We Went to Cabo!

We had a lot of fun and Elsie did great! Everyone had us worried that she would put a damper on the vacation but she was the best.

She let Grandpa hold her while she got blasted by some waves. (This is after said blasting)

She fell asleep on all our boat rides, even the one that made other people seasick.

We played in the sand.

Elsie and Dad took naps on the beach. Yep. That's her under the t-shirt.

Well, there was this one time (every morning) when Elsie decided she would get up at 6 am.

But other than that I have no complaints. The weather was great, the food was great, the water was bottled and the company was great!

Thanks dad for taking us on vacation!

Question

I have a question... does this look stupid?

Its not a hat. Its a really thick headband. I say its cute but Elsie needs a bigger noggin to pull it off and after I became annoyed with Benjy's comment of 'that will never look good,' he changed his opinion to 'it's cute because it looks funny and babies are supposed to look funny and be laughed at.' Useless. So, all 6 of you that read my blog, tell me... Does this look stupid?

I haven't written in a while and I still have nothing to update you on. Benjy's team made it to the 'ship of the Preston Alumni Tournament (basketball). wohoo. Thats about it though. Oh, I've decided to teach myself to sew. Its a lot of fun. I don't know much and a seam ripper is my best friend but am enjoying it since here in Rexburg it frequently dips below freezing and occasionally below zero. If I make something I am super proud of I may post it. But here are some cute pics of my Elsie for the time being!

She is very hygenic.

See?

Lubereski initiation

Boy or girl? I don't know but it sure is cute!

I know what you're thinking. "this explains a lot."

She likes to chew on her lips now. weirdo.

There is a lot more cute/funny ones, but I try to restrain myself because I am Elsie's mom, I think everything she does is funny and/or cute.

Elsie Mae Hess

As you can tell from my previous post, we changed her middle name. Please dont comment on it, it will make me burst into tears! (with the lack of sleep I'm still not quite back to normal.) The original plan was to name her after my grandma but we changed at the last second because we liked the sound of Mae as Elsie's middle name and I also wanted to save Jeannette for our next girl so I can give her the same initials as me... KJH.

BUT.... Now I'm in panic mode... what if we dont EVER have another girl?! What if our next girl is forever down the road?! I'll feel guilty until then! I already told everyone her middle name was Jeannette (including my grandma Jeannette who recently passed). I feel like a jerk for changing it.

ADVICE: Don't make any real decisions while in labor.

Anyway, I know my Grama knows that she is very much loved... but I still worry if I should have just left her name how it was.

On to happier things.

Elsie was born on 10.10.10 at 6:50ish PM, weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long.


After her bath she looked less like an alien. I take far too many pictures of her to put them all up... she looks different in every single one and changes every single day.
For now she is just a tiny little peanut that loves to snuggle in right under your chin and sleep on your chest.
She HATES wet diapers (we have to change her immediately after) but can somehow sleep through a poopy one.
She has big eyes and loves to stare at things... but by things I mean white walls and ceilings and occasionally the light coming through the window.
She makes lots of cute/funny faces, especially when she is trying to wake up but usually has a scowl on her chubby little face.
I wanted to put this picture up because apparently, this is how she came out! Head and hand together. She is never without her hand or hands in her face. We have to keep them covered because she scratches herself so much.

Her bilirubin count was high (she had jaundice) after we brought her home so that little light you see behind her is a bili blanket to help lower it. She is doing great now though and no longer looks like a glow worm.

One more thing... Benjy is a GREAT dad. He sings to Elsie, jumps right in on diaper changes, takes over burping her, loves to rock her to sleep and smothers her in kisses. Its so cute.

All Things Baby

It's a girl!

We wanted to wait to name her until we saw her but then we absolutely fell in love with a name and have decided on it! Elsie Jeannette, after both Benjy's and my grandmas. The funny thing is Elsie was our favorite name when we wrote down the preliminary list and later Benjy was going through a genealogy chart and we found out his grandma's given first name is Elsie (she doesnt go by it). Thats when we really fell in love with it.

I am 28 weeks and things are going pretty well. I started feeling better around 22 weeks and as long as i eat steadily throughout the day I do just fine. Its pretty exciting not to have to plan my day around the times I am most likely to throw up and having to carry around barf bags for the unexpected mishap.

