Road Trip

Briggs, Evan and I made our first long distance road trip on 12/23 to SoDak to celebrate Christmas.  I'm going to admit I was pretty nervous since it is about a 4.5 hour drive without stops... and with a baby it would be at least a 5 hour drive with at least one stop for feeding and diaper change.  

Screaming loud and clear is the best way to spread Christmas cheer, right!?

The first 10 miles he was beside himself on what to do, but soon he settled down and he fell into a 3+hour slumber.   Just outside of Marshall we had to stop and change his diaper and feed.  After watching Evan change him in his lap I have a new appreciation and desire for mini vans.  

Briggs squirming on Evan's lap while getting his bottom changed.

Briggs slept from Elkton (visiting his auntie and cousins) to Oldham (visiting a set of grandparents) to Lake Preston (visiting his other auntie on her birthday) to the Jones farm.  One would think that he would not sleep very well that night, but the bugger did!  He slept his first 8 hours and went back down for another 2.5 hours after feeding!  Evan and I were so excited that he had a good night sleep since we were both exhausted and needed the rest!

Now the real test will be if I can ever travel by myself with him :)

Briggs is just happy as a lark traveling to SoDak to visit all his family!

What's to a Name?

What's to a name you ask?  Well to me A LOT!  Evan and I spent 10 months trying to figure out a name that could suit a baby and an old man.  A name that meets the baby's personality.  And to me, a name that hasn't been used a bazillion times already!

When Evan and I started exploring names I would Google each name to understand the meaning, origin, and to see how many "George" Joneses there were.  I didn't want my child to have to put a #2 behind his name in the workforce like I do at my company.  It just isn't cool!  Also, I wanted to know who the other people were that had the same name.  I swear 90% of my searches resulted in some other person with the same name being a prostitute or drug dealer.  We also were asked quite a few times if his name would begin with an "E".  Edgar and Ernie just weren't our style :) The name situation was getting hard.  

Finally I threw out the name - Briggs.  When I Googled Briggs Jones the majority of results came back as a law firm.  I was fine with that!  Also, Briggs reminded me of SDSU (Briggs & Stratton came from SDSU and he was a distinguished alum), agriculture as my family used to raise a seed variety called Briggs, and was a very strong sounding name.  Bonus: We love last names for first names, and Briggs is more common as a last name.  We were pretty excited that we had nailed down a name; however, we were worried that he may come out looking kind of whimpy.  If that was the case Briggs may not work, so we had a backup name that was kind of weak - Ari.  We kept that in our back pocket just in case, but obviously it wasn't needed! :).  

Now how did we get Henry?  

This story totally aligns with an Emily story.  We knew we were going with Briggs and had tried several middle names such as Wesley (a family name on the Jones side), but all the names just were jiving.  So one day this summer I was shopping for sunglasses at Herbergers and as I was checking out the older cashier lady asked me about my pregnancy.  Side note: Evan and I agreed not to tell the name to anyone; however, I figured I would never see this lady again so I told her his name would be Briggs Jones but we had not decided on a middle name.  The lady paused while sacking up my sunglasses, looked me in the eye and the middle name should be Henry.  Briggs Henry Jones.  I repeated the full name several times and realized Briggs Henry Jones sounded like a future CEO or lawyer.  Perfect!!

I came home and told Evan my new discovery of Henry.  He wasn't completely sold right away, so I gave him the job of deciding the middle name.  At the end of the process, Evan decided on Briggs Henry Jones. 

So that's how Briggs's got his name!  It isn't a family name. It isn't a common name.  But it is this little nugget's name - a perfect name for a perfect baby :)

The name's Briggs...
Briggs Henry Jones.

Welcoming Briggs Henry Jones

Basically for my own reference for years down the line.  Lots of details, lots of gore, lots of love :)

On the morning of 11/11/14 Evan and I woke up with great excitement because today was our official due date for Spud.  Before I sat up I naively felt around the bed hoping for it to be soaked from my water breaking.  However, the bed was as dry as the desert and I groaned knowing that I had to hurry up and get ready for my commute to Richfield.  My goal towards the end of the pregnancy was to have my water break in the bed so I could convince Evan that we needed a new mattress since this one was a hand-me-down and is on it's last leg.

