the.mildenhalls

Thursday, July 24, 2014

(favorite)picks.

I have picked my favorite pictures that I have taken during Benson's first few weeks at home.

rock on

those blue eyes (fingers crossed they don't change)

ten days old

first sunday at church

my little munchkin

first bath

heading to the doctor

hanging pool side

caught a smile

cutest sleeper award

Monday, July 21, 2014

My little man is two months old so I thought I better get around to blogging again so I can have a place to post the many pictures I am taking of him without overloading instagram and facebook. haha

Here is his birth story.
So Thursday night Randy and I were watching an NBA basketball game and it ended about 10:15pm and I got up to go get ready for bed and it felt like I had peed a little (it wasn't like the movies where there is a huge gush of water). I called my doctor (I had her cell number) and told her that I think my water broke and she said to go to the hospital and they would do a quick test to see if it was really my water that was leaking. I quickly finished packing my last minute items for my hospital bag and loaded up the car and off we went! It was thrilling! (of course, I called my Mom on the car ride and told her too). They admitted me to the hospital and yes, my water was indeed broken, although I had no contractions yet.

This is the face of someone who knows they will be having
their baby soon, but is not feeling any pain yet.

My last preggo picture

They had me walking around the hospital for about an hour and a half to see if I could start the labor on my own, but ended up giving me pitocin to start my contractions. I got the pitocin around 2:30am and by 3:30 was feeling some pain and from like 4:00am-5:30am was in pain with each contraction that came (and I would squeeze Randy's hand so tight,haha) At 5:30am I got my epidural and can I say it is magical. Getting the epidural was rather painless and my lower half went practically numb and the pain was gone from then on out! I was able to get some sleep finally while I waited to dilate. I only had to push a few times with the nurse and then my doctor came in and I pushed a few times with her and then they laid him on my tummy! I did not feel any pain pushing or any contractions after my epidural. It truly was a great first birth and great experience!

I had him at 11:39am, May 16th, and he weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long--my little munchkin!!

Heading to the postpartum room

Mr. Benson Duke

I could not stop staring at him--he is so cute! Benson had jaundice and so we had to keep him on the special billi-blanket while in the hospital and then had one to take home with us too (which I did not want to do). It is no fun having a naked baby on the billi-blanket 24/7 for 10 days.

His 'special' shades

We left the hospital on Sunday afternoon at 4pm and were so glad to be at home and be able to get some real sleep (hospital beds are so not comfortable!)

Monday, May 5, 2014

the big summer move

Well Randy and I have moved down to Phoenix! We will be here through the end of August. Randy has a summer internship with a construction company, McCarthy Builders. He will be working in their office doing estimating. Today is his first day of work! Hope everything is going well for him!

Let me rewind and tell you a story about our move down. Randy's uncle lives down in Phoenix and so graciously offered to let us live with him and his wife for the summer and so we decided to take them up on it. We put almost all of our stuff in storage and only took down clothes, toiletries, and baby stuff. I wasn't really worried about the stuff we were taking to Arizona not fitting in our car, I was worried the storage unit was going to be too small and all our stuff wouldn't fit inside of it.

Well it happens that the storage unit fit everything pretty nicely (meaning we fit everything inside and used all of the space)

And the morning we checked out of our apartment and were packing the car for Phoenix, we realized that not everything was going to fit. I knew we needed all the baby stuff (car seat and stroller, pack'n play, baby swing, box of baby clothes and blankets,etc) and did not know what we could do to make it all fit. Randy was doing his thang and maneuvering stuff in the car many different ways to try and make it work and eventually we got all of our stuff, plus all the baby stuff minus the baby swing... it was just too big. Luckily since it was still in it's box we decided we cold return it (it was a gift given to me by my boss) and then buy it back once we were in Arizona. So for the 10 min drive down to the wal-mart I had this huge box on my lap that was spilling over into Randy's seat. It was quite hilarious and delayed our trip just a bit.

Once we got the swing returned, I was able to stick the gift card in my purse and sit comfortably (much easier to travel with for the 9 1/2 hr drive)

We got all settled here in Phoenix and that Monday was our 2 year anniversary! Randy and I went to see Captain America in the movie theater, ate lunch out, and explored the town. It is crazy to think it has been 2 years since we got married and that in just 3 weeks we will be welcoming another member into our family.
Randy has been the best husband and i'm sure he will be the best father too!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

blink of an eye

I don't know where tthe month of July went.

Seriously, it has come and gone in the blink of an eye...

Lets see if I can do a quick catch-up for you all.

Last week of June we celebrated my grandma's 80th birthday. She is an incredible woman! I look up to her and all she has accomplished thus far in her life. She is beautiful and always makes me feel special.

I got to hang out with my cousins who i haven't seen in a while.

I was privileged to go out shooting with the boys.

We got to eat the infamous oatmeal pancakes (oh so yummy)

My mother in law and her family came into town just in time for the fourth of July.
We enjoyed spending time with them, playing games, having a cook out, watching the parade and doing fireworks.

A great day in July was Cow Appreciation Day. I went to chick-fil-a two times that day. Once with my co-workers and then once with Randy.

Randy's cousin Jensen came home from his mission. Randy is very close with him and so we have been spending lots of time with him and his family. Its been great fun.

We enjoyed our Moapa Valley reunion with the extended family and had a fun time at camp williams with our close relatives.