Out and About

Since having Amy it feels like we aren't able to go anywhere or do anything beyond the most essential tasks. So when Robert took Sam to work with him yesterday, I dressed up little Amy and we headed out, just us girls (don't you just LOVE this blue and brown outfit?! Too bad I didn't have any socks to match). It was so nice to get around to the little things that I have been dying to do like shopping for fabric for a few projects.
Then we came home and both ate and I had enough time to get things cleaned up before Sam was ready to be picked up. We had an enjoyable afternoon just taking it easy and just got done with our walk when Daddy came home and we decided to go out for dinner (pizza!) and to get flowers for the front of the house. It was a great feeling to get so much done, yet with so little stress. Ah, the things we appreciate! :)

Motherhood

When I am up in the middle of the night with Amy who just won't go to sleep despite all Mommy's best efforts, it helps to remember sweet moments like these. Seeing my children sleeping so peacefully fills me with gratitude for the opportunity of being a mom and all the cares and worries of how long it takes us to get dressed or the amount that I don't get done all fall away. My family is healthy and happy most of the time and truly that is what matters most.

Oh no!!

Amy spit up all over me today and now I am dreading that the throwing-up-volumous-amounts-of-fluid spittiness that plagued Sam might be a reoccuring thing with our children. Please cross your fingers for us that we won't have to go through the months of changing outfits six times a day and washing totally saturated cloth diapers (used as burp rags) again!!

Our Week

I can't believe another week has gone by already! We've just been treking through each day trying to keep up. We want to thank all of our wonderful family and friends who have helped bring in meals this week. It is amazing how busy, yet unproductive our days are lately :)

We have had a few cool days this week, so it has been fun to be able to put Amy in a few warmer outfits. I love this outfit because it is blue instead of the typical pink or purple. Believe it or not this is a 0-3 month outfit and she just drowned in it! I think it is mainly due to the design of the top, but still.

And lastly, here is a picture of the first little dress Amy has worn yet. It was fairly warm and even though we didn't go to church, I decided to get her dressed a little dressed up for the day. We are really beginning to get in a good routine for feeding, which is a relief for Mommy. Robert is finally done with planting, so we will be seeing more of him now. Sam still has loads of energy we work hard at expending and continues to dote on his baby sister. I am recovering fairly well from the C-section. I did overdo it yesterday when Robert came home early and we decided to transplant all of my plants from the old house after already spending the morning cleaning the office closet and putting our books on the bookshelf. But a day with Daddy's help with the kids and meals has helped tremendously and now I can take it easy again until the rest of the garden needs to go in Memorial Day weekend.

Catch Up

Once again the pictures are in reverse order from Wednesday up to today. This morning Robert took Sam out to fly his kite some more. We had decided to get Sam a firetruck when we had Amy to give him something new and fun to help keep him entertained. But when Robert took him to Toys R Us to get the large one with all the cool buttons and such, he told Robert he didn't want it. Not wanting to come home empty-handed, they decided on a kite instead. It has been the best idea with how much wind we have here in Rigby. Once Robert helps get the kite up, Sam can fly it for quite a while all by himself and just loves watching it!!

Last night we went over to the Potters to have dinner because it was Oma's last night visiting and the kiddos had a blast playing with Uncle Robert. First was sword-fighting with sticks from a sort of erector set (right, Corinne?) and then it progressed to horsey rides with way too many passengers.

Cute little Caleb! This guy is getting so big! Just in the last week he decided he could start walking and has been really rather steady on his feet. He will be turning one at the end of the month - crazy!!

Ok these next pictures are from our venture to Porter Park in Rexburg yesterday. Julie, Corinne, Oma and I took all the kiddos to play for what turned out to be the best two hours of the day and fun was had by all. It was too cute when all the kids went over to this bench to sit and eat their apples. So we got a nice picture, an eating-your-apple picture and a silly picture.

Natalie and Mommy sharing a hug - two very beautiful girls!!

Here's little Amy chillin' in her carseat at the park in a really cute, girly outfit with coordinating headband/bow. One of the funnest parts of having a little girl is all the accessories that you get to incorporate with the already adorable outfits.

First day we put actual clothes on little Amy instead of just a sleeper. Pink and brown is probably my favorite color combo.

