Welcome to...Calvin James Case!

Sorry it's taken so long to update--this month has been CRAZY.

Calvin was born November 3rd at 6:20 pm in the American Fork Hospital. He weighed 9 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 20.5 inches long. He was born with a full head of dark hair (with reddish highlights!) that has only gotten thicker and redder as time has gone on.

Fun things about Cal:

-He likes car rides and being bounced in his carrier seat.

-He likes Daddy to make loud, weird, and obnoxious noises, including reinactments of the Vietnam war, emergency sirens, foghorns, indian war chants, and Daddy's impression of Calvin screaming

-He's ticklish, especially on his feet

-He likes Momma and Daddy to pretend to eat him (nomnomnom)

-He hates baths, getting dressed, having his diaper changed, and when his pacifier falls out (he's getting better at holding it in, though!)

-He likes to keep his hands up by his face as much as possible

-He makes some great expressions (pirate, mobster/fahget-about-it, zombie, overdose)

-He calms down for his grandmas WAY faster and easier than he does for his mom and dad, which his parents agree is completely unfair

-People in stores think he's a girl because of his lovely locks

In other news , we have put up our Christmas tree and bought Calvin a little stocking and an ornament, both of which say Baby's First Christmas.

And now, since I know you've been waiting for them, the pictures!

In the hospital, right after delivery.

Still in the hospital, back in our room.This is his overdose face, and it means he'll be out like a light for the next couple hours.

Hangin' out with Dad


When it's dark and his big, dark eyes are open all the way, he looks like an alien. This effect is slowly fading, however, as his cheeks get rounder and his skin doesn't look so loose.

In his Halloween costume, only a few days late.

Calvin as elf baby

Due Date Comes...And Goes...

Tayva: Well, we held off posting in the hopes that we would have bebe pictures by now, but he is a stubborn child and wants to do things HIS way. Fine, baby, fine. But if you wait too long then we will EVICT you from your comfy little coccoon. Just keep that in mind...
In lieu of actual baby pictures, I will post some of the preggo pictures that Keeli (my sister) took. These last three weeks have been fairly uneventful, with a few exceptions. We got our new curtains up over the big living room window and the door, we bought a book telling us how to actually take care of an infant, and we got new phones (ones that actually work, yay!). All projects we were set on finishing before the baby came have been completed (except for binding Logan's books, which, sadly, must wait). Peter even got his homework done for Monday, in the hopes that baby was compassionately waiting for him to finish. But, alas, the seventeenth came and went, and baby did not put in an appearance.

We have tried everything that we can think of to convince him to come: bribery (ten dollars, ice cream, a pony), threats (of rent, eviction, poking), singing, reasoning, and even good, old begging. Yet Baby is impervious to them all. There is the possibility that he is gleefully fulfilling a form of the mother's curse (my mom's upon me), and waiting until the very last second to be born. You see, MY due date was October 17th as well--yet my birthday is October 31st. I can only hope and pray that my baby is kinder than I was. If he is not, however, he WILL be forced to wear the Jack O'Lantern onesie home from the hospital. That will be his punishment.

37 Weeks!! 3...ish to go?

Peter: Well we've made it to Full-Termsville. It's a great place to be. We don't have the jitters of worrying if he'll be a premie baby and so now we just have the jitters of "we hope he's a healthy baby boy with no problems." Of course Tayva's handling it like a trooper. It's not been til recently that she's okay if he comes now. I realize a lot of women are ready for the pregnancy to be over around 5 months because of the discomfort but Tayva's just now hit that phase. Of course Tayva's a tough chick and so wonderfuly patient which is one of the many things I love about her. For my part I'm scared to death. I saw those movies in our class: my wife is in immense pain for like 2 days and I'm helpless, all I can do is rub her back with a tennis ball and make sure not to give her more than 2 fingers to squeeze (so she can't break my hand).

