I just completed #28 on my list.   

Here is a nice hair blowing in the wind before picture to admire.  Look how dramatic it looks! Haha

A close up.

The carnage.

The after.

Thoughts?

(Robinson 1 month old)

How is it possible that a month has passed already?  I am desperate to slow down time, to make this last forever.  I love holding and snuggling my baby.  I wish he could stay tiny forever.  He is no longer my newborn, he is turning into my baby and while I love it, it crushes me at the same time.  We just had his 1 month appointment today and he is up to 9 lbs and 11 oz and is 22.5 inches long.  He is growing and changing every day and we fall more in love with each second.  I will recap his last 2 weeks tomorrow. 

I am a bad blogger!  I haven’t wanted to spend time away from Robinson and since I can’t really blog with only one hand while holding him in the other, I have ignored the blog.  I am trying to soak up every single second that I can with him before I have to go back to work.  Here are my confessions for the last few Mondays.  WARNING: The word boob gets used an insane amount of times in my post, if this offends you, don’t read past the first 2

• One of the terrible side effects of having a baby has to be the night sweats.  They are horrible!  For the first almost 3 weeks I would have to put out a total change of clothes on my nightstand so I could get up in the middle of night and put on dry clothes.  It was crazy.  They are getting better thankfully because all the extra laundry sure wasn’t fun. 
• I sleep with a sleep mask.  Yup, a sleep mask.  I apparently think I am a pretty princess who must have her beauty sleep, so I use a sleep mask.  Ok so that is embarrassing enough, but here is the thing, I totally cannot sleep without it.  I just can’t, it has become almost like a stupid security blanket that little kids drag around.  So guess who packed one in her hospital bag and used it?  Oh yeah, that was me.  How stupid I must have looked to the nurses coming in to have me feed my baby as I lay there with a sleep mask on!  HAHA, I am a loser. 
• Let’s talk about boobs for a minute should we?  First of all, mine still didn’t really get any bigger when my milk came in, thus the need to supplement I suppose.  But could nursing boobs come with more things?  Let me tell you about all the fun attachments, gadgets, lotions and potions that I have for mine.
• First of all I have boob pads.  They are super fun, I feel like I am stuffing my bra.  I never even did that when I was growing up, but I sure am now. 
• Boob cream.  This is great stuff.  It helps them feel better and makes them all nice and soft and smooth.  Bad thing is that it is a total pain to put it on every single time afterwards, but still totally worth it.  The first time I put it on I was still pregnant (thanks for the advice Becca) and I came in the bedroom and told John that I officially felt like a milk cow because boob cream is nothing but Bag Balm minus the nasty smell. 
• Nursing bras.  I have a thing with nursing bras, I was obsessed with getting me a padded nursing bra with underwire.  I have this phobia of having soggy nursing boobs, I still wanted my boobs to look normal and not all mushy.  I am a freak, I know.
• Boob tea.  Yup they have a tea for your boobs.  It is called Mother’s Milk and it is supposed to help you produce better milk.  I will admit that it has helped me out, but at a cost.  I have to drink 4-5 cups A DAY!  I am to the point of tears now when I have to drink it because it tastes terrible (like black licorice).  I shudder when I think about the cup I have waiting for me in the kitchen. 
• Boob pumps.  So I said that boob cream made me feel like a milk cow, well I was wrong, the breast pump does.  The first day that I tried using it John and I got laughing so hard I was crying.  Well I was crying from laughing and from the pain of having this terrible torture device hooked up to my chest.  I told John he better stop laughing or I was going to hook it up to him.  He told me that he had been strongly advised not to try that by our friends we borrowed the pump from.  Good advice. 
• Ok so no more boob posts, but in the desire for nothing but total truth here on my blog, if you look back at my last MNC where I blogged about not having stretch marks, I have to now recant that dirty lie I told.  But here is the thing, it wasn’t a dirty lie 2 weeks ago, I really didn’t have one stretch mark on my belly, not one.  Again I was proud and vain and I had been warned time and time again by my Mother to not be.  She said that after she had my older sister that she had stretch marks appear a few weeks after delivery.  I didn’t believe her until last week when mine finally showed up.  They aren’t terrible, and I only have a very few light-colored ones.  This sucks because I am not lying, I didn’t have one single mark on my belly before last week, not a single teeny tiny one.  Vanity it a fickle whore I tell you. 

