Our first BABY! Ellie Rae

 It has been about three weeks since we had our baby and things have calmed down enough that we can write down our story.  As told by Michael. (However it has taken a while to find the camera cord to download the images so really its been nearly 10 weeks since Michael wrote this :)


June 8 3:00am
Amber who had been awake since 1am, woke me up with some deep breathing and really loud exhaling.  I got up and we timed the contractions for a while and had reached the magical 5 min or less for contractions.  We had some occurring every 3 min as well.  So we got everything we needed and headed for... my office.  Because that is where I had left our video camera.  Then off to the hospital.  We checked in and Amber got a ride in a wheelchair.  A very fast ride as the nurse had delivered a baby just weeks ago in the elevator.  We informed him that Amber's water had not broken so he slowed down. 

oh so fresh!

Once in the hospital room.  The nurse came and showed us all the different things we could do to help with contractions.  Sit in the bed, walk the halls, exercise ball, and most enjoyable a hot bath.  Contractions kept getting closer together and more intense.  (Michael was a great coach, constantly helping me breath through the contractions, I quote, "Deep breath, hold it....slowly exhale," over and over again, which at the end I really needed him to say to keep me focused and not just yell in pain :)




9am

Our little doll

Our doctor came in to check on our progress.  Amber was 7cm.  Some of you know what that means some don't.  I will explain briefly:  It means we are pretty close to having this baby.  The doctor predicted 2pm birth.  Which sounded great to us.  More contractions, more trips to the tub, some bouncing on the ball and 2pm came and went.  By then the doctor had checked and Amber was past 9cm.  But still not a lot of progress and her water had still not broken.

4:30pm  Not a lot of progress.  So we decided to have the doctor break Amber's water.  Then the real fun began.  Pretty quickly Amber had some serious contractions.  From my view I knew that these were a lot more intense than the others, Amber says they were 10 times harder.  Well this did the trick and after a number of these difficult contractions, the doctor confirmed that Amber was at 10cm, the baby was in the right position and it was time to push. 

Ready to go Home!

We are a little sketchy on how long Amber was pushing but we figure more than an hour for sure.  Contractions were coming super intense and often every two minutes like clockwork.  There are some details that I am omitting but this was the craziest thing I have ever seen.  After a long while of pushing, the doctor came in brought in a table of instruments, another nurse and we all knew it was close.... ask amber about the details here...( Thanks Michael, I will. AHHHHHHHHHHH!  After 45 min. passed I just kept asking the doctor between contractions how many more pushes at which he never answered but said as with Michael and the nurse "we can see the head".  Well so I decided I wanted to eat dinner and I was sick of pushing so with the next couple contractions I gave it my all.)  6:47pm Finally, one final intense contraction, Amber pushed 7 times in one contraction, Ellie Rae took her first breath and let us know with a cry.

Proud Daddy!

Happy Mommy

Two months later and she still lets us know with a cry.  Between growth spurts and bodily functions she is quite a vocal girl about her feelings.  She didn't sleep a whole lot during the day for about a month, but we are getting a little better at napping now.  The smiles and coos are the best!

What's up with us :)

Michael and our Bro. in law Briton playing a competitive game at brother Matt's graduation bbq.

North of Steamboat Springs.  So we camped here just before the sun went down.  Awesome view.  We nearly killed our car to get here.  We moved camp to shady pines after our hike later that day.  It was so stinkin hot with no shade.  We also found out how fast we could tear down and set up camp!  It was fast!

Our hike to the top of Hawn's Peak.  Amazing views!

We love to fish.  Even if we have to soak our shoes in the marsh to get there!

Smile for squishy boots!

I hosted Ann's bridal shower which was also a cheese and fruit party.  So fun and delicious!

Oh my!  Yes we are alive.  We had a fun summer, fall, and now glorious winter.  Michael spent the summer in Littleton working on the grounds crew at the Denver LDS Temple,commuting back each weekend practically.  At work, we moved into a new building which was quite the adjustment/stress because everything was totally different organizing wise.  We also gained our first nephew on Michael's side of the family.  He is so cute.

We've enjoyed two weddings in our family-- my sister Ann and very recently Michael's brother Chris. 

Michael started his masters program in math.  We have yet to see his grades but the department must think he's okey-dokey because they offered him a Graduate Assistant-ship for next semester.  Yeah!  Answer to prayers.

Old Faithful.

We did a little camping this summer.  Ann had her open house in Cody, WY so we camped, went to Yellowstone for half a day, and then the open house.  I will post some cool picts from Yellowstone later.  It was fun!  Now you have a glimpse of our life up till now. :)

Oh, and for some reason I can't change my template to something NOT fall.  So I'm stuck with the orange leaves till blogger fixes the problem.

Snow Sculpting!

So in Laramie, spring consists of wind, wind, wind, rain, sleet, snow, snow, snow.  Just when its getting warm enough to do things outside.....snow.  We got 8-10 inches of snow two weeks ago.  It was really wet snow and the sun was out so my sister Ann and I and her friends built huge snow sculptures.  We had some pretty high ambition and decided to start rolling our snow balls pretty far away.  Bad idea.  It was quite the workout.  We decided that we did about 100 squats that day trying to roll our snow balls into place.  It was worth it though.  Great way to get a workout without thinking you are working out! The elephant and rhino were so fun to ride!

