Photo Shoot

Brooklyn is sure one spoiled little girl. Mike's sisters are constantly giving us clothes for her. Laura send us this beautiful dress. I just had to take some pictures of how cute she looked. I even got one of her notorious smiles. The other picture is just one of my favorites.

Brooklyn's Blessing

Brooklyn was given a name and a blessing by Mike on November 28th in Mike's parents ward. Mike's dad is the Branch President of the Lakeview Manor Branch and we thought it would be nice for him to be able to sign the blessing certificate. Mom Gardner had purchased the blessing dress for Brooklyn to wear on this special day in her life. It is interesting what we go through for her to wear for just a short time. She looked beautiful in her dress. We decided to have our brothers and brother-in-law to join in the circle. There were many who came to support us in this joyous occasion. All of Mike's family came and even some of his extended family. All those immediate family members in my family came and also Wendy. Afterward we gathered at Mom and Dad Gardner's house to have some food and take some pictures. It was a nice occasion.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to join Mike's family at his cousins house in Lehi. My assignment was to make rolls. I am still trying to figure out how to make things, take care of Brooklyn and not have it take all day. None the less, the rolls were a hit and we had a great time. I am really enjoying dressing up Brooklyn in holiday apparel. During the holiday break Mike's sisters were able to come out and meet Brooklyn for the first time. They sure do spoil her.

Our Little Bug

Halloween was a new experience for us this year as we had an addition to dress in a costume. I really wanted to dress Brooklyn in a bug costume because she is our little "BB". I waited too long to order a costume that would fit her so I decided to make one. I decided to make her a ladybug costume. I didn't have any patterns but make a simple but very cute outfit for her. She was able to wear her costume to a ward Halloween party and over to both her grandparents houses. Little did we know that two of her cousins would also be ladybugs.

Brooklyn is such a good baby!

Brooklyn has been home for over a week now and has been a great blessing in our lives. She is one of the world's best babies. She never cries and has only done a few times when we changed her. She did cry pretty hard when we gave her her first sponge bath and once when in the car. Other than that she doesn't cry. Not even to let me know she is hungry or needs her diaper changed. Most of the time she would even sleep through the night if not woken to be fed. These early days she needs to be woken, to give her nourishment and to make sure my milk is coming in properly. This has been kind of hard for me because she is such a sound sleeper. Sometimes I get her woken up but she falls back asleep just as we start the feeding. I was worried yesterday because I just couldn't get her to wake up. I tried lots of tactics and she just would not give in. Finally around 3 pm just as we arrived at Grandma Gardner's she decided she had been asleep long enough. She has done really well since then and has woken up long enough for me to feed her and has stayed awake for a little while. She is the most beautiful baby and we are so blessed to have her.

Brooklyn Heading Home

We were excited to finally be able to take Brooklyn home. It was really great that we didn't have to travel very far to get home. As nice as it was to be in the hospital I was ready to get out of bed and relieve some of that bed soreness.

Hospital Visitors

Tuesday morning at about 9:00 am we had our first visitors. Mom Gardner, Dad Gardner, Mark and Greg were the first to see Brooklyn. Around 12:00 pm came Mom Rothe, Dad Rothe, Peter, Camille, Morgan, and Nathan. Later in the afternoon Megan and Michaela showed up. It was nice to see all of those who were able to come and share in this momentous time in our lives. Each person seemed very excited to see her and love her. Our favorite part of the whole thing was Nathan, who is 4 years old. On their way up Peter said something like, "I bet she is adorable like Mike." Nathan's reply was, "You think Mike is adorable?" Well, yes Mike can be very adorable at times. After they arrived Nathan really wanted to hold her. We finally let him sit in Peter's lap while Peter helped him. Nathan proceeded to play peek-a-boo with Brooklyn almost whacking her in the face. He then said, "Babies like this." We thought it was so funny. Little kids say the cutest things. It will be so much fun when Brooklyn can talk.

