Everett Truman Fullmer

My baby just turned 1 month yesterday! I thought it would be a good time to finally do a blog post! Here is Everett's birth story, better late than never.

Everett Truman Fullmer was born Thursday, August 23, 2012 just after midnight. He weighted in at 6 lbs 11 oz and was about 2 1/2 weeks early.

Since Boston was born 4 weeks early I hadn't really experienced the final month of pregnancy, it definitely was a new experience. He dropped around 36 weeks, right before i finished work and boy was I uncomfortable. My last day of work was the Friday before he was born. I had 5 full days off of work (including the weekend) to enjoy my time before i became a mother of two. I was hoping for a little more time to enjoy life and Boston but you cant choose when these little ones decide to come.

On Wednesday just before 5pm I started to feel little cramps, but they were very inconstant. I had the same kind of pains about a week and a half earlier so i didn't think much about them. It was my turn to cook dinner that night so Boston and I started to cook. The pains were still there, getting a little more painful but nothing too crazy. Around 6 pm I texted Scott who was on his way home from work and told him that I was having these pains and then admitted it to my mom shortly after that. After dinner Scott took Boston to the park and I told him to keep his phone close by as the pains were getting closer and more painful.  At this point I started to time the contractions, packed my hospital bag and got some last minute stuff done. Boston and Scott came back from the park and got Boston ready for bed. Finally sometime around 8:30 I stopped story time and told Scott that we had to go. I had some major contractions and they were coming every 3-4 minutes. My mom took over bedtime and we left for the Grey Nuns hospital, first filling up for gas. We arrived after 9:30 pm and got checked into a delivery room for all the assessment rooms were full. After a while on the monitor they told me it I was in labour and called my doctor. The pain was getting crazy intense at this point.  They checked me and I was only 4-5 cm. I was really disappointed, when i was first checked with Boston I was 9 cm and i guess i was expecting the same thing. I asked the nurse my pain medication options but didn't go with anything at that point. I decided to try the shower for a few friends loved it for pain management. But I didnt last long for i hated it. I got back into bed and asked again about pain medications especially the epidural. I was hating the pain, I just didn't remember it being that bad the first time (I also wasn't in labour long the first time). There was no break, just straight contraction after contraction. I remember asking the nurse if there should be a break in between the contractions?! I finally gave in and said i wanted an epidural. My nurse said she would get everything ready but would have to check me first to see how dilated i was. I was now 9 cm. I thought to myself, OKAY, i am almost done! Guess i don't need one and said never mind. I was NOT almost done. The pain came on stronger than ever and still no break. The nurses switched and i didn't even look at my new nurse till it was time to push. I was just rolled over on my side with my eyes closed squishing Scott's hand. Finally after what seemed like an hour or two (but really i have no idea the time frame), i started to freakout because i really had to push. My doctor came back in and I did my first push while saying I couldn't do this, i didn't want to do this and I don't know how to do this! The second contraction I pushed again and thought to myself, push harder Tara and it will all be over, so i did and out came Everett!

I had a second degree tear. With Boston I had terrible internal tears, like terrible! So both were different types. The hospital was busy so i had to go into a shared room. I had no sleep due to the fact the nurses have to come check on the baby and I often right after, plus my roommates baby cried a lot. Everett never made a sound!

Later that morning my mom came and brought Boston to meet his new baby brother. He was in love!

We were released from the hospital around lunch time, which was a tad too early i thought but I didn't enjoy my roommate and her 15 plus guests. Also her husband came with their two girls around 10am and dropped them off and went to work.

Scott and I couldn't decide on Everett's name. We didn't leave till 5 pm just because we didn't have a name and we also had a nap. There was only really 3 names we were choosing between. Everett was our back up name when Boston was born. I think because it had been 2 plus years since we first thought about it, it almost lost its excitement. The name came from 2 places, the first was from Scott's favourite Christmas movie, The Family Stone. Plus it is another City in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is where Scott served his mission (hence where the name Boston came from). As for his middle name Truman, it is my Great Great Great Great Grandfathers name. You can read about him here on Wikipedia.

