Christmas Vacation 2010 Part 1

We have had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year! The story of this Christmas vacation starts a few weeks before Christmas. We got an email from Becky’s sister Emily, who until two days ago was a missionary for our church, was stationed in Clarksville, TN asking us to come to Clarksville for Christmas and stay with Becky’s cousin who is stationed there at Fort Campbell and we could all visit together for a few hours. Missionaries don’t usually get to see their families on their missions, so this was an unusual treat. She said that she wanted to visit with us, but we all know that she really wanted to visit with her brand-new niece. We thought we’d have some fun so we told her that we had already committed to other plans for Christmas and that we were sorry. Then we made plans with Becky’s cousin to come and visit.

Fast forward a few weeks. My last test was on Friday the 17th; it felt so nice to be done with homework for a couple of weeks. We spent the first few days just hanging around the apartment, sleeping in, watching movies, and reading books. A friend loaned me the last book in the Harry Potter series and so I spent a lot of time at the first part of the break reading it.

On Thursday the 23 we packed our bags and left for Clarksville, TN. We encountered some bad weather on the way, but arrived safely. Becky’s Aunt, Uncle, and 2 other cousins were also visiting as well, so we had a full house. We talked and played games, and drove around to look at the lights. Sophie was the center of attention for most of the time. On Christmas Eve we called to my family gathered out West and listened while my younger brother opened his mission call. He has been called to serve in the California Arcadia Mission, English speaking. We are very happy for him!

On Christmas Day Emily had scheduled a baptism for one of their investigators. She knew that her cousin’s family would be there, but she didn’t know Becky and I would be there. When we walked in the door her jaw dropped. She ran and hugged Becky and said “You lied to me!” It was a fun surprise. The baptism went well. I was even asked to give the closing prayer…in Spanish! I took a year of Spanish in college, but my Spanish has rusted a little over time. I was grateful for the chance to participate in that way. After the baptism Emily and her companions came to visit at Becky’s cousin’s house. We had a houseful! It was like a mini-family reunion in the East while the rest of our families met out West. We had a delicious meal and spent the rest of the day talking and mingling.

Christmas Vacation 2010 part 2

The next day was a Sunday, so Becky and I attended an early morning church service and then hit the road. We drove for 5 hours and stopped when Sophie had had all she could handle of driving. We spent the evening in a hotel in Sevierville, TN, which, we learned is the hometown of Dolly Parton. The next morning we went to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. We really loved the exhibits there. It was expensive, but worth the money. The videos and pictures below will show it better than I can explain it. We really like Gatlinburg, TN. It’s a neat little family-friendly vacation site. It kind of reminds me of Jackson Hole, WY, only bigger. After the aquarium and a delicious lunch at Corky’s BBQ we headed for home. This will be one of my most memorable Christmases ever I think. I really enjoyed the trip, and I’m so glad that I have my favorite traveling companions with me: Becky and Sophie.

You can see in this picture that Sophie has had about all she can take...she's ready for lunch!

Okay, now she's all better

And what
else do you need after lunch but a good nap?

Here's the whole family

Here's Sophie, burried under wrapping paper from the presents.

Christmas Vacation Part 3

This first video is of the penguin exhibit at the aquarium. The penguines were very active and energetic. It was fun to watch them swim around.

This video was taken in a long tunnel they had that ran underneath the pools. You stand on a little conveyor belt that shuffles you through the tunnel. They bring you right inside the displays! It's a really cool experience.

In this video Becky goes hunting for a horseshoe crab dinner

Sophie's Baby Blessing

Today Sophie was blessed in church; Stewart gave her a very nice blessing. We are grateful to be her parents; she really is a good baby. Sophie was blessed in the same dress I was blessed in 28 ½ years ago. It was made by my Grandma Lucille Willard. I thought it appropriate for her to wear it seeing we named her Sophie Lucille, after both me and my Grandma Willard.

The only thing that could have made this day any better would be to have our families here to experience the joy of the day with us. Since we did not have any immediate family here with us Stewart asked his colleges from school, Joe Sorber, James Bishop, and Derek Rodeback to participate in Sophie’s blessing. These three families moved out to West Virginia at the same time we did, so in a sense we have all become each other's family out here. He also had his former counselor who served with him in the Young Men's Presidency when he was first called, Doug Bogus. He and his wife were the first people from the ward that I really got to know. Shortly after we moved here the Bishop and his family had a 24th of July celebration at their home, the Bogus’s came up and started visiting with Stewart and I as soon as we got there. Since then they have become great friends to us, we feel so blessed to know them. We also had the 1st counselor in the Bishopric stand in as well, Brother Robert Williamson.

