It's a Boy!

It's been approximately one hour since the newest member of the DeShazer family came into the world. Bryce Russell DeShazer was born at 4:15 am this morning. Heather was AMAZING!
Here's how our memorable night began.

6:15 pm: Heather's craving spicy food. Apparently this helps encourage contractions. She's been dilated 50% for two days now, and we haven't successfully induced her pregnancy up to this point. Denise has been over all day helping clean the house and re-arrange pictures and make our house look like the Taj Mahal on a budget. The place looks great. Off to Lowe's we go to get a stud finder to hang a mirror in our living room.

6:30 pm: Mmmm . . . Taco Salad at Qdoba. I know it's a Chipotle rip-off, but if Chipotle sold something other than just enormous burritos, I would frequent that joint more often. Heather buys a burrito the size of my Toyota with habanero pepper sauce on it. We pick up one for Denise as well, that was so large, they had to double wrap it. I go out to my car and pick up a dolly to tow these things in. I hope the suspension on my car can handle the extra weight. And, how ironic I'm the only guy and the one ordering the salad. As we get into the car, my blackberry belt clip breaks. This is the third one that has broken on me since I got it. Ugh.

7:30 pm: The mirror is hung in the living room and we've eaten our dinner. Half of the two burritos are still not eaten. They break the shelves in the fridge as we put them in there. Okay enough big burrito jokes for one evening.

8:00 pm: Just on a hunch, Caleb goes to Grandma's (Denise) house while we try to initiate the birthing process. Heather and I go on a walk alone for the first time in years around our housing development. No new contractions quite yet. Heather listens to my ramblings about work, business and just being a complete nerd.

9:45 pm: We start getting ready for bed, hoping the contractions will start sometime early in the morning. Heather is on the phone with Annie, and then it happens. Contractions begin. We grab our stuff and jump into the car. I wanted to use my blackberry to send text messages, but I can't remember where I put it in the car! Oh well, there are more important things to worry about. Heather is soothed to the sounds of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden and Radiohead on XM Radio as we head up to Wheat Ridge.

10:15 pm: Heather and I are frantically calling everyone to tell them we're on our way to the hospital. This is the one time I'm hoping I get pulled over by a police officer. I have always wanted a wife in labor in the driver seat to get out of a speeding ticket and get a free police escort down I-70. No such luck.

10:45 pm: We arrive at Lutheran Medical Center. I drop Heather off at the front door and leave. Just kidding! What kind of father and husband would I be if I did that? I actually did drop her off though. I had to park the car and bring our bags of toiletries, cameras, my laptop, and everything else we needed for the delivery. I have everything in my arms and begin the 1/2 mile journey from our parking spot to the delivery room. It was like walking in the casinos in vegas to go to a convention, only to find you literally have to walk halfway across the the world through the casino floor to get to the convention hall.

11:15 pm: I finally arrive to the delivery room. Heather is doing well. She's dilated 7 centimeters and still no broken water. She's comfortable and handling these contractions really well. The nurses are surprised she hasn't used any painkillers. Then, as I am getting stuff organized, I hear, "Honey, did you grab the toiletry bag?" D'oh! I didn't. I couldn't find it in the car. However, I turn around and make the incredible journey to the car to get that bag. The journey almost required me to camp out halfway into the parking lot, but it was late already and Heather needed her stuff, so I sucked it up and journeyed into the night.

11:30 pm: I return with the toiletry bag and my missing blackberry that fell in the back seat of the car. Happy day! We are anxiously awaiting Heather's water to break. I amuse myself with clips from Saturday Night Live on my laptop while Heather and Denise chat.

12:00 am: I've been up since 6 am this morning, so I drift off to sleep. I have a pillow that I rest my head on.

1:00 am: I wake up with my head leaned over to the left all the way. No new progress yet, but man is my neck sore!

3:00 am: I wake up with my head leaned over to the right all the way. I seriously can't move my head for at least 15 seconds. I finally lift it up. Heather gets checked by the nurses. She's fully dilated but her water hasn't broken yet. We decide to expidite the process. We walk around the floor of the hospital. Heather gets a contraction and uses a side rail to hold onto while she squats. We're hoping for a good push here.

