Rebecca with an R

Pregnancy the second time

2015-08-27T22:35:00.000-06:00

You know what is great about being pregnant with a child already on the outside? Well first of all, it goes by a lot faster. Last time around, I was anxiously counting down each day because I wanted so badly to be a mom. Well, now I am a mom. And I'm very busy being that mom. So while I am so thrilled and excited to be a mom of TWO, the time seems to go by much faster.

But even better than that... when you're pregnant with not-your-first, no one really feels inclined to give you any advice. Because I already know that I don't need to "stock up on my sleep now since I won't get any when the baby comes." That advice is a lie. I know full well that I will sleep BETTER after the baby comes. Back sleepers unite. Get me off my side and into back-sleeping heaven. Also, heartburn be gone, aching body be gone, and movement-preventing-belly be gone. I would just like to bend over and pick something up without the awkward Serena Williams grunting sound please and thank you. Pregnancy is not beautiful. It is everything unflattering happening in your body all at one.

You know what's not so great about being pregnant with a child already on the outside? Basically everything that has to do with caring for that rambunctious, curious, active little boy. From messy meal times, to emptied cupboards and drawers, to battles during every diaper change because that boy does not want to stop moving ever.

Seth has been especially crazy the past few days that Jason has been out of town (naturally). Extra whiny, extra destructive. And then this morning he threw up in his high chair and pooped in the bath (naturally).

It was an exhausting day. He's been testing my patience and mostly, I've earned an F. But then he sat on my lap for a bedtime story and in the middle of the book, turned and looked up at me with the sweetest little face and just said "Mommy" in the sweetest little voice. And then after saying our prayers, while I sang him a song, he smothered me in runny-nosed kisses. And now for the cliche, that is why it's all worth it. It's funny how real the parent cliches become when you are a parent. They may be overused, but man are they true.

July Recap

2015-07-31T16:49:00.004-06:00

July has come and gone. It was a busy one for us.

Family was in town for the 4th. We ate some good food and watched the fireworks. Seth did great and wasn't bothered by them.

This boy just seems to keep getting bigger and bigger. I'd like for him to stop.

A family that swims together stays together.

Jason and I took a very quick trip to Nashville and this is the only picture I took the entire time.

Our babysitters loving reminded us that we hadn't been on a date in awhile, so we booked them for last Friday. And then didn't ever make any final plans. To avoid our typical dinner and a movie, we decided to go to Sprouts for a delicious assortment of cheese and have a little picnic. Well, cheese is expensive and we easily could have gone to a nice restaurant for what we spent! But we were treated to the most incredible Colorado sunset that night, and I guess you can't put a price on that.

First full week home from work complete! And this boy has been a gem.

Summer trip to CA

2015-07-29T15:55:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, we went out to visit my parents in California. Here's a little synoposis of what our week looked like:

- Fly in Saturday afternoon
- Drive to Yosemite on Sunday and camp until Monday
- Hang out at the house on Tuesday
- Jason and I drive to Santa Cruz on Wednesday and stay until Thursday
- Hang out at the house on Friday
- Fly home Saturday

Basically, it was not a long enough trip. But we had an absolute blast while we were there and Seth loved soaking up Nana and Grandpa and Edison time. A dog that will actually play with you! A house full of yummy food and people that will happily give it to you. A pool with fountains! That is little boy heaven right there.

This is the moment right before Jason jumped into the cold, swift current and lost his wedding ring. We were both amazed that he made it 5 years seeing as it was too loose from the get-go. It has already been replaced with a ring that we both like even better than the first, so yay to losing wedding rings?

Jason and I enjoyed a child-free day and night in Santa Cruz, and ended up doing kid things anyway, like going on rides at the boardwalk, playing at the arcade, and eating pizza for dinner.

We visited Fairytale Town and Seth learned how to go down a slide all by himself. I also came across the same cheese that I took a picture in with my brothers when I was maybe 2. It was A LOT smaller than I thought. I was expecting that thing to tower over my head... which I guess it did the last time I saw it.

Peace out California.

Working Mom

2015-07-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

Working Mom is a silly term. All moms are working all of the time. In the past year, I've experienced different varieties of the working mom. Stay-at-home, work-from-home, work-away-from-home, work-part-time-away-from-home-and-part-time at home, work-from-home-part-time. None of them are easy. Some of them are slightly harder than others due to lack of flexibility or the emotional toll of missing your child.
In some ways, being in the office during the day is a lot easier than working from home. I'm able to focus on my work with less distractions, but I miss being with my child. When working from home, I can take little breaks through out the day to give Seth my full-attention, and I'm able to hammer though a lot during nap time, but when his needs and client needs coincide, that's some major stress-inducing stuff. Like being holed up in a room on an hour-long client call, presenting a research report while your child is wailing at the bottom of the stairs because he wants your attention and there's nothing that you can do about it.
It's not easy. I've felt incredibly overwhelmed. Things have been particularly busy at work, and Seth is in the busiest stage of his life thus far. Always on the go, and always curiously getting into things or onto things that need some supervision. Throw a time-consuming calling and pregnancy on top of that, and I'm down for the count.
Recently, I've felt like I'm doing it all and none of it well.
When I went back to work, Jason and I had some specific goals we wanted to accomplish. Mainly, to get completely out of debt. So as we neared that goal, and with a second baby on the way, I decided to forgo sticking it out until maternity leave and just get home full-time as quickly as possible.
This will be my first full-week at home in 10 months. I'll continue working in a freelance capacity with my current company, which will ultimately be the best situation as I'll have greater control over my schedule and workload. Plus I'll get to continue to work, which I genuinely enjoy doing.
But mostly, I'm just happy to be home.

