It's a (wicked awesome) Boy!

We are so excited to announce the birth of our son, Colton Randle Scott. We were somewhat surprised at his early arrival (10 days) because he was certainly making no signs of wanting to come out, but thanks to a sudden spike in my blood pressure, the doctors decided to induce me while Colton and I were both still healthy (they were worried that I'd develop pre-eclampsia). They started pitocin at 1:30 on Thursday afternoon, and after a long slow night, Colton was born at 7:25 the next morning (July 17). He is 19 inches long and a bulky 5 lbs 10 ounces. Here are some pictures from the hospital:

Under the warmer. He has big hands compared to his skinny body!

I don't know about that Daddy person. I better keep my eye on him...


I'm sleepy...

But before I nap, I must finish my plans for taking over the universe.

Oh well, that can wait. Nap first...

A little too small for his car seat. Good thing we got that larger model.

Happy Feast of July!

This year we decided to celebrate the 4th of July the way the Pilgrims intended us to--by having an overwhelming feast. I guess technically the Pilgrims didn't celebrate the 4th of July, but I think the Founding Fathers probably would have had a celebratory feast if they hadn't just committed high treason by signing the Declaration, and if the British weren't already attacking.


Anyway, rather than go downtown to some of the many wonderful celebrations taking place here in our nation's capital (I was particularly sad that I missed the made-for-day pyrotechnic display at Mt. Vernon which was scheduled from 12:45 -12:50. It sounds amazing, but the thought of walking around through huge crowds at 8 1/2 months pregnant was, well, exhausting...), we stayed home and smoked an 8 lb pork butt and made all the appropriate side dishes--potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, and corn-on-the-cob. Top that off with some IBC Root Beer, and our celebration was complete. In hind sight, we probably should have invited some people to join our feast because it turns out that we had a little more than we could eat. Either way, we love America and all the delicious food you can eat here!

Better than flowers

Today when Justin came home from work, he brought me a present. I mentioned on Sunday how my dress would look cute with bright red shoes...and out he went and found me a pretty shnazzy pair. I love it. I love him. Who says engineers aren't romantic?

Watch out Bob Ross

I'm not exactly sure what possessed me, but I recently decided that it would be a good idea to paint a very large tree on the wall of our nursery. No, I have never actually painted anything, but I do have a deep and abiding love for Bob Ross and all the happy little trees he painted playing in the sunshine.

So how did someone so un-artistic as myself manage to paint an 8-foot tree on the wall? Well, I found this picture online:

Then I drew a grid on the picture and Justin helped me draw one on the wall. With the grid in place, I just had to go block by block and plot some points of the outline of the tree. Then I connected the dots and started painting:


Trying to blend the colors was the trickiest part. Here's the final product:


For an extra special touch, I "carved" our initials on he trunk. I did this because we are in love.


Here's the final comparison:










You may notice that my tree is a perfect reflection of the model tree. I decided that the big part should be on the left. Why? I don't know. It just seemed like that's how it should be. Anyway, the idea is that I will eventually gather pictures of our immediate families and hang them in the branches. Get it? It's a family tree. I'll post the final pictures of the nursery when I get it done. It's kind of still a storage room at this point, butI still have seven whole weeks...

Oh how lovely was the weekend...

There's nothing like breaking the end of pregnancy up into manageable chunks. Hawaii was obviously a major event that we were looking forward to. Thankfully, our dear friends Jen and Matt Pierson decided to get married last weekend, which provided another lovely event to break up the baby count-down.

Since Jen grew up in Rochester, the wedding was held in the Palmyra temple. Due to the fact that my camera was out of batteries, I don't actually have any pictures of the happy couple or their nuptual celebrations. It was quite a perfect weekend. Between the sealing and the reception, we were able to visit the church sites.

We were also fortunate enough to be able to hang out with the Fronces for the rest of the weekend--and they were smart enough to A) plan activities for us to do, and B) bring a camera to commemorate the festivities. On Sunday, we headed up to Niagara Falls to take in the splendor of nature. Too bad it is surrounded by a freaky fun-town. I'm kind of scared of Canada now. Also, since my last boating experience was less than ideal, I decided not to go on the Maid of the Mist. Justin and I got ice cream instead. I could be wrong, but I think we made a good choice. (Next time you're in Upstate New York, you must get some Perry's ice cream. It's all over the place, and delicious.) You can tell my belly has grown a lot in the past two weeks!


On Monday we discovered an amazing gem of a state park called Watkins Glen. I'll be honest, it was cooler than Niagara Falls. Anyone going up to the greater Palmyra area should definitely check it out.


Next major milestones: Two weeks and we finish the year of teaching seminary. Three weeks after that and I officially end my consulting career (woot!). Then I will lie by the pool for a few weeks until the baby comes.

A Snorkler's Paradise...ish

As part of our Hawaiian adventure, we decided to spend three days on Hawaii's Big Island. We hiked to waterfalls, watched the volcano erupt, and explored some of Volcano National Park. We also spent an entire day snorkeling...

