10 months

Oh geeeez, my baby is one year old in less then 2 months!!! Where has the time gone?!?! Lately she has been snuggling up next to me and it has been the best part of my day! Oh how sweet and lovely that little girl is! Now here is the list of the amazing things she is doing as of late.

* WALKING she started at 9 1/2 months and thinks thats the only way to get around now

* talks all-of-the-time

* says dada, I don't believe she knows what it means (it makes me feel better)

 * is finally gaining some weight!

* afraid of any sort of animal except our chickens...

* loves animal crackers, grapes, and blue berries (makes for some interesting diapers)

* has 7 teeth

* loves being outside and playing in the water

* has the cheesiest smile 

* loves when you bust out in song 

* gives open mouth kisses (her daddy's favy fav)

*  loves attention

* loves playing games with people, she acts like she is giving something to you and once you reach for it she quickly pulls away and giggles

* loves to talk on the remote, yes remote not phone slowly we are learning the phone

* loves hearing people on speaker phone

 

I am not sure what to think about her growing so fast! I love seeing it but then wish I would have cherished the time I had with her as a baby more, but lets be honest those first couple months weren't memory worthy. She has grown to be such a sweet little girl with the cutest personality, I enjoy so much just watching her experience new things, her expressions are priceless. Before I know it she will be all grown up and giving me attitude so for now I will cherish her sweetness and love on her as much as I can!!

 

Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, I am having a hard time deciding if I should and go private or leave pictures off and keep this open to the public...decisions decisions

9 months

Well another month has come and gone and my child has gotten one month older! It's awesome to see her grow and learn but I am saddened knowing that she is not going to be that small forever and wont want to hang out with me as much as I want to hang out with her sometimes. I at night find myself cherishing the little bit of snuggle time I have with her still and I realize what a lucky mom I am to have her as a daughter. She is such a smart, independent, sassy little girl and I love her to pieces. She continues to amaze me with her brilliance, which I don't know why, I mean come on I am her mother after all! 

* She has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on bottom)

* She only likes food she can feed herself

* She walks along anything but wont let go just yet

* She thinks she is a master climber and attempts to climb and everything and anything

* She turns the tv off and thinks its funny

* She LOVES playing peek a boo

* She falls asleep holding her blanket to her face

* She loves being outside

* She knows what cabinets don't have locks and goes straight for them

(we call the one under the sink her "fort" because she actually climbs inside and plays in there)

* She still loves swim lessons and has the best motor boat kicks, arms, and can climb out of the pool but still isn't the best at blowing bubbles

* She waves hello and goodbye

* She weighs 14.3lb

* She babbles all the time

* She loves playing with her cousins

* She doesn't really care about cartoons or tv in general

* She loves looking at pictures on the wall of her, mommy and daddy

* She is a hit anywhere we go, everyone thinks she is the cutest!

Until next time... or month :)

7/8 a little late

If anyone can believe it (I can't) my lady is 8 months old! What's awesome is month 7 & 8 seem like a blur and I don't remember exactly what months these certain things happened in, oh well at least I am documenting.

She now...

* is a crawler, I describe it as she has a wooden leg that doesn't move so she drags it behind her only using one leg to crawl, it's quite interesting!

* has 4 teeth with 2 more coming in

* weighs a whopping 14.2 pounds

* eats ALL THE TIME! bananas = Leightyn's fave! probably because I let her feed herself

* loves swimming

* loves going to the gym and loves the people there too

* still wakes up 2 times a night but at least its constistant

* walks along furniture

* loves showers and talks really loud while taking one, you can hear it at the other end of the house 

* loves when you sing if your happy and you know it

* gives hi fives

* is a mama's girl... it's almost ridiculous how much but most times I don't mind

* very stubborn

* always on the move, she never snuggles which is a shame, well unless she is tired

* loves brushing her teeth

* knows poppy (my dad) will give her dessert and will crawl to him every time he has some in his hand

* responds to when people say "Hello beautiful"

* doesn't like to play by herself which leaves me stuck in a sticky situation sometimes... (all the time)

Well, like most say they grow up so fast! Boy is that true! This chick is growing up so fast!!! (No it does not make me want another one.... not for awhile!) I just love that she came into our lives! She has been a blessing since day one and I love how happy she makes me! A lot of people tell me how she is such an easy baby... well she LOVES people and their attention and really she is a great baby just sometimes she gets a little should I say high maintenance. I suppose it comes with the territory of little girls and I should get use to it! I wouldn't change her for anything although it does drive me crazy when she pulls my hair, I would change that because its ANNOYING and it hurts but other then that she is awesome! I sure love you little girl!

1/2 Birthday

This chick is already 6 months, really? If you are friends with me on facebook you may have noticed that there has been a photo/video overload in the news feed of this little girl, her tricks are just to cool not to share with the social media! Her bottom teeth popped through, hallelujah! She semi-crawls? It's more like she sits on one leg and pushes with the other. She pulls herself up onto just about anything and just loves eating food. So far she loves sweet potatos, green peas, squash, brocolli, avocados, mangos, peaches, pears, bananas, and apples. So pretty much anything you can make soft she is down with! 

A lot of people always say they can't imagine life with out their child... but I will tell you what I definitely can! It was awesome, I could get so much done around the house, sleep until I wanted, take showers when I wanted, not hear a piercing cry anytime she wants to eat or sleep but I also know my life is so much better with her in it! She melts my heart all the time and I can't help but smile every time I think of her! When she looks at me with those sparkling blue eyes and the grin that could turn anyone's day around I remember how lucky I am to be her mom! The first couple months were the hardest of my life but since I have grown and learned so much! She has taught me many things that I may not have ever learned if I didn't have her in my life! Little girl I will always be eternally grateful for you despite the times I may be irritated with you, mostly because I am tired! I love you with all my heart! Love your mom!

Now we just took some cute 6 month pictures, enjoy!

 

5 months

5 months

My baby is already past her 5 month mark! I can hardly believe it! I feel like in the last week this girl has grown up right before my eyes! She has started all these cool new tricks like sitting up and getting teeth and doing the motion for crawling, not crawling just yet but getting up on all fours! I am really sad but yet happy to see her learning and growing. Its true when people say the time goes by so fast! I wish it wasn't so because I would love my baby to stay a baby for a little longer before she starts anymore cool new tricks! She talks up a storm and L-O-V-E-S peoples attention. Everyone says what a great baby she is and when I don't disagree, sometimes I do because sometimes at home she is not the best... but she is still awesome! She absolutely loves her face being rubbed, my friend Dizzle made her a tag blanket and she loves when we rub the ribbon on her face. I love that she loves it because she is a girl after my own heart! We have been extremely blessed to have this little lady in our lives! I am glad she chose me to be her mom even tho sometimes she may be wondering why I am crazy! 

Here is my new favorite picture of my leading lady!

The Five Most Interesting Things...

This is a first for me.. My I don't know how you word this but my cousin Kaytee her husband is my long lost cousin Kendall... {Its a crazy story, maybe someday I will share!} tag me in this, so here goes.

 

Fact One

I still have what my husband would call "remnants" of my baby blanket that I still sleep with. He absolutely hates it! He told me that if any of our children grow an attachment to any certain blanket he is going to throw it out. Kids, you need not to worry, mama's got your back! I will not let your dad be a bully and steal your blanket away, I know what it feels like!

 

Fact Two

I hate spending money! Its true, I am cheap! Not like that show where people eat out of the garbage or wash their clothes in the dishwasher with their dishes sort of cheap but it is difficult for me to just spend money if I don't have to. I seriously have clothes in my closet from 1972, well not really but you catch my drift... they are old! I just cant get myself to go to the store and spend tons of money on a pair of jeans or a shirt. I wish I was better at couponing and had the patients because I could save some good money doing that. My sister is real good and has tried to teach me a thing or 2 but I still haven't quite grasped the concept.

 

Fact Three

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is peoples eating habits! Once I hear the first fork scrape the plate, food smack, saliva swish I go CRAZY! The first act leads to many more which leaves me sitting their focused on that and can no longer enjoy my food. I at times have had to subtly plug my ear because it got that bad. All my mind was thinking was I just want to tell this person to stop eating like a pig but I control my outburst and suck it up and listen to them act like a farm animal. 

 

Fact Four

I never thought I would enjoy being a stay at home mom. I was always the one who said I would work when I had children. Boy has that changed! I love staying home with the little girl. I think she is the best little lady and her smiles just melt me! She has such a personality and I love it. I tell her all the time that its a good thing she is as cute as her dad and has my personality! Being a stay at home mom is lots of work and I am finding out it is hard to get anything done, luckily this girl is infatuated with the vacuum.. now if only I had carpet.

 

Fact Five

I hate being late to anything! Family things, church, dinner plans if we are late I am ticked! It is a struggle to be on time to 8:30 church with a baby... now if it was 9:00 I do believe it would be much easier but alas its not! We are seriously late every Sunday and recently I found out why. He and I have different definitions of "late" I think late is not being in your seat before the meeting starts.. he thinks we are late if we miss the sacrament. People also being late to things that we have planned make me upset too, I feel like there is a lack of respect of my time when people show up late.

 

Well I hope you enjoy learning things about me! Happy Thursday!

 

History

I teach Relief Society, it's not my ideal calling by any means, but I definitely have grown by preparing my lessons each month and learning from peoples experiences. I teach out of the Ensign also known as "Teach for our times" so it's more of real life experiences which I feel more comfortable with. If I had to teach Sunday School....oh boy would that be interesting and I would suck pretty bad at it! My point of this little rant is I just taught a lesson on family history and then I attended a funeral for someone my dad has known for quite some time. They shared that he had journals and scrapbooks he had completed throughout his life from when he was younger until he passed. He was almost 98 so you could imagine the amazing stories he has written down for his grandchildren, great grandchildren and many more to come in the future to learn and grow from. It made me think, man my grandchildren are going to know absolutely nothing about me because I have done so poorly with keeping a journal, scrapbook and even blogging. I so badly want them to know the struggles I went through in elementary school, jr high, high school, my dating years, when I got engaged, when I was married in the temple to the one and only Craig Gentry, when I found out I was pregnant with little miss, the struggles we had while I was carrying her and the fears I had the entire time, her delivery, and how much I have learned and grown with this little family of mine. I want them to know how awesome I think my immediate family is and what they have taught me. I know I am truly blessed to be in the family I am! So here is to better blogging, I would write in my journal except that it hurts my hand... haha typing just seems so much easier! English was never my best subject, so I may have misspelled words, grammar errors and my paragraphs may all go as one so I hope you can look past that and realize I am not perfect, I am just trying to work on a goal. Here is to the good and the bad that comes into my life and I am willing to share to those who would like to read about it.

 

I will leave this post with a picture of my little gem

 

 

Baby Girl

Month 1

I am convinced you hated life. You cried non stop and made it hard on me to be around anyone. My sanity was gone and I couldn't make a rational decision to save my life. But for some reason I still couldn't get enough of you! You were mine and we spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch falling asleep together! I remember those times where you would scrunch into a ball and set up camp on my chest and just loved it. I knew you better than I knew myself at that time. People would try to hold you and it just wasn't the "correct" way in your head. You always wanted to be facing people and seeing what was going on.

Month 2

You had this wicked fist that would collect lint and your dad was highly entertained while you were eating because that's when you were relaxed enough to let him get it out. You still were super fussy but we ended up taking you to the myropractor and he adjusted your intestines and you began to enjoy life a little more. You were sleeping through the night and I was one happy mama. You also took yourself out of mom and dads room, you are just so independent and love your own room. You still love facing out instead of towards the person holding you, which people didn't really appreciate because they wanted to see your cute face!

You were blessed in December and I cried like a baby. I really have no idea what was said by your dad in the blessing, it was just so unreal to me that it made me super emotional. I do remember your dad jacking up your name and forgetting what your middle name was. It went something like this... Leightyn Saaaaaay Shay Shumway. I laughed and he will never hear the end of it. You were surrounded by all your family that loves you so much! Afterward we had some tasty chili, complements to your mama! 

Month 3

The wicked fist has been released! You had started to show your awesome personality! You are such a smiley little lady! You bring your family so much joy! Your cousins are OBSESSED with you! They love that they can hold you! Anytime you come through the door they run to the bathroom and wash their hands just so they can hold you! You rolled over from belly to back and sometimes I even find you on your back when I come in in the middle of the night. You still have to be swaddled when you sleep otherwise you are up quite a bit in the night. You also had to be on your belly, once you roll over it was no good, I think it startled you! You are gaining independence but still when we are around a lot of people you only want to be HELD!! It makes it tough for when we are at home and that's all you want from us! But who wouldn't want to hold you?

Month 4
Oh how I love being with you. Mom quit her job and now gets to spend all her time with you! I have loved it but I think your Boosha is sad because she wants to be with you, same with your cousins. Luckily we are just down the street so we can see them anytime! Recently we were sitting in the familyroom with dad and you just start laughing hysterically! I loved every minute of it and so did your dad. 
You have been more fussy than normal, I think you are teething because your hand is your mouths BFF. You are also a drool machine! It's funny to see peoples reactions to your drool, some it doesn't even phase them and some its like drool is the most disgusting thing EVER! I think to myself if you think that is gross, try changing her diapers! 

Pretty soon this lady is going to be 5 months old and have one Payson and Hawaii trip in the bag. She is blessed.... just kidding, well only a little kidding. She is blessed and so are we having her in our lives! I'm so exciting to continue to see her grow and learn.

His Passion

If you have never heard of this thing called Crossfit let me know and I know someone who could talk your ear off about it... my dear husband. I have recently started going due to him and if he had his way I would have been going a week after birthing our child but lucky for me it was a no go for awhile! He actually coaches at RushRX Crossfit Mesa 2 days a week and does such a good job. I think people who attend his class really enjoy the way he coaches, I know I do. Yes, that means I attend his class and yes it's hard to treat him like a coach rather than a husband because I kid you not sometimes I would like to punch him with the warm ups he makes us do. He doesn't quite understand that a woman's body is not the same after having a child and jumping jacks and jumping lunges are not appropriate unless he wants a puddle of liquid to come about. He just laughs but luckily there is a girl that understands my pain because she just had a baby also. We work out together the other days and I have never seen him so happy! This part of his life brings him pure joy and I can see it in his eyes, I now understand why you can't get him to shut up about it. I may not enjoy it as much as him but I do enjoy going because I see how happy it makes him to see me there supporting something he believes in so much. You can't even come close to wiping the smile off his face even if you tried. You are welcome Gentry, I am glad to make you happy! :)

This is one of my favorite pictures of him working out, I think he looks like such a hunk in those banana monkey socks haha!

Miss Independent

My girl hit 2 months old on Tuesday and to say its going by so fast is an understatement.  She is so independent it's slightly ridiculous, it makes me sad but inside I know its great that she has her own personality! Honestly I am only useful for a couple things;

1. Milk Commas 
2. Diaper Duty
3. Taxi Service

You may be thinking wow dramatic much Brittany, but no I am not kidding! This chick has decided to take it upon herself to start sleeping in her room 6-8 hours a night wake up to eat and then goes right back to sleep (not complaining about that) and she puts herself to sleep most nights. What the... does she not like mom and baby snuggle time as much as mom does? 

Really this girl is a gem and I love her to pieces. We have so much fun at home and I am sad to start back to work in January but luckily I know she is in good hands and I am only T minus 2 minutes away. I am so grateful for my family and their willingness to serve me and this little lady! I know she is going to absolutely LOVE hanging out with them every day!

On her 2 month birthday we went and hiked Camelback Mountain with Kyle and Andrea. It was fun and she did so well!! There is something about the outdoors that this girl loves! Sometimes Gentry will be working outback pounding on stuff and we will just sit and watch and the noise doesn't even phase her, its nuts! 

I am pretty sure this girl is going to make it to the Olympics for gymnastics! Ok, maybe far fetched but totally possible! She has the strongest legs and is always moving! I absolutely love how active she is but really again where is the nice calm baby that loves to snuggle?!? Oh ya, I forgot we left that one at the hospital! 

Speaking of hospital, I totally forgot to tell this pretty funny story that I experienced in there.  My baby had pretty bad jaundice so sadly she was put under the lights over night and I thought my world was coming to an end. I had to hold back my tears because it made me so sad to see her lying there with something covering her eyes and her being alone for such a long time. I then snapped back into reality and realized hey its not that bad and some babies are worse off then mine. Anyways while I was sitting visiting my sweet little one I overheard this young mom say how discouraged she was because her baby wont nurse. I jokingly said its ok mine falls asleep so we both are having struggles. The Dr came in to check on her little boy and they were scheduling when to do his circumcision and she asked if at that time she would like to schedule to get his extra finger removed!! Haha this boy had an extra finger, how awesome is that?!? The mom said man I have no idea where this boy came from he has B+ blood type, he hates my food I try to give him, and he has an extra finger! Its a good thing she could laugh about it even though I could tell she was having a hard time. 

Anyways thats about all I have to share, well besides these cute pictures

Her face is priceless in this picture! 
 

 
 

7 weeks and a day

Being a mom is some hard work! Granted I do sleep a lot because I think she got my love of taking snoozes but one thing I would like to think she DIDN'T get from me is her case of the dramatics! Oh my, if you don't believe me take her for a couple hours while she isn't sleeping and you will have an instant change of heart! I must admit she is doing a lot better but she still feels the need to be held at all times, I blame those who don't believe in putting her down.... Slowly she is beginning to like her toys, thank goodness! We have swing time, floor time which during floor time she skoots.. ya my baby is wicked strong be jealous or don't be because you can probably leave your child unattended and know they will be in the same spot you left them and I can't. We also found that she hates the bath and LOVES the shower, she goes into an instant milk comma after eating, and giggles and laughs all the time now! I sure love this girly and am grateful I have this little family of mine! 

 

 

Little Lady is Here!

Well the day has come and gone... or should I say days have come and gone and this little girl is FINALLY here!!! I wont get into the labor story because it was 30 hours long.... and it could take a million blog posts to get through the whole thing, all I can say is if that happens again we are going to be a 2 kid family ONLY! We are nothing but happy to have her part of our family!

Leightyn Shay Shumway

October 18 * 12:26 pm * 6lb 14oz * 19.5 in. long

Now Some Thoughts:

* I am getting really good at staying calm during her amazingly long crying sessions!

* She sleeps like a champion and makes things a lot easier on me, sometimes I think she sleeps to long

* Gentry told me that if I was a milk cow I would be a champion...weird

* Criminal minds has become one of my favorite shows

* Staying home alone with a baby all day can get tough and so when Gentry gets home I am ecstatic to talk to an adult but most times he is so worn out from the day that our conversations have become quite short

* People don't update on Facebook enough in the day... or I check it to much :)

* My phone battery use to last 2 days but not any longer, I should probably find better things to do with my time

* Buying diapers is expensive! Especially if your child is so small that she is still in NB and probably will be there awhile and all you have is a closet full of size 1... lame!

* Same with clothes! She has a ton 0-3 Months but they are much to big on her so she rocks onsies all the time, I feel bad

* We have been to church twice and both times she slept through the whole thing, she is a rock star

* She takes forever to wake up, I think she gets that from me! I wonder if me snoozing my alarm so many times while she was in the womb affected her...my guess is yes!

* She gives the best evil eye while eating

* Often times I feel like she looks like a monkey

* She is the gas master, no joke, she ripped one in Sunday school and I couldn't stop laughing I felt kind of immature but for reals it was hilarious!

* Sometimes I shoot her in the face with milk... its totally on accident but I laugh hysterically 

* Being a mom is tough work but when she is happy, healthy and growing it brings a smile to my face

 

 

Annoying? I don't think so....

My dear husband has been so busy lately I sometimes wonder to myself if he just plans to purposefully be gone 24/7 because I tend to get on his nerves when he is around. What can I say, I get excited to actually spend time with the dude that I follow him around like a puppy dog! 

I bring this up because I just read a blog of a woman which I believe we could share tactics on how to drive our husbands CRAZY! I do believe I do a great job and he definitely tells me and calls me a punk almost on a daily basis haha, but sadly those times have dwindled down to almost nothing which means... I need to step up my A game because I am pretty sure he truly misses it. Like this one time he told me tickling is the WORST kind of torture and then a couple months later I asked him what he would miss if something happened to me and in that list was tickling... hmmmm a little suspicious don't you think? He and my sisters bash me almost every Sunday dinner saying how annoying I am and that I just need to leave them alone, don't they know any better it just makes me want to bother them even more? 

 While in Wisconsin my LLC *Long Lost Cousin* Kendall and his wife Kaytee were in the car with us and Amanda asked Kaytee what are some of the annoying things Kendall does. Mind you people that Kendall is almost my twin in this way and we are pranksters and love love love you know messing with people, we truly were meant to be related! Well Kaytee said it drives her crazy when she is yawning and Kendall sticks his finger in her mouth, People that is one of my signature moves!!!! I do it almost any time he yawns but he has turned into a feisty little guy and is now biting my finger... that stinker! 

I often wonder if he was around more if I would like to bother him as much as I do. I'm almost positive I would because I lived with my sisters for you know 20+ years and it still doesn't get old with them. With Amanda I still sometimes go in her room and if she is watching tv I turn it off and tuck her into bed and hide her remote, she loves it, she told me herself that she misses it sometimes. With Brandi all you have to do is grace her foot with your hand and she flips out like a crazy person, I may have taught Shelbie and Carston this!

I love the bonding time I get with these individuals and how they "Put Up" with my annoying habits as they would call them. Really the only reason I like to do it is because they laugh hysterically while I do these things and it brings me true happiness knowing I have made them laugh that day. So here is to you people of my life, thank you for putting up with my awesomeness!

Dear Baby Shumway 1

To My Little Girl,

I just wanted to document these last couple weeks we have together, just you and me. When people ask me how I like pregnancy I can't help but be honest and tell them that I don't like it. It hasn't been the easiest thing for me to adjust to that is for sure. Just to name a few; gaining weight that I don't want to, crying all the time to dad, having trouble rolling out and getting into bed because I just had to have a tall bed, peoples opinions on if I have gained to much weight or not enough and the list goes on and on. BUT I have come to realize that every time I feel movement I smile and it brings me happiness.I like to think I know you already and that you like to play jokes like me. I like to think you are crazy active like your dad. I can't help but think you are the cutest girl around town... well besides your cousin. I get excited to see all the cute little clothes you will be rocking in no time. I think you have helped me get over my need for 8 hours of sleep because I definitely only get about 4 to 5 a night now but somehow I manage with a good attitude. Even though this has been a crazy hard time for me I know I already love the result! I told dad the other day that I want to tell you that you are no longer welcome in my belly and you need to come out, he didn't like that and didn't want you to feel unloved so he said Baby Leightyn we love you but you are more than welcome to come out! I guess he is a lot sweeter then me. 

We are finally starting on your room! I had a dream the other night that your crib was made out of cardboard and your dad told me I couldn't return it because "It would do", I woke up an emotional mess. Lets make note your crib is not made out of card board and pretty soon it will be put up and ready for you! 

Little Girl there are so many people excited to see you, especially your cousin Shelbie so lets stay in as long as needed but hopefully not to long, her heart would be crushed just as much as mine! Make note little girl that Shelbie loves you a ton already and wants to start teaching you the ropes right away so be prepared to start learning!

I sure love you a ton and am counting down the weeks until I get to share you with everyone! 6 weeks to go!!!

Love mom

Funny Girl

So, I have this niece that I love with all my heart. She is the funniest most caring little girl I have ever met in my life. Here are some facts to back up my statement:

1. We were sitting down to plan my baby shower and everyone was saying what they would take care of and she said I will take care of the bathtub! It took me awhile to understand what she was talking about but once I got it I couldn't stop laughing!
2. She goes to the library every Monday and one day she got to pick a prize and out of everything she picked out a baby bib for her baby Leighton, my heart melted that she even thought about her. Granted its probably the most hideous bib but I will probably still use to because that little girl picked it out for her!
3. One time I told Carston to get in the house and he didn't listen so I shut the backdoor to try to get him to realize hey I am serious (didn't help, he didn't give a rip) One person did care though, Shelbie started crying hysterically that I left her brother outside by himself!

Those are just some things I have been thinking about lately and how sad it makes me that she is growing up so fast, but yet it's so fun to see her being a big girl and so excited to meet her baby Leighton. Miss Shelbie I sure love you!

 
 

To Gentry

Happy Fathers Day...Almost!

Although he isn't a "Dad" quite yet he does have something in the works that he is super excited to meet! He is going to teach her everything I wouldn't, he is going to let her do everything I wouldn't, he is going to show her such love that I won't be able to show her because there is something about a dad a girl adores. I'm excited to see their bond, I'm excited to see if she has my favorite characteristics about him, I'm excited to see if she will have his carefree attitude and skip my stress mania personality, I'm excited to see his reaction when he first lays eyes on her. I know he is going to be a great dad and I am excited to witness it in just a couple months! We love you Gentry!

Brittany and Leighton

 

WHO?!?!

Attention future casters (my definition: people who cast people for movies) for The Grinch Stole Christmas my child may be the perfect candidate for the leading role of a WHO!

HAHAHAHA She cracks me up a ton!!!!!! I'm pretty sure she may be sucking her bottom lip or something because this is the only ultrasound picture that looks like this but is it not totally funny? I don't think her dad aka my husband likes it when I make fun of her but really how could you not laugh about it? She is totally cute and my favorite but I am still her mom and can think she is silly!

Kicker

At 19 weeks I still hadn't felt this girl move but i know she is active due to the ultrasound on Tuesday, she was all over the place! We were laying in bed last night trying to go to sleep, I guess I should say I was trying Gentry was out cold, anyways it was then I felt something weird. I thought it was just gas but then it happened again and again and again and again one after another for probably five minutes. I was giddy with excitement and contemplating waking Gentry up, I tried and said hey give me your hand and feel this... his response "Cool" and when right back to sleep! haha I asked him this morning if he remembers anything from last night and said he remembers me bothering him but doesn't remember feeling anything! It was just seconds later that I felt her push her head, butt, or something round into my left side and luckily he could feel and see that! It was sooo super cool! Just thought I would document this so I don't forget that she has started out as a very active individual!

To a friend/brother

Yesterday marked 8 years since my dear friend Carl Iaulualo passed on. I remember it like it was yesterday, nothing can prepare you for such shocking news. A lot of people knew this great individual but no one got to experience living as close to him as my family did. Those memories with my siblings and the Iaulualo's are ones I hold dear to my heart. Yesterday many people were talking about stories they remember about him, but I had a different outlook yesterday, I feel as if he was telling my sweet little girl stories about me to prepare her for me! I am so grateful that he was such a great friend/brother from another mother! I think many people feel the same way, he wasn't just a friend but family to them! Here's to you Carl, I love and miss you tons but thank you for loving my little girl up there!

 

Little Girl...

Little miss has quite the personality in her short little fetal life thus far if you ask me! {I think she gets that from me} She has definitely sent me on an emotional roller coaster, her dad I think so but he tries to act tough for me. 

First off she wasn't "Planned" exactly, we were discussing it and went to the old trusty write what you think on a piece of paper and trade and discuss it. For whatever reason I put YES on the paper {I think I may have been baby hungry that day} and he put NO. I was a little sad and didn't want to force him into anything he wasn't ready for, so it was NO for baby making! I think a month went past and oooooops turns out I was a couple days late, so I went to the handy dandy dollar store and got 2 tests and was shaking up a storm because remember it was a NO and my mind was set on no. Well I took the tests and Heavenly Father had a different plan for us. He was at work and I was home alone crying from the shock I had no idea what to do! He was ecstatic when he opened the picture and called me so excited and then realized I was still crying! He has been nothing but excited since day one! Me on the other hand I have struggled quite a bit.

We decided to keep it a secret until we had our first ultra sound! {I kept a secret for OVER 2 WEEKS, I think that must be a record!} My bladder was completely full and was leaving me with unbelievable crapping pains, so bad that when I tried to relieve a little I couldn't because my muscles were so tight, ridiculous I tell you! We get our first ultra sound and she was just a blob, we thought she looked real similar to a blueberry! We planned to tell family, my family first by taking them to dinner for "March Birthdays" and his family to have ice cream before his mom and sister left for SPAIN! As we were leaving the dr I stopped in the bathroom to relieve even more pee, and this is where the first disaster happened. I found a ton of blood on the toilet paper and it just kept coming. I walk out crying and told Gentry that I think I lost it! He was so confused and thought I was talking about the ultra sound pictures! hahaha We hurry into the dr and she checked me and said that it has stopped and that she can't tell where it was coming from so we were sent home with no answers!!!! I felt so confused!!! We now didn't know if we should tell anyone but decided to go on with it and tell our families. We told my family and my mom started bawling!!! It was almost comical! She couldn't believe that her baby girl was having a baby of her own! We also informed them of the incident that happened at the dr's office so they were aware if anything else happened. I went 4 hours with no bleeding and then it happened again. We were confused and scared on what to do. My mom could tell something was up so she told us to go to the ER. I hesitated because i wanted to tell his family but i felt so concerned for this baby and myself so we went. He called his dad to tell him and this was the first time I saw him cry about it {I had been crying all day} It was tender and really helped me feel like I wasn't crazy! So off to the ER we went! 4 hours later we find out I had a tear between my placenta and uterus where they are suppose to meet and there was a 50/50 chance she would live or die! Even tho it was such odds I still felt at easy because I finally knew what it was!

We went to his family's house after to say goodbye and let them in on the news and I received a blessing which I think helped a lot. After this happened I became distant from this pregnancy. I wouldn't allow myself to feel anything for her, which makes me sad but I didn't want to get attached if that makes any sense. We had a couple bleeding episodes in between dr's appointments and the dr said if it continues in month 4 then we need to get real concerned, luckily I haven't had any since the beginning of April!!

Let me just say April took forever!!! May went fast which I was super happy for because I had to wait until week 19 to get my ultra sound to find out the sex! This made everything so real! I invited my sister Amanda to come and obviously Gentry went as well! It was AMAZING!!! I loved looking at that little girl! She is a mover, which I have yet to really feel! The ultra sound tech showed us her face and my dear husbands response was "Oh It looks kinda scary" the tech then realized it is our first so she did a 3D one to show us a little better! Oh my is she the cutest little girl ever!! I am obsessed!  I was so entertained just watching the huge screen and watching her move! We waited to see the doc to explain about the ultra sounds and she was happy and cheery and then says I need another ultra sound! The tech wasn't able to get all of her heart because she kept moving and because they found a tiny cyst on her little brain. Again my heart dropped! She explained that its pretty common but they want to make sure it is ok, she said most likely it will go away on its own. I'm hoping she is right! My goodness girl can you give your mom a break? I am already 1 million times more emotional then before and then one thing after another just adds to my emotional side! 

We told everyone by getting the "Its a boy" balloon and changing it to GIRL!!! We did this because everyone thought she was going to be a boy minus Gentry and my sister Sommer. My mom saw the balloon and threw her hands in the air and said I knew it a boy!! bahahaha I said lady put your glasses on because its a girl!!! {She was much more happy after she heard that} Shelbie girl was bummed she wanted a boy but now all she talks about is Baby Shumway and how she is going to share her baby dolls with her! 

Boy, we are so excited and we just can't wait for her to get here! She is a gem and we can't wait to meet her in October!!

Meet baby Leighton!!!