Tyler & Aubrey Hartley

two months

2011-10-14T14:36:00.002-06:00

Wow, time is really going by fast. Olivia is now two months old. She is growing so fast and gets more expressive every day!

Last week my mom flew out to visit. It was so great for her to meet Olivia. She stayed for five days. The time flew by. We had lots of fun while she was here.

We went to Vala's pumpkin patch last Friday. We had a blast.

It was a very windy day, so we had to keep the baby wrapped up.

We took some pictures on Sunday before church. Mom bought Olivia a new dress.

Hangin out in the stroller

I get a kick out of the elephants!

We are really excited for Halloween!

On Wednesday, I took Olivia to her two month doctor's appointment. She weighs 12lbs 9oz and is 24.75 inches tall. She is doing great.

She was not a happy girl getting her shots though. Poor thing!

...and just for fun, here are some more cute pictures! Hope everyone is doing well!

Eight weeks

2011-10-04T11:28:00.005-06:00

Olivia turns 8 weeks this week. So here's some things that have been happening lately. Olivia got a new cousin. Harper Jude Hartley was born Sept 14th. At eight pounds even, she is kind of a small fry compared to Olivia. What a beauty!

Olivia is growing and growing and growing. Here are some examples. This was taken on Sept 16th. I had to roll the pants down at the waist and up at the ends to make them wearable.

Here she is wearing them again on Oct 2nd. Not too big anymore!

In her 0-3 jammies on Sept 20th.

Oct 1st after growing out of those 0-3 jammies and into 3-6 ones. Laying on the same blanket mind you...

We try to get out of the house whenever we can. She is really good when riding in the car. She doesn't seem to mind her car seat very much.

Watching Star Trek with Daddy.

Cute diaper picture.

They are few and far between, but she is finally starting to smile a little bit. They are really hard to coax out of her and even harder to get on film. Most of the time, she smiles on her own without us trying to get her to smile, then we try to get her to do it again, and she won't.

Not a smile, but oh so precious. This was the morning after the above picture at about 6 am. It was a rough night.

One month old!

2011-09-15T14:53:00.002-06:00

It's hard to believe we've had Olivia for a whole month! She still seems brand new to me. She loves bath time, eating, riding in the car, riding in the stroller, eating, being snuggled, sitting in the boppy (sometimes), being in her swing (sometimes), being sung to, getting whispers in her ear, eating, and did I mention eating?

As she has gotten older she's become much more expressive. Here are some of the cute faces I get to kiss all day:

Her poor baby zits... hopefully that clears up soon!

Bathtime

2011-09-15T14:45:00.002-06:00

So far, Olivia has LOVED bathtime. I use the swaddle method while bathing her so she keeps warmer. She usually just falls asleep as soon as her little bum hits the warm water.

She has developed some baby acne on her cheeks, neck and ears. You can see it pretty well in this picture. I still think she's cute.

She starts out all wrapped up and I clean only parts of her at a time leaving the rest of her covered.

She's pretty content until she gets to the part where she is exposed right before I get her out.

I just love this one!

Definitely not my favorite picture of me, but she looks so cute!

This one is almost a smile... We haven't been able to coax any real smiles out of her yet, but I'm determined!

Elise and K.ley

2011-09-15T14:36:00.002-06:00

A couple weeks ago, my awesome sister Elise and her daughter K.ley came to visit for a few days. It was so great to have some company. Needless to say, it's a little lonely out here. They were the first members of my family to actually get to meet Olivia. We had lots of fun girl time.

We spent a day at the zoo. Oddly enough this is the only picture I took. Olivia's first stroller experience was a success!

We also went out to dinner and went shopping but mostly I just loved hanging out at the apartment and enjoying their company. K.ley took to Olivia quite well. She is a natural with babies and will be a great older cousin.

I can't get over how pretty K.ley is. Just look at those eyes!

As part of the Nebraska experience, I had her help me shuck corn for dinner.

I loved having some sister time. My two sisters and I have always been best friends. It was so great to have Elise come. Mallory came to help us move out here six weeks ago. There's nothing quite like a sister.

All dressed up!

2011-09-15T14:31:00.002-06:00

Here are some fun pictures of Olivia all dressed up for church.

