A Wonderful Christmas!

Hank had a great Christmas for his first year ever. We surrounded him with gifts and took some fun pictures. Thank you to all of our family that really made Christmas for us this year. It was amazing! While we were opening gifts Hank's eyes would start to roll back in his head... he finally crashed. :)

So I have to tell you that we started the most amazing new Christmas tradition (now that we have our own new little family): This year I pulled out our nativity scene, but no one had noticed that I had wrapped the baby Jesus. On Christmas morning (from this year on) Baby Jesus will be the very FIRST gift we open, as we talk, celebrate and remember ever year that he is the reason we have Christmas. Pretty cool family tradition huh? :) I would recommend it. I can't wait to do this every year with Hank and the rest of our kids.

On Christmas night we had a party over at Josh's, it was a wonderful time, Hank was so good and he even landed himself into 2 outfits. :) We sang Christmas carols from Silent Night to Avve Maria, and had a lot of fun. Dinner was awesome, and being together made the evening special.
Isn't he sooo stinkin cute!?!?!

Back to the Grind

Well, just this last week Tyler went back to work at the Hospital. It actually has been going okay being at home all alone to take care of Hank, and by the time Tyler gets home he is wanting time with Hank and I am usually ready for some relief. We have both been out to get some Christmas shopping done, though there really isn't a lot to get for Hank that he would even understand. But we did get him a humidifier since I ended up getting us all sick. Yuck.

We have enjoyed watching Hank develop a little personality as he starts to smile and stare more... and he still loves to coo and talk to himself. He has started to roll over more often from his stomach to his back he will roll over 4 or 5 times in a row. I will take more pictures of him as he continues to grow and post them on here. Hank just recently weighed in 9lbs 14oz and 22 inches long...

(Funny Picture of Ty at work, above) Tyler will be talking to 3 different colleges tomorrow about their nursing programs, lets hope that they aren't full. We will keep you posted on how that goes, who knows what will happen if they are full ??

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Love, Lindsey, Tyler and Hank the Tank

A Very Grateful Thanksgiving

Hank on Thanksgiving Day

So I thought I would update the blog this morning as I watch Hank have his tummy time. He is so much more alert from even just weeks before! Anyhow... we went to St. George to visit my family this year for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time. My sisters, mom and aunt threw me a baby shower for Hank and it was so nice just to take him out in public finally and to have lunch and visit. I ran into a few people that I knew from highschool and it was so fun to see them.
Tyler spent a lot of time with our nephew Braylin, he shot bow in the backyard, and went out into the desert with the guys to shoot clay pigeons. It was nice for him to have some time away from the baby for once, since he is still off on maternity leave. :) Ty goes back to work on December 8th and I go back on January 13th. I think for Tyler one of the highlights of the trip was taking all the teenagers to WalMart for black friday shopping. What a nut. :) Love you babe.

We finally got some family photos done while we were in St. George. I wanted to have some "red rock" in our photos and we think they turned out great. And Hank sure looked sharp Thanksgiving day (thanks for the suit Steph), and the family just oohed and ahhed over him. We are so thankful for family and for our new beautiful healthy baby boy Hank.
Now onto the Christmas season, we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior and enjoying the holiday as our own new little family.

The Latest News and some Great Photos

So I find myself lately trying to catch up on everything from the constant battle of baby laundry to doctors appointments to finishing Hank's announcements... at times it seems a bit crazy, but we are starting to get things in order. I may not get to my daily shower until 2:00, but at least I get to it. :) So Hank is doing okay with his routine. We find that if we throw a wrench in the system that it seems to catch him off guard. He is on a solid schedule now of 4am, 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm, and then he will sleep until the next 4am. It seems that he is pretty regular and sometimes right to the minute of that hour he will wake up. I'm just glad he is on any type of schedule, as it just seems to make things easier.
So the biggest help has been having Ty at home. I love that he has had so much time off to help out with Hank. It really has been the most time we have ever spent with each other since our honeymoon. So great!!!
So my 25th birthday is this coming Friday... you almost seem to forget things that seemed so important to you before. But, being that this is still my day... I believe that I will still spend it at home, with the 2 best guys I know... my hubby and my son. And I would love more than anything, a home made cake... hold the chocolate! I never thought I would say that, but it doesn't agree with Hank's tummy, and the sleep that I will lose, would not be worth the flavor.
So I wanted to include this teaser photo of Hank as part of the photos that will go out for his birth announcements. Enjoy. Love to all, and thank you again for your prayers as we are still learning what "good" parenting is all about.

