Gorgeous :)

I just wanted to share this photo of our gorgeous girl, Rosalie! :)

We have truly been blessed with a healthy, uneventful pregnancy, followed by a healthy, gorgeous baby girl!

Happy First Week, Rosalie!

These past few days have gone rather well! We welcomed Rosalie into this world a week ago today, which is crazy because it feels as if she's been here much longer than that. Much longer. Our home life has remained rather quiet. We've had few guests and few phone calls. Which is nice! I don't want too many people around Rosalie due to her being so new and being a magnet for germs. Call me paranoid, a germ freak, or overprotective, but I'd rather be that than have a sick newborn. We were the same way with Caity because she was a preemie, but I'd rather play it safe than sorry.

We've been blessed with meals from the relief society sisters! They have helped us out so much! Our budget is so tight that we ran out of money in our "food budget" right before we had Rosalie. So having willing sisters prepare meals for our small family has been a HUGE blessing! We've had some delicious meals! Hamburgers with all the fixings, shepherd's pie, lasagna, chili, pizza... it's been wonderful having a variety! Thank you all so much! :)

Rosalie is breastfeeding every 2-3 hours during the day with spurts of eating every hour on the hour. Her night times have smoothed out to every 3 hours. The first few nights we were going every hour. I guess I don't mind feeding her since her bilirubin count was at 11 and we're trying to get her jaundice down. More breast milk means more urine output and more dirty diapers. Which means less bili in the system. Caitlin had it much worse. We're counting our blessings!

Caitlin is still having some jealousy issues with Rosie, but I think that it'll never really change. Sibling rivalry/jealousy is normal. I was the only girl in my family for a long time and my brothers were always jealous of me. Though I have to give Caity credit, she does love on Rosie quite often! Giving her kisses and rubbing her head and back! I've noticed Caitlin will come over and cuddle with me after I feed Rosalie or just at random times during the day. I always tell her I love her and give her lots of kisses. She's taking all of this rather well!

Charles goes back to work today. If he works today, than he gets the Monday holiday paid. Originally, he was going to take this whole week off, but his supervisor told him that if he wants the holiday pay of time and a half for Monday, he needs to come back Friday. Their policy is that you have to work the day before and the day after the holiday to get paid for the holiday. So he did. It's my first day alone with my girls! I'm not nervous. I'm more excited to have Caitlin back in her normal routine and having Rosalie along for the ride!

We took some pictures yesterday of our girls in their "Big Sister" "Little Sister" outfits I made for them. Well, I put the words on the shirt and onesie I bought. I used puffy paint! Here is the best photo of the 10 or so that I took!

Sisterly Love

We were worried about how Caitlin would react to Rosalie when we brought her home from the hospital. Most times, she looks at Rosalie like this:

Then we ask her, "Do you love baby sissy?" and we get this look:


This is going to be fun!

Welcome Rosalie!

Our sweet angel came into our life last Friday! We got up and got ready for the day ahead of us. We took one last photo as a family of 3 right before we left for the hospital. We checked in around 7:30 and Charles left to take Caity to T's house for the day. I got settled in and hooked up to the monitors. My contractions were 3 to 4 minutes a part. I opted for NO pain medicine at all. Told the nurses that right off the bat so they wouldn't ask me at all. They never did!

Around 8:30, Charles returned and Dr. G broke my water at 8:40. My contractions didn't start picking up until about an hour afterward. I sat in the rocking chair and rocked through my contractions singing primary songs in my head. It helped.

A little after 12:30, I was checked and I was dilated to 8 cm. I had another contraction and dilated to 9. That's where I stalled for the next 15 or so minutes. I told Dr. G that I needed to push, but he said no. The right side of my cervix was only 95% effaced and I was at 10 cm. He massaged my cervix during a contraction and it HURT. But after that, it was go time!

4 contractions and pushes later, we welcomed our sweet girl into the world!

Rosalie Cadence AustinMay 21, 2010
1:17 p.m.
8 lbs 7 oz
20 inches long

I know Heavenly Father and the angels were rejoicing with us as we celebrated a new life in our world! It took absolutely everything I had in me to give birth without any sort of medicinal help. By far, the shoulders were worse than her head! I think that's why my face is so disgusted in the picture up above... it friggin' HURT! I know I was saying, "My sweet baby girl!" but my face was saying otherwise! It's kinda funny... but oh well! It was the second most incredible moment of my life! Tied for first with the moment Caitlin entered the world!