Laying on the blanket made by Grandma Joy.

Camera Happy!

2011-08-21T13:44:00.002-06:00

So, like every new mom, I've gotten a little camera happy. I have to say I've had lots of fun playing dress up with my new little princess. I just love the jammies that have cute stuff on the bottoms of the feet.

My sister in law Delaney made her a tutu. Sooo... we had to play a little dress up last night! How cute are those shoes?

Here she is on the quilt my mom and I made for her while we were living in Nampa over the summer. It was a lot of work, but turned out perfectly!

The photo shoot started going downhill from here.

Gotta love that bum!

This isn't even the BIG flower!

I just love my little girl. My new favorite way to start a sentence is "My daughter Olivia..."

Future Dr. Tyler Hartley

2011-08-21T13:32:00.002-06:00

There is a tradition at medical schools across the country where first year students receive their first white coat. Tyler's white coat ceremony was August 19th. Tyler's mom came into town a couple days before and has been helping us out. Her and I packed up the 9 day old baby and headed out. It has been great having Joy around. She has made us dinners, folded laundry, gone to the grocery store, and given Olivia plenty of Grandma kisses.

After the longest speech ever about the history of medicine since the beginning of time, we got to the good part. It was very cool hearing everyone's names and where they came from. They then gave the student's their coat.

They each signed their name into a book which they will sign out of when they graduate in four years. After all the names had been called, all the first year students stood and recited an oath of professionalism and respect.

I am so proud of Tyler and the challenges he is taking on. I already know he is a great Daddy to Olivia and am confident that he will be successful in Med School.

This is the first family picture of the three of us. Can you tell I'm a little tired?

Tyler's brother Jeremy was in the same place three years ago. He is starting his 4th year while Tyler starts his first. They have been so helpful in helping us to adjust to Nebraska.

Congrats Tyler, I know you'll be great!

Presenting... Olivia Joy Hartley!

2011-08-21T12:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, so here's the story. We checked in the hospital at 10:30 am Thursday, August 11th for my scheduled C-section. This is my last picture with Olivia on the INSIDE.

Everything happened really quickly once we were checked in. The surgery was over before I knew it. I could feel some tugging and pressure but no pain. Tyler stayed up by my head and held my hand the whole time. All the nurses and doctors kept telling me I was doing a great job. Mostly I was concerned that all of them were doing a great job. I remember the doctor saying "there's a little shoulder" then we heard a little whimper. Tyler and I both gasped and then she started to cry. We were both in tears. The doctor showed her to us for a brief second then the nurse took her to clean her up and weigh her. I wish we had a picture of all our faces when she called out "ten pounds, 4 ounces!"

Olivia was born with low blood sugar. This is a result of me being a Type 1 Diabetic. We knew this was a possibility. This is Olivia's very first feeding. She needed formula to raise her blood sugar. Since I was hoping to breast feed, it was really hard for me to see her being fed formula from a stranger. Not exactly how I pictured it, but still ok. My nurses were all so great. I think nurses make or break your hospital experience. We were very lucky in the nurse dept.

Everyone has their glamorous after birth shot, and here's mine. They only let me hold her for a couple seconds. They decided to go ahead and take her up to the nursery without me because her blood sugar wasn't coming up. After two more ounces of formula and a feeding tube, it was decided that she needed to be taken to the NICU. They brought her back to me for another short second before they took her away again.

Here is Tyler with her in the NICU.

After a couple days in the NICU, her bilirubin levels started to climb, so she was put on photo therapy. It was a day to day battle in the NICU. Everyday the doctor would say hopefully she could be released the next day, then the next day, then the next day. It was a very emotional time for me. I was up in my own hospital room a couple of floors up trying to recover from surgery. Tyler would wheel me down stairs for feedings.

Finally, after seven days in the hospital, we were able to take Olivia home. At that time, I had spent the same amount of nights in the hospital as I had in our new apartment. Tyler was so great helping to take care of us both. He jumped at the chance to do anything for me. Tyler's brother Jeremy and his wife Natalie have been a really great help too. Natalie was able to come spend a couple hours with me in the hospital when Tyler couldn't be there. She was the emotional support I needed while Tyler was starting orientation for Med School.

