Kentucky, here we come!

Wow, what a week it has been! Lots of challenges and lots of blessings, but it's better to count the blessings. Just to catch a glimpse of our week, here is a brief summary.

Tuesday: Jason missed his flight to Cincinnati by 10 minutes because of some crazy regulations by Frontier Airlines (they are not our friends anymore). Due to the missed outbound flight, they automatically cancelled the return flight without any refunds. Spent all morning and afternoon trying to find another flight out, and rearranging hotel stays and car rental reservations. In the end, had to pay for a completely new flight that was $200 more than the previous flight. It was a very frustrating day!

Wednesday: Jason caught his new flight and made it to Cincinnati.

Thursday: Went to run an errand around noon and the car wouldn't start. Called retired automechanic neighbor who feared it was a broken timing belt and estimated $1500+ in repairs. Since Jason had the other car at the airport, I didn't have a car until Saturday. Had to cancel lunch plans on Friday since I didn't have a car.

Jason had a good day house hunting and it turns out that the new hotel was in a much better location than the original one.

Friday: Neighbor towed my car to the shop today for me. My friend brought me lunch since I told her last night that I had to cancel my lunch plans. Jason saw more places today, for a total of 24, and we decided on a nice place to live that we found that day. He made the arrangements and paid the deposit. My neighbor who towed my car to the shop called to tell me the problem wasn't as bad as he feared and the repair would be much less expensive. My other friend brought me homemade pizza and took Ethan and me to the Ward Talent Show that night. I also received several other calls and texts offering rides and checking on me when they found out I was without a car. I have great friends and neighbors!!

Saturday: Jason caught his return flight. :)

So, it was a rough week, but we definitely received many blessings in spite of the challenges. I think our apartment will be nice, although I've never seen it. It's a 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom condo in Florence, Kentucky. We got a reasonable price for it and a short lease length so we can buy a home soon if we find one that's right for us. I'm excited to go see it for myself in a couple weeks! :)

Here are a few cute pictures I've taken recently.

Cute onsie given to us by Tiff Keetch

James and Claire love to hold Ethan. By the look on his face, I don't know what he thinks about that. :)

A little nap time with Daddy

My handsome little guy

2-month-old Ethan and a visit from the Roberts

We recently visited the doctor for Ethan's 2 month check and here are the stats:

• Weight: 13 lbs        76%tile
• Length: 23 in          57%tile
• Head Cir: 15.5 in    66%tile

Some of Ethan's new tricks...

• He has found his hands and likes to suck on his fists.
• He follows us with his eyes sometimes.
• He has some adorable cooing going on. 
• He likes to go on outings in the car or stroller.
• He started smiling more around 7 weeks.
• He started sleeping through the night right as he hit 8 weeks. This has been an amazing development that both mom and dad appreciate. :) Right now he sleeps from about 10:00pm-8:00am. Some nights are better than others though.

We love our little Ethan!

Melody and Brandon came to visit and we loved having them over to show off Ethan and to get them excited for the upcoming birth of their twin girls. :) While they were here, we took advantage of the perfect weather and went to the park for a round of croquet. It was both fun and funny and we all laughed a lot and had a good time!

Melody and Brandon holding Ethan

Jason and Melody playing croquet with Ethan hanging out in the stroller.

Ethan's Blessing Day

On Sunday, September 22, Jason gave Ethan Joseph a beautiful name and blessing in sacrament meeting. Normally it would be done on the first Sunday of the month, but because we didn't know how long we would live here and it was a good weekend for Jason's parents to come, we decided to do it early. Most of our immediate family that lives in Utah were able to attend.

We chose the name Ethan Joseph not only because we liked it, but also for its meaning. Ethan comes from the Hebrew word Eitan meaning strong and firm. We hope Ethan is strong and firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We chose Joseph so he could be reminded of the many righteous men also named Joseph in the scriptures, namely: Joseph of Egypt, the earthly father of Jesus, the brother of Nephi, and Joseph Smith.

After church we celebrated with the Burningham side of the family at our apartment by eating soup, salad, rolls, cake, and ice cream. It got a little rowdy at times, but we all fit and had a good time. :)
We were sad that we didn't have room in our small apartment for both sides of the family!

Jason's mom was able to stay with us a few days afterwards. We talked, played games, shopped, and cooked. Mom B. was able to teach me a few new recipes. Hooray! I'm on the hunt right now for great, simple recipes.

Family that could attend Ethan's Blessing

Admiring my cute baby :)

Ethan was blessed in his cousin John's blessing outfit.

Ethan smiling at Daddy

Waiting for the soup to finish after church

Cuddling with Grandpa B while watching the BYU vs. Utah football game

Grandma B holding her cute baby

Sally holding Ethan at Dallin's football game in the outfit she gave us. It really is toad-ally cute!

