Home For Sale

I can't believe I'm typing out these words, but we're moving! Our home is going up for sale this weekend. It started with a "should we sell our house" 10 days ago and here we are. We have lived in our little town home for almost 4 years and we've really loved every minute. When we bought it as a young couple with no kids we felt like we had all the space in the world. And here we are two kids later and we still love this place.

This is where I brought two new babies home from the hospital. This is where my baby girl took her first steps and said her first words. This is where she learned to walk and run and play outside. She's biffed it on every sidewalk around the neighborhood. She knows where all the parks and swings are. This is her home. She can find her way back after we go on a walk and she knows this place like the back of her hand. This area is where we have trained for half marathons and have gone on countless evening walks. This is where we have built our life.

It's crazy how much can happen in 4 years! So much has changed. We have friends here and Kenzie has friends here. We really love it. But we've been told it's time to go on to our next adventure. We weren't planning it. We weren't hoping for it. We thought we'd be here for a few more years at least! But sometimes changes happen overnight. So here I am, typing away when I should be deep cleaning and getting ready for the photographer and open house. We've filled up a handful of boxes so our house looks less like "a family lives here" and more like "YOU could live here". Our walls are empty and our hearts are full.

I'm scared and nervous and excited and anxious and ready and not ready. We plan on living in the same general area so I'm hoping we can still keep the friends and little tot playmates we have made here and I look forward to meeting new people too. I've grown and changed a lot these last 4 years, now it's time to take that new Megan somewhere else and see what happens.

Wish us luck!

A million memories like this one in our home! 

Cooper 6 Months

Umm...when did this happen?? Cooper baby boy is 6 months old and I may or may not have cried about it. It's so funny how with Mckenzie I couldn't wait until the next milestone. I was always thinking "when will she do ___". It was fun and exciting to watch her master a new skill! And now with Cooper...it's like I haven't been able to stalk him as much so he learns something new and I don't want to believe it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a really hot mess when his birthday rolls around.

We just had his well check and he's weighing 17lbs 12oz. He's in the 50% for weight and 30% for height (even though I think the nurse didn't totally measure him accurately). So even though he was born 97% in weight, he has evened out to be an averaged sized baby. He's so strong and is sitting up like a champ and rolls from back to front. He shows no interest in rolling the other way so he's not mobile at this point. He smiles allllll day. His pediatrician said he's the happiest baby he's ever seen! Will totally just look you in the eyes and smile. He loves physical touch and I love cuddling with him. He's a great sleeper and is down to 2 naps a day. He is obsessed with food. If anyone is eating his whole body wiggles until he gets something in his mouth. He's basically eaten everything. I prefer Baby Led Weaning so he's been enjoying the food we do. I've been making these banana oatmeal muffins and both the kids eat the whole batch within a day.

Cooper loves Mckenzie and gets so excited when she is willing to play with him nicely. She will now read him books or have a tea party with him and he is in heaven. She can still be rough sometimes, but the bigger he gets, the better he can handle himself. Toys entertain him more than they ever did with Kenzie and I can put him in the pack-n-play with a pile of toys and he's set for up to a half hour playing. He loves his binki during the day, but is using his thumb still for naps and nighttime.

I always want to remember his big gummy grin and how much peace he brings into my life.

Also- look at this picture with both babies at 6 months! All the heart eyes for these two

My 3 Most Memorable Visits to Olive Garden

I had some time to kill before a meeting, and I had an Olive Garden gift card. So....table for 1 please!

As I enjoyed my soup and salad I couldn't help but think about the past visits. I think everyone has been to Olive Garden like 23078 times right? Even if not recently? Anyway- here are a few memories:

My 3 Most Memorable Visits to Olive Garden

February 14, 2010- Logan UT

My first Valentine's Day with Bart. We went at like 4:30PM because he wanted to avoid the crowds. He succeeded. We were surrounded by everyone over 60 and it was totally cute. We had been exclusively dating for about 4 months and totally in love. He gave me a necklace that said "eternity" on it and I remember thinking that was some kind of hidden message that HE WANTED TO BE WITH ME FOREVER **all the heart eyes**

*side memory** I'm also remembering this Olive Garden in Logan is where I met Bart's family for the first time. The gang was all there. I remember his older brother and I bonded over our hatred for tomatoes. My hair was pretty crazy, but they didn't seem to mind. It was a successful dinner.

June 2012- West Valley UT

I'm a new intern at ABC4 and my coordinating producer Roxanne takes me, another intern, and the Daily Dish producer out to lunch. It was awkward and horrible. They didn't say a word to me. They were BFF's and I was just....not. I spent the whole time wondering why they even invited me and that I had nothing to contribute to the conversation.

This obviously wasn't a great memory- but the story doesn't end there. Once I got hired, my new friend and mentor Rox and I went out to Olive Garden a lot. She always ordered dessert first. She introduced me to their lemon cups. They're so good. Next time you go- get one! Conversation was never a problem.

Rox has been gone for 6 months now, and I've been thinking of her a lot lately. And whenever I think about Olive Garden, I think of Rox and her dessert first and those lemon cups.

That's the beauty of memories- they stay with us, even when our friends are no longer here. We can look back and remember the fun times and good experiences and enjoy their memory for a few minutes.

February 14, 2014- American Fork UT

Fast forward 4 years after that first Valentines Day with Bart. I'm 3 months pregnant with Mckenzie and in full Hashimotos diet mode. My dad takes my sisters and I out for a Valentine's Day date. They still don't quite comprehend the fact that I can't eat gluten (yes, pasta is gluten) and choose to go to Olive Garden. I ask for the gluten free menu. The server hands me a three page menu. Complete with yummy options like ravioli and alfredo. As I go to order, the server grabs the menu and says no, the gluten free options are only on the back. I scan the list: chicken, fish, red sauce- and burst into tears. Not a trickling tear down my cheek. Like sobbing, tears flowing freely. I wrote about the whole experience you can enjoy HERE


One thing I love about going out by myself is the chance I have to just think- and yesterday as I was sitting all alone, I had a great time thinking of my Olive Garden memories. (and their salad dressing is just SO GOOD. )

2015: year of living

I'm calling 2015 our year of "life"

Nothing major happened 

No life altering changes happened. 

We worked the same jobs and did all the same things. 

Our daughter changed and grew, but again, nothing too crazy. 

We just lived. 

And I loved every minute of it. I found complete satisfaction in my role as a wife and mother. We lived our life as a genuinely happy family. 

Looking back at past years there always seemed to be a big, life changing event. I always had a check list of stuff that happened by December 31. 

But 2015 was different, and I've never felt so content looking back on the year. I loved just living my typical life. After spending a week on Mexico beaches I have never felt more desire to go back home and hang out with my baby on the floor of my living room. 

Our days consisted of the same thing all year long. Work in the early morning. Be with my baby in the afternoon and evening. That's it. Sure there was running and cooking and quick trips and first steps taken. Food thrown on the floor. The same toys picked up 397 times a day. There were bath times and story times. The beautiful spring, summer and fall weather allowed for multiple walks per day. Fall Friday nights were spent on bleachers and yelling "Go Kearns". Non-football nights were spent on the couch. Binge watching TV and just being together. 

That's what I did in 2015. Doesn't it sound wonderfully normal?? It was. It was a perfect, typical year. 

I don't know what 2016 will bring. Maybe a checklist of changes. Maybe not. 

Happy New Year! 

Mexican beaches and fruity beverages

You guys. Maybe I need to have another baby just so I have something to blog about again? What do you think? 

Life is just rolling right along. Not much to update, and yet funny things happen everyday. Mckenzie is goofy all day, every day. 

Bart and I spent 6 days in Playa del Carmen last week. It was amazing! I have never been on a beach vacation like that. You should have seen my suitcase. Chuck full of stuff I never needed to bring. I spent all day in a swimsuit and only changed for dinner. I never did my hair and never wore makeup. It was pretty fabulous. 

The all inclusive resort was definitely a new way to vacation. Go to the beach. Eat lots of food. Drink lots of fruity beverages. Eat some more. Nap by that beach. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Honestly we didn't know if we should be bored or relaxed. Our second day there we went snorkeling, rode on ATVs and speed boats and spent the day enjoying the sun. It was my first time snorkeling and I loved it. It's very peaceful looking down into the ocean. At one point we were being swarmed by jelly fish so we had to employ some evasive maneuvers. The water is so crystal clear blue and WARM. Every time we got into the water I couldn't believe how amazing it was. 

On our last day before coming home we took a ferry to Cozumel island. We rented a scooter and scoot-scooted our way around the island. We stopped at another amazing beach and sipped on pina coladas. Later we stopped at this authentic Mexican restaurant right by the beach and had the best food of the whole trip! Fresh fajitas straight from Mexico. Mmmmmm. 

It was so fun to spend 6 full days alone with Bart. But on day 4 I really missed Mckenzie. Of course I missed her everyday, but on Saturday I hysterically cried several times just thinking about her. It wasn't the kind of vacation that she (or us) would have enjoyed if she had been there, but we still wanted her there. Something just doesn't feel right when someone is missing! The 14+ hrs of travel days confirmed to me that it's good she didn't come with us. But next family vaca- she's coming! 

Molars and Halloween

HI!! (hand wave emoji)

It's been three weeks since my last blog post. Whoops! Mostly because I just don't have a lot to say and mostly because I would rather be sitting on my couch watching Fall TV when I have a free evening.

But Mckenzie is currently cutting 2 molars so I felt the mama-instinct to document for later referral. Exhilarating- I know! 14.5 months and getting tooth #9 and #10. She actually hasn't gotten a new tooth for almost 4 months- no wonder she was in such a fabulous mood! Now we're back to even more dramatic fits of
*crying
- why am I crying?
- oh yeah I remember why
*more fits of crying.

today she had a fit in her adorable Owl hat from her Halloween costume that she refuses to take off. She was the cutest and saddest owl I've ever seen!

This is the first year I'm actually excited for Halloween. Even as a pre-teen and teenager I didn't like Halloween. As a preteen I was always left out of my "friend's" planned group costumes. As a teen I never felt the desire to dress like a s l u t and then in later years I never saw the appeal of going to a party where everyone was drinking in their slutty costumes but me. Designated driver you'rewelcome.

The first Halloween Bart and I were married I threw a party that I think 3 people came to. We dressed up like Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Our costumes were awesome, my party was a failure. Since then we've gotten dressed up for different 5K's. My personal favorite was when we dressed up as a dog and cat so we were "a dog chasing a cat" during the race. GET IT?? Last year Mckenzie was only a few months old and had a lovely blow-out in her Cow costume before any pics could be taken. Every year we turn off the porch light and crawl into bed by 9pm on Halloween night. So like I said, not my fav.

Creativity. 2011

Dog v. Cat 2013

BUT THIS YEAR I HAVE A CHILD WHO CAN WALK AND WHO HAS THE MOST ADORABLE COSTUME EVER!!! So I think it will be fun. Bart and I got amazing skeleton costumes so we will be looking quite fabulous ourselves. I am signed up to run the Haunted Half Marathon in SLC this weekend. Plus my mom is having a Halloween party AND we have plans to go out with friends who have a little girl Mckenzie's age to trick or treat. My social calendar is full for the first time in my life. Let's all take a moment to congratulate me.

*cue full circle*

So back to my child's teeth.....I'm in the mood to write a complete Macs update that will include 3480 pics and a different post that will give my 2 cents on THIS article.....so STAY TUNED

18 and 25

My BFF Sarah stayed at our house this week and it was so fun to see and hang out with her every.day! She lives in St George so quality time is a hot commodity. 

 After leaving our babies home with the best dad ever (aka Bart) we headed to the MAC makeup counter and got ourselves a little makeover and then later stopped by The Cheesecake Factory for THE BEST appetizer ever and a tasty treat. 

As we sat there and talked I couldn't help but think how much things have changed the past 8ish years of our friendship! 

Our weekly Thursday night 80's dancing date where we wouldn't get home until 4am and now our date nights consist of getting out after the babies are in bed and if we're up past 10pm we must really be having a good time. 

Our topics when we were 18 consisted of famy, love and life. Now at 25 we are still talking love, life and family, just a different kind. 

18 year olds 

Love- our latest boy crush aka boy drama 

Family- frustrations and stories about siblings and parents 

Life- hair school, friends and our future

25 year olds 

Love- our husbands (less drama, but more to talk about!)

Family- now we have our own families. Our babies take up most of the chatter

 

Life- careers, hobbies, finding our own identity and what the future holds 

The more life changes the more it stays the same! Love having my bestie in town! 

Salt Lake Half Marathon Race Recap

Yesterday I ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon! I've been training for it since February and I couldn't wait for the date to finally be here. The last two weeks have been filled with bad weather and tapering so it had been 2 weeks since my last long run. I was feeling restless and nervous.

Our 5 a.m. Trax ride to the start

my nervous selfie (did I mention it was freezing??)

About 20 minutes to go time

My brother in law Robert also was running it so we were starting line buddies. The closer it got to 7 a.m. the more nervous I felt. I started getting a stomach ache and NO! I had to pee....too late to take care of that. I couldn't believe I was finally there. A few minutes before it started I got kind of emotional and started tearing up. I was so happy and grateful that my body was going to let me do this! All that hard work was the reason I was here and I was happy. The last half marathon I ran was in September 2013. Before I got pregnant and had a baby. I felt like this was my first half marathon because I was in a totally different body and I was curious how it was going to go.

The first few miles I didn't have headphones in or anything. I was just listening to all the chatter around me. With thousands and thousands of runners- the start of the race is always packed. I started off too fast but was enjoying myself and getting nice and warmed up. Miles 1-4 I just kept thinking "am I really going to be able to do this?" I wasn't in any pain and I actually felt really good, but 13.1 miles seemed really far away.

Miles 6-10 were pretty hard. There was a steady incline and a few steep hills. I slowed my pace and just kept pushing through. My body felt great and I wasn't in any kind of pain. I passed a lot of people who had to walk and I felt strong. Around mile 7 I was really hungry. My stomach was empty and growling so that was distracting. Luckily I had Carbo Pro in my water so I was getting all the calories I needed. So while I felt hungry, my body was acting like it was getting enough nutrients and I felt strong. It was probably around mile 8 that I finally said to myself "this is happening! I'm going to be able to do it!". There was a sign that said "That voice in your head telling you you can't do this is a LIAR" and that made me tear up too. I don't know what it is about running- but it makes me a cry baby.

At mile 10 I put some new music on and was feeling PUMPED! I had kept my pace steady enough that I felt like I could pick it up a little bit and finish those last 3 miles strong. This is where I was able to break out of the pack and go for it. I passed a lot of people at this point- many of them were walking- and that pumped me up even more. Around mile 11 I started crying a little bit because I was so happy. I felt great and I was almost there! A few tears streaming down my cheek and a smile on my face.

The very last mile was hard. My body REALLY wanted me to just stop. It even started slowing down and I had to physically stop myself from stopping (make sense?). It was crazy. But I figured it's going to take me longer to cross that finish line if I walk and I just wanted to be done. Bart was on the side of the road holding Mckenzie about a quarter mile away from the finish line. I was so happy to see them! I ran over and kissed my baby and ran on. Bart started running next to me with the stroller and was saying all these motivating things. I will be the first to admit that when I'm uncomfortable I have no filter. So I told him to "Just shut up and meet me at the finish line" *insert angel emoji here*

not flattering. dont care. I was so happy to see my fan club cheering me on!

I felt bad snapping at him but I was giving everything I had mentally and physically to cross that line. I don't care how in shape you are- if you push yourself those last few miles then they are going to be really hard miles to run!

I crossed the finish line and got my medal. Bart was there and I started crying and broke down in his arms. I sobbed for a hot minute and was so happy to finish! I really felt good. My last half marathon I almost passed out at the finish line because I was so depleted and hot. I didn't feel any of that this time around. I cried and laughed and smiled and was so proud of myself and happy to be done. It is an awesome feeling crossing that finish line knowing you just accomplished a goal you have spent several weeks and countless hours working toward! I felt strong and pretty dang awesome.

