Wrapping up the year 2012!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! Just wanted to update you all on what's going on here :)

Lyndsey: Well, It's been official since July but no more childcare job for me! Photography is my new passion and allows me to stay home with my kiddos as well as enjoy using my artistic side to help people have great photos at a great price. If you are interested, please check out my page on facebook (Melrose Photography). Today I reached 300 likes (in 5 months!!) so I am hosting a free shoot giveaway. I am really grateful to have a thriving business in today's economy. I really love what I do!! (And I make more than I ever did in childcare- BONUS!)

Dustin: It's been a bit of a tough few months for my honey. He lost one of his best friends, his grandma, a couple of months ago, and at the same time lost his parents to their mission in the Congo. He is a great man and is so sweet with our girls. He's been so strong through all of this. Love you honey.

Melody:  Our sweet Melody was diagnosed with severe classic autism in August. I am now doing a blog for her, "Hope for Melody" http://www.hopeformelody.blogspot.com if you'd like to follow her progress. Her birthday was in October and she started preschool about a month before that! She is a little teacher's pet (though it was a rough start) and absolutely LOVES school and her teachers! We are so lucky!! She loves Elmo still and loves pretty things :) The other day we bought her new purple shoes and she insisted on sleeping in them Hahahah. 100% girl! Favorite foods are toast, yogurt, bananas, and rice.

Brooklyn: Brookie will be 10 months old on December 4th and this little lady is really growing up too fast! She is walking now, though still usually crawls since she is SSOOO fast at it (haha). She says "Dada, Hi dad, I did it, Mum, and Baba". She has been bringing out more speech in Melody which is SO amazing. She also taught Melody to climb up the slide (lol!!) She is such a little spitfire and has the sweetest smile. She always is sticking her little tongue out like her daddy did at that age. It's really funny and cute. Her favorite foods are eggs, bread, bananas, baby food in the squeezy tubes, and chewing on anything and everything in sight! Still no teeth and just enough hair to put in to a tiny pony on top :) Just like her sister in that way but her hair is darker than Melody's.

Our Family We spent Thanksgiving with the Wright family siblings in Idaho Falls- so fun! We are just enjoying life and taking it a day at a time :)

Lately in the Wright home...

I just posted my birth story of Brooklyn but I wanted to do a family update as well! We've had quite a bit transpire lately.

First off, Brooklyn is 4 months old and is such a little rockstar. She has surprised us with her quick development and knack for learning. She's very alert and always has to be sitting up- and has been that way from birth. She loves to watch her sister, Melody, and is always trying to snatch her toys away from her :). They will be pulling each other's hair out in no time.

Melody is doing well- she is having weekly therapy and it's hit and miss but I can see progress. She will be attending special education preschool in the fall and we couldn't be more excited. I believe it will be great for her. She has a love/hate relationship with her sister but is overall very sweet and loving and patient to her. She will give her random kisses and often goes over and pets her head. It's very cute :) She is still not speaking but can say a few words with prompt (Mama, wawa, open, hi, Elmo). She can definitely hear better now which is great. She loves to sing and it's quite comical to hear her.

Dustin and I are doing well- I have just started my photography business and it's been amazing how well it's going!! I've been booking 3 months in advance and I just started a month ago. Awesome. I have a new boss at work so it's been an adjustment, but it's getting better each day.

Look for more from us soon and hopefully pictures!!

Welcome Brooklyn!

I am finally getting around to this (4 months later), but on February 4th we welcomed Brooklyn Sandra Wright in to the world! This is my birth story that I put on facebook, plus below I have some more comments about that day and the following days! :)

