Rylee's 2!

Rylee turned 2 on November, 11 2012. The terrible 2s have been both terrible and fun so far. Rylee was excited for Bennett's arrival, though she had no idea her world would be turned upside down! Since he was born, she has discovered her Mom's time is taken up by this kid. We have also learned she loves him, and she could quite possibly love him to death! It's interesting to see the things she does for attention now, such as wanting to swing in the baby swing, using a binky (which she never took as a baby), and "sharing" blankets with Bennett. Overall, I would say she is a GREAT big sister! 

Rylee is quite entertaining. I wish we had done a video of this photo shoot. I was sure we weren't going to get any good pictures, due to her talking, playing, running, and showing off for the photographer. But, she is a child who shy's away from the camera. 

Lately, Ry is obsessed with monsters, thanks to the Cookie Monster, and Avatars, which she pronounces "Abby-tar". She LOVES to talk on her pretend phone and walks around the house with it on her shoulder. I have no idea where she learned that. She frequently has lengthy conversations with just about anybody, including Avatar and Santa Clause on her phone. She's very imaginative. She enjoys playing in her play kitchen, she got for Christmas. She absolutely loved Christmas this year. Her Mom went a little overboard with gifts. It's too easy to shop like crazy when you're stuck at home, pregnant, shopping from your phone. She sings, dances, and will show off for anyone. Her favorite songs are "Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. We're trying to add additional songs to her playlist, but she's been pretty stubborn about it.

We took her sledding for the 1st time yesterday. She's already wanting to go again. She doesn't seem to mind the cold of the snow. She must take after her Dad!

She says the most adorable prayers at night. She continues to bless Grandpa Mortensen and seems to miss him. She did great on the 12+ hour (each way) trip to Colorado for his funeral. We couldn't have asked for more well behaved kids.

Ry is a pure joy and we love her! Looking forward to what this next year will bring. 

Bennett's Newborn Pics

Bennett has one heck of a loud cry, for such a little guy! He sounds like a hawk. He's still fairly confused about night and day, but we haven't had much time to work on it, since we were traveling the first few weeks of his life to attend my Dad's funeral. I'm sure glad my Dad got to meet him! 

This photo shoot was a tough one! Bennett has always been a peaceful, happy, reserved baby...until photo day. He had quite a tummy ache and didn't allow us many sleeping pictures. The one of him screaming, in the owl hat, indicates the majority of the time with the photographer. Sad, isn't it? It's always on picture day.

Remembering My Daddy

Ardith R Mortensen 9/7/38-1/4/13

Mom & Dad

 Grandpa & Bennett

 Grandpa & Rylee

Dad & Arnold

 My Good Lookin' Dad

 Grandpa & Ryan

 Uncle Lloyd, Mom & Dad

 Dad & Mom

 Christmas 2005

Bennett Christopher Francom

Bennett Christopher Francom arrived on Friday, December 28, 2012 at 2:24 pm. He weighed 5 lbs 9 oz and was 18 inches long.

They planned on admitting me on the 27th. The dumbest nurse EVER put my IV in. She missed and had to do it twice. I have the best veins imaginable. They're huge and don't roll. She was not my favorite person. Once she had it in, it continued to hurt too. Anyway, they then decided they didn't want me to stay the night and I needed to return in the morning. They told me to leave the IV in and come back the next day. I don't think so. After an hour or so I called my friend, Karsen Delgado, and asked if it would be hard for Chris to remove my IV. She said it was pretty simple and I had him do it. Thank goodness! I slept a little because I didn't have that IV in. Then the next day had a different nurse. She mocked the nurse who had missed my vein the night before. It made me feel better. She did a great job and no pain after it was put in. Granted, I still wanted it out as fast as I could, but it wasn't killing me either. 

