This One's for the Grandmas

I've recently been informed that nothing makes a Grandma happier when she can't sleep in the middle of the night than getting online and looking at pictures of her grand baby on the blog. So to show my appreciation for you looking at the blog rather than calling in the middle of the night, here are some new ones!

I've been trying to teach Macie the Utah Man song. She doesn't seem interested, but I'm not losing hope yet!

We love you Grandmas!!!

Good Job Todd!!!

I was just reading an email from my cute brother-in-law Todd who is serving his mission in Romania right now and I started getting a little choked up. I've been thinking a lot lately about the missionaries who taught my mom the gospel so many years ago and how they changed my life by changing my mom's life. She got baptized before I was born, before she even knew my dad and then she served a mission too. I have so much respect for those missionaries because they touch so many lives. I love to read Todd's emails about the people he is teaching and how he can see their lives becoming better because of the gospel. It's so great to know that our Heavenly Father loves us and I can't imagine living my life without that knowledge. I appreciate it more now that I am a mom than I ever have in my life, there are days when it seems like that is all that gets me through the day. So I just want to say good job Todd! We love you and we are praying for you! Keep up the good work.

Macie's First Halloween

To celebrate Macie's first Halloween we took her to Gardner Village and took lots of cute pictures. The trip was way more exciting for me than it was for Macie, but she was a good sport anyways. We decided not to take Macie trick-or-treating, mostly because she can't eat candy and we are trying to lose weight! When I was younger I always said I would NEVER take my little tiny baby trick-or-treating, so I had to stick to my guns, even though I wanted to show Macie off on Halloween. We hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Macie has recently discovered her hands... She loves to look at them, lick them, try to eat them... When we were taking pictures she wouldn't look at the camera, but we got a lot of her examining her hands!
Like I said, we can hardly ever get her to look at the camera, but at least she looks cute staring at nothing!
I wanted to try and get pictures of Macie with as many of the witches as we could, but since she can't really sit up on her own yet we were only able to get a few with me holding her up.

This is my favorite picture of Macie so far I think. Happy Halloween!

Macie's Blessing and 2 Month Shots

We blessed Macie this past Sunday. She looked so pretty and she was so good during the blessing. Actually, she slept through the whole thing, which is better than screaming through it I guess. Steve gave such a beautiful blessing, I wish I had written I down, but I got the highlights so that I can tell Macie about it when she is a little older. My favorite thing about her blessing is that she wore the same dress I did when I was blessed. I'm so glad my mom saved it so that my daughters could wear it. I still can't believe how big she is getting.

Macie had her two month check up today and that means shots! I think she did pretty good, but I don't have anything to compare to. The nurse at our pediatrician is so great, she got the shots over with fast and she was done before Macie really even started crying. It really was sad though. Macie just looked at Steve for a minute and got real still and then she stuck out her lip and let out the saddest cry I have ever heard come out of her! I am so proud of her though, she's only been a little cranky today. Hopefully she'll get a good nights sleep and be back to normal tomorrow.

She's Growing So Fast!

I can't believe she is almost two months old. She changes everyday so we take lots of pictures. Here are some new ones.

This picture just makes me happy! I love how much Steve loves Macie, and how much Macie loves her daddy.

Macie in her Sunday Dress.

So Macie's comfort blanket is not really a blanket at all, it's a giant pink towel. Whenever I give her a bath she screams her head off, unless I let her suck on the corner of her towel, then she makes it through bath time without a peep.
Macie and mom watching cartoons. She loves to sit up, and hates to be cradled...
Macie got this rockin' coat for winter time. It's more like a sweater but so far I haven't been able to find a real coat for her. I don't think they make them.
The first smile caught on camera!!! Macie smiles all the time, all you have to do is talk to her and she is all smiles, but pull out the camera and the smile goes away. She's just camera shy I guess.My two favorite people. Aren't they cute?

So Cute!

I found this on one of my friends blogs and it totally made me cry. It's just so sweet, so I thought I'd post it for all the moms and future moms, and even to my dad friends. I love being a mom!

