What a Year!

It has been quite a crazy year.  I'd say by far the biggest change has been the addition of Asher into our family.  He's such a fun, crazy little guy!  He'll be 5 months old in about a week so I thought I'd give an update of all the fun (and not so fun) things he does!

-He is learning to use his voice a lot more.  He'll try to babble a lot especially if you're talking to him (or he hears the TV or you're talking to someone else)
-He LOVES it when people talk to him!  He'll usually smile and giggle and be adorable when you do.
-He can now roll from stomach to back, and more recently from back to stomach!  I don't think it will be long before he's crawling and moving around all on his own. 
-He's a kicker.  If you put him on the ground he'll kick his legs almost the whole time.  And he also rubs his feet together so any socks I try to put on him come off in about 20 minutes.
-He's getting very ticklish!  Especially on his feet/stomach/legs.  Changing him is a lot more fun because it usually turns into tickle time.
-He still doesn't sleep incredibly well at night, but things are getting better.  We're now up to about 6 hours at night!  Someday we might even make it to 12 just like his cousin!
-He now has to wear 12 month pajamas.  And 9 month onesies.  He's built like his mom and grandpa, long body but short legs!
-He loves eating oatmeal.  And bananas.  And everything else you give to him!  He eats a lot.  But he has to to keep up with that growing body!  At his last appointment, he was 94th percentile for height.  And I think the next appointment will be about the same!  Asher is the same size as his cousin who is 6 months older than him.
-Asher is a thumb sucker, which isn't surprising because it's in his genes.  Both mom and grandma were pretty good at that too!  It's going to be awful to try to break him of that habit when he's older, but it's so cute now!

Things are so fun with him, and he is growing up so fast!  I remember when he was 2 months old (and very colic-y) that someone told me that I should treasure this time because he will grow up so fast.  I thought then, and I still think now, that at that point she was crazy (I didn't enjoy the 8 hours of crying every day).  But I see what she meant now!  He really is growing up so fast and it's so fun to watch him explore his world!

As for David and I, we are just going along.  David will begin school again next week and I'll still be working.  Not too much changes for us.  Here are some pictures of the last little while!  I'm sure I'll add more later!

We needed something to dress him in for our freezing cold winters!  My sister calls him the "Blue Nightmare" (from A Christmas Story!  Although that was pink.)

I thought he looked so cute in his church clothes!

 

I don't know.  It was David's doing.

 

I made this hat a couple of years ago.  I was so happy when it actually fit him!

He was more interested in the shiny ornaments than Santa.

I love our family!

As a last note, I would like to put a link to my sister's adoption profile.  Her and her husband would love to add a new little baby to their family!  Please share this with anyone and everyone! 

https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/28312466/ourMessage.jsf

A Few Pictures!

So I haven't posted in awhile, so here are a few pictures to make up for it!  Asher is such a ball of fun.  He's pretty big for his age, he doesn't even fit in his 3-6 month pajamas, so I have put him in the 9 month ones.  I had some girl comment on Sunday that he doesn't look like a baby, he just looks like a mini person!  He has the cutest smile and such an adorable laugh.  I got a little video of it where you can get a glimpse of his laugh.  It's such a turnaround from 2 months ago!  Well, here you go!

My sister wanted to see what Asher would look like with a Mohawk.  So I showed her that it doesn't really work with him.  He has a cowlick right in front that makes a real Mohawk not work because of that little strand sticking out weird. 
But....I think this picture of him is really funny!

He loves bath time!  It may not show in this picture, but he gets really excited when I start filling up the tub!  And he loves to splash around!

This video is after he was kind of winding down.  He was laughing so hard before this!  He gets a little camera shy sometimes...

Blessing Day! And a few other pictures...

This past Sunday we blessed Asher.  It was pretty much the only weekend David's family could come out and we had stake conference, so we just did the blessing in the Relief Society room afterwards.  If any of you have any pictures from that day, I would love to get a copy of the files!

The Clay's!

The traditional 4 generation picture.

David showing where Asher got his blank stare from...

The Mitchell's!

Thank you so much for coming everyone!  It was such a special day!

A couple of weeks ago I went with my sister to take pictures of our kids up at the college gardens.  Asher wasn't in the best of moods, but I think we got a couple of good ones!

