His Smile...

       I've never been good at sharing how I really feel. But these last two days being alone with my precious son has made me think about all the ways I never thought I'd feel. I wake up to the sound of my son talking, and him giggling when I walk in a pick him up. I'm always amazed at how much love I feel for this little son of mine. All the days listening to him cry, never knowing if I could ever help him get back to being my happy little boy. All of that could happen over and over again as long as I get one hour of smiles from my precious little boy. Eric has this bright light in him, and every time he looks at me, talks to me, smiles at me, I get to see that gorgeous light shine. Each moment I spend just enjoying him I feel like I could walk a thousand miles and not have a care in the world.

       I feel like I've been blessed beyond all measure, because I GET to be the mom to this precious amazing boy. He means more to me than I ever could've imagined.

        I never knew my life would change so much just because of a little boys smile...

The Holidays....

       Every year I tell myself that I'm going to do better about starting my Christmas presents early. And Of course I NEVER do. So these past two months have been filled with sewing machines, knitting needles, crochet hooks, slow cookers and of course my favorite baby in the entire world!! Which adding all of those together adds up to a very slow going at completing Christmas. But thanks to my AMAZING husband I was able to get everything done tonight!!! So I'm officially done and ready for Christmas and now I just get to sit back and relax!! (However, we still haven't sent out our Christmas Card this year... so for those of you getting it late I blame the baby ;) jk) I'm not going to spill any of what my needles and hooks have been doing since most of it will all go to family members, however for my lovely co-workers I made them all some amazing Apple Butter. I was planning on making them all some kind of snow flake to go with it, but I decided that my sanity and lack of stress was worth not doing them this year.

       But just to update on the Matthew Long family. We are all doing great and loving having that Dad is done with finals and can now help Mom get everything ready for our trip to Vegas. I'm loving that I can leave Eric home when I go to work this week, especially with how crazy it's been with last min gifts. I have to admit, with all the crazy kids/parents I see at work, I'm so grateful that Matt and I came from semi-normal families.

       Other then that life has been the same old thing, with bursts of joy watching Eric learn and grow. He's currently trying to figure out crawling and has moved a few times, but then Bray'Tac walks by or comes into his view and he just starts laughing and forgets about crawling. If I had to guess though,  I'd say Bray'Tac is soon going to be chased around the house by our little guy (at which point I will either spend the day filming the chase or playing hide and seek with Bray'Tac).

       But that's all the news for now!!


Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Two years seems like a week...

         Two years ago I married my best friend in the whole world. Looking back on the time we've spent together it seems like we just started dating, yet at the same time if feel likes we've always been together. These two years have been the best of my life (excluding when Matt had to leave for trainings, but even those times helped bring us closer together...).

I could probably go on for hours about how amazing these past two years have been, but I think I will go snuggle with my hubby instead ♥

Who knew the tears would come so quickly...

       I've always been protective of children. Especially since my parents added Daniel and Matthew to our family. They taught me what it meant to be an older sister, and what it meant to have someone younger then to care for. They are the ones that taught me how precious life really is. Matt is the one that made me want to adopt a child, and provide a better home and stable environment to grow in.

       Then Eric came into my life, and I learned about a new kind of love. The love a mother has for her children. I knew that loving a my own children would be different then how I feel about my nieces and nephews. But I didn't realize that having a child of my own would affect every other part of my life. I didn't know that once I had a child that I would grow to be more protective of children. I didn't even know that I could be more protective of children then I already was!! Then books that my dad used to read through his tears to me as a child made me start crying as I read them to Eric. Songs on the radio about children started touching me in different ways. Stories on the news about children being abused made me angrier and want to save the children from their abusers. Posts on blogs about children with incurable diseases brought me to tears, just from the pictures, and crying uncontrollably from their stories.

       I used to think that crying over anything was a sign of weakness. But now I know that crying for the right reasons is not weakness. If anything it's a sign of a loving heart. I hope that is something that I can teach my children as they grow. I'm sure when they are young they will be as baffled as I was when my dad cried reading us stories at night. I hope to teach them to embrace the caring natures they are born with, and use it to better the world around them in anyway they can.

Just cause I can't help but take pictures :)

Sleeping with Ayden and Cambree

With Skyler and Ayden

This is my "grumpy gills" face, depending on the cry it either means feed me/hold me/get that camera out of my face ;)

Loving life with Matt

Sleepy face

Sleeping with Daddy after a hard night in the hospital

Sleeping with Grandma Hennen

Sleeping with Grandpa Hennen

First nap at home in his crib :)

Sleeping on Mommy

Enough with the pictures already!!

