Two Years Down, an Eternity to Go!

October 6'th marked our two year anniversary, can I get a woot woot! These last two years have been years filled with complete and utter happiness, joy beyond belief, and so many miracles I couldn't even begin to count them. But of course we have had our ups and very low downs, just like anybody else, cause that's life. For example, Leland has brought so much joy into our lives, but at the same time, having a baby can be super hard on your marriage yo! So what does that mean for us?....WEEKEND GET-A-WAY! Holla!

I took Friday off of work so that we could have the entire weekend with each other. We packed up, dropped Leland off at Grandma Wright's house (so much harder than I thought it was going to be by the way), and then headed to good old Salt Lake City for our staycation as my coworker calls it. First we went to City Creek where we shopped our little bums off. And I guess I had Leland on the brain cause most of the stuff we bought was for him. We did buy our niece her Christmas present, my father in law a birthday present, and my dad a Christmas present, so most of the shopping wasn't for us. I am such a weird girl, but I honestly HATE shopping for myself! Shopping for other people is way more fun, especially your own kid! I did manage to get some new clothes, start my Halloween book collection, and get a DVD that I wanted though. One of my favorite moments at City Creek was when we bought some chocolate and watched the fountains and people watched. It was a good time. After our City Creek exploits were through we headed to our hotel, Little America, to check in. It is a pretty old hotel and I have always wanted to stay there- I liked it a lot. The rooms were HUGE! We were on the 8'th floor so we had a pretty good view of the city. That night we were tired so decided to order pizza and stay in our hotel room and veg out and be lazy. And of course we brought cheesecake from the cheesecake factory back with us. Yum!  It was fun to just relax and watch TV. I quite enjoyed myself.

Saturday morning I did a McDonald's breakfast run where I just barely made it back in time for conference to begin. We ate our unhealthy breakfast while listening to our church leaders and it was blissful. After conference we got ready for the day and headed to The Gateway for more shopping and people watching. We went to Lunch at Rumbi Grill and then went to see the movie 'Gravity' with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It was an okay movie. It kind of reminded me of Castaway with Tom Hanks. It was pretty cool in 3D though. It's just one of those movies that I would watch once but never buy or care to watch over and over again. After the movie our plan was to go out to eat for dinner, but being the bad planners that we are we hit the after priesthood session rush hour so basically every single restaurant in Salt Lake and the surrounding areas were chuck full of men in suits and ties. We knew it was going to be a long wait everywhere and our bellies were saying "No thank you!" to that, so we went through a drive thru and took dinner back to the hotel.

Sunday was our actual anniversary so we had room service deliver breakfast and then watched conference while we packed up and got ready to go home. Check out was at noon and conference ends at noon, so of course everyone in the entire freaking hotel left at the same time. We probably waited a good twenty minutes for an elevator. Call me lazy but there was no way in hades that I was going to walk down 10 flights of stairs to the underground parking garage with luggage! We finally got out of the hotel and headed to Fruit Heights where I proceeded to smother my son in kisses and we were able to watch the last session of conference with my family and have dinner with them. I felt bad that I was away from Leland because he was super sick with the croup that weekend but I am very grateful that my mom took such good care of him. We really needed a weekend away and we had so much fun! Happy Anniversary Babe!

A Blessed Day

On Sunday September 29, 2013 we blessed Leland. It was such an amazing day filled with family and friends. We are so grateful for everyone who came and supported our little family on such a special day. Justin did an amazing job, definitely choked me up hearing him give our son the blessing. I was reminded once again how lucky I am to have two wonderful boys in my life who really are my whole world.

Two Months

I am kind of freaking out that my baby is two months old today not gonna lie. I know I sound like a broken record (believe me, I know) but holy smoking cow time is going by way too fast! He is growing and changing so much. He gets a little cuter every single day and every single day I fall a little bit more in love with him. I have gone back to work now and leaving him every day is really hard, but when I am at work I love it and I never want to quit my job.... like ever. And then when I come home he flashes me a huge grin and I don't want to leave him.... like ever. So basically I just feel blessed to be so happy in every moment and place that I am at in my life.






Leland's Two Month Facts:
- He is 24 inches long (has grown four inches in two months!)
- Weighs 13.1 pounds
-Is in the 91 percentile for height and 74 percentile for weight
- Is beginning to smile a lot more and now he is starting to make little noises when he smiles. I don't think it will be too long before he starts giggling.
- Is still sleeping in his swing and hates his crib. (Luckily doc says not to worry too much about this!)
- Is holding his head up by himself really well and is very, very strong
-Finally loves bath time and kicking his feet in the water. He never screams anymore except when we take him out.
-He hates being hungry, cold, hot, and wet. If all of these needs are taken care of he is a perfect, happy baby.
-Now has leg and arm rolls (adorable!)
-Loves listening to music and hearing me sing to him (I think he is the only one on the planet who likes listening to me sing hahaha)
-He is currently going through a growth spurt and drinks about 8 ounces each feeding and 10-12 ounces before bed time. I call him my little piglet. I feel like I am feeding him all of the time!
- My main nickname for him right now is Buggy Bear.

