Birth of Zoe Sophia Haws

Wow! I have a baby! I can hardly believe it still. It's weird not being pregnant.... Absolutely nothing went as I originally planned it would, but I don't feel bad about a thing. It was a wonderful birth!


On August 18th we went to the hospital to be induced. I planned on having a natural labor. Took the Lamaze classes and everything. We watched "9 months" until the pain was so bad it drove me nuts, so I listened to soft music on Pandora to calm me down while meditating and breathing slowly. Moving around after getting my water broken was absolutely the most disgusting thing ever. But I could not find a good position, and the monitors were always loosing the heart beat/contractions.

Around 2 pm the Dr. checked me and I found out I was only 4cm (I came in at almost a 3) and got so discouraged. By now I was breathing so hard I felt like I was running for my life or something. Couldn't handle the pain anymore, so I got an epidural. It only worked on half my body at first, and still, I was in heaven! My parents showed up not too long after. Good timing! Any earlier and I would not have wanted to see anyone. Now I could chat, sleep, whatever! Labor went from the most intense pain ever to feeling like it tickled, hahaha.

Unfortunately it didn't feel like that through the pushing. I felt like there was pain relief at all for that. But then again, I have not pushed naturally to compare it, but if it hurt that bad on the epidural, I never want to. I so scared, they said "puuuush," and I said....."I don't want to do it anymore.... " It was so wonderful to have my mother and Jake there to help me. Jake was an amazing coach.

When the baby started showing up Jake was actually off getting dinner. Well, apparently it takes a long time to have a baby, so it didn't matter. The nurse said she didn't think the baby would be over 7 lbs. after seeing the top of the head. She also pulled on the hair and said it was "so much hair...strawberry blond."



Well, she arrived in this world at 9:42 pm. She was over 7 lbs, at 9 lbs 2 oz. And she did not have a ton of hair, but it is strawberry blond! I had never felt more tired in my life. But I just wanted to hold my baby. She opened her little goop covered eyes and looked at me and my heart melted.


Welcome to the world Baby Zoe. We love you so much.

Bon anniversaire bebe V!

Baby V turned 2! I was the party planner, and had a lot of fun with the Parisian theme (her mom and dad are going to Paris on thursday).I made this Eiffel Tower cake topper out of wafer cookies and royal icing. It made me want to make some gingerbread houses.
Grandpa Casey and Rick (Jake's Dad)
crepe toppings on poke-a-dot plates
V: "uh-oh, uh-oh, see see..."
Her balloons floated to the 2 story ceiling
and she thought she could reach them if she just could jump high enough. Cute.
This dog came with Barbie. He eat......
...and poops. Hahahahahaha!!!!

All about Jake (a Tag)

1. How old is your husband? 25 like me
2. How long have you been married? over 2 years
3. Who eats more? Jake
4. Who said I love you first? Him.
5. Who is taller? Him
6. Who sings better? We both sing well I think
7. Who is smarter? What a strange question. He's smarter with a lot of things, like math but there are some things I'm smarter at, like nutrition
8. Who controls the T.V. remote? I think we have it equally. We want to watch the same things anyway.
9. If he is sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? HGTV
10. Who does the laundry? Him
11. Who does the dishes? both
12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? him
13. Who cooks dinner? I cook the bigger meals (like sunday) but he usually does the everyday meals, so he cooks a lot more
14. Who is more stubborn? I dont think either of us is stubborn
15. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? maybe him
16. Whose parents do you see more often? His! We live with them.
17. Who has more friends? my friends are his and his are mine, so we are equal
18. Who has more siblings? Same again
19. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Balsamic or thousand island I think
20. What is one food he doesn't like? he's grossed out on burgers generally since he got food poisoning after going to In and Out
21. Where did he go to high school? somwhere in University Place Washington
22. What shoe size does he wear? 13, big foot
23. If he were to collect anything, it would be? smashed pennies (you should see him light up every time he gets one. Its adorable! And he likes to just look at his collection in awe. cute.
24. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Turkey Pesto from out Muse Music Cafe
25. He could eat this everyday…? Ice cream. or chips and queso.
26. Favorite cereal? Honey Bunches of oats, or maybe cocoa pebbles
27. He wouldn't be caught dead wearing…? he's not embarased easily. Probly Pink would do it though.
28. Favorite sports team? Sea Hawks
29. Who will he vote for? McCain/Palin
30. What is his sign? Cancer
31. What is something you do that he wishes you didn't do? ask him to tickle my back too much (I used to leave my clothes on the floor, but I don't anymore)
32. How many states has this person lived in? 3: Washington, Utah, New York
33. What is his heritage? English??? I'm not sure! I know we are related to William Clayton who came across the plains. Don't know his ancetory very well.
34. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind is it? I think he would like a German Chocolate?
35. Did he play sports in high school? Football a bit. He loves Racketball, but didn't start doing that until college I think
36. He could spend hours doing what? Playing Music, writing songs
37. What is your favorite thing about him, both physically and emotionally? Physically he's large and manly which makes me feel more womanly. Emotionally he is the most optomistic person ever. He's really patient and tries to understand. He's not stuburn and wouldn't get into an argument very easily. He's also one of the most giving of his efforts and time. Just really nice, and always gives anyone the benefit of a doubt. He sees the good in people. He is a good man himself. And just darn fun.

Tag anyone who reads this (that actually has a husband)

Little Grand Canyon Half Marathon

We did it! We ran a half marathon, that's 13.1 miles. The longest we have ever run at one time! It makes me feel so good to cross off one of my "do before I die" items on my list! And to do it with Jake was so fun. When we first started training back in New York, I was pushing him a bit, but once we got home he had to drag me out of be and push me to go the full distance, he had so much drive and energy. And during the race it was the same thing. I would slow down almost start walking and then coach Jake would chime in, "We can do it, come on." We held hands across the finish (how romantic) at a satisfying 2:28:06.

It felt so much shorter though. The view, I'm sure, had something to do with that. It was the most exhilarating view I have ever seen. Especially when experiencing it in person, outside the car at a jogging pace, where you can really soak it all in. The red rocks are so majestic. The different era's of the Jurassic, Triassic and Cretaceous Era’s are evident in it's horizontal layers.
We ran right by this huge ancient Native American pictograph panel (The BuckHorn Panel see below) and saw many petroglyphs along the rock walls along the way.

It was one of those awesome life experiences that was worth the pain and one days waking at 3:45. Maybe a full marathon next time?

Visiting History

Jake's family came out and we had a great time hanging out and seeing awesome stuff. In Philadelphia I felt humbled to walk the same grounds as our founding fathers and run my hands down the same banister as George Washington, the father of our country while at Valley Forge

Liberty Bell, Philly; Jake and Vienna, Valley Forge; Jake in a soldiers bunk, Valley Forge

Then, in Palmyra, to walk the grounds of Joseph Smith and Moroni! Actually seeing where the plates were hidden and the Book of Mormon published was surreal. Then, to walk in The Sacred Grove, where God The Father and Jesus Christ had actually been, with trees who had witnessed it. I can't express how humbled and grateful I feel to all of these great men.

Print Shop of The Book of Mormon; The Sacred Grove