Guess who LOVES the bath!!!

He would stay in it all day long if I let him!

Auntie Abby

Yesterday my best friend from high school, Abby Mae Perryman, met Lucas for the first time. We met at South Coast Plaza and had lunch. Abby just got a new job in LA and I am very excited that she is back on the West Coast so we can see her more often! Ava wanted to be in the picture with her new snow globe.

We love you Auntie Abby!

A few firsts...

We came to California for a Bruce Family Christmas. It is the first Christmas in 5 years that we have all been together, and it will be 5 more years until the next one! Since being in California Lucas has had a few "firsts"...

First time meeting Uncle Trevor and Aunt Ashley:

First Bath: (He LOVED it! He is mad in this picture because we took him out!)

First Christmas:

First Christmas PJ's:

First Nap with Mommy:

We have had the best time with Lucas on his first Christmas.... more pictures to come!

Photo Session

This weekend we had a photographer come to the house to take some pictures of baby Lucas and capture him as an infant. Today the photographer posted some sneek peek pictures on her blog... here is my favorite so far!

So cute!

1 Week Old

Today our little monkey turned 1 week old! It has been an eventful past few days here in the Coons household. We went to the doctors on Monday where Lucas was diagnosed with Jaundice. I realize this is a fairly typical thing to happen to babies, but I was an emotional wreck on Monday night. I just felt so badly for our little guy. I think the post-pregnancy hormones, lack of sleep and seeing him sad all combined caused all the emotions. The doctor dropped off a Bili-Blanket and instructed us to keep the light on him 24 hours a day until further notice.
We finally got the OK from the doctor this morning to take him off the light! Phew! He is still yellow, but looking much better.

This morning he was circumsized. Luckily, we weren't aloud to be in the room. We were instructed to walk around and get fresh air because he was going to cry and we would hear it if we stayed in the office. After 20 minutes we returned to the exam room and he was not crying, but as soon as I started talking he started wailing, as if saying, "Mom, where were you? I don't feel good!" It was TERRIBLE!! I fed him, swaddled him, and gave him some loves and he finally calmed down.

Here he is now all snug on the couch...

We have been asking everyone who they think this little guy looks like. I don't have a picture of Andy as a baby, but here I am in the hospital.

He definitely has my nose and lips, but the jury is still out on his eyes...

I hope Week 2 is less eventful on the sick side of things. We love our Lucas and just can't get enough of him!

December 10th, 2009

We arrived at Spring Valley Hospital at 9:00 PM on December 9 to check in for the induction. They took us back to Room 3 where I changed into a hospital gown and they took all my stats. After an examination they told me I was dilated 2 CM. Then they gave me Cervidil to help with the induction process. It is mandatory to have Cervidil for at least 12 hours before they will issue Pitocin. The nurse told me he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow afternoon and to get comfortable. She then gave me 2 ambien and instructed us both to get a good night's rest. Unfortunately they didn't give Andy any ambien, but I was asleep within minutes! I had a pretty uneventful night, but my contractions did increase to about 3 minutes apart by morning. When 8:00 AM rolled around my new nurse Jill arrived. I can honestly say I KNOW my labor was as easy as it was because of Jill. Once she arrived she did an exam and I was at 3 CM!

At this point it was time for the Pitocin. Jill removed the Cervidil and told me to take a shower and freshen up because it could be awhile before I was able to shower again. My contractions started getting stronger at this point and I was getting nervous for the Pitocin. When I was done "freshening up" Jill did another exam and I was 4 CM! She asked if I wanted my epidural before she started the Pitocin and I happily said YES!

The picture on the bottom left was RIGHT after I got my epidural... I was in my happy place!

The rest of the delivery was easy! I dilated relatively fast about 1 CM per hour and before I knew it, it was time to push! Jill called the doctor to let her know it was time. We had about 20 minutes before the Doctor was to arrive so we started pushing to practice, but before not too long we had to stop because the Doctor hadn't arrived and baby was coming!

