Cameron
We are so grateful to have a good job for Cameron that he absolutely loves. Milliman is a wonderful company to work for. I'm in shock at how many times Cameron has said this past year, "good news, I got another bonus for....." I swear they give him bonuses for just showing up and breathing. Just kidding, Cameron works very hard and is an asset to the company. Right now Cameron has passed all 5 of his preliminary exams and is now working on his modules. After his modules are completed (he's hoping to have them finished by July) he has to go to a conference somewhere in the country then submit a bunch of papers and he'll receive his ASA. After that I'm not quite sure what the next steps are but I'm sure it's more exams.
He has loved accompanying on the piano at church. He played a few musical numbers in sacrament meeting, along with accompanying musical numbers. However, if you asked him he'd say his favorite was being the primary pianist substitute. That would be his dream calling.
He also played volleyball with the stake every Thursday night for a few months. He loves volleyball. I don't know very many details about that because it was late Thursday nights and I'd always be asleep by the time he got home. Cameron was also the 11 year old scout leader so Wed. nights he'd go to scouts then Thursday he'd go to volleyball. He loves staying active and busy.
In October he started working out at Golds Gym and has since gained about 25 pounds. He bought a book called "Scrawny to Brawny" and has been following that. He goes to the gym 3 times a week before work and follows the workouts in the book. He eats a lot too. Of course it's healthy food so his body gains muscle not fat but he eats A LOT. He's so handsome!
Julia
I have loved being able to stay home with my wonderful children. Addie is such a fun girl to hang out with. In 2013 I learned a few new skills. I bought a sewing machine and have made a few things with it. I struggle following instructions or patterns which sometimes turns out not so great, but I've been really proud of some of the projects I've made. I've made aprons for Cameron's Grandma and 3 aunts. I made a few skirts for me one of them I had enough material to make Addie a matching skirt. I made 2 baby blankets and a few other little projects.
I was the YW second counselor so I worked with the beehives. I LOVED being in yw. I loved working with the other leaders. I can honestly say that some of my dearest friends were ladies I worked with in yw. I learned a lot and had some very special moments.
This year I did something I've never done before. I read books. I like reading, I just don't do it as much as I should. If I wasn't reading a book I was working on a craft. I discovered that I LOVE making wreaths. Pinterest is so addicting when looking for cute wreaths to make. That is my new favorite thing to give as a gift. It brings me a lot of joy making wreaths. Is that weird? I decided that if I were to ever have a booth in a craft fair it would be selling wreaths or aprons if I ever got really good at those.
Addie
Addie has probably learned and grown the most out of all of us. She is incredibly smart. She's 20 months now and can recognize count from 1-10. She also can recognize all but a few of the letters in the alphabet. Whenever she sees anything she knows, she's quick to make sure I know she sees them. She is very good at trying to say whatever I'm saying. It's fun listening to her say how she's interpreting what I'm saying.
She started nursery in October. Cameron and I LOVE having her there, it makes church a lot more spiritual since we can listen to the lessons instead of constantly entertaining her. She does well in nursery. Every once in a while she'll have a hard time when we leave, but most of the time she goes right in and starts playing.
She loves eating those little oranges called cuties. She calls them "N's". I don't know why but she does. She loves reading books and playing on any ipod, iphone, or ipad available.
Boston
Here is probably the most exciting story of our year. Here we go with is birth story. I have this bad habit of when I hit 37 weeks of pregnancy I start preparing for and trying to go into labor. Since it's considered full term I try and get the process started since I'm always sick of being pregnant by that time. This time around I was really antsy since we were in the process of buying house. I wanted the baby to be at least a few weeks old so that 1. I could have some strength to help in the moving process and 2. so that I wouldn't have to be so freaked out about taking the baby out into a germ infested world. I wanted to give his body a little time to build it's immunity. At my 38 week apt. I was dilated to a 4 and 50% effaced. Woo! I walked everywhere ti try and put my body into labor. To make this long story shorter, I ended up taking castor oil to try and induce labor. It gave me some really good contractions. It was enough positive signs that I had my mom and sister come out. They came and went with no baby. Cameron's birthday=no baby. Thanksgiving=no baby. Due date=no baby. By the first of December I was feeling wonderful physically. I had a lot of energy and the pelvic pain I had been feeling was gone and I wasn't having contractions. However, emotionally I was not ok. There were a few things going on in my life at that time that are extremely personal but having to deal with those feelings on top of being past my due date was really hard for me. I can honestly say that those few weeks were the hardest weeks I had experienced in my life. Since it was so personal, it was hard to explain to others why I was so impatient to get the baby out. I really struggled feeling a little judged by the midwives and others. To them I was just impatient, which, I will admit, I was, but there was more that they didn't know. Going through that, definitely taught me not to judge others. We have no idea what others are really going through.