Joni said it kind of looks like he's sleeping...if you don't look at his red face and tears....

Ledger really likes to pet Asher!

 

Sure do love my chunky monkey!

 

My big little boy!

When I was pregnant, people kept telling me that time would just fly by once the baby was born....but I have to say, that first month felt like it lasted a year.  I guess it's different with babies that don't cry the majority of the time that they're awake.  But now that he's getting older and the colic is going away (slowly but surely!), things have gotten a lot more fun!  Asher smiles all the time now and even laughs sometimes! (although he always hides it from me and only lets Dad hear...grrrr....)  I've heard people say that they can't imagine life without their new little one, and I may sound cynical, but I can.  I lived 24 years without him so I know what it's like.  BUT, I love having him in my life so much better!  He's my little buddy and I love him so much! 

On Thursday, David had rehearsal all night and I was really looking forward to spending all night with my chunky monkey, but the little punk fell asleep at 7:30 and I was on my own all night!  It surprised me how much I was looking forward to hanging out with someone who throws up on me, poops on me, and cries a lot.  But I was!  I was looking forward to all that plus all the smiles and coos and kisses!  Motherhood does change you.  People always say that having a baby changes your life and that it will never be the same, and it sounds so intimidating!  But it changes your life the way that getting your drivers license or moving out or getting married changes your life.  You have more responsibility, but it makes life so much better. 

I'm just so amazed at the change in myself.  I never thought of myself as the kind of person that just wants to be home with her kids and cook and sew and be all homemake-y, but I think I'm slowly turning that way (well, maybe not so much with the cooking....)  I'm not really scared about what's going to happen in the future now.  We're going to be poor (with an art and music degree, how could we not be?) but I don't mind.  We're poor now and still find lots of ways to enjoy life!  It's true that the Lord does bless you when you're doing things right.  I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant because I didn't think we had enough money to afford it or that I would have to quit my job and we wouldn't be able to afford rent, but things have worked out!  We can pay our bills (even the ones that I'm pretty sure my parents hide from us and pay themselves...), my work schedule and David's school schedule make it so we only need babysitters about once a week (thank you family for helping with that!!!)  Anyways, for the moment things are pretty good.  Tomorrow is Asher's blessing and so I'm sure there will be some more pictures from that to come!

This was a poster for our last symphony concert.  Lisa was one of the soloists and sounded amazing!  Good jerb!

Asher really likes bath time.  He has recently discovered that if he waves his arms and legs around, he can splash in the water!  He looks really concerned when he does it, but I think he likes it!

He has started to suck his hands/thumb a lot.  It's very cute!

 

This is usually how tummy time ends, with him falling asleep! 

This is probably my favorite picture of all time!

Dear Tracy

Yesterday was a special day for my sister-in-law, Tracy.  It would have been her daughters 11th birthday.  When David and I were just dating, he told me all about Karleigh and what an amazing little girl she was.  I could tell from the way that he talked about he how much he loved her and what a blessing she was to the Clay family while she was still alive.  I had thought a lot about how hard it must have been on Tracy before and how positive she is, even with such a difficult trial that was put in her way.  Now that I have a child of my own, I can't even imagine the heartache I would feel at losing him.  So this post is for Tracy and for how much I admire her.

Tracy, you are such an amazing mother.  I have thought that from the first time I met you!  I can see how much love there is in your family and how much you enjoy being with each other.  You welcomed me into the Clay family with open arms, and I really appreciate that.  I hope I can learn from you how to deal with trials and come out on the other side being a better person.  I hope I can learn from you how to turn sadness into something positive.  I hope I can build my family as strong as yours is!

A few months ago, Amy sent us a picture that she had found.  I really love the picture.  I think it shows how much David loves Karleigh and what a bright spot she was in his life.  Happy birthday Karleigh!

Oh so tired, but loving it!

Things haven't been incredibly fun around here the last little while.  Asher took after his mother in more than just a full head of hair, he has colic.  I like telling older women this more than girls my age.  Older women know what it's like and are a lot more sympathetic!  When I tell girls my age, they nod and say it sounds rough and then tell me that they're glad we're doing well.  They haven't gone through the hours of crying (from you and your baby....) and the sleepless nights, so they don't really understand.  I know I don't have it as bad as some people though, and for that I'm grateful! 