Once the Doctor arrived we all got into place. Andy and my mom were AWESOME coaches. Andy counted to 10 for each push and my mom was yelling PUSH!!! Jill kept saving "Common Mama, harder, harder!" After about 20 minutes I heard Andy say, "I can see him Jilly" and then I lost it. I started bawling. I was tired and didn't think he would ever come out. Three more pushes and we saw our sweet boy for the first time. His poor little head was a cone, that was the first thing I said, "His poor head". I got to hold him for a few minutes before they took him to get all his stats and cleaned up. Andy and my mom and dad ran over to the baby while I sat their bawling. Jill asked if I was in pain because I was crying so hard, but it was just emotion overload!

We love our little boy, he has stolen our hearts, and has us wrapped around his little finger.

We love you Lucas Henry!

"I Cute"

This is a phrase my mom and I say all day long... we talk as if it is Lucas saying it... "I cute"
Here is my latest favorite picture of our little monkey:

This is the picture of Lucas and Daddy that wouldn't load in the post below:

Our first family picture:


I promise the birth story is coming...

We're home!

We got home this afternoon and we are all excited to be sleeping in our own beds tonight. Here are just a few pictures from today:

Baby Lucas loves his swing...

First tummy time with grandma...

Going home outfit...

Mommy and Lucas...please note my darling hospital gown with matching blanket, made with love by Auntie Ashley

Lucas and Daddy

*We are in love with our little monkey
**A huge Thank You to Ashley for keeping the blog updated
***Birth Story to follow...

Introducing...

Lucas Henry Coons

Born December 10th at 3:02 pm

8 pounds, 6 ounces

21 inches long

This is still Ashley. I'm sure Jillian will resume her posting duties soon here. I wasn't going to post this one because he's got all that goopy stuff in his eyes. But I was just staring at it a minute ago, and noticed that the other person in the picture is sweet Andy. He's touching his head and holding his hand, and I think it's such a sweet perfect moment that I couldn't help but share it.

Plus, you can see how stinkin' cute this baby is. That top lip... I just want to kiss it.

He's Here!

I hate to post because I don't have any pictures yet.

But he's here! Stats to come...

p.s. Jillian is doing AWESOME. She's such a champ.

Doctor just arrived. Should be just a few more pushes!

Come on Baby Boy! It's your birthday and everyone is waiting!

She's pushed about 5 times and the nurses made her stop so they could run and get the doctor. Mom says she can already see that he has dark hair.

I love it.

Hopefully the next post is pictures of baby boy Coons.

10!

We are at a 10 people!

The nurses are calling the doctor to get permission to start pushing.

When my mom called me she didn't know I had answered and all I could hear were these crazy pushing noises... I think she was trying to show Jillian what to do.

Jillian sounds great. She said to me, "Ok, my life is about to change forever."

She says she feels like she needs to push but she sounded awesome.

Keep your fingers crossed!!

And here's a pic from just a minute ago... ready for this baby to come!

Half hour later and 2 more centimeters... She's at a 9!!!

Jilly's body apparently knows EXACTLY what to do.

Mom said the doctor will be in in a little bit to give an assessment. I'm guessing at this rate it will all be happening pretty quick here.

Go Jilly !!

Dilated to a 7!!!! Woo hoo!!!

The doctor says she's 90% effaced, and the baby is low.

Jilly says she's feeling a little pressure but nothing too bad.

Things are definitely rolling... Keep it up little guy!

Dilated to a 5.

Doctor just broke her water, and baby is doing great.

Woo hoo!

Ashley here again.

Just heard from both my mom and Jilly. After taking out the Cervidil she is contracting really well on her own. So they've decided to give her the epidural (the anesthesiologist has 4 scheduled c-sections today and Jilly doesn't want to chance not being able to get one.)

She is at a 4, and will start petocin as soon as the epidural is in.

Steady progress... I love it.

Not too much new. Jilly slept really well and had contractions all night about every 2 minutes.

