A Mother

I still have a hard time believing that I am a mother. It has been quite the adjustment, but I truly am loving every moment of it.

Eleanor arrived 11 days early on January 11th at 9:27 am. I had been on bed rest since December 28th for high blood pressure, which was difficult because I still had so much to do before she arrived. I also had to go into the hospital twice a week for a non stress test to monitor Eleanor and make sure she was still getting the oxygen that she needed. On January 10th I went in for my test expecting everything to be fine and to just go home and rest, but unfortunately my amniotic fluid was too low so my doctor decided to have me check into the hospital right then and start inducing me.

I was in shock and terrified, but also excited. I called Kevin and my mom and then proceeded to my room. It took three nurses and 6 painful pricks to get my IV started so things did not get off to a very good start. Kevin showed up 2 hours later and I started to freak out a little less.

My progress was slow and I was finally able to get the epidural around midnight- 13 hours after I checked into the hospital. They broke my water around 3 am and my progress was still pretty slow. At 8 am my doctor came in to check me and said I was finally ready to push! And after about an hour and a half of pushing our little Eleanor Ann Anderson was born! She was absolutely perfect and I didn't want to let her go. She weighed in at 6 lbs 5 ozs and was 19 inches long. A lot smaller than I thought she was going to be.

Although it was a long process of almost 22 hours of labor, she is worth every second. I can't imagine what my life was without her. I think she is so beautiful and I am so grateful to call her mine!

It's a 10

I finally got my haircut on Saturday and my hairdresser used a new product on my hair. Well, new to me anyway. It's called "It's a 10" and I love it!

It does 10 things:
1. Repairs dry damaged hair
2. Adds shine
3. Smoothes & controls frizz
4. Seals & protects hair color
5. Flat iron spray & thermal protector
6. Detangles
7. Stops hair breakage
8. Creates Silkiness
9. Enhances natural body
10. Prevents split ends.

I went looking for the product on Monday because I seriously noticed a difference after I washed my hair and didn't use it. I had a hard time finding it for an affordable price, but I finally found it at Target in American Fork (It was the last bottle, was missing the cap and had been used. I got a 10% discount) for about $17. I got to use it this morning and I am back to loving my hair!

If you are looking for a new product, I would totally recommend this one. They have a shine spray, but that's not the one you want. Go with the purple bottle with the pink top.

Baby Anderson

I finally get to spill the beans . . . We are having a Baby Girl!! Words cannot describe how excited we are. The name we have picked out is Eleanor "Ellie" Ann Anderson. She should be making her debut around January 22, 2012.

Top Ten Things I Have Learned While Being Pregnant

10. Waterproof mascara is my best friend.
9. I am never going to be able to decide on a diaper bag. Or at least not just one.
8. Charcoal and garlic are two of the most horrible smells I have ever encountered.
7. Forgetting things on a regular basis is a real pregnancy symptom.
6. Growing placenta is a very unpleasant experience.
5. I don't think I am ever going to feel rested again.
4. Seeing my baby on the ultrasound for the first time is unlike any other thing I have experienced.
3. I can use the pregnancy excuse to get out of doing almost anything. (Of course, I don't)
2. I never thought I could be so excited and so terrified all at the same time.
1. I have the most amazing, loving, patient, selfless husband in the entire world!

Any advice you mother's have I am more than willing to take!

Free Pattern for Bandana Dress

I am still very much a novice at sewing, and I am always looking for easy projects. My friend Jana's sister posted the most adorable bandana dresses on her blog and I totally want to make one for my niece for her birthday this weekend. And for all my friends that are having baby girls this year!

Check out her website to get the free pattern:
http://www.readjame.com/2011/07/bandana-dress-pdf-pattern-free-this.html

So cute!

Netflix

I hope Netflix has hired a good PR agency because they are going to need it. I think it is ridiculous that they are going to practically double the price of the plan we are on right now. That’s an extra $72 a year. We will be dropping the unlimited DVDs portion of our plan at the very least when the change goes into effect.

They are going to lose a ton of customers, but maybe they are optimistic. I just hope that the person that decided on the pricing when the streaming option first became available is fired. Isn’t it Business 101 that you charge your customers enough to cover your overhead and make a profit? We all learned from the Michael Scott Paper Company that not doing so will only lead to failure. I understand that they need to charge more to cover their expenses, but shouldn’t they have thought about that a year ago? Were there no excel spreadsheets and formulas brought out in their meetings to figure out what price they should be charging? I kind of feel sorry for them. They made a huge mistake and now they will be paying for it for a long time. I have enjoyed being a customer of theirs for over a year, but I can’t appreciate poor planning and poor decision making.

The Rest of April Festivities

There is so much to catch up on. Kevin's birthday was April 22nd. The big 31. He is officially in his 30s now. I feel bad that we didn't do anything too exciting for his birthday. We ended up having to work late, so we got home really late and made tacos. He has to have tacos on his birthday. His birthday gift from me was 4 golf lessons with a pro. He was pretty stoked. Saturday we drove up to Layton and had lunch with my sister Heidi and her family and my Aunt Judy and Uncle Kevin. Then we dyed Easter eggs with some pretty cool dye kits. The tie-dye kits are totally worth it!

Easter Sunday we drove back up to my Aunt and Uncle's house and had a fabulous Easter dinner. It is always nice to spend holidays with family. My niece Isabel is adroable and had her own little aster egg hunt in the living room. Wish I would have taken some pictures.

The following Monday we celebrated Kevin's birthday with some friends as Los Hermanos. We love Mexican food!

April in Mesa

The third weekend in April I was lucky enough to fly down to Mesa to visit my sister Jenny and her adorable family. They moved down to AZ in December from Provo and I miss them like crazy. Jessica and Kaylee talked to me non-stop once they picked me up from the airport. Liam is just as cute as ever.

We went straight to Grimaldi's in downtown Scottsdale, which made me very happy. Love that pizza. Saturday morning I got to go to Jessica's first gymnastics meet. She was the youngest one to compete and so adorable. She did really well too. She placed first in her level on the bars. Later that afternoon Jenny and I had some sister time and went shopping and had lunch. That night there was a Dunn family BBQ and I got to hangout with my brother-in-law's family.

The weather was pretty toasty at 100 degrees each day, so I 'm not sure I could ever handle living in Arizona. On Sunday we went over to the Mesa Temple grounds and I took some really cure pictures of my nieces and nephew. I posted them on Facebook if you want to see them.

I was just so happy to be able to spend time with my sister and her family. I miss having them so close. I wish Kevin could have come too, and I know the kids missed him.