 

It's really hard watching Asher cry so much because I know he's hurting and there's not a whole lot I can do about it.  He gets lots of gas bubbles, so much so that you can hear and feel them while you're holding him, and it really hurts him.  We tried everything, from over the counter meds to reflux meds to essential oils to football holds to working the legs to cutting out every bad food imaginable from my diet.  None of it really works, so we're just waiting it out until his digestive system gets more mature.  On the plus side, the crying doesn't even really bother me anymore!  I've gotten used to it and that helps me stay more calm when he's crying.  I've noticed that helps more than anything.  Because when I can stay calm, I can think better about what I can do to help.

 

 

Some good things that have developed is Asher is smiling a lot more now!  It really does make everything better when he gives you big smiles after a long night of no sleep.  He's trying to figure out laughing, so I don't think it's too far away.  He also makes these cute sighing noises when he's trying to figure out if he's upset or in a good mood.  I know he wants to be in a bad mood, but it's so cute that I have to laugh at it! 

 

Another thing that's funny is his tongue is always sticking out.  He kind of licks at the air all the time.  We have a video of an ultrasound that shows him doing the same thing, so it must just be in his genes!  He also is starting to suck on his thumb a lot more.  I'm probably going to hate that habit when I have to break him of it, but it's very cute now!  He hasn't quite figured out how to keep his thumb out of his fist, though, so a lot of the time he just sucks on his fist.

 

We went to the doctor last week for his checkup and shots (it was horribly sad...) and found out that Asher is 75th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight!  He's my chunky monkey!  I was laughing really hard when I saw that.  It was also my 6 week checkup and so the doctor took Asher out in the hall with him while I changed.  I could hear him talk to a nurse and ask her to hold him.  She said she would and asked how old Asher was.  The doctor told her 6 weeks and she was shocked.  She didn't believe him and said he looked like he was at least 3 months old.  Even when they came back in the room she still asked me how old he was because she thought the doctor was lying!  I was laughing pretty hard.  She said he was so big and alert that he looks so much older.

 

In other news, David started school this last week so we're having fun playing pass the baby in between his school and lessons and my work.  We also start the Idaho Falls symphony this week which is fun and scary since I haven't played much since the season ended last April.  But it should be fun!  Thank you to my mama who accepted the babysitting call!  And to Lisa and Joni for helping out with that as well!  Having a baby changes everything, but it's worth it.  I'm glad everyone was right about that!

 

Now for some pictures!

 

 

This is how Asher likes to sleep (top picture).  He doesn't start out that way.  He starts with his hands at his sides and then after he falls asleep he'll raise his arms to the Superman pose, taking the blanket and covering his head.  Well, yesterday he was taking a nap and when I went to check on him, all I found was this! (bottom picture)  Don't worry, I checked to make sure he was still breathing and ok first.  I know it's bad, but I think it's also kind of funny!

 

He's pretty cute...

Ledger and Asher are 10 months apart.  We get to have cousin time at least once a week when I babysit Ledger!  Ledger is quite the character.  I think they'll turn out to be buddies!

 

I love my chunky monkey!

More of My Little Man

It's amazing to me how fast my little buddy is changing.  It seems like every day there is some new development (although sleeping longer at night does not happen to be one of them...)  It is so cool to see how fast he's growing and adapting to his new little body!  He had a doctor appointment a week and a half ago and everything went great.  He is one the bigger end of the scale for both height and weight and the doctor said he was growing up just fine!  I felt a little dumb at the appointment because I had about a million questions I asked and the answer to every single one of them was "Oh yeah, that's completely normal.  Nothing to worry about!"  I'm glad there was nothing wrong, but I felt like such a hypochondriac!  We are just very new to the whole parenting thing and have no idea what we're doing.  Good thing we have such a good doctor that is very patient with us! 

This last week has been a little...difficult.  Asher does not like to burp after eating.  We will spend about 15 minutes trying everything to get him to burp, have googled the best way to do it, and I've asked for the expertise of my amazing mother.  About half the time we'll get a burp, but the other half we usually give up.  Because of that, he gets lots of air bubbles in his little tummy and it makes him super uncomfortable.  It makes me so sad because I can give him medicine and try to help work those air bubbles out, but I can tell he is still hurting and it makes me sad!  I'm very glad I have my mom here because she's been an amazing help on telling us different things we can do to help with that.  (Thanks again Mom!)  I don't know how well this child would turn out if we didn't have the help of lots of family! 

