Giggles 'N Pix

Wow! What's this you say? Noelle is posting again and it hasn't been six months? YUP!!!  So this isn't gonna be a long writey post but more pics. Pretty much the pics from Hawaii so they totally aren't updated cause now Everley is almost 16 months! I'm bad a remembering dates but here are some fun things and one not so fun.

*I could put her hair in a little pony tail on the top of her head in June
*She's got a mouth full of teeth and knows how to use 'em
*She walks all over the place and has been for a month now
*We have been to Kentucky, the Grand Canyon and San Francisco since we went to Hawaii
*Skywest is dumb and decided to furlough 180 people and I was one of them. Guess four years there does diddly squat.  Which means we have no more flight benefits (as of Oct. 23) BOO HOO! (Delta is in the near future for me, I hope) This was the not so fun thing....
*Everley is super funny and makes me giggle all the time!
        -If she sees something cool (to her) she will whisper "Oh Wow!" like she is in complete awe!
       -When I walk around the car to get her out of her carseat she will always smile and wave like she    hasn't seen me for days. And when I open the door she yells "Hi!!"
       -After I'm done using the bathroom she would always walk over to the toilet and so I would quickly say "NO NO" and now EVERY time this occurs and I stand up she quickly puts her hand up and says "UH UH". Cracks me up!
       -My sister had this little robe she made for her daughter and passed it to us and Everley LOVES it! She will go to her room and grab her robe and bring it to me to put it on. She will wear it as long as we let her. Is my daughter an 80 year old lady??

Ok, ok here are pics of Hawaii.... More updated pics to come later. Hopefully sooner than later.

Not so sure about this

Waipio Valley

Yep, she fell asleep in the ocean for about 45 min!

She HATES the grass! She will fuss and lift one leg up cause she does NOT like the feel of it

I give up!

I wrote this a few MONTHS ago and never posted it! SILLY me!********************************************************************************

I give up on trying to keep up in the bloggers world. Life has consumed every second and unfortunately, my blog is not included in those precious seconds! Between two jobs, making sure my husband and baby are cared for (properly. Although even that doesn't happen all the time) having a clean house (HA! ya right!) and just being able to eat and sleep, I just don't make time for these occasions anymore. I need to, cause I look at my blog as a journal. Cause Heaven knows I don't keep up in my real journal anymore!

Sooooooooooooooo, UPDATES! Updates are the new thing. I mean, who actually keeps up on their day to day life on the computer anymore? Pshhhh, not me! So here it goes, another LONG post just to give a glimpse of our crazy yet wonderful life. Even if no one reads this anymore, at least I will have it for me, when I will eventually print everthing out and put it in a book or maybe buy one of those fancy books that do all that for you. WHO KNOWS!

The last time I wrote we had been to Hawaii for Everley's first time and like I said, she was a GEM! Well I'll pick up the slack from there and obviously missing things since it's been so long!

*April 3rd- Everley sat up by herself for the first time and she bounces herself in her "bouncy chair", so cute! And she will just sit up in her bouncy chair now! Guess she got to big for it!

*April 9-16th we went to Kentucky again to visit her great grandparents. Again, she did awesome on the plane and was an angel while we were there. We went on lots of walks and just had fun relaxing! Oh ya, we also drove to Lincoln's boyhood home and a town called Santa Claus (sounds cooler than it was!). And an oppossum came to visit us on grandma and grandpa great's porch. They are kinda gross!

*Easter weekend we had our yearly easter egg hunt on the Button side of the family with over 350 eggs!! Everley certainly got her share but wouldn't share with daddy, momma or grandma!

*In May she started to say momma and dadda A LOT! She will also sing or hum if there are loud noises like the lawn mower, hair dryer etc. At her 9 month appt. the doc asked if she was pulling herself up or crawling yet and she wasn't doing any of these. So we had to go get an x-ray of her hips to make sure she didn't have "frog legs". Which she didn't, she is just on her own time frame of doing things! No forcing the peanut into anything she doesn't want to! Around 10 months, she still wasn't crawling but she would roll to anything she wanted. It was quite funny to watch. She would roll a couple of times then pop her head up to see where she was and the roll again until she got to where she wanted to be. She also learned to click her tounge. But she clicks it more like you would when you're on a horse than the usual knocking sound. (if that make sense) Over Memorial Day weekend, we went down to our cabin and had a blast as usual. Our little lady has no fear and loves to ride on the four wheeler. But then again she cried when we put her feet in the river, but in her defense, it was really cold!