#2 Brings Even More Blue

2015-05-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

It's a boy! I don't think I can adequately explain how excited I am for another little boy. Logistically, it obviously makes my life easier since I already have boy clothes, and toys, and accessories. But even more than that, I'm so excited for Seth to have a little brother, to have two little boys running amuck in the house.

We found out really early. I was only 13 weeks when they called with the gender results. They have this new blood test where they draw a little bit from you, and are able to determine the chromosomes of the baby. They check for any chromosomal defects and can tell you if your baby has XY or XX chromosomes. Pretty amazing.

Leading up to the test I was feeling pretty sure that it was going to be a girl. I even had the perfect name already picked out. (Which I still love and am saving for the day a little pink might enter our lives.) Jason was also thinking it was going to be a girl. When the nurse called me with the results, I asked her to tell me the results of the chromosomal defects and then call back and leave a voicemail with the gender, so Jason and I could listen to it together after work.

That notification tormented me all day long. And I told Jason to drive home as fast as he could. The moment he walked in the door, we played the voicemail on speaker and heard the nurse tell us that is was a BOY! We were both shocked and so excited. Let's be honest, we would have been thrilled either way. But after being so sure that it was a girl, it was really fun to imagine what it would be like with another little boy in the house.

So now the torturous part of coming up with a boy name that Jason and I agree on begins. We have vastly different opinions when it comes to boy names. And since Seth's name was Jason's #1 pick last time, I feel like I get a trump card with this one. Right?

Positive

2015-05-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

16 weeks with #2

And now for a very long story about finding out. There are many mentions of periods (or the lack there of, so if that makes you squeamish, proceed with caution.)

Getting pregnant with Seth was a struggle. Ovulation just doesn't come natural to me, and after exhausting a lot of the typical fertility drugs, we were one cycle away from moving on to IVF. Luckily, the second IUI attempt took, and held, and brought us Seth.

Near the end of December, after Seth had turned one, I started feeling like it was time to see a doctor about getting the fertility process started again for baby #2. I hadn't had a period in 4 months, and knew that if nothing else, I needed to get that taken care of. I went into this prepared for a year to two year long process, so I wanted to start slow. I asked my doctor if I could just start with Metformin, a drug they use to treat PCOS, but not an actual fertility drug. I wanted to get acclimated to that drug before adding in any additional fertility drugs to see if the Metformin gave Clomid and the other fertility drugs a better shot than they had last time.

My doctor prescribed the Metformin, along with a drug to induce a period, since going many months without one is not a healthy thing to do. I remember her telling me I should get a period within two weeks. I was on the drug for a week, and a week later nothing had happened. I thought that maybe I'd misheard the doctor and that I should get a period two weeks after finishing the medication. So I waited another week. And still nothing. By then, I was deep into taking the Metformin and feeling unbelievably nauseous and miserable and nauseous (worse than any pregnancy nausea I had ever experienced with Seth). I called my doctor to ask her when I should expect a period because at this point, I had no clue, and mostly to tell her that the Metformin was brutal and I needed to reduce the dosage.

I was surprised when she was surprised that I hadn't had a period yet. Not having a period is normal to me though, so my immediate thought was that something was wrong with me and this just went right along with the pattern. She said we should do some labs to figure out what is wrong, but asked that before we do the labs, I take a pregnancy test. I scoffed at this idea. The cause of the mysteriously absent period is not due to pregnancy, because for me, it never is. I'd taken a pregnancy test a few months ago when my period failed to return after seeing it resurface briefly after I stopped nursing, and as usual, I'd gotten those hopes up. It's those hopes that you tell yourself to keep down, but rise exponentially as the seconds tick by while you wait to check the stick for two little lines. Well after taking two just to be sure a few months ago, I was not interested in inviting that briefly lived hope back into my life. I told her I'd call her back in a bit with negative results so we could schedule the labs.

I was working from home this day, and had an errand to run at lunch time. On our way home, Seth and I stopped by a drug store to grab a pregnancy test. Once we got home... I stalled. I put Seth down for a nap. I got some work done. I picked up toys off the ground. Then I decided that I should just take it. And then I realized I should probably drink a gallon of water.

