1 month old!

So now that I'm a month old, it's my turn to blog. That's right. Today is my one month birthday! Yeah! Mommy keeps telling me that I'm not allowed to get bigger, but since I nurse ALL the time (as any healthy baby should) that's not looking like it's gonna happen. Mom guesses I weigh about 9 lbs. She says that because two days ago using the Mommy gets on scale by herself and then again with me in her arms method, the scale said I was 9.5 lbs, but this morning using this same method once with Mommy and once with Daddy I was only 8.5 lbs. So she's taking the difference. Either way, I'm getting a double chin. So cute.

Other big developmental milestones, let's see I do pretty well with my head. I don't have real control yet, but sometimes I can hang in there for a good minute or two. But the best one is that I started smiling. Not often. But not just gas. A couple ladies at church yesterday told me at different times that I was pretty so I smiled for them and they were so surprised. Just like my sister, I know when you're saying good things about me and when you're saying bad ones. Plus Mommy can always manage to get a big grin at least once a day.

Here Mommy tried to recreate one of her favorite photos of Siena when she was the same age as me. Sadly, Mommy doesn't know where her two big teddy bears are. Fingers crossed they're in storage. So we made do with what we had. She tried two separate photo shoots today...it exhausted me.

Zoo Addicts

Seriously. We might need some help. How many other 4 week olds do you know who have been there 5 or 6 times...Mommy lost count. We love it though. I like the reptile house and the elephants the best. Cara likes being outside. And Mommy likes that it is a good place to walk around in the sun with two kids. This morning we went to the members only early entrance time and Daddy came with us!! I got to pet a desert tortoise. I made Daddy touch it first and then I chased it all over the grass and Daddy had to pry me away. Oh and we also got to see the tiger cubs running around their exhibit. It rocks to go in the morning!



So some of you might have noticed that for having a new baby, I seem to not post many pictures of Cara. Well our next post I promise to let Cara do the whole thing and maybe not even mention me! In the meantime, cute photos!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

That's right! Our Uncle Marty is going on a mission for our church and he just got his call! Uncle Marty will be laboring in the Missouri St. Louis mission. Yeah! One of his best friends is serving there right now. Plus, he knows to some degree what foods he'll be eating. I'm sure he'll get a few surprises though. He leaves November 18th. That's just a little less than 3 months from now. That's also our Daddy's birthday. We are so excited for him, but can't believe that he'll be gone for two years. Congratulations, Marty. We love you.

Funny story regarding Uncle Marty's mission call. Our families were all set thinking that his call would come last Wednesday (okay more like hoping because Uncle Marty leaves today for an 8 day trip to Costa Rica), but alas it came and went without that big white envelope. Bummer. We were all holding our breath too. Well on Monday, our Mommy goes skipping out to get the mail here at our house. Remember, we're in Salt Lake City, Uncle Marty is in St. George. As Mommy comes back towards the house, she starts flipping through the mail. She notices a big white envelope. Her thoughts run as such: What's this? Funny, the return address says " The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". Eh, it's probably for Oma and Apa since they are on assignment for the church and happen to be back in the States for the next two weeks. Hey, there's one of those funny yellow stickers on the front that the post office uses for forwarding mail. Wouldn't it be weird if this was Marty's ca----HOLY CRAP! IT SAYS ELDER MARTIN GORDON LARSEN ON IT. At this point, Mommy runs yelling into the house at Daddy. "I HAVE MARTY'S MISSION CALL!" Yes, in a weird quirk of fate, Uncle Marty's call came to our house. For some reason, the forwarding sticker had Mommy's name on it. Her maiden name. Why Elder Martin Larsen looked like Sheri Larsen, we'll never know. Several rounds of phone calls later to Grandma, Uncle Marty, Aunt Angie (you get the picture) and it was decided. Lucky for us, Uncle Marty was impatient and didn't want to have to wait the possible two days it would take by snail mail to hear where he was going. So on Monday at 4:15pm the whole St. George family skyped (video phone call via the internet) us and we opened the envelope and Mommy got to tell Uncle Marty where he would be spending the next two years. It was exciting, but we felt bad that we had all the maps and information on his mission president and that he couldn't read it. So we jumped in the car and took it straight to the post office. Uncle Marty got his mission call (a second time!) today in the mail.

Other than that, we've been busy! Our cousin Mary had a birthday party at the park on Monday night. Yummy tostadas and delicious cake plus lots of swings for Siena! And then today Mommy took us to the zoo to see the new tiger cubs. Yes, that's right. The Hogle Zoo is baby making central. Since we've moved to Salt Lake in April, the zoo has had: Golden Lion Tamarin twins (the cute tiny gold monkeys), a black footed kitten, a snow leopard cub, 6 baby meerkats, a baby giraffe, a baby elephant, and 3 siberian tiger cubs. The tiger cubs were actually born back in June and are finally on display. Holy crow, that's a lot of babies. Mommy likes it though. It's fun to think she was pregnant with all these animals and that we got a baby too.

Here's a fun picture from our outing on Sunday. Since there were no regular church meetings, Mommy and Daddy took us on Trax up to Temple Square. It was so much fun. But I absolutely refused to take a nice picture with Cara. I would not sit and hold her. So here are some other pictures that Mommy got!

150 POSTS!

I apologize on behalf of my Mommy. We haven't posted in a week because she was daunted by the thought of her 150th post. It needed to be something worth blogging about and since our days are spent trying to find clothes to wear everyday and trying to recover from having a newborn baby, things to blog about were escaping Mommy. She's in a funk. Her maternity clothes look too big and stretched out and her before clothes look too tight and show off her blobby figure. Very frustrating. She's taken to wearing the same 3 shirts over and over again. Gah! Also why are all toddler foods crumby? And I mean that in the sense that Mommy screams about the need to vacuum the floor everyday.

MOVING ON. There have actually been plenty of things to blog about. Oma and Apa have come in from Belgium to see their new grandbabies! I neglected to tell you about my newest cousin that was born only 3 days after Cara. Rosie was on born on Monday August 3. She lives in California so we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet, but that makes THREE new little girls for Oma and Apa to meet. They got to meet Rosie this weekend but we get to hang out with them all this week! In the picture, you can see that I'm straining to get away from Oma. Don't worry. I quickly warmed up. We just had to sing Popcorn Popping.


And then on Friday, my cousin Romney turned 4. We had a delightful party at her house. There were lots of rambunctious boys there and so I didn't get in the pool. But I actually played with others and by myself and didn't stay on Mom's lap the whole time. PROGRESS!

Finally, in little sister news. I continue to love Cara. I love to hold her and insist on having my picture taken when I do so. We have an interesting series of photos of me learning to be soft.




And in this video, you get a little bit of a sense of my babbling. I talk all the time. Sometimes in phrases you can understand, but mostly in Sienese which actually we probably shouldn't call it that since that's what the residents of Siena, Italy are called, but I like it. Also at the end, I am singing to Cara. Mommy tried to capture me saying "So Sweet" which I do when I kiss Cara, but I don't perform on demand.

Grocery High

Guest post by Mommy:
In homage to my good friend Heidi from high school, I decided to post about incredible savings at the grocery store. She routinely makes me green with envy regarding her dedication to sales and coupons in regards to food. However, today I feel redeemed! I did good!

Pictured above:
7 boxes of cereal
2 boxes of Pop Tarts
2 boxes of Special K cereal bars
1 thing of donut holes (actually left out of photo inadvertently)
8 boxes of Mac N Cheese
6 boxes of different variety crackers
3 blocks of cheese
2 packages of deli meat

Retail value at Albertson's (which we know is slightly higher than say Wal-Mart): $102.55
Price paid at the register: $53.31
In Store Savings: $49.24
As a bonus: $5 dollar coupon for future store visit and a $20 mail in rebate! There was also another $10 rebate but both require an original store receipt. Oh well.
So in conclusion, I bought 31 normally ridiculously priced items for a grand total of $33.31...28.31 if you take out the $5 dollar coupon also. That's about a dollar an item! I feel great about me right now. I wish I could do this well every time I went. But alas, I am not a great coupon shopper.

A week with Grandma!

The best part about getting a little sister? All the visitors! Grandma came and spent the week with us. And as a bonus Grandpa and Uncle Eric stayed a couple days also. PLUS Aunt Becca had soccer games up on this end of the state so we got to go to Heber and see Great Grandpa's new puppies (born the same day as Cara!) and Lil' Buck the horsey and jump on their tramp.

I'm also a GREAT cheerleader at soccer games. I say "Go Aunt Cecca" and "Runnin" and what even sounded like "Get her". We're sad that we only saw Aunt Becca for a few minutes here and there but she did get to hold little Cara. We can't wait to go down to St. George and watch the Thunder soccer team again. This time it will be at night and not so hot. :)

While Grandma and Uncle Eric were here we went back to the zoo. Mommy LOVES the zoo. When we lived in Monterey, she LOVED the aquarium. Well the day before Cara was born the zoo had a little baby giraffe and also at the beginning of July they had baby meerkats. We got some great pictures of the baby giraffe and the meerkats. And it turns out the baby elephant that they have been expecting for 22 months (Mommy is so glad she is NOT an elephant) was born the day we were at the zoo. Of course, she wasn't out in the open yet, but we can't wait to see her!




Unfortunately, whenever I spend time with Grandma lately I tend to get a fever. This time Mommy thinks it was a preemptive strike so that Grandma wouldn't take me to St. George without her. So Mommy and Daddy's induction into parents of two is in full swing. Two girls crying. Both only want Momma. And then they both puke on her. YEAH! Parenthood is fun. Luckily, Motrin and Tylenol make me feel better even if it's an epic battle every few hours to get me to swallow the medicine. Mommy hopes I start feeling like my old self quickly. Like Daddy said this morning, "I miss my Siena. She's not herself." Good thing Cara and I are cute!

The Zoo and More

Hey everybody! Cara is now 9 days old and still cute. Aunt Angie and Uncle Marty came up and visited us. It was so much fun. Aunt Angie brought me markers that color on windows and we had a lot of fun making the door downstairs pretty! We also went to the zoo with them. It was unusually chilly for August and we went in the morning which worked out so whoever was carrying baby sister wasn't so hot. Aunt Angie was cold though. COLD in August. Storms do weird things. The pictures we have of the zoo aren't too awesome, because the sun was just so bright on us. And if you notice the scowl on my face...I hate that fake elephant, he makes loud noises. I think Aunt Angie has all the good pictures on her camera.

In today news, Cara went to church for the first time today. Mommy was excited to get us all dressed up for church and so she thought that 9 days old was old enough! Bishop Tagge "sent" Mommy home after the second hour. Lucky me! We only have one car and so I got to go home early too! Of course this was another photo op! Aunt Angie painted Cara's toes while she was here. So precious! I love to hold my sister. She's so pretty.



In news about me, I continue to say things that my parents actually understand! I also continue to crack them up everyday.
A few phrases that are priceless and need to be documented:
-"Mmmm, 'smack lips', it's good" said whenever she drinks something yummy (or when she eats the dirt under the swing)
-"Thank you, thank you much" which is always said appropriately. So polite
-"I hungry" not always said when she's hungry, Rolly says this on 101 Dalmations...she's playing pretend
- "See ya later" and she means it. Normally, she's trying to open the garage door as she says it
-"It's pretty" and we have a girl...not too girlie but on her way
-"Ta Da" said with real flair and anytime she thinks she's done something impressive such as put on a hat or color on the window
-"Peter" self explanatory if you know her Daddy's name. She will say this if Daddy said twice didn't get the proper reaction

I'm also really trying to say Cara's name. Sometimes it comes out right other times it sounds more like color. I do however say "sister" and do the sign for girl in ASL. I refuse to do this on camera despite repeated attempts to capture it. I also know the entire alphabet by sight including upper and lower case letters. This too proves elusive to the camera. Test me some time!

Cara at home

So I'm sure you're all dying for more pictures of my little sister...I know I am. I've been in St. George for two days. Grandma and Grandpa took me home with them so that I could have fun while Mommy and Daddy took care of Cara. But here are some cute sister moments. Oh and also there were deer in our backyard to welcome Cara home!




And here is Cara's first bath at home

Mommy's Story

Cara's Birthday as told by our Mommy:

Well I'm sure all of you are DYING with curiosity to hear the labor story. (Why do we women assume that everyone wants to hear this? I think it's because we need the incredible pat on the back for the job we just did and also because we can't imagine someone not wanting to hear the story of the miracle of your child's life!)

I must confess first off that I am not a patient woman. And a little bit of a control freak (not 5 minutes ago I got in trouble with Pete for starting to straighten up the kitchen despite his many warnings that I was not supposed to be lifting a finger!) And I also tend to get certain ideas in my head and then I really want them. I got it in my head with this pregnancy that I DID NOT want to see August pregnant. I was going to have this baby in July. Just the last week of July which I didn't think was unreasonable because I would be 38 weeks. Well as this final week of July starting flying by I started becoming unhinged. I was dilated to a 3+ and was 80% effaced...why wasn't all the walking and other inducing methods working for me?! I began to just cling to my doctor's appointment on the 30th for the hope that Dr. Gravelle would strip my membranes or just admit me downstairs and get the baby out! Well much to my chagrin on the 30th Dr. Gravelle informed me that because I was Group B Strep positive (not an unusual thing, but could potentially mean a very sick baby if antibiotics aren't given in labor) she wouldn't strip my membranes. She wanted time to get the two doses of antibiotics on board which need to be 4 hours apart and she said I would go too fast on my own if she stripped my membranes. (I was extremely flattered and excited at the concept that she thought I would have a quick labor!) But I was also crushed. No baby today?! Apparently Dr. Gravelle could see the desperation in my eyes and said she could put me on the schedule to be induced for tomorrow the 31st. Hope glistened. The word yes was out of my mouth before she had finished! Of course the problem with this hope was that it could be dashed. I was considered an elective induction and so I could be booted off the schedule if they were too busy or if emergencies came up.

I got the call that night that I was 7th on the list and they would call me in the morning with a time to come in...if they had time. If I hadn't heard from them by 10:00am I was supposed to call them. As my mom said, I was in a holding pattern just like airplanes in line for take off. Well I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stand to stick around home Friday morning and just wait for the phone call so Pete took the day off as a precaution and we planned to go to the zoo. I got up, showered, straightened my hair, started a load of laundry and then off we went to the zoo. It was 9:30 am. I was beginning to see my hope go away. Pete didn't think we'd go in before early afternoon, but I figured if we didn't get a call by 10 it meant they were too busy. So as we were driving up 3900 South, I started to give up my dream of my baby being born today when the phone rang. It was the hospital. I could have my baby today! And then they wanted to know how soon I could get to the hospital. I almost claimed the ability to teleport. But instead I said 20 minutes. So they said come on in. We turned the car around and headed to Intermountain Medical Center to have our baby. (Luckily Siena is young enough she didn't realize that she missed out on a trip to the zoo with Mommy AND Daddy.)