Jake with his fiance' Stacey. We are so excited they finally decided to make it official and get engaged! :) Stacey was so sweet to offer to bring dinner and cake Thursday night so we could celebrate Jake's birthday with him without stressing me out. Turned out to be a great thing because I was wiped out after spending the day at doctor appointments for both me and Amy, a picnic at the park with the Potter girls and running errands.

Sammy was gracious enough to share his beloved "spaceman" (Buzz Lightyear) candle with Jakey for his birthday!

Serious Camilla holding little Amy

Karalie holding Amy

Lucy holding little Amy

Natalie holding Amy. The Potter girls came over Wednesday to spend the afternoon with us. We had so much fun getting to visit with them and Sam loved getting to play outside in the dirt with his best buddies, the girls.

Amy's crib all decked out with the beautiful sheets and crib skirt made for her by Robert's mom. I was so relieved when the set came and the mesh bumper pads matched so well. The box with the quilt and crib stuff came the day before we had little Amy and Corinne and I had so much fun getting the crib all set up even though Amy won't sleep in the crib for a little while yet.

The quilt. Need I say more? It just so gorgeous!!

I thought this picture was so adorable!

Sam is such a great big brother. He continues to dote on Amy and asks all the time (usually at the wrong time) to hold Amy and loves to help with anything we need to do for her, even feeding :) This day while holding Amy, he pointed out that they were both wearing green and matched and was so excited when he made this discovery.

Brotherly love. Well, that catches us up for the last few days, hope you enjoy the pictures - sorry there are so many! But these little ones change so much that you have to take almost daily pictures! Plus we love showing off the cute outfits :)

Lessons Learned

Here are the latest pictures of our little gal. We got her all dolled up for some visitors yesterday and I just couldn't resist a picture of how sweet and content she was in the bouncey seat.

So my last post I mentioned how I had forgotten how many diapers you can go through with a newborn. Our next lesson learned is how essential it is going to be to develop my skills of doing things one-handed. It was quite the funny sight yesterday as I was trying to pour Sam some cereal from a bag while holding little Amy at the same time! We are all continuing to adjust to the new normal fairly well and went for our first family walk last night. It was just down the street since Mommy is still recovering, but it was good to get out and to do something together as a family.

Quick Post

Just wanted to post some cute pictures we took of Sam and Amy this morning. Amy is a champ at breastfeeding now, it is such a relief that it hasn't been a major obstacle! Sam was quite whiney yesterday, which made me worry about his adjusting to the new norm, but has been better today. He loves getting things for me to help with Amy and has asked to hold her several times so I think he is enjoying being a big brother. And to all of those who are skeptical, I know it will most likely be up and down, but I am grateful that at least for now it is up and that Sam can be here with us and I don't have to ship him off to someone else's because I can't handle him. That at this point is what I consider important.

It was so fun today Amy decided to stay up for a little while. Everyone knows babies are really sleepy in the beginning and she has had times when she has opened her eyes, but today was the first time she just sat and stayed awake for a while. Thus all the pictures trying to grasp what a beautiful and content baby she is.

With a little hat on. Don't remember where we got this little hat, but it is adorable, even though it is still quite large for her head. I am learning that there is alot I have forgotten about having a newborn and one of those many things is how many times you change diapers! Yesterday we had an episode where she pooped six times in a row, soiling four diapers, before we had break enough to get her dressed again. And today I would change her poopy diaper and just as I am getting her wrapped back up, another squirt! Quite the change from no diapers at all for nearly a year, let alone so many in one day!

Mother's Day Gift

So Robert and I have wanted to get a king bed for a while. A queen just isn't big enough for both of us when I am pregnant and since I have been pregnant four times in the five years we have been married, it has been an issue. We had thought about getting a bedroom set a few weeks ago and found one we really liked at Sam's Club, but with buying the house and a new little one on the way, we decided that it should wait.

