What's New

Still hoping for cooler weather! Sometimes I just can't believe so many people live here. Maybe it's something you get used to. I go jogging with a girl in my ward in the morning and I've comeclose to passing out twice! And we go at 7am! They say I'll love it in the winter.. we'll see...

Other than that we are enjoying life. I think everyone has those moments when they sit back and feel contented with life.. like "hey, life is pretty darn good!" I've had moments like that before in life (usually when surrounded by family) however since having Susanna, the feeling has intensified. Sometimes when we are together, the three of us, I feel so overwhelmingly blessed for my family.

We are making a few friends, slowly but surely. Which is a relief because it's great to have them! Paul has made friends from school and we've hung out with their families a few times. I've made friends from our ward and here and there. I have a card making date with some other "Midwestern Wives" this week, which will be fun. Now that I'm home it's fun to try and be crafty. I'm even working on a pillow and two cushions for our wicker rocking chair!

Paul is teaching Sunday School in our ward and I just got called as the YW secretary, which I'm very excited for. Hopefully I can get to know all of the YW in our ward soon. What am I looking forward to the most?... Girls Camp baby!!!

We also finally bought Susanna a high chair. We were feeding her in her bouncer but it was getting everywhere and we'd like that bouncer to stay somewhat nice for the children to come, so we bought a high chair. The first time Susie sat it in she loved it! She was all smiles. It works so much better. She likes to sit and watch me make dinner or do dishes.

I'll tell ya, those cheeks are just begging to be kissed!

Summer Update

It's been HOT.... but's it's been a great summer so far. Starting over in a new place together as a family has been exciting. I feel very grateful to have Paul as my partner and lucky to get to spend every day with my sweet, smiley, Susanna (who is currently napping... what a good girl).

We celebrated the 4th with some friends Paul made at school. We went swimming and barbecued, then got together in downtown Phoenix later on for the firework show. It was stifling, even at 11pm, but the fireworks were amazing! And Susie did so well! She didn't hardly cry and watched the fireworks with awe. She was zonked out on the way home.

Susanna has had some major developments in her little baby life. She started eating solid foods and is now an expert roller over-er. :) We flip out and cheer every time she does it so it's her favorite thing to do. She has started giving kisses, and I love it despite the slobber. She has tried rice cereal (this was first), carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and peas, the latter being her least favorite as you can probably surmise from the picture!

Little Sis/Aunt Livy came for a great ten day visit. We had a blast! Among other things, we went to the zoo, which was a big mistake. We were pretty much the only ones there (most of the animals were even absent) and as soon as we had been there 10 minutes we realized why. It was terribly hot! I wonder where they take the animals when it's "too hot to be on exhibit." I think it's a pretty cool zoo though and we are looking forward to going back in cooler weather. We stayed a whole hour... and almost melted.

Paul and I also celebrated our three year anniversary. Olivia took way to many pictures of us throughout her entire visit, this day in particular. I think I have a least of dozen pictures of the roses Paul bought me, alone. Olivia offered to babysit so we could go on a date (I think the third one we've had out of the house since Susanna was born!). We went to the Macaroni Grill and saw the new Harry Potter movie, which of course didn't disappoint !

Three years and getting better everyday.

Just Sayin' Hello

Not much new today. Susanna is taking her first nap right now. I'm thinking about things we should do today. A typical day for us goes something like this....

*7:00am Wake up and fed Susanna then around 7:30 Paul leaves for school. Susanna hangs out in her bouncer while I exercise. We were taking the jogging stroller out on this great path behind our complex but it's just too hot. Even at 7am. So now we either take the bouncer to the fitness center that's really close to our apartment or I do a workout video.

*Around 9 Susie goes down for her first nap. Meanwhile I shower, eat breakfast, read, do some house cleaning, blog, or something of that sort.

*Susanna wakes up around 11:30 or 12 and eats. Then we usually venture out of the house. Sometimes we go grocery shopping, to Target for fun, to the pool (which we'll probably do today), etc. It's best to do these errands right after she eats so we have time before she wants to take another nap.

