Little Chunk

We took Claire in today for her 2 month check up and shots (boo) and we found out that our little girl is chunkin up! We are so happy. Her little legs and arms have been getting rolls on them over the past couple weeks and we are really happy about it. :)

So, here are the stats on our little lady.

Height- 22 3/4 inches (85%)
Weight- 10 lbs 15 oz. (75%)
Head Cir.- 38.5 cm (60%)

Not only do we have a little chunker, but we have a LONG little chunker. She has the longest arms and legs I have ever seen. And a long torso for that matter. She is filling out 3 month clothing, but it's almost becoming too short on her. Go figure that Dallin, at 5' 10" and me at 5' 3", would have a long baby. I'm sure she'll slow down soon enough and be a little shorty though. :)

The last two nights, she slept 8 hours and 7.5 hours respectively. Yeah. I know. I think someone is growing. We're not complaining. At all. She also ate non stop two days ago. I'm serious. I would nurse her, then give her a bottle, and as soon as she was done with the bottle, she was rooting. And so I would nurse, and then she'd want more, so I'd give her a bottle, so on and so forth until she finally fell asleep in a milk drunk stupor. :) She keeps us busy, that's for sure!

Can I just tell you how much I hate shots?? (For me but especially for my baby.) I seriously had to fight back tears as she started crying. Dallin told me afterward that he almost walked out of the room. Please tell me we're not lame parents who are way too emotional about these kinds of things?? You should know we're kind of wimps though. We hate it when Claire cries. We instantly want to console her because we just want her happy. So we pick her up, rock her, sing to her, and she instantly stops crying and everyone is happy. And now she's spoiled. . . but that's beside the point.

She got 4 vaccines today. One was oral and then three were shots in the legs. Ouch. That needle looked vicious. I felt for her. She's been sleeping most of today but occasionally she'll wake up and just cry out. It's a new cry too. An "I'm hurting" cry. It just about breaks my heart every time I hear it. See? I'm a total wimp. Pathetic, I know. I swear I used to be tough. Having a baby made me way too emotional and wimpified. Yes, I just made up a new word.

ANYWAY...

On to happier things! Here are a few new pictures taken last night and today for your viewing pleasure.

Me and Claire last night.



I caught the tail end of a smile, and this is what I got. :)

The first thing I thought of when I saw this picture was Jack Black in School of Rock when he sings, "And I am really ticked off!" I am pretty sure this was actually the beginning of a sneeze though. :)

Do you love the lace leggings? I think leggings and leg warmers on little babies are about the CUTEST thing ever.

Buttons and Bows

Today after her shots.

Her little headband is one that Tara gave me that Emiline used to wear. She actually wore it today without fussing. That's a rarity!

Helping Jenny

My cousin Alicia just posted on her blog about her awesome Aunt Jenny and an auction in her behalf. She has contracted cancer again that has spread to various parts of her body. In order to help with all the costs that are associated with all the treatments she needs, they are having an online auction here, where all the proceeds will be given to Jenny and her family. Please, give someone the best Christmas present and bid on items or simply give a monetary gift to help out the family. I know they will greatly appreciate it.

Life As We Know It

I have been horrible about posting lately. I am so sorry. Suddenly having a baby to take care of cuts back on the free time. Mother's with more than 1 child can start laughing and mocking me now. You're probably saying "Do you realize what you can get done with ONE kid?!" I know, I know. It's just an adjustment. I promise I'll get better again. :)

So, about Miss Claire. She's doing great. In fact, she slept 6.5 hours last night! Yahoo! She's started sleeping one 4-6 hour stretch almost every night for the past 2 weeks. We've had an occasional all-nighter here and there, but for the most part we're gettin on a schedule! Needless to say, I'm happy. And much more well rested. :)

Claire is also becoming much more alert. Her favorite thing to look at is anything bright i.e. lights, the sun (when it shows itself), etc. and lately, I find her staring at our big picture of the Columbia River Temple that we have hanging in our living room. I kid you not, she looks at it ALL THE TIME. I think she knows it's a special place. Seriously. This girl is smart. She knows mine and Dallin's voices and she knows my mom's and Valerie's voices really well too. Her eyes get big and she starts to look around when any of us speak. It's amazing. She grabs our fingers and holds on a lot too. And let me tell you, this girl has a death grip. Holy schmoley, she will not let go of you once she's got a hold of ya. Claire also loves music. (We would certainly hope so, with Dallin and I as her parents.) When I turn on The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, she quiets down if she's fussy, which she rarely is. It usually puts her to sleep too. And whenever I sing to her, it calms her down and puts her to sleep. Seriously, this girl is the easiest baby to console. It's awesome. We are INCREDIBLY lucky.

Another favorite of Claire's is bath time. It's pretty entertaining because she hates getting undressed and her diaper taken off, but as soon as she gets put in the bath, she relaxes and starts kickin her little legs around. I think she might be a splasher as she gets older. :) So, she loves bath time, but she hates getting out and me putting lotion on her. Oh my goodness, you would think we were abusing the poor child with the howls she lets out. I hope my neighbors don't report us to the CPS, sheesh. Sometimes I just put her in a onesie and then calm her down because trying to get any more clothing on her than that is a wee bit difficult. She fights me when I try to get her dressed. And she tries to eat her hand when I'm trying to put it through the sleeve. Needless to say, it's hard to get Claire dressed. :)

A new found favorite is her swing. Hallelujah. She was not liking it a few weeks ago and then this week, presto change-o, she loves it! It's been nice to stick her in so I can get some things done around the apartment.

