Malerie's blessing

Oh, the saga of the blessing. Mal will be 5 months on Tuesday & we just barely blessed her on the 17th of October. She was born in June, but we were on vacation in July. In August, we just couldn't get all our projects done in time. September was Labor Day & half the family was out of town. So, October it was. We got announcements out & I cleaned every nook & cranny in my house. The Friday before the blessing comes & we all get really sick. Thankfully, our sweet bishop let us do it the very next week since my cute niece is being blessed in November. I ended up with food poisoning a few days before the 17th, but thankfully I was better by the actual blessing. Sheesh. It was a difficult road getting there, but all worth it in the end. The minute Sam started walking up to the front of the chapel, I started crying. The blessing was so beautiful. He blessed her that she would come to know the Savior & that He would be an important part of her life. I just felt the spirit so strongly & was overcome with gratitude for all that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I know that He is constantly watching over my little family & I am so grateful that we can be together forever. Before Mal was born, I'd had a prompting about what a joy she would be to me. And she has been. Pure joy.

Oi.

What a week. Last week started out great. We were supposed to bless Mallie on Sunday, so I was just cleaning & doing the bajillion projects on I had on my list before the blessing. Wednesday night, Hollie started getting really sick. By Friday, she had generously passed it on to Mal & me. Mal's 4 month check up also happened to be on Friday, so we headed in to the doctor to check her out. Her cough was really raspy & had us worried. The doctor said it wasn't RSV yet, but could turn into it. All things considered, we decided to post-pone the blessing to the following Sunday. I was really disappointed, but know it was the best decision. We're all starting to feel much better & now we will be able to really enjoy Mal's special day.

During Mal's check up, we of course got her updated stats. She's 9 lbs 3 oz & 22 1/4 long. She's not even close to the charts for weight & just grazing the bottom for height. They think she's just not getting enough calories & we haven't known because she's such a happy, content baby. I'll feed her & she'll be content for 3-4 hours, so I had no idea she wasn't getting enough. She's already rolling over (much to my dismay), and just so happy & healthy. She doesn't look sickly or underweight. Anyway, they want her to put on some weight, so they're having me take 12 pills a day to help increase my milk supply. I really hope it works. If she hasn't gained by her next weight check in 2 weeks, they'll make me supplement. I really enjoy nursing & am not ready to give it up. We'll see how it goes.

And because I can't post without a picture, here's one of my little sickies watching a movie together.

Two months?

Where does the time go? It seems like we were just bringing her home from the hospital, and at the same time, it's hard to recall life without her. She has brought nothing but pure joy into our home. I could just sit & hold her all day. She's so soft & snuggly. She loves the blanket right up by her face & Mommy's finger in her hand. I don't know how I could love her any more.

We took her in for her 2 month check up yesterday. She was 8 lbs 13 oz & 21 1/4 inches long. So, she's around the 5th percentile for height & weight. We also, after much debate, decided to have her tongue clipped. The little string that connects her tongue to the bottom of her mouth went all the way to the end of her tongue, so she couldn't stick it out any further than her bottom lip. Also, she loves her binky, but had a hard time keeping it in & her tongue would "snake" or "fork" when she tried to stick it out . We decided it was best to just have it done & avoid any potential speech impediments later on. I didn't like seeing surgical scissors in my baby's mouth, but it didn't seem to hurt her too badly. It only bled for a second & then she curled right up to me & let me rock her back to sleep.

Also, sisters much? I think Mal is just a little bit older than Hollie was when these were taken, but they still look so much alike. Sometimes I look down & I'm not sure who I'm holding.

Snowbird 2010

Although I can't believe my baby is 6 weeks old, the past month & a half has been a little piece of heaven on earth. Malerie is just the sweetest little angel baby. We all adore her. We got back on Saturday from our week at Snowbird & I told Sam that I missed Mal while we were up there because I had to share her with everyone. :O) We had so much fun, though. So relaxing & peaceful. It's the best week of the year.

Malerie Joy

I can hardly believe that our little Mal is finally here & in our arms. She was born on June 2nd @ 11:10 am. She was 7lbs 12 oz, 20 inches long and has the most adorable head of dark hair. She's just perfect & we're all completely in love with her. Delivery didn't exactly go as smoothly as we'd hoped, though. We had terribly new nurses (that took an hour to get my IV in) and the epidural went the wrong way (I'll be posting the whole birth story later, complete with our list of things you never want to hear at the hospital). Mallie has pretty severe jaundice & spent almost the entire hospital stay under the lights. She was doing better by Friday, so they sent us home. Within 24 hours of being home, her biliruben count had doubled so they ordered her to be placed under the lights again. At least they're letting us use one of the at-home bilibeds. We've been taking her in for daily labs, and her results yesterday were really good. We take her in again today & are hoping they'll let us take her off her "special bed" (as Hollie calls it).

Malerie has her big sister wrapped around her teeny tiny finger. On Saturday, before they put Mal back under the lights, Hollie spent 4 hours holding her "sissy." She gets her diapers, rubs her head when she cries & could not be more loving with her. I can't get enough of watching them together. We're all just smitten.

Easter

Third trimester!

The third trimester starts today! Only 84 days to go! I was doing a quick belly shot last week & Hol decided to get in on the action. She just loves her baby sister! She said to my tummy today, "Malerie, are you having a good day in there?" We can't wait to finally meet her!

Making cookies

We spent all afternoon together in the kitchen today making Valentine's cookies. We pulled out our matching aprons (that my darling sister-in-law made for Hol & I for Christmas) & kneaded, rolled, cookie-cut & giggled for hours. So grateful to have this little person as one of my very best friends in the world.