A Little Perspective

Looking at wedding photos yesterday while I was working on my blog entry, I got seriously depressed. What has happened to me?!?!? The picture above is me in my glory days- 4 months after we were married and I was at my all time low weight- 118 lbs. Ah, to be that thin again... Long gone are the days when I didn't have massive red stretch marks all over my belly, thighs, and who even wants to know where else. Gone are the days when I had the freedom to exercise like a maniac for 3 hours a day burning 2500 calories (yes, I was that psycho but it felt good). Heck, gone are the days I have even a relaxing few minutes to enjoy taking a shower. I'm packing around a good 15 extra pounds these days and only yesterday fit into a pair of non maternity jeans. For some reason I've got serious hormonal imbalances and my face is covered in hideous, painful zits. It's finally starting to get a little better but c'mon, I'm 24 years old already. I'm ready to move past the acne.

As I was wallowing in self pity, I realized that these unpleasant changes and sacrifices I've made were for a great cause. What have I gained in all this? I have two beautiful, precious, and perfect daughters to show for it. They are everything to me. I may not be in shape and thin anymore (I'm definitely going to try to get there again) but for now, my time is focused on my sweet babies. They really do bring so much joy into my life. Being a young mom with young kids is so hard but so rewarding. Some day I'll have time again to do some of the things I once did before I became a mom.

I'm in Love...

with my sweet hubby and two precious daughters! This entry is in honor of Valentine's Day. A little late, I know but my V-day was not so wonderful. Reagan woke up that morning burning up with a fever. She was miserable most of the day and as a result, so was I. I vowed that day that I wasn't going to have any more kids. Kids get sick...A LOT and I just don't deal well when my babies aren't feeling well. It just breaks my heart to see her miserable and not be able to instantly make it better. I'm sure it will be a lot easier when she's older and can actually communicate what she needs.

Erik and I met just over 4 years ago on January 7th, 2004. For those of you who know me, I'm a freak when it comes to dates. Any date my brain deems important is stored permanently and recalled very easily. For some reason my brain thought it was important to remember random birthdays of kids in my elementary school classes, etc. Erik thought I actually tried to memorize dates ( I guess he thought maybe I didn't have anything else to do?) but I don't. It's just a freakish talent (maybe not?) that I have. Anyways, we got engaged on May 15th and were married on August 14th, 2004 in the Dallas temple. Here are 10 things I love about Erik:
1. He has worked so hard the past 3 years in medical school to do well, despite some difficult setbacks
2. He loves to joke around and make me laugh
3. He totally accepts me for who I am and still loves me
4. He is always encouraging and positive with me (so wonderful!)
5. He appreciates all that I do at home and with the girls
6. He raves about my cooking all of the time (which I secretly love to hear, even though I tell him it's not anything special)
7. He's an amazing father to our girls- he is so good at playing with Reagan (some day Sarah too)
8. He has put up with me and my whining during my 2 long, VERY LONG pregnancies :)
9. He has an amazing testimony
10. He's very thoughtful and generous
Thank you so much for all you do--I love you!!

Here are 10 things I love about my Reagan:

1. She's sensitive- so many times she gets upset and sad if she sees mommy crying

2. She's incredibly driven. I love that she has an agenda every day. She keeps herself busy doing the most adorable little tasks. I love to watch her organize things in her own little way.

3. She loves to help me out. Lately she's been helping me unload the dishwasher and put away groceries.

4. She's such a sweetheart. She often gives me hugs and while she's hugging me, she'll pat and/or rub my back.

5. She's so dang smart! She knows all but 5-6 letters of the alphabet. I found out that she knew her letters when she spelled the word "two" to me without me even asking her to. She talks a lot for a 20 month old and is so eager to learn. She knows a lot of her colors and shapes as well. I'm so proud of her :)

6. I love it when she says "I love you momma"

7. She is so curious about the world and incredibly observant. It's so wonderful to see the world through a child's eyes. They think everything is amazing. She loves the moon (used to be obsessed with it) and gets incredibly giddy when she sees it or airplanes.

8. She always makes me laugh...especially now that she's more verbal.

9. She's very driven and motivated. I think this will help her to be very successful in life.

10. She loves to dance and climb and jump...she's so full of energy and life and it makes me happy (unless she's getting into too much trouble or hurting herself, which happens frequently)

I love you Reagan!

