"Life doesn't turn out the way you plan"

When I left the BYU testing center for the last time this quote from "While you were sleeping" came to mind (cute Sandra Bullock movie). "Life doesn't turn out the way you plan.  I just wish I had known he was talking about my life".  I think most of us find this statement to be incredibly accurate as we go through life, but somehow when we start out toward some goal we always think we will be the exception.  When I was in high school I had my educational goals completely mapped out and I knew exactly what I wanted.  I didn't see the point of counseling, and having a plan B.  Then in life I've learned not only do you need a plan B but sometime C,D, and all the way to some letter that would be beyond Z.  Never did I think I would be completing my education with a child, but that is what life dealt me, and I can now say officially I DID IT.  When I was pregnant I don't know how many people told me I was crazy and there was no way I could go back to school with a new baby.  I wouldn't be able to leave the house for a month.  Having a C-section I would never be able to walk all the way to campus.  I maybe should be thanking these people though because really they gave me the drive to go back as soon as I could.  Seriously though I can't take all the credit, so here is where I give the sentimental shout out to my husband.  For those of you who hate reading about other people's wonderful significant others you may stop reading the rest of the paragraph.  I could never have done it without Jeff.  He has been incredibly supportive and never doubted that I could go to school with a baby, or at least never said that he did.  He accepted what I wanted to do and did everything he could to help me accomplish it.   He has been fantastic with watching Liam, quizzing me on language disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, and dysphagia just to name a few of the things he has helped me with.  You never do something completely on your own its all the supportive people around you that make it possible.

So yes I have graduated from BYU with my bachelors in Communication Disorders, so Speech Pathology and Audiology.  Is this the end of my schooling?  Potentially, no.  I might apply to the U's or the Y's masters program in a couple of years depending upon what is happening in life, but for now I will be staying home with the not so little Liam.  Everyone says that being done with school should give me a rest, but I will be honest, I find staying home all day to be much harder.  When I could have a couple of hours to myself it was really quite revitalizing even if it involved homework and tests.  When I was finished I was actually kind of sad.  I have loved school at BYU, it was such a great and rewarding time and when I was done I just thought "now what?".  So now I create lists of projects and things to do as I stay home which I enjoy.  I just made Liam his first cardigan onesie (those of you who frequent pinterest probably know what I'm talking about.  I will have to post pictures, he looks so cute in it).  Motherhood can be isolating, and sometimes you think you are the only one in the world who feels that way, but in reality I have just joined the group that pretty much every other mother is a part of, but then Liam is an amazing baby.  Every time he does something new or gives me his toothy grin it makes it all worth it, most of the time :).

So as for the Liam, he has been doing great.  He is now almost 10 months, has a mouth full of teeth, and loves creating chaos. So here is what he has been up to...
        -Social Skills:  He loves to show off and smile around other people, particularly young, attractive women.  He is extremely sociable, and refuses to go to sleep with other people around, so at church we have to run somewhere to be isolated.
        -Sleeping:  I never know whether to call him a good or bad sleeper.  I am kind of indifferent about the subject.  It's one of those things if you tell someone he is a good sleeper and explain they'll say well MY child slept from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m and never woke up, and suddenly  my child is a terrible sleeper, and pretty much the same thing if I say he is a bad sleeper.  So here is how he sleeps he goes to bed at 7 p.m and usually wakes up once right before I go to bed and I feed him.  After that he usually wakes up at 2 and 5 and then wakes up all the way at 7 or 7:30.  So you be the judge as whether that's good or bad.  In regards to sleep training, not a fan of cry it out because I'm a pansy, and the other methods just seem to be things that I already do like having a routine and such.
     -Eating:   From the start Liam has not been a fan of baby food, applesauce being the exception, but how can you ruin that.  Liam loves real food, or whatever I'm eating.  Maybe it was my attitude that made him not like the baby food, but seriously have you smelt that stuff...YUCK.  I had a hard time wanting to feed it to him.  I haven't found any food that he hasn't liked and I have just fed him off my own plate.  Mash up whatever I have with my fork and let him go to town.  He loves rice, pasta, broccoli, carrots, and his favorite would probably be apples or oranges, actually I have yet to find a food that he hasn't liked.
    -Motor: He is fully crawling everywhere!  He stands up on everything and walks along the furniture.  He also has a very cute bouncy dance that he does whenever I play music.  He also did this in front of the whole relief society during the hymns while I was conducting the music.