Today, I was holding her on my chest and suddenly, she started laughing. For like 5 seconds. She just laughed. Giggled really. Smiling and everything. It was the CUTEST thing I have ever heard. I look forward to many more laughing sessions. She was kind of half asleep when she did it, but that seems to be the time when she smiles the most. I think she is starting to respond more to our smiles when she's awake though. A few times in the past week we have started smiling at her and you can tell she's really focusing on us and then she gives us a little smile. Or an attempt at a smile anyway. Have any of you seen How To Train Your Dragon? Cutest movie ever. You know the part where Hiccup smiles at Toothless and Toothless tries to smile back? Yeah, that's pretty much what it's like for Claire right now. Gummy smile and all. :)

One last thing and then I'll get to the pictures. She LOVES her car seat. But only when it's in motion. Like in the car or if we are swinging it back and forth. If she's just sitting in it, she gets mad. She's very opinionated already. :) But really, it makes it a dream for traveling. We usually just do a feed and diaper change at Biggs and then she's good the rest of the way home, whether it be Ellensburg or Pasco. Our little girl is the easiest baby. We are so incredibly blessed.

So, here are some pictures as of late. These first ones were taken at about her one month mark. She'll be 2 months on December 9! Can you believe it? She goes in for her 2 month check up on the 14th. I'll let you know her stats then.

This is a headband that Grandma Calaway sent to us a few weeks ago. I love it. Claire? Not so much. I am crossing my fingers that she starts to not mind having headbands and bows on her head. :)



I thought this picture was too cute not to post. Just look at that little butt. She'll kill me when she's older. But for now, let's just enjoy this cute shot. :)

Grandma also sent us a cute little beanie! Once again, I love it, Claire's not so sure about it.



I didn't think this little snow suit would fit her very well, because I got it in a 3 month size, but we put it on her while we were in Washington for Thanksgiving and it almost fits her perfectly! I was hoping it would last her until January or February, but I think that's gonna be stretching it. (Literally)

Bath time!

Doesn't she look like she's posing in this shot? so cute.

With Cousins Luke and Mathew over Thanksgiving

Claire and Cousin Luke

Claire and cousins William and Emiline

Claire and Emi. Emiline LOVES "Baby Care". She doted on her like you wouldn't believe. And the only thing to stop Emi from crying one night was telling her that baby Claire was asleep and if she kept crying, it would wake up baby Claire and would make her sad. Too funny.

Christmas Cards

Our Christmas cards are almost complete. And soon, there will be one in all our loved ones mailboxes. I just love this time of year when suddenly the mailbox is full of Christmas Cards and letters updating everyone on their lives. It just makes me happy.

This is the first year we've done Christmas cards. We felt it was necessary with the new little one in our house. (Actually, she just gave me the excuse to finally do it. :)) We decided to go with Shutterfly this year for a couple of reasons. One, they have SUPER cute cards. And two, they gave me a deal I just couldn't refuse. 50 free Christmas cards. Is that a steal or what?? Now, with all their cute designs, I have had a hard time picking which card I want, but I finally found the one. I can't tell you which one though. You'll just have to look for it in your mailbox. :)

I highly recommend Shutterfly's Christmas cards, if you haven't already selected one yet this year. Just click here and get to browsing. They are so fun!

Hope you are all enjoying your Holidays as much as we are! I promise I will post later about Miss Claire and all the going's on at the Calaway household soon.

Until then, Happy Holidays!

I Love Free

Don't you just love free things? (on a totally unrelated side note: I am typing this whole post one handed as I am holding my sleeping child. Yipes! Let's see how long THIS takes.) Shutterfly is giving away 50 free holiday cards to anyone who blogs about it. I dunno about you, but it sounds like a sweet deal to me! You do have to pay any applicable taxes and the shipping & handling, but you get really cute cards for free! :) If you're interested, click here to sign up. If you want to browse their cute cards, click here. The promotion is good for any 5x7 card, so check em out! Oh, and updates and more pictures of miss Claire will be coming later this week. Enjoy your Fall weather! We sure are!

23rd Birthday/Halloween 2010

So, um, we didn't take ANY pictures on my birthday. Woops! Oh well, who needs pictures of their 23rd birthday? Totally an insignificant birthday in my book. :) Pretty much the next big milestone after 21 is 30, so I have 6 more totally insignificant birthdays to celebrate til then. :) It was a fabulous day though. We shopped til we dropped and then we headed north to Portland and had us some DELICIOUS Cheesecake Factory. Can I just profess my love publicly of all things Cheesecake Factory related?? Really, it's amazing. And we had Pumpkin Pecan Cheescake for dessert/my birthday cake. Is your mouth watering? Mine was all Saturday and I just started salivating again. Delicious.

My birthday night was not so pleasant, unfortunately. Little Miss Claire Bear decided she wanted to keep up the festivities of my birthday until the wee hours of the night; 2 am to 5 am, to be exact. Little stinker. Oh well, she has been forgiven and smothered with approximately 1000 more kisses since then, so all is well in the Calaway household.

