May with Molly

I'm alive and back to catch up on some blogging! Molly's first two months have been a little rough on me. The first two weeks were great; holding and loving my little Molly. But then this "other" child came out of her and I discovered a fussy little baby on my hands. Thank goodness Taylor took to her soooo well - probably because she was still so young. So I wore Molly everywhere because holding her kept her happy (most of the time anyway). After talking to multiple friends about the possibility of Molly having some kind of food allergy, I decided to cut milk out of my diet completely. This wasn't only hard because Levi and I drink 3 gallons of milk a week, but it was difficult because it seems like EVERYTHING has milk in it. I wasn't sure if this was really going to help but I can honestly say I feel it has made a HUGE difference in my little Molly. Before, I felt like she had belly aches all the time and she constantly had a rash on her bum. This is the first week that I can say I have a happy baby who can just chill and be happy when she's awake while not being held. And....she is sleeping in her own crib - not right next to me in our bed anymore. It has now been 3 weeks since I've cut milk out and maybe it's just coincidence...but I'm a believer! And hopefully it's helping me lose the baby weight a little faster since I can't eat any of my favorite treats!

Anyway, bear with me as I catch up month by month. Here is our month of May. This is Molly 2 days old and ready to come on home!
Taylor trying to feed Molly a fake bottle.
Giving baby sister kisses.
I remember when Taylor gave this same "oooooo" face. Molly at 6 days old.
Mommy and baby. 8 days old.
Taylor playing in her little pool.
Passed out! 8 days old.
Taylor with some classic nap hair.
Good old bathtime!
Baths are worth giving when you get to snuggle them in a nice cozy towel.
We're sisters but you wouldn't know it!
Taylor checking litte sissy out!
I love seeing the girls interact....nicely!
Shout out to Levi's buddy John who stopped by for a quick visit while in Utah. He lives in North Carolina where Levi went to college. Levi sure had fun reminiscing! I hope that Levi will take me to N.C. someday so I can see where he played soccer and went to college.
We went on a day trip to the cabin when Molly was about 10days old. It was nice to get some mountain fresh air!
Taylor is ready to play after a little nap! There's that crazy hair again!
Avery got to come up this trip. He loved swimming in the lake, it was hard to keep him out of the water!
Taylor having a blast in the swing!
Molly taking a snooze.
Levi and Taylor heading out for a hike.
Molly and I out on a little stroll.
Taylor's first life jacket experience. She wasn't so sure at first, but now that she understands that it is associated with water, she begs to put one on!
Levi and Taylor out for a canoe ride. They stayed out for nearly an hour because Taylor was loving every minute!
Avery kept following them, it was so cute.
We're at the Herriman Cemetary where Levi's grandparents are buried. Here are the grandkids except for Maddie and Molly who were both sleeping in the car.
Taylor and Noah with grandpa Ernest.
Memorial Day at grandma's house. 7 out of the 9 grandkids. It was picture day for the kids - always fun.
Our little Molly who is 2 1/2 weeks old.
The girls with grandpa Martin.
Miss Molly passed out. 3 weeks old.
Little bright eyes. We love you Molly!

Name that baby already!!

I promised myself I wouldn't be one of those people who can't decide on a name for their baby but here I was, about to be discharged and still no name was written on the papers for her birth certificate. We had a couple of names in the running and of course we would call her one for a couple of hours and then try the other. We finally came to see her as our little Molly Afton Ernest. Molly is just a name I like and Afton was my grandma's name (she passed away last August). If we have more children I promise to not put myself through that kind of stress again!

My Mother's Day Surprise!!

Our little girl is here! What a gift to receive ON Mother's Day! I started leaking what I didn't realize to be amniotic fluid on Saturday. By Sunday it was starting to become a little more constant but I was feeling good and not having any painful contractions so I went to sacrament meeting. We made it through the meeting but Taylor was having a pretty grumpy day so instead of walking the halls for the next 2 hours I took her home to put her down for a nap. After I put her down I thought that I should at least call a nurse at the hospital and see what she said about the leakage. As she was telling me to come on in and have it checked out Levi walked in from church (he had to teach a 13 yr old sunday school class). I was glad he came home early so that I didn't have to go get him. Our sweet neighbors parent's came and stayed with Taylor (while she slept) so we could go to the hospital.

