You're Still Hungry?

Could We Live Here?

2012-01-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

So I spent all of this time last night finishing the blog and when I went to post it, I lost all of the writing. Grrr...so annoying. Anyway, Scott had an interview in the very remote, small town of Bishop. Since we might live there, we decided to make a family trip of it to check things out. It is over 5 hours away from Sacramento and you have to drive through two mountain passes to get there. Lucky for us, no chains were required on the way up and the girls were awesome. I can't say enough how much I love portable DVD players! What did our parents do without them??!! The above picture is in our hotel, getting ready for bed.

Ada got her very own bed. She realized that it wasn't a crib and that she COULD get out without our help. That new discovery made bed time next to impossible that first night. With the power going out, Ada falling out of the bed, and my imagination getting the best of me, it made for a really long night that first night.

Watching morning cartoons.

There are a lot of mules in Bishop. In fact, they have Mule Days once a year. I am not sure exactly what happens during Mule Days, but I am sure that it involves a lot of Mules!

After Scotts interview, we promised Ada an outing at the park. There are two things I do not like very much. The Cold and the wind. Bishop has both. Scott taught Ada how to put her hands in her pockets. It's really cute to watch her trying to walk fast with her hands stuffed in her pockets. When we decided to finally coax Ada to leave the park she told us that her hands were freezing!

At the park

Ivy wasn't quite sure what she thought of Bishop

Our little climber

As small a Bishop is, it really is a pretty little town. It definitely has a family feel to it. When we finally convinced Ada that we should go get some dinner we headed to a local restaurant known for their breakfast. We got dinner. It was okay. Luckily, there is a family owned movie theater in town. We had "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," or "Chipmunks" to choose from. We chose Chipmunks. We had a fun time and after the movie was over Ada told us that she needed to go and dance. So Scott took her up to the front of the theater and she danced her little heart out during the credits.

Our little Ragamuffins.
We wanted to check the ward out while we were there and Scott told me to call them to make sure it wasn't Stake Conference. When we walked into a dark chapel with a big screen hanging down, we knew something was up. We were told it was stake conference and since the stake center is over 2 hours away they do a remote broadcast. We were going to stay for a bit but they were experiencing technical difficulties and since we had a long drive ahead of us and the weather was uncertain, we snuck out.

Lucky we left when we did. The drive was really pretty on the way back, but chains were required once we hit Tahoe. Those suckers are expensive to put on and take off. We were $50 poorer once we took them off.

Ada was really mad at us! After about 2 hrs of Yo Gabba Gabba, I told her we needed to take a break and for her to take a rest. That didn't fly over well. After about 20 minutes of her screaming, "I WANT DVD'S, STOP SINGING!" I put a movie back on. I usually don't give in so easily, but did this time for sanity reasons.

Did I mention there are a lot of Mules in Bishop? We needed to get some footage of these interesting creatures.

So, could we live here? If I knew it would only be for a couple of years, I think I could do it. There are a lot of fun outdoorsy things to do and we could really be outdoorsy people. The few drawbacks are 1. It is far away from EVERYTHING. Bishop is pretty much the main town for about 2 hrs, 2. Cold, cold, cold. and 3. It is super expensive. I need to add a 4. After living so close to family for these past months, it would hard to move so far away again. The drive isn't that far, just not that easy to get to, especially during the winter.

Anyway, we had a fun weekend. I guess we will find out in about a month where Scott's stands with the position.

Ivy's Blessing Day

2012-01-18T02:46:00.000-05:00

So, I need to figure out how to work the new Blogger site. Not tonight, though, not tonight. I have been

meaning to post about Ivy's baby blessing for a few days now, but things have been busy.

We were so grateful for our family members that came out to Sacramento to support Ivy on her big day. Scott did a great job and there was very little crying from Ivy. I guess my father-in-law was the "Keep the Binky in the mouth person" during the blessing. I was able to listen to most of the blessing. Ada was climbing all over the bench, trying to get her cousins attention, etc. It wasn't until my SIL Jenny, grabbed Ada and pulled her over the bench to sit with her that I was able to pay attention. Thanks Jenny.

Baby Ryan is seriously awesome. Love that kid. Doesn't he have the best rosy cheeks? This baby is all smiles...unless of course you make him cry (one time it happened)

My sis and Brian lovin Baby Ivy

Some of the gang. Ada and Maggie are close cousins...in age and friendship. These girls are a little sneaky too. At one point during the day, Ada's older cousin came up to us (Me, Scott and Doug) asking if it was okay to play out in the front. I told them that only if adults were there. Scott asked if there were any kids out there and she said that Maggie and Ada are across the street. Doug and Scott jump up and sure enough, there were the little girls, talking to the neighbors looking at their new baby. Awhile after that incident, Ada told me she was going outside. Before I could grab her, she was sprinting down the driveway, barefoot, and was soon into the street, running full speed. I was yelling her to stop while chasing after her in my high heeled boots. I have to admit, I laughed while running after her because I was picturing how funny I probably looked yelling at my 2 year old daughter to come back while trying to catch her.

Ivy and Daddy

Spending time in the kitchen

I had to post this picture because it is so classic. Chad is famous at making Congo Bars (pure deliciousness) and my mom is famous for spooning out some dough before he puts it in the oven. I didn't mean to get her in the picture, but after I saw this, I couldn't resist. Love you Mom!!

Grandpa Foley, Aunt Jenny, Cousins Ryan and Patrick.

Cousin Andrew loves babies. I have a picture of Andrew holding Ada at about the same age.

Shortly after the blessing. I had to get Ivy out of the dress before she slipped out of my arms.

Ivy just before taking off to the church. She really is the sweetest baby. She smiles and coos all of the time and is just an all around good baby. The only real complaint I have about her is she throws up a lot. Projectile vomit. I would be concerned if she wasn't gaining weight, but as you can see, she has some good chubs on her.

My sister was kind enough to take some notes during the blessing because she probably knew I was going to be distracted a little with Ada.

Here are some of the notes she took:

That Ivy was blessed to be born in this time with the Gospel on the earth

Her blessed her to stay close to the Savior and blessed her to be close to the spirit while facing all of her challenges

He blessed her to be a good example to her family and friends and to do what's right in the face of temptation

When the time is right, Scott blessed Ivy to choose a worthy man to take to the temple and marry for time and all eternity.

It was a really special day for our family. Thanks again for those that came out to support us! We love you

Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T02:58:00.000-05:00

So the pictures are totally out of order but I have already spent so much time uploading that I am not going to even attempt to change things. Christmas was great! We had so much fun with family and Santa was extra kind to us.

My parents got us some Kings vs Bulls tickets and we got to go see Jimmer represent...but I guess he didn't really represent because he didn't do all that well. We brought little Ivy Girl with us because we thought she might enjoy all of the screaming fans (or maybe we did not have a sitter). Overall she did great with only a few minor meltdowns.

Ada's Christmas present from Uncle John and Aunt Amy. The play food has had some good use already.

\Mom and baby Ivy

Awkward family picture

Ada reading her new friends a book

Grandpa Foley and Ivy

She had to bring her friends to church

Opening presents

Grandma Foley and Ivy

Scott and his shnazzy (is that a word...I should use it in Words with Friends) new shirt.

Sitting up...kind of

Grandpa helping Ada open presents

We visited Dovewood Court last year and Ada loved it. It did not dissapoint this go around.

Making Christmas cookies

I don't know what happened to the layout of this post.

Anyway, the holidays were great for us. We loved spending time with the family members we were able to see. By New Years Eve, we were back home and all the visitors had headed to their next destinations. Scott, Chad and I decided to keep things low key so we played games and ate a lot of snacks to bring in the New Year. And what a good year it has been so far!

A Lot of Changes

2011-12-11T02:39:00.004-05:00

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Well maybe not A LOT of things, but some significant things. First off, Scott was sworn in as a member of the California Bar. We couldn't be prouder of him. He worked so hard through all of law school and for the Bar. Now on to finding the job. Maybe this isn't super significant as much as cute. Ada enjoys supporting Ivy through tummy time. In fact, Ada usually tells me to take a picture during this special sister time.

POTTY TRAINING!
I wasn't going to start yet, but during Thanksgiving, Ada's two year old cousin was here and is totally potty trained. Well, Ada's aunt asked her if she wanted to go potty on the toilet...and she said, "Yes." I decided to just go for it. I don't think Ada realized how much she was going to be hounded by me once we made the decision to go for it. There have been a couple of accidents, one major one today (loose stools will sneak up on anyone). :) She is hilarious with the whole potty training. Last night she woke up around 11 and was sobbing ( I think she had a nightmare). She told me she had to "Poop" so I stripped her down and on the way to the bathroom she told me she needed to show the bad guys how she goes to the bathroom. The bad guys are the "Stabbington Brothers" from Tangled. I had to get her excited to "Do her duty" and somehow talking about the bad guys from Tangled have helped.
I bought her Minnie Mouse underwear and she calls it, "Minnie Mouse Clubhouse" underwear. It is size 2T/3T, but is a little small. She is a big girl.

Ivy is just growing up so fast. We are so in love with our newest addition the family. When she is happy, she is a sweety pie, when she is angry, everyone knows it. She is really starting to smile, and coo lately and it just melts my heart.

These two are going to be best friends I think.

Oh, this picture is out of order but it is too late to change things around. Sometimes when Ada can't go right when she sits down she wants to get down so I have to convince her to stay on the toilet. Ada's Grandma Foley gave her a Tangled Book with all sorts of fun stickers (just after Ivy was born) and she has practically destroyed the book from reading it so much and having it in the bathroom keeps her on the toilet longer.

My little underwear wearing girl. I just love her

I still need to post Thanksgiving, but that will have to wait until I have a little bit more time.

And the Humor Continues in the Early AM

2011-11-17T11:10:00.002-05:00

This morning at around 5:45 as I was feeding Ivy (or just before), I lifted something off of the ground and a huge spider scurried across the floor! No, I didn't scream but came pretty close. You see, just last night, we were visiting in the Living Room and there was a huge spider on the wall. My brother tried to kill it and thought it was in his tissue, but discovered that it was not! A few minutes later, Scott felt a little tickle on his leg, lifted the pant leg, and there was the spider! He kicked his leg...towards me I might add, and I did the spider dance.

Okay, so as you can see, spiders were already on my mind. So, back to this morning, as I watched in horror as the spider sprinted off, I looked for anything to smash it with. I could find nothing since my room was so clean (or I couldn't find anything hard enough to get it with). I was pretty sure it made a home in my sweatshirt that I so lovingly left on the floor and since by then I was already feeding the baby, I decided to wake up Scott. Here is where the humor comes in.

He is just as (or maybe more) afraid of spiders than me. When I told him there was a spider that needed to be killed, he shot up! Now, this guy has nightmares about spiders so you can only imagine his terror when I woke him up from almost a dead sleep (Ivy had just been screaming in his ear minutes before so he was not fully back asleep). Anyway, I told him where I thought it was. He gave my jacket a little shake and nothing. He looked around for it and there was nothing. Since I woke him up 20 minutes before his alarm went off, he climbed back into bed defeated. He checked again when he got up 20 minutes later. It WAS in the track jacket. He gave it a good shake and even though I wasn't watching I could picture his stance as it dropped out of the clothing. Then there was the pouncing, with the shoe. Then when that didn't work, the book light came on for better lighting. So shoe in one hand, light in the other and Scott trying to kill the spider. I was afraid the pounding of the shoe would wake Ada up, but luckily it did not. After several attempts of trying to coax the spider out of the carpet lining, Scott gave up.

Phew...long funny story. Maybe not so much funny as disgusting! The spider has probably burrowed itself in my laundry and I will find it today and say a bad word!

I think I will address Scott as Spiderman

The End

Oh and I corrected a mistake on my previous post. I used the word "Clothes" when what I meant was "Close." Yeah, embarrassing!

Nothin Like a Little Humor at 5:30AM

2011-11-10T16:37:00.003-05:00

So, I feel like Ada has been sick a TON this last year. She usually is so full of energy that it makes me sad to see her moping around. Anyway, these past few days, she has had a nasty chest cold. I feel pain when she coughs that's how bad it sounds. Early this morning just as I was crawling back in bed after putting Ivy back down, I heard Ada's hoarse cry (she sounds like a little man right now). She rarely wakes up during the night so I went in to check on her. She was sitting up and said:

Ada: Mom, I want to lay down

Me: Okay, let me help you

I help her lay down and start to tickle her face

Ada: Mom, close your eyes and go back to bed

Me (holding back a laugh): Okay

Scott went back in 20 min later and she told him to tuck her back in to give her two dolls and to leave the door open a crack (she is big onto trying to get us to keep the door open)

He came back in and a few minutes later she was crying. By this time (30 min had passed by) we decided to bring her in bed with us (which we have never done before). I thought she would like that. I laid her in between us and told her to close her eyes. She just stared at me. I thought this would be a real treat for her, but no. In her cracked voice she said, "Mom, bring me back to my own bed."

Me: Okay

And then I made Scott bring her back.

I thought it was pretty funny (but sad at the same time). I can't wait until she is healthy again!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-03T15:47:00.003-04:00

Halloween was so much fun. My good friend Jenny (she has been in many of my posts since moving to CA), decided to host a little Halloween party, so I helped and the party did not disappoint. She invited 4 couple over (with all the kids). All in all, I believe there were 10 adults and 13 kids (correct me if I am wrong, Jenny).

We had soup and bread bowls, homemade bread, fruit kabobs and some cupcakes (made by yours truly) for dessert. The kids had their own dinner (I mean, what kid really likes soup? Not mine). They got pigs in a blanket and bagel bites. Prettttty healthy.Ada loves going over to Jenny's. She has 4 girls and Ada is best friends with all of them (well, not the baby so much. In fact, the baby is still terrified of me and Ada). Ada enjoyed eating her chocolate cupcake. Actually, she at the candies off of it and licked some of the frosting, then handed it to me (dropped it on my lap while I was picking Ivy up) .

Trick-Or-Treating was too much fun. Imagine the neighbors surprise when they opened their doors to 10+ kids, rather than the 1 or 2 they were expecting. Pretty funny.
I had to get a picture of Jenny's little Pea. Poor Charlotte couldn't crawl when on the ground cause her feet were trapped in her pea costume. It was quite the site.

My little Butterfly and Cupcake.

Ada holding hands with one of Jenny's girls. Poor Lydia wore dress up shoes on the trek and got blisters. By the end of our night, Jenny picked Lydia up while saying. "My kids are never to big to be held." It was funny...guess you had to be there.

Ada was hilarious. At each house she would say "Trick or Treat," then "Thank-you." then as she was jumping off of their porch would yell, "I'm a butterfly, Happy Halloween."

Scott kept Ivy warm

We had such a fun night and have decided (Jenny and I) that next year the adults will dress up too! Thanks Jenny for hosting.

On a side note...Ada has probably had 1 or 2 pieces of her candy from Trunk-or-treating/Trick or treating and I have had about 10. Scott told me I have to pay her every time I take some...

A little of our new life

2011-10-30T02:06:00.006-04:00

No, Ada isn't the crazy sister, just happened to get her with her eyes half closed (or shall I say, half open?). She loves holding and kissing baby Ivy. Cuddle time with Daddy.

Everyone has been a little wiped out.

Now only if she let us put her down more often!

Ada got a scooter and helmet for her birthday. She is getting quite good at riding it.

Too cute!

Her clothes are either shrinking or she is just growing up.

We went to the pumpkin patch with some of Ada's favorite people. She had a great time.

Ivy came along for the ride but slept the whole time.

For some reason Ada was afraid of the tractor ride, but I made her go on it anyway. Horrible I know. She did find a cool pumpkin out in the patch, though.

Ada seems SO huge to us now. She is starting to play more on her own now, rather than needing all of our attention, so that has been helpful with the whole transition.

We are loving our crazy life and couldn't be happier with our two beautiful little girls!

