Welcome to Virginia

Yesterday, Thanksgiving day, was spent traveling from Arizona to Virginia. 

The first part of the flight was pretty good. We took off. E was content as soon as she was eating. She was awake for a little while and then she slept for an hour or a little more. That gave mommy some quiet time to play games and draw. It was nice that there were a few other mothers on board with children. 

The second leg, from Nashville to DC was less nice. E didn't really want to eat on the ascent, so that might have affected her ears. Plus she was tired, so that didn't help. She cried for most of the hour fifteen flight, which didn't help mom's headache and tiredness. 

We survived the flying, and J came to pick us up. I had a breakdown as J was trying to find us because I had a screaming baby in a stroller, two large pieces of luggage, and a pounding headache. But again, we survived! We went to our extended stay hotel/apartment thing and tried to go to sleep. 

Key word: tried. 

I slept maybe 9:30 to 11:30 until baby woke up. Then we were awake until about 2:30 when baby woke up again. Then 6:30 wake up and again at 9:30. 

After working 5 nights, J had a hard time sleeping, too. 

I am so glad we are back with daddy, but I am sad that I had to leave family in Arizona. 

It's onto new adventures! 

Waiting for take off

The second leg was pretty much empty with only 32 people on the whole plane. (The first leg was pretty packed.)

Three months

Yesterday E turned 3 months! It's hard to believe she's been a part of our family for that long, and it seems so short! 

E can sit up by herself when she has a support behind her. Plus she can hold herself up for like 3 seconds on her very own. She holds her head up like no ones business! She is happy when she is upright, and loves being in a walker… for about 15 minutes. 

She coos and smiles a lot, especially right after she wakes up! She was getting close to sleeping through the night in her crib, but then the packers came. (I'll post about that soon.) 

She still hates tummy time, but will occasionally be okay with it. 

She was blessed by J on November 2 in a beautiful dress. She had some beautiful blessings. She started crying halfway through, though. (She hates to lay down, which I think is why she cried.)

Now on to the pictures!! 

Somewhat happy during tummy time. 

Family picture!!

Sitting up with just the boppy for support. 

Some of E's best faces during family pictures. 

Hanging out in the walker at my parents' house. 

Her beautiful big eyes!!

I love her so very much!!

It's Ali's Birthday!!!

I'm helping out again this year on Ali's blog Our Happily Ever After for her birthday week of giveaways!

You can win a custom portrait (family or pet) created digitally by yours truly! So go head on over and check it out!

It's official!!

The Lees are moving to Virginia!!

J starts work Mid November, so he'll head over in time for that. I may go with him, or wait until we close on a house over there.

That's still a little fuzzy. 

But we're going! We are really, actually going to do this!

Should I be excited or nervous? Idk, but I feel both!

4 weeks

It's been 4 weeks since Elinor came into our lives, and we love her so very much!

She is starting to smile every once in a while. (Usually while she's eating, so I can't take a picture.) She has been good about holding her head since the day she came out, but she's getting even stronger with it! And she has very strong arms that make swaddling her very interesting sometimes. 

We're working on getting a schedule down with eating and nap times. She sleeps pretty well from 8pm to 7am with only waking up twice to eat, which makes for a happy momma! 

Breastfeeding has been a success! It took about 2 weeks for the major pain to go away and the cracked nipples to heal. Now the only time it really hurts is when she pulls or twists while she is latched. 

This momma is pretty much back to normal! I've been feeling almost normal since about the 2nd week, but even the bleeding has pretty much stopped now. 

 We've taken her with us on date night dinner trips for the past two weeks, and she does pretty well! 

So overall, we're getting used to each other and she gets lots of daily snuggles with her mommy! 

Our little baby is starting to grow up!! 

Birth Story Part 2

Read Part 1 Here


We got to the hospital at about 2am. Contractions were farther apart while we drove, but still miserable. By this time, I knew I was getting an epidural. All of my contractions had been in my back, and there was no way I was going to labor for who knows how many more hours on my own with no pain meds.

We got the paperwork done, I got my fancy bracelets, and then we went into triage where I got to change into a beautiful hospital gown. I laid down on the bed, and the nurses came in to do the triage. The nurse checked where I was at, and I  was amazingly at 7cm! I was not expecting to be that far. I got my IV put in, they had to get some blood as well, and then I got wheeled to delivery.

