Count Your Blessings

We sing a beautiful song called, Count Your Blessings, at church. I love the chorus in how it reminds us to be happy for our blessings that God has given us. Here's the line from the chorus:

Count your blessings;/Name them one by one./Count your blessings;/See what God hath done.

As we look to celebrate Thanksgiving, we want to share what we are most thankful for. These are definitely no specific order.

1. An eternal family. Every time we look at our baby girl, we are thankful that she is our daughter forever. Even if she or we become ill and pass away before we get old, we know we will see each other again. As I teach the primary children at church, families can be together forever and we're grateful that we are a forever family.
2. A healthy daughter. Ashton, despite having the occasional congested nose and a little cough, is pretty healthy. She is growing at a good rate and loves to play and interact. We're thankful to have a healthy baby and be healthy ourselves.
3. A stable job. We don't make lots of money but we make enough to live and for that, we're grateful. We talk about how Joseph almost didn't get an internship two summers ago. Dow Chemical offered him one and we almost turned it down as Joseph was working on other plans. Thankfully, we took a step into the unknown and went to work for them. That internship led to a wonderful job that Joseph enjoys and that supports our family.
4. A home. We are moving soon and we're thankful that we can afford a house and also afford to keep it warm (or cool in the summers). We're thankful for our warm beds.
5. A loving husband. He puts up with loves me and his baby girl that require a lot of his time. And he is always willing to sacrifice his free time to help me and Ashton. Often when Joseph comes home from work, I am exhausted from the day. Joseph is great at playing with Ashton so I can have a small break. He loves his little family so much and he truly is the better half in our marriage.
6. Education. Joseph and I both received a wonderful education at BYU, which we're happy about. I'm thankful that I can continue my education to receive my Master's degree. This is a dream come true for me. Receiving an education is a huge blessing as I know many individuals are unable to afford and/or attend a great university.
7. The Gospel. This relates to the first one on an eternal family. We are happy and grateful to have the gospel in our lives. We are fortunate to know that Jesus Christ lives and has atoned for our sins. It's a blessing to wake up each morning and know that we can grow closer to our Savior and to Heavenly Father.
8. Sports. Joseph loves sports! Life would be a little more boring if we didn't have sports. We're sad BYU isn't doing splendid this year (they're 7-4, I would like to see 11-0) but there's always next year!
9. Extended family. We love having some family just a few hours away. Hopefully, Ashton will grow up with her cousins like I did. And we love that we have the ability to visit Wisconsin and Utah periodically to see more extended family.
10. Yummy Thanksgiving food. We're going to eat in a few hours and we're thankful for all the delicious food we're about to consume. Pies are the best part!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend, we had a lot of fun times. A perk of living on the Gulf Coast is the work schedule. Joseph works 9/80's, which means he works 80 hours in 9 days. He works Monday to Friday one week and then Monday to Thursday the next. That means he gets every other Friday off automatically! We take full advantage of these days and sometimes go to Houston for the day. That's what we did on Friday!

First, we went to the Houston temple. We haven't gone there since before Ashton was born so it was great to get back. I meant to take a picture there but it was cold and rainy. We kept Ashton inside. We then went out to lunch and to Ikea to look at furniture ideas. After that we went to a cool grocery store and bought some new vegetables and fruit that we want to try. When we move into our house next month, we want to start a garden. But before we start growing vegetables and fruit trees, we want to see what we actually like. So we bought:

Fresh Beets!

A persimmon

Yellow Squash. I had this as a kid and didn't like it. But we'll try it again.

We had a busy Friday. We came home and Ashton slept wonderfully all night! Saturday was busy too. We went to the BYU vs. Notre Dame game at a friend's house. We made mint chocolate chip cookies, which were very delicious. I was sad we didn't bring any leftovers home but it's probably better that way.

 And some new pictures of Ashton. She is growing up so much!

 

Two Months Old

Weight: 12 lbs. 8 oz. I am great at eating.

Height: 22.5 inches

Clothing Size: 0-3 months

Daily Schedule: Mommy tells people that we don't have a schedule. We have a routine. The routine includes eating, playing, trying to roll over, smiling, and making lots of fun sounds.

Total diapers we change daily: About seven

Total outfits we go through daily: Sometimes, just one outfit a day! Hooray! But then I make up for it other days and goes through three or four. And Mommy sometimes go through three or four outfits too.

Sleep Status: I slept through the night last weekend (from 10:15pm to 5:45 am). Other than that night, I wake up about once a night between 3am and 5am to eat and then go back to sleep normally. On the weekends, Daddy gets up to feed me at night, which means Mommy gets 7-8 straight hours of sleep! She always seems to be a better mood when this happens.

