E's First Football Game

Last week E had a fun adventure with daddy. It was so funny to see Ry come home from work and just be thrilled and giddy to take his son to the football game and have the full experience. I thought it was so cute. Ry got tickets to the BYU vs. TCU game so he took E for his very first football game. E talked to me on the phone on the ride home and told me all about it...a big frog, a "tiger" (cougar), football players, hot dogs, cheering, etc. He was so animated and excited to tell me about it. I could tell he had a great time!

Life Is Rough...

...for me and for Maxwell. Things have just been really hard these past few days. I haven't really noticed too much of a difference with the reflux medication. He still cries a lot and doesn't sleep at night and it just seems like he's crying in pain. His air swallowing at feedings has gotten a lot better and he's a lot better to burp lately so that's been good. I just don't know what to do for him. He doesn't take a binky for comfort, he'll only take one when he's not crying (go figure). He doesn't really enjoy being swaddled. He eats like a champ and would eat all day long, but he just ends up eating until he's so full that he's uncomfortable and cries and then spits up a ton. He's just one of those babies that can't be consoled once he gets going. I don't necessarily know if he has colic, but it kind of feels like it. His temperament is a lot like Ethan's was when he was a baby, but Ethan was a lot easier to console and he would take a binky and liked to be swaddled. The doctor said it would take 1-2 weeks to see some results from the medication so maybe things will change in the next few weeks. His naps are pretty good during the day. He'll sleep for 2-3 hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon in his bed. It's just that his naps aren't 2-3 hours straight, he's restless and he'll cry and he'll go back to sleep with a little bit of help. At night he only sleeps in 30 min.-2 hour stretches and he'll only sleep on your chest. It doesn't matter how many times you put him down in his bed when he's totally out, he'll be up in 10 minutes. And then when he wakes up it takes a good 1-2 hours to get him back to sleep. I just don't want him to be in pain and I'd love for him to sleep better (so we can both benefit). As bad as this all sounds, he IS the cutest little baby ever and that's probably why Heavenly Father makes babies that way so thier moms would just love them to pieces. Well, send us your prayers and positive vibes!

Halloween Fun

My mom came up today to spend time with the boys and to let me catch some zzz's and while she was here she helped E decorate an edible haunted house. He loved putting candy on the house in different patterns...and sneaking some too.

His mouth was totally purple by the time they were done. I think it turned out really cute and E loved it! It was also quite entertaining to watch him!

Frenectomy

That is the procedure that poor little Maxwell had at the doctor today. Sounds pretty crazy, but it really wasn't too bad. Basically, his frenulum, the little piece of skin that holds your tongue down, was attached all the way to the tip of his tongue (hence the term "tongue tied"). Some babies don't feed very well with it attached and later in life they develop speech problems. Max has been gaining weight just fine so I wasn't too worried about that, but he has had a lot of problems with swallowing air when he eats and then being extremely fussy and not sleeping too well. So I took him in today to see what the doctor wanted to do. She didn't think his tongue was the biggest culprit for our problems, it's acid reflux. So now we're putting him on Prevacid and elevating his mattress. We did clip his tongue though just in case it was contributing to the problem and to prevent any possible issues with his speech when he gets older. The procedure was pretty quick and very little blood was involved just a little clip and he was done. It was also good to see how much he weighed since it eased my mind that his feeding issues weren't causing any problems. He basically gained over a pound in a little over a week! At his last appointment on October 2nd, he was 8 lbs 3 oz and this appointment he was 9 lbs 9 oz. Not bad, little guy! The doctor said it will take a week or two to see results from the medication so hopefully I'll be getting a little bit more sleep at night and little Maxwell's painful moments will end.

Max's Photo Shoot

Well, our cousin Toni is at it again! Last year she did our family pictures (as seen in my header) and this year it's little Maxwell. Go check out her blog for a little preview.

Funny Eism

Today Ry gave me a kiss in the kitchen and E immediately shouted, "Stop kissing, I'm eating over here!" The kid isn't even 3 yet and he says stuff like this? Where does it come from?! He's also started asking "why" all the time...I'm not looking forward to the "why" phase. This should be interesting.

Happy Birthday Ry!

