2013 Year in Review

2013 was a great year. It was a year of projects, growth, and new additions.

January 1st: 2013 began. I love stating the obvious.
January 31st: Found out I was pregnant, due October 12, 2013!  It just so happened to be the same day  that I had an appointment at the Reproductive Care Center to have blood tests done for recurrent miscarriages. On the drive over there I casually mentioned the news to Larry. :)
 The blood test results came back saying I had the MTHFR genetic mutation that might be the cause. They told me to take extra folic acid and low dose aspirin.  The only other pregnancy I had done that was Allen.

 

February 14th: Saw baby's heartbeat on ultrasound at just 5 weeks along.  I was so relieved but still very nervous. That day, (Valentine's Day) I updated my Facebook status as a simple little heart.

February 22nd: Allen's 2nd Birthday! He had a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party. Larry even made him a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake, complete with Toodles.
I was a little busy being sick in February and March.

Allen's Mickey Cake, made by Dad

 

Allen on his 2nd birthday

Dancing toddler

Cutie Pie

Blue Eyes

March 3rd: Jordan & Drew got married!
March 15th: We went to Kansas and surprised Larry's mom at her work (she didn't know we were coming to visit.)  Allen had a sticker on his shirt with our announcement. We told the rest of his family while we were out there. I also called my mom to tell her because I was sick of waiting.
March 25th: I had weekly ultrasounds during my first trimester. At just 11 1/2 weeks along, I had an ultrasound and the doctor told me "Oh, looks like a little boy." I was so excited! Larry and Allen weren't there as it was supposed to just be routine. I wasn't expecting to find out that early. I went home and told Larry and he seemed a little surprised. He's still hoping for a girl someday.

Baby Boy at just 11 1/2 weeks

March 31st: On Easter, I was 12 weeks along and announced to my family that Allen was going to be a big brother. I stuck the little sign to his shirt and let him run around until someone noticed.

Baby on the way announcement

April: We fenced our front and backyard.
We also went to Larry's Annual Pinnacle Trip in Scottsdale Arizona at the Phoenician Resort. It's a vacation with an awards ceremony for being one of the top in-store branch managers of US Bank. We left Allen with Larry's mom, who stayed at our house for a week. It was hard leaving him for the first time, but we had a nice vacation.  For the activities, Larry drove racecars and I spent a day at the spa and got a pre-natal massage. We even got these cool boots for free.

April 16: Larry ran a half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon! That's 13.1 miles.
Also in April, my sister Heidi FINALLY graduated college in graphic design. (Haha, sorry Heidi) She was hired as a graphic designer right out of college.
April 22nd: Our 5 year wedding anniversary

May: Larry transferred to the West Valley Wal Mart as the branch manager of US Bank. It's a really busy store (the busiest west of the Mississippi apparently). In other words, it's really annoying to shop there. I imagine working there is interesting.

Larry's grand opening of US Bank at WalMart. That's him in the Captain Shield costume. That lion scares me.

May 21st: Had my 19 week full anatomy scan. It was confirmed that Allen was going to have a little brother. :) We were very relieved when they told us he's healthy and didn't have club feet. They even did a 4D ultrasound to show us his little feet. I immediately went shopping to buy "anything with feet on it" as Larry put it. I bought more than a dozen footed pajamas in no time.

 19 week 4d ultrasound. Look at his little hands and feet!

June 11th: My 25th birthday.
June 13th: We adopted a three year old Great Dane named Zailey. What, doesn't everyone adopt a giant dog when they're five months pregnant? She's a great dog and a "gentle giant" for sure.

Zailey with Allen

June 23rd: Matt and Chelsea (My best friend) had their first baby, a girl, named Lydia Lee. Visiting them in the hospital made be really excited about having my baby. The months continued to slowly pass. Lol.
June 29th: Our brother in law Drew (Jordan's husband) was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

July: Our nephew Sterling came to stay with us for a week. Larry put him to work helping us lay sod in our front and back yard. We also took him to the movies and Glen Beck's Man on the Moon Production at USANA Amphitheater. It had a cool firework and plane show.
Larry spent the whole summer working on the yard. It was a ton of work (I know...I watched. haha) I did help a little but Larry did most of the work by himself. He put in a patio, installed a sprinkler system, and put sod in. The entire summer was spent landscaping. We didn't do much else! Occasionally we went to the aquarium and the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Front yard

Front Yard

August: Scott & Laura visited for a weekend. We went to the movies and arcade. And they took a family picture for us.

