Time flies

I can't figure out how to move pictures. Does anyone know the secret? Also, why does it keep underlining and making it blue?

I can't believe Louise is already 3 and a half months old! Here's a quick catch up of the last couple months.

Louise sleeps like a dream (no pun intended...or maybe it was). From about a week and a half she has slept through the night. She loves to sleep on her tummy (don't worry, I'm super careful). Lately I've been trying to put her to bed a little earlier, like 9:30 or 10, and she goes down fine, wakes up at 6 to eat, and goes back to sleep until 9:30 or 10. If I put her down when we go to sleep around 11:30 she doesn't wake up in the night, but I like to have a few hours to get things done before bed. She's so good at sleeping at night, I feel like we cheated.

She's not very in to napping, though. She only naps for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. She'll fall asleep while I'm holding her, but as soon as I try to put her down she'll wake up. Aren't babies supposed to sleep for a few hours at a time?

I've been putting together a baby book for Louise. It's so fun. I hate scrapbooking, so I was quite excited to find one at Deseret Book that all you have to do is fill in the blanks and put the picture that it suggests on the space. I love it, and I think it'll be really easy to keep up and continue with our other children.

She spits up like crazy. It seems like everything I feed her comes back up over the course of the3 or 4 hours until I feed her again. I HAVE to do laundry every couple of days because every burp cloth, bib, blanket, and outfit (both ours and hers) are completely soaked. We go through 20 burp cloths and 10 bibs every 2 days. She's still gaining weight, so we're not that worried,but she's getting a little behind. At her 2 month checkup she was in the 55% for weight, at her 3 month she was about 45% for weight and 75% for height. The doctor suggested acidophilus, which we tried, but quickly ruled out. She did spit up a lot less, but she was super grumpy (which is highly uncommon for her) and didn't have a bowel movement for the entire 5 days we were giving it to her (which is also highly uncommon). I felt so bad for giving it to her for that long after I finally connected the grumpiness with the acidophilus. As soon as we stopped giving it to her she was her normal delightful self and had a gloriously poopy diaper (wow. I must be a mother). We talked to Andy Nuckles over the weekend and she said that her kids were the same, if not worse, and they gave them Zantac, which was very effective. We'll be trying that this week once we get the OK from Dr. Worwood. Any other suggestions from you moms and dads?

Louise is at such a fun stage. She smiles a lot now and makes the cutest sounds. She totally thinks she's talking to us. We can carry on "conversations" for at least 15 minutes, just talking and cooing at one another. She loves it, and I do too. She's always been extremely alert, and is just becoming more so with age. Justin has her so close to giggling. She loves to talk to her daddy.

A lady who is in the Fellowship in Napa with Justin is practicing infant massage and wants to teach us how to do it on Louise next time we go. We're pretty excited. I've never really heard anything about it, but Justin has and he says it's very beneficial for the child and the parent. Does anyone have any experience with infant massage?

We've figured out that Louise highly prefers showers to baths. Every time I would bathe her she'd start screaming the minute she touched the water. One blessed day we got the idea to try taking her in the shower with us and were elated when she shushed right up and looked like she was on cloud nine. She would smile at us and talk very happily. And now she doesn't even mind baths. Definitely prefers showers, but an occasional bath is OK.

Oh! I got a new haircut, and I love it! I finally got a pixie cut that I like. Every time I would go to the beautician and tell her I wanted a pixie cut, she'd always think she knew best and say "when I had this cut I wished I had left a little hair over my ears," or "when my hair was this short I wished it was a little longer in the back," so they'd always leave it longer in random places. Well, this time I told her that I didn't want it long anywhere, and I kept telling her to go shorter. I LOVE it. All of my curl is gone since having a baby, so it's super easy to do this short. I don't even have to dry it. I just have to be sure to wear makeup and some cute earrings to avoid looking masculine. Justin really likes it too, which is always a bonus.

Well, Napa. Napa, Napa, Napa. Justin and I both LOVED it (for completely different reasons, but loved it, all the same). Justin will have to write about his experience. I won't do it justice. I'm so excited to get to go back once a month for the next 14! If anyone wants to come one of these times, seriously, let us know. While Justin was in his class all day Louise and I cruised around Napa Valley and went exploring. I could very easily live in Napa if the rest of my family would move there, too. Even though it was winter and everything was dead, it was simply beautiful. There was rolling hill after rolling hill of burgundy grape...things (orchards, vineyards, fields?). And the towns are so charming. My favorite was St. Helena (pronounced ha-lee-na). I went to church there and fell in love with the little branch. I went in and within 2 minutes of being there the old lady I was sitting next to was walking Louise in the hall, chatting with her. They both loved it. I can't wait to go back. Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures of Napa, so I'll have to be sure to take some good ones this next time.

Speaking of Justin, I can't believe how fortunate I was was to get him. He is one of the most Christlike people I've ever met. He is so incredibly sweet and loving to me and Louise, and he is the perfect father. I'm so grateful for how tender he is, and that he's not afraid to show his sensitive side, or be sentimental. I love him so much and can't imagine being married to anyone else. My heart is so full of love and gratitude for him.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Hey, everybody.  It's Justin.  I've recently decided that a lot of what I'm learning these days is super helpful, beneficial, and interesting if you have, or ever will have kids.  So, I've started a blog specifically dedicated to just sharing what I'm learning, and my experiences with applying it in my own experience as a parent.  If you're interested, feel free to give it the once over.  Diary of a Domestic Superman

Wild Goose Chases and Pots of Gold

I haven't been the one to post in a while, and I have something I just can't hold in anymore, so I guess I'll bust it out...
Have you ever had something that you're so interested in and completely fascinated by that you can spend hours and hours talking about it and never even notice the time pass? I like to call it the "passion", and it's got a reputation similar to that of the snipe. I first became aware of its existence as a freshman in college at Utah State. I was with my brother at the apartment of one of his former mission companions. It was one of those "friend of a friend of a friend" experiences for me, unfortunately, so I mostly just listened to what everyone else was talking about. There were more than a few of the other people there who were music majors, and, I kid you not, they spent the entire two-plus hours talking about nothing but music, performances, and the like. I was frankly quite impressed. I was an Accounting major at the time, and I couldn't even imagine spending an entire evening talking about ledgers, investments, or anything else business-related. It was then that I realized I needed to undertake what some view as a wild goose chase. I needed to find my "passion".

I came home from my mission two years later and still hadn't found it. It hadn't just come to me as I'd expected it to. I was kind of disappointed. In the meantime, I had definitely decided that it was most certainly not Accounting (no offense whatsoever to any accountants who read this; some of my dearest friends and family are accountants...). I switched to Psychology my second year at Utah State just in time to get married and transfer down to Dixie.

Best decision I've ever made, hands down. I didn't expect that, at all. I took a class down here that completely changed the direction of my professional life, and directed me away from the goose chase, toward a Leprechaun's rainbow. The class was "Child Family Mental Health", and it was all about helping parents engage with and understand their infants. I was in love. Anyone who really knows me knows that I have always had a particularly soft spot for babies, almost from the time I was one myself. I didn't even know this field existed, and yet, here it was, staring me in the face with those big, blue eyes... (I only became more sure when I found out that we were expecting, and Louise has blue eyes)

It's only now that we come to the Pot of Gold at the end of this rainbow. I recently applied, at the encouragement of the professor of the previously mentioned class, to-- get ready for it-- the University of Massachusetts Boston Infant Parent Mental Health Post-graduate Certificate Program in Napa, CA. It's the most comprehensive and complete program of its kind, and it's put on by the people who have basically laid the groundwork of this field. I realize that these names probably won't mean anything to the vast majority of you who read this, but I have to say them, because I'm just so darn excited. Among the faculty are Ed Tronick, T. Berry Brazelton, Dan Siegel, Bruce Perry, just to name a few. These people are the big cheese. It's really hard for me to come up with an appropriate analogy for others outside the field to understand what this is going to be like. It's like a music major going to a music camp where the conductors are Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. These are the people who make the field what it is today.

So, for the next 15 months, I get to travel with my wife and daughter (as often as they'll agree to come with me) to beautiful Napa, California, sit at the the feet of the field's Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and, heck, throw in John Williams, and learn about a topic that I absolutely love. There's no losing where this is concerned. I'm so stinking excited.

4 weeks old

I can't believe she's already 4 weeks old! It feels like we were just in the hospital having her yesterday.

Louise is the most adorable child ever, and I absolutely relish every moment of her life. She makes us laugh so often with the many funny faces she makes, her little sounds (she's a very squeaky baby), and especially her sneezes. She inherited her mothers' weird sneezing. She'll have this huge wind-up, then no sneeze. It's adorable! We've been trying to get a recording of it, but have failed, so far (but gotten a ton of other cute footage!).

Last night she slept from midnight to 7. It was fantastic. Then I fed her and she went back to sleep from 8 to 11. She's been doing this more and more for the past few weeks. 4 weeks old and she already sleeps through the night! One secret that has made a world of difference in getting her to sleep in her crib that my mother-in-law let me in on: put a heating pad down in the crib with her blanket on top of it, then take it out when you go to put her in. Works like a charm!

Justin's Grandpa Keate and his wife Connie came to visit us yesterday and I found out where Justin gets his way with children. Grandpa was so precious with her, I couldn't take my eyes off of them. And Louise just loved him. She settled right down in his arms and stared at him for the longest time before finally falling asleep. She was very relaxed and comfortable with him, it was so cute to watch. It's odd for the men of that generation to be that relaxed with babies, I think, so it must be a family trait.

Louise is getting so close to smiling!

Justin has decided to get his Phd. in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on infant mental health. He decided that if he just got his masters in infant mental health he'd really be limiting himself, so he's gonna go all the way to widen his horizon. I think that's very wise of him. He's the type that would always regret not going as far as he could. He's been applying to several different colleges lately, but the one we're hoping for is University of Utah. They have a really good program, are sort of close to home, and practically pay their graduate students to go there. We're really excited about it.

So blessed

She has such beautiful big blue eyes (sometimes very cross-eyed).

Wide eyed and wondering.

Her yawn while waking up. I love to watch her wake up. :)

Louise and Nana. She sure loves her.

The two loves of my life.

Such a stud.

Louise is 3 weeks old today. I keep getting the feeling that we cheated or something...everything has gone far too smoothly (knock on wood). Louise is positively delightful. We couldn't have asked for a better child. We're both so in love with her. I swear she understands us. If she's hungry and fussing when I'm doing something I can tell her that I'll feed her in just a minute while I finish up and she'll calm down and wait patiently. Last night was her first time sleeping in the crib and she wasn't very excited about it at first, but after talking to her and telling her that mommy and daddy were still in the room, we were just in bed, she quieted down and went right to sleep.

These days she even sleeps through the night. I almost worry, because she'll go 6 or 7 hours without eating during the night, but my mom said she's just setting a routine for herself and if she eats a lot during the day (which she sure does - especially before bed) it's fine. And speaking of feeding her, she's a pro, and was right from the very first time. I haven't had any trouble at all breastfeeding. She's incredible. We can't wait for when she can smile back at us. She smiles now, a lot, but mostly in her sleep, and she can't really control it yet.

The labor and delivery were wonderful, too. Just as a little background information, and possible explanation for all of this, Justin and I are both incredibly laid back and not easily upsetable people. I didn't worry hardly at all during the pregnancy, even when I probably should have. I didn't feel any pain of note at all during the whole labor and delivery. Even the contractions didn't hurt, although I'll admit I have a very high pain threshold. On the day before we had her (Wednesday) at my doctors appointment I was dilated to a 5 and 80% effaced. She said to start timing contractions and go when they were 5 minutes apart. I asked if I was supposed to time just the ones that hurt, but she said that since I hadn't had any painful ones to that point and I was already at a 5, I should just time them all. That evening I started timing them during Andy Griffith and they were around 4 minutes apart. But I didn't feel any different, so I didn't think we should go. I was sure we'd be sent home. My mom insisted, however, and so we went around midnight. We both slept through the night in the hospital (apparently I was in labor for 12 hours, but I'm not sure it counts because it didn't hurt). The contractions did start getting uncomfortable around 6 am and I could tell they could get pretty painful if left, so I got an epidural and slept some more. I'm glad I had an epidural, but I really hated it. It freaked me out to not be able to control or feel my lower half. They could flop my legs around like a rag doll and I couldn't feel a thing. Anyway, at 8 I was at an 8, and 9 I was a 9, and at 10 they decided we should have a baby. It was probably a half hour between when they said that and got everything ready, so I had time to panic. That was the only time I felt scared, and let me tell you, I was petrified. You hear so many horror stories and it had all been so easy to that point I was sure it was gonna be awful. I couldn't look at Justin because I knew he'd see through the facade and I'd start to cry. They finally came back and everything was ready, so I was too distracted to be scared after that. I pushed for about 45 minutes (apparently that's a long time, but it didn't seem like it). Justin was so excited and was acting just like a little boy on Christmas Eve. I was laughing at him all through the delivery. Also I kept throwing up, which was annoying. I was starved and I always throw up when I get too hungry. The doctor came towards the end and all of a sudden they were laying a baby on my chest. :) We love her so much. The recovery was pretty rough and painful for 4 or 5 days, though. Glad I'm passed that. I LOVE not being pregnant (my skin misses it, though)!

Oh. By the way, we sold our two cars and bought a new one. :) We got a 2007 Toyota Corolla with 46,000 miles. We LOVE it. We've been looking at Corollas for a few months now. We want a car that will be reliable for a good 10 years to get us through grad school (which deserves a post of its own...remind me. We have an exciting future ahead).

Parenthood is just a dream come true. Louise is so sweet and such an easy, laid back baby. We just can't get enough of her. Here're some pictures of the last few weeks, plus a video or two. :)

P.S. We can't decide who she looks like. Any ideas?

We have a noisy little sleeper. :)

Pictures!

Here's some picture of sweet baby Louise from birth to now. I'm not sure how to work the picture uploading thing, so they're not in order. She's already changed a lot. We are so in love. We just sit and stare at her all day. Or at least we would if we could. :)

This was today. Too cute to pass up.

Today. Guess what she's thinking about. She has an "angel kiss" over her right eye and this picture really makes it stand out.

Today.

Today. A little blurry, but would've been the picture I was going for. I was trying to get her looking at the camera, but she would only do it for a few seconds at a time before moving again.

Day 4. This is definitely a smile. I don't care what Grandpa says otherwise, and I definitely won't repeat it.

Day 4. Pretty little lady proves that newborns truly are incapable of touching their hands together above their heads.

Day 3. Grandma Chamberlain admiring the newest addition to her little gaggle of grandies.

Day 3. Grandpa Chamberlain is wrapped around her little fingers almost as much as her Daddy is.

Day 2. First day home from the hospital. Great-Grandma Heideman loves this little ball of sheer happiness.

Louise Doris Nuckles' first few moments.

Us in the hospital.

Announcement

Welcome Louise Doris Nuckles!
Born: October 20th at 11:19 am
Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz
Height: 19 1/2 in

Pictures and a post coming soon (we're a little busy right now. :) ). Until then, just know that she is beautiful.