One Week Old

This is Remy at one week. He is still so small. Those pants that he is wearing are actually shorts, and yes they are Newborn size. They do look more like parachute pants than anything else. Isn't his shirt so cute though?

The New Addition

Ben and I are quite pleased to have welcomed a new addition to our family. In fact, several months ago, Ben labeled the baby's due date as "New Addition Due" on our calendar. We had a good laugh because it sounds more like a work project than an expected baby.

After nine months of waiting, our little boy Remington made his long-anticipated debut. All weekend I had contractions, but they weren't regular and lasted just long enough to make sure that I couldn't fall asleep. Finally Sunday, the contractions fell into a pattern and were long enough that Ben and I made the trip to the hospital around 10:30pm. We were admitted and I was already 3 1/2 centimeters dialated.

Last picture of me with my prego belly

Over the next several hours, the contractions got more and more painful and much closer together. I had planned from the beginning to labor unmedicated, so as we walked around the hospital I practiced the breathing techniques from our Lamaze class. However, my lack of sleep combined with nausea began to take a toll on me. The nausea medication didn't work, and after vomiting several times, the nausea began to interfere with my breathing techniques which made the pain much more difficult to manage. And, I still hadn't progressed much in my labor as I was only at 4 cm. So I knew it was time for another course of action and asked for an epidural.



And it really was the best thing ever, for me at least!!! I didn't need any Pitocin, and my water broke immediately after. I was able to doze and catch up on some much needed rest. I was able to relax so that the rest of the labor went smoothly and quickly and I dialated at about 1 cm per hour. It didn't even affect the ability to push, because as the baby got lower, I could feel the pressure of the contractions.

Sleeping like a baby

Husbands get exhausted too

My mom arrived just in time to be there for the Remy's birth. She traveled from Idaho, leaving at around 4:30 am and arriving just as I was at 10 cm dialated.



My mom and Ben were a big help during the pushing phase, which actually only took 50 minutes. My OB was out of town celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary, so another doctor delivered the baby. Everything went well and on Monday September 13, at 12:30pm, our baby made his debut, weighing in at 5 lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long.

You can see his slight conehead

I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was to hold my baby for the first time. As they handed him to me, I memorized every little feature and I felt like I knew my baby and could recognize him anywhere. His crying quieted down as soon as I started talking to him, and for the first time, I knew motherhood is truly a divine calling.

My hospital stay certainly has mixed reviews; there were excellent nurses and horrible nurses. And it is always debatable whether you are able to rest more at home or in the hospital. I was extremely upset when the nurses took Remy away the first time to take his vitals. He had low blood sugar, so they told Ben they needed to give him something right away, and didn't even discuss as an option returning him to me to feed. I guess it didn't matter much anyway, because he vomited up the formula afterward, but I was upset by the backhanded nature of the whole thing. I was, on the other hand, very impressed with the nurses that were supportive of breastfeeding. Because of Remy's low blood sugar, I was really worried when he wouldn't wake up to feed. One of the nurses though was very supportive and brought in a breast pump so that I could pump and finger feed the baby.

Other great hospital moments:

Ben's four foot couch/bed


Remy awake and alert



Remy and Daddy

And, finding out how exactly how big newborn clothes are

I was definitely ready to leave by the time the two days were up, and very excited to be going home with my new baby boy.

Family photo

Me, my mom, and Remy

Remy's Room

As part of our Labor Day weekend, Ben and I decided to finish some projects around the house, including unpacking and fixing up the baby's room. With only 11 days left until my due date, I can finally say that we are ready for Remy's arrival.

I received the nursery decor and crib bedding set as a baby shower gift from my mother back in June. Since then, it's just been sitting around along with the rest of the baby stuff. We knew we were going to be moving so we put off buying quite a few things (less things to move), and never put anything together. I was so excited this week when I got to pull everything out and actually start decorating!! The only difficulty? Being eight and half months pregnant, I needed a lot of help from Ben. Good thing I got him a drill for his birthday. :)

Look how wonderful the crib looks:


I actually bought the crib and dresser used from the classifieds on ksl.com. The crib was in really good condition, but the dresser needed a little bit of work. Ben replaced all the sliders on the drawers so they pulled out smoothly. Also, as the dresser was missing some knobs, we replaced them. We picked out brown knobs to match the brown in the crib bedding and nursery decor. And we bought a brown curtain rod to hang the matching window valence.