Recovery was terrible, but not as horrible as the first time around. Luckily I was able to stay in bed and rest a lot with time around. With Boston we had so many doctor appointments and 24 hour jaundice treatment about a week after he was born that i wasn't able to rest like I did this time. I was in major pain for about 1 week and then it eased off from there. If anything mentally this recovery was harder, but physically the first time around was harder. Because of Boston i just found it stressful and emotional. I felt bad for him because he really wanted me, but I wasn't able to give him much attention. I was very thankful for my mom and the fact we were living at my parents house! Scott wasn't able to take much time off work so I really needed my mom.

What are we doing?

I thought this blog needed a little update on our life. It has been now 3 months since we moved from Regina to start a new adventure in Edmonton. Our plan was to moved in with my parents in Sherwood Park till we found a place to live. We did and we are still living there! 

We went out with a realtor right away and looked at a few homes. We also searched day and night on MLS. We were not terribly impressed with our selection for what we could afford and decided to hit up a bunch of show homes to see if anyone had any spec homes (duplex's) being built (homes already started but all the finishing already chosen in other words, we cant change a thing). We found one we liked that was ready at the end of July. PERFECT! But after we signed all the papers I freaked out and decided there was too many things I didn't like about the main floor and we ended up switching to another spec home they had (same builder, same area) that had a tad better layout for a family with little kids, like a mud room (you park in the back so having slidding door that run right into a kitchen table threw me off of this layout). But it was a huge pro/con kind of deccision. The one we didnt buy had a better lot, was cheaper, had a tad nicer finishings like white quartz countertops. BUT the one we did buy came with a deck, landscaping and a garage. Here are the links to the layouts and showhome pictures of the two.

One we bought

One we almost bought

The major downfall of the one we did buy was it wasn't ready till September/October. I am was being highly optimistic and thought for sure it would be ready mid-September, but every time we drive past the house, I cry and think... okay maybe early October?!? Baby is due September 8, which means we will for sure be having the baby while at my parents. Which is fine, I just feel for the other 3 people living there (my mom, dad and my sister). Babies cry a lot, new mom's cry a lot. It should be fun ;)


I am mostly just excited to have a basement. I have waited 6 years of being married to have a place with a basement! This is no where near my dream home, but since we barely approved from a mortgage, this will be fine for now. Scott is excited, it is pretty modern finishings which is what he loves. I personally wanted and tried to find a place with white cupboards but it was impossible. Seriously impossible. No one had them! But yet they are very popular right now, all over all the decor magazines... weird. Like I said, one day i can have my dream home.

On to our next topic, work... my awesome brother called me before we moved and told me to send him my resume because the accounting firm he worked at needed an executive assistant! Luckily for me they were having a hard time finding a replacement for the girl going on maternity leave in May and my brother mentioned me. I started a week after we moved and I love the change. I have always worked for engineering companies before. They have a new lady starting tomorrow that will be my replacement. They did hire someone else to replace me about a month ago, but that went south (they fired her after a few weeks).

Scott is loving his job. He is working for the Ministry of Health in Senior's Health. I am going to toot his horn a little here and say that on the first day, when all the interns were having their starting meetings he found out that they hired 26 out of 400 applicants! We had to laugh though, because most of the other 26 men and women were from high end schools all over Canada. And then there was Scott... from the University of Regina!

Boston. What to say here, well he is growing up! He is loving life, loving all the attention. He basically has attention 24/7 with 5 adults living in one household. We are happy that his speech is getting better, but still worried because he is still very behind. But having my mom and sister work with him all day has really helped (my sister is a speech therapist assistant). My mom and sister watch Boston while Scott and I are at work. My sister is in summer school, but helps my mom out when she can. Boston LOVES going for walks with Alyssa. She pushes him in the stroller while she runs. Boston has also enjoyed a few trips to Calgary to play with his cousins. He especially gets along so well with his little cousin Ethan who is 2 years older than him.

We tell Boston that he is going to be a big brother and he now loves to hug my belly and read books on being a big brother. Lets just hope this excitement continues when the baby arrives.


