Introducing.....Elle Maryann Hampton

Ok. I know that Elle is now 2 months old and this post is a little bit over due but I still wanted to share my labor and delivery experience with you. It begins like this......

I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, May 27th at 6am.

So here I am, bright and early, one last prego shot.

They broke my water first thing and a few hours later they started the pitocin. I was pretty comfortable til about noon. The nurse suggested she call for the epidural because by the time it gets there I would be really be ready for it. Well she was right! Giving Birth was one of the easiest, most beautiful things I have ever done. I loved every minute. Getting an epidural was the most horrible, terrifying thing I have ever had happen to me. Here is that story....

First here is a few wonderful (hahaha) shots of me before and after the pain set in. I am sure you can guess which is which.

So for the epidural story...

The nurse paged the doctor for the epidural. He never got the page and went home. From the time she sent the page to the time the doctor came back to give me the epidural was about 2 hours. By that time I was dying, or at least it felt like it. Thankfully the nurse did all she could to get me comfortable. The one thing that seemed to help was to stand up and rock myself back and forth or to sit in the wooden rocking chair and rock back and forth. So the doctor shows up to give me the epidural and by that time the contractions were pretty strong, really frequent and very long. He preped my back and began. To make a long and painful story short....I was given the epidural 4 times, each time being unsuccessful. That's right people, 4 back preps, 4 numbing shots, 4 epidural needles and 4 epidural catheters, none of which worked. I have come to learn that I have very small spinal spaces which make for very difficult epidural placement. Lucky me! At that point, I was a total mess. I was bawling, terrified and miserable. It didn't help that the doctor told me that he didn't think I would be getting an epidural. At that very sentence I freaked. I was in so much pain and still only dilated to a 4. I could only imagine what kind of pain I was in for if I didn't get that dang epidural! He said he would call in a pro, another doctor who had been doing epidurals for over 30 years. So I waited another hour in pain (this time it was from my back being stabbed over and over).

I got my epidural, at 4pm. The 5th try is the charm!

Elle joined us at 12:03am on Saturday, May 28th, 2011. I started pushing at 11:20pm and was trying my best to get her here before the next day, but she had other plans. Giving birth was awesome. I felt so proud of myself for doing something that seemed so hard. It was kind of euphoric. I wish I could relive that experience again and again. Elle was the most beautiful little baby and she still is. They put her up on my stomach right when she came out and it was wonderful to finally hold and lay my eyes on my little girl. Danny cut the cord, they cleaned her up and we were able to hold, nurse and snuggle her for a good 2 hours before they whisked her away to do all the tests and stuff they do on babies.

Here is the first picture of our Baby Elle....

To be continued.....

Preparing for Baby Elle

We have been doing lots to prepare for our new addition to our little family. It has been lots of fun getting ready for Baby Elle to join us. Here is a little of what we have been up to the past few months awaiting her arrival.....

Danny had fun putting together all her new things, from the stroller and swing to the new dresser. Here he is figuring out the dresser. He is already such a great Dad.

Here is the finished product!

While Danny stayed busy with the heavy duty items, I took on a few other more cuddly projects. Here are a few of the blankets I was able to make Baby Elle. I can't wait to wrap her up in them.

We don't have the luxury of giving Baby Elle her own room yet but here is her cute little space we have made for her in our room, for the next few months.

Isn't the blanket so so cute....my sister Maryann made it. I just love it!

Baby Shower

Baby Elle and I were given a beautiful Baby Shower on April 9th

By these wonderful people, my sisters and mom.

Lots of people came to celebrate with us. It was so fun to see friends, family and neighbors!

We were blessed with many, many needful gifts! I am so thankful for the love and support that was given to Elle, Danny and I.

And of course there was lots of yummy food. Didn't they all do a great job at making it look so girly and cute. I love my family!

Lisa made this adorable diaper cake. It turned out so stinkin' cute. I just love it!

Thank you againg, to all the wonderful people in my life. I can't wait for Baby Elle to meet all of you!

Pictures of You

Two Little Feet

and Two Little Hands

=

One Little Elle

(sucking on her hand)

Elle

We will call her Elle.

She moves around like crazy these days, with little jabs here and there.

It is the best part of my day...Danny is very jealous.

We get to see her cute little face (if she holds still long enough) this coming Tuesday in another ultrasound. We'll post pictures as soon as we get them!

Ps...we're back to May 25th for the due date (i'm 23 weeks today).

This makes me very happy!

