March in like a lion- out like a lamb

Family: At the beginning of the month, we were able to attend Maisa and Carter’s wedding. It turned out beautiful. Then the very next day, Colby gave Hanna a beautiful blessing. In March we also made the big move that we have been anticipating for months!! We found a townhome in Sandy. It is a nice place with a clubhouse and a pool. It also has a playground in the neighborhood. I think we will really like it where we are. We are close to lots of shopping and fun things to do. I really don’t even know where to begin to express our gratitude to those that helped us. Family supplied trucks and trailers, babysitting, loading and unloading, and so much more! We really are truly blessed to have fabulous family members and friends. We have had fun eating at all the new places. However, this trend CAN’T last because it is expensive. We have forgotten about all of the details associated with moving. Every day I am reminded about another address change I have to make and some packages got sent to Cedar instead of Sandy. We were able to attend our new ward the last couple weeks in March. That very first week we were warmly greeted by so many people. We are very excited about this ward.

Before we moved, I decided to go around town and get pictures of each of the places we have lived in the past seven years. Bottom left is where we first started out when we got married. It was a little two story one bedroom apartment. We lived there for just about 6 months. Poor Brock even lived with us while we were there he slept on a futon in the living room. The bottom right picture is where we moved to next. It was a two bedroom apartment. Then when Colby started working at Brush in Delta and Brock had moved back to Delta as well, I didn't need the two bedrooms so a friend at work told me about the basement apartment that they were moving out of and it was just one bedroom and cheap the top right picture! Luckily, it was right across the street from the school so I was able to just walk. We lived there for just over a year. Then, the top left picture, was our first home that we purchased in October of 2009.

Colby: He is trying to adjust to being a stay-at-home-dad for the time being. We are definitely realizing the innate qualities that each of us has been given. While Colby does such a great job being at home with the girls, he feels the “inner-pull” to go out and provide and protect. He has been given quite a bit of study material to go through prior to starting his program so during naptime and after bedtime he focuses on that. We got his little "office" set up in our master closet. It is nice and quiet in there.

Megan: I started my job as an NP at Jordan Meadows and Hunter Medical Centers. It is going really good. I think that once I figure out my groove I’ll really like it! Not that I don’t right now- I’m just still a little unsure of myself. I feel that although I think I do a good job at work, my heart pulls me home with my girls. It is simply amazing the way God created us and gave us innate strengths and weaknesses.  

Hayden: Hayden absolutely loved the whole moving process! She would wake us bright and early in the morning the entire week before we moved to tell us, “we need to go work in the truck and trailer!” She still is loving to draw her name- I even noticed that she had written her name on the dusty Durango! She really wanted to label all of the moving boxes with her name so I let her write it on the boxes with her toys. She had so much fun playing with Ady and Elsie while we were unloading and unpacking. She had her last day of dance in Cedar at the first of the month. I am so glad we put her in dance. It was so good for her to go every week and learn to listen to a teacher. She would always come home and tell us about all the girls. I love her words that she uses. She calls a cement truck a “confuser” truck. I don’t know where she came up with that. But as we are driving, she can spot one from a mile away. It makes her happy which, in turn, makes me happy.

Hanna: This little angle has found her hands and she loves to chomp away at them. She is still on a 3 hour schedule and eats about 3 ½-4 oz while mom is at work. We have not been able to be very consistent with her sleep schedule because of all of the changes and running around! She really doesn’t do that bad considering though. At night she goes to sleep in between 8 and 8:30 and then I do her “dreamfeed” at around 10 then she will sleep until in between 3 and 4. Then she sleeps until 7:30 or 8. I am hoping she will drop the early morning feed on her own because I really don’t like having to let babies cry-it-out. It breaks my heart! Besides that, she is such a happy baby. She loves to make noises and loves any attention she can get! We also still have her sleeping in the bassinet in our room. I’d like to get her sleeping through the night before I switch her to the girls’ shared room.

February-better late than never!

Family: Our family has been traipsing all over the state during the month of February. We went to Salt Lake twice (Job interview and looking for a home). We had to go to Ogden once for Colby’s schooling then we stopped to look at a townhome.  We have been to Delta twice (once for Maisa’s shower and once for her wedding). We also took a day trip to Richfield to see the Sawyers. Colby and Hayden also made a short trip to St. George to get Colby’s windshield fixed.

Colby: Colby has been busy finishing up his classes for his bachelor’s. He’s had to write a thesis paper and he chose his topic on childhood seizures. He conducted a survey on Facebook and had a better turnout of surveyors than he thought!

