Alaska Cruise 2018 Seattle and First Day at Sea

We took this picture when we finally got on the plane from Salt Lake To Seattle. I think our thoughts were, "WE FINALLY MADE IT!" We had seriously been saving for this trip for 3 years. It all started when Cory and I were discussing if we could go anywhere in the entire world, money wasn't an issue, where would we go. After Cory's first response of Zions National Park, I said, "lets pack up right now and go, because that we can do right this second and then all your dreams have come true." Maybe he had never really thought about traveling, I'm not sure, but after some more prodding he let me know that he'd always wondered about Alaska. So... that is how the dream started. 

After planning the trip with multiple different people and them having to back out for whatever reasons, it ended up just being the two of us. I think we were nervous about this at first, you know... first time travelers over here. But I think that it was such a blessing for us to go do this vacation together. We were SO excited in this picture! And so ready for our adventure to begin. 

From our airplane window we got to see Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. St. Helens. It was pretty cool!

One of the many things we were excited for was the all you can eat food, and the seafood. The first night was super fun. We made sure to call and get reservations every night so that we could go to the nicer restaurants and "fine dine". Cory got crawdads the first night. I wanted so badly to be daring and try it, but it was NOT my favorite that's for sure. 

We also loved getting the pamphlet every night that gave you the next days itinerary. The ship offered so much! I don't know what we were doing in the picture above, it might have been a game show that involved the guests on the cruise. 

 Our 2nd day was a day at sea. A lot of people told us that we would need to upgrade our room to a balcony to really enjoy a cruise. We decided to forego that and use any extra money we had on experiences. To be honest, and maybe its because we don't know any better, I loved having a room in the middle of the boat. Our room was so dark at any time of the day with the lights off. So our day at sea we got to spend a lot of time catching up on some much needed sleep after 3 kids! The one thing we realized is that each day they only played the same movies over and over again. So we'd turn on the TV and it'd be half way through a movie. We learned to just start watching it, and if you were really interested, you could keep watching it once it was finished to watch the first part of the movie.

We woke up when we wanted and went up to have breakfast. We ate out on the balcony and it was FRIGID! I knew from the beginning that this wasn't going to be a warm cruise, but I'm glad I over prepared, because it was COLD for this small boned gal. While eating our breakfast Cory kept saying that he could see some weird water spouts out in the distance. I couldn't really see what he was seeing because of my eyes. But later we found out that the spouting was whates and we would be seeing a lot more of it! How incredible is that?

 One of the activities this day was out by the pool. A guy came out and carved a huge block of ice into koi fish with only a chisel. It was seriously so impressive. Another thing that was impressive was how much the boat was rocking, and it didn't even really feel like it. But the swimming pool was seriously just waving back and forth. It was insane!

 The beauty and color of this amazing part of the world was so unexpected for me. When its cold in Utah it almost seems like the world has died. But up here, it was gorgeous blue, and everything was so ALIVE. We saw so many whales and sea lions just off the side of the boat. Don't let that picture fool you though, it was FREEZING!

The cruise does a great job of showcasing different things for the part of the world that we were going to. This lunch was a super fun atmosphere, but by far my least favorite food. But luckily, its all you can eat and see we could just go to the pizza bar, or the cheeseburger bar and eat again! So much fun!

We also went to show where they would teach us to juggle. I was all in. Luckily in college I had tried to learn a little bit so I already had the jist of it, but I had a blast. Ol Sourdough (Cory) wouldn't do it. But he stood there laughing and playing all the while. 

 This was also the first formal night. We were by far the least dressed up people there! It was crazy how ALL OUT some of the people went. But, I would have felt so uncomfortable, so Sunday dress was great for me. This night we lucked out and got a window seat. One thing that I want to remember for my next cruise is that I regret buying the drink card. It gave me unlimited soda, but to be honest, the soda wasn't great and the non-alcoholic drinks weren't great either.

