Eve's First 3 Months

It's amazing to me the differences between siblings when they come from the same parents. Eve doesn't look or act anything like Tessa. She balances us all out.
Weeks 1-2 she was perfect
Weeks 3-10 were absolutely hard. Partly because Mitch was gone all the time, and partly because Eve was not an easy baby. Easier than Tessa, but I've heard of babies who don't cry much, sleep easy, and feed fine. I've only heard of such babies.
Weeks 11-14 were much more calm and it sure helped that all the holidays lessened Mitch's traveling.

Eve..

Loves Tessa. She smiles at her often. Tessa holds her hand and tries really hard to be quiet when she's sleeping.
Loves being held, by anybody. No stranger danger here
Loves her fists
Is a total drooler
Not too concerned about what goes on around her
Is very smiley
Doesn't coo as much as smiles but when she does it's delightful
Love loves to be bounced
Thoroughly enjoys bath time
Still has her hair! It thinned out and got lighter but she is definitely not bald.
Is seriouly cute
Hates more than anything in the world and very consistently-- her car seat. That makes leaving the house super fun :)
I am definitely her favorite person

Much of these things are totally opposite of how Tessa was, which is not a bad or good thing, just different. I love learning about this girls personality. Here's to another 3 months of life for Eve ♡

Some nicknames she has accumulated are
Eveling
Evelet
Evie
Eve bee

2014: A Year in Review

What a crazy, wonderful year. In order to keep my facts straight for my future scrapbooking days (which WILL happen...someday) I need to write about the highlights of 2014.

Jan - Job promotion. Found out about baby #2. I'm sure there was some packing up our stuff amongst all the sickness.
Feb - We moved to Southern CA
March - uhh..more sickness?
April - Tessa turned 2! We traveled up to Sac and had a birthday bash for her there, gender reveal for baby girl
May - 4 year anniversary and a kid free trip to Catalina Island. Mitch turned 28 ♡
June-July - tried to fit in as much fun family of 3 stuff we could think of... see previous post. I had the best baby shower ever.
August - moved to Northern CA
September - I turned 27. Had our baby Eve
October-November -  my life revolved around baby Eve, everything else was a blur but we spent uber amounts of time with our families.
December - We bought our first house!

And there you have it. Don't be fooled, our whole year was not a highlight but who wants to scrapbook about the lowlights? This is the good stuff :) SO excited about 2015!

Eve's Birth Story

I was 36 weeks when I had one last ultrasound. I asked if they could tell how big little Eve was and they said "Oh, about 7.2 pounds"

uhm.. WHOA! She's already bigger than Tessa was and I still had 4 weeks!

I kept telling Mitch it felt like I was carrying around a bowling ball in my gut. Seriously she was SO heavy, and my belly was HUGE, much bigger than the first time around.

It was at that same appointment they said I was dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced. No one thought I would make it to my due date. Flash forward 4 weeks where I got progressively more dilated and more effaced with each week until 2 days before my due date I was dilated to a FIVE and effaced 90 PERCENT.

Where in the heck was this baby?!

My OB was incredible and said she would induce me on Monday (just one day past my due date) if I wanted. I was SOO close, and I had soo many contractions that weren't progressing that I figured inducing me would not be a big deal. And by inducing I mean they just broke my water. No drugs needed.

Anyway, Monday morning comes along, I call in at 5:30am on the dot. They tell me to be there between 7 and 7:30 am. I walk in at 7:30 on the dot. They get me all situated in a room and broke my water at 9:30 am. Then we just hung out. As with Tessa, it was just Mitch and I and my doctor and the nurses in the delivery room. We love having that time and moment just to ourselves. Immediately the contractions started. My nurse asked how bad they were and I told her they weren't too bad since I wasn't in tears yet and she said "Well, we don't need to wait until you start crying." That was some music to my ears and once I had a couple intense ones I got that epidural right quick. With my first epidural I couldn't feel a thing. They had to tell me when I was having a big one and when to push because I couldn't tell AT ALL. This time around I could still feel the big ones but they weren't bad. And I could tell when I needed to push and all that jazz.

