Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas.  It was the first time we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our own house.  Morgan was so excited for Santa to come.  We were all lying in her bed and she kept saying, "eeeeeek, I'm so excited!  Say it with me... Eeeeeeek."

The girls got new jammies.

Apples for Santa's reindeer. 

Santa came!

Mo got a new pink bike from Santa, a pink scooter from us, a bunch of clothes, books, toys, games, and a car thingy from my mom.  Lots of modes of transportation and she is so excited.

When she was taking things out of her stocking from Santa she pulled out a pair of slippers and said, "Shoes!... From the store."  Haha.  Oops, Santa.

Riding the new pink scooter at grandma's town hall because it was too cold outside.

I Need A Miracle

On Christmas Eve we went to Cafe Rio for lunch and saw a man with a sign that said "I need a miracle."  It was the second time I'd seen him and I wanted to do something to help him out.  We drove by and noticed that he didn't have gloves on.  I randomly had a pair of gloves on my floor so we turned around and tried to give them to him.  He thanked us and declined.  He already had gloves but didn't want to wear them because the make him "colder."  Nice.  It's all about marketing and not having gloves sure made him look pathetic and needy.  And that's why I don't give cash to panhandlers.  I'm happy to give water, Goldfish, gloves, or whatever else I have, but not money.

Just Planning A Wedding

Remember the part in Father of the Bride where the daughter tells the dad that she's getting married and he imagines it's his little girl telling him?  Yesterday as Morgan and I were driving home she said, "you're married, huh mom?"  I told her that yes, daddy and I are married.  Then she said, "I"m going to marry Jace... or Ransom."  (Jace from gymnastics or Ransom from school -- she likes to put on makeup and show both of them).  I asked her what she was going to do when she's married.  She thought for a second and replied, "just a pink dress and pink shoes."

I am so lucky to be this girl's mommy!  And one day (in like 23 years) I will be the proudest mom when she gets married.

These pictures are of the first time she pretended to be getting married (right after we moved back to Utah).  She had just picked the flowers in our landscaping and had a dirty face.  It makes me want to cry thinking about how grown up she is becoming.

Thoughts

My kids are always in my thoughts.  Always.  But things have been extra tender since Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.  I just couldn't imagine.  So in the middle of the night when Sophie is awake for 2 1/2 hours crying or wanting to cuddle, I cry or cuddle with her.  I am so grateful that I am up in the middle of the night because that means I have a baby to be up with.  I am so grateful for the little 3-year-old who wakes me up in the morning without nearly enough sleep because that means that she is here with me.  Nobody knows what is going to happen next week, tomorrow, or in the next 5 minutes so I am trying to take advantage of every second I have with them, even if it means watching My Little Pony while I blog or playing Barbies while I try to feed a baby.

Morgan and Sophie, I love you both so much.  You are my heart.

Frontrunner and Temple Square

We have been trying to do something to get ready for Christmas every day.  On Saturday we rode Fruntrunner to Temple Square to see the lights and nativity.  I think Morgan had a good time.  Sophie slept almost the entire time, thank goodness.  It seems like we traveled for 2 hours round trip with a small 15 minute break for Temple Square and another 15 minute break so I could feed Sophie in the Nordstrom women's lounge (so nice, btw -- I want their chairs).  

Will I do it again?  Probably not.  I'm not big on public transportation that costs more than driving my own car.  Besides, there is always someone that stinks and I can't hold my breath for 2 hours.

Morganisms

Morgan wanted to watch Bratz and I told her it was too big for her.  In a whiny voice she said, "it's not too big!  I'm big.  I'm a big sister.  I'm a big sister!  It's not too big."  Ha!  She got to watch Curious George instead.

Santa lives at the North Cold.

Instead of "need" she says "meed."  "I meed a drink" or "Daddy meeds to go to work."

I got this brochure from my chiropractor and Mo asked if it was me.  When I told her it wasn't she said, "oh, what's her name?"  Then Tom told her it was Sally and she said, "is she your friend?"

It kind of does look like me (aged about 20 years).

Every night she chooses a "special helper" to help her get ready for bed and to lie down by her for a while.  A lot of those nights she has to tell us a secret.  The secret is always, "I have to go to my grandma's house."

Once she told me she was hungry and wanted a popsicle.  I told her that she needed to eat food first because we don't eat popsicles when we're hungry.  Now she will say, "I'm not hungry.  I want a popsicle."