*June 15th she cut her first tooth on the bottom! YAY! And our princess is a freaking genius! She will sit and figure things out until she does it. For example, I have this chapstick tube where the lid is pretty much the length of the tube so it just slides off. Well I just showed her once what it did and before I knew it she was sliding that lid off and on and would just look at me and smile as if saying "I did it mom! I'm so smart!" We also "try" to hide the remote from her cause she LOVES it. Jason slid it under the pillow once when she wasn't looking but when she turned back around and noticed it was gone the first place she looked was under the pillow and then looked at Jason and smiled like "duh dad! You're gonna have to do better than that!" She is so stinking cute and has such a cute personality already. She is so happy and loving. She will always grab my face and give me Everley kisses (a kiss with her mouth wide open) but I love every one of them, even if they get spit all over me!

*June 25th (her 11 month birthday) SHE CRAWLED! She pretty much just took off! It took just a few tries and she would crawl a few feet but stop cause I think it overwhelmed her. It looked like she was thinking, "Holy crap! If I move like this, I can get over to the couch and get the remote in like three seconds! This is SOOO COOL!" By the next day or so there was no stopping her and it was the end of being able to just sit and do nothing while she plays. Now it's making sure she's not getting into anything and not opening things she shouldn't! SO FUN THOUGH!

*4th of July weekend we went to the cabin again but we left Sunday the 3rd cause I had to work the morning of the 4th. But that night we got together with my family and ate dinner then watched as Jason put on a great show with all the fireworks he's had that used to be illegal but now aren't. Then we sat on my sisters lawn and watched the fireworks they put on at Thanksgiving Point and I must say, the show we saw around the neighborhood and what Jason let off was actually much more impressive! Everley certainly didn't like the fireworks but as time went on she tolerated them. She wasn't happy, she wasn't crying she would just sit there probably thinking as long as Jason or I held her, she was going to be ok.

*So during June and parts of July Jason and I decided to rip out the linoleum in our kitchen and bathrooms and put in tile. Great thought, not so fun actually doing it. However, it has turned out really nice and I am so glad we did it. We also got new carpet in parts of our condo (so expensive to do the whole thing right now). And in the middle of this our water heater went out and my car needed new breaks. Ok, so the cost of the tile and carpet and then the water heater and new breaks were going to make it so we couldn't afford to go to Hawaii for Everley's first birthday. We were bummed and were coming to terms with not going but then miraculously things came together and we got an awesome place for way cheap. I mean WAY cheap! So we were able to go! YAY! The only thing was we ended up having to leave a week earlier than what we were planning.

*July 15-23rd we were in Hawaii (the Big Island) AGAIN! YIPEE! We were lucky to have my parents and brothers come with us. It was really fun (and greatly needed). Everley was able to enjoy the beach a lot more now that she could sit and crawl. We would play in the sand and make castles.... and then destroy them. She would start to get so excited that she would just lean forward and then faceplant in the sand getting it all over her face and in her mouth. But that's ok cause we would just rinse off in the ocean and start again! She loves sitting in the ocean in her ladybug floaty toy. In fact one time Jason had her out there an in like five minutes she fell asleep in her floaty out on the ocean! She took about a 45 min nap out there! When we tried to bring her in to just rest in the shade, she woke up! Guess we should have just kept her out there! We drove around the island once and got to see black sand, lots of turtles, waterfalls and lava trees! Our friend Walter and his family threw a party for Everley on the beach. We had steak and pork, corn on the cob, watermelon, chips, drinks, cookies, you name it! And of course CAKE! She dived into her cake! She was a little slow getting into cause I think she was thinking, "I can really do this? My mom is really gonna let me get cake all over me!" But once I shoved her hand into the cake, it was over! She took over from there and went to town getting it all over herself and me!

*Other fun things about our sweet pea is that she loves to be read to and to look at the pictures. She will turn the page really well and usually won't turn it until we are done reading! So smart I tell you! She also loves to play catch. She actually throws/rolls the ball pretty good and will go get it if she doesn't catch it! We played catch one day for about a half hour! She also loves to play with her blocks. We will build towers and she loves to knock them down. She will also build her own towers and knock them down. She finally learned to pull herself up to things towards the end of July and now pulls herself up to everthing she can! I bet she'll be walking soon! When we have her in her car seat (she still uses the same one with the base) and she is on a hard surface, she will rock herself! She gets going pretty good too! She knows how to do the actions for eensy weensy spider and patty cake and LOVES to play them! She really likes to close doors for some reason. If our pantry door is every open, you can bet on Everley to close it. She will also crawl into a room and close the door on herself and sometimes cry cause she trapped herself. So needless to say we usually keep all the doors closed in the hallway so she won't do that! On August 4th I was able to put her hair in a little pony tail on the top of her head for the first time! SO CUTE! Our little lady is a human vaccuum cleaner too! (but in a good way) Instead of picking up things and putting them in her mouth, she will pick something up (usually it's super small) and come bring it to us to throw away! She is such a good little helper. She will help put her toys away (but then immediately starts to take them out again!!) and she tries to help with the dishes and laundry too! (that makes her daddy proud!) We sure love our little ladybug and enjoy every minute with her! She has brought us such joy and she is so fun!

