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