When I arrived to work I was greeted by my co-workers inquiring about why I was at work and joking that the Best Buy Black Friday leak happened before my leak.  I wasn't upset because I was fairly comfortable... just more anxious with the 'when factor.'  As the day passed on I was reassured by my manager and director that it was okay to start working from home to be more comfortable and no one expected me to drive in each day now.  I was stubborn and dismissed their offer for the next two days.  Finally, on Thursday (11/13) I started my journey on working from home and believing that I would never have this baby.  

On Friday (11/14) I had a doctor appointment and Dr. Greenbelt confirmed that Spud was definitely not coming anytime soon and she scheduled me to be induced the following Thursday night.  I was heartbroken that this would be a cop-out because I was that person who wanted a natural birth and experience the excitement of my water breaking at home and rushing to the hospital with my husband.  Not going to lie, I cried at the doctor's office... I cried to Evan... I cried to Claire from my small group.  I just didn't understand why Spud was being so stubborn.  

That weekend Evan and I devised a plan that we would just walk and walk and walk until Spud dropped out.  It was cold out and I was not a fan of walking around the block and Mall of America was too far from the hospital just in case Spud came really fast, so we did the logical thing - we walked around furniture places to look for furniture for our basement.  I must have been quite the sight because people would ask me when I was due and I would reply 4 days ago and their response was wide-eyed and mouth gapping.  Finally Evan and I decided maybe this could be in our favor.  So when the sales associate would ask about my due date and I would respond, we would than inquire if my water broke on that piece of furniture would we get a discount.  Most just laughed, but one did have a good response.  He said that we would receive free delivery with that piece of furniture!  Classy :).  Anyways, after a weekend of walking around all we had to show was a sectional and chair... no baby.  

Time was ticking and I was getting desperate.  During the next 4 days I tried pregnancy tea, jumping jacks, crazy dancing, spicy food, more walking, talking sweetly to my belly, squats, and optimistically thinking.  All were a fail.  On Thursday (11/20) I slowly packed my bags to go to the hospital at 7:30pm to be induced.  I notified my work that today would be my last day, I lied to the curious neighbors, my friends, and my family about when I thought the baby was going to be born.   I had no idea how the induction would go as I opted to not read anything before hand.  At 7:30pm sharp we checked in. 

Soon I was being introduced to the nurse that would be on shift that evening and the doctor explained how everything was going to go down.  They explained that they were going to use prostaglandin that would take about 12 hours to ripen my cervix.  Not fun.  They also hooked me up to a few machines to monitor the contractions and the baby's heartbeat.  When they hooked me up, they inquired if I had been have any contractions.  My response - NONE.  They re-asked the question and I said that all I have been having is a stomach ache and some soft stools.  That's when they laughed and said that I was having contractions at that very moment and they were coming every 5-8 minutes and the machines were tracking them as fairly strong.  I had no idea!! I was under the assumption that contractions would start in my back and radiate to my front.   Instead what I was feeling was cramps that would go away when I shifted.  I felt ridiculous, yet excited because this could mean that Spud would be gracing the world sooner than later.  Needless to say that I did not sleep very well that night!

The next morning around 7:30am, the nurse and doctor came in and were a bit perplex by why the prostaglandin had not worked.  They decided that they would move onto plan B - a foley catheter.  Let's just say if you want to make someone miserable try this.  The foley catheter typically takes 4 hours to work (ripen the cervix).  Since I had tested positive for GBS they needed to start me on the antibiotics at the same time and to kick things into action they also added pitocin.  Basically the pitocin is suppose to progress the labor too and give you contractions.  Now imagine having a tower of drugs being pumped into your system, a balloon trying to get the cervix ready, and having two other monitoring machines hooked onto you.  I was not a happy camper, BUT this was only going to take 4 hours right?!  Completely wrong.  The foley catheter took 4x as long (16 hours) as predicted and finally fell out around 2:30am.  The entire time they had cranked up the pitocin and antibiotics... I was puffy and tired. 

