The Spartan Race

Yes, I know that is has almost been a year since our last post and yes I know that I said we were going private.  We still might as we have had some of Josh's clients dig into our personal life. But for now let me explain how awesome my husband is.  As many of you know, Josh loves to run.  He runs half marathons on the treadmill all the time but recently decided to run an official race.  He looked into the Tough Mudder and other obstacle races and found The Spartan Race in Colorado Springs and signed up.  What is an obstacle race?  Watch the video below and be amazed!



So he signed up for the half marathon version but they ended up combining several of the races into one.  So the race was five miles but with double the obstacles.  We are talking crawling in the mud with a rifle and barbed wire above you.  They ran across fire, scaled walls, had to run up hill with a hundred pound sack and yes, men hitting you with sticks!

He did great!  He placed 22nd in his heat!  We think he tore his quads and can barely walk, he rolled his ankle and has several deep gashes on his leg from the bared wire!  Needless to say he is so SORE!  He said that nothing, not even SWAT training can compare with this race! 

We are so proud of him and the great job he did!

 Our winner!!

 The cut finally stopped bleeding after 5 hours!!

He was a little muddy (to say the least)!  They make you write your entry number on several parts of your body to identify you if you pass out or die!!

Going Private

We have decided to go private so if you would like to continue to read the blog please comment here and include your email if I don't have it so I can send you an invite. Don't be left wondering what's going on with our awesome family! I promise that we will be posting more often now that summer it here!

Introducing Jaxon Robert Bear Carpenter

Jaxon - born April 12 10:44 pm

8lbs. 11 oz. 21.75 inches long

J Bear

Our Complete Family!!!

Jaxon, or J Bear made his entrance into this world on Tuesday April 12 10:44 pm. It was a week before my due date and Josh and I had been toying with the idea of take in castor oil for the past week but never really felt good about it. Finally on this day we felt like it was the right time and Josh cleared his schedule for the next couple of days so he could be with us. I started the castor oil at 12:30 pm but didn't feel it's effects until around 3:00 pm. Josh came home from work early to see if things started to happen. I was having some contractions but I was worried that they were not strong enough. Finally around 6 we called the hospital and decided we would go in. On the way to the hospital I only had two contractions which meant they were slowing down so I was afraid we would be sent home. We went to the water birthing center in Women's Hospital because even though I received epidurals with all my other children I really wanted to do a water birth with Jaxon. They showed us the suite and it was huge with a king size bed, flat screen tv and birthing tub. I was hooked up to monitors to monitor the contractions and the nurse left. Well the contractions were getting weaker and weaker and I was sure we would be sent home. A nurse came in and said that the monitor must have moved because they weren't getting the baby's heart rate. She began to move it on my belly and then the panic set in. She began to call all the other nurses, requesting a gurney and yelling for me to get on all fours. She said the baby's heart rate was in the 60's and 80's. At one point she couldn't even find it! They hooked me up to oxygen and we were off. They were yelling at people in the hall to get out of the way. They said they were taking me up to the third floor but I didn't know if that meant c-section or what. When we got there they hooked me up again to a different monitor and there it was a normal heart rate. He was just fine. Now whether it was a technical problem or what I don't know but they weren't going to send me home in fear that he was having problems. Now my sweet midwife Wendy wasn't on call that night but it turned out that she came in and covered some one's shift for a couple of hours. When she found out I was there she went to bat for me to go back downstairs for the water birth but they wouldn't budge. They said I could labor in the tub they had upstairs but I couldn't do a water birth because of the heart rate episode earlier. They wanted to be able to monitor everything. So around 8:30 pm they broke my water because the contractions were slowing down. I labored in the tub most of the time except when they had me get out to monitor his heartbeat. Wendy was suppose to get off at 9:30 but stayed saying the Directv was out at her house so she might as well stay! I was doing well with pain management until I had two contractions right in a row with no break in between. At that point I asked what my pain options were and Wendy checked me quickly and said I was a 9 and asked if I felt the urge to push and if I did to go for it. Well I wanted to end it quick so I began to push and in one push he was out! In fact she had to tell me to stop because they weren't ready!

He was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 21.75 inches long. He is such a good baby! After the last two I know that the Lord must have seen that we needed an easy baby. I had him without any drugs. For those who want to know if the recovery is faster without drugs I would say for me it was the same. The only difference was that I could walk right away if I wanted to but they still have you lay there for about an hour anyway. With that said I was glad I had the natural experience.

Some of you may know that he was a surprise. We thought we would have another baby but not at that time. In fact there were times during the pregnancy when I really didn't want another baby. But he was meant to come at this time. That was expressed in a blessing Josh gave me when we found out I was pregnant and I know that it is true. He may have entered our family at the most inconvenient time ever but he came at the appointed time. He has mended broken hearts and brought a special feeling to our home. It's hard to imagine him not here. I love that little boy!

He is my miracle baby because he has worked a miracle in me!

Maternity Shoot

I've never been a big fan of me pregnant and I'm still not. My friend Tammy convinced me that since this is our last baby we should get some pictures to remember it. She did a great job and you can visit her at http://www.staleyphotography.com/. Josh was a trooper and even participated. So here I am all fat and pregnant! Enjoy!!

Here is our family before baby Jaxon Robert Bear Carpenter makes his entrance into this world. By the way, yes you read that right. His name is BEAR!!!!!

Thanksgiving in Hawaii

We had so much fun in Hawaii. We went to Oahu and stayed on Waikiki Beach. We can honestly saw it was the best Thanksgiving Ever! We hit the beaches, PCC, Pearl Harbor, The Big Island for a volcano tour and many other things. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

New Family Pictures

We recently took family pictures by the bosque. My friend Tammy Staley took them and did a great job. She is an awesome photographer and it also helped me fulfill my fundraising requirement for the preschool where Nate attends. Here are some of my favorites plus look to the side to see individuals of kiddos!

Going Through The Motions

It's seems like for months now that the title of this post describes my life. I don't know if it was that the timing of this baby was a surprise or that I have four other children to take care of, or that I'm just getting too old to be pregnant. This pregnancy has really been rough and I keep thinking that the light is just around the bend just to find that it is still out of reach. I still feel horrible eventhough I'm 18 weeks. Yes, I know that things are a little better because I can actually get out of bed and do things. Yet still it is a daily struggle to get out of bed and accomplish anything. I really feel and see the toll it is taking on my family. My kids are troppers but still dealing with a sick and tired mom that has no patience is no walk in the park! Josh is swamped at work trying to solve everyone's problems (litterally). He has had so many rapes of children and child abuse cases that they have really taken a toll on him. How do we get back on track because that is what it feels like. It feels like our train has derailed and we are using so much effort to move but make little progress.

Today I got my hair cut and colored and I brought the Ensign to read. I think I cried or at least teared up as I read every article. Yes, I know that I am hormonal but I know that it was mostly The Spirit. Elder Uchtdorf's talk was just what I needed. He spoke about how people, when they hit hard times sometimes try to go faster to try and make it through the rough spot faster. This is wrong. It is times like these that we need to slow down and focus on what is important. It was like music to my ears~ slow down and not go faster! We need to focus on our relationship with God, with our family, with our fellowmen and with ourselves. So, that is what I am going to do. Slow down and focus on what really matters until we can put this train back on track.

I am so thankful for the Gospel and for living prophets who recieve revelation for what we are going through today!