(I think Ivy wanted some of Ada's fruit snacks)

Trunk-Or-Treating

2011-10-30T01:44:00.004-04:00

Tonight we went to our ward Trunk-or-treating and had a great time. The only complaint was there wasn't enough food for everyone (or maybe there was, and some people stuffed their faces!). The whole drive to the church Ada told us she would not be wearing her costume because it was going to be itchy (uh oh...sounds just like her mommy). How is it possible for felt to be itchy!? I assured her she would be just fine. She agreed to try her Butterfly costume on once we got to the church...and she kept it on. What a cute little Butterfly (I got the costumes at Old Navy for $5. Can't beat that) Pippi Longstalking and her little Cupcake
Muno with his Butterfly

Our little family! I wanted to do something all coordinating, but when all was said and done, I just didn't have the time, energy or money to make it happen. Oh well, I was pleased that we even made it to the party.

Ada was so wound up from the fun night, it took her over an hour to fall asleep. She was just hanging out in her crib just chit chatting.

Fun times tonight

Injury

2011-10-25T12:11:00.003-04:00

So Ada has some really cute footsie PJ's and my parents have some really unforgiving tile in their kitchen. I am sure you can imagine what I am going to talk about next...

Ada was excited about getting some cereal so she was running in the kitchen (full speed) when she turned the corner, and all hell broke loose. Scott heard the smack of her face to the tile in the other room and I not only heard it, I saw it. She started crying right away, and I rushed over to her to once again, to check if she had all of her teeth (I posted about another accident she had during the summer). I couldn't tell if all of her teeth were in tact because of all of the blood gushing out. Luckily, it was just her tongue and not broken/missing teeth. HOWEVER, this was a very gross and painful bite into her tongue. I have never seen a hole so big. Poor thing could hardly eat anything and when nap time came around, she discovered that sucking on her binky was painful so I told her to just hold it in her hand. She sadly said, "Okay mom, I will just hold it cause it hurts my mouth." Maybe this is the time to ween her off of the bink??

Anyway, she is doing much better today and is even eating more, but sucking still hurts. SO no sippy cups or binkies until further notice.

And a side not, today she was in her footsie PJ's again (different one's cause the other one's have blood on them) and I told her no running in the kitchen. Just before we were headed to her room to change...SMACK! I look over and Ada was on the ground crying, only this time, no blood, just a swollen and red cheek. Yeah, I think we will be holding off on the footsie PJ's for a little while.

Watch this video at your own risk...it is quite disgusting!

The Story

2011-10-07T22:59:00.007-04:00

I can't tell my labor story without telling about my birthday (the day before). They go a little hand in hand...sort of. This whole pregnancy I was hoping so badly to have a birthday baby. I must admit...I even prayed and told Heavenly Father that I would love to have a birthday baby, but would understand if it didn't happen when I wanted. Late Sunday night and early into Monday morning, I was having labor pains so I thought for sure baby would be here for my birthday. BUT, labor pains stopped mid morning and I was not happy. I woke up Tuesday morning (my birthday) feeling GREAT! At the very end of pregnancy...you don't want to feel great, you want to go into labor. Ha. But, as I laid in bed, I decided that I was going to have a great day. And I did. Scott got up early and made me crepes, so we enjoyed breakfast as a family and I was happy and okay that labor wasn't making it's beautiful (and yet ugly) appearance this day!

No one actually gets ready before they eat breakfast, do they?

I also got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with this little clown most of the day!

My sister wanted to do something for baby girl #2, but since I already have pretty much all we need, she decided to treat me to some well needed pampering and sent me away to get a pedicure. It was even more perfect because it just happened to be my birthday the day I did it. Don't my toes look lovely? The Pedicure did not disappoint either. I decided that if we ever have the extra money to do stuff like this, I might have to take advantage of it. Not cause I have to have my toes painted, but because it feels so nice!

On Monday, a few of my SIL's and I happened to be online at the same time for a bit. I was expressing my frustrations of having had labor pains the night before but was feeling fine that day. One of the SIL's asked me if I had ever heard of the Prego Pizza

which I hadn't. She mentioned that they were in CA, and we happened to just have the very pizza place nearby that made the Prego Pizza. So, on my birthday (more for fun than anything), we decided to go to Skipolini's. So much fun.

Love this picture of my brother and Dad

Not the greatest picture, but had to get a family picture

The Prego Pizza.

I had to put this picture of my dad because I thought it was awesome

This was really tasty pizza! It has just about every topping and I did not cut any corners. I made no changes whatsoever because I wanted this pizza to work its magic! Funny story while at the restaurant. I had to use the restroom, and while I was gone, the waiter, not on purpose I'm sure, spilled soda on my chair. I sat down and and noticed right away I was wet. I said that something had spilled on my seat and Scott asked if my water broke.

After dinner, we put Ada to bed, Scott made a cake, and while it was cooling down, my dad sent us to a movie. I was still feeling pretty good, so we headed out and saw "MoneyBall"

When we got back, it was just the two of us, Scott frosted the cake, put my candles on, I made a wish (which came true), and we stuffed our faces. I broke one of the candles so no one would really know my age (or maybe Scott accidentally broke it when he pulled it out of the package).

No one was awake to take our picture, so this will do.

Next Morning (5AM)

This was a very familiar routine for me. Off and on for the past couple of weeks, I will wake up usually really early in the morning and have contractions pretty regularly, and then they stop. By 7AM, they were still consistent, not too painful yet, just consistent. By 9AM they were def 4-5 min apart and getting more painful. I walked the treadmill off and on for an hour and was still experiencing contractions. I called my doctor, told them what was happening, and they sent me to the hospital. Maybe it is hindsight, but deep down, I had a feeling that it might be too early, but we still went. When we got there, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to 3cm. She told me to go walk around the hospital for an hour and she would check for progress (which any progress would mean that I stay at the hospital). SO, Scott and I walked, and walked, and walked. Contractions were getting more painful and were still consistent. I thought for sure we would be admitted. NOPE. The nurse checked again and NOTHING. Talk about discouraging. She told me that all of the nurses really liked me and were routing for me to stay. Since it was slow, she told me we could go for another walk, which we did. Another 45 min walk happened...and I had nothing to show for it. No progress. So with tears in my eyes, I was sent home with a light sedative to help me sleep and a prayer in my heart that I would be coming back soon. With Ada it was so easy to know when to go to the hospital because my water broke at home...and there were no contractions.

Once home, I took a long shower, then laid down. I was able to sleep for an hour, but the contractions were still coming and were getting stronger. I decided to walk the treadmill to keep them coming. So walked I did. I am sure I was a pathetic site. I was wearing a skirt and flip flops, my hair was a mess and I am sure I was getting sweaty armpits from the contractions and walking. The nurse told me that I needed to go back to the hospital if I experienced any of the following: Contractions that took my breath away, that I could not speak through, water breaking, or decreased movement of the baby. By 7:00, the contractions were not only causing me to break out in a sweat, I was having a hard time talking, let alone focusing on anything being said to me. By 7:30, we were on our way back. I was praying SO HARD that I would be able to stay. This time rather than walking to the L & D floor, Scott pushed me in a wheelchair. And I forgot to tell Scott this, but while he was getting the chair for me, the security guard started talking to me about how I looked familiar, yadda, yadda...Did he not realize I was in labor? Not to be a jerk or anything, but come on guy, don't talk to me in my condition.

Only one nurse gave me attitude when we got upstairs. She looked at me like I was stupid when I said I was in labor. She sent me to the check up room and there I was told that YES, I had progressed from 3cm to 4 or 5. As soon as the nurse told me I would be staying, I asked if I could have my epidural.

I have decided I will never be one to brave through a delivery without drugs. Just not in my system. Now for those who are not familiar with the epidural process, this is how it works. BEFORE getting the wonderful drug, they have to pump your veins full of fluids to make sure you are hydrated. Well, that HUGE bag of fluid could not empty into my veins fast enough. I tried not to look at it because I didn't want to be disappointed when it hadn't moved. I think I only took 1 thing back with me from a birthing class I went to back in September. During my contractions, I started chanting because I realized that when I was only thinking, "I can't do this without an epidural, what if I run out of time," that was not helping the situation. So, under my breath, every time a contraction came, I would chant, "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this..." Of course I only said it loud enough for me to hear, but Scott could see i was saying something. It helped...a little. FINALLY, the fluids were in my veins and the anesthesiologists arrived. He started telling me about all of the risks involved and I just wanted to tell him I don't care and to give me that pen to sign the paper. Needles don't bother me too bad and I just kept thinking that in no time, the pain would be gone.

Within 2o minutes of getting the epidural, each contraction pain was weakening until it came to the point where I could relax. Heaven. I had been in pain since about 5 that morning, so the sweet relief of the epidural was amazing!
Exhaustion

I was so exhausted and when the nursed checked me right after the numbness kicked in I was already at an 8. I remember thinking, "No need to rush this," but within the hour and a half, I was ready to push. My doctor wasn't there yet and I told the RN that I felt totally comfortable with her delivering my baby. She did too, but told me I could do some practice pushes but if the doc wasn't there yet, I would need to stop. Well, good thing doc showed up shortly after I started pushing because about 15 minutes after, baby Ivy was here! The only true pain I felt after the epidural was during the pushing. Yes, during that time I could almost see everything happening and it wasn't pretty in my mind gaging how it felt. I remember the pure joy I felt when Ivy was born. They set her on me but took her right away to clean her (then I got skin to skin time). She was just like her big sister and started eating right away. The nurse gave me a pain pill right away to help me sleep since I was exhausted and needed to rest. But I realized I was STARVING. So she found me a tray of food and while I was falling asleep, I was stuffing my face. I am sure I was quite the site. On a normal day, I am sure the food I ate probably wasn't all that great, but at the time, It was the most delicious meal I had ever consumed.
Baby Ivy, 8lbs 10 1/2 oz.

20inches

She has a great head of hair

At first, I thought that she had a great pair of lungs but we have decided it isn't the loudness of her cry, but the quickness of the intensity of the cry. She gives no warning and will be screaming bloody murder within seconds of starting

Love her to pieces

My dad, proud grandpa. He was a lifesaver, among some of our friends. He watched Ada for most of the time while we were in the hospital (My mom couldn't be there for any of it because she was in a bad accident at my sister's house in the bay area and broke her hip. She is still in the bay area at a nursing facility and will be there for a few more days. So sad). When we got home, my dad told me that she had just finished off TWO bags of popcorn. That girl loves her popcorn.

Ada met her little sister and I won't say there was an instant bond, but I think they will be good buddies. It was such a strange feeling (but good) seeing my two daughters together.

So I had this big plan, that next time I had a baby, I was going to look cute at the hospital. Every day before I went into labor, I made sure to shower and put make up on, so I wouldn't look like death in my pictures. That all went out the window once the true labor kicked in. I could care less how I looked and by the time I had Ivy, I was too tired to care. So, once again, my hospital pictures are what I truly look like after having a baby.

I do love this picture of my little girls though.

Comparing the two birth stories, this one was way more painful and harder. I am so glad it is over, however, I am so grateful to have my little baby. I know the transition is going to be difficult and trying, but I can do it. I actually always love the hospital stay and am never in a rush to get home because of the round-the-clock care. I am not going to lie and say that I wasn't afraid to come home. Scott goes back to his internship tomorrow and I am nervous. Especially because I still can't really lift Ada up without pain. But, I will figure it out!! Anyway, for those persistent readers...as Ada would say, "Good Job!" You made it to the end of this post. For those that just came on the site to see pictures, that is okay too!

2011-10-03T00:00:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, Scott and I took a road trip to San Francisco to return his Bar books so we could get our deposit back (and besides, who really wants a huge stack of books taking up extra space?). My parents were so kind and said they would watch Ada for us, so we took the day and had a great time. I think one of my favorite things of the day was when we accidentally drove past Lombard street and I made Scott take us down it. The scary part was trying to drive back up the ridiculously steep street with Scott's stick shift little car. The clutch was BURNING as we reached the top of the street.Beautiful

Funny story. Scott and I were walking along Pier 39 and there was this couple TOTALLY making out. He "took" a few pictures of me then I took a real one of him and "accidentally" got the couple. So we are a little immature...so sue me.

One can't go to Pier 39 and not go check out the smelly Sea Lions. Scott had never seen them before (Sea Lions at Pier 39) so it was fun taking him there.

After Pier 39, we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf to check out some restaurants but settled on Boudin's back at Pier 39.

It was really fun spending the day in San Fran. I loved just driving around and seeing the city.

Our Little Two Year Old

2011-09-29T14:02:00.005-04:00

I was so excited to have a big party for Ada's second birthday. I knew she wasn't going to remember it, but I felt like I wanted to do something big before baby #2 joined our family. Just something really special for her. As most readers know, Ada is a huge lover and fan of the weirdest, but I daresay one of the coolest kids shows around...Yo Gabba Gabba. Weeks before the party, I kind of got a little craft on and started making stuff (with the help from good friends and family). I even put Scott to work and had him pull out his painting/art skills and make two of the characters. Well, a few days before her birthday, Ada started acting extra tired, and then developed a fever. I was freaking out because we had already made so many plans and I couldn't wait to see Ada's reaction to all of her Yo Gabba decor. I was praying and hoping that by Saturday her fever would go away and there were times I even thought she was on the mend. But by Saturday (her fever started Thurs. morning), she was way worse. And what was even more frustrating is I brought Ada to her new pediatrician (BLAH) Thursday and he checked her ears and said that everything looked fine (Oh I didn't mention she had an ear infection). He told me that she should be good to go by Saturday. Well, after a trip to the ER Saturday morning (I was freaking out that she had another bladder infection), the ER Doc confirmed that it was an ear infection. I was a mess at the hospital. I blame it on the pregnancy. Toward the end of our visit, I sent a text to all of the friends we had invited, cancelling the party. We decided to still have family come since I really wanted to see everyone before I had the baby.

This is what our little girl looked like shortly before her party. She loved her Foofa shirt. I honestly think the party, even though she was shaky and weak, made her feel a little better. My sister made home made playdough and the kids loved it. Ada is still playing with it everyday. Thanks sis!

One of Scott's art projects. We had a bean bag toss. For those familiar with the show, we had a "Party in my tummy" bean bag toss. I had a lot of fun making little food bean bags and the kids had a blast trying to feed Brobee.

Scott taking a turn at the toss and sporting his sweet Muno shirt that I made.

Pinning the eyeball on Muno

After my cousins daughter hit the target with the eyeball she proceeded to tell me that she could see the whole time!

I was very happy to see Ada eating a bit of food

It was so hard to see such a solemn face when she is usually all smiles and giggles. She loved her presents though

Remember being a little kid and totally crowding around the kid opening presents? These girls were cracking me up

Hate this picture of me, but I had to get a picture with our Yo Gabba shirts. Ada was so excited when we put them on and kept talking about them.

Thanks everyone that helped and to all the friends that I cancelled on....SORRY!

Some funny Adaisms right now are:

1. She will yell, "That's naughty!" Or, "That's enough right now!"

2. She tells me that she wants to poop in the potty, but when she sits down on the toilet, she just sits and plays then says, "All done," when nothing had been done.

3. After eating breakfast she will hold up two fingers to her face and say,"One Episode." Meaning Yo Gabba

4. When she runs she twists her hips

5. If she gets hurt she says, "Mom kiss it feel better" directly after the kiss she says, "That feels better."

6. When she is tired she asks for me to read a book (but will say "no" to a nap)

7. She loves jumping on the trampoline and doing bum jumps

8. Ada teases her Grandma by calling her "Cynthia" then will run away and say, "Don't chase me"

9. I don't know if I love this one, but she will tell me to "Stop it," or "Don't touch me." No, I don't love that one, just funny sometimes

10. She is counting to ten (with the numbers all mixed up) and is starting to remember her colors.

11. Ada loves to sing and remembers different parts of the songs. The other day she was saying, "At home, at home, at play" I couldn't figure out what it was, but then realized it was, "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam." She has been learning it in Nursery. We sing songs to her so I tested her with other one's and she knows a lot of the phrases. It is adorable.

12. Ada is starting to say, "No" a lot but in a whiny voice. Don't love that one either.

There are a ton more, but these are some fun one's that I can remember. Happy Birthday to my sweet 2 year old!

35 Weeks and Some Change...

2011-09-02T00:16:00.002-04:00

When I say, "35 weeks and some change," I mean that I am over 35 weeks. Closer to 36 weeks, actually...but who is counting, right?

I actually got all dolled up today and had one of my besties take some maternity pictures for me. We had fun joking around and I enjoyed pretending that I was a supermodel posing for pictures with my big belly. Anyway, my photo shoot is not the reason behind this post (I might just post some of those pictures depending whether or not I look completely ridiculous). I have a good friend back in Florida that started a photography business right around the time that I was going to be having Ada. She was appalled that I hadn't even considered taking maternity pictures with my prego self and practically forced me to take some (Link Here)...Thanks Tiffany. She even took things to the next level and came to the hospital shortly after Ada was born and took newborn shots. With that said, I feel like she has set a precedent for me. I LOVE having pictures of me just before I had Ada and just moments after she was born. I remember how I felt, how nervous and unsure I was, her movements, her first cries, how TIRED I was. I feel like the pictures I have are priceless and I need them for baby girl #2. I have just been feeling a little bad because I look back on my blog and had basically blogged about every new milestone (during my pregnancy), every movement, every feeling I was having (well probably not every feeling I was having...cause then everyone would think that I was nuts. Ha). So, I thought I should post a few thoughts while I have some time, that way when baby girl #2 reads the blog...she won't feel left out.

First of all, I have had an awesome pregnancy. I really have. I feel like this one has been even smoother than the first because I am much more calm. I have an idea what to expect (and yes, I know that all pregnancies and babies are different) and am not freaking out about every little possible thing that could go wrong, although I still get a little nervous sometimes.

I was a little bit sick during the first trimester, but I think chasing after two toddlers helped me to forget about the nausea. I do remember both kids getting bad colds one week and both kids had really gross noses. Whenever there was too much snot, I felt the gag reflex kicking in and could hardly wipe their noses and I did throw up once...but I blame that on a mixture of pregnancy and car sickness. Once second trimester began, I swear it was like night and day. I had energy again, I played more with the kiddos and was more motivated to go on outings. Second trimester FLEW by. Scott graduated from Law School, parents came out for vacations/graduation, and we moved across country back to California. Life was crazy as soon as we moved out and I was fortunate enough to spend most of my summer with family and close friends.

Third trimester just snuck up on me and I do admit, that I felt like as soon as third trimester hit, my hormones skyrocketed and I turned into a "B" for awhile. Excuse my language. But really, I feel like out of nowhere, my patients just disappeared. Just like I had a surge of energy kick in just as second tri hit, I almost felt the hormones elevate again the first day of third trimester, not to mention the extreme exhaustion again. BUT, again, I am not complaining, because this pregnancy has been awesome. The only complaints that are even worthy of mentioning are my varicose nasty veins and my sleep deprivation this third trimester.

The varicose veins made their presence back at the end of first trimester I think, and are still a big part of my thigh. Swim shorts have been worn almost every time in the pool to hide those scary creatures.

Sleeping has been interesting these last few weeks. The baby def has her favorite positions, which are not mine. If I lay a certain way, she kicks like crazy, but If I stay in a position for too long, I wake up stiff and sweaty, so it's kind of a no-win situation. I also wake up to use the restroom and once I wake up, I have a really hard time falling back asleep. One night it was a 3 hour long cramp in my side, another was fear that someone was breaking in and on most nights it is nothing in particular except for a song getting stuck in my head and I go crazy trying to get the song out.

So basically, I am just waiting now. I have about 4 1/2 weeks to go (assuming baby comes on time) and I am getting so excited for this next step in life. I am excited for Ada to have a baby sister (and of course, nervous for the adjustment of it all) and I am excited to hold and cuddle my new baby. As hard as new babies are, nothing beats one on one time late night feedings and seeing those first smiles. I do enjoy the late night feedings, surprisingly. They are just so peaceful to me (until the next morning hits and you are exhausted!). I can't wait to see if there are any similarities between the two girls and how they will interact. We do have a few names in mind (with one taking the lead). It really isn't a secret, but at the same time since it isn't set in stone, I will just wait for people to ask what the name is, rather than posting it on the blog. Well, this has turned into quite the lengthy post, but I just wanted to journal my excitement and feelings for this new baby. It will be a new adventure well worth the wait.

Oh, and for some reason I can't post a picture, but that is okay because I just looked through all of them and I don't really have a good recent one. Pictures will just have to wait.

Camping With the Fam

2011-08-12T23:33:00.020-04:00

So we have totally taken advantage of the fact that Scott has had some free time to play. Back in June he told me that the one thing he wanted to do was to go camping as a family as soon as the Bar was over. So that we did. We got some reservations up in Lake Tahoe and headed up 4 days after the Bar. Not only was it absolutely beautiful, it was a blast. We had so much fun being together and watching Ada explore EVERYTHING! She was filthy within 5 minutes of getting there, but that is what camping is all about.

Scott is becoming quite the outdoors man. He earned points every time he logged onto a website for law school stuff and you can earn free things. This tent, along with a sleeping bag were our spoils from his many points!
The campsite was really little, but perfect for our small family. I think the biggest thing that I was worried about was bears. The Ranger warned us to keep EVERYTHING in the lock box. No sweet smelling lotions applied before bed, nothing in the tent that the bear would think is food, etc.

Check out that dirty face in the making (not mine, Ada's).

She was tired as soon as we got there, but that didn't stop her from rubbing dirt on her face like lotion

Ada is terrified of fire. In fact, when Scott was building one, she cowered over by me and cried. I got her to watch Scott and see that he was just fine. So she even got brave enough to go sit on his lap once it was hot and going strong

First time for S'mores. I don't know if she really is my daughter because she only took a couple of bites and was done with it. Maybe she was switched at birth?? I think though, that it was just too messy for her, which puts my mind at ease, because that is just like Scott. :)

Ada was a champ when it came to bed time. She didn't make a peep the whole night and slept in until about 7:30. Me on the other hand...I was freaked out about every sound I heard and was so worried that I would have to go to the bathroom (so scary to go by myself at night) that every time I fell asleep, I would wake up within a few minutes. I was terrified that a bear was going to rip open our tent and get one of us. Scott even talked about sleeping with the hatchet that we brought...but we didn't. Pretty dang tired the next day!

I guess we weren't totally hardcore because we didn't bring up food to cook, we just made a bunch of muffins, pasta salad and brought hot dogs and such for meals. Ada was happy her first morning out in the wilderness

Our friends from the ward let us borrow their baby carrier and it was a lifesaver. Ada loved being in the "back pack" and enjoyed yelling "Look at the water, " every time we passed some

Only a few more weeks (okay 7ish) to go...but who is counting?

Gorgeous views. I just wanted to find a big rock and jump off of it into the water, but knew I actually wouldn't had I found one.
Back in my younger years, maybe, but not now with the water being as cold as it was (oh..and being prego)

Ada wanted to get in the water as soon as she saw it. I braved it with her and it was FREEZING! She didn't want to hold my hand at all and would get mad when I asked for it.

Scott and I decided that we better fully get in the water. We drove to another site where the beach is better and the water access is easier. After what seemed like hrs (okay not that long) Scott finally submerged in the icy water, then I followed. Then we had a little accident. I told Ada to go sit next to her dad in the water, and while she was walking down to him, she lost her balance and fell. She stood up then fell again. She went completely under and was not happy. I think mainly cause she couldn't get her footing and it was so dang cold. We had to coax her to go back in the water, and this time she held our hands with great vigor.

Taking a sunbathing break after her little spill

On our drive back to our campsite which was called Emerald Bay State Park, we saw an awesome waterfall and a lookout point so we pulled over. Ada didn't last long because she was overtired and wanted to walk all over. But the Falls (Eagle Falls?) were amazing.

We went on one last hike our second day and we were all wiped out. Ada was at her breaking point about halfway through the hike which sucked because the first part was all down hill!! So, we had to hike back up with a very upset and hungry toddler. I was huffing and puffing too.

We got back to our campsite and made some dinner (I think we roasted hot dogs) and let Ada make friends with our neighboring campers. They had a couple of younger, but much older than Ada, who also loved to dance. So they taught Ada some pretty riskEY moves. She would put her hands on her head and wiggle her hips, then get real low to the ground. Really cute, but really am I ready for those types of moves?

Our last night, Scott and I just hung out by the campfire, enjoying the bright stars and warm fire. All of the sudden, I hear this licking noise and I thought for sure it was the neighbors little dog just taking a drink at the water spout. I turned my head just to be sure. NOPE, it was a nasty racoon, just five feet from me, licking our hand sanitizer bottle. I didn't have a flashlight on hand because it was sitting on the table and Scott couldn't see the racoon. I tried to flash my phone light on it, while telling Scott to go chase it away. Scott was freaking out cause he thought it might be a bear (because remember, he couldn't see it from where he was sitting). But, he trusted me and started walking toward the table. The racoon ran off, but freaked me out! I made him look under the van and table to make sure it was gone before we got settled at the fire again.
Anyway, we had a great time and I am so glad that we were able to go. I am not going to lie and say that camping with a toddler is easy peasy because it is not! Really hard, actually. But, it is all about creating memories, right? We still enjoyed the time we had together and ended our trip with only minimal scrapes and mishaps.

Beach with Family and Friends

2011-08-04T23:16:00.015-04:00

So Scott finished the Bar a week ago. It was a three day, intense test, that he even may have fallen asleep for a few seconds/minutes during day two! Anyway, to celebrate we have been on some fun adventures. We started off our celebration by driving to an awesome beach (just North of Half Moon Bay) and meeting up with my sis and her fam and our good friend Jenny and her fam. We had a blast! Ada especially loved being there, she just can't get enough of the outdoors. The day was a little chilly, but that is to be expected in Nor Cal beaches. I thought that day was perfect. Oh and just a side note...Ada's hair was done before getting to the beach, but she destroyed it. Sigh...

My sis and her adorably Lukey. Can't get enough of these two
Can't go to the beach and not play a rousing game of football. Well, I guess I can, and my sis and Jenny. But the guys enjoyed a little game. I don't think I have seen Scott run as fast as he did when he was chasing after a ball headed towards the freezing water.

We bought Ada this little bunny chair for our camping trip (post to come soon). She loved it and had a great time sitting in it (for only short spurts, of course). Isn't she an adorable little ragmuffin? Love her beach hair.

All of the kids (minus Jenny's baby) loving posing for the picture. I told them to yell "Cookies" so I could get genuine smiles. They had fun with it and continued saying "Cookies" throughout the day. On a side note, whenever I take Ada's picture, she will say "CHEESE" followed by "CUTE" before I have even snapped the photo. I am pretty sure she got it from me because when I take her picture I always say, "Cute," afterwards.

I know the picture is fuzzy, but I just love the expression on these girl's faces. We were going to a cave to explore and they held hands the whole way. One girl would start running then whip Ada along with them. She loved it.

Gorgeous beach.

The cave wasn't much of a cave, but it was still really pretty

Baby girl #2 is growing quite nicely

Our growing family

Wiped out after a fun day at the beach. He played a little too hard...oh and he was sunburned. Yup, overcast days can still cause burns.

After our fun day at the beach, we headed over to Juls and Brians for a bbq. The kids had a blast and I especially enjoyed watching Ada sneak bites of food off of some of the other kids plates.

What an awesome day we had. Thanks Juls and Brian for inviting us up and thanks Jen and Pete for coming.

And thanks Scott for studying so dang hard for the Bar. We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments.

A Fun Week Means a lot of Pictures

2011-07-29T20:49:00.029-04:00

Juls and I decided to brave a long road trip to Utah. Our husbands couldn't come. My parents had a full car with nieces, nephews and Chad, so we drove Julie's car (with Ada and Luke in the back). Was it a long drive? Yes! Were there times we wondered what the "H" we were doing? Yes! Did our kids tease, yell and touch each other? You betcha! But, overall it really was a fun week. Looking past the long car rides, late nights, multiple meltdowns, I would say it was a pleasant trip. Steve and Lisa were so kind to host a nice dinner for us. Lisa had just returned from Ohio that morning, but who doesn't want to add 10 more bodies to their home of 5?? They did, of course! My brother Steve is a great Dad and always getting down in the dirt to play with the kids. I think they were trying to build a fire in this one!

Who doesn't love to clean up a kid and their ice cream mess??

Nothing like melted ice cream all over the hands, face and dress

Silly faces! Ada was more interested in her ice cream then humoring us with a silly face

Uncle Chad and all of the nieces and nephews (minus two...and a half). He is the best Uncle

Temple Square. What a fun experience to take these crazy kids to such a special place. I am kicking myself right now, remembering that we didn't take them to see the Christ Statue (Christus?). They did love running around and touching as much water as possible.

Awww...at one time or another all of us were roommies (Kathy and Cam never were actual roommates, just at heart). I love these girls. We really have been through so much together. On a side note, hopefully Kathy has baby girl #2 soon! I hate those last days of waiting!!

Sisters, sisters! Missed you Jenna and Amy!!

I told Lisa to stand in the middle, but she wouldn't cooperate.

Absolutely love that these kids are holding hands. Ada can't get enough of the hand holding. Melts my heart when she actually wants to hold mine!!

I guess I should actually get in a picture with Ada.

The day was hot and the kids needed to get wet, so what better place to get wet then the Reflection Pond??

Ada and her new besty, MaryKate. These girls are going to be best friends one day!

There is a really cute Museum at Temple Square and it has an area that is great for kids. This particular place, the kids could dress up as little Mexican Dancers and they displayed a "How to Dance" video. It was really cute. Ada surprisingly did not dance, she just watched the lady on the screen

Lehi Pool. What an awesome place. We made the mistake of going a couple hrs early (swim lessons were still in session) so we got to go to my most favorite place to eat while we waited....KNEADERS! It was so good and I stuffed my face. Too bad it was so chaotic with all of the kids and I couldn't indulge as much as I wanted to. Anyway, once we ate, we headed back to the pool. It is indoor/outdoor and it has a lazy river, splash zone, waterslide, water equipment, etc. Ada loved it and only wanted to have Clark or Grandpa hold her. She sobbed when I had her come with me.

Notice how she is crying in this picture? It is because I am holding her and not her older cousin!

Idaho. I have not been since 2008. Juls stayed with her inlaws and I got to stay with my cousin, Anna! We had a girls night out to Olive Garden and stayed way past closing. We laughed so hard at times I almost peed my pants. It felt so good to be with these girls.

These are Anna's little girls. They spent that morning outside in the cold, cold kiddie pool, so we warmed them up in the tub. They three of them had great times together!

Every year my aunt Paula hosts a family party ( I think it is during the 24th of July, but I could be wrong). What I remember from those days are homemade root beer, playing games with the cousins and great food. This year did not disappoint. Ada had a blast running around in their big back yard and I had a great time visiting with family

The Lovell Reunion. I have posted about this here.

Such a fun place that I don't get to go as often as I would like. It's a big ranch house with so many fun things to do. Ada and Saige enjoyed getting to know each other better.

My brother Steve got all of his kids to go down the massive slides and even got them standing up (while holding them a little) while going down the water slide. That includes his almost 2 year old daughter. Ada decided that she was too scared to go down the waterslide. I think if I would have been the one taking her, she would have done it, but Steve was too much for her to handle. Love ya Steve!

Steve with the girlies. Oh and Ada is wet because she was hanging out at the bottom of the slide in the pool area.

I finally convinced Ada to go down the 55foot slide with me. After the long walk up the steps (remember I am prego, so I was tired. The only way I was going to go back down was by sliding), she started whimpering at the top of the slide. I told her that it would be just fine and she said, "Not too bad, not too bad," In a very shaky voice. We sat on a damp towel so that made us go pretty slow. I was happy we didn't have to hit the ground running at the bottom because I wasn't sure how the extra weight in my arms (Ada) and belly would handle it.

The car ride home was VERY long. Juls and I were ready to pull our hair out and start swearing after a couple of hours. Once we hit Wells, NV, we had had about enough. We got them some suckers and that kept the two kiddos quiet for a bit. What really got the spark back for us is when Ada started talking about the Suckers. Mind you, she has a really hard time with the "S" sound and it sounds more like "F" sounds. So every time she talked about wanting more suckers or Lukies suckers, we broke down giggling. Immature I know, but it helped break up the monotony of driving. We got home around 8 last Sunday. We had a great time but it felt so good to get back. Loved seeing some of my very closest friends and family! Hopefully we will see you again soon!

An Exciting Ride With an Unexpected Turn

2011-07-13T23:14:00.003-04:00

Ada has become quite the daredevil in her early years. I don't know how I feel about it. It seems like everyday, a new bruise or scrape is created on her small (big) body. Well today actually shocked me.

Scott got home from the library and the three of us were outside. While we were chatting, Ada was pushing around a toy car all around the patio and onto my parents deck. Well, anyone that has been to my parents, know that the deck has a ramp on it. She would walk the car up and down the ramp. At one point, she tried to go down the stairs with it. We caught her just in time and told her, "No." We went back to our conversation and heard a strange rumbling sound, like something was moving really fast. I thought she had just pushed the car down the ramp. NO, she was sitting on it!! Feet up, hands on the wheel and headed forward full speed ahead. She had a look of pure shock and horror on her poor face. She turned the wheel just as she hit the concrete (really rocky, called exposed aggregate) and ate it. We watched, that's all we could do. Scott and I ran to her side and while I was all panicked Scott asked her if she had a little fall. How different the two of us handled it. Her face hit the ground (not too hard thankfully) and she was all mangled up in the car. The first thing I did was check to see if any teeth were missing and they were not, but she did, have a nice scrape across her ankle and foot. I picked her up and cuddled with her (which she did not appreciate). She usually will suck on ice if she hits her face, but this time all she did was...ask for CLARK! Let me rephrase this. She screamed for Clark. My niece and nephew are visiting and she LOVES them. They are much older (10 and 11) and she follows them everywhere. Anyway, she let him console her and if you ask me, milked it for all it was worth.

So, back to the fall. The image keeps coming back into my mind. It was so sad, yet, funny and hilarious at the same time. She really was going fast! And could have been hurt a lot more than she was. I am just glad that she is okay.

I don't think she will be trying that stunt again...at least for a long time. Hopefully!

Many Faces

2011-07-06T22:57:00.010-04:00

Ada is quite the character these days. I think that the stage she is in right now is one of the funnest AND hardest (so far). She has developed a very strong personality (well, we've always known it to be there) and now that she can talk, really well, it is shining through. There is at least ONE tantrum throughout the day but also many fun laughs and giggles, teasing and joking. We love our little Ada. She knows she is funny too...

We did a little Father's Day photo shoot with a friend of mine (and her friend). I think that Ada's face is classic in this picture because she is basically saying, "I'm done! That is all you get from me."
Yo Gabba Gabba taught her this funny face. This is her "go to" face. She has since learned how to grab her ears and wiggle them.

Poor Chad. Ada is like a parasite to Chad sometimes. She grabs a hold of him and sucks out all of his energy (or maybe that is a leach?). He can't escape the room without her chasing after him chanting,"Yo Gabba!" Of course, he is too nice to say, "No," so he puts the show on for her and even watches it!! He really does love her but gets overwhelmed and exhausted by her demands. This is her, "I always get what I want," face.

Just a really cute face. She has a bit of a binky smile (which I completely adore) and I am not ready to stop the binkies. She only has them during naps and bedtime (or really long car rides). I think that it will be harder for me than her when we say good bye to her little friends.

Sorry for the fuzziness, but I had to include her "nasty" face. We get this a lot these days. A lot of times it is followed by a laugh or giggle. Most of the time she is kidding around, but this particular time, I don't think she was.

I made the mistake of giving Ada more than one binky when she lays down for naps or bedtime (okay, maybe I went overboard with the 4 or 5 that she gets to hold). Now her big thing is she drops the binks over the side of her crib when she is awake and ready to play and as soon as we walk in the door the first thing that she says is, "Binky under the bed, I threw binkies." I can't help but laugh every time. Once we get her out of the crib, she climbs under it and collects the binks. Most of the time she will give them right back to me, but on her harder mornings, she puts one in her mouth and tries to run away with the rest in hand. She gets pretty upset when I take them away. So this face is just pure joy.

She doesn't get to see Scott so much these days. He has been putting crazy hours into studying (and I am not complaining...I am very proud how hard he is working). She gets so excited during the time she does get with him. It is always hard for her when he goes back to "the cave" to study.

More "funny face," but with grapes in the mouth for added affect.

If Ada is really tired by the end of the day, there are about three possible faces we will get. First one is: Her somber face. Her eyes are just a little glazed over, she doesn't interact very much and is pretty much just going through the motions. Face number two is: Anger. She gets really difficult. Will throw her food on the floor (more so than usual), will scream and yell, and cry at the drop of a hat. We don't like that face so much. Her third face is: Complete delirium. This one is funny. She still has the glazed look in her eyes, but instead of somber, she is crazy. You will see her laughing histerically over nothing, and falling down while doing so. We usually take advantage of these situations. Tickling her is our favorite because she will laugh so hard.

Anyway, she is nearing two and I believe in the phrase, "Terrible Twos." While she is more happy than not, she can be really demanding and difficult.

I am amazed how much she is talking. Her favorite things to say are:

"Lukey toots, Anna Poops" (her cousins)

"Binky under the bed"

"Grama stinks"

"PU"

"Hot on the bum" (talking about the slide at the park)

"Not too bad" (when I am putting her in the car seat and she thinks it will be hot but it is not)

"OUFSIDE" (outside)

"I kick mommy" (while I change her diaper)

"I kick in the water"

"PEACOCKS" (saw them at the zoo and loved them)

She still loves to dance and jump. Speaking of jumping, she has jumped off of the diving board a few times and loves it. The only reason I don't let her go off more is because it is hard for me to catch her. She jumped off of the waterfall rocks into Scott's arms and loves to jump off of the fireplace. Looking at her you would know she is pretty active with all of her war wounds. I swear she has cuts on both knees, tops of her feet and bruises everywhere.

Well, there is Ada for ya! She keeps us on our toes and something new happens every day!

Jelly Belly Factory

2011-07-03T10:44:00.010-04:00

This post is long over due, but I guess what is really

important is that it is getting done, right? Julie was coming into town so Jenny and I thought we would meet her at Jelly Belly Factory. The funny thing about the Factory, is that the actual tour really isn't as exciting as it once was. I never pay attention to the tour, I drool over the crates and crates filled with all the different varieties of Jelly Bellies. I imagine myself jumping and swimming in them. The company was a blast though. Ada LOVED wearing her hat. She never took it off. Juls and I just before the tour.

Jenny was the camera Nazi. We were not supposed to take pictures so she refused to cooperate. Or MAYBE, I caught her off guard and she didn't realize I was snapping a picture. She did have a fun time though. Love you Jen!

Ada and Molly holding hands

All geared up for the tour. Bring on each stage of the Jelly Belly tasting.

Lukey, Lydia (Jenny's) and Anna. Ada and Lukey have a love/hate relationship. They LOVE to hit each other and HATE getting caught.

The kids snacking on some strawberries (and free samples of Jelly Belly's) after the tour.

We had a blast and we will probably be going again in a few months if anyone wants the brave the hour drive to Fairfield with screaming kids in the car. Besides the anxiety getting there and back, I would say that the trip was a success. We did discover, that Jenny's new baby, Charlotte has a really hard time with Ada. I don't know, maybe it is Ada shoving her foot in Charlotte's face during the drive, or it's just a new face for her. All we know, though, is in order for Charlotte to be happy when Ada is in the car seat next to her, Ada's face must be out of sight. Charlotte's sling seems to do the trick!

Can't wait for the next adventure, ladies!

Old Town Sacramento

2011-06-24T19:15:00.007-04:00

So, we have been in Sacramento a little over a month now and I will be honest...I LOVE being back. I was a little nervous for some reason, but there are always fun things going on and the weather is perfect. But yes, I do miss my Florida friends!

A couple of weeks ago, we took a little trip to Old Town Sac to the train museum. I went with one of my besties, Jenny! We were friends in Jr High, and college roommies. It is so much fun living close to her after all of these years. Needless to say, there is a lot of belly laughing when Jenny, Julie and I get together.

Ada got to try her first taste of Cotton Candy. She wasn't sure what to think about it. I don't love sticky candy because there is always a sticky mess to clean up. I found some hidden in her hair at bath time that night.

Before hitting up the museum, we took the kids to a fun candy story. The workers told us we could sample a couple pieces of taffy. The little girls were in heaven. I mean, who wouldn't be?

I remember going to the train museum as a teenager and really enjoying it. They have old vintage trains that you can walk through that have the same furniture and place settings that were used in the late 1800's early 1900's. One of the trains even rocked quickly back and forth, simulating a real train ride from the old days.

Ada had to hold Abby's hand. She was so excited about it!

Yes, horrible picture, I know (Of me anyway, Jen looks great!). We had so much fun at Ricks College (more so our first year). She has the most adorable 4 little girls and is an amazing mom.

Jen's little girl and Ada posing for a picture

We have some other fun little adventures that we have been on that I need to post about later. Thanks Jen for driving and sorry about the $80 parking ticket we got from not paying attention!!!! Lame parking Meter. Who woulda thought that the parking police would have ticketed us (or Jenny...) for parking over the line!! The expired meter I understand...but crossing over the line, not as much! Anyway, it was still a blast!

Proof

2011-06-07T22:43:00.002-04:00

For those that may have forgotten...I am pregnant. I feel like I have sort of neglected this poor unborn baby. Looking back through my old blog posts, I swear I had a post every other day for my progress on Ada. This pregnancy is going really well, though! I am now 23 weeks along and am feeling this little baby doing somersaults in my gut.

So people are often shocked when I tell them that I am prego. Here is the thing...my torso is abnormally long. In fact, if my legs were in proportion with my torso, I would probably be like 6'3". Anyway, back to the pregnancy. I feel like I am FINALLY starting to show. That my stomach is finally starting to round out and not just be brumpy (is that a word?). I told some of my friends that have not seen me for awhile that I would post a picture for them. So...here you go!

We are so excited to meet this little girl, but at the same time, know that another member of the family will mean a lot more craziness, so I am just enjoying the pregnancy.

We have a couple of names that we are really liking, but are still far from making a decision.

Anyway, so there you go. My prego belly is continuing to grow. The only complaint that I have is VARICOSE VEINS! Never had them before, but I am detesting these unsightly things and they hurt!!

I am very grateful, though, and excited to meet this little girl in October!

Fun Times With the Grandparents

2011-05-27T00:48:00.010-04:00

The week before graduation, we were able to have some pre-graduation fun with the parents. Gary and Vivian came first and they partied hard. We got them on Sunday for dinner and visiting, then Monday and Tuesday they played hard during the day and we met up with them for dinner. Wednesday, we spent the whole day with them in Clearwater. The beach was perfect! This was our first time in the Gulf this year and it was a really fun day. Ada loved going into the water and could have walked forever had we let her. The funny thing was, she had absolutely no interest in going in the water with me. Every time I asked her if she wanted to go with me she would say, "Grand-PA, Daddy!" I see where the love is! She really loves her Grandpa's and Daddy. Grandma and Grandpa Foley taking Ada out for a little walk/wade in the water.

Ada did great with no nap. She only had a couple of minor meltdowns, but overall handled her no-nap day quite well.

My parents joined us on Thursday and we took everyone to Tarpon Springs (Sponge Capitol of the World). We spent the first part of our day walking around/exploring the area. There were a lot of people advertising dolphin tours which sounded like fun, so we bought tickets. There was some time before we headed for the boats so we grabbed some lunch at a local Greek Restaurant (Did I mention that Tarpon Springs was founded by Greeks?). Anyway, while we were eating, one of the servers brought out a meal to another table, that she torched. Well, Ada is terrified of "Hot" things and she was tired. I have never seen her so scared. She screamed, covered her face, and cried. She started yelling, "Hot, hot!" She usually calms down pretty fast, but I couldn't get her to stop crying. It was actually really sad. The waitress felt so bad that she brought out some maraschino cherries for Ada to eat. Maraschino cherries? Yeah, first thing I thought of was...well that will be a sticky mess, but then I was appreciative for the effort the waitress made into making Ada happy again. Although it didn't really work. My dad was finished eating, so he put her in her stroller to take her for a walk to hopefully fall asleep. We get out of lunch and she is running around the courtyard like a mad woman. My dad didn't know we wanted her to sleep and bought some ice cream instead and shared it with her. Ha. She loved that!
After lunch, we headed to the boat to go on our tour. It really was fun. They took us out to a little island where we got to collect shells. Ada was in heaven. And we saw dolphins. So fun!

Dad and Ada hanging out on the boat

Scott and his parents

Collecting shells. Doesn't that water look delicious? I wanted to go swimming so bad and the temperature was perfect! In fact, one guy did strip down to his briefs and took a swim. I think that he was a foreigner

I was not overly excited to give Ada her very own ice cream. My goal was to just share with her, but when she saw everyone with their very own ice cream cone, she just had to have her own. In fact, there was a full blown tantrum when I tried to share with her. She won the fight. She got what she wanted and made a huge mess in return! In fact, when I gave her the ice cream, she cackled...like she knew that I was defeated! Little stinker

Mom, Dad, Gary and Vivian, we had a great time and were very spoiled! Thanks for sharing our last week of Florida with us and taking us on some fun adventures. We love you!
And my Florida friends that still read the blog...we miss you!!

And He Graduates!

2011-05-26T02:13:00.005-04:00

Three years went by really fast! When we drove into Florida and I saw where we would be living, I actually got tears in my eyes. I thought for sure we had made a huge mistake. The apartment was still dirty, there were strip malls everywhere and the humidity was suffocating. I was already counting down the days when this little "adventure" would be coming to an end. However, little by little we began to slowly fall in love with MOST of Florida. We started to enjoy the perfect size of our apartment (Even if we didn't love the types of people that were attracted there), the winter weather was amazing, beaches were a mere 10 minute drive from our house, the campus was beautiful and so close for Scott, and there was awesome wildlife all around us. Before we knew it, our parents were in town, helping us pack, taking us out to dinner's, exploring the areas and attending Scott's graduation. It blows me away how fast everything went. I am so proud of Scott. He worked hard. He did really well and graduated (hopefully) in the top 25%. We are still waiting on that last dang professor to post grades. Anyway, it is still hard to believe that graduation has already come and gone and we are slowly getting settled in Orangevale. Anyway, here are some pictures from the big day. Poor, poor Ada. First off, she doesn't do well in the heat. She becomes all lethargic when it is too hot/humid outside and sweats like nobodies business. Luckily, there were extra hands to help keep her entertained during the 2 hr ceremony. She loved exploring and smelling the flowers.

Ada smelling the flowers

Scott accepting his diploma. I felt so bad for all of the graduates. Not only were most of them wearing nice clothes, but they all had the extra layers of the robes. Poor Scott was dying by the time everything was over, it was just really hot.

Oh yeah, you probably have not seen a picture of Scott for awhile. He became the bearded man for the last semester pretty much. I grew to really like the facial hair,but we said good bye the Sunday he got back. It was time for it to go. I forgot how much I love his clean shaven look. Ada was on the verge of meltdown during the photos and Scott was practically suffering from heat stroke, so we opted out taking too many

The whole gang

Our little family. You can see the far-away look in Ada'a eyes. Her bed was calling out to her

I am so grateful for Scott and how hard he worked these past 3 years. Looking back, there are a few things that I wish I would not have said or pushed for him to do or not to do, but I guess you can't really take things back. He showed me time and time again that I don't need to "nag," that he would take care of things. The man just does not get stressed out!! I think once, at the end of the semester, when finals were coming up, he was working and had a semi involved calling, he said that he was feeling a little unsettled, that he wasn't sure if he had felt that before. I told him it was stress! Anyway, thank you Scott for taking care of us and working hard. We had a great three years and are excited for or next adventures!

Funny Video, Must Watch

2011-04-29T09:40:00.008-04:00

http://www.hulu.com/watch/37752/saturday-night-live-the-lawrence-welk-show

Funny Video Eh?

Well, it looks like we will be having a family full of girls...for now. Ada is going to have a little sister.

Let's just hope that we don't have a "Judith" in the fam!

The Tech was 85% sure that the baby was a girl. She was very squirmy! We are very excited, though!

Egg Hunts, Easter Sunday and More

2011-04-25T22:34:00.007-04:00

So last Saturday, I was packing. I had pulled all of my winter clothes out of the closet, was stuffing them in a suitcase while trying to entertain Ada at the same time when my friend, Tiffany called me up and told me about an underwater egg hunt. So of course, I left the mess, threw on a swimsuit (okay, I shaved my legs first), grabbed some snacks, and Ada and I took off.