Side note: I couldn't sleep so I started watching the morning news and they were doing a giveaway to Taylor Swift.  I was convinced that I was the only human awake at 4:30am and had a fighting chance for those tickets.  All I had to do was text in and than wait to see if I won.  I was so excited that I finally broke down and texted my friend Stacie to tell her I was in the hospital and we were going to Taylor Swift once I got out of the hospital.  I didn't win.  Really folks, who is up at 4:30am and actually cares about T-Swift.  Apparently me and 1 other person in the metro area.  Lame-duck. 

On Saturday morning (11/22) I had already gone through 2 doctors, several nurses, and too many cups of Orange Sherbet and Kiddie Cocktails to count.  For someone who's last time in the hospital was when she was born I was pretty much a frazzled toad.  Anyways, around 9am a new doctor and new nurse woke me up and announced they were going to break my water NOW.  No time to brush my teeth, put in my contacts... NOW.  Being awoken with this news ranks in the top 10 least favorite moments and definitely doesn't make me want to seize the day.  So they broke the water and just had me sit there for the next 30 minutes.  When they re-entered the nurse informed me that she gets off work at 7:30pm, and she was determined this baby was going to be born on her shift.  Uffda.  From there everything was a blur as they cranked the pitocin from 2 to 24.  Finally around 2:30pm I gave in and requested an epidural.

The anesthesiologist tried to make jokes, but I was in tears and so I finally looked at him and told him - "I'm sure you are a very funny, nice man; but I don't think you are funny right now."  A little blunt, but I was beside myself and here was this old man cracking jokes about childbirth!  However, I must say I was so thankful for the epidural.  After he gave it to me I felt so much better.  I even took an hour nap.... honestly I'm not sure how, but I was exhausted and the pain meds were phenomenal.

At 3:55pm, the nurse (Torri) came in and told me it was go time.  I never took a birthing class, so I wasn't quite sure what was going to be come other than a baby.  She got me all set up, Evan stood by me and it was go time (TMI?) :).  It wasn't that bad... until Torri said she needed to go and get something and she would be back in 5 minutes.  Well 5 minutes turned into 25ish minutes.  Evan was left there with me to instruct me to push and calm me down.  All I kept saying was "SHE LIED TO ME! SHE LIED TO ME!"  When Torri came back in the room I was so upset... like a mad cow.  She explained that a lady had come into the hospital and her water had ruptured.  They had to do an emergency C-section and it was all hands on deck.  I forgave.

Finally Torri told me that it was time to get the doctor.  When I heard that I knew the end was in sight.  She paged the doctor and the response that I heard was... well not good.  The person on the other end informed her the doctor was not around.  Torri tried again, and again the same response.  She tried a different doctor and there was no response.  I had a response.  As Evan tells it - this was probably the one time that he saw me truly mad.  I spoke in a very strong voice - "What do you mean you can't find the doctor?!" "Find the doctor!"  Let's just say Torri found the doctor pretty quickly after that.

At 5:33pm, Briggs Henry Jones entered the world.  The doctors had predicated him to be 8 to 8.5 pounds, but Briggs has a different idea.  He topped the scales at 9 pounds 7 ounces.  When he came the doctors wanted us to do skin to skin time.  This is where I do not win Mom of the Year Award.  I told them to take him off because I needed to concentrate on what the doctor was doing to me.  Evan went with Briggs to get his massive foot prints and get him all cleaned up.  But before Evan went off he teary-eyed told me how proud he was of me and how Briggs was beautiful.  Let's just say I was still a mess and didn't have any response.

