Eat Mor Chikin

Willa is not going trick-or-treating tonight, but she dressed up as a cow for some other Halloween festivities over the weekend.  Isn't she the most adorable little cow?  I love her little feet in those stockings.

Getting ready to go to singing time at the library, not too sure about things:

If you look in the background, you can see some of the other kids in their costumes.  It was very cute!  Do you see the little maraca in her hand?  Before we officially start, they pass out little musical instruments for the kids to play with.

This was actually the view we mainly had. Willa also discovered a will to crawl anywhere and everywhere at all times.  

Baby cow on the cow blanket:

Here she is at the ward party.   We thought she was cranky because she was hungry or tired, but really she just wanted to crawl around on the gym floor.  Yum. Just imagine a church gym, with tons of tables, food on the floor, kids acting crazy in their Halloween costumes, and a little baby cow who wants to crawl EVERYWHERE.  There was lots of hurrying around to cover the little tidbits on the floor with my foot.

You can see one of her little teeth in this picture:

At the trunk-or-treat.  She didn't really know what was going on, but she was delighted with all the kids and of course, wanted to crawl around the parking lot.

Ryan getting frustrated as the kids acted crazier and crazier and were making multiple rounds for optimal candy-gathering.  Finally, he claimed that the candy shoppe was closed.

One more cute picture.  Really, she was adorable.  Plus, she kept crawling everywhere and it was hilarious because people thought it was a real little puppy crawling around and were really startled when they realized it was just Willa.

For anyone who cares, originally I was going to make an "Eat mor chikin" sign for Willa to hold, but then laziness got the better of me.  It's too bad, because it would have made Ryan's costume very apropos.

Here is Ryan's costume.  Any guesses?  He won best costume at work today!  

Not much to post about, so I thought I would show some pictures of Willa.  Love baby behinds and jean pockets.

Taking her food very seriously.

We got some family photos taken two weeks ago and they look really great.  Unfortunately, it was also the day that Willa woke up with a raging fever.  She did not give ANY smiles, but our photographer, who also happens to be my visiting teaching partner, managed to get a couple of cute shots in.

This isn't really a smile, but somehow our amazing photographer managed to shoot a picture right when she was opening her mouth, probably to cry, and make it look like a smile! 

Sooo, we were all hyped to get another chance to take pictures with a happy Willa, but two days ago she got a mosquito bite right on her eyelid!  The poor baby's eye swelled up and she was starting to look like a cyclops.  Over a month ago she got a bite on her cheek and the mark is still there, so I knew that she reacted badly to these things.  I pumped her full of benadryl for the first day, and I think it helped the swelling, but she'll still probably have a red blotch for the photos.

It rained two weeks ago and I guess it was prime season for mosquito lavae so a veritable feast ensued. Despite the climate, I think Houston is reactive rather than proactive with their mosquito hunting; they could learn a lot from Davis County's Mosquito Abatement.  It's good incentive when I am running in the morning, I have to go fast enough for the mosquitos not to bite.  Of course, I'm not very fast to begin with, but since these vampires are swollen with the blood of children in their bellies it's not too hard to out run them.

Happy Birthday Cathryn

Tomorrow is Cathryn's Birthday. I love her.

Can't Catch a Break

Remember how I wrote that Willa had her shots on Friday and had a pretty miserable birthday?  Well, Satruday morning she woke up and was extremely hot with a fever and chills. We thought it was just a reaction from the shots and gave her some Tylenol to get her through the day.  

Here she is looking miserable at her birthday party on Saturday.  She did manage a few bites of cake, but that's only because she's her parents' child and has a sweet tooth.  She's had this stank face for the past three days now. 

On Sunday she wasn't much better, and by Sunday night we called the nurse.  I took her into the doctor on Monday morning and my poor baby has Strep throat.  The doctor was pretty shocked, he said that he almost didn't do the test.

I feel so bad for her!  Within one week she has had the stomach flu, been cutting five teeth, got four shots, and now Strep throat!  No wonder she hasn't been eating much!  She is getting some tender loving care right now and lots of antibiotics.  The bad thing is that this whole time Ryan and I thought that the fever was from her shots and that she wasn't contagious.  I've been letting her do all sorts of naughty things to cheer her up like playing/sucking on my cell phone, car keys, and the remote controls!  Plus, sharing a water bottle and lots of kisses.  If I don't come down with it, I need to erect some type of shrine to my immune system.  Ryan and I have considered a pre-treatment of antibiotics for ourselves to nip this thing in the bud, but Dr. Alyson recommends against it.

