In all of living have much fun and laughter :)

We woke up to a flooded house on Wednesday morning.

Not another natural disaster. No. Just a disfunctional washer that turns itself on in the middle of the night and continues filling the whole house.

But hey. At least we got our carpet cleaned for free :)

Most of our furniture is up off the floor anyway, so we just laugh about it.

But isn't it great how the Lord teaches us in so many different ways? There is something to be learned in every experience we go through. If we will take the time to look for it.

Today I learned something that seems so simple, but I thought I would share it anyways:

 If we do not doubt, the Lord can do miracles. 

And He will. We just need to open our eyes to see them.

Six Weeks...

Life as of late:

 We had a Hawaiian Thanksgiving! On Wednesday night a bunch of people got together for the emu; which is how they usually cook the kalua pig. But this time everyone put their turkeys in as well, so they would be ready for the next day. It was quite a process, and it was fun to watch it all being done. And the turkey was delicious the next day.

 We bought a waterproof camera so we could get pictures like this while snorkeling :)

We thought it would be smart since we're in Hawaii.

Brett's mom came for a week and this was her last night here as we went to the beach for the sunset.

Austin screams and screams when he's tired. Which is a lot of the time since he doesn't sleep much...ever.

So when he gets himself to that breaking point, he isn't really sure what's wrong, so he just screams. 

Then all of the sudden he stops, and he's asleep. 

In the top picture I didn't know what else to do to try and help him calm down so I laid him on the couch and leaned over him just holding him, and he stopped all of the sudden. And that is how I left him. Granted, he didn't stay asleep for long because he never does - especially on his back. But it was cute anyways.

Then on Sunday Brett put him in all different comfortable positions trying to get him to calm down. He put himself in this one and was all the sudden asleep.

Whatever works I guess.

 BYU vs. Hawaii Game Day!! Don't worry. He knows how to make the Y already :) We taught him early.

And it's been six weeks already. 

Time goes way too fast with this little guy.

 Austin got his first feel of the sand and water :)

 And we went kayaking.

And another pretty sunset. Of course.

It is amazing being a mom.

Smiles

Just a little gem of happiness after he had a hard morning...

My Perfect Little Miracle

Honestly, I can't believe I am writing about three weeks already. I keep telling him he isn't allowed to grow up anymore. I guess I'll just have to hope that he will keep wanting  to snuggle with me for a long time to come...

For those of you who wanted to know...here is just a timeline of little Austin's birth.

Wednesday, October 19: Everything was normal. Braxton-hicks contractions had been increasing, but not enough to make me think anything was going to happen. That night though, was the first night I didn't get much sleep in months. I wasn't comfortable at all, and everything juust seemed to be achy.

Thursday, October 20: I tried to get out of bed but all of the sudden had a huge cramp and could barely stand up. I went to take the dog outside, but couldn't really walk much. And the pain kept coming back. These cramps continued all day long. I told Brett that it was the first day of the pregnancy that I really felt like I couldn't do normal things...

Thursday night was worse than Wednesday night. Apparently, these cramps were contractions, as I learned from some women in the ward later that night. And they continued all night long. They seemed worse while I was trying to sleep. Needless to say, I was tired on Friday morning.

Friday, October 21: The contractions didn't seem as bad. I had a check-up that morning, and I was at a 2 and 75% effaced. But the doctor said it could be days. he told me he had a woman who had contractions constantly for over a week and was still not past a 1. When he saw that my due date was the next day he kind of laughed and told us that he had only ever delivered 2 babies on their due date. So he told me to just relax.

Friday night was harder than Thursday night. And I don't remember sleeping for more than 10 minutes at a time, if that. I spent the last hour (4-5am) in the bathroom so that I wouldn't bother Brett every time one of the contractions came.

Saturday, October 22: Brett was supposed to go for a bike ride around the island. I climbed back in bed just as he was about to get up and he asked me how I was. He didn't even know I had been gone for an hour. He asked if I wanted him to not go, and I felt bad keeping him in case nothing happened. But he decided he should maybe stay just in case, make breakfast, head to the swap meet, etc. But we didn't get much further than starting to get ready.

Contractions started being about a minute and a half apart at around 6 or so. Showering and getting ready took twice as long as it should have. Brett made breakfast, and got ready as if we were heading out for the day. But the contractions weren't going away.

