Our Baby Boy

I had an appointment this morning for my 28-week ultrasound. I'm usually very excited for ultrasound appointments, but I was a bit nervous this time. I knew the baby would be fine and in perfect condition, because he lets himself be known constantly. But I was nervous because on Friday I had my glucose tolerance test and whatever other blood work they do along with it. I knew I probably didn't have gestational diabetes, but, you never know. It can come out of nowhere.

The actual ultrasound went very well, except, now I will have two kids that do things on their own terms! I'm a bit nervous for when he's born. He's very active and very stubborn. He was not very cooperative with the U/S Tech. He was facing my back and would not turn around for her so she could get some good face shots. She got some, but I had to lay on my side. At one point, he turned away as we were looking at his face! Little stinker! Other than that, everything is perfect! And oh yeah! I do not have gestational diabetes. That's a relief.

Here is a picture of our cute little guy!

Half Birthday!

Yesterday, Ella turned 18 months old! And she will be going into nursery on Sunday. Craig and I can't wait. She's a little hard to control in Sunday School and Relief Society/Elder's Quorum these days. She's been ready for nursery for about three months, but we like to follow rules and waited.

She had her 18-month well-check this morning and it was the best doctor's appointment she's had in a while. She's always had some weight issues since she was born, and has been up and down (mostly down) in her percentiles. She has just never been a big eater and is very active. She was born in about the 20-25th percentile, and last appointment (15 months old) she was in the 5th weighing in at 19lbs 1oz. Her height has always been around the 50th percentile, so she's growing just fine.

Well, this little girl has done a lot of growing in the last three months! She weighed in at 20lbs 13oz. Yay! She's gained almost 2 pounds! And she went up to the 7th percentile! That makes me very happy. Now, here's the shocker (at least for me, sort of). She grew an inch and a half. So now she's 32 inches tall and in the 60th percentile! I knew she had a big growth spurt recently, but I didn't think it was that big!

She's developing right on track, not behind on anything. In fact, she's actually ahead in her verbal development. At this age, her doctor said she should know between 8 and 16? words. I don't remember the last number. But she knows way more than that. I can't even guess how many she knows. And he also said by age two, she should know some two-word phrases. Well, she already does that!

Ella is such a little sweetheart, and we are very blessed to have such a good girl. Even though she does have her moments and tantrums. But that's to be expected for a one year old. She loves to dance, and she's very good at it! I will have to post a video of her dancing some time. She also loves babies and kids. I can tell she will be a wonderful and loving big sister. And bossy, too. She even tries to boss around our dog and cat!

This is probably the most exciting, yet sad time so far in her life for me. It's exciting to be able to converse with her and watch her become more and more independent. But it's hard to realize she's not a little baby anymore. She won't let us just hold and cuddle her anymore. It's sad, but I'm glad she is growing up so well!

Cookie...C!

This is Ella's favorite song. She loves to watch the video and she loves for me or Craig to sing it to her. She has also been trying to sing it herself! She says, "Cookie...C!" She say stuff in the middle, but it's just babbling.

This morning, she kept asking me to sing it for her. She came up to me, started dancing, and saying, "Cookie!" over and over until I sang it for her. It was so cute. However, she did this over, and over, and over. The count is now well over 30 times of me singing it to her.

Well now...

That was easier than I thought! Ella is now officially pacifier free! The day I wrote about having to wean her off the pacifier, I decided to try it again. She cried a bit at first, but she calmed down within ten minutes. That night, I was just too tired to deal with crying, so I just gave the pacifier to her.

The next day, I decided to also eliminate her morning nap. It was only an hour long anyway, and she was getting to where she wasn't really sleeping during her afternoon nap. I figured that it was time, and maybe, just maybe, she'd be tired enough to not think about her pacifier. Well, she asked for it, but didn't even cry! And, she went right to sleep! That night, she did the same thing. But, I wasn't holding my breath. I figured she was jut really tired.

Friday, everything went perfectly, and the same so far today! Yay! The funny thing is that now she doesn't have her pacifier, she has become much more attached to her bunny (BunBun). She has been carrying it all around, and asks for that to snuggle with while she sleeps. It is so cute! When I give it to her, she gets this big smile on her face and giggles. Then she hugs BunBun like she hasn't seen it for a very long time.

I am so relieved this is all over and very grateful that it was so easy!

Busy Little Bee

This is how I found Ella this morning when I went in to get her up. That is a long-sleeved (with two sleeves) shirt she's wearing. Apparently she only wanted one sleeve! Silly girl! Her hair is up because she's been teething/sick for a week, and I don't want her hair plastered to her face with snot in the morning. It happened Friday morning and was not fun to clean up!

And yes, she still has the bumper in her crib even though it should have been gone months ago. She doesn't even try to climb out and when I have taken it off, she doesn't sleep because she's either hitting her head and making her cry, or losing her pacifier through the slats and making her cry. The bumper will go when the pacifier goes.

Some time in the next week, we will be working on weaning her off the pacifier. Oh joy. She turns 18 months old a week from today, and that is the deadline I set. Now I just have to gather up the strength to do it. I tried at nap time on Monday, but she cried so hard, I gave in. I hate giving in.

I'm hoping it won't be too terribly difficult because she's not very attached to it. She only really wants/needs it when she goes to sleep. She doesn't use it when she's awake, except every once in a while when she sees it lying around or we give it to her at church to keep her quiet. Sometimes I feel I'm more dependent on it than her! It also kind of makes me sad because it means my baby is growing up! Very bittersweet.

