First Visit from Aunt Katie

My sister, Katie, came to Utah two days after we arrived on May 23rd and stayed for 2 days. She missed the birth of Bristol by 1 day. She flew in the day after her due date, May 3rd and left the evening of May 7th. She had to get back to work in California. I warned her that most babies do not come on their due date, only 10% in fact, and that she needed to come at least a week later than May 2nd. But, she was just too excited and knew Bristol would arrive on time. I felt so bad that I went into labor the day she left, but there is nothing you can do about it. So, she decided to come and visit us when we got to Utah. She was able to see Bristol when she was just over 2 weeks old. My sister is so sweet and such a great aunt to little Bristol. She just loves her so much. She even bought her a cute shirt that says I love my aunt. Katie has dressed Bristol in so many cute outfits and keeps sending them this way. She is definitely spoiled already! Thank you Katie for coming to visit. Bristol loved seeing you and we can't wait for the next visit. Hopefully we will be heading your way soon!

Utah Bound

After a long 2 days of driving, Bristol and I finally made it to Utah. We left HR on Saturday May 21 and were able to stop in La Grande to visit my friend Lindsay and her family. We stayed for a few hours and then headed to Caldwell, ID to stay the night with my Uncle Mike and Aunt Amy. They were sweet to let us stay there. We woke up early Sunday morning and made the rest of the trip. We arrived in Payson by about 4 pm, just in time for a BBQ for my brother-in-law, Scott. It was a long and tiring drive, but I am glad we were able to make it safely. Bristol did great. She slept most of the time and woke up every 4 hours to eat. It was perfect! It was fun to be down in Payson and see some of Sam's cousins and for Bristol to meet her cousins Reagan and Kyler. They were so sweet with her. It is nice to be back in Utah again, although we do miss our parents dearly. I am sure we will be making a lot of trips to Oregon in the near future to see the grandparents. They had a really hard time seeing us go, but it was what was best for Sam's schooling.

Bristol's First Professional Photographs- May 20, 2010

I took Bristol when she was 12 days old to get professional pictures taken. It was an interesting experience to do this with such a young baby. She was asleep when we arrived, which made for great pictures. Then as the photo session progressed she started waking up and was getting really upset. So, needless to say, we were only able to get about 20 pictures taken before she was really ticked off. But, the ones we did get were great and I am so glad we did this when she was so young. My mother-in-law always says that there is nothing like the first 2 weeks of a baby's life. I agree with her totally. This time is so precious and they are just so sweet.

Our 3rd Anniversary

It's been 3 years, on May 19th, since we were sealed in the Manti, UT temple. It's amazing how fast the time goes. This year Sam was in Utah and I was in Oregon for our anniversary. We knew this was going to happen when Bristol was 6 days late, so we were prepared to share this day apart.

I feel so very lucky to be married to Sam. He is so wonderful in so many ways. I am blessed every day by our marriage and so grateful to be an eternal family. Being sealed in the temple on May 19th, 2007 was the best decision I have ever made in my life. This year we were able to bring sweet Bristol into this world and am so grateful for her for joining our family. I have such a strong testimony of eternal families and this gospel. We are so blessed to be members of this church, to have the saving ordinances that the temple allows us to participate in. I love Sam so much. He makes me want to be a better person everyday. I can't wait for the rest of eternity to spend with him.

Our Move to Utah

Sam started school at the U on May 17th, thank goodness Bristol came when she did, we were cutting it close. Sam had one week with his new baby girl and then had to head to Utah. We packed the moving truck and cleaned the apartment in Salem and Sam headed out on Saturday morning, May 15th. We took some pictures the day Sam left just to see how much she would change in a week. I thought she changed a lot, Sam just said her hair was lighter. Bristol and I stayed in Oregon for the next week so that she could go to her 2 week appointment, her pediatrician requested it. It was a rough week for the 2 of us. Being a single parent is a lot of work. But, I had a good time spending it with Sam's family and my family. I spent a few days in Hood River visiting with my family and enjoying them coming over to see us. I was able to visit my grandpa Kelly, this is his first great grand baby too, and his wife Harriet. They loved seeing Bristol and couldn't get enough. It was good to get that time in before we moved. I also had a few days to spend with Sam's parents and my friends in Salem. It was great to see everyone before we made the big move. Bristol also had a hard time with it. It is amazing how even little babies know when they are being moved around and not in the same place. She did not sleep very well. There were a couple of nights that I just sat up rocking her because she was crying. Bristol also lost the rest of her umbilical cord that week. I had to capture it!

The First Week Home..

What a whirl wind of a week. It was so great to have everyone come and visit. We all were so exhausted by the end of the week. Mostly because of the new baby and lack of consistent sleep, but also because of us packing up the house and all of our visitors. We loved having everyone come by and see us. I tried to get pictures of all of Brisol's visitors but there were just so many.
Bristol's first night in her new home..

Sam took pictures of her many faces.. She is 2 days old. She still makes these faces when she falls asleep, it's so cute!
Our first nap.. It was needed, for both of us!

We had not given her a binky because they told us at the hospital about nipple confusion. But, when she was only 6 days old, she decided to stink her little thumb in her mouth. The binky took it's place right after we snapped a picture!

Bristol Carolann Kelly

Long awaited, Bristol has arrived! She was born on Saturday, May 8th, 2010 at 12:25 am. She was 6 days over due!! She weighed 8lbs 9oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. We are so excited for her arrival. The labor and delivery went well, with about 2 hours of intense pain. I was in labor for a total of 12 hours, but only 8 hours was spent in the hospital. Before we headed to the hospital, I made some treats for my nurses. It was the plan to do so for 2 reasons. 1 to distract me from the labor pains early on and 2 so that the nurses loved me. It was a success! Tom, Sam's dad, came over around 4:15 to help give me a blessing. It was exactly what I needed. I was dilated to a 4 when we arrived at 4:30 pm on Friday afternoon. I went from a 4 to an 8 in about 4 hours. That was a breeze, I was literally sleeping on the edge of the bed. My hypnobirthing was working really well at this point! But as soon as the 8cm hit, labor was intense. I had the chills, the shakes, leg cramps and the sweats and for some reason I could not keep on top of the contractions. From 8:30 pm to 10:30pm, I dilated from 8cm to 9.5cm. My water broke at 8 cm just as transition hit. I started pushing at 10:30pm. At 11:30pm the doctor told me that she would most likely come tomorrow. He said 90% of babies come the next day when it gets this close to midnight. Sure enough, she waited till 12:25am to arrive the next day. It was an awesome experience. Something I will never forget. I think Sam was a little shocked, but in awe of the miracle of birth. As soon as Bristol was put on my chest I said these exact words, "I could do this all over again!" Sam, of course, thought I was absolutely nuts! It's true though, you forget the pains of labor when a innocent baby is placed in your arms.

My labor and delivery team was amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better birthing team. They were understanding of my desire to have a natural birth and so supportive. The nurse, Lacey, was awesome! She wants to go back to school to be a midwife. When she heard that I wanted a natural childbirth she asked if she could be my nurse. She said she loves being in with mom's that are going natural just because the experience is less stressful and so amazing. My doc, Dr. Franks (the on-call doc that day) was also great. He really just let me do my thing and only was encouraging. I felt so blessed to have this team with me at this time. You know he's a great doctor when he says right after you are all done "You already look so skinny!" That got a good laugh from all of us in the room!

My friend Rhoda was also there for the whole thing. She was basically my doula/labor support person/midwife who was with me since day 1. She came and walked with me everyday, even on my lunch hour at work. She also would have me come over to her house a couple times a week so she could give me a back massage and foot massage! Could you ask for anything more when you are pregnant? She was amazing and I am so grateful for her for being there. I think Sam feels the same way. She really helped the both of us out so much during the labor.

So as you know, we were deciding between Bristol and Quinn. Well, during my labor, at least the first 4 hours, Sam turned on ESPN, as usual to catch SportsCenter or whatever they were playing at that hour. I didn't even notice it was on until I was pushing and noticed the doc sitting at the edge of my bed watching it, it was taking quite a while to push her out and he had some time on his hands. When she was placed on my chest, Sam and I looked at eachother and we just knew it fit. Bristol, Connecticut is where ESPN is located. There you have it, our little ESPN baby, Bristol!

Going through this miraculous experience changes your whole perspective on life. It allows you to reflect on the gospel and the precious plan our Heavenly Father has laid our for us. What a blessing it is to become a mother, to go through all this to bring forth a child of our Heavenly Father. I loved the experience and am so grateful to be a woman. We are so privileged to have the opportunity to bear and bring forth children in this world. It is our divine duty to do so. As the men have the priesthood, the women have a comparable role in the gospel, which is motherhood. I never understood how important this role is and how blessed we are to have it until the day Bristol was born. I now have a deeper understanding of my purpose on this earth and what a divine plan I have in this world. I have a new joy in my life and she is so precious to me. I also have a new love and appreciation for my husband, who is such an amazing father. He loves Bristol so much and is so sweet with her. Sam and I are so blessed to have had little Bristol choose us to be her parents in this life.

Bristol's first visitors on her birth day, 5-8-10, Grandma and Grandpa Kelly and Grandma Flory. Also, her first bath given by daddy.

Bristol's visitors on Mother's day, 5-9-10. Sam asked me what I wanted for Mother's day and I said I wanted the baby to come. Well, she didn't disappoint, 1 day early! My Grandma Flory, Bristol's great grandma, came to visit us in the hospital. This was her first great-grand baby at the age of 80. My Aunt Brenda and Uncle Gene also came to visit that day as well as my good friend's Kent, Lindsay and Rhoda. Rhoda helped us pack up from the hospital and go home. I felt great at this point and was ready to sleep in my own bed. I'm sure Sam felt the same way.