We've lived in Utah, Nebraska, upper Michigan and now we've settled in Colorado...at least for now! Marley is 10, Isi is 6 and Enzo is 4!

Life is great!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Marlayna Joy

Marlayna Joy Freitas was born on April 10th at 1:17 p.m. She weighed 5 lbs and 12 oz. and measured 17 and 1/2 inch long.

Labor pretty much began at 4:45 a.m. and lasted until 1:17 p.m. just over eight hours. Not exactly a picnic for any of us. especially being up for 36 hours with a brief nap between. Becky had to overcome vomiting and numbness before she could enjoy her baby girl. Marlayna had lungs that didn't want to work just yet and needed help from a machine to blow air into her lungs. Nathan had feet that felt like they walked through disney land ten times and starvation because he didn't want to miss a thing. Right now we are enjoying the calm before the real life begins.

Marlayna is named after a girl I met on my mission in Montana. My first area was Billings and my trainer and I were the missionaries in a family ward and a single adult ward.

Marlayna Arcile Wiley was a ward missionary in the single adult ward. She was one of the best ward missionaries of my mission. She is one of those people who I met and instantly loved. Not only was she a devoted single adult ward missionary (which is super rare) she is absolutely devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is funny and witty. She makes friends with everyone and she keeps them! She never says anything negative or cruel about anyone else. She is true! She has been and continues to be a great example to me. Before I finished my mission Marlayna was sent to the Maryland Boston mission! She is now studying at BYU-I.

Serving a mission was a great time in my life. I loved it. Many many many people have impacted my life, but I really REALLY like Marlayna's name and since she has impacted my life by her good example and she happens to be from my mission too, we named our daughter after her.

Marlayna Joy's middle name comes from my Grandmother on my mom's side. She was a great woman! She was killed in a car accident when I was 5 but, I do have memories of her! She would play hide and seek with us and always gave us wonderful hugs! She always seemed happy, a true reflection of her name...Joy!

Growing up in San Jose where my mother was raised was cool! Especially when people who knew my grandmother would tell me things about her! Everyone loved her! She was a very service oriented woman. She devotedly served in many callings of the church. One calling I know she had was the Nature Lady at girl's camp. They called her Madame Butterfly. Isn't that cool!!!

Well, that's pretty much the story on Marlayna Joy's name. She already has a number of nicknames.

I like to call her Marlayna or Mara.

Nathan likes to call her M.J. (her initials and the heroine's name on Spiderman =-)

Julie my sister likes to call her Marley...and sometimes even calls her Bob (because of Bob Marley)

My mom likes to call her Layna.

I don't know if one sweet little girl could have more nicknames.

I am trying to post this at the hospital but I am unable to load any pictures. You will have to wait until I get home.




We finally managed to get a few pictures up. More will be coming so be patient.

One of the few pictures we have of Marlayna. She doesn't open her eyes too often yet so this one is a little blurry but you can still see how beautiful she is.Becky enjoying her new role as a mother!
Nathan trying to look comfortable in his new role as a father.

21 comments:

Shantell said...

I'm so excited for you and I'm so happy your sweet baby girl is here! Congratulations and I can't wait to meet her! Good job mom & dad on bring this sweet and wonderful spirit into this crazy world. I know that the Lord will bless you and you will be wonderful parents!

Anonymous said...

Becky!! I'm so excited!! I cannot wait to see pictures of her!!! And even better, I can't wait to babysit her!! Since that was what I wagered...good thing I was wrong =]

Adam and Sarah said...

I'm so dang excited for you guys! We want to come see her on Saturday sometime if that works for you guys! We'll call and see if you all are feeling up to it. Nathan said he thought you guys would be home on Saturday and not in the hospital. Thanks for making Nathan call me, Becky. You guys are fantastic! I hope you are feeling better! Love you guys!

Kim said...

Congratulations you guys! I'm so excited for you. It sounds like labor and delivery wasn't so fun for you, but hey, isn't it worth it?!?!
I cannot wait to see her. We were thinking of coming by to see you in the hospital today or when you get home tomorrow. We won't stay long. I'll need to drop off your carton of ice cream!

Cassie said...

Congratulations! I totally want to come see you guys but of course I got a cold and will have to wait a while! I'm so glad I will get to see you before I leave though!

Brittani said...

Congrats Becky! That is so awesome! I love the name, I especially love that you call her Mara, that's my little girl's name! How fun! Enjoy your baby, you'll lose A LOT of sleep, but it's all worth it!

Cote Corner said...

Hey Becky and Nathan! It's Matts sister, Amy. I heard you were in labor the other day so I checked your site to see if you had posted new pics of the baby yet! (yup, i'm a blog stalker!) Can't wait to see cute pics! CONGRATS!!!

Jeanette said...

I'm so excited to hear your great news! Congratulations to you both. I can't wait to see pictures of your sweet baby girl. Happy happy day! - Jeanette a.k.a. Barnard

Cassie said...

What a sweet baby girl! Good job you guys!

Adam and Sarah said...

My niece is so CUTE!!! We're so excited to meet her! :) congrats again!

Jeanna said...

What the heck? No one told me you were in labor. A happy, heartfelt congratulations to the happy parents, and I will probably be calling Marlayna "bob." I like it, good job Aunt Julie!

She looks beautiful!

Shantell said...

I just love this baby girl and she is so precious! Thanks for letting me come and visit. I can't wait for our play dates :)

Ashley and Aaron said...

Oh Beckster you're a mommy! Congrats to you and Nathan. I am so excited for you. And Marlayna is a beautiful little baby. I wish I could be there to see her too. Congrats again. Love you!

Tiffany Cramer said...

congratulations on your new little girl. There is nothing better than bringing children into your little family. You will never be the same. Steve and I were away from Cody for one day and 2 nights last week and we missed him so bad. We will never be the same without him in our lives. Hope you are recovering well and enjoying every minute!!

Lindsey said...

whoa! I was not expecting to see that you had your baby! Congrats!!! What a tiny ball of cuteness... awww... give her kisses from me, please.

Heather Sanders said...

Congratulations! Wow, that seemed to go so fast (I'm sure not for you...) I'm so happy for you guys! And, I also like her name.

Leah said...

She is so cute I want to love her.

Bree :--) said...

WOW...I totally was not expecting to see that you had your baby!! CONGRATULATIONS!! She looks beautiful. I hope you are feeling well, and out of the hospital.

TheDaleys said...

She is so tiny! How exciting! Congratulations! Enough exclamation points yet? This is such an exciting time for you guys. She is beautiful. Doesn't it feel like a miracle that you helped create a little sweet human being. It gets more amazing everyday. Enjoy her.

Kim said...

Congrats, Becky and Nathan! She's beautiful.

Natasha and Jesse said...

Congratulations! She is sooo cute! I think she has your mouth, Becky.