I really wanted a comfortable nursing chair, and when Ben and I went to Ikea last, I fell in love with the Boliden chair. I decided at the last minute to go for the brown instead of the white, and I'm glad I did because I think it matches the rest of the nursery and won't show as much dirt. Also, notice the cute diaper stacker hanging on the wall.


We also had to include the futon in the nursery. I put the matching rug in front to tie the room together. You can also see the matching hamper just to the right of it.


Now, if I can just figure out what to do with the wall space above the crib and futon. Any ideas?

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I am a little late getting this up on my blog, but with our recent move (packing and unpacking) and then finding our camera cord, it's lucky that this post even makes it on my blog at all.

Awhile ago, I received some Salt Lake Bee's tickets from one of our vendors at work. We changed our trash services at one of the properties we manage, and they offered us tickets as part of their "Customer Appreciation" day. I asked for enough tickets so that Brynn, Clayton, and Dee could go and bring their significant other. However, they all had other plans so I had six extra tickets. Ben then invited one of his coworkers Ryan and his family.


We had a great time! We took Trax up to the Bee's stadium, which in and of itself is an adventure. Ryan and his family took the Front Runner down from Ogden, which proved to be a special treat for his kids.




And then there was the game itself! We only stayed for about half the innings, because Ben had to work early the next day (6:30 Preshift is a killer), but the Bee's were neck and neck with the Portland Beavers when we left. They ended up winning though! Way to go Bee's!



My only complaint? The weather was really rainy/muggy and that combined with me not drinking enough water, was enough to cause my feet to swell up like sausages. It was a very painful walk back to the Trax station, even though I was wearing sandals. Yay for pregnant feet! And I'm glad it hasn't happened since then!

A Committed Relationship

A few months ago, my sister explained to us that she was in a committed relationship because she bought a fridge with her fiance when his fridge died. Ben and I started teasing her because although we had been married for three and a half years and are having a having a baby, we couldn't possibly be in a "committed relationship" because we hadn't bought any appliances together.

Well, all that has changed last week!! With our recent move, Ben and I decided to buy a washer and dryer for our new apartment. As it was an unforseen expense, we hedged on buying it until I realized that I did NOT want to be dealing with diaper explosions, projectile vomit, and other baby body fluids unless I was equipped with a washer and dryer. We started looking around at appliance stores, but finally we settled on purchasing them from the GE store online because Ben receives a discount through his work. Because of the discounted pricing, we decided to buy a chest freezer as well, as our small freezer space fills up rather quickly.

I ordered the appliances on Monday and the arrived on Thursday. The delivery men helped set them up, and I am in love (with the appliances that is)!! After years of doing our laundry in laundromats, and then having a furnished apartment with used appliances, I'm in heaven having my own washer and dryer. No longer does it take an hour and half to dry a load of clothes, nor do I have to worry about overburdening the washer. And our new freezer is HUGE!!! After a trip to Costco, to stock up on frozen items, we still have a vast amount of space.


Check out our Costco goodies: (notice the Mexican popsicles. Seriously, if you haven't tried them before, you are missing out!)



I mean...take a look at my beauties:




Although our new apartment needs some other items right now, I am putting off a case of the "I wants" so I can thoroughly enjoy my new appliances before we move onto our other purchases.

You can have your cake, and eat your pie too!

This year we celebrated Ben's 30th birthday!!! With this busy week, which included my mom's birthday and my sister's wedding, we barely had time to celebrate, especially since I traveled up to Idaho for the wedding. However, I knew I had to do something special for my man.

So what did I do? I made a pie! Now you might be wondering why in the world I would choose to make a pie, especially as I have limited pie making skills. The week before, I had bought some peaches and apples to make pies for a party. And, I only got as far as the apple pie, which didn't turn out exactly like I wanted. So, I had some very ripe peaches on hand, and remembering the one wonderful pie I made last year, I ventured to try another pie.

My fresh peach pie from last year's Fourth of July BBQ.