So I take the test. And my mind started doing that mean trick. The one where you start thinking.. well maybe? You see, after going through the fertility treatments the first time around, I started getting pretty good at noticing signs of ovulation. They didn't happen very often, so it was clear when things seemed different. Well, a few weeks prior to this test taking, I had noticed those signs. I thought that was interesting, but didn't pay much attention to it because I wasn't in that "trying to conceive" place yet. I hadn't even gone to my first doctor's appointment. It was going to be the very next day. When I went to see the doctor the next day to ask to be put on Metformin, she mentioned that it looked like I was likely ovulating. Again, interesting. But again, I wasn't "trying" yet. I was "preparing" to start "trying" soon. So as I'm waiting for those minutes to tick by, my mean mind is telling me that it.. is.. possible. But I've seen my fair share of negative tests, so I tried to keep my emotions balanced and ready for the inevitable.

I went to check on the test, and at first glance, I saw one big bold pink line. "Nope," I thought. "Not pregnant." I leaned down to pick it up and realized, there was actually a faint line next to it. This was the moment when my mouth dropped and my hand jumped to cover my shock. And I just stood there. So still. Whispering to myself, "pregnant... I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant!" Jason would be home in 2 hours, and would react very similarly to me. Utter shock. Utter joy. The realization and relief that this time we got to skip out on the stressful ups and downs of "trying", and the cost of fertility drugs.

When we struggled getting pregnant with Seth, so many people told us they knew someone who went through that with their first and then didn't have any trouble with their second. I'd hoped that would be the case, but was skeptical, and for that reason, decided not to return to any preventative measures after Seth was born. Which means that after I stopped nursing Seth, over the course of 5 months, I likely ovulated just once. And amazingly, once was all it took.

The NICU Stay

2015-05-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

This has been sitting in my drafts for over a year so I figured it was time to hit publish.

Oh the NICU. What a wonderful and terrible place.

While I was in the labor and delivery room, someone from the NICU came to talk to us. She told us all of the things that a 33 week old baby may struggle with and the things they would keep an eye on while he was in the NICU. There were three main things they mentioned he needed to do before he could go home: maintain his body temp, be able to eat on his own, and go 5 days without any large drops in his heart-rate. Of course there were many other little things they'd be keeping an eye on, but those were the big three. We were told to expect him to be in the NICU until his due date, January 31st.

After Seth arrived, I was able to hold him for a bit, but he was quickly whisked off to the NICU. He was put on a CPAP machine right away, so when I was finally able to get to the NICU, it was hard to see his little face. My niece Lucy was heartbroken that she wasn't able to come into the NICU to see him, so we Facetimed with her while she was on the other side of the doors and she squealed over and over again, "Oh he is so cuuuute!" I was sure glad she thought so, because from where I was sitting, I could only see a third of his face.

By the next morning, he was off the CPAP and on low flow oxygen. For the first few days, his temperature was a little low and his billirubin numbers started to be a concern. He was transferred into an isolette to go under the lights for his jaundice. He had an IV in that had to be moved to a new location often. Holding him was a juggle of tubing and wires and that's how we learned to nurse. Twas fun.

Actually, that whole part was really easy. Seth was a champion nurser. When he was awake. But he still slept through so many of his feed times, they continued to give him his full amount through a feeding tube.

It was hard being discharged from the hospital, and while they did have rooms available for parents of NICU babies, I could never sleep there. I wanted to be there as much as possible, so I'd be at the NICU from 8:30am to 10:30pm. We'd usually get home after 11. I'd pump at midnight, 3 AM, and 6 AM and then get ready to head back to the hospital.

He was in the NICU over Christmas and New Years. Christmas was really hard. It didn't really feel like Christmas at all. I just wanted to have my baby home with me. Though, New Years was a little better.

Even though they told me to plan on being there until his due date, he seemed to be making good progress. Twice I asked when he'd be able to go home. And both times, I got no indication that he'd be out of there any time soon. Finally after the holidays were over, I started to get a handle on the NICU. I had a good schedule. My hormones weren't playing funny tricks on me. I walked in to the hospital on January 2nd feeling good. And ready to enjoy my day sitting by Seth's hospital crib. During rounds that morning, our favorite nurse gave the doctor Seth's stats. He's handling all of his feeds, digesting well, gaining weight, and hasn't had a drop in his heart rate in over 5 days.

Everyone smiled. He was doing great.

"Well what's he even doing here," I joked.

"Yeah, he can go home today." the doctor joked? He was joking right?

One of the NPs interrupted, mentioning there was still a shot and a procedure he still needed.

"Tomorrow then," the doctor said.

The group made some notes and were set to move on to the next patient. But I was a little confused, and I wanted to be clear.

"I'm sorry, what's happening tomorrow?"

Was it the shot? Was is the procedure? Would they need to monitor him for a few more days?

"You can bring him home," the doctor chuckled. The nurses, NPs, and RTs all smiled.

Finally, someone had given me a date. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite ready.

