December and Backwards

On Christmas morning we got up about 7:00 because Delphia wanted to eat. Luckily she didn't get up at 4 or Shane would have insisted that she wanted to open presents. I volunteered Shane to help her open her gifts since he was the one who insisted that we wrap them even though she is only 4 months old.

This is Delphia and her Learning Baby Tad. We saw it at Costco and just had to get it for her. It has a nighttime mode that sings song, it sings the alphabet, songs about hands and feet and other various songs.

This is her Laugh & Learn Piggy Bank. Most of the toys we got her are for 6+ months to 36 months so she will be able to enjoy them for a long time. It will be fun to see her grow and enjoy her toys in new ways as she gets older. The piggy bank sings fun songs and teaches colors, numbers, animals, sizes and counting.

These are little balls that have texture on all the different sides.

This is her and Daddy before the present opening started, She kind of blends in with Daddy's pajamas.

This is my favorite gift that we bought her for Christmas. It's a LeapTouch LeapPad and my first E-bay purchase. It was a really great deal and in awesome condition. She also got a stacker and pop beads from Shane and I. Grandma Cook bought her (at my request) a set of 26 books from Costco that are Sesame Street A-Z. Each letter is a separate book and they link together to form a puzzle. The books are really cute and she absolutely loves them! Grandma Freeman bought her a rattle, some keys, a bib, an outfit, the Little People Noah's Ark and a pulling caterpiller that hold balls. Aunt Amanda got her a cute little outfit that I can't wait to put on her. She also got a rattle from Great Grandma Schow that is exactly like her favorite rattle. Now we have two which will be a huge blessing should we ever lose one.

Christmas jammies!

Shane and I were very spoiled for Christmas. We made an agreement that we weren't getting each other anything and then on Christmas Eve AI was telling Shane my mom put all her presents out and he asked if she put out the ones from Santa to me. That boy! He ended up getting me the Rubbermaid Premier from Costco. Best tupperware ever and a set of 3 glass bowls which I really needed since I only had 1 glass bowl. My parents got me a cheese grater, a planer, $30 gift certificate to Pine Needles and they got Shane a hose, hedge trimmers and we got 2 72 hours kits and a first aid kit. My mom also gave us a calendar we made of all the grandkids. Shanes parents got us a food storage bucket and a first aid kit.

This was the divinty disaster on Christmas Eve! My mom was making divinty and we were getting ready to spoon it out and she was getting the divinty off the mixer beaters. Well, she thought she was turning it off and lifted the beaters out of the KitchenAid and next thing I know white divinity is flying all over the kitchen. What a mess she had to clean up!

We gave Delphia her first cereal on December 23rd since she was 4 months on the 22nd and she has been really hungry. She really likes it and I feed her cereal every day in the morning usually. It is so much fun watching her move her tongue around and figure out how to swallow. What a mess she makes although it is getting better! The directions said to use 1 Tbs cereal and 4-5 Tbs of water the first time and it was extremely runny! Now I just add water till it is the right consistency.

This is the story of the rainbow goggles. I put these of Delphia one day and she just left them on and talked and giggled. One day we were at my mom's and I was showing her and her cousin Ruby also thought it was the coolest thing and kept taking them off Delphia's face and holding them to her face. She loved the idea! We finally pulled her sunglasses out of her diaper bag and had to take pictures of the 2 of them together. Ruby is so cute with the little nieces and just loves to give them attention and she loves to hold them.

These are just pictures to show how much she is growing! Shane and I absolutely love this little girl. She is full of spunk and it is so much fun watching her personality develop and finding new things that she loves. She loves to be sat up (it makes her feel like a big person). Grandma was holding her up in the picture. One of her favorite pasttimes is sitting on Grandma Cooks bed and watching the Disney Channel in the morning while she is doing her make-up.

