Easter and other happenings

We had a really nice Easter this year. Dan’s mom hosts an Easter egg hunt each year for all the grandkids.  It was Gwen’s first time, and since she is too little to actually hunt for the eggs, she got a cute new outfit, a stuffed bunny and $5.  She also got spoiled with attention from grandma, all the aunts, uncles, and cousins.  It was fun to see all the kids rushing around the yard looking for their eggs.  Dan’s mom  has been doing this for a long time.  In fact, when Dan was a teenager, his mom used to make him wear a bunny costume and hop around the back yard hiding the eggs for his nieces and nephews.  Ahh, what I would give to see that!! 
Easter Sunday was really nice.  We went back to church for the first time since Gwen was born, and she slept right through sacrament!  Hopefully she’ll keep it up.  It was really nice to be back in church and hear the talks about the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for His sacrifice for me, and that he did rise again.
Easter is so much fun when you have a little girl that you can buy a dress for.  She looked so pretty in her yellow dress. 

The day after Easter me, my mom and my sister and 2 nephews decided to go on a road trip to Colorado to visit my other sister and her kids.  She had just been out a couple of weeks before, but was anxious to see the babies again (my sister Natalie had a little boy just 5 weeks after Gwen was born).  My mom had spring break, and so we decided to make the 8 hour drive.  The kids really did great.  The way home was a bit rough as they were tired from driving so much, and getting so much attention with their cousins.  We stopped for lunch and let them out of their seats.  Gwen was so happy to be out.  She just laid on the seat and kicked her legs.  The restaurant was so slow getting our food, which was annoying because we were hungry, but nice because the babes got to play a little longer.  We ended up spending about 1 1/2 hours at the restaurant.  It was a needed break.Sometimes in the car, Gwen wiggles her head a lot and it makes her headband fall over her eyes.  This time we just assumed she was using it as eye covers so it would be darker and she could sleep better. :)  She was sound asleep.

While we were in Colorado, we decided that it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo one day.  So we did.  It was kinda crazy.  The kids got tired and cranky walking around, but I think they enjoyed it.  Gwen didn’t really care too much about the zoo though.  She was sick of being in her chair and wanted to get out, she just cared about being held.  But she did pose for a couple photos, with the giraffes, and also with a bear.  I wanted to get Gwen Bear, with a real bear. :)Next up?  Gwen is 2 whole months old!!! On April 16th, she turned 2 months.  She is getting so big, and I love watching her grow and learn.
At 2 months, she LOVES:
* Having her head held back so her neck is stretched out.  She will fall asleep almost every time like that.  (photos 1 & 2)
*Her hands (photo 3) she is always munching on them, and it is adorable.
*Her bouncy/vibrating seat (photo 4)
*Laying in her crib looking at her mobile & colorful bumper pads with Chloe (photo 5)…ok funny story.  Gwen was in her crib looking at her mobile and bumper pads, and Chloe was so worried about her because she could see her, but could hear her kicking and talking.  So she was standing up, trying to see in to check on her.  She kept running to me and then running back to her crib.  It was so cute, so I put her in there with her and she just sat there watching over her making sure she was ok.  When I tried to get her out she slunk her head and tail down and got a really sad look on her face, so I just left her in there and she loved it.  She loves Gwen and is always protecting her.  When she’s napping, I can’t get Chloe to come down by me.  She lays right outside Gwen’s door until she wakes up.  Its really cute.
*Her music gym.  She loves laying under it and seeing the lights and hearing the music.  She can’t reach the dangly things yet, but she kicks and waves her arms like she’s trying. (photo 6)
And here are a few more photos, just because she is so dang cute, I can’t help myself. In the 2nd photo, with Dan, he is actually asleep holding her.  This is one of the things that is is most proud of…that he can fall asleep with his head up.  And here’s the proof.
She has been smiling since about 6 weeks, but she is starting to smile more and more now, and I love it. She can recognize things that make her smile and is starting to do responsive smiles. Her smile lights up her whole face and it makes my whole day.  Also, as you can tell from the last photo, she is still an escape artist.  I don’t know how, but she manages to wiggle out of her swaddle blankets too.  That girl…

But this right here is what makes it all worth it.
I literally go coo-coo trying to get her to smile.  And when she does, it almost always brings tears to my eyes.  I just love her so much and seeing her happy is the best thing ever.

