Maya's Birth Story

Our due date for our third child was Feb 17, but we decided to induce at 39 weeks which landed on Feb 10. That decision was made primarily for preparedness reasons; Jared could plan and get his businesses prepared for a couple days off (rather than all of a sudden have to stop), and we could have a plan for what to do with the girls, Paige and Taylee, while we were in the hospital. The reasoning for picking the 10th was that it seemed like the only logical date in my little pregnant brain;  we couldn't do the 12 or the 16, because they were too close to Valentines Day (the 14) and I wanted the baby to have her own special day and not to be combined with/too close to another holiday. And I didn't want to do the 18th because that left a greater chance that she would come earlier and that would defeat the purpose of inducing. For some reason inducing on an odd day never seemed like an option (not for any logical reason, just a pregnant brain thinking haha).
My Mom and Cole drove up Sunday Feb 9, and I was scheduled to be induced on Monday Feb 10 at 7:00am. Kalyn came over Saturday night and helped with the girls while we did some last minute cleaning and organizing, she stayed over and came to church with us on Sunday.
Monday morning came and it was pretty surreal, I knew I was having a baby and thats why I was up and getting dressed, but for some reason it still didnt seem real (which is basically how I felt this entire pregnancy). Jared and I got to the hospital a little before 7:00am. I was admitted and had to change into the hospital robe. Then came the plethora of questions and stuff to fill out. They finally started the pitocin at 8:10am. The doctor (Dr Bean) came and broke my water at 8:45. I was nervous when they said they were going to break my water because in my past experiences it greatly amplifies the contraction pain. To my pleasant surprise nothing really changed, othere than I could feel liquid constantly coming out.
Jared and I passed the time by playing the game Ticket to Ride on the ipad. I think it bears mentioning that I creamed him, while I was in labor. => After our game Jared went to get a turkey sandwich.  This is one of his favorite parts of labor, no joke.
 I waited to get an epidural until the pain became almost unbearable. I did this because I am very scared of needles and I knew the epidural hurt to get; I wanted to make the pain of the epidural worth it. => I received the epidural around 11:00-11:15, I forgot to look at the exact time because I was distracted by the pain.
The nurses did not check my progress very much. When I was admitted I was 2.5/3cm dialated and 70%(ish) effaced (same as my last checkup appt). They checked me again at 11:55 (after my epidural had fully taken effect) and I was 5cm dilated. I knew from this point things would progress quickly, thats just how my body works.
I texted my Mom to let her know I was 5cm (she knew I thought I would be fast from this point) and she called Kalyn to come up and help Cole with the girls while she came to the hospital. At 12:15 I felt more pressure than normal and called the nurse to come check. I was over a 6, but not quite a 7 and the babies head was very far down. 12:40 I felt LOTS and LOTS of pressure, but decided to wait to tell the nurses until my Mom got there. (We knew she had left our house and was almost to the hospital, & I didnt want her to be so close and miss the birth). My Mom got there and we told the nurses.
12:50 we are waiting for the Dr to come, apparently another lady was ready to go as well. This was an interesting time in the labor. The nurses would not let me move because the baby was *right there*! She was super ready to come into this world. The nurses kept going to the other room to check on the drs status, they really didnt want to deliver a baby without him. It was a joke in the room that the Dr should have came to this room first.
The Dr finally came to our room, quickly got the robe on, and I started pushing at 1:20. Our third little girl was born at 1:23. Really, there was 6 pushes and she was out; 3 minutes of pushing.
During the three minutes of pushing her heart rate was seriously dropping, so one nurse held the monitor directly over her so the dr could keep track of it. When her cute little head came out the umbilical cord was wrapped very tightly once around her neck, which explained the dropping heart rate. The dr quickly yanked the cord off and she proceeded to come out. This birth was the one I could most feel the "release" when the baby came out. There were three distinct ones I could feel: when her head came out, when her shoulders came out, and when the rest of her/the legs came out. Each time it was this big drop/breath of my insides, almost like they were rejoicing in the new room that was just created. I dont know how else to really describe it, but it was cool. =>
When she was born it took a couple seconds but then she began crying, and she was NOT a happy camper. They put her on my stomach and wiped her some and she was screaming the whole time. Then they put her in my arms and she was still screaming. I was overcome with emotion and just started in amazement of this beautiful new little life I had. After a minute or two I gained enough composure to talk to my beautiful new little baby. As soon as I spoke she stopped crying and was completely calm. It was the most touching thing! My baby knew me!
After all the organized chaos from the delivery was over I began nursing baby girl, chatting with my Mom and Jared, it was so wonderful! But we still didnt have a name for our newest little one. It was not stressing me out, but it was driving Jared crazy. Finally, after a couple hours (around 7:00 that night) we finally decided on the name Maya Shay Miller. Our finalists were Kimber, Maya, Brooke, and Bella. We decided on Maya because my top two were Kimber and Maya, Jareds was Bella and Maya; so we took the common favorite. => We give middle names after family. Shay was chosen to be after me; my middle name is Shaylee and I am often called Shay. We chose to do Shay because I thought it flowed better, and now all our girls have three syllables in their names (first and middle).
Paige and Taylee came to meet Maya that day, around 3:30pm. Kalyn and Cole brought them to the hospital. They wore the "Big sister" shirts I made them and brought the presents they picked out (a blanket and a stuffed striped dog). When they came into the room Maya was still in the nursery getting a bath and being tested and things (Jared was with her). The girls were very anxious to meet their new baby, and as soon as Jared wheeled the hospital cradle in they could not contain their excitement anymore. It was so sweet! I am so glad they love their little sister so much! The girls stayed for a while and then went home with my Mom and Cole. (they came back the next day to see her again). So began life with three adorable daughters!
Welcome to the world Maya Shay! We love you so much!

