My little Sasha!

Here are just a few pictures of the newest member of our family! We had such a great hospital experience - everything went so well!! My water broke on Wednesday evening, I went to the hospital about 4 hours later - went immediatly to labor and delivery, labored for a few hours - pushed for less than an hour - and then she was here!!
We are both doing really well - so thank you for your comments, phone calls, and acts of service - we sure appreciate it!

Sasha has been such a great baby - she sleeps well, eats great, and loves just looking around and observing things - I can hardly wait for you all to meet her!

Water, water, water!

Well - water broke today - I am not really having any contractions since it happened - but I'll post pictures after she is born! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!

Quick! Help!

Fellow mothers - Can you tell me what your favorite car seat/strollers are?? I have been looking at many - but thought this would be a great place to get advice on this! Let me know what you have found that you LOVE or HATE!

A few pictures

I have some great updates from the last 2 weeks- but not a ton of time right now - but here is a picture of our baby - I had to get an ultrasound today because I am measuring a little bit larger than normal. I love her little lips and cheeks!!

More to come as soon as I download the rest of my pictures!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I LOVE 4th of July! It is such a great holiday - and I think many people don't realize how great we have it. Growing up learning about how the cultures and countries are so different, (my parents lived in several different countries) it made me so grateful for our Independence, and it has always been a very special subject to me.

I hope you all have a great and safe holiday!!!

I am alive!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while - I have received several emails asking how I am doing - so thank you so much for thinking about me! I am doing really well!! Here is a recap of things that have happened lately! :)

- My friend and old college roommate Shannon and her husband came to visit Father's Day weekend - which also happened to be the same weekend as my baby shower (which was WONDERFUL!!!!) I'll post pictures of the shower when I get them! After the shower we drove up into Phoenix and made a quick stop at the Arizona Science Center. I am an idiot and didn't realize that it closed at 5:00 and we got there about 4:45!!! :( We did get to take a few pictures though!!

Mark and I had a wonderful Father's day. I bought him some camping supplies and he was really excited about it. He keeps wanting to take me but it is just too hot!!! We are supposed to be going today after work, but I think he finally understands how much I love my AC!

We also found out that I might be going into preeclampsia. Don't worry - I don't have high blood pressure or anything, but I do have excessive swelling that (no matter how hard I try) I can't get it to go down...so if that is the case, our baby will be here very soon!! I don't really want to be induced, so hopefully I'll be able to wait it out. We may be able to compromise on going on bed rest until she comes. (I REALLY don't want to do that either!) So we'll see!! I have another appointment on Wednesday. I honestly still feel GREAT!! The swelling can be a little uncomfortable, but I anticipate the next few weeks being a breeze!


On July 1st two of my sisters are flying down for a friends wedding! Kourtney (left picture) and Kira (right picture). I am so excited I don't think I can even find words for it. Kira has to fly back really early on the 4th, but Kourtney will be staying until Sunday! The 4th of July is my favorite holiday and to spend it with family will be great!!!


I hope you all are doing well!! I'll try to keep this more updated - especially with our baby news!! My tummy is still getting bigger and she moves all the time!! We have 4 names that we really like - and hopefully will be able to decide on one after she is born. Stay tuned!! :)

Technical Difficulties

So I was messing around with my background tonight designing a new template and I accidentally deleted ALL of my links - so I am slowly trying to put them back on there - so if yours isn't on the side of my blog at the moment please forgive me....I am trying to figure it out!!!

Child-birth class #2

Wednesday's class was pretty eventful - I even won some free baby stuff because I was born in Michigan! Woo-hoo! The only funny thing to write about is this video we had to watch (no delivery videos yet..). This one was about people being in labor and dealing with contractions at the hospitals. It showed different positions that might help to alleviate pain, hydrotherapy, etc.

Well, they get to this section explaining how some woman are "vocal" about their pain. (i.e. moaning, groaning, screaming...) There were two woman on the movie that moaned SO loud, and Mark is just cracking up! I look at him and he stops...so 5 seconds later he starts giggling again - so I look over at him again...he leans over and says, "if you do that during labor, I am going to laugh at you!" I had to laugh too, it was pretty hilarious - however, I am sure neither one of us will think that when it actually happens, but it made the night a little more fun!

