Carter Lyman Wight

Boys names are always hard, I have a list of girls names I love but I can never find a boy name that I absolutely love. Throughout the past nine months I had a list that was always changing. I would like a name for a week or two and then not like it anymore. Names that grew on me, Jared vetoed. Names that he suggested, I vetoed. Naming a baby is hard.

Back in August we went to the Temple. The last name of the lady I was doing work for was Carter. It stood out to me. I remembered that we had thought of that name as we were naming RJ. He was almost Carter Jared and we were going to name him CJ. Once in the Celestial Room, I asked Jared what he thought of Carter, he liked it. At home we mentioned it to the kids. They all liked it. As the weeks went on I started having second thoughts. I returned to my list of names, But everyone was set on Carter, they wouldn't accept any other name I came up with. As the days got closer to my due date, Carter started growing on me again and so I gave in to the decision and stuck with it.

Now for a middle name. RJ discovered that both his and Zachery's middle name started with a J and so was determined that we come up with a J name. I reminded them that both boys were named after their Great Grandfathers (Rex and James). And so we looked at family names. There was a Joseph on my mother's side, but I knew nothing about him and wasn't sure I liked the name. The kids liked the name Jacob but it wasn't family. We were trying to decided if we should go the J route or the family name route or just pick a name.

Back in June we visited Ohio and made a trip to Kirtland where we learned a lot about LDS church history and a little bit more of an ancestor named Lyman Wight. We knew Jared was a decent of his, we knew he was an apostle during the early church, we knew he was chastised in the scriptures, and we knew he was excommunicated following Joseph Smith's death. But that is all we really knew of the man until we went Kirtland. We walked some of the paths he walked, we stood close to the area that he preached in, and saw from a distant the river he was baptized in. We learned that he had a vision of the Savior, we discovered his strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the restored Gospel. We learned about is strong character of self sacrifice and all he did to help move the work forward during times of trouble and tribulations. We had a biography on our shelf of his for many years and and after that trip we read it and enjoyed learning about his life, his character, and his devoted friendship and service to the Prophet Joseph Smith. We decided that if we were to pick a Grandfather to name Carter after, it should be Lyman. He had a rich history of standing up for what he believed in no matter what the cost.

An so that is the story of naming our fourth son on to his birthing story.

I have been induced using Pitocin with my first three babies. I also had an epidural with the first three. The medicine wore off with RJ and there wasn't time to inject more when it was time to push. I remember the pain, I remember having a hard time breathing and being put on oxygen because his heart rate was dropping a little. I remember them having to suction him out and I remember not wanting to hold him right away because I was still feeling so much pain. Savannah was easy, I didn't feel a thing and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. I don't remember much of Zachery's delivery other then my body started contracting on its own a week past his due date and then stopped once at the hospital and so the Pitocin was given after my epidural was already administered. All three were born in Idaho. Here in Virginia, every doctor said they would not induce me unless I was past two weeks due. I didn't like that idea. Thinking my body couldn't do it with out the Pitocin and I didn't want to wait two extra weeks. My mom was flying in and could only be here a short time. I needed to have the baby while she was here. I found a doctor that agreed to induce me, so we scheduled it four days after my due date in hopes my body would go on its own. I tired everything, to get labor started. Nothing happened.

I was scheduled to call the hospital at 6am on Sunday, Nov. 3rd to be told what time to come in for an induction that day. But at 2am I woke up with contractions. They continued every five minutes for two hours. I woke Jared up at 4 and said lets go. I think I was only admitted because I was already scheduled to be induced. I was still only 3cm, which I had been at for three weeks. My doctor wasn't on call till 7am. But the nurses got me settled and waited. The contractions slowed down. Once my doctor arrived I had him break my water at 8am. I asked that I try and see if my body would do what it was supposed to do without  medicine for a few hours before we resorted to the Pitocin and the epidural. The contractions continued to slow down. And so we walked the halls and bounced on the ball. Things started to pick up and Jared learned of a pressure point between the web of the thumb and pointer finger. We tried it and within minutes the contraction became intense. We walked some more and things got harder. I couldn't handle it and asked for my epidural. The nurses came and tried to get fluid in my IV but had trouble and as they worked on it the contraction got intense. I was finally check and was at a 6. It was about noon and I could feel the pressure. I knew it was too late even before my nurse said it was. I was going to do this naturally.