The doctor feels like she's progressed enough to take the Cervidil out and start her on petocin in about 15 minutes. She's dilated to a 3 and the doctor is hoping for a baby boy by this afternoon.

Keep coming back for updates. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Ash

Checked in!

Jillian is officially checked into the hospital. She is registered, hooked up and ready to go.

They gave her some Cervidil to try and get things going and also gave her some Ambien to
help her get some sleep before the hard stuff starts.

My mom is staying at Jilly's house until the real contractions begin. I'll post again as soon as they do.

Good luck Jilly! We love you!

Baby Book

I just finished documenting the pregnancy and putting together the first pages of Baby's Book. I think it turned out cute...

Now all I need is a picture of baby for the cover! Hurry up Little Monkey! 

Just playing the waiting game...

We are so anxious for our little guy to get here! I know, I know I should enjoy these last few days all by my lonesome, my sleep, and one on one time with my hubby.... but let's be honest, I CAN'T wait to to have this baby!!! I look in the nursery everyday so excited to actually put it to use. 

So since we are just playing the waiting game over here at the Coons' residence... I thought I would share with you my new favorite things...

#1- Andrea Bocelli Christmas Album-

I love his voice, plus it features Mo-Tab! 

#2- Pantene Pro-V Split End Protection

I typically use Bed Head's Ego-Boost to get this job done, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on a product this month. I found this at Target and thought, it couldn't hurt? I LOVE IT! It makes my hair SO soft, it doesn't weigh it down or make it greasy. However, let me say, typically products that I LOVE in Nevada, don't always work so well in the California because of the moisture....so beware if you find this to be true as well.
#3- See's Candy- This is not a new favorite, just one that I want 24/7 in the past 2 weeks. I literally crave it ALL DAY LONG! I have a new favorite, Vanilla Buttercream... Whoa, it is amazing. I still love my old favorites as well, the milk bordeaux, milk patties, butterchew.... but the vanilla buttercream is just tasty!

We will keep you posted on Baby Coons....but technically we have 13 days left until the actual due date...

PS- Many have asked what we are naming our little monkey. I think we have finally both agreed, but it isn't 100% just yet, we'll let you know as soon as it is!

Black Friday Adventures

The majority of my life Black Friday has consisted of me sitting at home, hanging out, enjoying the day off school. My mom always did her Christmas shopping on this day and was gone ALL day long. Around lunchtime my dad would heat up leftovers and we would all search for the rolls--my mom would hide them because she knew we would eat them all while she was gone, so instead she hid them so we couldn't do so. Once I got in college we would go to South Coast Plaza and pick out what we wanted and my mom would "take notes". 

This year I decided to see what all the Black Friday Hype was all about. I sat down after eating Thanksgiving with the family and looked through all the ad's. From Home Depot to Toys R Us I looked and looked to see if anything caught my eye. I was pleasantly suprised! Here was what I wanted/needed:

1. Item A (Cannot disclose because it is a gift for my mom)--Usually very expensive, but on sale for a VERY good price if I got the earlybird deal.

2. Cricut Expression- Wal-mart was selling them for $188! (Usually they cost $300+) 

3. Cricut Cartridges- $30

3. Roomba- $99! Andy and I have wanted one of these since we got married.

4. Christmas Decorations 50% off

5. Infant clothes- 60% off

6. Office chair- $35 (Usually $80!)

7. Space Heater for nursery- $19 (Usually $50)

After deciding getting no sleep would be worth all the great deals, I had to convince Andy that this was a worthwhile decision. I needed his help lifting items and wrestling people to the ground if necessary since I am in no condition to do so. 

Stop 1: Kohls. Store Opening: 4:00 AM, Arrival time of Team Coons: 3:20 AM.