Blessing & Birthday

I am officially O.L.D.  I turned 24 on March 25th.  The only thing that held me together that day was that we were able to bless our sweet baby.  Otherwise, I would have been in a pit of despair, wondering if I would live until my next birthday.  Haha, ok, ok, it’s not quite that bad. :) I actually completely forgot it was my birthday until I woke up to a text from my best cousin Whitney wishing me a happy birthday! But in all reality, blessing Gwen on my birthday was the best birthday present I could ask for.  We were able to spend the whole day with family, and it coordinated perfectly with my sister’s spring break, so she made the trek out here from Colorado with her 3 kiddos.  The day was perfect, aside from us almost being late.  Having a baby really throws off my ability to time things.  Feeding times always seem to interfere with when we need to leave.  But don’t fret, because we made it, and we were even a little early, thanks to Dan’s maniacal driving.

The blessing was beautiful and Dan did an amazing job.  Literally brought me to tears.  I recorded it so I could put it in a book for her, and I’ll share it here too, since this is like my journal.  Some of the words were muffled, so this may not be exactly what he said, but you’ll get this jist.

{Our Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we take this infant in our arms and give her a name and a blessing.  The name which she will be known in this life and upon the records of the Church is Gwen Catherine Schofield.  Gwen, at this time we’d like to give you a blessing. We bless you that you have a rich life and an understanding of God’s love for you and his plan for you.  We bless you with the compassion to help others and to follow the example of you mother; to love always and to find the good in people around you.  We bless you with passion for life, and learning and that your mind may be intelligent and contemplate the important doctrines of the gospel, that you will always understand that you are a valuable daughter of our Heavenly Father. We bless you with the ability to continue learning, and striving to be strong in all things that you do. We bless you with the courage to withstand temptations and to always stand up for what you believe in and to not swayed by the adversary.  Gwen, we bless you with love.  We want you to understand that there are many people around you who will love you, and take care of you and protect you.  We want you to know that we do this for your own good, and that you will always have the opportunity to look up to them and come closer to them as you strive to serve others and understand our Heavenly Father’s love for you.  Gwen at this time we want you to know that your Heavenly Father is proud of you and your decision to come to earth and accept this challenge and be ready to live according to his will, and we say these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.}

Afterwards, we had a little brunch at Dan’s parents house for all our family and friends who were able to make it.  We did a cereal bar, homemade parfaits, muffins –some homemade, some not- and juice.  It was great.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.
Here is the little angel with grandma and grandpa Cornell…my mom and dad.
This photo of her sleeping was after the festivities.  She was exhausted and just zonked out on my shoulder.

And here she is again with grandma and grandpa Schofield…Dan’s mom and dad.  Also, with the majority of those who stood in her circle to bless her.  Missing is:  my dad, Dan’s dad, Von, Landon, and Michael.  I forgot to get the photo before everyone headed out, so these are just Dan’s brothers. (We missed you, Matt!)

And here are some photos of her in her beautiful dress.  Soon I am going to go have a professional shoot of her in her dress, once she is smiling a little more on command.

Here is an upclose at her dress and accessories.  Gotta love little girls!
Shoes & bracelet made by Dan.  Have I mentioned that he totally out-crafts me?  Sometime to the point where I actually get depressed because he’s better at everything that I “should be” good at.  Oh well.  It’s nice to pawn it off on him, cause he knows he’s better, so he’ll do it for me.  Don’t you think he should quit his job and become a shoe maker?  I’ll have to take a photo of the 7 other pairs of shoes he’s made little Gwen.  It’s actually pretty amazing. And to make the day even better, my wonderful sister made me a HOMEMADE chocolate-peanut butter cheesecake.  It was simply to DIE FOR.  Seriously.  I don’t know how she does it.  Well, we didn’t have any candles, so I pretty much just blew on the cake.  Do you think my wish will still come true?
All in all, it was a perfect day.  Thanks to all who came and supported.  It meant the world to us!

A few new things

First of all, this little baby girl turned 1 month old on March 16. I know I’m a little late in posting, since now she’s almost 2 months.  Where does the time go?
 
Here are a few cute pics of her since she was born.

