Projects, Planes, and Pictures, oh my!

I promised another post that actually included pictures, and here it is! Or at least, here it begins. This may or may not actually get published a few days from now. But, it's progress!

A lot has been happening around here--or at least, some things have been happening, which was more than I can say of the last couple of months. We took a trip to California over Memorial Day weekend. Highlights of the trip included watching Ford (our new nephew)'s baby blessing, some extreme sunburns, seeing lots of wonderful family, flying with Isla for the first time, visiting the beach, and eating yummy food! It was a really fun trip and very nice to get out of the house for longer than a couple hours! Isla did really well on the plane ride--she slept both ways!--which I was SO relieved about. The only negative was the broken A/C on the flight there....let's just say, sweaty. Not good. It was a little stressful flying with all of the baby gear--I have a lot more empathy for parents who travel with multiple children now! I can't even imagine...

We've also been working on some home improvement projects. We (mostly Andrew) upholstered a headboard for our bed (DIY on the Design Sponge blog), weeded & mulched our yard, made a curtain for the kitchen window, and painted our kitchen chairs a fun dark purple. Things are starting to come together even more, and our next project is a gallery wall for our front room. Mostly Andrew, once again. Who knew I'd marry someone with more design sense than me? Glad I did, though!

And last, we've been taking lots and lots of pictures--of our trip, our little Isla, our house, etc. Speaking of Isla, she's been doing A LOT better, thank goodness! She still has her moments, and evenings are fussier than the rest of the day, but she is a much happier baby than she was a month ago, and I am SO beyond grateful for that! Especially since I go back to work in less than a week (yikes!). I don't feel as bad about leaving Andrew home alone with her all night than I would have before. She smiles all the time, especially when she wakes up, continues to be super gassy, is starting to want to stand and sit, is able to hold her head up pretty good, and is starting to demonstrate some semblance of a laugh now and then. I'm finally starting to enjoy motherhood like I should, rather than being stressed out all the time! One thing that still always brings tears, though, is her carseat. She HATES it. But, I guess I would, too.

Anyway, here are lots and lots of pictures (in no particular order...I'm too lazy to organize them! Sorry). Hope everyone is doing well--Enjoy!

So excited for Dad to be home from work!

Summer & her youngest, August, hangin' at the beach on Memorial Day.

Katie's newest addition, Ford. He is ADORABLE. I mean, look at that hair!

Isla just chillin with Grandpa at Sunday dinner.

Modeling the adorable onesie that my lovely friend, Camille, made for her! So cute.

For a while, I had this picture on my phone to remind myself that Isla is sometimes a happy baby! She gives me these smiles a lot more frequently now, thankfully!

Nonny juggling Isla & August at the beach.

Swimwear model. Love it.

Hangin' out with Mommy all day. Looks like the is flipping off the camera, but not. She really was in another picture, ha.

Taking a walk in our lovely neighborhood now that the weather is (FINALLY) nice!

She has discovered that she really likes to eat her hands, which is fine with me :)

Our new purple kitchen chairs!

Crackin' up.

A very very rare carseat smile. I think she started crying about 30 seconds after this.

Wrapped in her "Miracle Blanket", ready for bed. We call her our little burrito. She actually seems to like it. Sidenote: our carpet looks kind of weird and green in this picture...I promise, it's not really like that...

The lovely headboard that my handyman of a husband made! I love it!

Our plants and landscaping by the garage. I wish we had taken a before picture, because it was overrun with weeds...looks SO much better now.

Same goes for the front of the house...

The kitchen curtain I made. Definitely took practically no skill at all!

A rare couple picture of Andrew and I in California! And, yes, my hair looks like I chopped it off. But, don't fret, it's just in a bun.

Practicing in the Bumbo! She's really wanting to sit up more, but can only hold her head up for a minute before it starts to droop.

Maybe I am biased, but is that not the cutest face ever? I am SOO happy that she is happier nowadays.

I cannot be a mother and a blogger.

Apparently I am horrible at multi-tasking...my life. I don't know how all the "mommy bloggers" do it, but I have found it hard to be a mother + ________ (anything else). One of my friends pointed out that I haven't blogged in over a month. I am supposed to go back to work in a few weeks, and I'm slightly freaking out about how I am going to manage taking care of Isla, myself, our house, and finding time to sleep after work. I am also slightly freaking out about leaving Isla home alone with Andrew all night--mostly because I am afraid she won't sleep and he'll be exhausted for work the next day. But, that's a whole other subject.

