Chef Craig

Craig and I went through a month of time where all we watched was Food Network! We fell in love for that "Worst Cook in America" show!  ...if you haven't seen it...please watch. HILARIOUS. 
So, Craig got really into it. He started looking up the recipes and making grocery lists to cook the food...along with fill up a whole Amazon cart full of a bunch of cooking items. He cracks me up :)
So this was the first meal he cooked!

 EGGS BENEDICT.

And he nailed it :)
I wish I had gotten pictures of the noodles we made and the red curry! 
YUM! Love my little chef <3

goodness sake

I force him to take pictures with me... Memories right?

Alibi!

Craig and I were watching The Office one night and the name Sue Grafton was said and Craig was shocked that I didn't know who that was. So after he explained it, he looked up her Alphabet series of books that is apparently famous...I didn't know :/ ha! So he starts reading me the titles of these books. The first one he reads is, A is for Alibi (A-lee-bee). B is for Burglary, and so on.  I didn't quite understand what is said A is for...sounded like Aleve, like the medicine.  I just let it go by just thinking I misunderstood what he said. A minute later, he says, "Oh wait...ALIBI (Al-i-by)!"  I was dying with laughter to say the least! We sat there and looked at each other and just laughed :) He was like, "Ya...ya know...like Prince Alibi!" One of those things you want to remember :) Love this funny boy of mine :)

New Years Eve

I didn't take like ANY pictures on new years...guess I was too busy having fun and chatting with my best friends :) My two best friends- Karli and Ashley and their husbands/boyfriends/SOON TO BE FIANCE! and Craig, Paisley, and I all chilled at Karli's house. We ate too much food, played games, and talked and talked and talked :) It was the best :)
Here are the only pictures that I got from the whole night :/ But they are pretty good :)

Too good :)

Thursday Are THE BEST

Since having a little person added to our family, we have had to find time to go out just us two. This at first was difficult for me, because I already feel that I spend a lot of time away from my baby girl. But, Craig has helped me understand that we still need to strengthen our own relationship, alone :) I have really enjoyed that time that we have taken to just enjoy us...and sometimes she will tag along too!

Thursday's have become a really happy day after about 3:45 :)

We finish school and then chill for a little bit and then are able to go to a movie or dinner...or both!

I have loved spending time with my baby daddy...gosh is a good lookin guy :)

So, here is to many more date nights and fun times with this babe. <3

Pumpkin Carving

During Fall Break, Craig and I took full advantage of all fall activities.  I have NEVER carved a pumpkin before, so Craig knew that this was a must for me :)  He made sure that, no matter what, we made time that day for carving pumpkins.
After getting home from our canyon drive and some late lunch, we were pooped and little Paiz was a little hungry :)  So! I fed her and then we took a nap. After our nap, we went to Walmart to get our little pumpkin family.  When we got home, I wasn't totally in the mood for getting messy or staying up late to do this, but Craig wasn't going to fail me...so we carved them :)  Even if it was 12 am!

 Craig was so cute and helped me look for things I wanted to put on my pumpykin.

He was so excited to watch me scape out the guts and get all gross.

 One thing that I didn't know was how BAD I hate the smell of pumpkin!! 

I am not a pumpkin pie fan and only stick to pumpkin bread and cookies. 

But, honestly, the smell is awful!!

Craig actually likes the smell...BLAH

 I begged Craig to do the guts part for me, but he refused and sat ready with a camera to take pictures of this gross process. HA!

I look back now and am glad that he made me do it.

I was able to get over a few fears :) haha

 But, I was def wearing gloves...and that is a MUST!!

 I wasn't able to get any pictures of Craig carving his pumpkin because I had to put Paiz to bed, but I did get the result!

Isn't ANGER so cute?! hah

 ...and here is mine!

Minion...it was not supposed to look sad...but that is how he ended up..ha!

 This is my SEXY husband...dude. 

I lucked out!!

 One proud pumpkin carver :)

Our little pumpkin family outside on our porch!

love my man...and this season...but I love my hubs a little bit more ;)

Her Daddy

As I have had the opportunity to watch Craig become a dad, my heart has become so full. I find myself wanting to take more pictures of him and her together than anything else. I thought this would be a special experience, but it has surpassed what I thought it could possibly be. Watching Craig become a dad has been one of the most beautiful experiences that I think I will ever be a part of. Each time he looks at her, he says (out loud) how beautiful she is, how much he loves her, etc. Like really? She is such a lucky girl to have Craig as her daddy. Each time I am holding her, he has this little jealous look on his face J I can tell when he really wants to be with his little girl and I hope that he always gets that look on his face. He loves to lay down with her on his belly. He calls it “Daddy’s and Paiz’s cuddle position.” Come on. It couldn’t get any cuter. The love that he has for her is beyond what I could have imagined. Another thing that I can’t forget to mention is mine and Craig’s relationship. I didn’t think it was possible to love him anymore, but these last five weeks has proved me very wrong. My love for him has grown 100x. We both know it. And I think our little girl knows it too :)

We are beyond blessed with this perfect little girl.

I promise to never ever get sick of seeing them cuddle.

I promise to continue to love Craig more and more each day.

I promise to always cherish the alone time that we have with our little girl.