Doesn't it always happen that way?

Have you ever had the experience with something (a car, appliance, camera, etc.) that isn't working properly - so you take it in to get it fixed, and it doesn't do it anymore??

It is that law that if someone else is looking - it magically fixes itself??

Well, I sent my camera in to get fixed right after Memorial Day. It had been acting up for a few months, but it wasn't until my sister and her family were here that I finally had enough with it!! When you push the button to take a picture it only works about every FOUR pushes!! Then 50% of the pictures would be very pixalated after putting them on the computer. This can't be happening - especially with our little baby on the way! :( Luckily, my warranty is still good until June 19th. Well, they called me this week saying that they couldn't duplicate the problem!! WHAT?!?!?!?! Are you serious!! It even happened at Best Buy when we were standing in line to drop the camera off! She said she would continue to test it this week, but if she couldn't fine the problem, they would just send it back to me! Sad day.... I need my camera! I won't have it for my baby shower this weekend or for my friends Shannon and Brian being here this weekend! :(

I love this song!!

This is Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat singing "Lucky". I LOVE this song!!! The album cover is a little distracting - but great song! :)

Our first child-birth class!

Last night Mark and I went to our first child-birth class! I was a little nervous about what to expect, because lets face it - you always hear the craziest things about what happens while you are there.

But I have to say it exceeded my expectations. The lady who is teaching our class has been a labor and delivery nurse at my hospital for 27 years and she is hilarious! The other neat thing is that all the ladies in the class all go to the same OB team, and will all deliver at Banner Desert, so it was great that the doctors invested time and effort into having a specialist come to our doctors office to have these classes with us! I hope this lady is working when I go into labor!!

Who knows how the other 3 classes are going to be, but I can say the first one didn't scare me as badly as I thought it would!! What are some of the crazy things you have heard of or gone through during child-birth classes?

Memorial Day Weekend

My sister, Kira, and her husband and daughter came in town late Saturday night and were here until Thursday! It was such a blast!! I will post pictures soon.

My camera has been doing really weird things lately - so I took it in today and they are sending it off to have it looked at. I feel weird not having my camera - it is kind of like one of my companions - always there in case something fun or interesting happens. Hopefully I will have it back in two weeks!

Beware of nasty pictures

I really have had the easiest pregnancy and can't complain about anything that has happened so far - but I can tell you that since we had our wonderful 110 degree weather this last Monday and Tuesday, my left foot has swelled like a balloon and I can't seem to get it to go down! It doesn't really bother me at all, and Mark and I have found a lot of humor in how oompa-loompa-ish my foot/leg looks. I am retaining enough water that when you push on my shin the divits stay there a good 10-15 minutes before they start to diminish. And lets face it - I already have genetics working against how "sausage" like my toes are....so the water doesn't really help! Gross!! I've iced, I've elevated, and have eaten enough bland/less-salt food to kill me - if any of you have a magical answer - please let me know!

Cook wins American Idol

Wow, both of these guys have great voices - just totally different ends of the musical spectrum. I didn't get to watch last nights show...but I heard that David A. was AMAZING...It will be interesting to see what the two guys albums sound like!

Congrats David!!

Can-opener update

Mark officially gave up using the stupid can opener yesterday! I was sitting on the couch and he comes over with a can and hands me the opener and he says, "Let me show you how to do this..." I sit - watching to see if it works, and it DOESN'T!!! It's sad...and happy.... and a stupid thing to be happy about - but maybe he will buy me a new one now!!!

Reflections of Christ

I think this is such a captivating photograph - one of my favorites out of the Reflections of Christ collection. If you haven't seen the slide-show of these amazing pictures go here.

Who ever thought of these anyways??

I was thinking about all the random items I use on a regular basis - and honestly - who really had the time to invent these? How did they come up with them??? I don't know who you are but THANK YOU for making my life a lot easier!