My doctor said earlier that morning she planned on getting this baby out by lunch, and she was right so at 1:15 it was time to push and 15 minutes later, walah! Out came my HUGE SQUISHY ROLLY baby! My doc said "Well, Mallory you successfully gave birth to a 2 month old!" Everyone in there was kind of freaking out with how big she was (in a good way, they were loving the rolls and also pretty shocked) and wanted to get her weighed so they could see what she was at. Officially she was 8 pounds, 15 ounces and 20.5 inches long and definitely NOT as loud as Tessa was. Her cry sounded cute!

Unfortunately, I tore again, but just a little bit compared to last time. She breastfed successfully and the rest of the 2 days at the hospital were pretty laid back.

My sister made a big sister bag for Tessa that we gave to her when she came to see baby Eve. It had a big sister shirt, a big sister book, a pack of dinosaurs and a dinosaur activity book and crayons that Tessa all went nuts over. She was totally in heaven. I made sure that neither Mitch or I were holding Eve when Tessa first came in. I wanted to have some time with her before we made it all about the baby. But Tessa had other plans, she didn't want to see me and kept asking to see baby sister. She didn't want to hold her, but she was definitely curious. Then we gave her the gift and played with her new toys for a while. By the time she was going to leave she asked to hold Eve and was so sweet to her. She gave her kisses and kept saying "It's ok baby. It's ok. Shhh Shhh." Tessa has a baby doll at home she takes care of all the time and whenever we ask her what her baby's name is she says "sister." Melt my heart. She is SUCH a good big sister.

I just have to say I absolutely LOVED delivering at Sutter Roseville and the nurses I had there, I absolutely LOVE my doctor and LOVE the girls pediatrician. So if you need a recommendation, I will gladly give out names.

Flash forward 3 weeks: The first 2 weeks of life Eve was seriously perfect. She ate and slept and pooped. And only cried when she was hungry. Starting the third week she got really fussy and had a lot of gas, where I deduced she had a hard time when I drank cows milk. So I gave up all obvious dairy and she's back to being a dream...mostly. She really only gets cranky when she wants to sleep and when she wants to eat. Gripe water also helps a TON when she gets gassy. All in all the transition from one baby to two has been crazy, and hard at times, but Eve being an easier baby and living by all this family has made it so much easier.

I feel like Eve brings a whole new dynamic to our family, with how calm she is. She fits in perfectly and we feel so blessed to have another happy healthy little girl!

All of it

It's been a WHILE, it's also been CRAZY, so... not my fault. Quick updates:

We moved from Tennessee after 10 months (which was a sad day for us) to Southern CA and lived there for 6 months. Living there was fine, but we knew early on that S CA was just not the place for us. 

Even though we knew we didn't want to live there forever, there is so much to do there, so we filled our time there with some adventures:
Angels Baseball Games
Sea World season passes
Catalina Island
Dinosaur museum
The Zoo
Science museum for their Pompeii exhibit
Food Networks famous places to eat
The Beach (of course)
And because it's like 75 and sunny EVERY DAY we also went swimming...practically every day.

Then we moved to Northern CA. Mitch's job was changing so he would be traveling more, and he can really live anywhere in CA and due to baby #2 coming, it just made sense for us to be by family for a while.

Just prior to leaving TN I found out I was pregnant again, and I mean JUST prior. I was sick sick sick for that move. And just prior to having our second girl, we moved to N CA, and I mean JUST prior. At 35 weeks I was (still am) about ready to pop pop pop. But even through all of that I am happy to say this pregnancy has been leaps and bounds better than with Tessa.

Tessa is a firecracker. That girls keeps us on our toes. And by us, I mean me. Because Mitch travels...a lot. But it's easy to adore her too, she is seriously awesome. She turned two in April, so she'll be about 2 1/2 when baby arrives. She loves talking. Baseball. Fish. Dinosaurs. Swimming. Coloring. Her cousin Ella. And doing things her way. 

I am 2 weeks away from meeting our next baby and I have to record the name sitch. Pretty much from the beginning Mitch and I had decided we liked the name Emma. That was going to be her name. The only downside was how popular it is right now...we didn't want her to be "Emma V" in a class full of other Emma's. That's a bummer, but it was still my first choice. 

Thennnn... I had a dream. And my dream had our baby with a different name. Then I woke up and couldn't remember it. (!?!) I racked my brain for weeks trying to figure out what her name was! Then I had the dream AGAIN and must have said that name to myself 100+ times in my sleep so I wouldn't forget it. 

Her name is Eve.

