Where does the time go?

4 years ago this weekend (May 27th), my life changed for the better.  I flew out to see Kimball in Ohio, he was there for the summer doing security alarm sales.  I thought it would be fun to go visit since I have not spent a lot of time in that part of the U.S.  I was so excited to see him and knew we would have such a great time.  Of course we did.  When your giddy in love how can you not, right?  However, what happened was completely unexpected and totally shocked me.  We drove all around and went to Lake Erie, Palmyra NY and so many other beautiful places.  The sacred grove will always hold an extra special place in my heart.  If you haven't guessed by now, we got engaged 4 years ago at that beautiful spot.  Although there have been trying times, it has been an amazing journey.  I love you Kimball and am grateful for our eternal family!  Look how skinny and young we look!    
Like 2 minutes before it happened.  Look at Kimball's face, is that not full of nerves or WHAT!!??

Right after it happened, much more relaxed and giddy!

 

The bling

 

The happy couple

Blessing Day

So I know this is almost 3 months overdue, but not any less important.  Paige Elizabeth Cody was given a name and a blessing on Oct 31st, 2010 by her father, Joseph Kimball Cody.  Grandpa Jorgensen, Wayne Bodine, Chris Smith, Stephen Francis, Brad Hocking and Bishop Williams were the men present in the circle.  Paige did great the whole day.  She looked beautiful in her blessing dress and was such a good baby.  We are so grateful to have her and her smile melts our hearts.

Paige's Arrival Story

(This is kind of long so just a heads up)

I had been hoping baby would come early and she did, 1 week exactly!!  I was trying everything to get my cervix to ripen and dilate, especially because it never did with Grace.  I tried it all - Pineapple, licorice, primrose oil, love making stuff, walking (LOTS of walking), and raspberry leaf tincture drops.  I guess the culmination of everything brought on contractions. 

This is somewhat of the breakdown: Wednesday Sept 1st, we set out for the mall to "walk the baby out" around 2pm.  We were there for about 3 hours. I hadn't been feeling too much, so we went home.  Around 10pm Kimball gave me a blessing and I also took some raspberry tea leaf drops.  Within an hour or so I was having contractions!  They were about every 20 minutes apart, so I didnt stress too much about it.  Kimball went to bed and I of course sat up restless for hours!  Around 3am they were getting pretty regular, about 8 minutes apart.  I finally woke Kimball up at 4 and told him "its time." 

We packed the bag (I had been procrastinating that), called Grandma to watch Grace and headed to the hospital.  We checked in around 5 and got all settled.  I was only a 1 but when the nurse checked me my water broke!  I was excited because my water had broken at home with Grace and nothing was going on, so this was definite progress.  We got all situated in the labor and delivery room and my doctor came in around 8am, checked me (only a 2) and we got started on pitocin.  An hour later the contractions were awful (or im a wuss) so I got my epidural.  Dr Allen came back around 12pm, and I was a 5!!  We were all very excited.  With a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) you can only get a mild dose of pitocin and your body has to do a lot of the work naturally.  So, around 5pm Dr Allen came back in and I was a 9!!  She let me brew a little bit longer and at 6:30 came in, checked again and said..."ready to push".  Umm, in my head I thought NO im not!!  I don't know how and I needed more time, ha ha.  Time was out.

Paige Elizabeth (who was Juliette for 2 days) was born 7:29 pm on 9/2/10.  Weighed 7lb, 9oz, and 21 inches long.  She is SOO beautiful with lots of dark hair, olive skin and dark dark blue eyes.  I was elated to hold her right after birth and was crying with an overwhelming feeling of love and a sense of accomplishment.  I know that sounds silly but after having a c-section with Grace I was thinking I'd never get to experience the birthing process.  It was the neatest experience and we are just loving her.  Grace is a proud big sister and has been an angel with her (aside from occasional eye pokes).  We are doing great and enjoying our new bundle of joy.  Here are some pics!

Found out I was a 9!

Countdown

So...I will be 36 weeks on thursday and I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by!  My due date is Sept 9th and we've decided to do a TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean) or VBAC the more popular term.  We are hoping that things will go smoothly and she will come on her own naturally so I dont have to have a repeat c-section.  Keep us in your prayers.  We are anxious to meet our new little princess and if anyone wants to shout out names - feel free.  We are up for suggestions :)  Here is me at 32 weeks.  I'll post a more recent one in a few days.  Yay for babies!!

Family Pictures

Kimball's sister, Jill, was nice enough to take pictures of our family.  We had such a great time and they turned out way cute!  I have a hard time picking favorites but here are a few (well, more than a few) :)

Cheese Ball

I love this kid.  We were over at my SIL (Jill) on Sunday.  She snapped some photos of Grace on the floor.  She is too funny.  It's amazing how much you can love one little person!

Temple Open House

Last month we were able to drive to the Gila Valley Temple Open House in Central, AZ.  It was so nice to be able to take Grace inside and experience it as a family.  It was beautiful, inside and out, as are all the temples.  On our way out I yelled, "wait, we didnt take any pictures!!!"  So we got out and snapped a few.  They aren't the best but if you look closely you can almost see baby girl #2 in there :)