Skyler James is Finally Here!!!!!

Our little Skyler is finally here. After 6 false labors and 6 hours of labor, he was born at 2:18 pm on Thursday the 30th of July. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 19 inches tall. Since I am no blogger, I will leave all the humor to my dear wife.



The birth went well. He was born face up, but because of how fast he came thankfully there was no bruising. He is extremely healthy and started nursing like he had done it before (I don't know if heather will agree, but I thought it was super fast).



Heather is doing really well. After the delivery she had a cheese burger, fries and a shake. Other than being a little tired she said that yesterday was a pretty good day. She sure does love and adore her little boy. We both think that he looks more like her (Which his daddy doesn't mind), but Grandma Whale thinks he still has my nose.

All in all we just love our little boy. Yes, the pregnancy was hard, but having him here makes it all worth it. God really is blessing our little family with amazing spirits. We really are a blessed family. Now we only have to teach Lily that he is not another doll, chew toy, or drum. What fun!

False Labor. Twice. Boo.

I was a little hesitant to go to church on Sunday lest my water break causing me to switch wards out of embarassment. But I told myself, "you're just being paranoid like usual. Go to church. You'll just be sitting around either way." So Ben and I went to church. I had been having some contractions that morning but I didn't think anything of it since I've had contractions for forever. They got worse at the begining of sacrament meeting. As we were singing the sacrament hymn I told Ben that we had to leave as soon as the sacrament was done. So we left (as I was in tears from pain) and started timing. Sure enough, every 3-5 minutes. So we waited. And waited. After 3 hours of consistent contractions we headed to the hospital. To make a long story short the nurse said I was borderline for staying in the hospital. I was just past 3 cm and she said if I could dilate or efface at all they would keep me. So Ben and walked the halls for a good while. After 6 hours in the hospital (starving, I should add) they told me I hadn't progressed at all and that I should go home. Then last night the same thing happened--3 hours of contractions 3 minutes apart. I was getting really uncomfortable so I went to lie down in bed and WABAM! They disappeared. I then remembered that if you change position and your contractions stop it means it's not real labor. I went to bed feeling defeated but oh well. Today's a better day and I'm about to blow up my pilates ball. We'll see if this can help.


As for more pleasant things here are some Lily things. I don't want to end this post on a low note because I'm really trying to be positive about this whole "no baby" thing. So here is my adorable daughter.


It was REALLY hot today. Auntie Becca and I were desperate to cool down so we had ice cream while Lily was bathing, which means Lily had ice cream, too. I'm pretty sure she liked it...... :)

Lily finally learned how to drink through a straw. Sure it was upside down, but it's the same concept, right? I just want to preserve this memory since this was during my 21st b-day celebrations meaning Lily drank quite a bit of my strawberry daquiri. Good thing it was virgin. :) P.S. I know I'm huge.

This movie isn't anything special. Lily's been able to walk with this toy for months but she's never done it with shoes on. She HATES wearing shoes and always manages to get them off but I figured she needs to learn to wear them so she can start walking in public. So here is one of her first attempts with shoes. The first was amazing because she walked with her honey buns out and her head dropped with huge strides. It was priceless.

A July Baby

Well I went to the OB/GYN this morning (I'm 37.5 weeks) and got some awesome news!!!! I'm 2-3 cm! My doctor told me that this baby will be coming any day now and if for some weird reason he doesn't then I will be induced on the 30th! This is awesome news since my original due date was August 3rd and then last week my doctor told me that HIS original due date was August 8th (which just about had me in tears). So yay for an early birthday! This means that all of our birthdays will pretty much be within a month of each other since Lily's is June 24th and Ben and I are at the begining of July. Crazy!


As for other things a week ago I went shooting for the first time! Who would have guessed that I could say I was 9 months pregnant when I shot my first gun?! I have to say it was fun I surprised myself because no one died because of me! My aim wasn't too bad.... in fact..... (since Ben doesn't really read this blog I might be safe saying this) I did better than Ben at first but his second time shooting he did way better than me.


Lily has been making progress as well. She's adding more words to her vocab and she takes about 2-3 steps at a time. I'm patient. When she wants to walk she'll walk. She's also starting to take directions pretty well. When she spills her cheerios on the floor at church or wherever I'll tell her to go get them and point at each one until she gets them all. I would normally do it but reaching the floor isn't one of my fortes at the moment. She also comes when we ask her to and she's gotten VERY cuddly lately. She's never been a big snuggler but Ben and I guess that she's sensing some big change because she always wants to be in our laps cuddling with us. I often encourage her to play with her toys or try walking but she always crawls right back to me and begs to be picked up. So since I know her time is limited as an only child I'm going to cherish these little moments and totally spoil her because it won't be long until she has to share some attention.


Well I'm personally hoping that the next blog post is all about my labor and has pictures of our little boy! We'll have to see! Here we go on our next little adventure!

Happy Birthday Ben and America!!!!

Well the partying never stops at the Macbeth house.... or so it seems. Ben's birthday was the 3rd and of course we had to celebrate Independence Day. So on Friday Ben turned the big 2-6. I guess our brains are a little fried from Mother's/Father's Day, Lily's b-day, and our anniversary because we couldn't really come up with anymore ideas for Ben's birthday. So it was just a pretty relaxing day and we just tried to treat him well. Most of the celebrations happened on July 4th.
We started off the day at the Rexburg parade (my first 4th of July parade, as a matter of fact) and that was a lot of fun. Lily's naptime is at 9:30 and the parade started at 10 so she skipped her nap and did very well because she had these stairs to climb/descend over and over again and these two men to crawl all over. Gotta love having a baby who is a total social butterfly.... she thinks everyone in the world is meant to adore her.......

