Road Trip

Last weekend Tony, Audrey, and I packed up our car and headed to St. George, Utah.  We've been there several times before as a couple but this was our first attempt at a long car ride with Audrey.  Tony's family recently bought a little vacation house in St. George and we love using it.  This weekend Tony's family was also down there because his little sister Caity is starting school at Dixie State College.  It was our anniversary so it was fun to "get away" and also have babysitters!

Audrey did so well on the way to St. George.  If she had it her way, she would have slept the entire drive!  We made sure to stop every 3 hours so she could eat (I had to force her to wake up and eat...so not like Audrey!) and stretch out a bit.  She had fun looking around at this interesting little pizza place we went to in Fillmore.  I don't know if we'll ever go back there again, but Audrey sure liked the people, the TV, and sitting with us at the table.

On Saturday, we had breakfast/brunch at this place called the Black Bear Diner.  It was really yummy food and a really cute place.  It reminded me of my Grandma, who owns a little trucker diner in Indianapolis.  We then hit up the pool in the complex where the houses are.  We didn't get many pictures, but Audrey was a little more "into" the pool this time.  It was perfect for little kids.  It started really shallow, like barley 1 foot deep, and then gradually got deeper.  Tony and I could sit and just hold Audrey on our laps.  She enjoyed watching the teenagers do back flips into the deep end and splashing her feet in the pool. 

That night, Tony and I left Audrey with her grandparents and went out for our anniversary.  We went to Outback, shopped around at the outlet mall, and saw Grease the musical at Tuacahn.  It was a fun show with some really talented singers.  I was a little disappointed at how much they changed the songs, though.  Their attempts at making the show a little more "G" rated ruined some classic songs for me. 

Sunday evening we left and made our drive back home.  Audrey did really well again.  We did have to stop for an extended period of time in Beaver for what we call the "Beaver Blowout."  It gave me confidence that we can visit St. George several times a year as a little family with little problems from the backseat passenger. :)

Pool Hunny!

Because Audrey loves bathtime so much, we thought we would take her in the pool! She was a bit hesitant, and was curious, but I think there's a special place in her heart for the bath.

Getting in, what does she think??

Tony showing her around the pool

She basically had fun :)

It was fun to see Audrey experience the water. I think when she's older she'll like the pool a little more. If anything, she looks stinkin' cute in her swimsuit!

Sweet Dreams

I'm sitting here blogging because I have some free time! Audrey is happily relaxing in her bed, and Tony and I are watching TV together. Our pediatrician, being impressed that Audrey was sleeping 5 hours in the night, suggested we start some simple sleep training. Basically, we have a bedtime routine which, for us, involves a nice swaddle, time in the rocking chair with some Disney songs performed by yours truly, and when her eyes begin to look sleepy we put her in her bed. Then I leave the room and wait outside the door. The doctor said if she cries to go in the first time so she knows she hasn't been abandoned, then after that let her cry it out.

The idea of letting Audrey cry it out made me a little sad but luckily for this momma Audrey is a champ and hasn't cried ONCE! When she gets drowsy, she willingly goes to her bed. I give her a little kiss, tell her I love her (usually she gives me a big toothless grin). Next thing I know, she's off to dream land. She's been sleeping longer since we started this (she's gone 7 hours two consecutive nights) and it makes me excited for the transition to her crib (she's currently sleeping in a bassinet in our room).

Tonight she kind of woke up a bit when I put her in her bassinet but she didn't make a peep when I left the room. I think she enjoyed the quiet :)

I'm so pumped about all of this!

Two Months Old!

It's official, Audrey has taken over my blog! I keep trying to think of things besides Audrey to post about, but right now it's all about her!

She had her two-month appointment yesterday. I had been dreading this appointment since I scheduled it at the pediatrician because they begin vaccinations at two months. I had to be brave for my little girl! Well, I guess she isn't so "little." The doctor said she's the size of a 4 month old! She's in the 80th percentile for all of her measurements. She's a big, healthy baby. The doctor also said she was a really smart baby, which I'm sure he says to all of his patients ;). Because she's doing so well with weight gain, the doctor is having me switch to on-demand feeding instead of every two hours. I'm really excited about this. I feel like I'm going to get some of my day back!

"Little" Audrey weighed in at 12lbs 4oz and was 23 inches long.

