Our Growing Girl

So I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, but here are some recent pictures of our little darling. She is now 6 months old, crazy, the time has literally flown! She sleeps pretty good through the night now, hallelujah, and hasn't gotten any teeth yet, although I always think that she's teething. She has the most adorable laugh! That's my favorite thing to hear. She doesn't do it very often, but sometimes, esepcially when she's tired, she really gets going.

She's loving her first Christmas and has been a joy to all. She's my little angel! Solid foods are still a little bit of an issue. Apparently she has an extremely strong gag reflux, like her daddy, so whenever she smells or tastes rice cereal, she gags, shivers, and then throws up. Apparently when Josh was younger, he used to throw up everytime he went to the dentists office. Oh joy--this should be fun! But she does like bananas, or nanners, as I call them. And we're slowly exposing her to more solid foods. Everyone in the family is always giving her tastes of things--they think I don't know. :)

At her 6 month appointment a couple of days ago her stats were: 17 lbs. 8.5 ozs. (75%), 25 and 3/4 in. long (45%), 17 and 1/4 in. for her head (85%). The doctor told us to enroll her in college because her heads so big. Haha! We are truly so blessed and will put up videos and things soon of our growing girl.

Also, something else really exciting is that I finally finished my internship!! YAY! I am so proud of myself, it was sooo hard to do it with Sophie. But thanks to my sweet husband, my in-laws, and my family, I did it!!! I'm officially gradiated!! Merry Christmas!! (pictures of her first Christmas will be coming soon as well).

Sophie getting a ring from her future husband--Landon. ;)

Sophie in her new highchair that Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson got for her. She loves it!

My sweetie pie eating Santa :)

Sophie helping momma cross off the last day and week of her internship!! YAY! Woohoo! Finally!! :)

Sophie with daddy on his Birthday at Sushi Revolution--it was awesome!

So cute! I love this headband (Josh always takes them off, but then I put them back on :) haha)

Merry Christmas!!

Out on a walk with her bear hat and mittens!

Our cute girl in her Christmas dress--sorry it's kinda blurry!

Momma and baby!

Tummy Time

So here's a video of Sophie when she's exactly 2 months old (8/19/09) doing tummy time--definitely not her favorite activity. :) Enjoy! (Sidenote: these next few posts over the next little bit are going to be all over the place as far as Sophie's age and development go, so bear with me. I'm blogging whenever I have a free moment, which usually isn't for very long)

Here are some more pictures from after she was born!


Uncle Drew


Grandpa Clay
Grandma Dickinson
Dickinson fam, my mom came later :)
There are those lips!

She's Here! (as of 3 months ago that is)...

So about 3 1/2 months ago Sophie Ciera Dickinson came into this world. She was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and was 18 1/4 inches long. She was beautiful!! She had huge, pink lips, and a dark, full head of hair. She cried once when she first came out, but was quiet after that, just soaking things in. They put her right on my chest and nothing has ever felt so natural and good to me. It was a rough first couple of weeks--mostly on momma's end. I have never been so emotional, so overtired, or cried so much in my entire life. It was all soo overwhelming. But we made it! And she's such a good girl, we truly are blessed. She's healthy, happy, and grows by leaps and bounds everyday. I'll be posting more over the next weeks to catch up on the last few months we've missed.

Here is Daddy with his girl when she's only a few minutes old.



We were so excited to finally meet her!

Right after she was born.

Right when we got to the hospital. This is before the contractions really began. Don't worry, I looked and felt much worse later. Contractions truly make you feel like you are dying, or being split in two--the rumors are true. Both things suck, a lot. But I'm still alive! And I would do it all again, but not for another year or two. :)

This is right before we left for the hospital. My water broke at about 4:45 am. I got up because my stomach hurt, I know, the classic story. When I stood up I felt the water start to trickle out and I thought--no way! So I ran to the bathroom and sure enough, my water had broken. I got so excited I didn't know what to do first! So I kind of thought about the fact that I was about to have a baby for a minute and then I ran into the bedroom, threw the light on and excited yelled at Josh, "Josh, my water broke!" He sat straight up in bed and asked, "Are you serious?" No, I'm joking...:) He jumped out of bed and we both kind of ran around like chickens for the next little bit (I hadn't packed my bag yet--oops!)

I was grateful for my sister's advice, her water broke too, to take our time. Josh took a shower, I packed, washed my face, cleaned our room a little bit. Then we left for the hospital. I was shaking because of the adrenaline rush. I had minor contractions on the way to the hospital, but nothing too bad, about 7-5 minutes apart.

When we finally got to the hospital we didn't know where to go in. So first we parked across the street from where we were eventually told the labor unit was and walked around for awhile trying to read signs and figure out where to go in. Then we drove to the emergency room and asked, "Where do you go to have babies?" They started to tell us directions and then asked, "Are you in labor?" "Yep." They seemed surprised I wasn't screaming. They should have come into my room a few hours later--haha.

Eventually we found the labor and delivery unit and got checked in. It was pretty calm. My contractions were pretty regular but then they slowly faded away. So I walked, and walked, and walked to get them going again. But to no avail. So they gave me pitocin. I've decided that I hate pitocin. Boo! I went from 0 to 100 in about 2 seconds and it hurt! I didn't know what to do. I tried breathing through them, which sorta worked, but they hurt so bad they took my breath away. I had to really concentrate on breathing. Poor Josh. He said afterwards that I was so mean to everyone. I don't care. I was trying to survive. They couldn't get me the epidural fast enough. I LOVE epidurals!! What heavenly peace, especially after so much pain. Then, a few hours later, she was born at 5:52 pm. I only had to push a few times to get her out. Pushing was hard--especially to do it right. I finally got it toward the end, but it took some practice. The doctor was at his office across the street and had to run over because I was getting her out so quickly. He even had to yell at me to stop pushing at one point because she was coming out so quickly. I was so grateful for the epidural because I was able to enjoy the experience of having her more. I loved holding her afterwards--they let me hold her for along time after she was born without taking her away. I was surprised by that. I was pretty torn up, but I won't go into details :). Thank goodness for percocet! Nursing was hard too, I was surprised. But she was a good eater from minute one and we both caught on pretty quickly. I was soo tired and sore. And I literally cried all of the time, I couldn't help it. I loved her so much it hurt, I didn't know what to do with all of my new emotions and hormones. But we made it through the sleep deprivation and she's finally on a sleep schedule.

Sorry this is soo long! I'm making up for lost time. Love you all! I'll post more pictures in another post.

The end!

Coming Attractions...

Sooo, lots has happened in our lives in the last few months, and I haven't blogged about any of it. I told you, I suck at this. But I will shortly be blogging about all of it. Sophie being born, us being in Washington, my internship. So be looking forward to these coming attractions. Right now I am doing my fulltime internship here in Washington and it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I hate having to leave Sophie everyday, even though I know that she is in good hands. I feel like I am missing so much of her. I keep telling myself that's it's better to miss her now than later when she's doing the really important stuff, like saying her first words, taking her first steps, etc., but the truth is that it's all important, and I hate missing any of it. But I want to finish my degree. It's a promise I made to myself a long time ago and I'm going to do it. I also want to set a good example for Sophie. I want her, someday when she wants to give up on school or whatever it is in her life that she thinks she can't do, to be able to look to my example and to see that I did it, I finished what I promised I would. I also want her to know how important it is for women to get an education, regardless if they are going to be "just a stay at home mom".

And I hate that phrase, by the way. Now that I have Sophie, I understand and have gained just a glimpse into how much all mom's sacrifice for and love their children. It is something that no one can truly understand until they've experienced it. I would do anything for Sophie--anything. I love her in a way that I can't explain. I know all parents say that, but it's completely true. It's helped me to understand a little better the sacrifice that Heavenly Father made for us in given His only Begotten Son for our sake. Even knowing what He knows, I still cannot imagine how unbearable that must have been.

But I have a new respect for my parents and for how much better they know me and for how much more they love me than I thought. It is the hardest job in the world and anyone who thinks that staying at home with your children all day isn't a respectable calling must not have children or doesn't understand how important it is for children to have a mother in the home raising them, if possible. My mom worked growing up because it was what she had to do to keep our family alive, but even then she did everything she could to make sure we had at least one parent at home with us all of the time. And what a difference it makes. Soon I hope to be able to do this. If anything this internship is helping me gain a greater appreciation for being able to be at home with my children someday fulltime. I know the grass is always greener on the other side, but I feel like it's my calling in life to be a mom. I love it. It's definitely something that took some time to get used to, and which I am still getting used to everyday. It turns your world upside down, inside out, and something which doesn't let you sleep, like ever. Good thing the rewards and blessings are ten fold. :)

I keep thinking that there's going to be a day that I will finally say, "I can't do this anymore!" But I've been doing it now for almost 4 weeks, and I know I can finish. It's been a huge faith builder and it's taught me to learn to rely on other people and to let them help me. I've always had a hard time letting others help me, but right now I have to let them. I couldn't be doing this without them. So count down with me the weeks until I finish my internship and hopefully get to be at home with my little sweetheart. 10 weeks and counting.

And can I just say that I absolutely love my husband. He has been a saint through all of this, including labor. :) I love him, and I truly could not do this without him. His mom has also been wonderful. She watches Sophie for us while we're both working, she lets us live in her house rent free, she feeds us her food, and she has a smile while she's doing it. I am so thankful and try to count my blessings everyday. I also want to say how much I love my mom and family. I miss them terribly and am so thankful for their love and support as we navigate our way through this new chapter in our lives. We are truly blessed and thank our Heavenly Father for all that we have.

So, long story short, be looking forward to my post about Sophie's birth, even though she's now 3 months old and quite the chunk, and to more information about my internship and about where we are in life and what we're up to. Thanks for your patience, love, and support. It truly means the world to us right now.

40 Day Eviction Notice

So I stole this from a friend because I thought it was sooo cute--and true! Enjoy! Oh yeah, and I FINALLY finished her quilt!! Yeah!! So I'll put up pictures of it soon, I was soo proud of myself! :) We can't wait until we can finally meet her, I'm 34 weeks so only about 4-6 weeks left! Woo-hoo!

