One Week

This week has flown by so quickly. We came home from the hospital on Thursday. Krista's mom, Katy, flew in that evening. It has been SO much fun having her here. Our world is totally different. I now know the exact schedule of the trains that come every three hours in the middle of the night. Whitney is an excellent sleeper and a sweet baby. She loves to smile all the time... especially when she is full of milk. I know I'm not the one making her smile, but I still like to think so. She seems to look a little bit different every time I see her. We spend most of our time trying to figure out just exactly who each of her tiny features comes from. I just don't want her to get too big-too fast. Newborns are so cuddly and soft! It is the most special feeling to have a sweet little baby in our home.

I'm trying my best to return phone calls-- it's hard, though. If you don't mind a phone call at 3 AM- I'd be more than willing to give you a ring!

Bart is such an attentive Dad. He loves Whitney so much.
He wishes he could stay home with her instead of going to class.

Katy (Krista's mom) with Whitney.
It has been so nice having her here.

Sleep deprivation is starting to take it's toll.
I think the black circles under my eyes will only get worse before they get better... they get better, right?

Sleeping. This is one of her favorite things to do.

This zucchini came from our garden. When we came home from the hospital on Thursday it had grown this big. We thought it only appropriate to take a picture of the thing we grew this summer.

Presenting:

Whitney June Paxton
Born: August 19, 2008
7:38 AM
Weight: 7 pounds 4.9 ounces
Length: 19.5 inches



She's finally arrived! Yeah! We are SO happy to announce the birth of our baby girl:
Whitney June

She is a perfect little bundle who loves to sleep, eat and dirty her diaper.
She is so cute, and we couldn't be more excited!

Labor & Delivery Story:
I (Krista) woke up around 4:30 AM on Monday morning with some contractions that weren't too bad. When my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart, we decided to head to the hospital. My contractions weren't THAT bad, but they were 5 minutes apart. We really didn't want to be sent home, but we also didn't want me to be too progressed for that long-awaited epidural. We packed our car with all of our "stuff" (including Bart's backpack) and headed to the hospital.

When we arrived, I was only at a 1.5 cm. BOOO! I was so sad, but they said that they'd check me again in an hour before they'd admit me to Labor and Delivery. When she came back to check me, my contractions were getting a lot worse, and I was still ONLY at a 1.5 cm! Ugh! The hospital contacted my doctor and he said, that I should walk around the hospital and then get checked again. Walk around the hospital? In that stylish gown? Stopping every 4-5 minutes to hunch over in pain? Okay, sure!
We visited a variety of areas in the hospital including the gift shop, the quad by the dental school, the heart hospital, the cancer hospital and so much more.
After walking for a couple of hours I was admitted to the hospital.
Around 1 AM, I got my epidural. (That was the best part of the entire thing.) About 5 hours later, I was ready to push. My doctor came a little later and said that he needed to leave. Was he as grossed out at this sight as I was? No- he had a c-section he had to do right then. Another doctor was on her way. I started to feel some (okay.. a lot) of pain a little bit after he left. And before I knew it- I couldn't stop her from coming. The second doctor had not arrived yet, and I couldn't stop from pushing. The nurse ran to get the 4th-year-resident. All I remember was people saying, "There's not time, just put those tarps down. She's coming." I was really in some pain at this point and SO exhausted. All I could do was close my eyes and listen to Bart count for me. And then, all of a sudden, her head popped out. Followed, in the next push, by her body. What? She was out? I tried so hard to look up and open my eyes. I was SO tired.
I remember Bart carrying her over to me to lay her on my tummy. She popped open her pretty little eyes and stuck out her tongue. So cute. It was a special moment, and well worth the 4o weeks and 5 days I was pregnant.

We are so lucky to have such a sweet baby who seems to look a little older every time I look at her. Bart is a great daddy, who loves "his girl" more than he ever thought he could. It is the best to see them together.

Here's some shots of our little one. We are tired- but couldn't be happier! We love Whitney.

Here's me in my final hours as a pregnant girl.


Whitney's first pictures.
This is her being cleaned off.
She has her eyes wide open.
Bart thought she looked like me
when her eyes were swollen.


All cleaned off and in mommy's arms. Can you tell I am beat?


This is her 'concerned' look.


I love her pretty little eyes.


She must love getting her picture taken.
Look how she smiles for the camera!



All packed-up and ready to head home.


I love this picture because she
looks like she did in her first ultra sound picture.



The first visit to the doctor.

Whitney with dad. So cute!

Nope

No baby. I'm still pregnant.
As my younger sister, Cara, would say,
"Don't wanna talk about it."

Cookie Connoisseur

My Sophomore year at BYU was one of the "funnest" years of college. I lived with some of my best friends in Lexington 33, Liberty Square Apartments. We decorated the entire apartment in garb from the D.I. We had green lamps, velvet wall hangings, and even some weird poem modge-podged onto a piece of wood that a heart-broken girl wrote to her ex-boyfriend. We were crazy girls who had to make all new guy-friends, as I tried to lose my freshman-15.
Making the friends came easier than trying to lose the 15 pounds I so easily gained the year before. My friend, Anne, loved to bake Cowboy Cookies. She truly was an expert at these cookies. Rolled oats, crisco, chocolate chips and vanilla... oooh.. I am craving them now. She would so often tell us that she was the "Cookie Connoisseur."
Since that time, I have worked on trying to make/bake the best chocolate chip cookies.. becoming 2nd in Cookie Connoisseur-ing. Whenever I try a great chocolate chip cookie, I ask for the recipe. That reminds me.. Megs.. I may need yours to add to my collection... that is if you will share it.

I had the 'perfect' recipe that I made in Utah. I didn't invent this recipe, or anything.. I actually got it from my dear friend Allison Nadauld. The cookies were so soft and scrumptious. I would make them quite often. However, when we moved to Columbus-- the cookies failed miserably here. I'm not sure if it's the elevation difference or the humidity or maybe my dumb oven- but they weren't that good.

So, I worked, baked, and experimented and came up with my very own Columbus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I can only use this for the next 3 years, while we are in Columbus. I don't believe in keeping recipes a secret... unless that's the only way you can get through the door to do your home/visiting teaching...
So- here's my Columbus Cookie Recipe. Sorry if it doesn't work right for you. I'm also not that great at measuring.

Columbus Cookies:
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup butter-flavored Crisco
2 Eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Cinnamon (sorry, I don't measure)
Vanilla (sorry, I don't measure)

2 1/4 cup white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

Chocolate chips
(I use milk chocolate chips.)

Don't overmix!

Bake on light jelly roll
350-375 degrees until they look done!


Here's a picture of the cookies in progress... These are especially tasty if you are pregnant.

The dough is Bart's favorite part.
I wouldn't suggest eating it because it has raw egg.
(Hint: don't over-mix your cooks!)

The trick in my oven is to NOT use an air-bake pan.
Use a light jelly roll instead. (Don't over bake these either.)

Oooh.. I could just eat one of those right now!
Click on the picture if you want to see a real-close up.