My Dear Sweet Matthew

Over the last few days Matthew has shown me the wonderful side of toddler hood. Last Sunday the boys and I made some cookies. As we were waiting for the oven to heat up I walked away from the cookie dough on the cookie sheet. I came back and realized that maybe I had forgotten to completely fill the cookie sheet because a cookie dough ball was missing. So, without even thinking about it I added another cookie dough ball to the cookie sheet. A minute realized that Matthew was missing also. So, after calling him for a few seconds, I hear him laughing under the kitchen table with a half eaten chocolate chip cookie dough ball in his hand. He said "Mama more cookie". I thought it was so funny. Then, I don't know what I was thinking, but I walked away from the cookie sheet and he did it again. He is so sneaky he knows exactly when I am leaving and when he should run under the table as I am returning to the kitchen.
That was all on Sunday, then a couple of days ago I was feeding Gavin and I had asked Matthew to go and get me a diaper for the baby. He likes to be my big helper. Well, it was taking an awful long time to get a diaper. I went to check on him and he was cleaning the floor with our laundry soap. We buy our soap at Costco, so the soap is kinda big. Thank goodness the bucket is almost gone. But he had managed to pour some soap in Gavin's bathtub, the sink, and a lot all over the floor. It was such mess. But he was not done later that day he went back into the Laundry room and tried to clean the floor some more with our Spray and Wash. I am glad I did not wait too long for him to come out. He is our child that is into everything. (I know our heating bill should be less this month, he changed the temperature so it will go on at 58 degrees. I changed that back after I realized it was freezing in our home 63 degrees) Jason was so calm. Matthew is teaching me what a true toddler is all about. He keeps me going and laughing.

Finally time to blog!

Life has been so busy the last few weeks! The older boys had a wonderful time trick or treating with all their cousins this Halloween. Jason was Anakin Skywalker and Matthew was our duck. Unfortunately, Matthew's costume was a little too small and Jason's was too big. Oh well! I am glad they were able to go out and trick or treat with the other kids and Grandpa and Grandma. It seems that it did not take Matthew too long to figure out what he was supposed to do to get candy. We were also able to cut our pumpkin the day before I had Gavin. Wow, carving pumpkins is kinda hard especially with a dull knife. It was fun for the boys to be able to plant, pick and carve our pumpkin. Next year this will have to be Brian's job--at least the carving thing.Gavin has been such a wonderful baby. He is already on his own little schedule. At night he sleeps so well. He usually wakes up at 11:30 (I go to bed at 9:30), 1:00, 3:30 and 6:00 (which is perfect because I need to be up by then anyway). The older boys really like him. Jason knows he is there, but he just does not pay too much attention to him. And Matthew well, we love Matthew he is my big helper. He gets the diapers for me, throws them away, and always makes sure that Gavin has a pacifier. Even if he does not want one. We are all learning how to adjust to our new family member.

Gavin is one week old.

Well after taking a long break from blogging I have decided that I need to update. Last Thursday afternoon we had our third son Gavin Lee Grimwood. It has taken me a little while to get use to hearing his name, but now I think it is pretty cool.
I was induced at around 8:00 in the morning and by 11:30 I was in so much pain. My labor was going really fast. I asked the nurse at like 11:40 what time I could have an epidural. She told me that when I was in labor they would give me one. So, at 11:45 I asked her what time Dr. Scott was going to check me. She told me at noon. Well, 11:45 was close enough for me and asked her to check me. So, she checked me and I was dilated to 5. She asked me if I wanted something for the pain. I told her I did! So she went and called the epidural guy to get it all set up. Well, while she was gone the pain just kept getting stronger and closer together. I am so thankful that Linda was there with me. I know that I could not have done it without her. Then like 20 minutes later (i think is sure seemed longer) the nurse came back and told me that the doctor would be there in like 15 minutes to give me an epidural, but she thought she should check me again. So, when checked me I was had dilated to a 9, but my water had not broken. She told me that she was going to call Dr. Scott to see if she should break my water. Meanwhile, she gave me some pain meds. while we waited for the epidural. She was an awesome nurse! So, finally the anesthesiologist had arrived and was getting ready to give me the wonderful epidural. This gave my wonderful doctor time to get to my room. It took a while for the epidural to work because I was in so much pain and the contractions were coming so fast. But finally they were able to catch up to my pain. Even though the epidural slowed down the labor process it was worth it.
Dr. Scott asked me if I wanted Linda to cut the cord and I did. So, after like pushing for maybe a half hour Gavin poked his head out. Unfortunately the cord was wrapped around his little head so tight that Dr. Scott had to cut the cord himself. I was sad, but the most important thing is that Gavin was safe. After Dr. Scott cut the cord Gavin fell right out onto the table.
He is so cute. I am glad to have been induced, I was hoping that maybe we would be able to have the whole natural thing. But, the most important thing was that he was born safe and healthy.
Gavin is a good baby. His brothers love him so much. Matthew is getting use to the idea of having to share mom's time with another person.
I just want to thank everyone that has helped us. Especially all the grandparents. We could not have done this without you. I know I could not have.

