Smiles

Natalie has been giving us tons of smiles lately and I recently caught a few on camera. I love that she can finally reciprocate all the smiles we've been giving her the last 7 weeks!



A few nights ago she was smiling a lot as we got her ready for bed and I thought I would try and get some video footage. As it turns out, Natalie does not like being recorded.

Adventures at Disneyland

This past week we spent three days at Disneyland for a Stansel family reunion (my Mom's family). I was a little nervous about how things would go, considering Natalie is only 7 weeks old and it was scheduled to rain two out of the three days we were there. We decided to go and I just set myself up with essentially no expectations, which I think helped because I was happy about every small thing we were able to do while there.
It did end up raining for two of the three days, so for the short periods of time we went out, we covered Natalie's stroller with a poncho. I think she looked very comfortable in there.
Natalie's first ride at Disneyland was the Ferris wheel. We also took her on It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the Jungle Cruise. She did very well on the rides and loved them so much that she slept through all of them in her baby bjorn.


This was also Natalie's first hotel stay and she enjoyed lounging on the extra queen bed in our room.

Natalie's Newborn Photo Shoot

I wasn't planning on having newborn photos taken of Natalie, but my incredibly talented cousin Brittany told me she was coming out to D.C and offered to do a little photo shoot and I am so glad she did! The photos were taken when Natalie was 8 days old and I absolutely love how they turned out!!
We were lucky that Natalie decided to be so cooperative throughout the hour-long event. She was wide awake for almost the whole thing and was pretty happy to pose for the camera. The main exception was when she got too hot in her little Christmas dress, but who can blame her for that?
Here are a few of my favorites...

(I thought this one of Natalie and my Mom was really sweet too)

I'm truly grateful I have these precious pictures so I will always remember how sweet and tiny she was and still is right now. I am so very blessed to have her as my daughter.

A little Shutterfly love

I have been looking at baby announcements and Christmas cards for a while now, trying to decide what would work best for us this year. Then I found out about this incredible deal from Shutterfly where bloggers can receive 50 free cards just for blogging about the promotion! Obviously, this helped solidify my decision on where to get the cards from and I think I've decided to do a combo birth announcement/Christmas card. Of course this means I'll probably need to do a folded card so I can get in more cute pictures of Natalie, but you do what you've gotta do. :-) Now I just have to pick which card I want, which is turning out to be harder than I thought given how many cute ones they have.

Here are a few I love:


If you want to check out some more cards for yourself, go here or here. And if you're having a baby anytime soon, or you just like looking at cute birth announcements, check these out.

Here's hoping I can make my decision soon so I can get everything out by Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of three!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Virginia with Russel's family. It worked perfectly that we could just drive 20 minutes down the road and enjoy time with Russ' parents, siblings and grandmothers. We are lucky to have them all living so close to us. Natalie had a great first Thanksgiving and Russ and I were fortunate to have many willing hands to hold her so we could enjoy dinner with our hands free!

I think this picture of Natalie is so cute. She is looking right at her daddy taking the picture and has her hands positioned in their usual spot right up under her chin.

Natalie with her Grandma Marsh, Great-Grandmother Black and Great-Grandmother Marsh

The weather has gotten much cooler over the past week or so, but we were able to sneak in a few walks around our neighborhood before it got too chilly. I was also glad that Natalie and I were able to enjoy some of the last remaining fall leaves - they are so beautiful here.

On this particular walk, Natalie decided she would rather walk with Dad than in her stroller.

Peacefully enjoying the fall leaves.

Last but not least, we also took Natalie to church for the first time this past Sunday. She did wonderfully well and slept through all of Sacrament meeting which was quite a relief to me.

Welcoming Natalie Renee

November 3rd
11:42 am
8 pounds, 6 ounces
22 inches

She is finally here! Our sweet little girl made her arrival the morning of November 3rd after a surprisingly fast labor and delivery. The quick version of the labor and delivery: Pitocin was started at 6 am to induce labor (as I was a week overdue) and I was fully dilated by around 10 am. I started pushing a little before 11 and she was born within the hour! I did receive an epidural which unfortunately didn't kick in until after I was fully dilated, but it did give me a chance to relax for a bit before pushing and it made the actual delivery much more pleasant than I'm sure it would have been otherwise.

Just after birth, all clean and bundled

We love having Natalie in our home and are slowly starting to get the hang of things around here. My mom was an angel and came out to help all of last week. She cooked, did laundry, cleaned my bathroom and helped me figure out how to nurse Natalie. I really don't think I could have done it without her.

Natalie is two weeks old today and it is so fun getting to know her and learn her little personality and likes and dislikes. Currently she:

- Loves to be bathed.
- Falls asleep most peacefully when lying on Mom or Dad’s chest.
- Has a generally calm temperament.
- Weighs in at a whopping 9 pounds.
- Has successfully been nursing for one week. She had a very difficult time nursing for her first week of life, but after a lot of patience, pumping, bottles, extra formula and countless prayers, she finally got the hang of it.
- She now eats like a piranha at the beginning of each feeding, and then starts to doze off about 10 minutes in. She needs a little help to keep her alert so she can finish eating, or else she dozes for 15-30 minutes and wakes up hungry again.
- Has peed or pooped through her diaper no less than 8 or 9 times and has peed on her changing mat during a diaper change almost as many times.
- Likes to look around and observe us to make sure we're staying on task and paying attention to her.
- Stretches all the time and arches her back farther than I imagined possible. She has very long arms and legs and has a pretty decent right hook. She also kicks her legs all the time and it's fun to see what she was doing all those months when she was kicking my ribs while I was pregnant.
- Smiles all the time in her sleep.

