Christmas

A little recap from our fun Christmas.

The girls got matching pajamas on Christmas Eve. :)

Jeremy got a few gifts he was excited about. This cool carabiner/pocket watch was one of them.
Santa made out like a bandit by getting a play kitchen for FREE!! Someone was going to just throw this away!! (Thanks Kollen for finding it!). Santa's elves just needed to tighten a few screws, do some sanding, and add a little paint and...

WA LA... a new kitchen ready for Christmas!

Isis was pretty excited when she came down the stairs and saw it. She opened the doors and turned the knobs and then asked, "Where the dishes?" :) Santa did not forget those, she just had to get to them... which took awhile because next she opened...

two princess dolls.

That's the reaction you're going for on Christmas morning. :) She LOVED them and hasn't stopped playing with them since.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did.
(We're a family of 4! Crazy!)

About that post...

So those "next few days" turned into a few weeks. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Initially I said Elise was a quiet baby. I'd like to take that back. She is a good baby but NOT quiet. If something doesn't suit her, even for a moment, she'll let you know. Jeremy and I are finding it interesting to note the differences between a preemie and a full-term baby... like the developed lung capacity. She also eats a lot and very frequently. Which is good; it means she's healthy and growing. It's just tiring for me, I can't do anything, and Isis is left with a boring playmate. (There will be a post about nursing in the future I'm sure. I have too much to say about it right now.)

I think Elise came with a happy temperament though. Happy and very observant. When she's awake she's AWAKE; always watching and looking around with her beautiful little eyes. You can tell she's really studying your face when she's looking at you. She has a happy, peaceful countenance. It's really calming to watch her. She is also very strong. Again maybe that's a full-term baby thing, but wow. She was picking her head up off my chest in the hospital before she was a full day old. I was impressed. And I think she smiles. I know they say it's just gas, but gas smiles don't reach up to their eyes, and her eyes smile.

I have constantly said that I'm not a "newborn mom." And while I still definitely like being able to interact with my baby as they get older, Elise has given me a new appreciation for this newborn stage. With Isis everything was so new and different and hard. I was sad I quit working; I was lonely; I was tired; I was overwhelmed. This time I guess I just knew (mostly) what to expect. I think I'm even more exhausted this time but Isis keeps me from being lonely or bored. I'm appreciating more how little and perfect my baby is. I am grateful for a gentler, happier perspective.

Pictures of Our New Cutie

You can see some first pictures of Elise in our family album. I'll try to do better to post in the next few days... if I can keep my eyes open long enough. :) We are all doing very well and are very happy. And tired. :) Love to everyone!

New Arrival!

Elise Eden Gwin joined our family yesterday at 11:51 in the morning. She weighed 7lbs 4 oz and is 19 inches long. I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday but she had her own plans. :) (Fine by me.) She is a healthy, well-tempered baby. We got home a few hours ago. I'll post pictures and more of the story a little later.

Some pictures

I've been too lazy to post pictures so here are a handful from the last month. :)
The day after Thanksgiving? Time for Christmas!! :) We got almost all of our decorating done that Friday (go me and Isis!).

Since pulling them out of the boxes, Isis' favorite play characters have been any Nativity we have. (The breakable ones are higher up.)

That night, finding our Christmas tree! Isis did a great job... though she was more interested in the puddles on the ground.

My friends gave me a lovely (and delicious) baby shower and sent me home with 2 dozen roses. Aren't friends great? (These smelled wonderful.)

Enjoying the last semi-warm days with sidewalk chalk.

In my cedar chest Isis found yet another "princess dress." I wore this after my baptism, when I was 8. :) In high school I also dressed my youngest brother up in it but for his sake I won't post those pictures... yet. :)

A few weeks ago Jeremy got a call from some friends to go out with them. Apparently, it was a surprise for all the wives. We went to dinner and then...

Jeremy and I? on a party bus?? It was very amusing. Though something we never would have done on our own we had fun time. :)

Crazy couples livin' it up in Las Vegas.

15 Mormon couples. I'm sure that was the calmest ride that party bus driver ever had! :)

My mom was able to come for a visit last month. She brought Isis a surprise.

Isis didn't take it off for nearly 5 days straight. :)

(Didn't my mom do an awesome job? Man, I wish I could sew like that!)

Princess Isis with Grandma.

Being couped up all day with me is no fun so a few weeks ago we found some friends to go play with. Isis loves being with friends. This time we went to a big aquarium.

which was just off the Bass Pro Shop...
their ready to ride. :)

Nothin'

Well, we're in week 38. Yea...