1) The hair diffuser: look at this thing - it is like a dish with spikes, yet thousands of people use this contraption every day while hanging their head upside down amidst a cloud of hairspray and hair products - LOVE IT!







2) Pop-top cans: I don't really know what to say about these little guys other than I am glad we have them. Some of my friends know the story about my kitchen-aid can opener and how I really despise opening cans right now - I refuse until I get a new can opener, but mark insists that it is fine - so go on strong muscle man - you can open all the cans!!











3) Jolly Time Pop Corn "Mallow Magic": If you have not tried this - GO BUY SOME THIS WEEKEND!!! It is one of my favorite snacks - to the point I am only allowed to buy it for special occasions! It is Marshmallow popcorn - you pop the regular popcorn (it is a sweet tasting popcorn) and then you add a pouch of marshmallow topping to it and mix it all around! Who thought of that?? GENIUS!! It is delicious!





Can anyone think of a special occasion that I could use to convince Mark to let me buy some?!

Congrats!

Mark is officially done with his semester!! I am so excited for him - and SO proud of him!!! He is such a hard worker and takes such good care of me - I love you honey!!!!

What to say?

I feel like I need to blog about something, but I really don't have ANYTHING to talk about! My life is so boring right now!!! I guess I can tell you a couple of things that have been going on:

1) I felt the baby have hiccups for the first time on Friday while we were out to eat at Cantina Loredo.
2) Mark has finals this week!! One more week till I have him around again!
3) I bought some fabulous red vases/pottery at JoAnn's this week on clearance!! :)
4) I am hosting my first ever Arbonne open house in a few weeks - I am a little nervous, but very excited! (Please come - it will be a lot of fun!)
5) I have a doctors appointment on Friday. I am 28 weeks! :) (I was in the hospital last week for what they think is a blood clot? They are keeping an eye on my lung for now, but I am feeling fine - so hopefully it was nothing!)
6) Crib shopping is a lot harder than I thought it would be....
7) I volunteered at a golf tournament on Friday and got to drive a golf cart for a few hours - shuttling golfers to and from the rec. center!! I LOVE driving those things! Some day I might just buy one for the fun of it!

Okay - that is all for now! :) I'll take pictures of my radical vases!!! :)

Bye, bye, Brooke!!

I am so sad that Brooke is off American Idol - I really like her voice and her "singer/song writer" talent! Plus she is from here, so hey! But at least she still gets to go on tour and I KNOW she will release an album! :)

100 Days!

Only 100 (give or take) days left of being pregnant! Its going to go by so quickly - I can't believe it!

Things to do in Phoenix???

So I am having company come in May and I need your HELP! My fabulous college roommate and her husband are coming from Vegas for a weekend, then my sister, her husband, and their two year old daughter are coming from Idaho - and I need some ideas of places we can go! So if you know if great restaurants, activities, (especially for little 2 year olds...) etc. PLEASE let me know!!!

I feel like I have a few places that would be fun - but I kind of live in this cycle of "sleep-work-drive-sleep" and don't really get out a whole lot!

Made in the Shade

I was going to do a really cool "Friday Favorites" post - but as you can see it is Saturday and that didn't happen....but I still wanted to share a SUMMER FAVORITE with all my "super-white-I-couldn't-tan-if-my-life-depended-on-it" friends. (Not that everyone reading this is, but if you are, read carefully!)

This is the BEST self-tanner EVER! It is scentless, and doesn't make your skin look orange at all!! If you're looking for a tan over night, this is not the product for you - it works by applying a small amount of color evenly - on my mayo-legs, one application is all I need!! I will go from ghost white to vanilla-cool-whip white! I have had friends that put it on everyday and it makes, then maintains a beautiful sun-kissed tan!

Plus! It is SPF 15! So it makes you look like you were in the sun - but actually protects you from it as well! :) Stay tan!

New Bed Set

You won't believe this, but I found the most amazing deal on Craigslist this week!! For those of you that have seen my entertainment center, I found it at Furniture Affair - (a store that sells Model Home furniture) and it was one of a kind! We got such a steal on it and I fell in love with it immediately!

