Some Firsts

We brought Lucinda home on Monday November 1, 2010. And we were welcomed home to this beautiful flower arrangement from the girls at work. Gosh, how I miss them! But wouldn't trade my new job for the world.

After bringing Lucinda home and getting settled she got her first bath! She was not a fan. Frankly I cannot blame her. Because of the umbilical cord you have to sponge bathe and I think she was just cold. Poor girl. But she is liking her baths now. However, still HATES being lotioned and massaged. Go figure!



Lucinda had some higher than normal biliruben levels. Unfortunately her levels continued to rise rather than fall so she got to spend a few days in the tanning bed. Although it was sad for Mom (I only had one huge breakdown, thanks Hayley for the nap) Lucinda didn't seem to mind it at all. She was warm and got to sleep, sleep, sleep. They aren't in this pic, but she kept moving so shortly after this pic she got herself some stylish felt goggles to protect her eyes.



We tried Lucinda in her swing to see if she liked it. She likes it sometimes and hates it other times. But this first time she REALLY liked watching the butterflies fly around.



Last, I went to check on Dennis one night to see if he was ready for bed. Obviously they both were. Goodness, I love these two!

Lucinda Alwine Cluff

The day of Dennis' party, I knew something was up. I hadn't been feeling quite right but was just glad that I made it to the party without having this baby. But I had a good feeling that she was going to come the next day. So Saturday morning rolls around and I woke up having contractions. They were about 20 minutes apart so Tootz and I decided to go about our normal Saturday activities. We went to Costco, Target and Great Harvest and by the end of it they were about 12 minutes apart. I decided to go lay down and try to get some rest. Little did I know you cannot sleep when you are having painful contractions. I told Dennis they were getting closer and I don't think he quite believed me. He decided to go get some fishing in since he knew he wouldn't be going for awhile. I told him I would text him if they got closer. So a few hours later....they were closer. I told him to hurry home, we needed to go to the hospital. He was home in 15 min and although we still weren't sure this was the "real" thing, we decided to go get it checked and see. We arrived at the hospital around 3:30. And sure enough I was a 6 and this was definitely the "real" thing. This was my nurse, she was awesome and got me hooked up with an epidural right away.



I had the shakes from the medication so they got me warm blankets, which didn't really help but it sure did feel nice.



This was Lil' Lucinda's heartbeat. She was a champ and maintained a good beat the whole time.



Dennis was the perfect labor partner. While watching the World Series he took care of my every need.



I had a little drop in blood pressure due to the Epidural so they lowered me down and gave me some Epinephrine to perk me up.



This is Dr. Jacob getting ready. He was awesome! And the other nurse who was dressed up for Halloween. Not many babies get their nurses with wigs and butterfly wings.



10 short minutes....THERE SHE IS!! She was born at 6:03 pm on October 30, 2010. We were commenting how that was the perfect date 10/30/10.



She weighed 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. Just a tiny little Cluff!



It had been raining all day and was overcast and miserable. After she was born Dr. Jacob said..."Look outside, she brought the sun." I like to think of her as my little ray of sunshine.



Here is the whole team. You can't see the baby because she is skin on skin. Loved that part!



Lucinda was a little cold so she had to spend some time in the heat bed. Dad stayed with her the whole time.



This is when Mom saw me first time post bath and heat bed and after they got her all settled in her room.



And our first picture as a family



I was small and needed to fill out my skin



And super tired from all the excitement...



I am officisl, name tag and everything



Here are some of my visitors

Slideshow generated with Smilebox

After a fun few days, they sent us home sweet home



Then the fun/real life began.

Dennis turns the big 4 0

Wow! What a crazy few months it has been. I REALLY need to get better at this blogging thing. Well, the biggest and most exciting thing that has happened is our Lil' Cluff finally arrived. But we will get to her in the next post. We had a surprise party on Friday October 29th for Dennis' 40th Birthday. We had a lot of family and friends come and it was so wonderful. Hayley helped me so much putting it together. We had pictures all around the house of Dennis all throughout the years. We also had a ton of black decor and balloons (which Hayley blew up and tied all herself...goooo Hayley!)



Dennis was surprised, but he suspected something was up. He knew I have wanted for years to throw him a surprise party.



These are some of the friends and family that came.



There were lots of food, gifts, and cake!