Labor Day Olympics

I think we were a little ambitious to have our 2nd Annual Rogers Family Olympics in our backyard with 5 week old Ethan, but we still had fun. I'm grateful to Keith and Kim who brought a table and some shade tents with them and to Kristilyn and Mark for bringing the hoppity horses. I think the grandkids really enjoyed it and Ethan slept through most of it. We had a simple lunch in the backyard after our games.

After some afternoon naps, we had a family stroll around BYU campus to see all the changes there. The weather was perfect. We stopped by the BYU creamery for a family night treat.

New area between the Wilkinson Center and the Law Building

BYU Library

New Building south of campus

Ethan's Birth Story

So Ethan surprised us and decided to make his arrival two weeks early. Just as a reminder, his due date was Aug. 17th and I have always felt that he would come really close to his due date. This gave me a lot of peace since Jason was away on an internship all summer and wasn't planning to come home until Aug. 10th. Since I was pretty confident that he wouldn't come until mid-August I wasn't really ready with preparations for Ethan...meaning I still needed to buy several necessary items like a car seat and didn't have anything set up in his room. I was hoping that Jason could do that with me when he got home. With that background info., here's the story:

That afternoon my two pregnant cousin-in-laws came to have lunch with me and talk baby stuff since we hadn't really gotten to talk at the family baby shower the week before. We ate lunch at Zupa's and I started up with the normal braxton hicks contractions although I was feeling a little bit of crampiness with it. We talked a lot about all kinds of baby stuff and labor, etc. but I kept asking them how they knew if they were in labor. They said, "you'll just know, it feels different." I thought, okay, I'll just know, but apparently I didn't just know.

At 3:30 my mom came over to help me get ready for the baby since I still was very unprepared. My goals were to buy a car seat, pack a hospital bag, and organize the clothes I had received for Ethan. I wasn't feeling great after lunch so I just sat in a chair in the baby's room while my mom sorted through my stuff and helped organize it. In the meantime I was having more contractions and the cramping was increasing. I starting getting more worried about it. I asked my mom about it and she seemed unconcerned. Some of the contractions hurt and other didn't so I couldn't tell if this was real labor. I couldn't focus very well on timing them myself, but they seemed about 6 minutes apart. I still wasn't doing great but my mom said, "whether or not you're feeling good we need to get you a car seat. Maybe walking around will help you feel better."

About this time Jason called from Denver to ask how I was doing. I told him how I was feeling and he told me to start timing the contractions because he really didn't want to miss the birth. At the store my mom timed and contractions and they kept increasing. We didn't end up buying a car seat because I couldn't focus enough to make decisions. I texted Jason that the contractions were 5 minutes apart and that he should at least start packing until we knew for sure. I didn't want him to have to drive all the way home from Denver if this wasn't the real thing.

After leaving the store I decided we should go back to my house. I drank a lot of water and laid down while my mom packed the hospital bag for me. After my mom finished packing my bag we headed to the hospital. We there a little before 8:00pm.

We got checked in and they took us to a room to be examined by a nurse. The nurse checked my cervix and I was only dilated to 2 cm and effaced 90%. She said she would watch it for an hour and then check again.

At 9:30 the nurse came in and checked again but I was only dilated to a 2 1/2. I was in quite a bit of pain. The doctor gave the order to send me home again with pain killer if I wanted it. I called Jason to update him on my condition and let him know he could slow down and to be safe in driving home.

We got to my apartment close to 11:00pm. I had a very long night. I literally spent the night sleeping for 3 minutes intervals that were interrupted by painful contractions. It was miserable, but I was glad that I was able to sleep in between, if only for a few minutes. Jason arrived at 3:40AM.

We left for the hospital a little before 11:00am on Sunday. My mom led the way and Jason followed with me in the car. The nurse checked my cervix and after that whole night, I was only dilated to a 4 but I was now fully effaced. The nurse called Dr. Dabling and the anesthesiologist was in my room 15 minutes later putting in the epidural.The epidural was amazing! I don't know how people give birth naturally after the miserable night I had just experienced.

I was able to rest for the next 4 hours. I was finally at a 10 at about 3:30pm. Because I was a first time mom and pushing can take up to 2-3 hours, the nurse didn't want to call the doctor until I had made some progress pushing. The nurse gave good advice and coaching and I tried to follow it even though I was pretty  numb and couldn't feel much down there. I made good progress pushing and after about 6-8 repetitions I had pushed enough that the nurse told me to stop pushing while she called Dr. Dabling. Dr. Dabling came straight from church and didn't even take time to change into her scrubs. She got there at about 4:08pm and hurried to put on the protective clothing. As she was just trying to put on her gloves I could feel the baby sliding a little and said, "I think he's coming." Dr. Dabling covered her hands with her sleeves and reached out just in time to catch the baby as he came out on his own.