I had the shakes for a good hour after I had Rosalie. I felt like I shouldn't hold her, so Charles go to hold her quite a bit in the first hour. He enjoyed it! :) I felt wonderful after I had some Motrin in my system after the delivery! I breastfed Rosalie and she took to it wonderfully!

I spent a grand total of 2 days in the hospital. We welcomed Rosalie home on the 22nd and our first few nights have gone well. Rosalie is an oinker, eating every hour during the day, and every 2-3 hours at night. Caitlin just loves little sister! She tries to poke her eyes! Don't know why... but it's kinda cute! She'll kiss her head and rub her back! But she is jealous of her. We have a long road ahead of us, but every day is going to be SO worth it!


Rosalie and I about 2 hours after I delivered her.

All of us girls!

D-Day!

I woke up this morning and looked outside to see this gorgeous blue/purple hue to the sky. The birds were chirping and there was a dense fog that was really low to the ground. It was gorgeous. And I realized...

Today is the day. D-Day. Delivery day.

I am so excited! Yes, a little nervous, but more excited than anything else! Not for the pain, the aches, the stretching of my... ya know... but most of all, I'm excited to FINALLY hold this baby who has officially made it to 40 weeks with me.

I honestly never thought I'd ever go full term. God saw otherwise, and I couldn't be happier!

The plan for today, GET BABY OUT without pain meds! Wish me luck! It's been done before! Just not by me! I pray that Heavenly Father will guide my labor and delivery and keep me strong. We will post our labor and delievery story along with pictures of our sweet baby as soon as we can after she arrives!

I am so, so excited to meet Rosalie!
(or Jason... if the ultrasound lady was wrong...)

TOMORROW! You're only a day away!

Tomorrow we will officially meet our sweet baby Rosalie! (Or if it's a surprise and turns out to be a boy, we'll be meeting our sweet baby Jason!) Either way, we will be meeting our baby tomorrow! Unless I pull a 24 hour labor... then I'll be meeting baby on Saturday! I'm just excited to be in the hospital, in labor, and not being sent home!

Today is going to be filled with the last of the cleaning. I've been keeping up on the house since my last labor scare, so there really isn't much to do. Thank goodness. Just some random dishes, laundry, sweeping, moping, vacuuming, etc. We will also be loading the Jeep up with the car seat, overnight bags, and stuff for Caity to spend the day with Aunt T!

We are going to spend the last day as a family of 3 doing what we do best! Nothing! Ha! We're going to have just another normal day/night. We're going to play, sing, and dance like we have done every night with our sweet Caity! Give her a bottle, brush teeth, get PJs on, sing some soft songs, and rock her to sleep! I think she knows that baby sister is almost here! I just know she's going to do just fine with her here! She's our little baby Momma!

Last night was hilarious! Sesame Street came on for the second time and we were all singing along with the Elmo's World song when I looked over and saw Caity on the couch, lying down, watching Elmo! Here she is in all her cuteness!

She's just like her Daddy! :)

2 More Days

2 more days until we get to meet our sweet baby! If you ask me, "Are you nervous about labor and delivery?" My answer would be, "No." I am not. I am so ready for this that it is driving me crazy! I've had our bags packed for the hospital since I was about 34 weeks pregnant. That's almost 6 weeks of waiting to go into labor with Rosalie. See how it's driving me crazy?!

I keep saying that we "could" go today, but I think I'm becoming more of a cynic about it everyday. You'll hear comments from me saying, "She won't come out. She hates me." or "She hates my vagina, obviously, because she won't COME OUT OF IT!"
Do I really think these things... of course not. But now you can see how my cynical mind is developing these last few days.

I called my doctor's nurse, Leah, to see if we could move the induction to any later in the day, and the only time they could do it is 8 a.m. This is great because Charles and I can help Caity in her routine! :)
For this, I am thankful!

Yesterday, Caity wanted to wear her Elmo swimming suit all day! It was adorable! It was her cousin's from 14 years ago! She brought it to me from her shelf of "3T" clothes and was trying to put it on her head! She was in her diaper, so I happily obliged and she looked so stinking cute!


We have been very blessed with a gorgeous baby girl who LOVES Elmo! She will pick him out of anything, anywhere. We have a box of diapers with Elmo on it, he's very small, and she'll go right up to him, point, and say, "MELMO!" At the store, if he's on a box of cereal, fruit snacks, or on a t-shirt, same thing happens! It's SOOO cute!

3 More Days

With Caity! With Rosalie!

