Little by Little

It's about time I post something for 2011. The year has been great so far. Trevor is back in school, in his last BUSY semester. He does have one semester after this one, but not nearly as busy. He is only taking 2 classes next semester...and then he will graduate with his masters! I can't tell you how ready I am for that day! He will definitely deserve that proud feeling you get when you accomplish what you set out to do. I am so proud of Trevor. I've said that a lot on here, but it is VERY hard and trying to go through school without being able to see your new baby girl, because she hasn't woken up before you go to work, and has gone to bed before you get home from school. Ainsley and I definitely miss Trevor during the week as well. But thats not what I came to blog about...

Ainsley is SO fun to have in our family. She is my personal playmate all day. She gets more and more giggly all the time. She loves being tickled on her feet, under her ribs, and on the inside of her thigh. She knows how to roll over now, but I don't think she sees a purpose in doing it very much yet. She thinks Daddy is hilarious. He doesn't even have to do anything, and she'll be beaming at him for minutes at a time. She really enjoys sucking and gumming anything she can get her hands on. Oh, and the latest...she LOVES solid food. I gave her sweet potatoes for the first time last week and after the first bite she stuck her arms out towards the food and started shaking them with anticipation, with her mouth open wide and puckered for the next bite. The first couple of times I fed her, she would get upset as soon as she finished the food in her mouth, because she didn't like having to wait at all for the next spoon full. She has learned by now that the food will come, and she doesn't need to whine about it. I have learned that she gets fairly bored being inside the same house all day. She has a much better day when we have an excuse to get out of the house and go somewhere. For that reason, I can't wait until it warms up so that we can just go walk outside! At her 4 month check up she weighed 14 lbs. 10 oz., she is 2 feet tall and is as healthy as ever. Some of you might know that she has had blood in her stool, since about 2 weeks after birth. We have been trying to figure out why for awhile now. We finally were able to go see a gastro-intestinal doctor about it. She diagnosed it as neo-natal colitis and the good news is, she will outgrow it, probably by the time she is a year old. If you ever want the details, I'm happy to share, but that could get a little boring on here.

Here are some pictures of our little baby girl:

Here she is eating her sweet potatoes for the first time.



She LOVES to suck on the bird's hair in this picture...I want to figure out how to take the thing off and wash it!



Trevor and I took her to Wheeler Farm and looked at all of the animals...




This is a toy that will always put a smile on Ainsley's face: her monkey



Ainsley is beginning to like being on her tummy for longer periods of time, finally.



Like I said, everything goes in the mouth...



The latest trick she knows...she can play with her feet!

I want to start with the bad news first, so that we can get on with the good stuff. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Trevor and I had a house that sort of fell into our laps. We LOVED it and put an offer on it right away, we checked everything out about it that we could, the offer was accepted, we had our loan going through and then a little ways into it we found out that the city of Riverton was building a FREEWAY in our backyard!!! We had asked about what they were using the land for behind our house and we were told, "Riverton city doesn't have any plans for that land yet". BUT when you go online to UDOT you can see that this freeway has been planned for a long time. Maybe you have heard of it. Its called the Mountain View Corridor. Anyways, we spent a weekend trying to decide if it was worth buying the house still or not, and we came to the decision to walk away. Now that its over, Trevor and I both feel good about it. We feel like we dodged a bullet. Oh well....on to better news.

Trevor is almost done with this semester!!! One more semester like this one and Trevor will be in the clear to GRADUATE! I can't wait! This semester, while working full time and going to school full time, I have gotten to see Trevor Wednesday evenings and then the weekend. He keeps telling me that I have been a single mom - and some times it feels like that, but I really can't complain. Trevor is working so hard to get through school as fast as he can. I don't know if I'd be able to do what he is doing. He comes home, just exhausted. The other night, after I got dinner ready, (Wednesday, of course...if he is eating dinner with me) I dish up my food and then look over to Trevor and find him sleeping! He couldn't stay awake even to start eating dinner. Poor guy. He wants so much for our little family. I am very proud of him. But we are both looking forward to when he is done and has his masters.