August 22nd: The day Allen was two and a half, I decided to potty train him. Larry had been saying he thought Allen was ready...I wasn't so sure. The first two days I was still skeptical. But after that it was like something clicked. By day five he was accident free, day and night. I never bought a single pull up through the whole process. I packed up his cloth diapers and was relieved that I would only have one in diapers at a time! Needless to say it turned out to be much easier than I expected. And he looks adorable in his little boxer briefs.

Pajamas, boxers, and cowboy boots

August 24th: Larry ran in a color run


The Color Run

Allen wasn't very happy about it


September: I believe I spent the month nesting and putting finishing touches on my project, growing our baby boy. Apparently I don't remember much else. I was just very anxiously anticipating the arrival of our baby boy. The pics below are the result of my nesting throughout the year. I actually finished them a few months prior.


Baby's crib in the nursery
 

 

Baby's room

I even made Allen's room all cute

Allen's bed 

 September 27th: My dog Kodi turned 13. He's a teenager ;)

Kodi

October: The month I was counting down to all year long!
October 2nd: My dad and step mom were sealed in the Draper Temple. I was able to attend in all my pregnant glory.
October 5th and 6th: What seemed like the longest weekend ever. Fortunately I was able to pass the time by watching General Conference. I did some last minute nesting (even gave the Great Dane a bath in the back yard) I also had Larry take some maternity pics to pass the time.

The day before he was born

 

October 7th: The big day!


Morning of induction

We got up early and went to St. Marks Hospital (the same hospital both Allen and I were born at). I had elected to be induced since I was group B positive and needed antibiotics ahead of time. Since my first was really sick when he was born, I wanted to be sure to do all I can to prevent any problems. I'm glad I did because he came really fast. I'd been 4 cms and 80% for 3 weeks so after the doctor broke my water, I progressed fast. I managed the pain really well and right until an hour before I had him, I didn't ask for an epidural. I had planned on one but they told me I was a good candidate to go without one if I wanted. I guess they jinxed me because not long after, I was asking for one. Turns out baby boy was sunny side up (OUCH!). After the anesthesiologist gave me the epidural, the nurse told me I was 10 cms. (By the way, anesthesiologists have no social skills.)   It was still really painful and seemed more difficult than Allen's delivery. Doctor Watts and the nurses explained that it's much harder to deliver a baby face up. I didn't disagree with them. At 3:41 PM, our beautiful baby boy, Hayden Elijah Balsmeier, came into the world. Just a side note, Allen was born at 4:52. Should I anticipate that my next one will be born at 2:30?  Baby Hayden was so tiny, weighing in at 6 lbs 15 ounces and 18.5 inches. He had a nice loud cry, which was a relief. I was expecting another blonde baby, just because that's all I knew. But little Hayden had dark brown hair!


First picture. Brand new baby Hayden.

It was so nice to be able to hold my baby, feed him, and just snuggle him in the delivery room.


Sleepy newborn baby

It was quite a different experience than what we had with our little Allen having difficulties in the beginning. I'm so blessed that I have two healthy little boys.

Me and my sweet boys

That night, my mom brought Allen to meet his little brother for the first time. It was so special and Allen was just beaming over his new little brother. I loved being able to have family come visit and hold our new baby in my hospital room.

Allen meeting his brother Hayden for the first time

Allen beaming over his baby brother

We got to go with him to the nursery and Larry gave him his first bath.

Hayden after his bath in the nursery

The Balsmeier Boys

I enjoyed my hospital stay and had a quick and easy recovery. I loved snuggling with my baby constantly, being waited on and having food brought to me. Haha.

Oh and it was so great to have my baby in my room! I was exhausted but I didn't let them take him at all. He stayed right by me and I just stared at him constantly.  Larry went home that night and worked on a fancy brick wall he built for the backyard.

Hayden in his bassinet in my hospital room

Backyard with sandbox

Rock wall along fence

October 9th: We brought Hayden home :) The day we brought  him home, Larry decided it would be a good idea to start finishing the basement. Nothing says welcome home like the sounds of construction. ;) Larry got three weeks off for paternity leave and some vacation but I'm pretty sure we didn't see him much during that time.

He wore the same going home outfit that Allen did

So tiny

October 12: Family Pictures and Hayden's newborn photos :)

First family photo!

