Fourth of July!

Pictures first!

We had a fun holiday weekend, here are some highlights.

We started the weekend Friday afternoon with a fun visit to Provo's Freedom Festival via the beautiful Alpine loop! That night we watched movies and hung out.

Then the next morning we went to the ward Pancake breakfast and enjoyed visiting with the ward and playing in the park.

Later that afternoon we hosted a small BBQ with hot dogs and hamburgers and all the fixins. Marshall's cousin Brock stopped by with his friend Stephanie and we roped them into doing a puzzle with us while we watched Nathan's Famous Hot Dog eating contest! Good times!

We skipped out on Fireworks last minute because we weren't sure how Kate would fare and we didn't want to get stuck in rain or traffic. It was a good thing though because Marshall was able to go with his dad to drop a car at the airport for Nate and Britt who were returning from Europe and I ended up getting a fever an hour after we decided not to go that lasted through the rest of the weekend. No worries though, we recorded the Boston Pops Fireworks show with Neil Diamond on the Tivo and it provided for some patriotic entertainment for Kate and I in the middle of the night!

I'm gonna rock with you all night!

When you are pregnant you have all these wonderful ideas about how you are going to operate as a parent. When I was pregnant, I thought I really wanted to try to make life as simple as possible once Kate arrived. I had all these ideas about how I was going to try to keep us from being dependant on "gadgets" to get everyday things accomplished. We made it to the second night in the hospital when that idea went out the window with the introduction of the paci! I don't know how I thought we were going to get away with no paci. Oh beloved paci, I'm sorry I ever tried to keep you out of our lives. I will happily wrestle you away at age three if you will just get us through this first year!

Shortly after we arrived home from the hospital, we realized it wasn't going to be easy to make it through the constant cycle of feeding, changing, and lulling to sleep with just the one couch that seats basically two and and three caregivers ( well one caregiver and two others hanging out nearby for support). That is when Nate and Britt and cousin Isaac stepped in and saved the day by letting us borrow their rocking chair! You don't ever plan on your child's lullaby being a Michael Jackson song either, but when the recent media hype happened to coincide with the arrival of the rocking chair Marshall couldn't resist!

Anyway, the next time I was humbled in my no gadgets idea was the first time I really tried to get ready to go somewhere that I cared about looking half decent for and my mom wasn't available to watch Kate during the process. My mom has been here all summer helping with the adjustment of our new arrival. And although I thought I was grateful for all those early morning and late night shifts she has taken so I could get 45 min of consecutive sleep, it wasn't until I tried to apply mascara with a squirmy fussy baby in my arms that I realized I was gonna be in for it when she returned to Texas! When I reported of my struggles upon her return, she suggested I purchase a bouncer or a swing to occupy my little ones attention while I get things done when she is no longer here to help. All good in theory but a little more than I was ready to splurge for financially. So this is what I tried to rig up in the meantime...

As you can see not too successful! Although Charger is very patiently trying to sooth Kate with his snuggles she is not so happy with being set on the floor while I try to blow dry my hair (or her bed or the couch for that matter!).

But don't worry, Grandpa Beeson to the rescue! Yesterday he purchased us this magical swing and it is fulfilling the measure of it's creation for sure! Now I just need to find another excuse to live in sweat pants and not do dishes!

A closer look of peaceful dreaming!

Another life saving "gadget" had been the "Cadillac of car seats and strollers"(as our hospital nurse put it) that Dad and Emmie purchased for us! The car seat is a necessity I know, but the stroller has allowed for hours of morning walks in the beautiful Thanksgiving Point Gardens! It's made for quality time with my mother and daughter as well as some much needed exercise in that continuing effort to loose the "baby weight". (Although, to be honest the "baby weight" was gone in the first two weeks it's the "Maggie Moo weight" I'm still holding onto!) Here are just a few pictures of our adventures and the breath-taking views we get to enjoy!

Other noteworthy "gadgets" that have been making life a lot easier these last few weeks are the Sleep Sheep Aunt Kelley sent us (two out of the four sounds are a little creepy but the other two and the snugly sweet face make up for it!) and the Mylicon gas relief drops Aunt Brittanie introduced to us! Phew! I don't know what I was thinking! Thanks to all the friends and family who have helped us out by either providing a gadget or being a real life gadget (mom!)! And a special thanks to all of you who simply nodded and smiled while listening to my pre-parenthood notions of no gadgets and tricks instead of scoffing and laughing in my face! I have learned my lesson!

Newborn Pictures

About a week and a half before Kate was born I was hanging out with my friend Nicole, (she spent a lot of time with me helping me keep my sanity the last few months of my pregnancy), and I met a delightful girl who recommended I go to her sister-in-law and have newborn pictures taken once the baby came. I thought it was a nice idea that I would love to do, but imagined that it wouldn't be something I found the energy for in the first few weeks of life with a newborn. However, I kept finding myself peeking at the photographer's website on my phone during those late night feedings, and after I mentioned it to Marshall and he was on board I couldn't resist! Thanks to some serious help from my mom and a very patient photographer, we got some priceless pictures that are adorable if I do say so myself! Here are just a few.

I HIGHLY recommend this photographer! She was very kind, patient and affordable. If anyone is in the Salt Lake or Utah County areas and would like her info I would love to pass it along!

Three Weeks!

Kate is three weeks old today! Can you believe it? We have been pretty busy trying to adjust to life with our new little one and without sleep so it's taken me a while to get to posting more picture and updates, but here goes an attempt to catch up.


Last week we had her two week check up. Wait, back up... About an hour before we left the hospital the pediatrician came in and informed us that Kate had a mild case of Jaundice and that we would need to arrange for her to have light therapy for a few days to remedy it. He was calm and said not to worry, nothing to be alarmed about, easy to correct, no big deal. Then, one of our not so helpful nurses came in and was less calm and decided to tell us her levels were very high and that we needed to make sure we set up therapy ASAP and to contact our pediatrician ASAP! Why is it that when you know that one individual is more qualified and more educated, (not judging, just going off of degrees), that the one who is more of an alarmist is the one you always seem to pay more attention to? Anyway, we left the hospital and arranged the lights with the home health and after three days of lights, daily trips to the hospital to get blood drawn, and a careful journal of feeding and diapers, Kate's levels returned to normal. Needless to say, as a new mom, it was not very fun to bring home my brand new baby only to have to lay her on a mini tanning bed for three hour stints not able to remove her except for feeding and diaper changes! She was a trooper and we survived just fine. Of course we had to have some pictures to remember the ordeal. Anyway, here are her stats from her two week check up-


Age- 2 Weeks
Date- June 12, 2009
Length- 19 3/4 inches (a 1/4 of an inch growth or they just got her to stretch out more)
Weight- 7 pounds 4 ounces (a great improvement from the 5 pounds 3 ounces she was at the first day home from the hospital and the 6 pounds 8 ounces she was at birth!)

She was in the 25th percentile for everything. Now we just need to figure out how to keep her from spitting up and getting the hiccups EVERY time she eats! No worries though, she's growing so it can't be that bad right? RIGHT?!

It's a Girl!- Katherine Ann Beeson!

It's been a week now since our little one arrived and after a two day hospital stay, (really three if you count the day of doctor appointments and waiting to be induced, a few days on photo therapy for jaundice and a few days to process, I am finally blogging it for the world to see.

Katherine Ann Beeson (Kate) arrived last Saturday morning at 2:48 AM. She came weighing 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. All went well and to be honest much more smoothly than I expected. Everyone is happy and well. Here are some pictures. because we know that's what everyone really wants to see anyway. (They aren't in order because that would take too much time at this point but hopefully later I can rearrange! Until then, Enjoy!)

April Flowers and May Shower!

Last weekend my brother John flew my mother into town so she could be here for my baby shower. We had Friday free for some fun together time so we spent the morning at the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. The Gardens were beautiful as always and it was so nice to spend time together in such a peaceful place. I only got a few pictures in before the battery in my camera died and of course they don't quite do it justice. After we walked around the Gardens for a bit, Marshall met us for some lunch on the patio and Nicole was able to sneak away for a short lunch break with us at the same time.



The next day my wonderful friends Nicole and Cheryl hosted an AMAZING baby shower for me. Nicole let us have it in her beautiful home and she and Cheryl made some delicious and fancy treats for the occasion. Again the pictures don't speak to all the talented and hard work they did.

Several family and friends attended and others sent gifts and well wishes. Again, my camera was being silly so only a few shots of the festivities but here are some of the adorable things Jill made for me and the baby!

After the shower, Nicole, Loey and I rushed off to celebrate National Scrapbook day at Heartland Paper for a Girls Night Out! Loey and I worked on a project together and discovered that we aren't as scrapbook savvy as we would like to think, but we had a GREAT time! I can't post pics of our project just yet since it's meant to be a gift, but I will post some later as well as some more shower pics that Brittanie took for me when my camera was acting up. In the meantime here is a shot of our mess!

Thanks so much to John for flying mom out to be there for my shower.It was so nice to have her there and to get to spend some time with her getting ready for baby to come. And BIG thanks to everyone who took time out of their schedules to attend and to those who worked so hard to make it nice! Also, I should mention Jill (and Ella) and Emmie who graciously gave me tons of clothes and blankets when we had our unofficial shower/girls day in Texas... without their help I wouldn't know where to begin with baby clothes. I will post some pics of some of the cute stuff they passed on to me when our little one is born and I get to start playing dress up! I can't wait!