Catching up

Ok, I know I have not been diligent on posting. The little miss is quite distracting (as evidenced by her cuteness and my constant desire to shower her in kisses and/or eat her cheeks). I had good intentions to blog more because I think it's a fun family record, but my good intentions have obviously fallen by the wayside.
So here's a little bit about our sweetums...
She has a rather large head-which is normal for babies, I know, but her's is quite impressively round. It must be jam packed with brains. For the first month of her life she had an almost unhealthy obsession with her pacifier (yes, I went against the advice of all the breast-feeding czars and gave her a binkie in the hospital, shame on me). As soon as that thing hits her mouth she does this lazy eye-roll thing and is instantly content. However, I swear some of my days have been spent playing fetch with a pacifier. She's a good little eater and is growing much too fast! She starting sleeping 6-7 hour stretches at night before waking up for a feeding when she was 5 weeks old. I must admit I was incredibly paranoid the first time she slept 7 hours straight as most of the parenting/development books I read told me she was too little to sleep that long, I'd lose my milk supply, she'd starve to death, etc.... but I've learned that as long as she's developing well and gaining weight, to just thank my lucky stars. Now at 7 weeks old she's starting to sleep even longer. Last night I put her to bed at 10 and finally I woke her up at 6:30 for a feeding because of my paranoia. When she wakes in the morning she's just the smiliest thing ever (is that even a word?) Marlee really is such a good baby and brings us so much joy. Jamie and I love her to pieces! Here are some obligatory photos of course...

A few pics

Just because I'm currently awake I thought I'd post a few pictures. Sometime I'll write our birth story, but that's waaay too much effort for this sleepy mommy now.

Marlee Jo Olsen

One of the few times she's slept:)

My little cutie

Another Pregnancy Update....

Well, since I'm sitting here in the hospital waiting for labor to progress, I thought I'd write an update. Unfortunately,  much to our dismay, Jamie and I made the decision to go ahead with an induction since I don't seem to be making much progress on my own. I'm currently 41 weeks and 4 days pregnant (11 days past my due date), so my physician thought it would be best to give my body a boost to get labor started. I REALLY wanted to avoid inductions, interventions, and basically anything  "unnatural", but it is what it is. I guess our little girl just needs some motivation to come out! So now I'm sitting here hooked up to Pitocin waiting for the real fun to begin:) Wish us luck!

Here's me this morning in all my 41+ week pregnancy glory!

Quick Pregnancy Update

Well, my due date came and went and still no baby. As Jamie says, "The womb service must be good," so we think our little girl is perfectly happy and content in her current home which is why she's ignored her eviction notice. I however, feel as big as a house and as though my abdomen may just spontaneously explode, so I'm getting ever-so-slightly tired of being pregnant. Like many other women who go past their due dates, I've been researching/trying different at home techniques to induce labor, but so far no luck. I've walked miles everyday, ate spicy foods, tried "acupressure", yada, yada, ya....I swear most of the techniques are just wives' tales and that babies come when they darn well please. In fact, some of the things I read on the internet could be kinda dangerous, so I've definitely tried to use my medical judgement before trying anything. One thing I've decided I would never try is castor oil (why would I want to voluntarily give myself diarrhea!?). I'm pretty convinced this technique does not work and here's why: Earlier this week both Jamie and I had a NASTY bout of food poisoning that actually landed me in the hospital for severe dehydration. Basically, I got 8 straight hours of ahem, "cleansing", and a good abdominal workout, but it still did nothing to induce labor. Therefore, it's my opinion that if food poisoning won't induce labor (it did give me a few Braxton-Hicks contractions) castor oil won't either because it causes the same symptoms as food poisoning. So if there's any pregnant women out there reading this, don't mess with the castor oil....it will just cause you misery. Anyway, there's my plug for the day.

Just say "no"

Well, I know that soon enough pregnancy will just be a fleeting thought as I'll be holding my little bundle of joy sometime within the next week (my doctors won't let me go more than 2 weeks overdue), so hopefully my next blog post will be featuring our new addition!

Late night antics

This has got to be a record for me. Three posts in one month...phew. Well since I'm a regular ol' insomniac nowadays I decided it was time to switch up my routine. I used to lie in bed tossing and turning for hours hoping to fall back asleep, but then neither me nor Jamie got any rest so I've started trying to do at least slightly productive things with my time while I'm up at night. I think I'm going to be totally prepared for sleepless nights as a mother because so far, pregnancy has been training me well.
For dinner tonight I decided to cook waffles. I'm really not a huge waffle fan, but I decided since I was going through the effort anyways, I'd double my recipe and freeze the leftovers for an easy meal. So away I went mixing and fryin' and before I knew it, this is what my stack of waffles looked like (I still ended up with a couple more than pictured....)

Ok, please ignore the woman in the green shirt pictured at an awful angle and look only at the waffles. Today was one of those I'm wearing my husband's shirt, I'm not leaving the house, wearing any make-up, or even showering for that manner sort-of-days (although I did end up showering). And yes, since you asked, I AM resting the plate on my belly....might as well make it useful:)


So anyways, I'm frying up waffles like crazy and in walks Jamie from a long day at school. I believe the one first things he said was, "Wow, are all of those for you? You must really be craving waffles tonight." Glad I can still 'wow' him after over 4 years together.

