Lynlee's Blessing

We had the wonderful opportunity on Sunday for Chris to bless our precious baby girl. It was especially neat because we were able to do it at Chris's home ward in Salt Lake where he grew up and a lot of the members of our families were able to make it :) I love sharing special occasions with family; no matter who it's for when we all get together it's just crazy fun and there is always someone who comes that I haven't seen in far too long and it feels so good to catch up.

Lynlee in her blessing dress - She's so adorable!

I had a lot of different feelings and emotions flood through me that day:
Love, anxiety (they asked Chris and I to give talks and public speaking has never been my forte), joy, peace, humility, astonishment (this was my baby being blessed!?), love, gratitude, patience, hope, excitement, awe, love. In case it wasn't obvious, love is definitely the most prominent feeling I had with me all day long. Not only was I surrounded by the best family and friends that I had grown up with, I now have my own little family to continue growing with, to nurture and care for, to have fun with and to cry with, to stand by through all of eternity. I am in awe of a husband who stands stalwart and faithful in the gospel, who lets his heart melt every time his little girl smiles a toothless grin at him, who tells me everyday that I am beautiful and expresses his amazement that out of everyone I chose him to spend forever with (although I think he's got this part backwards - I can't believe he chose me!).
My favorite part is the part about forever. I know that it wouldn't be possible without Jesus Christ. I am exceptionally grateful for Him and that He paved the way to make it possible not just for my little growing family but for any and every family to be united eternally. :)

I just love this one

This is 4 generations of females here - Lynlee, me, my mom, and her mom. Woohoo!

Doctor Day

So first of all, I love that Lynlee's doctor's last name is Le Bras. I'm not sure if you're supposed to put the 's' sound on the end of it or not, but we do and it makes it fun when people ask who her pediatrician is.
"It's Dr. Le Bras."
"Wait, isn't your last name Bross?"
"Yep! And his is Le Bras."
Makes us giggle in a good sort of way :)

Lynlee was exactly 2 months (already/only!?) on Tuesday and she also got her shots that day. It was sad because she was in such a good mood and then bam! pain out of nowhere. But she only cried for a few second afterwards and then spent the rest of the day at home all snuggled up with Mom. She's so great :)

She got little Crayola Crayon band-aids. The fact that they weren't boring old band-aids helped with the pain I'm sure ;)

She weighed in at 8 lb 1/4 oz. We've got a lot of work to do because her doc wants her to gain about 4 pounds in the next 2 months! Eat up little one!

Informal Mini Anniversary

Chris and I were married on 7 May 2010.
best. day. ever!

Every month on the 7th for the first year of our marriage we would have a mini anniversary of sorts to celebrate. Nothing huge, just an extra special date night. (we celebrate EVERYTHING. that's just how we roll :)
Once we hit the one year mark we decided not to celebrate as big on the 7th of every month anymore (except for the year anniversaries of course), but we'd definitely still keep the special day in mind when it rolled around approximately every 30-31 days. And we have. Every 7th the first thing we do when we wake up is smile real big and exclaim "happy 7th!" amidst our morning hugs, stretches, yawns, and kisses.
Last night, "for no particular reason, but hey guess what tomorrow is" he said with a sly little smile, Chris brought home some beautiful flowers for me. They smell beautiful and light up our little living room almost as much as I'm sure my face lit up when he surprised me with them. I LOVE getting flowers. And even if he did bring home flowers "just because" I adore him for it, but I'm just saying, we both know what day today is so I'm going to go ahead and enjoy them in the spirit of this informal mini anniversary.




P.S. I just wanted to throw up an example here of something small we celebrated. This is a picture of Lynlee turning exactly one week old! 10:55 pm on 27 January. She's in the little yellow bundle you see in the crib. We can hardly believe that she's almost 2 months old now!

Kangaroo Kid

Memo to self: sometime soon or, if the opportunity does not arise until your next baby, by the time you have another baby invest in the material to make your own tiny human pouch sling. In the meantime, the one we have invented with the pink blanket will do. Thanks!

