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!