Ah! The power of sleep!

A good feeling....going to bed and not waking up again until the sun comes up. Julia slept through the night the last two nights.  Amazing.

Shots...

The two month doctor's appointment...

(Tummy time)

Needles and shots...every child's (and sometimes beyond childhood) worst fear. I remember the doctor's visit that I over came my childhood fear of needles. It was in preparation for high school soccer.  I had to get a physical and some special shot that someone up in the government decided all kids should get before the enter high school. All this so I could play soccer.  I was dreading the moment. Sitting in the waiting room, biting my nails, and trying to distract myself with a gossip magazine. They called my name, and I was up.  The shot was coming, there was no turning back.  The nurse puts on her gloves and unwraps the needle.  My deltoid flexes as she wipes me with the cold alcohol pad. "It's easier if you loosen up." she says. Easy for her to say since she is the one holding the needle. But I do as I'm told, I feel a pinch, and that was it.  It was over. I barely felt a thing.  My fear of needles was conquered as a teen.

Now it was time for me to watch my little girl get shots.  This thought came to me the day before the appointment and my heart filled with anxiety for Julia. We had to watch her get a heel prick a month or so back and it hurt my heart to see her cry in pain....given the delayed reaction was pretty funny, it was still hard to see her in pain. The night before her shooting appointment, I had a dream.  I can't remember all of the details, but it was something along the line of me jumping in front of Julia and taking the shot for her.  Oh how I wished that they could give me the shot and it would transfer to her via feeding. The time for the shooting appointment arrived.  I was sweaty-palmed in the waiting room as Julia just sat the joyfully looking around the room with her big bright eyes.  "She has no idea what's coming," I mentioned to Tyrel.  He of course told me I was more worried about this than she was and that she would forget about it soon after it happens.  I knew he was right, but I still dreaded the moment of hearing her cry.

When it came time for the shots, they put the first one in, delayed reaction, scream, no breath, two more shots, take a big breath, more screaming....hand her over to mom. I felt pangs of hurt in my heart for Julia, but her pain did not last long.  It wasn't even a minute before she stopped crying. What a champ!  The rest of the day she was very groggy and fussy, and not herself at all.  But now she is back to normal.

It was an interesting experience seeing Julia get her shots.  Much different than Henry's kindergarten shots story. But I learned something from the feelings I had that day. I wanted to take Julia's pain from her, but I couldn't. It was something she had to go through in order to be protected and stronger later on. The same is true with Heavenly Father in regards to me. He loves me so much, and doesn't want to see me hurt, but sometimes I need it. I now understand why people say you gain a greater understanding of God's love for you once you have your own children. I love Julia with a unique kind of love that can only be understood when you have your own children.  Basically, all I'm trying to say with this post is being a mom is awesome....even though you have to see your little one in pain sometimes.

Anniversary #2

Why is it that I always find myself starting out these posts with how fast time is going by?  Maybe I need to take a minute and realize that life is trying to tell me something.  That it goes by fast so I better soak in each day while it lasts. "Live in the moment."  I think that is what life would tell us if it could talk, text, or email. My whole life I grew up wanting the next thing to come.  It wasn't until these last few months that I've really started trying to live in the moment.  From December until the end of February, Tyrel and I were excited to meet little Julia, but as we would talk I would always find myself hoping that time wouldn't pass by too quickly.  These were the last few months that Tyrel and I would have as just Tuzi. We definitely made the best of it.  We didn't do anything super grandiose, but we spent nearly every moment of every day together.  We became even better best friends and grew closer as a couple as we enjoyed married life and prepared to become parents. I love Tyrel...there is no doubt about that.  There is no one else in the world that I could spend every moment with for three months and still find myself wishing we had more time together. The other day we had to have a talk about me missing him "too much".  I have a habit of not wanting Tyrel to leave, ever, and it makes it hard for him to go out and keep up with his responsibilities...My bad... It's just hard to have such a great person and support not be around.  Tyrel....how do I even explain with words all that he does for me.  I can't.  It would take hours and hours and far too many words and pages. Let it suffice to say that he serves, loves, and lifts me every day. I know it has only been two years, but I'm pretty sure I'll feel the love even more in 50...65...70 years.

It has been a crazy two years.  So much has happened.  Good and bad, of course, because that's life!  What would marriage be without trials? Warm fuzzies and nose rubbing twenty-four/seven? As great as those are...don't make me gag.  The rewards from warm fuzzies and nose rubs are rather superficial...but the reward of overcoming hard feelings and pain that you never thought would ever go away...to be able to go through hard times then find yourself being grateful for them a few months down the road...that's where the real rewards are.  The ones that make you and your spouse a better person. The ones that get you ready to bring a little miracle like Julia into the world. The ones that prepare you to really appreciate the joy you feel as you see your husband first lay eyes on his new little daughter. Adversity, as much as I hate you, I love you. I'm so happy I know the Lord has a plan for me and that I was raised to believe and trust in my Heavenly Father. Thanks mom and dad for raising me to love the Gospel.

Tyrel, thanks for an amazing two years. I know surprising you with a sweet retro green Jazz shirt was awesome, but it in no way comes close to expressing just how much I love you. My hope is that daily, the way I live and treat you and our family will show that love.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next two...

P.S. Sorry this was a little late.  Our anniversary is April 19th, not the 22nd

Settling into the Parent life style...

It's hard to believe how quickly 7 weeks can fly by...We are all doing really well and enjoying life as a family. Tyrel is officially a working man again. Now that Spring semester is about to begin, Tyrel is able to work on the grounds crew again.  Julia and I are happy to have the Dad working, but we do miss him terribly during the day.  As I spend more time with Julia, I feel a connection growing between us.  It's an awesome feeling and it is starting to get hard to remember what life was like before I was a mom. 

Jules is growing like mad!  Notice the picture....

Notice the folds and rolls...10 lbs. 2 oz. last we checked and a whopping 22 inches!  Supposedly she is in the 90th percentile for weight and height meaning out of 100 babies her height, she weighs more than 90 of them...I think that's what that means.

We spent conference weekend in Utah. It was a good time and conference was amazing!  Any parent out there who was watching must be motivated to be even better! I especially loved Ballard's talk on Mothers and Daughters (I'm sure you can imagine why). Julia also had the opportunity to meet a few of her cousins!

Kaitlyn is such a little mom. Sometimes as a mom you get a little nervous when young children hold your little baby, but I never had to worry with Kaitlyn. Even when Julia got a little fussy, Kaitlyn kept her cool and was eventually able to get Julia to go to sleep.  I think she held her for a good hour or so that morning.  When the time came for Julia to take a bath, Kate didn't want to let her go!  Julia also enjoyed meeting David, and I'm pretty sure David enjoyed it as well.  Little known fact about Julia...Her feet have an amazing flavor!

Speaking of David...Here's what happens to Brian and Kayla's son when Aunt Lisa and Aunt Suzi get a hold of him:

He's gone from the classy, business part to the party spike! Cutie!

Tyrel and I have recently gone on a DI spree! Before I had Julia, someone mentioned to me that I better get used to spending a lot of money on little clothes for my little one.  They then went on to something along the lines of how you don't want to buy DI clothes for your first child.  Well why the heck not?!

You can't see them super well, but here is Julia in some DI pants.  They are awesome track pants with a cute pink stripe down the side. $2. We've also purchased a little Tommy Hilfiger (don't know how to spell that) jacket. $2. Little khackis. $2. And some black stretchy pants. $2. I don't know, maybe it's because we are living the poor college life, but I really don't see why you would spend $10-$20 on something you could find at DI for a tenth of the cost. Yes you have to do some deep searching to find the diamonds in the rough, but they are there! Last note on this picture, please take notice of the soccer bow...The little neices made such cute bows for Julia at my shower. I especially love the soccer one.  I don't plan on forcing soccer onto my children, but it would be pretty great if at least one of them played.

Tyrel decided to try on all of the bows.

Here's grandma and grandpa Salisbury having their shot at holding Julia. These two are very different in the ways they get their time with Julia.  I loved how Tim would just kinda hover in the same vacinity as Julia until we asked if he wanted to hold her, or if he noticed she was falling asleep he would say, "Hey, is she falling asleep?"  Which we all know translates to "Can I hold her?" Grandpa loves a sleepy little one on his chest.  Can you blame him? Tam, however, had a different style.  I can tell Tam has been a mother before, obviously, because she waits until you come to her with the baby. Tyrel and I made sure she got her time.  Julia also spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Pehrson, but sadly I forgot the camera on those visits.

When we returned to Idaho, we made our first family trip out to Idaho Falls.  It was a little tricky with the feeding thing, but we managed.  It also gave us an opportunity to try out the baby carrier. I was so excited to use the new one with memory foam padded straps that Lisa and Abby gave me at the shower, but sadly I left it in Utah.  I believe it is behind the three cushion couch at the Salisbury's.  Can't wait to get it back.  In the mean time, we made due with this backpack/carrier combo.

I felt pretty awesome carrying her. I kinda felt like a granola. (Also, take notice of the American Eagle Orange hoodie...DI, $4)

That's our life as of right now.  Here are a few more pictures of Julia for you to enjoy.