Yesterday we wanted to take some family pictures since the trees and leaves outside our apartment complex are amazing right now, so Marcus and Ash came over and we took turns taking pictures of each other. They turned out pretty good. I'll give you a sneak peek, but only one, 'cause these are Christmas Card material here. :) After the pictures we carved pumpkins (I know, a little late, but better late than never, right??) Dallin carved ours. He's the artsy one in this relationship, trust me. It turned out AMAZING, if I do say so myself. He didn't carve it all the way out, just carved it so it was thin enough for the light to shine through. Pretty stinkin awesome. My husband rocks, by the way.

Claire gave me a belated birthday gift in the form of sleeping REALLY well last night. Dallin and I prayed REALLY hard last night for a good nights sleep. :) I think that may have had a little (read: EVERYTHING) to do with it.

Now I am impatiently waiting for my birthday package from Mom and Dad to arrive in the mail. I like getting packages. They're fun. :) Hope your Halloween was a safe, candy/fun filled evening! Now it's time for Christmas music!! :) (Please tell me I'm not the only one itching to play Christmas music as soon as November 1st comes around. Dallin has forbidden me to play it though. He claims he can't handle the excitement. Maybe I can get him to let me play it November 15th?? Crossing my fingers.)

The Pumpkin that Dallin so masterfully created! :)

Preview of the Photoshoot :)

The trees outside our apartment

Another shot of the beautiful fall colors.

Dear Claire. . .

These past few nights have been, we'll say, interesting. 3 nights ago you decided you wanted to wake up at midnight, 2 am, 4 am, 6 am, and 8 am to have me feed you. Luckily, your dad is a super star and held you off until 11:30 am so that I could get a *few* precious hours of shut eye. Then 2 nights ago, you slept from 2 am until 6:30 am. Mama rejoiced. So did dad. It was a wonderful night. But last night. Oh last night. You just didn't want to go to bed. So you decided essentially pulling an all-nighter was on the agenda. I fell asleep nursing you every time. Once again, your dad is a super star and he held you off with a bottle this morning so that I could get my much needed sleep. If not for him, I would be in a walking zombie state as we speak.

But Claire, I want you to know something else, besides all the craziness of late night feedings and sleepless nights. I want you to know that as I held you before I went to bed last night, I looked at your precious face and felt my heart swell with gratitude that you are ours. Never in my life have I felt this kind of love toward someone. You are special. So special. Your daddy and I feel so lucky and so privileged that Heavenly Father entrusted you to us. We know you're destined to be something great, and the task to teach you everything you need to know is daunting, but we're up for the challenge. You have never been so loved by two people as you are loved by your daddy and I. So although these sleepless nights are tough on mom, she still looks at you with complete love and adoration every time she drags herself out of bed to feed you. Seeing that precious face is all I need to remind me how lucky I am to have you. I love you so much little Claire!

Love,

Mama

*Notice the white uggs! Thanks Bonnie, we LOVE them! :)*

Introducing: Claire Calaway

The fact that I had this baby 3 weeks early is probably just as much of a shock to you as it has been for me. I figured that I would go full term, but after pushing a little 6 lb baby out, I am incredibly grateful she wasn't any bigger. :)

Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, I noticed I was having some pretty hard contractions. Harder and more painful than anything I had experienced up to that point in pregnancy. They were inconsistent, at best, so I just figured it wasn't that big a deal. I wasn't terribly worried or concerned. Saturday morning, Dallin asked me if I wanted to go to the gym with him, but because I had been up some of the night with contractions, I was pretty tired and decided I wasn't going to go with him. Then, right before he left, I noticed I had quite a bit of fluid leaking out of me and it was tinged with blood. Once again, I figured I was just getting to the end of the pregnancy and wrote it off as not a big deal. I got in the shower and then all the sudden I started having contractions that were rocking. my. world. I had to lean up against the wall and just concentrate on my breathing. After I got out, I sat down and drank a bunch of water, thinking that would help, but they just kept coming.

I finally started considering the possibility that I was, in fact, in labor and thought about calling Dallin at the gym, but figured he would be home soon enough and then we could head to the hospital. (Yeah, I know, I'm kinda dumb.) Then I got a text from Dallin asking me if I was feeling any better from that morning and I replied I thought I was in labor. He couldn't believe I hadn't called him, but things hadn't seemed that bad. Then suddenly, the contractions started coming fast and furious. I suddenly thought, "I wonder if we're even gonna make it to the hospital!" Dallin got home from the gym and we sprinted (read: Ashley waddled) to the car and hit every green light to the hospital. Hallelujah. I had a couple hard contractions on my way to the hospital and then as I was checking in, I had a few more. I was in so much pain at this point that I just wanted to get into a room and have an epidural as quick as was humanly possible. A triage nurse came to get me and led me to a room to check me out, explaining that she just wanted to make sure I was really in labor. This whole time, I am thinking, "if this isn't labor, then just shoot me now, 'cause it can't get any worse than this!" I got undressed and into my hospital gown as fast as I could, and she checked me (which was about as uncomfortable as all get out, holy crud!) and then she looked at me with shock in her eyes and said, "you're dilated to a 9!! We're moving you into your own room NOW!" I was kind of shocked, but not really, because of the amount of pain I was in. I asked the nurse on the way to my room if I was too late for an epidural (which I figured I was) and she said they MIGHT be able to get me one. Then she asked, "what's your plan for pain management?" Just then I had a contraction and I blurted out, "the epidural! That was my plan for pain management!!" She just started laughing. Luckily, I found humor in the situation as well. :)