Some things to remember:

-He is such a cuddle bear.  I think he would be so happy if someone held him every time he had to sleep!  And he's getting all the cute little fat rolls and chubby cheeks, and those make him even more cuddly!
-He makes all sorts of noises while he sleeps.  It is very funny, kind of like a little puppy!
-I love all of his facial expressions.  David says that he has more facial expressions that most adults.  It's the funniest to watch when he's first waking up.
-He is very strong, or at least I think so.  Especially when he's mad.  He almost kicked himself from his stomach to his back during tummy time yesterday, won't let you move his limbs if he doesn't want them moved, and almost gives me a bloody nose every time I try to burp him because he whips his head around so hard.
-He loves playing with his daddy.  I think it's going to be fun to watch them over the years.  Hopefully they stay such good buddies!

I love my little man!  He tries my patience a lot, but one little smile (whether real or just gas...) always makes me feel better!  I'm not the biggest fan of the newborn phase...probably just because of the lack of sleep.  But even that isn't too bad.  I listen to an audiobook while I feed him so that keeps me awake and entertained!  Now all we need is for the whole Clay clan to come out and meet him! We're very happy that Brian and Brittany came and excited to see Julianne and her family tomorrow!  Anyways, here are a few more pictures (and a video!) of my growing boy:

He sleeps in all sorts of positions.  This is a favorite.

This is how he sleeps when he's being held.  It kind of cracks me up!

I have a lot of pictures of him sleeping...but when he's awake it's a lot harder to take pictures of him when he's not crying!  I think this is a pretty good picture that shows his chubby cheeks!  He's kind of a hefty boy now.

The other day I was holding him when he fell asleep.  He was doing this for about 15 minutes!  It was hard not to laugh so I wouldn't wake him up!

My baby's getting bigger!

Well, we made it through the first 2 1/2 weeks!  I don't know if other women feel the same way, but I think there's a pretty steep learning curve with having a baby!  I think (hope) I picked up on it pretty quickly.  There are some things I learned that I kind of feel like people don't really talk about, though. 

The first is, having a new baby is hard!  I love Asher to death and am very glad he's with us, but sometimes I get really frustrated and tired and feel like I just can't do all the diapers and feeding and burping and cleaning.  I've heard this saying before, but I read it again yesterday and I think of that every time I feel overwhelmed: Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint.  You have to go through all the mundane, not so fun tasks, but in the end, it's worth it!  And if you mess up and get mad, you can start over again.  We had a girl bring over dinner last night and she had a baby about 2 months ago.  She made me feel a lot better because she admitted that having a newborn is hard!  You just have to do the best you can.

Second, don't feel bad about getting an epidural.  It's kind of a trend in our ward for all the new mothers to want to do everything naturally.  I admire their courage, but I know I would not have been able to enjoy Asher's first little bit if I didn't get the epidural.  That same girl that brought us dinner did her whole labor naturally, and she said she wished she would've gotten an epidural!  She said she was so exhausted and tired that she couldn't enjoy the moment at all.  That was the first time I ever had someone who went natural admit that.  This girl made me feel so much better about things!  I don't regret getting the epidural one little bit.

Last, it really takes more than 2 meals from the ward to make you feel like you're being taken care of!  I'm so glad my family is here because we were brought a lot of meals from them.  And the girl who brought us dinner last night, that was a bonus dinner because she said she hated that they only got 2 meals when their boy was born, so she was amazingly nice and brought us lots of food!

Now, on to things about Asher!  He really is a pretty good baby.  He has started to fight off sleep, even when he's really tired, something I'm not too happy about because I know he'd be much happier if he's close those cute little eyes of his!  He love looking at faces.  I think it's because David and I have dark hair and pale faces, so he just likes looking at the contrast, but I like to think he likes looking at us!  He also smiles all the time.  I know it's probably just gas, but when I'm tired and frustrated, I like to think he's smiling at me and it makes everything all better!  He still has a full head of hair.  Someday I'll post a picture of me as a baby and you can see where that came from.  He grunts a lot.  I don't think it will take him long to start babbling and making all sorts of baby noises.  Even when he sleeps, he still whimpers and grunts!  And he does sleep with his mouth open, just like his daddy.  David and I think he's going through a growth spurt right now.  He eats ALL THE TIME and sleeps a lot, and we are both sure that he has gotten a lot bigger since his birth.  I'm very happy about this because it means that hopefully soon he'll sleep for 4 hour chunks at night!  It's fun to see him grow up, even with the short time we've had him.  Here are a few pictures and a video!

