Impromptu Photo Shoot

These pictures were taken by my awesome sister-in-law, Kayla. She is a photographer extraordinaire and this photo shoot was done with black tablecloths and pillows on the floor of my mother-in-laws living room! We didn't plan to do pictures until Kayla suggested it right then and there, and these were all taken with a point and shoot camera! Thank you, Kayla! I think that these turned out great, Noah is just so cute! I love a few of his facial expressions, he is looking at us like, "What are you doing to me?" because Kayla, Grandma, and I are all talking and making noise and crawling all over the place to get smiles and to get him to look in the right direction. It was quite humorous...only babies can get adults to make such fools of themselves! :)

She even captured one of his smiles, this is an impressive feat since he seems to have "camera radar" and stops smiling as soon as I pull out our camera!

This face cracks me up. "What are you doing to me?"

This is his kiss-y face. The smaller his lips gets, the more I know he's going to poop his pants!

He's discovered his tongue and loves to play with it.

He actually really likes his tummy time, usually holding his head up for quite a long time!

This was another one of Kayla's great ideas, I think he looks so cute, and he didn't even pee on the tie or anything!

He doesn't like to be naked around other people, as you can tell from this facial expression... He's quite a modest little guy!

And, of course we have to have at least one naked baby shot! He DID pee all over during this part of the photo shoot...boys will be boys I guess! :)

2 Months!

Can I just say that I can't believe that my little boy is two months old already? WOW! That went so fast! When we were visiting Grandma Anderson yesterday, his Aunt Kayla helped us do an impromptu photo shoot, and we got some great pictures! I will get them posted on here soon, he did good for just suddenly being thrown on some pillows and black sheets with no warning! :) He was a good boy too and didn't cry at all, even when he sneezed so hard he rolled himself off the pillows! He is such a good natured baby, he almost always wakes up full of smiles and he loves to coo and talk to me when he does wake up. He sleep great at night, which I much appreciate, and he is just all around happy! He loves to lay stretched out on his back and just observe every detail going on around him. He still likes to be held, but he is perfectly content to just be on his own! He also loves to look in the mirror, he will coo forever to his "friend". I love that I can make him smile just by talking to him, and he still loves him bath, usually grinning the whole time. He is developing such a little personality, and I absolutely love being his mom!!!

50 Random Questions

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00, unless you count 4:00 when I fed the baby…

2. How do you like your steak? On someone else’s plate. YUCK!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Captain America. I LOVE movies!

4. What is your favorite TV show? I don’t really watch TV, sorry.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? In my house! I love being close to family. Lots of places I would visit, but I like living close.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese mixed in and a protein drink. YUM! I love breakfast food, and now that I stay at home, I actually eat it!

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican, followed closely by Italian.

8. What foods do you dislike? Most red meats, asparagus (it stinks!)

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Los Hermanos!

10.Favorite dressing? Ranch, but I like lots of other dressings as well.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Chevy Malibu Classic

12.What are your favorite clothes? Do high heels count? I LOVE to wear high heels. Thank you ballroom dance past…

13.Where would you visit if you had the chance? Ireland, Egypt, Italy, and the Philippines

14.Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Depends on what’s in it! J Just kidding, half full for sure

15.Where would you want to retire? Wherever my family is.

16.Favorite time of day? Around 8 or 9 at night because that’s when Ben gets home from school! I also love around 7 in the morning when Noah wakes up because he wakes up very happy and loves to smile and coo at me first thing in the morning and its so cute!

17.Where were you born? Orem, Utah

18.What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball, but we mostly watch football in our house!

19.Who do you think will not tag you back? I'm not tagging anyone, so I don't think it counts.

20.Person you expect to tag you back first? Again - I'm not tagging anyone, so I don't think it counts.

21.Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone, I love to read these about other people!

22.Bird watcher? Not really. I like hummingbirds…

23.Are you a morning person or a night person? Both. I can actually do either one really easily, I can get up just fine and I can stay up just fine. I guess I am a whatever person!

24.Pets? Not currently, hopefully not ever. I am SO not a pet person, and luckily Ben isn’t either. I am sure kids will probably change that one day though!

25.Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share? Not really, life is good!

26.What did you want to be when you were little? Honestly? I wanted to be a mom! I am living the dream!! J

27.What is your best childhood memory? I have lots of great childhood memories-girls nights with my mom when the boys were on Scout campouts, going on a daddy-daughter vacation to West Virginia, memorizing and then acting out Garfield comic books with my older brother, too many great things to choose from!