Friday morning I woke up extremely crampy and with a lot of back pain. I was 3 days past my due date and so this was a positive sign for me that something might be picking up! At around 2 pm I headed to my sisters house and noticed light, but regular contractions. They were starting at 10 minutes apart and were not painful. I had been having contractions like this for almost a month but these just seemed different to me and I told her I was almost sure I was in labor! But they were not bad at this point. By the time Dustin got off work and came over around 4, they had moved to 4 minutes apart but were still not painful to me, just becoming more consistent. I told him I was sure this time! He was very excited and became quite OCD about timing them which we did- though someone had told me that isn't the greatest idea because you could still be timing them for a long time!! But he really was excited so we did and it ended up being a good thing. We headed out to a late lunch and came home to get things ready. After my birth experience with Melody I knew that I wanted to have a natural birth this time with no interventions or medication. I had studied and practiced some techniques and felt very confident that l would do this! Part of my plan was to labor at home as long as possible. I didn't really know when this would be and just figured I would go by how I was feeling. I wanted to eat and move at will which the hospital isn't the best place for. So when we were at home I was packing for Melody and getting everything ready. My mom came and picked up Melody for the night and we headed to the store to get some snacks and some new clothes for Brooklyn. In the store the contractions were every 3 minutes and still very manageable but getting more difficult. We would walk, and I'd say "stop" and lean against the cart until the contraction was over and we would keep going. We got some food for dinner and rented a movie and headed home. At home we had dinner and at this point they were 2 minutes apart. We were watching a funny movie and between contractions I could still laugh and enjoy some pizza. I called my mom and mother in law for advice because my labor was getting much closer together but I didn't feel like I was dying or even in much pain at all. They both said it was probably okay to continue to stay home. At this point (about 8 pm) the intensity of the contractions was picking up and so I went in to a bath that I filled with some lavender oil and soaked. As the tub filled up, Dustin and I sang some songs and I sang through some of the roughed contractions. I got in the bath and was able to relax, which for me kicked labor up another notch and when the bath was over and Dustin had jumped into the shower, things changed quickly and the intensity of these contractions made me a bit nervous as pushing was already on the brink of my thoughts. I grabbed him out of the shower and said, "Hurry!!" I knew it was time now. He ran around like a crazy man and we packed the car and took off. The drive there was not fun at all. It was becoming increasingly hard to focus between contractions and they were a minute and a half to two minutes apart now. When we arrived I was wheeled to l and d because it was after hours and I realized that this delivery was going to go fast. I got to triage and they hooked me up to the monitor. My contractions were 1.5-2 minutes apart and hitting the very top of the chart. I was 5 cm and 90% effaced. I was expecting less so that was exciting but what I didn't expect was what would happen next. It was about 11 that they checked me at 5 and 11:30 when I got to my room. They had to monitor me because the baby's heartrate was dropping when I first got to triage but with some IV fluids it picked back up. During my contractions on the bed I was really hurting and felt I needed to push. She seemed doubtful but checked me. I was at 6 and 100% at 11:40. Ten minutes later I was at a 7. I was telling her that pushing felt like a relief at this time, and she urged me to not push as I was nowhere near complete. They finally allowed me into the tub and everyone left me alone, where I relaxed so much from the wonderful water that I knew I didn't want to get out. With each contraction I bore down as it felt a huge relief for me. I told Dustin the baby was coming soon but I wanted to spend more time in the tub. I asked him not to tell the nurse because I wanted a few more minutes. He disobeyed, seeing that I was beginning to push almost without effort. She ran in to check me and all hell broke loose as my contractions came back to back and I pushed so hard my water broke in the tub. I started screaming as my body pushed over and over without stopping. The nurse realized this and rang the emergency bell and suddenly I am surrounded by nurses yelling at me to get out of the tub because they were not equipped for me to give birth there and the doctor wasn't there. I yelled "no!" and that she was coming. My lead nurse shut the tub off and drained the water so I was able to stand up. I felt spasms in my back and pressure and so as I leaned against the doorway of the bathroom I asked the nurses to please not make me lay on my back to push her because it was so painful. One of the nurses (possibly out of desperation) told me I could give birth however I wanted- just get in the bed! I somehow crawled on the bed (my body was pushing on it's own the whole time) on my hands and knees. There were 3 doctors and 8 nurses surrounded me. The lead doctor told the nurses to get me on my back stating that he "didn't catch babies like this"- unfortunately for him as said that I bore down and pushed her out all at once. I was in my own world at that point and so focused I never heard him or anyone else ask me to flip over!! But out she came quick enough that he barely caught her and she slipped out of his hands on to the bed. As soon as she came out I felt the greatest relief, such an amazing high. I heard her cry but being on my hands and knees I did not see her. They cut her cord and I turned on my back and held her to my chest. She barely cried at all and was very calm and snuggled right in to me. I was so happy and elated and now very much myself again! I was so grateful to have her safe and sound, I was cracking jokes and smiling right away and all my pain was gone. My iv had fallen our during the insanity so i had to be given a shot in my leg to stop the bleeding and did have some stitches but I barely noticed those things since my little girl was in my arms the whole time. I even got to feed her while they stitched me up. The nurses said my birth was the closest they've seen anyone almost give birth in the tub. But ladies if you want a natural birth I do highly recommend it!! It was so intense but so empowering for me. It definitely gave me an amazing new level of respect for my body- that it knew what to do and that it was capable of all of that! The end :)

