Piura

This is literally the hottest I have ever been. No joke. We are talkin well up into the 90's with tons of humidity and no chance for a/c and only having fans at the mall and church. William is rocking it by sleeping through the hottest part of the day, and I am just sweating. Constantly sweating. If you can handle the heat though, it's a beautiful place. This city is bigger than Chiclayo, and has a lot more paved roads. We are staying with a super sweet family :) everyone has been so kind to us here. I havn't spent a ton of time with everyone here though as yesterday was spent fighting a bout of Mastitis, a really really fun thing to go through in the heat let me tell you ;) on the bright side I was able to sweat out the worst of it last night. Today is for recovery and I think we will go to the market to get some sweet relief by hanging out in A/C in a couple stores. I think we will go after a Liahona meeting with a local church leader here.
Today is Bradley and my 3rd wedding anniversary!!! We have decided that it is far too hot to celebrate now, and will celebrate in a week when we are in Cusco.

Family cuddles cause the kid won't sleep alone

Don't have a mosquito net big enough for the whole bed? No problem! 

This kid just loves making friends!

More Naptimes

my handsome boys

One thing I have not talked enough about but will have AT LEAST one whole post about is the food. ohmygoodness, the food here is AMAZING!!!! I can't wait till I can try to recreate some of these dishes at home. Some highlights have included Cuban rice (Fried eggs, fried banana, and rice), Milagros (A fried breaded chicken, with a great white sauce, and rice), this drink made of oatmeal or quinoa that is possibly the best breakfast ever and helps keep my milk supply up for the little mister, the best burger of my life, and a peruvian/chinese mashup rice dish that was crazy good! I should have taken pictures, but I was always so excited that I would forget. I've always been a bit picky, but the only time I struggled with liking the food was the first day, and that was due to my stomach struggling to adjust to a new diet and all the travel.

What we are doing here

So Bradley and I are here in south America for two reasons, 1 is helping Liahona Children's Foundation, http://www.liahonachildren.org/#/home  where we are training area coordinators, setting up new areas, and most of all screening children for malnutrition. our second reason is that we are doing projects with BYU, we are evaluating the organization, and surveying the mothers in the program in a few areas.

Last night we had our first screening here. It was pretty rough. Both Bradley and I have a lot of kinks to work out in what we are doing, but I think we will be able to make the adjustments and do some serious good here. Another hard part is seeing these malnourished children. I feel for them so much. I can tell how badly these mothers would love to have healthy, well nourished children, but they don't have the resources. It breaks my heart. I am so grateful to have such a healthy, strong baby boy.

The screening was chaotic. i have trouble understanding the language to begin with, but it was really discouraging realizing how much I have to learn. It was worse too because I would get frustrated and it would be harder to remember the words. I need to work on that.

Bradley was also frustrated because speaking and writing are different and he struggled with translating the survey into Spanish, and it needs a lot of work. Thank goodness for this test run!

It's only been a week tomorrow, and I already feel like I've changed. I will never be the same person again. And that is probably a good thing.

Earlier in the day we went to a fantastic museum here! First time seeing another tourist, and also first time having A/C since getting here. 

After the screening we decided to chill for a bit before dinner and go to one of the many gorgeous parks here with Rocio's family. 

Oh and did I mention that my baby is 4 months old??? How is time going by so fast?!

Peru, the first weekend

Wow. I am actually here. In Peru. It took a lot of hard work and A LOT of faith to get here. Bringing along an almost 4 month old baby was a big decision. But one I am now glad we made. He LOVES traveling. I am pretty sure we birthed an angel instead of a baby. seriously. We were traveling for 24 hours, with three flights, two of which were  around six hours with a six hour layover between. The kid slept, smiled or ate during all of the flying time. We did have one blowout incident right as the second flight was taking off, but it was easy to clean.
My first time struggling with the language was in the airport of Lima. I was looking forward to a cold salad from Subway cause it was HOT at the airport, and I'd had William strapped to me with a Moby wrap to get through customs and all of that. I ended up accidentally asking for hot mustard on my salad instead of vinegar. it was very very spicy. I didn't end up eating all of it cause I couldn't handle the spice.
One of the coolest things about traveling in Peru is that it feels like anyone who comes though the airport is a celebrity! There are tons of people waiting to greet every person arriving! They are also the friendliest people I have met. I adore the people here already so much and it has only been a few days.
We are staying with a couple here in Peru right now who are just amazing! They have been married for three months, live in the city, and have been the best hosts!
On our first night they immediately greeted us and had another LDS member who had a cab come meet us at the airport. My first experience with traffic in Peru was exhilarating! I realized I am definitely not in Utah anymore. Also, I will never complain about bad utah drivers again. I am sooo glad I do not have to drive here. Most of the roads in the city are dirt, and have a ton of potholes. Trash is burned in the street here. and Pedestrians most certainly do not have the right of way. But I think of driving like being on a roller coaster and it makes it fun ;) I'm going to try and get a good video of what it is like being in a mototaxi going through the city soon.
Our first day was a whirlwind. I woke up excited to explore the new surroundings. We went to the market (for shoes), the supermarket (for food), spent time with our Rocio's family who are very sweet and fun, went to the beach for the sunset (one of the best sunsets of my life), and then attempted to go to see the avengers in theatre but it was sold out!!! Such a fun and crazy day. William LOVED it all, and especially loved all the attention from the girls in Rocio's family. he is a little flirt.
Our second day we were able to go to church. It was at 8 in the morning. Everyone was so sweet and talked to us asking us about William. They love how bald he is lol. I think he had at least 50 people rub his head. Also, it is super hot and humid here! Like Houston but without A/C. the church building has A/C but they don't turn it on cause it is too cold for them when they have never really had it before. We napped long and hard after lunch and a shower after church, called our parents to assure them that we were alive and well, then spent the evening chatting with Roberto and Rocio.
Today has been fairly laid back so far, which is good cause my body is finally adjusting to the food and not in the best way ;) but we are doing well. Starting to get some work done and going to the park in the city today.
The next post should have some pics and possibly videos :)

2 months old!

Yesterday William turned two months old!!
My little boy is growing so fast! I can hardly believe it.
His weight is now: 15 pounds 2.5 ounces 96th percentile
His height is now: 24.5 inches 97th percentile
and his head is in the 96th percentile
He is a BIG boy, but a very proportionally big :)

He has his own passport now!!!

He is crazy strong, and loves to show off those muscles during tummy time! He also likes to kick me in the stomach whenever he gets the chance.
He is totally hotbodied. This kid does not need an extra layer. In fact, if I am feeling like I need two blankets at night, he probly just needs one, cause otherwise he sweats a bunch.
He is learning to love bath time! As long as he gets to have us cuddle him in the bath he does great!
Speaking of cuddling, this kid likes to cuddle 24/7!
He is a CHAMP at eating. Seriously, I am super glad about it. He's gained weight really fast and seems to be very healthy. Plus, he was the EASIEST kid to breastfeed since day one. I have had absolutely no pain, and if he latches on incorrectly he re-latches himself. Since day one guys. I am so lucky.
Sleep is still iffy, but we are working hard at actually getting him on a schedule. Cause the kid kept thinking that midnight was his bedtime. And he still can't go longer than 3 hours without eating, but I don't mind that.
Every morning this kid has to poop. Same time every morning. He is regular. lol but it does mean I have to get up with him to help him work out his morning farts through bicycle kicks and baby sit-ups. After about 5 minutes of working it out he is a happy camper :)
This kid loves to play where's the baby and follow different toys with his eyes. He is also practicing swatting and grasping things. Like my hair, he loves to pull hair.
He loves to be read his books! And he loves to be talked to in Spanish!
He also loves smiling and talking! His baby coo's melt me. He smiles SO BIG, and daddy knows how to make him laugh. (Apparently his Elmo impersonation, and his angry dinosaur voice are the Funniest things to this kid!)
His eyes are still grey. Not sure what they will end up being.
He is a huge fan of car rides! Or more specifically, freeway rides. The whole stopping at lights thing annoys him.
He loves piano music. Don't try to sneak in other instruments though, he is pretty specific about it being just piano. His favorite is Yiruma :)
Oh and yesterday he rolled over from his front to his back when we left him on his own for a couple minutes. Holy cow! I'm not sure if it was on purpose or if he just accidentally did it, hopefully I will actually SEE it soon. I've seen him roll onto his side a couple of times (he likes to sleep on his side)

William's Birth!

My little man is here!!! I have never been so sleep deprived or deliriously happy. He was born at 39 weeks exactly. It took me a while to realize it was true labor. I thought I was just having bad cramps. I spent the morning working reading and writing my 39 weeks post but before I finished it the cramps were getting pretty bad, so I took some tylenol and a warm bath, and when the cramps got too bad in the bath I switched to a shower. The "cramps" were getting bad enough that I was stopping whatever I was doing and focusing on breathing with each one. My husband came home to see me while taking a late lunch between classes. I told him i might be having the real deal but we both agreed to just wait it out till my obgyn appointment at about 4 since they were still 7 minutes apart. When I got to the doctors I explained to the nurses that I was having contractions at then 5 minutes apart and how strong they were, the doctor saw me immediately. I was already dilated to a 4 so he stripped the membranes and sent me to the hospital next door for an hour long observation to make sure it was real labor and continuing. After about 20 minutes of observation they asked me if I wanted the epidural (A definite yes) and got me into my room.

It took 5 tries to get the dang IV in me so I could get the epidural. My bruises from the burst blood vessels are just now finally starting to fade. But oh that glorious epidural!!! So much relief! It was beautiful. As soon as it was working it was time for another cervix check. My water broke during it and Bradley got to see it lol. Some of my husband's family showed up soon after to bring him some dinner and come say hi during the whole waiting to dilate thing. The nurse thought the epidural might be slowing my contractions down so she gave me a low dose of pitocin. I could still feel everything but it wasn't painful, which was awesome. About 30 minutes later I told the nurse I was feeling a lot of pressure, so she checked me again and I had jumped from being dilated at a 4 to a 9 in under an hour! And this kids head was right there ready for pushing! The nurse went to get the doctor. As soon as she returned a few minutes later we started practice pushing, but the baby was so ready to get out we could only even do a couple since we definitely wanted the doctor there. When the doctor arrived we got my mom on video chat, and I kept my mother-in-law and of course my husband in the room.

Doctor Bean is the best, he was great to have delivering little William. Him and my nurses (the same nurses who took care of me on Christmas when I thought I was in labor the first time) kept me super positive. Bradley had the gopro to video the whole thing cause I wanted to see it all. Birth is pretty dang cool. Near the end of pushing Doctor Bean suggested some music be put on, so Bradley put on the Henry Mancini station on Pandora, and the first song to come on was "I've got you under my skin" by Frank Sinatra, which made us all laugh, cause it was such great timing. Very appropriate for the situation. After 40 minutes of pushing baby William was out!! My husband made this great video to commemorate the event

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GDcJpA3EyY

Birth was awesome, and honestly easier than pregnancy for me :) I LOVED giving birth. And I really loved meeting my baby with some quality skin-to-skin right after! Love at first sight. I cried, Bradley cried, it was all just beautiful. I slept all of two hours that night because I couldn't stop staring at this beautiful child that had grown inside of me (how did he fit????) I ended up sending him to the nursery for those two hours so Bradley and I would sleep. My hospital stay was filled with amazing nurses helping me, visits from family members, and some surprisingly good hospital food. My experience really couldn't have been much better in any way. I'm so grateful everything went so smoothly.

And here are a ton of pictures taken at the hospital by my sister-in-law AmandaBethPhotography, she is amazing :)