The Ambrose Family

Our Family's First Mission Call

2011-04-21T23:14:00.006-06:00

My little sister got her mission call today. She is going to the Paraguay Asuncion Mission. It's spanish speaking. Woo hoo! She goes into the MTC on August 17th. I'm so proud of her. I'm also so very jealous and excited for her. She's going to be a great missionary.

Sadly, nobody guessed Paraguay. Ok, not true. It was my first guess and I told my mom that. She then told me that a boy from our old ward that we're not super fond of is going there so I decided to change it and guessed Argentina since that's close. I shouldn't have changed my guess! I was right!

CONGRATS, CHELS!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-03-18T12:30:00.004-06:00

This last week has been a crazy one. Between going to physical therapy three times a week in Murray, painting my kitchen (not finished), babysitting up to 6 kids, trying to make 4 quilts and creating my Etsy shop and new blog, I might have bitten off more than I can chew. The current state of my house proves it.

I started painting my kitchen almost two weeks ago. However, what was supposed to be a simple project has turned into a major nightmare. When we got to the counter area we found that the builders had used silicone caulking on it. You can't paint over silicone. So we've had to try to remove the caulking, recaulk and then paint. Sadly, we're still trying to get the original caulking off. Silicone is the bane of my existence right now. I HATE it. It's almost impossible to remove. So now my kitchen is currently half red and half blue. *sigh*

On a happier note, I've gotten a bunch of new quilts done and finally created my Etsy site and blog and have them listed. I'm so excited! I've named my shop Pukka Designs. As per Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of pukka is:

: genuine, authentic; also : first-class

I love the word. You can see my shop by clicking here. My new blog is here. I was going to wait until it was completely finished, but I've decided to let you all see me build it up from scratch. So far there's only rag quilts, but I'm currently working on a couple of non-rag quilts. I'll post them soon. Please spread the word about my shop!

Here's a quick preview of the quilts in the shop:

Baby Steps

2011-03-18T10:27:00.006-06:00

Lindy has been taking a few little steps for a few weeks but is now officially walking! We're pretty excited about it. She's so spoiled (being the only grandchild on my side and ALWAYS being held) that she hasn't needed to walk nor gotten much of a chance so it's taken a little while. She's still fairly wobbly & falls & likes to walk around holding onto the walls, but hey, she's walking! Look at her go!

Pain Free?!

2011-03-08T14:40:00.005-07:00

Last week I went to see the rheumatologist for my anylosing spondylitis. It was a great visit. Well, not at first. He reminded me of House. He was kind of a jerk. But it got better and I could tell that he really cared about what he was doing. He did a bunch of range of motion tests with me and told me that I need to go on an anti-inflammatory and start physical therapy. Sadly, anti-inflammatories can cause kidney damage & since I'm at such high risk for it anyway with diabetes, I'll have to get tests done every 3 months or so to see how my kidney function is. But he said that with these new treatments, I should be able to live pain free. That's such a foreign concept to me. I haven't had a day w/o pain since I was 10. It's exciting!

I started my physical therapy yesterday. It kicked my trash. I was SO sore! I used to be really strong. In high school I could whip out push ups like they were nothing and even beat the boys in my neighborhood at arm wrestling. Yesterday I couldn't even do the exercises for my shoulders with 1.5 lbs before they gave out. Pitiful. It was a very humbling experience. But I guess if my shoulders/knees/back were strong, I wouldn't be in PT in the first place.

I'm going to be going a few times a week for a couple of weeks - until I learn all the exercises. After that I just have to do them by myself at home a few times a week and hopefully work up to everyday without needing Morphine (no, I didn't really get/take any). ;) I'm going to learn them all and then teach my dad since he's got it too and hasn't been to a doctor for it in over 20 years (?!). I'm hoping we'll both cut down our amount of pain significantly. I really am excited about this!

Nursery Paintings

2011-02-24T19:50:00.005-07:00

This is another very long overdue post. When we moved into our condo I wanted to have decorations to hang above Lindy's crib. I was thinking I wanted wall hangings that matched her crib bedding, but it didn't come with any. So I decided to paint my own. I got canvases from JoAnns that were already stretched (and 50% off! Woot!), paint from WalMart and freehanded them. I really love how they turned out.

Lindy's bumper pad complete w/ Lindy's ear in the picture

I actually only got one shade of pink, green and purple for all of these. I just used white and black to change the shade. It worked out very nicely.

Lindy sat in her bumbo on the table the whole time I did these. She hadn't yet learned to crawl (like I said, LONG overdue) so she didn't know she was confined in her seat and was SO good. She just sat, watched & babbled at me. It was wonderful.

Now to paint her bedroom walls...I seriously need to get my house all painted before my sister leaves on her mission and I don't have an all-day free babysitter.

Spaghetti

2011-02-24T19:38:00.004-07:00

Tonight my mom texted me and told me that Lindy loves spaghetti. She's watching her since I'm sick. Anyway, it reminded me of the first time Lindy had spaghetti. I just had to share. I was feeding her while trying to do a million other things so Allan told me that he'd feed her. Apparently Allan's definition of feeding Lindy is putting the bowl on her high chair tray and walking away. *rolling eyes* I returned to see this:

Sadly I'd already stripped her clothes off before this picture. At first I was angry with Allan for not feeding her, but another look at Lindy and all I could do was laugh. It was worth the mess for a picture of her face. It's even in her hair and on her eyelids! I put her in the tub and after I drained it, there were red floaties in a ring around the tub. HAHAHA! The joys of parenting.

Sick

2011-02-24T19:12:00.005-07:00

I've been so sick for the last couple of days. Last night I had a fever of 102. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a fever. Granted, I also can't remember the last time I felt this sick - it was probably the last time I had a fever. Go figure.

Luckily for me, my family lives close and my wonderful little sister came down today and watched Lindy all day long so I could rest (and keep my distance from her). When she had to go to work, she took Lindy so my family could watch her until Allan gets out of school. So basically, I have had nothing more important to do than lie around all day. It's driving me crazy.

I think the 2nd worst thing about being sick (2nd only to the fever, chills, congestion, headache, body aches and fatigue) is having to rest. While I do love to sleep, lying around all day drives me insane. I can only pray that I'll never be on bed rest for anything. I think I would die. I'm too much of a busybody. My mom (whom I get the trait from) knows this and has been texting me all day reminding me to rest, even pleading occasionally. I've been on the couch for the last 3 hours and so now I'm going to blog like crazy to keep me occupied. Beware.

P.S. Lindy was really sick a couple of weeks ago. She was throwing up and had diarrhea. Let me tell you, at least 3 diarrhea blowouts a day is NOT fun. We finally had to give her baths everytime instead of wiping her because her little bum was so raw. Poor thing. She lost quite a bit of weight. Check this out:

So sad! Her eyes look so hollow and her face is so thin in this pictures. She'd also had blow outs in all the extra outfits I had packed that day (2) so she was wearing one of Chelsea's tanktops. It took a week to get over. Luckily she's put all her weight back on and looks great now.

Miranda's Quilt

2011-02-22T16:28:00.005-07:00

Back when we first moved back from Texas in fall of 2009 (Yep, this is a very long overdue post), I was despairing over my lack of fabric because I wanted to quilt so badly. Miranda gave me a bunch of fabric she'd had for a couple of years because she knew she'd never use it. I remember when she got it. She LOVED the fabric and yet was giving it to me. (Have I mentioned what a GREAT friend she is?) I couldn't dream of taking it until I had a very clever idea. I would take it and pretend that I was using it for a baby quilt for Lindy (who wasn't born yet) and then make a quilt for her instead, since that's what she originally wanted. Brilliant!

I used the Slide Show pattern from Atkinson Designs. I think it worked perfectly. I kept texting her pictures of my progress (until it got too big & she'd know it wasn't a baby quilt) to see what she thought. Before Christmas I took it to her. She looked so confused when she opened it. She thought it was for my baby. It took her a little while to figure out that it was actually for her and that I'd tricked her. Ha ha! I wanted to quilt it for her, but my machine went all wonky so I couldn't. I gave it to her unfinished & then Brad took it in to be quilted several months later (because I'm a loser & never actually did it). I don't have pictures of it all finished & quilted (hint, hint Miranda - I'd love a finished picture) but I do have pictures from the day I gave it to her.

The squares are from the Freckles line by Free Spirit. So cute! The rest is just white on white and an aqua small floral pattern for the border. None of them are solids like they appear. I love how it turned out.

Oh ya, I forgot to mention that Brad was totally in on this with me. He payed for all the extra fabric & batting I needed and I made it. We make a great team.

"New" Kitchen Table

2011-02-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, (does this sound like a storybook beginning?) I got a table off of KSL for super cheap. It was super ugly (hence it being cheap), but it was solid wood, had a leaf in the middle and had 6 chairs. The plan was to sand it, paint it black and then reupholster the chairs. It sat in storage for many, many months - first at Allan's mom's house and then in our extra bedroom.

After I got my piano, I realized I needed to get the table out of the bedrooms so the piano could fit in there. I got to work!...and made a complete mess of the extra bedroom.

Never had I been so motivated...until I started sanding the chairs. I grossly underestimated the work in sanding chairs. It was such a pain. I got discouraged and stopped. Even now, if I never sand again, it will be too soon.

But alas, a friend was coming into town and staying at our house so the table had to be finished so she could stay in the extra bedroom. That's when my wonderful mom told me that she & my sister were coming to help me with it. Aren't the great?! It was just the jump start I needed. My sister & her friend finished sanding the chairs (I just couldn't bring myself to do it) in the bedroom and my mom and I painted in the kitchen. It was a full house project!

After all the painting was finished, I went to Home Fabrics (LOVE that store!) and got this to reupholster the chairs:

So pretty!

When I pulled off the ugly fabric from the seats, I found an even uglier fabric! The seats had already been reupholstered once before! I can see why!

EWWWW!

But the seats are now reupholstered (did I mention that I also LOVE my new staple gun?) and look fantastic!

And after a couple coats of polyeurethane...

VOILA!

A beautiful, high-end looking table...for cheap!

You may be wondering why the leaf is not in the table and why there are only 4 chairs when I said I got 6. Well, like I said earlier, I really, truly ~~HATE~~ dislike sanding the chairs. Therefore, there are only 4 chairs for now. Maybe someday I'll tackle the other 2. I still consider this completed.

Yes, I know it totally clashes with my blue walls, but that is my NEXT project.

To be continued...

Ow!

2011-02-16T11:06:00.006-07:00

I just had to share a funny story about Lindy. These are the things I want to remember. Today I was using the bathroom and Lindy crawled in and came up to me. She saw my pump site in my thigh, grabbed it, and pulled. I wasn't expecting it so I yelled, "Ow!" She then grabbed it again and said, "Ow!" She did this numerous times until I could finish my business & get my pants up & my site covered. I swear, the girl grows more arms while I'm trying to restrain her two! It hurt, but it was so funny that I couldn't be angry. Babies really are like sponges. Good thing all I said was "ow!" :)

Chocolate

2011-02-15T11:06:00.003-07:00

Miranda, being the bestest best friend that she is, got me some gluten free chocolate dipped wafer cookies this week. Not thinking, I left them on the floor in the living room when I went to...do something around the house. Lindy found them & figure out how to pull them out. She obviously enjoyed them.

I love the "Mommy, I didn't eat your chocolate" face. Once again, I couldn't be mad. All I could do was laugh.

Scalped!

2011-02-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

As we were getting ready to leave Colorado, I told Allan that I was going to to upstairs and get a wet washcloth to get the bow out of Lindy's hair. (I stick it in with Elmer's glue. All you need is H2O to get it out.) Allan decided that using the "band-aid method" would be much faster. Lindy looked totally shocked for about 2 seconds and then started screaming. Looking at the picture below, I don't blame her.

At first I was totally horrified. Then on the way home, when I was texting my mom about it, I couldn't stop laughing. I literally laughed until I cried. Allan scalped Lindy. See?

Can you tell where the bow was? HAHAHA!

Trip to Colorado

2011-02-06T11:05:00.002-07:00

At the end of January, we went out to Colorado Springs to surprise Mike & Megan. We called Meg's dad beforehand to see if they'd be around. We were a bit nervous that the secret would be let out, but they were definitely surprised!

We had so much fun! Allan and Mike played video games all week long. Allan was in heaven. Meg and I made lots of new hair bows for Lindy (see next post about one of them) and talked about how we need to live closer together so we can be crafting buddies. We also went to Meg's brother's and sister's basketball games (Mike is the asst. coach for her brother's HS team so that was even better) and played Ticket to Ride and Bohnanza (we just had to teach them!) over and over. In all the times we played, I think I only lost once, maybe twice. It was awesome! And of course, I had to do some coupon shopping out there since they doubled the value of coupons. I scored some AWESOME deals!

Lindy was SO good for the whole trip, even the long drives. We're really lucky. She loved everyone and was very social. It was a nice break for me because everyone loved her and took her so I didn't have to for the most part.

And of course, Allan and I just had to go dancing out in Denver. It was so great! We got to see our wonderful friend, Nate. We miss him so much. And Denver dancing is fantastic. I think my favorite part was when I was dancing with a guy who was really good and we were having a fantastic dance and I was feeling all cool...then my knee gave out (happens all the time - stupid joints) and I totally fell on my butt. Yeah, not so cool after that. Talk about a lesson in humility! LOL! All I could do was laugh.

We ended up staying for almost 1 1/2 weeks. It wasn't our intention, but a big storm hit. Sadly, when we left, we ended up driving in it anyway. What is normally about an 8-9 hour drive was a 13 hour drive. But we made it home safely and were happy to be able to spend so much time with them.

We played so much and had so much fun that I completely forgot to take pictures. Hey Meg, will you send me whatever pictures your family took on your phones? :)

Lindy's 1st Birthday

2011-01-16T11:05:00.002-07:00

**I've been waiting to post this until I had all my pictures loaded. Sadly, all the pictures on my camera were somehow wiped out. I have no pictures or videos of Lindy's first birthday. I'm devastated. Tears have been shed over it. If any of you readers have some, please, please, please send them to me.

