Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my view from our couch, sitting with family and friends, full from turkey and stuffing, enjoying our afternoon. Hope you are all having an equally lovely holiday today!

11/24/09

So.

Turns out we are making a last minute trip to Redding for Thanksgiving. And by last minute, I mean we decided last night at ten pm.

12 hours in a car. With a 7 week old. Twice in five days.

Are we crazy? Yes, yes, we are.

BUT. We get to see Mom and Scott's show. (What show? See here. Need tickets? See here.) And Isabelle will get to meet aunts and uncles and cousins and all kinds of special people. Plus, I'm sure we will hit the Burrito Bandito. So, there's that.

If you need me tomorrow, sorry, I'm spending the day in the car with my two favorite people.

A few of my favorite (baby) things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes.
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes!

Okay enough of that. Isabelle's arrival has prompted an overwhelming influx of baby crap. Clothes and toys and bedding and burp cloths and accessories etc. We have so much stuff. Honestly, I know there are things we won't use or that she won't wear, but some things have been invaluable to us the last two months. (Holy hell! Two months!) So here is my unsolicited opinion on all things baby related. You're welcome.

1. Ergo Carrier. Recommended by my friend Kaylene, this carrier has been awesome. Isabelle sits in it while I clean or do dishes, its perfect for outings, and it is so versatile. Bonus: I can put it on by myself, and it holds up to 40+ pounds, plus it is super comfortable.

2. Mylicon gas drops- works wonders on a fussy baby. Never leave home without them. I'm not kidding, we will turn around for them.

3. Homemade burp cloths. We use them for EVERYTHING. I made 8, and we haven't used any of the other million that we have. They are super absorbent, they wash easily, plus they are cute. Next time you are having a baby, call me, and I will send some your way. I love them THAT much.
4. Lily padz. My sister-in-law JaNae gave these to me at my shower and let me tell you what. They are the coolest thing since sliced bread. I won't go into detail for fear my mother will fall over dead if I discuss breast feeding on my blog, but seriously, get some asap.


5. Skip Hop changing pad. Perfect if you don't need your whole diaper bag, or if your husband is running to change the baby. It's small, holds diapers and wipes, and unfolds for convenient baby placement. The mat can be cleaned easily, which is important when those size one diapers are still a little bit too big. I will not tell you how we found that out. Plus, its stylish without being too baby/girly/pink. Know what I mean? Bonus: Well priced! We got ours from csnbaby.com, which also has great nursery furniture.

6. Moses Basket by Land of Nod. (We have the green one) Easy to move around, Isabelle has slept soundly in it since day one. We can put it our room, in the crib, on the floor, in the living room, in the bathroom, literally ANYWHERE.

7. A swing. Any swing, really. Ours is a Brentwood Baby Swing, graciously gifted by our ward. I don't think I would ever get a shower before 6 pm without this thing. She loves it. It plays music and has nature sounds and has a bunch of different swing settings.
8. Oxyclean. Great for honestly any stain, especially a certain one gifted by our sweet daughter on a frequent basis. My mom taught me to use it as a pre-soak for really soiled items, then throw a scoop in each laundry load. Comes out clean every. single. time. Billy Mays, may you rest in pitchman peace.

9. This baby:

Sorry, not available in stores.

Don't bother with: bulb nasal aspirator (q-tips work much better), A Snoogle, any newborn clothes without feet, those special swaddling things (receiving blankets worked best for us), and also, getting dressed.

xo.

Dad's 52nd

My dad flew out this past weekend for a whirlwind 48-hour visit to meet Miss Isabelle. We had a great time. Saturday night we celebrated his 52nd birthday (which is today!) with dinner at Market Street and a famous Morgan Cake.

When I was a little girl, I would not let my mother touch my hair. I would scream and cry and throw fits when it was time to have it combed or styled. I mean, total meltdown. As a result of this, my mom only had a few options of haircuts for me. Let's just say that me and Timmy from next door had the exact same hair style. (Not your fault, mom.)

With five kids to get ready for church on Sunday mornings, my parents would divide and conquer and share the kid-getting-ready duties. I remembering standing in my parents bathroom and dad blow drying my short hair. He was so good at it, he would brush it as it dried so it curled perfectly under all the way around my head. I will never forget how his hands felt on my head as he did my hair. The same hands have stitched up my face, they have gently laid on my head during special priesthood blessings, the same hands have washed and dried little Isabelle's hair this past weekend.

Dad, Happy Birthday, I love all of our memories together. Thanks for coming out last weekend and making more.

Isabelle's Newborns

We had some newborn photos taken of Isabelle when she was 14 days old. Here are our favorites- though ALL of them were fantastic, it took us forever to choose. Photos were taken by Laura of Means a Lot Photography in Heber City.

Which is your favorite?

Porktastrophe.

Sooooo.

Thursday afternoon. I'm managing a slightly fussy baby. I'm also trying to clean our house up simultaneously. I'm cleaning out the fridge (with one arm) and I toss some old pork into the garbage disposal. I turn it on, and run the water. And water runs all over my feet. Not just regular water. Dirty stinky pork water. Turns out a pipe under our sink has busted, and that giant tupperware of pork is now evenly distributed all over my cupboard slash floor.