28.Are you a cat or dog person? Neither really, but probably more cat than dog. I like to look at dogs, as in-look at that person’s dog-but that’s about it whereas a cat I will actually pet.

29.Are you married? Yes, and it’s awesome!

30.Always wear your seat belt? Yes, always.

31.Been in a car accident? Yep, I read ended someone on the freeway once (it was more a love tap in rush hour, no damage to either car at all) and then I totaled my car on the freeway when I accidentally took two sleeping pills instead of two migraine pills and blacked out behind the wheel. Not a fun day…

32.Any pet peeves? Of course! One of my major ones is when people lecture/give advice as if you are too stupid to know any better. Like when they think that since they are older/have more kids/been married longer/whatever that if you like your life they must say something negative to “teach” you what is inevitably going to happen to you. I HATE that! I also hate when people think that we are bad people because we were married for 5 years before having a baby. Only in the Mormon culture…

33.Favorite pizza topping? Canadian Bacon. YUM!

34.Favorite Flower? Tulips

35.Favorite ice cream? Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked. It’s SO good!

36.Favorite fast food restaurant? Gonna have to say Taco Bell, with Wendy’s as a close second.

37.How many times did you fail your driver's test? I passed the first time!

38.From whom did you get your last email? Barbara Williams, from my work

39.Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Probably Barnes and Noble!

40.Do anything spontaneous lately? Spontaneous doesn’t work well with a baby…

41.Like your job? I do! I love being able to stay at home with my little son!

42.Broccoli? As long as it’s not raw. I can’t stand the texture of raw broccoli!

43.What was your favorite vacation? I LOVE Lake Powell, I have also loved Hawaii, Canada, West Virginia, Heritage Tours (three weeks back East), Bermuda, and of course my honeymoon in Montana! I have been on lots of other trips, but these ones stand out the most.

44.Last person you went out to dinner with? My hubby! My mom took the baby and we went to Wing Nutz before a play. Yum!

45.What are you listening to right now? Silence-baby is asleep and I am content with the quiet!

46.What is your favorite color? Depends, usually blue, but I like to wear pink and brown and black.

47.How many tattoos do you have? None, nor will I ever! I can barely get my blood drawn, how on earth would I handle a tattoo?!

48.Coffee drinker? No way, it stinks!

49.How many children do you have? One little guy!

50.Are you in love? Deeply!

Mastitis!

So, last week I was feeling a little bit sick, mostly a sore throat and some headaches. But, on Friday last week I got EXTREMELY sick! I was running a high fever, had terrible joint and body aches and pains, sore throat, awful headache, and some strange swelling under my left arm. It got to painful that I couldn't pick up the baby! So, I called Ben in tears and asked him to come home from work-which he did. I got in to a doctor to get an antibiotic or something, thinking that I had the flu. Come to find out, I actually have Mastitis-a breast infection! I am on a crazy high antibiotic, but that Friday night was one of the worst of my life. I was in so much pain in my joints that I couldn't even walk up the stairs-I had to crawl. I just laid on the couch in misery, and Ben would bring the baby to me when he needed to eat and then he would help hold him so I could nurse him. Nursing on my left side is extremely painful-but they encourage you to nurse through it! OUCH! I thought that I was doing a little bit better so on Sunday we went to my parents home for a family birthday dinner for my niece. I was doing fine but starting to go downhill as the night wore on. Finally, just as we were getting ready to go home, I stood up too fast and got a rush of pain, that combined to make me pass out! That was a little traumatic...After received a blessing from my dad and my husband, we were on our way again. I could sure use your prayers right now, I REALLY need to get over this thing! Ben is going out of town at the end of the week on a business trip and I am a little nervous that I will still be feeling like this. So, prayers are much appreciated!!!

A Few More Pics

Again, these are all from my phone so I apologize for the poor quality on some of them. I really need to start taking more pictures with a real camera...

Best Baby Book EVER!!

