How could this happen???

So today I was watching 2 little girls for my friend from church. She needed some time to move her house, and clean it because they are moving. She has a little girl that just turned 4 a few weeks ago, and a 2 year old.

Both are great girls, and they love to play with Lyla, so it made for a great day. The girls played and I supervised while doing my normal housework. Peachy, right?

Everything was outstanding until I was straining the pasta to make dinner, and Emma (the 2 year old) yells "It's in my eye!" So I look over in time to see her wiping her eye with a hand that is holding a tube of super glue.

WHAT! In your eye, come on! It was such a wonderful day. Well we washed her eye thoroughly for 5 minutes as she cried (proabably due to my rash, and very quick action of striping her down and tossing her in the tub). So her eye is fine. She was more concerned with her hands.

Things that aren't fine: Her completely encrusted hands that have now hardened to a statue like state. My table top, which she finger painted with super glue (which dries white by the way). The queen size quilt I was making my father for Christmas (She squeezed the remainder of the tube on it, and then proceded to wipe her hands on it too!) And finally, the pedal of my sewing machine, which now has plump lumps of clear glue all over the top of it.

Now, I must say, I am so glad she is fine. And all the rest are just things. Things that can be fixed. The moral of the story is: don't make spaghetti while you are supposed to be watching someone elses child. And definately don't have super glue in the house, even if it is hidden in your sewing room at a height you think is unattainable to a 2 year old. Because your wrong: it is attainable, and it will be found.

Maybe Today... Then Again, Maybe Not

So I've always lived by the motto, "Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can do today," and every morning I make my "to-do today" list with everything I will accomlish.

But this morning was different. I was sitting there in my PJs and I grabbed my paper and pen, and from somewhere deep inside me, my brain made my hand write "maybe today."

I've had a hectic week. Lots of places to be, and things to do. And Lyla is probably feeling a bit neglected. And I have lots left to do before tomorrow and Saturday (they are busy, busy days!) I am having a "Girls-Night Out" at my house for the acheivement day girls (8-11 yr olds), and then hosting a early thanksgiving at my house on Saturday for Jesse's family. Needless to say: Lots left to do!

So why on earth did I write maybe???? I've never done that before, but yet it feels so good. So all day I've been recovering from my busy life. Loafing around in pajamas, doing some mild cleaning (like I said recovering, and life was messy this week!), and just not committing myself to anything too big or too busy.

It feels nice to just "maybe" have to do it, if I want. I think everyone needs a maybe day. Try it, you'll like it!

In response

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to everyone who commented on my "Labour of Love" post. Everyone was really supportive, and it was fun to see how different everyone sees and experiences their labour.

It seems that it is crucial to have a great nurse with you. And I agree. I wish I would have had that the first time around, I think it would have been a completely different experience for me. Hopefully my midwife can be that for me this time.

I also found it fascinating that some of you guys just know that you want pain medication right away, while others just took natural birth by the horns, while others were like me, and just couldn't make it to the end even though we were so close!

I am looking forward to a natural birth because last time the only "recovery" I felt I had was from the epidural. There was no pain except for in my back. And I had a huge bruise the size of a soft ball, and for months I was so sore I couldn't sit back or lay down. (Probably due to the fact they gave me an epidural while Lyla was crowning!!! How did they miss that? Oh, not checking me, yep, that will do it!) Needless to say, if that is avoidable, why not avoid, right?


I am excited about my classes starting though. The first one is next Sunday. And I will probably post about the labour, and let you know if the hypnobirthing worked well for me. I know it won't be "painfree" like they say it can be, but I definately am hoping for a great experience.

And I am grateful for the lovely ladies who suggested getting a blessing first. I got a blessing right before the epidural last time because I was contracting one right on top of the other without breaks in between, and so I was scared I couldn't sit still and I would be paralyzed forever! But after a blessing from Jesse, my contractions stopped completely for a full 10 minutes! But I think that is a great idea to have one at the begining of labour! The priesthood is so amazing, and I know it will help tremendously.

I am also grateful for those mom's who reminded me how beautiful it is after the labour, to feel that rush of love for your baby, and that rush of God's love for you! It really is more important to prepare for raising that baby than it is for preparing for labour.

I remember how alert and calm Lyla was right after birth. Because I didn't have drugs very long before Lyla was actually birthed, she wasn't "drugged", and she was so responsive to me. They say newborns, after they are born are in a hightened state of alertness for 1 to 2 hours after birth that happens at no other time, and fades quickly, and doesn't return for a few months. We locked eyes, and she would wimper if I looked away for spoke to anyone in the room but her. She found my breast all by herself and latched on, she would even mimick my facial expressions. The experience was just incredible!

I think if I keep the end in mind, labour will seem like a way to achieve my goal and my baby. Perhaps it won't seem like an agonizing ordeal to get through, but to embrace, as every contraction brings me closer to my sweet baby boy!

And we haven't stopped yet!