Year of the 2's

I have officially titled this year of my life "the year of the 2's". It seems like this year has more things to do with that number than average. So here is my list of all the 2's in my life: (I recognize some will seem silly, just go with me on this =>)

- I am twenty two years old, 22
- Had a second (2) child
- Mother to 2 girls
- One of those girls is 2
- Got a 2nd car
- Bought a 2 story house
- Almost married 4 years (2x2)
- Husband started 2 new businesses
- 2 siblings going/went on Missions
- 2 siblings-in-laws going/went on Missions
- I am missing 2 teeth
- Ripped my toenail off for the 2nd time
- Took me 2 months to loose MOST of the baby weight (pesky last pounds still want to stay)
- Have had 2 Ipads (first one got smashed)
- Watch same Disney movies 2x's in a row (thanks to a certain 2yr old)
- Sweep my kitchen 2x's a day (again, a certain 2 yr old)
- Caused unwanted damage to my house in 2 big ways (drop stain in garage, hole in playroom wall)
- Co-Choreographed 2 dances for a talent show

I am sure there is so much more, and they could get pretty petty and silly so I will stop there, but the overall message is: there are a heck of a lot of 2's in my life right now. Lets hear it for the year of the 2's! (& hope the trend does not continue, no 9 kids or a 9 story house by 29 haha)

Taylee's Birth Story

My Doctors and Midwives (since I was now working with both instead of just midwives) felt it was best if I induced Taylee at 39 weeks. They did not want me going to 40, or even longer, due to the ever increasing risk of blood clots and the problems I had been having. Jared and I were hesitant to "evict" her early, and a lot of that had to do with Paige going into the NICU. But we eventually decided we trusted the doctors opinion and knowledge, so we scheduled it for Monday April 16 (39 weeks and 1 day). It also proved extremely calming for me because we had a schedule and a plan for what we would do with Paige, essentially it took away all the "what ifs".

My Mom flew in Sunday night and Paige was overjoyed! She loved having Mimi to play with! That night we went to bed extremely late. First, I had to pack the hospital bag I was putting off. Second, we were too anxious/nervous/excited/apprehensive/etc to sleep. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 7:00am, meaning we had to leave by 6:30 so we wouldn't be late (if we were late it would be canceled). I woke up at 5:30 so I could shower and make sure everything was in order, but that left me with less than 4 hours of sleep.

