Sweet Baby Emily

The best 2 years

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary this past Sunday. Of course we really couldn't celebrate a ton, which is why we did our big celebration last week. But Matt made me feel really special by getting me some flowers and a love fern and writing me a sweet note. He never ceases to make me smile. We also had a little BBQ for dinner. Matt really made it a good day for me. I have been struggling this week with this whole recovery thing and adjusting to being a mom, and Matt really helped me to feel better by making it a special day even though I couldn't really do anything. I know it was hard for him because he is sleep deprived and overwhelmed too.


I love him so much and am so happy to be married to him. He just makes everything better. He is so good for me. It really has been the best 2 years and I look forward to many more happy times with him.

Little Emily

She sure is a cutie when she is behaving!

Recovery

I am going to have to say that the worst part about having a child is not the 9 months of pregnancy. Not the labor and delivery. Not the feedings and sleepless nights. But the pain from those dang stitches. Seriously. Pregnancy and labor were not as bad as I thought they would be. But I definately was not expecting how painful the stitches would be and how sore I would be after she was born. But I guess I'd much rather have a couple weeks of recovery rather than 9 months of sickness and a hard labor.

But little Emily is so cute when she's not crying. Last night we had a rough night. She would not sleep! Her best sleeping times are from like 4 a.m. to noon or so. She must take after her auntie Laurie! She'll wake up once or twice to eat during that time, but then will usually go right on back to sleep. And then she'll stay up all night. Hopefully she will learn soon and start sleeping at night.

Speaking of recovery, last night I got this sent to me on my phone...

Scared me half to death. My dad got in a bike wreck last night and is in the hospital. He may have a concussion and a fractured hip. We should find out more today. He does have the neck brace off now. Please pray that he will be ok and that he can come visit little Emily soon.

Last hurrah

Last weekend we decided that we needed a last hurrah. So we decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early just in case our baby was actually born on her due date. We wanted to do a few things that we probably won't be able to do for awhile so for our celebration we went to a movie in the theater (Toy Story 3), went to dinner at a fancy restaurant, took a drive up the canyon, and then watched the sunset from the temple grounds. We had a great time.

We went to dinner at the Chef's Table in Orem, and it was delicious! And it was so peaceful watching the sunset from the temple. I'm so glad we had a chance to celebrate before little Emily made her appearance into the world a few hours after this.

And I'm so happy to be married to Matt. It's been a wonderful 2 years. He is a wonderful hubby and daddy and I am looking forward to many more years of celebrations with him.

Grandma Eileen Lively, the 2nd

I don't know if anyone else would agree with me, but I think little Emily looks like a mini version of my Grandma Lively. Her cheek bones and chin are just like her. That is a good thing. What do you think (those who know my Grandma anyways)? We love you Grandma Lively, and little Emily loves you too!

Holy cow! We have a baby!

Little Emily decided to come early! She totally took us by surprise and was born on Sunday, July 18 at 8:42 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds even and was 18.5 inches long. We were actually out celebrating our anniversary a week early since we thought we might not be able to on our actual anniversary and as soon as we got home from our date, that's when I started to think something was going on.

We got to the hospital around 2 a.m. and she was born not quite 7 hours later. I only had about 30-45 min of actual pushing, which I hear is pretty good for a first-time mom.

Anyway, she is here and healthy and so cute.





She has been a really good baby so far. She's still trying to get the hang of eating, but is doing better now. The first day she had to get her little tummy pumped...it was so sad. I am feeling pretty good. Matt is an adorable little daddy. He loves to hold her little hand with his finger and tell her that it's ok when she starts fussing a little.

We are home now and exhausted but we are doing well and so happy to welcome our little Emily Meg into our family.

P.S. Matt wins the prize for the closest guess of when she would be born. He guessed the 17th. Daddy's intuition I guess. And I had something there with that feeling about the 20th. That's when we came home from the hospital.

The waiting game

So I think I'm finally to the point where I can say that I'm ready for this baby to come! I've got everything that I wanted to have finished before she came done. I've got my maternity leave plan all worked out and I've handed pretty much everything over to my co-workers. I've got all the baby stuff ready (I think). I've got our upcoming ward activity planned and delegated. I finally packed my hospital bag and I even made a couple of frozen dinners.