We had a great time.

Ada and the boys posing for a picture. I am glad that no one cared enough to say anything when I cut in line.

Ada waiting patiently for the hunt to begin.

The pool has a beach feel to it. It slowly starts to get deeper. The lifeguards had hundreds of eggs that were filled with toys (no treats for me to snack on, dangit) and when they let the eggs out of the bags, they floated on the water for the kids to grab. I held Ada the whole time and she had her little bucket. She learned really quickly what needed to be done.

Her spoils

Easter Sunday. We splurged a teensy bit and bought Ada a dress.

I love that she can finally wear pigtails and they actually stay in. Take that lady who thought she was a boy because she didn't have a lot of hair!

Some friends from church invited us over for Easter Dinner. I debated and debated if I wanted to attempt to make my mom's (and sister's now) famous rolls. They are very tricky and I hadn't had much luck in the past. I did, however, learn how to roll them (which is the hardest part) during the summer, so I decided to give it one more go. Look how beautiful they turned out. And they were pretty tasty too!Mommy's little helper. Okay, not really, but this kept her occupied for a few minutes.

The two lovebirds at it again.

Tristan surprised Ada (well his parents did) with a big Easter Basket filled with all sorts of goodies. Sidewalk chalk was one of the treasures. So yesterday, we took a little walk outside for the kids to give it a try. They liked scribbling for about 2 minutes or so, then enjoyed running away from me the rest of the time.

Ada displaying her artistic abilities.

And who DOESN'T wear goggles in the bathtub?

Sorry, my lame blog did that weird spacing again so if you so desire to post a comment, just scroll WAY down.

Oh How We Love This Girl

2011-04-17T16:07:00.006-04:00

We introduced Ada to the movie Tangled a few weeks ago, and now she can't get enough of it. Within minutes of waking up from naps or in the morning, she asking for, "Neigh." There is a horse in the movie that she loves. We have to fast forward to all of her favorite spots that include the horse. Here we are enjoying a bit of the movie before bedtime. Ada and Dad watching, "Neigh." Ada loves saying, "Hat!" She won't wear one for very long, but she sure loves saying it.

I was in the kitchen probably preparing snacks and I came out to check on the kids and this is what I found.

So sad to be separating them in a few weeks. They really are best buds (And yes, Yo Gabba Gabba still keeps me up at nights and haunts my dreams).

The kids often wrestle. Their new favorite is Tristan will grab on to Ada's shirt from behind and she will take off running. They usually crash to the ground after a few seconds.

I adore these two kids.

Funny story about this day. I took the kids on a walk to the grocery store (I know, exciting). I had them in the double stroller and on the elevator this lady looks at both of the kids and says, "Two boys right?" I wasn't sure if I heard her correctly so I had her repeat herself. She looks directly at Ada and says, " He's a boy, right?" Did she not see the striped dress that Ada was wearing and her pink shoes?? I told her that Ada was a girl and the lady says, "Oh, well her hair will come in soon enough."

Yeah, usually it doesn't bother me TOO much when people mistake her gender, but this particular time it did. Not only was Ada wearing a dress with "girly" colors, but she wasn't an old person that made the mistake. She was OLDER but not like the old people that usually get mixed up. Oh well, at least her hair IS finally coming in. Gotta give the lady that. I think that Ada looks like a girlI hope we find a "Tristan" in California. They play so well together.

These kids crack me up!

She is starting to say some more fun things like:

I climbing (when she is climbing on the coffee table)

I go (when she is ready to leave)

Hot Wawa (hot water)

I close (when she wants to close the door)

Arm

Knee

Dance

There is probably more that I am missing, but for now, that is what I will write.

As much as she wears me out sometimes, I am crazy about this little girl. She is so funny and I love being her mom!

My Ramblings

2011-04-07T19:55:00.003-04:00

I have had a lot of things on my mind lately. I am not one for a lot of fancy writings, or using creative words, but I just need to write (type) some thoughts out.

So, most of you know that Scott is graduating law school in May. We have been praying and praying and PRAYING that he would find work soon. We had also been praying where we needed to be and live, what would be best for our family, etc. After a lot of prayer and thought, we decided that Sacramento would be the best place for us while he studies for and takes the bar, with the hopes that he will find a job soon after. Why am I writing about all of this you may ask? Bare with me, I am not quite sure yet either, but I know it will come as I continue typing! :) We are in what I have been calling, Limbo. We don't really KNOW where we are going to be working, living, settling down, etc. All we know is that we are moving to Sacramento. Scott had an interview out here in Florida weeks ago. It went really well and we actually felt really good about it. Then after a few days, I just started having a sinking feeling, a feeling that made me wonder if Florida is where we wanted to stay. Visiting family on the West coast would be practically breaking the bank any time we came out and the closest family to us would be a 19 hr car ride. To be honest, as much as we have enjoyed our three years in Florida, we never came out here with the intention of staying (I hope I am not offending any of my Floridian friends). So I started secretly hoping that he would not get the job because I just was feeling uncertain about it. We talked about the great opportunity it would be to work at this small, one-man-show, firm and the endless possibilities, but something just wasn't feeling right to me. We have not heard back from the lady he interviewed with, but I am not at all anxious about it, like I usually would be. I mean, this is WORK. We NEED a good job. I have just been more curious to see if she does get back to him in the time frame she gave him and what she actually says.

Okay, back to limbo. So, we are TOTALLY in limbo. Some days get a little scary for me because my mind goes to all of the "what ifs" and "whens" and "CRAP, we have student loans to pay off!" It doesn't help that I have all of the extra hormones surging through my body too! Anyway, we have been praying that we will know what we need to do and working hard on being worthy of the spirit so we can receive revelation.

My next thought.

Conference helped me in so many ways. It helped me in regards to my feeling of Limboness (I know, not a real word), and it helped remind me of what is most important. Usually I feel like only a few of the talks pertain to me and the rest are probably perfect for someone else, but honestly, I felt like I truly got something out of every talk (okay, there may have been one or two that I didn't get as much from because we were trying to entertain Ada). President Uchtdorf talked about the importance of taking tiny steps towards building our faith, rather than expecting some huge, experience like Joseph Smith or Saul had. He said, "They want some dramatic event to compel them to believe." I have been that person before. I hope that I know better now, but I surely know that in years past, I have wanted the heavens to open and tell me what I want to know. He talked about waiting on our road to Damascus like Saul. That too many of us wait in hopes for something magnificent to happen, when in actuality we can be building our faith one step at a time. I know that I have found myself "waiting" during this last year. I feel like I have wasted a lot of time waiting to truly believe that things would work out to how I wanted things to work out (this is in regards to a lot of personal things, including the job search). Listening to him speak, though, made me realize that I am on a good path! That we are going to be okay. We may not find that job right away, we may have to live with my parents longer than we want (hahaha, Mom, you know we totally love you guys and appreciate your help!!), we may not get all of the answers when we want them, but I feel like after this weekend, I have a brighter hope. I feel stronger and more uplifted than I have been in a long time. I have a stronger desire to have a more solid testimony and faith in Heavenly Father. I am okay right now to be in Limbo. I am okay with a lot of things.

"He Loves us, He loves you. When necessary the Lord will even carry you over obstacles as you seek His peace with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. When necessary the Lord will even carry you over obstacles as you seek His peace with a broken heart and a contrite spirit."

So, why did I write all of this? Well, one thought I had is that it is MUCH easier to type my thoughts out rather than write them. My penmanship has gone down hill during this computer era and I find that my typing flows much better (and you can actually read it!). Another thought, is because I don't talk a lot about my thoughts on my blog. I will call this my blog since Scott does not contribute ( Although, I know he reads it. Love you Scott!). :) I sometimes am afraid to write down what I am thinking and for so many reasons. But, this particular post has been on my mind all week. I don't expect many, if any (ha) to read this post. It was for me. It was something that I needed to do. I guess that last reason is why I wrote this post. And, for those that just want to see a picture...

We took a family walk in between sessions, to one of my favorite places. And to top off our experiences here in Florida, Scott finally saw a Manatee. Two actually!

A few of the many faces of our little (big) 18 month old

2011-04-01T13:22:00.006-04:00

Ada had her 18 month well visit yesterday. As of now her stats are:

Weight: 28.5 lbs-95th percentile

Height: 33 3/4"-90th percentile

(I might have swapped the percentiles. My pregnancy mind just kicked in as I as typing this out. But close enough, right?)

Ada's sweet face. The one that says, "I am a little angel, always. I never scream, yell, hit or throw tantrums." For awhile now, Ada has been making this particular face. I did not, however, snap the picture in time for the full bloom face. She usually gets her neck veins to stick out as well. She makes this face when we tell her something exciting, or when she is trying to be funny.

This is her, "I love my mommy SO much," face

Ada's "Crazy Baby" face

Her, "Don't take my picture," face, "Because I will close my eyes tight if you do."

Ada's "I am very interested in what I am doing," face

Her, "Look Momma, I am making a mess," face

Ada's, "I'm about to throw a tantrum," face, "If you take that picture!"

Some of Ada's favorite things are:

1. Yo Gabba Gabba.

She is so obsessed with that show. I finally went out and bought another series of it because I honestly go crazy hearing the same songs everyday. In fact, when I wake up in the middle of the night (have been since I found out I was prego), I will get one of the songs playing on repeat, in my head. It will keep me up. But, nevertheless, she loves it. And I love watching her watch it because she get so excited.

2. Dancing:

I tell you what. I'm not going to lie, but this little girl has moves. Maybe she learned them from her Momma!! Anytime any music comes on, she will raise one arm in the air and start dancing. Her moves have started getting a little more crazy lately, for example, she will turn around, lay on the ground then lift one leg up. Quite entertaining.

3. Books:

I am thinking that she got her love of books from the Foley side, because I have never been a huge reader (I definitely am more so now). One of the first things she does in the mornings is go to her bookshelf, pull off the books and start, "Reading." She will now grab a book, run up to me and say, "I read." That usually means she wants me to read it to her. My favorite is when she reads the book herself. She will talk out loud and totally blabber, but she really seems to think she understands her gibberish.

4. Parks:

If I pass a park and Ada sees it, she will yell, "PAR." If I don't STOP and take her to it, there are many tears that come. She loves the slide. In fact, she has no fear of them. There is one park in particular that I take her to. She will climb up the equipment (all by herself) and head up to the slides. She thinks it's funny when I run around the equipment to the slide to make sure she sits down. There have been many times she has started to walk down the slide, which would make for a nasty fall. She gets going pretty fast, and will go right back up. There have been times that she tried walking back down the steps and I was not close enough to help her and she has fallen off of the equipment (not very big falls). The few times that she fell, scared me to death. And her. But what I loved most is that she would climb right back up.

5. Climbing:

She climbs on to anything that she can and it drives me nuts sometimes because I am paranoid that she will fall

6. Baths:

As soon as dinner is over she will yell out, "BATH!" She doesn't cry when I pour water over her head, instead she will look at me with her half closed eyes and smile. Then I take a towel and wipe her face. For some reason, the water just really doesn't bother her. She likes to take the cup we have in the tub, fill it with water, then drink. I probably do not need to mention that Scott and I DO NOT like it when she does that. Whenever I ask her if she is ready to come out, she shakes her head, "No."

7. Throwing her food:

She will throw her food or milk off of her tray and then say, "No, no," after she does it.

8. Talking:

Whether it makes sense or not, she loves making noise!

Dislikes:

1. Being told what to do:

She gets so mad at me when I tell her, "No," or will mock me. She is definitely getting to be very independent.

2. Being comforted:

If she gets hurt, she gets mad and will run away from me, hitting things on her way.

3. Car seats:

Oh man, we knew that we were doomed the day we brought her home from the hospital. She screamed almost the whole way home. I used to get anxiety anytime we had to get in the car because I knew it was going to be a VERY long ride. She does a little better now if we have snacks or with long rides, a DVD player.

4. Food that I make:

It is very insulting when we sit down for a nice cooked meal and Ada turns her nose up to it. Okay, not insulting (cause let's be honest, I am not the worlds BEST cook) just annoying because then we have to figure out what else we could give her.

5. Me or Scott brushing her teeth:

She wants to do that all by herself, which usually includes biting on the toothbrush and sucking off the toothpaste.

6. Stickiness on her hands: She is her fathers daughter! No need to explain

7. Anything on her climbing space:

If our feet our on the coffee table, she knocks them off (even if they are not near her), or toys, books, whatever. Nothing can be on or near her climbing space.

That's all that I can really think of right now. I am sure there are more dislikes/likes, but I can't think of anymore. She is a very funny girl, and VERY strong minded. She does not obey very well at all, in fact, she KNOWS when she is being naughty. She will get this little smile on her face as she is doing something bad.

But, we sure do love her and have so much fun learning how to parent her.

Oh What Fun We Had

2011-03-26T19:37:00.012-04:00

We are back from the beautiful state of Pennsylvania where we visited Scott's oldest brother, Mark and his fam. We were looking forward to this trip for months and it took forever to get here, and of course, the trip went by WAY too fast!

Ada did pretty well traveling. It was tiring for us because she would not sleep on the plane so we had to keep her entertained. Check out her face. She knows she is a tantrum waiting to happen. Amish Country
I really wanted to go there. We spent the morning eating a big breakfast then headed out. Of course, I got sick with a nasty cold the night we got to PA so I was not feeling super great, but we still had a great time. Of course we had to visit a popular chocolate factory and grab some Wilbur Buds and fudge. There is nothing that chocolate won't fix. Maxim and Kate are the sweetest kids. They helped us keep Ada entertained. They did not know what they were in for during the car rides, though. Had they known that she can throw some pretty nasty fits in the car, they probably would not have begged to sit by her. The kids held up pretty well though.

Can't go to Amish Country without visiting Intercourse. Scott had the great idea to point to the sign above and have one of us point to Ada. Inappropriate if you ask me :)

You can see the tired, glossy look in Ada's eyes. She was going on less sleep and no nap two days in a row. You can only imagine what that will do to a toddler

I loved driving around and seeing horses and buggies. We were headed up to this beautiful Amish home to buy some home made root beer. Ada loved seeing the horses and kept yelling out "Neigh, Neigh"

It really is gorgeous out there. I loved seeing all of the open land and hills. In fact, they looked more like mountains after all this time we have spent in Florida
.

If you look behind me, you will see the horses. That is where Ada's attention was.

Oh yeah, we joined the Amish faith while there.

Ada would make a cute little Amish girl.

The kids with their little hats. Scott refused to put one on for the picture!

Dinner time turned into meltdowns for Ada. We ordered our Philly Cheese steak Sandwiches and waited, and waited, and waited. Turns out, they were short handed and hadn't forgotten about us (which was what I thought). The owner, Captain Gus, kept the kids entertained with some magic tricks while we waited. Ada would not have it, though. She was hungry and wanted to eat. What was even more aggravating was she cried every time she bit into her grilled cheese. Can't please a tired baby. We headed home after that and put her right to bed. She slept until 10 the next morning!

Filling our hungry bellies!

Sunday, we met my brother's soon-to-be boss at church and had fun visiting with him.
I was so excited to be able to scope things out for him a little. They are very excited to have him join their department. After church, we drove around Annville, saw where Jeff would be teaching then headed home for lunch. After Ada's nap, we went to a Benny Goodman Band Concert. I was shocked at how well Ada paid attention. She did not budge.

The cute cousins entertaining Ada while I got ready

Can't go to Pennsylvania and not go to Hershey Chocolate World. Such a cool place. Had I been feeling better, a lot of money would have been dropped on a lot of the fun chocolate flavors!

Ada LOVED her uncle Mark. She would walk up to him and say, "I Hold," which means, "Hold me."

Ada is obsessed with hats, just not wearing them. The kids got to "work" in a factory and box up some Hershey kisses.

They have a cute little ride which takes you through the production of chocolate. Ada loved seeing the singing cows and kept yelling, "Moo, moo."

Who in their right mind would consume this whole thing?

Okay, I would!

Bedtime Glee

Settlers: Cities and Knights.

