Lowering Expectations

I have been feeling a little sad lately, perhaps it's a small dose of the baby blues coupled with feeling non-productive! I used to roll my eyes (to myself) when other moms would say how hard it was to just take a shower on a daily basis when you have kids - plural. Well, I feel it is an accomplishment if I shower every other day!!! I feel too tired in the morning to jump in the shower before everyone wakes up...I wait until they wake me up which is somewhere between 6-7am.

I used to be a VERY productive person, list in hand crossing things off right and left. I get a real sense of accomplishment from doing things that are on my list. In fact, my mom calls me the task-master...not so much anymore. I leave my clean laundry in the baskets for days before I have the desire or energy to put it away. I just washed my floors last weekend and it had been a month since it had been cleaned. I don't exercise - no energy or time. So the fact that I have 35 lbs to lose sort of depresses me.

I don't mean to complain, it's just that I have realized that I need to lower my expectations when it comes to being super productive with the things on my list. I am torn because I spend most of my days holding and feeding Samantha. I love it. I love her. I know these days will pass too fast, so I am trying to soak in the moments and breathe. But, I find that I am having an inner-struggle between the woman that wants to hold and kiss her baby and enjoy the moments and the woman that loves to be productive. Have any of you felt that way after having a baby? Where is the fine line? Is there one? Or do I wait it out? I know it probably passes because anyone with more than one kid that I know, is productive. Right now, I don't see the task master coming back easily.

The things that keep me sane and content for the most part are these beautiful people. I'm thankful each day for them.

Great Mother's Day Idea

2nd time around and some favorite pics!

Love this smiling baby! Ok, so it really is true that the second time around is easier! I am a witness to it. I'm not as tired, my body has healed quicker and I've lost the baby weight quicker (still have Alex baby weight though...) and I pretty much don't feel like I gave birth 8 days ago. It might have something to do with how small Samantha was, and look at that small head. Alexandra's head was bigger and well, got stuck! Sam kinda slid out.
Faker for the picture, but cute nonetheless - Chris loves his girls!
Alex loves Samantha, when cousin Bentley came over the other day the first thing Alex said to her was "look!" and she was pointing to her baby sister. It was like, 'look, I got one too!
Since Samantha's arrival, Alex is more of a ragga-muffin...I just can't keep up some days. Me or her, I go with me showering!
Post pregnancy brain? Sorry for the double picture. This baby LOVES to be held, I'm trying to soak it all in instead of being annoyed that I don't get much done. She is just happier when close to me and I love it. She is so sweet and smells so yummy and those cheeks, oh I just kiss them all the time!

Samantha Kate

Well, it happened! Baby girl was born Sunday April 6th at 5:54am, weighing in at 6 lbs. 11 oz, 19 1/2 in. long. She has blonde hair and is so sweet and small! I think she is a good mix of Chris and I. I went into labor on my own, it was a breeze - except for the two epidurals!!! I am already home and feeling great. I will post more later, but just wanted to introduce our sweet little girl!
Alexandra LOVES to hold her, in fact, it's a fight who can hold her more. She is really kind nad loving towards her...so far, we're keeping our fingers crossed!

Overdue and positive thinking

You will notice the baby ticker on my sidebar....it says 4 days to go...well that's 4 days past due!!!! I'm still here. Tried ALL the tricks. Nothing is working. She'll be here by the 8th, my doctor is making me get induced - obviously I know she has to come out sometime. As you can see, I am HUGE, all over...especially in the boobs!! Hello. I think the most frustrating thing for me is that my body may never go into labor on it's own, that is something I really wanted to experience. Also, I'm done being fat. I want to get on with it and feel cute again. I know the baby will be here and sleepless nights are around the corner, so in that regard I'm not too anxious. But it will be sweet to lay eyes on her and hold her and kiss her!


This morning I gave Chris his task list: CLEAN TOILETS, well I went in to relieve my teaspoon sized bladder and found this....

...it made me really smile. Props to the husband!! Cute eh?

I'm really trying to focus on the positive right now. I love my new wreath. Does anyone else get excited about home decor? I wish I had a bigger budget right now so I could go buck wild on decorating my house. It's pretty empty and most of what I do have is a temporary fix until I can get what I really want. But for now, I love opening my front door and seeing my wreath.

