New Years Eve

To celebrate New Years Eve, we went to the Holley's house for a night of food and games. Everyone brought an assortment of snacks and we probably had enough to last us a week. Since I was starting Whole30 the next day, I didn't hold back. We played a few different games and surprisingly I won most of them. That is usually not my normal, but it was definitely fun.

We tried putting Olivia to bed in her tent, but she knew everyone else was out and about playing so she wouldn't go to bed. She ended up staying up until 11:30. Bob was on call and he got a call about 11, and so we packed up to go. Right as we were about to leave they called back and told him he didn't need to come in. So we stayed for a few more minutes and then realized Olivia needed to be in bed ASAP. I think the only reason we made it to midnight this year is because we have a baby. Most nights we don't make it past 10:30.

This picture was taken right before we left. Olivia was happy to be awake and Ruby was so ready for bed.

My Golden Birthday

I celebrated my 28th birthday on the 28th of December. I have been excited to celebrate my Golden birthday. When I would tell people about my upcoming birthday, I would mention that I just wanted something gold. 

On Saturday the 27th Bob and I went to the BYU basketball game with my parents. Andrea watched the girls and it was nice to get away for a few hours baby free. We met the rest of my family (babies included) at Pizza Factory for dinner. Before we left they asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told them I wanted the cinnamon bread. When we got home and opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised that they thought I had said it was my 20th birthday and not my 28th. 

Sunday was my birthday and we went to church. When I got to Sunday School my partner teacher Liz told me we were going to her house for the lesson. She had baked me a pumpkin dessert since it was "Golden" and we had a lesson while eating dessert. It was so sweet. (Side note, I took Ruby with me and the diaper bag. When we left Sacrament Bob asked if I was taking the diaper bag, and I told him I was. He said Olivia would probably poop in nursery. I didn't think anything of it and when we got back to church I was nursing Ruby in the mother's lounge. I found a bunch of texts from Bob telling me he needed a diaper. And that he couldn't find me. Whoops! 

After church we went over to my parents house and had dinner. My request was shrimp cocktails and tacos. After celebrating my birthday in Mexico for year, some traditions should just be kept. The cocktails were simply divine and I was lucky to be the recipient of the leftovers. I was definitely spoiled. 

Some of my good friends in my ward celebrated my birthday a week later. We had a great evening talking books, going to a book signing, eating healthy snacks, and playing cards. Katie put everything together and she even got me gold balloons! It was a great night. 

Ruby {2 Months}

Another month has flown by. This month definitely went faster since we are getting pretty regular sleep around here.

Weight - 8lbs. 14 oz.  2%
Height - 23 inches    66%
Head - 14.5 inches    9%

Ruby was super fussy this month usually from 10 - 12 most nights. Bob was amazing and let me go to bed while he held her. But the good news is once she fell asleep, she would sleep for a good stretch of 5-6 hours. The nights we were able to get her to go to bed earlier, she would wake around 3-4 to eat and then again around 7.

She has started to love her swing. She will watch the birds spin and doesn't need the swing to be rocking to be happy.

She has moved out of all of her newborn clothes and is wearing 0-3 months. She also is wearing size 1 diapers. I have loved pulling out Olivia's baby clothes for Ruby. Such fun memories!

Right before she turned 2 months she took her first flight. We flew to Washington to spend Christmas with all of Bob's family. While we were there Ruby was blessed by her Dad. All of Bob's brothers and brother in laws were there along with Grandpa and a few of Bob's friends.

Since all of Bob's siblings went home for Christmas, Ruby got to meet all of her cousins. Ruby was grandchild #15 and #16 will be here in April. We are thrilled that Bob's sister Ashley is having a girl. The next girl cousin is Savannah who is almost 5.

Ruby has started cooing a little bit. She loves to smile and will give you a bunch if you talk to her while you hold her.

She finally started taking a normal binky and we are done with the hospital style binky. But if her binky falls out or she doesn't have it and wants it, she will suck on her fist.

Unfortunately most of this month Ruby has had congestion and a small cough. Bob got a cold and I did my best to keep her away. She got sick, but was better right before our trip to Washington. A couple days before we left I got the cold and then Ruby got it again. Hopefully we all get feeling better soon!