We got to the hospital at 7 and they started the induction process. I had to change into the hospital gown, get and IV put in, and answer a bajillion and a half questions regarding my medical history and this pregnancy. After all the initial work was done they started me on Pitocin at 7:50am. I was 1cm dialated and 50-60% effaced. Then the waiting began. Just that beginning was so different than Paige's birth. It was quite a weird feeling to walk into the hospital not feeling any pain or discomfort, just joking and laughing with Jared. I did decide I wasnt going to have this baby once I saw all the things they had to stick in me, but by that time its about 9 months too late. haha

The nurse came in every 30 mins to up my pitocin dosage. At 9:35am (80% 2cm) I was not feeling anything but having regular contractions 2-3 mins apart. They decided to break my water then. I was allowed to get an epidural as soon as I could feel anything, but I wanted to wait until the pain was unbearable. I was going off the notion the doctor I had with Paige gave me. With her he said don't come to the hospital until you can not walk and talk thru your contractions, and I decided thats when I was going to get the epidural with Taylee. The main reason for that was that I am scared to death of the epidural, The needles, the pain, everything. I figured if I waited until I was in so much pain with contractions I would not register the pain from the epidural.

Around 12:30 was when I got my epidural, and boy was I wrong. This anesthesiologist (or nurse anesthetist)  timed it so they did the epidural between contractions, and it hurt SO BAD!!! I was 3cm and 90% with baby very low. A couple minutes after they finished the epidural I felt much better and could finally relax, but I was STARVING! This was the longest I have gone without eating for 9 months, and my body was letting me know it. But I was not allowed to eat anything, in case they had to do emergency surgery (apparently hospital policy for all deliveries). So I was stuck with my popsicles and the nurses gave Jared a big sandwich. That was his favorite time in this whole process. I'm sitting on the bed, feeling fine, and he is sitting next to me eating a sandwich. It was like his dream labor. haha

At 1:30 they check me again and I am 100% and 4cm. I am not progressing especially fast but my midwife wanted them to alert her when I was 5cm. She thought I would go pretty quickly after that. The nurses called and let her know I was at a 4. It was around this time that Taylees heart rate started to seriously drop with every contraction. They had me move into all different positions (I could move with both kids epidurals, I just feel a little heavier when I move) to try and see if they could find a spot Taylee liked. But nothing really worked and they put me on oxygen.

At 2:00pm they come and check me again. I am now at 5.5cm. They call my midwife and let her know and she starts coming to the hospital. (She was delivering another baby in a hospital in Provo) The nurses say they will come back in an hour and check me. Jared and I call my Mom and she comes around this time. She was watching Paige before, but then Kalyn took over so she could be at the birth.

At 2:30-2:40 ish I start feeling a whole LOT of pressure and discomfort, and I nkow this baby is ready to come out. I have my Mom go get the nurse to check me. When the nurse comes she is pretty shocked. Apparently Taylees head was right there. She called the midwife to see when she would get here. Turns out the midwife was stuck in some of the good old UT traffic, but was pretty close. The nurse literally had me cross my legs and we all had strict orders to not make me laugh, sneeze, cough, or talk loud because this baby would come.

The midwife finally got there, I pushed for maybe 5 mins and Taylee was born! She was 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 in long. She was healthy and screaming which was great! After doing a few stats and things on her I got to nurse her and cuddle! It was great! And I got to order food! I can not even express how hungry I was!

The food got there about 45mins after I had Taylee and I chowed. But when I was eating my leg fell off the bed and I could not lift it up and put it back on. This was new for me because thru the whole labor I could always move my body. And now I had absolutely no feeling or mobility in them. It didn't quite register then what was happening, I just figured my epidural was all pooling in one spot before it came out. But when my legs kept getting heavier and heavier, and the nurse came in wanting me to get up and walk around (like they normally do after the epidural wears off) the nurses discovered they forgot to turn off my epidural. So I was having a high, labor sized dose of epidural with no labor which accounted for my decreased feeling and mobility. The epidural was going for a little over an hour after I had given birth, which means I had a long while before I would be able to move on my own. But they needed to transfer me to the maternity floor (from the labor and delivery where I was), so a coule nurses actually had to lift me from one bed to another and wheel me in the bed down to my maternity room.

During this whole epidural epiphany the nurses kept taking Taylees vitals, and her temperature was not going up to where they wanted it. So they took her and put her under a warmer and gave her a bath and such. Jared went with her and my Mom stayed with me. Taylee was brought to me in my maternity room about 45 mins after I was wheeled in.