I could NOT believe the amount of people in line already. I think Andy was in total and complete shock at how many people were as crazy as we were. We bundled up and got in line. We met Sue, who only wanted a waffle maker. Beth brought her two children with her so they could split up and get what the needed. By the time 4:00 rolled around the line almost wrapped the building! Our dilemma was we only needed 2 things, Item A and Roomba, but we needed to be out of Kohls by 4:15 in order to get to Wal Mart in time. When they opened the doors it was a mad dash to get our items. Within 30 seconds there were people EVERYWHERE!!! I couldn't believe it. Sue was pushing people to get her waffle maker, and I was frantically searching for the Roomba while Andy searched for Item A. We both found them, got in line, and were back in our car by 4:08. Phew! We made our deadline.

Stop 2: Wal-mart. Store Opening: 24 hours, putting out Black Friday items at 5:00 AM. Arrival of Team Coons: 4:20

We were most scared for this adventure. I wanted the cricut SO badly, but knew it was going to get hairy. I dropped Andy off to run in while I parked. I grabbed a cart and asked the first employee where the cricuts were going to be... he asked what a cricut was, and I went on to the next employee--obviously he didn't know. I found a woman who looked legit and she showed me a map of the store and pointed to where they were. I found Andy and we began hunting. There were people EVERYWHERE frantically searching for that one item they wanted most. Lines were forming for different items in anticipation for the 5:00 AM time. I needed to find the cricut line! Out of the corner of my eye I saw David--dressed in a shirt and tie with a tag that read "Store Manager"... he had to know where the cricuts were! I asked and he pointed to the electronic station and said, "Survival Alley". I then told Andy to make his way through and not come back until he found them. (**Sidenote, I had 2 hours of sleep and was not going to go through all this effort for nothing, I got a little ruthless--sorry love!) I then walked to the back of the aisle and sitting in front of me were the cricuts... only 2 left!! I just about fainted. I called Andy back and we put both in our cart. (My SIL wanted one too, so I we picked it up for her). YAHOO! We did it! We got the cricut. I was a little ticked that not one employee told us they were already out before the 5:00 AM time. Then I was ok with it because we got one! We then found the other items on our list and headed out. 

Stop 3: K-Mart. Store Opening: 6:00. Arrival time of Team Coons: 5:10. 

We were about the 100th person in line and by the time the store opened the line wrapped around Kmart. It was crazy! At one point the people in the front of the line got mad about something, tried to break in, and the cops came. We made friends with Bob who just wanted a Digital Camera for his son who is a senior. The lady in front of us didn't even look at the Ad! She just wanted to see what was on sale and grab as she went. At 5:55 they opened the doors. We ran in, grabbed a Roomba (they also had them on sale for $99, but it was a different model, so we bought both the one at Kohls and this one to see which was better and are going to return the one that we don't want), we got the space heater, the random christmas decorations we needed and called it a day! 

All our Black Friday Finds... it seriously looked like we robbed a store. 

Overall I think Black Friday was a huge success. We are both exhausted, but are so excited about our purchases and all the money we saved. We are done with all our Christmas Shopping and can't wait until next year. 

FYI- Kmart had the best toy selection and the best toy prices of the three stores we went to. 

37 Weeks and the Nursery!

Here I am at 37 weeks:

I feel great besides the occasional backache and constant bathroom breaks. I finally feel like I am ready for this baby to come, especially now that the nursery is done! YAY!

Here it is:

1. Darling Changing Table- We went back and forth on whether or not to get a changing table. We decided to get one last week and I am so happy we did. I LOVE IT! I am so excited to have a designated changing place with all items in one place. (It's the organizational side in me)
2. Dresser- This dresser was my dad's when he was a boy. I wish I had taken a before picture because you would not recognize it. Andy spent so much time sanding and making it perfect. We removed the base and added legs and I LOVE it. It turned out perfect and just as I had imagined. I also love the knobs. The Willow statues on top I also love... a gift from the soon to be dad. 3. The reading corner- Here is our wonderful book collection! I love all our books and cannot wait to read them to our little boy someday. The bookshelf is perfect, and we are almost out of room! The bookends are from Great Grandma Glenda and I love the way they look. For those of you wondering.... the rocker is from La-Z-Boy! My mom kept telling me to stop by and just look at what they had, but every time I thought about la-z-boy I thought of big and bulky chairs. On Labor day we finally decided to stop in and see what they had. This chair was JUST what I was looking for, I LOVE green and it was marked down 70% for the holiday. I could not be happier about it!
4. The Crib- The crib and bedding are darling. Not much to say.... luckily we now have a Nochi for little man that matches perfectly and I am a little jealous. I wish they made Nochi's in adult size...hint hint Stapleys!!