This of course is another positive thing that keeps me happy.....my sweet Alexandra! She is just getting into her princess shoes, and "rella" and of course, she STILL loves t.v hence the reason she wouldn't look at me and smile for the camera!

So graceful.

Happy Anniversary

I should have posted about this last Tuesday on the 25th when it was our Anniversary, but pregnancy brain took over. We celebrated our third year together, that's nothing, I know. It's been so great, Chris is such a joy to be married to. Our neighbor offered to watch Alex while we went out, FOR FREE, and that was a treat since the babysitting rates in our hood are a little steep for us. Anyway, we went to my favorite sushi restaurant, Ichiban, came home and watched 'Dan in Real Life' and ate ice-cream.

My top 3 reasons I love being married to Chris: (I thought I'd stick to the years we've been married!)

1. He makes me laugh, like the hard core gut laugh. We have such a great time together!

2. Loves his family, he's so cute with Alex and can't wait to have another little girl! He's also very spiritual and knowledgeable about the gospel and has an eternal perspective on life.

3. He has helped me to be more informed and interested in politics and current events, he's well read and knows alot about things and that makes for interesting conversations!

I love you Chris! I look forward to the next 50+ years!

I'm still here!

Haven't had the baby yet, but I feel SO fat and tired and pretty much unmotivated to blog or go to the gym. ( I even included a pic for proof!) Sad, but true. My doctor is back in town so ANY day I could have the baby, I am aiming for Saturday but alas, she will come when she is ready to come. Although, tomorrow morning I am taking Blue and Black Cohash....has anyone tried this? It's herbal drops recommended from a midwife to induce labor and I've had a couple of friends try it and it worked for them. We'll see.
We had a really fun and eventful Easter weekend. We first had an egg hunt and luncheon at Chris's parents house with his whole Andrus extended family. This is Alex searching for her goods in the yard.
Some of her favorite cousins, Kale and Samara, she played non-stop on Saturday and had a blast!
We roasted peeps over the fire, a brilliant and yummy idea of Julia's!
I ate 3. Usually can only stomach 1. Tells ya how yummy they were roasted. Oh, but I am pregnant so who really knows if they were yummy or just eaten because they were SUGAR!

On Sunday we had Easter dinner at our house and had an egg hunt for the kids....I didn't get any pics of my table settings or the kids in their easter dresses or hunting - LAME! But we had a great time with my family, Chris and I love entertaining and hosting parties. My parents brought dinner, Lamb and a beef roast, super duper yummy. In fact, we invited Robyn my SIL and her family, they couldn't get over how good the food was. I think I take it for granted because I was raised eating gourmet food all the time. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Monday Memoirs - What we've been up to....

...not much! I have 2 weeks left and my doctor is out of town this week ....so, no "tricks" to progress me along! Dang. I was at the gym this morning and while I was lifting I looked in the mirror and saw the worst puffy pregnancy face ever! Tonight at dinner we were taking pics of our yummy meal (recipe below) and I snapped this "good" pic of me. I know in a month or so I'll look back and realize how distorted my view of myself was, but for now, it's an okay pic of a 8 1/2 month pregnant girl. (sorry no body shot, that is a different matter!) Boy, do I look tired!!!
Here's my cute husband in his festive green shirt for St. Paddy's Day eating our favorite meal. I made this a couple of weeks ago and we've had it twice a week since. It's super easy:

Chicken Fettucine

Grill chicken breast, cut up and set aside.
Broil asparagus (or use broccoli - more popular with kids) with olive oil and S&P for 8 minutes, cut up and set aside.
In large saucepan pour in 1 pint of heavy whipping cream - season with salt and pepper and a handful of shredded parmesan cheese (the more aged, the better). Let cook on medium/high heat for 5-10 minutes. Add chicken and asparagus. Serve over fettucine noodles. We use the spinach kind and also sprinkle more parmesan cheese over top. Very easy, quick and yummy and probably really fattening too!

Oh, and kids love it too!!
Alexandra learned how to blow bubbles this last week, it's so fun to watch her blow them and get so excited about it! She's been saying "crap" today and "dang" the last few days. I am really enjoying these last few days with just her, she brings us SO much joy. Her laugh is so infectious!

She loves laying in the clean clothes and watching t.v - I let her do it because I think it's cute but I'm sure as time goes on I'll be annoyed by it!