When I was wheeled into my room (about 5:45) it was pretty relaxed from there. There was a constant flow of food from the cafeteria (I had this insatiable hunger, so I kept eating), and lots of cuddles with Taylee. It was not until 10:00pm (ish) that I could get out of my bed and walk. My Mom stayed the night with me in the hospital while Jared went home to be with Paige and get a good nights rest. Taylee was not sleeping well. She wanted to eat every 45 mins, and would eat for 20 mins. Finally at 1:45am I asked the nurse to bring me a bottle for her, figuring she was not getting enough from me. I was so right. She chugged the bottle and fell asleep at 2:10am, and slept about 3 hours.

Jared brought Paige to meet Taylee the next day and she just LOVED her! PAige could not get enough of her new baby! But that is a post for another day. =>

38 wks 2 days

Yep, I'm right there at the end. & because of all the complications of this pregnancy & the fact that I'm a "high risk" pregnancy my doctors do not want me going full term, or beyond. So I am scheduled to be induced on Monday the 16th. I will be 39 weeks and that's as long as they feel comfortable with me going. I am nervous about many things pertaining to that but it's good because we can be more prepared with Paige. So, by this time next week we will have two kids. That's a very crazy thought for me.

New things:
- with Paige I gained 74 lbs, with this one the most I gained was 34 lbs, but have already began loosing weight (3 lbs from last week to this). The only reason I can think of is this time around I am more active because I am playing with a toddler, & have been morning sick almost this whole time.

- got the results of my genetic test, I am a mutant (have a mutation in my genes) that gives me a huge predisposition to blood clots. Meaning for the rest of my life I need to be freakin active & healthy so I don't have a stroke, seriously.

Craving:
- it hasn't been anything super specific. Just lots of fruit & veggies. That's like all I want to (read:can & not get sick) eat.


In other news I just finished getting the babies room all set up! Hooray!! It's not decorated, just set up (like crib put together, clothes all organized & put away, etc). It took forever to complete that! I blame it on pregnancy & lack of energy associated with it, as well as a toddler who has a short attention span. But it is now one of my favorite rooms to be in, because it's the only one that stays clean & organized like its supposed to haha

30 Weeks

It has been a long while (10 weeks to be exact) since I took an updated baby picture. I put it off so long because I kept telling myself I was going to take one with my makeup all perfect and hair all done, so I could seem like I was a cute pregnant woman. Let's be honest, that's not gonna happen. So at least a picture is better than no picture right? Haha.

About this pregnancy:
-same "new things" as the 20week post
-have developed the wonderful (not) things known as blood clots, & now get to do/have all the fun things associated with that
-this baby girl is one heck of a mover! My belly will seriously move around, which is pretty trippy to watch
-I feel like I have been pregnant FOREVER!!! (& I still have 10weeks to go)

Things I crave:
-meat! (yes still)
-strawberries, particularly smoothies but really anything with strawberries
-other random things but that can vary by day

Just a cute thing: Paige will now come say "hi" to the baby by rubbing my stomach. & she gets quite entertained and confused when the baby starts moving my stomach around.

Curtains

Our house needed window treatments, but they are just so dang expensive for something not very cute. So I decided to make them, & I just finished my first pair! I bought cheap drapes from ikea, made the curtain rod, & they have been hanging plain like that for longer than I would like to admit. But last night I just finished adding thick decorative stripes to them! I am in love!! It literally took FOREVER but I just love the end result! Now onto the other 4 windows in our great room.....

(excuse the poor quality of pics, I will take better ones with my camera, & it's a 50/50 chance I'll post better ones on here later. Haha)

Fireplace Mantel

We finally stained our fireplace mantel! Wahoo!! We had our house builders put in a "blonde wood" mantel because they would have charged us an additional $3,000 to stain it the same as our cabinets. Yeah right! Stain costs like $10!!! So, we lived with a mis-matched fireplace for a couple weeks and it finally drove me crazy enough to actually crack open the stain & paint it. (Ok well Jared did most of the staining because it strongly advised against pregnant women breathing the fumes) A couple days and $20-ish dollars (dropped stain can, remember?) a whole new matching mantel! Eat that $3,000!! Haha =>

(& the only pic I have of the new mantel is with some Christmas decorations. Maybe later I will get one of the plain mantel)

Grocery Budget

Budgeting is not my forte, it is something I am constantly evaluating and trying to perfect. I saw this link on a friends website, its an ebook about how to keep a grocery budget, for a family of 4, to $250. Seeing how I am feeding 2.5 people on a higher amount, I would LOVE to be that low! I'l let ya know if I can follow this books principles and succeed in saving more money! Fingers crossed. =>

20 weeks

So I am 20.5 weeks along and this is the first "bump" picture of the pregnancy. Needless to say I am not as vigilant about it as I was last time. Haha

Different Things about this pregnancy:
- I am carrying in my back, which presents a whole new set of experiences
- I still get morning sickness, although not as consistently as the first trimester
- I have very specific cravings, & not necessarily just of tastes but of textures
- I got a body pillow, BEST THING EVER!! I don't know how I made it they Paige's pregnancy without one! =>
- This pregnancy still hasn't fully "sunk in", Jared & I have to remind ourselves that I actually am pregnant & not just having all these weird symptoms. (we don't forget I'm pregnant, it's just not really real. Does that make any sense?)

Things I crave:
- zupas summer chicken salad
- MEAT (this baby is definitely a carnivorous child)
- shaved ice (no flavor, just texture)
- smoothies (mainly piña colada)
- and more meat => (& not hot dogs, like steak, roast,..... Real meat. Haha)

First Ice Cream Cone

The other day my aunt Lindsey & I went to Ikea. That's always a fun store to explore, and our girls did great! After , we rewarded ourselves with some of their ice cream cones. I was brave and decided to get Paige her own, but had them only fill it slightly. She LOVED it! It was pretty funny watching her eat it. The only pics I got were at the beginning of the process. Thinking back on it I should have got a pic of the ice cream covered mess before I bathed her. Haha. But what a cute little ice cream eater! Now there are 3 things she will eat without a doubt: chocolate, ice cream, marshmallows. Haha =>

Not so great good thing

Today has not been a very good day. No particular reason. Just the hard parts of pregnancy, life with a toddler, & just feeling down all in one day. But the day must go on, & things must get done. So Paige & I went out & ran errands, one of which was picking up stain for our fireplace mantel. I took a little longer picking out stain because there was no exact match to my cabinets. I finally picked a combination out & we headed home. (mind u we are now late for Paige's nap. Tired cranky baby & mommy). We pull into our garage & I'm unbuckling Paige & somehow the can of stain falls out of the car and SPLATTERS all over our garage floor!!! What a great way to end a great errand run. NOT!! I utterly broke down & called Jared just bawling. He reassured me he can fix it, & I didn't ruin our house & he still loves me. What a great man to put up with my dramas =>. So now, after I have sufficiently stuffed myself with chocolate & the baby is down I go out & get the rest of the stuff from errands out of the car & I realize something. The stain isn't even the right color to match my cabinets. So, maybe in some far future I will see this as a blessing & tender mercy because I didn't put all that time & effort into painting my mantel just to find its the wrong color. As for now, I just need ice cream & more chocolate.

Bookstore Drama

This morning I took Paige to Seagull Book to get some pictures of Christ, like the little card size ones. It was a trip of mixed emotions. => If you are familiar with Seagull book, or even Deseret book you know the walls are covered with beautiful framed pictures of Christ and other religious paintings. As soon as we walked in Paige started yelling "Jesus, Jesus" (ok really "Esus" or "Jesz") and pointing at all the paintings. That just melted my heart! I loved seeing her get so excited about Christ!! We make our way to the back of the store to the rotating card picture holder thing. I picked out 2 pictures of Christ & I let Paige hold them. She was sooooo excited!

Then I made the mistake of putting her down while I looked at a table full of childrens books. Not 2 seconds later I turned back to Paige to find that she discovered how to take the cards out, & turn the thing to get more cards. She was taking out whole sections of pictures & holding them in her ever growing stack. I tried to get her to only hold one copy of each of the pictures,.... Huge fit! But she finally calmed down.

Then she went & tried to take even more. I wouldn't let her (I was trying to go check out). One of the biggest tantrums I have ever seen her do ensued. Complete with sprawling & twisting on the floor & screaming "no" & "Jesus" (along with other baby words) at the top of her lungs. Boy, what a scene it was!

I was so thankful there were only 2 people in the store (a worker & a grandma lady). It's a good thing Paige knows & loves Jesus, just not such a good thing she will throw such a huge fit over pictures of Him. haha Overall, great trip (seeing her react to Christ) but a little frustrating (the fits).

Then when we got home & she saw where I put the pictures (her room) she got excited again! I love it!

& while we were there I saw some paintings of Jesus that I actually wanted! (I'm very picky about buying a nice picture of Christ, which is why I have yet to get one). Here are some pics of some of the ones I like, & one day will probably get & display in my house!

Mobile App Trial

So, blogger finally got a mobile app, which means I should be able to put pics from my phone onto the blog. Meaning I might post more, but no guarantee. The pics are of Paige playing @ her gymnastics gym. We go on Fridays for "free gym" time, where kids have free reign on all the gymnastics equipment. Paige LOVES it! Then there is our house, pretty close to being finished, hopefully. Wahoo! haha. & Paige making the cutest dirty face @ the camera. So adorable! I just love my daughter! Haha

Well, let's see how this posts. Fingers crossed. =>

ABC, Now You Know Me

I know I have not blogged in a looooong time. Honestly, I just have not been able to find the energy. But I feel so sad every time I see this poor neglected blog. So I figured I would remedy that, but in a non picture, very quick and easy way. => My friend Tess posted this cute get to know you try thing on her blog. So I figured, this would be an easy fun way to update the blog. Here goes nothing:

Age: 22

 Bed size: Queen, would LOVE a Cal King tho

Chore you hate: Cleaning the bathrooms. Yes, this is a chore that especially has to happen often, but there is something about cleaning the things where your "unwanteds" (aka, bowel movements, dirty body stuff, nasty spit, etc) go that just makes me cringe. I do it, but definitely do not enjoy it.

Dogs: I did not have a dog growing up, and am actually allergic to most of them. I have always liked the idea of dogs but I dont like the nitty gritty  of it. If I could have a dog that is always clean, doesnt: smell, poop, lick, slobber, etc. Then I would be fine with a cute dog. =>

Essential start of your day: Well normally its a kiss from Jared. He always kisses me before he goes to work. And I LOVE it!  But since this pregnancy, the essential essential part is food. I have to wake up & immediately eat something, or there is no way to get thru the day.

Favorite color: Blue and yellow, the happy shades of them. There is just a joyful quality about those colors that I love.

Gold or silver: Well, my wedding ring is white gold, which is gold, except its silver. I guess I'm 50/50.

Height: 5'8"

Instruments I play (or have played): I took piano lessons for almost my whole childhood (can not play now), played Cello for 2 years, and have been singing since I was little (in countless choirs and shows)

Job title: SAHM. (Stay At Home Mom).. The HARDEST job I  have ever had to do.

Kids: Yes. One 16month old girl, and one on the way.

Live: In Utah. (really, its still hard to admit that, even after 2 years of living here and building a house). Have lived in: Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Colorado.

Mom's name: Robin

Nickname: Shay, Lys, Lyssa, Lyssa Shay, Angel. Then all the ones Jared has for me (Babe, Beautiful, Gorgeous, etc) 

Overnight hospital stays: Giving Birth: 2010. There might be others I just cant remember.

Pet peeve: Chewing with mouth opened. That noise it makes just gets so under my skin! Oh I am just getting irked thinking about it. haha

Quote from a movie: "

Right or left handed: I write with my right hand, but everything else is left. (eating, batting, kicking, throwing, etc)

Siblings: 1 sister, 4 brothers, all younger.

Time you wake up: Normally around 9, when Paige wakes up. Also, throughout the night for pregnancy reasons and baby not sleeping reasons. Oh to get one solid full nights sleep, but I guess I have quite a few years before I will be able to have that again. haha

Underwear: Religious, not so cute kind, but oh so wonderful!

Vegetables you dislike: There used to be none. I absolutely love vegetables. But when I was pregnant with Paige I ate brussel sprouts and it did NOT go over well. I have not been able to eat them since. Bummer.

What makes you run late: Genetics. I don't know any other way to explain it. I am ALWAYS running late. No matter what I do. It drives my husband crazy, and I am always trying to get better. But being late is just a fact of life with me.

X-rays you've had done: Teeth, jaw, lungs/ribs, hips, arms, and I am sure much more.

Yummy food you make: I am not, nor have I ever been a chef. But I am slowly learning. The things I can make, and well, are: Chilie, Roast, Fudge, Oreo Truffles, Cream Puffs, Cake & cupcakes, and smoothies. Its pretty sad most of them are desserts huh? haha We know where my priorities are. =>

Zoo animal: Giraffes. They are so majestic and graceful. Its interesting to watch them move. Tigers too, for the same reasons, but in a different light, if that makes sense.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little more. I would love for you to fill it out so I can know more about you! =>

Life

Hello out there, can anyone hear me? I know it's been forever since I have posted so if u guys have long past given up on me I can totally understand, I'll just type to myself then =>.