This next part may be a little gross, but it's what happened. Here I am 40 weeks pregnant and lookin' ever so gorgeous! :)
On Dec. 6 I woke up a few times during the night with a few contractions but was able to fall back asleep. Cameron got up early (about 5:30 am )to go to work and after I saw him leave I went back to bed. At 6 am I rolled over to turn my alarm off and when I did I felt a little funny like I had to pee. I got up and went to the bathroom. Just before I got to the toilet I had liquid all over. I say liquid because I wasn't sure if I just had horrible bladder control and had just went pee or if my water had broke. It wasn't like last time when my water broke so I assumed it was pee. I changed and tried to go back to bed, but then I started getting some pretty painful consistent contractions. I called Cameron to give him a heads up and then I called the midwife. She said to try and go back to bed and to call later if something changed. It wasn't much longer I realized that it really was my water that broke and that I was in labor. I told Cameron to get home as fast as he could because things were progressing very VERY quickly. I got Addie out of bed and went to take a hot shower since hot water is so soothing. I got out of the shower to find that Cameron had tried to call me about 17 times. Poor guy, he probably thought I was dead since I wasn't answering. Anyway, he was on his way home, but said it would be faster if I could just pick him up at the park and ride. I tried getting dressed quickly but couldn't since I'd either leak if I moved or had too painful of a contraction. Christine was the on call midwife and when she called to follow up on our first conversation that day I was pretty much confined to the rocking chair. Addie was running around stinky and hungry. It was when I was sitting in the rocking chair that Cameron burst through the door ready to go. What a trooper. He was so worried about me he ran from I don't even know where but I don't think it was very close to home. What a wonderful husband I have. When he saw that I was really fine and not quite ready to leave for a little bit, he said that he had to go pick up his backpack. Apparently his backpack was slowing him down and he threw it in a bush on the way home. Christine said to get packed and to meet her at the birthing center at 8:15. We loaded up and got there at about 8:30. Honestly, this part of the story is kind of a blur. Labor tends to cloud my memory. I remember sitting in the chair while one of the student midwives got an IV started since I needed antibiotics because I tested positive for strepB. After I got the IV Christine checked me and I had dilated to 5 cm. Somewhere in that time Chantelle came and picked up Addie but I don't know when. I got in the tub and was in heaven for about 5 minutes. The water was warm and extremely soothing, I was mentally calm since everyone was where they needed to be and I was safe. I don't know how women labor out of water. For me, contractions are so much more tolerable when I'm in warm water. As the contractions got harder I was getting worse and worse. I don't know why but when I'm in labor my body decides to throw up everything I eat. So here I am sitting in a warm tub absolutely exhausted and starving. I'd drink water and this nasty electrolyte drink every so often but I was about to crash. I was runnin' on empty. I felt like I was going to pass out multiple times, but somehow I pulled through and it all worked out. The last time I expressed how I exhausted I felt Christine was comforting when she said that if I'd start pushing my baby would be out and with me. That was motivation enough. I started pushing at about 10:27 and he was born at 10:35. I remember the baby coming out wide eyed and already crying. What a miracle. This time I felt the sudden relief of pressure that I'd heard about which felt good but not as good as holding my brand new perfect baby. Cameron was right by my head and together we fell in love with our baby. We'd been sitting there for a few minutes when Cameron says, "Wait, did we even confirm the gender?" He then lifted up the warm towel that was on the baby and we both saw that this was for sure not a girl. When Cameron exclaimed that it was a boy, the midwife had to check because she didn't believe us. She then confirmed that we in fact had a baby boy and not the girl we'd been expecting. I immediately started crying. What else was I to do? I had mentally prepared for a little girl and now I had a boy. I HAD A SON. What the heck? We didn't have a single boy thing. Needless to say I was a little overwhelmed with emotion. I was of course happy but scared that I wasn't prepared. My first thoughts after finding out it was a boy was 1- we don't have any boy clothes; 2-I don't know how to take care of a boy and 3-I get to raise a missionary! Luckily we had picked the name Boston Cameron Gleed before we came up with Brielle Sherry so that part was done. After we got cleaned up Boston had his newborn tests. He weighed 8 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was absolutely perfect.
We got packed and went home that afternoon. I felt a little bit rushed to pack and go home, but at the same time it was really nice being at my home where I could really relax and enjoy my new baby.