*******Ok. So something is up with our pictures and I can't locate some of them..... pics from Hawaii and such. So I will post more pictures later when I can figure out what in the world is going on.*******

Slacktacker

Oopsi poopsi! Once again I let my blog take the back seat. Believe it or not I do think about it all the time, I even think about the things I want to write, but then I don't do it! Ha! Needless to say our little peanut is growing up! She is the joy of all joys and such a good little baby. I guess I'll start with Christmas time.


*Christmas Eve we went to my parents and had yummy dinner and opened the cousin gifts. She got some really cute toys and clothes. Obviously she doesn't even know what it going on, but she was just happy to be there. Christmas morning she found a big present under the tree from Santa. It was one of those exersaucer thingys. She is so petite we have to prop her up with a blanket otherwise she would jut fall forward. But she's grown into it a lot better now. She also got some more cute clothes and jammies. We then went to the Button's for an oh so good breakfast and opened more cousin gifts :) All in all it was a really good Christmas!


She was actually laughing in this picture! Cute little peanut!

She would get this suprised look on her face when I would crinkle the tissue paper!
So happy that the big present was for her!!

*New Years Eve we were old people and went to bed cause I had to be to work at 6am which really meant I had to wake up at 4 to pump and eat and then have enough time for the commute. Not so exciting, I know.

*Later in January we took the babe swimming for the first time. She wasn't to fond of it it at first but she got used to it, which was the whole point cause we wanted her to get used to the water before we went to Hawaii. We've gone twice now and she actually does really good. It's just getting out of the pool and having a cold wet swimmin' suit on she doesn't like. She fusses til we get her dry and all snuggled up.

Family swim time!

Safe in daddy's arms

So content for the time being

....which didn't last!

*I started back at Marriott in January, so juggling two jobs is quite exciting. It's actually not bad at all. I only work there once or twice a week and only two or three times at Skywest. It's all about the benefits baby!! Gotta love 'em.

*I AM DONE PUMPING!!!!! YAY! As much as I really did want to continue giving Everley breastmilk, my supply dwindled in February. But the nice thing is, she LOVES cereal and baby food so she eats that twice a day and formula the other three. It's worked out so much better with working both jobs. I feel I fulfilled my duties as a mother in giving her breastmilk the only way she would take it for the first 6 1/2 months of her life. So I'm proud of me :)

*February we took our peanut to Maui! ALOHA! So nice to get out of the crappy weather here and enjoy the sunshine there. To keep it short, she did AWESOME on the plane ride there and back. She slept most of the time there and ate and played the rest of the time and then on the way back she slept the ENTIRE flight (it was a redeye thought). She is such a good little traveler, which is good cause we travel a lot! Her first experience with the ocean was mixed feelings for her. I don't think she liked the "floating" experience when we had to jump over the waves, which made mom and dad unstable. But she got used to it and actually loved sitting in a floaty with either me or Jason. She was such GREAT baby the whole time! We would spend hours on the beach or in the car (driving the road to Hana) or just walking around town and she would just go with the flow of things. Oh, she LOVES shave ice! Every time we would get one and see us eating it, she would just sit there with her mouth open til we gave her a bite! So very cute! We saw TONS whales this trip and some were really close to the shore, it was awesome! It was a great trip and we can't wait to go again in July for her first birthday!

