love

I love my baby, I know that is one of the most obvious statements ever. But I love so many things about Penelope. I love watching her drift off to sleep while she’s nursing. I love that sometimes when she cries all I have to do is pick her up and snuggle her. I love kissing her chubby little cheeks. I love that she is so happy to see me in the morning. I love that she loves her daddy. I love that she has dimples that you can only see when she makes certain faces. I love that I’m the only one who has been able to make her giggle so far. I love that she smiles while she’s falling asleep. I love that she has her daddy’s eyes and my nose. I love when she sucks on her hands if she makes a loud sucking noise it startles her. I love that she is so alert. I love that she’s gotten to the point that she goes down so easily for bed at night time. I love the she sleeps for such long periods during the night. I love that she loves to take baths but hates being cold and naked after. I love that there is so much of me in her personality already. I love that she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. I love that when she’s supposed to be going down for a nap she’ll lay there and talk to herself for a bit. I love that she’d rather nurse than take a bottle. I love that she is my sleeping beauty. I love that as soon as you unswaddle her she’ll stretch her arms and legs and arch her little back. I love that she is my baby and will always be my baby and I will always love her.

2 months

So update on our little princess, she is adorable! She can have major melt downs at the drop of a hat. People at church probably think I'm crazy because I'll get up with her as soon as she makes any grumpy type noises but that's just because she escalates so quickly. She is getting better at taking her naps. By the time Chris comes home she's ready to play, take a little nap and go to sleep for the night. I'm glad he doesn't get home later than he does or he'd only see her when she's tired and grumpy. She still sleeps really well at night! She sleep at least for 5 hours for her long stretch. But has slept for 9 hours straight two nights in a row this week and slept for 8 and half last night. She's talking more and more (not actually words of course but coos) She smiles lots! She likes to play with mommy and daddy. She does fine with tummy time, she doesn't love it but she tolerates it well enough. She is very strong. Her eyes are getting lighter and I think will be just like her daddy's once they're done changing.

She had her 2 month appointment on the 5th and she did so well! At all the other appointments she'd get so mad that she had to be naked and didn't like be touched by the doctor much. But she was happy even though she was naked and even smiled at our doctor. She weight 11 lbs 10 oz (75%) and was 24 (90%) inches long. Poor girl had to get three shots and one oral vaccine at the end of the appointment so she wasn't too thrilled about that. But still did a lot better than I expected, she cried but Chris was able to calm her down after just a little while. And then she was really happy when we were home. It wasn't until that evening that she got really needy and didn't want Chris to put her down. Even though she'd fall asleep as soon as he'd try to set her down she'd wake up and cry. He wouldn't even let her go yet just her back would be on the couch and she'd wake up.

That's all I can really think of for now. Here are some pictures.

 Playing with daddy in front of our full length mirror

 Doing some tummy time

 Showing off her band-aides from getting her shots.

Penelope

My baby is getting so big and is as beautiful as ever! She sleeps really well at night, it's getting her to lay down that's the problem. It takes us a few hours to get her to go to sleep and stay asleep. We'll get to her sleep and then put her down in her bassinet several times before she'll be down for the night. She sleep for 10 to 15 mintues then wake up and need to be rocked or nursed back to sleep each time she wakes up. But once she's asleep she sleeps for at least 5 hours before needing to eat and be changed then goes right back to sleep. It's interesting that she doesn't need help going back to sleep. I'll put her back to bed awake and she'll fall asleep on her own. She has been less grumpy and most days only is fussy when she needs a nap or some other basic need. Which has always been the case but she's better at not getting so upset about them. Here are some recent pictures of her.

This is what she wore to church last Sunday (Nov 20th)

That same Sunday asleep in Chris's arms. So sweet!

 

And these are from today. This is what she wore to church today! It's a gift from Josh and Cherry and I just love it! So cute!

Look who's smiling!

I know I haven't done blogging since she's been born ... oh well I'm not going to go back and do posts about the first few weeks I just don't have a whole time of time to blog and to be honest I just don't want to. She's been smiling for awhile now but today is the first time I've got it on camera! I was trying to get pictures of her in the hat Maren made for her since she has a big head and the hat is a bit small for her. And I caught her at in a happy mood! Look at this cutie!

