3 Weeks!

This past Wednesday Ellie turned 3 weeks old! I can't believe how fast time is going by. It seems like she was just born last week. UGH! If I knew how to slow time down I would do it without hesitation.

She's still an adorable newborn but she's quickly loosing her newborn look. She's looking more like a beautiful baby girl and less and less like a grumpy old man. When she was first born I instantly thought she looked just like Gary's Grandpa Hall which only goes to show what an old man she was!

I love the shape of her almond eyes. When she's eating I can't stop looking at her and when I do look at the TV or computer for a while I feel so guilty for not staring at her longer. This guilt sets in when I'm not holding her too. If I could eat, shower, get dressed and clean with her attached to me I would. I am madly in love with this baby girl and I can't get enough of her.

There were a few days where Ellie was staying up til 1:00 am. She would then wake up between 3:00 and 4:00 to eat again and then again around 7:00. This was making me really grumpy. I feel bad but I would get so frustrated that I'd have to just hand her over to Gary and he'd take her upstairs to play till 1:00 when she'd finally sleep. The next day I'd feel so bad for being so frustrated though. She really is worth all the sleep deprivation in the world!

The past few days she's gone back to her good old sleeping pattern. She goes to sleep around 10:00 and sleeps til about 3:00 or 4:00, eats for an hour (after I change her diaper) and goes back to sleep til about 7:00 or 8:o0. We get up and I eat breakfast and maybe shower. Then we go back to bed for her skin to skin feeding and nap. When we wake up I get her dressed for the day and she starts her day of eating, sleeping, pooping, eating more, sleeping more and pooping some more! Finally at 6:00 when Daddy comes home we try to keep her awake til 9:00 or 10:00 when we all go to bed together but not before we read scriptures in English and Spanish and say our prayers.

I jinxed myself. I was bragging confidently last night that Ellie sleeps well through the night. I of course have to wake her up to feed her every 3 hours since she's too little to sleep through the night but she lets us sleep and even when she does wake up, she lays there so calmly. She's been perfect. She eats all day long but I have been fine with that since it results in this great nights sleep.

Last night was a whole new deal. It was similar to her first night of life. She fell asleep at 9:00. It was bit earlier than I like to go to bed but I figured the extra sleep wouldn't be a bad idea. As usual, I had to wake her up after 3 hours. She ate and I changed her. She went back to bed as usual. An hour later she woke up to eat. Another hour later, again, she woke up to eat. And again, and again and again every hour til 6:45 when Gary's alarm went off. He was so sweet and took her upstairs as he got ready for work. Knowing I was beyond tired he woke up his parents to keep her while I slept. I got to sleep for 3 full hours and it was wonderful!

Now lets just hope she sleeps better tonight!

Our First Week

Well, I survived my first week with Ellie! Gary went back to work on Monday and I really wasn't sure how I'd survive alone with no one to help hold her feet back while changing her, no one to pick her up out of her bed, no one to burp her. It certainly made me realize that doing this as a single parent would be quite a haste.

I have learned to manage alone during the day. Each afternoon I look so forward to Gary's return home. He is such an amazing dad and he really is the perfect husband. I'm so blessed!

This morning (it's Saturday) I woke up to my baby MIA. I was almost concerned until I realized that her daddy had taken her out of the room to let me sleep in! See, he really is perfect. He even did something he swore he'd never do. He changed a poopy diaper and he did that perfectly too.

Ellie and I have certainly bonded this week and I'm thankful for that. I have started to figure her out and I am learning new things about her every day (like: she loves to suck on my index finger but will scream if you giver her a pacifier). She is the sweetest little baby and I'm madly in love with her.

As a side note, I am extremely thankful that my body is recovering so well! I feel awesome and I have already lost 24 of my 31 pounds. Seven pounds to go and I'll weigh as much as I did before I was pregnant. I don't know how that's possible. I really think it's because I worked all 9 months and chasing 16 toddlers is a lot of exercise.  I'm 90% convinced that my stomach is smaller now than it was before I was pregnant. Seriously.

