Babies and Beds

I love my kids. They are so special. They make me smile and laugh. They make me yell and cry. They stress me out. They ease the day. I don't know what I would do without them. Sometimes I don't know what to do with them. They are children of my Heavenly Father. They are my children. Thank you for these wonderful babies. I love my kids.

Yo Gabba Gabba

This is Cache's favorite show

It's called Yo Gabba Gabba and it is a great show. If you haven't heard of it, it is the latest sensation to the "indie parent" world. To tell you the truth, I find myself enjoying it. It was created by LDS fathers (who were originally part of the Aqua Bats) and it teaches kids values such as not biting, eating vegetables, and not being afraid. Cache learns a lot from this shows and quotes it a lot. He loves to say "YO GABBA GABBA mamma!" Anyways, here is a good article about the show in Mormon Times

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was spent at Disneyland with the whole Calkins family. Logan's parents, brother and his girlfriend, and Erin's family all came down to celebrate. We spent three days riding rides, eating, watching parades, and spending time with one another. We had so much fun and it was amazing to see how excited Cache was about all the Disney characters and the rides.

Velzy pretty much slept the whole time, which was nice, as we rode rides and walked probably a million miles everywhere. By the time we got home, we were so tired, we crashed hard.

However, this Thanksgiving I would like to give thanks to my family whom I love so much. They are the sole purpose of my existence. I love them so much and the sweet blessings they bring to my life. I am grateful for good friends who support me and bring joy to my life. Most of all I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ who made it possible for me to return to Him some day. The Gospel is true and I don't know what I would do without it. We are so blessed and I hope that we all remember that not just through the Holidays, but all year long.

A Name and a Blessing

Velzy was blessed on Sunday in her pretty white dress. Logan gave her a beautiful blessing and it was so special to have all of our family there. Logan's parents drove down from Sacramento for the weekend to come for her blessing. Bob took the first photo and my mom took the other photos. Velzy is so special to us and we love her so much. Cache has been amazing with her...we are so proud of him!

Erin Jane and Conor

In September, Logan and I went to Portland for one of my best friend's wedding. Erin Jane did such a beautiful job on the all the decor as you can see. Natalie Norton took her pictures and you can see more of them here.

Erin Jane and I met in college at BYU-Hawaii along with my other bestie, Janelle! For the last six years we have been incredibly close. Best of all, she married one of my best guy friends, Conor Riley. I was so excited to see them be sealed together for time and all eternity in the Portland Temple. I love these people so much! I miss them now because they are in Hawaii. But if you want to keep up on Erin Jane's cute blog, go here. She posts awesome stuff! Anyways, if you didn't know, I am the fat prego woman along all the cute skinny girls! P.S. Thanks Jane for letting me steal these pics!

Big Week

Velzy is one week old and Cache learned how much he really like Halloween.

We took him trick or treating at some a trunk or treat and then Logan took him out around the neighborhood Sunday night to get some more candy. How great is it that you can ring a door bell and say a few things and someone gives you candy? Well Cache thought it was pretty great at least. He was by far the cutest cow that I have ever seen. He wore his costume to Costco and everyone "oohed" and "awed" over my little heifer.

Velzy has been such a great baby. She doesn't do much but sleep, eat, and poop...a lot. But she gets more and more beautiful every day. We just love her so much and feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Welcoming Velzy Bell

Velzy Bell Calkins was born October 26 at 6:27 pm.

The Arrival Story:

As many of you know, I was struggling with my pregnancy, especially in the last part! I was getting desperate to produce this little girl that we had been waiting for. My friend told me that I should take Castor oil...for a long time, I didn't want to do it, but desperation got the best of me and so I took the castor oil Monday morning around 8 am. Now if any of you know the effects of castor oil, you know that they aren't pretty. However, the consequences of drinking castor oil never got to me, so I thought that it wasn't going to work. By Family Home Evening, I began pretty hard contractions.

While Kasey was giving CPR lessons, I was in pain. I went downstairs and laid down, but the pains were not going away. I told Logan that he needed to drive me to the hospital so we got our things together and headed over there. I was in triage for awhile and they made me walk for 3 hours because I was only dilated to a 2. After I returned, I was dilated to a 3 and so they admitted me into a bed.

