Lydia misses her Uncle Jeff

It seems like every time we go to my parents house to visit, Lydia will run to the top of the stairs and start calling for her Uncle Jeff. I'm sure it is a cute but unwanted reminder for my mom that her baby boy is gone on his mission. 
At my house we have a globe. Anthony and I will point out on the globe where Jeff is on his mission. when she sees the globe, she will point at Russia (not even close to where Jeff is) and say: Jeff, Mission! Jeff, Mission! I have no idea why she points at Russia. It could just be the odds, seeing as Russia is the largest country. haha. 

For all those who are wondering, he is really enjoying his mission in the West Indies. He is in St. Lucia which is a small island. He and his companion opened the area that they are in right now. I guess there aren't too many members so they don't get fed very often. Jeff will have to learn a thing or two. I am pretty sure the only thing he knew how to cook before he left was ramen noodles. :)

Uncle Jeff and his nieces and nephew

Brigham Rodney

I don't know why, but I love to read birth stories. They are all so different! Since I like to read them, I figure I should write Brigham's down so others can see how it went the second time around for me.

I started having contractions on August 26th at about noon. Anthony, Lydia and I were at the Helen Schuler Coulee Centre just checking things out. We went for a walk outside after we saw everything there was to see in the building. I was getting pretty uncomfortable about every five minutes. This pregnancy I had Braxton Hicks contractions so at this point it wasn't really anything different than what I had been feeling for the past week. But they stayed. So we drove over to my parents house and Anthony persuaded me to get on the treadmill to keep the contractions coming. While I was on the treadmill the contractions came 3 minutes apart, but they weren't painful to the point where I felt like I needed to go to the hospital. I went on and off the treadmill for a couple hours and the contractions would speed up to every 3 minutes while moving and down to 6 minutes apart when I was just sitting down. I got an app to measure contractions and by the time I went to the hospital they had been averaging about every four minutes. I didn't go to the hospital until about 8PM after I realized that I hadn't really been feeling any movement from Brigham. I figured he was just tired from being squished all day. After my dad, Anthony and Jeff gave me a blessing I went to the hospital with my sweet husband.

When I got to the hospital I was still in really good spirits, nobody really believed me that I was in labor. I didn't really believe it at that point either. I was certain they were going to send me home. They hooked me up to the machine to monitor Brigham's movements. I had to be hooked up longer than normal because he was sleeping. The monitor picked up a few movements and the nurse said he was doing perfectly fine. My contractions had slowed down to once every 7 minutes or so. The nice nurse lady checked me anyways because the whole labor and delivery floor was empty. She was very surprised to find that I was 5 cm. My water had not yet broken but she said that she would call my doctor and get him to break it for me.

He came and broke my water around 10:00ish and they put me back on the monitor and my contractions were still only 7 minutes apart. so I went for a walk after they took some blood from me. I immediately got a hematoma in my arm. It just looked really swollen. At about 11:00PM I was feeling something. haha. I went back into my room and endured through contractions coming every three minutes or so. Soon enough the nurses were looking nervously at each other and then out the window. The one nurse kept on checking her watch. I was really feeling it at this point and I thought to myself I don't remember it being this painful. haha. She just helped me breathe through it and finally the doctor showed up just after midnight. Brigham was born about 5 minutes after he showed up. I was soo happy that I only had to push for 5 minutes!! I pushed for 2 hours and 45 minutes with Lydia, so this was a piece of cake!

Brigham Rodney Burdett was born at 12:15AM on August 27th, 2013. 6 days early. He weighed 7 lbs 15oz and was 21.5 inches long. He has been an excellent baby and lets me sleep. Lydia on the other hand had a bit of jealousy and started waking up in the middle of the night after having slept through the night for over a year! So between Brigham and Lydia waking up I got only a few hours of sleep the first couple of weeks.

Lydia has since been cured of her terrible sleeping habits, but has not been cured of her pinching habits. She definitely loves her little brother and hugs and kisses him all the time, but she is still almost a 2 year old.

Having two kids is definitely hard, but so fun at the same time! They are both so cute and I totally get what is meant when they say you will have joy in your posterity.

 Lydia meeting Brigham for the first time.

 The Burdett Family:)

Leaving the hospital

The results are in!

First off, can I just say how grateful I am to be given to opportunity to bear children. I know there are many out there who want nothing else, but aren't given the chance. I look up to and respect these women and the strength that they have.