10 things I love about Sarah:

1. Her sweet smile...oh how I melt when her face lights up. She smiles at everything. She's such a happy baby!
2. She's so peaceful and calm. It has created a nice balance in our home. Reagan is anything but calm most of the time! It's nice to have a little of both worlds :)
3. She's made the transition to 2 kids a piece of cake (well, not quite) but I couldn't have asked or dreamed that it could be any easier
4. She's been sleeping 10 hours a night since she was 4 weeks old. All you moms of new babies, please don't send me hate mail. I promise I paid my dues with Reagan as she screamed her head off for the first 3 1/2 months of her life and never slept.
5. She's easy to please. She rarely cries unless she's hungry, tired, or lonely. Not even all the time then.
6. She's a great eater.
7. She's sweet
8. She's easy!
9. She sleeps all through the night and then some :)
10. She has brought so much happiness to our family.

I can't wait to get to know her better as her personality emerges as she gets older. I love you Sarah!!

I feel so blessed to have Erik and my 2 girls in my life.

Sarah is 4 weeks old...growing like crazy

Sarah just turned 4 weeks old yesterday. I think this picture really captures her temperament well. She is so calm and mellow the majority of the time unless she is hungry, tired, or needs to burp. She's very easy to please :) It's amazing to me how different two siblings can be!
Ok, so I'm amazed at this child of mine. For the first few weeks, Sarah went quite awhile in between feedings. Of course being the paranoid mother that I am, I had to take her into the doctor's office to have her weighed to make sure she was gaining ok. At 3 weeks old, Sarah weighed 10 lbs 2 oz! She was 7 lbs 5 oz at birth so she had gained nearly 3 lbs! I couldn't believe it. But, check out those cheeks! She weighs what Reagan weighed at 10 weeks old. Looks like we're going to have a little chunk in our family :) Reagan ate every 2 hours until 8 months and was always thin as a rail. Again, so many differences!
I just can't believe how fast she's growing!

In other news, Reagan went to nursery for the first time yesterday. I've been paranoid about sending her earlier because we're in the middle of sick season and I just hate when she gets sick. But, it's going to happen so oh well. Erik and I (especially Erik) have been looking forward to this day for a really long time! Now Erik can actually get something out of the rest of the church meetings. Hopefully Sarah decides to take her time in walking. Reagan walking at 9 months old made for a very long 9 months until she was ready for nursery.

Erik stayed with Reagan in nursery just to make sure she did ok, especially since she usually naps around 11:30 and church starts at 11:00 now. She did really well. When it was time for snacks, Reagan happened to be 4th out of 7 kids. As soon as Jordan Hansen started handing out the fruit snacks to the first kid, Reagan went nuts. She started yelling "Num, num, numinee, num num" (Num is for yummy and I WANT some) then she started chanting a series of "Pea, pea, pea, pea, pea!" (Please), "Go, Down, Go, pea, pea, go, down!" Basically she was saying any and all words, hoping that one of them would get her a fruit snack. By the time she got to Natalie Fluhman, who was right before her, she was desperate. Before the last fruit snack hit the napkin, Reagan had swiped one of hers and popped it into her mouth so fast that Natalie didn't even notice! Anyways, it turned out well and she was so tired that she passed out cold in the car before we left the church parking lot.

Visits from Grandmas and Grandpa

Well, I'm officially on my own now. My mom came to help for a week and a half and then Erik's mom flew out for the same amount of time. Erik's dad flew out last weekend for the blessing of Sarah. We had to bless her in the bishop's office since it was ward conference that Sunday. It was a beautiful blessing. Reagan enjoyed having lots of attention from Grandma Garner and Grandma and Grandpa Rosenlof. We were all spoiled tremendously by their service. This is a picture of Reagan and Sarah with my mom the night before she left. Thanks mom for everything- you're the best!
Reagan immediately took a liking to Grandpa Rosenlof. She didn't leave his lap much soon after he got here which is very uncharacteristic of her, as most of you that know her can understand :) She's typically on the move constantly so this was a welcome change.
A big thanks goes out to Erik's mom Kathy, who was a huge help. We had a lot of fun with you around.