Anyway, just thought I'd write an update of what's been going on in our life as of late. No pictures this time--sorry--I am writing this from my Mom's computer and haven't had time to upload recent pictures. We are taking a trip this weekend and I PROMISE I'll take some pictures and post some. I'm sure you're all dying with anticipation! Ha.

Here are the highlights of the last month-ish or so:

• Isla has been fussy...suffering from "colic"--the term for general prolonged fussiness, it seems. We've tried everything from gripe water to the Miracle Blanket (which is actually pretty great), but of course there's no cure-all for it. So, I've learned to function with only one arm most of the day and haven't gotten out of the house very much, for fear that she'll have a melt down. Thankfully, my older sister, Kristin, lives about 5 minutes away. I go there a lot--in fact, when I don't go, my niece asks her "why Elyse isn't here". Thanks to her, though, I am still sane-ish.
  
• On a good note, she does seem to be growing out of it, and has developed her "social smile". Things that elicit this smile include: passing gas, seeing mom & dad, and listening to the Tangled soundtrack. She also hates getting dressed, which is sad for me, because I cannot play dress up with her like I want to, sigh. Oh, well, I'm sure I'll have plenty of time for that as she grows up.
• Last Isla news: besides the fact that she's freaking cute, everything checked out at her 2 month appointment last week. She was 9 lbs 11 oz, 21.5 inches long, and in the 25th percentile for everything. She got her shots--sad day--and then slept for like 4 hours, so I secretly liked the shots, which I know is horrible. Our goal from now until her 4 month appointment is to get her to sleep on the other side of her head more so we can avoid a helmet. Wish us luck!
• We are getting ready for a trip to California this Thursday (yay!!!!) to visit family, enjoy Memorial Day weekend, and see Tanner & Katie's new baby, Ford, get blessed. T&K are moving to China in a couple months (yikes!), so we want to see them as much as we can before they go. I cannot wait for the beach and the weather forecast is simply lovely.
• We painted our kitchen chairs (well, Andrew did) a dark purple, and put mulch in our yard. Those were our home improvement projects this last weekend as the weather decided to be amazing. Our next home improvement project: making a headboard for our bed. This will involve Andrew using an electric saw and staple gun. Pray for us.
• One of my best friends in the whole world, Camille, just moved back to Utah and bought a house like 15 minutes from us. I am SOOOOO excited to have her close by, and plan to take advantage of her good conversation and craft skills as often as possible!
• Andrew had a birthday at the beginning of this month and turned the big 2-6! We went to a movie while my mom watched Isla, and it was so nice to have some semblance of a date finally. Love him!

Anyway, that's about it for now. Sorry, nothing too exciting, but I'll provide some pictures of the oh-so-cute babe and our Memorial Day trip when I get back...which probably translates into another month or so! Wish me luck :)

Isla Beth.

(Lots of pictures at the end of the post...if you get bored...)

Well, I've obviously taken quite a long hiatus from blogging, but for good reason! We welcomed our little girl, Isla Beth Garlock, into the world on March 18th (my Mom's birthday!), and let's just say life has been a little hectic since then! Hectic but wonderful--she is the most darling baby in the world (I'm slightly biased) and we are so so happy to have her with us.

I don't want to bore everyone with my "birth story", but I also wanted to kind of record what happened that day so I remember. And, since I don't really journal, I'm going to just write a brief bit about the happenings of that day.

I had an appointment with my doctor on Thursday (March 17), and I was far enough dilated, etc., that he suggested we induce me on Monday. I was thrilled to have an end in sight, but not so excited about the 3 shifts I still had to work that weekend. Anyway, the doctor thoroughly checked me at my appointment and I went to my parents afterward because we were all going to go to dinner for my Mom's birthday. I was contracting a bit, but that always happens after being checked, so I wasn't too concerned. I kept contracting pretty much all night and through dinner, and when we got home I almost went in to the hospital. But, I figured I probably wouldn't go that fast, and I'd rather try to get some sleep that night. So, I slept, woke up at 5 am to go the bathroom, and realized that I was still contracting a lot, like every 2-3 minutes. It wasn't super painful, but uncomfortable enough. I woke up Andrew and told him we should probably just go in before he left for work. I called my Mom (she's a L&D nurse, so I definitely wanted her there!) and she met us at the hospital.

