Orienteering at sub-zero

Well...since moving here I have been pleasantly surprised with how warm it has been. I keep weather reports of many different cities such as Boise, Provo, Alexandria, and Rexburg just so that I can see how jealous I should be of my other friends. I have to admit, aside from our friends in Dublin, CA I haven't been too jealous. However, the past couple of weeks have been a bit colder than my liking.
This past Saturday I went out with the 11-year old scouts to do a compass course and five-mile hike. The weather registered around 15 degrees and with the wind blowing and the humidity, rumor has it that it was around zero. True or not, I was cold and am glad that it is over. The worst part is that the compass course only took about 2 1/2 miles to complete so we wandered around the park facility trying to get the other half of the 5-mile hike completed. We had three GPS devices so unfortunately, we could tell the exact distance we had traveled, and it was usually only a fraction of what we thought. However, despite all the cold weather we had a grand time. We ended up leaving the trail near the end of the hike to follow the boys as they explored the stability of the frozen pond.

I am what I eat..... REFINED!!

We have been home from the hospital for 2 weeks and a day. First things first, I must give Savannah the credit she deserves. She has turned out to be a great sleeper and usually sleeps for 4 hours at a time at night. I'll take it! She is such a mellow and pleasant girl. Two days ago I got her to smile! More thank once! And she was not even sleeping (she always smiles and laughs in her sleep). It was so much fun.

Big Brother Cade is still being as sweet as ever. He loves giving Savannah kisses and wants to do everything with her. He gets the biggest kick out of her crying and tries to imitate it himself if he can stop laughing. Why the newborn cry is so entertaining to him, I knoweth not! I have to be very careful to keep my eye on him when she's down for a nap. If he can steal a moment alone, he likes to pile blankets on her which usually land on her face. I know his intentions are sweet, but man, toddlers and infants are a dangerous mix!

Mom arrived Friday night-- hallelujiah! There's nothing like the power of mommy to make everything better. As I was when Cade was born, I am a human cow and have enough milk to feed 4 more babies easily. I was unable to avoid the seemingly inevitable mastitis yet again, but I am feeling better, thanks to having an extra set of hands in the house to keep up with Cade. I am sure all of you are so interested in the health and wellness of mommy, but hey, it's my blog and I can share if I want to, share if I want to, share if I want to..... !!!!! A lot of new moms complain about not having enough leche for their new babe--- I am on the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. I wonder if I can sell my abundance on e-bay????? I suppose if nothing else, it has been great for dropping pounds. I gained 35 pounds this pregnancy and by day 5 home from the hospital, 25 were gone. I can take no credit for it as I have been eating everything in sight. In fact, I am ashamed to admit it, but when I sent Kyle to the grocery store just after coming home from the hospital, I told him I NEEDED refined sugar. Yes, I used those exact words. I know, it's terrible food to be ingesting, but it tastes SO GOOD!!! I didn't crave anything while I was pregnant, but now that I am nursing, I have turned into the dumping gounds for Hostess. Fortunately with Mom here she has made some very delicious and healthy meals so I am getting the best of both worlds right now. I have really put my foot in my mouth with my new cravings, unfortunately. Usually I give Kyle a really hard time when he comes home with junk from the grocery store. However, on his most recent visit he came home with nothing but healthy, whole foods. Celery, spinach, water.... the closest thing to junk were the all-fruit popsicles from Trader Joes. At any other time I would have been absolutely thrilled and proud of his healthy shopping, but this time I was utterly dissatisfied and made my own separate trip to the grocery store to stock up on the junk. You know-- Ho Hos, Oreos, Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. Now I have my stash and alternate between celery sticks and chocolate death. It's a good life....

Savvy Pics

Here are some cute pics of our little Savannah Lee in her slumber (which she is very good at during the day, by the way).

Cade's Potty Truck!!!

I was at the store and saw a cool remote control truck. I didn't know how I was going to tell my wife that I wanted it...especially since I kinda struck out this year as far as Christmas shopping was concerned. In fact, when I saw the truck I thought, "now why didn't I use Christmas as an excuse to buy this a couple of weeks ago." Anyways, here I was sitting and looking the truck that I wished I could have had as a little kid. Then I had a great idea-I would get it for CADE! And so I did. On the way home I even came up with a better idea...I would only let Cade play with it when he went potty on the "super potty."