We were lucky enough to have my mom and sister fly in that night. They were such a big help those first few days. We were spoiled to have meals prepared, Addie occupied and the baby held so that I could sleep. Oddly enough, I didn't feel like I needed it. I was a thousand percent shocked at how good I felt even hours after he was born. Yes it was painful and I was sore, but not as sore as I was with Addie. After Boston was born when the midwife was checking me, she said that I didn't tear and that I'd feel like a million bucks the next day. I didn't believe her, but I did! It was so hard to rest when I felt so good. I'd love it if this was the trend for the other children.
In comparing Addie's and Boston's labor and delivery I'd say that Addie's was definitely the harder one physically but a lot more emotionally rewarding. Boston's was fine physically but harder emotionally in the sense that those few weeks before he was born were extremely hard and I didn't feel as connected to him as I thought I should feel. Now that our lives have calmed down a lot and I've had time to think about the whole experience I realize that I just had a lot going on and couldn't let my emotions relax enough to bond. Don't worry, I feel bonded to him now but it just took longer. With Addie I'd definitely say that I experienced "the baby blues" but not with Boston. Everything was just easier. I think in his 2 months of life I've only cried once because of breastfeeding which was NOT the case with Addie. I HATED breastfeeding. It was extremely painful all the time. This time I feel I understand the "how to" a lot better so my body really has regulated itself to what he needs. The one time I cried was the one and only time so far that I thought I could be getting mastitis.
Being a mother of two is so wonderful. They are both beautiful and perfect. I love trying to think of ways they are similar and ways they are different. Honestly, I haven't come up with very many. It's hard to tell what is their own unique personality, what is a Gleed personality, and what is just a normal baby trait. We don't think they really look alike but Cameron and I both agree that Addie looks more like him and Boston looks more like me. Also, Boston doesn't seem to get scared as easily as Addie did and he LOVES getting his diaper changed. That's about all we can think of.
Addie is such a champ. I thought she'd really struggle with being jealous but I haven't noticed it at all. She LOVES kissing him and pointing out (literally pointing out) his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, arms, and legs. I'm not exaggerating when I say that she says "Hi Batin, hi Batin, hi Batin, hi Batin (Hi Boston) 60 times a day. She laughs every time he cries, she thinks it's so funny. Whenever she hears him she is quick to point out "baby" and runs to him. She's pulled him off the couch once which was terrifying but he survived. We are so blessed to have such wonderful kids.
We will eventually have this all fenced in but this is how it is for now. Home Sweet Home. Can't wait for the spring to get some pretty flowers growing. 
That is our new van. Isn't it lovely? The window there is to the loft area. I use the loft for my exercises for now until it becomes the play room. 
In the back corner is where my garden will be. 
Top right is Addie's room. Top left is our room. Bottom right and middle are the living room and the bottom left is the office.We moved in December 21. We had a lot of help from our beloved Newport ward and a few helpers from our new White River ward. Since Boston was born I had done surprisingly well with my emotions. That was until I was driving away from our apartment. It was on that van ride down that all the changes started to sink in. I was overcome with all the good and the bad of the past month. You name an emotion and I felt it. I was so grateful to have such a wonderful husband that really helped out so much with the kids and really took care of all the moving details. I was grateful for willing ward members to help us just days before Christmas. I was so sad to leave Bellevue. Other than Ovid, I've never fell in love with a place that I've lived besides Bellevue. I don't know what it is specifically about that area, but it just clicked with me. The thing is, yes, I loved our ward, but it wasn't just them that I loved. Even the random people I'd meet at the grocery store, the doctors office, the park, or wherever were so nice. I loved the location of Bellevue and how it's close enough to where we needed. I can't say enough good about Bellevue. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't as in love with our actual apartment but everything else was fantastic.
On that drive down I was very excited to be going to my very own home. I was so excited at the thought of having my dance music up as loud as I wanted and not have to worry about annoying the neighbors above us. I loved the fact that we'd have space for Addie to run around and explore. There were so many things that I was excited for that I couldn't help but cry. Like I said, it was an emotional 30 min drive.