We got there, got all hooked up to the monitors, and sure enough I was contracting very regularly. I was still dilated to a 4, which is what I was at my appt, so the doctor said he'd give me a couple hours and see what happened. Since I wasn't 39 weeks til the next day, he technically couldn't break my water or induce labor if I wasn't progressing on my own. So, he came back around 9 am, I had progressed (thank goodness) to a 5, and he broke me water. After that, holy cow, the contractions got painful! I requested my epidural ASAP and clutched the bed rails until the anesthesiologist came in. He got my epidural in, had to try a couple times cause my back is curved weirdly... and I was in HEAVEN! Oh man, it was the best feeling ever to have the contractions gone.

After about 10 minutes, though, I started feeling like I was going to black out...not good. My blood pressure had dropped to somewhere in the 80s/40s (that's very low), and in response to that, baby's heart rate dropped dramatically. So, tons of nurses came running in flipping me over, putting on an internal monitor, laying my head back, putting on oxygen, etc... Being a nurse in this area, I knew that all of this meant something very bad was happening. For a moment, I thought they were going to rush me back for an emergency C-section. In the end, it turns out my epidural had been dosed a bit too high for my body size, and the anesthesiologist came in and gave my some Epinephrine and decreased my epidural dose. Thankfully, Isla recovered well. I, however, was a major stress case for the rest of my labor, asking my Mom and the other nurses literally like every 10 seconds if the baby was okay, how her heart rate was, etc. I'm sure I drove them nuts, but I was just terrified of something going wrong.

The rest of the labor progressed pretty easily. I never used my epidural button, though, for fear that I would cause her heart rate to drop again. So, I was able to move my legs still and feel the pressure of the contractions, but not the pain, which I was totally fine with. I kept dilating on my own and never needed any Pitocin, and around 2:30 or 3 pm, I was complete! I pushed for about an hour, and boy did I feel it. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as going natural, but it was definitely not totally numb down there. She finally came and was absolutely perfect! Weighed in at 5 lbs. 15 oz. and was a short 18 inches. My sister, Jenna, was there for the delivery and it was really fun to have her with me. I was really proud of how well her and Andrew did watching the whole thing. They were more in awe than disgusted :) The doctor stitched me up (which I totally felt-ouch), and the nursery got Isla all dried off and bathed. The first time I held her I just felt a huge wave of relief that she was out and I didn't have to worry about hurting her anymore! She was just darling and I fell in love right away.

Once we got her home, she continued to be a wonderful baby, aside from the fact that she had her nights and days completely mixed up and was awake every night from about 1-6 am. Can't really blame her, though, as I did work nights and probably confused her a bit! Thankfully, that only lasted about a week and half, and now she sleeps pretty good at night. She is already three weeks old, and I feel like she is getting so big already! It makes me sad but happy at the same time, as I see her personality continue to develop.

I am feeling much, much better now, compared to where I was a couple weeks ago. Having a child is overwhelming, and no matter what anyone told me, I was not prepared for the extreme exhaustion I felt right after! But, it only lasts a short while in the scheme of things, and it's totally worth it for my little lady.

So, that's it...sorry to drone on and on, but as I said, I want to preserve the memory for myself! I have to say thanks to everyone who has come to visit, sent gifts, brought meals, etc... in the last few weeks. It has all been MUCH appreciated and made us feel so loved and taken care of! So, thanks :)

And now, for lots of pictures (I attempted to put them in some sort of chronological order):

Happenings.

Here's to you, Spring.

Well, I've dropped off the face of the earth, haven't I? I've certainly neglected blogging, so I thought I'd just write a little update post before we have the baby and I have even more reason to be neglectful!

The most exciting thing as of late--we got our kitchen cabinets painted! Call us crazy (many have), because we just bought our house and our cabinets were already very nice. We know. But, we've always loved white kitchen cabinets, and decided that if we are gonna do it, let's do it now before we put it off forever. There are a couple touch ups that need to be done still, so I'll put up pics once it's all put together. But, we LOVE IT and are so glad we did it!

Other things that have been going on:

• Baby shower: thrown by my mom and sisters, lots of friends and family there. Thanks to everyone who came!


• Eating Girl Scout cookies--Andrew got some from a co-workers children. We love our Samoas!


• Cleaning the house, getting things organized, "nesting" I guess you'd call it. I just like having a clean house...


• Enjoying the warmer weather! Hello, it's 70 degress today! Love it.