It was a great day and we are grateful to all our friends that made it special. We know our families wanted to be here and were here in spirit, thanks for thinking of us, we love all tons. Since I know you all love pictures here are some pictures from the day’s events.

The Mustache

Last month was prostate cancer awareness month, aka Movember. So in honor of the month of November and in order to raise awareness about prostate cancer, all the guys who wanted to participate at the school grew mustaches. Stewart was one of them… below are the pictures I took to document his facial hair experience. All I have to say is thank goodness its December now… I missed kissing my freshly shaven Stewart.

First half of the month

Second half of the month

We're in Trouble

Sophie found her thumb this past week, at first I thought it was just a random thing… well I was wrong! I have caught her sucking her thumb several times since, I guess we have our work cut out for us getting her to stop this bad habit before it becomes a habit… wish us luck!

The Outcome

So my last post explained that last night Stewart and I learned where we would be going for his third year of medical school. It was a tense evening once the area we wanted as our first choice exceeded then number of spots available for that area. There were 18 spots and 21 people that wanted that area, so it was one of the sites that went to lottery. I was not nervous all day long, but once we got there and the area went to lottery I started to feel my nerves becoming unsettled.

The outcome however resulted in a big sigh of relief when our name was pulled out of the basket! So we are now moving to Beckley, WV about 45 minutes away from here. We don’t move until June, so that will give us some time to look and find a place to stay. It is a relief to know what the near future holds for us… I don’t enjoy not having a game plan. Stewart and I feel good about this decision to move to Beckley…I just hope Beckley is as nice to us as Lewisburg has been. Ciao!

Choices Choices Choices

Today Stewart and I will learn where we will be moving for his third year of medical school. For those un-aware, Stewart is going to med school here in West Virginia. Since the school is not located in a big city they are unable to rotate their students thru an adjoining hospital to fulfill the third year requirements. So instead his school has made arrangements with several different hospitals in West Virginia to take their students and give them hospital experience. We have been anticipating this day for a long while now; it will be nice to know where we are going… finally.

Because we wanted to make the best decision on where to move to Stewart and I have taken a few road trips to check out the areas and the hospitals of the sites were most interested in. We have been up north to the northern panhandle of WV and to the eastern part of the state, as well as to the western part of the state. It has been a process of elimination for us. Some areas we visited we loved the town and despised the hospital. Other areas we loved the hospital and disliked the town. We finally narrowed down our decision to a town called Beckley just west of Lewisburg about 45 mins away. But then again our decision could change before the end of the day.

One thing that makes this process even more nerve racking is that, just because we have an idea about were we want to go, does not me we are automatically going to that area. We are competing with 200 plus of Stewart’s classmates for these spots. Each site has a certain number of students that can go there. Tonight all of Stewart’s class will get together and each student will write his/her name down on the paper with their selected site choice. If more students write their name down then a site can hold, that site area will go to lottery. That means if there are 5 spots and 10 people wanted to go there, those 10 peoples names will be put in a hat, figuratively, and the first 5 names called will get that site, while the other 5 have to find a site they can live with, with the areas that still have spots available. This means Stewart and I could end up in an area we have not gone to explore if the area we want goes to lottery and we want to risk it. We have a plan A, B and C but if all those fail… I guess it will all work out.

Wish us luck. On a side note, because of all our mini trips to explore the areas of choice our little Sophie has been to FOUR different states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia) all before the age of one month old.

Oh one more thing, Stewart and I decided that it was high time to buy ourselves a couch. We have been using my old twin bed from my single days as our couch, and sense we both decided that we were tired of our legs falling asleep and being uncomfortable all the time, we went out and found ourselves couch. Really we found few couch's with a reasonable price tag, and then we asked Sophie what couch she thought she would like to color on when she got older... and went with the one she chose. Below is a before and after picture. ~HUGS~

Old Couch (PS. Stewart's Grandma Hudson, hand quilted that quilt... she is talented)

The New Couch!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Someone is excited for her first Thanksgiving... not that she gets to partake of any of the food this year. But her joy is contagious so we wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving.



