The Book Thief

Our county library has been recommending this book all summer, so I finally decided to check it out. I had no idea what it was about. It's an engaging novel set in Munich, Germany during World War II. Narrated by Death, and revolving around a girl who is sent to live with a foster family, it's one of the best books I've read in a long time. I really enjoyed the author's colorful wording of every day occurances. He's very good at creating a visual picture of the story as you read. The foreshadowing throughout the book was done in such a manner as to keep you reading, even though you know what the most likely ending of the story is. It's a book about Hitler, Germans, Jews, and World War II. You know people that you will come to care about throughout the book are going to die. Death's narration sort of makes that part easier, as He tries to convince himself that most humans are worthwhile creatures... since most of what He sees are the harsh and negative aspects of human existence. A novel that makes you think, and fleshes out another side of history- the Germans who were human and knew that what Hitler was doing was wrong. I really enjoyed it.

Little Pumpkin

What a fun almost two weeks it's been. Tessa is still a very sweet, content baby. She only cries if she's hungry or needs her diaper changed. Most nights she wakes up to nurse about every 3-4 hours and then goes right back to sleep. Sometimes Tess decides she needs Daddy time, and since he's sort of a night owl he stays up with her. I really appreciate him staying up... it's nice for me to stay mostly caught up on sleep. 

Tessa's tummy has been a little upset for the last couple of days, so I'm worried that we might not have escaped the Pemberton Curse... apparently the nursing babies don't handle dairy in their milk. So, I'm cutting WAY back on dairy for a few days, and then I'll try it again and see what happens. It also may have been the pepperoni pizza I had on Saturday...
Here are some fun pics of the second week of Life...

Meeting Papa Teddy (who was in Utah for the Elk Hunt... he got a big one with his once-in-a-lifetime-permit!)
Posing in the Belly Cast - how do babies handle being cramped in there for so long?

Posing by the Belly Cast... thanks Stacy for making this for me! It was really fun to paint it, and fun to have.

Cute little smiles... she looks so much like Macy sometimes! I'll have to find a baby pic of Macy to show you the comparison.

Proud Big Sister

Tessa Marie Pemberton

Welcome to our sweet baby girl, Tessa Marie!

Born: September 11, 2008 1:11 a.m.

Weight: 8 lbs 13 oz

Height: 20 1/4 inches

She is a very sweet girl... so far she hardly cries at all. She spends a few minutes in the morning and a few in the evening time opening her eyes to check out things around her. We have seen a couple of fleeting grins... I don't believe the theory about it being gas. :)

The birth went very well, here at our home. We were attended by our midwife, Melissa Mayo, and my friend Stacy Smith who is a doula. Labor started at 4:05 pm on the 10th, with contractions around 5-7 minutes apart. We ordered pizza and sent the kids to Gma and Gpa Baguley's house for the night.

When Melissa arrived around 7:15, the contractions were closer to 3-5 min apart, and slightly stronger. Stacy came around 8:00. Us girls had a good time chatting about birth experiences and other things. Poor Robert felt out-estrongen-ed, (good word, eh?), and tried to hang around, but periodically would go downstairs to play WOW for a few minutes at a time. He came up around 9:00 when I decided to get in the birth pool (spa), and got in with me. We turned the movie "Stardust" on for distraction and background noise.
My contractions got stronger as we were in the water, and about the time the movie was ending I was entering the hard part of labor. From about 11:00 until midnight we labored in the water. Robert was so supportive- it was great to have him apply pressure to my lower back during contractions. He did a great job of answering my requests for help. I started to get really tired and would actually float on my back while leaning my head on Rob and sleep for a few seconds between contractions. That was surreal- I could tell what was going on, so I wasn't deeply asleep, but it was nice to relax a little bit at a time. It was also weird to wake up to a really strong contraction. Putting my hands on the bottom of the pool and pushing upward seemed to help relieve the pain of contractions. By the next day I felt like I had done 100 pushups... my arms were exhausted!

