LUKE ALDRIDGE WEISS

Here I sit... A week away from Luke being 11 months old, writing his birth story. Wow! Talk about a whirlwind of an almost year.

So birth stories are kind of TMI by nature, so there you have your disclaimer. When I was pregnant with Chase, I had a good friend of mine tell me she was going to go natural with her baby, and I thought she was nuts. In that conversation, she said "Our bodies are made for this, it's supposed to be the most incredible experience and we just want to numb ourselves for it"... For some reason those words kept haunting me after I had Chase. I kept worrying there would one day be a chance I would regret never having experienced natural childbirth.

I kept pushing the thoughts of having a baby naturally aside until I was actually pregnant with Luke. As the months went on I kept on thinking about it. I never told anyone except for Jeremy that I was considering it. At first, Jeremy thought it was silly, but he told me he would be supportive. I told him if I didn't have his support then I didn't want to do it. I felt like with the births of Tyler and Chase, it was sort of weird how he just sat around... I just sat around.... and then we had a baby. They were both incredible experiences, but if I'm being honest they were sort of anti-climatic. I knew you could hire doulas and coaches to help you through it, but I really wanted it to be a special experience for Jeremy and I to get through together.

Well fast forward to a few months before Luke was born. I finally made the decision to for sure go natural. This kind of decision I don't think can be made on the delivery bed. I at least knew that much. I consulted with a lot of friends. I live in a neighborhood with some incredible support for natural childbirth. Like I said, I knew there were doulas that could help you, but I'm a private person and that felt uncomfortable to me. I wanted Jeremy to be my support. Cheesy, but true. I decided to read a book my friend Kristin recommended that supported the husband being the support. It was a lot about breathing (but not lamaze), and just relaxing during contractions. I was a little nervous I didn't get around to taking a class that suited my needs (partially because I couldn't find one, partially because they didn't work with my schedule). All I did was read the book, BUT I'll add, as I was reading it I realized a lot of the yoga I had done for 7 years was very in line with relaxing etc. For the weeks before delivery, I tried to mentally prepare myself as best I could, and I became excited and nervous. I didn't tell many people I was planning on it because I didn't want to admit if I didn't make it all the way through.

Ok, so let's get to it. In the weeks leading up to my delivery I was at a 1, 2, 3, 4... Killing me softly with thinking it would be any day. I was due on July 17th...(originally July 25th, but the Dr changed that) On Sunday July 8th, the day after we did the copper mine visit, I was sitting in church a little worried I may have peed my pants (TMI). Turns out my water had broken and was doing a small leak, kind of all day. That night we went to the neighborhood dessert potluck to welcome our friend Dawn back from being on Survivor. Jeremy ate about 15 different brands of desserts, but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it, so I didn't eat many. GOOD THING. That night, we put the kids to bed and I kept googling, "Did I pee or did my water break?" At about 10:30 the contractions started and by midnight we had Fuller come over to sleep over with the two big kids and we went to the hospital.

We drove to the hospital and I had a puke bucket in hand. I puke on contractions. It's awesome. We got to the parking lot and I told Jeremy I could walk in. So we parked and I started walking in... well all of a sudden I'm sitting in the parking lot puking in a #10 can. It was hilarious. I was actually laughing at that point. Well the hospital attendant came out with a wheelchair and wheeled me in. I got to Labor and Delivery, and they asked me what I was there for. Um.... let me think?!!?! Got checked in, was at a 5, and they got me to the delivery room. The whole time I was in for REAL labor and just wanted to lay down. They say to wait as long as possible to get to the hospital... I say get in there and get settled before it gets too bad.

So from 12:30 to about 2 am, I was having back to back contractions. I was so lucky to get a nurse that was supportive of natural childbirth and she showed Jeremy a few tricks. Jeremy was AWESOME. He took charge and was everything I needed him to be. I really had no idea how that would go down, but so glad it went well. He was great at trying to make me comfortable, and doing counter pressure on my back. He talked to the nurses and did all the paperwork stuff and was just great. At about 2 am, I thought I was probably about to wimp out. BUT I remembered in the books, it talked about the phases of labor, and it said if you get to that point, its JUST around the corner. I decided I would go to the bathroom and then decide if I could make it or not. Well I got back from the bathroom and the baby was READY to come, so the worst was over.