A funny story. They would bring out these dinner rolls every night. They were the hard kind of rolls. They were delicious and we were always starving when they'd bring them out before the meal. Well, every time I would use a knife and try and cut it open. And every time the waiter would come, only to me, with this little brush to brush off my party of the table. He would never do this for anyone else. The last night, I finally asked Cory why this kept happening. He told me that the first night he watched everyone else and they gently ripped the roll apart with their hands. I asked him why he didn't tell me and he let me know he was too busy judging me along with everyone else as the waiter had to clean up after me. HA HA HA!!! I guess you always gotta look out for number one! (he was of course joking)

Mason's baby blessing 11/19/2017

Today was a beautiful day! Cory blessed our baby Mason Lynn Waters. We were joking about how it's taken 3 kids to finally figure this stuff out. We had just the right amount of people in the circle and Cory gave Mason a beautiful blessing. 

We were able to have friend over for a nacho bar with pulled pork and the weather couldn't have been better. We were able to set up tables in the garage and even though we were in tight quarters, everyone fit and we were able to have an enjoyable afternoon lunch. 

Dad, Mom, Mason, Great Grandma and Grandpa Givan, Grandma and Grandpa Bateman

Grandpa and Grandma Waters, Great Grandma and Grandpa Nye, Mason, Great Grandma Israelsen, Dad and Mom

Mason, Great Grandma and Grandpa Nye, Great Grandma Israelsen

Grandpa and Grandma Waters

Grandpa and Grandma Bateman

Mason Lynn Waters

9/15/2017: Today I am almost 38 weeks along with my 3rd pregnancy. Last week I went to my appointment and was told that I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced. Today at my appointment I was dilated to a 4+ and 80% effaced. The doctor told me that if I was dilated to a 5 they wouldn't let me go home and would have me go over to the hospital to deliver. So, that got me thinking that I would probably have the baby sooner rather than later especially with my track record of having babies so quickly.

9/17/2017: Today was Sunday. I am not going to lie, I'm surprised that I haven't had this baby. But, I haven't even had any Braxton Hicks for the past couple of days, which is crazy because I've had them pretty regularly since week 20. After church I didn't feel great so I went a laid down for an hour. When I woke up I felt like I needed to clean everything. All the while I had some MAJOR Braxton Hicks happening, to the point that I would have to stop and wait through each one before I could keep cleaning. I even started timing them and noticed they were coming pretty regularly. They were painful, but not to the point that I couldn't breathe. I knew mom and dad would be driving home from Grover today, so I called mom and let her know that it may, or may not be go time. By the time they got to my house, all of the contractions had stopped. All together. So, I made the decision to have mom go home, I would have felt horrible if she stayed and I didn't have the baby. Plus, I had a few people on duty to call in the middle of the night to help with the boys, so I knew we'd be okay. Well, the contractions started up again at about 11pm and kept going until 3 am. They didn't progressively get worse, so I knew that it wasn't serious, but I felt horrible and had to go to the bathroom constantly. I also felt sick to my stomach pretty much the whole time. When everything stopped at 3am, I fell asleep and woke up the next morning exhausted and completely disappointed.

