Ruth Kendell

My grandmother passed away today. I adore and appreciate my grandmother. When Justin and I went on our honeymoon, she let us use her car because ours were both old and unreliable. She gave us most of the furniture we used in our first unfurnished apartment: couch, bed, dresser, chairs, and TV stand. Growing up, I spent almost every holiday at her home, and it felt almost like my home.

I've spent the last year and a half working on my Grandma Kendell's life story. Justin and I edited and formatted it, and gathered memories from her children and grandchildren to include. It was finished and published the week before I had Anne. I enjoyed learning so much about her life. Here are some photos I took of the finished product.

The little blond girl bottom left is my mom.

My mom, Ann, on the left, and a picture taken on my parents' wedding day on the right.

Luckily Justin had to attend a conference in Salt Lake City in October, so we all went, and I was able to visit with my grandmother (who lived in North Ogden) then. We knew she was having problems with her health, and I felt like I got to say goodbye. 

My children and me with my mom and my grandparents in their home.

Anne and I will fly to Utah this weekend to attend the funeral. I love you, Grandma.

Baby Anne Mamie

 

 

She has grown a lot.

Our first graphing lesson

Blaine was getting bored of playing Uno and started making up his own rules. It evolved into this.

 Then we started asking each other questions like, "Which color has the most cards?" and "By how much?" It was pretty fun.

Woodworking

William and Blaine's summer home school project was learning how to make things out of wood with Daddy.

They started with just a hand saw and nails. . .

 Then graduated to a jigsaw.

This tricycle is one of the kids' favorite toys on the playground, but it was missing a seat. A neighbor suggested that Justin make a new seat for it out of wood. We have some cute pictures of William pulling Blaine and Lucas on the tricycle, but there's a lack of clothing issue, so I'm not going to post them.

Anne Mamie Talbot

When I had my first three children, labor and delivery went about the same each time. My doctor broke my water because I was dilated to 7 or 8 cm, although I didn't feel like I was in labor. Then my baby was born about an hour later.

This time the birth was completely different. 

I had been having contractions for a few weeks, but they were not at all painful and didn't stay regular for very long. My mom arrived Saturday morning. Late Saturday afternoon, I started having contractions that were a bit more painful. Then they stopped. As I was getting ready for bed, they started again, but they were far apart and irregular, and I thought they would probably stop, too, so Justin and I went to bed. 

I tried to sleep through the contractions, but they were getting too painful. Justin told me later he knew I was in labor when instead of saying "feel how hard by belly is" I said "don't touch me" during a contraction. He got up and packed the bag and found food to eat at the hospital while he was waiting. 

I was starting to have to breathe through the contractions, which were about 8 minutes apart. We decided to wait half an hour and if they didn't go away, we would go to the hospital. At my last exam, I was only dilated to 1.5 cm, so I thought I still had plenty of time. 

At about midnight, a little bit before the half hour was up, I said we should leave for the hospital.  Luckily it was the middle of the night, and traffic was light. The drive to the hospital can take more than half an hour in traffic, but we made it in 10 minutes. It took us some time to figure out where to park, then Justin and I walked up to labor and delivery, stopping frequently. I was feeling the contractions in my belly and partially down the front of my legs, and I wanted to sit down and bend over during them.

I got into my room and got my gown on and from then on it's kind of a blur. It felt chaotic. The nurses kept asking me to do things that I didn't want to do. They were trying to monitor the baby, but I didn't want to lie back because it made it harder to deal with the contractions. They had me sign a bunch of papers. I have no idea what I signed. They checked my cervix, and I was 9 cm. During the next contraction, I said, "I feel like pushing" The nurses said "Don't push!" and I said "I can't!"

They tried to get me back on the bed and get the midwife into the room. I didn't want to deliver on my back. I wanted to be on my side or on my hands and knees, but Anne's head came out before I was into any purposeful position. I think the midwife came into the room after the head was out and just before the body came out. The nurses immediately took my baby away and were doing who-knows-what across the room. I started saying, "I want my baby." Finally they gave Anne to me and I breastfed her, while I got a couple of shots in my legs to help my uterus contract because I was bleeding a lot. The midwife also cleaned my uterus out with her hand, which was very uncomfortable, but brief.

Although I preferred the calmness and control I felt during my first three labors, I'm grateful I didn't have a baby in the car or during the walk up to labor and delivery, and that Anne and I are both doing well. We think she's pretty cute.

Talbot, Female

About 10 minutes after reaching the hospital, Amy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at 12:49 Sunday morning. She is 7 lb, 10 oz, 20 inches long, with dark hair. Unfortunately, she did not come with a name, so Mom and Dad will have to select one for her. She and Amy are doing well.

Summer Summary

We've taken one fun trip this summer, to San Diego for a family reunion with Justin's siblings. The highlight for William and Blaine was climbing on Grandma and Grandpa's roof.

We've had grandparents come to visit/work. My Mom came in June to help me put together my grandmother's life story. I'm sure I'll post more about that when it's done.

Justin's parents came to help us move at the end of July. They were a HUGE help. I don't know what we would have done without them. We didn't move far, just across our courtyard. We had to move because Stanford will be renovating the heating system in our old apartment and putting in new windows this year. We moved to an apartment where the renovations have been completed. Here's Grandma cleaning my kitchen. Thank you!

I've been slowing down, taking naps almost every day. Baby girl is due in about 4 weeks.