Baby and Christmas and Holiday Cheer

She's only been here 2.5 weeks and already we're spoiling her. Christmas was rather low-key for us because we couldn't travel to California to be with family, but that doesn't mean Alaina didn't get plenty from Santa. 

Here she is with most of her presents: Some new bottles, some headbands, an adorable hat, and a boppy. 

She also got a mobi wrap, which I LOVE. 

Not to mention all the new friends she has now:

These are our adorable neighbor friends, Gelise and Byron. They LOVE babies, so we've seen them a lot lately.

And here she is with her cousin Ella. 

And how could we forget the special visit from Gma Snell?

But the best present, in my opinion, was the nursery. My mom and I had a blast decorating while she was here. I'd sleep in there myself if I could fit in the crib. 

 I still haven't decided what to put in the other frames. Any suggestions?

 My favorite part of the project was repainting this free changing table we got. I had lots of fun with the swirly designs.

We may have gotten carried away, but they say you can't spoil a child til she's at least 6 months old. :) 

She's Here!

Alaina Beth Miskin joined our family on Monday, Dec. 12 at 10:14am. We are so excited to have her safely here with us! Here are some photos from the day. Please forgive my appearance. Childbirth is rough.

 At my last appointment the doc said she would probably be between 7.5 and 8 pounds. Liar.

 She is HUGE. The nurses were joking that I gave birth to a toddler.

 You know, we never really think about how traumatic the birth experience must be for the baby. I think I'd have a swollen face too if I just made a trip down the birth canal.

 We're thinking she'll be a linebacker. Look at those shoulders!

 Best husband award goes to Caleb. I could not have had Alaina naturally without his help. Poor guy was up with me all night and never left my side. He even has a few bruises and scratches to prove it!

 She finally decided to open her eyes!

 I've changed my perspective a little on natural childbirth. Before I was really into it because I am all about having control over my body, promoting a speedy recovery, and letting the body do what it knows how to do. But after having Alaina, I have changed my views a little. Why? Well, because first of all, when I was writhing in pain from contractions, there was no control no matter how hard I tried to focus. An epidural may take away some control of your body, but at least you can smile through it. Second, a natural birth does not guarantee a speedy recovery. Case and point: me. I lost a lot more blood than I should have, which led to me losing consciousness three separate times after birth. I ended up needing a huge bolus of fluids and two blood transfusions. I was so weak that I could hardly pick up my baby. If I were born 100 years ago, I probably would have died. So much for a speedy recovery, and three cheers for modern medicine!

 I'm not saying I'm against natural childbirth now or anything. I still ardently admire any woman who chooses to do it; I'm just simply much more open to other options now. I also can't help but think how much better I'd look in pictures too... but that's a rather vain reason.

I know I'm partial, but I just think she is the most beautiful baby in the world. I love her so much, and am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing us with a happy, healthy baby girl. Christmas came early for the Miskins!

Ticking time bomb

I haven't taken many pregnancy photos, mostly because I'm in denial about my current size. But some people have asked for some, so I had Caleb snap a few during the Thanksgiving weekend. Perhaps I made a mistake. The first thing my sister said when she saw them was "are you sure you aren't having twins?" Nice. That's what every woman wants to hear. I know I have an excuse for being large right now, but there are very few ways to see  comments like "Oh my gosh, you're HUGE!"  or "You just look miserable" as a compliment. 

Last month at a Relief Society meeting an older lady came up to me and said, "You're not big enough to be due in December!" I wanted to kiss her. It's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, even if her comment warrants a visit to the optometrist.

Nonetheless, here is me at 38.5 weeks.

I'm considering the vegetarian lifestyle

Snells aren't gun people. Miskins are. Before I married Caleb phrases like "opening day," "10-pointer," and "deer stand" had about as much meaning to me as Caleb speaking Portuguese when he doesn't want me to know what he's saying. Incomprehensible mumbo jumbo, if you will. Well, my friends, November 12th marked a special--nay, sacred--day in the Miskin household: the first day of firearm hunting season.

The rituals began the day before, as Caleb left class early (an anomaly in itself) to go sight in his gun before sundown. He spent the following few hours strategizing with his uncle and cousin about which deer stand provided optimal visualization for dropping "the big kahuna." This was done with the help of a map of the woods, complete with color coded game trails and exit routes. It was precious.

After all the plans were made, we all watched a Louis L'Amour movie (Sacketts) about three trigger-happy brothers trying to survive the wild western frontier. OK, the movie wasn't too bad. I keep meaning to read me some Louis L'Amour. But nonetheless, this activity points out the family fascination with guns. These men are cowboys to the core.

At 4:30am the men awoke and showered with "Scent-A-Way" soap so the deer couldn't detect their presence.

5:30 am: they made their way out into the woods, with guns and camo body suits in tow.

7:22am: the first shot was heard

approx 10am: Caleb kills a large 9-point buck

12pm-12am the following morning: the family prepares meat for consumption. This process involves gutting, skinning, de-boning, washing, wrapping, and freezing the meat. It was quite a process. Now I am much more grateful that I can go to the grocery store and just buy my meat--not that I'll need to for a while. We probably have 100 pounds of venison to get us through the year.

I have a few photos from the day. Beware if you have a weak stomach:

Kinda gross, right?

She's got a bun in the oven...

2011 Halloween costumes for the Miskins.

An Update

I decided that I am more vain than I thought I was. I discovered this when I awoke a few mornings ago to find stretch marks all over my belly. Sorry if that's a little tmi. It's life. I find myself looking down and doubting that I will ever shrink back to my pre-pregnancy size. My fingers have become sausages because I'm retaining water. My ankles have achieved kankle status. And then there's the extra 25 pounds I'm carrying around. I try to remind myself where all that weight is going to, like my blood circulation, the baby, placenta, etc... but when you feel like a whale, it's hard to keep that in mind. We also had to get new drivers licenses last week. That is just what I needed: a close-up photo of my fat pregnant face on the license that doesn't expire until March 7th of 2018. Then they ask you a few identifying questions:

"Hair color?"

"Brown."

"Eye color?"

"Ditto."

"Height?"

"5'5''

"Weight?"

"Uhh..."

Well I definitely lied. I did not want to see THAT number on there for the next 6.5 years. Sidenote: I only have one craving... ICE. You would think that would help keep the weight off. Nope.

So yep, I feel huge. But life is pretty good these days. I bought a house. That was fun. We love it, but we have struggled finding furniture to put in it. For now we have camping chairs in the living room...

Also, Caleb was awarded the Centennial Fellowship from the Chemical Engineering Dept. at Purdue. This one basically means the college gives him an extra $3,000 every year, which is GREATLY appreciated. I'm so proud of him. We got to go to this fancy cocktail party and dinner and meet a bunch of the Purdue big wigs.

Here are some photos of our lovely new home:

And here are some belly pics that my mom has been begging me for...

Raindrops on Roses

I have realized some more "favorite things" since moving to Indiana, so I thought I'd share:

1. public libraries. West Lafayette has an awesome public library that has more books than I could ever read. (Alpine, Ut didn't even have a library, so I had to go to Highland City's library, which consisted of about five shelves and a rather cranky librarian. So this is a step up.) I also have rather sour memories of the Temecula public library because there was always this homeless lady there who smelled terrible. I could never get to the books I wanted without holding my breath. So far I haven't had to do that here, so I'm happy.

2. Corn and green beans. I always liked vegetables, but now that I'm in the midwest I feel "country" when I eat locally grown produce. It tastes so much better out here.

3. House Hunting. We are actually in the process of buying a house. I don't want to post about it until the deal goes through. (I tend to get my hopes up about these things.) But I feel so dignified talking to realtors, going the bank for a loan, scheduling home inspections, etc. In fact sometimes I just like to throw out words like "mortgage" and "fifteen-year fixed interest rate" just to feel grown up.

4. homemade bread. So I had a job lined up out here and it kinda fell through. If finding a job was hard before, just try being six months pregnant. "Hi, yes, I'd like to work for you. But only for the next three months. And then I'd like six weeks maternity leave, and after that I only want to work once a week or so, just to keep my nursing license active..." Hmm, and I wonder why nobody calls me back. But anyway, unemployment has left me with some time on my hands. So I started baking bread once a week. It's divine, except for I eat WAY more bread than I used to. Trust me, the last thing I need right now is a caloric increase. I'm gaining weight just fine without it.