*2pm is nap number two. During which time I try to be productive. I write letters to students, read a library book, journal, talk to Cassanda on the phone, etc. I'm trying to stay busy! Hopefully I'll be able to make some friends soon...

*At 4 Susanna wakes up and eats and we play together. We will dance, read stories, or sing songs. I'll make dinner and Paul will get home. Then we spend the evening together.

*8pm is Susie's bedtime. She gets a bath and sometimes a story if she isn't too fussy. She eats and I'll sing her a few songs. Then it's lots of kisses and goodnight!

So I'm interested... other stay-at-home-moms.. what do your days look like?

A Crazy Month! (or two..)

So it's been a long time since my last post! I meant to post right after Susanna's blessing to share a few pictures but boy it's been busy.

April/May: I went back to work at the end of April. Paul quit is job and became mom while finishing the semester (he had scheduled all his classes at night). It was really fun going back and seeing all of the kids but so hard to leave Susanna every morning. I had a lot to do at school to finish up the school year and get things ready for next year's teacher. We had one last culminating activity, the Mountain Man Rendezvous, which we combined with our 4th grade End-of-Year celebration. There were awards, great food (thanks to the parents!) and I made a movie on my Mac with all of the pictures we took from the year. The kids all gave me their addresses and I promised to write (I will!).

(Susanna is not happy in this picture! Poor baby! Too many 4th graders can be a scary thing I guess).

Susanna's baby blessing was on May 1st. It was a day I will never forget. Throughout the day I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness. Lots of our families were able to come to our ward for her blessing. There were a few members of my family that weren't able to make it but I was very grateful for all those who were able to be there. Even though I'm blogging late, thankfully I wrote in her journal the day of her blessing so I have recorded a few things Paul said. It was a really special blessing.

June: Aftering packing up (ok Paul did almost all the packing) we loaded up the Uhaul with some great help. Thank goodness we had help too! We tried to save money by renting the smallest trailer we thought possible and it was a CLOSE call. We did have to throw away a few things which weren't valuable, but I'm just grateful we got what we did! Paul's family came to help and our good friends Steven and Chante were there as well. Before hitting the freeway we went to lunch at In N Out with Steven and Chante. And then we had to say goodbye. :( That was really hard to do. They have been our best friends and we've had some really fun times-- camping in Moab, Settlers of Catan on weekends (the Wests win every time), roasting marshmallows in the canyon, country dancing in SLC, hiking Ensign Peak, frequent trips to Cafe Rio, and there were always plenty of peanut M&Ms. I'm sure we'll be friends for years to come.

Paul drove his truck with the trailer and Susanna and I made the venture alone. Susanna does not like her car seat at all so it was a very long drive to Cedar City. We spent the weekend there with my family. My mom cooked and watched the baby-- it was heavenly. I just relaxed! I was exhausted from the last few weeks! Little did I know it would only get harder from here....

Olivia came with Susanna and I for the 8 hour road trip to Phoenix. What a blast! Olivia did a great job keeping Susie happy in the back. We listened to our favorite tunes and enjoyed scenery. Morale was high until we pulled into our apartment complex. Paul picked out the apartment on a quick one day trip to Arizona. I'm afraid he didn't look close enough at this one. It seemed ok at first. The apartment was huge, it had ceiling fans, and walk in closets... not bad. However it was a mess. There was grime on the walls and the carpet felt like it had dried conditioner in it. We talked to a few tenants while moving in who informed us they had some pretty serious bug problems. At this point I'm feeling quite nauseous.

I went in to talk to the land lady the next day and thankfully, because I hadn't signed my part of the lease yet, she said we could still get out of it. I looked frantically for a new place while Paul started Pharmacy school. If Olivia hadn't stayed to help with the baby I would have been in big trouble. We found a new place, and we love it. So despite spending a small fortune and loading, unloading, reloading, and re-unloading the Uhaul in extreme heat, it turned out ok.

And it's a good thing we like our new place because I'm not moving ever again! ha!