I promise to never forget how it felt to watch Craig become a dad.

I promise to continue taking 100 million pictures of the two loves of my life.

I promise to always give daddy and Paiz their cuddle time J

I promise to always love Craig- for eternity.

I promise to love my baby girl with all my heart- no matter what.

Paisley Young: A Birth Story (Part 2)

We were so overjoyed at this point!!

At 6:15, my nurse came in and said it was time to start pushing! Third surreal moment!! Pushing? Me? Like in the movies? Like on all of those blog posts that I have read from other people? ME!? I was so very excited. Craig came to the head of my bed and held my hand while we waited. My nurse explained to me how I would be pushing and then we started! Every contraction, I pushed for 10 seconds, 3 times each. I could feel each of my contractions as they started and ended. I knew exactly when to push and my nurse counted with me. Craig had not planned on watching the birth, ya know, because that stuff is gross and all. ha! But, my nurse, as she counted, motioned for Craig to come over to the foot of the bed and look. He, of course, wanted to see what was going on. He got so excited and she pointed to the baby’s head slowly coming down. My dad even had to take a peak because of how excited everyone was getting! My nurse explained to us that every contraction and push helps the baby come further down the birth canal and then she slowly goes back up a little bit when I am not having a contraction. Craig loved seeing her little head coming down and then back up. The best part was that I could start to feel a little bit about what they were seeing and talking about! They told me that she was moving her little head around as I was having a contraction…and I COULD FEEL IT! Still, absolutely no pain, but I could feel little movements from her! It was magical, honestly. I had felt her kicking and moving around for these past many months, and now I was feeling her head as she was coming out!

My doctor poked his head in the door and was going to let my nurse know that he was going to head home till later when I was closer to delivering. My nurse laughed and said, “Dr. Smith, come take a look at this and then you can decide what you are doing.” He came and took a look as I started to have another contraction and just laughed and said, “What the! We are going to deliver this baby right now!!” He was shocked at how fast my body had progressed on its own. I had barely needed any Pitocin, at all, and was really doing this on my own—with the help of that lovely epidural.

He got changed into his clothes and sat down at the foot of my bed. I had maybe 6 contractions TOTAL while pushing before this baby decided to make her debut. He told me when to stop and start pushing and then I could see a little head. He informed me that there was no cord around the neck and that she was looking just perfect! The rest of her little body came out and she was set of my belly to get wiped off. They then put her in my arms. She was not crying, but breathing just perfectly in her mother’s arms for the first time. I start to cry just thinking about this amazing moment. It was full of so much JOY, but at the same time, fear of what kind of mom I would be. I barely knew what to do at all, but I knew and had so much faith that my maternal instinct would kick in and I would know exactly what my little girl would need.

Our doctor thought this was just about the cutest thing ever. The cord was wrapped around her ankle like a little anklet :)

Paisley Young was born at 6:35 PM on September 14^, 2015. She weighed 8 lbs. exactly and is 20 inches long. We were all shocked when we found out that she weighed 8 POUNDS! We still have no idea how she had been fitting inside of my belly. But, I was pretty happy to find out that she was 8 lbs. I mean after all I only gained 24 lbs. total, so if she was 8 of that, then that is great news!

After they took her from me, they were able to measure and weigh her, take her temperature, give her shots, and put the goopy stuff in her eyes. She was so MAD! All I could hear was her screaming. When everyone left her alone, she was completely content! It was pretty funny :) During all of that fun still to my left, my doctor and Craig filled me in on what happened to my downstairs.. :/

When she was coming out, she was in a little rush to get out. The doctor had her head out and was working on her broad shoulders when she flipped and forced her way out. Instead of coming out horizontal, her shoulders came out nice and vertical. I have about a 2 inch bi-lateral tear. Craig said there wasn’t much blood until I tore, but then there was a different story. But, my cute little girl already had been wearing jewelry in the womb! HA! She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her little ankle! My doctor and those around thought it was just the cutest thing ever and they all made sure to get a picture of it :) He continued to deliver the placenta and all the other good stuff. Craig was able to cut the cord and he was so excited about it. He had been looking forward to this part. Cutie :)

She came out holding up her head AND trying to eat :)

My sweet little Paisley was placed back in my arms. We were able to share a special moment together. Craig reached down and touched her soft skin. He then shared a kiss with me- one that I won’t forget. I was then able to pass her to Craig and watch him hold his little girl for the first time. Let me tell you, I will never get sick of that. I love seeing him hold our little girl more than anything. Each moment we shared in that room was so special.

We were so lucky our entire hospital stay. We were able to savor those moments in the middle of the night with our baby girl. I was able to watch Craig fall more and more in love with his daughter each time he held her. We were able to learn how to breastfeed, together. I really don’t think I could have done that without him by my side. We were able to watch Paisley day and night and used those time to turn out thoughts and thanks to our loving Heavenly Father. Again, we feel so very, very blessed.

Craig and I will never forget when we finally became a family of three. The wait seemed long, but oh so worth all of it. No wonder people say how amazing having children is. Because, it seriously is the biggest dream come true. Heavenly Father’s love is real! He is a loving God.

Welcome Paisley!
We will love you forever :)