Thursday, August 25, 2011

Can it be??

My silly, spunky little Layla is almost 4?!

It's true.
This next week she'll be a year away from Kindergarten!
It's crazy.
This year she has some pretty specific Birthday wishes:

- To have a Ballerina cake with pink on the outside and red on the inside.
- To own a big girl bike, preferably with Barbie on it.
- And to own a Belle Ballerina dress (that's what she wishes to be for Halloween too)
Seems reasonable enough...

Although her great birthday ideas have changed from week to week,
I think this ballerina theme will finally stick.
Thank goodness.
I've heard everything from:

- A puppy cake, only the head. That looks just like her puppy, Heart.
- A Fresh Beat Band cake with her and Kiki dancing on top.
- Hello Kitty cake dressed as a ninja? That was a weird one.
I'm glad she settled on a regular ol' ballerina cake... with red inside.

She started Preschool this week too.
She loves it, as do I.
It's right in our neighborhood AND during Gwen's nap,
so that means if I'm lucky, I get a nap too!
She's already impressed her teacher by knowing how to write her name (quite neatly too)
We're so proud of her.
Couldn't imagine life without a our spy kid/strawberry shortcake/ninja/ballerina girl.
She's one of a kind.

First time to church

And this is how she felt about it...

Baby and I only went to Sacrament meeting, where she slept most of the time.
Crying then followed
and by crying, I mean screaming.
Non stop.

(Maggie is so strong. She's always lifting her head and shoulders. Buff girl!)

All 3 of our girls have worn this dress on their first church visit.
I love it.


Sundays do tend to wear a person out.
Can't wait till the day when I have 3 full heads of hair to style.
That'll take all morning!

We sure do love our almost ONE month old!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Love them...



And I love how they love each other.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sisters in love





How I manage...

A lot of people have asked me how I manage with 2 littles and a newborn.
Well, it's only been 2 weeks, so I'm not really sure.
But I DO know that these 2 things have made a WORLD of a difference for me.
They have made my life much easier during this crazy time.

This heavenly swing that saves my life multiple times each day.
It is like my second pair of arms, when baby just wants to be cradled and rocked.
BEST BABY PURCHASE
hands down.


Slings are amazing things.
I have 2.
My favorite is in the wash, but this one is real cute.
Once again, I feel like it gives me extra arms to get things done.
And she loves going along for the ride.

Cute!


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The biggest sister







2 weeks










Grandma Colleen


We were so thrilled that Grandma and Breanna were able to make a quick trip up to see us, while visiting Sharsti in Utah. We love her so much and are so thankful for all the wonderful things she's done for us over the years. I know that Maggie will love her just as much as we all do! Thanks for the visit!

A lazy morning

A bunch of pictures of sweet laziness...













I love my family.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Maggie's Story

(it's a long post folks... feel free to skip to the cute picture at the end at any time.)

Okay, I've been meaning to document the WHOLE story somewhere and I haven't quite finished it all in my journal (writing takes a lot longer than typing!).
My sister in law Sharsti, just posted hers, and I figured since her baby was born a week later than mine, it's about time.

Alright...
It was a dark, stormy night...
No, it wasn't really.

But it was late at night on the 26th that I started noticing my contractions were picking up in intensity. I contract basically throughout my entire pregnancy, so I was really looking for a change, before getting all excited. I had just barely made it to 37 weeks and was thrilled that this baby could make her arrival at any moment, and it seemed like the time had come! It was about 11pm then, so I decided to hang out a while before heading up to the hospital, just to make sure it was real. 2 hours later I knew that they weren't easing up and it was time!

I told Tanner that I was going alone (he was in a deep sleep) and that I'd call him once things were progressing enough. I hopped into the van, carefully, and called the Labor and Delivery department. As I got to the hospital I was met by the wicked witch of Rexburg, who treated me with such disrespect and unkindness. She told me that I parked in the wrong spot (who cares, I'm in labor!) and that with this being my 3rd baby, I better know my body well enough as to if I was in REAL labor or not. SCARY! I wanted to cry right away, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe her dog died that day or she stubbed all of her toes on her right foot?
She wheeled me to my room, I got dressed, and she came back to ask me the bajillion questions they ask each time you visit. During a really strong contraction she asked if I had ever had a mammogram. I huffed a, "yes.... wait no." And boy did that set her off.
"Do you even KNOW what a mammogram is????"
Ummm yes, and please don't yell at me... I'm kinda in labor here.

ANYWAY....

The questions finally end and she checks me.
(okay, a little background is required here for you to understand my FULL frustration. I had been sitting at a 3-3 and half for the last 2 weeks. I had been checked by my doctor and 2 other nurses. I was pretty sure that I'd at least be at a 4 by this time...)