And now I'm bored.

I guess there's always a few things I could do like clean the house or other equally un-fun and energy-consuming tasks, but who wants to do those? And besides, not like I have much energy these days anyway. :)

So now it's the waiting game. And we'll probably still be waiting for a few more weeks. My doctor seems to be pretty positive that I'm going to be late. I need some good books or something....

Not so bad

I am very grateful that being pregnant hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I heard lots of horror stories about how awful it was, and although it definately hasn't been the easiest thing, it really hasn't been that hard for me. I'm so grateful that I haven't been sick, I haven't really had mood swings or crazy emotions, I haven't really had any cravings, I haven't had to be on bed rest. I've pretty much been able to do most of my normal functions for most of my pregnancy. I'm a very lucky girl. Here I am at 38 weeks...I can't believe I only have less than 2 weeks til she's due!

I pretty much live in my running shoes these days since they seem to help with my swollen feet. I really don't understand why most pregnant ladies wear flip flops...they make my feet swell much worse! Oh well...everyone's different!

There have been a few things that I didn't expect that have been worse than I thought. 1) I did not expect to be so nervous and scared about becoming a mom. 2) I expected people to be nicer to pregnant ladies. Seriously, people cut in front of me in line all the time. And I just thought people would be more considerate like giving up their chair or opening the door or offering to help, especially when it's obvious that I am struggling with something. 3) I didn't expect to have zero support for our decision for me to keep working. I wasn't really prepared for all the people who keep telling me what a terrible decision that is. But I just need to not worry so much about other people and worry more about having a good attitude and doing what I feel is best.

But other than that and a little overheating and swollen legs, I am so very grateful for an easier-than-expected pregnancy. Next time, I will do a few things differently though to be more healthy. Like although I've been pretty good about exercising consistently throughout the whole pregnancy, I know I could have done better. I also could have eaten better (like not having ice cream every night!) And I also want to work on strengthening my back and abs before I get pregnant again so they will be more prepared to handle the extra weight and pressure.

Did I mention how much I love my running shoes?! So, funny story...for some reason that I don't understand, sister misssionaries have a tradition to dress up like a pregnant lady and take a picture at their 9-month mark (halfway through the mission). So of course, I did too. And I even got my "hijita" (greenie) on that exact day. I tracked down the picture just for kicks...

Ha ha! Don't you just love mission pictures? Funny thing is that I currently weigh about the same as I did then. Yikes! But I do remember how nervous I was to train a new missionary, but when she came I loved her so much and all I wanted was for her to be happy and have a good experience. And I was willing to sacrifice a lot in order for her to have that. So I guess I have a teeny little glimpse of what motherhood might be like. And it was worth all the sacrifices.

Festivities of the 4th

We had a great 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures except one. Ever since we moved to Springville, we have been wanting to try this little hot dog stand called Kranky Franks. There's a big sign out front (along with some hot dog people) that says "home of the danger dog". We finally made it there this weekend. It was great!

We also had a BBQ with Matt's family on Monday and on Saturday with my family. We also went to my friend Liesl's wedding. She is a friend from my old job at CK Media. It was so fun to see all my friends from that job...I miss them so much! Anyway, it was a great weekend and nice to have a break from work and be able to spend time with my hunny before we become 3.

Ready?

We mostly have everything ready for our little girl's arrival. We think. At least all the physical stuff. Mentally I don't think we'll ever be ready. But her room turned out really cute so I thought I'd post some pics. Here's the view from the door.

Here's her dresser.
And her crib.
And the pizza box wall hangings.

Her rocking chair.

And changing table.

And her closet. We have gotten some really cute little outfits from family and friends.

And her carseat and stroller. We still have to figure out how to put the carseat in the car though!

I'm not exactly sure we have everything we will need, but we'll just have to make do with what we've got cuz our baby budget is all gone!

We've got 3 more weeks til her actual due date (July 23), but who knows when she'll make her grand entrance into the world. For some reason, July 20 keeps coming to mind. But knowing my luck, she will arrive on the 25th, which would NOT be good because that's our wedding anniversary.

Anyway, when do you guys think little Emily's birthday will be? The closest guess gets a prize!