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).