So our birth went very well and I am very grateful for that! But unfortunately, things took a down turn. The second night we were in the hospital, I let the nursery have her for a few hours-- I always seem to go in saying I don't want to use it but I usually give in the second night. The first day I was up for 37 hours and then went to sleep for about 4 broken hours. When I sent her to the nursery, she aspirated on spit up, turned blue, stopped breathing, and her heart rate dropped scary low. So while I was sleeping she was rushed to the NICU. They woke me and I went down right away. They were concerned about her apnea episode and wanted to check all the bases. They had suspicions that she may have an infection. They also noted that she was jaundice and so they put her on the bilirubin lights.

Honestly, the next 4 days were hell for me. I don't know how people do that with much sicker babies. Every 3 hours and usually less I came down and breastfed Brooklyn in the NICU for about an hour, went upstairs only to be called to come down again. On the third day of no sleep (I think I got maybe an hour in 3 days), I became delirious in my hospital room and called my husband. While I was on the phone with him I walked to the bathroom and collapsed out of exhaustion. I don't remember much but that he said he was coming over. I remember being on the floor felt good and I didn't want to get up. A few minutes later my nurse tried to come in and realized I have fallen almost in front of the door. They brought several nurses in and got me back in my bed. A short while later my husband was there and he was my saving grace. Thanks to him I was able to finally sleep for a few hours thanks to his calming presence. We were blessed that Brooklyn was always a great eater and never needed supplmentation like I did with Melody. I had a lot of sadness about not being able to fully breastfeed Melody and I was able to right away with Brooklyn. She was a little fighter in the NICU and kept beating all the odds. She hadn't been peeing and they were going to have to catheterize her and so during our feeding I whispered to her to please pee for mommy and the next time I went to feed her they reported that she peed so much that she went through her diaper! Woo hoo!

By the last 2 days she was eating so well that they could take her off the IV and no longer had to test her blood sugar so much (by poking her I might add). Poor baby really didn't enjoy her stay in the NICU and on our rooming in night she was up all night needing comfort. 

Finally we were able to go home. Brooklyn is 4 months old now and she is a joy. She is a very happy and emotional baby. She is a little higher needs than Melody was at her age, but we love her to pieces. She is reaching all of her milestones very quickly. She can currently roll over both ways, get in to the crawling position, grab things and bring them to her mouth, and says "baba, mama and dada". With everything we've been through with Melody it's something I'm not used to! She is still on breastmilk though she no longer likes to nurse (as of a month ago) so mommy is pumping like a madwoman to keep up. It's going well :)

Anyway, there's Brooklyn's birth and life in a nutshell right now! I love my girls :)

No baby...yet!

Our due date has come and gone! I had actually predicted to Dustin that I would have the baby February 2nd so it could still happen, the day is young, but until she decides to make her debut I am going to get some stuff done I think! I woke up with some energy which is hopefully nesting for me, but I am not going to get my hopes up! Luckily I did some of the heavy cleaning a few weeks ago but there are definitely a few things that still need to get done.

So... Today's plan...

• Do all the laundry- including bedding
• Organize each room- namely the bedrooms, the other rooms are fine
• Clean out the fridge- I think there are a few things that need throwing away in there
• Meeting with the nutritionist today and coming up with some meal ideas that are quick and easy for when the baby's here
• Tidy up the van and maybe install the carseat.
• Do a quick deep clean of the bathrooms
• Bathe Melody
• Mop the kitchen

Alright, so that is the plan! I haven't been super motivated to clean this week, as I haven't been sleeping very well, but today is a different story. I am super crossing my fingers for a baby sometime this weekend. We are eating away into my maternity leave and the thought of less than 4 weeks with Baby B is terrifying right now. Plus on Monday I have an appointment where they test her fluid levels, non-stress test, and ultrasound and I really don't want there to be any cause to worry- so baby girl, if you want to come out before I will give you a treat or something :)

I had packed some preemie clothes in the hospital bag for Miss B but now that we are full term and moving forward I am thinking they may or may not fit her. I will leave them just in case though, maybe just take a few more newborn sizes.

