a tool belt and play tools for Christmas ( as had Derek-except his weren't toys of course)

Ever since he put it together. Randomly he'd say "Momma, I have to show you something! I have to show you something!" And run into our room where he would hold out his hand to the bed.

This morning he was snuggling the baby and I was explaining that at the end of the week momma will go to the hospital and the baby will come then I said "Hyrum when the baby gets here he's going to hold on to your little finger." He was really excited about that. In Hyrum's mind this just kept getting better and better. Hopefully he is as excited when his brother actually gets here.

Once you blow up a balloon...

Friday, February 12, 2010 - Posted by Sunny - 6 comments

Most women who have been pregnant have heard this phrase and know how it ends. I got a few comments on my last posts about how I didn't look pregnant when I was pregnant. Well let me just tell you... THINGS HAVE CHANGED!

I knew it wasn't just me when at church I had no fewer than 5 people ask me when my due date was.( I still had 5 weeks at that point) Last weekend Derek and I went on our Valentines date so that the people that we traded babysitting with could have the day before Valentines day and so we wouldn't miss going out. I snapped some pictures before it so you could see the evidence.

I can kinda see how you might say that I don't look very pregnant when you look straight on.

Even a little to the side I can see that I don't look all that pregnant but when I you get a full side view things change.

Only one more week everyone. He just needs to stay put for one more week. I've put myself on self imposed bed rest so that nothing happens before I'm ready for it to happen. My in laws get down here next Friday. This next week is going to be a long one.

Walt Disney World : Magic Kingdom

Friday, February 05, 2010 - Posted by Sunny - 2 comments

The Magic Kingdom icon: Cinderella's Castle. (As if you didn't know.)

The Magic Kingdom is...well...Magical! It's very much like Disneyland in California so I instantly knew where I was going here. There are little differences but very similar.

As soon as we got there the first day we were there Derek made a mad dash for Splash Mountain since was his favorite ride when we went to Disneyland. He'd planned to get fast passes for as many as he could and he did but the wait was so short that he rode it too. He went on that ride 6 times while we were there and never did use the fast passes since the lines were so short all the time. Hyrum enjoyed the play area there too.

Hyrum got by with a little help from his cousins. They totally looked out for him.

The first ride that Hyrum and I went on was the Dumbo ride. I had been looking forward to this ride since we purposely chose not to go on it at Disneyland and saved it to go on with our kids for the first time. I was sure to introduce Hyrum to the movie so he'd have some inkling of what it was all about. We ended up buying a book too. He loved the movie and the book.

It was the longest line we waited in at Magic Kingdom. It was worth it to go on such an iconic ride with my son for the first time for both of us.

We had a huge list of rides we wanted to go on and was able to go to must all of them. There were 5-10 minute waits for all of them. Peter Pan, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room (much better at Disneyland) we also went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, apparently, since I have it written down and crossed off in multiple places but none of us remembers going on it.

But we DO remember eating breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eyore and Tigger. It was probably the BEST breakfast we had while we were there. One of the best things about it was that it was at 8:25 which is before the park opens for the day so we got the chance to walk down Main Street with practically NOBODY in sight and got our pictures taken as well.

It was a really windy day that day thus my hair was in knobbys and my bangs are plastered to my forehead. :) As you can see Hyrum didn't want to smile nice for the camera that morning. He was pretty stoic with the characters too.

That last picture doesn't look too good does it. Humm.

But he did get out and dance with Piglet...kind of.

Not only was the timing good and the company good but the food was to die for too. Definitely recommend doing Crystal Palace for breakfast.

We did some things at the Magic Kingdom that are not available to do at Disneyland one of those being The Hall of Presidents. It was an amazing and inspiring presentation of our history as a country and the role amazing men had in keeping us whole and free.

We also saw Mickey's Philharmagic where we got to don 3D glasses again. We did our best to look cool though this time.

This is the first time Hyrum really got into the 3D aspect of things. At first he just kinda sat and watched the show then he noticed his cousins reaching for the bubbles and he started doing it too. It was fun to watch him discover.