So, my sister in law introduced me to a book that has seriously turned my baby around! It is called Baby Wise and it talks about how to help your baby learn to fall asleep on their own, sleep on a routine, eat on a set routine, and sleep through the night earlier and more completely. It basically talks about how after you feed your baby, you need to keep them awake (except for at nights) for one hour total, including the feeding time. Then, baby goes down for a nap-period. They cry and fuss for a little while and then they sleep for about an hour to two hours. Then, if they don't wake up on their own to eat again, you wake them and feed them again. Then you have that wake time (you do things like take walks outside, sing songs, read books, have a bath, etc) and then they go down for a nap again. This routine helps them get the sleep they need, keeps them eating regularly, and makes for a MUCH happier baby! It talks about how to help them sleep through the night and says that on this system most babies sleep 7-8 hours at night by 8 weeks old! Noah already sleeps for 5 hours at a time at nights now on this system and he is SO MUCH HAPPIER!! He is much more alert during his wake times, and so much more content. He still has hard times where he cries and fusses a lot, and some of the naps don't go well and are a lot of work for both of us, but overall this system has been a huge deal! I highly recommend this book to ANYONE with little ones who can't sleep well. It talks about how to start this routine even if they aren't newborns too. They have a toddler-specific one as well. "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo. Happy sleeping! :)

Baby Pictures!

The moustache binkie is a joke from one of Ben's co-workers. Thanks, James! :)

He loves his baths, and he always looks a little drugged! :)

In his baby swing

Sorry about the poor quality of these, they are all from my phone. I am also not sure why they are different sizes... I am not computer literate enough to care and I also have a baby in one arm so I just don't want to spend the time to fix it! :) I will get better ones on here soon from our actual camera, they are a lot better quality! Hope you enjoy how freaking cute my son is! (Not that I am biased or anything...)

Noah's Labor Story

I wanted to have a copy of the story of the birth of Noah, so this is mostly for my records and for my memories. Read if you want to!

I was originally due on August 9th. I had a doctor’s appointment on August 3rd to see how far along I was. When I got there I had slightly elevated blood pressure, which was unusual since I had had really great blood pressure every other time they had taken it up to that point. After taking about 5 times I was told to go home, get my hospital bag, eat dinner, and report back to the hospital to be induced! So, Ben and I went home all excited and get ready to have this baby! After we got home, got my bag, ate at Chick-Fil-A, and then started back for the hospital we started calling family to let everyone know that I was being admitted that night.
We got to the hospital at about 8:00 PM that night. After getting checked in and everything, we got started on the pills to ripen my cervix that night. I started having fairly serious contractions at about 9:15 and I had contractions regularly every 3 minutes all night long. I had three doses of the pill, and for about an hour after each dose I would feel really sick and have stomach cramping on top of the contractions. After the first hour after each dose I did okay, the sickness faded and the cramping calmed down and I just had the regular contractions. It was a long night, Ben was able to sleep a little bit but I was in enough pain that I couldn’t sleep at all. I spent the night crying and watching TV!
At about 7:00 AM the morning of the 4th the nurse came in and told me that she didn’t know when I would be able to get an epidural since the anesthesiologist was booked in several other labors. I was SO ready for the epidural at that point, I had been having those contractions so regularly all night long, and they weren’t getting any better. I was still only dilated to about a two, but my cervix was nice and ripe and soft. My doctor came in about 8:30 AM and broke my water, and then the anesthesiologist was able to swing in to my room at about 11:00 AM to give me the epidural! That was a weird experience but it felt great to stop feeling! The epidural went in really well and I started feeling relief quickly. It was a blessing to just be able to relax and get relief from the pain that I had been in. I got started on the Pitocin shortly after that. My mom and Ben both stayed in the room with me and talked, joked, played cards, read books, and rested. I was REALLY slow getting dilated though! It was a long day.
I got checked regularly, and we participated in a new study monitor to track the EKG of the baby through a sensor in his head. It was an internal monitor which was actually much much better since I could lay more comfortably and it was so much more accurate. This new monitor had some problems at first, but it was great. I am glad that we participated in this study.
As the night went on, we started making a little more progress. My mother-in-law came down and she actually stayed through the labor which was fun. As the night wore on, I got closer and closer. I was dilated to a 4 by about 6:00 pm and then when they checked me again in an hour I was dilated to an 8! It was SO great to be that far along. I was so excited to be that close to meeting my little baby! As I finally hit a 9, my epidural started acting funny. I started to be able to feel really well in my hips and pelvis, especially on the left side. We had another anesthesiologist come in and he decided to give me another dose. Well, I don’t know if it was a different kind, or just too much, or what, but my body started to react to the medicine. I started having dim vision, and I almost blacked out a few times! I got really dizzy and light headed, my nose completely plugged up, and my hands went numb! All of this happened in a few minutes and I was now dilated to almost a 10! Well, they moved me all around to try to get the epidural to go back down to my legs instead of my arms and hands. It didn’t work! They were able to get my hands to have some feeling again, but the pain in my pelvis and hips never went away and now it was time to push! This was the scariest part, I couldn’t breathe very well, still had numbness in my hands, and I was feeling very weak and wiped out already, and I hadn’t even started pushing!
Ben held my left leg, and my mom held my right leg. I was good at pushing luckily, even though the pain was intense and I was so tired already. After about 45 minutes of pushing, I had my baby! I remember feeling the head, especially since it took forever to get it all the way out, but I think that his shoulders hurt more than his head did! He had his dad’s shoulders for sure. Ben was able to cut the umbilical cord and then they put the baby on my stomach. After getting him toweled off and breathing, he cried for a few minutes, and then they put him inside my hospital gown right on my skin. That skin to skin contact was so bonding and special! About 30 seconds after Noah was laid on my chest he stopped crying, stuck his fingers in his mouth, opened his eyes, and lifted his head! He lifted his head several times and just looked all around at everyone! It was so sweet, and it was such a relief to have him there and healthy and I fell so in love with him!
The afterbirth and placenta were delivered, but there were still membranes attached so she had to actually put her fist inside me and scrape them out with her fingers! That was almost as painful as the labor part! I just tried to focus on my new baby, but that after birth stuff with the stitches and everything else-with the epidural worn off-was incredibly painful! It was nice to have that part over.
I didn’t start contracting back to my normal size very well, so they gave me more Pitocin, an antibiotic, and something for pain. I felt so drugged up after all that! I went through about 8 cups of apple juice and ate some crackers, and then I was able to nurse the baby for a few minutes. He ate really well and still had yet to really cry! Such a good baby! Noah was born at 9:48 pm and weighed 7 lbs 13 oz. He was 21 inches long and the nurses were impressed at how strong he was with holding his head up as much as he was!
We got to the maternity ward at about midnight and I was falling asleep anytime someone wasn’t poking, prodding, or talking to me! After the initial check in process, talking to the nurses, and getting Noah checked out, he was hungry again so I fed him and then I was finally free to sleep at about 3 AM! We stayed in the hospital until Saturday afternoon and then we took our little guy home!