Without going into too many more details, the Doctor was late, and I basically had to "hold" Luke in until 2:27 when the Doctor got there and Luke was born 1 minute later. I swear I could have been in a coma and that baby was coming. It was actually a neat experience though to feel how much your body just kind of takes over with or without you.

The moment the doctor handed Luke over to me is one I will NEVER forget. I felt the biggest sense of accomplishment of my life. It was pure adrenaline and awesomeness. Even now, writing it 11 months later, it still feels amazing. I know that every woman bears children differently, and I hope this doesn't come across as "my way is cooler than yours"... but it was seriously the most amazing thing and I wouldn't trade that experience for ANYTHING. When the nurse told me that Luke was 8 pounds 3 ounces I thought she was joking. My other two were 6 and 7 pounds. I couldn't believe it. I just sat there and felt awesome.

The recovery after having him was the easiest yet, and I just felt good. I fell asleep a few hours after he was born to get a little rest, then spent the day there and left the next morning.

More on the boys meeting Luke and hospital stay in the next post, but there you have it. The birth story.

THE DAY BEFORE LUKE WAS BORN

The day before Luke was born we were stir crazy. Ok the month or two before he was born we were stir crazy. We had never been to the Kennicot Copper Mines and live pretty close to them, so we decided we would go for a drive and check them out. We had a nice drive, watched a cool information video, and walked around the visitors center. The boys thought the big trucks were pretty cool. I mostly just wished I would go into labor the whole time we were there.

VALIANT

I've always loved the word Valiant. To me it means so much more than being, or doing good. It means being exceptional, going the extra mile, doing everything you can to be the best you can be. I want my boys to be VALIANT. I think seeing the word daily might help, so we did this in their bedroom. Hopefully they'll live to their full potential!

I BELIEVE IN CHRIST

Since I last posted, we've welcomed Baby Luke into our family and are back in the full swing of things. I'll blog about his birth and our summer soon, but today I wanted to make sure I recorded some thoughts I have been having lately. That's why I blog anyways - is to keep hold of precious memories, thoughts, and happenings.

As I was driving home from the gym this morning, I was listening to my scriptures on my iphone- got to love technology today - and yes, that's how I have to squeeze it in most days. I was listening to Jacob 4.

Some things in that chapter spoke to me about things I have been personally learning and I wanted to share them. A friend of mine from highschool, Jelena, is deeply rooted in her own personal faith and she shares often her thoughts and convictions and I think I can learn from that. So here I am.

Since Luke was born I've been "struggling" to find balance. He is quite possibly the most perfect baby ever, however he's still a third child to care for. I still have to juggle his feedings, and his needs with those of Tyler and Chase. I have wanted to make sure to give each of them everything they need, while keeping up with life, my business, their activities, and Jeremy's schedule away from the home most nights.

I'm rather used to being capable of handling everything. I don't take on more than I can handle, and life is generally manageable. With life being so crazy, I prayed often to just be able to HANDLE it. I didn't want to eliminate things, I just wanted to be superwoman. My BRAIN was so overfilled with stuff, I couldn't remember ANYTHING. Being capable of handing it ALL wasn't the answer. I needed to eliminate.