Although Tayva assures me that there aren't a lot of women who die during child birth anymore that doesn't mean it doesn't scare me to death. Last week her family threw her a baby shower and her dad and I were talking and I mentioned giving her a blessing and he looked at me and said "sounds like you're the one who needs the blessing." Touche Ethan.

We've made a bet as to when we think he'll come. The stakes are whoever is within 5 days of their guess the other one has to plan the first post-baby date. I've guessed the 13th so if he comes between the 8th (my dad's birthday) and the 18th I win. Tayva guessed the 21st so if he comes between the 16th and the 26th she wins. If he comes in the 2 days that our guesses overlap then it's a paper-rock-scissors cage match. I really hope he comes between the 8th and the 16th because I've got a test the 7th and then midterms the 22nd-24th, so...

We're pretty sure that we're going to name him Calvin James Case. (most people think of Calvin and Hobbes when they hear the name Calvin although for some strange reason I think of President Calvin Coolidge whom up to this week when I wikipedia'd him I knew nothing about).

(the two Calvins)

Calvin was the middle name of my great-grandpa Childs a man I love and look up to. I always felt on my mission that my Great Grandpa Dean and Bob (Robert Calvin) were with me, comforting me and keeping me going. The first time I went into the Toronto Temple I felt them both very near. And then the middle name James was Tayva's Grandpa's name. Tayva's grandpa was a great man. He had his share of difficulties but he loved his family and was so proud of Tayva. He would tell people who Tayva introduced him to that Tayva taught herself to read at the age of 2, smartest little kid he knew. He was the one rooting for us to get married before we had talked about it. When we told them we were engaged he jumped off his chair (which wasn't easy for him at that time) and said "No foolin?!" A couple days before he passed away we went to help him get out of his seat. He was pretty out of it but Tayva's grandma said "Jim, Peter and Tayva are here. You remember Peter?" He said "Sure I do. Hell of a nice guy." That was the last thing he said to me. I loved him as well. So Calvin James Case....unless he doesn't look like a Calvin. Maybe he'll look like a Rutegar but what does a Rutegar look like?

(Like this?)

Tayva: I have to laugh whenever Peter stresses about me giving birth. Isn't that my job? But I guess I'm not really that worried (anxious, nervous, excited, yes, but not really worried, as such) so I guess one of us has to be stressing out.

We've been trying to get some final preparations done (without overdoing it, hopefully) for when our munchkin arrives: washing the bedding for the crib, doing a load of the newborn/0-3 months clothes along with receiving blankets, etc. I am really excited to dress him up in the cute little Halloween costume his Grandma Tina bought him (see little tiger of awesomeness picture), so he'd better come in time to wear it!

I'm starting to realize that there are a good number of things that are just not going to get done before he gets here, so I'm trying to pick and choose the most important/most do-able. This has basically come to mean finishing the front room curtains (and the bedroom ones, hopefully), finishing the books I'm binding for my Chinese-learning brother, making sure the house is ready for a new baby (nursery finished and CLEAN, changing table cleared off so as to be usable, diaper stockpile arranged in a useful order), and the hospital bag packed. So far the hospital bag contains a towel and two pairs of warm socks. And a couple spare toothbrushes. I'm not actually sure what the towel is supposed to be for, actually, since the hospital will definitely provide one. I just put it in because some list recommended it. (Maybe for sitting on in case my water breaks?)

(The inspiration for new curtains--yes, it is a pillowcase. Held up by magnets.)

My bookbinding station, complete with supplies, instruction manuals, paper for covers, and the three sections of the book-in-progress itself.

The nursery corner of the bedroom. Not shown: second-hand rocker-glider, hamper of baby clothes, Baby.

Baby is definitely putting on the pounds, as is reflected by his mama's exponentially (Well...maybe not. But it feels like it.) growing belly. As the poet Gaston once sang so eloquently: "Now I am roughly the size of a barge." Sadly, like so many others of the artistic bent, Gaston Lefrenchperson's life was cut tragically short when he lost his balance during a rooftop excursion in the rain, in the course of his attempt to, as it were, "Kill the Beast."