As far as her developments, she weighed 13lbs 5oz and was 25.5" long at her six monthe appointment. She will be eight months this friday and she still doesn't sit up on her own or crawl or ANYTHING! I used to give her the benefit of the doubt since she was born a month early, I knew she would be a little behind, but now I just think she is being lazy and is taking advantage of her excuse. I guess she just has a mind of her own and will do things when she wants! Oh ya, SHE DOESN'T SPIT UP ANYMORE!!!! HOORAY! Well, I mean she'll still do a little here and there, ya know, the "normal" spit up, but other than that, she's good. It is so nice to not have a bib around her neck 24/7 and I'm sure she enjoys it too! She does babble a lot and says mamamamamama, even though I don't think she actually quite knows what she is saying and associates it with me, but I'll take it! It sure melts my heart to even hear that. She giggles and laughs when it's play time and will finally roll over from her tummy to her back, well, most the time. She also likes to play peek-a-boo. She will actually pull the blanket over her own head and then pull it down and wait for you to say "peek-a-boo!" It's pretty cute! But all things aside, she is the BEST little baby anyone could ever hope for. She is such a laid back little girl that will pretty much just go with the flow! We are so very blessed to have her in our lives! Maybe this is common, but when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap, she will just open her eyes and lay there til we come to get her. She will sometimes make little noises to politely let us know she is awake, but is mostly just a quiet little mouse til we come and get her. It makes it nice to get a few more things done before it's time to devote all my attention to her.
Yep, she's adorable!

Such a cute little smile!

Yup, that's icecream my friends,

And she LOVES it! Just like her mommy :)


Well folks this is the end of the update and I am going to try as hard as I can to keep up, cause I HATE doing these recaps where you can only touch the surface on things. Until next time.

Fast Forward

Um, I think someone hit the fast forward button cause time has flown by. There has been so much going on with the holidays and just living life that the blog has had to take the back seat. So a quick recap of events and some much needed pictures should do the trick!


*I had to return to work (Skywest) on October 18. I bawled the night before, but didn't cry at work. I was proud of myself! Work hasn't been that bad cause I'm only part time and it has been slow. It's kind of a nice break but I miss her like crazy when I'm gone.


*October 20th was our anniversary! It has been four years since I married the love of my life! He is so wonderful and always treats me like a queen. He has given me a beautiful daughter and is such a good daddy. I love you babe! My mom was nice enough to watch the peanut while we went to dinner and a movie. This was the first time she wasn't with Jason or I since we came home from the hospital and boy she had a hard time. My poor mom had to deal with a crying baby pretty much the entire time we were gone. The little lady bug finally wore herself out and fell asleep about a half hour before we picked her up, the little stinker. But we were still able to enjoy our time together :)


*We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with the Button family at our cabin Nov. 20 and then the 21st Jason, Everley and I packed our bags to go to Kentucky for the actual week of Thanksgiving. We wanted Grandma and Grandpa Great to meet her. She did awesome on the 3 1/2 hour plane ride both ways. Grandpa Great said he had never seen such a good baby in all his 90 years. She really was perfect and even slept all through the nights the entire trip! She also had her first taste of rice cereal and applesauce while we were there and gobbled it right up! It was a short but sweet trip and it was really good to see them.



*November 29, Everley had her 4 month checkup and she is doing great! She was 23 3/4 inches long (26th %) 11 lbs 3 oz (5th %) and her noggin measured 40 cm (20th%). So she is still just a little lady but the doc said she is where she should be since she was born 4 weeks early. She took her shots like a champ again and only cried for about 2.7 minutes and was fine. I really think I'm in more pain than she is. Even though she will be 5 months on Christmas Day, she still wears 0-3 month size pants and 3 month size onesies! She is our petite little girl! But she has more than doubled her weight since she was born! She still spits up all the time from her reflux and the little muscle that is above her stomach not being fully developed so she lives in a bib. So much for showing off her cute clothes! Sometimes I will take it off to snag a few pix but other than that there is one on her all the time. Which means that we are doing even more laundry cause she goes through 6 or more bibs and burp cloths a DAY!!!



*Yesterday, I turned the big 27! Weird! I feel like I stopped aging at 23 :) It was a busy but great day! Jason had to work, so we went out the night before to dinner and a movie (The Tourist has a good story but it is really slow. Don't get me wrong, I still liked it, but I would recommend waiting to rent it through redbox instead of spending the money!) So on the actual day, I went out to lunch with my sweet Mother in-law and then to her house for some chit chat, then I met up with my family (it's my Mom's birthday too!) for dinner at Zupas and then went to my sisters house for presents. OK, so it doesn't sound busy, but when you factor in taking care of your child and all the spit up she gives to me plus pumping, plus all the crazy traffic and having to run all the way back home for more milk for the babe and then back out to dinner, IT WAS CRAZY :) My sweet little girl is now sleeping through the night EVERY NIGHT:) She has always been a good sleeper, only waking up once in the night but now it's even better! It has been so nice to get a straight eight hours of sleep! YAY!



