Santa Came to Our House!

This picture of Gavon was JUST taken. He's a cutie.
This is the motor to my wheat grinder.
I got a wheat grinder and a BOSCH!!!!!!!
Shayden posing in the hat Lynette made her, her candy cane pants, and my flip flops.


When Shay ran in Christmas morning she said, "Santa!" and jumped on the tricycle.

Merry Christmas

The long awaited Christmas Eve!!!! Merry Christmas everybody!

A few random things:

At Gavon's 2 week check up he rang in at 8 # 9 oz, 57%. His head is 57% and his length is 81% He is one long baby.

Also here are a few things to check up on if you want to see some internet stuff.

Mom, Dad, Kam, Alis and I pulling some sweet moves:
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/45zVI9fSfD8qPLWwkytP

Paul's favorite Christmas song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHzxpECFm2Q

Hope everyone is safe and has an amazing Christmas!

Boy Version of Shayden

This is Paul. Crazy huh!? He looks so much like Shayden.

Never Let Shayden Babysit...at least until she's a little older

Gavon...2 weeks old.
Shayden...2 weeks old.
He always has this look on his face, like he's saying "Yo."

Shayden loves Gavon and helps a lot more than we thought a 19-month-old would. She copies what I do with a little doll we gave her when he came home. She cuddles the doll and says "Sh Sh Sh Sh," and wraps it up. She covers Gavon and likes to hold him, too. I have to watch them close, though because she likes to cover his face, the poor guy. "He needs to breath, Shay." She tries to give him 5 or knuckles, and she lays next to him or on top of him and puts her face up close to his.

Fun in the Snow

Yeah for SNOW!

One more

This was right when we came home from the hospital, and I forgot to post it. I look so tired. Gavon seems so long, and Shay has this look on her face like "What's going on?"

Thank You, Thank You!

Yo yo mama. (He's blinking, so he looks a little cross eyed.)
This is my throne...

When Paul and I were first married we watched one of the classic Bud Abbot and Lou Costello (sp?) movies where they were on this island and getting into lots of trouble. Oh, it's so funny. They meet this native, and Lou calls him a stinker. The native says, "What is stinkah?" and Lou says, "Well, a stinker is a great man." The native says, "I biggest stinkah on island. My fathuh stinker. My grandfathuh stinkah." Lou says "You're the biggest stinker of them all," or something like that, and the native says, "Thank you, Thank you." He keeps saying that, making the "you" all drawn out. Whenever Paul and I say thank you, we say it like him. So...I wanted to send out a big thank you to everyone that has helped with Gavon being born.

Thank you! Thank you! Cody and Lisa were on call to watch Shayden and were always willing to help. Kami came up the day before and helped me clean to have everything ready. Alisa came and helped make dinner or take care of Shayden when I couldn't do it the last bit of my pregnancy. She'd always call and say, "How are you doing today?" Sheila would do that too. Crystal was a great help in getting me ready for the labor part, and gave Paul some good advice to help me. My mom was a HUGE help to watch Shayden and help me those first few days. Today is the first day I felt normal...well, kind of. The ward brought me dinner tonight...perfect timing. Right when they dropped it off, Shay had thrown up in her crib. She's had a cough, and I think just gagged, because she seemed just fine. After cleaning everything up I was even able to jump onto the washer to get her humidifier down. I felt all young and spry again. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Thank you everyone!

Here's a video of Gavon right after his bath just now. I tried pictures first, but he kept closing his eyes when he saw the flash, so I have a bunch of pictures of him with his eyes closed.

Home Sweet Home

What an experience. Wow. I don't think I want to be induced ever again. They started my petocin at 4:00 and contractions were coming fast but not too painfully. We watched a beautiful sunset, and I was at a 5 at about 7:00. The doctor suggested to break my water, which made me scared but we decided to do it. It was definitely the most painful experience I think I could ever go through. You might be wondering, "Why didn't you get an epidural?"...I don't really know. I felt like I could deal with the pain, but it got pretty bad. Now that I think about it, it was only an hour and a half of almost I wish I could die torture, and Paul was such a good help to help me. I went from a 7 to delivery in about 5 minutes. The nurse delivered his head and the doctor came just in time for the rest. I didn't tear and there were no complications. It was weird how I felt so normal after...only cramping. My mom has been so awesome to help me and take care of Shayden. Shayden loves him. She points to him and says, "Baby."