Authorities fear drinking may have been a factor.

You have all the pictures to corroborate the wild tales we have been telling you. I am now going to eat a slice of apple pie.

35 Weeks -- 5 Weeks Left

It's about time we got around to updating. We meant to last week, but with one thing or another we kept putting it off...and then it wasn't last week anymore, it was this week, and we realized that if we didn't just do it then it would never happen.

Tayva: We did have a couple fun things happen in the past two weeks. For one, my brother (the Marine) was in town, and it was a lot of fun to see him and spend time with him. For another, Peter very sneakily arranged a whole weekend getaway for us, and somehow--even with a month plus of planning--managed to keep it a secret right up until we pulled into the parking lot at Anniversary Inn. Highlights include: visiting the Church History museum (this was at the point that I still thought we were going to pick up a friend at the airport), staying in the Egyptian room (looked like the inside of a pyramid), and eating at The Roof restaurant overlooking the Salt Lake Temple.

As for baby news (what there is at this point!): He's gotten so big that at this point he doesn't get off as many kicks as he used to be able to, and now he has to communicate in what we call Squiggle. This means that, when Peter tells him stories about the history of the world (which sometimes takes odd and exciting turns that I don't remember from class...) he responds by saying, "Squiggle, squiggle, bump, nudge, stick-my-foot-out-as-far-as-it-will-go!" Roughly translated, this means, "Wow, that was an amazing story! But are you SURE it was all true?" (He's a smart one, our bebe.)

Other than that...we are officially pre-registered at the American Fork Hospital, which means that they'll let us have a real room when I go into labor instead of being condemned to wander the sterilized hallways forever. Peter managed to fill out ALL the paperwork while I was in the bathroom, so really I only have his word that he didn't sign the kid up for ten years of slave labor in exchange for lowered hospital bills. I guess we'll see...

The photos are: Tayva standing next to a model of the inner structure of the Tabernacle roof (that's the rounded silver roof you see next to the temple in the restaurant pic); Peter standing next to a portrait of J. Golden Kimball, the apostle who was notorious for his bad language; Peter and Tayva eating at The Roof, with the loverly view of the Salt Lake Temple; picture of the Salt Lake Temple. Then the shots from our hotel room, which was awesome. First, the giant statue looming in the bathroom area, then the mural over the bed, then an extra Egyptian woman statue, and then the view from the bedroom.

Peter: While I will gladly admit that it was awesome to surprise Tayva, it wasn't easy. Realizing that people love our company I had to make sure all the families were not planning anything for the weekend, then had to remind them 2 or 3 times that it was that weekend (I think Tina still forgot which weekend) and not to tell Tayva, then I had to plan a convincing story and finally the entire week leading up to my surprise I had to sneak items of Tayva's out to a bag that I had stashed in my trunk so that everything would be packed. Good Times. It should also be noted for those of you who are now thinking about going to Anniversary Inn, do yourself a favor and DON'T stay in the south temple location. We learned that about 8 months ago so now whenever we go there it's the 5th South Location and it's awesome.

Next, I am hoping to give my child a competitive advantage from the womb which is why I'm teaching him American History right now. And yes he squiggles and it's awesome. Tayva would say I may embellish American History...I think of it as improving. I mean American History was cool during the Revolution Era, then about the time Abe Lincoln came around, then not again til the great depression. For a country that's relatively young we're not too exciting so I choose to spruce up some dates and facts and characters. These are not lies, they are not even embellishments, but they are mere observations. For example the other day I taught my son the history of college football which runs thus