9/21/2017: This morning I woke up at 3am to some pretty strong contractions. I was shocked at the difference in intensity in these ones, compared to Sunday night. I mowed the entire front and back yard yesterday, and that really got my Braxton Hicks going so I spent an hour trying to decide if these were getting worse, or if I was psyching myself out, like I had a few days ago. Once 4am hit, my contractions were so intense and so close together I woke Cory up because I knew that I needed relief soon. So he got up, we got everything packed and I called Mindy Tolbert to come and sit with the boys. My contractions were so bad that I didn't think that I was going to make it to the hospital. For whatever reason, this time seemed to hurt more than the last two. Which I knew isn't true, but I think the 3 1/2 year gap made me forget. When we got to the hospital Cory went in and of course no one was at the desk. I couldn't sit there waiting so I started walking in by myself, with the car sitting there running. It felt like forever, but a nurse came running right out with a wheel chair and I just remember thinking, "I don't want to ride in a wheelchair because she's going slower than I could walk," but I did it anyways. She kept asking me questions and I kept asking her to repeat them because I couldn't concentrate on anything but the pain. I had my eyes closed the whole time. At this time Cory ran to park the car and met us upstairs. I got undressed and into a gown and was TERRIFIED to get checked. I was in so much pain that the thought of them checking me had me crying. But, I put on my big girl pants and they checked. I thought for sure I'd be at a ten with the pain that I was in. But they told me that I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. I wanted to DIE. With my other two, by the time that I was at the hospital I was dilated to a 7 both times, and I thought for sure I was in more pain this time around. But I wasn't as far effaced with the first two. Anyways, I got my epidural right away and remember the anesthesiologist telling me that I wouldn't feel relief for about 20 minutes. Little did he know, that I'm such a light weight when it comes to pain meds and I only felt one more contraction before it was instant relief. They made me lay on my right side (most of my pain was in my right side and my right back), but they forgot to roll me to the left side when they should have. It wasn't a big deal because I did get rolled and didn't have any pain on the left side either, but I only mention it because after delivery I didn't have feeling in my right leg for a long long long time! Anyways, an hour after I was checked the first time I was dilated to a 9! So I went from a 5 to a 9 in one hour. The whole time I was feeling nauseous, and with my first two I had already thrown up a few times. The doctor came in and said we were ready to push. I pushed through two sets and then needed to throw up. I just threw up through the entire delivery. It was not attractive. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the first thing I said once baby was out, "I bet that was the most attractive delivery you've all been a part of." But my beautiful baby was here. 7lbs and 7oz and 20.5 inches of  baby boy. When they put that little guy on my chest he literally held up his head and looked right into my eyes.

This little boy has been so sweet since the minute he came into our lives. The nurse told me that it was shocking to her how aware of me he was. Anytime I talk he looks right in my direction. When I hold him he holds his head up and looks right at me. I would be lying if I said I didn't absolutely love it.

Once Tate and Parker got to come and meet their baby brother I could actually feel that our family was all together. Tate and Parker were so excited and so proud. Each of them only wanted to hold him for literally 20 seconds. When they left, Tate gave the baby a kiss on his head. I asked Parker if he wanted to give the baby a kiss and he looked at me and said, "No, he is the most disgusting, his lips are tiny." We're definitely adjusting.

Naming this baby wasn't as difficult as Parker was. We never talked about names super serious because of the last time. We just kept a running list of names that we took to the hospital with us. When it came time to actually name him we crossed off every name on the list super fast, except for three. Levi, Garret and Mason. I knew that I wanted Mason, but Cory had already told me that was his least favorite of the three. We had to sleep on it for one more night. The next morning, Cory said he felt strongly that his name should be Mason Lynn. So our beautiful baby boy had his name. And he is our perfect little baby. 

Car Seat Cover with Window

Well, I'm about to do all of you a huge favor! As any of you who know my mom knows, she is a very talented woman. Many of you have been recipients of her talent. Well, I really wanted her to teach me how to make her car seat cover with a window so that I could make one for my friend. She cautioned me about this. She said, "As soon as you make one you will be asked to make more and more." They really are that amazing! And everyone wants to know where they can buy one, or if she'll make one for someone they love. SO... I decided that I would make this one, and document the whole thing so that I could blog her instructions. NOW YOU ALL CAN MAKE YOUR OWN! You're welcome!!!

1. Start with 1 ¼” yard of fabric for the front of your car seat cover, and 1 ¼” yard of fabric for the back of your car seat cover. Long side of cover is 42” and short side is 36”.

2. Measure in 12.5”. on the left side, the middle, and the right side and mark with a dot. Do this on the bottom as well. Do this on both pieces of fabric.