It's a.....GIRL

It is a Girl. I was shocked. I had thought it would be a boy for so long that I think I had convinced myself it was. Danny wanted it to be a girl. After the shock, I was just glad to finally know what we are having. I have been dying to buy a cute little outfit and we did. Man, little girl clothes are a lot more expensive than boy clothes.

When we went in for our ultrasound the Dr. measured our little girls head and determined that we are probably not as far a long as we had calculated. So my new due date is June 6th, 20011! 10 days later than we had thought. Bummer!

It took a while for the dr. to let us know it was a girl. She was just chillin' out sitting indian style covering up the evidence (it was so cute). It took a lot of pushing on her to get her to move into a better position but she finally did. The time before when we saw her on the utrasound she was a crazy little baby, moving around so fast the Dr. could never properly measure her (hence the wrong due date and my possible reasoning for it being a boy). It seems she has calmed down a bit or the space is just getting a little cramped.

Either way, we love her more and more each day and can not wait for the day that we can hold her in our arms!

What's Going On...

We have had a lot of things going on these past few months. I guess it is time to catch everyone up with what's going on. I am still student teaching but counting down the days til I am done in December. Danny is so busy with going to school full time and working full time. We hardly see each other, a few min each morning and then on Saturdays and Sundays. I am so grateful for such a hard working husband. He is so wonderful.
We had the wonderful blessing to be sealed for eternity in the Provo Temple this past Saturday. It was an awesome experience and we are still relishing in the feelings. I am so grateful for the wonderful friends and family that shared in that special moment with us. We were also recently called to serve together as the 9 year old teachers in primary. I am really excited about this and think it will be loads of fun. There are 13 of them. I hope we can keep them under control.
Also.....we are going to be having a BABY!!! Yep. May 25th is the big day. I was going to wait a little longer to tell people but the other day a few of my students were giggling and kept looking at me and then they would giggle again so I asked what was so funny, is my zipper down or something? They just continued to giggle (high school girls) and one of them finally said, "I heard you are having a baby". And she did not say this very quietly, so the whole class turned to look at me. At first I wanted to lie but I final said, "and how did you hear that". She wouldn't confess, but I am pretty sure I know who she got it from. Anyways, by the end of the period I was bombarded with every question in the book, "what are you going to name it", "do you want a boy or a girl", "when are you due" and so on.
So I guess if my students know, the rest of the world can too. So, it is true. We are having a baby!
And that is what's going on. That and a whole lot of nausea, heartburn, and sleepiness!

The Best Part of my Day

Today I became a Skyhawk.

I am proud to say it.

I'll be wavin' my flag.

Go Skyhawks!!

p.s. watch it till the end!

Happenings of Late

At the request of some....I will post again. Give a little update. Fill you in on our life, as exciting as it is. The summer has really gone by in a flash. A HOT (utah county is so much hotter than cache county) flash. My last post was me graduating from the lovely, and ever missed USU. And here it is almost 3 months later at the end of the hot month of July with the first of September fast approaching and bringing with it my first days of teaching. I was to spend this summer reading great books, finishing sewing projects, learning to love exercising again, and preparing with out rush the curriculum I would share with those students at Salem Hills High. Instead I got a summer job at the daycare I worked at when I was 15 and spent most of my days in the hot sun trying to understand why it is so hard for 7-11 year olds to just play nicely together. It wasn't too bad. We went to movies, roller skating, bowling, swimming, arcades, Jump On It and lots of parks....I guess it doesn't hurt to get paid to play. With that behind me it is time to focus on the things I planned to do. Ok, mostly I just need to get my butt in gear and start planning and preparing for teaching.
Starting Sept. 1st I will be teaching Child Development and Clothing I at Salem Hills High as well as helping out with the Interior Design and Fashion Strategies classes. I am really excited but I am as much nervous as I am excited. I am sure the nervousness will dissipate as I prepare more. While I'll be a teacher, Danny will be a student. Danny will be attending UVU and is enrolled full time in the Automotive Technology program. He is pretty excited, finally doing what he has always loved...working on cars and trucks. I am a bit jealous. I am sad that I will not be going to school as a student. I love school. I love reading my textbooks and learning new things and taking tests. Instead I'll be trying to teach new things and be the one giving tests. When we went to UVU and met with his advisor, it really hit me that my undergraduate education has come to a close. I guess I can look forward to my masters someday. I just hope being a teacher will be as great as being a student. Danny will also be working full time at PDM at nights...he is a champ! I am so grateful he is willing to do that for us. I know it will be stressful on him and hopefully I will find a job quickly in December to help lighten the load. That is what the future months have in store for us....here is a little of what we have done the past few months.
Recently, all my brothers and sisters and their families were in town and we got to spend the week of the 24th together and welcome the new addition of Bryson Dennis Gull (John and Heathers forth son) to the family. It was lots of fun. We went swimming, had bbqs and rodeo'd. Earlier this summer Danny and I helped John and Heather move into their new house in Elko. It was fun to get out of Utah, enjoy cooler weather, hot tub, and explore the hills of Elko in the Razor. We also had the really great experience of traveling to Logan and having Dannys dad ordain him to be an Elder. It was amazing the things that were said and the wonderful blessings that will come to our family because of it. We are also looking forward to being sealed in the Provo Temple in September. Among all of these really great things we have also....attended family reunions, found great friends in Shad and Jessica, bought my first Bernia sewing machine, got Big Blue back, and enjoyed our time starting over in a new city as a family of two.
Sorry there are no pictures to make this post interesting...maybe a new camera will inspire me to take pictures...until then, sorry. Hope you enjoyed the post. I'll try to make them more frequent. Thanks for the push, Rachel.

