Beau's Birthstory

 I was lying in bed this morning when I had the memory of this blog flash through my mind. I have totally forgotten about this blog and I am heartbroken for it. So much has happened! Most importantly we had our baby Beau, who just turned two, and I am now expecting baby number 4, which we found out last night is a boy. 

Because it has been so long, I realized I haven't posted Beau's birth story, and I need to share that before baby comes in March. So here it is:

       

life changes

I know I say this a lot, but so much has changed for my little family we picked up our lives in Washington and made the move back to Oregon. I know, I should get the best wife award for allowing my husband to move me away from family to live in Oregon...again. It was so hard, but it was harder living away from Briar. For a few months, Hadley and I were living with my parents until we could close on a home, it was hard on all of us, but that brings me to my next point, which is buying a home! We bought a home from a family that is in the same ward as us at church so that is pretty cool. We love our home. There are a few things I am wanting to change and start working on, but it will have to wait until baby is a little older.

Rowan Jo Carlisle's Birth Story

Rowan Jo Carlisle was born September 28th, 2018 at 5:09PM

Pregnancy is a funny thing, especially when you get close to your due date. Your body does all kinds of weird/gross things. For me, I thought I was going into labor 3 different times. Briar kept telling me I was crazy, and he was right! one of the times he asked "what percentage do you think you are actually going into labor?" I replied "80%"....well guess what, I didn't actually go into labor, stupid Braxton Hicks! The night before they day I was induced, I was going to take a shower and I swear my water broke, but guess what, I must've just peed. Pregnancy plays tricks on you, I think its because you get so miserable that you hope and hope its going to happen, and then it doesn't, but eventually it really does. So after I thought my water broke, we had our friend come over, since we needed someone to stay with Hadley, and she just decided to stay the night, just in case anything happened (she is so sweet!) Contractions never started so we all went to bed around 11pm.

The next morning we left to the hospital around 7:40 since we needed to be at the hospital at 8AM. We got put in a room with a beautiful view in L&D, but were moved due to construction that would be taking place below the room. This new room didn't have as good as view, but it did the job.
They checked my cervix when we first got there and I had dilated from a 3 to a 4. They started Pitocin and said they would break my water when I got to a 5. During this time we watched the new jumanji movie, it was pretty funny, and Daddy's Home. Briar's mom and my mom both were there and had made it from Tri-Cities at this point. I was having contractions, but nothing too serious.

Around 2 PM they came in and broke my water. 10 minutes later I was having very intense contractions where I couldn't talk or stay still. The nurse came in and asked if I wanted an epidural, earlier we had discussed what my birth plan was, and getting an epidural was the only thing on it. I hesitated saying yes, due to the fact that I felt like I could still tolerate contractions. The nurse was very frank, and said you could be delivering soon and it could be too late to get an epidural, she easily convinced me and I said yes! 15 minutes later they were starting the epidural, I expected it to be super fast and instant pain relief, like with Hadley's, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. It took a few contractions before the epidural started working, but even then there was a window in my lower left abdomen that the medication was not touching. The pain was so severe and unbearable. I was scared to death I would be delivering without pain relief. With Hadley I had a 3rd degree tear, and I did not want to feel that if it happened again. After tossing and turning in pain, the anesthesiologist came and said she had given all meds she could at this point and if I didn't feel relief in 10 minutes, she would redo the epidural. Thankfully, 10 minutes later I had relief, and I was only feeling some pressure.

Around 4:30PM my midwife came in and checked me and I was dilated to a 10 and baby was crowning (I got to touch the head.) They got all setup and had me start the pushing process at 5:00PM. The plan was for me to not push so much and let the baby come out slowly and smoothly to decrease tearing. After a total of 3 soft pushes, rowan made her grand debut at 5:09PM. We were all in awe of her when we first saw her. When we did skin to skin she had some hair that she shed in my uterus come off on me (hairy girl.) About an hour after she was born they weighed her in at 8lbs 6oz and a height of 20.5 inches.

They eventually moved us to the mother/baby unit, which they so Kindly gave me the biggest room. It was massive, and made it so nice when family came to visit.

I don't think this whole experience could have gone any better. The doctors, nurses, and midwives at Kaiser were beyond amazing. They constantly were making sure all my needs were being met and that we stuck to what I wanted. They were all so kind and gave me the royal treatment. Kaiser is the only place I think I will ever want to have a baby again!

They were a little concerned about jaundice, but we were able to overcome that without any interventions other then feeding baby lots!