The baby is here!

(This is Paul, Raychel is still at the hospital) Gavon Cuyler Mantz was born at 8:29 p.m. We picked Cuyler over Paul--Raychel's Vote--and Kurt because there are already four Paul Mantz's in the world and Kurt just didn't seem to fit him, Kurt, my brother, was always the one bouncing off the walls, Gavon seems to be more tranquil. Our next boy will probably have Kurt as the middle name--if he fits the criteria, Kurt raised the bar pretty high.

He was 20 inches, 7 pounds 12 ounces. He barely cried at all and slept for 4 hours straight last night. He has maybe cried for a total of 1 minute since he has been born. He looks a lot like Shayden did, but without the cheeks and his nose is not as Button-like as Shayden's was. He has lots of dark hair. He has big hands and big feet, not necessarily long or fat, just big... and you know what that means.

He is a really cute guy and I don't have any pictures right now, but we will be posting pictures tomorrow. He is also a very good nurser and eats fast and quick, that will be good for Raychel so she won't have to be feeding him for hours on end.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow

They stripped my membranes today. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. Contractions are 7-15 minutes apart and hurt more than any I've had up to now. They're going to induce me tomorrow after Paul is done with his Bio lab. I'm scared.

P.S.

I wanted to add to that last post that I love Paul like crazy. He's amazing and has helped me so much with Shayden and getting stuff done when I can't, even going to work and school.

Shopping

I sent Paul to the store to get some milk and eggs on Saturday night and he came home with that and a 20 pack of Coke. I thought it was so funny when I read this cartoon from the USU Statesman. Ya gotta get what ya gotta get I guess.

aaqq

Closer and closer

Paul and I just got back from the doctor's office and I am at a 3 and still 80% effaced. He said it can be any day now. We asked him about going down to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving, he said he HAS to say, "No." but he understands if we don't stay here.

Okay...this is now super late at night which is really wierd for me because I'm usually in bed right as soon as I can. I wanted to stay up to write my thoughts, though. The doctor said my Strep B test came back negative, but it was positive for Strep G. It's a less common form of bacteria that is treated the same way: with a dose of antibiotic in labor. They are going to strip my membranes on Tuesday, and if that doesn't put me into labor they will induce me on Wednesday.

We're still planning on going to Riverton...I'm so crazy! If I wake up tomorrow morning and have a really yucky feeling, then we'll probably stay. Who wants to stay home and away from family on Thanksgiving? It would be so sad to miss out just because I might go into labor. The scary part for me is knowing I'm Strep G positive. I don't want to have to deal with side affects from that if we aren't able to get to a hospital on the way fast enough. Everything else I think will be okay. I plan on not getting an epidural, and I have some strong smelling peppermint gum that can help with nausea.

Alisa and I went with the Fifields to Twilight tonight. I think I was expecting too little of the movie at first, so I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't like the character they chose for Edward, but I think because I had read the book and knew more about the characters, it made the movie cool. There were a few scenes they could have toned down a bit, but I liked the humor. There were a few places I genuinly smiled, which is a good sign. Paul says I'm too critical with movies.

Daddy, colds and sheep

Shayden calls Paul Daddy in an English accent and she calls me "Manny." She can say mom just fine; I wonder why she twisted it.

I've been just getting over a cold the past few days. Growing up I'd get a cold sore on my nose, which happened this time. Paul said yesterday, "Ewe...I still love you, don't worry."