So after quietly cheering and hugging Seth's nurse, I ran off to get the one thing that I needed other than the doctor's go ahead to bring him home. A carseat.

A Walking Weekend

2015-04-12T20:54:00.000-06:00

We went on a walk Friday evening. We had gone far enough and were heading home when we stopped at a big intersection to wait for the crosswalk. When the crosswalk light turned on, we began crossing the intersection when a car started to turn towards us. He was going slow at first, so I looked at him to make sure he was going to stop for us, as we were already well into the intersection. Jason was in front of me with Grizz, and I was walking a few steps behind pushing Seth in the stroller. All of the sudden, the car sped up and was headed straight for Jason. I called to Jason something about whether he thought this guy saw us and as Jason saw the car coming at him, he tried to quickly turn Grizz around to jump out of the way. And let's be clear, turning Grizz around quickly is like trying to take a sharp right with a Navy Aircraft Carrier. As the car got closer, I didn't know what else to do other than scream. Right as I was screaming, the driver slammed on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt. Luckily, he stopped 5 or 6 feet away from Jason, but it was still close enough that it got my heart racing. The rest of our weekend was much less eventful.

Seth walked around Jason's office on Saturday while Jason was grabbing a few things. Within a few minutes, Seth had gathered all of the balls from all of the surrounding desks and started relocating them. Footballs were in trashcans, and stress-balls were under desks 15 feet away from their original location.

Later than day, we walked around Aurora Resevoir, which we thought would be beautiful because we'd gone on walks over there on warmer days this winter. But the bugs were out in full force. We spent most of the walk waving our arms and keeping our mouths shut tight. So yeah, a very pleasant walk.

Then, Seth walked all over our car while we ordered a few drinks at Sonic.

And to top it all off, Seth walked around and around the pews, and rows, and hallways at church. 3-hour church with a 16-month old is a rare form of torture. Just 2 more months until Nursery! Hallelujah!

Is this thing on?

2015-04-09T13:52:00.001-06:00

When Seth was about to turn 1, I realized I'd done a pretty terrible job of recording our memories from the past year. I'd been keeping a journal through a website called OhLife but they went belly up. I'm no good at writing in an actual journal. So I'm returning to what is familiar.

Yes, Seth is now 16 months. So I didn't do a really good job of writing when I felt that urge many months ago. But, here we are. I recently got to do some extra writing for my company blog. And it made me realize just how much I had missed writing.

Off we go.

Seth is almost 16 months. He's walking and talking - baba (anything he drinks from. used to be bottle but now he uses a sippy cup), dada, mama, up, moo (when asked what a cow says. also when asked what any other animal says), gaga (doggy), cag (catch), ball and a lot of other gibberish we haven't made sense of yet.

He loves food like no other (except maybe his dad) and doesn't like when the food comes to and end. He's got big blue eyes. Whenever anyone sees his eyes they say "Wow his eyes are so blue." Their next action is to stare deeply into my very brown eyes, which is never not awkward. I feel like I'm supposed to open my eyes extra wide to give them the answer that "No, those blue eyes did not come from me."

I was home with Seth full-time until he was 9 months. I worked a bit from home with my old company but the projects that came in were fewer and far between. I was kind of looking for other work-from-home opportunities when a research company reached out to me. I figured it wouldn't hurt to figure out what they were all about and went through a rigorous round of interviews and found I really liked the company. And when they gave me a good offer and told me I'd have the chance to work from home a couple days a week, I figured this was one of those "meant to be" situations.

Being back at work has been a great experience and also a hard experience. But Seth is thriving and when I'm not home with him, he's at my wonderful sister-in-law's house so I know he's in good hands.

I feel like this is turning into a Christmas letter where you get updates on each member of the family. So I guess Jason's next? He's still working in financial sales and genuinely enjoys going into work every day. So that's a win.

And Grizz the dog is huge. 170 the last time we weighed him. He was promptly put on a diet but I swear he only lost weight that first week and has completely plateaued since. So I'm estimating that he is now 160? The moral of the story is, bullmastiffs are already large but Grizz is particularly large for a bullmastiff. But he's generally a good dog and Seth loves him so I tolerate him and his mess of slobber and shedding and poop. (Who am I kidding. I don't pick up his poop.)

The One with Seth in a Grandpa Sweater

2014-04-10T22:49:00.000-06:00

Jason is out of town on a "business" trip. Okay. Fine. Inappropriate use of quotation marks. He is on a business trip. Playing golf. So... "" it is.

Meanwhile at the Hammond House, perfect baby Captain Sethington decided that he'd had enough of being the captain of babyhood. Because reserving whine/crying just for when you're hungry is such a waste of your young, strong, freshly off oxygen lungs. So today, he decided to cry. A special treat for mom while dad is away.

But we survived, and now that little bundle of happy is asleep in his crib for the next 11 hours. And that is why he's the captain of babyhood.