Rowan is just the sweetest baby! She only cries when she is hungry, and even then it is more like a growl. Everyone in our family, including Hadley, just can't get over how cute and sweet she is. We are all so in love with her.

I love my family of 4!

A huge thank you to my sister Jessica for flying out from Colorado to capture this moment for us!

Growing up so fast

I wanted to document Hadley's milestones so I figured I would do it here:

Newborn: Hadley cluster fed only at night, I felt like I could not keep up. She would eat, and then 10 minutes later wanted to eat all over again. I didnt feel like I was producing the milk she wanted/needed so we would supplement during this time because she was just wanting to eat way too much. She would wake up at night every 3-4 hours at night to eat. She liked being held be her mom. Mom and dad were very exhausted during this time. 

1 Month: Hadley sleeps majority of the night, which has been a relief for mom and dad. she has learned to smile, but still does not bounce in her bounce toy. Has been difficult to feed, since I still feel that I cant keep up.

2 Months: Has had some sleep regression. Wakes up around 4-5am to feed. Can jump and play and bounce toy, and can finally entertain herself in it. Smiles lots! recognizes figures in mirror. In this month Hadley stopped breastfeeding and wanted the bottle, which made mom super frustrated. Had to start pumping more. loves playing with her daddy.

3 Months: Wakes up 2-3 times a night to be fed, so continuation of sleep regression. Now prefers breastfeeding over bottle. Krishelle is babysitting now since I went back to work. Loves to chew on Mr. bug on her jungle bounce toy and loves to jump. smiles, giggles, and lets out big screeches. Has been super difficult for Briar to Watch Hadley on weekends when I have to work. Briar made me call in sick on Fathers day. Hadley has been crying a lot and it is super hard and frustrating for us. she has started to grab things and is drooling like crazy.

4 Months: Still wakes up 2-3 times a night especially when she is sick. Loves other people and her toys. Plays independently real well. Can roll back and forth. Still smiles and laughs a lot. 95% in weight, height, and head circumference. still loves bouncing and Mr. bug. Hates getting her nose cleaned but loves getting her ears cleaned. Talks your ear off and has mastered the fake cry.

5 Months: wakes 2 times a night unless on vacation, then its 1-2 hours. can sit self up, almost able to crawl but now quite there yet. Still loves bouncing, but no longer loves Mr. Bug. Likes to nap with mom in the morning. Has eyes for mom and dad and turns towards us when we talk. Easts puree at night and especially loves banana. VERY messy eater. Doesn't expect to be held all the time. Rolls everywhere. Flirt with her Daddy using shoulder. loves her toys. Doesnt care for pacifier. Has 2 bottoms teeth that came in. would explain her sicknesses and runny noses. 

6 Months: Crawls everywhere and can stand self up on everything. Harasses mom by trying to crawl up her legs and wanting to suck on electronics. Is not afraid of danger. Falls often and gets cuts and bruises. Mom and Dad try really hard to keep her safe but she is persistent on exploring. Eats Puree and dissolvable snacks 2x a day. Still only has 2 bottom teeth. Is starting to nap better. Takes 3 a day, and has lately only been waking up once at night, but use to wake up every 3-4 hours. Sleeps in until 8 or 9, which has been awesome. Hadley loves it when Dad gets home. Has grown out of 6 month clothes. 

7 Months: Is teething, upper left side tooth (next to where middle teeth should be) popped through on 09/19/16. Wakes up once a night and sometimes 0 times a night. Loves mom, and hates it when men hold her. Still is standing up and holding on to items like our couch. 

8 Months: Beginning of this month two top side teeth, left middle tooth on top, and two bottom middle teeth are present. crawls, stand and walks while holding onto furniture. shares food with mom and dad. screams when ice cream is gone. Says bababababa a lot, and wakes up 1-2 times a night still. She is hard to get a picture of since she is always moving. Laughs and loves playing. Baby proofing since she is pulling down stools and everything pretty much down. cries at strange men. still eats puree twice a day but eats snacks and sometimes part of moms meal. Sucks on her thumb. Full of energy. At the end of month 8 Hadley is starting to climb on things and can take 3 steps. She can stand all on her own for about 8 seconds. She screams and talks to mom and dad a lot (bababababa.) Wakes up 1-2 times a night. She likes to play the game where you chase her. Cries with men she is unfamiliar with (Gpa Casper.) Eats people food in small bites. Goes to sleep fast for naps. Has 4 top middle teeth and two middle bottom. 