To spare other details here are some of the best lines we had during this process -

• "I feel like Al Bundy just sitting in my white underwear." - As the nurses continued to check on me.
• "Is he hairy? He need to look like Chewbacca for how much heartburn I had." "He better have brown hair!"  - The nurses told me he wasn't that hairy and he had brown hair.  
• "Turn on the TV.  I don't want to watch Planes! Turn on football." - I watched the Razorbacks during the whole labor process
• "Does that door in the ceiling hold confetti?"  - Evan said this.  That door was the light for the doctor; although I feel like confetti would have been a very nice touch.
• "I have no desire to cut the umbilical cord." - Evan
• "You can't push now." - Torri.  "What do you mean I can't push now.  I'm going to push NOW!" - Me.  "I think it is okay if she pushes now." - Doctor.
• "Wow, he is a big baby." - All the nurses.
• "When do you want to go to Red Lobster?!" - Evan to me after giving birth.
• "Adoption may be easier the next time." - Evan

Overall it was an amazing experience and we received a wonderful gift from God - our little Briggs!  

The look of milk satisfaction on day 3. 

Roll over, roll over!

Briggs continues to amaze us each day with his little talents!  On day 5 of his little life he rolled from his back to his stomach.  We thought it was a fluke, but a week later he rolled from his stomach to his back! Actually I think it is because he hates tummy time and kicks and kicks and kicks until he finally rolls over.  

The look of determination.

He also has the strangest pooping patterns.  He gets this concerned look on his face, holds his breath and starts grunting.  I'm going to have to practice with him on multi-tasking :)

The look of creating a dirty diaper.

Hodge Podge

Over the last months I have obviously been absent from Blogging, more laid back from Facebook, and random on Twitter.  I don't really have a solid reason why... one reason was because I was leery to put anything down about my pregnancy in fear of it being misinterpreted or judged.  Another reason was because life got extremely busy preparing for our bundle of joy, traveling during the summer, and house projects.  However, now I'm back :)  and I'll being playing catch-up with some of the best quotes from the pregnancy, how everything is going with Mr. Spud, and our upcoming adventures.  Enjoy!

Mr. Afros

When you come visit don't cut your haircut because we have a new barber in town - Mr. Afros!

Going on a limb to say that this may be a very specialized business in a special district of town :)

Maternity Clothes

I'm 15 weeks, and there is no sign of a baby bump.  It only looks like I hate an extra burrito.  So to prepare for the day when I bust a button I went maternity clothes shopping.  Not going to lie, weirdest experience that I have had in a long time because typically you suck in your gut, but this time I'm inflating it.

To help get a visual of what I could look like filling out the clothes they gave me this lumpy pillow thing to stuff under my shirt.  Side note: everyone should wear maternity clothes are they are super comfy and it will expand… who doesn't like that?!

Spud's Toys

My co-workers have been very generous with gifts for Spud, my manager in particular with gifting us a high-chair, baby tent, rocking giraffe, and the first toy! 

Or it could be the fact that when she steps on a toy and winces she picks it up and brings it to work to give to another unsuspecting parent :)

Or that it is just too adorably cute to give to some stranger :)

Bedroom updates

We're going room by room upstairs to paint the walls, change out the drapery, and get furniture.  Years ago I would have thought that this was no big deal until you are faced with decisions of whether you want black out curtains or shades, what color, and what type of style.  Then your head starts spinning and you may want to through up your hands!  

Here is what our Dayton curtains looked like before…

And the wood blinds are coming this week.  The joys of picking out new window coverings!

 The room in construction mode, so no pictures yet!  Evan has been taking down every piece of trim and re-sanding, stripping, and staining it.  Without him this definitely would be a mess..

Rewards for Work

You reward you kids for work, so why not reward yourself for a good job?

Evan has been hard at work refinishing the trim work upstairs along with painting every room, so I made the deal that if the bedroom was finished by Saturday I would go golfing with him.  Well he did finish it, and we went to the New Hope golf course on Saturday morning.  I wasn't expecting miracles since I haven't golfed for the last three years and Evan gets out a fair amount. Turns out I still got it in me!  I beat him fair and square with him shooting a 45 and Spud/I shooting a 43 on the nine-hole course.  On the last hole Evan 'lost' the scorecard…. because being schooled by his pregnant wife is just plain embarrassing.

Dad's has better step up his game because Spud looks to be a fierce competitor.