Love the Norths

Making Muffins

This past week Sophie and I were home alone and finding ourselves restless and tired of doing the same old thing day in and out so we decided to make Stewart some Gluten Free Autumn Spice Muffins. We would have taken a drive somewhere but Stewart had the car so that meant were on house arrest. Anyway, we both put on our aprons and I gathered all the ingredients/supplies next to where Sophie sat in her bouncer (on the table) and away we went to work. We had a blast mixing, talking, giggling, and passing gas (Sophie not me). In the end Sophie was board but we had some nice homemade mini muffins for Stewart when he got home. He is one lucky man to have two wonderful gals waiting for him at home at the end of the day, and might I add we are pretty lucky ourselves to have such an amazing husband/father who comes home to us each night.

The Cow Onesie

Sophie received this cute cow onesie/pant outfit at my baby shower in Idaho. I love to dress her in this outfit since I came from a dairy farm and it does not help that she is just so darn cute wearing it. I took these pictures so my Aunt Elaine could see her in it (she is the one that gave them to her), I don’t know if she checks my blog so Corinne will have to tell her to go look at it (hint hint Corinne).
Things here are going well, Sophie slept 4 strait hours last night… it was heavenly! Today we got up and were ready for the day all by 9:00am! That is an accomplishment for us, since it has been 11:00 or 12:00 before we have been motivated to do anything. Slowly but surly we are figuring our daily routines out. I love being a mom, but some days I can’t wait for Stewart to get home so I can have some adult conversations, or hand Sophie off to him so I can get some stuff that I have been meaning to do all day done. Plus Stewart does not mind having the chance to be with his daughter.

There really is not much else to post, just wanted to post Sophie’s cow outfit pictures, and for good measure I will throw in a picture of Stewart and Sophie bonding. Ciao!

Sophie in her "moo cow" onesie (don’t worry this was a monitored “tummy time” experience)

Sophie and her Dad

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! For Halloween this year we decided to go as a pumpkin patch. We all dressed up in black pants, and orange shirts with a pumpkin hat. It was fun to have Sophie join our pumpkin patchthis year. We think she is the cutest pumpkin ever.

It is hard to believe that Sophie is one month old tomorrow. She is growing so much! It she seems to be getting taller, and has already grown out of some of the clothes. Stewart will come home from school and say she has grown so much during the day… I guess me being with her all the time I don’t get that same visual. Anyway, we are adjusting well to having Sophie in our family. Honestly it feels like we have always been a family, and there was never a time we did not have Sophie in our home. It’s just a natural feeling. So far she is slowly getting into a routine where she is sleeping through the nights better only waking up one or two times for feedings. She is a noisy baby when she sleeps; it has taken me a while to learn to weed out the important sounds she makes vs. all the background noise she makes. I am just now getting to the point I can sleep thru all her squeals or grunts without waking all the time.

Other news besides Sophie, Stewart and a classmate of his went goose hunting this past week before school. Stewart had fun, although he did not get anything, his friend did and he gave us the goose since he goes hunting all the time… oh joy! I actually unintentionally burnt the goose when I was fixing it for dinner. You thought goose was a tough meat to start with; it was really tough when I was done with it.

Stewart had a big test about two weeks ago, we were pleased he got an excellent grade back on it. We were worried his grades may slip some since Sophie is here now, but he seems to be doing well with the adjustment to Sophie. He works hard to stay on top of his studies and still have time for his family. Sophie and I are grateful for that. Well I need to go, motherhood is calling… I have much to do and no time to get it all done. Loves!

Sophie Lucille North

Well it is Sophie’s one week birthday today, and it is about time I post something on this blog so why not dedicate this post to our lovely daughter Sophie Lucille North. We love our little Sophie Lou lots and lots.

Sophie was born on October 1, 2010 at 8:14am, weighing 6lbs and 7.6 ounces. Several weeks before Sophie was born we learned that she was breech. So with the help and advice of friends, family, and professionals we tried almost everything we could think of to turn our little Sophie around. Nothing worked, so the doctor Stewart and I met with two weeks before Sophie’s birth discussed the fact that we would have to have a c-section and between him and us we determined to wait until I was in labor before we did the c-section. Well at our next appointment I met with a different doctor since the doctor I met with before was out of town. This doctor decided that the decision we made before was not going to work for her and that we needed to have a c-section immediately. Long story short I was scheduled for a c-section the very next day and was told to be there at 5:30am. Needless to say this change of plans had both Stewart and I shook up.

