Dave's Birthday!!

Can't ignore this monumental birthday :)  Love you Dave!! I'm only 11 months behind you!

Welcome Baby James!!

We were very happy to welcome our second son, James, to our family at the end of January. I was induced two days after my due date, my mom was here, and my delivery was great.

I went in for an exam that morning and my doctor said I was dilated to a 4 1/2. So she asked if I'd be interested in being induced since labor and delivery wasn't very busy and I had a history of being induced successfully. I had wanted things to happen naturally this time---but since my mom was in town and I was tired of being pregnant I said sure! It was very emotional though since I wasn't expecting to deliver that day---I could only think of Marcus and how sad I was to be away from him and that he wasn't going to be my only little boy anymore. But I went home for an hour, got my things together and Dave and I left Marcus with my mom. We arrive back at the hospital around 11:30 a.m.  I had to receive antibiotics, so they started those and then they added pitocin. I opted for an epidural around 1 or 2 p.m. The epidural helped---but only seemed to be working on my right side. So I really feel like half of me had a natural child birth :). But about 20 minutes before I delivered they increased the pain medication in my epidural, so I felt much better. My doctor came in at about 4:50 p.m. and at 5:00 p.m. I started to push. My water hadn't broken, so at about 5:10 p.m. I delivered baby James, still in the amniotic sac. Apparently this is really good luck :). Of course they took him out pretty fast and put him on my chest immediately. Dave cut the umbilical cord. Everything just went so smoothly, and fast. He, like Marcus, has a full head of dark hair. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. We are so happy to have him in our family too---love at first sight!!

Oh, and we had originally planned on naming him Ian---but it just didn't quite fit---so we went with another name we love---James! James Gregory Geiger.

Here are some pictures now!!

Leaving to go to the hospital. Yes, that's a doughnut in my hand, from Ohlins (best bakery ever!)

 Welcome to the world baby James!

 Yeah, it's a rough place to be.

 Not a bit fan of the hat.

 Mommy and James.

 Mommy, Daddy and James.

 Marcus came to meet James the next day. He wasn't quite sure what to think.

 You want me to hold him Grandma?

 First family picture.

 Picture with Grandma Braithwaite. So glad she was here!!

 About to leave the hospital.

 James and Daddy, ready to go home!

 Resting on his arms.

 Marcus starting to like the idea of holding baby James.

 Say what?

 Taking nap in new outfit Grandma Braithwaite bought.

 Grandma Braithwaite made the cute booties too!

Sleepy James and Daddy.

Marcus turns 2 in January!!

Our little Marcus man is not so little anymore :). He turned two in January!! He is very interested in any sport at the moment. And he likes trains a lot! He has also been introduced to playdough (a birthday present) and loves it too. Like all of us he can't wait for warmer weather so he can play outside all day. He also love elevators.

I'm so thankful to have Marcus in our family. He is so sweet and always makes me smile. He is always ready to laugh and his laugh is very contagious. He is a bit shy, but so sweet and nice to other kids (I know that may not last :)).

Happy Birthday to Marcus!!

 I made the cake myself :)  Marcus loves football!!

 Gimme gimme!

 Why is everyone staring at me? He blew the candle out very well this year :)

 Snow Day!!

Building a tower. We've had lots of play inside days this winter. Luckily Marcus got some fun toys for Christmas!

December 2013

 December was a busy month with Dave's finals and getting ready for Christmas. We had some fun parties too. And tried to do some local Christmas-themed activities.

 Marcus helping mommy make bread.

 Marcus at a winter village at Jordan's Furniture.

Look at that!

 My friend Lauren and her son at Jordan Furniture.

 My friend Christy and her boys.

Marcus and I at Jordan Furniture.

On the 18-31 Dec we went to Utah to visit family. We had a great time! We stayed with my sister Kirstin, my brother Will, my brother Nate and my sister Emily. We were horrible about taking pictures----but still got some good ones :)

 Marcus admiring my brother Will's turtle. He wanted to look at it all day, all the time.

 Marcus running around before bed time.

 Rolling around the floor, pure joy on his face :)

 Eating snow with his cousin, yummy!

 I pulled Marcus around on a sled---he didn't seem to enjoy it much though.

 He preferred "shoveling".

 Marcus and Daddy inside a tunnel at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

 Check it out!

 They had a fun sand area for kids to play at the Dinosaur Museum. He was in heaven.

 They had some real reindeer at Thanksgiving Point too that we checked out.

 Marcus curious about my dad's ham radio equipment.

We spent Christmas morning with my parents. It was really nice. We slept in and got ready before even opening presents----luckily Marcus is still young enough to not quite know what's going on :)

 New train set for Christmas!

 New football (favorite for sure).

 And let's not forget this awesome baseball!

 The spread---his new toys :)

Our family is getting so large that we have trouble all fitting in anyone's house. So my mom was able to rent her works gym (elementary school). It was really nice to have more space---and the kids seemed to like all the runaround space.

  Here is our grandkid white elephant exchange. Very fun to watch :)

 And here is most of our family (Brian and Brooklyn and family couldn't make it). It was so fun to have so many of us there! We are definitely growing!!

We went with my brother Nate and his son to see the Golden Spike monument while we stayed with them. It was nice because they got the steam engines out. It was so fun---and we made it just in time thanks to Nate's speedy driving :)

 Marcus LOVES trains right now, so he really enjoyed this.

 Nate and Dave did ride this a few hundred feet down the track.

While staying with my sister Emily we went to the Fire Department to get a tour. My brother-in-law Jared is fireman :)

 Even though Marcus loves fire trucks, he seemed to enjoy them more from a distance :)

 Aunt Emily holding Marcus.

 Marcus, Dave and Jared.

And Emily was nice enough to give us all haircuts---including Marcus. He did better than last time thankfully---the fruits snacks helped I think!