The Monthly Sam: Issue 1

My little boy turned one month old last week and I can't believe how fast time has flown nor how much he has changed and grown in such a short span of time!

...annnnnnd he always looks annoyed in pictures. It's probably because he is actually annoyed because I take so many pictures of him. Sowwy kiddo. 

Anyways, my plan is to make a photo book after he is a year old and have a message about him with each month picture so I will just put those on here so I know where to find them :) Here goes round one...

We just love our sweet little boy so much! Sammy is such a wide-eyed curious little boy and so alert when he is awake. At this month's check-up he weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. He was a total show-off for the doctor! When the doctor placed him face down on the table Sammy propped himself up on his little arms, lifted his head up, turned his head to the left, then to the right, to look around, and then laid back down. The doctor said, "Whoa! Good job little guy!", and said he was doing great! At home Sammy is starting to show signs of his Daddy's stubbornness and his Mommy's impatience. When he is awake he loves to be on his tummy, either on Mommy or Daddy's chest, or on the floor. When he is being held he will grab onto shirts, hair, skin and try to lift himself up while locking his little legs. When on the floor he will kick and kick, almost as if he were swimming. He tries so hard to move, and will scream and cry the whole time because he gets so frustrated that his little body won't do what he wants. His head is always on the swivel, taking in everything within eyesight. His favorite things to stare at are faces and moving ceiling fans.

So, Sam started trying to move while having a scream fest pretty much as soon as we came home from the hospital. At first it really concerned me because he was born 3 weeks early, so I didn't want him to stress himself out because the doctor said he needs to rest so that his brain can continue developing the way it would have inside of the womb. No matter what I do though this kid will not stop trying to crawl, stand, and climb. I am glad to knew that he is such a determined little boy, but I just want him to calm down! 

The Baby: An Unexpected Journey

Well, not that unexpected, since we planned on having him. BUT the journey of pregnancy and of becoming a mommy had it's unexpected moments. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my son and am completely obsessed with him, I mean look at him...how could I not be.

Anyways, in typical Madison fashion, I am going to make a list of things I was not expecting about pregnancy and birth and life after birth.

Pregnancy

1. Having really bad nausea for my entire pregnancy. It was somewhat manageable once I started taking Zofran everyday, but it still had it moments. Like the several occasions when my husband came home from work, leaned in to give me a kiss, and I totally gagged. I felt so horrible, and kept explaining that it wasn't his fault, but I know this was hard on him.
2. Getting used to people rubbing my belly all of the time. I thought this would be really difficult for me, but since we go to a spanish congregation, and hispanics tend to have a smaller personal bubble, (I mean, they generally greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, so that automatically sets them apart from most of us anglos), I was able to withstand cringing every time I got rubbed.
3. Feeling like Free Willy every time I had to get out of bed to pee, which happened to be several times in one night. Once I was big enough, the act of rolling over became very difficult and was always accompanied with sounds a whale makes.
4. Crying. I cried a lot. At really stupid things. Except for the time we watched La Bamba and Selena back to back, that was a totally justified weep session. Rickkkkkkkyyyyyyy! Oh gosh here I go again. Thank goodness those hormones don't just disappear as soon as the baby is out! But we will discuss that later.
5. Anger. The same hormones that made me cry also made me really angry sometimes. Especially at work. Everyone always had something to say about MY pregnancy, and MY body, and it made me furious. I am really surprised I didn't fly off the handle, not even once. I know most people were probably just joking, but I got really tired of being teased about how I can't do this and I can't do that, oh "watch out Madison's water might break" or "Where's Madi? Probably sitting in the walk-in refrigerator". Yes, I would take a small cup of water into the fridge whenever I had the chance, but it was 115 degrees and I was very pregnant, give me a freakin' break.

