The One You've Been Waiting For

For all of you anxiously checking the blog since I posted yesterday, sorry to keep you in suspense. We had a rather busy day/night and truly haven't had a chance to blog - oddly enough. Here's the story (If you don't care, skip the next paragraph):

I started pitocin at 8:45 am. At the time I was dilated to 3 cm and was 60% effaced. Little Miss had dropped really low a few weeks back, so she was all ready to come out. The contractions started really slowly and over a period of about 3 hours I dilated to 4 cm. At this point they were getting pretty intense, so I got some IV drugs which wore off after 1 hour. It was a productive hour and I was at 6 cm, so the contractions came back feeling pretty rough. I decided I wanted an epidural and when they checked me right after I got it (45 min later) I was at 8 cm. I started feeling annoyed that I had almost made it before getting the pain meds, but it ended up being good since it still took a couple more hours to get her out.

Our bouncing baby girl was officially born at 6:21 pm on January 23, 2009.

She weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 4 oz (we grow big babies I guess) and was 21.5 inches long.
Mom and baby this morning
This poor girl swallowed a bunch of crap while coming out, so she's been spitting it up ever since, but other than that she is perfectly healthy. She seems to be a fairly calm baby, but she's also very young, so we'll see.
Baby & Daddy this afternoon.
This baby girl still has no name, but we are working on it and will have it all ready by tomorrow when we leave the hospital. Sydney got to meet her new sister today and I think her verdict is still out on what she thinks. We are very grateful that she is here and that everyone is healthy and well. We're particularly grateful to our friends watching Sydney while we're still in the hospital. We'll post more on all of us soon!

No Room at the Inn

So I was supposed to check into the hospital at 7 last night but apparently when the weather changes, women start popping out babies. Except not me. We called around 4:30 to make sure everything was on schedule and were told that things might be a little delayed. Then we called at 6 and they told us to call at 8:30. Then they told us to call at 10 pm (remember how we were trying to get Sydney all settled somewhere if we were going to be gone?). At 10 they told us they were completely slammed and that every time a bed opened up another woman walked in in labor, so they would call us when we were able to come in. Yippee.
We got Sydney all settled at a friend's house, went home and went to bed (weird). At 5 am we finally got a call telling us to be at the hospital by 7 so we could have the last bed. Now we are here and things are progressing slowly. At least we got in and Sydney was even good for our friends. Yay. More info to come later!

Zoo Trip

On Saturday it was quite nice out so we went to the zoo! We love the zoo and are so glad it's open year round! Hooray for nice days when we can get out and enjoy all the animals! We thought this would be a great chance to have some quality time with Sydney and for me to get a lot of walking in and try to kick this kid out. Plan A worked great since Sydney had a ball. Plan B didn't work at all. Nothing. Not a single contraction. Grrr.

Sydney's favorite part of the entire zoo this time? The geese. She chased them for practically half the time we were there and was fascinated by them. She also growled at every animal we saw I think. It was awesome.

She was in some pretty thick shoes she hadn't worn before, but she was so focused on getting the goose it didn't bother her at all!
Sydney with the Komodo Dragon. She followed her as she paced around inside her cage too. I'm still not sure what fascinates her about these guys, but she's always loved them.

Having fun with daddy.

Her classic pose at the zoo - Look! She was amazed by pretty much everything, so she was tons of fun to be with. Good thing we're zoo members so we can go lots. Best purchase/gift ever.

Here's a video of Sydney chasing the geese that Aaron took. She kept saying "brr!," (bird) as she followed them around. It was too funny.

After we got home my awesome friend Karen threw me a fantastic baby shower. We somehow came away without a single picture, but it was so fun. Thanks Karen for your hospitality and thanks to everyone else for your sweet gifts and your company! You're all so wonderful!

