Pryor Clan

Baby's First Semi-Solid Food

2009-10-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

I love this face.

He likes squash now and he doesn't make faces anymore when he eats food. I'm glad we caught it when we did.

goodbye

2009-10-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am heartbroken. Yesterday was probably one of the hardest days of my life. I said goodbye to my baby sister for a whole year. At least I hope it's only for a year and not for the rest of my life. She was deployed to Iraq and she left yesterday. She is the best friend I have ever had or will have. I know that she would never to do anything to hurt or betray me.

She left yesterday...taking off in her helicopter with four others. There were lots of tears but more waves, and hoorays. She was so excited to be able to serve her country and fight against terrorism. She is strong and full of life....she has to come back. I will miss her terribly but at the same time I am very proud of her. It was very bitter-sweet. I pray for her every minute and hope that she will keep herself safe...both mentally and physically. I hope that she will truly be able to come back for Thanksgiving and see everyone again.

There is a hole where she used to be and I hope that she can come back and fill it again soon. I will miss her until she does. I can't even imagine how hard it would have been to say goodbye to Paul. I really feel for my sister - in - law who might have to do that for my brother who also might be deployed in 2013. I really hope it doesn't come to that...I don't know if I could handle it again.

2009-10-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Birthday

2009-10-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I wrote....I almost forgot my password :) I figured that I would have to continue with my story about Ronan. I'm sure you've seen the pictures that Paul posted the other day. I still can't believe that Ronan is five and a half months old and will be six months old this month.

His birth went really well, at least now looking back on it. I had one episode of false labor so I was really tentative about going back into the hospital until I knew that I was having real labor. So when I woke up out of dead sleep with some pains I just went into the living room and turned on the tv. I immediately started timing my contractions and they were coming really close together but they weren't terribly bad yet. Over the next hour they got worse until I was forced to take a bath to try to help some of the pain. Bathing helped when I had false labor so I thought it would help me to decide if this labor was real or not. Well...the bath didn't help but I continued for another hour until I couldn't stand up any more. It was about 2:30 in the morning by the time I woke up Paul to ask him what he thought we should do. I calmly told him what was happening and he just jumped up and said "Let's go to the hospital. Now!"

It was a surprise to me to see his urgency. I was just really calm and I expected that we would have an intelligent conversation and decide what we thought was best. I couldn't argue with him so we got ready and left. Walking out to the car was very difficult. Labor had progressed rapidly in that few minutes and walking down the long hill to the parking lot was very long and painful. The car ride was pretty long too even though Paul was going over 100 miles an hour. I could tell he was just so excited. We were both so tired of being pregnant and glad that he was coming early.

I was barely able to stand up straight to fill in all the paperwork. I had to keep hunching over. When the finally got me into a bed and all hooked up I was dilated to a 6 which is well into active labor. The next hour was the most painful of my life waiting for the epidural. I can't even describe it. It scrambled my brain. I didn't realize how mental giving birth is. I wasn't prepared for it, mentally, so it was extra hard. Paul was so great through the whole thing. He willing held my hand and helped me breathe. He was the only reason that I made it through. Once I had the epidural, I felt my whole body relax and I could actually breathe. I could relax my face and actually talk. The contractions were still coming every two minutes but I only felt a slight pressure on my abdomen, instead of the searing pain. One more hour and I was ready to start pushing. I was so surprised how fast it happened. I really thought that I would be in labor for the better part of the day.

I'm so thankful for my mom and sister who were in the room with me, helping me. Their encouragement was pivotal for my success. I didn't think it would make that much difference but it was so much better to have them there than just the nurses. Paul stayed by my head whispering encouragement to me...it was the best place for him. The nurses said that Ronan's heartbeat was dropping because the contractions were coming too close together for him to get enough oxygen. I was released from the pain of the contractions but he wasn't. If he didn't come as quickly as they would like then they said that they would perform a C-section right there in the room.