I had no idea how many corn fields there were in America...

We're Here! After five LONG days of driving, Caleb and I pulled in to our new home: West Lafayette, Indiana. Here are a few highlights from the trip...

Our first pit stop (minus the bathroom breaks every hour. pregnancy is cruel for the traveler) was at the Little America somewhere in Wyoming. They had 50 cent ice cream cones; hence why I made Caleb stop. We found a random dinosaur, and I tried to climb on top. The belly got in the way, so I settled for a photo in front of it.

Next stop was at the Martin's Cove historic church site. This is a (terrible) photo of us up at the cove. We were supposed to hike there, but pregnancy again got in the way. I had a rather bad flare up of my sciatic nerve, and could hardly walk, so the nice senior missionaries gave us a ride up in a golf cart. Caleb was so embarrassed. Poor thing.

We decided that it's hard to take pictures on a road trip because there is never anyone around to snap the photo. We used the hood of our car a lot, which is why we lack any quality pictures.

I couldn't hike to Martin's Cove, but there was no way Caleb was going to let me stop him from climbing Independence Rock. He literally dragged me up, which I am thankful for now. I loved seeing all the old names carved into the rock of people passing through from hundreds of years before.

I don't have any photos from Casper, WY, but that's where we spent the first night of the journey. Caleb's cousin Brittany was gracious enough to let us stay with her, even though her bathroom and kitchen were undergoing a remodel. We had a great time playing with her kiddos and getting to know her better.

Day two of the journey was a NIGHTMARE. We left Casper at 6:30am and didn't get to Kansas City until 9:30pm. Why? Oh, because every river in Nebraska and Kansas was flooded. You can't cross a bridge if the river is flooded, even though Emily (our less-than-helpful-at-times- GPS) told us too. We ended up driving two hours out of the way trying to find a way across the Missouri river. Finally, after three different bridges, we finally got across. We stayed the night with the Larsen family, friends that used to live in Temecula. I'm sad I don't have any photos of them either. On the way out we hit up Liberty Jail and went by the new temple being built in Kansas City.

The next stop was Far West, MO. We had lunch there and really enjoyed the calm, peaceful surroundings.

I hate being the only person in a photo, especially when I'm 15 pounds heavier than usual. Caleb made me do it.

We also stopped at Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which was very nice, but I don't have any photos to prove it. After that we went onward to spend a day in Nauvoo--my favorite part of the trip.

We stayed at the Chief Motel in Keokuk, a city right next to Nauvoo. I wouldn't recommend it, but I would recommend the restaurant we ate at called "Angelinis." I'm sure we got some looks when we ordered an Extra Large pizza for just the two of us. So good.

Caleb and I both really enjoyed visiting all the little homes along Historic Nauvoo. I think Caleb wanted a picture of him under a yoke to symbolize his burden of supporting a wife and soon-to-be child.

I put my shoulder to the wheel.

Caleb met his long lost twin. Seriously, I don't know if this picture even does it justice. They looked SO MUCH ALIKE. We had people coming up to us all day asking Caleb why we wasn't wearing his missionary tag and costume, and why he wasn't with the band. Once we saw this guy--a young preforming missionary who plays the drums for the Nauvoo Brass Band, we understood why, and asked him for a photo. It was fun.

We camped in Nauvoo the second night. I wouldn't recommend that either. This picture captures an embarrassing story of me. You look at the water pump and think, "You need to pump it, right?" Nope. Caleb just laughed at me while I was furiously pumping the handle, wondering why no water was coming out. Turns out you just had to lift the handle. Maybe being in Historic Nauvoo for a day made me revert back to the primitive ways of life. We were, after all, camping.

We stopped at Carthage Jail on our way out of Nauvoo. That was another favorite part of the trip. I gained a new appreciation and admiration for Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

After approximately 1900 miles, we finally passed into our new home state! We've been here for a week now, and are still trying to settle in, which is hard because we don't have a permanent home yet. We are looking at buying a house, and are staying at Caleb's grandparent's in the meantime. We found a duplex that we really like, and are meeting with a realtor on Monday to get the ball rolling.