tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764700539980163312024-02-02T14:28:18.784-08:00adventures in ericksonlandUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-71246147308078306922015-08-06T00:10:00.000-07:002015-08-06T00:15:59.717-07:00the things they don't tell you about kindergartenI already posted this on my facebook page, but I want all the family that doesn't use it to be able to read about Emmett's first day.<br />
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From the time Emmett was a little toddler, I knew the first day of Kindergarten was going to be rough. I knew I’d miss him terribly and the huge milestone would make me curse the cruelty of time. What I didn’t anticipate was the overwhelming grief for the ending of a chapter – that of course I was/am not ready to let go.</div>
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As a young mom filling your day with playdates, the park, the library, the zoo – you find your groove, and decide this “mom life” is pretty fun. You go abou<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">t your days making pancakes and building legos, thinking this is how it will always be. Until… one sudden day it isn’t. As I carefully packed the superhero school supplies we went shopping for yesterday, I tried to shush the voices in my head telling me “You won’t be there when he uses this. You won’t be there to make sure he’s happy, that he finds his way to bathroom, that all his classmates are nice to him.”</span></div>
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It’s hard business this Mom thing. Raising your heart outside your body and protecting it from every bump, scrape, and sadness is exhausting and terrifying. But sending your heart away- and entrusting it in the hands of people you don’t even really know, that can only be done through faith. Faith that you have done your job well enough. Faith in your child’s strength and resilience. Faith in the capable hands you’ve passed over the reins to. And Faith that the Lord is watching over.</div>
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Happy First day of School little man. I am so proud of you.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.5636348724365px;">(You can tell which photos are off my camera, and which were taken on my phone. Dang iphone doesnt take as quality photos as I thought!)</span><br />
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Despite my sad post above, we had a good first day. Emmett was courageous and happy as usual, giving me a big hug and smile when I said goodbye. I, on the other hand, was swallowing the giant lump in my throat and blinking back the tears. I mostly contained myself til I reached the car, then I stopped fighting it. I headed over to pick up Tate from a friends, and stayed and chatted with her for awhile which was a nice distraction.</div>
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Tate asked for Emmett as soon as we got back in the car, then called for him around our house when we walked in. I gave myself a bit in the morning to cry and be sad, then realized it wasn't too much longer til Emmett's lunchtime! (Which Tate and I were going to meet him for) We headed back down to the school together and Tate was really excited about the atmosphere and seeing Emmett. It melted my emotional mommy heart to see Emmett reach over and put his arm around Tate, showing he'd missed him too. It made me feel so much better to see Emmett happy and doing well at lunch. He was chatting with a new friend, excitedly told me he'd already taken a trip to the library, and said he was having a good day. <span style="line-height: 17.5636348724365px;">When lunch was over, I watched him line up and walk to his classroom again - this time feeling more confident. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 17.5636348724365px;">I worked on some housework and spent some time with Tate in the afternoon. I wasn't too productive from being so emotionally drained. I heard the preschool bus he used to ride pull up out front to drop off the girl across the street, and got a little sad again but shook it off. Before I knew it we were down to 45 minutes til it was time to load up and get Emmett!! I was pleasantly surprised how the day went by quicker than I anticipated. Visiting him at lunch definitely helped, and I think we'll be doing that often. </span></div>
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Hearing "Mommy!!!" and seeing the electric smile light up your kids face when you've been away is one of the very best feelings. I was lucky enough to get it both at lunch, and after school pick-up. He came out wearing his special hat he made that said "I survived my first day of kindergarten". I read and it and thought to myself "yes, yes you did!" I had survived. I hope he continues to like it more and more as they get to do more activities. I am excited for him to get to do P.E!.</div>
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Though I'd gained confidence by the end of the day, It does make me sad thinking tomorrow I have to start it all over! Hopefully it will get easier and easier over time! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-17433921341231405092015-03-21T00:17:00.000-07:002015-03-21T00:28:16.210-07:00friendsgiving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We have been so grateful these past couple years to be invited to spend Thanksgiving with friends and their extended families. This year we ate with a big group in a church building - they were mostly all related but there were others like us that just didn't have family around. </div>
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We were told just to bring a side, and of course Jared and I had different ideas in mind. So we made both! </div>
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Mine was a mix of butternut squash, cranberries, herbs, and feta. Jared's was a green bean casserole. I feel like these two dishes are pretty good depictions of Jared and I, no?!</div>
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Emmett was excited because both of his favorite friends, Riggdon and Dylan were there. (Not the best pic, but its what we have to work with). They colored pictures of pilgrims while they ate.<br />
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Surprise, surprise - guess who loved the food?<br />
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...and still loving it<br />
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There was even a room set up for the kids to watch a movie. I think it was "Brave"</div>
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Taters and I showing off our Turkey day ensembles<br />
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This was my favorite part of dinner (nothing new here). German Chocolate Pie. Mmmmm. Not the best foodtography. But it was delish.</div>
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This is my friend Kristi who invited us<br />
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After dinner Jared and Tate came home and succumbed to their food comas...<br />
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...While Emmy and I headed for a night on the town.</div>
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Walmart to be exact! Turns out Emmett was a great little Black Friday shopper! Other than that he kept getting distracted and wanting to look at the toy aisles. I was like "Em! This is not the time! We've got a strict order of operations here!" We happened upon this shield which he used to protect us from the mobs. We conquered and got everything we came for!</div>
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And then along with the rest of the world, we pulled out our tree the following day. I LOVE Christmas trees. The beauty and magic they bring to the house, and the happy nostalgia of decorating it every year. The collecting of ornaments that hold special meanings and memories, and unwrapping them each year and reliving them. It was fun to have both boys old enough to get into hanging the ornaments. Actually Tate was a little <i>too</i> into the ornaments so after a couple days our tree ended up only having ornaments on the top half, where chubby mischievous fingers couldn't reach.</div>
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It was, as always, a great season to reflect on our blessings, which are too numerous to count. </div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-33539379664277389642015-03-20T16:15:00.000-07:002015-03-20T16:15:19.083-07:00happy haunts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
If I'm gonna catch up on this blog I'm gonna do it right! We started the month of October by taking Emmett's first preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch. </div>
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Lucky little Taters got to come along<br />
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And even picked out his own tater sized pumpkin<br />
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Emmett with some of his classmates. They fed animals at a petting zoo, picked out pumpkins, jumped in bounce houses and went on a hayride.<br />
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Their favorite part ended up being racing down a giant dirt hill over and over.</div>
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Later in the month we went to our ward Halloween party. Here's our Toy Story family. Emmett was too busy having fun to join in the photo.<br />
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Here he is completing the obstacle course. Notice he's not dressed as Toy Story this time. The boy has enough costumes he wore a different one to every Halloween event he went to.</div>
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On Halloween day, he chose to be Darth Vader, A new fascination had been struck since his Jedi Training School days at Disneyland.<br />
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His preschool had a fun Halloween party where they jumped on the trampoline, trick or treated to all the parents, and showed us their "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" routine. </div>
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Being October in AZ it was too warm to run around in their costumes for long.<br />
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Finally it was time to trick or treat. We started the evening by roasting marshmallows with some friends.<br />
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Tate was a perfect plumpy Dumbo. Recognize this costume?<br />
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Here it is worn by Emmett three years before!</div>
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The gang- Emmett, Colin, Jaylee and Logan<br />
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This was one of Emmetts favorite houses because he got to choose whether to take candy from the dark side or light. Being Darth, he chose Dark of course<br />
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We ended the month by having our first family campout. In none other than our backyard. The boys were so excited and loved reading books and telling scary stories by lantern light. High maintenance Taters didnt make it all night and had to be taken inside to a real mattress.<br />
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Maybe camping in the backyard is just the way to go for this family ;)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-87348538705901351972015-03-20T01:12:00.001-07:002015-03-20T01:12:06.795-07:00Disney Part II (Da dum dum chh)That was my drumroll. Because it only took me 5 months to complete this trip. How did I not post Disney Part II?!? That is a tragedy. I just can't let that happen! So here goes... <br />
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In between our Disney Days, we spent a day going to the beach. So beautiful. I've always said my dream is to live in a charming little coastal town. Not the kind where there's lavish mansions built onto the seaside with the entire back made of giant windows - I'm talking quaint, eclectic beach homes full of character and adventure. Maybe someday...<br />
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This trip we visited Treasure Island Beach which was recommended to by my friend Kamy. It was a great choice! Clean, gorgeous but quiet, with tidepools to explore. <br />
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This cool cliff looks the profile of an old man. See it?</div>
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A tater print in the sand <3 p=""><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yao, King of the Rock<br />
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Exploring the Tidepools<br />
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And getting a private lesson about sea life in the pools. He let Emmett keep this brochure and Em was so excited! We still have it in our bookshelf.<br />
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Dreamy<br />
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This picture embodies happiness!<br />
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The following day we explored Long Beach for the first half of the day.</div>
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We walked around the harbor, saw the Queen Mary, and went into a few little shops.<br />
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We even found this CTR boat amongst the masses!<br />
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Finally it was time for our return to DISNEYLAND!! And equally exciting - that it was Mickey's Halloween Party! I am probably as passionate about Halloween as I am about Disneyland, so I was definitely riding a peak this day. I told Jared "I feel like my life has been leading to this moment". </div>
