Smiles and Laughs

Lately Annika has been smiling a lot and sometimes laughing. This video is from the other day when mommy was gone. Annika was being super cute and smiling at all the silly noises her dad was making.

Annika's First Photo Shoot

Here are some pictures we got for Annika's 1 month birthday. Such a sweetheart.....

Annika's First Few Weeks

We love Annika so much already. She has grown so much over the last couple of weeks. As proud parents we wanted to show a few of her "tricks" she can do. :)

On Annika's one week birthday she rolled over for the first time. We were getting ready to feed her and she wouldn't stay awake so we decided to put her on her stomach so she would wake up. She was getting a little irritated but never actually opened her eyes until she arched her back, kicked her legs, and then rolled over. We were so shocked that we tried it a few more times before feeding her. She was then "rewarded" with her meal. :)

Here is the video

She loves to smile

She loves to give kisses

She makes faces in her sleep

She can hold her own bottle

She loves to take baths

She also loves to giggle in her sleep. A couple of nights ago we were saying family prayers after a particularly rough day and she decided to giggle which caused us to start laughing pretty hard.

We are so happy to have such a cute girl to entertain/love us.

Annika Marie Murray-December 22, 2011 2243

I've seen several of my friends post birth stories up to this point. I was always super excited to read them so here is ours:

The beginning of actual labor started on December 21^st around 11:30 pm while we were getting ready for bed. I had started to have contractions that were more regular than before, although they were more bothersome than painful at that point. I figured it would just be a long night of false labor as that had been the case during the previous few weeks. I tried as best I could to fall asleep but the contractions were just enough to keep me awake. Finally at 3 am I decided to take a Unisom to see if I could get some rest. I was somewhat successful until about 9 am when the contractions started to get more painful than they had been. I got up, ate breakfast, took a bath, tried to watch a movie, and anything else I could think of to distract myself. I still wasn't convinced at this point that it was the real thing.

At 1 pm I was starting to feel really worn out from not sleeping during the night and then feeling nauseated enough to not want to eat. I talked to Skyler and we had agreed that if I was still contracting at 5 pm we would make our way over to the hospital to see what, if anything, was happening. We timed contractions for about 2 hours until I decided I wanted to go then. We got our bags together and said a quick prayer before leaving the apartment.

We got checked in to the hospital and in a room by 3:45 and the nurse came in to check to see if I had changed from the last doctors appointment. She hooked me up to the monitor which gave us our first look at what was really happening. I had dilated to a 3+ and was contracting every 3-4 minutes which was more than I had expected. I then began my hour observation to see how my labor was progressing.

In the mean time my boss had come to check on me and see if I was ready to start my maternity leave. I felt the contractions occurring more frequently and getting stronger as I was talking. My contractions were still a little irregular and would come and go with some feeling like they were on top of each other. I wasn't quite sure if they were enough to be actual labor but my boss kept saying I was having a baby that night and wouldn't be sent home. After the hour had concluded she went and got the nurse to check me. I was a 4 and 90 percent effaced and very relieved. As soon as the nurse told me she would be calling the doctor I begged for an epidural. She came in a few minutes later and started my IV. I thought I'd never make it through labor if I didn't get the epidural soon and felt like the wait was an eternity although it was probably just five minutes. The anesthesiologist came in, set up quickly, and the procedure was over before I knew it.

Once the epidural kicked in I felt so much more comfortable than I had been. I was able to rest and even sleep a little in between checks. Doctor Wolsey came in to see how I was progressing and to break my water. At that point I was a 5 and it was amazing to see several hard contractions on the monitor and not feel any pain. From that point on labor went pretty quickly. I went from a 5 at 5:30 pm to complete at 10:00 with some resting and descending at the end. At 10:00 the doctor came back and said it was time to start pushing. The nurse got things ready and then 15 minutes later I started pushing.

I couldn't quite tell if I was contracting so she coached me when to start for about three contractions. At that point she told me to stop pushing which worried me until she said if I did she would be delivering the baby herself. I waited for about 5 minutes for the doctor to come in and get dressed. I then started to push again. I knew that most first time moms can normally push for a couple of hours so I was prepped for at least 3 hours of pushing. The nurse had placed a mirror in front of me so I could see what kind of progress I was making between each push. After about 25 minutes total and a couple more pushes I watched her come out and waited for a cry. I started to get nervous for a couple of seconds until I watched them take her over to the warmer and saw her start to turn pink. She never actually made any big cries so they had to pat her back and suction her mouth to get her lungs clear.

After a few minutes they wrapped her and I got my first chance to hold her. I still felt like the whole thing could have been a dream and just kept staring at her. I couldn't believe she was finally here where I could see her open her eyes and look up at me. I couldn't believe how quickly I felt so much love for her. I didn't want to let her go until it was finally time to transfer down to the mother baby floor. I handed her over to Skyler while I got changed and moved to a new bed. Then Skyler and Annika went went to the nursery for her exam while I tried to rest.