The anesthesiologist came in and I got the "walking epidural". It's where the pain is gone, but I could still move my legs. (BEST. THING. EVER.) It took two pokes, and J about passed out while they were doing it, but once that thing was in, I went from crazy, groaning woman to a relaxed, calm person. It was amazing!

Post Epidural = One happy soon-to-be Momma!

By the time the epidural was done, they checked me again, and I was at a 9, almost 10cm dilated. They gave me a peanut ball, which is a peanut shaped ball (duh!), to put between my legs and help finish dilating. The nurse (amazing nurse! She was such a help during labor!) told me to call if my water broke or if I felt like pushing. There was nothing left to do now but wait, so J and I dozed off for a while. Then at about 4:30, I was startled awake by a big pop, followed by a gush. Me jumping woke up J. I called the nurse and told her my water broke. She came to check, and sure enough, my water had broken! (A surprise, since my mom and sister never had theirs break on its own.)

At almost 5, we started pushing ever so slowly to get Baby into position so we would be ready for the doctor to get there. Being on the epidural, I really couldn't feel the contractions, so the nurse would tell me when to push, and she helped me with breathing and pushing. Again, I wouldn't have been able to do it without her!

It was a couple hours later that Dr. Holmes finally showed up as baby was beginning to crown. I had gotten to feel her head, which was kind of weird. The doctor used some mineral oil to help the skin stretch. I specifically asked for no episiotomy unless it was an emergency. I  kept pushing when the nurses told me to and within half an hour of the doctor being there, baby Elinor came sliding out! 

They laid her on me for a second, then took her to clean her up. I cried when I heard her crying. 

We hadn't for sure had a name picked out. But when Dr. H asked what her name was, J said Elinor Atalei. I hadn't heard Atalei before, but it sounded very pretty. And it fits her perfectly! 

I still can't believe I pushed a baby out of my body, and now I'm caring for her and feeding her! Even though she makes night time very hard, since I'm used to sleeping through the night, I love her so much! She has both her daddy and me wrapped around her little finger. 

J is the best daddy! He doesn't mind her crying, and even says he likes it, because he gets to hear her voice. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to raise our daughter! 

The Next Big Adventure

This has been sitting in my drafts folder until it was time to post.

Besides having a baby, we have a new adventure happening!


J has accepted a job in Springfield, VA as an engineer, so we will moving across the country. We are excited, and a little nervous! (I'm more nervous than J, because I'll have a newborn/infant to take care of.)

We don't know exactly when the move will happen, but it will likely be in October or November. I never thought I would move away from Arizona, but here I am, getting ready! 

Elinor's Birth story Part 1

I was shocked when I went I to labor, because the goal was to wait until this week to try to get her out. 

I had my 38 week checkup with my doctor at 9:15 that morning. The checked my dilation. I was almost 1cm, so he asked if he could open it to 1. I agreed. Then he asked if I wanted to be encouraged. I didn't, so I said no. (I guess the upping to 1cm was enough. 

I returned home and enjoyed some time walking in the rain around our neighborhood. It was one of the few nice days we've had. I also sat on my exercise ball. I felt a couple of contractions, but not anything with rhyme or reason. 

We ate dinner and watched Netflix. I felt a few more contractions during our House episode, but nothing too bad, just consistent. We went to bed, and the contractions were starting to feel a little more uncomfortable. J had work the next day, so I wanted him to be able to get some sleep. He let me stay in the bedroom while he went to another bedroom. 

The contractions were getting pretty uncomfortable. They were consistently about 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 40 or more seconds. I texted my sister to see what tips she had for coping with the contractions. I got into the shower for a bit, and it helped for a while. When it stopped helping, I got out and tried to watch an episode of Doctor Who to try and distract myself, which didn't work. 

I was able to get through most of the contractions. I don't know how many times I said ow, though. After three awful contractions, I called my doc at 11:30, but he said to wait a couple hours and see if they get worse. 

The next two hours were miserable. I struggled through every minute long contraction with only a little longer than a minute between each to rest. 

J by the time of the first phone call was awake because of my struggling through contractions. He kept such a positive attitude and told me how strong I was. 

