Tucker Weston Beesley

Yesterday is now another Vial family historical day. Tucker Weston Beesley was born. Nathan by the way won the pool, guessing both the fact that it was a boy and the date. Interestingly, Kyle had used a Viet trick to determine what the sex was going to be. (The trick was tying a ring to a bit of the hair of the pregnant mother, and if when it is dangled over her hand it moves in a circle it is a boy if it moves side to side it is a girl. It said boy!) We didn't know until the moment, and Tucker had the honor of announcing, but I am getting ahead of the story.

It has been interesting weather here. Hot for a couple of days and then very cool. A few days ago on the full moon, I too had a feeling this was going to be a boy.



On Sunday, Alicia and Tucker took some pictures in the back yard at Rainbow. That is when we were doing the pool guesses.




Everyone thought that with this belly this was going to be one huge baby. Stay tuned for the stats however, I don't want to get ahead of myself again.

Wednesday evening we had a function for Congressional candidate Rob Cornilles that Chelle, Paula and I went to. Afterward, we went to Pho Van and met Tucker and Alicia there. Here due date was actually that day, but nothing fancy had been happening, so there was no inkling. About 11:40 Paula's phone rang and Alicia's water had broken. Tucker, Alicia and Chelle who has been staying with them headed for the hospital as did we, and we arrived at the same time at approximately midnight. Here is where the story really starts.


Older sister Chelle by the way has been here since last Wednesday. She absolutely did not want to miss this event (she hates missing any parties anyway, but this one particularly) and yet managed to arrange at least one party a day for various family members!!! But when we got to the hospital, it was all business as she helped Alicia get ready for the laboring event.

Alicia started laboring immediately and was really feeling it about 2 minutes apart from midnight on.


Tucker was a rock star from the beginning as well. Helping Alicia was really a team effort, and it was really fun to be a part of it.


Nurse Coleen was great. She was there at the beginning and at the end (2 shifts!). She was great about encouraging Alicia to get up and move around and try to find a comfortable place.


The first 5 or 6 hours were tough, but there was a lot of excitement because of how hard Alicia was working. We all believed, including the Doctor and Nurses that she was really making progress. She had to be given the consistency of the contractions and her effort!


By about 6 in the morning however there was the first signs that things were not working just the way we had all hoped. She still was not dilated past 3 cm, and no matter how hard she worked, it wasn't progressing. The team was really working on this, but a new plan had to be devised.


The couple decided that maybe the tub was a good idea. I of course did not take pictures of that event, but they worked there for 3 hours. Unfortunately......


Alicia remained a true trooper, and with encouragement from Chelle, Tucker, Paula etc., she climbed back in bed to try some more.


But by noon, after laboring for 12 plus hours it was clear that it just wasn't going to happen this way. The couple made a very difficult decision to abandon the "birth plan" that had the entire event happening without any drugs, and try an Epidural. This is an injection into the lower back that helps the mother continue to have contractions without as much pain, and has become a great tool. It took another 3 hours to get it all set up, but by mid afternoon, things had really changed.


For the first time in 15 hours, Alicia was able to sleep, and did so for the next several hours while the contractions continued, and with the help of another drug, the naturally occurring Pitocin (what the brain makes to create contractions) added to the IV drip they even got stronger, and started to get the job done.

I am going to take a detour here to get the mystery critter on for the grandchildren. Someday perhaps Weston will be participating in trying to win the $10 prize by being the first one to identify the animal or bird on Grandpa's blog. Here is this blogs's mystery critter.


This picture was taken at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon in early May of this year. It is from the same family as the American Kestral.

As an aside, the pictures taken for the Weston labor and birth event we all done with the D3, with the Tokina ATX PRO 28-70 2.6 - 2.8. No flash was used, and because it was a pretty dark room, I pushed the ISO up to 1600. So let's get back to it!

At about 6 pm, the team really swung into action. Doc Strauss, shift nurse Sherrie, and the family prepped the special bed and things were ready to go?


And the PUSH was on!


But alas, after about 40 minutes of pushing every few minutes, the Doc decided that it just wasn't time, put the bed back together and told Alicia to rest. This guy was really cool, seemed to know just what Alicia was feeling, and really listened to Tucker and Alicia. So it was back to a bit of a wait.


But about an hour later, he was back and the team was cranked up this time.


Between pushes this time, the Doc had them put oxygen on Alicia, and it was amazing how she was really ready each time. She actually said that the pushing was exciting as she felt she was really making a difference. By the way, I really appreciate the fact that my girls are willing to let me photograph these events. It gives me a chance to be there for the most amazing thing in the world. I took a lot of pictures of the push stage and the actual arrival of the baby, but in the interest of keeping this a true family blog have decided not to include the next phase.


Suffice it to say that it was tense, exciting and amazing.


The supporters were there in force!


Particularly the "sistas"!


When the little guy finally emerged, Tucker announced the sex, and then cut the cord.


While Alicia just really, clearly felt the relief of a healthy birth.



They immediately placed him on Alica's cheerfully sobbing chest. The spirit in the room was incredible!




Nurse Coleen, who had arrived on her shift in time for the birth was great about letting Tucker and Alicia have all the time with the baby that they could want.


And soon it was apparent that this was a family in every sense of the word.




Kick butt trial lawyer Alicia took to motherhood like she had been doing it for her whole life. Again, I have edited for taste, but the little guy got the cholosterum immediately, portending a long and healthy life!!



It was then time for the rest of us to meet the little guy, who really seemed to like the whole crowd.