She is such a sweet little girl and I feel so lucky that she is ours to take care of and love. I feel incredibly blessed that we have been given the opportunity to have her in our lives and am so grateful she is part of our family forever.

39 Weeks

I am officially due next Wednesday! If baby girl decides to be stubborn, we have scheduled an induction for November 3rd. Either way, she'll be here within the next two weeks!

Journaling

In the process of moving and unpacking, which I'll post about eventually, I came across all my old journals. I found one particular entry from November 2006 when I was deciding what I wanted to do the following summer. I wrote about how I was struggling to make a decision about interning in D.C. and how I wished someone could just make the decision for me.

I wrote, "I have a lot of options. It's definitely better than no options. But still, for every option I have to make a choice - decide yes or no. What happens if I make the wrong decision? What are the consequences of what I choose, or choose not, to do? Will where I intern this summer have any effect on what happens when I graduate? Or does this summer really not make a significant difference?"

Wow. I had completely forgotten how much I struggled with the decision to intern in D.C. and how much I struggled with where I would live once I got there, if I did at all. I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like had I not made the decision to go. Nothing in my life would be the same. There would have been no opportunity to meet Russel. I wouldn't be married to him or living in northern Virginia and I wouldn't be getting ready to have a baby. It was such a pivotal decision and, of course, at the time I had no way of knowing. I am so grateful for the reminder of those events and the reminder that we can be led in our decisions through prayer and personal revelation. I have no doubt I made the right decision and that gives me such confidence as I go forward in my life, knowing that with the help of the Holy Ghost I can make correct decisions for me and my family.

Maternity Photo

About two weeks ago, a friend from my ward took some maternity pictures with Russel and me. She had asked if I would mind doing the little photo shoot as she loves photography and is looking into broadening her repertoire to maternity in addition to the family shoots and portrait work she already does. I, of course, thought it was a lot of fun and Russel was an excellent sport to go along with the whole thing. :-)

This is my favorite picture from the day. Cheesy as it sounds, Russel and I spend a lot of time watching our little girl move around inside my belly and feeling her practice her kickboxing moves. Russ also talks to her a lot and I love that this picture shows us doing those things. I can't wait to meet her here soon - only 4 more weeks!

The Big Island

(Note - this is a very long post with a ton of pictures, but I couldn't help myself. Hawaii is too beautiful to cut anything out.)

The last part of August my immediate family (parents, brothers, sister and brother-in-law) and Russel and I all gathered for a beautiful and relaxing family vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii. It was the perfect getaway to enjoy spending time with each other and the beauty of the island. We stayed near Waikaloa on the Kona side. Kona is the dry side of the island, covered in volcanic rock and wonderfully clear and sunny everyday, perfect for hanging out at the beach. We stayed in two condos, Russel and I in one with Rebecca and Gerrit, and my parents and brothers in the other. I'll break up the rest of the post by highlighting our favorite things from the trip.

A-Bay
A-Bay is our "home" beach, just 5 minutes from the condos we stayed in. It is beautiful and has the added bonus features of sea turtles everywhere and chairs to lounge on.

Mauna Kea
This is another beach, but worth mentioning because it is the most gorgeous beach I have ever been to. It is a public beach but has a limited number of parking spots with beach access so you have to be there early. Once you're there, it's heaven. It has the softest white sand, warm water and incredible snorkeling. Perfection.

Fair Wind Snorkeling Cruise

My family has done this snorkeling cruise every time we've been to the Big Island. It is one of the must-do items on the agenda and it did not disappoint.

I wish I had pictures from the underwater camera that Jonathon used while we were there. The spot we go to has crystal clear water, even where it gets as deep as 25-30 feet, and we saw some beautiful fish.

Kona Hawaii Temple
We spent one morning at the LDS Kona temple. It is the second smallest temple in the world, but is just as special and beautiful as any other temple in the church.

The Waipi'o Valley
We went to the Waipi'o Valley lookout after church and it is breathtaking. The black sand beach and the raw, untouched beauty of the valley is stunning.

Bamboo Restaurant
We ate a ridiculous amount of good food throughout the week, but the Bamboo Restaurant is a cut above the rest. It is in Hilo, about a 40 minute drive from where we stayed, but so worth it. Everything there is incredible.

Zipline Tour

I didn't participate in the zipline tour, it's not exactly recommended for women who are 8 months pregnant, but Russel, Rebecca, Gerrit and Marc all went and had a great time. The tour took them on 11 different ziplines through lush rainforest and even took them past a few waterfalls.

The Luau

The night before we left, we attended a really fun luau. They had everyone watch as they uncovered the traditional kalua pork, which had been cooking in an Umu (earth oven) all day. The men take out the huge pig with their bare hands and prepare it for the feast. They also did some really neat polynesian dances, including a fire dance.