I called again at 1:30, and basically was just able to cry, so the doctor told me to head to the hospital. We grabbed our things and headed out. 

Elinor Atalei Lee

I'll post the birth story sometime later. 

Elinor Atalei Lee

Born: August 22, 2014 at 7:56am

Weight: 7 pounds 10 ounces

Length: 20.5 inches

Letter to my baby girl

Dear Baby Girl,

I cannot believe that there is so little time until we meet! I have housed your growing body with my own for the past 9 months, giving you the nutrients you need to grow to be healthy and strong. I hope I've done an okay job. 

In the 9 months, I've gotten to feel you kick and squirm and move around. It's a strange, but happy feeling! Now you're running out of space and the squirming has become a little more uncomfortable for me, but I still love knowing that you're alive! 

Your daddy is very excited to meet you, too. He loves you just as much as I do. Even though you did kick him in the face while he was talking to you. It makes me happy when he talks to you. He's going to be a good dad. He really cares for you and can't wait to meet you and snuggle with you. 

He likes to tell you that he's going to attack you and eat you up. He doesn't mean it literally. He just likes to make the eating noises. He'll probably make you giggle more than I will. He's pretty funny. He's also really smart and works really hard to get what he wants. I hope you get those qualities from him! 

I have waited a while for you to come here, and I can't believe that the time when I get to meet you is right around the corner! So are some other crazy changes that might happen, but we'll make it through! You also have lots of other people that are excited to meet you! Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and great grandparents. 

There are so many people that love you! We can't wait for you to get here. We hope you get here soon! 

Love, 

Your mommy

38 Weeks

This pregnancy has really flown by!! I can't believe she could come at pretty much any time! 

Baby's info:
Weight: 6 lb (approximately)
Size: watermelon (approximately 19 in head to toe)
Movements: She still move a pretty often. She's my yoga master. Some kids are martial artists, but thankfully mine just likes to stretch. 
Cravings: Still no "I have to have that" cravings. But I'm still ALWAYS in the mood for shakes, slushes, and cold things like that. And chocolate. But that's been life long. Haha
Symptoms:
-Nausea: Haven't had this since the first trimester. 
-Heartburn: There are good days and bad days. And there are good nights and bad nights. Definitely one of the things I really don't like. 
-Fatigue: Still having good days and bad days for this, but nothing terrible. I'm really tired up until about lunch time when I'm like "I NEED to get something done!"

-Swelling: Haven't had much, if any. 

-Nosebleed: I have had a couple. My favorite time (sarcasm) was in the middle of sacrament meeting. -_- 

I have really been blessed this pregnancy!  

Sewage Adventure

So, about a month and a half ago, on a Sunday, our sewer backed up into the showers in our house. (Thankfully no further!) sadly, it was before I got to take a shower. So, I had to get creative. I used the hose in our backyard. But that was just the start. 

The next day, we started trying to figure out where the problem was and ended up calling a plumber in our ward. He sent a camera down our pipes to see what the matter was. 

Roots. From our tree were clogging where our line met the city line. Yikes!! So, we needed to get it fixed. To have the plumber do it all, 3-4000 dollars. We decided to do most of it ourselves. Well, J decided to do it. I was 7 months pregnant and not as helpful. 

So we dug the hole over the course of two weeks and finally found the pipe about 8 feet down, dug around the pipe so there was room to fix it, and cleared the roots from the pipe. The final digging and fixing took one day. And I was so happy! Being pregnant and told no solid waste down the pipes was rough. Thankfully family lives close! 

Another 3 weeks after that, and our pipe is good, the whole is filled in, and we're trying to get our grass to grow back now!!

And here are some pictures!  

The hole's humble beginning. 

We finally found the pipe!!

Oops! Broke the sprinkler main line while digging!! Had to fix before finishing the hole, because it waterfalled into the hole. 

Found this in the hole! Vienna sausages! Yum! 

Proud of his hole!!

The troublesome root! 

Filling it back in! 

Finally finished!! And the hole dirt honestly looks like the Angel Moroni statues to me!! XD 

Less than 10 weeks!

I cannot believe that there is only 9 (soon to be 8) weeks left in this pregnancy!! That means big changes are only 2 months away!!