Special Outings: Came with Mom and Dad to play bocce ball at a park, went to see my new home, went to the beach a few times, and dressed up for my baby blessing

Firsts: Met both sets of grandparents, had my first round of shots (I threw up on the nurse. I told her what's up), Halloween, first run with Mommy, and met my first dog, Molly

Any big changes:  I scoot now. Also, I am starting to smile more and even laugh a little bit. I also have started to coo at Mom and Dad. I can push up with my hands while laying on my tummy. Mommy and Daddy are sad that I still do not like pacifiers. I prefer to lick and bite them instead of sucking them. However, I do take the bottle from Daddy very well.

Thoughts from the parents: Ashton continues to make us smile so much. We see her personality coming out a little more every day. She's a little drama queen, that's for sure.

Biggest Lessons Learned:1) A double swaddle is a necessary skill to know as parents. 2) Car seats are a tricky thing. It's necessary for safety but I dislike sitting in it. This makes trips to the store very hard on Mommy. She keeps telling me to get over it. 3) I have a sixth sense. I can tell when Mommy puts me in her favorite outfit. When this happens, I allow Mommy to take pictures of the pretty outfit and then I proceed to spit up all over it (See picture below).

Monthly Pictures:

Tummy time with the mirror

This is how we found Ashton after a long nap in her crib.

First time at the beach. She looked around for a little bit and then fell asleep.

Baby Blessing Sunday.

Halloween costume

At the park with Mommy

Sometimes, this is what tummy time turns into. She loves sleeping on her tummy.

I bought this hoodie several months ago and couldn't wait for Ashton to finally fit into it. It started to fit last week so I put her in it. After taking some pictures and telling Joseph how adorable she was, she proceeded to spit up her entire breakfast on the hoodie. The pants and onesie were just fine but the hoodie went straight to the laundry.

Monthly Video: I included two videos this month because I couldn't pick just one.

This is her scooting. Sorry for the crying. She wasn't pleased with scooting on this day.

This is her working on her noises. Her head control isn't the best in this clip either, as you can see at the very end.

What the next month should bring: First Thanksgiving, first long car ride (4 hours to Austin), moving to the new house

The White House

We sent a birth announcement to the White House. This is what we received in the mail yesterday.

We sent one to Disneyland and we're still waiting to see if we get anything back from Mickey Mouse.

On a side note, I think we have officially become true Texans. Yesterday morning, both Joseph and I complained about how cold it was. The temperature was 50 degrees. The high was 68 and I still complained that I was freezing.

Running Again

Five years ago, I ran my first (and probably only) marathon. I did better than I thought when I ran the Top of Utah marathon. It's an easy course as the first half is downhill. While this does wonders on your knees, it makes the course pretty fast-paced. I loved the thrill and feeling of accomplishment after finishing my marathon. However, recovering after my marathon was a different story. The day I ran my marathon, I went straight from the finish line to lunch and then had to work at the USU's football game for about eight hours. This entailed walking up and down stairs. After the football game, we had a birthday party for one of my roommates. So it was a busy and active day. For weeks after my marathon, I despised stairs as it was extremely painful on my knees. Since my marathon, I have had little interest in running.

While pregnant, I walked two to three miles almost every day. It was my way of "exercising." Now that I am not pregnant, I don't really have an excuse to not exercise, especially since the doctor gave me the all clear earlier this week. Life is busy but when is life ever not busy!

So today, I went running. It hurt but I did it. Ashton enjoyed the breeze in her hair as she slept in her stroller. Here are the after run pictures.

Here's a random picture from the other day. I liked her outfit.

People say it takes nine months to grow a baby so it will take nine months to get your body back in shape. With that, I made some goals for the end of May, the nine month mark. They say goals are better accomplished if you write them down. So, here they are:
1. Run a 5k race. I just want a new t-shirt. Most of mine have spit up stains now.
2. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight. I have about five more pounds.
3. Run 35 miles in one week (broken up between 6 days of running).
4. Eat healthy. I know this is subjective. But I need to cut down on the sugar intake.

Good think I have over six months to reach these goals. I'll need it all!

One Month Birthday

Weight: Dipped down to 7 lbs 1 oz at five days old, 8 lbs 2 oz at 2.5 weeks, and 9 lbs 4 oz at one month

Height: 20.5 in. at five days, 20 in. at 2.5 weeks (the nurse said Ashton's cone head went down so that accounts for the loss of 1/2 inch), 21 at one month. We feel she grew more but I think it is just that she is stretching out more. She still likes the fetal position but lately, she pushes her legs out more and more.