Busy Busy Girl

I've recently figured out something about Sydney. She may start things a little later than some other kids (she didn't crawl until 11 months and didn't walk until 14 1/2 months), but once she starts something, she's good at it. I guess she just observes until she's got it down in theory and then she does it. Consequently, it takes her very little time to perfect the actual doing of new skills. I'm not sure if this is a pattern for her life or not, but my calm, non-mobile baby is a thing of the past!
This has basically resulted in a veritable explosion in her development over the past few weeks/months. While I am thrilled that she's learning so many new things so quickly, it does tend to wear me out and make it rather difficult to get anything done!

For example, yesterday I decided I should clean my house (since it's not going to get done again for awhile!) I sprayed Windex on my sliding glass door (you inspired me Kristin), set the dangerous chemicals on the table, turned to wipe off the Windex, and heard giggles. By the time I turned around there was a little toddler with the Windex in her grubby little paws halfway across the room.

The rest of the day was about the same. I dumped the garbage and found that her ball had taken up residence 3 seconds later.Then said ball was stuck, so she dumped the garbage over. Smart kid.
Hmm, still stuck. Maybe if I yell for it "BAWH!!!!" Finally saved the ball from certain death. Shredded tissue paper and put it in a tupperware for safe keeping.

Now I'll clean the floor (mostly comprised of her rubbing a duster across the floor or making the dust pan disappear whenever it was needed).

No picture of this one, but while cleaning a bathroom she disappeared, so I went and found her - with a bottle of lotion. She was pumping that stuff out as fast as she could and had it everywhere! As soon as she saw me she said "WOW!" with this amazed little voice. I totally couldn't be mad at her, I just desperately wished my camera was upstairs with me. Then she helped me cook dinner. It was so easy with her like this the whole time.

Sydney has also become fairly opinionated. She knows what she wants and when she wants it. This is good and bad. It's great when she is able to communicate what she wants. Not so great at other times. She has figured out where many items are stored in the house. She knows her sippies are in the fridge, so she does this and whines every time she wants a drink. or grapes.

I also finally succeeded in teaching her the sign for "eat," and she is starting to do it when she is hungry. Halle-freakin-lujah. I love taking the guess work out of a small part of my day. Since she's taking so much out of me (and because I wanted one), we had a girl's night and enjoyed yummy Olive Garden food. Hooray. It was a much needed night away.
Thanks to everyone who came!

What We've Been Up To...

I decided that since I had only changed my blog background once in the past 17 months and I had NEVER changed my header, it was time to update things a bit, even if they'd only be updated for a week or less! Also, I realized there are way too many photos to blog in 1 or even 3 posts, so here's a nice little slide show to chronicle our lives over the last 3 weeks!

Baby Name Dilema

We're sort of struggling to name this new kid, so we thought we'd let our friends and family give their say. We probably won't actually name her until she's born, but we're interested in your thoughts and opinions! Vote and let us know what you think!

Poll is now on the right -->

A Week Late Christmas

I know it's a week late, but here are our Christmas pics! I have to get them up because we have others to post! First, here are Aaron and Sydney on Christmas morning. (And for anyone who wants to see, click here to watch Sydney open some presents. I got sick of waiting for the video to upload).

She's starting to figure out that there are things in these packages. Like books! Hooray!
Um, slight problem. Once she got the books we had to drag her away from them multiple times to open other presents! Mamma's so proud! One thing that did get her attention was her new Snap n' Style doll. For a minute at least. :) Also she was pretty happy about a new polar fleece blanket I made her (she's sort of obsessed) since she opened it right as she was melting down and needing a nap.

Aaron with his awesome hot wheels toy. Thanks Haylee & JC!

Sydney with her awesome toy that blows the balls in the bottom up. She desperately wants to get at those things, so she grabs the toy like so, and yells into the middle "BALL!!!" It's exactly like on Finding Nemo when Darla yells "Fishie!" into the drain at the end. Cracks me up every time. The balls actually come out when you hit the red button, but Sydney is slightly terrified of it, so she doesn't like to do it. It plays awesome music, but also has a small motor that sounds a bit like a vacuum, so she mostly just yells for the balls to come up.