We don't have much of a schedule going during the day, but I am going to start working on that soon. Right now we just go with the flow and nap and eat whenever she wants. It's crazy how different things are with Ruby and Olivia. I feel it's different because I worked with Olivia at this age, and now I am home with Ruby. I also have Olivia's schedule to work around so Ruby just goes with the flow.

And just for fun, a little comparison picture from last month to this month.

And one of Ruby and Olivia, both at 2 months.

Ruby's hospital pictures

Janae made it to the hospital just minutes after Ruby was born. Here are a few (or a lot) of my favorite pictures from the hospital. I am so glad that I decided to have a photographer come to the hospital. These are some of my most cherished photos.

Janae was so accommodating and dropped everything to come when we called to say baby was on the way.  Find her here and here.

Ruby {1 Month}

I think that might've been the fastest month of my life. It feels like I was just in the hospital last week. I know everyone says it, but I really can't remember not having Ruby in our lives.

For the last week or so she has had a tiny bit of baby acne. Definitely less than Olivia, but it is there and noticeable.

Most of the month she was on a 1 AM - 1 PM schedule. She wouldn't go to sleep until 1, and most nights Bob would stay up and rock her while watching TV. When sleeping she favors turning her head to the left. So when she naps, I try to always lay her down on the right side.

This last week she has been going to bed earlier and sleeping for longer periods. She slept for 6 hours straight earlier this week. Last night in celebration of turning one month she went to bed at 8, and slept until midnight. I fed her and then she slept until 4, ate again and woke up at 8. It was the best night ever. I'm not crossing my fingers but it would be great if it happened again.

She is loved by all, but her Great Grandma Hales is up at the top of the list. When we go down to visit in the afternoons Grandma can't help but love on her. It is so sweet.

In her first 2 weeks of life she pooped on the bed and the couch. And peed basically everywhere. As soon as her diaper was off, she decided to go. She also has a problem with being regular. She will go a couple days without pooping, and then we have a couple days of lots of poop. {And then we repeat.}

I feel like she is super noisy and makes a lot of grunting noises when she goes to bed. I don't remember Olivia doing that, but when I read about her at 1 month it said she grunted at night.

She spits up probably 75% of the time after being fed. And she also burps after feedings.

Her newborn clothes are getting a little snug, but most 0-3 month clothes are still huge. I bought two zipper sleepers from gap that had built in mittens. I basically rotate those two with a couple others. I am all about zipper sleepers, I hate snaps. And mittens are always falling off, so these two outfits have been the best. Another reason pajamas are our best friend is because she hates when I put shirts/onesies over her head.

She doesn't love the bath. She has cried the whole time every time except for once.

We have seen quite a few smiles, but they weren't real smiles until today. She was giving me quite a few and it was so fun to see a cute little smile on her face.

2 years

Olivia went to the doctor for her 2 year appointment. She cried the entire time we put her on the scale - which was the easiest part of her appointment. After the appointment she would walk around the house telling me she went to the doctor. She then would open and close her eyes and open her mouth wide to show me what she had to do during her check up. She also got her flu shot while we were there. She watched the nurse jab the shot into her leg and she let out a good cry until the sucker came out.

Weight: 20 pounds, 15 ounces - 6%
Length: 32.25 inches - 9%



We have been having her say the prayers for our meals a lot of the time. Her prayers are so sweet. She is great at saying Heavenly Father, and then you hear some mumbling and then bless the (insert whatever foods we are eating, and she lists them all) and then she is just getting the hang of closing her prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

She absolutely loves her new sister Ruby. When she wakes up in the morning she always wants to come into our bedroom and peak into the bassinet. Some of her phrases that she says are, "Ruby's wakin up!" "Ruby's poopin!" "I need to give Ruby kiss" "Wake up Ruby" and "I hold Ruby." Olivia is still working on learning what soft is. She gets so excited when she is around her that she clenches on really tight. She also loves to point out her eyes, nose, and mouth and usually pokes her in the eye in the process. The other day I went to the bathroom and when I came out, Olivia had hopped up on our bed and was working her way into the bassinet with sleeping Ruby.