So that's it in a nutshell. I would have liked to write more on some subjects but I have gotten so far behind it would make for an entirely too long of a post. So you get what you get! Enjoy all the pix!

10.10.10

This past Sunday, which happened to be October 10, 2010, was the day we blessed our sweet baby girl! She looked absolutely gorgeous dressed all in white. I got her dress and little booties at a store in American Fork called, Little Things Mean A Lot. She also had a cute little bracelet and a headband I made that had a button and some pearls. (I really like to use buttons since that's our last name! Can you tell?)

She was such an angel until he blessing was over, which turned out to be perfect. I just had to walk the halls for most of Sacrament meeting. However, I did manage to sneak back in for the last few minutes and was even able to go up and give the obligatory bearing of the testimony the moms usually have when their baby is blessed. Don't get me wrong, it was defintely a good thing, it's just that speaking in front of a bunch of people is one of my top three greatest fears. I just don't enjoy being the center of attention with everyones eyes fixated directly on me. It was meant to be that I still had Everley in my arms (cause she had just barely fallen asleep and it was still to soon to pass her off to Jason) cause if I didn't, it would have looked like I was having a seizure up there cause I was shaking so bad and I honestly don't know if I would've gotten up there otherwise. This is just a confirmation that I truly believe our Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us personally. He knows that speaking in front of people scares me terribly, so He made it as comforatble for me as it can and will ever be. I was able to stand up there and bear my testimony while looking at my sweet little angel and swaying her back and forth. The only problem is, I'm not quite sure what I said cause I was so nervous!

After Sacrament, we headed over to our clubhouse to celebrate by stuffing our faces silly with lots of yummy food! After my little sweet pea ate her lunch she slept quietly in the corner while her momma and daddy were eating. She is such a good baby! We are truly blessed to have her in our family!

On another note, we just got back from spending the night at our cabin with our friend Walter that came all the way from Hawaii for Everley's blessing. It was soooooo beautiful down there! Have I mentioned that fall is my most favorite season of all? Well, it is. I love everything about it. The fresh, cool crisp air. The color changing leaves. Snuggling in blankets and sweaters. Hot chocolate. MMMMMM! I LOVE IT! Anyway, while we were there, Jason decided to take Everley on her first four wheeler ride. I guess I can't say she loved it, but she didn't hate it either. Jason said she was just very content on the whole ride up and down and around the cabin property. She didn't cry at all but she didn't really smile either. Guess we'll just have to keep at it! Walter fixed us a feast of seafood for dinner and boy was it good! We had lobster tails and jumbo shrimp and scallops we could mix in with our pasta and alfredo sauce. YUM! All in all it was just a nice little get away :)

Adapting

I cannot believe how fast time flies by when you're just feeding, changing, putting baby to sleep, trying to catch up on my own sleep and cleaning up around the house! My days just fly by!

Things have been going pretty good, but I did have a period of baby blues that got me down. I was so overwhelmed with trying to figure out our new life and breastfeeding was driving me crazy cause I would sit there for two hours trying to feed her and then when I think she is finally done, she would act as though she was famished! I was going insane cause I was literally spending my entire day on the couch trying to feed her. And it didn't help that being in the NICU destroyed me cause I was always paranoid at how much food she was getting and you obviously can't tell when she's breastfeeding. That was the whole reason she was in the NICU in the first place cause of her eating problems, so naturally that was the top thing on my mind. Then I started getting stressed because I was stressing out and it was just a vicious cycle. Finally, I just decided that I was going to pump and then just bottle feed her. Then I could tell how much she was getting and I knew that I would only have to pump for 20 minutes at a time and I would be done, which is so much better than sitting there for two or more hours and then some. I also called the doc to give me some meds to help me feel normal again. So after figuring out all that things have been great!!!

Labor day weekend we went down to our cabin in Fairview, which was our first time spending the night somewhere other than the hospital and home. She did really good, but most of the Button family was up there so there were a lot of kids which equal a lot of noise that kind of overwhelmed her (and me a little too!). But all in all she did really good and it was fun to have a change of scenery. We have also taken several Sunday drives and gone to the mountains to enjoy the fresh air. Then about a week and a half later we flew to Reno and then drove to Lake Tahoe to spend several days there. Jason knew that I needed to get out of the house (even though I was really freaked out about it). He was very understanding and didn't want to pressure me into anything but at the same time was really encouraging the trip. So finally after one breakdown and two attempts, we made it! I was hesitant about the airport and flying with a month and a half year old baby, but Everley did really well considering. I think I was more freaked out than she was. Going through security was a little interesting but we made it through none the less. It was beautiful there and so worth the apprehension I was feeling! (I hate it when Jason is right!) It was so nice and relaxing. We drove around the lake twice all in all and made stops along the way. We would go for walks and browse through the shops. It was fun to see Everley take in all the new scenery and new sounds and smells. I think she started to get sensory overload toward the end of our trip but she still did pretty good! And she slept the whole flight on the way home. She is so good to us!