Being a New MomI

I spent the first few day's of Ellie's life trying very hard to soak up every second. I wanted to remember it all. I took and still take pictures all of the time trying to savor it all. I know that this time is going to fly by and that I need to enjoy every moment of being a new mom. I am trying!

I wanted to write a little about what it's like but right now, it feels so boring I'm not all too inspired to write about it. A day looks like this:

6:45 Gary's alarm goes off
7:20 He leaves for work. I either am sleeping or up with the baby. If I'm up I eat with him and follow him around like a lost puppy trying to enjoy each moment with him. Once he leaves we go back to sleep.
Between 8:00 and 9:00 Ellie and I decide to get up for the day. We go up and eat breakfast with Gary's parents.
Once I'm done with breakfast Kent or Jeannette hold's Ellie while I shower.
We go downstairs with 2 filled water bottles and strip down for a skin to skin feeding and nap.
Around noon we go back upstairs and eat lunch.
We come back down stairs, Ellie naps, I do tasks such as making appointments, helping Gary with business chores.
As Ellie wakes, sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps, eats and poops some more I watch TV, blog, take pictures of her, email my mom, facebook... look at Ellie
Finally at around 5:45 Gary comes home and we smother him with love. The poor boy is bombarded because I have missed him all day long.
6:00 We all eat dinner with Gary's parent's.
7:00 Gary, Ellie and I get in bed and spend the evening together. Gary reads Ellie scriptures in Spanish. After feedings he snuggles with her as I read scriptures in English. He then sings her hymns in Spanish.
Around 10:00 Gary goes to bed and Ellie and I start her cluster feedings
Between 11:00 and 12:00 she goes down to bed.
3-5 hours later she wakes up for a changing and feeding and goes back to sleep
6:45ish Gary's alarm goes off and we start all over again


I love my simple days. I love spending all of my time with my adorable baby girl.

Being a New MomI

I spent the first few day's of Ellie's life trying very hard to soak up every second. I wanted to remember it all. I took and still take pictures all of the time trying to savor it all. I know that this time is going to fly by and that I need to enjoy every moment of being a new mom. I am trying!

I wanted to write a little about what it's like but right now, it feels so boring I'm not all too inspired to write about it. A day looks like this:

6:45 Gary's alarm goes off
7:20 He leaves for work. I either am sleeping or up with the baby. If I'm up I eat with him and follow him around like a lost puppy trying to enjoy each moment with him. Once he leaves we go back to sleep.
Between 8:00 and 9:00 Ellie and I decide to get up for the day. We go up and eat breakfast with Gary's parents.
Once I'm done with breakfast Kent or Jeannette hold's Ellie while I shower.
We go downstairs with 2 filled water bottles and strip down for a skin to skin feeding and nap.
Around noon we go back upstairs and eat lunch.
We come back down stairs, Ellie naps, I do tasks such as making appointments, helping Gary with business chores.
As Ellie wakes, sleeps, eats, poops, sleeps, eats and poops some more I watch TV, blog, take pictures of her, email my mom, facebook... look at Ellie
Finally at around 5:45 Gary comes home and we smother him with love. The poor boy is bombarded because I have missed him all day long.
6:00 We all eat dinner with Gary's parent's.
7:00 Gary, Ellie and I get in bed and spend the evening together. Gary reads Ellie scriptures in Spanish. After feedings he snuggles with her as I read scriptures in English. He then sings her hymns in Spanish.
Around 10:00 Gary goes to bed and Ellie and I start her cluster feedings
Between 11:00 and 12:00 she goes down to bed.
3-5 hours later she wakes up for a changing and feeding and goes back to sleep
6:45ish Gary's alarm goes off and we start all over again


I love my simple days. I love spending all of my time with my adorable baby girl.

Ellie Renae Hall

The Birth Story

On Tuesday November 1st I went in for my weekly appointment knowing we were going to be setting up a day to be induced. I was nervous! I was excited! I was scared.

The doctor measured me, listened to the heart beat and checked for dilation. When she said "wow! You are a bit more dilated than you were last week" I expected to hear I was at a 2 maybe 3. No, I was at a 1.5 cm and 75% effaced. I was disappointed that I hadn't really progressed much... She then asked if I wanted to have the baby "tonight or tomorrow night"? With a snow storm on the way, I thought going in that night would be a good idea! She called the hospital and told me to go in at 9:30 pm to be induced. I was so excited!!!! Gary was bummed they wouldn't make time for us earlier in the day. We really wanted to have the baby on 11/1/11.