We went to the hospital around 11:30 or 12:00, hoping I was far enough that they would let us stay, because we didn't really want to go back home. And I was at a 4-5! So we stayed. I kind of wish we had stayed home longer. Because once you're there they want to moniter the baby the whole time. And there was no way I was laying down for contractions - that made things 100 times worse. But I had to, every half hour so they could make sure everything was fine.

When they checked me again 2 hours later I hadn't changed much, and that was a little bit frustrating. But we just kept on chugging along.

The next time they checked though, I was at an 8! And that was seriously the greatest news I had heard so far. The doctor said it was time to break my water, but that contractions would get worse once he did that. I was exhausted and pretty much told Brett I was done; the baby had to come right then. Looking back now I kind of laugh at myself. But Brett was great. The doctor said that if I wanted an epidural I could still get it as long as I could sit still. And he said I could still get it after he broke my water if I wanted it.

I honestly didn't think I could sit still for that long. Contractions were coming a few in a row with less than a minute break in between. So...we didn't do the epidural...

And it was hard.

But when this little face was handed to me it didn't really matter anymore.

 He was born at 6:32pm 

October 22, 2011

And now he will be three weeks old tomorrow.

He doesn't like to be put down.

But for now I'm okay with that. I will take all of the snuggling I can get.

His favorite way to fall asleep is curled up on me or Brett.

He will only stay asleep on his back in his bed if he is swaddled. He wakes himself up if he isn't.

He sleeps way better during the day than at night. But we'll get through it.

He doesn't like his carseat because he feels too restrained. He likes to move. All the time.

He has long arms, and he always hits himself in the face when he sneezes.

He has Brett's mouth and long skinniness but my nose, ears, and toes. My best features for sure. haha

We're still working on his eyes. But we think they're from me. He looks just like my baby photo.

He's really cute when he's upset. That sounds mean, but his face is adorable.

He's my perfect little miracle.

Our family Grew two more feet

 1St Carter 1:1
AND it Came to past that a son was born unto goodly parents.
Well after about a year of trying and 9 months of pain, uncomfort, and waiting a son was born. Here is
Austin Makai Carter he was born at 1832hrs on 22Oct2011.


...To be continued

Almost there...

I figured I should post something now because I'm not sure when I'll get back on here. But, then again, we don't know when this little guy is going to decide to come out. So I may still be hanging around next week.

The due date is Saturday. That's a little scary, but amazing to me at the same time. The doctor told me that he won't let me go past the 29th, so he already scheduled an induction for that date just in case. Maybe he already thinks I'm going to be late...

Here's the latest in photos. Brett took it yesterday.

It really looks bigger in person than the picture makes it look. When Brett got home from work last night his first words to me were, "Wow your stomach looks huge! What happened?" Thanks husband.

Sometimes that's a good thing to hear though. Most people tell me I can't be due this weekend. I look too little. Just watch him be a huge baby. I'll laugh. Afterwards. :)

It's still HOT here in Hawaii. Probably not as hot as I think it is. But I blame that on this big belly. It's nice that the beach is less than 10 minutes away though. Yes, I am bragging. We still go lots of days when Brett gets home from work, and watch the sun go down. Brett falls asleep laying on his towel way too easily.

 I tried too...but I'll spare you the pictures :)

On Saturday we went to a Polo match. Cool huh? I had never been to one before. The pictures are on Brett's phone and therefore I can't show you how much I felt like I was in England as we wandered around the field. Seriously though: sun dresses, women with huge hats, tents with catered food for the players families...it was all there. And although I still don't completely understand the rules...it was lots of fun.

THEN Brett surprised me and took me to the pumpkin patch. I saw a sign for it the other day and told him how we used to always pick out pumpkins to carve at pumpkin patches. I forgot about it, until he started driving to it. And it made me smile.

And then he sat me down next to the pumpkins because he thought it would be a funny picture. Again, thank you husband.





AND we found a rodeo to go to, which was pretty cool sitting at the rodeo and looking out at the beach just across the road. We enjoyed ourselves. And our all-natural grass fed beef burgers we had for lunch. :)

The next time I post on here, I'll probably have a baby. Get ready :)

Time to Update I Suppose...

Just an update on a few things I guess. I'm not very good at keeping this up to date. I'm working on it.

Well....

I'm 25. And that's weird. Thank you to Richard for reminding me that I am now a quarter of a century old. I guess I can't blame him though. That was the first thing I said to him when he turned 25 too. I liked being 24. I didn't feel like I was very old. For some reason, 25 makes me feel a lot older...