'Tis the Season

I am so excited for Christmas this year! It feels like it's our very first Christmas together. It's not, though. It's actually our third in our marriage and fourth ever. However, it's our first Christmas in our own home, with our own tree and decorations (as measly as they are). Our first Christmas, we were living in Craig's parents' house, and last year we were at my parents' house.

A couple weeks ago, I was really dreading the Christmas season to come. We have a VERY tight budget, and really don't have the money for extra things like Christmas presents. I was expecting a year with no tree, decorations, and very little gifts. Now, I know that's not what this whole season is all about, but when you don't even really have the money to buy gifts for your child and husband, it kind of spoils the feeling.

I'm going to sidetrack here for a bit. During our whole marriage, we have never had much money, mostly stemming from a certain house that I hate. I won't go into it, but things have always mostly worked out. Especially so in the past 10 or so months. We have received so many blessings, I can't (and won't) name them all.

Well, about a week and a half ago, we received a wonderful blessing. We got a very unexpected check in the mail. It wasn't that much money, but enough to be able to give ourselves a decent Christmas without dipping into our budget. Talk about coming in a timely manner!

We got so excited, we went right out (okay, two days later) and bought us a tree and a few decorations. And then a few days later, we started/finished buying Ella's gifts. I have never, ever in my life gotten things done so early! Now we can relax and really enjoy the Christmas season and it's true meaning without the stress of wondering where the money is going to come from.

Heavenly Father has truly blessed us in so many ways. We know that some day, we will look back on the first two or three years of our marriage and be so thankful for the struggles we went through.

I didn't mean for this to be so long, but I just wanted to share how thankful I am for all of the blessings we have received, and how excited I am for the Christmas season. I am also so very thankful for all our family to celebrate it with! There really is nothing greater in life than being with the ones you love to celebrate such a wonderful holiday.

Yummy Goodness

Recently, I have been having to urge to bake. And I have. I love baking, but the past few weeks, I've been wanting to bake something just about everyday. Not good on the budget or belly! I have refrained myself from doing it everyday, but I have baked something about once or twice a week. Still not good on the belly, but oh well! Craig loves what I make, but he's probably not loving the fact that I am making all these things! In the past three or so weeks, I have made snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies, a pumpkin pie (totally made from scratch, even used a real pumpkin!), cinnamon rolls, and I have all the ingredients saved and ready to go, to make another batch of chocolate chip cookies in the near future. That's a lot of stuff! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, we have not been sharing. We didn't finish eating the pumpkin pie, because Craig didn't really like it, and I couldn't eat the whole thing myself. It was not sweet enough for him and I don't have a blender or food processor, so it was a little stringy. I thought it was really good. I'm very proud of myself because it's the first time I have ever made a pumpkin pie, and I did it from scratch. Crust and all. With no help from my mom.

On top that, I have been in the mood for reorganizing things and deep cleaning. But that's where it stops. After my usual chores around the house, I'm just too tired to do these things. But, I did do a craft! *gasp!* I am not crafty, and usually have no desire to do crafty things (hence the reason my house is not really decorated). I got tired of Ella's hair clips and bows just floating around the house and getting lost. So, I made a hair bow holder. It's very rough looking, but I think for me, it turned out pretty okay.

So that's what I've been up to recently. Ella is still as cute as ever! She turned 17 months old yesterday (only one more month until nursery!) and woke up saying two new words and calling herself 'Allah'. Her new words are 'morning' (as in Good Morning) and 'button'. She has a very large vocabulary. She can say 'nana' - banana, 'bapes'- grapes (her two favorite fruits), 'tink-oo' - thank you, 'welcome' - your welcome, 'here go'- here you go, and she calls Craig 'Daddy', and calls me 'mama', 'mommy', and 'mommo'. That was just a sampling. She says lots of other things, and mimics lots of words. She loves to talk, sing, and dance too. She is growing up so fast! Here she is kicking back and relaxing with her giraffe.

I just had to share this last picture. Ella made a TV friend yesterday. His name is William, and he was on The Price is Right. He caught her attention from the moment he was called out from the audience. When they announced his name, what does she say? "William!" About five times. When he made it up on stage, she could not take her eyes off of him! It could have been his very bright lime green shirt, though. I was trying to take a picture of her to send to Craig, but I could not get her attention so I could actually take a picture of her face! She acted as if I was not even there. It was so funny. She came back to life the second his turn was over.

Now I must go eat a cinnamon roll because I was writing about it!

Fragile

I swear, I must be fragile these days.

Yesterday I had a bit of a scare. My back and stomach was pretty achy and a little crampy. At first I thought it was just a reaction to the major stomach problems I had the night before. It was pretty bad. I thought I was going to die in pain. But then I remembered I had these stomach problems a few times when I was pregnant with Ella and had no side effects the next day.

I really started to worry when I realized that was most likely not the reason I was feeling this way. I couldn't stand up for very long without my back and stomach hurting, so I decided to rest and stay seated as much as I could. Unfortunately, Ella decided to act up a bit and continuously get into things (which is not common for her), and then I had to clean the kitchen because it was bugging me. So, it didn't go as planned.

As the day went on, I started to think that maybe it was braxton hicks and I was fine, but thought it was a little early for those. And I was having some pain, and I didn't remember if braxton hicks could be painful. Then I started thinking contractions. Not good. I'm only 22 weeks along. But then I ruled that out partially due to denial, but also that it didn't really feel like contractions.