On September 25 she officially turned two months old! I can't believe how fast it's gone! She just had her two month appointment and is doing good for being early. She now weighs 8lbs 7oz and is 22 inches long. She is pretty low in all the percentiles but the doc said she is really only one month old according to her maturity cause they go by the gestational age as far as these growths and measurements go, but not to worry cause she'll catch up and everything will be great! She had to get THREE shots at her appt. but she took it like a champ! She is such a strong and brave little girl. When the nurse poked her for the first time it took a second to realize she didn't like it so much and screamed with her little face all scrunched up. But as soon and the nurse was done with the third shot and put the tweety bird band aids on her legs, she stopped crying and was fine! She coos and smiles A LOT! It's so cute, I love when she smiles! She is so beautiful, I can't hardly believe she is mine to love on! She has her daddy wrapped around her finger! Jason loves our little girl so very much and is so good with her! She smiles the most when daddy talks to her, but mommy gets smiles too :) She has rolled over from her tummy to her back a couple of times and other times just gets mad. She loves to go on walks and likes to be outside. She still has reflux and spits up a bunch since the muscle that closes above her stomach isn't quite developed and it allows her food to just come up if she's jostled around to much or if she's not in a sitting position. So with that, we are constantly doing wash and I think we have about 25 bibs that she goes through in a couple of days. She lives in a bib, which helps cut down the number of times we have to change her clothes, but we still usually have to change her clothes at least once or twice a day.

I have to go back to Skywest October 18h which is just around the corner. I am both nervous and excited to go back to work. I think it will be nice to have a little change during the week but I am also nervous about how it'll mess up the schedule that we have just gotten used too. Oh well, life will move forward, right? At least I only have to work 12 hours a week so it's not like I will be away from her a lot. It's seriously all about the flight benefits. If it weren't for those, I would probably quite and work somewhere a lot closer to home. But gosh darn it, we love to travel! Jason is really excited to take Everley all over the place especially when she learns about something at school, like the White House, then we would fly her out to D.C. and actually show her what she just learned! It's gonna be so much fun! We are already planning her first birthday luau in Hawaii with our dear friend Walter and his family. First birthdays are a big deal in Hawaii and so they are going to throw her a big party :)

Well, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Life is certainly different, but it is wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing! She is such a blessing in our lives! I will post a slide show (if I can get it to work) as soon as I can!

A Quick Update

Sorry guys, things have been super crazy, as you can imagine! Life is TOTALLY different now, but in a good way of course :) Just trying to figure out a schedule and get used to our new life as a family of three!! We actually got home from the hospital last Thursday, August 5th! So all in all, she was in the NICU for 9 days and I was at the hospital the WHOLE time with her! I was actually discharged from the hospital July 29th but since Everley was in the NICU we were lucky enough to stay in a family support room (for free and right next to the NICU) for the next 6 nights and but then had to pay for our last night in the "hospital hotel stay room" back on the 3rd floor. We were so grateful to be able to stay in that room so close to our precious little girl. Normally they only let families stay in those rooms for one or two nights and it's on a priority basis, so we could have been kicked out at any time if a higher priority family needed the room. There are only two of those rooms, so we were pretty dang lucky to get it that long to be with her as much as we could!

When we got home, it was pretty much like we were starting all over again! Since we had the past week of help from the nurses and she wasn't staying in our room with us 24/7 it really wasn't like she was officially ours yet. I know that sounds weird, but when you have all this help and the nurses say that I can skip a feeding and actually sleep for 4 or 5 hours, it just kinda felt like I was an aunt or part time mom that came to help every once in a while. So now that we are home and there are NO nurses to take her in the middle of the night or to ask questions too, it has finally set in and is a REALITY CHECK!!! This past week has seriously been a blur. Since being in the NICU and having them tell me all these precise details, like how much she needs to eat in a feeding if she goes three hours or four hours in between and how much she is supposed to weigh and I need to be breast pumping every time after she eats to ensure I get a good milk supply and all this craziness, I came home having that built in my mind and I have been going crazy trying to be so precise and freaking myself out if she only ate for 10 minutes instead of 20 or if she only had 6 wet diapers in a day instead of 7. Then I would look up information in books and freak myself out even more because it would seem like she had symptoms for some random thing...... OH MY GOSH! I WAS A NIGHTMARE OF A WRECK! Poor Jason has had to deal with me freaking out and being so emotional. He had to tell me at least 97 times that all these baby books are not specific to each baby cause they are all sooooo different and that I need to stop reading into all these little things and just let her tell me when she is hungry and go off of my own motherly instincts. FINALLY, it hit me! OK, he WAS right. So I'm feeling better about things and not worrying so much. Cause after all, they wouldn't have let her come home if she wasn't doing fine on her own and at her 2 week appt. the pediatrician would have told me if I needed to be concerned. SO, I can BREATHE once again. Now it's just trying to deal with the fatigue!

