*

"Make me up! Before you go go..."

2012-01-24T15:03:00.003-06:00

I hope that song is now stuck in your head as it is mine :)

Anyway, I changed the first lyric to represent my blog subject... catchy, right? ;)

Today I had to run errands with the kids while Jason was at work. We woke up, had breakfast with Daddy before he had to go to work, then I started diaper laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and we were out the door! Just to WalMart for some groceries... no big deal. I was on my way to the kitchen gadgets when I passed a mirror in home goods and realized I hadn't put on make up this morning. I continued on my way wondering how long it's been since I did my make up. A few days? A week maybe?? I was sick on Sunday so I didn't make it to church therefore no reason for make up... hmmm... even now my best guess is almost a week and a half since the Sunday before last when we did go to church and we had our game night that evening.

When I was younger, I did my make up every day. I enjoyed doing it. Watching the transformation - seeing myself beneath but changing my features. LOTS of make up for show choir and pageants. Maybe some foundation and eye shadow for church. Now, make up is one of the least important things. Obviously, it rarely crossed my radar, lol. Being married to a man who tells me I'm beautiful EVERY DAY is wonderful. Sure he likes it when I do my make up, but he has no idea what his small words do for my self confidence.

I sure do love that man :)

The best of the best

2012-01-23T14:14:00.003-06:00

This weekend, my amazing friend came to visit me. We have been close since we both started college (where we met) and I joined the church. She was my maid of honor at my wedding and we were practically inseparable. I considered her to be my best friend for a long time.... After this weekend, I'm not so sure I can call her that any more. We have done quite a bit of growing apart and both admittedly suck at staying in touch, lol. After I left Springfield, I met my husband, got married, had kids and have this amazing new life. My friend is still in college and is very successful with her job. Not that either of those is better than the other, they're just very different. During our visit this weekend, this realization came to me and I almost cried. We're both happy with where we are individually so I wouldn't wish to change that, I just hope we can do a better job staying in touch.

I feel like I'm struggling in several relationships right now. (Thankfully, my marriage is NOT one of them :)) I feel like family doesn't understand me and they're too preoccupied to care. I feel disconnected from my son sometimes. He's going through the "terrible two" phase and try as I might I just can't seem to get through to him. There is no feeling worse than being a mother and not knowing how to help your child. Socially, I feel like the odd one out more often than not which isn't helped by my introverted-ness, lol

A bright and shining moment amongst this mess of mumbling is I realized just how close I've grown to Jason. It's cliche to say your husband is your best friend, but it's the truest it's ever been. I've always relied on Jason. I knew he'd always be there for me, always care, always take care of me... but I'd save all my "girlie talk" so to speak, for my best friend. I realize I've been having that with Jason as well, lol. I LOVE that Jason is my best friend (or maybe that I've only just now realized it). I can't believe we've been married for more than four years. Every moment has been amazing and a learning experience. What a journey I've been having with my BEST friend. I can't wait to see where we go next! :)

First Snow Day of 2012

2012-01-12T10:36:00.002-06:00

Why hello snow! Long time no see! Today we have been taking it easy. Jason had to go to work but the kids and I are taking it easy. We're still in our PJ's, David is watching Bee Movie for the second time today, and Ainzley and I are hanging out on the living room floor. Jason and I are giving talks in church this Sunday so I need to work on that but other than that, I don't have much planned for today.

School starts next Tuesday and we're getting geared up for that. Jason is questioning whether or not he wants to go back to nursing school... We waited for so long for him to get in and were THRILLED when it happened, but he feels completely unsupported by his teachers. One in particular has made it very obvious she doesn't like him and no one in the program seems to understand how she grades (two people will have the same answers and one will get it right while the other is marked wrong... people have had answers directly from the book and she will say it's wrong...) He's just not happy. We'll see where we are in March (when his classes are supposed to start again). He's decided to apply for his BSN (which is two "steps" ahead of where he would be if he stuck it out with his current program) at another school and hopefully get into their program starting in June. A friend of ours from our last ward is in the program right now and has absolutely wonderful things to say about the teachers, program, etc. So right now, we're just reviewing our options and praying about it.

That's about all that's going on for us right now... just hanging out and deciding what to do with our lives :)

Christmas fabulocity

2011-12-27T15:00:00.002-06:00

Christmas this year was simply amazing. We went to St. Louis to have an early Christmas with my family which actually went very well. Except for the part where I developed Mastitis at a record speed but the rest was great! The next Friday, we had Christmas with Jason's family in Jeff City and that also went well. Jason was talking to his older brother, Mike, on the phone yesterday about how absolutely remarkable it is that both family gatherings went really well... it was a Christmas miracle ;) lol. Christmas day was the BEST!!!

I had been plotting gifts for months and was sooo darn excited to finally be able to give them to my family. I (well, technically Santa) hand made a felt tool set for David and a felt tool set for Ainzley - they turned out even better than I expected! Jason got some clothes (he has decided he wants to wear more button up shirts and polos), expansion packs for one of his favorite card type games, a board game (Settlers of Catan), a video game and few other things that I just can't remember at the moment. Ainzley got a lot of clothes and a winter coat for next year. She got a couple small toys but David had so many toys that she's pretty well stocked already. I got a couple cook books, attachments for my kitchenaid mixer, some movies, a willow tree statue, a giant reese's pb cup, and the complete Harry Potter DVD collection. David's gifts were some of my favorite. He got a Tag reading system, a couple shirts, a kids digital camera and a BIKE!!!! That boy has been begging for a bike for as long as I can remember so now he has one :) He was so darn excited for that bike :):):):):):):):):)

We just lounged around all day in our Christmas PJ's. I made a really good Christmas dinner. We had ham, steamed veggies, baked sweet potatoes, homemade bread and apple pie for dessert. After the kids went to bed, Jason and I played Settlers of Catan - it was pretty fun!

Christmas has always been exciting to me but this year was the closest to perfect it's ever been. I put a lot of thought and time into all the gifts I gave and everyone enjoyed what they were given. This year was the first year that David was actually asking for certain things and to be able to see him open the presents and find what he had been asking for was the absolute best.

This year has been a roller coaster for us. We welcomed the sweetest little baby girl into our family, got a promotion, bought a house, worked like crazy on the house, started nursing school, watched our kids grow, set goals, accomplished goals and planned our future. We have been blessed beyond what we could have imagined. We are so thankful for the knowledge we have of our Savior Jesus Christ, our mission here on earth and of the eternal family. 2011 has been simply amazing. We hope we can continue to follow the example of the Savior and see the good in every situation. We hope you all have had a terrific year and look forward to making memories with you all :)

2011-12-13T15:26:00.002-06:00

Wow it's been awhile since I've posted but it's been pretty crazy lately!

Jason's done with school for the semester (and I will be too after tomorrow!!!) and we've been working our BUTTS off on the house! My favorite thing we've been working on is the guest room/office. We bought a desk, filing cabinet and book shelf to go in here and it's awesome! The only thing missing is the mattress (the bed frame is set up and waiting for it!). We've finished the painting, been doing some long-term decorating and have been decorating for Christmas. Our gifts are wrapped and under the tree though I have two more I'm making for the kids which could turn into four, lol.

David is HILARIOUS!!! Oh man, that little boy makes me laugh so hard everyday. He is always so darn excited to see Ainzley every morning. Yesterday we were driving around listening to Aindy Williams' Christmas CD (Jason's favorite) and David was singing along - he even knew the right words! He is JUST like his Daddy and loves Christmas so much! He always begs me to turn on the Christmas lights first thing in the morning and it is torture for him to have to wait until it's dark out. He is my little helper around the house. He wants to help me do everything and loves to watch me cook. He is just the funnest, cutest little boy!

Ainzley is growing sooo much! She's so stinking cute, too (of course ;) ). She has so many methods of movement! She will get up on all fours and scootch herself where ever she wants to go... backwards, lol. She'll do the same thing on her tushie. To go forward, she'll sit on her bum and use her legs to move - she's so funny! I'd love to say I think she'll be crawling by the end of the week, but she seems pretty content in her own ways. She just had a dr's appointment the other day and weighs 19lbs and a few ounces and was 28 inches tall. She also has SIX teeth all of which have appeared since September. It's making nursing a challenge since she's a lazy latcher but only 3 more months until we reach our 12 month goal so I'm going to stick it out :)

Jason and I are doing great. He's still working and I'm still raising the kiddos. We are loving our house more and more (if that's even possible!). We had our annual Christmas party last Sunday and it was a blast! We had so much room to do stuff and the kids were all playing upstairs doing their own thing. It was WONDERFUL! We had about 20 people there and could have easily doubled that and still have been comfortable. Transitioning from 1200 sq ft to 2700 sq ft has been challenging in some aspects but totally worth it as far as having guests over. We don't miss our apartment :) Anyway, back to the party. Like I said, it was awesome. We got to just socialize and snack before we decided to play Mafia. We were a LOUD bunch and a competitive one but it was great.

There's not a whole lot else going on. We're getting excited for Christmas and to see family again. I haven't seen my family since............ oh yeah, October but even then it was their pig roast so they were busy doing things and there wasn't much time to talk or anything. Anyway, I am so excited for one gift in particular and that is the bike we got for David. He has been begging for a bike for as long as I can remember - he even prays for one when we have family prayer at night! I bought him one at WalMart on Black Friday and am so excited to give it to him!!!! We didn't get him many toys this year because he has so many to begin with but also because whatever else we get him will be completely overshadowed by the bike so a few little things, some clothes and a bike. It will be awesome. Ainzley is getting mainly clothes and Jason is getting, well, I can't say here in case he randomly decides to check the blog (HA!) but he's getting some pretty great things, too.