Bennett's birth story was not a fun one. I thought it would be just like Rylee's. Not a lot of pain, break my water, slight contractions, walking epidural, easy delivery, perfectly healthy baby. NOT. AT. ALL. Bennett's story is different in almost every way. I didn't have any pain. None. At about 1:00 I was beginning to think he was never going to come, even though they had started the Potocin at about 8:00 in the morning. They then planned to break my water and I figured I would get the epidural about 30 minutes after that, just like with Rylee. Bad idea. The second they broke my water I went from zero pain to pain that was off the charts. I hadn't prepared for this. I didn't do hypnobreathing or Lamoze. I was just sitting on the edge of the bed, holding onto Chris, whimpering, frequently forgetting to breath. It hurt like nothing I had ever experienced before. I wanted to push. I wanted to have this baby right then. The anesthesiologist came in with paperwork, but when he saw the pain I was in agreed to forgo the paperwork for a bit. He did the epidural and then I felt shooting pain down my left leg. Great, he had to do it again. This time he did it right, but it wasn't doing anything for the pain. By this time they've got me laying down, but I continue to forget to breath. It's hurting so bad. I need to push. I'm just repeating over and over "It's not working. The epidural's not working. I need to push." The nurses told me to hold on, the doctor isn't here yet. The anesthesiologist gave me a couple more shots of pain medication. Soon, I was feeling NOTHING. The doctor arrived and said I could finally push. About that time I was just ready to take a nap. I didn't care what they told me to do. I felt no pain and I just wanted to sleep. I tried to push, but have no idea if my body was responding at all. It must've because Bennett was born shortly thereafter. Then I learned that the placenta doesn't always deliver with the baby. Who knew? The doctor had to spend the next 20 minutes trying to get the placenta out. I was very glad I had an overactive epidural at that time, that's for sure! He said if he couldn't get it, he would need to do a D&C. I could've slept through all of it.

Bennett struggled breathing and couldn't maintain the required blood sugar, so he spent some time in the NICU. It was 4 hours before I got to see him. Doctor Pavich suggested we supplement formula so he could sustain his blood sugar and get into our room, instead of the NICU. Scrubbing in for the NICU was no small task. It wasn't comfortable and there were so many cords it wasn't easy to hold him. Each time they pricked his foot for the blood test I wanted to cry. I would've done anything to get him into my room. So we got him to drink as much formula as we could. It made his NICU stay much shorter, thankfully.

He eats well, sleeps well, and poops well. He's on his way to plumping up in no time! Rylee LOVES "Baby Bennett". She loves to hold him, kiss him, touch him, poke him. She's held him in 20 minute increments  not allowing anyone else to hold him.

We're in for the ride of our lives!

See if you see the family resemblance:

Bennett

Rylee

Chris

Induction Scheduled

Baby Boy Francom is scheduled to enter this world on Friday, December 28, 2012. He continues to measure small. They want us to deliver between 38-39 weeks, between December 27th and January 2nd. The doctors don't induce on holidays or the weekend, so that didn't leave us with many options. The 27th, 28th or 2nd. We're going to go with the 28th. I'll be admitted in the evening on the 27th to start some medication to help with prep work and then I'll be induced in the morning. I hope Rylee is ready for her world to be rocked! It makes me and Chris sad, she has no idea what's coming. I don't know if we're ready for it either...

Rylee's Year in Pictures

It's a BOY!

We're expecting a healthy little boy! Due January 9, 2013. Rylee is excited. She says "Baby in there" as she points to my tummy. We have no idea on a name yet...

We took our annual family hike up Snowbird. It was a perfect day, not too hot and not too cold.

Rylee got a balance bike to start learning how to ride a bike. She needs to grow 1 more inch before she can really do it, but she LOVES her helmet! She calls it her "helmitch".

She's growing up too fast. She imitates her dad whenever she can. She's become addicted to his ski movies and always wants to go skiing in the living room. Chris plans on taking her up sometime this winter. She loves playing with her cousins and she pretends to call her Aunt Lisa or Aunt Lori on her phone, all the time.

Rylee is ready for Halloween. She is going to be a horse. I didn't think she would like to wear her costume, but once she put it on she didn't want to take it off.