A few minutes later they brought her into my room wrapped up in a Christmas stocking. I held her for a few minutes until they took her to the nursery to rest for the night. I tried the best I could to fall asleep but was so excited and my emotions were so high that I only slept off and on. I couldn't wait until I could wake up and spend more time getting to know her and hold her. I'm so appreciative that she got here safely and the blessing she has been to our family already

3 Month Review

With the nonstop morning sickness during this pregnancy I have gotten a little behind in my blogging. Get ready for a major photo dump......

Halloween 2011

I think this year was a little more exciting than usual as far as Halloween goes. We both were pretty excited in the days leading up to it because of the costumes we had thought of. We spent this year going to our ward party with some friends where we played some games and had a costume contest. I made my costume this year which was probably a first. I was pretty excited going as a pregnant skeleton because who knows how many times I'll be big/pregnant enough to fit the part. Skyler went as the sexy sax man although I wouldn't agree to let him go shirtless since it was a ward party. :) If you haven't seen the video for this type "sexy sax man" on youtube and see for yourself. Skyler definitely played the part well with some loud, random performances including hip movement and floor dancing. Here are some pictures

Baby Shower November 2011

My visiting teachers asked to throw me a baby shower this fall. Most of the invites went to family that lives in the area but there were also a few close friends. It was fun to be able to celebrate the pregnancy with a day out of the house since most of the time I had been too tired or sick to go anywhere. She'll be stocked up well for this winter! I was so appreciative to everyone who attended and gifts that were given. We played a couple games including one where individuals had to guess the length of string to wrap around my belly. Most people were way off which I can't say was a shock. Here are a few pictures.

Family Wedding November/January

One exciting thing that Skyler and I were able to do before the baby was attend my cousin Heidi and Tyson's sealing and my cousin Trent and Haley's sealing afterward. This was the first time Skyler and I were both able to attend a live sealing together. It brought back a lot of memories of our sealing and the exciting/nervous feelings we both had that day. We were so happy to be able to share these two days with family. At Heidi and Tyson's reception we were also excited to be a part of the unofficial car decorating committee. Skyler and I had saved up our shredded paper for about 3 months in planning ahead for the special occasion. Here is some of the excitement. :)

Heidi and Tyson Higgins

Trenton and Haley Argyle

Last belly Pictures December 2011

Here I am at about 37 weeks. Last photos before the baby.

Tiffany's 26th Birthday

This year my birthday was pretty low key. We had some friends over for ice cream cake and to visit. With the possible arrival of the baby I think I forgot my own birthday until Skyler reminded me. :) Here are just a few pictures.

Whew!!! If you made it to the end of this post I am impressed.

We finally made it through the dreaded 3 months apart while Skyler was in Seattle this summer. His return brought some exciting news with a job offer next year for Microsoft. It will be with the same manager/group that he worked with this summer. Skyler seemed pretty excited about it from the beginning so I think I was the one that needed convincing. I can say that a promise of vacations, shopping money, and the aspect of not having to work full time anymore did go a long way. :) We accepted the offer and will be moving to Seattle after Skyler graduates in April. Here is what we will be looking forward to.......

I still think I am a little nervous about the change since I've lived in Provo for 3 years and Rexburg for 3 years before that. Before then I lived in Mountain Home for most of my life.

We spent a couple days praying about it and felt like it was the best move for our family.

Now we are filled with tons of questions about where to live, how to transfer my nursing license, etc.

Here is what we do know about Seattle.

Fresh fish for when I'm done being pregnant.

Sea-Tac Airport is close

Fairly mild, wet winters and mild, dry summers. Translation : RAIN!!!

University of Washington has a great Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program if I decide to go back to school someday

Several Hospitals

Lots of Sight Seeing

Seattle Temple

Now we just have to wait for the baby to come and Skyler to graduate. :)

My Nesting Phase

The last couple of weeks I have started to realize that the morning sickness is probably not going away anytime soon. Since then I have tried to find activities that I can do to keep myself busy but preserve my energy.

I made these baby blankets with the help of my Grandma Robins and her fancy sewing machine with a touch screen. Even though these probably seen pretty juvenile to any professional seamstress it was easy enough to keep me occupied.

We also make a couple of burp cloths with some fancy stitching around the edges.

Here is the full size of one of my blankets. Skyler was even helpful and tied a couple of them for me.

I also for some reason have no problem spending money while I am sick. (according to Skyler)

Here are a couple of clothes I/other people have bought in the last couple of weeks.

I also found a cool website to crochet baby booties. http://allcrafts.net/crochet/booties.htm

Here are a couple of booties I am wanting to make.