Coming to Terms with 45 Minute Muffin Tops

So this girl in my ward warned me that after pregnancy my body would never be the same. I think I knew at the time she was right, but denial was my coping device. She was right. My poor body has morphed into something unrecognizable..... I have a muffin top! (For those of you who are lucky enough not to have one, or perhaps don't know, it is the extra flesh/fat that sits right above your jeans.) No matter how my weight has fluctuated or what size I have been, I always have had a delightful hour glass figure. Kiss that goodbye. I always used to say that I was an hour glass with maybe an extra 5-7 minutes extra worth of sand on the bottom. After pregnancy, I have not only graduated to the muffin top, but now the booty has a full extra 15 minutes on the bottom. Oh well, I know that it is going to be hard to get this crap off, but it must be done! AHH! So in the meantime, because it is not going to happen overnight I am trying to come to terms with it, and possibly find some "pros" in the whole situation:
1. With the extra "padding" maybe it will be easier to prop Mr. Mack up on a hip. (No not Mr. Mac the suit guy, I am NOT that big.)
2.
Well, one is about how far I have gotten but I am sure I can think of more. Here is to hoping!

February.... Already?

Oh wow, today is one of those days. It is two o'clock and here I sit in my bathrobe with a house to be cleaned, laundry to be folded and dinner to be made. I just can't get the umph to get going. However, I am showered with the hair and makeup done. Poor Eric will come home to Mack and I in our jammies and Chicken Voila for dinner.
Where did January go, and why am I such a blogging slacker? So here it goes, a mini summary of January.
Mack is doing extremely well. He is darling and so good! We feel incredibly lucky to have him. He is eating well and gaining weight. His little cheeks are getting chubby. He has just discovered his voice. When he starts crying and then gets mad, his volume triples he scares himself silly.
I feel like a dairy cow. I milk a lot and he isn't the fastest eater, he is improving though. Other than nursing all of the time, I feel great!
Eric and I celebrated our two week anniversary on January 27. It was fantastic, we dropped Mack of at my parents and went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (I know, not the most romantic, but fun and yummy). We then rented a movie (P.S. I Love You) and watched it in bed. It was fun to be out together and it was fun to pick up Mack and Toby at Grandma and Grandpas!
In GREAT, EXCITING, and WONDERFUL news, my sister-in-law Suzy is pregnant! It was a shocker to all of us, and oh so exciting! With Joni (Larsen sis-in-law) having Jake almost exactly a year before Mack, and Lisa (Larsen sis-in-law) due in May, and then Suzy, Mack will have so many cousins his age to play with!
I cut my hair. I know what you are thinking, she caved into the mom-low-maintenance thing. This is NOT true, truthfully and honestly I looked frumpy... really frumpy. It was a ponytail everyday. I needed a change. So I cut five inches off, and got an A-line. I like it a lot. It is easier, especially because it doesn't take a stinkin' half an hour to blow dry! I also decided to go to the MAC counter, get some new colors and shape my eyebrows. My wardrobe is still limited, both Mack and I are between sizes.
With the start of January, comes some of my favorite entertainment. One of them being a stupid reality show on Mondays that I am ashamed to even admit that I watch. Last week I was watching and actually caught myself rolling my eyes. But I can't stop. I am hooked and pathetic. To make matters worse, I missed last night so after I post this dear blog, I will sit here in my robe and watch it online. Once again hooked and pathetic!

Two Week Pictures

Mack had his two week pictures taken and they turned out pretty well. Of course when you have such a darling baby, how could they not?

Garlic Burgers and Rock Band

I decided it might not hurt if I (this is Eric) actually jumped on here and jotted something down. Periodically Annie reminds me that it is "our" blog and I'm more than welcome to contribute. So I decided to let you all in on a little secret. Garlic burgers and a guy who burps a bit too often can make for a bad combination. Allow me to elaborate:

We went out to dinner Saturday night with Annie's aunt and uncle to a place called Salt Lake Pizza and Pasta - having been there all of one time now I can say that it's excellent. Incidentally it was the first time Mack has been out to dinner with us and he was great. Not much for conversation, didn't show much interest in anything on the menu, and he seemed a bit comatose at times; but all-in-all we were glad he came along. Anywho, I had the Garlic Burger with Monteray (sp?) Jack cheese and 'shrooms. WOW. Possibly the best burger I've ever had. Although I've heard good stuff about the burgers at the Cotton Bottom, but that's another story for another time (Chris and Annie, if you're reading this I hope you're once again in tears with laughter at the thought of me and my wife trying that place out).

The side note is it was also also quite possibly the worst breathe I've ever had. And apparently it wasn't appreciated when I grabbed a soda later that night to help stay awake - something about carbination and the worry about me burping up a storm and spreading garlicly joy to the entire neighborhood. Ah well. We also played some mean rounds of Rock Band. I'm hooked. Did I mention I scored 100% a couple of times? That's right. If my career in International Tax doesn't work out I can always fall back on video game kareoke contests.

Long story short, I absolutely love my wife and son, and work is pretty fun too. We're doing well and I hope the same can be said of you (who reads this thing anyway?).

Save a tree, eat a beaver
-Eric

It's Go Time

Okay so for those of you that gag easily or don't like reading human gross stuff.... please do not read!
So this was the funny story at the Larsen's this week. I am not sure if it really is that funny or if we have cabin fever waiting for RSV season to pass.
Those of you who know me well, or really know me at all, know that I have a hyper gag reflex, and gross things just gross me out. (Basically any bodily function). Last week I was sitting on the couch holding Mack, realizing once again how beautiful he is when I noticed a little booger (We call them boogs, so from here on out, it is boogs) hanging out of the nose. I tool a deep breath and realized this was "go time". It was time to be a Mom. Bite the Bullet and join the Mommyhood. I could handle this, besides I fully know that things are going to get a lot more disgusting. So I attempted to pick. Multiple gags later and the boog waiting to be picked up after I launched it off of my finger, I called Eric in to pick it up. He looked at me VERY oddly and picked it up. Later that night he tells me that he has never met anyone like me. This was not the "you are so great and wonderful and I have never met anyone like you", but a more disturbed version. I asked why and here was his reply, "I have never met anyone like you. You can't even pick your OWN nose and clean it up!". He thought it was mine and actually cleaned it up! This my friends is what love is.

Pictures of the Cutest Baby Ever

Introducing Merrick Warren Larsen

What a big name for such a little boy! Mack was born December 27 at 2:54 p.m.. He is such a sweet and mellow baby, and he is of course beautiful. We feel incredibly blessed that we were at the right place at the right time. That day was a Saturday and I had an appointment for the bi-weekly ultrasound and baby heartbeat screening. We were not scheduled to go into the Doctor until the next Monday and with Christmas that week we had to on Saturday. They started monitoring his little heartbeat and noticed every time I contracted his heartbeat would drop. The nurse looked at us and said that it was quite possibly baby day. Of course, that morning I thought there was no way that baby day was that day. But luckily Eric had the foresight to bring the hospital bag.
We moved into a Labor and Delivery Room where they hooked up the monitor again, and they couldn't find Mack's heartbeat. Before we knew it we heard a Code Blue over the intercom and the room was flooded with doctors and nurses. I was so frightened and worried for Mack and it was all so overwhelming. I was whisked off to the OR for an emergency C-section and Eric was left in the room (they weren't sure if they had time to give me a spinal epidural or if they would have to use a general). Thank heavens there was a little time for the epidural and Eric was able to come back to be with us. The whole C-section thing was very surreal, but Mack came out screaming, and it was such a relief to hear that sweet cry!
It turns out that I had low amniotic fluid and that caused the umbilical cord to wrap around his neck twice, and every time I would contract the cord would wrap tighter. The only thing that saved him was the fact that his head was up against my pelvis on one side preventing him from moving down. It was the scariest day of our lives, and we were told that he would had not made it to Monday for the Doctor appointment.
He is the sweetest baby and he is so quiet and mellow. In fact a couple of days of having him home we were a little worried about him being so chill all of the time. As to who he looks like, we have no idea. We have really enjoyed the time off work that Eric has taken. My mom has been helping me out a ton, and it was so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa Larsen drive down to meet him. We are so thankful that he made it here and that he is a part of our family, and we definitely know that we were blessed that day.