I CAN'T WAIT!! And I am not very good at being patient but I am trying!! :)

Baby #2 to be here soon!

>>Warning: text heavy with no pictures- I will post some soon promise :)<<

So I thought it would be a good time to write an update on our lives. Melody is down for a nap right now and in my nesting fury I've gotten the majority of everything done and really just awaiting Brooklyn's arrival now.

It has been crazy crazy in the Wright home. Christmas and Thanksgiving were low key, spent with family. This was a blessing, since the end of December brought us news that our baby girl Melody is hard of hearing. Hearing tests revealed moderate hearing loss, and a lot of built of fluid. Our first plan of action was to remove the fluid via placing ear tubes for her and also remove her adenoids. So in January we had that surgery completed and it was rough for poor baby girl. She was traumatized for a couple of days and didn't seem to understand who to trust. She fought off the nurses and doctor who put her under for the surgery and kicked one square in the face :-O. But it has been a week and a half since the surgery and I am finally beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel- she is sleeping better now and seems to generally be FEELING better which is so important. I have noticed an immediate change in her balance and gradual changes in her hearing. She has been a bit more vocal in the last week, but we will not test her hearing again for another couple of weeks. Today she was upset that I was teasing her and I told her "Say no mama!" and she surprised me by saying, "No mama!" :) I don't know if it was a coincidence as it sometimes is for her but it got me to chuckle quite a bit.

As far as little Miss Brooklyn, my pregnancy has been worlds different from my pregnancy with Melody. With Melody I gained no weight and with this one...yeah. Granted I had no appetite with Melody and with this one I gain 5 lbs looking at pinterest but that's another story. I have had many contractions with this one, but as my cervix of steel has been quite apparent I have not gone into labor quite yet. At 32 weeks this baby measured around 4 lbs, which is about what Melody weighed at her birth at 37 weeks. In my last trimester I have measured ahead so we are expecting a larger child this time, though who can say for sure? I have been much more uncomfortable and generally looking and feeling like a big ox. I am certainly grateful though that this baby is low risk unlike Melody. I have only been to L&D once with this one, thinking maybe my water was leaking. (Nope. No more story there. Haha..)

Also with Melody we had plans for me to be a stay at home mom when she was born. Financially that didn't work out and so when Mel was 10 weeks old I started my current job (part time) and have been there since. I get 6 weeks of maternity leave and so I had to decide if I would work up until or start at a certain time. I really weighed this out in my mind because I knew if I were to go overdue or anything and take time off earlier it would cut in to the time I had with my little Brooklyn, but in light of the surgery and all that which has recently happened I decided I would start my leave at 39 weeks and have a little break before having 2 little girls- the oldest is still very much a baby in many ways. As I am ending my first week of leave I wonder if I made the right choice but I just have to be confident that everything will be okay. Whether or not I have the baby before her due date, my contractions are always at night around 5 pmish and that's when I would be at work so for that reason I am glad I decided to wait.

(*Warning: next paragraph talks about birth, skip if you don't want to hear details)

My hope for this birth is to have a very different experience from my experience with Melody. I don't have regrets because Melody is healthy and was fine at birth but I felt like I missed out on the kind of birth I wanted to experience. With Melody I was induced early for IUGR (looking back, I am not sure this was the best choice but I won't go into that) at 37 weeks. With this one, I told the dr straight up, "No pitocin for me this time!! I don't want to be induced. I am okay if I go over...by the way, how many weeks will you let me go over before you have to induce me?" (Answer: 42, most women don't make it that far though). I honestly hated my pitocin induction. I knew going in to the whole thing that my body wasn't ready, so even though the blessed staff at St. Lukes let me try Cervadil and walking, nothing but pitocin was going to do the trick for me and even with pitocin my body fought and fought (highest drip for 19 hours) it took 15 hours for me to even move past a 1 and that was possibly because they knocked me out with my epidural. I had secretly been hoping to go without the epidural and the odds were stacked against me last time. Like I said, I don't regret my choice. In honesty the epidural probably allowed me to have a vaginal birth last time. I don't know if I would have progressed without being able to completely let go of the tension I had at the time without it. However I vowed that if I were low risk this time, I would not get induced. So here I wait at 39 weeks for little Brooklyn to arrive. Each day I am anxiously awaiting some signs but I really have no idea to what to look for either. I think I will know though when it happens :)

Dustin and I will be starting a blog as soon as this baby is born related to our combined journey to lose weight this year! Let's just say we have a great support team this time and some professionals to help and I am VERY excited to let you all in on our journey!! :) We are making it a number one priority for our lives and though we are making some sacrifices I know it will be worth it!

