thankful

I just have to post this, even if no one reads it. I was thinking yesterday "If Aflac Insurance were a man, I'd marry it for it's money." This is true. About 2 years ago we enrolled in a supplemental maternity plan covered by Aflac. The numbers promised a nice cash return IF they decided to cover ALL costs listed in their maternity plan.

For a couple of months this summer, we've been struggling big time with the finances. Generally Kory and I are really good at saving and keeping our money at bay. But this time, it didn't work out well. My paychecks for summer always come at the same time in one big lump sum to the tune of $6,000+. Well, this summer Claire came, Kory had to pay for 2 grad school classes instead of just one, Claire's medical bills came, and mortgage payments came. Add all of that up and it equals more than $6,000, plus all the other smaller expenses that just seem to add up. We thought borrowing a good chunk of change from my parents would help, and it did. But, it wasn't enough. 3 days ago, we were down to $50 in my bank account and Kory holding onto his money in order to pay for his next grad school class. We were worried and definitely did not want to ask my parents to borrow money for a second time in less than a month.

We continued to pay our tithing and have faith that we would somehow make ends meet. Yesterday, we got a check in the mail from Aflac. I was thinking it might be something around $1,000 which would barely get us through until I started getting monthly paychecks again. But NOOOOOOO, Aflac decided to send us more than 3 grand. Kory was practically dancing when he saw the check and we felt immense gratitude in our hearts for our blessing we had received. This will be more than enough to get us through until my next paycheck. Thank you to Heavenly Father for blessing us as we pushed forward with faith. I just hope we have learned our lesson. I think we have.

special times

My sweet girl is growing so fast. She had her last round of casts on June 20 and got them removed July 1. July 1, she got her new "shoes." No photos yet of those shoes, but let's just say Friday was miserable for Claire, Kory, and I. The Dr. had explained to us on a few different occasions that her feet would be sensitive when the casts were removed because they hadn't been touched by anything. When he would examine her feet at each appt. she would pull away from the doctor and usually cry because he had to touch her feet. So, I expected her to cry when she got her shoes, but I didn't expect her to cry so hard she would turn purple, let alone do it for 2+ hours. It broke my heart. Finally Kory decided to give her a Priesthood blessing. As soon as he did, she calmed right down and has been so much more peaceful ever since. In fact, here's a picture of her this morning, playing with daddy. As you can see, she's back to being our happy, peaceful baby.

We blessed her yesterday at church. The blessing was beautiful and we had so many family and friends come to support us. We even had lunch at my parent's new house in Provo that is still vacant. We borrowed a bunch of folding tables and chairs and just made do with wonderful company and food. The dress Claire is wearing was my blessing dress. So special!

And that's my baby girl.

Shower Time

One thing I love about my baby Claire is that she is so good in the mornings. I can usually feed her, change her diaper, and then let her lay on the floor or in her bassinet with little to no protesting. This allows me one of the most precious times of the day: shower time.

A lot of moms relate their stories of "I finally got a shower" or "I've learned to take fast showers" because of their babies interfering with that time in some way or another. I don't think I'm going to be that mom; at least not right now.

Shower time is MY time. It's when I ponder life's mysteries, if you want to put it that way. Truly, it's one of the rare moments of my day when I am actually deep in thought and attempt to work some things out in my head. It's my time to receive inspiration. Why is that? Probably because the only thing I can hear is water (and occasionally a little whine here or there) and I'm a water girl. I love being in the water, I love swimming; to me, water feels amazing! And when it's warm, and hitting my body in a soothing way, I could hang out in the shower all day! Sometimes my shower is 5 minutes, sometimes it's a lot longer. Either way, I love it.

That's just one more reason why I love my baby. She allows mommy to have "shower time."

growing

Goin' for a walk!

Love the daddy!

My baby girl is growing like a weed. I can't believe she's already six weeks old! Here are some fun things about Claire:

Favorite time: feeding time!
Favorite thing to do: snuggle with mommy and daddy
She loves to smile!
She giggles in her sleep.
Momma and daddy could stare at her all day
Hair is growing longer and longer
Getting hiccups is a routine part of the day, several times during the day.
Only cries when she's hungry or trying to pass gas!

Claire has one more set of casts, which she will get on Monday, June 20 and have until July 1st then she's DONE! All she will have are braces on her feet and legs. My baby girl is a trooper and has done so well with her treatments for club feet.

She is the most beautiful baby in the world.

I always tell Kory I can't wait for her to sleep through the night, though she is a good sleeper anyway.

It's so precious to me how much her Auntie Kali (Kory's only sister) loves her! Kali came home from work during her lunch break on Sunday just because she knew Claire would be there. She came in, said hi to us and Jase (her son), quickly grabbed a plate of food and went into the living room, where Claire was contentedly lying on the floor looking around, and laid right next to her for her entire lunch break. The two of them just talked and played (as much as a 6-week-old can do) and it was so sweet. Kali didn't even join us at the dinner table. I think she barely said 5 words to us. Then Kali told Claire she was sad to have to go back to work. Auntie Kali is in love with the baby and I think it's just about the most precious thing ever. I wish I had a picture!

That's all for the updates. I'll try more later!

The Best Mother's Day Present...EVER!

So, the evening of Cinco de Mayo my membranes released (water broke) and the next day at 4pm Claire Leinani Sekaquaptewa was born. We immediately fell in love with all 5lbs. 10oz. and 18 inches of her. She was perfect and beautiful, club feet and all! I was planning on being at school that Friday morning, but after laboring all night at home, I checked into the hospital around 7am and the rest is history! She decided she wanted to come 5 weeks early.

This baby girl is enamored with her daddy, loves snuggling with momma, and knows exactly how to play the "cute" card. She is loved by so many people but most of all by her momma and daddy. She makes momma's heart melt when she reaches for and grabs my finger during nursing time and she's a trooper with her casts on her feet. We love this baby and can't believe how much our lives have changed in the last 4 weeks. WOW! She's already 4 weeks old.

This is a great shot of her feet.

It was really nice not to have to worry about work, though I did think about my students every once in a while and hoped they were happy and well.

Mine and Kory's lives have completely changed....We wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

32 weeks

Updates? Really? You want updates? I haven't posted in so long. I want to post pictures, but have been having problems with posting them here. So, I suppose my updates won't be quite as exciting with just words.

Obviously, my belly is getting bigger and bigger. I've hit 32 weeks and am starting to actually feel pregnant. It's harder to put my shoes on, stand up after sitting too long, and other "pregnant" things. Kory and I are getting so excited to meet baby girl. She still doesn't have a first name, but her middle name will be Leinani, after her great-grandmother (Lynne's mother). I figured it would be appropriate because Kory's grandmother had a Liver transplant and some health issues she was able to overcome. Since our baby girl will likely have club feet when she is born, and I know she will be strong and able to overcome this trial so early in her life, Leinani works perfectly. The next step is to decide her first name. I think it's just going to have to wait until she is born.

Kory and I have been exploring "hypnobirthing." It's amazing and I am learning so much about giving birth and why women shouldn't have to feel pain during labor. I'll save my soap box about this whole thing for another post, but ever since I've gone to these classes, I wonder why our society is so backwards about the whole childbirth process. It's unreal!

We've just been keeping busy with work and school and preparing for baby. I feel like I still have so much more to do in order to feel ready for the baby to be part of our family. That's about all for now.

hope, right?

Well, I think blogger just became my official not-best-friend. I am trying to post pictures and they are only showing up as HTML before I save and publish. After I publish it's fine, but since I am not HTML savvy I don't know what to do.

That's it for my ranting. If anyone can help that would be fabulous.

We are getting settled in our new home and loving being homeowners. The hardest part is knowing where to put everything. I am about to go crazy over all the boxes and unpacked things in the two extra bedrooms. Kory doesn't know what to do about it so he hasn't been much help in that area. Part of my craziness is probably contributed to the pregnancy, but still, I don't understand how anyone can just leave boxes unpacked like that. I mean, it's bad. We can't even use those rooms, but I don't know what to do. *sigh* Maybe I should hire a professional organizer. Seriously, it really does make me crazy and Kory brushing it off makes me even more crazy. I can't describe how it feels, but I don't like (AT ALL!!) having our house unsettled, unorganized, and not unpacked.

On the fun side of things, we're having a baby girl. We were very surprised but love our little munchkin. On the regular ultrasound, she was showing club feet so we were sent for a "better" ultrasound at the hospital and it's confirmed that she will have club feet when she is born. There's nothing we can do about it right now. I do have questions and concerns (like commuting to Primary Children's Hospital every time she needs her casts changed) and since it's my first baby, I probably have more than usual. Banking on faith and wisdom, I'm sure we'll get through this.

The ultrasounds were fun and technology just amazes me. They were looking inside her brain and measuring her head, finding all of her internal organs...it was so cool. I could have sat there all day and watched baby. She was so cute!! The sonographer tried to get a good face shot but baby only wanted to give us a profile picture. We even tried bugging her and pushing on my belly, but she wouldn't budge! :) Already a little stinker, but I still can't wait to meet her in June! She is currently being spoiled by grandma (my mom) and by Auntie Kali (Kory's sister). I think this girl is set on clothing for a while.

The part I am enjoying the most about pregnancy is feeling her move. It's such an unusual feeling, yet so fun. It makes me more anxious to meet her.

Things are going well, just a little bit crazy. Maybe one day it will all calm down. One can hope, right?