Labor/Birth

1. That escalated quickly. I was only in labor for about 5 hours. I started counting my contractions on Monday night around 11:00 PM and they were already 5 minutes apart, so at around 11:30 PM we started driving to the hospital, even though Abraham was convinced that baby wasn't going to come after our false alarm a week prior. We were still driving when I realized my contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart, and I started getting a littttttle panicky. Got to the hospital and was already 7 cm dilated (I didn't know what that meant before I had a kid, so I'll just say that once you get to 10, you push). I feel like the part that took the longest was getting checked in with the nurse, and getting my epidural. BTW the epidural was fantastic. I now call it the magic rain. The epidural took a while to get because I "kept moving", well excuse me for breathing while I am hunched over and having contractions. Rude. After the epidural I asked if I could take a nap, because I felt that good, and the nurse said no, because I have to start pushing soon. I was really sad I couldn't get a nap in first haha. Pushed for like 30 minutes and BOOM out came our slimy, screaming bundle of joy.
2. Wanting to punch my husband in the face. I love him oh so much, but there is a line when you are having contractions and being poked and prodded constantly, and he crossed it. While I was getting checked by the nurse, who so kindly reminded Abe that he could change the TV channel, he decided to watch some show that displayed short videos of people falling, crashing, and doing other stupid stuff. This is his true passion in life, and looks up these kind of videos on youtube probably everyday. I wouldn't have minded if I didn't have to hearing him laughing the whole time I was having contractions and getting stabbed with needles. Line crossed. No one can be that joyous while I am in so much pain, end of story.
3. These words from my doctor and nurses. Very unexpected. "Where's Dr. Nelson? I don't want to deliver this baby! Page him again! Sweetie, I know you want to push but try not to." I seriously was so close to screaming out "WHERE ARE YOU DR. [insert last name here]!!!!!" Even with the epidural, pushing was very uncomfortable, painful, and not pushing was like torture. "Ok, Madison your baby is halfway out, go ahead and grab him and pull him out." WHAT?! We definitely never discussed this and I promptly answer with a firm no, but he was persistent and wasn't letting me out of this experience. So I stuck my hands out and he guided the baby into my arms, which also led to the unexpected thought of, "Oh my gosh it's so slimy and flailing, how do I hold this thing?!" But, I did, and it was magical. Last but not least, my favorite quote from my doctor, which was said after I asked him how many stitches I ended up getting, and he replied with, "I lost count." This didn't mean as much to me then as it means to me now, especially since I ran out of Vicodin on Sunday. Apparently my sweet little boy tore one of my muscles on the way out, thank you very much son, so now my labor experience will be known as "The Wrath of Samuel".

Life After Birth

1. This one is a repeat. Crying. I did not cry once during "The Wrath of Samuel", I think the first time I cried was in our hospital room the next night. He had just been fed and was sleeping in the bassinet, and Abraham came and put his arm around me and we just stared at our perfect little miracle, and I couldn't help but cry. This happens a lot. I can't help but cry when I look at that perfect, healthy baby because I feel so blessed to be his mom and that God would grant me such a gift. 
2. This one too. Crying. I bawled my eyes out when they nurse came in and did Sammy's PKU screen, which required pricking his heel and squeezing blood out of it. Sammy didn't even cry, like a boss, but I was ridiculous. Let's blame the hormones, shall we?
3. And this one. Crying. I never thought I would find myself in a CVS Pharmacy crying because they wouldn't give me my painkillers. I felt like a total junkie for a second, but let me remind you of the stitches without count. I went to fill my prescription the night we came home from the hospital and when I dropped it off they said, "Your Dr. forgot to put a quantity, so we can't give it to you until we get a hold of him and he tells us how many." And then I cried a lot, and waited for 2 hours to get my drugs. I am so grateful my friend, Ashley, was with me, because she was a total boss and kept asking when they'd be done, or if they had reached my Dr. yet, because I could barely walk, let alone get up and yell at the pharmacy techs. 
4. Changing diapers is not as hard or disgusting as I imagined it would be. No, I had never changed a diaper before changing my son's, and was a little worried, but how hard could it be? Yes, I have almost put it on backwards, several times, but you'd get a little flustered too trying to put a diaper on a baby who is screaming and punching and kicking. They said he'd be calm and sleep a lot because he was early (born a day shy of 37 weeks), but they were very wrong. He is crazy.
5. Getting an upper respiratory infection a week after he was born. As if I wasn't in enough pain, stitches without number, but now I have "a bunch of crap" built up behind my ear drums that makes my head feel likes exploding. Thankfully the meds are starting to kick in and the pressure is less, now I just have a "bunch of crap" draining down the back of my throat. yummy yummy.
6. And my favorite one: I never knew I could love someone so much in an instant. I have heard it so many times, that the love you will have for your child is something you have never before experienced. And I believed it, but feeling it was something entirely different. I would do anything for this little boy, who has me completely wrapped around his teeny tiny finger. I mean, look at him again... you would be wrapped too.