3:45 am: She's tired of this whole water not breaking business. She calls the nurse who comes in and get's the job done. Immediately some more intense contractions kick in. She goes almost immediately from a 7 to a 10 and she feels the urge to push. Doctor Besch to the rescue!

4:15 am: After three really brief yet solid pushes, We have ourselves a baby. She did it without the use of a single drug. No epidural, no topical anisthetic and no novacaine shots. Bryce has a HUGE head and enormous shoulders, and he isn't breathing. The umbilical cord was tight around his neck. I cut the cord and the nurses immediately give the boy oxygen. He starts to make a little noise within a few seconds. Within a few minutes he begins breathing on his own. His face is bruised and battered. They weigh him on a scale. 9 pounds even. 9 pounds! almost a pound bigger than his big brother was.

5:00 am: I meet with the doctors as they check his glucose levels. They put a dome over his head filled with oxygen to help him breath better. He starts to wimper and really cry for the first time! Then he starts to pull off the dome from his head. Did I mention that this dome is weighted so he can't move it? This is no ordinary child however. This is a 45 minute old NFL linebacker! I hold the dome over his head while the doctors prick his heel to test his glucose levels. Most baby's cry when their heel is pricked, not my junior Dick Butkus! I could almost hear him say to the nurse, "I had a cord wrapped around my neck, and a bruised face from being born, do you think I would cry over a pricked heel?!" I imagined him already mercilessly beating up his 3 year-old brother when we bring him home.

5:15 am: I tell Heather and Denise of the great news. I begin sending out text messages to all my friends and family. I'm so wired I can't sleep anymore. Heather on the other hand looks exhausted.

All in all, it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. When that child comes into the world, you can't help but get a little teary eyed, and feel incredibly grateful. My wife is the most amazing woman in the world. I am so proud of her. No meds, and not even a peep when she pushed. The nurses were shocked. Heather used her hypno birthing techniques and she flourished. For those expectant mother's out there, I highly recommend this method. Anyway, it's nearly breakfast time, and I'm tired. More to come.

Happy Belated Father's Day!

Okay, so this was a crazy weekend. It was one of those where you don't really feel like you were able to relax at all. It was great however. I can't complain.

Friday was an insane day. I've been contracting for a Natural Gas company for the last 12 months, and Friday we had to move about 30 users' computers into new cubicles. The last two times we did this, we weren't able to start until after 2pm, making for a long day that would end late Friday night, and required us to come in on the weekend. Fortunately, we were able to start earlier, and we were finally done by 6 pm. My day was far from over, however.

I was doing a PA gig for a WFG event the next day. As a result I had to set up the night before and make sure everything was working. But before that I needed equipment. I drove home, grabbed my gear, put it in the car, drove to Arvada, picked up my Dad's speakers, drove to Ben's house, grabbed some long speaker cable, and drove to the Hotel in Westminster. I got there around 8:15. I set the equipment up successfully and got back to Ben and Annie's house around 10:15. I ate dinner finally and hung out until about midnight.

Heather, Caleb and I got home around 12:45 and I went to sleep. 5 hours later, I was up and on my way back to the hotel for the event at 6:45. Things went very smoothly and it was a great deal of fun. I ended up needing only my dad's speakers, which worked very well. There was a group of people in the next conference room that complained to us numerous times about the noise we were generating. It was amusing. The hotel had to move them to a different location in the hotel after 2 hours of whining to us.

We wrapped up right at 4 pm. I was out of there by 4:15, which was a record for me cleaning up after a gig. I drove to the Harris' again, and then over to my parents' to drop off all the stuff I borrowed.

Heather had a grand old time at her baby shower over the weekend at Maria Adams' house. She received several items that register high on the cuteness scale. Her due date is a whole 8 days away. I can't believe how fast time goes by during a pregnancy. I am sure she feels differently.

Father's Day was pretty cool, literally. Russ and I watched the US Open this weekend while I froze under an A/C vent blowing directly on me. It was weird because it was in the 90's outside during this time. Gift's were fantastic. Heather spent a little cash and bought me an iPod Nano! Holy crap! I was not expecting that! It was nice. I was watching "The Simpsons" on it it within minutes. It was quite nice really.