We heard about a bay that is great for snorkeling, but only accessible by boat. When we called the boat company, we discovered that they also do a night snorkeling adventure with Manta Rays...and if you sign up for both, you get a crazy discount. So we of course signed up for both. It was well worth the money. We did a morning snorkel at Kealakekua Bay. It was about a 45 minute boat ride. On the way out, they served breakfast, and then once we were secured at the bay, they had a barbeque on the boat. We snorkeled for a while, at lunch, snorkeled some more. It was fantastic.

Now, I'm always the littlest bit queezy on boats, and this was no exception. Usually by closing my eyes and breathing deeply, I get over it. However, this time, it didn't seem to matter how many deep breaths I took...as we headed back to the dock, it seemed to get worse and worse. Just as we neared the end of our journey, they stopped the boat and announced that we were being followed by dolphins--which is truly wonderful, unless you think you are going to throw up, in which case, you simply want the stupid boat to go back to dock. As everyone rushed to the edge of the boat to watch the dolphins, I sat on the bench breathing deeply and trying to identify the best place to puke. Fortunately for the people down below, I had already noted that puking over the side of the ship would actually only land on the people below, so when I passed the point of no return, I headed for a large garbage can. It was a little awkward as I started wretching next to some excited Asian tourists madly taking pictures of the dolphins, but there wasn't really that much I could do about it.

I felt much better after puking, and we arrived at the dock shortly thereafter, so all seemed fine. We headed to our car for a nice afternoon nap (since we'd gotten up at 5:15 am in order to drive from Volcano to Kona) and prepare ourselves for the night snorkel. I was optimistic that things would be fine, since the night experience only involved a 5 minute boat ride. Oh, how I was mistaken.

First let me say that snorkeling with Manta Rays was amazing. It was worth the puking that was to come. They literally swam within an inch of you with their huge mouths open wide. We were lucky in that seven gigantic manta rays actually showed up that night, so we were totally surrounded by them.

But let me continue my tragic tale of sea sickness. We rode the five minutes to the spot where the mantas come, and I felt fine. Then we had to wait for it to get dark (because they come out at night to eat plankton). So we sat there for about 30 minutes waiting for the sun to set. Meanwhile, the boat was just parked in the bay rocking back and forth. As everyone lined up to jump in the water, I headed to the edge of the boat to throw up. Yup, right into the ocean. The crew kindly offered me some water and suggested that I might feel better in the water. This probably would have been true if we weren't just floating on top...because after about 30 minutes of watching the mantas, I started to get that feeling that told me I should probably swim away from the rest of the group. Sure enough, I got ten feet away and threw up right there in the ocean.

At this point, I seriously considered just swimming back to the dock because getting back on the boat didn't sound like a great idea, but I got back on the boat anyway, wrapped my towel around myself, closed my eyes and started breathing deeply. Everyone else continued snorkeling for about 10 minutes, and then we headed back to the dock. Just for good measure, I went ahead and puked one more time over the edge, just to make sure that the fish got every last bit of my dinner.

It's hard to explain how truly terrible I felt--especially knowing we had a 2 1/2 hour car ride back to Volcano that night on windy roads. Even though we were off the boat, I couldn't seem to get the ground to stop rocking. I also thought that I should probably try to at least re-hydrate myself, so I had Justin stop and get me some Gatorade. I took one small swig...and that was enough. Good thing I'd told Justin to get a plastic bag just in case! What an exciting day. I will say that despite all the motion sickness and throwing up, it was still a very fun day, and quite the adventure. I think I will just avoid boats for the rest of my pregnancy, and maybe a little beyond as well.

Aloha!

I think everyone should get to spend ten days a year in Hawaii. I'm having a devil of a time thinking of a witty way to present this vacation (probably because the snorkeling pictures haven't been developed yet...and will involve another post with "vomit" in the title), so I think I'll just stick to the facts:

1. Spending time with the Bradshaw's is one of my most favorite things to do! Especially when it involves burrying Sam in the sand, building a sweet beach shack out of drift wood, getting shaved ice from Matsumoto's Grocery store, or snorkeling in six inch waters with my sister (tragically, we didn't get a photo of that, but the people watching the ridiculous site will probably have it engraved in their memories forever).

2. Sam and Colin are both experts with a light saber. Colin makes a great Batman. Jane can belly dance, play the violin, and climb like a pro. Charlie can take 13 steps at a time.

3. Justin has officially replaced me as the favorite. How can I compete when he is the ultimate tickle monster, can pick the kids up and play them like a guitar, and can match any of them at climbing trees? Although I think I may have proven myself in both red rover and colored eggs. The big bad wolf seemed to really like calling out my color.

4. Volcanoes are cool. We watched one erupt, explored through a dark lava tube, and climbed to the top of one. (Not bad for 6 months pregnant!)

5. Waterfalls are also cool.
6. Snorkeling is fun.
7. I should not ever go on a boat (ironic that I married a sailor--more to come on this particular topic).
8. Napping in the car is a good way to rejuvenate.
9. Mangos are free in Hawaii if you park next to the right tree.
10. Hanging out with Justin is never boring.

Em and Dan--thanks for providing us with food, shelter, edited videos, and lots of fun!