I should probably just go to bed too, but instead I'm having a healthy and balanced dinner of muddy buddies and just realized that all I've eaten today in addition to my chocolatey friends is a handful of cheerios and a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

Annnd this is why I don't blog anymore. A crying baby and a lack of food consumption. Riveting stuff over here.

His Arrival

2014-02-01T22:05:00.002-07:00

It's 3:00 AM, Monday, December 16th and I'm awake. This is not uncommon because at 33 weeks pregnant, I wake up a lot during the night to go to the bathroom or lament that I am stuck laying on my side wishing I were laying on my back. But this time, I'm awake, and I'm in pain.
--
They were too painful and coming too quickly to just be practice contractions, but I was also in denial that they were the real deal. Half an hour later after trying what I could to make the pain subside, I called the nurse advice line. This denial led me to describe my situation to the nurse as such, "Hi, I'm 33 weeks pregnant, and I woke up with severe abdominal pain. The pain comes in waves about every 5 minutes." Yes, I'm pretty sure I gave her the text book definition of a contraction, but I still refused to use the word.

Even though I was planning to deliver at a hospital close to us, she told me she wanted us to go up to St Joseph's Hospital in Denver (because they have a level 3 NICU, though she didn't tell me this). I asked, "Do you want me to go now?" She responded, "Yes, go now, and if you feel the baby coming, pull over and call 911." ....Umm, what?

At this point, I woke Jason up and told him we needed to go to the hospital. The drive there was painful. I told Jason to drive fast. We sped past not one but two cop cars on our way there and luckily neither one of them pulled us over. The whole way to the hospital, I kept thinking that the worst thing that could happen was that I'd be put on bedrest. We were supposed to be flying out to California on the 20th to spend Christmas with my family, so I was naively hoping that it was still a possibility.

When we finally got to the hospital, they brought me to an observation room. An ultrasound showed that my cervix was very thin. Then the resident checked and announced that I was dilated to a 6 and 90% effaced. ....Umm, what!? I knew enough to know that those numbers meant I wasn't going home for Christmas. The resident looked at Jason and I and told us it was likely that the baby was coming today. As this shocking news started to sink in, Jason needed some clarification, "So.. what are the chances that this baby is coming today?" Clearly, those numbers made a little less sense to him. The resident explained that there was nothing they could do to stop this baby's arrival. He was coming today. While we were slightly nervous, we were mostly excited. Actually, I was slightly nervous about his early arrival, but Jason was not at all. He was all excitement.

Once they got me into a labor and delivery room, I was dilated to an 8. It was 10 AM. Then, everything stopped. We waited and waited and waited. And since we came to the hospital unprepared to stay, we waited with very little entertainment and comfort. They finally broke my water at 4. I started pushing a bit later. (For the record, I got the worst heartburn in my throat while pushing...which was awful. Ice chips did a whole lot of nothing.)

By 6:18 PM our sweet baby boy was crying, announcing his arrival to the world.

At 33 weeks he was a whopping 4 lbs 15.8 oz and 18 1/4 inches long.

We named him Seth Douglas Hammond.

Oh hiiiiiii

2013-12-12T15:59:00.002-07:00

I think I've reached the "I feel huge and would prefer to never go out in public" stage of pregnancy... annnd I'm only 33 weeks. Here we go.

So Craigslist. I keep telling myself to stop visiting that site. But I've found so many gems already (e.g. wine button-tufted chairs, a rustic West Elm console table, vintage metal lockers, a mid-century dresser) that it's hard to just say no. I told myself I was done when I'd finished furnishing the family room, kitchen, and master. But the office/guest room started calling to me, and the nursery needs to be addressed at some point. So I'm back at it, and there is no stopping me. (Furnish is a key word here. Furnished, yes. Decorated, no. There are still no holes in any of our walls. Not a one.)

Speaking of the house, we've been in it for a month and a half and Jason and I still turn to each other and say, "This house is awesome."

Grizz is the worst. And I love him. But for about 10 minutes every day, I dislike him greatly. And for the other 1,430 minutes... he is asleep.

And now for the captioned life:

1. The Colorado sky was showing off.

2. This is the extent of our Christmas decorations this year. I feel like a failure. Sorry Christmas, you deserve better.

3. A little family picture from Thanksgiving.

That's what you get wise guy

2013-08-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

I'm happy to report that this year at Wellington Lake, we did not have any bear sightings. The only bear in sight was sick little Grizzly. He climbed into one of the kids camping chairs and was so dang cute, we didn't kick him out of it.

In another area of the campsite, there was equal cuteness going on from this little baby girl that I love so much.

More babies, and older babies, and oldest babies.

This girl took glamping to a whole new level. Leopard print, bedazzled pink hats. She's got it going on.

Guess who was not glamping.

And because it's not a Hammond get together without a made up game...

The Rules:

On go start running.

Kids throw on 1.

Girls throw on 2.

Boys were assigned different numbers after that.

And don't forget to run fast.

And probably don't stop.