My appointment went well yesterday. Though given my history of going early, Dr. G wants me to get as close to the 40 week mark as possible. And considering I'm in no pain, there is no reason to get things started until Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. I am a little nervous as to what exactly is going to be happening with Caity that morning. I mean, we've got plenty of family here, but it seems as if everyone depends on everyone else, and I don't know who to ask to be with Caity until Charles can come home and keep her on her normal schedule.

The Plan as of right now:
5:45 a.m. - One of Charles' siblings come over to stay with Caity while Charles takes me into the hospital.
6:00 a.m. - Leave for Maternity ward to check in for induction. After which, Charles will go home to keep Caity in her normal routine.
6:30 a.m. - Dr. G is going to break my water and see what happens for the next few hours.
UNLESS I give birth right away, Charles will come back to the hospital around 9 a.m. after dropping Caity off at Aunt T's or Aunt Lisa's.
Noon - Dr. G hopes to have baby out and safe!

I am a little sad that Rosalie will be born on Shelly's birthday... So I am STILL praying that she'll come today or the 20th to miss Gregory's birthday on the 19th. It's nothing against Shelly or Gregory, of course! It's just that I want Rosie to have her own day! Maybe it's just me... I don't know. No matter what, it won't be the end of the world if she does come into this world on someone's birthday. Our family is HUGE... It's going to happen someday!

I am nervous about the induction, so I am pleading with Heavenly Father to let me go into labor on my own before Friday... Please, please, please.

4 More Days

Yes it's true! Unless some miracle happens today at my last prenatal check-up, I have 4 days until Rosalie arrives! I'm going to be induced Friday morning. Dr. G is going to break my water and see what happens! I'm 5 cm dilated and having hardly any contractions. But when I do have contractions, they hurt super bad and are about 3 minutes apart. Then suddenly stop. Keep us in your prayers!

I was MIA last week due to the weather. Our wireless doesn't pick up as well when it's cloudy or overcast. So I have some photos from last week that I HAVE to show you! The first one is of Caitlin passed out on the floor after she threw a HUGE fit. I let her kick and scream at me for a good 20 minutes. I told her, "If you want Momma, you gotta come over to me!" I was on the couch and she was lying on the dog's bed. She wriggled herself off of Max's bed and after a few minutes, I looked over, and she was OUT! It's cute!

These next photo is of Caitlin and Charles working in the back yard flower garden. The people who lived here before us had one, but since we have no idea what was planted in it, we are completely demolishing the garden and starting over. There is one flower plant that has sprouted this year that we're going to keep... don't know what it is, but it's sure pretty!


When Caity got bored helping Daddy, she started the long journey across the yard to get to Dallas, our outside dog. She got tired half way and just sat there looking at me. I couldn't resist! She's just so gorgeous!

This past weekend, we hung out with Mike and Karmen for lunch and stayed a few hours afterward to play video games and watch a movie. We just love hanging out with the two of them! They are super cute and always generous. We told them that next time, they are coming to our house! Rosalie will be here by then and I know they want to see her! We ended Saturday by hanging out at Charles' parents house.

Sunday went well. I was having monster contractions in the morning, but decided to keep getting ready in case they stopped... which they did! It was graduation Sunday so there were hardly anyone at church, but it was a good Sunday! We ate over at T's again because her husband's Mother and Grandmother are in town for the week to see their new baby, Jared, who was born in Jan.

Caitlin is still half-walking! No photos yet... kinda sad, but she just plain refuses to walk! She'll do it for a good 6 or 7 steps, and then PLOP! Back to crawling! She's so hilarious! I'm just glad that she's becoming braver and braver as we go! She's too smart sometimes! That's all for now! Wish us luck today and hopefully I'll have something to report on tomorrow other than the fact that I want Rosie OUT!

The Final Countdown for Rosalie

I had another prenatal check-up yesterday and Caitlin had her ears checked to see if the antibiotic worked or not on her ears. Caitlin was up first weighing in at a whooping 26 lbs 4 oz! Our little fatty! It made my day! PLUS, her ears are all healed and no more double ear infection! This also made my day! Here is a picture of our fatty on a box that collapsed moments after I snapped the photo!


Mommy's turn! I haven't gained any weight this week! Yay! I'm not going to even disclose how much I weigh right now, but I weigh the exact same I did when I had Caity. My uterus is still measuring at 40 weeks, so Dr. G said that he'll probably induce me a day early depending on how my cervix is/was when he checked me. As of right now, I'm 3 1/2 cm dilated and "soft"! Leah, his nurse, said, "WALK, WALK, WALK!" We all laughed! Dr. G told me to make sure my bags are packed and that we've set up accommodations for Caity because he's expecting a call in the next few days to deliver baby Rosie! He sounded pretty confident!

