Pictures of Baby Ethan

These aren't even close to all the photos I wanted to post, but it's a start. Ethan is doing well at home. He's not much of an eater, so we worry a little about his weight, but I'm sure that's just me being a natural-born worrier :)
He sleeps most of the time, still, but I live for those short moments when his sweet little eyes are open and looking around. He has slight jaundice (sp?) so he's on lights for a few more days. But they are just blanket lights instead of the suitcase lights Lucy had to be under, so that's good.
Lucy is doing fairly well with the new addition to our family. She is very careful and gentle with him, but now wants CONSTANT attention. I'm used to her entertaining herself, so it has been a challenge to have her engaging in attention-seeking behaviors all the time. I'm sure she'll adjust soon.
Tom has been an incredible help to me, and took off work until Mom could get here. Now Mom is here, and between Tom and Mom, I'm being very well taken care of. I feel so blessed to have so much help and support.

Lucy meeting Ethan for the first time

A few hours old

Delivery arrived!

Ethan Thomas Griffith is here!

Well, I don't have pictures yet (I'm still in the hospital bed) but I'll post them soon. I just wanted to get the story down while it's all still fresh.
Sunday afternoon I started feeling really sick, having hot flashes, and irregular contractions. I was miserable enough I pulled Tom out of his class and we went home early. I continued feeling pretty crumby the rest of the day. I felt bad because it was Father's Day and I couldn't do as much for Tom as I'd hoped. I was getting so frustrated, thinking "I wish I would go into labor, or not! This in-between, contractions but not in labor sucks!"
I had a doctors apt. scheduled Wed, where I hoped to convince my doctor to induce me a few days early (about 4 days early was my plan). Yes, I know I'm a big baby.
Contractions continued into the night, waking me a few times. At about 3:30 my water finally broke! I had to have my water broken with Lucy so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was excited because it's a for sure sign, instead of having to time the contractions and hope they are long or hard enough to be the real thing.
I jumped out of bed, excitedly woke Tom, called Grandma Griffith to come stay with Lucy, and frantically packed our bags. For some reason, vacuuming the house seemed really important, so my WONDERFUL husband vacuumed our house at 4 a.m. for me :)
The lady checking us in was SUPER annoying because she kept saying things like, "Well we'll have a nurse come look at you and see if we can figure out what's going on."
What does that mean?? My water broke, I"m having contractions, I'm 39 weeks pregnant...I'm freakin' in labor! That's what's going on. I'm not imagining this.
ANYWAY, labor started progressing pretty quickly. Contractions were making me shake and sweat with every single one. I got an epidural, and was AMAZED at how well it worked. With Lucy it was placed wrong and it didn't numb me at all, and HURT going in. But this time, it worked like a charm. I had no idea that much pain could be taken out of labor.
For the last hour, when the labor moved to my back, I started feeling the pain again. Shortly it was time to push.
1 hour of pushing (much longer than Lucy's 20 min of pushing, but he was much bigger), and he was here! We're all healthy and happy. I'm sore and tired of course, and Lucy has a stomach bug that prevented her from meeting Ethan today, but she'll meet him tomorrow.
I'm so excited to have our son here...and to no longer be pregnant. My mom flies in Thursday, so Tom will stay with me until she gets here.
Having a baby is like graduating high school or college; you spend so much time doing this one thing, then all of the sudden it's over! It's an incredible feeling.
Wish me luck adjusting to a family of four! Feel free to pass any advice my way.

Lucy and her best friend Genevieve

For the past 8 months Lucy has been going to Genevieve's house three times a week while I work. She LOVES playing there, loves Becky (Genevieve's mama), loves everything about it. It made going back to work possible because I know Lucy is loved and taken very well care of while she's there.
But life happens, and Becky and her husband are moving their little family across the country for a new adventure; Neil (said husband) got into law school, and will be starting in the fall! I am so excited for them. But, a selfish part of me is SOOOOO sad to see them go. I've been crying for a week, ha ha. Lucy will ask for "Bucky" and "Baby" (even though Genevieve is her same size, she still calls her baby) for a long time after they've gone, I'm sure. I will miss Becky very dearly, as she has become a very good friend, a wonderful example of womanhood, and someone I trust very much.

Because of the way my maternity leave falls, today is Lucy's last day there. It won't be easy to find another place as good as Becky's for Lucy, but I'll have some time while I'm on leave to look around and test a few places out. I know we'll find somewhere she and the new baby will love, and Lucy will make new friends. But gosh, it's hard to let a good thing go!
So, this is a shout out to Genevieve, Lucy's best friend, and Becky, one of mine :0)

We love you!

False Labor

I went into false labor today. I wasn't going to go to the doctor, but my boss insisted and just would not let it go, so I did. As I suspected, the labor stopped. Since then I've done as many exercises as I can think of to start it back up. No luck.
It's official: I am going to be pregnant forever. Yes, I will be the first woman in history to carry her baby for decades.

Complaints turned to blessings

I started out wanting to write a "complaining" post. I've been so frustrated with still being pregnant, and just the ups and downs of life. And it's been difficult for me to make friends in my new ward for some reason, although that reason was probably me not trying hard enough.

But then the thought came to my mind, "Positive attitudes attract positive things." It's so true. I started thinking of a woman in my office, whom I really like, but can be exhausting to be around. She ALWAYS has complaint; she's never just perky. In contrast I thought about another friend who is always making an effort to be cheery; not in a fake annoying way, but in a "I know how to look at the glass half full and be satisfied with my life" way. It's not hard to guess which woman I'd rather spend time with. Then I thought, I want to be more like her.

I began thinking of all the good things I have in my life. My husband, our home, our jobs, our families, my sisters, Lucy, my health....the list goes on and on. I started to really be aware of my thoughts and attitudes these past couple of days, and through a series of small events that were actually answers to my simple prayers, I feel like I may be tapping into the beginnings of some very wonderful friendships with some moms in my new neighborhood.

Sometimes we spend so much time focusing on the problem, we don't look up to see the solution. So in short, I want to commit to being a more cheerful, outgoing person, and hope you all will too!

Tom's Promotion

This actually happened the 25th of May, but I'm a little behind. Tom got promoted to Senior Credit Manager at Wells Fargo Financial! He worked SOOOO hard to get this promotion; he was up for the promotion a few times in the year he's been there, but seemed to just miss it. However, all his persistence and positive attitude paid off!
Wells Fargo sent out a mini-press release on him to all Wells Fargo Financial employees in the district congratulating him on his hard-earned, well-deserved promotion. I am so blessed to be married to such a hard worker and capable, intellegent man.
Tom's way of looking at the glass half-full is probably one of the things people admire about him most.
To celebrate we went to his favorite place...Wingers. I actually don't like Wingers AT ALL, but this night was about him, so I choked the food down with a smile :0)
Congratulations again, honey!

Handsome man
Lucy liked the popcorn

coloring with Daddy

Ha ha, they were both annoyed with me for taking too many pictures

Tom's favorite :)