The beginnings of a smile...

Changing Already

Just a few updated pics of Gavin and the kids. I feel like he changes daily right now. He's SUCH a sweet little guy and I am just loving having a newborn around the house again. It's a loud house, but lots of fun!

The kids at the FW Zoo with Chris (they were there for 6 hours!!)


4 days old


8 days old


A friend/photographer came over and took newborn pictures of Gavin yesterday - here are just 3 of them. I haven't been able to see the other few hundred yet!

Gavin Martino Short is here!

For those that don't want to hear the whole story, but just want to see pictures, skip ahead. But for those that have asked, here you go! So I had my first "real" contraction at 2:00 on Tuesday (2 days before my due date) while I was picking up Sydney from pre-school, but of course, wasn't sure if it was real or not. Last weekend I was contracting quite a bit, but knew it wasn't real labor. Still, I figured it couldn't be too far away considering I was dilated to almost a 4 a week ago. Anyway, they were consistent at 20 minutes apart, but I went about my day. Brighton came home from school and I then took the girls to gymnastics, when they became every 15 minutes apart. They were pretty intense, but bearable. We came home and I decided to make a nice steak and potatoes dinner for everyone. Chris called to say he may be a little late, and I just casually mentioned that my contractions were pretty intense that day, so he may not want to be too long. By the time he got home (20 min. later) they went from 15 min. to 5 minutes apart and I was panting pretty heavily through then. He got in "crazy dad" mode and quickly packed a bag, we called my mom and sister to warn them, and then had a sweet neighbor come over to watch and feed the kids and put them to bed. Chris of course grabbed a few bites of steak on the way out, though. We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 (after Chris "safely" ran all the red lights and actually sped - I was so proud!). Shortly after they checked me and I was dilated 5-6 cm. A few minutes later my water broke (and it's never broken on its own before). Anyway, I had been prepping this whole pregnancy to do a completely natural, drug-free birth so I was glad it was going quickly. Chris and I had both read a lot, watched a video, talked to people, and I had worked out and done a lot of pre-natal yoga this time around, along with working out on my exercise ball each night to prepare. Well, I started trying my different positions while Chris was keeping me calm, fanning me, and rubbing my lower back with a tennis ball. I quickly realized that not many positions were doing the trick, but just relaxing, focusing, and breathing deeply helped the most. I made it through transition (not without some serious "mooing" sounds and pretty much blocking out the rest of the world) and felt a major desire to push. They checked me and I was complete, but the doctor was still speeding down the Tollway to make it there. That is not an easy thing to do - not push when you have an overwhelming desire to do so. I did my best, but snuck a few in here and there. :) Well, he got there about 15 min. later and boy, I think I was prepping for transition to be the hardest part, but pushing that head out and feeling myself tear had to be the kicker. Still, he made it out and after "mooing" even louder (which I found out later after watching the video Lauren did) and yelling "get it out!" once the head was out, he arrived safe and sound at 8:13 pm. I guess Kim arrived at one point during labor but I was so in my "zone" that I didn't know she was even there until the end.
Anyway, I guess my main reason for doing this whole natural thing after epidurals with my last 3 kids was to really see what my body was capable of doing. It was such a rush! I almost feel like I can do anything now. It was truly the most difficult, amazing thing I've ever done. I also didn't like how my blood pressure dropped and I felt weird after giving birth with epidurals. And I heard that the babies are much more alert and better eaters with no pitocin or epidural in their systems. It was fun to see him so alert for not just an hour after delivery, but for the rest of the night.
And I have to give a huge round of applause to my husband for FULLY supporting me in this decision by watching the kids all the nights I was at the gym, practicing with me, staying 100% calm during delivery, which in turn helped calm me down, and being the greatest coach ever. It was nice to have him do more in delivery than just count to 10 while I push. And it was a neat bonding experience for us. I sure do love him and am so thankful to have him.
Anyway, we got home last night around 7:00. We tried to leave earlier (I get tired of the hospital really quickly) but they wanted us to stay a full 24 hours. So now we're home, Brighton's at school, my mom has the younger 2 for the day and night, and Chris is home with me and baby. Fun stuff!
So for the shortened version, Gavin is here and weighs 7 lbs. 8 oz., is 21" long, and we already love him immensely!