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!

No joke, it really is amazing.  Best pumpkin ice cream I have ever had, 10 times better than Dryers or any other store bought kind.  If you love pumpkin ice cream you really should make this.  It is a recipe from my cousin Ellen, she brought us some over while I was still pregnant and it was like heaven.  The gingersnap crumble was so yummy and I put tons of extra on mine when we made it.   

It has been a blur and I am totally sad that 2 weeks ago today I had my baby.  I just want to make time stop, to have it stand still forever so I am just love my tiny son without him growing older and getting bigger.  It breaks my heart.  We have had a whirlwind these last 2 weeks, and it has all been crazy good.  Here is a little photo recap of what we have been up to.  (WARNING: LONG PICTURE-HEAVY POST ALL ABOUT MY KID)

Daddy getting pee on him for the first time.

Lots of snuggling on our chests.  He LOVES to sleep on anyone’s chest, it can calm him down in 2 seconds.  John let’s him sleep on his chest when he is really fussy at nights and it works like a charm every time.

He likes to have his head all the way under John’s chin. 

Pure love.  I am smitten.

First baths given by Mom and Dad.

I love hooded towels.

Getting rubbed down with his baby oil by his Dad.  This is their favorite nightly activity.

Walking in the sling with Nana.  We are not sure how he ended up this way, because he sure didn’t start out like that.

We supplemented for a few days while my milk was coming in.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever.  First I love a good milk coma face, and second if you look at his shiny face, it is from my boob cream and it makes me laugh when he has shiny boob cream face!

First doctor’s appointment.

More snuggling with his Dad. 

Trying out the new binki. 

Lots of naps in the swing.  Holy crap isn’t he cute?  I could die!  I am so in love.

He loves his swing, and so do I.

He likes to sleep with his hands over his eyes.

Having Auntie Randa come and help out for a few days.  It was so great to have her get to come and meet Robinson and just hang out.  I was so sad when she left.

Auntie Randa giving him a good shampoo job on his hair. 

First real bath.  You can tell he wasn’t a huge fan.

It has all been so wonderful!  I am amazed daily and so blessed by this tiny person in my life I can hardly put into words how amazing my life has been these past few weeks.  I am thankful for him every single day.

The I have a newborn, too tired and drugged up to think straight fog has begun to lift and I am getting back into my old routine so I am hoping to post more than I have been.  Let’s start off with a few MNC.

• I was so proud of myself during this pregnancy because I didn’t get one single stretch mark.  Not one.  And if you look back at my final gut check picture you will see why I was proud of this.  I was HUGE.  My doctor even was marveling that I didn’t have any and told me I must be like Elasta Girl.  So I go to the hospital to deliver my baby, only to end up with a c-section scar instead.  That will teach me to be vain huh?
• I never believed people who said that once you have a baby you don’t care about modesty anymore.  Totally thought they were lying.  I am a very private person who would rather die than have people see my bits and goods.  Going into the hospital I am not going to lie, I was more than a little mortified about the thoughts of what was going to happen with everyone seeing me in all my glory.  But no lie, after about the first hour of hard labor I could have cared less who saw what.  Seriously, I was talking to my sister Randa about this while she was here and we both agreed that we would have let the stinkin janitor check us by that point just to see if we qualified for our epidural yet.  It isn’t a lie, it really is true. 
• There are things that I did with my stomach muscles before this c-section that I had never given any thought to before.  Let’s take sneezing for example, not really a big deal, not something you even think about.  Not until your guts are sliced open and sewn back together that is.  One night after I had been home a few days I sneezed, hard, and then I literally started to cry because it hurt so bad.  It was intense.  I miss my intact stomach muscles and can’t wait for the day when simple things don’t make me want to cry.
• As everyone knows you are supposed to sleep on your side when you are pregnant.  This was ok for about the first week and then all I dreamed about was sleeping on my back again.  I couldn’t wait to have the baby so I could just snooze my life away on my back.  Again this was all great until I had my c-section and haven’t been able to sleep on my sides since.  You know what they say, the grass is always greener.  Oh I can’t wait to sleep on my sides pain free again. 
• Another thing that I never fully understood was the beauty of your first shower after you have a baby.  Again I had heard people talk about it, but come on, it is only a shower, how great could it be?  Oh my gosh, it was better than great!  That first morning after I had the baby I asked my nurse when I could shower, she told me as soon as I could walk to the bathroom she would let me shower.  No joke, I would have crawled to the bathroom if I had to just for that shower.  It was the most divine feeling in the world! 

