Our precious little bundle of joy has finally arrived!

Olive made her debut on July 22, 2010 at 6:58 am
weighing 8 lb 1 oz and measuring 19.5 inches long

We are so in love with our sweet little girl and cant wait to spend the rest of forever with her!

Olive has been such a sweet little baby, she eats, sleeps, and poops like a champion.  We could not have been blessed with a more perfect child.  Her birth was equally amazing.  Don’t feel like you have to read this whole long story, it is mostly for me to have in writing.  On Tuesday the 20th I had been having contractions for over 3 weeks, was dilated to a 2.5, 80% effaced, and felt like I should be having this baby at any minute.  I was 1 day over due and was getting a little anxious so I went and got a prenatal massage that was supposed to naturally induce labor.  I was so excited and had convinced myself that I would be having the baby at any moment.  So on Wednesday when I had a doctors appointment and had not had the baby yet I was pretty discouraged.  During the appointment my doctor said that the baby had dropped all the way and had pulled my cervix into a posterior position. (I had no idea this was even possible.)  So now all the contractions I had been having were working to pull my cervix back into the correct position for birth.  Basically this meant that I was having all these contractions and was not making any progress at all because my cervix was out of place.  At this point I left the office totally distraught (I am not going to lie, a few tears were shed…I was SO ready to have this baby!) Scott took pity on me and we went strait to the health food store.  We bought red raspberry leaf tea, Castor oil, and milk of magnesia to make a tea concoction our midwife recommended.  I drank the tea at 4:00 and by 6:00 pm I was having contractions.  I tried not to get excited because they felt exactly like all the Braxton Hicks I had been having for weeks.  I met Scott at Trio for dinner at 7:00.  We ordered their garlic chicken pizza that supposedly has put tons of women into labor…I basically ate the whole thing!  We then grabbed a caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate for dessert and headed over to Liberty Park for a stroll.  About a mile into our walk the contractions started to get more intense and more regular.  I was afraid that if we stopped walking the contractions would stop, so we went for another mile.  When we got home I downed another cup of tea and crossed my fingers.  (I know I may have gone a little overboard, but I was going to have this baby one way or another!)  By midnight I was still having contractions, but they hadn’t really intensified.  I decided that by this point there was not a whole lot more I could do and went to bed.  I woke up at 1:15 am with a serious contraction and new that this was it.  It is probably the only time in my life that I had actually been excited to be in so much pain.  I labored for 1.5 hours at home until the contractions were less than a minute apart.  At we got to St. Marks Hospital at 2:40 where they put me in triage and checked my progress.  I was dilated to a 3.5. Within 20 minutes my water broke and 30 minutes after that they admitted me and I was dilated to a 5. Once my water broke the contractions really started to intensify.  Scott and I had taken a hypnobirthing class to help prepare for labor and delivery.  It was so funny, when it came to the real thing I wanted nothing to do with the things we had practiced.  Poor Scott, he kept trying to make things easier for me by turning on the relaxing music we had brought, talking me through contractions, and putting his hand on my back to let me know he cared…but I couldn’t stand any of it! Just having him there was all I wanted.  He was so amazing through the whole thing and made a perfect birth companion.  After laboring for 2.5 more hours I was dilated to a 7 and decided to get in the jacuzzi tub.  Within 20 minutes I was fully dilated and ready to push.  After 30 minutes of intense pushing, little Olive came into this world and was placed in my arms at 6:58 am.  There are not words to describe the immediate love I felt for my precious little girl, I cannot believe I have lived so long without her.  She is absolutely beautiful and has stolen my heart.

For how great the whole labor went, the recovery has not been so rewarding.  During the delivery I ruptured two major blood vessels in my pelvis that caused a hematoma the size of softball to form.  They had to take me to the O.R. and operate in order to stop the bleeding and remove the blood clot.  It was pretty disappointing to have made it through the whole labor and delivery and then have to end it with surgery.  Luckily it was a short operation and I was awake and recovering within a few hours.

The whole experience was incredible.  It was one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences of my life, and Olive was worth every second of it.  Being a mother is already one of the greatest blessings and I thank my Heavenly Father constantly for the opportunity I have had to carry Olive for the past nine months and bring her into this world.  I am truly blessed.

A few weeks ago my sweet mother, mother-in-law, sisters, and sisters-in-law threw me a fabulous baby shower! We definitely got spoiled rotten! We now have everything from binkys, bows, and bottles, to a stroller, cradle, and crib.  Everything was absolutely perfect and pink, including the invites made by Erin and Elizabeth.

My amazing mom and sisters, plus cute little nephew Sawyer
(Yes, I know my face is chubs but what can you do!)

The darling diaper cake my mom made…
I still have it the nursery, its too dang cute to take apart!

And of coarse, the food…oh the food…it was delicious!

Lemon bars,   Tammy’s mint brownies-pink frosting included,   and Janet’s key lime tarts!