October 1st came and the so thought rushed/ frantic car ride to the hospital was nothing more than a planned calm trip there. It was strange to think that Stewart and I walked out of our house with just the two of us and would be coming home with three of us in tow.

When we got to the hospital I was checked into the OB ward, I spent about 2 hours there being monitored and waiting for the OR to call up and request my presence. Around 7:00am or shortly thereafter I was taken down to the OR where they inserted an IV and did a spinal tap. Since Stewart is a medical student they let him come in and be with me while they did the spinal tap, normally they don’t allow the fathers in since most pass out at this point. They hospital staff were extra friendly, sensing I was nervous they made sure to explain what was happening. I really appreciated that, but I had to ask them to stop telling me what they were doing when the c-section was about to start… I did not want to know what they were doing at that point. Stewart sat on a stool up by my head, although he was invited to watch from the other side of the curtain if he wanted. I am glad he chose to hold my hand, and not be all consumed in the medical side of Sophie’s birth.

From the time they rolled me into the OR it did not take long for the medical professionals to deliver Sophie. As soon as she was out they held her up over the curtain so I we could see her, and then the nurses took her off to the side to clean her up. I loved hearing her small whimpers, I say whimpers because she really was not (and is not) a big crier. Before they took Sophie up to the OB ward they let Stewart and I have a minute to look at her and hold her. My first words to Stewart were “she is so tiny” and “oh she has my nose… good” we are still laughing about this today, and I am sure he won’t let me live it down for a while.

Stewart was asked to go with the nurses to the OB ward and wait for me up there while I stayed behind to recover. I stayed in the OR recovery room for about 1 ½ hours after Stewart and Sophie left. It was hard to be apart from them, but I was glad Stewart was with Sophie. He told me later that while I was in recovery he was watching the nurse’s bath, weigh, and footprint Sophie. He told me that it was a neat experience for him to be there with Sophie (the nursery was empty) he really bonded with her at that time. By the time I was wheeled up to the OB ward, Sophie and Stewart were waiting for me to join them. As they wheeled me by the Nursery window the nurse held up Sophie for me to see, she was so tiny and perfect. Stewart met me in the room and then shortly thereafter Sophie joined us. After that we were left alone for a while. Those first few moments with just the three of us in the room, as a family, are really special to us. We could feel the presence of a loving Heavenly Father near us, the Spirit was strong.

Because I had a C-section I had to stay in the hospital a minimum of 48 hours, it was not too bad. Stewart and I really appreciated the nurses who helped us. All of them were amazing and went above and beyond their job descriptions to help us figure things out… you know things like how to properly feed your baby, and all those sort of questions new parents have.

Anyway, we were discharged from the hospital on Sunday, October 3rd around 1:30pm. It was nice to come home, although it was strange to have a new little baby riding in the back seat. We are getting accustomed to the new reality, but that first drive home from the hospital was surreal.

So far things at home are going well; Sophie and I have had to learn to work as a team with the whole feeding thing. We are learning lots about each other and our personalities. My mom has been here since last week, she has been a huge help to us, we appreciate her willingness to come and help out. I know that this post has gone on long enough and that really everyone wants to see pictures of Sophie so I won’t prolong the inevitable. But before I close, I want to mention how blessed we are as a family. I am grateful to Stewart who is an amazing father; I love to see him interacting with Sophie they have a special father/daughter bond already. And this blog would not be complete without stating that we are grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who has in-trusted with our little Sophie, to care for here on earth. LOVES!

Me at 39 (almost 40) weeks pregnant, right before we walked out the door to go to the hospital

Stewart and Sophie, soon after I joined them in the OB ward

Sophie L. North, 3 hours old

First family Picture

Stewart and Sophie again... bonding

Becky and Sophie

Sophie

Stewart and Sophie, at home playing games. Stewart believes Sophie is his good luck charm, she must be because he has won every game we've played since we got home.

Sophie

Sophie all dressed up

Grandma Hegerhorst and Sophie (Gma thinks Sophie is going home with her in her bag)

Grandma Hegerhorst and Sophie