good job genes

My grandma sent me some of my baby pictures, which I had been so anxious to see since Caitlin was born and be able to compare her to ours. We've been saying since she was born that she's a really good mix of the two of us, with my face and Paul's nose. After seeing all the pictures I think I agree (and I also think that Caitlin is a way cuter baby than I was) See what you think:

1 month old

My baby is one month old. Probably the fastest month of my life.

-She is still a really good baby: only really cries when she is hungry, and when she IS hungry you definitely know.. she gets frantic like a little piglet. Her appetite increases more and more everyday.
-She has definitely grown longer, but hasn't chunked up too much. Her newborn size clothes fit her perfectly now.
-She has a really expressive face and makes the cutest faces. We've seen some smiles and I love it! 
-She has really good head control. She likes to life her head and look around. She also likes tummy time and is good at lifting her head then too and wiggling around and pushing off with her feet.
-She still loves to snuggle and would prefer to be held than in any other position. Sometimes she just won't let me put her down. Which of course I don't mind too much.  One good thing though is she doesn't mind too much exactly who is holding her, just as long as she's being snuggled.
-If she's not being held she's probably in her swing. she loves her swing and usually naps there during the day.

BYU vs. Nevada

Caitlin's first big sporting event! Definitely got some judgment while there about bringing a one month old to a football game, but wen the Taylors offered us tickets to sit with them in the "good seats" (thank you Nan & Jeff for letting us use them!) we just couldn't pass it up! And Caitlin did great! She slept through the whole first half (even in the hot hot sun) and then woke up during half time but went back to sleep for a little bit. We ended up leaving around the beginning of the 4th quarter (probably the earliest I've ever left a football game) but hey.. she made it through almost the whole game, and that's more than i can say for some adult fans. Then again, when BYU is playing like they did, I guess I can't really blame them.

Foto Friday

I am in love with this picture. We were just playing a little dress-up with her tutus and she looks like a little ballerina fairy. i just love those little cheeks! 

taken: 9.15

9.20

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

we had a girl's lunch t0day to celebrate:

Chels-- I hope this year brings you lots of happiness and exciting events! Love you!

happy b-day sherriff Tate

Tate's birthday party was on September 18th. He had a cowboy party! Of course I love a good western theme and his parents did an excellent job throwing the party-- the food, the entertainment, the decorations, the desserts.. they were all awesome. Little Tater is such a lucky boy! It was Caitlin's first birthday party.. she was asleep for most of it. We love the Tingeys so much and are so glad to be friends with them!

Foto Friday

A new addition to my blog.. because no one can ever see enough pictures of my family.
(p.s. i know i spelled "photo" wrong but it just looks more festive that way)

I love this picture of Paul kissing Caitlin goodnight. He is such a good daddy and she already has him wrapped around her little finger. He loves giving her kisses right on the lips and it just makes her squirm haha

welcome Fall

To me, September = fall. autumn. and my front door agrees. I'm so ready for a new season, a new wardrobe... good bye: maternity clothes and heat. hello: sweaters, changing leaf colors, yummy foods, pumpkins, spicy cinnamon smells, becoming an aunt!!, football games, and fun holidays. Yes please.

9.9.10

Lunch with the girls at the Museum of Art on campus before my mom left. Great company, great food. Great to be able to use Cassie's dining plus! And imagine my delight to find out that they still serve the croissant sandwich i used to get every time I went years ago when I too had dining plus. And it was still just as good.

Marjorie Hinckley said, “The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer laughing. Crying gives me a headache.” I agree.

Words cannot even express how thankful I am that we got to have both our moms here for Caitlin's birth and first days. My mom left yesterday, Paul's mom left last week. We could not have asked for better helpers. Our fridge and freezer is stocked, my house is clean, I learned tons of great advice and tips, not to mention the the sleepless nights that were spent and the ever ready arms to hold her. I am so glad that they were both able to be here not only for Caitlin, but for Paul and I. And I know she already misses her grandmas!

meeting grandpa

Sadly, my dad had to leave to go back to work about four days before Caitlin was born. After hearing about her and seeing pictures he decided he couldn't stand it any longer and found a Labor Day deal to fly up! It was a short trip but "well worth it" (his words) to meet his first little granddaughter. And of course he was smitten... my dad is such a softie when it comes to his girls! I'm so glad he got to come up and spend some time with us.

a few of my favorite things

I'm officially obsessed. Not surprised at all that I feel this way, but I really am. I love, love LOVE my baby and of course I think she is the most perfect thing ever. My days are now divided into 4 hour blocks between feedings and I usually spend the in between times just staring at her and playing with her and holding her. I love her and I love being a mom. I knew I would love her so much but it's hard to know exactly how you'll feel. I feel like I don't know how I ever really lived without her. I feel like my whole pregnancy was some sort of prolonged dream and now she's just here and this is my life now. It's awesome.

It's been really fun to start getting to know her and seeing what she's like. It's crazy how some things you can tell right off the bat and other things we will have to wait and see how she is as she gets older. Here's some things about her:

-We knew she would be stubborn. Hence the inducement and 15+ hour labor, and 2 hours of pushing. And now that she's out she very much likes to do her own thing. She's had her own little schedule and she doesn't like to be disturbed or awoken, even if it is to eat. So I just let her sleep to her little heart's content.
-She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. when she was born. Then she dropped down to about 6.13 and now she's working her way back up to her birth weight, she's around 7.3 right now. No matter what she feels so tiny to me! Such a little peanut.