Christmas Break

I know this post is about 3 months old, but I thought I'd still post it.  We spent Christmas with Michael's family in Littleton, CO.  The trip down took us twice as long as usual because of the snow and road closures, but we took a back road slowly down to Greeley and then over to Loveland.  On the road over to Loveland we saw about 12 cars that had gone off the road and about the same amount of emergency vehicles getting them out, etc.  It was scary but we made it safely.  All of his family were there and we had a great time together.  Michael and I went shopping for gifts at Barnes & Noble and I was stupid and forgot my wallet, so we walked around the store hiding our gifts from each other behind our backs and such and then had to ring up together, one at a time while the other turned there back.  The cashier thought we were pretty weird, so next time I'll just bring my wallet.  I got Michael the Mr. Bean shows.  He was so surprised; and usually I can't keep a secret from him so I was proud I didn't give into him.  After a lovely Christmas day his dad took us all ice skating in Evergreen.  It was pretty cool to finally go there because this is where my mother learned to skate when she grew up.  The ice rink was on a lake and I felt I had to learn all over again how to skate it had been so long.  The ice was pretty nicked up too, so that made it just a little more dangerous.  We played tag with his family and that was just so scary.  On another day we all went to Devil's Thumb Ranch (by WinterPark) and learned how to classic ski cross country.  It was all our first time so we had fun laughing at each other and ourselves when we fell.  Michael took to it quickly and could go down a hill without falling.  It was basically a new way to run for him.  It was such beautiful scenery, especially at sunset as we headed back.  Excellent place to go if you are into skiing.  We had so much fun, so a big Thank You to Dad and Mom Huntington who gave us fun new experiences!

Dear IRS

Isn't this a great joke, if only you could really do that.  Anyways, looking forward to our tax return :)

Twas the Days Before Christmas

Twas the Days Before Christmas and all through the house, nothing was Christmasy, not even my spouse.  So we bought a permit and climbed up a mount, to pick a fair tree and finally we fount.  It was full, it was green, and there arose such a clatter, a man with an axe and a whole lot of laughter.  Then it was off down the steep mount, with a man amount like a sleigh, he wooshed and he swooshed ahead of his wife who said "Hey!" 

(It was like Bear Grylls Man Vs. Wild)  And that is how we got our 1st real Christmas tree together!  It was way fun!  Then Ann and I made popcorn/cranberry garland.  Mine took 6 hours.  It was so nice looking though.  Totally worth it.

Mid December we had the annual work party for the dentist office at our boss's home.  We had a gingerbread house contest, boys vs. girls.  We girls did the mini dental office with a root canal in process, while the boys got really creative and made a trailer home with an old car up on blocks, beach lounge chairs, and even tires on the roof.  So funny.  Then we ate the most amazing Chinese food.  Delicious!  After dinner, we proceeded with rock band, where I sang horribly and Michael got into a groove on the drums.  We were there till nearly midnight it was so entertaining.

Thanksgiving In Arizona!

We ventured to Arizona for a week for Thanksgiving.  We had so much fun running with my parents alongside the canal, where I got attacked by a wet dog GROSS!, met 'thee spotted pigeon' who is afraid of no one, and saw at least 100 carp swimming up and down!  The weather was awesome, 70-80's or so.  We played tennis and even swam.  We also had so much fun with my nephew Grant.  He is a cutie pie.  I loved going in his room in the morning.  He would be singing and all smiles.  Melt my heart.

Anyways, I also had fun shopping with my sister Courtney.  We found the cutest fabric and I even had the gumption to start making a spring dress.  But of course, I only got it cut out.  I've never made a dress before.  I never thought of it before, but sewing is now very nostalgic of growing up when my mom would help me when I messed up or needed to think something out before I committed it to the needle.   If only I had a sewing machine, oh the things I could do--while probably on the phone with Mom! I miss you MOM!

So, then on Thanksgiving morning we headed to the Turkey Trot!  My father had previously challenged me to the 10K and we talked my mom into running it too.  I ran this same race when I was a junior in high school in 53 min., so my goal was at least to make it under an hour.  So it began and Michael took off at the front to win the thing, while we trotted behind all together.  We stayed together almost the whole time.  It was really hot by mile 5 and everyone was wanting water.  Let's just say the water station got hammered and we got separated.  Mom was ahead and I hung back until my dad caught up again.  Then we passed the 6 mile mark where there was a clock @58:40, and I said "See ya" to pa and took off sprinting.  It was so fun and I had a great kick.  I passed about 10 people, I love that feeling!  I finished in 59:58.  Yeah!  I achieved my goal!  And of course Michael got 2nd overall, 1st in his age group and secured a turkey for my sister's freezer. 

And now for the Feast.  The day was lovely and we decorated Keith and Courtney's patio with lights and made a chandelier to hang over the table.  It was awesome, the food great, and perfect temperature to eat outside.  Then we played some games and called it a night.  Then we left the next morning.  Sad.  Thanks Keith and Courtney for letting us stay with you!