Newborn Pictures

Well, these got taken over a month ago, but I wanted to post them anyway. She cooperated so well, and only pooped a little bit on the photographer's blanket. :) I just love my little monkey!

Maternity Pictures

I have been looking forward to getting these pictures for a while, and I finally got them! Yay! I absolutely loved my photographer. She was so good with Cody. He adores her. And I thought she did a really good job. www.RememberThisPhotographyStudio.com. Check her out...she's awesome!

She's here!!

Samantha Jean was born September 25th, 2:21am, 8 lbs. 12 oz. 21 inches long. She's almost a month old! I can't believe it! I am SO in love with this little girl. She has been so much fun so far. She's such a good baby...sleeps most of the time, and is very patient when it's time to eat. Very rarely does she all out cry. It's incredible. I had no idea newborns could be so easy.

The labor was a dream compared to the last one. 10 hours compared to 23! Pushed for 20 minutes compared to 2 1/2 hours. Very nice! The worst part was when we got to the hospital and they wouldn't admit me because I was only dilated to a 3. Even at a 3 I was in excrutiating pain. After being told the second time that I'd have to wait ANOTHER hour to see if I'm progressing, I lost it and started crying. I did all I could to hold it together though so I could go out in the halls and walk around to try to help things along. I had already been in labor for about 5 hours before I got to the hospital, waited in the triage room for about 2 1/2, waited for the epidural for another half hour, an hour and a half after that, I was ready to push, and had her 20 minutes later. My body likes epidurals! I was only dilated to a 4, after 8 hours of labor, when I got the epidural and had her less than 2 hours after that! Pretty funny. Thank heavens for epidurals!!!

Anyway, things are going really well. Cody absolutely adores her, although, sometimes it's a little too much. :) He has been acting out quite a bit because of the change, but I think he's starting to come around. I'm just so grateful to have this new little one in my life, and that everything went well. Thank heavens for little girls!!


Little too much skin in these pictures, but these were the only pictures of me and Sammy, not counting the ones when we were leaving the hospital. :( So, sorry about that. :)

































































































































Leaving the hospital













































































A gift from big brother. So cute!
























My two angels :)

Getaway =)

In case you're wondering why this and other posts of mine are so vague on some points, it's my way of keeping things private without having to make my blog private. So, sorry about that. If you know us, you know where we live, so you can probably guess the details on some, if not most of the things I leave out. :)

Steven and I recently were able to go on an amazing 4-day 3-night getaway. It was awesome! It was the first REAL getaway we've done (just the two of us) since Cody was born almost 3 years ago. So, it was much needed. We went to an awesome hotel not far from us that had themed rooms. It was very romantic. They had cheesecake and sparkling cider in the room for us when we got there. That night we had dinner at this really charming restaurant that has been around since I think 1905. It was so nice. We ate by candlelight. Very romantic! The hotel also served a continental breakfast to our room in the morning, which was so yummy! Then we headed off to my family cabin for the next two nights. But not until we went to lunch at an incredible steak house and went to a movie.


















We also did a little shopping and then went to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then headed up to the cabin.


















It was absolutely gorgeous up there, as usual. In the morning, after breakfast, we headed up the canyon a little bit more to visit some beautiful sites.


































Then our friends Tony and Julie met us up at the cabin for the remainder of our getaway. We went and had lunch and were able to eat outside on the beautiful patio of the local restaurant up there. Then we ate dinner inside that night and headed off to the outdoor play they were having. It was a good play, but a bit long for a pregnant woman, or anyone for that matter. 3 hours is way too long. I like plays for the most part but only when they're 1 1/2-2 hours long.


















We headed back to the cabin where we vegged, ate snacks, and battled with a mouse! Yuck!! That was not the highlight of the trip to say the least. :) The next morning we cleaned up and went to go get Cody. He stayed with both sets of grandparents during this time. Thanks again so much to Grandma and Grandpa, and Nanny and Poppy for helping us out! When we picked Cody up, big surprise...I held out my arms for him but he pushed me aside and ran to Steven. You'd think this would make me sad, but I just laughed. I knew that would happen. He's such a Dada's boy! I wonder what Samantha will be. I guess we'll see. Less than 4 weeks now! Give or take. :) Can't wait.

35 weeks!

30 weeks pregnant.


34 weeks pregnant.

