millie maternity photos

we took our maternity photos the VERY LAST week that i was pregnant with millie. the photos taken with travis were taken the very last day of my pregnancy, while i was in labor. i had to pause every three or four minutes and wait for the contraction to ease up. how silly am i to try and take photos of myself in the middle of labor??
i think next time around i won't wait so long to take maternity photos. the first time i saw these i was astonished; my belly was gigantic! i can't even believe it... i had no idea how huge i was at the time. they say true love is blind, and i guess the phrase extends to a mother's love.

& please enjoy this darling little nugget. i about died laughing when i saw it.
pregnant ladies are so fabulously graceful don't you think?


we shot our maternity photos with lofgran photography {my newest sponsor}  he made me look so good even at 39 weeks pregnant... i think it's save to call him a miracle worker.
we'll definitely be using him for everything while we're both living in rexburg!
lofgran photography's blog & facebook
xo lauren

Millie's Birth Story II

read the first part of Millie's birth story here!

 we arrived at the hospital at about 8:40pm. I was so nervous that I would be sent home... but honestly i don't think i would have gone home even if they sent me. these contractions were getting serious, man. the nurse checked me and i was dilated to 5cm--enough to be admitted!

i clambered into a hospital gown and i clambered into a wheelchair and was wheeled down to labor and delivery right away. i think i asked about how soon i could get the epidural at least five times before we got to my hospital room. luckily, the anesthesiologist came not long afterward. once i got the epidural i could relax and make jokes, it was amazing how much more enjoyable labor was! i was able to enjoy our sweet family that traveled to be with us for the birth and skype with my family in arizona. and i was able to relax much more through the contractions, which helped things to progress much faster.



By 11:30pm i was already dilated to 10cm and 100% effaced. It was time to push! I pushed for about 2 1/2 hours and once again i just want to say: travis is the biggest help to me during labor. the biggest support and the biggest comfort. i LOVE that man.

At about 2am the doctor came in and noticed that i was starting to get very tired. he thought that i could get the baby out myself if i kept pushing for maybe an hour or more, or he could help move things along a little bit. i knew by an hour i would be completely exhausted, and that any pushing i would do probably wouldn't be very beneficial. Plus, we were so excited to meet our girl! Travis & i decided to have the doctor help us to move things along. So with the help of a vacuum, at 2:21am our Millie Mae was born! All 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 18 inches of her!
{About her weight. Remember me going on and on about how she might be a ten pound baby? Well, that's what the doc and the ultrasound said. But they also said that we could keep her at a better size if i kept a good diet and i'm so glad it all worked out for the best!}



They laid her on my chest immediately afterwards... and she was beautiful. it's amazing how much of a blur the moment was, but at the same time how vividly i can remember it all. i remember her looking straight at me, squinting a bit because of the bright lights in her eyes, and feeling that overwhelming feeling of love. here she was! finally, completely, she was mine. mine & trav's. forever. i think i said the would "forever" at least a dozen times in the first few minutes of her life. i must have sounded like a lunatic, but i was feeling so incredibly grateful and blessed. oh how we love our silly Millie Mae!


in the aftermath of her birth: travis cut the cord, our first try at breastfeeding went extremely well {i was so scared that it would go horribly wrong, but she's a good little eater!}, i ended up needing an episiotomy so that was super fun, and the bleeding was insane. not as insane as i was anticipating, but still insane. also, breastfeeding helps you loose most of that postpartum flab insanely fast--who knew!? not even two weeks after she was born i was already down 20 pounds. almost half of that twenty was millie... but still. ROCK. ON.

trav & i are still getting the hang of being parents around here. we love every bit of it and love watching this little lady grow. overall, i think my first experience with giving birth was a very positive one and was just the one that i needed. and you know what? i don't think i'd mind doing it again! {smile}

xo lauren

Millie's Birth Story I

I woke up at 7:30am on Friday morning, November 2nd, rather wide-eyed and excited. My first thought after waking up was, "THAT! Was a contraction!!"
Needless to say, I was thrilled. I waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity for another one to come, hoping that another one would come, and lo and behold seven minutes later the next one came. Then seven minutes later, the next. And so one until a little after 8 o'clock, when i rolled over and shook trav's shoulder with all my might and whispered "babe! i'm having contractions! today is the day!"
to which he replied, "that's great!" and then "zzzzzzzzz". ha! MEN.

so we shower'd, breakfast'd and got ready'd for the day and while i was curling my hair i got a big contraction. so i put both hands on the sink, bent over a bit and tried my hardest not to tense up and really breathe through the contraction the way they taught us to in our birth class. when i opened my eyes, travis was watching me and said, "you looked kinda weird". WELL ALRIGHT THEN.
anyway, i kissed that man goodbye and he was off to class. so, i was ready to labor at home for the day and was basically PUMPED. in my mind i had so many things to do before baby girl was to finally make her appearance! the laundry had to be done, dishes, shower had to be cleaned, bedroom organized and all that shtuff. I was so ready to go, i could accomplish it all between contractions! it also seemed like i was on the phone all morning long. with my mom, mother-in-law, sister and cousin/doula... all trying to keep them informed on how things were going. my mom told me to go back to sleep. "sleep while you can, before the contractions get worse", she said. "pshhh. this really isn't bad at all. and i got shtuff to do", i said.
well ten minutes later i found myself dropped to my knees on the bathroom floor, curling iron and hair spray left abandoned. mom was right, the contractions do get worse. HOLY COW.
that's when i decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. officially, the shtuff would have to wait.

trav came home around 3pm and i told him things were still okay, work on your homework while you still can. but, it seemed like people kept coming over all afternoon! people to see the new apartments {i mentioned that we are the managers right?}, people just to visit, and the guy to take our maternity photos. we had planned on taking maternity photos that day, of course this was before i knew i would be in labor! my contractions were getting closer together, but i knew that today would be the last day i would be pregnant... so i promptly said, "LET'S DO THIS" and we had a 30 minute photo shoot with travis right outside our place with me taking lots of breaks in between contractions. the things i'll do for posterity.

after the photoshoot, my contractions started getting worse. like, tears and wails sort of worse. we decided to get in a warm bath, and it is amazing how much it helped. i think for our next baby, i'm just going to hop in the bath from the very beginning and stay in there all day. the bath really helped and you guys, travis is really good at comforting me during labor. all night long he was so supportive and caring, and knew just what to say to comfort me. he would hold my hand through every contraction and count them out, saying things like, "the worst is over! almost done!" for each and every one. i really don't know how i ever would have done it without him. i am so grateful for him!

please excuse the boobage. i was 39 weeks pregnant, after all.
don't let the smile confuse you. i really was in labor, the ability to smile comes only between the contractions. 

after about two hours of being in the tub, trav suggested i get out and walk around for a bit. that's when the contractions got worse. and so close together! they were each only 35 seconds long, but coming maybe every three minutes. i knew it was time to go to the hospital.
we left right away, because i could NOT wait much longer! i was still in my swim suit when i clambered into trav's red truck and i didn't even pack a hospital bag. {i know right? a blogger that didn't pack a hospital bag? is that even legal?} it was about 8:30pm and we sped off to the hospital to have this baby girl!

i'll post the rest of her birth story tomorrow.
stay tuned!
xo lauren

read Part II

what's in a name: millie mae

t & i have known for a long time just what the perfect name would be for baby girl. granted, we didn't decide on her middle name till the very last second, but for months and months our girl has been millie.

why we chose the name millie is a fun little story so i figured i'd share.

travis is one of eight kids. lots of brothers and a few sisters, his house was rowdy growing up and the moment i first met the whiting family i considered them all to be the most wonderful cowboy/country folk in the world. they make biscuits & gravy for breakfast and they have a whole hallway dedicated to those old-fashioned, saloon type, dress-up-like-the-old-west type photos. and their family movie is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

i think the movie speaks to them because of all the boys running around, and the rowdiness. definitely the rowdiness. when we were dating and trav told me that this was one of his favorite movies i'll admit i was shocked but pleased; travis is not a musical-loving man. Seven Brides has always been one of my favorite movies, the story is hilarious and i always sort of looked up to Millie's character.

i loved {and wanted to be like} millie because:

• she knew what would bring her happiness. she followed the promptings of her heart {and i think we can substitute "heart" with "the Spirit" here} and took a huge leap of faith to marry a handsome stranger and leave her home. 
• she is strong, sweet and kind. she took a house full of seven wild men and turned them into perfect gentlemen, and she did it with love. tough love at first, but always with love.
• she has a motherly nature. she was perfect to take care of those seven brothers and those seven brides! and with our millie as the oldest sister in the family we knew that this is a quality she was likely to develop.
• she's a dang good cook. aka domestic, and finds so much joy in running a home for her family. 
• she's super cute, has a lovely voice and is sassy as can be!

these are all reasons why i look up to the character of Millie, and are all traits i hope to teach my Millie Mae to admire as well. i am so excited to watch her grow & to see the woman she will become!

xo lauren

& baby makes three

the past few days have been a whirlwind of excitement, learning, and more love than i ever thought possible. little bitties all throughout my pregnancy told me that you just don't understand love until you finally hold your child in your arms. and now, having experienced it, i wholeheartedly agree.
the moment millie was first placed on my chest and i was able to first really see my baby, our baby, i knew that everything was different. nothing would ever be the same. i would do anything, sacrifice anything, be anything for our little girl.
being a new mother will have (and already has had) its challenges, but those challenges are all evidence of the fact that millie mae is finally here with us--and i really wouldn't have it any other way. a wife and mother is all i've ever wanted to be, and now it's as though all of my dreams have come true!
so, now my days are filled with laughing at little hiccups, feelings of pride at wet & dirty diapers, feedings {sooo many feedings!}, lots of staring at her sweet baby face, lots of kisses, lots of cooing, and ending every conversation with the words, "she is so cute"!

our life with millie is oh so good!
xo lauren

she is here!!

& she is the most beautiful thing in my entire world. xo lauren

DIY baby mobile

i just finished a mobile for baby girl's room! it took many hours of cutting circles & hot gluing, but i am so very happy with how it turned out. i saw this mobile on pinterest a few weeks ago & fell in love with it, but didn't feel like spending almost $200 for it. so, i made my own!
& i just love it.
i hope baby girl does too!

xo lauren