Megan: I got a call from a family practice clinic and they set up an appointment to meet with me for the 24^th but then they decided they wanted to talk to me sooner than that so I went straight up on the 12^th and met with the office manager and the owner of Jordan Meadows Medical Clinic in West Jordan. They hired me on the spot!!! I was so relieved to have found a job. I am really excited about this job. They all seem like they are going to be wonderful to work with and the hours will be so nice. From the tentative schedule that they gave me, I will have every Tuesday off and I will only have to work every fourth Saturday. I will be at two different clinics- pretty much 50/50. The other clinic is in West Valley. After finding out I got that job, we frantically started searching for a house which was not easy in the slightest bit! I had my last day of Activity Day’s this month with the girls--- it was so sad to say goodbye to them. I have thoroughly loved this calling. Each of those girls will always have a special place in my heart. 

Hayden: Our little spunky gal has spent A LOT of time in the car this month. She is getting excited to move to Salt Lake. She talks about it quite a bit. We love hearing her try to form her sentences. For example, she will say, “I can’t how to draw a horse.” Instead of saying I don’t know how to…. When her and her dad went to St. George he showed her a cactus and now she will see trees that are pokey looking and she’ll say, “Look at the cap-tus” Ha ha!! I love it!! She loves to write her name on anything and everything. She loves to draw- some of her favorite things are an old school style phone, a ballerina, and Brody or Chelise riding a scooter. She was only able to go to dance twice this month because of all of our traveling. She shows us how she can point her toes and the various positions she does with her feet at dance. I love seeing the things she is learning. She is continuing her somewhat naughty streak and she stuck a bead up her nose while she was in Primary one Sunday. We took her home and used some tweezers to dig it out.

The first picture on the left is of Millie and my cousin's girl Ady. They both did chop sessions just days apart from each other!

 

Hanna: Our tiny one had her 2 month checkup- she weighed 11 lbs 6 oz and was 22 ¾ inches long. She is basically the 75^th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. A very well-rounded gal!! She was also introduced to her first bottle in the comfort of a hotel in Salt Lake. Life has been so busy I had forgotten to try bottles. She is really starting to try to use her voice in little short bursts. Her sister decided to nickname her Scooter. So we will see if that sticks. She is doing pretty well with everything….she is a splendid eater. She is hardly fussy. She sleeps okay but she has been waking up a little early from her naps. The last two nights of the month she went 8 hours in between eating and, of course, I couldn’t sleep because I was constantly checking on her to make sure she was okay. However, she typically goes just 6 ½ hours at night. But hey, I can’t complain. Sometimes when she isn’t napping good during the day and I think I should be frustrated with her she gives me the cutest grins. When she smiles uses her whole body- she gives a little wiggle along with the grin and it just melts my heart. She has been able to visit and meet a lot of family this last month. She got passed around during Maisa’s bridal shower, wedding, and reception. She, of course, takes it all in stride. She is still sleeping in our room- with the move and everything coming up, I figured that we would just wait it out. She is doing a pretty good 3 hour schedule by the end of the month. It looks about like this:

0800 wake up and eat

0900-11 nap

11 eat

12-2 nap

2 eat

3-5 nap

5 eat

630-715 cat nap

715 bath

8 eat

830 bedtime

10-11 dreamfeed

 

I might be a little obsessed with her!!

 

 

January

Colby:
Colby started his last semester at Weber. It is definitely an adjustment for him to only have to go to one university and his Weber classes are mainly online. He only has to go to Ogden twice a month for lectures so this pace has been different for him. I have really liked it because he has been able to help me out at home with the girls more than he would have in previous semesters. He is, however, getting anxious to get started in his PA program.
He has been super helpful since having the baby. I'm very lucky that I have a guy who isn't afraid to do a little cooking, cleaning, and diaper duty!!

(I love watching these two play.....)

Megan:
I am adjusting to life as a mother of two!! It is still a crazy thing for me to think about. The first few weeks after delivering Hanna I almost felt like I had crazy amounts of adrenaline. I felt so great not being pregnant anymore. I was able to clean things that had not been cleaned in so so long! The fatigue finally started to set in just after she turned 3 weeks old.
I am starting to look for jobs up in Salt Lake. There aren't a ton but I'm sure going to give it my all until I'm able to nail something down! I have applied for about 5 at the U and got a phone interview for one of them. I don't think I did very good cause I was a little caught off guard but hopefully, if I get anymore I'll be a little more prepared!
We finally got a car that we can all fit into!! It is a 2012 Dodge Durango and I love it! I really hadn't looked into Durango's before but we found it on KSL and couldn't pass it up......I am hoping it'll last us a good 10 years or so. I'm not looking forward to the payments though.

