Macy's Blessing

My dear Macy girl,

Yesterday was your blessing day.  Daddy gave you a beautiful blessing.  It was so tender and like nothing I've ever heard.  It's clear he loves you oh, so much.  We all do.  The spirit was incredibly strong and I have no doubt you are a precious gift from heaven.  

He blessed you with modesty, which is so much more than what you wear.  It's the way you think, talk, behave... it is what will make you stand out from the filth of the world and be something truly special.  It will give you strength and value as an individual and disciple of our Savior.

He blessed you to have love and kindness.  The kind that will help those around you feel special and cherished.  He also blessed you to be happy and cheerful and to always find the peace in situations and to be a peacemaker.

He blessed you to have a strong relationship with your Heavenly Father that will help you to make good choices and stand for the right in times that are hard.  We know you will encounter many "hard" times throughout your life.  The world is a beautiful place but has a lot of scary and dangerous possibilities.  That's why you need to be ready to stand for the right, no matter what.  

You were also blessed to go to the temple.  That you could find a friend to be your eternal companion and have a family.  The temple is the key to keeping the joy and happiness that family brings.  You can have that blessing forever if the temple is the place you root your family.  We, as your parents, want this more for you than we can express.  Our family is our greatest possession and we are so blessed to have the chance to keep you all with us forever.  It will take a lot of work, for all of us, to keep such a lasting bond, and we are ready to help you do so in any way we can.

You are such a blessing to us.  We love you.

With all my heart,

Mommy

Growing Girl

These pictures were taken when Macy was one week and one day old.  Since day one, when she is awake she is wide eyed and alert.  She has the cutest face when she it taking in the world.

I'll need to adopt a paparazzi mentality again soon in order to catch her three week old expression while observing the world around her.  It's still so sweet, but it has also taken a dainty kind of quality that I love.  

And yes!  She is three weeks old now.  At her check up last week she weighed in at 10 lb. 7 oz. and grew a whole inch and a half, putting her at 22 inches now.  I may have almost cried as I asked Heavenly Father yesterday why they couldn't stay small just a little longer.  They have their whole lives to be grown...  She has a whole basket of clothes she will never wear!  Mostly a lot of short sleeved onsies being neglected on account of the weather, but still! Why can't they just be tiny a little longer?

Macy has had us completely enchanted, but there is one thing missing.  She doesn't have that "newborn cry!"  You know that one that melts your heart and part of you never wants that cry to go away?  She doesn't cry like that.  She'll start with a soft, whiney sound and if that doesn't get your attention she will go straight to yelling!  She's a lot like Newborn Marshall in that respect... oh, so sweet but sort of demanding.

Doll Baby

Macy was born early Sunday morning.

She weighed 9 lb. 10 oz. and measured 20.5 in.

Getting her here went pretty smoothly and didn't scare me from having more babies, even though she was so big.  Honestly, everyone in the delivery room was shocked at her size and there were many comments made about how incredible it was for her to make her debut once she was no longer a "newborn."  I love her full cheeks and cute little rolls on her legs.  She has darling long fingers and long skinny feet.

She has us completely enchanted.  She's so sweet and I could just sit and hold her all day.

I'm not one that gets crazy over babies, but my own babies always amaze me by the way they take over my whole heart and help me really see the world in it's true perspective.

We love you Macy Girl.

Glad to have you here.

Not sure why I want to remember this.

Journaling moment.

When I wake up tomorrow I will have six weeks left until this sweet baby girl is supposed to be here.  This last week has brought plenty of "lovely" things to my life and for some reason I think I need to document them.

I have more ugly varicose veins popping up.  I only had one coming into this pregnancy.  On my inner right ankle... now I have another patch forming a little below that one on my inner foot that is just spreading and growing and I discovered an ugly patch of veins on my outer thigh.  My legs (well everything from the knee down) have been swollen since Saturday with only 2 hours (tops!) of relief.  Once I'm up out of bed it only takes a handful of minutes for the swelling to return.  Sunday I had to take off my wedding ring, and even my fake one that I wore while pregnant with Marshall is too small.  I seem to have a continual headache.  Last night I think I somehow rolled onto my stomach and slept that way for a bit... I woke up feeling like someone punched me in the gut and it took a little while for it to wear off.  I think today was my last workout at the gym... that makes me sad.  A good turbo kick class was just the thing to get my body feeling strong and help my emotions level out.  Today it wasn't really even fun.  My stomach just stayed continually contracted and it wouldn't relax at all.  I was kind of glad to begin class with a reason to have to leave 15 minutes early because I would have wanted to quit that whole last part, for sure.  Unrelated to today's class at the gym, but who knows why, I seem to have almost pulled a muscle in my groin.  I say almost because it isn't really pulled, but it is definitely strained.  How did I do that?

I'm not looking for sympathy.  I really just felt like I needed to record this... so it was available for comparison in the future.  Since this will all be repeated again, no doubt.