Her shots were horrible. She LOVES being naked so spending 30 minutes in just her diaper at the doctor's office was heaven for her. She was laying on the table in her skivvies smiling and laughing until the nurse came in. Even after the oral dose she was smiling and laughing. I was hoping she would be one of those babies that doesn't notice shots, but she IS NOT. I don't blame her, either! Those needles are so long and they jam them so far into their poor little thighs. When the first needle went in Audrey looked up at me with a face that seemed to say, "what the heck, mom?!" When the nurse poked her with the second needle, she screamed bloody murder until she was red in the face. She had 3 total pokes, and was not happy about it. After the nurse left we snuggled a bit and she slept the whole way home. I felt so bad putting her through it but thinking about the benefits of vaccines and the pain she put me through to get to this world made me realize it was all okay :).

Last night she was so pitiful and was whimpering like a little puppy all night. I gave her a warm bath to help with the soreness, gave her some Tylenol, put her in some jammies and at 8pm, she and I fell asleep in our bed. She seems much better this morning, thank goodness! I just hate the fact that in two months we have to do this again!

Little Miss Audrey, 2 months old!

Side-by-Side

Since Audrey started smiling, we've called her smile the "Harrison Ford smile" because she does this goofy crooked grin. What do you think?


I just think this is hilarious. :)

Bathtime!

About a week after we brought Audrey home, we decided to try giving her her first bath. I was pretty nervous about it because all the babies I've ever known hate bath time. We got out our little book we got from the hospital on how to take care of babies and followed the instructions for bathing a newborn. (I know, we're kind of pathetic.)

Lucky for us, sweet little Audrey LOVES bath time! She completely relaxed and just enjoyed herself as we washed her up.




Luckily for me she still really enjoys bath time. She's starting to be able to smile and make cute "cooing" noises and does so throughout the entire bath time. I'm so lucky to have such a cooperative bather! :)

Audrey Rose

I've finally got a minute (and the energy) to write out the "birth story" of Audrey. I know a lot of people have been waiting to hear about it, and I'll try to do my best to include all of the details everyone is wanting to know.

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, I was having high blood pressure issues and my doctor was getting concerned about my health. He decided to have me induced on Friday, June 3rd. We were on-call and just had to wait for a phone call from labor and delivery telling us when to come to the hospital to get things going. They called bright and early at 6:30am and told us to be there by 7:30. Since we knew when I would be going to the hospital we already had all of our things packed so it was a quick and easy morning for us. We got to the hospital, checked in, I got in my *lovely* gown, and after an examination they decided to start me on Pitocin. The doctor was concerned at my previous appointment that I would need Cerdivil to help ripen my cervix, but I had apparently made good process that week.

For a long time I was having contractions but didn't feel much at all. I was still making progress and the doctor eventually came in to break my water. That was not a very comfortable experience at all! The doctor asked how I was doing and told me, "contractions are going to get pretty mean from here on out." They kept asking if I wanted my epidural yet, but I didn't feel like I was in enough pain to have one. I wasn't really sure how bad things would get so I was trying to go as long as I could before asking for one. When I finally decided to give in and get it the nurse told me that the girl in the room next to me was getting hers and that it would be about 15 minutes. I was sure I could last that long. My contractions QUICKLY got harder and faster and I was crying in pain five minutes after asking for the pain meds. It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life and I hated that nothing I could do was making the pain easier. Tony was trying counter-pressure moves, I was trying to breathe well, but it just was too much for me. FINALLY the epidural came and all was well again in the world. After the medicine kicked in the nurse checked me and told me that I had labored to 8cm and 90% effaced on my own with no medication. No wonder it hurt! I was a little relieved that I wasn't just being a pansy, and proud of myself for going that long! The nurse told me if she had known I was that far along she would have given me the epidural first.

All the family took Tony to the cafeteria for lunch after I was feeling pretty good and right after I left the nurse checked me and said that I was nearly "complete" and told me to call Tony and tell him not to leave the hospital. The doctor didn't want me to start pushing because my body was doing well at pushing the baby down on its own. He didn't want to make me use all of my energy pushing when I didn't need to. On its own, my body pushed her past my pelvis and about an hour after I called Tony the nurse had me start pushing. The nurse kept saying how impressed she was with how well I did (I'm sure she says that to everyone). I pushed for about an hour, and then little Audrey was born. She weighed 6lbs, 7oz and was 21 inches long. The doctor commented on how little she was. She's a super skinny little girl!

I'm recovering from everything really well, and I've been up doing things since about day 3 postpartum. We are still adjusting to live with a baby. It's amazing how differently I do things now. We are trying our best to get sleep and its been really great having my mom here for a couple weeks to help us adjust. We sure love our little Audrey!