Progress

So I had my weekly appointment today and everything looks good. My blood pressure and weight gain are both great. Heartbeat is nice and strong. She's head down, has dropped a bit not all the way yet. And I'm 1 cm dilated 70% effaced. So I'm progressing, last week our doctor said that I was fingertip and 50% effaced. Penny is still super active and moves a ton. It's lots of fun to watch my belly move all over. So that's the update on how things are going. Other than that we're still finishing up with organizing our apt.

37 weeks!

We are officially full term now and Penny is allowed to come at anytime. That is just crazy! I’m not saying I want her out right now but it’s nice to know that she’ll be A OK if she’s born now. I still have quite a bit left on my list of things I’d like to get done, we’ve got bits and pieces of things for each room done but none are complete. I got most of the wipes sewn up just need to finish those today. OH I did get the car seat cover done though! YAY! Here are some pictures of it :)

I got so tired sewing it all together that by the time it was time to do the handles I asked Chris if he would sew the handles on for me. And being the nice hubby he is he did so with a smile :)

 

Showing off the finished project

 

Close up

 

Showing the material on the inside 

And here’s the most recent picture of the belly taken at 36 weeks 2 days 

Late Father's Day Present

First before I get started, what the heck is up with "planking" it's like the dumbest thing ever! I don't understand what is "cool" about it at all.... you all look stupid. The end.

So I had grand plans of making an adorable onesie for Chris for Father's Day I started it but then it seems like a billion other things came up right around that time and I never finished it. Until yesterday that is. So here are a few pictures of the finished product. I think it turned out pretty darn cute :)

 

I am now 34 weeks and 1 day (if you want to get technical) pregnant! Chris and I were just talking about how it just seems like yesterday we found out we were pregnant! It's crazy how fast it's gone by and I've been so lucky to have such an easy pregnancy. Even with the month and a half of being sick I've had a much easier pregnancy then most. I am looking forward to her dropping though, I know I don't carry super high (which I'm very grateful for) but the bottom of my sternum, xiphoid process doesn't lay down anymore it bows out you can feel the lump from it. But it's not enough that you can see it through my skin. Unless I suck in a bit then you can! That and that the top of my ribs just under my boobs fall asleep and get tingly if I'm not laying down or have my back arched a bit. It's weird and doesn't feel right. So that's why I'm looking forward to her dropping so my ribs have more room.

Here are some pictures of the belly.

Oh and I am all set for nursing! I got 8 pairs of cloth nursing pads and one pair of lily padz. I got the type of undershirts I was wanting to get. And my thought process behind wanting to just get long plain spaghetti strap tanks is so when I use the nursing covers I got as baby shower gifts my sides won't show b/c they cover the front of you but your sides would easily be exposed.




One good kick from the baby and your side would be showing or even just from the behind angle I think you'd able to see my hip/side area 





So with the tank I can just leave it down and and do my business out of the top, leaving my sides covered :) I also have a really nice breast pump that hopefully I can use to store extra milk so Chris can have bonding time by being able to feed her as well. 

almost there

I'm starting to feel more ready for this little one to come live with us. We almost have everything that we need to get before she comes. We still are needing to get: changing pad, nursing pads, nursing pillow, undershirts for nursing (just long length spaghetti strapped tanks), lanolin, car seat cover (mom is sending the material just have to make it) , gas drops, *socks &mittens,a few more hats, and a few more blankets (*not a must) But considering what all you need to have for a baby (a surprising amount of things!) we're almost there! I got our pack n play set up today which makes me feel just that much closer to having everything done that I'd like to.

Here are a few shots of the pack n play all put together

 

 and a belly shot at 33 weeks and 3 days

* I'm not sure why the font is different sized and stuff in random spots
** The ones with the strike through are things that I've checked off the list :)
*** YAY we have all the things that I was wanting to get! 

funny

I was looking at old belly pictures and I had a good laugh. I thought I was showing so much in this picture at 16 weeks.