Hayden:
Big sister started back in dance at the first of the month. She looks forward to it every week. She also graduated from Nursery and started Sunbeams. She is so good at singing I Am a Child of God, Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, Do As I'm Doing, and the Wise Man Built His House on A Rock. I love listening to her sing these songs when she thinks I'm not listening!
She loves being the big sister and is constantly wanting Hanna to watch her do tricks. She loves to go grab diapers and wipes for me and get the bum cream ready. Sometimes she is a little too helpful and she thinks she wants to help me breatfeed by "squeezing" them. She obviously has no regard for personal space yet! Ha ha. Just a few days after Hanna was born she asked me if I had another baby in my belly and when I told her no she asked why my belly was so squishy. She is always very concerned about her sister. When she cries she says, "Oh no, whats wrong with my sister?" She wants to hold her about a thousand times a day. The first couple weeks she was a lot more clingy to me. She has always been a daddy's girl so it was a little weird for me. Now she has turned a bit more defiant and she is not wanting to listen. I think she thinks she can get away with more since I'm tied up feeding or burping or changing a bum.
She also has not been wanting to sleep in her room unless her dad is sleeping in there with her. I think she is a little jealous of the baby getting to sleep in our room. We have been struggling with her nap time- she is kind of transitioning into not having a nap but it is hard. She hasn't been getting sleepy enough to nap until 5 or 6 at night and then she won't go to sleep on time. But she gets so sleepy she can't stay awake any longer.
This month something happened that I have been dreading for a VERY long time. She found some scissors and CHOPPED her hair when she was supposed to be in her room sleeping while we were watching a movie!!!! She did quite a number on it. She feels really bad and keeps saying, "I don't like this hair" and "I look like a boy" and "Is my hair growing?" It is amazing how much it has effected her self confidence. She doesn't like to look at herself in the mirror anymore. I had no idea that a three year old could have confidence issues!!!! It breaks my heart. We keep telling her she is beautiful and her hair will grow.

(The full pageant- swimsuit, talent, evening gown)

(First day of Sunbeams)

(Repunzel hair she did herself)

("I wanna hold my sister")

(The product of her chop session)

(The aftermath)

Hanna:
Hanna has been doing what newborns do best. Eating sleeping and pooping! Ha ha- at her two week appointment she was passed her birthwieght at 8 lbs 3 oz and she had grown an inch measuring 21 inches. She has been much easier to breastfeed. It may be because I am not a nervous new mom this go round but it has thus far been a much better experience. She is eating about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day. At night she has been stretching her feeds to about four hour stretches so I usually only have to wake up once or twice to feed her. She hasn't been a very spitty baby thus far which I am very grateful for. I am having a really hard time not just sitting in my chair all day and rocking her to sleep. I really need to stop doing that though cause I can tell that she is definitely getting used to it. But it is one of my favorite things to hold a sleeping newborn. Our schedule goals for this last month have simply been: Try to get a full feeding and not just snacking and follow the Eat-Wake-Sleep routine. I have loftier goals for this next month. I am going to try to not hold her while she is sleeping as often. Start having a specific "start the morning" time- hopefully around 0800 give or take a half hour. Stretch the night time feedings to 6 hours or more. We'll see what I am able to accomplish! This week is her 5 week mark and she has definitely hit a fussy point. That is exactly when Hayden hit her fussy mark as well. The other night she kept us up until 0330. I was exhausted!! I am hoping that this doesn't last like it did with her sister! She is such a happy baby all day long but around 11 pm she gets very irritated. It's so sad!

(Hanna with her Namesake- her Great-Grandma Joyce- an amazing woman)

(Memorable moments of our first month)

(One month photo shoot- big sister wanted in on the action too.....topless.....with a tiara.....)

Christmas

I had to break our Christmas into several different entries. It was a tad bit eventful for us!! So, while Colby and I were frantically driving to Cedar to welcome our best Christmas present ever into our lives, Hayden got to stay at Grandma Nikki's and Grandpa Russ's. She pretty much stayed awake from 3 o'clock in the morning until just before all of her cousins came out to the house. Nikki said that she just played and played with all of her new toys from Santa. Then she got to spend a while with her cousins who she loves so much.

 

 

Meanwhile, we were settling into our room over on the recovery side of Labor and Delivery. I felt IMMEDIATELY better once Hanna was born. I had gotten so incredibly miserable towards the end. I waddled, I couldn't pick stuff up off the floor and I was so so tired at all times!

 

 

Hanna was the first baby born at Valley View on Christmas. Our delivery nurse was fabulous and she decked her out in this cute red bow and gave us a little swag bag for being the first one of the day!