I am getting so excited for this little girl to come! Little Samantha Marie. I don't know if I ever mentioned that I'm having a girl on here. Thus the girly background. This pregnancy has been heavenly other than the 6 weeks of nausea at the beginning. But then, just after 4th of July, my body decided it all of a sudden didn't like this extra person inside of me anymore and I've been in quite a bit of pain since. I felt this same pain with Cody when I had a few weeks left, but this started at about 28 weeks! Definitely not fun, especially when I had to move while dealing with it. But thank heavens for all the wonderful true friends in our life who helped us move or who sincerely showed interest in helping. With the pain I'm dealing with, and with Steven still recovering from knee surgery at the time, we definitely needed it. Thanks again so much everyone!! Anyway, so now I only have about 5 weeks to go, give or take. She is measuring a bit big...54th percentile, according to the latest ultrasound, so I'm crossing my fingers she comes early, but I won't be holding my breath. :)

Sale!

My sister is having a sale on her adorable hats. These are the cutest things ever. Check it out.

maddieloubeanies.etsy.com

We're Moving!

Yep, the rumors (if you've heard them) are true. We are indeed moving. We will be gone by the end of the month. It's a very bitter sweet feeling. We have absolutely loved our home, our neighbors, our ward, and are very sad to go, but at the same time it feels really good to be moving forward in life. As many of you know, we have had some major financial struggles for the past three and half years or so, including two business attempts, that through our best efforts have not worked out. But, we are happy to say that we are now...finally...on the uphill. We feel extremely grateful for all that we have learned through our trials, and are excited to continue to show the Lord that we will indeed apply what we have learned into our daily lives.

When we found out we would be moving soon, I was in a bit of a panic trying to find a place that we could call home. We truly feel that Heavenly Father directed our path because "coincidentally" enough, we have a friend that will be moving out of state for a few years and needs someone she can trust to take care of her cute home while she's gone, so we are getting a good deal on a 5 bedroom 3 bathroom home with a gigantic fenced-in backyard that I know Cody will LOVE. The "coincidence" part (which isn't a coincidence at all) comes because she is moving almost exactly when we need to move. We feel so incredibly blessed. We are so grateful for the guidance and direction, along with the peace and comfort we have received through everything.

To all my neighbors...we will miss you all very much. Thank you so much for the friendship you have shown us while we have lived here. I look forward to being able to continue to see the ladies of the neighborhood at play group. :)

I'll post some pictures of our new place once we get settled. :)

4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July weekend, not counting the fact that Steven was a gimp the whole time...poor guy. He's had problems with his knee for a while now, but working 13 hour days 6 days a week in May pretty much did him in. So he went in to see the doctor on the 1st, and was told that he needs surgery right away. So, he went in for surgery the very next morning...last Friday. All went well, and recovery has been extremely quick. He was back to work on Tuesday. It's still a bit tender, but it's amazing how well he's doing.

Anyway, back to the 4th. Saturday night we went to see the big fireworks downtown. Cody was NOT a fan. He DID love fireworks until our neighborhood firework show on the 1st. There were some really loud ones that sent sparks flying out towards the crowd. Cody's been scared of fireworks ever since. I was hoping that when he saw that these big ones were in the air, far away, he'd be ok, but once they started, he wouldn't even look at them. Steven took him straight to the car. :( Oh well...I enjoyed them. :) Sunday night, my mom, dad, and I watched "The Music Man". I love that movie. It's a yearly tradition. On Monday, we woke up SUPER early to go see the hot air balloons take off. Cody loved that...from a distance. Apparently the size of the balloons freaked him out a bit. Then, we went to the parade, which Cody also loved. He was such a good boy the whole time...miraculous. Every year we go the day before and stake out a spot for the parade, so we had a really good spot in shade and everything. It was great! We even had a mint limeade stand right behind us! I love mint in lemonade (mint juleps at Disneyland are amazing!) My brother-in-law was nice enough to buy me one. Thanks again Rick. :) It was yummy! That night we went to my mom's yearly gigantic family 4th of July party. It was amazing. Homemade apple pie and all. My little bro' Jared put on an amazing firework show with video and music to accompany it. Then I was shocked to find out that someone :) had purchased (we won't use the "I" word) big fireworks. That was a really cool surprise.

Anyway, it sure was a great 4th this year. Can't wait for next year when Samantha will be able to join in on the fun. :) Only 11 weeks to go!


Cody would not stay away from the water coolers at our neighborhood party. He kept filling up his cup and pouring it out. That is until we got in trouble for it. Oops...anything to keep the busy little guy entertained. I figured hose water was a harmless way to do that. I guess not. :)








Big family party.


My brother's amazing firework program. There was even a flag raising. It brought me to tears. Way to go Jared!