December

1- doughnuts from Auntie and a final plea to get induced, live nativity in Alpine with Warrens:
On Saturday morning, Aunt Andrea stopped by on her way home from work to drop off doughnuts and visit. She made her final suggestion that I get an induction. She and Bonnie casually mentioned, a few times, that they thought I looked like I was getting pretty big and wondered if my midwives were talking induction. When I mentioned that they weren't pushing for an induction and merely said we'd schedule it if we got to 42 weeks, they suggested that I look ask for one anyway. Andrea made this subtle plea one last time and I let her know I'd talk to my midwives about it at my 41 week appointment that Thursday. That afternoon we joined up with the Warren family and my parents to walk through a live nativity held on a farm in Alpine. There were so many volunteers dressed in Nazarine style outfits. Some were riding horses dressed as Roman soldiers. They had a camel on display  and a peacock along with many many other typical farm animals. As we walked in the long line and slowly moved through the nativity scenes, I was getting a few looks and cracked a few jokes about being "great with child". The truth is, I felt very close to Mary this Christmas season. I've now birthed two children around the holidays and I was quite pregnant for both of them. This year in particular as I was "overdue". When we walked through the barn where Mary and Joseph sat looking over their sweet baby Jesus, I was overcome thinking about Maxwell joining us. We kept reminding Patrick to be so quiet and reverent as we walked by the baby. He did such a great job being respectful and the infant was beautifully asleep. I looked forward to being the Holy Family at This is the Place park in just a couple of short weeks with our new baby.

2-contractions at work! Few inches of snow and our first snowman of the season in the backyard. Sledding at Sugarhouse park. Crash into Chinese family there: I started feeling some consistent contractions on Sunday the 2nd but they quickly faded. I decided that the family needed to enjoy the first snowfall of the season by sledding at Sugarhouse park so, we did. I donned a large coat and put my snow pants up as high as they would fit (still under my large belly) and made a few trecks up and down the hill with Patrick. Mostly I filmed the boys having fun and either waited at the top or bottom as I tired quite easily. We hoped that the vigorous activity might activate labor further...no such luck. There was a cute Chinese family sledding alongside us and Patrick, walking up the hill, went right into their bath as they came sliding down. Whoops! I was standing at the top of the hill and warning "Patrick! Look out!" but, he did not hear. My boys both get in the zone when they're working on something (in this case, climbing the hill) and it's difficult to know if they're even hearing me. haha. We still had a fun time. We went home, turned on a movie, and drank hot cocoa. A perfect winter evening.

3- nothing of consequence happened on the 3rd. My parents watched Patrick for me that evening as I took myself to the hospital. I was hopeful that labor had begun. They checked me in and checked dilation. I was at 3 cm so, dilation was happening...those few contractions were doing something...but, not enough to be admitted into the hospital (I found out later that the maternity wing was full that night so, they might have been able to admit me but chose not to because my situation wasn't emergent and they were already full). Scott joined up with me and brought Chick Fil A. If this was going to be my last meal before pushing out a baby, I knew I was going to need sustenance. I was so careful about drinking caffeine while pregnant with Patrick. A friend told me that all the peer reviewed research she'd seen indicated that the only thing correlated with caffeine use was low birth weight so, I was like "bring it on! I think this baby is going to be big anyway". Boy was I right. That night I drank a coke and felt a little guilty about it but mostly, it was delicious.

5- afternoon at Gardner Village with mama. Lunch and a peppermint cupcake for Patch. Bouncy place in the late afternoon: My mom met up with me at Gardner Village to check out the elves that they put out for the Christmas season (they do witches at Halloween and fairies in the spring too. It's adorable.) I think she was hopeful that it would bring on labor. I was hopeful that I could convince her to buy me things. haha. Neither of those things happened. Well, she did buy me and Patrick some treats to eat. After my mom left (she likes to head back to Alpine earlier in order to beat rush hour traffic) I headed home. Patrick was enamored with the plastic Rudolf ring that was atop his cupcake and continued to play with that for the rest of the night. He even attempted to persuade me to make more cupcakes and put the Rudolf ring on top. So cute.

6- I went in for a stress test @ 41 weeks pregnant. Andrea was anxious to get the details. I called her and showed her images of the screen so she could see the readings. I didn't feel the need to push my health care providers for an induction and since none of them seemed worried (just Bonnie and Andrea) I felt like I should just wait. At the end of my midwives appointment immediately following the stress test we decided to go ahead and schedule an induction for the following Thursday. That would mark 42 weeks pregnant and my office of midwives said if I made it to 42 weeks, they would force the induction. I kept thinking...any time now! After my appointment, I buzzed over to Costco to grab a new jacked I'd seen earlier. I was feeling like I wanted something festive to wear to the Purple Holiday party at Grand America that evening. As big as I was, I still felt attractive in my new jacket and had a great time mingling with Scott's co-workers. Several of them decided they would get some dancing going (they had dueling pianos playing some fun dance-able songs) and felt that they might encourage labor to begin. I was up there making a fool of myself in front of Scott's whole company. He didn't seem to mind.