We had some pretty awesome things in our parade. As seen below there was a pooper scooper 4-wheeler for all the pretty horses. Some of my favorite floats were probably the Star Wars one, car washers who all danced, and the Veterans' float that said, "If you can read this thank a teacher. If you're reading this in English thank a veteran." So bless you veterans out there and thank you for your service for our awesome country! I should have taken more pictures but let's just say that I think I deserved some of my Paula Deen's cinnamon rolls since I was 35 weeks pregnant and outside on the 4th of July....... sooo my fingers were a little sticky at the time........

The rest of the day was fun, too. We watched Star Wars Episode IV and then had a cookout on the dry farms 20 minutes outside of Rexburg. It was so much fun being out there because once it got dark we went to the top of this big hill where we could see all of the fireworks from Idaho Falls to Rexburg. Of course they were smaller from there but it was cool being able to see fireworks exploding from 8 places along the horizon at the same time. It was a great day and I'm glad we were able to celebrate our freedom (and those who have fought for it). As for this week we have some more partying to do as I turn 21 on Wednesday. We still don't have any real plans but let's just say I'm pretty sure I'll be drinking a few virgin daquiris........

Happy First Birthday, Lily!!!!

Today our little Lily Jane turned 1!!!!! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by! Just a year ago I was so sleep deprived yet so happy I didn't even realize how miserable I should have been. Our Lilybug has brought us so much joy in the past year that I never could have dreamed possible. Ben and I are so grateful for the blessing she has been in our lives. Happy first birthday, Lily!


Sooo..... I created a slideshow with super-cool effects and music (well the music was a little cheesy.....) just to learn that I made it way too huge and so blogger wouldn't let me upload it..... (think I went a little crazy with my "first-time-parent syndrome"?) So instead y'all just get to enjoy 5 billion pictures of my precious baby. :) Enjoy!

We celebrated by letting her have a day of pancakes, brownies, and ice cream! YUM! (Or in Lily's words, "num num!")

Happy Anniversary/Father's Day, Husband!!!!

Poor Ben had to share Father's Day with our anniversary this year. So we celebrated our anniversary on Saturday and Father's Day on Sunday. Saturday started with Rexburg's annual air show. The three of us went when it was halfway through and a little less crowded. Let's just say every time the planes flew over us we would have to cover Lily's ears and I eventually had to take her home early because she was not a fan. That was totally understandable so I didn't mind. Here are a few pics of us at the show:

Later Ben and I started the celebrations for our second year of marriage. Our friends Deanna and Dave came over and watched Lily for us (thanks a ton, y'all!!! We appreciated it soooooo much!). On our way to Idaho Falls we realized we hadn't been on a real date by ourselves since last fall. So we've decided that needs to change..... anyway we started the night by eating at this place called "Bubba's." Here's a picture of Ben in BBQ heaven.... :) The food was so amazing (and surprisingly cheap!) that Ben requested leftovers for Father's Day dinner instead of anything else. Then we headed off to the theater to see "Up!" That was such a cute movie!!!!!

To be completely honest, Father's Day wasn't nearly as awesome as Saturday was. We started off the day at church and Lily was probably the worst she's ever been at church. We were trying everything to console her......naps, food, crawling everywhere, toys, etc. but nothing worked. When we got home she acted the same and finally the light turned on: teething. So I stuck my finger in her mouth and lo and behold she has not one, not two, but three new teeth! Poor baby! Thank goodness for Orajel and teething rings because she was much happier for the rest of the day and so Ben was able to relax a little more. Ben just wanted a day of relaxation so that's what he had. We just took it easy and then ate our Bubba's leftovers. :)

One of my favorite parts of the day is going in and checking on Lily right before we go to bed. She is always in the cutest positions. This was a little Father's Day present for Ben, I guess, because he ran for the camera as soon as he saw her sticking her honey buns in the air. :) (I really hope and pray that if my kids ever read our family blog they will forgive me for posting pictures like this).

I just want to say how grateful I am for all of the fathers in my life. I have my daddy, Ben's dad, grandfathers, adopted fathers, and a wonderful Heavenly Father. Each one has made a huge impact in my life and I am so grateful for them. I just read the other day that fathers are the ones who do all the heavy digging for your sandcastle and then tell you that you've done a good job. It's so true. Fathers are such a wonderful part of life and are great examples because of their selflessness. I hope all you fathers out there had a wonderful day that was well-deserved.

Music

So as you may have noticed I have added a playlist of music to my blog. Don't worry it won't come on every time you check our blog, you have to press play yourself if you want to listen to it. I didn't want to bother anyone in case it turns out that I'm the only person in the world who loves motown and other oldies...... For those of you who don't know me really well let me just tell you that this really is my favorite kind of music. I don't think that I was born at the right time...... oh well. So maybe this will be a new "get to know Heather" thing. I also did this for my parents' sake. They're probably very confused right now but let me explain. My parents were very patient with me when I was living at home. I had a big stereo in my room and since one of my pastimes was dancing, music was essential. Let's just say that I'm pretty sure I had some walls vibrating (it's no wonder why I have a hard time hearing now....) but my parents never complained. So I have compiled this playlist for my own enjoyment and for my parents so that when they cry themselves to sleep because they miss me not living at home (which I know they do EVERY night) they can just turn on the computer and let this music blare through this house and they will feel the comfort that I so selflessly gave during my high school years. Enjoy!