During General Conference , this year, where we hear from the prophet and church leaders, I had an overwhelming feeling I just needed to remember life is simple. I decided at the end of each day, if I took care of my kids well, fed them healthy (that's important to me), and enjoyed them... I could be satisfied. I took facebook of my phone for now. I don't have anything against facebook, but I found that I would check it out of boredom on my phone while just sitting around. Replacing those moments of checking it with some quiet time has removed so much NOISE and clutter from my brain. Things have been better, I feel like life has been much more simple, and I can enjoy and handle things. (Maybe sleep deprivation is contributing to this all)

So fast forward to today's scripture reading in Jacob 4. Here are some verses that spoke to me:

7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

I know that through the Atonement of Jesus, I am made whole, and he makes up for my short comings. I was reminded that I am not responsible for the power that I have to do the things that I do. I was shown my weakness of being crazy unbalanced to be reminded that through Christ I can do all things that are necessary, and that life is SIMPLE. I didn't need to "counsel" with the Lord and tell him I needed to be able to do everything, but that I need to take his counsel, that I need to remember life is simple. Life is about being happy, serving those you love, and the rest is just NOISE.

So there you have it. Life is SIMPLE. Christ makes up the difference.

LUKE I AM YOUR ...

So when we found out we were having a boy we asked the boys what they thought we should name him. Tyler REALLY wanted to name the baby "Jacob", because of the little boy on one of his Book Of Mormon videos that could climb SUPER tall trees. We had a few reasons not to choose that name so we told him what about Luke? He wasn't totally convinced, so we showed him all 6 episodes of STAR WARS, so that he would buy into the name. Well since then, he has bought into it, and both buys will randomly come up to my belly and exclaim: "LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER!" I'm working on convincing them they need to change that to "BROTHER".... but at least the first name seems to be sticking. Now if only we could pick the middle name!?!?

LET'S PLAY MUSIC

My friend Kara started a Let's Play Music class this year where kids learn the basics of music. She is super talented and great with kids. Tyler's buddies were in it, so I signed him up. It was once a week for the year. Tyler was kind of a goofball in the class. If the concepts were logical or mathematical, or even just required memorizing he did just fine. If it had to do with keeping a beat... well let's just say he get's that from his mom...This is him at his end of year recital. I think he was embarrassed Jeremy was watching him, so he had to act extra cool the whole time. He kept trying to escape off the stage. Oh dear. We'll put him in math or something to make sure he's "balanced".

TRUTH

Soap box time..... this sums it up. In life, diet, work, everything. When I was at convention, someone came up to me and said, "I want to be just like you! I want to make money online and work from home. How many hours do you spend a day on your business?".... I replied: "Usually about 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less".... She replied "Oh well, ya, but I don't want to spend THAT much time". Well THEN.

FAMILY PICTURES

We got these taken when I was about 8 weeks pregnant. I really wanted to document "this" phase of our lives. We are having such a blast with this stage of life, and know that we'll love every stage, but wanted to remember the days before we were outnumbered!

RAIDER

Whenever we run into cute little shitzu's we miss Raider. This little guy was at In and Out and was just tiny. Jer asked to hold him and it got us sentimental. The type of sentimental that wont make us do anything drastic for at least 10 years though. Just sayin'

SPEED AND AGILITY

So Jeremy has companies send him product for free to review on his site. He's always getting all sorts of training aids, hockey shooting aids and nets, and all sorts of stuff. Tyler LOVES whenever the UPS truck comes because then he gets to test the stuff out too. This last month, Jeremy did a review on some dry land training equipment stuff. Tyler soaked it all up. When Cole was over for Matthew's Missionary Homecoming, Tyler quickly set it all up and said "Hey Cole, I'm gonna give you a great work out to work on your speed and agility". That they did, and they had a blast!

DECORATING TIME

Now that our house remodel is done... well the floors, cabinets, counters etc... It's time to decorate! These are some things I'm thinking about in terms of style, color scheme, and what not. The house is SO white and neutral I can go just as crazy as I'd like with color.... We'll see how long it takes me to actually pull it all together. The last house was about 5 years!