Wrong or Right

2013-08-20T11:00:00.001-06:00

I was determined to prove my point. Luckily, this failure of mine works out to benefit us all anyway.

All during American Idol, I kept telling Jason that Phillip Phillips looked just like Matt Saracen aka Seven aka Zach Gilford. (This is now the appropriate time to tell you that if you haven't yet watched Friday Night Lights, you really need to get on that. And for the majority of you that have watched it, Clear eyes, full hearts!) Unfortunately, my "look how right I am collage" quickly turned into, "Okay, I was a little off but let's just finish it because...why the heck not?! collage."

So without further ado:

Twins? Brothers? Cousins? Or do I need glasses?

Little Facts

2013-08-19T09:38:00.001-06:00

I have never cheered for a team that had red in its colors. My high schools were green and gold, and then blue and silver. BYU is blue (and our rivals were red). And none of the Colorado sports teams feature red. We've got blue and orange (Broncos), purple and grey (Rockies), and blue and yellow (Nuggets). (Yeah, yeah, we've got hockey and soccer too, but I don't cheer for them.) Which is actually great for me because boy do I look terrible in red.

I can't whistle. Believe me, my brothers tried to teach me. They were much more successful at teaching me to burp. However, I am an excellent snapper. I snap four different fingers extremely loudly, and I am extremely proud of this fact.

My poor puppy is so sick. So basically there is no more happiness in the world. I have to confess that I did not love our family dog nearly as much as I love this little dog of mine. And I never really understood why people would cry when their dog died. But now I get it. He is breaking my heart!

Red Rocks and Nursery Blues

2013-08-12T12:02:00.000-06:00

We went up to Red Rocks Amphitheater this weekend. This is were crazy people go to work out. They run, skip, and leap up the benches of this massive venue and then crab crawl down, and stop half way for some push-ups, and it is all very exhausting to watch. There are plenty of sane people that come to walk the stairs, and take in the beauty, and chat with strangers who stop to pet their dog.
Then there are the really cool people who go back at night for a concert. We'd like to join the ranks of those cool people some day.

Sticking with our weekend tradition, we went and visited our house. And brought all those we could drag along with us. It looks like the electrical and plumbing is pretty much done. Let me tell you a little bit more about our house as a lull you to sleep. I kid, I kid. I'll stop. But seriously. I can't wait for that place to be done. I literally can't. Literally. I think I'll just move in tonight with a tent and a sleeping bag. (Can we talk about literally for a second. There are so many people out there that literally do not know how to use that word. It literally makes me sad and embarrassed for our society. And it literally makes me want to jump off a bridge... Gotcha.)

Jason and I are lucky enough to be serving in Nursery at church. This means, for two hours, we watch a bunch of 18-month to 3-year-olds so their parents can enjoy Sunday School. It also means lots of puzzles and books and blocks and snacks and singing songs. It was the first time for one of the little girls and it can be traumatic to have your mom drop you off in a room full of fun kids and fun toys. She decided to cry and cry and did not want to be held or consoled. Finally she got tired of crying and took a little rest next to the door. One of the older boys laid down to comfort her. And another little boy wanted to know what the fuss was about. And then my heart melted into a puddle.

Muuuzzaaakk..

2013-08-07T14:51:00.000-06:00

~~..you should be listening to.~~ ..to which you should be listening.

Down The Road by C2C on Grooveshark
Pompeii by Bastille on Grooveshark
Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons on Grooveshark
Believer by American Authors on Grooveshark
Well, I certainly have a style right now. Where are all my ladies?!

And now for a super blurry picture from the Phillip Phillips concert Jason and I went to last week, compliments of a cute 60 year old lady in the crowd. There were quite a lot of mature attendees at that thing (the American Idol crowd).. and quite a lot of pot smoker attendees (the Colorado crowd). Wonder if they were one and the same. Crazy old people.

Two weeks ago Jason turned to me one night and said he had a new resolution. I'm all about mid-year resolutions because January resolutions are boring. They are all about fixing something that's wrong with yourself. But mid-year resolutions, those are all about having a more fun life. Jason resolved to go to more concerts. And a week later, a Groupon showed up for $16 tickets to a Phillip Phillips concert... Clearly, it was a sign.

My father, the author

2013-08-06T09:12:00.000-06:00

When I think about who my father is to me, the first word that comes to mind is "teacher." A good teacher teaches in a variety of ways. He taught me through example, through stories, through direct and sound advice, and my favorite, through wise and well-said words. I love truth that is beautifully spoken. A string of words that is put together thoughtfully, and clearly, and rings true the moment you hear them. My father is an expert at this. Which is why I am able to recall word for word, many things he said to me in my youth.
My father taught me to be kind and loving, he taught me to be open-minded and search for answers, he taught me to love education and knowledge, he taught me to love and trust the Lord, he taught me logic, math, and science, he along with my mother taught me an appreciation of the arts and to find beauty in my surroundings.