So now we are enjoying life. Paul loves Midwestern. And I get to stay home with Susanna. We have fun together while Dad is at school. We like to go to the library, check out different stores in Phoenix, have visited with some new friends and their babies, go swimming, and play together at home. Susanna is getting much more responsive to Paul and I so it's so fun to play with her! She laughs and smiles and talks. Sometimes I hear her when she's woken up from her nap, just talking to herself! It's adorable. I'm glad I get to stay home with her. Paul and I decided that it would be best for me to stay at home instead of work. Because of which we are thinking about the option of joining the Air Force. They would pay 100% for school which would save us years on paying loans back, and would pay him while in school, which would give us something to live off of in the mean time. It would be great if Paul didn't have to work either-- he could devote all his time to studying (and maybe even have time for his wife and baby!) It's only an idea right now so we'll see.

Here are a few pictures of the latest:

You know you're a First-Time-Mother-of-a-Newborn when....

1. You like to count the number of wet and poopy diapers each day.

2. A trip to Walmart (by yourself) is suddenly exciting.
3. The word "colic" is just as scary as the word "leprosy."
4. You call the pediatrician four times a week in tears because you think something is wrong.
5. You then quickly realize that experienced moms are FAR smarter than your pediatrician.
6. You have the sudden urge to salute or bow down before any woman with multiple children.
7. You have a new found awe inspiring respect for your mother.
8. You spend the majority of your day taking pictures of every facial expression possible.
9. You don't believe it when people tell you "you'll forget how hard it was." (How do you forget!?!)
10. One smile from your baby can make four hours of sleep a night completely worth it.

PS: We just blessed Susanna and it was a wonderful day. More pictures to come!

Susie's Many Faces

It's amazing how, when you have a baby, some days can be so great, and others so difficult! What constitutes a good day you ask? Well, it starts with her getting up only one or two times in the middle of the night. It continues when she eats like a good girl and takes regular naps. It's always a good day if I get to exercise and get a few things done other than breastfeed. Days that are not so good start off really sleepy because it was a rough night. On difficult days she might refuse to eat, only take erratic and short naps, and cry and cry and cry. I think the hardest part for me is not knowing why she is crying. I'm trying different things but it really is a guessing game. We are trying to get her on a schedule, both for her and our benefit and it's a work in progress.

I have been so extremely grateful for all the experienced moms that have given me advice and answered my endless questions. Sometimes on facebook, over the phone, or a visit, the help is greatly appreciated. Two friends in particular that have saved me: Cassanda and Becca. I'm not sure what I would have done without them! THANK YOU everyone!

Good day or not, Paul and I are so in love with this little girl. We love to watch her facial expressions change with her moods. She's just the cutest thing! I thought it would be fun to share a few of our favorites:

There's her crying face of course. We get to see this one a lot...:

Her sleeping face: (this one is extra special because she actually took her binky)


Then of course, our favorite faces are her smiles. She has started to give us more and more smiles especially when we talk to her and kiss her little cheeks:


This one we like to call the bobble-head-Joe. She has quite a strong neck and she loves to move it around. She's just not quite strong enough to support so much movement so she looks a lot like a bobble head! It's adorable, but hard to capture. A video would be better for this expression:


She is also quite the stretcher. She stretches all the time! This is our favorite stretch- we call it the crane. She arches her back, purses her lips, raises her hands, and stretches her neck backward. So funny:


Then there's the blank stare:


And I don't know what this face is! But it's funny!:

So precious...

Happy Day!