Thanksgiving/Anniversary

2011-11-27T15:55:00.002-06:00

This year, our anniversary fell on Thanksgiving which wasn't as "bad" as it sounds. When we picked our wedding day, I knew it would occasionally fall on Thanksgiving but it didn't bother me. This year as we explained to some people that our anniversary would share the day with a big, national holiday we got weird comments like "Hmmm... didn't think about THAT when you picked the wedding day did you?" or "That sucks". Really, it made no difference. It was fun because we got to be around our family most of whom were there for our wedding day anyway so it was fun. It was a busy week leading up to Thanksgiving since we were going out of town and all. Wednesday was pure chaos but we made it to Thursday.
Thursday started early and after not much sleep. While Jason was packing the car, I came out to notice a few things were different. I had just cleaned the car out the night before so when I saw a roll of Jason's work trash bags strewn over the two front seats and a permanent marker in my seat, I knew something was wrong... our car had been broken into. Jason took my car to WalMart Wednesday night but I am positive I heard him lock it when he got home. No windows were broken out thank goodness. They picked the lock. Our car is remote entry and there is only ONE lock on the entire car which is the drivers side door. Sure enough, there were scratches all around it (we've never used a key to open my car). They thieves made out good. We had THREE portable DVD players in the car, 10 DVD's, TONS of CD's (mostly from Jason's mission which we can't replace), and they took my Moby Wrap among other things. Once I realized my Moby and Jason's mission CD's were gone, I broke down. I felt personally violated. Oddly, I felt most sympathetic for David. He knew his stuff was gone but didn't understand why... How do you explain that to a two year old?? Our police station was mysteriously closed for the holiday so I couldn't file a police report until Friday. Thankfully our home owner's policy will be covering the stolen merchandise. Still, every time I look out the window and see someone, I wonder if they're to blame.
It took my a good hour before I was determined to not let someone's mean/rude/selfish actions ruin my day. I DID have so much to be thankful for. I was celebrating 4 years of absolute BLISS with my husband. We've had our moments, but being married to Jason is by far one of the best things in my life. He is my everything. I can't imagine my life without him. I am so lucky to have him by my side through this life and the eternities to come. We have two AMAZING children. My kids are my world. I am truly blessed to be their mommy and to be able to learn from them and teach them. We have a house, a car, Jason has a terrific job and is progressing in nursing school. We are healthy and happy and those are things that no one can take away from us :)

The bare minimum

2011-11-22T14:32:00.002-06:00

Last week was a difficult week for me. I'm not going into specifics because I've put it behind me and am looking forward. I stayed off the radar for most of last week including my school work. This semester has been especially difficult with how much our lives have changed recently and I needed a break. I did the bare minimum all week. I worked on the house but pretty much just let life happen. I'm catching up this week... dishes, laundry, diapers, sewing. There's a lot to do, but my break last week was great therapy and wonderful family time :)

Birthday recap

2011-11-14T22:10:00.002-06:00

It was my birthday yesterday! As a mom, I find that birthdays are just kind of another day. Diapers will still need to be changed (Jason did all but one of them, though) and babies will still need to be fed (not something Jason can do, lol). It was a pretty good day. I didn't bother setting an alarm so when I woke up, I was in a bit of a hurry to get ready for church though I didn't bother rushing - I got out of the shower 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave. We only left about 5 minutes late, though and still made it in time to take the Sacrament. We had a great time at church and came home. We ate lunch, put the kids down for their naps and couldn't decide what we wanted to do so we painted the dining room. Our best friends came over after they got out of church later in the afternoon so we hung out with them for the rest of the evening. That was really about all we did, lol.

My gift was one that I picked out and ordered for myself on behalf of Jason. I've always wanted a mother's ring and found a beautiful one on Etsy. Both kids' names are hand stamped on the band with their birthstone set next to their name. I LOVE it! It's simple and not annoying. There's also room for definitely one more, possibly two more names for future kiddos. It is perfect :)

I was quite surprised when neither of my parents wished me a happy birthday yesterday. No call or anything... I was particularly bummed that my dad didn't call. I'm just grateful for Jason working so hard to make my birthday amazing. I am so lucky to have the best husband EVER!! :) ;)

2011-11-11T15:41:00.002-06:00

I keep meaning to continue the 30 day blog challenge but my Ipod is dead... seeing that my next entry is supposed to use my Ipod, I'm stuck. Honestly, I'm not loving the topics of the "challenge" anyway.

Yesterday I painted. ALL. DAY. The upstairs is pretty much done. I have the baseboards in Ainzley's room to do and the doors and door frames. Also the stairway needs to be painted but I don't know how we're going to get that done - it's two stories tall! Even though we have a ladder tall enough, we have to position it ON the stairs. I might just wait until my aunt comes down to help with that part. Our last major project of the year will be installing the fireplace. We're putting in a gas fire place because our house is heated electrically and Springfield is prone to ice storms... if we lose power, we would be stuck in an ice box. It wasn't something that was originally in the plans, but we're making it a priority because of the winter storms we get here. Besides that, our plans for the year are pretty much complete. We put up our exterior Christmas lights last Sunday because the weather was so nice we couldn't waste the day... we have NOT turned them on yet and won't until after Thanksgiving. We haven't decorated inside yet because I want to finish painting and get the fireplace done first.

So with my birthday 2 days away and our anniversary coming up, Jason wanted to surprise me with my gift. He set me up a consultation for laser hair removal. I'm excited because when I get pregnant, I get infected, ingrown hairs on my legs that turn into MRSA. It's happened with both kids and there's no sign of it stopping. I only get it when I'm pregnant so it's weird. Anyway, I'm excited by the possibility of not having to deal with that anymore, but I'm not sure if I'll go through with it. The price will be a big factor for sure. I don't really like spending money on myself and I'm sure it would be a moderate expense. I mean, we got Jason lasik surgery when we were first married so I think I should have the opportunity to spoil myself... but i don't really know. The consultation is free, though so there's no harm in getting all the info. I'll post more details later.

We got family pics taken a couple weeks ago and we just got the CD of them yesterday. Oh they are so stinkin cute! I can't wait to post some!!!

I guess that's all for now. I like this kind of posting way more than an assigned topic :)

Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?

2011-11-08T16:53:00.003-06:00

Lots of makeup, lol. I don't wear make up too often. I typically go all out on Sundays and maybe put a little something on on Jason's days off but even that rarely happens, lol. I'm just not a big make up person anymore. When I was in high school and in show choir or doing pageants, I was almost always made up, but I'm much happier with the way I look without make up.

Side note: So I'm watching Ellen and those two British girls that sing Nicki Minaj are on the show again and they are so dang cute!!!

Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.

2011-11-06T15:05:00.002-06:00

My absolute favorite place to eat is at home. I LOVE to cook for my family. My mom started teaching me how to cook when I was four and it's been one of my favorite things to do ever since. It was hard for me living in the dorm because I rarely got to cook. There was a kitchen in the building but we had to share it with everyone - 5 floors and 4 wings of people to share with. Anyway, I love to cook. Eating out is good every once in awhile, but home is better :)

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.

2011-11-05T14:41:00.002-05:00

I am in love with Avocados. I've been craving them for days and on my way home from the fabric store, I decided to pick some up. Tonight, we're having blackened chicken tacos topped with salsa and avocados - yummmmmm

Day 8 – A song to match your mood.

2011-11-03T10:36:00.002-05:00

The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars.

So last night I woke up at 3 am to an AWFUL smell. I immediately woke Jason up and asked him if he knew what that smell was. To me, I thought it smelled like sulfur and possibly skunk. It completely filled the main floor of our house. I don't know what natural gas smells like, but we called the gas company anyway. They came out and said that our gas lines were fine and that it was probably a skunk in our crawl space. The gas man left, we cracked a couple windows and went back to bed. It was dang hard to fall asleep with that smell!! Both of the kids slept through all the commotion - it didn't smell upstairs at all. In fact, my kids slept until 9am. I did too... but I am completely spent! I got entirely too much sleep and feel blah. I really want today to go by quickly since Jason's gone all day but I have almost no motivation. Hence, The Lazy Song. I don't even really like that song, but the title alone says it all for me today.

Day 7 –Your wedding

2011-11-01T14:28:00.003-05:00

I LOVE talking about my wedding. It was a fantastic day. For November, it wasn't too cold, the sun was shining and I married my best friend. We are married for time AND all eternity. Forever. There is no greater comfort to me than knowing what's next and knowing that Jason and I will be there together is a dream come true.

There was a lot of family drama surrounding my wedding but I was determined to focus on the good that day. I had two terrific bridesmaids come to St. Louis for my wedding. They came to town the day before and we had a blast. We stayed with my soon to be brother- and sister-in-law. I woke up that Saturday morning and fought with my hair, fought with my make up and was dealing with an ulcer in my throat but, again, stayed focused on the good :)

The temple ceremony was beautiful. It was everything I had ever hoped. Our reception was terrific. We had a mini honeymoon in a gorgeous hotel and had a wonderful start to our new life together.

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.

2011-10-31T14:48:00.002-05:00

So, here's the deal... I grew up on a farm and with a mother who always wanted to be a vet - We had all kinds of animals as pets! Dogs and cats of course. Also horses, sheep, exotic birds, chickens, peacocks, turkeys, ducks a goose. My older brother had a gecko. We had an iguana at one point, too. Oh, and a ring tailed lemur. I'm DONE with pets, lol. We currently have a dog. One small, hypoallergenic (since I'm allergic) dog for the kids. Between a husband and the two kids we already have, 1 dog is more than enough

Day 5 – How important do you think education is?

2011-10-27T22:04:00.003-05:00

Education to me is hugely important!!! I've always loved learning and have always been a good student. I get so excited for the first day of school even if I'm only doing online classes - I crave learning. Right now, I'm learning most about birth. I am crazy passionate about this particular topic. So much so that I'm choosing to devote my life to it. I never had any real direction in life as far as what I want to be when I grow up BUT in recent years, the more I learn about birth, the more passionate I become. I got the idea to become a midwife several years ago and when I prayed about it (just recently, actually) I got a "well, DUH!" answer, lol.
Another thing I've been learning a lot recently is home improvement and carpentry type stuff. My aunt is a contractor and i lived on a farm so there was always lots to do in these areas. I love working with my hands. Jason jokes that I'm building him a house... but it's kind of true, lol. I've done things to our house that I've always wanted to try but have never had the opportunity. It's been a lot of fun and a confidence booster - I really can do this stuff and I'm pretty good at it! :)

2011-10-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

See here:
http://amyduree.blogspot.com/2010/11/day-4-your-favorite-photograph-of-your.html

No time to blog tonight :(

Whoops!

2011-10-22T22:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I already missed a day... poo. If it's any consolation, we were at the pumpkin patch for our second FHE for the week and it was awesome! Anyway, I'll make up for missing yesterday today.

Yesterday was supposed to be about my favorite movie.... I'm not sure I actually have one. No, wait. That's false. The movie I could watch over and over is Gone With the Wind. Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley... *sigh* not to mention the amazing dresses ;) I just love the whole thing. Not too many people remember but there was actually a TV sequel called Scarlet. Through a series of events, Scarlet ends up in her family's homeland Ireland. The whole thing is very interesting. I haven't watched it as an adult to compare it to the brilliance of the original movie so I'll have to look it up and let you know.

OK, today is about my first date. I honestly don't know which to count... my first date, like, ever?? Because that was in fifth grade, lol. My first date with my first serious boyfriend? Sophomore year and I don't even remember what it was. So, I'm going to go with mine and Jason's first date. We met at the fair and had planned to hang out the next week. We picked a day but Jason was taking the lead on the planning. I spent the morning and early afternoon setting up my aunt's classroom. By the time I got home, I almost called Jason to cancel but I had told myself after coming home from college that semester that I was going to make an effort to make a lot of friends in my new ward. I called Jason and decided to meet at the roller skating rink in his home town. Honestly, I thought we were hanging out with a group of people so I was pretty surprised when it was just us. Well, kind of. We met up but then went back to his parents house for dinner with the missionaries, lol. Then we went skating. We had the whole place to ourselves and talked for hours. We had a blast just getting to know each other. The night ended with a sweet hug (though he swears I wanted to kiss him, lol) and plans to get together again sometime. It was the best first date I've ever been on :)

Copy Cat

2011-10-20T15:50:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine started the 30 day blog challenge together (well, we didn't mean to... it just kind of happened that way) last year and I gave up on it. Caryn, did you finish it? Anyway, she recently decided to redo it so I'm going to also. Here's the list if anyone else wants to give it a go:

Day 1 — Your favorite song.
Day 2 — Your favorite movie.
Day 3 – Your first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – How important do you think education is?
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 –Your wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 13 – The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 14 – A TV show you're currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don't leave the house without.
Day 16 – Something you crave for a lot
Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like.
Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about the opposite/same sex.
Day 19 – Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 23 – A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Who are you? What makes you different from everyone else
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you've been and a picture of somewhere you want to go.
Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you.
Day 28 – In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

MMMMK, my favorite song...