I also have no doubt that our little babe will be the best dressed baby on the block thanks to all the precious little outfits.  Tammy put together the darling clothesline, I cant wait to play dress-ups all day long!  I cannot thank everyone who put the shower on and those who came enough, we love you all so much and are so grateful to have such amazing people in our lives.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

First and foremost this post is incredibly overdue….but I have pregnancy to blame for that right? I am officially 26 weeks and 2 days, and I am feeling great. As for our little bundle of joy…we have decided to break with tradition and are having…

Thats right, we are having a precious baby girl! She is the first Cramer girl in three generations and we are thrilled to claim her! Scott is especially excited seeing as he grew up with all brothers and only has nephews, girls are completely foreign to him and he couldn’t be happier! As for me, I am giddy just thinking about it. She and I are already lifelong girlfriends, I love her so much already it is unfathomable. How is it that a little being that didn’t even exist 7 months ago is the center of my world? I am so ready and excited for the fast approaching day when I get to meet her and hold her in my arms.

As for the pregnancy, everything has gone according to plan…almost. At six weeks along I got appendicitis and had to have surgery to have it removed. That gave us a scare. But after the recovery and 3 months of morning sickness…I feel great!

Yes, I get bigger by the day! Only 13 weeks 5 days until our beautiful little girl arrives…we cant wait!

We’ve got big news…..

There is a little Cramer baby on its way!

Due to arrive on July 19, 2010

Earlier this month Scott was rewarded an all expenses paid trip to Cancun…it was amazing!
The pictures pretty much say it all, we had a fabulous time!

This is the view of the pool and ocean from our room, we had excellent weather
(a small huricane hit the day before we got there so we were a little worried.)

The best part about the whole thing was that it was all inclusive,
so yes, we had all the pina coladas we could ever want!

The food was some of the best we have ever had.
Ha, I liked it a little too much…I gained 8 lbs. in the 5 days we were there!
Sick, I know!

We rented a car one day and went and saw the ancient Mayan ruins, Tulum.

I know I complain sometimes about how much Scott has to work…but right now I have zero complaints!

We have officially been in our cute little Sugarhouse home for two and a half months and have spent every day making it our own.  When I imagined remodeling our place I just pictured the beautiful end product…I must have subconsciously blocked out the stages that get you to the finish…and for good reason! Here are a few reality checks/lessons I have had over the past couple of months.

1.  Meet my beautiful royal blues.  I spend 90% of my time in these bad boys…if you happen to drop by there is a good chance I will be sporting them.

2.  Leaving your solid hardwood doors outside in the cold WILL warp them.

3.  Weeds can indeed grow to be taller than I am.

4.  Sawdust will make it into every nic and cranny imaginable.

5.  Sleeping on a mattress in the basement for 3 weeks makes you really appreciate your bed.

6.  Do not put really starchy foods down your disposal or it will clog and overflow your sink.

7.  Walking into my house and having it look like this…

or this…

or this…

Is a regular occurrence.

8.  single payne windows will give you the rare opportunity to feel the wind inside your house.

9.  Using masking tape instead of painters tape will peel up the paint.

10.  Having a broken sprinkler next to your foundation will cause your basement to flood.

This list makes it sound like it has been a bad experience which is SO far from the truth. We have had so much fun learning and working together on our little home and wouldnt trade it for the world.  When you finish a project it makes all the hard work well worth it.  We are quickly approaching some fabulous finished rooms/projects and will post some pics when we get there.

I guess sleepless nights call for updating the blog.  We have been so so busy I have not even had a minute to sit down and write a few things down about our amazing trip to Africa.  I really don’t even know where to begin…but here it goes.

After a total of 56 hours traveling (21 of those were spent in the Johannesburg airport,) we arrived in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka where we spent the majority of our time over the month.  The first couple days there we drove down to Livingstone where we hung out at Victoria Falls, some of the largest waterfalls in the world.

This picture just doesn’t do it  justice…it was difficult to photograph the worlds largest waterfall!

My sis Sydney and I decided to top off our Livingstone experience by doing the 2nd largest bungee jump in the world!

Ya we pretty much have bragging rights for the rest of our lives:)

We then headed back up to Lusaka where we spent the next couple of weeks.  For those of you who don’t know, the group we went with was Mothers Without Borders. It is a nonprofit that was started by a woman named Kathy Hedlee from Provo.  Every year they bring volunteers to Zambia to help contribute what they can to the growing problems there. They own 80 acres of land where they have built an orphanage/Children’s Resource Center, housing facilities for workers, dug a well for water, have a ton of farmland and chickens for food, and are working on a school and medical facility. It is such a huge undertaking and we were so excited to be a part of it.

This is a small portion of the land. The two structures in the picture are the oasis (bathroom) and a house for some of the workers who live on the land.

While we were there all of the volunteers stayed in a guest house of one of the members there and everyday we had the opportunity to go out and work on the land or take day trips out to sister orphanages, street kids facilities, villages, hospitals, the ghettos, and do medical screenings.

In the Mukuni Village

These are the sweet children at the Children’s Resource Center. There are currently 25 children in the care of Mother’s Without Borders, they hope to bring in up to 200 children when they have the space and resources.  Each of these children have unbelievable stories and will have a special place in our hearts forever.

