Back by popular demand ...

... PHYSICAL ACTIVITY! Ah, exercise my old friend. I'm officially back in the gym and I'm not sure I have the words to express the complete joy I felt today as I set foot in and eventually back out of there. I cannot wait to go again tomorrow, and pretty much every day! I AM BACK ... well, still technically about 25 lbs. from being "back" but at least "back" in the sense that I've regained another piece of myself, ahhhhh. It's going to be a real hoot losing baby weight during the holidays, if the word "hoot" is a synonym for almost guaranteed failure. :) Wish me luck!

All we need is just a little patience

Hopefully the Guns-N-Roses fans out there appreciated the title of this post.

-

Seriously though, a little patience is just what we needed. We've hit the 6 week mark & things are going much more smoothly. Hailey is getting into a routine, sleeping a little better and is generally more enjoyable when she is awake. Maybe it's the fact that I feel so much better or that we're sleeping a little more that makes her appear that much more pleasant to us during the waking hours. Maybe it's her beautiful social smile and general progress as a person. Who knows? We're just glad things are better. I don't know how long we could have existed in that whole first month environment.

-

I am finally mailing her birth annoucements off, but for those of you that cannot wait ... more pictures for your viewing pleasure ... and our bragging pleasure.

A little scrapbook of Hailey's week

Okay, we know the reason most of you are checking the blog is for new pictures of her highness. Maybe not. Maybe you just really care a bunch about what's going on with us. But here are pictures of her anyhow since she is much more attractive and charming than we are. Plus we figure that since we like staring at her all day, there might be some other folks out there that would like to do the same. She changes so much everyday so we'll try to post pics more often. It's tough since she refuses to be set down for much longer than it takes for her mom to pee. In fact, she is physically attached to me as I type this. Thank heavens for the inventors of Hotslings and the Baby Bjorn! Once she reached 12 lbs., carrying her unassisted for hours on end was out of the question!

-

We study her closely waiting for her to resemble one of us.

-

This picture looks like she should belong to one of the Beastie Boys or something.

She almost always has this look of concern on her face. I think she figured out the bum deal she got when they were giving out parents & now she's contemplating how to deal with our complete ineptitude. Of all the qualities I desire for her, I think PATIENCE falls pretty high on the list.

-

I don't know why I'm posting such a bad picture of her except to tell you that we call this look the "Fat, angry marionette." I'm going to try sleeping like this tonight. Looks fun!

-

And now the moment we've all been waiting for (Aaron & Amy included) --

She's AWAKE and HAPPY! We just get very small glimpses of this each day but it keeps us plugging along.

So I've discovered the dirty little secret of motherhood ... something that your "good mom" girlfriends don't like to talk much about before you have your own kids. It's the fact that the first few weeks with a new baby are so tough and lonely and unrewarding ... generally miserable ... not at all the way they make things look on the Johnson & Johnson commercials!

It has been really difficult to know if I am having any "success" at all. I wake up every morning to complete chaos in the household, a baby that's covered in spit-up, pee, you name it despite the fact that I just bathed and changed her. After several days of that, you can see how I might feel a tad hopeless.

-

Anyhoo, I was feeling like a particular failure today when suddenly I realized that my only real job right now is to keep this little angel alive and thriving. If she is alive and relatively well fed at the end of the day, I have accomplished something. Looking at the picture below, I saw distinct ROLLS OF FAT on her sweet little arms as well as MULTIPLE CHINS below her tiny cherubic face. Then I made Aaron weigh her to confirm that she has indeed gained 1/2 a pound over the past couple of days. And for the first time so far, I felt like I've done by job ... at least one of them ... the important one anyway. So until there is more expected of me (like helping her get a decent score on the ACT or behave appropriately in a restaurant) I will count this as VICTORY for our little family, however small it may be.

It's Hailey's world. We just live in it.

Yeah, we know we’ve been slow to update & post some pics of her highness. But I’m going to play the “just gave birth” card for a free pass on this one. Anyone who has created, birthed and then attempted recovering from birthing a 10-pound baby will give you the list of reasons why I'm justified in loafing around for 2 weeks before posting anything. I think all of that combined with her refusal to recognize night as the time when the Oakeson family SLEEPS has taken its toll. Things are looking up a little now and I am starting to believe that it won't be like this forever. Aaron & I just may be able to get back to our crazy work schedules including his regular 14 hour workday. And I just might set foot back in the beloved gym sometime before Christmas! Here's hoping!

.

So here is what you all really want -- pictures of our benevolent dictator. Sorry she is sleeping in all of them. But she has 3 main activities right now: Eating, Sleeping, Pooping. We didn't think you wanted to see her eating or pooping so this is what you get.

.

Wakin' up is hard to do

.

Being boss of the house is EXHAUSTING! .

I don't know what I was thinking with this hat. Oh, I know! I was thinking she might be cold & hats on babies are so cute. But looking back, this is kindof a stupid hat. She looks like a baby pope or something.

.

It's all good in da' hood.

Hailey and Dad are best friends! They love their naps!

So much fun it's SCARY!

This week was the 5th annual Family & Friends Halloween party. Since this is pretty much all about the kids, we posted a few of the kids' pics for your viewing pleasure.

Owen was our pick for brightest/funniest kid of the evening.

Here he is being particularly cheesy!

Glad to see a costume from Aaron's childhood is getting a new lease on life.

The pinata was a big HIT! he he

What an appropriate costume for this activity. Go Dean!

Looks like Mandy was having a great time!

The perfect Natalie moment. Later on, she did an awesome Karaoke performance of "I'm a Believer" complete with a few dance moves.

BUDDIES!

Aw, Sydnee! You just want to squish her little face, don't ya?

Overall, the party was pretty fabulous! The food was great, too. In fact, if you want any more chili, talk to Mark & Marion. We think they have about 10 quarts left and it's really good! I'm sure they'd be more than happy to give you some.

We're still here!

No news is ... well, no news! So when there is news we'll have our people call your people.

Until then enjoy a quick bit of humor from one of our favorites, Sloane Tanen. She is a comic genius. Pick up her book "Hatched" for more of the same.

(Caption: The prospect of 9 months without drinking, smoking, coffee, Zoloft, or sushi had scared the bejesus out of Mavis. But pregnancy was turning out to be heaven.)

(Caption: With Helen 8 months pregnant and having to pee every 11 minutes, Roland saw no other way to get anywhere on time.)

Summer's Last Hoorah!

Just some pics from our last play days of summer ... maybe our last play days for awhile with a baby on the way! Bear Lake with the cousins!

Somebody call Green Peace! Who knew it would take filling out the BELLY portion of a maternity swimsuit for me to finally be able to fill out the CHEST part of any suit. I guess life is like that. I'm saving these pictures for new baby so that one day she will appreciate what I did for her ... maybe, but not likely. :)

I am crazy in love with this incredible man! Aaron was so kind to rent a motorhome for this trip so I wouldn't be completely miserable. I think we're hooked. We might be camping wimpy from here on out. I love this picture. You don't often see Aaron as happy as he is with his favorite things -- water, sunshine, his family/cousins. It just doesn't get much better for him. Oh wait! He golfed right after this, too! He lives a pretty cushy life.

This was about the most perfect Bear Lake weekend you could ask for, including the skiing. The weather and water were just gorgeous the entire time. I felt a little sad that I couldn't ski this year. Again, maybe I'll remind baby of that one day and she'll appreciate me. :) But at least she will have pictures of her gorgeous Dad living it up one more time before facing the crushing responsibility of being her parent.

All I wanted was a backrub!

Shock and Awe ... and joyful surprises!

Team Oakeson's first round draft pick is ... a GIRL ... and very obviously so! Aaron says: "Look out Michelle & Ana! This girl is gonna' GOLF!"

After an embarrassing trip to the mall at the insistence of my sweet husband -- yes, I had an ultrasound in the MALL -- it was quickly apparent even to us, the most deficient of first-time parents, that this was certainly no boy! This really was just peachy with us since it was mainly the not knowing that was giving Aaron heartburn. It sure was a surprise though.

Kerri gave us some great advice to have some OJ and a donut to get some baby movement going on. It sure worked and we got the shots we weren't able to get at the Doctor's on Wednesday. Even with all of the sugar, the tech still commented on what a "mellow" baby this was. Frankly the fact that she is mellow is a bigger surprise to us than the whole girl thing.

So I have to give props to the only three ladies in my life who stuck to their belief that this was indeed a girl: My genius sister Holly and cute friends Rachel and Andrea. Good job ladies!

We are actually quite excited since cousins coming on both sides of the family are also girls. This will probably make for an easier friendship, which is something I discovered Aaron was concerned about. But that only came out after the discovery that it was a girl. Aaron has the very best memories of his childhood with his cousins and this was so important to him. Who can blame him? He has some FABULOUS cousins!

Well, we gotta' go. We have MANY baby boy items to box up and move to the shed today! Then we we are going to Home Depot to buy a 4th shed for baby to live in. We figure we'll just put her in a rubbermaid bin labeled "baby" an stack her neatly with our other items. That should be easier than moving. We're not exactly famous for our willingness to uproot.

So here are the pics. Good luck telling what anything is. You'll probably just have to take our word for it.

Amy's Flight (sortof) from the Rat Race!

It's nearly over! I am officially following my bliss. I left my Supervisory role @ work for a very part time schedule with basically no responsibility, and it feels incredible! When I left last Friday after my last full-time day of glorified babysitting, I realized that moment was everything those that have gone before me had promised ... the sky was a little bluer, the birds sang just a bit lovelier, the flowers smelled sweeter, and when I got home, my husband was that much more attractive!

On the days I do work, I'm there for about 4 hours ... just flying below the radar, making a few bucks to pay for our health insurance and the occasional massage/mani/pedi. :) So here are the lovely tasks that are no longer part of my job description ---

We need to hire people ... Not my problem!

We need to fire people ... Not my problem!

Somebody needs to talk with the office perv about his inappropriate internet use ... Not me!

3 hour meetings to figure out how to manage our time effectively ... I'm not invited!

Day-long workshops discussing how what we do really matters ... Smell ya' later!

Agreeing that we are not just printing checks, we are saving the world ... Nah, we're mostly just trying to pay for college or get a dental plan.

So needless to say, I am very pleased with my new responsibilities which include showing up, helping a few customers, doing a few administrative tasks, then leaving to pursue things that matter. After working at our business each day, I have some pretty lofty plans that include cooking again, washing my own car and going to bed at 10:30. :)

Updates & Random Pics

As I was loading pictures into the computer today, I realized how many fun things have gone on and didn't make the blog. Apparently we were so busy enjoying our friends, family and good times that it didn't leave enough time to share. :) Here are just a couple random samplings of what we've been up to for the last little while.

4th of July with the Eppersons.

Kellie did her traditional (and unsafe!) holiday dance. This year she had a husband to join in the fun! Now Joe can be the one to drive her to the ER the year that this finally goes awry. I'll have to post video of that at some later date when I have the time/energy. Posting video is a bit of a pain.

Lake Day -- Among what seemed like hundreds of youth activities over the summer, we had "Lake Day" ... a big favorite in our neighborhood. It's just a lot of teenagers, a few boats and an a fun time with people we love.

Brandon & Brittiny visited in August to celebrate Brooklyn's 1st birthday. We had a great time. Brooklyn was much more excited about receiving clothes than toys. She is all girly girl and we adore her!

We had the annual Oakeson Family & Friends & Friends & Friends .... Halloween Party again. Aaron was particularly proud of our truly authentic costumes this time around. Each year I just don't know how he'll top the previous one. We got them at "the actual Ninja store." Did you even know there was such a thing? Still looking for the pictures of these!

We got to spend some time with the fun Crumps, but it seems like most of the time we're together, something is on fire or blowing up! They were thoughtful enough to invite us over to see things blow up a couple of times in January -- New Years and the long awaited blowing up of the Gingerbread house! Video of this is coming soon ... to You Tube, I think. It was a pretty eventful evening. For those of you that know Adam, he and his friend Matt really enjoy blowing things up. There's a whole scientific method to it. Rachel's family made this GIANT Gingerbread house. And for about as long as it was sitting out, Adam was making plans on how to eventually blow it up. They make sure there's always something exciting happenin' in Herriman. Below, a picture of Rachel and me tolerating the boys' efforts at a homemade New Years fireworks extravaganza.