In preparation for 2 kids, I bought a bunch of art supplies to do with Olivia. Each day we rotate through them over and over. She loves the water colors and if I'd let her she would paint on 20 different pieces of paper. We take a turn with the dry erase markers and white board, then we got back to the high chair for play dough. She uses the special markers that only work on the special paper. But I am not a lover of markers since she can't put the lids on and I am always searching for lids. And then we use the dry erase board with dry erase colored pencils.

She has been drinking a lot of milk lately. (And by that I mean 2 sippy cups and not her normal 1.) She loves chicken nuggets, rice, pasta, sweet potatoes, cooked carrots & broccoli, pancakes, sausage, yogurt, toast, and all sweets.

When I do her hair she sits in the sink brushes her teeth. If I need a few more minutes, I break her off a piece of floss and she "flosses her teeth." She loves to take baths but doesn't like to wash her hair. She would play in the bath all day- being pruney doesn't bother her. She loves lotion and when I put it on her after baths she always needs a few extra pumps on her hands to lather on.

With daylight savings, Olivia's schedule didn't change too much. We try to put her to bed between 8 and 8:30 and she wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30. I've noticed if I put her down for her nap at 1:30 that she will usually nap until 4. But if I put her down earlier or later, it's usually much shorter.

This month she got to spend a week with Grandma Sue. The week after Ruby was born, Grandma Sue came and picked Olivia up each morning and came back that afternoon. They had a great time baking cookies, going to the pumpkin farm, eating and playing at McDonalds, painting, and jumping on the trampoline. Every morning Olivia would tell me she wanted to go to Sue's house. We were all sad when Grandma Sue had to go back to work.

Olivia is mostly wearing 18-24 month clothes. I have bought her some 2T shirts but they are still a bit big. She wears size 3 diapers and tells us all of the time when she has to poop. We will keep doing the potty talk and hopefully start potty training again in January.

She loves songs and after hearing them a few times she usually will pick up on the chorus and you will hear her singing them around the house. She is always picking up on new songs, especially in nursery. I love hearing her sing real songs, and her made up ones.

*And this is my last monthly update on Olivia. I am sure I will still do updates. They just won't be monthly or with Winnie the Pooh. We will put him away and bring him back next year for her 3rd birthday.

Halloween 2014

We started out Halloween morning with our traditional pumpkin pancakes. This year I added chocolate chip faces. We also enjoyed peach yogurt and apples. I got Olivia ready for the day and then my Mom picked her up. My mom has been taking Olivia this week during the day so I can catch up on sleep and adjust to having a newborn. Today they frosted sugar cookies, played outside, and had lunch.

While they were playing I ran to WalMart to grab a bag for Olivia. Total Mom fail, and when I got there, it was slim pickings in the Halloween section. Since there were no bags, I decided I'd just get a gift bag and when I wondered over I saw the Minnie Mouse bag. Olivia came back at 1:30 and napped until 4:00. When she woke up she was so excited to see the Minnie Mouse bag, I felt like I redeemed myself. We got ready and Olivia was a little sad that Mom was a cat and she wasn't. To make her feel better I put some "Minnie Mouse Makeup" on her.

We stopped at Dad's work on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dad had to work until 7, but we were excited to Trick or Treat at the Pharmacy. Allison, one of the tech's that works with Dad took a few pictures for us.

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Blaine were using their new cotton candy machine when we got there. My mom volunteered to stay and watch Ruby and Grandpa decided to come with us and we trick or treated a few houses in their neighborhood. My old YW leader and her husband give out a dozen krispy kreme donuts to each trick or treater. We went down that culdasac and there was the longest line. We decided to skip the donuts. We didn't have to go to too many houses because everyone loved Olivia and gave her 2 or 3 pieces of candy.

Brent, Andrea, and Jensen had made their way to our parents house and Olivia and I went out with them. We went to a few more houses. We saw there wasn't a line at the donut house so we went and were able to visit with Carrie for a few minutes and both Olivia and Jensen came away with a box of donuts.

Back at my parents house we had pizza and cotton candy. Olivia's favorites were the blue and pink. My parents stood on the front porch whipping up the cotton candy and talking with the trick or treaters. Bob came over when he got off of work. We had a great Halloween!

Meeting Great Grandma and Grandpa Hales

Friday night we made our way downstairs to see Grandma and Grandpa Hales. Grandma was so excited to meet baby Ruby. She was all smiles and said to Grandpa, "Look what I'm doing, I'm holding the baby." I am so glad that Olivia and Ruby have the chance to visit and get to know their great grandparents.