Oh, I also received some good news about 30 minutes ago, and since no sane person I know is awake other than me right now I guess the only one I can share my news with is Blogger....lame. I now have two new initials behind my name: Amber Olsen, RN. I just checked the Iowa Board of Nursing website and saw my name on the list. Wahoo! Feels good to know I passed my national boards. Alright, well I think I may try to head back to bed now. I ate a little snack, went to the bathroom (TMI?), and popped some Tums so I think I should be good to go for a couple of hours. Goodnight! (or morning.......)

My Valentine

Ok, I generally try to avoid getting too mushy/gushy, but heck, it Valentine's Day, and not to brag or anything, but I have a pretty good Valentine. This lovely specimen of a man makes my life better each day. He is My Precious...(imagine those last two words being muttered in the voice of Golom from Lord of The Rings). So, in the spirit of love, and definitely a little boastfulness, here are a few reasons why I'm so fond of this man.

Blue Steel

 1) There's no use trying to get around it. I'm going to go ahead and point out the elephant in the middle of the room and state the obvious: I married a looker. I, Amber Elizabeth Wilson Olsen snagged me a hottie and I'm not one bit ashamed.


2) He tickles my funny bone. Yes, many of his stories may require censorship and usually deal with some sort of bodily function, but not a day goes by that he doesn't make me laugh.

3) He knows what he wants and will work to get it.  Success is attractive, and when I was studying at BYU just about every boy I knew stated they wanted to go to law school, medical school, get their PhD, etc.....but talk is cheap.One of the first things I noticed about Jamie was how driven he was. Not only did he talk of big goals, he actually had a plan to accomplish them. Now as a medical student, I see him work hard everyday to obtain his goal of receiving a solid education so he can one day support his family.

4) He's the jack of all trades. I'm amazed by Jamie's many talents and skills. He plays the drums, the piano, the guitar, and even the bagpipes. When we first started dating I remember thinking how neat it was that he was involved in so many things. He loved sports (which was a def. must for me), he danced on the BYU Folk Dance team (which I thought was kinda funny, but cool), he had sang on the BYU Choir, and he could even knit.

5) He makes me want to be a better person. We try to not let complacency exist in our marriage. I love talking with him about my hopes, my goals, and how we can be better people. He is such a caring, genuine, and honest man. When I think about him as a future father to our little girl I get all giddy inside.

Alright, I could keep going, but this is becoming a little too self-indulgent. The bottom line is I married an amazing man and I look forward to spending the rest of eternity with him. How can a girl get so lucky?

Together Forever

Bellies and Dragons

      Well I suppose it's that time again where I dust off the ol' keyboard and update the blog. Life is life as usual. I graduated nursing school in December, the holidays came and went (much too quickly), Jamie is back to the grind, and I'm just working and cooking a baby. Speaking of babies, pregnancy is such a weird thing. I mean think about it. Two microscopic cells come together and over the span of 9+ months evolve into a 6-10lb lovely little creature that completely changes a woman's body and her life. Now don't get me wrong, I am completely elated to be growing a little creature of my own. It's just that there's a few things about pregnancy that aren't the most fun. Warning! I'm about to get personal. You may read TMI, but its my blog so I'll say what I want to.

     Numero Uno: Belly buttons. I've tried to push it back in, really I have. Sometimes as I sit on the couch watching a show I'll apply firm pressure to my button, but of course, as soon as I take my finger off....POP GOES THE WEASEL! I've read online that some pregnant women put bandaids over their belly buttons to keep them "under control". Been there, done that, doesn't really work for me. My whole life I've been taught to be modest. But now, as a pregnant woman, I feel as though I've lost my modesty. When I wear a shirt that is tight snug over my midsection (which is often b/c I'm too cheap to buy maternity clothes) I feel as though I'm exposing my navel to the world. I swear you can see the outline of my belly button through just about any top I wear. Today while I was trying on an outfit for church, Jamie said, "Hey there belly button!" Thanks babe. IT now has an identity of its own. Oh well, I can honestly say that I probably have one of the cleanest belly buttons around. I guarantee you won't find an spec of lint trapped in MY button!

This is not my belly by the way.....I just wanted to illustrate what the "popping of the button" looks like
Mine's not quite to this level......yet anyways:)

    Number Two: Acid reflux. I feel like I literally have a slumbering fire-breathing dragon inside of my stomach. As soon as I lay down for a nap or eat a meal, the dragon wakes up, and it does so with a vengeance. Earlier in my pregnancy, I considered TUMS to be my trusty friend that I could rely on in times of need. I now, however, feel betrayed. In the last few weeks I've popped TUMS like tic-tacs and it still doesn't calm the dragon. So, I've done what any logical woman would do and have increased my intake of "base" (as in pH) foods such as milk or dairy......  

Ok so maybe the ice cream doesn't really help with stomach acid, but it sure makes me feel better -until later when I look at the empty bucket and realize Jamie only ate one bowl....
  
     And finally....insomnia. I blame it mostly on #2. However, if on the rare occasion the dragon I swallowed is asleep, I usually still toss and turn all night because of hip or back discomfort. Alright, I'm done complaining now.I will take all the acid reflux, strange body transformations, and insomnia that can be thrown at me if it means that I get a precious baby in the end. I've been blessed with a relatively healthy, complication-free pregnancy thus far and am incredibly grateful for it. So bring it on belly button! You've got 5 weeks of poppage left!