Merry Christmas!!!

Another year and another Elf Yourself video!!! As we were rolling hysterically on the floor watching this, Steve noticed that he has "boobs". So grab a cup of hot chocolate and cozy up to watch this magical Christmas video!!! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Weekly Adventures

I really don't seem to know what day it is. They are all seeming to run together...pretty much my day consists of sleeping, feeding Katy and changing her diapers!!! Chuck is in heaven having both of us home all the time. He doesn't quite know what to do with himself. We usually find him going up to bed without us because he is so tired!

So not much to update you on but here are some pictures of our recent adventures...

Gettin' ready to hit the town. Steve is good to plan us a "daily activity"....mostly so he doesn't get stir crazy! I am perfectly content hanging around and taking naps, but Steve is not one to sit around! 

Last Friday Katy and I headed up to Perry to visit my sister Britney and her fam. TJ and Gage were so cute with Katy!!! They just wanted to hold her the whole time. We actually went up there to make Katy's announcement (I will post that later because I just sent them out in the mail, so I don't want to ruin the surprise). 

Also we went to Dr. Schmidt last week and he noticed that Katy was not turning her neck to one side. He said that we needed to work on bending and stretching her neck or she would need to wear the dreaded helmet!!! I was telling my sister and mom about it and they both suggested that I take her to the chiropractor. My sister took TJ there when he was 4 months old for the same problem. Sounded kind of scary to me, but Britney assured me that it would be a good thing. So I went to her doctor in Brigham City. 

Let me just tell you how sad it was to watch him pop her neck!!! He had to do it several times, and she was not happy about it at all. It was so hard to sit and hold her and watch while he adjusted her. It was the saddest thing ever. But I am happy to report that since that visit, Katy had full range of motion in her neck. Those forceps sure did a number on her!!!

Gage and TJ informed me of all the names they call "their baby". TJ says he calls Brynn "Miss Miss" and Gage told me he calls her "Princess Pretty Girl". Gage even told me that I could call my baby that if I wanted. He especially wanted to hold Katy, and was happy to do so as you can see in the above picture!!! When Josh got home from work Gage told him that he got to hold Katy and that she smiled at him!!! So cute!

As you can see last night we were all pretty tired, except for Steve who decided that it would be a good idea to take a picture!!! So we all fell asleep on the couch. Normally that is how it goes....I feed Katy around 8-9 then I fall asleep on the couch and Steve wakes me up around 11-12 to feed her again!!! Ha, it's pretty exciting around here! I am thinking that next week will bring more of the same but I will keep you informed!

New Do

So phase one of my "hot mom makeover" is complete... although this is not the best picture to see it. Katie (sister) cut my hair last week. Surprisingly she cut off 5 inches! Wow I looked like a rag-a-muffin as Steve would call me. She also darkened it, I think it's just a shade darker than my normal color. Hey it matches Katy's dark hair now!!! Phase 2 will begin when I can hit the roads and start running again. Although this breast feeding thing is working too...my stomach is half the size it was in the hospital!!! More pics to come!!!

Adventures in Babysitting....week 1

What a week this has been. It's crazy to think that a week ago we were still in the hospital. Too bad that kids don't come with instructions, because we sure don't know what we are doing. Hey we can pretend right???

What has happened this week? Lots. We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours. I guess with the forceps delivery and the rough start Katy got...they wanted to keep her there to make sure things were good before we were sent home. We were sure ready to blow that joint!!! Steve was so great to stay up there with me. He actually said that he slept well on the roll away cot, I am assuming that is because we figured he was awake for about 50 hours total before he was able to go to sleep. The hospital staff was great and we were pretty sure that we had things under control...until we got home!

Wednesday night was a rough one. Although we were frustrated, we laughed that we might have gotten a fussy baby! We couldn't get her to calm down, and that made for a long night!

Thursday we had an appointment with the doctor to get her billie ruben tested again...it was on the high side when we left the hospital. I also had an appointment with the lactation specialist. Well she was at almost a 20 on her billie ruben, which is bad. So it was the tanning bed for Katy. We also learned that she was not feeding as well as we had thought and that she was dehydrated. She weighed only 5 pounds and 14 ounces....we were told that we would need to supplement her feeding with formula until she got her weight up. 

When we got home the bed was delivered. She did really well in it....once she was getting some food in that little stomach she was a happy camper. In all honesty she has been a great kid! She only gets fussy when she is hungry or needs us to change her diaper!

