Sweet November

Sweet Sweet November. We love and I mean LOVE this time of year...especially the next few weeks of November. Why? Well because they have special meaning to us...this is the time of year when Mr. D and I finally talked to each other, he asked me out on our first date, we began dating, and well we know the rest! This year the dates happen to fall on the same day of the week as it did when we first really talked to each other. But I wanted to write quick and not in detail how it all happened. At this point I replay it in my mind...and D and I talk about it a lot, we love thinking back and looking back and remembering. I wish however that I had a movie of it so we could sit back and watch.

September

We met the first or second day of our social dance class. We had to shake hands and say, "Hello I am ... It is nice to meet you." So when I shook hands with Mr. D and said "Hello I am ..." he said "Oh like the song". That caught me off guard because it is an old song and most people our age have never heard of it. It has always been kind of special to me because my parents love it and I am named after it so there you go...On the semester went, he dated a lot in short amount of time :) I like to tease him...but hey I don't blame him or the other girls there were many many girls after this man he is the best of the best and so special to me! I had gone on a couple of dates with people I knew because they were roommates with my cousins and I spent a lot of time with my cousins. I was to the point of not wanting to date, it was always awkward or the person I was on the date with always did something that just bugged me...keep that in mind for later. And for the record...which Mr. D always teases me about, I didn't go up to the school to get married, I hoped one day it would happen, but that was not my intent for going to school. So within the first couple of weeks I decided that I was going to focus on my dancing only unless I was supposed to meet my husband, but I told the Lord I would need help and He would have to show me because I was done until that time. Well within the next week who should I keep seeing around campus (which I hadn't before), and who did I start to stare at in class, who could I not get out of my mind, and who did I feel like I had to talk to? Yes Mr. D the boy I didn't even know!

October

In our class I just found myself staring at him and I always felt awkward when he would look my way. I would quickly look down because in my mind it was so obvious I was giving him all the signals to come talk to me...he obviously missed them because I still had to be the one to go up to him! When we danced together our eyes would lock and I just stared at him, I guess I froze because I couldn't find anything to say to him. When we danced it was so different I felt like I could just stay in his arms forever, smiling at each other, looking at each other, being together...That may sound creepy but it isn't! After we danced and had class for a few weeks I started feeling more strongly and I couldn't get thoughts out of my head telling me I need to go and talk to him...Now I am not one who ever went to strike up a conversation with a boy, but I couldn't shake the feeling or thought. So I kept praying for help not to be afraid to talk to him.

October 30th

For our social dance class wee had to go to to so many dances put on at the school for credit in our class. There happened to be one the night my cousin and I were leaving for Utah to audition for Disney World. But both my cousin and I needed the credit, and I hoped Mr. D would be there so we went. Was he there? Yes! Did he say hi to me? Yes! As he was dancing with another girl...I felt like a stalker and he calls me one (teasing of course) because I just watched them together and that night when I got home (to Utah) I talked with my mom and told her "I can't do this. He is probably going to marry her. They looked like they were having such a good time"....Now my wonderful mother just laughed at me and she and my dad asked, "did she have a ring on her finger?" I replied "No" and then they said, "then you can ask him out". So on we go I auditioned it was fun, the entire time I felt like I there was something else in store for me...so I wasn't too disappointed when I found out I didn't get a position dancing. We went back to school and then it all began again.

November

I would get the guts up to talk to him but he would be walking or talking with another girl almost every single time. I talked myself out of it because I was not going to go talk to him if there was another girl there. Fast forward to November 11th...the night of our stake dance. Yes I looked him up and found out that we were in the same stake so he would be going to the stake dance that night and I knew without a doubt that I had to talk to him tonight because I had been given many chances before that I passed up.

Did I say I wasn't going to go in to detail...oops!

November 11th 

I was sick with a cold but decided to go for a little while just to see if he was there. He went to the gym and worked out but then decided to come for a little while. I saw him, he saw me, and then I made my plan. I saw him walk out of the ballroom so I walked out too. He sat down to talk to someone he knew so I walked into the bathroom and prayed because I was so nervous. I came back out he was still talking, my cousin came up with a bunch of his friends and started talking to me, they asked if I was coming back in and I said, "No I have to talk to someone first", one of them asked, "Who do you have to talk to?" and I said, "Him. I have to talk to Mr. D" who had walked up right at that moment I had that "twenty seconds of courage". They all left and there we were right outside the door into the ballroom and I asked the question, "Were Kobe and Osaka in your mission?" (I already knew the answer...no...but my dad served his LDS mission in Japan so it was an easy in for me). Mr. D explained how they were not and then we kept talking. He asked if I wanted to do something sometime and of course I answered YES! I then asked for his number because he was taking FOREVER. He asked if I wanted to dance and of course I said YES! He then said, "I'll come find you for the next song". And he did. We danced together, I tripped...a lot, we laughed and in a text message to me that night he said, "If anyone were to trip I am glad it was you!"  

Boy am I too! I am thankful that the Lord helped me have courage to talk to Mr. D and let me know that He had a better plan for both of us...Mr. D is the best husband and father and man. I know why it felt so different dancing together it felt like coming home. I did come home...and I love coming home to him every single day since!

Some of my favorite pictures from school!

We Love Halloween

So I was up late or early more like it making Halloween costumes because in our family I rarely do things early. We decided to switch Sunday night Miss A's costume and add on three more costumes. One for Mr. D, baby C, and me. We have always let Miss A choose what she wants to be for Halloween except year one...we chose for her and she was a chicken...wow we must be on a chicken theme in our family! I'll try to find a picture. She's been Rapunzel, a pumpkin, Periwinkle, a ballerina fairy, and Elsa. Now last year she wanted to be a ghost, then she switched last minute but it was easy, this year when Halloween came around she told me, "I want to be a ghost because I wanted  to last year and I didn't." So I was set on making that ghost costume...until I started to hear her say to other people that she was going to be Elsa.........so long story short we switched to Elsa, why not. Mr. D was Kristoff, baby C was Olaf, and I was Anna. Miss A was so excited! In my mind I saw all of the costumes and thought hmm that will be easy...........until I started sewing and realized how much hand stitching I would be doing, I would have to line Elsa's dress because this little lady doesn't wear anything that is scratchy, or jeans. So after the many hours of work I am going to start next years costumes NOW!

 Carrying on the tradition of "you get to dress up in two different costumes"

We had a neighborhood trunk or treat on Wednesday night. He was a lion, and Miss A was a "fairy ballerina". This little guy loved and I mean loved  the trunk or treat. If he is ever upset all you have to do is take him outside, it is instant happiness. 

 Thanks to my wonderful mother who helped me a lot with this Elsa costume and figuring out patterns and going to six different fabric stores and six different walmarts until we finally found the right fabric. This is really the first time I have sewn since baby C was born and it can be challenging when he nurses every two hours, he doesn't take naps, he doesn't like to be left laying on the bed with toys while I talk to him from the chair three feet away...he would rather be at the sewing machine; and to have a little girl who is so bored that she "has to be stuck in that room all day". She still doesn't enjoy being downstairs playing by herself...I don't blame her though I was the same way.

 Here is his Olaf hat!

 And after trick or treating...can't see it all...that's okay it was fun!

So Halloween was a blast. The day after was not. Miss A, and Mr. D got the stomach bug going around everywhere...it was not candy, why do I know that? Because all night we kept hearing, "I am not going to eat any candy I don't want to throw up." Well poor girl, she didn't eat any and she ended up throwing up anyway. Now the past three days have been filled with tears and screams of not wanting to eat anything because she is afraid of throwing up. Tonight however we hopefully had a break through.

