Behold...The BAT MOBILE!!!

I don't know much about the pinewood derby. I grew up in a family of girls. And, I suppose if I had thought about it, I would have said I didn't have to worry about said derby until I had a son who was around 9 years old. Not so. After all, everyone knows the pinewood derby is about the men with the sons, not the sons.

So it actually started the day I went into labor. My sister's husband called and begged Trevor to come over and help him make a car for his son. Trevor decided he wanted to make his first car ever. This particular session was cut short when I called Trevor to tell him I was in labor, and thus the project was put on the shelf for a few weeks. But not before Trevor had already determined he was going to make HIS car into the bat mobile. Is there a boy anywhere who grew up in the late 80's who does NOT think the bat mobile is the coolest car ever? (And we're talking Michael Keaton Batman. Not all the crap afterwards.)


I admit I thought he was nuts. I saw the picture. He's never made a car in his life. How could he possibly take on something so complicated? Trevor shrugged me off and found his dremel. He then descended into his Lord of the Rings room downstairs (that in itself is yet another post) and was MIA, with only the gentle hum of his dremel to remind me he was still around.

And after a great deal of work, he eventually ended up with THIS:




Is my husband good or what?? He carved the stinkin' think all on his own! No help AT ALL! I am so proud of him! I am just so blown away by how he can just wrap his head around a project like that, and figure out how to do it. He's friggin' awesome! Now leave a comment and tell him how great he is!

A Few Items

So I haven't updated forever and I'm sitting here trying to think of what to write about. So here's a few items:

My baby is now 3 1/2 weeks old. At what point can I expect her to sleep through the night?? Well, I think that's at LEAST a month away, isn't it? She was fabulous last night--mainly because she was grumpy all day and hardly slept. So we put her in her car seat, which we have realized is the greatest invention of all time. The only reason I am able to update this post right now is because Afton is sleeping in that blessed carseat. She LOVES it. She'll be crying like mad one minute and totally asleep the next. She sleeps in it pretty much every night. But we don't put her in it during the day because we don't want the magic to wear off.

I started my first kit. As a digital scrapbooker, I'm always on the lookout for good kits. But when I stated Afton's book, I couldn't find a kit that was "right" for it. Then I realized, I wanted a kit that used all of her things--and I would have to make it myself. So we took pictures of her blankets, recieving blankets, toys, everything. And I created a kit. I can't wait to get started on her book!

I got my first harrassment e-mail yesterday. I guess I should have known that eventually it would come. When you teach junior high, that's what happens I guess. My school email is all over the school website, since I'm the webmaster for it. Yesterday I opened my school email and I had a nice little note telling me I was a B****. Huh. No idea who it's from. Well, there was a student's name on the email, but it was a student I had last year and never had any real trouble with, so I don't know why he'd send it. Maybe they created the email in his name, or maybe his friends hate me. Who knows. Seemed kind of random, though, since I've been out for the last few weeks. Maybe it has something to do with the stealing incident when my sister was subbing. Urg...it's hard not to be a little down when you realize someone hates you enough to send you a mean email. But then, I guess I should feel lucky I lasted this long without one. Everyone always feels so bad for me when they find out I'm a Junior High teacher, and I always grin and tell them how much I love it. And I DO. But when things like this happen--well, you start to figure out why everyone feels so bad for you...

Yesterday after a particularly fussy day with Afton, Trevor and I called my mom in desperation around 6:30 and begged her to take Afton for an hour so we could go out to eat. Bless her. Not only is my mom willing to take my baby on the spot like that, she's actually thrilled to do it.It's kind of hard to ask someone to watch your child--it's so nice when the people you ask are so kind about it. I don't know what I would do without my mom! We ate out at a chinese restaurant and came right back and then visited for a while. I love my mommy! And my daddy too--he gave me a fabulous, but painful, backrub and footrub that I really needed!

Trevor is now officially registered for a CNA class at SLCC. Hooray! We had to go in there and be very active to get him registered, and he got the last spot in the class. If we had waited another hour we probably wouldn't have gotten it, and then he would have to wait until June to take it. We want to get him trained so he can get a job as a CNA and we can go off unemployment. Well--so we have income when our unemployment runs out! Then he'll do a year of pre-requisites, and then the long wait to get into nursing school. Yes, we are statting late. But at least we're starting. You gotta pay your dues sometime, right?

To close, I thought I'd add a little picture Nicki took of my little family! We don't have many pictures of all three of us! We just got a new camera and Trevor is snapping pictures right and left, but we haven't mastered the timer yet.

Afton's Bad Day

Today, Afton is having a bad day. So far she's been a pretty easy baby. I was just starting to feel like I can handle this. Of course, it helps that Trevor is home with me all day and I can hand her off whenever I need to. We are pretty even in taking care of her. I have NO IDEA how I'm going to do this the next time around, with a toddler and no convenient husband around all day...