I feel like I just did all of this!  Running around the apartment with Chlorox wipes trying to wipe everything down, looking over everything and wondering what to throw in the wash next.  I'm contemplating just buying surgical masks for whenever illness strikes.  Whomever isn't struck down gets to wear the mask until we're sure the sickness is gone.

I made this little bed for her to watch Baby Einstein.  Actually, today is the first day that we have really seen the Tylenol kick in.  I've actually heard her babble and laugh a little today, so it has actually been easier.

Happy Birthday Willa!

Friday was our sweet Willa's birthday!!  Unfortunately, she had a bit of a hard day.  We had her check-up yesterday morning where she got four shots, and her tummy still isn't quite recovered from her virus last Saturday.  This whole week has been tough for her, she just hasn't really had an appetite and has been a little whiney and sad.  She's also cutting five teeth right now (four on top, one on the bottom), they are so close and totally visible under her gums.  I think that might be a lot of the reason she isn't eating.  Maybe it's apropo that she's not feeling great since I'm pretty sure that she wasn't feeling too great one year ago.  It can't be comfortable being pushed through the birth canal!

Here is a birth story recap, because who doesn't love a good birth story?! First of all, Willa was originally due on October 28th (two weeks later) and I figured that she would probably be overdue since it was my first baby and my pregnancy had been going so easily.  Ryan was supposed to be out of town on the day she was actually born, but had a tonsillectomy and wasn't up leaving.  Shannon was all set to be my Doola, however, if he had been gone.  

Two days before Willa was born, Ryan still wasn't feeling well enough to go running in the morning so we decided to just go on an early morning walk together. I'm so grateful we were able to have that time to reflect and savor our life  - where we were and the big changes that would be happening soon - before Willa was born.  We made big plans for a last date and temple trip that weekend.  Ha!  

Since I didn't run that morning, I went to the gym during my lunch hour and was amazed at how good I felt!  I did the stair master for 20 solid minutes, and not the easy one, the hard one that looks like an escalator.  Then, I ran 1 1/2 miles on the treadmill at a 9:30 pace.  The only reason I stopped was because my lunch hour was over and I had to get back to work!  That evening I told Ryan how amazing I felt!  I think it was those endorphins that are supposed to click in right before you go into labor.  Most women clean their house, but I happened to be at the gym so I worked out.

The next morning I went on my regular 3 1/2 mile run and still felt great, but when I got back I had "indications" that maybe I actually would have the baby soon.  I also want to mention that the day before, I had completely cleaned out everything at work.  I finished all the little tasks and only had a few things left to do.  That was also such a blessing, I really feel like Heavenly Father was watching out for us and preparing us to have this baby two weeks early.  

I was having regular but weak contractions so I got ready and decided to go into work and finish up the last details (it would only take an hour or two).  Ryan was nice enough to volunteer to drive me to work, I rode my bike all the other days - even just the day before.

Things progressed, my water broke, yada yada, Ryan picked me up about 11 a.m. and we went to the hospital shortly after.  After a few hours at the hospital they started some pitocin to pick things up. They came in and checked me at 9 pm and I was at 5 cm.  It's supposed to take about an hour/cm so we thought she would be born sometime early the next morning.  Ryan left to get some dinner at Del Taco and I upped the epidural dosage.  The anesthetist warned me not to let the contractions get too bad, or else the epidural wouldn't ever catch up with them.  When they had checked me, I had started feeling some pain again so I pushed the epidural button a couple of times thinking that the pushing part was hours away.

