Saturday, September 19, 2009
Shots :(
Alyssa got two of her immunizations yesterday. I am doing her two month shots in 3 sets of 2 instead of all six at once. I almost started crying with her when they gave the first shot, it was so sad to see my baby in pain. She cried really hard for about 5 minutes, then I changed her diaper and nursed her and she was happy after that. What a brave girl!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
House of Order
Our Stake Relief Society is sponsoring a guest speaker named Marie Ricks. She is a BYU education speaker who has a program called "House of Order". The class is 8 weeks long and started last Thursday. After only one class I am motivated! She has such great ideas. One of my favorites is having a housecleaning plan. She talked about it only briefly but she had a sample that people could look at and it was such a great idea that I had to make one!
You use index cards, dividers, and an index card box. I made one tab that says "daily", a divider for each day of the week, and a divider for each month of the year. Then I took 3x5 cards and wrote different tasks on them. In the upper right hand corner write how often the task should be done (daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, annually etc.) For example: Read Scriptures, Exercise, and Straighten living room are daily tasks. Clean the bathroom, Vacuuming, and Dusting are weekly tasks. You can decide which days or months you want to do each task and then place the 3x5 card behind that divider. Each morning it is easy to know what needs to be done, just take the daily cards out as well as the weekly cards for whatever day it is. As you complete the tasks, place the cards back in the box.
I truly feel that when our houses are in order, it invites the Holy Spirit to dwell in our homes. I feel much better about myself and my life when the house is clean and having this plan is an easy way to organize the cleaning so everything can get done each day.
You use index cards, dividers, and an index card box. I made one tab that says "daily", a divider for each day of the week, and a divider for each month of the year. Then I took 3x5 cards and wrote different tasks on them. In the upper right hand corner write how often the task should be done (daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, annually etc.) For example: Read Scriptures, Exercise, and Straighten living room are daily tasks. Clean the bathroom, Vacuuming, and Dusting are weekly tasks. You can decide which days or months you want to do each task and then place the 3x5 card behind that divider. Each morning it is easy to know what needs to be done, just take the daily cards out as well as the weekly cards for whatever day it is. As you complete the tasks, place the cards back in the box.
I truly feel that when our houses are in order, it invites the Holy Spirit to dwell in our homes. I feel much better about myself and my life when the house is clean and having this plan is an easy way to organize the cleaning so everything can get done each day.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Back in Utah
We are now back in Utah and started school again at BYU on Monday. I only have 2 classes left to take this semester so Alyssa and I get to stay home on Tuesdays and Thursdays. School has gone well the two days we've been. Alyssa has been really good for me but a little fussy for Jim, hopefully she decides to be good for him too. Alyssa and I hang out in the Wilk a lot while Jim is in class because they have a great little mothers lounge. It's inside a bathroom but has two couches and two comfy chairs. I have gotten the hang of breastfeeding in public with a blanket and feel more confident about that after getting two nursing camisoles(that way I can feed Alyssa and still feel modest!)
Alyssa is 8 weeks today and has started to smile recently. It just melts my heart every time she smiles at me. I love being a mom. She is sleeping great and usually sleeps through the night. She goes to bed at 9 or 10 and sleeps until 5 or 6, eats and goes back to sleep for another couple hours. It's a great blessing because I do much better and I'm much happier when I get enough sleep.
Here are some pictures of Alyssa
Alyssa is 8 weeks today and has started to smile recently. It just melts my heart every time she smiles at me. I love being a mom. She is sleeping great and usually sleeps through the night. She goes to bed at 9 or 10 and sleeps until 5 or 6, eats and goes back to sleep for another couple hours. It's a great blessing because I do much better and I'm much happier when I get enough sleep.
Here are some pictures of Alyssa
Friday, August 14, 2009
Yes I am officially a slacker at blogging. The last post was over a month ago and that was from my sweet husband Jim and not even myself. Oh well, as a new mom there is always a long list of things to do and not enough time to do them all. Alyssa is now 5 weeks as of yesterday and doing great. I love watching her grow each day. I think she is starting to recognize my voice when I talk to her. Now I am just looking forward to her first real smile.
I just want to say that I have an incredible husband. He was so supportive during Alyssa's birth and the long, hard labor leading up to it. I really couldn't have done it without him by my side. He is also a great father to his baby girl. She sure loves her daddy and calms down easily for him. He is so good with her and so willing to help.
We only have 2 more weeks here in California. The first half of the summer went by slowly but this second half has flown right by. We've enjoyed spending time with family and we are glad so many of you were able to be with us for Alyssa's blessing. We plan on driving back to Utah on August 28th and then starting school on the 31st. That will be the next adventure in our lives and I am just hoping that our baby likes school and that I can learn how to calm her down quickly so we don't disturb all the students in the Clyde building.
Sorry there aren't recent pictures up yet. The internet here is not high speed and I haven't been successful in my attempts to upload pics. Hopefully we will get some up when we get back to Utah and high speed internet!