So it was back to the doctor. Her score went down way more than they expected, which is great. Katy is a champ. She was also back up to 6 pound 10 ounces...which is  more than she weighed at birth. So we were almost out of the woods, except for the pooping! The last time she had pooped was in the hospital on Wednesday. They told us that since she was so dehydrated, it was going to take a few days since she needed to use everything she was getting. They told us that if worse comes to worse we could give her a sapasitory. So that was the plan when she hadn't gone by Sunday. That is all we talked about all day it seemed. We figured Grandma Joanne could help us with that when we went to dinner that night. Lo and behold when we opened up her diaper to "get it done" there was a BIG surprise. I guess the threat was enough. She hasn't stopped going since!!! Ha...IT'S POOP AGAIN is a phrase you hear a lot around here!

We are loving being parents, and having a blast. Katy is the BEST!!!

Don't worry this is me and my fake labor pains! I had you going there for a bit right? You are lucky to get these hot pictures of me! I am looking good!

Katy's first breath. It was scary there for a minute. They had to intibate her and do CPR to get her to breath! It's scary to feel so helpless! As you can see, she has a good set of lungs on her!

I got to hold her for a minute after they got her breathing. Again, you are lucky to be seeing me at my finest!

Proud papa Steve! He couldn't stop smiling once they got her breathing!

Team Beardshall.... minus the Chuckster! He is doing great with her by the way!

Steve giving Katy her first bath. She sure doesn't like the water thus far!

Grandma Kerry with Katy. As you can see Katy's face is pretty beat up from the forceps! Look at that huge bruise on her face. Surprisingly the next day she was looking pretty good!

6 pounds 8 ounces

Beaten up Katy!!!

First photo shoot! More pictures to come!

Getting ready to go to the doctor!

First tanning bed experience! She did great in the billie ruben bed!

Katy the fly!

Pictures of Katy AKA "Bean"

Baby Katy Is Finally Here!!!

Well, Miss Katy RaNae Beardshall is here, she's a whopping 6 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long.  She has a lot of dark brown curly hair and looks like her mother.  (Thank goodness not like her father.)  She's beautiful!

We did have a bit of a scare and Katy had to fight for her first breaths!  Amy did great and at first labor was just fine.  As we got going Katy's heart rate kept dropping and the doctors got worried and were about to take Amy to the operating room and give her a emergency C section.  However, Katy wouldn't have that and got herself stuck in the birth canal forcing the doctors to deliver her right then and there.  Thats when Katy met a medical instrument that I don't ever want to see again, the forceps!  The doctor had to pull Katy out by her head and as she did they found that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck.  Quick hands by several doctors got the cord out from around her neck but by this point Katy wasn't breathing and she was immediately taken by the pediatrician staff.  The first apgar score was a 1 and the doctors had to preform CPR.  Just minutes later they got Katy breathing and by the 5 minute score Katy was a 9 out of 10.  Pretty amazing.  So besides a cone shaped head and some bruises Katy is doing great and she is scheduled to go home with Mom and Dad tomorrow or weds.  Thanks everyone for their support.

It's GO TIME for Team Beardshall....We're drafting a new player

In an attempt to update blogger nation Amy requested that, I, Steven Roger Beardshall update her blog and let everyone know she is in labor and it looks like baby Katy will be arriving shortly. (Oh, and don't get used to my witty and entertaining posts cause I am only filling in while Amy is unable, due to contractions and other labor related stuff. Cause I'm not gay!!!) After getting home from work at 3 AM Amy woke me up at 4 AM to tell me she peed her pants.  After both having a good laugh at Amy's expense we realized she didn't pee her pants at all but that her water had broke.  Well to make a long story boring we rushed to U med center and they told Amy it was "GO Time".  Amy is currently dilated to a 5 and has been blessed with marvels of modern medicine (the epidoral) and is saying it hasn't been that bad... I'm pretty sure its just because Amy's tough as nails.  After all the Team Beardshall motto is, "You can't hurt steel!!!" More updates to follow, unless I don't, cause sometimes I'm flakey, check my sister in laws blog cause she's a girl, and girls care.

Long Lost Picture

Cant believe I never graced you with a soccer picture. This is "Shake n' Bake", don't ask me I didnt come up with the name. Much of this summers fun was spent watching the boys play soccer. By the second go around they didn't do too bad. Steve was a pretty good sport considering he hates soccer...I think deep down he really enjoys it!

Katy's Room

Beautiful I know!!! I think we are ready, now when is she going to be ready?

Only time will tell....2 weeks 5 days left, but who is counting?