I went to the hospital on Sunday. I was having contractions 3 minutes apart for 2 hours... that's a good sign to go in, right? I put my gown on, the nurse straps me to the monitors, and then they stop, at least any that I could feel. After 20 minutes the doctor said to walk around for an hour to see if that helped me progress. So Jeremy and I walked and walked and walked. During each lap around I got to the end of the hall and skipped the last 25 feet. Still, when I got checked again, nothin'. I was still having contractions every 4 minutes that I couldn't feel but was told to go home. False labor. Um, the contractions I was having at home definitely were not false. They were intensely real. Nevertheless, we did not come home with a baby on Sunday.

Bummer.

This Week in Pregnancy

*Here's to hoping the baby doesn't come too early, as in this week. The situation is eerily similar to two and a half years ago. I had Isis at 35 weeks, the day after my baby shower, with my sister here. I was 35 weeks yesterday, my sister comes to visit tomorrow, and my friend's giving me a baby shower on Saturday... Hmmm.... We shall see.

*I'm bigger now than when I had Isis... but I weigh the same... but I've only gained 20 pounds instead of the 30 with Isis. Weird. I wish I could be one of those cute pregnant people. Maybe it's because I'm short. Or is that just a gene you're born with? The I-will-look-cute-pregnant gene. Hmmm.

*I'm feeling very sentimental about my days of "just me and Isis" so quickly coming to an end. And also that I'm not very fun right now because I'm big and tired.

*My brain is mush. My sister sent me a survey to fill out about standardized testing (something I have strong opinions about) and I was racking my brain for the words I wanted to use. Do I need to write more or read more or just talk to other adults more? I hope my brain comes back someday.

*I'm nervous all over again about labor and delivery because it won't be the same as it was with Isis. I don't know what to expect or what contractions not brought on by drugs feel like. Or how intense they should be/ how long I should wait until I go in. What do I do with my two year old? What if (and most likely he will be) Jeremy's at work? He's got to commute home. Ah! You'd think I've never done this before. At least this time I have a bag ready to go to the hospital.... I'm such a spaz.

Fear of PEEping

With all the doctor's appointments I have now, I have to wonder how long my luck will last. In this office's bathroom there's a small cupboard door on the wall in which to leave your urine sample. There's also a little door on the other side to collect the sample.
When will the visit come that I'm placing my sample inside and the tech opens the other side? Do you say anything if that happens? "Um, yeah... here's a cup of my pee.... Here you go." ...... ..... ..... .... ....

Let's hope the baby comes before that day. :)

Halloween

We hope everyone had a fun Halloween. We did.

Tinker Bell Isis

She said "trick or treat" beautifully and was so excited to get candy for it! :)

Our family this Halloween
Rufi...OOOOOO (Jeremy said there was no way he was being Peter Pan and I couldn't do a Captain Hook costume), Tinker Bell, and Wendy (though most people assumed I was just a tired pregnant lady... that works too.)

A surprising number of people at our ward trunk-or-treat told Jeremy that this look fit him so well. :) He told them it was just a throw back to high school... well, at least the hair. :)

Holidays are becoming a lot more fun as Isis gets older. For more of our Halloween pictures (and better ones of Jeremy's Rufio hair) check out our family album.

Pumpkin Time!

We carved our pumpkins today and had a really good time.

Scooping out the "gloop."

Isis loves raw pumpkin - blah!

Isis drawing her own pumpkin face. :)

Washing the seeds for baking.

Our finished jack-o-lanterns.

See more of our pumpkin carving fun (and other Isis pictures from this vast update) here.

Happenings Here

(These pictures did not load how I wanted so the next few posts are not sequential.)

I always wish I posted more but alas, I do what I can squeeze into my semi-conscious time. :) So here are a handful of events and thoughts I've been meaning to write about.

We tried potty training. Lots of juice and movies and still no success. I decided it is not worth it to push this (nor do I have the energy to do so), so I'm just going to wait until she's really ready.

In the last few months, and I'm not sure how it happened, our house has turned into princess central. Is this something little girls are born with? She has seen two princess movies- Sleeping Beauty and Enchanted. She sings and dances and dresses up. Prince Daddy often has to "wake" her with true love's kiss. She is a crack up giving Prince Daddy true love's kiss because it is always in slow motion and quite dramatic. So funny. I'll have to get a video sometime. These are some of Isis' princess dress up combos:

(Mommy's church shoes are always princess shoes)

Toddler at Play

It's been fun watching Isis develop her first friendships. This is Isis and her friend Kimball loving a water park.