Anyway, she started out fine. We went to Nicki's and visited cousin Tyson--SO cute! He is just to his birth weight and is so much smaller than our girl! It was strange to hold a different baby and feel the weight difference. Afton is up to 8 lbs, 6 oz now. She was 7 lbs 2 oz at birth. Anyway, she was fine. Then.


Pretty much the rest of the afternoon we have spent trying to get her to stop crying. She's been restless for HOURS. I don't know what the crap is wrong with her. We've tried everything, and though she'll quiet for a little while, she's still fussy, and then she's crying all over again. What we do know, is that suddenly she's STARVING. I'm not kidding. The kid wants comfort food when she's depressed or something. She's been eating every TWO HOURS, and just now she is finishing off FOUR ounces in one sitting! A new record! The doctor told us to never give her more than four, so hopefully this finally fills her up. The question is, will she sleep? On one hand, she's been awake most of the day. On the other hand--she's been crying FOREVER. Will it ever end? My poor girl. Pretty sure it's gas but no idea what to do to help her. Right now Trevor is taking one for the team so I can have a break on the computer. Bless him. I'm so lucky to have a husband so willing to take care of her, and he genuinely wants too. AND he cooked dinner tonight. What a great guy!

'Cause Fat Babies Have No Pride

Don't know if you ever heard the Lyle Lovitts song, "Fat Babies Have No Pride" but it's a favorite in the Nielson household. And our baby is no exception. We took her to her two-week appointment today and learned several things:

1. Last week she weighed 7 lbs, 8 oz. This week? 8 lbs, 6 oz. So yeah, she gained almost a pound in ONE WEEK. She's a fatty. We love it.
2. Our pediatrician wasn't there when Afton was born--we didn't contact him and make an appointment until the day after. BIG mistake. We really wish he'd been there. Because apparently there's some stuff the hospital/doctor didn't tell us. Like the fact that she was really sick when she was born, because my anmiotic fluid was infected. No one EVER mentioned that.
3. Not only that, but apparently her Apgar score was a 2. We had no idea what this meant. That is 2 out of 10. If you don't know, an Apgar score is the condition of the infant within the first minute of life. My neice Bethany, who was 11 weeks early and a premature twin, got a 3. And she almost died when she was born. And Afton was a 2?? No one ever told us she was sick! We are pretty upset about it.
3. On the other hand, she is now a healthy, healthy girl! So whatever her condition when born, at least she bounced back very quickly. However, I do think that we will start seeing a different doctor.


Well, here's some more pictures because we are kinda ridiculous about taking them...

One Week Down

When I started this blog, I thought, "What am I going to write about? I don't have any cute kid pictures to brag about." But ah ha! Now I do! I will never run out of material now, because I can always brag about my little Afton and post pictures of her when I have nothing else to write. Hooray!

Did you know my daughter is amazing? She does amazing things. She's brilliant. Seriously. I even came up with a nickname for her today. (her name is very hard to think of nicknames for...) I called her "Laughin' Afton". Only...she doesn't laugh yet. But she WILL and I can't wait!

Trevor and I never tire of watching her and seeing what she does. Because everything indicates that she's prettier, smarter, and a faster learner than any other baby. OBVIOUSLY.


1. She's a fast learner. At her doctor's appointment today, they were hoping she will have gotten back to her birthweight of 7.2 by the time she's two weeks old. She's at 7.8. She did it in half the time and went the extra mile with 6 more ounces! See? See? BRILLIANT.


2. She's musically inclined. When she gets really ticked off, like today when she was getting an x-ray for this wierd bump on her back, she goes into the higher pitched yodeling which isn't annoying but very cute. Clearly she's going to be an amazing singer like her papa. (And her back is fine, by the way.)


3. She's a multi-tasker. She is learning to breast-feed AND take a bottle. She can do both. But she likes the bottle better. And breast-feeding takes FOREVER. But I'm sure that's my fault. SHE is perfect.


4. She's a great actress. When people come visit during the day, she tricks them into believing that she's really good and never cries. But Trevor and I know that at night, this is not the case. Boy has she got people fooled.


5. She's a trickster. She got me today. She had a poop--a big deal because she doesn't get them that often. I was changing her, and then BOOM. MORE POOP. ALL over the place. And then pee. All over the place. Trevor and I were dying of laughter. ('cause right now this is still funny.) Yeah, she got me good. But she peed on Trevor's hand earlier today, she she got him, too.

6. She's a little vain. She's so good when she's getting her hair washed. She knows she looks pretty.

So I hope I've made it clear that she's not just another baby, which is pretty much how I saw everyone else's babies before I had one of my own. All the things babies do that seem so common in other people's children become something to exclaim about and laugh about and enjoy. Who knew baby farts could be so REMARKABLE? Who knew I would be able to just stare at her forever and not get bored? She's MY baby. OUR baby. And we are ridiculously in love with her!