• Dreaming of summer days. I bought a bathing suit from J. Crew that I am determined to fit in for pool time this summer, and I am on the lookout for a cute baby suit.


• Planning a trip to California for Memorial Day! Yay! My sister-in-law, Katie, will have her new baby blessed that weekend, and it will also be the last time we'll get to see them before they move to China in a few months. We are so excited for them!


• Eating delicious donuts from Beyond Glaze. We tried the German Chocolate and Peach Cobbler flavors. Delish!


• Enjoying a mani/pedi and hair appointment so I don't look totally awful in my delivery pictures.


• Working a lot, because everyone and their mom has decided to have a baby right now and our unit has been BUSY!


• Keeping up on Jimmer news (Andrew).


• Going to the gym together on my nights off, so Andrew can get buff and I can walk around the track and try to get closer to going into labor.

Anyway, that's about it for now! Have to give some birthday shout-out's as well, because I'm sure I'll forget. Saturday is our Grandma Jeanne's birthday, the 18th is my Mom's birthday, and the 24th is my brother, Brennan's, birthday. Happy Birthday and we love you all!

Vote!

Vote for Fictionist in the Choose the Cover of Rolling Stone Contest! They're an amazing band from Provo, Utah, and some incredibly talented musicians. Click on this link to go to their contest page and rate them. Also, check out their music (I especially like "Before I'm Old") and their awesome music video!

AND PS: They'll appear on our favorite of shows, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon! Woo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing everyone lots of love.

Just had to show this card Andrew got me, thought it was hilarious/adorable. Love him!!

Baby Bump & Nursery Update.

The time is fast approaching when little girl will be here with us, and I'm kind of freaking out! Ever since I hit 30 weeks the time has seemed to be flying. I'm in fight or flight mode trying to get everything ready for her arrival. Good news: we've made lots of progress on the nursery because of it! So, here's a recent bump pic (33 weeks, 4 days) and some updated pics of the nursery. Enjoy!

Bumpity, bump, bump.

Pillow I made last night for the rocker!

The bigger effect. Also made the curtain last night (with Andrew's help measuring and hanging).

Refinished dresser on the left, new paint and knobs. Thanks Mom & Dad for the donation :)

Shelves, expertly painted and hung by Andrew while I was at work :)

It's here.

Our iPhones came via FedEx today and I am beyond excited! We've been holding out with Verizon for the day they'd get the iPhone, and I am happy to retire the old brick I was using. Yay!

Salt City Burger Co. Delish.

Okay, anyone in Utah, you HAVE to try this place--Salt City Burger Co.. They have locations in Sandy & Bountiful, and although this may be a trek for some, it will be so worth it! We went there a couple weekends ago and got a burger, shakes, and fries (half regular, half sweet potato). Holy cow. That's all I can say...it's delicious (and it's not just the pregnancy talking)! I am not usually a huge burger person, but this was incredible. And, the milkshake was an actual milkshake, not just a lot of soft ice cream like most places. And the fries... Well, anyway, if you get a chance, we highly recommend it!

Bringin' Spring.

I have been in an oddly crafty mood this week (maybe it's "nesting", who knows), which has been nice for making the days pass quickly. I decided to bring a little spring to our home in these freezing temps, and make a wreath that my lovely friend, Camille, posted on her blog. She's so darn crafty, I love it. Anyway, I made this little wreath to bring some sunshine to our door. It was surprisingly VERY easy, and took very little time--my kind of project! So, to you and yours, happy early spring!

Progress.

I've had a few requests for pictures of the inside of our new place. I've been working to unpack boxes, organize, and decorate for the last couple months, and though I'm not nearly done with everything, here's a peek at some of the progress!

The family room--still need to do a couple more pillows, not sure what color yet though. And please notice Andrew's handy work of the mounted TV and shelf--he's very proud :)

Beginnings of baby girl's room. Still need to make a curtain and pillow for the rocker, put knobs on the dresser, pictures in the frames, hang some shelves...but, it's a start! And, I made that white crib skirt (the only one I could find was $60! I couldn't bring myself to pay that), which I'm quite proud of. The hardest part was actually bending over to cut the fabric, oy.

The upstairs guest (future baby) bathroom.

The rest of the rooms in the house will be debuted at a later time, once I'm happy with them :)

Baby Brielle.

I promised pics of my new niece, so here we go! She's a little darling.

She's already won grandpa over, of course.