Hank's Homecoming and Halloween

So after trying to get settled into our home with our first baby... I might just say that we have both found ourselves at one point or another, deliriously exhausted. :) I happen to have these few moments as Hank is asleep to try and blog (which at times can take me 10 - 15 minutes).
So I guess I am saying that I really hope you enjoy my blogging, because my time is becoming more and more valuable. And I blog for you... :) definitely not for me. :) So anyhow. Hank is so adorable, and at times being a parent is hard. I am so glad that Tyler has this time off to be with me.
I am healing extremely well for having a c-section. I have been "up - and - at - em" since day 2. I find that the healing process has been pretty good, but I probably should have taken some time to slow down and recover... which is just not like me. :)
Well I wanted to share some photos of our beautiful baby boy, and include some from Halloween. Love to all!!! Thanks for your prayers and your gifts!
Love, Lindsey, Tyler, & Hank.

He's Here: HANK AARON LABRUM, Finally!!!

Friday the 24th we headed to the hospital for induction. After about 20 hours of labor my doctor called for a Cesarian Section. I held off on the epidural for 7 hours before asking. It was worth it, that's for sure.

So we ended up with such a precious gift from God. Hank is so handsome. And we are so lucky to have him here finally.

Hank Aaron Labrum was born on October 25, 2008 at 11:25am, he weighed 7 lbs 13 oz. and was a long 21 inches. Dark brown hair and so far dark blue eyes (which will probably change). Here are the latest photos.

HANK THE TANK!

Our Final Weekend before "Parenthood"

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

So Tyler and I have really tried to take advantage of having these last couple of weekends to ourselves before Hank arrives. Granted we knew he could come anyday, so we wanted to take time and just relax and enjoy. Last weekend we went to Schnepf Farms and watched the families enjoying a night of entertainment while we ate farm grown & roasted corn on the cob - mmmm. We also went and saw a movie called "Fireproof," we loved it. Nice to see a movie that was a little different from Batman. :)

This weekend I really felt like Tyler should get his fix for fun, so I took him out to Uncle Bears last night to enjoy a dark side of the moon (beer) and get a man burger with blue cheese and mushrooms... of course this was after I went out with my girlfriend Stephanie and had some much needed girl talk. Today (Sunday) has been all about relaxation, early morning Dunkin' Donuts, a cool breeze at Red Mountain Park for Fishing, and then to head home for the rest of the day to watch Sunday football, bbq and kick our feet up, just after some much needed Cold Stone Ice cream to finish off our fishing trip.

SO incase you haven't heard... Tyler and I have an induction date. We know that by next weekend, Hank will be here and we will be busy parents. If Hank doesn't come on his own soon, I will be getting induced by 8:00am Friday morning the 24th of October.

Below are some pictures of our day out... and let me just say that incase I don't talk to you again until our entire life has changed (as we know it will)... that Tyler and I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to have this baby. We feel that God blessed us with 6 and 1/2 wonderful years for our marriage to grow, and 8 wonderful years of becoming the best of friends. We feel we are ready for this next stage in life and we pray that God gives us the best wisdom and discernment in "raising up our child in the way that he should go."

12 DAYS LEFT AND A LOT GOING ON

So we have passed the 38 week mark... and there are 12 days left. Guess what??? I am uncomfortable! :) I feel like I've done really really well thus far. I haven't complained much... in fact, I was even saying before this week that I didn't care if Hank came 2 weeks late. Well, now I care. :) Go Figure.

I am tired of these uncomfortable contractions, tired of waddling because my pelvis hurts, and just plain tired because I'm either up at night ready to puke or can't sleep because my heartburn makes me want to puke. Am I cranky? Of course not... :) I'm just a large pregnant woman that is dang ready to have this kid.

I actually stayed home from work today because last night I only had 2 hours of sleep before it would be time for me to get up and go to work. I paced the house wondering whether or not to go to the hospital because of my contractions and nausea... then I would walk to Tyler's side of the bed see him sleeping comfortably (debating whether to wake him) and then figure that if I took a shower maybe it would help with my contractions and/or nausea. Needless to say 3 showers later, a whole lot of pacing and nothing but sleeplessness... I decided to call in to work.

