The Suisse Family Robinson

I am obsessed with a website- www.etsy.com
It's kind of like e-bay for handcrafted goods like purses, bags, baby blankets, clothes, jewelry. I just bought Lara and Genevieve their Easter dresses.
Cute!!!!
I also bought them matching flower headbands. There's a feature on the website that allows you to put together a wishlist... Yeah, I have a large wishlist. I'm not too keen on shopping but this is my kind of shopping- in my pajamas, from my computer!

I'm actually voting this year.

Today Lara turned 2 and since I was up at 1:20 in the morning feeding Vivi I was also able to think about 2 years ago when Lara was born. As I had never gone through pregnancy or labor and delivery before I made the mistake of being very certain how I wanted things to be. My due date was February 14th but I didn't want her on Valentine's day, either a day before or some time after, I didn't want to be induced, and I wanted a natural birth.

Pregnant women, take note: Be prepared to be surprised.

Near the end of January my doctor kept telling me that the baby (we didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl) would come any day since I was dilating quite nicely. My due date came and went with no baby. So on February 21st I went to Riverside Hospital for a 9:00 induction appointment.

Here's how the day went-
9:00am Arrived at Riverside Hospital. Sat around in the labor and delivery room for 2 hours playing games while the staff waited for the actual order to start the pitocin. Keep in mind that I wasn't supposed to have eaten anything since the night before.
11:00 Finally got hooked up to the pitocin, so I thought that things would go pretty quickly after that. Nope. My mom and my sister, Suki, came to wait with me and play games. I know now that I was having very small contractions but at the time I didn't think I was because they didn't hurt.
3:30 I wasn't progressing at all so they broke my water. Then the contractions started to hurt. I was able to breathe through most of them and I was progressing finally- 4 cm, then 5, etc.
6:00 I was very tired and I could not sleep through the contractions. I still wanted to try having a natural birth so the nurse suggested Nubain, which only lasts for an hour, so that I could rest for a bit.
7:00 Nubain wore off so it was back to work.
9:00 At this point I was very exhausted and very hungry. I had progressed steadily up until now and then I got stuck at 7 cm. I got very discouraged when the nurse told me that I hadn't changed from the last check. Plus Lara had turned a little so I had back labor. Let me tell ya', that stuff hurts. So I just said "Give me the drugs!" I was already disappointed that things hadn't gone as I had wanted so what's one more change to my birth plan?
9:30 Epidural = sleep. Yay! The nurse stuck me in weird positions to help Lara turn her body.
12:30 Almost time to push. The nurse called the doctor and then prepped the room for delivery.
1:00 I've decided that pushing is my favorite part of delivery because you know there's going to be a baby soon. Also, since Reed and I like to be surprised it's fun to know that you'll soon discover whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
1:20am 20 minutes of pushing and Lara was born! I had wanted a girl first and I had called Lara a "she" through most of my pregnancy so I was pretty happy. :)

So Happy Birthday, Lara! Even though your labor and delivery wasn't my favorite (Vivi's was so much easier) I was glad to have you join our family. Looking forward to the next year!

A few months ago I attended an early music education training for a few days. At times I felt very out of place because everyone there was totally against American Idol. I thought to myself "Self, I like American Idol. Am I a bad early music educator?" But I have decided that American Idol has it's place and it's place is to entertain me. So for another season I find myself cringing at the off-key singing, rolling my eyes at the overdone dramatics, sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see who's eliminated, smiling when my favorites make it to the top 12 (including this guy), and anxiously awaiting the next week. Pathetic? Maybe, but at least I am entertained.

Last week I was talking to a friend at church about the differences between Lara and Genevieve- one being that Vivi likes to sleep on her stomach. I usually don't freak out over things like that, I'm pretty laid back. But because I had two cousins who died of SIDS I have a more personal interest in having my babies lay on their backs. After a few days of getting to know Vivi I decided it was either let her sleep on her stomach or me not sleep at all. Vivi won. My friend, Megan, said that her newborn son was the same way and they tried a Swaddle Me blanket and, in her words, "It changed our entire lives!" I figured it was worth a try since Vivi likes to be swaddled I just didn't have blankets big enough to swaddle her. Megan brought me an extra Swaddle Me blanket that she had and I tried it today.


Need I say more? Now I'm off to Babies R Us to buy two more blankets.

What?! The Jonas Brothers get to sing with Stevie Wonder? Maybe I'm just a little jealous but I think you should have proven your worth as a musician to get to perform with one of the greatest icons of music! I could probably sing and play the guitar just as well. I just can't make the girls scream like they can...

