A Day in the SLC...

First, a visit to the Zoo.....

I just realized something. It drives me crazy that I can't indent my paragraphs on this blog thing. I try and try, and all tab does is highlight the next link on the page. So I'm left with block paragraphs, which is okay I suppose, but what do I do when I want to indent? Hit the space bar eight times? No thank you. That's WAY to time consuming, not to mention I might put different number of spaces at the beginning of each paragraph and that's just no good. Sigh.

(just as a funny anecdote here. After I hit enter to make a new paragraph I hit tab again to indent it. Even after going on a small rant about how it didn't work, I hit it anyway out of habit. Or spite. I'm not sure which. In either case, it still didn't work)

Anyway, I (finally) graduated two weeks ago with my degree in Public Relations. Yay me. Please hold your applause, it only took me far longer than it took anybody else who is or who will read this. Whatever. I only bring that up because the week after I found I had a lot of time on my hands what with not being in class anymore. So what better thing to do than take our three-month-old to the zoo. It was a beautiful day, and while Utah's Hogle Zoo is hardly the gold standard for zoo's, it is fun to go visit and they have made some really cool changes and additions that make it even more worthwhile. Plus, even though Eliza is only three months old, we were both super excited to show her the different animals.

Because we are excellent planners, we showed up right at nap time. It wouldn't have been all bad because it meant that we could enjoy the zoo without a crying baby, but since Eliza isn't much of a crier and we went there specifically for her, it meant we were left with the dilemma of waking her up to show her animals she wouldn't remember seeing or letting her sleep while we went through the zoo seeing animals we wish we were showing to Eliza.




She did eventually wake up so we got to show her a bear.











And other people.

Please disregard the booger (which you probably didn't even notice until I said something).

Second, a visit to Temple Square,

After we left the zoo we found we were still eager to show Eliza more cool things (and take more pictures) and also hungry, not to mention that Eliza is incredibly cute so we like to show her off as much as possible. So we went to City Creek Center to eat and then to Temple Square. Fortunately, we only got pictures of Temple Square, not eating. 

First, we decided that since Eliza is adorable, and flowers are pretty, they both belonged in the same picture.

Eliza agreed.











Although it may have been because this was also the first time we let her play in the dirt.










I'm running out of time so I won't caption the rest of the pictures. Eliza and one or both parents and the Salt Lake Temple. There are a couple close-up self portraits mixed in there. That became a thing we started doing last year after we got the camera. We were in too much of a hurry at Disney World to ask people to take pictures of us, and our camera has a flip out LCD screen, so we just started taking pictures of ourselves. It's kind of become a "thing" now, so we have a lot of them whenever we go anywhere.

2 Months with our Angel Eliza Snow

Eliza will always be asked if she was named after Eliza R. Snow…..Here is the real story: I was at the kohl’s and passing the baby section. I knew there was a possibility I was pregnant and knew names would be first on the list of things to talk about. As I left the Kohl’s that day, I knew I was having a little girl and I wanted her name to be Eliza. When I told Matt, he agreed that was the name….no debate. And there was definitely no need to talk boy names because it was a girl. :) When it was time for a middle name, we went back and forth saying, “it’s a nice name but just not the one,” for the remainder of my pregnancy.  Then Eliza was born January 29, 2013. We had a yellow form to fill out and still no middle name.  There were a few names we debated and Belle was on the top of the list but we were never absolutely in love. So we filled out the form and when it was time to give a middle name, we wrote Belle. The next day we wanted to turn in that form and it still didn’t sit well with either of us. It had snowed the entire day I was in labor and we had the windows open and enjoyed the white beauty. I love the snow, anticipate its arrival, and get very excited when I can enjoy a white blanket over our city. Later I casually mentioned to Matt, “how about Snow as a middle name?"  Then I quickly refuted it because her whole life she would be asked if she was named after Eliza R. Snow. Matt mentioned it to Dad Stacey and he said it was a wonderful name and that it is a beautiful thing to give a name that means something. He continued by saying it would give Eliza someone to study and learn about. Apparently everyone in the room agreed but did not say anything as to not sway us. So we returned to the papers the the following day, still feeling not completely decided about Belle and Matt mentioned he really liked Snow. After thinking about it during the night, I knew I liked it too so I quickly agreed and that was that. Our sweet miracle was named Eliza Snow Stacey. Eliza R. Snow will be studied often with our little girl and though she is not directly named after her, she does carry the name and I know she will carry it on well.  This name was not given by chance, and knowing that, is a wonderful blessing. I know this little angel was saved for our family at this time and she will be as loved as anyone was ever loved.We love Eliza Snow! 

 Eliza Snow Smiles

When she smiles, she smiles big.

Eliza Snow Cries

Too bad she is so darn cute even crying, It just makes us smile.

Eliza Snow Sleeps

We are grateful she has decided sleeping is an OK activity.

 

Eliza Snow Swings

She will cry and cry sometimes and then we put her in her swing and she is content and staring straight ahead. We're not sure what keeps her so entertained.

Eliza Snow Loves her Bouncer

She will sit in her bouncer and make cute, cute faces....or cry until we bounce her and when we stop bouncing, she will cry some more. :) 

Eliza Snow Once Loved Floor Time

Well it is no longer a favorite activity but we still give her some happy and some crying time on the floor.

Eliza Snow Goes On Walks

We have had some beautiful days this Spring and Eliza and I have enjoyed some outdoor fresh air.

Eliza Snow is 8 Weeks Old

The time really does speed by but every moment of it has been cherished with this incredibly sweet little girl. 

 

Eliza Snow Loves Her Family

 We are blessed everyday by having her share our home. She brings more joy than anything else. THIS is what it is all about!!!!

Happy Birthday Eliza! (almost 2 weeks ago....)

I had a very interesting experience today. I was reprimanded by a two-year old. We were video chatting with my brother and his family and my nephew Ivan told me to update my blog.

Anyway, on to the good stuff. On January 29, 2013 at roughly 4:20 pm, Felicia gave birth to Eliza Snow Stacey. It was a week early, which we were totally okay with. January seemed to just inch by at such a lethargic pace we weren't sure February 5 (her original due date) was ever going to get here. But on Monday the 29th, the doctor decided it was time for the baby to come out. Pretty good thing because she came out 8 pounds 9 ounces. A week later and pushing her out would have been like trying to pull your bottom lip over your head.

The delivery was a little interesting. Not sure how much I want to put on this blog, partly because I know that all you really care about is pictures of the baby and partly because I just don't really want to write it all. Suffice to say, Felicia is a believer in epidurals. She did get some sort of intense pain in her shoulder right before she started pushing which lasted the entire delivery. The doctors weren't sure what causing it and were fairly concerned. They did an EKG before they would let her deliver which didn't show anything, and ran a CT after the delivery that also didn't show anything. But it hurt her so bad she almost wasn't able to push Eliza out. After about 2 hours the doc said we needed to either do a C-section or he needed to use the vacuum. I'd never heard of people using that during delivery but it sounded easy enough, so we went with the vacuum. It's essentially a suction cup that is put on the baby's head so the doctor can help pull while the mom is pushing. Two or three contractions later and Eliza was here. Apparently the suction cup has the potential to do some real damage to the baby depending on how hard the doctor has to pull. Our doctor was fantastic though and the physical evidence of the suction was incredibly minimal. Eliza had a red ring on her head and it was a little tender for a day or two and a very little bit of scabbing, but she healed up from it just fine. And she has a little head of black hair! It's the cutest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Neither of us are sure where the black hair came from, but we'll take it anyway.

The other thing that happened at the hospital was that Eliza was having a hard time regulating her glucose levels. The hospital we were at doesn't have a NICU, but they do have what they call a Level 2 Nursery which basically is a place they put babies that need special care. So that's where they put Eliza. She was hooked up to an IV and all sorts of monitors and she couldn't be brought into our room. So for the first almost 72 hours, every time we saw her we had to go to this room and try to navigate through all the wires she was hooked up to. It made holding and feeding her difficult, but we loved her anyway. The silver lining was that since she had to stay there and had a nurse looking after her 24/7, we were able to spend our nights sleeping. Well, as much as you can sleep in hospital beds.

Anyway, to make a long story short, she's fine. Her glucose is fine. Felicia is fine. Eliza is adorable. Here's the proof.

I do just want to say one thing quickly about this picture. That white Minnie Mouse onesie is was incredibly complicated to put on. It took both of about a minute and a half to put on her, and as you can see she wasn't very happy about it. Her grandpa stood by and laughed at her parents complete ineptitude while taking pictures. In the end, it's a super cute onesie so it was totally worth it.

The BYU hat is curtesy of Felicia's aunt Melodi. I can't believe I forgot something so completely necessary as BYU gear for this baby. That almost makes me a bad, neglectful parent. Good thing someone was looking out for us.