I learned that I am a screamer. I close my eyes to pain, I can't look ( I have always done this, but it just became apparent to me).  Once Carter was born the doctor told me I can open my eyes and look. It still took me some time to open my eyes, as the pain was still real. I have to be put on oxygen because of low blood pressure. And I can't form words, just scream with the pain. Jared learned that I not only can squeeze his hand off, but I can also squeeze his nipples off. Apparently my hand reached up and grabbed his chest during a contraction, he didn't like that very much. But he had to endure the pain as well. I learned that I do not like birthing without an epidural. I was tired and achy and wasn't ready to hold the baby when he appeared. I am glad that I only had to push three or four times and it was only an intense half hour because I don't think I could have handled more. The last little bit I thought I was going to die, I was having a hard time breathing and I understand how women do die during childbirth. I learned that I thought the drugs wore off with RJ but I now realize that there was still some in me then. This time around hurt far worse then any other time. I learned what real child birth feels like and that my body can indeed do it on it's own. I just need to learn a little more patience.  But even though it was not fun at the time, the recovery has been better.

Carter was born on November 3rd at 12:30 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. I am grateful I was able to experience the birth. Not sure, I want to do it again. But I am grateful to say that I have done it and I understand the sacrifice of the women before me better then I understood it before. I see the miracle of birth more clearly then I saw it before. I am grateful for it. I am grateful for a healthy baby boy who is by far the best baby I have had. He has been a great sleeper and predicable eater. We all love him and the kids adorable having a baby around the house. Looking forward to teaching this newest spirit and watching him grow and mature. Can't wait to see what life has in store for our little Cater Lyman Wight.

Cute kid

Me: finish your ice cream before you come inside
Zachery: I did, it's gone. I shared it with the sun. Now the sun is happy and I'm happy, cause it's nice to share

Zachery: twilight ( our cat) is almost my age!
Savannah: no she's not, she is 1 and you are 4!
Zachery: yes, she is! I can stand her up like a human and she is almost as big as me!
Savannah: oh Zac, you are so silly
Zachery: no I'm not, I'm cool! Because I a 4, duh!

Valentine's Celebration

This year we decided to forgo the store bought valentine's and get a little creative; but not too creative. I still wanted to keep it simple. So after looking at cute pinterest valentine ideas we decided on these cute, yet simple, fish bowl valentines.

I made sure all the kids agreed on the same valentine to make the simpleness of the holiday continue. So on Monday night we put our valentine's together and RJ created a robot Valentine mail box to collect his valentines in.

For Valentine's Day the kids each got a new book and a box of chocolates from us.

I was surprised with some chocolate covered strawberries and a love note for my sweet husband.

Then it was off to school. The kids had fun celebrating at their schools. Zach had joy school at our house and we had a fun valentine's party with all his friends. We played games and decorated cookies and Valentines bags. And then passed out our valentines.

At the end of the day we hopped in the car and took off for D.C. to pick Grandma up from the airport.

February 13th

February 13th was my Grandfather's birthday. Grandfather had a ceramic jar that my Grandmother had made and it sat on top of his dresser. Throughout the year he would collect loose change and fill the jar. As his birthday got closer, he would lace his collection with larger coins such as fifty cent pieces and dollar coins. Each year as the family gathered together to celebrate his birthday, as part of tradition, Grandfather would gather his grandchildren together and we would each get a turn at reaching into the jar and pulling out as much money as we could collect in one handful. It got harder as we got older as our hand would be so full of money that it would get stuck in the jar unless we let some change slip out. We were each allowed to collect and keep whatever we could pull out with one hand.

Now that Grandfather has passed away his jar wasn't forgotten. Three years ago Grandmother gifted the jar to Jared in hopes that he would keep the tradition alive. After talking about it, we decided the only date we felt appropriate to pull out the money jar was on February 13th. Our first year of doing this, we shared the family tree with the kids and talked about who their Great Grandparents are and where their Great Grandfather Bartley fell on their family tree. Then we proceeded to share the money jar tradition with them.

This year was our second year. It was a busy day as we rushed through dinner and pulled out the money jar just before cub scouts, hence the scout shirts. But RJ and Savannah had remembered the jar from the previous year and their eye's lit up. Who wouldn't when you were about to get a handful of change. I am so excited that I can share a special memory and tradition from my childhood with my kids. 

We have a lot of pennies and nickels in our jar, but I did go to the bank and got $10 in quarters to help generate some excitement. This year Savannah collected the most with $3.64, RJ got $3.35, and Zachery held onto $2.04. 

I remember as a child getting above $10. We are going to have to start lacing our jar with bigger coins as well if we want to each higher numbers. But for now the kids don't mind.

FINALLY!

