Bethany at 1, 2 & 3 Months

Our little sweet chunkalunk Bethany is such a doll. Here are a few updates of her first months.



One month. She was a noisy one from the start with all kinds of grunts, moans, burps, hiccups, and coos. She held her head up fairly well right from the beginning! Bethany had pretty eyelashes that looked curled, blue eyes, and the longest finger nails and beds you ever did see. She nursed well and often and quickly gained weight and was already at 8.4 pounds at her 2 week appointment (she was born weighing 7.8 pounds). Poor little one had pink eye for a few days at 3 weeks old but it went away quickly (the nurse said to put a little breastmilk in it and it did the trick). She started to have cradle cap and baby acne around 3 weeks. Bethany had a little jaundice when she was born and we had to take her to be tested twice at the hospital a few days after we got home from the hospital but she started having more regular bowel movements after that so we were in the safe zone.



Two months. Bethany started to smile at 7 weeks and is especially smiley in the mornings for mommy. She laughed in her sleep a few times and started to suck on her hand. For a few weeks she would sleep for one 4 hour period at night but nursed every 2-3 hours the rest of the day. She started to favor her right side and would often sleep looking to the right. Bethany started to look at and watch her big brother Jack and everything he does. She tries to stand and "jumps" as you help her on her feet. Doesn't mind baths and makes a funny face when she first gets in the water. Jack lays by her on the blanket for a minute during her tummy time. Bethany started to get pretty fussy in the evenings until we could get her to fall asleep (sometimes her swing would help but laying her against my legs while I sit with my hand on her tummy helps the best). She started wearing size 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers! At her 2 month appointment was 13 pounds! Got her first cold and cough (luckily, we did not have to go to the doctor's as she was breathing just fine).



Three months. Bethany eats every 2-3 hours around the clock. She sleeps well at night (waking up to eat, of course) and takes a few naps a day. She is smiling a lot! When I talk to her face to face, kiss her cheeks or blow on her belly, she will give me some big smiles and occasionally a laugh. She is not so sure if she likes her new 3+ month soothie binky (she was great with her 0-3 soothie binky!). She's got some good leg rolls and double chins from her chubbiness. Her hair is getting longer and she has a nice bald spot at the back where she lays. Still gets fussy in the evenings most nights but we're getting better at helping her fall asleep quickly. Bethany fits nicely into 3-6 month clothes and size 3 diapers. She hates when bows or hats fall into her eyes and will cry and cry until someone moves it. She is interested in looking at bright toys but isn't grabbing or swatting at anything yet. Still loves to stand, to be held, and to be with people and where the action is. She spits up a lot and blows raspberries. I think she says "goo" all of the time.

We love our little Bethany.

January flowers.

I love when a friend calls me up to ask if I can do some flowers for their wedding! My favorite. Since I'm a stay-at-home mom with the little kiddos, I haven't been doing as much floral design as I used to so it's so fun to do once in a while. This is something I love and helps me keep my creative juices flowing. There is nothing better then some fresh flowers to brighten up your day (or home)!

Both of these friends I knew from my many days in LDS singles wards (ha!). I did a bouquet and bout for Sara's wedding day. She just wanted white flowers with some roses and left the rest up to me. I chose ranunculus, spray roses, football mums, silver brunia, dusty miller, and eucalyptus leaves.



I also did some centerpieces for my friend Clint's wedding luncheon (they went tubing at Soldier Hollow for their luncheon!). I used a variety of jars in different sizes to mix and match three per table. Their colors were variations of purples and greys. I chose hydrangea, stock, lisianthus, spray roses, dusty miller, silver brunia, and some winter greens.



I am so thankful that I started working at the old Provo Floral back in my college days (yes, it's been 12 years or more since I've been playing with flowers!). It's lead to many years working and learning from different shops, companies, a summer internship in Hawaii, and from some wonderful and talented ladies! I just may have to do a whole post about my floral past. That could be fun. Until then, I hope a few pictures will do to help put a smile on your face. I mean, who doesn't love flowers?

Bethany's first few weeks.

Yep. Those first few weeks of having a newborn is a blur. At least I took a bunch of photos to document it! When she was about 2.5 weeks old, I took some photos for her birth announcement. The one below is the photo I used because I just loved her sweet little facial expression while she was looking at her big brother at that moment.



Bethany started gaining weight right away and was soon chunking up! She was 7.8 pounds when she was born and weighed 8.4 pounds at her two week appointment (my doctor says that most babies are still at their birth weight at that point). It was a glimpse at what was to come. When she was only 7 weeks old we had an at home nurse visit and she weighed Bethany at 11.8 pounds! I attribute this to what a good nurser she is. She latches great and gets it done. Also, she eats frequently so that helped her get her chubs. I feel very lucky she eats so well. Jack wasn't such a great nurser, which is probably why he was a skinny little one for his first few months (he would usually fall asleep and didn't seem to care much about eating a lot).



Nights are blurry. She wanted to eat every 2-3 hours around the clock, but I expected that. Since she slept so much day and night those first few weeks, I always tried to keep her awake for a short time during the day and keep the lights low at night to help her know her days and nights. We have loved having a woombie sleeper (think of a sleeping bag, complete with the zipper, with only the baby's head out). It's such a nice and easy way to have her swaddled at night with a little wiggle room for her arms to move around inside the sleeper. She had some cradle cap and baby acne for a few weeks but most of that is gone now. She liked baths right away, to hold her head up, her snugabunny swing, and thankfully took a pacifier well. Bethany really favored turning her head to the right when she would sleep or lay on her back so I would always try to gently move her head to the left once she fell asleep. She didn't have much hair but it's slowly growing longer. Bows and headbands have been fun with her!

Jack has been really sweet to Bethany since he's met her. That first week he asked a few times to hold "baby sissa" and he did, sort of (see photos below). He gives her an occasional kiss and lots of hugs with his head only. He does steal her binky occasionally and has kicked her in the head by accident, but other than that, he is pretty dang cute with her. She always looks at him when he's nearby. Jack calls her "Beffy" and it's kind of stuck. Now Tyson calls her that, too!



She's been such a sweet little baby and we love her so much. Here are a few family pictures we took when she was only 3 weeks old! We sure love this little lady and her darling big brother.

Christmas 2014

What a fun Christmas we had this year! We got to celebrate it with our new baby girl and little Jack, who is starting to get excited about holidays and special events! We got our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day and decorated it that weekend, hoping to get everything up before the baby girl came (she came the next Monday). Jack loved running around the tree lot.



Jack went to his first Cookie Party with his Grandma Eyre and his little cousins on the Eyre side. They got to eat pizza, cut out and decorate their own sugar cookies, and run around crazy with their cousins! He thought it was pretty great.



The week of Christmas we were able to spend a lot of time with my family which was special because everyone was here in Utah this year! My brothers all live away so it's always so much fun when we are able to be all together. There was a lot of cookie eating, game playing, movie watching, and much visiting. My parents are great hosts and love to have all of their kids together. It's especially fun to see the cousins playing together (there are only 7 on my side, compared to 30 on Tyson's!).



We woke up Christmas morning to snow and spent it at our house for the first half of the day. Jack loved getting the presents from under the tree and passing them out. He was most excited about the big race track car thingamabob that my brother got him. He also thought it was fun to get sun glasses like his daddy got, and new matching bow ties. Bethany pretty much just hung out and watched the merriment. We had a wonderful Christmas!

Bethany's Birth Story.

Our baby girl Bethany Leeannah was born early on December 1 at 6:27 am. She was 7 pounds 8 ounces and 18.5 inches long. She is such a sweet baby and we love her so much! We can't imagine our family without her. Here is her birth story.

I was a bit nervous to know how this was all going to happen, since I was induced with Jack but I was just going on my own this time around. I felt some good Braxton Hicks contractions for a whole day (ouch!) two weeks earlier and it scared me a bit. Would the real things be worse? Would I have to just suffer through contractions for days and days until they were a certain time apart and I could be admitted to the hospital? I wasn't sure if I would know when I would need to head to the hospital, so I prayed to know when the right time would be. Luckily, Heavenly Father let me know.

I started having contractions around 8:30 pm on the evening of her due date, November 30. We were watching a Hallmark Christmas movie. We put Jack to bed and I started watching the clock. They were irregular but they definitely felt different than the Braxton Hicks, which were more at the front and bottom of the belly. These contractions were more intense and in my lower back. I didn't feel like I needed to push but when they would come I was on my hands and knees and making Tyson push on my hips. We decided to just go to bed and we called both sets of parents to be on alert. I also called the hospital to get their opinion on when to come in and they told me to come when they were 5 minutes apart and lasting for over a minute. I downloaded an app to time my contractions (so I wouldn't have to try and time them in my head while half asleep) and we went to bed. I fell asleep for a few minutes here and there, but by 3 am I told Tyson it was time to go. They were about 10 minutes apart but I thought it was time. (I was also nervous because my mom told me her labor was so fast with her second baby that she almost had my bother in the car on their way to the hospital!) We called my parents to come be with sleeping Jack and asked them to call my sister Michelle, who we invited to the birth.

We got to the hospital by 3:45 am and were brought to the side room where they check to see if you are really in labor before they admit you. Tyson did not love this first nurse because he thought she was skeptical about us. When she checked me to see how much I was dilated, she broke my water (on accident) and I was at a 4. Yep, it was a good thing I was there when I was. I was having some good contractions this whole time, so that wasn't too fun while being checked. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes. She made a call and he was on his way.

The hospital was quiet that morning. There was only one other couple there, who already had their baby. We got to our room and the nurse hooked me all up to get some saline in me before the epidural (let me just say that I think getting an IV in your wrist is more painful than getting the epidural). My sister got there at 5 am and the anesthesiologist showed up just before that. The nurse told me I was a tough cookie going through all of my contractions. All I remember was trying to just breath through them and telling Tyson to come over and push on my hips whenever they came. I got my epidural at 5:15 am, just in time. Because I was dilating so quickly, he gave me a special dose (he said) that was more potent for about an hour, and would then go back to the normal dose. I remember feeling the same way with it that I did with Jack's birth-from the waist down I felt heavy, tingly, a little out of it and tired. It always makes me throw up a few times and really want to take a nap. By 5:45 am I was dilated to a 10 and they called the doctor.

My regular doctor (Dr. Young) that I really like was out of town (remember how he was out of town on Jack's due date, too? Hmm) so the on-call doctor came (Dr. Judd). He was nice and did the job. A new nurse came at 6 am. By around 6:15 am I was pushing and yes, I asked for the mirror to watch! The nurse held one leg and Michelle held the other. I pushed for about 15 minutes and Bethany was born! I remember looking at the mirror when only her head was out, and then pushing one more time and feeling her body leave mine. It was a surreal experience to feel that. Bethany was born at 6:27 am. She had a smooshed nose, brown hair and crazy long finger nails. She looked like her brother. What a little sweetie. After her vitals were taken and she was cleaned up a bit, they gave her to me. Her eyes were open and she was so alert. She later cried and then slept pretty much all the next day.

My parents brought Jack to see us at about 10 am. Jack seemed to know that she was his "baby sissa" but wasn't too interested. He gave her a hug and kiss and we took a few pictures, but he mostly just wanted to ride on the wheelchair and eat cookies. We stayed one night and left the hospital the next evening. I had another great experience at Orem Community Hospital and we liked all of the staff there (part of the time we had the same nurse that helped us deliver Jack about two years earlier!). Bethany was the first December baby at that hospital! We are so very blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful, baby girl who joined our family that day.


Bump photo taken on my due date, November 30.