Please Help

We're asking a big favor from friends and family -- see below and keep reading please.

Well it happened. Our external hard drive crashed.

*The hard drive that's holding ALL of our photos from the past two years? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that has photos documenting 2/3rds of Logan's life? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that's less than a year old? Yep, that's the one.The hard drive that we were told could cost $600 to $2,000 to restore? Yep, that's the one.
*The hard drive that we don't have that much money to fix? Most definitely, that's the one.


We thought a man from our ward would be able to repair it for much less, but no such luck. He said it has to be REBUILT if we want any of those photos.... costing thousands of dollars. We don't have the money for that, assuming it could even be rebuilt and photos resurrected. I can't even think about what this means without balling my eyes out. (And of course Ben gave me this news right before Primary today when I had to give sharing time and I couldn't keep myself together at all).

What does this mean? It means that besides the measly amount of photos that I've posted here, I have no physical memory or reminder of our lives over the past two years. I don't scrap book, and I'm awful at journaling and blogging. So this leaves us with very little. I'm heart broken.

Holiday photos, birthday photos, family reunion photos, special firsts for Logan that can never be redone, all gone. All of Ben's cycling races he's competed in and so proud of - gone. My awesome trip to New York - gone. Videos of Logan, tracking his development, showing how he talked, moved, walked, etc. as he has gotten older - gone. Special funny times with Logan spent at home - gone.

And I think those random ones of Logan are the ones I'll miss most, because I can't even remember what they are! There's nothing to reminisce with, because I've taken the photo and then forgotten the funny little things he's done. Instead of journaling about it, or scrapbooking about my sweet boy, I've just taken the photo and done nothing with it, and now there is nothing. Stupid, stupid me.

Luckily, all of the photos of Lincoln's birth until now are on Ben's laptop and our camera still. It's just poor Logan who will be missing two years of his life in photos and videos.

From then:

until now:

Nothing.

So here's the huge favor I'm asking of all our friends and family:

Could you please go through your photos and pass on to us any pictures that include us over the past couple years? To be specific, from May 2008 until now. I know that's asking a lot, but without these we have no memories to pass on to Logan or to remember down the road and look back on. Please, please, please. I would be so grateful for any pictures we get.

Also, if you have any advice, recommendations or info on rebuilding a hard drive, please enlighten us.

Although it doesn't take away the pain of our carelessness, we have learned our lesson... we will definitely back up our photos much more frequently now.

And for anyone still reading this who hasn't backed up their photos, go and do it now. Learn from our stupid mistake.

Missing the Hospital

Lincoln did well in the hospital the first two days and the last day they found his bilirubin count to be a little high. So the doctor ordered phototherapy lamps to be delivered to our home and that's where the little guy has spent the past 2 days. Tanning with goggles on.

Today Ben took him in for another bilirubin count and it is coming down but still too high. So he'll stay under the lights for another two days until Wednesday when we test his levels again.

I realize this is minor compared to many other situations he could be in, but it is just frustrating to have him be under the lights constantly. Even when he's nursing or being cuddled, he has to be strapped into blanket lights. And even at night time, I sleep on the bed next to this big suitcase with tanning bed lights blaring while Ben is denied a place in bed and sleeps on the couch (not that he's a slacker dad, but because he gets headaches from any kind of light left on during the night). Not ideal, but whatever it takes to get his bili levels down.

***Update - as of today bilirubin levels were lower, but we'll continue the lamps off and on until Friday when he'll most likely be done. Yea!***

Our yellow pumpkin sporting the aviator goggles

Catching some rays in the "tanning bed"

Meanwhile, I must say that I actually really loved my stay in the hospital and even miss it a bit. Here are my top 10 reasons I loved the hospital:

1. It was like a 2-day get away date...kind of. Ok, so maybe not quite the romatic get away I would dream of, but it was nice to have peace and quiet without a 3 year old for two whole days!

2. Hospital food. Yes, I'm weird and actually like the hospital food. But even better is that UVRMC has a new room-service for Mother/Baby where we get to order every meal from a huge menu, and the best thing is we can order as much as we can eat! Dreamy, I know.

3. Endless painkillers, brought every 4 hours. Beautiful!

4. Endless pads, granny undies, mattress covers and ice packs.

5. A moving bed. :-)

6. Nurses ready to bring you whatever you need at the push of a button.

7. People to watch your baby at night (with exception of feeding sessions) so you can actually sleep!

8. Being able to lay all day in bed and feel no guilt about it.

9. Being able to wear a large, comfortable, extremely unflattering blue-gray moo-moo all day and feel no guilt about it.

10. And last but not least, being able to have as much kangaroo care time (skin-to-skin time) as I wanted with Lincoln. Because we all know that at the end of those 72 hours all privacy and discreteness has gone out the window.

Me and my boys right after getting home from the hospital

Daddy-Logan time well spent watching you-tube clips of the Wizard of Oz (the new obsession)

Yellowie cuteness

Logan couldn't wait to hold him. He loves holding his hand and inundating him with kisses.

Nana gave Logan a Big Brother Kit that included a big brother shirt, a few things he could use to help take care of "baby brubber" and of course a Toy Story coloring book.

Logan has even been caught sharing his most prized possessions with Lincoln. Now that's love.

Nana and L-man

Lincoln Details

Here are some more details from Lincoln's big arrival day:


Despite all my hopes of spontaneously going into labor on my own, Lincoln hung in there until his induction date (last Wednesday) at 39 1/2 weeks. Because of Logan's large size and my fear of having a c-section if baby #2 was even bigger, my OB's agreed to induce a little early (thank heavens!).