After months of wiggling and gently twisting, Savannah came home from school with a surprise in a little treasure box and a big toothless grin. Tooth #3 is finally out!

Aunt Margaret's Visit

Aunt Margaret moved to TN the first of November and we finally found some time to visit with her. She is living six hours away (much better then across the country). She was having a rough time and needed a getaway so we drove the six hours down to her place. Stayed the night, went to her family ward, and drove her back to our place the next day. She stayed with us three days and then Zachery and I drove her back. He LOVED her dogs and kept asking for one.

 

While Margaret was visiting we started a painting project that is still not finished 

 

tired Fried Green Tomatoes for the first time, which weren't as bad as I thought 

and did a blind folded taste test on the kids. 

Margaret made them a Spinach and Bacon Grilled Cheese sandwich. I have extremely picking kids, RJ is the worst. Anything green is gross and it is very hard to get them to even taste something new. With the blindfolds on we first gave them a piece of banana bread to throw them off since they knew something "bad" was coming. After they gobbled up the bread we gave them a slice of  sandwich.

Savannah guessed there was salad in it, RJ thought it was just grilled cheese with bacon and said it was pretty good. Zachery peaked before he tried it said "eww, it's green", which caused RJ to rip his blindfold off. 

RJ was done after that and refused to eat another bite. We convinced him it was just green cheese, Savannah and Zachery both finished theirs, but RJ wouldn't touch it again after knowing it was "green" cheese. Later we explained that it was spinach and Savannah was pretty proud of herself for eating spinach. It was a fun night full of some good laughter. 

Here is my buddy driving back home with me after dropping Margaret back off in TN. He was a good travel complaining. He watched a few movies, took a nap, and let me enjoy some talks on tape. We made good timing home. 

"Snow" Day

 The kids have seemed to luck out with several three day weekends during the month of January and a few in February. The Lynchburg School District will cancel school at the slightest sign of a snow flurry.  I understand the hills + ice + buses don't mix well. And VA doesn't get that much snow, so most people aren't equipped to drive in it. I know the schools are thinking of our safety, but some days are just ridiculous. Today was one of them. Last night school was delayed 2 two hours on account of freezing rain and in the morning they decided to cancel it completely. Yes, there was ice on the cars and yes it was cold outside. But not that cold and the ice was melted by 10am. Nothing more came. So, we had a lazy cozy day at home. It seems storms always roll our way on Fridays and the schools get cancelled, and the storms dissolve before they even do anything and then we get a free three day weekend. I'm really not complaining. The kids work so hard during the week, it is nice to have a lazy unexpected day to relax and be kids without having to worry about getting homework done before bath time or scout night. It is nice to watch them play together and it is sure nice to have someone else entrain Zachery for awhile.

Today was of course a Friday when school was cancelled for a big ice storm that never really came. Grandma was here visiting. We I slpet in, made beligian waffles for breakfast with homemade strawberry syrup and left over homemade whipped topping. Then we all cuddled on the couch watched Pete's Dragon. Grandma and Savannah had a tea party and read books while Zachery took his nap and RJ played his new Skylander Wii game. It was a nice lazy relaxing day.

A few Friday's back during one of our "snow" days in January, I made a "laser" course for the kids. They put a treasure on the other side of the "laser beams" and had fun trying to reach it without setting off an alarm. I sure do love pinterest!

Some Highlights from January

We spent New Years Day in Disneyland, which I don't recommend! It was BUSY, much too crowded. But California Adventure wasn't too bad.  We still had a fun time, who wouldn't? Just being in Disneyland is magical.

January 2nd we met our cousins at a near park before leaving Southern California. This was very exciting because we hadn't seen these two cuties for just over three years. They had been living in Thailand for the past two years and we met Abby only once, very briefly, when both she and Zac were barley three months old. So it was a special treat to reconnect with them. The kids spent a good hour+ playing at the park like they never parted. Makale ran from the camera every time I came near. But I was able to snap this smile of him. However Savannah and Abby were all smiles whenever the camera was pointed in their direction. Savannah had a blast playing with a girl and she said that was the best part of her trip to California. I couldn't believe Abby beet seeing Cinderella, but she did.

 

We then went to Sacramento and enjoyed a brunch at IHOP with Grandpa Wight on the 3rd of January. We enjoyed or visit with him and the kids each got a motorcycle ride and enjoyed playing with his three dogs, two cats, and parrot.

