Sammi 2 weeks old

So I am way behind on this post as Sammi is now actually 6 weeks old but here is the info from her 2 weeks appointment.

She was 7lbs 5 oz, so not quite back to birth weight. Length was the same and head was now 14" (1 bigger than birth). She looked a little jaundiced but they automatically test the bilirubins. Sadly, her foot didn't warm as well as they liked so after pricking and squeezing her heel for 20 minutes, the blood started coagulating so they had to stop and warm the other heel and start over. Poor thing. Her levels were high so they had us come back in the next day (so they could see if she was going up or down). Sadly they were slightly higher. We were told to come back in 2 days but in between that time make sure she got plenty of sunbathing in. She enjoys sitting in the sun.

Her levels went back down so there is no worry.

On another note, our hospital has Baby Bella Photography come take newborn pics shortly after they are born. Because of the trouble after delivery, we got skipped. Gratefully they were nice enough to allow is to come back a week later and have some pics taken. Here are a few (my favorites):

Praying Sammi

Sisters

Mom, now what do I do?

Ellie really does love Sammi and can't wait for her to be big enough to play with. She thinks it's hilarious to tickle Sammi's face with her hair, get really close and yell "Baby Sammi", and when I make Sammi dance the hokey pokey.

Sammi has her own personality and has decided she is a side sleeper already. 

I love this little girl. 

Grandma Connie's visit

Shortly after my mom left, Grandma Connie (Jake's mom) came out to visit. Ellie was so excited to be the center of attention again. She really misses (and so do we) being near family and spending time with grandmas.

Since the last time Grandma Connie came out we weren't able to give her the tour around town, I decided we'd better try to go a few places this time.

One day (and I totally forgot my camera), we drove up the canyon a bit. We went to Red Rocks and I still want to see a concert there some time. I would consider this a must see when visiting Colorado. We were able to walk around the visitors center and learn a bit about the area. Ellie tried to talk us into walking down all the stairs, luckily since they were setting up on the stage she decided it was ok if we didn't. After we took a drive over to a nature center and the Boettcher Mansion. We found some benches (but not the "X marks the spot" that Ellie wanted) to have lunch. We were able to walked around the nature center and finally, after my 3rd visit to the mansion, tour the inside. Ellie loved putting on the headphones to hear nature sounds and using the "noculars" to look for squirrels.

Connie and I decided that we are going to (one day when we have lots of money) have a Watterson event at the Boettcher Mansion where all the women dress up fancy and the Watterson men wear kilts with the Watterson Tartan. We talked a lot about what we would do if/when we have lots of money.

That weekend was a Colorado Watterson dinner weekend, and luckily for us, down in Colorado Springs. It gave us an even better excuse to travel down there and so Connie more.

We stopped at Garden of the Gods, another must see in Colorado. The day was a little dreary and rainy which make the pictures appear blurred.

Ellie and Grandma holding up the Balance Rock.

Grandma and her girls.

After we drove in to Manitou Springs. I took Connie to a few shops that I thought she would like. We looked at beads (since she makes bracelets and watches) and again thought of what we would buy with lots of money. Some of these beads were $3+.  We enjoyed the handmade soap place. She and Ellie also tasted some of the water (natural soda water). We actually saw a few people filling big jugs with the water.

Grandma's girls, Ellie showing off her new "Tangled" hair.

Grandma Connie also made us a delicious meal of Chicken Fried Chicken. So good. We loved having her here and were sad to see her go. Poor Ellie started thinking that Grandma's live at the airport and we can just go pick them up at anytime. Then she started talking about driving to the airport to visit Grandma.

Thanks for all your help and love Grandma Connie and Grandma Wendy. 

Grandma Wendy's visit

Most of my mom's visit this time wasn't so much of a vacation as it was to take care of me and my family (which I am so grateful for). And although we didn't do a lot of stuff, we did go out a few times.

Grandma was great at walking Ellie to the park to play so that I could have some time to relax. One day we drove to a nearby park that has a giant slide.

This slide is longer and steeper than this picture shows.

 Another day, we drove near the mountains (because Ellie had been asking to go for weeks). There is a "Point of Geological Interest" that I had wondered about for quite a while. Turns out, there are dinosaur foot prints along with some learning activities. So we stopped by to play, learn, and eat lunch.

Digging for dinosaur bones.

Look at me. I'm a squirrel.

It was so fun to have Grandma Wendy around but eventually she had to head home. Ellie was quite sad (as was I) when we dropped her off at the airport. Although Ellie was having a hard time understanding that Grandma was leaving on an airplane to head back to Utah. She told me to wait so Grandma could get back in the car or that we would see her when we got home. We love having Grandma around to help and to play with. 

Happy 6th Anniversary!

Ever started a post and then got so distracted that it almost didn't get posted? Ya, that's what happened with this one.

Back at the beginning of April, Jake and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Only 1 more year until we pass the 7 year itch. By then, we should almost be done with law school as well so life will be a breeze, right? So far, everyone has told me no.

We had a fun night. Since things are a little hectic, Ellie came and celebrated with us and the night would have been great except for the awful traffic driving to the restaurant. We had a lovely dinner at Olive Garden then picked up a red box.

Once Ellie was in bed, we watched Breaking Dawn, part 1. I know I will take a lot of slack for this, but neither one of us had seen it. Still part of the cheesey movie series but definitely better than the others. We liked the added fight scene.

Sometimes I can't believe how long we have known each other or how long we have been married. Even with the tough times, I wouldn't have it any other way. Even when I am bothered or annoyed with how life turns out, I wouldn't have it any other way. Even when I am upset or annoyed with Jake, I wouldn't want to be married to any other man. Even with his shortcomings (and mine), I am glad we found each other and decided to be married for time and all eternity.