We are still totally and completely over the moon in love with our little Robinson.  I will be posting about his first 2 weeks of life tomorrow. 

HAPPY MONDAY!

At my last doctor’s appointment on the 29th of October my doctor did another growth ultrasound to check his size.  The ultrasound showed that he was 9.6 pounds and I still had a week and a half until my due date.  My doctor was worried he was getting too big and wanted to induce me on Monday.  We decided to think about it that night at home.  I really didn’t want to be induced, I wanted to experience the whole labor thing on my own.  After a lot of thought and consideration we decided to go ahead and get induced.  They moved my date to Tuesday but wanted me to check in on Monday the 2nd. 

We went to the hospital on Monday night about 5:00 pm so they could start me on Cervidil to help induce labor.  I was only a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced that night.  They gave me an Ambien that night to help me sleep since the Cervidil can cause a lot of cramping.  The Ambien knocked me out which meant that I wasn’t breathing enough for the baby so they had to put me on oxygen all night so his heart beat would go back up.  The next morning they check me again before starting the Pit and the Cervidil had done nothing to help progress my labor because I was still dilated and effaced the same as I was the night before.  I hurried and showered and got ready for the day before they started me on the Pit, and mentally prepared for a long day. 

They started the Pit at 8:00 that morning.  The contractions weren’t too terrible and John and I were able to play cards and watch 24 on the laptop.  At 12:30 my doctor came back to check me and strip my membranes, which was a very painful experience.  I had at least dilated to a 2 and was now 80% effaced.  He decided to break my water to help move things along. 

After he broke my water they turned up the Pit which made the contractions come hard and fast.  I got in the tub which helped the pain a lot.  My sweet nurse didn’t believe me when I told her that my family has really long labors and it was going to take me a long time to progress, and after only an hour in the tub she was nervous to get me out and check me again.  I got out and back in bed because they wanted to be able to monitor me and felt it was easier in the bed.  I tried asking to get in the chair but she didn’t want me to.  When she checked me I was only a 3. 

The contractions were coming so fast that it was hard to stay on top of them.  John was great and helped me with my breathing.  I couldn’t cry because it made the pain worse, so with every contraction tears would stream down my face as I breathed through them.  At 4:30 the nurse asked if I wanted her to check me or wait another hour for the doctor to come and do it himself.  I only needed to make it to a 4 before I could get my epidural.  I debated for a minute about waiting for the doctor because I didn’t want to have her check me and me still only be a 3.  I finally couldn’t take it anymore and had her check me.  I had made it to a good solid 4 and she asked me if I wanted an epidural, to which I couldn’t say yes fast enough.  In fact I think I said along the lines of “I made it, holy crap I freakin made it to a 4!”  I have never been so excited to get a needle stuck in my back in my whole life.

It took about 45 minutes before the anesthesiologist made it to my room and when she walked in I told her how much I loved her and how she was like my Santa Clause.  The epidural was crazy, it basically felt like my legs went to the dentist.  I guess I thought I wouldn’t feel anything, but you still do, just only a little bit.  It was really wild.  Once that kicked in I was set.  They turned up the Pit even more and left us to get some sleep.  It was 5:30. 