I have a few minutes so I thought I would write about my day. Yesterday was way too long.. I was home alone all day (Paul had school and then work) and Susie was a little on the fussy side all day but today was great! Paul didn't have to work today so we got to spend some time together before night classes and he took over taking care of little girl so I could do some things.
Susanna's night last night when like this: She went down on her own at 10:00pm. I put her to sleep in her bassinet while she was still AWAKE, and she fell asleep on her own. If you have ever had a newborn you might be aware how exciting this event is. I went to bed around 11:00.. I would have gone to sleep sooner but Paul got home at 10 and I hadn't seen him all day... Susie woke up again at 12:45. I fed her and she went back to sleep pretty good. She woke up again at 3, but Paul woke up with her and fed her a bottle so I could keep sleeping (I love it when he does that!). She went back to sleep for him too and woke up again for the day at 7. Not a bad night!
I got to go running this morning while Paul took care of the baby. I was able to run longer today than I had planned, so that was great! I love exercising...
We hung out around the house, took pictures of Susie, etc. It's so fun having someone else around that thinks every sound, gesture, and facial expression she makes is the cutest thing in the world. Paul loves Susie. He doesn't call her that though-- he only calls her Susanna for some reason. I don't know why.
My brother needed a ride to run an errand so I got to get out of the house for that, too. Sometimes it's nice to get out and go for a drive. I love listening to music in the car.
Right now Paul has left for class and Susie is sitting in her bouncer being a good girl. Paul and I have been working hard to get her on this "babywise" schedule. She eats, has wake time, then nap time, every three hours. She did a pretty good job today which ususally means we'll have a good night. Babywise has been the best baby book I've read so far. It gives great and specific advice that has been proven to work. Parents who try to get their infants on this schedule have a 86% chance of getting their baby to sleep 7-8 continous hours at night by week 9 and 96% chance of sleeping through the night at 12 weeks. 96% chance by 12 weeks!?!? SIGN ME UP! I have friends whose one and two year olds aren't sleeping through the night. If I can avoid that... I'd like to. Anyone who is planning to have children.. I definetly recommend reading this book a few weeks before your baby is born. I didn't realize how helpful reading up on this stuff can be. I thought- hey! I can do this! Then we took her home and I thought- hey! I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT I'M DOING! :) The baby literature has helped. Babywise. Buy it.
We've had a fun day spending time together as a family. I'm so grateful I get maternity leave. I have 2 1/2 weeks left until I need to go back to work so I'm enjoying every minute!

A Baby Story

Welcoming Susanna Lani West

As you can see, it's taken me a month to post the details of Susie's arrival. Obviously motherhood has kept me a little busier than I had anticipated. Looking back I remember people saying things like, "being a mom is hard," and "I was up all night with a crying baby," but I don't think it really sunk in...to put it lightly I severely under estimated the adjustment bringing a new baby home would be. Even more so I under estimated how much I would love this little girl.


I will never forget Susanna's birthday. What an amazing day. Well I'll start from the beginning. I was due Sunday, February 20th, but that day came and went and I didn't go into labor. I went in the following week for several stress tests to make sure the baby was doing ok even though she was late. She passed each stress test with flying colors! My doctor decided to schedule my induction for Sunday, February 27th. She told me that because I had made so little progress, the induction would take a long time. (After my due date I was still not effaced and only 1/2 cm dilated).

We called the hospital on Sunday to see when they wanted us to come in and they didn't have room. Finally, at 10:00pm they told us to come on in. It was so surreal walking into the labor and delivery unit knowing that when we came out we would have a baby! We checked in and I changed into one of those gorgeous hospital gowns. I was given a pill to put between my cheek and my gums called a prostaglandis (I'm sure I've spelled that wrong!). Like my doctor had explained earlier, they couldn't induce me right away (or give me petocin that would start my contractions) until my cervix was 100% effaced. This pill was going to thin my cervix. Then in the morning they would check my progress to see when we could start the petocin.

I didn't sleep very well... I started contracting a little. My water broke early Monday morning. Soon after my doctor affirmed that my cervix was effaced and they started the petocin in my IV. Uh...ouch! The contractions became more severe but progress was very slow. Around 9 I was only at one cm. We started talking about an epidural. They usually don't give epidurals until you've made more progress, but I got lucky. Yep they gave me an epidural at only one cm. Some how I think that might make me less of a woman...

Oh boy did I love that epidural. It was weird not being able to move my legs but I didn't mind so much. :) After a little while I was able to move them a little better. Anyways the nurses and my doctor would come in every one to two hours to check my progress. And it was slow. By 4pm I was still only at 5 cm. Paul and I were just hoping to have her before midnight.

Well at about 5pm the nurse came in and checked me again. She didn't say anything to me but started calling people in and setting things up. Paul and I didn't know what was going on but we didn't think it was time! Well it was! Two minutes later my doctor was there and I was pushing! I had really geared myself up for this part because I was told that it could last two hours... twelve minutes later I got to hold my daughter for the first time.