And Just Like That...I'm a Mom.

I'm sitting here in my hospital bed using my brother-in-law's laptop to update my blog. How addicted to technology ARE we? I don't have the strength and patience with a laptop to type what I really am feeling right now, and I will update with the full story after I return home on Wednesday. But I wanted to update and thank all the people who have been so kind to us. We have the most beautiful little girl in the world! And it has been so fun to show her off! I look forward to every visit I get here in the hospital, because I never get tired of hearing how beautiful my daughter is, and how much she looks like Trevor! She really is stunning. She's just amazing. I had to go down to the nursery just now, when we dropped her off for the night, and I had to look at all the other babies just to make sure mine was the cutest. And she SO was! (the other babies were cute too, but no one can compete with little Afton!)

This has been the most amazing experience. Hard, yes, and very painful. But it's also been a spiritual one that has truly brought Trevor and I closer together. It's amazing how much MORE you love someone once you have created a life with them. To look at our little girl and know that she wouldn't exist if we didn't love each other. She's a good baby, and so sweet and just beautiful. We just sit and stare at her in amazement. So far being a mom is ridiculously easy, because everyone else does everything for me and I'm pampered. I am sure I'm in for a rude awakening when I get home!

Trevor is completely ennamored of his little girl, and I have to pry the baby from him. He absolutely adores her. He was so wonderful during my long difficult labor. I had six hours straight of contractions that the epidural didn't touch, and he held my hand through every one of them. He's my rock, and I don't know how I could do this without him. He's become a real diaper-changer--I haven't changed one yet! (I'm sure that will change real soon!) One blessing from his unemployment is the opportunity we have to spend this time together without worrying about his job or when he has to go back. It's been wonderful.

Another thing that has been really fun is the fact that my sister Nicki went into labor on Sunday, and gave birth to HER little boy on 18 hours after I had Afton! Little Tyson was born at 12:45 a.m., so they missed having the same birthday by less than an hour! So we both want to see each other's babies, but unfortunately we are at different hospitals, and both recovering from c-sections, so it might be a while before we up to visiting each other. I'm glad that we are experiencing all this together--though it's quite a lot for our poor mother running back and forth between the two hospitals!

Anyway, I will write more later. I do have a picture to post that was taken tonight by Trevor's Dad of our little family. I look like crap, but I figure this is one time where you don't have to feel bad about it. I just had a freakin' baby! So here's our little girl--who looks EXACTLY like her father! I will post more pictures when I get home. But if you check out Cindy's blog, there are more there.

D-Day. The "D" stands for Depressed

It's 7:30 a.m. and I'm sitting in my classroom. I locked my door behind me and kept the lights off. The idea is that I can sit in here for as long as possible without having to see anyone. Especially any other teachers. Because I know, I KNOW, that if one more person asks me "when's that baby comin?" I'm going to say something very rude that they don't deserve.


Cause guess what? I don't freakin' know! Ok! It's very annoying when you get so frustrated and everyone acts like it so darn adorable and cute that you are frustrated, and so CONDESCENDING about it. I know everyone means well. But I am so depressed I just don't want to be nice today. I already feel bad for my students.


So yes, Afton is due today. But she doesn't seem all the interested being my little girl right now. The conditions are perfect--full moon, I had a membrane sweep yesterday, I'm dilated to a 2 (not great but an improvement from last week) and 30% effaced. Trevor did this reflexology massage on my ankles that is said to work wonders putting you into labor. And she's DUE. She's DONE. And there's no way I miscalculated my due date here. Time's UP girl! But no, last night I went to bed just hoping I wouldn't have to get up in the morning and come to work AGAIN, with everyone asking me "when, when when" but I am not so lucky as that. And believe me, when you have 200 students and a faculty of 60, there's a LOT of people to ask you taht question. And worse still, my doctor has no plans to induce me for a LONG time. I'll see him on Monday, and THEN he'll schedule and inducement, so it will probably be over a week from now.


I'm not exactly sure why I'm so upset. She's not even LATE yet, and women go late all the time. Yet here I am just trying to not to cry and to keep it together. I am not overly uncomfortable as some women seem to be at this point. I'm fine. PERFECTLY FINE, DAMNIT!!!! What I wouldn't give for some PAIN right now. Sheesh! I guess I'm just eager to start the next phase, to finally be able to send out that text/phone call that will shut everyone up, to finally say, "here she is!" To know that she's alive and safe and in my arms and that I'm not going to lose her. Man, I'm going to be a mess when 1st period starts in fifteen mintues...I better get it together...


So to all my friends and family who may read this, know that I know you are thinking of me and wanting this baby to come, too. I know you all mean well. I know you love me and you love Afton and you are almost as eager to meet her as I am. And I appreciate your phone calls and texts and your interest in my life SO much. I'm just having a hard time waiting, too.