How am I?

READY.

So at least I seem to think so. No rush. I want the baby here when he is suppose to be. Could that be now? I hope so. Things seem to be progressing. The doctor said Friday that I was dialated to 1.5, which I think now is at a 13.5 based on my contractions. :) Perhaps not. However I wouldn't be surprised for him to tell me I'm at a 4 on my next visit Friday. I believe that this baby will be here by Sunday the 19th. Either that or he sure is giving me a run for my money.

Here I am, 38 weeks and Ready:

And this picture is showing off the shirt that Tyler surprised me with. Some people all over the valley from Superstition Springs mall to Schnepf Farms have gotten a real kick out of it:

Tyler seems to be having a lot of fun with this pregnancy... (buying shirts like these, playing with things he shouldn't in the doctors office - like rather large Q tips, and one of my favorites: Ty will grab on to my poor swollen feet and press in on them so they look dimpled in about 1/2 inch like memory foam. Thanks babe, for making life interesting. :) Love you!

OCTOBER IS HERE, AND HANK WILL SOON BE TOO!

Can you believe it?!?! 3 weeks and 4 days left!!! We're down to 25 days and counting.

We are starting to get really excited about Hank's birth being just around the corner.

SO, ANY GUESSES ABOUT THE DATE OF THE BIRTH? The due date is October 26th. My mom's birthday is Oct. 11th, My sister's birthday is Oct 23rd, and Halloween is on the 31st. After that, My birthday is November 14th. Doctors say that from every ultrasound and measurement that Hank has followed exactly along with his due date.

Also I just wanted to post pictures of me, here I am at 35 and 36 weeks (hair cut):

LOVE YA'LL ! :)

Hank's Heart: (Fetal PAC) Premature Atrial Contraction

We went to have a visit with Arizona Pediatric Cardiology Consultants today and our doctor, Dr. Jedeikin gave us actually some pretty good news. Come to find out after a pretty lengthy sonogram of Hank's heart, the doctor analyzed the video and was able to tell us right there what was going on.

Hank has irregular heart beats, as of today. They call this Premature Atrial Contraction, or PAC, and this occurs in babies from 1%-2% of every pregnancy. So that is 1-2 babies out of every 100 that will have a case of PAC. "Premature beats or extra beats most often cause irregular heart rhythms. Those that start in the upper chambers are PACs. In reality, the heart doesn't skip a beat (like a murmur). Instead an extra beat comes sooner than normal. Then there's a pause that can cause the next beat to be more forceful." 99.6% of these PAC cases will not progress to tachycardia and eventually go away, associated with good outcome.

The doctor says that this is very normal, and that it is not anything major to worry over. A good majority of the time, once the baby is born, the irregularity PAC goes away. The only thing we would ever have to worry over is if it continues on after he is born, then we would have to visit with a pediatric cardiologist. So far on the worry scale, we are only at a 1 out of 10. We are thankful that this is minor issue, and that Hank is healthy. We will still be allowed to deliver at Tyler's Hospital after all with all of our Banner Health Family close by. :)

P.S. Prayer works!!! And Riley probably goes home tomorrow instead of Sunday!

(Tyler's Bro) Travis & Angela have their baby girl

Our new niece Riley was born Saturday morning at 36 weeks, 1 week premature. (Mine and Angela's due dates are only 9 days apart). Riley was 6lbs 11oz. Supercute baby girl. She had some difficulty learning to breath correctly and so the hospital had her on a CPAP machine for the last 3-4 days. Travis and Angela finally got the chance to hold their baby girl today. She's already starting to show personality and is glad to be off the machines. Lets pray they get to take her home before Sunday, and pray for Angela, recovering from C-Section.

Our little niece, Riley Diane Labrum

Lots of Babies Born this Fall

There are lots of births happening this fall. My cousin Brandi shared her birth experience with me on Wednesday. My sister inlaw's baby is due October 10th. Tyler's close friend Kasey is due 3 days before me on October 23rd. Our baby boy is due in 37 days... WOW. I watch our little counter do it's count-down and I never thought I would see it go so fast. Our due date is October 26th, and we got Hank a little Halloween outfit just incase he is born before Halloween (which is our guess). So far in this pregnancy I have gained 17 pounds and doctors say I am right on track for 34.5 weeks.

