He did it!

Jon passed boards!!! I am so proud of him! He thought that he wouldn't find out for 4-6 weeks so he had the results sent to his parents house. His dad called today to let Jon know that he had the envelope. I am sure for Wally it seemed a little like openning a mission call. I knew that Jon would pass, but it is so nice to have it official! If you need a new dentist you know who to call!!!

So blessed...

I wanted to post this on Thursday, but I am glad that I spent more time really thinking about it. And it seems somewhat appropriate to type this on Sunday while Jon and Emma are at church. I guess this will be my way of having a little religion today. So Thursday was quite the crazy day, Jon had to go to school to finish a patient, which meant that I had to take and pick Emma up from preschool, and the pediatrician wanted to see Sophie and check her very yellow skin. I was in the car the whole day (all right that is a little dramatic, it wasn't the whole day but it felt like it!) I somehow made it to Emma's preschool on time (she was the last one through the door!) and picked her back up on time! And Sophie's Dr. appointment went pretty good, she has to go back on Monday just to make sure she has started gaining weight, since I am nursing and she wants to eat every hour, my guess is that she is just fine!

I can tell this might be a lengthy post, sorry! This is sort of a journal post for me. So while I was driving in the car, I had my hormonal let down. I have found that the only way my body can get rid of all the EXTRA hormones is to cry them out! I remember with Emma feeling so discouraged with nursing, and so overwhelmed with her and her health, that crying just seemed to make it all better and more manageable. My experience on Thursday was so different. I was driving along fine one minute and in tears the next! But they were GOOD tears, I felt so happy, and so blessed. Every time I would get calmed down another blessing would come to mind and I would be in tears all over again. I am sure other drivers thought I had lost it! Anyway over the past few days since then with whatever struggles have come my way, in the back of my head I have been able to recall all my blessings and have the confidence and the sweet feeling of love and that I am not alone. Before I forget all the sweet blessings in my life I wanted to write them down...but I am the worst with journals...I don't even have one! So this is my journal so I can remember how AWESOME I felt on Thursday! In no particular order here we go...

I am blessed because:
1. Sophie could not be a better baby! She is healthy, and beautiful. She only wakes up once during the night (I know that won't last forever, but I am grateful for now!) She just seems to have a sweet countenance about her.
2. Patience!!! Nursing is just a struggle for me, the patience that seems to be coarsing through me is purely a miracle! Also Emma's patience with me has been incredible. She is so good about hearing "in a few minutes" and just waiting patiently or finding something else to do!
3. I can't say it enough but I really do feel great! I feel so LUCKY that my body recovers quickly from delivering a baby. I feel so good. My energy is back, and as Emma likes to tell everyone...I can bend over and pick stuff up again.
4. Of great friends and family! Whether it be by phone or in person, the attention has made me feel so loved! I can't thank everyone enough for the flowers, the visits, the phone calls, and the dinners.
5. Emma!!! She has been so good! Besides her patience, she adores Sophie and loves to help! She loves watching Sophie while I take a shower or fold the laundry. I love how responsible she wants to be, and is!
6. Jon! He has been such a great help. The house was so clean when I got home and he had done all the laundry (there was tons!) He has been so awesome with Emma, who usually prefers that I do everything. She has actually called me daddy a few times! He has taken her places and truly played with her outside and in her room. I love watching him with her, it is just so sweet! I love watching him with a new baby and the bond that is built between them. In my opinion there is nothing better than watching a father rock or hold and kiss a newborn.
7. I feel the spirit so much right now. I know that some of you aren't the same faith as I am, I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but I would feel horrible if I didn't point out the love that I feel from my Heavenly Father and how it is helping me to focus on the great things in my life, and to just enjoy what is happening and not stress out. I know that we will get through these next crazy weeks!

Some Pics

I know my family is dying to see her and they keep requesting pics...this is just easier than emailing them! Anyway I have lots to update on but I need some sleep too! Everything is going better than I expected...I will continue on that tomorrow!

We're Home!!!