Birthday Celebrations

Another birthday has come and gone, and it really was such a good birthday. I guess I started the celebrations on the Wednesday before my birthday when Justin and I drove to Preston to have dinner with my grandparents. They are pretty much the sweetest and surprised me with a cake. They even had candles and sang happy birthday to me. It was so nice of them. The celebrations continued on Saturday when we drove to Bear Lake and met my mom there. She took Leland from us and we went to Pickleville Playhouse to see 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers', which is one of my all time favorite movies but I have never seen it performed live. It was amazing! I loved it! After the play we found a new restaurant called Coopers. It was so yummy and very well priced- we will definitely be adding it to our favorite restaurants in Bear Lake! The next day Justin and I decided to let my mom sleep in since she had insisted on waking up with Leland all night, so we packed him up, grabbed some breakfast, and took a beautiful drive up Charles Canyon. After our drive we went to lunch with my mom and then Justin drove home because he had to work that night and me and my mom took Leland to the beach. On Monday morning, which was actually my birthday, we slept in, packed up, and drove to Fruit Heights where Justin was already there and waiting for us. I was then able to go get a pedicure with my little sister which was a lot of fun and felt amazing. I really enjoyed that because I don't seem to get a lot of one on one time with my little sister. But anyway, after our pedicures we went to Olive Garden with my family, and then it was back to my parents house for dessert and presents. My awesome parents got me an ipad so I have now joined the Apple world. I got some other really good gifts but Justin gave me the most thoughtful gift of all which requires a little background story. So I have a father who is kind of the anti-hoarder in that he throws away everything! He probably de-junks our house a couple of times a year. Our family could probably open up their own D.I. with as much stuff as he has taken there. Which means that I do not have one single toy from my childhood. I have told Justin how much I would love to have just one barbie or just one of my dolls. Well, for my birthday, Justin found me my favorite barbies from my childhood from 1992, still in the box, mint condition. They are Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie from the Disney movie Aladdin. I couldn't believe it! Don't I have the best husband ever?! I seriously LOVED my Aladdin barbies- they were by far my favorite barbies from my childhood. I can't believe he found them, and still in the box too! I was so touched that he would do that for me. He told me that it took him over a year to find them- wow- now that's dedication! He is awesome and I am lucky and that's enough of that.

So thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special. 26 sounds really old to me, I'm practically kicking 30 in the butt, but I feel really blessed to have the family and the friends that I do. You guys are awesome!

Mommy Woes

I have three "Mommy Woes" on my mind right now. Let the venting blog commence....

Mommy Woe #1
Why does everyone and their dog ask me if I am breastfeeding? I have never, not once, felt the need to ask someone who just had a baby if they are breastfeeding their baby or not. Is it just me, or is it strange to talk to someone else about their boobs? Now don't get me wrong, I don't get mad or offended by the questions, so if you have asked me that (and you probably have because seriously EVERYONE has) don't sweat it. I don't care. I just think it is a little strange. And not so much from the women who ask me- because they have had kids and know how hard breastfeeding can be, or they are planning on having kids so want to know how hard breastfeeding is. No, I don't mind THEIR questions. It's mostly the STRANGERS and the MEN who ask me that I find very odd. Like the old man in my neighborhood. Wow, that was an awkward moment in my life. But the weirdest one of all was when we were eating at Merlin's in Bear Lake and Merlin himself came to talk to us and he asked me. When I said that I wasn't he was like, "What's the matter? Do your boobies hurt?" And I shouldn't have let him rial me up, but I did, so when I told him why I wasn't I  think he felt kind of bad. And for all of you curious people out there, the reason that I'm not (not that it is any of your business ha ha wink wink) is because Leland will NOT nurse. We have tried and tried but he gets way too frustrated and then I get frustrated and we both end up bawling. But I did want him to have my milk so I pump. And there ya go. Since I have talked to... um... I don't know... a MILLION people about my boobs I guess I'll just write a blog about them and let the rest of the world in on why I am not breastfeeding my baby.