9 Months: Beginning of this month Hadley was grinding her teeth and swishing spit. her size 12 month clothes are getting tight, except for pants - too long. She can stick her tongue out. moves head side to side with music at the end of 9 months. Does not cry as much when in her car seat. Can travel all 4 hours in car. Wakes up once a night around 2-3am. Needs item to pull herself up and then she can walk. Weighs 22 lbs at last appointment.

10 Months: Waves goodbye. Started to flick her since she knows when she is being naughty. knows what come here means and go to mom or dad. Can finally sleep through the night (probably because we have a noise maker for us so we cant hear her - don't judge.) Is starting to get an attitude. Yells at us when she is hungry, tired, or wanting out of her high chair. Bounces head side to side and front to back with music. Walks everywhere - done crawling! says mama. Loves Gpas' and Gmas'. Still hesitant around men. Loves playing with other kids. Can say "Hi" very clearly. 

11 Months: Loves to dance. Climbs upward to be high. Likes to laugh with/at Daddy. Still breastfeeding, but I am starting to slow down. take 2-3 short naps daily, like 45 min-1 hour. Loves playing on stairs and being independent. Stomps her feet and cries when we take something from her. Has a big attitude, but it is pretty cute. 

12 Months: Takes 2 naps daily, one is longer than the other. She is getting so smart.

16 Months: Hadley runs and avoids me when she sees a diaper in my hand to change her. She cries when I take her into her room for a nap (takes 2 naps, sometimes just 1.) Listens to some of my commands (trowing away diaper.) gives hugs and kisses. clings to gram. Says Thank You.

18 Months: Says Jessica, Thank You, hi, mama, papa, mommy/daddy

23 Months: Can pretty much say anything we ask her to say, but it doesn't come out that clear. She understands majority of my commands. She has become a very picky eater. She will eat peanut butter, jam, mac and cheese, and dino-nuggets really well, but that is pretty much it. She doesn't even try it but she refuses it (VERY frustrating.) She can count to 3, we are still working on getting to 10. She loves loves loves barney, and will watch Sofia the first but loves barney way more. Is in size 2T. Still hates getting diaper changed - time to potty train! She has and can crawl out of her crib, but doesn't (thankfully.) Obsessed with shoes and will finally wear her new slippers since she saw that blakely got some slippers for Christmas and was wearing them. She decided slippers are cool.

We love our Hadders so much and can't believe she is going to be turning two. 

...a year later

I'm so lame. It has already been a year since I last blogged, and I have so much to catch up on. I don't really know where to start, so I will start at the beginning and just go over the big events. Hadley had a wonderful 1st birthday party held at our house. We had dinner and dessert and opened presents with her family around. She loves all of her Grandpas and Grandmas. Sometimes it feels like she loves her grandmas over her mom. She always will choose them over me, hahaha its okay, I love that she loves them so much!

We had Priest Lake again this summer, beginning of August. Priest Lake is always a party. We had so much fun seeing family and spending some time with them. I hate that everyone lives so far away. I only get to see some of my siblings 1-2 times a year, so it's a big party when we do all get to come together. We played some good ol' beach volleyball and spike ball. My parents also rented a jet ski that we got to go out on the lake. As a kid when we would go to Priest Lake, we would tube all day, now I find myself wanting to just relax and enjoy soaking up the sun. Being a mom has also played a huge impact in that as well, not just age. My parents also bought a blow up hot tub that we all race to get into once the cover comes off, since there are limited seats. I am so thankful for my grandparents for providing a wonderful cabin, where I have made some of my most favorite memories. Hadley was old enough to play in the sand and sit on the paddle board with her mom. I love watching her being able to grow and develop and do things that she wasn't able to do the year before. She loves playing with her cousin Blakely who is only a few months older. I love my family and cant wait to see everyone again next summer. 

Hadley was so excited to see Santa. When she saw him, her face lit up. She grabbed my mom's hand and dragged her to the stage where he was sitting at the ward Christmas party. She was smiling and wanted so go see him. When it was her turn, she hesitantly walked up to him. She got scared and starting frowning, but no tears came. She sat on his lap and bravely waved back at us. Santa gave her a bag of treats that made her feel better. I was so proud of her for being so brave!

This year was Christmas on the Casper side, so my family decided to spend it at the lake, since we love the lake. Jessica was unable to make it, we missed her a lot. We started out sledding down the driveway hill, but Tyler M. found this other hill that was quite the hill to walk up and intense coming down. A few people hit trees and I even had a branch hit my eye, but it was fun and worth it. Some of the men documented coming down it with their phones. It was a blast and by the end of the week, the kids were even going down it. 