Because I was making the pie on Ben's birthday, I felt like he deserved some input, and instead of my fantastic fresh peach pie, he requested a baked peach pie. I found this recipe, which was fantastic! For the crust, I used the Lion House Pie Crust recipe. I've included it here, just so that

Lion House Pie Crust Recipe
(for 2 nine inch pie crusts)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. nonfat dried milk
3 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup ice cold water, plus about 1 tbsp more

Put dry ingredients together in a bowl with only about 1/2 the amount of flour. Mix well with butter and lard, then add the water and remaining flour. Divide the pastry into two equal balls, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about one hour. Remove and roll out as needed for pies.

I decided to make the pie more decorative than I usually do, and so I used my little star cookie cutter to cut out the shapes from the center. Then, I used the scraps to make additional stars, which were then used to line the crust. Didn't it turn out well?


After making the pie for Ben, I decided that he needed a birthday cake as well. Really, you can't have a birthday without birthday cake, right? So, using a boxed cake mix and packaged frosting, I made Ben his chocolate cake:


For dinner, Ben requested Chicken Caesar Salad. It's kind of an odd request coming from him, but he said that he had been craving it all day. And I thought pregnant women were the ones with the cravings! So I made the salad by cutting up romaine lettuce, broiling chicken tenders, and then dicing them. I topped it off with shredded parmesan cheese, croutons, and salad dressing. I added some sparkling soda for the beverage, since we definitely had something to celebrate. Doesn't the birthday boy look pleased?


After dinner, we watched Alice in Wonderland (2010), which was a fantastic film. We both really enjoyed it. Then, we finished the day by eating cake AND pie!

Phil and Teds Stroller

Ben and I have been in the process of purchasing baby items for the past two months. In the beginning, I didn't even want to think about all the things we would need to buy; it just seemed so overwhelming. Well, piece by piece, we have been adding to our baby collection. And my most recent addition is the Phil and Teds Sport Stroller.


I really wanted a jogging stroller that I could use to go walking, as well as for everyday pushing. The Phil and Teds stroller seemed like a perfect fit because while I enjoy walking and jogging, I don't run extensively, and I liked the inline style and double kit, so that I can continue using the stroller with my next baby.

The only deterrent for me was the hefty price, because looking at the Phil and Teds site and even Amazon.com, I did not want to go over budget on the stroller. I had looked online at KSL.com and Craiglist.org, but there were no Phil and Teds strollers for sale, so I decided to get the B.O.B. Revolution stroller because it was less expensive and a really good jogging stroller.

However, last week I found a Phil and Teds stroller for sale on KSL! I was ecstatic, so I called the woman that posted the ad, and I found out it was still for sale. It was even in Red, my favorite color. The woman lived up in Syracuse, so I asked her if I could see it and possibly purchase it the next day when I headed out of town for my baby shower. She agreed, and even marked the ad as SOLD, to deter other possible customers. A few hours before I was scheduled to leave work, however, I received a phone call from her and she let me know that although she had been holding the stroller for me, her husband sold it to someone else. I was so disappointed!

Imagine to my surprise when I found another Phil and Teds stroller for sale on KSL, the day after I got back from Idaho! It was a demo model that was pushed around in a baby store up in Ogden, and then were letting it go for less than it would cost to get it online. I called the store, and they agreed to hold it for me until the next day when I could get up there. The stroller came with the doubles kit, and was in Navy Blue, which I consider a gender neutral color. The next day I left work in the middle of the day to go purchase my stroller. I pushed it around the store, practiced folding it a few times, and then forked over the money! The only thing I wasn't happy about was paying sales tax, since I was purchasing it from a business. Even so, I am in love with the stroller and the company Phil and Teds now. There is actually a spring loose on the belly bar, which I noticed at the Ogden store. The lady helping me said that she would contact the company, and they would probably send me a replacement bar. Just a few hours later, I received a call from Phil and Teds, and they let me know that the problem was the spring, they would be sending me a new one which I could easily replace, and it would be arriving later in the week. How's that for Customer Service?

Now, I just need to get the rest of the Car Seat adapter for the stroller to go with the Chicco Key Fit 30 car seat I will be purchasing later this month. I really don't have much time left to go!