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

Festival of the Four Rivers

This weekend Becky and I went to a bluegrass festival in Hinton, WV; the festival is called the Festival of the Rivers because several rivers converge near Hinton. It was 50 minute drive for us, and it took us deep into the hills of West Virginia. Luckily the weather was nice. It was a beautiful drive, but, like most country roads here, it can be twisty and can make you car sick if you’re not careful. Hinton, we learned, is a small town surrounded by tall mountains on every side. It’s set right on a river bank too. It seems isolated and peaceful, though a little bit rundown too. The mountains here aren’t exactly like the mountains out West; they’re not as high for one thing, but they are too steep to climb; and here you never see the actual ground because there are too many trees growing. So you get these lush green walls rising up all around. It is a very pretty area.
The festival was set up next to the city swimming pool. The first thing I thought when I got there was “coming here was a mistake.” There were a few small bleachers and two or three small food venders set up and about 10 people listening to the performer. The performer had lots of heart, but it sounded like the kind of performance you hear at an audition for a school talent show (just the audition, because the singer doesn’t get into the actual show). He was very religious, and for awhile Becky and I felt like we were at a revival. One of his songs was a knock-off of the rock-n-roll song where the chorus is “Give me the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in the rock-n-roll and drift away.” This man sang: “Give me my Jesus and free my soul, I wanna get lost in the Holy Ghost and drift away.” I had to chuckle a little bit when I heard those lyrics.
We decided to stay for the next band, and I’m glad we did. The next band was actually quite good. They were a bit more blues than bluegrass, but they had a fun sound. I’ve uploaded 2 videos of them for you. They don’t come through very well on our camera, but they were actually pretty fun to listen too. The second band is named Margo and the Bluegills. By the time we left many more people had arrived, so it was starting to shape up into a pretty good festival. We looked at the program and saw some bands that had traveled quite a distance to play at the festival. The moral from this trip is: Don’t arrive too early; or perhaps: Don’t judge too quickly.
It was fun to get out and do something out of the ordinary on Labor Day. We don’t have any special love of bluegrass music, but it was nice to just change up our routine a little and see something new. Now we are just hunkering down and waiting for Sophie to come; I’m sure that she will shake up our routine enough to satisfy even the strongest urge.

This is a picture of the cutest girl at the festival! (I'm talking about the girl in blue looking at the camera by the way)

This is the first singer and a friend of his.

This is the second band, Margo and the Blugills. You'll notice the old couple off to the left dancing to the music.

My Project

Last year I started a project here in my home with the hopes to one day sale my homemade items to folks here locally or maybe on line. My idea was to make a blanket that had a road on it, so the child could use it both as a toy and blanket for sleeping. I began this blanket before I found my current job, but shortly there after I started working as a receptionist part time in a dental office, so my blanket was put on hold. After things settled down I started working on my blanket again. I had it nearly finished by the time Stewart and I went home to Idaho for the summer, I decided to take it with us so I could get Stewart’s Grandma (who is an amazing quilter) show me some of her neat quilting tips, and tricks of the trade. By the time we left Idaho my blanket was finished! I am very happy with how it turned out, yes I can see my simple errors I made while in the learning process, but with every mistake I made a note of what I will do differently when I make the next one. I just recently sold this blanket to my office manager at work who will give it to her grand kids; she was so excited to have it from the moment I showed her. I decided to post some pictures of the blanket, to show you just what I am talking about. It was lots of fun to mentally take an image and see it go from the pattern stage all the way to the completed stage. The best part is it turned out just the way I pictured it! Many thanks to all who offered there opinions, and advice... I could not have done it without you!

The pattern Stage

The Finished Project

More Finished Project

Close up of some of the buildings or houses

Finished Project with the Backside