These ultrasounds are from when I was 20 weeks, so they're a little late but my mom hasn't even seen them yet so I figured I needed to put them up. They are upside-down, they're labeled but look at the bottom left to see what it is supposed to be. People ask if we are sure that she is a girl since sometimes it is common for ultrasound techs to miss the boy parts.... I'm judging by the pose that she is definitely a girl. The picture of me is from this Sunday (28 weeks). I look huge. I know i will eventually be that big, and I'm totally ok with it, but I swear I'm not as of now... that pregnancy dress just makes me look really round.
Enjoy!

pepermint puke

So, I've hit the big 12 weeks that everyone keeps telling me about... so anti-climatic. I'm still sick all the time but I'm praying it will be over at 14 weeks (like Grandma) instead of 20 weeks (like Mom). all i know is, with my luck, it will probably end on April 13th, the last day of school.
Anyways... I have noticed that sucking on or chewing on candies (Now & Laters being the perfect compromise of both) really helps keep me from throwing up. Another thing that I have learned is that if I eat a lot of pepperment, my puke is quite bearable. TMI? Probably. But these are the exciting things that happen in my life.

Hopes and Dreams

I was reading in a packet my doctor gave me about pregnancy and it says that I should start a journal with all the hopes and dreams for our life together. How about this:
Dear baby,
Right now, while you are growing in my belly, you make me want to throw up. I hope when you are no longer in my belly you will no longer make me barf.
Love,
Your Nauseated mommy

Lentil beans and chick peas

Soooo.... im pregnant. im sorry if this is the way that you are finding out! but nevertheless.... it is true. this week, apparently my baby is going through a growth spurt from the size of a lentil bean to the size of a chickpea! so weird. i do love me some chickpeas though.
Well thats about all for now. i have to try and eat some dinner while i still have an appetite.

Wedding Pictures!

We finally got our wedding pictures back! here are a few...

Benjy leaned out the window to yell at someone and put his pits on some snow/ice clumped on the window. haha. i love him.

Updates

This weekend, when i was in Utah for Benjy's and my reception, I was told that i need to update my blog. I was a little embarrassed because I didnt know that people actually read this thing. so far its been a love letter to Benjy and I from Benjy and I. So, I guess from now on I will try to write about real things. I do have a few things to choose from, like maybe our wedding, our cross country drive/honeymoon or Benjy's job here in Virginia. 

But for now, I'm not going to write about any of those. Benjy will be home in a few minutes and I have dinner waiting for him. Instead, I'll just post this picture and explain. 

Every year, most times twice a year, my dads side of the family attends the Oktoberfest and or the Hoff fest. If you haven't heard about them, you should come along. Basically, we all go, find a big table for everyone attending and spread out all sorts of jackets and purses until everyone arrives. Then, we feast. We eat braut wurst, sauerkraut and more. then we wait around until the polka bands play the chicken song. We then throw on these hats and dance around for a few minutes and go back to our seats to wait and do it again.

This is what Benjy married into. As you can see by the picture, he's willing to put up with it. What a sport.

Gone to Logan!

So... Benjy left me yesterday. He ventured into the northern countries. He has only been there for a day and i miss him like crazy. I already had to look through our engagement pictures because i miss him so bad. This is my favorite one of the week. I think its because it was taken after all the pictures were done. We weren't posing. i was freezing and we were about to walk back to the car. 

I miss him.

But since he is gone it's G-Night! That means girls night out of course. Heidi, Rose, Kendra and I are going to He's Just Not That Into You. Mo isn't coming because she is all righteous and stuff... she is doing her visiting teaching all early in the month. 

It should be fun.

Kendal decided to leave me for a while. It stings.  She went to california on a rugby trip.  I really wish i was there.  There is nothin i love more than to see her bookin it around like a navajo in them rugby shorts.  I guess she jacked her shoulder in the first game.  But thats just rugby i guess. she's so dang hot.  she gets back on sunday.  i miss her real bad.  but anyways.

Saturday was Valentines day and we had a great time! Benjy had all these plans for us up north that fell through because my rugby game was canceled due to snow.  So after driving for a good part of the morning and early afternoon we made it back home (our coach had us try to make the trip to Logan) and i took a nap.  While i was sleeping Benjy re-planned a whole new evening for us! He thought of everything.  He even shoveled me a pathway from the passenger side of his car to the door.  We went to dinner and he had apple beer's and popcorn waiting at home to watch a movie.  It was a lot of fun and very leisurely... you could say.  

Benjy got us matching sweatshirts and i got him sweatpants! we think alike... maybe we should get married.  

I'll post a picture of us as soon as i figure out how.

First Post Ever

I've never been into the blog thing... then my cousin Molly went to india and i wanted to stay in touch/comment on all of her amazing pictures. so here i am. blogging. who knew.