9 Months Old

Well, actually she'll be 9 months old on Sunday, but close enough. :) I can't believe how big she's getting! Since I haven't updated our blog in a couple of months, I thought I ought to let you know what's going on with Alia these days.

* She sits up great now!

* She still has no desire to crawl. At all. We will put her on her stomach, and she doesn't even try to lift her body off the floor.

* She still can only roll in one direction, but it doesn't seem to bother her, because she doesn't roll to get where she wants, she just rolls depending on whether or not she wants to be on her stomach or back.

* She loves to take baths and will only play with a wash cloth (mostly because she likes to suck the water out of it, but also because she like to whack the water with it, which of course gets everything wet).

* She still only has a tiny bit of hair, but what she has is definitely blond!

* She loves to stand up holding onto to things, like the couch, or our hands. She will walk if we prompt her to, but otherwise just like to stand still.

* She has her two bottom teeth, but her gums are feeling pretty bumpy these days, so I won't be surprised to see a few more pop up soon.

* She is very noisy! She will sometimes just lay on the floor and yell as loud as she can. Not because she's mad, though. In fact, she promptly smiles afterwards, as though she's feeling pretty proud of her lung capacity.

* She still doesn't eat much solid food. She'll eat about 2 oz. of baby food a day, but makes it very clear when she's finished, usually by sticking her tongue out, refusing to open her mouth, of giving me her "angry face".

* She says "dada", "mama", and "baba" (whatever that's supposed to mean) but I don't think she connects the words to anything yet.

* She likes it when we mimic her sounds. For example, she loves to click her tongue against the roof of her mouth, and then will watch us expectantly until we do it, too.

* She got to go in a baby swing at the park, and loved it! She also loves to see/be around other babies.

* She likes to take her toys, one-by-one, out of her toy basket and look them individually.

* She is such a happy little girl most of the time, and has such a funny little personality. Trevor and I love her big grin, because she always scrunches up her nose. We are so blessed to have this little girl in our life!

Where'd You Get Those Peepers?

So one thing that provides a constant source of amusement for me is all the comments that Alia gets on her eyes. It seems like it's either the first or the second thing that anyone says when the see Alia.

"Wow, look at those eyes!"

"She has such big eyes!"

"Oh, what beautiful eyes!"

The other day I was telling Trevor that I pretty much just wait for people to make one of these comments. Well, soon after saying that, we got into an elevator with two ladies. They commented on how cute she was, but there was no "eyes" comment. I was a little put-out, but then after they got off and walked around the corner (but before the elevator door closed) I heard one of the ladies say, "Did you see how big her eyes were?" I turned to Trevor and gave him a "told you so" look. :)

The funny thing is, neither Trevor nor I ever had eyes like that when we were babies. But it's by far her most defining feature. I wonder if they'll always look a little big, or if they just look that way now because she's so little still. Only time will tell, I suppose!

We didn't die...I just haven't posted in awhile

A picture of Alia from our recent family
portaits by Amy Bennion.

Wow, I haven't posted since June, and here it is, September. Well, I guess I should probably update!

Alia is doing great. She was sick last week, and ended up having a bladder infection, poor thing. She's feeling much better now, but is still on antibiotics. She'll be 6 months old this Sunday, and somehow I always imagined that she'd more more mobile at this point. She doesn't roll around, and still doesn't want to sit up on her own (although she LOVES it when we stand her up, and really likes to spend time standing in her jumper). She still cries when we put her on her tummy, and will only roll over as a last resort to get back on her back again. The last time we had her weighed and measured (when we took her to the pediatrician when she was sick) she weighed 13 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 26 inches long.

Isn't she cute in her little Zippy?

A big accomplishment for us lately has been weaning Alia off of her swaddle. She was swaddled every night and during naps, and for a long time it really helped her sleep better. Then she got stronger and would start busting out of her swaddle...however, she would then cry because she was un-swaddled. So she couldn't sleep with it or without it, and it was making bedtime a real hassle. We tried going cold turkey, but she woke up screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night and wouldn't calm down until we re-swaddled her, so that only lasted one night. Finally I came across this genius invention from another mom with a swaddle-addict baby, called a Zipadee-Zip. It lets babies move around more, but still gives them the snug feeling of being swaddled, and it has saved my bacon. Alia will play around for awhile, suck on her hands, and then eventually fall asleep. I will say that she still doesn't nap quite as long as she did swaddled, but it's a fair trade. Now, she'll wake up in the middle of the night, and instead of me rushing in their to re-swaddle her, she'll sometimes just play for a little while and then go back to sleep. We've also stopped swaddling her while we feed her (we had to for a long time because she would constantly whack the bottle out of her mouth, or would get distracted by the bottle and stop eating) and she's doing great with that, too. Overall, the whole process has gone so much better than I was expecting.