Little Ms. Dickinson:

I hereby issue 40 day notice for EVICTION. You will have 40 days in which you can either gather your belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day, after which, you will be physically removed from the property.

You are being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed.

Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made! Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure.

And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

After 40 days from this day that you don't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Love, Mommy

New Preggy Pictures!

Here are some new preggy pictures of me from about 30-32 weeks. I'm getting rather large, but still cute--right? I can't wait to finally meet her and have her on the outside of me. Yeah!


I went to Seattle for a day with my sister when she came to Washington to visit me and look for jobs.

So this picture is pretty much awesome--it's me, Josh, and my brother-in-law. We went up to Sundance for dinner for our graduation. They all thought it was so funny how big my belly is. Yeah, really hilarious guys, haha!

My new chromed-out Jesus sandals. I got them because nothing else fits or is comfy anymore.

I also got a new dress from the BYU Bookstore. I think it's so cute--yeah!

And here I am in all my glory at 31 weeks. Sexy!! :)

Graduation!

So Josh and I finally graduated! Yeah! Him for real and me semi-for-real...I still have to do an internship after our little one comes. But almost there! At least they let me walk. But here are some pictures from our exciting day! We didn't actually get one in front of the BYU sign in our caps and gowns, but this one will have to do. :)



Woo-hoo!

Because we're in the same major we even got to sit next to each other at our college commencement, how cool is that?

Yeah for us!

I was one of many women to graduate from BYU prego. Woot woot!

He is the cutest man alive, I'm so proud of him!

Hiccups!

So I am now at 30 weeks into my pregnancy and everyone's been telling me how when they were 30 weeks, even earlier, they could feel their baby hiccup. Well I've been getting a little jealous because I haven't felt anything remotely close to hiccups, although in the last couple of days she has been wiggling all over the place! But I love it, it's the coolest feeling! Anyway, back to my story...so we were in the doctor's office here in Provo for our last appointment before graduating and moving to Washington when all of the sudden I felt this rhythmic little "popping" in the bottom of my belly--could it be?...it was! It was her hiccuping (sp?) for the first time! They lasted for about 5-10 minutes while we were waiting and it was so cool! So I can now officially be inducted into the hiccup club with all of the other mommies to be.

But today our doctors appointment went great, we are truly blessed. Everytime we go in they say that everything looks perfect, my measurements, my blood pressure, etc. I hope that this doesn't all come to a crashing halt once I go into labor. I finally watched some labor videos today and now I'm a little terrified, but I know it's going to hurt--at least it's worth it in the end, right? :) But I'm all for the epidural, at least for my first time around. I want to see how my body reacts to being in labor. For our other kids I might try the other millions of cool techniques out there, I really want to try a water birth, but for now I'm perfectly content delivering in a hospital.

I told Josh that we should make shirts that are like football jersey's and that say "Team Dickinson" on the back, then we could put black under our eyes like the football players--here we come Labor Day!! That would put me in game mode!! :) haha But I'm getting nervous/excited for Labor Day, as I call it. I hope all goes well, like the rest of my pregnancy. But thanks to everyone for your love and support--we really appreciate it! And be looking forward to an up and coming post about my Utah Baby Shower, it's this Saturday and I'm so excited! Thanks everyone whose helping to put in on! Yeah!!

Baby Shower in Cali!

Here are some pictures from my babyshower in Cali. a couple of weekends ago, it was so much fun and we got such great stuff from everyone. Thanks so much! Enjoy the pictures and my ginormous belly! Yeah! :)

Me with my new car seat--it's awesome!

I pushed our stroller around outside for quite awhile, I can't wait til there's someone inside of it. :)

I'm so hott...

An awesome snowglobe my mom gave me that had a mother and daughter holding hands. It plays music too, I love it. Thanks mom!

Me and Dani with my cute nephew Jordan. You should see him dance.

Yeah!!!! A way cute diaper bag--we call it our "Pooh" bag, and not just cause it has Winnie the Pooh on it, heehee :)

Me picking the cutest baby made out of playdough.

Another game my mom made up involving lots and lots of candy bars...oh yeah!

A game they had to play--making babies out of playdough.

Me in my royal throne--kinda blurry, sorry!

The Momma--or should I say Grandmomma! haha

Mmmmmmm, yummy!

My mom got the cutest napkins.

Pink and green, so cute!

I suck at blogging :)

So I just wanted to let everyone know that I will soon be posting pictures of my pregnancy on here soon. I'm terrible at things like this--I just never make the time. But soon you'll be able to see my largeness :). But things have progressed perfectly so far. Our little girl, yes it's a girl, it a mover and a shaker already. I had my first babyshower in California this last weekend, and I'm having another up here in UT on the 18th, so be expecting invitations if you live here! Josh and I graduate, or walk, in a couple of weeks, and I can't believe that June 24th is only a couple of months away now. We are so excited to meet out little girl!! Thanks for everyone's love, support, and help these past few months. We love you all!