So, what's new with us.... Well the big reason why I have not blogged in forever: we got iPhones! I seriously love it! I don't know how I ever lived without it! Pathetic I know. But since getting this new phone I hardly ever go on the computer, and this phone does not let me upload pics to the blog (or if it does by doing some tricky things I have not figured it out) and my philosophy, normally, is what good is a post without pictures. So there u have it, getting the best phone ever has put a serious dent in my blogging. Eh, such is life haha

But, we come to the reason for the blog. I am actually really excited & wanted to tell people, & since I stay at home all day (bc I don't have a car) I don't see anyone, so I blog it. Haha we bought a house!!! Wahoo!! Ok, we are actually building a house. It's pretty exciting & scary! We are building in Utah, so yes, that means we will be living in Utah for a good while longer. While the CA girl in me is so against it, most of me has come to terms with being a utard for a little while. Haha. If I could, I would post pics of the house, floor plan, lot, etc but alas, I am on my phone. So if any of you are that interested & would like to see my the plan we are building you can go to our builders website. Google: Richmond American Homes. Our housing plan is called the "Alison". We are getting the style house that has the green & brown color, but with the yellow white & red colors (does that make sense).

Wahoo for getting out of this tiny apartment & into more space & a backyard we don't have to share with smokers!! =>

This Time

This time last year I was beginning the very painful process of bringing a child into this world. My how the times have changed. This time last year my aunt Jenny and her family had just left from a night of girls playing and boys working. Jenny's youngest Bella, spoke to my tummy and said "Come out baby Paige, I want to play with you" Less than an hour after they left I began having very painful and frequent contractions. This time last year I was in labor. That's such a crazy thought! I have mixed time perceptions. On one hand it seems like just yesterday I was in labor and on the other hand I seems like I have had my little baby Paige for years and years. This time this year, I am sitting on the couch, taking a break from the hours I have spent in the kitchen baking cakes, wishing I was closer to being done. Today I spent my day playing peekaboo, dancing, reading, watching Mickey and Tangled with Paige. Has is really been a year? I think 10 months have gotten stolen from me! There is no way I have a 1 year old daughter!! Holy cow! I really can not believe my baby is turning 1 tomorrow. Crazy!! Well, enough freaking out/ reminiscing, time to get back to the cakes. Pics of the big day tomorrow to come. =>

Junk Mail

Both Jared and I get our fair share of junk emails. I periodically will go thru and move the addresses to my "blocked" senders list, because they annoy the crap out of me. Tonight was one of those nights. I had 45 junk emails in my junk email folder, mixed with a couple more emails I wanted that somehow end up in there. My email provider took away the button to automatically block a sender (or just put it somewhere I have yet to find) so I have to open each email (attachments blocked of course) and manually copy & paste the senders address into my blocked category. Tedious yet somehow therapeutic. Tonight I came across this email. I busted up laughing, which caused Jared to come over and see, out of curiosity. He busted up. I dont know if its just late night giggles or just partly, but I find this email HILARIOUS! I had to share it. Now most scams are pretty good at sounding legit. I can see now people are duped into falling for them, but this one, its just.... oh Ill just let you form your own opinions:

Hello Dear,

I am ill and would die having been diagnosed with cancer disease.

I want to distribute my funds to charities in your country through you.

Please respond for more details.

Respectfully,

Paul George

My 2 Loves

Yes, I love Jared and Paige, but they are not my two loves I am talking about today. Instead, let me gush about my new 2 loves: Laser hair removal and Couponing!

I know I know, odd loves, but let me tell you, they are AMAZING!

I have had 4 treatments of Laser hair removal on my underarms. Last year Jared bough me a Groupon package that had 6 treatments, so I have 2 more to go. Oh my goodness I am in love! To be honest, the first three treatments I didn't see much difference. They kept telling me that they had to synchronize all the growth cycles, etc etc, and that I would potentially notice more hair until the 4th treatment. They were right. But then, the miracle happened. After the fourth treatment all the hair was gone! GONE!! Zap! Finito! I shaved yesterday for the first time in over 2 1/2 weeks, not because I needed too, because I still hardly had hair, like you couldnt see any unless you looked with your nose in my pits (and who would do that?) but because I felt weird not shaving for 3 weeks. I guess I will have to change my mindset because its going to get even less with two more treatments!
Now I'm not gonna lie, its starting to hurt like crap. The first couple times felt uncomfortable but this fourth time it genuinely HURT! But only for the duration of the treatment. After it was fine. So even if the last two treatments continue in this pattern and get even more painful, it will be SOOOOOOO worth it! Oh, not shaving and still having no hair is BLISS!

