UPDATE FROM THE "COUSINS" - MARK & LIZ

I’m a dad!

Riley Barbara Sanders was born on March 14 (Pie Day) at 10:48pm. Here’s a rundown of the day (Monday): Liz’s water broke at 4:01am, got to the hospital just after 4:30am, nothing happened until she was given Potosin at 3pm, epidural at 6pm, dinner at 7:30pm, then baby delivered just before 11pm. Riley pooped twice before the weigh in as her official weight was 6 lbs 15.5 ozs but the Doctor said she in 7 lbs club when she was born.

 

I didn’t say a word from when Liz was pushing to about an hour after. Seriously for 2 hours, I just sweated, cried a little and just stared in amazement. It was a great experience. The entire pregnancy. I was stressing over the health of the baby and grateful she is doing well. I felt close to the Savior in the hours after the baby was born and the Eternal Family principle sunk in a little deeper.

I got home from the hospital at 5am the morning after Riley was born, took a shower, napped for about 2 hours, and then was back at work at my first appointment at 11am.

I’m a light sleeper and would wake up with every noise she made the first 10 days where I would maybe get an hour or two of sleep, but we have found a good schedule where Liz, Riley and I are getting a little more sleep.

Riley at one month

 Riley is now 6 weeks old - her favorite things to do is eat, sleep, spit up and of course, hang out with us. She is starting to smile when we smile at her and makes "dinosaur" noises when she stretches. She has blue eyes and her hair is brown with blonde highlights (we think she will be a blonde). Lately, she is sleeping from about 1-6am each night which is really refreshing - then she usually eats every 2-3 hours during the day. We have had help from both set of parents for the first weeks so it's been an easier transition. 

We really enjoy life here in El Dorado Hills. Liz has a girls group (about 12 other women 27-32 year old) who get together often to hang out together. When time allows, I really enjoy golfing as I try to go once a month and even though my handicap has risen to about a 4 or 5, I still enjoy going out there and playing. I still follow every sport imaginable and enjoy going to sporting events or watching them on TV. 

We are excited for the summer and introduce Riley to our backyard pool and spend a lot of time out there. This is my favorite time of year as the hills are still green and the weather is a perfect 70-75 degrees each day.

 We love being parents!