A ruthless, cutthroat game that we spent many, many hours playing. So fun and very competitive

Sandwiches and Games. I forgot to mention (or maybe did not need to) we ate a lot on this trip. Food was always on the mind. We stuffed our faces with delicious sandwiches this day then headed out to a local creamery for ice cream.

Yes, we gave Ada her very own ice cream (honestly, she would not have had in any other way!) Did she make a mess? Yes. Did she love every moment of it? YES

Mmmm...

Notice how clean I am? Just wanted to point that out. And the ice cream was scrumptious!

I think the creamery was owned by either an Amish family or Mennonite (can't remember). They lived on beautiful land and owned goats that we could feed. Ada was not quite sure what to think of this. She loved Scout (the Foley's dog) but struggled having these loud, aggressive creatures eating out of her hand. She would act all brave when she was far away, but would cower when too close.

Ada with her cousins.
She was most likely saying, "Pet." She learned that word while we were there and now talks about petting everything and everyone.

Stacy saved her kids toys and pulled them out for Ada. She loved them and learned a new word while in Annville. "Toys." If only you could hear how she actually says it. Hilarious

We brought our portable DVD player so we could entertain Ada on the plane. It came to good use during some game time. Ada and I were both feeling a little sick so I put on some Yo Gabba Gabba and she actually cuddled with me to watch.

Kate and Maxim are in Tae Kwon Do. Our last night we went and saw them get their fight on. Kate can kick her leg higher than just about anyone and Maxim can be very fierce with his punches. I loved watching them and so did Ada.
Ada was putting on quite the show at one point, but I will have to write about it later. That is almost a whole separate post of its own!

After Tae Kwon Do, we headed home for dinner. Mark and Stacy cooked us a really good Portuguese dinner. After we stuffed our faces, we got the game out. Pretty much the only game we played the whole time. Settlers. I really wanted to win! I was going for it, but it never happened. Kate and Scott were on a team at one point this last night and destroyed everyone. Kate was so proud, I was mad at Scott :). Okay, not really, but my blood heated up for a bit during different parts of the game. We took a game break halfway through (around 11ish) and ate some toll house pie and ice cream! Scott and Maxim decided to call it quits the last game so they could play Zelda. I am not a night owl, but fought through the sleepy eyes to play 1/2 of one more game. By 1:00AM, I called it quits and had Scott finish my game. From what Scott told me is that Stacy won again, within minutes after I went to bed.

Scott and I made a big breakfast our last morning and packed up the car when we finished.
We drove to the airport, said our goodbyes (yes I almost teared up) and headed out. We had such a good time and felt like just as I was feeling better, and just as we were getting in the groove of everything, we had to pack up.

Long post huh? You though you were finished reading. Well, there is just a little bit more. We had a layover in the Cincinnati Airport and while I was walking Ada around in her stroller while she slept, I get a text from Scott. Delta was looking for someone to bump their flight because they were overbooked. They would give us food vouchers, a free hotel stay and $400 travel voucher...each. We jumped on it. Granted, I had no clean clothes or PJ's for me and Ada (Scott brought everything in his carry on), but we decided we could tough it out. We went to dinner, kind of put Ada down for bed, and got to watch the BYU game. Ada would not sleep if we were awake, so we let her climb into bed with us and watch Yo Gabba Gabba while we watched the game. It was a long night for all of us. Ada slept, but she was in a loud crib so every movement I could hear. My congestion was pretty bad too so I did not get to enjoy the nice big bed.

We got home Friday afternoon and took a long nap. We had such a great time and wish our vacation could have lasted longer!

Oh...one last thing.

One of the reasons I was not feeling well is because I am prego!

Yup...even though I am almost in my second trimester (12.5 weeks), the nausea hits me off an on and was more on than off during our trip. The cold didn't help much with the situation either. I am going to have a birthday baby! Our baby is due on my birthday! So...if you made it to the end of the post, you will know that I am expecting.

Back to the trip. Thanks Mark, Stacy, Kate and Maxim for the great trip and for spoiling us! We had a great time!

Arranged Marriage?

2011-03-17T21:26:00.002-04:00

I mean, they already get along so well!

(And no, I did not place them, Ada just climbed on Tristan's lap while they were watching a show)

A Good "Spin" on Things

2011-03-13T20:19:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts to my faithful readers. We have misplaced (or maybe the kiddos have misplaced) our camera charger. So, the camera has been dead for over a month, and I finally got around to ordering a new charger which should be here on time for our family trip to Pennsylvania. I will tell you what, the timing of this trip could have not been more perfect. We are wiped out and need a good vacation. Poor Scott. He heard from so many that the last year is great because you don't have as much work, you know how to study for exams and it's just laid back. Well, his professors have piled on the reading, close to what he had first year, so he does not get much of a break from that. On top of all his schooling, he started working as a clerk for a small Family Law Firm and on TOP of that, he is always online looking for work and applying for jobs. He is up long hours, has long days and on top of that, he is a husband and dad who never checks out on us either. He is always willing to set aside his work for his family which I am very grateful for (I don't try and deter him too much).

I am still watching Ada's best buddy, Tristan, during the week and they keep each other entertained, which makes me very happy. It does keep me busy and I find myself getting more and more excited for nap time each day so I can shut my eyes for a few minutes and I am pretty lucky that both kids are awesome nappers. I feel like I am a step behind in keeping my apartment clean. It usually always starts off in good shape in the morning and by lunch time, there are toys everywhere, food on the floor (from the kids tossing what they don't want) and just your everyday mess. I know it is what to be expected but I can't help but get frustrated a little bit because who doesn't want an imaculate house all day everyday? My running/exercising has pretty much gone down the drain. I am lucky if I can get 2 days of running/walking in a week. I find myself getting so preocupied with the future lately. We really are in major limbo right now with the job search and it worries me. I am not stressed, really, I am just always thinking about where, what and when! I want Scott to find work that makes him happy. I am just ready to stop thinking about all of it, though. To give my mind a well needed break.

On to Ada. I waited to write some incerpts on her until the end so you would have to read through our boring lives first (unless you do what I do sometimes and scroll to the good stuff. Just kidding). Ada, Ada, Ada. She is something, she really is. She started Nursery last Sunday and did not even blink an eye when we dropped her off. She went right to the toys and started playing. I was told that during singing time, she totally payed attention, was happy and played well with the other kids. Today was a different story. The first thing I heard when I walked in to pick her up was that she struggled today (She was totally fine when I dropped her off). She was put into time out for pushing a little boy off of his chair (he is about 6 months older than her, but she is bigger), there was hitting and yelling. Sigh...where did she get that from? Scott and I were both such good little kids (At least from what our parents told us). Ada has a temper, that is all there is to it. If she doesn't get what she wants, she will show you just how upset she is. I try not to give in too much to all of her demands, but it is hard not to some days. I think that she is discovering how to get taken out of Sacrament Meeting. She is realizing that if she is just REALLY loud, then we will give in and pull her out. Once out of the meeting, she will run for her life and scream with delight. This has to stop. I am considering just taking her into a room and holding her on my lap and teaching her that it is way worse out of Sacrament then inside. Any thoughts on that? Don't get me wrong, Ada is also one of the happiest, most fun loving babies, but I guess with that comes the hard stuff too.

Well, this post turned out to be really long and wordy. It felt good to just type it out, though. So much is going through my head that it was needed. Hope everyone is doing well out there in the Blogger world.

Just Because

2011-02-20T22:10:00.002-05:00

I just feel like doing an all Ada post. Oh wait, that is pretty much what I do these days anyway!

I swear these last few weeks, Ada has grown up so much. She started climbing on to everything. The coffee table, the couches, her crib, chairs, the table, boxes, slides, anything. Lately, when I am trying to get dinner on the table, Ada will climb up the chair and I will turn Yo Gabba Gabba on and she is happy. If she doesn't like the clip I choose, she will start pushing buttons, and every once and awhile, it will change the clip.
Ada loves her books. Reading them, chewing, throwing, standing on, you get it. She just loves them. One of the things I love most is when Ada will grab a book and run over to the door, sit down and start reading. It is so cute.

The sweat band. She loves putting head bands around her neck, on her head and tonight she discovered if she stretches it REALLY far it will snap back REALLY fast.

She will also climb on to the couch with a book and start flipping through it

She is also loving Tristan's car seat. She will just chill in it for a bit before going back to her busy self.

Some other fun things with Ada is:

1. She is saying, "please," while signing, "thank-you"

2. She will pretend like she is falling while saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa"

3. Spinning in circles then trying to run

4. Saying, "I pooed" or "I peed"

5. Dancing to "Popcorn Popping" and calling it "copcorn"

6. Saying "Hug" then wrapping her arms around us

7. Tackling her friend Tristan when he comes over (it is a love tackle)

8. Saying "more" while signing it at the same time

She is just growing up so fast and next month she goes to NURSERY!!! I am so excited.

We sure do love this little girl

Maybe?

2011-02-20T22:05:00.001-05:00

Maybe we should cut back on the cookies?

Siesta Keys

2011-02-20T21:35:00.004-05:00

I was looking forward to Saturday ALL week. I could not wait to spend the day with just my family. We decided to take a little drive to Sarasota to go to Siesta Keys Beach. The drive is just over an hour, not too bad (unless you don't look at the map before hand). As much fun as we had, the trip was sort of a disaster.

Ada did pretty well on the drive, but she started getting impatient when we were about 20 min away from the beach. We had to stop at a tourist info booth to grab a map because we were not sure how to get there. I let Ada jump out of the car and run around for a bit and she was in heaven. When we tried to load her back up, she wrapped her arms around Scott and held on tight. She did NOT want to get back in the car.

Once we got close to the beach, we decided to stop at a store really quick to grab a bucket and shovel for Ada. That was probably a bad idea because once we got to the parking lot, it was a MESS! For an hour we drove around and around and around waiting for someone to leave. Yes, people left many times, but we were always on the other side of the parking lot or waiting behind a line of cars when that happened. SO annoying. We finally drove around to look for other parking and decided we could not justify paying $20 (Even IF it was helping out the Salvation Army). By this time, I am sitting in the back seat with Ada and all of us are miserable and hungry. Ada got restless and started pinching me and pulling my hair. I would get upset and grab her arm and hold so she couldn't pull/pinch then she would cry because I wouldn't let her do it.

At one point Scott pulled over and said that we were going to a yard sale that we just passed because we were driving him nuts. We opted to go to lunch instead.

Once we had food in our stomachs, we were a happy family once again. We found parking for $10 (still too high for us, but after driving around the beach parking lot for another 10 minutes, we gave up).

WE MADE IT. Ada is overjoyed!

Ada is big into climbing on things

This is what Scott looked like once Ada got to him

Loving her dig in the sand

Loving this time together.
Scott and I should have put some suncreen on.

Love this baby

Once we got food and to the beach we had a great time. Our half day trip turned into a full day, but it was worth it. I won't even get into the drive home, though. It was long and that is all I need to say.

If I asked Scott he would probably say he would not need to go again (probably because I complained a lot), but I totally would. Just not on a beautiful Saturday morning!

Doesn't quite get it

2011-02-08T21:11:00.003-05:00

It ends up turning intos something funny when we try time out. She might be too young still. Maybe I will wait a little longer.

Just Another Day

2011-02-03T15:17:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday was another beautiful day, so we went to the local grocery store, Publix, bought ourselves some beverages and sandwiches, and headed to the beach. The day could not have been better, okay maybe a little, I was still struggling with a nasty cold that made my throat swell up and KILL! Other than that one minor detail, we had a nice relaxing time. Well, we did one at a time. One of us chased after Ada while the other got to relax.
I don't know what it is about sand, but Ada LOVES to eat it. She will seriously pick up a huge handful and stuff it in her mouth. It does not even phase her either. She will just keep on walking around as if nothing happened, like there isn't a massive amount of sand in her mouth.

This video has nothing to do with the beach, but I just thought it was so funny. I really am not on the phone all that much, but I guess Ada still picks up on what I do when I talk.

Ummm, just as a side note, my kitchen looks REALLY messy in this video, but I promise it was not. Her high chair top was on the counter, thus making it look cluttered. Okay, I feel better now! :)

What We Have Been Up To

2011-01-30T15:08:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity of staying with a family from the ward, while the parents vacationed in Hawaii. Yes, it was hard, yes, I almost had mini breakdowns, but overall we had a great time. Ada especially loved playing with their 3 year old. I was so proud of her first pig tails! They only stayed in about 15 minutes, though.

Fisher and Ada really had a love/hate relationship. One second, they would be giving each other kisses and hugs, and the next, Ada would be hitting Fisher while he was teasing her with a toy she wanted. My overall feelings...it just prepared me for when we have more kids and they tease, hit and even bite!!

Kensie and Rene are besties and the girls loved helping me bathe Ada and Fisher. Both REALLY wanted to bathe Ada so since Kensie got to wash her the first time, Rene got to wash her the second bath (Rene came over twice while we were there).
Kensie wasn't overly happy about that arrangement, though. She tried really hard to convince Rene to let her help. Rene stood her ground, though.

This is pretty much what the week looked like: Messy faces, crazy kids, etc. Such good, fun kids, though! I felt a little sad saying goodbye!

Cutest kids!

Ada loved sitting on that mini bench. The kids brought it into the family room for Saturday morning cartoons, and Ada was having a blast climbing up and down. Well, I had a feeling that I should move it away from the coffee table and I ignored it. Well, the bench toppled over while Ada was climbing on it and she went head first in the corner of the table. Bad Mom huh? I felt awful! So did she, I am sure. It gave her a nice little knot on her forehead!

The coolest little cars ever. The Plasma car works without peddling. You just put your feet up, swivel the steering wheel and off you go. Ada enjoyed strolling through the house with Fisher.

Ada and Tristan hanging out on the slide

The little daredevil tried going down standing up.

Future Softball player??? Mmmmm...I don't think so.

Besties for Life!

Ada is our little dancing queen. She is OBSESSED with Yo Gabba Gabba (which I know I have mentioned already) but this girl goes crazy when it comes on.

We are back into our normal routine now and this is one of the activities we enjoy during the afternoon after nap time.

Beach in January

2011-01-12T20:33:00.003-05:00

Saturday was such a nice day so we decided we needed to get out and take a drive. We ended up at a beach that we have not been to yet. There was not much beach and there was even a drop off to the water (only about 3 feet down). We could not believe our eyes. There were actual waves on the Gulf and a ton of surfers. Ada was in love with the long strips of sand to run down.

It felt so nice being there. We let Ada take off as fast as she wanted and while one of us chased her down, the other sat in the camping chair at the edge of the sand and watched the surfers bail. We are still kicking ourselves for not spending more time at the beach because we really do only live 10-15 minutes away.

In the video, if you watch closely, you will see Scott slip. A little piece of sand wall broke off and his foot was too close to the edge. Then you will notice a huge chunk fall. I thought it was funny.

Enjoy the video.

Christmas, Anniversary, Basketball and More

2011-01-08T19:59:00.012-05:00

We just got back from Northern California, where we got to spend time with both of our families. I feel like we should start from the beginning, though. Scott and I were both excited for Christmas break. The anticipation was killing me and it seemed like the couple of weeks leading up to it took FOREVER! Our travel day was LONG. Ada did not nap (well once and that was not until the last leg of the flight) and that means we had to entertain her. She actually did really well with just a few minor meltdowns.

Looking at this picture, one would think that we were using Ada as a luggage carrier. Let me assure you dear readers, that she was screaming at us before we put the bag on her. Ultimate fit. So it actually turned out nice for all of us. One less bag to carry through the busy airport.
Our second night in OV (Orangevale), we all went out to dinner.

Uncle Chad with Ada and Luke. Chad is the favorite Uncle. Ada and Luke both have a love for Yo Gabba Gabba. If you don't know what Yo Gabba Gabba is, well my friends, check it out here.
Ada is obsessed with the show and can even kind of say it. If she sees anyone sitting at the computer she throws her arms up in the air and while running to the computer garbles (if that is even a word), "Gobbaglobba, gobbaglobba." Luke not only loves Yo Gabba, but loves Oreo's too. We didn't want Ada to watch a ton of the show (one big reason for me is because the songs get stuck in my head for hours) and after we would tell her, "No more," she would cry and Uncle Chad would say, "Awww, Ada, do you need to watch some Yo Gabba?" Her tears would stop instantaneously and she would run into Chad's arms.

