Fun With Gramma

Nora got spoiled rotten while my mom was here right after Ike was born. Nora got new toys, tea parties, and lots of one-on-one attention! She also spent a lot of time with Gramma doing one of her favorite activities - shopping! Nora is always begging to go to "one more store." Thanks Mom for giving our daughter the time of her life!

Gramma made herself, Nora, and her new doll matching aprons.


Enjoying the cookies they made together!

Nora the Photographer

Digital cameras make it really easy for toddlers to become little photographers, as we found out with Nora a few weeks ago. Here are some of the shots she took:



Then she handed me the camera and said "take one of me, Mom." I love how she posed with her drill!

Tree Hunting

This year we decided to buy a real tree since we will be around for most of the holiday season. We found a really cool tree farm in Reedley (about an hour north of us) where they have a miniature train to ride, a treehouse for kids and a castle playhouse. Nora especially loved the train and it was rough trying to get her away from it, but we bribed her with some popcorn at the end.


Riding the Train






Aah popcorn!




Nora helped Daddy put up the star!


Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We got to host our first Thanksgiving dinner at our own place, but we still didn't have to cook the turkey! Branden's parents drove out from Utah to join us and his mom cooked the bird. All the food was delicious and we were very grateful they were able to stay a week with us. That futon we just bought for guests is definitely been worthwhile. Especially since they will be back in January for Ike's blessing!

More Ike

He's Here!!!

Ike Alexander Nelson joined our family Thursday, November 12th at 5:45 am. All my doctors and several nurses kept telling me that Ike would not be as big as Nora (9pounds 3 ounces, which is why we were shocked when we found out he was 9 pounds 8 ounces!!! He was 22 1/2 inches long and the first thing Branden said to me when Ike came out was "whoa - he's big."
Labor was a beast. (This account is mostly for my personal history. Skip over this part if you don't like labor stories or if you are currently pregnant. I know others have had worse labors, but with nothing to compare it to for myself, I thought it was rough! ) I went into a prenatal appointment Tuesday morning - Ike was a week and a day overdue. They put me on the fetal monitors and found some irregulaties and the doctor said there was probably already plenty of meconium in my fluid. So he sent me up to the hospital, Branden met me there, and our wonderful Relief Society President drove up to take Nora. After monitoring the baby there, they found him to be perfectly healthy. I was not dilated at all, my cervix was closed and very thick - definitely not ready for labor. So my choices were 1) go home and come back in a few days to be induced (or hope that somehow my body would go into labor on its own) 2) be induced immediately, or 3) have a c-section later that evening. It was a REALLY tough decision, but for the sake of future pregnancies I finally decided to go with the VBAC induction. They started the pitocin at about 2 pm on Tuesday. By 10 pm absoutely NOTHING had changed, except that I had been through a lot of painful contractions. We got to sleep that night and they restarted the pitocin at 5 am. By noon, my cervix had softened just enough for the doctor to strip my membranes and dilate me to a 2. I started taking some pain medication in the afternoon and got an epidural in the early evening. By about midnight I was dilated to about 9 1/2 and my water had broken or atleast started to leak. The epidural was definitely starting to wear off and was completely ineffective by 2:30 when I started to actively push. The second dose they put in did not work, I guess my system was already too used to the phentinol. My nurse and Branden were superheros in helping me stay on track with concentrating and pushing because otherwise I think I would have passed out or given up or something. I really didn't think I was going to make it. Towards the end, the nurse said "do you want to feel his head?" And I was so tired at that point that I said" No. I just want to get him out!" But after just over three hours of pushing, I got an episiotomy and Ike popped out. And then I thought I was going to die again when the doctor started pumping up and down on my stomach. That was intense. I guess I was bleeding ALOT and the doctor was trying get more out to prevent clotting from all the pitocin. Recovery in the hospital was pretty rough with all the sore muscles and the really sore belly from all the pit. One of my nurses asked me if I was glad I went VBAC and she was probably surprised when I told her I wasn't sure. I am not sure if a longer recovery is worse than induced labor pains. There have also been some very embarrassing post-partum side-effects that definitely did not occur with a c-section. Not going to elaborate on that one! But I have a wonderful husband and both my parents here to help out and I felt a great deal better this morning after getting full rest in my own extremely soft bed. Hopefully in another week I will be very glad that I went VBAC. At this point, it's still iffy. And immediately after Ike came out, I turned to Branden and said "I'm not doing that again!" Obviously women forget about how tortuous labor is though, so that statement will probably be null and void in another two years or so. :) Nora has been THRILLED to have a little brother around. With swine flu risks everywhere, she was not allowed to come into the hospital to see Ike. Thursday my mom brought her to the hospital and Branden held her outside our room window so she could at least see him in person. She was SO excited - she was even trying to tickle his little feet from the other side of the glass! :) As soon as we got home yesterday she wanted to hold him and play with him and give him tons of sweet kisses on his head. When he cries, she says "oh! Dass okay, dass okay. (That's okay.)" in a very motherly voice. She's been constantly bringing out toys and baby equipment for him. The only thing worrisome is that she has started to mimic his cries sometimes and tries to climb up on daddy, claiming she is a baby. Hmmm... :)