Noah's Nursery Pictures

These are some pictures of Noah's nursery! I think that it all turned out really cute. Thank you to my amazing husband who put all the furniture together and to my mom and sisters who made a night of organizing the dresser and setting up the crib with me! I just can't wait to get my little guy here now!!

It's hard to see the window valance, but it's the same pattern as the bumper pads on the crib. So cute!

My amazing little sisters put this together for me!

It took me forever to get a cute car seat cover and I LOVE this one! It has an elastic on the back too so that it won't blow around in wind, plus it is reversible. Much better than a blanket too since it can't fall off!

This is me "modeling" my new rocking chair. The onesie is just for fun. :) Sorry this picture is on here twice, I can't delete the second one!

I apologize for the poor picture quality, these are just pictures off my phone, which doesn't have a very good camera. But, didn't his room turn out cute?! I LOVE the sports theme that we went with. I have a little bit of artwork that I still want to get hung up. I have a frame that I need to actually have some baby pictures to put in (as soon as Noah gets here of course), and there is an Ark picture that I want to hang above the rocking chair. I would also like to find some ceramic letters to spell out Noah above the crib. But, all of that will have to come later. Enjoy the pictures, I can't wait to get this little guy here so that I can put him in his cute room! :)

Long Overdue Post

I wanted to post these cute pictures of something my amazing employees did for me a while ago! I was surprised at work when a beautiful Edible Arrangements bouquet of fresh fruit showed up for me, and then one of my employees came in with presents!! I LOVED the fresh fruit (one of my cravings!) and my employees purchased a bunch of books for me that I was holding for myself! I got What To Expect the First Year, What to Expect the Toddler Years, and A Mom's Ultimate Book of Lists. For anyone who knows me well, they know how much I love lists, so that last book was awesome! It has lists of all kinds of stuff, from diaper bag packing, approved medications, birthday party games, healthy snack ideas, and more! The First Year book has been awesome too, I have started reading it and it has EVERYTHING baby in it. I love it! My employees are so sweet and I am really going to miss them when I leave in about a week. Thank you, ladies, you are amazing!