Brigden's Third Month, Part 1

This post is all about:

After we left from Peoria, we were went to the ranch that Casey's family has in New Mexico. We spent about two weeks there and it was great! Torie went with us because my mom, dad, and other sisters were going on the Trek. It was fun to have her there with us. She sure makes for an exciting time, you definitely won't stop laughing when she is there, that's for sure!
We decided to drive through St. Johns so we could stop and see Nana, this would be the first time for Brigden to meet her! We had a great visit and Casey's cousin, Brittany, and her new little baby, Addison, met us there. Brigden and Addison are only about a week apart.

We had so much fun while we were at the ranch. Jeniffer and Josh were there for the first half of the time we were there. It was fun to spend time with them, Casey's parents, and Kimberly and her cute boys. Casey was able to help his dad a lot and also helped put in some great wood flooring. It looks awesome! It was such a great experience to be in such a beautiful place with people we love. The ranch is seriously a retreat from the world. When I am there, I am reminded of what is really important. We have such a beautiful world around us. Here are some fun pictures from the time we spent there:


We celebrated my birthday while we were there and went to this cool place called the Catwalk. We swam a little bit but the water was so cold. It is really cool- there is this waterfall that you cannot see from the trail, it's kind of in a cave-like place, and you have to go through the water under a few huge rocks to get to it. Casey, Torie, Mikayla, and I went to it. It was so neat! We also had a great BBQ there when we were done. We love adventures!

The rest of my family came after they were done with the Trek to get Torie and stayed a night. We did some fun things while they were there like digging for pottery and riding the four wheelers.

There is a hummingbird feeder on the back porch that attracts tons of hummingbirds. My dad renamed the ranch the "Hummingbird Ranch." He started acting like a hummingbird, buzzing all around with his arms out and Brigden LOVED it. He also recruited Torie to help him with his hummingbird exercises. So fun...
We had so much fun while we were there and wish that we didn't have to leave! Hopefully we can make it back soon!

One year already!

This is my handsome brother, Elder Jordan Ames (I cropped this picture from a family picture from our wedding). I cannot believe that it has been a whole year since my mom, dad, and Jordan came to stay with us before we took Jordan to the MTC. It has been exactly one year today that we took him there - which I'm sure he doesn't like to be reminded of. :) In his last email he said, " First and most important! You are all completely ridiculous!!!! Why do you always have to make a comment amount how much time that I have been out!! :) I know that I only have a year left, but that does not mean that you have to mention it!!"
This is so Jordan. When he has a job to do, he is so focused and determined to do it to the best of his ability. No distractions! Jordan is such a hard worker. He is an awesome example to me. We are only 14 months apart in age, so I do not ever remember a time in my life that Jordan has not been there. I have so many great memories from growing up of us together. Here are a few:
-catching lizards together in our backyard
-playing in the sandbox and digging for "clay"
-making bracelets out of electrical wires that our uncle Lenny found
-having our own little "club" every Christmas Eve, we would always sleep as close as we could to the downstairs and then sneak out in the EARLY morning hours after Santa had come and gone to see what fun there was in store. Our little sisters were always mad that we would always be the first ones down there...They never understood how we did it!
-riding bikes in the cul-de-sac
-playing in our tree house and smashing up wild olives from the tree it was built in for "ink"
-driving to early morning seminary together - he would always get mad at me for doing my makeup in the car or spraying hairspray! haha :)
-going to EFY together and being in the same group- it actually was awesome!
-having him come to visit while we were at EAC - he stayed with Casey and his roommates in their apartment (it was before we were married) - I think that was a real eye opener for what college life is really like!
-Jordan always made me promise that he would be the first to know when we found out that we having a baby. Even if it was while he was on his mission - I had to write and tell him first. Well, we ended up telling him the night before he went into the MTC - what a mean sister I am! But I wanted to do it in person and that was the only chance I would have. I think he knew that he would have a niece or nephew before he came home, but I don't think he realized they would be a year and a half! I am so grateful for the amazing missionary uncle that Brigden has to look to for an example. It definitely will be a great day when they can finally meet! He will be able to speak Spanish with Casey and Brigden. :) Casey speaks mostly Spanish to Brigden, so they can talk together...
Jordan is working hard and doing awesome. It is definitely hard work, but he puts forth his all. His example (from when we were growing up and now) helps me to be a better person and see how I can improve. We love you, Elder Ames!