We got lots of comments on our "party post" that we seem to be very busy. Well in typical Tucker fashion, it seems we have jam-packed another week full of busy! But it was a good busy.

This last Friday, Jesse and I decided to go to the Temple. We try to make it once a month, so we snagged a ride with the in-laws, and took Lyla with us. My mother-in-law and I took turns going inside. Apparently while I was inside, it got dark, and so the grounds keepers turned on the Christmas lights, which they had just started putting up.

Lyla was right in the middle of them, and when they came on all she could do was shout "light!" over and over. In fact when I got out there, she was still shouting "light!" every few seconds. I really enjoyed seeing her so excited about the Christmas lights.

So here are just a few pictures of Lyla's wonderous adventure! Then the camera promptly died, so we didn't get lots of shots.

Lights by the Temple Reflection Pool

Just like a bug! She is so drawn to lights!
Lyla running around like crazy out of sheer happiness

So most of you know I'm a clean freak. Or at least my family does. And most of my friends do too. I keep a clean house, and I like it that way. And I try not to do anything too messy, because I don't want a big mess to clean up. But last Thursday I had a moment of weakness, and I decided that painting might be a fun idea.

Because all I could find was acrylic paint, I decided this might be an outside activity. So we spread out a moving blanket, took a plastic top from a broken rubbermaid we had, and we opened the paint and let Lyla go to it! She had a ball, and I did too. I was actually trying to stencil Noah's ark onto a little hat rack to go in her nursery. No pics of that because it turned out mostly awful.

Everything went great, that is until Lyla dumped the water all over the garage and it stained my floor a yucky greenish brown, but we were still having fun. But what really made me decide I was in over my head was when Lyla left nice purple hand prints on our Tahoe. That made me promptly take a water hose to Lyla and the car. After an almost heart attack, I calmly cleaned everything up, and managed to not lose my mind or my temper. I didn't want to ruin Lyla's fun.

Lyla couldn't just stick to her plastic lid, her legs... and eventually her own

belly became her favorite painting canvas. This was early on, she was eventually

covered in paint, head to toe. Even in the hair! Yikes!

Mess maker, mess maker, make me a mess!!!!

Needless to say, it took not one, but two rounds of bathwater to actually get her clean. Lucky for me acrylic paint actually washes off the skin and from the hair pretty easily. Thank goodness.

It was fun to see her having such a ball, now when I let her draw on paper with pencils or crayons, she says "paint, paint!" Nope, sorry Lyla, crayons and paper will have to do for now.

Labour of Love

Labour with Lyla was less than perfect, and this time around I want it to be absolutely beautiful! I want a perfect birth. One where I am allowed to tell people what I think is happening to me, and them believe me. One where I can trust my own body to do what it was miraculously designed to do. Once where I can feel every bit of pain, discomfort, and euphoria. I want to know and feel that I am an amazingly strong woman capable of bring life into this world, undruged and free of complications.

Is this too much to ask? All you moms out there, where you completely happy with the births of your children? Did it empower you and change your lives forever? Well it should have. We are women, we were made to have babies, and that is no small task.

This time around I am taking matter into my own hands. No more being put through the hospital system after they lie to you and tell you that you can have any kind of birth you imagine for yourself within their walls (FYI: nurses usually do the same thing for all women regardless if they need it or not, which causes lots of unneccesary intervention, hence unneccesary complications, hence a c-section rate of 1 in 3 women... come on now, do you really believe God made 30% of women incapable of birth on their own. No he did not, the real statistic is 95 % of women are capable of vaginal birth. So only 5% of all births should have complications, but thanks to induction, epidural, and pitocin, 30% of women are thrust into this "incapable" category... sad but true).

I am birthing at the birth center, and I am preparing myself as much as I can for this birth. Ideally I would like to have a home birth... and before you all look at me like I'm a crazy naturalist, read up on it... it is safer for mom and baby (when attended by a professional midwife), and current day midwives are trained to handle every situation, and they bring oxygen, drugs, and tools for every kind of emergency, including tearing, hemoraging and stuff like that. But our insurance doesn't cover home birth, only the birth center. So the birth will be with a midwife, but not in my own home.

I am also preparing myself by doing a lot of reading which has disspelled a lot of fears that I have had this time around, especially after the trauma of my last labour and delivery. I read "Childbirth without fear", written in the 1950's but still relevant, and currently I am reading "Hypnobirthing". I loved the book so much I enrolled in a class. It is about putting yourself into a state of mind where you are in full control of yourself, but you are relaxed, and so your uterus performs it's functions more efficiently. This makes labour quicker and less painful. I can't wait to start my classes and actually try it during my labour.

Most of you know I'm currently obsessed with this topic. But how can I not be? I just want to be prepared, and knowledge is power. So I read, and I talk, I blog, and I share. The birth and the precious moments afterwards are so rewarding. I want my labour to be empowering for me, and easy for my baby, because it's his ordeal too. So this is my current Labour of Love: Birth.