Now don't you worry.  I'm still feeling blessed as ever and look forward to finishing this out strong.  Believe me.  When I thought about what it would be like to have this baby early, I had a minor panic attack.  (I've yet to start nesting.  It would be nice to experience that any day now...)  I'd like to keep cooking her for another 4-6 weeks, for sure!

Our Little Baby Factory

Some old friends from high school came by today for a BBQ. I'm one of the only few that did NOT have a baby in the last three months.
These four are all under 3 months. They all lined up on the floor and I asked my boys if they wanted to join in the fun. Marshall politely refused (no joke, his refusal was polite) but Tyler chuckled his way towards the group. He's a whole year older than most of them and I think he did some reminiscing of his own this afternoon- remembering what it was like to watch the world go by from that perspective.
I kept walking around the house, meeting mounds of baby gear, commenting on how our house looked like a little baby factory. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see Marshall's shorts... he really was there, just didn't want to be included in the baby count. He was really intrigued by the little ones though. He was admiring one of the little girls and he came to me and said, "I like that baby." It was really adorable how he was enjoying their sweet tinyness.
Here's the whole clan. Tina's hubby had to work, and there were so many others we wish could have made it. Hopefully next time...
It was so fun to get together. Let's not wait so long before we do it again!

For the record.

I've been thinking about babies a lot the last couple of days. It seems like all of my friends are about ready to pop. And those that aren't about to pop are finding out if their little bun in the oven is a boy or a girl. That makes me want to find out what I'm having next! Then reality quickly hits me in the face and I remember that my "next one" won't be here for another couple of years. Then I smile. I have my first maternity photoshoot today (and another one tomorrow) and I've been looking at all kinds of photos so I can be really inspired. And oh yeah! Last night's episode of "The Office" had me in fits of laughter and suddenly I realized... I had forgotten how fun it is to hold that tiny little person in that giant bundle of blankets and realize that someday they will grow up and I'd better be the best example I can be.

I miss that.

But don't misunderstand me. I don't really want a new baby just yet. I just want all my friends to have their babies and let me come and hold them. And hold them and hold them and hold them. I love how teeny, tiny they are and how cute every little thing is. It's funny to me... I've never been much of a baby person. It wasn't until I had Marshall that I truly could appreciate babies... human or animal. Whenever I see (or hear) one, I always have to take a peak but until now, I've never NEEDED to hold one. But today I need to hold one. I may have to wait until next week, but the first newborn I can get my hands on... watch out!

Then I'll have my fix and I'll be good for a while. My Tyler still needs to grow some more before we get a new babe around here.

For Tyler

There is nothing more special than the way I "grew" to love you my little one. I truly cherish the fleeting time of feeling so close to my babies and all the anticipation that goes along with pregnancy. Tyler, you were good to me, regardless of what I said those last couple of weeks.

You know how sometimes you have to experience something more than once to really learn the lesson. Well, I think I understand more and more how close to heaven you little babies are when you are fresh into the world each time a child joins our family. You are such a sweet treasure straight from our Heavenly Father. How blessed I am to be entrusted as a mother of you darlings.

You are so loved by so many...

Tyler, you were always so pleasant as a baby. You just went along with whatever was going on. You were my little doll that I dressed up and had long, drawn out photo sessions with.

You were someone to look up to from when you were quite small. Marshall always surprises me with a new way to copy you. There's just something about you that makes us all want to be more sweet, innocent, and tender. Just today you were wimpering and I noticed Marshall wandering the house wimpering just like you.

You pay such close attention to things and try so hard to learn quickly so you can be grown up like the rest of us. You can grow up as slowly as you want to though. I already miss Baby Tyler. All I see now is Growing Tyler.

You definitely have your own look about you too. Sometimes I see Marshall in you, but whenever I have compared pictures, you are your own boy. How wonderful it is to be an individual!

You are such a delight. Such a sweet temperment you have. That is until you spot food. Your always act like you've been starved and grab at whatever food you can get your hands on. I doubt that characteristic will fade - after all, you are a boy. This is a picture from your first meal of "real food." You smiled every bite.

I sure love you little man. Marshall and Daddy love you too.

Meet Tyler

It was so fun to finally see Tyler and see his similarities and differences to Marshall. His face seems a little longer (more like Mommy's) and his eyes are a lot like Daddy's. Other than that they look a lot alike. It's too soon to know if his eyes and hair will end up light or dark. The possibilities are mind-boggling. It's so fun to watch babies' characteristics develop.
I love this picture because it does a really good job of accurately showing off Tyler's massive hands. His feet are also really long. Looks like we might have ourselves a basketball player after all.

Tyler's almost two weeks old now and is still a sweet mellow baby. He really only cries when he needs his diaper changed or if Mommy makes him wait too long to eat (sorry little man!). Juggling the needs of two has definitely been an adjustment. Notice I don't count my own needs...not for now anyway. I'm just so greatful that Tyler is so patient and that Marshall loves him so much.

Tyler Colby Stratton

As precious as can be...Tyler came at 6:25 Saturday morning, 8 pounds, 19 1/2 in. He is so mellow and sweet and I can't believe we are so blessed to have another handsome boy. More to come...