The One with Octobers with the Evans'

October seems to be an important month for the Evans family. Last year on Halloween I brought home sweet little Joey.

This year in October we brought home sweet little Fox.

I wonder what next October has in store for the Evans'?
HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010!

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The One with Wordless Saturday

A picture is worth a thousand words.




(PS - we don't let him sleep on his stomach, I just wanted to take cute pictures!)

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The One with Fox at 2 Weeks Old

Blogger dashboard is saying this is my 795th post. Jeepers creepers it's almost time for another giveaway! If you're a new reader, I like to do giveaways every 100 posts. If you're an old reader (not age-wise, but if you've been reading for awhile) you know the drill. I gotta start crack-a-lackin' on some things to giveaway! Stay tuned!
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Fantastic Mr. Fox is two weeks old today. I can hardly believe it. Here are some stories, anecdotes, facts, and tidbits in no particular order, I just want to get them down.

Fox is not on a schedule. He wakes up whenever and sleeps whenever and for no set amount of time. Sometimes he sleeps in four hour blocks through the night, sometimes he sleeps in one hour blocks. I much prefer those four hour blocks. Boy do I miss my 10 hours of sleep every night...But every time I walk in to the nursery to hush his cute little cries, my heart skips a beat.

The acne that he had on his legs and face is almost gone. Bathing really helps the breakouts go away. I wish my zits would go away that fast!

I planned on breastfeeding from the beginning. Right from the get-go Fox latched on, but very incorrectly and he chewed right through me and left me blistered, bleeding, and sore. I decided to start pumping and vowed never to breastfeed again. But then my mother-in-law found these plastic breast shell thingamabobbers to help dry things out and they've been a lifesaver. I still breastfeed Fox about four times a day and then pump about twice a day. TMI? Sorry Charlie.

I swear Fox's hair gets lighter every time I wash it. I have to wash it every day because it gets greasy. Just like his daddy.

Last Monday when my mom was still here and Fox was only four days old, we noticed there was lots of goop coming out of his right eye. Being the first time mom that I am, I got super worried so I made an appointment with a pediatrician. We were in and out of the doctor in less than half an hour - world record! Turns out his head is so round-shaped that his tear ducts are being squeezed. The doctor said the problem should resolve itself by the time he's 18 months old and as his head changes shape. He must be growing and changing super fast because his eye isn't goopy anymore. I really can tell that his head is changing shape, it looks a lot like Chris's. SLOW DOWN MR. FOX! And when am I gonna start seeing some of ME in you? You're all Chris!

Fox's umbilical cord fell off on Monday so we gave him his first official bath. He didn't show signs of loving it or hating it until we took him out of the water then he cried but that's understandable. I still don't feel like I really know what I'm doing when bathing him, but practice makes perfect.

I've taken Fox with me on a couple of errands all by myself. I feel so accomplished being able to put him in his car seat, put the stroller together, snap him in, and then disassemble it all when we're through. He's been with me to Old Navy one day and then Payless Shoe Source another day. Perhaps I'm crazy for taking him out so soon after his birth, but I'd go mad if I had to stay inside all day. It's sunny and 75 outside and those sales are calling my name! Plus the doctor said his immune system is at its peak from now until about six weeks. Doesn't really make sense to me, but whatevs, I'll take it and run with it.

Joey the dog is very good around Fox. He's given him a couple of smooches, but most of the time he just ignores him. Rachel the cat couldn't care less. Chandler the rabbit, Li'l Chinchilla the chinchilla, and Alice the zebra finch don't have a clue. And Jadis the conure?... Well, let's just say I don't let the bird anywhere near Fox. I've decided I need to get Jadis's wings clipped to be safer.

Fox is moving and squirming around a lot more than he did at birth. He's flailing his arms and legs all over the place and figuring out how to use his limbs.

Fox pees on the changing table about 75% of the time while he's being changed. I change his outfit practically every single time I change his diaper because he leaks through. I dunno if I'm not putting the diaper on right, if his diapers are too big or too small, or what the deal-e-o is, but we sure do a lot more laundry around here now with Mr. Fox! And I feel like as soon as I put a new diaper on, he poos or pees so every time I change him I end up changing him twice. Silly little boy.