More to come soon...hopefully the birth story of Brooklyn Sandra Wright!!

Dad Posting

So I thought that is was about time I (Dustin) did a post on this blog. It has been a while since I had even checked it myself, and come to find out Lyndsey has been posting. I was happy to find that out, but at the same time saddened that we haven't done more posts this year.

We have had an exciting year this year. At the beginning of 2011 I decided to take on a second job to help supplement our income a little. This was only a temporary thing as we needed to pay off some things so we could feel more financially comfortable. I had only planned on taking a part time job so as not to overload myself, but turns out thejob I got required around 68 hrs a week on average. That was in addition to the normal 40 hours I was working with my normal job. : ( My schedule was Monday Tuesday and Wednesday I would work Summit (My normal job) from 5:30am-2:30pm. Then on Wednesday night at 5pm I would go to work at my second job (Working with adults with developmental disabilities) from 5:00pm-9:00am the next morning. Then I would go straight from work to my Summit job and work from 9:15am-4:50pm and head straight back to my other job to work 5pm-9am. This continued on into the weekend and I would then work the weekend until Sunday morning when I could go home @ 9am. As you can probably imagine this limited my time away from my Family and caused stress.

I would usually get to spend Sunday day with my Family then start work again Monday morning. I only had Monday night and Tuesday night to spend the evenings with them and accomplish what we needed to before having to work again on Wednesday and not see my Family again until Sunday morning. whew!!!

October of this year came around and Lyndsey and I decided that it was a good time to drop the second job and be able to spend more time with the Family. We were able to pay off what we needed to and felt comfortable with our decision to go back to our ordinary lives! : ) October 20th is my last day at job #2 and we couldn't be any more excited than we are. It was a very large sacrifice that we had to make, but it was worth it to us in the end. I am so thankful for such a wonderful wife who worked so hard during these past 9 months (while working a part time job I might add) to make sure that our little Melody was cared for and healthy during my time away. I know that it was hard for her to feel like a single mother, but she did an amazing job and I am so grateful to her for that.

Fall is Lyndsey and I's favorite time of year and we have been enjoying the cooler weather and beautiful changing colors that occur during these months. Melody has her costume all picked out for Halloween and Lyndsey and I have yet to decide. Dressing up for Halloween is something that we both also love. There have been many Halloweens that we have spent over a $100 just on our costumes. : ) This year we vowed to make our dressing up a little less costly, but just as much fun.

We are planning a little trip come this November to visit my sister Kassie and her Family in Idaho Falls and then drive down to Utah to visit my sister Jenny and her family. While we are in Utah we plan to get new Family pictures taken from the same Family friend Whitney Robertson that we did last year. She was so much fun to work with and she does such a nice job we thought it would be worth taking a trip to visit my sister and get pictures done by her again. We are excited for this little trip as it will be our first Family vacation this year. I am going to post just a couple pictures...they do not represent anything in particular, they are just going to be some fun pictures to look at. Thanks to all those who follow our blogs, we love and appreciate you.

ANNOUNCING...

So I am not even sure if we announced we are pregnant on here, lol! The time has gone by so quickly. We are definitely pregnant though, and we are having another little girl!!!!!!!

I found out I was pregnant early this time, as I had this gut feeling. We bought dollar store tests but we were way before the missed period so we didn't expect much. I tested early anyway because I get really anxious and impatient! I saw a very faint line but wasn't sure if it was legit so we went out and purchased First Response and later that evening after our little Melody was asleep took the test. Dustin was out in the backyard talking to the neighbor (which I didn't know) when the line came up and ran out screaming, "You're going to be a daddy again!!!" It was a little awkward haha but Dustin ran promptly in and inspected and sure enough we celebrated! We told family and friends right away. We took Melody to a family BBQ which a 'Big Sister' shirt and the rest we told over the phone!! :-D

This pregnancy has been MUCH different than Melody's. From the getgo I was so very tired. I wasn't used to that as I usually have enough energy throughout the day, but I was just pooped!! When Melody would wake up in the mornings, we'd eat bananas and saltines in bed and watch cartoons until I could get up and function. I was sick until around 15 weeks this time but I managed to do all but a week without my beloved Zolfran. I tried, but in the end it got to me! Luckily I only needed it a week! Unlike Melody on most days it wasn't all day sickness but when it came on it came on stronger and I did a lot more forceful puking. (And simultaneous peeing- tmi but this is reality people).