Facebook stalking high school

My dreams have always been interesting. I've always dreamed about random people in my life on a regular basis. I usually don't tell people that "i had a dream about them last night" because of the weird connotations that go along with it.

A few nights ago I had a dream that included a kid I grew up with. We were in the same classes in elementary school and then went to the same jr. high and high school. I haven't thought about him for several years, but whenever I wake up remembering my dreams I can't help but wonder where these people are now.

Enter: FACEBOOK!
I just love the internet. It makes stalking down a random person so easy. Too bad I couldn't find this specific kid on Facebook. I found his friends- but not him. Oh well. The mystery will just have to continue on.

So anyway- let's get to my main point: life after high school.

One of my favorite things about looking up old schoolmates on Facebook is to see where they are now. Since I didn't have a good experience my last few years of high school I enjoy realizing that my life turned out just as good (if not better) than a lot of those people who were mean to me. All of those hard feelings and experiences and emotions are so far away in the past- but it's almost impossible not to think about everything again when you are Facebook stalking everyone. (and let's all take a second to admit that EVERYONE has done a little Facebook stalking so I'm not going to apologize for it!)

A few things I observed about my high school classmates via Facebook:

1. All those nerdy, kinda weird looking nice boys grew up to be really really good looking. And by good looking I mean HOT

2. All those good looking popular boys? Most of them look the same, or not as good. They peaked at 17.

3. Once high school is over it's OK to be a unique individual and have your own dreams

4. That home wrecker girl who was dead set on making my life miserable is still single. Karma is a (you know what)

5. It's fun/funny to see who ended up marrying each other even though they never really knew each other in high school

Our 10 year reunion is in 3 years. Hopefully something gets planned because I would love to just talk to all of these 'kids' that I spent so many years growing up with. High school seems like forever ago, but thanks to memories it just takes a weird dream or a few minutes of Facebook stalking to remember those years!

Valentine's Day Thru the Years

Out on my run this morning my mind went backwards to the last 10+ years of Valentine's Day spent with various people and boys and friends. Here are a few that came to mind

Baby love Valentine's Day 

Elementary school. 5th grade. A boy had a crush on me and gave me frog figureines and a bag of chocolate kisses. get it?? Kisses?? Of all the candy he could have chosen.... It's like he totally wants to kiss me! (Thank you to the mother of that boy for picking out the sweet gift because let's be honest, that boy probably had no idea what was in that bag) I think I still have those frogs somewhere. 

My First Real Valentine's Day

Let me set the very romantic scene for you- 8th grade. After school dance. School lockers. This boy CH took me to his locker, pulled out a chocolate rose and asked me to be his girlfriend. It was very sweet. I said yes and we HELD HANDS  down the hall until our English teacher saw us. We went back to the dance and slow danced as boyfriend/girlfriend. It was all very scandalous. Later that afternoon/evening we talked on the phone and I loved every minute of it. 

The Valentine's Day that Started it All

Who knew that an afternoon spent at Walmart with CG would change my whole teenage life? We were friends, he was off limits because my bestfriend liked him that last year (sound like high school? it was) but that day we decided we really didn't give a crap. I liked him, he liked me. I think we had our first kiss that day. #sorrynotsorry would have been the hashtag I used if hashtags were a thing back then. It was "forbidden" and yet we were on cloud 9. If I had known that because of this day I would lose my best friend and eventually all my friends and everything would end with a broken heart...I still don't know if I would have changed a thing. 

My Permanent Valentine 

2010. 5pm. Olive Garden. Bart gave me a necklace that said "eternity" (get it?? Because he wants to be with me forever???) and a house plant. We had been officially dating for 5 months and I was totally in love with him. Now that he "gets the milk for free" he hates celebrating Valentine's Day. But that's ok. I'm still totally in love with him. 

*and every year, through boyfriends and heart break and marriage, my dad has taken me and my sisters out for our own Valentine's Day date. It's one of my favorite traditions* 

Road trips, solid food and ball pits

and just like that 2 weeks go by and there is radio-blog silence! I have had a lot of "I should blog about that" moments over the past 2 weeks- just not enough moments to take the time and write them!

First thing is first- All date nights should be on Thursdays.

This is not from our Thursday date- but we didn't document that so this one will do

Bart and I went out sans baby and it was so much fun! It was fun because it was on a Thursday. We went downtown and I repeat- it was only fun because it was a Thursday. Bart hates crowds. He gets anxious and annoyed and -insert other negative feelings here- so we NEVER go downtown. Every time we head that direction I immediately regret my decision because my husband is the grouchiest old man ever. Except apparently on Thursdays. We went and watched "Meet the Mormons" at the Josheph Smith Memorial Building. I know we are like 2 months late with seeing it- but I loved it! It was really fun for us to watch the story of the football coach and I think it really helped Bart see how balance can be achieved. I loved it when the coach said the Lord might not care about my team winning, but these are my crops and he cares about me and wants me to be able to take care of my family. I left the movie feeling so much LOVE.

After the movie we walked to Cheesecake Factory for dessert. The waiter told me I look like Kaley Cuoco and Bart tilted his head to one side and half nodded. The cheesecake was also delicious.

As expected Rice and Beans January hasn't been as hard as previous years. We just don't go out enough in general to miss it. The movie we went to was free and I had a gift card to get some cheesecake. Gift cards are the bomb.com. That being said- I want to buy one of THESE when February rolls around. We make zucchini noodles on the show a few weeks ago and they were SO GOOD. I have seen them around the interweb but after tasting them for myself I totally want one of those gadgets.

Last weekend Bart and I had Friday AND Monday off together so we made our way down to St. George. My BFF's birthday was friday, her son's 1st birthday was on Saturday plus my grandma lives down there and a few of Bart's step-siblings live down there. It's the perfect (and free) place to go when we have a few days. Plus gas was $1.89!!!

We are really good at this road tripping thing

How fun is this? A ball pit at a b-day party

Daddy loves his baby girl

Best friends and little babies! I love this woman in my life

Baby jeans- they get me every time.

My friend Sarah and I have never lived close to each other since we graduated hair school, but whenever we get together I am so thankful for our friendship. One day we will live close enough to see her more often.

I really loved getting the chance to visit my grandma this trip and see her interact with Mckenzie. The oldest and youngest living members of the Bainum family tree. So special!

I have decided to feed Mckenzie solid food based on the Baby Led Weaning method. It is right up my parenting style alley. When my pediatrician gave us the OK to start feeding her solids around 4 months we attempted the pureed baby food but Macs wasn't into it and it wasn't fun for me to sit down and feed her like that. It was several days before I even remembered to try again. I stumbled on baby led weaning and it immediately appealed to me. The idea is that you don't start feeding your baby solid foods until they are 6 months and when you do start you feed them regular people food. Nothing pureed, mashed or spoon fed. Independence is my baby love language so I bought the book and learned more about it. I will write a whole post about it because I have LOTS to say. For now here are a few cute pics to ease your curiosity

So there you go- a little update on our life lately. xo

A lesson learned

I've had the holiday season on my mind the last few days, especially holidays growing up. I looked through my old journals and found the entry I as looking for. I wrote it 11 years ago when I was 14:

December 23, 2003

Something happened tonight that woke me up to reality. Now I know that I am truly blessed and it doesn't show in the packages under the tree. When this Christmas season started I was really ungrateful and I acted spoiled. I was mad that we weren't going to get a lot this Christmas because we don't have any money. I prayed that we would be able to have a good Christmas. Well the Lord made that a possibility in a different way. Someone came by and brought us 3-4 boxes of food. Our friends brought us something we needed. They probably aren't going to have any turkey for dinner because they gave it to us. I don't know why I'm making such a big deal out of this but I learned something today. We don't need to be rich to be happy. We have great friends and neighbors who really care about us. I don't really care what I get any more. Whatever I get will be more than enough. I'm not going to forget this for a while and I just want to thank those people who have taught me so much by their unselfishness.