We are home!! Yeah! I am not a big fan of hospitals, but they did such a great job of making me feel comfortable! We are doing great! I feel so blessed that my body handles delivery so easily! I love being able to breath and to bend over and to do things more naturally! Sophie is doing great! She has been a piece of cake! I love how being a mom is so much more natural. I was actually nursing at the computer while helping Jon print out graduation announcements! And Sophie was just choking on spit up and we just handled it, instead of freaking out. Jon pointed out that with Emma it would have been a very traumatic situation. Emma with her stressful stay in the NICU and the thought of siezures kept me up at night checking her every minute. It has been nice just to enjoy every moment! The picture of Emma is when she stole my bed so she could watch backyaridgans...it was pretty funny! Emma is constantly coming over to give her little sis a hug or a kiss. I promise I will update more. I know family is dying to see her, and I am being asked for more pics constantly. I better get back to helping Jon get these announcements out! Oh and a shout out (thanks linz I can't seem to think of a better way to phrase it now!) to Julie for the BEST lasagna I have ever had!!! We really appreciate the help!

She is finally here

Well the big day has come and gone. Sophie Lyn Fairbanks has deciced to grace us with her presence after hanging on for dear life to he mother. She was born at 4:56 AM (not 4:58 as her grandmother stated in her blog). She was 20 inches and weighed a good solid 8lbs 2oz. A good sized bass in my book. Both mother and daughter are doing great after a long night for everyone. As you can see Emma was so excited to meet and hold her new little "stister". She was so cute with her and would whisper while she was talking and holding her...I wish we could get her to whisper like that in church. Anyway, she loves her and wants to hold her non stop. However Emma was pretty interested in the TV remote and crushed ice in the hospital. Thanks to everyone for the prays and support. Now the real adventure starts (bringing her home, packing, graduating, and moving). Enjoy the pics, more to follow.

Daddy's Shirt

Yesterday was Thunder over Louisville, if any of you have heard me talk about it, you know I think it is the coolest day, and the most amazing firework show I have ever seen! If you haven't ever heard me talk about it, don't get me started! Anyway we didn't think it was such a great idea to go this year (there are about 800,000 people cramed onto the river!) I knew I wouldn't go into labor, but if I did, it would be such a mess getting out of there. The weather couldn't have been better though! I hope those that went had a great time. I felt guilty all day that we weren't there. (Emma would have loved it this year) I just realized I didn't explain that there is a huge airshow before the fireworks. It is the only airshow I have ever seen, but I think it is the coolest! I love how loud the planes are! Anyway we live right by a small airport, which just happens to be where all these planes flew into. Emma and I were playing outside on Saturday and we were able to get our own little airshow. All the helicopters and planes were flying over us! It was pretty fun. Except Emma turfed it while she was running on the driveway! She was pretty sure she was never going to walk again. She sat on the couch for 2 hours in the same exact position I had set her down in. Finally we got her to get up and go get lunch. She seemed fine the rest of the day, until it was time to go to bed. None of her jammies were right, they all rubbed the ouchies! So Jon told her she could just sleep in one of his shirts! It was so cute! When she walked out in the huge t-shirt, she looked so big. I remember wearing my dad's shirts to bed. They made the best jammies! I especially remember my little sisters wearing them almost every night. And it was always a special treat to stay at my Aunt Marcia's house for the night because Uncle Dick had at least a million shirts (it always seemed that way), and he would even have a few pink ones, or other really bright colored ones! I am thinking I won't have to buy any jammies for quite awhile, Emma thought the shirt made the perfect nightgown!

Super Saturday

Ok so I told my Mom I was going to put this on. I was asked to do a Super Saturday project, about 2 months ago. I have always loved doing these projects but this time was a little harder because I wanted to keep the price down, and I knew that Super Saturday would be right after I had the baby. I would design the project but not actually be there to teach it. I have been to several scrapbooking classes with my Mom and her friend Karen. Some have been VERY nightmarish! Where we have been in the class for 4-6 hours trying to figure out the project on our own. And then there have been other classes, where the teacher was very prepared and had everything ready for us, and the projects were a breeze. I really wanted this to be that way! So I cut everything out to the size it was meant to be. And pre-made the tag, including puting the eyelet in (thanks for the crop-a-dile mom, I don't know if I would have done it with out that GREAT tool!) The only thing the ladies have to do is glue and put together! I also hate when I leave a class with an unfinished project...they tend to stay that way! I also have been to a class here in Louisville at Archiver's where they printed out these great instructions of how to put everything together, with pictures so you didn't always have to wait for the sample to come around. I quickly put them together too. I wanted the class to be very easy for whoever will be in my place. So there are lots of things I would probably change to the project, but I wanted to keep in under $5 (it's $3!!) I could have added so much but scrapbook stuff adds up really fast! I can't forget to thank Emma, she helped me put everything in baggies, she was actually a great help! I am also grateful for not knowing when this baby would come, so I couldn't procrastinate, and everything was done and ready to go almost 2 weeks before the project! I have vowed never to procrastinate again (yeah right!), but seriously it was not stressful, like it usually is. So anyway I am blabbing on...just wanted to share!