I have been blessed with a strong testimony of eternal families. I am so thankful to know that my family will be a forever unit. I can't imagine bearing children without the knowledge that I would be tied to them beyond this earthly life.

 I am extremely grateful for an incredibly good looking and understanding husband. I can't imagine what I would do if he wasn't good looking. Haha. Only kidding. He is an amazing father to our little girl Lydia and I know he is going to be an amazing father for our next child.

So without further ado I will enlighten you as to the gender of this little nugget.

He's got his daddys calves! That's right! It's a BOY!

We are very excited!

When we had Lydias ultrasound I was completely in the dark even though 

I was looking intently to see if it was a boy or a girl. 

This time, there was no doubt. Haha. 

Now it looks like all the girl names we picked out will have to wait. 

No longer toothless!

9 months old

Little Miss Lydia is 3/4 of a year old! She has grown so much since she was born. At birth she weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 21 1/4 inches long. Currently, she weighs 19lbs and is 29 1/4 inches long. She has learned so many new skills and she loves her mom and dad but doesn't play strange with anyone yet. Unless you are wearing a mask, or as Uncle Jeff found out, wearing eye black at a football game. haha. Lydia has traveled to B.C. and Utah to meet family. Anthony and I have figured out that babies travel much better at night when they are sleeping. Lydia sleeps exceptionally well. She has figured out this whole bedtime thing and usually goes to bed without a fight. She has been sleeping 12 hours straight through the night for about a month. I am continually amazed at what a good baby she is. She is definitely developing a little personality. One thing I find funny is the fact that she makes me hold her bottle when she drinks, but if I give her a cup she wants to do it herself. It usually works for the first two sips, but then she starts playing with the cup and next thing you know she is soaked. haha. She is definitely the highlight of my day:) Oh I almost forgot to mention that she has a tooth! So cute! She cut it thanksgiving day. I guess she wanted some turkey....

With Grandpa Pierson at Jeff's football game.

  

It is the end of October and our Stake is wrapping up the OMNI (one million names indexed) challenge. It has been fun to do and honestly, it just feels like a game. If you have never indexed before go here and download the program so you can start. https://www.familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing It is such an easy way to serve without leaving your home. 

I am so looking forward to Christmas time! I think I will actually decorate my house a little bit this year. I'm sure Lydia will love it. :)

Photo Book

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She is growing :)

Well it has been a while, but it hasn't been a year which is how long my sister guessed it would take me to post again. Haha. Life with a baby is great. A lot different than I ever expected. It is a strange thing to have to decipher what your baby wants when they can't speak. I can't believe it has almost been 5 months since she was born! Crazy! She has started to make squeaks and squawks that make me think she is actually trying to say something. It is much nicer than crying. :) I love that she is developing a personality now and can interact with others. She loves to play with her aunts and uncles and especially loves going to Grandma Pierson's house. I love having family so close because it means I have baby-sitters that I can count on when Anthony takes me out on dates :) We got to go to MIB III recently and I really enjoyed it!

We have taken Lydia to so many basketball and rugby games that she probably knows all the rules already and will be ready to play once she gets old enough. hehe :)

Here she is playing with Uncle Jeff's baby sized rugby ball that he won.

Having fun at Auntie Lindsey's basketball game.

Our Little Girl

Well, our baby girl just couldn't wait for her due date. Lydia Estelle graced us with her presence 18 days early! She was born January 28th at 7:31 PM and weighed 7 lbs 4 oz.

Anthony and I had planned to go to the Temple that morning and then come home and get some serious renovation work done on the house. We got to the Temple..... but then my water broke while I was in the Temple. (Yes I was that girl that you heard about. haha) My cousin said she had heard that someones water broke in the Temple, but she didn't know it was me until my Grandma told her later that day.

After my water broke I didn't start having any contractions until about 1:00 PM. That gave us time to pack a hospital bag. We went to the hospital at 2:00 PM and 2 hours later I was fully dilated. I was surprised though how many times they ask you if you want anything for pain. I mean, I said I didn't want anything the first time. Now this little girl took her time coming and made me work real hard. 3 hours of pushing is way too long. Fortunately Lydia was fine the whole time and my doctor and the nurses were so supportive and kept me going. I am a strong believer that women were made to have babies and don't need drugs. Then again I am quite used to pain and pushing my limits.

Having her here with us has been amazing. So far she has been a great little eater and sleeper. And she is so cute! Of course I am her mother, but she really is adorable. :) I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a mother and a wife. I love my little family.