A baby asked God,
"They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"
God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."
God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."
Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to Me if I don't know the language?"
God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you to understand."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."
"Who will protect me?"
God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am To leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
God said, "You will simply call her, "Mommy."

8 Things Tag From Jamie

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. Steven
2. Macie
3. The Gospel
4. My testimony
5. Independence Day
6. Cooking
7. Books
8. Summer time

8 words/phrases I use often
1. I love you
2. WHAT!?!?
3. For Real?
4. Macie Ma-Goo
5. Sooo BIG! (you have to sing-song it)
6. NO FUSSING!
7. "So you know that part in Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse/Breaking Dawn???"
8. I did/said/thought something really dumb today...

8 things I want to do before I die
1. Go on a romantic vacation to Italy
2. Go on a world cruise (thanks Jamie)
3. Take Steve to Portugal
4. Write a love song
5. See my kids get married in the temple
6. Have one of my kids tell me I'm doing a good job.
7. Write a cookbook
8. Get healthy

8 things I've learned in the past
1. My mom is way smarter now than she was when I was in High School, or maybe I'm just more willing to listen...
2. No one is more important than family.
3. I will never be good at math (thanks again Jamie)
4. You have to take care of yourself before you can help anyone else.
5. Popularity ends at Graduation, respect last forever. Thank you Peter Breinholt :)
6. Macie will always wake up right before I sit down for dinner.
7. I would miss Steve even if I had never met him.
8. You never know when something good is going to happen, when it does, be grateful.

8 things I currently want/need
1. New clothes
2. A full nights sleep
3. A massage
4. To lose the last 6 pounds of baby weight + 20 I never should have gained in the first place.
5. A nap
6. To go to the grocery store
7. A black Ford Edge
8. A new hairstyle

8 places I want to see/visit
1. Hawaii
2. The Vatican
3. Forks, Washington
4. Portugal
5. Disney Land
6. Disney World
7. Morocco
8. New York City

8 people I tag
1. Kandice
2. Jene'
3. Colleen
4. Andi
5. Kristyn
6. Emily
7. Roxy
8. Amber

Random Photography...

Two posts in one day, bored you think? Actually, I've discovered the miracle that is baby Mylicon and my little bundle of joy is actually joyous! Poor girl gets gassy and nobody feels good when they are gassy, but thanks to a little drop of medicine she's a much happier girl. I thought I'd take this few minutes of freedom to load the pictures from my digital camera and realized that I have a bunch of photos that I meant to put up on the blog and have since forgotten so for your viewing pleasure, here they are!

I am nine months pregnant in this picture, don't I look good!?!? The day after my due date we decided to go to Gardner Village and walk around, we were trying to motivate the little one to get moving (it didn't work) but they had all this stuff set up for a beach party that was the next day so we decided to take advantage of the photo op.

This is Macie and her cousin Hayden. Hayden is a big boy and he sure is handsome! To bad he's her cousin...

Every day when Steve gets home from work he steals Macie away from me so that they can "talk". So far they have talked about snow, and the solar system, and programing languages. I'm sure there is more that I'm leaving out but it sure is a cute tradition that they have started.

Last but not least... Photos of Macie sleeping, she makes the cutest faces! I could watch her sleep all day (and I have a few times).

The First Official Photos!

Here are some pictures we had taken of Macie. Our photographer Hollie is so amazing! Macie cried the whole hour and Hollie still got some amazing shots. Check out her website at www.uniquephotographybyhollie.com she is great!