I recently finished a book that this great man wrote. The Middle of Infinity chronicles the story of my dad's illness from his unique perspective as a surgeon. He is so open and honest about his journey and shares the incredible miracles we experienced as a family.

It is available on Amazon in print or for your Kindle, and I highly recommend that you check it out.

(Also, can we talk about how cute my mom is?!)

Trifecta

2013-08-05T09:16:00.001-06:00

For the last year, Jason and I have had 3 priorities. 3 things that we wanted in our lives. Nothing was as important to us. We'd go on long walks and talk about those things endlessly, constantly cycling through each one over and over again, never ever tiring of talking about the possibilities. And we never ever thought that they would all converge at one point and that we'd be blessed with each one so close to each other. But here we are. 2013 is turning out to be the greatest year of our lives. We better enjoy it because I can't imagine it getting better than this.

So here it is, the 2013 Hammond Trifecta.

The House
- We are at the electrical stage. Which means drywall will happen in a couple of weeks. And from drywall it's about 45 to 60 days until closing.
- It should be ready by end of September/early October.
- I'm positively giddy about being in our house before the holiday season. I'm even excited about Halloween and getting to hand out candy.. on my very own front porch.

The Dog
- Grizz is 11 weeks.
- We joked that if he were any more well behaved, he'd be a fish. And that would be boring.
- He's a whiz at mastering commands. Sit, stay, and come.
- He's not so great at mastering what he's NOT supposed to do. Like licking... with his teeth.
- He's super mellow. And super friendly. So come visit. Grizz would love to play with you.

The Baby
- Clearly I saved the best for last. Also, I apologize for this ultrasound picture. I think they are the most boring thing until they are your own. But seeing as I'm not showing, I have very little photographic evidence.
- I'm 14 weeks.
- The baby is due January 31st.
- This pregnancy has been very easy so far. I've had some of the typical symptoms, but all in all, it's been pretty pleasant.
- Yes, we are going to find out the gender. I've got too much type A in me to not find out.
- And yes, we're ecstatic.

'Merica

2013-07-11T17:39:00.000-06:00

The whole Hammond crew headed out to Arkansas to celebrate the 4th. One of my brothers-in-law moved there this year to work at the Walmart headquarters.. Because why else would anyone move to Bentonville, Arkansas? 24 people in one house sure makes for a rockin party.... And long lines for the bathroom.

Here's how it all went down.

The 4th

The Hammond cousins put on a little program for us on the morning of the 4th. It included a parade, and some flag waving, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and getting all of the adults to stand with them and sing the National Anthem. And if that is not the most patriotic way to start the day, I'm not sure what is.

That morning we hiked to a waterfall where 9 out of 10 of the kids fell or willing lunged into the water.

And then we went to the Walton's Five and Dime. Next door, there was a little museum about the beginnings of Walmart. I'm sure no one out there really truly loves Walmart like one loves Apple, or Target, or Dr Pepper. But it's cheap. And it's pretty cool what Sam Walton created and how humble he stayed.

Then we hit the pool before dinner and that night we went to the Bentonville fireworks, which were awesome. Mostly because they picked the best songs ever.

The 5th

On the 5th we went on a river float. Though the river was sloooooow. So it was more like a river-paddle-with-your-arms-until-they-fall-off. Also, as it turns out, Arkansas is beautiful. Who knew? Can you see that extra pair of sunglasses on my head? Jason decided to go sans tube or raft and spent most of the day swimming down the river. And rolling over the rocks in the shallow parts because he refused to stand up and walk.

The Hammond girls needed a picture. And of course the ideal time to take one was on a smoke-filled street at night after shooting off fireworks. I know it's hard for you to see so I'll just tell you. We looked good.

We were also the cheapos who loaded up on fireworks on the 5th when they were all 75% off. Always keeping it classy.

The Hammond men hate games unless they are ones they invented themselves, like "Who can stand on top of the inner-tube the longest," or "Who can kick this ball the farthest distance." They scoff when the girls suggest playing a game and yet some how... they always end up getting into it.

The 6th

That morning was my nephew's baptism. He was adorable. I always get so weepy at those things. I can only imagine what I'll be like with my own children.

That afternoon, I finally got a chance to really put my new clubs to use and I wasn't terrible. So now I'm already itching to go back. Expensive habit, here I come!

The 7th

In an incredibly convenient turn of events, the bullmastiff breeder we had decided upon ended up being 30 minutes south of where we were staying. And the litter we wanted happened to be ready to be picked up that week. So on the 7th, before we drove home to CO, we swung down to the breeder to pick up the little guy. And that is how this quickly became the best 4th ever!

Grizzy Bear

2013-07-09T09:44:00.000-06:00

Jason and I always knew we wanted dogs. He had boxers growing up. I had a lab. So it had to be a large dog. Well over two years ago we found ourselves in a bookstore thumbing through a gargantuan dog breed book. Then we both added the Perfect Breed app to our phones. The hunt was on, and we finally decided on a bullmastiff. A very, very large dog. And not long after, we decided on his name. And after two years of talking about how much we missed a dog we didn't even have, and while on walks would say "I wish he was here with us, he would love this," the day finally came when we got to pick up that big barrel of destruction and fun. Meet Grizz. 8 weeks old and cute as a button. And now on our list of things Jason and I really want in our life we can write, "Dog: check."