Nora opening her present from Baby Ike.

Nora wanting to share the view with her brother.


Ike is a great little guy. Very chill and a great cuddler. So glad he's here! Here is the amazingly beautiful and creative quilt my mom came up with for little Ike. Isn't she great?!

Our Little Rock Star

Nora was a rock star for Halloween and she really got into it. After our ward's trunk or treat, we took her door-to-door for a few minutes. By the end when people would ask her what she was, she would yell out "I'm a rockstar! I sing for you!" and then proceed to belt out her version of Pink's "So What" (Rockstar) song. Most people at the door were pretty blown away. :)

Life Lessons From Nora

Tonight after her bath, I combed Nora's hair as usual, but then she wanted to comb my hair. She pulled a bit hard and when I yelled out "ouch!" she said very matter-of-factly to me "Sometimes it hurts." No "sorry mom," just "sometimes it hurts." I guess that's just how it goes!

The other day at the playground. Nora was playing like she was the cook at a restaurant. After a few minutes of taking my order and making me food, she started to fake cry. "What's wrong, Nora?" I asked. "Sniff-Sniff - I cutting onions."

These stories are from Branden:

The other night, Nora had a nightmare and woke up at 3 am. I went in to get her andrealize dthat she was too awake to just wrap her back up and put her to bed. So, as a lazy parent, Iwrapped her up and brought her back to our bed. After a couple of minutes of dozing and listeningto our ceiling fan and the clicking of its chains Nora asked, “Daddy what’s that sound?” I said,“Nora, that’s the fan spinning around.” “Oh,” answered Nora, “It sounds like a Tick-Tock!”Despite it being 3 AM, it was a cute moment.

The other day, we were sitting together as a family and Nora was talking about babies. She pointed to Amber and said, “Baby Ike is in Mom’s tummy and baby Nora is in Nora’s tummy!” pointing to her own tummy. “Not yet,” Amber said. I asked her if she’d like to be a mommy one day. “When you’re older” Amber said. “Yep,” I replied and looking to turn this opportune moment into a lesson I said, “First, you have to get married in the temple before you can be a mommy.” Nora answered, “No, I just need shoes…”

More Catch Up - Halloween Cookies and My Birthday

A day or two before my birthday, Branden came up with the great idea of making some Halloween sugar cookies to decorate. They were good but extremely messy, much to Nora's delight.


Branden and Nora gave me lots of fun presents for my birthday, all of which Nora ended up opening for me herself. She's so helpful!

Catch Up - Pumpkin Patch

A few pictures from our trip to the local pumpkin patch. We rode the hay ride, Nora took a trip on the tractor train, climbed the hay bale pyramid and picked out some "Nora-size" pumpkins.