So that morning we dropped Logan off at my sister's house (thanks a TON Andy) and headed to the hospital. We got checked in, set up and hooked up to the pit by 9:40 am. I started as a 3 cm dilation and 75% effacement.

Shortly after the pit came the epidural. Heavenly, right? Wrong! It took the edge off the contractions, but even with all my little "boosts" to the epidural, I was still really feeling them... breathing through them. The reason? The labor was progressing WAY faster than they had anticipated.

Finally at noon, the dr. just gave me a HUGE boost of anesthesia and within 15 minutes I couldn't feel or move anything from my diaphragm down. I was finally able to sleep, but was woken up 10 minutes later by the nurse getting the table prepped and ready for pushing. What? Already?! By 12:40 I was pushing and Lincoln was here at 12:56.
Talk about efficiency. :-) What took 12 hours last time took a mere 3 hours this time. Crazy.

Even more crazy is the thought that we're actually a family now, rather than just a young married couple with a baby. It has been so neat bringing another special little spirit into this world, getting to know him and growing to love him even more.

First family picture. My parents brought Logan in later that night to see his new brother. He was interested in Lincoln for about the first 2 minutes (he even had a big picture colored for him and a toy to give his new "baby brubber") but then was distracted by every other fun button and device in the room.

Daddy and Lincoln. Ben did so much to help Lincoln and me in the hospital... he earned the Dad of the year award just by simply "sleeping" on the lousy father's pull out bed at night. :-)

Going home! Here's to the new adventure of learning how to survive and thrive with two boys. Wish us luck. :-)

And the name is....

Lincoln ? Parker

Middle name yet to be determined.

He's here!

Today at 1:00pm our newest addition came to us. He weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces and is 21.5 inches long. (he's a big boy) Both mom and baby are doing fine and resting.We will keep you updated through the blog. The name hasn't been finalized yet but we will let you know as soon as we know.

Under Construction

I find it ironic that I have a post that I was currently working on about all the projects we've been working on since the beginning of the year. But that got put on hold in order to complete more major projects here at the house. :-)

I've been out of touch with the world since Sunday when my computer (and just about everything else in the house) got packed away for slight renovations.

Yesterday we were able to get all our windows replaced. And tomorrow we're getting new carpet. Yea! That three little word followed by an exclamation mark doesn't fully express the true excitement and giddiness inside me right now! I couldn't stop smiling at all yesterday (until it came time for clean up at 11 pm).

Ben decided that while he had to be home bound all day with the window installers that he'd do a little demolition and tear out the brick floor of our fire place. 30 minutes into that, we decided to just tear our the brick walls of the fireplace as well. Crazy? Yes. But so worth it! (**Insert picture of amazingly talented husband here**).

Anyway, I'll post before and after pics once it's completed. But I am so excited about everything that I just had to share!

As for a pregnancy update, only 1 week to go! I'm huge, swollen and have elephantitis feet and ankles (a.k.a cankles), but happy as a lark. I'm scheduled to be induced next Wednesday, April 28th if the baby hasn't come by then. We've just been praying the baby won't come until after Thursday when we can have the house put back together and actually have baby things set up! I can't wait to see our new little man!

Pregnancy (version 2.0)

This pregnancy version 2.0 is new and improved over version 1.0. But still, somehow, it has taken the backseat to many other things. Before my mid-section grew to be a bowling ball, I actually forgot I was pregnant most of the time.


There have been requests for pictures and updates, so here we go.

I actually started a pregnancy update post two months ago and never posted it, so here are pregnancy updates as of two months ago.

As of February:

30 weeks

1. I've reached the point where it is really uncomfortable to have Logan sit on my lap for story time and songs. Sad!

2. Tums have become my new best friend.

3. I really love soap. Like... I love it so much I could sit and sniff it all day. And....I love it so much I want to eat it. :-) My favorites so far are Comet, Cascade, my face soap, that nasty powder hand soap that you find in rest stops along the freeway, and my mom's hand sanitizer. Odd, I know. Freakish even? Perhaps.

4. I feel and look like I should be delivering next month, but really I still have three months ahead of me.

30 weeks

5. I REALLY love Fun Dips. Correction. I REALLY love the Fun Dip sticks. I could eat just the sugary tasteless sticks and throw all the powder away, but I eat the powder to make the stick last longer. I think they should make a whole package of just the Fun Dip sticks to sell. Forget the "dipping" part.

6. It now takes almost a full 20 seconds just to turn over in bed.

7. Baby boy is now big enough to shake my belly when he moves. He slides, rolls and glides around rather than kicks these days.

8. Waddling has set in. So much so that I was even asked the other day if I was limping and injured. Nope. That's just the waddle.

As of Now (35 weeks along):

35 weeks

1. Tums are still my best friend.

2. Fun Dips still come in a close second place.

3. And if powder soap tasted as good as it smelled then it would tie for second place best friend too.

4. As of last week my belly was measuring 37 cm. Most likely this babe's gonna be a big one too. Go big or go home, er.... right?

5. The energy that came back in second trimester has now been zapped again.

6. No names picked out yet although Logan calls him Lincoln most of the time.

7. Getting off the couch is now a two-step process: (1) scoot to edge of couch then (2) hoist up and out.

8. Unlike pregnancy 1.0, I have many, many, many braxton hicks everyday.

9. And unlike pregnancy 1.0, the swelling is not nearly as bad this time with exception of my hands. I feel like I have carpel tunnel and early arthritis because of the swelling. It has made me really appreciate my normal dexterity that I miss so dearly!

10. Logan tries to feel the "baby brudder" kick and insists on kicking him back.

11. Besides stressing out about getting everything done before baby comes (next post) I am actually feeling great!

35 weeks - can't wait!