The rest of the day, I took it easy as much as I could. I had a lesson to teach in the afternoon, but she didn't show up (which is very unusual without a call). We could have used the little extra cash, but it was a small blessing because I don't think I would have lasted through the lesson. Dinner was very hard to cook, but thankfully we had something in the freezer that was very quick to cook up. At this point, it was very hard to stand for more than 10 minutes at a time.

We had to go get dog and cat food, so even though we were both feeling pretty yucky (Craig got a flu shot the day before and had a reaction to it). While in the parking lot, I was rubbing my lower back and hit a spot that was extremely painful. It was very close to where the kidneys are. So then I immediately thought I had a kidney infection. But I wasn't showing any other symptoms. But who knows. The last and only time I had one, it had already turned into a pretty bad kidney infection before I even knew anything was wrong. Apparently, I don't feel UTI symptoms. Sorry, too much info.

Thankfully, by the time we left the store, I decided it wasn't a kidney infection. The pain was on my muscle. It wasn't until I was giving Ella her night time milk that I finally figured out what was wrong with me. As I was handing the cup of milk to her, I remembered that the day before while doing dishes, I was trying to unscrew the lid off of a sippy cup that had sat out too long. It was very hard to get off and I tried about five times before it finally came off. Then I remember thinking that I should be careful so I didn't hurt my stomach muscles. I got the lid off and didn't think anymore of it until last night.

So, my pain and cramping I had yesterday was from trying to get the lid off the sippy cup. I accidentally strained my muscles. I am better today, thankfully.

The moral of the story: if you are pregnant, and can't get the lid off of something, whether it be a jar or a sippy cup, do not try to continue to get it off. Wait until your husband comes home to get it off for you. Even if there's old milk inside and are wanting to add it to the load of dishes in the dishwasher.

Halloween and a Birthday!

This is a little late, but we've been pretty busy since Halloween.

We had a great Halloween this year. In the morning/early afternoon, we went to a birthday party for a nephew and had lots of fun with family and Ella had a blast playing with her cousins on her daddy's side. She's such a little social butterfly and it's so cute watching her play with other kids/babies. Total opposite of me, thank goodness!

That night, we went over to my sister's house and went trick-or-treating with them. We didn't collect any candy for Ella because we think she's still a little too young (next year, Ella), but we dressed her up and watched Matthew and Grace rake in the goods! We dressed Ella up as a bear this year. So cute! It's the same as last year, but we didn't get pictures last year, it still fit her this year, and money was very tight to get her a new costume. So it all worked out! We had lots of fun all day, and Ella was completely exhausted by the end of the night!

She did not enjoy getting dressed in her costume!

Yesterday was Craig's birthday. He is so old now! Just kidding! He turned 32, but I don't see him at that age. He seems to be more like 28 to me. And he says he feels 25, so that's all that counts. It doesn't matter how old he is. All that matters is that he's a wonderful person, husband, and father. He does so much for our family and makes so many sacrifices for us! Ella and I love him SO much! And our little boy will too, when he is born.

The Big Ultrasound

Yesterday we found out if this little baby is a boy or a girl. Craig and I both came out of the appointment very excited. This baby is VERY active. I mean, it looked like he/she had just downed about five Dr. Peppers. Because of that, it was hard for the U/S tech to tell what the baby was. However, after a few tries, she, and we, could definitely tell what it was. The baby was also in the breech position (meaning feet down) so she really couldn't get a true profile view (the little stinker!).

The baby is very cute, if I might say so myself. The baby was pushing on me extending both arms and legs and then bringing them back in. It was very funny to see live! It reminded me of how Ella is. Everything looks good, and the measurements are right on with my due date, so things are going perfectly!

Pushing the arms and legs against me

Oh yeah, I guess you would like to know what this baby is! Well, it's a......

BOY!

The Month of October

October is going to be one busy month! But, most of everything that's happening is very exciting!

This week isn't too bad. I'm just very busy with scouting. I wish I could love this calling. Our ward finally got a cub master, and holy smokes he wants us to do a lot. I almost feel that we have to use all our den meetings to get ready for pack meeting. Yeah. So this morning, I have been throwing out email after email getting ready for tonight (den meeting) so we can get ready for pack meeting in two weeks. So, I am stressed to say the least. Oh. Have I mentioned I know NOTHING about scouts? Yeah. My brother is almost 10 years older than me, so he was almost out of cub scouts when I was born!

Then a week from Friday (the 9th), Craig has a half day and we're going over to California for my niece Sophia's baptism. She is my brother's second (and middle) child and I can't believe she's turning 8 on Friday. I am so excited for that! I love going over there!

Then, two days (the 13th) after we get back from CA, Craig has a whole day off and we will be finding out whether the baby is a boy or girl. I'll be happy with either, but is it bad that I really want another girl so I can use Ella's old clothes again? We got so many from others and they are all very cute. Besides that, it will save us a lot of money and since Ella and this baby will only be 21 months apart, it would be nice for her to have a little sister close to her. Obviously I can't do anything about it, but I can hope. Knowing my family and Craig's family, our chances for a girl are pretty high. Between our parents, they have about 13 grand kids plus two on the way (mine and my sister's), and only about four are boys. We still don't know what my sister's baby is either. She's a few weeks behind me. But, if it's a boy, we will still be very happy.

Anyway, now that you know our family genetics, the next weekend (the 16th), we're going camping with Craig's family! I'm always excited about camping, but I can't help but worry about the temperature. We're going up north, in the middle of October. To me, that screams COLD! I hate being cold. that's why I could never live anywhere else. 50 degrees is freezing for me. I will just have to bundle myself up and hope it's nice during the day. And not rainy. It rained the last two out of three times Craig and I have gone camping.