IF Rosie decides to stay put, my induction date will be the 21st. So either way, she'll be full term and super fat! Caity weighed 6 lbs 13 oz at birth and she was 5 weeks early... so if Rosie's on that track... this is going to HURT!

Come baby, come!

All things considered, we are praying for Rosie to come when the Lord has it planned for us. We are praying for a healthy labor and delivery, followed by a healthy baby girl and Mommy! Keep us in your prayers! Love ya!

Mother's Day

Our weekend went quite well though it was uneventful. We spent most of Saturday at home lounging around doing some last minute cleaning and putting stuff away in prep for baby Rosalie to come. Had FHE with the family, then went out to eat with Jessica and Casey. That was nice because we haven't seen them since a little after their July wedding last year! So it was nice to catch up with friends!

Charles stayed up until almost 2 a.m. on the computer... so I knew how our morning would end up going... not good. I was right.

Sunday morning, Mother's Day, started off as a usual Sunday. I woke up early to pack the diaper bag, set out Caity's clothes, shower, etc. I blow dry my hair in order to wake little one up so that she'll have her morning poop out of the way before we get in the Jeep to head for church. I wake up Charles and he asks for another 30 minutes. I knew what time he had come to bed, but I thought I'd ask him what time HE thought he came to bed. He was off by half an hour. He got his extra 30 min. I end up feeding Caity while Charles gets up and gets ready. He's all ready to go, comes in the kitchen to take over feeding Caity, but she's in a "Mommy-only" kinda mood. Great. That's when I FINALLY hear a "Happy Mother's Day" from my husband. But by that time, I was too frustrated to show any emotion back. I barely get ready in time AND I didn't get breakfast. I wasn't too happy. We ended up bickering at each other right before we left for church... Happy Mother's Day to me.

By the end of church, our attitudes had cooled off and he apologized for never helping me on Sunday mornings with Caity. He also apologized for not getting up early enough to make me breakfast. I told him I just wanted help with Caity and for him to say "Happy Mother's Day" when I woke him up... not an hour later. I don't care about him making me breakfast... I just wanted to hear him say "Happy Mother's Day" when he first woke up... maybe that's just me... I don't know.

He made me lunch, hot ham and cheese, while I called my Mom and Grandma to thank them for being awesome all these years. After lunch, I made cards for his Mom and sisters to give to them before we had our big dinner with the family. We ended up leaving late because he couldn't think of what to say on the inside of the cards! We figured it out, but we showed up 20 min. late. Luckily, Lisa had dinner running late so we showed up just in time!

We came home and watched a movie as a family and it was a nice day, after all. Though my conclusion for Mother's Day... it's just another day celebrated by Mothers, for Mothers. At least, that's what all of us women decided at church yesterday. And you know what's funny, we usually go all out for our Husbands and Dad's on Father's Day... maybe it, too, should be just another day celebrated by Fathers, for Fathers.

I bet our men wouldn't even notice!

Do I sound bitter? Or just pregnant and TIRED?! Wait... don't answer that!

Counting Our Blessings

It seems like the past few days have been a downward spiral for many friends in my life. I've had a few friends with relatives who have died suddenly, another friend trying to stay pregnant with her fifth child, and a dear friend of mine from high school, Angie, who just found out on May 4th that her 2 1/2 year old son has T Cell Leukemia. I cannot imagine going through what Angie is going through right now. She JUST had her third child 29 days ago. I have dealt with sudden family losses and trying to stay pregnant with a baby that wants to come early and get a head start on life. Both are equally not fun. Especially the preemie part... So I've decided to devote an entire blog to count all the blessings in my life that I am thankful for.

All thanks, of course, is due to my Father in Heaven.

