December in Utah

I am not a huge fan of the cold. Actually, I don't like it at all. So I wasn't super excited about moving back to Utah where they have real winters. But... I love that Savannah gets to experience the winter. She has had a lot of fun playing in the snow and the cold doesn't seem to bother her. Daily I find her silkie blanket in the freezer because "it is too hot" and she likes it cold. Since I spent a significant amount of my childhood playing in the Alaskan snow I love seeing Savannah playing in the snow. There are supposed to be 3 snow storms this week. I can't wait!

Here is one of Justin's latest smiles. We can't quite "make" him smile yet but he seems to smile quite often on his own. Then again, Savannah who is fully capable of smiling WILL NOT smile AND look at the camera at the same time. It is such a shame because she has always been photogenic. But even if she is pulling a crazy face, I still think she is a cutie pie!

9 days later...

Savannah dreaming of the beach???

Smiling in his sleep.

1 week old

Alrighty. It has only taken me 9 days to get back into the swing of things. I've finally checked my email, downloaded my photos, and checked up on a bunch of blogs for the first time since Justin was born. Thanks to everyone who wrote such nice and supportive comments on our blog. It is so fun to hear from our friends and family near and far.

This week was my first week at home alone with two kids. Craig had to return to work on Monday and I was a bit nervous to see how the day would go. To put me to the test, Justin woke up that morning with his eye gooped shut. I took him to the doctor and he just has a blocked tear duct. But of course I was thinking he somehow already got pinkeye or that his eyeball had exploded (there was lots of oozing puss). So far so good though being a mom of two. We did have one moment that all 3 of us were crying at the same time but we are surviving.

Savannah is really cute with Justin. She is eager to help out however she can. She is good at entertaining Justin when he is crying. I love watching a little relationship develop between the two of them. It makes me want more kids, until I realize my youngest is 9 days old!

Savannah's Playground featuring J.Z.

It's 3 days home from the hospital and all is well. Kristi is up and at it and Justin is getting the hang of things here at Savannah's pad. I have really enjoyed taking some time off during Justin's arrival. I've spent some great time with the family and watched more sports than in any 5 day period of my life!! Unfortunately, the dream life ends tomorrow and it's back to work. Happy Holidays everybody. I hope we can continue to be in touch.

Home from hospital

Savannah holding Justin for 1st time

Heading home from hospital

Yesterday (Thursday) at 1:30 we returned home from the hospital. I am happy to report that everything is going well for both Kristi and the baby. All in all, we had a great stay at American Fork Hospital. The facilities were nice and comfortable and the nurses and support crew were also very nice and accommodating. From my end, I think I kept the little snack bar on the first floor in business. I must have put on 5 lbs. in cheese burgers and oreo shakes. But the most fun was trying to order the food from the 80 year old volunteer ladies that work there! They were awesome.

Kristi is recuperating very well and is in great spirits. She's had a few fun moments with the whole nursing thing, but she's getting it down. It seems that Justin likes to be awake more between the hours of 10pm and 4am. And then sleeps well from 5am to 11am or so. But he's doing great, looking great, and we're having fun with him. Savannah is being a super big sister. She told a complete stranger walking out of the hospital yesterday, "Hey, I'm a big sister now." She likes to hold Justin, give him his binky, and kiss him on the head. So far I haven't detected any jealousy, but I am trying to make sure that while I'm still home from work that I'm playing with her as much as possible. She really is the cutest little girl in the world and it's so much fun to interact with her.

That's it for now. We appreciate all the love and support from family and friends. You all are great!

Welcome Baby Justin!!

Well, it's been a long but rewarding day. Justin Zera Colyar was born today, November 27th at 5:02pm. He weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs. 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Both mom and baby are healthy and doing very well. Kristi was an absolute trooper through the entire process! We arrived at the hospital this morning around 7:00am. By 7:45 they had oxytocin in her system to induce labor. She started the process dilated to 1cm and 70% efaced. At about 9:15 the contractions began and they came strong and frequent. By 11:15 she had her epidural - this was the best call of the day! At 12:10 she was dilated to 2cm. We thought we were in for the long haul...maybe a 10 - 11pm delivery. But to our fortune, just two hours later she was at 6cm and an hour after that she was 9+ and ready to start the pushing. After an hour and 15 minutes of pushing (during which, I might add, Kristi said to me, "Craig, you're actually helping more than I thought you would.") our little guy made his grand entrance. He had a good set of lungs on him from the get-go and we could tell he got his mom's good looks. The second "thing" they delivered looked more like me!

Where did Justin's name come from? Justin is my grandpa Colyar's name and it's also my middle name. We also liked the rodeo aspect and the fact that Justin is a brand of cowboy boots and other yeehaw apparel. (Can y'all tell it's late?). Zera is also a family name. Kristi's dad's middle name is Zera and he is a phenomenal man. This name was given to him after a great grandfather, Zera Pulsipher, who preached the gospel to and baptized Wilford Woodruff. Kristi is fond of the unique factor of the name and I like the fact that I can now call my boy Jay-Z.