It was only one more hour of pushing and pulling by the doctor and then he was there....just like that. I could hear him crying and then they put him on my lap and it was just a surreal moment that is so hard to describe. One moment he was in my belly and the next he was sitting on my lap all covered in goo. He was beautiful.

He weighed 7lbs. 4oz. and he was 20 1/4 inches tall. He was officially born at 6:07 AM on April 23, 2009.

Then they took him away to get cleaned off and tested. Paul was able to go and watch and take pictures. He was the first one to get pictures taken with Ronan. They still had to stitch me up and put me back together. With my shy nature, I thought I would be much more traumatized by the whole mess but I realized that it had to be done and it was a natural process.

Then the fun began and I was able to hold Ronan and see all of my family. It was such a loving time. It was amazing.

Becoming a mother was easy for me. As soon as they brought us to our room and got settled - it seemed like a natural transition. I was acutely aware of Ronan and all that he was doing. It was love at first sight for Paul and for me. We were finally a family. Now we just couldn't wait to get healed and get out of the hospital and go home. And go home we did and after the first two weeks we became a team and worked together and we've all done an amazing job....especially Ronan :)

Fantasy Football is Here

2009-09-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ronan is almost 5 months now so Paul named his team in his honor. The Ronan Warriors. He also took several warrior pics posted below.

AHAHAHAHAHA

I WANT YOU!

Bring it on chump!

Bull Dog

Its Ok to lose to me cause I'm so cute.

Duh.... your not so good.

Seriously... Seriously.... you can't win!

Helloooooooo

2009-02-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

Big belly coming through! Welcome to the third and final trimester! YAY! I am so excited to be within single digits (in weeks) to the due date. It's like being on a long flight and finally you can feel the pressure change and know that the altitude is dropping but you still have a ways to go before landing.

Latest update from doc - everything is normal and healthy. Ronan's heart beat has come down a little bit to 147 but that is normal and it will continue to drop until he's born. This time he measured my belly to make sure that I was growing correctly and he said I was right on target for my due date. An interesting side note - he said that I was carrying the baby mostly inside and that was why I seemed small on the outside. And I thought - that's why my insides hurt so much :)

We are finally able to count Ronan's legs in his measurement so this week (the last week of the seventh month) he should be around 18 inches long and a little over 3 pounds. That is pretty hard for me to believe until I feel him move my whole belly from one side to the other or kicking in both sides of my ribs. Paul and I will sit and just watch my stomach move as he kicks and moves around. It looks like an alien in there :)

I've decided that it's been a blessing for me to work where I am at. And standing all day has made me really healthy instead of the opposite. So far I have been back pain free which I know is a huge blessing and the swelling in my feet and hands have been at a minimum. I just pray that they continue.

My belly is starting to get in my way and at times I forget the girth of it. I will pull in the chair to close to the table or stand too close to the countertop. It's funny and Paul laughs at me. Seeing my feet is harder and harder and I still have to get used to letting Paul lift things for me. I'm not used to my body being so weak. I have to remind myself to take it easy....even though there is so much to do before he gets here.

As always we appreciate all the support that we have received and hope you are getting as excited as we are :O

2009-01-13T18:13:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone - I just wanted to give you an update since I went to the doctor on Thursday. He listened to the heartbeat of the baby and said that it was really strong and he seemed to be growing just fine. His heart beat was at 150 which is strong....120-130 would be low. So I felt really good. They also checked all my vital signs and my blood pressure and heartrate were also normal. Next week I will go in for a test to make sure that my blood sugar is normal. All of my lab results from the last test came back normal as well. I left the office on a real high - which I normally do. It releases my stress about Ronan to know that as far as they can tell he is still growing and acting normal.

I was so excited to learn that I only have two more 4 week appointments and then I go to two weeks! It was very nice to know since I've been counting down the number of times I would have to go to the doctor. YAY!!!!

