Happy Australia Day!

May your day be filled with Ginger Beer, TimTam slams, sausage rolls, meat pies, Lamingtons, fairy bread, and all the other scrumptious goodies we're going to miss out on this year. Eat an Aussie burger for us!

P.S. Thanks, J, T, R, & P for the adorable kangaroo outfit! It's still a little big, but we love our little Kangaroo! :) Miss you guys! Oh yeah, and that's the lamb skin you gave us too!!

Everyone needs one.

There was one thing I insisted on having when we knew we were expecting a baby--a nice, comfy rocking chair. I planned to use it frequently for night-time feedings, story time, rocking the munchkin to sleep, and just cozy-rocking-chair-time with the baby. My sweet hubby made my wish come true by getting me this little beauty:
I seriously LOVE this chair. When we're up with the baby at night and sit in the chair to rock her, she calms down immediately...most of the time. But the thing that's even more comforting than a cozy rocking chair is a creaky rocking chair. Right? There's something about it's melody that reminds people of their childhood and makes them feel at peace. The one thing we didn't expect with this chair was creaking. Sure enough, the chair doesn't creak, but we still get that comforting feeling that comes with a creaky rocking chair. See for yourself!
(*Sidenote: She's doing the same thing now as I hold her in my arm and type this post one-handed.)

I personally think A's creaky rocking chair noises by far surpass the creaking actually coming from the chair. We seriously can't get enough of this adorable little girl who just happens to be ours!! Thanks for making us smile, precious princess!

Meeting Cousins

This past weekend was full of pictures and two days of meeting cousins! On Saturday we took A to D's brother's house so he could take pictures of our princess and let the kids hold her since we didn't let them in the hospital. Thanks again for taking pictures, Travis!! Can't wait to see them!

These kids are SO happy to finally have a cousin on their dad's side!

Allie loved A's little feet. She even asked, "Where did these tiny pigs come from?" So cute!

Allie wanted so bad to hold A. We finally let her with a little help ;)

On Sunday my sister and her family came down to meet A. We really appreciated them making the trip down to meet her, and it was fun for us to see them again too.

Miss Hannah holding baby A

Liam couldn't wait to hold her!

And finally Aunt Shannon got to hold her too

When Uncle D got home from church, the kids suddenly got rowdy and had to make sure Uncle D can still do what he does best--swing the kids around in a blanket.

See Hannah's little head poking out?

We are so blessed to be around our family & friends, and so grateful to have so much love and support!

1 Week

It's hard to believe we've had our little angel with us for a week already! We've learned so much about this sweet girl in the last week, and love learning new things every day. Her name fits her perfectly because she is most definitely the light of our lives!! Here's some pictures of our week old munchkin:

Seriously can't get enough of those little eye balls!

Sleeping in with Daddy

2nd bath - her 1st one was done by Daddy

Oh man! I love the fuzzy after-bath-time hair! It pretty much melts my heart :)

With our wicked awesome doctor who delivered her and who will be her pediatrician.
Stats from her 1 week appointment:
Weight: 5 lbs 13 oz (7%)
Length: 18.5 in (5%)
Head: 32cm (3%)
She may be little, but she's healthy and such an awesome baby!

Sleeping Beauty

We are seriously so happy to have our sweet little sleeping beauty here with us. It's hard to describe in words how happy we are to have her and how much love we feel for her already. She has been such a joy and we already can't imagine life without her. I'm sure not everyone will want to read her birth story, but we're posting it anyway because the blog is our family journal and I know there will be some interested people :) So, here goes...with lots of pictures!

Monday morning I went to the hospital for another non-stress test (I've been having them done twice a week for the past couple weeks) and thought everything was peachy-keen as normal. I did the test and went home thinking I'd get some laundry done, dishes, etc. Half an hour after I got home from the hospital I got a call from the nurse at my doctor's office saying to not panic because the NST was fine but the doctor at the hospital who reviewed the test called and consulted with my doctor and they both decided it was best to induce me that day so I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible (turns out A had a couple dips in her heart rate during that test, and since she was measuring small they decided it was best to induce me then). Whoa. I was slightly overwhelmed at first and debated on calling D in class because I knew he'd be eating lunch in about 20 minutes, but I called anyway...I knew he had his phone on waiting for my call.

