Letter to Emma

Dear Emma,

You are nearly 5 months old and I can not believe it! Time is flying and you are growing so fast. Maybe a little too fast! The clothes we bought you for Christmas are already too small and there were some outfits that you only wore once or twice and now they are ready to be packed away. You are now wearing some clothes in size 3-6 month, size 6 month, and just a few in size 6-9 month.


On February 5, 2012 you were blessed by your Grandpa Craig at our home ward. February 5th was also your 4 month Birthday and also Super Bowl Sunday. You were so beautiful in your white dress. Grandpa's words were perfect and I will never forget them. You were awake, but did not make a peep the whole time. I was so proud of you. Bishop Jensen, your Daddy, your Uncle Casey, and Grandpa Anthony were also in the circle with you. Everyone went to Chuck-A-Rama after to celebrate.

We took a trip to the doctor on February 8th. You are growing and developing right on track. You had to have more shots. You received a total of five vaccines. You were poked a total of three times, two in the left leg and one in the right leg. You also received a vaccine by mouth. It was like a little drink in a dropper. You did very well with the vaccine by mouth. You didn't try and spit it out or fight the nurse at all. I felt so bad that you were getting shots and had no idea. You did not know what was coming. As soon as the first shot entered your leg you got the saddest look on your face. Then the tears came. And the cries. It was definitely your "hurt" cry. I held you close as soon as I could and the cries stopped, but the whimpers started. You poor little thing! You were hurt, but didn't know why. You got over it quickly and forgot all about it. You did very well after your shots too, just a low-grade fever. It seemed like they did not affect you much at all.



Just a few pics of you with your bright pink band-aides. Your big sister was a bit jealous of your band-aides and wanted one for herself, but when I told her she would have to have a shot to get a band-aide, she quickly changed her mind.

The doctor also weighed you and took all of your measurements. As of February 8th, you weighed 14.77 pounds, which put you in the 74 percentile for weight. You measured 26.38 inches, which put you in the 98 percentile for length. I have a feeling that you will be tall. You may even pass your big sister up! You head circumference measured 15.9 inches, which put you in the 35 percentile.

My biggest concern at your checkup, was your spitting problem and acid reflux. You had already tried 4 different formulas, but were still spitting up with all of them. You tried formula for sensitive tummies, ones with added rice starch for thickness (let me just say that these make the spit up an even bigger mess),soy, and just the regular ones too. Your spitting problem is not affecting your weight by any means, but I am worried it is uncomfortable and painful for you. Not to mention, it is really making the laundry pile stack a little taller! We decided to try a different formula that is more broken down and easier on your tummy. It was called Alementum and it stunk. Literally. It smelled like mashed potatoes and dog food and you HATED it. It was like I was forcing you to eat. The few days that you were on it you were the grumpiest I have ever seen you. Way too much crying for my liking. We went back to what you had tried before, but I still don't think it was right for you. I finally put you on the Enfamil that your big sister was on and you love it. Of course you are still spitting a little bit, but it's not as bad. Since the Alementum didn't go as planned, I had the doctor call in some medicine for you. They called in some Prevacid, but we have yet to try it because they are out of stock! I have a good feeling that once we start that you will feel much better. You will soon be trying out some year 1 solids and that will probably help too. The doctor also noticed a flat spot on the back of your head on the right side. The doctor suggested a helmet to help round it out, but was not too concerned. Over the past couple weeks it has started to round out and I think we will for-go the helmet.

Just a few facts about you:

You have been sleeping propped up on your back during the night, but you like to nap on your side, either on the couch or on Mommy's bed. You like blankets around your face and I like that they help hold your binky in your mouth. You definitely like to be snuggled and fall asleep faster that way. As soon as I lay you on your side and put the blankets around your face, you are out! Sometimes you prefer Mommy to hold you and rock you to sleep. You are getting better staying asleep after being laid down after I have put you to sleep. You have always done well with self-soothing and putting yourself to sleep. Since you were 6-7 weeks old you have slept through the night. You would go to bed between 11 and 12 and sleep until about 8 am. You have been off of your game a bit lately going to bed at the same time, but waking up between 4-5 am wanting to eat then refusing to go back to sleep. I finally get you back to sleep a couple of hours later for you to sleep for a couple of hours. We are going to try an earlier bedtime and a stricter schedule. I think adding some solid foods will help too. I think it may be time to move you to your own room too. It always brings some anxiety and worry to me, but I know it's for the best. You have never been the best napper, but are getting better. You have about 2 really good naps each day. Usually you are ready for a nap about an hour after you eat. Your routine consists of eat, play, sleep, eat, play sleep.


You think you need to hold your own bottle. Right now you are drinking 5-5 1/2 ounce bottles every 3 hours.