Check back soon, I have a bunch more posts left in order to get caught up!

Baby Bump

There has been a few requests for a baby bump... I've been terrible at taking pictures. Pictures of myself aren't something I ever do, so being pregnant sure hasn't changed that.

Here I am right before we moved around 20 weeks.

Here I am at 29 weeks.

Here I am today at 33 weeks.

Only 7 weeks left till my due date of September 8. I really hope this baby stays in for almost full term, unlike Boston. I am not ready for a baby in 3 weeks, I need this one to come in 7!

Moved

We officially left Regina on April 28. My daycare lady was also moving and her last day was the week before. My awesome friend Lyndi watched Boston for me Monday and Tuesday and my mom flew out to Regina on Tuesday to watch Boston for the rest of the week and best of all pack! My dad drove all by himself on Thursday and also came and packed! I don't know what we would have done without my parents. They packed most of our stuff and were a huge blessing to us! Scott and I both worked up until the day before we moved and had little time to pack.

We made some great friends from church and work that came despite the rain and help us load the truck. I am so glad I decided to hire a cleaning lady to clean the bathroom and kitchen that morning. It was the best $80 spent! A few good friends came and helped clean the rest of the house and we were on the road later that afternoon for the long drive to Edmonton.

Sunday we loaded a 10 x 13 storage unit to the max and our stuff is currently still stored there! I need to take a picture of this, it is pretty funny how floor to ceiling the unit is packed.

Scott and I were surprised how sad we were to leave Regina. I made a couple good friends at church and tons of great friends at work I knew I was going to miss and I do still miss them. Scott was really loving his job and everyone he was working with and all his friends from school.

Boston's 2nd Birthday

Our little baby turned 2 (like forever ago, but I'm playing catch up)!

Scott had a work/school function the night of his birthday (April 19), so we took Boston out for dinner Wednesday night to Montana's. 

Boston loved every minute of our little evening.  I made cupcakes for Boston and we finished off the night with cake and candles! I made 24 cupcakes, 1 for every month since he was born! Haha, okay not really, the package I had in the cupboard made 24 cupcakes (since there are only 3 of us, we gave most of them away).

Boston was one lucky guy and got to celebrated two more times after we moved back to Alberta, once with my family and then with Scott's. Scott's mom and sister put together a cute little monster themed party for Boston and his cousins! It was such a nice surprise.

Happy Birthday Boston! We love you!

Moving Back Home

It has been almost 8 years since I left Edmonton and I am happy that I am finally moving back home. Scott has been on the job hunt for months now in Alberta and he finally decided to apply for an internship. He was hesitant because he is just finishing one up here in Regina. Kind of feels like he is done with them, but after some thought, he realized that doing the internship might be his best hope at getting into the Government of Alberta. He was told that 100% of the interns that wanted to stayed with the government after these internships are over, did.

I think after we left Calgary to move to Regina, we always said we would return to Calgary for we do love it there and Scott's family is there. But Scott decided that the provincial government is where he wanted to be and the provincial government jobs are mostly all in Edmonton. Made it a pretty easy decision on where we would end up and I can’t help but be happy with his decision since that is where my family is.

We are busy organizing our plans and cancelling our life over here. We plan on packing the U-Haul on April 28 (if anyone wants to come help). Our last day at our current jobs is April 27. My mom is flying out here on April 24 to help pack and mostly watch Boston (for my daycare ladies last day is April 20). Oh and cant forget the Relief Society dinner my committee and I are planning for April 25. It is going to be a very busy next few weeks, very stressful and a lot of crying I'm sure. I cried 2 times this morning, all before 8am! But on a good note, right in the mix of all the busy, on April 23, I have my ultrasound AND Boston turns 2 on April 19!

Our plans are to stay with my parents in Sherwood Park until we find a place to live. Scott's job doesn't start will May 14, so we have 2 week to figure out where we want to live and also find me a job! But I think I am going to really have a hard time finding a job... who wants to hire a pregnant lady for only 4 months?!?! BUT I really need a job in order to ensure I get full EI and we really need the money! The internship doesnt pay near as much as we need.