So a very long post as it has been so long.  Hopefully now school is done I can blog more frequently.

New House, New Semester, New Life

So its been a while since I wanted to do my big blog post about moving into the house with pictures when the house was all put together.  Yeah that's not going to happen till the semester is over.  So we have been in the house for about a month now and I love it especially now the temperature has been going down.  The house is all wired for air-conditioning but needs the compressor or condenser whatever and we are too cheap to buy it this year so the first couple of weeks in the house were kind of miserable.  Anyway we were finally able to close after the deadline kept getting pushed and pushed, and we went and signed our lives away.  We were really lucky since Provo offers a no interest 10,000 dollar downpayment assistance for lower incomes and as we just got out of college we qualified.  However, most people who do get this have to do an FHA loan and we were conventional, so that was all super complicated and we were the first who were able to ever get this with a conventional loan.  All my effort paid off and I was so happy.  Anyway we closed and were hoping to get to move in and everyday we wouldn't get the keys, and then we found out there was a land dispute to deal with...frustrating.  Then we finally got that sorted out and were able to move out the day before we had to be out of our apartment.

Liam is now over 7 months old which is hard to believe.  He is still a super chunky baby, probably around 23 pounds now and still sticking in his 90th percentile.  He is really tall too, so he wears 18 month old clothes.  Yeah he is huge and hard to lug around.  He has a fun personality and loves to smile when it is all about him.  He is a major flirt and a big ham (pretty much sums him up).  He loves eating real food and despises baby food.  I have already had to give him his first haircut, but I'm not that sentimental about hair.  He loves stroller rides, and music.  He is really funny in this regard and already shows his preferences.  The Tangled soundtrack is probably his favorite, and if I play "When will my life begin" he stops crying instantly.  Banging on the piano is another favorite pastime.  He has been teething for forever, but I think he has at least 3 teeth all trying to break through.  Sleeping, oh how I miss sleeping, he did pretty good when we first moved in but with the teeth situation we are back to waking up at least twice every night.  He does nap fairly well though.  I now take him to a babysitter for a couple of hours while I go to class and he really likes it.  He loves playing with the babysitters twin girls so that has worked out really well while I go to class.

The last semester has started and things are going really well.  Its not to heavy of a load, and Jeff watches Liam after he gets home so I can do homework.  That is the really nice thing with having Jeff out of school, when he comes home he has no homework so he can watch Liam and help me study.  I have loved BYU and its a little sad that it will be over, but not all that sad.  Jeff's job is going great, so things are overall going really well.  I think that's all that has been going on, but who knows.  I was going to put pics of the house here, but you can just see the album on facebook

Lately

The biggest thing that has happened lately...well, we are under contract for a HOUSE!  So thrilled about it.  Of all the homes we looked at it was my second favorite, and there were things in it that I liked better than my top pick, so I guess it was kind of a toss up between the two.  Anyway we are all set to close by August 10th.  The home inspection is done and now we are just waiting on the appraisal.  I love the house and I am really excited to be living somewhere with more than one bedroom, a real kitchen, and a yard.  I am also glad that the whole searching for a home thing is done.  After you look at so many houses it starts to get old.  

Liam has also been doing great.  At his 4 month appointment he was just over 18 pounds so at 5 months who knows how much he weighs, but he is sticking right with his 95 percentile growth curve.  He also has two teeth now.  He had is first  at 4 months and his second came through a couple of weeks later.  His sleeping hasn't been the greatest.  He was doing great only waking up once at night but now we have taken a few steps back.  He is definitely too big for the bassinet that he sleeps in so hopefully he will do better when he actually gets a crib when we move.  Yes!

We also took Liam on his first plane ride over the 4th of July up to Washington.  He did really well on the way there and slept most of the way.  Then he got to experience his longest car ride of six hours as we drove to the Oregon coast, thankfully he slept for four hours of the car ride both ways.  We spent the week in a lovely beach-house with Jeff's family.  It was lots of fun, and we were even crazy enough to get in the water.  

Liam after his first time swimming

  Not quite a family photo

 Waiting in the airport for his first plane ride

 On the beach in Oregon

 Fourth of July

Chubbs

That has pretty much been our life.  I am so excited to move and get everything all in our own space!