My Camera

Sorry for the late post....I took these pictures of my fiend Paul and his family back in August!!! Here are a few of my favorites!
I have always been interested in photography, kind of a hobby of mine. I have a Nikon D50 that I got 2 years ago on my birthday....I haven't looked back since!!! For my birthday this year I purchased Photoshop CS3. Like my sister says (fellow photographer), it's a pretty complicated program...but practice makes perfect!!! It cant fix everything because it all starts with a great picture. I am working on my photography website and will give you the link when I can get that up and going. I think practice makes perfect and am always looking for a new "subject" so let me know if you are interested!!! I cant wait to take pictures of our new model Katy when she gets here. I am hoping that I will feel up to it! Ha! Enjoy!

One Fish, Two Fish and a Quilt!

Nothing like a random post of fishing and quilting!

So it's official that we are naming our baby Baby Katy. I really am not one for weird spellings but really we have to differentiate between Katie my sister and our new baby Katy, so there it is. I don't know if most of you know but I am a sewing  fool! Okay probably not, but I try. I am definatly not a crafty gal for sure. I like simple, straight lines. I think I have more of a modern liking when it comes to decorating. Sewing and modern don't really go together but I really couldn't find any bedding that I loved, so I decided to make my own. 

I would say I am a bargin shopper but really lets be honest....I am a bit cheap! So how does making your own bedding start? Really to make a quilt could be pretty expensive depending on where you got your fabric from. Well let me tell you of a little place called the Down East Clearence Center. It's on about 35th south and 35th west....right in the heart of West Valley! Well pretty much everything in there is from pottery barn. I got a bunch of sheets and pillowcases for 15 bucks! So there it is. For my first quilt, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I will have more pictures of the room in a few weeks when IKEA get's in my stinkin shelfs!!!! For now here are some quilt pictures.

And now  for the fishing.....

Steve decided that since he has never been fishing ever, it was time to learn! "I need to be able to take Katy fishing!" This was a realization once we found our favorite new hang out spot....American Fork Canyon. What a fun place. So we packed up and headed fishing....a few days in a row last week in fact. The sad thing is, we didn't catch anything...unless you  count the plastic air freshener fish that Steve got for the car now that he is an "official fisherman". At least we had a good time. Hey Chuck even had a good time. And it's not my fault but Steve didn't take any pictures of me, so you can blame him for that! Ha!

Will I ever fit into these jeans again?!?!?!

Just in case you were wondering what I looked like before I got preggers.....I am one hot momma to be! I guess it makes me feel good that I actually used to fit into these jeans! Brit took these pictures of us back in January. This is not Steve's favorite picture of him, but I think he looks cute!!! I guess I haven't really posted any of me in my big stages, maybe if you are lucky you will get to see some soon....probably not!

Katie and Zach

Here is my latest photo shoot with Katie and Zach.....

ENJOY!

What's Up???

So, just an update for you.....our wireless router is down. I would not suggest D-Link if anyone cares. I guess the reason we got it is because it was cheap, although sometimes you do get what you paid for (as in this case!!)
So I am hoping to get the problem fixed this weekend, it's been down for a few weekends.

Coming soon.....
August Recap: Including the California Road trip Extravaganza, not so much! It was more like a trip from....well you get the idea!
Plus everything that has been going on in September!

Happy Blogging, look for updates and pictures soon!

July Recap!!!

Yeah, yeah...I know! I am such a lazy blogger lately. Sorry I have been so bad. I know you are all loosing sleep over this so here you go:

July. What can I say about July? It's a great month, one of my favorite in fact. There is always so much to do in July and who can complain about having 2 holidays where we can enjoy fireworks? Only us Utahans can say that, what an honor!

We started out with the 4th of July. This was spent at the Beardshall's for the annual 4th get together. Someone missing this year was Steve. Sad. He said that the 4th was slow to say the least. Pretty crazy to think about. I guess even the bad guys don't mind having a reason to celebrate!

Blake and Paige

Next we were off to the Schmidt's for a BBQ. Great place to experience a sunset if you haven't already. They are living in Jon's Grandparents basement. They live in California so they pretty much have it all to themselves. So the view is great because it backs the Bonneville Golf Course. So the guys had to play "touch" football....where Steve got tackled. Don't worry he has a great big scar on his arm now. I guess it's more manly! It was fun to get together with everyone especially since it was one of our last get together with Luke and Marin before they headed off to school!