Well, about 40 minutes later the nurse came in to check, then she came again, then she came again and gave me oxygen, then she finally decided to take a look and behold - the baby was basically crowning and was so low down the birth canal that that was why they were having trouble picking up a heartbeat! The nurse was like, "Can't you feel that pressure?"  Having just upped the epidural, I was completely numb.  I had to phone Ryan and tell him to hurry back!  They set everything up, told me to push - which was hard since I couldn't feel a thing.  I pushed a few times, said I could maybe push once more and she was out!  She was born at 10:13 pm.  It was so fast.  I'm kind of proud how fast it was.  I think then, I was kind of in shock.  Ryan said he was worried because I wasn't asking about the baby, I was just saying, "That was so fast, that was so fast!"  Hey, all the nurses were saying the same thing!  Still, I really feel like exercising for the entire pregnancy really prepared my body for labor.  I recommend the book "Exercising Through Your Pregnancy" by James Clapp for everyone.

My favorite part of the birth was seeing them pull Willa out, having her immediately start screaming, and seeing the purplish/gray skin redden as she breathed in the oxygen.  It was so amazing and I loved how loud and quickly she screamed and turned pink. 

There is actually another side to this birth story.  My mom and dad were on a cruise in Panama when I gave birth.  My mom hadn't wanted to go on the cruise, but I assured her that she would be back in time for the birth and that I would probably be overdue anyway, ha ha.  Willa, though, was two weeks early and they were on their cruise, totally incommunicado.  The day Willa was born, my mom and her friends went to a psychic show on the ship.  They had to all write a question on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl.  The psychic drew my mom's question and without even reading it he said, "You will remember this cruise and me because the baby is going to be born today."  My mom laughed it off, but the next day the ship was in port.  She got off the ship and had cell phone reception for just a few minutes.  Her phone beeped and there was a text message with a picture of Willa, but no writing.  She started screaming and everyone around remembered the psychic show from the day before!!  It is still so bizarre.

Here are some photos.  It's so strange right when you have a baby, on one hand you are so excited and happy.  On the other hand, you just want to stuff that baby right back inside of you and pretend that she doesn't exist!  I did NOT want to leave the hospital and was terrified that they were actually sending us home with her.  

First Halloween at two weeks old, I love this photo.

One Month

Two Months

 Three Months

Four Months

 Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

 Eight Months

Nine Months

Eleven Months

Here are some pictures from her birth day yesterday.  

Morning sleepyhead with dolly:

This was after her shots and she was still able to muster a few smiles (though not many) for me:

Escape Attempt:

Ah, it feels much better to just lay back and relax:

I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but she has really slimmed out since she started crawling.  In these last photos she really is starting to look like a toddler to me.  At her check-up she was in the 50th percentile for both height and weight and had only gained a few ounces since her last appointment three months ago. She is a speedy crawler and I love to see when she really shifts it into a higher gear.  If she is playing in the kitchen and I open the fridge door, she is there lightening-fast.  It makes us laugh every time because she drops what she is doing and books it to the fridge to look inside.  Once she gets there, she says, "Ooooo" in a cute, high voice.  I think the cool air is new for her.

She loves chicken nuggets, but I can also get her to eat a little broccoli, green beans, and peas if I start with those first; trying to figure out something that she will eat is still my most frustrating thing.  She'll try most things, lick them, put them in her mouth, then spit them out and throw them off of her high chair.

She's got a very mad, "OOoonooo" when she doesn't want something.  It sounds like no, but I'm not sure if she's actually got the N.  She babbles mama and dada and I think she knows what they mean, but who really knows.

Having a baby is kind of like getting married.  Before I was married, I thought marriage was a good thing.  My married friends were happy, it seemed like a natural-enough step to take.  After I was married, I can't explain the difference, but life was so much better.  It makes me understand better why Heavenly Father wants us to be married.  It is a better way of life.  I feel the same way about having kids.  Before, it looked good, people seemed happy with their kids.  Since Willa was born, life has been so much richer.  I can't explain it, but I really have more appreciation for Heavenly Father's plan and for His desire to have us marry and have children.  Ryan and I have been so happy with our little Willa and we are excited for the next year!  

Indulge me in some photos of my first born with some of her first birthday gifts.  She has really been well-loved and spoiled.

Enjoying a little blankie from Aunt Donna:

Playing with her new (and first!) Dolly:

Giving Dolly a ride in the stroller/walker:

Yay, look at what a big girl I am!

She did also receive many books.  Here she is reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear which she has owned for a long time and loves very much.  She's looking for her favorite page:

She found it!  "Children, children" is her favorite page.  She will turn the pages until she finds it, then she gets very excited and will sometimes try to lick the children.