Things I Never Thought I'd Say

We really like living in Washington. We had a lot of fun hiking and exploring. It is just really hard to move to a new state where you don't know how to recreate there (backpacking, fishing, etc.). And it makes me miss Utah, especially Logan where we were five minutes away from our favorite outdoor activities.

But because of this, I've said a few things I never thought I would say, and all are related to the old place or the new place.

• "I'm watching a Bigfoot show and it makes me happy and sad."

A few weeks ago, I watched a Bigfoot TV show on youtube because they were in Cache Valley. They kept saying, "Wow, these mountains are amazing!" That was usually followed by, "This is prime Bigfoot territory." But, I kept saying back to my computer, "Yes those mountains ARE amazing!" Oh, how I miss them. Maybe we'll go for a hike at next summer's visit.

• "Look Rachel, the grass is getting green because it's winter."

What? In Utah, winter means dead and yellow grass. But here where many places don't water the grass in the summer, the winter means rain and therefore the grass perks up and turns green.

• "I think I would like to live in Canada."

They have a lot of winter and thus a lot of time for winter sports. Like snowshoeing or ice fishing or skiing. Things which I have not yet figured out how to do here in Washington. I guess to snowshoe or ice fish, we have to go to Eastern Washington where it gets cold. There are ski resorts here. Some Washingtonians said I should check them out. Then someone from Idaho said, "No, you're from Utah. You'd better go to Whistler in BC." And I read a blog about hiking with your kid, and this lady is Albertan, and I just love her adventures. It is so beautiful. And there is plenty of snow there.

And something that didn't surprise me that I said...

• "I'm wearing flip flops and no jacket and it is December."

This does not surprise me because it is 40 degrees here and that is definitely flip flop weather. And in high school I scraped snow and ice off my car each morning in flip flops and no jacket. The only problem with flip flops in Washington is that my feet get really wet.

Getting used to a new place is weird. We'll figure it out.

Pobrecita

So, having a baby is exhausting. And I mean to blog a lot more than I do.

Even more exhausting than having a baby is having a sick baby. No fun.


Crying on one of the earliest of her sick days. She says, "I need my grandpa!!"

Pobrecita.

For about a week, little Rachel got more and more fussy and unhappy. This was both an individual day thing (she'd be happy in the morning and crying constantly in the evening) and over time (each day was worse than the day before). It was pretty bad.

We just thought she had gas--because she sure had a lot of it.

Finally, after a day where she only slept for a half hour at a time, I told Andrew we had to call the doctor.

I was bracing myself to stop drinking milk. If you know me, you know that is one of the biggest sacrifices for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE milk. But I guess I could live with soy milk... if Rachel were back to her happy self.

The day I called the pediatrician was horrible. The nurse wasn't in yet, so I didn't make an appointment. Two hours later, Rachel was screaming the worst, painful scream I had heard. I called the doctor and got an appointment an hour later. And she snuggled and whimpered for that hour. It was so so sad. I would have gladly taken her pain on myself (FYI--being a mother is super insightful into the love of Christ and Heavenly Father for all of us).

Pobrecita.

They weighed her and measured her (7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 inches woot woot! What a chunker.). And then they needed to take her temperature. The nurses thought it was an ear infection. And I thought, "Duh, why didn't I think of that?" So the temperature. Rachel is too small for an ear thermometer, so the lucky girl got to have her temperature taken rectally. As I said before, pobrecita. But she is tough and didn't mind it too much and didn't even poop all over everything.

A few minutes later she started screaming and I couldn't console her so I fed her. And she was happy.

Then the doctor came in and looked in her ears. Perfect ears.

He then looked in her mouth. "Ah ha," he said in his Hoboken, New Jersey, accent, "It's thrush."

Thrush is a yeast infection in the mouth. There was white stuff all over her mouth. It can be quite painful.

So then I went to get an antibiotic for her. She has to have 1 mL in the morning and 1 mL at night. (Sidenote: Andrew has a cold and he took 30 mL of the cold medicine. Not only are parents like 20 times the size of their babies, they also take 30 times the amount of medicine.)

And now Rachel is so happy. The night I first gave her the antibiotic, I could notice a different. Maybe that is the placebo effect, but I think it dulled her pain or something. She's even smiling.


Ahh, drugs. This is after her first dose. So peaceful.


Loving the Sunday nap. Now she can actually nap again.


Tummy time on mom is super boring. Now she will do tummy time and not freak out like I'm killing her.


Mom, that flash on your phone is absurdly bright.


Did you ever see such a cute baby? No. You have not and never will. See, now she smiles!

And that is the story of my pobrecita. I have since sanitized all her binkies, bottle nipples, and medicine syringes. I may even have melted a few.

The moral of the story is that a not sick baby is a happy baby and means a happy mom who actually likes being a mom.

The Only Pictures on My Phone

Pretty much the only pictures on my phone are of Rachel. How can I help it when she is so darn cute?


Wearing her cute gingerbread outfit from Grandpa.


On a walk with mom and she is actually awake! It didn't last too much longer. Usually she zonks right out when I put her in the Ergo Baby (which we love). Also, I look like a dork and have my eyes closed.


"I'm awake!" Even in the car. Such pretty, big, blue eyes.


First trip to Cabela's and trying out fishing poles with dad. She is wearing her little elf outfit from Oma.


I accidentally captured one of her first conscious smiles!


A beautiful girl who is finally happy again. Hooray for modern medicine! (more on this later)


The tail end of a smile. She is so cute. Her mohawk and mullet are both getting longer.

And, because all the other pictures on my phone are of him that Melanie sent to me, here is my adorable nephew, Nigel.

He also has big, blue eyes. I'm so excited for them to "meet" (Nigel whacking Rachel in the face) at Christmas time.

So many baby pictures. Being a mom is interesting, to say the least.

Have you realized that parents are like 20 times the size of their babies?