Bahama Adventures

Ummmmm, ok, the pictures posted in a very odd way - not at all what I thought they'd be, so I guess my explanation will be a bit messed up too... because frankly I'm not taking the time to re-upload them ;)

This first set is a pair of crazy people walking in the shark tank.
7 ft Carribean Reef sharks... are the dumb?

Here is me. (Well, you probably guessed it wasn't Aaron in the pink shirt, but ya never know.)

Part of the resort's foyer. It's massive. And gorgeous!

Oh yeah... those crazy people walking in the shark tank?
Yeah, that was Aaron and I.

Even better than the sharks, were the dolphins! :D WaHOOOO!
Seriously, this is something that I've always wanted to do.
I guess I can mark it off my bucket list now!
It was seriously awesome. You get to play around with them for awhile, then do a 'foot push' - which is where you're on a boogey board and the dolphin pushes you across the dolphin inclosure. Next you get to swim around with them - swim, play, dive down, etc. It was really cool. Under water you could hear the dolphins talk!

Ever wonder what a dolphin feels like? They feel exactly like a hardboiled egg without the shell!

Below is a Mantra Ray.... No, we didn't swim with him. He's just COOL. And huge. Very, very huge. He kinda looks like the mothership, if you ask me. He's probably 10-15 ft across. Gigantic!

Ahhh, the Bahamaian beach.

What a sweet little girl :)
(We took Brielle, left Sophie with Grandma!)

On the deck of our hotel room.

Another view from our deck.

And yet another picture on the deck of the hotel room.
(I didn't realize I had uploaded that many!)

Our vacation was fantastic! Can we go back now? I'm over winter already.

What cuties I have

Yesterday I asked Sophie for a bear hug. After she gave me one, she then demanded on a 'pig hug.' It was too cute to pass up, so I gaveher abig hug and oinked. She thought it was great and then proceeded to ask for many other farm animal hugs! lol

Brielle did indeed get sick. I thought she was over it but then started puking again this morning. But, evem in her sick-i-ness, she loves her sister. I had her on my shoulder and Sophie was kinda in her face, then she'd duck down andhide, then pop back up andBrielle was smiling at her the whole time. Then, she lets out thisbig giggle - it was ADORABLE.

Also, I've been terrible about pictures lately, sohere are some fairly recent ones...

Gazing at the Christmas tree.

Sophie in her adorable outfit that daddy brought home from from China.

Wow it's been a long time

Having Aaron take the camera to China for 2 & 1/2 wks really put a dent in my blogging! Not too much has been happening. Brielle is growing so quickly! Where is the 'slow' button? Hmmm, that sounds odd. I don't want her to be 'slow' - I just don't want to blink and wonder where that teenager came from ;)

Sophie is puking her guts up. Yeah, it's fun around here. Poor girl. The last time she even warned me. I was putting her down for a nap, reading to and rocking her, when she says, "Mommy, I need bowl." I rush out and didn't even get it back to her before I hear the splash. And another splash. And finally, another splash in the bowl. Poor girl. I'm so worried that Brielle will get it too. Ugh.

On a funnier note, Sophie is utterly convinced that Santa says, "No, no, no." I guess he's a very cheery disciplinarian.

Brielle is coo-ing and smiling all the time. And she's just started really laughing too. Why do my kids always laugh first for other people? Ah well. She was laughing at my dad on Thanksgiving. He was rocking her while singing. She LOVES it when he sings to her. He's got a big, deep voice and she was just looking at him in awe. Then she'd smile, then giggle. It was too adorable. Then today I guess Aaron really had her giggling. Yup, I think he's pretty funny too. ;)

And finally, I'm officially on the Bahama Countdown! 11 days until we leave! If you can't tell, I'm super excited. I am really keeping my fingers crossed that Brielle won't get this bug that Sophie has. And also that Sophie will be completely better before we leave. Not only are we leaving her with a babysitter during the days (and Grandma has her at night), but how terrible to be away from home and to not have your mommy when you're sick!?!

Now, I'm hoping to get some time away from the kiddos in the next week and a half to go shopping. I'm hoping to find a good deal on some warmer clothes to take, we'll see. But, I'm afraid finding a new swimming suit in December in Colorado just isn't in the cards.

Darn, my other post posted below the Twilight one (I started it and then came back to it, so that's why, and I don't know how to fix it). Sooooooo, to check out just a few pics from China, see below.