Long story short, we checked in at around 2 pm and our little peanut was born at 8:13pm on May 10th. She was 2 weeks early and weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. She looks nothing like Taylor but is her own adorable self! (We are thinking she looks more like me and my side of the family). Labor and delivery were much quicker than we expected! A couple of pushes and she was here! (I think I finally have her named but Levi is not here to give the ok so you'll have to wait!). Here are some pics for you to enjoy!

Our new little girl! Her first picture with mom and dad. She is one day old!
Here is Taylor and I before we went to church on Mother's Day. Little did we know that we were in for a big surprise that day! (Although Taylor looks like she may have known something, she looks a little concerned that her only child days are over!)
Just minutes old!
She found her thumb real quick! (Taylor is a thumb sucker too although she didn't find hers as quickly!) She is a great eater so far!
Wide awake after delivery!
Daddy checking my Ernest toes out!
Taylor meets her little sister! (She's thinking, "Hmmmm, how should I introduce myself?")
A few pokes in the eye never hurt.
"I think I like her....for now!"
This is Taylor's way of giving a kiss.

Thank you to everyone who helped Levi pack our bags and who helped with Taylor on Sunday. Taylor is being taken care of by grandma and grandpa which is a huge help! Thank you! We've enjoyed our visitors and we're excited to be at home tonight!

New Baby's Room

So this little rag blanket is what I used as my inspiration for the baby's room. Yes we are having a girl but I decided to pull away from the traditional pinks and purples and use turquoise, browns and cremes. Although I haven't added any decor to the room, I'm glad I finally have the crib all finished.
I found this cute fabric that would help add a little girlier touch to the room and it also compliments the rag blanket perfectly! I met this super nice lady at the fabric store and after talking with her for a while she convinced me that I should let her help me make the dust ruffle and show me how to make a sheet out of the same material. (Kind of random and I don't go to strangers homes on a regular basis but I knew she was just a sweet grandma who loves to sew and wanted to share her talents.) Boy am I glad I had her help! What she did in an hour and a half would have taken me weeks! So here's the cute sheet.
And here is how the ruffle looks. Super cute, huh! Can you believe I have 2 cribs? I bought a 2nd one on KSL because there is no way Taylor is ready for a toddler bed yet.
I've been looking for a lamp for the babies room but didn't find anything I HAD to have, plus they are soooo overpriced don't ya think? So I took an old one that we haven't been using and recovered the shade with the same fabric. Then I just put ribbon on all the seams and around the top and bottom. The ribbon was kind of tricky to put on and it definitely doesn't look fabulous but it will serve its purpose!
As an update on the new baby status: I am in my 37th week and feeling tired and actually kind of sick the last few days. My body is starting to make progess which gives me some hope that it may be soon but you just never know huh. At my Dr's visit this week I was a 2 and 70% and I can tell that the baby has definitely dropped. I just can't believe we are to this point - this pregnancy has flown by!

Although I'm feeling ready physically to have this baby, emotionally, I don't know that I'm there yet. But this emotion is mostly coming from the fact that I'm kind of sad to move forward with 2 kids because I have had sooo much fun with it being just Taylor and I all the time. She has turned a corner with her little personality and is pretty proud of the fact that she can walk! Hooray! She is so cute, so fun, and I just love her to death! I know everything will be great and that this new life will add so much to our family. We are so blessed to have this opportunity to be parents.

That's it for the baby update. It's very possible the next post you see will be about our new little one!

Let's talk about April!