I don't know that I really have one. I have fad songs that make me dance or ones I like to sing. Musicals are almost always my favorites. I watch The Today Show every morning while Ainzley is nursing and they have a musical guest every Friday. This week, it's Coldplay and their song Viva La Vida has been stuck in my head all week! That song first became popular when I was pregnant with David and REALLY sick. Up until last year, every time I heard it, I would start to feel nauseous, lol. I'm so glad that has passed! Anyway, not really my favorite song, but one that's stuck in my head for the moment.

200th post!

2011-10-11T22:06:00.004-05:00

Last weekend was awesome! It was the weekend of my family's annual pig roast which I have blogged about many a time before. Roasting a pig, fishing, hayrides, family, friends... general awesomeness. Anyway, we left Friday after Jason got out of class and headed for the temple. Oh my gosh. We hadn't been to the temple since before Ainzley was born. I cannot tell you how nice it was!!!!!!!!!! The session was amazing and I just couldn't pull myself away from the celestial room. I love being able to attend the House of the Lord and feel our Father's love. I would love to hear Springfield, MO in the new temple announcements in April... Just sayin...

After the temple, we went to Applebee's for dinner and to watch the Cardinals play the Phillies in Game 5 of the NLDS. They ended up winning - another highlight of the night! After dinner we headed over to Rick and Linda's. They were kind enough to let us and our friends stay with them. Oh man did I miss them!!!!!! I love having a sister in law that I'm so close with. We don't get to talk much on the phone anymore but when we do see each other, we pick right back up like we never missed a beat. We got to their house at about 9pm. Linda and I didn't go to bed until 3:30am!!!! We had so much to talk about! The last time we stayed up that late, I went into labor so we kept joking that if we made it past 2am, someone was going to be having a baby LOL! It was not so amusing the next morning when we were both awake at 6:15...

Saturday we hung out around their house for awhile before heading out to my parents' house for the pig roast. Linda and I were exhausted all day so that's about all I remember, lol. We had a blast hanging out at my parents' house!!! Jason, David, my aunt and I all went fishing. Jason taught David how to fish. Together they caught 4 fish including a 4 pound catfish! Jason was so excited about the catfish. Everytime we go fishing at my parents' lake, Jason always says he's going to catch a catfish and this was the first time.

Sunday we were supposed to go home (our friends did) but we decided to stay and extra day so we could go to our niece's birthday party. Linda and I decorated Gwen's cake. Well, it's more like she decorated while we collaborated on the design since I had Ainzley with me most of the time. We left Monday morning :(

I was SO SAD to leave St. Louis this time! Normally we always come home early from our trips home because we like doing our own thing and want to get away from family, but this time we really felt compelled to move back... of COURSE that would happen right after we buy a house, lol. Jason, over the past few years, has decided that we would probably always live in Springfield and not move back to St. Louis... it's not looking that way, right now. Jason still has to finish nursing school and finish his work contract (since his work is paying for his schooling, he has to work there for 3 years after he graduates) but we're forming a plan to hopefully move back sometime after that. Things are always subject to change though so we'll see.

That's just about everything I have for now. Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend!

Fall on the farm

2011-10-04T22:03:00.002-05:00

Every year, Jason and I eagerly await the second Saturday of October because it's my parents' annual pig roast. Oh gosh, how do I put this... it. is. awesome!! I remember the first year they had the pig roast... I was a freshman in high school... maybe? I think so. Dad got up super early to put the pig in the rotisserie which kept breaking. Anyway, it's a huge ordeal. We invite basically everyone we know and it's an all day thing. I cannot wait for this weekend! We're leaving Springfield as soon as Jason gets out of class on Friday and going to the temple as soon as we get to St. Louis. I have been LONGING(!!!!!!!!!!!) to go to the temple for a month now. We haven't been able to go since before Ainzley was born - I think the last time we went was towards the end of January. When we were first married, we went every week and it was amazing. Then David came and we moved to Springfield. Even then we still went every time we were in St. Louis. Anyway, it's much harder to go when you have two kids and don't live near a temple. Whoa, ok, back to the topic... pig roast! So anyway, we're leaving Friday and some friends of ours are coming with us which will be so awesome. We get to hang out with family which is even more awesome still. And we're going to roast a whole pig, go on hay rides, have a HUGE bonfire, ride horses, go fishing. I LOVE fall on my parents' farm!!!!

4 weeks

2011-09-27T21:28:00.002-05:00

Well, we've been in our house for a little over 4 weeks now and I have no idea how that's even possible! The time has been flying!!!!

Jason has been busy and by busy I mean BUSY!!!!!!(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) School has been his main thing lately. It is common in one week for him to have 2 tests, 3 quizzes, 2 worksheets (that have to be typed with about 32 questions that require a paragraph for an answer) and a 2ish page paper. LOTS of studying! Then he has his 2 jobs. One is VERY easy the other is his full time job that he's had since we moved to Springfield. The good news is that he was just able to switch his work schedule from five, 8 hours shifts to three, 12 hour shifts. It doesn't really give him more time per se, just more convenient time. Now, rather than rushing off to work after school, he comes home and can study and do his homework. Today was his first 12 hour shift and it really wasn't so bad. He's not home yet, but will be soon.

David is loving his new house. There is SO MUCH ROOM for him! He loves his room and his new twin size bed. We had converted the crib into a toddler bed for him, but he was quickly outgrowing it... go figure! We painted his room green and he loves to tell everyone about it. It was nerve wrecking for me to have him sleeping in his room for the first week. Our room in on the main floor and the kids' rooms are upstairs which I think is a fine set up... it was just a hard adjustment for me in the beginning. David's favorite thing right now is cooking. He is all about it! Since he has figured out how to open the baby proof cabinet locks (yep, it does suck), he likes to get out all my pans and "cook eggs" for the family, lol. He also loves to sing. He knows all the words to Book of Mormon Stories, Do As I'm Doing, and Popcorn Popping and it is ADORABLE! He prays on his own and is a very independent little man. I love that little boy!

Ainzley is growing so stinkin fast! Last week she weighed 18 pounds and is 27 inches long. She is also sleeping in her own room and doing great! she started solids last week and is all about it! She's not too fond of sweet potatoes (though I honestly don't know why as the rest of us like them, lol) but likes everything else so far. She eats pieces of bananas and avocados and the rest is just the jar kind but she doesn't really care. She has been very interested in food for some time now but the recommendation is 6 months now so I waited the little extra time. I can't believe it's been 6 months since she was born!!!! The time really has been going so quickly!

I'm keeping myself very busy. I take care of the kids and have been doing most of the renovations on our house as well. I've done drywall, I've done painting, I've done caulking, I've done floors, I've wall mounted TV's... and I've surprised the heck out of myself! LOL I've always liked doing minor construction work, though and my aunt is a contractor which has been so nice! She has saved us a boat load and has been so helpful! I'm also in school this semester. I'm only taking 6 credits but it will be upped to 12 for the next 2 semesters so I can graduate in a year. I've been taking college classes since I was in high school so that makes a total of 6 years - I'm ready for a degree!

That's pretty much us in a nut shell right now... constantly doing something!

We're IN!!!

2011-09-13T22:25:00.002-05:00

We're finally getting settled in our new house! It is taking forever since Jason is gone 60 hours a week between school and his two jobs. Not to mention the study and homework time... It's only 10 more months, then we're taking a fabulous Disney vacation! Anyway, back to work! So very much to do!!!!

2011-08-25T21:35:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to go to the state fair to spend time with my family which we were really excited about. My little brother shows sheep up there (I did too a long time ago, lol) so they spend a week there camping. It's a lot of fun. Anyway, we drove up there, met up with my family and had a really fun day... and the weather was PERFECT which, in my 10 years of experience, is VERY rare, lol.

I did have a major down point. I know how awful it's going to sound but honestly, seeing my mom was a downer. She treats me like a stranger, never acknowledges my husband and barely interacts with my kids. She's only seen Ainzley once since she was born and mom didn't even glance at her while we were there. At one point, David and my dad were playing football at the campground and my mom walked out of the camper. A friend of mine asked David who that (my mom) was and he didn't say a word. My dad quickly responded with "That's no one." Everyone brushed it off but it was devastating to me. My mom really is no one to my kids. She is no one to Jason (not for lack of effort on his part) and soon, she may end up as no one to me. Since I've been in high school, I've longed for a relationship with my mom. I grew up with opportunities that my mom didn't have. I took advantage of the ones she wanted me to participate in (mainly 4-H and FFA) but, ultimately, it was the ones I found on my own that I loved the best (singing, show choir, etc). She didn't like that I wouldn't put her choices first and was very vocal about it. It got worse when I became LDS and married in the temple. I think it hit rock bottom for her when I got pregnant with David, got pregnant again with Ainzley, chose home birth and she finally realized that I have no plans to divorce my husband any time soon.

As a mother, I rejoice in my children. I don't know how I could love them anymore and want nothing more than for them to be happy. I want them to recognize their talents and pursue them, nurture them, grow them and share them. I want the BEST for them... I don't feel like my mom wants those things for me. I'm not saying I'm a better mom than mine is, I just wish she could appreciate the amazing things I've done in my life rather than hold a grudge because she realizes she couldn't control my life.

I am so jealous of girls/women who say their mom is their best friend. I am envious of moms who get to see their mom be a grandma. I think about the relationship I had with my mom's mom growing up. She was the BEST grandma I could have asked for! She did all the crafty things. We baked together. We watched movies together. Grandma's house was the best! I hate that my kids won't experience that with my mom.

My mom and I barely speak now. We basically have nothing to talk about. I try calling her and she won't answer her phone. I miss my family so much but being around them means being around her which is beyond difficult these days. I really don't know what to do anymore. It sucks so bad that I can't feel comfortable around my mom.

Ok, my venting/lamenting/pity party is over. Bless you if you made it to the end of this post!

Moving

2011-08-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

So, it turns out we're going to be moving asap... Since we've both started school, we figure it will be easier to work on the house when we can be there 24/7. Lately it's just been me and the kids at the house and since they don't have the things they're used to having all the time (mainly beds for napping and a wider variety of toys), it's difficult for me to get much done. Poor David will just pass out on the rug in the living room when he wants his nap! Ainzley will just scream. Lately I've been swaddling her and letting her nap in her bouncy chair which has been working well but is only a temporary fix. Anyway, we're getting the carpets cleaned on Monday so really, as soon as we can get all our stuff over there, we'll be living there permanently.

On a side note, I'm really enjoying fixing up the house. I'm learning how to do a lot of stuff and have always been hands on so it's great! K, gotta pack

2011-08-18T16:08:00.003-05:00

I just ordered the material for Ainzley's crib bedding. I am beyond excited. I've picked the colors antique blue, white, silver and a few hints of pink. I'm all about girly, but like it to be understated rather than pink splashed across everything and am certainly opposed to bright pink and animal print... yuck.

There will still be soft pink, damask prints and handmade flowers in silver vases I found at Ashley furniture this morning (they're beautiful). I can't wait to post pictures! :)

Edited: I clicked on the "View Post" button after I published this post only to realize that Ainzley's room descriptions bares a lot of resemblance to my blog decor, lol. Trust me, it's very different! ;)

As it turns out...

2011-08-16T14:54:00.002-05:00

I'm a pretty good caulker! Which I already knew from the mission trip I took with my parents' church the summer before my senior year of high school... but reminders are always nice! ;) We put Wainscoting up in our dining room and yesterday I caulked all the seams. We also painted the ceiling (what an arm workout!!!). All we have left is the chair rail, painting the wainscoting and chair rail, waxing the hardwood and our dining room will be done! With the exception of the pantry, the kitchen is done as well. Appliances are in, flooring is down... it's coming together! We still have painting and cleaning to do but, overall, we're liking it.

School starts Monday!! We're excited that Jason will be starting nursing school and I'm almost done with my Associates so it's going to be a good semester! I think I'm going to take 2 8 week classes thought because I was also just hired by a local high school to make their color guard costumes which is looking like it's going to be a big project. I'm meeting with the coach tomorrow to finalize everything and then the work begins! If I'm not around for awhile... check for me under high piles of tulle!!!!

To my wonderful son

2011-08-10T22:03:00.002-05:00

You are your father. You are his mini-me. Much like your father, you are such a joy to our family. You are have his temper (beware!! ;)) but you are also quick to apologize and forgive. You and your father are determined. You work for what you want even if it's just to say you've done it. You love to learn new things and to make people laugh. I think he taught you Tagalog when I was busy with Ainzley one day because there are so many things you say that make me go "huh?" yet you are also very eloquent. You are so full of love. You are very VERY smart... never doubt your capacity for knowledge. You are very busy - always running, jumping, exploring and doing.

David you are so loved. We are incredibly blessed to have you in our family. Thank you for being a wonderful teacher to us :)

House update

2011-08-09T17:15:00.003-05:00

OK, after a fast and furious visit from my family the weekend before last, there has been a LOT of progress!

2 sets of missionaries helped us tear up the ceramic tile in the kitchen and clean - that was basically all the prep work we got done, lol. While my family was here, we installed a new back door and frame, changed locks on both exterior doors, hung mirrors in the bathrooms, put up a banister in the stairway, leveled a floor, installed 2 counter tops, hung wainscoting in the dining room, patched holes, built a pantry, installed a new kitchen sink and a bunch more little things I've forgotten, lol. We still have a lot more to do, though and with school starting in 2 weeks, well, we may finish some things after we move in. We've painted a few rooms and even painted the dining room 3 times... let's just say that room is difficult to know what paint will look like on the walls until it's done. I still don't really like the color that's on the walls in there but Jason does. We'll see...

We also got all the appliances to the house yesterday! The stove and dishwasher were delivered by Lowe's and we picked up the Fridge and microwave. It's starting to look like a livable house! :) Only one bummer - someone stole our hose and spray nozzle. I mean, there was even a working dishwasher and a nice exterior door and you take the hose? Who does that?? LOL

I know I'm a day early, buuuttt...

2011-08-05T17:49:00.004-05:00

Happy Baptism Day to my niece Azure! I am so proud of your decision to follow our Savior's example and be baptized. I hope you enjoy your gift - a scripture tote designed and made just for you - beautiful and completely one of a kind :)

Alright... let's talk about it

2011-07-29T15:08:00.003-05:00

The Breast Milk Baby...

If you haven't heard, there is a new doll hitting the American markets in a few weeks. It comes with a halter top that your child wears that has flowers over the chest area symbolizing breasts. When the doll is brought to the flowers, it makes a sucking sound as if it is drinking milk. When the doll is brought upright, it cries until it is burped. It is marketed as a unisex toy and the American representative for the Spanish company who makes the dolls says the doll is meant to "let kids play as mommies and daddies naturally." Seeing that I've yet to find a man who lactates, I think perhaps they should alter their advertising...

Bill O'Reilly has said the doll is inappropriate for children stating he just wants the kids to remain kids. There is even a Facebook page of people who oppose the doll and are calling for a ban of the doll in the US.

There is also a lot of speculation about whether or not this doll will influence little girls to breastfeed their own children when the time comes. On the other hand, do babies sold with bottles influence little girls to formula feed their children? I highly doubt, as do many child psychologists and pediatricians, that dolls will influence how a girl chooses to raise her future children. I believe that dolls can send certain messages (Barbie... hello!!!) but I don't think this is going to make much of a difference. Many people don't even think the doll will catch on in the US.

Personally, I am not a fan. A woman's (girl's) body was made for having babies and breastfeeding but there has got to be a better way to teach this. As a mother who strives to nurse her own children for at least a year, I know the importance of breastfeeding. I advocate for nursing in public which is highly scrutinized these days. David knows where Ainzley's food comes from - he sees me nurse her 100 times a day. It is a natural thing and I hope to pass on my knowledge to my kids so they can make the best decision for themselves and for their children... I don't think the Breast Milk Baby will be a part of the learning process

I live

2011-07-27T22:27:00.002-05:00

For the sweet sound of my children giggling.

David and Ainzley bug have been playing together more and more lately - it is so sweet. Their favorite game involves Bug sitting in her Bumbo while David puts his head by her feet. She'll give a little kick which will cause David to erupt in laughter. Ainzley follows suit.

Today, they invented a new game. Ainzley still sits in her Bumbo except this time, David runs circle around her. Bug tries to keep up with him (following him that is) by moving her head so much that she almost becomes a bobble head to which David also has fits of laughter.

They also love to roll around on the floor together. Or David will dance around to the music of Ainzley's Jumperoo while she, well, jumps! LOL They are so adorable together. They make me smile :)

What a weekend

2011-07-19T21:43:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was just crazy. Thursday, I had a minor meltdown. Jason's scooter had been in the shop for 3 WEEKS which meant he had to take my car to work leaving me and two kids stuck at home all day, every day. I went absolutely stir crazy! I wanted to get out and not be home so Jason pitched me the idea of going and visiting my family. I was quite shocked to hear him say this because we haven't been to St. Louis since January and he really wants to go visit as well. I decided to think about it. I did laundry once we got home in case I decided to go. Hours after our conversation, but Dad called and invited us to come up there for the weekend since it was the fair and my little brother's birthday on Sunday. I told him Jason had to work but that I was actually already contemplating going up there.

Friday morning we got up and were so excited because we were FINALLY closing on our house that day!!!!! After closing on the house and picking up the keys, I decided to go to St. Louis. We hurried home so I could pack and get on the road so that the kids could nap in the car. We left just as Jason left for work. The drive took almost exactly 4 hours which is awesome considering it was just me and the two kids. We spent Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday with my family before leaving. Both the kids did terrific on the trip considering the ridiculous heat! David has also outgrown his pack and play so he had to sleep on the floor next to me and he did great! Went right to sleep like it was nothing. yay!

So, we came back Sunday afternoon (during nap time again) and were all so happy to see Jason! When he took Ainzley out of her car seat, she just stared at him and was smiling the whole time - it was beyond adorable! Monday we started cleaning our new house!!! We took a break around 1:30 so the kids could nap and Jason and I went and saw the new Harry Potter! A review will come in a subsequent post but WOW!!!!!!! is all I'll say for now ;) After naps and the movie, we went back and spent more time at the house. We won't be able to go back until Friday since we're crazy busy this week, but we're so darn excited to actually be doing stuff at the house. My family will be coming down to help us work on it next weekend and I'm so excited to 1. see my family again and 2. get more work done - I can't wait to move in!!!

Dairy free!

2011-07-13T21:50:00.003-05:00

Ainzley is a fountain. She is super cool, makes you feel happy when you look at her and, oh yeah, spews liquid EVERYWHERE! No joke... we use flannel receiving blankets as burp cloths! She is a true girly girl and has at least 2 different outfits everyday. Why? Because she soaks everything I put her in... not to mention my clothing changes during the day because who doesn't love to smell like sour milk in 100 degree temperature - not this guy!

I LOVE having my midwife live next door and I love that we're friends because she is super helpful. Seriously, 3 steps from my front door and I've got my answer - even easier than the internet :) Anyway, we chatted about Miss Ainzley's lunch-losing and Corina (my midwife) suggested I cut out dairy for a week to see if that would help. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE milk? Ainzley is gaining weight just fine and doesn't get fussy while eating or while spitting up (classic signs of reflux - soooo thankful she doesn't have reflux!) so we'll just play around with my diet and see how things go. I also cut out soda 2 days ago. I just love the carbonation and I haven't ever been a heavy soda drinker so it looks like it's just water from here on out since I don't care for juice.

Stay tuned for updates

Finishing from last time

2011-07-12T22:28:00.002-05:00

Ok, Birth in all it's amazingness. I didn't know where I wanted to go with that post until Sunday.

Jason was teaching the 14-15 year old Sunday School class about the atonement. Like, the actual moment it happened. The suffering, the praying, the garden, the betrayal... THAT part. We watched the movie "The Lamb of God" and the scene of the Savior in the garden actually suffering really hit me. He suffered EVERY pain we could ever feel. Everything. From tweezing and eyebrow to *birth*. Christ knew what birth would feel like. This speaks volumes to me for some reason...

For Ainzley's birth, I knew I was going to go with no medication. I wanted to experience natural child birth, but I also wanted to give her the best birth I could. So many side effects of medications used in birth are unknown and I wanted to stave off any possible unwanted outcome from the medication. I didn't have the option with David. With him having a brain cyst and not having the option for testing for possible complications, the hospital was where I needed to be. Sidetracked...

Natural childbirth is hard. It's not something you luck into or something that happens because a woman has a high pain tolerance. You have to work for it. I did it for Ainzley. I loved my daughter long before I met her. I wanted to do the best I could for her and I'm very privileged to have experienced her birth the way it happened. I know my Savior loves me. I know he suffered much more than the pain of childbirth for me. I know the events leading up to His death weren't easy by any means, but I'm sure he would say he was privileged to have experienced it for us.

I'm not saying natural childbirth has made me Christlike... but feeling that intensity and knowing someone suffered it for me is humbling. I know it sounds silly, but natural childbirth has helped me grow closer to the Savior and, if possible, made me more appreciative of his sacrifice he made.

2011-07-08T22:28:00.002-05:00

I love birth, lol... Strange I know, but it is amazing.

Kudos to you if you haven't rolled your eyes and are still reading ;)

I know, I know. Since Ainzley's birth, birth and labor have been a prominent topic around here, but I just can't get over the amazingness of it all! After just 40 short weeks... ish, there is a whole new person - from almost nothing! Women overcome the worst pain to give life to this little person. I mean, wow. My breath is taken away every time I remember when my kids entered the world. How much love is in my life and all the blessings, too.

There are so many thoughts going through my mind right now. Maybe I'll take some time to try to organize them and report back...

I knew this would happen...

2011-07-06T22:19:00.003-05:00

We're renegotiating closing the night before we were supposed to close on the house!!! LOL It's just a minor issue so it's not a huge deal. We'll probably close on Monday or maybe even this Friday. Just a couple more days!!!!

Jason is still loving his promotion though he works longer hours than he's scheduled for often with no notice. Yesterday, he went into work half an hour early (1:30) and didn't get home until 11:45 - an hour and a half later than usual. I'm sure it won't be the last time it happens. It just means we miss out on our late night conversations which is a bummer.

We had a great holiday weekend. July 3rd is a cool day for our family. July 3rd, 2008 is when we found out I was pregnant with David and July 3rd, 2010 is when we found out I was pregnant with Ainzley. Jason wanted me to test this year too but I am 100% positive I'm not pregnant so I decided to pass, lol. We spent the 4th at a friend's house at an unofficial ward party. It was so fun! Our friend does his own fireworks display every year. This year, he spent over $750. Sadly, a good deal of them were wasted when the thunderstorms rolled in. It was still a fun day.

That's all for now. I'm off to bed!

House rambling, lol

2011-06-30T14:03:00.002-05:00

We close on our house in 1 weeeeeeeeek! Woot!

I begin with talking about the house for lack of a better starting point.

I am most excited about making this house our home. We have been dreaming of this house for months now and it's finally happening :) Once we get the keys in a week, we'll immediately go over and start cleaning. Our first major renovation is the kitchen floor. There is a dip in the floor from the foundation settling that we'll be fixing with... well, I can't remember exactly what it's called, lol. During that process, the ceramic tile will more than likely crack (not to mention the fact that it is not an attractive color) so we're going to be replacing it. The last weekend of July is when we will be getting LOTS of work done. My Dad, Aunt and little brother will be coming down to get some major projects done like repairing drywall, building a pantry, putting screens on the windows, replacing the back door and putting a banister on the staircase among many others. After that, we will be painting, installing appliances, cleaning carpets and doing one more cleaning to clean up from the construction and we'll be move in ready! There are other very minute fixes like replacing faucets and some caulking and stuff that can most certainly wait until later.

Not much to report other than that. I had the stomach flu Tuesday so I'm playing catch up after being out of commission for a day and a half. Jason has officially started working under his promotion status and he loves it! It's so much easier than what he did before. He has new responsibilities and is catching on very well. I am so proud of him for all his hard work.

Holy Cow - Another bit of good news!

2011-06-23T21:11:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty shocked about this one... Jason was on his way to work this morning when a familiar phrase came on the radio:

"Call now to win!!!"

Yep, Jason called and won 4 tickets to a Springfield Cardinals game (the minor league AA affiliate for the St. Louis Cardinals) and a dinner for 4 to Fazoli's! We've never actually been to Fazoli's but we're going on Monday with some friends of ours from our ward and we're going to the game that same day with Jason's twin (a really good friend of Jason's who is almost a carbon copy of him - same name, too) and his son who Jason teaches in Sunday School.

Looks like Monday is going to be a good day :)

Smile... then a head shake

2011-06-22T14:46:00.003-05:00

He did it!!! Jason passed his clinical test for his promotion! He is now Jason Duree CNA (Ceritified Nursing Assistant), CMT (Certified Medication Technition). Fancy, right? Next Fall, he'll add 3 more letters onto the end of his name... he'll almost have more letters behind his name than in his name! LOL

While he was on the phone telling me the good news, he got into a fender bender - hence the head shake. I always discourage him from talking on the phone while driving because he is, well, can be, a less than observant driver. Not to mention the texas-sized blind spots that SUV's have... ugh. If you were to see the car, you probably wouldn't even notice the crack (it really is small), but it stands out like a sore thumb to me. The Equinox was my birthday present after all.

*sigh*

Jason's says it was bound to happen and I guess so. The first brand new car I've ever owned is tarnished. Boo. At least Jason is ok and it was still a brilliant day :)

Last night of hiding out

2011-06-20T22:39:00.003-05:00

It's finally here! Tomorrow, Jason will take his clinical test for his promotion which, unfortunately, will take place at 5:15 tomorrow morning... yuck. Even yuckier is the fact that I have to stay up and wait to bring Ainzley to bed. Her bed time routine consists of nursing to sleep between 9 and 10. Then transferring her to her swing for a couple hours while Jason and I have our late night talks since it's the only time we really get to talk, lol. He always lets me go to bed first before he brings Ainzley in between 11:30 and midnight... now I get to bring her to bed. I have a hard time falling asleep typically (I always have) so I have to try to fall asleep with Ainzley right next to me making all her little grunts and Jason on my other side snoring ferociously. Go ahead, be jealous!

I am completely looking forward to tomorrow being over and being able to get a restful night's sleep!

I'll see you all tomorrow... I'll be the one looking like a zombie

More on Nursing School

2011-06-16T16:35:00.002-05:00

We found out a funny tidbit of info yesterday. Jason was originally accepted as an alternate for nursing school (we already knew that, though). He was alternate #6 of 10. He works with a girl who is alternate #10. Jason told her yesterday that he got in and that maybe she would get a phone call as well. So this girl called the school wondering how many alternates were left before she might get into the program as well. The secretary she spoke to (and this is the good part) told her that, thus far, they've only accepted one alternate: Jason. Monday, they were notified that someone would not be able to attend the school in the fall so they started calling the alternates... they called all five before Jason but none couldn't get a hold of them - Jason was the only one who answered his phone that morning.

We feel really blessed and are extremely grateful :)

Hiding out

2011-06-14T22:20:00.003-05:00

I'm currently hiding out in my closet, lol. Jason has to be to work at 5:15 in the morning. To avoid waking Ainzley and I up unnecessarily, he is sleeping in the living room which means Ainzley is asleep in her swing in our bedroom. So I don't wake her up, I'm in the closet until I'm ready for bed, lol. Annnyyywayyyyyy...

GREAT news has come to the Duree house - Jason will be starting nursing school this fall! After 3 application processes, he's finally starting and we couldn't be more excited :D We also got to see the house yesterday with the electric working! They had to have it turned on for the appraisal so we made sure to stop by and test everything out. We're very happy to report that all electrical systems seem to be in working order - including the jacuzzi tub! Yay!

It's been a good couple days. Now I'm tired and ready to be out of this closet! Good night :)

Ainzley's Newborn Pics

2011-06-11T21:28:00.011-05:00

My Beautiful Daughter

Writing this made me feel so much better

2011-06-09T21:55:00.003-05:00

I found this quote before Ainzley was born and fell in love with it. It's everything I didn't know about my self and everything I want Ainzley to remember as she grows up and goes through difficult times. I had this cut in vinyl and put it on a picture frame for her. I added her name at the top of the quote:

Ainzley
Daughter of Divinity
Be strong and of good courage
You are truly a royal spirit daughter of Almighty God.
You are a Princess destined to become a Queen
Your own wondrous story has already begun
Your Once Upon A Time is Now
~ Dieter F Uchtdorf

As silly as it may sound, I never knew any of this about myself. I always had self confidence, though and respected who I was. I didn't try to be someone everyone would like. My friends were people I genuinely liked and wanted to be around and they liked me for me. I was always proud of myself knowing that I was presenting my true self and other people liked being around that.

Somewhere, I lost that.

People around me make me feel (honestly?) like crap sometimes. But that's bound to happen - can't change someone else. What sucks is how I let it get to me. I dwell and over analyze. Suddenly I have these hurt feelings and resentment that just eats at me for days sometimes. People ask me questions then talk in circles questioning why I am the way I am, basically... sometimes, it borderline chastising! I get that not everyone is going to see eye-to-eye, but respecting those differences is important, not giving them the 3rd degree. People tell me how important I am to them, then forget about me when something or someone else better comes along. I was always proud of my matter of fact-ness and being forward and honest with people. Now I'm looked at as a witch. I wish I could just be loved for who I am.

I am a Daughter of Divinity.
I will be strong and of good courage.
I know my mortal mission, where I came from, and my divine destiny.
I was given my many traits and my personality because they are GOOD. Differences should be embraced, not frowned upon.

I refuse to be around people who would belittle me or make me feel less than what I am: a royal spirit daughter of Heavenly Father. I deserve better than that and I will make sure my kids do. My family needs me the way I was created. I will use my strengths and talents to raise a righteous family. I will live up to the person I know I can be and who my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

PS I am not referring to my husband at any way in this post. He is the best and I am so happy to be married to him for eternity :)

Weekending

2011-06-07T14:26:00.002-05:00

What a great weekend!!! Jason's work schedule has been a little off the past couple of weeks. The only guaranteed day off he's had were Sunday's and some random day during the week. Last week, he worked Monday-Saturday... it was a long week so we were really looking forward to his "weekend" off. Sunday we went to church which was great except we had to leave early. The refinished the gym floor and the fumes were AWFUL! I'm allergic to perfumes and really sensitive to smells so I got a migraine really quickly. We came home, had lunch, put the kids down for a nap and headed to the pool (with the baby monitor). After the kids woke up, we went to dinner at a friend's house. Our friend and Jason are basically twins. His name is also Jason. He and his wife have 3 boys - the oldest is 18 and the youngest is 12. We love hanging out with them and playing games. We came home just in time to get through bed time and Jason and I got to spend time swinging on the back patio after the kids were asleep.

Yesterday, we woke up and headed over to the house to take some measurements. Then we stopped by the mall. We walked into Sears and happened to find a great dishwasher on clearance. Then we spent the next 2 hours just wandering around the mall. Oh, and we bought David some new shoes. He needed new church shoes and we found some AWESOME tennis shoes for him for the fall. They're a size 11 (he's currently a 9) which is huge for a 2 year old but he's got such wide feet! Hopefully they'll last him awhile, lol. We came home from the mall, put the kids down for their naps and went to the pool again. Every Monday (that Jason has off work) we go out to dinner to a restaurant called Amigos. Delicious Mexican food!!! We love it. We went to Lowe's to get quotes of flooring and a counter top for the kitchen and finished the night with frosties from Wendy's... another Monday night/FHE tradition.

It was a busy weekend but such a blast! Jason also got called into work this morning instead of this evening so we get to spend time with him tonight, too. Summer is starting off good for us :)

Blah

2011-06-01T21:44:00.002-05:00

I am getting restless. I need a change... or a break... something out of the ordinary. Oh, vacation! Except all our money is tied up in the house for the moment. Which, by the way, we're closing on the house on July 7th - yay! I am definitely looking forward to the house - it needs a lot of little and very simple cosmetic fixes. It will keep me busy for awhile thank goodness! We also bought a fridge.... it was originally $2500 and we got it brand new for $1280. It's not a scratch & dent or a close out or refurbished - just a great deal. Gotta love Memorial Day sales! :)

Until then, I'm working on making my first blessing dress to sell and I will also be making bows... lots and lots of bows since they're easy and can occupy a lot of my spare time.

2011-05-29T22:21:00.002-05:00

My heart absolutely ACHES for Joplin. I've seen so many pictures and heard so many stories of lost family members - especially children. A friend that I graduated high school with is a nurse and she went down to Joplin to help this weekend and it's bad. She posted some pics on Facebook and the only thing I could say was "Wow". Our ward was called to volunteer down there this weekend and I've heard that things went well, but there's still so much to do. If we are asked to go volunteer again, Jason will be going (he couldn't this weekend because my grandma and aunt were in town). Over 30% of the town is just gone. It could have been us. A slight shift in the storm's path and it would have been us. I'm grateful for the safety we had that night and that the storms we had in the following days weren't as bad as they were predicted to be. I'm glad that my family in St. Louis was safe in those mid week storms as well.

I hope and pray the citizens of Joplin are able to put the pieces back together and can find comfort in this difficult time

What a month!!

2011-05-25T14:42:00.002-05:00

May has been quite a month for us!!! Ainzley's blessing was May 15th and it was beautiful. I worked so hard getting things ready and was so relieved when it was over. Her dress was stunning! I've decided to make a duplicate (not exact, though) and sell it on Etsy. It will be the same design without the special order trim. Instead, I'm going to make a few small fabric flowers to decorate with and a headband to match. If it goes over well, I'll make more but for now, it's just a trial run. It will, of course, be called the Ainzley dress :)

Jason took his state CMT test on Monday and PASSED!!!! He has 3 days of clinical hours to do next month and then he's set! He is so excited to get to continue working at his current place of employment, but to have different responsibilities. Jason also got a very exciting manila envelope in the mail last Saturday - it was from school concerning his application to nursing school. He got accepted as an alternate! It doesn't guarantee that there will be a spot for him in the fall. They accept 30 people into the program every semester and 10 alternates. Jason is the 6th alternate. Number 36 out of 270 applicants - not too bad! They typically only use about 3 or 4 alternates (though there have been semesters where they have used all 10) so we'll probably go through another round of the application process, but I'm still so VERY proud of how far he has come since the first time he applied. We're also looking into other nursing schools in the area.

As far as I go, I'm FINALLY starting on my DONA Doula certification! I'm working on the required reading, will attend the 3 day workshop in October, then work on the births, writing assignment and breastfeed portion. I am so excited to be starting this portion of my life! Pregnancy and birth are my passion and I want to help women achieve the birth they've always wanted. Hopefully after finishing my certification, I can work with The Doula Foundation of Springfield. My midwife works with them and she loves it...most of the time, lol. The Doula Foundation is basically a grant system where low income or underprivileged women can apply to have their doula services covered either completely or partially. I'm really hoping to be able to work with them.

I think our biggest news this month is that the seller accepted our final offer on the house! Jason went to sign the offer acceptance letter today. We still have to have an inspection and have an appraisal done but we got the house for $11,000 under the original asking price AND the seller has agreed to pay the closing costs. We're happy to be making grown up decisions :)

2011-05-21T14:29:00.002-05:00

Today is such a beautiful day here in SW Missouri! The sun is out, the temperature is warm and the windows are open! It's nap time which is the only reason we are inside right now. It rained all day yesterday (though it was more summer thunderstorm-esque - warm, cloudy, thunder with rain intermittently. Those are my favs) and most of the day before. It's supposed to rain the next 4 or so days as well. I wish this weather could stay longer. Guess I'll be able to do some craft stuff over the next few days though it hardly seems a close second when all I want to do is be outside. The faster we get through the bad weather, the better - my aunt and grandma are coming to visit from St. Louis next weekend! They've not met Ainzley yet (as most of my family hasn't) so it'll be great for them to see her for the first time. So far on the agenda is a Springfield Cardinals game and a picnic at the park. I can't wait to see them!

HOUSE

2011-05-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

We found it! It is THE house... 4 bedroom, 3 full bathrooms, 2500 sq ft and totally in our price range! Well, initially it wasn't, but we low-balled the seller and they countered back in our price range. We're going to counter again just a few grand under what they just sent us to hopefully save some moolah! It was built in 1901 and was totally remodeled less than 10 years ago with the exception of the original wood floors which are in great shape. It's a foreclosure so it needs a little TLC. We went to Lowe's this morning and got some estimates on paint and other supplies we would need for the house and we're looking at about $650 after over-budgeting on everything. We're thinking that as far as painting goes, we're going to make a donation to the young men and young women at church for girls/scout camp and have them come help out with the painting for a day... that's just a preliminary idea so we'll see.

My midwife's husband used to be a housing inspector so he was nice enough to come look at the house for us. He found some dry rot outside by some of the windows but he said, overall, for a 100 year old house, it's in good shape and he wouldn't fail it. We still have to have the appraiser come out and look and have to have an inspection done, but all in all, we're really excited and things look like they're headed in the right direction. If all goes well, we're looking at a move in date around the end of July - a new house for Jason's birthday! lol

Other than our pending home-ownership, it's been a busy month! Jason will take his state CMT test on the 23rd and will do his clinical hours and state physical test next month (that's his promotion at work that I've mentioned in previous posts). He had his interview for nursing school yesterday morning and he's confident that it went well. David has entered the terrible two's *insert eye roll and head shake here*. I absolutely hate disciplining him! Well, spanking in particular. I grew up in a house that was full of physical punishment (thanks to my military dad, I guess) and it was awful. I feel that spanking is a last resort type of punishment so I'm trying to find more creative alternatives. He is a VERY sweet little boy though!!!! His vocabulary has grown exponentially and he uses sentences most off the time. And he is VERY polite. My favorite is that he doesn't typically use the word "yes" when answering questions. When I ask him if he wants/needs something, his response is, "I do! Please!" Adorable. Ainzley is amazing as usual. She is full of smiles!! She sleeps around 9 hours every night and is a great napper. I am so excited for her blessing this weekend!!!!

Speaking of naps, I need to get the kids down for them so I guess until next time...

2011-05-05T21:52:00.002-05:00

Well, after only one post last month, I suppose it's time for another!

Life is still going well with 2 kids. Ainzley has really become quite animated in the last few weeks - she is just adorable! David has grown SO MUCH!!! I can't believe how big he really is! Of course, when Ainzley was born, it became very obvious that he was no longer my little boy... and it's still a shock to me, lol. He repeats every single word we say and loves books and Blue's Clues. We bought him an outdoor water table for his birthday this year which is enjoys on days when it's warm.

Ainzley is still sleeping through the night (woot!!!!!!!) and absolutely loves snuggling. Her blessing is coming up in just over a week and I'm feeling a bit stressed about it. I haven't really planned anything which is so not like me! Typically, I have things planned, oh, a month in advance, lol. It's really the after party I'm most concerned with. It's going to be a lot to handle. The kids typically go down for a nap around 2... we don't get out of church until 2. Strike one. After church, we'll be trying to get things set up with 2 cranky kids. Most of the people coming to the blessing haven't met Ainzley yet so all my help will be fawning over my daughter which will be considered as "help". All Ainzley will want at that time will be to nurse since she'll be tired... I would rather have help setting up, lol. Strike two. Strike three? Clean up... enough said. I'm hoping to have the get together in the nursery since it's adjacent to the kitchen and is a good sized room, yet it's smaller than the gym for cleaning up... IDK... enough rambling. I guess this is my way of trying to plan things, lol

A BIG new chapter of our life is about to begin: HOME OWNERSHIP!!! :) We've already gotten our pre-approval process over so now we're just hunting. We found a beyond perfect house for us... it's just a little over our loan amount. Even with the cash down we have, we're still short so we're negotiating. Wish us luck! We're still looking in case this one doesn't work out, though. What's even greater is my midwife's husband use to be a home inspector! He's going to come over and look at the house with us so we know what's going on with the house. If he finds something, we'll have to actually pay to have an inspection done (his license is expired) so we can have the official paperwork in case we would need to break our contract if we got that far. Anyway, we put an offer down on the house so it's really real! Hopefully I'll get to post pics of our new house soon (whichever one we find :) )

Well, both kids are sleeping peacefully so I should be too. Good night!

More thoughts on birth

2011-04-15T15:12:00.004-05:00

Today I was thinking back to the Thursday before Ainzley was born... March 17th. Jason and I (along with the midwives) had agreed to try to get labor started the next day with natural techniques - castor oil, stripping membranes, etc. I had put David to bed Thursday night, took a shower and was waiting for Jason to get home. Once he did, he tucked David in, showered and we went out to sit on our swing on the porch. We talked about a lot of things... but mainly our upcoming birth. "I'm scared" I told him while trying to hide my tears. When he asked me what I was scared of, I told him "the birth".

David's birth was a scheduled induction due to post dates (I was induced 15 days past my due date and he was born on the 16th day). It was in the hospital and an unfortunately routine procedure. I had an epidural to relieve the pain and also to help me sleep... it wasn't so effective in that scenario since the nurses kept coming in to check my dilation every 2 hours. When it came time to push, I was able to feel him moving through the birth canal without feeling the pain - it was awesome! With the exception of family drama, David's birth was great. I was lucky to have a terrific OB who listened to my wishes and stuck to my birth plan. I would say it was on the better end of the scale as far as a hospital experiences go.

After having what I believe to be a pretty good birth, I had a moment where I was questioning why I wasn't going back to the hospital. I kept having thoughts go through my head of the hospital being THE place to have babies (duh) and my reasons for having a home birth seemed to be fading. I didn't know how I was going to have this baby without an OB and a sterile room!

It's funny that I thought like that. The fact of the matter is that maternity wards and hospitals weren't even around until the 1920's and I was so worried about having my baby at home and not doing it the "normal" way - society's view of the normal way hasn't even been around for a century! I was terrified of the pain of labor and for good reason - even though I had prepared myself my ENTIRE pregnancy for a natural birth, until you go start to finish (and I mean holding that baby in your arms finished) you can't really imagine it. It is the most intense and amazing experience... I just cannot stop thinking about it! It was truly a defining moment. I may have been scared, but I did it! I actually had my baby naturally, at home, surrounded by people who love me, my baby, and my family. It was such a humbling experience and I'm so grateful to have experienced it

Still in awe

2011-03-31T14:58:00.002-05:00

Nearly 2 weeks later, I am still in awe of my home birth experience. It all happened so fast that it was over before I knew it and now I have the most beautiful baby girl. I am still convinced that home is the way to go for us. We've settled back into routine and are so happy.