Against all the nurses advice, we use a pacifier. He sucks on those things so hard! But it really does calm him down and put him to sleep which is a-ok with me.

Enough about Fox, what about ME?!? ME ME ME ME ME! :)
My stitches are healing nicely. I tore so many places inside and out I really didn't think the pain would ever go away. I'm still taking a ridiculous amount of pills morning and night, but I've stopped taking them throughout the day because I don't need them anymore. Going to the bathroom is getting easier every day and I don't have to sit my toosh on the boppy to be comfortable.

My feet have definitely grown a size. I used to be an 8 1/2 - 9. I am now a 9 1/2 - 10. Chris says I should give it another month or two, but my feet don't even look swollen anymore so I'm not sure there's anymore leeway. I'm sad that a lot of my shoes don't fit anymore, but new shoes aren't a bad thing :)
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Well, baby is sleeping which means I should sleep. Gotta catch up on zzz's when I can!

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The One with Echo Park Paper Co.

I swear Crystal Wilkerson was thinking of Fox's nursery when she designed her new Little Boy line. I mean seriously, could this line BE any more perfect?? I can't WAIT to get my hands on this line and start scrapping Fox's newborn pictures.


Echo Park Paper Co. is quickly becoming one of my most favorite scrapbooking companies. Like American Crafts, they use bright, happy, and fun color palettes. Totally my thang. Here are the other lines that they have recently created and I'm in love with:
EVERYBODY LOVES CHRISTMAS

WINTERTIME

SWEET SUMMERTIME

MERRY CHRISTMAS

LIFE IS GOOD

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A WALK IN THE PARK

Be still my soul!
Here is a link to Crystal's blog, the Echo Park Paper Co. blog, and the Echo Park Paper Co. website. Make sure you have a rag handy to wipe up the drool that is sure to drip from your mouth as you oogle over this stuff :)

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The One with Amazing Carved Pumpkins

I appreciate art in its many many forms - from painting and drawing to pumpkin carving!

Some people are CRAZY talented!
I'm so ready for Halloween!!

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The One with Just the Three of Us

My malm came and went.
My mother-in-law came and went.
Their help was much appreciated and essential.
Now it's just the three of us.
This is our new life.
I couldn't be more thrilled!

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The One with When the Boss is Away the Employees Will Play

If you've got an extra seven minutes and need a good laugh, might I suggest you watch this video of one of the head honchos of Northridge Publishing (Scrapbook Trends, CARDS, Bead Trends, Simply Handmade, Create series) coming back from a trip only to find his half of the office has been "tin-foiled" from head to toe.

Screen shots of the prank:


I can't imagine how long it took to do all of that! I mean, tin-foiling even the trash - that's thorough! Reminds me of something Pam and Jim would do to Dwight on The Office.

Check out lots more fun (and more serious-natured) tutorials on Northridge Publishing's YouTube site.

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The One with My Pregnancy with Fox in Photos

Every Sunday since we found out we were expecting at 5 weeks we took a photo of my growing belly before church. It's been fun to compare and see how I've grown, maxed out, and then shrunk back down. (I left out week 30 for the sake of making a 6 x 6 photo collage.)

And here is a comparison of the first week, the last week, and how I look today:

I gained 56 pounds during my pregnancy. I've lost 26 pounds. A whopping 30 to go...

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The One when Fox Turned 1 Week Old

What was little Fox Thomas doing at exactly 12:01pm on his one week birthday?
Getting smooched by Nana!

And sleeping.

The usual.

How has it already been a week? Time is flying! Slow down!

Chris is feeling under-represented so here he is holding his heir:

Loving this being a mom thing more every day.

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The One with Life with Fox

We've been taking pictures left and right. We don't want to forget a single moment of Fox's life!
I promise I won't blog about my baby every single day.
Strike that.
I'll blog about him every single day if I darn well please :)

Rough day at the office.

Will his hair turn curly?? His first hair wash indicates it might be in the stars.

