Changes

Well, I have a job. When I went into the interview I thought "If I get the job, Great!, If I don't get the job, Great!" I need a job in order to renew my nursing license. I have to have 900 hours of work experience in the next two years or I lose it. But I really love being a stay at home mom. I love being with Paige all day. She is such a cutie.

So I am now a nurse at Forest Grove Rehab. It is a rehab center and long term care facility. I am working in the long term care side. It is pretty much the exact opposite of what I really wanted to do. I wanted to be a pediatric nurse working with kids in a hospital. Instead I am working with older individuals in a nursing home.

BUT, I am starting to really like it. I am still scared and don't feel like I know what I am doing, but I am starting to get attached to some of  the residents. There are some of the sweetest people there. They just make me smile. Also, this job is only 8 hour shifts and I can just work weekends evenings/nights. That way Karl can be home with Paige while I am at work.It is good that they are getting Daddy Daughter time. That makes it so I don't have to worry as much but I still hate leaning her. Hopefully it gets better. Of course leaving her with dad means I come home to pictures like this.

We are teaching her young. Go Cougs!

Karl is done with his golf course job. It got a little nuts. He had work from 4am-8am and then had to go back from 5pm-8pm his last week because there was a LPGA tournament and they needed the course to be immaculate.

He just started school and he is SOOOOO excited. Not. His school is so intense. I hope me and Paige get to see him sometimes. Last semester I was able to hang out with him on weekends but now that I am going to be working weekends that time is out. We will have to figure something out.

Paige is doing great. Growing like crazy. She now loves to talk and will just coo to herself all morning. We are working on getting her to sleep all night but that is still pretty hit and miss right now. She is still an amazingly good baby and I love her like crazy. She loved watching the Olympics with me and we have officially decided that she is going to be an athlete.

 Which sport is still up in the air at this point but we are working on it.

The Beach!!!

 It was finally hot enough to go to the beach and get in the water. We still didn't get in all the way but it was so nice to just hang out at the beach and feel the breeze.

 We even tried to let Paige in on the action. She didn't really know what to think about standing in the ocean.

 Here's to living in Oregon!

Summer Hobbies

 This summer Karl has really gotten in to fishing. Sometimes Paige and I join him but I feel like we just kind of pull him down. We don't do too well if we are gone for very long. But one time he took us to this one fishing spot that I like to refer to as "The Beautiful Place". It is just gorgeous. The picture really doesn't do it justice. There are two rivers coming together with waterfalls and are lined with tree corridors. It took my breath away. I love living in such a beautiful place. You all should come visit so you can see it in person.

Here is Karl fishing. The other day he hooked two big salmon. Unfortunately he didn't get them in all the way. That is what happens when you don't listen to your wife and are left without a net. :) But he is really starting to get a hang of it so I am sure he will get one soon.

I have really been getting into crochet. I already posted some of the hats I have made. My latest project was sandals. I found this on Pinterest but it was one of those patterns you have to buy. I don't do that. There are so many free patterns available that I have a hard time paying for one. So instead I printed out the picture and tried to figure it out myself. I know my picture isn't very clear but there is original picture and then my attempt.

I think I did pretty good for not really having a pattern. Next time I will make a few changes and they will look even better. Next project: Rain boots.

Nevada Trip

 After the blessing in Utah it was back to Nevada to spend time with my family. It was so cute to watch everyone with Paige. She is one spoiled little girl. She was hardly ever put down.

 I love watching Paige sleep. She loves to stretch and it is just adorable. So is her giraffe friend from Auntie Nat.

 Nat was loving picking out Paige's outfits. She apparently is pretty good at convincing Grandma to buy the baby new clothes. I'm not complaining. :)

 And what else do you do when it is 110 degrees outside? Hang out in the pool of course.

Paige was pretty at easy in the water. She loves her baths and loved the pool as well. Watching the Olympics right now is putting some ideas in my head. How early is too early to start swim lessons?

Paige's Blessing

 It has been a pretty busy month for us. At the end of June Karl was able to get a week off of work. So we decided we should visit family while we had the chance. Not very many had been able to meet Paige so it was perfect. She is such an amazing traveler. She didn't make a peep on the plane (not that you would have been able to tell. Our flight was pretty rowdy. We had music on someone's speakers going and everything) and did amazing on all the car rides.

Here she is with Daddy getting ready to board the plane. 

 

While we were with our families we decided this would be a great time to bless her. 

 It was so great to have everyone there. I just love taking pictures of Paige and all her faces.

 While we were in Utah we went to the Aquarium with Ann and Alicia. I love the aquarium, I swear there is always something new (this time they had an otter exhibit). You would think I am the only one who liked it though from this picture.


We discovered that Paige is about the same size as the smallest penguin in the world (the Fairy Penguin).

 Paige is starting to get into it by posing with Grandma on the giant frog.

After a super fun time in Utah it was back to Nevada to visit with the Adams's. That is for the next post though. Stay tuned

Yuck!