3. Draw a line connecting the dots

4.Cut down each line and label on the end of each piece of fabric, the sides and the middle so that you can keep them straight.

(proof that yours truly really did work on this thing)

5.Get out your “Clear Double Polished Clear Vinyl”from Walmart. Cut out 12” by 12” for the window.

6. Take 2 middle pieces and put them together face together. Measure down 20” and cut fabric. Label the top of the fabric and the bottom

7. Warning, plastic slips, you cant use a pin because it'll ruin the plastic. Put the plastic in between two fabrics, face in. Sew ¾” in. Make sure plastic and material don't slip.

8. Get iron out. Put heat on silk synthetic setting so its not as hot. CAUTION! Getting the iron too close to the plastic will melt/bubble it. Open up fabric to right sides and iron open seam. Iron both sides.

9. Back to sewing machine. Line presser foot up to material and top stitch all the way down.

10. Take middle bottom pieces, put together face in. Measure down 12” and cut. This piece will be the flap/cover.

(the master herself, isn't she cute?)

11. Place fabric face down on plastic (make sure right piece is on top) on both sides. Repeat steps 6-8

12. On to the sides. Place top fabric face down on top fabric. And bottom fabric face up on bottom fabric. Beauty here is you can pin the fabric. Make sure you get all 4 pieces lined up.
13.Sew 3/4” in. Liken to step 7.
14. Repeat step 8
15. You are also going to kinda repeat step 9, but only around the window.
16.Repeat steps 12-15

17. There will be bottom excess on you side pieces. Cut those off and they will be your straps (or you can buy extra fabric)
18. Now we are going to bind the edges. Fold your sides in 3/4” and then roll it so that it measures 1”. Pin this all the way around. HINT, start in the middle and work your way out. IN the corners, fold until it looks right. Refer to pic, and then IRON ALL OF IT. Then you will top stitch around. You can do a decorative stitch here if you want.

19. STRAPS. Put pieces together. Faces together. Measure and sew along side of presser foot. Sew 3 sides (they wont be all the way even, so sew measuring to the smaller piece). Clip off the corners and turn inside out. Fold 4^th side inwards so that it makes a clean 4^th side. You'll iron the strap at this point. Then do a top stitch all the way around.

20. Flap/Cover: Follow step 19 (straps)

21. Straps. Cut Velcro to fit width of strap. We turned our strap to the inside so our fabrics contrast. Sew Velcro square onto strap. Pay attention because 2^nd part of Velcro is sewed square onto other side of fabric. See pic. DONT SEW THESE ON TO THE ACTUAL CAR SEAT COVER UNTIL YOU CAN MEASURE IT TO YOUR CAR SEAT. You can put cute button on there too (or, for girls, a Big Bow). When doing second strap, make sure you are sewing Velcro on the same way you did the first strap.

21. The longer fabric side is the top, so that it can drape over the car seat.
22. Straps will be sewed about in the middle, depending on the car seat

23. We used ribbon as the holder of the flap/cover. Cut the ribbon 8”. Loop ribbon on both sides (2” from corner) and pin overlapping. Put the flap over the top, lining the top of the window. Sew across the top, using the footer as your guide.   

24. You can add a few different things to the finishing touch. This is what I decided to do.

Happy 1st Birthday Parker!!! March 22, 2015

Oh man! This past year went by so so fast. I can't believe how big my baby is. He is such a sweet blessing in our lives. 

 

 He got to have his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins over to our house for cake and ice-cream. Everyone was so wonderful and helped us celebrate our little 1 year old. He didn't really notice the attention, but he LOVED the cake and ice-cream.

Some things that Parker does right now:

He could walk if he wanted to, but he is very very cautious. He'll walk everywhere as long as he can hold on to someone or something. Hasn't braved the alone walking yet

However, he is the master crawler. He can crawl so fast that he can escape Tate.

He has 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on bottom.