Our little girl is doing wonderfully. She has this looks that she gets on her face when she is trying to study or concentrate on something. She furrows her eyebrows and it looks like she is scowling. Anytime we go out anywhere, she spends a lot of time concentrating on everything new around her, so a lot of people get to see her "scowling face" - which she has become known for. It is really funny, because Trevor and I only see that face once in awhile around our house. We definitely get to enjoy the more giggly and smiley Ainsley. I could not praise her more for how well she is sleeping. And I LOVE getting her up in the morning, because she just doesn't stop smiling. Here is a picture of her laughing at a reflection of herself in one of her favorite places...her swing.



I went to the festival of trees with some of the family from the Schow side. There are always VERY creative people involved with the Festival of Trees. Here is one pretty creative idea. The picture below is 4 trees covered in blue stuff, and ocean creatures. The trees bend over to make them all look like a giant wave that Santa is surfing underneath. A lot of time is spent making all of this happen. I can't help visit this Festival with gratitude for all of these donations that help Primary Childrens Hospital. I know that miracles do happen there. I have a niece that is living today because of the work that goes on at that hospital. I really enjoyed our visit.




As many of you know, Trevor and I graduated from rival schools. I represent the blue down south and Trevor has extreme pride in his Utah degree. We are very cordial with each other and can even appreciate each other's school for the good things that both have, but on GAME DAY, there is no question for who we both route for. So, this last game day, we made sure that Ainsley was equally cheering for both teams. We end up looking very patriotic as a family. You can see our fan spirit below...I can't say that I was very happy with the outcome of the game...




Thanksgiving was wonderful. We were able to spend a little bit of time with Trevor's side of extended family. We had delicious home-made rolls! Then we went over to my side of the family. Several of my syblings agreed that this years Thanksgiving was the most delicious one we've had! I think we are just getting to the point, where we all have had practice making our specific dish for Thanksgiving. Really, everything tasted so wonderful! My spares no expense on this meal. We had a huge smoked turkey and a ham! Theres no harm making too much food for Thanksgiving because the leftovers make the best part! My mother-in-law actually made a miniature Thanksgiving meal several days later, just so that she could have leftovers.


I also need to say Thank you for several friends coming to Ainsley's Baby Blessing. The blessing was beautiful, our little girl was beautiful...and it was great for us to get together with family and friends that day. We are extremely grateful to have Ainsley in our lives. Nothing has ever made us happier, then our little daughter.

Another little tid bit

I forgot to tell about a few cool events in our lives the last time I posted on here.

After several months of trying to schedule it, Trevor was finally able to go para-gliding! He loved it. He went tandem at the point of the mountain with a company called "Cloud 9". It was fantastic. Ainsley and I watched him from below. He said that they started out nice and slow and hugged the side of the mountain. As soon as the guy that was taking Trevor up could tell that Trevor was comfortable, he went faster, did the flips in the sky and headed out further away from the mountain. When Trevor landed he had a big grin on his face. If he had all the money and time in the world, I am sure that he would have already gone out and bought the equipment and the lessons to start doing para-gliding on his own.





I failed to mention before about how my grandparents got to be here for Ainsley's birth and a few weeks afterwards. They live in Texas, and are unable to come to a lot of big family events. I was so blessed to have my grandparents around for when Ainsley was born. We were able to get this 4 generational picture of us girls. In the picture is Ainsley and I, my sister Jennifer and her baby girl Lydia, my Mom and my Grandma Roark.