I just want to say that I have an incredible husband. He was so supportive during Alyssa's birth and the long, hard labor leading up to it. I really couldn't have done it without him by my side. He is also a great father to his baby girl. She sure loves her daddy and calms down easily for him. He is so good with her and so willing to help.
We only have 2 more weeks here in California. The first half of the summer went by slowly but this second half has flown right by. We've enjoyed spending time with family and we are glad so many of you were able to be with us for Alyssa's blessing. We plan on driving back to Utah on August 28th and then starting school on the 31st. That will be the next adventure in our lives and I am just hoping that our baby likes school and that I can learn how to calm her down quickly so we don't disturb all the students in the Clyde building.
Sorry there aren't recent pictures up yet. The internet here is not high speed and I haven't been successful in my attempts to upload pics. Hopefully we will get some up when we get back to Utah and high speed internet!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Baby Alyssa is Finally Here!
After 32 long hours of labor and an emergency c-section, a healthy baby Alyssa was finally born at 2:56 in the morning on Thursday July 9, 2009. We were hoping for the 8th so that she would be born on 07/08/09, but we are just thrilled that she is healthy and happy. It was a rather difficult delivery.
It started on Tuesday night at around 7 p.m. The contractions continued into the next day and we headed to the hospital after tracking the contractions for several hours. Jim made a chart of the contractions on Excel. When we got in to the hospital, Julie was dialated to 1 cm. After four hours of contractions, it was still at 1. So they sent us off, the nurse said that eating something might help the contractions get stronger or stop all together. So we went to the food court at the mall. The plan was to walk around the mall in hopes that the contractions would get stronger. That kind of happened. While taking an hour to eat a hamburger, the contractions increased in intensity and duration. It quickly became apparent that we would be lucky to walk back to the car.
We then called the on call doctor (Our doctor was off that day) to ask if she would prescribe some pitocin and an epidural to speed up the contractions. The doctor said that Julie wasn't in labor, which was completely ridiculous. She was in so much pain she could hardly talk on the phone. So, we decided to check into Circus Circus, a casino right next to the hospital. The hospital had a deal for $30 dollar rooms. It was quite the ordeal to get Julie into the room. By then, the contractions were very strong. It was all we could do to get Julie through the ever-intensifying pain levels. The contractions were now lasting about 2 minutes or more with just 30 second breaks in between. We monitored them for an hour, then called the hospital. The nurse we had worked with earlier told us to come right back in to see what was happening. Luckily Julie was at a 3 and was emitted to the hospital. She was set up on IV's and finally given a pain medication in the IV.
That made a huge difference. Within minutes, Julie was asleep for a couple of minutes. Later that night she finally got the epidural, which took the pain all away. What a blessing that was to see after all of the pain she went through earlier in the day. As midnight approached, we were all anxious to see if Julie would get to a 10 and be able to deliver before midnight. The nurse kept coming in and changing Julie's position. The problem was that the baby's heart rate kept dropping and staying down after each contraction. The nurse could sense a problem, and eventually called in the doctor around 2 in the morning. Julie had been progressing slowly through the night, but went from 6 cm. to 10 from 1 to 2 in the morning. The last hour was hectic.
Another problem was that the epidural had leaked into Julie's spinal fluid, causing numbness from the waist down. This became a problem when it was time to push. Julie didn't have enough feeling to really push the baby out. It would have been a problem anyway due to the baby's low heart rate. So the doctor called for an emergency c-section. Julie was so strong and didn't hesitate. Our goal was a healthy baby, Julie was willing to do whatever was necessary. After surgery, little Alyssa came out at 2:56. We soon learned that the source of the problem was the placenta. For some reason it was extremely calcified. That usually happens on a late delivery, but she missed her due date by only three hours. Due to that, she was only 6 lbs. 1 oz. when she came out. She is very healthy though. Julie has been recovering well, she can now take some laps around the recovery wing of the hospital. We will be here until Sunday.
Baby Alyssa is very calm and cute. She enjoys snuggling, sleeping, and eating. We are thrilled to have her in our little family.
It started on Tuesday night at around 7 p.m. The contractions continued into the next day and we headed to the hospital after tracking the contractions for several hours. Jim made a chart of the contractions on Excel. When we got in to the hospital, Julie was dialated to 1 cm. After four hours of contractions, it was still at 1. So they sent us off, the nurse said that eating something might help the contractions get stronger or stop all together. So we went to the food court at the mall. The plan was to walk around the mall in hopes that the contractions would get stronger. That kind of happened. While taking an hour to eat a hamburger, the contractions increased in intensity and duration. It quickly became apparent that we would be lucky to walk back to the car.