This is the beautiful Carol Zulu.  We had the opportunity of meeting Carol the first day we arrived in Lusaka and were able to have her join us on our adventure to Livingstone.  Carol’s story is one that makes my heart ache and brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. Carol is honestly one of our heavenly father’s angels here on earth.  She has the most incredible faith I have ever witnessed and has a spirit that fills the room.  Carol was the victim of molestation and contracted aides as a result. Over the space of three years Carol’s health gradually grew worse and she became increasingly frail.  When we met Carol she was not in the best of health and we were told that Carol may not live for very much longer.  For those of you who dont know, people do not actually die from HIV/AIDS.  It is an immune disease that weakens your immune system to the point that your body cannot fight off disease.  A few weeks ago Carol contracted Bacterial Meningitis and passed away on September 15th.  We were so blessed to have known Carol for just a short time and know that she has returned to live with her family and our father in heaven.

Everyone has asked me if we had a “fun” time…”fun” is such a relative term.  Of coarse we had an amazing time, but it was such an eye opening experience and was so much harder than I ever imagined.  I dont think that I was quite prepared for some of the things that we came across. It was such an emotional roller coaster, one minute you would be playing futbol with the kids from a village and the next you would be sitting in the home of a family who is starving and dieing from aids. About 40% of the Adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. As a result of this there are orphaned children everywhere, More than 36 million children under the age of 15 are orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa today. The problem is just so huge it is overwhelming.  Most of the time I was there I just felt like everything we were seeing couldn’t possibly be real. I have heard about the AIDS problem in Africa my whole life but it wasn’t until it was put in my face like that, that I was forced to try to understand it. Scott and I have talked about our experience and at times I feel discouraged…Even though I was there for a month doing everything I could to help I know that I may have helped out someone for a moment or for a day but they will be faced with the problems of tomorrow and everyday to come and there is nothing I can do about it. I had to rely upon my heavenly father for strength to try to understand why these amazing people have to endure so much. I learned a great deal about god’s plan for each of us and his individual love for each of his children.

So many people have been encouraging me to write a post about Africa, I dont know if this is what you expected but thank you for letting me put some of my feelings and experiences in words. I learned so much while I was there and know that I will be a changed person forever.

Yes, i will warn you in advance this post may or may not be very long so if you choose to just scroll through and see the pics i will not be offended. (ok maybe just a little but whatever.)
Our Summer has been crazy crazy starting with me doing summer semester down at BYU which is never fun but oh so necessary and having to cram finals in right before we left for Africa. But on top of that, Scott and I finally found the little house of our dreams, so we packed up our stuff and threw it into a pod the day before we took off to Africa for a month! Scott and I with the help of Scott’s mom have looked and looked for a place in SugarHouse…and after months of searching we found this gem…

It is definitely a diamond in the rough. We wanted a fixer upper and we found it, it will be such a fun project for Scott and I to work on together.  So now that we have our own place COME ON OVER we would love to have visitors!

So We closed on our house and off to Africa we went. Now I will just have to save Africa for the next post, there is just way way too much to say and it definitely deserves it’s own post, but i will give a little preview.

Have I left you wanting more??? I hope so…stay tuned

After we got home we had 3 days to unpack the pod full of all our stuff before it needed to be picked up, so we wasted no time. We spent the first day cleaning every nick and cranny of our new house, the second and third day unpacking the pod…and every day since that unpacking boxes, painting, weeding, pulling up base boards, removing carpet, and more unpacking.  Our new home away from home is Home Depot, I have a feeling that we will know all the workers too well by the time the remodel is complete!  The house was built in 1948 so there is PLENTY of work to keep us busy for a good while.

As for the rest of the summer we have lived it to the fullest having bbq’s, boating in lake powell, time with friends and family, kickin it at the cabin, playing with nephews, and did i mention unpacking? I am sad to say our summer is quickly coming to a close with fall semester starting on the 31st… I am trying not to think about it.  One more week to soak in the sun, thanks to all who helped make our summer great!!!

Scott and I are so excited to announce the birth of our 5th little nephew…

Jackson Ray Cramer

Such a Perfect little Babe!
He was being so cute…I made sure Scott was ready with camera in hand for
every little yawn, smirk, and stretch!

Jackson is the is the son of Scott’s oldest brother Dan and his wife Tammy.  Baby Jackson did not want to come into this world easily….At a a healthy 9 pounds 6 ounces he decided he would like to enter this world posterior (meaning facing up instead of down.) This makes the process more painful, longer, and stressful on both mom and baby.  But Tammy did beautifully and brought this beautiful little boy into the world with a smile.

This is Dan and Tammy’s fourth son, they are amazing! The Cramers are a family of boys…
let me lay it out for you.

Scott’s Father Joe had one brother (no sisters)
Joe married Janet and they had 5 sons
Daniel…he married Tammy who has 5 brothers (no sisters) they now have 4 sons (no daughters)
Steven…married Elizabeth who has 3 brothers (no sisters) they are expecting a son in October
Scott
Jeff
Robert
As you can see we are a family of many men and few women, but if all the little boys are as cute as Jackson I say…
BRING ON THE BOYS!

Congratulations Dan and Tammy, he is adorable and we are SO excited for you!