It was fun, it was busy, and I was tired. But it was a good weekend.

An update for you all!

With someone who is familiar with my family's situation, they know about the absolutely hectic couple of months the DeShazer family has been working through for the last several weeks. So with that in mind, let me begin.

May was the month that my brother Geoff would be getting married. It was moved up from August originally as scheduling and impatience no doubt caught up to him and his fiance Jessie. Things were going according to plan when my Dad started getting sick. To sum it up, my father was diagnosed with type 2 Leukemia. Most people have enough stress in their lives dealing with the preparations for a wedding, but to have your spouse in the ICU with Leukemia as well has to be a very difficult situation for my mother to be in. Oh did I mention she is a Relief Society President in her ward? So naturally, she was pulled in all sorts of directions. We all pitched in in as many ways as possible. I contributed a DVD of slideshows I made on my new Macbook laptop. Andrea, Dylan and Holly helped in many ways as well.

The wedding was a lot of fun. I have never in my life seen Geoff so happy. Jessie is a great match for him, as I am sure he is for her as well. Jessie has a wonderful family and we are excited to have her as a part of the family. The wedding went off smoothly. I was a witness for the ceremony and signed off on the marriage certificate. I didn't think I would be doing that for at least another 20 years. For lunch, Papa treated everyone to Olive Garden. I entertained the crowd by sticking 4-5" long tooth picks in my mouth and nose.

Friends of Geoff that came were Marie Giles and Andy Brown. It was great seeing such good friends. It had been 2 1/2 years since I saw Marie and at least a year since I saw Andy. Due to the small numbers at the sealing, it was good to have them able to attend.

The reception went smoothly for the most part. It was at Papa's house. About 20 minutes before the reception, my mom could not find her shoes as she was getting ready. I frantically searched for them. Unfortunately they didn't turn up until I looked in her van one more time. I lifted up one of the seats that was put down to allow people to get out of the back seat. I found them and couldn't find her anywhere. Apparently she went to Kohl's to get a different pair and get Geoff another tie, because he left his at home. So I frantically drove over there in Dylan's new Nissan Sentra he purchased earlier that week. I got there and ran laps around the store in my suit. After about 6 trips and 10 minutes, I found mom walking out of the store. I told her and she was glad.

At the reception the Harris's came to help. Annie helped with food serving while Ben manned the background music. Dad's band sang (minus Dad of course). I even joined them on "Lonesome Road." It's a rare moment when you see me up there singing, but I knew the bass part and Dad wasn't there to sing it so I jumped in.

Even though Dad wasn't there and as difficult as that was, the wedding went very well. It was a great memory that I won't soon forget.

Now as for my immediate family, Heather is expecting baby #2 in 2 weeks. It's amazing how fast 9 months goes by. She's at that stage where 2 weeks can't come soon enough. She is quite uncomfortable most of the time. We got the bassinet set up and pulled out all of the baby clothes. Heather suspects he's going to be bigger than Caleb. For the record our baby's name will be Bryce Russell DeShazer. Although we had some challenges with names on this one, it wasn't like with Caleb. We've been happy with this name for over a month now, so it appears that won't be changing. Heather said she will have the baby after her baby shower this Saturday. Let's see if that happens! :)

Allie's married, and I'm worn out from a busy weekend in Utah

It's Monday, and I somehow feel like I didn't get a 3 day weekend, but my schedule says differently. It's because most of it was spent out of state. Allie, my sister-in-law, was married over the weekend in the Salt Lake Temple. Before I get into more details about that, the actual weekend started 2 days before.

I took the Light Rail from 9 Mile Station on Thursday, so Heather could pick me up directly from work and not have to worry about my car getting broken into at the light rail station while we were gone (as if there was anything left in there to begin with). My day at work went pretty smooth, and I waited for Heather late that afternoon to begin our journey.