So that's about it. Busy, but exciting!

Ella's New/Old PJ's

Ella got some new pajamas yesterday. They are special pajamas, and not so new. I used to wear them when I was a little girl, so my mom gave them to her! She is so cute in them, and a bonus is that she loves Sesame Street! I let her watch about 15 or so minutes of it sometimes, and it makes her very happy. Thanks Mom!

Oh! I have some good news! First of all, it's officially been one week since I have had morning sickness! Yay! I was miserable for about 9 weeks. Yuck. The second piece of good news is that in three weeks (Oct. 13th), we get to have the "big" ultrasound to find out if Ella will have a little brother or little sister! Then, if the baby cooperates, I must start thinking about names. I hate doing that because I'm way too picky. Ella is very lucky she has a name!

Labor Day

This year for Labor Day, we decided at the last minute to go on a day trip up north somewhere. We haven't really gone anywhere for a while by ourselves, so we thought it would be perfect. At first, Craig wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, but I really didn't feel like driving that far in one day. So we decided to go to the Petrified Forest instead. It's a bit closer, and I have never been there. Well, I have never been to the Grand Canyon either, but I did not want to drive that far. Anyway, the trip up was pretty quick once we got out of town, and it was pleasant. Ella even fell asleep for a little bit.

When we got there, I didn't except it to be as beautiful and awesome as it is! We drove through the park and stopped at almost all of the points of interest and was were just awestruck at how beautiful it was. A little over half way through the park, Ella had a meltdown because she was so exhausted and would not fall asleep, so we were not able to take too many stops. We decided that maybe it would help to let her out and walk around. We stopped at an outlook in the Painted Desert where nobody else was, and let her go free. She was as happy as a clam.

It was getting late by that time, so we decided to head home. And guess what? Ella went right to sleep and slept for almost two hours until she got hungry. At this point, we were stuck in terrible traffic (as in it took an hour to go about three miles). We put our GPS, Flo (yes, we named it), to work and found ourselves a detour and probably saved ourselves 30 minutes. The traffic put us an hour behind as is was, and it took almost five hours to get home. But, it was worth it!

Here are some pictures.

Ramblings About My Life

Okay, I'm 12 weeks today. Why, oh WHY is my morning (er, all-day) sickness still going strong?! I though I would be over it by now. It seems like it is going to last the whole pregnancy at this rate. Last time, by now I was over it. Of course it was not nearly as bad, but still. I have lost 5 pounds in about two or three weeks from it. I had the extra weight to begin with, so I'm actually happy to have lost weight, but I can't stand being nauseated. It's just about the worst feeling in the world.

However, I promise my life is not focused on the bad. I'm very excited for this baby and I am enjoying the heck out of watching Ella grow up and become a little girl.

I had an doctor's appointment on Tuesday and it went really well. I just have to say I love my doctor's office. There are several doctors in the practice and it's nice to know that my appointment will never be canceled, and that I will always see who I'm scheduled to see. Out of all the doctors, PAs, nurses, and receptionists I have met, they have all been super nice. Besides that, they have about five or six offices, and the one I'm going to is beautiful and fun inside. It's a new building across from Mercy Gilbert Hospital, and it decorated in an old Hollywood theme. Just my style!

Anyway, back to my appointment. I was 11 weeks and 5 days and the nurse said that they don't usually start checking for the heartbeat with a Doppler until 12 weeks, but she gave me the choice of trying to find it. I was only two days away, so I said go for it. She warned me that she might not be able to find it, and if she didn't I shouldn't be concerned. She looked and looked, and after only about two minutes, she found it! The average BPM was 162, and very strong. That was so exciting, and just made it all seem even more real. It's truly amazing to hear a little heartbeat coming from inside of me.

The doctor that I saw was also very nice. And funny, too. When she saw I already had another kid, she looked at me at said, "How old are you?" I told her I was 25, and she said, "Really? You look like you are only about 17!" I thought I had finally grown up and didn't look like a teenager anymore, but hey, I'd rather be mistaken for 17 than 30! I remember when I was in college working at Mesa Frozen Yogurt, I had someone ask me what grade I was in. I told them I was a junior in college, and they were shocked. I was not happy at the time knowing someone thought I was still in high school when I was about 20, but now it's funny! I guess that's what I got for working at a place where most of the employees were in high school. Oh well!

Finally!

I was never able to get the video I wanted to post to actually post. I think I figured out that the resolution was too high or something. So, I made another one on a lower setting. It's actually better than the first one. I also think I need to stop talking on the videos. I cringe every time I hear myself. Oh well! Enjoy!

In Light of Yesterday's Post

I WAS going to show a video of Ella walking, but after almost an hour of waiting for it to upload, I gave up on it. Anyway, here is a cute picture of her wearing her daddy's shirt instead. We couldn't get her to look at the camera. When I figure out what I'm doing wrong, I will post the video as soon as I can.

I Try Not to Complain...

But, I must. I am so excited we have a little one on the way, but when will the first trimester nastiness be over and done with?! I do not have morning sickness. I have all day sickness. Usually, I have been able to eat something to make it temporarily go away, but these days, that's not even working. I just always have this nauseous feeling. I am completely exhausted everyday. Like I haven't slept in two days.

And, I can't even eat like a normal person. I can take three bites and then be stuffed. Fifteen minutes later, I am starving! It takes me three times longer to finish a meal. Oh yeah. If I eat too much, guess what? I get sick.

I have never experienced anything like this before! With Ella, I had a little morning sickness, but nothing like what I'm dealing with now. I wish I could just curl up on the couch and sleep every day, all day. But obviously I can't do that. Ella would be highly neglected, and that's not good.

Speaking of Ella, and to add fuel to the fire, she got sick again this week. She's had fevers since Monday night and she has been feeling miserable. Poor little thing. I can't stand seeing her suffer. Every time she gets sick, I freak out thinking it could be a UTI. For those that don't know, she had a fluke one when she was four months old and had to be hospitalized for three and a half days. Every time she gets a fever, I panic.

She was just sick at the beginning on July, and I took her in, had her tested with a catheter, and got/gave her antibiotics just in case. Thankfully, she didn't have a UTI. This time, I haven't panicked too much. I actually refreshed myself on the symptoms, and she doesn't have any. Except for the fever.

Sorry about the negative post. I just had to get it out. And it probably doesn't make any sense, due to my exhaustion and not being able to think clearly.

A Big Announcement

I have been waiting four weeks to make a post announcing some news that I have. It's been really hard, but now it's time. Mostly because I feel comfortable telling!

What could it be? If you are family, you already know. If not, you most likely don't. Did Craig get an awesome new job that pays tons of money? I wish! Did we get a new pet? Nope! I wouldn't be able to handle that at this time. Two is good for us now.

BUT, we are having another addition to our family! Ella is going to be a big sister! My due date is March 11, 2010, which puts me at 8 weeks exactly today. We had our first ultrasound yesterday and the baby measured 8 weeks 1 day, which would mean a due date of March 9th. But I think we are just sticking with March 11th because it's only two days difference.

Here's our little fish/mermaid! It actually looks like something. With Ella, she just looked like a blob at our first ultrasound. And I was 9 weeks with her then.

And here's Ella for comparison. Unfortunately, all her u/s pictures got heat damaged because we accidentally took them with us to the hospital with her baby book when she was born and left them in the car all day in the June heat. That's why it looks gray around the edges.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 2nd anniversary. On Saturday, we were able to go out for dinner and a movie to celebrate! It's been a long time since we have been out by ourselves. And even longer since we have seen a movie. I refuse to (and always have) take Ella with to see movies because I don't want to be one of "those" people with the noisy and crying baby. Now that she's VERY vocal, it would be impossible now anyway.

We were able to feel like newlyweds again. Craig has always been such the gentleman. Before Ella, he would open the car door, and all other doors for me. He made me feel like royalty. When I had Ella, it just was not practical anymore for him to do that. I let myself in and out of the car because it's easier, and whomever doesn't have the baby, opens the doors. And I'm fine with that. Anyway, it was nice for him to do that for me again.

We have only known each other for 2 years and 8 months, but it seems like I've known Craig for ten years. I wish I've known him for ten years. He is the most wonderful husband and father anybody could ever have. I know he loves me with all his heart, and he definitely loves Ella with all his heart. No wonder she's such a daddy's girl!

Like I said, we've known each other for about 2 years and 8 months, although he knew who I was WAY before I ever knew he existed! I was the chorister in our singles ward, so he saw me every other week. He told me that he wanted to ask me out then, but he thought I was only 19. I was actually 22. He ended up asking one of his friends to find out how old I was.

When I met him, we were at FHE, and he came up to me and started talking to me. I felt really bad afterward because I was trying to look for a friend and wasn't really interested in talking to him. Thankfully he didn't notice. The only thing I remember from that conversation was that he was about to turn 29 in the next week and that his mom was a music teacher.

The next Sunday was Break the Fast. I sat down by two girls, both named Lindsay (at one point there were five Lindsays in the ward, and three or four of us hung out in the same group). Guess who showed up and sat by me? Craig! I still wasn't that interested in him, but I thought he was very nice. The only thing I remember out of that conversation was that he was moving back into his parents' house. At this point, I didn't know why. After we ate, there was a fireside. I never have liked those, but I was going to go with some other people. Then I bumped into Craig again (carrying a bowl of veggies) and he invited me to go to a friends' house to watch a movie. I can't even believe I actually debated going to the fireside after that. Thankfully, I chose to go to the friends' house. That was the night I became interested in Craig.

I must have given him my phone number, or he got it from our friend. I don't remember. Hmm... I'll have to ask him about that one. He called a few days later and invited me to go with our group of friends to take the mayor of Gilbert's daughter out. Apparently, she didn't have any friends or something like that. Anyway, I was secretly hoping I would get to be in the same car as Craig, and he was thinking the same thing! The best part, nobody else rode with us! That night, as he took me back to my car, we sat and talked for a little bit. Then he asked me on our first date. We hiked up Camelback Mountain with a friend and his date. I actually made it all the way up. However, that was the last time I have hiked up a mountain!

And the rest is history. We had our struggles while dating, stemming from my shyness. I had to work really hard at talking to him at first. I didn't want to lose him. There were a couple of times he almost broke up with me because of that. I just kept telling him to have patience and give me some time. It will happen. And it did. Now sometimes he can't shut me up.

We got engaged on April 28, 2007 and married on July 12, 2007. Our engagement was pretty stressful. We couldn't set a date because he had already been married in the temple and then divorced. We were waiting on a sealing clearance form The First Presidency. We were waiting for this before we even got engaged. And to top things off, his parents were leaving on a mission that July. On June 30th, 2007, we got the letter giving us permission to be sealed in the temple. At times, we thought we might have to just get married civilly. I didn't want that, but we didn't want to wait too long. Anyway, we actually got the letter the same day I went through the temple for the first time. We were so overjoyed!

But then we started to stress out even more. His parents were leaving for their mission that week and of course we wanted them to be there too. We were able to work it out that they would come back home for the sealing and then go back to theMTC. We had our reception two weeks later. I wish they could have been there for that, but at least they were able to be with us on our wedding day.

I love Craig with all my heart. I have so much fun with him, and we compliment each other perfectly. From very early on in our relationship, I knew that we were meant to be together. And we are. For time and all eternity.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Wow. Three posts in three days! Anyway, here's our little one year old!

Excuse the messy hair. She kept pulling out her bow. She won't keep them in anymore.

1 Year Stats

Ella had her 1 year well check today, and I wanted to share. Let's start off with when she was born.

Birth

Weight: 6lbs 15 oz
Length: 20 inches
Head circumference: 14 inches
Teeth: 0 (of course!)
I don't know any of these percentiles*

6 Months

Weight: 15lbs 2oz - 30th percentile
Height: 25.5 in - 30th percentile
Head: 16.25 in.
Teeth: 0

1 Year

Weight: 18lbs 7oz - 10th Percentile
Height: 29 in. - 50th percentile
Head: 17.5 in.
Teeth: 9 (I found a molar coming in while waiting for the doctor)

These stats are a little deceiving. It looks really bad that she went from 30% down to 10%. Six months was the only time she was that high on the chart. Usually she was between 20 and 25%. She dropped down to the 10th at nine months, but that's when she became very active and slimming down. Her doctor is glad she's following the same curve from her last appointment and not continuing to drop.

She's always been in the 50th percentile for height, except at six months. However, I thought she would be 30 inches and not 29. I was a bit surprised on that one.

She's in perfect condition, and for those who knew about it, we think her heart murmur is gone! Her doctor didn't hear it last check-up either, so that's a VERY good sign that is probably gone. It was very scary when at just 2 weeks old, he heard the little whooshing sound.

* For those that don't know what percentile means, it's how doctors compare a child's growth to see if they are on the right track. Being in the 25th percentile means that the child is heavier/longer than 25 out of a sample of 100 other children, and lighter/shorter than 75 of those 100 children.

Birthday Girl!

This time last year, I was is the hospital recovering from one of the best moments of my life. I became a mommy on June 16, 2008 at 1:29am. I was lying in the hospital bed holding her and getting to know her. We had lots of visitors passing her around (mostly family) meeting her for the first time. Besides the fact that it was very painful for me to get out of bed (due to many, many stitches), it was a joy to finally be able to rock my baby.

We got to come home on only her second day of life, and even though the first few weeks were very challenging, I miss them greatly. I am sad that I wasn't able to enjoy them to the fullest. She had feeding and weight loss issues, and I was extremely stressed out about it. I remember spending much time crying and wishing she could nurse better. I came to hate nursing. I didn't want to switch to formula, but it was the best thing I could do for her so she could get the nourishment she needed to gain weight and grow up healthy.

After that, I was finally able to enjoy her 100%. She has grown so much in the short amount of time. She is standing on her own and extremely close to walking. She says many words. But most important of all, she is a very happy little girl. And very goofy! There is hardly a time when she is fussy and crying. She has been such an easy baby.

Craig and I love her so much, and she is our world.

Happy First Birthday, Ella!

I don't have a picture from today yet, but I will post one next. Along with something special (well, to me).

Hairbows

I discovered a new hobby that I enjoy. Ella's hair is getting long enough that I can put bows in her hair. Actually it's been long enough basically her whole life, but it's at a weird point right now. It's too short for a ponytail, barely enough for pigtails, too short to tuck hair behind her ears, but it's too long to look cute down. Plus she's getting some curl in her hair, so to sum up the status of her hair: shaggy and poofy. She has a lot of hair. Oh yeah, the kid will not stay still long enough to fix it quickly. She always ends up throwing a fit. So, I decided I need something easy to put in her hair to get it out of her eyes. And also something to make it extra cute when I'm able to actually fix her hair.

The best solution is to use bows and hair clips. I already have some for her, which I love. But I don't have very many. I have seen very cute homemade bows on a message board that I frequent (Baby Center), so I decided to give it a try! I got the instructions on how to do them online, invited my mom to join in on the fun, and went at it. The picture is of the ones that I have completed so far. I made the two pink ones, and my mom made the blue one. They turned out better than I had expected! They are a little time consuming right now, but the more I do, the faster it will go. I'm excited to make more! I just have to find the time.

11 Months

Ella turned 11 months on Saturday. Just one more month until she's one! It's very bittersweet, though. I'm excited she's turning one and growing and learning new things every day, but then I'm sad that it's happening so fast.

Ella is so close to standing on her own, but she freaks out every time we practice. Sometimes she starts bawling. She is able to let herself down instead of falling on her bum now. But she just doesn't want to stay standing. I know she could if she just wouldn't get so scared! She cruises along the furniture and crawls like a mad-woman. I am definitely kept on my toes. In fact, I had to put the baby gates up yesterday.

When Ella becomes a teenager, I know exactly how she will be. She will be one who is constantly talking on the phone to her friends. She can sit there for an hour just talking and babbling and making noises. Hmm... I wonder where she gets that from? Not from me! It's so cute just listening to her talking and telling her stories!

What makes it even cuter, is that she says actual words! She can say hi and bye (and waves along with it), ow, mama and dada ( and sometimes mommy and daddy), uh oh, baby, and no. She has also tried to say Nash (as in our dog) and Sparky (go Sun Devils!). One time she even tried to say "What happened?". This is not a word she says, but if you ask her "Where's (Mommy's/Daddy's/insert name) nose?" she will point to your nose! We've got a little smarty!