Aunt Lisa made this awhile ago to use for a prop for newborn pictures.  Asher fits in it a little better than cousin Ledger!

David's brother and his wife came up to visit us after Asher was born.  It was fun having them here!  Brittany took this pic of Dad playing with his little buddy.

We think that as soon as he gets a little more control over his limbs, he'll be sucking on that thumb a lot!  My mom said some babies like flesh and some like rubber (like pacifiers).  We definitely got a baby that likes flesh!

We think that when he opens his mouth really wide like that, it's just him trying to figure out laughing.  David does this with him all the time and I think he loves playing with his daddy! 

Family Photo!

We have a baby!

It's been quite the eventful week around here and I'm still recovering and getting used to our new lives, but I'll try to do a quick post about our little man. 

On Monday morning, I woke up at about 4:30 and jumped out of bed and into the bathroom.  I was about 95% sure that my water had broken.  I had asked my mom a little earlier what it felt like and she said it was like a water balloon popping.  She was very right.  It was very wet and sticky!  Not quite like how I imagined it would be.  David woke up with me telling him my water broke and he immediately jumped out of bed, took the sheets off, and started getting dressed.  I was very glad that he jumped to action so fast even though I knew he had a hard time getting to sleep that night.  So David called my mom, told her what had happened and she told us to head to the hospital.  We packed up and headed out - we were almost parents!

We got to the hospital and I started feeling some slight contractions.  Nothing too bad.  They checked us in and wheeled me up to labor and delivery.  I changed into their gown, got into bed, and we waited.  The nurses were in and out asking all sorts of questions and getting all my vitals, and then they wanted to check to make sure my water really had broken.  They did a litmus paper test....and it came back negative.  I was very confused.  They said it's really common for women to think their water broke when it was probably just my bladder losing control or something like that.  I tried to tell them that I know what pee looks and smells like and that was not it.  And there was so much fluid that I knew my bladder couldn't hold that much (especially at this point).  They redid the test a couple more times and each time it came back negative.  David said the first time they did it the paper did turn color a little bit, but they didn't say anything.  So they called my doctor and he said to send us home but for me to come in to his office later in the morning. 

I was pretty frustrated at this point.  I knew what had happened and David said that if he had to catch the baby in the car, he was going to be pretty angry.  We went home and the contractions kept getting worse and worse.  David fell asleep on the couch while I watched Tron and tried to get in a comfortable position.  I didn't blame him for falling asleep and there wasn't anything he could do anyways.  We looked up the doctors office and saw it didn't open until 8, so we just had to wait to call and make an appointment then.  When we did call, they said the doctor wouldn't be in until 9 and we could just come in then. 

I must admit, that was not fun just sitting around waiting.  I was confused because I was positive I was in labor, but had the nurses from earlier telling me I wasn't.  And I was worried that if I wasn't in labor, there was really something wrong because the contractions were fairly regular and getting worse (I was passing the time by timing the contractions, they were about 7-10 minutes apart and lasted about 30-45 seconds for a good hour, but kept getting closer and closer together). 

When we got to the doctor and the nurse took us back, she asked how things were going and we told her that we were pretty sure my water broke.  She said "Really?  You should've gone to the hospital!" "We did.  They sent us home."  "Serious?  Well let's just take you right back to see the doctor."  So we went back and he came in to check what was going on.  He did the same litmus paper test they did at the hospital and (in his words) said he came within 6 inches of the fluid and the paper was already turning colors.  There was no doubt my water had broken.  I could tell he was agitated and said he was going to call the hospital right then while I was getting my clothes back on.  When he came back he said he had words with them and let them know that he wasn't happy with what had happened and for us to head straight up to the hospital, and they should roll out the red carpet for us!