Childhood requires some trips, bumps, and bruises. This time Isis caught her fall with her face. Poor girl.... and still look at that smile. :)


Earlier this week Isis had a friend from Nursery come over to play. I was upstairs for 5 minutes while the girls went and played downstairs. Soon I heard riotous giggles. When I came downstairs I found this: Two happy little girls standing in a HUGE puddle on the kitchen floor with ice cubes everywhere. That wasn't a big deal to clean up and it was fun hearing them laugh so much. Still, I'll remember to lock the water spout on the fridge next time. :)

Sleepy Time

We've had some sleeping issues with Isis since she started climbing out of her crib about two months ago. Sleeping issues as in she comes into our room 2 to 6 times a night between the hours of 1:30 and 6:00am. It might not be too big of a deal if I could get back to sleep but falling back to sleep has been ridiculously hard for me. So we are both left exhausted during the day. And she THINKS she's ready to stop taking naps - HA!!! Anyway, two or three times I have resorted locking her in her room during "nap" time. (This makes me feel extremely guilty, so I haven't done it for a while.) Any advice for helping a two year old 'remember' she wants (needs) to take a nap? :)

The first time she played for about an hour. When I woke up from my nap I peeked in on her and found her here: A few days later the same thing happened. Notice the bed that she is not sleeping in. Is the rocking chair that comfortable?
This time, however, there was evidence of her "playing."

Thrifty

Use it up. Wear it out. Make do or do without. (Isn't that how that goes?) That seems to have become our family motto. (And it's not a bad thing.)


Wishing I could give Isis everything on a whim, like a play kitchen, I just made one. Good thing I grew up playing with a lot of cardboard boxes. :)



Not being able to buy a new couch has enhanced my sewing skills. I've never patched couch cushions before. Sure it doesn't match but how much can you expect with scrap material? :) And they stay put!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

On their way up to Utah my parents got to stop by. What better visitors than adoring grandparents? (Jeremy and I even got a date out of their stop!)

I love this picture of Isis and Grandma.

Climbing around with Grandpa.

Lake Mead

We took advantage of a 100 degree weekend in September and went to the lake.

Isis loved playing in the "sandbox." :)

and the "BIG swimming pool"... by the time we left she knew it was a lake. :)
Look at those cuties! :)

Oh No He Didn't

I have sufficiently cried over this so now I can write about it. (Though I'm still bothered by it so this will probably be long.)

On Tuesday I took Isis to the doctor. I could tell it was a busy day in the office. Both waiting rooms were packed. We were there 20 minutes early and waited an hour to be seen. Her doctor, because he was rushed, was a little rougher than usual in his routine check. Naturally that was a little upsetting to Isis but she was okay when it was over. He was in and out in 5 minutes. He requested a glucose check to make sure nothing else was causing the infection.
Before the nurse came in I told Isis what was going to happen. I don't think it's fair to surprise kids like that. She was definitely paying attention because she responded "poke finger, sleep!" (Sleeping Beauty... smart girl) and got teary-eyed. The nurse came in with his tray and she started crying. I took off her shoe and sock and among the kicking he got her toe cleaned and pricked. Now it actually hurt so Isis was really trying to pull away. I hugged her and held her leg as best I could while the nurse tried to get the blood onto his test stick. He managed to scoop some off and roughly tried to put on the band-aid. Looking at the little monitor he grumbled and sighed heavily. "It didn't work?" I asked the obvious. "No. I have to go get new stuff, " he replied obviously annoyed.
He left and I held and soothed Isis. When he came back Isis stared crying immediately. He rips off the band-aid and for the next 3 to 5 minutes proceeds in a very rough and forceful manner to squeeze her toe to coax new blood out. It would barely seep out and he'd wipe it off with a cotton swab. He did that three or four times. (WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT BLOOD???) He then commenced squeezing the heck out of her toe which is now extremely sore. And then he has the nerve to say in great agitation to my hysterical daughter, "If you'd just hold still this would go faster!" EXCUSE ME??? She is TWO and you are hurting her! Are you not working in a pediatric office?? I, the non-medical professional, said, "It looks like the blood has clotted. I think you need to stick her again and be done." Another gruff sigh, "Yeah, I do." And he left.
Now I was crying with my sobbing daughter as we rocked back and forth.
When he came back this time Isis went ballistic and was climbing all over me to try to get away and screaming. At this point there was no way she was going to be calmed or soothed. I said, "This needs to be quick." He rolled his eyes as I took off her other shoe. Somehow I held her just long enough to get the sample. I rocked her as I told her, "It's all done. It's over. You're okay."
Then the nurse tried putting a band-aid on the new prick. Isis could take no more. She screamed and jerked as violently as before. In frustration he shouted, "IT'S JUST A BAND-AID!"
That was beyond the last straw. Through my tears I shot back, "Give it to me! You are DONE." Judging by the way he tried to flick it off he would have thrown it at me had it not been stuck to his glove. I ripped it off his glove. He sat and watched as I tried to put it on but she wouldn't even let me do it. He gave a frustrated sigh again and I told him to go. I dabbed her toe with a Kleenex as she clutched the band-aid in her hand. Isis' entire body seemed to be convulsing; every limb and muscle was shaking. She was literally in shock. I was SO mad and very upset. Both of us just sat there rocking and crying for a bit. When I had calmed down and Isis was nearly asleep we left. No, I didn't say anything on the way out. I was too upset and distraught. (I have since found out this nurse's name and written a letter. I still can't get in touch with anyone by phone.)
I cried about this traumatic ordeal the entire day. I couldn't protect or soothe my baby. I didn't have the presence of mind at the time to use more forceful language (like, what are you doing? get the h--- away from my child; don't touch her again; are you an idiot? get me another nurse now; you need to leave, etc.). I didn't insist on a different nurse, and I didn't ask to speak to someone about this right away. That bothers me.
Even if you're tired or have had a hard day (it was only 11 am), the attitude and behavior of that nurse is absolutely unacceptable. Even being the mom, if his behavior and treatment upset me, an adult who knew what he was actually doing, how traumatic was it for my tender two year old? That treatment isn't tolerable for my or any other child. This was the worst experience I've ever had with medical "professionals."
Is this typical and have I previously been lucky? I hope no one else or their child has been or will be so poorly treated.