Well, tomorrow Ainsley will be 1 month old. I can't believe how long a month felt when I was pregnant and waiting for our little girl to come, and now a month passed by so quickly. It feels like we just brought her home from the hospital. Since it has been a month I figured it a good time to record our impressions of Ainsley and our life as parents. First I have to thank Trevor's boss for giving him a free extra week off to spend with Ainsley and I, right after she was born. I appreciated that gesture SO much. It was the best gift that anyone could have given us for her birth! Especially because the first few days after coming home from the hospital felt like we were constantly catching up on sleep and trying to figure out the ins and outs of being parents. It wasn't until that next week that I think we REALLY got to just be on vacation with our new little daughter.

A little bit about Ainsley...So far we have figured out that Ainsley likes to be moved and rocked whenever possible. She hates cold wipes. She likes to be massaged (especially on her butt). If she can't be held, she loves her swing! She calms down faster for Daddy. Her favorite spot to sleep is on top of Mommy. She is enjoying her bath a little more every time we give it to her. She is beginning to laugh and smile a little more and she is following rattles and her parents voices around with her eyes. She LOVES FOOD! We think she is very photogenic and beautiful!

Trevor is loving having his daughter here. He has already said how he'll be excited for the next one to come along...when its time. (Not going to happen anytime soon.) He misses her all day while at school and work. His Masters program is keeping him busy, but he has still been able to find time to play with Ainsley and I when he is at home. He has been known to get a smile out of Ainsley, just by asking. She loves her Dad.

I couldn't love being Ainsley's mom more! It is very true that everything takes longer now, than it used to. I am very happy if I am able to work out, eat and get in a shower before noon! I'm sure I'll get faster with time. I think it is also because I can't resist playing with her and talking to her while she is awake. We are doing great as a family. Thank you everyone, for your warm wishes to us when she was born! Thats all for now!

Ainsley Lucile Schow

Just a quick update. We have officially named our baby girl Ainsley Lucile Schow! She is still doing great and is still adorable. Here are a few videos of her immediately after she was born.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIwq6No7g8g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebxu0UA95ss

It's a Girl!!

"First Moments with Mommy"


So we went into the hospital this morning around 7:45 to be induced. Kristine could hardly sleep, she only got 2 1/2 hours... I however slept great! I have been trained to sleep through anything from Kristine's constant runs to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We will see how I deal with baby cries!! Anyway, so we check in and get the process going around 8:30. By about 10 to 10:30 Kristine was already on Pitocin, her water broke, and she had her Epidural. We felt great and excited. I LOVE EPIDURALS!!! Kristine says they are "painless" and she is extremely surprised how relaxing the whole labor process is, including contractions. I know...doesn't sound too typical for a woman in labor!

I can't believe how good Kristine looks during the "Transition Stage" of labor. She is totally making it look easy, I was way proud of her.



Our baby girl was born at 5:30 P.M. on Tuesday the 14th of September, 2010. She is adorable! I know that everybody says that their own baby is the cutest baby in the world, but she is truly adorable! She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long. She looked like she had a big head to me, but ANY head would have looked big from my perspective! She is a good baby (well...she has been for the last 5 1/2 hours and we don't really have anything to compare her to). She cries for about 15 seconds every time she is moved around too much, but then she settles down pretty quick. She is extremely silent while she sleeps, which I guess is a good thing but it freaks me out! I like to hear her breathing and she is too quite most of the time for me. I am sure that is a feature I will love of hers in the coming weeks.







We are so excited to have our little girl. It was really nice to have her and to think about our 3 children, 2 of which are in heaven already. We couldn't help but think about our 2 boys being around us during the labor and while we were alone with our little girl! We are sure that the 3 of them have a great relationship and we feel blessed to be the parents of such beautiful children.

It was nice to have the family come in to see our little girl. After waiting hours in the waiting room, our family was able to come in and celebrate the birth of our healthy baby girl. Many others came throughout the night and it was so nice to have visitors to show her off to. We are excited to keep showing her off as she continues to meet the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great-grand parents!



















