Thoughts on Our Only Child (For Now)

As I get closer to my due date, I'm getting emotional thinking about how Molly won't be our only baby anymore. (I literally didn't make it through typing that sentence without tearing up.)  I want to remember the time that we've had with just her. Baby boy is coming in 6ish weeks and our family is changing forever. Molly has such a sweet spirit and is growing so much every day and here are some of the things I'm loving right now.

She is getting super talkative and repeats a lot of stuff that we say.

-When we walk in the door she says, "hey bud" to Floyd. (this is how Blake greets Floyd)
-She likes to greet us by saying "hi baby"
-When she wants us to carry her and is getting impatient, she says, " Up peas, up peas, up peas..." over and over again as if saying it faster and louder will get her what she wants.
-Calls water, "waloo"
-She is really good at her animal sounds, except when I ask her what a dog says, she responds, "quack!"
-I was teaching her about being soft a while ago and now she likes to look us in the eyes while we're holding her, place her hand gently on our cheeks and say quietly, "soft, soft."
-When she's feeling cuddly she rests her head on our shoulders and says, "nice."

Molly has been throwing more tantrums recently and I wonder if it's because she can sense the changes that are about to come or just because she's entering that toddler stage, but I just want her to know so badly how much we love her and that when this new baby comes we won't love her any less. They say that your capacity to love just grows with each new child and I'm glad to hear that, because I don't want to have to love Molly any less, just be able to love both these babies so so much. We love our Molly Lynn, and are also so excited to welcome a new member to the family in a few weeks!

And here's a photo dump from the last few weeks. (I'm loving portrait mode on our new iPhones.)

Summer Lovin' 2018

Probably the biggest news since my last post is that we're expecting baby boy Day in December! We wanted to have our kids close together, but since it had taken a while with Molly, we weren't sure if it was in the cards for us. We tried for a few months with no luck and then I bought these ovulation tests  and I felt really confident that it had worked that time around. 

I know I spent way too much money on pregnancy tests and started taking them way too early, but I was so anxious to know. 

You might think this is a negative test, but I looked soooo hard and I felt like I could see a really really faint second line. I was convinced we were having another baby, but I don't think Blake was so sure. Blake was going out of town that morning and I was hoping we could celebrate a positive together, but instead it was really unclear and neither one of us was really sure. I took another one two days later and sent him of the video of a digital response test and it flashing "yes," so then we really did get to celebrate. 

Anyway, I'm now a super believer in those ClearBlue ovulation tests. 

And I think I'll just sum up the rest of our summer in pictures and captions:

Molly and I got to spend some time with my mom and dad in San Diego and Blake joined us later with his brothers. We played in the pool and I found a new sport to love: foot golf. 

We got to watch quite a few of Blake's softball games this summer

and went to quite a few Bee's games. We have to get in one more before the season ends. This night Molly also made it onto the Simba cam. <3

My oldest nephew graduated from high school and is headed to BYU next week! I've loved being close to my sister and her kids this past year and being able to celebrate their milestones and watch their sporting events and plays with Molly. (Molly was not a fan of the 3 hour graduation ceremony. We spent most of our time running around outside at UVU.)

Our Molly bear had a birthday! I know she couldn't have cared less about the food or decor or activities, but I had a blast planning it and visiting with so many friends and family in our backyard. 

This is her little boyfriend, Leo. They are one day apart!

Mom and Dad love you so much, Molly Lynn!

We went to St. George with Blake's mom and brothers. It was so hot, but Molly loved the pool!

This past year and a half I served as the YW president and the stress of Girls' Camp really weighed on me, but once it was all over, I think it was a success and the girls had a great time. It was quite different from my camp experience. I never tent camped growing up and I learned that it is not ideal to tent camp while pregnant. 

Blake's brother, Tyler got married to Gabby and we are so happy to have her in the family. She is a great fit and I love having more sisters!

Speaking of sisters, I was able to go to Philly for my niece's baptism. We are just missing our sister, Vanessa, but it was so nice to have some girl time and celebrate Mi Na. I left Molly with Blake and although she was missed, it was relaxing to have just have me to take care of. 

I try to force Molly to snuggle with me daily. She resists. She is getting so big and learning so much. Right now she has about 20 words that she says and is becoming more independent. She loves books right now and I want to remember how cute she is when she gives me a book to read, turns her back and backs up slowly until she sits in my lap. She gives my tummy hugs and kisses and says baby and I know she is going to be a great helper and big sister. She loves to pick out her shoes for the day and knows how to put them away by herself (not that she always does it, but she knows how to.) I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days with her. 

Next on our agenda: Blake and I are going to Paris in a couple weeks for a little Babymoon. Molly is staying with Grandma in Utah, but we're super excited to have some time to ourselves and enjoy Paris! I've loved summer, but am ready for some Fall weather and getting excited to add a baby boy to our family in 15 weeks!