4 months

Hard to believe that my baby is now a chubby (well extremely chubby) four month old.  It seems like he gets bigger every day.  While down in Toquerville we weighed him and found that he weighs around 17.5 pounds.  Yeah he has some major arm rolls.  He has rolled over a few times from his back to his stomach, but he mostly just likes to roll around in a circle.  He giggles, and also enjoys hearing himself scream in a very high pitched voice.  Here is a few pics.

 For father's day I made Jeff and Liam matching tie t-shirt/wunzie.  Jeff's turned out kind of crooked as I was just guessing on how big to make the tie.  I actually had a pattern for Liam's.

Jeff had his birthday on Father's day and I will be having my birthday on Saturday.  So that has been fun even though we spent Jeff's birthday traveling back to Provo from Toquerville.  We plan to spend my birthday looking for more houses, and hopefully take Liam swimming.  House hunting is going...and going...and going.  We have put in offers on about four homes I think so hopefully something will happen soon.  This one bedroom apartment seems to be shrinking.  Sometimes cleaning just annoys me because I don't have anywhere to put anything.  It will be nice to get Liam in an actual room in an actual crib (as his weight now exceeds the recommended weight on his bassinet).  Then we wont have to roll him in and out of the kitchen and we could open doors without worrying about waking him, and I wouldn't have to juggle a stroller up and down apartment stairs.  Hmmm guess I really want to get out of here.  Other than that not much, it is interesting not working or going to school, but I will continue to adjust.  

Life Begins

I survived finals week.  It was a miserable week as it always is, but it was especially hard since Liam did not like being ignored by both his parents.  Now it is over.  Jeff graduated and I finished my last full time semester and I only have a couple of classes left til I can graduate.  Kind of stinks since it would have been fun to graduate together, but my last semester will only be part time and my classes are supposed to be super easy.  Graduation was long, but Liam was super good.  He only got upset when he got the hiccups but that is pretty typical.  We also blessed Liam the same weekend since all the family were in town.  Now I am just trying to find things to do now I don't have school.  It is really weird since this is the first summer I haven't worked since I was fifteen.

Liam is doing great.  He is getting to be a lot of fun.  He smiles and laughs a lot, but he is kind of attached to his mama.  He still loves his bath and loves to get undivided attention from Jeff and me.  He has rolled from his stomach to his back a couple of times but he just does it accidentally.  He has also rolled from his back to his side and is getting really close to rolling.  At his last appointment Liam weighed 14 Ib 1.5 oz and was 23 inches long.  So he was in the 92nd percentile for weight and around the 70th for height.  He also got some immunizations and did really well, he only cried for one second right after they gave it to him.  It wasn't too bad since I only had him get the dTAP and rotavirus.  So that was just one shot and one oral vaccine. 

Jeff is now working at Inside Sales.com and that has been going really well.  He likes actually having something to do and enjoys his work group.  It is weird to think though that he will just always be working and not doing school.  The house hunt is still going.  We just have to wait a couple more weeks to get pre-approved for a loan, and then we will dedicate a little more time to it.  Other than that life is still going

One month gone

So it's hard to believe that Liam is now a month old.  It is amazing how quickly he changes, and to think of all the new things that he will be doing soon.  So a little bit about him, he loves to be held, he is not one to just sit on his own while he's awake.  He also loves being on the move and walking around.  We went on an hour walk the other day when it was lovely outside and he acted like it was the best thing in the world.  Music also is something he seems to love.  In church he will just listen during the hymns and Jeff and I are in the choir and he will just sit and listen the whole time with no problems.  If he is upset Jeff and I singing is something that will quiet him down really quick, and he will sleep in the bassinet by himself if we sing him to sleep.  Eating is another passion of his, during the day he still eats about every two hours.  He goes a little longer at night.  Another instant fix for him when he is upset is a bath.  The moment he hears the bathtub turn on he stops crying and is completely content.  Guess he must be our child if the things that cheer him up are food, music, and baths, things that Jeff and I love.  Nights have been going pretty well.  I usually just have to get up with him once or twice, and usually he will just eat and go back to sleep.
So as far as school goes the last week was crazy since I have had five midterms and two projects in addition to my regular homework load, but that is all almost over and then it is just finals and we are done.  I cant believe there are less than 20 days of school left for us.  Finals are almost easier than midterms though because we have reading days with no class just to study and then there aren't any classes that you have to go to, you just have to take the tests.  Liam has done really well with going to school as he likes to be on the go.  He mostly just sleeps during class.  I am so excited to be able to go running again.  I have been wanting to since the week after my C-section and only have to wait a couple more weeks...then I will take my running stroller and go on a wonderful run.
So some other exciting news is that Jeff got a real world job for after graduation at Insider Sales in Provo.  So I will be able to do my last semester with just a couple of classes and graduate in the Fall.  We are now looking into moving to Springville, and maybe buying a house.  So adult it is kind of crazy.  It is strange transitioning into this new stage of life with a child and soon without school.  I never really thought of life beyond school and I have had a hard time comprehending what I will do with out it.  I guess life is about change though and I will adjust to this next chapter.