What a special day!

So this is back-tracking a bit, but I am working so hard on getting caught up so I can try to stay caught up!
On Sunday, May 31, 2009, little Brigden was given a name and a blessing by his wonderful daddy. Casey is such a great example to me. He prepared prayerfully to be certain that the blessing he gave would be the blessing that our Heavenly Father would have for Brigden, not only what we would want. He gave a beautiful blessing, which I knew he would. We decided to bless him in my family's ward in Peoria, the ward I grew up in. This was so all of our immediate family could be there to share this special day with us and Brigden. And everyone was there except for we were missing Elder Ames! But he is working hard. We were able to have so many special people that we love with us. Thank you everyone for taking the time to travel and come to be with us. We love you all! We even had some great friends that travelled to come share the day with us - Preston and Cordae, Dustin and Cynthia, and Jessica, Josh and little Braxton. And then there were some others from Peoria who made a special trip aside from their regular ward to be there - Michelle and Neal, Deanna, Sarah, Casey, and Paedn. Sorry if I've forgotten anyone...I'm kinda sad that we weren't able to get pictures of everyone who was there, we should've taken them right after because then it got a little busy. But we were able to get some great family pictures.
The power of the priesthood is a great blessing to our lives. I am so grateful for the example that Casey is to me and the faithful priesthood holder that he is. He works so hard and does so much to be the best he can be. He amazes me with all that he can accomplish. And he is the greatest daddy - so fun and so helpful. Brigden is a lucky little guy...Thank you Casey for all that you do!
We also are blessed to have a wonderful little son who is so much joy to our lives. We are so grateful for little smiles, little giggles, little hands, cute little feet - everything about little Brigden.

Brigden's 2nd Month

Brigden had a pretty adventurous first few months, which you will see in this post and the next. When Brigden was 6 weeks old, we went to Arizona. Brigden and I went a week before Casey, so we decided to fly. I was very nervous about flying with a newborn, but it went great! The Salt Lake airport wasn't too busy and we flew through security. I couldn't believe that they would make me wake up a sleeping baby to carry them through! Just kidding, I understood, but sleep is precious. We got to the gate with a little time to spare and I ended up being able to take Brigden's carrier onto the plane because the flight wasn't too full, which ended up being very nice to have. He slept through take off and then woke up a little later to eat. Then he fell back to sleep during landing. I told Casey after the flight that we needed to invest in a flight simulator! :) I took some cute pictures on the plane, but cannot seem to find them, so I will have to add them later.
My mom and sisters picked us up from the airport and we went to my dad's work to show little "Baxter" off. It was so cute- we walked in the front door and there is a sign that usually has the stock quotes listed on it, but instead it read, "Welcome Baxter! #1 Grandson" What a great welcome! My dad was holding Brigden and he went up ahead of us because he was so excited to show off his first little grandbaby. When we walked in the doors to the main office, we saw my dad holding Brigden with about 8 women around him. One even had stayed later after her shift was over and waited to see him. He is a pretty popular little guy there!

It was great to be there with my family. I decided to go down a little bit earlier than Casey because Kamrie had her 8th grade promotion and was singing the National Anthem and it was Torie's birthday. I thought that it would be fun to be there for those things.
Kamrie did awesome with the National Anthem. She is a very talented and beautiful girl. High school here she comes! You better be ready for her!

Happy 10th Birthday, Torie! Torie is a crack up. She is seriously one of the funniest and smartest girls I know. She is so clever and comes up with the craziest things. We love hearing about all of her crazy antics.

We also got to go to the lake while we were there. Thanks uncle Linsey! It was so fun! The water was perfect temperature and it was so nice outside. We love the sun! Casey had lots of fun wakeboarding and I was very proud of myself- this was 7 weeks after Brigden was born and I kneeboarded and skiied! I felt like that was quite an accomplishment. Needless to say, we were very sore after, but it was so worth it! And Brigden looked so cute in his little life jacket!

Brigden also got to meet his new little friend, Braxton, while we were there. He is Jessica's little boy that was born a few months before Brigden. Brigden was still a bit too little to really know what was going on, but Braxton sure was excited! I'm sure they will be the best of friends, just like their moms!