On the MD appointment front we met with the neurologist and reviewed my MRI results and he says that it looks like MS but to be sure he wanted a spinal tap and labs. We set up the appointment for this last Friday and my mom watched Delphia. We went up to the hospital and had my bloodwork done first and I was amazed at what a great job the guy did! My blood is very stubborn and my veins tend to hide. The guy got the 5 tubes of blood he needed in the first stick which made me a very happy girl! Then it was over for the spinal tap which I was very nervous about, especially after they told me that Shane couldn't be in the room with me. I was brave though, what other choice did I have? It didn't hurt at all and they even gave me a sucker for being such a good patient (actually I couldn't stop coughing and the sucker helped a lot.) After they were done they wheeled me out into the hallway to lay around for an hour. Shane had just sat down in front of me when who rounds the corner but the lab tech telling me they have to draw more blood because they missed one of the labs. He poked the other hand and got all the blood he needed and I then politely told him that I didn't want to ever see him again! Shane sat back down and shared his Tootsie Rolls with me while we waited and then we went home while I spent the rest of the day in bed! Boring! I have my follow-up appointment on January 14th the same day as Delphias pediatrician appointment.

Little Things....

This week my post is all about the little things....

Delphia is doing lots of new little things. Last Tuesday she started sucking on her bottom lip. It kept her quite entertained. She started to stick her tongue in and out like a snake yesterday. It seriously cracks me up every time she does it. She was doing it this morning and I said, "Isn't it funny!" to Shane and he said that he thought it was funnier that I say "Isn't it funny!" every time she does it. She must have just figured out that she has a tongue and can move it all around. We took these pictures of her yesterday. I think I will be lucky if I get a picture that her tongue isn't out.

Another little thing is the return of Ollie the Octopus. When Shane and I went to Denver almost 2 years ago I found these bath mitts at Pottery Barn Kids and just had to have them as puppets. When we got home from our trip I got Ollie out to play with Ruby and he was a hit! We also took him on our trip to Palmyra in August 2006 and he was great entertainment to Ruby. No one cas resist that cute little octopi face of his. The other day I wondered if Delphia would like him. He has a bunch of other friends, but Ollie is the best. There is a Cathy the Cat, Dexter the Dog, Freddy the Frog, Bridgette the Butterfly, Tiny the Turtle, Penelope the Pig, Leo the Lion and the duck whose name escapes me at the moment. So, I got Ollie out and Delphi and I played with him. He crawled across her tummy and touched her nose with his tentacle. It's not quite as funny to her as it was to Ruby, but give her a few months and we will have a blast! This is a picture Ollie and Delphia.

She is starting to smile more often and when we stay home we end up visiting on Shane and I's bed at some point during the day. This was one of our latest chats.

Last Monday I had my appointment with the neurologist. He asked questions and tested my reflexes, asked what the turn dial on a watch was called and what you threaded your shoelaces through. I was questioning whether I ever knew those things and something was really wrong with me. I did know the shoelace one though. He whisphered words in one ear and crinkled paper in the other, asked me to repeat words. Fo some reason he seems convinced that when I fell off the curb on vacation in Palmyra it wasn't just ana ccident but the beginning of all this? It doesn't make sense to me at all. It was a total accident and my mom would blame it on my silly shoes. Anyways, he sent me in for an MRI on Wednesday which was the highlight of my week. They were loking for MS or a brain lesion and at first Shane and I were really upset and then I realized that just because that's what they are testing for means nothing. They are just trying to eliminate some bigger things. My dad and Shane gave me a blessing Wednesday morning and I felt pretty calm. They only did my C-spine and brain. Shane and I both feel really strongly that it is not anything major and so we aren't too worried about my follow-up this coming Friday. My mom has said that she feels the same way and Shane keeps saying that whatever it is we will get through it and that we are in this together.

The major shock of the whole MRI thing was that when we got up there we filled out a ton of paperwork and was then told that I couldn't breastfeed my baby for 48 hours! My first thought was WHAT?!?! What exactly am I supposed to do. I have enjoyed breastfeeding and you have such a bond with your baby during that time. I enjoyed it, but didn't realize how much I would miss it until they told me I couldn't nurse her. We had to go pick up formula at Costcos because we didn't have enough at my moms. Luckily Delphia takes a bottle, since she has gotten 2 oz every night pretty much since she has been born. I was worried about her not wanting to go back to nursing, but Shane assured me she would. I called Michele Carr to ask her what I should do since I couldn't nurse and she explained how to express the milk. WHAT A PAIN! Every 2-3 hours that what I did for 30-40 minutes. Luckily Shane took Thursday off so that I could stay home and have his help. Friday morning she went right back to nursing and was a little fussy all day since I didn't have as much milk. Saturday was better but still every hour and a half I was nursing. It was like having a newborn and I was getting frustrated because we had just gotten to the point that she only nursed about every 3 hours and I knew she was getting enough to eat. Today has been much better and she is back to every 2 1/2 - 3 hours and even went 4 hours at one point today. Here's a picture from her bottle fed baby days.