My Crazy New Life

So I'm pretty sure I have everyone I know, including my husband, convinced that I am completely unhappy with my new life. That is SO NOT TRUE! My little girl means more than my own life to me and I am so happy that I have her. However, being a mom is the hardest thing I have EVER done and it has been a semi rough transition. I have always been the kind of person who likes to get up and go do things at the spur-of-the-moment, and that just doesn't work with a baby. However, I am adjusting and learning that it's OK to plan ahead a little. The other issue is that while Macie was in the NICU she was allowed out of her Isolette for 30 minutes twice a day, in which time she had to be fed, diapered, weighed, and get her temperature and blood sugar taken, which didn't leave a whole lot of time for being cuddled and bonding with mom. So, for the last 4 weeks I've been convinced that Macie doesn't know who I am and that she thinks the nurses at the hospital are her mom because she was with them so much more than me for the first few days of her life. I know that Macie knows who I am and I know that she loves me. It's just sad sometimes when she is crying and everyone but me can make her settle down. I've been told that I can't settle her down because 9 out of 10 times when she is fussy it is because she thinks she is hungry and she knows that I am the food source so she won't calm down until she gets what she wants from me. I just hate seeing her cry in my arms and then calm down seconds after I hand her to someone else. So to everyone who I have complained to with my frustrations I hope you don't think that I am unhappy, I am happy, I'm just adjusting to my crazy new life.

Welcome Home Macie!!!

I've been meaning to get a new post up for a few days now, but life with a baby is keeping me very busy. Macie came home last Wednesday after 5 days in the NICU and she is doing so well. She is such a wonderful little girl, and such a blessing to our family. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support, we appreciate it so much!


Getting ready to come home!
Macie's first night at home.
One week old.
Getting ready for bed
Two tired girls... I held her up to my chest for two seconds and she was knocked out!

26 Hours of Labor and Going Home Without Macie

She has FINALLY arrived! A week overdue and 26 hours of labor, but Macie finally made her grand entrance into this world. It's been an exciting, but challenging few days for our family. Macie Lyn joined our family at 4:08 am on Friday August 15th. She weighed 6lbs. 5oz. and was 19 inches long. She has LOTS of dark brown hair and at the moment big blue-gray eyes. She actually has eyebrows too! (which I hear is unusual for babies...). Macie spent most of her first day in the nursery under the heat lamps and then Saturday morning they sent her to the NICU because she is having trouble keeping up her blood sugar and maintaining a high enough temperature. Steve and I came home on Sunday but Macie is still in the NICU until she can keep her temperature up. She is doing much better keeping her blood sugar steady, now that she has ended her hunger strike. In the NICU they have all the babies on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule. Macie knows exactly when it is time to eat and like her mom, she is not patient when it comes to waiting for a meal. The biggest challenge now is to get her to stay warm outside of her Isolette. Once she can maintain 98.6 for 48 hours in an open crib, she can come home! Today the nurses turned the temperature in her Isolette down to room temperature and dressed Macie (until now she has just been in a daiper). Our hope is that she will be able to keep her temperature stable without the heaters running. Steve and I want to say thank you to everyone for all their love and support for us and for Macie. Please keep her in your prayers!

Macie and Mommy...

She is already a Daddy's girl!

Steve You Rock!!!

The other night I was messing around with some of the code in the HTML of our blog layout. Because my husband is a computer programmer I, for some reason, think that I have somehow absorbed some of his smartness. NOT TRUE!!! I totally messed up our blog. Basically I erased EVERYTHING! I reset the baskground to the original black, deleted all of our friends, lost everything! Steve got it all back for me!!!! On top of that, he went into the HTML and got rid of all the stuff that I was trying to get rid of in the first place. Did I mention I hate pYzam.com??? I was trying to fix problems I've been having with getting everything to load when you open our page. I got our very first background from pyzam and then when I changed to a way cuter one from Cutest Blog on the Block, the code from the pYzam.com background was all jacked up in the HTML so there was no way (for me) to get rid of it without deleting everything else. However, Steve was able to go in and get rid of all the extra junk (because he is smart)! Now our blog is back to normal and should be able to load without errors... I am so glad that it is fixed, it really was driving me nuts! THANK YOU SWEETIE!!!

Echo...Echo...Echo...