I have never forgotten that night. Every season I think of the kindness that was shown to my family and the lesson I learned from it. We didn't have very much money for a lot of the years I was growing up. But we always had each other. We always had our home that was filled with love. It was a safe place to come home to and I always knew there were people there that loved me. Every year I realize more and more just how special of a blessing that was. I will probably never know who brought my family food that night, but I will always be thankful for them. They taught a selfish and spoiled teenage girl the true meaning of the holiday season.

August 5, 2014: Delivery Day!

Tuesday August 5 started out as a typical day. I woke up, went to work and was uncomfortable for the entire morning. Since Friday I had been having what I figured were contractions but since they were so sporadic I guessed they were Braxton hicks. 

I headed to my last doctor appointment before her scheduled due date (Friday August 8). I had been having that pain all day and my OB could tell I was pretty miserable. She hooked me up to a machine and checked to see if my pain was associated with contractions. Next thing I know she is calling the hospital saying we need to schedule a c section and soon. She came in and told me we were having a baby tonight!! 

I called Bart who was at a teacher trainer meeting and told him to come get me. My contractions were too close together to drive home myself. Once we got home we had about 2ish hours before we were scheduled to be at the hospital. In between contractions I took a shower, finished packing my bag and changed out the laundry. Bart did the dishes and got his bag together. I was planning on having three whole days to get errands and chores done before this babe came! We had no groceries and a hamper full of dirty laundry. Oh well! Time for baby.

Bart talks, jokes and takes selfies when he's excited/nervous

My contractions were pretty close together as we got to the hospital. I would grab Bart's hand and double over, waiting for it to stop. He was talking and cracking jokes the entire time, which is what he does when he gets nervous and/or excited. We get to the hospital and checked in around 4:45. I get undressed and into bed, breaking Bart's hand every 4-5 minutes. The anesthesiologist came in to chat before surgery and was thinking of giving me an epidural while we waited for my OB to get there. As soon as she said it my doctor arrived. Forget the epidural, let's get to surgery!

because NOT getting a picture of a contraction would have been a wasted memory

Bart is given a full body suit and mask (to which he cracks a few jokes) and I get wheeled in. The spinal tap was one of my biggest worries so I nervously talked through the entire thing: about elephants. I read a short story about them and sounded like a total nerd. It worked though. Before I knew it it was over and I started feeling tingly all over. I stared giggling like I do hooked up to laughing gas. Luckily for everyone that only lasted a few minutes.

another excited/nervous selfie

waiting to get the spinal...VERY nervous

Next thing I know they lay me down, drape me and made sure I couldn't feel anything (I couldn't). Bart was given permission to watch so with one hand he held mine and the other he snapped pictures and watched. I asked him a few questions but didn't chat too much. I remember my doctor saying "she's really up there" and "there's no way this baby was going to turn" etc. they had to yank her little head out of her hiding spot and finally at 6:08pm McKenzie was here! I heard a "big baby! How did she fit in you?" But no crying. I kept asking if she was ok and then finally heard that sweet sound. I started crying and had to watch from a distance as they cleaned her and examined her.

7 lb 15 oz

She screamed her little head off and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. Bart was able to get up and watch  and finally got to hold her. About 10-14 minutes after she was born he finally brought her over to me to see. He held her close to my face and the nice doc took some pictures. Once they trusted that I was coherent enough to not drop her, I got to hold her! I don't even remember the emotions I was feeling, but if I had to guess I'm sure it was all of them.

proud papa!

seeing my baby's face for the first time

birth: the only time parents love to hear their baby scream

They wheeled me back and my parents and Bart's mom were there waiting for us. Our bright eyes beauty was finally here! 7 lb 15 oz and 20 inches long. Bart was absolutely in love with her from the moment he saw her. I could see their bond right away and it was such a comfort knowing I didn't have to take care of this little pink thing alone!

 From the time I heard "you're having a baby today" to actually having my baby...it was about 3 hours. It was a crazy experience to feel the contractions of labor, but then have a c-section delivery. There's nothing I would have changed about that day. Things went so smoothly and my baby girl came into this world as healthy as could be.