Santa Baby

We took Jane to the mall last night to get her picture taken with Santa for the first time. The line was not only really long but we were in line behind a large group of people wanting to get pictures of their dogs taken with Santa. It was an adventure to say the least. Jane slept the entire time during her photo shoot but woke up promptly afterwards just in time to cry the entire drive home. In spite of all the craziness we sure do love our baby girl and look forward to many more photo shoots with Santa in the years to come.

Life with Jane

I can't believe my baby girl will be 6 weeks old on Thursday! A good friend told me that when raising children, the days are long but the years are short. I am beginning to understand what she meant. Things are going well at our house. My emotions are starting to level out and breastfeeding is going much, much better. Jane is a baracuda eater, which is a good thing now that I'm not so sore. She is also a good sleeper. We have our rough nights, but fortunately the last couple of nights she has slept for 5-7 hour stretches at a time, which I am very, very grateful for. I have determined that my coping skills as a mother are directly proportional to how well-rested I am. I went back to work this past week for a 4-hour shift, and will do one 4-hour shift every week through December. Fortunately, I have a flexible job and a baby that will take a bottle. It felt really good to get back, although I still have no intention on working more than a few hours a week. I feel very accomplished in that my Christmas tree is up (and decorated too) along with a few simple decorations around the house, although I haven't even started shopping yet. It may be a simple Christmas for us this year. Here are a few pictures to brighten your day:

This picture was taken yesterday morning (December 12th)

This picture was taken last Thursday, at exactly 5 weeks of age. She has been smiling off and on since, and I really hope they are real smiles and not just gas.

Who doesn't love a sleeping baby?

Jane being held by my dad, taken in Vernal on Thanksgiving Day.

Beautiful Baby Jane

Beautiful baby Jane finally arrived on November 4! She is beautiful and perfect in every way and we are so grateful for her safe arrival. My transition to motherhood has been a little rough and I would be a liar if I said that everything has gone smoothly. Breastfeeding has been a challenge that I am still working through and my emotions are all over the place. Every day gets a little better as I learn to enjoy these moments with my newborn. It is amazing to think that this tiny little baby is the one I carried for 9 months. I feel very blessed! This picture of Carl and Jane was taken yesterday and the 3 other pictures were taken at the hospital.

Trip to the Carolinas

Carl and I took a trip to South and North Carolina back in July to visit his uncle and grandmother. Carl spent a lot of time water-skiing on the lake (while I watched from the boat). We also went to the zoo in Columbia, South Carolina. These little birds really loved nectar.

My Grandma Massey grew up in Statesville, North Carolina which is only about an hour away from Carl's grandmother who lives in Mooresville. Carl and I spent the day with my Statesville relatives and had a wonderful time.

This is a picture of me in front of the house where my grandmother grew up.

Another highlight of the trip was spending a day with my dear friend Christine and her daughter Laralyn. We played in the lake in Mooresville and spent time catching up. We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to go back.

Trek!!

Trek has been over for 3 months now but I guess posting about it late is better than never. Trek was one of the most exhausting experiences of my life. The preparations leading up to the actual 3-day event were stressful and incredibly time-consuming but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. We have amazing youth in our ward and I loved sharing this experience with them. My sacrificies seem so small and insignificant compared to what the pioneers endured. This is a picture of our family. I am the frumpy pregnant lady in case you couldn't tell. If "cute pregnant picture" is an oxymoron then "cute pregnant lady dressed up in pioneer clothing" is the ultimate oxymoron. The kids pulled me in the handcart a lot. I could walk (albeit not very fast) but they felt bad for me and wanted to help, so I let them.

Preparing for Baby

The waiting game has begun! The baby showers are over, my paycheck is dwindling, and I don't think that I can get any bigger. My due date is Sunday the 31st but I was hoping that she would be here by now. Until she decides to make her appearance I am doing my best to enjoy the time before she comes. This is a picture from my ward/neighborhood shower. Thanks again Crystal, Marie, Kelsie, and Camyll! I feel very loved and spoiled!

The nursery is pretty much ready and waiting to become occupied...

Carl has been nesting too. This is the project he has been working on this fall- building a couple of garden boxes in our little backyard. He will also be putting in a new brick patio.

I've decided that "cute pregnant picture" is an oxymoron because I don't look cute in any of my pregnant pictures, but for those who are interested here is a recent picture of me. This was taken about 2 weeks ago and I continue to get even bigger every day. If this baby doesn't come out soon I think my stomach may split open- I don't know how much more my poor body can handle!

Why Go Private?

Besides the fact that I am going to have a baby very soon and want to be able to post about her without worrying about creeps on the internet stalking us, I am also going private to protect my family when Carl is deployed next year. I want to be able to document my feelings and struggles during the experience without the whole world knowing that he is gone. I feel much safer this way. This upcoming deployment feels like a heavy shadow over my life right now in the midst of so much change already taking place, and I am hoping it will be therapeutic to share my thoughts with people I know care about me and love me. Basically what it comes down to is the fact that I am the wussiest military wife in the history of military wives. Most of our flight school friends have already experienced at least one (sometimes two or three) deployments and this is our first so I know I don't have any right to whine about it. But that doesn't change the fact that I will. The deployment is still about a year away but I still cry about it at times when I talk about it (sorry again Mary Ann for the meltdown I had on the phone with you a couple weeks ago). We are still a year from the actual deployment but starting in January Carl will be gone a lot for training. Here is the rough schedule of Carl's next couple of years (keeping in mind that it is the military and they excel at changing things at the last minute):



Mid-January through mid-May: Training at Fort Rucker, Alabama

June: 2-3 weeks of summer camp

July: Gunnery training at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho

~August through October: Pre-deployment training at Fort Hood, Texas

~November 2011 through November 2012: Deployment in Iraq



The decision weighing on my mind right now is whether or not to go to Alabama with Carl for 4 months this winter. Part of me shudders at the thought of taking a newborn baby across the country for that long, but I really want my daughter to spend as much time with her daddy as possible while she can. I don't think we will really know for sure what the right decision is until after she is born. Until we make any final decisions, we will enjoy the time we have together now.