Grandma and Grandpa were counting 28 as they held this newest member of the rapidly growing crowd.


Just looking at Grandma, he seemed to know that eating was the next thing on the agenda!


All the wait and the long trip out from Vermont really made this moment worth it for Aunt Chelle


Aunt Caitlin, who had been saying 5 years was the horizon for babies was busy revising her time line. Nate wasn't there however so we will see!!



The chores started almost immediately, but Tucker didn't hesitate. He had to be incredibly tired, but couldn't get enough of tending to the little guy.


Honestly, Tucker will be an amazing dad. No fear, and a real desire to know and preform all of the functions he can possible help with.

So I know you have been waiting for the stats. Born Sept. 2, 2010 (90210!), at about 8 pm, 7 lbs. 13 oz. 20 and 3/4 inches long. Tucker Weston Beesley!!!!!!!!


I have never seen Alicia happier. This is what life is really all about.


Ten toes. I counted. Perfect!

A Week of Projects

A lot going on here in Oregon with Nic and his family getting ready to move into the Lodge (now renamed the Tree House by Kennedy), and progress on the Farm House. In addition, Mike (see last post) has been working on the last panel for the Farm House deck railing. We even have irrigation going down around the pool and behind the Farm House. Pretty exciting stuff! Just hope we don't run out of money. I keep thinking of the scripture that makes fun of the guy who doesn't count the cost before he starts building his house.


Terry, our very multi talented home teacher and now full time project manager is helping us to keep this project on task. He seems to know how to do just about any job on the site. Nate and I and on Friday Kevin all worked with him on the rock for the front of the house.


Nate was actually pretty fast at applying the rock, and even Terry was surprised how much we got done.


Mike has been dreaming about and working on the last panel to fill out the railing on the deck for the last several weeks. It is a very meaningful piece, not yet finished, but it will be really descriptive of the family. I will save the meaning for when it is done. But it has been fun to hear him describe the story he has been wanting to tell.






Even though it is not yet finished, he brought it up to install before the final inserts are made. I am really excited about how it is going to help us to tell the story of the house and the family.


Garth Jasperson has been working around the place for the last couple of months, and with Nate really has the place looking nice. He rototilled the hillside last week, and the irrigation is starting to go in now.


Meanwhile across the yard, the Tree House is getting a makeover in anticipation of yet another Vial family moving in.


But first, the mystery critter for this post is another bird. This was taken just up the road from the Rainbow house while I was on my morning walk. The clue for this one is the dead skunk lying in the road nearby.


But let's cut back to the Tree House and the preparations being made. The weather has been great, so many of the projects are taking place in the yard outside, like the painting of the twins new bunk beds.


Hard to tell which had more paint the kids or the beds. By the way the new color is the red.





Actually, although I don't have a picture of it, they get this (the idea that you get more on you than on the project you are working on) from their dad, and their Grandma Paula. But Nic really did do a great job of putting new tile in the laundry room and bathroom downstairs.


You know what though, Paula really is looking awfully hot these days. In fact, her pants are starting to fall off!!!!!!

Nathaniel and Mike

Down the street lives Mike Welch. I have talked about him before, as the artist responsible for the wood panels in our Rainbow yard. See the blog posts Summer Fun in August 2009, and more recently, Mother's Day and Surrounds, June 2010. He has done yet another project for us, this time for the Farm House Inn.


In case you haven't been following the progress on the Farm House, we have decided to do all the deck railings with tempered glass, but we were anxious to have some of Mike's art in the home, and using it as part of the deck railing seemed like a natural thing to do. The first panel as you enter the deck will be a full panel, but in the meantime, Mike has done a small panel to fill a space in the first part of the second bay.


This panel is a Red Tail Hawk. The interior side of the panel is the male, and the exterior side is the female. There is a very subtle difference. Look carefully at the light spot on the breast. In the first picture (male) there is a slight marking. Look at the next photo, (the female) and you won't see the mark on the breast.


Our friend and documentary film maker Nathaniel Hansen (www.nathanielhansen.com) has been travelling cross country filming in his latest project on Elderly Americans. He took the time to interview Mike, and it was very interesting.




I don't want to upstage Nathaniel's production, but it was amazing to hear of this Viet Nam vet, who had had a serious stroke just a few years ago, and who has reinvented himself as a story teller through his art. He said that the most important part of the stories is that it helps us all realize that we are essentially the same. Stories tell us all that our failures are just as important as our successes in learning the lessons we need to in this life.

Stay tuned. This ought to be a great documentary.

Here is the mystery critter. This post is the clue!

Paula's Family Project

A number of years ago when we were winding down in showing cattle, Paula and Nic came up with the idea of selling Hawaiian Shave Ice at the county fair. We had always enjoyed Matsumoto's on the North Shore in Hawaii, and Nic sourced the machines that would shave the ice just like they do in Hawaii. Thus was born Tutu's. It is a great place for teenagers to learn how to work and how to handle money. Here was this years crew. Caitlin was in charge of putting this together.


Our friend James tried a new product this year, the Hula Cookie.


Tucker took a little gas over the weird 'stach, but was a great sport!


Grandma was calm as a cucumber!


Kennedy was a real trooper, and with Vivian and Lyann really provided key help.


Next door to the booth was the kid tractor pull. The twinkies and CC were awesome.



There were usually about a hundred kids hanging around, and the only way to keep them under control was to tell them that no shave ice unless they sat still. Usually worked for about 5 minutes.



Another really fun year at the fair!