 

 

 

 

October 31st: Hayden's first Halloween. He was a dinosaur with his big brother :)

November 20th: Our cute little nephew Carter was born (Scott & Laura's baby). He's a ginger ;)
At the end of November, Larry's mom, brother Taylor, and sister JJ and her family came to visit for Thanksgiving and Hayden's blessing. Larry put them to work helping do the dry wall in the basement. I'm starting to think people are going to be wary of coming to visit us on "vacation."


December 1sts: Hayden's blessing day. I got all teary eyed while Larry gave him the blessing. We have such an amazing little spirit entrusted to us and he has a great life ahead of him. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such precious little boys.

Hayden's blessing day

Hayden Elijah, dressed in his white tuxedo

December 24th: Larry's 30th Birthday! I threw him a little surprise party a couple days before. It was Dr. Who themed. I even "made" a Dalek cake. Fine. I stacked a couple bunt cakes and shoved tin foil on it. It was a pathetic attempt.

December 25th: Allen's third Christmas and Hayden's first Christmas

December 30th: Chelsea and Lydia came to visit. They moved to Texas in the summer so it was great to see them again. (Everyone must be thinking I don't get out much when having someone visit makes the year in review. You would be correct in that assumption.)
December 31st: Carpet was installed in our basement. We had done it (by we, I mean Larry of course). The backyard and basement were finished in 2013! We now have two extra bedrooms (being used as a playroom and exercise room) and another bathroom. The family room is really big and adds tons of space. We also got new furniture for the upstairs living room.

Finished Basement

Upstairs Living Room

It was truly a great year!

I'm grateful to everyone who helped us in our eventful year. Whether it was helping sod our yard or helping with my kids. I'm glad my mom lives fairly close so she can visit when I need help or a babysitter. It also means so much to me that Larry worked so hard for us throughout the year. In addition to all he does at work, he came home and worked on the yard and basement like crazy. All this while dealing with his Crohn's Disease. On the bright side, I don't think he had any surgeries in 2013.

Now to update about my boys. Yes, I know this is a long blog post. But when you only blog once a year, it's bound to be a long post.

It's now 2014 and Allen is approaching his third birthday in February. I can't believe how much he's grown up. He went from being a baby to a little boy. Ahem, I mean a big boy (he corrects me every time I  tell him he's my little boy). He talks like crazy and surprises me with his intellect. His favorite show this past year was "Peep and the Big Wide World."  He's also obsessed with watching toy reviews on YouTube. He LOVES monster trucks and racecars. He got a bunch of hot wheels cars and monster jam trucks for Christmas. Allen is very caring and sensitive to other's feelings. I admire how loving he is. When we tuck him in at night he gives us kisses and tells us he loves us. He also tells his brother he loves him every day. He calls him "Hayn" or "Hay-Lijah." Before Hayden was born, Allen would say "night brother" to him every night. Oh by the way, the day I found out he was going to be a big brother, Allen came up to me and told me he was going to have a baby brother. Larry thinks I'm crazy but I'm telling ya, he did. He adores his brother and I love watching their relationship.  Allen is such a silly boy and cracks me up every day. I love my little blondie!

 

 

 

Watching Peep
 

Daddy singing to Allen

Hayden is almost four months old now and growing too fast! He's such a precious little boy. He loves to be held and worn in the baby carrier. He's such a Mommy's boy :) He's always wiggling (I noticed this before he was even born!) and he's very curious. He loves to watch his brother and see what's going on. Hayden started out so tiny but has grown quickly. He's now a solid little guy and weighs about 14 pounds! We call him "Chunk Chunk McMunk Munk." Hayden was pretty fussy and seemed uncomfortable his first month. I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with reflux and put on medication. He quickly improved and is doing much better with it now. Hayden is such a mellow boy (I love being a mom to boys...so easy!) I love his little voice, his giant smile, his blue eyes, his dimples, and his long eyelashes. Oh and he looks more like me! People still say he looks like his dad though. Do I ever get any credit? ;) I just can't get over what a sweet little baby he is. We adore our little Hay Hays!

1 month

2 months

3 months

 

 

3 1/2 months

Hayden Elijah

He's always so alert

My boys are my world and I adore them. They make up for everything that's hard in life. Being their mom brings me joy that I can't put into words.

Brothers holding hands

Allen loves his baby brother

Well there ya have it. I updated the blog!