William Austin Perkins

 Jill's due date was February 15, but her doctor said she would induce her up to a week before due date if everything looked good for Jill. So they said, why not? So Jill and Larsen went to the hospital early in the morning on February 8. They started her on pitocin. Then we all waited. And waited. Do we dare text and check up on them? I left to head south that morning, and I kept waiting for the text, "he is here." About 3 pm Jill text and said he was never coming out.

I got to Idaho Falls about 5 pm and was heading to go out to eat at Costa Vida with my parents when Jill text and said I need help - the doctor told me that I could either go home or they could break my water. Don't go home. They took her off the IV for an hour or so and then put her back on and broke her water. Then shortly after that they gave her an epidural. Still waiting. I would wake up in the night to see if I had missed their text. Nope. Then in the morning Larsen text and said he would be here soon. Then at 8:41 am Larsen text and said that the baby is here!

I didn't think I could go to the hospital because of covid restrictions which are that each patient can only have one visitor - which would be Larsen. So I visited with my parents on Wednesday morning and stopped at a store. Then I stopped at Doug & Emily's to wish Henry happy birthday. The last grandkid of the first generation and the first great grandkid will now share the same birthday. That's kind of cool. Henry is hilarious. He has a zest for life and doesn't stop talking. He was so excited about every single part of his birthday.

Then Larsen said that I could come to the hospital. It is a good thing Garfield Memorial is a small, hometown hospital, because when I got there and told them I was there to see Jill, they said she had already had her two visitors for the day (Larsen's mom had come to see the baby) but she would ask the nurse's if I could come in. Luckily they were fine with it.

Then I got to meet William Austin Perkins. He was born at 8:30 am and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches with lots of black hair. There is nothing like a newborn. And he is so cute.

Larsen stayed a while and then he asked if I would stay the night with Jill and he would go home and sleep. He was so tired. They had been up lots of the night since she was in labor for 24 hours. So I got to sleep at the hospital and help Jill with Will through the night. As I laid on the hospital chair/bed, I thought about how we could be welcoming grandkids for the next 20 years by the time Carly has her last child. 

It was so great to watch Jill be a mom. She was so patient (not always one of her dominant qualities) as the baby tried to learn how to eat. It is really such a miracle that a human fit inside her and then came out as a healthy baby.

The nurse came in to check the vitals of Jill and Will and said she would be back in 3 hours to check again. A few minutes before it was time for her to come back, Jill was holding Will and said, "Hey buddy, do you think we can sneak out of here before the nurse comes to push on my stomach again?"

The next morning Larsen came back so I headed to their new house to have a shower. They got all checked out of the hospital and got home at about noon. I had the privilege to stay with them for the next 10 days to help them and figure out how to take care of newborns and just be able to hold Will. 

He is really content for a baby. When his needs are met, he is chill - that is if he is being held.

Jill started to feel a little better everyday. Recovery is still a process and nursing a baby is also a process as your milk comes in. But everything really went well for Jill & Will. The first night Jill came and woke me up and said, mom, I think he is tongue tied. He ate and I don't think there is anything left in there and he is still crying. So we decided there wasn't quite enough in her yet since her milk hadn't come in, so we gave him a bottle. Then he settled down and was good.

Austin, Hanna, Lucy & Carly came down to meet Will. The contest started for favorite aunt status. We all loved holding him as much as we could. 

Blessing of Will

It was a tough decision on which day to bless Will. Austin wasn't going to be there on a Sunday.

But we didn't think they wanted to wait months until we could come back.

So they blessed Will on a Monday evening.

It was a terrible snowstorm that day. We will never forget driving over Bear Pass to get to Panguitch - cars and semis sliding everywhere.

So none of Larsen's family that didn't live in Panguitch could come.

Larsen gave William Austin Perkins a very nice baby blessing. Larsen wore this same outfit when he was blessed.

 

Lucy's Birthday Trip to Banff

We had a couple days off school so took a girls trip to Banff National Park to celebrate Lucy's 17th birthday. 

 

Hermana Nunn Comes Home!

 We definitely counted down the days until Hanna got home from her mission! We are so thankful for her service and proud that she conquered a covid mission, but we missed her so much.

She left Toronto about the same time we left to go to the Calgary airport. I tracked her flight on a flight app all across the country (and possibly shed a tear when her flight took off).

We got to the Calgary airport, and the signs at the airport said she was coming out of gate A. So we stood there and waited and waited. After a long time, I looked over and she was walking down the long walkway towards us. She had come out of gate D, and there was no grand entry to welcome her out of the doors. She didn't have a phone with her, so there was no way for her to contact us. So a little anti-climatic, but so excited to see her.

The Leishmans were also at the airport because Maddie and Jill were flying out later that day. Hanna was excited to see her best friend Maddie for a couple minutes.

We got her luggage and drove to Lethbridge to meet Jill and Larsen. We got to listen to Hanna's missionary playlist, which includes lots of Spanish songs, since she was still a missionary. The Perkins had been driving up from Utah (I also was tracking them the whole way) We met at Montana's Restaurant for dinner.

Next we went to the church so Hanna could get released from her mission by President Ferguson. She met with him, and then we all got to go in and she bore her testimony to us. Then the bitter sweet moment of taking off her missionary nametag.

For months she told us she wanted to get home, eat, and then ride her horse. We told her it was too late at night and that we would ride tomorrow. But Austin had it all arranged to surprise her with her horse, Lena, at the Agridome. Wyatt Olsen had picked up the horse and taken her in, and then Grandpa Buck had her saddled when we got there. She was so surprised, and the first thing she said was, I don't have any clothes to wear (as she didn't want to ride in her dress). But we had thought of that. Then she made Lucy go with her to the bathroom to change, since she was used to having a companion with her every hour for 18 months.

She hugged Lena and rode her in the arena for a few minutes!

On Sunday, she gave an excellent homecoming talk, along with her testimony in Spanish. We had a lunch at the Leavitt Community Centre after church with family and friends. Thanks to friends like Connie Quinton who cooked our roast for us (which includes getting up the middle of the night to check it and turn the temperature down).

We also got to go with Hanna to the temple while Jill and Larsen were still here. It was only Hanna's third endowment session, as she only got to go once before she left because of Covid, and only went to to the temple once in Toronto because of covid (a couple days before she came home), and now this time with us in Cardston.

Jill's Baby Shower

We decided to take advantage of the time we had with Jill when she came to Canada for Hanna getting home from her mission to have a baby shower for her.

She scored in the baby blanket category. It was fun for her to see her people. So many people have had such a great influence on Jill's life. And people are so generous.

And Hanna was modeling how excited she was to be able to wear jeans after 18 months.