We had a fantastic Christmas. It was low-key and relaxed (good for us since Syd had been sick not too long before) and full of good times. We missed our families but had dinner with our good friends Zack & Karen and enjoyed lots of good times and food. Sydney walked away with a bunch of clothes and a few toys, and of course, her beloved books. Oh, and I got the fairy Snap n' Style doll and a beautiful picture drawn by Sydney. Best gift ever.

Pre-Christmas Fun

Christmas pictures will come soon, but here are some that we took before that I enjoyed. Here is our official Christmas Eve picture. Somehow we have made it this far without anything really being ripped off the tree and without the tree falling on any small children. Excellent.

Sydney is growing increasingly independent and she loves to feed herself many things. Apparently we are mean parents and don't let her feed herself the messy stuff usually, but she has gotten to eat her own PB&J a couple of times lately. She loves them. See Food!
Nose pressed to the glass. Sadly, she's not watching snow. Just looking for rabbits (she loves them) and watching the consruction workers. They're fascinating.

Playing in the Snap n' Style dolls box. Perfect fit!

Me at 35.5 (now 36.5) weeks. I am a funny shape.

Happy Christmas to all!

Lots of Stuff

OK, so first of all, a request - If you have our blog linked on yours, please make sure our last name is not listed. This is in an attempt to keep our blog public for as long as possible.

Second, it finally snowed and has stuck! Hooray Hooray! Mind you, it's also been FREEZING the last couple of days (yesterday it was below zero in lots of places, although we didn't venture out until it was a balmy 12 degrees). I truly love the snow though, especially around Christmas time. It's my favorite. I couldn't handle living someplace with no snow. That's why Colorado is perfect for us - all 4 seasons in moderation! Hooray!

Due to a long story that doesn't need to be shared here, we are currently sledless (it's coming home soon), so last week I took Sydney out and pulled her around our backyard in a laundry basket. Yeah, I'm weird like that, I know. Honestly, she was less than impressed. She was also sick, so I (being a semi-decent mom) only allowed her to stay outside for about 4.3 minutes despite the ridiculous number of layers I stuffed her into. She was happy to go back in and forget mom's weird fascination with the snow.

Sydney has recently discovered her belly button. She frequently lifts her shirt to look for it. I know this seems a little late, but honestly, with the size of this girl's belly, it's sometimes kind of hard to see. Even now she has to do a little tummy tuck to see it. Hil-arious. Also every time she sees a belly button she makes her sign for bunny (two fingers hopping). Not sure what the connection there is. Maybe she thinks this thing kicking in my stomach is a bunny hopping.

My favorite ever. I bought this coat last spring on clearance and could not be happier with it. Talk about the cutest pea coat ever. What a trendy girl we've got here. I think I put her in it at least 4 times yesterday and we only left the house once. Sorry Syd. Mommy likes dress up.

In other earth shattering news, Sydney officially has enough hair for a teeny tiny pony tail! There's nothing special about this picture except for the fact that she has one in. She's been in this awkward hair phase where she has too much to put the KY-Jelly bows in, but not enough for barrettes or ponytails, and she rips out all headbands, so she's gone all natural for awhile. Thus the "What a cute little boy" comments every time we leave the house. I completely have to distract her every time I try to do anything, but I have visual proof! There's a ponytail in there. Hallelujah.

Sydney loves to pick things up and then throw them all over again. Our house usually looks like a small toy shop exploded because there are random toys and toy parts EVERYWHERE. One of her favorite toys right now is a bag of Christmas bows (aren't we awesome parents?). She dumps them all out and then walks around and picks them up. She occasionally stops to show us some of her sweet dance moves as she goes.

2 weeks ago we had another ultrasound. Everything is great, kid is really big. At 32 weeks they estimated that she weighed 5.77 lbs (instead of the usual 3.5-4). We asked the Dr. if that meant she'd come early. He said it just meant she'd be big. Awesome. No really. I'm sort of terrified of tiny babies. So right now this kid could be almost 7 lbs! At a weight gain of 1/2 lb a week, we're looking at a potentially 10 lb full term baby.

