A Happier Note

There have been some happy things going on in the Crane house, too.

First off, Caleb is now 2 months old (3 months next week. Oops.). He was so excited to go to the doctor, he peed all over the scale when they were weighing him. Maybe it was also an early payback for his shots. But at least he's a healthy boy!

Here's his stats:
Weight: 12.13 lbs (60%)
Length: 22.17 in (20%)
Head Circumference: 15.7 in (49%)

So basically, we've got a short, squat little man. He loves his food! His daily goals include working on that third chin and strengthening his arm and leg rolls. What a chub!

Caleb- 2 months!

Ellie- 2 months!

We went down to Provo one Saturday so that I could regain some of my sanity to see Jaymes and  Lauren. We stopped at Scheels on the way and rode the Ferris wheel. Ellie loved it! Plus, it's always fun to see the fish!

Pit stop for Caleb. He wasn't up for the photo shoot to follow.

We went up to Logan for Baby Animal Days. Ellie loved seeing all the animals and touched/held most of them. Her favorites were the quarter horses. Danny had to hold her back so she wouldn't ride them.

Chicks!

 And here's some random photos. March/April have been fun. We celebrated my birthday by going to Goodwood and Danny took me on a little shopping spree. Next week, we're going to have lots of visitors for Caleb's blessing/Jaymes' and Lauren's graduation. Plus, it's getting warm which means daily trips to the park. Yeah for spring! Now to the photo dump.

We had some mold on our window sill. Danny geared up to clean it.

Trying out the Bumbo.

Our little fashionista!

Ellie heard we were going to watch conference so she went to find it.

She got a scooter for Christmas and we finally put it together. She likes to jump off it and give her toys rides. Success!

Tender Mercies

It seems whenever the Lord sends you a wonderful blessing, say, a baby, there is a certain amount of trials that follow. Why does this happen? I think it has a lot to do with keeping our trust in the Lord and putting Him at the head of our lives. Maybe our family just needed a lot of reminding over the past few weeks. While we have definitely had our share of difficulties lately, we have also been so abundantly blessed to see the tender mercies of the Lord through it all. 

What is a tender mercy? Apostle David A. Bednar stated that,

 "the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."

A tender mercy is a way of knowing how aware the Lord is of us and what we are going through. Elder Bednar continues by saying, "Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)." I love that! Not every person sees the tender mercy as you do. It is completely personal and unique!

So, for posterity's sake, here's a brief rundown of these trials we've been going through. Soon after we came home from the hospital, the ceiling in Ellie's room started leaking. First it was just by the window, but within days it was leaking across the entire room and down the walls. Then our dryer decided it had had its last hurrah and died. To fix it would be $300. We bought it for $100. Danny took the car in to have an oil change and was greeted with the news that our tires were shot and that our car was leaking oil. We just bought tires last spring. On the morning of February 10th, my dad was taken to the hospital via ambulance. Anyone who knows my dad well is aware that the last time this happened, he was not expected to live through the ride to the hospital. And lately we've all been taken out by a nasty cold (well, I had the stomach flu. Yeah!) that has made me contemplate starting my own nursery at church. In the midst of all these things, some new opportunities completely unforeseen before have crossed our path. So we've been praying and pondering what's best for our family.

Now on to the fun part. Tender mercies we've seen. Around the same time Ellie's ceiling started leaking, maintenance fixed the roof. The morning after we had the sad news about our dryer, Danny found an envelope containing $300 in his desk from some anonymous coworker. Danny took our car back to have it looked at again. This time the manager did it and told us that nothing was wrong with our tires. (According to Danny, the manager really let the scum-of-an-employee have it. Walmart Tire Center will never be the same.) We also had our "oil leak" checked out. Doesn't exist. We came home from church one Sunday soon after and found $100 in an envelope taped to our door. We are so blessed by others' generosity. So thankful! My dad went in to the hospital on the 10th. The 9th was my original due date. My mom was going to fly here on the 7th. If Caleb hadn't decided to come 3 weeks early, my mom would have been here in Utah. My sister would have been all alone with my dad. (My dad is completely fine now. They're still not sure what happened, but they've made some adjustments to his pacemaker.) And while we've been sick the past week and a half, the sweet members of our ward have gone out of their way to help us. 

The Lord is truly aware of our individual needs. When I am up late worrying as my (almost) 2 month old suffers from that exasperating booger up his nose that I can't do anything about; when I feel guilty for putting in a movie for Ellie instead of being the fun mom I want to be, but I just don't have the energy; when I feel Danny's stress because we're still getting hospital bills, I know without a doubt that the Lord will send his tender mercies to us. I've seen them multiple times- in a hymn, in a talk or a prayer, in the smile of the cashier at the grocery store, in the intuition of my mom when she calls at a really rough moment in my day. These are the small assurances the Lord sends to us to know that everything will be ok. He is in charge and in the end, Caleb's booger will go away, Ellie will quote movies like me and be able to play outside when it's warm, and we will pay those bills. Everything always works out if we put the Lord first. The "windows of heaven" always open just in time. 

Ultimately, I'm grateful for these challenges. I grow and learn and become who I need to be. They shape and direct our future. I pray that I can continue to see the tender mercies of the Lord. What a blessing they are! Oh, and here is a link to Elder Bednar's talk "The Tender Mercies of the Lord." Read it. 