Ethan was born Aug. 4th at 4:13pm. Soon they put little Ethan on my chest and I got to hold him for the first time. It was such an amazing experience and seemingly unreal that here was the baby I had waited and prayed and fasted so long for. I was so grateful for the help of the nurses, Jason, and my mom. I'm so grateful for my little Ethan. He weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. at birth and measured 20 inches long. He is so adorable and Jason and I love him so much. I never seem to tire of looking at him and holding him close. What a gift from heaven!

July Vacation

I enjoyed a nice break from work in July. I had a two-part trip: 2 days in Denver to visit Jason and Mike's family and then a week in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene for a Burningham Family Reunion.

I flew in to Denver after work on the 3rd and Jason came and picked me up from the airport. It was nice to visit Mike and Desi again. They are such great hosts and take good care of us!

On the 4th of July we ate a yummy pancake breakfast at the park sponsored by their ward. It was fun to meet some of the ward members, especially since Jason's been attending that ward for the last couple of months. Desi loves fireworks, as do I, and we got to enjoy their fireworks show in their driveway. Some of the kids were too scared of the loud noises and didn't make it through all of the show.

4th of July in front of Mike and Desi's house

Friday Jason and I spent several hours looking at housing in the Denver. Since it's a possibility we could live there we decided to do some research to see what the market had to offer. The biggest thing we noticed is that it's quite a bit more expensive to find housing there. We did find one condo that we liked and went to go see it. It's still too early to know if we'll decide to live there, but it's nice to have some options.

That night after dinner Desi and Kim took me to get my very first pedicure. It was super relaxing and nice to have someone else bending over and painting my toes since it's getting really hard to do it myself anymore. :)

First pedicure

Saturday morning Jason and I flew from Denver to Spokane, Washington for the family reunion. Jason's parents flew in a couple hours before us and rented a car so we were able to tag-along with them for the week. I'm grateful they were willing to drive!

Saturday after lunch we met up with Tim and Lisa's family from Texas and went to hike the Bowl and Pitcher. Jason spent most of his childhood in Spokane so it was fun to visit some of old stomping grounds and see what he did growing up.

Hiking the area around the Bowl and Pitcher

Crossing the bridge over the river by the Bowl and Pitcher

My one request for the trip was to visit Riverfront Park in Spokane. The rest of the family planned to go over I had to fly out, so we made a quick trip on the way to the cabin. Jason and I came here on our honeymoon almost exactly 5 years ago. We good pictures on this big wagon and on the blocks so I wanted to get pictures in the same place so we could compare them. We pretty much look exactly the same minus my big tummy, don't you think? :) The other funny thing about it is that there were a bunch of people sitting on the blocks when we got there and they all hurried and moved when we explained that we needed a picture right there for history sake.

Riverfront Park, 2008

Riverfront Park, 2008

Riverfront Park, 2013

Riverfront Park, 2013

That night we arrived at the Wagstaff's lake cabin on Coeur d'Alene Lake. The cabin was a perfect size for our large family (14 adults and 15 grandchildren under age 12) and the access to the lake was amazing. The weather was perfect and the lake temperature was around 75F. Sunday we attended their old ward and played games in the evening. We spent the rest of the week boating, skiing, surfing, tubing, playing games, eating, talking, and watching movies. All the cousins got along great and we escaped with only a little illness towards the end of the week. Sally planned and bought food for the meals ahead of time. We were assigned different meals as couples to prepare and clean up. It worked really well and Sally did awesome at planning the right amounts of food for the meals.

Wagstaff's Lake Cabin

Playing the card game "Bang." It was the favorite game of both old and young.

This gathering was for a spiritual thought and to go over the lake safety rules since we had so many young kids.

We roasted marshmallows on Sunday night.

Jeff drove his new boat from Utah to Washington so the family could use it. It was great for surfing and skiing!

Surfing on the Lake

I obviously didn't do any skiing or surfing, but I had fun going out on the boat to watch Jason.

FHE treat at Coeur d'Alene Resort. And no, we didn't eat these by ourselves. :)

We spent a day at Splashdown Waterpark in Spokane. I didn't go down any slides but I helped with kids and dipped my feet in the pool.

Star Wars were the favorite movies of the week. Some of them were watched multiple times.

Friday afternoon most of the adults did a session at the Spokane Temple and the kids hung out with Mike and Chelsey and some young women from the Spokane ward helped babysit the kids.

The whole Burningham clan in front of the house where they lived for over 16 years.

Friday we cleaned the cabin, washed all the sheets and made it just in time to the temple session. That night we had a barbeque at the Dayley's house and then played some games at Ponderosa Elementary School just across the street from the house where they used to live. We checked into a hotel that night and I was the first to fly out Saturday morning. Jason followed suit a few hours later to Denver and we both arrived home around 5:00pm. We had a great time together and we're very grateful for all the work that went into the whole reunion! Now we're all looking forward to the reunion in 2015.