That wasn't even an option we had ever considered. But I think it's perfect. We considered doing a variation of it as her full name and then just calling her Eve, but every variation is really popular right now too, and if we're just going to call her Eve, I might as well just name her Eve. And I just wish I could have a dream telling me her middle name so we could pick one already :) Middle names are so hard for us!

Anyway, I'm not nearly as anxious for this girl to come as I was for Tessa. From what I was told at my last appointment it's very possible she'll come early, but I am not hoping for that. Don't get me wrong, I really can't wait to NOT be pregnant again and to meet her, but I also can really just sleep through the night for a few more weeks and wait until she is good and ready :) 

If I was going to fit it into a nutshell, that's about all of it. I'll try to update once baby Eve makes her debut!

How I know Tessa is becoming a TODDLER

Even though some of these should make a mom go mad, I love every one. And so far I'm pretty fond of this stage. I love that she's her own little person with her own little personality. I love that she is sweet and playful. I love that she is sassy.  She really makes us laugh every day. At 14 months, these are some sure signs of her approaching toddlerhood...

• She goes limp when she doesn't want to be picked up

• Mitch and I have to read her every book she owns, everyday ("read" is "ee")

• She’s refusing to sign or say “please”

• I found all our canned goods in a box in her closet. Lately everything I can't find is in that box

• She tells me no. She says, “No, no, no” as she looks at me and touches the things she shouldn't. Then when I give her "the look" she comes over to give me a kiss or snuggle

• I caught her putting my iPod into the dryer

• Helping with the dishes is required. We aren't allowed to do the silverware without her

• She hands me clothes that go into the washer

• Getting her diaper changed is torture

• She unfolds all the clothes I fold

• She has to feed herself, or it all goes on the floor

• Outside is her heaven

• She makes the same babble at the end of every prayer, I think it’s supposed to be “Amen!”

• She rummages through my purse or the diaper bag to find snacks, then brings them to me and says “mm-mm-mm”

• She climbs on everything

A few more things about Tessa:

-She named her teddy bears "daddy." Seriously, she says, "Daddy!" when she picks them up and gives them a big hug. And calls their name when they're in the crib without her

-She has to hand us every bear and every blanket in her crib before we can pick her up

-Favorite song: Old McDonald. She sings "e-i-e-i-o"

-She's in the 10th and 20th percentiles for height,weight, and head

-Favorite bear: Purple one from Aunt Kirsten

-She loves to walk backwards and spin in circles

-Her favorite book is "Let's Dance, Little Pookie!" And she dances with us.

-Favorite blanket: Mitch's baby blanket
-She follows dad around everywhere when he's home
-She loooves swimming

-The other morning she found her shadow, she tried to feed it her bottle and talked to it for a good 5 minutes

Oh no...

While Tessa was napping this morning I went back and read all of her monthly posts since birth, and I got the itch. I frantically sent a text to Mitch

"Oh no."

"I just got the itch to have another baby."

"Oh no. Well lets treat it like any other itch and NOT scratch it right now and see if it gets worse or just goes away"

"Okay it's gone now."

"I need to start scrapbooking."

"Yeah, just stay busy. Scrapbooking sounds like a great idea."

Haha! I have been very adamant about not wanting another baby anytime soon. I even just signed up for maternity coverage that won't come into effect for another 10 months. "That won't be a problem." I said. But dang those posts, it just brought me back to when she was little tiny! I already miss those days. But what a great excuse to get Mitch on board with spending money on frivolous things such as scrapbooking supplies. 

I also realized how grateful I am that I've blogged this ENTIRE experience. And that I've kept up with it. Even if no one follows my links on facebook, or reads my posts, or leaves comments, it's such a great thing to have. If anyone is considering it, or becoming discouraged: DO IT! Life changes all the time. The words, even if I didn't write down the feelings, bring back so many more memories of that time. It's nice to read them, and it's also nice to have them for when I start things like....scrapbooking :)

Tennessee Love

When we were told we could be placed anywhere in the country, we were excited… and feeling pretty adventurous. When they told us the specific places that were the most likely, we were stoked. All of them sounded great. We hoped for some over others, but none of them seemed too crazy.

Then corporate plans changed and they said, "We know where you’re going! But we can’t tell you. And you get two offices. And you start in 3 weeks."

WHAAA?? 

Two offices is great. Starting in 3 weeks is great. But what do you mean you can't tell us? It has proven difficult to arrange big moves without knowing where you’re going. Not to mention the anxiety.