I saw Jen Hardcastle's pictures of little Lia and started bawling....at first for jealousy because she was already done with the ordeal and then it just hit me that there is a little human in there that will come out and be a baby to take care of. I knew that of course already in my head but not in my heart and it really touched me to think about. It makes me excited to think that I will be a mom and all the responsibilities that come with it. It's the waiting and worrying that's driving me CRAZY :)

2009-01-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun pictures from Summer 2008...what a great year!

At the Zoo with my parents in July

In Bear Lake with the Pryor Family August

Billy and Shea's wedding with the guys in June

2009-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

RONAN AYERS PRYOR

23 weeks old

I am officially 6 months along!!! I am really shocked at how much I have grown when I see the pictures and what a difference this has made in our lives. We found out on December 5th that we are having a little baby boy!! Grandma Mabel's 8th great-grandson.
About a week before we found out I had convinced myself that it was a girl. I could see myself being a mom to a sweet innocent little girl and it was much harder to see a little boy in my arms. Great-Grandpa Ayers was also convinced it was a girl but I think he just likes girls better and he's already got Steven and Spencer. Paul had a dream one night that convinced him it was going to be a boy. He was getting ready to give the baby blessing at church and he looked down at the face and it was a boy with black hair and blue eyes and he was getting ready to say the name and while he was giving the blessing he said "Ronan Paul Ayers". Of course I laughed hysterically when I heard this (and still do when he says that now he's really worried about saying that) and of course the baby's last name would be Pryor. That's when his sister Amanda who was in the crowd yelled out, "that's the wrong name." He said that was when he woke up. But he has known ever since then that it was a boy and he was right.

We are going to name him Ronan. It's an old Irish name that we really like and it also encompasses my father's name Ron, even though it's pronounced 'Row'nan. Paul and I have been going back and forth on the middle name. Originally we were stuck between family traditions. My family - the oldest boy has the middle name Paul, like my brother and father and grandfather. His family - the maiden name of the mother for the oldest boy's middle name. I don't know why I didn't like that at first.
I think I've always had issues with my maiden name and it would be weird as a middle name for a boy. But then Paul pointed out that my brother Paul's oldest son has the middle name of Paul so that tradition was satisfied and the more I said Ronan Ayers as the middle name out loud the more I was happy with it. If anyone ever asks his middle name then he will have to explain it because it doesn't make any sense but we're about 90% sure that's what the middle name will be. We've decided that the other 10% will come once he's born and we can see him....the first name is set in stone though. It feels good to have a name for him instead of just calling him Peanut or Baby. He's our little Ronan Ayers Pryor. I still get a little choked up or maybe it's weirded out when I say it. I can't decide which.

The last time I went to the doctor he said that Ronan's heart beat was very strong (around 152)and everything was healthy. It was a really fun experience at the ultrasound. I am so glad that Paul was able to be there and see it all for himself. The first thing they checked was the gender and that was very quick and there was no doubt it was a boy :) Then she took some other shots of the body. We got to see his skull when he turned right at the camera and that picture is kind of scary because it looks like a demon baby because you can't see any skin and then his feet and the picture we got for his hand is my favorite because all you can see is just one little hand sticking up out of the black void and all the fingers spread out wide like he was saying hi to us. I got choked up when I saw that....but I've been crying a lot lately. Then the technician was trying to get his profile and he wasn't cooperating very well with that shot but we got to see his mouth moving and the tech said that he was thirsty and drinking the amniotic fluid. Paul and I just looked at each other like 'wow that is so cool that we were able to see that' and then right after that we got to see his little fist come up and then he shook it at us. We just grinned and giggled. We finally got a rough profile shot that's hard to see but it was worth it and it was so much fun. It was also really interesting to see how much Ronan was moving all around and I couldn't feel it. Can I ever feel it now!!

