Living the good life with Baby Lincoln!.

Wow. Life has been a little crazy around these parts...  I thought I would've had more time to do some journaling about the new life we are living. Not so. We have had our hands full up to our eyeballs with this sweet new boy. The funny thing is, after you have had one child you think you are all over it. You know it all! This second baby is going to be a cinch! Ha Ha Ha. That is truly funny. 

I feel like I am starting at ground zero all over again. And in reality I am! No two kids are alike, and Lincoln has been totally different that Elena. It feels like I am learning how to be a mom all over again. He has really had a rough go of it so far, and I am pleased to say that I think we are on the upswing. 

Lincoln was the dream baby all the way till the two week check up appointment. He NEVER fussed, and was so alert and happy all the time. Then the terrible day came to take him into the two week check appt. which also included his circumcision. Poor guy. That was so hard for me to go through. I'm sure I suffered through the procedure more than he did. In fact, he came back from "the room" fairly happy and sticky from his sugar-syrupy binky. It didn't seem so bad for him. :) If only we had known what we were in for!!! Lincoln started getting really (and I mean REALLY) swollen and red a day later. I took him into the doc's office, and the doctor on call said he "thought" it was "possibly" infected and prescribed him an oral antibiotic to treat it just in case. I never felt too good about the diagnosis, and especially didn't feel good about the antibiotic. But what is a mother to do when her son's little ** is looking like that!? It was awful. The worst part was to come though. The next day there started to be a little bit of yellow puss (I know this is pretty graphic, and if you can't stomach it I give you permission to exit. :) ) but in the "book" it says a little is ok, but to watch it. So I did. I watched it double and triple and get completely out of hand gross by the next day. By the time Mike got home from work I didn't really even explain what was going on to him and just called the doctor and announced that we were taking Link in again. Good thing we did. We saw another doctor on call who brought in the other doctor who was in the office and they both agreed that Link was very infected. They really didn't even seem capable of efficiently treating him. Both of the doctors proceeded to tell me that they had NEVER seen something like this before. Well, that was real comforting, since I had obviously never either. That freaked me out frankly. Both doctors consulted together and decided that Lincoln needed to be taken into Primary Children's Hospital right away to be treated. :'( That was an awful moment for me. I was already so mentally, physically and especially emotionally drained. This just felt like too much to handle. I was so sad for Link. I hated the doctor for a little minute for inflicting and infecting my infant. (I'm sure she was probably not to blame in reality but I needed a scapegoat for just a while). 

We were lucky enough to have Elena go to my Mother and Father In Law's house for the night. We met there and my Dad came too. The men gave Lincoln a blessing. I was so glad at that moment to have priesthood holders in my life! It was amazing the reassurance and peace I felt after Lincoln received that blessing. I knew somehow he would be ok... 

We headed out to the hospital. To the pediatrician's credit, they did call ahead to the hospital for us and arranged for us to have a room already ready for us so that we could skip the ER. They didn't want us to have to be around that germ infested place with a newborn. Thanks. Really. :) We were seen by an entire group of doctors. They all evaluated Lincoln and talked with us for quite a while. They were all quite young but all very nice. They decided that Lincoln needed the plastic part that was still attached from the circ. removed. They prepared the circ. board and took him away to cut it off. They felt that it needed to be removed in order for the infection to drain out of the area. Let me tell you, it looked really really bad. I was so worried for Lincoln because it just looked awful! When the doctors brought him back into our room I can't tell you how much better he already looked! It was all cleaned out and already looked less irritated. :) Yay! I knew they were going to be able to take care of my little guy. They kept us there over night and for half the next day to monitor Lincoln and make sure he didn't get a fever in the night. It was a painful night for me. We were sharing a room with another mom and her baby. They were really quiet... Not. 

The next day the group of doctors came back to do a final check on Link and decided that we could avoid IV antibiotics and blood tests and just use a topical antibiotic instead. Phew! I was so stressed about having them poke my baby. We were sent on our way much relieved.  

Today Lincoln is pretty much 100% healed from the whole ordeal and much happier with his diaper changes. Ha ha. :) 

He has been a delight to have in our home, even with the drama. It has been nice to have another boy in the house even thought he keeps me up most of the night. He has been so different from Elena. He wants to eat like every second. He would have an eternal "mommy binky" if I let him. So he is keeping me really busy feeding him and changing his now SIZE 1 diapers as of today. Sigh. I will miss those cute tiny newborn ones. But I am glad he is growing and healthy. Link seems to have some gas issues and maybe reflux. He is pretty fussy sometimes and spits up allll the time. But I still love him to death, spit up and all. 

Lincoln laughs in his sleep. It is hilarious! Those moments where he has done that have been some of the funnest and sweetest so far. Second only to the delirious happy milk coma smile he gives me at the end of his feedings. Ha Ha. I love this little guy with all my heart and am proud to be his Momma. Here are a few photos that we have gotten of Link so far. :) Thanks to my S.I.L. Emily and Cousin Jensen for helping me snag these cute pics! xoxo

Newborn Bliss!

Here is a little taste of what is in the works. This was our trial run on newborn pics. I really only had about 10 minutes of light left for the day, and just couldn't wait any longer to give the pics a try. So here it is... The first attempt. But not the last! :o)

Drum roll please........... Lincoln has arrived!!!

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our sweet baby boy, 

Lincoln Michael Muir!!!

He is such a happy baby and has already brought so much joy into our home. He is such a blessing and we are so grateful to have him safe and healthy in our home at last!

Lincoln was born December 29th at 8:31 am

6 pounds 12 ounces

20.5 inches

Baby Lincoln decided to come on his own time frame with labor beginning around 7:30 PM on the 28th. My master plan of torturing myself through a movie in the theatres worked like a charm apparently. :) I really wanted to see Sherlock Holmes in theatres and decided that I was just going to do it no matter what. I ended up standing for the last 20 minutes or so of the film, but survived it none the less. I was not doing too great after the movie ended though. I started having contractions right around the last half hour of the flick, and they just escalated from there. We went home and didn't think too much of the contractions until they got pretty regular. After about an hour and a half of having pretty painful contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart I decided that this was legit and opted to go to the hospital. I was really nervous to go to labor and delivery, because I had already been there 3 times in the last week and a half only to be poked and prodded and sent home disappointed. :( 

We called my Aunt Diane who lives nearby, and she come over to listen for Elena who was already asleep in bed. Mike and I got everything packed up and ready to go. It was pretty strange to go through the process of having contractions on my own. Last time with Elena, I was induced two weeks early so I never really experienced the natural beginnings of labor. It was kinda cool to know my body was getting ready on its own to deliver our baby. I know that sounds strange, but it is nice to know that your body is able to do it the right way...

When we got to the hospital my contractions were quite painful, but I was still convinced they were going to try to send me home. At my last doctors visit I was only dilated to a 1+ and not really effaced at all, so when the nurse came and checked me out I was really excited to hear what I was at..... Big disappointment. I was still at a 1+ and only effaced a little. What in the world??? What were my contractions doing then? Just torturing me? The nurse told me they would monitor me for the next hour and check me again. If I hadn't dilated more they were going to send me home... 

Well, my contractions stayed coming very regularly and got even more painful. It was a very stressful time because I was hurting so bad there was no way I was going to be sent home without a fight. I needed to have that baby!!! After an hour and a half the nurse (who actually was one of my older sister's good friends growing up, Laura Gygi) came to check me and see if I made any progress.

I was a 3.5 and 75% effaced!!!! Hallelujah!! I almost couldn't believe my ears! It was for real, and we were staying to have our baby! Mike and I were on pins and needles, and he hopped right out of his chair to give me a big hug. :) What a relief!

They did all the regular stuff like putting me on an IV (which they got on the first stick. Amazing.) and did some blood tests. After a while of laboring with my contractions, they got to a really uncomfortable level and I ordered an epidural. I was not worried too much about getting this because last time it really was the least horrible part of the entire delivery process with Elena. It went in like a charm and was done quickly. When the anesthesiologist came in, and it was the same man who did it last time for me I was relieved. He is super nice. Unfortunately the epidural was not so easy this time around.... It hurt pretty bad, and for some dang reason he could not get the tube to go between my vertebrate!!! He was literally jamming around in my back for about 15-20

 minutes, which felt like an eternity. I was seriously freaking out that he was not going to be able to get it to work after all that. He even sounded like he was going to pull it all out and give up! This was not an option. I started panicking thinking I was going to be doomed to a natural delivery in which I was totally unprepared for! After what felt like a million attempts he finally found the right spot and had a successful epidural in place. It was a nightmare though. I don't ever want to have that happen again. I was thinking he was going to paralyze me with how much cranking around in my back he was doing. And man it HURT!