Is it normal for babies to never want to sit/sleep contentedly for more than 5 minutes without being held? Don't get me wrong, I love holding Lynlee and cuddling up with her and all, best part of my day! However, I can only so much with just one available hand and although that list has increased significantly in the short time our little one has been with us, sometimes you just gotta have both. So until the little Peach cares about playtime with her toys or nap time not on Mom's lap, Chris and I invented a helper!
Ok, we didn't actually invent it because it already exists, but I remembered it and Chris pulled out some fabric, found a video on YouTube about it, and helped me to implement this ingenious invention.
I used to smile and shrug off the idea of using a little baby pouch sling thing but now I sure don't! This wonderful creation allows Lynlee to be happy because she can hang out with Mom in her comfy little pouch and Mom is happy because the house gets clean in an afternoon (this may or may not have happened yesterday in my excitement)!

This was our first attempt with a strip of fabric that's the length of about 4 of me stacked on top of each other. We had to wrap it around just a couple times ;)

 

This was my second attempt with a softer, stretchier, much shorter blanket. I think it worked a little better than the first attempt...Look Ma, no hands!

My only complaint and reason why I'd want the material to sew a more legit one would be because of the huge knot I had to tie so it would actually hold the baby up. The knot itself I don't care about, it's moreso the pain in my shoulder after 20 minutes that does.

This morning we even got up and made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies together! Well, she slept while I talked about the cookies and prepped them for oven entry. One day, give it a couple years, Lynlee will be in her own cute little apron helping Mommy for real :)
So there you have it, my whole-hearted recommendation for one of these things.
In the words and sing-songy tune of my brother-in-law Jeff, "She really likes it!"

The First of Many Daddy-Daughter Adventure Times

Exactly one month ago today Chris was making me a delicious double-decker grilled cheese sammich for lunch while I sat in our glider chair and began to time my contractions, which were 5 minutes apart and increasing in intensity. Eight and a halfish hours, no pain meds or epidural, and about 30 stitches in sensitive areas later and I was holding the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen in my arms.
One MONTH ago! Time doesn't fly I've decided, it uses a time machine to warp speed itself about.
I've been hearing "having a baby changes everything" for years and I concur! This last month has been sleep-deprived and exhausting, but it's also been one of the most exciting and hilarious :) We've learned 3 different ways to bathe a baby and discovered her favorite (she likes the shower best, such a Daddy's girl!), come to the realization that onesies, or anything that has to go over the head, are really just torture devices for small children and their inexperienced parents, and that fresh air induces instant potty time.

Yesterday was the first time I went to all 3 hours of church since Lynlee came (Oh, how I've missed going to church!). I pumped enough milk for Chris to have 3 mealtimes with her, if needed, and when 8:50 rolled around I kissed my little family and headed out the door, anxious to be leaving them both but glad that Daddy and Lynlee could spend more time together. After the second hour of church I sent a quick text to Chris to ask if everything was all right on the home front and he responded promptly with a confident "Yep! :o)" so I went into Relief Society and found a soft chair to sit in and relaxed a little more as the lesson began. Little did I know, Chris and Lynlee's big adventure was about to begin...

When I got home I found Chris sitting with the baby on the couch, both of them looking just a bit more worn than when I left them a few hours prior, Lynlee ravenously consuming some lunch from her bottle. Chris looked up with his eyes wide and told me the following tale, by the end of which I was almost crying because I was laughing so hard:

"You texted me and, at that time, Lynlee was sleeping - she had been for the two and a half hours after you left. I got some really good [gospel] study time! When she started waking up (and I knew she'd be hungry) I thought about how great it would be to surprise you by having her bathed and dressed when you came home so I was going to do that and then feed her. I knew I'd have to hurry, so I went downstairs and got her all undressed and ready for her bath only to remember that I didn't prepare the water or anything before hand. Meanwhile, Lynlee was already crying and throwing her arms out like she was falling, not a happy camper, plus now she's naked so we're in danger of air-induced potty time so, after a brief discussion with her, we decide 'OK, let's do a quasi bath!' I take her into the bathroom and fill our tiny sink with some water and put the flailing baby in. I started trying to bathe her with one hand while holding her with the other when I realize that her head is at an awkward angle on the corner of the sink. Arms still flying every which way and with our cat trying to wedge his way between us, I grab a towel and put it behind her head and finish washing her. Then I realize she has to be rinsed off somehow so I turn on the water and put her under it then see that her face has soap on it still...under the faucet it goes! Only briefly, but she didn't seem to like that too much so I hurry and put her face on the towel to dry it off. She's face down, bum in the air, arms waving about but finally we're finished...except for the hair! I hurry and wash her hair then rush her into the bedroom to find an outfit.
'Ooh, this one looks cute, it's a little camping outfit!' I tell her and bring over a yellow onesie [recall the earlier statement about these creations], yellow socks, and a pair of brown and white striped pants. I struggle getting the onesie on over her head. I then notice that it looks backwards so I turn it around while it's still on her and slip her arms through with a fair amount of ease considering she still seems to think that she's falling and the arms are flapping about. Success! Except for now it is on backwards! I struggle with getting her arms back through the arm holes, rotate it once more, and pull them through again. Now, somehow, she now appears to be performing some awkward form of the disco...I adjust, pull on her pants and wrestle to get the socks on, swoop her up, and we make our way up the stairs to [finally! I'm sure Lynlee was thinking] eat - thank goodness I had already gotten the next bottle ready right before she woke up from her nap! It was sitting on the coffee table next to the glider chair, just waiting for us...but Zoë was occupying the chair and I didn't have a free hand to boot her off. I thought that's ok, we can work with this, and went and sat on the couch. D'oh! The bottle was still on the coffee table. I got up, grabbed the bottle and settled back down. Double d'oh! The Boppy pillow [amazing invention!] was across the room also. One more time up we go, snatch up the pillow, situate ourselves on the couch, and start lunch just as Mom walks in the door. Whew!"

Go Daddy! Not that he didn't already before, but especially now Chris has a great respect for women in the role of 'mother'. His face when I walked in was priceless! What an adventure my little family had!
And many more to come :)

Water

38 weeks today! Still no baby Lynlee yet, but she's coming (at least she better be! I can't take this feeling like a cow (or looking like a whale as Chris says) much longer). At our appointment on Tuesday the doctor said I was 80% effaced and 1 cm. dilated - this news sure has me hopeful that things will get on their merry way soon. I've been on my feet more and hopping around our apartment a bit to try and just help the process along (probably just old wive's tales I'm sure but if nothing else, the exercise is good right?!) and have even started walking with a literal bounce in my step.

I've discovered that when one is this far along in pregnancy it's really fun to mess with people about things such as the breaking of the bag of waters. A few examples (although in these instances I really wasn't trying to mess with anyone):

Situation #1: While at Chris' Grandma Sharee's house on New Year's Eve afternoon I went to the fridge to get some milk. I was hidden from Chris' view behind the fridge door when I took the cap off of the gallon jug. As I twisted it off and turned it over to set it on the shelf of the fridge some droplets of milk jumped ship from the lid to my round tummy, something that happens all too often lately with almost every beverage or food I consume. Seeing as food and drink are regularly becoming part of my usual attire I sighed and said (mostly to myself), "It was only a matter of time before that happened." A moment later Chris' voice cautiously asked from the other side of the fridge door, "Hun, is everything ok?" He thought I had been referring to my water breaking! We had a good chuckle at that.

Situation #2: Later that same day I took my mom to see Puss in Boots in 3D. It was a cute movie but mostly it was fun to go to becuase my mom had never seen a movie in 3D before. We got to the theater, got our tickets and decided to get some popcorn and a couple cups of water. She carried the popcorn and I grabbed our waters to carry to our seats. When we got past the ticket taker and were making our way down the hallway I had an itch on my nose that just couldn't wait so I held onto one water with my hand and the other I hugged close to me with the same hand already holding a cup. As I was relieving that incredible itch from my face I got a little off balance and spilled some water from one of the cups. Can you see where this is going?
Without thinking about it I said "Ope, well there goes my water." My mom stopped dead and just stared at me until I realized what I had said and what was going through her mind. It took a minute for us to get back on the same page because once I thought about why her face looked so incredibly shocked I couldn't stop laughing long enough to tell her it was different water I was talking about.