InstaSpain

2013-06-21T12:11:00.001-06:00

We didn't have our camera with us every where we went, so sometimes our phones had to do.
Most are mine, but I stole a few from Jason, Caitlin, Ben & Mother Dear

//At the market in Morocco
//Baby camel!

//The parade we happened upon in San Pedro
//From my parents' deck
//Jason got hot on our drive through the hills near Ronda
//Argentine and Paraguayan dinner

//Thanks for the memories Spain. And the ice cream. And that pool

BTIL & Friends & Darndest Things

2013-06-20T09:36:00.000-06:00

Who needs a child when you have a Jason

While looking for a comfy pair of dress socks, he pulls one single sock out of the drawer:
"I wish I had the sequel to that one."

After I corrected his grammer:
"Shut your.... cute and sexy mouth."

And a special appearance from one of Jason's friends talking about a very intelligent and slightly socially awkward guy he works with:
Friend: "He's always talking about his girlfriend. She does.. umm, what's that called again? Like stripping but for ugly girls?"
Wife: "Burlesque?"
Friend: "Yeah, she's a burlesque dancer."

Adventures in Spain

2013-06-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Spain was beautiful. We stayed at a resort right on the Mediterranean. After our day trips to Rondo, Cordoba, Marbella, or Morocco, we'd head back to the resort and go straight to the beach or the pool followed by a late dinner. And from my parents' deck, we could see Africa across the sea.

My brother-in-law lived in the southern part of Spain for two years while serving a mission for our church. One night that week, we went over to dinner with a few families from the church where he served. Even though I only understood about 20% of the conversations that night (all the men in our group- Jason, my dad, my brother Sam, and my brother-in-law Ben- speak Spanish, so none of the conversation was in English), this was one of my favorite things that we did. The food was delicious and the conversation was incredibly lively.

One evening, while walking through San Pedro, we happened upon an awesome parade of some sort. There was a huge band following a group of men carrying... I'm not even sure how to describe it, but it was large. And there was swaying. I noticed that all of the kids a certain age (8? or 10?) were all dressed in white. The girls in dresses. The boys in sailor suits. I thought it was maybe in celebration of their first communion? Anyone know anything about that?

While in Morocco, my dad made a friend. This friend really wanted to sell him an ugly elephant carved out of wood. He followed him around for at least 20 minutes. After about 527 "No thank you's" from my father, the man offered the elephant to him for free and tried to stick it in my dad's pocket. I'm not sure what his intention was with that one. We all got a kick out of watching this guy's persistance.

And now for the wrap up: Go for the sites, not the food. The very best meal we had was actually at an amazing Italian restaurant. But the traditional Spanish food didn't blow me away. Unless you really really love paella. Then you're set. Or tortillas de patata, which I'm pretty sure Ben had every single day.

Look What the Cat Dragged In

2013-06-13T11:08:00.001-06:00

It's time to ask the all-important questions.

1) Why is it taking me so long to recover from our Spain trip? I'd go to bed at 8 every night if Jason would let me. But then we wake up at 3 AM and Jason's not a huge fan of that. I just fall asleep again and finally get out of bed a 6, which begins the most productive morning of my life. This is coming from a girl who usually wakes up at 8:30 to get to work by 9. Seeing the world before 7 ain't half bad. I've run so many errands before arriving at work this week, I think I've finally earned myself a "housewife of the week" award. I even did the laundry for once. I never do laundry because I wear my clothes a million times before I wash them. And Jason becomes so desperate for clothes that he just does them himself. It's a very nice plan that we've developed. But I finally caved, because after returning from a trip, even if I didn't wear that article of clothing, anything housed in the cramped, stuffy box of a suitcase receives the official stamp of dirty.

2. Why are Taco Bell's bean burritos so much better than the ones I make at home? I have been ordering the same thing from Taco Bell since I was 5. Bean burrito- no sauce, no onion. That comes to $1.28 my friends. And it consists of a tortilla, some powdered beans, and fake cheese. WHY CAN'T I RECREATE THIS AMAZINGNESS AT HOME? Seriously, if someone has the answer, I'm all ears.

3. How did I manage to drop my keys into the dumpster even as I was repeating to myself, "Now be sure and don't drop your keys when you throw this trash in here. Remember, don't drop the keys. Don't drop the keys." And why then for some inexplicable reason did I think I did NOT drop the keys after I definitely did, in fact, drop the keys in the dumpster and go on with my merry life until hours later when for some inexplicable reason, I could not find my keys. And why did I then look a million different places BEFORE I thought to go check the dumpster. The mysteries of the universe, I tell ya.