Here are a few more fun pictures of Brigden that were taken while we were there in Peoria. We sure do love this little guy! We found a cool teacup at Wal-Mart and decided to have a fun photo shoot with Brigden in it. Most people who see this picture do not believe that Brigden is just shy of 2 months when it was taken. But it's for real! He has always been a strong one...

See ya later!

Hello again!

I have set a goal for this week before school starts to get caught up with blogging, so I am going to set each day aside for a different month of Brigden's life! He is growing so much (and so fast) and it is fun to see the changes and progression from month to month. Today I am going to do his first month. There are lots of pictures and many more to come!

My mom and Casey's parents were here when Brigden was born, which was so wonderful! My dad was coming on the Saturday that we got home from the hospital, which I was so excited for. Originally, I thought that it would be about a month or so until my sisters were going to be able to see their first little nephew. That made me a little disappointed and I know that they were sad thinking that too. Well, Torie gave me a little tip-off that they were coming with my dad for the weekend. :) Torie is my little accomplice in figuring out secret information! (She let me know that Casey had talked to my dad before he asked me to marry him...but I'm not innocent in the situation - it was definitely after some prodding by me!) SO, I was so excited for them to come, but I still let it be somewhat of a "surprise." We got home from the hospital and they arrived a few hours later to meet little Brigden! It was great to have them here for a few days. I give them credit for all of the pictures we have of Brigden's first few days at home! If they weren't holding him, they were taking pictures. Which is great because we sure do have a lot! We didn't have a camera that worked that well at the time, so it helped a lot!

This is Brigden with all of his "tortillas." Casey speaks mostly spanish to Brigden and Torie kept hearing him say things about Brigden's tias (aunts in spanish). So when she was getting ready to hold Brigden, she said something like, "Ok Brigden, come to your tortilla!" We all just looked at her like she was crazy until we realized why she was saying it. Brigden sure loves his tortillas! So silly...

I LOVE this next picture. It is one of my favorites. My dad is so so good with Brigden. I love watching him play with him and take care of him. Brigden is so calm whenever he is with his Poppa C...This was the start of the Easter cake creation.

Here's a couple of the new mommy and daddy! (Notice that most pictures of me in this posts are of me laying down...that was pretty much my position of choice for the first couple weeks- sitting down just hurt too much with all of the stitches!)

Here's a few of Brigden's firsts...It was fun for me and Casey to give Brigden his first bath together. In the beginning, he did not like baths. But after the first few times, he started to love them. They are now one of his favorite things!

It is crazy how small he looks in his bath tub in these pictures. Now he fills the whole thing and it's almost too small for him!

My mom got him this fun outfit for his very first Easter and he wore it on Easter Sunday which was four days after he was born. We also had a fun photo shoot!

This is Poppa C's finished Easter creation. He is very creative. This is the "He is Risen" cake.

My dad and sisters left on Monday and my mom stayed for another week to help us out a little bit more. We are so grateful for all that she did to help. She had been in the hospital for her back before she came up to help us and her back was hurting a lot, but she did so much to help us - more than I ever could have asked for. Thank you mom! Also, thanks goes to my sisters who let me have mom here for so long!

Casey's mom and sisters also came for a week to visit and to see little Brigden. They brought two of their little boys who are so much fun! They also helped out so much, especially with meals. It was so great to have them here. I had Brigden a week and a half before finals, so I was still recovering during finals week. I was really worried about how finals week would work out with both me and Casey having finals to take, but Casey's mom saved the day! She was so great to drive me around and help with Brigden while I was taking my tests. She is great! Thanks so much Jenny!
Like I said before, we didn't have a camera that worked too well at the time, so I do not have any pictures from the time that they were here...this makes me so sad! (I stole this one off of Kimberly's blog, I hope that is alright!) But there are so many fun memories from the time that they were here...
This is little Colten trying to sweet talk Uncle Casey for gummy worms with his BIG smile...

Overall, we had a pretty smooth transition to being parents. We love having Brigden as a part of our family. We are so blessed to have a little boy who is so good. He has such a good temperament and is so good to us.
Stay tuned for month 2!

Thanks, Dad!

