US Open!

So Albert Einstein (the school, not the man!) gave us 2 tickets to go to the US Open last Tuesday! It was slightly lame because they wouldn't let us take the school bus that they were using to take all the students to the US Open in Queens because we had Auralia. So they gave us cards to use the metro and sent us on our way to figure it out. We headed into Manhattan via subway and then took a connecting subway to Queens. The ride to Queens was PACKED with 5 o'clock commuters, US Open attendees, and Met fans who were headed to a game which was across the street from the US Open. We were packed in like sardines. Luckily, we had Auralia in the moby- which I absolutely LOVE! We never take the stroller onto the bus or subway and she always does great in the moby. The US Open was huge! Tons of people, vendors, athletic stores. Who knew?!?! On TV it only looks like 100 people attend :) We were in the main stadium in nosebleed (of course) and got to watch Nadal play some underdog whose name I can't actually remember. It was a neat experience, although I'm not sure I'd do it again with a 2 month old! She was hungry, pretty fussy, needing a diaper change, etc. We ended up leaving just before 10pm and later found out that Serena played on that court after Nadal! Oh well... we didn't get home until 11:30pm anyways.

We enjoyed chicken tenders & waffle fries at the match. She enjoyed some milk :)

2 months old!

Our little Auralia is 2 months old! It's hard to believe it's already been 2 months! She weighed in at 10 lbs 3 ounces! She's a growin! And she's finally starting to fit into her 0-3 month clothes! Some things I love about Auralia:

1. She loves to smile and "talk" (coo and coo) to mom and dad. She also raises her eyebrows when I raise mine at her.

2. She sleeps like a champion (for a new baby of course). For instance, last night she slept from 9pm-2am (5 hours for those who don't want to do the math!) and then from 2:30am-6:30am (4 hour stretch). Tyron was actually a doll and took the 2:30am feeding because I'm sick so I got a great stretch of sleep!!

3. She's so content! I've started going back to work part-time from home and it's been so difficult making the transition because I'm still getting used to being a mom and I've been trying to unpack the apartment at the same time. And not to mention that I've been fighting a cold all week. So bottom line is I feel guilty every day about not being able to spend more time playing with Auralia and helping her develop some skills. It's just been a hard and overwhelming 2 months with this move. But she's so good to just sit in her swing or in a bouncer while I work or do stuff around the house. I'm SO grateful for the Moby carrier! She can be close to me but I have my hands available. She quickly falls asleep when she's in it. And it's easier to take her around in that on the bus than the enormous stroller!

4. She's a lolly gagger at eating. I probably shouldn't like this because it can be frustrating when she takes 45 minutes to eat her 4 oz bottle at 2am, but I think it's so cute when she gets side tracked by a shadow or the city lights and her eyes wander and she fixes on something so hard that she quits sucking and milk starts to trickle out of her mouth. We'll pull out the bottle and she's still staring with her mouth fixed open and milk still coming out. It's just adorable!

Here's some pics we took of her on her 2 month mark:

On our way home from church.

She loves to be wrapped and all snuggly. We love it too!

Follow-up Anniversary Pics

So here's how the night went: We went to the Museum of Modern Art in the city and it sucked!! I forgot how much I hate modern art (no offense to any of you modern art lovers out there!). We gave it a try by checking out the photography section and after we reached the naked homeless russian room (that was my interpretation anyways; gross old lady boobs, a guy with a butt rash, other lady parts) we decided we were done. We left and saw St. Patrick's Cathedral- it was gorgeous inside! And there was a wedding so we stayed and watched and fed Auralia. When we were ready to leave there was a huge boom of thunder outside and torrential rain started to pour down! We tried to wait it out but after 15 minutes and being moved by hunger, we decided to venture out. There was a really sweet gal there who had just bought a huge umbrella and she just gave it to us! We offered to pay her for it, but she told us not to worry about it!! So we ventured towards Time Square to find a restaurant. We went to Ruby Tuesday's and went in to eat. Unfortunately there was like a 30 minute wait, but we did eventually get in to eat. After some delicious steak we made the trek back to the Bronx. There was water on the tracks & backed up subway traffic so it took an hour to get home. I've been fighting a head cold all week so when we got home I felt awful and just soaked in the tub. So it sounds like it would have been a bad night, but we actually had a lot of fun. And Miss Auralia slept during all of it (minus the feeding at the Cathedral). (No these are not the old russian lady boobs- I did take a picture of it and sent it to my sister as a joke! But I refuse to send them to anyone else!)

5 Year Anniversary!

Today is our 5 year wedding anniversary! We'll be celebrating by going to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan and getting something yummy to eat. Who knows, maybe we'll even get a picture with 'The Naked Cowboy.' Pictures to follow...

In New York

In the plane! Auralia resting on daddy's headrest pillow before takeoff.

So we made it to New York! We flew in last Thursday. Auralia was great on the plane ride. She ate when we took off (which helped her ears to pop) and then slept most of the way there. She just woke up 30 minutes before landing to eat again. People commented on how quiet she was during the flight... so that's always a good indication that she was good! I'll post more pictures of the neighborhood and apartment. We just got internet on Monday and then I've been sick the last 2 days. And I'm still trying to unpack and adjust. So blogging hasn't been top on my priority list :) I know, I must not have my priorities straight if I'm not posting pics of the cutie for you all to see!

Breastfeeding Woes & Tongue-Tied

After 6 weeks of painful breastfeeding, I visited Julie Johnson- an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) located in South Jordan. (IBCLC is the highest standard in professional breastfeeding management, and Julie's been certified since 2003 and has worked with thousands of clients!). She explained that if breastfeeding is still painful after 6 weeks then there must be an issue with the baby and her ability to latch. She did a thorough oral exam and diagnosed Auralia with a level 4 posterior tongue-tie. It's been such a relief to figure out why breastfeeding has continued to be so painful! I was getting so frustrated and even depressed at times about my inability to get breastfeeding to work; I was also in pain every time Auralia needed to eat and I found myself dreading feeding her.

So if any of you moms are still struggling with breastfeeding (or know someone who is), I'd highly recommend visiting Julie if you're in the Utah area! I went to a lactation "specialist" 2 days after Auralia was born. She was terrible! I left confused and overwhelmed and she completely missed that there was a problem-Auralia can't stick her tongue out past her bottom gumline! Many "lactation specialists" are people who have no certified training in breastfeeding and while they many be able to help some moms with learning basic breastfeeding techniques, there are the handful of moms who slip through the cracks because there are problems that these "specialists" can't solve and so they end up recommending supplementing.

The sad part of it all is that tongue-tie often goes undiagnosed and even when it is diagnosed, many health care professionals do not recognize it as a link to breastfeeding complications. The good news is that tongue-tie is easily fixed! For more information on tongue-tie, visit http://www.suite101.com/conten​t/diagnosing-tonguetie-in-a-br​eastfed-baby-a78730 and http://www.kellymom.com/babyco​ncerns/bfhelp-tonguetie.html. Also, Julie's website is http://www.mybirthangel.com/.

Goodbye Provo

So this past week was a lot of "lasts." Last Sunday at church, last day in our apartment, last day living in Provo, and last time seeing our friends. Packing and loading the moving cubes was not fun at all, especially with a newborn, but we got it done. Although we often complained about Provo/Utah and one day getting out (which has finally come!), Provo has been good to us. Looking back on the last 6 years, Provo is where we started our life and family. It also holds our college memories. And we have made so many good friends while living here. Here's to Provo!