We took Fox to his two day after going home appointment and everything is in order! He weighs 7 pounds 13 ounces, he left the hospital at 7 pounds 11 ounces, they want him to gain 1 ounce a day, so he's right on track. Here we are waiting to be seen. I look so tired. But oh so happy.

Grandma Carolyn and Fox.

Poor little guy has some nasty acne around his diaper line. No popping them!

Sawin' logs.

Absolute and total fluke that we caught a smile on camera. He smiles maybe once a day and I just happened to snap this as he was smiling. We laughed out loud for several minutes because, come on, this is just too cute :)

Today we ventured out of the house for the first time. Too soon? Maybe. Hopefully not. We went to Wells Fargo (he stayed in the car with Grandma while I went in), then we went to Target and got some needed essentials, then we went to Banana Republic and returned a shirt, then we went to GAP and returned some things and then I got some things for ME! The first items of clothing I've bought myself in a long time! Fun!

We came home and crashed.

Boy oh boy do I love being a mom. Or a malm as we say.

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The One with Fox's Labor and Delivery

Better write this down now before I forget all the nitty gritty details!

Once upon a time, in November of 2009, Paige decided she wanted to start a family. It took a couple of months, but after purchasing an ovulation kit and listening to some tips and tricks from friends, we found out on February 7th 2010 that we were expecting.

From early on I always assumed things were going wrong. It's a really bad attitude to have and I'm working on becoming not such a worrywart. I thought I had an ectopic pregnancy from the get-go because I was spotting all the time and there was a constant pain in my side. But after going to the OB when I was only 5 weeks along, the doctor said everything checked out and to keep trudging along. At 8 weeks we got to see the little bean moving around. I can't believe babies can move around when they're only 8 weeks developed!

One month I had my blood drawn to test for rubella and when I got home there was an email from the doctor saying I tested positive and the standard is negative. I called Chris in a panic, sweating from head to toe, believing I had this nasty disease. Luckily, Chris calmed me down and assured me that everything is fine, I tested positive in having the antibodies which is a good thing. Okay. Relax.

Then once it came time for me to start being able to feel Fox move around I worried constantly when I couldn't feel him move constantly. Even now that he's out of me, I feel like I should be counting kicks.

What I've learned from this entire experience is I need to relax, not assume everything will go wrong, but instead assume everything will go right. Because it did. From beginning to end, I've had a dream pregnancy.

Here is the story of how Fox was born:

39 weeks and 4 days into my pregnancy (Tuesday October 12th), I was a distraught, hormonal mess. I thought for sure we'd be able to coax Fox to come on 10.10.10. But he didn't. I couldn't believe I was still pregnant and wondered constantly when this baby would make his debut. On Tuesday I tried eating and drinking lots of things I heard start labor. I ate spicy chicken chunks and a hot bowl of spicy chili from Wendy's for lunch. I had two huge spears of pineapple for dessert. Then I downed it all with a cup of raspberry herbal tea. Several hours later I went to the bathroom and noticed I was dripping brown liquid. Could this be it?!? I figured out I was losing my mucous plug, which ultimately meant I could be starting labor in a day or two - or another week or two. Very helpful. Not!

39 weeks and 5 days into my pregnancy (Wednesday October 13th) I had my last scheduled visit with my OB. I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd be going to this appointment, I thought I would have had Fox by then. And I was hesitant about having an appointment on the 13th to begin with - I'm seriously superstitious of the number 13. When the nurse was checking me in I told her I think I lost my mucous plug and she asked if I'd like to have the doctor check me out. Yes please. So after examining the baby via ultrasound (everything looked good) the doctor put on a glove and reached up inside me. OMG I'm being 100% serious, that was THE most painful part of my whole labor/delivery/aftermath. I screamed so loud for her to stop. The OB said I was 75% effaced and 4 centimeters dilated and why wasn't I at the hospital in excruciating pain from contractions? Um. Because I wasn't having any contractions? At least not painful ones. I've been having Braxton Hicks since around week 20 so I wasn't really paying attention to when and how often I'd been having them. But I guess they'd been doing what they were supposed to be doing regardless of whether I was feeling them or not and I was in the early stages of labor. After standing up from the table and noticing a distressing amount of blood, I asked if we should go to the hospital and the OB said we should.