Ainzley is wonderful. She sleeps 8 hours a night and is a pro at nursing. She loves to snuggle (as most newborns do) and is just perfect. I've always heard how hard the transition is from 1 kid to 2, but it's not been all that bad. David hasn't really been acting out for attention and LOVES his little sister. He comes into our room every morning asking for baby and wants to hold her and give her hugs and kisses. It's so funny to say kids... plural! There are two now! lol

I think back to the morning I found out I was pregnant with Ainzley - it seems like so long ago! I remember thinking I had so much time before the new baby came... but it went by so fast! My second pregnancy/labor/delivery has come and gone and I can't believe it, lol. A part of me can't wait to do it again. I remember feeling that way after David was born - wanting another right away but we definitely needed to wait and we will again. From the time I stopped nursing David to the time I got pregnant again was 3 months. 3 months of having my body all to myself - that's it! I don't want a huge age gap between my kids, but I'm going to need a little longer than a few months. And I'm going to need to find a new month to have my babies born in. Seriously, 2 birthdays in 2 days, obviously in the same month - crazy!

Ainzley's Birth Pictures

2011-03-25T14:51:00.017-05:00

Early contractions

My FAVORITE labor picture!

Filing up the birth pool!

My sweet midwife, Corina, after listening to Ainzley on the Doppler

Contractions in the pool

He was terrific during labor! Truly my knight in shining armor... or a swimming suit ;)

Last few contractions. I was in transition!

She's here!!!!! All 10 pounds and 22 inches of my beautiful baby girl!

One of my favs even though it's a little blurry

Jason was able to deliver Ainzley then resume his place next to me on the bed

Proud Daddy!

Our other amazing midwife, Mary

A sweet moment with Mary, David and Ainzley

What an amazing day!

Ainzley's Birth Story

2011-03-22T09:50:00.007-05:00

Friday the 18th, my wonderful sister-in-law, Linda, drove from St. Louis to Springfield to be here to help with our home birth. Since she's had 2 home births of her own and has been there for me through so many tough times, I knew she was perfect for the job. She got here around 1pm and we ran to WalMart to get a few things for her and her daughter Ava. We spent the afternoon hanging out and catching up. We went out to dinner at a fun Hibachi grill here in Springfield where I started having mild contractions. Since they were identical to the contractions I had been having for weeks that led to nothing, I didn't think to much of them and we continued with our evening. After dinner, we went home and had a couple friends of ours (Shannon and Aaron) come over for games. We became fast friends with them after moving into the same ward and they are so great with David. Shannon is his nursery teacher and he really likes her. Anyway, I continued to be uncomfortable but the contractions fizzled out a little later. Shannon and Aaron went home and Linda and I started one of our marathon chat fests.

Around 2am, Jason came into the living room and told me I needed to go to bed. I came in and started my bedroom routine and felt something weird. I went to the bathroom to find I had passed a blood clot about the size of a half dollar and was bleeding a little bit. I yelled for Jason to get Linda and to call the midwife. Since I wasn't gushing blood or soaking pads or anything, I laid back down to try to get some sleep. Around 2:30, the contractions started. I knew something was different about them so after breathing through a handful of them, I went to get Linda. They were already 2-3 minutes apart and lasting a minute. Since I was bleeding, I wanted to make sure we were being careful. We called the midwife after a few more contractions and she said she was on her way. Once she got there, she checked out the bleeding situation and assured me that everything looked fine. She checked me and got a surprised look on her face. She looked at me and said "Amy, you're dilated to an 8 and completely effaced. I'm not sure the other midwife will even make it here before Ainzley is born." I couldn't believe it! We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler and she sounded great so Linda and I continued getting through the contractions. It was 5:15 in the morning.

Jason started filling the birth pool and called Shannon to come watch David if he woke up and we got out the birth supplies. Amazingly, Ava and David both slept soundly through this rather noisy period. Since we were boiling water for the birth pool, we were using every burner on the stove and the heat from that set off the fire alarms at least twice, lol. I continued breathing through contractions and eventually had to let everyone else finish the preparations as I had bigger work to do. My contractions were really starting to pick up right before the birth pool was ready so I laid on my side on the bed while they finished. When I was FINALLY able to get in the pool, I was more than ready to be there. The water helped lessen the strength (or at least what I was feeling) of the contractions. I was a little annoyed with the temperature - it was so hot! Well, at least to a woman in labor it was. We stayed in the pool for a little while before the other midwife arrived a little before 6am. We listened to Ainzley on the Doppler again and she was still sounding perfect.

After awhile, I was ready to get out of the tub. I got up, dried off and returned to the bed. Jason held my hand and stroked my hair - he did amazingly, too. Not long after I got out of the pool, the midwives came and talked to me. They were getting concerned about the bleeding and wanted to monitor Ainzley more frequently with the Doppler. After every contraction, we listened to her and she was still doing perfectly. By this point, the contractions were unbearable and I knew I was in transition. Not too many contractions after that, I noticed that my body had started to push during contractions. I announced to everyone in the room that I was pushing and couldn't stop it! lol Jason wanted to catch Ainzley so he got ready and Linda was by my side helping me focus. After the first push, something interesting happened, I birthed the amniotic sac. My water never actually broke before this point. Jason and one of the midwives broke the sac (which was difficult as it was very strong they said) and I pushed again. This time, Ainzley's head came with an arm crossed over it! She was born after only one more push at 7:20am. She was perfect in every way. Jason placed her on my tummy and it was love at first sight... she even pooped all over me to let me know, lol! I was given a shot of Pitocin after the birth to ensure the bleeding was kept under control. Ainzley and I both got cleaned up and finally had time to just snuggle - it was perfect!

Our home birth experience was amazing. Jason and I have talked several times over the past few days and both agree that while we're not "anti-hospital", we definitely prefer the more intimate home setting. There were lots of interesting and even some scary things that happened in our experience. The scary part being the bleeding throughout labor and delivery - my estimated blood loss was about 4 cups. 2 cups is considered a hemorrhage. We examined the placenta and found that it had started to age a bit which probably caused a small placental abruption. The more interesting/uncommon being the amniotic sac being delivered first and needing to be ruptured, and her head/shoulder/arm being delivered at the same time and the cord was wrapped around her neck and abdomen. I share these parts of my birth, however, to show the abilities of these amazing women - the midwives. I've been in their care since about 17 weeks pregnant and have not doubted their abilities. I've actually felt better taken care of by them than the doctor I started seeing in the beginning of this pregnancy! It makes me so sad that people would talk bad about midwives without even having any experience with them. It makes me ridiculously angry that some Missouri legislators are trying to make home birth midwives illegal again. Without my home birth midwives, Ainzley's birth would have been very different - More traumatic and definitely not what I wanted. I'll always be grateful to the wonderful women who helped me have the incredible birth I was after. Pics to come later

My predictions were correct

2011-03-08T21:41:00.002-06:00

Here I sit... 2 days past my due date, lol. My children just are not prompt little people! ;) I know I don't have a problem birthing large children seeing that David was nearly 10 pounds so I'm ok letting them cook a little longer than average. I thought about it when I was pregnant with David and decided they just want more time with Heavenly Father while they can... and I don't blame them a bit. Yes, I DEFINITELY have my moments of weakness/anxiousness/impatience. Last Friday I cried for an hour because I was "just done being pregnant". The feeling passed before I went to bed and I woke up the next day feeling ok. Well, today I had another moment but I thought to myself, everyday she is getting a little stronger, a little healthier, a little more intelligent, a little more prepared for her earth life... I made it 4 days passed my first "moment" and can make it another 4... step by step. It doesn't help that it seems like everyone around me wonders why I haven't had my baby yet or what's taking so long. Although, I can't decide if it's worse being pestered about where the baby is or people who haven't said a word to me about my pregnancy at all or just when they want to criticize.

On another note, I was thrown a surprise baby shower! My calling is with the young women in our ward right now (secretary) and their Wednesday night service project for February was doing projects for me! They made us a freezer casserole, a baby blanket, a diaper cake and a memory book. It was so sweet of them and so nice to feel loved. It really was a lot of fun with lots of yummy goodies!

Jason took his test for his promotion at work yesterday and he got the results back today - he passed! No... not passed... ACED it! He got a 100% in all aspects. I was so unbelievably proud of him and he was ecstatic. He starts the class in April. It's a 3 week class followed by a state written exam and clinical hours. I have complete faith that he'll do just great.

There's not much else going on here. David continues to be the most amazing little boy I've ever met. He LOVES going to nursery at church and has so many little friends. We're still potty training though we're not really "active" in it yet. He will tell us when he needs to potty - even when he's in a diaper so that's a small win.

Hello March!

2011-03-04T17:55:00.004-06:00

Well, my due "month" has finally arrived! It's strange to think at some point this month, I will be a mother of two! I would say we're as ready for Ainzley to come as we could possibly be and more excited than we realize is possible. I am so excited for our home birth experience and to welcome our sweet baby girl.

Other than our growing excitement, not too much is going on here. Work is going well for Jason and David continues to grow and explore new things.

Kind of a short post but the weather is amazing today and my mind is elsewhere :)

Dreams

2011-02-25T08:18:00.002-06:00

I sometimes love Dreams... they can be a nice escape from the diapers and house cleaning for sure! Sometimes, they can really bite. I have a certain character who appears in my dreams from time to time - a friend with whom I have a sorted past. Those dreams almost hurt. I miss this person and now I'll be thinking of them all day. Not really what I wanted today

I also dreamt for Disney Land.

And woke up with my favorite Christmas song in my head - O, Holy Night.

It's probably going to be a weird day

Praise for the Webster Technique!

2011-02-16T14:45:00.003-06:00

So, I saw my chiropractor yesterday for the Webster Technique. It's a chiropractic technique that helps loosen the ligaments and tendons around the pelvis and uterus to help make more room for the baby to turn. I also got a standard adjustment since I haven't had one in a long time. Anyway, I went in for a follow up appointment this morning and can you believe it - Ainzley flipped and is head down!! Granted, since she hasn't dropped and settled down into my pelvis yet, she can and probably will continue to move around but we know that she has the room to be able to do so. I have another appointment on Friday and my chiropractor wants to see me 3 times a week until she's born. I'm not sure I'll go quite THAT frequently, but I'll definitely keep going!

37 Weeks

2011-02-15T15:00:00.002-06:00

I made it to 37 weeks on Sunday - wahoo! Still quite uncomfortable but, hey, it's pregnancy! Had a midwife appointment yesterday and everything is looking good except that Ainzley has flipped breech again. At 37 weeks, breech becomes more of a concern due to the lack of space for baby to flip... the idea that she might not turn sucks. However, I went to the chiropractor today for the Webster Technique. The Webster is a technique that stretches the ligaments and tendons around the pelvis and uterus. It minimizes internal constraint on the baby and gives them more room to move around. The good news for me was that my lower back and pelvis (right side) was tilted backward which could easily explain Ainzley's constant favoring of the breech position. So the dr performed the Webster and gave me a normal adjustment. I have another appointment tomorrow and again on Friday. Plus an appointment with my midwife on Thursday to re-evaluate her position. The Webster technique has a very high success rate of 97% so we're hoping for a good outcome.