WELCOME HOME, OLIVIA!!!!

A little behind

2011-08-09T14:41:00.003-06:00

So I went ahead and updated the blog so that it accurately represents the events that have taken place in our little Hartley family since February. The posts are in pseudo chronological order. The first new one is called Spring Break 2011. I'm thinking once we have a cute little baby to blog about, our posts will be more consistent. Here's to hoping! Look forward to our next post which will be featuring Olivia Hartley!

The big move.

2011-08-09T13:56:00.005-06:00

Well we made it. We are here in Omaha. We left Saturday July 30th with Tyler and myself riding in the Taurus and my mom and sister in the Escape. Tyler's parents left a few days earlier pulling the trailer that held all our Earthly belongings.

As you can probably tell from the photos beneath, I am very pregnant, and the baby has dropped. It was not a fun road trip. It was hot, humid, and an emotional roller coaster. We made it to Rawlins, WY the first day, then made it to Omaha on Sunday. My sister-in-law has sweet hook-ups to a very nice hotel here in town, so that's where we stayed until Thursday when we could get into our apartment.

Tuesday we went to the doctor to check on me and the baby. The ultrasound revealed that our little girl isn't quite as little as we thought. She measured at 8 lbs 11 oz. At that point I was 36 weeks and two days along. Because of the risks involved with large babies and type 1 Diabetes, we, with the doctor's advice, opted for an elected C-Section August 11th. I feel good about this. some people might feel like less of a woman or less of a mother because they never experience a traditional birth. I don't feel this way. My only concern is for the safety of my child.

We moved into our new place Aug 4th with the help of Tyler's parents, of my mom and Mallory, Tyler's brother Jeremy, and some generous members of our new ward who hadn't even met us yet. It's a nice big place. The lady who smokes next door isn't our favorite, but we'll deal.

While Mom and Mallory were in town, we did some fun things like go to the zoo, explore the city, visit the Winter Quarters temple, and of course try out a few restaurants in town.

Here's a pic of me, Mallory, and a hippo at the zoo. Funny but I'm having a hard time remembering which one is the hippo, the one in the middle or the one on the right??

Mallory and I have a weird inside joke about how we only like butterflies a little bit... guess you had to be there!

and last of all, here is Mallory on the rickety rope bridge in the Lied Jungle.

HUGE thank you to all friends and family who helped us move out here. It means so much that others were willing to share this burden with us. God bless!

Trip to McCall

2011-08-09T13:54:00.004-06:00

As a last hurrah before moving away and having a baby, Tyler and I took a weekend trip to McCall, ID. Tyler's dad has a friend who owns a condo up there that he was gracious enough to let us use. It was absolutely beautiful!

We spent some time at Gold Fork Hot Springs. They were incredible and felt so good on my pregnant belly. The pool at the top was the hottest, then they got cooler as they went down.

Very few women would let themselves be photographed in a swimsuit 8 months pregnant. At least I'm covered up with a towel...

family pics

2011-08-09T13:47:00.002-06:00

The Barker family got pictures done this spring. I think we make a pretty good looking group! There are three pregnant ladies in this picture. Our grand total was 17 people when this was taken, but by mid November, there will be 20 of us!

Silly prego picture!

Mallory's Graduation

2011-08-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

My baby sister Mallory Graduated from Skyview High School this year. I can't believe how grown up she is! Here she is with baby Lily

Mallory and Dad

Cute sister picture.

Much of the month of May consisted of planning Mallory's graduation/birthday party. We chose a fiesta theme. We had a yummy taco bar, virgin margaritas, little sombreros, and a pinata.

3rd Anniversary and U2

2011-08-09T12:21:00.007-06:00

For our third anniversary, we made a trip back to Logan. We had a few loose ends to tie up there anyway, and it was a fun little trip. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn which is where we spent our wedding night.

After a couple days in Logan hanging with friends, we headed down to Salt Lake for the U2 concert we have been waiting over a year to go to. Tickets went on sale Feb 2010 for a concert that was supposed to take place May 2010. Unfortunately, Bono injured his back while touring in Europe and the show got put off a year. We faithfully hung on to our tickets. The concert was amazing. Our tickets were floor standing GA. Had the concert happened when it was supposed to, that wouldn't have been a big deal. May 2011 however, I was 6 1/2 months pregnant. Needless to say I was exhausted by the end of the evening, but it was soooo worth it!

Tyler's Graduation

2011-08-09T12:19:00.004-06:00

On May 7th, Tyler graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelors Degree in Biology and Chemistry Minor. Immediately after the ceremony, we moved out of our apartment and headed up to Nampa for the summer. Tyler's parents were kind enough to let us crash in their basement rent free for a few months so we could save money on rent before heading to Nebraska. We will always have a special place in our hearts for USU. Go Aggies!

New Car, New Baby

2011-08-09T12:09:00.002-06:00

So, in anticipation for Medical school and a new baby, we decided we needed a second car. After much deliberation and many MANY trips down to Salt Lake, we got a great deal on a 2004 Ford Escape. We both love it. Also, this is the first baby bump picture as well as my new haircut. We found out late in April that we are having a baby girl.

Lily's blessing

2011-08-08T18:21:00.002-06:00

In March, we made a quick trip up to Nampa to see our sweet niece Lillian Helen Barker be blessed. My youngest brother and his wife Delaney are awesome. My mom likes to be called Grammie instead of Grandma. I think it suits her.

Isn't she beautiful?

Spring Break 2011

2011-08-08T17:56:00.009-06:00

For Spring Break, we decided to take a trip with our good friends Ty and Melanie Fenn. Since we knew we would be moving away and starting our family soon we thought it would be a good idea do to one last crazy spontaneous thing before we turned into grown ups. We jumped the the car and drove to Vegas, then San Diego, then Anaheim. It was such a blast!

We only spent one day in Vegas, but had fun exploring the strip. Well as much fun as four Mormons can have in Vegas anyway!

We saw the M&M factory,

The Coke Factory,

and gambled one dollar at Caesar's.

I am sixteen weeks pregnant in this picture. At the time, I thought my belly was huge. HA!

We then made our way to San Diego where we hit Sea World. The weather was simply amazing. It was a well needed break from Cache Valley March weather.

The beluga whales were spectacular!

Nice Sharky picture!

I was just getting over my morning sickness at the time of our trip. Perfect timing. I only got sick once on the road trip back home. Otherwise I might not have been smiling so much!

The dolphins were everyone's favorite part of Sea World. They were so social and you could reach out and pet them. This one took a particular liking to Melanie.

Unfortunately on a trip like this, you mostly end up with shots of just the three of you.

The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was a lot A LOT of walking but we had a blast anyway. The zoo was closing early that day so we kind of had to book it so we could see everything.

They had lots of cool exhibits depicting life size ancient animals that lived in North America.

This is the one and only shot of the four of us together.

We then headed south for two days of Disneyland! It was fantastic. The weather was beautiful and there were no crowds. The longest line we waited in was about fifteen minutes.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!

The whole time we were there, we planned on getting a picture in front of the statue of Walt Disney with Mickey. Unfortunately we forgot until about 11:00 the last night we were there. The picture didn't turn out too great, but oh well. It was a blast anyway!

You know who your real friends are when you can survive a week long road trip, sharing hotel rooms, and bringing out your inner child. Ty and Mel, you guys are the best! Thanks for always being there for us and joining us on this adventure!

Just thought we'd let everyone know...

2011-02-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

First comes love...

then comes marriage...

then comes a baby in the baby carriage!

then comes medical school?

Aubrey and Tyler
Expected Due Date
August 2011

...and Tyler was accepted to medical school!

Murder Mystery #2 The Chicago Caper & Happy Birthday Tyler!

2010-10-30T15:01:00.007-06:00

Last night was our big murder mystery dinner party we did for Tyler's birthday. The game was set in a 1920's speakeasy. I reused a lot of the decorations from last year but added a 20's twist.

I made cigars out of Rolo's candy and scattered a deck of cards between the tablecloths.

The name cards I made from Kings and Queens from the deck with a black strip of cardstock with their name in silver.

I bought martini glasses from the dollar store and used green grapes to look like olives.

I made the invitations to look like a violin case.

Inside the case was a Tommy Gun with instructions for the game and assigned characters.

THE CHARACTERS...