We both just got to sleep when my nurse came running in and turned off my Pit and grabbed the oxygen to have me breath.  She also started pushing the IV as fast as she could.  Robinson’s heart rate had dropped into the 90’s.  He wasn’t responding too well to the high dosage of Pit.  It made my contractions come too hard and fast and he didn’t have enough time in between them to rest.  They called the doctor who had me take a 30 minute break and to put me back on the Pit at the same level as before.  The same thing happened.  We did this 3 times before the doctor finally came back in. 

By this time John and I had already talked about the fact that a c-section was looking like our only choice at this point.  The doctor checked me and I was still only a 4 after 5 hours.  We talked to the doctor and all decided that a c-section would be best for the baby.  I started crying because I really wanted to have a regular birth.  John and the sweet nurse talked me through my tears and they called back in the anesthesiologist to get me numb from the chest down.  It was now 9:30.

After they got me all numbed they gave John his scrubs and told him to get dressed and where to met them.  Before he could even put on his scrubs Robinson’s heart dropped again, this time into the 80’s.  I was in and out of it because of all the drugs they had given me and I remember trying so hard to stay awake.  I remember them saying they had to go now because his heart was so low and I remember everyone grabbing things and running me into the OR.  I remember how bright the lights were in the OR and I remember the doctors talking to me and each other.  I started shaking out of control and I kept telling them how sorry I was that I was shaking and that I couldn’t make it stop.  They put a warm blanket on my chest which helped a lot.  The anesthesiologist told me they were going to do a test to make sure I was numb enough before they would let John come in.  They must have done it because I remember them saying “get her husband,  hurry and get her husband”.  John walked in and sat down by me.  It was only a few short minutes later that I heard my boy crying.  It was amazing.  There really are no words to describe how his cry made me feel.  I started sobbing and John stood up and looked over the curtain and he told me how good he looked and then he said, “and he got lots of dark hair just like you wanted babe”.  John went with the baby to be checked out while they stitched me up.  As they were pulling him out one of the people in the OR said, “wow that kids a brute” because he was so big.  Everyone was commenting on how huge he was.  I guess they don’t get many 9 pounders here.  He was 9 pounds 4 ounces and 22 inches long.     

I am getting to see him for the first time here.

After they got me all fixed up I waited in the recovery room for John to bring me the baby.  I am holding him for the first time.

John is one proud daddy. 

He is just one day old here.

At this hospital when you have a c-section you get a room with 2 beds which was great for John to have his own bed.  He and Robinson snuggled all day like this.

Here we are ready to leave the hospital.  This is our very first family photo. 

Seriously could you just die?  I am totally in love with this kid.

His very first home.

My mom has been down and I can’t even begin to tell you what a wonderful help she has been.  She has cooked yummy dinners for us and has kept Robinson out with her at nights so we can get some sleep.  I am going to be so sad when she leaves.  Good thing my sister Randa comes the same day Mom leaves. 

I didn’t swell at all while I was pregnant, but this is what my feet looked like after 7 bags of saline solution and 2 bags of Pit. 

We are so happy to have him home and that he is healthy and happy.  I am recovering really well from my c-section and feel amazingly blessed by having Robinson in my life. 

I will post his birth story later.  But here he is, all 9.4 lbs and 22 inches.  We are wildly in love.

Here is my final gut check, I can’t believe this is it.  They are going to induce me Tuesday!

I am very torn on how I feel.  I am so excited to meet my sweet baby, but at the same time I am sad to be done with my pregnancy.  I have adored being pregnant with him, even with all the sickness and aches and pains, it has truly been one of the most wonderful times in my life.  I will always look back on being pregnant with nothing but good memories. 