Love you babe!

Samantha Marie (Sammi)

She's here. Samantha Marie arrived on April 18th at around 6:30pm. We have quite a story. Sorry it's so long. I tried to leave out gross and uncomfortable details.

My mom flew in the day before to be here. We had plans to get some shopping done but Samantha had different plans. I had a regular doctor's appt the next day (on the 18th). The doctor had informed me the week before that since I was measuring small (on the belly), she wanted to do a non-stress test. At the appt we discussed inducing as mom was here and it would make things a little less stressful with Jake's end of the semester schedule. She said the company didn't like doing inductions before 40 weeks so we would have to wait until Monday but she would do what she could to help, especially since I was fairly dilated.

After I finished talking with her, I went back to be hooked up to the monitor's to measure contractions, heart rate, and baby movement. Having been on the machine only about 10 minutes, the technician said she needed to take the results to the doctor. At that point the doctor came back and told me to head straight to the hospital. She wanted them to monitor me for a little bit and decide what action to take.

I walked out to the waiting room to grab Ellie and my mom so we could head to the hospital. At this point Ellie started having a meltdown about waiting to go to the doctor's office. She did not want to go to the hospital. I think she knew what was going on.

I called Jake, who was at work, and told him what was happening. I wasn't too worried or expected too much as I wasn't feeling many contractions and they definitely weren't painful.

The nurses and doctors at the hospital ran a few tests, did a little monitoring, and then told me I wouldn't be leaving the hospital until the baby was born. This was at about 12:00-12:30. They set me up in a labor and delivery room. After a short time, they administered pitocin. This was to regulate and strengthen the contractions. I think it was around 5:00 when I asked for the epidural. Leaving out gory details, Samantha was born at 6:30 with only about 5 pushes.

She weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. Ellie and Grandma Wendy had just gotten back to the hospital after heading home for naps.

Our little family.

 After the delivery, there were some complications. The placenta had been weakened and was not in good condition. This lead to problems with hemorrhaging and blood clots. Eventually they decided to do a D&C and found a piece of the placenta still attached. Through all this, I lost a lot of blood. They said about half; my hematocrit level was around 7.9 vs the normal almost 14. Luckily, I was in good hands and was well taken care of.

Ellie and baby Sammi

Happy Grandma

We were able to come home on Friday. I think Ellie was a little sad as there was a playground at the hospital and she liked playing there and meeting new friends.

Sammi ready to come home.

Ellie has adjusted to having sister at home and loves to hold and kiss her. She thinks it is funny when Sammi is hungry and tries to eat her or when Sammi opens her eyes and looks at her.

Still trying to figure out how to hold baby Sammi.

Sammi was sunning so Ellie wanted to do it too.

Sammi is a great baby so far. She sleeps fairly well through the night. She has started to stay awake a little during the day between feedings. She has the funniest little coos and squeaks.

Daddy, Ellie, and Sammi napping together.

Actually, Ellie and daddy were just pretending, as you can tell by Ellie's snoring face.


We love having Sammi here and are so blessed to have such great girls. I think we'll keep them. 

What do you sleep with?

Ellie likes to sleep with certain items. Generally it is just Winnie the Pooh, Dolphin, Minnie, and Pretend Minnie, or any combination of those toys. My nephew Braden at one time slept on 3 pillow pets. As I child, I had several blankets or stuffed animals.

The other night we could hear her walking around upstairs. After a few minutes we could hear that she was also playing with stuff although we weren't sure what. I called up the stairs and told her to get into bed. That seemed to be the last of it, or so we thought. When we went to bed and stopped in to kiss Ellie goodnight, we found some unusual items on the floor and in her bed. The top 4 items (from the bathroom) were what we saw and cleaned up. The next morning as Ellie and I were making her bed, I found the items at the bottom of the picture still in her bed. She must have slept with them all night long. Silly girl.

Shortly after this incident, I was watching a VeggieTales movie with Ellie and saw this song. I couldn't help but laugh. Goodnight Junior.

Easter Festivities

Our Easter weekend was packed. A bunch of families from the ward get together and have an egg hunt at one of the local parks. Ellie was so excited.

Heading off to find eggs.

Since daddy helped hide eggs, he helped Ellie collect the "good ones"

Ellie with her booty.

She loved finding the eggs. Some had candy, some had stickers, some even had temporary tattoos. (Side story: She wanted to put on one of the "stickers" aka tattoos so I asked which one she wanted and where she wanted it. She told me the princess one on her shoulder. Since she had a shirt on, I just placed it on her upper arm. Once it was on and she realized it didn't peel off like a sticker, she started to cry. I just laughed while cleaning it off. Jake called me mean for laughing at her heart ache. I guess it just made me happy that the idea of a semi-permanent mark on her body bothered her.)

Later that night we had a ward party. It was a pot-luck dinner. They also had crafts for the kids; using paper plates and bowls to make either bonnets or baskets, decorated with flowers, feathers, and stickers.

I don't know how this happened but there were balloons on the ceiling and some of the men convinced the young man to be apart of their cheerleader pyramid.

We came home from the party with enough time to decorate eggs. Jake and I did most of the dying while Ellie used crayons and stickers.

Sunday after church, we took a few cute pictures of her.

After naps, she had a basket waiting.

She was really excited about the chapstick and nail polish in the basket.

Then another egg hunt for the decorated eggs. Only a few were hidden as we wanted to mitigate broken egg loss.

To end the day, we enjoyed a wonderful Easter dinner with the Watterson's of Colorado. They even had some eggs hidden for the kids to find. It was so nice to feel at home with family even though we live away from family.

Hopefully one day we will be able to spend a little more time talking about the real reason for Easter, but I am sure that is the dilemma for most parents with young kids.