Kings and Warriors were playing at the Arco Arena. Scott grew up Warriors fan, and myself, Kings (well, I rooted for them anyway). It was looking really good for the Kings until the last 2 minutes. We thought the game was in the bag...NOPE. Warriors won in OT and Scott and my SIL Amy were both pretty happy about the win. Boo

Oh yeah, Scott had shaved for a lunch meeting, but now has his beard back.

Nothing like a side shot

I am not sure if these Kings fans are fair weather fans, but they bagged their heads as soon as Warriors won. Oh, Kings have not been doing too well this season...

Scott and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary and he planned the whole date. I was so excited about it. We spent half of the day in Old Town Sac where we went ice skating, walked around K Street Mall, had dinner and ended the night watching "White Christmas" at an old theater. So fun

The ice skating rink. Neither of us have skated for some time, but did pretty well after a few laps around the rink. Speaking of the ice rink, it was tiny. We for sure thought we were going to run over some of the little kiddos.

Scott did not have the best of luck with his skates. His first pair were too loose on the ankles and the 2nd slid all over the ice (or maybe that was his excuse). :) I kid. The second pair really were bad.

I have no sympathy for Chad. He brought this all upon himself. :) Every time Ada would see Chad, she would run to him and ask for Yo Gabba Gabba and he had too big of a heart to say, "no." What a great Uncle.

Christmas Eve we went to Dovewood Court to see the lights. It was so fun to see Ada's reaction to all of the lights. Loved it. It was so funny. There were a TON of people there and we were pretty much just shuffling through the culdesac, and one of the little boys yelled to his dad, "Look Dad, Angel Moroni."

Whoops...someone did not put make up on that day.

I have to explain the picture. My dad was trying to get Ada to laugh. He was trying to scare her so at one point, Scott attempted to give my dad the same reaction he had hoped to get from Ada. I thought it was funny.

Grandma Lovell working hard on the Christmas feast. My mom is known for the rolls that she makes. I have tried and tried to re-create them with not much success. I asked my mom if I could help and have her teach me face to face. Well, I was pretty proud of myself because the rolls that I helped with turned out perfect. Thanks Mom!

Growing up, we would wake up at 4 in the AM (well my sister and I would), turn on all of the Christmas lights, open our stockings, then wake up the rest of the fam at 5 and open presents. Every year since I can remember, my mom has bought a huge box of Sees Candies and that would be breakfast (along with the Christmas nuts and other candy from our stockings). We decided to change that this year (well the eating portion, we stopped waking up at 5 years ago). Amy, my SIL made this amazing bread that pretty much tasted like a maple bar. We also had eggs, hash browns, fruit and sausages. We wanted to stretch out Christmas as long as we could. Don't you love my Mom's awesome red nightgown? I do too!

Ada had a fun Christmas. Once she realized that we were actually letting her rip open boxes, she got a little more excited to help. It was even better when there was a toy waiting on the other side of the wrapping paper.

Awww...the newlyweds.

After John and Amy left, I asked John if being with all of the nieces and nephews (minus Steve and Lisa's. Missed you guys), if they were baby hungry. And he told me, "Quite the contrary." I guess the clock was not ticking for them with crazy, screaming kids running all over the place. All of the kids loved John and Amy. I think they are runners up to Chad with the favorite Uncle/Aunt status.

So I guess my gifts to Scott this year were more practical than fun. While out shopping, I found an awesome deal on a car vacuum. I new when I saw it that I needed to get it for him. We are always complaining that we need to clean our cars out more, but never can find a car wash/vacuum place. SO, I just couldn't pass it up. Well, fast forward to Christmas morning. Scott opened the gift then asked if there was something else in the box. Oh well, at least he will have a clean car, right? :)

One of Ada's favorite gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Foley got her a nativity. You would think that by looking at her face she was not happy with her present, BUT, the face you are actually seeing is of her being impatient. As soon as she saw what it was she started yelling, "That, that!" and wanted the toys out of the box immediately.

I had to post a picture of my dad and his famous red nightshirt. He wears it every year on Christmas morning. My mom made it for him many moons ago. I believe he used to wear just the night shirt when I was a kid, but decided to not show so much leg and wears pants underneath.

My mom has been collecting Santa's for a long time and we got her one last year with no intention of getting her another one this year. But we saw it at a boutique and thought it was so cute so we added once again, to her collection.

Pure Joy.

Chad is the easiest person to shop for. He writes out a wish list each year at Christmas so all we have to do is select something from it and get it for him. I asked him if he could only get one thing off of his list, what would it be. "Avatar, the directors cut." We scored high on that gift!

I feel so bad because when we stayed with Scott's family, I pulled my camera out to take pictures and the battery was dead. We did get an awesome Flip Camera for Christmas so I was able to get some footage at the Foley's.

We had a lot of fun playing games, visiting and hanging out with both families. The flight home was LONG, even though it went by pretty fast (is that possible?). We were just super crammed and I made the mistake of assigning us a middle and window seat when I should have chosen and aisle and middle. We were pretty much stuck in our spots for over 4 hours. Poor Ada, she was so uncomfortable.

It is nice to be in our apt again, but we miss the families. Thanks for a great time!

Name That Movie

2010-12-13T22:18:00.002-05:00

"Heeeeeeeey Yoouuuuuuu Guuuuuyyyyyyys!!!"

Picture Time

2010-12-01T16:47:00.016-05:00

It seems like a lot has happened in the last two weeks. While I was gone for the Ragnar,

Scott texted me that Friday to tell me that Ada wasn't eating well, then Saturday that she had a fever. Of course, I felt horrible that I could not be there to help. Sunday morning, she was burning up, so we decided to take her to the ER. We found out she had a bladder infection. Yeah, I know, horrible. She did not really eat or drink for a couple of days and the docs told me to do anything to keep fluids in her. Popsicles did the trick for a day. She liked to hold it all by herself.
Scott had most of Thanksgiving week off. We probably took off to Busch Gardens too soon after Ada's fever broke. She did not love being there. I think she was still a little weak from being so sick. Is it bad to say that I enjoyed myself? I DO think she had some fun, but was just not her usual self.

In a normal day, Ada would LOVE the Sesame Street show at Busch, but we did not get much of a reaction out of her.

Maybe we shouldn't have let her play in the water. Look at that sad face.

A little happier now

Ada was a little scared to go on
the ride with her Daddy, but she ended up liking it. Scott was the one who got a little sick. :)

Ada feeling much better (Friday after Thanksgiving). She was thoroughly enjoying her new shirt from my Black Friday purchase. Funny that I stayed out until 2AM shopping on Friday and returned almost half of what I bought. What a waste.

We have not been taking very good of her teeth lately...Good thing my brother is going to be a dentist.

Her first ponytail...or something close. I was so proud!

This was our best attempt to get a full body picture of Ada's adorable little outfit. She was having too much fun being difficult, though.
We went to the Beach for FHE. I was a little surprised that Ada was a little scared of it. We had fun taking pictures, though.

Family Picture

Yup, she loves tongues

I may be no photographer, but this sunset picture turned out pretty sweet, I think. I love being so close to the beach (even though we rarely go. I know we will be kicking ourselves when we no longer live in Florida).

Oh and for those who are interested, Ada is back to herself again. She just finished her last bit of antibiotics today. She does have to get some testing done next week just to make sure everything (her bladder and kidneys) is working correclty.

Snot Bubbles

2010-11-26T19:12:00.002-05:00

(This is not Ada...just in case there were some who thought so)

So Ada has had a lot of snot bubbles lately. I think they are hilarious and super gross at the same time. I can't help but think of a funny, yet very awkward situation back from my Freshman year at Ricks College every time I see one(Yes, I call it Ricks cause it was Ricks when I was there). There was this guy, I think I remember his name, but am not going to write it out JUST in case his wife has somehow found my blog and reads it for entertainment :).

SO, back to the boy who must not be named. I saw him ALL over campus (that is what happens at a small school) and I always imagined getting to actually talk to him. But of course, I would never initiate such a thing. So I would try and cross paths with him often and prayed that when I did, I looked okay. Well, freshman year was quickly coming to an end and I still had not met him. With only weeks left of the semester I became friends with this awesome girl that just happened to KNOW this guy! I was so excited and told her how I thought he was so cute and wanted to meet him. She pointed me out to him and according to her, he thought I was a nice little catch as well. So during finals week, she arranged for us to meet, I think, or he just saw me hanging out in the "quad"and came up and started talking to me. I have NO idea what was said, I can't remember for the life of me. All I know is that he sneezed (it was really bright), he sneezed many times then wiped his nose a lot cause when you sneeze, your noes runs, right? Well, after the last sneeze, he looked at me and low and behold, he had a giant snot bubble hanging from his nose. That is the reason I can't remember the conversation, because I could not take my eyes off of that horrible sight. All of the cuteness left him immediately and my stomach was churning. I could not figure out what to do, if I should tell him or let him just walk to class with a giant snot bubble. I chose the ladder. My guess is that he went to the bathroom to blow his nose (because I bet he was slightly freaking out he didn't completely clean his running nose when he wiped it) and noticed the bubble. It makes a lot of sense that he never called me (he did get my number). If I had gone out with him, chances are, I would only see a snot bubble when I looked into his face.

SO, this was very random, but I had a good laugh. I laughed as I told Scott about it today, I laughed as I wrote it all out, and I laughed as I imagined Jenny Hill Peterson (freshman roommie) reading this and cracking up because she remembers me telling her all about it! Every time your kid gets a snot bubble, or heaven forbid, yourself, I hope you think of me and the awkward situation I was in so many years ago!

Ragnar 2010

2010-11-21T23:01:00.010-05:00

Remember when Scott and I did THIS?

Well, I also did it the summer before we were married. Both Scott and I were signed up to run this last year, but I did not feel ready to leave my very new baby. So, we dropped out a few weeks before the big race. I was craving to run the Ragnar this year. After two years of not running it, I had forgotten everything I hated about it and could only remember only things I loved. It's funny. There are probably more things that I hate about the Ragnar then I love, but what I love far outweighs those things I don't. A friend of mine and I tried to round up a Pinellas County team but most people rejected our offer. Whimps! I Kid.

Well, a week and a half before the big race, I was talking to my sis who was hanging out with our good friend. This friend has a sister who lives out here in the FL and she was running the Ragnar. Half seriously, half not, I told her to tell her SIL that if they needed a runner, I was their gal. Now you know how sometimes we offer our assistance half heartedly? That was kind of what I did. I really didn't think that two days later, I would be getting a phone call inviting me to run the Ragnar...Had I been training? No. Did I have a good pair of running shoes? No. Did I know anyone on my potential team? No. Did I say, "Yes?". Of course!

I did run one 11 miler the Saturday before Ragnar and it made me super nervous for the race becuase I realized just how unprepared I was. Oh well, it was still amazing!

Here I am, a Sole Sister, ready to head out to the first exchange (I ran in the 2nd van so that means we didn't start our legs until later in the day).

Oh the Love. Van 2 in all of her Glory. We really did have a great little group. I felt like I bonded with each of these girls and felt so close so fast. Aubrey (far left standing by me), was the reason I got invited to run. She had been running in her marathon and injured her leg. So, she did what any good person would do...drive the car for us. We totally appreciated her. The rest of the ladies were amazing and so fun. We had many serious conversations that even involved some tears, laughs about bathroom humor, and even some pretty scary faces. Oh the crazy things that we thought were funny when you are going on no sleep!

No, I wasn't really running, but I was ready to go

The whole group. No one could beat the "Sole Sisters!" I mean that figuratively and not literally beacause we got beat by just bout every team.

Still feeling good!!! Oh wait, because I hadn't run yet. I was just about to start my first leg. I told myself that I didn't want to get passed by ANYONE. Well, about halfway through my run, I notice someone slowly sneaking up behind me (well running). We will call her, "Fishy." Well, she snuck right past me and I never could catch up. She just had a lot more in her than I did. The team she was on was being sponsored by their husbands who were professional Bass Fisherman. They had video cameras on them and everything. I bet they recorded her smoking past me. I was a good sport and went and patted her on the back afterwards. I even admitted to her that there was no way I could keep her pace.

We were pretty tired in this picture. I believe it was a couple hours before our second leg. We spent a lot of time in this van. I can't imagine what it smelled like once all of us peeled our stinky selves off of the seats for good.

Our awesome driver, Aubrey. She saved us from some crazy drivers!

Shelly was one of my van-mates. Shelly, me and Aubrey spent way to much jabbing and not enough time sleeping.

So, I have more pictures that I need to post, but my computer is being dumb, but I have some little funny moments that I want to write:

1. There is nothing more beautful and perfect than a nice warm shower when you are stinky and sore. But is it really worth it when they are community showers?? At our last exchange (one more leg to run), there were showers. Well, a few of our van mates had already showered and told us the water was nice and warm. Nothing else, NOTHING else was said about them being community. SO you can imagine the shock on our poor prudish faces when we walk into a room full of naked women with no shame. Three of us girls huddled in the corner, fully clothed, debating what to do first. We decided that we couldnt shower at the same time, because that would just be weird. SO Laura started first. She was back in less than a minute. Shelly was next. She was gone about 3 minute and told me she found a nice little corner and didn't turn around. SO I found the little corner she was talking about and did it. YES, I showered in a community shower. Granted, I didn't get as clean as I would like because normal shower routines can be awkward with others close by. Was I a little disturbed about the "Openess" of some of the women? Yes. Was I grossed out about the dirty underwear left on the floor? Yes. Was I happy that I was able to conquer a huge feat? ABSOLUTELY

2. Forgetting how to sleep. One would think that you could fall asleep at the drop of a hat when you have had next to no sleep, been running throughout the night, cheering on your teammates that were running throughout the night, etc, etc. Not the case for almost my whole van. We were so tired that sleep did not visit us. Not once during race time did I snooze. Okay, maybe for 30 seconds cause I woke myself up after a little snore.

3. I am going to have to write more later, only because I am realizing that this is turning into a long post and I am totally putting more important things on hold to finish this. Like, cleaning my apt.

Just know that anyone that even is just considering trying out a Ragnar...DO IT. It is so dang hard, and yes, you may puke, yes you are more tired than you can ever imagine, and yes you really start to stink from the dried up sweat and dirt stuck to you, but you bond with the people in your car, you accomplish some really hard runs, and you stay up all night doing it. Now, how could that not be fun!???

Costumes and Chili

2010-10-31T19:46:00.004-04:00

It was all planned out a few weeks before the big ward Halloween Party. Scott would go as Nigel Lithgoe from one of our favorite shows So You Think You Can Dance, I would be the host Kat Deeley and Ada was going to be a contestant (actually, Melissa, the ballerina). Well, a week before the big party Scott informed me that he couldn't go because he had a prep test course that night that he had already signed up for. Sniff, so Ada and I went without our judge. We still had a blast. Some people even knew who we were!!

I will never be a blond. Just not me.

My good friends little baby boy, Peyton. Ada wanted to touch him the whole time.
Fisher and Ada are good buds. We were able to stay with his family while his parents were out of town and they became best friends. They light up every time they see each other. Romance in the making????

My good friend Tiffany and her cute boys. They were not overly thrilled about being in the picture with us. Probably because we were taking them away from the fun.
Check out that tongue. It could wrap circles around that thing. Gross...
Tristan and his Dad. Neither child was

cooperating in the picture. Ada was terrified of the eyeliner and Tristan wasn't sure what to think. His family came as Alice and Wonderland characters. So cute. He was the white rabbit, but didn't want his ears.
The news I am sure all of you have been waiting for...My chili won the grand prize. Check out the size of this trophy!! Where the heck am I going to put that thing? Currently it is a backseat passenger of my Honda. I get to keep this beauty for a year...until the next cook off. Special thanks to my brother Chad for his award winning recipe and for Scott's extra ingredient that he added.

Ada had no trouble figuring out what to do with the pumpkin and trunks filled with candy. She would walk right up to each car and sort of hold her little bucket up, but I had to help her steady it and not run off before they actually dropped candy in it.

It was a really fun night. Our little ballerina loved her Halloween!

