Just a few ramblings

Why, oh why, must babies grow so fast? I can't believe my sweet pea is already 6 months old! Ok, I may be slightly emotional right now because I just finished looking at Marlee's newborn pictures, so please forgive me. This is what happens when I'm home alone while my husband is off working in the ER and my baby is asleep in the other room. I look at pictures, and then I get happy/sad/emotional as I think about life and wonder where time has gone. Sometimes, when I'm holding my sweet little girl I just wish time would stop, or at least pause for a moment. My favorite thing of like, forever, is when she lies her head on my shoulder and breathes her hot breath on my neck. My heart melts each time it happens, although it usually never lasts for more than 2 seconds because she's a wiggly little baby. I know it's totally cliche to say, but I never knew how much I could love until I became a mother. After having Marlee I literally felt like the Grinch, and that my heart suddenly grew 3x larger. Being a mother has also deepened my love for my husband, my family, and my Savior. I just feel so completely blessed and humbled to be given such an awesome and sacred responsibility. I truly wish that every woman could experience the deep joy and reverence that having a child can bring, and my heart aches for those who so very badly want a child but for one reason or another are not able to have one. I feel that being a parent has given me a glimpse, as slight as it may be, as to how much we are loved by our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ. Speaking of love, I absolutely LOVED the talk given by President Uchtdorf at Women's Conference this weekend. (To see it go here: http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10&vid=1180453706001&cid=7?lang=eng )There's no way you could have listened to his message and not felt more encouraged, more loved, and more important. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

“No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love…..Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time.”

Such powerful and true words!

Ok, I'll stop blubbering now. Today was a big day for Miss Marlee. She had her 6-month checkup (with vaccinations) and went to daycare for the first time. Both events went quite smoothly, and I managed to get through work with only calling the sitter once to check in. Here are Marlee's "stats" as it seems to be the popular thing to post them, and of course I want to be popular....
Weight: 17.1 lbs (72%)
Height: 27.5 inches (96%)
Head: 17 inches (72%)
So apparently Marlee's head is a little more proportional to the rest of her now and probably won't make the Guinness Book of World Records anytime soon. And of course, a post wouldn't be complete without a picture.

My sweet baby

Goodbye Summer

Seriously, where has September gone? It seems to be flying by! During Labor Day weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Jamie's family here in Norfolk. It was a short visit, but it was fun to watch football, play games, and eat too many treats together. Marlee also got to "play" with her older cousin Addy, so it was fun to watch those two cuties interact/poke eyeballs.

Jamie and I both spent most of the month sick. I got sick for a week, then he got sick for 2 weeks, then Marlee got sick, and then I got sick again. We're really good about sharing in this family. We all got loaded up on antibiotics, inhalers, syrups....you know, The Works, and now we're all doing much better. I also caught a horrendous fever in the beginning of the month: The crafting fever. This came as quite a surprise to me and those who know me well as crafting has always been as appealing to me as the Bubonic Plague. I read something on MSN one day about an easy, cheap DIY home decoration and figured "What the heck, eh?" So I hauled my little crafty self down to the dollar store to buy a hot glue gun, borrowed a staple gun from someone, and got my craft on like Donkey Kong. All of my creations required little to no skill and therefore are nothing spectacular, but I must say, (being the humble being I am), I was slightly impressed with myself. Here's a few pictures of my products:

Fabric "art" hanging in the dining area

Bow hanger for Marlee

Mirror for Marlee's room

Another fabric "wall art" and wooden letter

The lamp base used to be brown with ugly Asian-inspired paintings on it.
Just a little spray paint and ribbon made it more girly

Like a flash in the pan, as quickly as the crafting fever came on, it left. Who knows if it will ever come back in full force again. Now I will digress as I tell of other random news from the month. I finally found myself a little part-time nursing job that is perfect for me. I think it will keep me a little more sane as I'll get outta the house and around other adults at least 2 days a week. Speaking of being a mother, it's kinda hard work. But then again, anything that is worth something usually is. Just when I think I've got a good routine and everything figured out, things change. For example, Marlee used to be a great sleeper. There I was, relishing in my dream-filled nights, and just like that, Marlee starting waking at night again right around 5 months old. I guess the good thing is, when she'd wake all I'd have to do is re-swaddle her and/or stick her binky in and she'd go right back to sleep, but I'd still wake feeling like a zombie in the morning because of my interrupted sleep. So I got out my arsenal of parenting books (did I mention that I devour parenting books, The Baby Whisperer is a personal fav) and began trouble-shooting without much success. Well, a few nights ago Jamie and I decided to take a giant leap of faith and stopped swaddling her at night. Presto! She's slept through the night ever since. However, now we're paranoid she'll be a SIDS baby. This is how I often find her in her crib: lying on her belly face down almost FLAT on the mattress!