Back in Fairfield we said our Goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa Pearce.The kids always enjoy teasing Grandpa and spending time with Grandma Sammie. With sad goodbyes and promises of future visits we made out way back to Grandma and Grandpa Bartley's. Where we got all our stuff packed and cuddled on the couch watching another game of football. We enjoyed hanging out there and playing with our uncles. Mommy got a few runs in which was really nice since the weather was great, the scenery gorgeous, and the terrain fairly flat. And Grandma Bartley makes the best homemade dinners. It was hard to leave. But on January 5th we woke up early and spent a long day on airplanes flying back across the country.

We got back into our school routine, which was really hard to do. I think it took a two weeks for the kids to handle the early mornings again. But they enjoyed catching up with their friends and getting back to the normalcy of life. On January 11th RJ toke his mom out for a night down town. We got all fancy-ed up and walked the red carpet to hear the results for the Lights Camera Lynchburg video contest. His class came in third place in their category for their entry and then at the end of the night they were rewarded with the viewer choice award and $600. I have never seen such an excited group of third graders. I then treated RJ to dessert at the Main St. Eatry and his eyes jumped out of his head when they rolled the cart of desserts to our table. We shared two pieces of cake because we couldn't decide one. Overall it was a memorable night.

At the end of the month Jared took a new job position within his company. He is now in management with a sweet new office (no more cubicles), a three level jump, and big pay raise. Of course he has been working harder and longer, but so far he seems to be enjoying it.

My sister also came to visit for a few days at the end of the month. We enjoyed the visit with her. I will hopefully get some pictures of the fun blind fold test she performed on the kids while she was here posted here soon and I will hopefully do a little better as the year goes on getting things posted. Life has been busy, but we are sure enjoying the ride.

I was looking at my blog this morning, trying to locate the date of when RJ and Savannah lost their first teeth, praying that I did document it on my blog so I didn't have to look through all my computer's picture folder. And I realized how long it has been since I was a full time blogger. It was early in 2011, that I started struggling to find time to blog our family adventures. And 2012, I nearly stopped completely, adding a grand total of only 6 entries that year. 2012 was an interesting year filled with so many personal struggles on what I was going to do with myself, where I was at in terms of happiness and self worth. And I bogged myself down with SO MANY projects and volunteering everywhere, trying to be super women; trying to fill fulfilled, that I hardly had time for the important things in life. This past fall our schedule was PACKED, it was nice to get to California for a few weeks to get away from it all.
Upon returning back home and starting the new year, I started to reflect upon the past year and set goals for the future. One of which was to do better at documenting our family life whether I downloaded the pictures or not. I figured, I can always go back and add photos later and the memories are what is truly important. I also was determined to not pack my schedule so full and let the little, more important, things slide. I hate to admit that I gave up an invite from a friend last month because I was determined to get my laundry done that day. I was so up tight about getting things done in a timely manner that I truly let friendships slip. And without having family out here, I need those friendships to remain strong.
So, I have been working on that these past few weeks of being back home. I kept a lunch date with a friend, which turned out to be a very busy day. I had thoughts of rescheduling, but I didn't and the two hours I relaxed and visited, was the highlight of my day and I still managed to get some errands done. I felt much more happy and complete after that busy day then I had in a long time.
As I looked trough the blog this morning, I realized I am still behind for 2013. I haven't done what I coached myself to do for this new year, I am determined to write down our past events, but I won't let it stress me out to the point that I don't do it at all. I just can't do it all. I am not super women! And I don't have to be. But reading through old posts and recalling memories I had forgotten about and sharing old pictures with Savannah and Zachery, who were looking over my shoulder grinning at their younger smiling faces, made me realize that this is one of the important projects, not to let slide for laundry. So hopefully at the end of this year I will have much more then 6 posts on our family blog. And hopefully I will be more determined to make a book out of all our memories to look back on in the future to come.

Happy 2013!

We rung in the new year in style this year. Our kids were tired, our feet were sore, and our backs ached. But all was forgotten when the announcer wearing his silver glittery sports coat stood on the podium and brought the excitement into the crowd by a human wave and happy new year shouts. The backdrop was set at Paradise Pier, in California Adventure Park. The countdown started with ten and was ended with cheers, kisses, and an awesome display of fireworks combined with amazing water features from the bay. It was exciting and a joyous way to make a fresh start to a new year. Thanks to a great dad for making the Disney experience happen again for our children.

January first was full of more Disney excitement. We ended the evening by giving away some extra fast pass tickets, for Space Mountain, to a surprised and very grateful couple and decided to make that our family's new year resolution: make a point to do some sort of act of kindness each day.

To the new year! Happy 2013!