Last but not least, Sydney is fascinated by everything lately. Every day she says "WOAH!" At least 50 times. I never realized there was so much to be amazed at, but she's helping me to rediscover the world. :) Thanks Syd. Also, she shares her mom's love of the Christmas tree. I feel like saying it too! WOAH!!!! (Sorry for the poor lighting, but her reaction was too cute.)

My Baby

What happened? She's still gaining confidence and needs practice, but she's all grown up now. Sniff Sniff.

P.S. She chose her outfit herself in case you were wondering. It's always important to accessorize.

Happy Turkey Day

We had a fantastic and relaxing Thanksgiving. Hopefully you all did too! Aaron's brother and his wife drove out to visit and stayed for a few days, which was particularly fun since they recently got married and we haven't spent much time with them! Thanks Garth & Kiery for coming! Our good friends Zack & Karen also came to dinner and we had lots of great food and an awesome time with everyone. We did a little Black Friday shopping (nothing too early or crazy), and just hung out and had fun. Sadly enough, despite my making sure we had batteries that actually worked for our camera, we don't have a single picture from Thanksgiving.

The one thing we do have a picture of is the day before Thanksgiving. I was making Cranberry Cheesecake (a traditional dessert in our family) and Sydney was following me around fussing and crying. My solution was to strip her down and give her the spatula with cheesecake stuff all over it. Yeah, she really liked it.

Thankful

Here is what I am thankful for this year - from A to Z. Some are superficial and some are not, but all make a difference in my life. Click on any links to learn more about a topic.

A - Aaron and Adoption. Aaron is the best husband ever and I love him so much. Obviously adoption has changed our lives in ways we could never have imagined and we are so incredibly grateful for the opportunities it has given us. FYI, November is National Adoption Month!
B - Birth mothers. For very obvious reasons, I am particularly thankful for Sydney's birth mother, who is an amazing girl that had the wisdom and foresight to see that her pregnancy was about more than just her and that she had a chance to change the lives of many people. We love her so much and can never repay her.
C - Coupons. Silly, I know, but when I buy things I would already be purchasing, and I save money on them, it makes me happy. Plus, that $5+ I save almost every time I shop really adds up!
D - Disposable diapers and wipes. Seriously.
E - Employment. I am so grateful that Aaron has a job and one that allows me to stay home.
F - Family & Friends. We have such wonderful family and friends and we are so grateful to all of you. If you're reading this, thank you for making an impact on our lives.
G - The Gospel. It has shaped who I am and how I live my life. Click on that link to learn more about our beliefs.
H - History. If you've known me for long, you know I'm a little obsessed with it (remember my "This Day in History" board and email?). I love it and I love that I always have an outlet and something to learn about. Hooray for the documentaries at the library. I love them.
I - Internet. Remember how I really only keep in touch with people this way? And how did people learn anything before the Internet? I also love my cell phone.
J - Jesus Christ. I know he is my Savior and I am grateful for the knowledge that I have of His plan for me.
K - Knees. As I lose the ability to bend at the waist more and more, I use these guys a lot. Thanks for helping me out.
L - Libraries! You all know I'm a book addict. But I'm also cheap, and one of my favorite places ever is the library. It's almost always the first place I find when I move to a new city besides our church and a grocery store. I love our library. They almost always have what I need or order it quickly, and they have fancy self-check out scanny things. That makes me happy. Also request online and pick up so I don't have to parade my screaming child through the whole building. Thank you.
M - Marriage. I'm so grateful to be married to Aaron and to have a commitment to and from him. One blessing we got from "waiting" to have Sydney (although it was involuntary), we got a lot of time to just be together and enjoy each other. Now he's my best friend.
N - Nap Time. I love when Sydney is awake and I get to play with her, but I also love her nap times when I can either get something done or take a little time for me. That way when she's awake I can focus on her and not go crazy! She's such a good napper (I hope I didn't just jinx myself) and I love that she asks to go "night night."
O - Opportunities. We have so many of these in life and we have had so many lately. They all make us learn and grow and become better people.
P - Prophets. I am grateful that our church has a prophet that can receive direction from God. I think we need it more in these times than almost any other.
Q - Qdoba. I really like this place. And their queso? Oooh yum. Totally my favorite part. I really just love nights I don't cook.
R - Reading. This is my outlet and I always have a book. I am grateful that my parents cultivated a strong love of reading when I was a child. It's something I'm determined to do with my own kids, which is probably why I own hundreds of children's books. No seriously.
S - Sydney. I could go on for ages about this kid, as you all know since you've obviously read my blog. Suffice it to say, I love her and am so grateful I have the privilege of being her mommy.
T - Temples. I am very grateful that we can be a family even after we die because of the special work done here.
U - United States of America. I am very grateful to live in the country I do and I am grateful for all those that have fought and are fighting to keep it free. I think whether we support the wars or not, we should always support them, because they are there for us.
V - Veggie Tales. I might actually be in an asylum if it weren't for these little green guys. Sydney practically goes into a trance whenever I turn it on for her. I try to save it for when I'm really going nuts or she's having a particularly rough day. Here is a (2 month old) video of her watching it. She is completely entertained whenever I turn it on. It's gets us through the rough days. :)
W - Work Ethic. We've recently encountered a number of people with extremely low work ethics (Wendy's tonight was a joke!). I am grateful for the fact that both of our parents taught us how to work and that it is something we are all required to do in life. It makes your life easier when you don't think you're being picked on just because you have to contribute.
X - eXamples. (I know, I'm cheating, but honestly, I'm not that grateful for xylophones.) There are a lot of people I look up to and I am grateful that they live their lives the way they do so that I can learn from them.
Y - You! I'm so glad you all want (is that the right word?) to read all this nonsense about my life! Seriously though, I'm grateful to have you as friends and to be able to keep in touch.
Z - Zoo. You all know we're here a lot, and I love it. I love all the little outings we do! Now we just need to work a few more in to our schedules...