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Jessie and her cowboy, Woody. I opted not to do my homemade wig for the party as I knew it would be hot and a pain. However, check out how awesome it was.</div>
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First stop on my itinerary that day was the "Jedi Training Academy". It did not disappoint. Definitely a highlight of Emmett's trip. He ALMOST did not get chosen, and when I finally heard the words, "and the young cowboy" I exhaled and huge sigh of relief and pushed him off to the stage!</div>
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Emmett completed Jedi training just before the appearance of Darth Vader and Darth Maul. <br />
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In keeping with the rest of our trip, Emmett was chosen to be the star of the show (yes again!). He was selected to be the first to battle Darth Vader with his newfound light saber skills. You could tell he was a little nervous with all of Vader's theatrics but he managed to pull it off like a pro.<br />
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Dad and Tate watched from the audience.<br />
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See the white arrow on the picture? Its pointing to my tiniest little Jedi at his graduation ceremony.<br />
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#2 on my list was Haunted Mansion. Duh. It felt wrong that it was Nightmare before Christmas since it was less spooky than the original Haunted Mansion (and it was Halloween) , but Id never seen the Holiday version yet, so I didn't mind too much.<br />
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At dusk the trick or treat trails began. Can't beat being handed candy at Disneyland. </div>
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The party ended up being a lot busier than I expected, and some rides got shut down early. Fortunately we'd already checked off most everything on our list, so we were able to just enjoy all the Halloween frills. Poor Taters threw up not too long into the party, so the Buzz Lightyear costume didn't last long. It's not a proper vacation until somebody vomits right? I just felt bad he wasn't feeling great while getting dragged to and fro.</div>
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The highlight of the night was definitely the parade and fireworks show. Disney never disappoints when it comes to these things, but on these particular Halloween events they really outdid themselves. We still watch clips from this parade on my phone weekly and sing the theme song all the time. Every Disney character was dressed up for Halloween and it was fun to see all their costumes.</div>
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I still can't get over this fireworks show. I can envision it so clearly in the playback of my mind. I loved Zero from Nightmare before Christmas flying over the castle to start the show in place of the regular Tinkerbell. The music was coordinated phenomenally and the selections were perfect - Pieces from Nightmare and "Grin grinning ghosts" from the Haunted mansion. My favorite was during of a remix of "This is Halloween" when Jack sang "Everybody scream!", howling rockets shot straight up into the sky. The eerie lights and fog were perfection. I was in seventh heaven.<br />
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The Downside? My poor tuckered babies slept through the entire thing. Tiredness had finally caught up to them (and it was nearly 11 by this point). </div>
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We left Disney deadbeat, content, and exhilarated all at once - just as you should. I seriously had the time of my life and loved every single millisecond watching Emmett and Tate soak up the magic. Time to start my next Disney Jar ;)<br />
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</3>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-74249270972777451032014-11-10T12:20:00.000-08:002014-11-10T12:20:08.103-08:00Disney PART 1I LOVE Disneyland. Living in California, I grew up going there nearly every year. So many of my childhood memories are tied in that magical park. I can still remember our character breakfasts, thinking the monorail was totally awesome, and nearly every souvenir I chose there! Naturally, I'm constantly dreaming of taking my own little family to the land of Disney. It's so neat re-walking (and riding) through so many fond memories that take me back in time while simultaneously creating new ones with my own children! <br />
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I've always wanted to go to Disneyland while its decorated for Halloween (we've already established how much I love Halloween), but never knew that Disneyland hosted a "Halloween Party". I was thrilled when I read about it and found out about the special Halloween parades, fireworks, trick or treating, costume wearing, and villain meet-and-greets. I decided there was no better celebration to honor my 29th birthday, and quickly began my "Disneyland Jar" (a high-tech money saving account stashed in my drawer where I stashed all money from photo shoots, selling old things etc). Another perk of AZ living is a mere 5 hour drive from Disney! Wahoo!!<br />
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A couple months later we were on our way and I could not be more excited!! It was our first official vacation as a family and my sister Kirsten was going to fly into CA and meet us. We swung by the airport, picked up Kris, and headed to our hotel to prepare for an early start the following! I was amazed we got up, packed, prepared our days snacks and kid necessities, loaded into the car, parked, and over to the gates a few mins EARLIER than planned! Success! Getting there in time on the morning is crucial to the flow of the whole rest of the day!<br />
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We headed into California Adventure first, where we had zero wait to meet the man himself - Mickey Mouse. <br />
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Then of course straight over to get our Fast Passes for Radiator Springs Racers! While waiting for our passes to be up we able to walk right on to a lot of rides and meet some of Emmett's favorite characters. Nothing like morning in Disney.<br />
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I've been anxiously waiting to visit Cars land for years now, and it was everything I dreamed it would be. The attention to detail was impeccable and just like everyone says, it truly feels like you walk right into the movie. The Cars characters were also a lot cooler than I thought they would be! They're not just statues - they actually drive, and talk too! Radiator Springs Racers is gorgeous and they replicated Ornament Valley so well. It really feels like you're driving route 66 in the desert. As it should; I read the ride cost over 200 millions dollars, being the most expensive in the park and one of the most expensive in the world! Emmett was lucky enough to be in the drivers seat every time we rode and had the biggest smile of pure joy on his face. He was convinced he was actually driving and took it very seriously! You do a simulated race with a car next to you at the end of the ride over some hills and turns. It's so much fun! Definitely my favorite this trip. Jared took a priceless video of Emmett's reactions during the ride.<br />
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That face is his expression the first time Lightning McQueen pulled up for him to get in, and in the right pic you can see his little hands up, furiously driving.<br />
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In CA Adventure he also was chosen first to talk with Crush from Finding Nemo at Turtle Talk. Crush coined him "Epppppiiic Emmett". He also rode Tower of Terror for the first time and loved it! <br />
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I've always been a "Disneyland" girl, and preferred its classic rides to the modern California Adventure. However, this trip I loved our experience at C.A. It may have been Cars Land, or the fact that our time at that park was less congested and generally more pleasant. But whatever the reason, CA took the cake this trip.<br />
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Mid afternoon we headed over to finish our day out at DL. I love the Halloween Decorations.<br />
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Marvel was recently purchased by Disneyland, so many of the Avengers have taken up residence in the Innoventions building. Obviously Emmett was beside himself to meet his real life heroes. <br />
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Thor chooses one person out of his meet and greet group of about 50 people to try and lift his mighty hammer. Guess who he chose? Yep, Emmett :) It was awesome. Turns out it was too heavy for him to lift alone, but when Thor and him tried together they got it!<br />
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He was super excited to meet "Cap" and the first thing he said to him was, "Can I touch your shield?"<br />
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We headed to Frontierland and Fantasyland and hit up a few "must not miss" rides. </div>
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We met up with Kirsten's boyfriend's sister's family. haha that's a mouthful, and rode the teacups together! Hence all the hands! We were the fullest teacup I've ever seen!<br />
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We finished out the day strong and miraculously made it til closing time!! Well the adults did - by the last hour we had two sleeping littles in the stroller :) It was a fabulous, perfect day and it was not near as exhausting and hard as I anticipated. I think that was largely thanks to having Kirsten there to be an extra set of hands. Every time I look at these pictures I just start thinking about when I can plan our next trip!</div>
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This ended up being far more detailed than I intended, so the rest of the trip will have to be in separate installments! More to come!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-51050103792524602412014-11-09T20:19:00.000-08:002014-11-09T20:19:14.206-08:00...and then my baby turned one<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emmett pulled out a blog book I published a couple years ago this morning and it was so neat reliving so many memories and moments I'd forgotten (and sharing ones with Emmett he wasn't even around for yet!) And I kicked myself thinking Poor Tate, he's hardly made on appearance on here. So I'm going to dedicate this post to all things Taters.<br />
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We celebrated Tate's 1st birthday in both Idaho AND Utah which was so awesome! Not only were we able to party with both sides of the family, but also some of my very best friends. I love that even though we've been spread out, my college roommates and I have been able to be at so many big events for each other (baby showers, birthday parties, holidays etc). Celebrating a special day is 100 times better when you're celebrating with loved ones!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Idaho Celebration<br /><br /><br />And here's his birthday party in Utah</span></td></tr>
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That's a whole lot of partying!!! Tate may be lacking on the blog presence but he can't say we neglected his birthday! (Is it sad that I'm so used to my iphone, my writing feels incomplete without emojis?? Anywho...)<br />
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Tate is such a sweet, tender hearted baby. He's a momma's boy and he thinks big brother is the absolute coolest. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is look for Emmett - if he's asleep he runs and throws himself on him, and if he's awake he squeals and takes off to join him.<br />
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He LOVES to eat and will eat anything, In fact I have to stop myself from creating a "golden boy" because every night when I'm trying to get Em to eat his dinner (yes, EVERY night, the boy refuses to eat), I say "Look, Tate ate all HIS dinner, and he likes it." If anyone in the house is eating ANY thing at ANY given moment, Tate can sense it and will be at your feet begging like a puppy dog in seconds. Drop any on the floor on accident? All the better, he'll gladly pick it up. If you don't share, his begging quickly turns to a meltdown - which will continue until he's given food. And it has to be the food you're eating, you can't pull the wool over his eyes.<br />
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He does NOT like when Emmett takes something he had first, and uses me as his attack dog. He gives me "the look" or comes running to me babbling his complaint, then looks at Emmett like "You weren't supposed to do that and now you're gonna get it!" The antics between these two are downright hilarious. They're just two little best friends.<br />
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Happy first birthday Tate, I can't imagine our family without you and I love you to pieces!!! Now just stay little ;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-40920221343734246172014-10-05T21:46:00.000-07:002014-10-05T21:46:28.807-07:00did i fall off the face of the earth??Yes. So it would seem . Life happened... and things got crazy. But this is me making a public declaration that I'm baaaaack. I may not have time to document all our events like I use to before I had two crazypants little boys. BUT I will post SOMETHING. A thought. A picture... Anythings better than nothing right?<div>
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In a nutshell, we've moved to a new house in Gilbert. We LOVE it. And love our neighborhood and ward even more. It's a dream. Our own little Wisteria Lane, minus the drama and affairs with the landscapers (Desperate Housewives anyone)?</div>
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Emmett's started preschool, and Tate's started walking. He's actually graduated to running. He runs wherever he goes. I love the sound of his chubby legs constantly swishing against his diaper as he runs the house all day long. </div>
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Life is good. The heat is dying down and we're coming up on PERFECT season here in arizona. Balmy blue skies with a slight breeze. If you want to come visit, now's the time! We'll be perfect til next May so you've got awhile :) </div>
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Til next time! (And I promise it won't be next year)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-16757384766869960802014-01-19T15:27:00.001-08:002014-01-19T15:27:28.583-08:00november (For lack of a better title)I was originally just going to write a thanksgiving post, but as I was sorting through my photos I realized I'd be leaving out some good things. So I'll just lump all of November together. <br />
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In the beginning of November, we went to a pretty park near us, scouting picture locations for our family photos. The park has a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a couple other little carnival rides, and a train that circles the perimeter of the park. So we made a fun little afternoon of it and walked around, played on the playground, then rode the train. I wanted to take some of our family pictures by the Ferris wheel and carousel but Jared wasn't having it! <br />
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Emmett also went to the dentist, and it was the first time he laid back on the chair by himself like a big boy. <br />
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Now every time I brush his teeth at night we have to play "dentist" and he loves me to pretend to put on his glasses and lay him back.</div>
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Here are a few shots of Tate while he was 3 months old</div>
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I love that chub picture in the bumbo. He was just checkin out Emmett's morning cartoons.</div>
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As you can see, month 3 was when this guy really started smiling and laughing</div>
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And a few shots of brotherly love</div>
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Despite what it looks like, Emmett does have underwear on in the big picture. Some day its just hard to get clothes on that boy (as evidenced in all shots above)</div>
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Morning snuggles are the best</div>
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Can you tell how much Emmett loves his baby brother?</div>
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(and Me too!)</div>
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Emmett had his share of fun in November</div>
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Fishing with Dad by our house (and catching one while we weren't paying attention!), playing in the rain, and taking another Pee Wee PE class. It amazes me how coordinated and athletic he is.</div>
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And now... we've finally made it up to Thanksgiving!</div>
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I wanted to add some more Thanksgiving décor this year. I've accumulated some Halloween and Christmas, but had nothing for in between. The problem was I didn't feel like spending money on it! So I was proud of myself when I pieced this together with scraps in my scrap bin. </div>
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For the first time in our married life, we didn't do Thanksgiving with our families this year. We decided to save our money and travel time up for Christmas Break. Fortunately we were invited to share Thanksgiving with our friends Josh & Aubrey and their extended family, so we weren't alone!</div>
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Josh's family all traveled in from out of state, and they rented a "guesthouse" while they were here. The owner of the main property was an ex tennis pro, and often uses his guesthouse to bring players in and train them. So needless to say the compound (as I like to call it) was very nice!</div>
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Though the weather was still pretty nice (around the 60s), it was too cold for pool. The kids were happy to spend their time in the hot tub.</div>
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And playing on the tennis court</div>
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We also had a fun minute to win it competition, and I'm sad I can't find this cute picture I had of Emmett swinging a tennis ball around from a hanging pantyhose on his head.... lol. Can you picture it?</div>
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And I didn't even take any obligatory food or table pictures! That right there tells you it wasn't your typical Thanksgiving :) We all ate outside buffet style since there were so many of us, and between that and the nice weather, the absence of our own families, and the mini resort we were at, you could almost forget it was Thanksgiving! I didn't actually didn't mind though, because being a little different than our traditional Thanksgiving around the table - made us not feel homesick the way I was afraid we might be. And Emmett had SO much fun, we had to carry him kicking and screaming to the car on the way out.</div>
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We have so much to be grateful for this year, and I swear the list of things just keeps getting longer and longer with each passing year. Since moving away from home I've been particularly grateful for my sisters (not that I'm not grateful for the rest of the family!), and the close friendship we share. I realize that not many people are blessed to have a relationship like us four. Since moving here they've each already been out to visit us here in Arizona, and I'd be concerned if a day passed and I hadn't heard from any of them! I'm grateful for Jared's job and this great place we live. I'm so thankful the move went pretty seamlessly, and despite never having stepped foot in the state other than coming to look at rental properties, it became home surprisingly quick. I almost don't even want to write about being grateful my pregnancy went well and Tate arrived safely, because I know no words can express that gratitude properly. I'm very grateful for our health and that of our extended family. I'm grateful for Jared and the great husband and Dad he is, and the opportunity he provides me to be home with our boys. I'm grateful for the new friendships we've made, and the ones that are just blooming. And lastly I'm grateful that to know that Heavenly Father knows me individually and all my wants/needs/strengths and weaknesses. </div>
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I think we will always remember this Thanksgiving, as it was a big milestone year for us and our first away from home. And I'm glad to say it was wonderful! :-)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-17866443459093497522014-01-17T23:05:00.000-08:002014-01-17T23:05:56.690-08:00all hallows eve (and its festivities)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I love the holidays (and you KNOW I particularly love Halloween). I love packing them full of as many events as possible. My affection has grown exponentially since the day Emmett was born. Kids just make every little part of them so much more fun. We attended a little community "Fall Festival" when Kirsten was still here (I had to strongly resist the urge to refer to her as Bicki - Her aunt nickname). </div>
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There was crafts and games and a little children's costume parade at the end. </div>
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Next up came our ward trunk or treat party. I couldn't let Halloween come and go without dressing up! So at last minute Kirsten and I ran to Goodwill and scored some finds. Jared was the party pooper... like every year! He just doesn't have the love for costumes like I do! </div>
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When he realized that everyone else in the family was going dressed up, he consented at last minute to let me shove a pillow in the back of his shirt. (I was dressed as Esmerelda and said he could be the hunchback). But you know Jar, he was too bashful and took it out as soon as we got there. </div>
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I just love both my little superheroes</div>
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Next up on the Halloween bucket list was taking Emmett to a fun pumpkin patch. I was totally going through withdrawals for Cornbelly's. I LOVE Cornbelly's! Everyone was posting pictures and making me jealous. We found a pretty good substitute, called Vertuccio Farms. STILL not Cornbellys, but it worked and Emmett had a grand ole time.</div>
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That smile in the left photo is what I do it all for. Nothing can explain how fulfilled I feel when I see Emmett purely happy.</div>
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And THEN on Halloween day, I gave in and decided to take the boys to Schnepf Farms - the big attraction around here. There was a ton of stuff to do (even carnival rides), but since it was the last day it was far too busy for my taste. If we go back again I'll make sure to go early in the month!</div>
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We went with our good friend Whitney - who, believe it or not, lived in our basement in Provo. We both got hit by a wind that landed us in the same place! :)</div>
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First we headed over to Farmer Bob's pig races (which was pretty hilarious)</div>
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They even had a goat race, which was far less entertaining. The goats missed the memo it was a RACE.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYLsggRb9kZisOCYYHDhUtfOYnAiI-OGs4jAVgF_Se9ru5sH0muRywajpR3xJbT_mTsrdGeGJPuG_0EgSB51cjtTBZ8X1eCL2Ejg63cqcKvtcEXFDDAM5FfsodfF_LV6XEtVMIFbTO3M/s1600/IMG_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYLsggRb9kZisOCYYHDhUtfOYnAiI-OGs4jAVgF_Se9ru5sH0muRywajpR3xJbT_mTsrdGeGJPuG_0EgSB51cjtTBZ8X1eCL2Ejg63cqcKvtcEXFDDAM5FfsodfF_LV6XEtVMIFbTO3M/s1600/IMG_0325.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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After the races we played at a park, waited in line for some rides (then after 15 minutes decided the lines weren't moving and decided to get OUT of line, ate Italian ice, then walked over to the pumpkin patch area. Em was thoroughly occupied by pushing pumpkins around in his wheelbarrow.</div>
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Whitney had to take off early, but being early on in my reign of two boys I was feeling pretty brave, so I decided to stick around and take them on the hay ride.</div>
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They had some type of reindeer from (Africa? I cant remember), but we got to stop, pick some orange leaves and feed them, which was pretty neat.<br />
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When the hayride was over, Emmett stared to go crazy/run off - and in a crowd of that many people where I couldn't chase him because I was tied to the baby's stroller - I had to think quick! I spotted a candy store up ahead, lured him in, then told him I'd only buy the candy if he'd be a good boy and walk to the car with me after. Hook line and sink 'em. Bribery never fails.</div>
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All that was left in our Halloween extravaganza was getting ready for the actual night! I got the boys all dressed and forgoed my own costume this time. I didn't want to be that weird mom walking around all dressed up by herself for trick or treating. </div>
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ahhh heart melting</div>
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Emmett loved all the decorations</div>
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OR I just made him pose by all the decorations. You decide.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PLAf-YnTEko5aKKH8Swgb_BOPDOp1gcMILhffU5nEM_qu8itI-BEbcl0TBcI6CuBF4Eh5wSqUcnULY-d3ds8rTdM5io9NG29QTIvA939cgfdJ6stm3fwePEJRutDVVD42aDWhok7sJw/s1600/IMG_8959e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PLAf-YnTEko5aKKH8Swgb_BOPDOp1gcMILhffU5nEM_qu8itI-BEbcl0TBcI6CuBF4Eh5wSqUcnULY-d3ds8rTdM5io9NG29QTIvA939cgfdJ6stm3fwePEJRutDVVD42aDWhok7sJw/s1600/IMG_8959e.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a>PHEW!! Are you still with me?! Congratulations! That takes endurance. I know it did on my end. This may be the most time consuming post I've ever done. But man does it feel good! Remind me not to get so far behind next time... <br />
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As you can see we really did pack Halloween full of a lot of fun things. Aside from just being plain fun, I hope to create strong memories for the boys. When they're grown (which will never happen, because they're going to stay babies forever!!) I want them to look back with fondness and remember what good times we had as a family, and how much their parents loved them. <br />