So this last Sunday night I ended up in Labor and Delivery at 11:30 at night, I wasn't feeling the baby move and we got a bit nervous. Come to find out, my body was dehydrated and it was causing continual contractions. The nurse had me drink 1/2 a gallon of water before I could be released. I now am taking special care to drink the right amount every day.

It must be normal that my feet are starting to feel swollen, I shut down and get tired right around 3pm and my heartburn drives me nuts. Its all worth it, but I sure am getting ready to have this kid. Tyler and I have gotten everything ready for his arrival and can't think of anything else to prepare for him. I'm sure later we will find out if we are wrong :)

I am pretty sure Tyler was "pooching" for this picture :) haha LOL, cute.

Phoenix Shower & A Lot of Growing!! :)

Above is a picture of Tyler and I at 33 weeks with Hank, WOW

and I still have 7 weeks to go!! I am starting to feel a bit large... and growing even more! Buster thought he would jump in the picture at the last minute. :) He has been doing much better since Bab's passing.

So my Mom came down to Phx for the shower and it was so awesome to see her. Mom really hadn't had the chance to see me pregnant. She got to feel Hank kick and it was just a delight to share my pregnancy with her. I miss her already, she is such a light to everyone. LOVE YOU MOMMA. We got some great things for the baby at our shower and were so blessed to visit with our friends, Thank you all for everything!

A Tribute to Our Awesome Dog BABS

Just wanted to say that our little girl has now moved on where she can run again, and do spinny circles. :) Tyler took Babs ("Babsy, Babsolina") into the vet to send her off to puppy heaven. He said it was all so peaceful. She just went to sleep as he rubbed her ears. We will miss our pretty little Babs, she was always a great caretaker for Buster (and I am SURE he will miss her very much). Tyler and I will greatly miss her sweet face, rabbit soft fur, her cute little bark and her spinny circles. (But definitely not her bad breath) :) LOL. Thank God she had a good life with us, and that she can be healthy once again.

WE LOVE AND MISS YOU ALREADY BABSY. Thanks for all of the fun memories!

Just wanted to share with you the awesome 3D images we got of the baby today. It was so fun to see what the baby looks like and see a bit of his personality.Hank really kept kicking himself in the head with his feet... and as we poked him a little bit he started to move his feet out of the way. We got some great photos from inside the womb and as we persisted to wake him up he showed us a big frowny pouty lip. (We got a pict of it).It was so cool to see that even inside the womb he has emotion. SO CUTE!!

Touring Hank's Room

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Before we know it, Hank will be here. We are trying to complete all the steps required before he comes. We have pre-registered with the hospital (saving us hours of paperwork when we arrive to the Hosp). We have found a pediatrician for Hank and have heard that the Doctor is a great Christian Pediatrician, which we are required to have a doctor for him before he is born. There is still lots of insurance steps we have to complete beforehand, but we are almost completely ready. And we have resolved some Maternity leave issues with my work... Praise God.

The house is actually starting to come together. We have Hanks room ready, our guest room ready, the great room and kitchen are ready, and in our Bedroom, we just set up the bassonet/pack-n-play (see below). The garage is almost ready... poor poor garage :)

We have done what we can to cut our budget and expenses, and have consolidated the little amount of debt that we have, to get us a lower interest rate. We feel like we've done what we can to prepare. The rest of the stuff... well, we'll just have to "wing-it" :) Here is a pict below of the new pack-n-play we got on sale at Toys R us for only $100. SWEET.

Garage Sale and a Whole Lot More! WHAT A STORY!!!

This morning, I am sitting here in the kitchen with our pathetic dog at my feet. I'm staring out the window only to notice a car stop by every 30 minutes or so for our yard sale, which we have done two days in a row. Yesterday we made a sweet $5 bones, and today so far have made $180. Which is from the couch we sold to our neighbor across the street. SWEET.

Well, yesterday was the longest start to the day ever. We're calling it the morning in hell. We are happy to have made $5. But for the trouble it caused, it wasn't really worth it. Tyler was walking inside and let the garage door close behind him... a shelf fell off of the garage wall (which had a can of dark chocolate stain on it that we used to stain our log bed). The can hits the cement floor and takes a spill that coats half of the garage. We immediately start on hands and knees to wipe it up. (OH THE SMELL!) And Tyler takes another 1/2 hour spraying Goo Gone to get it out. (Which by the way works like magic).