There are these sheep over by Lee's Marketplace that have the whitest wool ever! I think the owner must bleach them.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving/Christmas

Shayden's first day of nursery was yesterday. What a relief! She had a blast, and Paul and I were able to pay attention more in Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society. Paul had to pry her away from this toy stroller she played with most of the time. It was so cool; I walked in to pick her up and she had this cute yarn necklace on. Church is just so fun. When we were walking home she kept wanting to go back.

We also just put up our Christmas tree and Shay was climbing underneath it and having fun. As we get ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas is mixed in too so I don't have to do too much when this baby comes.

Paul

Paul thinks it's so funny that I say stuff, and then all of a sudden...It's been good weather. The end.

Cool Neighbors

Our new neighbors are the coolest people ever! Michelle, who lives just next door has a photography business and whipped her camera out on halloween when we were out talking to the missionaries. She took a whole bunch of really cute pictures of Shay while she was running around in her bee costume. This one is my favorite.

My doctor's appointment went well today. I'm 2 1/2 cm dilated. The doctor says I won't go all the way to my due date. He said if my water breaks to get to the hospital quick vd shjas aa Shay wanted to post a little bit.

Alisa came with me today to watch Shay while I went in to the doctor. Paul has been super busy with school. He has 2 big tests on Friday in Biology and Chemistry. It's been great weather.

Random Blogger

The way that I write reminds me of my high school English essays. I have one paragraph circled and inserted with an arrow half way through, and then one written sideways as part of another. It takes me a while to write everything so it's smooth. So with that in mind, I forgot to mention that Parker is a hypoplastic baby. He was born without the left side of his heart, and had a stroke in January. He spent from then until June in heart failure and received a heart June 10...special day. They give him anti-rejection immuno suppressants to help him not reject the heart, so it's really important to keep him away from people until his heart is strong enough. Life is such a miracle.

Doctor Appointment a Go Go

I just got back from the doctor. I'm 1 1/2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. The nurse said that was normal for a 2nd child at 36 weeks. I've been real sick today and can't eat. Paul is helping me with laundry and Shayden.

Cats and Babies

Here's Parker and Alexis, the little trooper.

The first video was taken a long time ago, but it's the only one I have of her saying "Meow." She says, "Tat" and then, "Meow," while she tilts her head. Soo cute. The other video of her dancing to Hercules was taken a while ago too. She was wearing that blue stretchy thing like a scarf and walking and dancing around. On our computer we have pictures for our screen saver and she says "Baby" when pictures of her as a baby pop up.

This morning was rough, but there's no way I can complain. Trisa's kids have all been sick but Holly, and Crystal and all her kids, Sheila and her kids. When we got back from Paul's drill Sunday night, Shayden didn't sleep through the whole night because of her nose and cough. It was actually pretty scary. We stayed in Parker's room for the weekend, and Shayden was actually around Parker Friday and Saturday; the first time he was around another kid indoors. On Sunday morning Shay woke up with a runny nose, and Alexis got it too...this is super scary because if Parker gets sick, it could develop into something bad. He has no immune system. After church and after naps, he had a bad runny nose and was sneazing a lot. This was so frustrating to me because after all the precaution that Sheila and Jordan have taken, I come around once and he gets sick. It showed me how important it is to not have anyone around Parker, no matter how hard it is. Poor Sheila. She just wants to have her kids be able to play and be normal. This is especially hard when you want to be with family. Thanksgiving will be rough. Since we've left, they've all been sick with fever and throwing up. This morning Shay coughed so hard she threw up at breakfast and I threw up soon after, I think from having to deal with it. I just hope Parker gets better quick, and everyone else too.

Life is a beautiful thing. I'm excited to be so close to delivering. I hit 36 weeks tomorrow. I'll keep you updated with doctor apointments that are coming up.

Lisa's wedding was very nice. Tom seems like such a good guy, and his family is very supportive. It was cool to find out that one of my friends from Oakcrest as a camper is Tom's niece. It's a small world. It was also good to see Jon and Lynette, Kurt, Jennifer and Brenna.

