Al the Pal is turning eight!

My dear, sweet, first-born will be celebrating his eighth birthday today. I completely adore him.

Alex was our second pregnancy. We had miscarried a few months before he was conceived. No sound ever will compare to being able to hear his heart beat for the first time. It was music to our ears! Every experience I had with him touched me in so many ways: I loved playing "Poke" with him while he was in the womb. He would kick, then I'd poke another side of my tummy to see if he'd follow. He got pretty close quite a few times during our games. :)

On Friday, October 5th, I woke up at 6am with contractions. They lasted throughout the day and gradually got closer together. By the time Brian made it home from work, I'd walked around our park twice. By this time, the contractions were five minutes apart, so we put everything in the car to drive to LDS Hospital. Brian was so adorable. He called the hospital, gave our names, and informed the staff that we were on our way, to which they kindly replied, "It's okay, sir. We're here all the time...you REALLY don't need to call and let us know that you're coming." We arrived at the hospital with great excitement, but our hopes were soon dashed when I fell asleep and the contractions stopped. We met our extended family up at Snowbird for a sleepover (eleven of us at the time) and visited Octoberfest the next day. Sadly, no more contractions came.

Oddly enough, on Friday the 12th, at 6am, I woke up again with contractions. This time, my lower back, legs, and stomach were all aching. The contractions were so sporadic that I couldn't keep the time straight. I wanted to clean like crazy. The house was never so ready for a baby as it was after that day. I labored all day and we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my parents and sister, Melissa. She was attending UCMT at the time, and offered to massage my back and feet (heaven!) after dinner. By the time we were headed to my mom's, I could no longer sit through the contractions. At this point, they were about fifteen minutes apart. Upon arrival at our house later that night, Brian and I went to bed...Well, I TRIED to go to bed, but couldn't sleep. I shaved my legs, straightened my hair, painted my nails, played on the computer; anything to pass the time and try to prepare for the big day.

I finally hit five minutes apart at 5:30 in the morning. I woke Brian to let him know it was time to go. I'm pretty sure we hit EVERY pothole between our house and the hospital. I don't think we missed a single one! We parked, and I insisted on walking through the doors to the delivery floor. Well, I made it all the way to the steps, but as I was doubled over in pain, I couldn't continue up the stairs. The sweetest lady came up and asked if we needed a wheelchair. The stubborn girl I am said no, but Brian emphatically said, "YES! That is just what we need." This lovely nurse wheeled us up to the fourth floor and informed us that she would be our nurse. We instantly fell in love with Tina. She was amazing! After all those contractions, she told me that I was dilated to...a ONE. UGH! I was so mad! I was certain that I should have been a four or five, but she said otherwise.

I labored in the bathtub, and on the birthing ball. Tina said that she could tell I was about to have a contraction because I'd get super quiet and close my eyes. Grant and DeAne, and my mom and dad (George and Patsy) were there to keep us company. After thirty hours of labor, and about fifteen minutes of pushing, Alexander George Bartschi entered the world, weighing in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces. Brian said that his tiny little head looked like a golf ball as he was being born. As soon as he was out, it expanded to its tiny little size. He was so amazingly perfect. I loved the feeling of holding him in my arms and being able to gaze in wonder at this beautiful little man before me. I knew I loved him from the moment I saw him. How blessed I was to have this little person, who, just moments before, was in the presence of God.

Alex had such a good attitude for a little guy. He was always happy, and loved to cuddle. My dear friend Emily observed that he never spit up. "He just knows that it's not cool to do, so he doesn't do it", she said. He found joy in everything that he did. He crawled at eight months and walked at ten. He spoke very well as a young boy. He had a love for dinosaurs like you wouldn't believe. He knew the names of several of them at 18 months. He loved puzzles and building with blocks.

Alex is destined for something great. He has had way too many close calls to feel otherwise. When he was just over a year old, the two of us rolled my explorer after skidding on a patch of black ice. He didn't have a single scratch on him. A few months later, he was narrowly missed as a giant truck went barrelling through a red light, ramming our car AND the car in front of us. The indentation from the truck was about three feet away from where Alex was sitting. He could have been killed upon impact, but was safe. When he was three years old, we almost lost him in a drowning incident. We were at a pool at Bear Lake with the Bartschi family when he asked to have his water wings off because he was done in the pool. Apparently, he wasn't finished, jumped in, and was found on the BOTTOM of the pool, face down in the fetal position. When he was pulled out of the water by Andrea and Paul, we could see that he was blue from the chest up. He had no pulse, no breathing, and wasn't responsive. Just as I went to tilt his head to give CPR, he spit a ton of water out of his lungs and started coughing (the second best sound I have EVER heard in my life). We got him to the hospital 40 miles up the canyon to Logan, where he was kept for observation. He turned out to be just fine, with only a touch of water in his lungs. He was released the next day, and he even asked to go swimming again. I know that he is being kept here on earth for some amazing reason, and I am so grateful to be a part of his life.

He loves sports: basketball, swimming, soccer, and baseball are his favorites. He has an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm for anything he does.

He loves the gospel. He will be baptized on November 7th, and has already shown what a powerful testimony he has at eight years old.

He loves his family: he shows so much love and enthusiasm for his brothers. He is such a great example to them. I love watching him interact with his brothers! He is such a sweetheart.

He is into Bakugon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokemon.

He loves to read, and actually has already finished the first Harry Potter book, and regularly reads from the scriptures. His favorite hero of all time is Captain Moroni. He wants to be just like him.

I love to listen to him talk. He uses great words...the big ones! I am so proud every time I listen to him use the words he does.

He is a great friend and example. I am so grateful to be his parent while he is here on the earth. Never was a mother so lucky as to have a wonderful boy like this. He is absolutely amazing.

Happy Birthday, Alex. I sure love you. You've brought more joy to my life than you could ever possibly know. I hope you have kids just like you when you grow up.

Love,
Mom.