"Family Habit Overhaul"

That's what we're trying to do. We have fallen into a funk since Nathan was born and we tried to get a handle on life with a kid. After almost seven months, we've realized all of that effort left behind a disorganized home and stressed-out parents! (Not to mention a Nathan who still won't sleep!)

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we feel it is our responsibility to always do certain things. Some of these things include studying the scriptures daily, praying as a family and on your own every day, and attending an LDS Temple regularly. The only one you are accountable for these things to is the Lord. It's a very personal commitment that can bring families closer to each other and to the Lord.

However, with busy school and work schedules, and learning how to be parents, we have fallen a bit behind in all of these things that are supposed to be habitual. We still feel close as a couple, but we've noticed something missing.

In addition to these things, we are lacking in more secular habits, like organization, scheduling, meal times, homework/study times, chore schedules, etc. We've pretty much been flying by the seat of our pants, which is pretty taxing on all of us! The most scheduled part of our day is Nathan's bedtime routine.

Here is the plan that Mitch and I came up with together today. This is going to be very hard on us, but it needs to be done in order for us to be productive. No more sleeping in (mostly trying to catch up for time we were up with Nathan during the night), and no more pajama days, which tend to happen (with me) a lot, since I only go to class at night and online.

This is our new schedule, starting Monday morning (May 23rd):
7:30 am--wake up & exercise
Two of my least favorite things, at my least favorite time!
8:00 am--showers for both of us
Sometimes I don't shower until Nathan's down for an afternoon nap; usually because that's the only time I can get to it! Doing it before he wakes up works too, though...
8:30 am--study the scriptures on our own
I'm not so good at this; Mitch is a pro.
9:30 am--breakfast together
Usually Mitch grabs breakfast to go on his way out the door, and I rarely eat it, which is a horrible habit when i'm nursing!
10:00 am--study the scriptures together
We'll share what we learned on our own or study something different, depending on what we want to get out of it.
11:00 am--off to school (Mitch) or online schoolwork (me)
This is our normal start time for the day. Since Nathan still goes to bed around 10:00-10:30, he usually sleeps until about this time in the morning.
4:oo-6:00 pm--"rest time" and dinner
This is when our brains get a rest and we get to watch tv, get on Facebook/Blogger, etc. And of course fix and eat dinner.
6:00 pm--any work or leftover schoolwork we need to do
This is about the time my night classes start, and I also work every once in awhile in the evenings for the Ticket Office on campus.
10:00 pm--plan the next day and have family prayer
This will give us the organization and "heads up" we need to orchestrate getting places on time during the day with one car, who watches Nathan when, etc.
10:15-10:30 pm--put Nathan down for bed
Eventually this will be an earlier time, but most of my classes go until 9 pm and I really don't want to miss bedtime with my little Nathan!
11:00 pm--our bedtime
This is a lot better than the 1:00-1:30 time we usually end up going to bed at. We just lose track of time while we try to hurry and get done everything we didn't accomplish that day!

And then it all starts over.

This is going to be hard, but we both need it.

It is very similar to the schedule that full-time missionaries from our Church follow. So, Mitch lived this every day for 2 years. Lots of members of our church follow it for years after their missions because it makes them feel very healthy.

I feel like sharing this will make us feel accountable to someone else to keep this goal. We're eventually going to implement some sort of chore chart and assign days to grocery shopping, laundry, etc. We understand that our schedule could change completely based on our school schedules. Sadly, school has to come first right now, and we have to work around it.

I will share our progress every once in awhile to let you all know how we're doing.
Then i'll share the goals that we've set to go along with this schedule, and how we're doing with them as well.

I'm still grumbling at the fact that I have to get up at 7:30 tomorrow! Ugh!! The last thing I will ever be is a morning person!

And, since a couple of you chose to read this far, you get a picture :o)
Our bald little Nathan is finally big and strong enough to sit in the front of the grocery cart! He loves it! When we put him in the front and buckle him in he holds on tight to the cart and gives us this cute, apprehensive smile!

One day he'll have hair! For now we call it "infant male pattern baldness."

It's finally spring!

We have been waiting, pretty much since Nathan was born, to play outside. And when you're born in Idaho in the beginning of November, that can be a pretty long wait.

But, when you finally get springtime to come and get to wiggle your baby toes in the grass for the first time, it can be really fun!
Or, you can hate it like Nathan did.
He didn't like it at all. I guess a lot of babies are like this, right?
We loved his little adidas shirt and sweatpants, though. It's a very "Mitch" outfit!
And then on Sunday he was wearing my favorite outfit, and it was pretty again, so we had to head back out! I'm sure our neighbors think we're "those people" that take billions of pictures of their one kid everyday...they should see my memory card!

This is as close to a smile as I can ever get:
We love the dark blue shoes in that last picture...$1 for leather Baby Gap shoes at our thrift store! Score!Now I need to learn how to edit pictures so I can make these look all fancy!

Six Months and Worrying

WOW...Nathan is six months old today! (November 2nd)...it's amazing how fast the last six months have flown by...and how fast our love for him grows every day!

That also means that my sweet little great-grandma, his great-great-grandma, is 98 1/2 years old...Nathan was born on her 98th birthday! She is awesome.

Nathan has learned how to:

-roll over and over to explore things and get closer to toys
But occasionally forgets how, leading to screaming fits of too much tummy time!

-make hilarious, throaty noises that he repeats over and over again...
(that GASP!-y noise that gets everyone's attention) Tonight we were "those people" in Walgreen's with the crazy noisy child that wouldn't stop gasping at every new aisle! I didn't know Walgreen's was that fun!

-reach out for someone/something
It's so cute seeing those two little hands and ten little fingers try to grab something!

-pull hair like a champ
It took him this long to find and start pulling mom's short hair!

-sit up on his own for about 20 seconds at a time...woo hoo!
After that he needs his boppy for support :o)

-eat rice cereal like a champ, whether it's mixed with breastmilk, water, or Pedialyte
This week we start baby food! Woo hoo, go peas!!
(Nathan and his best friend, Burton, going for a ride in our car)
I'm sure there's more, I just can't remember it! This kiddo hasn't mastered sleeping well yet...he occasionally sleeps more than 4 hours at a time, but most nights he's still up every 3-4 hours wanting food. There's more to life than sleep...right!?
Anyway, on to the next subject...worrying.

I keep convincing Mitch that it's normal for moms to worry more than necessary. He doesn't believe, and thinks i'm going to have an aneurysm at any second.

I usually worry about one thing in particular, which is a very silly worry that I'm, for some reason, consumed in.

I am so worried that the next baby will have to come by c-section.
I know, crazy, right!?
At this point, Nathan's next sibling's going to be, like, 4 years younger than him!!

Plus, in order for me not to be considered "high risk" and give my incision time to heal, it is "strongly suggested" that I wait at least 2 years from the time he was born to get pregnant.

You got it, doc!

VBACs are 75% successful. Those are good odds. My body didn't have a single problem getting fully dilated, etc., it was all Nathan laying on that dang cord. There is no reason I shouldn't be able to have a normal birth with the next baby, in fact, my doctor said I was one of the best VBAC candidates he'd ever seen.

And there is no reason I should be worrying (and losing what sleep I get) because of this.

Mitch thinks i'm a basket case, but baby #2 will determine a lot! He/she will determine:
-if I have to have a c-section with every baby from then on (after 2, it's c-sections all the way!)
-how many kids I can have (after 2, they judge it one at a time...you could be told in surgery that you can't have any more kids...)
-how every recovery will be from then on (I've been told by countless women who have c-sections every time that every recovery is harder than the last).

Now, for those of you that i've advised that a c-section is not the end of the world, DO NOT LOSE FAITH IN ME!! It really isn't!! My recovery was a breeze, I remember every minute of that day (not a foggy narcotic-head here!), and I, personally, LOVED the extra time in the hospital. Ask my mom; she was there to see how easy it was.

This is just an irrational mom worry. A rut I'm stuck in.

Has anyone out there had to have all c-sections, or just one, and can give me good advice?

Even if it's, "yes, you should worry..." I want to hear it. I want permission to worry or not worry. I know it makes no sense, but it will make me feel better!

I feel cheated out of the "normal" experience. I labored all day and got to a 7-8 before the epidural, and 9 1/2 before they called for a c-section, all to earn the satisfaction of seeing that baby. And I didn't get to meet him for 2 hours. I know it doesn't sound like much time, but everyone got to see him before me. Dad, countless doctors, nurses, pediatric heart expert guys, and no mom. If it wouldn't have been an emergency, he would've stayed right there in the OR, but they whisked him away to NICU to check out that heart, and I pretty much demanded Mitch follow them, that I was fine. Our poor baby was alone, and I hadn't even seen him yet!

Yet, I still feel, after all of this worrying, that nothing could make me want it any other way. That c-section made me trust doctors and procedures...everything I was scared of before. The doctor that swooped in and helped our midwife save the day was SO patient and only opted for a c-section when he knew it was the only option. He gave me so much time to try for a normal birth, I just couldn't get him here quick enough (ooh! Another tinge of guilt!)
We got a perfectly healthy baby when he had every sign of congenital heart failure. Mitch says he was so alert and aware, even after being drugged to the max! We had a great recovery. He's been awesome (except the colic...) every day of these last six months!
I'm so glad Mitch took this picture. I felt so nasty after everything, but these couple of minutes that I got to be with him in recovery were just priceless. Look at that scrunched up little face snuggling up to his mama! I love this boy :o)

Finally...a Name and a Blessing!