Well wish us luck!

One Odd Child

I found this picture on my camera I took back in March and I thought I should share. 


What a tongue! 

Happy Easter

We took easter very low key at our house this year. Mostly because we decided not to go home for the weekend. We debated cooking a nice easter dinner of ham and hash brown casserole, but in the end we bought frozen chicken lasagne from Costco and cooked that up! We have been watching Scott's favourite Easter movie, The Ten Commandments. Still got another half hour or so left.

Boston did have the easter bunny stop by! He was pretty excited. Luckily the easter bunny left some footprints behind and Boston was able to find his basket hiding under the computer desk.

The easter bunny knew Boston isn't a huge fan of treats, so he packed his basket full of other fun stuff. He got sidewalk chalk, those things you put in water and they grow, bunny ears, spiderman tattoos, the very hungry caterpillar book and one chocolate treat.

The best part of the morning was when Boston was done looking at his basket, he put everything back inside and put the basket right back under the desk where he found it. Then he picked up all the bunny foot prints and threw them in the garbage.

Updated Necklace Holder

It's been awhile since I shared any home decor type posts, so today I thought I would share a project I did a while back.

I posted in January 2011 this post about my necklace holder. It worked for a while in the beginning but when Boston started being a "boy" it didn't function the way I wanted it too.

For starters, it needed to be higher, way higher. He would pull on the necklaces and then pop off the pins. Scary enough... in the mouth went the pins (luckily no pins were swallowed).

The next issue didn't have anything to do with Boston, but I found as I purchased more necklaces, I didn't have anymore room and the board started to look crowded.

Back to the drawing board I went. When my dad was here for Thanksgiving, I got him to help me fix up my frame. I added one double wire across the top and another one towards the bottom. Creating two different levels for my necklaces.

I am loving this way better! Now the issue with Boston isn't full fixed. He still loved my necklaces and and broken too many while I am wearing them. Maybe this year Boston will get me a few new ones for Mother's Day (hint hint).

If you are wondering what I do with my other jewellery, I found these cute bowls from West Elm about a year ago (and my lovely mother-in-law brought them back from Arizona for me). I don't own a lot of bracelets and earrings, and with that said, these bowls are perfect for me. One for bracelets and one for earrings. Boston loves to take down the bowl with the bracelets and try them all on. I really hope he never breaks the bowl, I would probably cry!

How do you organize your jewellery? A few ladies at work were asking me for ideas. There are tons on Pinterest, but which ones do you use and find susccessful?

Meal Planner

I thought I would share my favorite free meal planner I use and love. I have tried many... I have made my own and even purchased some. But in the end the one from The Project Girl is my favorite. It is a weekly meal plan with a grocery list at the bottom.

If your interested you can go here to download a free PDF copy for yourself.

For years I used this one on and off. I made it about 3 years ago. It is laminated, which allowed me to use dry erase markers on it. But in the end, I came to realized I am not a one month ahead meal planner type of girl (oddly enough I love to plan my schedule and life months and some times years in advance).

My goal for the future is to take my recipe binder I created 6 or so years ago and turn it into a Fullmer family favorite recipe binder instead of pages and pages of recipes I've never tried. I love Pinterest as many of your do too and I am proud of myself for actually trying almost one new recipe a week! Sometimes even two, if I make a dessert on the weekends!

What do you guys use for a meal planner?

How about when you find a favorite recipe, do you save it into a binder, type it up on your computer, write in on index cards??

There's a Baby in Mommy's Tummy

Thanks for all the wonderful comments on the last post and on facebook, we are very excited to be welcoming a new little baby to our family. I am due September 8 and 16 weeks along. We told my family in person right when we got back from Mexico in the exact same way as the video. The video I posted earlier we filmed a week later and texted it to Scott's family and that is how we told them.

This pregnancy has been better than the first and in some ways worse. Better because I didn't throw up once. With Boston I only did 3 times and 2 of the 3 were because I didn't clue into the fact I need to take my prenatal vitamin at nights and not in the morning. But I think I've been equally nauseated with both pregnancies.

