What we've been up to

Youngest first, Natalie is doing great. She is getting so big so fast. She is holding her head up better every day. She loves sucking her hands and fingers and occasionally gets a thumb in. I have been trying to give her a bottle every day, this doesn't always happen, and it isn't going well. She really hates it! She is sleeping through the night and has been for the last 2 weeks. Last night she slept from 9 to 7:30. Don't get too excited, Jack did the same thing and then he started waking up one or two times a night as he got older. Natalie is smiling a lot more, mostly for her daddy. Occasionally she will give me a little grin but the big smiles she saves for her daddy.

2 days old

1 month old

Jackson has been a great big brother. He was so excited for Natalie to come home from the hospital so we could have a party! He has been really gently with Natalie other than prying her eyes open because he wants her to get up. Jack is learning new words/concepts everyday. He pointed to a picture of an airplane the other day and said "long". I have no idea where he learned the concept. He loves his new crocs and won't take them off. I talked him into putting them next to the bed but when I went in to check on him they were in bed with him. Jack is so happy and loving, it is so hard to get angry with him when he is being naughty-which isn't very often.

Ready for the party!

Jackson wanting baby Nat Nat "up".

On the rare occasion Natalie gets a bottle Jack will sometimes help.

What a day!!

5:50am: Contractions 5 minutes apart.

6:10am: Woke Rod up and told him maybe he should get ready but to take his time (in retrospect I should have told him to hurry)

7:05am: A few minutes before we left for the hospital.
7:10-7:45: Ride to the hospital in rush hour traffic!! Contractions now 3 minutes apart and getting stronger.

7:45: Arrive at Barnes and walk in from the parking garage. I think the people having their morning coffee at Starbucks could have done without the contraction I had as I was walking past.
This smile is totally fake!

8:15: Finally made it to triage. Only dilated 4cm, I was very discouraged.

9:10: I was checked again, dilated 5cm.
9:25: Walked to the delivery room
9:30: Asked for an epidural, I tried as long as I could.
9:40: Dilated 7cm
9:45: Time for an epidural!!
9:50: I think I need to push, 10cm, I guess no epidural
9:58 Baby Natalie Ann Washausen is born! 7 pounds 11.4 ounces 20 inches

Wanna Play??

Okay, so we are down to the last days?? weeks?? and my mom reminded me that when I was pregnant with Jack we played a little guessing game. If you want to play, post the date, time, weight, and length you think our little one will be. We will see who can get the closest! FYI-my due date from ultra sound is June 2nd. I'm dilated 2-3cm and have been for the last 2 weeks.

GOOD LUCK!!

Disclaimer: If you win there will be no prize only the good feeling of being the "winner".

Baby...

Not yet. I am having a lot of contractions both braxton hicks and good old painful ones but they aren't doing much. We went to the Dr. today and I'm the same as last week, 2-3 cm. I am going to focus on enjoying these last few days/weeks of having Jack to myself or him having me to himself. (Thanks for the good advice Rod!) I will try and keep you all posted as soon as anything changes.

