Two years already!?!?

Yup, it's already been two years! I can't believe how time flies when you're having fun. I just want to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my love and best friend. Thanks for hanging in there with me through all my emotional breakdowns and for being the best husband in the world! You're perfect :) Love you!!! (And I'm excited to go eat at Benihana's!)

One month already!?!?

Ok, so it's not the best picture in the world, but it's what you get for now. I can't believe that a month has gone by already! The last month of pregnancy felt like it was a year long and this last month has flown by like it was a week or even a day!!! Anyway, I'm happy to report that she's growing like a weed and she'd better well be since all she wants to do is eat. Anyway, we love our little baby bean and are sooo glad to have her in our lives and in our family.

It's amazing what people can do!

The Correct Way to Weigh Yourself

My cousin just sent this to me in an e-mail and I thought it was hilarious!! If only it were true :)

Two Week Checkup

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks already! Time is just flying by! When Ivy was born she weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and was 20 in. At her 2 week check up she weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and measured 21 1/2 in. I can't believe how fast they grow!!!!!

Some things I've noticed about Ivy are that she fusses just when she needs something. At night, she'll wake up to be fed and changed and then go right back to sleep (let's hope that continues). She's had some smiles that reach her eyes already. She loves to be bounced. She likes to stare at the ceiling fan. She's really strong and started holding her head up from day 2. She loves to look in the mirror while being changed. You have to be super quick when changing her diaper or you might get a surprise. She loves bath time as long as she has a full stomach and until she gets cold.

Some things I would like to remember about her birth are that her daddy was very brave and watched everything and then cut her umbilical cord. When she finally was out and crying they laid her on top of me still juicy and everything. It was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen and we cried together. We were supposed to be induced Thursday morning, but they gave me a little pill the night before that did the trick and we didn't even need the pit. My water broke around 1 am and they were quick to give me an epidural (love it!) then, around 6-6:30ish I was really feeling like things were progressing and I needed to be checked on, but waited till 7:30 a.m. The nurse checked me and I was ready to go, but they just kept telling me to wait and that they were waiting on a nurse. I was soooo frustrated until I found out that there were 6 women all ready to give birth right then and only 2 nurses. There was a crisis, a cesarean, and pretty much chaos. We were finally able to push around 9:30 or so and lets just say that that is not my favorite activity. I watched in a mirror until they decided that they needed to use a vacuum because her heart rate wouldn't stay steady. I should have been pushing my epidural button way more, but was sooo glad that she made it. There's more to the story but I'll spare you all the gory details and just write about it in my journal.

I am loving being a mother even with it's trials and my emotional ups and downs. I'm so grateful that I have a patient and loving husband who will sit with me and read to me even when he would like to be doing other things. He gives me the encouragement that I need and I feel so much more love for him as the father of my daughter then I ever thought possible. Babies really are miracles.

An Angel Named "Mother"

My mom is an angel. (It must run in her family...here's a post about her sister.) She not only came and helped with Ivy but she helped us move. She came the day Ivy was born, helped clean our old house, drove back home (3 hours away) to take care of things there, drove back down the next week and unpacked boxes in the new house. If it weren't for her, we'd still be living out of boxes and I wouldn't have made it through my nervous breakdowns. I don't know what we would've done without her! Thanks Mom!!! You're the best!!

An overdue update...

Here's my last prego pic (Man was I ready for her to come!) along with a pic of some of our boxes and stuff at the old house. So glad that both of these things are now in my past!

My mother in law sent us some really cute outfits. This one is my favorite because of the cherries on the bum :) She also came to visit us. She was the first of the family besides Chris and I to see Ivy. (We're retarded and didn't get any pictures of her with Ivy.) Thanks for coming Mom!

Then there's a picture of Ivy with her Daddy while still in the hospital. He fed her a little bit of formula through a small tube taped to his finger. She's quite the little eater! Not very good at burping yet, but hopefully with a little practice she'll get better.

Here's one of little Ivy sleeping in her bassinet at the hospital. She loves to be swaddled tight and will sleep really well if she is.
And one of Ivy at home just chillin' in her crib. She loves to sleep like this or with her hands up under her head or by her face. She also loves to sleep in my arms and will sleep for hours that way. It gives me time to sleep also as long as I'm somewhere like the couch where I know she won't be rolling away or I won't roll over and squish her. I've also been able to get some reading done. Thanks Tara and Lisa for supplying the reading material!

Ivy was a little jaundiced when we first brought her home, so she had to get some photo treatment done. Luckily it was something we could do at home. She had to wear a silly thing on her head to protect her eyes and it made her look like a fly so she was our little tanning fly queen for a day. (Tanning because it looks like a little tanning bed.) She actually did a lot better with the treatment than I expected and only had to do it for one night. The blood test that they have to do was brutal though. They pricked her heal and had to scrape it and squeeze her leg and stuff to get her to bleed into this little vile. Her little cries were heart wrenching. I'm not looking forward to when she has to get her shots.
Here's one of my dad loading up his truck with all our stuff. I couldn't believe how much he fit in the truck, and it all made it safe and sound to the new house :) Thanks Dad! Also, thanks to my brother Caleb who also came down to help with the move! And a big thanks to our friends Alex and Lanette for letting us store stuff at their house so that it would be easier to move later. You guys are the best!!
Here's one of Ivy and me worn out from moving and sleeping on the couch.

The cat was really freaked out by the move. It all started when we wouldn't let her go down to the basement at the old house. She had a hiding place down there that we couldn't reach so we locked her up stairs and she was meowing and running around. She knew something was up. She didn't eat for a few days and would just cry and cry, but she's doing much better now. She'll even go outside by herself again :) There's a little field of weeds behind our house that she likes to go hunting in.
Here's a funny story for you, the first night in our new house Ivy was having a hard time getting to sleep. My mom had mentioned earlier in the day that the swamp cooler in the old house probably helped her to sleep. I was at my wits end in the middle of the night because I knew she was sooo tired but was fighting sleep. Then as I was pacing, I walked past the bathroom and thought to turn on the fan. What a small but significant miracle for me! She was out within two seconds of me turning it on!!! However, the fan wasn't loud enough to reach her in her crib, so I emptied a box and put some blankets in it. She slept in the box in the bathroom! lol!! The next day we found our small fan and plugged it in by the crib, so she doesn't sleep in the bathroom anymore :) We do use the box as a portable crib though.

Anyway, sorry this update has taken sooo long. I can't believe how much time a baby takes out of your day, but it is all worth it, especially when you look at them and they look at you and your heart swells and overflows with love for this precious little being who has come to join your family.