Thanks to everyone who supported us through this pregnancy and to the events that led up to the pregnancy. We have way too many people to thank for their influence and support. But I do want to give special recognition to all of Kristi's amazing friends in Texas. You all really had a huge role in making this happen and we're very grateful for you. From Hilary Weber who referred us to Dr. Rodriguez and helped us have the courage to try in-vitro again to Angie, Kellie, Nikki, Sarita, Cristie, and Nicole and many others who helped watch Savannah and gave Kristi all kinds of moral support...we thank you in a big way. We love you and miss you!

And of course, thanks to our dear family who is always behind us 110%. What a blessing you are to us in our life. We are so lucky to have you all. And I just have to say....seeing this little baby reminds me of when we got Savannah. And while we weren't able to see and experience her actual birth, her arrival to us was the most special miracle we have ever been a part of. Savannah is our angel from heaven (just ask her if you don't believe me!). She melts my heart every single day. We feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to have both of these children. Well....sorry for the long entry here. Next time I'll put it in chapters and verses.

Modern Medicine is a Miracle

Since this baby apparently doesn't want to come out on his own, tomorrow we are going to force him out. We have an appointment tomorrow at 7:00am to get the induction started. I am really thankful for modern medicine because it is what got me pregnant in the first place... and now it will get me unpregnant.

I would say I've overall had a great pregnancy, I just can't seem to get it started or stopped on my own. So... thanks to all the doctors who figured it out for me!

Shout Out to My Christmas Elves

When my sister Lynne was here for Thanksgiving weekend she helped me set up my Christmas tree. She actually did all of the decorating while I sat on the couch and handed her ornaments. It was such a big help to me!

And last week Danny and Mont put up our Christmas lights! I love having Christmas lights and didn't know if it would end up happening with this baby coming, but they got them up and I think they look great.

THANKS TO ALL OF MY CHRISTMAS HELPERS!!!

p.s. no baby yet

Happy Thanksgiving & NO BABY YET

Hello Y'all!! Well, this is Craig here and I figured I'd better learn how to put a post up on this thing so that I can keep it up to date when the baby arrives. We had a very nice Thanksgiving on Thursday at my parents' home in Orem. It had been awhile since we'd been with family for Thanksgiving and we had a great time. Though I have to admit that I missed hosting turkey dinner at our place with my work friends in Texas.

Today was a fantastic day as BYU beat Utah 17 - 10 and sured up 1st place in the conference. It's also been a fun day as Kristi's sister Lynne and her family are here staying with us, and her kids are a blast to play with!

As you read in the title, our baby is still not here. Kristi's due date was 5 days ago, but we're still anxiously waiting for nature to take its course. If we don't have a baby by Tuesday then they'll go ahead and induce. So no matter what, at this time next week we'll have our little guy here!!

Kristi had fun making a ginger bread house with Savannah on Thanksgiving Day...I and enjoyed eating most of the candy. This other photo is Savannah with my Grandma, Delphia Colyar. She's 85 years old now and is one of my heroes in life. She is such a sharp lady and has always been such a huge support to me and my family. I'm proud to be part of her family and am so happy that she's still with us....she's the best.

We'll try to hang in there while we wait for the baby to come. Our feeling is that we'll wind up having him on Tuesday, but you never know. Thanks to everyone for your interest and concern for Kristi and our family. Kristi has been an amazing trooper and she appreciates all of your support.

Not too much going on

I know whenever I have a friend who is pregnant and it gets close to the due date, I wonder and wonder if they have had their baby. I try not to bug them and ask but cannot help myself and ask anyways probably driving them crazy. Well, I thought I'd just put up another post just in case anyone is wondering... I'm still pregnant. And by the way, it doesn't bug me if people ask. Not yet anyways! My official due date is tomorrow. I cannot believe it is already here. In ways it seemed like this day would NEVER get here but then when I think back to where we started I can't believe it is almost all over.

We had a great weekend. A lot of relaxing at home. Craig got some things done around the house and I got some Christmas shopping done. All in all, a great weekend, especially since BYU won!

Still Pregnant

I thought I'd add a post to mention I'm still pregnant just in case anyone is curious. I had a doctors appointment today and everything is the same. I've made no more progress since my appointment last week so we will just have to wait and see how things turn out. I do have another appointmet scheduled for Tuesday which will be nice to have a little update before Thanskgiving.

But the good news is that the baby seems to be doing good and my body continues to handle the pregnancy well. So... I will just have to wait. Maybe the baby is waiting for us to decide on a name before he makes his grand arrival. Hopefully not, because we still cannot decide. At least we are talking about it now... but getting nowhere.

Beautiful Savannah

My sister Lynne took these pictures of Savannah back in September. It isn't hard to see why she has both of us wrapped around her little finger!

Happy Birthday Isaac!!!

Happy Birthday to my cute nephew Isaac! He turned 6 years old today. I can easily remember when he was born and cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Here is one of my favorite pictures of he and Craig taken back in 2004.