Graduation Day

May 8th, 2010

Utah State University

Family and Consumer Sciences Education

College of Agriculture

Summer Fever

Summer Things, of the Spanish Fork Variety, that I Cant Wait to Do

cool evening walks

bbq's

camping

hiking the Y and Mt. Timp and many others

eating watermelon everyday

tanning at the reservoir

cool morning walks

bike rides in the riverbottoms

boating

tubing

basking in the hot sun

laying on my parents couch as the cold air conditioner hits me

sleeping on the front lawn

picking sun kissed squash and leaf greens from the garden

floating the river

working out

water fights

washing my car by hand

jumping in Payson Lakes

eating Barrys at the park

rodeos

parades

carnivals

Fiesta Days

Texas Twister drinks as said carnivals

Lagoon

Seven Peaks

golfing in the cool evening

night games

river bottom rides

10 o'clock Jonnys Coke

baseball games

batting cages

and the list goes on.

What Will You Be Doing This Summer?

Happy Happy Birthday Madey!

Happy Birthday to my niece Madey Dalton. She is Eleven years old today!

The Top Ten Things I Love About Madey

1. She reminds me so much of me when I was younger
2. She is intelligent beyond words
3. She is hilarious...just read her blog
4. She is incredibly beautiful
5. She cares so much about her family and friends
6. She loves books, school and learning
7. She wants to go on a mission...i like to think i had some part in that
8. She is an amazing writer
9. She always wants to do what is right and is an example of righteousness
10. She is Madey...and that is the best thing I love about her

I love you, Madey. I hope you have a happy birthday!

yUMmiNeSS

Look what we made for dinner tonight!

Danny is a master with the grill (he doesn't let me help)!

They turned out delish!

What I Am Reading

I have been wanting to read this book for quiet some time. I try not to read anything but textbooks during the semester but I couldn't resist. Sometimes I just need a break from learning about xatham gum and starch substitutions in my Food Science book. So far it is a great read. I love the way Jodi Picoult writes.

Moving!!

We are moving! Not quite yet but soon. May. I'm very excited but very apprehensive. Oh yeah, we are moving to Spanish Fork. That is the most important part. I have always dreamed of living in Spanish Fork again and of buying a home there. I just hope I will love it as much as I love my dreams. I love Logan. It has been my home for quite some time. It has given me my lovely husband, my education and many, many friends! It will always have a part of my heart. I know that once I move to Spanish, I will dream of Logan. Isn't that how it always works?


We have decided to move down south because there is so much more opportunity for the business (Xstream Pressure) to grow. Also, the weather there will allow for almost 2 more months of work. By leaving Logan we will be leaving behind some of our weekly clients. Danny will still be doing work through out Utah and Colorado with his Little Caesars contract and some of his other clients in Salt Lake County. But now we will be focusing on Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Moving down south will also provide more job opportunities for me as a teacher.

So...keep your ears and eyes open for us. We need more clients.

Xsteam Pressure provides high pressure washing such as washing contrete for businesses, clean up during construction, outsides of homes, etc. We also provide fire extinguishers and fire extinguishing services, fire supresion systems and hood cleaning for restraunts. We are competative, offer monthly payment plans, owner operated, offer package deals that save a bundle, and will try and beat or meet anyones offer. Give us a call and we will give you a bid.

