1 Month Old!

As Ellie and I indulge in our after lunch dessert of graham crackers and cream cheese frosting (ok, for Ellie it's more like inhaling our after lunch dessert), I thought I would do an update. Mainly because Caleb is 6 weeks old today and I need to put up his 1 month pictures before he gets much bigger. So here we go...

He kept looking out the window on these and I could not get him to look at me. Caleb's first month was definitely a learning experience. While we are still getting the hang of things as a family of four, they are getting much easier. Caleb is a sweet, mellow, and easy-going (as long as you feed him) boy. He loves, loves, loves to eat! He would do it all day if he could. He is a snuggler and loves to be close. He is super noisy! He makes a noise that sounds like a sheep when he's trying to get comfortable and he grunts all the time! So silly! We love this boy! Here are some more recent pictures. He's chunked out just a little.

"You want me to do what?"

This is his "pretend not to notice and maybe she'll go away" pose.

Word.

We love this boy!

Oh, here's Ellie and Caleb at 1 month. Related, maybe?

Ellie- 1 month

Caleb- 1 month

Caleb's Birth

Here's a confession: I love birth stories. Love them! I could read them all day. With that said, Caleb's birth was everything I dreamed of and wished for.

Monday, January 20th, I was having hard contractions all night. Starting at 25 weeks or so, I had annoying Braxton-Hicks contractions all the time. So much we considered naming this boy Braxton...maybe. These new contractions were different, harder and more intense. I had Danny call his cousin to make sure they could watch Ellie if things progressed and we ventured out to Target to grab our last minute baby necessities. But nothing happened. Tuesday morning, I went to see my doctor. I was barely 37 weeks and not expecting her to say much in the area of progress. She surprised me by saying that I was 3 cm dilated, almost fully effaced, and that the baby was at a minus 1 station. Oh wow! She went on to tell me that I wouldn't make it to the end of the week without having a baby. Holy cow! I tried to stay level-headed, but, hey, that was exciting news! I called my mom and told her she better change her flight and get here soon. She called right back and said she was driving to Utah the next day. Someone was a little excited!

Danny's birthday was the 22nd. Poor guy got shuffled into all the happenings, but we still had fun celebrating our favorite 27-year old. My mom got in late that night. I hadn't really had any contractions that day, so I was feeling a bit of pressure to get things going. The 23rd came and my mom, Ellie, and I went walking. All day long. We walked the mall, Costco, Target, and ended with a much needed trip to Cafe Rio. By this time, contractions were coming, but still irregular. Danny came home from work and things really started to pick up speed. At about 6, contractions were coming about 5-6 minutes apart, so we finally decided to head to the hospital. The whole way there, I just kept thinking, "They're going to send us home. We've been timing these all wrong and I'm going home." We got to the hospital, found Labor & Delivery, and got all checked in around 7. The nurse checked me and said, "Wow, Melinda! I'm impressed!" I was already at 8 cm. Woohoo! We were staying!

This whole pregnancy I'd been debating with myself whether I wanted to go natural or have an epidural. When it was actually time to make that decision, I decided to go natural. I mainly wanted that experience, to feel what so many women before me have felt. Maybe it was the historian in me, I don't know. (That was a joke, by the way.) So here we were, about 7:30, close to 9 cm dilated, pretty much fully effaced, and no epidural. My nurses kept coming in and checking on things. My doctor wasn't on duty that night, so we were waiting for the other doctor to come and break my water. That was all that was holding me up. Finally, the doctor came and did her thing about 8:45. I knew that once my water broke, the pain would increase immensely, but that we would be that much closer to meeting our little boy. A little after 9, I could feel that it was time. The doctor and nurses came in, I pushed a few times, and he was here!

Caleb Dean Crane made his early entrance at 9:45 on January 23rd, 2014. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long. He had the most beautiful cry and as they placed him on my chest, I was instantly in love. He was absolutely perfect! After getting both of us cleaned up, everyone left the room and it was just Danny and I with our little boy. Heaven on earth. That was such a special moment for us. We were moved to our new room and started settling in. We quickly found out that this little guy loves to eat! He is a snuggler and has such a sweetness about him. We came home from the hospital on the 25th and began our life as a family of 4. Yeah!

We love our little boy and are so thankful that this birth experience went the way it did. It was absolutely perfect! We are all adjusting well, mostly thanks to my mom. She really helped us out those first few days home. Ellie loves her brother! She gives him hugs and kisses and tries to be so careful around him. She's such a sweet girl and you can tell she just wants to play with her Caleb, but for some reason he's always sleeping. Soon enough they will be doing everything together. That will be so fun to see.

Welcome to our family, Caleb!

Leaving for the hospital.

In-between contractions.

He's here!

Proud daddy!

Meeting Nana for the first time.

Family of 4.

Finally opening those eyes!

Big sister!

Going home!

What recovery looks like.

Told you she was adjusting well.

2!!

This sweet girl turned 2 on the 12th. We had a fun-filled weekend celebrating her birthday. We had our friends, the Noorlanders, over on Friday night. We ate some breakfast burritos and had some cookies n' cream shakes. Ellie always gets excited when the blender comes out because it usually leads to something tasty. We let her open a few presents early (because she totally understood that it wasn't her real birthday...haha). She got some coloring books and stickers, a magnetic playhouse (saved us during Sacrament Meeting yesterday), some new books, and a bunch of Minnie Mouse toys.

Ellie's "best friends"

Stickers!

Jaymes and Lauren came down Saturday night and partied with us all day Sunday. After Church, we had some yummy black bean quesadillas (with lots of sour cream for Ellie), then Ellie took a nap and we played some intense games of Uno Fishing and Aggravation. For dinner (and yes, I'm hoping Ellie enjoys food just as much as her mother), we had Ellie's favorite Chicken Stroganoff with Danny's famous french bread and green beans. We did vanilla cupcakes with pink lemonade frosting (sans the pink part) with ice cream for dessert. Ellie finally got to open her "big" present- a Little People Princess Castle and she got a Cinderella wand from Jaymes and Lauren, which she thinks she needs to bang on the floor in order for it to work. Always the entertainer!

She's 2!

So excited!

Whoa! It makes sounds, too!

I think this face is just pure satisfaction.

And Danny was enjoying it, too.

Happy family! Please ignore the beached whale on the right. 4 weeks left!

She blew all her candles out! Yeah! 

Proud girl!


We are so grateful for this precious girl and for the amazing gift we have to be her parents. She brings us so much joy and happiness. It's so fun to watch her grow and learn everyday. She keeps us on our toes and we love every second with her. She makes us laugh and take in the moment. Love you forever, Ellie!

A Sunbeep

With the many changes that will be coming in our family in the next few months, I've been thinking a lot about how I have a small amount of time with Ellie as the only one at home. It makes me kind of sad that she'll have to share time with her brother. Sad in a good way. I know she'll be an amazing sister, but I'm going to miss these one-on-one moments we have every day. I'm so grateful to be her mommy. She teaches me daily about what's really important and I know there are many more lessons in the years ahead. So here's some Ellie-isms that I want to always remember.

-She loves to sing! She sings along with us now and loves to fill in the words when we stop singing. Some of her favorites are Book of Mormon Stories (this is one she does with Danny that turns in to a version of the Haka towards the end), Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (or sunbeep), Rudolph, Miss Mary Mack, Lady with the Alligator Purse, A Cow and a Pig, I Am a Child of God, and lots of others. She loves to grab our hymnbooks and sing. I love it!

-She still loves to read, but is more about arranging her books in cool rows and patterns than actually sitting through a whole book. But Christmas looks like it's shaping up to be a good moment in the book business for her, so maybe that'll change.

-She loves nursery. If we are leaving, she always asks if we're going to nursery. Thankfully we've passed the days where a no to this question brought tears and tantrums! She always gives her teachers big hugs and kisses. Such a sweet girl!

-She's way in to Disney. Princesses, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse crew, and a lot of movies. She can name all her princesses and sometimes quotes movies. Yep, she's all mine!

-She's got her colors down. We've been working on her ABC's (she can point out some) and her numbers (she can count to 10, but it's often something like "3,4,5,6,8,10!"). I love seeing her learn new things.

-She usually devotes a good 20 minutes a day to dancing. Spinning and doing ballet moves with her arms is what this time consists of. But she can get pretty dizzy, which has led to a few run-ins with the wall.

-Unlike either of her parents (sarcasm), she tends to want things a certain way. Examples: before eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, she always places whatever she's playing with on the couch so it doesn't get dirty while she eats. She makes sure her princesses and books are put away before a nap or bedtime. She has to have at least 4 blankets on top of her plus 3 stuffed animals (Betsy the Giraffe, Bunny the Bunny, and Chico the Turtle) before she can fall asleep properly. 

-She has such a cute sense of humor and I'm loving seeing this side of her come out. We have some fun inside jokes and we love to make fun of Danny when he sings at dinner. Ellie always shrugs her shoulders when he starts. Pretty cute!

Anyway, I hope I can cherish these moments with my precious girl. I hope she knows how much she is loved and adored. What a gift she is to us! And now on to pictures...

She finds random benches, like on top of our plates.

First movie in the theater (that she sat through anyway). Frozen. Loved it. Ate more popcorn than Danny, which is saying something.

My little Black Friday shopper.

Nana sent her a Nemo bookmark.

Most of my dr's appointments are in the morning.
So this is how she looks when we pick up Danny.

Playing in the "snow"...in pajamas.

It was a tight squeeze in the crib that night.

New dress from Nana.

Since we're going to CA for Christmas, Santa
decided to bring Ellie's kitchen early. She loves it!

Enough said.

Ellie's turkey.

Olive Garden Pumpkin Cheesecake. Pretty sure
my face looked like this, too.

Helping with the dishes.