Melody was small and had a 2 vessel cord. This baby shares neither trait. I have also felt movement this time much earlier, beginning at 16 weeks and let me tell you, she is a mover!! :) We decided to cheat and go to Fetal Fotos to find out the gender.

But I have felt for a while that this baby was a girl. I was once again resolved to believe that with 13 nephews, Melody being a girl was a fluke and for sure this one would be a boy! But we had to have 2 ultrasounds, one at 11 weeks and then an NT scan and ultrasound at 12. Well at 11 weeks it appeared that there was a little something there but by 12 weeks it had vanished. It was at that appointment that I became convinced it was a girl :) Dustin knew deep down too I think but he played the devil's advocate and guessed boy!

I have to say that Melody having the chance to have a sister is such a blessing for me. I was really hoping I could at least have one more girl, as my sister was very important to me growing up and i loved having a little sister. I was definitely thrilled when we had our ultrasound today and our little lady showed the goods!

I have been saying I was done at 2 but I think we might give it one more go. It's hard to imagine this being our last now!

I feel like this pregnancy is so surreal sometimes but it is all setting in now! I am going to be a mom to 2 beautiful little girls who no doubt will probably be polar opposites- but I am so happy! So happy to be the mother of the bride twice, to get 2 girls ready for prom, to see my girls doing each other's hair and playing dress up together, and dressing them in matching Sunday dresses! Haha :) I can't wait to pretend this one has hair like I did with Melody and completely go all out on the bows again! Yes, double trouble :)

We are so thrilled to be parents again and feel so blessed. We love our daughters so much and can't wait to meet our little sweetie!!

-Dustin, Lyndsey, Melody, and little girl #2 :)

Update- sorry it's been such a long while!

Alright, so I figured I needed to do some updates so here we go. No pictures this time, but I promise I will get them going soon.

First off, Dustin recently took on a second full-time job and has been gone more often then not, but he is such a strong and wonderful man to take care of our family the way he does and we are so proud. He works with adults who have disabilities, and cares for them in their homes allowing them to have independent lives. He works so well with them and I couldn't be more proud. It has taken some sacrifices but we are just grateful for the blessings it has provided.

I am still working at Wings and have been here for a year now and am loving it!! Next year, Melody will be able to come with me to work and enjoy the benefits of socializing and also getting an hour of play at Planet Kid a day! It's an amazing job and I am super lucky.

Speaking of Melody, she has now started to walk and we are so excited to see her take off! She is in developmental therapy and is thriving. She says the following words now:

Hi

Mama

Dada

Ace (Nana and Papa's dog)

This

That

Hat

Yay

Hi Dad

Ouch

Baba

That is pretty awesome considering that just a month and a half ago she was not saying a single word- pretty cool!

She smacks her lips when she wants something- anything- and loves to clap at anyone willing to say 'Yay!' She is an amazing sleeper and clocks in 11-12 hours a night plus a 2-3 hour nap. In a few short months she got a full set of teeth and has enjoyed testing the new set on mom and dad (never been out of anger- she thinks it's funny but still bad) and twice it's happened when another child stuck their finger in her mouth. (Yikes!) She is in nursery now and loving it. She does really well considering she is a bit behind the other kids, and gets along really well with the only other girl in her class, a 22 month old little girl. Her hair is coming in now, and I am having to regularly trim the back until it all grows in fully (I don't want it to grow in to a mullet) and the top I'm able to put in to pigtails and other cute styles.

I got a calling in church as the librarian and I am actually pretty excited about it. It came in the nick of time since Melody can go to nursery now!