We then called the on call doctor (Our doctor was off that day) to ask if she would prescribe some pitocin and an epidural to speed up the contractions. The doctor said that Julie wasn't in labor, which was completely ridiculous. She was in so much pain she could hardly talk on the phone. So, we decided to check into Circus Circus, a casino right next to the hospital. The hospital had a deal for $30 dollar rooms. It was quite the ordeal to get Julie into the room. By then, the contractions were very strong. It was all we could do to get Julie through the ever-intensifying pain levels. The contractions were now lasting about 2 minutes or more with just 30 second breaks in between. We monitored them for an hour, then called the hospital. The nurse we had worked with earlier told us to come right back in to see what was happening. Luckily Julie was at a 3 and was emitted to the hospital. She was set up on IV's and finally given a pain medication in the IV.
That made a huge difference. Within minutes, Julie was asleep for a couple of minutes. Later that night she finally got the epidural, which took the pain all away. What a blessing that was to see after all of the pain she went through earlier in the day. As midnight approached, we were all anxious to see if Julie would get to a 10 and be able to deliver before midnight. The nurse kept coming in and changing Julie's position. The problem was that the baby's heart rate kept dropping and staying down after each contraction. The nurse could sense a problem, and eventually called in the doctor around 2 in the morning. Julie had been progressing slowly through the night, but went from 6 cm. to 10 from 1 to 2 in the morning. The last hour was hectic.
Another problem was that the epidural had leaked into Julie's spinal fluid, causing numbness from the waist down. This became a problem when it was time to push. Julie didn't have enough feeling to really push the baby out. It would have been a problem anyway due to the baby's low heart rate. So the doctor called for an emergency c-section. Julie was so strong and didn't hesitate. Our goal was a healthy baby, Julie was willing to do whatever was necessary. After surgery, little Alyssa came out at 2:56. We soon learned that the source of the problem was the placenta. For some reason it was extremely calcified. That usually happens on a late delivery, but she missed her due date by only three hours. Due to that, she was only 6 lbs. 1 oz. when she came out. She is very healthy though. Julie has been recovering well, she can now take some laps around the recovery wing of the hospital. We will be here until Sunday.
Baby Alyssa is very calm and cute. She enjoys snuggling, sleeping, and eating. We are thrilled to have her in our little family.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Catch up
I know it's been a long time since I posted so I will get you all caught up with our lives here in Portola. Things are going great here in California.
Jim is working for Bastian Engineering which he really enjoys. Lately he's been doing lots of surveying work and he loves getting to be outside for most of the day. He is also busy with lots of projects at home. He has been watering and mowing the lawns which look great, and washing the cars every saturday. It's funny how much he loves to do those jobs. He and his dad are also planning to build a shed and a greenhouse this summer.
Both Jim and I are working with the youth in our ward. Jim is the first counselor in the Young Mens presidency and I am the second counselor in the Young Womens presidency. That has been fun for us and it's nice to be able to both go to mutual together. I taught my first YW lesson a few weeks ago and I am also teaching this Sunday. Jim has also taught a few times.
The pregnancy is going well. I'm not really uncomfortable at all yet but I am still looking forward to Alyssa coming. We are down to 6 weeks! We are pretty much ready except for setting up the crib, stroller, carseat etc. It's all still in boxes for now. Alyssa is doing well and seems to know when we are rubbing her and talking to her because she starts moving. We are really looking forward to having her join out family. I am taking advantage of this time to rest and relax before the months of sleepless nights start:)
That is pretty much what's going on in our lives. We love it out here in the mountains. It's beautiful here, especially the bright blue skies against the green trees. The only downside is the bugs. I hate all the bugs that are here and it scares me a little when the bats come out at night but other than that life is great.
Jim is working for Bastian Engineering which he really enjoys. Lately he's been doing lots of surveying work and he loves getting to be outside for most of the day. He is also busy with lots of projects at home. He has been watering and mowing the lawns which look great, and washing the cars every saturday. It's funny how much he loves to do those jobs. He and his dad are also planning to build a shed and a greenhouse this summer.
Both Jim and I are working with the youth in our ward. Jim is the first counselor in the Young Mens presidency and I am the second counselor in the Young Womens presidency. That has been fun for us and it's nice to be able to both go to mutual together. I taught my first YW lesson a few weeks ago and I am also teaching this Sunday. Jim has also taught a few times.
The pregnancy is going well. I'm not really uncomfortable at all yet but I am still looking forward to Alyssa coming. We are down to 6 weeks! We are pretty much ready except for setting up the crib, stroller, carseat etc. It's all still in boxes for now. Alyssa is doing well and seems to know when we are rubbing her and talking to her because she starts moving. We are really looking forward to having her join out family. I am taking advantage of this time to rest and relax before the months of sleepless nights start:)
That is pretty much what's going on in our lives. We love it out here in the mountains. It's beautiful here, especially the bright blue skies against the green trees. The only downside is the bugs. I hate all the bugs that are here and it scares me a little when the bats come out at night but other than that life is great.
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