Turkey Bowl

When I was a little kid, my Dad used to dress up in funny outfits and disappear on Thanksgiving morning to play football with his softball buddies.

L to R: Nate, Darcie, Dad, Mitch 

L to R: Nate, Dad, Mitch

In keeping with family tradition, Tag joined me for a few pictures before I headed out to pull some muscles on the football field with my friends in the neighborhood.

Practicing the 4-point stance

Great game with the VanTassel family and AJ Rich family 

When I got home, Tag was still hanging out in his "Go Woots Hemee-un"  (Go Utes helmet).  I just had to take some photos.

Tag fell asleep with his helmet on. Proud father. 

Pack naps nearby

House Arrest

The first couple of weeks have been an absolute blur. Joann let's me sleep downstairs, which helps me at at least get some solid hours, but it has been a big adjustment for us both.  I hardly worked at all the first week, and luckily we had Jo's Mom (Momsie) staying with us to pick up some of the slack.  This was one of the nicest gifts she has ever given her daughter.

After about a week, Momsie mentioned to Jo that she would be leaving the next day, and Jo completely melted down in tears.  Momsie cancelled her plans and stayed a few more days...

Every once in a while I would try and work, but I was mostly useless.  My biggest accomplishment was taking Tag out of the house on an adventure or two, just to allow us both to clear our heads.

Riding a horse at the Van Tassel farm 

Pack has a tough time burping and pooping, so during his awake hours, he is quite the fidget midget and seems uncomfortable. Tag loves his little brother, but gets quite envious when Pack is nursing and constantly wants back in.  Joann has succumbed a few times and it's funny to watch them both nursing at the same time.

Here's a few pictures of Pack.

Love these cross-eyed shots

Pack Gets Visitors

Starting on the night of his birth, Pack has had many visitors who are excited to see him.  Here's a few photos:

Aunt Liz Kriser 

Proud Grandma, Marina Spence

Pack rounds out the football team (11 grandsons) for Papaw Spence

Grandpa Howard begins voice lessons early

Striking resemblance

Babs holds Pack like a natural

Howard watches in amazement and wonder

Tag checks out Pack's new headquarters

Tag:  "My baby!"

Tag loves to hug his little brother

See what I mean?

November 14th - Pack Spence Brinton Arrives

Well, a month ago, I had a detailed post about the birth experience of our second son, but somehow it got deleted and I just don't have the energy to write it all over again. Baby Pack is now one month old and I really want to get some thoughts down about the experience before my memory gets clouded over with Christmas.

Here are the highlights:

We had the baby at home with the same midwife who delivered Tag.  Her name is Diane Bjornson and she is the bomb.  We had the master bedroom all setup with plastic on the bed and floors and Diane brought all kinds of tools, including oxygen tanks, a birthing stool, lots of blankets, etc.

Joann started to go into labor and the contractions moved to three minutes apart fairly quickly. Diane moved her to the tub, where she attempted to meditate and focus on relaxing as the contractions got closer.  Joann's Mom and sister, Liz were present to assist, as well as Diane's assistant.

Despite all the help, I noticed that giving birth is a lonely business.  Jo spent a lot time with herself during the experience, bouncing on a ball, bathing in the tub, laying on the bed, sitting on the stool, while all of us stood helplessly nearby.

Joann ponders the upcoming ordeal.

Tag could sense his Mommy was in pain, and he often came in to give her hugs (below).

Tag does his best to provide comfort.

Once the contractions got steady, Diane said it was time and we gathered for a prayer. I was positioned on the side of the bed, directly behind Joann who was on the birthing stool.  As she started into labor, I have to admit I found myself thinking about Tag's birth and I was filled with pride and admiration for Joann for doing this again at home with no medication!

Anyway, the contractions starting coming stronger and Joann worked through them.  As the baby neared arrival, I remember Joann begging, "Is the head out yet?!"-- to which Diane responded in her vintage calm tone, "Not yet dear, but we are close."

Joann gave a big push, and just as the baby's head was crowning, Diane commanded Jo to stop pushing for a minute as she had to fix something.  I mean, it was right during the heat of the moment and it was like asking a freight train to stop for a minute.  I couldn't see what Diane was doing, but I could see the concern on the other's faces as Diane grabbed some clamps and scissors.  As she was doing whatever it was she was doing, she calmly told Jo that the umbilical cord needed to be cut, so when she gave Joann the word, she was to push with all her might to get the baby out.

