Things did not go as planned with closing on our house--but some day you'll learn that things never usually do when you're buying. We thought we'd close July 1st but HUD kept dragging their feet week after week. (We were buying a foreclosed home from the government.) When you have a young family and you have to move across country, definitely rent first to get to know the area so you can be near the house you want to buy. There was so much headache involved with home inspections and utility turn-ons that our angel Realtor had to orchestrate. She was amazing! Her name is Cookie Lamb. Bekah immediately loved her because her name is so cool and they became great friends. Anyway, between lead paint inspections and water pipe issues, things weren't going too well. In the meantime, your arrival was only getting nearer and we needed a place to live! Eventually we realized we wouldn't be able to close until at least the last week in July. So we moved forward the best we could thinking now that your daddy would move out immediately after you were born with the moving truck to work on the house and prepare it for us to arrive a couple weeks later. One scenario was Papa (my dad) would help me drive our little van with you and Bekah at that time to move the rest of our stuff. Another scenario, and the one we settled on, was Papa going with Daddy to help work on the house just after you were born and drive the moving van, then both of them flying back a couple weeks later and Daddy driving you, Bekah, and me in our van out to Chicago then. Things were looking tight on time, but we'd be okay.
Then things got completely out of our control. The week you were born turned out to be one of the hardest weeks of my job as a Hall Advisor. Pranks were getting out of hand and fire alarms continued to go off at all hours of the day and night. I couldn't decide if I wanted you to wait to come so I could not leave the burdens on other Hall Advisors, or if I should take drastic measures to make you come earlier just to escape it. Anyhow, to get away from it and because we wanted to go one last time before we moved, we went with Daddy's family to a restaurant called The Mayan in Sandy, Utah, about a half hour North of us. We wondered if we should risk going that far, but we decided to do it, despite having had contractions off and on for the last several weeks. Not only is the food good and the prices reasonable, the cliff diver shows are so amazing! I hope we can take you some day. You would love it. We had a great time. As we were leaving the restaurant, your daddy went to get the car while we waited with Grandma Douglas. While leaving the parking lot to pull up to the front, all of a sudden the breaks stopped working! This resulted in a minor fender bender which thankfully the driver said don't worry about it. Daddy pulled into another parking lot by using the emergency break and we met him over there.
Then the miracles started pouring in. Of course I was having some contractions during dinner but they weren't progressing--yet still I knew we needed to have reliable transportation soon! We were so glad Daddy's family hadn't left yet, since this meant Bekah and I could sit in their air conditioned car while we figured out what to do. (The temperatures were VERY hot that day.) By a miracle we had signed up for AAA just two days before!!! so we were able to tow our van for free, and luckily there was a Les Schwab near by, our favorite tire chain. This was a Saturday, though, so no repair shops were open, so it had to sit over the weekend in their parking lot. I was able to reach my Uncle Richard, who lived just 15 minutes away, who let us borrow their new and very nice van for the weekend (with awesome AC and a DVD player I might add). So within just a few hours things were back on schedule with working transportation. Still the contractions weren't regular so we were okay.
We got home and put Bekah to bed and decided we wanted to watch a movie to try to relax after the excitement of the evening. Within 15 minutes of starting The Bourne Supremacy though I was pacing back and forth trying to breath through very sudden and painful contractions. So about midnight we called my cousin Cameo to come stay the night with Bekah while your daddy and I were at the hospital. We were so glad she was home and could come over right away! I was also glad you decided to come when you did since I was going to be induced in a few days so we could make sure Daddy was here before he had to go close on our new house. (Your due date was July 25th.) The hospital checked us in quickly and your daddy and I settled in for what we thought could be a while. The epidural was started sometime soon, maybe around 3AM, and we both tried to grab as much sleep as we could between nurse checks. I wo
ke up for good around 6AM and could tell things were getting close. I think my nurse's name was Jenny. She was very nice. Dr. Glenn was my doctor but since it was the weekend, Dr. Broadbent was on call. I'd never met him before but he knew what he was doing. I think it just took 15 minutes of pushing, and you were born. 7:15AM. All 6 pounds 9 ounces of you. All 18 inches of you. With your dusting of dark hair and surprisingly olive skin. We couldn't get enough of you.Actually we still can't.
We are so grateful we get to be your parents.
There is so much more I want to tell you...of all you had to endure in your first few months of life. But that will have to wait. For now I am admiring the balloons and streamers and the ice cream-soaked mound of cake on your high chair tray, uneaten cupcakes, new toys strewn throughout the house. And thinking maybe now your dad and I can finish watching The Bourne Supremacy. Or maybe we should just catch up on our sleep.
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