Xstream Pressure

(435) 881-9226 Danny Hampton
(801) 472-5860 Melanie Hampton
(801) 867-5822 Danny Hampton

100 Pound Count Down

You all talked me in to it. I have to do it. So I did. I started a blog to journal my weight loss journey. The goal...100 pounds! The site...onehundredpoundcountdown.blogspot.com! Check it out. Read it. Follow. Comment.

Dishes VS. Bathroom

Danny just said to me, "I've got a deal for you, I'll do the dishes every single time if you clean the bathroom every single time".
I replied, "Are you serious? So I never have to do the dishes again?"
He said, "Yes. As long as I never have to do the bathroom again".
"DEAL".
I totally just scored! I dont think he realizes what he just did but I'm not going to let him take it back. Plus he can't, we shook on it!

Life

This morning I woke up with the most terrible sinus pain/swollen thoat I have ever experienced. Not fun. Me and Danny have done pretty good this winter not to get sick. We were even talking about this the other day...I guess we didn't knock hard enough on the wood. I hate being sick but I do love that it gives me an excuse to lay on the couch, sleep during the day, make danny get me anything, watch movies and be lazy without feeling too guilty. I even asked Danny this afternoon if he was going to make me some homemade chicken noodle soup, like I do for him. He said yes. I'll let you know if it happens. Although I would probably prefer he just pick it up from somewhere or open a can. I can't emagine him making homemade soup. Enough about me and my poor sickness and on to the more interesting aspects (interesting might not be the word)of our life.
Danny has a BIG test this saturady! He has applied for a securtiy police officer position with INL in Idaho. INL is in Idaho Falls area and is a goverment site. He applied back in Janurary and has been filling out paper work and doing a background check and has been asked to participate in the physical testing for the job (this is a good sign that he is well on his way to getting the job). The physical testing consists of completing a mile run in 8 min 30 sec and running a 40 yard dash from the prone position in 8 sec. Seems simple right? NOT. People who can run a mile in 8 min are those who have been running most of their lifes not those who hate working out and think the gym is a waste of time(that's Danny).
With that said. He has been doing a lot of running and working out lately. And actually has suprised me quite a bit. Me being someone who enjoys working out and believes the gym should be a daily pit stop, has been really suprised at all the improvements he has made. He has gone from not being able to run a mile with out stoping to walk to running a mile without stopping in less than 10min 30 sec. He only has to cut a little less than 2 min off his time to pass the test. And I know he can do it! We pray he can do it! This job will be a great opportunity for him and us. If he got the job we would be moving to Idaho Falls starting in May sometime. We like Idaho Falls. Maryann and Cory live there. It would be an adjustment but it would be one for the better.
Wish us luck! We'll keep you posted on how the run goes! Until then......

To blog or Not to blog....?

So. I have been contemplating this for some time now. I know a few people who have done what I am considering. People tell me it would be great motivation. Something I desperately need. Some even say I should do it. But should I? Creating a blog that would chronicle my journey to lose 100 lbs. Should I?

All of my life I have been concerned about my weight. I've decided that some people are just blessed to never have this be a concern of theirs while others it consumes almost every thought. As is my situation. Being younger, my thoughts were more about looking a certain way. With almost 27 years of life experiences and perspective, its about being healthy and being fit.

But no matter the thought, the motivation to do so hasn't seemed to kick in or want to stay. Over the past 2 years I have gained 100lbs. Sadly this is the 100lbs I lost almost 4 years ago. Yes. 100lbs. When I tell people I want to lose 100lbs they say, "oh no, you'd be too skinny". Come on. Either they are being extremely nice or they have taken a look at my bottom half. I really do have 100lbs to lose. If I lost 100lbs I would be in the correct weight range for my height. And I'm not talkin' the lower end, sadly.

So. Before I gain another pound to add to that 100, I need to find the motivation to get me started and something to keep me going cause it's going to be a long journey. Should I do it? Should I blog about my journey to lose 100lbs? Would you read this blog? Would you be the motivation I need?

Faith in the Future

Sometimes life can be discouraging.

Sometimes the future can look dismall.

Sometimes life seemed easier and less complex way back when.

Sometimes I worry what the future will hold.

Sometimes I get frustrated that I can't just know right now what lies ahead.

Sometimes all of this can be very depressing.

And most of all, Sometimes when you need it the most God reminds you of something

"Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts thatt God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truely is the 'high preist of good things to come' (Hebrews 9:11)"
-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland