It's been incredibly TOO long

I'm not even sure if anyone checks our blog anymore since I've taken way too long to post anything but here is my solemn vow that now that I've gotten the hang of being a mom a little bit better, I will post with more frequency and consistency. You can also check my Facebook page for more pictures.

Here's a little recap of the past few months...

WE HAD OUR BABY:

Penelope Aline Hauser was born on August 2, 2009 at 2:49 pm. I have to say I am very lucky how everything went (I don't anticipate labor and delivery will ever be that good again.) I started having contractions (ones that I noticed) about 1:00 am and did the whole timing them for an hour and half before calling the doctor. By the time I called her (which I hate doing in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT) I was having contractions every 3 or 4 minutes. She sent me to the hospital and then ensued a very boring and slightly (a relative term) painful 5 hours.

Since I was supposed to be induced that night anyway and my labor was pretty slow, my doctor broke my water and started pitocin at 8:30am and 10:00am respectively. I HATE PITOCIN. After PAIN, I got my epidural (sweet, sweet epidural) and slept for a couple of hours. Around 2:00 pm, I started pushing and she was born just a short time later. She was a HEALTHY 9 pounds, 10 ounces...something the doctors and I was not expecting. It was a happy day for us both and couldn't wait to welcome Penny's 3 other baby girl cousins into the world!! Lilah Capri Haymore came on August 10th, Annie-Mae Lois Swenson came September 21st, and Eliza Jeannette Neal came on October 31st.

WE MOVED:

A couple of weeks before I had Penny, we found out Josh got into medical school at University at Buffalo. We started packing immediately because I knew I would be no help later on. Five days after I had Penny we had to move across the state to Buffalo. Thank you to my mother and Josh's mother for being a huge help with Penny during that time. Thank you to Bryan, Dad, Jessy and Kelly for helping with moving ALL of our stuff in and getting it unpacked in a timely manner. There is NO way I would have been able to do it without them.

JOSH STARTED SCHOOL...AGAIN:

Josh had his white coat ceremony on August 10th (I think) and started school two days later. And yes, being a brand new mom and having your husband start an incredibly hard and time consuming program is hard. But Josh is really happy with this school and with his choice to become a doctor and you can't really ask for more as a wife. He's gone a lot his first semester because he has to take anatomy and it's a beast of a class. Memorization has never been my strong point, hence becoming an English teacher:) Josh seems to have a pretty good class, although he's one of about 3 people married and is the ONLY one with a child.

PENNY HAD HER BABY BLESSING:

There's not much to be said about this other than Josh is an awesome dad and a worthy priesthood holder and he gave Penny a wonderful blessing. It was a great day because afterward our house was FULL of family...just the way we like it.

PENNY IS GETTING BIGGER:

Penny has started grabbing things with her hand and is a talker (go figure when she spends all day with me). She's trying to roll over and gets up on her side, but that will be a little while. It's also fun to watch her try to sit up when she's laying down. This is the equivalent of a baby crunch. She's also just learning to laugh. It takes A LOT of effort to get her to do it, but it's worth it. She is an incredibly smilely baby, too. Some things to look for in the near future: trying baby food, getting her first pair of earrings, teething, crawling (or "scooting" rather), etc. I'll keep you updated...I promise.

Some of you may be wondering what's going on with me. Not much:) I'm just learning a lot as I go along. We make trips to my parents' house often and try to see Josh's whenever he has a long weekend. I'm enjoying being a mom and staying home. I need to reconnect with my social network, but all in good time! I may work one or two nights a week next semester when Josh has a more regular schedule. It'll be nice to tutor again and use my brain!

Here are some pictures:



Check out all the boxes in the background...







Josh and the moving truck




White Coat




Baby Blessing