It was so cute...On Saturday night, I was trying to finish up my part of our lesson for Sunday (We teach Gospel Doctrine) and I was getting a little frustrated because Brigden had been a little fussy all day and I didn't have much of a chance to go over the lesson again to bring all of my thoughts together. Casey was working so he couldn't take him, which he would have most willingly done if he were there...He is the best daddy and the best help! I didn't know what to do, Brigden would fuss whwnever I put him down, which is happening more often now that we have left all of our awesome helpers in Arizona :(, but the thought came to me to call my dad. So I did. Torie answered the phone and took it out to my dad in the backyard and I told him of our little predicament. And this was his answer...
He told me to lay him down, which I did and Brigden started crying a little bit. And then my dad told me to put the phone by him and work on my lesson. So I put the phone on speakerphone and set it by Brigden. My dad started talking to Brigden and told him all about his chickens and everything that he was working on in the yard. He asked Brigden if he wanted to pull weeds with him and once I heard him say, "Uh oh Brigden, I better be careful or the phone might drop in the pool!" He also say a few songs to him. It was the CUTEST thing...Brigden immediately stopped crying and listened and had the cutest little look on his face. I was able to work for about 10 or 15 minutes on our lesson while "Poppa C" entertained little Brigden. I had to take a picture because this is definitely a moment to remember! Thanks, Dad! You are the best!

finally!

Ok, so this is LONG overdue! So sorry! But we have just been having so much fun with our new little one! Here's our story...
My due date was April 1, 2009, but that came and went without much excitement...On Sunday, April 5, I was having contractions that were very strong and very regular. I had been having contractions for a few days, so my mom flew up from Arizona so she wouldn't miss anything, and we were sure this was it! So we get to the hospital and there wasn't any change in my dilation in the first hour that I was there...I did not want to be sent home! I continued to have contractions that kept getting stronger and stronger and were about 2 minutes apart, but no change in dilation came! I was so upset! So we went home, set with meds, to wait...and wait...and wait... :) My mom was great to help me with so many projects while we waited! We had lots of fun, accomplished a ton, and I love her for being there with us! Thanks, mom! I was set to be induced on the Wednesday the 8th, and this little guy was sure comfy where he was because he waited until the last possible chance to come out! We went back to the hospital on Wednesday morning and it felt great to know that this was the real deal!

I was induced around 9am, and the contractions got stronger from then on out. After the doctor broke my water, that was the most excruciating 30 minutes of my life until the epidural kicked in! But after that, it was HEAVEN! We sat for the next 8 hours watching movies and talking and sleeping, I didn't know that being in labor could be so wonderful! At about 7:30pm, the baby was finally in position for me to start pushing. So I pushed...and pushed...and pushed! We find out an hour and a half later that our little guy was face up, which was causing the difficulty with coming out. Once the doctor flipped him over, he came so fast! What a neat thing having a little baby is! BRIGDEN CASEY HEAP was born at 9:31 pm, and was 6 lbs. 2 oz. and 18 in. long. Once Brigden came out, he had quite a rough start. His apgar score was a 4, which scared us quite a bit! The main difficulty was with his breathing. They let me hold him for about 30 seconds and then whisked him away. Casey went with them. I was very blessed to have had my mom there with me, because I don't know what I would have done if I was alone without my new little baby or Casey. I was so scared, to say the least. Casey's parents got there right in time, which was a great blessing for them to be able to be there with Casey. I'm so glad that they came! As the doctor stitched me up, all I could think was 'what is happening to our little boy?' It was so hard not knowing and not being there with him! After I was taken care of, they wheeled me down to the lower floor and took me to my room.

I was able to see little Brigden in passing as we went by the nursery window, but it was about 3 hours until I actually could hold him again. :(

I was able to hold him and feed him and kiss him and love him, and then they took him to the NICU where he would stay the rest of the time that we were in the hospital. They kept him there mainly for precautionary reasons, just to make sure that the problems with breathing didn't have to do with an infection of any sort. Let me tell you, this little boy is a trooper! He is so tough! He went through a lot it those first few days and pulled through so strong!

He ended up having to stay an extra day in the NICU after I was discharged, but we couldn't stand the thought of going home, so we stayed in the parents' lounge at the hospital so I could feed him through the night and so we could go home as one little happy family together...

Overall, we feel so blessed with everything that happened surrounding the birth of our little son. He is healthy, despite the initial scare, and all was well with mom. We were so blessed with a wonderful doctor, wonderful nurses, and the on call pediatrician, without our prior knowledge, ended up being a family friend! We are so grateful for our wonderful family and friends that have shared our joy with us...Thank you!