And here's one of me today in all my pregnant glory at almost 30 weeks (it'll be 30 weeks tomorrow)

So noteworthy pregnancy stuff, Penny moves allllll the time now. Seriously all day long she's moving. You can feel her with your hand and/or see her move a lot now too! Ever since getting home from Cali she's been moving so so much. She's always been a wiggler but it's so fun to have her moving so others (Chris) can actually enjoy it daily too!

It's becoming increasingly harder to sleep at night. Most nights I end up on the couch for a few hours of sleep. I don't know why but it works to get up go on the couch sleep there for a bit then come back to bed.  I'm only uncomfortable when there's pressure on my belly... like when I try to sleep rolled over too much (half on my side half on my belly) or Chris tries to snuggle by leaning up against me while we're sitting stuff like that. My back bothers me sometimes because it gets really tight but I had that before ever getting pregnant. I'm still drinking like a camel and that's pretty much it. Our next appointment is next Thursday so I'll probably do an other update then.

4 years!

This past Sunday was our 4 year anniversary. Mom and dad took us out to dinner to Thai Kitchen the night before to celebrate! It was super yummy. Then our on our anniversary we went to church, I took a nap and then we went to a Christenson extended family get together that the family back home have once a month. It was a nice relaxed day. Then Monday, yesterday, was spent driving back home to SLC. On the drive I was asking Chris different questions about being married and about the baby coming. These were some of my favorites:

What has been your favorite part of being married?

Being with you

What do you mean by that? Does it matter what we’re doing or just doing whatever as long as we’re together?

Just as long as we’re together, just being with you (How cute is he?!?)

What are you looking forward to the most? (about the baby coming)

Holding her

What are you most afraid of?

Her making wrong choices

What are you most afraid of when she’s a baby?

Not being able to get her to stop crying

What do you think you’ll be a best at?

Leaving her be (I will definitely think I need to do something when I should just leave her alone)

What do you hope to be best at?

Being daddy (I thought that was funny and told him that he will be best because he is going to be her only daddy and so by default he’ll be the best. He was all alright! Lol)

We did the me asking questions and him answering thing for a while but those were my favorites.

I'm so happy to be married to my best friend! He is such an amazing husband and I love being his wife. We're so excited to have our little girl join our family!

27 weeks

So Mom and Dad, Mike and Maren, Sarah and Chris and their families are all in town and with the rest of us living in the surrounding areas we’ve been able to have the whole family together! It’s been lots of fun. Monday night we had sandwiches with most of the siblings (mom and dad weren’t here yet and Josh had class that night and was in the process of moving) it was lots of fun to chat and everything. Last night we had the whole gang together had pizza, chatted and played with all the kiddos. Tonight we’re having a girl’s night to celebrate Maren and me being pregnant. (We’re both having girls!! So fun)

Today we had a doctor check up and everything looks great! Blood pressure looks good. I’ve only gain 6 pounds so far which our doctor said that’s not a lot of weight gain but she’s not concerned about it at all. The baby is getting everything she needs and is doing great. I had to do the glucose test. Where you drink this sugar filled drink then have your blood drawn an hour later to see how your body reacted to all the sugar. It’s to check to see if you have gestational diabetes. I think 1 in 4 pregnant women develop it. I’ll get the results back in about a week. I got the RhoGam shot done today as well… my bum is sore. I needed the RhoGam shot because I’m O- blood type. Our doctor said that I shouldn’t have to get my blood drawn, have any shots or be poked again until labor so that’s nice. That’s pretty much it!

Activity Days

I had my second activity days activity!! I think it went really well! We made journals. I should have taken a before picture. We got these notebook type things from DI and they were just really ugly but then we turned them in to these.

I think they turned out really cute! I made this one for Lexie because she’s out of town and Monte made hers. She seemed to have fun. So hopefully the activities will continue to go well! 

Pregnancy Update: I'm still doing great. Some nights I don't sleep as well but I think that's just to do with the sudden weather change so I get hot then cold all night long. I also have to use the little girls room sometimes up to 5 or 6 times a night. But besides not sleep well some nights there's really not a whole lot to report. My belly is getting bigger of course and I feel her move more. Chris has been able to feel her move more and see her move a lot too! That's pretty much it. 

