President's Day at Grandpa Great's

One of my most favorite places in the entire world is my Grandpa's house. People in Jay's generation call him Grandpa Great. I love visiting Grandpa, making him food, doing small chores that will make his next few weeks a little better, watching BYU sports, and participating in anything else he would like to do. We watched the weather forecasts throughout the week and when Friday arrived, we decided it looked clear enough to head up there. We grabbed a gluten-free pizza on our way and headed out. Getting out of the house on time with a little one, especially for a weekend trip, was a little tricky but we were only a few minutes later than we were hoping. Up until last year, I never had any qualms about going up there, but after two accidents while on our way I get nervous. Luckily, it was a beautiful day with very few clouds and M let me drive to see if that might help my nerves be lessened. With much prayer and positive self-talk along the way, we made it.

First family rode trip, and Jay's first time out of state.

Jay did amazing in the car, he slept all the way to Grandpa's house. I was so excited to be able to introduce my baby to Grandpa Great. He's one of the greatest men on earth, and how grateful I am that Jay got to meet him. It was so sweet to see their first interactions, both of them were smiling and happy...even Jay who was crying in the car just before we pulled up.

Grandpa had a frozen pizza ready to go in the oven for dinner, and we cooked my gluten free one right afterwards. The rest of the meals I made, and it was nice that the first dinner was super easy with little dishes. M does the dishes after every meal at Grandpa's (and our house), and Grandpa loves it. He often jokes that it's like being at a restaurant, he gets food served, then it gets cleaned up and he doesn't have to do anything. He's the most easy person to please. One evening while M was studying, Grandpa and I watched Andy Griffith for some good laughs. The other evening, we watched the BYU basketball game at Aunt Karen and Uncle John's house. Sunday night, we had our Come Follow Me discussion with Grandpa. It was wonderful to have a spiritual lesson and discussion together and to share our testimonies with one another. We also pulled out photo albums and looked through lots of pictures, which is so fun.

Grandpa loves to hold happy babies, and sleeping babies. 

Jay likes to pull whatever he has in his hands to his face, so here he is with his thumb blanket from Oma.

Grandpa Great & Jay

Saturday night feels after eating.

We were up pretty early every morning with Jay, and this particular morning was beautiful!

3 of my favorite men, Grandpa often went to check on Jay wherever he was

Jay after our car ride home, happy to be stretching.

I usually try to do something a little extra to help Grandpa, and this time he wanted me to thread Grandma's sewing machine because he was trying to stitch a sheet back together and couldn't figure out how to get it threaded right. I went downstairs and tried to sew first a patch together with some rag material, and then finally sew it to the sheet. In the process, I realized it wasn't just not threaded but the needle wasn't picking up the bobbin thread as it should. Sadly, after trying for a while, I couldn't figure it out and we had to call it quits. Both Grandpa and I were disappointed, and I'll do some research so maybe next time I can fix it. I HATE leaving a job undone, especially one I should be able to figure out!

Grandpa asked me one evening if I thought Grandma would be excited to see him again. I told him "Of course!" I know she'll be so excited to see him again, I don't think she planned on going as quickly as she did so I am sure she misses Grandpa a lot, as I know he misses her. Their love is sweet, and I can always tell how much Grandpa loves her by the way he talks about her. I miss Grandma too, and sometimes being at her home without her is so hard. But, I am so grateful Grandpa still welcomes us and lets us visit. Visiting helps me miss Grandma a little less because I get to hear stories about her and see photos and reestablish my testimony of eternal families.

Time at Grandpa's always goes too fast! I think it's because we unplug from technology since he doesn't have internet, and we just focus on relaxing and truly taking a vacation. We're also removed from the busyness of the city and surrounded by people we love, that's why we love it there and why it is always so hard to leave.

The Beginning of 02-2020

Get it, it's February 2020 so the beginning of 02 - 2020...I don't get to write the date much since I'm not working so I'll take the opportunity to include it in my post of the weekly highlights from the Blaylocks.