What did you do ladies do to prepare for your births? Did it work? Would you do it again? Let me know, because I really am open to any suggestions, and all information!

Life's a Party

Party #1 - Jesse's work had a family picnic at Reid Park, and afterwards we went to the zoo

Unfortunately, Jesse took his young men on an overnight campout, and got home later than expected, so we missed the entire picnic (almost, we made it in time to eat a cold hamburger and help clean up). And the huge apple pie that I had made as a side dish to take to the picnic had to be eaten entirely by me. Boo hoo.

But we did have a great time at the zoo. They had a little halloween set-up for pictures, so we got one of Lyla. But she was a bit tired after walking all over the zoo, so no smiles.


Party # 2 - My rad baby shower thrown by the most wonderful girl Camille Degomez

We played some great "Are-you-ready-for-a-boy" games. I will let you decide.

The first game was Name that Truck. Out of the eight trucks, I got 7 right, but I did get both names for Backhoe/Frontloader. I can thank my dad for that one, literally raising us on the seat of a tractor!

The second game was to see how many balls I could throw through a basket ball hoop. I got 9 out of 10. Although I like Trevor's counting better, according to him I got 10 out of 10, granted he was counting all my shots not just the ones I was making... smart little boy!

The third game was to see how many band-aids we could open and put on our partner in a minute. I got 11, and Eevi was the only one to beat me, and she got 12. Unfair advantage... she is a nurse (with mad nursing skills, including band-aid sticking), and she already has a little boy to practice on!

I got some great gifts. Diapers, Balls, adorable little boy outfits, and blankets. I also got a relaxation fountain.... that sucker's definately getting packed for in my ready by the door bag. Watch out labour, I'm coming prepared!

I must say there is a warm fuzzy spot in my heart for the handmade beanies from my friend Rachel! I got a strawberry and a pumpkin. It was just so original, I had never seen anything like them, and they made me laugh!

Party # 3 - My best friend Emily came to visit for the weekend and during her stay we got pedicures, ate some great food at El Charro Cafe, carved pumpkins, and had lots of girl time!

I was so excited to see her. I haven't seen her in 3 years. She was on a mission in Argentina, and then was trying to finish school at BYU-I, so she has been super busy. She is now an amazing spanish teacher in Las Vegas! Nobody makes me laugh like she does, it was such a great escape to just hang out with her this weekend.

No I did not actually eat raw pumpkin inards, but we did roast up the seeds, and eat them later!

Lyla and Daddy putting finishing touches on the pumpkins.

Lyla was running around, and slipped and fell in the pumpkin inards, so she spent the rest of the time with this cute pumpkin bum, and every time she sat down on the concrete she left a little bum print. Needless to say, there was some major hosing down afterwards!

Jesse is such a good dad, he taught Lyla how to play with fire. Safety first in this house hold, yep, that's our motto!

Jesse and Lyla showing off our sweet Jack-o-Lanterns when they were all finished. If you want to know, mine is just a traditional jack, Jesse's is his brand (if he were a cattle rancher : ), and Emily's is a ninja. Clever, Eh?

And here is just a cute picture of my Lyla girl, so happy to play with her pumpkins.

All lit up.

Party # 4 - Our ward Halloween carnival. We only got one picture, and that was on the way into the carnival. We were overtaken by Chile and Cornbread, and little cupcakes with candy corns on them, so naturally the camera took a back seat.

Party # 5 - Indian fry bread dinner at the Tucker's house on halloween. I don't have any pictures of this, but I can say that there was a lot of candy, cookies and cupcakes involved. It was great to see Jesse's family. And unfortunately we had to say goodbye to his sweet sister Erin and her family because they are moving to Texas. We will miss you guys!!!

Well that about does it for the parties. Phewwww! But I do have more pictures:

Lyla and Jesse outside on Halloween night, plugging in the lights, and preparing to give candy to trick or treaters.

And here are pictures of Lyla in her costume. I know there are alot, but she was just so darn cute. I think the highlight of my night was when some one said, "you must of made that yourself, they just don't make dresses like that anymore!" Yep I did. And it was insane. It took 8 yards of fabric, 7 yards of lace, 1 spool of thread, and 3 days to make! Thank goodness my Grandma Ginger had just cleaned out her garage and donated all her years of collected fabric, lace, and notions to me. So the costume was 100% free! To bad we can't use it next year for Spencer, yeah, I don't see that going well at all.

Poor Lyla was a heap of puffiness, but it was so adorable. She was trying to eat M&M's while wearing the dress, but she couldn't get them in her mouth because the lace on her cuffs got in the way! So here are some pictures of our "Little Bo Peep".

Oh, and these pictures are for Dani! She sent me this sweet pattern to make a wrap shirt. So I decided to whip it up (really it was so simple it only took 2 hours to make). It is cuter in real life than in the pictures, it looks like a bunch of gathered fabric and then just ties on the side.

Well, that had to be the largest post in Camry history. But it was fun filled couple weeks! Now we are looking forward to November so:

HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYONE!!!