It's Ry's 28th birthday today and in order to celebrate his special day I wanted to make a blog post just for him. 6 years ago tomorrow we got engaged on my 20th birthday and when he proposed he did "20 Reasons Why He Fell in Love With Me." So this year I want to do 28 Reasons Why I Love My Ry." I picked this picture because I think it's hilarious. It's from our trip to Australia and we went to this aviary where the birds are free to fly around and eat food out of your hands and all that. Well, if you know Ry, you know how much he "loves" animals and I can just imagine what he was thinking at the moment this picture was taken. It just makes me laugh. Love you!

28 Reasons I Love Ry

1. He loves me for being me- He doesn't try to change me, he doesn't expect me to act a certain way. He just let's me be who I am and loves me for it.
2. He’s a great dad- I always wanted to marry someone who was great with kids and I got that with Ry. He truly enjoys spending time with the boys and he always makes a special effort to let them know he loves them.
3. He’s driven
4. He’s naturally good at a lot of things- It always seems like whenever he tries something, he's usually good at it. I think his brothers got mad at him a lot for always beating them in video games. Thankfully his skills aren't just in video games, he's good at a lot of other things.
5. He’s athletic- He hasn't had too much time for athletics because of his travel and church schedule, but he loves being active and I love that about him.
6. He’s very clever and witty- the next two go together. I just love his quick wit and his clever puns
7. I love his sense of humor
8. He tries to really understand me- Despite the fact that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, he really tries to understand where I'm coming from.
9. He’s humble
10. He’s a great teacher- this is one of his great talents in the church and elsewhere. I have learned so many great tips for my Gospel Doctrine class.
11. He looks out for others
12. He faithfully serves in the church
13. He’s always trying to better himself
14. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff- That is something that I always need help with. I'm such a worrier about all sorts of things and Ry is constantly telling me "What's the worst that can happen?" He helps me gain the perspective that I need.
15. He’s a dreamer-This is something that I love and this sometimes is something that I'm not particularly fond of. But for the most part I love that he's always looking towards great things. What is a man without his dreams?
16. His personality compliments mine perfectly- He excels where I lack and vice versa, it's great how that worked out.
17. He gives the benefit of the doubt- He's never quick to judge, he always looks for the good in others and on the bright side.
18. He’s genuine
19. He’s honest
20. He’s a people person- I never have to worry about going to any gathering of any sort.
21. He loves my cooking- thank goodness, and I love to cook for him
22. He’s frugal- and so am I so that makes a great pair
23. He’s smart- He always jokes that I got all the smarts in the family, but he's the only one in the family that ever made the "Dean's List" and he's the only one that was in the "gifted program (LEAP)" so I think the smarts go to him.
24. He’s a great communicator- he's so easy to talk to and he really helps me to be a better communicator too.
25. He’s succeeds in all he does
26. He’s sensitive
27. He’s always fresh- He takes at least 2 showers a day and I love that he's always clean
28. He’s positive- I rarely, if ever, hear a negative thing out of his mouth. He's almost always happy when he comes home, he always has nice things to say about others, and he's happy.

Mr. Smiley

Maybe this little guy just has a lot of gas, but he smiles all the time in his sleep. I know he won't socially smile for a couple more weeks, but I still pretend that he's smiling on purpose. Sometimes he'll just be sitting there asleep and then he'll smile and then do this little chuckle. Maybe his dreams are really funny or maybe he'll naturally be our family comedian. Only time will tell.

2 Week Appointment

No, he's not 2 weeks yet, but today was the only appointment I could get so we went ahead and scheduled. Little Maxwell is 10 days old now and is already past his birth weight. He's 8 lbs 3 oz and 21 1/4 inches. His little cord fell off today so he's been cleared for the tub and everything looks great. Last night we put him down for "tummy time" and he ended up rolling over! I couldn't believe it so we tried it again and he totally rolled over again! I've heard of premies doing this in the NICU so it's just a flukey thing, but he is really strong. I remember burping him in the hospital over my shoulder and he was totally moving his little head around. He'll have to be strong to keep up with his brother so I'm sure he's been blessed in the regards so he can survive around here. Maxwell is a really good baby. He loves to eat and he's pretty peaceful. He just DOES NOT SLEEP! I mean he does, but for only 1-2 hour stretches at night, if that. I'm pretty exhausted and I really don't know how I will be able to function if this goes on for a really long time. Thankfully I've done this before and I know this doesn't last forever. So send your sleep vibes our way!

My Little Hero

Mr. Incredible decided to make an appearance for a brief photoshoot with Maxwell. Quite the hero! Ry headed back to work today so my mom is coming over to help me out this week. Glory day! We took Maxwell to the doctor to get his bilirubin drawn again and everything looks good so that's a relief. I feel like we're going to doctor's appointments or lab draws every day so I'm looking forward to a down day at home tomorrow.

How We've Been Doing

Everything at the hospital went really well. The nurses were great to me and to Maxwell and it was a smooth ride. We had some great visitors come see us including both sets of grandparents, Grammie, and Aunt Suzy. Very fun!




We came home on Wednesday afternoon and Ethan came home Thursday evening. We've had to take little Maxwell to the doctor a few times because of his bilirubin levels. They're going up and that's not good. We have to take him back in on Monday to see if his levels are coming down or not. So hopefully he'll be in the clear on Monday. The nights have been kind of long which is what I expected, but the reality of little sleep is showing up and it's not fun. We're all trying to catch naps whenever we can and keep things under control. Maxwell is so cute and such a little peanut! I can't believe how small he feels to me and how big E has gotten in the past few days. It's made me kind of emotional to realize that E isn't my baby anymore and that life is changing, but what a great change to have when you've got such wonderful boys in your life!

Brothers!!!

It's so fun to see our little E interact with his new little brother. Here are some pictures of them together. Before I delivered I had to get him one of those "I'm a Big Brother" t-shirts. I know they're kind of cheesy, but I wanted to wrap it up like a present and have him open it before he came to the hospital to see Maxwell. I know he doesn't look to happy in the picture, but it's just so funny. This picture is the first time he saw little Maxwell right after I had him.

E then came up the next afternoon with my mom. She took E to go pick out a little present for Maxwell and he chose this cute little dog for him and he was so excited to give it to him. E always says, "he's so cute" and that just makes my heart melt.

I just loved having him come see me in the hospital since I missed him so bad. He came and sat with me in my bed and we watched Calliou together and ate candy. What's better than that?

Now we're all home together and trying to get it all figured out. Thankfully E hasn't gotten up in the night when Maxwell cries. That was one of my fears and I'm sure there will be moments when he does wake up, but for now things are good. E wants to help a lot and whenever Maxwell cries, E tells me what I need to do to get him to stop. He'll tell me "my baby needs a diaper change" or "my baby needs a binky." Kind of funny. It will be a lot of fun to see these two interact as Maxwell gets older, I'm sure it will be a fun ride.

And Now There Is 4!

We welcomed our newest family member yesterday afternoon! Maxwell Ryan Elmer was born at 4:42 pm weighing 8 lbs even and was 20 1/4 inches. Everything went really well and relatively easy. I started feeling like something was happening at 3 am and just tried to rest and let things happen. I was up doing stuff by 5:30 since I wasn't comfortable just laying in bed so I got everything prepared to head down to my parents since they only live 15 minutes from the hospital. I was just going to have Ry drop me off at my parents and have him head into work and then I'd call him when I was ready to go to the hospital. Well, we got everything packed up and headed down there around 9 am and we were a few miles away when I just felt like things were progressive enough to call the doctor so they told us to come on in to L&D. So we turned back around and dropped E off at my in-laws and headed into the hospital. When I showed up I was already 4 cm and contracting every 5 minutes so they got me all admitted and IVs going so I could get my epidural. I got my epidural by 11 and then my doctor came and broke my water at 12. So it was just a waiting game until then. Of course, right as my nurse went on break, Maxwell decided he was ready to come. That's usually what happens when you go on break...everything starts happening. My nurse came in and called the doctor and he came righ in and got me set up. So it only took 2 contractions of pushes and he was born. I couldn't believe how quick things happened!



He is so cute and so perfect! I just melted the minute they put him on me! There are a lot of similar features to E, but he definately has his own look. He's healthy and happy and a great eater so far so we're so grateful. E came up to see us while I was recovering and I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the people and gadgets and a new place. He did say "Hello Maxwell" and called him "baby brother" and gave him a big kiss, but after that he was ready to head out the door on a walk. I'm sure this will be a little adjustment for all of us, but we're so excited to have Maxwell here and safe.

A Little Progress

Alright, had my final Dr.'s appointment today, wow! I'm 3 cm, 70% effaced, and at a -2 station. I asked him to strip my membranes so we'll see if that will do anything. With Ethan I had my membranes stripped twice and nothing happened so I'm kind of doubtful, but I'll try anything. So basically it's just wait and see until bright and early Wednesday morning when I will be walking...waddling...in for my induction. I can make it...I can make it...I can make it...

The Ultimate Gift...at least for me

My friend and I were talking the other day and realized that this would be the best baby shower gift ever for a "mom-to-be" and that would be...house cleaning! Right now I have 3 ladies here at my house deep cleaning my entire house! My baseboards, windows, floors, bathrooms (it's so hard to scrub a tub 9 months pregnant), kitchen, cupboards, the works are all getting done. Basically my house is getting a thorough rub down and I don't have to do anything! Do you know how nice this is?! As I was looking at the little crumbs underneath E's chair this morning, I just thought how wonderful it was that I didn't have to clean them up today! Wow! Maybe other people wouldn't enjoy this gift as much as I do, but one of the things that I really work on is keeping a clean house and when your pregnant things don't always stay at the same caliber as it usually does. It's just so hard to keep up and things just start to go downhill. I'm used to having a Monday cleaning day and getting my entire house clean at the beginning of the week and then doing a light cleaning on Friday, but since I've been pregnant I've had to break up my cleaning to do little jobs every day so it just doesn't feel like my house is ever totally clean. I hate that feeling! So after today I will have just about my entire nesting list complete and now I'm ready to have this baby. All I have left is get E's birthday stuff and some fall clothes ready, decorate for Halloween, get E a hair cut, and stock up the fridge for when I get back from the hospital. Not bad at all. So happy day for me, my house is getting cleaned and I really wish I had a frozen lemonade to sip right now.

As for the baby update...I'm still pregnant, I'm 38 weeks and I have 8 days until induction day. Glory day! I still haven't swollen up like a blimp yet which is very surprising to me since I had such bad swelling with E. I can totally wear my normal shoes and my wedding ring still fits and I don't have "cankles" so go figure why that's happened. I'm sure I'll get my chance when they pump me full of IV fluids during delivery, that's always the worst! I'm barely sleeping, I hurt, and this baby makes it very uncomfortable to sit, stand, or lay down. Can you say I'm ready?!

Update

Well, I just got a text from the hubster and he's on a plane back home right now so hopefully he'll get home soon. I'm so glad he didn't book his flight for Friday!!! I went to the doctor today and everything looks good. I'm 1-2 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and things are ready to go. I'm on the schedule now for the 24th for my induction so only 13 days or less! So until then I'm working on the nesting list crossing things off left and right.
-freezer meals are done
-my carpets are getting cleaned tomorrow
-I'm also meeting with our new pediatcian tomorrow
-my husband blessed me with a crew of cleaners coming on Tuesday (the best gift of my life!!!!)
-I need to decorate for Halloween
-I need to get some BPA free bottles
-I have to get E's birthday stuff all bought and ready
-get the cars cleaned
-set up baby stuff
The list keeps going and going so I won't bore you, but lots to do, lots to do.

Freezer Meal Info

I've gotten a lot of feedback on the freezer meals and I know many of you want some recipes and tips so I've posted quite a few of them on the Recipe Blog so go check them out. I haven't included all of them so if there is one particular recipe that you'd really like me to post, just let me know. Enjoy!

Not A Good Scenario

My husband is in Houston, Hurricane Ike is coming, and I'm 9 months pregnant...not good. Hopefully he can get out tonight so keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer!

36 Week Appointment

Alright, now I'm down to weekly appointments so there is an end in sight! I'm 50% effaced and not dilated so not much happening in that regard. Everything is right on track and I'm penciled in for an induction on September 24th if nothing happens on my own. So there you it...20 days or less...am I really ready for this?

Freezer Meal Mania Complete!

So over the past week I have completed the rest of the meals that I wanted to get done:
2 lasagnas
2 Mexican casseroles
3 meals of turkey chili
2 meals of shell-less tacos
3 bags of mini quiche
2 portions of Cafe Rio rice
2 bags of chocolate chip muffins
I still have to do the Cafe Rio pork, but I'm waiting for the meat to go on sale and it just has to sit in the crock pot so I'm not in a hurry to get it finished. My freezer is packed to the max and I don't think I'll be cooking for quite awhile.