I am ready for the next chapter, the part where I actually get to be a Mother.  I can’t wait to kiss his fat little face and just love him!  I will post pictures and stats this week sometime.  Wish me luck!  Here are the pictures starting out at week 11 and ending at week 39.

11 Weeks.

16 Weeks.

17 Weeks

18 Weeks

19 Weeks.

20 Weeks.

21 Weeks.

22 Weeks.

23 Weeks.

24 Weeks.

25 Weeks.

26 Weeks.

27 Weeks.

28 Weeks.

29 Weeks.

30 Weeks.

31 Weeks.

32 Weeks.

33 Weeks.

34 Weeks.

35 Weeks.

36 Weeks.

37 Weeks.

38 Weeks. 

39 Weeks.

This last weekend we finally finished up everything in the nursery.  I am so happy with how it turned out. 

Here is what it looked like before.

Johnny was so sweet and he painted and fixed anything and everything that I requested. 

Here he is setting up the crib. 

Here is the finished room.

I already blogged about the awesome dresser that he painted for baby. 

We have been collecting kids books ever since we started trying to have a baby, so he has plenty of books to get him started.

A few decorations.

We bought him these rabbit moccasins in Alaska this summer.

These were Johnny’s marbles when he was little.

I got this old matchbox from my Great Grandma years ago. 

Mom gave me the rocking chair from her store. 

I saw this vinyl a few years ago and bookmarked the page in case I ever had a baby.  It was supposed to go right on the wall but we wanted to be able to take it with us when we move so we put it on canvas.  John painted the canvas to match the blue walls and the vinyl went on great.  I really love how it turned out.

My mom made the blanket for his crib.  She said I better appreciate it because it was not only her first attempt, but her last.  No more homemade blankets from her.  I love how it turned out, it is perfect and just what I wanted.

I am obsessed with looking at the little things hanging in his closet. 

I have a picture of me when I was a baby playing with same toy.  It chimes when you roll it around. 

This owl was one of the very first toys we bought for him after we found out we were having a boy.  I LOVE retro owls.

Here is Tiny Baby’s cradle that is in our room.  I have him some adorable bedding coming for it.  It should be here sometime this week I hope.  I will blog about it when I get it.  I love his cradle.  I always knew that I wanted a classic looking cradle for him to sleep in while he was tiny and I found this at Target.  The moose we got him in Alaska. 

This is why I haven’t been blogging much lately, I have been very busy with pictures.  I love doing pictures and it was fun to fit in all these sessions.  The fields are a popular spot this year. 

I love the bright colors they are wearing for these. 

Yet even more friends from Law School  

B loves John, so I brought him along to help get her attention. 

These are more of our friends from Law School. 

Little E with his rock.

Wait till I blog about the awesome trade I made with KaLee for the pictures! 

I forgot to blog about our last trip to Star Valley.  We had a fun time, even though it was super short.  One day we took the kids hiking to the Intermittent Springs.  In the 8 years we have been together John had never  been before. 

John was showing the kids his mad rock skipping skills.

The kids wanted to go play in the creek bottom when the water stopped so Uncle John was nice enough to take them both down.

When the water started again I yell at him to hurry and come back over, but they decided to wait it out on the other side.  John didn’t realize he would be stuck over there for 20 minutes with 2 kids.  Here he and T are having a lengthy discussion about the easiest way to get back across. 

My friend Shalee sent me the recipe for this cake, and it was awesome!  Plus I love making bundt cakes because it means I have an excuse to use my pretty cake plates.

1 pkg. Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1 C. pumpkin
2/3 C. evaporated milk
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 C. white chocolate chips

White Chip Cinnamon Glaze:
3 T. evaporated milk
1 C. white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup bundt cake pan. Combine cake mix, eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Beat at low speed until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes; stir in chocolate chips. Pour into bundt pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 25 minutes; invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle HALF of glaze over cake; serve with remaining glaze.

For White Chip Cinnamon Glaze:
Heat 3 T. evaporated milk in a small, heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat just to a boil; remove from heat. Add 1 C. white chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon.