President's Day Weekend

My sister said she wanted a blog post to read and I said nothing exciting enough happens to blog about. But I remembered a few weeks ago my family came into town for a winter getaway over the short President's Day weekend. It's nice having great weather to entice people to come visit! It was a short visit, but still great having my parents and siblings stop by.

When everyone first got here, there were 8 of them, and walked in and started saying, "Ellie!" she was so scared! Ha, that's probably one of the few times she ever gets scared. But I took her to her room with just my parents at first and she warmed up to them. Then my brothers took turns, and then she was just fine!

 My mom LOVES her grand babies.

 

And so does my dad. Ellie was a bit tired when we took these pictures, that's why she's the way she is in these.

 And Ellie and her cousin Katelyn LOVE uncle Isaac! He is excellent with kids.

Grandma, Ellie, Momma

Grandma and Grandpa Morris

Unfortunately I didn't get pictures with my other two brothers or sister-in-law. But next month for sure I will! I can't wait for all my family, including my sister, to come for my brother's wedding! I love my family.

Family Matters

Three weeks ago we had the privilege of having both our families in town! It was so great to finally have visitors and see family. It had been 8 months since we'd seen our family (excluding my mom who was here in June). I've never gone that long without seeing them, and the last time Matt went that long without seeing his family was on the mission. We were both very excited to see our families! And felt blessed they could all take time off work to come be with us for Ellie's baby blessing.

Matt and I played tour guides for our families. Pretty much I saw all the same sites twice, but it was still fun!

First time Grandpa!

Uncle Kody

Aw :) I love capturing couples without them knowing.

Walser kids (minus Brittany)

Went to the Seattle Air Show

Great Grandma and Grandpa Van Ry

Walser Family

My silly siblings with the Billy Goats Gruff

Jensen Family and the Troll

Nathan pretending to change a diaper

Morris kids and Katelyn :)

Snoqualmie Falls

Seattle temple

Base of Mt. Rainier

Daddy keeping Ellie warm

Morris Family

Uncle Isaac

We had so much fun! I can't wait for future family reunions/vacations. By the time everyone left I was pretty tired, but I'd say it was worth it! :)


Side note about title: I used to love the TGIF shows on ABC! Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step by Step. I may have re-watched all of those my freshman year of college everyday on ABC Family... :)

Happy Birth Day

I can't believe one week has two weeks have (I've been busy/lazy) already flown by since I went to the hospital and we welcomed our newest addition to our family. As I'm sure is the case with all parents and a new child, we think she is perfect! Ok we know she's not perfect because she doesn't sleep through the night just yet, but she is a great baby! She is very calm and hardly ever cries. We love her peaceful nature and hope it doesn't change!

Elizabeth LuAnn Walser was born June 25 at 8:42 am. She was 6lbs 14oz and 19.5 inches long. We will be calling her Ellie for now!

Birth Story

My mom came into town June 18 and was going to be with us for 10 days, so every day for the week before Ellie came my mom and I walked between 5 and 10 miles a day. Even in the rain.Wednesday, June 22nd (day 2 of being overdue) my sister told me about some restaurant that had a huge rate of pregnant ladies eat their Eggplant Parmigiana and within 48 hours go into labor, so that night we decided to give it a try. We went to Olive Garden and ordered. A little while later the waiter comes back saying they're out of eggplant! So we headed over to Cheesecake Factory. They didn't have the exact same thing, but I got an eggplant pasta dish. 

Nothing happened; and the next day at my doctor appointment the doctor said I was one loose finger dilated...so a 1 I guess. I had him set an appointment for me to be induced because I wanted the baby to come before my mom left. So he set it up for Monday (June 27th) morning - which would give my mom one day before she left.

I think knowing for sure when the baby was going to come started to make me even more nervous than not knowing! Friday morning I woke up and said to Matt, this baby is coming tonight! I was determined for her to come naturally without being induced. My mom and I went for our two morning walks. Around 2 I had some Braxton Hicks contractions start, but nothing different than what I'd had before, so I kind of thought they would just stop at some point. I told Matt and he used that as an excuse to leave work early. :) He got home and my mom and I went on our afternoon walk. We came home and started to get dinner ready. As we were eating dinner the contractions got a little stronger so we decided to write them down. At 7 we decided to go to the mall and get Blizzards and one last walk in! At 8 when we got the Blizzards the contractions were much stronger and 7-9 minutes apart. (I did finish off my Blizzard, which was probably a bad idea!) 

We got home and I walked around the apartment while Matt made sure all our stuff was ready. After timing the contractions from 9-10, and them being 4-5 minutes apart, we called the hospital. At first the lady said I could keep walking around or come in. Then she asked when my last appointment was and how dilated the doctor had said I was. And then she says, ok well start a warm bath and sit in there for an hour. I was pretty disappointed when I hung up with her. Matt started to get the bath ready, but then I had 2 stronger contractions and only 3 minutes apart so I said no way, we’re going now! 

We walked in to the birthing center and they took me to triage to see how far dilated I was. Unfortunately we got the same lady I had just talked to on the phone. She seemed to take FOREVER long with the whole process. We got in there at 10:30 and didn’t finally get admitted and to our room till 11:30 or 12. I don’t usually get mad, but I did get pretty upset with this lady. I feel a little bad now, but I still think she didn’t believe me when I said I was in pain all because I had barely been dilated the day before. She finally checked me and I was at a 4. She had my IV set up and gave me some pain relief medication. It made me light headed and feeling like I would pass out. I asked if it was ok if I passed out and she said yes! I was pretty surprised it was alright for a pregnant lady to pass out while having contractions… She left to go get or do something and I told Matt I was going to throw up. He tried to find something for me to vomit in, but there wasn’t anything and it came quickly. I threw up all over myself and got some on Matt too. 

FINALLY a nurse came to take me to my room. The anesthesiologist came not long after and got my epidural started. He had to do it twice because the first one didn’t numb the left side. It was WONDERFUL once I got the epidural. (I’m not sure how women like my mom do it without pain medication.) At a quarter to 3 the doctor came and broke my water. He said I was about 5-6 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They told me I’d probably deliver at 8 or 9 in the morning and told me to try to sleep and get some rest. I would sleep for 5 or 10 minutes then wake up. This went on the whole time till just before 6 in the morning. At that time I woke Matt up and asked when he thought they would come check how far dilated I was, because they hadn’t checked me since the doctor broke my water. Well I decided to call the nurse to find out. She said probably not for another hour – hour and a half or so because they didn’t want to check too much and risk getting bacteria to the baby since my water had been broken. She said unless I felt more pressure down low then they wouldn’t come right away; but I couldn’t really tell if there was new or more pressure! Well, at 6 the doctor came to check me anyway. I was at 10! I was kind of upset because who knows how long I’d been at a 10, plus they would’ve left me there for another hour or so. They were a little slow getting in there and set up; finally by 6:40 I started to push.

Two hours later our beautiful little girl entered our lives! It was one of the best moments in our lives. We are so blessed to have this sweet child as a part of our family. I've been thinking about it lately and I would gladly go through the pain again for her and my future children. It's not that I've already forgotten how painful it was (because I remember that feeling of my insides feeling like they wanted to explode every time there was a contraction or the pain each time I sit down after her birth), it's just a miracle to have something so precious come into this world, and we're so fortunate and blessed to have her with us. 

And one last thing about this whole experience, Matt has been wonderful. I'm blessed to have him. It's been so great to see his reaction when Ellie was born and how in love with her he is. He's a great husband and father already.

A very proud and happy father!

First bath

Ready to go home in the outfit daddy picked out for her :)

In Memory Of

Wednesday afternoon I received a text from my brother saying my Grandpa Morris had had a stroke and was in the hospital. I was shocked and saddened. Just a few weeks ago I had written him a letter to see how he was doing. He had even written back expressing interest in coming to the baby's baby blessing in a couple of months.

Today he passed away. It's sad, yet so very happy thanks to the gospel and knowledge we have of life after this and eternal families. He was 90 years old, and for, almost, the last 7 years he has been without his sweet wife. Although it's hard to imagine he's gone and knowing I won't see him anymore, I can only imagine how happy he is today being with my grandma, his daughter and son.

I'm grateful for a grandfather who has lived such an excellent life. He was quiet, but always faithful. I'm thankful for his example. I am so blessed to have had him for a grandfather.

Me with my wonderful grandparents

While my grandpa was in the past few days the hubby and I were discussing our parents and grandparents. (Side note: Our parents have strangely similar family backgrounds. It's kind of weird, but interesting too.) Both of our grandparents on our fathers' side have now passed away. Matt was lucky enough to be able to live with his grandparents for a little while (I get jealous at times wishing I could've done the same). When he shares stories or characteristics of his grandparents it reminds me very much of my grandparents. I'm grateful that we both could have such wonderful examples in our life! I suppose with Memorial Day tomorrow, and the recent events in my family's life, I've just been thinking a lot about family and how blessed we truly are.

Matt with his fabulous grandparents

Aren't grandparents great?

P.S. I like to imagine my Grandma & Grandpa Morris, Grandpa Valdizan (my mom's dad who died before I was born, hence no picture), and Matt's Grandma & Grandpa Walser are all socializing together tonight. It'd be fun to be there. :) Oh, and we both love our living grandparents too and are glad they're still around!

Be Grateful

My favorite 3 holidays are Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (not really in any particular order).

I like to think I'm pretty grateful through out the year. But as the first day of November came, I noticed myself trying even harder to be grateful. It's amazing how many extra things you are grateful for when you really stop and think about all the blessings in your life.

I've really been looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Maybe it's because we've been away from family (one of the 3 F's that makes these holidays great). Maybe because I'm just really excited to experience these holidays with my hubby. Maybe because I can't wait for some delicious food (another F) that I don't have to make, but just enjoy! Maybe because it'll just be loads of fun (the final F)!

I'm pretty sure it's because I just can't wait to spend time with some of the best people I know:

I'm grateful for FAMILY! And I am grateful we are able to go visit them. I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

"Walk with gratitude in your hearts, my dear friends. Be thankful for the wonderful blessings which are yours. Be grateful for the tremendous opportunities that you have. Be thankful to your parents, who care so very much about you and who have worked so very hard to provide for you. Let them know that you are grateful. Say thank you to your mother and your father. Say thank you to your friends. Say thank you to your teachers. Express appreciation to everyone who does you a favor or assists you in any way. Thank the Lord for His goodness to you. Thank the Almighty for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who has done for you what none other in all this world could do. Thank Him for His great example, for His tremendous teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help. Think about the meaning of His Atonement." - President Gordon B. Hinckley