 

 

Although we were thuroughly enjoying our day with our new little one, we could not wait for her big sister to come and meet her! Russ and Nikki brought her down that afternoon. Millie was so excited to meet her sister.

 

 

 

After the big introduction, Russ, Nikki, and my parents stayed and chatted and snuggled for a while then my mom and dad took the big sister back to Delta to spend a couple nights while Colby and I spent a night in the hospital and got adjusted at home.

Because our first kid had been under bili lights, they decided to do an early check on Hanna and I'm so glad they did because it was already in the high risk zone. So we were able to quickly get her on lights. These bed lights and the masks are so much better now then they were even a few years ago. So she spent her first night and most of the next day on the lights and we did a recheck and her levels were coming down.

 

 

 

Taking a break from the lights with dad!

 

 

 

We got discharge approval later in the afternoon that day after Christmas. We were so excited to take her home. We spent the next few days going into the lab to do bili checks but got cleared that next Monday.

 

 

She then got to meet the other member of our family, the furry one!

 

 

My mom brought Hayden back down on the 27th and we were so excited to reunite the sisters. Grandma Cyn was able to stay with us for a few days and then Grandma Nikki came for a couple as well. We are so very fortunate to have such great family that is willing to help when we need them.  

 

 

And the big sister finally got to open her Christmas presents from mom and dad!! Although Christmas was a little chaotic this year, the party got extended and it seemed she was opening presents for DAYS!

 

 

She was so excited to get her "bowling stuff" and played with them constantly.

 

Hanna Joyce- her birth story.

Christmas Eve night I said my prayers and asked that I not go into labor for 24 hour- thats it!! If I could just make it those 24 hours, I wouldn't feel so bad for the birthday my little one was going to have! Well Heavenly Father had different plans for my little one. At 3 o'clock in the morning, I suddenly woke up and then felt something change. Then my water broke. I woke up Colby and told him. Both of our thoughts were, "You have got to be kidding me!" We heard some bustling in the kitchen and it turned out that Nikki was up doing some baking! So Colby told her- Hayden also woke up during all of the commotion so we decided to tell her that Santa had visited and we took her in to see what she had gotten. I snapped a couple pictures. Russ and Nikki were busy getting blankets and towels gathered up for our drive and Russ also so kindly went out and started our car. I'm glad I had thought to get a full tank of gas just the day before- just in case! By 3:20 we were on the road.

 

 

 

 

I called my parents as we were heading out of Hinckley and my dad said he saw a white car go buzzing past just a few moments later- Ha ha!

My contractions during the drive were only about every 6 minutes apart. Colby drove pretty dang fast. We were very fortunate that there weren't any cows on the road and the fog lifted just a few miles outside of Deseret. It was a pretty clear night. Just before we got into Milford I told Colby to turn on his hazard lights just in case we passed a cop. Sure enough, in between Milford and Minorsville those blue and red lights started flashing behind us. Colby said, "Pretend you're having a contraction!" In return I said, "I don't have to pretend!!!" When the cop came to the drivers side window he asked what was wrong and Colby told him that I was in labor. He asked where we were headed and we told him that we were headed to Cedar and he told us to "go on- get out of here!" and as he started to back away he hollered, "Oh watch for deer!!" He followed us for maybe a mile and then turned around.

We got to the hospital about 4:40 (which is our record time for that drive- he he). When I got there, I was already dilated to 7 cm and my contractions were definitely getting stronger. The nurses tried telling me that they thought I could do it without an epidural at this point. I told them that I still wanted to try and get one!!!

 

 

I was, in fact, able to get my epidural. It was a great one! I could move, feel my contractions, and could tell when I needed to push. In the end I am so glad that I got it because Hanna was positioned face-up making it harder for her to descend. I think it would have been very very painful had I not gotten it because Dr. Gatherum tried multiple times to turn her but she wouldn't. Just before 7:00 they decided to let me start pushing to see if that would help her descend. I pushed for a little over an hour. Once she started coming- she had the cord around her neck twice- once that was removed she started turning herself. Dr. Gatherum and the nurse even thought it was pretty cool. At 0809- we got to welcome our beautiful little girl into this world! She pinked up quickly and was perfect from the get-go.

 

While pregnant, I thought that for sure she was going to be over 8 lbs. But in fact, I had a TON of fluid and the placenta was huge! I was super grateful that she was in the 7 lb range!!

 

It was love at first sight- we couldn't have been more blessed. We are so grateful that we get to have her in our family. She brings such a sweet spirit into our lives.