Five is her holy grail of numbers.  She asked when Meg and Tanner were coming and I said after new years.  She said, "how about five years."

When I get "mad" at her for doing something she will apologize and then do it again.  We were in the car and she was kicking my seat.  I told her to stop.  She said sorry, then started kicking again.  She did that the whole way home from school.  Kick, "sorry," kick, "sorry," kick, "sorry."

She had Tom make ghost noises and actions with her, then she paused and said, "we're holy ghosts."

We decided to make cookies one day and instead of gingerbread men or candy canes, Mo decided she wanted pink bats.  Here are some of her festive gingerbread bats.

Sophie's Newborn Pics

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was very nice and low key this year.  Sophie was only 6 days old so we had it at our house with Ron and JoAnn, my mom and dad, Nick, Carly, Emery, Jackson and Shyanne.  Everyone had to have their pertussis shots before they were officially invited and they were all good sports.  Thanks everyone.

My mom, Carly, Shyanne, and I got to go to Breaking Dawn 2 later in the afternoon and Tom went Black Friday shopping at Walmart that evening.  He went an hour and a half early and was 6th in line to get 1 of 8 play kitchens (birthday present for Mo).  He said that people were complaining to the employees that the first 8 people surrounded the kitchens to block everyone else.  Like they would get one if there was an actual line or ticket option.  

A Baby Story

Sophia Gabrielle

November 16, 2012

The last weekend in October Tom was in Idaho for our niece's baptism.  That Saturday night at 2:30 I started having contractions.  I was around 36 weeks pregnant and ready to be done but I didn't want it to happen while Tom was gone.  The contractions were lasting about a minute and were 2-8 minutes apart, but not strong.  They stopped after about an hour so I went to sleep.  For the next three weeks I had contractions off and on.  One day I had them for 14 hours, 5 minutes apart.  That was the Sunday before the presidential election and by Tuesday I was so frustrated and disheartened.  Then when Obama won again I just couldn't take it.  I cried myself to sleep (mostly because I was still pregnant).  

I was dilated to a 3 for 3 weeks.  Finally I got my membranes stripped the Monday after I was 38 weeks.  I had cramps and more contractions but nothing real.  I decided to go in again on Thursday and have them stripped again.  

1:15 AM, November 16, 2012 -- That night I woke up at 1:15 AM having more contractions.  I was sure that they were nothing so I decided to watch Army Wives and see if they went away.  They didn't so I hopped in the shower then did my hair and makeup (just in case it was real).  Then they started getting harder.  

3:15 AM --  I woke Tom up and called the doctor to see what he thought.  He said I could probably wait a little longer -- until I couldn't walk or talk through the contractions. 

3:30 AM -- I told Tom he better shower and get ready because it was really hurting.  We were weary to go because that would mean that we had to wake up our neighbor to watch Morgan.  

3:45 AM -- Tom took Morgan to our neighbor's (Carolyn) house.  She asked, "daddy, where are we going" and she was completely happy when he told her.  She loves going to their house.  We got in the car and Tom asked if he should speed.  I said no because if we got pulled over it would just take longer.

3:55 AM -- Tom stopped at a stop light.  Me: "Why are you stopping?!  Just run it!!!"  Followed by some choice words.  Tom:  "But the camera will take a picture and send us a ticket."  Me:  "I don't care!"  Tom: "I'll turn right then do a U-turn."  Me: "Just GO!"  Followed by more choice words.

4:00 AM -- I got to labor and delivery and they put me in a triage room and had me change my clothes.  I noticed there was a lot of blood on my pants.

4:03 AM -- A nurse checked me and I was at a 4.  Then she said, "that's a little more blood than we like to see."  Super.  I was going to die.

4:04 AM -- Me: "I need an epidural."  Nurse: "He's on call so he'll be here in 20 minutes."  And I probably said more choice words.  

4:05 AM -- I had to go to the bathroom but they wouldn't let me.  They said it was probably pressure from the baby.  I was sure that it was not.

4:10 AM -- By then the contractions were way above my pain tolerance.  Tom would try to hold my hand or rub my arm and I would just pull away and tell him not to touch me.  He was also trying to be funny so I had to tell him that he wasn't and to stop it.  Yeah, I'm not so nice in labor.  