Well, I was looking for a dresser on craigslist and I saw an ad for "old world" something or another - and being that I love furniture derived from European "Old World" style, I clicked on it!

Well, it is the bed set to my cute little entertainment center!! It was like uniting twins that had been separated from birth!

Here is a picture of the bed. It is hard to see from these pictures, but the engraved heart and circles on the top of the armoir match the headboard of the bed! (not to mention that the pictured bedroom is the same size as my entire house....)

It even has the dresser and nightstand also!

Ahh...what a great day for my fellow furniture friends.....

Where is Mark??

Those of you that have had your spouses go through rigorous college majors have probably experienced what I am about to describe!!

On a typical night that Mark stays up and does homework (Mon-Thurs.) I usually go to bed by myself. Mark will come in so we can say prayers, he kisses me good night, and leaves me to slumber about the strangest things possible. (Pregnancy thing....)

On these "homework nights", my body will automatically wake at 1:00 AM without fail. If Mark isn't in bed, I assume he is still working and will be to bed soon. My body then will automatically awake at 2:00 AM. Mark has always been in bed by this time, so I make sure he is there, and roll back over and go back to bed.

Well, last night I went through my usual 1:00 awakening - Mark is still gone. I wake up at 2:00 and he is still gone! I see the lights are still on in the kitchen and just went back to sleep - no big deal. Well, I wake up at 3:15 and Mark still isn't in bed!! I knew that he was working on a VERY big project for his Chemistry class...so I lay there trying to tell myself he is fine, but on top of my fear that he was still working on his homework and was going to be sleep deprived, I really had to PEE! So I get up and walk out to the living room, and there he is working on his big presentation board. Poor guy - I felt so bad for him - I told him just to come to bed since he would be more efficient after he got some sleep.

Hooray that Mark got some sleep! Bad for me though - I was now completely awake, Mark was snoring in blissful sleep, and my daughter was now awake and kicking me like crazy!

But on a positive note - only 5 or 6 more years to go.... hee! hee!

Easter 2008

Mark and I had a wonderful Easter!! We were able to go to the Easter pageant with some of our friends - which has kind of become a new tradition for us! Then!! I had such a wonderful surprise on Easter morning - let me preface this by saying that I always "fill" our baskets the night before - because Mark isn't really that "type" - but anyways....I went to bed before Mark because he was still preparing his talk for Sunday morning, so I woke up really early and ran out to the living room very quietly to start putting the candy in the eggs. I grabbed the first bag of candy and it was open. I thought to myself, "what a punk - he sat up all night eating our Easter goodies while he prepared his talk!" Well then I saw that all of them were open - and my basket was full!

I was so excited - Mark had actually took the time and filled my basket!!! Well, long story short, we opened out baskets after church and in each one of my eggs there was a little slip inside that said one of the reasons why he loved me!

I can't tell you how SHOCKED I was!! It was one of the nicest things ever! I loved it!!!

Update:

We have gotten a lot more done around the house - our painter is getting ready for the big project! I am so excited to have that completed!!! I also bought a really neat metal star for our front entry! My new favorite store is Kirkland's - right on Santan Village - it has GREAT deals on home decor if any of you need something!!!

My Daughter

Here she is - baby Starr. I finally got our printer set up so I was able to scan these in!

100 Calorie Pack - Favorite

I had to post about these. I am sitting here at my desk, basking in the enjoyment of eating these three delectable blueberry streusel muffins! I place one on my tongue and it takes me back to when I was 7 and my grandma would bake....

No, that was a joke, but imagine them taking you back to a childhood memory, okay! :) I haven't tried the banana or the cinnamon coffee cakes, but I really think you should try the blueberry ones! I think they are $2.50 for 6 packs of 3!

Weight Watcher points: 2
Calories: 100
Loving every bite: Priceless

Beautiful Emma!

This is my beautiful niece, Emma. She will be two this April - isn't she beautiful?? I had a pretty hard day on Wednesday, so I emailed my sister, Kira, and asked her to send me pictures of Em. They were exactly what I needed. These were my two favorites!