College Football was founded in 1796 when Columbus was sailing on the Mayflower towards America. It was named America after Hank Americana, an industrious pig farmer and early vaudevillian. Aboard this ship the crew and passengers would often go crazy and Columbus, being arrogant and French, wouldn't let people forget that they were going to a new world full of spices. One day Theodore Roosevelt got tired of his arrogance and took off his silly hat and spiked it on the deck (much like football players spike their touchdown footballs today). This angerered Columbus and he told Roosevelt that next noon day he would have a duel of sorts. The duel consisted of him having to run his hat past Roosevelt the entire length of the ship's deck (100 yards...the length of a current football field) and if he did then Roosevelt was to be tossed over board. If Roosevelt could "tackle" him Columbus would step overboard. Thus the next day Teddy Roosevelt (who was a notorious cheat) met Columbus on deck. When Columbus ran toward Roosevelt all of Roosevelts Pals: George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Paul Revere, and Keanu Reaves jumped in front of Columbus and tackled him. Thus the game of football was born.

So you see America and Football and interconnected. Kind of like how I hate school but I have to finish.

7 Weeks and Counting!

Tayva: I am suddenly feeling very pregnant this past week. It felt like I just looked down one day and was like, whoa! Where did that come from? But then the baby belly has been doing that all along... Very sneaky of it.
Friday was my last day at work, which was very sad for me. I will miss seeing all the friends I made there, even though a lot of the people I used to associate with work left a while ago (Candice and Elise), have been gone for a while (Becca and Jeff), or are leaving the same time as me (just Caitlin, but she's cool enough for two people). I will also miss envying Stacy's baby belly, which was always so much more impressive than mine. And I am sad that I won't be there to hear all about Krista's pregnancy. And, of course, I will miss seeing Ti'Ata (the greatest supervisor EVER) every day. She's been a very good friend to me, and a lot of fun.
From here on out (until baby begins taking up the free time) I have to find projects to keep myself occupied. This week: putting wedding pictures in an album (instead of a box). I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Peter: 7 weeks to go! Wow, it's gone really fast. Tayva's getting larger every day (but with that comes a beautiful radiance that makes her glow)and is excited. It's funny the whole time Tayva's been worried that she hasn't looked pregnant enough, that her tummy's not been big enough. I don't understand this girl mentality. I've been trying to get my belly to go down for 3 years now (3 years of intense trying at least more than that if you count it all up) and she's also coveted her friend at work's (who's also pregnant) pokey out belly button. That's weird! Studies show that more men lose an eye due to their wife's pregnant pokey belly button than any other cause.
I started school this last week. 3 classes (9 credit hours) of school just doesn't sound fun. Last fall I was so excited to go back to school that I read some of my text books before the semester started-I also got a 4.0 but this semester I am dragging my feet. We made a super cool fort today with all of our diaper boxes. It was awesome. Our baby's going to have the blessing of coming to a home where his parents are less mature than he is...but who wants to grow up?
Kinda scary to be the sole earner in the family now, but fortunately this last week I received a raise at work. I won't say the amount but it's the equivilent of a 9% annual raise. That should sorta help but we've been saving and paying debts and stuff so we're good. It's been amazing how much the Lord has blessed us, especially financially, the past few months. I am grateful for his constant concern on our behalf.

Tayva: In reference to envying Stacy's baby belly, I just have to say in my defense that if I have to feel this pregnant, I figure I should at least look like it! Otherwise it feels like I'm faking...
But life is good! Here are pictures of our diaper fort:

32 Weeks!!!

We were going to post every week, but we realized last Monday that we just don't have that much going on just yet. Here is a new preggo picture of Tayva, as well as a picture of Peter's addiction to the zoo game on Facebook. Some minor updates in our lives: we went to the real zoo last Saturday with our friends Ben and Laura and their three kids, which was a lot of fun--and a lot of walking for a pregnant Tayva! We recommend going to see all the very cute baby animals (This has nothing to do with our fascination with all things baby. Promise.), particularly the baby tamarinds and the baby meercats. And the baby giraffe. We would have loved to see the baby elephant too, but she was only a couple days old at the time, and not out in the exhibit yet. Tayva had to admit that she felt very relieved to not be giving birth to an elephant or a giraffe, since an elephant is pregnant for about two years (!) and the baby weighs about three hundred pounds at birth. The baby giraffe doesn't weigh quite as much, but is still about six feet tall at birth. That's enough to make any suffering pregnant mom feel like they're getting off easy.