So, that was long, because as I mentioned, a lot of unexpected shtuff went down since the day I went to urgent care in January thinking I had a bladder infection and was told that in fact I was pregnant. I guess that should have been number one on my list of unexpected moments haha. I hope y'all have enjoyed my rantings, maybe I won't wait a year to write on here again.

Love, a very exhausted new mom

The Blessings of Mexican Literature

One of my least favorite classes this semester is SPA 429, Mexican Literature, NOT to be confused with my favorite class this semester, SPA 485, Mexican-American Literature. Although it is not stimulating and I really just browse Pinterest the entire hour and fifteen minutes, I have witnessed two blessings tied to that class, JUST THIS WEEK. Who knows what blessings may come in the remaining months of the semester!

1. El Huevo (The egg)

On Tuesday we began our class with the most dreaded phrase: POP QUIZ. The quiz was on a certain literary work called "La repuesta a Sor Filotea", which I DID read, but in July for a different class. So, of course I didn't waste my time and read all million pages again, and relied on my almost perfect memory to see me through. Our professor announced that there would only be one question because the purpose was to make sure that we were actually reading: What does Sor Juana hold in her hand as she discusses how she was able to learn philosophy from her kitchen? Ummmmmmmmmm....? My mind totally drew a blank. I could remember that scene and what she was talking about what couldn't remember what she was holding. So I thought and thought and thought, and kept thinking egg, but not with an A-Ha assurance, just a, hmmm maybe it was an egg kind of thought. Well, that thought kept coming and I ending up putting, un huevo, an egg, as my answer. After all of the papers were collected our professor announced that the correct answer was indeed an egg. Without holding back I said yesssssssss and did a little victory dance, while my fellow classmates all groaned and discussed what their incorrect answers were. After my little party for one another thought came to my mind, it was actually a quote that is found in the missionary manual, Preach My Gospel, and was something I had read often when I was a missionary. I don't remember what it says exactly but basically the Holy Ghost cannot remind me of something I haven't studied. If I had not read that assignment already over the summer the Holy Ghost would not have reminded me, "Hey...the answer is egg". BUT because I had read it, the Holy Ghost was able to remind me and teach me that Heavenly Father is not only concerned with our spiritual needs but also our earthly needs, such as needing to graduate. Man, it was such a cool experience! 

2. "Do you interpret?"

As I was leaving class today I was talking to another student about what spanish ward she attends and which one I attend, it was nice to realize there was another member in my class. This sister commented, "Oh you go to a spanish branch? That is why your spanish is so good." Oh well, if you insist....I guess my spanish is pretty good... :D Another student was behind us and overheard and asked me, "Hey do you interpret anywhere?" and I said, well in church I translate from spanish to english for a few people who don't speak spanish in my congregation, but other than that, nooooo. She proceeded to tell me that she works for a company that contracts interpreters and that she would bring me a card next week because she thought I might enjoy working there. I seriously almost started crying. I felt so aware that my Heavenly Father is guiding my steps and is putting me in places to find a good job after I graduate. I still am really nervous about finding someone good enough that we can maybe move into a house, get another car for Abe, put Abe through college...it's a lot of responsibility but I want to be able to do it. I know that I will be blessed with a good job and that many opportunities will present themselves and I will have to choose. Which is the hardest thing for me, I am not a good decision-maker haha. What a great day, I am feeling a-maz-ing. 

I love spanish....just saying. haha.

Adventures in Family Home Evening...

Family Home Evening...or Noche de Hogar, as we call it in our very bilingual home :), has been something that we have had to learn and adjust to doing since entering the world of wedded bliss. Abraham and I were both baptized into the church when we were 18, therefore we have no idea what Family Home Evening looks like in real life. We know how its SUPPOSED to look, and have a somewhat unrealistic idea of what it is...but FHE on a weekly basis, with all its imperfections and variations? No clue. I am so grateful that in Relief Society we talked about what kind of things can go on during FHE and we made these super cute things to put FHE "assignments" on....

This has actually really helped us to REMEMBER to have FHE on monday, because we are so busy and usually after work and school is over all we want to do is lay in bed and watch Cake Boss. We have talked several times about how important it is that we get this routine down BEFORE we have kids, so that we can be ready when that time comes and all you-know-what breaks lose haha (think about how crazy our kids will be...THAT is why we are starting to prepare now). Even though we don't have any kids yet, and who knows when we will feel prompted to attempt parenthood, so don't ask if we are pregnant, it has been a huge blessing to set aside time every week to put our focus on what is most important. Sometimes FHE seems to be the ONLY time where we gets to focus on our companionship and our goals, etc.

This week we had a GREAT lesson, conducted by my wonderful husband, on being "one". He started it out with a goooood 'ol companionship inventory, just like we had to do as missionaries once upon a time. We started by talking about what habits each of us has that just bug the heck out of the other one, or what things we think need to improve on in our marriage. Thank goodness we ended it with the positives: what things we just love about each other and what things we are doing right in our marriage. If you don't do this with your spouse I highly suggest it. We have done it a few times, and it has been a huge blessing to our relationship.

He ended the lesson quoting a talk by Elder Holland called "Standing Together for the Cause of Christ". In the article Elder Holland talks about the unity between the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and says that they are, "one in spirit, one in strength, one in purpose, one in voice, one in glory, one in will, one in goodness, and one in grace." I wasn't quite sure where Abe was going with this until he said, "We should be this united." Wow. I had never thought that before, that the unity between husband and wife should be similar to the unity that exists within the Godhead. That quote hasn't left my thoughts since this monday, and I have been constantly pondering how we can be that united. Time will certainly be a huge factor, because we are no where near that kind of unity, but the important thing is that we have a goal and we are working towards it. 

Gosh, my husband is amazing. What a great lesson. Our family nights are getting better and better every week. BUT if you have any ideas on what we can do for FHE as a newlywed childless couple, PLEASE let me know :) We our open to suggestions.

Pinterest Project {numero two}

Since the beginning of this year I have become a muy big fan of Pinterest. It pretty much planned my wedding for me. I found my cake, flowers, centerpieces, everything on Pinterest, and then made everything myself. Way to go me for saving a crap ton of money :) Pinterest has also become my loyal companion during reallllly boring classes. This last Christmas I wanted to make something inexpensive for my roomies, because I love them so, and decided to take on a Pinterest project: Chicken Wire Bulletin Boards. Like this...
I would say they were a success, and I had a lot of fun searching through all of the Goodwills and D.I.'s for old, cheap, yet cool looking frames. This morning, on a total whim, I decided to attempt another project: The Paint-Chip Dry Erase Board
Now this person obviously put a lot more effort into theirs because the squares line up perfectly and the frame has been antiqued, but I do not have the luxury of time, so I did mine in about 30 minutes, with the help of my husband's mom, Olivia. Even though my squares are a wee bit crooked and the frame I found at good will is pretty boring, it suits its function and I am pleased with the outcome :)

I have strategically placed it right next to the fridge with that hope that my husband will at least glance at it. He is always asking, "What time do you work today?" or "Do we have plans tomorrow?" and for awhile I was using a planner that we can both see on our phones but that only lasted a few months and now neither of us uses it really. SO this is my second attempt at informing my husband on current and future events that involve him. 

Now to decide what my next project will be....

The Hang-Up-Able Scrabble Game?

The Wedding Photo To Wood Transfer?

orrrrrrr

DIY bean bag chair?

....The possibilities are endless, and the amount of free space, whether it be floor or wall, in our itty bitty living space, is certainly about to end. Thus exists the need to chooooooose wisely.

2 months

So, I have definitely neglected the blog, BUT I totally have an excuse. The last two weeks I have been working two jobs, one during the day and one at night, in addition to my two summer school classes and volunteering in the temple. Thank goodness I am back to just one job for the next two weeks.

A lot has happened this last month, including our weekend in Vegas touring Abraham's mission for his birthday, but I think I'll cover that in a separate post.

Yesterday we hit or two month mark as two old married fogeys and it just keeps getting better. Lessons learned after two months:
1. My husband can be entertained for hours with videos of people crashing, falling, becoming injured, etc. on YouTube. He laughs hysterically while I watch on for about ten minutes because I just don't get what is so funny.

