False Pretenses

At the hospital, I realized I didn't really have a belly shot.  Thinking it

might be the final opportunity to take one, Jason snapped this picture for me.

I have been sent home from the hospital....twice.  You would think that after having given birth three times previous, I would have it all figured out, but whatever.

The first time wasn't too unexpected.  I had an appointment on Monday (the 10th) and there was some progression that indicated that things were in motion.  After three hours of consistent, five-minute-apart contractions on Tuesday evening and the same during the afternoon on Wednesday, I thought maybe something was in the works.  Turns out that on both occasions, I was experiencing labor induced labor as a result from trying to get my house cleaned.  All that vacuuming, mopping and laundry set off the series of contractions that ceased the minute I slowed down long enough to put my feet up. So after sitting in a hospital bed in observation for an hour with no contractions to speak of, I signed the papers for discharge and was given a lovely note about how I should try not to feel stupid about being sent home.  

So at my appointment on Monday (the 17th), one of my doctors said I was in the most ideal situation to begin labor, he stripped my membranes, and excused me from his office by stating "We'll see you tonight."  When contractions were two minutes apart for an hour (albeit, kind of wimpy), I didn't hesitate to head to the hospital, sure that I would have my water broken and have a baby within the evening. 

After three hours of  observation (and walking the halls to try and encourage a more active labor), the doctor on call decided to send me home because I wasn't progressing very fast.  I was quite upset that he wouldn't break my water.  That had been the protocol in the past, and it proved to be quite productive for me (not walking the halls!).  What's more, he didn't even come in talk to me and it all had the feel of being very impersonal care.  If only Dr. Wolsey had been there...  

Well, as it turns out, it was a blessing that I did not have a baby Monday night (although I did spend a majority of the day Tuesday being all sour grapes about it).  Not having the baby Monday (or Tuesday, for that matter) allowed me to go to Brevin's Pinewood Derby to see first-hand his excitement during the whole event. That was a delight!  It also turned out to be a good thing that I was there since I had charge of the event. I think it ran much more smoothly than it would have if I were trying to instruct others on how the event was to be handled over the phone from a hospital bed.

So now I'm just waiting (and blogging) until I feel there is enough reason to head to the hospital once again. Perhaps the third time will be the charm! 

This post was authored by Amber

Shout Hooray

Yes, I did celebrate the fact that I recently turned thirty three.  Since we had another family party to attend on the actual night of my birthday, we decided to celebrate a day early.  I chose to have dinner at Tera Mia, an Itallian restaurant in Orem that I had heard was excellent, but didn't know much other than that. It turned out that the recommendation was good, and I really enjoyed my meal. On the way home, Jason stopped at Baskin Robbins to let me pick out a flavor of ice-cream cake (devil's food cake with Oreo ice cream).  Delicious!

As one of my gifts, I was treated to a night out alone for a pedicure.  Boy did that feel good on tired, pregnant feet!  Not to mention, I am still sporting a bright pink nail color that I hope will still look nice when I finally get around to delivering a baby.  I took pictures of my "little piggies" but I will spare the blogosphere from those.  While they are well manicured (or should I say pedicured?), it is still a little disturbing for me to see my toes up that close. 

My other gift was a haircut and style.  Yes, I am definitely in need of some image TLC. 

I have to wait until May to enjoy my final birthday gift, but I am thrilled to know that I will be going to Les Miserables when it comes to the Capital theater.  Man! I love getting old! 

This post authored by Amber

"Somehow or Other, It Came Just the Same!"

I know that December has come and now past,

So I'm getting to posting about it...at last.

It came without mention of wild winter weather.

It came before getting my "blog-act" together.

It came without uploads of pictures to Facebook

(Despite all the numbers of pictures I took).

It came without lists of highlights from our year.

It came without bragging of what goes on here.

Somehow the season just came and then went,

But here are some photos of how it was spent!

Every Christmas, Grandma & Grandpa Park take the entire family to

Los Hermanos for some chips & salsa (among other things).

We went to Temple Square early in the month to beat the crowds at getting to see the lights.

A family friend secured tickets for our family to attend "A Pioneer Christmas"

 at the Church Historical Museum.  The boys even got to see Santa to tell him that he

 could bring them whatever he wanted.  They had no requests. 

We had our annual dinner of snowman-shaped pancakes to go

along with the reading of the book Snowmen at Night.

The Park family has a tradition of having a train around the base of the Christmas tree. 

Grandpa's Polar Express train is much cooler than our GeoTrax train! 

Before church on the Sunday before Christmas, we dedicated some

time to take a few family photos.  By the time we were finished,

Jason and I both had broken into quite a sweat. 

Why is getting a decent family photo such hard work?

The last day of school before Christmas break ended up being

canceled due to a massive snowstorm that dumped on our area.

With school canceled, what better way to spend the day than sledding!
 

We pulled out the china to have a formal Christmas Eve dinner. 
 

The boys were excited to open their pajamas before going to bed.

Garrett "crashed" at 7:30  p.m. and thus missed singing

"Happy Birthday" to Jesus before eating some cake.  Brevin and Spencer

 were not far behind when they went to sleep at 8:30 p.m.



 The gifts seemed to be a hit, as everyone was smiling.

The day following Christmas, we traveled to Ogden to be with my family for our annual Grab Bag and Nativity reenactment.  We also had lots of delightful foods to eat.

Spencer got to portray Samuel the Lamanite in the Nativity. 

Brevin (with cousin, Emma) was one of the wise men.

This post authored by Amber