7- Friday at Yia yia and Paupou's house was the norm for the past year for Patrick. They would often take him to the Discovery Museum and then to lunch at Chick Fil A or McDonalds. I knew that the baby was coming soon so, while I was "working" and checking in on pending deals, I was not prospecting for new deals and had very little to do. Thus, I "worked" from my parents home. I made a pillow fort with Patch down in the basement using their old outdoor furniture cushions. We took a little walk to the lot just next door to my parents and Patch enjoyed sledding down sand/ dirt hill that had just a touch of snow on it and a whole lot of mud. That afternoon, I called the midwives office to see if I could get on the induction schedule for Saturday. They told me that they would "see what they could do". It wasn't long before I got a call letting me know they could put me on the schedule at about 7 AM Saturday morning. It was decided! And, conveniently, the baby would be born on a weekend which would be nice for Scott :)

8-Maxwell's birthday.

BLUR

Lots of visits from my mom. Lots of sleepless nights. Lots of adjusting. Lots of tears as my hormones were balancing out. Lots of doctors appointments.

12- The Wednesday after birthing Maxwell we had tickets to see Christmas at Pemberly at Pioneer Theater Company. Scott purchased me season tickets and it seemed awfully wasteful to not go and Scott reminded me of how valuable those tickets were. He encouraged me to go and I felt CRAZY sitting in a theater 4 days after having a 10 lb baby but, I did it anyway and it worked out great. Annette was pregnant as well and picked my brain about pumping and nursing as I was still building up my milk supply, we ventured into the balcony (they weren't seating that area that night) where I could plug in my pump during intermission and take care of business. The show was incredible and just the balm I needed to remind me that I have friends and an incredibly supportive husband and I can go and do fun things...even with a 4 day old baby. 

14- On Friday we had dinner at Alisha's house. It was the second of our monthly girls dinners. Alisha had just been hospitalized and I was less than a week out from birthing Max. Mary was laid up and great with child. Mindy was set to birth Milo about a month later. We were all kind of a disaster but, we still got together and the meal was delightful. Toward the end of the evening we built gingerbread houses and drove home in one happy caravan with me, Mary, Caro, and Monique. I told the girls of my woes with our basement remodel and our contractor that was, if I was to put it gently, not holding up his end of the agreement. They encouraged me to send him a scathing text to let him know I mean business so, I did. My girls are usually right about things and my text worked.

15- On Saturday morning we drove to my parent's home to meet our photographer who captured newborn photos of Maxwell and family photos of us with our CHILDREN....two....children! Those photos took up most of the day. Rachel was a friend of mine from Women's Chorus at BYU and I've watched her build her photography business. When she quoted me for the session I was hesitant to pay what she wanted. However, I decided to bite the bullet and she was worth every penny! She spent from 10 AM until close to 3:00 with us. She was patient with Maxwell and helped him fall asleep so that she could capture the most incredible photos. It took considerable effort keeping Patrick engaged throughout the session but, he did well too and we wound up with delightful family photos also.

16- lots of Max sleeping and me pumping and getting the hang of things

17- This was our first of 4 nights portraying the Holy Family at This is the Place Park in Salt Lake. From our time as carolers during Candlelight Christmas I knew they did a live nativity in the barn at the park and prefer to hire couples with newborns. I reached out several months before Max was born to get things lined up. We were to make $100/ night for sitting there staring at our adorable baby for several hours. It seemed like a good deal and it really was an incredible experience. As people walked by they would make all kinds of commentary. Several asked questions: "how old is he?" "can I take a picture?" etc. Most just spoke in hushed voices saying "awe precious". Some sniffed as they wiped away tears. It was incredible to be a part of something that was spiritually stirring for so many people at the Christmas season.

19- We portrayed the Holy Family again and that night my parents brought Patrick. We could tell that he wanted to remain a part of the scene. I hoped it didn't make Patrick feel badly that, not only was his life changing now that he has a sibling to share us with but now we were hanging out for several evening hours without him and just with the baby. He seemed to get that we were "performing" but still wanted to remain a part of the scene. My precious boy.

20- On the 20th we hosted a Christmas party with some friends at my parent's home in Alpine. My mom was an angel and kept her set up from a brunch she hosted with her friends so there was very little decorating that needed to be done. This was our second Christmas party with this group of friends- all couples that we met during our time in the BYU choirs- and our second time hosting. Luckily it was pot luck style so, again, it was quite simple. After eating and singing carols we played some Wii games and it was an absolute blast.

21- Initially I thought Max would sleep in the bassinet in our room until the basement was finished but, Max waking often and having a difficult time eating was proving difficult for Patrick's sleep and was giving me some anxiety through the night. I was also thinking about how early it was that we got Patch sleeping in a separate room and was eager to start Max on the right foot. So, we moved Patch into a room in the basement after getting the carpet from my parent's home laid professionally. High quality used carpet in a young boy's room seemed like a decent idea :) So, Patrick got settled in there and did alright with the adjustment.