This was one of the family pictures that Amy Bennion
took for us a few weeks ago.

Trevor and I are doing great. I was pretty sick a few weeks ago, and still don't know exactly what it was, but I was struggling to eat and keep food down for a week. I've also had two killer migraines int he past few weeks, which is a bummer. I actually experienced a migraine aura with one of them, for the first time in my life. It looked like TV static in the bottom left of my left eye, and I was thinking, "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with my eye?!" and then the headache hit, big time, and the mystery was solved. I might go see a neurologist if these migraines don't let up.

Trevor got called to be the Ward Mission Leader a few weeks ago, and is enjoying the calling so far, although it means less time for us to be together int he evenings, since he now has a few appointments with the missionaries every week. But it's worth it.

In other news, my sweet sister-in-law, Whitney just got married to Corbin Skinner. We're so happy for them! Also, my other sweet sister-in-law, Lisa, just moved with her family to Washington D.C. since her husband, Dan, is going to law school there. Oh, and another shout-out to one of my best friends, Courtney, who just had her second baby a few days ago. Logan Garcia is a real cutie!

Well, I'll finish off this post with a few more pictures of "The Cuteness" (aka Alia).

Enjoying a banana

Enjoying her toes

Enjoying her fingers

Remember when she used to snuggle up in my lap?
Well, now I have to have a pretty secure grip on her, because
she tries to dive off my lap and onto the floor. 

Sometimes she drops her toys on her face and
just can't be bothered to move it off her face.

Reading with Daddy. She loves to be read to!

Alia's Blessing Day

The dress that Alia is wearing is the same one
I was blessed in.

Trevor blessed our little girl on June 10th. We had my dad, his friend Lori, and my brothers there, and on Trevor's side we had his mom, dad, brother, Whitney, Grandma and Grandpa Koch, Grandma Wilcock, Aunt Susan and Uncle Greg and few of their kids, Aunt Cheri and Uncle James and some of their kids, and Uncle Steve. So as you can see, we were very blessed to be surrounded by family!

Trevor gave Alia a beautiful blessing that brought tears to his eyes and to mine. I think we were both reminded of what a special little girl we have. After the blessing, it was testimony meeting, and so Trevor and I both bore our testimonies, as well as my dad, Uncle Steve, and Grandpa Koch. Unfortunately Alia was fussing and crying through a lot of the meeting (though not for her blessing, thank goodness!) so Trevor's mom was kind enough to take her out of the chapel.

After church, we went back to Trevor's parent's house where we were treated to wonderful food. Our thanks go out to everyone who helped provide and prepare the food! It was so fun to be able to talk and laugh with family, though I really wish Alia had been in a better mood. She didn't get a lot of sleep that morning with all the activity, so she was sleepy.

We are so thankful for Alia and the joy that she has brought into our life!

Here are a few more pictures from the day. (I apologize for the poor quality of some of them. They were taken with the iPhone, and some of us didn't realize that you have to hold it so still to make sure it doesn't come out blurry.)

The cake we bought for the occasion. You can't go wrong with Costco!

Hanging out on the "Sleepy couch" :)

Enjoying some tasty food!

Is it just me, or do they look like they're up to something? ;)

I love this picture. :)

See what I mean? She was not a happy camper. :(

No More Milky-Milks

Don't ask why, but for some reason I started to refer to my breast milk as "milky-milks", as in, "Does Alia want some milky-milks?" Anyway, this is something I meant to write about earlier, but never got around to.

My milk came in as soon as I left the hospital. I had an abundance, so much that it was painful. We went strong for four weeks with no supplementing, and then suddenly things started to go downhill. At first I thought, "Well, she must be going through a growth spurt and my body just can't keep up with her feeding demands." But then it only got worse. I had to start giving her formula more and more often. I would try to not give her the formula, and would instead just try to breastfeed her more often, thinking, "This will teach my body to make more milk." But it didn't work, and just left both of us feeling frustrated instead. The horrible thing was, I would always breastfeed her first, and then finish off with formula, but after having breast milk, she would fight the bottle. It made me feel horrible, like I was forcing her to eat something she hated.

