Jeff and Diana Harris

Click here to view this photo book larger

Most of what I am about to post has already been posted on Facebook, but I still wanted to post pictures and a little message for my records down the line. Joseph Toshiro Harris was born on September 9, 2013 at 5:32 am. He was 7 lbs 6 oz, 19.5 inches long. Surprisingly, September 9th was the exact predicted date I would deliver. If my doctor hadn't changed the date to a week later I would have been even more impressed and shocked. I was starting to have back pain labor a week before which made me a little concerned due to the fact I was already 3.5 cm dialated and 75% effaced. I also probably wouldn't have been worried if my doctor didn't admit me into the hospital at 30 weeks for pre-term labor, but then again she really could have prevented me from possible complications. When I went into my last doctors appointment on September 5th I was 4 cm dialated and 80% effaced and the doctor predicted I would deliver the baby over the weekend. The baby was so low on my pelvic floor I was honestly hoping she would admit me right then and there. But the baby wasn't ready yet. So Sunday was the day I started to have stronger contractions. They started around 1 pm at church around 8 minutes apart. By 6 pm, they were closer to 5 minutes apart. We finally left the house around 8:30 pm after packing up and putting Andrew to bed. It took us a little longer than planned because our power was out and all of our flashlights weren't working. All we had was one candle and our phones. Goes to show how prepared we are. :) We arrived at the hospital just before 9 and when they checked how dialated I was, I was still only at 4 cm and 80% effaced. I turned to Jeff and I said if they make me go home again like last week I am going to punch something. Within that hour my contractions were hurting so bad that I really did want to punch something. They told me to walk around and when I asked for how long, they said two hours. I seriously was about to cry, but then they rephrased it by saying as long as two hours but you are more than welcome to come back sooner. That was definitely a relief. By the time we walked to our car and around the outside hospital grounds the contractions were really hitting hard every two minutes. Even though this is my second birth I had never felt contractions like this, especially since I got the epidural soon after my water broke with Andrew. I didn't last 30 minutes before telling Jeff I needed to go back inside. Luckily, I went from 4 cm to 5 cm otherwise they would have had me get up and walk some more. They left to get the labor and delivery nurse upstairs while I put on my gown. I thought they were taking so long that I stepped outside the room. The ladies at the front desk that I could see from a distances kept on looking at me strangely so I hooked myself back up the machine and just painfully waited. I finally made it upstairs and in bed around 11;30 pm. The nurse tried to put an IV in my left arm but was unsuccessful. She knew how much pain I was in so she got the charge nurse to do it. She too was unsuccessful. They finally called in the anesthesiologist and he was finally able to find a successful vein. (But honestly the contractions were hurting so bad that the needles they were poking me with wasn't nearly as painful). Around midnight they asked me if I wanted the epidural now or wait an hour and I painfully replied, "I can't wait, I don't want to be in any more pain." They were very nice and got me "the drugs!!!" By the time the drugs finally kicked in and after answering all the nurses introduction questions I was finally able to rest around 1:30 am. Around 2:30 the pain started up again and even though the pain wasn't nearly as painful as before and no matter how many times I pushed the button for more pain relief I couldn't sleep. Around 3:30 am the nurse came back into the room to check on my progress and I was at 10 cm and 100% effaced. I was really shocked especially since it took me 20 hours to dialate to 10 cm with Andrew, but very happy to get ready to push. Because my water was still intact the nurse wanted to wait 30 more minutes to see if it would break on its own. After waiting and with my water still not broken the nurse wanted me to start pushing to force my water to break. After 2 cycles of three 10 second pushes my water popped on its own and gushed out off the table onto the floor (Sorry if this is too graphic.) She had me push one more time but than immediately stopped me because she could see the head. They called the on-call doctor who was at home and I just had to wait until she arrived. Luckily she only lived 15 minutes away because all it took was two 10-second pushes and he was out. So in total I only had to push eight times for my water to break and for our little guy to arrive. While I was doing skin to skin with the baby I all of a sudden felt pressure building up in my right arm. I looked over and saw my right arm blowing up like a balloon. I got the nurses attention and said, "My arms is not suppose to look like this right?" Her eyes got really big and ran out and got the charge nurse. They immediately took out the IV and put hot packs on my arm to help with the swelling. Once they got that under control they put a wrap on my arm, which explains why it looks like I broke my arm in one of the pictures (Wouldn't that be one heck of a story). Because they had such a hard time inserting an IV in me earlier to got someone else to find a vein. But of course this nurse even had a hard time finding one, but because I had already given birth they placed it in the bend of my elbow, but after having to nurse the little guy the IV starting bleeding everywhere so of course they just ended up removing it anyways. So in total I was poked 6 times, but all is well now. :) We had a hard time naming him at first but we finally felt good about Joseph Toshiro Harris. Toshiro means intelligent, masculine, strong, clever boy. He is so beautiful and are so happy he is finally with us. We were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday September 10th. He passed all of his tests and although he has a heart murmur they still let us go home because he looked good and was feeding well. He passed the EKG test and x-ray test so now we are just waiting to see the cardiologist on Thursday for more tests. Andrew is having a little bit of hard time adjusting and can be a little emotional at times, but he is still be a sweetheart and soft with Joey. Wow this little message turned into a big message. :) Here are some pictures:

Andrew had his 18 month appointment on Tuesday and is continually growing!! Andrew weighs 26 lbs and 5 oz, he is 33 in tall and his head circumference is 48 cm. All of these measurements are in the 50-75 percentile. He has gained a pound and grew an inch from his last appointment when he was 15 months. Because he is now 18 months he can now go to nursery which is awesome, but sadly we haven't been able to take advantage of it because he has bronchitis. It is not serious and the doctor said it normally goes away by itself but because the new baby may be coming soon they prescribed him medication to help him get better sooner. Andrew loves being outside and is constantly running around the house if he is not eating. He loves food and is somewhat starting to get picky but for the most part will eat whatever I cook. He can say dog, apple (sounds like baple), nana for banana, cracker, bubble, gecko, ball, car, what?, wow, yo ho (for Jake and the Netherland pirates theme song), go, moo, baba, ah ah(for monkey), and I am sure there are more I just can't think of all of them now. The makes animal sounds for dog, fish, cow, monkey, elephant, dinosaur, lion, and bunny rabbit (by moving his nose and lips up and down). He still signs food, milk, and recently learned please. He is an overall very happy boy and we are still working on his screams. ;) He will even on occasion give hugs and kisses, but of course not as often as a mother likes.

So this is what everyone has been waiting for.....okay maybe not everyone, but for those of you who live far away, here is a little glimpse of what our new place looks like. I also want to make a quick shout out to everyone who helped us in this moving process. Paul, Jennie, and family for watching Andrew and letting us crash at your place when we needed a place to stay before leaving. Barbara for letting us stay with you in San Francisco, allowing us to take a break when it was desperately needed. Mike, Becca, and family for letting us crash at your place while our stuff arrived, helping watch Andrew, and helping me unload boxes. My family in Anaheim (including Bum), for letting us crash at your place while looking for a place to live and while waiting for our stuff to arrive and for watching Andrew (Kay and Stephanie! :)) Thank you Kristina, Stephanie, and Michael for driving down to us and helping me unload the last bit of boxes, giving me the energy to finish. And I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone, but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for everyone for helping us in this big move.

So here are the pictures........
Before:

 After Pictures......TO BE CONTINUED!!

I was planning on having both before and after pictures, but as all of you know events in life happen and I got really busy. So hopefully I will eventually have time to clean my place up and post after pictures. :) Or you could always come visit and see for yourself. :) HINT HINT!! I love visitors. :)

With the stress of moving I was still able to have a happy birthday. My dad took us out to lunch the Friday before my birthday and Jeff and I went to an Angel's game together the Saturday before my birthday. Mike and Becca were even very sweet to make me a delicious pumpkin pie along with putting together a treat bag for me while I unpacked my stuff and a cute bubble bug for Andrew to play with outside while we took a break from unpacking. As I mentioned in my previous post, we went to IHOP for my birthday dinner and I was so hungry it really hit the spot. :) But I love breakfast for dinner so I really can't complain.

Our stuff finally arrived on June 17th. YEAH!! Happy Birthday to me. I honestly felt I celebrated my birthday several days before so I was just grateful all of our stuff arrived safely.  The movers were suppose to come between 12-2pm, but they didn't arrive till almost 5pm, so Andrew took a nap in his pack in play in his room, while I took a nap on the floor in my room. :) They didn't finish putting all of our boxes in our house till around 8pm. So we had a late dinner at IHOP and Andrew had a late bedtime, but he did such an amazing job with the movers and at dinner. Andrews cheerfulness definitely made my day.

Jeff left on a business trip on his first day with his new job with Nuvasive. He went to Baltimore for a couple of days and I picked him up from the LAX airport. While we have been waiting for our stuff we have been spending time with my family. We met Kathleen's family during a family home evening. Andrew, Michael and Stephanie went swimming in very cold water and we all enjoyed a delicious dinner made by Kathleen's family.  For those who don't know, my dad has been dating a really nice lady named Kathleen Westbrook. She lost her spouse about two years ago from thyroid cancer and both my dad and her became great friends coping from the lose of their spouses and eventually started dating. They make each other very happy. :)Kristina and I have also been working on cleaning out the laundry room. Kristina has done an amazing job sorting through so much stuff and getting rid of so much junk that has been just sitting around for 10 plus years. I have only made a little dent compared to what Kristina has accomplished. Besides cleaning we also have spent time in the pool, which Andrew loves and just spending time with each other.

Andrew was very happy to be in the pool with Stephanie and was not very happy to get out.

