Mimi

My mom was able to come for 10 days to hang out with her favorite (ok, her only) grandkids!

So many books

So many snuggles

 We made a trip to the Children's Museum for the first time. Elliot loved it and was generally way too busy to let us photograph him. We'll be back for sure!

We tackled some ambitious projects with my mom there to help and make sure we didn't screw anything up. First up: Painting and decorating Elliot's big boy room.

We found 11 books under his bed. I love my little reader. 

The finished product

 We decided to replace the section of carpet near our garage door with vinyl. We come in and out of this door all the time, and the carpet was pretty trashed. This way, there is a carpet-free place to come in and take off our shoes. I was filled with many doubts about how good it would look and our ability to do it, but now that it is done I love it!

Tearing out the carpet

Elliot was frequently too helpful

This woman is amazing. She masterminded this whole project and did a ton of the physical work on it, despite having a foot that she couldn't put much weight on at all. My mom is the toughest person I know. 

Our other activities with mom included watching all of season 2 of Stranger Things, a fun visit from Susan Hekking, and of course a trip to Manuels. 

Annie's First 2 Weeks

Aaron got a glorious 3 weeks of paternity leave, which made the transition to having two kids much smoother. Elliot is a fan of his little sister. He likes to tell her about stuff and have her watch him build towers or practice his ninja moves. He doesn't seem to mind if she is soundly asleep while "watching" him. Elliot helps out by taking countless dirty diapers to the trashcan, rocking her in her seat, and providing her with blankets.

Elliot's first time holding Annabelle

He is good at reminding me about tummy time

Sibling bonding

Just precious

 We ventured up to a doctor in Tucson to get Annie's tongue clipped. The procedure was super fast, and it has healed quickly. She nurses better now. The doctor tried to convince me to get my rather tight tongue clipped as well. His main argument was that I would be able to truly lick an ice cream cone after the procedure. Apparently I've only been living half a life!

We made some non-doctor related trips as well.

Annie's first time at the park. She slept through all of it.

Cool big brother

 One Saturday, we went to the clubhouse to go on the kids train. It turns out that there was a big wellness fair going on with giant inflatables. We had a great time bouncing around with the Elliot. 

When did my son get so capable

Rocking the velcro suit

I am the epitome of grace

We ended that trip with a walk around the lake.

I love our neighborhood!

We hit up a birthday party for a 2 year old in the ward. It was fun having Aaron get a sneak peek into the fun parts of being a stay at home mom. He also took Elliot to story time at the library.

Annabelle Kimberly Blood

Annabelle Kimberly Blood

Oct 11, 2017 12:38 AM

8 lb 2 oz

20 inches

Our Annie is here! After several days full of false alarms, we decided to head up to the hospital on Tuesday night. We dropped Elliot off at the Hays (he was very excited to have a sleepover) and got to the hospital at 7:20. My contractions were pretty strong and regular. Unfortunately, the woman checking us in was very similar to Flash the Sloth from Zootopia. She even had super long fingernails that slowly tapped our info into the computer.

Eventually I was admitted to triage. I was only dilated to a 4. Dr. Eisenberg was on call that night. He had me walk the halls for an hour. It did exactly what it was supposed to! By the end of our walk at 9:30, I was dilated to a 6, had every detail of the rather short hallway memorized, and was most certainly in labor.

I got all set up with the IV and Epidural. A little after midnight, Dr. Eisenberg came in to check on me and break my water. He said the baby would probably be here in under 2 hours, and that I should page the nurse when I started feeling pressure. 15 minutes later it was show time! I pushed for about 10 minutes, and out she came! My nurse Wandra was a terrific coach, and I appreciated Dr. Eisenberg being really mindful about tearing after having such bad tears last time. I only needed a few stitches.

Aaron and I were thrilled to see that she has a full head of dark hair! She is also completely tongue tied. Just like infant Ashley on both counts!

Babies look good on him

I am SO excited about this hair!

Annabelle took to nursing quickly. She had no problems latching, but we think her tongue is making her swallow more air. It is rougher on me too. We are going to get it clipped.

We moved to a recovery room where we had a peaceful day that flew by fast. Aaron went to get Elliot and spend the night at home. The plan was for the two of them to come back the next morning to take the female half of the family home.

I had a scare with Annie gagging on some spit up while I was using the bathroom. I told the nurse that I was afraid to fall deeply asleep in case it happened again. They volunteered to keep an eye on her at the nurse's station between nursings. This was AWESOME. I got two three-hour stretches of uninterrupted sleep!

It was super fun watching Elliot meet his little sister. We told him in advance that when Annabelle was born, she would take the locks off one of his favorite apps. He switched between playing the new levels on the app and going through all of the fascinating items around the room. He did favor his new sister with a few kisses on her head. He also told her all about how he was going to teach her how to build towers and talk, and that he would show her our Halloween decorations when we got home.

Here's Annie buying the paid version of the app for her big brother

Elliot tried to calm her down by kissing her head while we were getting situated for our attempted family picture. I have some sweet kids. 

The best family picture we were able to take

Heading home!

Other Things That Have Happened

Here's a hodge podge of pictures/activities from the past couple of months that don't warrant their own post.

We ventured back to the Madera Canyon waterfall with some friends. The water was cold and we found a very intimidating aquatic bug with huge pinchers, but we had a blast. 