22- The annual Moore Family cookie exchange was held at Bonnie and Steve's house in Logan. We were going to try and make some cookies there but didn't make it happen. Nobody was surprised given that we had a newborn. I was just hoping to be super woman. DARN IT. Bonnie planned ahead for this and either made extra cookies or purchased some...I can't recall which. Nevertheless, we still were able to come away with fresh cookies even though we didn't contribute any. SCORE! We did the traditional white elephant gift exchange and I thought of something clever- I took an old bottle of pills (something I got for free when purchasing some DoTerra oils) and printed a label that I created that said they were "encapsulated placenta". Doug opened my gift and spoiled the fun/ joke because he got excited that the pills were real...maybe he was excited that the DoTerra pills were real but still, the fact that he was excited and not disgusted ruined the joke. Poop. Scott's gift on the other hand was shockingly a great hit (pun intended). Scott took an old ping pong paddle and some nails and glued the nails on the paddle. He created a sign that said something about "for reprimanding bad behavior" or something. His paddle got the most votes and we walked home with what the family calls the "Pacu". Doug claimed that he wasn't even trying that hard this year. Boo I say. Cop out I say! We want to beat him at his best!

23- On Christmas Eve eve I did some last minute shopping at Target and the Fashion Place Mall. My parents randomly joined up with me that night. I'm not sure why...something about my mom feeling the need to see the kids. It was probably a recognition that she would be leaving in a couple of short weeks for her several months long stay in Hawaii. She knew she would be missing the children and was wanting to soak up every possible moment. It was distressing to her to meet up with me at the mall to find so many people buzzing about right before Christmas. It served as a reminder of the commercial side of Christmas which I totally understood. We got on our way and I was finally finished with my shopping.

24- Christmas eve was spent with Andrea and Gary and Bonnie and Steve. The food was delicious, of course, and we had a quiet and lovely evening.

25- The Moore family has a tradition of putting up a curtain in front of the living room and gathering everyone up to see Christmas morning all at once. The youngest children are allowed into the room first but everyone is gathered and rushes in shortly after. It is such a fun tradition that I enjoy when we're spending Christmas at Andrea's. Now that we have two children it might make sense for us to start doing that in our own living room :) Anyway, Patrick rushed in to see his new hotwheels track all set up. He was pretty thrilled. Then we began opening stockings and gifts one at a time. This process often takes us past lunch time so, we paused for a delicious breakfast of crab omelettes complete with hollandaise sauce and avocado. De. Licious. Later in the morning my parents popped by and we all exchanged gifts. The highlight of my day was watching Scott open a gift with Maxwell of sound reducing headphones. I thought...hmmmm...why did Scott buy him these? Then he invited me to head downstairs for a gift reveal for me. I walked down to a complete sound system set up- speakers, microphones, and lights. I was stunned! It was truly a gift for the family but, it felt like a gift for me because Scott knows how much I love to party. We had a blast playing with the new sound system for several hours :)

26- Bonnie had two extra tickets for the Nutcracker ballet by Ballet West and invited me and my mom to come along (I think it was because Andrea and Gary had to bail because they got sick). I was thrilled to go (not that A & G got sick of course)! And, Scott once again being the generous man that he is, supported me in going to the ballet by staying home with our kiddos. I brought my pump to, once again, pump during intermission. I wound up pumping just before the ballet began and accidentally dumped the bottle on the floor. It was heartbreaking! I work so hard to make and collect that milk. I was too bummed out to even go through the effort during intermission so, I stayed. It was so fun to see the ballet with their new costumes. It is such a beautiful show.

28- I received my swab collection kit in the mail for "Be the Match" to join the bone marrow registry. I don't remember doing it before then and felt inspired by a few friends to get myself on the list. I swabbed my cheek and got it ready to send off in the mail.

30-Patch was finally sleeping in his own room but allllll his toys were still upstairs in Maxwell's room. Baby steps. :) It took us a while to clear everything out and get everything set up. Then there were many nights at other people's homes. Finally we got it put together though! We also had the Biggs family Christmas party at my parent's home that night. Rene put together a fun game with toys wrapped in saran wrap. We sat in a circle rolling dice and when someone got doubles you passed the ball to them to start tearing into the ball. If the person next to them rolled doubles, they had to stop and pass the ball. If you were lucky, you'd get through enough layers to get to a little gift like a toy or toiletry of some kind. There were gift cards and candy too. It was a really fun game and a highlight of the night. Another highlight was watching Chase and Berkley going nuts over Maxwell. They just wanted to hold him and snuggle him. Precious.

31- NYE watching Prince of Egypt snuggled with my boys in our bed. It was our most quiet New Years in a while but, it was delightful.