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Monday, November 18, 2013

Reagan's 1st Birthday!

My little buggy is one year old!  It's so crazy to think that we've had her for a whole year!  This little girl has completely changed my life!  I can't imagine a day without her.  She brings pure joy to our family and we are so grateful that God sent her to us at this point in our lives :)

So for Reagan's birthday we had a busy day planned!  My friend Bethany was getting married that evening and we had Reagan's party scheduled for Sunday evening.  So the sweet little darling that she is was so incredibly good for me all day!  I was able to get the house cleaned and decorated with only a few Reagan messes to clean up at the end!  Then Rea and I went for a walk around the block.  Now we didn't take the stroller because she wanted to walk all by herself. 
She even had fun chasing a little doggie around a cul-de-sac at one point!  I was just so impressed by how well she is walking and interacting! After our walk we met my mom at the grocery store to pick out some candy to decorate her birthday cake with.  My mom was so sweet and offered to make it because I just didn't have time to do it myself.  While at the store I bought Reagan an ice cream cone to celebrate how awesome she is!  This girl loves her ice cream!


I was really hoping to find some time to go see Trevor and Krista's new baby, born the day before Reagan's birthday, but things got hectic and I didn't make it.  Luckily I got over on Sunday to see him!  He's so handsome!

Baby Lex
So because we were going to Bethy's wedding that evening we'd arranged for my mom to watch her along with cousin Evie!  I kind of felt bad not spending the evening with her on her birthday, but I felt better after mom told me how much fun the girls had together :)  Their first real PJ party ;) 


On Sunday we had the family over to celebrate with us!  My mom made a darling butterfly cake that Reagan loved mushing!  She got lots of awesome gifts and enjoyed everyone singing to her! Thanks to everyone who was able to come and make her birthday so special!  It really means a lot to us to see how many people love our little girl so much!  Thank you!

 Kyle and I got her a little bike!  She likes it more then we though she would!

 Enjoying her cake!
 Cousins on the Applegate side! 

 She loves to open presents!
Princess Reagan!
 
Here are a few of the pictures my sister took of Reagan for her 1st Birthday!







Taylor & Roy


My amazingly gorgeous best friend Taylor married her sweetheart Roy May 18th of this year! I was unable to attend their wedding ceremony in California, but a few days before we were able to help at the reception in Utah!  It was a fun airplane/retro themed party!  I got to feel all important and take some pictures for them.  The ones above were taken by my sister and then she had to leave so I took over for the rest of the time. 

It was a lot of fun, they had it in a gorgeous back yard right on Provo River.  Everything went fairly smoothly and it made me so happy to see them make the choice to get married!  I have a special place in my heart for Taylor and Roy.  They started dating before Kyle and I and its been fun for me to watch how their relationship has progressed over the years.  The ups and downs and all the crazy in between! 

I'm so glad you two are married!  The joy marriage brings to your lives will continue to bless you as long as you both keep working at it and never let the negative things in life get you down!  Love you both!  Now go have some babies! ;)

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Hack-Childress Wedding

On October 19th, 2013 my beautiful sweet Bethany married her true love Jordan!  It was a small intimate ceremony at White Willow reception center!  I love this place, it is so beautiful and classy.  It has an old time charm to it that I absolutely love! 

The weather stayed awesome for them to have an outdoor wedding in the evening.  I am so glad I was able to be there with Kyle watching them take vows to love and cherish for their whole lives! Every time I get he change to attend a wedding I think back to that wonderful time 4 years ago when I said 'Yes' to my handsome hubby! It was fun watching how calm and steady Jordan seemed as he looked into Bethany's eyes.  Bethany started out looking nervous, but as the ceremony progressed you could see the calm come over her and you could see the love shared between the two of them!  I absolutely loved the fact Bethany's father was there and able to walk her down the isle, it made me tear up to see him give her to Jordan at the beginning.  After all was said and done we all gathered inside for a lovely evening of yummy food, laughter, dancing, and lots of toasts! 

Congrats Bethany and Jordan!  I am so glad you two have decided to take this next step in your relationship!  Marriage is amazing and as you grow together you will find that the other is truly your other half! 

Here is the picture montage I put together to celebrate their marriage!  I have come to the conclusion that they will have beautiful children :)  Enjoy!
 
I can't figure out how to insert it, so here is the link!
http://www.youtube.com/v/wXOonejqQOM?version=3&autohide=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=C2iH2REAWzkqTRBXg8I0Dg&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share

Yep, I love them :)

 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Kaitlin & Wayne

Photo taken by Michelle Kemp (She's awesome and also took my wedding pics too)
 
 
So happy to welcome another member of the Olsen clan into the family!  Kaitlin and Wayne sealed the deal on June 25th and I am so excited for them!  Marriage is awesome and I'm so excited to keep expanding the family!  I loved being able to attend their sealing in the Mt. Timpanogos temple.  It really brought back a flood of memories from my own wedding day!  I love going any chance I get, It helps me remember the covenants I made that day.  Here are some pics I took of their special day :)
 
So excited to be married! 
 
Reagan wanted to eat her flowers!
 
 My little family enjoying the reception!  They had it in
Steve and Lanette's back yard, it all turned out so beautiful!  The whole day was just perfect for them!  I was so glad the weather stayed nice and that everything went so smoothly for them!  It's so exciting to celebrate as two become one in marriage :) 

 With the parental units!  Funny story.  Wayne's father and my father served as
mission companions in Montreal Canada!  It is a small world!
Aw, father-daughter dance!
 
Congrats you guys!  We are all so excited that you guys made the choice to get married! 
Best wishes for an eternity of love!


Reagan's Birth Story

I absolutely love reading birth stories and experiences so I decided to share mine on the blog for anyone who is interested.  We had a smooth and wonderful experience welcoming our little girl into the world.  Please be advised that this is a birth story and includes details that you might find TMI so don't say I didn't warn you ;) I also have spammed it with pictures!

October 18-19th
It all began with very early in the morning with some early labor pains in my back.  I woke up to a constant cramping in my back that circled around to the front of my uterus.  That was about 2AM and I was unable to really sleep the rest of the night.  I tried to get as much sleep as possible because I felt like things were starting and I needed my strength for the rest of the journey.  By the time Kyle woke up I really didn't feel like going to work and being extra uncomfortable all day.  Kyle took a couple hours before he went to work and went on a walk with me to see if things would start picking up.  He walked on the sidewalk and I walked with one foot in the gutter and one on the sidewalk.  We did that for about 20-30 minutes.  The walking really helped alleviate some of the discomfort from the cramps, but when we were done the intensity started picking up. 

Kyle went to work and I stayed home trying to get some last minute things done and get some rest.  Actual discernible contractions were starting to come, but they were sporadic and fairly far apart still.  At around lunch time I decided to get out of the house and go see Kyle for lunch at his work.  We sat and ate some Wendy's and he began to time my contractions as they were now starting to come at regular intervals.  At this point they were about 10 minutes apart and were lasting about 30 seconds each.

At lunch with Kyle - 39 weeks and in labor
 I called my mom and gave her an update and she was sweet enough to offer to come and hang out with me while Kyle was at work.  As most people know I'm a terrible procrastinator and so my nursery was not full completed yet and the hospital bag was only half packed.  Luckily sweet Trevor and Krista came and kept me company as well and finished decorating and organizing the baby's room.  Mom helped me time contractions and helped me remember to breath through them.  I was pretty relaxed at this point but very anxious.  Mom helped me get all comfy on the couch so I could try and catch some ZZZ's because I didn't sleep much.  I really wasn't able to sleep well, but did get some relaxing mediation in.  At about 3:00 my contractions were about 6-7 min apart and increasing in intensity.  At 5:00 they weren't staying as consistent and were moving between 4 and 6 min apart.  I told Kyle that he should skip school tonight because we'd probably end up in the hospital in a few hours. 

Once Kyle got home my contractions were beginning to get very uncomfortable and we both thought maybe we should go in and get check out.  We got all packed up with the car seat, hospital bag, and all the other little goodies we took with us.  We arrived to the hospital about 7pm and got all checked in and hooked up to the monitors.  Everything looked good.  I was dilated to a 3 and about 80% effaced.  They told us that we would monitor for an hour and then check me again to see if any progress has been made.  It was kind of cool to watch my waves of contractions come and go.  Kyle would watch it and then squeeze my hand right as one would hit because he could see one coming on.  Kyle was a real sweetheart and kept me in a good mood.  He even joked with the nurses keeping the mood light.  After our hour past I was checked and to my disappointment had not dilated any further. :(  So they decided to send me home for a while to see if labor would stop.  They asked me if I'd like a Morphine shot to help with the pain.  They also told me that if it was false labor it would start to ease the contractions.  I decided to get the shot and it took about an hour to get discharged.  During that hour my contractions really started picking up and really became painful.  As we were leaving the hospital I started crying because I didn't want to be sent home and I was really starting to feel intense pressure and pain through my contractions. 

After being told we were getting sent home :( 
The only good part about being sent home was that we got to eat!  Ladies, please eat just before you go to the hospital because they don't let you while you are there and it could be a very long time before you have anything but ice chips!  So on the way home I'm starving and really wanted some Arby's.  I'm sitting in the car bawling and eating my cheddar and roast beef from Arby's trying to stay calm.  I had Kyle call our parents to give an update.  Kyle really wanted to take me to his parents house in Salem so we could be closer to the hospital, but all I wanted was to be in my own house so I could do anything I needed without any other people to disturb. 

Once we got home Kyle helped by get into bed because I was so tired!  I crashed soon as my head hit the pillow.  According to Kyle every 4-5 min I would writhe and moan for about a min then go back to sleep in between contractions.  I don't actually remember a lot of this period because of the morphine making me loopy and tired.  It got to the point about 1am that Kyle woke me up and asked if I needed to go back to the hospital.  I turned to him and said, no not yet, I feel like I'm getting really good sleep! HAHA!  That's when he told me what was happening while I was "sleeping".  By this point the contractions were getting really intense so Kyle called the hospital asking what he should do.  They had him run me a warm bath to see if that would help to ease the discomfort.  It didn't do a dang thing for my comfort level!  So after about 20 min in the bath we decided to get dressed and go back to the hospital.  Finally in the car my contractions were coming long and strong about every 3 minutes.  On the way to the hospital I begged with Kyle to not let them send me home, cuz I didn't think I could handle getting sent home again!  Kyle reassured me that it was doubtful that they would send me home!

We got to the hospital about 2:30am got all checked in and when they checked me I was only to 4cm, but they decided to keep me! Hallelujah!  I quickly requested the epidural and finally sweet relief came about 30 min later!  Oh how glorious it was a short while after getting it my nurse looked at me and said, are you ok?  I was having a contraction and didn't feel it!  I was so excited and relived that it was working so well.  After the epidural kicked in and they got me all situated in bed I finally drifted off to sleep until about 5:30am.  I got Pitocin at some point to help speed things up a bit, but I don't really remember that.  I'd get waked up occasionally as they'd check me and the baby.  At one point they gave me an oxygen mask to help baby's heart rate.  I did have some visitors about 7ish, my mom, Judy, and Curt all stopped by to see how I was doing.  No lies, I didn't really want to see anyone because I felt awful!  Apparently I was going through transition at this point and was shaking uncontrollably as if I was cold. 

Getting some oxygen
Dr. Nance came in to see me about 7:20 to break my water.  I was at 7cm and about 100% effaced.  Once he broke my waters he was able to see some meconium (pre-birth baby poop).  He calmly told us that because of this they will have a respiratory team on hand at delivery to check baby right after birth to make sure she didn't breath or swallow any meconium.  Because of this Kyle wouldn't be able to cut the cord.  We were both ok with this because baby's safety is obviously more important. 

After my water broke things progressed really fast.  At about 7:50 I was at a 10 and ready to push!  I was so nervous for this part! I was afraid that with my epidural I wouldn't be able to effectively push my baby out!  Luckily I had awesome nurses and Dr. Nance to help coach me through it!  I pushed hard like they told me through contractions!  Baby's head was crowning and Dr. Nance pointed out to Kyle how much hair she had!  I was so excited to hear my baby had hair! About 2 contractions later and she was out!  Little bitty baby was so excited to be out she started crying just after her head came out.  No need to swat that little bum!  She was born at 8:13am.  Dr. Nance cut the cord so fast and they immediately started evaluate her and clean out her nose and mouth and check for any meconium she may have swallowed or breathed.  I had to remind Kyle to go take pictures he was so overwhelmed with having a baby!  The sweet nurses directed him on good pictures to take of her first moments in the world :)  Luckily my little sweetie pie only swallowed a little fluid and had no further complications.  I was finally able to hold my new born girl!  Soon as I got to hold her my emotions flooded and I cried tears of joy.  She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Getting call checked out
 Getting her stats! (no need to see her lady bits)
So precious!
 Finally getting to hold her for the first time :) 
First family pic!
I don't remember a lot of the after birth process.  I had a small episiotomy when I was pushing and so Dr. Nance stitched me up after all was done and delivered the after birth.  I'm one of those crazy people who decided to keep my placenta and have it made into pills!  I totally recommend it too!  Feel free to ask me about it if you want more info. :)

Reagan Olsen
7lbs 2oz, 20 inches
Born 10/19/12 at 8:13AM
 
Now enjoy all the beautiful pics of newborn goodness from our hospital stay!!

 
 Hated getting clean!
All cleaned and ready for the public!
 










She is pure perfection!