Ginnie is 8 Months Old

This year is going by so fast! I can't believe Ginnie already 8 months old. I feel like Christmas is going to come and go quickly and before we know it we'll be celebrating Ginnie's first birthday! My favorite thing about Ginnie this month has been watching her learn to communicate. She has started signing "all done" and is FINALLY saying Mama! She says "dada" and "hi dada" all day long, and "mama" in a really loud authoritative voice when she wants something, which makes me laugh. Ginnie loves to bounce in her bouncer, roll, and sit up to play with toys. She loves bath time and playing with Lydia. Her favorite things to eat are sweet potatoes, butter nut squash, yogurt, peas, oatmeal, quesadillas, and grilled cheese. She has officially stopped breastfeeding this month -all on her own. She just woke up one day and decided to be done, which seems to be her way to do things.
I've really loved spending one on one time with Ginnie in the afternoons while Lydia is napping. We play with toys and read books and I usually end up taking a million pictures.
When Lydia was little I remember being so anxious to see her reach the next stage. But the baby stage has gone by so fast with Ginnie I feel like I'm grasping for more time! -Probably because I know how quickly it goes.

 Ginnie says "tah-dah!"

Nap time selfies with Mom

Cheesin at church

Movie night with Mom and Lydia

Enjoying the Christmas tree

Dressed up for Church

Welcome Virginia Gail

After 2 weeks of "laboring" on and off and literally trying every tip and trick to start a productive labor we took our hospital bag to our appointment on the 9th of March with high hopes the midwife would break my water. I was already 4 cm dilated and 60 % effaced at our previous appointment. We found out when we arrived I'd progressed to 5 cm and 80%. We asked the midwife if she would break my water but she said the labor and delivery unit was too full and we would need to wait until my midwife got back that weekend. (Booo) We were disappointed but gathered our things to leave. Harrison and I were literally walking out the door when a nurse ran after us and said to wait because Michelle was on the phone with labor and delivery. She came back and said if we could go now she'd come break my water. She said was hesitant to send us at first because she likes to provide extra support to non-medicated mothers and that's difficult to do on clinic days. But my sister-in-law, Gabby, was coming to help so we felt confident we'd be ok (and let's be real, we were just ready to get this baby OUT) We were admitted and settled in by 10:00 am. Michelle came in and broke my water at 10:20. Contractions came every 2 minutes immediately! We got up to walk laps around the unit and only made it around 2 times before I wanted to settle down to labor in our room. I remember turning to Harrison when we got back and saying, "This is going to be fast." -It was.

Our nurses names were Mindy and Sadie. They were absolutely incredible. They both had a great sense of humor and worked really well as a team. They knew when to be serious and listened SO well. Gabby got to the hospital soon after we came back to our room. She helped apply pressure to my back as the contractions got stronger. It was a huge help. I felt SO supported by everyone there in having a natural birth. We told Mindy and Sadie we took bradley classes with Lydia and felt like we could get through labor together. They really left us alone until transition. I loved being able to be mobile without any monitors. I didn't move around very much when we got back to the room, but just knowing that was an option was a huge help to me.

Things moved so quickly and really started to hurt. I remember turning to Harrison after a particularly hard contraction and asking, "why am I doing this?" He was so good and said, "let me show you!" and pulled out my binder with affirmations I'd put together and we put on some music.  We worked through some more difficult contractions for a while, I'm not sure how long. I mostly sat on the edge of the bed and breathed deep long breathes, eyes closed. We were at the point in labor when your awareness shrinks to a moment by moment frame of mind....and I started begging for some pain relief. Michelle surprised us by coming in to see how I was doing. She said, "I heard you asked for an epidural. You can totally do this!" I told her I wanted it (haha that's transition for you) They called for the anesthesiologist and everyone was helping me. I was in so much pain I really wasn't aware who was there at this point. But I remember focusing on each contraction. -This was the point of labor I noticed the biggest difference between a pitocin induction and "normal" labor. Instead of constant contractions I had breaks between where I could catch my breathe and prepare for the next one. It was still so, so hard when they peaked but I knew it would come back down. The breaks kept me from feeling panicked like I did when I labored with Lydia.  Michelle did the best thing and flipped me over onto my hands and knees and had two people apply pressure to my hips. It was so calming to my mind to feel actively supported while I was in so much pain. We did a few contractions like this and I started humming/ kind of crying at the tops of each contraction. Then the craziest thing happened. I felt Ginnie drop. Right then the anesthesiologist walked in and Michelle flipped me over to see where I was at. I was fully dilated. She told him we didn't need him anymore and everyone switched gears. Everything felt like it slowed down in that moment. I felt a great calm. I could feel the next contraction picking up but absolutely no pain when I started to push. NONE. I felt in complete control of my body. It was amazing. No one told me what to do. Ginnie was born after two pushes at 12:31 pm, a very short two hours after we broke my water. They handed her straight to me. I felt so proud of myself. I felt so much joy and peace all at the same time. Our room was so bright with the sun shining in as I held this beautiful, wet, crying baby girl. Her head was so round! 

 

They took Ginnie for a few minutes because she wasn't quite as pink as they would have liked but I got her right back. Everyone cleared out of our room so quickly and we got to spend the rest of the day together. It was so peaceful. We were so impressed with everyone we worked with at Lonepeak. It was the very best experience. We love our sweet Ginnie!