Lindy's first birthday was so much fun! We only invited family over so it was fairly small, but still a blast. It was rubber duck themed since Lindy LOVES rubber ducks. Chelsea and Jackson went to town with the decorating and my mom got some darling duck balloons. I had no idea they were going to do all that, it was awsome!

We did a potato bar for the adults and then watched Lindy tear into her cake. I made two - one for Lindy to destroy and one for everyone to eat. She was a little bit hesitant at first, but after Allan took her hand and smashed it into the cake, she was good to go. She did exactly what I hoped she would- mutilate it and get it everywhere. It was all over her hands, legs, torso, feet and hair. Fantastic!

I decided to play around with fondant for the cake for everybody to eat. I'm really excited about how it turned out. Not too bad for my first, eh? The ducks are the only thing that isn't edible. I got real ones for Lindy to play with after.

It actually tasted really good. Usually fondant is not so great, but this stuff was. Woo hoo!

Lindy then opened presents. It was fun to watch. She was actually more interested in the presents than the wrapping paper. I've heard that's rare. :) She got some clothes and lots of new toys.

HUGE Savings

2010-12-31T00:41:00.005-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I love couponing? I do! I love the thrill of getting a killer deal on stuff. And tonight, I totally scored. I went to WalMart and price matched other ads and then used my coupons. Because I knew I was going to make out like a bandit, I went around WalMart and wrote down their prices for everything I got so I could see just how much I saved. I'm a nerd, I know. Everything in the ~~picture below~~ (all pictures were erased from camera) would've been about $223. After the price matching it was $170. After coupons.....$22!! Granted, I had to pay $11 in sales tax (for the original $170) but it was so awesome!

4 Puffs plus lotion: FREE!

4 Vicks DayQuil/NyQuil: FREE

4 Vicks VapoSprays: FREE

4 Crest Pro-Health Mouthwashes: FREE

10 Nivea Lip Gloss/Chapsticks: FREE

18 Tide Single Loads: FREE

18 Pantene shampoos/conditioners/gels/hairsprays/creme $.75 ea

2 Old Spice Body Sprays: $1.25 ea

2 Colgate toothbrushes: $.49 ea

6 Gillette Proglide razors: $.97 ea! (Normally $9 ea)

4 boxes of Fruity Pebbles $.88 ea

Ok, I confess, it should've been a little bit more, but the coupons weren't going through so they ended up entering them all by hand and I think they entered a few more than they should've. I haven't officially gone over it yet. I'm still enjoying my high of saving over $200! Woot!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T00:34:00.003-07:00

This Christmas was a lot of fun for us. I think it was mainly because it was Lindy's first Christmas. I thought she'd be far more interested in the wrapping and tissue paper than her own gifts but that wasn't the case. She loved her gifts. It was so fun to watch her play with them. Santa brought her a full lenth mirror for her room. There's one at my parents' house that she loves and always goes straight for so she needed one for her own room. She also got a monster bowling set from us. I figured she can play with the textures for now and when she gets older she can actually bowl with it. She also got new binkies, puffs to eat and some Hot Wheels cars. She really enjoys pushing them around the kitchen. She was happy all day. It was great!

I think this was my best Christmas ever because not only did I get to celebrate Lindy's first Christmas but got the best gift in the entire world! Allan got me a piano. A real piano! It's beautiful! I've wanted one for so long. I would've loved to have forgone a bed for a piano when we got married but Allan wouldn't have it. I cried when I saw it. I also cried everytime I thought about it and tried to tell people what Allan got me. I'm now past the tears so I can blog about it. Apparently Allan's cousins bought a new grand and so they gave this one to us. How nice is that?! I'm so excited to get it moved to my house (it's currently in my parents' garage) so I can play.

Our Crazy Christmas Season

2010-12-20T21:55:00.006-07:00

December rushed in and now it's almost over. I can't believe how quickly time flies! It has truly been a month of great trials and great blessings.

It started with lots of studying for finals. Allan is finally done with school for this semester and is so grateful for the break. He did very, very well in 2 of his classes and well, we'll wait and see about the last one. But hey, it's over!..until January.

Last week I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). It's a form of arthritis that affects your knees, shoulders, heels, pelvis, spine and others and causes random tender spots around your body. The main symptoms are chronic stiffness and pain and fatigue. This is my 4th chronic disease. I'm getting quite the collection here. Haha. This one wasn't a devastation though because I've had symptoms for over 10 years. It just hasn't been advanced enough to be picked up by x-rays and MRIs (they look for sclerosis in the pelvis as the main sign) until now. It's just nice to not be told "We don't know why you hurt. You just do." because that's what I've been told for the last 10 years. At least now that there's a diagnosis they can do things to help me. So it's actually kind of a relief to finally have the official diagnosis.

My singing group, Voices, started to perform and we had 24 performances in just 2 weeks, not including the 6 Christmasgrams we did in just one day. It was a blast, but very tiring. I'm so happy to have a whole week off. We perform at the North Visitors Center at Temple Square on Thursday and then have one last performance just for family and friends on the 26th and then are done...until we start practicing for our singing Valentines in January. :)

I'm amazed I made it to every performance because like I said, a huge part of AS is fatigue. I was truly being sustained by the Lord. In fact, the day after our crazy 2 weeks, I crashed pretty hard. I didn't get out of bed much for about 2 days. Luckily though, I didn't actually get sick. It was a HUGE blessing.

Our last trial was that Allan lost his job last week. Needless to say, we are pretty stressed. It's also been a great blessing because it's truly brought Allan and I closer together and closer to the Lord. We've felt a constant feeling of peace both with each other and in general. It's so nice! But if anyone knows of job openings, please let us know! We so appreciate everyone's prayers.

I'm hoping to post a Christmas card on our blog soon as we just didn't have the time nor energy to get them made and mailed out to people. In the meantime, happy holidays to all!

Downtown Stomp

2010-11-17T07:59:00.005-07:00

As many of you know, Allan and I have been helping to run the local dance scene here for a while. It is with great sadness that I tell you that Downtown Stomp has had it's last dance. I'm truly devastated about it. I have LOVED being a part of this. But between work, school and families, it just got to be too much for all of us to do. So we had one last big event to end with a bang. And what a bang it was! Tons and tons of people came for the "Shark Attack" workshop with Shauna and Mark (hence, Shark) from Denver and we had five teams compete at the dance. It was awesome! What's even more awesome is that the Salt Lake Jitterbugs, Allan's team, won the competition! I tried to upload the video but it's just not working. I think it's too big. You can watch it on my Facebook page though. Good job, Jitterbugs!

First Word

2010-11-15T07:59:00.001-07:00

Lindy said her first word last Friday (Oct. 12)! She threw her hands up in the air and said, "Ta-da!" It was so dang cute! She's been clapping for a little while now and recently started throwing her hands up in the air after she would do it (I have no idea where she learned that) so I started saying "Ta-da" when she would. On Friday she mimicked it. She did it over and over and over. Luckily my mom and dad got to see her do it. She's such a ham.

Sadly, she hasn't done it since. She doesn't even raise her arms up anymore. I do it to try to get her to and she just stares at me, although she has started shaking her head. The little punk. I'm hoping I can get her to do it again one of these days so that I can video it and post it.

Trafalga

2010-11-05T16:37:00.004-06:00

This week Liz asked me if I wanted to take the kids on a play date to Trafalga. I most definitely did so we packed them all up and went. It was a blast! I got to ride the roller coaster with Benjamin and was even able to take Lindy on the carousel. She just looked confused at first and then decided she loved it. She was squealing with delight!

Sadly, Allan's abuela (grandma) died this week and so he decided that he was too sad to work (after finding out we were all at Trafalga) and left and met us there. I was happy to have him. We started all the rides over again when he got there. It's amazing how much playing at Trafalga helped him feel better. ;)

We were literally the only people there so a worker was assigned to us and just followed us around to do whatever rides we wanted. Luckily, we had a manager who was totally laid back and let the adults go on some of the rides they shouldn't have. It was so funny to watch Allan try to squeeze into the little airplanes. I thought the thing might break. Once again, I wish I had pictures!

This manager also let us take Lindy on the lighthouse ride, which is a little kid version of The Rocket at Lagoon. I couldn't believe he let us! She really enjoyed it though. The one she liked the most was the boat ride. It's just like Tidal Wave at Lagoon, only smaller, once again. Lindy would go crazy when we'd get to the top and start going back down. It was so fun to watch! She's such a little thrill seeker. I can't wait for next summer when she'll be a little bigger and able to do all the rides.

Newspaper Fun

2010-11-05T12:31:00.006-06:00

As all of you know (since you read my blog religiously...even though I haven't posted in 10 years), I do couponing. Because of this, I get LOTS and LOTS of newspapers each week. I can never bring myself to just throw them all away, although this would be so much more convenient. No, I have to load up all 500 lbs of them and take them to the recycle bin. So I got them all stacked in piles to load into the car and then life got busy and I didn't do it. All the piles were left on the floor in the living room. This is a very bad thing if you have a crawling baby. I was in the kitchen making dinner and when I went back into the living room, this is what I found:

She was pulling them all over and having a ball. She was all smiles. I couldn't help but laugh. I wasn't even upset. It was worth cleaning it all up to watch her. I even left it for Allan to see because I thought it was so funny. I wish you could all see his face when he walked through the front door and saw it. I had to quickly explain that I was going to clean it up but just had to let him see it. He got a kick out of it too. Lindy is way too much fun. :)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T13:03:00.005-06:00

I love Halloween. I love dressing up, I love trick-or-treating (I went until I was a senior in high school and cannot wait to take Lindy next year!) and I absolutely LOVE candy! Seriously, whoever came up with the whole idea of Halloween was brilliant. I usually go all out for costumes, but this year, I just didn't have the energy. I did try though. We dressed up for Allan's work party and I was going to finish the costumes for the next day, but never did. Because our costumes weren't completely finished for the work party, I didn't take pictures and then didn't dress up after. On the 30th (Halloween in UT when the 31st is on Sunday), I ended up having problems with my pump and my blood sugar skyrocketed. I couldn't get it down for several hours. When it finally did come down, I couldn't get it back up. So like I said, I was just too tired for dressing everybody up. But I'll tell you about our costumes since I don't have pictures.

We went as Earth, Wind & Fire, one of my favorite bands ever! Lindy was earth. I put her in a green dress with brown pants and brown boots. I glued flowers all over her dress and made her a headdress with little leaves and berries all over it. She looked darling! Sadly, she didn't like the head piece much and kept pulling it off. Oh well.

I was wind. I wore a long, sparkly silver skirt with a short-sleeved, shimmery silver top and a light blue, long-sleeved shirt underneath. I also had silver and light blue streamers hanging from my arms. I also had blue eyeshadow that went past my eyes and almost to my hairline (going sideways). I drew wind bursts coming from the sides of my eyes. It actually looked pretty cool and I had someone guess what I was just by the makeup because I didn't have my costume on at the time.

Allan was fire. He had a bright orange shirt on. Our newspaper bags come in red, orange and yellow so I cut them up and attached them to his shirt. He was supposed to wear a bright orange leisure suit (ya know, disco style to matche the times of Earth, Wind and Fire), but it didn't come in time. I was sad about that.

To top it all off, Allan and I had fro wigs and all 3 of us had microphones that I made from a paper towel roll and tin foil. So we dressed as the elements with some 70's disco flair thrown in to authenticate it. It was a blast! I just wish we had pictures!

We did go to my parents' house for chili and cinnamon rolls (a Halloween tradition) and it was delicious! My mom even got me gluten free cinnamon rolls so I wouldn't be left out. She's so awesome!

Every year, my brother, Jackson, makes a haunted house. Due to the high winds this year and everything getting blown down, he couldn't do it. Instead, he built an amazing enclosure going up the stairs to the front porch with walls, caskets, freaky clowns, trees, motion sensored psycho man, black lights, etc. Some kids were too scared to come to the door and just passed by. One little girl screamed hysterically when the psycho man went off and couldn't stop crying. It was sad, but funny. He did a great job. Once again, I wish I had pictures!!

It's not her costume, butBrad did send me this picture of Lindy. How cute is she?! Miranda put her in it when they came to carve pumpkins.

After dinner, we went to Seth & Cindy's house in Provo for games.

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-28T13:16:00.008-06:00

Until this year, I hadn't carved pumpkins in SO long. I'm not sure why. I love doing it. This year we invited Brad and Miranda over for dinner and pumpkin carving. Brad was hysterical (as usual) and brought his bag of pumpkin carving tools. Basically, it was all of his power tools. What's even more funny is that he and Allan used them for their pumpkins!

I was lame and *didn't get pictures of the pumpkins when they were done, but got pics of Brad and Allan having fun with their "pumpkin carving tools." Our pumpkins were awesome though! We used the stencil things from the carving books and they turned out great! I did an owl in a tree, Allan did three skulls and Brad did a spider in a web. Miranda decided she didn't want to use the stencil and did an awesome mummy face. She didn't like it, but I loved it.

Brad's "Pumpkin Carving Kit" and the boys looking manly.

Brad's, Mine and Miranda's. I don't know why we don't have a closeup of Allan's. His was pretty dang cool, too.

All the pumpkins finished (Allan's is front and center)

*Brad sent me these pics of our pumpkins! YAY!

More Milestones!

2010-10-27T11:01:00.005-06:00

So I've been a total slacker and haven't posted for a long time. Life got so insanely busy! Allan went back to school this fall, I started working again (and no longer am now) and Lindy has been cute as ever and is hitting TONS of milestones.

She started rolling over and then scooting herself backwards and is now crawling!! It's been so fun to watch her figure everything out. She also waves and gives (open mouthed) kisses. I'll upload videos later, if I can get them. She pulls herself up to her knees but can't get to her feet just yet. If we help her up, she loves holding on to things and standing. Unfortunately, she's very independent and gets sick of having to hold on and pushes off so she can stand by herself. She then falls and usually starts to cry. I'm not sure if she cries because it scares her or if she's just frustrated that she can't do it. Probably both.