I am thankful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.
I am thankful to be a member of His Church.
I am thankful to have been married and sealed in the Nauvoo Temple for all time and eternity to Charles.
I am thankful to have found my eternal companion in a small town!
I am thankful to have a healthy, beautiful daughter, Caitlin.
I am thankful to be pregnant with our second daughter, Rosalie.
I am thankful for all of my past, failed pregnancies.
I am thankful to have friends.
I am thankful to have a wonderful family. (Even though they drive me insane sometimes...)
I am thankful to have a roof over my head.
I am thankful to have food in the house.
I am thankful to have a messy house full of toys!
I am thankful to have 2 dogs and 2 cats.
I am thankful that my husband loves me for me.
I am thankful that my husband is hot!
I am thankful that Caitlin breathes. I check on her at least 3 times a night!
I am thankful to have some college under my belt.
I am thankful for all the wonderful people I met and left in Cedar Falls/W'loo.
I am thankful for Charles' Mother who isn't afraid to tell me something straight, without wondering if she will hurt my feelings.
I am thankful to not have R rated movies on my movie shelf.
I am thankful to not have any sort of tobacco or alcohol in my house.
I am thankful to have lived almost 23 years here on earth.
I am thankful that my husband comes home from work everyday in one piece!
I am thankful that my husband works so that I can stay home with our children.
I am thankful to be a stay-at-home Mom. It's all I've ever really wanted to be!
I am thankful to have made it this far in my pregnancy with Rosalie.
I am thankful to have a vehicle that hasn't had any major problems.
I am thankful to have clothes on my back and shoes on my feet.
I am thankful to be alive.
I am thankful to have never had anything major happen to me, medically.
I am thankful to have the priesthood in my home.
I am thankful to have a worthy Husband to use the priesthood in our home.
I am thankful to that Charles is a college graduate.
I am thankful that Charles is super smart!
I am thankful to have a wonderful family of In-Laws.
I am thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ.
I am thankful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
I am thankful to be a beautiful daughter of Heavenly Father.
I am thankful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to help his Spirit Children come to Earth.
I am thankful for the Plan of Salvation, the Plan of Happiness.
I am thankful for many, many more things.... but this list is sufficient for now!

Still Pregnant!

I don't know whether to be happy or frustrated that this little baby is still taking up all of my insides right now! I keep telling myself, "It's best for all babies to be born close to the 40 week mark so that their development will be at it's peak come the delivery!" and then on the other side of that, I keep telling myself, "Can you really do another day of this?! Especially with a toddler who can walk now, but refuses to?! A child who wants to go down for her nap on your ever shrinking lap?!" This frustrates me... in a good way, I suppose!

We had a fantastic weekend! Mikey and Megan came down to visit again! They had candles to deliver from the fundraiser we had for Mikey. They got here so late of Friday that we ended up going to DQ and calling it a night! On Saturday we went to the Family Restaurant in town for breakfast because it's the only thing that restaurant does right! Then we headed back home so the boys could go fishing! Mind you, Charles and I had our diaper shower that same day. Charles gave me the "puppy-dog-eye" thing when asking if it was okay to be missing our shower to go fishing. I told him to just go and have fun! Which was the best thing since it was all females at the shower anyway! By the time they left, Megan and I got to sit around and do nothing at my house! Awesome! We watched Flicka and chatted it up until my Mother go to town.

The shower was amazing! We had such a blast! I got like, 400 diapers! No joke! Baby lotion, baby bath, baby bubble bath, baby powder, and TONS of wipes! Rosalie also got some toys, a blanket, a baby announcement pillow, and a few bibs! We had a car full of diapers on the way home!

The boys got back from fishing in time for dinner... in which they then asked us if it was okay to go back out again. I said yes, but only if Charles would look at all the gifts we had received from the shower! So the boys left, and we got to do the exact same thing.... nothing at home! We chatted it up, watched TV, played with Caity, and chilled. When the boys got home, they sounded like they had won a million dollars. They ran into a friend of mine from Bunn and got to talking, he invited them out on the boat on Sunday. "YES YES YES YES YES," was all I heard from that point on!

Sunday, Mikey and Megan left for Red Oak to deliver candles while Charles and I went to church. Someone dropped a dead skunk in a window well outside the church, so it was awful smelling inside. I kept getting light headed. We left right after sacrament meeting was over. We got home, ate lunch, and waited for Mikey and Megan to return. The boys headed out with Dan around 2, and Megan and I were left to ourselves. It was the three of us girls! We headed over to T's house for our usual Sunday night dinner... the boys weren't back yet. They showed up an hour after dinner started! They had caught 20 fish and were way excited about it! Mikey and Megan still had a 3+ drive home to get to, and it was almost 7 by the time we got back to my house. The boys had to fillet the fish. That took almost 2 hours. They left about 9:30.

All in all, it was quite a successful weekend for our growing family! As of today, I am still pregnant and walking all over this town trying to get things started! Ending the walks drenched in sweat and still pregnant always goes over well... not! This town has too many hills!

Here are some photos from the shower! Enjoy :)