Poor Ellie! Her nose and cheeks are raw from all the nose-wiping.

Caleb was the only one who dressed up for St. Patrick's Day. And he was happy about it.

Frozen always helps you feel better.

Bubbles

Smiling through the phlegm.

Sometimes we dress up in Mrs. Potato Head's accessories.

Feeling a little better.

Thanks again, Mrs. Potato Head.

1 Month Old!

As Ellie and I indulge in our after lunch dessert of graham crackers and cream cheese frosting (ok, for Ellie it's more like inhaling our after lunch dessert), I thought I would do an update. Mainly because Caleb is 6 weeks old today and I need to put up his 1 month pictures before he gets much bigger. So here we go...

He kept looking out the window on these and I could not get him to look at me. Caleb's first month was definitely a learning experience. While we are still getting the hang of things as a family of four, they are getting much easier. Caleb is a sweet, mellow, and easy-going (as long as you feed him) boy. He loves, loves, loves to eat! He would do it all day if he could. He is a snuggler and loves to be close. He is super noisy! He makes a noise that sounds like a sheep when he's trying to get comfortable and he grunts all the time! So silly! We love this boy! Here are some more recent pictures. He's chunked out just a little.

"You want me to do what?"

This is his "pretend not to notice and maybe she'll go away" pose.

Word.

We love this boy!

Oh, here's Ellie and Caleb at 1 month. Related, maybe?

Ellie- 1 month

Caleb- 1 month

Caleb's Birth

Here's a confession: I love birth stories. Love them! I could read them all day. With that said, Caleb's birth was everything I dreamed of and wished for.

Monday, January 20th, I was having hard contractions all night. Starting at 25 weeks or so, I had annoying Braxton-Hicks contractions all the time. So much we considered naming this boy Braxton...maybe. These new contractions were different, harder and more intense. I had Danny call his cousin to make sure they could watch Ellie if things progressed and we ventured out to Target to grab our last minute baby necessities. But nothing happened. Tuesday morning, I went to see my doctor. I was barely 37 weeks and not expecting her to say much in the area of progress. She surprised me by saying that I was 3 cm dilated, almost fully effaced, and that the baby was at a minus 1 station. Oh wow! She went on to tell me that I wouldn't make it to the end of the week without having a baby. Holy cow! I tried to stay level-headed, but, hey, that was exciting news! I called my mom and told her she better change her flight and get here soon. She called right back and said she was driving to Utah the next day. Someone was a little excited!

Danny's birthday was the 22nd. Poor guy got shuffled into all the happenings, but we still had fun celebrating our favorite 27-year old. My mom got in late that night. I hadn't really had any contractions that day, so I was feeling a bit of pressure to get things going. The 23rd came and my mom, Ellie, and I went walking. All day long. We walked the mall, Costco, Target, and ended with a much needed trip to Cafe Rio. By this time, contractions were coming, but still irregular. Danny came home from work and things really started to pick up speed. At about 6, contractions were coming about 5-6 minutes apart, so we finally decided to head to the hospital. The whole way there, I just kept thinking, "They're going to send us home. We've been timing these all wrong and I'm going home." We got to the hospital, found Labor & Delivery, and got all checked in around 7. The nurse checked me and said, "Wow, Melinda! I'm impressed!" I was already at 8 cm. Woohoo! We were staying!

This whole pregnancy I'd been debating with myself whether I wanted to go natural or have an epidural. When it was actually time to make that decision, I decided to go natural. I mainly wanted that experience, to feel what so many women before me have felt. Maybe it was the historian in me, I don't know. (That was a joke, by the way.) So here we were, about 7:30, close to 9 cm dilated, pretty much fully effaced, and no epidural. My nurses kept coming in and checking on things. My doctor wasn't on duty that night, so we were waiting for the other doctor to come and break my water. That was all that was holding me up. Finally, the doctor came and did her thing about 8:45. I knew that once my water broke, the pain would increase immensely, but that we would be that much closer to meeting our little boy. A little after 9, I could feel that it was time. The doctor and nurses came in, I pushed a few times, and he was here!

Caleb Dean Crane made his early entrance at 9:45 on January 23rd, 2014. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long. He had the most beautiful cry and as they placed him on my chest, I was instantly in love. He was absolutely perfect! After getting both of us cleaned up, everyone left the room and it was just Danny and I with our little boy. Heaven on earth. That was such a special moment for us. We were moved to our new room and started settling in. We quickly found out that this little guy loves to eat! He is a snuggler and has such a sweetness about him. We came home from the hospital on the 25th and began our life as a family of 4. Yeah!

We love our little boy and are so thankful that this birth experience went the way it did. It was absolutely perfect! We are all adjusting well, mostly thanks to my mom. She really helped us out those first few days home. Ellie loves her brother! She gives him hugs and kisses and tries to be so careful around him. She's such a sweet girl and you can tell she just wants to play with her Caleb, but for some reason he's always sleeping. Soon enough they will be doing everything together. That will be so fun to see.

Welcome to our family, Caleb!

Leaving for the hospital.

In-between contractions.

He's here!

Proud daddy!

Meeting Nana for the first time.

Family of 4.

Finally opening those eyes!

Big sister!

Going home!

What recovery looks like.

Told you she was adjusting well.