We drove right up there and everyone was taking us a lot more seriously.  I was taken right up and hooked up to an IV and was given Pitocin.  The Pitocin was used to help my contractions get more regular, not so much that I was having problems having contractions. Unfortunately, a side effect of Pitocin is that it makes your contractions much worse.  I could feel it as soon as she started me on the drip.  I wanted to hold out on the epidural as long as I could because I didn't want to seem like the wimp that couldn't handle it (the doctor had said I could have an epidural as soon as I asked for it), but it was very long before David talked me into it (not that it was very hard because of how much pain I was in).  I had to wait awhile before I could get the epidural so I could get a whole bag of fluid in my system and it was a very hard wait.  Before long, though, I finally got the epidural and it was amazing!  David kept trying to scare me saying that there was a huge horse needle they had to put in your back, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he made it out to be.

After that, we were both able to sleep a little bit which was very nice.  My family came to see me and they were all very supportive.  I was progressing well and not in pain.  Labor after the epidural was so much better!  The only thing was I had to keep turning on my side and repositioning because the baby's heart rate kept dropping a little, something they said was very normal after an epidural.  At about 4, the baby's heart rate kept dropping and not really coming back up even though the nurse was doing everything she could.  She said that sometimes the baby's heart rate does that if you're dilating so she wanted to check to see how progressed I was. 

When she checked me, she got a really confused look on her face.  About an hour earlier she said I was at a 6 and said that at 9.5 they would have me push a little with the nurses (to get the baby over the pelvic bone) and then they would have the doctor come and we'd push for real.  Well, she asked me if my mom progressed through delivery pretty fast.  I told her that after she got to a 5, she didn't take long to get to a 10.  The nurse said "I think you inherited that gene!  You're at a 10!"  I was a little shocked because it was happening so fast.  She took apart the bed and got me in position and had me push once.  While I was pushing, the doctor came in just to check up, saw where I was at, and asked how long I was pushing.  The nurse told him that was my first push and he said he'd be right back and ran out of the room to get cleaned up because he could see the head.  The nurse started getting everything ready and David asked if I should keep pushing.  She turned and said "No!  I don't want to deliver this baby!"

It wasn't long before the doctor was back and had me pushing.  It was weird trying to push without being able to feel hardly anything from my stomach down, but I did the best I could!  Then the baby's heart rate started dropping a lot.  The doctor got very urgent and told me I had to push as hard as I could.  I was doing the best I could, but the baby just wasn't coming out fast enough.  They ended up having to use the vacuum to get him out. When the doctor got the baby out, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which is why his heart rate was so low.  But everything else went fine!  Asher David was born at 5:37 pm on August 5, at 8lbs and 21 inches.  I didn't think I'd be very emotional when I saw him, but I really did almost start crying because of how happy I was to see him.

David got to cut the umbilical cord and they took Asher over to clean him up and get all the blood flowing.  They had a little trouble getting enough oxygen in his system because he had a lot of fluid in his lungs, but they mostly just let him cry it out and said that feeding him would help clear things out too.  The whole time I was getting stitched back up (ouchy) David was with Asher taking pictures and taking in being a new dad!  After all was said and done, we were taken to a recovery room where we laid around a lot and tried to figure out how to take care of our little guy.

I think we got pretty lucky with our man.  He sleeps pretty well and took to breastfeeding really fast.  He hardly ever cries and it doesn't take much to calm him down.  I really hope that lasts!  He's such a sweetheart and we can't get enough of him! 

David is an amazing dad.  Maybe a little over-protective, but that's just because he loves Asher so much!  He told me last night that he is winning on how many kisses he gives Asher.  It's so sweet to see them together.  Sorry this was such a long post, and it's about to get a lot longer because here comes a lot of pictures!

Me at 38 weeks, the day before I delivered!

The only good use for my tummy, to hold things I was eating or drinking.  Man am I glad I'm not pregnant anymore!

I look beautiful...but hey, I just had a baby!  You don't have to look glamorous!

First family picture!

I've been wearing my wedding ring on a necklace the last few months because of all the swelling in my hands.  When they put Asher on me he grabbed right onto it.  I thought it was sweet!

David is very excited to finally see his buddy!

I took a shower and came out to see this.  It was a long day!

This is one of my most favorite pictures of all time.  David is so excited to have his buddy here!