4 Generations

Thursday morning my Mom, Grandma Andrus, and Aunt Lisa came to visit and meet Ruby. 

4 generation picture with my Mom, Grandma Jayne, and Ruby.

Ruby Marie {A Baby Story}

I woke up at 2:30 and because of my pregnancy insomnia I didn't go back to sleep until 4:30. My alarm went off at 5:30 and I quickly showered and got ready. I had been super nervous and anxious about having this baby up until getting a blessing the night before. This morning I was slightly nervous but mostly excited. I called the hospital at 6:10 to double check that they wanted me at 6:45 and waited for Bob to finish getting ready. Olivia had slept over at my sister's house the night before so we were able to jump in the car at 6:15 and off we went.

Last bump picture at 39 weeks.

They were serving free breakfast at Chick Fil A that morning, so we stopped and grabbed a sandwich and water before checking into the hospital. I remember being so hungry when I was induced with Olivia so I downed both my sandwich and water before getting to the hospital. Bob on the other hand is not a breakfast person and he saved his for later. There was a couple checking in when we arrived and we took a seat in the waiting room. While waiting for our turn 3 other couples came in. It was a busy morning for babies!

A little blurry, but I didn't want to ask the girl to take it again. I was anxious to get to the hospital.

We did all of our paper work and were put in room 17. I got hooked up to the monitors and met my nurses. I had 2 because one had just transferred to L&D. I loved the girl who was training her, and it was fun to hear her explain everything to the nurse in training. They checked me and I was a 2.5, which was progress from my last appointment. I was started on pitocin, Dr. Nance came and broke my water. The contractions were coming, and let's be honest I am a baby. I remembered all of the ladies checking in with me, and decided to ask for my epidural so I didn't have to wait forever. When I asked they let me know that the anesthesiologist was with a patient having a c-section so it would be about 45 minutes. I was happy to hear I was first on the list.

When he came in, I was ready for him. He asked if anyone had explained to me that my platelets were low. I obviously had no idea, and he then started explaining the risks of getting a epidural with low platelets. All I caught was that I could be paralyzed because of it. I started to panic a bit. My nurse told me she looked up my past history and saw that I was within 5 points of where I was today with Olivia's birth. And that she had had the same thing when she was pregnant. Some women when pregnant lose platelets during pregnancy. I looked at Bob and asked him what he thought, he told me he felt fine and we should go ahead. In my mind I decided it was Bob's decision because he was the one who would have to take care of a paralyzed wife and 2 kids. Luckily all went well and I was fine. But I will see a doctor to find out what is up - especially before our next kid. I don't want to show up to give birth and find out last minute I can't have an epidural.

My parents arrived soon after. I wasn't progressing too quick so my Dad decided to go to work for a few hours and we would call him when I was close. Bob took a nap, and my mom stepped in as my 3rd nurse. She loved reading the babies monitor and my contraction monitor. They upped my pitocin level a few times and I continued making slow progress. At 1:00 Dr. Nance came in to check me and let me know he had another woman in labor and she was at a 7. I figured she would deliver before me at that point since I was only a 5. We started watching Brooke Walker's show and I hoped for progress by the time they came back to check me again. During that time I could tell when the contractions were more intense and I could feel a bit of pressure. This was totally new to me since with Olivia my epidural hadn't worked and they had given me another drug to numb me and I was SUPER numb.  At 2 they checked me and I was an 8. We called my Dad and Janae who was coming to take pictures. Within the next 20 minutes I went to a 10 and complete and Dr. Nance came in to get things going. He said that his other patient wasn't ready so he would deliver me first. My favorite nurse got called away on life flight right as I was about to start pushing.

My mom was on one side and Bob was on the other. Dr. Nance informed me that when he checked me the baby was in a posterior position and he would have to flip her. I pushed through a set of contractions and then during the second set he started to turn her. But she flipped back to posterior right as she came out. I couldn't believe that she came out so quickly, especially being posterior. My mom cut the cord and they put Ruby up on my chest and cleaned her off. Janae walked in right after she was born and was able to take some pictures for us. She was 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long, and I believe she was born at 2:28.