Baby's info:
Weight: 4 lb (approximately - measured 3.5 at my last u/s)
Size: Head of cabbage - about 17in from head to toe last u/s 
Movements: Her kicks don't hurt yet, but some are rather startling. Especially when I'm laying down in bed. She moves most when I wake up (6am ish), when Jason is home (5pm ish) and before bed (8-9pm)
Cravings: Still no "I have to have that" cravings. But I'm always in the mood for shakes, slushes, and cold things like that. 
Symptoms:
-Nausea: Nothing the past few weeks. 
-Heartburn: starting to feel more of this, and I'm not a fan of it so far. Haha haven't noticed specific foods that do it, but it happens more at night. Waking up to it is no fun!!
-Fatigue: Good days and bad days for this, but nothing terrible. I'm really tired up until about lunch time when I'm like "I NEED to get something done!"

No name yet! -_- I know it will happen, but I want to be able to call her something now!! Lol 

Can't wait for Baby Girl to get here!! 

Miracle

I'm just awed at what my body is doing right now. It's creating another human being! And this little human being is moving!!!

I love watching my belly move and feeling baby girl squirm around! 

I have my next appointment this Thursday, and I can't wait! It's going to be an ultrasound appointment, probably to see baby's measurements is my guess. 

I can't wait to see my beautiful little wiggle worm!

And now a mirror selfie! 

26 weeks!

School is out for summer, and I am FREE!!!! 

It feels good! 

Baby's info:
Weight: 2 lb (approximately)
Size: Eggplant  about 9.2 in. 
Movements: I'm feeling more and more. And not just kicks. I'm also feeling leg/arm stretching happen! And yes, I know that will hurt when she's bigger! 
Cravings: None that stand out. I do like lots of things (usually not all that healthy. :S)
Symptoms:
-Nausea: Not usually any, unless I get overheated, I think. 
-Heartburn: starting to feel more of this, and I'm not a fan of it so far. Haha
-Fatigue: Good days and bad days for this, but nothing terrible. For the most part, in still sleeping through the night. 

Other than that, things are going well! I'm just starting the third trimester. I love watching my little belly movements! It's so intriguing!! (She's going at it right now while I type!) 

No names yet! Which is starting to worry me. Haha 

J graduated from ASU with his Bachelors in physics! I'm so proud of him and all his hard work!! He's going to make a great dad! 

22 Weeks

I can't believe I'm already 22 weeks into this pregnancy!! I haven't done very well at keeping things written, so I'll try to play a little catch up.


Baby's info:
Weight: 1 lb (approximately)
Size: Spaghetti squash/ about 8 in. long
Movements: Definitely when I'm relaxing after work (4 - 5pm isn) and when I wake up (be it 2 or 5 am.)
Cravings: None that stand out. I do like lots of things (usually not all that healthy. :S)
Symptoms:
-Nausea: Gone away since the start of the second trimester
-Heartburn: Nothing really that I've noticed as heartburn
-Fatigue: I feel exhausted, but I don't know if that's because of baby or school being almost over, or if it's due to the fact I wake up at 2am randomly.



Things I want to remember:

• Found out when I was 9 weeks along after starting a diet with my mom and not being able to eat anything. :S
• J talks to baby when he's laying in my lap. "Hello, Baby."
• After we found out that it's a girl, I told my students I was pregnant and what we were having during our weekly spelling test. One of our words that week happened to be daughter, so I did that word last and said, "Mrs. Lee is having a daughter." The kids were like "Wait, what? You're having a baby?" Then one of the kids asked what it was. "It's a girl. Didn't you hear the sentence?" SERIOUSLY made my day. I could not have prepared a better way to tell the kids. They are super excited!
• About week 14 I started feeling flutters. The week of spring break (March 17), I felt baby kick against my hand as well as drag across the inside of my tummy. 
• April 24 she kicked J's hand, and yesterday (the 25th), she lightly kicked her aunt's hand. 
• I love feeling her move!
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Week 21 Baby Bump

Welcome

I am creating this blog to document what's happening in our lives. Now that we're having a baby and have other possibly exciting things happening, I want to keep friends and family in the loop. 

For now, this blog will be open and public. When Baby Girl gets here, that might change. I haven't decided yet. 

But for now, Welcome to 

The Lee Family Adventures!!!