Our quick funny and not so funny Halloween moments.
-Trunk or Treat- Lost fairy wand=sad little girl, searching with a head lamp in the parking lot of the church. Tears coming down her face. Going around to trunk or treat asking every one if they have seen her fairy wand all the while daddy looks for it. Thankfully "the chinchilla lady" had picked it up where it was dropped right by her car and someone else ten cars down heard about it and told Miss A when she asked her. But the sweetest part about this I thought was when one of the girls said to Miss A, "Here you can have my wand, I don't need it anymore." Now she didn't take her up on it, I guess only her wand would do. But I thought that was a pretty selfless sweet thing to do.
-Nana and Papa's annual Halloween party! It was fun. Of course N and B and family were greatly greatly missed. We had mummy dogs, pizza, witches brew (and by the way dad this years was hands down the best witches brew you have ever made), pass the pumpkin, Z man beating people up dressed as a transformer, B being called a Zebra when really he was dressed as a prisoner..."my daddy is zebra" followed by laughter, pin the nose on the jack'o'lantern, and last but not least instead of "snort piggy snort snort" it was "booo Ghost booo".
-Singing Miss A's favorite song-
               Halloween, Halloween, lots of fun on Halloween.
               Black cats and Ghosts, Skeletons too
               Clowns and witches all say BOO
               Pumpkins with eyes shiny and bright,
               Makes us shiver with fright.
               Halloween, Halloween, we love Halloween. 
- While I finished the last costume people were just beginning to trick or treat. Here is the door situation at our house-
              Miss A and D answered the door, the boy (who we know) was dressed up in a skeleton mask scared miss A as she opened the door and what did she do??? Shut it right in his face because she got scared.
-While the night progressed and we moved from house to house Miss A began to turn down people when they told her she could take more than one piece of candy.
-Her Elsa cape is so long it drags (we bustled it up but it doesn't work that well). Mr. D ran it over on accident twice and boy, as my dad used to say, "if looks could kill you'd be dead"...well let's just say her look is one we will never forget and will always bring a little laughter. She was momentarily quite upset and told him, "If my cape wasn't so long maybe you would stop running it over with the stroller." 
-The last house we went to had king sized candy bars. The girl brought the candy bars to the door all laid out on a nice round platter...when Miss A saw them she looked at the girl and said, "I don't want any", walked away and left me standing there all alone. The girl then looked at me and I awkwardly said, "I guess she's had enough candy...thank you." Yeah I'll just say this little lady has made me get out of my comfort zone many many many times.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

D was done with classes for the semester so off we went!

 We took off to the Zoo! We love going to the zoo so any chance we get we go...especially on the cooler days. This day was even better for Miss A because while we were sitting waiting for the bird show to start we realized we sat in front of some of our friends...their little girl and Miss A are different ages but love to play together. So we spent the rest of our time at the zoo with them.

 They recently got lions!!! 

After that we headed to meet with some of our other friends from Idaho, well D knew him from Japan first. They have moved from Idaho and were passing through so we got together with them. After we ate we headed to the dinosaur play area. If you know Miss A you know she loves dinosaurs as well. So when she saw this place she was so excited. At home she puts blankets over her and pretends to "crack the egg" or have one of us crack it so she can "be born". It was awesome! However, this was her first experience getting her feelings hurt by another person...and can I just tell you how sad it made me...If you know Miss A you know she is spunky, she can be bossy, and stubborn, she knows what she wants and is not afraid to tell you...she also is the sweetest little girl I know. Her little feelings are so tender, she wants to be kind and truly is kind. This experience has kind of helped her to see though, how it feels when other people are mean or when she is mean to someone else. Long story short...Miss A was beginning to climb onto a red stegosaurus when a little girl on top of the dinosaur started pushing her hand off, then she started stepping on Miss A's fingers so she wouldn't climb up...now first of all I love little kids and I know they all have to learn how to treat each other...but for the first time I wanted to go over there and stop that little girl from pushing and stepping and saying mean things, I thought who in the world is watching her? They should probably be coming out to stop her because I am ready to walk over there and stop it. But I let it play out, I know I won't be able to be there every time something happens so I have to let Miss A figure it out. So on with it...she stepped on her little fingers and told her she couldn't get on because she was on it and it was all hers. Miss A looked over at us, kind of questioning, almost with the facial expression of why is she doing this? What do I do? Can't I play on it? Then came the rushing of tears and through the sobs she kept asking, "Why did she do that?" Thankfully after crying and talking it over she went back to cautiously playing. 

After that it was on to the Disney store. The Disney store is one of our favorites!!! I cannot wait to go to Disneyland!!!! This is a magic mirror and when a wand is waved over it one of the princess's appears and talks to you. She loved it...over and over and over again!