They got me into my room and the nurses were just scrambling everywhere. I kind of felt bad. But then another contraction would hit and I didn't feel so bad anymore. I just wanted to be out of my misery. Those contractions were so hard and the urge to push was starting. My doctor came in (she was AMAZING. LOVED her) and she checked me and said I was actually more like an 8, not a 9, so they were going to get the anesthesiologist in to me STAT! :) He came in and gave me my epidural and within 15 minutes, I was in heaven. I also received an amazing blessing from Marcus and Dallin and things went smooth from there on out. I pushed for about an hour and a half, got hung up on her high little cheekbones, then out she came! The doctor flipped her over, asked Dallin if he wanted to tell me what it was, and we were both so overcome with emotion when he said it was a girl. They plopped her on my stomach, she started crying (we were already crying :)) and the rest is history.

It's been a crazy roller coaster so far. This is the hardest, most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. Claire came to this world at 6 lbs. 3 oz. 18.5 ins long and left the hospital at 5 lbs. 12 oz. She dropped further down to 5 lbs 8 oz. and we were getting pretty scared. I was supposed to go to Claire's pediatrician on Wednesday, but I got a call Tuesday morning at 8:00 telling me they had a last minute cancellation and asked if I would like to come in for a 9:00 appt? For some reason, I felt I needed to say yes and we went in. That's when we found out that Claire had dropped to 5 lbs. 8 oz. and that we needed to pretty much start shoving food down her throat or else there were going to be negative consequences. So, we did just that, and are continuing to do it now. Our pediatrician was so inspired to call us to fill that appointment on Tuesday. If we had waited til Wednesday, I don't know what might have happened. I think Claire could have potentially been in big trouble. He said for some reason he just remembered the name Claire Calaway and thought of her to fill that appointment. I know there were higher powers at work in her behalf. For that, I am truly grateful.

So now we have feedings that are 2-3 hours apart all day everyday and after I feed, I pump like it's nobody's business! :) She's back up to 5 lbs 15 oz. and, the way she has been eating lately, she'll be up to her birth weight in no time flat. Meanwhile, I'm not getting much rest or much of anything done, but I am loving my new job as mommy. It feels so weird to have a daughter and know that she is ours. Dallin is probably the worlds best dad and is totally in love with Claire. He sits with her on his chest all the time and loves on her all day long. I think it's pretty safe to say that she is just as smitten with him as he is her. We both think she is the most beautiful baby that ever graced this planet (of course, we're not biased at all) and she continues to wrap us around her long little fingers everyday. We're so blessed and are loving every moment of this new journey.

Oh, and we just moved yesterday to a new apartment in our building so that Claire would have her own room. No big deal. We could NOT have done it without the help of my wonderful angel mother and Claire's two biggest fans, Marcus and Ash. With their help, we were able to move apartments and get everything cleaned and squared away. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Marcus, Ash and Mom. We love you guys and appreciate you so much!! I especially want to thank my mom for all her help this week. She has fed us delicious, healthy meals, has run errands for us, helped me with the late night feedings so that I could get a little extra sleep and was super mom/mother-in-law/grandma all week long. I couldn't have made it through this first week without her. I love you, Mom!! Now Valerie, we need you here to fill the grandma void. :)

So, here are some pictures from the first week of little Claire Calaway's first week of life.

Claire's Favorite Place: Daddy's Chest





She's already starting to suck her thumb!

No Good, Very Bad Day

I've been feeling exceptionally sorry for myself today. I've been frustrated, annoyed, irritated, sad, and had a string of four letter words continuously running through my brain. Shocking, I know. (Or not) So, this is my attempt to try and get me out of my funk.

I realize my situation right now is really not pitiable at all, nor am I looking for any of you to tell me it is, because if we're being honest, I'll be fine in a couple of hours. Just chalk it up to hormones. I've thankfully escaped the crazy roller coaster of hormones that some women are plagued by when they're pregnant and, for the most part, have been exceptionally happy. I've had a good attitude about most things and have just rolled with the punches, because I knew I really had no other choice, so I may as well enjoy my time, right? Well, today I guess things have just caught up to me. I don't sleep well at night anymore and haven't really for about a month and a half, so I am in a constant state of tiredness. And even though I probably shouldn't, I worry constantly about this baby inside me. I feel it move almost all the time, but if I notice it hasn't moved in a while, I freak myself out, wondering the last time it moved. Then I think of all the possible defects it could have once it's born and I wonder, "am I ready for all this??" Needless to say, that's not helping me at all either. And maybe, just maybe, the fact that we're still in Washington and I'm not near my doctor has me stressed out too. Because I am almost 37 weeks, and therefore, almost considered full term. So there you have it, my grievances all laid out there for you all to see.