Introducing Liam Craig Walther

So we have welcomed our baby Liam into the cold world of Provo, Utah.  He was born February 18th at 11:36 P.M. and was 19 inches long.  He is now almost two weeks old.  So here is the story of his birth.  We were planning on going in on the 21st for a scheduled C-section as he was still breech and was refusing to turn.  I had been having contractions but nothing really bad and I had been experiencing these for several weeks so I didn't really think about it.  Throughout the past couple of days though I had been having quite a bit of fluid leaking but I wasn't sure if it was normal or if my water had broken, but at my Doctors appointment they didn't say anything about it so I just ignored it.  So Saturday my parents came up to be here when the baby was born and we were just at our apartment hanging out, waiting on the off-chance that I might go into labor.  So I kept having contractions that ranged from 4 to 20 minutes apart, but the pain wasn't bad at all, but my mom convinced us to go to the hospital just to be checked out and I was a little concerned because I hadn't felt him move.  So we went to the hospital, but I was convinced they were just going to send me home.  We got into labor and delivery and they monitored the baby and he seemed totally fine and they did some tests on the fluid and were about to send me home when they decided to do one additional test.  A few minutes later the doctor came in and said that I was leaking some amniotic fluid so they were going to deliver me right now since my fluid was low.  Next minute the anesthesiologist was in the room giving me an epidural and less than an hour later we were headed to the operating room.  The epidural did make me nauseous so I threw up once because I was so nervous about the whole thing,which isn't very pleasant when you're strapped down to a table.  So they started the C-section and a few minutes later they lowered the curtain so I could see them pull out my baby boy.  I only saw him for a second then Jeff left with him while they started to stitch me up.  At this point they discovered that my uterus is heart shaped so Liam's head was stuck up in one side of the heart which is why he could never turn.  The doctors thought it was very cool and were telling everyone to come check out my uterus. So just another addition to our story that makes our little boy such a miracle as the heart-shaped uterus is supposed to lead to infertility, frequent miscarriage, and preterm birth.  So they said if I can get pregnant again it is more likely i will have to do C-section again.  Just shows that little Liam was meant to come into the world at this time as he overcame a lot odds that weren't in his favor.
So recovery has not been bad at all.  They kept asking me how my pain was at the hospital and it never was bad so I never really took any pain meds other than ibuprofen and I only took that once or twice, and I never filled my prescription for percocet.  Anyway I got out of the hospital Tuesday and I went to one of my classes Wednesday and I took Liam to all my classes the \following monday.  He has been doing pretty good and i have still been able to stay on top of my school work, and people are really nice and willing to help me with notes and stuff.  So thats the story of our lives currently.  It will be nice when Liam starts sleeping for longer periods at night, but he is pretty good just to wake up eat and then go back to sleep.  We are so excited to have him.  He is such a miracle in every way and Jeff and I love him so much