She's so busy! She won't play in her exersaucer for more than 10 minutes because she gets bored. She won't do anything for more than 10 minutes for that matter for the same reason. She always has to be doing something. She'll be so blasted tired, but just fight going to sleep because she's afraid she'll miss something. My mom constantly tells me, "That's EXACTLY how you were!"

Canada Quilt

2010-10-15T09:33:00.005-06:00

One of my really great friends from Canada came to visit this week. He came down to celebrate his birthday down here with friends. For his birthday gift, I made him a shag quilt of the Canadian flag because 1. He's very proud to be Canadian and 2. It gets to at least -40 degrees below up there so a warm quilt will be useful. I think it's so dang cool.

I found it here. I didn't get a pattern or order the whole thing from them. I just saw the picture and decided to do it on my own. Allan helped out a fair bit too. In fact, there were a couple of places on the leaf that I would've royally messed up without him. It's 54" x 72" just like the picture. This one was a lot of fun to make. I love how it turned out!

The front

The back

Closeup of front (that's red lint on it)

Closeup of back

Lindy's Latest

2010-07-19T16:15:00.009-06:00

It's been a little while since I've updated about Lindy's milestones. A couple of weeks ago she discovered her feet. She has had them in her hands and mouth ever since. I wish I was that flexible!

Last week she started sitting up all by herself. Wahoo! She still can't roll over, but she can sit up. It makes me laugh.

And we finally got a video of her laughing. It's the greatest sound in the world! Allan was changing her diaper and jokingly spanked her. She started cracking up! Enjoy!

Here's another. This time Allan pretended to step on her and she started laughing. She laughs at the most random things!

New Calling

2010-07-18T14:18:00.004-06:00

Last week Allan and I were called to be primary teachers. I was SO excited. Due to illness, moving and pregnancy, I haven't had a calling since we were married. We will be teaching the CTR 7/Valiant 8 class and I am thrilled! I started today (Allan was at drill this weekend so he'll start next week) and enjoyed every minute of it. There were 8 in my class today. Luckily, they aren't too roudy. Insanely talkative, yes, but respectful when I tell them to be quiet. I love them already. I don't think any person has ever been as excited as I am to be a primary teacher.

I think my favorite part was singing time. I fairly recently borrowed my mom's primary song book so I could remember the songs to sing to Lindy. This is even better! And I surprisingly knew most of the ones they sang today. There's only one I didn't recognize. I'll remedy that very quickly.

Another fun part is that all the kids love Lindy. They kept asking if they could hold her. Even one of the boys wants to! So I've decided to use her as leverage. If they can be quiet and listen to the lesson, I'll let them hold her. I usedt his on one of the boys today who was being...a boy. It worked well. He was quiet and participated in singing time afterwards so he'll get to hold her next week. Love it!

I can tell that this particular boy is the "problem child" of the class, but I adore him. He kept giving me fives in singing time after he'd answer a question right or help somehow. When he left he also (very excitedly) said, "See ya next week!" How can you not love it when little kids are so happy to see you? I left wanting to bake them all cookies & such.

After church, my new visiting teaching companion came up to tell me when we will be visiting our sisters. I was amazed at how overjoyed I was today when leaving church. I've heard that you're happiest when serving others and I can attest that it is absolutely true! I love being able to help the people in the ward and in turn make friends (I'm refering to the kids too) and feel like I belong.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-06T09:09:00.006-06:00

You've gotta love it when the 4th of July is on a Sunday because instead of just one day of the holiday, it becomes a whole weekend. And we certainly enjoyed ours. We went to the Riverton parade on Friday night with my family. What made the parade so fun was that it was all the adults who went crazy for the candy and were yelling for it and running out in the street to get it. After the parade we had a BBQ and played volleyball at my parents' house. We also did that on Saturday & Sunday too. While we played, Lindy sat in her Bumbo on the porch & cheered us on.

At the parade w/ Grandma

Lindy, Uncle Brock & Grandpa

Brock had this thing for the cows at the parade & so I had to take a picture of him with them. It was actually fairly entertaining. He also tried & tried to get a t-shirt but nobody would throw him one. It took a long time, but when he finally got one, it was WAY too small. He put it on anyway & it was a total belly shirt. It was pretty dang funny.

I had some really cute patriotic outfits for Lindy. Sadly, the only picture I got of any of them was her headband that my brother put on. He struggled to keep a straight face and we struggled with keeping the camera still enough while laughing to take the picture. It was well worth all the tries though.

On Monday we went swimming at my cousins' pool. Of course Lindy loved it. She was all the entertainment we needed. She was squealing and splashing like crazy. I told my mom to video it, but it didn't work so well. I'll just have to settle for the pictures this time. Videos to come later. Unfortunately we didn't get to see fireworks, so we'll definitely take Lindy to those for the 24th.

Lehi Roundup

2010-06-28T18:43:00.010-06:00

This last weekend was so much fun. We got to go to the Lehi Roundup parade with Liz and her kids. Lindy really liked watching everything. Benjamin enjoyed it even more. Even when we weren't sitting with him by the sidewalk, he stayed by himself just to be close. Abby didn't care much about the parade. She just walked around making friends with everyone. It was really cute.

Waiting for the parade to come

The absolute best part of the parade was getting our picture with Cosmo Cougar. This will be framed and put on our wall. Go Cougars!

After the parade we went to the park for the carnival. Lindy was too small for the rides, but she did enjoy the petting zoo.

Petting the bunnies

Abby & Benjamin enjoyed the bunnies too.

Because Benji & Abby are bigger they also got to enjoy the pony rides, train ride and swings. A good time was had by all.

Allan's Birthday

2010-06-28T18:09:00.004-06:00

Last Sunday was Allan's birthday. He turned 28! My husband is getting so old. ;) It was also his first Father's Day. He was kind of bummed that they fell on the same day so I decided to go all out for him. I got him some new clothes for Father's Day and for his birthday...a WII! He also got Wii Fit & Guitar Hero 5 from friends & family. He's been having a blast with it. Actually, we both have. I got the Wii instead of a PS2 or XBox because they're a bit more family friendly. I don't play by myself, but I really enjoy it when we play together.

Luckily Allan has still been pretty responsible though. I threatened him that if he got addicted and stopped getting things done, I'd sell it. So the day after he got it, he came home & did all the dishes before he played. I guess he really wants to keep it. :)

We went to my family's house for dinner & my mom's brother & his family came over too. My aunt is known for making people work for anything, even gifts. Allan was no different. In order for him to get his birthday gift he had to pop balloons with his butt, spell the year he was born with his butt and then have a string tied to his back belt loop and try to get the string in a water bottle on the floor. It was so dang funny to watch! I wish I had recorded it. So he earned his gift which was a cup that they had put $20 worth of quarters in and then filled with candle wax. So he had to melt all the wax to get the $ and the wick was about 1" long.

I had the idea to boil water on the stove and then stick the cup in. It worked great! The entire candle was melted in less than 10 minutes. The only problem was that there was still wax all over them. And all over my counter. He cleaned all the wax off the quarters. My counter is another story. Hopefully he'll do that soon.

Swimming

2010-06-25T16:30:00.006-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we took Lindy swimming for the first time with her cousins. She absolutely loved it! We had so much fun watching her. She kept getting splashed and Allan even let her go completely under water. I thought she would cry, but she never did. She actually kept splashing herself and still loved it.

Because of this, we decided to put her in swimming lessons when she's 6 months old. I looked into it and found out that baby's can start that young. It's pretty cool too. They learn to just get used to the water and also how to float on their backs. So she starts in July at our clubhouse pool. I'm excited for her to start.

How cute is she in her little swimsuit?!

Our little family

With Aunt Liz and cousins Benjamin and Abby

Chillin' with Daddy

Couponing

2010-06-25T16:22:00.004-06:00

I recently started couponing and just had to share. I know it sounds stupid, but it really is cool. I've gotten so much stuff for so cheap! Last week I got Pamper's wipes for only $.50 each! They're normally $3.00 each. Woot! I also got Sobe drinks for only $.01 each. Today I spent $60 in groceries but saved $90! I got so much stuff too.

Totino's Pizzas - $.40

Scrubbing Bubbles - $1.20

Clorox Bleach - $.99

Bounty Paper Towels - $.79

Dial Hand Soap - FREE

Pantiliners - FREE

Pasta - FREE

Plus much, much more! My receipt is about 2 1/2 feet long because they added my approx. 50 coupons. So now my favorite thing about Sundays is getting my newspapers & cutting out my coupons. I'm a nerd, I know. But hey, I like saving so much money!

Summer Haircut

2010-06-23T19:14:00.002-06:00

Once again, I cut my hair. I was losing clumps of it so I decided to just cut it. Then I found out that it's normal to lose a bunch of hair several months after having a baby. Had I known that, I might not have cut it. But oh well. I cut off about 8" or so. I'm still trying to get used to it, but it feels good to be off my neck for summer. Now I'm just debating whether or not to cut it even shorter. We shall see. You can see pictures of it in my upcoming posts.

Voices

2010-05-19T18:35:00.005-06:00

I recently auditioned for a singing group called Voices and made it! I am so excited! I didn't think that I was going to make it. They were only taking 9 people and 14 had already auditioned the same day I did and there were going to be more. So this is pretty big.

We had our first rehearsal yesterday. I'm definitely the youngest person there but the other ladies are really nice. I think we'll get along well. We'll be meeting in Riverton once a week for 2 1/2 hours. I'm singing 2nd soprano.I haven't sung that part for a while. I'm always on alto. So this will be fun. We will mainly be doing our performances in December. If anybody wants a performance (family/work parties, community concert, anything), let me know and I'll get you in touch with our director.

Half Marathon

2010-05-10T16:23:00.003-06:00

I recently decided that I'm going to run a half marathon. I've always enjoyed running, but am really bad at doing it consistently. Plus, I don't enjoy doing it by myself. My cousins told me that they are planning on running the half marathon in St. George later this year and just a couple of days later my best friend told me that she would like to do a half marathon. So I decided that I'm going to train and do this half marathon too. It'll help me get in shape and lose the pregnancy weight. I'm really excited about it.

This morning I woke up early and ran just over a mile with my cousin. It's definitely not much, but it's a start. And starting is half the battle, right? Hopefully I'll have gotten into the habit before we move so that when my cousins aren't around to keep me motivated, I'll be able to do it myself. Half marathon, here I come!

Thrill Seeker

2010-05-08T11:04:00.006-06:00

We discovered this last week that Lindy is a little thrill seeker. She loves to be swung up in the air and loves the sensation of falling. We've had such a blast playing with her! She also laughed! It was so darling! My mom was swinging her up in the air and she just laughed a couple of times. I wish I could video it but she hasn't done it since. And poor Allan didn't even get to see it. But I'm sure it's coming soon. I can't wait to hear it frequently.

Please Help! - A Letter to Friends & Family

2010-05-06T08:58:00.002-06:00

Dear Family & Friends,

In December of 2008 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Adjusting to the new gluten-free (GF) diet has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. To have all your favorite foods ripped away, to watch people eat the good foods you can't, to see the commercials on TV for foods that look so good, but you can't ever eat is miserable. But every once in a while, I'll find something new in the GF world that gives me hope. This is one of them.

Jason's Deli is considering adding gluten-free sandwiches to their menu. Everytime a restaurant has a GF menu, I get excited. It makes eating out with family & friends so much easier for me. Mainly because I really don't like salads. They are currently taking a vote to see if they should actually do this. I'm begging you to PLEASE, PLEASE click on the link below and vote for them to add GF sandwiches to their menu.

Jason's Deli Gluten-Free Sandwiches

Thank you!

Lexi

A Place Of Our Own

2010-04-27T19:06:00.006-06:00

We are officially under contract! We bought a house! Ok, it's actually a condo. But still, it's all ours. No more paying another's mortgage. We were motivated by the $8000 tax credit and because of it, we're able to do this. We're SO excited!

This has been quite the process. We started looking in the beginning of April so we didn't have much time. The first place we put an offer in on was a short sale and although it was already approved at the listed price, we offered $1000 more just to make sure. However, they didn't accept it. Our agent and the seller's agent were so mad! But we moved on.

The second places we made an offer on didn't work out because the seller was kind of retarded. They wouldn't work with us on price at all and actually ended up raising it above the original asking price. So we walked on that one. We walked away from this one with only a week left to find a place & get under contract to get the tax credit.

Turns out the 3rd time really is the charm. As soon as I walked into this condo, I knew it was the place. It was just a gut feeling (and I'm learning my gut feelings are NEVER wrong). I didn't even need to see the rest of it to know it was "the one." We put in an offer that night and ended up in a bidding war. We upped our offer just a little bit & were nervous we wouldn't get it, but the seller accepted it! And we found out that our offer was lower, but they felt like we would be better to work with. HOLY COW! We are so lucky!

Because we are in a basement apt, we had some pretty basic requirements. Ya know, windows, a bathtub, a full size fridge, etc. We got way more though. This place is super nice. It has lots of great upgrades like super nice carpet, a water softener, tile floors, corian counters (in the kitchen, bathrooms AND laundry room), stainless steel appliances (and we got the super nice fridge as well!), walk-in closet and my personal favorite, a jetted soaker tub! It really is beautiful.

After our first two disappointments, Allan told me he thought God didn't want us to have our own place because he wasn't helping. He was so discouraged and I really can't blame him. It was pretty discouraging. But I told him we couldn't lose faith and we'd find something. And we did! God really is aware of us. So we will be out in Eagle Mountain within the next month or so. Woo hoo!

Keeping Lindy Up

2010-04-23T22:39:00.007-06:00

Because Allan doesn't have to go to work tomorrow, I told him that he gets to get up with Lindy tonight. He has decided to keep Lindy up late so that she'll sleep all night. She is so dang tired, but Allan is determined. He started blowing on her face to keep her up and the following hilariosity ensued...

