The Blessing

Ok, so these pictures weren't actually taken on Maci's blessing day, but lets just say that day was crazy, and I'm a horrible picture taker! (Sorry Maci :(() Her blessing was wonderful! Mike did such a great job! We decided to bless her in our old ward in Smithfield. We figured there were less people that had to travel far if we did it there. We had only immediate family in the circle due to our huge families. We had over 60 people! It was definitely a learning experience on what to do for the next family gathering. We had enough food, but barely! The biscuits and gravy were a huge hit! I just want to say thank you to all of our family and friends who came to support us and our precious girl! Especially my mom. She was a HUGE help! Thanks mom for all of the cooking and time and effort you spent on this. She truly is a blessing herself! I was so grateful for the spirit that was in our sacrament meeting that day. I was able to find the courage to bare my testimony in front of everybody. Mostly because I wanted my husband to know how grateful I am for him and his priesthood. Also, Aaron my lil bro gave an amazing testimony. Thanks for the encouragement buddy! Oh one small detail I have to mention. We were running a tad late. (It's hard to get pretty when you have to make someone else pretty first! :) It was snowing pretty hard that day, and the roads were slippery.  On our way to the church, Mike "ran" a stop sign due to the inability to stop on the slick roads. We just kept going straight into a field! Pretty exciting! Luckily we were able to just turn around in the field and we all made it safely to the church. 

Here's the proud papa! He loves his little princess so much!

I wish I could have got a picture of her in her dress when she was awake, but that didn't happen. I loved having the knit dress for her. My mom added the crocheted flowers on it to match the crocheted booties my grandma Taylor made for her. So adorable! Also my mom made a beautiful crocheted blanket that I know took her tons of hours! So so pretty. She also has a matching headband, but I forgot to put it on her for the picture. 

Maci is here!

Wow, where do I start. I guess I'll start with the beginning of the last time I posted. Our house is amazing! Mike finally went through and took pictures. Mike has been working really hard to get the yard done. We decided to extend the patio which I'm sure we will love in the summer. Thanks to my brother in law Nick for helping us with that! Our neighbor is in the landscaping business so we were able to finish the yard at a decent price. Grass and all! And thank you to my mom for some helpful decorating tips. :)

Extra Bathroom

Extra bedroom

Maci's room

Kitchen

Dining area

Living Room

Master Bathroom

Extended patio with our furniture under the awning

Unfinished basement

Master bedroom

Now for the really fun stuff! Miss Maci! Maci Lei Seamons arrived right on time. I went into labor on 10/11/11 and she came at 10:34 AM 10/12/11, her due date! I was in labor for almost 20 hours and by the time it came to push, my epidural was almost gone. So I tried my hardest to get her here fast so I didn't have to feel it anymore and only pushed for a half hour. Pretty good for my first baby! :) The reason it took so long for her to get here was we found out she was hung up on her umbilical cord. It was wrapped around her arm and shoulder. She wasn't able to drop low enough into the birth canal. Each contraction was starting to stress her out. Her heart rate would drop into the 60's with each one. Way too low for a baby! We tried giving me more fluid and oxygen to make sure she was getting enough oxygen. Finally after a long time and c-section was mentioned a few times, we changed the position I was laying in. I dilated to a 10 and was ready to push a half hour later! We stayed at the hospital for the 24 hours then we were out of there! Maci weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. She had a minor cone head, but it went down really fast! She had lots of fluid in her stomach and had to be suctioned for quite a while. :( Maci was a binky baby right from the beginning. She loved to suck on the green hospital binky that's the size of her head! I was so grateful for my moms help after! She came home for a few days after and was an angel! Taught me all of her motherly tips and cooked and cleaned and spoiled Maci rotten! Thanks again mom! Here are a few pictures of Maci's first few days of life.

This was what Mike saw as he was speeding through Brigham City to get to the hospital :)

 There's one word for this picture. Swollen!

 Reece loves Maci!

Brand new!

The little hoodie she has on says "Just like Mommy" :)

My mom crocheted the beanie and blanket for her

And gave her this amazing swing that she slept in her first few weeks.

Big stretch!

My aunt Holly took some amazing pictures when Maci was 3 weeks old. I tried to narrow it down to my favorites, but they're so many cute ones! My little Maci is a very alert baby. She has been since the day she was born. We kept trying to get her to fall asleep so we could pose her a little better, but she was not having it! I think they turned out amazing anyway. :) The few pictures that she is smiling are real smiles! I know that everyone will think no way, and it's just gas, but I was able to coax them out of her so I think they're real!

Baby got back!

 4 Generations :)

As you can see there were many cute ones! These next few pictures were taken around 3 weeks of age as well.

 My little bathing beauty posed herself like this all on her own :)

Here are a few more fun pictures of our little one :)

 This one was taken on Thanksgiving 

 She loves to nap in her rocker in front of the fireplace. 

 This was taken the day she had her shots. 12/5/11 :( She actually did really well. Only cried for about 30 seconds then was fine. I think it was cause she was just chillin in her diaper only :) Also at that appointment we got her 2 month stats. Weight 9 pounds 4 ounces 18th percentile (I promise I feed her!) Height 22 and a half inches 63rd percentile and Head I don't remember the exact measurement but was in the 52nd percentile. 

I just took this picture today! I was trying to catch her smiling but it proved to be difficult because every time she smiled, she would wiggle like crazy and the picture was blurry.

Here are a few fun facts about Maci

- Has reflux. :( She was spitting up so much that she would start spitting up clear stomach fluid and would start coughing and screaming her head off. Which I don't blame her! So I called her doctor and explained the situation and he prescribed her Zantac. She takes it twice a day now and is doing sooo much better. She's still a spitty little thing but it's a lot more manageable now. She hates the taste of her medicine though and makes a funny face every time she takes it. :) 

- Loves to smile and coo.

- Can often be heard talking to the angels when she first goes to bed at night.

- Laughs and smiles when you press on her nose and go "beep beep"

-Loves funny noises in general :) Her latest favorites are piggy noises and the sound of the "diesel" that her daddy makes. 

-Is a wiggler! When she is awake she is constantly moving. Kicks and moves her arms all over the place.

-Has blue eyes like her mama.

-People say she looks like me except with Mikes forehead. :) Here is a picture of me when I was about 1 years old. If I had one of me when I was younger I would have posted that, but this will have to do for now. See some similarities?

- Sleeps pretty well through the night. She sleeps in her crib and will usually do a 6-7 hour stretch then another 3-4 hour. Very nice for mommy! 

-Loves to take baths. I think its because of all the splashing that's involved!

- Is a morning person. She is the happiest first thing when she wakes up in the morning.

-Is loved by all who are around her!!

We are so grateful for this beautiful addition to our family! She is such a joy and we can't imagine our lives without her! :)