It took forever to get me checked in. Apparently a bunch of us showed up at the same time. But finally at 11:00 am they started the first dose of antibiotics. Dr. Gravelle didn't want them doing anything to actually get labor going until 2 hours after that first dose. She really had faith I would go fast. That meant I had to wait until 1:00pm until they started hanging pitocin. Now I must mention at this point that I was hoping to do this labor without an epidural. The pitocin made me nervous since I had heard about it's nasty tendency to produce unbearable contractions. Well a whole hour and a half went by with hardly a contraction. I was beginning to think that I would be at this for HOURS. I was 4 cm dilated when they started the drip and so the nurse thought I was go quick Finally at 2:30 I started having contractions just about every 3 minutes. And they had a bite but not too bad. Pete and I were even waltzing around our little room trying to help the labor along. I was still in great spirits. At 3:00 they started the second dose of penicillin and then the resident broke my water. I knew I needed to be nervous because I remembered with Siena that those contractions hurt a LOT worse once that water was gone. But I was kind of okay with that because apparently I was still only a 4. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the first five contractions after that water was gone weren't too terrible. Only obnoxious because I leaked water with every one of them. I was standing on a towel.

And then that sixth contraction hit. And it had a bite. A familiar bite. I remembered this bite with Siena's labor. It was with that bite that I had chosen the epidural. I told myself I could do this. I was still in control between contractions. However, my nurse had suggested to me before they broke my water that I could turn off the pitocin drip and get in to the tub because I would probably maintain labor on my own at that point and then I wouldn't need constant fetal monitoring. I called in the nurse to talk to her about this option. It was 4:00 pm and since there had been a shift change I asked her what her opinion on it was. She offered to check me to see if I was making progress and maybe that would help me decide. I was at a 5 which was great but only a cm an hour I was hoping to be quicker! I said okay thanks I'll think about it. :) She left the room and the next contraction had me on all fours cringing on the bed. It hurt SO MUCH MORE than the ones before it. I started to cry and shake a little with the contraction. And then the next one felt like it was only 1 minute later and then the next again was only a minute rest. I looked at Pete and said "Am I getting any time in between!?!" So called the nurse back in at 4:35 and said let's turn off the drip and get in the tub. Truthfully, I was just hoping that turning off the dang drip would make the contractions hurt less. She checked me again as she started the tub. I was at a 7! I had done 2 cm in a half an hour! That was hopeful maybe I could do this labor quickly. At this point, I was starting to really lose composure during my contractions. I discovered that "sounding" (aka something similar to yelling) really helped. Just kind of guttural LOUD noises during the peak. It felt good to get in warm water and I asked for just a little narcotic to help me get on top of it again. She did only a half dose I think because I was already at a seven. I don't think I even noticed it's effect. The water helped me relax in between, but the pain was just as intense during the contractions. I got in the tub around 4:45 and my nurse started pulling out all the stuff for delivery. I told her that she would be my hero if that meant I was complete and could be done! At 5:10pm I asked to get out of the tub. I needed to know how far I had progressed because I was on the verge of needing that epidural. I was again so delightfully composed (NOT!!!) trying to get to the bed. She checked me at I was at a 9+!!! Just a little cervix left, I had done it!

She had just seen my doctor in the hall and went to go get her. I wouldn't have been so joyful and felt that I had done it if I knew what the next 20 minutes would bring. These contractions were very intense and I was starting to really feel out of control. I was crawling up the bed, I couldn't focus. And I was really trying to think about how it would all be over soon. But I had pushed for an HOUR with Siena and despite the fact that everyone was telling me that they would eat their shoes if I pushed for an hour again, I thought I was in for a long haul still. Well much to my surprise when it finally came time to really push, it took 2 contractions. And I just shot her into the world. It was fantastic. No epidural! I really HAD done it. It was so much more different than when I had an epidural. I wasn't prepared for just how different. It was great. And I really did have a fast labor. I didn't think that I would, but I went from being 5 cm dilated to a baby in just a little less than two hours. Cara was born at 5:55pm!

I can't say which way I will go with my next baby (whenever that will be!), but I'm glad that I've done both!

I left the hospital 24 hours later with my sweet little daughter and we're at home and happy and healthy! YEAH!!

Pictures Abound!

I wanna see, I wanna see!



Alright everyone - meet my new sister Cara!





Mommy and Cara!



Say, she's got a face... just like me!





Aunt Rachel and Bundle come to visit!




Sweet kisses....