I called Gary first of course. He was incredibly excited since he was anxiously awaiting Ellie to come. He said "I don't like waiting! It's like waiting for Christmas morning but not knowing when it will come". I love how excited he was to meet the baby!

Second I called my work to let them know that I would be taking the rest of the day off. I wanted time to rest for my all nighter and to do some last minute cleaning and of course, I had to squeeze in one last Target shopping trip. I went out and stocked up on some things and headed home. I cleaned up the room, cleaned the sheets on our bed and did some laundry and vacuumed.

Gary came home early to get a nap in before the big event and we ate an early dinner. Jeanette made beef stroganoff and I made some Wingers sauce to go with it!  Gary and I tried resting though I'm not sure we actually got in any sleep.

At 8:50 I was ready to go and Gary, as usual, thought I was silly for being ready to go too early. I procrastinated a few minutes and at 9:00 we headed to the hospital. It was dark and snow was pouring. It took us a little longer than normal to get to the hospital but we still made it in time.

Gary dropped me off at the door with the suitcase and went to park the car. I waited in the foyer anxiously. On the way to the hospital I started feeling some cramps and assumed they were contractions. While I waited I felt more and they were a bit more intense. I was getting impatient due to the uncomfortable cramping.

Gary walked in and we headed to the second floor to the labor and delivery unit. We had to page the nurse to get in. It made me laugh, the nurse asked how she can help. Gary said "umm we are here to have a baby?" She let us in and took us to our room. I put our bags away, took off my shoes and tried to figure out how to get dressed into the hospital gown. I thought it was on backwards so I turned it around. It made us both laugh as we realized that it was obviously right the first time. I had to ask Gary if I was supposed to take off my underwear. I was that unsure of what I was supposed to be doing. I had to give a urine sample and when I did I noticed blood and what I'm 99% sure was my mucus plug. I think I was going into labor on my own!

The nurse came in and told us a little about what to expect and what she would be doing. She hooked me up to the baby heart monitor and the contraction monitor. Apparently my contractions were already fairly consistent. She checked me for dilation and found that I was still only 1.5 cm. We then waited a couple hours so they could get a base line.

A few hours passed and at 11:00 she gave me half of the pill to induce me. She said it would soften the cervix. She would monitor me for 2 hours and wait 2 hours. Then we'd get another pill and repeat the same process. She said after 4 doses of that pill if there was no progress they would induce through iv.

After giving me the half a pill she told us to get some sleep and we'll hopefully be having a baby in the morning! I was a bit disappointed. I didn't go in that night expecting to be sleeping. I thought I was there to have a baby, not sleep! How was I supposed to sleep anyway? Between the excitement and my uncomfortable cramping... I quickly became frustrated that she even expected me to sleep. Gary was already asleep and snoring which irritated me! Quickly the contractions got stronger, more uncomfortable and I only got more upset. I woke Gary up, mad that he got to sleep while I was uncomfortable. He was sweet and talked me through my discomfort.

The nurse came in after a while to ask how things were going. She asked what my pain level was and as far as I knew, I was in the most pain of my life. On a scale of 1-10, I said I was a 6. Gary and the nurse assured me I was probably a 3. Ok, whatever. I know I don't know what pain is so I agreed that I may be at a 3. The nurse gave me a sleeping pill and took off the monitors and offered to fill up the jacuzzi tub. I couldn't resist! Gary got up and helped me. I must say, offering a sleeping pill and a jacuzzi is a bad idea! I wanted to sleep but couldn't get comfortable in bed and couldn't sleep in the tub because I had to keep my arm which had an IV out of the water.