One of the major things I have started to do in February is working out. The first 15 minute beginner cardio workout that I did, I had to take a break for water 3 minutes in and a few more breaks throughout. I am trying to be very consistent every day, and my ability is increasing each time. I don't need water breaks anymore, and I am not quite a sore. It's been good for me mentally to work out too. It gets my energy out when I can't really leave the house, and often it's cold and dark outside.

On Fast Sunday, we went out to Aunt GayLynn and Uncle David's for dinner. We made fancy caramel rice crispy treats to share for dessert. Lisa and her family came out, and so did Rebekah and Spencer. It was great to see everyone, and it's really fun to see how much Clara and Hugh just adore Jay. They are always concerned for his well being, and for the most part are very gentle with him.

Over the weekend, my friend/co-worker from Colorado came to visit with her husband. When I was expecting Jay, she asked if she'd have to come visit or if I was going to bring Jay to Colorado after he was born. When I told her we wouldn't be coming until we moved out there, she said she'd look into taking a trip. At the time, I thought she wouldn't remember or actually come. I was wrong and it was so fun to have Rachel and Chris here with us on Saturday. They are such great people, and it's always interesting spending time with them. They are both around the age of 50, don't have children of their own, and are not members of the Church. When they arrived, they noted how many churches were around here and asked if we attended out here (they knew we went in Colorado). Rachel also asked for help to know how to hold Jay, which was so surprising! She didn't know exactly why you had to burp a baby either, so it was fun to teach her and she did great. We had a fun afternoon chatting, playing Parcheesi, and making curry for dinner.

Playing Parcheesi 

On Sunday, Nathan and Michela brought us a feast of a dinner with salmon, asparagus, dulce de leche, and lots of Taiwanese treats. We played Forbidden Island, and enjoyed chatting and laughing with them through the evening. It's fun having family close by and we need to cherish all the moments we can while we're here!

Nathan as he was leaving with all their stuff, we were laughing about the tiny mittens.

Here are a couple pics of recent Jay moments. We're loving this little guy and we're so grateful he's part of our family. Sometimes Jay doesn't want to take naps, so we have to get creative in holding the pacifier so we can go and do other things. I also occasionally pack him up in my carrier and carry him around the house if I need to.

We have a very talented elephant named Griffy who helps take care of Jay.

Jay and Matthew playing on the floor together, it melted my heart.

Sunday Selfie because M was gone at meetings ALL day long. 

January Journey

January seems to always be a journey, hence the title of this post. I keep seeing quotes like "January was a tough year, but we made it." And, that seems somewhat accurate this year, it feels like forever since M started back to school and Grandma Blaylock was here helping us, which all happened the first week of January.

For the majority of the month, I've been learning how to be a mom and I feel so blessed to have paid leave from work that allows me to do it. So far, the most challenging part has been figuring out the feeding/eating. Jay suddenly decided to nurse only for about 10 minutes, then would stop and not be interested, but still act hungry. After seeing two lactation consultants and trying everything I could, I determined nursing every feeding was no longer worth the stress and began pumping. As we have started to get into a routine with that, it's been so much better. I feel like I am able to enjoy Jay now, loving his giggles, smiles, and play time. He's such a good baby and is starting to sleep for about 5 hour stretches at night, which is AMAZING! There is something to be said for consecutive hours of sleep. One of my favorite parts about being mom is having M as the dad, and getting to work together to help this little one. Whenever M is home, he changes diapers and helps with feeding now that Jay eats mostly out of a bottle. Jay's cuteness melts both of our hearts, and we feel so blessed to call him ours.

Most of our days follow some pattern of feeding Jay, eating breakfast, sending M to school, napping, eating, playing, and repeat until Daddy returns. One evening event that we've done a lot recently is watch an episode of Good Witch. It's been a fun series, and it's helped me remember how engaging TV series can be and how they suck you in to want to watch the next one and the next and the next. One date night, we played Dominion, which is one of M's favorite games. He destroyed me with almost triple the amount of points I had...I realized when playing strategy games for the first time with M, I just need to be prepared to not win and then my expectations will be better suited for the likely outcome.

Jay reached 1 month during January, which was a big milestone!

We also had MLK day in January, which was a great three day weekend. We enjoyed having Nathan and Michela over for the BYU vs. Gonzaga game on Saturday evening, and they brought some yummy snacks to share. Then, on Monday, M, Nathan, and I went to the church to play basketball. Because I hadn't been medically cleared for physical activity at that time, I shot around and joined the boys for a couple games of pig. The crazy thing was that I actually got sore from shooting around, that just goes to show how out of shape I am...which makes sense because I've gone the longest stint in my life without working out, while gaining more weight than ever before. Because it was just us playing basketball, we took Jay and he watched/slept.

Learning to be like M

The last week of January was filled with lots of fun things! I got cleared by the doctor to resume physical activities, so Friday I did my first workout. It was a 15 minute beginner workout that Sisterbug recommended to me that was online. I was excited to try it out, and about 5 minutes in, I was already sweating, thinking I couldn't do anymore, and wanting water. I got my water, and kept moving for the 15 minutes, and enjoyed laying on the ground when I finished. My goal is to get back in shape for the summer so that we can go on bike rides and hikes, and do all the fun summer things.

On Friday, for our date night, we made caramel apples. Many people think of caramel apples as something you do in the Fall, but M and I have been making them since we were dating and each time we learn. This time, I was melting the caramels in the microwave and not paying attention, and they boiled over..oops! I pulled the caramel out of there, dipped the apples, and scraped the overflowed caramel onto a knife and basically painted the apples with it. One thing that went better this time was getting the candy on the apples. We found the trick is to dip the apples in the chocolate, then refrigerate for a few minutes to get the chocolate somewhat hardened. Then, as you roll the apples through the crushed candy, your chocolate stays smooth and your candy sticks beautifully! We always do Reese's on the apples, it's our favorite.

Saturday was a day full of normal chores like cleaning and laundry, but it was also a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 40's and low 50's. So, we went for our first family walk! We bundled Jay up in a warm little football outfit, threw him in the stroller and walked. It was therapeutic to get out of the house and we enjoyed the sunshine, conversation, and moving our bodies. M and I are high achievers, meaning we really like to make lists and check things off...so on our walk we talked a lot about how we need to learn to manage this better with now having a little baby. It's been challenging! The first step being recognizing we can't do all that we used to be able to do, and certainly not in the time we used to be able to. We are learning and practicing, and oh, how grateful I am for a husband who is constantly willing to help me with feeding, changing diapers, rocking to sleep, etc. And, what a blessing it is that M is in school right now and has such a flexible schedule and can be around so much more than he ever will be for our next kiddos. We are treasuring these special moments! That night, my friend from Colorado, came to visit with her new boyfriend. It was fun to meet him, and we played Balderdash. I was SO bad, Tabitha won and I was only 5 steps from the bottom! It was a fun evening and great to have friends over.

Family Walk!!

One of my favorite things about the past month is Jay learning to smile, and smiling more when prompted. It's so much fun!

This was the very first time we actually got a smile on camera. 

I said "Smile for Daddy" and he did this, so awesome!

Chillin' waiting for Daddy to come home.

Jay and M in their matchy-matchy outfits

Jay in the cutest warmest outfit that's still very big for him.

Playtime

Those are the highlights from January as I can remember, and now for 2020 I am caught up and am now hoping I can stay on top of it.

Christmas Break

My goal for 2020 is to write on my blog every week (or almost). I am already behind by a couple weeks, so I am going to catch up this week and hopefully keep the momentum going! I will start with our adventures of Christmas Break (I'll write about Jay's birth in another post) and follow with the first of the year.

Christmas Break was a lot of fun! Matthew finished with his finals just before Oma left, so I was able to have him home without required school work for two weeks. Leading up to Christmas we made treats in the evening, including puppy chow, English toffee, and fudge. We had never made fudge or English toffee before, so we were very relieved when they turned out so well! These treats started with M's idea to make the first treat as our date night. The treats easily lasted through the break and beyond...I am still eating fudge.

Puppy Chow, with green and red sprinkles to make it more festive.

The trio making English Toffee

We loved Christmas! It was our first Christmas by ourselves, and only my second time not being home for Christmas. Our schedule on Christmas operated to Jay's schedule, meaning when Jay woke up for the day, we woke up. We took breaks to feed him, to feed ourselves, and squeezed all the Christmas activities in between. We went with the Bryce family traditional meals this year of French toast with buttermilk syrup for breakfast and ham with cheesy potatoes for dinner. We got several fun gifts, I've showcased some of the favorites.

Our slippers were our gift we opened on Christmas Eve.

Jay's Christmas outfit, the socks even jingle. So cute!!

Some of my favorite candies filled my stocking, yum!!

Probably Matthew's Favorite Gift.... HAHA, they entertained us all week.

We got homemade ladder ball from Nathan and Michela, summer fun can't come soon enough! 

M wearing most of his Christmas presents

I won these glasses at a Christmas party last year, Jay seemed to like them alright.

Christ's birth took an extra special meaning for us this year because we had Jay. He is a miracle baby, a large reason his name is Jay is because he fought through several scary times and still made it. I cannot imagine what Mary went through when she had Jesus. The Church released a new Nativity movie this year, and when M and I watched it in the hospital, it felt so much more real. There I was, surrounded with medical assistants, modern medicine, and giving birth was hard enough...and there was Mary, in a stable, among animals and no family, giving birth to the Savior of the world. WOW, truly what a woman. I am so grateful for her sacrifices to bring our Savior to the earth, and for the Savior who was born in the most humble of circumstances. Because of Him, I can be together forever with my family, I can return to my Heavenly Father, and live forever! 

M didn't take much of a break from his studying, and jumped right into test prep for the next CPA exam. He passed the first one with flying colors back in November, and is getting ready for the next one at the end of January. I am constantly amazed by his diligence and ability to study, learn, and do well on tests and everything related to school. He's a genius, and he's getting pretty good at being a dad while studying. He studied and watched Jay every day when I took a nap.

M & Jay studying together

We got some fun new games for Christmas, including Exploding Kittens, Rivals of Catan, and Monopoly Deal. We love playing games and we enjoyed playing any minute that we could.

Our first time playing Rivals of Catan, teaching Jay early.

We also celebrated our 2nd anniversary, and M outdid himself as he always does. I woke up from a nap, and he had prepared a slideshow, written lyrics for a song that he actually sang to me, bought me a dress...did I mention he wrote a song AND sang it to me. M is self-professed as not a singer, so this was a huge surprise and so much fun. I felt so loved, and truly this has been the best two years of my life thanks to him. We ordered takeout that night, and enjoyed our candlelight dinner while Jay was sleeping.

Matthew with the slideshow on the TV, music playing, and singing the song about our best two years. 

The song lyrics, edited to fit our life.

Candlelight dinner with sparkling goodness to drink.

Did I mention, that M still does all the dishes two years into marriage...incredible!

New Years was a fun party out at Aunt GayLynn and Uncle David's house. I am so disappointed in myself that I didn't get any pictures of our evening there. Aunt GayLynn made shrimp tacos, and Leese made some yummy guacamole. We played Quiddler, chatted, and had toasts at 10 PM, 11 PM, and 12 AM (none of us knew if we'd make it til midnight). One of the best parts about living in Utah is living near them.

2 Weeks Old - Jay

Now, 2020 has continued to be a year full of excitement. We've had to take Jay in multiple times a week for weight checks, and finally at 4 weeks he made it past birth weight! It's a miracle!! We've been working so hard and praying that he would be able to gain it back without having to supplement with formula, and we did it! Grandma Blaylock came to visit and help during M's first week back to school. It was so helpful to have her here. I got to take walks in the afternoons, and naps every day. Jay got totally spoiled with lots of cuddles, and we got spoiled with yummy food. Now, this week I am learning to mother without anyone around during the day while M's at school.

First date since Jay - so grateful Grandma Blaylock was able to watch him for us to quickly get out. 

M's last first day of school! He will soon be a master. 

Jay's tummy time at 1 month

This was the day we went to the doctor and found out Jay had passed birthweight and was gaining, it is a day to remember and cherish!

Too cute not to share

I am excited for what 2020 has to offer for our family! There will be big changes including going back to work, M graduating and passing CPA tests, moving states, finding  places to live, balancing parenthood with M starting full-time work in the fall, and much more. It's going to be great, as it already has been filled with tender mercies from our loving Father in Heaven.

Becoming Parents

Since it's been almost three months, it's about time I record the journey we went through to bring little Jay into the world. Oma flew in on December 6th, because based on my other sisters' experiences, the first babies come early. I tried so hard to get things tied up at work by the time Oma arrived, that when she got there I enjoyed the rest of the day off on Friday and then the weekend, hoping it was my last time logging into work. Every night, Mom was hopeful as she heard me get up that I was going to open her door and tell her I was in labor and we were going to the hospital.

Monday rolled around, and I didn't have much to do at work because I had handed almost everything off, so I worked a couple hours and then took the day off. I repeated this pattern all week, working a little and playing most of the day. I know Mom came to help me with Jay, but what fun it was to just be able to hang out with her! We went on walks around the mall, did some Christmas shopping here and there, and got pedicures. I never had a pedicure before, so it was such a fun treat. We also made cookies, because Bryces always need cookies. One evening we got tickets to the BYU basketball game and that was so fun!! I even did some jumping around to the music to see if I could encourage Jay to come. I loved being able to spend the time with Mom, fully recognizing I won't get much one-on-one time with her again.

Mom scooping cookies.

Go Cougs!

Leading up to Christmas, Mom read us Christmas Jars. I loved it! Reading stories is one of my favorite traditions.

Pedicures

Ladies afternoon out, so fun.

On Friday I had a follow up doctor's appointment, now over due by 4 days. M was in a final, so Mom came with me to my appointment. Dr. Rees was very kind, and said, you're not progressing and this baby is big...we need to induce. I reallllllly didn't want to have to be induced, but over the past weeks I hadn't made progress and knew I needed to get moving for Jay got way too big. When we determined that was what needed to happen the doctor said he'd schedule something for Monday. Mom's flight home was Thursday, so she asked if there was any way we could do it sooner and Dr. Rees said he'd go check the schedule. He came back to the room and said they had a room open right then and that I should go to the hospital. I quickly said M was in a final and asked if I could wait, he quickly said no and that I should go to the hospital. So, Mom and I drove home and then straight to the hospital where they started me on some medicine to prepare my cervix for delivery. When M finished his final, he gave me a call and I told him I was in the hospital and Aunt GayLynn would be picking him up from campus to bring him. I was so happy when he arrived, and grateful to have had Mom there with me in the meantime. Looking back, I am so grateful I didn't know I was going to be induced that day. I would have stressed and not slept and lucky for me, I just got to drive myself to the hospital and have the baby without the pressure leading up to it.

So, into the hospital we went on December 13th. I started medicine around 1 o'clock, and M and I enjoyed the rest of the day together. We watched some Hallmark movies, walked around my little room because we weren't allowed to roam the hallways, enjoyed lunch from Mom and then dinner from the hospital (they had an extra one so M got it). We even played some cards. As the night wore on, we decided to head to bed and try to get some sleep, hoping the next day we'd have a baby, but the nurses were thinking it may not even happen until Sunday.

Burgers, fries, and a milkshake - definitely the best food to start your labor with, yum!!

M was pretty excited about his fold out bed, and swore it was comfy.

Chillin' waiting for the baby to decide to come.

Our meal on the house because they had extra.