You can probably imagine that I am ecstatic at this point. I love messes. I especially love stinky messes. There are pork bits in all of my dishtowels, all over the cupboard walls, all over everything. Cue Isabelle's hungry cry.

So what do you do when you have a hungry baby AND a giant pork mess? You leave the mess. And you feed the baby.

Jazz came home early and put on his man tool belt and went to work on our sink. Three hours and three trips to Home Depot later, we had running water again, and a pork free floor. I threw all of our dirty pork towels into my washer, not really thinking, and then I had pork bits all over my washer and dryer. Not one of my finest moments.

I guess the lesson here is throw your leftovers in the garbage, not in the sink. And also have working pipes.

How stuff is going.

So I guess it is time for a general update. I mean, pictures are fun and all but they don't say "Hi, I'm sleep deprived." or "I never get dressed."

1. Isabelle is a dream baby. I'm not kidding, I don't know what we did to deserve such a genuinely good little child. She eats well, she loves to sleep, she hardly has fussy time, and she is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. She is starting to grow out of her newborn clothes ('bout time!) and is moving into her 0-3 outfits. At the pediatricians on Friday, she was five weeks old and weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces (she was 7 lbs 4 ozs at birth). Both my dad and Jazz's dad are coming out this weekend to meet her, which should be really fun.

2. Jazz is so helpful. Have I mentioned that? So. Helpful. I think he is the only reason why I am functioning normally and getting enough sleep. He is so good and natural with Izzie- its like he has been doing this stuff forever. He often takes the early morning post-feeding time so that I can get some sleep. He is my hero.

3. I feel 80% back to normal. I'm still really fat, which kinda sucks. I get the ok to hit the gym at my doctors appointment next week so that should be good. It took 9 months to put all that weight on so I figure I should give myself at least that long to get it all off. Isabelle and I take walks a lot, and it feels nice to be outside. I love this time of year.

A lot of my friends are popping up pregnant and are in their first trimesters. I feel like I was just there! I've been reflecting on my pregnancy lately, chatting with my friends, and I have concluded that overall I loved being pregnant. In the beginning, before I was showing, it was like I was carrying this secret around with me that no one knew. As I got bigger, I was so proud of my body and what I was doing, I felt so important. Towards the end, yes it was uncomfortable but it was just such an exciting time for us. Plus, I got to wear elastic pants. So, there's that.

Throughout my pregnancy, I belonged to an online birth board- a group of about 4,000 women who were all due in September '09. It was a great way to feel connected to other women going through the same thing that I was experiencing. Anyway, someone from my birth board who had a baby in September is already pregnant again. Holy fishsticks, isn't that insane? Every time I am feeding the baby, or doing the dishes, or trying to sleep, I think "how does anyone do this with two kids. Or three kids. OR MORE." I feel like I need to raise Isabelle until she is 18 and THEN have another baby. I'm sure when the time is right we will add to our family, and I will be thrilled to experience pregnancy again.

That being said. I don't get dressed or put on makeup everyday. Sometimes we don't even make it out of the house. I live in pajamas and wear my spit-up stained t-shirts with pride. This is by far the greatest and most fulfilling job I have ever had. I honestly feel like this is my divine calling, what I was put on this earth to do, and it feels wonderful to be doing something so rewarding.

And what would be a blog post without a picture:

tonight...

Tonight I'm typing with one hand so tomorrow when I have my other hand I will write a legit blog. Until then, here is one of my favorite pictures.... Isabelle's little feetsies wearing booties my mom saved from when I was an infant. Kinda makes me want to burst out "its the CIRCLE of Liiiiife."

Halloween

We had a very low key Halloween evening with Jazz's family. I mean, what else are you supposed to do with a 4-week old baby on Halloween? Isabelle dressed in a festive jumpsuit for the occasion- it was quite big on her, you can see the sleeves rolled up. Her little legs didn't really fill out the bottom of her outfit so a lot of time they just flopped around. But, CUTE right?

Hey family-in-random-places-of-the-United-States--- here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

4 Weeks

Dear Isabelle,

Today you are four wonderful weeks old. I can't believe a month has come and gone since you came into this world. You still fit into your newborn clothes, although they are getting snug and a few of your 0-3 month outfits are being put into rotation. You love to eat and sleep and grab onto our fingers with your tiny hands. You have beautiful skin and that hair of yours is getting longer (well, mostly just in the back).

You are getting close to rolling over, which is kind of insane. You were on your tummy, asleep on my chest, and you rolled onto your back into the crook of my arm. And then I knew that you are a GENIUS BABY. Or else just really good at motor skills.

The other night you were having some fussy time after a 3 am feeding, and I was running out of ideas that usually calm you down. I was thinking of what my mom would do to calm me. My mom always sang to us- lullabyes and silly songs and musicals and everything. I always loved hearing her voice, and so I sang to you.

You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away

I rocked you while I sang this song over and over, and you soon fell fast asleep in my arms. These are my favorite moments, when it is just me and you, and you are so peaceful and serene.

Isabelle, you are a perfect addition to our family. We are loving getting to know your adorable personality and everyday you do something new. Its hard to remember a time before you were born, I feel like I know you so well. I could pick your round little face out of a million.

xoxox



Momma

Sneak peak of Izzie's newborns...more to come..