TWO WEEKS OLD TODAY!

Maya is saying "wow I can't believe I'm two weeks old today!" She looks like she's holding up 3 fingers instead of 2, but close enough. Since she has been born she's had a lot of exciting things happen: she's had to stay in the hospital for a week, Grandma Rawlinson came to visit, she had her first outing to Goshen Pass here in Virginia- it is the closest thing Virginia has to a canyon, she lost her umbilical cord, and has had her first bath. Life with a baby is starting to get into a routine of 3 hours. Every 3 hours she eats! Maya does the funniest things like hit herself in the face with her long arms, and smile in her sleep and she doesn't cry, but just grunts. It's hilarious to listen to her. My like revolves around her, and I do love it. She does sometimes just wake up at 4 am and just want to be awake, doesn't want to nurse or have her diaper changed, but would rather just look around. Mom says she is just like me in that respect! And I didn't believe that one little person could go through an entire trash can full of diapers in one day, but it's true. Evan is loving being a Dad, he talks to her and tells her what cool things we get to do, and tells her about cool music. She loves to be rocked to sleep by him, and he's even great at getting up with her sometimes in the night just to change her or to rockabye her. We had a great little visit with Mom. She helped me take Maya to have blood taken and would hold her while they drew blood- I'm such a wimp! She cleaned and bought us groceries, and was just wonderful in helping out. I'm so glad that she could come out here and help me. It made me feel so much more relaxed in the role of mothering because she was here. And Maya loved having her Grandma here. We decided that we'll bless her on September 24th. We would love to see you all here, but know that it would cost you the price of a new car to come- we know how that goes. :) Hope you all have a good day, and we'll keep the pictures coming.  

Maya Rachel Fetters

Just the othe day I wrote about how it was only one month away that our little papoose was due. I can't believe that I'm writing and she is going to be two weeks old tomorrow. I thought time passed quickly before, but having a little one that depends on you makes me realize that time passes more quickly than ever. Having this little miracle has been one of the sweetest blessings of my life. I can't begin to describe the love that I have for her, and how instant that love is upon seeing their tiny little body. She has such a sweet fun spirit, and is such a good baby. It's hard to imagine your life with a child before it's born, and now that she is here, it's hard to remember what Evan and I did before she arrived. :) I love being a Mom, I love when she looks me in the eyes, and seeing her faces she makes. I don't even mind getting up in the night with her.....as long as it's not every hour.

I'm so happy that we are out of the hospital and home. Being in the hospital for a week made me so grateful for my own bed, for privacy, and for the comfort of food that acutally has taste! But the nurses and my midwife were so great during her birth and my labor. I am forever an epidural fan since Maya's birth. I had back labor with Maya and the epidural I had made labor so much more enjoyable. Hooray for them!

Maya lost her umbilical cord today! This is just the beginning of the milestones! Ha ha! She is getting more fat on her cheeks and more fat on her legs. I'm loving seeing her fill out a little bit. We get to see what she weighs on Thursday when she meets with her pediatrician that we call Sam Elliot. He looks just like the actor and talks just as he does. He also says "we don't want Maya to turn into a buffalo chip." See how great it is to live in the east? Where else would you get to hear a pediatrician say that?

Hope you have a wonderful week, and I'll keep you posted with more pics.
Love A & E and Maya 

ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!

So our little papoose is due in only one month! Hallelujah! We can't wait to see what she looks like, what color her hair is, and how much it sticks up. She is getting too squished in my belly and constantly has her bum in my ribs. She loves to hangout there more than anywhere else. And it's getting harder to sleep at night- it's not as comfortable, not to mention I have to get up and use the bathroom at least 4 times a night.

I went to the Dr. last Friday and she said that she could feel her head and that she was in just the right spot, and that I was dialted to a 1, which means that she could come in the next 2 weeks or wait 6 weeks to come. :) Knowing her, I can imagine her waiting a week after she is due, since that is what I did to Mom. She is a little stubborn, like me, in that when I try to push her bum out of my ribs, she'll move it right back up.

I had a shower on Saturday and this little papoose has more handmade quilts than anything else! She received 3 at the shower and in the same week my friend sent her one. She has about 10 that are handmade. It was a great shower, and I'll post some pictures soon.

Evan and I are finally making the big jump to being tech savvy people! We bought a digital camera! It's about time! We found a really great deal on a Nikon. So hopefully that will come in the mail this week, and we'll post some pics.

I've been painting and sanding, and I've decided a few things:
a) I'm happy I have a college education and that I don't have to do manual labor for my salary. Like I even can say I make a salary- I make less now than I did in highschool!
b) I think I'll pay people to do that from now on. :)
We did get our little changing table painted, and a white dresser painted- when you see it, you'll laugh at how tiny it is. :)

Evan is convinced he is going to become a fly fisherman. He and our good friend Don have been going fishing this week and last, and Evan is really excited about it. He says things like, "I only got it caught in the bushes twice the whole time." :)

Evan's parents are coming to visit for a couple of days, we're excited for them to come. We'll get to show them the mountains and fun farmer's markets, that is if I'm not going into labor. :)

Hope you all have a great week, and we'll keep you updated! love A&E & papoose

How we spent our 4th of July

We started off the day by taking an Independence Day quiz. The questions were taken off of the test to become a citizen. Evan and I got 26/30 which isn't bad, but I really wonder how many Americans would pass the citizenship test. But way to go Mom for passing! It was a fun way to start the day.

I recently bought a few things at a garage sale last Saturday, a changing table and small nightstand that would double as a miniature dresser. Each of which I snagged for $5 which was excellent! After looking at them both, Evan and I decided that we would paint them and see how they turned out. This was our big experiment besides the two bookcases we painted. I always think that re-doing furniture will take much less time than it really does, but I was trying to be optimistic. We borrowed a little electric sander from our friends, bought some paint, and decided that we would be the ultimate duo and get not only 1 project done in one day, but get 2 done in one day.

We started out not really getting started until 10am. That was not such a great idea. We were having some friends from Utah come into town around 5pm, so that was cutting our time short already. We went out into the hallway and looked at our projects. Evan started to lay down plastic under the changing table and I started to sand. Soon the entire hallway was filled with dust, not to mention it covered EVERYTHING. Evan took the changing table into the other room (the apartment next door that is not occupied as of yet) where that was soon filled with paint fumes. The entire time I'm thinking that our landlord is going to pay us a visit, and that I'm killing my baby by being anywhere near this. Thank goodness for fans, and soon the paint fumes were subsiding. The sanding took much longer than I thought, and soon my hands were red and numb from the sander, and we had run out of paint for the changing table. I didn't think we would finish either of the projects, but we pulled through and FINALLY go the little dresser sanded and painted. We painted it white, and I'll sand the edges to make it look not so striking white! The changing table is a really light lavender and I think it'll look nice. Evan and I are proud that we are branching out from GREEN things.....green couch, green desk, green picture frame ect. :) So this is big for us, painting other colors.

It made me feel proud to do something ourselves, however it made me realize that we need tools and that sometimes it's a lot easier to buy something in the color you want rather than sand and paint it yourselves, but for $5 how could I say no?

Our friends from Utah Paul and Amanda came through town so that night we went to VMI (Virginia Military Institute) parade grounds and watched fireworks, it was a nice 4th of July. Hope you all had a nice 4th too.

A&E & papoose 37 days and counting until due date

Garage sales GALORE!

For being such a tiny town, Lexington has some fantastic garage sales. Some of them are a little on the sketchy side, selling farm equipment, and old tools not used since the 30's. But aside from those, I have found some treasures. Each Saturday I wake up with the anticipation that it's garage sale day, Evan rolls over and goes back to sleep and I am out the door by 8am.

This weekend my great friend Kristine came to visit. She is living in DC and going to grad school. Long ago we went to EFY together and thought we were quite the cool 14 year olds. I wasn't sure she would want to go with me this morning, but she agreed. We picked up my friend Kim and started off.

Our big finds of the day: vintage fabric, frames, baby clothes, an old ladder, handbags, storybooks, a lamp, tennis balls, and a fern. I found a Richard Scarry book, and the old Mother goose book that is still at my parents house. My little papoose is getting quite the collection of books now.

Oh how I love garage sales.

 

 

Apparently we're having a boy not a girl.......

Happy Father's Day!

On the streets of NYC yesterday, I was told by a man who claimed he "used to be a nurse" that I was having a boy. Hmmmm. I asked him why and he said that it was definetely a boy since the baby had dropped. I replied that all babies do this, and I am having a girl. As I was walking away he said "it's a boy." Maybe he just doesn't know about sonograms.......

Evan and I have been really enjoying NJ. We're visiting Casey and Ali and it's been such a great needed vacation. We went to the temple yesterday and then did some flea market shopping (my kind of shopping) on canal street and then to little italy. I tried gelato for the first time and it was heaven, I highly recommend it. Papoose definetely liked it.

Tomorrow we have the beach on the agenda- oh hallelujah. Tuesday we'll head back to the sweltering heat of Virginny. When we get a digital camera, we'll of course become tech savvy and then post some pictures- we'll work on that.

Hope everyone has a marvelous week! love A&E and papoose