Luke's Blessing

We blessed Luke at home on Saturday, August 3rd because that's when all of
our family could get together. my parents and sister drove up from Utah, and it was Alax's parents last day with us after spending a week and half visiting. Alax gave such a sweet blessing, and Luke...well...

I seriously wish this boy would take a pacifier. I even made sure to feed him RIGHT before the blessing so he wouldn't scream the whole time, but he is a hungry boy! It was such a good day, spending time with our family and celebrating our sweet Luke. 

Everyone who was in the circle

I think this is our first family picture all together..

There really wasn't a good picture of my family. Someone was doing something funny in every single one, so this is probably the best one..Sorry dad..Sorry Marlee..

Thank you to everyone who came and drove so far to be with us!! 

Luke!!

Well, two weeks late, but better than never, right?? He's here! Luke Alax Grundy was born on July 1st at 3:17 am, weighing 7 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 in (they measured him at 21 inches but at his first Dr.s appointment, he was 20 and a half, so either he shrunk, or their measurement was a bit off)
The labor and delivery went really well too! I started having contractions Sunday morning early, like around 1 am, and I couldn't sleep through them, so I went to the living room for the night and had a Secret Circle marathon :) We decided to go to church even though the contractions were getting pretty bad, we thought we would at least go to sacrament meeting. My contractions were about every 5-6 min apart during the meeting, but I thought I could keep going. Even though every time I stood up I felt a little trickle of something (I guess when your water breaks, I expected a huge gush, and not a slow leak...whoops..) Well, I could hardly even stand to stay sitting during Sunday school because the contractions were getting so painful, so after it was over, we grabbed Marlee from nursery and headed home to call my midwife. She told me to wait to go to the hospital until my contractions were 4 minutes apart since we live so close. So I waited...at one point they were coming every 4 minutes at a minute long and they were that way for an hour, and we were just about to go and then they started coming at 6-7 minutes apart. SO frustrating. We waited a couple more hours and finally decided that we needed to have our friend come get Marlee for the night, because I didn't want to have to wake her  up in the middle of the night. By the time he came and got her, I was SO ready to make my way to the hospital. I seriously don't know how people do natural childbirth. My midwife text me to see how i was doing, and i told her I was going in :) On the way there I was so nervous that they were going to tell me that it was false labor and send me home, but when i got there i was 4-5 cm dilated and the test to see if my water had broken came back positive! I was so excited! I couldn't believe that we were going to be meeting our little boy soon! I then got an epidural at 6 cm and just like when I had Marlee, it only numbed me on my right side, so i got another one a little later and it did the trick! I was SO tired from not sleeping the night before, so i slept a lot after the epidural  started working all the way. at about 3 in the morning, I started feeling a lot of pressure, and i knew that it was time to push! The delivery was such a better experience this time around than Marlee's was. It was very calm. I didn't have my feet in stirrups. I just pushed lying there on the bed. For the most part, I could feel when I had to push, and I would just look at my midwife and she would kinda nod her head, and I would push. I was very much in control, and it was so nice. I pushed for about 25 minutes and he was here!! Another thing I liked was that they let him lie on my chest for a long time before they cut his umbilical cord, and before they took him to check him out. After a quick minute of making sure he was all healthy, they handed him back to us and everyone left the room. Alax and I got to love on our sweet boy, and I got to nurse him and it was so nice having just the two of us in the room. All in all, it was a really great experience, and we are so happy to have Luke join our little family :) He is such a sweet baby. He eats a LOT and is gaining weight like a champ. I have a feeling he's gonna be a little chunk! :) He wakes up 2-3 times in the night, and is just so sweet during the day :) He loves being in his car seat and having his hair washed. He smiles a lot in his sleep and he has dimples!! I am so excited to see them better as he gets older. At his 2 week appointment he weighed 8lbs 4oz!! He was discharged from the hospital weighing 7lbs 4oz...seriously, 1 pound in two weeks!! We are just loving him so much, and Marlee loves to help with everything. She's such a great big sister, even if it drives me crazy sometimes :) She gets so concerned every time he cries, and loves to help with diaper changes. I keep saying it, but it's hard to believe that I have two kids!!

brand new

 snuggling in the hospital. Trying to get a shot of his hair :)

 Coming home

Marlee meeting Luke for the first time

She loves him!

2 weeks old, and has the best smiles :)

Catch up time!!

I'm so behind!!! I can't believe my last post was about moving!! We have been having a great time here in Montana. Alax works long hours, which leaves a LOT of mommy and Marlee time :) the weather has been so weird here, but it is FINALLY warming up, and we are loving it!! We've been up to a lot since we moved, so I'll recap a little :)

Our friends from Utah came up to Montana to Visit family for Easter, so we drove up and met them and hung out for the day. It was SO fun to see familiar faces again and let Marlee be with her friends again! I think the move has been so hard on her and I feel so bad :( whenever she cries about something, she always says "I want Aubrey!" breaks my heart...

Marlee and Aubrey

we went on a little walk and got poured on! It was so fun though!!

Marlee, Ada and Aubrey

LOVE these girls!

on or walk to the dam

 Thanks Cameron and Lesley for showing us around, it was so fun! We miss you guys!!! (and I totally stole these pictures from your blog, hope you don't mind!)

The weekend after was Easter. Marlee had such a good time, and loved all her goodies that the Easter Bunny left for her.

egg hunt

All dressed up for Easter Sunday

Lately, now that it's getting warmer, we've spent a LOT of time playing outside. Its been so fun to spend some one on one time with Marlee before baby boy gets here! 

playing with bubbles

I've been so tired lately, and I like to lay down and rest for a minute when I can :) only 8 more weeks!!!

We made homemade chocolate ice cream one night, and Marlee was in Heaven!!

playing with chalk paint

 we've been loving walking to the park and having picnics!

Today it finally felt warm enough to get her little pool out, and she played for hours, while I got some seriously needed sun on my pasty skin :)

Hopefully I'll keep up with posts here and there so I won't have so much to cover! But, all in all, we're loving Montana, and loving the people here!

We made it!!

Well, we made it to Montana!! We're not all the way unpacked yet, but hopefully soon :) I was so worried about not having enough room for all of our stuff, but our new place has a surprising amount of space, so I've been happy :) We've been missing everyone from Utah, and Marlee has been missing her friends too. I can't wait to have this baby and give her a little playmate :)

Our Apartment all packed up. 

Driving away :(

 Finally in Montana. It is beautiful!!

It was a long drive, and we were all looking a little rough :) (yes those are curly fries in her lap..)

Maybe I was just tired, but the drive seemed to take FOREVVVVER!!! I finally had to block the clock because it would kill me when it felt like another 30 min had passed and i looked down and it was more like 5....

 Poor Marlee had nothing to do when we (Alax) were bringing boxes in. So we set up a show on Alax's phone.

Buuutt, she got bored really quickly until I made her her own little movie theater in one of the closets :)

trying to get settled...

Our kitchen

We got Marlee a new fish, for putting up with us the past week. Her name is snowflake.

I had to throw this one in here. Marlee saying goodbye to her friends right before we left. This was the hardest part :(

Hope ya know, We had a Hard Time

*I wrote this over a month ago, but just having it post now...whoops :)

I've been thinking about the baby we lost a lot lately... I've been missing that baby so badly. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or just a mama's love, but I've been having a hard time. I'm so extremely grateful for the chance to have another baby, but it's been so hard. I keep having dreams that I miscarry again, and it's been hard to get excited, and comfortable about the new baby, because I don't want to set myself up for another devastating loss...I feel so guilty because I was over the moon about the baby that we lost, and I'm just so cautious and paranoid about this one. BUT I've been feeling the baby move more, and I'm loving it!! :) Alax even got to feel a little kick too :) I figure that I should just be happy and stop worrying so much, and just enjoy every moment. It's hard, but I'm working on it :) We find out what we're having in a couple weeks, and I can't WAIT!!! At first I thought it might be a boy, but now I'm kinda feeling like it's a girl. We'll see!

I was looking at random videos on YouTube and saw this video on the sidebar. I've watched it many times, but it really hit me today. I sobbed as I watched it, and wondered to myself how often I've cried to my Father in Heaven lately, "Hope ya know, I'm having a hard time". I hope that we can all be kinder to each other. Give a smile to someone we walk by in the store, hold a door open for someone, or volunteer our time and talents to helping others around us, because I can guarantee everyone we meet is having a hard time with something. Call it a late new years resolution, but I hope to serve others more this year. 

I'm so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful gift. I'm grateful that when we reach out to the heavens and say "Hope ya know, I'm having a hard time" He does know. What a blessing. Enjoy this video, and watch it often. 

Moving On...

It's true, we're moving :( Great Falls, Montana to be exact. Alax got a job offer out there and he'll be finishing up school while we're there. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm going to miss Utah so bad. I wasn't even this sad to leave California. We've made so many great friends while we were here, and It's going to stink not to be near my sister and her family anymore. I'm sad for Marlee, she's going to miss all her little friends so much. We drove up to Montana this last weekend to check it out, and see where we could live, and everything kind of fell into place right before we left. We literally found somewhere to live on the way out of town. It was a whirlwind, but I think it'll be really good for our little family. We are loading up the moving van on the 11th :( I wish we had a little longer here, but we know this is what we should be doing.  So if you're ever up in Montana, come and see us!!! :)

Baby Boy and Sick Girl

I am 20 weeks today and we had our big ultrasound this morning. We are having a BOY!! WHAT???? I thought for sure it was another girl. I am still in shock! I've already done a little shopping too :) I am so excited to have a little boy to add to our family!! Alax and I have NO idea what to name him though...Why are boy names so hard?? Any ideas?? Just look at this sweet baby!! :)

This last week we have been busy with a sick girl :( This is her on the way to the doctors...

Saddest sick face ever. Turns out she had a bad cold and an ear infection in both ears. So sad. She is feeling SO much better now, so we're all happy. Marlee can't wait to meet her baby brother, and always asks if he can come out yet. She's going to be such a great big sister!!!