We sat there for a few moments while Diane cut the cord and she said, "Okay, Joann, PUSH!".  Within moments the baby was out and Dianne placed her in Joann's arms and asked me to hold his head.  His head was quite purple and his body looked white...and limp.  Diane worked feverishly (but calmly) to get him breathing.  She had us rock his body back and forth while she used oxygen and some other tools.  The seconds passed and he still wasn't breathing.  Diane said to Charles, "This baby could use a blessing." and grandpa charles was there in an instant and gave the little man a quick priesthood blessing.

Shortly thereafter, the baby (who was very purple now) kind of choked and he let out a little cry, followed by a big one.  I found out later that it took a full minute and a half for the baby to take his first breath, but to Joann and I it felt like 10 minutes! It was extremely scary and because of Diane's calm demeanor, I really could not tell if the baby was all right or not, and I wondered if we had another emergency on our hands.

As soon as Joann was in bed with the baby resting in her arms, I signaled to Diane to follow me into the bathroom, where I closed the door, looked her in the eyes, and demanded to know if my son was going to be all right.  I had heard about times when baby's choke with the cord and spend the rest of their life with serious issues and I was scared to death.

Diane, took my hand, explained that the cord was caught on the baby's broad shoulder and was keeping him from coming out, and that she had to cut the cord, which at the time was his only oxygen supply. She said that this was quite common during birth and that babies are able to handle those moments without air better than you would think.  She then gave me a hug and said that he would be just fine.

I breathed a little easier, but after Tag's birth, I was still in a little shock.

Here are some photos from the day:

First picture taken.

Baby Pack, still a little purple after arrival.

Superstar support team.

Pack Brinton, ready to box.

Tag meets his brother, and instincively gives him "loves" 

Tag hangs with a tired Mom.

Beautiful.

Happy Day.

10:37 AM: Diane the midwife broke Joann's water.

All Hallow's Eve - 2011

The house has been decorated all month with scary decorations and Tag has loved hanging out with his new friends, the "scawy witch", "pumpkin" and "scawy hand" - a fake hand and foot hanging out of the piano.

Tag is almost 23 months old, but we took him out for his first trick-or-treating adventure anyway.  I tried to practice with him at home, standing outside, ringing the doorbell, having Joann answer, saying "trick-or-treat" and then getting the payoff, but he didn't get it.  After a few failed trials, we jumped in the car and headed down the hill to a neighborhood with flatter pathways and lots of little goblins walking around.

We met up with Elsie Van Tassel and her parents and had a blast watching Tag run from house to house watching the other kids in their costumes and getting FREE candy from strangers.  He mostly just loved having the freedom to run.  It was so much fun to see him standing among a crowd of larger kids with his little hand out.  Each time, the crowd of kids would disperse, leaving just Tag and the person at the door.  When they would hand Tag his candy, he would turn with a huge smile and say, "A Treat!" or "I got nandy!" -- followed immediately with the statement, "I wanna eat 'em".  

I would grab his treat and try to explain that there were more at the next house, but he would have been content to simply eat the first one and be happy.  He typically doesn't get much candy, as Joann tries to teach him to eat healthier foods, so he was both confused and joyful to experience such an overabundance of treats.

At one house, the homeowners weren't home, but they left a big pumpkin full of treats at the door for the kids to take.  Tag walked up and peered inside the pumpkin for at least 10 full seconds before exclaiming, "Nandy!"  I was able to catch a shot of him looking inside...

So much "Nandy",  how do I choose?

There were quite a few houses with scary entryways, sounds and frights.  Many of the kids weren't interested in walking up to the door.  Not Tag.  He not only walked up to the doors, but loved to stop and stare at the items.  One lady had the best scary porch and she was sitting outside in a witches costume.  It was a great setup.  Tag stood on the porch for about 5 minutes pointing out the ghosts and glaring eyes and laughing.  For those who know my affinity for scaring little ones on Halloween, I was so proud.

One house had an inflatable headless horseman carriage on their front yard and the recording had a scary scream and a horse sound.  Tag did not want to leave this display.  Each time he would finally decide to leave, the horse would bellow and he would turn back to go check it out.

Most of the residents of our neighborhood attended the Woodland Hills "Trunk-or-Treat", but Tag didn't fall prey to such sellouts.  He ran (and I mean RAN) from door to door, laughing, and had a blast looking at the other kids in masks and such and four-wheelers passing by. 

It was awesome.

Joann and I threw an adult party the other night and it was pretty fun.  Since she is nearly 9 months pregnant, I had to come up with a costume that utilized her current physical state.  While the party-goers didn't appreciate the effort as I would have thought, I posted the pictures on Facebook and emailed them around and got some kudos. Joann is a good sport to put up with my love for Halloween.

Conjugal Visit