Archer's Birth Story

My pregnancy with Archer was a great experience. It wasn't easy. THAT'S FOR SURE. But in the end, he makes it all worth it.

When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't believe it was for real for the longest time. We had issues getting pregnant, and after a miscarriage I didn't want to get my hopes up. But lo and behold! We were in fact going to have a baby. I won't ever forget the look of excitement on Tyson's face when I told him that he was going to be a daddy.

During the first half of my pregnancy, I was very, very sick and still working full-time as a tracker and Pleasant Grove Jr. High. My job was pretty demanding as I was working with kids who spent a lot of time in detention. Though I loved my job, I eventually had to quit due to a 3 week trip we would be taking to Oahu to visit our cousins Gwen and Eli.We had a great time in Hawaii and it was a good vacation to take before the babe came. We went hiking, rented a motorcycle, tried surfing at 7 mo. pregnant, spent some time at the beach, and had delicious shaved ice!

After our trip, we were feeling ready for our little guy to get here. In the early hours of the morning on May 31, 2012 I woke up knowing that I was going into labor. I wanted to labor at home for as long as I could as to avoid any types of intervention since I wanted to have my baby natural. My labor was not a slow progressing labor. Instead my contractions came on strong and close together right from the start. They began at 3AM and by 6AM we were headed to the hospital.

When we arrived, I remember seeing girls who were checking in and they were all done-up and ready to have their baby. Me, huffing and puffing and looking like a train wreck in line behind them, couldn't help but think... Who the heck are these girls?! Haha. Shortly after checking in, Tyson's mom Juli arrived. She had made it up from Annabella in a whopping 60 minutes when it's normally a two hour drive! She was very excited for the baby to come.

For Tyson and Juli, my labor was pretty boring. For me... It was a lot of work. I focused on just relaxing my body and letting it do what it needed to do in order to deliver this baby. When things started to get intense, I remember looking at Tyson and telling him that I couldn't do it anymore and that I wanted the epidural. But Juli knew I could do it and she asked to nurse to check my progress before calling in the Anesthesiologist. I was dilated to a 9 1/2. Things were moving along! The Anesthesiologist had heard that I was ready for an epidural so when Juli shooed him out of the room when he came strolling in with his cart of "goods", he wasn't looking too happy about it! Haha. The nurse told me that I could push if my body felt that it needed to. When I could tell that the baby was coming, I got very worried that there were no doctors or nurses in the room. It was actually very peaceful to have just the three of us in there. But when his little head could be seen, Tyson and Juli were pushing every button they could find to call in the delivery crew!

My doctor had just barely arrived in time to deliver the baby. Before he came, the nurse had warned me that I needed to stop pushing or else the doctor would not be able to be there. I remember thinking... "Who cares if he's here! This baby is coming and someone can catch him!" Haha, oh boy..

At 10:15, our sweet baby Archer came into the world weighing 7lbs 8oz being 18 1/2 inches long. He was a healthy, perfect baby. They cleaned him up and laid him right on my chest and Tyson and I were overcome with emotion as we held our baby for the first time. It was a very quiet and spiritual moment.

Shortly after, family members started to arrive all excited to meet Archer. Tyson and I were anxious to get home so after Archer had proven that he could eat and had all his tests done, we were home having only stayed 14 hrs at the hospital with no overnight stay. We were happy to be home and couldn't be more excited about the start of our new little family.

What's it Gonna Be?

Boy or Girl?? We find out next week! Can't wait to get a peek at our little squirmer!


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4 Months

A QuickFix Christmas

This weekend, we had our annual QuickFix Christmas party. We had quite the classy evening filled with surfing and Brazilian dining.


Tyson and Jared


Taylor and Jenny


Bryce and Jared Surfing


And crashing...


Some of the QuickFix crew


It was a good thing that we surfed before eating at Tucanos. We had a fun time at the restaurant and we definitely gorged ourselves! We are so glad to have such great people on the QuickFix team and we had a lot of fun celebrating this holiday season with them all.

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A Little Christmas Spirit

I am so very grateful to have a gang like this around the house every now and then....


These kiddos did me a great service today by decorating my Christmas tree. I was feeling like I was never going to feel well enough to get around to decorating, so these guys saved me.


I couldn't have done a better job myself. Big thanks to Bree, Lindsey, and McKay! You guys are awesome.

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What would we do without our iPhones?

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Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite time of the year. It's always filled with lots of food, family, and fun activities. In Tyson's family, thanksgiving also means WarBall. WarBall is a long thanksgiving tradition and is played every year, with usually only a few minor injuries:). This year, we got together for the feast at 12 noon and had a large banquet full of tasty treats. The family is so big (or awesome) that we have to hold our thanksgiving in a church to accommodate us all. After eating, the tables were cleared out for WarBall. WarBall is kind of like dodgeball and when you get the Brown boys involved things can get a little competitive.. Just a little.... There were lots of other activities throughout the day like making Indian headdresses, puzzles, drawing, and of course a glow in the dark dance party. People have those at every thanksgiving party right?:). We had such a good time celebrating this holiday with our family and we can't believe it's already over!



Relaxing and hanging out



The Tribe








Getting their groove on thanksgiving style.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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