My Labor Experience and Molly's Birth

So, I never really got around to blogging about our hospital experience, but I always like reading this stories, so this is here for whoever is interested. Although, it was pretty routine and planned so I'm not sure it's too exciting. Good think I have a few things to pull from my journal otherwise I wouldn't have very much to say. Ha. (Also, I just realized she is now 41 weeks and 5 days which is 5 days longer outside the womb than inside the womb.) 

Like a lot of women, my due date came and went without a baby. My sister-in-law was scheduled to be in town the day of my due date and stayed the weekend and we unfortunately couldn't coax Molly to come. I had been dilated 2-3 cm for the past few weeks and it was hard for me to wait and wait and not have a baby at 40 weeks! My feet were so swollen and painful and I had terrible itching (not cholestasis), so my doctor said I could be induced if I wanted to. 

We called the hospital on her due date, Thursday, May 18, and basically they said, "call back in 2 hours" over and over again and finally there were too many women going into labor naturally that they couldn't fit me in. This happened again on Tuesday but finally on Thursday, May 25, when we called I was higher on the priority list since I was a week overdue and they told us to come on in!

Being induced was interesting. I kind of wanted the movie-like labor experience: "oh my gosh, this is happening!" kind of thing, but it was so weird that it was planned and we woke up without a baby but knew we would most likely have a baby before the day was over. Blake and I woke up at 7:00 AM. We both showered, got dressed, hopped in the car and went to Einstein to get some bagels. 

This is the last picture I have pregnant. We checked into the hospital at 8 AM and they started me on pitocin. The contractions weren't really bad until my doctor broke my water at noon. I only experienced a few really intense contractions before I got an epidural. It didn't hurt really and it was amazing how quickly I went numb. By the time I was going to lay back down I needed help because I couldn't move my legs. 

Once I had my epidural, my nurse checked me every hour and Blake and I watched the season finale of Survivor, Blake worked on homework and I took a nap. It was quite relaxing.  Around 7 PM, my nurse said I was just about ready to go and we would just wait for my doctor to arrive. My doctor arrived around 7:30 PM and gave me some coaching on how to push. I was so numb I couldn't feel a thing so it was hard to tell if what I was doing was pushing, but they said I was doing well so I went with it. 

Mushy alert**(from my journal): "I remember Blake looking at me so lovingly and telling me I was doing so good. I want to always remember how he looked at me and how proud he looked." That was a great moment. 

I pushed for about 20 minutes and Molly was born at 8:11 PM. I was really shaky and emotional after the delivery. I think I was a little bit in shock of what my body had just done. They placed her on my chest for a couple minutes but then took her to check on her irregular heart beat that she had the last few weeks of my pregnancy. When I held her again I was unsure of who this little human was. I'm not sure what I expected her to look like, but I think I was expecting a lot more hair and maybe a little darker complexion. 

But within hours, I had bonded with her and knew she was ours and knew that I loved her more than anything. I think now that I've experienced welcoming a child into our family, I will feel more prepared for when we meet baby #2. Both of Blake's parents visited that night and oohed and aahed over her. She is the first granddaughter on the Day side. 

I don't think I realized that they kick you out of the huge delivery room and put you in a tiny recovery room, but I remember being exhausted and feeling like I could sleep for hours on end, except they kept waking me to try and feed Molly. I think I then realized that it'd be a while before I got a good night's sleep. Except the bad sleep really started like 3 months before that when you're just getting huge and can't sleep well. (But these days I'm sleeping great except when I have to wake up early to teach the Chinese children English.)

So anyway, that's the story in a nutshell. I think I'll try and post about our trip to China next. Might not happen till next year, but we'll see. 

After her first bath

Lifting her head, one day old. She's been a strong girl since Day one. 

Going home. 

A Couple Milestones for the Days!

This weekend marks one year since we moved to Salt Lake City, UT. It all happened so fast. Blake was in pharmaceutical sales last year and felt like he needed a change of scenery and started looking into software sales. After some research he found a bunch of tech companies in Utah. He called me one day at work and said, "What if we move to Utah?" I couldn't wrap my head around it because both of us had said over and over we would never move to Utah. Long story short, after some interviews with different tech companies in Utah and some thought, we settled on Workday in Salt Lake City.

FYI, moving your anxious 60 lb. puppy in a Uhaul is not ideal.

Finally out of the truck!

And I guess we thought we should buy a house. So we hopped on Realtor.com (I wish I could write #sponsored at the end of this post, but I can't.) and we picked a house and put an offer on it and got it, without looking at it. Who does that?! Being a homeowner always has its surprises, but I would say for the most part, we lucked out and we love our little home in Downtown SLC.

Today also marks one year since we found out I was pregnant. I woke up from sleeping on our mattress that was on the ground, with boxes all around me and I told Blake, "I think I should take a test today." I had said this lots of times before with no success so I was skeptical that we would get any good news, but here is what I wrote in my journal that day because I didn't want to forget it:

"Last night I had a dream that I found out I was pregnant. Except the pregnancy test was the size of a pizza box. Haha. I've thought I might be pregnant for a couple weeks now so I ran to Raleys in Modesto for a test and went for the most expensive ones. I came home and did the test and Blake set a timer for 3 minutes. Once the timer was up I ran to grab the test and sat on the bed with Blake and revealed it on the count of three. There were two bright pink lines and Blake and I were in disbelief. I think I've had so many negatives that I still can't believe it's real. We're so excited for this phase of our life!!"