And it has been worse because as a lot of you know, in the first trimester when you have no kids you can go to bed right when you get home from work, but with a crazy toddler at home, no early bed time and only a short nap on the weekends. Plus I've been getting really massive headaches! Another not so nice thing with this pregnancy is I have gained weight, with Boston, I lost weight in the first trimester.

We were pretty surprised to get pregnant the first month trying. But I guess we waited long enough that a little baby was waiting impatiently for the chance to come.

I don't look pregnant yet. Mostly in that phase when people wonder... is she gaining more weight?! This time around I have more fat on my belly, so I am assuming the round bump will show later than with Boston.

I have my ultrasounds booked for April 26th! Can't wait to find out what the little bean is. I am hoping for another boy. I just think it would be fun (and hard) to have two boys 2 years apart. BUT of course, I will be super happy if it is a girl!

We tell Boston there is a baby in Mommy's tummy but he doesn't get it. Just lifts up his shirt to show us his tummy. But he LOVES babies. I was surprised to watch him a few weeks ago when we went to Calgary interact with the babies he would see. He would bring them toys and bottles (even if it wasn't their bottle). He would also find blankets and put them on the babies and tuck them up. It was too cute.  Boston is going to be an amazing big brother (hopefully)!

Boston's Announcement

Boston got all dressed up in the outfit Mommy and Daddy bought him in Mexico to share this special announcement with all his family and friends!!

Daycare Update

Erin my daycare lady sent me these pictures today of Boston. I can't stop laughing at them. I love how much Boston loves to dress up and I also love the fact he is wearing girl clothes in 3 of the 4 pictures!

He definitly didnt go to daycare that day in a skirt!

Notice the green pok-a-dot pants Boston is wearing... have NO idea if those are pants, tights or a skirt of Eva's.

That isnt Boston's hat and those arent Boston's pink socks either!

I am so happy Boston loves it at Erin's. But sadly the time is coming to an end. She is moving to Quebec in April, so Boston's last day is April 20th. I have no idea where he is going to go after that. I am just hoping that Scott will get a job in Alberta and we wont have to worry about finding a new place, but who knows if that will happen. Next week I need to start looking for a new place for Boston here... wish me luck!

Life In Paradise

Scott and I had a blast in Mexico. When my sister pick us up from the airport and asked what our favourite parts were, I said, Reading (I read The Help and The Secret Daughter)! And Scott said, the Tours we went on. But there was many favorite parts. Another one of my favorite parts was the fact I had a nap every day! The sun started to set around 4:30 pm. At that point we went back to our room for a afternoon nap before dinner! Lovely!

We stayed at a really nice 5 star hotel called, Sunset Princess, in the Maya Riveria. It was a massive resort, which was nice because we were able to walk off the huge amounts of foods we consumed. I will be honest and say we didn't love all the food but a few things we could always count on being really good was the bread, ice cream and mango's!

We left the resort 2 times. The rest of the days we enjoyed the warm weather and the sun! The first time we left the resort we went into Playa de Carmen and walked the 5th avenue strip. Which had tons of little shops and restaurants. We bought Boston some Mexican dress up clothes. The other time we left we did a tour of Tulum and did a tour by a LDS company called Alma's Tours. 

The tour only took a few hours and after that we went to Xel Ha which is basically an outdoor water park. We went snorkelling, floated down a river and just enjoyed the water, wildlife and sun.

And of course, we missed Boston. We skyped him 3 times. He was excited to see us the first time but by the last time, we only got a few waved from a far.

My favourite story from my mom over the week was when she went into get him after a nap. Boston first showed her his socks, then his pants and then Boston pulled his diaper up from the play pin. Then he pointed to a spot in the bed where he had peed! Scott's mom said that he got this from Scott. Scott did that to his mom when he around Boston's age, but in his case poop was involved!

Boston was very sad to leave. He loved all the attention from my family. He had more fun in Edmonton in one week than he probably has in Regina in about 1 year!

My sister and mom took a few pictures to document his time in Sherwood Park.

Thanks Mom, Dad and Alyssa for watching Boston! We can't wait for the next time!