But really, I would be an ungrateful brat if I didn't tell you all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I have an amazing husband who works so hard to provide for me and this baby and loves me, despite my many flaws. We have two working vehicles that get us from point a to point b quite comfortably. We have clothes on our backs with plenty to spare. We have our health and really good health insurance just in case our health takes a turn for the worse. :) We are so lucky to have musical abilities and the opportunities to share them with others. We have incredible family members who support us in all we do and amazing parents who offer their homes to us whenever we need a place to stay without complaint. And, as far as I know, we have a healthy baby inside me who loves to kick and play. There are so many more blessings I know I'm not mentioning, but I'm feeling better now. :) So as you can see, I am incredibly blessed and am so grateful for this life I lead. Even though it doesn't always turn out the way I think it will, and there are twists and turns, I just have to keep up an attitude of gratitude. So I will try to be better about that. No promises though. :)

Help!

Anyone else think of the Beatles upon reading this blog post title? Oh. Just me? Moving on then. . . :)

I couldn't sleep the other night. Wait. I can't ever sleep anymore. But it was really bad the other night. I laid awake for who knows how long and had a mental breakdown. I freaked out about the labor and delivery. I freaked out about the realization that when I leave the hospital in a month (give or take) I will no longer be pregnant, but I will have a baby that needs me. I freaked out that I am still in Washington and not in Oregon, close to my doctor and the hospital that I am pre-registered with. And the list goes on. It was like the panic attack of the century. Please, oh please, tell me I am not alone in this freak out. I hope every one of you who have had kids had this same freak out with your first. Or at least something similar. Maybe I should just admit myself to the psych ward now.

I woke up the next morning though, and suddenly, I had a dose of perspective and things just didn't seem so daunting. I'm still nervous, to be sure, but I am definitely not in melt-down mode. But then I did start thinking of some things that I really need to get ready in preparation for this little one to come. The first thing that I thought of was "the bag". You know, the bag with all your goodies that you take to the hospital. I have looked online for lists and things and I have gotten suggestions from people over the past few months, but with this ridiculous pregnant brain of mine, I can't remember what you have all said. So, please, give me your advice! What did you have that you were grateful you had with you at the hospital? Or what didn't you have that you wished you had? What the heck should I pack in my hospital bag?! :) Here's a list I got from Enfamil in my inbox the other day. Please, feel free to add to it. I need all the suggestions I can get!

# Shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, hairbrush, cosmetics and other toiletries
# Comfortable PJs (bring a couple), slippers and a robe
# Video and still cameras
# Socks
# Pillows
# Playing cards, puzzles, magazines, books
# Laptop and your favorite DVDs
# Hard candies to suck on during labor
# Moisturizer
# Pencil, notepad and a watch for timing contractions
# Phone numbers for family and friends
# Nursing bra, if you plan to breastfeed
# Underwear (several pairs)
# Street clothes
# An outfit for the baby, including socks, onesie, diaper and hat
# Baby blanket
# Infant car seat

I thought this was a pretty good list, but I want your advice too. So hit me with the suggestions!

Oh, and by the way: I'm 36 weeks tomorrow. Holy. Cow.

34 Weeks

I hit my 34 week mark on Friday. It feels incredibly weird that in roughly 6 weeks (give or take) I will have a baby in my arms. In fact, it makes me just a tiny bit nervous. Or a lot nervous. In fact, if I start to over think it, then I almost go into panic mode. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. I realize I haven't posted many pictures on here from the pregnancy, so unless you are my friend on Facebook, or have seen me in live and living color, you haven't gotten to see this fantabulous belly of mine. So, I figured I may as well start from the very first prego picture I took and go from there. So here they are. Me throughout the pregnancy.

17.5 Weeks along

20 Weeks Along

22 Weeks Along

24 Weeks Along

26 Weeks Along

28 Weeks Along

30 Weeks Along

34 Weeks Along

I missed taking a 32 weeks picture. It was kind of a hectic time. We were in the process of making our temporary move back up here to Washington for the Timothy harvest. I figure my not taking a 32 week picture is pretty forgivable though. :)

I'm starting to feel more prepared, but I'm still plenty nervous. I can't wait to hold this baby and find out if it's a boy or a girl! My sister Tara just had her 20 week appointment today and she is having a boy! So I have her rooting for a boy and Megan rooting for a girl. :) We're just hoping for a healthy baby. I'll be sure to be better at posting pictures from now on and will resume my attitude of gratitude posts here in the next little while. Until next time!

I'd Like To File A Missing Person's Report...

Sex: Female
Age: 22 (almost 23)
Height: 5' 3"
Weight: Let's not go there. We'll just say: (VERY) LARGE WITH CHILD
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Blue
Race: Caucasian (she's so white, she glows in the dark!)
Distinguishing features: Looks like she has a basketball shoved up her shirt, freckles, waddles as she walks...

If found, please call friends and family to alert where she has been for the past two weeks! Thanks!

I feel like I have been apologizing on here a lot lately. I seem to go in spurts where I am super good and diligent at blogging, and other times where there are other things that just take precedence over updating the blog. Sorry for my lack of consistency, I promise I'll get better! Especially when this kid gets here. Be prepared to be over loaded with pictures.

We've been in Pasco, Salem and Ellensburg for the past 2 weeks and are currently in Ellensburg. Not sure how much longer we will be here, but I will be sure to keep you all posted as to where we roam. Had I known that I was going to be here in Washington so close to my due date, I think I probably would have not transferred my care down to Salem, but oh well! What can ya do?

