Sellers updates

We gave Quinn her second bath today. It was so much fun. She LOVES it. She put her mouth into a little "o" shape, and was ohhing and ahhing throughout the whole thing. She was happy, comfortable, and relaxed. She smelled so good when she was all clean and in her new jammies.








Speaking of smells, Quinn has become quite the smelly kid lately. The extra calories they fortify her breast milk with clog her up, and make her gassy. Poor kiddo. (The pictures below are just cute, and don't really have anything to do with being smelly, just breaking up the text.)



We are loving Quinn's new room, and we are optimistic that we will remain in that room until her discharge. (And no we don't know when that will be...) The natural light is fabulous, and having a private room is really necessary for our extended NICU stay. (See the difference of the light situation between the two rooms....also see Quinn with her best friend, Winnie.)




I swear Quinn is getting cuter and cuter by the day. When we visit, I can't help, but take a billion pictures of her. She is just so cute!



Oh, and what have Dalan and I have been up to? (do people even read this for us anymore????)

Well, beside visiting Quinn, and driving back and forth to the hospital, and still working a full time job. Dalan has been HOT. He hates the heat. But I can't totally blame him, when we left the hospital this afternoon this is the temperature according the the car.


And as for me, I have been pumping, pumping, pumping, spending time with the babe, driving, and trying to find time to shower, I have fallen off the wagon. I am back on the Diet Coke, except this time I am drinking the caffeine free in hopes to avoid kidney stones and I don't want to hop Quinn up on the caffeine either. I love it so much.

Dalan has also continued to be a snack-apotamus. He ate 35 ounces (Quinn weighs 66 ounces) of cheese balls in less than two weeks. He loves them so much!

Some firsts....

Today was a day of a few firsts:

1. I drove for the FIRST time in two and half weeks. It was so nice to be independent again.

2. Quinn and I had our FIRST alone time. Just the two of us...no nurses, no interruptions....just mama and baby. Of course, she was in her isolette, and I was in chair staring at her, but it was nice and peaceful. I loved it.

3. Dalan and I fed Quinn for the FIRST time. This involves holding the syringe, while a tiny amount of breast milk drips into her feeding tube, and into her belly. It was kind of like holding a bottle for our baby. Loved it.

4. My feet and ankles look normal for the FIRST time in five weeks. I noticed in shower that I was not swollen at all....my feet look so slim, and I have wide feet. Ha, ha, ha!

5. Quinn seems to be tolerating her feeds for the FIRST time, and she has had three smears of poop on her own for the FIRST time. (Hopefully, all the poop talk will stop soon, but right now, pooping is so important for Quinn's progress, that it has to be mentioned.)

And, here is a picture of our little one today....


Quinn has grown 3/4's of an inch since she was born. Her weight has gone up and down (as Ali said, such a typical girl), but should hopefully start to regulate and increase after she is two weeks old.

Super Psyched

I am that girl. The girl that loves to admire pretty shoes, but cannot stand (pun intended) to be in shoes that make my feet hurt. Actually, I can barely stand (pun intended again) shoes at all. I kick off my shoes the minute I walk in the door, and sometimes even while I am driving in the car (which drives Dalan nuts). I used to be able to sacrifice some comfort for fashion, and then I started teaching school. I am on my feet for way too many hours in a row to wear anything, but comfortable shoes, most preferably flip flops or slippers. Yes, I said slippers. Ali and McKay gave me these cute, Roxy* slippers for Christmas two years ago that almost, kind of pass as regular shoes. So, in the winter, I wear them to work on a regular basis. People even give me compliments on my cute "shoes." (Only they really mean shoes, I laugh in my head, knowing that they are really slippers disguised as shoes.) I can wear them with or without socks, and they have never gotten stinky. They are the miracle of all shoes. However, they have started to get worn out. I guess I should have seen it coming, they are technically slippers, and I wear them really quite consistently in all types of weather and terrain. So, I got online and found another pair, but with a different design, for super cheap from overstock.com, plus there was free shipping. Score! I should have ordered two pairs, but I was not sure of my size, since I wear a seven and a half, and they were only available in full sizes. The size on my old pair was worn off long ago, if there ever was one. I ordered an eight, and they came today, and they fit perfectly. DOUBLE SCORE! I might have to go and order me another pair now.

The old, dearly loved pair of slippers.

The soles have seen better days!

The new pair! I cannot wait to break them in.

No holes in these soles!

*I receive no money or kick backs from Roxy for endorsing their product. However, if they would like to send me additional slippers or other products for my overwhelming positive review of the BEST slippers EVER, I would gladly accept.

Living the vida loca!

In addition to going back to work, and renovating parts of our house, this week has been full of completely random and crazy things happening all around me. It has been one of those weeks that you could never predict would be so out of the ordinary.

First of all, I was walking Piper one evening this week, and got followed/stalked by a car. It totally freaked me out, and I am pretty sure that there was a high probability I could have been kidnapped/raped/murdered/etc by the person in this car. I called my mom as it was happening, and I don't know if this freaked them out enough to back off, or if I just wasn't the person they were looking for or if they really weren't following me at all (which I think is unlikely, but I am hopeful that it was big, strange coincidence). Either way, it freaked me out, and made me upset that something like that happened so close to home.

Then, last night I went down to the Gallivan Center with a group of friends to see Iron and Wine. The plan was to go to Gracie's after the show, so I parked near Gracie's, thus having my car close at the end of the night. Well, we went to Johnny's on Second instead, so Nghia and Randi gave me a ride to my car when I was ready to leave, as members of our group were still staying at the bar. When we got to the parking lot in which my car was located, we found it surrounded by a dozen cops and marked off in caution tape. I spoke to one of the officers, and he explained that there had been some gunfire after a concert at another bar, and some cars had been hit by bullets. My car luckily escaped any bullet wounds, but Amy's car was not so lucky. I called her, and she and the rest of our group headed over from Johnny's to inspect the damage. One bullet had entered Amy's car through the head light and then through the air filter. I feel really bad about Amy's car, but I am so glad that none of us were in that parking lot when the shooting occurred. Scary stuff.

After dropping me off, Nghia apparently made a "wide right turn" and was pulled over by one of the police officers from the crime scene. The officer reportedly thought he reeked of alcohol (probably due to the fact that someone had spilled a beer all over him at the Gallivan Center) and made Nghia do the field sobriety test, and take a breathalyzer test as well. He only blew a 0.01 as he had only had two beers over the course of several hours, and was sent on his way without any further consequences. Not even a ticket for the "wide right turn."

So, if random crazy things happen in groups of three, I think my friends and I are done. Thank goodness! I prefer the quiet life...I am not up for livin' the vida loca.

Awesome!

First of all, as you all know, we booked our hotel and flight for our honeymoon yesterday. I did this using the computer and a credit card, therefore taking my wallet out of my purse and having it near me on the couch with the computer. After I finished up all my reservations, I ran to the grocery store. We had not been shopping for some time, so I had a cart full of items. I get in line and go to pull my wallet out. No wallet. I call Ali since she has our spare key. No answer. I call my mama, and she kindly volunteers to meet me at the store and pay for my groceries. Nothing quite like being nearly 30 years old (15 days and counting) and waiting at the grocery store for your mom to come pay your bill. Awesome!

Second of all, I was driving to work this morning on the freeway when I moved my left foot. It some how bumped up against the lever for the trunk, and popped the trunk open. Wow! Who knew that was even possible. So I had to pull over, and take care of the business of closing my very open trunk on the freeway in the middle of morning traffic. Awesome!

Finally, came home tonight after going to an awards ceremony for my students and visiting with the in-laws to find that garbage mouth had struck again. Piper used her super dog powers to knock over the entire garbage can and spread trash from the kitchen to her bed in the living room. Awesome!

Garbage Mouth

Garbage in the hall.

Garbage in the kitchen. AWESOME!

Baked Goods Christmas

Dalan and I decided to bake some Christmas goodies this year. We spent some of the day on Saturday baking, and most of the afternoon today. The house smells so deliciously yummy right now. You should be here. I will not need to eat dinner tonight due to all my sampling of the treats. (You have to make sure things turned out all right, don't you?) I took pictures of some of the items we baked, and I am by no means a food photographer, but I am proud of all our hard work!

Christmas sugar cookies with sprinkles.

Dalan's family recipe for buckeyes. (Go Ohio State!)

Seriously, would it really be Christmas without fudge?

Peanut Brittle....my great aunt Elaine makes the best peanut brittle....but we gave it a whirl anyway knowing we would have tough competition.

Red velvet whoopie pies. I found this recipe in a magazine. They are very rich and yummy!

Oh, and I got my car back from being repaired today! I am so happy, no more driving around that ridiculous PT Cruiser wanna-be thing anymore! Also, finished my Christmas shopping finally today. I had just a few odds and ends to buy, and I found them all at Target, the greatest store in all the land.

Kidney colic, and car crashes....oh my!

Dalan and I have a dark cloud hanging over our household. Stay far, far away from us!

I went from bad to better to far worse back to better as far as my kidney stones go. I had to go to the ER last night due to the immense, earth-shattering pain I was experiencing. They gave me some morphine, did a CT scan of my innards, and ran all sorts of tests on my blood and urine. The doctor asked me if there was a chance I was pregnant. I replied, I don't think so, but it could be a possibility. He responded with if you are doing the deed, than there is always a possibility, however, according to 5 young women we had in this week, you don't even need to be doing that. He, he, he. He determined that I was not pregnant, but did have a monster kidney stone. He referred me to a urologist. My parents came to get me from the ER, and took me to fill my prescription. I puked my guts out in the Target parking lot, and then about 5 more times throughout the night. It was not fun.

My urologist informed me today that puking like that is called kidney colic and once it starts, you can't stop it. He also informed that when given a choice most women would choose child birth any day over having kidney stones. Since, I am feeling so much better today there is a chance I could have passed my giant stone during my kidney colic while I was neglecting to strain my urine. I now need to continue to strain my urine until my follow up appointment on Tuesday. That will be fun during school.

Oh, in the ER, they also put me on Flomax, which is med for men with prostate problems. However, according to every doctor and pharmacist I have talked to, it is a miracle drug for the kidney stones.

Now, on to Dalan. After, my appointment Dalan took me home and then went to get me a malt from Iceberg. On his way there, he got rear ended/side swiped in the car while sitting at a light. The lady then went on to hit another car. Dalan is ok, the car is not. It had to be towed due to the fact that the back tire was pushed and messed up. The back door does not open anymore either. I had to go down to the accident to pick Dalan up, and bring some papers. All of Redwood Road was so backed up. In fact, Ali said they even mentioned the accident on the radio. Way to go Dalan to get a shout out.

As the cars were being towed, the police officers came to Dalan's truckwhere I was sitting looking for the woman who caused the accident. They could not find her anywhere. She had given all her info, but left before her car was towed or before anything was finalized. Her name is Jamie. I guess as Dalan was standing with the cops, they were saying things like, "Oh, I guess her new name could be going to jail Jamie." And, "I don't see a get out of jail card in here."

What a crazy week!

Dalan is number one!

Dalan is the best. There I said it.

Now I will continue to brag about why he is the best. On Thursday night, he texted me to see if I wanted to go see a play the next night. Of course, I was interested. So, he bought us tickets for Noises Off at Pioneer Theater for the 8:00 show on Friday night. I was so excited! Plus, it is a nice bonus to have a husband who initiates going to the theater, rather than having to be forced to go. I got home from work on Friday, we got all dressed up and went to dinner at the Gateway. We got done a little early, so we did a some shopping! I bought a new shirt, and then Dalan made fun of me the entire time we were Anthropologie because I was so into all the bird items they have there now. Apparently, I make a little bird noise, and then make the birds do all these little actions every time I see one. I think he was exaggerating!

The drive from Gateway to the University was frustrating, however, we tried to take South Temple, and it was closed at Main Street. We turned down Main Street and got caught behind a horse and carriage for 4 blocks! It took us over 7 minutes to drive those 4 blocks. I was ready to pull my hair out, but we made it to the theater with plenty of time, and saw a hilarious play! I had never seen it before, and I laughed so hard. We had a dude sitting next to us for the first act who was texting the whole time, and then, complained about the language of the show and the fact, that there was a girl in lingerie in the play, but thankfully he left after the first act. I was also shocked about how many people were wearing jeans to a play. What is wrong with people. First of all, it is fun to all dressed up and have a night on the town, and second of all, wearing jeans to the theater, even in Salt Lake City, is kinda tacky!

We are now going to drive to American Fork to get some lunch from Chadders, which is a blatant rip off of In n' Out Burger, but since there is not one of those here, we need to go to the copy cat operation.