In our church, fathers give their new little babies a blessing shortly after they're born. Pretty much as soon as mom and baby rejoin the world after the baby is born. This also adds the baby to the church's member records so they can be counted as one of some 14 million Mormons. Usually families make an event out of it: families come together, babies get dressed up in white (much like a baby's baptism) and are officially named and honored.

However, this is one thing that is done when the parents choose to do it; everything is up to the parents. We chose to wait until our two families could be together to see the first grandbaby on either side be blessed. Because of weather and distance, last weekend was the first time we could get everyone together! And, because of travel and weather forecasts for said travel, we blessed Nathan in my in-laws' home on Saturday, instead of in church in front of everyone on Sunday during a church meeting.

We were going to have everyone there, but Danny, our brother-in-law, had lasik surgery scheduled (go perfect vision! It went great!!) and my sister Camille was taking finals at BYU. So, we had almost everyone there. Danny, Dani (Danny's wife...cute, I know!), and Camille, we missed you! :o)

Okay, enough chitchat. I have group pictures we took, but I don't have the ones I'm planning to take of just him in his blessing outfit yet. He was hit with a bad cold that turned into bronchitis, so I'm waiting for some red, watery eyes to go away and a happy demeanor to return!

Here we go!

Here is Nathan lounging, waiting to be dressed in his white outfit. I just love the arm! He knows what a la-z-boy is for!
(Surprisingly, he didn't blow out as soon as I put the outfit on him!)
Nathan and mom
Nathan and dad
The men that helped give Nathan a blessing: his dad spoke the words and they all stood in a circle to show their support. This is something that is reserved for the men in our church to do.
[From left to right: Clark Melinkovich (the church clergyman who helped them out), Ethan Dooley, Mitch, Dave Dooley, Pat Larson.]

Three generations; there are four generations living on the Dooley side, but Nathan's great-grandpa couldn't make it. We missed you, Grandma & Grandpa Sheffer!
The Dooley Family
(We missed you, grandparents and Danny & Dani!)
The Larson Family
(we missed you, grandparents and Camille!)
Nathan and his grandpas :o)
His shirt says, "Team Grandpa"...he isn't with both his grandpas often; I thought it was appropriate! He even looks like he's smiling here!
This was one of my favorites from this weekend. I don't get pictures with my little man very often because I'm always behind the camera! (Or i'm sleep deprived and still in pajamas...)
And another favorite...Nathan is in about the 50th percentile and Melissa is 12 and oh-so-tiny for her age! I love the combination of the average, chunky baby and the tiny adolescent!
(What!? She's an adolescent!?)
I swear their heads are the same size! We thought she was going to fall over when he went all limp noodle on her! (check out his chunky arms and legs...I love them...)

Thank you, thank you to all the family that made this possible. Our Dooley family housed and fed everyone and made it a great weekend that we couldn't have pulled off in our tiny apartment. Our Larson family missed a week of school and work to drive tons of hours (through the night, no less) to make it. It really made me realize how much LOVE there is in a family!

For the love(?) of going to school forever...

So I'm supposed to only have 3 semesters left before I graduate.

I know that with Nathan it'll take longer...I can be patient. I've given BYU-Idaho too much money and worked on too many assignments, projects, finals, and gone to too many classes while morning sick to quit now!

But, Mitch and I walked into a camera supply store last week. It was amazing!

We walked out of the store having decided that I need to just GO for this photography obsession of mine.

I've never been very good, and I've always been intimidated by photography; it's art! I'm bad at art!

I'm adding a cluster in photography to my degree...or I might add it as a second minor. I haven't decided yet. We'll see where I am when I get the 12-credit cluster done.

This idea started forming when I finished saving up for a DSLR camera. It took me about a year to save up for it! I bought it used from a friend who took very good care of it. My new friend's name is Olympus E-500. It came with 2 different hoods and lenses and I love it. I've been taking pictures and experimenting everywhere. Like I said, I'm not very good, but I hope that'll change!

I just want to have good pictures no matter what our financial situation...we're poor in college and will be in grad school for sure, and I don't want to miss sweet little moments that are captured best by a professional photo session, just because I can't afford them.

So we'll see what happens. I'll be able to take my first class September 2011!

General Conference fun!