As for coupons. I don't think I can say enough about them! They are such a BLESSING! I started couponing in Feb. I have heard about it many times, since Utah is probably the couponing capital, and it intrigued me, but not enough to actually go and spend money on the newspaper. But then Jared and I happened upon a show on TLC, Extreme Couponing, and it was very fascinating! That pushed us over the edge and we signed up to get one Sunday newspaper a week, for $4 a month. I have even gone to Couponing seminars to learn how to better do it.
I am not a professional yet, and to get amazing at it you need multiple papers and places to store things. For now, I am doing what I can and it has been AMAZING!! The best food shopping trip I had I saved 56% on our groceries, an that was back in Feb, and we still have plenty of the food and are still using it! And just yesterday I saved on diapers and we shouldn't have to buy any until late Aug/early Sept! I spent essentially $0.17 a diaper, instead of $0.25. And on 810 diapers thats around $64 in savings! I know those aren't HUGE numbers, but to us they are gigantic! So the paper is definitely paying for itself, more than 10Xs! I get this high when I get such a great deal! Its kind of addicting! => I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to save money and have all the things we need! Oh coupons, I love that I found you!

Cleaning & Necklace Diva

We are alive, don't worry. I am just lazy in the picture department. Oh I took plenty on our trips, I just have not taken them off the camera yet. Instead I have been spring cleaning. (which means re arranging furniture and MAJOR decluttering.)

I "spring clean" about every season change, but this time of year it is expected by the world rather than just my extreme need for organization. I really love the feeling of a new furniture arrangement, its like having a whole new house. Couple that with unbelievable clean and vwalla (sp?) you have a little bit of heaven. haha

The only problem is: things get drastically messy before they become neat and orderly. So at the moment, and for the past couple days, my house looks like a tornado hit it. I deep clean one room at a time, but that means all the other rooms that have not been cleaned get crap put in them for the time being. And with an almost 1 year old (how weird is that!?!) this process is going a lot slower than normal! But I can just envision it now, a whole new and improved apartment! Oh how blissful! haha

So basically, when this is done, and I complete my couple projects I promised myself I would complete before anything else (Paige Easter present, & fixing some broken clothes), THEN pictures of our CA adventures and other things that happen between now and then will grace this blog.

For now, you get to enjoy the cuteness that is my daughter from the beg of March. Paige LOVES to wear my necklaces and scarves. I think she partly likes the necklaces because its a chew toy always in reach, but also because she is a girl and loves dress up already! Oh I hope it continues! I would love LOVE love it if she wanted to dress up when she is older!



Dispite her look, she really did want it on, and
would get upset if we tried to take it off



Paige was so excited when Jared put the scarf
on her again! (we had it on earlier & I took it off
when Jared got home)





One Sunday after church she wore this little beauty around. What a fashionista!




In Idaho, and my aunt Amy's hosue we put Paige in all Amys
dress up necklaces. Shae ate them all. =>




This is not a necklace shot, just an ADORABLE hat Jared's sister had made for Paige. I couldnt not put a pic of this on. Cutest hat Ever! 



Watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse. With her necklace.




Jared came home in the middle of her MMC, she had to go see him, but then she
had to watch Mickey too. So funny. And she has no clothes on because just 30 mins before
I was having her try on clothes we got from my aunt. She got sooo sick of clothes she would
NOT wear any more, but she HAD to have her necklace.



Babysitting Mania

I just got back from an 8 day babysitting experience in ID. (I babysat my aunts 3 girls). It was crazy, fun, and definately an eye opener about future stages of motherhood. Then, I am shortly leaving to go watch my brothers in CA while my Mom travels "across the pond". I'll be there for a couple weeks. That will be another adventure. So, this blog will most likely continued to be neglected until beg/mid-ish April. Hopefully, then I can get back on this blogging bandwagon. haha