How Do I Change My Blog?

I have seen so many cute blog backgrounds on friend's pages and I have no idea how they change them or where to find them.  Kathleen Dunn Himber did my blog and she made the thing by herself... I definitely do not have that talent.  And I don't want to have to keep asking someone else to do my blog for me.  SO... where do you all find your cute blogs?!?!

unmotivated to set goals... and a quick update

Sorry, I don't have pictures to go with this one.

With the new year starting, or I guess it already started, most everyone reflects on things they would like to do better for the coming year and they decide to start at the very beginning of the year. This year has just not been that way for me. In my mind I felt like I should make New Year resolutions but for some reason I just was not motivated to do it! Since Lyla was born in early December, I spent most of that month adjusting to motherhood. Then we traveled during Christmas and New Years and before we got back from vacationing, we accepted the job in Chicago. So now we have been so focused on moving and making all the arrangements and have even started to pack up our apartment. I've just been so out of a routine for over a month now that I feel like I can't even begin to THINK about realistically setting and starting new goals. I have been feeling really guilty about this and the fact that I don't even have a motivation at this point to start a goal. However, I do want to start my New Year resolutions on March 1st.

Goals I have in mind:

Eat Healthy - I have a really hard time eating all 3 meals a day with snacks in-between. I have an even harder time making all my meals healthy. I did eat a little healthier when I was pregnant but I think I have gotten lazy again and I can really tell that it has affected my nursing. Apparently (I guess I should have known this) if you don't eat all of your meals with snacks in-between, it can affect the quantity of milk your baby gets. Unfortunately I have already seen this negative affect, so I am officially starting this goal a little early.

Regular Scripture Study - I am SO bad at this and always have been. I have experienced the difference in myself when I do read my scriptures and when I don't yet somehow I STILL have a really tough time with this one.

Keeping a Clean House - Nate and I both struggle with this one. This one, like scripture study, is another where I feel really good when the house is clean and I feel really good about myself when I clean the house, yet again I STILL somehow let the house get messy way too often.

Exercise Regularly - I just need to and want to.

Read More Often- I love when I am able to get into a good book. I really liked the Twilight saga and Nate and I have been listening to the Harry Potter books on tape, which we have absolutely LOVED. Anyone have any suggestions?


I think that will conclude my list of goals. I can't do too many or else I won't do any of them!

As for a quick update...
Lyla is doing good. She is starting to slowly get into the smile phase where she actually smiles at things she likes (rather than just smiling at nothing in particular) which is SO fun! She also LOVES to cuddle. Sometimes when she is fussy, Nate or I will lay her down next to us on the bed and put our face really close to hers and she just calms right down. However, this morning, she took Nate by surprise when she started to suck on his nose because she was hungry. She has a serious case of nipple confusion. She got her "procedure" done yesterday where they cut her Achilles tendon all the way through. She was not a happy camper. Apparently this is not a big deal for children up to age three and it will fully heal after about 2 weeks. After the procedure they casted both her legs for the last time. She wears this set for 3 weeks. Then she is scheduled to get her braces on Jan. 30th! Also, we are blessing Lyla on Jan. 25th.

Nate and Kelly are doing great! We're just busy preparing for the move. We are flying out to Chicago this Thursday to look for apartments. We are staying through the weekend so we can narrow down to our favorite places, then go to the wards to see which we like the best. Then we will fly back Monday. Then that weekend my mom and step-dad are coming up to Utah, and so is my brother Mike and possibly his wife Jen for Lyla's blessing. The next day Nate will pick up our truck so we can pack it up and he will leave Tuesday to make the 2 (or possibly 3) day drive out to Chicago. I, on the other hand, will have to stay to clean our apartment and wait for Lyla's appointment on the 30th. Then I will fly out to Chicago with Lyla on the 31st. The next few weeks are going to be BUSY and are going to fly by!

A New Chapter In Life

Now that the holidays are over, I actually have time to post!  We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years.  We spent Christmas in California with my family.  It was so fun introducing them to Lyla. It is always nice to go down there. However, driving home was a NIGHTMARE!  It took us 10.5 hours to get to Vegas (which usually takes us 3.5 hours) because there was so much traffic!  In total, it took us 17 hours to get home.  It stunk.  Then we spent New Years in Idaho with Nate's family, which was a lot of fun as well.  

Now for some news... Nate has accepted a job with Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago and we are VERY excited/nervous/anxious about it!  We are taking the early start date they offered and Nate will begin his first day there on February 5.  So, this month we are trying to hurry to take care of everything it will take to move across the country.  We'll be flying out in a couple of weeks for a house hunting trip and Nate will be driving out on the 27th to drive out our furniture and our car.  Then I will probably fly out from Utah a few days later with Lyla.  So now we will be entering into a new chapter in our lives and we feel very ready and excited for it.  We're just sad to leave the friends we've made and the family we've grown closer to.  So... if any of you have been to Chicago and know of fun things to do... let me know!

Now for some pictures

Lyla loves her wrist toys...

She just looked so cute in her car seat...

From left: Rachel and Cameron, Candace and Jared, Me and Lyla.  All baby cousins born within 3 months of each other!  There was one more cousin that was born in the middle of these babies but he wasn't there.  

Nate took this one when we were sleeping.  

Christmas Day!

My Papa Tom, Lyla, myself, and my dad.  4 generations!

On dad's lap.

Blue Steel.

My favorite sleeping position of hers.  She has the cutest poses!

She must have been really bored...

This is just a cute face :)

This is an old picture of us at a BYU football game when we were engaged...

My last pregnant pictures when I was 38 weeks.  

We did it!!

We were trying on outfits on Lyla and we were pretty entertained. Obviously, she wasn't.

"Seriously?"

She just LOVES to sleep on her side, it's the cutest thing!

A last shot looking at her clubbed feet. This was just after her last full bath since we have to now only wipe her down with a washcloth.

Our little angel getting her casts on. She was so relaxed!

Right after they finished casting her.

She looks so cute in this picture... she is such a model!

Lyla and my dad (Papa Brian). He was so nice to come out and visit us for a few days!

Loungin' Lyla... we have to elevate her feet if her toes start to look purple so every time we lay her down we just prop her feet up to keep the circulation going... She is too cute!

Well we did it... we got Lyla's clubfeet casted. It really was a day I had been dreading ever since we found out she had clubfoot. So naturally I had been really emotional the day before and would cry at random times. Then when the day came, I cried on the way to the hospital and kept myself mostly composed at the Dr.'s until they were about to cast her. Lyla LOVED to curl her legs up to her body when she would get burped or held so every time she would curl her little legs up I would just think about the restrictions that were coming up and then sort of break down. What can I say, I'm an emotion/hormonal wreck, haha!
Anyway, Lyla did awesome at her doctors appointment. We got to the hospital she was a little bit fussy and so I fed her while we were waiting and then she was fine. When we got in we met our doctor and she was kind of quiet, which made me nervous at first, but when she realized that I was pretty emotional she started talking to us a little more and made me feel a lot better. Anyway, she was really nice and we feel really confident in her abilities to take care of Lyla. We asked the doctor about Lyla not having to have surgery and she said that she has only not done the surgery on 2 of her patients and she thought she would need to with Lyla. She said it was more of a procedure rather than a surgery. So, we're not too worried and if she needs it then we want to do whatever is best. Anyway, they pretty much got straight to business and started casting her legs and Lyla did SO GREAT! She was awake the entire time and didn't even cry or fuss or struggle at all. She was just so calm throughout the entire casting process! I really was just so proud of her. I think Heavenly Father really blessed her to be calm, probably more for my sake than hers. She really was just a little angel through the whole thing. It ends up that they think they will need only about 4 casts (changed weekly) on her right foot and the left foot they "went for the gold" and corrected it to where it is supposed to be. So in the end her last cast on her right foot will look like the one on her left. They also said they will probably put a holding cast on her left foot until the cast on her right foot gets to where it should be. So, hopefully by February she will be all done with casts and will have moved on to her braces. They said she will have to be put in braces for 3 months for 23 hours a day and then only at night for 3 years. Anyway, after a few short instructions about the casts they sent us on our way and that was that! We have another appointment next Friday to get her second pair of casts. They said that usually by the 2nd appointment the babies are on to them and they are a little more fussy, but I'm hoping Lyla will show them all up and be just as good. They also said that the first couple of days the babies have the hardest time with adjusting to the casts and Lyla has done really well with that too. She had a hard time for the first day when she couldn't curl her legs up when we would burp her. You could just tell she was trying to move them up but she just couldn't. I felt so bad for her. Fortunately, I think she has gotten used to the idea that she can't curl them anymore. She is also able to move her legs around, even with the casts on and gets quite an ab workout doing it. Also, before she would always turn on her side when we would lay her down on her back and thought that she wouldn't be able to with her casts on, but she manged to do it today. We thought it was so cute! She really will be such a strong baby. We'll have to see what she'll be able to do with the braces she'll have to wear. Poor thing, we're holding her back from exercising her skills! All in all, Lyla has done so well with these casts and has hardly fussed about them and has made it so much easier for her mom, which then makes it easier for her dad :)
Nate and I are both just so in love with Lyla and we are so proud of how good and calm she is. She is the best.
As for other things, Nate finished his last class a few days ago and does not have any finals, so he is pretty much done with school for the next few years! YAHOO!!! I am so proud of him and for all that he accomplished during his schooling. He loves school and is excited for the time that he goes to get his masters. He is such a smart guy! Also, my dad came up to see me and Nate and Lyla. We really enjoyed having him up here and we had a good time with him. He was a good comforter to me with Lyla's casting. Lastly, Nate's mom left today :( She was going to leave tomorrow but since it is going to be stormy tomorrow and since Lyla has been doing so well, she left a little early. She has been a HUGE help. She cooked, cleaned, got up with Lyla in the middle of the night... she even got it so Lyla now only wakes up once during the night to eat. She was also a really good physical and emotional support for Nate and I. Nate hurt his knee playing soccer and I went through a rough patch with my recovery and I was really emotional with Lyla having to get casts and Pat was just wonderful through it all. So tonight will be the first night that we have Lyla by ourselves... ahh! What makes me even more nervous is Nate is leaving Monday morning at 10:00am to fly to Ohio for an interview and will not come back until Tuesday evening!! So I will be with Lyla by myself for over a day with no one here to help but me! I am really not looking forward to that and I don't want him to go but I need to suck it up and not be selfish. So yeah, wish me luck!
I hope everyone is doing well!

Family Update!

New Family Photo!

Lyla... looking cute

Close-up

The best stocking stuffer EVER!

I love that smile!!

Lyla fell asleep as she was feeding...

Nate and Lyla taking a little nap... Nate LOVES holding her like this.

Lyla and mom resting together.

Lyla's "Take Me Home" outfit. I love this picture.

She looks a little stoned here but she's still cute...

We found this at our door when we got home... We have awesome friends!

One of our first adventures of parenthood at home... a bath. She hated almost every minutes of it!

The first time I changed her diaper (Nate has been very diligently taken most of the diaper duty... and I didn't even have to ask!)

Nate's mom, Pat, came down to Utah from Idaho to stay with us for the first week. She has been such a great help!

Lyla, chilling on the boppy. I just thought she looked so cute here!

Well we've been home for a few days now and things have been going pretty well. I have been recovering somewhat nicely. Lyla has a little bit of jaundice, so we have to get her tested for the next few days. We don't have to do any lights or anything but they said as long as she feeds frequently she'll be fine and her body will get rid of it. Unfortunately, that hasn't really been our strength. She has had a tough time eating frequently enough and just eats when she wants to. So we would sometimes go 5 hours without feeding and she would only feed for 5-10 minutes. I had been getting pretty concerned. The past day we both have been getting better with it. We also went to a lactation consultant today and we feel a lot more confident in her feeding abilities. It turns out that she gets a ton of milk in a short amount of time so we don't have to worry about that. She has also been eating a lot more, so it seems to be getting better. We also saw our pediatrician for the first time. He said that her club feet actually look really good. He said that he doctor who treats her at Primary Childrens will be very pleased because her feet really aren't that bad. He also said that he doesn't think she will need to have surgery and that casting should be enough for treatment! So, that left us feeling really good. We have an appointment at Primary's on Friday, which is the day they do casting, so more than likely she will get her first casts on that day. In all honesty, I am dreading that appointment. I think I will have a hard time with it, but I know it needs to be taken care of.