I had felt little flutters around the middle of the fourth month and solid kicking by the beginning of the fifth. Now Paul has been able to feel him rolling around in there. He really likes to start kicking and moving right when I lay down to go to sleep - he's already a crafty little guy. He's enjoying his acrobatics while there is still room to move inside. The books say he is about 8 inches long from crown to rump and he is weighing in at a solid pound. He seems to be growing healthy and strong and I hope that I am doing all that I can to help him. I am finally over the morning sickness and I thought I would be lucky enough to avoid throwing up again but just today after breakfast my stomach did a flip flop and that was my cue to run to the bathroom but I can be thankful that it doesn't make me as sick as it once did and as long as I keep food in my stomach I feel pretty good. I am tired most of the time and that's even after I get 10 hours of sleep :)

One of the hardest parts has been getting clothes that fit that are suitable for work. My sister Brittany loaned me some maternity clothes and that has helped and I got some for Christmas so that is better now. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to find maternity pants that fit right and were comfortable and I think it was also a mental block....I am not sure why because I am very happy that we're having a baby but maybe it was just the terrified feeling that comes with that. But now they are the most comfortable pants I own and I love wearing them...I hate it when laundry gets low and I have to resort to my old jeans and even that won't be able last that much longer as my belly grows. It's been, I can't find the right word so I am going to say- amazing -experience so far and I know that it will just get better...at least that is what I am hoping and praying for :) I hear that all of this is worth it in the end when you get to take your baby home and I am certainly looking forward to it. There are some women out there who bloom when they are pregnant. My cousin Frisha says that she has always felt the most like herself and the best when she is pregnant....Frisha - I am so happy for you but jealous at the same time because it has been the exact opposite for me. Not that I am really complaining, yes it has been harder than I ever expected...the hardest time of my life so far...but it has also been the happiest. Paul and I tried for four years to have children and right when we thought that it just wasn't meant to be for us - WHAM! - the stick turned blue and you're gonna have a baby! But it has brought us closer together than ever before. Now we have a few baby clothes hanging in our closet (a big thanks to Laura and both sets of new grandparents) and a basinet on the floor (thanks to Paul and Brittany!) It's nice to have the visual reminders of what is to come and to try to imagine Ronan in them and then I have a little panic attack and I think 'Am I really ready for this?' The right answer is yes and I feel good about it most of the time until I hear horror stories or see the horror stories walking down the street in front of me and I pray really hard that I can be a good mom. The idea of having a sweet innocent little baby boy is really growing on me and I can teach him my love of football and the outdoors and we will have so much fun together.

There are a lot of questions I have for myself and it seems like being a mom is all I can think about so apologies to all my friends who have noticed how distant I have been lately. I hope I can come back real soon :) I know that you all understand and you've been very supportive even when I was relunctant to accept it. I love you all so much and thank you for everything!!! We will get through the next 3 months and then we can party again :) I can't believe that I am more than half way done...it's a miracle we've goten this far. Everything is leading up to the end of April/beginning of May. Ronan's due day, Paul's finals, Paul finding a job, GRADUATION, Aubree's wedding, moving from our apartment, AAHHHHHH....I know it will be one big jumbled mess but I really can't wait for it. I know it will be wonderful!!!!

Christmas was wonderful. I felt like a real family having Ronan there in spirit. It was really cool to get presents for him...I think I was the most excited about those. I ran home and put them in his future closet and organized everything. We won't be able to do much decorating in his little room just because most of it is the office and storage but we will do what we can for the short time we will be in this place. The maternity clothes I got were just what I needed. I surprised Paul with a video game a few days early so that he could play it on his break and i think he has had fun with it. Paul surprised me also since most of my christmas was spent on my trip to Boston this year. Paul actually wrote me a poem! I couldn't believe but once again I got tearied eyed even though I tried to hide it from him. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. He wrote it in his own hand in caligraphy and then framed it all nice with these Sweet Pea flowers around it. I have to brag because it was the best thing he has ever done for me and honestly I never expected it to happen. When you come over you will have to take a look at how beautiful it is!!