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Stay tuned for lots more holiday adventures to come! Hopefully sooner rather than later... :)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-11629968350756497352014-01-16T22:10:00.000-08:002014-01-16T22:08:10.650-08:00tate 5 months (3.5 months?)Having a preemie is confusing. It's always hard to know exactly what age to consider them. And Tate is so big, I tend to rule out the fact that he could be 3.5 months - but technically he's somewhere in between the two ages development wise. By any standard he's doing good! That's all that matters right?<br />
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I'm way behind on all my posts but have been feeling guilty that poor Tate is getting nothing recorded. I was all over Emmett's first smile, laugh, first walk outside, first poop (okay just kidding but you get the jist). And poor taters over here hasn't been written about since his birth post. Being a mom of two is hard ok?! And by the time they're asleep and I have a minute of free time, blogging requires too much brain power. <br />
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Here is a little bit about our Tater tot though:<br />
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Can you say<span style="font-size: x-large;"> HAPPY</span> ?!?!?!<br />
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He is the smiliest, happiest baby. EVER. He really is SO easy and I thank my lucky stars every night because we all know I had room for nothing else with Emmett! <br />
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He's just a big cuddly teddy bear. He loves to be snuggled and he's so soft and squishy he's the best cuddling partner ever. <br />
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Here's some pictures I took of him a few days ago.<br />
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I love his big blue eyes. Don't know how we end up with these light eyed boys! Emmett's were light too but were much greener in comparison<br />
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To me this picture screams my Dad, my sister Kaity, and my brother Caysen. I see all of them in there so much</div>
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I realized how glad I am that I documented what Emmett was doing at certain stages because it's a nice guideline to follow/compare. So I need to try and do the same thing with Tate. It may not be interesting for others to read, so don't feel obligated - it's mostly for me :)</div>
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Things he's doing:</div>
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Talking - mostly cooing. It's funny because I was looking back at Emmett's stats when he was around this age and I wrote a lot about his "angry talk" and "lectures"- which is so funny to me! It brought back the memory of it, and I can remember so clearly what a little firecracker Emmett was. He just had so much spunk. (Emmett had happy talk too, but it's just the fact that he even POSSESSED the attitude- and so young!). Tate doesn't do that angry talk, or delight in shrieking and making "dinosaur noises" the way Emmett did. His is pretty much happy babble.</div>
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Can't remember his exact measurement but I know he was 50th percentile in height and 90th percentile in weight! Haha. A whopping 19 pounds, 7 ounces</div>
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He's starting cereal and stage one baby foods this week. Wahoo!</div>
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Getting a lot better at lifting up for tummy time and starting to pull his knees into crawl position (not bearing weight on them, just pulling them in briefly) . No rolling yet.</div>
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LOVES his big brother. Seriously. He thinks Emmett's the funniest person ever. I even get a little jealous sometimes. He cracks up at whatever crazy thing Em is doing, and whenever I'm scolding Emmett for being too rough with the baby, I get surprised that Tate just belly laughs. </div>
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HOWEVER he already knows when he's "had enough" of brother, and if he's not in the mood he'll get ornery if Emmett even approaches his bubble and cry out in complaint. It's hilarious/amazing to me to see the interaction/relationship between these two little people. </div>
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When Jared comes home from work, he gets really excited and starts kicking his chubby little legs and flailing his arms and breathing really fast/loud</div>
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We love our little Taters. He's the perfect complement to our family. </div>
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<span id="goog_2139547553"></span><span id="goog_2139547554"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-35283516552729303142014-01-16T22:03:00.000-08:002014-01-16T22:07:28.410-08:00birthday shebang and visitorsOctober was stuffed to the brim with visitors and birthday celebrations (basically it was awesome. Top it off with Halloween and it's a pretty good contender for the best month of the year!) Also yes, I'm just now writing about October. oops.<br />
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It's midnight and I was doing some late night web surfing, then thought "what are you doing! You have at least five blog posts that need to be written! So I'm going to try and condense at least two of them into one here.<br />
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My dad surprised my mom with a ticket out to visit us for her birthday! Of course with a sweet little babe she'd barely gotten to meet (between the NICU and short trip at his birth) there was nothing she wanted more. I'd heard really good things about The Coffee Shop and its right near the airport. So as soon as I picked her up we headed straight over! It may be one of my favorite places here so far. It's totally my kind of place - similar to Kneaders but more of a hipster/urban feel to it. Very coffee shop-esque. A coffee shop/bakery/grill. They serve gourmet sandwiches, wraps, and do breakfast too. Afterward we walked around the grounds - it's out in a cool farm area called Agritopia.<br />
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The following day was my moms birthday and we made sure to pack it full. We started it off with the <a href="http://jaredandcassie.blogspot.com/2013/11/who-needs-disneyland-when-you-have-fire.html">firefighters breakfast</a> and then came home for a bit, headed to Oregano's for lunch (and a free birthday pazookie of course!), then were off the Phoenix zoo!<br />
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This guy was a favorite</div>
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But after seeing him yawn, we quickly decided we wouldn't want to get on his bad side.</div>
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Right?!?!</div>
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Emmett got to have lots of time playing with Gramby in his playroom, and we made sure to hit up the hot tub a couple times. When it was time to say goodbye, we were all sad. We sure love Gramby and are so happy we got to spend her birthday with her!</div>
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The next weekend was MY birthday, and it just so happened it was the weekend of a cheap flight for my sister Kirsten! The coffee shop was such a success the first time, we (I) couldn't help making a pit stop on the way home again. Well actually The Coffee Shop is in the same place as Joe's Farm Grill (another delicious place that was on Food Network's Diners, Drive ins, and Dives). And Joes Farm Grill gives you a whole free meal on your birthday. So we went there first and split my birthday meal then walked over to the Coffee Shop for dessert.</div>
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This burger may look ordinary but it was topped with sauteed mushrooms and fresh blue cheese crumbles... it was delish.</div>
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Good thing we split our cupcake, cause when Jared come home from work he surprised me with this torte from Wildflower Bakery -which I'd never been to but am now a big fan!</div>
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Love this boy!!</div>
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Here's what the inside looked like... Yum. The bottom layer was like a soft homemade english toffee. And all that thick cream on top was heavenly. Almost cheesecake-ish</div>
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Oh and I forgot to mention that we went to Verizon the night before and picked out my birthday present!!</div>
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That's right, I joined the modern world and FINALLY got a smart phone!!! Ive been waiting for so long! And just like everyone says, I now don't know how I used to do without it! (Not sure that that's a good thing) Anyhow, I was beyond excited and love the cute buttercup yellow color!</div>
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That night we got MORE free food at Joe's Real BBQ (yes its the same Joe as Joe's Farm Grill. He does real well around these parts. And for good reason. His food is ahhhmazing). Gee on this post I'm realizing it seems like we just ate and ate and ate the entire day long... which I guess we did! </div>
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Kris and I got up early on Saturday and headed out to Nordstrom Last Chance where we cleaned up with my birthday money! We then headed over to Scottsdale to Sprinkles Cupcakes which I've always wanted to try! </div>
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I don't know if I can say it was without a doubt the best cupcake I've ever put in my mouth... but it was pretty darn good! You can tell its made with much finer ingredients than the average cupcake. </div>
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That evening we went to my ward halloween party, but I'm saving that for the next post :)</div>
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I was so lucky to have family here on/around my birthday, cause really that was the best gift I could have asked for! I love them and miss them so much and had the best time partying it up and eating ourselves sick. haha what are birthdays for?! Emmett was beyond thrilled as well. Thanks to everyone who called, texted or left a facebook message for me - you all added to the wonderful day! </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-35804568329442720112013-11-19T23:14:00.001-08:002013-11-19T23:14:33.464-08:00who needs disneyland when you have a fire station??While checking the community events calendar (back in October, I'm so behind!), I happened to see that a local fire station had just hired a new chief and was throwing a celebratory "breakfast with the fire chief". OBVIOUSLY I knew this was something that could NOT be missed. I don't even need to remind of you the level of Emmett's obsession right? My mom was in town for her birthday that weekend (post to come... I hope), so it was a blast all around!<br />
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We attempted to eat, but I can barely get the boy to sit and put food in his mouth at home. At the fire station surrounded by fire fighters? Not a chance!!</div>
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He was pretty excited about the balloon a firefighter gave him :)</div>
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Not many people must have known about the event, because there weren't a lot of people (or maybe we're the only people crazy enough about firefighters to attend the fire chief breakfast?! Nah.) But it worked out in our fortune because we got lots of one on one time, and a private tour from the fire chief and two guys going through the academy!</div>
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We started out at the kitchen and Emmett loved seeing the big, long table they all sit at just like in his books. Then we headed to the weight room to see where all the magic happens. We even got to watch a firefighter doing his workout... (birthday present for mom?? haha!) </div>
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Then headed to their "Recovery Room" AKA Theater</div>
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Emmett was thrilled to see the pole and slide, and they even raced down them for us so we could see which was faster. The pole won!</div>
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Finally it was off to the garage to check out the engines. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Carabiner cracks me up!! It was a giveaway from the fire station but it makes him look like such a little man with his jeans and Nikes!! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArjn9OVYaCTMQQJGuw5BDtNodtNVa6_jF-UXx3x3VOa3hujt0RnfKHk3LaJINoi5BP9rExdUM-EgHdxGBTPXKpIO7y5_e_9gVujsqKAZuGRYW3iwGQPTtmvsF2cUz2tVAjP-MJbyEHlI/s1600/IMG_8838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArjn9OVYaCTMQQJGuw5BDtNodtNVa6_jF-UXx3x3VOa3hujt0RnfKHk3LaJINoi5BP9rExdUM-EgHdxGBTPXKpIO7y5_e_9gVujsqKAZuGRYW3iwGQPTtmvsF2cUz2tVAjP-MJbyEHlI/s640/IMG_8838.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice the balloon has never left his hand<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">...But when he found out he got to play inside the fire truck AND drive it, excitement reached a whole new level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When one of the guys took the headphones and put them on his head, he got the proudest, most sheepish little grin ever on his face and barely turned his head in excitement. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. It's melting me all over again just thinking about it! It was so fun to see him 100% in awe and overflowing with happiness and excitement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Fire Chief even let Emmett try on HIS helmet. Do you see the pride teeming from Emmett's little face?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The trip was success to say the least and I'm SO glad I stumbled upon it! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">On the drive home, Emmett proudly held his "honor bears" the firefighters gave him</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When we drove by this we knew it was truly Emmett's special day!! </span></div>