4:30 AM -- Another nurse checked me and I was at a 5 or something.  They took me to a delivery room.  Side note: by this time at least 5 different people had had their hands in my vagina that week.  Awesome.

4:40 AM --  The CRNA arrived and gave me my epidural, which will turn out to be the best $1000 per half hour that I would spend.  

4:50 AM -- The epidural kicked in fully and I could relax a little.  My body was shaking uncontrollably and the pressure from the baby was intense.  The nurse checked again and I was at a 7.

5:15 AM -- I pooped (TMI? Maybe, but if it is you shouldn't go running with me ever).  I was so mad.  I told them I had to and now I couldn't do anything but let them clean it up.  

5:20 AM -- The doctor came in and got ready for delivery.  

5:25 AM -- He broke my water and told me to do 2 practice pushes.

5:29 AM -- After 3 more "real" pushes Sophia Gabrielle Rich (Sophie) was born.  6 pounds, 11 ounces.  18 inches long.

She is such a sweet baby and her big sister is absolutely in love with her... just like her daddy and I are.

Just a Quick Bath

Whenever Mo goes potty by herself she gets into some kind of mischief in the bathroom when she's done.  This time she decided to give herself a bath.  In the sink.  With her toothbrush.  

First Big Snow

It snowed!  Morgan was so excited to play in it.  Daddy took her out to build a snowman while big, pregnant mommy stayed inside and watched.  

Then she decided to eat it before she pushed it over.  

Halloween

Morgan was so excited for Halloween this year.  In June I asked her what she wanted to be and we decided on Ming Ming Duckling from The Wonder Pets.  Of course she changed her mind the week before Halloween and wanted to be a Lady Royal from Barbie's Princess Charm School but I just told her it would make me feel bad if she didn't wear the costume that took me so long to make and my poor parenting guilt trip worked.  She decided that she wanted to be Ming Ming and was very proud to show off her costume at school.

They had a little party and we brought applesauce and string cheese to give to all the kids.  Then she went trick or treating that evening and got tons of candy that I have already eaten.  She keeps talking about how great the day was and asking us if we are going to dress up for Halloween when we are kids.  I love my Ming Ming.

Hee Haw Corn Maze

We were going to go to the corn maze with my bro and sis-in-law last weekend but then Tom surprised me with the trip to Park City and Morgan was contagious with Hand, Foot, and Mouth so we postponed until last night.  My parents and Shyanne came with us and we couldn't have chosen a worse night.  Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of fun but it was so cold and snowy.  We got to do a hay ride, slide down the slide, and see the animals before we decided to cut our losses and go out to eat.

On the way there, Shyanne was telling us about a friend who saw snow for the first time.  This is how the conversation went.

Shyanne - "I have this friend from California-"

Morgan -  Excited inhale sound.  "You have a friend!  Oh!"

It was so funny and perfect because she was literally excited and happy for Shyanne.

When we saw the baby cow she asked if she could hug it.  While she was trying to hug it she said, "woah there, girl."  I suppose her country roots are innate.

36 Weeks (with no coat that fits)

This was our personal hay ride.  Nobody else was there that night because of the weather.

And a giant pumpkin.

On a side note: I took Morgan to Burlington Coat Factory to get a coat today.  We live right between the Orem and Murray stores so I chose Murray.  All I have to say is ew, gross.  Never again.  But we did find a cute Baby Phat coat for a deal.

Park City

Last weekend Tom surprised me with a trip to Park City.  He asked my mom to watch Morgan (and she was sick with the Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus -- boo!) so we could get a last relaxing trip in before the baby comes.  

We stayed at Hotel Park City in one of the cottage suites.  It had a hot tub on the balcony but I obviously couldn't use it, being pregnant and all.  We did some walking, shopping, and a lot of TV watching (aka, relaxing).  

  

It was so fun.  We ate on Main Street one night and at Ruth's Chris the other.  And I didn't spill on my belly either time!  Wooh!

Thanks, Tommy!  You are the bestest bestie.  Sorry you hurt your back picking up a pillow or the remote or something.  ;)  I love you.

What a Day!

In my well planned life, today was supposed to be a little hectic in the morning and then relaxing and open to whatever Morgan wanted to do after noon.  Unfortunately it didn't work out like that.  