It's so mean, but oh so funny. What makes it even funnier is that she was too tired to even cry. She just accepted it. He did finally let her sleep though and she's looking very peaceful.

New Clothes

2010-04-16T11:56:00.006-06:00

Last week a lady in my family's ward gave me TONS of baby clothes. My cousin and I had so much fun looking through them. I'm learning that getting new things for your baby is just as much fun, if not more so, as getting things for yourself. Lindy sure didn't like playing dress up, but we had a blast.

Krystal & Grandma w/ Lindy getting ready to try

on the piles of clothes (no, we didn't try on ALL of them - just a couple)

And yet more clothes :)

Chatterbox

2010-04-11T12:34:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago Lindy truly discovered her voice. She hasn't stopped "talking" since. She is currently in her car seat on the other side of the room & is talking up a storm to herself. I absolutely love listening to her. What's even better is that when she's talking like this, she's all smiles too. It's so darling!

She's even cute when she's upset. If I do something to make her mad, she'll start telling me off. She doens't really cry, she complains at you. She's a sassy little thing! While it's dang cute, it makes me a little nervous. If this is what she's like at 2 1/2 months when she can't even talk, what is she going to be like in the terrible twos? Or worse, as a teenager? :\

Spoiled

2010-04-06T10:07:00.006-06:00

This past weekend Lindy was completely spoiled. It was quite fun for me though. My mom took me shopping on Friday for new clothes for her and we had so much fun. We probably spent 15 minutes looking at the clothes we did buy and well over an hour looking at the rest. Baby clothes are just so dang cute and fun to look at!

Then on Saturday my grandparents (they are SO excited to be great-grandparents) took us shopping for her again. This time Allan got to pick out some clothes, which I think he thoroughly enjoyed. He picked a purple set, of course. He loves her in purple. I think he's getting sick of all the pink. Haha! So now Lindy has a brand new wardrobe with lots of purple included (although there's still lots of pink).

With all the new clothes, I love playing dress up with her. It's like she's my little doll. I never get upset when she spits up or has a blowout diaper because it just means I get to dress her in a new outfit. It's silly, but at least I don't get upset, right?

Luckily Allan and I got spoiled too. We went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. It was amazing. Then my grandma got me an Easter dress. I can't remember the last time I got one. It was so much fun! I've decided that every female, no matter what age, should get a new dress at Easter. If it's the only new thing they get the whole year, they should get a new Easter dress each year. :)

But clothes and food wasn't all we were spoiled with. We didn't forget about the real holiday and loved listening to conference this weekend. It was such a great reminder of what our Savior did for us. I can't wait for the May Ensign so I can go over them again. I love the feeling of peace I feel when listening to our leaders speak.

Lindy & me showing off her Easter dress from Grandma Arnell

Lindy with her new Easter basket

(We'll use it the next few years for treats. This year it's just for pics.)

Allan's favorite new purple outfit

Complete with bunny beanie (try saying that 10 times fast)

Another new dress (from Whitney). She really looks like a doll in this picture.

Smile Pictures

2010-04-01T08:39:00.003-06:00

While we were at the Festival of Colors, Liz watched Lindy for us. Lindy finally got to meet her cousins, Benjamin & Abby. They were so cute with her. Benjamin got to hold her and Abby kept coming up to her and saying, "Baby?" Then she'd stroke her face or hand very gently. I was impressed with her. Lindy also got to see Grandma Rosa. And luckily, Liz got pictures of Lindy smiling so I finally have some! She was looking at Benjamin while smiling so Liz was able to capture it. I'm so glad!

Lindy smiling

(Yeah, most of the time she just opens her mouth really wide.)

More smiles

With cousin Benjamin

Grandma Rosa with all the grandkids

Lindy did a great job of putting Grandma Rosa to bed. :)

Festival of Colors

2010-03-31T20:36:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we went to the Festival of Colors. It's a celebration to welcome the spring. It is held at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. After the emcee counts down, everybody throws chalk at everybody else. It is such a blast! We went with our friends Mike & Megan and Seth & Cindy. It was so great. We were covered in chalk even before the countdown. But after the countdown, it was crazy! The chalk dust was so thick we couldn't see the sun and could only see about 10 ft in front of us. We had to breathe through our shirts for a bit too. And while the chalk bag says it's edible, that stuff tastes NASTY! It was totally worth it though. We're all definitely going next year and the next, and the next, etc. :)

Before the fight

After the fight - front side

After the fight - back side

The four of us

(We lost Seth & Cindy in the crowd.)

The crowd

My closeup

Play Mat

2010-03-25T12:47:00.003-06:00

At Lindy's doctor appointment this week the doctor was telling me about the milestones she'll be reaching soon. Within the next month she should start batting at things we put in front of her and at four months she should start reaching for them. The doctor also said we should stimulate her by putting toys in front of her and that the mats with the dangling toys above the baby is a great thing to use. Unfortunately, we dont' have one of those play mats.

I told my dad about the appointment and the milestones she should be reaching soon. He told my mom and she went out and bought Lindy a little play mat. She just can't resist buying her stuff. I think it's funny. I love it though. So now Lindy has this darling pink and green play mat with lots of toys dangling from it. It even plays music. I put her on it today and she was completely mesmerized. She normally hates being on her back and will cry after just a minute or so. But on the mat, she lied there for about 10 minutes at least before even fussing. She loves it! See?

Some Much Needed Sleep

2010-03-24T01:53:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I got an infection and it has steadily gotten worse. This infection causes excruciating pain and so I haven't been sleeping much the last few days. I think I'm averaging about 4-5 hours a night. Last night, after falling asleep on the couch, Allan got me up and sent me to bed. He took my books and phone away from me (and put my phone on silent even - in the other room!) so I wouldn't be distracted by anything. He then stayed up late with Lindy so that I could sleep. I felt bad because he had to get up early and I didn't, but he wouldn't hear it. He insisted I get sleep (at his expense). Although I felt bad, it felt so good to sleep! And to top it off, Lindy ended up sleeping all day long. It was nice to finally catch up.

Because of the medication I'm on, I was feeling pretty loopy today so after Allan got home from work, he went to town cleaning up our place. He did the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen, folded laundry & even bathed Lindy. I got to just chill & take it easy. I have the most wonderful husband in the whole world! He really takes good care of me. :)

One Tough Baby

2010-03-22T19:04:00.003-06:00

Lindy got her 2 month shots today. Originally Allan was going to take her in for them because I knew that I would probably cry right along with her, but after having to take a sick day, he just couldn't. I was dreading it so much. It's so hard to watch your child hurting. I had a hard time watching her get her heel pricked in NICU so I knew this would be really bad. However, all my stressing was for naught.

When the nurse gave Lindy her shots, she definitely started crying, but it wasn't the scream I was anticipating. It was just a mild cry. And she only cried for 20-30 seconds. My baby is SO TOUGH! I should've known. In NICU she didn't even cry when they pricked her heel. I was so relieved! And to top it all off, when I was putting her pants back on her she was smiling! Once again, so tough!

She is now 9 lbs. 6 oz. & 20 1/2 in. long. She's getting so big! She's now in the 13th percentile for her weight and 1st percentile for her length so technically she's not that big, it just seems like it to us. But she's beautiful and very healthy.

Smiles

2010-03-21T13:01:00.005-06:00

As of Wednesday, Lindy is officially smiling! It has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. I absolutely love it! I've been putting off this post because I wanted a picture of her smiling, but I just can't get one. She'll only smile at our faces so if I'm holding a camera in front of me, she won't. I'm stilling working on it. I'll get one just as soon as I can. In the meantime, here's more cute pictures of her.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T15:23:00.003-06:00

Growing up my mom always did a lot for holidays. Although St. Patrick's Day is a small one, she still celebrated. She would dye our food green for the day. I decided to carry on this fun tradition. For breakfast I made green eggs & ham and cream of wheat. For dinner it was ham with a mustard brown sugar glaze and mashed potatoes. And then of course there was milk for both meals.

Cream of wheat

Green eggs & ham

The completed meal

Mustard brown sugar glaze on ham w/ mashed potatoes

While these all look absolutely disgusting, they were all very delicious! Allan thought it was pretty cool. I love food coloring!

Preview Pictures

2010-03-15T02:32:00.009-06:00

Last weekend I finally got to have professional pictures of Lindy taken. My friend, Whitney (Whitney Lewis Photography), took them & did a great job! These are just a preview. I can't wait to get the rest! Aren't they darling??

With pacifier

I love her tiny little feet!

Without pacifier

My absolute favorite. She's so dang cute when she's sleeping.

Date Night

2010-03-12T23:48:00.003-07:00

Tonight my wonderful cousin, Felicia, watched Lindy and Allan and I got to have date night. It wasn't anything extravagant, but we had a good time. We went to Nickel Mania. It definitely isn't my favorite place, but I owed Allan a trip there. He recently figured out how to make going back to school possible after hitting several roadblocks. I was so proud of him for his persistence that I agreed.

Allan really likes the arcade video type games. I like the ones where you waste your nickels away quickly trying to get tickets. Needless to say, I went through all of my nickels and Allan still had about 3/4 of his so I graciously helped him use the rest of his. It definitely wouldn't be my first choice for a date, but I had a great time just being with Allan and was happy to do something that he really wanted to. I'm happy that he loves me enough to want me to join him in what he loves doing. Date nights are great.

Dance Performance

2010-03-08T13:29:00.007-07:00

About a month ago, somebody asked Allan and I if we would choreograph a dance routine, teach it to a few couples and perform it at a stake activity. We willingly agreed. Because I had just had a baby, I wasn't up to it when we needed to start so Mishimmy graciously stepped in for me. She helped (and by help I mean she did most of it) us choreograph it and teach it.

It turned out really well! We had so much fun teaching and especially performing. We both love to perform but hadn't done it for a long time. And it felt so good to dance and even do a lift so quickly after having a baby. It inspired a bit of confidence. :)

The whole group

(Don't the boys look great in bowties?)

Hot Ladies

Bath Time

2010-03-07T02:27:00.002-07:00

I just had to post this darling picture of Lindy. I think it's my favorite. She looks so dang cute. She really loves sitting in the bath water. She just doesn't like it when we start to scrub her down. We obviously took this picture pre-scrubbing. :)

Diurnal vs. Nocturnal

2010-03-07T01:47:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we had a technological breakthrough in the Ambrose household...we got the internet! WOOT! I am so excited to have access to the outside world. We got it so that I can get a stay-at-home job. The internet is a requirement for that. Now that we've got it, I'm going to start searching hardcore. If anybody has any ideas or leads for me, please let me know!

The latest news here is that my darling daughter became nocturnal for about a week or so. It was fantastic (spoken with dripping sarcasm). First she slept through the night for a week and then suddenly, stopped sleeping at night completely. Apparently babies go through a transitional phase every once in a while. I can't say that I enjoy them. I dealt with it pretty well for a while but after about 5 days, I had a breakdown. I was changing Lindy's diaper and she somehow had some kind of jet propelled poop. It splattered all over the wall, up over the changing table & onto our lamp and all over the clothes on the changing table. At this point I was so sleep deprived that I just couldn't handle it. Luckily my mom was actually pretty close to my house. She came over and took Lindy for the whole day so that I could sleep and even shower - something I hadn't gotten to for a couple of days. Gross. I love having family close by!

Luckily for my mental and physical safety, this only lasted a week. She is now back to normal and sleeping during the night. She's waking up about once, but I'm so happy to be sleeping at night again. Sortof. I'm still adjusting to being diurnal again & am keeping some pretty late hours.

One new milestone is that Lindy is starting to take notice of things. She's paying attention to the mobiles we've got around the house. She doesn't look at them long, but she does watch. She's also just starting to make some cute baby noises. We're still waiting for the (intentional) smiles though.

Sleep!

2010-02-23T20:46:00.005-07:00

Two nights ago Lindy slept through the night for the first time! She did the same thing last night as well. It was so wonderful to get sleep! Somehow I'm still tired during the day, but hey, it sure helps to sleep at night. I'm hoping this keeps up!

1 Month Old

2010-02-18T10:54:00.005-07:00

My baby is one month old today. Time really does fly by! It seems like I just brought her home a few days ago. Lindy is absolutely darling! She's still pretty small for her age, but is consistent in her growth so the doctor isn't concerned.

Sadly, Lindy has a mild case of Cholic. I hate that she cramps and hurts and there's nothing I can do about it. Luckily it's mild though. Hopefully it goes away soon. I'm also hoping her new voracious appetite will help. She's eating like crazy. I thought she would've gained about 3 lbs by now. I guess her flailing arms and legs burn it all off. :)

She can now hold her head up all by herself for about 90% of the time. She still has the occasional face plant. Tonight she got it up so high I was shocked! She really likes to be able to see what's going around her and not lying flat on her back. Although, when we've got her like that, she's pretty mellow too. She also loves to be held. I've discovered that if I lie her in the bed next to me when we sleep, she sleeps A LOT longer. It's so cute! And I love having a cuddle buddy when Allan is at work all day.

Lindy holding her head up so high.

She has also learned how to shake her head. I'm wondering if I should be concerned. She's only 1 month old and can already shake her head. :| It's actually pretty funny though. She does it when we put her pacifier in her mouth, even if she wants it. She'll shake her head for a bit and then start sucking.

Another new event is that her eyes are starting to change. I still can't tell what color they're going to be, but they are changing. I think I might be detecting some blue coming in around the edges, but we'll see.

Great Poses

2010-02-04T22:59:00.007-07:00

I LOVE being home with Lindy everyday. I love getting to know her better and learning more about her personality. She gets cuter everyday! And she's such a good baby! She very rarely cries and if she does, she's super easy to calm down again. She is sleeping 4-5 hrs at a time at night too so I only have to get up a couple of times a night. She's also very cuddly. We really lucked out.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of her (unfortunately they're all from my phone so the quality isn't that great):

Daddy fell asleep while holding Lindy in NICU.

This is one of, if not THE first pictures of Lindy with her eyes open.

Lindy always has her hands up when she's sleeping. I love it when she plays moose. Sadly, I accidentally deleted the picture where her fingers were fully out. But you get the idea.

Out cold!

This is one of my favorites. I put her down on a little pile of clothes on the bed and she rolled down it onto her side. Because her hands were by her face (like always), he rolled down & smashed her cheeks with her hands. She actually stayed like that for a good few minutes w/o any complaining. I couldn't stop laughing at her.

The absolute best pose ever: Thriller...thriller night! That's right, in her sleep she raised up her hands and did the thriller pose. Awesome.

The Emotional Aspect

2010-01-23T19:48:00.004-07:00

Having a baby is the most amazing experience. That is also the biggest understatement of the century. I had been so nervous about it until right before I went in. We had a blast dancing our hearts out at ULX so that probably helped distract me. Miranda came over on Sunday to help me finish some things up before I had to go into the hospital and she couldn't believe how calm I was. I think she was freaking out far more than I was. I'm so grateful for priesthood blessings that allowed me so much peace about the whole thing.

Because of the c-section, I couldn't see Lindy when she was born. However, that didn't stop the wave of emotion that washed over me when I first heard her cry. I was not expecting it. It hit me so hard and it was so overwhelming (not in a bad way) that all I could do was cry. I had tears streaming down my face. I had no idea that I could love someone SO much and so quickly. I knew I would do absolutely anything for that little girl that I hadn't even laid eyes on. It was amazing. I know Allan felt it too because he started tearing up as well. He was just stronger and held the tears back. Our little family had finally started and it felt wonderful!

It's mind boggling to think that this child was so recently in heaven and is so perfect. I was in awe that I could be trusted with the responsibility of taking care of someone so precious and teaching her the right.

A few people have asked me how it feels to be a mom and all I can think is that there is no way to explain it to someone who doesn't have children. You can try, but no words will ever sufficiently explain the absolute love you feel for this new little person in your life. But it is wonderful and I love it.

The NICU Experience

2010-01-23T00:01:00.004-07:00

After I was all sewn up from the c-section, the nurse brought Lindy into my room to nurse her. Her blood sugar was only 48 when she was born. After feeding her, her blood sugar dropped to 29. It was scary! They took her to NICU and put in an IV to give her a sugar water drip. Later that night she also developed jaundice. It was SO hard to see my baby in NICU with so many tubes and wires attached to her, especially in her head.

The first night in NICU we were able to come in and hold her and Brad & Miranda came in and got to hold her as well and take pictures. However, the next couple of days were not so good. The NICU nurses we had were AWFUL! They wouldn't let me hold Lindy. I could hold her to feed her and then they would take her away and make me leave the room. They wouldn't let anybody else in and one even told me that Allan couldn't hold her. I was so incredibly frustrated. It was hard enough to have Lindy in NICU but to not be able to hold her almost killed me. I could understand that if she was premature or had a serious illness that people shouldn't hold her, but she didn't! It was just low blood sugar! It was such a terrible experience. One nurse even yelled at my mom for taking Lindy out of her bed. It was so stupid. She told me to come down to feed her but when we got there, the nurse just sat in her chair. She didn't come in to get her and didn't even say anything to us like, "Just give me a minute and I'll come get her for you." So after sitting there for a few minutes, my mom took her out and gave her to me since I wasn't able to do so. The nurse wigged out. She told my mom that it was her (the nurse's) license that she was messing with. Once again, so stupid. She should've said or done something to prevent it then, right?

I finally broke down on Wednesday night when they kicked Allan out of the room. He started to doze off in the chair and the nurse told him he couldn't do that because he could fall out of the chair and so she kicked him out of the room. She also said to him before he left, "Why are YOU tired? You got a good night's sleep!" I was LIVID! He actually had stayed up with me all night and then gotten up early to go to work so he had plenty of reason. But even if he didn't, she has no right to say that.

So after the feeding I went back to my room and starting bawling. My mom was there and she is very feisty and definitely a mother bear and she took me right back downstairs and had a little chat with the head nurse who apologized profusely for everything.

After the chat with the head nurse, we didn't see either of the bad nurses again and things got infinitely better. The new nurses were so helpful and encouraging and let me hold Lindy as much as I want and the same for Allan. They didn't object when my parents wanted to hold her either. The best thing about this is that since we've been holding her so much, Lindy has gotten so much better! Her blood sugars are very stable and breast feeding is going a lot more smoothly.

We found out just tonight that Lindy will be coming home on Sunday at the earliest. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I'd really like her home.

My Baby Story

2010-01-22T22:03:00.005-07:00

Our baby is finally here! Lindy Faith was born at 4:06 p.m. on January 18th and was 7 lbs, 3 oz and 19 inches long. A few people have asked how it went so here is my baby story. This is just the physical process of what happened. I'm going to post my emotional story later.

I went into the hospital on Sunday night so they could put me on an IV overnight to start softening my cervix and they were going to start the induction on Monday. Around 4 in the morning, the medication they gave me to soften my cervix really kicked in and I started having contractions. This was a good sign! Things were progressing really well. I held out until I was at a 5 to get my epidural. I'm telling ya, I will never do it naturally. I have no desire whatsoever.

We did have a scare. I had about 4 contractions very close together and she couldn't get enough oxygen in between them so her heart rate dropped drastically. I didn't even know what had happened. All of a sudden there were about 5 nurses in there moving very quickly. They gave me an oxygen mask and even started to wheel me out of the room when her heart rate came back up.

Because her heart rate came back up, they decided to wait it out and see how she held up. Her heart rate never dropped that drastically again, but it did drop with every single contraction. Because I was only at a 5, they estimated I'd still be in labor for another 8 hours or so because I wasn't dilating quickly enough and just didn't want to risk Lindy being without enough oxygen that long. They told me they were going to do a c-section and I heartily agreed. I knew from the very beginning that a c-section might be necessary so I had already come to terms with it. However, Allan hadn't.

Allan was by the bedside telling me that everything was going to be ok. I told him I knew. I was completely calm. He told me not to be scared and I told him I wasn't. He responded with, "I am!" After getting his clothing on for the surgery, he started doing the running man. He definitely had some nervous energy. It was pretty funny.

During the c-section, they put me on a table and then put a big tarp like thing up right at my chest so I couldn't see a thing, nor feel a thing. I was numb from the chest down. It's kind of weird to not feel a thing but know that you're being cut open. Allan was the only one who could be in the OR with me. My dad and I were both telling him how jealous we were that he could watch the surgery. He didn't agree. He didn't want to look. He kept his head down right next to mine until he heard, "Here's her head!" At that point he just had to look so he did get to see her come out.

From the time they started the surgery to the time she came out was all of about 5 minutes. After she came out they took her over to clean her off and all that jazz. It then took them about 15 minutes to sew me up. So Allan took the camera & took pictures of her since I hadn't seen her and brought them back to show me. About 10 minutes after she was born he got to hold her and bring her to show me. My first thought was, "It's just not fair! I should get to hold her first. I carried her for 9 months and gave birth to her. Isn't it just a right for the mother to hold her first?!" I wasn't really THAT upset, but it was a little disappointing. After I saw her, it all went away. I was just thrilled to see her finally.

Lindy right after birth

Our first family photo

Nesting

2010-01-14T14:42:00.003-07:00

With only 5 days left, things feel a little hectic. My nesting instincts are definitely kicking in and I've desperately been trying to get my house cleaned and put together before Baby gets here. It's hard when we can't get the baby furniture until this Saturday at the earliest. Talk about cutting it close! But at least I got the nursery all painted. I'll post pictures when it's finally done.

This morning I realized that I'm going slightly crazy when I got up at 3 a.m. because I couldn't sleep and started ironing and rearranging some furniture. I think Allan was a little bit confused when he got up and saw the room because he didn't know I had gotten up. The first thing he said to me was, "I see the nesting powers are kicking in." Hopefully they stay until it's all finished!

36 Week Update

2010-01-05T09:30:00.004-07:00

Last post of the day, I promise! It feels like there's just so much going on! When does life start slowing down? Not anytime soon, I'm sure.

I'm now at 36 weeks and am really starting to feel it. Ok, pregnancy has actually been really easy for me and has somehow agreed with my body. I do feel huge though. My only complaint is that I'm having trouble breathing. I'm in the "stand up or lie down to breathe" phase because sitting for more than 5 minutes makes it nearly impossible. My ribs ache all the time. Other than that, I'm doing great. I know that I've been really lucky throughout this whole thing because I've had almost no side effects except feeling healthier.

I got to schedule my induction a few days ago so it is now official. Baby is coming January 18th. It's now less than two weeks away! I can't believe how close it is. I'm not sure where the time went. It's now becoming real. I'm not quite at the "Get this baby out of me!" stage, but I am a little bit more ok now with the whole thought of giving birth. :) Still nervous, but getting excited. I'm so excited to meet my daughter and see what she looks like and get to know her personality. We've had fun guessing. Allan's family all thinks she'll get my blond hair and blue eyes. My family, Allan and myself think she'll have the dark hair and hazel or green eyes. We also think she'll be like I was as a child and ALWAYS have to be active and doing something and looking around. Please feel free to leave your own guesses in comments!

My last ultrasound is this week. It's weird to think that it'll be the last time I see her in black & white. The next time will be in full color and 3-D! Exciting. I'm hoping she'll be pulling faces again. The last time, her tongue was out almost the whole time. It was cute, but I'm thinking she's got an attitude now. Scary! But my tongue was out in almost all of my baby pictures and I turned out ok, right? So it can't be that bad. ;)

For those wondering, we don't have one set name picked out. Allan wants to wait until he sees her to pick one, which I'm 100% ok with. However, if I send myself into labor during the Lindy Exchange (Yes, my Dr. gave me permission to go and dance my little heart out - I love him!), her name will definitely be Lindy. Otherwise, we'll just see.

2010 Goals

2010-01-05T09:24:00.003-07:00

Allan and I both set our big individual goals for 2010 and just laughed when we shared them with each other because they are the same! I'm putting them up here to remind us about them. Everyone else can feel free to remind us to follow through on them as well. :)

1. Get back to school (summer semester for Allan & probably fall for me)

2. Lose weight & get in shape

The best thing about goal #2 is that we want to lose about the same amount of weight. We got a kick out of that. It's going to be so much better to have a partner to work on it with. And hey, a little friendly competition might just help us push a little harder too. Ok, it'll help me for sure. We'll see about Allan. He's not anywhere near as competitive.

We haven't sat down and set our family goals for the year. I think for now we're just trying to make it through having the baby. Maybe after we get through that, we'll figure out what we really need to work on as a family. I think Baby will keep us busy for a while just trying to figure out how to be parents to a newborn. It's exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time.

Goodbye 2009!

2010-01-05T09:00:00.007-07:00

December came and went in a flash! I can't believe how time flies. Our holiday season was full of family, parties, Christmas lights at Temple Square and fun. We got to go to my family Christmas party which was a blast. My extended family is HUGE (my dad is 9 of 10 kids)! Allan is still working on getting names down, but is getting better. We always eat and play games and one specific tradition is playing Seven On The Line at the end of the party. It's a game where you all get in a line and shoot once from the free throw line. However many people in a row make it is how many points there are on the line. If you miss, you subtract that many points from your original 7. When you're out of points, you're out of the game. Allan doesn't play sports, but I was SO impressed with his shooting skills! He managed to stay in for a long time, even under my little brother's constant heckling of "NO PRESSURE!" He even stayed in longer than Chelsea, who is on a basketball scholarship! Who knew?! My dad won this year (and last) so I was proud. :)

It was a blast to have Chelsea home for the holidays. We got to meet her boyfriend, Andrew and we all love him. He's really patient with her and takes all our teasing in stride. He started to tease us about getting Baby U of U clothing but we told him we'd get him Yankees apparel in return (he's a die hard Red Sox fan). He got the point pretty quickly. Ha ha! It was nice for me to have someone to hang out with during the day as I'm home all day by myself. She even went to a doctor appt with me and got to see an ultrasound of Baby for the first time. I think she's about as excited for Baby to come as we are. She likes to use my belly button as a microphone and talk to her. She also like to get after her and tell her to be nice when she was kicking me. I loved watching. I'm excited for Chelsea to come back home right after Baby is born.

We spent Christmas with Allan's family this year up in Smithfield (Logan). From what I understand, it was the first time all 4 siblings were there for Christmas in about 8 years or so. We taught them how to play Nertz and played it a lot! It was a lot of fun to watch them learn and get mad at each other when they beat them to a card. But we're definitely up for a rematch anytime! (Hint to Liz & Isaac)

For New Year's we went dancing (of course!) and had a great time. I'm surprised I had the energy to dance AND stay up until midnight, but somehow managed. We're so glad to have dancing in common. It really brings us together.

HAPPY 2010!

Baby Shower

2009-12-16T14:19:00.011-07:00

Last Saturday was my first baby shower. It was with the Ambrose family (and my mom and best friend because they just have to be there too). I love my in-laws. It was a lot of fun.

We played a game where you have to pick out safety pins from a bowl of rice while blindfolded. It sounds easy, but trust me, it's not. In fact, it's so difficult that my mother-in-law felt the need to pick out a few before her time started. It didn't help. She still lost. Haha! My mom really doesn't like shower games so she didn't want to participate in the 3 way tie she ended up in. She said to just give the gift to someone else but they made her do it. In my opinion, I think she lost the 2nd time on purpose to make sure she didn't have to do it again. It was so funny! Miranda & I were the only ones who caught it and couldn't stop laughing at her.

After the games came the presents. I must say, I love getting gifts for Baby! I got some wonderful stuff that I can't wait to use. I think my favorite has to be the BYU onesie though. I cannot wait to put her in it!

The guests:

My mom & Miranda

Rosa, my mother-in-law & Abby, my niece

Future sister-in-law Whitney; cousin Kate; sister-in-law Arlen & Aunt Gloria

Liz was the one who ran everything, which is why she isn't in the pictures. She took them. And somehow Allan's stepsister, Margaret, avoided them too.

Thank you to all who attended. I'm so glad to have you be a part of this exciting occasion!

The True Spirit of Christmas

2009-12-15T15:01:00.004-07:00

I've been so overwhelmed with these feelings recently that I decided to post them. Maybe it's due to pregnancy, maybe it's not. Either way, this is what's going on.

Every year my family goes all out for Christmas. They always have. We have always had a Christmas tree (or two) and lights up on our house. In addition to this, we have tons and tons of other Christmas decorations around the house. I noticed this year that they even spilled into the bathroom. Yes, there are Christmas decorations in my family's bathroom. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. I must say, it's been impossible to not catch this spirit. I LOVE decorating for Christmas and putting up lights, etc.

This year, we don't have enough $ for a tree so we are going without. I think this is the first time in my life I've not had a tree. At first this was incredibly upsetting to me. I looked and looked for a tree we might afford without much luck. We don't have ornaments either or lights so I'm not exactly sure what we would've done with the tree, but still, we would have one. I was thinking I'd string popcorn. :) We also are not getting each other any presents for the same reason. My favorite part of Christmas is definitely GIVING the presents. So this has been hard as well.

I recently realized that this doesn't have to be hard. I was the one who was making it so. I just had to choose to be happy and grateful for everything that we do have, because it really is a lot. First and foremost, we have each other. Even if I had a more lights and decorations than anyone in the neighborhood or if I was able to give hundreds of presents, it would not be one of my best Christmases if Allan was not with me. In fact, it would probably be one of the worst.

We have a roof over our heads, a running car and our health. Good health is not something I've known throughout my life so this is a really big one, especially during pregnancy! We also have our families and our friends and a wonderful bishop and fellow ward members who are doing so much to help us make ends meet. I know that a lot of people do not have a lot of people they can turn to in times of need. We do. We have been extended a helping hand by so many people that it has been overwhelming. Things are still hard, but we know that we will make it because of these other people. The Lord truly does help us through the service of others.

I've realized that even without lights, trees, presents or other Christmas decor, I have felt the true spirit of Christmas more this year than I ever have before. Even without a lot of the simple luxuries of life, I am genuinely happy. How grateful I am for wonderful people in our lives and for the gospel of Christ that enables us to experience and know the true happiness in life that the world cannot offer.

Happy holidays to all! We hope you are enjoying them as much as we are.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T20:05:00.004-07:00

Ok, I've stalled long enough. I'm going to add a quick Thanksgiving update. I was really nervous about Thanksgiving and the holidays because they seem to be centered around food. This wouldn't be a problem except that I have a very limited diet due to Celiac. However, it's been great so far. We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. My mom made everything gluten free from grave to pies. It was wonderful! And my breadsticks were even better than their rolls! It was so encouraging to know that I wouldn't just have to miss out on all the good stuff. I've been SO discouraged lately about everything I can't eat. I've gotten to the point where I just want to avoid all events that include food. So this was a good experience. I don't know what I'd do without my mom and her dedication to keeping me gluten free! She's done so much research on all the common holiday foods and is helping me find a way to enjoy treats like everybody else but still stay healthy.

We then spent the weekend with Allan's family and had a Thanksgiving dinner up there. I took my pies and breadsticks with me (I left the stuffing out and it went bad :( ) and once again, I didn't miss out on anything. Hopefully the Christmas season will go just as well.

Surround Sound

2009-11-25T14:39:00.003-07:00

Baby's ears are fully developed so I though I would introduce her to music early in life. My little sister thought this was a great idea and lent me her awesome headphones. That's what I call surround sound!

So far it's been a lot of swing music (she went NUTS over Tuxedo Junction by Glenn Miller Orchestra today). We're going to have a little dancer yet! I'm also going to introduce her to the smooth wonderfulness of Dean Martin. I'm hoping she'll recognize his voice when she's born and I can play it to calm her down. I know it calms me down. :)

If anyone has any other suggestions for music for Baby, feel free to leave it in a comment. I'll see what I can do.

BYU Quilt

2009-11-21T19:00:00.009-07:00

Last week was my dad's birthday so I made him this BYU lap quilt. I was telling my mom about all the cool things I wanted to do for this quilt, but she pointed out that my dad just won't notice nor care so I should do something simple. I took her advice and think it turned out quite well. My wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law helped me tie it when we went up to Logan to visit. So this was finished very quickly. I think my favorite part is the back. It's a little bit different since most backs are usually one solid color. Instead of doing that, I pieced mine. I think it looks awesome! I'm tempted to make one for myself. GO COUGARS!

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law (Arlen) and me tying the quilt

A close up of the material

My dad showing off the front

My dad showing off the back

Veterans' Day

2009-11-11T22:15:00.005-07:00

I just wanted to say that I am SO proud of Allan for serving his country. I am always so proud to state that my husband is in the military and that he has also been to Iraq (although I'm desperately hoping he doesn't go again). I consider him a true hero and also all those who are/were in the armed forces to protect our freedom. Your service is truly appreciated.

The Third Trimester

2009-11-11T21:53:00.003-07:00

I am officially in my third trimester! It feels like such a huge milestone. I almost feel like I should feel differently now than I did last week because I'm now in a whole new trimester, but obviously, I don't. It still feels good to know that I've made it this far though.

For those who want it, here's a current picture of the baby bump at 28 weeks. I can't believe how much bigger I am now than at 22 weeks! I didn't think I'd really gotten much bigger. Luckily Liz recently lent me a whole bag of maternity shirts, which has been SO helpful. Now I have shirts that actually cover my belly button! Thanks, Liz!

Oh ya, the doctor said he's probably going to induce me on January 18th since I told him it had be be after the 17th because the 15th-17th is the Utah Lindy Exchange. Although, he also gave me permission to go dance my little heart out and try to induce myself. I love my doctor!

CNA Training

2009-11-02T14:58:00.003-07:00

Last month I finally started to put my foot in the door of the field I really want to be in: nursing. I did an 8 day CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) class. Although it was only 8 days, it was rough. I was in class from 7-5 for six days and then had 2 days of clinicals from 6-4. I was so exhausted by the end, but it was well worth it! I passed with flying colors. Now I just have to send in my certificate of completion to the state so I can take my state certification test.

I do have to share a couple of experiences I had at the senior living center I did my clinicals at. As I was walking by, one guy grabbed my upper thigh and said, "Nice!" I couldn't help but laugh. Normally you would chastize them, but it's a dementia and alzheimer's clinic so they don't really know what they're doing. But it sure was funny.

Another cool thing was that the center is pet friendly because it helps the residents feel more at home. So there were a lot of dogs and cats, but the coolest part is that the center has its own joey (baby kangaroo)! I had to do a double take when I saw him hopping down the hall. He's adorable! Below is a picture of Oscar the Kangaroo.

Halloween Fun

2009-11-02T14:49:00.004-07:00

I love Halloween! It's so much fun. Whoever thought of creating a night where kids can dress up as anything they want and then go knock on doors for free candy is brilliant! While I no longer go trick-or-treating, I still love to dress up. Allan isn't as gung ho about it as I am, but he humors me and plays along.

Costumes are just too expensive to buy and too cheap to be worth it anyway, so we made ours. This year I decided to use my pregnancy as part of the costume and have some fun with it. So we went as a pregnant nun and a priest. Even Allan loved it. They called him "Father Allan." How fitting.

On Friday we went to the Halloween dance and won the costume contest for the second year in a row! Go us! Then on Halloween night we went to my parents house and I passed out the candy and Allan helped Jackson, my little brother, with his haunted house that he and his friend put together. Allan was the host and just led people through it. For it being done by a couple of teenage boys and a dad, it was quite impressive. I got the grand tour before it opened and I still got scared. They did a great job!

More Excitement!

2009-10-19T21:15:00.003-06:00

I know that all of my posts have been about the baby and that's it, but I want to make sure I write everything down so I don't forget it. It's also the biggest part of our lives right now. So here goes yet another baby update.

Yesterday morning I not only felt Baby move, I SAW her move too! My belly looked like it was twitching. It was so cool! I thought I was imagining it at first. I told Allan to look and he confirmed that I am, in fact, sane and that it was moving. Well, as sane as possible being pregnant. I've totally got the pregnancy brain thing going on. It's quite funny. Anyway, Allan and I got to watch her move around for a few minutes before she stopped. I honestly think I could watch it for hours if she'd cooperate.

It's so hard not to be ecstatic about every new progression. Maybe I won't be so awed with the next baby, but it's so amazing to me now. In the words of my mom, "ah, the miracle of life." It really is exciting.

Baby Bump Week 22

2009-10-08T14:02:00.005-06:00

I've had a couple of requests for baby bump pictures so here it is. This is me at 22 weeks (1 week ago). I've been told a few times that I'm really tiny. My sister, however, after seeing me for the first time, told me I'm really fat. It made me laugh. Only a sister could say it and get away with it. I love that you can tell I'm pregnant now and don't just look like I'm eating my way through the universe.

I had an ultrasound last week and Baby looks great! She's developing perfectly. I got to see her arms, legs, stomach, kidneys, bladder, diaphragm, brain hemispheres and all four chambers of her heart. There was even a shot where I could see all 5 toes on her foot. It was quite amazing. I love modern technology! They gave me a DVD of the ultrasound as well so I got to show Allan and my mom and dad. This is the first ultrasound Allan has missed and he was really sad about it so he was really glad to have the DVD.

While all her organs and bone structures are formed perfectly so far, she is quite small for her age. She's about two weeks behind size wise. She's only in the 28th percentile (normal is 50). The doctor isn't concerned about this. He's just going to watch her a little bit more closely. I personally am thrilled about it. I am so ok with having a small baby, especially because diabetics tend to have HUGE babies. So things are going great!

Our other great news is that Allan got a job! Woo hoo! He's working at Auto-Owner's Insurance. So far he really likes it. He just can't wait to get to the real training. They are currently swamped and trying to play catchup so they've got him doing little odds & ends jobs. But hey, it's still a job. And I start my CNA class on Monday. I'm so excited!

Allan's Turn

2009-09-30T13:29:00.002-06:00

On Sunday night, Baby was kicking pretty hard so I decided to see if Allan could feel her. I didn't think he would, but we had nothing to lose. I had him put his hand on my tummy and wait. After just a few seconds, his whole face lit up! He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He definitely felt her moving and he was SO excited. He got to feel her about 4 or 5 times before she stopped. After that, he put his head on my belly and talked to her for a bit. I'm not sure if she can hear him yet, but it was darling. He now sleeps with his hand draped over my belly, just in case she moves again. I'm so lucky to have a husband who is so excited about this baby! I think she's got him wrapped around her little finger already.

She Moves!

2009-09-10T18:04:00.003-06:00

Ok it's been a little while since I've updated. We are back from TX and found a new apt and moved in on Monday. We had to paint almost the whole thing before we moved in and it was quite the project! But it looks so good now! I thought my next post would be before and after pictures of the apt and a video tour, but something even more exciting happened that made me update today. (The apt post will come later...after I unpack all the boxes. It could be a little while.) But on to the big, exciting news...

I felt our baby move for the first time today! It was so exciting! What's funny is that it took me about 10-15 seconds to figure out what I had felt. I feel like I've been waiting for this for so long and it just wouldn't come. I kept hearing that I should've felt something by now and was almost concerned. But she's alive! It was just a small fluttering feeling, but it was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life. Life is good! :)

It's A Girl!

2009-08-14T12:31:00.002-06:00

We just found out this morning that we are having a girl. We are SO excited! We were totally shocked when the technician told us. We were both so sure that we were having a boy. The doctor had to actually point it out to us because we just couldn't believe it. We are absolutely thrilled! We were both hoping for a girl. Allan because he loved having an older sister and therefore wanted a girl first and me because we couldn't agree on any boy names, otherwise I wouldn't have had a preference.

It now seems so much more real. Now I feel like we can really start planning. We can start thinking about names and maybe decorate a nursery in our new apartment and I can start buying baby clothes! Ok, I only want to go buy a little dress or something, just because I can now that I know.

I'm starting to think that Allan is more excited than I am though. After the doctor's visit, I had to take Allan to the military unit. When I went to pick him up, he asked me to bring the pictures from the ultrasound. He took them around and showed everyone around unit. I thought it was darling. He's so proud! I think this little girl has got him wrapped around her little finger already.

Housing

2009-08-05T17:21:00.006-06:00

Our friend Bags had this on his blog and I just had to steal it. I couldn't stop laughing at it because it's exactly how I feel right now.

Allan and I recently found out that we will not be able to move back into the house we were living in before moving to TX. We now have less than two weeks to try to find a place to move into. The problem with this is that we have no idea of what we're going to do exactly. We have no money and we also don't have jobs to come back to, so we're not sure how to pay for the rent. Needless to say, we're totally stressed about it. We do have my family though who are going to let us stay with them if need be until we can find our own place and get jobs.

Because were were on a month to month deal, we've never had to sign a lease. (I've decided that school housing contracts are different because you KNOW you're going to be there for the whole semester.) So while I don't ususally think of Batman, this comic still expresses my feelings exactly. Sometimes I don't like having to be a responsible adult.

Allan was going to go back to school, but with a baby on the way and rent being a lot more expensive, he's going to have to work full time. The problem with this is that he's got some government loans and if he doesn't go back to school, we'll have to start paying those off and that doesn't help either. He was going to work full time during the day and do night classes, but they don't offer any night classes in his major. STRESS! So he's now looking into changing his major. You might think this just adds to the stress, but I'm pretty excited about it. I think any other job will pay more than a teacher. I know. My dad is a teacher. :) He's now looking into becoming an electrician, which he's always had some interest in. I think having a family is just pushing him to it more. We'll see how things turn out. Like I said, we've got less than 2 weeks to get things figured and planned out as school starts then. *sigh*

If anybody knows of any *CHEAP* housing in the SL valley (preferably Murray to Sandy) or good jobs, please let us know!