Hyrum also got to go on his first ROLLER COASTER ride. They have a roller coaster called The Barnstormer specifically for kids ages 2 and up. But I couldn't go on it so Derek took him on his first roller coaster ride. I guess I got to take him on Dumbo.

After it was all done. He's not crying. :) Although I guess he didn't know what to think of the girls behind him screaming during the ride.

We even get a little smile! From both my boys.

A strange thing happened after that ride. When we are in the car now and we are going up and down hills Hyrum will shout. "We're going up!" and then when we go down the hill we put our hands in the air and scream like we're on a roller coaster. I think he liked it.

He also got to drive his first car on the Indy speedway which I kept wanting to call Autotopia because that's what it's called in Disneyland. Another one Derek got to take him on.

Another thing not at Disneyland is Monsters Inc Laugh floor which was great! It's an interactive comedy show where they use people in the crowd by showing them on a screen. We even got to be on screen when they were talking about a cute baby ( Hyrum was on my lap)

We did the standards of Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion (yes we took our 2 year old on the Haunted Mansion ride - no one turn us in to the authorities please) Space Mountian, Big Thunder Railway. We thought Cinderella's Golden Carousel would be a cake walk after Haunted Mansion but apparently not so.

But eventually he warmed up to the idea. But he didn't want to go on it again. Funny.

We discovered that Derek had a secret desire to ride on the Monorail. He remembers commercials for Disney World where you'd see the Monorail go around the Epcot Spaceship Earth ball and thought it looked so cool. So we had to take the Monorail when we went back to Epcot for dinner one night.

At the end of the ride Derek was a bit disappointed but I thought it was pretty cool. Guess it just depends on your expectations. :) We also took the Monorail to our last breakfast at The Grand Floridian which is an amazing hotel. They were setting up to film some of the Christmas Day special there. It was a great breakfast but we were bypassed by Mary Poppins because of some exuberant girls in the table beyond us. We were able to have breakfast with Tigger and Pooh again though.

But this time we got to meet Alice and the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland too. Before we went I read a review from this lady who said that she was super offended by the Mad Hatter and would never go here again because of him. He was a little on the annoying side and Hyrum didn't know what to think of him... but he wasn't so bad.

Alice was sweet. She told Hyrum that he was no bigger than a door mouse.

I may get Derek mad at me but I have to tell the story of why we specifically wanted to do breakfast with Alice. When we were at Disneyland in 2006 and we were looking at pins Derek was looking for a Alice pin. He said he really loved his Alice in Wonderland book when he was little and would kiss the pictures of Alice on the pages. I thought that was the cutest thing ever and may have made too big of a deal about it (I usually do when I hear cute stories about my man) I'm sure he was afraid that I was going to make him pose for a picture kissing Alice or something but I didn't even suggest that Hyrum kiss her.

Our last day in Disney World was really rainy. The relentless soaking rain that happens in the south east. We'd already packed our really heavy raincoats and sent them to the airport so we just had our coats to ward off the rain. The stroller got soaked and so that made it uncomfortable for Hyrum. We were all kind of miserable when we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort to use up the rest of our snack and counter service credits and get our last minute souvenirs.

Can you see how soaked we were? This is Derek and Hyrum playing a game they played alot in lines at Disney World. Derek would puff out his cheeks then Hyrum would squish them and he'd blow in Hyrum's face. He thought it was great.

I have to say that I was amazed by Hyrum who didn't complain at all as we stood in line in the drenching rain as we waited for the bus to take us back to the resort after saying goodbye to cousins. As soon as we got on the bus he fell asleep and slept HARD while we shopped, which was sad because he would have been so excited that we were actually buying things. :)

We really couldn't have asked for better weather while we were there. It was cooler when we got there but warmer than it had been here then gradually warmed up to the 80s and got really humid (which believe it or not Michiganders, I really miss) throughout the stay and then rained hard the last day we were there so that it wasn't so hard to leave.

But the best thing about this trip were moments like these.