Clothing Size: Newborn, which we weren't prepared for. I thought she'd wear newborn for about a week, maybe two. Definitely not for a month! She fits into a few of the 0-3 onesies but definitely not the pants. I'm ready for her to move to 0-3 months since we have lots of cuter clothes in that size.

Daily Schedule: Cry, eat, poop, eat, play, cry, eat, sleep, repeat.

Total diapers we change daily: Between 7 and 9

Total outfits we go through daily: If we're lucky, two. If not, four outfits, a blanket, and a crib sheet

Sleep Status: At first, slept 4-5 hours at a time during the night. Now she sleeps 3-4 hours. Falls asleep on her own in the crib without crying. Ashton slept in her crib from night one in her own room, which we are very happy about. She is definitely learning the difference between night and day.

Special Outings: Church, BYU games, Meet and Greet Baby Shower with women from church, lunch at Daddy's work, a whole day in Houston (went to a mall, Sam's Club, an oil change, and ice cream)

Firsts: Sponge bath, outing with Mommy alone (went to Target), walks around the neighborhood, start of tummy time, which she loves, meeting her cousins, and a real bath

Any big changes: Moved to newborn size diapers finally. Preemie diapers were expensive! Newborn aren't much better though. We tried size one two days ago and it was huge on her. So we're sticking with newborn for a little bit longer. Also, her umbilical cord took FOREVER to fall off. It finally fell off on Friday, at 28 days. We're happy it's gone as it was getting pretty gross.

Thoughts from the parents: Raising a daughter is the greatest blessing God has given us. Even when I am up three times a night with a crying, hungry baby, I still thank God for the opportunity to raise a child in our family.

Biggest Lessons Learned: (1) Cover your baby during diaper changes even if you have a girl. (2) Don't plan too many errands in one day. (3) Make sure the ruffles of the diapers are out or else you'll be changing a diaper and an outfit, and cleaning the carseat. (4) Living in a second story apartment is not fun if you want to take your daughter on a walk in the stroller. It's quite the production.

Monthly Pictures:

First bath! Using the ducky water temperature thing that Aunt Trescha gave her.

One Month Old today!

We were all matching in blue.

She loves having her head rubbed. That's the one thing that she will fall asleep to almost any time.

Monthly Video: This is Ashton lifting her head. She was about three weeks old.

What the next month should bring: Visits from grandparents (arriving in just a few hours) and cousins, baby blessing, first Halloween, and first babysitter (the grandparents)

Motherhood

Well, it's official. I'm a mother. It still seems surreal even though I have been part of the "Mommy Club" for about a month. I recall listening to Elder Neil L. Andersen two years ago when he gave the following quote:

"[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” He went on to say, “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." (Talk- Here's the link to the entire talk. It's amazing!)

Listening to that two years ago, I thought, "That's nice but it doesn't really apply to me." Now, it couldn't apply more to our family. Our lives are been changed. We no longer can come and go as we please. Suddenly, a trip to Target means waiting until Ashton is fed and happy. A quick stop at the post office is twice as long because I can't just quick run in. Ashton comes with now. Going to church means starting to get ready an hour earlier depending on when Ashton eats. My desire to schedule out my days is pretty much out the window

Despite that, being a mother ranks high above the condition of my body, having a successful career, or taking vacations at any time to any place. We manage our finances differently to help provide for our daughter. We have made and will continue to make sacrifices in order to raise children. But I can say with 100 percent certainty that every sacrifice is worth it. Seeing Ashton every day and watching her grow is worth it

When Joseph returned to work full-time, I spent the night before wondering, "What am I going to do with all this time?" I felt that I would be bored to death with a three week old baby who sleeps, poops, and eats. But then I recalled Elder Andersen's talk and the exact comment that God gave me time to be a mother. I want to use the time I have to the best of my ability as a mother.

Being Ashton's mother is the best blessing God has given me. I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for giving me such a choice spirit who brings so much happiness and joy to our family. When I hear her cry at 3 in the morning, I grudgingly crawl out of bed. And then I turn the corner into her room and see her in the crib and my heart melts. I cannot help but feel so much love for her. Being her mother is an honor. I'm grateful that my husband has a good job so that I can stay at home to raise our daughter. Becoming a mother is the second best choice I've made. The best choice I made was marrying a wonderful man who has quickly become a wonderful father.