Another Eventful Evening

2009-08-05T14:58:00.005-06:00

We recently had yet another eventful evening. Last week, my blood sugar went higher than it's been since I was diagnosed. I hit 589 initially. I'm not sure why this happened. By the time I realized it, I was already so dehydrated that my insulin wasn't being absorbed and I kept going higher. This high blood sugar and being dehydrated thing isn't all that big a deal to me normally. It happens a few times a year. Being pregnant changes the "not a big deal" thing quite a bit. I went to the hospital to get an IV so we could get my blood sugar down. By the time I got to the hospital I was over 600 so we were not quite as calm this time. However, this hospital was not helpful at all. They were HORRIBLE!

I explained to them what was going on and also let them know that I'm pregnant, hoping this would rush things as it makes it more dangerous. They sat me in the waiting room because they didn't have any open rooms. After being there for an hour, I was really sick & was ready to just tell them to treat me in the hallway because I had started cramping. To make things better, after going to the bathroom, I discovered that I was bleeding pretty heavily. If you don't know, heavy bleeding & cramping during pregnancy is NOT GOOD.

I ran to the front desk crying to tell the nurse what I'd just discovered. She asked me if I wanted a pad. I was so frustrated. I explained that no, I'm pregnant and I just started to bleed heavily. She very snottily said, "Well, if you're going to miscarry, you're going to miscarry and there's nothing we can do about it. Please go sit down until we have an open room." I was so shocked! I couldn't believe anyone could be that callous.

We sat in the waiting room for at least another 15-20 minutes with me crying and Allan about to blow a fuse before Allan got the idea to call the police dept. to ask them where another hospital was. Luckily he found one and we rushed over there immediately. They admitted me right away, got me an IV and gave me some insulin. As soon as my blood sugar started coming back down, the cramping and bleeding stopped. They also did an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok and sure enough, Baby is just fine.

It was quite the scare and I was pretty shaken, but things are fine now. I'm just a lot more anxious to get home to be closer to friends and family just in case something like that happens when Allan isn't around (not that I'm planning on it!) to help me out. Less than 2 weeks and we'll be back! :)

Ultrasound Pics

2009-07-25T12:51:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I had another ultrasound and things look great. Apparently I will be having a jumping bean. Baby wouldn't stop moving! Allan said that he is definitely my child. It's amazing to me that there can be that much movement inside me and I can't feel a thing. It will be pretty exciting when I do, but that's not going to be for a while. Here are the pictures that we got. The technician labeled it as "My Cute Face," but I've gotta be honest, I don't think it's a cute face. I think my baby looks like Strong Bad from Homestarrunner. I've put the pictures below for you to compare. :)

My Baby

Strong Bad

Isn't it an amazing likeness? HA!

Baby had his hands in his mouth almost the whole time. It resulted in my absolute favorite picture of him sucking his thumb.

I use "he" only because Allan decided it's a boy until proven otherwise. We'll find out for sure on Aug. 17th...if Baby will cooperate.

BIG News!

2009-07-23T14:56:00.007-06:00

Just in case you couldn't tell by the new decor of our blog, Allan and I are expecting! Yep, that's right! I'm pregnant! As of today, I am officially at 12 weeks according to the doctor. To those of you thinking, "But, I thought you were going to wait a couple of years," our response is, "So did we!" But Baby and the Lord had a different plan. We are thrilled!

We were so scared at first because I am so high risk and so we didn't tell many people. In fact, our extended families and friends don't even know yet. However, it will be posted in my family newsletter next month and then I'll make the huge announcement on Facebook so the whole world will know. So for those of you who read our blog*, you get to know even earlier!

Yes, I'm very high risk, but I go to the doctor every single week and so far things are going great! I'm very healthy -despite being so sick & tired all the time- and the baby is doing wonderfully. We are so grateful. I'm finally getting over my morning sickness (HALLELUJAH!) and even gained my first couple of pounds this week. My doctor will be so thrilled. You now all know what was going on when I stated earlier that I started getting sick again and therefore stopped doing door to door sales. Turns out it wasn't another disease, just a parasite. ;)

It's ironic because I was diagnosed with Celiac disease only 7 months ago and my symptoms were very similar. I was ALWAYS nauseous & so tired I slept more than I was awake. But that was a bad thing. Now, whenever I'm nauseous I'm grateful because it means Baby is still there. It's amazing how things can change!

So for those of you wondering the big questions, no, we do not know if it's a boy or a girl yet. We have to wait a few more weeks. And I am due on February 1st. I've still got a ways to go, but it feels so good to know that I'm out of my first trimester! We really couldn't be happier.

*I put a hit counter on our blog so I know that people actually read it. However, I don't get any comments so I don't know who it is reading besides those who are following it. Please, please feel free to comment on this so I know who you are. :) I figure if this post doesn't get comments, none will.

Low Blood Sugar, Passing Out & Paramedics - An Eventful Day!

2009-07-15T23:48:00.007-06:00

I was hoping to get all of the pictures from our trip updated before I moved on to the rest of life, but today was just too juicy an event to not post it. Basically, my doctor had me switch to a new insulin and I ran low all night and all day. When I got home from work, I was so exhausted that I don't think I could feel my blood sugar dropping. All I know was that I was talking to Miranda and all of a sudden, I could tell something wasn't right so I tested my blood sugar. I vaguely remember my meter saying that my blood sugar was too low for it to measure, meaning it was below 20. Then I passed out.

Luckily, I was still on the phone with Miranda when all of this happened. She told me that I told her how low my blood sugar was and she told me to go get juice, but I stopped responding. I'm assuming this was when I passed out. She called Allan to let him know what was going on and he called Whitney to go check on me. Whitney came over and tried to get in, but the door was locked. I wasn't answering the door or my phone. She called Allan and told him and he then called 911.

I finally woke up to someone POUNDING on my front door. Somehow I managed to go from the bedroom, where I remember talking to Miranda, to the couch in the front room. I have no recollection of the move. It's a good thing I moved though. I was barely able to crawl to the front door to answer it. When I did, I saw five paramedics there along with Whitney and Stephanie, the wife of another salesman down here. I barely got the words "Help me!" out before they barged in and did just that.

They made me eat two tubes of glucose gel (affectionately known to diabetics as "camel snot"), a couple glasses of juice and two containers of yogurt. I was starting to get really sick at this point as I always do after extreme lows. They told me I had to keep eating because paramedic guidelines state they're only supposed to be there for 20 minutes. I was frustrated that they made me keep eating because it takes at least 15 minutes for it to really get into the blood stream and raise blood sugar and my blood sugar had to go up a lot. They tried to get me to go to the hospital, but I was difficult and refused. They ended up staying for 40 minutes until my sugar came up to an allowable amount.

After they left, I just kept getting more sick. Luckily Allan was there by then and didn't make me keep eating. He knows what happens after an extreme low. They kept trying though because the paramedics told them I needed to eat a meal, something more substantial. I was getting frustrated because I knew I had already eaten too much and was going to have high blood sugar. However, that ended up not being a problem because I threw up everything I ate about five minutes after the paramedics left. I made it to the bathroom but still made a little bit of a mess. Poor Allan had to clean that up. He's so wonderful!

Needless to say, I went back to my old insulin. It just wasn't worth the risk of it happening again. I'm doubting my doctor will mind too much. Luckily, I'm just fine now and even feeling good. I just have to make sure I take it easy. I'm so grateful for good friends who care about me and take care of me! I don't want to think about what would've happened had Miranda not called Allan right away. Thanks, Miranda!!

Houston Aquarium & Hard Rock Cafe

2009-07-14T22:16:00.009-06:00

On July 3rd, Allan took the day off and we went to the Houston Aquarium. This will be a bunch of pictures from that excursion. It was so much fun!

Allan looking through the peephole below the stingrays' tank. Pretty awesome.

Allan & Lexi, deep sea divers!

I have no idea why there were white tigers at the aquarium, but there were and they were so very cool!

Allan getting eaten by the white tiger exhibit.

We went in a shark tank tunnel. They were swimming all around it. It was one of the coolest things ever! This saw nose shark (I bet you can't guess why they call it that) went right over our heads!

After the aquarium, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was delicious! There was a car hanging in the restaurant that I absolutely love! If you just change the paint job, it's my new dream car. I love the rocket lights and fins!

Happy Birthday, Allan!

2009-06-29T12:57:00.011-06:00

A bit has happened since I last updated this. I started getting sick again and so I am officially no longer doing sales. Luckily for me, a job just fell right into my lap. I am now doing office work Tues-Fri at a competing pest control company. I find it very funny. Source, the company Allan is working for, is way better. I'm hoping Preventive, the company I'm working for now, doesn't put me on the phones. I'll tell all their customers to go to Source because it's better. But for now, I'm only processing paperwork so it's all good.

Allan got home a week ago and just happened to get home on his birthday, June 20th. To celebrate, we went to a sock hop. I knew that everyone there would be doing the poodle skirts and the rolled up jeans with white t-shirts so I decided we'd go a different route and go in 50's prom attire. I started to make myself a prom dress, but then got a job and just didn't have time to finish it so wore a dress I already have. The real prom dress is still in the process of being made. I bought Allan a white suit coat and bowtie and we looked awesome! Whitney even did my hair for the occasion.

When we got there, I was absolutely right about everyone else dressing up in poodle skirts and rolled up jeans with white t-shirts. We really stood out with our awesome costumes. One person even told me that if there was a costume contest, we would definitely win. And not only did we stand out with our costumes, but apparently with our dancing too. Everybody there only knew east coast swing so we looked pretty good with our Lindyhop and got told so several times. It was such a great night! Doo wop is my favorite music and we both love dressing up so it was a great way to celebrate Allan's birthday and his being home.

The other way we celebrated Allan's birthday was a surprise party that Whitney and I both threw for Allan and Peter since their birthdays are only one day apart. We told them we were taking them somewhere cool and put blind folds on both of them. We then drove around the neighborhood for about 15 mintues and then came right back to the apartments. When we took the blind folds off, all the sales guys were there! It was awesome! Below is a picture of the whole group at the party.

We had hot dogs cooked on the grill and chips, soda, etc. But I think the best part was surprise was the surprise cake that we got for them. We got Rosa, my wonderful mother-in-law, to help us out and she sent us a picture of Allan & Pete when they were younger. I think they're about 7 and 10 in this picture. We then got it put on a sheet cake at Walmart. It turned out great!

We then put 24 candles on Pete's side and 27 on Allan's side. We tried really hard to light them all, but even with about 5 people trying to light the candles, the wind was too much so they each only blew out about 5, but hey, it was still fun. We didn't have nearly as many people show up as we anticipated so there's TONS and TONS of cake and hotdogs left. If anybody's interested, feel free to come to Houston to visit & eat some!

The Gulf Coast

2009-06-10T10:22:00.013-06:00

Allan left yesterday afternoon for his two week military training stuff. I hate this part of the year. Luckily, he took Monday off and we spent the whole day together. We went to the Gulf Coast. It was a blast! The water was so warm and the weather was perfect! There was a bit of a breeze so there were some pretty awesome waves. We loved running out into them and trying to jump over them. We would also put our backs towards them and try not to step

forward when they hit us. We failed miserably at that part. After our eyes started stinging because of the salt in the water, we decided to build a sand castle. Allan thought it would be cool to make it in the shape of a star. This picture is of Allan starting our star sand castle.

This is me helping Allan with the castle.

TA DA! The finished "castle." Allan was so proud that he got the top of the tower in the middle to stay. The edges don't line up and so he thought it would fall but it didn't. YAY!

Allan looking all hot after sitting in the sand. I can't believe how much sand we brought home with us! I'm still finding it in the shower.

After the beach we came home and then went out to dinner at a local BBQ place. It was a cafeteria type place but it was absolutely delicious! Allan is already talking about going back again for some good ol' Texas BBQ.

But all good things must come to an end, right? So Allan is now gone until June 20th, his birthday. At least he's not going to be gone for his whole birthday, just a part of the day. Below is a picture of my handsome hubby in his uniform. Gotta love a man in uniform!

Good Dancing

2009-06-07T20:01:00.005-06:00

Last night Allan and I went dancing and it was pretty cool. We convinced Pete and Whitney and even Johnny, the sales team leader, to go with us. It was only our second week going and apparently we've already made a name for ourselves. They started playing some wicked fast music and doing a jam (a dance where only one couple is in the middle and everyone else forms a circle around) and at one point, one of the dancers there told us to go in the middle. So we did! I almost died after, but it was pretty cool that even though we'd only been there a couple of weeks, they already wanted us to go in. Both of us also got told numerous times that we're good dancers. It was such a boost to my confidence in my dancing. Granted, Allan gets told that all the time. :) Still, it was a great experience.

Quilts Galore!

2009-06-02T23:20:00.028-06:00

Recently I've really taken to quilting. Before I got married I had started a few quilts and only finished one. Now, I've finished quite a few. I don't know what changed, but all of a sudden I have a lot of patience for it and really enjoy it. Here are some pictures of the quilts I've made.

This first picture is of my sister holding the quilt I made her for her graduation present (and finished almost a year after). It's a random shag. It has everything from cows to rockets. She had to put the squares in the order she wanted them in because I kept trying to find some sort of pattern and just couldn't do it. It drove me crazy. My sister is about 6' tall so this is a fairly decent sized quilt.

This quilt is the one that I started back in high school and although it's not completely finished because I still have to get it quilted and bind it, etc., the top of it is done & I consider it a huge accomplishment. It's purple and green and is HUGE. I really like it though. The squares in the middle look white, but are actually a light lime green.

This next one is a baby shag that I made for our friend, Jess. Or rather, for her baby. I love it! I definitely have a thing for animal quilts for babies. Allan actually helped me sew it because he wanted to say that it came from both of us.

This next one is the quilt that Miranda asked me to help her make for her new niece. It's also a shag but instead of squares, we did it in strips. We whipped it out in just a few hours and it turned out great, if I do say so myself. :)

This next one is one that I made for my niece, Abby. It's the first quilt I've finished that isn't a shag! So in other words, my first binded quilt. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I hope she likes it.