Molly M. Awbsterr & S. Treighton Harrow
(Me and Tyler)
That is a root brewskie in my hand by the way. My character was a boot-leggin flapper.

"Torchy" & Eddie R. Gyle
(Kylee and Dave Peterson)

Malissa F. Orrthot "Scoop" & Ernie G. Ambler
(Melanie and Ty Fenn)

Billy "the kid" Thrower and Silky M. Adam
(Kyle and Kaitlyn Shelley)

Da Boys

Da Goils

The game had lots of twists and turns and details that were difficult to remember. Some of us got a little frustrated by the end, but we made it through to find the true killer of Hal Cappone.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Murder Mystery #1 An Affair to Dismember

2010-10-30T14:50:00.002-06:00

So this might be giving some of you deja vu because this is the same murder mystery dinner we hosted last year just with different people. I was telling some of my friends at work about how awesome of a time we had last year and about the one we were planning for this year. They thought it sounded like fun so we decided why not have two? Since we already had all the stuff we needed from last year, it wasn't too stressful to throw the same party two years in a row. We invited three of my good friends from work and their husbands. One couple wasn't able to make it so our awesome neighbors filled in last second. We had a good time.

Hannibal Schecter and Lizzie Bordeaux
(Tyler and I)

The Rogersandhammerstein monster and Glumda the wicked witch from DePressed

(Lucas and Sarah Garcia)

Aretha Garlique and the Mummy of Aldrinktotat
(Melissa and Jeff Smith)

Asthmadeus and Angela Deth
(Curtis and Aubrey Henrie)

Dinner in a Pumpkin. Yummy!

Fall Break

2010-10-30T14:40:00.002-06:00

The third week of October, Utah State gives us a Friday off as a "Fall Break." We took this opportunity to visit family in Nampa. We got to spend a lot of time with my family which was awesome. Mom, Mallory, Dani, and I had a girls day and took Dani's baby Joseph with us to a pumpkin festival. It wasn't until posting this that I realized I didn't take any pictures of Dani. Sorry!

How We Spent our Summer Vacation

2010-10-30T14:03:00.005-06:00

Here are some things that happened since our last post that finished off our eventful summer.

I turned 23 on June 30th

We took a trip with Tyler's fam to Yellowstone in July.

We sold the Saturn.

In August we took a trip to the Oregon Coast with Tyler's family. Thanks Mitch and Joy for providing us with three fun vacations this summer!

Tyler's oldest brother Shane and his family live in Seattle. We don't get to see them very often so we were happy that they were able to meet us at the coast for a couple days. That is our cute niece Jezelle on her dad's shoulders looking at sea lions at the Aquarium.
We had lots of fun building a sand castle...

a futile attempt at crab fishing...

taking pictures with whale fountains...

and spending some quality time with the Pacific Ocean.

But mostly I loved hanging out with family. Shane has their little boy Lincoln strapped to his front so you can't see him, but I think it's a fun picture anyway.

Over Labor Day weekend, we went with my family to Bear Lake. The weather was mostly nasty so we didn't get many good pictures but here is my awesome sister Mallory with her boyfriend Matt at Minnetonka Cave.

Ropes Course

2010-06-27T12:29:00.001-06:00

Aubrey's work invited us to have a "Date Night" at the ropes course at Utah State. We thought we signed up for the free dinner but we ended up at the ropes course. It was very fun though. There are no pictures of me. Aubrey looks much better in a climbing harness than I do.

The night was really fun. It started off with Aubrey being blind folded and I having to tell her where to go to avoid being tagged by another blind folded person. We then had to switch. Aubrey was better at giving me directions than I was to her. We then had a group challenge that had us cross a "swamp full of alligators" using cinder blocks and wood plancks to get across.

Finally we finished our night off on the ropes course. There were two parts that we got to do together. First we had to climb up on to the tower, then walk across a wiggling log and meet eachother half way and pass eachother. It was more difficult than scary. The other part was walking across a wire bridge thing and trying to balance on the wires. The funnest part though was yet to come.

She had a little trouble figuring out the pull string, but so did all the other people that did it. We had a great time. No sprained ankles thank goodness.