HOUSE REMODEL

We had plans to slowly redo most everything in the house when we got it, but thought we'd do it over a year or 2. Well I kind of snapped one day, got impatient with the grimy linoleum, and we just did it all in a few weeks. We knew what we wanted so it wasn't hard to decide. Going to the parade of homes for 7 years in a row together, helps you define your style. Luckily, Jeremy and I have the same taste. We got quite a bit of the work done for trades with Food Storage products, so we came in well under budget and I'm totally pleased! The guy who painted our cabinets was AWESOME by the way. That was the thing I was most nervous about, but couldn't be happier with how they all turned out. We also did travertine in our bathrooms, and carpet in our office. I love it. Now to decorate!

KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION

I won't say "I can't believe I have a kid that's going to start kindergarten in the fall"... because honestly, this kid acts like a teenager anyways. We went to his little orientation, and he had a good time. I told him all the things he needed to know before kindgergarten, and nothing really phased him, except he is concerned they want you to be able to tie your own shoes. We're going to have to work on that. I'm feeling like life is flying by way too fast, but this little guy is ready.

SHELF RELIANCE CONVENTION

Jodi and I went to the Shelf Reliance Convention in mid-April. It was 3 days up in Salt Lake and we won a free hotel, so we took advantage of it and stayed up there. It was nice not to to have to wake up early to get there each morning. We had juts hit GOLD ranking in March which is the 2nd highest ranking you can get with the consultant program, so that was neat. We had 7 members of our team there from all over the country, so it was nice to meet them and to get to know what they need more as a team. We have about 60 consultants and had never met any of them since we do all our business online. The typical format is to do home parties, but we just sell through our blog.

When I was checking out some of the new computer stuff the company was rolling out, the tech guy was really excited to meet me because he knows what kind of traffic we drive to the blog, and that we're number 1 on google for Food Storage - not an easy task! These are some of the gifts Jodi and I gave our consultants. I felt pretty crafty transforming those #10 cans. I was too lazy to go to the store! Also, to tease Jodi-- here's a picture of her dinner, after she was done. All vegetables still on the plate ;)

FAMILY NIGHT

Just chilin', playing a church card game for Family Night. It's about building the Armor of God, and protecting yourself from sin. We don't always have the most peaceful family nights.... sometimes the boys wrestle and scream, but this was a nice perfect little night. I LOVE my life. It's perfect - for me!

YOUNG WOMENS

I just love being in the Young Womens. One of the girls in my ward wrote this little thing about me on facebook. It reminds me so much of how I felt about my Young Womens Leaders. They were so awesome, and I looked up to them so much. I think 12-18 is such an important time for girls. A time where they decide they are WORTH it, and decide on what kind of futures they will MAKE for themselves. I really have loved my calling at church working with these special girls. What a fun time in their lives to be apart of!

EASTER 2012

For Easter this year, the Easter bunny brought the boys candy, flip flops, and new bedding. We haven't had bedding for the boys since they both moved into twin size beds. They have just had random blankets. I was waiting for the day when I found the perfect quilt... which I did.... and it was ridiculously expensive. So we finally settled on the cliche sports theme comforter and called it good. I'll do that perfect quilt for them in the next redecorate! We also got Tyler a white shirt for church, so he can start learning about wearing the right church clothes for passing the sacrament etc. Chase was thrilled to get "Cars" flip flops, and couldn't believe there was candy all over our house. It was a nice quiet morning before we rushed to church for 9 am. I love having our own family on these holidays. We can take it easy and do our own thing non intense. After church we went to my families house for dinner. Ham =gross. Just sayin'

TOUGH GUYS

These little boys are such BOYS. They love being tough, they love building their muscles, they love everything boy. Sometimes when they wont eat, we tell them they need to eat so they can get big muscles. Well that usually solves any problems, and they hurry and finish their food. Sometimes we even have super heroes like Green Lantern supervise their eating to make sure they eat their food. Chase wakes up and asks for his "strong man food breakfast". Tyler has always been a natural healthy eater, but we've sure had to work with Chase. It hasn't' been easy, but he does a pretty good job eating healthy now. I believe so strongly in feeding your kids healthy foods for SO many reasons... but I'll stop there, cause I could definitely get on a big soap box if I keep talking :)