I have definitely saved the best for last. This quilt is the first applique I've ever done. Originally I started it to give away, but after putting in SO MUCH time, energy, effort and money, I just couldn't give it away. So I'm keeping it for when I have a little girl. It is certainly the most extravagent quilt I've done. I absolutely love it. The pictures really don't do it justice. And although this one isn't finished either (still needs to be quilted and binded), I finished the top and therefore it's being put on the blog.

Saturday Is A Special Day

2009-05-26T13:34:00.002-06:00

For those who read the post title and then finish it with, "It's the day we get ready for Sunday!" I commend you. ;)

Saturday was a great day for us. Allan got 4 sales in only 3 hours!! The great thing about this is that on Saturdays, if you get at least 4 sales, you get paid $100 for each of them upfront. We're very excited about this! I think Allan has finally found his groove and is doing great! I'm still working on finding my groove.

While I was knocking, I ran into a guy who was so incredibly friendly and nice to me. It was the first time I'd gotten it that whole day. He declined, but it was great to meet someone so friendly. After I walked away, I somehow knew that he was LDS. I really don't know how I knew, but I did. I just did. I kept knocking doors, but couldn't stop thinking about that. So after a few doors later, I went back to his house and explained that I wasn't trying to sell him, I just had a question and proceeded to ask him if he was LDS. He was! I told him I just had to ask and told him how we'd just moved here from UT and it was nice to come across people with the same beliefs because it really is a different culture down here. We talked a bit more and came to find that he met his wife at the singles ward in the same church building Allan and I attend. It was so cool! Even though he didn't buy, I was so happy. It really was a cool experience to just know that he was a member, even though I didn't have any real reason to. Maybe we really are just a peculiar people and stand out like that. I don't know, but it made my day.

After I ran into that guy, my day just got better. I kept knocking doors and came across a house that had speakers attached to the garage and one above the front porch & the guy was playing some awesome blues and jazz music. So after Allan got his fourth sale, I had him come over to my area and we asked the man who lived there if we could just dance in his driveway. He let us and even watched for a bit. It was great! It was a perfect way to end the day. I wanted to just keep dancing all day, but the heat & humidity (which we hear isn't even bad yet :S) started getting to us so we left. But it was the perfect ending of the day.

Rain & It's Consequences

2009-05-26T12:43:00.005-06:00

So for all those in UT, this is the kind of storm we get down here apparently. And the video doesn't do it justice! It rained even harder after I filmed this. The grass was totally flooded!

Pete, Whitney, Chadd, Allan and I were all playing games in our apartment when this started. Those of us from UT (so everyone minus Chadd) just stopped and went to the balcony to watch. I've never seen anything like it! We were all in awe (Chadd kept laughing at us because he's used to it). It was so awesome!

We went outside and found that there was a pond in the courtyard of the apartments and one of the other salesmen & his wife were out there playing in it. By the time we got out there, it was only up to our calves. Originally it was up to their knees. Pete got his body board and we played in the pond. I think we all crashed, but had a blast! I love the TX rain! It's warm!

After the pond had drained (we really hate that drain), we all went & jumped into the pool to wash off all the grass and junk off of us. It really was a lot of fun. The only bad thing about it was that although my pump is waterproof, it decided not to be that day. It is completely ruined and I now have to buy another one. *BIG SIGH*

Pumps are incredibly expensive and I can't get the same one I had since they stopped making them last month. I have to find a new one and learn how to use it. It's a little overwhelming, but hey, at least I've got Pete down here so I can borrow some of his insulin. It's been rough though. I'm just guessing at how much to take since I don't do it. Yesterday I went from below 30 all the way to 500. I think it's a record. Needless to say, I'm not feelin' all that hot.

I was slightly bugged that it happened on a Sunday when the next day was a holiday so I couldn't get in touch with my doctor until today. I'm still waiting for him to call me back. But on the bright side, at least we're on military benefits now so we won't have to pay nearly as much as we would've before. We're hoping we'll only have to pay about $750. :P I still love the rain though!!

Just For Laughs

2009-05-20T11:52:00.006-06:00

Because my last post was more on the sad side, I'm doing another one to show everyone that it's not all bad here. We're actually having a lot of fun. We've gotten to be good friends with Chadd, another salesman here on our team. He comes over and hangs out with us a lot. Below are pictures of Allan and Chadd after they played Pretty Pretty Princess with me. Allan actually won, which is incredibly rare. He was pretty excited (no pun intended).

Out knocking doors, we're getting quite a bit of sun. I've been burned quite a bit and we're getting some wicked farmers tans. I'm trying to lay out everyday to get rid of it. So just for those who need a laugh, here ya go.

A Harsh Reminder

2009-05-20T11:22:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I had an awakening of just how good I've got it. I knocked on a lady's door and she wanted pest control so she started filling out the form. The whole time we had to whisper because her husband doesn't like his TV shows being interrupted. I thought he must be a jerk just because of that. But then, he called her inside and proceeded to rip her up one side and then down the other. I could hear him yelling at her from outside the closed door! I was LIVID! I couldn't believe he was treating his wife that way. After a few minutes of this, she came outside and apologized for it. I felt so awful! I told her I was sorry if I got her in trouble. She then said that it didn't matter. She's the one who pays all the bills so if she wants bug spray, she's going to buy bug spray. I was amazed at how strong she was, but was still so angry about her being treated that way. Especially when she's the one working to pay the bills so that her husband can sit on his butt watching TV and screaming at her.

I realized that I am so incredibly lucky to have such a good husband. He has NEVER yelled at me. Not only that, but he helps me out with the dishes and laundry all the time. I know that I can ask him to help with anything and he'll do it. Once again, I'm so lucky. It was a harsh reminder to not take the good people in my life for granted.

Birthday Party

2009-05-15T08:07:00.003-06:00

Things here in TX are busy to say the least. We finally got some furniture and it's looking like home. We're still working on a bed. I tell ya, air mattresses do NOT work for long periods of time.

Allan and I get to our daily meetings at 11 or 12 and then knock doors from 2-4 and then from 5-8. It can get pretty exhausting, but it's so exciting and worth it when we get sales. And we've both been meeting our minimum of 1 per day. Allan's even gotten 3 in a day and I got 2 a couple of days ago so we're getting better!

And I just have to say that I really enjoy working with all guys. They are SO funny and really laid back and fun to be around. No drama! It's great.

I had a fantastic birthday on the 12th. I was thinking it probably wouldn't be the best since I was away from family & friends and had to knock doors all day, but it was great! Allan made me breakfast and got me a hibiscus plant. Hibiscus is my favorite flower & it doesn't grow in UT so I was excited when I saw it here for the first time. At work everyone was wishing me happy birthday and that evening, a few of the guys came over for ice cream. And Whitney, Pete's fiance, (yep, he's engaged!) came over during the day and completely decorated the apt. The pics are below. It was awesome! So all in all, a great day.

The New Apartment

2009-05-07T19:15:00.002-06:00

Ok, some people wanted to see what our new apartment looks like so I did a tour of it and posted it below. Allan and I are doing well, besides being very sore. I decided to put the work out room to good use last night and up and ran 3 miles. Ok, I up and ran 2.5 and walked .5. But still, not too bad for not having run in...a very long time. I'm proud of myself. My calves are pretty sore, but not as bad as I thought they'd be so go me! Allan is walking around neighborhoods for hours and hours everyday so needless to say, he's sore too. But he got his first sale yesterday!! So it was worth it. I start selling next week, after I get some furniture in our apartment. As you can see in the video, it's bare. Thanks all for your love and support. We miss and love you!

Up and Moving

2009-05-02T23:32:00.004-06:00

It's been forever since I posted. I'm just going to give a quick update. For those who don't know, we are moving to Texas for the summer. Allan is going to sell pest control with his brother, Peter, in Houston. We thought that I was going to have to stay home by myself all summer but at the very last minute, everything worked out and I am going! I'm so excited!

It was crazy getting things ready. We couldn't have done it without Brad and Miranda and my family. I'm so grateful for good friends and family to help us out! We packed everything on Friday and then left this morning (Saturday). We ended up buying a trailer and a hitch for our car so we could take Allan's motorcycle down with us (and also more of our stuff). We're leaving our furniture at home since we're just coming back this fall. We're going to buy some cheap stuff in Houston and then sell it at the end of the summer. We keep getting funny looks from people passing us when they realize it's a car towing the trailer though. And the car is so packed, you can't see out the back window. It's pretty funny looking.

We wanted to stop at Four Corners and even drove all the way out there (18 miles off our course), but when we got there, we were told that they only accept cash and we didn't have any so we had to turn around and go back. We were so annoyed. I was really looking forward to it. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to do it on our way back.

We are currently in Albuquerque for the night. I don't think we could make the 24 hour drive in one trip. It's so nice to relax. Allan is a total stud and drove the whole 12 hours to Albuquerque because driving makes me tired and there's no way I could've done it. I only slept for an hour on the way down though. Our car is so packed that it's just too hard to get comfortable. We've certainly enjoyed each other's company though and we've made it this far without any mishaps. *Knock on wood*

A New Addition

2009-02-19T23:06:00.002-07:00

We didn't have anything exciting to blog about so I haven't for a long time. Then, WHAM! It all happens at once! Now for the best news yet: we have a niece!

We are so excited! Her name is Abigail Elizabeth Granados. She was born on February 15th. She is darling. She's so perfect. I really can't get enough of her. It's pretty obvious from the pictures below.

Congratulations, Liz & Isaac!

Cakewalk

2009-02-19T22:39:00.004-07:00

Last Friday, there was a Cakewalk at The Skillet. I didn't know what it was prior to it, but I sure like it now. It was a blast. For those who don't know, the cakewalk originated among from slaves on plantations. The slaves would mock their masters' style of dancing. The masters found it amusing & held competitions. Often times, the winner would receive a cake. Hence the name "cakewalk" and the phrase "takes the cake."

Below are pictures of our cakewalk. The guy in the awesome suit took the cake on this one.

Valentines Surprise

2009-02-19T22:05:00.005-07:00

Since Allan & I were going to be driving on Valentine's day this year, Allan decided to celebrate a day early. Friday at 4:30 in the afternoon, the receptionist at my office asked if I could come downstairs because someone was there to see me. I about lost it. It had been a very long week & I was going crazy. Then, somebody has the nerve to come in at 4:30 on Friday afternoon. I really had to work hard to not blow a fuse. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with this person.

However, when I got downstairs and opened the door, there was Allan with a huge bouquet of flowers. They were beautiful! And I was so relieved that I didn't have to deal with a client. Allan was much, much better.

Below are the pictures of my beautiful bouquet. Yes, they are in a pitcher because I don't have a vase. Hey, it works. The top picture is the bouquet about a week after I got it, all bloomed. Lillies are some of my favorite flowers & in that picture, I can see why.

Lots of driving but well worth it

2009-02-19T21:26:00.015-07:00

My little (5'11") sister, Chelsea, is currently on a basketball scholarship at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, CO. A few weeks ago, my family drove to Riverton, WY to see a couple of her away games. Allan ended up having drill that weekend so I went too. It was a blast! Below is my sister coming off the floor and (counterclockwise) my dad, mom and brothers, Jackon & Brock.

Then this last weekend, Valentine's weekend, was my sister's big game against the rival school. I tried to get a big group of her friends to go and surprise her, but they all bailed on me. It ended up just being Allan & me. However, my parents decided to go last minute as did Chelsea's best friend and the best friend's boyfriend. Chelsea knew that my parents & her best friend was going, but not me. I wanted it to be a surprise. And what a great surprise it was!

When Allan & I got there, my parents were at Village Inn with Chelsea so we met up with them there. When Chelsea saw me, she teared up. It was so awesome! It made the very long 9ish hour drive more than worth it!

On our long drive, we went through the southwest corner of Nebraska. Neither Allan nor I had been there so we had to take pictures of it. See below.

While I didn't get many pictures of Chelsea playing, I did get one awesome one and saved the best for last. Below is Chelsea shooting a free throw. As you can see, she has perfect form (granted, I may be slightly biased). Just look at that follow through and arch! I love it. Oh, and she made it. :) Go Chels!

Just to follow up, Chelsea's team won all three games I've seen. They're 24-1 and are ranked 8th in the nation. I'm so proud!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-07T01:41:00.003-07:00

I thought that I should post our resolutions for the new year, just for the record. Hopefully posting them will help us remember and accomplish them. Amazingly enough, neither of us had weight loss as a high priority, although Allan is working hard to eat better and exercise more in general. I guess we're not in the majority of Americans.

We have two goals that we are working on together.

1. Read our scriptures every single day.

2. Find the positive in everything.

The first is self-explanatory. I'm going to give an example for the second. In recently being diagnosed with celiac disease and struggling with so many health issues, it's hard to be positive. And being negative will really drag you down. So to avoid this, we're trying to find the good in EVERY situation. For the celiac diagnosis, we've decided that at least I was diagnosed with it and not Allan. It may sound strange, but it really is a blessing. Gluten-free food is so incredibly expensive. Just a normal, small box of spaghetti is about $3.50 or so opposed to the $.99 for regular noodles. So if Allan was the one with celiac disease, we couldn't afford to feed him. He eats too much. (This is NOT a fat joke nor is it poking fun at how much he eats.) Since I eat a lot less, it's affordable for us. So at least I can still eat the foods I like. See? A blessing! Hopefully we can keep this up for the whole year. Being positive makes life so much better.

Allan's personal goal is to make it to all of his classes this year. A very worthy goal indeed! I'm really hoping he follows through with it. It makes passing classes so much easier.

My personal goal was the positivity one, but I decided to include Allan in it as well because I know that I'll need the help. It's always nice to have support.

Now that we have our goals set, we just need to figure out what our reward will be for reaching them. A BIG dance trip? A vacation back to his mission? Who knows? We'll come up with something. For now, we're just plugging away at them.