Well, I'd say that things are going pretty well with the transition from 1-2 kids. A lot easier than the transition from 0-1. It helps a lot when the baby isn't colicky! Sarah continues to be such an easy baby. Reagan is still trying to adjust but is doing much better.

Sarah Elaine has arrived!

After not having internet for nearly a month and computer problems, I'mfinally getting around to annoumce the birth of our 2nd daughter Sarah Elaine. She was born on Sunday, December 23rd at 6:35 pm. She was 19 inches long and 7 lbs 5.5 oz. After 2 weeks of false labor,Jenny was thrilled that she came a little early. Her labor was fast and furious and Sarah arrived only 2 hours after being admitted! She's beautiful,precious,and a super easy baby so far :)
Here's Reagan meeting her baby sister for the first time- 2 hrs later.
First family picture.
She loves to suck on her fingers!

Random Reagan Updates

Nothing super eventful has been happening with us, but I thought it was about time to post an update on the blog. A couple of weeks ago after FHE we had yummy brownie bars and took a few pictures of Reagan enjoying it to the fullest. Life is just so much fun with these sweet little ones around who really just love and enjoy the simplest things!
Here she is a little more serious about getting to work on the brownie :)
Reagan loves to get into the groceries before I have time to put away the non refrigerated items. I have to say I was quite impressed with her stacking abilities. It amazes me how much she grows and develops even from day to day. This wasn't even as high as she stacked them! She loves to keep herself busy with little tasks such as these. It's hilarious to watch her facial expressions-- you can just see how important the most random tasks are to her! I sure do love her :)
While I was out doing a little bit of Black Friday shopping, Erik took a few snapshots of Reagan with her new princess chair. She has always loved climbing into and sitting in her own special seat. I recently pulled out her old infant car seat to get ready for the new baby and she was always climbing in and out of it. A couple of her "friends" have their own chairs and everytime we go to play with them, she always takes over their chairs. We figured it was time for her to have her own chair. She loves it, of course! Erik was lucky enough to capture one of Reagan's "pretty" smiles. This is her smile when we ask her to. We haven't been able to get a picture of it until now. I just love it! I think she looks A LOT like Erik in this pic.
Another thing Reagan has been really big into is trying on mommy and daddy's shoes. She is just so proud of herself when she manages to get both on and slowly scoots around the house. It can also turn it to a very frustrating process for her too.

I just can't believe how much she is growing up. She is so verbal already at her age. Her recent obsession is the moon. Everytime we go out side she points excitedly to the sky, chanting "the moon, the moon!" It's hilarious how nuts she goes over it, especially when she can see it. It's become a part of her bedtime routine to go out on the balcony with Erik and talk to the moon. She also started saying I love you, which has melted both of our hearts. We sure do love you Reagan!

Fourth Year Rotations

We just wanted to let our friends and family know where Erik will be doing his rotations during his 4th year. We were blessed to have gotten all of his top choices and Erik feels really good about all of them. Here we go:

June 2008- Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania (home to the show, The Office, of which we are big fans) I'm not entirely sure what the girls and I are going to do this month. It all depends on where we end up with housing. We'll probably be out in Idaho towards the end of June though.

July 2008- Millcreek Community Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. The girls and I will be in Idaho for the first part of the month for a family reunion. I know I'm going to be aching to see Erik so I'll probably make a trip out to see him.

August 2008- St. Mary's Health Care Services in Evansville, Indiana. It's a 9 hour drive from Des Moines to Evansville. If the girls and I are stationed here in Des Moines, we'll probably make a trip out to see him this month.

September 2008- Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Woo hoo! Fort Dodge is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Des Moines, which means we'll be able to see Erik on weekends.

October-Feb 2009- 4 month core spent at Detroit Medical Center in Warren, Michigan. We'll all be together for the core and will be staying in a furnished apartment there during the lovely cold winter months :)

Feb-April 2009- Still undecided on where he will do the rest of his fourth year. At least one month will be private practice. If we stay in Iowa he'll be doing it here in Des Moines. If not, then we'll be in Idaho or California.

May 2009- 1 month break before residency!

So, we're likely looking at doing residency in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, or Michigan. Erik is really hoping to do his residency in Fort Dodge, IA based on what he knows about the program. Of course, he could change his mind once he goes to some of the other programs. I'm not looking forward to next year but at least it means we're getting closer to being done!