Mommy Woe #2:
Justin and I have taken Leland out of the house a lot. I mean a lot, a lot in his short six weeks of life. He wasn't even two weeks old when we took him to the County  Fair. By the time he was five weeks old he had been to Bear Lake twice. He went to the library at five weeks. And when he was six weeks he went to his first football game and the Gossner's work party. And every time, and I do mean EVERY TIME, I take him out someone will ask me how old my baby is. And when I tell them.... Oh. My. Gosh. If looks could kill! It's almost ridiculous the amount of dirty looks I have gotten when I take my baby out in public. I realize that most people keep their babies in the house for the first few months and live like hermits. But I want my baby to have a good immune system thank you very much. And also, I would rather take him out now when it is still warm and hardly anyone is sick and there aren't that many germs, rather than later when it is cold and everyone is sick and the germs are everywhere. Goodness people are judgmental.And boy does everyone have an opinion on how I should raise my baby.

Mommy Woe #3:
When Leland was three weeks old we moved him into his crib and he seemed to sleep a lot better. Well, this week he has all of a sudden decided that he hates his crib with a fiery passion. I will feed him and he will be totally zonked out, but as soon as I lay him in the crib he starts screaming his head off. So because I am so tired that I couldn't give a rats ass about creating bad habits (pardon my French), I put him in bed with me. Yeah... that lasted about five minutes longer than the crib. So what does a tired mommy do next? Puts him in his swing where he immediately enters the blissful dream land. He has slept in his swing by my bed for the last four nights. So why is this a mommy woe? Because I secretly really do give a rats ass about creating bad habits and I'm worried that I just created one. That can't be good for his neck right? But he honestly will NOT sleep anywhere else! What's a mama to do? However, it could be worse. I had a lady tell me that she had to sleep in her car with her baby for four months because her daughter would only fall asleep in a moving vehicle. And she would scream if you took her out of her car seat or the car itself. So at least I am not sleeping in my car every night but in my own bed right?

Anyway, those are all of my Mommy Woes. Thanks for the vent sesh.

One Month

One Week Old

Saturday Leland was one month old. This month is probably the fastest month of my life. I honestly do not know where time went and I just can't believe that my sweet baby boy is already a month old. This has probably been the best/hardest month of my life. Leland has grown so much and has made me laugh every single day. But I had no idea how hard motherhood really is. Firstly because postpartum depression has been kicking my trash this month. I cry every single day and am basically an emotional wreck, so that's fun. Also because I get absolutely no sleep whatsoever. For the first three weeks of Leland's life he ate every 2 1/2 hours- which didn't leave a lot of time for sleep. But it's more than those things. Motherhood has required me to learn new things every single day. It has been a month of never ending questions for the doctors, my mom, and google. It has also been a month of trial and error. Not to mention the constant worry I feel that I am not doing it right or that I am in some way a bad mother. It's seriously the most stressful yet rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. I didn't know it was possible to love something as much as I love my little guy. There have been times when I have sent him off with one of his grandma's so that I could take an uninterrupted nap and I wake up missing him. And as strange as this is going to sound, there are also times when my arms feel empty because he is not in them. He is pretty much my entire world now. I can't get enough of him!

Here are some of my favorite stories about Leland from this month:

-- After Leland's two week doctor appointment I was studiously taking off the band aid from his foot. I was focusing so hard on taking it off and not ripping off any skin with it that I failed to notice that our dog Zorro was licking Leland's face over and over and over again. That was my very first bad mom moment- which I can now laugh at thank goodness.

-- One day Justin was changing Leland's diaper after he thought he was done pooping. He wasn't done. Justin had a hold of Leland's feet with his bum sticking in the air, he was trying to put the new diaper on, when all of a sudden Leland shot out poop like a rocket and it went all over our carpet. So as Justin is trying to deal with the poop that is now all over, Leland then proceeds to pee, and it arcs up and lands in his own face. I had a pretty good view of all of this mayhem and I was laughing so hard I started crying. We got the carpet cleaner out and threw babes in the bath and laughed that we now had a good story to tell.

Okay, so here are some facts about my little man: (for journaling purposes)

--Leland is very long. He would probably still fit in newborn footie pajamas but he is too long for them so we had to switch to the the 3 month size so that he could stretch out.

--When he wants food he wants it NOW! He makes the cutest snorting pig sound when he is hungry. When you start to feed him he clenches his fists really tightly by his face so it is sometimes hard to get the bottle in around his hands. By the time you are done feeding him however, he is spread eagle with open palms.

--Leland loves his swing. He usually falls asleep pretty fast in it but will wake up if it stops. He also loves his car seat and car rides.

-- He is very alert when he is awake and loves to stare at things. He also makes the funniest facial expressions. My favorite is when he stretches and scrunches his forehead. It's pretty much adorable.

