Magic Happens

A (Utah Ute fan) friend at work sent me this earlier today:

This was my response:

Baby Bubbles!

So he's finally arrived, baby bubbles (as the boys call him)!  I'll let Steph tell the details when she's up to it. But here's the events of the weekend.  On Saturday Steph was having some painful cramping/contractions so we went in to the hospital to get checked out.  About 2 hours later we were back home.  Sunday was fairly uneventful (at least as far as pregnancy goes).  Then Steph's water broke around 3:15am (why is it always so dang early). After waiting just a little bit her contractions were clocking in around every 5-7 minutes and since we knew we were having a c-section we didn't want to let labor set in too much so away to the hospital we went.  Big thanks to Stephanie Grant for coming over in the middle of the night and staying with our boys!

So beautiful, even at 4am mid contraction

Yes I'm wearing BYU apparel. . . GO COUGS!

At 6:59am our little guy was born.  Owen Edwin Partridge weighed in at 7lbs 6oz, and is 20" long.  Here are a few pictures detailing his first few hours on this side of the veil!

Less than 2 minutes old!

Still trying to figure things out.

Hello mommy. . . nice to finally meet your outsides!

Would you turn that flash off already!

Are we done yet? I seem to be the only one without clothes and I'm cold!

Score!

Hyrum improved a ton with his soccer compared to last year. It's still a blast watching 3-4 year olds running around on the field.  Tonight was his last game and he was SOOO excited to have scored 2 goals (even with a little help from the opposing team on the last one:)).  He still has a lot to learn about the sport if he wants to continue playing, but I did get a kick out of him explaining to me that the red team were the bad guys and he had to get the ball away from them.

 And this is great proof of the success that was had on the field considering the lack of attention span for one picture:)

Noah loves walking around with his tummy poking out and talking about the 'baby in his tummy'.  Brett got a shot of the boys in action.  They're excited for their new little brother, as am I.  The past few days have been pretty tough on my body.  Usually when I stand up from a sitting position it takes me a moment to align myself, because I always feel like he's about to fall out.  . . really.  I've been having a lot of contractions and am pretty surprised I haven't gone into full labor yet. . . we'll see what the weekend brings:)

Has anyone else been having problems with blogger and their pictures getting centered weird, or is it just me?

SOS and Age SOS

It's a great week! This weekend some of the Partridges were in town for a BYU soccer game and to visit Grandma Partridge. It was really nice being able to spend time with the family. Brett got to watch the game and go golfing. I was very happy to discover that my two older nephews were looking to earn a few dollars. . . best thing for a 9months pregnant women to hear:)! I put the boys to work and they did a great job doing some of the work that I have quit doing.

Oh, and Brett and I are both growing the ripe old age of 29 this week. It's going to be a fun year as we approach the big 3-0! It's a great time to be adding another little baby into the family.

One Fine Week

I'm really starting to feel the crunch to get things done as I get bigger and bigger and the end of this pregnancy is nearing.  Only a few weeks left before our family of 4 becomes a family of 5 and Brett and I will officially be outnumbered.  There are moments where I feel very stressed when I think about what there is left to do still before Little Man #3 comes along, but overall I feel at peace.  Half of my to do list is done and I'm hoping to complete the rest in the next couple of week (cross my fingers).  With September coming up this week I ought to pack a hospital bag and get babies clothes out of storage and washed.  The 21st will sneak up on us quickly and I really hope that the little dude doesn't decide to come early:).  One of the things we were planning on getting just before the baby came was a MonsterSac for the boys to have fun with and give a little more seating in our basement.  The fun has begun and they can't get enough of the 'fluffy couch'.  

 We had a ward social this weekend that was a blast!  We spent some time on tubes and Hryum LOVED it!!! He kept begging to go faster and faster.  He rode on a tube with one of our cute Young Women and would have loved to stay on all day long.  Noah, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind it too much but had no desire to go back on.  Evidently it was too noisy for him, because he insisted on covering his ears the whole time.  The wave-runner was also really fun, but most of the fun was had by Brett. . . ok, I went on it too. .  weeee!

I feel so blessed to have a flourishing garden this year.  The boys really love spending time checking on the plants and picking the zucchini, strawberries, and raspberries.  We've probably had close to a dozen zucchini now.  Hyrum and Noah both take turns peeling and shredding the zucchini to make goodies.  We've frozen enough to sustain us through the winter and have made lots of goodies.  I really love eating the fruits of our labors.   Hyrum wanted to show the camera his work:)

  Yes, the picture is a little bit blurry, but I haven't updated my huge belly for a while.  So this is me at 35 1/2 weeks!  This will probably be the last update picture before baby time is go for launch.

