Picnic in the canyon

My family usually gets together to celebrate Pioneer day, but this year everyone did their own thing. We spent a big part of the day at Deer Creek Reservoir. That night, we watched a movie and did a few sparklers out front. Emilia really liked watching the sparklers!

Because we didn't hang out on the holiday, we decided to meet up at Millcreek Canyon a few days later. The forecast was threatening rain, but when we got to our picnic site, it was just a little cloudy and it was quite warm! James wanted to explore a lot (especially the waterfall!) and Emilia loved getting passed around and loved on. We got out some chips and dip to snack on while Jessica and Joe kept the fire going and Ethan started cooking hot dogs.

A kiss from cousin Juliet!

Emilia wore a special hot dog outfit and Converse "sneakers"

We wanted to get some pictures by this waterfall because this is where we had some of our engagement pictures taken

After a tasty dinner of hot dogs, macaroni salad, and watermelon, it was time for s'mores! I love s'mores. In fact, I'm pretty sure they are my favorite dessert. We all sat around the fire roasting marshmallows and laughing and stealing everyone else's prepared graham crackers. Emilia was not interested in sleeping so I cuddled with her on a camp chair. She was so interested in everything going on. 

I think some family time in the mountains was just what I needed today!

3 months!

Emila is 3 months old today. This month has been so much easier than last month! Emilia is still fussy, but her meltdowns last for 10-15 minutes instead of hours. She is so smiley and a couple of days ago she (sort of) laughed for the first time. She can roll onto her side by herself, but she can't quite get all the way over. She has started to be more interested in toys and grabs the ones hanging from her playmat. She sleeps pretty well most nights- either sleeping through the night or waking up once. I sure love this baby girl and I can't wait to see what she learns this month!

Likes:
Car rides
Being outside
Ceiling fans
"Standing up"
Fisher Price seahorse (but she has always loved this!)
Stroller walks
Peek a boo kisses book
Restaurants
Fake coughing game

Dislikes:
Getting dressed
hiccups
Dadda sneezes

3 months

2 months

1 month

Emilia's first 4th of July

The 4th of July started early this year! We had to be up at 6:30 in order to make our first activity of the day: The Heber Creeper Freedom Train (which was extra fun because a huge thunderstorm kept us up during the night). We had heard about the freedom train last year, but tickets sold out too fast so this year we made sure to get tickets way in advance. The train left right at 8 and we got to the depot at 7:52, but we made it and got settled just as the train departed for Decker Bay. We relaxed and watched the scenery as fiddlers played patriotic songs.

Emilia seemed to really enjoy the train ride. We thought the slow movement of the train would make her fall asleep, but she only slept for about 15 minutes of the whole 90 minute ride. She was really interested in looking out the window.

Later that afternoon, we headed to Salt Lake to celebrate Ethan's birthday with tasty Thai food before heading to their house for cake and fireworks. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on the way which delayed things a little. 

Jessica and I have been having fun dressing our little girls in matching outfits. They wore special outfits for the holiday.

Emilia is having fun practicing sitting and she is all smiles these days.

Family picture!

Happy 4th of July!

3rd Anniversary

It has been our tradition to spend our anniversaries at Castle Creek Inn. We usually spend the weekend eating Chinese food and watching movies. However, this year our tiny baby changed that. Castle Creek Inn isn't really the place for a baby and she isn't ready for an overnight babysitter.

Our anniversary was a Wednesday this year. Joe worked in the morning and then took me to a surprise spot for a little picnic. This place is just up the road a bit and seems to be some kind of wildlife sanctuary. We had  a tasty light lunch while watching birds and butterflies.

Emilia wore a special dress

We still wanted to go out to dinner, but we wanted to go somewhere family friendly so we decided on Outback steakhouse. We are lucky that Emilia is usually pretty good in restaurants.

We are trying to stick with traditional anniversary gifts. 3 years is leather, crystal, or glass. Joe cooked a nice dinner on Tuesday night and put my gifts on the table. I had wanted candlestick holders for a while and he picked a beautiful set! I got him a leather binder/organizer/notebook thingy and filled it with some office supplies.