I waited an hour before I got the epidural and around 4 am, I was sitting pretty. My mom and sister, Caitlin came around 4 am as well and Tanya came around 6. For most of the day, I was just laboring. I told them that they needed to break my water, but it took them forever to do so. My labor progressed a little, but not enough, so they put me on petosin. By 4 pm, I was still only about a 4. So they upped my petosin and by the time I got to a 5, it took only 30 minutes to get to a 10.

But the doctors were changing shifts, so I tried desperately to hold back my pushing. The nurse asked me to push once to see if she was ready. I pushed once and her head started to come out, so they called the doctor. Once the doctor was there, I pushed once and little Velzy was here.

She looked so much like Cache when she came out. She was so beautiful and I was immediately in love with her. I held here skin to skin for an hour and then they measured her. She weighed 8lbs and she was 20 1/2 inches long.

She has been so wonderful. She hardly cries, sleeps through the night (I have to wake her up to feed her) and she is just beautiful (I am bias of course).

Cache is taking to his sister really well. He absolutely loves her and is very protective of her. He always wants to hold her and calls her "girlie". We are so proud of him for being so good and patient with us. He is amazing little guy and we love our family so much.

Pre-destined

I think our boy is destined to do as daddy and grandpa does. Look at this young hot-rodder, looking all slick with his checker shirt and orange baba in hand...he looks like a mini-Logan! He just turned two recently and he is so amazing! The other day, he pointed at a night light that was plugged into the wall and said, "Look mamma, very dangerous!" I laughed hard...where did he learn how to say that and how did he remember it?

The other morning, I jumped out of bed around 6:30 and said to Logan, "I'm getting up, I'm just not tired anymore!" Cache then proceeded to hop out of our bed as well (he comes in every morning around 6) and turned to Logan and said, "Sorry daddy, I'm just not tired anymore!" and followed me out. I cracked up forever. He is becoming so vocal and says hilarious things all of the time.

He now knows how to count to 20 in English and 10 in spanish. He knows the typical colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. He is learning the ABC's and loves to sing. He has such an imagination and I am always so surprised at the things that are coming out of his little mouth.

I am just so blessed to have such a wonderful, obedient, smart, and sweet little boy. I thank Heavenly Father every day that I was so lucky that I was chosen to care for this little boy. I don't think I could've gotten a better little boy! We love him so much!

For the Future

I'm writing this post more for myself to remember than for anyone else:

I don't know if Logan and I are going to have anymore kids after this little girl...but in case we do, I want to be able to look back and know what happened in this pregnancy. So far with both children I've been both anemic and had low platelet counts (the ability to clot). It's been pretty rough in different ways then it was with Cache. I mean I was sick for most of my pregnancy with Cache, but this baby has given me more physical ailment more than anything. Velzy girl dropped down into my pelvis around 32 weeks and has sat there since. From about 22 weeks I've experienced a feeling of "faintness" that didn't seem to ever go away. So with the pain in my hips along with the feeling that I might faint at any moment, this pregnancy has been pretty rough.

I know it sounds like I am complaining, and yes I am, but I want to remember. Now for the last 3 weeks, I have experienced contractions that take my breath away. I feel like the woman who cried "labor" every day. However, though I am still experiencing intense contractions, I believe that I will never have this baby. Let's not even talk about the lack of sleep that I have gotten in the the last month or so.

Logan and I had our first false labor extravaganza to the hospital (you would think by your second kid you would know when labor was truly labor), but it was good to get a run down of hospital procedures. It happened at around 36 weeks when I first started experiencing these contractions. We went to the hospital thinking this was it. Nope, just a false alarm. And here I sit, 3 weeks later, still pregnant, and more desperate than ever.

As for now, I am 2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, mucus plug lost, contractions-galore, and 40 lbs heavier than I was 10 months ago (I gained a lot of weight this round). I wish I was one of those women who love to be pregnant (and for awhile I pretended that I was), but truth be told-I hate almost everything about it except for feelings of the sweet kicking from the baby. I know it will all be worth it in the end and that I am doing one of the greatest things I can do as a woman. I hope that my experience with pregnancy will never prohibit my want of more kids in the future. I cannot wait to hopefully meet this little girl soon and I also hope that I will have as smooth a delivery as I did with Cache. I will keep on updating, but as for now I am going to park myself on the couch and wait impatienty

Happy Birthday Cache

Cache turned two on the 18th, but we had his birthday party this last saturday. The theme of the party was "Where the Wild Things Are". I got the idea to make a Max cut out from my friend, Meg who did one for her little girl. Since I am so huge and pregnant, my friend Rachel came over and painted it for me. I made a fondant "Carol" cake and there was tons of food. Overall there was a good crowd and it was the perfect day to swim and have fun! Next time I really want to just do an easier theme so that I don't have to put so much effort into a party. I say that, but I am like my mom in the sense that I like to be over-prepared rather than under-prepared. Happy Birthday Cache!

