A NEW YEAR A NEW ME!!!

2012 brings much excitement and new experiences and I want to make the best of it. A whole year of not working to care for my Macie can bring on a whole year of doing nothing and being lazy, or doing everything and being amazing.

My 2012 goals:

Spiritual- read the whole Ensign every month

Physical- run a half marathon and a tri-athalon

Mental- read 6 books this year, with 3 of them being church books and one parenting book

Health- eat 8 servings of fruits and veggies daily and drink 8 cups of water

Financial- save enough money to pay of our truck by the end of the year

a couple extras:

-nurture Macie in the Spiritual, mental, Physical and Health.
-study the Book of Mormon with Mark and prepare for the Sunday school lesson by reading in the study book at night.
-Save for a 3 week summer vacation (can't wait)
-learn a bunch of crock pot meals and freezer meals

MY FIRST 20 MINUTES!!

Last night I decided it was my turn to take the puppies for a walk, it was so gorgeous outside and I needed the fresh air and moment for myself. And what do you think I thought about that whole entire 20 minutes, Macie of course. I think there was one moment that I didn't when I was dreaming about running instead of walking. This little girl of mine is on my mind pretty much 24/7. Motherly instincts really do kick in. At night time the smallest noise out of her wakes me up, when she is sleeping during the day I always feel the urge to go check on her and make sure she is okay, and I do about two times each nap. When others are holding her I have a hard time not watching them like a hawk to make sure they don't drop her and her cry breaks my heart if I can't mend it right away.


Her first Sunday outfit, and yes the thumb has already meet the mouth.

WE STILL LOVE YOU!!

Molly and Lily have not been forgotten but definitely neglected a little bit. They are doing wonderfully with Macie. Molly is so cute with her and follows her around everywhere she goes. Anytime she cries Molly is wanting to know what is wrong and make sure someone is looking after her. Lily has been more concerned with me and what is wrong with mom. Why is she so slow moving, why is she not going on walks with us, and why can't I go near her when she is feeding Macie. I have been so impressed with them and Mark is doing such a good job of making sure they still go on walks and get played with daily.

NEW YEARS EVE!!!

A post not about Macie, I know I can't believe it either. For New Years my sister's family was up to visit so we decided to have a small party at our house with some cousins, and 0ld friends of my sister and the Edwards Family. We had everybody bring an appetizer and dessert and man did we have a ton of food. It was all delicious. Macie had her first real bad night that night of course so I missed out on most of the fun, but everybody had a blast eating, playing games and visiting. The Edwards and Trainers had too little of kids and had to bail early but we did ring in the new year with the Millers, and Passey's. I am glad we had the party at our house so I could have some entertainment that night as I would not have been up to going to someone's house yet and stay that late.

VISITING FAMILY!!!

Yesterday Macie got to go for a visit to see her Great Grandma Feenstra and her Uncle Jeff. Grandma did not get to hold her to long as Macie was hungry and we had her first Doctor's Appointment to get too, but when we got to her Uncle Jeff's house she just snuggled right into him and loved every minute off it.

CAN'T HANDLE IT!!!!

That's right I can't handle how incredibly sweet, adorable, cute, lovable, cuddly this little girl of mine is. I feel like I am living in a dream right now. I can't stand how cute her chubby little cheeks, hands, arms, legs and feet are. I love that it looks so far like she got her dads blond hair, and her mom's dark blue, grey eyes.

"Everything she does is adorable" a direct quote from her Daddy.

Mark and I can't get enough of her I have such a hard time putting her to bed in her crib when she is sleeping all I want to do is hold her and snuggle her. When she cries it sounds like she is singing "Laaaaaa, Laaaaaa, Laaaaaa" When she really cries (screams) it breaks Mom and Dad's Heart and feels so good though when we find a way to fix the crying, especially if all she needed was some snuggles. Her sneezing is adorable and she does it quit often, and her yawn is to die for. She is fantastic at eating still, sleeping, and popping. She absolutely hates being naked and anything that involves being naked. Getting her diaper changed, getting dressed, and having baths. Although she doesn't mind being in the bath, but once she is out the crying begins and doesn't end until she is fully dressed and being held.


look at that double chin and chubby cheeks, you just want to kiss them all day long.


Love this outfit


How cute is that yawn

BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!

This girl is already getting spoiled and she is only 5 days old, not good. From Grandma Hunsperger she got the cutest rocking horse, a Melissa and Doug block clock from Dad, a Melissa and Doug Bear puzzle from Mom, a stuffed teddy bear from Santa Claus, money from Grandma and Grandpa Dudley, a beautiful quilt from her cousin Kalina, a rabbit hat, Christmas book, and bracelet from her Aunt Corrine, Uncle Wes, and cousins Annika, Cole, and Brynna, a pj outfit from Verl and Linda Woodruff, and some cute baby accessories and picture frame from her cousin Mikayla. She slept through the whole entire opening of presents but her Mom and Dad are very grateful for all the wonderful gifts she got from those who love her.