We've been advised to do all the things that we can't do when the baby comes so we're trying to cram in as much as possible (which includes sleep)! Peter even got tickets to his and his dad's annual tradition of going to a BYU football game and is so excited for the upcoming season. As long as the baby doesn't come 5 weeks early they should be okay to go to the game!

Childbirth class was this last Friday/Saturday, and was a mixture of alarming, surprising, reassuring, and enlightening, with the occasional dash of cringe-worthy comments. But good, overall. It was an 8 hour course: 3 hours on Friday and 5 on Saturday. We were running behind to the Saturday's meeting so didn't eat breakfast, as a result Tayva almost passed out twice. Luckily we were at a birthing seminar so the teacher knew what to do. Peter's main complaints were that they didn't have any breaks during the 5 hour Saturday class, including no lunch break, we had to sit on the hard ground with only a blanket for padding, and nothing to lean against. Pregnant women sitting on the hard ground and only having their husbands to lean against isn't a great idea. Before Tayva got pregnant Peter said he wouldn't mind having 5 kids 2 years apart....as time has gone by the number of kids has decreased and the time between kids has grown. I think he's currently wanting 3 kids at most with 5 years in between. :)

But he's excited to be a daddy and we look forward to meeting our little guy in 56 days...or so!

30 Weeks Down 10...ish to go!

Before and After Tayva! You don't realize how much she's "grown" until you look at them side by side!

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30 Weeks Down 10...ish to go!

It's the craziest thing, in hindsight it feels like the pregnancy has gone fast, yet looking forward 10...ish weeks seems so long. Tayva's getting ready to quit her favorite job in a couple weeks. The upside is that she'll have lots of time on her hands...til the baby comes, the downside is that her car is dead so she'll be stranded. Cabin fever ah! (see Muppet Teasure Island). We've tried to be smart and prepare as much for the baby as possible. Starting in February when we found out we started stocking up on diapers, buying things here and there and saving up for the hospital bill so the doctor can't repo our tater tot :) Besides a few tiny purchases that we still have yet to make, we're pretty ready for the baby. Peter's looking forward to completing his last 3 semesters at school while having a newborn and working full-time and being in the elders quorum presidency which takes some time too. But he's being a good sport about it.

Baby's been pretty active lately, which is lots of fun, but as of yet Peter is still the only person to have felt him kick. This may be due to the fact that our little guy is either sneaky or has stage fright, because as soon as someone puts their hand on Tayva's belly he holds still for the next ten minutes. Peter sometimes tries to poke him in punishment, but the baby's currently got the upper hand--the other night while we were sleeping, the baby woke Peter up by kicking him squarely in the backside. Haha, revenge!

Tater Base

Tater Base? What does that mean? It's our celebrity couple name.

TA-yva pe-TER and BA-rnes ca-SE. So when you put our names together we become tater base...

Tayva and Peter met through Tayva's sister who Peter had known for years. When Tayva's sister Keeli brought her to their singles ward she introduced him to Tayva. Peter was assigned to be her home teacher and they became friends. At the end of 2006 Tayva told her new home teacher, Peter, that she was thinking about accepting a job at Barnes and Noble, the only downside is that she'd have to work on Sunday's. Peter told her about a job that was open at his work that would allow her to be free on Sundays and she applied. Soon they saw each other all the time at work and church. When she went to Europe in the summer of 2007 Peter and Tayva communicated all summer long. In June Tayva wrote Peter telling him her feelings and the rest...well you know. We got married February 19th of 2008.

We love being married and are very happy together. We laugh together, play, worship, love, and pray together. We both think we found the perfect person for each other. Tayva claims all the time that Peter is really patient with her and Peter loves that Tayva supports him, encourages him, and laughs with him

And...

Coming October 2009 we're welcoming a new addition to our little family. Our own little tater tot (hehehe)