So far he has been thrilled to play with the truck, he even named it "daddy's potty truck." I kinda like the name and think it is going to stick. The best part is the it WORKS. He has asked us to use the restroom several times now...sometimes only seconds after coming inside from playing with the truck. I guess daddy knows best!

A note from Mom

Motherhood is absolutely amazing. I can't describe it in any other way. Holding this tiny being in my arms who just days ago was swimming laps inside me is absolutey miraculous. I still haven't hit the real world by any means, so I can't give an accurate assessment on the adjustment from one child to two just yet. Kyle mans Cade most of the day while I nurse, change and cuddle our little Savvy around the clock. Once I really have 2 children home with me full time and Kyle is back at work full time I can let you know. I forgot how magical it is to have such a tiny piece of heaven around the house and it has made the nine months of complete misery so worth it. The sleep deprivation is difficult, but it is so much more rewarding when there is a little one to hold.

Cade is so sweet and gets the biggest kick out of her tiny little feet. He really wants to get Savannah up and going. He is constantly asking me to put her down so he can play with her. He is turning into a great helper, too and is ready to fetch anything we need for her. He is devistated that Cousin Tyler is back home in Utah, but coping with each hour that goes by that he can't play cars with him.

Cade Meets Savannah

Since being admitted to the hospital we have been very fortunate to have Michelle's sister Melody at home watching Cade. She has a 8 month old boy Ty and he and Cade love playing together. Cade has been such a big "helper" with Ty. For example, yesterday he shut Ty's hand in a drawer, bit his finger, and tried to piggyback on top of him! "It is great fun having Ty around"... Cade must think.

Yesterday when Melody came to visit us at the hospital we were excited to see how Cade would react to having Savannah around. He knows for the last 9 months that Savannah was "in mommas tummy" so we were anxious to see his reaction when we told him she was officially out. When we told him that the baby we were holding was Savannah he said that it was "grandpa's baby." We aren't quite sure what grandpa he is talking about, but we think he is pretty sure that Savannah is still in momma's tummy. Cade hasn't acted at all like we thought. On both hospital visits he has pretty much seemed indifferent of having a little sister and more interested in playing with cousin Tyler. I did coax him in to holding her by giving him a piece of rice crispy snack. Last night when Cade was sitting on the bed with Mommy giving her a hug goodbye he said, "I like Savannah." It was so cute!

And now there are four!

We welcome Savannah Lee Woodbury!

Born January 11, 2007

3:16 pm

7 lbs 9 oz

19 inches

The Labor Story......

We woke up this morning at 5:30am and left for the hospital since we had a 6:00am induction appointment. Things went very smooth. At 8am they started her on pitocin. At 10:30, they broke her water, and at 11am Michelle received an epidural. She was floating at that point and hadn't felt that good in at least 9 monhts. We watched a couple of episodes of Smallville and the movie Invinceable (good flick by the way). After talking to her friend Liz at about 3pm she decided it might be time to push. Sure enough the nurses said she was ready to go and everyone started running around getting everything ready. When it was time to push Michelle pushed 2 times and then Savannah came out on the 3rd. "It was a piece of cake!" Michelle exclaimed."I'd rather give birth 100 times than go through another nine months of pregnancy." Savannah Lee is beautiful. She is 19" long and weighed in at 7lbs 9oz. She has HUGE puffy cheeks and her mothers' eyes I think. I am sure that when my wife gets a moment she will edit this entry.

Jared and Jodie had a baby last week and he titled the entry "some things change our lives". What a perfect description of feelings felt when having a baby. As I held her in my arms for her first nap I wondered what kind of girl she is going to be and what kind of relationship we will have with her.

D-Day!

I am officially scheduled to be induced on January 11th at 6am! Hallelujiah! I was afraid of delivering a giant (at 37 weeks she was supposedly 7 lbs) and I am tired of itching (i have this unbearable rash from my neck to my ankles that won't go away until the baby is born-- ah, the pleasantries of pregnancy!) so an induction seems to be the best option. I was induced with Cade and that was a very pleasant experience. Hopefully it goes the same way the second time around, right? There is still so much to get done before she comes and that is stressful, but it's nice to know when it will happen. At least our countertops are finally installed! We have been living without countertops, a sink, or dishwasher for 2+weeks so hopefully that can get finished before the weekend. I'll get around to posting a picture soon....