The Gang

The Guys

The Girls

What could top a BBQ with friends? Girls camp did a pretty good job of that! I was the ward camp director this year...oh and I was also the Cub Scouts Chairman, but they decided to release me from that since I had a bit too much on my plate! We have a great ward with 7 girls. But no worries we have 4 nurseries and 2 primaries! And all that after we just barley got split! Give it 10 years and we will have like 40 girls at girls camp! I can handle 7! My girls were the best, very laid back...which is a great combo when it comes to camping. Steve even let me volunteer him to be the priesthood leader one night. Chuck got to tag along as well....he kind of became the ward mascot! He loved the girls.

Me and my Girls!!! Wow we are lookin' good!

Steve and Chuck, the mascots. I actually think the girls may have had funner with Steve than they did with Chuck!!!

We hit up a couple of movies at the Drive-In's. My favorite was Batman! What a good suspenseful show! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. We even got Steve's cousin and friends Spencer and his wife Jenny to come!

Katie and I took my mom to the James Taylor concert for her Birthday. I love James...he is the best! What a great show, it was the kind that you could actually enjoy and relax at. We practically sat down the whole time...I guess it goes to show I must be getting bigger when I don't want to stand up all night. That weekend we also had a pizza party at my mom's to celebrate everyone's Birthday. Mom's, Brit's, Kate's....Josh and Harry weren't there but I guess we will throw them in there as well. I guess you are not cool unless your Birthday is in July or August!

The guys had a "man's" night before Luke officially left for school. I cant repeat some of the things that happened there but you can imagine what happens when Steve gets together with his friends! We decided to have a girls night, since they don't deserve to have all the fun. We went out to eat then watched sappy girls movies!!! What a great time, then the next week we all helped them pack up and waved them off. Wow it just really isn't the same with out cha Marin and Luke! Us girls had such a fun time that we decided to do it again the following week. We met up and went bargain shopping at NPS/Market Square and the Down East Clearance Center. That is where you need to go if you are looking for deals...they have Gerber sippy cups for a dollar!!! Oh and I think I erased my cute picture that I took!!! I am still looking into it so stand by! Ahhh!!!

Drum Roll Please.......

It's a Girl!!!

This crazy baby inside of me is a girl! So far this has been the funnest part of being preggers!
It was fun to see her, she was moving around so much. Steve kept asking me if I could feel her. Not yet! Soon I am sure of that.

I told Steve now he will have a shopping buddy or maybe someone who likes to go shopping as much as him! He says I make him sound gay when I talk about all of his shopping habits but to be honest it makes all the gals I know jealous that Steve actually likes to shop with me!!!

My poor girl wont have any dates with her dad being a cop!!! Steve cant wait to scare away all the boys. He said he cant imagine himself with a boy right now...he says he is too comfortable having a girl with all his experience with me and all his sisters!!! He will be a great dad.

My sister Britney is so cute...she started crying and screaming all at the same time she was so excited. Now she says my little niece (her daughter) Brynn will have a best friend. They will only be 6 months apart!

Things are looking great so we are right on track for a November 25th due date! Happy Thanksgiving to me!!! Hope she likes turkey!

Steve is pretty convinced that we will name her Katie...which I love! Hope you dont mind sis! He was thinking of spelling it Katy...any thoughts on that? I am worried that people will pronounce it "catty" and I hate that. I also had a suggestion to spell it Kadee. What is the vote. The only thing is my sisters name is Katie so we were thinking of spelling it a bit different to avoid so much confusion. What are your thoughts?

Out of the mouth of Babes...I mean Steves

How do I love Steve... Let me count the ways!!!

Ever since I have been pregnant I have felt like the ice queen... what I mean by this is I am less emotional than I was before I was pregnant! Except for that one crazy day (don't ask!!!). But one thing I am is super giggly! I can't help but laugh my head off when given the chance... and today was no exception. 

I think Steve is a funny guy but he really took the cake today when I talked to him after I got off work. As most of you know Steveo is a cop and they have to submit to random drug screenings. Well Steve was the lucky winner of the draw as he had a chance to go and pee in a cup! Now for me this is not uncommon with all of my doctors visits lately, no big deal right? Steve seemed upset by the fact that he had to be drug screened so I thought.....

Oh I was wrong, Steve wasn't upset about having to be tested he was more put off that he had to pee in a cup!  "Amy it wasn't bad enough that I had to carry my own pee out in a cup... it's the fact that holding a cup of my pee it didn't seem to bother the people working there in the slightest!!!!"

That's why I love him..He makes me laugh. I couldn't stop laughing after I got off the phone with him. Steve thank you for having a mild case of OCD about things like this and giving me the opportunity to have one of my laugh attacks today!