2 days before delivery

The Time Has Come

Yes, summer is over, and I will definitely miss parts of it: washing the cars, staying in p.j.'s until late morning, and getting flowers from Chris because he knows how crazy/fun/wild it was for me to have 3 young kids at home all summer while being huge and pregnant!




The time also came for a few other things, such as our first pet (disregarding fish or other small animals collected from the yard and field). Brighton bought her hamster "Puffy" with her allowance from this summer. She also lost her first top, middle tooth which was hard for me because it totally changes her "little girl" appearance. And, despite my reservations about how he would do, we moved Carter to his "big boy bed" to free up the crib for the new baby and he has done absolutely perfect. He hasn't gotten out once and calls for me each time he wakes up. So cute!

Annual Lakehouse Trip

We are so grateful to Richie's uncle for letting us borrow his lakehouse each summer to do a big family trip there! What a fun time we all have, and the kids look so forward to it all year. With my parents up to 14 grandkids (all of which were there), they all have so much fun constantly having a playmate around. Here are a few pics from our fun, relaxing, crazy week!

Brighton Turns 7

Happy Birthday to my sweet, oldest child. I can't believe in just one more year she'll be getting baptized. Time goes so quickly. Since neither of my kids have been to a good old fashioned "house party" ever since we've lived in Frisco, I thought I'd introduce she and her friends to one. Well, I am now realizing why they are losing popularity. I can't believe the amount of hours I spent preparing for this party! We did a Webkinz theme and it turned out great! We had games based on the actual website that we turned into real games they could play, a Wheel of Wow, a gem hunt, buying prizes w/ their Kinzcash at the W Shop, arts and crafts where we made outfits for the Webkinz the girls brought with them, cake and ice cream, and presents. I had it quite scheduled, but it worked out quite well and I think the girls all had a great time. Next year, though, I just might have to resort to the "Frisco way" for her party! But doing the birthday cake myself is a tradition I don't think I'll ever change. I guess I inherited more things from my mom than I thought! :)

Utah Vacation

We just returned from our Utah family vacation/family reunion and had a great time, but were very ready for some sleep! Our schedule stayed very full from sunup to sundown! We loved seeing lots of Chris's family that we hadn't seen in a while, and of course, loved having him around with us for a week. Carted didnt' sleep well at all (I guess we're more used to sleeping w/o our kids than we thought), so that made for a tired Mom, but flying instead of driving made up for that! That's when being 7 months pregnant came in handy!

Our family at Temple Square

Cousins Brighton and Saige, who hardly stopped holding hands the entire time they were together. They even shared a seat and cuddled while watching the "Joseph Smith" movie at the Legacy Theater.

Carter with Grandma and Grandpa

One night we went to Mandy's family's cabin in Ophir (outside of Tooele) with she, Brandon and their twin boys and had a great time together 4 wheeling, doing the zip line, and just hanging out. Sydney and Andrew really took to each other.

Uncle Brent made me laugh by going at 4:00 in the morning to reserve a spot for ALL of us right in front on Center Street to watch the Provo 4th of July Parade. Yes, for the PROVO, UT parade. He and Meme even came w/ 200 "creamies" for everyone. That night Sydney especially loved the fireworks out at Aunt Leslie's house, but we all laughed and Carter explaining to everyone in a very detailed and dramatic way how he was "scared of fire and fireworks".

We went with the kids and Grandpa and Saige to the Bean Museum on campus one day and they had more fun just imitating and "being" each of the animals!

Sydney and Brighton loved playing in the freezing cold streams at Sundance. The weather was GREAT!

I LOVED being able to see my very dear friend, Jill, and her kids for the first time in 7 years.

Brighton, Lucas (1), Kate (4), Jane (4), Zach (4), Sydney, and Carter.

We got together with a few friends from medical school the last night we were there, but first stopped off at Liberty Park in SLC. Sydney, of course, spent most of the time chasing birds. She is obsessed with doing this since I told her if she catches one, she can keep it!
All in all, a very fun trip and we are SO grateful to all the people who let us stay with them, expecially Beth Lynn and Chip for letting us invade them for 4 of the days!