The next hour (or rather, three days) was sort of a blur. Things were happening so fast but it couldn't have been a better situation. Chris wasn't at school, the place where we board Joey was still open for a few more hours, I had time to pack my hospital bag, feed the animals, and mentally prepare for what was about to happen. Here is my belly and feet for the last time being pregnant!

We dropped Joey off at doggie day care and made our way to the hospital. Of course the traffic was horrendous!

Thank goodness I wasn't in any pain. It took about an hour to get to the hospital. You'd think after taking the tour I would know where to go, but nothing looked familiar and I was in a state of panic so it took us awhile to find where to go. But we found it.

I didn't even get dropped off at the "Stork Parking." I was feeling able enough to walk from the car to the drop off area. One of the workers pushed me in a wheelchair and Chris followed through a labyrinth of corridors and hallways and levels. I'm glad he knew where he was going because I sure would have been lost. He dropped us off at the triage where the receptionist asked, "What can I do for you?" "I think I'm in labor. My doctor says I should be here." She sort of looked at me like I was crazy because I wasn't in any pain or grimacing as I told her this news of news. I got that look a lot over the next several hours. A nurse took me to a room where she had me undress and fit into a robe and then a doctor came in to check me. She confirmed my stats and I was officially admitted into the hospital. I was hooked up to some monitors to check my contractions and baby's heartbeat.

I guess I was having pretty steady contractions evenly spaced apart and everyone was like, what is wrong with you? Why aren't you feeling these and in more pain? Just lucky I guess... About an hour later I was taken to my birthing suite. I ate some dinner and then Chris and I walked around in circles outside. I still wasn't feeling pain. The doctors assured me I would and eventually I would get mighty uncomfortable. At 9pm we watched America's Next Top Model and then I wanted to go walking some more because my contractions were tapering off according to the monitor and I really wanted to get the ball rolling. After only walking for a few minutes, blood started trickling down my legs so we came back in. The doctor said it's probably just my cervix expanding, but she didn't check to see how dilated I was.

The rest of the night was pure torture. My contractions pretty much stopped. I was in no pain. I was not progressing. The bed was the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever laid on. I really just wanted to have a baby. There was nothing good on TV. I was tired, wondering, and mad that nobody was coming to check on me. At 2am the doctor said that if I wasn't contracting soon she'd break my water between 4 and 5 am. Well, 4am rolled by. 5am rolled by. 6am rolled by... Still no doctor. I was po'ed.

Finally at 7am the doctor came in, checked my cervix for the second time since I'd been there over 12 hours earlier, said I was at a 5, and that I had two options: 1) Go home and wait for active labor to start, or, 2) break my water to see if that gets things going then start pitocin. There was no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks I was going home. My mom was already on the way to the airport. My mind was set on having a baby that day. I was still bleeding and I'm sure by the time I got home I'd just have to turn right back. No, going home was not an option, I wanted my water broken. The doctor seemed almost hesitant to do so. Whatever. My choice lady. She had a hard time breaking my water because Fox was so far down. But, thank goodness, it did the trick and literally 20 minutes after she broke my water, I had a contraction that actually hurt! And then I had another one about 4 minutes later that hurt even worse. Then another, and another. By this point I had requested an epidural and the anesthesiologist couldn't have shown up any sooner.

Let it be known: epidural = heaven.

The doctor was right, the insertion of the IV into my hand was worse pain than getting an epidural. The only part that hurt at all was the needle that went in to numb the area of my back for the insertion of the big needle - which I never saw and didn't want to see. Ripping off the epidural thingy also stung really bad because it tore off all my back hairs like I was getting waxed. Next I was given the smallest dose of pitocin. I could see my contractions coming very strongly every few minutes and while I did still feel them and they didn't feel good, they didn't hurt like a banshee like they did before. I asked the nurse how long it would take for me to fully dilate and start pushing. She says it takes about 1 cm per hour so we're talking 5 hours plus a couple hours of pushing and she thought she was being generous so maybe around 4 or 5pm my baby would be born. Sounds good to me.