Our first night here was one I will never forget. After we got all the boxes moved into the home we had to take the rental truck back and also drive to Tacoma to drop off a paper for our van that we'd just bought the day before. We hurried and got that done just in time to come home and try and get the beds set up. That night Cameron had plans with his mom to go to Benaroya Hall to a concert that was a birthday gift. So, he was gone to that and I was home with the kids trying to get the essentials out of boxes and the basics ready for that night. It took me longer than usual and since our normal schedule was a bit off, Addie was a bit more on edge and grouchy than she normally is. I had put her to bed but it was about 1 1/2 after her normal bedtime and she was mad. I think it was hard for her to fall asleep because 1-we were in a different environment than she was used to. 2-We had no curtains on her big windows so the street lights were shining in her room. 3-I couldn't find her stuffed giraffe or her binkies that she usually likes to sleep with. I thought since she was so tired she'd just cry for a little bit and fall asleep. No no no, that was not her plan. After a while, I got her out and together we looked one more time for the things she needed. With no success we both were tired and onrey and both just cried. Of course this whole time Boston is frustrated because his needs aren't being met and all of our emotions escalated QUICK. By that time I was so desperate for Addie to sleep I was literally chucking things out of all the boxes downstairs. I still couldn't fine anything that would satisfy her so in desperation I prayed to know where to look. (Yes--I realize that should have been my FIRST thing to try, but I didn't so whatever...lesson learned) I got the impression mid prayer to look in the boxes up in her room. I carried my two screaming children up the stairs and began again frantically throwing things out of boxes. No luck. However, I did find a brand new package of binkies that we received at the baby shower and a smaller bear that was good enough for that night. I put her to bed, fed Boston, and wanted to take a bubble bath to cry out my crazy but the next thing I knew I was waking up to Cameron pulling the sheets from over my head. Apparently I conked out on the bed and pulled the sheets over my head. The next few nights weren't easy getting adjusted to the new place but things did get easier. After a month we got the super important boxes unpacked and it now feels like home.
I'm now at the point of starting fun projects to really make it feel like my place. I love it, but it's been a long journey.
Christmas was fun. I was looking forward to finally having a quite day with my little family. We wanted a real tree but since we were moving we put it off. By the time we actually got around to getting our tree, it was 2 days before Christmas and the tree lots by our house were closed. We ended up buying a 4 foot fake tree from Walmart. Next year we'll have our act together in time to get a real tree to enjoy for the season. And, if Darci doesn't take her 3.10 years to make the tree skirt we'll have a gorgeous tree skirt to match our gorgeous tree topper. *This is dripping with sarcasm right now.* I'll try and include a picture.Christmas day was spent sleeping in, eating chocolate chip pancakes, opening presents, taking naps, making cookies to take to our new neighbors, meeting the neighbors, eating snacks with Cameron's parents and brother and just staying home.
The next big event was my birthday and Boston's blessing. What wonderful parents I have to fly all the way here just to spend their Sunday watching me turn 28. Just kidding, that was only the bonus, they came for Boston. We wanted to have Boston's blessing in the Newport ward, but decided that it would be a nice way to introduce our family to the new ward. My amazing parents got in Jan. 4th and stayed until Monday January 6. It was so nice to have them here to show off our new house.
Boston's blessing went well. The bishopric didn't forget about it like they did when Addie was being blessed. Cameron gave him a wonderful blessing and we were happy to have a lot of family support. We had a quiet afternoon eating delicious food and playing catch phrase. Don't I have a wonderful life? I think so.
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| A day or so after Boston was born mom was getting Addie ready for bed. After she was in her jammies we found her like this. What a girl. I guess she hadn't had enough of the bubbles. |
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| Addie doesn't usually like to wear hoods or hats of any kind but this particular day she would. This was the only picture we took on New Years day. Addie and I were taking a break from putting up the blinds. |
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| And this is nap time... |
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| Some days are just like this... |
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| My absolute favorite picture thus far of my two kids. |
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| Addie loves books. Sometimes she loves them a little TOO much. This is her latest thing, ripping books apart. Needless to say our book supply is thinning out. |
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| This is our wonderful Great Grandpa Gleed. They were here for a few days and we were happy to have them stay with us for a few of those days. Grandpa is so good at making sure my kids know the Idaho state song. I have the cutest video of him singing Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam. Too bad it won't let me upload videos. Bummer... Grandma Gleed is a great cook and so willing to do absolutely anything that needs to be done. I really loved having them here and learning about their courtship and marriage. They are so fun to be around. I'd have to say my absolute favorite memory of them being here was playing catch phrase and watching grandpa try to act out the word wiggle. He stood up and sure let his behind wiggle. |
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| I love having such a smiley boy. He is such a joy to be around. There is something wonderful about having a newborn smile when he sees you. Melts my heart every time. |
Wow, what a big exciting life you have,! thanks for sharing. Sure glad life has smoothed out a little for you.
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