What to do?

One more quick thing...I haven't decided what to do with the baby countdown...do I just take it off, or should we all watch it roll negative????

Walk, walk, walk...

Do you remember that primary song...the pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked...Well that is how I feel about yesterday. When I did a little search on the internet, that seemed to be the #1 way to get a baby here. So after taking Emma to preschool I set out on my first walk of the day. Just around the block (it's 1 mile, we love it) It was so nice outside and I actually got to use my IPOD! Since I have been pregnant and not working out (oops!) I haven't used it forever! My new favorite CD's to walk, or drive, or just anything are Nelly Furtado (just fun beats), and Hilary Duff's new CD dignity (I can't believe I am admitting this, but I love her, her music is up beat and clean). So I felt like I was walking about as fast as I could.




After getting Emma home from preschool and having some lunch, I decided we should head to the zoo! I would have loved to call some friends to go with us, but I seriously decided at the last minute and we were out the door in 10 minutes! I think I am realizing my spontaneous life is about to end! Anyway I always take the same route at the zoo, usually with friends it takes around 2 hours...it only took us an hour and 15 minutes, I was cruising! The definate highlight of the zoo was seeing the baby elephant! He is so cute! I wanted to climb the fence and go pet him (FYI- I am not a big animal person, they kind of gross me out...but this elephant is too cute). Here is a pic of the baby elephant and Emma standing on her stroller to look at him. The elephants are at the end of the zoo, and I was way to exhausted to lift her up to see. Don't worry Mom I was holding on to her and the stroller! Oh and for friends here in Louisville the baby elephant is usually out from 10-12 and 2-4, thought I should pass that on.

We got home at about the same time as Jon, when I remembered he had some nurse coming over to take blood, and whatnot for disability insurance. Because I had pretty much neglected the house for walking we had to do a mad dash to pick up the place. I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. When the nurse came, I was sitting on the couch, and Emma said Mom we were going to take a walk while the lady was here rememeber...let's go. So off we went around the block again!

So it is pretty pathetic that 3 one mile walks pretty much killed me (there was a pit stop to Target too), My hips are just not the same when I am pregnant. I pretty much figured if I don't go into labor tonight, this baby is just not ready. Sure enough I am still here, with a huge stomach. I haven't decided what to do today, I am actually a little grateful for the chance of rain, to stay inside! I had a million things yesterday, that I thought oh I will post about that, but now I can't remember any of them. Plus I think this is quite long enough. Hope everyone has a great day!

Elephant Pregnancy

Ok so I had my Dr. appt today, and I am pretty sure I am in for an elephant pregnancy which lasts 24 months, as opposed to 9!!! Nothing has changed!!! The Dr. informed us that because of our insurance he can't induce until I reach 41 weeks! Which will be next thursday. The one positive note would be that my dad did want the baby born on his birthday (27th) and now that seems very possible. I have to admit that physically I am totally fine...I sleep fine, and I am mostly comfortable. I am more stressed with an upcoming trip to North Carolina, Graduation, and a move across the country!!! Now of course I have to admit that I have spent a good portion of the day researching how to induce labor. I am willing to try most things. I did buy Castor oil but that is definately my last resort, it sounds a little scary. If anyone has any suggestions please pass them on...but seeing as how my family checks this regularly....I do know about SEX, so please no details on that!!! We will definately be keeping you posted! Thanks for the support from everyone We really appreciate it!

***Note: For those that don't know I was 8 days overdue with Emma, and had to be induced, so the whole 41 week thing isn't too shocking.***

He did it!!!