So here is our April update. (A little lengthy, sorry). We had a great month and stayed quite busy! Some friends I worked with in Skagway Alaska were coming through town (Jesse and Nicky) and so we were lucky enough to have them come stay with us for a night. This is their adorable little girl Lucy who Taylor enjoyed having around.
Me and Nicky with the girls before they left to continue their road trip (with a 6 month old) from Bellingham Washington all the way down to Tuscon Arizona! Now that's bravery!
The night they came into town we called a bunch of our Utah Skagway friends to have a fun little Skagway reunion! It was so fun to see everyone and catch up! Thanks for staying with us Jesse, Nicky and Lucy!
The following day started General Conference weekend and so we had my family over for our Martin family tradition. (All the girls and kids hang out while the men go listen to the General Priesthood session and then we have dinner afterwards. Here is Nathan (almost 3), Makenna (3 weeks younger than Taylor), and Taylor hanging out. Taylor is oblivious to cameras or just a good ignorer.
And here is my family watching some funny home videos from when Levi and I watched the Brown kids while my sister and her husband traveled to Ireland. We made them do all sorts of dares - we are a terrible influence on children!
Taylor and Noah played on this chair for a good 10-15 minutes. They are so cute together. Noah is definitely a little climber! Taylor loves to say hi and bye these days.
They were sitting for mere seconds but I saw those angelic faces.
Back to playing!
My aunt Karen, (my mom's sister) threw a baby shower for me, her daughter Lindsey, and another cousin Wendy. We are all having our 2nd. (All due within a month of each other) Aren't we so spoiled? It was so nice of her to throw a shower. It was great to see aunts and cousins whom I don't see that often. Lindsey has had her baby boy Harrison James - he is super cute! And Wendy is due shortly after me.
Lindsey and Wendy opening gifts.
Me with my sister-in-law Tanya and my cousin Julie.
Maddie and Lauren helping Taylor to walk.
Grandma Ernest with Maddie, Noah and Taylor.
Here we are on an Easter egg hunt at Gma and Gpa's house.
Taylor and Noah taking Noah's new wagon for a spin!
I love your new ride Noah!
The pregnant girls posing! Alisha had her baby girl Emersyn just a couple weeks ago! She is super cute!
On this same day we celebrated Noah's 1st birthday! Taylor thought he could use a little help with the unwrapping. Geez, don't run him over Taylor!
Steph made a darling little excavator cake for Noah's birthday! This one in particular was his very own to play with. And then she even made a big one for everyone else to enjoy! It was as good as it was cute!
Noah did a great job at digging in!
The Easter bunny made a quick stop at our house! Taylor got a few books, some sunglasses, chalk, and candy of course!
Sportin the new eyewear.
Getting ready to head to church. Don't you love Costco dresses?
Also in April we took a weekend road trip to Boulder City, Nevada to see my parents. It was great to see them. Taylor had a great time and wasn't shy a bit. She especially loved their cats, and continued to love them even after getting attacked by their cat Duke! This is Taylor with her Uncle Jeffrey.
You can't visit my parents over a weekend without going to garage sales. Levi was excited when my mom found us a porch swing - it's a good thing we drove our truck! Taylor got the best deal of the weekend though, when she was given a toy mickey mouse for free!
We drove to the Hoover Dam to check out the suspension bridge being built over it. It was quite a sight to see halfway finished! I'm not volunteering to be the first one to drive over!
My dad keeps a stash of dried out bread around for their visitors to use to feed the fish and birds at Lake Mead.
It was crazy how many fish we saw. And some are huge!
We went and raced some boats at the little boat lake nearby.
One afternoon while Taylor was down for a nap I went outside to enjoy the sunshine and this is what Levi found to play with. My dad has a little putting green and Levi arranged all of these random odds n ends to make a ramp for a golf ball to travel down and around to the hole.
A proud moment...finally making it into the hole!
Taylor at her first classical concert. We went to an outdoor amphitheater and listened to some music from the local college.
Last but not least, I have to give a little shout out to my hubby Levi and his business partner Ryan for their new company "Kitchens 4 Less". They threw a booth together for the Home Remodeling and Decorating show a few weekends ago....not only did it looks great, but it brought in a lot of business! But I'm sure they wouldn't mind even more if you know anyone looking for a bid for new cabinets, granite, tile backsplash, and/or new flooring let me know! Keep up the great work you two!
Well that finally wraps up April. Maybe one of these days I will get smart and make smaller, more frequent posts. But chances are, I won't get smarter so here's to my binge posting!