There's nothing quite like a good ol' mattress face plant!

Other than scaring us with her sleeping position preference, Marlee continues to be the loveable, chubby, happy little baby that she is.

Unfortunately, she's inherited her mother's thighs:)

I also started Marlee on solids this week as she'll be 6 months old in a couple days. It's a pretty messy process, especially when she decided to blow raspberries with a mouth full of sweet potato.

Finally, Jamie has had a busy busy month with his Urology rotation. It was just kinda happenstance that he ended up rotating in Urology but he really seems to enjoy it. Dinner time conversation is never dull as he has now collected a slew of stories involving DRE's (digital rectal exams), incontinence, ED (think Bob Dole), and the like. Next week he starts ER rotations, so I'm sure he'll gather more stories to add to his repertoire:)

Favorite Things

Not much is happening here in Norfolk, so instead of boring you with details of our mundane lives I'll post about a few of my favorite things right now. Warning, a lot have to do with Marlee, I'm one of those obsessive mothers.

#1-The size of Marlee's head. Maybe it's the angle of this picture (well, at least I'm hoping it is because of the size of my Pop Eye arm minus the Pop Eye muscles), but our little girl has got one good noggin on her shoulders. At her 4 month appointment her head circumference was in the 95th percentile. Her head looks about the same size as mine in this picture, which makes me smile.

#2-A baby's fascination with their body. Marlee loves to wave her arms, kick her legs, suck on her toes, etc...and in this picture I happened to capture her when she was experimenting with her lips.

#3-Seeing old friends. One of my good friends from high school got married yesterday and it was fun to catch up with some old buddies.

#4-Kemps fat free, no sugar added frozen yogurt. I've only seen this variety in Vanilla, but let me tell ya, you can't beat the 70 calories per serving (regular ice cream is usually 130-160 calories). Of course, I never stop at just one serving, and I'm sure the fountain of chocolate syrup and mound of peanuts I add boosts the calorie count, but at least I feel a little less guilty eating it. Oh, and for those Midwestern-ers who shop at Hy-Vee, it has a Nu-Val score above 90.

#5-Football season is starting. Nebraska is famous for 2 things: corn and football. If you live in this state and don't have a room in your home with red and white walls and Husker memorabilia everywhere you're pretty much shunned. I'll admit, I'm not a die-hard, but there's just something nostalgic about watching a game on a brisk fall day with friends while chowing down on greasy/salty/sugary grub.

#6-Jamie, of course.

Redneck Livin'

    Jamie and I found a new form of entertainment. It involves danger, thrill, loud noise and thick smoke. Yep, we've turned into demolition derby junkies. Since we're living in rural country, we figured we might as well try to fit in. When in Rome........

For those who have never been to a wreck em' derby it basically involves cars
running into each other until they can run no more

    Last weekend we went to our first derby and didn't even think twice about bringing Marlee with. We definitely earned the worst parents of the year award. Immediately when the cars starting revving their ROARING engines, Marlee began to scream. Imagine a rock concert, make your ears bleed type of loud. I sat with my hands sealed tightly over Marlee's ears, which seamed to help, until it started to rain. Not just your average rain either. It was the fat, heavy, burr-cold, they hurt-when-they-hit-you type of drops. And then came the mud. All of the spinning tires sent mud clods soaring through the air into the stands. It was more than our little one could bear.
    Therefore, this weekend when we went to another derby with some friends, (yay, new friends!) we used a little more judgement and left Marlee with grandma. Derbies really are surprisingly entertaining. Even if one does not enjoy watching vehicles crash into each other, much pleasure can be found from people watching. Derbies attract quite an array of people. Think of 40+ year-old barefooted men with no shirts on, strutting around in khaki shorts scantily rolled up to mid-thigh, or young women in mini-skirts and corsets wearing knee-high 4 in. platform boots. There's truly something for everyone.

Jewel Eye

The month of July was like a big breath of fresh air for us. It was jam-packed with family, festivities, and general laziness. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's being lazy. We started the month by moving to Norfolk, Nebraska (my hometown) Friday, July 1st. Saturday the 2nd we unpacked and headed to the lake in the evening to watch the "Big Bang Boom," the local fireworks show. The fireworks this year were AMAZING, it was visual overload. I'm proud that my small hometown can put on a show that rivals MUCH larger cities (Jamie had his doubts, but is now a believer). In fact, during the overstimulating grand finale, the people around me were so overcome with awe that they spontaneously started chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A!"....although maybe I should clarify that the people around me=Jamie. Sunday we headed up to Jamie's parents house in Estherville to spend the week with them and have a second 4th celebration. The fourth of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays. What's not to like about a holiday where food, sun, games, and pyromania are mixed together? Anyways, Monday the 4th we went to the local flight breakfast, watched a parade, had a barbeque, and headed over to lake Okoboji to watch fireworks.