Sadly, we are not 100% positive of the name of our beautiful little girl just yet... I know...it is me that has commitment issues. Kristine is sure, she is just waiting for me to get on board completely with it. As of right now, our little girls name is Ainsley Lucile Schow. We both simply think that Ainsley is a beautiful name, and Lucile is the name of my wonderful grandmother. The more I see our little girl (not crying) the more I think the name fits and she is Ainsley!

(I would have had this blog post up earlier, but Ainsley decided to have a poopy diaper! Awesome, sticky, and disgusting all wrapped up in a tiny little package! So far I love being a Daddy)

Does Summer Have to End?

I had been looking forward to a trip out with my family all summer long. Sadly, that trip has now come and gone. It was so much fun to be with my family in Bear Lake for a long weekend. I kept telling myself that this trip was at the end of summer. Now the trip is over and Trevor has to return to school again soon. He is starting his Masters Program. We have one final push during this next year and then he will really be done with school! The good part of summer coming to a close is, the anticipation of our baby coming doesn't have to last that much longer...We have 4 more weeks left...I can't wait! I'm having dreams all the time of going into labor. I have done up most of her bedroom. I am going to pack the hospital bag on Monday. I'm just soooo ready for her to be here!

This post started out as a brief synopsis of our family trip. So we all started off the trip with great intentions of getting to Bear Lake as early in the day on Friday as possible. Those intentions didn't get us too far. After we were all packed and ready to go we realize that the connectors from our trailer hitch and our camper trailer don't match up. We spend the next few hours trying to track down the adapter that we need. In the end we settle on splicing the wires ourselves and making a home made version of the adapter. There always has to be a set back in a trip, right? At least we got ours out of the way at the beginning. On Friday we still got to go on a boat ride for a bit, after camp was set up and settled. The water in Bear Lake was cold...but not too cold. I expected it to be worse. After I rolled myself into the water, I had to wait about 30 seconds and then the water felt wonderful! There is nothing like swimming around to ease the pressure off of a pregnant back. Trevor and I love being out on the water. Thank you to Katie for letting us borrow her family boat!

The next day we went on more boat runs. My family found a great beach to lay out a miniature camp on. Jamon, my brother in law, borrowed his family lake toys. We had a lake trampoline (that had a slow leak in it, so that didn't last long) and a SWEET lake lounger that held at least 7 people on it at once. It was perfect for the whole set up. The beach that we got on was shallow for a LONG ways out. The kids got to play in the water safely, we all got to sun bathe and most of us ended up burned somewhat. We had a canopy for shade, Amber's delicious pasta salad, and a whole 2 days to do nothing but relax on such a perfect beach! The water was so clear too!


On the third day up there, we set up a morning run to try to get the good water on the lake. It was definitely the best water we had up there the whole time. Jamon, Trevor and Katie showed off their skiing skills. Most of the family had a go at getting up on the wake board or skis. We again, played on the beach, collected little shells, played bochee, cards, flew kites, swam, boated, lounged, and got the famous RASPBERRY SHAKES from Bear Lake. I have to give my mom a big Thank You for all of the delicious dinners and dutch oven desserts. I wanted the vacation to last at least 1 day longer, but we had to come back home to be responsible adults. For my own self, I need to list a couple of the funny moments that happened on the trip...the ones that make a family vacation fun!

-We found out how much the family loves Sun Chips
-Jiffer's appendages out of the water
-Max giggling with the bubbles from Eva and Grace
-Trevor waking up others in the camper because he was laughing DURING his dream
-eating our dinners with no light
-John's karate grunts during Egyptian Rat Skrew
-Katie's speed at ANY card game
-Being soaked TWICE in the front of the boat
-Motion sickness
-Watching 2 trucks with their boats get stuck trying to launch from the sandy beach
-The Idiot jet skier too close to shore (not so funny)
-"Thats not a banana, thats my nose" - Daddy Fuller
-Grace falling out of the side of the camper (again, more scary than funny)
-Eva sitting in the lake, asking if it was too cold...
-Learning how to drive a boat and pull someone behind the boat

Pictures are to come...