It was a really fun party and I hope Dennis enjoyed it as much as we did.

What a wonderful musical summer and harvest

It has truly been a wonderful summer. In the month of July we got to go see two amazing concerts at Red Butte Gardens. This is my new favorite concert venue. You can bring your own food and drink, which is huge! People brought full on picnics. So we did the same. We were able to eat the foods we love and drink the drinks we want at a fraction of the cost. First we saw Barenaked Ladies.



They were a lot of fun, although the opening act Kris Allen sucked. I am a fan of the idea of not having an opening act.

The following night we had the opportunity to see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.



We saw Lyle Lovett last year at an acoustic show with John Hiatt. That is where we discovered that we really love Lyle Lovett. He has a great sense of humor and is fantastic on stage. When we saw he was playing at Red Butte we knew we had to go. It was even better than we had hoped. There was no opening band, just them. The music was great and I cannot wait to see him again.

My garden has also been a success this year. I have tried a few things I haven't tried in the past and have been pretty successful. I just discovered a pumpkin on the vine this morning! I planted brussell sprouts, green peppers, green beans, cucumbers, jalepenos, zuchinni, tomatoes, arugula, summer squash, and pumpkin. This was my harvest just today.



It has been a hot summer, probably more so because of my built in space heater. I am ready for Fall. All of my favorite things happen in the fall...changing leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, cooler weather, and this Fall will be extra special because we will get to meet our Lil' Cluff.

It's a....GIRL!

We are so excited, we found out at the beginning of July that we are having a girl! Dennis was hoping that it was a boy, but I think that is because his daughters are teens. He was needing a little testosterone. But now that he knows it's a girl, he is excited. He cannot wait to teach her to fish and take her to BYU football games. She is going to be a total Daddy's girl, I just know it. We were also very happy to see that she is growing just fine. She seems to be perfectly healthy. I am now at 28 weeks and officially into my 3rd trimester. In just a few short months she will be here. I cannot believe it! But we cannot wait to meet our Lil' Cluff.

Marlene is 14!

Marlene is here to visit for six weeks. She arrived the night before her 14th birthday. We had planned for the family to come over and have a BBQ and celebrate her birthday. We all had a great time. She got lots of art supplies, a Twilight bag, gift cards, and contacts. What more could a girl ask for?? Now we just get to enjoy the next six weeks. I think it will be a busy summer. Only one more week until we find out what we are having!!

Exciting News!

First, I want to start off and say that I am soooo happy I was finally able to figure out how to get the auto music to stop playing on that slideshow. I love Green Day as much as the next guy, but man it was annoying! So, I apologize for that. Second, I am attempting AGAIN to start contributing to my blog regularly. If for no one else, I need to do this for myself. It is a journal or sorts and there are many things that happen that I want to remember. And now for the excuse....the last 6 months of my life have been all consuming. Which leads me to our exciting news...

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!

Yes, can you believe it?!? Dennis and I are very excited. Our new arrival is due November 12, 2010. We will find out July 1st if it is a boy or a girl. I have a gut feeling, so we will see if Mother does always know best.

The first trimester was rough. I was very nauseous and vomited regularly. I have now started gaining weight, which is good. The other rough part is the utter exhaustion that you feel 24 hours a day. I would come home at lunch and eat really quickly just so I could take a 10 min nap. Then there were the headaches. Those would have been bearable if I was allowed to take something other than this sugar pill some people call Tylenol. But all of the bad stuff aside, I am feeling better every day. And I would not trade it for the world. Because the result is so worth it.

Now for the fun stuff. Although we have not had our 20 week ultrasound yet, we do have some pictures of our little one. I am really excited for the new one because it is the first ultrasound where our baby will look more like a baby.

Here is Lil' Cluff at 5 days. You may notice that there are two. Well, I don't actually know which one is "the one". So take your pick. Does it amaze anyone else that a human being starts from this?!



Here is Lil' Cluff at Week 6. This was the first time we heard the heartbeat on ultrasound which in the pregnancy world is a huge deal. Once you hear heartbeat on ultrasound it lowers your chance of miscarriage to less than 5%.



And last, this is Lil' Cluff at 8 + 5 which is code for 8 Weeks + 5 Days. This was a well being check due to a little issue. But all was well.



Well, that is it for now! I really am going to try harder.