Twice a year, April and October, our entire church, all 14 million of us, gather together around the world to hear from our leaders. It is broadcast in dozens of languages, simultaneously, around the world from Salt Lake City over a Saturday and Sunday. It is the coolest thing ever, and one of my favorite weekends of the year! This year, Mitch's grandparents got us all tickets to see our church's General Conference live in Salt Lake. This meant we'd get to see all our leaders in person, which is a really cool thing. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings at these meetings, and hearing them in person is just breathtaking.

Everyone went to Salt Lake this weekend for the session we had tickets to. Camille was even able to come down from BYU to see us! She spent the night in the hotel that Mitch, Nathan, and I (and the rest of the family) were staying in. It was amazing!

I didn't get to see it in person because they don't allow anyone under 8 in. Because the last thing you want when you get 21,000 seats filled to broadcast all over the world is hundreds of little children crying and talking all through the broadcast! So, he and I watched it from a broadcast location near the Conference Center where the family was seeing it live.
The Conference Center holds 21,000 people and is state-of-the art in every way. Because our church owns their own satellites, the meetings are easily broadcast and can be watched on the internet, listened to on the radio in some areas, and watched on tv in most areas (on BYU tv). Everyone has access to it.
Nathan and I found a window on the tenth floor of the building we were watching the session from. We were so close to the Salt Lake Temple and had to take some pictures!
I loved having my big, long lens to take pictures with. I was able to zoom in really far and didn't have to crop much away from the pictures you see!
Every LDS Temple has a gold plated statue of an angel on top, named Moroni, instead of a cross. He reminds us to look to heaven and sound our praises for our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ.
I can't believe the detailing in this Temple. It was built in the 1800s and took 40 years to complete. The early members of the church even ground down their fine china to mix with the granite, giving the walls a sparkle!
It was amazing to spend time in Salt Lake City. Our ancestors have so much history there, and sacrificed so much to get there and establish themselves. The little things I complain about every day are nothing compared to what they went through. They sacrificed everything to build this Temple, and it has stood the test of time beautifully.

Thank you, Dooley family, and Grandma & Grandpa Sheffer, for hosting all of us and making this trip possible!

How to Get CHEEEAP Diapers!

Thanks to my friend Sarah, I now get diapers for about 12 cents apiece. That's right. Cheaper than Parent's Choice. (I'm not sure about Costco or Sam's Club...we don't have memberships...)

The best part? They're delivered to my door with FREE TWO-DAY shipping! And it's never cost me a dime! How awesome! :o)

Before you waste your time reading further, this only works if you have a ".edu" email address...at least it's only free if you have a university/school email address. You don't currently need to be a student, it works with any .edu address.

1) Go to www.amazon.com
2) Join Amazon Prime. This gives you free 2-day shipping on tons of items. I only do diapers right now, but they have tons of household things. In a small town with only one tiny Wal-Mart to shop from, this is greatly appreciated!

Amazon Prime is $75/year. It's also free for students. When you search "Amazon Prime" on the homepage and click on the "Amazon Prime" ad, you should see a link on the right offering a one-month free trial. There's also a smaller link that says "Amazon Student." Then you click on "Join Amazon Student." You enter your school, major, and email address. They send you a link and you respond to it to show that the email address is real/functional.

3) Join Amazon Moms. You can do this from the same page where you joined Amazon Student, right under the student link. (It says "Amazon Moms"...duh...)

4) Add whatever diapers you want to your cart. It'll say that you can save even more by adding Subscribe and Save. It signs you up to automatically receive that same product every month. However, you can cancel it or modify what product you want anytime. And, if you run out before one month, give them two days and they'll show up on your doorstep! Also, it doesn't bill your credit card until it ships them to you. Little ones don't stay in the same size month after month, obviously, so the choice to change products is awesome! No penalties and no minimum for free two-day shipping!

You can also change the address you want them shipped to...like, we'll be in Wyoming in April, and if we need diapers, we can change the shipping address for just that order to have them sent to where we'll be staying.

I just got 100 size 2 Huggies diapers for $12.00...that's 12 cents apiece!

Oh, ALSO, if you have a manufacturer's coupon it even has a spot to put it in. We get $2.50 off Huggies coupons a lot which we love to use! (Yay, elastic in the waistband of our beloved Huggies! WAY less blowouts!)

It takes a couple minutes of maintenance whenever you need more diapers (aka, the same amount of time we spend reading diaper packages/figuring price-per-diaper in the baby aisle at the store!) I love that it saves me a trip to Wal-Mart, especially when we realize we're out of diapers late at night. I just order them in big, bulk boxes.

I haven't bought diapers in a store in probably two months! Thanks, Sarah! :o)