Caleb slept for the first couple of hours on our trip. I was riding shotgun until we got to Glenwood Springs. Heather's 7 months pregnant and was feeling hot the entire trip. As we were driving through the mountains of Vail, CO and the temperature dipped into the low 30s, I was starting to get chilly while Heather had the air blowing, so I turned on the heater ever so slightly. Apparently, slightly was too much, because Heather was too hot, and we went back and forth on the temperature for a good 30 minutes. It was amusing. I couldn't imagine being in her shoes and feeling like that all the time.

I took over on the trip at Glenwood Springs. We stopped at Grizzly Creek, home of many whitewater rafting trips as a teenager on the Colorado River. Caleb was infatuated with a large diesel train across the river rolling by. He's so cute when he wakes up from naps nowadays. Just as pleasant as ever.

Stopped by in Grand Junction for dinner. Wendy's was the destination. We drove down Horizon Drive to see if there was any park we could sit in. We found a local church that had a mowed lawn. The wind was really cold and we didn't realize that until we got out of the car and started freezing.

Caleb was watching movies and we got through both Toy Story Movies in this trip. We got into Provo around 12 am. Russ and Denise had been there all week, Denise working on pre-wedding finishing touches and Russ laboring to finish the house Joce, Scott, and Brett bought with them back in February. The carpet and hardwood floors were in place in the basement as the bathrooms were closer to be complete. What a long day. It's good to be in bed!

Friday I spent the majority of the day with Geoff. I finally got to meet his fiancee Jessie. She's awesome! I am so excited to get to know her over the next several years. I honestly have never seen Geoff in love like this. It's a great thing when you can find the right person. Geoff and I hung out the University Mall that morning. I saw the infamous Randy Voss at the mall and did my best to avoid him. Fortunately I was successful, but of all places you would run into the guy. He happened to be Utah the same weekend I was!

I also took the time to visit an Apple Computer store called Simply Mac. I found out they have a store in Colorado Springs. It looks like I'll be making a visit down there this week some time. I am in desperate need to replace this old Sony Lappy that I've been lugging around for a couple years.

Heather, Russ, Scott, Joce, and myself hustled to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork. We got there 10 minutes before the beginning of the session. Denise was this close to having a heart attack. The traffic on I-15 was incredibly slow as people had to stop and see why highway patrol officers were pulling people over. Gotta love curiosity slowdown!

The session went well and we found ourselves on the end of our first full day. Allie stayed with us in the house the night before. We all got up early that morning to drop Caleb off at Danielle's house and then back up the freeway to SLC for the wedding breakfast. We got to see the majority of the McNeill and Gibb families. Allie and Heather's grandfather Boyd Gibb and his wife Joann were able to make it as well. The sealing was at 2:20 so after the breakfast we spent some time and Chris and Dave Bradford's beautiful house in East Salt Lake.

We got back in time for the sealing and then it was pictures and we were on our way back to Spanish Fork for the second time that day to pick up Caleb. Apparently, he did a couple of numbers in his pants while Danielle was watching him. She took it in stride, and was really good about watching him. We greatly appreciated it.

Allie's reception went very smoothly. Caleb, Scott and I spent the majority of the evening hanging out as Joce and Heather stood in line for the reception. Caleb was kind of grouchy until he got tons of punch and wedding cake in his system. I visited with nearly every member of Heather's extended family, in spite of Caleb wanting to run all over the Reception house. Allie and Jonathan got a ride on a horse and buggy, and Heather, Caleb and I did as well. We left around 10 that night and went to bed around 1 am.

Sunday morning rolled around, and we got our stuff together and headed out that morning around 11. Heather and I had some nice conversations as Caleb slept through most of the drive to Grand Junction. Then it was 3 hours of movies until he fell asleep again. He is really good on these long drives. I feel bad for the guy sometimes because he's strapped in there with nothing to do.

Overall we had a great trip. I'm very happy for Allie and that she found the love of her life in Jonathan. He's a great complement to her in terms of their personalities and is an honorable person. See you soon for the next blog post.

To the Guy or Guys that stole my stereo at the Park and Ride Yesterday

You know who you are. Sometime yesterday afternoon, while I was toiling away making an honest living for my family in Downtown Denver, there you were, outside my 1990 Toyota Corolla at the I-25 and Broadway Park and Ride with a slim jim, anxiously breaking into my car for a $50 stereo from Wal-Mart.