We love her so much and cannot even fathom our lives without her!

Bottles

I got a little sad this afternoon. I was looking at bottles. Ella's bottles. She hasn't used most these bottles for about two weeks.

At her last doctor visit, Ella's pediatrician said he wanted her to totally off bottles by one year. I was a bit shocked. I knew it was coming, but so soon? So, I took the challenge. I had exposed her to sippy cups from time to time, but she didn't really know how to drink from them. I figured it would take a while, so I decided to start right away (I had 3 months at this point). I tried about three different types of sippy cups, and one of them was too close to a bottle, in my opinion. One by one, each one was rejected. I got frustrated with it and stopped.

A couple of weeks later, I discovered that Ella can drink through a straw. It was very exciting and gave me the encouragement I needed. I tried all the other sippy cups again, but she would only drink from one. The one I thought was too much like a bottle because it had a soft spout. It was not shaped the same, so I decided to get her used to that one.

I started out with two sippys and two bottles a day. But the second day of that, she was taking the sippy cups with no problems, so I went cold turkey on her. There was one set back, but it only lasted three days. I had to give her a bottle at night. Now, she hasn't used a bottle in over a week.

I was sad today looking at those bottles. I was about to pack them away forever. Well, until I need to use them again. I was so sad, I couldn't even throw away the ones that are almost useless. My baby girl is almost not a baby anymore. She will be a year old next month.

Any help would be great!

If anyone knows of a part-time job or better yet a full-time position out there let me know. I am looking for a career move and a salary range of at least 40K to start with. Thank you everyone!

PS- My cell phone # if someone does not have it is: 480-292-2179

This is a good week!

Not that other weeks are not good, but this one is exceptionally good!

My brother's kids have spring break this week (they live in Southern California), so they decided to come visit! Yay! I only get to see them about 2-3 times a year, MAYBE 4, so when they come it's always a nice treat. They actually came a day earlier then I thought they would, so that makes it even better! On Friday, we are also doing a family camp out. I'm so excited! My family hasn't been on one in probably close to 10 or 15 years. I love camping, especially with family. Good thing I married into a family that does a camp out every year! My family is going to a spot just south of Globe. It's only about an hour to an hour and a half away, so that will be nice.

The other thing that makes this week so good is that Ella turned 10 months old today! Wow. She is growing up so fast! She just had another tooth cut through yesterday, and two more are coming very soon. So that makes four teeth. Two on the bottom (middle), and two on the top. She got the tooth just to the right of her middle teeth, and yesterday she got the right middle tooth. So her grin is a little crooked!

She is a speed crawler! Especially when she wants something she can't have. She pulls herself up on everything and has started to cruise along the furniture too. She's so close to just letting go and standing on her own! She has tried a couple of times, but was not ready. Hopefully she'll be walking by the time she is one, but who knows! She is very unpredictable.

I just love family! They are the most important thing to me, and they are always there for support! I love spending time with Craig and Ella, my parents and brother and sister, my parents-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews on both my side and Craig's side of the family! I'm so thankful for all of them!

Just Because...

I think she's so darn cute! I may be a little biased, though.

She did this herself

This is what happens when her hair gets wet

And this is what I see when I go to get her up from a nap!

Updates!

The past week and a half has been pretty busy. First off, on the 11th, we got the keys to our house we are renting! Yay! It feels so great to be on our own, in our own place! I was a slacker and didn't get any pictures of it before we moved in. I would take them now, but the house is a mess. We are still trying to organize things and put them away. When we get that done (hopefully this week), I will take pictures.

We probably would have been farther along than we are, but I just had to get sick this weekend! I think Ella gave it to me because she had a runny and stuffy nose all last week. She wasn't acting sick and she was, and still is, cutting three teeth at once, so I attributed the runny nose to that. She had her well check appointment on Thursday, and her doctor said it looked like she might have an upper respiratory infection because she had fluid in her ear, so he put her on antibiotics. Anyway, she has been fine, except for that nose. I, on the other hand, was bed-ridden. I haven't been this sick for almost two years! Well, I did get a sinus infection once while I was pregnant, but I was not stuck in bed (or the couch).

One thing that made it hard taking care of Ella, was that now she crawls! She has been SO close for a month, and then, the day before her doctor's appointment, she figured it out! Yay! Here is a video of our little 9-month old doing her thing! It's not the best video, but every time we pulled out the camera, she stopped.

I almost forgot! Ella also turned 9 months old last week! She is such a smart and funny little girl! She already knows how to get what she wants! At her appointment, she weighed 16lbs, 9oz. And she was 27.75in long. She's a little thing, but that's fine with me! She is in the 50th percentile for height, and dropped a little for weight. Her doctor didn't say exactly what it was, but last time she was in the 30th percentile, so I'm guessing she's now in the 25th.

So that's what has been going on with us! When we get the house completed, I will post pictures!

Home Sweet Home

Well, not quite yet, but we did get approved for a house! Woohoo! I'm so excited! We will probably sign the paperwork either tonight or tomorrow, and then it's moving time! I don't have pictures now, but maybe I can get them off the listing. We'll see. If not, I will post some when it's ours!

A Season of Changes

I know it's not officially spring yet, but it's finally gotten warm (I hate cold weather and being cold) and it feels like spring! Spring is my favorite season. I love seeing all the plants and trees start to blossom out and it also the greenest time of the year. To me, the air feels fresh and new, and it has a certain smell to it that I absolutely love. I can't describe it other than, well, fresh and new. I may sound crazy, but I don't care. It makes me very happy.