This photo is so funny to me.  We swaddle Gwen to put her to bed because she always wakes herself up either by touching her face, or flailing her arms everywhere.  She has become a mastermind in escaping, but this time, Dan wrapped her up too tight.  She somehow will wiggle her arms out of their sleeves and then her pjs will be down to her waist, like so, and when we go to get her we find her arms out and up above her head.  This night, she was not so lucky.  She got so close to wiggling out, but didn’t quite make it before she fell asleep.  I just had to take a photo.  She is so precious…and I love her sassy, stubborn personality.I saw this on pinterest, and thought it was such a cute idea.  I wanted to capture how tiny everything is when they are newborns.  I just love how perfectly tiny and formed everything is.  So much detail.  It is amazing to me that my body is capable of creating another life, and how perfect and intricate that life is. I am loving my baby so much.  Some days it is all I can do to pull myself away from snuggling her and get dressed.  She is such a sweetheart and I am amazed every day at how much I love her.  I wasn’t sure that 9 months of torture would be worth it, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  She is my whole world now.  Being a mom is the greatest thing.  But it is so hard watching her get bigger.  I just want her to stay my tiny baby forever.

Also, I forgot to mention, we are real adults.  We have a baby, and WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!  We moved in March 3.  It’s in Draper, right behind Ikea.  We are loving it.  Our neighbors are nice, and Dan is so much closer to work.  It cut his commute in half.  Having our own place has been so fun!  Here is a pic of our house, and here is a pic of moving.  Gwen and the million boxes.  It was a stressful couple weeks.  A brand new baby, and moving.  I wouldn’t really recommend it.

St Patty’s Day

Dan ran a 5K…the Rex Lee Run, to support cancer.  His whole family ran in memory of their grandma who died of breast cancer when his dad was just 8 years old.  He did a great job.  Way better than last May when he ran with Chloe.  She really slowed him down. :) Other than that, we didn’t really do anything special.  But don’t you worry, those days will soon come once Gwennie gets a little bigger.  She did, however, have a really cute St. Patty’s day dress.

She looks so big in this picture.  I hate that she’s growing up.  The tiny phase really does pass way too fast.  But look at those cheeks and that double chin.  Does it get any cuter?

Beauty at its best.

10 days after little Gwen was born, I had some newborn photos taken of her, and they turned out fabulous.  She is such a cutie.  She slept the whole time and was quite a trooper as we were moving her into all these different and weird positions.  She is still such an angel, and I am loving being at home with her.  Some days are pretty rough, and I get overwhelmed, and frustrated, and I cry.  A lot. (stupid hormones)  But then I look at her, my heart melts and suddenly, everything just seems worth it.  She still hardly ever cries, and is sleeping so well.  She usually just wakes up once during the night, but sometimes twice.  She has made my transition into motherhood easy when I compare it to some others I know, and yet it is still a hard transition, so all mothers out there, you have my respect.  It’s a hard job…but so completely worth it.  Just look at these photos.  They are proof.

           

Baby Gwen

After one long week of braxton hicks contractions, a couple trips to the hospital, and a lot of crying on my part, our little angel finally decided to make her debut.  I was just laying in bed on Thursday, February 16th, when all of a sudden I felt and heard a big POP.  I couldn’t quite tell what it was, whether she had just kicked me really hard, which was not uncommon, or if perhaps my water broke and this was the awaited day.  A few seconds later it was confirmed that it was most definitely the second.  I was so happy I almost started crying. 

I labored at home for about 2 1/2 hours, before the contractions got REALLY intense.  I was planning on doing a natural birth.  I had taken a class, read some books and felt really confident.  I did pretty well at home, but I was all alone, and I was exhausted because of the prior week.  I had gotten nearly no sleep because of the contractions and the over all pregnant state of my body.  I finally had Dan come home from work so we could go to the hospital because the contractions were so intense, and coming every minute.  We got there, and found I was only dilated to a 3…which is what I had been all week long. So I continued to labor some more in the hospital.  About another 3 hours, and I was only a 4.  I was getting light headed and nauseous because the contractions were so intense, and so I finally decided to just go ahead and get the epidural.  It was good.  I could still feel every contraction, could feel and move my legs, just couldn’t feel the pain.  After that my body was able to relax and I was dilated to a 10 within 4 hours.  The dr came in to check me and said, “Oh, this baby is ready to come out.  Let’s start pushing” so I did, and 30 minutes later, out popped little Gwen.  She weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was as beautiful as could be.  She was crying and as soon as they gave her to me and she heard my voice she stopped crying and calmed right down.  Right after she was born and wiped off, we did skin to skin, and she was so wide awake and so alert.  She was just laying there on my chest with her eyes wide open looking around and trying to understand what had just happened.  It was so cute.  Dan and I both fell instantly in love with her and all her dark hair.
After about an hour or so of skin to skin Dan took her to have her first bath while the transferred me down to mother/baby.  I was sad I didn’t get to be there for the bath and to watch Dan, but the nurses did take some photos for us.

This girl has got some serious cheeks on her.  They are so completely kissable.  Sometimes I think that is all I do all day long.  Just kiss her chubby cheeks.  Also, she has about 4 chins.  It’s adorable.  How come it’s so cute when babies are fat, but not when adults are fat?
 
I love this photo.  She looks so much like Dan.  They have all the same facial expressions, and the exact same furrowed eyebrows.  I love this photo because they have the same hair style, and the same look on their faces.  It’s adorable.  She loves him so much.  Dan loves to sing, and so he is always singing something, whether its made up or a song from the radio.  When I was pregnant, every time he would sing Gwen would start moving and kicking around. Now when he sings, she is turning her head every which way to find him and listen to his songs.  If he’s holding her and singing to her, she’ll just stare at him.  It is the cutest thing ever.

We had a lot of visitors in the hospital, and it was fun to see everyone loving on our sweet baby, but by the time I was able to go home, we were ready.  Ready to be back at home and in our own bed, and get started on our life with our girl.  She was such an angel.  She had a bit of jaundice, so for the first week of her life I had to take her back to the hospital every day to get it tested.  Luckily she never had to be under the lights, and finally it was under control so I didn’t have to take her back to the hospital anymore.  She is so sweet.  She hardley ever cries, unless she’s hungry or has a bubble in her stomach that needs to come out.  Otherwise, she is content to snuggle, or lay on the couch or blanket by herself and look around, or sleep.  She loves looking at colors and if there is something in front of her to look at she really has been entertained for hours just staring at the colors.

She is so sweet and we feel so blessed to have her in our family.  We really couldn’t ask for a more perfect baby.  She is an angel and we are loving getting to know her and having her sweet spirit in our home.  Also, Chloe loves her.  Dan has taught Chloe to check on her.  He’ll say, “Chloe, where’s Gwen?” and Chloe will run to her and look at her, then run back to him.  If ever I get home and I put her car seat down without getting her out right away, Chloe will run to her seat and nudge the cover up so she can see her, then she will sit right there watching her until I get her out.  It’s pretty cute.
Could she be any cuter?

I’m a little behind.

So, needless to say I am a little behind in my blogging, but that last month of pregnancy was rough, and I didn’t have much motivation.  But let me catch you up on what’s been happening.  First of all, let me tell you that I am no longer pregnant!! It’s practically the best feeling in the world, besides of course, that my belly feels like jelly.  But I will do a separate post on my little angel.  Let me just catch up on all the events leading up to the grand event.

I had a few baby showers, and it was so fun!  While my sister was here over the holidays she and my other sister and mom threw me a shower with my extended family and neighbors.  I got a ton of stuff, and I am so grateful for everyone who came and got me practically everything on my registry.  The theme was “Carlie is about to POP” and they naturally went crazy with the food.  We had “pop”corn, cake “pops”, snap crackle, and “pop” rice crispies, soda “pop”, amazing spinach dip that some how related to the pop theme, but I can’t remember how. :)  Then we had a “pop” quiz, and at the end everyone got to pop a balloon and get a prize.  It was so much fun!!
 



My sister Natalie is pregnant, and due on April 1st,(we got to be prego together for most of our pregnancies, it was nice to have someone to sympathize with) so that picture in the top left is me and her, and my sister Tara, who as you can tell, is ecstatic NOT to be pregnant.  And let’s be honest, she’s got every right!

Next up, my dear friend Michelle threw me another shower with my friends.  It was so much fun, and I got so many cute outfits!  I can’t wait until my little peanut can wear them all.  Well, actually I can, because that means she is getting bigger, and I am already having anxiety about that, but there is more to come on that matter later.  We had so much amazing gormet food, and she even made homemade macaroons.  They were melt in your mouth delish.
I was pretty bad at taking photos, so here are the few that I do have, and I didn’t even take any of them.  Thanks Michelle for taking photos and throwing me this amazing shower!!

Also, you are welcome to all who stood next to me to take a photo.  I made you look super skinny with my gigantic-ness.

Lastly, Danny’s sisters and my sisters-in-laws threw me a shower.  I realized after the shower that I had not even taken one photo…so I grabbed one on my way out with the balloons.  It was a brunch shower and once again, there was amazing food. I got a lot of cute outfits, toys, blankets and everything else you need when you have a baby.
and when I got home, I found out that Chloe knows how to jump in the baby’s crib.  Oh great.  Luckily I think she forgot she knew how cause she hasn’t done it since. 

Next up:  LABOR & DELIVERY!!  Stay tuned peeps.