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A fabulous day for my little bestie!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-75012003473277495772013-11-05T13:25:00.000-08:002013-11-07T10:25:59.362-08:00milkaholics anonymousOut of order but better late than never! I almost didn't want to blog about my baby shower cause I am so so swollen in all of the pictures, but then I realized "this is your FIRST and possibly ONLY baby shower, you better make record of it!"<br />
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I kept promising myself I WOULD make it to have a baby shower this time! I always kind of felt jipped of the experience and felt in part, I was holding out just to make it to this day! Ironically, I went into the hospital TWO days after (and it may have been sooner if it wasn't the weekend)! By tooth and nail, we had a shower!!<br />
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Kaity and Kirsten flew down from Utah and organized the party. It had a milkaholic theme, which is actually very fitting because if I've ever known a baby that IS a milkaholic - it's Tate!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ6HvTP7KXCBo6Alez5wbbsyYbyZ1W1Pd4OuJ_iF1jme-820JrAHMLzDaUWfy896LWSSzWhqxY-FfRhmvghyphenhyphennNKFztUiQFb5-Pvh29gZM0PkNT1evHfb-BwHvl3NrNA20L1Nepeh5XLI/s1600/DSC03661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ6HvTP7KXCBo6Alez5wbbsyYbyZ1W1Pd4OuJ_iF1jme-820JrAHMLzDaUWfy896LWSSzWhqxY-FfRhmvghyphenhyphennNKFztUiQFb5-Pvh29gZM0PkNT1evHfb-BwHvl3NrNA20L1Nepeh5XLI/s640/DSC03661.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We played Celebrity baby names, Price is Right, and a game where you try to draw a baby on a plate on the top of your head (which proved to be pretty humorous)<br />
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The most seasoned Mom at the shower ended up winning the Price is Right game, and came within CENTS of the total for everything! Impressive!!</div>
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Katie and Whitney concentrating hard on their plate babies<br />
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Whitney won with this beaut!<br />
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Here'a group shot, but we didn't remember to take it until some people had already left :(<br />
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I had only lived here a little over two months when we had the shower so I'm grateful for all the friends and ward members who came and supported me!<br />
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Kaity's husband Rusty and Kirsten's boyfriend, Skyler, were even down for the weekend which was lots of fun. They went with Jared to entertain Emmett during the shower, and Emmett caught his very first fish at the lake right by our house!<br />
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It was everything I hoped it would be (minus of course all the family I wish was there) Thanks Kaity and Kirsten for making it happen! Love you guys! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-41890001474988514042013-10-17T10:27:00.001-07:002013-11-07T10:25:32.641-08:00behind the scenesOn a lighter note... A good conference session wouldn't be complete without delicious food to go with it! We were out of most ingredients, so I had to get creative. Luckily this puff pancake is simple and a crowd pleaser! It grows up the sides of the pan and leaves a big crater in the middle, so in our house we call it a dinosaur footprint. Emmett gets so excited when we turn on the oven light and see how big it's grown.<br />
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Add a little fruit preserves and powdered sugar and you're good to go!</div>
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Later that evening we made another of Emmett's favorites - "Brownie cupcakes"</div>
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These are made with the Ghiradelli mix you can buy at Sam's Club. Heavenly!</div>
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Like I said.... one of Emmett's favorite treats</div>
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I can't look at these pictures with my mom's favorite Wanda Lindstrom song playing in my head!</div>
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"Tiny fingers caked with frosting,</div>
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and a wide grinning face,</div>
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didnt know what I was in for,</div>
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when he asked for a taste</div>
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But I'll never forget,</div>
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how you were way back when,</div>
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cause my heart took a picture then" <3 p=""></3></div>
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Forgive his red, swollen eyes, poor guy was sick this day</div>
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After we stuck our brownies in the oven, we worked on our dinner - Mango Chicken</div>
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Are you wondering where Jared and Tate were during all of this?</div>
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Wonder no longer.</div>
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In Jareds favorite chair of course! Where else? Haha.</div>
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This is Jareds "look at this cute baby" face. :)</div>
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All in all it was a great, uplifting conference! How was yours?</div>
<!--3-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-4049342675913133002013-10-16T01:47:00.000-07:002013-11-07T10:28:56.664-08:00the broken vesselI was really excited for conference this session, I love hearing what messages the prophets are inspired to deliver to us. I was particularly touched by Elder Holland's talk "Like a Broken Vessel". He spoke to those affected by depression, or suffering from any mental ailment really, but on a level that applied to every single one of us.<br />
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After Emmetts tramautic birth, I suffered (still do- though thankfully not as bad) with anxiety/post traumatic stress.We've already discussed my horrific surgery, which was just the tip of the iceberg. My mind was placed on such a high alert, where it feared for life or death (for Emmett) on a daily (hourly) basis, for an extended period of time. It hit a peak one horrible, heartbreaking afternoon where I witnessed him stop breathing and his heart stop. I sat there not breathing myself, as an entire team surrounded his bed and miraculously resusitated him. His nurse described it as "pulling him back from heaven by his toes." I had never in my life felt so much gratitude, but the blow left me wounded. I couldn't stop crying for hours, and from that moment my brain was constantly preparing itself for the chance it happened again. This intese, wracking worry never ceased for the 96 days he was in the NICU. And when he came home with oxygen and monitors, my mind stayed in hyper-mode.<br />
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A year later, when all traces of the NICU were gone, and my mind couldn't pull itself out of panic - I knew I needed help. The mind is a tricky thing, and one major contributor to my anxiety was blame. I felt horrible watching him suffer through countless situations, knowing the reason he was there was because my body couldn't keep him inside. I wondered if I could have changed anything. I had a deep rooted fear that something out of my control would come and take him from me. At this point it wasn't just fears related to his breathing. It was ANYTHING that posed a threat to him. I still fight this fear off.<br />
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Elder Holland described it so well:<br />
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<i><b>"The <a class="no-link-style" href="http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon" style="background-color: transparent; border: none !important; color: #2f393a; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none !important; vertical-align: baseline;">Book of Mormon</a> says Ammon and his brethren were depressed at a very difficult time,<sup class="noteMarker" noteref="2" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng#2-10791_000_27holland" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #486fae; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2</a></sup> and so can the rest of us be. But today I am speaking of something more serious, of an affliction so severe that it significantly restricts a person’s ability to function fully, a crater in the mind so deep that no one can responsibly suggest it would surely go away if those victims would just square their shoulders and think more positively—though I am a vigorous advocate of square shoulders and positive thinking!</b></i></div>
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<i><b>No, this dark night of the mind and spirit is more than mere discouragement."</b></i></div>
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I never told anyone this. It took me probably almost two years to even tell Jared. I kept hoping it would go away, and wasn't sure if the fears I had were normal "mom worries". Aside from that, I literally could not talk about it. I couldn't even THINK about it. My mind had taken those six months of my life, boxed them up, and buried them down far enough that they wouldn't hurt me. To try to touch that box was too painful, too much for my mind to tolerate. So it just sat there, the walls around it growing thicker and thicker.<br />
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Choosing to talk to someone about it was one of the best things I've done. I'm proud I forced myself to open the box back up, no matter how painful it was. The very first time was like pulling teeth but it got easier and easier and I actually came to look forward to it.<br />
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Elder Holland went on to say:<br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Though we may feel we are “like a broken vessel,” as the Psalmist says,</span><sup class="noteMarker" noteref="10" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng#10-10791_000_27holland" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #486fae; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10</a></sup><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> we must remember, that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter. Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed</span></i></b><br />
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What peaceful, comforting words :)<br />
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I have mentioned more than once on this blog what a trial of faith my second pregnancy was. Now you understand a little more fully. I was willingly placing myself back in the situation I had buried so far away. Facing down the demons that <i>still </i>haunted me. And <i>still</i>, my BIGGEST fear was the same it had always been: something out of my control (pre-eclampsia) hurting Emmett (this time by taking me from him). Though chances were small and I was in good hands, I couldn't bear that thought.<br />
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Elder Holland included a quote from a talk given by President Monsen.<br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">“That love never changes. … It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.”</span><sup class="noteMarker" noteref="4" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng#4-10791_000_27holland" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #486fae; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4</a></sup></i></b><br />
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If anyone reading this feels sad or discouraged, I hope you know you are not alone. We are <b>never</b> alone, even in our darkest moments. That is one thing I've always been sure of.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-45441679814996207622013-10-05T12:14:00.001-07:002013-10-06T11:46:41.911-07:00tate the great (part 2) Luckily I had decided his name moments before being wheeled back. We had been deliberating between three names, and before surgery I told Jared, " I think he should be Tate Farrell". Farrell is my middle name, which is a little unconventional for a son, but it is so fitting.<br />
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This pregnancy was such a trial of faith for me, and I grew so much (in every aspect!) in those 8 months. Not to mention I went through hell (maybe literally since we reached 118 this summer) to get him here! As i laid in my hospital bed, the chance of a future daughter to carry my name seemed to be slipping farther away, but this baby - he was mine. He was a product of my blood, sweat, tears, and unrelenting faith, and he was beautiful.<br />