- She is such a sweet baby! She only really cries if there is a legitimate reason and she is very patient. Since she doesn't cry that often it makes it so sad for me when she does!

-She's a good eater. Not always, but the majority of the time. She usually goes about 4 hours during the day and 5 hours at night. She just wakes up when she's ready! It definitely takes a lot of patience to get the whole breastfeeding thing down but so far so good.
-She's a good sleeper. The first couple of days ALL she did was sleep. Typical of newborns, I know. She was just so so sleepy, it was a rare experience to see her awake. But now she's starting to be more alert and stay awake for longer periods of time which is fun. But it makes it really nice at night when she will go for stretches of 4-5 hours without waking. Very much appreciated.

-She loves snuggling. She loves being bundled up in blankets and being cozy and being held. Which is nice since she has barely been put down ever since she was born thanks to all of our family and friends that are always holding her. So spoiled already. I love that she is a snuggler though and I hope she stays that way always.

-She loves having her hands up by her face! She was always like this in the ultrasounds and it's the same now. She always has her hands up there and when she is truly comfortable and completely asleep she has both arms raised above her head.

-She likes her swing and will nap there but she also likes her bassinet and crib. She also doesn't mind her carseat...she'll sleep most anywhere.

-She is liking bath time more and more. Paul is really good at giving her baths. She loves being underneath and water, we usually just hold her under the faucet right now. She loves just being held under there, she gets so happy. Probably because it reminds her of the swimming pool she had in my stomach.

here's a link to my facebook album with more pics from her birth and first days.

9.3: one week old!

Happy one week birthday to our little munchkin! We survived our first week together!




ruffley bum: check. huge bow: check. It's party time! We had some cake with friends to celebrate.

9.1: first dr.'s visit

On Wednesday we had our first visit to the doctor. She looks great! She lost a little weight, so she now only weighs 6.15 (such a little peanut) but they assured us this was fine and normal. She has really low jaundice and is completely healthy everywhere else! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful healthy baby!

exit strategy

Caitlin's grand entrance went a little something like this:
-Since (of course) I had not gone into labor, I was scheduled to be induced. The hospital called me at about 6:30 AM on Friday morning and told me I could come in.
-We got to the hospital and checked in by 7:15 AM. I came in already dilated to a 3.5 and about 90% effaced. They monitored me for a little bit and then around 9:00 they started the pitocin to get things going.
-By 10:00 I had dilated to a 4 but then nothing happened for awhile. I was having a lot of contractions due to the pitocin but I couldn't feel them and they were happening too regularly so they messed around with the pitocin doses and eventually found that it was better when my body did most of it on its own. By 1:00 I was still at a 4 so they wanted to try to speed things up.
-The doctor wanted me to get my epidural before she broke my water, in case something happened with my high fluid and they had to go into an emergency C-section. So by 1:15 I had my epidural. I had wanted to feel what some of the stronger contractions felt like, but with the epidural so early, I was virtually pain-free for the rest of my delivery. Which, I guess I won't complain about. The Dr. who did the epidural was awesome, it didn't hurt one bit and was over before I knew it.
-Then my Dr. came in to break my water. It took just the smallest touch to break since it was so full! And then started the waterfall. We all knew breaking my water would be quite the event since i had SO much fluid in there and let's just say: it didn't disappoint. the nurse said it's the mot fluid she's ever seen and Paul was making jokes about having to sandbag the doors in the room. It was pretty comical, and afterward my stomach was so much softer and squishy!
-At one point I had to wear an oxygen mask to boost the baby's heart rate, then at 2:35 they stopped giving me pitocin altogether.
-From 3:00-3:50 i worked myself to dilating to a solid 5 then I took a nap until about 4:45. When I woke up i was at an 8!
-Some other things happening meanwhile were: I had 4 different nurses throughout the day! It was funny to have so many coming in and out but they were all excellent. One of my nurses was Emily, who we knew so that was really fun to have her help us and my last nurse was Danette and she was so helpful during the actual delivery. We also had tons of visitors throughout the day which was really fun and definitely helped the day go by faster so thanks to everyone who came!
-So by 6:20 I was almost dilated to a 10 and by 7:15 I was completely dilated. Then I waited an hour to "rest and descend". This allowed her to come down as far as possible to make pushing easier and faster.
-At 8:30 I started pushing and Caitlin was born at 10:36! I had great support from Paul, my mom and Lorraine (Paul's mom) as well as my nurse and my Dr. for the pushing part. It definitely wasn't easy or quick but I had so much adrenaline and when I finally saw her I just started crying and smiling. It was such an amazing moment. Paul got to cut the umbilical cord.
-They put her right on my when she was born and I finally got to see this littler person who had been inside of me. I thought she was so beautiful and amazing. I got to hold her for quite a while with Paul and then they took her to weigh her and do their tests.
-It was a LONG day! About 15.5 hours total from start to birth. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of it, and very hungry and thirsty. BUT alas, it was all completely worth it.