Hide-a-baby sleeping with Daddy

Meditating on Mommy's lap

"Hi Dad"

"I don't want to hear it"

Now I just need to remember to bring my camera and get some more pictures with the Long side!! :)

Life with a newborn

       Eric is one week old as of today! It's crazy to me how fast this past week has gone by! At his check up appointment Eric was about as perfect as a baby could be! He'd only lost 2 oz in the hospital and was up to 7 lbs at his initial / jaundice check up. I really feel blessed to have such a healthy baby! Even with the initial scare he gave us, I couldn't ask for a better baby. Matt has been loving every second of being a dad and has been so much fun for me to watch when he takes care of Eric. I've loved having Matt home during the day to take care of Eric so I can take random naps. Even though Eric sleeps most of the day, having Matt here to be able to take care of him so that I can take random naps has been wonderful!! And I love watching them bond, they are both just so cute together I can hardly stand it!! I mean look at these two!!

 

    I'm pretty sure life doesn't get any better then this! I love these two boys more then I ever thought possible!  And I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life/eternity with them!! 

Announcing Eric David Long!! :D

Eric David Long
Born July 10, 2011 at 4:14 AM
6 lbs 10 oz & 19.5 in

My Little Burrito Baby

 

       I was so grateful that Matt had gotten his phone back on Saturday night! I really don't know what I would've done if he hadn't had his phone. I'd tried sending a Red Cross message to get him home for the delivery, unfortunately since I wasn't having any complications with the labor the Red Cross couldn't (or wouldn't...) do anything about getting Matt home.  Thankfully I was able to let Matt know early enough that he was able to get everything worked out on his end to get sent home since he was done with training anyway. The only downside was that his plane didn't leave from Tacoma, WA until 6:05 on Sunday morning :(

       Our precious Eric David Long was born on Sunday at 4:14 AM. He was so anxious to get here that he didn't even wait for the Dr to get here before making his grand entrance! His dad was on the phone with me during the whole labor and was my counting distraction during the contractions/pushing. I was grateful that he came when he did though, it made it so that I could send Matt some pictures before he boarded his plane to come home. Unfortunately the joy of Eric's arrival didn't last long before he was making me worry about him. When Eric was born part of his lungs didn't open completely. Which meant I got to glance at my precious baby before they took him away to the NICU to find out what was wrong. And all they told me before they took him away, was that they were concerned about his coloring and were going to monitor him in the "transitional nursery" (NICU observation). I asked my mom to go with the nurse and my baby so I could find out what was going on, as they weren't telling me anything at the time. My mom kept running back and forth between Eric and me letting me know his progress. Eventually they told us what was wrong and what they were doing about it. Which took a huge load off of me, but I still was just aching to hold my son. It took little Eric 5 hours to open his lungs and pass all the tests the doctors were giving him. When they finally brought him down to the Nursery where I could finally hold him I was over joyed. My nurse took me to see him and Eric's nurse was awesome at explaining everything she was looking at during his assessment. He definitely didn't like getting his shot, or having his diaper changed, but hearing him cry was the most amazing sound I'd heard all day. After she finished assessing everything with him, she helped me and Eric back to our room to finally have some time together. It felt like seconds had passed before Matt walked in the door (even though in reality it'd been about 2 hours). Eric was absolutely perfect and seeing Matt's face when he first saw his son was amazing. I think at that moment the world could've ended and I wouldn't have noticed.

       I was very glad that the rest of the hospital stay was boring and over quickly. Matt and I are loving being parents to such an amazing baby boy (even if he did keep us awake at all hours our first night at home ;) ). I've loved watching Matt as he takes care of little Eric. It's funny to me how alike they already are, Eric is very much his fathers son and a Daddy's boy. Every time Matt says anything if Eric is awake he looks around to find his dad. :) I can't wait to see how they grow and change in the next few days, especially as Eric starts to notice more of his surroundings. :)

       But my little boy is pretty sure it's dinner time, so I'll post again later.

~Melanie
    

Two weeks and counting...

       It's officially been two weeks since I last saw the love of my life, and 12 days since I last got to talk to him. I think that last part has been the most frustrating part of LDAC training for me. it just doesn't make any sense to me that when he was at basic with a bunch of teenage/newly enlisted soldiers he was able to call on Sundays and write during the week, and yet when he's at training to be an officer he's not allowed to do either (he can write when he gets breaks but he can't send/receive mail). I mean come on! These are men/women they are training to be the next set of officers for the army but they can't even be trusted with phones?!? And yet the newly enlisted soldiers that pulled all kinds of crap at basic were allowed to have phone privileges?!?! How does that even make sense!!??

       K I'm done venting now. It's just been really bugging me ever since Matt left. But oh well, I'll just count down the days/nights until July 9th when Matt will get his phone back and I'll finally be able to talk to the love of my life again.

       In other news, since Matt left I've been keeping myself extra busy between picking up extra hours at work and making baby things for my little prince and for my friends that are also expecting (I think I counted 12 of them?? 5 that know what they are having and 3 that will find out next month...) It's been kinda nice because I've been able to use up a lot of my stash of fabric/yarn which has emptied some plastic bins and given me more storage space :). although I think Matt would just laugh at my growing stack of UFO's (un-finished objects), it's been nice to have lots of different things to work on. Especially since my attention span has dropped to a max of an hour a day on any given thing.. I'm claiming is a pregnancy thing, but it's probably just because it makes me feel like the day goes by faster if I keep switching what I work on throughout the day... Especially without having Matt here to tell me to go to bed at a decent hour... *sigh* I never realized how much I planned my day around Matt until he wasn't here to plan around. He was always my alarm clock, my dinner time "appointment," bed time setter and a bunch of other things that I can't think of names for right now... I think the thing that gets me the most is looking back at how different my life was before Matt and I got married. I was always "Miss Independent," I always did what I needed/wanted when I needed/wanted without needing to be told, and yet since he came into my life it's like I can't make the unimportant choices anymore... and now I'm just starting to ramble because I should be going to bed, and yet all I want to do is sit on my couch and day dream about Matt and Eric... and now that I've admitted that I'm tired I'm starting to fall asleep typing so I'm going to head to bed now... Night!!

Saying goodbye to my one true love

      When Matt first left for basic training last year, I thought that it would be easier to say good-bye to him if I was pregnant. Well having said good-bye pregnant, I can honestly say it's just as hard ever. Granted this time, I know more then ever that I'm not alone. This little  boy of mine seems to know just when to give me a hard kick to remind me that he is always with me. Eric's been such a comfort to me, he's really the best boy a girl could ask for. He listens to me complain, doesn't back talk, and always knows just what to kick to get me out of bed (granted whether that last one is a good thing or not depends on the time of day/night ;] ). But more then anything he's a constant reminder that Matt does, and always will, love me and would do anything for me. I'm so grateful to have that reminder this time around as I won't be able to talk to Matt after tomorrow until July 6th at the earliest. but more then anything I'm so grateful for a husband that isn't scared to put aside his comforts and do what is asked of him no matter what. Something I'm sure he learned from his dad that has impressed me everyday that I've known Matt.

      Matt has been such a blessing in my life, I can't even begin to describe everything he does to show me how important I am to him every day. Last night for example, I broke down and just bawled because he was going to be leaving me for a month and I was scared that he would miss the birth of our precious son. So Matt just pulled me into his arms, let me cry and then gave me a blessing of comfort. Something I didn't even know I needed until he offered to do it. I'm so grateful that he knew how much I needed that, even after I told him that I'd be okay and that we needed to go to bed so that we could get up in the morning to get him to the airport. I'm so lucky to be married to a man that knows me, and knows how to help me even when I tell him I don't need it. He's taught me more about myself then I ever thought anyone could. I guess that's part of why I fell in love with him in the first place. He's always been more patient with me then I deserved, and has always gone out of his way to make sure I knew how much he cared about me. I wish there was a way to put into words everything he does, but there isn't and that, I think, is what makes it so special.

       I could probably go on for hours about how amazing my husband is to me, but after only getting a few hours of sleep last night and working today all I want to do right now is dream about him. So that is just what I'm going to do. Sweet dreams!!

One Year with the Love of my Life!!

       Matt and I have been married for a year today. It seems crazy to me that we've already hit the one year mark. It feels like yesterday was our first kiss, and Matt was living at Glenwood Apts. As I've been thinking over this past year and how things have changed I can't help but be grateful that Matt was willing to let me work things out and waited for me to see that he was/is the perfect man for me. He's been there for me so many times and in so many different ways that I couldn't imagine my life without him. He's everything I knew and didn't know I wanted in a husband. He's always willing to help me around the house, he'll let me vent to him for however long I need (even when he's busy) and my favorite thing about him, he always know just what to say or do to make me feel special to him. Even when we first met (though he doesn't know this), I used to look forward to seeing him at FHE and being able to talk to him. Because he would honestly listen to what I had to say. He was always polite and never made me feel like I was just some girl he met once. Even today, not being together he was still able to make today a special day for me. I don't know how he always knows what I need from him, but I'm so very lucky that he does.

