Introducing....Maylee Koecher

Here is the long awaited baby post.  Maylee is already 6 weeks old but it has taken me a while to get around to getting this all written down.  As most of you know, Maylee Koecher was born on July 6, 2012 at 1:04 pm.  She was 9 lb 8 oz and 21.5 inches long.  I was suspecting that she might be a little on the bigger side, but was really surprised when they told me her weight.  She was a full inch longer than Jackson was when he was born so maybe she'll be a tall basketball or volleyball player.  Be prepared for a picture overload. I'm still not very good at blogging, so the pictures aren't exactly in the order I would like, but it will work.  Meanwhile, we are adjusting to having 2 kids and being a family of 4.  We couldn't love Maylee more and are so happy that she is finally here.  She is a very easy going baby and Jackson loves his baby sister so much.  He is already her little protector and will say, "That's MY baby sister," when he thinks another child is trying to claim her.  I absolutely LOVE seeing how cute they are together.  What a cute sibling bond!

Since I had a scheduled C-section, we knew exactly what day Maylee would be born.  So we made a paper chain to count down the days.  It was cute to see how excited Jackson got to break off a link every day.  Here's the last link.

Anxiously waiting....

....and being entertained by Dallin in his stylish jumpsuit.

Some of the very first pictures of my little baby girl.  Her hair looked red and curly immediately (as you can tell) but I didn't really believe it because we thought pretty much the same thing about Jackson right after he was born.  But, after a bath, I realized that we had a little curly haired red-head on our hands.  Reminds me of someone else I know.... ;-)

Not too happy to see the world.

The first time I got to see my baby girl.  I can't explain how much love you instantly feel for someone.  I still am amazed at the precious little ones that I am blessed to raise.  

Jackson finally got to meet "Baby Sister".  She still didn't have a name at the time.  Throughout my pregnancy, Jackson wanted to name her Molly (long story).  Dallin and I had three names that we liked that we hadn't told anyone.  It took until her second day of life for us to pick Maylee.  It fits her perfectly.  We actually thought we made the name up, but have since heard of a few other people with the name Maylee.  Dallin's grandmother's middle name is Mae and Lee is a family name on my side.  My grandma is Sandra Lee and my mom is Candace Lee and I am Amberly.  So we decided to make it easier to spell and name her Maylee after some of the amazing women in our lives and some of the people we hope she looks to as role models.

Our first family picture.  I'm not sure why he's doing it, but it looks like Jackson is putting his hand over his heart (for some reason he thinks his heart is just below his chin).  It's amazing being a family of 4. And still really surreal.

Daddy and his little princess.

Our little Maylee girl.  A newborn shot before she even got her first bath.

Wide awake and checking out what the world has to offer her.  She definitely has some kissable cheeks.  They look pretty big in some of these newborn pictures. Her eyes were such a beautiful dark grey right after she was born.  They are a beautiful light blue now.  We'll see what color they end up. 

Mommy and Maylee.

She had quite a bit of hair right after she was born.  Looking at these pictures makes me realize how much of it she has already lost.  I'm sure it will come back.  Just look at the mop Jackson has in the picture below. ;-)

Giving his baby sister a kiss.

Leaving the hospital and heading home.

The first day back at home with both of my kids.  We appreciated having my parents watch Jackson while I was in the hospital, but we really missed our little munchkin.  It was nice to all be back together again.

The first granddaughter on the Bown side.  Thanks for coming up to stay with us Grandma!

Reading books.

It sure is nice to have a house with some extra space to accommodate a family of 4.  She may be small but between her, her stuff, and a tornado toddler, we sure appreciate the extra space.

Maylee looks just like my baby pictures.  It's a little hard to tell in this picture but you can probably see the resemblance.

Because Jackson adores the game Candyland, Maylee got some pretty early exposure to it.  She's now a regular participant. 

She also had some jaundice right after she was born and had to have the bili bed and the lights...this explains the reason why she currently has no clothes on...it was one of her brief breaks from her tanning bed.

Jackson and Daddy have been having a lot of fun too.  We took Jackson to the store to pick out a special big brother toy which ended up being an action figure.  Daddy ended up "needing" to buy an action figure for himself too so they can play together.  How many children do I have again? ;-)

Sunday nap time.

I still can't believe that just a week earlier, she actually fit inside of me.  The human body is an amazing thing.

Jackson and Daddy decided to amuse themselves with one of our big moving boxes that we had stashed downstairs.  Hours of fun...

Not sure what to think of the prospects of her first real bath.

One month old already!  The time has gone so fast!  I can't believe how grown up she already is and how different she looks from her newborn pictures.  We already can't imagine life without her.

Thanks to Dallin's aunt DeNai and his cousin Stacy, Maylee has her very first tutu.  She may look a little tired in this picture, but she is the cutest little ballerina I've ever seen.  There are definitely some fun things you can do with a baby girl that you can't (or shouldn't) do with a baby boy ;-)

Kisses.

We also went to Uncle Michael's graduation from BYU.  He received his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Way to go Mike!

Dallin and his brothers.

My favorite family picture so far.  We have to give thanks to Uncle Mike for being our impromptu photographer. He does a good job though.

And here is the emergency button that Jackson decided to push while we were taking pictures after the graduation.  In case you're wondering, it really does go to 911...and no....this is not the first time he has called them.

Sorry this picture is sideways, but I forgot to rotate it earlier.  It's a little easier to see the resemblance between Maylee and my baby pictures in this one.  

And here are some pictures from a newborn shoot that my sister-in-law Bethany Bown did with Maylee when she was just 6 days old.  I think they turned out really good.  Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks again Beth!

We sure love you Maylee!!! Welcome to our family!!!

Happy 4th of July

We decided that since we were going to be having a baby 2 days later, that we were going to really live up the 4th of July with Jackson.  We wanted to cram all of the stuff that was going to be much more difficult to do with a newborn all into one day.  It made for a crazy day, but it was so much fun!  Here's a snapshot of what we did.

We started off the day bright and early at the Provo Hot Air Balloon Festival. Jackson sees hot air balloons around Heber on a semi-regular basis and thinks they're pretty cool, so we thought he might like seeing a bunch of them up close. He loved it. It was lots of fun to see them filling up the balloons and taking off.

 

Next we headed up to 7 Peaks for a while.  We have the pass of all passes this summer and have loved it.  We went to the water park and played (even though they don't let pregnant women go on any slides or rides) then headed to my parents house for naptime.




Jackson took this picture.  Not too bad actually ;-)

 Then we met up with Deanne, Candi and Brittany at Village Inn for some dinner (it reminded me of our good old pie nights with the 900 court).  Then we went to my first ever Real Salt Lake soccer game.  Unfortunately, we didn't win (but would of if the refs hadn't made the mistake of calling a goal off sides when it really wasn't) but we still had a really good time.  The stadium is wonderful and there really aren't bad seats.  I consider it one of my major accomplishments of our marriage that Dallin enjoys soccer.  It took some work, but now he's a fan and we'll watch the RSL games that they show on tv at home for an at-home date night.  Gold star for me.

After the game, there were fireworks.  Jackson fell asleep during the game and wasn't too happy when he woke up and they were doing fireworks.  He covered his ears and said he wanted to go home.  I guess that's what you get for keeping a toddler too busy and up too late.  He did watch some before we headed back home to really buckle in on baby preparations.  Even though he acted like he didn't like the fireworks, it was all he could talk about for the next two days....then he had something (or shall I say someone) else to talk about...

You can tell Jackson is a little out of it.  He just woke up. :-)

The next night we lit sparklers in our driveway.  Jackson really liked them too.  He's so cute.  It was strange to think that soon we would be a family of 4 instead of a family of 3.

Change, change, change....

For a while now, Dallin and I were really wanting a change. We were tired of Dallin having to look for jobs along with thousands of other people who were all looking for the same jobs. We were hurting because we wanted to have another baby so badly, and just didn't understand why we hadn't been able to. We were also accumulating more "stuff" which can be a good thing in most circumstances, but gets a little claustrophobic when you live in 700 square feet of cinderblock. It's so funny now to look back and remember how frustrated we were and how things just didn't feel like they were 'ever' going to change. Little did I know that one year later, Dallin would have a job he loves in a town we're going to be moving to soon, we would have a baby on the way and we would be in the process of buying a home. We truly feel so blessed. It's been a little strange at times for us. We've been so used to the string of bad luck that we've been having for the last two years that sometimes we just have to knock on wood and tell ourselves to stop waiting for something bad to happen. I've realized that the bad times help you appreciate the good times. And the good times, or rather good people and strong relationships, can help you make it through the bad times. Whether we're really ready or not, here we come. The future is looking brighter than the last bit has been. Here's a quick update on some of the many changes that we're going through right now.

I am now half-way through this pregnancy. Overall, I haven't been too sick. I have been sicker than I was with Jackson, but my blood sugars have not been as difficult to control (knock on wood again). I was pretty exhausted the first trimester, but am feeling a lot better now. You know you've been a little out of it when your husband comments on the fact that you've stayed up past 9:00 two or three nights in a row. ;-) Throughout this whole pregnancy, when we ask Jackson if he is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister, he has said a baby sister. We're not quite sure why. It could be the fact that he's a ladies man. Or that 99% of his friends are girls. Or that he has already kissed a girl (or two or three) at the ripe old age of 2. We've tried to tell him that it could be a baby boy or that he just might end up getting a baby brother instead. It hasn't worked. This last week, we had an ultrasound and found out that we should have been listening to him all along instead of the other way around (just in this case). We are indead having a baby girl. We are so excited and couldn't be happier. Now instead of being outnumbered by Dallin and Jackson, we'll be even. Bring on the princesses and chick flicks. :-) Dallin and Jackson came with me to the ultrasound. Right after we found out that we were having a girl, we asked Jackson what we should name his new baby sister. His response? "Boy." What a funny little guy. I'm excited to look at hair bows and dresses and just to cuddle a little baby again. I've been looking at my friends babies lately and then looking at Jackson and wondering when he grew up. He is such a fun, energetic 2 year old. He never really stops and likes to keep us laughing. He's going to be a great big brother.

On another note, we are also in the process of buying a house. We found a bunch of different programs and moving incentives that are going to help us get into a house of our own. We are so excited! Tentative closing date is set for the 15th of March (give or take a little). We are so excited to have the space to spread out, room for Jackson to run, and a 'normal' sized refridgerator and oven. We are so sad to leave behind our friends and our ward and neighbors. It's a mixed blessing. However, our new house is in Heber (only 45 minutes away) so we would love to have visitors. We're excited to be able to invite more than 6 people over at a time (and even then, it's a little cramped). Now we just need to figure out where to find boxes and the time to fill them up with all of the stuff we have accumulated. Here's a picture of our house (as long as everything continues to go through). Now you can all be as excited as we are. :-)

Here's what it looks like now, from the outside.
Here's a picture of my favorite part. :-)

This is the view from our bedroom. You've got to love Heber.

Here's a picture of us in front of our 'soon to be' new house. :-)

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! Who wouldn't want to ring in the new year with this adorable little boy.......

.....and (in case you didn't notice his shirt, like 85% of our family)........with the new addition to our family?

Baby is set to join our family on/around/before or about July 18th. We are so excited and can't wait. Hopefully it's a girl because Jackson will talk about baby sister, but we have yet to get him to even say baby brother. Things have been going well so far. I had an ultrasound and was even able to see the little one waving at me. I haven't been too sick either, knock on wood. We can't wait to see our family go from 3 to 4. This year is starting out really well for our family. Here's to hoping it continues to go as well. :-)

Update...

So, as always, I have a lot to catch up on. You know you should probably start updating things when your grandma tells you she's been checking your blog and was sad to see that you haven't posted in a while. We have been incredibly busy and having lots of fun. I'll try to get you updated on what's going on in our lives.

We had the first (and the last, so far) snowstorm of the year. It was a lot of fun to go out and play. Jackson enjoyed building a snowman with one of his friends, Aurora (with some help from the parents, of course). I sure wish it would start snowing again soon to clean out this gross air and make it feel a little more like Christmas.

Jackson is now talking up a storm! It's amazing the little things he says. He can count to ten, even though this movie makes you think he only knows up to three. Whenever I ask him to count with the camera out, for some reason he thinks he should count to three, yell go, and run out of the room. I have no idea where that came from. I still think it's cute though. I also love it when he says things like, "Mommy, where are you? There you are Mommy." "Bless you Daddy," "Oh dear" and "I love you." Those are just a few of my favorites. He is a little chatterbox and likes to always be part of the conversation.

Dallin, Jackson and I headed down to temple square the other night to check out the Christmas lights. It was really cold, but we had a great time. Here's a pic of Jackson haming it up.

We also went to Louisianna for Thanksgiving with the Koecher side of the family. Dallin's sister, Lisa, and her family live there and we've never been out to visit. I was a little nervous to fly with a two year old, but we made it and had a great time. Here is a random sampling of some of our pictures. I took tons of pictures, so a few will have to be good enough. We had a great time and enjoyed our week off immensely. Thanks for everything Lisa, Andrew and Deanne. It was so much fun to spend so much time together. The first day we were there, Jackson started saying, "Go home? Jackson go home?" Who would have thought he would get homesick? Then, when we landed in Salt Lake, Jackson told us, "Jackson go to Ava's house?" What a turn of events. Lisa made Jackson a delicious birthday cake. For everyone who wasn't there, here's a little video of it. Sorry for the poor singing. I think I was paying more attention to getting the video than singing.

The beautiful view out of our plane.

These next few pictures are at a restaurant in Lafayette called Prejean's that Matthew, Steven, and Rolf raved about when they drove through a while ago. We all went there in honor of them. We had a great time.

The whole gang.

We went on a swamp tour and Dallin even got to hold a little alligator. Jackson even thought it was cool. I contented myself with holding Jackson.

This is so Michael.

Dallin and I in New Orleans.

The French Quarter in New Orleans. This wasn't exactly my favorite part of the trip, but we still had a good time. Jackson and his cousins.

This is one of the bridges in Shreveport, where Dallin's sister, Lisa lives. I thought it was pretty all lit up.

Ice cream at Brahms. Yum! This restaurant is almost enough to make me want to move to Texas.

We went to the Tyler Zoo when we drove through Texas to pick up Michael. It was a wet and rainy day, but it beat the snowstorm Utah was getting at the time.

Another birthday cake picture.

Jackson's first flight.

Jackson's cute cousin, Ava. Michael was teasing her and put her on a produce scale. Every time Jackson see's this picture, he laughs. I think it's pretty cute. She's adorable. It was fun spending time with all the Bensons.

We had sucha great time in Louisianna, but it was still nice to come home to our version of "normal". Here's a taste of what's been going on since. Here are a few pictures of what happens when we put Jackson down for a nap before he's really ready. He tries to either read himself to sleep or redecorate himself and his room ;-)

And these are just because I think my little boy is adorable!!! The first one is the face we get when we tell him to smile or say, "Cheese!"