Things are going really well as far as the pregnancy goes. I will be 34 weeks tomorrow. (HOLY COW!!!) I can't sleep at night (I think that's Heavenly Father's way of preparing me for when the baby comes and I will never sleep anyway!) I pee all day and all night long and my hands and feet are starting to swell. I think that about covers all the late pregnancy wonderfulness. :) For the most part though, I feel really good. I am just getting anxious for this little one to get here!! I had a dream last night that we had a boy. That makes for 2 boy dreams and 2 girl dreams. It's anyone's guess now! I, however, am convinced it's a girl. You can all start making your bets now. Only 6 weeks to go!

Dallin is all done with the harvest in Oregon and is helping out up here in Washington with the last of the Timothy and what-not. He had a really successful summer down in Oregon and we feel so incredibly blessed because of that! Once he is done up here, we'll head back to Salem and he's going to start studying for his GMAT. He is hoping to have it taken and the results back in his hands by the time the early application process begins at Willamette, which is December. Then we'll cross our fingers and hope he gets into their MBA program for Fall of 2011.

Life for us is pretty crazy right now, but hey, it'd be boring any other way! I promise I will once again resume my attitude of gratitude posts and make it to the 40 days, 'cause I ain't no quitter. :) I won't promise you WHEN I'll resume those, just know that I will. :) For now, here are some pictures from our most recent trip back down to Salem. If you ever have a time when you are leisurely making your way down to Portland, take some pit stops. We stayed on the Washington side until we got to the Bridge of the Gods and we crossed over there to Oregon. Totally cool. Highly recommended. Then we stopped at this place off of the I-84 called the Vista House. It overlooks the Columbia River Gorge and on into Portland and is really quite breathtaking. We timed it just right and got there at sunset too, so it was amazing. Once again, leisurely making your way down to Portland is the best way to go. I highly recommend it. :)

On the way to Oregon, on the Washington side.

The road to Oregon.

View from the Vista House at Sunset looking at the lights of Portland.

Another view from the Vista House

Day 26: In Limbo

Once again, I apologize for my absence in the blogging world. I am sure you've all been DYING for my next post... Right. :) Anyhow, the last few days have been a little crazy. All day Friday I helped Dallin and Trent on the last fields that needed raking, baling and stacking and then Saturday I packed up and headed to Ellensburg. Dallin followed in the service truck a few hours later. Now we're in Pasco, where we're here to stay for a few weeks. Yes. Another temporary move. I know, we're insane. My life has no definite plans. All I know is I am going to have a kid in roughly 7 1/2 weeks. That is literally the only definite thing in our lives at this point. It makes for a good time, let me tell ya! I mean, really, who wants a predictable life? How boring would that be?? I guess I wouldn't really know, because my life has never been predictable. :) But seriously, this whole "in limbo" thing totally works for us, and we're just happy to be close to family and to have things to keep us busy.

I guess the thing that really has stuck out to me today is I am grateful to be where I am at this point in my life. And I am so grateful for who I am with. My journey wouldn't be nearly so good if it weren't for my wonderful husband standing beside me, supporting me in every way and working so hard. And I am grateful we have this crazy life. As insane as it sometimes gets, what with us running here and there and everywhere, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love who I am and where I am at. And the best thing is, even though we don't know what the future holds for us, we know that where we're going is going to be the best place for us. It will be where we will grow the most and learn the most and be the best we can be. I am grateful for being "in limbo".

Day 25: A Letter

Dear Baby,

I just want to let you know how excited your daddy and I are for you to arrive! I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow, which means you're almost here! (At least it seems that way!) You've been moving a lot lately. You love to kick and somersault and, on occasion, hit my rib cage, which isn't so much fun. :)

I heard your heartbeat again yesterday at my doctors appointment. I love to hear your little heart. It may be the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. It made me think of the very first time I ever heard it. It was a magical moment that I will not soon forget. I remember how nervous I was. Last August, when I was in that same doctors office, I hadn't heard a heart beat and I was afraid that would be the case again. So when I first heard that beautiful sound, it was like no one else was in the room except your daddy and me. Time stood still for just a moment. I remember looking at him and relief flooding through me. Now I get to feel your movements and your hiccups and it's about all I can do to patiently await your arrival.

I want you to know how special you are. I can tell you are going to be one amazing little spirit, and I cannot wait to get to know you better throughout the years. I know we'll have our rough patches to work through, but always remember how much your momma loves you. You are the sunshine in mine and daddy's world. Keep moving, keep punching, keep hiccuping, we never tire of seeing and feeling it. We love you sweet baby and can't wait til October, when we'll finally get to meet you.

Love you always,

Mom

Day 24: Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come Again When the Harvest is OVER!

I don't sleep very well as of late. It's either a trip to the bathroom or being uncomfortable that wakes me up every couple of hours. In the wee hours of the morning this morning, I awoke to the sound of rain pounding on the tin roof right outside our window. I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. But last night, I cringed. I knew what rain that was pouring like that meant for Dallin. It meant no work would happen today. Normally, any woman would jump for joy, knowing her husband wouldn't have to work the next day, especially after a crazy summer like this has been. But, I have come to realize the bigger picture as far as work is concerned. Rain just isn't good in the summertime.

That being said, I was so grateful that I had the chance to just hang out with Dallin today. We needed that. With this sweet little one due in just 8 1/2 short weeks, we don't have a whole lot of time to be together, just us. So, we hopped in the car and headed to the coast at Lincoln City. Granted, Tate and Trent came with us, so it really wasn't just the two of us, but still, it was so good to be together. We headed to the Tanger Outlets (my favorite place in Lincoln City ;-)) and I got some baby stuff at Carters Outlet. Then we headed to Mo's and I had the best Clam Chowder ever! After that, we watched the sun set over the Pacific Ocean and then ended the evening at Cold Stone. Too bad it was 55 degrees as we were eating our ice cream. :) I still enjoyed mine though. Needless to day, it was a wonderful day for me and the hubs.

I am so grateful for Dallin and his willingness to work. He has the hardest work ethic and loves keeping busy. He does so much to provide for this little family, and I consider myself so lucky to have married someone with that quality. I am so grateful that we can spend time together too and have so much fun with each other. He is my best friend and my better half. I love this man with all my heart and can't wait for this little babe to meet his/her amazing daddy. Yay for rain today. :)

The Sunset

The boys in front of Mo's!

Dallin and I in front of Mo's (It was kind of windy and my hair was all over the place and this isn't the best picture, but oh well! We take what we can get! :))

The Pacific Ocean in the background. So pretty!

Day 23: In God We Trust

At the rate I am going, 80 days will have gone by in my attempt to do my 40 day posts. :) Sorry, I'm just a slacker. I'd like to promise you an improvement, but I can't guarantee that. It's just the kind of person I am. :) So, if the posts continue to be sporadic, forgive me.

I was reading in 2nd Nephi the other day and a couple of passages of scripture really stuck out to me. Maybe because I have been thinking a lot about the 8/28 event that Glenn Beck hosted, or maybe because I just needed to read it. In the first chapter, Lehi is addressing Laman and Lemuel one last time before he passes away. He starts out by talking about the land of their inheritance; the promised land. In verse 5, he says, "Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord." He continues on in verse 6 saying, "there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord." As I read that, I realized that all who came to this land were truly brought here by divine design. What an amazing thing. The Lord had His hand in it all. He brought those to this land that He knew would build it up to the great nation it now is.

But then, right after Lehi tells them about this great nation and the divine way in which they inherited it, he issues this warning in verse 7, "Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever."

What a warning. No cushion, no buffer, just puttin it all out there and telling it how it is. As I look at the state of our nation, I get a little nervous. We seem to be losing sight of what really matters. God is being taken out of our schools, attempted to be taken off our money and essentially, out of our lives. If we don't change things, well, I don't really want to find out what "cursed shall be the land for their sakes" all entails. Call me crazy. I would prefer it being blessed forever because of righteousness. And in order to do that, to be righteous, we need to go back to our roots. We need to get back to what our Founding Fathers started. We need to recognize the Lord's hand in the creating and establishing of this nation. And, as is written on all our currency, we need to remember, "In God, We Trust." We are truly a blessed nation that has been given so much. Let's not condemn ourselves to captivity and cursings, but instead continue to be the promised land.

Day 22: Trip Check

Sorry for not posting. I swear, this week has been crazy. Between my visit home (which lasted way longer than it was originally planned for and I am totally ok with that :)) and getting back here to do laundry and buy groceries for my poor husband who was living without, and reading the final book in the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay, I feel like I am finally in normal mode. If you know me at all, once a book has me within it's grasp, I don't come up for food, water, air or sleep unless it's totally necessary. :) Ok, slight exaggeration. But only slight. But the house is clean, the laundry is done and the fridge is once more stocked, so I feel good.

As I made my way home on Wednesday, I found myself entering the Portland area at about 4:15. Bad timing. Rush hour starts right about that time. And rush hour in Portland stinks. It's pretty much bumper to bumper traffic for two solid hours. Not fun. So, as I entered Gresham, I called my mom and asked her if she could go online to tripcheck.org and see how the traffic was for me. What resulted was kind of an interesting experience. She was literally able to follow me from the I-84 to the I-205 to the I-5, all by camera. She told me what to expect as I came to certain roads, and where the traffic would be the heaviest, where it was lighter, if there were any accidents up ahead (which there were not, thank goodness.) She followed my trip for a good 15-20 miles and told me everything I needed to know. She kept commenting, "this is so crazy! I can't believe I can follow you like this!" She even saw live feed and could see me passing by certain cameras. It was pretty cool.

I thought about how it would be if our lives could be like that. If we could have someone that could go a few weeks or months or even years ahead of us and report what was coming and warn us how to avoid the traffic jams that may result. And then I realized, we do have that. It's called a Prophet of God. And his name is Thomas S. Monson. We have had so many prophets come and forewarn us of the dangers that surely lie ahead and how we can be prepared to face those dangers. When the First Presidency came out with the Proclamation to the World on Families, the family wasn't being attacked that heavily. Now, we are constantly being bombarded on every side concerning our families. When they first started warning about food storage and not going into debt, it wasn't as big of an issue with most people. Now, how many times do we see commercials for debt relieving agencies and credit card debt relief? There were laws that were trying to get passed about not having a garden or only being able to have a certain amount of food storage. We are seeing the wisdom NOW of the counsel we were given THEN. What foresight, what inspiration those wonderful men had/have to tell us how to prepare and arm ourselves against the certain dangers that may befall us. I am so grateful for a living Prophet who leads and guides us and gives us counsel. I am grateful for my own personal "tripcheck" that warns me when there are unforeseen dangers ahead. We thank Thee oh God, for a Prophet, to guide us in these latter-days.