It's been a wonderful 3 years.

2 months!

Emilia is 2 months old today! It has been a really rough month due to some serious growth spurts, but also wonderful. Emilia spends a lot more time awake now. A lot of that time is spent crying, which is frustrating because sometimes she just can't be calmed down. It hurts my heart to hear her cry and I try everything I can to calm her down, but sometimes she just needs to cry. She is also starting to be way more fun. She smiles a lot now and seems to really enjoy interacting with us. And she is so cute! Random people are always stopping us to get a look at her. She is very popular!

Likes:
Baby squats
Ah Boom game
Soothie Binkies
Baths
Being held
Lights
Being outside

Dislikes:
Getting dressed (especially sleeves)
Being put down

2 months

1 month

1 month!

Emilia is one month old today! The time has gone by so fast.

Likes:

Mom and Dad

Being held. All. The. Time

Riding in the car

Her bouncy seat

Binkies

Being swaddled

The who's that baby song

The bounce bounce baby song

Dislikes:

Her stroller

Being naked

Getting dressed

headbands

Emilia

Tomorrow, Emilia will be one month old so I figured I should post her birth story so I can start posting her month pictures.

This is long and full of TMI as these usually are :)

 I was scheduled to be induced due to high blood pressure on Friday April 19. I had been dilated 1 cm for two weeks and off and on crampy, but nothing ever turned timeable. On Monday the 15, I woke up and started reading my e-mail and fb in bed. The baby was kicking and it seemed like a normal morning. Joe had just gotten in the shower and I felt a little pop and fluid started gushing out (luckily, we had just put a plastic liner on the bed). I called to Joe that we needed to go to the hospital because my water had broken.

The hospital is an hour away, but I was feeling fine with just a couple painless contractions on the way. They checked me in and did a swab to make sure it was fluid, but the nurse laughed as she was doing it because it was so obvious. They admitted me even though I wasn't in active labor because she needed to be out within 24 hours and I was GBS positive so they wanted to get antibiotics started. 

My body wasn't going into labor on its own so a couple of hours later, they started pitocin. The contractions didn't hurt so I was going to wait a bit for my epidural. After the pitocin was turned up, Emilia had a heart deceleration so they turned me on my side, gave me a shot to stop contractions and put an oxygen mask on me. It was so scary, but her heart rate came back up.

They decided to put in internal monitors to keep a closer eye on her heart rate and they really hurt going in because I was still only 2 cm.  After that, I got my epidural and that was awesome! 

The rest of labor kept being scary. They would turn up the pitocin and Emila would have a deceleration and they would stop it and give me a shot. I had to have 3 shots and ended up wearing an oxygen mask the whole time. (The shot they give you makes you shake really badly so that was fun too).

Just when I was ready to beg for a c-section, they said I was fully dilated (from 3 cm to 10 cm in only 2 hours). I sat up straight in bed to do "rest and descend" and let Emilia get a little lower. Then it was time to push! They had my Dr. come in early because of Emilia's position and that ended up being a really good thing because I only pushed for about 20 minutes. My Dr. and the nurses were making bets on how much cord would be wrapped around her because of the decels, but she ended up not being wrapped in it at all. They said she must have just been pinching it a little. She was born at 5:06 am on April 16 at 38w5d.

They had called the special nursery team in because of the decels. The Dr. said that when they see those, half the time the baby comes out screaming and half the time they need a little help. I didn't get to hold her right away because she needed to be checked out, but she came out screaming! Everyone was laughing at how dramatic she was being. She weighed in at only 5 lbs 10 oz, but was a good 20 inches long. I got her after about 10 minutes. My labor was really scary, but I felt almost no pain through the whole thing and I actually really enjoyed pushing. 

She had to have extra blood sugar tests throughout the day, but she never had to have any special care or spend any time away from us. We are supplementing with formula because she is so small, but breastfeeding is going pretty well too. She is such a sweet, wonderful, beautiful, delicate baby and I love her to pieces.

Our first picture together

Emilia Rose