He can say "uh oh scetio" (Uh oh Spaghettios)

For the past year he has been our easy going, laid back little guy. He is starting to find his attitude and can throw quite the tantrum. face down on the ground, kicking and screaming.

Loves Tate. Hates being mauled by Tate.

His head turned out okay.

He's a very good eater.

Loves to snuggle

Has a stone cold creeper face. I mean, it gets awkward sometimes how hard people will try to get him to smile. But once you do get him to crack, his toothy smile is so cute.

My Grandpa Bateman and Lessons Learned

Disclaimer, this may be hard to follow...

I don't even know where to start with this post. So much has happened, and I wish that I could express all that I have felt and learned throughout this experience. In order to truly share my experience, we will have to go back to January of 2008. I had my mission call. I would be entering the MTC on the 18th, which was a Wednesday. I spent the weeks prior getting all of my ducks in a row. The Sunday before, I went to both sets of grandparents homes, just like I had almost every other Sunday of my life. I made sure to give them each an extra hug and said goodbye for 18 months. The the day before I would be leaving I had a very strong feeling that I should go and say goodbye to my grandma Bateman again. To this day I can still remember exactly where I was standing in my house, and exactly what I was doing when I had that feeling. I remember all of that because I also remember making the decision that I was too busy to do it. Justifiably I really was extremely busy, but that was one of the biggest regrets of my life to this day.

First lesson learned, follow those promptings.

I went to the MTC, and a little over a month later, on February 26, 2008 my grandma Bateman died. I wasn't expecting it. It really hit me hard and it was really hard to be away from my family during this time. I wanted to talk to my dad, and I didn't at the same time. Because I was serving a mission, something I knew my grandma was proud of, I decided I would follow the rules and turn down the option I was given to talk to my dad on the phone. I wasn't able to go to the funeral.

Fast forward.

My mission was 18 months. I loved it with all of my heart. However, because I was on my mission, I didn't get to see my family. This became normal. So when I came home from my mission and saw everyone, I kind of just kept telling myself that grandma was still around, but I just hadn't seen her. It was weird. It's crazy how much a funeral really does give you closure. I just never talked about it. When people did talk about her, I started to feel the ache in my heart and the loss of not only my grandma, but also not taking the extra step to say goodbye, so I pushed it down deep. My grandpa Bateman seemed to kind of understand that I missed out on something important. Being a returned missionary himself, he was also very proud of me.

A few days after I'd gotten home, my grandpa Bateman came and picked me up and took me to lunch at Leatherbee's and then we went out to grandma's grave. It was such a special treat for me. My grandpa really loved me and I knew it. I always felt extremely close to my grandpa, but after my mission he and I became closer. I got to see him so many times at the temple. He always gave me a big hug and would sit and chat with me in the celestial room. Every time he saw me he would light up and I felt special.

Three weeks before my wedding Cory was having my wedding ring and engagement ring soldered together. My grandpa gave me one of my grandma's rings to wear in the meantime. I got my wedding ring back on my wedding day. I found my grandpa to give him the borrowed ring back and he took me aside and got teary eyed and let me know that the ring was a wedding gift from he and grandma. I wear the ring every single day. It means so much to me.

Fast forward almost 5 years.

Cory and I decided to go to ward temple night. We got there late and Provo temple is always packed (thank heaven for 2 new temples opening soon in our area) and we missed our session. We decided to do sealings together instead. As we were in the sealing room I realized that it was February 19th, which was my grandma Bateman's birthday. I then noticed my ring (grandma's ring) and felt very strongly that all was well. It was the first time since she had died that I felt calm about her being gone. I tried very hard to keep my emotions in check. On our drive home I told Cory about it and he told me I should call my grandpa and share that with him. I am so grateful that I did. I called grandpa Bateman and he answered and I told him about my amazing experience in the temple. He let me know that he had an amazing experience at the temple earlier that morning too. He also reminded me that it wasn't only grandma's birthday, but it was also their anniversary. This was such an amazing experience for me. I finally felt peace about my grandma's death and that as long as I'd learned my lesson about listening to prompting, I didn't need to feel so bad about it anymore.

