Christmas Retrospective in photos

I finally had a bit of time to post some pictures. If you skip this, at least go down a couple of pictures to see the first documentation of Mallory smiling.

Part of Mallory's "My first Christmas" outfit:

Andy, ready for work, reading The Grinch, as part of our tradition:
New Christmas jammies (bought in 4 separate places):
The smiling angel:
Just before seeing gifts Christmas morning:
Andy got home at 5:30am from work because his relief came in early. The kids were already awake (thanks to Marcus) so we opened presents earlier than expected. Luke was a big helper:
Mom opening her ornament from the Pfiesters:
Dad opening his gift from the Pfiesters:
Mallory's outfit from the Pfiesters, picked out by Nathanael:
Anneke has amazing power and she has gotten everyone to play her new game Pretty Pretty Princess:
Seriously, has Andy ever looked more handsome?
It was a wonderful day. I got the full set of Beatles CDs from Santa, and a book about their songs from my children. Marcus got a bunch of Harry Potter stuff, Anneke got Calico Critters and Disney stuff and Luke got a bunch of cars stuff. Andy got 3 belt buckles and DVD's. We are so blessed and happy. I hope everyone else had as fun a day.

A Merry Christmas

Remember when Luke was a baby and we did this:

Well, we decided to to it again. Here is the one closest to the way we did it last time:

Andy's favorite shot:

My favorite shot:

Which do you like best?

Merry Christmas.We love you.

"Danced, danced, danced...all night" Part 2

Anneke before her dance recital:

Part 2. I do not care for the song that much, but here is my daughter in her second dance that is actually a Christmas-ish song. Andy's comment was, "There are times when she is actually pretty good."

I Could Have Danced All Night Part 1

I have been trying to post this for days. I only got one of Anneke's dance videos loaded so I will probably add another one when I can. The one that loaded is to a Phineas and Ferb song and not even the Christmas one, sorry. She chose her own outfit because it is so Christmassy. She was so excited. (I will try to post a picture with the other video.) I also realize that this will probably only be enjoyed by family, but still it is less than 2 minutes. Anneke is the one in the black leotard, red skirt, striped tights and pig tails.

Dear Aunt Cari

Dear Aunt Cari.

We miss you! We can't believe it has been a week and a half since you left us. We miss playing on your phone, watching movies on your computer and listening to Conway Twitty and the Twitty-birds. Mallory misses your patience and being held by you:

We miss the fun surprises and excitement that you brought with you:

We miss your yummy cooking. (Thanks for sharing so many great recipes with us.) We loved that you let us help you in the kitchen so much:

We miss the calm and love that you shared no matter how we acted:

We miss the music and celebrating with you:

We miss the fun projects we did with you. The ornaments and stockings:

We love you so much and are grateful that Uncle Carl, Carlye, Nathanael and Noah shared you with us for a whole week:

Thanks for making us feel special and taking care of us. We love you and miss you.

Love,

Andy, Heidi, Marcus, Anneke, C. Luke and Mallory

I did it!

I completed one of my New Year's resolutions. Yea! It took longer than I thought because of a reading slump and admiring a beautiful new life. But, I completed it. If you have any questions about the many books I have read, feel free to ask. I am going to bold the ones I think others might enjoy as a whole, but not all those I enjoyed or thought specific others might enjoy.

P.S. I really am going to post about Aunt Carianne's stay. I just need a little extra time. It is longer than the brief ones I have posting.

South Pole Elf

This is an important message of which we all need to be aware.

Last night Anneke was supposed to clean her room. She did. When I went to investigate it was exactly the same. Anneke informed her dad that after all her hard work a South Pole elf came and put everything back and messed it up again. These elves are evil and the opposite of North Pole elves. Anneke's daddy went along with it and quickly checked her room the "second time" she cleaned. He scared away the bad elf before they could do mess it up again.

Beware of these elves. They are loose in our world.

Isn't it Ironic?

I find it terribly ironic that my sister came to help last week and while we had fun, I have been sick every day since. I got a stomach bug the night before she flew out. I have had it ever since. This morning I have a big black sparkly dot on my right side of vision that is gradually increasing in size. I am guessing I am getting my first migraine in over 10 years. (I shouldn't have told Carianne that I never get them.) It is Andy's long day at school. His last for the year 2010. So sometimes life is ironic. Don't ya think?

Say Cheese!

This was Mallory's first bath without her umbilical cord. Aunt Cari and Luke were big helpers.

Today I took Mallory for a one month check-up. She gained a pound in the last 2 weeks, making her 7 1/2 pounds. She is also 21 1/4 inches long. (A newborn in the waiting room weighed a pound more at birth.) To help you see this from my perspective: she still weighs less than Marcus and Luke did at birth and less than Anneke did at her 2 week appointment. Her length is the same as Luke's at birth. I keep wondering when she will hit her growth spurt, but love my wee one. I am trying to cherish my tiny one and I love the ooo's and ahh's we get when we go out. (She had quite the weekend to show off. Friday we took her to Andy's work, Saturday the ward party and Sunday was her first day at church.)