Paige has always had a very healthy digestive system. We have never had to worry about her not having enough dirty diapers. From these two sentences and the title of this post you may be guessing what is coming next. You have been warned.

When my mom was here helping after Paige was born we had a near miss. We were both slap happy from lack of sleep. Paige had just finished eating and my mom was being nice and changing her diaper for me. As she took off the diaper she said "oh, it is not very dirty." To which I responded "Be careful, she might projectile poop at you." I had no sooner gotten the words out of my mouth when what should happen? Yep, projectile poop! It barely missed my mom, getting the change pad, futon, and carpet instead. We broke down in hysterical laughter. When I told Karl he didn't think it was very funny so I guess you had to be there.

Anyways, that was the back story. Since that time we have had some near misses but I have usually escaped diaper changes unscathed. On Sunday, all that changed. I had gotten up for Paige's 4am feeding. Needless to say I was really tired and a little delirious. As I was changing her diaper I almost got her new one on when she started peeing all over. So it was onto the second attempt. As I was pulling out the next new diaper what should happen? SQUIRT!! I look down and she had projectile pooped all over my shirt. GROSS!!! So I am ranting at 4 am on Fathers Day, which woke up Karl, who heard me getting frustrated at my beautiful baby girl. Oh I am a great wife and mother. Then, to top it all off, as we were about to leave for church, I had just finished putting Paige's cute dress on, she spit up all over me. That one at least I found funny. I guess ironic would be a better word.

But to end on a not gross note, Paige and I had a girls day out on Saturday. Karl had gone golfing with some friends so we decided to go to a splash park. It was a really hot day so I liked staying out in the water. It was me and all the 4 year olds.  To not look so out of place I tried to get Paige to enjoy the water. I would splash it on her face and swing her legs through it. The water was freezing cold so I was a little worried she would start crying, but Paige barely reacted. She is such a chill kid. Usually.

Our Summer, Shots, and Crafts

 So here is a quick update of what we are up to the summer.

 Karl is working at a golf course. He is a grounds crew person and gets to leave for work at 4:30 every morning, pouring rain or shine. It is kind of intense. This is not your rinky dink golf course. It is called Pumpkin Ridge and is up there as one of the best in the country. Later this summer it is hosting a Ladies PGA tournament, which it does every year. But Karl gets free tickets so we might get to go! (depending on Paige). I don't know how much I will like watching golf live, I am not a huge fan of it on TV, but it would be a new experience. And we get to go golf there for free whenever we want. Karl has gone a few times and thinks it is pretty fun.

Paige and I just stay home and hang out. We are still trying to figure out how to sleep at night and get on a schedule so it is pretty interesting. I am starting to look for jobs because Oregon requires work hours to renew your license, there is no option to do it with continuing education credits. Which is good, it forces me to try and find a job and actually use my degree. But I really don't want to leave Paige. I like spending all day with her. Therein lies my dilemma.

Paige got her first round of shots today. I was so grateful Karl came with us. I almost started crying, I just hate seeing Paige in pain. But she was a trooper and had been wanting to cuddle and sleep ever since.

Here is her leg of band-aids.

 Since I am at home all day and stay up late by myself (Karl has to go to bed early for work and Paige likes to stay up late...and all night) I have started working on crafts. I am really getting into crochet. Here are a few hats I have made for a friend. She is being induced on Tuesday with her own baby Paige so I used mine as a model.

 I think they turned out pretty cute. Now I am going to make some for my Paige then move on to shoes. I really want to make little rain boots.

So that is us. Karl works hard, Paige is super cute, and I sit around a crochet. :) And here is one last pic of Paige to end with.

Paige is 2!!! (Months that is)

First off I would just like to say I am totally obsessed with my little girl. And who wouldn't be when you get to spend time with someone this cute all day, everyday.

She is 2 months old already and I haven't really updated our blog since she was first born so here is a quick update.  Paige is 2 months old, weighs 11 pounds and is 23 inches long. She is now starting to smile (especially at her daddy, which is adorable but a little frustrating at the same time. I mean, come on, I am the one getting up in the middle of the night to feed her. Shouldn't I get more smiles?) which is so much fun.

 She loves to go fishing with her daddy

 And going to the beach.

 Her cute little sailor outfit. (I know it is blue and she looks like a boy, but I thought it looked very cute and beachy).

She loves spending time with her Mommy. (One day I will actually get a cute picture with her).

 But most of all, she loves taking naps, playing with, smiling at, and just spending time with her Daddy.

Photo Shoots

I have been really lucky to live next to friends who love taking pictures and asked if they could take newborn pictures of Paige for more experience. Who am I to deny them the practice? :)

The first was a friend from my ward. These are my favorites. Paige is 6 days in these.

 She is just sawing logs in this one.

So tiny

I love that her eyes are open in this one.

This then inspired my mom and I to try our hand at photography. I think they turned out pretty good but I think I need to figure out photoshop to make them look more professional. These are Paige around 10 days old.

Daddy's Little All-Star

 I love that she fit in this little basket

 These adorable hats were made by my friend Jessica.