I've tried to be somewhat crafty, for Brett's sake. He wishes I was more inventive, creative, etc. So I'm working on it. We brought these old metal dressers and cabinets from Utah. And we wanted something that looked a little bit...well different than they did when we got them. So I painted them. Crackle painted to be exact. Which stressed me out like painting has never done before. They aren't perfect, but they definitely look better. Except that I like the first one I did better than the second. So much for practice makes perfect. No practice looked better than practice. Here are the dressers:

And here is the other old metal cabinet we took from Utah, and decided to reuse. I actually forgot we even brought it with us until the moving guys took it out of the truck. It isn't done yet, I have a few more things I'm doing to it, but in case I don't get back on here anytime soon, here it is so far (the before and after):

Baby update:

Four more weeks!
I'm kind of going a little crazy knowing that. It's stressing me out a little bit. The delivery isn't even what scares me though. It's what's after that, that scares me the most. I don't feel ready for a baby. I probably never will. But it's just hitting me now that it is so close, and I'll be considered full term this weekend, and it could happen anytime after that...I don't think I'll be early. But just knowing that the time is so close...
I just pray every night that I can be who I need to be.

But...in other news...
we got a bed. And a stroller and carseat. The bed isn't set up yet, because I thought I might get a different one. Brett likes the one we got better, so he just wants to keep it. But I'm still debating. Thanks to recommendations from Michele - we got the baby trend jogging stroller and carseat together. And we like them...a lot. So far. Not that we have the baby yet...Brett had to try it out.

 And here are the pictures of me for those of you who wanted to see (35 and 36 weeks):

The baby decided to grow. No one believes me that I only have a month left though. But this past weekend I feel like I look closer to it than I did before.  And I finally know what braxton-hicks contractions are. About time maybe.They did some testing for preeclampsia a couple of weeks ago because my blood pressure rose at my appointment. But the next appointment it was back down lower than before. That was good to see.

I feel like I have been very blessed during this whole thing. It really hasn't been bad at all. My ankles started swelling up last week, but not even enough to really hurt. I just can't tie my shoes as tight, and I can't see my bones as well. But I can still wear my wedding ring :) Hooray. The baby (who still doesn't have a name) really enjoys sitting up in my ribs, so my upper back hurts if I sit too long. But other than that, it hasn't been bad at all. And I feel very blessed to be able to get everything moved in and together before he comes.

Thats all for now folks :)
Til next time!

For My Family's Entertainment....

Here's the kind of Tahitian dance I did with some of the ladies in the ward. I look huge. Everyone loved that I did it pregnant...but it was nothing compared to teaching Bhangra and Salty Dog Rag to the youth last week. Should have waited until I was past my due date. It definitely would help :)

Enjoy :)

And here it is... :)

Back from three weeks with my family in Utah and New Hampshire...and I guess I'm ready to show you the "baby bump." But trust me...if I had put anything up before three weeks ago, you wouldn't have believed me. Most people couldn't tell...And it definitely started to really show the week after I got to Utah. It hurt to grow that fast. I think that's all I'll say about that :) 

And here they are...Weeks 25, 26, 27, 28

Oh yea...and here's the little man from the ultrasound :)

He's cute huh?

So a little update: he moves ALL the time, his feet are apparently really comfortable in my ribs, and he really doesn't like when I lie on my back. I have an appointment next week, but so far everything has been perfect!

And now we're less than 12 weeks away. It seems to be creeping up on us so fast. It's just been so busy. But that is fine with me. We're really excited. But when I think about it coming it scares me a bit; the mothering part more than the labor part. But I keep reminding myself that the timing was all in the Lord's hands, and so I know with Him I can be the mother He, and he, needs me to be.

H-A-W-A-I-I

Yes, we are in Hawaii. And yes we've been here for over a month and I haven't written a thing about it on here. And yes, we're having a baby :) And that will be the next post, especially for Katie and Kayleen.

And so, our adventure began on May 16. Since then, we have moved into a two bedroom townhouse in Ewa Beach, gotten a dog, and been on lots of excursions around the island.

To name a few:

 We hiked Diamond Head Crater not long after we got here. It isn't that bad of a hike. Most of it is paved, but I just thought it was cool that we were in the middle of a crater of a volcano. :)

Visited the Laie Temple many times. And it is beautiful.

 We hiked to Laie Falls and went swimming one day after going to the temple. It was a beautiful hike, and it was a little bit longer of a hike, which was fun. Parts of it reminded me of hiking in southern Utah; but then you could look out the other direction from where you were standing and feel like you were in a rainforest. We ran back in the rain most of the way. And we were covered in red dirt by the time we got back to the car.