This year for the 24th of July weekend we went up to Echo Reservoir. Since before I was born my family has been spending their summers up at Echo. We haven't been going up as much as we used to when my sister and I were little but every time we do we have such a blast. It is so fun to sit back in the shade and just be with the family. We always play games (mostly Scrabble...it's a must) and make s'mores. We had a boat when I was little but my parents sold it to buy a mini van so until I met Steve we would just go and hang out by the lake and play in the water. Now that Steve and I are married we take his family's boat every once in a while and it is such a blast. I LOVE being on the boat, even now when I'm two weeks away from having a baby! I have tried wake boarding before (not this summer obviously) but I can't seem to master it. Steve and his brothers and brother in law are all really good though and it is so fun to watch them do jumps and tricks. Steve tried a back flip this weekend and landed upside down in the water, I guess he needs a little practice at that one! Steve's cousins came with us and got pulled around on the tube as well, we took some pretty good pictures of that and I did an excellent job holding the flag since I couldn't wake board. I was going to go for a slow ride on the tube until we realized that none of the life jackets would zip over my belly! Do they make maternity life jackets? Anyways, here are some of the pictures we took. We hope everyone had a great 24th!

The Basement Flooded but My Water Won't Break!

So this is going to be a picture story....
Here I am 38 weeks pregnant. I went to the doctor yesterday and he said that I am 50% effaced but not dilated one little bit. Basically he says there is no chance that the baby is coming early, unless she changes her mind in the next few days. I wasn't getting my hopes up, but it would be nice if she decided to come!























Anyways, while Steve and I are at my doctors office, both of our cell phones start ringing off the hook. Both our mom's call us, my neighbors call, but we finish up my appointment and say we'll just call them back. Then when we are walking out into the parking lot my mom calls Steve again and says "Go home right now!!! Where have you been??? Why aren't you answering your phones???" So we head home and this is what we pull up to....
This is our driveway.....


















This is our next door neighbors house....


















Our house from the front.... (that is about 14 inches of water being held out by the garage door)


















The front of the house again...


















This is the river that was flowing into our driveway....


















And these are the nice Fire Men who came to rescue our house!


















Oh the joys of being a home owner! We ended up with about an inch of water inside the house, but mostly in the laundry room and the bathroom, so hopefully we will be able to clean it up on our own for the most part. I would post pictures of the inside of the house but the lighting is bad (because they disconnected our gas and electric) so you can't really see any of the water.

What a day!!!!!

The Bump Debut!

32 Weeks -

Okay, this is for everyone that has been giving me crap for not posting pictures of my belly... Now you see why; Its HUGE. Yes, I have 8 weeks left, I don't think I'm going to be able to walk! But, The doctor says that everything is right on. The baby is measuring within 24 hours of my due date and every time I go to the doctor he tells me I could probably stand to gain more weight. I think he is crazy! I haven't gained much, but I don't think you can tell that by looking at me. I hope you are all happy now, I'm going to try and take pictures once a week from here on out.

Baby Update

So I decided I should clarify my last post a little... I am THINKING about having my baby drug free, I haven't decided yet, but I am researching my options. Please don't email me and tell me you don't think I can do it! I don't know if I can do it either but if I decide to try I don't want to be freaked out by other people's labor horror stories... Also, my doctor didn't say that I couldn't have an epidural after I'm at a 7 he just said that the epidural can slow down or speed up your labor and they don't want to get me halfway there and then give me an epidural not knowing how I will react to it. I could get an epidural during the pushing phase if I want it, I just have to deal with it if it slows down my labor. I hope that all makes sense, thanks to everyone for the good advice and for your support!

Getting Ready for the BIG Day!

So Steve and I started our childbirth class last night at St. Mark's Hospital. I am thinking about trying to have the baby without any drugs, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough. I've been talking to lots of moms about it and I want get as much information as possible so I know what to expect. My Doc told me I could dilate up to seven centimeters and still get the epidural, but seven is the point of no return, after that I'd just have to tough it out. With or without drugs I think every mom deserves a gold star just for having a baby! I've been so amazed that throughout this whole pregnancy my body knows what to do and it adapts so well to all the changes that are going on. I'll try to get some pictures of my giant tummy posted soon!

I'm new at this!

I decided that now that Steve and I are starting a family and moving into a new stage in our lives I needed a modern, grown up way of keeping in touch with friends and family (more grown up than myspace at least!). I'm working on getting familiar with the site and how it's different from what I'm used to, but check back with me once in a while to see what kind of progress I've made! Steve is so smart when it comes to computers, but I'm a little in the dark when it comes to figuring things like this out! Wish me luck!