Go ahead -

You can start calling me a dork now if you want, but I am so excited about the Twilight movie coming out this Friday! Wahoo! I loved, loved, loved the books, but that being said, I'm a little cautious about the movie. It might be just me, but I don't think that any of the cast look like the characters I imagined in my head. Aren't they all supposed to be amazingly attractive? The only one that somewhat fits the picture in my head is Carlisle. Edward is slowly growing on me and Bella is pretty good, although already pale, so the contrast isn't that great IMO.

But, have you seen Rosalie? Hmmm... I'm pretty sure there were prettier girls at the mall today... or at Sams for that matter. No offense Nikki Reed. I'm sure you're very pretty.

And check out Jasper. Is that a bad wig? Emmett is ok, but not what I imagined either. And although Esme is pretty, so far I can't get over the fact that I see the crazy crushed lady from Grey's Anatomy each time I look at her.

What do you all think?

Even though I'm wondering about the casting, I'm super excited for Friday!!

What's halfway around the world?

... my husband.

Some of you know, some of you don't - that Aaron is currently in Shanghai, China. It's one of the places he's always wanted to go, so I'm excited and happy for him. Sad for us maybe, but excited and happy for him. Here's a few pics from his recent excursion.

This is the Pearl tower. It's a television tower with a 'ball' of offices and whatnot in the middle of it. There is also a restaurant there, but it officially sucks according to Aaron. Just fyi in case you're ever in Shanghai, lol.

I came across this...

I came across this quote from Michael J. Fox.

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.

Excellence, I can reach for;

perfection is God's business.

Halloween '08

I know Halloween was like a week ago and these pictures are actually from our ward Halloween party 2 wks ago, but I finally have a minute w/o the baby in my arms or Sophie crawling all over me... so here are just a couple pics from Halloween.

We were supposed to all be characters from the Wizard of Oz... Sophie as Dorothy, Aaron as the scarecrow, me as Glenda the good witch, and Brielle as Toto. However, the day that we were finishing costumes and the party was that night, was the day of my finger, uh, incident. So, Aaron and I's costume didn't get finished. That's ok (except for all the work my mom put in on mine) b/c I didn't feel like dressing up anyway.

So, Sophie is still Dorothy and we're saying Brielle is Toto. I think 'technically' she's a black cat, but really, she's Toto! :)

Teen Pregnancy article

To read the whole article, you can go here.

CHICAGO – Groundbreaking research suggests that pregnancy rates are much higher among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behavior than among those who have tamer viewing tastes. "Sex and the City," anyone? That was one of the shows used in the research.

The new study is the first to link those viewing habits with teen pregnancy, said lead author Anita Chandra, a Rand Corp. behavioral scientist. Teens who watched the raciest shows were twice as likely to become pregnant over the next three years as those who watched few such programs.

Previous research by some of the same scientists had already found that watching lots of sex on TV can influence teens to have sex at earlier ages.

Hurts like Poo

Recently I said that while getting my finger stitched back together at the hospital... and then I was mocked by my nurse for a good 5 mins or so. She was being funny though, not mean.

So, now that I've got your attention, yup, I had to have my finger stitched back together. On Friday I made the mistake of trying to break up my mom's dogs while they were fighting over... something, we're not so sure. There must have been a chewy involved or something. They've never fought before. Anyway, I put my hand on Piper's collar to pull her back and Sadie went to bite Piper's neck... and my finger was in the way. To make a long story short, the tip of my left pinky was kinda hanging off, only attached by a flab of skin on the bottom of my finger. Eww - I know. I won't gross you out too much. Yesterday while re-bandaging it Aaron took pictures for me. I had the intent of posting them here with the story, but after looking at them, I may need to run to the bathroom and didn't want to make you sick too. Let's just leave it at, 'it's gross.' Rightly so, it looks like my finger was bit off and then sewed back together.

Quote for the entire month

"Cleaning your house while your children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing."

Brielle's Blessing

We blessed baby Brielle in church today. Ahh, it was so nice.

My brother Todd is in town from Phoenix and so I wanted him to be able to be there.

And we had the most beautiful dress for Brielle to wear! Joey's (Kassi's fiance) mother made it for us. I know that she's real extended family, but they seem like close family. They are such great people! Anyway, Angie made this wonderful outfit for us. It's complete with a blanket, an underdress, dress, slippers, and Russian bonnet. It's all cotton-knitted by hand. It must have taken her forever! You can see it in the pictures below, but in person it's even more beautiful!

Our happy little (and growing) family.

Aaron, me w/Brielle, my brother Todd, and Sophie

My parents and brother with my family

Ahh, cousins are great!
These are most of my girls' cousins (we're just missing cousin Isaiah).
Sophie totally adores them, and they adore her right back!

See, we kinda look related... well, we are, but by marriage.
My mother in law SueAnn and my sister in law Sasha.
I'm so lucky to have such wonderful in laws! I love them! (btw, isn't Sasha just way too cute?!)

My beautiful Brielle. Look at the beautiful blessing dress!
Thank you again Angie!

My baby is almost 4 wks old!

Here are some new pics of my growing girl.

I simply cannot believe that she'll be a month old on Sunday!!

Conquerer of the Grocery Store

Yup, we went grocery shopping. Both of the girls must have been trying to boost my confidence b/c they were SO good! Brielle fell asleep in the carseat right away and Sophie was perfectly happy with fruit snacks and puffs. It also helps that it was a fairly quick trip with no "looking" - just getting. But ahhh, maybe some normalcy will return to our home after all. Now, if I could just keep the house clean!

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

To preface this post, I'll say that nursing doesn't go so well here. I mean, it goes well if the goal is to put the baby to sleep. I have valium boobs or something that causes the baby to fall asleep within five minutes of starting to nurse. So, instead of nurse, wake baby, nurse, wake baby, nurse, etc. etc. etc. I've started pumping breastmilk and then giving it to her in a bottle. The pumping session is quicker normally, she will stay awake to actually eat, and I know how much she's getting. Warning: If the topic of pumping or breastfeeding makes you feel uncomfortable - time to stop reading.

It seems that this is my daily routine:
Pump, feed/change baby, play with Sophie, try to get the dishes done, pump, feed/change baby, play with Sophie, try to get the dishes done, pump, feed/change baby, play, dishes, etc. etc. etc.

This is all I do. Well, with feeding Sophie somewhere added in.

Notice that there isn't any laundry getting done here. Or cleaning. Or exercising. Or fun fall excursions.

Notice that I am too scared to take both girls to the grocery store to get groceries. (Going with just Sophie is most of the time an exercise in the distract-toddler-with-snacks technique.) I'm a little ashamed to say that I haven't taken them anywhere by myself yet, except to my parents' house, which doesn't count.

I guess there are two reasons why I haven't gone anywhere with them yet. First off, I'm worried about handling both of them, especially in the oh-so-exciting grocery store. Secondly, I feel strapped to the pump which is then connected to the wall. Again, breastfeeding is not going so well. When we do breastfeed, she's asleep fairly quickly (which means she's not getting what she needs and then will be awake and want to eat again in 20 mins). But more than that for public is the fact that it *hurts!* She flattens my nipple when breastfeeding, and um, well, that really smarts. It should remain round, not pancake-ish. Ow. Double ow.

SOOOOO... I end up staying home. And I pump, feed, and repeat (with some dishes and Sophie added in). I feel like I'll never break out of this cycle. And I don't know how to go grocery shopping.

Sophie - Quote of the Week

Every day Sophie amazes me with how much she knows. There are so many times each day where I think "Where did she learn that?" or "I didn't know she knew that!" However, tonight was the funniest example. She picked up this little dolly mirror thing (kinda like the offspring of a rattle and a mirror), put it over her eye and says...

"I'm a pirate! Aaaarrrrrrrrrr!"

We're still here!

I know I haven't posted lately, but as you can understand, we've been busy. I can't believe that Brielle is already 2 wks old! WOW.

Sophie loves her baby sister.

She's always so excited when she gets to hold her or play with her on the floor.

On Wednesday, Aaron's youngest sister came home from her mission! Yay :)
We're so happy to have Kassi home!
Sophie took to her right away and loves her to pieces!

Brielle is such a sweet little baby. Of course, she's still up all the time for eating, or just because, at night, but hey, that's to be expected, right?
All these people that have babies sleep for 6 hrs at night... that's just not normal!

Here is Alexandria, my niece, holding Brielle. She was so excited to hold her. She's such a little momma ;)

Birth Story

Alright, I've finally have a little time to post another blog ;)

So on Friday (9/19) morning we went into the hospital for our induction. During our initial tour I had asked what would happen if there weren't enough beds since ours was an induction. The lady said that the nurse would call my OB and he'd contact me and let me know when to come in. So anyway, we get there and lo and below - there are no more birthing rooms available. And no one has let us know. Instead, they put us in this back room - kinda like a supply room. I think they actually call it a "recovery room"... well, the recovery room is where they store all the extra supplies. It just happens to have a couple cots (not birthing beds) and fetal monitors. We figure (and are told) that they'll get us in a room when one comes available and it shouldn't be long. Ok.

So, the dr comes in and places the cytotec to start contractions more fully. Last time I had pitocin, so I had no idea what to expect, but the dr said that it mimicks labor more naturally than Pitocin and that I have a couple of hours before it gets too uncomfortable.

So, we go downstairs and get breakfast, walk around a little, etc. and come back every hour to be hooked back up to the monitors. After a couple of hours it's starting to get definitely more uncomfortable and the contractions close together. By the way, we're still waiting for a room.

Well, to make a long and story short(er), we keep waiting for a room, all the while my contractions are getting stronger and closer together. We are passed up for a room a couple of times - once because another lady came into the hospital already in full labor. Then, another time was very frustrating because the lady wasn't dilated as much as I was and our contractions were about the same apart and intensity. Ah well... we're trying to keep a good attitude, but with each passing hour, it definitely gets harder. (The bed was very uncomfortable, the room was curtained off but only about 10'x10' and Aaron had to steal a chair in order to even sit down. We didn't have a tv, radio, etc. either. Eventually we were sitting around staring at each other... it got very boring ;)

My contractions were getting very intense and finally they gave us access to the hot tub. That helped a lot, but we still didn't have a room. They didn't want to give me an epideral (for obvious reasons) until we had a room. At one point our nurse changed and the new one was... not nice. Aaron would have hit her I think if I would have let him. She came in to check on me and I told her that I was worried that I wouldn't get a room or epideral before the baby came. She basically said "Ah well, that's how it goes sometimes." You could see the blood boiling behind Aaron's eyes!

Well, they finally got us into a room a little after 7:00 p.m. (we got there at 8:00 a.m.). I was dilated to a 6 and my contractions were one minute apart, but finally we had a room. We got the epideral in quickly (we told them it had to be before they broke my water) and then the dr broke my water at 8:00. Then... he went to go get the nurses ice cream (he's a great guy, but didn't understand just how quickly I meant when I said it'd be quick). Well, I soon was breathing through contractions and trying not to push while the nurse is on the phone with my OB telling him that we're about to have a baby whether or not he's there. (By the way, the epideral was great, but I felt WAY more than I thought that I would.) There was a resident physician on the OB floor that day and he was getting ready to deliver the baby... I'm thinking "Oh please NO - get MY doctor!"

Well, Dr. Robbins gets there and we have a baby! I really love my doctor - he was great and really listened to me when I told him about my history (with Sophie I had a lot of problems - they couldn't stop my bleeding, etc.). Through his precautions and also the epideral, I was kept out of surgery this time and that was SUCH a relief!

Baby Brielle Mae was born at 9:02 p.m. She was 7 lbs 7.3 oz and 20 inches long. She is such an angel! She has very dark brown hair and quite a bit of it, which was a surprise to me. Sophie didn't have hardly any hair to speak of.

We ended up having to stay in the hospital another day and a half past what we thought we'd have to because Brielle had some elevated body temperatures. They wanted to observe her longer and run a lot of tests. They did a chest x-ray. They did blood work (which they had to stick her SO many times, oh, I'm glad I didn't see that). They put in a cathedar to get a sterile urine culture. My poor, poor baby! (I know a lot of babies have to have worse, I'm so sorry for them and their mommies and daddies!) Everything ended up coming back ok and we ended up going home on Monday night. It was so nice to be home!

Brielle is such a good baby! We're still up a lot at night to nurse and whatnot, but she is actually sleeping in the bassinet or the crib... it's AMAZING! I didn't realize that babies did that! lol (Again, Sophie only slept when she was being held...which wasn't conducive to sleeping.) She even sleeps in the bassinet in the living room while Sophie plays, the garbage disposal is running, the tv on, or there is silence, etc. WOW! She hardly ever cries, just when she's waking up and wanting to eat. She's nursing well. She's just overall such a good little baby! Ahh, what a relief. Now, if we could sleep more than an hour at a time at night, it'd be great.

Ahhh, what a sweetie! I just can't imagine our family now without her. She's so great.

Sophie is doing well too. She's having a little bit of mommy withdrawl and is a little more needy, but I think that's to be expected. She also doesn't want mommy to sleep if she's awake, so it's been great to have Grandma and Daddy to keep her occupied while Mommy takes a nap. My mom has been so helpful! Sophie loves to hold her baby sister and love on her.

We're so blessed!