I was only dilated to an 8 by midnight or so, and yet was feeling worn out and ready to start pushing. I changed positions so I was on my knees and leaning over the side of the tub and that helped finish off the last 2 centimeters. I remember thinking that it was never going to end, that it would just get worse and worse forever. I tried to be strong, but I was so tired. Pretty soon I felt I was ready to push. I was worried about pushing too hard, for various reasons, but my body didn't care. I felt like I was pushing so hard, and it was so difficult! Tessa's head started to crown, but my legs were cramping so somehow I reverted back to my sitting position with Robert behind me. We pushed her the rest of the way out, and my sweet baby girl was brought up to my chest for me to see. She is so beautiful!
Melissa worked on helping Tessa to breathe and clear out her mouth and throat before the umbilical cord was cut. We got to hold her for a few minutes and she was so good. Robert was able to cut the cord, then we sat and relaxed for a few more minutes. Then Rob got out of the pool and cleaned up, then held Tessa while Melissa and Stacy helped me get out and clean up. Robert got to hold her for about an hour and he said that he felt a really strong bond with her right from the start. It was so special and wonderful to have him play such an integral part in our daughter's birth.
Tessa cried when she was being weighed and measured. We all couldn't believe she weighed so much, so we weighed her 3 times! She is 1 lb and 10 oz bigger than Macy was, so no WONDER it was so hard for me to push her out! lol She's a little stockier and chunkier than Macy was, but she has just as much long, dark hair. Tess did a good job of nursing the first time. We worked on that for a few minutes, then Rob got to cuddle her a little bit longer while Melissa sewed up a tiny tear. Melissa left and we finally got to sleep around 4:00 am.
On Thursday we were all pretty exhausted.
Mom and Janelle brought all the kids over to meet Tessa before Kaleb and Elise went to school. They all got a chance to hold her. Then Mom kept Macy and Isaak all day, so that was helpful- we were able to just rest. Mom did come over again around 1:00 and gave Tessa a bath and held her while I showered.Rob was able to stay home from work that day. Michelle came and took Kaleb, Elise, and Isaak for the evening, and Macy got to play with her friend Addy for a bit.When all the kids were back here, we sent them over to Mom and Dad's for one more night. That night Tess was up from about 11:00 until 4:00 off and on, so that was pretty rough. But last night she only woke up to nurse about every 2-3 hours, and otherwise slept, so that really helped make up for it. My milk is coming in, so she's getting more out of a feeding and staying asleep longer in between.

I bathed her again today, then we took her outside for a sunbath for a few minutes. She has a tiny bit of jaundice. She really liked being naked in the sun- it was so warm. I brought her in and dressed her and laid her on our bed. She opened her eyes and looked at all the kids for a few minutes while they talked to her and Rob videotaped them all. Each of the kids got a chance to hold Tessa while I was in the shower.

It has been a fun, eventful, happy, wonderful few days. Robert and the kids have done a really good job of taking care of Tessa and I... doing chores, bringing me food, helping with Tessa, etc. We are so grateful that our sweet little girl is here and look forward to the joy and happiness she will add to our family!

Random Tagging

Well, since I have nothing better to do (like organizing my basement closet or cleaning my bedroom or scrubbing walls) while I wait for this baby to decide she's ready to come, I am grateful to my friend Kristi for tagging me. Now I have to scrounge up some brain power to think of 6 random things about myself for your viewing pleasure. :)

Random Fact #1: I hate having "stuff" on my hands... anything sticky, slimy, or in any way yucky has got to go ASAP. I wash my hands all the time. The only thing I can handle is lotion. It's been that way since I was little... ask my mom. 

Random Fact #2: I have worked at no less than 16 jobs since I started babysitting at the age of 9. Here's the list (not necessarily in order)... Babysitter, River Queen, Nacho Fast, UVSC Special Events, Provo Craft Warehouse, Ballard Medical (only job I ever got fired from... cause I hated waking up early to get there), Food Storage Surveyor (can't remember company name), UniBase/ACS, American Express, Target, Hallmark, The Disney Store, AutoSert, Violin Teacher, Symmetry, Tastefully Simple. (I moved around so much cause I hate having a boss!... which is why I do what I do now- I'm my OWN boss!) :)

Random Fact #3: Frozen Grapes are my new favorite snack food. Thank you Jen for telling me about them!

Random Fact #4: I have played the violin for 20 years, and never had to memorize a song until I started training as a Suzuki Teacher a year ago. I wish I had, cause the older I get the harder it is to memorize things!

Random Fact #5: I used to be "allergic" to various fruits and veggies - from my teenage years to my early 20's. They would give me canker sores on my tongue and lips. I've since determined that it must have been the pesticides used, in most cases, because home grown items never bothered me. And most of the time they don't bother me now- I always make sure to wash them really good first.

Random Fact #6: I collect keychains from every state I've ever been to. So far I have been to 28 states and it's my goal to visit them all before I die- even if I just drive through them, or stop at a layover on an airplane. (The one below is from Hawaii, which I've been to twice... but it's been 10 years since the last time! *hint, hint* Rob...)
Now I'm going to tag Kristine, Steph, Courtney, Angela, Robert (you can post here too, hon!), and one of you other people who has a blog that I don't know the address to. This was fun- I especially enjoyed stealing images from stock files to make my post cute. :)

Here are the "rules" ...
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let the person know you tagged them on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when you've posted.