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe was born on September 28th, 2010 at 2:37 am. She was 8 lbs and 20 inches. I never thought that it would happen the way it did. I pictured myself in the middle of the night to start having contractions and going into labor. I would sit up all night timing the contractions. I would then let Mike know that it was time to go to the hospital. Well, that is not what happened. Here is the story. I woke up bright (well, not so bright) and early Monday morning, the 27th, at about 4:30 am. When I went to the bathroom I noticed a lot of bright red blood. My first thought was this is the "bloody show" I have been waiting for. Not that I really new what the "bloody show" consisted of. I cleaned things up and then decided to look up what the "bloody show" consisted of. As I read it said pink in color. This was definitely more than pink. Then it said if you see bright red blood to contact your doctor. I then called the after hours number and the lady on the phone said she wasn't sure what it meant but the she could call the doctor. I was a little reluctant to call because I didn't want to cause any undo concern in the middle of the night. I tried to wake Mike up to see what he thought. He wasn't sure and we decided to call Mom and Dad to see what they thought. They said to call the doctor. I then called the doctor and he said to go to the hospital and get it checked out. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 am. They set us up in one of their labor and delivery rooms and put the baby's heart rate monitor on me and the monitor for the contractions. I was having only mild contractions and wasn't in real labor. After about an hour of monitoring they said I was still dilated to 2cm as I had been for the past two weeks. They called the doctor to see what he would have them do. They decided to have me get an ultrasound to see if the bleeding was because of the placenta detaching from the uterine wall. They were pretty busy in the imaging center so they said I would just have to wait until they were ready for me. Not long after they told me this the nurse came back in and said they would like to induce me. I was already after my due date and they thought this would be the best for me. They still couldn't explain why I was having the bleeding. They started the IV at about 11:00 am and got the Pitocin going. This started the contractions but things didn't move very fast from there. I didn't progress to 3cm until around 5:00 pm. Mike and I were able to play a game of cards and watch a movie. Mark even came and played a couple of rounds with me. At this time they asked if I wanted to start the epidural. The anesthesiologist was going into a C-section and wouldn't be available until about an hour later. I thought no I can handle the pain right now. Mike was there to let me squeeze his hands through the contractions. All my contractions were felt in my lower back. After making that decision I regretted it and was relieved that they came back and made sure that I didn't want it. I then decided to get it and it felt great. The needles going into my back were not as bad as I had imagined. During a lot of this time I had been talking to Mom and Dad letting them know what was going on. We expected that I would have the baby that day. This was not the case. I actually didn't reach 10 cm until about midnight and that is when I started to push. I pushed for 2 hours and just couldn't get her beyond the pelvis. I was so close but with each contraction I would push hard 2 times and on the third I just couldn't give it anymore. It didn't help that I was having heartburn and that third push made it really hard. I was grateful for the help that Mike gave me during this time. I just love Mike. He is the greatest! No husband compares to him. At this time the nurse decided to call the doctor and see what he wanted us to do. He decided it was time to come over and try getting her out with the vacuum. After resting for a little bit the doctor arrived. He told me I was going to have to do a lot in pushing to help get Brooklyn out. If the vacuum didn't work I was going to have a C-Section. Well, after just four strong pushes I was able to push her out. I was glad to have that over with. She is such a good baby and I was so happy to have her enter this world.

Our Plentiful Garden

This year we decided to do a community garden. We decided to plant sunflowers again this year because of how well they did last year. To my disappointment they didn't do so well. That is okay though and I will try again this year. I just love how big they get. We also planted lots of tomato plants (large and Roma) and peppers (jalapenos, green and Anaheim). Our tomato plants have grown so big and overcrowded. But we have had a great harvest. Next year we won't plant so many and plant them far away. It is fun to be learning from trial and error. When we finally have gone out to pick we have so much to make tons of salsa which we have thoroughly enjoyed. The picture doesn't do justice to how much we have gained this year. We had so much more this last time of picking. Our next pick will probably be the last as it is starting to cool down. Especially at night. We have been so blessed to have had a bounteous amount of crop this year and to be able to share in it with our neighbors.

Brooklyn's Due Date

The due date for Brooklyn is just two days away. I have been anticipating this day for a long 9 months. Sometimes I can't believe it has gone so fast and yet not fast enough. I recently went in for my weekly doctors visit and I am still dilated to 2 cm. The doctor says she is probably between 7 and 8 lbs. Not much progress in the last couple of weeks but I am still holding out. Mike and I are pretty anxious for her to come. The doctor has informed me that about 80% of first mothers and 50% of all births actually come after the due date. I am learning to be patient and accept the fact that she probably won't come until next week. This is good in the fact that Mike has two tests this weekend and one on Monday. He will be able to finish his tests and not have to worry about them while I am going into labor and afterward. Maybe that is why she is holding out. I am trying to keep myself busy reading books and finding things to do around the house. Hopefully she will come in time for Mom to have at least one week to help me before she goes to Washington for Grady's blessing (Derek and Jill's newest arrival). I am happy that she will have a cousin her age. It will be so much fun when the family gets together for reunions and the like. My next post will probably be pictures of our newest arrival. We already love her so much. The picture I have included isn't the greatest but it is the best we have to show how big I have gotten.

Baby Shower

We had the baby shower on September 2. It was a lot of fun. I am glad so many people were able to make it. I had family, past roommates, friendly neighbors and great friends make it to support me. I am so grateful to my sister Megan, sister-in-law Camille, and Mother for arranging this special night. It was so nice of Camille and Peter to let us use their backyard for the event. The food was great and I got a lot of great presents from everyone. Brooklyn is going to be one spoiled little girl. I am grateful to Mom Gardner for making her quilt and baby blanket. Also, for the sweet blessing dress she bought me. I am also grateful for the baby book I was given to record all the special events and details of Brooklyn's first years of life. All the gifts are wonderful and will definitely be of good use for years and months to come. Again thank you all for coming and supporting me and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn's Baby Room

A couple months ago I had been wondering what I was going to do to decorate the baby's bedroom. Mom suggested that we make the bedroom set and she would be willing to make the baby quilt for the bedroom. We decided to make a patchwork quilt and Mom and I went shopping for fabric. We found some precut fabric squares bundled together that we really liked in Springville. We found some more of the same fabric at a store just around the corner from my house at the Fabric Mill. Not long after, I started getting anxious and wanted to get to the sewing. Mom didn't have a lot of time and then went out of town to Ireland for ten days. My impatience got the best of me and I started sewing. I ended up making the diaper stacker, the valance, the crib skirt and the bumper pads. I was on a roll and had the sewing fever. I don't think it has gone away. I decided that I liked the choices of fabrics at the Fabric Mill so I went out and bought some more to make receiving blankets and burp pads. I had a lady do the hemp stitching so it would be easier to crochet around them. Mom said she would be willing to crochet around a set of them and I took the task of doing a blanket stitch around the rest of them. It took a while but I finally finished. I have been working on putting the nursery together. Mike and I were able to get a crib, changing table, and dresser, with the help of our parents. Thank you so much! I painted some block letters and attached ribbon to them to put Brooklyn's name on the wall, thanks to Erin for the idea, and also spray painted a frame that I had. Here are some of the pictures I took of the almost final product.

Summer Vacations

At our last Stake Conference, our Stake President issued a challenge to do something extraordinary in regards to the temple. Mike came up with a great idea. He suggested that we visit each temple in Utah and do a endowment session. I thought this was a great idea. Mike and I decided to make these trips our summer vacations. Our first temple to visit was the Salt Lake temple. It was over Spring Break for Mike. We met our good friends Allison and Brad there to do a live session. After the session we went out to dinner at the Garden Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was really good food. When dinner was finished Brad and Allison headed home and Mike and I went to stay the night at the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Mississippi Serenade room. It was really quite fun and it even had a waterfall in the shower. The next day we went shopping, had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and saw a movie all at the Gateway. It was nice to get away.

We spent almost every other weekend traveling to one of the Utah Temples. We did take pictures at each temple but there are probably too many to put on here. We decided to have Mike try and take the picture of the two of us because his arms are much longer. You will see it was not an easy task. I am kind of short and he kept cutting off my head. We would eventually get a good shot and call it good. I will share only a couple of them because there are so many.
In April we visited the Bountiful Temple and the Ogden temple and in May we visited the Logan Temple and the Jordan River. When we went to Logan Mike's grandma was very kind to let us stay the night with her.

In the beginning of June, we were able to go to the Monticello Temple. On our way down we stopped at Arches National Park in Moab and walked around to some of the different arches. When we arrived in Monticello we checked in our hotel room and as we were leaving our room we ran into Uncle Norman and Aunt Becky (Mom's brother and sister-in-law). Of all places to see them. We didn't get to talk much because they were in a hurry but it was great to see them. We wonder if they were doing the same thing we were (in seeing all the temples in Utah). They are in our Stake and were given the same challenge to do something extraordinary in regards to the temple.

At the end of June, we were able to take a trip down to St. George. We ended up staying the night at Mike's Aunt Sandra and Uncle Arlo's place. We were a little disappointed to find that they were not going to be there for the weekend. We were able to attend the play Tarzan at the famous outdoor Tuacahn theater. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The next morning we went to the temple and then headed home.

In July we went to the Draper Temple and the Vernal Temple and our last temple we went to was the Manti Temple. The Manti Temple would be our last Utah Temple to visit. We had already been to the Provo and Mt. Timp Temples before the challenge was issued so we didn't get them fit in. We had hoped to finish our quest before the baby came and we made it. It was a great opportunity to take the time to visit each temple and feel of the Spirit. We liked the fact that we had started with a live endowment session and ended with a live endowment session.

Pregnancy Photo shoot

For the 4th of July we had lots of family members come into town. This included Matt, Emily, Erin and Chad and their little girls. While Erin and Chad were in town Erin did a pregnancy photo shoot with me. I was almost 7 months by then and Erin said she usually did the photo shoot later in the pregnancy. That way you could show more of the pregnant belly. We did it anyway because she was only going to be in town for the weekend and would not be here again before the pregnancy was over. Here are a couple of pictures from the photo shoot. Thanks Erin for the fun times. This really has been a good pregnancy for me. I have not been throwing up or had any complications. The only things that I have been experiencing are heartburn, carpal tunnel syndrome, and numbing and tingling in my legs. This makes it hard to sleep but with some Prevacid, a cold rice bag and a wonderful husband, to massage my legs before going to bed, it has been a little easier to sleep. Only 7 1/2 weeks until my due date. I just can't wait for Brooklyn to get here. I have been sewing and getting ready for her. I will post pictures later when the room is ready. Mike and I are taking a prenatal class which is once a week for 4 weeks. We have gone over all the basics and have even seen the birthing video with 4 different scenarios. I am a little nervous about it but I know the outcome is all worth it.

It's a Girl!!!

I am excited to finally know what I am having and that the baby is still alive in me. I thought I felt her move but not really sure. Hopefully soon. I never thought today would come when the doctor told me that it would be five weeks until my ultrasound. It actually went really fast. Mike was able to come with me and find out. I definitely wanted to find out what the gender would be. Mike was hoping for a boy to carry on the family name. He is the only one right now that can carry on the name until his brother gets married. Mike was happy to find out that it was a girl. Maybe our next children will be twin boys. That will definitely help carry on the name. Mike's parents are especially excited to be having their first grandchild. I really did want to have a girl but would have been happy no matter what we got. It is just a blessing and miracle to be able to get pregnant and bring a spirit child of our Heavenly Father into the home.

Not all of today was great and exciting as I thought it would be. Not long after I returned to work I felt dizzy and thought I was going to throw up. To my dismay it happened about 2 hours later and I have thrown up 2 more times since. I don't think that it is pregnancy related because I didn't throw up during the beginning of the pregnancy. It is also late to be getting that kind of sickness. Hopefully I can get better soon and be able to teach my lesson in preschool tomorrow.