I took Morgan to taekwondo at 10 for her 10:30 class in Lindon.  If I haven't mentioned, Morgan is not a morning person.  She sleeps in and is usually a tad ornery for about two hours.  She woke up at 9:20 so obviously she didn't have her two hours to acclimate to the day.  Plus I made her take a bath, which she usually loves if it's on her own time table.  

At taekwondo she was reserved, shy and wanted to sit on my lap the whole time.  So not her!  She usually is the one running around and I have to ask her to listen to the teacher a hundred times.  

That got over at 11 and I had to be in Seratoga Springs for a doctor appointment at 11:20.  It takes twenty minutes to get there and by the time I got Mo buckled in the car we were already running late.  When we were about 5 minutes away from the doctor's office, Mo told me that she was going to throw up.  I didn't know if she was serious or not because she often tells me she's sick and pretends to cough so she can get some grape medicine (which doesn't usually happen, BTW).  Alas, a few seconds later she started puking all over her and the car seat and all I could do was watch from the rear view mirror thinking she looked like she was dying and telling her that it's okay.

I stripped her vomit clothes when we got to the doctor's parking lot which left her only in her leggings and I carried her inside, told them I was there, apologized for being late, took her to the restroom and washed the leftovers off of her.  Thankfully I had taken her taekwondo shirt off before I put her in the car so it was clean.  I put that on and took her to a chair by the receptionist while I had to pee in a cup, get weighed, etc.  The good news is that we are at 34 1/2 weeks and everything looks good.  

After my appointment I took her to the pediatric office in the same building as my OB and made an appointment for 2pm (by then it was noon).  Then I buckled Mo in with the seat belt since the car seat was covered in vomit and we very carefully drove home.  

As soon as I got home I changed Morgan's clothes and put her on the couch where she fell asleep while I stripped the car seat and put everything in the washer, grabbed some cottage cheese and crackers for lunch, and put the car seat back together (a daunting task for me) while watching Kathy Lee and Hoda.  I had barely finished when it was time to go so I put the wet car seat in the car, put Mo in it and drove back to Seratoga Springs to her doctor.

She got swabbed for strep, which turned out to be negative, threw up again, and drank some medicine (not in that order).  We borrowed some extra clothes from the doctor and left knowing that she has a virus that isn't treatable.  Poor girl.

I had to take something back to the library and pick up a hold I had so I decided to go the long way home and hurry and do that in two seconds.  When I got there, I left Mo in the car while I ran in.  Don't worry, I could see her the whole time because the entry is made of glass.  Anyway, they couldn't find my book that was on hold so I went out to sit with Mo while they looked.  After about 20 minutes they found it and we left to go home.

Morgan started throwing up again on the way home.  This time I was prepared with a bowl for her to throw up in.  I am proud that she actually did for the most part.  It was only juice from the doctor so it was more pleasant to clean up.  My favorite thing she said was, "that was not delicious."  I changed her clothes for the 4th time of the day when we got home.  She wanted her daddy so he came home from work early, put on his jammies, and fell asleep holding her.  

And so far that is my day.  We canceled the "debate party" we were going to have with our friends so now it's time to watch in our pajamas and eat whatever we can find.  I say cookies.

Morganisms

It was the end of the day.  I was sitting on the couch.  Exhausted.  I told Morgan to go potty then we would get ready for bed.  Five minutes later I heard splashing and knew it couldn't be good.  Thinking that she reverted back to playing in the toilet (so 2 years ago), I ran waddled to the bathroom and found her giving herself a bath.  Scrubbing her legs with her toothbrush.  In the sink.  

We put her to bed one night after she was the "special helper" at school.  She hates to go to bed when we are still up and tries everything to get out of it.  This time she yelled, "daddy, you're my special helper."  Needless to say, he went in to lie down by her with his melted heart.  Complete manipulation.

She got invited to the birthday party of one of the kids at school and originally she was going to be out of town so I told the girl's mom that she wouldn't be there.  The mom was disappointed because Morgan was the only one that the girl specifically wanted at her party.  Aw, people like her.  Total happiness for this mom.  And luckily our plans changed so she gets to go to the party.

Fun Weekend With Cousins

Last weekend Morgan's cousins came to visit.  We got to spend some time with them at the mall and Wheeler Farm.  

Morgan picked out these shoes for me.  Too bad they were way too small.  She decided to try them on instead... and may need a bit of practice walking in them.