The End Approaches

So here is the latest.  I went in Monday for my external cephalic version to turn the baby head down.  Lets just say not my favorite experience.  Jeff and I went into the hospital and I was already a little nervous about the whole thing just from hearing that other people had it done with an epidural and I just wasn't sure what to expect.  They stuck me in a room and monitored me for a while, told me not to be nervous, then started asking me if we had discussed or had plans of what we were going to do if I died.  Yes, I know hospital procedure, but come now if you're trying to get me to calm down choose another topic.  Then they injected me with drug to relax the uterus, and oh the side effects are racing heart and anxiety, but try not to feel nervous.  So then they tried to turn him, and yeah it hurt a lot more than I was expecting.  He tried once with no success, and said he didn't think it would work because my abs were just too tight since they had never been stretched before.  I asked him to try one more time because I really wanted it too work so I wouldn't have to do a C-section.  So he tried one more time while I tried to relax, but since his head was up under my ribcage and everything was so tight it didn't work. So now I've been trying every method online that I can find (swimming, doing handstands and sommersaults in the water, laying on an incline bench, icepacks, you name it).  Nothing seems to have worked so far, or at least hadn't at my last  Dr. appointment.  Apparently he is a footling breech and thats why this other Dr said he wouldn't turn, but that he might turn on his own.  Anyway I have a C-section scheduled for the 20th but the doctor said he didn't think there was anyway I would make it til then, but what do they know.  I guess I was pretty much completely effaced and dilated a little beyond a 2. Then the doctor told me when my water breaks I was to go directly to the hospital and if my husband wasn't around that I should just leave without him.  So, if I'm at school when this happens things could get interesting.    Anyway they say it could really happen any day now.  Hopefully he can wait til Wednesday evening because then I am done with all my tests for the next 3 weeks which would be ideal.  If the baby would decide to turn that would also be fantastic.  We will see if he stays a rebel til the end.

Full Term...almost

I'm almost there, or at least that's what I keep telling myself.  I am so ready to not be pregnant, and I am really excited to be able to fully workout again.  However, the past couple of days brought a little bit of an unexpected turn when I went to my latest Dr. appointment.  Sometimes I think Doctors just think I lay around all day and I have unlimited time at my disposal to come in any time or sit and wait for an indefinite amount of time.  Let's just say I DON'T.  So I have to leave class to run (literally) to my appointment.  I arrive on time, check in and patiently wait.  Well I happened to end up being the last patient of the day and I waited for over an hour to get in, and those magazines only occupy you for so long.  Finally, I get in feeling really annoyed, and I wait in my room for probably another half hour for the doctor to get in there.  So, he just tells me that they are going to test for Strep B and since I was so close to full term see if I was dilated at all.  So they do the test and he feels the baby from the outside and says he feels in the right position and ready.  Then he goes to see if I'm dilated and tells me I am to about a 2 and 90% effaced, but he said they needed to do an ultrasound because he couldn't feel the baby's head.  So they run and get the ultrasound machine and we discover that the baby is breech even though they thought he had turned head down a while ago.  So now I have to go to the hospital Monday and they are going to try to turn him.  Hopefully he is cooperative because I really don't want a c-Section.  I don't know what's more stressful the prospect of the whole turning process or the whole rearranging of my schedule to be there.  The doctor was a little surprised that I effaced so much without the head being down and just said it must be because I walk so much.  So come Monday we will see how it all turns out, and hopefully baby will arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Another Semester

Christmas is always way too short.  I always think two weeks should feel like a long time but it never does.  So another semester begins, and it is my eighth semester at BYU.  Wow so hard to believe, but graduation is so close.  This is Jeff's last semester and my last full time semester, again really weird.  I never really thought of life after school, it just seemed like a part of life that would never end, but now we are going to move on to another chapter. 
So baby boy is growing still, evidenced by my continually enlarging belly.  Everyone was telling me that I still didn't look like I would be delivering in February, til a "wonderful" experience at Wal-Mart.  After Christmas I was out looking at the after-Christmas sales with my mom and aunts.  While looking at the clearance trying to figure out what was on sale, this older man in a wheelchair kind of follows me around and asks when I was delivering.  As it was now January it felt great to say "oh I'm due next month".  He then said to me "oh that's why you're so huge". Me "uhhh.....".  He then asked me if I was having twins or a boy.  I laughed and told him it was a boy.  As I started  to walk away he told me that it was at least an 8 pounder, but not to worry because at least he would be healthy.  Thank you stranger, you just made me feel great about myself.  Oh well the tactless man gave us something to laugh about.  Anyway we are getting excited since our little boy is going to be here so soon.  He still doesn't have a name, we have it down to a list of three that we think we will pick from when he is born (Liam, Ian, and Isaac).  We are getting everything all set up and ready even though we probably wont be.  It will be here before we know it.