2. Bribery is the only way to get him to clean the house on days when I an just too exhausted from work.

3. Family home evening isn't just for families that include children. My husband prepared a great lesson this Monday and the spirit was felt in our home in such a powerful way that I was brought to tears. For a small moment I wasn't thinking about homework, bills, laundry, the lack of air conditioning in my car, or dirty dishes. For a small moment Abraham and I could simply relax and enjoy a sweet feeling of peace, knowing that our Heavenly Father loves us and guides us. For a small moment I was able to remember that my afflictions "shall be but a small moment".

4. One of the greatest feelings is waking up early before we leave for work to just be in each other's arms, not needing to say anything at all.

I love my life. It is no where near easy, nor perfect, but it is shared with a man who has been prepared since before birth to be my eternal companion.

Oh wedded bliss :)
Madison

Feliz Mes

Who knew this day would come so fast!

Abraham and I have now been married for an entire month!

Even though it snuck up on us we felt that we have been married much longer with all of the things we have learned since we said "Sí". I wanted to be a good little wife so after I got home from work I picked up this little beauty from Frys and hid it in the back of the fridge. (It says "Feliz Mes" which translates to "Happy Month" and is entirely incorrect grammatically speaking. Do I care that it doesn't actually make sense? No. Did my husband laugh at it? Yes. Was it delicious? Yes, and has been delicious every morning that I have eaten it for breakfast since Monday.)

As soon as the hubby got home he got himself cleaned up and took me out to dinner. I drove, but he told me how to get where we were going. We ended up at a the Lonestar Steakhouse off of Camelback and the 51, but Abraham was very disappointed because he thought it was a Texas Roadhouse and wanted to surprise me with a little flashback of my missionary service in Texas. I love him. I told  him it was okay because Texas is the Lonestar state and it will be basically the same thing, and he accepted that with a not so happy look on his face. Dinner was delicious, regardless of the fact that it wasn't where he had planned to take me.

Once we got home he got comfortable on the couch and put in our Red Box movie, while I prepared the surprise "Happy Month" cake. I lit the candle and told him to come into the kitchen and yelled SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To which he responded, "Madison, what the heck is that?" Haha. After a good laugh we tried several times to blow the candle out together, but had to keep re-lighting it and blowing it out again because one of us always had to be a stinker and blow it out at the count of 2 instead of 3. 

This month has been crazy. It has been quite the adjustment for both of us, and has been a roller coaster ride of moments when I can't help but cry because I am so happy and ones where I just want to knock him out. Haha, not really, I am not a violent person, and Abraham hasn't done anything that deserves domestic violence. But, we have learned a TON together. Such as:

1. What burnt plastic smells like. AND that no one is perfect in the kitchen. Including my husband who looks like ratatouille whenever he cooks. The following tupperware meets stovetop incident was NOT me, surprisingly, and was a good reminder that everyone makes mistakes and sometimes we just need to laugh about it...and then hang it on your kitchen wall for everyone to see ;)

2. Abraham does NOT like to be hot. I mean temperature hot, of course he acknowledges and loves the fact that he is muy caliente ;) But, he does not like to be hot, ever. He does not use a blanket or sheets when he sleeps and like the fan on high. He takes cold showers. He gets a smidge frustrated when the AC goes out in my car and we end up drenched in sweat. And finally, he does not understand why people like the hot tub. "Madison, you want me to go in there?! It's freakin' hot!" Yes, and it's always freakin' amazing. He says he is training himself to like hot water in preparation for the hot tub by making his showers just a littttttle bit hotter each time. Haha, isn't he sweet? That's what I call love. 

3. When I was single I could easily do laundry once a week. That does not fly anymore. I feel like every time I look at the dirty clothes hamper it is overflowing, even though I JUST did laundry like an hour ago. How does this happen? I don't understand. But, I feel like I am constantly doing laundry. 

4. Being married suddenly makes you fall asleep during movies and have to be in bed by 10:00 PM. When we were engaged we would stay up as late as possible just so we wouldn't have to say goodbye, which usually was around midnight or one in the morning. Now that we are married we are usually asleep by 11:00 and if we aren't we are sleeping somewhere else, such as our couch, my mom's couch, his mom's couch, the floor, etc. Twice now we have fallen asleep on my mom's couch after dinner and haven't woken up for hours.

5. I never fell in love with my husband. I started falling in love with him the day I met him and keep falling for him a little bit more each day. Some days I look at him and cannot believe that I married someone so perfect for me that I was sure that he couldn't possibly exist. 

Oh wedded bliss :)

Madison