Kami and the Bear

Kam, Teri and Alisa saw a bear on their little bike ride this last weekend, and Alisa took a video of Kami's reaction. If you want to check it out, go to Teri's blog. Kami is the one I'd want to have around if anything came to attack me.

Cool Scary Movie

I just wanted to let everyone know that Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn is one of the coolest scary movies ever. We watched it with my family a few days ago, and it was super cool. I'd suggest it to pretty much everybody.

Brother Highlight

Sharon did a little highlight on her sisters and I thought that was so cool, so I wanted to do the same thing, but starting with my brothers.
Ryan is number 3 out of 8, and the oldest boy. He has the most tender loving heart, and does the best at everything he tries. This guy is amazing fast and was part of the Bingham varsity cross country team that won nationals back in 1996 (Right, Ryan?). His PR in a 5K is 15:52. I was basically his shadow because I followed him into running (even though I'm not as good) and went to BYU-Idaho too. Right now he is the father of 3 and is working to become a college level professor. Yeah Ryan!
And here's Cody...Just Kidding!
Here's the real Cody. He's number 4 out of 8, and the only other boy. He's a really fast runner, too and is really fun to be around. I'll never forget his face when we ate smoked turkey together for the first time. I'll also never forget him taking me hunting with him in Meyersvalley or on other horse back rides at the ranch. He's amazing with horses, and likes to ride a scooter. He is the father of 2 and sells life insurance with Prudential.

I'm mega blessed to have such awesome brothers.

News Flash

So, Paul is having serious anti-Gavin name issues. He says he likes Braxton or Gabriel better. Well, I guess we'll wait for the day and see what he looks like. I'm still set on Gavin. I also want Paul for a middle name, but Paul wants Sean. We're both pretty equal on other middle names like Kurt, or Cuyler. What do you guys think? Paul was saying we should have people guess when we're going to have the baby, and whoever wins gets to have their name as his middle name....I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want a girls name in there, though. We'll have to pass that one up.

This is so funny...Shayden is learning things every day, and I was trying to teach her "belly button," but she pats her belly button and says, "Butt." Every time I say button..."Butt."

Annalisa's Blessing

Proud Daddy.
Proud Mommy
Cute GirlPullin' a face.
Happy Family

Oh yah, here's another one from Halloween. There's little Gavin as a basketball.

Halloween!

Halloween was super fun. Our ward had a soup and rolls dinner, games and then a trunk-or-treat on Halloween night. Shayden had a blast. When I put her in the car I asked her "Did you have a ball?" And she said, "Ball." Half way through the trunk-or-treat she just started running around all the cars and through the parking lot having so much fun. Paul had fun as a Gorilla. He went to work and school in his suit. At the ward party kids were following him around saying, "You're not a monkey, you're a kid!" Shayden would pick up his mask when he had it off and say please in sign language like she wanted him to put it on. She'd give him kisses in it too. Most other kids her age were pretty scared of it. Lee seemed to be not as scared as last year, but not the biggest fan of masks. He stuck to Cody's side most of the night. I dressed up as a hula girl and Gavin was a basketball.
Earlier in the day we carved our pumpkin with the missionaries upstairs. Our other neighbors are super cool, too. They both dressed up as bubble bees, and spent some time talking to us before they went to their party. Yeah for Halloween! ...Cody was a pregnant woman, and some girls in our ward said they had all of one kind of their candy like he was having some craving. It's fun to be in the same ward as them. Also my doctor is the bishop of the ward that meets in our same building, so I see him sometimes on Sundays and he was there Halloween dressed up pretty scary. He said, "Do you still want to claim me as your doctor?" It was funny.