But gradually that changed, too. By 8 weeks, I was down to only being able to feed her breast milk once a day, and by the point, she would have trouble latching on because she was more used to a bottle. I would try to breastfeed her, and she would jerk her head from side to side, getting frustrated, as though I was teasing her or something and denying her food. After that, it went downhill pretty fast. Soon I could only feed her once every two days, then every three days, and by the time she was 10 weeks old, I stopped making milk altogether.

I'm used to being a "formula feeding mom" at this point, but I still feel like people judge me when I pull out a bottle in public for Alia. Plus, formula is horribly expensive. It's like the formula companies know that you have no alternative, so they can raise their prices as high as they want. I've heard that most of the time there's a reason behind having a low milk supply, and the only reason I can think of was the birth control I was using. The doctor gave me a prescription for the mini-pill, which is supposed to be safe for breastfeeding, and isn't supposed to affect your supply, but my supply started to drop right about the same time that I started taking the pill. When I realized that, I immediately stopped taking it, but by then the damage was done. Next time we have a baby, I will make sure to avoid all forms of hormonal birth control and see if there's an improvement.

Until then, I'll just remind myself that a mother's love comes from her heart...not her breasts.

Clear Creek 2012

Part of our group, eating lunch at Zion's Natl. Park

Well, we just got back yesterday from another great family reunion at Clear Creek (a big lodge down near Zion's National Park). We got there Thursday night around 11pm, after a seven hour drive with Alia (normally we can do the trip in about five hours, but all of our stops added another couple of hours). She did okay, though she definitely did not like being strapped in her car seat for that long. There weren't too many people there on Thursday, but we spent a little time talking to the few who were, and then hit the sack.

This is the way Alia prefers to be held these days.

On Friday, we had a fun-filled day of hanging out with family, chatting, eating great food, and playing games. It was nice to see the family from California, especially, since we don't get to see them as often. Taylor and Janae's little girl, Molly, is about two years old now, and she loved to look at Alia, and "help out". Whenever she saw me, she would say, "Where the baby at?" It was pretty darn cute. Alia had a great time being held by everyone, although she's gotten pretty particular about how she likes to be held. She wants to be facing out so she can see everything, and she wants you to be walking around, I guess so that she can she more stuff.



Going hiking with Alia in the little "back pack" carrier.

On Saturday, we went to Zion's National Park for a picnic and some hiking. Unfortunately, it was cold and windy, which wasn't so fun. We ate on the grass out in front of the Zion's Lodge, but we were all huddling with out hoods up to keep out of the wind. Alia was just screaming and crying the whole time. After we got her inside the lodge, changed her diaper, and fed her, she was feeling a little better, so Trevor and I set out to go for a little hike. We did the Weeping Rock trail, which is probably the shortest hike in Zion's, but it was about all she could handle. When we got back to Clear Creek, we helped make Taco Salads for dinner, and then Trevor and I watched a movie together to finish out the evening.

Trevor and Alia "chilling" after church.

On Sunday we drove into Orderville for church, though Trevor and I were a little late since Alia needed to be fed just as we were trying to leave. After church, we went back to Clear Creek and took some family pictures, including a huge group picture in our matching Koch shirts. Even Alia had a matching shirt, though hers was more like a dress, since the smallest size they came in was a 2T. After that, Trevor's cousin Kati offered to take some professional photos of Alia for us, and they are so cute! (I'll include them in a blog post when she sends me to final copies). We then had a big family get together where everyone gave their updates for their family, and then we had a little devotional, and then played a game of Family Feud (boys against girls...sadly, the boys won). That night, before Trevor's uncle John left, he gave everyone chiropractic adjustments, including me. It was nice afterwards, but still weirded me out as he was doing it.

Eating some tasty ice cream after hiking in Zions.
A Koch family tradition. :)

On Monday, we packed everything up and then hit the road once more. We made better time coming home, since Alia decided to sleep longer, which was great. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, and re-enter the "real world" once more, but I'm already looking forward to next year, when Alia will be toddling around, hopefully with her cousin Addison. (Dan and Lisa, unfortunately, couldn't make it this year, and though we all missed them, we're looking forward to seeing them later this summer!)

I am so lucky to be a part of the Koch family. They are such a big, fun, loving group of people, and the importance of family is so central to who they are. I love that we get together, not only at Clear Creek every year, but also every couple of months for holiday parties or just because. I am proud to be a Koch!

Two Months Old



I have a doctor's appointment today?
Okay, I guess I can handle that...

Our little girl is growing so fast! Yesterday, she had her two month appointment with the pediatrician, and she now weighs 9lbs 12oz! No wonder my arms are starting to get tired. When she was born, she was in the 2nd percentile for weight, now she's int he 22nd percentile! She's also 22 inches long, which means her body is finally catching up with her big head (so maybe holding up her head will get a little easier).


Wait, what? I have to get SHOTS???

She also had to get some shots unfortunately. I held her arms and tried to comfort her while they did it, but it was so hard for me. I'd never heard her cry in pain like that, and hearing her almost made me cry, too. She had a hard time that night, and I felt so helpless to help. I wish we didn't have to go through this again in two months.

In happier news, today is Mother's day! I was so excited to celebrate my first mother's day (even though Alia is still too young to actually make me a card or anything). Trevor was so good to me, though. He got up and made me breakfast (breakfast burritos, my favorite!) and then he made cute little notes and hid them around the house (I still haven't found them all...). In church, the women all got tomato plants, which was new, since usually it's a flower. We'll see if I can keep it alive...

I am so happy to be a mother. I love Alia so much, and can't imagine my life without her. Her smiles brighten up my day in a way that little else can. I am so lucky to have her. :)

(By the way, I bought this shirt when we were in Mexico last year. I was pregnant at the time, but I didn't know if I was having a boy or girl yet. When I saw the little dress that matched my shirt, I had to buy it...just in case. Haha.)

Baby Smiles

Alia smiles now! This was something I was really eager for, so I'm so excited about it. At first she would just make cute little half-smiles in her sleep, which I enjoyed, but I wanted those big, full-mouth smiles. Then, on April 9th, I got my first real smile! I had gotten Alia out of bed and decided to lay her on Trevor's side of our bed (since he was at work) and I laid down next to her, and was just watching her. She was looking around, and then noticed me. She looked at my face for a few seconds, and then gave me a big smile. My heart melted! After that, though, her smiles were still really rare.

Now that she's a month and a half old, though, she's started to smile a lot more! I finally caught a good smile with my camera (not her best smile, but better than my previous attempts!).

Our first "sleepy smile" that we captured.

Almost smiling...

Getting closer...

Well, she's sort of awake...

Finally! A picture of a proper smile!

The Birth Story

Okay, so I figure I better post my birth experience before I forget to!

So on March 8th I had my 38 week appointment. My doctor gave me an internal exam and told me that I was 4cm dilated, she didn't say how effaced, but at my last week's appointment I was 60% effaced, so I knew it had to at least be that. We talked about stripping my membranes (sounds fun, huh?) at my next appointment to get things moving, because as she said, "Your cervix is ready, but your uterus needs to get going." Well, I went home from my appointment, took a walk, and started to feel crampy. I was so excited because it was the first sign I'd had that labor might be on it's way. So I decided to start timing the contractions, and they were already 5-6 minutes apart. So I timed them for an hour, and by that time they were every 3-4 minutes apart, so I told Trevor that we should probably go to the hospital (since my doctor had warned me that labor might move quickly for me).

When I got to the hospital at 7pm, contractions were about every 2 1/2 minutes, and they told me I was 5cm dilated. An hour and half later, I was at a 6, and so they broke my water and started putting in an IV so I could have my epidural. It took them almost a half an hour to place the IV, and I'm not very good with needles, so this was one of the worst parts of labor for me. After they gave me my epidural, the pain receded and Trevor and I spent a few hours watching TV until they came to check me. I was only at 6 1/2 cm! I was so disappointed, and they told me that if I hadn't made much progress when they checked me next time, they might start pitocin to get things moving. So an hour and a half went by, and I was at a 9! Shortly after that, I was at a 10, but they decided to let me rest while the baby descended a little, because she obviously wasn't too excited to leave the womb. At 3:30am they had me start pushing and Alia wasn't born until 6:38, so there was a lot of pushing and it was pretty exhausting. They ended up giving my an episiotomy (they didn't ask if I wanted one, but at that point I really didn't care, I just wanted to get her out!). They told me that they would have to look after the baby as soon as she was born, so they wouldn't be able to place her on my chest, and my husband couldn't cut the cord, because she had meconium in her amniotic fluid and because I'd had a fever during the last few hours of labor. So that was sad. However, my mind was taken off of it pretty quickly because they had a hard time getting the placenta to detach, so they were kneading my stomach pretty hard which hurt like crazy because the epidural was wearing off. After that, they stitched me up, which really hurt because at that point I was feeling everything. But it was all worth it, and aside from the placenta, the stitches, and the IV, labor really wasn't that bad, just tiring.