It is weird to think that two people can create such beautiful spirits - it is even more weird to think that I will have one of these soon!!

Its a GIRL!!!!!

Hello everyone!!! My appointment went so well today!! I had the nicest tech who did the ultrasound and after doing all her measurements (which all looked great!) she saw that it was a girl!!! How exciting is that?? I have to say there were many moments over the last few weeks where I thought I was going to have a little boy, so it was a shock - but a very good one!!! I can't wait to buy little dresses, and bows, and I hope she has curly hair!!! I'll post pictures as soon as I get my scanner up and running! :)

Thank you all for being so supportive! It's been such an exciting day!!!! And TL - thanks for the cinnamon bears!!! DELICIOUS!

Paint Update

I did it!! I have my paint picked out!! I didn't do it by myself, but with the help of my good friend Sonia!! She and I went to school together and she actually won first place in an interior design competition for the nation!! She came down on Saturday and helped me make some final decisions on my house!! I am thrilled with the outcome!

This faux-leather look will be used in the master bedroom (on about this shade of red...great sample picture!) and also on the bottom half of my dining room wall (which will be brown, with the look of leather). I think it will turn out great and accent my entertainment center quite well.

My guest bathroom and nursery is what I am most excited about - I won't spill the beans on that though...I'll wait till I have pictures! :) Stay tuned!!

Picking Perfect Paint

How hard is picking a paint color? I just need to turn my bright white house into a masterpiece to the eye - easy?? NO WAY!! I have a handful of friends that have been trying to help me find paint - and I must say that I have come a long way since we moved in, but still have to choose between two colors! I have gone to the store on several occasions to try to get samples, and they are always out of the "base" they need to mix the sample - argh!!! Plus, I have so many different ideas about my dining room - it is killing me!! (Thats a whole other story) All the interior design classes I took in college are blanking out of my mind - colors seem to all run together - and my husband is obsessed with a blue paint swatch from Lowes!! What is a girl to do???

My Valentine

My Wonderful Husband, Wow, 13 years have gone by since we became friends, but it still feels like we just met. I still get so excited when I see your number come up at work, and butterflies when I get to see you after not seeing you ALL day! - and when you (no matter WHAT) will hold my hand anywhere we go. All the little things still make me question what I did to ever deserve you!!

Thank you for being my friend, helping me through the toughest part of my life while you were thousands of miles away. Thank you for looking past my flaws and imperfections and seeing me as your "diamond". Thank you for giving me a chance and asking me to marry you. Thank you for taking care of me every single day - and supporting me in all I do. Thank you Mark, for making me more happy that I ever imagined possible......Thank you for loving me!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Girl or boy?

I went to my doctor's appointment yesterday! Everything is going perfect!! The baby kept moving when the doctor was trying to hear the heartbeat! It probably didn't help that I was giggling the whole time - but hey!

We also set the date for our big ultrasound!! It is Feb. 28th!!!!! Less than three weeks away!! We are so excited!

I'll post as soon as I find out!

Pregnancy Cravings- (The unhealthy ones!!!)

So call me crazy - but I wanted to post on two items that somehow manage to control part of my thoughts sometime during my week!

I remember over Christmas (I was only 9 weeks preggo at that time) my mom, my sister Kira, and I were making Christmas goodies - and we made chocolate covered cinnamon bears! Well, I ate some, and a few more, some dipped in chocolate, some not....and ended up taking the whole bag home with me because I couldn't get enough!! (My mom insisted because they were keeping me sane!) I don't usually LOVE cinnamon bears either, but no matter how yucky I was feeling, I could eat one of those and feel so happy for quite some time!! I still crave them now - but try not to buy them as often - because I really will eat all of them.....But I would keep Sprouts in business!!!


Which leads me my other....

Who just goes and buys Sixlets anymore? One afternoon when I was having a really rough day, that is all I wanted (no idea why it popped into my mine) - I was seriously craving them!! It was driving me crazy because they aren't like a Snickers bar - you can't just go anywhere and get these delectable little things!! But alas! I found them at a store right next to my gym!! :)

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starr

Most of you already know, but Mark and I are going to have a little Starrling!!!! We are so excited to start this new journey in our lives together. I am 13 weeks along, and have been a little cautious yelling it to the world because of a little scare we had a few weeks ago, but everything seems fine now - so we are happy to say WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!