8 Things

8 TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
1. Little House on the Prairie (My dad calls it big house on the little prairie or something like that.)
2. I Love Lucy
3. The Andy Grifith Show
4. The Price is Right
5. School House Rock (Haven't seen it since I was 6, though)
6. Full House when I was a kid
7. VeggieTales should count as a TV Show
8. Loony Tunes
--If Paul were doing this he'd add The Office and The Tick
8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Olive Garden
2. Subway
3. Cafe Sabor
4. Little Caesars, Pizza Pizza
5. Sweet Tomatoes?
6. Cafe Rio, Costa Vida
7. IHOP
8. Fazoli's
8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY
1. Had a Halloween Party with Ryan, Bridget, Cody, and Lisa. We decorated sugar cookies, bobbed for apples, and had breakfast for dinner...mmm, pumpkin pancakes.
2. Got Shayden ready for the day...did her hair in pigtales even though she cries.
3. Went shopping with Alisa...bank, Macey's, and the Book Table. I bought a 40 lb. box of chicken...yah, that's a lot of chicken.
4. I signed up to receive more violin students at the music store here in Logan.
5. Made sugar cookies for the party yesterday night.
6. Did dishes with Shayden...one of her favorite things. It's actually pretty hard sometimes though, because she spills the water, and when she gets water into anything that holds water she drinks it and says, "Ahhh" like it was refreshing or something. "Dish water is dangerous to drink," I tell her, and I try to get her to dump it out, but she screams and tries to drink it. As a side note, I'm crazy I know, we do all of our dishes by hand even though we have an awesome dishwasher. It saves us about $15 a month.
7. I tried to read Harry Potter, Book 6, even though I didn't read more than one word, literally. Every time I sat down I had to get up to do something.
8. I played with Shayden before she went to bed.
8 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO
1. Halloween trunk or treat with our ward. Paul will be in his Gorilla suit and Shayden will be an Indian girl or a little bumblebee.
2. To see all my family on Saturday. Yay for Annalisa being born!
3. Gavin to be born. Paul tinks it will be on Thanksgiving Day.
4. Thanksgiving and to be with family, but I try and be thankful everyday.
5. Christmas--I am already shopping and have most of the presents I plan on buying for Paul and Shayden
6. The snow to come so we can play in it.
7. The chance to run again, long and hard.
8. The chance to ride Dixie...wild thing.
8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
1. A trip to Hawaii someday
2. A trip to Europe someday
3. Some really nice couches someday
4. A really nice road bike? That won't happen for a while.
5. That I could be a really good mom.
6. Some tomatoes and bacon so I can have a BLT for lunch today.
7. A horse...someday. Paul would want a 4-wheeler first.
8. New strings for my violin...and some violin polish.
8 PEOPLE I TAG...
Everyone who wants to do this!!!!

I was trying to post this yesterday, but it didn't get all the way done, so I'm trying to post it this morning.

I also wanted to share that my ears are doing okay. They felt almost completely normal and I had a good routine for cleaning them, but last night as I was pulling one out far enough to clean around it it came completely out. I tried to put it back in by myself, but it wouldn't go, and I got really light headed and almost threw up. Paul came and forced it back in, but I had to lay down and couldn't finish cleaning them because I felt too faint. It bled a little, but feels okay now.

I'm 34 weeks and I feel huge. Shayden is growing like crazy.

Sad day! I totally missed out on the pumpkin walk this year in North Logan. I was bummed we missed it last year, but this year was even worse because I got all excited for it, and we didn't go. Yesterday was the last day. Well, there's always next year.

Bowls as Stilts?

On Tuesday, Lisa let me have a bunch of plums from her back yard and we dried them for 16 hours to make some yummy prunes. Here's Shay trying to grab one and looking all innocent.

Yesterday Joanna and I made 7 quarts of applesauce from the apples in her yard. Yummy! It turned out really good.

We're excited for the holidays coming up. For Halloween Shayden is going to be an Indian girl, Paul is going to be a gorilla, and I'm going to be...something that can look pregnant. Our ward has an awesome trunk or treat party every year with dinner and games. It's going to be great.

Everything has been going good. We're arranging our house to get ready for the baby. The nursing chair is in our room now, and we'll probably put the pack'n'play in there to use as a bassinet for the first three months. I'm a little worried at how this is going to work. Shayden will not sleep in the big bed. If I lay her in the crib and leave she just falls right to sleep, but if I lay her in the big bed she crawls out and cries. Hopefully we'll be able to slowly transition her.

