Murphy and Austin

I just don't like that guy named Murphy. Or any of his laws. Seems I spoke too soon on all my great news. Our refi ran into one last glitch that is delaying signing and making it more expensive for us. Grrrrr. (The sad thing is that when I wrote it was all well I wondered if I should wait until it was done, but since the underwriters wanted us to sign that day I figured we were clear. Should have known ...) But we SHOULD sign today. If not we may just drop it, lick our wounds and move on.

And the authorization from the new insurance? I listed all the midwives on the form, and they picked one name to approve. Usually not a problem, except the one they picked happens to be the one out on medical leave! Can you believe my luck? Good news is that I heard from a woman in CIGNA's healthy pregnancies program who is making sure it doesn't matter who in the group I see. She's also approving my diabetes management and visits to the perinatologist. Phew! Hopefully that reduces the number of phone calls I have to make to get this baby paid for.

So, speaking of the baby, I thought I'd talk a bit about him now. :) I'm not sure I ever mentioned how we first considered the name Austin. We'd obviously been struggling to find names, and we'd both gone through lists of names without success. Then Hilary and her family gave us extra tickets to a BYU football game. We (okay I) sat there through the game watching the plays and thinking of the players' names. Would they work? Manase (Tonga) Brown. Nope. Harvey (Unga) Brown. JJ (Di Luigi) Brown. Nope. Max (Hall) Brown. Can't -- my sister has claimed the name Max. You get the picture. Then Hilary's sister said, "What about Austin? You know, like Austin Collie?" (He graduated last year.) Paul liked it immediately. So did Hilary. I wasn't convinced. However, after thinking about it more and trying a few more names on Paul, we agreed it was going to be our baby's name. It's not after Austin Collie (I've never even seen an interview with him), but that doesn't make me any less excited that Austin Collie is going to the Superbowl this year -- his rookie year! I sure hope he plays well and that his team wins. Wouldn't that be so cool for him?

Anyway, I got out the old boy clothes and washed the newborn stuff. You forget how small it is. I had this stuff packed away for almost 7 years now. My sister laughed at me for that, but why get rid of it if I may have to buy more later? I'm too cheap to consider that. Now we need a new car seat. We used the same carrier for the first three kids, but it expired right after we used it for Shayla.

The other question I seem to get is if I think Austin will have red hair. Tyler was born with a tint of red but was basically always blonde. Zachary had strawberry blonde hair until he was 2, and now it's mostly blonde with only the slightest hint of red. Shayla's is definitely red, but also has streaks of blonde. So we'll see if the trend continues with getting redder the farther we go. Paul and I always said it would be hilarious if we had a dark-haired baby. Several of my siblings have dark hair (and nice olive skin unlike my pale white), and all of Paul's siblings have dark hair and dark eyes (his mom has never appreciated that I call him the milkman's baby :). In any case, I've been having heartburn, so this kid will probably have hair no matter the color! (Did you know a medical group back East set to disprove that old wives' tale and found it was true? The same hormone that causes heartburn triggers hair growth in fetuses. Who knew?)

One other interesting side note: I went into labor with Zachary on Easter. If I go into labor 3 days late with Austin, I will once again be in labor in Easter since it's the first Sunday in April this year.

Since Shayla keeps asking me if Austin is out or how he's going to come out (unlike my boys who couldn't care less), I figured I'd show her the videos of each of my babies' births. I am so glad we videotaped them! (Let me just clarify that our videographers have all stood by my head, so they are not exposing anything I don't want the world to see. :) Anyway, it almost made me excited to go into labor. With the epidural I have enjoyed all labors (once it was in, of course) and even was joking around and laughing during pushing.

Ever heard of the building of the SLC temple where they were prompted to leave this huge hole in the middle? Then years later when the Brethren wanted to update it with an elevator they pulled out the plans and there was a hole already there waiting for an elevator. I feel the same way about the epidural cavity in women. God put it there and just waited until the right time for man to figure out how to use it. And I'm so glad He did!!! Now if you still choose to take the stairs like your ancestors, go for it. But me, I'm taking the elevator and enjoying the journey! :)

Anyway, there's nothing like a new baby and the awesome experience it is to be a part of one coming into the world. Obviously I still have a couple of months, but the excitement is really starting to kick in. We still need to bring in and assemble all the baby stuff -- crib, changing table, swing, bassinet, etc. But I figure the sooner we get it in the more impatient we'll be. (Man, our baby stuff takes up a lot of storage space! :)

And onto other news, if you haven't heard, the LDS Church announced plans for a new temple in Payson! I'm so happy. I've been waiting for one there since the Provo temple is the busiest in the world. And really it won't be any closer than the one we go to in Provo (20 minutes away), but from what I can tell it will be our new temple. It will also feel closer since it will be easier to get to for us -- even if it takes the same amount of time. (Mind you, that means no more nostalgic memories as passing BYU and the MTC, but I'll live. :) We're very happy about it and hope they start digging soon!

I also forgot to say thanks for all the breastfeeding comments. I was guessing with my opinionated post I probably wouldn't even get one comment. Who knew so many women struggle with it? I'll have to perfect a couple of Jen's suggested comebacks just in case ...

Okay, this is the end of my rambling. Hope your weeks are going well.