We spent a night walking downtown in Chinatown. It brought back amazing memories from our trip to China two years ago. It was a lot of fun to remember it all again.

Brett loves the huge trees here...everywhere. This was just one of them.

We stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall Thai food restaurant, and it was really tasty. Way too much food, but tasty.

We found the cool "bikes" all along the sidewalks that are actually for locking your bikes to :) Pretty clever...

 

And this was too much a memory of China that we couldn't pass it by without a few pictures.

We took a tour one weekend that was offered by the post. They took us all the way around showing us all the places we need to go visit and all the places we can do fun stuff while we're here. And it was free :)

 At the Pali Lookout Point. It was the location of one of the major battles here on the island. And the wind is crazy up there. I'm surprised Brett still had his hat by the time we got back on the bus.

 After lunch in Waikiki we got to visit the Macadamia nut farm...and crack open our own as well as taste the different coated ones they had as samples. They were delicious!

One weekend at the beach, Brett decided he was going to climb a tree and get a coconut. So he did.

I wish I had pictures of the whole experience, but I didn't have my camera until he was all the way down to the actual coconut. He looked like a monkey climbing the tree, broke the outer shell off on the rocks on the edge of the beach, and then cracked it open to drink the milk with his knife.
That's my Brett!



One of the many things I love about Hawaii. We see a rainbow just about every single day. And what is cool, is that they amaze me every single time. I could take a picture of every one that I see, but it doesn't do them justice. But they are a reminder of the love and power of our Father in Heaven, and I love when that reminder comes from His wonderful creations. Why did He create rainbows? Just for us, because they are beautiful, so we could smile and think of Him.

Oh yea...and we got to see the ship from Pirates 4. Don't be jealous or anything. It's just sitting in the bay at Ko'Olina. That's all :)

 And here is another reason I love Hawaii.
Sunset Beach.

 We went for a run one down along the beach and came back to swim...Brett really just wanted to take one of these guys' boards and ropes and get out there himself. This beach was full of them.

 And the lovely grass we find everywhere...
We went to a movie in the park one Friday night and Brett sat down on the grass before we put the blanket down. He got up pretty quick, and picked the little thorn things out of him for a while after that.
I'm not sure how these kids play sports in this grass. I would NEVER want to fall down. Those things hurt.

 Oh yea. We got a dog. A puppy actually. She came from the Humane Society. And her name is Rika.
I feel like I have a kid already. Someday I will learn to speak her language. Or she'll learn mine.
We're getting there :)
She's cute. And loves EVERYONE. But she has also been a great lesson in patience. I still have a long way to go though until I'm really as patient as I should be.


We went SURFING!!

 And we both got up on our first waves. Go us. It was a lot easier to get up than I thought it would be. But the beach we were at didn't have huge waves. We went again this past weekend, and the waves were a bit bigger. We still got up, it was just a bit harder to get back out without being trampled by my board. I didn't stay out as long...but I surfed.

Brett just rented a board and tried it, and did it perfectly, like he does with everything he tries.
I actually got a short lesson from Buttons, a famous surfer guy on the island. He was really great. And fun to watch on his board.




Just this last week we went to the Botanical Gardens at Waimea Bay and did the walk into the waterfall. But along the way was gorgeous. At one of the first little huts inside this older woman told us all the little trails off the main trail that we should take so that we could actually see everything because there was so much more than just a waterfall. I am so glad we stopped to talk to her.

Apparently there used to be a whole village up in this canyon, but it was all destroyed by rock slides, disease, etc. She told us where to go to find old house foundations, cemeteries, old garden plots, religious spots, etc. And it was amazing.

And we thought these roots were awesome. And these trees. Brett's been wanting to find one to take a picture in the whole time. They remind us of Lost.

 There was a place to stop and play some traditional Hawaiian games on the trail to the waterfall. So we played. Brett won one, and I won one. So we were even by the end. Except my win was kind of just luck. I'll take it though.




There are some pretty amazing flowers here.

 And we made it to the waterfall.

 I love being out in our Heavenly Father's creations. It reminds me how blessed we are and how much He is in every moment of our lives.

That was really long. So I'm not going to go on anymore.
But we love it here, even though Brett is gone for 12 hours everyday. We're definitely having fun.
And hopefully our furniture and things will get here soon. I mean, I love sleeping on a pull out couch, but after not having our bed since October, it will be VERY nice.