Last night we went to Shane party for Costco. It was at Noahs in Lindon and was from 7:30-11:45. It was supposed to be catered and they were giving away great prizes like a KitchenAid, a 37 inch HDTV, $100 cash cards, $50 cash cards, Playstation, Dyson vacuum etc. Shane won a $50 cash card. The line for food was ridiculous and the food wasn't that great. They had rolls, salad, veggies and dip, stuffing, ham, turkey and mashed potatoes. So, after standing in line for 30+ minutes for food we get up there and all they have left is dessert plates (they had to wash bigger plates) We go through the line and are told that they only have the potatoes that are left in the warmer, so not to take a ton. We sit down and the potatoes we like mashed garlic with a few potatoes mixed in. I didn't dare eat them for Delphia's sake. They served alcohol and let me tell you that people get really loud when they are drunk. It was quite interesting to say the least!

10 Things I Love About Christmas

1. I love the snow as long as I don't have to drive or go out in it.

2. I love shopping for gifts especially now that we have Delphia!

3. I love spending time with family and playing new games.

4. I love doing neighbor gifts (and am glad they are already done for this year).

5. I love christmas baking!

6. I love Shane's excitement for Christmas every year!

7. I love going to see the lights at Temple Square.

8. I love starting new traditions and keeping some from growing up.

9. I love Christmas music (just not until after Thanksgiving).

10. I love the chance we have to celebrate the birth of Christ and help others come unto him.

Peter Breinholt and the Mini Rubberbands

Friday night Shane's work party for Alpine. It was at the Larry H Miller SLCC campus and it was a lot of fun! I was excited to go even though I am not going back to work just for the chance to get out and to see people that I worked with. It was dumping snow when I left my parents to go pick-up Shane and Delphia cried the whole ride down to Costco. I found myself singing Silent Night and various songs from the Childrens Songbook to calm me while driving in the snow and an attempt to calm her down.

We got to the party and we were 30 minutes late and it seemed like we had to park in the middle of nowhere and walk to the building. We got inside and she was just falling apart and I was thinking,"This is going to be a long night!" We sat down and fed her a bottle while everyone poured out to get in line for food. Shane went and found a spot at the table. We sat with Tim and his wife, Nat, Deb and her husband and Jenn and her husband. It was fun to get to visit and show Delphi off to everyone. Everyone wated to hold her and so she got passed around the table. Deb's 2 daughters held her at the fall party and just thought she was so cute! They wanted to hold her and she was very content so I was able to eat and watch the program. She kept shutting her eyes and then she'd rub them and look like she was trying not to fall asleep. After a little while Shane and I looked over and Delphia was asleep and the girl holding her was asleep and her sister was asleep on the others shoulder. It was really cute!

Peter Breinholt and Ryan Shupe and the Rubberbands played at the party and it was a lot of fun to listen to their music. It was all of Ryan Shupes group so the were calling themselves the Mini Rubberbands. Peter is the owners son and so every other year he comes and performs. We have also had Eclipse come and perform.

Dinner was really good. They had 4 different cheese cubes, various fruits and veggies, salad, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, ham, roast, turkey and one other unidentifiable meat that Shane thinks was pastrami. They had cheesecake and eclairs for dessert and I had to have the whole eclair and a couple bites of chhesecake until Shane took it from me, after I told him I didn't want it.

We got neighbor gifts taken around Thursday. We did mini loaves of homemade wheat bread. I ended upmaking 2 batches because Shane wanted some for here at the house. It turned out really yummy! There are 8 more families I want to do something for so I need to make some goodies for goody plates. Maybe next week sometime.

I have an appointment with the neurologist tomorrow to see if they can figure out what is wrong with my right foot and arm and left hand. I am crossing my fingers.

Delphia's great grandma crocheted a hat to keep her head warm. It looks really cute on her. We got it on Friday in the mail at my mom's just in time for the big snowstorm we had. It has proved very useful over the last 2 days. Here's some pictures of her that we took today of her and her hat.

Tomorrow we have a family Christmas party with Shanes family. Shanes mom bought Christmas outfits for all the grandkids so we are going to attempt to get a picture of all of them together. They just brought the dress by and she will look really cute! I'll have to post pictures later.