Baby Update

First of all... I'm still pregnant. No baby yet. But today I did have a doctor appointment and I'll just say I'm making progress. I'll spare you the specific details about my reproductive system but I was excited to find out that at least "something" is going on and getting ready for this baby to come out. Does anyone have any predictions on when this baby will come? Or how big he will be? Please share!

Our friends Sara and German Galaso had their twin girls earlier this week. They are very cute! Congratulations!

I got an interesting fortune in my fortune cookie the other day. It said, "The coming month shall bring winds of change in your life." DUH!

Telos Turkey Trot Tri

On Saturday Craig participated in another triathlon. It was the Telos Turkey Trot Tri in Orem. He was able to finish about 10 minutes faster than his last tri. His brother Chad did it with him. The had a lot of fun training together. It was Chad's first tri and he actually beat Craig by 7 seconds. Way to go Chad! Our friend Casey finished 1st place overall. And Cheryl took first in the women's division of the 5K.

Happy Halloween

Savannah was Super Girl for Halloween. She loved her pink sparkly costume and really liked trick or treating. She did a good job at remembering to say "trick or treat" and "thank you". We stopped by Craig's work during the day and just happened to be there in time to see the costume contest. Each contestant would say their name and what they dressed up as. Savannah said she wanted to go down and talk into the microphone so Craig took her down in front of about 200 people and in the microphone she said, "I'm Savannah and I'm Super Girl." I was so proud!

Cornbelly's

We spent the evening at Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. It was fun and had great activities for the kids.

Savannah and Blake on the "cow train".
My cute farmers!
Savannah playing tetherball and I've apparently hid a tetherball under my shirt.

We Are In

Well, we are officially living in our new home. We were able to get the keys on Friday the 12th. On Saturday our moving truck showed up to unload all of our stuff. 8 hours later the unload was finished. (Slowest process in the world!) Tuesday night was the first night we slept in our house, just in time for Craig to get up and fly to Cancun the next morning.

We are pretty much unpacked. All the things we need are out and the decorations and things I don't want to deal with yet are hidden in the basement. So I'm feeling pretty good about things. It will just be nice when we are able to get cable tv and internet (hint, hint Craig!).

Baby boy seems to be doing well. He is moving around a bunch and I managed to gain 6 pounds in the last two weeks!! Yikes! Hopefully now that Craig will stay in town for the next month or so we will have time to sit down and figure out a name.

Induction Date

At my doctors appointment this week he gave me a "worst case scenario" induction date. November 27th. This is 8 days past my due date but it is nice to know that there is an end in sight. I am now trying to forget all about my original due date (November 19th) and count down to the "new" one.

Rumor has it that we should get the keys to our new house tomorrow! Yipee!

Our latest

Craig watching General Conference (after a 60 mile bike ride and a 3.5 hour drive home).

We drove the Alpine Loop to enjoy the fall colors.

I hope...

This week is a big hopeful week for us. We hope to close on our house this Wednesday and then hope our moving truck shows up any day between Wednesday and Sunday with all of our stuff and we hope it is not all broken! I hope, I hope, I hope. And not very important but I hope the fridge I ordered from Sears actually fits into the place the fridge is supposed to go. From Craig's measurements we have 1/4 inch to spare but I don't know how confident I am with his measurements now that we are down to a 1/4 inch.

I am officially ready to get moved into our own place and get settled and hope to get some things back to normal. We've been "houseless" since August 30th so it is starting to feel like a long time now. We have been staying with Craig's parents and they have been super hospitable. Savannah loves living with them and I think it will a battle when we try to move out because she likes being with them so much. It will just be nice to have Savannah in her own room and to mentally feel like I am settled before the baby boy arrives.

Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks pregnant, leaving 6 weeks until the due date. We found out we were getting Savannah exactly 6 weeks before her due date. I wonder what will go faster. Waiting to adopt or waiting to deliver? My guess is waiting to adopt because of all the unknowns but I am not as yet very uncomfortable so I could very well be wrong. All along Craig and I have said we would wait until we only had 6 weeks left in the pregnancy to start talking about baby names. We figured we figured it out with Savannah under the pressure so we would try that method again. So... tomorrow the name game begins.

This weekend Craig did a 70 mile road bike race in Moab. Well, he was supposed to but the race people closed the top of the mountain climb because it was snowing and becoming dangerous so he was only able to complete 59 of the miles. Other than absolutely freezing to death and wrecking on his bike as he attempted to clean out his nose by doing a"farmer blow" he is happy with the way things turned out.

Craig's Triathalon

Craig had set a goal to complete a triathalon without dying. Lucky for me he accomplished his goal.

His new goal... a 70 mile road bike race in Moab, Utah.

What were up to now...

In two days it will be one month since we moved from Texas. How time flies! We are still living with Craig's parents as we wait to get into our own home. We are currently under contract for a home and planning to close on Oct. 10th. If all goes well, I'll have approximately 5 weeks to get settled before the baby comes. So... we don't have much room for error.

Savannah is doing as well as can be expected of a 3 year old in the middle of a move. She likes living with Grandma and Grandpa. I'm afraid she is not going to want to move into our own home when the time comes. She has loved being able to play with her cousins. I love this part of our new life too.