I have my next appointment February 8th - at which time we'll hopefully be setting the date for the big gender-telling ultrasound!!! I honestly can't find words to describe how excited I am!!!

I'll post some ultrasound pictures soon!!

A New Favorite!

Thank you to my friend Joy for sharing this wonderful tip with me!!! These are co-op food baskets! If you buy a lot of fresh produce - YOU NEED TO TRY THIS!!! Basically it is a program designed to get fresh produce from farmers and such and deliver it through a volunteer co-op - allowing people to get weeks worth of groceries for a fraction of the price.

There are 15 locations across the East Valley (this is also available on the West Valley) that you can go to every other Saturday and pick up your two baskets of produce. One is fruits, and the other is vegetables. I went for the first time this past Saturday and was amazed at how much food I got. The other really cool thing is that every time you go, you get a little different variety - depending on what is in season. I had anything from pineapples to pomegranates, and from greens to fresh garlic!

The price you ask?? Only $15.00!! This is for a large laundry basket full of food!! It could have easily been $60-70 worth of food!! If you are interested, check out http://eastaz.bountifulbaskets.org/

Our Beloved Prophet

Mark and I were sitting relaxing tonight when my mom called and told us the news that our Prophet has passed away tonight surrounded by family and friends.

I just wanted to take a moment to remember some of the wonderful things that he did for our church!! I can't tell you how much of an example he was in my life, (as I am sure he has been to everyone!!!) But he and his presidency holds an extra special place in my heart. To put it briefly, there was a situation with my handicapped sisters that was taken all the way to the first presidency!! (I even remember talking to President Packer on the phone!)

1) He was the 15th president of our church.

2) He served as President of the Church from March 12, 1995 to January 27, 2008

3) Was sustained a general authority in 1958.

4) He holds the record for dedicating more than half of the temples that are on the earth!

5) He was married to the love of his life on April 29, 1937, and was married nearly 67 years at the time of her death in 2004.

6) I was a student at BYU-Idaho when we dedicated the Gordon B. Hinckley building on October 22, 2002

7) January 24, 2006 - under went surgery to remove cancerous growths from his large intestine.

8) On June 23, 2004 (Hinckley's 94th birthday), U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House.

9) On March 31, 2007, Hinckley rededicated the Salt Lake Tabernacle after extensive renovation. Hinckley's last public appearance was on January 4, 2008, where he offered the prayer at the rededication of the Utah State Capitol.

10) On January 27, 2008, about 7 p.m. MST, Hinckley died of "causes incident to age" surrounded by family in his home in Salt Lake City at the age of ninety-seven. "wikipedia.org"

What are some of your favorite memories of our Prophet???

C-SPAN

So I really am not a huge watcher of C-SPAN, but the other night I was laying on the couch watching TV as Mark made dinner! (I love my life!) All of the sudden the channels start flipping like crazy and it stops on Channel 2 - C-SPAN! Mark thought he was so funny and is trying to hide his laugh while he continues to make dinner! Well, I try not to provoke his craziness - so I act like I am really into it! Then I got hooked. It was the anti-abortion walk in Washington DC - and funny enough, it was Trent Franks (who is a US house member from AZ) talking about how 1/3 of our generation is missing because of the 3,000 abortions that happen DAILY!!! Can you believe that? Then another speaker got up and was talking about how much this Nation would be blessed if we would stop aborting babies, and how it is all part of God's test. All I can say is that it really moved me - I think babies are so precious!!!!

A Wonderful Morning

I know it has been a while since i have put anything on my blog. I was quite sick for a little while, and had nothing new to post!! So...I thought I would just post something great that happened to me this morning! Mark brought me breakfast in bed!! He made homemade blueberry waffles and scrambled eggs!! One of my favorites!!! And considering how early I have to get up, it was a very special surprise!!! He is the greatest!!!!!