Beginnings

 Today was Hyrum's first day of Preschool!  It was perfect.  I'm really excited for the friends he'll make, the things he'll learn, and the change of environment that will feed his curiosity about the world.  Finding the right fit of a preschool for him was a little scary when we were looking into several options last year, but we are very happy with where he's going.  He is one of 12 students in his classroom.  He has his own cubby that he picked out (with a red bear, because red is his favorite color).  He has his own special school bag/tote that he will take with him every school day.  He also loves talking about how he goes to the 'apple school', because it has a picture of a large apple on the front.  This is the perfect time for him to explore his independence and do something all by himself.  Noah is also using this time without Hyrum around to further explore his independence (not that he had a problem with that before).  Today after we took Hyrum to school we came back home and I hopped in the shower.  Noah decided to get out the container of muffins in the fridge, eat off all the frosting on them, and then place the bare muffins back in the container in the fridge.  I could write a book of all the mischievous things he does when he knows no one is watching.  Anyway,  it will be a fun year and I'm happy for Hyrum and also for the alone time I will be able to spend with my little sneak too:).  

In other Hyrum happenings: our Primary is getting ready for the next Primary Program and sent us home with a little question-air for us to fill out with Hyrum.  They asked us to just write down what he answered honestly.  This was a really fun thing to do and to listen to the things he said and how he responded.  Some of the answers crack me up, but I was really impressed by his understanding.  Enjoy!:

Q: Why is it important to make a plan and follow it?

A: "Because we can make good choices"

Q: Where can we find Heavenly Father's plan for us?

A: "Outer space"

Q: Who are you?

A: "Hyrum"

Q: Where did you come from?

A: "uhh, from Wal Mart. . . from my house: Hyrum's house"

Q: Why are you here, on earth?

A: "because Jesus is in space and he doesn't want our bodies to disappear"

Q: What will happen to us after we die?

A: "We go under ground and someone will write my name on a stone.  Then my spirit will go to outer space with Jesus Christ and maybe Heavenly Father."

Q: What is one thing Jesus created that is important to you?

A: "Our house.  The earth."

Q: Why are families so important in Heavenly Father's plan?

A: "Because they love each other and do nice things, and then we can be together forever."

Q: How do you feel when you keep the commandments?

A: "Happy! Happy! Happy!"

Q: How can you follow God's plan?

A:  "Making good choices and doing good things, use scripture power to win against Sati. . . (I think he forgot his name)uh, against mean guys." 

Things to Learn

Saturdays have been full of projects lately and it's been great to get things checked off my To Do list before the baby comes in just over a month!  This last Saturday afternoon was dedicated to projects and the boys were our little helpers.  Brett was in the basement fixing our internet and I was up in the boys room mounting a bookshelf.  Hyrum was going back and forth between Brett and I.  For a while Hyrum left me and it was just Noah and I.  Noah and I had some great bonding time and after the bookcase was hung I read to him several of the books that I was attempting to organize.  Things seemed to be pretty quiet downstairs, but I could hear Brett talking to Hyrum on the main floor so we ventured to see what they were up to.  I came to find out that Brett thought  Hyrum was with me and I thought he was with Brett, but he was in fact getting acquainted with some of my quilting things by himself.   He had watched me use my rotary blade tool that morning.  I had told him very sternly that morning that they were not aloud to touch it because it was very dangerous, and that is why we kept it behind a locked door.  However, with Brett working on the internet the door was open and he quietly went in and was trying to help me cut out the fabric I hadn't finished cutting out that morning.  He cut his finger.  He was bleeding.  He snuck upstairs without us knowing any of this was going on, and wrapped his finger in some toilet paper and a paper towel, and then hid under the kitchen table.  We don't know how long he was under there when Brett found him hiding.  He was acting very ashamed and told Brett that he was hiding because he didn't want us to know he got hurt using my tool.  I'm sure you can imagine the long talk we had with him right then and have had with him a few times since.  It made me heartbroken to think of him hiding under the table, hurt, and ashamed and afraid to talk to us.  I hope he never feels that way again.  Over the past few days I've thought about this incidence over and over again.  It's incredible how it takes a child to help us see our own inadequacies.  I can't help but imagine myself in Hyrum's position at various points in my life.  I thought I knew better.  I thought the warnings or the rules were not for me, or that I didn't need them.  I thought the results would be different.  No matter what the reason may have been, the warnings were there, and they were ignored.  That's when I hide, feel ashamed, hope no one finds out, and cover my tracks.  How heartbreaking it must be for my Father in Heaven to see his child like this.  He would want me to come and get help; feel sorrow and admit my fault, but then allow him to hold me and make me feel better.  Why is it so hard for us to see ourselves as being no different from a small child with a cut hiding under a table.  Standing back we see how ridiculous it is for us to deny our mistakes and shortcomings when someone is there to help and comfort us.  The healing power of the Atonement is a beautiful thing available to all of us, but we must be willing to get out from under the table and face the hurt.  I love my little boys so much and hope that they never feel when they have done wrong or are hurt that they must face it alone.  My arms are always open for my boys and I know that my God's arms are open to us all.