Baby Shower

My mom and sister threw a baby shower for me on Saturday (not to mention we had Cache's birthday party that afternoon). It was really nice and there was a big turn out. Baby Velzy is made out with some pretty awesome stuff and we are so excited to welcome her pretty soon. My mom made the quilt pictured on the table and the "Velzy" sign. She and Caitlin made the diaper cake together. It was really fun, but I am glad it is over with!

Party Favor Cake

Cache's birthday party is on Saturday and so I made this party favor cake. It took a few days to make, but mainly because I am lazy. But it is a really fun idea for birthday treats or whatever celebration you may be having. Anyways, you can add more decor to the cake, but mine was pretty plain compared to what the tutorial shows. Have fun!

Cheesecake Factory Dinner

The night before Cache was born and I was in labor, Logan and I went to the Cheesecake Factory. Since then, it has become tradition for us that on the night before Cache's birthday, we head to the Cheesecake Factory and partake of the goodness that is it's menu.

After we finished eating our great meal, we had our waitress sing "Happy Birthday" to Cache. He was a little confused at the idea, but as you can tell by the pictures, he quickly folded to the tradition and loved blowing out the candles (with Logan's help of course).

Since then, he has enjoyed blowing out several pairs of candles and I am beginning to think that he, like many other children, is coming to understand and love his birthday.

We love this kid so much. He makes our world go round. I constantly think to myself, "I cannot believe that I have a two year old". Yet, he certainly doesn't let a moment pass that reminds us of this grand old age. So happy birthday Cache-y boy! We love you so much and cannot wait to celebrate many more candle-blowing birthdays with you!

Yum.

To my 200th post

I am almost 35 weeks! I am almost done with this pregnancy and I am soooo excited!

Cache on the other hand got a new car for his birthday...he was so excited to share it with his cousin Tosh, but sad when he realized they both didn't fit into it together.

I can't believe it's taken me three years to get 200 posts. Oh well...here's to the next 200!

I'm Bad at This

I'm sorry I am so bad at this, but let me give you the reasons for this. First of all I am so tired ALL OF THE TIME! I thought being prego the first time was bad, but this one just plain sucks. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for the baby to come, but I HATE BEING PREGNANT. Am I awful?

Second of all, my idleness has contributed to my no-picture-taking life. I want to take so many pictures to document my little boy and my pregnancy, especially because I look back at my first pregnancy (which I have like no pictures of) and check my progress. So far I am way bigger this pregnancy than the last. Circumstances are different, but it doesn't make it easier.

Third of all, even though I am complaining that I am lazy, I still have a lot going on. Logan and I are in the process of looking at houses and trying to get the financial assistance to buy one. It is consuming a lot of our time. We are also planning Cache's second birthday party on the 25th. If you haven't received an invite, consider this your official invite: Saturday, Sept. 25th at 2:30 pm at my parents house.

Anyways, life is good and I am sure as time goes on, I will be showing you pics of both Cache and baby girl. As for now, don't expect anything great from me.

30 weeks

Don't mind the mess in the backround

Yosemite

We went to Yosemite with my family this last week and it was so much fun! Though I was not able to go hiking or fishing, I did enjoy going in the river and the lakes for some really cold water swimming. I only saw one bear, but there was a pretty much a bear in our camp every single night. They tell you not to have any sort of food or smelly fragrance in your tent, but one night, Kasey unknowingly slept with cookies and wrappers in his broken door tent. Pretty much a large bear trap, but nothing happened.

Logan went fishing and hiked some while Cache spent most of his time playing with the Rivera's and Zellia and falling all over the place. He came home with so many bruises and bumps, but he loved the shuttle bus and throwing rocks into the water. We are excited to go next year and made a list of things we want to bring to make it even more exciting. Plus I won't be 29 weeks prego then (hopefully not)!