Christmas was so different this year, not only did it include a pointless trip to the ER thanks to a stupid Alberta Health Link Nurse (d0n't worry everything is good), we had chicken instead of turkey, no chocolate cream pie and a lot of sitting in epsom salt baths, sleeping, and changing diapers. Yet it was awesome. Our first Christmas with our beautiful baby girl, we watched an amazing church movie about the Martin/Harris handcart company, and the talks given in church today were very humbling. What a wonderful day and definitely a very Merry Christmas.

The POWER of bigger flowers

Its Wednesday morning and Macie is not even a full day old. The hospital breakfast is very boring. Kalinda sends me out to get her some Booster Juice. Being the superman that I am, I go and get her what she needs. As I am coming back into the hospital with her pineapple freeze, I follow a woman with flowers up to the maternity wing. Here I am holding only a simple shake, and NO flowers, what a great dad! I felt pretty bad. So later that day when I got sent to get some lunch to supplement the flavorless, conglomeration they call food, I remember the need for some colorful pick-me-ups that women need when they are in the hospital. So a quick stop at the local flower shop and a consult with Sister Paige, and $50.00 later, I walk out with a slightly less than humble bouquet of flowers and pine leaves with one little orniment of a random wooden dutch figurine. Hey it came with the arraignment. Kalinda was happy and thankful for the flowers. Those flowers did not even reach the window sill when a knock came at the door. A nurse came in with a package that covered her entire upper torso. More Flowers. Monster Flowers. Almost an entire shop of flowers. I was out done even before I could be praised. The oohs and awws could be heard through out the maternity wing. Who would have the audacity to send such and abomination to our room!!!! Purples and greens,pinks and whites. The smell of them made me sick. Discovering a card, I grabbed and looked at the message. It was my work. At least it was not a rival. However they did not need to go that colossal. I guess it is not the end of the world , but it just goes to show that no matter how good you think you did, there is always someone who can do it better. My Flowers (notice the dutch figure center right) Devon Flowers

COMING INTO THE WORLD!!!

7:30 am on Tuesday Dec 20th we arrived at the Lloydminster Hospital for our scheduled Induction. We got settled in our private room, they hooked up the monitor and IV and then we awaited the Doctor. Dr. Elgedewi arrived around 8:30 she checked to see how far along I was. 2cm which was very exciting. She broke my water and we waited about 2 hours to see if that would get things started. It did not so then I got to be injected with Patocin. That really got the ball rolling. I got to about 4 cm and then I decided to have the epidural. Both my nurse and Doctor highly recommended it for me, they said labor is hard but being induced can make it way worse. I am so glad I did. It was a breeze for the next 4 hours while waiting to get to 6 cm. It was so crazy how all the pain just disappeared. around 6 cm though I did start to feel a little more uncomfortable and felt some pressure. Finally around 8:30 they took me to the labor room and things progressed very quickly. I was 10 cm before we knew it and ready to start pushing. Labor was not what I thought at all even with the epidural there was pain, and oh my a lot of pressure. There was a couple moments when I did not think I was going to be able to do it. Until finally at 10:55 she made her grand entrance. Mark and my mother both got to be there when it happened and what a blessing that was I would not have been able to have done it without them. Hearing there words of encouragment made all the difference in the world when I was ready to give up. My nurses throughout the day were all amazing and Dr. Abouhamra who delivered Macie was fantastic. The only scary moments were when I would push her heart rate would drop quit a bit. The nurse was a little concerned and did an amazing job monitoring it and getting it back up. I knew she was going to be okay though, I had this very calm feeling from the Savior, say she will be okay just focus on doing your job. I of course cried when she came at first though it was because the pain was over and then when they placed her in my arms I cried because I was holding my beautiful baby girl. She was perfect and I loved her more then anything in the world. The whole experience was incredible.

It is day 4 now of her being her and she is amazing.

Macie loves to sleep, snuggle with anybody, eat, and gaze her eyes upon the world. She dislikes being disturbed when warm and cozy, a poppy diaper and getting mucus stuck in her throat. This has been my one big concern and thing I have been monitoring as she has had a hard time catching her breath from the mucus being stuck in her throat a lot. She is also a little jaundice and going for daily checks but for the most part she seems okay.

Macie is doing an amazing job of eating and got it very quickly, she is a fantastic sleeper so far and let me get 7 hours of sleep last night. she sleeped from 11 to 3 then 5 to 8. She is great at being awake and just looking around for a good hour at the world without crying.

She struggles at keeping her food down but is getting better as more of this mucus is starting to get out of her. She hates getting her blood taken to check for jaundice and am not looking forward to taking her today.

MACIE RYAN HUNSPERGER!!!

December 20th 2011 10:55 PM
8lbs 8 ounces
22 1/2 inches long

Birth story and more pictures to follow.