       Matt told me once that love meant giving 110% and expecting nothing in return. And I have to say, Matt has lived up to that since our first date. He was the first guy to ever open my doors, buy me flowers, cook for me and with me, and the only man I can actually see myself raising children with. He's always been so supportive of me and anything that I do.

       All I've been thinking about today how much I miss Matt and how much I really love him. He's been such a blessing in my life and has been the best friend that I've ever had. He's always there for me when I need him. Even when he was in basic training and we only had our letters, he would always write/send letters days in advance so that on days when I couldn't handle him being gone I'd get the exact letter that I needed to get me through the days that would never end. Some how he knew, and I am so grateful that he did. Now that he has his phone he'll surprise me even more by sending me texts each chance he gets just to tell me he loves me or that he's thinking about me. Every day that passes I just keeping thinking about how happy I will be to finally have him home in my arms again.

19 days!!!!

Best News!!!

      Everything is finally starting to look up again. Here I'll start from the beginning so it'll all make sense. When Matt left and I found out he was going to be missing our first wedding anniversary I planned a get away and got it all planned out and paid for. It was going to be great, we'd leave have some us time before he started school and not have to worry about anything back at home. Well then plans changed, Matt got delayed for a week and all my planning was ruined as far as I could tell... In order for us to afford going I'd booked everything with a no change/cancel obligation. I wanted to cry. My perfect week with my husband was gone, he'd come home and end up starting school the next day. Joy. Luckily I talked to Matt about it and he gave me some ideas as to how we could fix it. Granted none of them worked, but it got me thinking. Then I mentioned it to my brother and he got me thinking that no wasn't an answer I should accept. So I was back to the drawing board. I called the hotel about the reservations and long story short after wasting a lot of time being on hold and telling one of the many people on the line that they were going to change it because it was due to military we weren't able to make it things finally started working out. They let me change my reservations to Labor Day weekend. I was so excited. And on top of that, I was able to find out that Matt had that Monday off so I was able to extend our trip with a little surprise for him that I wasn't originally going to be able to do. (since he reads this too that's all you get to know).

     To make things even better we were able to find out that due to him being National Guard and not Active Duty army, he'll be shipped out in 24 hours or less to come home after finishing his AIT! Which means we don't have to deal with the hassle of getting him tickets and getting the army to refund us! Woot!! And on top of that, since he's passed his PT test and is National Guard if he does end up going to sick hall they won't re-class him. :) He'll just stay with the class that he's in and come home as planned! But I still don't want to risk it so he's doing everything he can in order to stay healthy.

       What else can I tell you.... Oh since Matt has been doing so good on his tests and working so hard at the homework they had (when they had it) he's decided that he's going to work towards being an Honorary Distinguished Grad. Which means, he has to have the highest scores out of the three classes that are going right now. If not, he'll be a Distinguished Grad. Honestly I think he'll get the first because of his last test scores. It's really helped him a lot to be so good at math, and I'm so glad that he decided to build on that skill instead of just waste it. He used to offer help tutoring to some of the guys when they had homework, although most of the time no one ever showed and we ended up just skyping and enjoying our nights together. :)

       I'm currently working on my last week of nursing school and am so ready to be done!!! This week will be another busy one but it'll be worth it to be done with everything and not have to worry about this part of it anymore. Because, after Aug 15th all I will have to worry about is passing the NCLEX-RN. I'm thrilled and scared all at the same time. (seriously girls have the most confusing emotions ever, no wonder guys don't understand us...Sheesh...)

       Anyways I'm going to go hit the books (and by books I mean word to type of the last of my homework!! woot!!)

The M&M Long Family

Hi Everyone!

So this is a blog I just set up to introduce our new family!!

Matt and I got married on Aug 13, 2009, we're both currently in school. Matt is studying to be a Mechanical Engineer at BYU and I'm working towards getting my RN from Provo College. Both of us plan on going on to get Masters.

We both love being outside and doing anything that we can think of. Currently we have a nightly tradition of watching Stargate SG-1 on Hulu and we love it! However, they only have 6/10 seasons up on Hulu and we're almost done watching them. And suggestions on what to watch next?

umm lets see what else can I tell you about us... Matt comes from a family of 4 kids and is the first to get married. I come from a family of 11 kids and I'm the 7th to get married. between the two of us we currently have 21 nieces and nephews, with one more on the way (all from my side).

and that's basically us!!