Happy Anniversary! Two Wonderful Years

2010-05-24T20:37:00.000-06:00

May 23rd 2008, Aubrey and I were sealed in the Logan, Utah temple. It seems like it was yesterday and yet so many things have happened. I couldn't imagine my life without Aubrey. She has been a part of it for so long that life doesn't make sense without her. She truly is my best friend and by eternal companion. She makes me smile just looking at her.

Why I love Aubrey
(in no particular order)
1. She's really funny. She is especially good at insults. She can dish it out just as fast as she can take it.
2. She makes sure that her hair is always done. There are no bad hair days for Aubrey.
3. She puts up with all of the "sweet tunes" that I make her listen too in the car. She has probably listened to a lifetime's worth of Michael Jackson's songs at my request.
4. I can always count on her to suck it up and do something. She's not afraid to sacrifice for someone else.
5. She is an amazing singer and teacher. Those primary kids don't realize she has a degree in music. They just think she's really funny during singing time.
6. She supports me in everything I do. I wouldn't be able to be in school full time if it wasn't for her.
7. She tells me to go to bed on time.
8. She can make a really good lasagna. I mean really good.
9. She is a peace keeper. She will do everything in her power to make others happy.
10. She is my best friend. I get lonely even if she is in the other room.

I can't wait to see where the next few years will take us.

Seattle Adventures

2010-05-15T20:43:00.007-06:00

Because this was my first trip to Seattle, we took time to do all the touristy things in addition to spending time with family. Here are a few of the things we did.

Of course we went to the Space Needle. We didn't go up but had fun looking at it.

We also went the EMP or Experience Music Project. It is a rock and roll history museum at the base of the needle.
The building is a piece of art itself with its random shape and variety of colors and textures. They have tons of awesome exhibits including this giant sculpture made of instruments as well as interactive activities where you could jam out on a variety of instruments.

The second half of the building is called SFM or Science Fiction Museum. I got to come up close and personal with two awesome green rubber friends and Tyler and I were both able to get in touch with our nerdy sides.

Another Seattle favorite is Pike Street Market. While strolling down the street, we came across a variety of awesome musicians.

We also kissed a pig.

This guy caught a fish.

On Monday we got to spend the day with Jezelle. She came with us to the Aquarium. She is so much fun. She couldn't wait to see the fishies!

On our way the Aquarium, we practiced making our best fishy faces. Although mine is more traditional, I think I've seen more fish that resemble Jezelle's interpretation.

We had so much fun! I hope we can make the trip again sometime soon!
Thanks again Shane and Joie!!

Baby Lincoln

2010-05-15T20:19:00.007-06:00

We recently made a trip up to Seattle. Tyler's oldest brother lives there with his family and they blessed their new baby boy Lincoln last Sunday. It was a long road trip but definitely worth it! Shane and Joie were kind enough to put all six of us up in their house. I'm pretty sure by the end of the trip they were happy to have their house back. Here is Tyler with Lincoln or as his big sister Jezelle calls him "Linc Linc." Lincoln has a feeding tube in to help him gain weight. He has a few other problems but is making progress and we are keeping him in our prayers. What a sweet little guy!

Is it just me or will Tyler make a really cute dad someday?

Once Upon A Mattress

2010-03-09T18:52:00.005-07:00

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Nampa to see my little sister Mallory in the school play "Once Upon A Mattress." It is a funny musical based on the story of The Princess and the Pea. Mallory was the star of the show of course, the princess Winifred or as she is called in the play, Fred. She was fantastic of and we were very proud of her.
Of course she felt the pea beneath all twenty of the mattresses and because she was a real princess, got to marry the prince. Happily Ever After!!!!

This is Mallory with her best friend Quinn.

Not my best picture but keep in mind I had a terrible cold and went straight to the show after riding in the car for four and a half hours.

Good job Mallory!!

2010-02-11T16:15:00.004-07:00

Aubrey and I have been in our nursery calling for about 8 months. At first I wasn't too thrilled with the whole idea, but after a while its nice to spend all three hours of church with my wife. Aubrey was really great with the kids and here is some video.

Our Murder Mystery Friends

2009-11-22T07:51:00.002-07:00

Kylee and Dave

Kyle and Kaitlyn

Ty and Melanie