A Sense of Accomplishment

First, a goofy pic of my cute kiddo. She has discovered this bowl, which she puts on her head so it looks like a little bowler hat. It's too small, so it falls off, and she laughs. Dang, I love that kid.

Now the real reason for my posting - let's face it - I love to craft, and I dabble in pretty much every crafty type project there is. Sewing, painting, floral design, scrapbooking, etc. You name it, I've usually tried it. Not to say I'm actually good at all or any of these things, but I enjoy most of them. However, I have a major craft flaw - I go in serious spurts. I get things done that we NEED throughout the year, but my crafty projects I want and like to do wait until crafting season begins. Which is now.

During spring, summer, and even a lot of fall, I want to read, go to the park, work in the garden, or laze around the pool. Crafting is work during those months. But when that cold chill comes into the air and I start dreaming of Christmas trees and snow days (usually sometime in late September), the craft bug in me comes out! Take this year for example - in the past few weeks I have: sanded and painted this nativity (which Syd decided to eat 5 min later. I saved Baby Jesus, but Mary and the sheep have a few battle wounds)
Made/finished our stockings (I am soooo proud of this one since it took me like 4 years to do!). Also notice the new baby even has a stocking minus the name (since she doesn't have one yet).
Decorated my turkey with fall leaves instead of suckers (Syd throws tantrums when she sees suckers and we're working on eating healthier anyway)
I also made Sydney a new blanket, fixed an old blanket, made an apron, darned 3 socks, hemmed 2 pair of pants and completed 2 soft books. My project pile is rapidly depleting! Hooray! I feel so productive. Happy day!

Also in BIG news - today Sydney took her first steps! No walking yet, but she did take a couple of unassisted steps and fall into our arms! Yay Sydney! We'll get video when it happens again.

SNOW!!!!