--I was worried that Zorro's constant barking would wake up Leland when he was sleeping, but Zorro can bark and bark and make all the annoying noises he wants to and Leland won't even flinch. I'm guessing its because he was already used to Zorro from inside the womb.

--When he was three weeks old he started not liking the bassinet next to my bed so much. We put him in his own room in the crib and voila! Everyone started sleeping better! I have an independent kid on my hands I think.

-- Leland is strong! Like seriously strong! He has the tightest grip and if he doesn't want to move his arms or legs it is pretty much impossible to move them. He is also picking up his head pretty well and sometimes even tries to sit up. (I know, I know, my kid is a genius!)

--In certain lighting he has a strawberry blonde tint to his hair. I sometimes wonder if I am going to be raising a ginger. I think I am alright with a little Weasley running around.

-- Leland hates, and I mean HATES, the blanket covering his feet. He kicks and kicks and kicks his little legs until that blanket is off. I am fighting a never ending battle to keep those toes warm because he somehow even manages to kick off his socks. Footie pajamas are my best friend but during the day is a struggle haha.

-- When we made the switch from the hospital pacifier to the regular pacifier it was like a dream come true. He was able to keep it in his mouth much better and he likes it a lot more.

-- When Leland first gets into the bath he is not a very happy camper. Then as the bath goes on he gets happier and happier. His favorite is when I use the hose to wash the shampoo out of his hair. I think he likes the head massage. And then when we get him out he is not very happy either. I don't think he likes to be naked very much.

-- I have a feeling that he is going to be a big boy. At his two week appointment the doctor said that babies are usually just barely getting back to their birth weight at two weeks. Our son however, had gained an entire pound in that two weeks. Then, when we went back three days later, he had gained another nine ounces! In three days! He is a very good eater!

Okay well that is all I can think of for now. Thanks for reading if you made it this far! ;)

Welcome to the world Leland

In case you haven’t heard the news, there is a new addition to the Palmer family. His name is Leland Justin Palmer and he was born on July 27 at 1:21 am. Leland weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. I was both happy and surprised that he came out weighing what he did for coming to this world a whole two weeks early. But he had absolutely no problems and is a super healthy little boy. Here is the quick version of his birth story:

On Friday July 26 I went in to my regular weekly doctor’s appointment. For the first time my whole pregnancy my blood pressure was high which meant that I had toxemia. My doctor had me go up to labor and delivery after my appointment to get a stress test done- which basically means that they monitor the babies heart rate and do a whole bunch of blood work on me. All of the labs came back great and Leland’s heart was perfect, but I did have a really bad headache that they were concerned about. I told them that I was hypoglycemic and that I might just be hungry. So they gave me a sandwich, crackers, and some Tylenol. If the headache went away in one hour than I was good to go home, if it didn’t they would most likely induce labor. Well as you can guess, the headache didn’t go away and so I was induced.

They put me on a magnesium IV to prevent seizures because of my toxemia that made me really sick. I threw up about eight times during labor, but other than that things were progressing really well and I was doing great. I was surprisingly tired and slept a ton while I was in labor. After the doctor broke my water my contractions got way worse and more frequent so it was time to order the epidural. The epidural doctor was a freaking idiot- worst bedside manners EVER- and he missed the first time hitting a blood vessel. Getting an epidural once is bad enough but having to do it twice is pure hell! Thank heavens for Justin- he is the only thing that kept me sane through that whole thing.

After the epidural was in I was feeling pretty happy about life. I couldn’t feel any of my contractions and went back to basically just sleeping and waking up every so often to vomit. Around 11:30 pm I was finally dilated to a 10 and at 12:30 I began pushing. So to sum things up I was in labor for about ten hours and only had to push for about 50 minutes. Everyone was kind of shocked that it went so fast for a first baby. I feel extremely lucky that it went so well!

July 26’th was my Grandma Paulsen’s birthday. I was kind of bummed that I didn’t have him on her birthday, but I honestly feel like that was a present from her. That entire day I just knew that she was in my corner cheering me on. I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am for this precious little boy. He has turned our world upside down and I love him a little bit more every day. He is absolutely perfect. No really, he is! I know that he was a gift from God. The first time after his birth that Justin and I prayed together I made him say it because I knew there was no way I would be able to get through that prayer. As I listened to my husband thank our Heavenly Father for this amazing baby tears just poured down my cheeks. My heart is so full. Sometimes when I am feeding him in the middle of the night I sing primary songs to him. Last night I  was singing ‘A Child’s Prayer’ to him and when I got to the lines “You are his child. His love will surround you” I completely lost it and started bawling my eyes out. I literally could feel the love that Heavenly Father has for this little guy fill the room in that moment. I am completely grateful, and overwhelmed, that He would entrust him to me. I am just so, so blessed!!