Around 1 AM, I remember starting to feel the beginnings of contractions, although I didn't really know what they were. But, by about 2, I really started to feel them and the nurse said I was beginning to dilate. Woohoo! The rest of the night, I didn't really sleep as contractions got stronger and stronger. It seems like it was about 4 AM when I started to grip the sides of the bed each time I felt a contraction and then shortly I was squeezing M's hand or doing anything else I could to work through the pain. By 8 AM I was dilated to a 5, half way there and I was thinking I could hold out a little longer on an epidural...but, through a few more contractions and knowing the anesthesiologist was right next door, I called the nurse and we decided we were ready. Once that kicked in, I fell asleep. I was so tired, I slept off and on until about noon. My water broke around 10, and when the nurse would come check on me at 11 I was dilated to a 10. She didn't want me to push though because the doctor wasn't there yet, haha so I went back to sleep. Around noon she came back in and said we could start to push. Pushing was kind of fun and with a mirror I could see slight progress, even so slight I sometimes wondered if pushing was even helping. :) The doctor came in around 12:40, and by 12:50 with maybe 2.5 pushes Jay was out. The doctor even told me to just do a half push the last time. How incredible it is to see a little baby come! He was screaming from the get go, which made all the nursing staff very happy. 8 lbs. 15 oz, they said it was the biggest baby they'd seen in a long time and one of the least complicated births. Jay was measured in the hospital around 19 inches, but when they stretched him two days later at the doctor's office he measured 21.

First moments holding Jay

Sweet baby boy, all wrapped up to take him to baby/mom unit

First family photo

Oma cuddling Jay, I couldn't find a pic that had all of Oma! 

Daddy enjoying Jay

Jay meets Uncle David outside the womb.

M and I just stared at Jay in amazement for almost the entire time we were in the hospital. We stayed at the hospital Sunday, and came home Monday. Saturday night, Jay was a champ and the nurses took him for a few hours at night so M and I got some good sleep. Sunday was a good day at the hospital. We had some people come and give us a spiritual thought, followed by the sacrament. What a blessing of having a baby in Utah! Then, we got our celebratory dinner for lunch. They bring in candles and sparkling cider, it was very fun. Mom came and visited us for a while that evening, which was wonderful too.

Eating our celebratory dinner/lunch

Jay - One Day Old

Monday came and we were fairly anxious to get home, but we waited until we met with the lactation consultant. Jay had stayed up all Sunday night screaming and wouldn't eat and I didn't get much help from the nurses on staff...they would come in, say oh, keep trying and we'll come back soon...two hours later of screaming. The took Jay for about an hour and I slept and M slept, but boy were we tired. With the lactation consultants help, I got Jay to eat a good feeding, I pumped and then we got to go home!

Jay all ready to come home! 

Family loaded in the car, heading out

We were so grateful to have Oma there when we got home. She saved us! We were so tired, and she took Jay, gave him cuddles, even got up with me a few nights to try to help me when I was feeding him. Jay and I had a hard time figuring out nursing so we went to another LC while Mom was with us, multiple trips to the pediatrician for help, and got in somewhat of a rhythm just before Oma left on Thursday.  We were so not ready for her to leave, but luckily M was finished with all his finals so he would be home to help me and to change every single diaper.

Oma giving Jay a nail trim, he had really long nails when he was born

Made by Kara, it was Me, M, and baby Jay

We had some fun adventures the first weeks of Jay's life. I am so grateful M was home to experience them with me! One that sticks out in memory is Jay's first sponge bath. We just got him undressed and started the bath, and he peed, we got that cleaned up, and he pooped...we ended up just leaving the diaper on at that point and for the other sponge baths we had to give him. Another was when Mom was here and I was changing Jay's diaper he started to poop, so I pulled him up on the mat so he wouldn't get in it and the poop just kept coming...Mom quickly got me another diaper mat and I moved Jay over there. AND, the poop kept coming half way up that mat! I was amazed at how much came out of that little guy and just had to laugh. Incredibly grateful Mom was there to save me with an extra mat and help with all the clean up.

Having a baby is a whirlwind and sometimes it feels like forever ago, and other times it feels like just yesterday. We are grateful for our miracle baby and he truly does bring so much joy. I am grateful for the trust Heavenly Father has given us to let us raise one of His sons, and I pray we'll be able to do what we need to, to help Jay return.