The weather is not the only thing changing that I'm excited about! We got a good amount of tax returns (thank you, Ella!), so we were able to pay off several small debts and a couple of credit cards. And, last night, Craig got a second job! It will work very well for our family schedule-wise.

Some of may know that Craig has been looking for a better paying job for just about a year with no luck. Recently, we decided that a second job would be better than nothing, because he does have a job, but it just doesn't pay enough. We have been staying with my parents for the past two and a half months because of this. Now that he has a second job and we were able to pay off those debts, we are now in the situation to be able to move out on our own!

We have been praying hard and fasting every Fast Sunday for a new job. It has been very trying on my faith, but I was determined to keep strong and not let it falter. He will still be looking for a new full time job, but another good thing about his new job is that there is potential for him to go full time and have a good income.

Now, it's time to look for a house to rent! We were wanting to buy, but it's very hard to get a loan and we most likely won't qualify. At least we are able to get out on our own! I feel like a newlywed all over again! I've never had the chance during our almost two years of marriage to be able to decorate a house how I want. We've never had a place of our own to live in. I'm so excited! I will definitely update when we find a house!

Eight Months Old

I completely forgot until now that I haven't done this yet for Ella! Oops!

Anyway, Ella turned eight months old one week and one day ago, on Presidents' Day. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up! I know I say that every month, but it's true! She is turning into a little girl.

She can do so much now! She is starting the first stages of crawling. She gets up on her knees, but still hasn't quite figured out how to move forward. But, she is becoming very mobile and is starting to get into everything she can!

This little girl has a very long attention span. It amazes me. She can sit for an hour or more playing with her toys intently. It's great when I need to do something! Sometimes I just sit and watch her play, play, play. She also love to dance! I will have to get a video of her dancing on here soon!

Another thing that she is doing is that she can clap! And she even makes the little smacking noise. I tried to get it on video, but she will not perform on demand. She's very smart. She already is very stubborn and even shows some attitude (like pushing my hand away if she doesn't want me touching her or if it's in the way of something she wants). She also knows the word hungry. We ask her if she's hungry and she starts to whine if she is.

Ella has also said her first word! Well, sort of. She can and does say "ah da", "da", and last night she was saying "dada" quite a bit. However, she does not quite yet associate "dada" with Craig.

We love Ella so much and it just more and more exciting watching her grow up, figure things out, and physically doing new things. Craig and I feel so blessed to be able to raise a special little girl.

Help!

I think I'm turning into one of those crazy Twilight people! AAH!!!

Here's the story. When these books were big (about a year ago?), I thought everybody was crazy for being so into a book. Now, I love reading, but I am not the type of person to become like this over a book (or anything for that matter). I usually avoid things if everybody has to have it, see it, or read it. However, I sometimes will get, watch, or read these things after the craze has passed. A long time after.

This past Thursday was my birthday, and one thing I received (from my sister), was the first two books from the Twilight series. I thought, "Cool! I finally have something to read!" I have been secretly sort of wanting to read them, but would NEVER admit it to anyone.

Anyway, I decided to start reading them that night. Needless to say, it's only Monday, four days later, and I'm over half way through the first book. I can't put it down! I was a terrible mother on Friday just putting Ella on the floor to play by her self so I could read. And I fully intend to do it again today. Don't worry, I'm feeding her, and everything. I feel very bad, but I can't help it!

What's worse, I even can't wait until March when the movie comes out on DVD so I can rent it! I think my husband thinks I'm crazy now. We watched the Oscars last night, and every time the guy who plays Edward in the movie was shown, I yelled to Craig, "That's the Twilight guy!" Every time.

So anyway, I now know why people went so crazy when it all first came out. Now I have to get back to reading some more.

Snow!

On Monday, Craig, Ella, and I went up north to Flagstaff for a snow trip. It was Ella's first time in the snow, and was my first time in that much snow. It was so beautiful! There was probably about a foot or more snow on the ground.

It was a last minute decision to go up north, so we weren't exactly prepared for how much snow there actually was. We did not get to play in it very much, but the times we did, it was very fun! Ella also loved it! She got so excited when she could touch it and walk in it! We had so much fun!

Now, tomorrow, is a different story. It's the day I turn old. 25. A quarter of a century old. Yeesh. I guess one positive is that our car insurance will go down in price a bit.

Anyway, here are some more pictures of our trip.

The Annual Newman Family 4-Wheeling in the Desert Trip

On January 24, we went out on the desert near Florence with all of the Newman family. They hold this trip annually (usually closer to the new year), but did not last year because Craig's parents were on their mission. His dad has a 4-wheeler he always takes, and Craig's brother Chris brought his motorcycle. It was very fun and the weather was beautiful! However, we were afraid it was going to rain on us. Thankfully it didn't! This was also Ella's first time on the desert. Ella did not ride on the 4-wheeler. I just kept picturing her falling off, and I didn't want that to happen and have her severely hurt. Craig and I were able to go by ourselves for a little bit, though. She is still not quite used to her Grandma and Grandpa Newman and she's going through the separation anxiety phase, but we had a great solution that worked every time! All we (or they) had to do was give her to Craig's twin brother Keith. She thought he was daddy, so she was totally fine once he was holding her! So cute!

Here are some pictures of the trip (and a couple I took the other day that I thought were adorable). Sorry for the picture overload!

Daddy and Ella

Cousin Ashlynn, Uncle Keith, Grandma Newman, Aunt Melissa's legs

Grandma Newman

Cousin Shelby, Uncle Chris

Daddy and Ella

Sleeping on Mommy

Ella pulled the pillow on her lap by herself