So daddy had a pretty fun birthday. We love to be together and if we are happy he is happy, and if he is happy we are happy!

Sunday is a Day of Rest...and a Time for Lots of Laughter

Sunday is a day of rest for us....and for the most part it really is. One reason we love Sunday's at our house because Daddy doesn't do his homework! That means that he is all ours all day! We have been talking about how on Sunday we decide not to go to the store, or shopping etc. we "rest" from all our labors.
Keeping that in mind...as we are getting ready to go to church little Miss A announces, "I am not going to go to church. I am going to rest."
To which I responded, "That is fine you can rest after church."
She counters, "Sunday is a day of rest."
I conclude, "It is, but it also is a day where we go to church to learn of Jesus. So we will rest after we go to church."
And did it end there? It actually did that time, which was surprising and nice because I didn't have to battle!

Fast forward to sitting in the chapel....there we are listening to a sister missionary who just returned from serving in Australia. She was sharing her experiences with teaching people about God and Jesus Christ. She was also asked to speak on one scripture from The Book of Mormon, Helaman  5:12 which reads, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

She then went on and talked about ways that we can build our foundation on our Savior. She talked about scripture study, family prayer, family home evening, faith, going to the temple, etc. She continued and talked about what happens when we do not have our foundation built upon Christ. She said the words "crack and break". Miss A looks up at me and says, "Crack, break? I hope that doesn't happen to our house."
I said, "That is why we build it strong. Just like our faith and testimony. We need to believe in Jesus and come to know Him, so we won't be tricked by Satan."
Now just fyi we haven't talked much about Satan at our house...he isn't one we like to talk about...we have talked a little but not a lot yet.
She asked, "What? Who is Satan?"
I said, "He is the one from Heaven who was mean, didn't follow our Savior, and he has brought bad things into this world. He tries to trick us."
She responded, "I hope he doesn't come to Utah."

Back to the sister missionary...she told a story of a man they met who is related to "the rock" you know the guy from The Game Plan? I don't even know his name...So in talking about it she says, "His cousin is "the rock"". Then we all hear Miss A say, "His cousin's a rock? Why?"

Oh gotta love this girl!

A Little Learning

Miss A and I went grocery shopping the other day...

All I can say to that is WOW we actually did it.

The grocery store has been a hard place for me to get to lately...I guess for a few reasons, those being

1. I am still getting used to being a mama of two. It takes twice as long for us to get out the door, we are not meaning Miss A, Baby C and myself, aren't that great at leaving right after baby C eats. It is usually due to the fact that everything likes to happen at an inconvenient times. Feeding is through then someone poops, or someone is hungry :) I am learning!!!

2. I haven't figured out how to get everything in the kart with the carseat in the back and Miss A in the front. I am a little to short to lift the carseat into the cart.

3. After the thought of it all I am exhausted and would rather wait until my sweet D gets home and then we either take a date and go or all of us go. 

SO back to the story. We went to the grocery store, just Miss A and I. As we were checking out we had a banana case. We ended up needing to get some other bananas. The cashier scanned the bananas and said to on our way out just go grab another bunch of bananas like the previous ones. I then asked, "Should I bring them back and show you?" to which he responded, "No, you can just grab some". Little Miss A then got a look of surprise on her face and worry. She said to the cashier, "Just take them without paying. Isn't that stealing? Are we stealing the bananas?" Oh goodness I love this girl! The cashier smiled and laughed a little and we explained to her that we already paid for the bananas so it isn't stealing. A big expression of relief washed over her face after that. 

It is amazing to me that her little brain is able to recognize things like that and understand. I am grateful for those teaching moments.

Two Months Old Already!

I can't believe two months have flown right by! I have felt like a zombie for part of it :) but honestly I can't complain...baby C is a sleeper! We bundle him up and he is out for the night...most nights anyway! Now on the other hand...little miss A wakes up faithfully during the night. Most of the time she runs into our room and lays right down on the floor and goes to bed. On other nights however it is..."I have to go to the bathroom", "I need a diaper change", "Will you come check my room for wolves", "Let's have a sleepover", "Mommy will you please put your arm around me", and last of all "I am not going back to sleep". She is a sweetheart with a smart mind and a spunky personality.