The leaves in front of our apartment have all fallen and we went to play in them a few days ago. Today Shayden was walking around with her feet in bowls, and then tipped them over and was scooting around on them. Here's a short video of each of those sweet moments. She's so stinkin' cute.

Mamma Mia

Shayden causing some trouble and loving it.

About 33 weeks along.

The sister's weekend was so fun! We basically just talked until 2:00 in the morning and laughed really hard. We went shopping on Saturday together and Kam and I got our ears pierced. Crazy, huh. I kind of have mixed feelings about it. I want to be pretty, but I have huge issues with putting a hole in my body. It's just scary. I like low maintenance things: the less you have to do about it the better. Now I have to clean it and worry about infections. I almost fainted when she put the earring in. I'm okay now, though and I can be pretty. It's funny that I'd go through labor and delivery without anything because I hate needles that much, but I'd go and get my ears pierced.

God Made us Sisters, Love Made us Friends

Trisa had the title of this post embroidered on a wall hanging, and I thought it was cute. I love my sisters so much!! They are all amazing women. We get to go play in Park City together this weekend, and I'm super excited. It's going to be wild.

A Great Day to be Alive

It was my birthday yesterday, and I made 24 cupcakes to celebrate. Paul got me a 2 kid running stroller off of KSL (SWEET!!) and drew a picture of it and gave it to me. Yes! I can still go running with 2 kids.

For dinner we had black bean soup, a recipe from Bridget, and it turned out so good. I forgot to say thank you last night when I saw you. Thank you!


Yay for birthdays!

Some Smokin' Good Turkey

Here we are shopping at Lee's Marketplace. Lee's having a great time, Shayden is looking scared, and I'm making a car noise. These guys are so cute when they get together!
If only my cookie had milk.
Getting bigger...you can tell my smile is forced. I was really tired. I can't put on my shoes, and I can barely zip up my coat. I'm 32 weeks. This little guy moves around a lot. I also had to stop running. There's a little too much uncomfortableness going on.


Fall turned into winter a little too quick for me. The trees are gorgeous in Logan, but only some of them have changed in the valley and it already started snowing. A thin layer was on the ground this morning.

Yesterday, Paul and I smoked a turkey. Imagine Homer Simpson thinking about donuts and that's how I feel about smoked turkey. Ugh! It's just so good...nice and juicy smoked flavor. Cody and Lisa let us use some of their apple tree branches and Cody came over before and then after church. Lisa also let me use some of her fresh thyme for the marinade. Shayden LOVED it. She had a little bit of potatoes, her brocoli, one bite of roll and if she would have had the whole plate of turkey it would have been half gone before she would have stopped.

Also, here's a video of Shayden as I was sweeping the floor. We found a potato bug and she went into the front room, grabbed Paul's shoe, came back and mashed it. I only got a video of the aftermath. (A side note: She gets into trouble when she pushes buttons on my phone.) That same day Paul was taking a nap and she walked in the room, started blowing him kisses and shut the door. That's what I do when I leave her for a nap. She's so funny.

Drill--St. George

Paul had Drill this weekend, and I went down to St. George with Kami, Alisa and Ashley for Conference. Fun! St. George is beautiful. We also saw a few finishers of the St. George Marathon just before the first session. Jessica Winters and Lauren Dalton finished in under 3 hours. Wow! Races are so exciting.

We were able to stay at Ashley's uncle's condo time share...super nice...and go on a beautiful bike ride on the temple quarry trail where they got the rock for the temple. Kami made this sweet carrier for Shayden out of shirts.

Shay in Alisa's backpack. She wanted out pretty quick.


Playing on the porch.

Gorgeous view of the temple. Shayden blocked the view just before the picture was taken.

Here's a video from Saturday morning. I didn't know I was recording for a little while.