Now all we have to do now is wait.... I think that is the hardest part! We can't wait to meet our little monkey!

Catch Up!

It is time to play catch up...so much has happened in the past few weeks!

1. Halloween

Halloween was so fun! I only have a few pictures... It was fun to have the whole family over and celebrate together.

Cute Baby Avery

Me and Bosty

Me and my Polka-Dot Pumpkin

Andy and his Pumpkin


2. Baby Shea

While we were in California Shea spotted the Animal Cookies and decided to do anything possible to get some....

"Oops... I got caught"

"Hmm... these are pretty good"

"Andy, try some, they are tasty!"

3. Trevor Dean came home!!







4. 36-weeks

Today I am officially "Full-term"... only 4 weeks to go! The nursery is almost 100% complete and then I will post pictures. We are anxiously waiting for our little guy to arrive. I am still feeling good and comfortable. I could take a nap at any point during the day, but other than that all is well!

Consider yourself caught up!

Elder Bruce is back!

The Bruce Family

...more to come. 

LONG night!

Saturday night was a LONG night. Halloween was great (post to come) and it was so fun having John and Jane (home for a 2 week stretch before heading back to the mission field) to celebrate with. The guests left and I started feeling a little queasy... I took a bath hoping to calm my stomach, which worked for about 10 minutes. 10 minutes later everything I had eaten in the past 24 hours decided to resurface. I laid on the bathroom floor ALL night long until about 3:00 AM. I then realized I was getting dehydrated so I tried drinking some fluids. 10 minutes later that decided it didn't want to stay down either.

Andy and I then decided to go to the hospital to make sure baby was ok....**Sidenote--ask anyone in my family they will tell you when I have gotten the stomach flu in the past it is NO joke. I usually lose 10+ lbs, lose all fluid, sound like a dying seal, and work myself into such dehydration that I have to go to the ER to get an IV. Ask Ashley about the time she was babysitting the kids while my parents were out of town and the Doctor gave me an anti-nausea medicine that I was allergic to...it ended up with me getting Lock-Jaw and rushed to the Doctor so my throat wouldn't swell up and basically kill me...good times**

Anyway, back to Saturday night. So we get to the hospital and they sent me straight to Labor and Delivery. After I reassured everyone I was NOT in labor, they got me hooked up to the monitors. As it turns out what I thought were upset stomach pains were really contractions! I had been having them every 3-5 minutes! I knew I always wanted an epidural, but now my feelings are confirmed! I will be getting an epidural FOR SURE! They got my hooked up to an IV, gave me 4 Liters of fluid plus some anti-nausea medicine. The lack of fluid was what started my contractions...but the 4 Liters didn't solve the problem. So they went to Plan B which was a muscle relaxer. After giving me the shot the contractions finally slowed down and eventually stopped. Phew!

I was sent home with direct orders not to do anything but rest and drink LOTS of fluid. I now only have about 1-2 contractions every hour which the doctors said is normal and will be just fine.

So if I jump off the blog wagon for a few days/weeks it's because I am not supposed to be blogging :-)...

In other news.... this fine young gentleman comes home THIS Saturday!!! 9:10 AM, Orange County Airport!!!
The doctor said so long as I stay stable the rest of the week as I am now I can go to California... oh and if I make sure I don't go to a "Podunk (sp?) town". When I told him I was going to Orange County, he just looked at me and said, "Well, make sure you are close to a good hospital in case you need to see a Doctor"--Obviously he has never heard of Saddleback Memorial. So I will be taking it easy so we can welcome home Elder Trevor Dean Bruce!!!