Miss A for the most part has been great with the new adjustment. There have been little things here and there usually when she is tired.  Today however we did end up switching rooms back. Who's genius idea was it to switch rooms so she and C could have the biggest room since they are sharing??? MINE! Did I even think about how this little lady hates change? Nope I did not. So after fighting it for awhile I gave in. She has been SO excited about being back in her room with the magic that is written on the walls.

I love writing down the things that baby C is learning and doing...here goes!
 Today he saw and stared at his hands for the first time
He hit his nose with his fist, looked at me, looked rather confused as if he were saying wait what happened? That hurt! , and then began to cry.
He loves and I mean LOVES peek a boo. Last night D and I were playing it with him and oh my goodness I started to cry. He had the biggest smiles and he did a little chuckle once! It is so sweet! He tilts his head opens up wide to smile and squints those blue eyes. 
He loves to talk to us and smile. I love being greeted in the morning with a big smile from both C and A
He has rolled over- no lie- twice
He isn't a fan of the hanging bees in his play gym (I have no idea what they are called) he starts to cry every time he sees them. But he does love the frog and dog
He hates to sleep during the day
He loves to be outside-thankfully!
He loves his monkey's that are in his bouncer- he smiles at them a lot
He LOVES his daddy and big sister. When he is upset he quits when Miss A gives him kisses
He loves to mimic you when you stick out your tongue.
He isn't a fan of his car seat
He isn't a big fan of his binky
He also isn't a fan of his crib- hopefully that will change!
He smiled for the first time on Tuesday June 17th
He loves the song "I am a Child of God" and  "Twinkle twinkle little star" but only when Miss A sings it

We sure love these two!

Thought of the Day

Dear Movie Writers/Producers,

Did you know that you can make a point in a movie without using vulgar language? In fact it makes a person sound more intelligent when those words aren't used....

Bathtime!

This is how bath time started out. Say hello to the new favorite facial expression!

We are glad to have some of our family here! We miss Mimi and Poppy and wish they could be here too. If we could we would have grammy and grampy here and everyone! Grandpa and Grandma were looking for tickets to come out because baby C's cousin who is just a few months older (which we are SO excited they are so close in age!) was being blessed around this time. Lucky for all of us (they didn't tell any of us they were coming) things happened around the same time! It happened that the ticket price went down that morning and they decided to look...coincidence? I think not. They had looked the night before. So they bought them and hopped on the plane. 

It was really fun to watch D and grandpa. Their expressions were the best. 

Do you think he likes his bath?

 Miss A helping to wash her baby brother.

 Not until the shampoo. He was so funny! It was instantly that he stopped crying and was so content. He could have sat there for an hour getting his hair washed.

They showed this way of washing his hair to D at the hospital and I am grateful they did! Baby C loves it!

He Has Her Heart Too!

He has stolen all our hearts! Especially his big sisters. She is so sweet to him. Giving him kisses, loving him like crazy, wanting to hold him. I love how she grabs her dolls and pretends to feed them while her little brother is eating. She pretends to nurse and burp her babies. I think it is amazing that from the time we are little, it is instilled in us that nurturing. Although I do believe it is also something you have to work towards...like anything in this life, part of being a woman means being a nurturer and strengthening that God given gift.

 

 My two handsome boys!

Sweet Miss A!

Sweet little boy!

Welcome Home Baby Boy!

We are all home! I can't even begin to describe how I feel! Excited, thankful beyond being able to thank, joyous, extreme joy, rapture...well maybe that sums it up a little bit? I am so thankful that God created us and gave us beautiful bodies to take care of. I am so thankful that I know the family is ordained of God and I know without doubt there is nothing and I mean nothing greater than being married to the love of my eternal life! I am so blessed to be with him and there is so much joy in knowing that we love each other no matter what...We love the quote, "Choose your love, and love your choice". That's what we did when we all got married right? We may have been raised differently, our personalities may be similar or very different, but we decide how we are going to react and treat each other. If we can learn to forgive each other, stop digging up the past, and just decide to fix ourselves...because things are never one sided...we can learn to love stronger and more fully. Let the Lord's love fill our lives and marriages!

