Easter 2015

'Today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever know...'- Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Great Easter Weekend! Lily enjoyed all the Egg Hunts, we enjoyed the beautiful weather, good food and beautiful family to share it with. It was also General Conference weekend. I really enjoyed the talks, they helped me realize the things I need to change and the things I need to appreciate more. All I can say is I am so grateful for the constant reminders that my family is the greatest blessing in my life. My marriage, my children (even the one yet to come) bring me so much happiness despite anything else that is going on in life. They are my constant ground and as long as we keep our family and personal goal to keep the savior in our lives and practice his teachings, we can continue that constant. So grateful for the teachings of the gospel which help me find the strength to reach the eternal goals which are most important.

'Many things are good, many things are important, but only a few things are essential'. -Elder Todd Christofferson.

My Family and mission as a mother and wife are essential to the plan of our heavenly father. In which I am honored to be apart of.

Now pictures...

Oh...be still my heart!

The creepy lamb mask that has eye holes too small too see.

Anxious to get her hunting on

Cute photo with Grammy and Kitty

Love my Kitty cat

Ah! BUT THAT FACE?!!

'ME WANT EGG, NOMNOM!'

Second Trimester and Lily of course

(Written two weeks ago and just now getting around to posting...better late then never. We are now into the third and final Trimester...woohoo!)

So far we are doing good in the second trimester. I've had lots of muscle pains (or at least that's what I think they are) in my ribs, back and pelvis. I had the similar pelvis pain the last month or so while prego with lily, but this time it's come early. It is painful to turn in bed, hurts to sit (which I have to do all day long at work) and painful to get up and down. Endure, endure...
He moves around often, from down low to up high. Thinking that since my ribs have been hurting, maybe he is kicking my ribs? I get this weird icy sensation on my right rib when I sleep, so may be him? Not sure. It's only the 26th week and I'm already anxious for him to come. Of course, want to make sure he is fully developed, but I'm ready to not feel uncomfortable any more.
I've returned to the crossfit gym, trying to keep up with the exercises while adjusting them so I don't hurt little man. I love working out. Its worth feeling uncomfortable because I feel better afterword's. Trying to go on walks daily as well, since it makes my back feel so much better.  I am still going to try to do the 5k beginning of June, of course I will walk because it will be about 100 degrees, but it is something that I feel I must complete, even when pregnant.

Lily has been sleeping with us...still. A few nights ago she wanted to sleep in her own bed...I was crushed! So, to help both of us get what we wanted, I asked Mark to put her mattress in our room. She slept there for about 15 minutes and wanted to cuddle with me. I'm okay with that. I am however starting to notice that I hardly get any sleep between her and the little guys movements during the night. The other morning she woke up and said, 'I'm sorry for kicking your belly last night mommy.' LOL! I don't remember that happening but it wouldn't surprise me. My poor little lady is trying so hard to be mindful not to sit, stand, kick or jump on my belly. It's taking lots of reminders, but she is very quick to give the baby kisses if she does. She wants to be held all the time now, and with the pains I've been having I'm trying to avoid picking her up as much as I can...but it's hard, I love holding her. She is however, reluctant to participate in the, what I call 'awe moment's. I have to try to force her hand onto my belly to feel the baby kick, she wants nothing to do with it. I say in a musical fun voice, 'It's kind of fu'un', she then replys in the same musical tone, 'It's kind of scary'. haha, silly girl. She was leaning back on my belly last night watching a show and the baby began to kick her on the back, she turns around looking annoyed and leans forward away from me....what the heck?! Thought this would be fun for her, guess that's my lily for ya. 

I've definitely not been as 'careful' with this pregnancy as I was with Lily. I'm more active, not being carless, but I'm not holding back on things that need to be done. I think I'm driving my mother crazy with worry about some of the physical stuff I'm doing. :) I was pretty much stagnate my whole pregnancy with lily eating DQ every night. Not so much with this little guy. It'll be interesting to see if there is any difference in the two children's development. My own science experiment (muahaha).

Trying to get some things accomplished around the house before the baby comes. From pulling weeds, trimming bushes, mowing grass (actually, mark did most of the work) and cleaning the storage room, we've been busy this trimester. Trying to get as much as I can done, because I know I will be out of commission during MLOA due to the delivery and gallbladder surgery. And then we will be moving in September, so that is going to be a lot of busy work. Still hoping my job will let me continue working from home in Phoenix, that would be such a blessing. We have a lot of life events coming up within the next few months, just hoping for the best because that is all I can do. Excited to meet our little guy, hope he is safe and we have a happy delivery.

So, now for some updates on my wonderful little Lily. I love that girl so much. She cracks me up! Lately she has been into Disney movies and princess. What is odd about this new interest, is that she never wants to BE the princess from these movies. She wants to be the other characters. For example, she loves Beauty and the Beast. She is not Belle, she wants to be the Beast. Grammy is Belle (which I've challenged lily to allow me to be Belle, but because Grammy has the beautiful hair and sweet voice and face...Grammy is most suitable for the part...thanks a lot) I am Candle Stick (due to my wicked sweet accent faking skills), Mark is Clocksworth, Grandma O is Ms. Potts, Grandpa is Gaston (not sure why) and Amma (though I say she's Papa) is always Olaf, which has nothing to do with Beauty and they Beast. Lily will actually make us stay in character, it is the funniest thing. If I say, 'I love you Lily', she will quickly correct me 'NO, I'M BEAST'. Sometimes we wonder if she will suffer from split personalities, but for right now it is cute. She is very outgoing and not shy by any means. I'm hoping that she continues with this type of personality as it will help her when she goes to grade school in a couple years. I'm dreading the day I have to take her to kindergarten, but I know she will love it. She motivates us to go to church every Sunday because she loves nursery. She has been getting a little attitude lately that I'm trying to correct, when she's going potty she will yell for me to go away, which I look at her sternly and she says, 'mommy may I please have my privacy'. She does not like to apologize when she does something she's not supposed too. That would be the pridefulness that comes from both sides of the family. However, in our family we are trying very hard to apologize even if we do not think we are wrong. A few nights ago we were playing in my moms yard, when she pulls a flower off it's steam. I said, 'lily! you need to apologize to Amma for destroying her flower!' She runs away and says 'leave me alone', then I tell her that she made Amma sad. So, she runs back to us, while I'm thinking she is going to apologize to her Amma, She goes back to the flower pot and pulls the whole plant out! STINKER! She runs back to her hiding place knowing what she did will warrant an upset reaction from me. I walk over to her, look her in the face and say, 'Lily, that is not ok. You have ruined Ammas pretty flowers and have made her sad. You need to tell her you're sorry.' I grab her hand and lead her back into the house to apologize. While we are walking, I hear her muttering something under her breath, 'sso...ssor...soso'. We get inside, 'Amma, Lily has something to say to you.' Lily, looking down at the floor, 'Amma...i'm...i'm...sso...sso..so so sorry! I'm sorry ok?!' haha! I'm proud of her for apologizing but it was so theatrical, cracked me up! She is so fun. We pretend we are mommy kitty and baby kitty and can only speak in kitty language. Her imagination is incredible. Love love love that girl!

 

Planning on taking a week before my due date to go on leave so she and I can spend some alone time together before her brother comes. I worry how she will do with this transition as I'm going to have to focus most of my energy on the new baby. I don't ever want to lose that close relationship I have with Lily. The kid is my world!

 

Brave enough to take a bare belly photo...but I'm proud of my baby bump!

Keeping active with the family

Mark has been growing a beard and then shaving it, then growing it again. Wish he'd just leave it. It's super sexy!

And this is my cheesy 27 week photo! Loving the beautiful wild flowers that pop up in the dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Princess Pea is 3

My Princess Pea is 3…

I can hardly believe that it has been three years since I experienced one of the scariest and yet rewarding times of my life. Becoming a mommy. My baby is now three. Becoming more and more independent every day! I noticed the other day driving her out to my parents before work, that she and I can actually hold conversations. Yes, conversations about princesses, playgrounds and bubble guppies, but conversations all the same. I love it! She has an incredible memory, and will not forget something once its said (which can get us into trouble). She memorizes songs after the first few times hearing them and loves to sing. Right now her song of choice for every morning when we drive out to my parents, is ‘Let it go’. She has the song memorized, along with the dance moves of course. I hated that song until she started singing it, she’s so cute. When she wakes up in the morning, first thing she says with a smile on her face, ‘Good Morning Mommy.’ We then talk about what we dreamed about and what the plan is for the day. It’s so fun to see her grow up.
 I love her so much. The most rewarding moment of my life was when I gave birth to lily. The fear that I had before she was born, the doubt that I could actually raise a child…it was pretty overwhelming. I remember sitting in my post labor room after everyone had left for the night, Mark was sleeping on the couch, and I looked at  lily as she slept, thinking there was no going back, I was now a mom. Mark and I were responsible for this little defenseless human, and god trusted us enough to send her to us. And I swooped her into my arms and fell asleep with her, I felt so much happiness. She is, and always will be my greatest blessing.

We had a fun day for her birthday. We made pancakes for breakfast (her request), watched her favorite shows till Daddy got home from school and then went to the Childrens Museum. That place is so much fun. She had a blast running to each room, this time around she understood how to play with the stuff. I think her favorite part was the grocery store, cause she was telling me about it again the following day. The Chinese student association from the U of A came to perform the lion dance. So lily had the chance to make a wish and feed it to the dragon. She mostly wanted to pet the dragon, which they were sweet enough to let her do so. Then we walked around downtown cause it was a perfect day and had lunch outside.