Family photo in front of lake Okoboji. It was fun to watch the hundreds of boats on the water.




 The rest of our week in Estherville we ate too much food, went bowling, watched Transformers 3 (big boo to that movie), played horseshoes, visited, and did a lot of relaxing. Also, my mother-in-law Angie and I attempted to take a few pictures of Marlee. Here's some for your viewing pleasure:

After our Estherville adventures, we returned to our mostly un-packed apartment for a day and a half before heading to Omaha to catch a plane to California for a family reunion. Note to self: never schedule a 6 a.m. flight again. We didn't get to bed until midnight the night before our trip and then awoke at 2 a.m. to drive to Omaha. Not fun.Our California trip was jam-packed with activities.We arrived in California about 10.am. and then headed straight to Newport Beach. It was co-old (temp in the 60s) so Marlee and I opted to stay out of the water that morning. The next night Jamie helped clean up the streets of Moreno Valley when he went on a "ride-along" with his cousin Scott, a cop. 

We did plenty of lounging in the pool. Don't let this picture fool you, Marlee was a natural pool rat. She was perfectly content floating in her tube while sucking her fist.

Here's a picture of us hanging on the beach in our sweet tie-dye threads.

Unfortunately, our dear Marlee got a little too much sun. We tried hard to keep her out of the sun at the beach by keeping her under a shade tent, but I think the sun's rays must have reflected off the water giving her a "binky burn". I felt like a HORRIBLE mother, but looking back on the picture now, her binky tan lines make me smile a little.

We left Marlee with Grandma Angie one morning and went on a deep-sea fishing trip. It was a fun, but hot and exhausting adventure.

Some of the other activities we did included going to an Anaheim Angels game, having a luau (I took 2nd in the hula-hooping contest-lost to a 9 year-old), and lots of visiting. The most special part of the trip however, was when Jamie blessed Marlee. Here's a picture the morning of her blessing, unfortunately I won't have any of her in her blessing dress until later.

 

When the end of our trip came, we were exhausted. However, our adventures were not quite over as our flight from Santa Ana got cancelled which led us on a wild fiasco of catching a cab during major rush hour to the Long Beach airport, boarding a plane 2 minutes before scheduled take-off, an overnight stay in Phoenix, and arriving in Omaha 1 day later then planned. After a little effort we did get some flight vouchers for our troubles however, so it wasn't all bad. When we got home we felt as though we needed a vacation from our vacation. So we did just that:) I shouldn't admit to our laziness, but we took advantage of the free cable our apartment offers and spent a few days recovering in front of the TV. Now if only our remaining boxes could unpack themselves.....

Man of the hour

Since birthing Marlee most of my (sparse) updates have been about her, so I figured it was time to write a little about what my baby daddy has been up to. School got out for Jamie in the middle of May, so that meant it was time to kick back, relax, and enjoy summer right!? Not so much for this boy! After medical students complete their first 2 years of school they get the pleasure of putting their classroom knowledge to the test by taking the first step of boards. Jamie signed up to take the COMLEX (DO boards) June 27th and the USMLE (MD boards) June 30th. Needless to say, he spent about a month and a half holed up in the library intensely studying, some days from sun-up to sun-down. I'm not gonna lie, those were some rough days for both of us. Good thing we had some great friends in Des Moines to keep me busy and Jamie sane! Thankfully, our prayers were answered and Jamie was blessed for his hard work and was able to meet his goals on both sets of boards. Right after taking the USMLE (a draining 8-hour test) Jamie had to race home to help load all of our belongings into the back of a UHAUL truck because we were moving to Nebraska the next day. June was certainly a BUSY month! The month of July provided a much needed break from studies, and now Jamie is on to the (....fun?) part of med school: clinical rotations. His first rotation is with a family practice physician, so he is looking forward to putting his knowledge to use and I'm looking forward to having him around a little more. The past two years have probably been some of the most challenging of our life. Whoever said medical school is not for the faint of heart was right! However, if there's anyone that can face a good challenge, it's Jamie. Because underneath that white jacket is my knight in shining armor-corny, yes....but the truth don't lie so deal with it:)

Looking like a 'stunna on his first day of rotations!
 (for those that don't know what a stunna is, Urban Dictionary defines it as:
Someone that is smooth, and that got game.)

Caught in the act

I can't believe our little Marlee is 4 months old already! Our little princess is learning to do so many new things each day. We happened to have the camera close by the other night and captured one of her first "chuckles" Sorry the video is sideways...anyone know how to flip it?