I am grateful to be a mother. It can be hard sometimes...and oh how many fears I have that can weigh me down if I let them, but there is, once again, nothing more fulfilling, rewarding, or worth my time than spending time, teaching, and raising now two little angels, straight from heaven, with minds and personalities of their own. I have cried a lot of tears, and I am sure I will cry many more both happy and sad, but I honestly believe now what one of my teachers at school once said, "There is so much joy in marriage, but it wasn't until we had children that we found just how full our joy could be." I know that is true for us! 

This pregnancy along with labor and delivery were so different than with Miss A. I actually got an epidural and yes I am thankful that I got it, but it was rough for me. Now while recovering that is the most painful part! I hated not being able to feel my legs ahh!!! It drove me nuts that I couldn't move them or move my toes, and when my leg would flop over I didn't even know until I would look down of Drew would start laughing! He was sweet enough to fix it! It was really as if my legs were disconnected from my body. However, I am glad I got one.

Can skip this part if you don't want to read the details but I am writing them down! We went in at 7:00am. Took our sweet time. I was so nervous, Drew seemed calm as can be! I requested that I not get induced but to try to break my water first. So at around 9:00am Dr. B came in and told us, as requested, the funny story about the time he gave his dog a hymenectamy so she could have puppies...and apparently it worked! We laughed and laughed. At this point I was at 6cm. He put the heart beat monitor into sweet baby C's head and punctured the sac so my water would slowly trickle...well do you think that happened? The nurse left the room saying, "Okay now you probably won't feel much it will slowly drip out..." Drew got up to use the bathroom and I laid there. As soon as they both had left can you guess what happened? The flood gates opened actually broke and there was no small trickle and no stopping it. The nurses came back in and after cleaning and all laughing one said, "Wow this is the most amniotic fluid I have seen in a long time". We laughed a lot during this delivery. So after checking and progressing we were at a stand still because sweet baby C decided he would be a gentleman and come into this world with his hand stretched out and ready to shake hands. He had moved his hand on top of his head- I wonder if it is because of the monitor in his head...you've got to admit that'd be pretty weird to feel something up there. So after trying and trying to move his hand back the nurse went and got her charge nurse who "had done this a lot longer than she had". She came in and after a minute or two and lots of shoving his hand was back up. I could feel the whole thing-which made me grateful at that point to have had an epidural because it would have been A LOT more painful! Keep checking dialated to 9 1/2cm and guess what- his sweet hand is back down! Dr. B came in at about 12:30 and ten minutes went by and two contractions and this sweet little guy was born at 12:48pm. He is so tiny! 6lbs 14oz, 20 and 1/2 inches long. Dark brown hair just like daddy :) He is the sweetest boy in the world. I can't even begin to explain how blessed we feel we are! When they handed him to me I instantly began to cry. Holding this sweet boy straight from Heaven knowing that I have so much to teach him touched me in a way that I haven't felt before. It was so clear to me that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and how grateful I am that sweet baby C was sent to our family. It is funny to me, and maybe this is because Satan knows how to make you worry etc etc etc...which is rather annoying, but while pregnant I still worried about how I could love another child while still loving little Miss A. The love I have for her is so great I feared that with another child I would love her less or not know how to share my love and time. I just couldn't understand how my love could spread, nor did I understand how in the world I could handle TWO! Once I held our sweet little boy in my arms and looked at D there was instant peace that came over from the Lord. Instantly those fears and worries were lifted. I can't tell you how real that feeling was for me. I know the Savior helped me in many ways! Once I saw two tiny feet and heard a little voice behind the curtain in the room saying "mommy, is baby brother here, are you done feeding him?" It somehow just happened my love never changed for her and I love him with all my heart too.

 Nana and Miss A came shortly after he was born. The curtains were closed to the room and all I could see were little jumpy feet waiting to open those curtains to see her baby brother whom she has waited a LONG time for. She ran in and instantly went to daddy arms reaching out to hold her brother and gave him a sweet sweet big sister kiss. Then she climbed in next to me and we talked and giggled.

 She LOVES her baby brother!

After his first bath. D said he hated it all except when his head was being rubbed and washed. He instantly stopped crying and just laid there. Oh our sweet baby C we love you!