Fast forward two weeks.

I got a text from my mom that grandpa Bateman was in the hospital. My grandpa has been relatively healthy and active up until now, so I was surprised. She assured me that everything was okay. I felt the same prompting that I had with my grandma 7 years earlier. I knew that I needed to go and see my grandpa. My mom kept reassuring me that everything was fine. The doctors were reassuring them of the same thing. I live about 45 minutes away from my grandpa. I remember telling a coworker about this feeling I had and she said to me, "you'll never regret going to see him". And the feeling of regret I had with my grandma came back just long enough for me to make my plan to get up and visit my grandpa. It was Saturday. My dad warned me that he wasn't really feeling great today. I was warned that he might be tired and ornery. I knew my grandpa in his good and bad times and I wasn't afraid to have a fork thrown at me. When we got to his hospital room he was just about to do some physical therapy and my amazing husband (a police officer) and uncle (an EMT) were able to go in and help. They were able to be there for him in his time of need. I don't know if my husband will ever know how grateful I was that we was able to help my grandpa in this situation. Once physical therapy time was done I got to go in and see my grandpa. It was just he and I for about 10 minutes. He was so tired from his PT and the medication that he was on. I felt so calm talking to him and asked him if he was okay. His blue eyes went big and he looked right at me and said something which I'm sure was not very nice (I couldn't understand him because of the mini strokes he had had) and said as clear as day, "So NO, I'm not okay!" with a big smile on his face (letting me know that he was semi-kidding about the prior unpleasantry, whatever it was). For the most part our 10 minutes was spent in silence. I held his hand until he fell asleep. This time was filed away with some of the most special times of my life. When we left I was so confused because he seemed to be okay, and would need some therapy but would pull through, but inside I knew that he wouldn't be around much longer.

Monday March 9, 2015 I got to go and spend my grandpa Bateman's last day on earth with him and all of our family members in the hospital. It was bitter/sweet. I felt the spirit so strong all day and I was so grateful for that time. My niece was able to sing the song A Child's Prayer to my grandpa and it was incredible the peace that seemed to fill the hospital room and even my grandpa's body as she sang the 2nd verse:

                               Pray, he is there. Speak, he is listening. You are his child. His love
                               now surrounds you. He hears your prayers. He loves the children.
                               Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

My grandpa was an amazing man. He served others up until the day that he died. He made everyone feel like they were his favorite. He also had an incredible testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He shared his testimony often by word and through his actions. I am forever grateful that I was able to know him and to call him my grandpa.

Another lesson learned. I got to go to grandpa Bateman's funeral, and the closure that I ached for when my grandma died didn't come in the way that I thought it would when grandpa died. I still don't feel like he is gone gone. I still feel like it's just going to be a while until I see him again. Just like I did when grandma died. But now I understand that is because I KNOW that I will see him again. I will see my grandma again and everyone else that has and will die. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that. But I also KNOW this because I feel it so strongly in my heart.

I know that my Heavenly Father loves me so much. This entire experience has taught me that. He knew that my heart ached and needed soothing for my grandma. He knew that I would need that same comfort when my grandpa died. I really felt like I was prepared for this in so many small ways. I teach the young woman at church and in January we focused on The Plan of Salvation. What is the purpose of this life? Where will I go after this life? etc. and in February we focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Both things that I have learned about and know, but the reminder right before this trial have been such a comfort to me.

(pic cred to Val Bateman)

"Remember as you attended the funeral of your loved one the feelings in your heart as you drove away from the cemetery and looked back to see that solitary casket-wondering if your heart would break. I testify that because of him, even our Savior, Jesus Christ, those feelings of sorrow, loneliness, and despair will one day be swallowed up in the fullness of joy. I testify that we can depend on him and when he said: "I will not leave you comfort less: I will come to you." -Elder Shayne M. Bowen