She smiled for the first time today. Fitting for her one month birthday. She smiles mostly with her eyes and moves her mouth only a bit. Morning is her most alert time. I will try and get a picture of it.

Snow Angel

Mallory went to church for the first time yesterday. She wore a beautiful new dress. Maybe it doesn't snow here, but she is still an angel. ;)

Getting upset:

Calm with her sister, our "Snow Angel".
Check out the shoes.

Happy St. Nick's Day. What did he bring you?

I am...

I am creative.

I am happy.

I am tired.

I am loved.

I am special.

I am a cook.

I am a baker.

I am a gift giver.

I am a friend.

I am a sister.

I am a mother.

I am a wife.

I am a disciple of Christ.

I am a daughter of God.

I am that I am.

In Relief Society we made a list of "I am" statements. This is what I came up with.

Memory Monday - Caspian Luke

This time 3 years and 2 days ago we dropped our older two children off at trusted friend's houses and headed to the hospital in Longmont, Colorado. About 7 hours of labor and Caspian Luke was born at 12:53am on November 28th! I am forever grateful and indebted to the Nicholls, Forsgrens and Sanders for taking care of my children. They will always be our good friends.

Just after he was born:

3 years ago yesterday I gave birth to an amazing little boy. Caspian Luke has grown and developed so much. I can't believe how much time has passed and how very blessed I am. Happy birthday my toddler boy!

Now you are a big brother:
In the month of November, a month of thankfulness, I have now given birth twice. My month, heart and joy are full.

P.S. Aunt Carianne is visiting and taking good care of us. Her biggest obstacle seems to be the can opener. (Its not your average utensil. Trust me.) She is attempting to potty train the 3 year old. We will see who comes out victorious at the end of the week.

Mally Mo

Just because she is so cute and changing all the time I will post more pictures of my little Mallory.

So squashy:

She is wearing a dress I wore as a baby. I thought that there were photos of me in it, but I can't find them. So, there is no proof and I could be mistaken. In any case it is vintage. ;)
You can see the blood vessel in her eye here. Plus, I love her gray eyes right now. So cute!! (but I may be biased.)
Happy Thanksgiving! We are celebrating tonight because Andy has to work every day for the rest of the week.

Celebrating 3

Luke has the misfortune of having a birthday caught between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is hard to find a date to celebrate. We decided to invite his two best friends and their families last Saturday for pizza and cake. The kids played, the adults talked and it was an all around good time. Lukers decided his birthday theme was orange. I used food coloring for the cake and frosting. Nothing fancy. (Rosy even dressed her family in orange for the occasion. ;)

Singing Happy Birthday to my boy:

Enjoying the cupcakes sans ice cream:
Opening up his gifts with a very hands-on older sister:
He got some great gifts. He has been playing cars and doctor a lot since then. The remote control car he got even has a name, Frankie. We have watched Up and played finger puppets. When Aunt Cari comes on his actual birthday (this Sunday) we will celebrate again. Lucky boy!

I Am a Mother

I have pretty much stopped doing book reviews. However, I wanted to do one for book 97 on my list. My mom sent it to me for my birthday. It is called I am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson. It was a beautiful book about not viewing your job as "just" a mother. It talked about how the world demeans this sacred job. She used sources from all over. I loved her reference to Phyllis Diller especially. It touched me over and over. I cried, laughed, smiled and came away a happier mommy. It was just what I needed. (Thanks, Mom!) Anyway, I am going to make Carianne read it when she comes and would love to give a copy to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. If you ever find a copy, I recommend picking it up and reading it. It is fast and lovely.

Weight Problems

We went to our 2nd doctors appointment today. Last week we found out that Mallory lost 1/2 a pound since birth. Not surprising, that is expected. Today, despite almost constant eating she has not gained anymore weight. She is 1 1/4 inches longer though. Basically 6 pounds 10 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long. So, instead of a 2 month appointment, we have a 1 month check up and then a 2 month. They are hoping she will have a growth spurt. Right now she is in the 25%. That is bizarre to me. My children usually have regained birth weight and an extra pound or two by now. She could very well be the small one. That will be an interesting and a welcome change.

2 Weeks from Today

Two weeks from today I turn the big 3-0. All I wanted was a healthy baby. This has been a frustration for people, my husband especially. I finally realized that for years I have wanted a decent Christmas tree. Andy and I bought ours when we were first married for about $10. The base broke last year, but we can balance it okay and make it work. Yesterday Andy took the children and bought me a 7 footer! They set it up while I was making dinner in the kitchen. Now, I have a Christmas tree in my front room, but no other decorations. We should remedy that, huh?

P.S. I am allergic to all conifer trees, so we can't have a real one.

Sleeping Beauty

I have been taking pictures of our new angel, but this is pretty much what she does all the time besides eat.

I managed to get this one...
But a couple of minutes later:

We are doing well and trying to adjust. She likes to be awake between 2am and 6am. I am pretty tired but can't seem to sleep during the day.

Catching up..Again

Rocking Luke to sleep a week before having the baby.

In our house we love the Bass Pro Shop. We went to Santa's Wonderland preview literally just a few hours before I went into labor with Mallory. I was going to post these, but I was in the hospital instead. It was a lot of fun and our last family outing as 5.

The Santa was so great and look at his beard!!

I was going to post this in conjunction with a new picture of my belly at 39 weeks pregnant. Here's the picture anyway. :)

Our daughter's name

My friend Stacie made the wall hanging for the baby shower.

Andy has chosen to name her Mallory, from a French word meaning beautiful, or mail (as in the armor), also the author Thomas Mallory a Frenchman who wrote a compilation of Arthurian legends. As I thought about a name I wanted to honor Popi. Pam wants to use May and that is the best I could come up with for Archie Maynard in the feminine. Then I realized that if you add some letters to May you can get Mallory. Hope would be because I was reading in Moroni and watching the April General Conference. That beautiful word kept coming up and then popping into my mind as a middle name for her. I have held onto it since. Plus, H for me (and Heather) and a P for Pam.

When people hear of it, they mention Family Ties. I did not remember that she was character on it. Babysitter's Club is also brought up. The literary link is actually The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Christmas Jar.

Just one moment

I have started the overly emotional postpartum stage. It all happened so fast I thought for sure I wouldn't have the baby until my due date or after. We were still planning and going about our lives. Now, we are marveling at our blessings. I am so overwhelmed with joy and surprise. I am so proud of me. This is my first completely natural birth. I don't count the others because of induction and stripping membranes. I prayed it would be this way. The Lord has answered my prayers so quickly and thoroughly with this pregnancy.

I want everyone to celebrate like I am in my heart all the time now. We are all together. We are healthy. My emotions are so close to the surface I cry about everything. I cry because Mallory is already getting bigger. I cry because I know I am going to mess up. I cry because I love her so much and enjoy just holding her. I cry because this is it. My family is complete. I will never experience pregnancy again or the joyous pain of giving birth. A stage of my life has ended. It is bittersweet. I am trying to articulate some of what has been running through my head since Sunday. I just sat and looked around me. I didn't turn on the TV or read or anything all day while I was in the hospital. I just sat and said "thank you" over and over to my Heavenly Father. I can now define "my joy is full". All I need it to find that joy in the journey.

Welcome Mallory Hope

At 6:50 am on Sunday November 7, 2010 Mallory Hope Bahlmann joined our family.

Here are some photos, followed by the labor story for all interested parties. ;)

This photo was taken about 1/2 an hour after she was born. Still swollen.

After her first bath.
The proud older sister got to hold her first.
Marcus was so excited. (Anneke would not leave the baby's side.)
Luke thinks his baby is "so cute".
I love this shot of Andy admiring his little girl.
Getting ready to go home. (Look at all that hair!)
The only shot of me with the baby thus far.
On Sunday morning at 1am I woke up uncomfortable. I timed my contractions and realized I had "bloody show" so while I looked up whether I should go to the hospital I called Andy (working a graveyard) at around 2am. He told me to let him know what I decided. So, since I could, I called Heather. She told me to go in to the hospital. I was still nervous about waking people up and having it be a false alarm. By the time Andy got his replacement and came home it was about 3:30am and I was getting more uncomfortable. After dropping our kids off we arrived at the hospital around 4am. I told them my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. (She thought I said 35 minutes and was a bit confused.) I was dilated to a 7-8. They kept commenting that I was too calm to be that far. My favorite doctor was on call until 7am, but they had no beds. So, I would be delivering in the OR. Luckily a room was found and cleaned. I got in the room at 6:20am. They broke my water and discovered meconium. She had pooped inside the womb so we had to deliver fast. I had 2 very hard contractions where I was saying, "OW, OW, OW." At 6:40 the nurse checked me and said Dr. Skinner wouldn't be delivering me. I prayed she was wrong because I REALLY did not want the doctor replacing him. Literally right after she said that I said, "Then why do I feel like I need to push?" She began rushing around and calling respiratory for the baby. I had 3 contractions I had to breath through and try not to push. The baby could have been in real trouble if I had. Dr. Skinner came in at 6:45. (He got off at 7am.) They had me push 5 times without breaks and literally kinda pulled her out and rushed her to get respirated. (Andy didn't have to cut the cord, which he was happy about.) She looked awful to me. Her torso was so swollen and she was greenish. But, her APGAR was 7/9. For an hour she screamed. I kept having Andy check on her. She has 2 bruises, one on each check and a popped blood vessel in her left eye because of how quickly everything went. WOW! That is my story. LEss than 6 hours of labor, about 2 1/2 hours at the hospital. The moral is, listen to your older sisters.

Mallory is very vocal and we are very blessed. (We are already home. I could have stayed longer, but was tired of being woken up and wanted to get on with life. We'll see how this goes.)