Truly the Hardest Job in the World

I never realized how hard the job of being a mom is. Sure it has it's good days and it's bad, good moments and bad moments. I'm not sure what I thought being a mom was going to be like, but I have always wanted to be a mom nonetheless. I think I thought it would be easy and it's a far cry from that. I have told Shane multiple times that it is easier to work and go to school full-time than be a mom. You get a break from school and work every day but not from being a mom. You don't get as involved emotionally about work and school and a baby is so emotionally draining somedays. When you are up 4-5 times during the night and they wake up at 5:30 you have no choice but to make it through the day. It's frustrating seeing them cry and not know what's wrong with them or that they are fine and just working you. Right now Delphi is in her bed crying out her nap because she thinks she doesn't need to sleep. It's so hard to not go in and comfort her and sit here and just listen to her cry.

No matter how hard it is, I love being a mom. There is nothing more rewarding that going in to get her up in the morning and seeing her smile, finding something new that makes her laugh, admiring her in a new outfit, knowing that she is ours and holding her while she is asleep. Sometimes I just have to remind myself how lucky and blessed I am to be able to stay home with her. I truly thought that I would want to go back to work but after spending 3 months with her just the thought of going back put me in tears. I love seeing her do new things and experience the world around her. I love hearing her talk and goo, it cracks me up. I love sitting down and reading to her and watching her look at the pictures.

This is my favorite quote about mothers:

"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world. . . . She who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters. . . deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God . President David O. McKay I think it is very easy to think of all the things that we could be doing. I think we need to look at all the good things we do as mothers. Yesterday I was talking to my sister and we were both talking about struggles of having kids. She just had her 2nd baby and has a 2-year-old and she is trying to balance time with the baby and make Ruby feel included. I can't imagine having 2 kids and trying to figure it all out. When I have my second I'll go to Ashley for advice. She is an excellent mother and is so great with Ruby and Emma. She has taught Ruby how to be polite and wee behaved. She's a smart girl because Ashley has spent a lot of time teaching and playing with her even though she might not think so. She is a great mom and I am glad she is my sister. We have so much fun when we get together. She is a gigantic help to me when she takes Delphia so I can have a break or runs a diaper out to the trash for me. I'm going to list 5 things I do as mother that I love: 1) Hold and comfort her no matter the time of day. 2) Sing songs to her (even if they are made up). 3) Tell her I love her everyday. 4) Lay on the floor for hours and have tummy time. 5) Read the same book over and over because it makes her happy. I am tagging Ashley to do the same.

Almost 3-6

Almost 3-6

I just have to share the adorable pictures of Delphia. She is starting to wear 3-6 month stuff even though it's still a little big. Some of her 0-3 is still big and she still wears some newborn things. I love babies in overalls!

She is at this stage where she loves having her hand in her mouth. Preferbly her thumb, but she can't always get it in there by itself. She gnaws, chews and sucks on anything that touches her mouth.

It is nice that she doesn't take a binky because I don't have to worry about breaking that habit. It's nice that she is getting better at getting her hand in her mouth because it help her soothe herself.

She loves tummy/floor time lately and will just lay and be happy as long as someone is there to have a conversation with. She apparently is like me when I was a baby. She can be perfectly happy until she can't see her mommy or daddy and then she gets upset, but the second she can see you again she is fine.

Yesterday was a horrible day, or should I say that it started horribly. We got to church on time and the pianist wasn't there for Relief Society. A gal volunteered to play the first note of the opening song and I (out of habit) asked if they wanted me to play. It was an easy song, one that I have played a million times. I got back to the piano bench and sat down and realized that I wasn't going to be able to play it, after trying to play the intro. I played the melody with my left hand and after it was over I went to get Shane because I was so embarrassed and really frustrated at mot being able to do something as simple as play a song, something I have been doing since 3rd grade. I really try to have a good attitude about whatevere is going on but it all hit me yesterday and I was just upset. I told Shane I wanted to go home and was bawling because I was so frustrated. Things that use to be so easy are such a struggle. I knock things off counters, can't put eyeliner on, have trouble going up and down stairs, I can't stir things very well, I eat with my left hand and type one handed with my left hand. Shane was very understanding and made me feel better. I sure hope when we go to the neurologist on the 10th that we can make sense of what is going on.