Finally, I got a phone call from Mitch at about 5 a.m. California time. And let’s just say that’s not my prettiest time of the day, especially since being away from Mitch totally traumatized our child in that she NEVER slept. Naps or otherwise. So that early was generally a rough time of the day for us. In short, I was out of it. 

Mitch said “Are you ready to hear where we’re going?!” 

In my head thinking Why would you taunt me with such a pointless question? but I really said “Yes!” 

“Are you sure?”

 Thinking: ARE YOU SERIOUS? 

“YES” 

“Okay…we will be living in….Nashville, Tennessee!”

 “…”

 “Well, are you excited?!”

 “That’s…weird.”

 “Alright well call me when you wake up”

I could tell he was slightly disappointed with my reaction. But I didn't really care, it was 5 a.m. And I was going to be living in the South.

Not that I had anything specific against the South, it was more that it was definitely not one of the nationwide options floating around in my head.

 Nashville just wasn't on the list. 

When I woke up, I thought about it for a while. I thought about how excited Mitch seemed to be, and how undesirable my response probably was. And then I started to think about all the things I thought I knew or heard about Nashville. 

Then I started to get a little excited

I knew people there had accents. Maybe Tessa could grow up with a little tiny southern accent?! So cute

I knew it was pretty famous for its country music, and I like county. Some of it anyway…

 I didn't know anything about the weather. 

I really didn't know anything about…anything.

I also remembered that whole time we were waiting to hear where we would be living, Mitch and I prayed all the time thanking our Heavenly Father for the job opportunity and telling him we knew where we would be placed is where He needed us. Where we, ourselves, could grow. And where we could try to bless other people’s lives.

 It is obvious to me that Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves, knows where we will flourish and be happy, and knows who we will come in contact with. I love considering all the ways in which my life has weaved itself so that I was able to know certain people at exactly the perfect time. That I was in exact places that I needed to be, participated in events and had conversations with specific people that changed my life. 

That is not an accident.

In light of all of this, I prayed, thanking Him that we knew where we were going, and that it was in Nashville, Tennessee. I told Him I knew we are going there for a reason, and I prayed that we would fulfill whatever it was that brought us there.

Then I called Mitch and we had a very different conversation. Neither of us knew much about Tennessee. And as we talked to others about our new adventure we heard a lot of 

“The people are nice.” And, “The food is good.” 

SOLD!

Flash-forward to today. We've been here for about 8 weeks. 

And we LOVE it. 

Maybe the next word above love, whatever that word would be. 

• We LOVE the people (I think that’s #1) 
• We love our ward 
• We love the weather (so far). We have been warned about the intense summers and winters, the humidity (coming from Utah..uh yeah!) and allergy season, but we have experienced none of those yet
• We love the food. Mitch loves it more
• We love all the things to do
• We love our apartment and its location 
• We love how green it is 
• We love all the things that make it different from California and Utah 

On the first day of work, Mitch said he had been invited to church 5 times. A regular conversation starter is “What church do you belong to?” What a shock when you came from California and people avoided acknowledging a higher power like it was a plague. And in Utah where you either were a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or you very much weren't but either way you didn't talk about it. We have been warned to be prepared for when someone will slam you for saying you’re Mormon, because it will happen. We haven’t had that experience yet. 

• Everyone is nice
• I have noticed people love babies. Tessa is a big hit wherever we go 
• The bugs are HUGE (that’s not a love, it’s just a difference) 
• Tornado warnings are something I've never experienced, and I say it’s scary but I also think it is super exciting! I secretly love turning on the weather channel to check for tornado warnings. Is that weird? Maybe it’s only exciting now because my county hasn't been singled out by one yet.

And when I say we love our ward, this is my favorite ward I've ever been in. Ever. On the first Sunday we were swarmed with people curious about our family and introducing themselves. I really was having about 6 conversations at the same time at any given time. We were invited to a members home for dinner that same night. Tessa has regular play dates with other kids in our ward and I’m making friends.

I can tell that grandparents are missing Tessa, and that Tessa is REALLY missing her cousin Ella, but of all the great things about being out here, it just feels right. We know this is one of those things where we are exactly where we are supposed to be. I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, and to be honest, I’m not that worried about it. I could see us here for a while. But if we’re not, I know we’ll be off to another place God has planned for us.