When I was a teenager I was a total fan of NSync and I knew all the songs and dances. If I had ever gone to a concert I would have been one of the screaming girls. Then they grew up and I grew up. I only admit this because Justin Timberlake has made some great contributions to the world of pop music. He is actually a great songwriter and performer and has been able to break out of the boyband stereotype with surprising agility. Not so for his fellow bandmates. It would have been better to see HIM performing with Stevie Wonder then three boys who look good while trying to hit high notes and strumming guitars. We'll see if they're just as big when they're 30 as they are now.

I think I fixed it!

It was just brought to my attention that no one can comment on my blog. I'll get right on that.

I am still in the process of adjusting to having a newborn and a toddler, sometimes by myself. I am definitely not complaining because I have had the ideal situation the last month since Reed is on his seasonal leave. But on school nights it is a true challenge. We have enjoyed going to the library for Pajama storytime and I wanted to keep going even though Reed has a Wednesday night class. Here is an outline of how the evening went-

6:00 Arrived home from work with Vivi and Lara in tow.
6:15 Reed had prepared a crockpot dinner. Yay! One less thing to worry about.
6:40 Convinced Lara that putting on her jammies wasn't the end of the world. She finally realized that we were going to the library.
6:55 Took Lara out to the car with the diaper bag and my purse. Ran back inside to get Vivi, who was screaming in her carseat.
7:00 Put Lara in the stroller since she doesn't have any shoes that fit over footie pajamas. Throw Vivi into the ring sling and purse and diaper bag over my shoulder.
7:01 Forgot the car keys so had to run back to the car.
7:03 Made it to story time. Yay!
7:15 Turned to ask another mom a question, turned back around and couldn't find Lara. Had to have another mom tell me that she had run out the door. Found her looking at Elmo DVD's and escorted her back to story time.
7:30 Storytime ended and it's time to pick out DVD's. Lara decides it's time to play on the computers, throws a temper tantrum, so I pick her up in a football hold since Vivi's still in the ring sling, carry her back to the stroller, hand her an Elmo DVD, and put on her coat.
7:45 Lara has calmed down so we check out out books and head to the car. Put Vivi back in her carseat while Lara yells "Mama!" over and over again because she thinks I have forgotten that she's still in the stroller. Put Lara in her carseat. Put the stroller in the trunk.
7:50 Ran Vivi and the bags inside. Run back outside to get Lara, who is crying because, again, she thinks I have forgotten her.
8:00 Lara actually goes to bed without a fuss. She must have been tired.

A realistic view would tell me that a half hour of Pajama story time is not worth all the hassle. Plus I've always thought the phrase "It's worth it" is pretty cliche. But it really is worth it.

Thought I might as well post this on my blog as well as my Facebook :)

1. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I went to OU and didn't drink at all and wasn't even asked to. It is possible, fellow Mormons.

2. I do not like cooking. I really only cook so that I can eat.

3. I love to eat. I eat anything.

4. If I had the money, I would eat out at different restaurants at least 3 times a week.

5. Reed and I are fans of the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. We are following his baby steps and will be out of consumer debt (credit cards and student loans) by 2011.

6. I know more about college football and basketball than my husband.

7. I do not like the Buckeyes. Blame it on my parents who were in the marching band at BYU and had a rude run-in with the OSU marching band.

8. I took French my last year of college because I couldn't bear the thought of Reed being better than me at something.

9. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people IM or text without proper punctuation and capitalization.

10. I think girls make the best first child and eldest sibling. Hence, I am glad that Lara is my first-born :)

11. We picked the name Genevieve Noelle way before we knew she was going to be born on Christmas Eve (which was that morning).

12. I love my job as a music therapist and I am thankful for my high school piano teacher for telling me about the field.

13. I don't mind a little mess in my house but at work I cannot leave until everything is straightened and put away. I'm not sure why, that's just how I operate.

14. I cannot drive backwards or parallel park. At least not very well.

15. I never had a best friend growing up until I met Lara (my daughter's namesake) during pre-college.

16. I knew I wanted to marry Reed when I saw him after he came home from his mission.

17. The reason I didn't like Reed before his mission is because he was too quiet and he made believe that he had a pretend girlfriend named Gretchen. Kind of a turn-off.

18. I used to get up early on Saturday mornings during college so that I could watch Blue's Clues.

19. I sing all the time- at work, in the car, at home, etc. But when I don't know the words to a song, I just make them up.

20. Someday I want to be a stay-at-home mom but I haven't felt that it's time yet. Maybe after the third child, or maybe when we have to move and I won't have an on-site daycare anymore.

21. I love to burn candles, or just make a big bonfire at my parents farm.

22. I do not have a very good sense of smell. It's a great blessing to have when you have kids in diapers. I just have to remember to check them every once in a while.

23. I love musicals and to anyone who thinks that they are not realistic- my life is a musical.

24. It takes me a long time to "get" jokes.

25. I want to own a pick-up truck someday. Maybe a Tundra or Tacoma. Preferably a big one with an extended cab.