Here's what happened when I called him at work...D's version: So I told my students that during January I wouldn't be turning my phone on silent just in case I needed to answer a very important call that would result in my rush to the hospital. During the middle of 5th period my phone rings. I look at it and see that it's K, and naturally I answer it. All my students went silent with expectant faces, inferring the implications of the call. After I get off the phone I say to my students, "Will you excuse me for a moment?," as I walk to my office to call the school secretary. Cheers start to ring out, "Mr. D is having his baby!!!" One student closed my office door and said, "Don't worry, Mr. D, I'll teach class." And with that I hear a bunch of yardstick slamming on my table followed by, "Okay, quiet down, quiet down." Who knows what mayhem happened after that. After getting an emergency substitute plan together, my dad picked me up at school and drove me to the hospital arriving there at 1:30pm.
Once D got to the hospital, the nurse was just starting to put my IV in. I wish I could say the whole delivery went without any complications, but what fun would that be? Lucky for me, the IV was our only ordeal and only complication. I have awful veins. It took 4 nurses & the anesthesiologist an hour and a half, 5 yucky pokes, and several bruises to finally get the IV in. The anesthesiologist even pulled out this awesome vein-detector machine called Accuvein, that uses a red light to search out veins--your veins actually look shadowed because your veins absorb the red light--to try to find a good vein and was stumped for a while because he couldn't find any in either arm! Luckily he was finally able to find a vein in my hand that wasn't great but good enough, although the IV was really irritating the whole time it was in, and luckily the epidural went in much easier!

The more ID bands you have, the more the nurses like you!

Finally at 3:00pm they were able to start the pitocin. I was on full dose by 5:00, and still able to manage my contractions just fine. It even felt like they mellowed out after a while. I was able to relax pretty well, and D was able to work on getting his substitute plans done for the rest of the week.

D working on lesson plans for his sub

At 7:30pm my doctor came in and broke my water and things progressed really quickly after that. By 8:15 I was ready for the epidural because my contractions were getting much stronger. The epidural was in by 8:20 but because I was progressing so quickly the epidural wasn't doing much for me. The anesthesiologist had to keep coming in to increase my dose and was finally able to get my pain under control by 10:30pm. He even said it was unusual for someone to be on such a strong dose and still be in so much pain. Go figure. When the nurse checked me at 10:30 I was at 4+ cm and 90% effaced. When she came back and checked at 11:00pm, I was fully dilated and A was at +1 station. The nurse said my doctor liked to have her patients wait for an hour to let the baby descend on their own for a bit. My doctor came back in at midnight to deliver our sweet baby. I started pushing at 12:15am and A was born at 12:36am Tuesday morning. I got super lucky and only had to push through 4 contractions for about 20 minutes. They told me I was an expert pusher ;) I think it helped that she was little though. We are so glad to have A here with us and LOVE being her parents already. She is such a good baby and it is such a joy to have her in our home. We love you, princess A!

Holding Daddy's finger

First bath in the nursery--she really likes to have her hair brushed :)

1st family photo-remember, I just gave birth. Don't judge ;)

Meeting Grandma & Grandpa D

1st diaper change done by Daddy

Meeting Great-great Uncle Bob and Great-great Aunt Sharon

Daddy's first time feeding her. We had to supplement a little bit in the hospital, but things are going better now.

Meeting Nanny Kim

Meeting Gramps

And Uncle Skylar

Meeting her D cousins

Meeting my good friend, Courtney. They share the same birthday & the same middle name!

Getting ready to go home!!! She didn't fuss at all and has slept through every single car ride so far.

Oh, how we love those little eye balls!

Our sweet little munchkin. Can't get enough of her!

A was slightly jaundice so we've had to take her in to get her poor little foot poked twice. She's doing fine now though.