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As the tugging started to get stronger, I knew the baby had to be close. I could feel the pressure and knew he must be close to the surface, but I hadn't heard any noise yet. I started to panic a little. Why didn't I hear crying? I looked up at the doctors to see if they were concerned, but they had their heads down and were working like a machine. Then it came: Tate's wonderful, beautiful little cry, announcing his arrival into the world. That cry is always the most emotional part. You hear your baby's little voice as he tells you hello for the very first time. "I'm okay mom! I'm here!" :-)<br />
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The doctors held him up above the curtain for me to see and tears flooded my eyes. He was a real baby! Still tiny, but just a miniature newborn, with a head of dark hair! I arched my neck and followed him over to the bed where they cleaned him up, checked his vitals, then finally swaddled him and put on his hat. A nurse brought him over for our first official introduction.<br />
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All I could do was stare. And smile. And cry. And stare. Then he was headed off the NICU. The last thing I was concious of was the doctors counting all their tools aloud (which kind of disturbed me a little). And then... I was out.<br />
<br />
I awoke to little flashes of reality. The southern doctor was back and kept pushing on down hard on my stomach (ouch).<br />
<br />
"Sorry baby, you're passing some pretty big clots. We need to stop the bleeding"<br />
<br />
*back out*<br />
<br />
This time an asian nurse that looked like Brenda Song (my sisters and all you Disney fans out there will know who I'm talking about!) was pushing down on me. She was also messing with my arm the IV was in, which was painful. So much for letting a wounded girl rest... haha. I looked over and saw Jared sitting in a chair next to me.<br />
<br />
*back out*<br />
<br />
I opened my eyes and saw Kirsten next to me this time. She had brought the diaper bag she'd finished packing for me. She said Emmett had been asking for me, and wanted to know if she should bring him back. I missed that little guy but was fighting the recovery wave and was not quite in condition yet. I could hardly stay lucid for more than 5 minutes. I looked down at my arm which I felt throbbing and saw it had been replaced with a giant, inhuman extremity.<br />
<br />
"It looks a LOT better than it did", Kirsten said. "Your IV got infected."<br />
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Wonderful....<br />
<br />
*back out*<br />
<br />
Finally I was getting transported back to my room. By this time my family had arrived from Utah. They started driving as soon as they got word I was headed to surgery. Love them! I remember my Dad being there and telling me how good I'd done (funny, that was one of my first memories from last time too). And I remember Jared showing up with the one request I'd had when I was wheeled back to surgery. ("When I wake up I want a big snowcone from Bahama Mama's!") I could not have been more thrilled. I hadn't had a drink in forever (in prep for surgery) and that shaved raspberry ice tasted like heaven. Jared showed me pictures and video of Tate and told me he was doing well. I briefly said hello to the rest of my family and visited for a little bit before nodding off for the night.<br />
<br />
*back out*<br />
<br />
Next thing I knew my night nurse, a nice older german lady who introduced herself as Margarete. was waking me up. It was about 4 am. My anesthesia and pain meds had worn off and I was acutely aware of the slice across my abdomen. "I know it's going to hurt, but I have to get you up to walk around to keep the blood moving". I don't remember doing this last time, but my gosh was it PAINFUL! I felt my recently stitched incision with every breath and slow, small step. I was determined however to heal as quickly as possible, and not be stuck in the hospital another week like I was after Emmett. I laid down proud of myself and drifted off to sleep.<br />
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I continued to get stronger each day. I was fighting off a fever as well, which had resulted from my infected IV. I made frequent trips up to visit my little Taters, who was holding up like a champ. I only had to wait one day to hold him this time as opposed to a month! It was wonderful.<br />
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Luckily since it wasn't sick season, the NICU visiting policies we not as strict as Emmett's stay. My Dad, Caysen, and Kirsten had to be back for school/work so they had to leave the next day, and my Mom, Kendall, and Kaity got to stay a couple more. I was so glad they all were able to meet Tate before leaving. </div>
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There's something so special about introducing your baby to your family. You can see in their faces they love him *almost* as much as you. It's a really touching link to share the love of this tiny human, and finally understand the feelings your parents have about you.<br />
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By Wednesday August 14th, I was finally able to go home. Leaving the hospital with a baby in the NICU is always bittersweet. I'd been so antsy to leave and counting down the days, but I still started to tear up when we drove away. It doesn't feel right going home without your baby. You feel cruel leaving it alone, even though you don't have a choice. The mom guilt was already setting in and making me feel guilty that I was so anxious to go home and be with Emmett, yet I was leaving tiny little Tate alone.<br />
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Fortunately this time I was able to remind myself, it was a very temporary situation. It was only a matter of weeks (or so I thought at the time, but it ended up being days!) til Tate would be home with us. As I watched the hospital fade out of view in my rear view mirror, I was washed over by a wave of gratitude. Just as promised, it had all worked out. I was watched over. Tate was watched over. Emmett never spent a single second abandoned or alone (without family) , despite the fact that we live 10+ hours away from the nearest family member. I almost had to chuckle to myself. After spending nearly a year almost giving myself an ulcer, turns out Heavenly Father really DID have a plan. And I'm so glad I had the strength to follow it.<br />
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Cause it gave me tiny, perfect Tate.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-57691981998459033592013-10-03T09:27:00.001-07:002013-10-04T16:03:51.705-07:00tate the great (part 1)Monday, August 5th I headed into my 33 week pregnancy checkup, not knowing it would be my last. My blood pressure had risen to 160s/110, and my doctor decided it was time for me to head over to hospital. Though I'd spent months and months losing sleep over what day pre-eclampsia was going to hit (we knew it was coming, but couldn't predict when), I still somehow felt devastated when it finally happened.<br />
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I think part of me was holding onto the slim hope that it wouldn't rear its ugly head, or that I'd at least make it a few more weeks to 36. I was forced to confront the fears I'd been battling on a daily basis: How long was I going to admitted to the hospital for? Hours? Days? Weeks? and who was going to take care of Emmett? Miraculously my sisters were still in town from the baby shower, but I knew they only had a few days left. What about after that? How was the baby's health going to be? Would it be long term NICU again? How could I juggle the NICU while being a mom to Emmett? And most importantly, but the one I tried to avoid... Was<b> I </b>going to be okay? Asking myself that question always resulted in tears.<br />
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I tried to pull myself together, called Jared, called my Mom, then ran home and grabbed my bag - which had basically been packed ever since 26 weeks- and hopped into the passenger seat so Kaity and Emmett could drive me down to be admitted. Let's just say I am jealous of moms who get to experience that excited "my baby is coming!" feeling when heading to the hospital.<br />
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I was so grateful Kaity and Emmett were there while I was getting checked in (and that Emmett had fallen asleep on the drive there). Being seperated from him indefinitely was the concern weighing heavily on my mind, so it felt good to not be yanked apart so suddenly.<br />
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Once it had been confirmed my blood pressures were sky high, protein was in my urine, and the headache was setting in, I was immediately hooked up to Magnesium (to prevent me from seizing) and an IV. *Sidenote: My arm was SO swollen and tight, starting the IV was near impossible, and one attempt even resulted in a bent needle! After I was hooked up on all the goods, I was moved to my first room (in L&D). Basically when I sat up or laid in any position other than my left side my blood pressure was in the dangerous stroke zone. This resulted in me being forced to lay on my left side for FAR too long! Every time I complained the nurse just came and stuck another pillow somewhere. Since my cuff was set to take my pressure every 30 mins, whenever my reading was high I'd get reprimanded for not relaxing and being far enough on my left side. I love how they try to coerce pre-eclampsia patients in "relaxation". A bit contradictory!<br />
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Despite my less-than-ideal state, I had been deemed stable and the doctors advised me to hunker down and make myself "at home" for the long haul. I was a mess. The uncertainty of everything for an uncertain amount of time, was just too much to handle. I wanted to be at home snuggling Emmett, and it would just break my heart when he asked if I was going to come home. I had to make the decision the first night what route I wanted to go for delivery. I was excited about trying a VBAC (normal birth) in my appts, but being induced was intimidating on top of the situation. Especially because first time labors are generally long and induced labors makes it even longer. Yet, I still decided I wanted to do it. It had so many benefits and I was still traumatized from my awful c-section last time.<br />
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Things were more or less the same for the first few days. Just battling my pressures, headaches, and heartburn, and devastation of still being there!Jared, Kirsten, and Kaity were all rotating shifts at the hospital with me and at home taking care of Emmett.<br />
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The docs had moved my over to Antepartum, anticipating me to be a long term patient (when they try to tell you "antepartum is better, youre going to love it" dont believe them! lies! haha) At this point I was conviced I was going to be there for weeks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the chair my poor visitors slept in</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I asked Kirsten and Kaity to bring me a calendar for my room because I was losing track of the days</td></tr>
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With pre-eclampsia, however, the tables can turn in the blink of an eye. That night I knew something was wrong. I kept telling my nurses, who didnt seem worried. I felt like since it was Antepartum and their patients generally weren't high risk, they weren't on alert. I was getting frustrated and requested to see doctor. Of course my doctor was off for the night, so in comes the hospitalist OB.<br />
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"What does it feel like?" she said.<br />
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"It feels like pre-eclampsia. I've gone through this before".<br />
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(In her southern drawl) "Your numbers are stable, are you sure you're not just anxious because you don't want to be here? Anyone would be climbing the walls by now" (She signed herself up on my bad list real quick).<br />
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"No, something's wrong. I can feel it"<br />
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"I'm going to give you something for anxiety, and see if we can get you relaxed so you can rest"<br />
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Okay lady, do what you will, but this isn't my first rodeo...<br />
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When I awoke early that morning, I could hardly breathe. I felt like I was drowning. I called in my nurse who checked my oxygen saturation, confirmed I wasn't breathing right, and hooked me up on oxygen. Luckily my doctor was back now. Wahoo! He sent me for a chest x-ray which showed my lungs were indeed filled with fluid - no wonder I felt like I was drowning. Pre-eclampsia causes excess fluid EVERYWHERE. Clearly around your whole body (causing you to look like the Michelin Man), around your brain (which causes the incredibly painful headache), and eventually your lungs. The doctor informed me I'd be transferred back to Labor & Delivery where he'd induce me.<br />
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Hours later, I was back over in L&D but the pre-eclampsia had been escalating quickly. The blood pressure medicines were no longer controlling my pressure properly, even given intravenously. My doctor decided we didn't have time to try labor anymore, we needed to do surgery. Even though it was dissappointing, at this point I was relieved. I was in no shape to voluntarily bring on labor! I WAS terrified about surgery though. Just to remind you, I wasn't numb during my first c-section (Yes, they'd given me an epidural but started too quickly and it hadn't taken effect).<br />
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I asked if I could be put under this time because I didn't know if I could handle it, but no dice. The type of anesthesia they'd have to use was dangerous for the baby. So I had about an hour to psych myself out and wrap my mind around the fact that soon I'd be strapped down to the operating table again. That hour is the worst! I hate waiting for them to come get you! As they were wheeling me back to the OR, it felt surreal. It was such deja vu. How am I doing this again?! It feels like the first time was just last year. Am I crazy for even being in this predicament again?!<br />
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Poor Kaity was left out in the waiting area by herself and I'm sure she was a bundle of nerves as well. They didn't allow Jared to come in til I was all the way prepped, so I was wheeled in solo - scared as can be!<br />
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I made sure the anesthesiolgists knew my history and they were awesome. I loved those guys. They were totally comforting and understanding. They assured me we were in no hurry and wouldn't start til I was nice and numb. One even hugged me and patted my back while the other hooked up my spinal block in the back. My back was so swollen it took him a few tries to get it inserted in the right place. When he hit a wrong spot I'd feel a really sharp, painful twinge in my leg, which scared me to death! Finally it was in and I was laid back on the table. Go time!<br />
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I was so nervous I was shaking like crazy. Finally Jared came in. "Hold my hand!" I told him, "Try to stop me from shaking". I just kept laying there, willing my body to shake as little as possible, and trying to compose myself. Finally I looked over at Jared nervously, "Have they started yet?"<br />
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He looked over the sheet and back at me and nodded yes. "You can't feel that?", he asked incredulously.<br />
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"No", I said as my eyes filled up with tears. Thank heavens!!! It had started! And I didn't even know!! What a stark contrast from last time. I was so grateful I couldn't hold back my emotions. It was at that point I could finally turn my thoughts to the baby and say to myself "hey, this is exciting! You're about to have your baby! You did it!!!"<br />
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...to be continued :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-34048443600029767002013-07-29T21:16:00.000-07:002013-07-29T21:20:06.049-07:00fourth funThe 4th of July is a little different ball game down here in Phoenix! I'm used to parades, outdoor barbeques, swimming (ok we still did that), morning 5Ks, city festivals, and breezy nights on a blanket watching fireworks.<br />
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HERE was a little different story. The 4th just doesn't feel "fourthy" when it's too hot to enjoy outside (being pregnant doesn't help). We still had fun, but my heart was aching for good ol' Provo that day. No one does the 4th like Provo, am I right?!<br />
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We went swimming during the day to cool off and played a friendly little game of pool basketball. Then later that evening we went over to our new friends, Josh and Aubrey's, for a "barbeque". Fortunately the food was smoked <b>outdoors</b> but we got to eat in the air-conditioned comforts of home. Arizona style summer barbeque :)<br />
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After dinner we headed out to a local fireworks show, and it was still about 100 degrees! We stopped and got slurpies on our way over, which may have been the kids favorite part (ok and mine!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kickin his feet back</td></tr>
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But mostly Emmett just enjoyed shining this little flashlight in everyones faces<br />
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And of course after the party comes the after-party (yeah). So we headed back to the Edwards for a little fireworks of our own.</div>
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And Emmett had his first experience with a sparkler... priceless.</div>
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It was our first holiday since the move, and I think we were both missing our families a bit. However we are grateful for new friends (and grateful it has cooled down since then!) And of course, it wouldn't be right to discuss the 4th without touching on our gratitude for our freedom and all those who have fought for it. God Bless the USA :)<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-31765626801744350222013-07-17T23:48:00.000-07:002013-07-17T23:50:38.679-07:00prayer works!!Ok last post for the night!! Just wanted to take a quick minute to give a pregnancy update. My last post I wasn't doing so good, but I have miraculously taken a turn for the better! My blood pressures have actually gone DOWN a little bit. And I FEEL better :)<br />
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I am so, so blessed. It never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for the many thoughts and prayers, it's working! And on another positive note, I asked the Doctor on my appt Monday what NICU time would look like from here on out. She said if I ended up delivering NOW, he would probably stay about six weeks (still longer than I want but SO much better than 3 months!! Plus I'm not going to deliver now, I can feel it).<br />
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Then she said if I can make it to 33-34 weeks, SOME babies can go home!!! Some stay a short time just getting the whole eating thing down. (I can do it! I can do it!!) That's only a few weeks away! I left with such a greater sense of hope. This is going to work out...everything is going to be okay.<br />
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I try not to stress too much, cause one of my biggest fears is having to be in the hospital a long time and not being able to take care of Emmett. Just the thought of it kills me!! So every day farther I get, I look at it as less chance of that happening, and I am so extremely grateful. You guys, prayer is real. I feel it deep down in my bones. We are heard and looked after :) That is my greatest sense of peace.<br />
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I'll leave you with one of my favorite scriptures, John 14:27.<br />
<span class="verse" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 1px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span class="verse" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 1px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span class="verse" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 1px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">27 </span><sup class="studyNoteMarker" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><marker>a</marker></sup><a class="footnote" href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/14?lang=eng#" id="footnote35" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/footnote?lang=eng&volumeUri=nt&bookUri=john&chapterUri=14&noteID=27a" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #486fae; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Peace</a><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> I leave with you, my </span><sup class="studyNoteMarker" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><marker>b</marker></sup><a class="footnote" href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/14?lang=eng#" id="footnote36" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/footnote?lang=eng&volumeUri=nt&bookUri=john&chapterUri=14&noteID=27b" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #486fae; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">peace</a><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;"> I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be </span><sup class="studyNoteMarker" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><marker>c</marker></sup><a class="footnote" href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/14?lang=eng#" id="footnote37" rel="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/footnote?lang=eng&volumeUri=nt&bookUri=john&chapterUri=14&noteID=27c" style="background-color: #f9f6ed; border: 0px; color: #486fae; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">troubled</a><span style="background-color: #f9f6ed; color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">, neither let it be afraid.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-79133581289984150002013-07-17T23:08:00.000-07:002013-07-17T23:13:21.902-07:00our first visitors!Okay I'm way behind on my blogging... but who are kidding?? I'm 30 weeks pregnant. I can't even keep up with my house. More truthfully, I can't even keep up with my KITCHEN. Or my toddler for that matter.<br />
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BUT I don't think it's going to get any easier in the coming weeks so I better catch up! We were so lucky to have my Mom and little brother Caysen visit for a week and check out our new home. Emmett LOOOOVES his Uncle Caysen and was in seventh heaven every day.<br />
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It was already heating up outside so it was hard to do a lot, but we managed to squeeze in some fun things!</div>
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We went and saw the temple (which Caysen wasn't thrilled about haha). "Its VACATION, isn't there something better to do than the TEMPLE?" Gotta love kids minds! He was a trooper and braved the 108 degree heat to check it out though.</div>
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I also got to paint the dark red wall in our place that bothered me everytime I looked at it! What started out looking out like this...<br />
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Went through a transformation to this</div>
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The rest of our walls are kind of an apricot shade, and I painted the accent wall a light blue-grey shade. Now it has a much lighter, airy-er, coastal feel. I've already painted a large frame for the wall white, and I plan to eventually give the desk a fresh coat of white paint as well. Someday I'll update a complete picture of the office/loft.<br />
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They tried to catch fish in the lake by our house. Unsuccessful... maybe we need some fishing poles??<br />
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They got to watch one of Emmett's Pee Wee PE classes (so funny!)<br />
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and of course we spent lots of time at the pool!<br />
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We also went to the Phoenix Zoo which was really cool! I got season passes so I'm excited to go back again and again. It's so big there are whole areas we didn't even make it to (and we even did a little tram tour).<br />
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Okay, this animal (which I don't remember the name of... something from Africa) can supposedly detect movement with their peripheral vision up to 3 miles away. 3 MILES!! How crazy it that?! I can't even SEE for three miles, let alone tell you if something is moving. That's basically super power status.<br />
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We petted AND fed the stringrays! Not going to lie, it was a little bit scary! They had these little sardines frozen and chopped and half, and you had to hold them deep down in the water UNDER the stingray (their mouths are on the bottom). Then it swam up to you and sucked it up like a vacuum!<br />
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And here's me in all my pregnant glory posing with the giraffes.... I DO exist! Even though I spend most of my time hiding behind the camera these days.<br />
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I was so sad the day my mom and Caysen left! There really is nothing like family. It breaks my heart when Emmett tells me he wants to go over to their house (which is like every other day).<br />
Thank goodness this baby is coming soon so we'll be getting lots more visitors!!! Next on the roster Kaity and Kirsten are coming out (in a couple weeks) and are going to throw me my first official baby shower! Woot woot! (Fingers crossed!)<br />
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Thanks for coming out guys, we love you so much and miss you!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-10591163895613953432013-07-17T21:52:00.000-07:002013-07-17T21:58:00.010-07:00bon anniversaire a mon amiA couple weeks ago we celebrated Jared's 27th birthday. I know such a baby, right? I always love to remind him I'm <i>SO</i> much older (a full 8 months) ;) We had only been down in Arizona for a couple weeks, so we didn't really know many people to celebrate with, but we still made sure to party!<br />