This is Elliot's best friend, Mr. Peanut Jar. Elliot will go into the pantry to tell him things. 

Seriously. He has whole conversations with Mr. Peanut Jar. He also eats a ton of peanuts. 

Many forts have been made

Also cities

Mixing colors together

Another great class sponsored by the community garden

We ran the cotton candy booth for a shift at a stake activity

Hanging out at the Zoo

Elliot liked this frog statue that squirts water far more than he liked any of the real animals

Scissors. Every. Day. 

We got invited to our neighbor Liam's birthday party at Fantastics Family Fun Center

We were all confused by the aesthetic choices on this one

Elliot insisted on blowing his arcade credit having Daddy play skee-ball

2nd Pregnancy Thoughts

My due date is next week! Pretty crazy. To sum up the experience, I would say that this pregnancy was harder in the first trimester and easier in the third. I was mildly to moderately nauseous pretty much every evening for the first trimester. It was great getting to the second trimester where I felt walking around and living my life- except no running. My body did not appreciate my few attempts at any level of speed above a walk. I played volleyball once or twice a week (with far less jumping and hustling than my norm) up until 36 weeks. I might have kept going longer, but I was already dilated to a 2 and my doctor told me to take it easy. At this point, I get Braxton Hicks contractions whenever I bend over or go on walks. Or sit still. Or sleep. They are way more frequent and strong than I had with Elliot, but I will gladly take them over the non-stop feeling of discomfort and back pain from last time.

I remember being far more uncomfortable at this point with Elliot. I feel like I'm a bit smaller, and I'm more at liberty to change positions throughout the day than I was last time. A big part of it is also mental. Last time around, I mentally moved my due date up a week when I was dilated to a 2 a month early, which made it incredibly frustrating as my due date came and went (he was 3 days late). I was also super anxious about having his birthday be as far away from Christmas as possible. This time around, I'm mentally preparing myself to go late again. It makes a HUGE difference!

New on my "prep for having a baby" to-do list this time around is getting Elliot ready to be a big brother. We talk about it all the time, and he's sweet about it. He will already put blankets on my belly saying that they are for Annabelle. He helped me put her clothes in her dresser and likes to talk about how she will like to watch him do all sorts of stuff. I'm just as excited for Elliot to meet Annabelle as I am to meet her. 

Just a few more days!

Big Boy Elliot

Elliot has been a ton of fun lately. He's talking up a storm and keeps me quite entertained. I never cease to be amazed at the things he picks up and the things he is able to understand when I explain them to him. He loves learning about how stuff works- like hinges, air conditioning vents, phone chargers, and sinks. One day he was talking to Aaron about paper. Aaron asked him him where he thought paper came from. He thought about it for a little while and then responded, "Paper comes from books!" Aaron told him that paper actually comes from trees, and he refused to believe that logic. So, Aaron ended up showing him an animated YouTube video about how paper is made. Elliot was enthralled and asked to watch the paper video in lieu of a bedtime story for several days in a row until he had it pretty much memorized. 

Potty training treat. It has been a wild ride that sadly is not yet at an end. 

Few things make me happier than finding Elliot in weird places reading himself books

Few things make Elliot happier than helping with any project that involves screwdrivers

Elliot snitching frozen imitation crab meat. This kid loves all things cold. He will eat frozen mixed vegetables straight from the bag. We stick his plate of food in the freezer most nights to cool down his dinner.

Elliot went through a phase where we could bribe him to do pretty much anything for a skittle. We moved him to his "big boy room" with a bed instead of a crib, and told him he could get a skittle in the morning if he stayed in his bed. He fell asleep by the door, but we wouldn't hear a peep out of him until the morning. I'd open the door to get him and the first thing he would say is "time to get my skittle!"

Then we went on vacation and everything was ruined. The skittle totally lost its power. He would burst out of the room 10 seconds after being tucked in. We moved him back to the crib thinking it would be a punishment and that he would agree to stay in bed in order to regain his big boy status, but it turns out that he loves his crib way more. Eventually we started locking him in his room. After several nights of vigorous protest, he now doesn't even check the door most nights. 

Clothes dumped on the ground in a "how dare you lock my door" protest

We installed a child lock on the front door after Elliot unlocked the deadbolt to run outside.
He was half naked.
And a friend happened to be walking up to the door to drop something off and witnessed the whole thing.

Father-son robot building project

They have since moved onto building robots that are actually robots

 Aaron was working on his robot, Elliot was practicing his scissor skills, and I was drilling holes into our new worm bins. 

Elliot loves all things craft related. He's a big time fan of story time crafts from the library and clubhouse.

Elliot catch phrases:

"I have good idea! I pretend to be yo baby!"

"Wrap me up like little tiny baby!"

(He says these two to me all. the. time.)

"oooooooooooh, das good idea!"

"reeeeeallyyyyyyyy?!?!?" (in the highest pitch a human voice has ever produced)

"Ouch! That hurts people!" (This one is yelled whenever we do anything he doesn't like, regardless of whether or not he was actually hurt. He has also been known to say "stop hitting me mommy" when I am not hitting him. This is wonderfully awkward in public.)

He periodically gathers all the pillows in the house to build roads or forts.

But don't worry folks! He promised that he will grow up very slowly.