As a victim of your selfish and heartless act, I am grateful for a couple of things. You didn't break any windows to get into my car, nor did you smash my dashboard into a plastic crater and you left the wiring harnesses intact, unlike the last two guys that broke into my car in years past. Your skill at theft shows me you must do this for a living, and have been for a long time.

I don't understand why you stole my totally non-descript stereo, so cheap in fact, that I had to super glue the polished front on when 95 degree summer days melted the glue three years ago. This stereo is so cheap, that it doesn't continue where the CD left off when I turn the car back on. Man, you are a sucker! There are 50 used Kenwood stereos on this website that do more that for only $20! I couldn't wait to replace that thing!

However, despite your skill, I'm surprised you didn't take my iPod FM transmitter, I really appreciate that. Those things are over-priced, and that was invaluable to me, considering I don't really listen to CD's anymore. I also thank you for not stealing my 3 year old son's car seat and stroller in the back seat and trunk respectively, which are much more valuable than that stereo you stole. If you were a father, you would have known that. My guess is you either (a) don't have kids, or (b) have slept with so many women that children bearing your drug ridden and STD infested DNA are living all over the metro area and you have no idea they exist.

Lastly, I want to thank you for making this a defining moment in my life. In 20 years, I will be telling this story to thousands of people, whose lives I have been able to lift and inspire, while you will be rotting in jail for armed robbery, drug possession, and/or sexual assault. Or you may be lucky and be dead altogether. It's a shame your life is in such disarray that my stereo was important enough to steal from my car. There were Audi's BMW's and Mercedes-Benz's in that parking lot with lug nuts worth more than the car I drive everyday. But you chose my car. I expect to see that Lennox Sound stereo posted on Craig's List, complete with my wife's Josh Groban CD inside, and my Skull Candy headphones that I got as a Christmas present in December. I will be eagerly awaiting your post!

YouTube Playlist of every cool song from High School (1993-1997)

For your viewing pleasure, I have compiled a list of exceptionally cool music videos and songs from when I was in high school and created a YouTube playlist of them. Enjoy!

President Hinckley Passes Away at 97

President Hinckley passed away in his home last night at 97 due to causes incident with age. The details of his funeral have not been released yet. This is my opportunity however, to share a thought or two about this wonderful human being.

If there was anyone who was a great example of working hard and giving it all he had to the very end it was him. A friend told me not too long ago about a speech he heard him give to a group of BYU monetary contributors. He said, "My tank is running on empty, but I have the pedal pushed to the floor until the very end."

Thinking of his loss saddens me in a way. For the members of the church from my generation he was very much like David O. McKay to my parent's generation. He was in the First Presidency for 26 years, and literally was the only one healthy enough to attend general conference for many years. He was a man we were proud of as a church, who stood up and defended our church, and welcomed any and all questions from the outside media. During his time, our church's temples doubled in population, and he traveled more than any other leader throughout the world to be with the saints in far reaching places such as Zimbabwe, The Phillipines, and Hong Kong. To the 13 million church members who knew this wonderful human being, he was a friend to all.

I had the privilege of hearing him speak in person twice. First was a trip he made to Denver while in High School during my senior year. He taught us the importance and value of being great in all we do. He later would share the same talk to the entire church 4 years later in a CES fireside. The second time I heard him speak was at the University of Denver. It was the first time I had seen him in a secular situation. It was great because we were able to applaud him during his speech, something we don't do during church meetings. He was also interviewed by one of the deans at DU. He was a kind, funny, and sweet man.

All in all, I am happy for him. He was married to his wife for nearly 70 years when she passed away in 2004. I am sure the celebration must be sweet as he is reunited on the other side with family, friends, and other people he spent his life serving. For that alone, I am so excited.

That being said, I also look forward to Thomas S. Monson's opportunity to serve as President. He was a dear close friend of President Hinckley and will undoubtedly continue the legacy that was forged by previous Church Presidents.

Here's a great video I found on YouTube that is sure to bring tears to your eyes.