Telling Work

On Friday I had my 11/12 week appointment. Everything is great, and Spud's heartbeat is 165. I like to think his anx has gone down because his momma can talk openly about the pregnancy! Anyways, during the appointment they discovered a 'lump' on my breast. A little scary! After a weekend of praying and pondering I had another appointment today with the New Hope Chest clinic to get an ultrasound. First off, they have the right idea by giving you a preheated robe. Secondly, after a quick ultrasound it was determined that a rib had popped out… not out of place but just sticks waaay out. Weird, but completely fine and safe!  

Since this was the second day in a row where I showed up late I figured I better come clean to my director and now I hid the fact that these appointments aren't going to stop. At about 6:15pm we were still sitting at our desks and I could hear her jamming out to country music. Not going to lie I was a mess, but was determined not to break down. As I approached her desk, she greeted me with a grin and asked how I was doing (she knew about that morning's appointment). I told her that I was doing great and that I had another obstacle ahead of us (I was never nominated for best vocabulary use :)). I blurted out that I was not going to be around during Holiday since Evan and I were expecting. She was so happy that she immediately jumped up and hugged me! However, my response was the most absurd that it threw her off - I offered to make a PowerPoint and lecture to explain why I was valuable and how I could handle work-life balance. Her response was pretty priceless as she laughed and admitted she would have been impressed with a PowerPoint because she LOVES PPT (she makes them for EVERYTHING - she is crazy); however, this was just work and life is much more important.  

Needless to say Spud is officially out and I am not going to be putting together a PowerPoint this next weekend. Let Nursery room painting begin! :)

Announcement is out!

Our Lil' Idaho, Spud, has been introduced to our closest friends and family over this past week!

On Easter weekend we made the announcement to our family with a red gerber daisy and blue violets and a note attached saying:
"Some flowers are Red,
Some flowers are Blue,
Our bundle of joy is due…
November 11th!"

I cannot express how wonderful it is to announce our exciting news to our family and have my sisters and cousins providing amazing advice and support!  Evan also spread the news at a friend's bachelor party and I started spreading the word amongst my friends.

I decided I needed to notify my manager before anything got back to her.  I was so nervous since I am placed on Holiday at work that she would be upset and my chances for advancement would be diminished that I started crying while telling her…. or it could have been the hormones.  She was so sweet and even offered to give us her baby gate and high chair!

Side note: Thank you Mel for not being upset with me for being a 7month pregnant bridesmaid!! You radiate the Fose Factor!  And Roger and Mary - you two are just fabulous and I loved your card.  I will definitely monitor/limit what I am able to do for home improvements ;)  Natalie, your constant texting has been a pure blessing and Evan and I have agreed that it has been so, so fun seeing Spud's aunt get so genuinely thrilled!

Tomorrow is our next appointment.  We are at 11 weeks, so we should be potentially hearing the heart beat :)

Milked It

I have been forgetting this left and right.  Evan describes it as painful because he can see my wheels turning, but just cannot recall what I was going to say or do.  Tonight was one of those nights.  I was making a chicken casserole hot dish, and thought I had all the ingredients mixed in.  As I was placing it in the oven I remembered that I had forgot the cup of milk.  My reasoning is not always sound, and I decided that if I poured it over top it would either evaporate in the oven or be absorbed.  Note- it doesn't do either.

Nonetheless, Evan still ate it and didn't know what it was actually suppose to be like.  During the meal he mentioned that it would be REALLY good if it had a crunchy top.

Fun Fact: it was suppose to be crunchy but I milked it.. :)

Kitchen Floor

Over Christmas Evan took on the ginormous job of removing the kitchen floor that was covered in carpet, and replaced it with tile.  A few weeks ago he was finishing up putting the transitions in the floor between the hardwood and tile.  As he was hitting the last nail, the hammer slipped and hit the tile cracking it and making Evan react by painting a rainbow with his words :)

Tonight we (or I should say Evan) is spending his Friday night tearing up the one tile to replace it with another.  Here he is chipping away all thin set (cement).  You can tell he is happy because you can see his defined jawline :)

First Ultrasound

Evan and I had our first ultrasound of Lil' Idaho this morning.  At 8 weeks and 3 days, we saw the heart beating at 173 beats per minute and the size of a raspberry.  My morning sickness is subsiding, but I feel like I have Alzheimer's and constantly forget the simplest things .   