Anyway, I love being a mom. I never thought I could love and care for someone so much, and I have only known her for 4 days. I love being able to feed her. I love that she already knows who I am. I know I probably won't love this forever, but I love being up with her in the middle of the night to feed her and then to just snuggle with her afterwards. I always want to be with her. I just love her to death. I think it's so interesting that my emotions are so tied to her and how she is doing and all the things that are coming toward her way. Even though I won't be working anymore (which I love to work), I really could not be happier and would not have this any other way. As for Nate, he LOVES being a dad. He said today that he never expected that he could feel the way he does about Lyla. He feels so protective of her and has been my biggest helper. He changes her diapers and clothes, does the main part of bathing her, swaddles her in blankets, holds her and calms her down. He pretty much does everything but feed her and he loves doing everything he can to make her happy. And when she cries, he gets flustered and assumes responsibility to get her to stop. It has really been cute watching him develop his relationship with her. Nate also loves to sing to Lyla and she seems to love it too. His singing will always get her to either stop crying or more often, she will fall asleep at the sound of his voice. He has also been getting excited to see that she is starting to recognize him as her daddy. In short, even though it has been and will be a lot of work, she has been the greatest joy in our lives thus far. We couldn't be happier.

Lyla Elizabeth Wright

Our new little family!

This one was actually taken right before...

Well... we did it! Lyla Elizabeth Wright was born on December 5, 2008 at 1:47pm. As I woke up to my alarm this morning at 6:45 I had my first contraction. I tried going back to sleep but had about 2 more within 15 minutes or so. So I decided to get showered for the day while I could (just in case they were to get worse). Then Nate had work and I wanted to go in to turn in my badge since it would be my last day. At that point my contractions were about 7-8 minutes apart. Then when we got to work they suddenly were 2-3 minutes apart! So I kept e-mailing Nate to tell him that he needed to forget about work and take me to the hospital. About 30 minutes later, he finally came down and got me. We went home to pack really quick (as it was on the way) and we hurried on over to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital I told them that I was in labor. They took me back and I had to stop in the middle of going to my room because I was having a really strong contraction and a bunch of nurses kept asking me what number child I was having. As I told them that this was my first, they kind of gave me a look as if they were saying "uh huh, sure you're in labor!" So they finally checked me and saw that I was almost dilated to a 5 and they decided to go ahead and admit me! To make a long story short, I progressed quite quickly. I got my epidural almost immediately and I am very happy with my decision to get one because after it kicked in I had hardly felt a thing! The doctor had thought I wouldn't deliver until the evening but when he checked me, I was completely dilated and all ready to start pushing. They then thought it would take about 2 hours to push, but I only ended up having to push for about 30 minutes (during which they had me stop pushing because the doctor wasn't there yet).
Finally when she was mostly out, they saw that her umbilical chord was wrapped around her neck 3 times so they quickly cut the cord to unwrap her. They then pulled her out and took her to make sure she was okay. She has a little head full of dark hair which completely took us both by surprise. When they took her for testing she let out a little short and random high pitched scream and then she stopped. So they jostled her around and BOY OH BOY she has quite a set of lungs!! She was just screaming! All the doctors and nurses in the room were cracking up because they had never heard a baby cry like that! She ended up weighing 7lbs 4oz, and was 19.5 inches long. Her club feet are just as we expected. We haven't talked to a pediatrician about them but her right foot is turned inward at a 90 degree angle and the left is at about a 45 degree angle, so it hardly looks clubbed. Anyway, she is doing really well. So far we know that she hates the cold and is just as stubborn as her mother.
We are so excited to have this new addition to our family. We love her so much and she keeps getting cuter and cuter every moment.

Probably the Last Post...

Well this will probably be the last post I do before I have my little baby...

I am scheduled to be induced this coming Monday at 6:30am!!

I would, however, like to go into labor on my own and not have to be induced. I've been trying all sorts of methods that people and other sources have said to do to get yourself to go into labor. I haven't been on a long walk yet (but plan on taking a really long one tonight with Nate) but I have been massaging my feet and hands on the pressure points. I massaged my hands last night for a while and I had my first real contraction during the night that actually woke me up... but it wasn't that bad. Anyway, we'll see if any of these methods work! If anyone has any advice, please let me know!

Wish me luck!