After that is all cleaned up my husband decides that he was going to work on one of his projects in the garage (that involve a mixing of certain chemicals). He is using our camping burner and a large pot to melt some chemicals together. (NOT RECOMMENDED!). He decides, since he has done this before, to take a match to the mixture (mind you he is still inside the garage). A large cloud eruption of smoke and fire are set off inside my garage! We are SO LUCKY and thankful that all it burned was the garage floor. We had a LOT of onlookers wondering if they should call the fire department as Tyler is telling them that he has "it all under control and it is just one hell of hot garage sell." I WAS NOT AMUSED, and frankly I said some words I've never even heard before HAHA LOL.Great day... not to mention that I got a doctors phone call that told me I have to go back in and take the 3 hour glucose test for my blood sugar. Sweet, gotta love the orange elixir they give you.

So after today. We are going to take a nap. A very long nap mind you. (Two days of getting up at 5:45 on our weekend, and a whole lot of shenanigans. We are tuckered out. It will be good when we can look back and laugh at all of this. I am hoping that that day comes soon :D As for now, no more "interesting" projects. They are off limits. Those of you that are Labrums, understand why Tyler is on restriction. (I LOVE YOU HONEY:) I would show you right here a picture of my garage... it is far too upsetting still. :D

So here is a picture of our house instead:

A Portland Shower, without any showers :)

We just flew in from Portland and boy are our arms tired. J/K (lame joke) :) We had a wonderful time with all the family and it was so good to see everybody. It was the first of 3 showers, and we were blessed to be together and receive some really great gifts for Hank. Thank you to all of our family that helped make this one a great shower! We love you.

Here is Tyler with his older and younger brother, and his dad (L to R: Travis, Dad, Tyler, Michael)

Here is Me with my sister inlaws, and mom inlaw (L to R: Angela, Mom, Me, Liz)

Here is Tyler and I with my sister Jade and her little boy Phoenix, they drove up from Eugene Oregon to visit us.

Hank's Got some Personality :)

Monday night, Tyler and I were taking a nap and Tyler had his hand on my belly. Tyler could really feel Hank kickin' away and Ty started to poke at him. Hank would punch back... Tyler would poke again, and Hank would punch back. For about 4-5 minutes they played around. It was SO CUTE! I loved it. And then again Monday night before bed we were watching the news and I pulled my shirt up to see my belly and Tyler and I just watched Hank move around and my belly would jiggle as he kicked. :) We laughed as it was all so new to us. Hillarious!

I had to share this picture of Tyler (below) from Steph and D's baby shower. So FUN!

So this is the recent addition to our home furnishings. That's right... we actually removed our sofa to fit this great deal into our house. :) It was only $300, and we couldn't say no. Then we didn't know where else to put it. It looks alright though. And so far it has been awesome for movie nights.

This is a picture taken with our new camera. It could have dummed down the quality for the internet to let it go through, but let me say that the actual pictures are unreal. So Cool!

25 Weeks & Still Busy Planning

So we have come to the conclusion that our projects are never going to stop. I am pregnant at 25 weeks. And we realize that the rest of life is just one big project... filled in with all the little projects. Ahhhh. There has been so much going on at our house that it is just a little nuts. We have re-arranged and made changes to four rooms in our house. And we only have a 3 bedroom! :) Each bedroom has taken up some major changes. What was our office, is now or will be our guest room, what was the guest room is now the baby's room, and our bedroom has now been updated to fit all of our office supplies and a desk that Tyler built. And the great room has undergone a change all in it's own as we found a set of theater seats on sale cheaper than cost that we just couldn't turn down.

I think that Tyler and I are a little nuts, and that soon we need to bring things to a hault. But for now, we are just trying to find a way to fit baby into our life without changing our whole life. :) Too late. HAHA. Here's me at 24.5 and 25 weeks.

Tonight we went to Yard House (Largest Number of Drafts in the World, picture is a very small part) and met a really neat couple at the bar that talked to us about having kids and stuff. It was really cool to get some pointers from them and talk about all the fun baby stuff. I love the strangers here... I don't know that that's a good thing, but people here are so friendly, it's really cool.