 We had to have one naked baby picture.

And finally, another friend and first year optometry wife took these ones. (Paige is three weeks)

With a smile

 tiny little feet

 I'm thinking...

 All dressed up (I sort of think this one looks like my nephew Carson. Just around the face, not the skirt :) What do you guys think? )

 In a little purse. She just looks so delicate

 And with her mommy.

I know what you are all thinking and YES. I do have the best friends and cutest baby ever. At least I think so.

Our Early Arrival

Paige Lydia Jepson arrived April 10, 2012 at 8:45 pm. She was 6 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long.She was about 3 weeks early but is doing great. She was 6 lbs 8 oz at her 2 week check up so she is sure packing on the ounces and trying to grow. That is basically the cliff notes version. Stay tuned if you want the whole story.

After Karl's Spring Break my family came up for theirs. It was so great seeing them. We got to try frisbee golf and spent most of the week at a beach house. While they were here I noticed that my feet were getting really swollen so I thought "Hmmm, I wonder what my blood pressure is." So the night after our frisbee golf adventure I checked and it was pretty high. About 150/90. That is not a good number to have. So I started worrying but I laid down and checked it again after a few minutes and it went down so I figured I was fine and just needed to take it easy.

So we headed off to the beach house and I didn't take my BP cuff because I didn't want to get worried or worry anyone else. My taking it easy consisted of walks on the beach (exercise is good while pregnant right?), building sand castles, going on a hike, and hanging out with family. I didn't get off my feet like I should have but we had a good time. The night my family left I checked again and it was still 150's/90's, this time it wouldn't go down, even when I checked before got out of bed after a whole night. So I put myself on bedrest and called the dr. Karl had to take me to the hospital to get checked out. I started getting really nervous, excited and scared because it started to be real that we could be having this baby really soon. After hours of waiting and tests I was officially put on strict bedrest until I saw my dr on Monday. I was having all the signs of pre-eclampsia. I had protein spilling into my urine, uric acid levels were high, my platelets were low, and of course my blood pressure was really high.

Best rest is not fun. I was really bored and really glad I didn't have to do it for very long. It wouldn't have been too bad if I could sit up or felt bad but I felt fine and they were very specific that I needed to lay on my side at all times. Not sit or lay on my back. My side only, and I could only get up to go to the bathroom. So Monday rolled around and I went to the Dr. Everything was still high and hadn't changed so I got to go straight from his office to the hospital to be admitted.

That night around 9 they gave me cervadil to try and get me dilated and ready to go into labor. They said it would take about 12 hours. While we waited for it to kick in they came to talk about pain management. I was told because of how low my platelets were an epidural might not be an option. What I got from the conversation was that I was at risk for bleeding into my spinal cord and basically getting paralyzed if I got one (perfect, that sounds like a great option), we could do IV meds (great, lets just make it harder for my baby who is already at risk for having immature lungs), or go natural (really not what i want to hear right now). With that on my mind we just waited for things to start going, and go they did. About three hours later. Apparently that medicine threw me into labor way too fast and i started contracting every 30 seconds. This meant no breaks and lots of hurting. And I didn't think I was even in labor yet because my 12 hours was not up. I just kept thinking if I can't even handle this there is NO WAY I am going to be able to handle labor without pain meds.

Next problem. Because of how often I was contracting and the fact that I wasn't really progressing they were worried that my uterus was going to rupture (awesome). Next step-terbutaline. This is what they usually give moms in pre-term labor to stop contractions. And of course, lucky me, it didn't work. This meant moving on to magnesium sulfate which usually has pretty nasty side effects. The mag was going to pull double duty to try and slow the contractions and keep me from having a seizure since my blood pressure was so high. About this time they came in and said my platelets had gone up enough that it was safe to get an epidural if I wanted it (YES!!). 

After those kicked in I spent the majority of the night and next day asleep.The mag made it so I could barely keep my eyes open for 2 minutes at a time. Nothing was really happening, Karl was able to go to school and get some things done that he needed to. I just had to sit around and have an oxygen mask on to make sure the baby was getting enough. They were starting to get worried that they were going to have to do a C-section because I wasn't dilating fast enough. Then Karl came back to the hospital and I went from a 4 to an 8 in a few hours. Apparently I was just waiting for him to get there. From then on everything went really smoothly and Paige arrived about 24 hours after they induced me.

 I really wanted her to be named Bailey. Really a lot. We had decided that we were going to wait until we saw her to pick a name. I told Karl we needed to wait until morning because I was seeing double and couldn't really see her face (thanks to the residual really high blood pressure). That night I woke up thinking "Where's Paige?" I had to remind myself we hadn't decided on a name yet. I woke up again later in the night thinking the same thing. That was my confirmation. Paige was Karl's first choice and I am glad we ended up going with it. But I still want a Bailey some day. :)

So that is how we got our Paige. We absolutely adore her and she is the cutest little girl EVER. She is so great, never really cries, and is absolutely adorable with her daddy.