I was supposed to post this yesterday but it was a little crazy! Jon is done with boards! I am not sure what to think of being on the other side! He is almost done...in a month it will be official he will be Dr. Jon Fairbanks! I rememeber when we got married, telling people that we had 7 long years of school ahead of us! They have gone way too fast, I have truly enjoyed the student life! I am weird I guess! There were lots of phone calls between Jon and his classmates (of should I call them colleagues now?), there was lots of Wahoo's and Dr. calling! Congrats to all of them, they are all awesome guys that be good dentists. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts, I speak for Jon, but I know they were truly felt! And we are happy that the baby cooperated and didn't interrupt! I now have Jon, Emma, and my Mom telling the baby to come out. I haven't decided yet! There is something about the 38 week mark that suddenly I am very comfortable with being pregnant and have thought I could make it another month or two! I have a Dr. appt tomorrow so I am sure there will be more update on that tomorrow! Congrats Jon! I am so proud of you!

PS the first pic is from New Year's Eve a few years ago, I thought it was hilarious! The other pic is of our good friend Matt (also in Jon's class) when we were in Hilton Head, I think they look like big dorks!

Great Books

I have just finished reading New Moon by Stephanie Meyers. It was so good. It was the sequel to Twighlight. Both books I could not put down. They are written by a BYU graduate, and they are about vampires and werewolves. I find myself hoping that the main character WILL become a vampire! Anyway as soon as I finished New Moon, I thought there better be another book coming. I checked the Stephanie Meyer website and sure enough Eclipse will be out August 7th! It looks very interesting! I am pretty excited because Harry Potter (Yes I am one of those dorky Harry Potter fans!) comes out in July and Eclipse in August. I love having good books to read during the summer...now if I could just learn how to read slowly and enjoy each page. Instead I read constantly for 3 days and then I'm done and totally bummed! Anyway I just wanted to pass on a good book to read, or good news for those who have read it...that there is still one more book to come!

Ok I really didn't want to even say anything about this but I know I have too! I went to the Dr. yesterday and he is a pretty conservative guy. He won't induce me this week! So now we just need everybody to pray that I don't go into labor this weekend while Jon is doing his boards. If we walks out on boards...he fails! Since pretty much the last four years are riding on this weekend, he can't do that!!! Yesterday I was pretty mad...I even turned off my cell phone because I didn't want to talk to anybody about it. But now I have decided it is a VERY good thing. It was going to be hard enough sharing the spotlight with Jon this week, and now it can be his week! And next week will be my week! I can't say enough how important this week is for Jon! Everyone keep him in mind as the weekend gets here! I know he will do a great job, I just wish I could take away the nerves!

Alright I just thought of one more thing I HAVE to add (Sorry mom and Linz). Lindsey has been a little intrested in a guy in Provo. And he sounds like a great catch! Well as she was spilling all the details to my mom about him...my mom asked what his last name is...Well to make a long story short (and to leave lots of details for my mom and linz to blog about) My mom dated his dad in Provo!!! Linz is a little upset and pretty sure that my mom made out with his dad!!! I swear can Provo be any smaller!!!

Happy Easter 2

Here are some pictures of Emma in her Easter dress. It is has been a great day. Emma must have been really tired from her Easter egg hunt yesterday (thanks again Jaime!), we had to go and wake her up at 9:15! She thought it was amazing that the Easter bunny had left a trail of candy and had hidden her Easter basket. She kept singing Happy Easter all morning. After church we just enjoyed dinner and the masters. Emma kept saying the word reisgnaked and finally I asked her what that meant...she said it was when Jesus died he was naked and then he came back to Earth! I thought it was pretty funny, but it totally made sense to her!

On another note, our Sunday school lesson was really good today. I love how we are studying the New Testament during the Easter season. The sunday school teacher mentioned that in conference a talk was about how we should sing more during lessons, and he thought that was a great idea. So we sang I Believe in Christ. I hadn't realized that it was written by Bruce McKonckie and that it was his testimony. I have sang that song a million times, but it had a lot more meaning knowing that it was his special way of sharing his testimony.

Happy Easter

This is really pathetic that I am up waiting for Emma to wake up! This year has been so much fun with holidays. She has really started to grasp the spiritual side of them and also the magical part. So I was so excited that this year I could do some of the things that the Easter Bunny did in my family. He always left a trail of candy from our rooms out to the main room. And He always hid our Easter baskets...in high school one year it took me forever to find it! I now can totally see my mom running around the whole house puting candy all over the floor! I was laughing the whole time I was coming down the stairs, thinking I am making a mess with chocolate that I will probably eat, not Emma! I hid her basket just under the kitchen table, we have to start out easy before I can hide it really good. I am sure my parents got some kick out of watching their kids search the house for their baskets! I am sure I will be adding another post today with her reaction and Easter dress.