(PS. I wrote this post awhile ago.....so hopefully it makes sense)

So we are not quite in San Diego yet, but we are staying a couple of days in Anaheim with my family while our stuff slowly gets here. The moving truck gave us the timeline of June10th-June17th so hopefully our stuff will arrive sooner than later.  The last day drive was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Andrew was such a good boy, especially considering how many hours he was stuck in his car seat. He actually slept most of the way the last day. We stopped at IN-N-OUT for lunch and we arrived in Anaheim around 3pm. We were very grateful for air conditioning because most of the way down was at least 100 degrees which made me want to jump in a pool as soon as we arrived, but by the time we arrived in Anaheim in was cloudy and 75 degrees so we decided not to. Now that things have settled down a little bit more we have been able to relax and enjoy the California weather. Once our stuff arrives and if I remember to take pictures I will do a before and after the move of our new place.

Andrew was so happy to have a normal day not having to be stuck in a car seat.

Today was a longer drive than yesterday. We all were very fidgety in the car from the get go. I started off driving before stopping for lunch, Jeff drove three more hours, and I finished the last hour of driving. Andrew still had his random episodes but overall did pretty well in the car. :) I sure hope tomorrow is a better drive though. We are now in San Francisco with Dan Schult's mother Barbara. She has been so kind feeding us and giving us a place to stay for the night. ;) Andrew was so happy to get out of the car and be able to run around and play with toys. Hopefully he sleeps as well as he did last night. ;)

* I will add pictures tomorrow *

This was taken at Barbara's house. It is a rocking chair with two horses on the side. He was so excited to sit in it.

These last couple of days have been so busy and stressful, but we are finally on the road to our new adventure of living in California. Paul, Jennie, James, Sarah, Sam, and even Jennie's mom has been so helpful watching Andrew and giving us a place to stay before heading out.  Jennie and Jennie's mom watched Andrew all day Tuesday and some of Wednesday.  Andrew has been a trooper through it all and has had his ups and downs of this entire moving process.
We left around 8:30 am this morning and arrived in Crater Lake around 1 pm.  Again, Andrew was a trooper during the car ride but still had his random screams here and there to get our attention.  After a couple of hours at Crater Lake we headed off to Medford to stay for the night before we head off again to San Francisco.  When we arrived in Medford we went out to eat at Outback Steak House because I was craving steak and potatoes, then we went to go see the Medford Temple.  It is very small, but it is always nice to walk around temple grounds.  When we returned to our hotel, Andrew and I decided to jump in the pool to cool off and he had a blast. Jeff took a video of Andrew laughing so hard and having so much fun. We are finally relaxing in bed with Andrew sound asleep. Overall, it was a good first day.

So I know I am already way behind. But I have been really busy. So here is what happened on Andrew's birthday. First off we decided to celebrate it on Feb 3rd instead because it was easier to celebrate it with family and friends on a Sunday rather than a Monday and of course it was Super Bowl Sunday so we couldn't ignore that. So we have Super Bowl Food and Andrew's lovely bear cake with homemade ice cream. Of of which was absolutely delicious. We had a lot of fun watching Andrew eat the cake, sing to him, and open presents. He could really get the blowing out the candle but he was trying. Andrew likes to copy a lot of what we do, so all week we were trying to practice with him blowing and he did it! But of course when the time came to blow out the candle he just wanted to eat the candle and not blow on it. So here are some pictures and videos. Please enjoy!

Andrew got an Elmo stuffed animal from Sarah, a helicopter and airplane (Little people action figures) from James (Thank you Paul and Jennie), a turtle bead maze from Polly and AJ, and wood blocks, wood  desk hammer that pounds down pegs, and a cube that you can put in the shapes from Jeff and I.

Love you all! Hope all is well!

 Okay....I know it is way past Halloween, but I thought I would share something that happened in the month of October. We went to a murder mystery dinner, Andrew had his first Halloween, we carved really cute pumpkins, and a new nephew was born.
The title of the Murder Mystery Dinner was "The Pungent Pumpkin Processing Company Anniversary Dinner." It was very old fashioned and we had a lot of fun. We even took cute pictures. My name was Gigi Sparkle and Jeff was a detective. We had a wonderful dinner followed by a delicious dessert that I made. (Brownies with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberry Gelato)

This year for Halloween I wanted to do something as a family. Jeff was Mario, Andrew was baby Mario and I was Princess Peach. It was a lot of fun making both Jeff's and Andrew's Mario hats. We got some pictures but it was dark outside so they didn't turn out the best. Andrew was so adorable and we even went out trick or treating with our niece Sarah and nephew James. They were adorable as well and dressed up as scary ghosts. They would go door to door and say "Trick or Treat" then after they received candy they were both say together, "Thank you! Boo!" It was really cute. I wish I got it on video.
We also carved pumpkins which has been a tradition for the last couple of years. We have carved U and BYU pumpkins, hello kitty and Mickey Mouse, funny faces and scary faces, and this year because of our costume idea we decided to stick with the theme of Mario Bros. Jeff carved Mario and I carved Bowser and a mushroom cartoon face.





On October 30th an adorable baby boy was born. Baby Samuel Kenji Peterson. He is so cute and so tiny. You forget how tiny newborns really are. On October 31st Natalie (Jennie's sister), James, Sarah, Andrew, and I went to visit them at the hospital. Jennie dressed Sarah and James in their ghost costumes and both Natalie and I were able to hold precious Samuel. :)





Overall, we had a fabulous October. Did anyone else dress up?