Welcome, Gavin!

Gavin Lee Grimwood was born this afternoon at 2:10 pm. He weighs 6 lbs., 15 oz., and is 21.5 inches long. Looks like he might be tall and thin, just like his daddy! (Okay, just like his daddy should be if he managed to lose a few pounds.) Stephanie did a great job! We are so proud of her. Here are some photos... Enjoy!



(Blog entry written by Brian, who is filling in for Stephanie.) :)

A day of rest

Today the boys and I enjoyed a nice relaxing day. I decided that we would skip church today and stay home and just relax. We had stake conference and I knew we would have to sit in those hard chairs in the back because you have to be there super early to get the soft ones. And I being 38 weeks pregnant was not even going to sit for two hours on hard chairs. Also, since Brian is in Arizona it would be just me taking care of the boys for two hours. We have a hard enough time just making it to the sacrament before we have to get up and leave. Anyways, I had a little lesson here for the boys and then we just relaxed the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we find out if I will need to be induced. Our baby is still really high and my doctor is worried that if we do not induce soon he could turn again and then we would be back to being breeched. At the starting of the pregnancy I was sure that they would induce me by the 37th week. But, here I am at 38 weeks and still going. I had Matthew at 37 weeks so I just thought that I would have this one at the same time too. My doctor has let me go a little farther then I thought. Now that I am almost completely term (really after 37 weeks the baby is considered to be full term) it has not been so bad. I was kinda looking forward to maybe going naturally into labor, but after carefully weighing my options I would rather be induced than to have him turn again and then have no other choice than to have a C-section. It is such a blessing to have these children in our family.

Fall In Portland

Last Friday my doctor was able to turn our baby. I am so thankful for modern medicine! It was a little bit painful, but I got through it. Now all we have to do is hope that he does not turn back to being breeched.
The boys and I were sad to see my parents go back home on Sunday. We sure enjoyed there stay here with us. I think I got really spoiled while they were here, now I get to take Jason to the bus stop and pick him up. I like doing it but it was nice to have a little longer nap during the afternoon. We are looking forward to the time when they can both move up here to Oregon.
The last few weeks have been so beautiful. We have enjoyed watching the leaves change colors as Fall has arrived. I really enjoy having the different seasons here. On Sunday, the boys went and picked their pumpkins from our garden with their cousins. I totally forgot to bring my camera and take pictures. It was fun to see them so excited to get those little or I should say big pumpkins. I think Jason picked the biggest pumpkin there was. It is so huge. Poor Matthew wanted to get in on the act too, but all the pumpkins were way too big for him to carry. So, I gave him a little green pumpkin that never changed colors, he dragged that pumpkin all over the place. It was so funny because at times he would cry for me to come and help him carry it however, I was dealing with Jason's pumpkin and I only have two hands. So, Matthew screamed as he dragged his pumpkin up to the big house.

What a week!

I know it has been a while since I last blogged so I decided that it was time to update. Two weeks ago my OB informed me that our baby is laying sideways. At first I did not think anything about it. If fact I told the Dr. "Oh,ok". Then, after coming home and probably doing too much research on the internet I realized that this is probably not such a good thing. Babies are not born naturally this way. So, we have been praying that he will decide to turn. Well, on Wednesday I went to my Dr. and we found out that he had turned head down. Oh, I was so excited! Well I guess our little boy did not like being head down because yesterday I went in for an Ultrasound and found out that he has turned back to being sideways. So, we have until this Wed. for him to decide that he does not like being sideways and would rather go back to being head down. If he does not then, the Dr. will try to turn him, which does not seem fun. So, we will just have to wait and see.
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family to help me. The other day Matthew got his first sample of Umpqua's Chocolate Brownie Thunder,(this is ice cream made here in Oregon). He really liked it. On that same day Jason played outside and collected some wonderful bugs. I am so glad he left them outside instead of bringing them inside. I love our boys so much they make the stressful times not seem so stressful.