I'm convinced it is a little lady, and Evan is convinced it is a little guy. 

Color Consultation.

Today I gave in and hired someone to come to our house and give a color consultation and window treatment consultation.  My past experiences (below) does not serve me well.  Now with a portfolio I'm going to be transforming every room from peach to bittersweet chocolate.  Pictures to come as I jump in next weekend!

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This is what I have learned while picking a paint color…

1.) Stay away from baby diaper colors.

2.) I am blessed to have an amazing hometown church family.  They discussed the colors during Sunday coffee and suggested Sage.  Obviously I don't know what color is Sage.

3.) If you paint too many colors you will have to prime, which is completely awful since it makes it look like your hair is pre-maturely graying.

 4.) Our house has metamerism syndrome.  Basically different times of the day causes different undertones to come out.  Below we painted Henderson Buff, which turned yellow, green, and NEON green.  Our kitchen was on 1960 steroids!!

 5.) Henderson Buff had to go, so we ran to the store and found exactly what we were looking for - "Good Looking"and our sixth paint sample :)  More to come!

First Attempt

The kitchen floor is laid and looks fab!  Now we are onto painting our cold-grey a warm-earth tone color.   The trick is to not make it look like a baby diaper exploded on it!

So what will the color be - gold, green, brown, purple, orange, red, or taupe :)

Symptoms

Kuddos to anyone that have gone through a pregnancy because I'm in week 7.5 and have been struggling the past two weeks with morning sickness, fatigue, moodiness, and cravings.  A friend once said how much she enjoyed being pregnant because she felt so close to her child and the beauty of God's creation.  I, on the other hand, feel as if my body is hating me and I'm going to be completely honest.

Moodiness
I'm so sorry Evan and Mom.  This week alone I have called my mom only to be confused on why I called her and upset when she asks me a question.  For some reason I keep thinking everyone should know exactly what I'm thinking.  This week I have also flipped out on Evan when he was traveling because our heater took 3 hours to heat up 3 degrees.  And to top it off I get all teary-eyed at work for no reason.  I am out of control.

Fatigue
When I was a freshman in high school I was sick for two weeks with a temperature over 101*.  I remember being so exhausted that I all I could do was sleep.  I would get home from school and go right to bed.  Nothing was appealing to me except for fudge bars.  The past two weeks have felt like this.  All weekend I would sleep, and during the week I would go to bed at 8:30pm and wake up at 7:10am.  Luckily I had a few PTO days to burn and took them off to sleep.

Morning Sickness
I pictured waking up in the morning and visiting the toilet.  Not the case.  Morning sickness to me is gagging all day and feeling as if I'm going to hurl at any moment.  I hate throwing up, so I'm doing everything in my power not to.  My weapon is to eat something every couple of hours to ensure something is always in my stomach.  I'm definitely not use to that and some of my choices have not been wise… hence the cravings.

Cravings
I swear I have the oddest food cravings.  So far I have requested chicken wings and Subway smoked turkey sandwiches with southwest sauce.  Take that back, all I really want is the southwest sauce, but you need to order a sandwich to get that.  Trust me, I asked the local Subway.  I honestly have just sat at work and day dreamed about the orange-tangy sauce.  Today I spent the remainder of my blow money on Stacy's Parmesan & Garlic Chips, Cheddar-Bacon Cheezits, and String Cheese.  Everything sounded delicious; however, after a few bites of each I felt myself turning green.  Bad Choices.  Also, I'm repulsed by hamburger, turkey burger, fish, turkey, tuna… however shrimp sounds delicious.  Interesting.

Overheating
One would assume that all the extra heat I'm radiating would melt the 14 inches still in our front yard.  As my body temps go up, our heat bill will go down as I now have lowered the house temp to a brisk 64*.

Little Idaho

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue

on November 11th

our little bundle of joy is due!

Welcome to Idaho!

As we have transitioned to Minnesota a blog transition almost seemed necessary.  I may have also stole the idea from my cousin as she moved back to SoDak from the Big Sky.  A new life thus a new book!