Think on This

I thought this was a very interesting post by my cousin, Ave, addressing her own apprehensions about a possible explanation for why she feels the way she does about Obama. But even more important are the last two paragraphs which address how people in this country act towards the man in the white house--whoever it is.

I agree with Ave that we as a nation do a poor job of giving enough respect to whoever holds the position of president. I disagree with politics regularly--that's bound to happen. I've heard some pretty ridiculous ideas coming from the person in charge for years, and nothing is new now. I've also heard some good ones for years, even from people I didn't particularly like. But to paint the leader of our country as some kind of ignoramus or outright wicked being is a horrible thing to do. It is a position I doubt a quarter of the people in this country would be capable of, and so we are left with those who are at least willing to do it. That willingness to take on such an enormous task deserves our respect.

Just to Catch You All Up

I'm posting with a 21 1/2 inch long parasite that takes up my chest, belly, and left arm so I'm typing a little slow. I ask you to pardon any typos.

First of all, I finally got my hair cut. I've been looking at styles since April or so but haven't been able to find one I liked and was long enough to not break Mike's heart until the day I went into labor. Then it took about two weeks until I could sit on a hard seat again so that's when I made the appointment.

I'm actually glad it worked out the way it did. In certain island cultures the women cut their hair shortly after having a kid -- in fact it's traditionally the only time they get it cut. I don't know all the reasons behind it, but I think it's going to become a tradition of mine to let it grow long during pregnancy and then chop it short a few weeks after. There are few things as effective as a really different hairstyle to make you feel fresh and clean after such a draining and frankly gross ordeal as delivery. I highly recommend it.

Madie was blessed! Her gown and bonnet were made by my cousin, Chelsea. She's got more stuff here.

We just put the bonnet on for this picture. We took it off 'cause she kept trying to eat the ties. And it's just a tad big. I'm excited for her to grow into it though; I think she'll be wicked cute!

She was blessed at home by Mike, Dad, Bryan, Bishop Packer and one of Mike's closest friends, Sean.

The crowds are gone. Grammy and Grampy and Aunt Eden headed out on Wednesday. It was great having everyone here -- especially Mum, she was such a help -- but it's nice to be in some kind of routine and to have our new apartment in order. We miss everyone more than ever though and look forward to weekly video chats!

School has started. Mike has two classes and I have five. We're both working part time too. I know: a fairly typical new-parents-still-in-school situation, but it's still daunting. Thankfully, the Lord gave us two great first days of school. We both feel relaxed and that we maintain some sort of control over our situation. We don't even need a babysitter but for three hours a week!

For more pictures, we should all hound my mother for a post of her own. :)

Baby, Family, Outings

Recently, we have been keeping busy with little Madie. She has been sleeping and eating so well, we have been very pleased with how things are going so far. She usually only wakes up once at night to eat, then returns to her slumber. We have had tons of family visit us in the past few weeks as well, probably the most we have ever had since we have been in Idaho. Isn't it amazing what happens when you have a baby?? I also threw in some pictures from a little day trip I took to Grand Teton National Park with my parents and Grandma.

I love this picture of Madie.

This is a good picture of Mal testing out the sling. Madie fell asleep almost immediately inside it. Just like the womb!

This is Eden, Mal's little sister. This is a picture of her holding Madie for the first time.

On Friday, we took a small trip to Mesa Falls with my family. This is a good one of Mal after she got her hair done, with her little sister Eden.

Nana helping Madie burp.

When we entered Grand Teton National Park, we saw a bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road, on a bridge above the Snake River. We jumped out to see what everyone was looking at and saw a moose cow and calf eating and walking in the small stream.

After a while, the cow just plopped herself into the stream to cool off.

This is a picture of me standing in Jenny Lake at Teton.

And of course, the Tetons.

Madeleine at Home

We love her little mittens. We are thinking of some sort of boxing name for her because her hands are always up by her head.

Mumma and baby.

Daddy and baby.

This is her normal sleeping position: slightly on her side, with her head facing upwards. Hands up by her head.

Things I Must Admit Now That It's Over

Well, not over by any means, but now that I know I'm going to stay alive.

1. I was not prepared for the feeling of being split in half. I knew it would be painful, but when her head started to come I realized a whole new level of pain. That was the only time during the whole thing that the pain became completely unfamiliar. Up until then, I was certainly in pain, but I often thought to myself, "man, this feels lot like..." so I knew I could deal with it.

2. I was also not quite prepared for my complete loss of modesty. I mean, of course I didn't care too much about the doctors and such, but even after I had been taken to the mother-baby wing and people came to visit, I would find myself thinking, "Hmmm, I should feed the baby" and then realize my company just in time to stop myself. Mum said after I told her about it, "Yeah, from here on out modesty becomes more something you follow for the comfort of others. You yourself really couldn't care less." So true.

3. My first shower after delivery. It was wonderful to not have all the grime on me anymore, but I kept reading in places things like, "Your first shower after delivery is one of the most refreshing things you'll ever feel." Not so. My second shower was great, but my first revealed to me things I hadn't realized until then, like the swelling (which I also wasn't prepared for) and the exhaustion. My second shower was right before I left the hospital and I finally felt really clean for the first time in two days.

4. Breast feeding. Madie has an excellent latch. Enviable, in fact. But I was still so sore. Finally, I told one of the nurses and after she confirmed how well-latched she was, she said, "I know those lactation consultants say things all the time about how natural it is and how it should never hurt and how it's a beautiful thing, blah blah blah, but ya know what? That's crap. Breast feeding does hurt. And it's hard. We aren't used to something sucking there, and that means you'll have to get used to it, and it'll probably get worse before it gets better." Another true statement. I'm glad I can breast feed, I know some women can't. And I think it is good for the baby. But that nurse is right: it does hurt, and it is hard. I hate it when people say things like, "I can't believe you would give your baby formula when breast feeding is clearly the natural, RIGHT thing to do." Yeah, yeah, yeah. I say, if you can and you want to and it fits well with your schedule, do it, and stick to it! But remember, no infant ever died from formula.

5. Finally, I was not prepared for how beautiful my baby is. Whenever I say that people give me the whole, "Yeah, well, all mothers say that" look/speech, but really, I have never been the kind of person to sugar-coat how a baby looks. I figure it's not hurting their feelings at all if I say they're ugly, and it doesn't bother me when people tell me a baby I love is an ugly one. But really, Madeleine is beautiful. She's got a pretty round face and a beautifully shaped head. She's got pretty ears and lips, and nice big eyes, but not the freaky lookin' big eyes I had. These ones fit her face. Mine fit a cow's face.

Welcome Madeleine!

Tuesday Night, 10:15 pm: MariLou (Mal's mother) flies into Idaho Falls, ID and is picked up by Mallory.

Wednesday Morning, 2:00 am: Mal starts getting some regular early morning contractions

Wednesday Morning, 2:15 am: Mal takes some raspberry tea which is supposed to intensify contractions.

Wednesday Morning, 4:00 am: Mike wakes up to go to work.

Wednesday Morning, 4:45 am: Mike is weary to go to work because Mal is having contractions 15 mins apart. Mike decides to chance it and heads to work anyways.

Wednesday Morning, 7:00 am: Mike arrives to work. Anxiety about Madeleine's arrival sets in.

Wednesday Morning, 10:00 am: Mal and MariLou go for a walk.

Wednesday Afternoon, 1:00 pm: Mal and MariLou duke it out in a game of Scrabble.

Wednesday Evening, 7:00 pm: Mike gets home after checking in on Mal at least every hour, and enjoys a nice meal of homemade lasagna prepared by MariLou.

Wednesday Evening, 7:30 pm: Contractions have progressed to 3-5 minutes apart for a steady three hours. We head to Madison Memorial Hospital.

Wednesday Evening, 8:15 pm: Mal is admitted to the hospital, room number 3002.

Wednesday Evening, 11:30 pm: Mal continues to dilate to 5 cm.

Thursday Morning, 3:00 am: Mal continues to dilate to 7 cm.

Thursday Morning, 6:47 am: Mal gives birth to Madeleine, 7 lbs 1 oz, 19 inches long!

Mal and I while she was being monitored for admission.

Madeleine being all primped after birth.

A close up shot on Madeleine. She has hair! It's a miracle, considering who her parents are.

Mal first holding Madeleine.

You did a great job Malie! Thanks for bringing such a beautiful girl into this world.

Nothing like August Snow!

Announcement: We will officially be heading to Salt Lake City in January. Mallory was assigned to South Salt Lake for her student teaching, so we are excited to know where we are going!

Onto the post. Snow in August! Can you believe it? Doesn't make sense, right? Well it does if you are standing on top of an 11,106 ft. mountain in the Tetons! I went for a hike today (Mal didn't come with for obvious reasons). It was a 10.5 mile loop up Table Mountain, and features amazing views of the Tetons from the top. You are literally right in front of them.

Here is our group. It consisted of ward members, and our Bishop's children/nephew. It was the perfect sized group.

This is someone else's picture, taken from the top of Table Mountain. I have to live vicariously through other people's pictures of what it looks like on top of the mountain because there was very low visibility once we hit 9,000 ft.

Here is Alaska Basin taken from the start of the hike. Great view!

A little higher up, we stumbled across a Moose cow and her calf. We were actually really close, and she didn't seem to mind so much.

There were these huge meadows all over the mountain side. Everyone kept humming or singing Sound of Music, which is always appropriate when you are hiking.

This is approaching the summit. There were quite a few glaciers up there. Again, the visibility became lower and lower the higher we went.

Yep, it's snowing in this picture. This is the summit. Thanks Mal for the umbrella.

Climbing down from the summit.

Coming down from the top, we could finally see the summit from below! We couldn't see this before. It started to clear up a little bit, then a couple of miles later it rained the entire hike back to the car. Needless to say, we were all soaked. Quite an adventure.