The soak in the tub relaxed me enough to want to go try to sleep. I'm not sure if I slept or not, if so I may have dozed between contractions. Finally around 3:00 I couldn't handle the pain anymore and asked the nurse to give me whatever pain medication was available. She had to check me again to see how dilated I was. I was really excited to hear that I was 4 cm dilated!  Waiting for that pain medication was horrible! I was so tired of feeling those painful contractions. I was very upset at how long it was taking to get the pain meds! She came back in and gave me some pain medication through my IV to ease the pain enough for me to get the epidural. Soon the anesthesiologist came in to get started on the epidural. Gary stood in front of me to help hold me still. He did a great job but locking his knees made him almost pass out. He asked the nurse  to come over and take his place and he had to go sit down. After that they wouldn't let him get out of the rolly chair.

The epidural seemed to kick in quickly. Gary says I was much happier and quickly went to sleep but not before declaring that the next time I have the baby the first thing I do as I walk in the hospital is to demand an epidural.

I was sleeping so nicely when I felt some movement where I didn't think I should be feeling movement. I polity called the nurse who did not respond. On the second page I informed them that I felt movement and they came in to see what was going on. I explained that I could feel movement down there. When she went to check me she noticed the baby had already crowed a couple inches! She quickly told me to hold still and not sneeze, laugh or cough as she quickly set up the room and paged the doctor. Anytime she left the room she would remind me to hold still and not sneeze, laugh or cough. When the second nurse came in our first nurse asked her where the doctor was and she told her the doctor had said she wanted me to push a couple times and she would be down in a minute. The first nurse said "I don't think she understands" and went back to re-page the doctor but not before she again reminded me not to push, sneeze, cough or laugh. As the nurses were panicky seting up the room in an effort to impress upon me the importance of not pushing she took my hand and had me reach down at which point I felt the baby's head.

Finally the doctor came in. She was a little startled. The first thing she said was "don't push". They put my legs up in the leg rests and asked Gary if he wanted to "catch" the baby. He said "no". The nurses assumed it was because he was afraid of fainting but he says he just didn't want to.

Once the doctor was ready, she asked me to push. About half a push in she yelled "stop!stop!stop!". They cleaned out Ellie's mouth and nose and pulled her out and placed her on my chest at 5:49 am. Gary then cut the umbilical cord. He said it was very rubbery.

While they stitched me up they weighed Ellie (7 pounds 2 ounces) and took her foot prints, trimmed her cord, and rubbed off all her gunk. They measured her out to be 19.5 inches long. Then the nurses and Gary went over to wash her up at the sink. They brought the baby back to me and Gary took some pictures. I was conscious but I do not remember any of this. Gary says I looked pretty haggard.

I had to have a few stitches. I asked the doctor how many and she said they don't really count them but I was getting some in two areas. I remember asking her questions and I'm sure she gave me some answers. I do remember being really calm and saying "I'm glad I got an epidural I'm sure getting stitches without pain meds would be pretty painful and the doctor agreed. After getting cleaned up the nurses said after such an easy pregnancy and delivery I was sure to have a hard time with nursing. They then handed Ellie over to be fed and she immediately latched on and started nursing. The doctor then told me to never tell anyone my delivery story or they would want to hurt me. She said "You are made to make babies".

After she ate, the nurses took me into the bathroom to help me figure out how to take care of the stitches. Once I was all set to go I got into the wheelchair, held the baby and was pushed upstairs for recovery. We then spent the day calling everyone we know, posting pictures and naively missing out on  sleeping opportunity. That night we of course realized we should have spent the day sleeping rather than doing whatever it was that we were doing.

The first night Ellie woke up as soon as I dozed off or Gary got snuggled up in his bed. We were extremely exhausted after 2 days with only a few hours of sleep. We both felt miserable each time we had to get up. Each time we set her down she would cry. Finally I did the worst thing I could do. I let her sleep with me. It was so nice though! I got a couple hours of un-interrupted sleep!

We then spent the next couple days being spoiled by nurses, fed great food on demand, and spent every waking moment with our baby. Gary sang her hymns in Spanish and read her scriptures in Spanish too. He's so sweet with her! It keeps making me cry. I just wish we could spend every day together and never have to be apart.

So Close!

I am half way through week 37! We have 2.5 weeks left til this baby is due and we are both so excited!!

