Recent Happenings

Jeff just took Grace shopping, and I have no idea where Sadie is. Could I have any better luck? I'm laying on the couch, pouring gardetto's (or garghetto's as Jeff thinks they're called) into my mouth, and blogging in total silence. Ever since Grace and Sadie came along I can only dream of such luxuries.

This whole week I have been sick, and the weekend could not have come sooner. Grace has been fending for herself while I lay in bed all day with a cold, morning sickness, two canker sores, a hideous cold sore, and a toothache. The good news is, I'm getting some work done on my teeth, so I'm going to get better looking. At least that's the goal. If it doesn't work then I'm going to be really disappointed. I'm even thinking about getting invisalign. And by thinking about it I mean I'm waiting till Jeff says he'll pay for it.

We had a busy week last week. It was Jeff's birthday, Father's Day, and our Anniversary all within 3 days. Friday night we went to a Bee's game, which was fun, because we had super weird people all around us. The Bee's lost, but who cares about that. I ate ice cream out of a plastic hat, and a stale hot dog. Saturday I think we did something, but I can't remember what it was. On Sunday we laid in bed for as long as possible, and watched Jeff open all his presents from me and Grace. He got some new nice clothes for work and church. He ended up taking Grace to church by himself, because I was feeling extra bad. Not bad as in naughty. Bad as in sick. Luckily I started feeling better later in the day, and we had all our Kessler family (plus my mom) over for a barbecue. Grace loved having all that play time with her cousins. It was so fun to watch them play.

Me and Jeff have to give talks in church this Sunday. So far in preparing for my talk I've called Jeff a douche bag, and said some swear words to the computer. Jeff says he's going to fast, so I told him to fast that I don't embarrass myself.

Here are some pictures from our barbecue.

Our family's favorite game, Bocci Ball.

It must have been intense.

Tacky things and Nudies

Are people ever going to stop posting pictures of themselves in the mirror? Like could it possibly go out of style any more than it already is? Facebook is taking over my life lately. I don't even like facebook. It's like when someone moons you, and you're so pissed, but you can't stop looking.

 I got a new over the toilet bathroom shelf. I've never liked those. I think they're sort of tacky, but ever since I pulled that medicine cabinet off the wall we have nowhere to put anything. Our bathroom sink is piled with bottles of hair products, and all of Jeff's different shavers. Please know that I'm attempting to make it a little more attractive.

That's not too bad right? Like on the tacky scale it's probably a 5. We are all sharing 1 bathroom, and now that we have to make a new nursery we're really desperate for some storage space. While I was uploading that picture I saw this...

How cute is that? And also, a while ago I read in a baby book that a good way to feed toddlers is to give them things to dip. Like fruits and yogurt or veggies and cheese. I bought these little packets of sliced apples with caramel, and I gave Grace one the other day for breakfast. She dipped her apples like such a good girl, for like 5 minutes, and then she just started licking out the caramel cup. She's very efficient. 

On this day she took a total of 3 baths. Speaking of baths. If anybody is wondering, we're doing much better with our sleep. After I had like 7 nervous breakdowns, I asked for a blessing. It was exactly what I needed. I got some good council as well as some much needed reassurance. I also took some advice (thank you Sam!) and started giving Grace warm lavender baths before bed, as well as putting lavender lotion on her, and adding some lavender oil to her humidifier. That first night we also decided to try letting her cry it out for the first time. It took about a half an hour, and she went to sleep, where she stayed all the way until morning. We're on our 4th night, and so far the crying time has been less and less every night. She has slept through the night all except last night, but I fed her and put her right back down, so it was no big deal. My family is super against crying it out, and all I've ever learned is how horrible, and damaging it is to the child. But Grace is totally fine. She's not doing a desperate cry. It's more of a mad cry, and she's very stubborn, so that's probably most of what keeps her up. It doesn't take long for her to just give up, and sleep. I know that she still knows that she's loved and cared for. No harm done. Anyway, Jeff just made molten lava cake, so.....bye.









Sleep deprivation and Dr. appointments

Thanks for all your advice on getting Grace to sleep. We've tried pretty much everything with no luck so far. The last few days we've made her a bed on her floor that we can lay on with her till she falls asleep, and that works for a couple hours, but that's about it. Lots of people have suggested letting her sleep in bed with us, which seems like the logical thing to do. We do end up doing that most of the night, but I can't sleep that way. My stomach is way too sensitive, and she kicks me all night, and wakes up 5 times as often to eat. Normally I would just tough it out, but we are all sleep deprived, I'm getting sicker, and it's ruining our days. We need to figure something out that will allow us all to sleep in our own beds. Tonight we're trying lavender oil and ear plugs. I know, that probably sounds awful, but it's been two weeks now, and I'm desperate. I've noticed that sleep makes a huge difference in my morning sickness, and I need to feel better, so I can take care of Grace during the day.
Yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment. I've decided to go a different route with this pregnancy. Although I still think that a home birth is the safest, and least traumatic for the baby. I didn't like the experience I had last time. I'm mostly to blame for doing nothing to prepare for pain management. With my labor going so quickly the pain was intense with no breaks in between contractions. I felt traumatized afterwards, and felt no connection with my baby for at least a few hours. This time I am going to try something different, and deliver at Orem Community. I've heard so many good things about them. That's where my sister delivered Natalie, and she loved it. I've also heard that they're really good about sticking to your birth plan, and not trying to force you to do things their way. I interviewed the nurse midwives, and asked all of my important questions. My plan is to go into labor naturally. Hopefully my water will break to start it off like it did with Grace. I want to do everything I can to avoid pitocin. I'll have an epidural, and if everything goes like I hope it does, my labor will go quickly. Last time it was about 4 1/2 hours. I've decided to do it this way, so I can be more excited for the birth, and be more present for the experience. I want to enjoy it this time, and think back on it with good memories. I trust that the nurse midwives will do everything they can to make sure the baby is safe and happy. I may try something else for the next one, but I'm going to experiment till I find what works best for me.

Put your boob away please

What's with all these pictures of people breast feeding their kids with their entire boob showing? Why is that suddenly a commendable thing to do? Is the point to let people know how healthy breast feeding is? FYI breastfeeding IS super healthy. Exposing yourself in public is not. These two things do not go hand in hand. The world has blessed us with blankets and udder covers. Use them! If you think you can't breastfeed without uncovering your entire boob for all to see, then you need to work on your problem solving skills.

Want to know how we've been doing? Well I'll tell you. Grace no longer sleeps. Ever. Morning sickness. Our house is a mess. I have a canker sore.