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I baked a Vanilla Tres Leches cake for his big day which ended up being a little more involved than I anticipated, but turned out soo good! Emmett and I surprised him with it when he got home from work, and I'm not sure who was actually more excited - Jared or Emmett!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See that gorgeous watch he's sporting? That was his birthday present from Emmett and I!</td></tr>
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Emmett had been <strike>patiently</strike> waiting all day to eat the cake we slaved over. And was just as excited as could be to help blow out the candles.</div>
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Project Tres Leche (Pronounced in a Puss in Boots accent) was a success! </div>
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A couple friends informed us off all the restaurants around us that provide FREE dinner on your birthday! So we MAY have hit up not one, but TWO of them! (Next day's work lunch for Jared!!) haha. We're all about free things!</div>
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I'm so grateful for Jared and all he does for our family. I feel lucky to embark on all life's adventures with my best friend :) </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-84877064944318097952013-07-09T19:38:00.001-07:002013-07-09T19:38:53.545-07:00we like our beans fully cooked, thank youI don't have it in me for a lengthy post but I'll at least get out the basics to keep everyone updated on the "beans" situation:<br />
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-29 weeks today<br />
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- Swelling has been on the rise for the past month, but is reaching an all-time high (this pregnancy at least). I gave up my real wedding ring long ago and have since grown out of my larger fake ring, AND yet an even BIGGER fake. I have given up on the ring situation. And my feet are resigned to flip flops 1.5 sizes too big :(<br />
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-My blood pressure is on the rise. 2 weeks ago it had been slightly elevated at 130/80, by last week it was 135/85, at yesterday's appt it had jumped to 145/95, and today I've been hovering around 150/100.<br />
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....so things aren't looking great at this point. Luckily no sign of protein in my urine as of yesterdays appointment.<br />
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Doctors are keeping a close eye on me, and rest assured I'm watching myself even closer! Please keep us in your prayers and hope my blood pressure stabilizes and hangs out where it is awhile rather than continuing to increase! Love you all and will try to keep you as updated as possible!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-52136955065677217282013-06-12T09:10:00.000-07:002013-06-12T09:10:30.205-07:00the best things in life are freeI did a little research online and found out that every first friday of the month is free at the Phoenix Children's Museum (Thanks Target!). So we picked Jared up from work, braved the heat and the crowds, and ventured downtown!<br />
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It was certainly an adventure. It was 110 that day and we had to wait outside for about 35 mins before getting let in. I've never appreciated the shade as much I have living here! In Utah, shade was more or less just about getting the sun out of your eyes - but the temperature didn't really change that much. HERE it's a stark contrast if you can step into a shady spot. All the sudden that intense heat baking down on you is gone! It was funny to see everyone huddled together in the shadow line from a tree, and even people sitting in shadows from the road signs.<br />
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We've learned the heat isn't quite <i>as</i> bad as we feared. The mornings and evenings aren't bad at all - its worst from about noon to 7pm. It's definitely uncomfortable when it's THAT hot, but even Jared has agreed it's more manageable than being in the cold. It's uncomfortable but not <i>painful </i>the way freezing temps are<i>. </i>Different ends of the spectrum! And we've lived in both extremes - pretty funny!<br />
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When we finally made it in, it was luckily not too crowded since they were monitoring how many people were let in at one time. Emmett immediately saw the tricycle car wash station and he was off!<br />
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(These two were taken with my ancient phone, so no judgment!)</div>
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He found a couple friends - one to drive and one to ride in the caboose with - and was in heaven!</div>
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Next we played at the mail station</div>
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and in the tree fort</div>
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This air tunnel shot little koosh-type balls through and then out. It was one of Emmett's favorite things.</div>
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He got to meet the Utility guys - Electricity and Water (we sure love our water!)</div>
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Then he played some more, cooked some "Mac and Cheese" in the kitchen, and put in a little time at the ice cream stand. Gotta make a living!</div>
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Lastly came the room we spent majority of our time in: the car room.</div>
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Even I have to admit this room was pretty sweet. I understand why Emmett was so enamored. The top left picture is a tower you could climb to race cars down a looping track. Driving the motorcycle and filling up the gas were also favorite past times. </div>
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I love the anticipation on his face as he sends his racecar out out of the gate!</div>
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All in all the museum was a success. And for free?! Even better! I'm sure we will return soon :)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-62993706564196502772013-06-08T16:01:00.000-07:002013-06-08T16:08:02.971-07:00some like it hotLucky for me, I'm one of those people - because we sure got HOT! And I've actually been loving it so far. We're just coming up on the real scorch season, so it hasn't been too bad <i>yet</i>. Though I do say my prayers daily neither my car or my air conditioner goes out! Haha.<br />
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We've been settling into our new home in Gilbert, AZ well and are beginning to feel more like its "home". Especially now that I've located the basics - Target, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Trader Joes, the community pools (even though we have our own!), the library etc etc etc. And the best part is everything I could want is within 5-10 minutes! (Besides Nordstrom Last Chance, which is AMAZING - its about 30). It's crazy how many amenities/activities are here.<br />
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Here's a brief look at our cute little neighborhood. The house is still a work in progress, so you only get to see the outside for now!<br />
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There's little lakes all throughout our subdivision where you can feed ducks, fish, or float if you have a pontoon boat. Here's the one right across from us.<br />
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and a little glimpse of the neighborhood. Greener than you pictured Arizona, huh?<br />
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Emmett loves walking to the lake and just hanging around. Im having a bit of a difficult time convincing him we don't need jackets and boots anymore... Guess this little guy isn't very used to summer! Despite the heat he'll still sometimes insist on leaving the house with a jacket or his Hunter boots!<br />
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Our first weekend here we hit up a local Peach Festival which was tons of fun! There was a little farmers market, U-Pick Peaches, every type of peach delicacy you could imagine (From peach chipotle, peach syrup, peach salsa and grilling sauces, even peach gummy bears!), Pony Rides, and even their own bakery.<br />
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At the bakery you could buy baked peach goods and homemade peach ice cream. We tried a peachy cinnamon roll which was sooooo goood. It was like peach cobbler and a cinnamon roll had a delicious baby. Our friends, Terry and Whitney, tried the ice cream and said it was amazing as well.<br />
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Of course we had to ride the wagon out to the farm to pick some peaches!</div>
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Emmett turned out the be best little worker of all! He sure put in a hard days work under the sun ;)</div>
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These peaches were incredible - quite possibly the best I've ever eaten. So big and soft and juicy! Here's our peach train.</div>
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After a strenous twenty minutes out in the fields, a tired red-faced litte guy rode back on the wagon with a bagful of fresh goods!</div>
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(No, he's not sunburnt just hot - partly due to the big rubber boots he insisted on wearing!) </div>
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We had so much fun and will definitely be returning next year!! Although next year I'm planning ahead and going with more money to spend! I'm still kicking myself for not buying the peach syrup for my Sunday morning pancakes! </div>
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This post is getting really long so I think I'm going to end it here, but be expecting more AZ adventures soon!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-476470053998016331.post-20941564323359179112013-06-06T08:43:00.003-07:002013-06-06T09:02:01.412-07:00the ending of a chapter<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
Writing those words are so sad! Life in little Provo, Utah has
been such a happy, wonderful chapter in our life, and to say moving on from it
was hard is an understatement. The past few months have been such a blur - A whirlwind of phone calls, doctor appointments, moving boxes, family get togethers, excitement and tears.</div>
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Here's a look our "final pages" in Provo, if you will.</div>
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When Uncle Jake came down for a visit, we spent a morning up at Bridal Veil Falls. Couldn't leave without saying goodbye to the beautiful canyon! </div>
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*Also, somewhere up that mountain lies the remains of Jakes skinny corduroys, which he naively decided were great attire for climbing up the falls.</div>
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Before we knew it, our little house was all packed up, and everything we had to our name was shoved in the back of a truck.</div>
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It's so weird knowing your entire life can be contained in this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VkRJqyvAtLIaddypJcg_Z9bnltdNGLp8KMixj8zK23AempL13wO8Id4C3u_eJGvTjY-1nyrjgJ1QHZPpsxbm8fg98mNpS42nA8UBJ8pLjbSljRFtquaG669oNW94HB_qIG6rt4BKUOs/s1600/IMG_7954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VkRJqyvAtLIaddypJcg_Z9bnltdNGLp8KMixj8zK23AempL13wO8Id4C3u_eJGvTjY-1nyrjgJ1QHZPpsxbm8fg98mNpS42nA8UBJ8pLjbSljRFtquaG669oNW94HB_qIG6rt4BKUOs/s640/IMG_7954.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">Since Jared and his parents headed down a couple days ahead of Emmett and I, we said our final goodbyes to our home</span>.</span></div>
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After a quick kiss and a "See you in Arizona", I cried watching Jared turn the corner in our Grand Prix for the very last time.</div>
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(yes, I documented it)<br />
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I am so grateful for all the friends, family, and members of our church who helped make this move possible. Between the quickness of the move and my pregnancy, we wouldn't have been able to do it without you!!</div>
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Emmett and I got to spend a couple days at Gramby's house before our flight, and Kaity and Rusty even came and stayed too so it was a grand ol' party.</div>
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We decided to go to Hogle Zoo on Saturday.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JeFMg6c56ueQ5vLr6X-Utzs2odoXXqhr3UkhyphenhyphenUVhdMaDOe9Gp45diONkbXcHSNLCJnUpHuTsfOPM5CfvYPIfJbax_rI2Dp6EsHQrA01GAl3Fm1ZIYKaP1482BaxWZRUj6uOO1PlF_Io/s1600/zoo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8JeFMg6c56ueQ5vLr6X-Utzs2odoXXqhr3UkhyphenhyphenUVhdMaDOe9Gp45diONkbXcHSNLCJnUpHuTsfOPM5CfvYPIfJbax_rI2Dp6EsHQrA01GAl3Fm1ZIYKaP1482BaxWZRUj6uOO1PlF_Io/s640/zoo2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There's no shortage of pictures - last day remember??</div>
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There was a LEGO exhibit going on while we are there, and the top two pictures are a couple of their displays. They were pretty cool! The trick was convincing Emmett he couldn't ride that Polar Bear... he was pretty upset about that. He was also into the "Scuba Steve" outfit more than any of the animals... Go figure.<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">While we are/ have been excited for our new chapter, closing one is never easy. Thanks for a wonderful few years Provo!</span> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0