Great fun :) A time or two I've even tested the waters (no pun intended) with Chris by saying "it's time" and seeing how he reacts. I can't wait until I can say it for real!

Active Baby and Adventure!

I think our little one is quickly becoming more and more excited to come out of my belly than we are to have her out. She is SO active and my stomach constantly looks like it picked up some extra belly dancing lessons when I wasn't paying attention. We've also discovered that moreso this past week Lynlee has enjoyed the pasttime of stretching out horizontally in my belly which is both extremely uncomfortable and amusing at the same time. Chris was able to finally snap a picture of it this afternoon. Her little head is the bulge shown on the right and her little bum is the skyward bulge on the left. Silly baby!

Also in this picture, if you look close enough you can tell how my belly button is [still] off center. I realize that with the lopsided belly this might be a bit difficult, so just pay close attention to the brown line that's going down the center of my tummy and then veers off to the side to hook back up with my belly button. :)
I'm 36 weeks today so not much longer now!

Tuesday the 20th it was exactly one month until her due date. Chris surprised me that night with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a cute little card just reminding me of this fun fact and also how much he loves me. He is so great! :)

On another more adventurous note, Zoë caught her first mouse yesterday! Our little huntress has been stalking the bushes and weeds near the back fence for the past few months and this entire time I thought she was hearing grasshoppers or crickets moving around under the dead plants (I went out and sat with her and listened for them too one time). False. I'm now convinced that there is an entire clan of little mice out there and although I do feel bad for the little one she caught and devoured yesterday, I feel a greater comfort knowing we've got a superb defender. We live in the basement apartment and while I can handle the occasional beetle or spider down here (which she also hunts, while Zack runs for cover I might add), I'm not too sure I'd cope well with a mouse on the run!

Oh! More adventure! Chris took Nicole (my little sister from Big Brother Big Sister) and I to see Mission Impossible: 4 on Wednesday - best. movie. ever...At least of the Mission Impossible series. I was looking forward to this movie from the minute I found out they were making a fourth one (the MI series and I have a bit of a thing going on haha) and impatiently waited the however many months it took from that time to get to December. It was totally worth the wait and I'm already busting to see it again.
Something I was really impressed with with this movie was the lack of vulgarity and immorality. It seems as though in almost any and every movie nowdays the movie makers don't think their film is complete without the usual myriad of distasteful language and sexuality on the screen. I am pleased to say that this movie did lack those things (except for two swear words I caught, yet they weren't even the really bad ones) but did not lack in awesomeness. :D

Tonight Chris and I got a Tuscan 6 Cheese Pizza from Papa John's, 2 dessert pizzas, and me a Diet Coke all for under $5! Not bad if I do say so myself, and I do. :) We got a coupon from Groupon for 90% off our pizza and the dessert pizza was only $2.99 from 5 Buck Pizza. Alas! They gave us a nasty fruity kind that Chris loved instead of the deliciousness of the cinnamon kind that we had actually ordered so he went back and they made the right one for us.
The guy that made it for us was such a nice guy! He not only made us a bigger size of our dessert pizza than it was originally supposed to be but Chris explained to him that I had been craving this so when he put the cream cheese glaze on top of it he wrote "Congrats" with it. :)

I am very much looking forward to spending yet another Christmas with my sweet husband. I can't believe it's already our second one together since being married! Chris says that it feels a lot more like Christmas this year than it did last year and I'd have to agree with him (except for the part where there STILL is not any snow on the ground :/ ). I've been reading the Book of Mormon the last little while with the main goal in mind to finish before Lynlee's born and even that small gesture has helped me this season to keep the true meaning and perspective on Christmas. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I hope you all travel safely this holiday and have a wonderful Christmas! :)