100 Things About Darci

1. I have a son named Jackson who is 2.
2. I am pregnant with a little girl and I’m due June 2^nd.
3. I shaved my head from my ears down when I was in high school because my hair was so tightly curled it made it stick out funny.
4. I have naturally curly hair.
5. I taught special education/elementary education for almost 10 years.
6. I moved to Illinois, and in with Rod (now my husband), just a little over two months after we met.
7. We were engaged the next month but didn’t get married for 2 years.
8. I met my husband in New Orleans on Bourbon Street in a bar called the Steak Pit.
9. I have college credit in Bowling and Horseback riding.
10. My belly button used to be pierced. It now has a strange, stretched out scar above it.
11. I love to scrapbook but haven’t done much since Jack was born.
12. I graduated from Southern Utah University with degrees in Elementary Education and Mild/moderate special education.
13. I graduated from the University of Utah with my Masters in Severe Special Education.
14. I love getting magazines in the mail. (Baby, parenting, cooking, scrapbooking) I’m only getting parenting/baby ones right now.
15. I had bright red hair as a young child.
16. I get migraines.
17. I had an allergy test done to see if that might be the cause of my migraines. It wasn’t, but I found out I’m allergic to grass, cockroach poop and a number of other things.
18. I have to have the toilet paper roll so the toilet paper comes off the top.
19. I’d rather get a plant than flowers, they just die.
20. I’m an atheist.
21. I miss the mountains and hiking.
22. I used to hike every Saturday and Sunday, usually 8-12 miles each day.
23. Now I can’t even walk up my stairs without getting winded. (This is partly because I’m pregnant and partly because I’m just out of shape)
24. I don’t have a middle name.
25. I love to read.
26. I can play the guitar.
27. I can’t sleep with pants or socks on.
28. I can’t sleep with my closet door open.
29. I love Pandora radio. My 40 free hours a month are almost up, but am I willing to pay $36/year??, probably not.
30. I make lists for everything
31. I love getting stuff in the mail
32. I like a good debate
33. My dream job is a photographer.
34. I have 19,175 pictures on my computer from the years 2001-now.
35. I love taking pictures, I’m not so good at deleting them.
36. I love planting/growing/gardening. I’m not good at growing bulbs or perennials.
37. I use cloth diapers, cloth wipes, cloth napkins most of the time. I do this for the environment but mostly to save money.
38. I use coupons.
39. I have to have my toe nails painted but hate having color on my fingernails
40. I love having my nails done (it makes me feel done up even if I’m in sweat pants) but I’m too cheap to have them done.
41. I just started a compost pile.
42. I love to shop on the internet. I usually have a cart full of things at one place or another. I often times don’t actually buy the things. I currently have a cart at amazon with The Help, The Bernstein Bears’ New Baby, I’m a Big Brother, Moms plan it calendar and Somebody Hides. I think I will actually buy these.
43. I sold Mary Kay for a few years. I wasn’t good at it. I don’t like to talk people into buying stuff if they don’t really want it or can’t afford it. I still use Mary Kay, and will until all of it is gone, because I still have stuff I never sold.
44. I love my husband and trust him completely. He is my best friend.
45. I rarely do one thing at a time. I’m a multi-tasker and that is why I never get anything done.
46. I collect Demdaco angels and shot glasses.
47. I want to complete all of my to do’s before the baby arrives. This will not happen. There are still things on my to do list that were there when my son was born 2 years ago.
48. I grew up in Hyrum Utah a small town in Northern Utah.
49. I had three reoccurring nightmares as a child. One was about the guy from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
50. In college, I hiked 36 miles in less than two days because I didn’t want to pay to take a shuttle back to my car. I got dehydrated and was sick for a day afterward.
51. I have been to 22 states. I would like to visit them all.
52. I was a gymnast-not so much anymore
53. I was on the dive team in high school.
54. My sister and I stayed in the honeymoon suite at a hotel during a snow storm because it was the only room left.
55. I love to cook and hate to clean up.
56. I like milk chocolate but don’t like dark chocolate
57. I hate to walk barefoot in the grass.
58. I love shoes, but hate to wear them when inside.
59. The kids I taught my first year teaching will graduate from High School this year.
60. I believe I have attention deficit disorder, even though I have never been diagnosed, my husband would agree with this.
61. I’ve only had two cars, ford escort hatchback with horrible black, white and pink pin stripes and my current black Honda Civic-even though I never drive it because Rod uses it to commute.
62. I’m horrible at making decisions.
63. I’ve been to Canada and Mexico.
64. I hate purses, I’m working on this. I just bought a real girl purse and I actually use it and like it.