Last night Chris organized a BYU Alumni fireside in our Daybreak Stake " A Temple in our Midst" with Robert J. Matthews. Last year we organized one with Truman G. Madsen, he was busy so we asked Bro. Matthews. I didn't go because I was feeling really pregnant and well, FAT! Anyway, we had a great turn-out and Chris said the message was great. Chris got David Tolk to play the piano which was amazing and he gave Chris a copy if his new CD that hasn't been released yet called "Grace". We listened to it last night, it's so pretty and inspiring. If you haven't heard his stuff, you need to check it out!

Saturday night we went out with some friends to dinner, we hired our first babysitter. We have had family watch Alex until now and we figured we should make the break. Well, she came at 6:30, Alex went to bed at 7:15 and she watched tv until 10. We had asked around and figured $3 an hour for one kid but to be safe, we asked her what she charges. She said $5 for 1 kid or 5 kids, her rate is flat. Feeling like we paid a little too much we thought we'd ask our Sunday School class yesterday how much they all charge. Mind you, the sitter we hired the other night is 12 and our class is 14-18. One girl said she gets paid $5/kid, so for 3 kids she makes $15/hr! That's more than most people make at their jobs!! Perhaps I am a little tight, but come one! There were a couple of girls that said they take what they get. Hmmm. Does anyone know the standard? We are new at paying people to babysit and want the best care for our Alex, but at the same time we have a budget to live by. Any suggestions???

Well, I ate another bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, that's 3 and I'm debating whether I should pick up another one tomorrow! I have major groin pain, the baby has dropped and it seems like those little eggs make me forget my pain. I might refrain, it would be so tragic to gain as much weight in the last month as I did my whole pregnancy!! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Favorite

Boy am I glad that these suckers only come out once a year because so far I am on my second bag! And since I am pregers, I think I might consume one more before Easter and not really feel that bad about it. Is anyone else addicted to these? My mouth is watering for them as I type. So, now that you know mine, what is yours?

Ally MaGoo

I have many nicknames for Alexandra, but the one that best describes these pictures is the aforementioned one. She was playing on the stairs the other day and I had a feeling she was going to fall and right then, boom, tumble..tumble! This is the outcome, a carpet burn on her cute little nose. Yesterday we were at the park and this lady asked if Alex was mine, and was saying what a beautiful girl she was and then asked what happened to her nose and said it was a shame! I thought it was funny that she thought it was a shame, don't kids get all sorts of injuries in their growing years?
Her favorite outfit as of late, she loves shoes (like any girl) but REALLY loves her boots! She also likes to take her pj's off in the morning and hang-out nude - well not quite thankfully!
She isn't a messy eater usually, but today she went a little crazy with her pudding and then later with her applesauce, flinging it on the floor and walls and of course herself. I really hope this isn't a trend. I try to keep my house clean everyday, but I know with #2 coming that some things gotta give. I am kind of anal but I am working on it.

Nesting

This week I have been super busy cleaning and organizing. I should have taken some before and after pics of closets I organized, but with a new house (10 months) they weren't too bad just a little cluttered and unorganized. I finally hung pictures in our bedroom, which is really sad it took me that long since I help others decorate for a living. I am getting things checked off my list really fast because I have been non-stop this week. In fact, I should be at the gym right now with my friend but my legs and feet ache from being on them all day every day this week. I went to the mall yesterday to get a new nursing bra, sad to report they didn't come in my size at the store I was at!!! It was frustrating because I really hate my big boobs, but more than that I was really bugged I couldn't check if off my list yesterday! My type A at is finest.

On Wednesday at my doctor's appointment he checked me, 1 1/2 60%, but that doesn't get me excited at all since last time I hung out at a 1 1/2 for a month! But, with all the tips and tricks I got from all my loyal friends and readers, my prediction is that she'll come somewhere between the 21st- 29th. (I really hope I didn't just jinx myself!) Oh well.

Baby Reese

My sister Diana had her baby yesterday - 4 weeks early, which is good for her. Her first baby, Bentley, was born 10 1/2 weeks early. So, here are some pics of the pretty girl. She weighs 5 lb. 10 oz, 20 inches long and as you can see lots of black hair! I'm excited for her little cousin to be born and to see what she looks like...oh and it would be nice if she would stop kicking my ribs!!