On another note...last night was not as eventful as Friday night! Friday I was having contractions every 5 minutes for 3 hours, I thought that for sure the baby was coming...and then I got REALLY nervous. I called the Dr. at 1:30 am and told him what was going on. I thought they weren't strong enough, he told me to try and sleep. I crashed and everything was fine...I am so glad I didn't go in, it would have been so depressing to be sent home! Last night I just had them every 15-20 minutes. And I was able to sleep great!

Too Much Information- TMI!!!

Ok so sorry this will probably be more info than most of you want to read...sorry, but this is the easiest way to tell everyone! So I had the good ol' weekly Dr. appt today. As I was getting checked I was waiting to hear no progress again...and rehearsing all of my reasoning why I should be induced early (Jon's boards, and moving). When she announced that I am dialated 2-3...YEAH! Unfortunately my appt was with the nurse practicioner and not the Dr. But after giving my speech, she told me to schedule for Monday with the Dr. She also was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it another week, which sounds great, but I remember being told that with Emma the last two weeks, so I am not going to hold my breath. My mom has been bugging me to do jumping jacks to get this baby here, now that Easter weekend is here I might actually give it a try and see if it works! Although jumping up and down sounds so exhausting!

I did it!

Yeah! I made the goal to get all my scrapbooking stuff packed up by April 1st so I wouldn't have to worry about it after I have the baby. I almost made it. I finished at 3:00 April 2nd, but I am so proud of myself anyway. I did have to leave out a little bit of stuff. I am in charge of a class for Super Saturday on April 28th I am not teaching it I just designed it and I am prepping all the stuff for a different teacher...I can't say NO! Plus I HOPEFULLY will get baby announcements made and sent before we leave! And mom I promise I didn't take any boxes downstairs...I just stacked them in the corner. Oh and I have to admit there are 20 boxes of scrapbook stuff...Let's just say Jon is a VERY patient guy!



Of course Emma had to entertain herself while I was packing. I tried to be a cool mom and made her lunch and let her eat it on her bed, and I brought up our portable DVD player and let her watch movies. She mostly played and read books to herself. But boy did she make a MESS! I do not know how one 3 year old can make such a mess so fast it is amazing! At least she sort of tried to help me pick it up. I swear though between the scrapbooking stuff and cleaning her room, this baby should be here!



I had to quick add this picture. Chelsea made a great find at her Target! This is a Barbie dress from the new movie, I can't remember the exact title but something about rainbows. At her target they were on sale for $7 and we all know how much little girls like to dress up! Anyway it is so cute on her! I love it! Thanks Chels for always thinking of us!

The past few days...

Thursday was just one of those VERY emotional rough days! I talked to my mom on the way to pick Emma up from Preschool, I totally started crying just about everything. When Emma's teacher brought her out, I am sure she thought I had lost it! Later that evening somebody pulled into our driveway and sure enough my parents had sent me these great flowers! Thank you so much for brightening my day. PS I am doing FINE now...promise!



Friday night was a tri-ward easter egg hunt. It was so much fun. The house it was at was so awesome! They had tons of grass and lots of room for all the kids to just run around. Most of you know that KY is known for being green...well it is starting to be very green and so pretty. I don't know what we are going to do in Henderson with it's lack of green! Anyway Emma had a blast! She just kept running around and around. After 2 hours of standing on my feet mostly in one place, I was ready to die! My feet were so swollen! I felt like a party pooper making Emma leave!



Like I was saying that KY is now super green and so the grass is growing like crazy. Our landlord left a riding lawnmower for us to upkeep the yard, and we thought it wasn't going to work. Jon got it all charged back up on Saturday and then took it for a little test drive. I think he enjoys it WAY too much! He didn't have time to mow the whole yard, but I can guarantee that the second he gets home from school today he will be mowing the yard!

I can't believe that baby countdown really is under 20 days! That is so crazy. I am also sad, I just realized that we move 6 weeks from today! Time is going way too fast!