We are doing super well and are happy and overall healthy. If you are reading this, I appreciate you still checking our blog :)

Smiles,

Lynds

Randomness :)

These are some random pics of Melody, without a real reason for some, just a few cute ones :) Have a great day! Most are her playing at Planet Kid where I work :)

I have to explain the one above. Melody has gotten her top teeth in (as Dustin lovingly calls them, rat teeth) and has been chewing on the furniture like some type of animal...HAHAHA :)

She loves to sneak in to the office and try and play the child sized acoustic guitar :)

Chocolate Costco muffin :)

She started cruising the furniture!! :)

No Hair, No Cares

So I have been wanting to do this for a while but I decided it was high time to do a bit of a hair blog. I work at a day care and one of my major pet peeves is to see little girls whose moms are fixed up to the T and their daughters come in looking like they havent had a bath or a comb through in days. This to me is sad. My mom always did my hair when I was little and though sometimes I fought her I was always happy to look 'cute' and she made it so that we enjoyed having our hair done. So when I found out I was having a girl, I vowed then and there to make sure she always looked girly and as though her mom took care of her. I don't really buy it when people say they can't do their kids hair for this reason or that. You can at least comb it out or curl it, you don't have to put it in a ponytail if they won't keep it in. Sure we all have our days where we don't have much time but I've made it a goal to always make the time, because I think it's important.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to post some things I have done with Melody's notoriously thin, barely there blonde baby hair to show you that it can be done!

The Karo Bow

When Melody was born she had a surprising (well to me, I was bald at birth) amount of baby fine white hair. It was literally platinum blonde. It was so cute but as a newborn you dont want to try anything, that would be a sin. Plus it all fell out in her first month of life. So for a long time we did the 'Karo bow'. It's simple. Get some ribbon, make a bow the size you like, and secure it on the head (middle, either side, near the front) with a dab of Karo syrup. We had a very small tupperware which we used and also a q-tip to apply. You don't want too much. Luckily this stuff is water-soluable so when you want it removed you just wash it out. It doesn't take much water.

Variations:

Karo bow with a fawk.

This works perfect for babies with a little peach fuzz on top. Same as Karo but use styling gel or even water and gently bring the centers together.

Karo with side slick

Same as karo bow, but this time put the bow to one side of the head and with gel, slick all the hair on the top of the head toward the side of the bow. Looks really cute and put together.

HEADBANDS

To me headbands are also another cute way to girlify your baby. The tricky part is if they can pull it off, which becomes a safety issue. At that point, just stick to the karo bow.

There are several types of headbands we used..

Pantyhose headbands- these are made of a pantyhose material and either come with a bow on (my sis in law Jenny made this one and a few others for me) They are stretchy but only to a certain point. If they leave any indent it's time to get rid of it.

Crocheted headbands- Probably the best for versatility and comfort. Easiest for them to pull it off, but you can't beat them for the other reasons. I got like 30 different colors off of ebay. Truth though, I haven't used them all. You can get really creative though. I made this attached clip for the dress she wore. That's easy too, message me if you are curious :)

These elastic ones appeared after I had Melody and I discovered them after she grew out of headbands. But I think they are adorable and very chic. You can get them on etsy. They come with flowers already on them. I imagine they'd be easy to make too. If I have another girl I will look in to this, or when Melody is old enough to not want to rip her headband out.

These premade ones work only on SMALL heads. I think Melody was maybe 4 months old in this picture. You don't want to put it on a bigger head because it cuts off circulation. They are not very versatile either because they come, for the most part, in pastels.

This beaded headband I got at Fred Meyer in a pack. They are super comfy and you can slide an alligator clip in to it so it makes it versatile. I could almost always match her outfits.

So those are really the options for NO hair at all besides, obviously, hats if you like them. But it will start growing, and soon! Once it does you can graduate to Level 2 hairstyles. I was lucky in that Melody grew hair in the center top. If you baby grows only on the sides, you can adjust (do a pony in the back and karo on the top perhaps?) or cut it until it grows out evenly.

LEVEL 2

Clip with Slicked Down Hair

This is good for if they have some on the top. It doesnt take a lot of hair to go in to an alligator clip and it does stick pretty well. Grease down the hair on top in to point then slick it down and stick the clip in.
The Sprout

One of my favorites but it will take practice to do it quickly, and pain-free. You will need little elastics (Walmart has good ones). You gather the hair first, position your hand on the top of the head and KEEP your hand there to steady the rubber band. Like I said it takes some tries but soon it's second nature. You can do the sprout alone or attach a clip (alligator) to the hair directly in front of the ponytail that's been pulled taut. It stays better this way. You can attach it to the sprout if it's full enough (doesnt take a lot of hair to be full enough)
Piggytail sprouts!