For about two months now, lily has been wanting to go to Chuckie cheese. So we took her there for her birthday and invited family and the Gardner’s to join us. We sang happy birthday, opened presents and Lily got to do lots of running around and dancing with Chuckie Cheese. She had a blast! Got 100 tokens, and I tried to dish them out to everyone thru the night, but we still left with about 20 left over, now we have a reason to go again.

I’m so happy my little sweetie had a fun birthday. I hope she has many more to come and that each on is just as special.
 

thumbs up mommy!

th sofia cake she requested the night before... it was way easier to make then the first year rainbow sprinkle cake!

family tradition lives on, kicks for birthday. Lily's first LeBrons
 

I took lily out for our traditional birthday photo shoot. I love my princess.

valentines day with my loves.

Snakes and Snails and Puppy-dogs' tails...‏

 Well, if you can't tell by the title, IT'S A BOY! Looks like the Chinese calendar and the old wives tales were right. And looks like my inner self was calling it 'he' and 'little guy' for a reason. We are very excited of course. We will now have a set, our salt and pepper, our fork and spoon, etc.
We had prepped Lily for the ultrasound appointment, so she could understand what we were looking at. I had shown her other ultrasound photos including her own so she new what to expect. When the baby came on the screen, she says 'ah! IT'S A SPACE ROBOT!' lol, she was kind of right.
When we started the ultrasound, I'd expected to have to wait a bit till the sonographer would tell us the gender. Right away she asks 'want to know the gender?', 'Sure!' was my response. With lily it took a while till she could tell us what it was, but not this kiddo, he was spread eagle. It was very clear, which is good. I won't be doubting it's a boy. Later in the parking lot, Mark and I were looking at the pictures, and I just had to make the joke to Mark 'honey, he's built like you!' lol! (I'm hilarious, I know).
Now what to call this child! We cannot find a boy name that both Mark and I agree on! He likes more sportsy cool names like Rey, and I like more traditional names like Noah or Eli. Guess we didn't have a name for Lily either until about a month before she was born...he will not go unnamed.
Mark is pretty excited, and now believes this can finalize our family. I'd beg to differ. Unless there are some future unforeseen circumstances why we would stop...we must grow. But we shall see.
So far everything looks good on the ultrasound. They placed me a week ahead of schedule so we will see if my OB changes the due date. I need to return for more scans since the boy was moving so much they could not get all the shots they needed. I was worried that he would be small due to my current diet, but he is now at 15 ounces! the Chunck! Now I know where all the fat in my body is going too!

We revealed the gender to our parents and grandma later that night. we wanted to do something fun since with Lily we had just called to tell them after the ultrasound, which was kind of boring. We told the grandparents that they would not find out until later that night, so to be to Mark's parents house by 6:30pm. Mark ordered a pizza from Papa Murphy's and asked them to write 'Boy' with pepperoni on the pizza. Then we would have the family wait until the pizza was done and they would see. Well...things don't always go according to plan as I've learned in life, so swung by Old Navy  after work to get lily some new clothes and picked up a piece of clothing for the little guy just in case we needed it for that night. I also realized how little selection there is for boys clothes! choices are blue or green and trucks or monsters...my kids already to cool for all that. lol

Fast forward to 6:30pm...Mark and I popped the pizza into the oven and we instructed the family that we would eat dinner first before sharing the gender. As we were talking with the family, Mark brought up the fact that the baby could possibly be born on my birthday. Then he started to say, 'Andrea would hate that cause she hates sharing her birthday already with fathers day (which is very true)! Then HE would hate having to share HIS birthday with HIS mom!' At that point, Tina looks at me with a wide eyed expression of 'I caught that!'...I quickly got up and walked to Mark in the kitchen, at that point he knew he let the secret out. OOPS, LOL! Poor guy. Luckily my parents and grandma were not paying attention to anything he was saying, so we knew we could still make it work. So, on the second pizza I wrote 'Girl' with the pepperoni. This way, we could take out the girl pizza first and place it on the pink table cloth to confuse them, and then bring out the boy pizza and tell them it is actually a boy. So, girl pizza comes out, drum roll, and we place it on the pink table cloth...well, looks like I'm not a pizza making artist and they had no idea what was written on the pizza! My mom finally said, 'it's a girl?' Still confused looking at the pizza, we bring out the boy pizza and place it on the blue table cloth, then I say 'nope, it's actually a lil' dude' and whip out the onsie I'd bought earlier in the day. They were pretty excited. Probably more excited to be done trying to figure out this confusing experience, but we had fun attempting to be creative. Not exactly how we planned it, but we tried. Next time we will keep it secret until the baby is born.
I'm nervous to have a boy, excited to have a boy and can't wait to meet him...actually I can wait another 19 weeks.

The ladies in our lives are definitely excited for the lil' dude.

Pizza says Boy

Took Lily out this weekend for her 3yr photo shot, thought we'd take the opp to take a few baby announcements photos as well.

Evidence of the boy

Was having a good 'bump' day at work. 20 Weeks