Everley is such a wonderful baby! She DOESN'T cry! (knock on wood!) I mean, she have her little wails when she's hungry or poopy, but it's like 2 min and that's it! When she got her hepatitis B shot last week, she only cried while the needle was poking her and as soon as the nurse put a band aid on it, she was fine and stopped! I cried more than her! I broke down after she got the shot cause I felt so bad! She is a real trooper and we couldn't be more blessed!

Ok, so I know, I need to put up a slide show of all her ADORABLE pictures, but I'm afraid that is not going to be now! SORRY! I am pooped! But I figured that since people kept thinking we were still in the NICU, I should give you an update. So hopefully I can get pictures up in the next few days, but then again, I wouldn't hold your breath! Things just get a little crazy!!

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers! They have all certainly helped! And if I haven't called you back, I'm sorry. Shoot me a text message instead. Those are easier to respond to!

She' s Here!!!

Everley Noelle Button was born July 25, 2010 at 6:46 am! She was 5 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches long! She is so beautiful and such a joy in our life! We couldn't be happier!

So this is the scoop. July 17 sometime in the evening I started having contractions with lower back pain.... I just thought they were Braxton Hicks contractions with a little pain cause thats what some books said. But when they kept on coming along with my mucus plug coming out I kinda panicked and called the on call doctor sometime around 3 am or so and he said that we should go to the womens center and prepare to have her and stay at the hospital. Well since the contractions weren't that painful we threw stuff together and showered (thinking if I was going to have her I knew I wouldn't shower for a couple of days). So the nurse said I wasn't dialated at all but I was about 60% effaced. Everything was basically normal but they said I could have a urinary tract infection so they sent me home with a prescription and said they'd let me know the results by Tuesday. Well I actually never found out if that's what I had, but I was still having random contractions with a little pain throughout the week. I went to work on Wednesday and called in Thursday and on Friday told them I needed to go on leave cause I just couldn't do ANYTHING anymore.

NOW, Saturday comes around again (the 24th) and we went swimming and fishing during the day and then again at night I started having contractions with back pain but this time they were SUPER painful. It seems like they started around 9:30 and I don't know how many I had so I started counting about an hour later. Sure enough I had about 6 an hour and they were pretty much 10 to 15 minutes apart. One of the nurses at my NST appointments said to drink a full glass of water and then lay down on my left side and see if the subside. So I did. No such luck. Still 10 to 15 minutes apart and VERY painful. I seriously wanted to rip my hair out cause it'd probably feel better than what I was experiencing. I was just trying to hang in there because of the events that happened last weekend and thinking that they would eventually go away. 1am......2am.....3am..... comes and goes and nothing eases up. So finally about 3:30 am we grab our bags, grab her diaper bag and the car seat and make our way to the hospital.

We get back in the room and everything is good with the little one! FEW! Then the nurse check my cervix and I was dialated to a 3+. So she proceeds to tell me that since last weekend I wasn't dialated at all and now I have progressed that I could pretty much count on having my little girl that morning. HELLO! SHOCK! I couldn't help but smile but I was pretty much nervous. I felt good cause they said that a lot of babies that are born at 36 weeks go home and have no problems and ones that do have problems aren't that serious. So that helped me calm down. The nurse called the on call doctor and he comes in to check me and confirms that I was dialated to a 3+ and was 80% or more effaced. So he said that since she is still breech if I don't progress in the next hour we can try to turn her around to try and keep in the womb a little longer. I didn't really want to try and turn her cause of the risks involved but I didn't need to worry cause when he checked me again I was dialated to a 4+ and he actually felt her little foot right there. They had already given me an IV while we were waiting just in case so after the last check it was a matter of ten minutes before they took me back to the OR. Jason got to put on the space suit lookin' outfit and he barely had enough time to get everything on before they wheeled me out!