Remember how I've been dying for it to snow for ages now? I look out the window each morning and each time I am disappointed. I'm dying for that gorgeous picture out my window where each house on my block looks like a gingerbread house dusted with powdered sugar. Well, this morning Aaron got me out of bed (I was awake) and had me go to the window, to see SNOW!!! I was so excited I wanted to squeal, but knew it would wake Syders up, so I kept quiet, but was whisper screaming how excited I was! We took Sydney out and let her see the snow.

Total confusion. Even after we fed her some she was still confused. I think she wondered what happened to the world. (Do you see the powdered sugar dusting further down the street?!)
When we came back in she stared out the back door for a long while trying to figure it all out. Sadly enough, it was gone really soon. By the time we left the house at 11 am it was 60 degrees, so the only white stuff left was melting or completely shaded. Sydney must have known I would be sad and decided to create a snow storm in the kitchen out of all our grocery sacks which she pulled from the pantry. It was much appreciated.

A little behind

I've been a bit of a slacker lately I guess as far as posting, but I also haven't taken that many pictures, so here's what we've been up to. Sydney is finally starting to grow a little bit of hair. Enough to wake up with some funny pic material a couple times a week! Although she doesn't seem to mind, mom wishes more hair would grow so she wouldn't get called a boy every time we leave the house. At least they say she's a cute boy I guess.

Playing in the leaves. Our tiny pile. Remember last year's leaf pictures? sigh She's so big now.

Our real official Halloween pic after trick-or-treating. We did 2 houses I think. It was for the experience.
Our little fairy! My aunt and uncle gave us this darling little dress and it fits her now! She wore it to church on Sunday.
In much more entertaining news, Syd's becoming a much better dancer. She's always loved music and started dancing when she was about 6 or 7 months old, but she's really starting to shake it now!

Yeah, she likes to rock. Oh, and windshield wipers terrify her. Who knew they were so scary?

My New Fave

I don't mind cooking most of the time. I actually even enjoy it when I have everything I need and know what I am making and am not in a rush. But I hate figuring out what to make, trying to keep Sydney occupied while I make it, etc. etc. Usually each day I put dinner off until just before Aaron comes home, which means in order for dinner to be done somewhat on time, I have to choose something that can be done in about 3o minutes. So my choices are tacos, spaghetti, or a Banquet boxed meal (we actually love these and you should try them - particularly the pizza pasta and the chicken/gravy/biscuits/potatoes). All good meals, but they get old having them too often.
I decided we were going to broaden our horizons and find new Quick and Easy meals we liked. I don't usually try new recipes though, because I have a few requirements that they usually don't meet. They are as follows:

1. The recipe must be FAST.
2. The recipe must be EASY (aka have about 8 ingredients or less - this is a vague and general rule. I do actually have recipes with more than 8 ingredients, but I stay away from long intense recipes (Sorry Kiery!)
3. I must have the majority of the ingredients AND gadgets needed in my current possession. I really hate buying new things for a meal you want to try and discovering you hate the meal anyway and you will never again use the 7 lb bag of ingredient x you purchased and used 3 tsp of.
4. Any ingredients I do not own must be fairly easy to find and cheap. I found a recipe for potatoes last week, and the first ingredient was Spanish Smoked Paprika. Excuse me? What? That doesn't work for me.

Enter my new favorite magazine:
I've been getting this magazine for a couple of years, but I've never made a recipe from it. Who knows why. Until this month. I realized I own almost all the ingredients for about 95% of the recipes in here, so I tried a taco bake and was pleasantly surprised! This week we had the Chicken Parmesan (the breading is made with Ritz crackers!), the bruschetta chicken bake, and the blueberry cheese rolls. While none of them are what you would consider gourmet (Olive Garden's Chicken Parm is better), they are really good, fast, easy, and use ingredients that I own! Yay!!!! After a little bit of tweaking a couple of things (the bruschetta needs a bit more wetness and we made raspberry cheese rolls instead of blueberry) I think we're going to really love some of these and use them frequently! At least we'll have a bit more variety in our menu now! If you want to get this magazine, you can sign up for free here! Enjoy!
P.S. Don't use the tangy pork chop recipe. It was really icky.