We settled down to let the pitocin do its magic and watched The Price is Right. I've been watching that show a lot the last few weeks. One of these days I'ma get on and win the Showcase Showdown :)

At 11am the doctor came in to see how I was doing. I'd had the epidural for about 2 hours and she wanted to check my progress. She was shocked and amazed to see that I was fully effaced, 10cm dilated, Fox was at station plus 2, and the only thing that prevented me from pushing right then and there was an anterior cervical lip - whatever that means. Basically they just wanted to wait another half hour or so for Fox to move down even more.

Here I am, ready to get this show on the road (with my cell phone ready to contact the outside world)!

The last picture of Chris and Paige - party of two.

The nurse prepped the room with everything everyone needed for Fox's arrival. At 11:20am, the nurse had me do a practice push. I started tearing right then and there. Oh boy. She had me push at every other contraction, three strong pushes, 10 seconds each. I tore more and more with each push. When the nurse saw Fox's head coming (and noted, "look at that dark curly hair!" YAY!) she grabbed the doctor and shortly thereafter, Fox was born at 12:01pm on Thursday October 14th 2010.

They immediately cut his cord and put him on my chest all bloody and warm.

I started crying. I couldn't believe I had done it. My baby was here, he was all mine, and he was super cute.

Ya know, I wonder if every nurse and every doctor tells their laboring patients, "Oh you're doing such a great job! You're such a great pusher! Just a couple more like that and you'll be a mom!" Whether they were telling me the truth or not, it was the motivation I needed to keep doing what I was doing because I couldn't feel anything going on down there. I did feel him exit out of my body and talk about an indescribable feeling!

Just want to note that I love the doctor who delivered Fox. I don't remember her name, I just remember she was cracking wise the entire time. She was so funny and kept me laughing and smiling between pushes. When Fox was laying across my chest, I thought the next step would be for me to deliver the placenta, but she just reached right up inside and grabbed it! Ah! She plopped it on the table and I had Chris take pictures. The doctor flipped it over so Chris could get the other side, haha. I was thiiis close to posting pictures of my placenta right here, but I'll spare you.

As Fox was lying on my chest, still covered in goop, he wrapped his little hand around my finger. Talk about a precious moment!

He would cry for a few seconds then stop and his eyes were open and alert the entire first hour. Eventually the nurse pried him from my hands and weighed and measured him. 8 pounds 3 ounces. 19.5 inches. He got a 10 on the Apgar scale which rates a baby's appearance, pulse, responsiveness, muscle activity, and breathing with a number between 0 and 2 - 2 being the strongest rating. The numbers are then totaled and 10 is considered a perfect score. That's my perfect baby for ya! :)

Fox in his very first diaper.

Fox in his very first outfit supplied by the hospital.

One proud daddy!

All swaddled up and ready to take on the world.

Just me and my baby.

I know I'm baised, but seriously, he is just plain ol' CUTE!

Right as we were being transfered from the birthing suite to post pardum, my mom came. Grandma Taylor! (Wish I'd have taken a picture of her reaction to seeing her first grandbaby for the first time. It was priceless).

Where Chris slept:

Adorable pictures of Fox:

Fox in his going-home Blogger onesie made by Jenny.

Wearing his cute crocheted booties made by Katie.

Final moments at the hospital with Grandma Taylor and Daddy.

Here we go!

Is Fox too small or the carseat too big?!

Fox in his swing for the first time:

How are things going, you ask? I'm high on adrenaline. Sure, I'm so tired I don't even know how I'm typing this, but I just look over to my right and see Fox sleeping in his swing and I smile and everything is right with the world. He cries when he's hungry, needs to be changed, and occasionally in between for no reason. But most of the time he's as happy as can be. He's a lot more fussy and awake in the middle of the night, of course, but that's okay. I expected it. I slept 10 hours every night for three months straight to make up for all the loss of sleep I'm sure is coming.

Guess what I can do now? I can bend over! I can wear my wedding ring! I can fit my old clothes and (some) shoes! I can breathe!

I am so happy. I love my baby more than I ever knew was possible. I now understand the meaning and purpose of life.

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