She was 5lbs, 7oz and 17in long, and the doctor said that my placenta might have been wearing out, and that's why she was so small. The funny thing is, the doctor also said that she had a lot of the characteristics of a baby who has gone overdue, like the meconium in the waters, and really wrinkly skin, especially on her hands and feet. But she is healthy, and breastfeeding really well. They had to test her for jaundice, and although she was high risk for a few days, she never got it, and now is just fine.

Trevor and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful little girl. She might not let us sleep much, but we wouldn't trade her for anything!

Full-term!

36 Weeks (Nine months)

I know it doesn't really mean much, since most babies (especially first babies) will hold off until 40+ weeks anyway, but it's really exciting to know that if she were born right now, she would be just fine. Also, I can start hoping that she comes soon without feeling bad about it. Hehe...

I had my 36 week appointment last week and I was 2cm dilated and 60% effaced, which was great news, because it means that my body is doing something! Of course, I know I might still go over due, but I'm hoping that there will be more progress at my 37 week appointment this Wednesday. As for me, I'm still feeling pretty good, but I'm definately more tired lately. I can easily sleep 10-12 hours a night (and not even feel like I've over-slept). Also, my Braxton Hicks contractions have started to feel a little more uncomfortable, sometimes giving me a dull ache in my lower back. All in all, I'd just rather hold our little girl in my arms rather than my stomach at this point!

We've Moved!

Our unit is the on the top left (if you're facing the building)

Well, I figured it was time for an update! Trevor and I recently bought a four-plex (we're living in one of the units, and renting out the other three). By doing so, we've eliminated our house payment/rent, which makes it possible for me to stay home with the baby when she gets here. So the last few weeks have been SUPER busy with all the packing, moving, and unpacking, not to mention that fact that we had to buy and assemble a dresser (Ikea all the way, baby), install some blinds, get a new toilet, have the dryer vents cleaned for the whole building, etc. But Trevor is such a champ, and a great handyman. He has been so on top of things, and is always telling me to stop lifting things, and take it easy (which is hard at times, because nesting is setting in, and I go through periods when I just can't stop cleaning and organizing). But slowly, but surely, our home is coming together.

Yesterday was also my last day of work. My kids went off track yesterday, and won't come back on until February 27th, at which point I would already be 37 weeks pregnant (which is considered full-term). So I figured that quitting my job right now would be the smartest decision, but it was hard to say goodbye to those kiddos. Two of my sixth grade girls were bawling, and it was soooo hard to keep myself from crying. My sixth graders all brought in money and the teacher used it to buy me some baby gifts, which they surprised me with on Friday. It was so sweet of them! They all wrote me little cards as well, which they had hanging from the presents. The fifth graders all wrote me notes as well, and some of them were pretty funny, actually. A few of them told me to "have fun on my trip"....huh? Wasn't aware I was going on one! And one student even said, "I hope your baby is a boy." Well, I hope not, seeing as pretty much all my baby stuff is pink! I got some pictures of me with the classes (a normal one, and a goofy one, but I like the goofy ones the best, because it really shows their silly personalities).

My sixth graders

My fifth graders

32 Weeks (Eight months)

 As for me and little Alia, all is going just fine. I'm almost 34 weeks right now, but I'll go ahead and post my 32 week picture, since I kind of got behind in my blogging. Trevor and I just started our child birthing classes up at the hospital, and during our first class they had us watch a video about the stages of labor, and they showed a few women giving birth, including the birthing of the placenta. It was so funny, because the next morning, Trevor said, "I've seen a placenta being birthed...I'll just never be the same now." I have to agree, it was pretty gross, so needless to say, I don't think I'll be one of the women who wants a mirror so she can watch the whole thing happening, at least not with my first delivery.

It's interesting, at the beginning of my pregnancy, everyone kept telling me that I was showing so early, and that I was probably going to be huge at the end, but now I all get are "small" comments, like, "You're due next month? Wow, you just look so small," or "Aww, it's like a cute little basketball." I just think it's funny how everyone has different ideas of what's big and small. But let me tell you, I don't feel small, especially when I'm leaning over to tie my shoes, or bumping my stomach into things, or having to bend over to pick stuff up because I drop EVERYTHING these days. But hey, I only have, like three more weeks until I'm full term! Woohoo!