It was magical watching the kids see what Santa had brought them. I loved watching how excited they were. Hadley got some coloring stuff, dress and shoes, and bubbles from Santa. She loved what she got, but she doesn't understand it all quite yet. I cant wait until she learns about Santa.

Once again we set up the hot tub. It was so cool sitting in it surrounded by snow. I love hot tubs!

We ate a ton of food and treats. At night we would play games and watch movies. We also had some intense games of Mario-Cart on Nintendo 64, definitely brought back some old memories. On Christmas Eve we went to Newport/Priest River Sunday Christmas Program. It was beautiful and we were all impressed with the performances that were given. It was a wonderful introduction to Christmas. 

Prior to Christmas we had a christmas party at the Berry's shop, it was good seeing family and meeting some of Briar' relative. We had some competitive games that brought everyone's crazy sides out 😉

We also had a dinner with the Carlisle's at my house. We opened presents together and got to spend some quality time together which was very nice. It was sad not seeing them on Christmas day, but this kind of helped make up for it. 

Right now we are kind of unsure what life has in store for us. Briar is currently unemployed and I am working twice a week at Lourdes hematology/oncology clinic. We are unsure if we will stay in this, area (hope so) but I have absolutely loved the year we have spent here close to family and friends. We hope 2018 will be just as good to us. 

A lot has changed

Hadley is already almost a year old. Her birthday will be on the 8th of February. We are so excited when she hits new milestones, but then again it makes me sad because I want her to stay my baby forever. She is walking and running, getting herself off the couch, and doing everything that she sees Briar and I do (Briar will be annoying and play with my stomach fat, and then once he is done Hadley will start doing the same thing!) She is also starting to talk more. She says "hi" and sometimes "mom" and "dad." She also can stick her tongue out. It is the best thing seeing her grow into her little personality. I am so blessed to be her mom. Motherhood is definitely not easy, but it is the best thing ever! Mama loves you Hadders!

A lot has changed for our family these last couple months. First off we are no longer living in Forest Grove, Oregon. Our house was listed for less than 2 days and we sold it. We sold and closed our house in less than a month. Everything happened so quickly. It was definitely an emotional time for us, because we did love that home. Forest Grove was a great place for us. We lived in a cute neighborhood, that was not too far from the grocery store. Forest Grove is about an hour from the coast and about 45 minutes from Portland depending on traffic. We loved the drive out there, open fields and beautiful trees. It was a treat to spend a small portion of our lives out there. We have moved back to the Columbia Basin, which has been amazing. We love being so close to family. surprisingly, it has been more difficult then I thought adjusting to country life even though Briar and I are both from the country. The drive to the grocery store is a difficult one for me to make, but I am sure I will get use to it again soon!

Briar stopped working for Nike due to a huge hiring freeze. Unfortunately because of this, Briar was unable to find a full-time job with them. Thankfully, Andersen organics in Othello had an opening as a corporation manager, and Briar was able to fill that position. We feel really blessed for how everything has worked out. We know the Lord has been watching over us and we know he has been listening and answering our prayers.

I am currently staying at home and taking care of Hadley while I wait for my license to come in. Being a stay at home mom has been wonderful. I love being home with Hadley and seeing her learn and grow.

Where has time gone

Time has been flying by in the Carlisle home. Hadley is already 7 months old. It saddens me to see her get so big and so mobile. I find myself waiting a little longer to put clothes on her so I can admire all of her rolls. She has started crawling and she stand up on her own so I know her rolls probably wont be there much longer. Her personality has been coming out a lot more too! She smiles all of the time and she has been exploring a lot. She likes to follow her mom everywhere she goes too. She is constantly climbing our legs and getting into everything. Although she keeps us on our toes she has been so fun and entertaining to watch.

We just love her so much and think she cant get any cuter!

I went back to work end of May. It has been so incredibly difficult, even though I am only working part-time. I struggle leaving Hadley, and Briar struggles me leaving him with Hadley. 

Briar is still working on finding a full-time job with Nike. He has met with many and has had a few interviews. Nike has been cutting back on employees and has not been hiring, so we are doing a lot of waiting. We pray everything will work out and we will know what steps we need to make. 

Hadley just loves her Daddy

This summer we haven't been able to travel too much with work. We were able to go to Priest Lake. It was so fun to get out of Oregon and spend time with family. We have also been able to go hiking with friends and explore this beautiful state a little bit more. We hope to keep exploring and see all that Oregon has to offer.