Make one sprout and divide in half. If you can, use hair from either side of the head secure the ponies as far from each other as you can. Add bows! :)
For whatever hair style you hair, gelling the back is cute too if your baby has hair or curls back there. Melody's hair is a funky texture and doesnt always stay curled.
Single sprout without added clip
Ponytails with flower clips and bangs slicked down
One more of ponytails.

I will let you all know when we reach level 3. She is getting more and more hair every day. Hopefully this gave some good tips!

Long time, no blog!

Hey everyone, I am sorry I haven't blogged in so long. I want to get back in to it. This is one of our family pictures that we were able to do in our photoshoot in Utah! We had a wonderful tim, and the pictures turned out great!

Melody is now one year old and doing so great! She is crawling (army crawling) now and starting to pull up on things. She does well on her feet but since she has been slower in her physical development I think it will be a while before she walks. She has been 3-5 months behind on both large and small motor skills. We have been told she will catch up fine though so that is encouraging. She also just learned to feed herself which was so nice!!

As far as mental/emotional development she is right on track. She waves bye bye, claps, and mimmicks certain things we do. She can say mama, dada, baba, yay, boobah (the name of her lovey), 'inky' for binky, and does kissing sounds. She also SINGS! Yes, it is too cute and must be seen to be understand. I say "Melody can you sing?" and she begins to, well, sing. I am trying to get a video of it but so far she is elusive. She is a joy to have around and though she has been sick as of late and teething (the two top are coming in) she never ceases to make us smile!

I am on Dustin's laptop but I will get pictures up soon, especially when we do Christmas. I have gotten it all ready and we are excited because she knows how to tear the wrapping paper off the gifts now so at the very least she'll love that part!

I got her a new fischer price dragon toy that encourages walking. I am excited to see her use it!!

Happy Holidays to everyone! Will post more soon!

Father's Day and Nana's Camp

So this is going to be a very pic-heavy post, but the last couple of weeks we had Father's Day and we just got back from a weekend at "Nana's Camp" where Dustin's mom has all the grandkids come stay at the cabin for week of fun, crafts, games, etc. We were only able to stay a day and a half because of work schedules but we had a great time!

Father's Day was fun for Melody and I. Daddy got some much-needed presents. New undies, shirts, and socks! I know, not the coolest gifts but like I said much needed!!! He also got a few treats :)

Here is Melody with daddy's gifts! She liked to help him open them. I am excited to see how she opens the gifts on her first birthay...it's only 4 months away :-S My baby is growing up too fast!

Daddy opening his first gift!

Then, as said before, we had Nana's Camp this past weekend. It's annual so we are excited for Melody to go next year when she can be a little more involved. Some of the activities while we were there were tug of war, which was so funny to watch. Of the 13 grandkids, 11 are boys and they all had fun trying to win!

Everyone tie dyed shirts (well, the kids) and parents did the tie dying for the kids who were too young. They turned out really cute!

There was a water fight which was very funny to watch and all the kids were drenched by the end!

Then, on Sunday, we had a little 'cabin church' meeting and sang some patriotic songs. Melody waved her flag while we sang the star spangled banner! I wanted to upload the video but it was too long!

It was so nice to enjoy the beauty of the cabin on the 4th. I hate to post pictures of me because I was under the weather and looked and felt crappy but it's for memories sake :) Melody was so cute waving her little flag around!

Melody was able to see and play with some of her cousins that we haven't seen in a while! She is closest in age to Greyson, and they sat and batted at each other's faces a lot haha :) Greyson would probably have been more interested if she could crawl around and play but she just sat there smiling or staring at him :)

Landon was so cute with her. He kept saying "Hi baby!" in his cute little voice and trying to give her his toys. All her cousins are so cute with her!

All smiles after eating some mango and pears

She loved the mirror in the bathroom!

I love those chubby cheeks :)

The weekend held a few firsts!

First time feeding herself with the bottle!

First sink bath---she loved it

First time getting and staying in the crawling position

This wasn't a first but I thought it was hillarious. This is the dreaded "captain's chair" position but her little thighs are so strong she sat in this position for a few minutes! It was so funny!

Family pictures with Nana! She's wearing the tie dye shirt she made!

I love this one! Melody and Nana

An upclose picture of Nana with the kids. Melody kept grabbing at Carley's hair

Nana's Camp 2010: Success!

All the grandkids!!

On the way home, there was an accident in the mountains. They had life flight and everything so we ended up waiting an hour on the road, but Melody had some good quality play time with mom and dad!

It was a great weekend!!