While I was in the hospital recovering from the C-section, Robert got that very distinct look on his face that usually means he just came up with the perfect gift. He told me he was going to take Sam Friday morning and go get Mommy a Mother's Day gift. What is funny is that even though I knew he had come with what he thought was an awesome idea, I was ok with waiting to see what the surprise was. Turns out Robert was looking at our bank accounts and he simply decided that it was something we could afford and something that would make my life more comfortable and that was all it took for him to make the decision. When he went to Sam's Club to buy the one we had admired he found the set was on sale for 50% off for Mother's Day! He bought the set and then went over to the mattress outlet store and purchased a very nice mattress and boxspring and new sheets. Ben and Corinne went in on the conspiracy to get the entire thing home and completely set up for when I got home from the hospital Saturday afternoon. I could not believe my eyes!! Of course I started bawling (I have been a real boob lately) and the Potters had also taken our old bed downstairs and set it up for when my mom comes to help out and had cleaned the entire house. Something I had meant to do before the C-section, but chose to party instead. It is times like this that I cannot believe what a kind, thoughtful husband I have!! Thankyou sweetheart for once again spoiling me and reminding me how much you love me! I hope all of our mother friends and family out there had a wonderful Mother's Day, I know mine was unforgettable!!

The Story of Amy

Ok, so as usual the pictures are in reverse order, but at least we finally got some up for you all to see our newest addition. This is Amy next to my friend, Julie's, little guy John who is six months old. He looks like a monster compared to our "large" baby :) It's just funny because three days ago John looked so small. Oh how our perspectives change!

Here she is this morning. The hospital I delivered at does some very generous things for their maternity patients, including a gift of a soft swaddler with the hospital's logo embroidered on the front.

All dolled up so everyone KNOWS she is a girl. I got tired of people calling her a "him" even with the pink tag on the bassinet :)

Chillin' with Auntie Corinne. Corinne is my oldest sister and just moved to Rigby in January with her family. Her sweet husband offered to take all the kids (six including Sam) all day Friday so Corinne could be with me at the hospital helping me take care of Amy and figure out the juggling act of breastfeeding.

Here's Sam holding his baby sister for the first time. He was so excited to come see us at the hospital.

My two sweet children. The changes have been difficult for Sam, but he has been doing well all things considered and I think spending the day with Mommy and Daddy tomorrow will help things alot. But we want to thank both sets of Potters for taking such good care of Sam and going the extra mile to do things with him to help not miss me as much.

Amy being taken care of by the nurses after delivery. She was born at 7:46am and weighed 8 pounds 8 oz. and is 20 inches long.

Proud Daddy.

First family picture. Robert couldn't get over the fact that they put a sticker on my forehead (to keep track of my temperature during surgery) and kept teasing me about it. The C-section was alot better this time around in my opinion. It helped that we had an awesome anesthesiologist who was very personable and also thoughtful. She took pictures for us and also unstrapped my arm so that I could at least stroke Amy while Robert held her for a little bit. She also pulled the drape down so I could see when they pulled Amy out. With Kaylie, I was only able to see her for a second and kiss her head before they took her away.

Amy has been great since delivery. She had no issues breathing and has only struggled with waking up when time to eat. She latches on and sucks well. Recovery from the C-section for me was a little rough in the beginning, which is the biggest reason why there were no phone calls or pictures for a while. Sorry to everyone who worried because we didn't contact them right away. But we are both home and doing great now.

I told Robert it was honestly present enough to be home with my new baby girl on Mother's Day, but he insisted on getting me something. So Friday he took Sam to go get Mommy a gift and he was so excited about it, it made me wonder but with everything else going on, I didn't have much time to speculate. Plus, I wanted to be surprised. When we got home today, I found my gift waiting in our bedroom. It was the bedroom!! I will leave it at that for now because I have to go get Sam in bed and feeding Amy, but I will post pictures and more explanation of my Mother's Day gift when I get another chance. Happy Mother's Day to all our mothers and friends out there!!

The End is Coming!

For those who haven't heard yet, the plan is to go ahead with a C-section on Thursday at noon if little Amy Rose doesn't show up on her own. We are all very excited to have her here so soon and will post pictures as soon as possible! Wish us luck!

Trying to Pass the Time

So the days seem to be getting longer and longer as we wait for our little one to arrive. Today was one of those days. It doesn't help that Daddy has been working long hours, either. So today after doing almost all the usual entertaining activities (digging in the dirt, riding bike outside, reading books, etc) we decided to pick some of the larger rocks from our yard and paint them.

And instead of just letting Sam have at it, I decided to get in on the action as well. (I needed something to occupy my mind as well) It turned out to be quite fun and Sam loved it!

And as is usual with young kids, the paints ended up all mixed together and the rocks were mainly black with hints of color swirled throughout. For those who don't know, if we don't have the baby by Thursday we will most likely be having her via scheduled C-section. Have another dr. appointment tomorrow, so we will update you with the definite plans then.