After all that craziness was over everything settled down and my pain was relieved. In the end, my epidural worked out nicely, and didn't numb me completely, so I could still feel what was going on to deliver my baby easily. It took quite a while for me to get to a 10 to deliver Lincoln. We worked our magic trick of sending Mike away to get some breakfast around 7:30 am, and within 20 minutes I dilated from a 3.5 to a 9.5! That is what happened with our delivery of Elena. Mike must be a bad luck charm. Send him away, and here comes the baby!!! I called Mike and told him to get his tush up there fast cause we were having a baby! :) Lincoln only needed a few good pushes through 4 contractions to come out. He has a little miconium that needed to be suctioned out,  but after the team gave him a good look over we got to snuggle skin to skin for a while. This was one of the greatest moments of my life for sure. There is nothing like the joy of meeting your new baby face to face for the first time. We were so glad to hear that he was completely healthy and didn't have any problems or complications. What a blessing that is. :) We love this little guy. He looks a lot like Elena when she was born. Now that he is a week old, you can see the differences between them, but he is for sure a little Muir Baby. We are so in love with him. 

All I can say is.... WE DID IT!  I am so so so happy to have Lincoln in my life and feel truly blessed and honored to be his mother. He is lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive father and big sister who will love him with all their hearts. So welcome to the world little guy! We are glad you are here!

Love, Mommy

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Muirs! Ho Ho Ho!

Halloweeeeeen! 2011

We love Halloween around our house. Elena had quite the opinion on her costume this year, and we were lucky that Nana has just the thing! Tinkerbell of course! Elena made a very convincing fairy. She danced  around in her costume just like she was flying! If I ever told her this though, she would say, "Mom, I can't really fly. I am just dressed like a fairy.... I am not a real one!" We wouldn't want to be confused on that point now would we? Elena likes to give you the facts... And she thinks she is pretty much the authority on most things. She often tells me these days, "Mom, I know everything that you tell me already." It is pretty funny. :)

Here are a few pics from Elena's dance Halloween party. This was a funny experience. The dance teacher apparently takes her Halloween party very seriously. She went WAY overboard in my opinion... You've got to hand it to her. It was pretty well decorated. Like.... Really well decorated. It was just way way way to "real" for three year olds. She stuck to her character like glue, and wasn't giving it up for anything. Several of the kids, but especially Elena did not want to participate because the teacher just looked straight-up creepy. It was quite comical. Elena insisted on sitting on my lap and being a spectator for the entirety of the class. She didn't want anything to do with her teacher, and I am not sure if she even believed me that it was her. Ha Ha. The biggest mistake the teacher made was making the girls do the class with the lights off. I mean, come on! They are three for heaven sakes! Turn on the dang lights and lighten up a little while you are at it! 

Long story short, Elena was on my lap till the lights came on, and suckers were involved. Once everyone was leaving she decided that "this was actually fun" and wanted to stay. 

She looked dang cute with the little wings on though! Love that costume. :) So here is to Halloween! Boo!

We had a fun Munnerlyn Family Halloween party at James and Angie's house this year. I was feeling extra sick that day, but was able to make it to the beginning part of it with Mike and Elena. We brought some yummy cookies and decorations with frosting for all the kiddos to have some fun with. I also made some delicious Caramel Apple Cheesecake Cups for dessert for the adults. Angie made some awesome chili for everyone. Fun was had by all! Even though we had to run a little early, here are the fun moments we had there.

 I think this photo is hilarious! We were all supposed to dress up, but some people just raided James and Angie's wigs. It was pretty fun to see all the kids dressed up! Not everyone was in the pic, but here were the unlucky few that I got a pic of! Ha Ha Ha.

The cousins all had a good time decorating/eating the candy while decorating the cookies. I am pretty sure they each ate a bags worth. :) Yay for cavities!

Happy Halloween to you all! (Even though Christmas is in 5 days! He he.)