65. I am not good at riding bikes, I usually crash.
66. I love peanut butter and honey sandwiches, especially when I’m pregnant.
67. I worked as a Certified Nurses Aide in nursing homes all through college. It paid really well but I could only do it for about 3 months at a time, then I would have to take a break. I had a really difficult time dealing with death, I still do.
68. I have never broken a bone.
69. I have been peed on, puked on, pooped on, snotted on, hit, kicked on purpose while at work. I would do it again, just not while pregnant.
70. I have never been admitted to the hospital except to have Jackson.
71. I feel I’m general healthy. I complain if something is wrong. Some people think I’m a little bit of a hypochondriac. I think I just know my body well and like it to work.
72. I love camping. I rarely go because my husband does not.
73. I don’t watch live TV. We record everything.
74. I love fry sauce and wish they had it here. I’ve only found one burger place that has it. Making it yourself or the bottled kind is just not the same.
75. I love eating out. When I visit Utah, there are certain restaurants I’ve usually been craving since my last visit (Training Table, Maddox, Fredricos, Coppermill). On vacations as a child, planning where we would eat was the first thing we would do when we got to the hotel.
76. I had an extremely tall black Barbie with red hair as a child. Her name was Darci, I thought I was named after her but I wasn’t. I just recently found this out.
77. My name was almost Tori, I like Darci much better.
78. I won second place in a swimsuit contest. My friend entered me and forced me to participate. I still have the Budweiser bikini I won, I don’t think it will ever fit me again, I’m okay with this.
79. I’m a perfectionist wanna be. I put things off if I don’t have time to do it perfectly. Another reason I never get anything done.
80. One of the first things I bought with my own money was a Nintendo. I used babysitting money, it cost $99.
81. One of the first things I bought when I graduated from college was a mattress.
82. I don’t like gold jewelry, I do like silver or platinum.
83. I taught Jack baby sign language, he still uses some signs.
84. I played softball on several commercial teams in high school. I tried out for the high school team but it was fast pitch and I couldn’t hit the ball.
85. I’ve worked at Burger King and Dairy Queen.
86. I can’t eat ice cream without coughing-I didn’t know this, my husband had to tell me.
87. I love when my family visits but feel guilty they have to pay to come and see me. (My family all lives in Utah)
88. I crashed a four wheeler through a large wooden fence in fourth grade.
89. I made my own baby food for Jack and plan to do the same for the next one.
90. I only enjoy drinking Sunkist from a can. Any other soda has to be poured over ice or better yet from a fountain.
91. I only get my hair cut 1 or 2 times a year. I would like it cut more often but again I’m cheap. Having curly hair helps me do this and not look really horrible just slightly so.
92. I used to be a night person.
93. I now wake up at around 6 every morning.
94. I use at least 3 times as much conditioner as I do shampoo.
95. I wear contacts, glasses occasionally and would like to have lasik.
96. I have two piercing in one ear and four in the other. I only use the bottom two.
97. When I lived alone, I often checked all the closets before I went to bed. I’m not sure what I would have done had I actually found someone.
98. I love thunderstorms as long as they don’t have tornado potential where I live.
99. I take the crayons from restaurants.
100. I take the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion from hotels and actually use them.

A few of my favorite things as of today...

1-My new garden, even though I haven't actually planted anything in it yet. It is a huge raised space and has stepping stones all the way around it. Thanks Rod! (It was an early mothers day gift)
2-My new blog background-it is super springy and it makes me happy.
3-Feeling my baby girl kick
4-Hearing Jack laugh
5-Snuggling with my husband even though this doesn't happen much these days. My gigantic pregnancy pillow gets in the way.
6-Pictures-I collect them on my computer and hope to one day scrapbook them. I never leave home with out my camera.
7-Books-I love to read and collect books of all kinds.
8-My scrapbook cubes. They keep all of my scrapbook stuff out in the open but looking neat and organized.
9-Jacks new magnet wall. I just finished painting it and it actually works!
10-All the cute bows/hats I just got for the baby, I can't wait to try them on her and not have to subject Jack to such cruelty. (He does look pretty adorable though : )

Pregnant Belly

Some of you have requested some belly pics so here they are. I did really good taking pictures every week when I was pregnant with Jack, but I haven't done so good with this one. It must be the two year old that keeps distracting me! Instead of reposting, I will just add new pictures to this slide show as I get bigger and bigger!

photos added 3/30/10