This is a moment I will never forget and that I can't describe. Seeing Susanna for the first time, getting to hold her, touch her hands, and look at her eyes, it was life changing. Love at first sight.

The whole thing happened in a manner of minutes. Paul and I didn't even really realize what was going on before he could see her little head. He got to cut the umbilical cord and watched as they washed her and weighed her.


The part that came next took the longest- the after birth. I tore and had to be stitched up. Thankfully the tear wasn't too bad. Right now I'm thinking-- "how women do this without an epidural is BEYOND me."

Next they wheeled us up to the recovery room. Fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks. I wasn't in a lot of pain but as far as energy level, I've never felt so close to death. I had lost two liters of blood and am low on iron anyway. I was so exhausted.... and STARVING!! I hadn't eaten anything since Sunday.. now it's Monday night. They gave me some apple juice to swallow pain pill. I threw it up immediately. I waited a half hour and tried some water, which I also threw up. Throwing up when you have nothing in your stomach is not fun!

Despite the post birth uncomfort, all I can remember is being on cloud nine. I just wanted to hold her and talk to her and snuggle with her. They had to take her away to do tests, give her a bath, etc. Each time they brought her in I felt this surge of excitement. I can't think of any better way to describe it other than what Christmas morning feels like when you're six. The Christmas morning feeling continued, even when they brought her into our room in the middle of the night so I could feed her. Unfortunately those late night feedings aren't as thrilling any more...

We had a few visitors at the hospital, which was nice. Paul's sister Rebecca came, two teachers I work with Ginni and Sherrill, my brother Mackenzie, a friend from our ward Rachel (who is a nurse there actually), and our good friends Chante and Steven. My mom was there as well and was a lot of help. We were excited to go home though!



On Wednesday morning we dressed Susie in her "take home" outfit (which completely drowned her), met with the pediatrician, packed up, and traveled home! Susanna slept most of the day and so did I. I didn't realize that sleeping all day might mean she wouldn't sleep well that night. I was up with her ALL night long! It was AWFUL!! We all went to bed around midnight, at which point Susanna woke up. She was up and crying all night except for the half hour nap she took from 4:15- 4:45 am. Thirty minutes of sleep. Welcome to motherhood.

The next night was better. Now, at about four weeks old, she usually only wakes up twice in the middle of the night (their are exceptions...). She can be a pretty fussy baby. There are days that she spends an hour or more at a time crying. She wants to be held all of the time and doesn't take a lot of naps. We were pretty worried about the crying at first and took her to the doctor to see if something was wrong. The doctor said she might have colic but that she is very healthy.

Sometimes it is hard to hold her while she is crying and not be able to do anything but as I've gotten over some of the postpartum hormones, it has gotten easier to handle. Paul and I are getting better at soothing her. Despite the difficulty we both feel immensely blessed to have this beautiful little girl as the first additional to our family. We love her more than anything.

Motherhood is a blessing.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

A little "Creedence Clearwater Revival", a little "America"... I figure it's never to early to place her feet on the path of righteousness.

The belly at 35 weeks

This picture is 31 weeks

Baby Shower

My mom came up in last week to give me a family baby shower. I had aunts and cousins and sisters all there. It was a blast! And I got a lot of great stuff. My good friend Chante also threw me a shower this week- it was beautiful. She went to a lot of work and it turned it out great. I'm grateful for all my family and friends! Babies need a lot of stuff. Whew! I think we've got most of what we need: a crib (mother-in-law), a car seat (sister-in law), a diaper bag, tons on clothes (my aunts) and so much more. Thank you everyone!

Christmas with the Bradens

Paul and I got to spend a good week with my family which was a lot of fun. I feel so lucky that we live close enough that I can see them often! Tiffany set up this whole Star Wars themed Christmas gift. She had a life size Darth Vader and a dry ice mist on Christmas morning with the Star Wars music playing in the background when Ty got up. He got a light saber from Santa which is immediately began using on everyone. My favorite thing was-- the first time Tiffany told him not to hit anyone with it, Ty looked at the light saber and back at her and said, "But mom...it's a light saber." Ha! What else is he supposed to do with it? I was like- yeah Tiffany-- Hello-- he's a Jedi.