From there I got the spinal block, which my anesthesiologist was AWESOME, it wasn't nearly as bad as what I was expecting from all the stories I've heard. Honestly what I thought was worse was that the OR was so blasted cold that I couldn't stop shivering and my whole body kept shaking. Can I just tell you that the spinal block was the wierdest feeling that I have ever experienced. Seeing your feet and thinking, hey I want to move those, and you can't is just trippy. Plus the heavyness you feel in your chest is quit uncomfortable. But other than that everything was great. I didn't have my arms tied down cause again the anesthesiologist was great and thought that was cruel and unusual punishment. So it was great that I could itch my own nose and face cause man did it ITCH! Jason was right there by me taking pictures and kept asking me if I could feel this and that. He was shocked at how agressive they are just pulling me apart and moving my insides. Our sweet little girl already takes after her daddy. She mooned the doctors when she came out bum first! All I could say is, "That's my girl!" To hear her cry for the first time was unreal. I couldn't believe the time was actually here! After they did the measurements and bundled her all up they brought her over to the head of my bed and we got to cuddle for the first time. What a great feeling that was. There is nothing like it and I would never trade it for anything. There we were in the OR as a family of three for the first time!

Everything was great for about the first 48 hours but she was losing weight really fast and her temperature was dropping every now and again and she had to be put under the heat lamps. She got down to 5 lbs and 1 oz! So they decided that she needed to go down to the NICU so that she could have more one and more one on one time with nurses to be evaluated. It's not that she is actually considered severe enough to be a NICU baby but she just needed the extra attention. So she has been down in the NICU since last Tuesday (almost a week now). She is doing good but still has some challenges eating without the tube in her nose. She would get so tuckered out and then ends up losing more calories than what she got so they feed her through a tube in her nose so she can just sleep and eat and gain weight. She has had several feedings recently just on the booby and she has gained back a lot of weight! I'm feeling like we could be going home sometime this week but I'm not holding my breath cause she has her good days and bad. She has to eat on her own (by bottle or boob) for 48 hours, gain weight and maintain her temperature. She hasn't had a problem with temperature and weight seems to be better everyday. We have been lucky enough to stay at the hospital in the parent support room which is literally two doors down from the NICU so it's been nice to be able to be with her as much as possible and get in good feedings. I will keep you updated on how she is doing but my days go by so quickly and with trying to pump, eat, get enough sleep and be with our little girl ,the time just slips away. So enjoy the pictures of the cutest little girl out there!

It's About Time

I honestly cannot believe how quickly time has passed! I guess for my own sanity it's a good thing, but I wish I would have been more diligent in updates, cause I kinda use this as my journal. So a few things, here are some random pictures of me all huge and swollen. (I actually love being pregnant, but it's starting to get way uncomfortable!) And then there are some updates after.

This was at Troy's graduation, if you couldn't tell!

This is a self timed portrait and the flash hit the edge of the counter, hence the "glow". But you get the idea!



This was our weekend at the cabin over the 4th of July! Just the 2 1/2 of us!


These are pictures I took of myself yesterday and two weeks ago. It's kinda funny I'm wearing a yellow shirt in both of them!

Alright, so some other updates are:

~This is what my belly button looks like * I'm not kidding!

~We were at Sam's Club last week and this guy told us his wife just had a baby and when they went in for their last ultra sound a month before she was due, the doctor told them they were having a boy and not a girl! So naturally now I'm paranoid and I'm hoping this doesn't happen to me!

~We still can't agree/decide on a name. Maybe we can't decide cause it's actually a boy and not a girl!!! I think I'm stressin about it way too much! My 20 week ultra sound picture was pretty clear and the technician didn't seem to hesitate at all in telling us it's a girl, so I just need to take a chill pill!

~Yesterday at my doctors appt. we scheduled me for a C-section for August 12th cause she is still breech, the little stinker! Her head is right under my ribcage in the middle, so she is totally breech! The doc will check me at my next appt. in two weeks to see if he thinks he can flip her around, but he didn't seem too optimistic about it. Which, I honestly don't really mind having a C-section cause then the date it set and I don't have to worry about labor and my water breaking, contractions and all that jazz. I don't care how she gets here to us as long as she is healthy and strong and everything is ok with me too during the delivery! So with that being said, I'm gonna have our little ladybug in less than a month! Unless of course she turns around, but I will still have her early since I'm on medication for my gestational diabetes. Yay! She's almost here!