My New Job

2010-10-31T15:41:00.004-04:00

I have a new job (part time) and I will tell you what, it really is one of the greatest jobs. I watch a little boy (friends from church), Tristan, during the mornings. We head over to their house and Ada is so excited, every time, when we pull up. She seriously loves going over there. She starts to get impatient on the drive over. This particular morning on the way to work, I was so curious what she was doing, so while at a stop light (It was red, of course) I turned the camera on her and captured this adorable face (No, not mine...I had no idea I was even in the picture). We are on a pretty good schedule. They have a morning snack and right after, both kiddos start getting really clingy, almost whiny until I say, "You ready to go on a walk?" That stops all whining right away. Ada comes over to me to get her shoes on and both head over the the gate while I gather up waters, keys and such. They are happy campers once they are loaded up and out the door. I found a HUGE park a little ways down the street. It is beautiful, but I must admit, I was taken by a little surprise when I saw Warning signs about alligators. You better believe I stay on the path and don't spend anytime near the water.

Here is Tristan. He is such a good boy and loves his outings!
Ada loves roaming the playground. She can't get enough of it.

I had to get a shot of just one side of the park. Isn't it beautiful?

Of course, the kids were not interested in smiling for me.

On the way back from the park this particular day, I noticed a bunch of birds nearby. They must have thought that we had food because all of the sudden, they all started walking towards us. A tiny bit creepy if you ask me, but the kids loved it. Ada was crying to get out of the stroller, but no way.

The other side of the lake. I love the lily pads

So, there you have it, my new job. I wouldn't really call it a job, but I am not sure what else to call it. It is so fun to see both kids interacting and learning to socialize with each other.

Carving the Pumpkin

2010-10-28T21:32:00.004-04:00

Ada was a great help. She loved the texture of the gooey pumpkin innards

Scott diggin in.

See those wart like modules? Well, we discovered that pumpkins like these are like gourds. Hard as a rock and crazy annoying to carve. Scott was literally sweating because it was so
ridiculous to carve.

This is what Cyclops looks like when your pumpkin is almost impossible to carve. Nice work though Scott, nice work.

The little helper

2010-10-28T20:38:00.004-04:00

We took Ada to the pumpkin patch Monday night and she had so much fun. Her facial expressions were awesome! This is her looking at all of the pumpkins. She had no idea what to do with herself.Not wanting to stand still for a picture with Daddy. You can see her right hand starting to push off of Scott

Classic face! We saw a lot of this the whole time

They had a cute little display perfect for family pictures.

Such a sweet face

More of the "face"

Ada tried to pick up just about every pumpkin that she passed.

Remember...

2010-10-20T21:30:00.005-04:00

Scott needs a haircut. His hair is really long right now, REALLY long. Although we will miss the curls, we decided to have a little fun, and say goodbye a little early. Goodbye curls, hello straight hair! This brings back a memory from not too long ago. Remember THIS?

We figured since he has interviews coming up (hopefully) it is probably a good idea to soften things up a bit. But once he has landed a job...bring on the curls, baby!

Impatient

2010-10-19T20:59:00.003-04:00

So it's been awhile, I know. I have been busy. Or maybe I just haven't taken the time to update. I am actually pretty mad at myself right now. I am known to be a very impatient gal. I don't read instructions because I lose interest halfway through the steps so I end up guessing on how to put something together and end up messing up and things take longer than they should have. Or, I ruin a meal because I think that I can skip a step. You get the point. So my plan was to do a post this week but my internet has not been working. So after trying everything I know (wich is not much) to get my connection back, I call the computer company. They tell me I have to call the wireless company to get a user key of some sort. After talking to the outsourced customer service lady for the wireless company and deciding NOT to pay $40 to have them diagnose and possibly fix things, I hang up the phone. My computer company emailed me some instructions of things that I could do. Now remember what I mentioned earlier, I don't follow instructions very well OH and if I don't understand something...I guess.

SO, while I was following the step by step instructions I had this thought that what these instructions meant is that I might lose everything I have on my hard drive, but me, being little miss impatient, ignore the promptings I have to do a backup before I hit the "finish" button. Long story short, I have lost all pictures/videos from the past 7ish months. ALL of them. So, sorry Mom and Dad, I was about to do a really cute post on our trip to Busch Gardens, BUT, I no longer have those pictures! Being impatient is a curse. I work hard on not rushing, on not having to have things the minute I want them. It always seems to haunt me in the end.

With that being said, isn't our little Ada just the cutest thing ever? That first picture in the skeleton PJs sums up her personality pretty well. FULL THROTTLE. She is all over the place and even when she first wakes up in the morning, there is not any crying, there is Ada, jumping in her crib, or calling, "Scott," or running end to end of the crib.

We got Ada a little tent for her birthday. Saturday night, we were watching some of our friends kids and I told Scott to go and play with them for a minute cause I needed a break. All of the sudden I hear him calling for me. Apparently, he was stuck in the tent. He thought that he would be able to crawl through the tube and join in the fun. NOPE.

Cute little kids

Ada and I playing the "binky" game. The reason for the picture though is because of her awesome hair.

She is really finding her voice. Ada loves to scream and yell at the top of her lungs. The neighbors probably think that awful things are happening over here. Nope, she is just pretending to be mad and upset and we are pretending to be shocked she is making such a fuss. I may or may not encourage her to scream from time to time. I know that will come back to haunt me.

She's a Big One

2010-09-24T10:42:00.002-04:00

Ada had her one year well visit check up today and here are the stats:

Weight: 24.8lbs (95th percentile)

Height: 31" (97th percentile)

She didn't give me head circumference

She also was given 5 immunization shots as well, which broke my heart. I have never heard her cry the way she cried. I almost joined her. But, she is all good now, just taking a nice nap.

Then She Was 1

2010-09-19T21:02:00.004-04:00

Our little Ada turned 1 yesterday. We had some friends and my parents over for a little birthday bash (well as much as a birthday bash one can do on Sunday). Ada is going to love her stroller. I can already tell
"Presents? What are those? I just want to eat the wrapping."

"Why did my parents strip me down to my diaper? They never do this."
I was so excited to have Ada dig into a smash cake. I was pretty certain that she was going to enjoy every last minute of it.
(Before)

The cute Lady Bug cake with the dangerous black and red frosting. We tried to take all precautions and cover the floor with plastic bags (And she still seemed to dodge the plastic when food dropped!)

A Before family picture. Ada is starting to poke and pick.

"Why have my parents never let me do this before? Man I have been missing out!"

"Anyone want some?"

"There better be some more."

After family picture.

Ada was being so kind and wanted to share some with me.

The most disgusting bath ever

Our new favorite face that Ada makes. She makes this when something is hot OR cold

All clean
Mom and Dad, we are so happy you made the long flight to come and share this day with us. Thank you for everything!

Ada digging in

This has been such a fun and good year. I can't believe how quickly it has flown. I just want to document some of my favorite things and memories about little Ada (in no particular order)

1. The first time I held Ada, I was absolutely shocked by how heavy and big she was. I was anticipating a 6 pounder because of my doctors predictions

2. I love how Ada scrunches her nose up in pictures or when we do it to her. She will usually snort when she does it.

3. Watching her "wrestle" with her dad is hilarious. She really gets into it

4. Hearing Ada call Scott, "Scott." (It actually sounds more like "Sca")

5. When I tell Ada to say, "Mommy" and she smiles at me and says, "Dadda."

6. Her army crawl

7. Her love of the water. She loves baths, we can dunk her in the water and she still goes back for more

8. Watching Ada interact with other kids/youth. She loves them

9. Her belly laugh

10. How she gets really loopy and slap happy when she is tired

11. This one drives me nuts sometimes, but when she is full or tired of the food that we have given her so she picks it up, reaches to the side, looks at one of us and drops it.

12. Her funny little steps that she is taking (she has her shoulders rounded and elbows tucked in)

13. When she used to really cuddle

14. Her bright eyes. There is something so sweet when we look at each other and she smiles.

15. When I nursed her. I loved that time with her, but I didn't produce enough milk to keep her happy and full

16. The bald spot she used to have on the back of her head. It just made me laugh

17. The binky game we play with her when she wakes up from naps and bedtime

18. How she jumps in her crib, or on anything else

19. When I stick my gum out close to her face and she dive bombs for a taste (It's what I do in church to keep her entertained)

20. Her soft skin. Ada still has really baby soft skin that I love to tickle

21. Putting lotion on her tummy. After bath time I lather the little one up. She lays flat on her back and as soon as she sees the lotion bottle, she starts slapping her tummy. So cute

22. When she escapes from us while putting clothes on her so she crawls around naked.

23. Her bum. It is so dang cute

So, there are so many more, but I don't have time to write anymore. We are both so grateful to have baby Ada in our lives. She has truly blessed us. This has been a great year, I am looking forward to see what year 2 brings.

I can't help but Smile

2010-09-08T19:53:00.005-04:00

Very long (If you just want to see pictures and videos, skip the reading and scroll down)

Sunday:

So, I am not going to lie, it has been a very long week. I woke up Sunday not feeling super great, and new that I had to get some antibiotics. I didn't want to wait too long so I just went to the docs. I did make sure and go to Sacrament meeting first (I needed a little spirituality). SO, I am at the docs for like two hours . It was kind of nice, I got to relax on one of the beds and watch TV. Anyway, I got my prescription and was on my merry way. It was fast Sunday mind you. I took my first pill on an empty stomach and with not much fluid (Duh, what was I thinking). Around 8PM I start feeling really achy and feverish. "Crap!" was my thought. Well, it was one thing after another these last 2 1/2 days. Sunday night, I guess, Monday early morning, I wake up with major chills. I was so cold, and shivery (Is that a word?) so I crank the heat up in the tub and jump in it. Our tub is short, I am tall, so you can imagine how I maneuvered to stay warm, it was a funny site. After getting out of the tub, I start thinking, "Hmmm, I have the urge to throw up." I HATE throwing up. Absolutely hate it. Dinner was fighting in my stomach so I decided to give it a go. Yup, up came dinner and the nasty Apple Pie I attempted to make.

Monday:

I wake up (actually just open my eyes cause I didn't really fall asleep), and I am feeling a TINY bit better. I was really looking forward to the holiday because there was a big stake activity at a splash park and there are a lot of young couples we just met, and old friends I wanted to see. Also, I want Ada to interact with other kids and people to get her over her "Stranger Anxiety." After contemplating, we decide it best not to go. So Monday Scott watched Ada pretty much the whole day, I was miserable and paranoid that I was allergic to my medication. I had a fever all day and was increasingly feeling more and more guilty not being able to really help out with anything. I laid there like a slug. Scott bathed Ada, fed her, put her down for all naps, and bed. Thanks Honey! (Haha...he hates it when I call him such names)

Tuesday:

Another sleepless night and a bath. I woke up in the middle of the night with chills and fever again and probably shouldn't have, but took a bath. I forgot to mention I had the worst headache starting Sunday night. HORRIBLE. I felt like my brain was trying to burst its way out of my skull (no exaggeration). So the headache and body aches are keeping me up. The bath felt good, but still didn't help me sleep. I called my Doctor Brother-in-law many times along with the ER to make sure I should still keep taking the meds. "Yes" was the answer. I did start feeling a little better Tuesday and thought for sure I was on the mend. Nope...we decided to grab a taco (Yeah gross when you are nauseous) and take Ada to the park. By the time we are there and in the play area, the heat and my nausea take over. I don't eat, and we leave soon after. Ada loved it though. My fever came back by the time we got home and I down, trying to sleep. Scott once again, took care of Ada. Oh and I can't forget to mention the blessing that Scott and our good friend gave me Tuesday night. I finally decided I better not mess with this.

Wednesday:

Yes, another sleepless night, but I can tell you, I woke up feeling loads better. I woke up multiple times in a cold sweat because my fever had broken. The only complaint I really had was my body felt like I had worked out hard core for a week. No kidding. My neck, knees, lower back, and shoulders were so stiff. Talk about uncomfortable. And another weird thing still going on is the tingling in my legs and arms when I stand up. I feel kinda silly cause I have to shift side to side to keep the blood going. Oh yeah, and I noticed that I had a weird rash all over my legs (I thought it was razor burn), but then I noticed that it was also all over my torso, arms and other places :). Heat rash. Yup, and it itches. So, today I took it really easy. Around 1 I showered and brushed my teeth, put some cute clothes on and makeup. I ran a couple of errands, and tried to keep the blood flowing in my legs. I was actually hungry so I told Scott I wanted Pizza. I know, not the best food especially after not really eating anything since Sunday night, but that is what my body wanted and my body loved it! I could only eat 2 pieces though.

Why did I blog about this? Well, I was struggling a lot with being sick. I don't know HOW to be sick and a mom and wife at the same time. Luckily Scotts schedule allowed him to be available to help me, but what if he wasn't? I guess I would have just had to improvise. I am so glad that I can be a mom and wife again and not be feeling sorry for myself. I am curious to know how other mothers do it? I kept thinking how much of a wimp I was because I couldn't stand up long enough to hold Ada. I thought of my sis who broke her foot and didn't go to the doc for a couple of weeks because she only thought it to be a sprain. And when she was in labor all night, she fell asleep through some contractions, took a shower, made her hair all cute, THEN went to the hospital to find that she wouldn't have time for an epidural. Strength is what she has. I want to be stronger and be able to handle the little hurdles that I get faced with and not feel like I am letting someone down for not accomplishing what I wanted or being there for someone who needs me. ANYWAY, I decided, after this very long post, to post a couple of pictures and videos that make me smile. And that makes everything all better.

Ada is starting to take her first steps. It is too cute.

I give all of the credit to Scott for Ada's belly laugh. He started it and I finished.

Something I Made

2010-09-04T21:34:00.002-04:00

So, I am not much the crafty person, not at all, actually. I have been wanting to add something to Ada's room that I did not have to spend too much money on and found this.

I thought these flowers were so adorable and thought they would add a nice little touch to Ada's room. I love how they turned out, however, you have not seen the other wall. It is HUGE and bare. I really think we need some color BUT I don't want to spend money on paint, just to leave less than a year later. And not to mention we have to pay to paint it back to white. So, I am debating making one or two more flowers and filling up the other wall with them and taking these two down and putting a picture up instead. Thoughts?

A Little Day Trip

2010-09-01T10:28:00.003-04:00

Well we have been back in Florida for a little over a week now. We decided that Ada would appreciate the animals at Busch Gardens a little more since she is older now, so we used our passes to go last Friday. I am not sure if it is the humidity OR her lack of interest in the animals, because she wasn't all that excited. Scott, on the other hand, was. We HAD to go to the Gorillas first thing, because we missed them last time we were here.
"What is this sticky air that I am breathing?"

Hey, what it would be like to be a gorilla at Busch Gardens? They lounge all day, eating the bugs off each others backs, while sitting by a beautiful waterfall and greenest of the green foliage.

Ada's first Merry -Go -Round. The sign said that babies had to be on the chair, but I was hoping that I could talk the worker into letting Ada and I sit on a horse. He would not allow it. Sniff

The Sesame Street show. Too bad just before we sat down, there was a HUGE down pour and we were stuck in this pavilion for over half an hour with nothin to do but sing songs to Ada.

I am only sure of one of the characters I saw, which was Grover. I need to learn these things

Ada grabbed on to my arm and held on tight when we first walked on stage. Talk about Stranger Anxiety.

This is what we looked like after running to the car. We were thinking that the rain was not going to let up, so made a run for it. I am not going to lie, I kind of enjoyed charging through the puddles and such. Scott on the other hand did not and Ada was pretty much oblivious to it all. She had cover from her stroller at least.

Funny Picture to Make Your Day

2010-09-01T10:19:00.002-04:00

This is the face of a baby that took a GREAT nap!

(I did not touch up her hair at all)

Look Ma No Hands

2010-08-26T21:15:00.002-04:00

That's right, Ada is on her way to walking (My apologies about the sideways video, for the life of me I could not get it how I wanted). She is getting funnier as the days go by, very needy, but hilarious! I have been practicing with her to stand on her own, and she usually sits down. Well, I was getting dinner ready and she was in the family room playing with this toy. I would check on her periodically and I walked in to see her holding her hands way up high, the she would topple over. I had to grab the camera and her show did not disappoint. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.