{source}

Day 21: Getthing Rid of the Junk

Today I de-junked the closet in my old room at my parents. My mom has been asking me to do this for quite some time and I finally got around to it. Among the treasures that I found was the cast from my freshman year that Phil Vasser signed, about 4 of my old backpacks, my track spikes, stage make-up and performance shoes and a plethora of other goodies. (There may or may not have been unused wedding gifts in there too. Woops!) I parted with most of those things, but couldn't bear to get rid of my track spikes. Don't ask me why. Probably the same reason I cry at track meets. Those and my performance shoes. I couldn't bear to part with those. I think because I have this hope that one day I will be in another performance when I will need them. One never knows! One thing I found, I couldn't just send to the Goodwill, but I really don't want to keep it. It's my college bedding. It's super cute (Tommy Hilfiger), was only purchased 4 years ago and is still in great shape. The sheets might be a little faded, but I think it all looks really good. So, before I put it up on Craigslist, I am wondering if there is anyone who reads this blog that might be interested? I am getting rid of it for $25 OBO. Here's a picture of everything.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

The comforter is a twin, and so are the sheets. It comes with two pillow cases (only one pictured, but they're identical) one Euro Sham and a decorative pillow. I am throwing in a mattress pad too, which is super thick and really nice quality. I think it might be Egyptian cotton. The bedding, in case you can't tell from the pictures, is navy, light blue, yellow, lime green, hot pink and white striped. I absolutely LOVE this bedding, but have no use for it now, obviously. So, if you want it, give me a shout out!

Now, on to the real reason of this post. As I was de-junking, I thought about all the spiritual junk I am hoarding. Well, not spiritual, but saying sinful just sounds so harsh. I guess that's what it is though; sinful junk I carry around. You know, the "favorite sins", sins of omission, a bad habit, whatever! And I wondered why it's so hard to get rid of it all when it's so easy to get rid of all the temporal stuff that is unnecessary in my life. Why is it so difficult to give up certain sins? Because I am a natural [wo]man. And, I can't do it on my own. I need the Lord to be with me every step of the way to lead and guide and encourage and love.

When I was packing to go to college, my best friend Kayla, who I talked about in my last post, helped me get everything organized and ready. She is like the EXPERT de-junker. Before that night, I had this tendency to hang on to EVERYTHING. I would always think, "oh, I might use that sometime" or "I will definitely need that at some point" but she got me to be realistic. And ya know what? I can't remember a single thing I threw away that night, but I threw away a LOT of junk (much to my mother's delight!) Sometimes, we just need the expert de-junker to come into our life and allow Him to help us purge. Sometimes we need Him to tell us that we don't need any of that junk anymore. In fact, we would be so much better off without it! But, we have to LET Him help us. I'm slowly learning to let Him in to help me and I am trying to do my part the best I can, but hey! I'm not perfect! I stand in need of His assistance all day long. But thank goodness He is a forgiving being. Thank goodness He helps us when we ask, and even helps when we sometimes don't ask. I am vowing to start de-junking the "sin closet" that has built up in my life and let some things go. It's time to get rid of the junk.

My Apologies

I'm sorry about not posting for the past couple of days, but I made a surprise trip to Washington when I found out all 5 of my siblings would be here. Needless to say, I would rather be spending my time with them than blogging. :) Things will resume on Tuesday! See you then!

The Original 6

Day 20: The Best Things in Life Aren't Things, They're Friends.

Currently, I have no job. I don't go to school either. I'm just growing a baby! And I have limited interaction with the outside world. My interaction mainly consists of talking to the checkout people at WinCo and Costco and the occasional trip over to Marcus and Ashley's. So you can only imagine my delight when I received a package in the mail yesterday from one of my best friends in the entire world. As I read the card she included, it made me realize how blessed I am to have the friends that I do. Being here in Salem and somewhat removed from everyone, I tend to forget how lucky I am and what awesome people are in my life. This friend in particular is pretty amazing though. I can't tell you how many times in my life she has given her time and attention to me. She is always there when I need her and never asks for anything in return. She loves unconditionally and would drop anything at any moment if I asked her to. She's the bestest best friend a girl could ever ask for. So thanks Kay for all the good times. Thanks for the laughs at Yokes when you ran into the barrier as we were getting our favorite cake, thanks for all the movie rentals from Hollywood, for the crying on each others shoulders about dumb high school boys, for the auction where you first laid eyes on your future husband, for all the football and basketball games, the state tourneys, and supporting me in all my plays and concerts. You were the best friend in high and middle school and you've been even better as the years have gone on. I love ya babe!

"I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me, I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant old friend of mine, to me along the way." -Anonymous


After her dance recital when we were like 5? :)

At one of the MANY football games from our high school experience

Kayla going to a prom our Junior year

Graduation!

At Kayla's wedding, May 25, 2008

All the Bridesmaids at her wedding!

"A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely." -Pam Brown