"You're at a 2. And I don't know WHO checked you before, but they're wrong!"
I may or may not have wanted to punch her... just a little bit.

So we decided it'd be best to wait there, considering my contractions which were clearly there, and were picking up in intensity. It would have been such a bummer to be sent home and then to head right back, so I was pleased (as pleased as I could be) with the idea of waiting there. I walked around, bounced, bathed, walked some more. Tanner finally showed up too, I'm guessing he figured I wasn't coming home anytime soon, but also knew that I needed better support than a witchy nurse.

2 hours later she checks again...
"Okay, now you're at a 2 and half."

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

But, since I had made SOME progress, they weren't sending me home yet!
So, what do I do??
Walk, rock, walk, lie down, and walk some more.

The nurse tells us that the doc will be in at 7am and we could wait to see him then. It was about 5am when she told us. So what do we do?
Walk, walk, wait, lie down, walk and wait some more.

At about 6:30 the nurses finally switch... or at least that's when I noticed SHE was gone! And a lovely nurse named Barbara was now assigned to me. By this point I was SO EXHAUSTED! I had been up ALL night, thinking my labor was progressing, but told it wasn't happening very quickly. My moral was low and I was close to ready to ASK to go home. The nurse assured me that the doc would be in soon, but asked if I'd like her to check me, since it had been a while since the last check. I was hesitant, because I was in no condition for bad news, but decided I was curious enough to find out now.

"You're about a 3 and half, almost 4!"

YAY!! Something had changed! She called the doc who told those nurses to finally ADMIT me! Up until this point I was still in the exam/waiting room! It was torture. SO, I get all comfy as possible in my new posh birthing suit. (Seriously, it seemed like the nicest place after spending so long in the other place) And a little while later my doctor came. He checks me too and says that I'm definitely a 4! YAY! It's real! This baby is really coming today!

I get an I.V. medication to help me rest a little, which helps a lot and then an hour or so later I'm at a 5. Doc is able to break my water then to help speed things up and I know at this point, that things are going to get tough, fast. Within an hour I'm contracting HARD and it's very painful, but I just go inside my head and control it all the best I can. I block everything, everyone, every sound out. And it works. No screaming or moaning from me. I'll just ignore you and maybe swipe your hand away if you try to touch me. A few hours later and I finally get the go ahead to start pushing. I'm told I'm not quite at a 10, but there's only a tiny bit of cervix left that Doc seemed confident that I could push to get rid of. With two strong pushes, that cervix disappeared (quicker than even he thought). It was baby time!

I gave it my all for about 3 rounds of pushes and her head was crowning. Now this is the hardest part for me, without an epidural. I feel EVERYTHING! I usually say something like, "Help, please, I don't know if I can do it." "Make it stop, please" and "I can't!" But moments later I'm told to push one more time and then it happens. She comes out! Her tiny little body is free and placed on my stomach. She's warm and crying and absolutely beautiful! That is by far the most marvelous, miraculous moment full of the very best feelings a human being can feel. I don't really cry, but I do laugh. I'm so overjoyed that I laugh. Weird, maybe, but that's just how I am. Tanner does too. We laughed the hardest when Layla was born though, I totally remember. It was great.

Then the moments after, when the baby is swept away and I lay there while doc does the rest. Well, it was a bit different this time.
Moments after they took her I hear, "She's bleeding out. I need pitocin."
Some yelling, from the normally SUPER calm doctor, to the nurse to get pitocin, "STAT!"
My head is slowly spinning an my vision is blurred.
I distinctly remember reading about a friend of mine who went through a similar, yet very severely different situation and had to be rushed to surgery.
I kept praying that it'd just stop NOW.
After the nurse ran in with the pitocin and squeezed the bag into my I.V.,
I could sense the atmosphere start to calm.
You know how the nurses massage your belly after delivery, and by massage I mean kill?
Well it was like a 100 times worse when they did it, because of the bleeding.
Thanks.

All in all though, It was great. I handled the pain well.
I never really freaked out.
Our baby was perfectly healthy and beautiful.
And it was just Tanner and I there to share the experience.
And now I'm just savoring all the sweet little moments with this pretty little girl...


Monday, August 1, 2011

Maggie babe 6 days old



We love her to pieces.
She's a very feisty little girl, who doesn't like to be put down.
She eats around the clock.
And hates to be undressed.
She's been smothered with adoring kisses and pats on the head by her big sisters.
Layla always asks, "What is she saying, what is she thinking??"
Like I'm the baby whisperer or something.
She's cute as can be and manages to multiply that cuteness each day.
I'm anxious to hear how much she weighs tomorrow!

We love our Maggie girl.
Life would not be as sweet without you.