Labor Day

Gary and I have realized that we only have a few weeks until our baby will be here so we have to get in as many dates as we can! We still had some money in our anniversary folder so we thought we'd spend our Labor Day out and about!

We went to go eat Tamales at a Tamale restaurant. We were really excited until we saw that the place was closed for the day! So we drove around in search for another place to eat. Gary was super excited when we found a Korean BBQ. To our disappointment it too was closed for the day.  We ended up sharing a meal at DQ and headed off to see a movie (Gary's choice). We saw Captain America which was much better than I expected a Marvel Comics movie to be (they always end up impressing me).  We then went on a shopping adventure to find shirts that fit me.  That was more difficult than one would expect. We ended our date with some Chipotle and headed home to watch some Ugly Betty! It was a pretty great day!

3rd Anniversary!!!

 For our 3rd anniversary Gary and I (actually mostly just I) decided to go spend a day in a city we haven't been to for the day. I picked Ft Collins.

First we went to the #3 restaurant according to Urbanspoon. It's called Cafe Mexicali. They obviously serve Mexican-American food. It was impressively delicious though! Gary had a Steak Quesole and I had a Corn and Onion Quesole. Neither of us could finish but we wanted to. We ended up combining our left overs and headed off to a metal art yard called Swetsville Zoo.

Mostly there were dinosaurs made of metal. While I wouldn't drive all the way up there just for this one site, it was really cool! We had fun looking at the sculptures.

After checking out the Swetsville Zoo we stopped by Walmart so I could grab some nail polish remover since there was a Walmart right there. We then headed over to a movie. We purchased our tickets and were sadly turned away for being too early (30 mins before the movie started...). Gary found an arcade and wanted to check out this game. I snapped this picture candidly and can't help but smile each time I look at it. It's so cute! He's so happy he's smiling. Adorable, right?

 

After a good game of Terminator we headed to pick our seats and wait for Cowboys and Aliens to start. I was shocked at how full the theater got. Poor Gary had to sit by an obese man who ate loudly through the whole movie. It was really a good movie though! You can tell because I stayed awake for the whole 2+ hours of it!

We then headed out to find our final destination. Coopersmith's Pub and Brewery is the #1 ranked restaurant in Ft Collins according to Urbanspoon. I soon learned that Ft Collins residence apparently are poor critics. It wasn't good food. They did have good home made sodas though!

After dinner we quickly checked out Old Town Ft Collins. It was pretty cool! I wish I had the energy to have checked out the stores but my feet were so puffy I couldn't see my ankles.  We did watch a cool street performer make a balloon for a little kid, pop it and make it magically appear in a paper bag.

On the ride home Gary insisted I keep my feet up on the dashboard. When he saw my ankles he shouted "holy cow! Get those things up!". The ride home was fun though. We turned on some country music and sang out loud most of the way home.

It was an amazing day with the boy I love more than anything else in this world. I'm so happy to have him.

Blankets From Grandma Hall!

Gary's Grandma is so sweet! She made the baby some adorable blankets. It's her first gift and it's a special one coming from her great grandma so I thought I'd document it.

26 Weeks

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! In 3 months we'll be parents! I'm excited to meet this little girl but I also love being pregnant and  would be just fine if it never ended.

I have been so blessed to have such good health and little to no symptoms. It's been great. I do have some water retention going on. That causes a carpel tunnel that will go away after birth. I would be happy if the whole water retention went away as it does cause joint pain but honestly, I'd take this over morning sickness!

4th of July!

 Isn't that awesome?! That is the Denver Civic Center.They light it up for different occasions and I always love it.

This year was my first time being in Colorado for the 4th of July. I must say it was pretty awesome. We went downtown Denver on Sunday night to see the firework show. We sat right across the street from the Civic Center. To our left a Symphony was playing patriotic music, it was perfect. After waiting 3 hours, it was finally dark enough for the show to begin. They lit some spectacular fireworks right above us. All too soon the show was over but it was worth it. 

Gary

I think I've failed to mention that Gary got a new job! He now works as an OSP (out side sales person). He started the day after tax season and went through months of training. He even went to Wisconsin for a class and to meet the CEO.

