Mr. Smiley! :)

The First Month of Motherhood

I love being a mom! I still cant believe that I have a son!! Shane and i are parents!! We just love baby carter so much and couldnt ask for a better little guy! The first month of being a mom is all a blur. I seriously have never been so out of it! I really didnt think the Labor and Delivery was hard, but the after part was the hardest for me! I didnt realize how much sleep deprivation can make you go a little crazy! I was so lucky to have my mom come for a week and then Shane's mom came for a week after that! That definitely helped me keep it together! Shane was so good and supportive, even though he was in finals! somehow he made it out with good grades! I really feel like heavenly father has blessed us so much! Shane works so hard and was mega stressed about his exams! I kept telling him to study or sleep in the night instead of helping me calm Carter down, but he continued to help me and still was able to do well with his exams and so he could start his Rotations. Having baby Carter has made me love Shane even more! This picture below makes me feel like Shane is staring right back at me! not a single person has said Carter looks like me! i do love having a Shane-mini-me around! 

Luckily Shane had a two week break after his exams were over!! I was so excited and Couldn't wait to have him home and not have him studying all the time! It was so nice! we did all catch a bad cold, even poor baby carter, but he is a little fighter! We seriously didn't go out at all! haha we just stayed home and hung out with Carter all day since we were all sick. It was nice for Shane, but i was getting major Cabin Fever! there was one point that I was so bored and sent Shane to Michael's and told him to bring home a craft! haha..He was so clueless and had no idea what to get. Poor guy! He came home with some meds for all of us and Some statue monkeys to paint! Some of you may know this, but For our first date we went to the store and bought statue monkeys and painted them! This actually meant a lot to me that he thought of that and picked out some matching ones for us to add to our collection. For our first date we painted four of them. Shane kept two and i kept two. At one point when we were dating i broke up with him and was kind of a brat to him and so he threw his two monkeys away! haha i have still kept mine and so now we have a full set! :) 

Anyways, below are some fun pictures from Carters first month of life. He was a pretty Colicky baby at first, We found out it was because of me drinking soy milk. I switched to almond milk at it made things so much better! He is such a dream baby and so happy now!! :) didn't think i could love another so much until this little guy came along!!  

This picture is right when we brought little Carter home from the Hospital!! He is so tiny and so cute! its crazy how fast they grow! At this point he was 7 pounds and 1 ounce but dropped down to 6 and a half pounds! Because he was so low he had to check in with the doctor every so often. He quickly started going back up once my milk came in. 

 I just love this sweet picture of Carter with his grandma weeks! what a blessing it was to have my mom here when i was a hormonal mess and needed it most. She is such a great mom and i look up to her so much!

 This is Carter's first bath. He hated it at first. Since they have the umbilical cord thing still on there, you have to give them a sponge bath and so it isnt as relaxing. We did it as fast as we could and then he was fine once we snuggled him in warm jammies and a blanket. The first week, every time little Carter would cry, Shane and I would get so anxious and worried and tried everything to get him to stop. We quickly learned that sometimes babies just want to cry and not to stress so much about it. My mom said to just think of it as the baby is getting Cardio. Since Carter was colicky in the beginning, that mind set helped us a lot. 

 Shane has waited for this moment for a long time! He got to snuggle Carter while watching his favorite soccer team. I LOVE these precious moments that Carter gets with his daddy.

 So i used to work all day and go straight to the gym after (aka i was never really home and loved keeping busy). Since becoming a mommy, it has been a huge adjustment for me! I love being with Carter and all his precious milestones as a baby. It is such a blessing to be able to stay home with him. I am so grateful for the other mommy's out there! I have become very fond of mommy playdates. It is amazing how much better i feel and better my day goes when i meet up with other moms and can talk and laugh about mommy things. It helps a mom not feel so alone in the process since most of the day is spent at home. Also if i have any questions, i have lots of moms to turn to! Thank you ladies out there that have helped me in my transition to motherhood and have been my friend! you all know who you are! Love you all and seriously would go crazy without you!

cutest bunny EVER!!

 Shane and i tried to give Carter a pacifier, especially during his colicky moments, but he only would take it for a week and then stopped. This is what he prefers. He loves sucking on his fingers and sometimes on his arm. we try the pacifier still and wish he would take it. He even has given himself hickies on his arm from sucking so hard! poor guy!! 

 Another picture of momma weeks! more and more lately, i am told i look like my mom. Ill take that as a compliment!

 My two favoirte boys! both exhausted from a long night of colicky! Carter giving the camera some blue steel action. :) 

 He loves relaxing on his soft giraffe! At first, he loved to be swaddled but after the first two weeks, he hated it and would always kick and squirm until his arms and legs were free. 

 I was also so blessed to have Shane's mom come and help us too! Also Shane's dad was there for a couple days as well. Mama Haas was so helpful and i know that baby Carter loved having time with her! It was nice to have her preparing dinners Because Shane and i were so sleep deprived and both didnt have much of an appetite so she helped us stay healthy! I just wish that Carter wasn't so colicky from the soy milk so he would have been a happier baby! While mama Haas was here i also got to start walking so we would take Carter to the park and walk as long as we could before he would wake up and be hungry again! it felt so nice to be outside and move around! 

 Look how tiny he is!!