Seriously though, look how perfectly round that head is!

9 months old!

Time seems to FLY the older Lydia gets. It is getting harder to keep up with her these days! I have too many favorite things about Lydia this month. She is really starting to recognize faces My favorite thing about Lydia this month has been watching her become more mobil. It is so funny to see what she is motivated by. We are a big fan of "non-toys" around here. I love being able to play and laugh with her. She really is the sweetest baby. She says "hiiii" and usually "hi dad" all day long in the cutest little voice.

Graduation

Harrison graduated with his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from BYU this weekend. WAHOO!!!! 

We went to commencement Thursday afternoon. We'd heard from a lot of different people that commencement wasn't really worth going to but we both really enjoyed it. It was really fun to have an event Harrison could attend with all our friends (almost all of whom also graduated this semester) and the speakers were amazing! I loved finding Harrison's name in the program and hearing President Worthen very officially pronounce all the students graduates. I love that BYU focuses on educating students to make them more capable of serving their families and communities. 

"Enter to learn; go forth to serve."

Way to go guys!

Friday we got to attend convocation for Harrison's college. All the graduates walk across the stage and shake the Dean's hand :) We had family from both sides attend. We're so grateful to live so close to so many people who love and support us. 

Poor Lydia had a stomach bug all day Friday. She made it through the whole ceremony and then threw up in the parking lot on our way to lunch. Thankfully is was just a 24 hr thing. She looks so sad in all the pictures  :( 

Good job, Dad! 

I have been bursting with pride all weekend for Harrison. I am so grateful for all the hard work he put in to earning this degree. And believe me, it was hard work. I know we'll always look back fondly on our time at BYU -for friendships we built, fun memories we made, and the love we developed for each other as we accomplished hard things together :)

Easter

Happy Easter! I have felt so overwhelmed with gratitude this weekend for all our blessings. Family has been the focal point of my gratitude as I've pondered about the the Savior. Being surrounded by the people we love most this weekend made the thought of forever families so tender for me as we celebrated the resurrection of Christ.

All the feelings I've been feeling about Easter really came together after I took this picture of Lydia yesterday.

I had been thinking all week about why we put more thought into what we wear for Easter. I really wanted to put Lydia in an outfit that was special, beautiful, and that reflected the reverence and gratitude I was feeling for this day. A couple weeks ago I was visiting Harrison's mom and she brought up some clothing she'd been saving for Lydia. Among the things she showed me was a beautiful hand crocheted blanket and sweater Harrison's Aunt Holly made for him when he was a baby. After picking a dress sent to us from Harrison's sister, Justine, and a bonnet my mom actually made for Lydia's blessing day, this sweater and blanket seemed to tie everything together. This picture has so many elements of love and family -Wedding dress lace, cousin hand-me-down dress, daddy's sweater, a timeless blanket, and a beautiful little girl in the middle of it all. Literally and figuratively clothed, surrounded, wrapped up in the love her family has for her.
I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of family given to me by a loving Savior who lived a perfect life, atoned, died, and rose again for me. 

Oh sweet, the JOY this sentence gives. 

I know that my Redeemer lives.

7 months!

I feel like I've been telling people Lydia is 6 months old for forever. 6 months seems like a really iconic age. 7 months reeeeally snuck up on us. For some reason 7 months feels a lot older than 6 months. This month I feel like lydia has transitioned from an infant to a baby. She is so much more expressive, opinionated, and observant. This girl knows what she wants. She is also incredibly affectionate. She says "hi dad" when she wakes up and gives me kisses from sunup to sundown (seriously, she's given me at least 5 since i started typing this.) This month my favorite thing has been learning with Lydia. She notices small details -colors, shapes, hair, facial features, clothes, textures and she wants to touch, touch, TOUCH. or kiss it. hahaha I love to watch thoughts in her eyes as I point and talk.

You weigh: 19 lbs!

This month you've enjoyed: peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, swimming at the rec center, walks to the park, BYU basketball games with Mom and Dad, helping Mom babysit Tristan, singing/ story time at the library, playing with toys, a girls lunch date with Mom and Loren, a sewing day with Gram, going out to dinner to celebrate Dad's job interviews, a visit from Cyndi, being babysat by Cici while Mom and Dad went on a date, going to Nana's to bake bread.

What you are doing: eating more solid food (you LOVE peanut butter sandwiches, you'll also eat left overs, quesadillas, eggs, oatmeal -baby food is hit and miss), reaching for Mom and Dad, lifting your arms in anticipation to be held, shaking your head "no" when you don't want something (you taught yourself this one), saying "mmmmm" while you're eating, grabbing everything, you are FASCINATED with noses, babbling Dada, Nana, Baba (most consistently), bringing things to your mouth, playing with toys, playing peek-a-boo, using our hands as leverage to sit up and stand, kind of rolling over (you know how but you'd rather not), standing for long periods of time leaning against something, giggling when you see yourself in the mirror, smiling any time we take out our phones (to get your picture taken)

That belly...

Eating is messy business

Babysitting Tristan

Lunch with Loren

Walking to the park

BYU basketball game