Gary is pretty awesome. I'm thankful for all he does. He is a great example and reminds me to look at the big picture when I'm upset, mad, frustrated or just being naive. He's pretty perfect if you ask me.

We're in love with the girl!

20 weeks

WOW! What just happend?

My stomach seems to have exploded a bit last night. Pretty sure I wasn't this fat  yesterday. Oh well... as long as I don't get much bigger than this I'll keep my cool. Oh my word though! This is insane.  I'd show you a picture but I'm still in a bit of denial myself. Maybe,  if I am feeling more confident in my hugeness I'll post one soon.

But! We find out if it's a boy or girl in a week!!!!!! I'm pretty excited. I am split 50/50 but Gary really wants a boy. He says a girl would be too stressful and scary.

17 Weeks and Chubby!

We'll find out the gender June 14th! I'm excited!!

There is a BABY on the way!!

 

Gary and I are expecting! The due date is October 27th 2011.

I am incredibly excited and look forward to what is to come.

We're doing this and it feels great!

In Dave Ramsey's words, "Debt is dumb; cash is king and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice"

Gary and I (and his family) have been listening to Financial Peace University for Family Home Evening each Monday night. At first I was disappointed figuring it was going to be a waste of my time. I was wrong. It only took minutes to fall in love with what this man has to say. He's got some great advice we could all learn from. I dare you to read his book, listen to his radio show or check out his website AND try implementing it into your life. 

Here is his advice in a summary: 
 

Baby Step 1
$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Baby Step 2
Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Baby Step 3
3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Baby Step 4
Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
Baby Step 5
College funding for children
Baby Step 6
Pay off home early
Baby Step 7
Build wealth and give!

Learn more about being debt free at:

http://www.daveramsey.com

Valentines!

I'm sure I remind everyone of this every February but! I Love Valentines Day!  I love the colors mostly but I love that we take a day to remind each other that we are all loved.

Last year I decided to start a tradition of making Creme Brulee. Since we're living with Gary's family I thought I'd make the special treat for everyone, which meant I needed to buy more ramekins (oh darn). I forgot that it's an 6 hour process to make Creme Brulee. Since I get home from work between 6:30-7:00 I didn't have time to make it myself so Jeanette was sweet enough to make it! It was delish!

Since V-Day was on a Monday, which is Family Home Evening night, Gary and I went out on a date on Saturday instead. I was such a special night! We first went shopping at Flat Iron's Mall. Gary helped me pick out a fancy pair of earrings. Then we headed over to Red Lobster for a divinely delicious sea food dinner. The food was so good I forgot about the final event of the night was to go see a movie!

We decided to see True Grit since it got such good ratings and it sounded good to both of us!  I am just going to say this... Go See It!!!! It was amazing.

 

New

Well here we are in a new year! A new year always welcomes in new changes, kicking bad habits and promising yourself to do better. This year I think we've all forgone all that and just decided to strive to always be your better self. I like that plan. Why start fresh on January 1st? Why not do better now?

So this year has been a billion trillion times better than last year already. Gary is helping with his father's Liberty Tax office again. I wasn't so kind. I found myself a new job working at one of Primrose Schools. I'm excited to be there and to work with kids again.

All this work is keeping us busy! Gary has been working from 3:00 to 9:00 pm and I've been working from 9:00-6:30. It's depressing to only see each other for a few minutes a day but I'm excited that we're both busy being productive. 

I am incredibly excited for 2011 and all the many great opportunities it brings!

Portland!

 

Jeremy was so excited to see all that was under the Christmas tree!

 Jeremy and Gary playing with Jeremy's new toys!

I sure do miss Mt. Hood! Look how majestic it is!

The dog loves getting presents! He's great at opening them too!

Bayli opening gifts in her new Christmas PJ's

 My brother, CJ was a great sport about the Hansen VCR I gave him. (there was a gift card inside)

The boys fly their helicopters in the gym. Looks like fun!

Bayli and I trying out her new cookie press. Baking is what we do best.

This would be the San Fransisco Bay. We had to make a pit stop to see how California was doing.

 Beautiful, right?

 I don't know what mountain this is, but I thought it was amazing so I had to snap a shot.

 San Fransisco!