 We went a Halloween party with our awesome Med school friends and had a blast. It was Carter's first outing and he just slept the entire time! Shane has a legit pirate costume but i just threw a bunch of scarf's on me and called myself a pirate! it works right? haha. never have a pulled a costume together so quick. ohh well, at least we had out little crab with us! arghhhh

 Look at him! he is starting to Chunk up! nothing better then this little chunker in a diaper, after a warm bath and some lotion!! 

This was his first Sunday at church! my oh my he looked handsome and he did such a good job there too!

Well that was bits and pieces of his first month! Look how much he Grew! At his one month apt i believe he was 22 inches and 8 pounds 14 ounces?! 

Newborn Pictures

My oh my our lives have changed so much!! and for the better of course! :) sorry i have been so bad with my blog! all you mommies out there totally understand. I just wrote a huge long blog post about everything i went through and everything about Carter but i erased it because it was just too long and i didnt want to put you all to sleep! Here are some of Carter's Newborn pictures taken by the amazing Dayna Tayler!! here is a link to her website... dayzyphotography.com

I feel so bad! Carter peed on EVERY SINGLE blanket that Dayna used for Carter!! She did such a good job getting cute pictures of him even tho he wasnt tho most cooperative little guy! i could stare at this pictures all day! 

Carter is Here..Photo Overload!

 Here i am just before the craziness!! 

 Oh what would i have done without doc Swainston!! When Carter first came to us i didnt hear a cry! it scared me so much. i looked at shane and he seemed concerned. all the nurses were quiet and focused on baby..Shane then told me that the cord was wrapped around the babies head! Worst feeling in the world is having that baby not cry at first! never a good sign. Doctor Swainston hurried and cut the cord and still no cry! Carter had a ton of mucus in his lungs and they had to clear it out before Carter could breath or cry! they handed him to me and i think that help him get the energy to cry and from then on he was just fine! he has a scratch on his head from them having to pull him out so quickly but he did great! He is 7 pounds and 1 ounce and 20 inches long. just PERFECT! i am so in love with him and Shane as well! we are so blessed and excited to raise this little guy! Below are some fun pictures from our time at the Hospital.

 First Family Photo

 He is such a mini Shane! those eyes are so much like daddies! I think he will look a lot like shane but i did notice that Carter does have my thumbs! hahah at least he got something of mine right?? i know this cuz they are double jointed and so are mine!! 

 I promise he loves his daddy. This is just after Carter had his first bath. so not fun for him.

 Sleeping and so peaceful.

 He got to dress in his hospital best for a couple pictures. what a little cutie with his Bowtie. He is such a trooper with that camera flash. i swear i am going to blind him with all the pictures i keep snapping of him! Poor little guy. 

 I was exhausted after a night of only an hour of sleep. WOW sleeping that first night at the hospital is IMPOSSIBLE! nurses come in and out constantly to check me or baby and i was just to excited to sleep. all i wanted was to be with my little guy and to stare at him and hear him breathing. Shane is such a trooper! he also didnt get much sleep and had to leave us for a four hour exam at school. Hopefully he did ok on the test but i know that was pretty rough for him! 

 Checking out of the Hospital took a long time. we thought we would leave that morning but it took till five to get out of there. we were so excited but also scared to take him home. Life was so different now. we now have a little guy to take care of! best change ever! i have been so excited and have always looked forward to being a mommy! yes it is tiring and can be not so fun sometimes but so worth every moment! 

 He is so tiny!

I sure hope we can be the best parents for this little guy! Let the Adventures begin :) 

FULL Term and Ready to POP!

It's True i am Full term. I am 39 weeks now and am dilated to a four! i have been having crazy contractions at night but then they slow down after a couple hours. My doctor is surprised that i haven't had my baby yet. Oh how i wish he was here already! I didnt realize how hard pregnancy would be! my back hurts like crazy and the anticipation alone could kill ya! haha i am so grateful that i have had a good pregnancy and am almost to the finish line. It is kinda scary..Heavenly father is trusting me to raise this little guy and i hope i can be a great mother. This waiting game plays with your emotions..thats for sure! i feel like time is at a stand still and he will never come. I have been going to the gym everyday and have been working out my whole pregnancy. the last couple weeks i make sure to walk 8 to 10 miles at the gym everyday and am proud of it. It isnt easy when a bowling ball is weighing down your back and hips but it will all be worth it when i have a quicker recovery after Baby Carter Arrives. I am sure next time i post, it will be all about Carter and the delivery. My mind is going at a hundred miles an hour! i just hope he is healthy and we are able to be great parents to our little guy! :) Bring on the diapers & late night feedings.. We are ready for you little Carter!

Spencer is Hitched!

 So happy for this cute couple. they seem so happy and have such a great life ahead of them. 

 Fun getting to see family and catch up one last time before i become a mommy! Cant believe i am over eight months pregnant!

 The Beautiful Parents!

 OH just some of my awesome Girl Cousins!

 Cutest, best behaved little guy ever. He is about to be a big brother too.

 My sister, Lacy, Had little Klaire only eight days before spencer's big day. She didnt want to miss his wedding so She and her family (four little kids, newborn baby included) drove all the way to utah for just the wedding portion. so they were in utah for an hour and then drove all the way home! that is true love of family right there! i dont know if i would have been able to do that! It was fun getting to meet my new little niece and see how perfect she is. 

Spencer couldn't have found someone more perfect for him! so excited to get to know her better and can see how happy she makes my brother. Congrats and welcome to the family!