My next appointment with the doctor is on Jan. 8th and thank goodness for that because this sinus infection isn't going away like it's supposed to. I will have to give another update after that so that you know that everything is going well. I promise to post more often!!

2008-09-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

This was at Disneyland with Isaac and Laura on 05/26/08. It was a blast!!

A NEW BEGINNING

2008-09-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well hello everyone!!!

Laura and Isaac finally convinced us to start a blog. It was difficult for me - Becca - to commit to it just because there is already so much to do in the day that adding another seemed like it would break my back....until something amazing and unexpected happened that made me want to document everything. We're expecting a little peanut to join our family!!!!! He/she is due on April 28, 2009. We are really excited and just trying to let the idea sink in. Suddenly I have this overwhelming feeling to capture every moment and since I am better at typing than hand writing I decided this would the easiest and best way to get started. I apologize in advance if I'm slower than all the other bloggers out there. I just want to be able constantly communicate with family that is far away and greatly missed. I don't want them to miss anything just because they are far away -- speaking of which I want to send a big shout out to Paul's parents in New Jersey....Hi mom and dad and soon to be grandma and grandpa. Also to my sister Aubree who is serving her country in Virgina - Huuaah! To Mama Mabel in the remote area of Idaho I hope you can read this and follow along and hope we can get you your first great-granddaughter :) Also Jon, Patty, Frisha, and Elizabeth - you have been amazing supporters and I had to thank you!

I want to give you a little background on us as unexciting as it is. Where to begin....wow it's been quite a ride. Paul and I met through our cousins and were set up on a blind date. Isaac is Paul's cousin who met my cousin Laura at a singles dance. They set us up after their first date. We had a whirlwind romance to say the least and we were married in the Salt Lake Temple 3 months later and two weeks after Isaac and Laura were married. We are the best of friends now and it's so nice to know that I can hang out with Laura and Paul will hang out with Isaac. It's so perfect. We've gone on several trips just the four of us like Disney World and Disneyland, Vegas, and California. We couldn't ask for better friends.

We've been married for five years and we love being married. We've been trying to have kids ever since then but we weren't blessed until this year. Somehow it was worth the wait and now Peanut is coming at the perfect time....right in the middle of finals week at the University of Utah :) Paul is completing his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering this year and we have the feeling he's going to get a call right in the middle of a big test. It's great - I can't help but smile at him. We live at the University Student apartments and we really love it here. The people are all our age and in our position in life....starving students. We really love it but that doesn't mean that we don't dream of a house someday but first things first. I am trying to get through work as a Benefits Coordinator in Human Resources while being 9 weeks pregnant and all the gory details that come with it but I am surviving. Paul is taking 18 credit hours of grad school and working as an intern as a Process Engineer. We love spending time with family friends and traveling as much as our budget will allow. Paul loves playing video games with his friends and I love book club meetings. I am trying to finish writing a book with Laura and Paul is working on a circuit design for an electric car. Can you see why spare time is soooo....spare? We're busy but it makes us happy. This last year has been busy and it doesn't look to slow down soon. In a quick nutshell in no particular order are so main points- we bought two new cars, went to Disneyland, became Aunt Becca and Uncle Paul for the first time to Sophia Joy Pryor, became aunt and uncle again but to twins (they are so cute!) Steven and Spencer Ayers, went to Bear Lake twice, went fourwheeling, got my braces off, got pregnant, moved to a new two bedroom apartment, quit my job and found a better one, started a novel, and the year isn't even done yet. Hope I didn't miss anything :)

Anyway - I think that covers about one fourth of our lives but it's the biggest fourth. Look for a new picture of my ever expanding belly every week - although it won't look different for many weeks to come. Maybe I can find a way to scan in my first ultra-sound pics so you all can meet Peanut face to face.