Randomness

It's been a while since posting. Some weeks/months are just better than others. I just have a bunch of random thoughts floating around my head so I'll just jot them down for now.

*Times like this a pensieve would really be useful. I could still have thoughts but not all crammed in my head at once.

*Speaking of a pensieve, I really love Harry Potter. I think J.K. Rowling is an phenomenal author. I love escaping to the incredible world of Harry Potter.

*Someday I'd love to publish a book. A children's book. Actually, I think I've written a good book... it's the revising and getting it published I'm still working on.

* I'm happy I keep a journal. I've kept a journal since I was 7. For the last 8 years I have written every day. (Except the week I had Isis.) I'm pretty proud of myself. Now if only I could be that persistent about other goals.

*I LOVE being able to keep up with friends' everyday life through blogs. I love being able to share our everyday happenings with friends and family with our blog. I only lament that my blog has replaced my more personalized communication with friends through emails or letters. I was a great letter writer. I hope to get back to that.

*First as a teacher and secondly as a mom, I am a HUGE advocate of teaching children (yes, infants) American Sign Language. If there is any question, yes you should do it. I am positive it decreases tantrums and screaming because your kid can actually communicate with you. It is fantastic in the classroom because it's a multi-sensory learning mode. I used it in my Kindergarten class for letters, numbers, colors, singing, and a handful of words. I loved it and so did the kids. Plus, it IS a second language. :)

*I miss teaching but I'm so happy I'm a mom who gets to stay home with my kids. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

*In that vein, I am thankful for a responsible, hard working, intelligent, supportive husband who has a job that gives me the opportunity to stay with our kids.

*I am SOOOOO not a dancer. But I would love to take a dance class (probably swing) with Jeremy.

*My greatest blessings are my family, my friends, and my testimony of the gospel.

*I wish I could invent a teleporter.

*I sure wish I would crave healthy things instead of snickers, french fries, chocolate chip cookie dough, and twice baked potatoes. But my cravings taste so good!

*I don't think dessert is dessert unless there's chocolate in it... wait... with the exception of pound cake (with strawberries & whip cream) or a pie. :)

*I like using the weather when I cook. In Utah and Colorado I could freeze things outside in the winter. Here I use the heat. Last week I set my rolls out on our patio table and the dough rose twice as fast as it does in the house! :) Awesome.

*My wow-I'm-a-real-mom moment last week was when I pulled wipes out of my purse (for the first time) to clean off Isis after she ate strawberries at the store.

*I don't know why but I hate purses. I hate carrying one but it seems to be necessary now. I also had to replace my old one (it had holes) and it's bigger - blah. However, now I can fit a diaper, wipes, a baby doll, calculator, regular purse stuff, and a lot more. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing. :)

*I love musicals. My top five favorite now are #1. Wicked (everyone should see this), #2. Children of Eden, #3. Les Miserables, #4. Phantom of the Opera, #5. She Loves Me

*Life is just good.

Videos for family - but anyone can appreciate this cuteness

Showing off her princess dress.

Another princess dress and dancing and lots of running.

Princess Isis likes to dress up, dance, sing, and do kung fu. :) I keep asking her to sing the Sleeping Beauty song hoping to catch the cuteness... I got a little bit.

Playing with new toys from Guatemala from Grandma & Grandpa. (Thanks!) She has such a good imagination. (I love her singing while she plays.)

Self esteem Coach

Three weeks ago I was searching through my closet in mild exasperation trying to find something I could still wear (a.k.a. fit into) for church. I'd try something on, decide it didn't flatter the baby bump, and toss it back in the closet. While examining myself in one dress Isis came in an excitedly said, "Mommy, princess!" :) Yep, she's an angel. Nothing beats the love (or compliments) of your daughter.

Here is Princess Isis proudly modeling the new found princess dress. :)

If only we could always see ourselves from the eyes of a two year old. We'd be much kinder to ourselves and happier.