Like I mentioned, I thought that I might be pregnant, but I had thought that before. I would always look for symptoms or convince myself I had symptoms of pregnancy in hopes that it would be true. But after a while I just expected negative tests so I wouldn't feel so let down when it did come back negative. I would read blogs and message boards on internet that trying for a year is normal, but then so many people I knew got pregnant on their first try.

Our story isn't so different from many others, but it took us over a year to get pregnant. Sometimes I felt guilty feeling sad because I knew there were so many people who had tried for so much longer to get pregnant and then sometimes I felt upset and bitter because other people would announce a pregnancy. Both of which are wrong to feel. I listened to a talk once that essentially taught me to not compare each other's sorrows and pain. Just because someone else feels more sadness or pain, does not mean that in my own situation I don't feel my own sadness and pain. I feel like for the most part I was hopeful that Heavenly Father just had a plan and a timeline and everything would work out. In the moment it was difficult, but in hindsight I feel like it was His plan for everything to happen when it did.

This year has been an amazing one. It has had its ups and downs, but then I feel like I reflect on everything that's happened and even the downs have turned into ups! A couple that I want to share:

1. Getting pregnant when we did: I got to experience my pregnancy all in one place. A place with lots of family close by and family always passing through. My sister moved to Utah just a couple months after Molly was born. Maybe coincidence but maybe just all part of the plan.

2. I got let go from a job in December and didn't think I would try and find work because who is going to hire someone who is 4 months pregnant? Well, sitting at home got old and I don't think it was good for me. Blake encouraged me to find something in hair and I was skeptical. Truth be told, I lacked some confidence when it came to hair because at school you have teachers to answer your questions and give you guidance and fix things if it goes south and I felt like I wasn't experienced enough, but you need experience to get better! So, I applied to Great Clips down the road and it was just what I needed. I got so much better so quickly. My boss was amazing and flexible with me and I feel confident in my skills and abilities. 

3. Our basement flooded in January. Probably 6 inches of water across these two rooms. We had just moved some office furniture and my salon chair in the space LITERALLY the night before. Blake had just started school that night and it was so overwhelming to deal with. Well a couple months later after the headaches of contacting our insurance company and our home warranty company, we got everything restored and it looked so much better than it had before. My new space is perfect for cutting hair and Blake often comes home with coworkers at lunch for haircuts. (His office is one mile from our house and it is the best!)

Salon Before: This is after they gutted everything. 

Salon After

Office Before

Office After

So, as I do sometimes, this may be the only post I write this year, but I wanted to reflect on everything we've been through this year and most importantly, remember the day that we found out we were going to be parents. I still can't believe that I get to be a mom. It's the best job in the world. 

Also, haven't posted any pictures of myself from the hospital because you just don't feel attractive, but it's also kind of beautiful to see what 41 weeks of pregnancy and 12 hours of labor looks on you and the miracle that it brings into the world.

Mo-town living

It's time for my quarterly update on the blog! I guess last time I just talked about dogs and cats, so I'll talk a little bit more about Blake and me. Blake and I have both switched jobs since I last blogged. I was liking my salon job at first, but after a while it seemed like it wasn't a great fit for me right now. I started working for my brother Monday thru Thursday at his orthodontic office and have just been doing hair from home. I've been liking it a lot and am glad I still get to play with hair in my free time.

Blake got a new job with a different pharmaceutical company, but he ends up going out of town 1-2 nights per week. His territory covers San Jose down to Visalia (south of Fresno), so he does A LOT of driving. And, on top of that he's serving as the Young Men's President, so he stays pretty busy. I've been serving as the Laurel advisor, so it's been nice to go to mutual together every Tuesday.

Our summer has been filled with lots of weekend trips to Utah and LA and we've been having a blast. We took Blake's little brother, Tyler, to Disneyland in June and had a great time. From open to close, we managed to visit 35 attractions. That includes rides, shows, and food stops, but we really killed it. Our favorite thing to do is ride Grizzly River Rapids over and over and see how wet we can get. The best time to go is when it's dark and the lines are short and then sometimes the cast members let you ride again without getting off. I also got my highest score ever at Toy Story Mania and I'm pretty proud of that.

Don't they look like twins?

My brother graduated from Dental school and I'm so proud of him. Five of us six kids were able to go, along with my mom and Blake.  

The downside to my brother graduating is that I'm far away from this little girl now. She is seriously the sweetest little thing. So smiley and funny. I loved giving her her first haircut.

Next on our summer agenda is heading to the West Family Reunion in Palm Springs on Wednesday. It's supposed to be 115 degrees. Yikes. Wish us luck.