  This is what my belly looked like today :)

Busy day

So today was a pretty busy and fun day. I went to a baby shower for Chris’s cousin’s wife, Shanna Mae in the morning. It was a lot of fun and I got to see Mark’s (Chris’s uncle) family! I haven’t seen them in about a year. Mark works for the FBI so they have lived all over, Chile, Africa, Utah (not so exciting) and now they’ll be moving to Israel. So it was lots of fun to see them. And then I had my first activity days activity today at 3 pm we made bread for the primary kids to give to their dad’s for Father’s Day! We only had one of the three girls there but she said that it was one of the funnest activity days she’s ever been to! So yay, I’m so glad she had fun!! Then I had a nap which was fabulous!

Oh my goodness do normal people get so excited over what they are going to make for dinner?!? I'm so excited for dinner tomorrow night!! We’re having my cousin Court and his wife Lisa over for dinner. I’ve not met her yet and I’ve only seen Court once since he’s been home from his mission (he got home about 2 years ago) So it’ll be lots of fun to visit with them. Also I’m planning on inviting her to my baby shower and felt weird inviting her without ever meeting her. But I’m way excited for what I’m making! Grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, apple slices with caramel sauce, and Court and Lisa are bringing a salad. And for dessert we have 3 different types of ice cream to choose from: mint chocolate chip, good ol’ chocolate, and cookies and cream OR they can have otter pops OR both. :) I am really excited for it!

25 Weeks

 Next month my best friend from home is going to be throwing me a baby shower in Porterville and she asked if we could take some cute pictures of my belly to put on the invitations. So I got all dolled up and Chris and I went to the park and took some pictures. I think he did a really good job! Here are some of my favorites.

  

Just my hands making the heart

Then this one is with both of our hands

 

And one of just the two of us :)

It was a fun way to spend the day. I'm hoping to have Chris's cousin take some professional ones when I'm about 7.5 or 8 months pregnant. I'll have a more impressive belly then. I'm 25 weeks today only 15 weeks left!! It's gone by sooo fast!

loopy

 I didn't sleep well last night, so I’ve been a bit loopy today. Chris and I sorted my buttons into like colors and about an hour later Chris found a button stuck to my leg. I laughed sooooo hard I had tears running down my face. Then it took everything in me to keep from crying … there wasn’t a reason to cry. But you know when you see pregnant woman on TV and they go from laughing to crying for no reason, I almost did that! It was hard to keep from crying! It was so weird! Today is also the first day I’ve worn a maternity top besides to try them on.

                                                              24 weeks 3 days

                  

 

I guess I look a bit loopy too lol (So much for trying to get a cute picture my eyes look crazy!)

6 months pregnant and hungry

Chris just learned the hard way not to touch a pregnant woman’s lunch. We had hamburgers the other night and I was making myself the last one from the leftovers. When I was putting away the hamburger fixings Chris took a bite of my hamburger! I got upset with him because I asked him before I even put it together if he cared if I had the last hamburger and he said no that was fine if I ate it. So I told him not to touch my food and make himself something to eat. He told me it was his daddy tax and then said and my husband tax and tried to take an other bite. That’s when I told him I was going to give him an eat-your-face-off tax if he ate anymore of my hamburger. I apologized before he left for work, that I was just hungry but I also told him not to mess with a hungry pregnant woman.

24 weeks

We had our 24 week appointment with our doctor (the last one was just an ultrasound appointment) We got to hear Penny's heartbeat and our doctor confirmed what the ultrasound tech had told us that the cyst has gone down a lot in size and that she has no reason not to believe Penny is perfectly health and that the pregnancy is going great! With that being said I took some belly pictures today, so you know what that means picture time!

Remember this picture I posted about a month ago

Take a look now

 

Lol this picture makes me laugh so hard!!! Can you barely see my toes poking out?

And since I usually cut my head out of the pictures (on purpose it's just easier to focus my attention on getting my belly in the picture :) ) Here's one with my head in it