You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to sit up. This was the first time we put you in your saucer. You loved it, but didn't really know what to do. You love to sit in your bumbo too. You just like to see what it going on. You hold objects really well now. Your coordination is improving everyday and everything is making its way to your mouth. You love to play with toys and chew on everything. I love to watch you discover and learn. You blabber and talk constantly. It is the cutest thing ever!

You were blessed with pretty blue eyes like your sister.

I am so happy that you joined our family. You have brought me so much joy and my heart is overflowing with love for you. You have an extra large smile and are constantly flashing it to everyone. I love our special bond. You are definitely a Momma's girl. I am looking forward to watching you grow and develop.

Love, Mommy

Christmas Catch Up

I am behind on my blogging ... Big surprise, right? Well, I want to do better. I need to do better. I would like to start by sharing our Christmas festivities this past December. As Haylee gets older, Christmas becomes more and more special and more traditions are created. Here is our Christmas story...

It began with a car ride over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house. Literally. We headed up to Bear Lake for the weekend to celebrate Christmas with my family. We enjoyed a fancy Christmas dinner at a cozy Bed and Breakfast. We headed back to the cabin and celebrated as if it were Christmas morning. Everyone got into their pajamas and we started the fire and played Christmas music. We sat around the tree and exchanged gifts. I loved watching Haylee open her presents. She was so excited and it was contagious for what was to come on Christmas Day.



I sure love visiting Bear Lake and sharing time with my parents. I really hate leaving. I always get sad on the drive home that we don't live closer.

Our next festivity was the annual Grandma Nell Christmas party with Richard's family. The party was a huge success. Richard's sister and I decided to cater a bit more to the children this time around. Our macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets with dipping sauces were a huge hit with all of the kids!


The kids enjoyed a coloring table and they colored sheets to compete in a coloring contest.

There was a lady that was swarmed by children the entire night making anything possible out of balloons. Haylee got a flower and a bracelet!


All of the kids adore "Aunt Ti Ti"

Jeni and Kristy

The next week was "Christmas week". It was the final week to prepare for the big day. Haylee and I spent spent two straight days baking. We turned on the Christmas tunes and got to work! We made a double batch of oatmeal, cranberry, white chocolate chip cookies, a batch of snickerdoodles, and a batch of peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses in the center. Haylee's favorite part was adding the kisses to the cookies. It was a new tradition to include Haylee on the baking this year. She loved helping and being a part of one of my favorite things about the holidays.

Next was the annual Reynolds Christmas party. It's my favorite party at Christmas. The food is the best part! And seeing my family of course! My Aunt Janet makes these homemade rolls with homemade jam that are to die for! I could seriously eat them for dessert and be satisfied. And don't forget about my Grandma's slush and sugar cookies! She brought me a zip lock bag so I could take some of her cookies home and of course I left without them. I was so upset! I tried a new recipe this year for jell-o. I made a strawberry jell-o with a pretzel crust and a whip cream/cream cheese center. It turned out so good!


We held our annual Christmas program with all of the kiddos. The kids use hand puppets to share the story of Jesus' birth and we sing Christmas carols.

My awesome Grandma. She is 83 years young and can out shop me anyday of the week!

Christmas Eve

We headed to Rich's parent's house for Christmas Eve dinner and our gift exchange.

Grandma gave Haylee a new drawing pad. She has been drawing a lot lately and loves to draw spiders, circles, and rainbows.

Everyone headed outside to leave some food for Santa's reindeer.


Santa made an early stop and dropped off the kids' Christmas pajamas. Santa left them waiting on the fireplace while the kids were outside. While the kids opened their jammies, the reindeer had their snack.

We returned home to put the kids to bed so we could get started on the final Christmas morning preperations, but not until we got cookies and milk set out for the man in red. I am almost certain that Haylee was thinking about Santa coming to our house all night to bring presents and eat the cookies and drink the milk she left for him. The first thing she said when she woke up Christmas morning was, "Did Santa eat the cookies? Lets go see."

I stayed up way too late (until 4 am to be exact) Christmas Eve - wrapping, stuffing stockings, assembling toys, and even moving furniture. I wanted everything to be perfect because I knew it would all be worth it. And it was.

Christmas Day 2011

Christmas morning was pure magic. It was so special. Once the entire house was awake and Emma had downed her morning bottle, we made our way downstairs together. It is always exciting to see what Santa left and what he did to make it feel extra special - candles burning, Christmas music playing, and furniture moved to accomidate extra large gifts and present opening around the tree. Haylee was a bit overwhelmed at first and was not sure what to do first. Of course that did not last long. She went to her new doll stroller and bike first. Then she wanted to open presents. Well, she wanted to open ALL of the presents. We made a deal and let her open Emma's presents as well as hers. It was too much fun! Haylee was really excited to see the cookies mostly gone and the milk drank that she left for Santa.



Daddy's gift: a microphone. I think we are regreting this one...

Santa brought Haylee a "Puter". (AKA a computer, an Innotab to be exact)

After we exchanged all of our gifts and the orange rolls were baked and iced, we left our stockings and headed to Grandma's.

We enjoyed breakfast at Grandma Vicki's (and my delicious orange rolls, of course) and exchanged more gifts. Grandma Vicki was naughty and gave Haylee a Baby Alive Doll. Fortunately, Haylee is still unaware that the doll will pee when given a bottle of water. Thank goodness! I really do not need any more diapers to change! Later, we traveled down to Grandma Angel's to have lunch and visit with extended family. Grandpa Bob was so cute and had gift bags for the older grandkids and gifts for all of the little kids too. He got polar bear stuffed animals for all of the girls. The store ran out, so Emma got a lion! He did it all himself! I was so proud of him!

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. Haylee was excited to get home and play with all of her new treasures. Richard and I were just ready to crash and relax because the next day would start a new week full of Christmas cleanup. Our house really looked as if Christmas exploded and threw up all over our living room! Although it sounded better to just stay in bed for a week to recover instead.

We spend so much time preparing for Christmas and then it is gone in a flash. Christmas really was good to us this year. We were so lucky to spend time together with family and friends. Before we know it, Christmas will be here again and we will do it all over once again!

Thankful...

I could list everything I am thankful for, but pictures are more fun to look at...









Aren't they beautuful? I feel so blessed to be their Mom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma Lynn: A Birth Story

Introducing Emma Lynn Prescott
Born Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 7:14 PM
Weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches long
This is her story...

Since this was my second pregnancy, my doctor gave me the option to induce one week early at 39 weeks. This worked out perfectly! My parents were able to come down from Bear Lake to stay at our house with Haylee. It also worked out for me because I could not be pregnant one more day! I was extremely uncomfortable and huge! Emma was definitely out of room because any movement, kick, or punch was very painful. We scheduled the induction for Wednesday, October 5th.

I was contacted by the hospital that Tuesday and was given instructions. I was told not to eat anything after midnight and that I would be called Wednesday morning with a time to come in. They do not give an exact time because my induction was elective so anyone that comes into the hospital in labor takes precedence and they never know how busy they will be. Well, obviously! They said that if | had not heard from someone by 10 am to call them. Well, 10 am rolled around and I had not heard from anyone. I called and spoke to the nurse in labor and delivery and she said that they have had an extremely busy night and did not have any rooms available for me! She did not want to give me a time and said to call back around 12:30. This was not a big deal, but I was told not to eat anything after midnight and was starving and still did not know when I was going to be induced. I called the nurse at my doctor's office and she said to go ahead and have something light and to keep hydrated so I would have energy to have a baby! My Mom fixed me some toast with jam and my Dad had gotten me a coke from the gas station. This was my last meal pregnant with Emma. I got ready and waited. The nurse called me around 12:30 before I could call her and said to come in ASAP! We loaded up the car and said our goodbyes to my parents and Haylee and drove to the hospital in the rain. It felt weird driving to the hospital to have a baby and not be in labor. We got checked in around 1:30 pm, but still had to wait for a room to be cleaned. It was a very active night and day for deliveries due to the storm that had come in overnight. The pressure drops and puts woman into labor. This was pretty significant because a snow storm had put me into labor with Haylee and it had snowed the whole time I was in labor and delivery. The storm on October 5th had not put me into labor, but it rained the whole time I was in labor and delivery. Just kind of crazy to think about.

Our wait was over and we were taken all the way down the hall to room 6. We took some last pictures of my prego belly:

I got into my gown and got settled into my bed. It was 2:10 pm when the nurse came in and got me hooked up to monitors, started an IV drip for hydration, and took some blood. I was checked for dilation, and I was at 2 cm. Then we waited for Dr. Terry. In the meantime, the nurse's shifts changed at 3:00 pm so I got a new nurse and thank goodness! I was told that Michelle would be coming in to take over. I wondered, could it be the Michelle that helped deliver Haylee? When she walked in I felt so much better about everything! It was the same nurse that was there when Haylee was born. Another sign! She did not remembers us right away, but we helped her remember. She was the best nurse and calmed so many of my fears then and now.

The doctor broke my water to start labor. Instead of just breaking my water all at once, the doctor inserted a monitor that attaches to the baby's head. This does a couple of things. It acts as a monitor for the baby's heart rate and also breaks the water. When the monitor is attached to the baby's head it creates a hole in the sack. As the baby moves down, more fluid is released. So instead of my water breaking in one "gush", it drains slowly. This was so painful! I hated it! Once that was done, the Pitocin was started. The Pitocin causes the uterus to contract and puts you into active labor. I tried to go as far as I could before getting an epidural. The contractions did not start out very strong, but were close together from the beginning. Once I could not bare the pain anymore, we called for an epidural. Getting the epidural was so painful this time around. It really was not too bad when I was in labor with Haylee because I was on Fentanyl to take some of the edge off. Plus, I think different doctors have different methods of administering the epidural and it seemed like this doctor was having a hard time or something. It seemed like it took forever! I was squeezing Rich's hand so hard that it was turning red and going numb! The epidural kicked in right away, but did not take the pain away 100%. I could not feel the contractions, but I could still feel a lot of pressure. Once I was feeling better, I was checked again and was only at 3 cm! I thought, "This is going to take a while!" Since I was at 3 cm and it was dinner time, Dr. Terry decided to pick up his wife and take her to dinner since he had not seen her very much in the last couple of days. Dr. Terry was able to drive home, change his clothes, and start driving to Mimi's Cafe across the street from the hospital before he got a call from Michelle saying I was at 7 cm! He headed straight to the hospital along with his wife. Once he got back, I was at 9 cm! His wife decided to wait in the waiting room. Apparently, this was not the first time! At this point the epidural started to ware off and I was really uncomfortable. Dr. Terry had the anesthesiologist come back and give me another dose. It took the edge off and I could not feel the contractions again, but still felt pressure. I needed to push! I could feel Emma's head and she was ready! I pushed for about 18 minutes. It was a lot harder and more tiring this time around. When I delivered Haylee, I felt NOTHING. I was almost over numb! This time around I felt a lot of pressure and could feel Emma come out. Luckily, it was over fast! When she came out, Michelle says, "Wow! That's a big baby! At least 8 pounds!" I thought, no way! Emma was weighed and we could not believe that she was 8 lbs 3 oz. Haylee only weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and Dr. Terry thought Emma would only be a bit bigger than Haylee because I was measuring right on.

Emma was perfect in every way! My delivery went pretty smooth. I only tore a tiny bit which required a few stitches. I was bleeding more than normal so I stayed in delivery a bit longer for observation. They gave me every drug and shot possible to get the bleeding under control. Luckily, I did not lose enough blood for a transfusion. When the epidural started to ware off, I got the shakes really bad. I was shivering so bad! I also felt really weird like I was congested and needed to cough, but I couldn't because I was so sore. We stayed in delivery for a few hours and then we were able to get into our room.


My cute nurse, Michelle

We stayed in the hospital until Friday. My Mom was able to stay with us until Monday so we could get settled with some extra help. The first few days and nights were pretty rough. All you want is a routine and a schedule and Emma was so mixed up between days and nights. The most frustrating thing during the first little while was getting Emma's feedings figured out. I was trying to breast feed, but it seemed like she was never satisfied and would still be hungry after just being fed. I was worried that I was not producing enough milk for her. I started to pump and could see that I was producing enough, but she just had a hard time eating. I like to call her a lazy eater. She would not suck hard enough to get anything. So I started pumping and bottle feeding and supplemented a bit with formula, but I felt like all I was doing was feeding and pumping and with a two year old it makes it that much harder. It was such a relief to hand a bottle to Rich and have him take a turn. I needed that! This caused my milk supply to decrease. After talking with Emma's pediatrician, we decided to make the switch to bottles 100%. I felt really guilty as if I was being selfish by not breastfeeding. Emma's doctor eased my mind and made me feel better. Emma is still very healthy and will be healthy even if she is formula fed and I can bond with her just as easily with a bottle as with breastfeeding. Once we found the right formula, Emma started doing much better and her feedings are on a better schedule. I call her my little porker because she is always hungry and loves to eat!

Haylee did really well at first. I was extremely surprised. She has been our little helper. She loves her "baby Emma". Sometimes too much. There has been an abundance of hugs and kisses and sometimes they aren't as soft as they should be. We did have a big meltdown at first regarding the binky. As you know, Haylee was very attached to her binky. Haylee has not had a binky for a while now, but when she saw Emma with one, she wanted it back. We used chap stick as a distraction. She loves chap stick so my parents took her to the store and let her pick out some chap stick and told her that big girls like her get chap stick and babies get binkies. Thank goodness it worked! Once Haylee realized that Emma was here to stay, the jealousy set in. It gets worse when Haylee gets over-tired, but when we realize what's happening, Rich and I will team up to give Haylee some extra attention.

I think we are getting the hang of things. Life seems so crazy right now. We are still working on a schedule and daily routine, but it gets better everyday. Having two kids definitely has its challenges, but also has its rewards. There is so much love flowing within our family. We feel so blessed to have two beautiful and healthy daughters. Life could not be any better.