Little teeny baby in her great big crib!

So cozy.

1-on-1 Mommy time
Snuggled up with Daddy while he works
We are so glad to have you in our family, sweet A! We love you!

SO worth the wait!

After more than 3 years of hoping, praying, planning, and lots of faith and patience, we welcomed our beautiful princess Aurora Nicole (from now on known as "A"), into the world this morning at 12:36am, on 01-11-11, and she was 11 days early. What a great day to have a birthday!! She weighs 6 pounds on the dot, and is 18.5 inches. Welcome to the world, baby girl! Our family is already so much more complete with you here! WE LOVE YOU!

Proud daddy with his beautiful daughter
Getting loves from mommy :)
Stay tuned...more to come later :)

Sleep Talking

I know this is random, but I really wanted to get this recorded down while I still remember and still have some free time on my hands. :)

D & I are both sleep-talkers. We honestly haven't caught each other talking in our sleep in a while, but when we do we can get some pretty funny stuff out of each other. Here's a couple of our funny ones, and maybe they're just funny to us, but that's okay!

This is one of my funny ones, where D was awake and prompting the conversation:
K: Open scratch.
D: Huh?
K: Open scratch!
D: What's open scratch?
K: You know. Like in playing pool.
-I then woke up enough at this point to realize he was prompting me to talk in my sleep and that's the only time I've ever been angry at him. I really was just embarrassed. We'd only been married for a short time when this one happened. We laugh about it all the time now though, and will randomly say "open scratch" to each other. :)

Here's one of D's funnies from probably a year ago where I was awake and prompting the conversation:
D: Katrina wanted the particles.
K: Hmm?
D: Katrina wants the particles...In different layers...But they were going too fast...In different layers going down the stream. Mmm. Tired. (Then he kissed me.)
K: I know, babe. It's late.
-And he fell right back to sleep. I got out of bed and wrote that one down because I thought it was so funny! :)

It's amazing what our minds put together while we're asleep sometimes. One of my favorite things to study while working on my Behavioral Science degree was sleep patterns and sleep disorders. It's amazing how our bodies really don't function well when we're running on lack of sleep. But D & I sure like to catch each other talking in our sleep! Anyone else have funny stories?

P.S. D took that photo of the moon back in May 2009 at our family reunion through the lens of his telescope. Pretty cool, eh?

Sometimes it just makes sense!

This is kind of long, but probably worth reading :)

I've said it several times, but I'm going to say it again. I LOVE the Ensign magazine issued each month by my Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I was reading through some of the articles yesterday in the January 2011 issue, one article in particular stood out to me. It's written by an Apostle of God and is actually an excerpt from an address he gave to the faculty and students at Harvard University almost a year ago. The article is titled, "Fundamental to Our Faith" and is given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He talks about 3 fundamental premises of our faith that make us stand out from other religions. I absolutely LOVED this article, and really felt like I should share my thoughts. (To read the whole article click here.)

When talking about the 2nd fundamental point he brings up - the purpose of mortal life - one quote in particular stood out to me. Mostly because of the stage of life I am in right now, I guess, but also because I know that it's true. Elder Oaks states:

"Knowledge of God's plan gives Latter-day Saints a unique perspective on marriage and children. We look on the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God's plan and a sacred duty of those given the power to participate in it. We believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our
posterity. . . .

"The power to create mortal life is the most exalted power God has given His children. The use of this creative power was mandated in the first commandment to 'be fruitful, and multiply' ".

I loved how he put that, and it reminded me of a thought that came to me about two weeks ago when I was pondering the sacred responsibility of parenthood. We all know that the earth has been around for a long time, and in that time a LOT of people have lived and died here. As a Latter-day Saint, I know that we lived in heaven before we came to earth. In heaven we knew we would come to earth to receive a body--one of the greatest gifts God could give us. And as part of receiving a body ourselves we would be given the opportunity to find a spouse and use the sacred procreative power from our Heavenly Father to give other spirits the opportunity to receive a body as well. What really struck me when I was thinking about this was how long Darwin and I have waited for the opportunity to become parents. We've lived for eons as spirits, and have only been on this earth for a short time. How long have we really been anticipating this sacred responsibility? And now in the next few weeks we're finally getting the opportunity we've been waiting so long for!

When I brought this up to Dar, he said it was a good point, but said too, "How long has this little spirit been waiting to receive her body?" Another good point. And I'm sure that receiving a body is something this little one has been waiting for for a VERY long time. :) I am so grateful to have the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. I am so grateful for the testimony I have of the truthfulness of the Gospel. I am so grateful for the opportunity Dar and I have to become parents in the next few weeks, and for this little spirit daughter of our Heavenly Father finally getting the opportunity to receive her body.

To learn more about what we believe visit our Church website, lds.org.

Happy 2011!!

*Playing catch-up on blogging again, so scroll down to read the last 4 posts!*

We only got a couple of pictures from this New Year's Eve, but we had a great time celebrating with our friends. We ate lots of yummy food, played fun games and just enjoyed being together to welcome in the new year!

Yeah, we're nerds, but it's fun!

And just for kicks, here's my 37 week photo. Can't wait to meet this little girl!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

*Another baby update for anyone interested*
At our 36 week appointment last Monday, little Rori's heart rate was still low so my doctor sent me in for another non-stress test for double reassurance. The result was the same--she has a low base heart rate at about 115. The doctor at the hospital reviewed the results and said he wanted me to have an ultrasound done because I hadn't had one since 19 weeks when we found out we were expecting a little girl. So, we went for an ultrasound. (Luckily Dar was with me this time.) From the ultrasound they found that everything was measuring right where it should be, except for her abdomen. Apparently we have a skinny baby. They estimated her weight at 5.1 pounds and said her abdomen was measuring between the 5th and 10th percentile (measuring at 33 weeks instead of 36 weeks). It was a little nerve wracking to hear that because the doctor at the hospital told us if she had measured below the 5th percentile they would induce me that day! Holy cow! Wake up call!! Luckily she measured above that and is still sitting toasty warm inside me for the time being. So, thanks to our skinny little girl, I'm having to go in for non-stress tests twice a week now until we deliver. It's been reassuring each time I go for the NSTs though that everything that could be worrisome is measuring where it should be--the amniotic fluid, her blood flow, her movements, etc. And, at the last couple of tests her base heart rate has increased a little bit, which is comforting too. Silly little girl.

At my 37 week appointment yesterday I was dilated to 2.5 centimeters and 80% effaced. Making progress!! It's so stinkin' nice to know we get to meet this little girl in just a few short weeks! Bring it on!!

Christmas 2010

This year we spent Christmas just with Dar's family. We decided that it's more relaxing for us and more enjoyable if we spend each holiday with one family, rather than both, like we have done every Thanksgiving and Christmas since we got married. So we started the switch-off this year and it really was more relaxing not having to travel back and forth between family activities. We missed my family, but look forward to spending Christmas with them next year!

A couple days before Christmas Dar & I put together treat plates to bring to our neighbors. We made candy-cane cookies and chocolate dipped pretzels. Mmm!

Our delicious Christmas morning breakfast--red and green waffles!

Santa came!!

The stockings all hung in a row

Andrea & Sean

Georgiana taking a picture of me

Opening presents!!
We always open presents starting with the youngest. A diaper bag for the baby having a baby :)

Andrea checking out her new "safety glasses" and tools.

Dar got a changing pad and cover. We're liking the baby stuff!

Sean got Truman Madsen's "The Eternal Christ"

Arabian Nights book for Geo

Ryan got a computer programming book

We thought the tag was so funny :) Very creative, Dad!

And the tag was totally relevant because Mom got an iPhone for Christmas! Welcome to the world of cell phones! :)
Dad got a CD he wanted
Official Christmas photo of 2010

We also went as a family to visit Dar's grandma and his older brother to watch his kids open some presents. We ate lots of yummy food and had a fun time relaxing!! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!!