Besides that, I'd say we're pretty ready for Ainzley to be here! Jason is very excited! We got family pictures done right before Christmas and David loves to point out everyone in the family. Today, Jason asked him where Ainzley was and he pointed to my tummy in the picture - it was adorable! Everything is ready for her so whenever she decides to come would be great!

2011-02-01T21:57:00.003-06:00

It snowed for hours today and I was stuck inside just watching. Jason and I played Ticket to Ride this morning after he drove all the way to work for a meeting that he didn't find out had been canceled until he got there... awesome. The roads were horrible. I made dinner early (around noon) so Jason could take it with him to work. It was nice to only have to reheat dinner rather than cooking a full meal as I became lazier and lazier as the day stretched on. I straightened up the house after Jason left for work and while David was napping. Then David and I just played the rest of the day until bed time - I love days where I'm not ridiculously busy and therefore feel like I'm neglecting my child. David and I spent a fair amount of time straightening up our mess for the second time today before bedtime.

Once he was in bed and the dishwasher was running, I got the urge to go outside. When I lived at home, the days that brought snow were my favorites. Chores took at least twice as long only because I wanted them to... I loved being out in the snow. The unique quietness that accompanies it on my parents farm is something I remember very vividly. Just past their big, red barn is the gate that leads to one of the pastures - the one with the giant hill. I used to beg Dad to dive the tractor down the hill so I could use the tire tracks for sledding. Without fail, there was always a new lamb or two born during a snow storm... sheep are never easy or convenient! Sure enough, today, Dad got out the tractor and drove down the hill for my little brother to go sledding on and new lambs were born... and I am home sick.

It was these memories and talking to my little brother today that inspired me to take a trip outside tonight. It was cold and dark and very windy. There are no big red barns in my back yard nor did a man show up with a tractor. There are bright lights from our apartment building and noisy neighbors... yet I was still able to stand there and "hear" the quietness. There was nothing outside except a perfect blanket of snow... no one had walked through it or made it into a snowman yet. Though the setting is vastly different, I still felt at home. So far, I've done nothing but grumble about the snow we've gotten this winter and how I'm ready for spring. Today, I was able to stand there and appreciate the snow. Besides, it will be gone soon enough and when it is, I always miss it ;)

First Blog Post of the New Year!

2011-01-20T14:30:00.002-06:00

Why, hello 2011! You are looking quite lovely this snowy afternoon...

Update for us. The biggest one I think is that of Jason's promotion! He was asked to become a CMT (Certified Med Tech) for his work! He will have to pass a test which is basically equivalent to a GED test, take a 6 (I think) week training course and pass the test for the class and he's in! The class is in the mornings and he'll keep his normal work schedule for the evenings so it'll be long days until the class is over, BUT he gets paid to go to class, paid to do his clinical hours and will get a pay raise when it's all said and done. Needless to say we are absolutely thrilled and SO thankful for this blessing! Jason's been worn out of doing CNA work and I've been hoping and praying for a solution for him. We're very excited that there's an end date in sight! The class, from what we've heard so far, is scheduled to start in April and will then end in mid May.

David is SUCH a big boy!!! He is currently in 3T clothes and will be out of them shortly I'm afraid... The biggest news for him is that we are potty training! He's doing very well! We bought him big boy undies yesterday and he wore them all morning without an accident!! Sometimes he'll tell us when he needs to go potty but it's mostly us asking him or reminding him when he should go. It's kind of early as far as "boy potty training standards" go, but it's still early. Jason is hoping to have him potty trained by the time Ainzley arrive (less than 7 weeks ish) but I'm thinking probably summer time at the earliest. Other than that, he LOVES going to Nursery at church! His favorite TV show is a toss up between The Office and Backyardigans. He now sits at the table with us to eat as opposed to in his high chair and he sure loves his baby sister! Well, when he doesn't get confused between my tummy and daddy's, lol. He loves to give the tummy kisses and when he covers my tummy back up with my shirt he'll wave and say "Bye Baby Sister!" - it is adorable! Of course, he'll do the same to Jason's tummy if he's laying on the floor.

Ainzley seems to be doing well. The tummy is growing and she is kicking constantly so I say she's doing great! We can't ever really get an accurate tummy measurement as she loves putting her back in my right side which distorts my uterus and gives us a crazy measurement. She's been measuring either right on, or on the small side the whole time until my last appointment... we couldn't get her to move so she was in her funky position making the measurement close to 34 weeks when I was 31, lol. Jason is CRAZY excited to meet her and absolutely can't wait!

I am doing well. I have ridiculous hip and back pain this pregnancy which I've found is the main reason why I don't sleep well... well, that and not being able to breathe, but hey, it's pregnancy! I've got right between 7 and 6 weeks left and am so anxious! I've been sewing her blessing dress bit by bit over the past 2 weeks and it's really coming together. I have to put the trim on the waistline and make some final design decisions for the skirt (then do those, of course) and I'll be done! I've sewn plenty of formal dresses before, but this has probably been my most challenging task just because of the size - it's teeny! Not to mention I am an absolute perfectionist is if it's not 100% correct, I'll take it apart and redo the whole thing... good thing I started early! Other than sewing, I've been spring cleaning our apartment 1 room a day. So far, I've only finished our bathroom and the dining room, but I only started 2 days ago, so I'm right on target! ;) I have to wait to do the main rooms (kitchen, living room, bedrooms) until Jason has a day off so he can help either me or watch David. This is yet another project I am hoping to finish before Ainzley arrives.

I suppose that's all I have for now. We've been keeping pretty busy and enjoying our family time. School just restarted for Jason (I'm taking the semester off for obvious reasons). He's taking online courses this time (a first for him) but they're basic classes that I've already taken so hopefully I'll be able to keep him on track and answer questions he may have. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the SNOW!

Oh how I miss thee!

2010-12-28T14:19:00.003-06:00

I'm talking about sleep... I haven't had a decent night's sleep in over a week! This story dates back to the summer I was first pregnant with David. We saved some money and bought a new, pillow top mattress - it was awesome.... in the store anyway. A year later, we had to contact the manufacturer due to warranty issues. Mainly the body impressions and the pillow top was "gathering" in random areas. For a mattress that was 1 year old, it was completely unacceptable. The company replaced it under warranty and let us pay just a little more to upgrade to a king size which was amazing!

A year and a few months later (now), the king sized mattress we had gotten to replace our other worn out mattress had the same problem! Since we now live over 300 miles from the store we bought it from, replacing it under warranty would have been a big hassle so we sold it instead. The day before we sold it, we bought a new Tempur-pedic! We are so excited for our new bed... but it's taking FOREVER to get here! We ordered it last Monday and it won't be delivered to our house until Thursday or Friday of this week. In the mean time, we are sleeping on our queen sized air mattress... what. a. joke. I haven't slept well in days! I have constant headaches from not sleeping. I can't even take a nap because all I have to nap on is the air mattress! I can't even sleep on the couch because when I lay on it, I can't breathe. Yep, I'm exhausted! Please forgive the many grammatical errors that are sure to be found throughout this post as I can barely see my computer, lol

Christmas blessings

2010-12-22T21:25:00.003-06:00

This year, it has seemed nearly impossible for me to get into the Christmas spirit. I always look forward to it and love having our own little family Christmas but it seems like Christmas came so quickly this year and I didn't have time to "get used" to the idea, I guess. Anyway, today I decided to reflect back on our year (actually, our entire marriage, lol) and to pick out the unbelievable ways we've been blessed. We have been blessed with an eternal temple marriage. We are so lucky to get to not only spend our lives together, but ETERNITY together. We have an AMAZING son... no really. I look at him in amazement everyday. He is everything we could have asked for. We will be welcoming a daughter in the Spring. Though we haven't met Ainzley yet, I feel like I've known her for so long! We were blessed to get pregnant with her right away (through extreme inspiration). She is active and loves to appease her daddy with kicks when he puts his hand on my tummy. She is loved by her brother who loves to snuggle my tummy and give "her" kisses. We are so fortunate to be able to pay our bills. Our testimonies of tithing have gotten us through the tough times and keeps us mindful during the times when we can be a little less frugal. Jason has a terrific job. Though it drives him crazy sometimes, he's happy to be working in the medical field and to be progressing toward his goal of becoming a nurse. Though there are many more, we are most thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. To have such a loving Heavenly Father and elder brother (Jesus Christ) to provide a plan for us and to be our savior. We are very happy in our church and out callings and hope to be able to continue to serve in the future.

Today I had to run out to WalMart to get one last gift for Jason. I absolutely loathe WalMart. Everyone always seems to be in a crabby mood and it's always busy. Today was no exception. I had to wait FOREVER for an employee to help me with Jason's gift and noticed so many upset people. I couldn't help but smile. Looking back on everything we have to be thankful for really made it hard for me to be "down". After getting Jason's gift, I had a few last minute things to pick up for Christmas dinner and after waiting in a LONG line, I realized I forgot to get something for dinner! I had to get out of line to run back and get a frozen pizza. Normally, this would have just made me livid, but today, I could have cared less. Today, I am grateful for my many blessings which will always trump my many earthly trials.

This Christmas, though our trials may be great, let's remember all the wonderful things we have to be grateful for and help others to realize their blessings as well. Merry Christmas!

It's kind of amazing

2010-12-17T14:37:00.003-06:00

So, I recently reported about having to put a certain family member in time out. So far, no changes on their end but it's amazing the difference I feel. I really do feel liberated! I don't dislike this person and still think about them every day, but I no longer feel like I'm on edge constantly worrying about what's coming next or what they think. I always used to worry about what they would think about how I do things and now I just don't care. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm putting my self and my family first rather than this person's judgments. I don't care what they think of how I'm doing in school. I don't care what they think of me having Ainzley at home with a midwife. For a long time I've been able to have this attitude with other people but I've never had the back bone to do so towards this person. I've had so many people compliment me on my decision to be a grown up about the situation (minus calling it a "time out", lol) and sticking up for myself.... It feels good.

I hope hope hope that this time out doesn't have to last long. I miss the time I used to spend with this person before things got bad. I want them to be a part of our lives, but they need to know they way they are acting is not ok. After verbalizing this to them many times, I found I needed a way for them to easily understand just how serious about this I am... Fingers crossed that it sticks!

Preview Updated

2010-12-15T14:51:00.005-06:00

We got our Christmas pictures yesterday! It was kind of rough since David didn't have patience, but we still got some cute shots. Here are our favs:

Our week

2010-12-10T21:33:00.003-06:00

It has been a long week... and it's not over yet!

Firstly, Jason had to work 6 days this week which makes for a family longing for time with Daddy. David really and truly will hug and not let go when he sees his daddy. It's adorable and makes me sad for him - he so obviously misses his dad! At least next week is finals week at school so we'll have every morning together. Secondly, we're all FINALLY getting over being sick! We still have runny noses, but no more cough or fevers.

Our Christmas party is on Sunday and we are so excited! There's a lot of work leading up to it, though. I got a good deal of house cleaning done today (in addition to a HUGE final project for Psychology and a test for Anthropology) and I'm just about half way through my Christmas baking. I love feeling accomplished!

Lately, I've been thinking about the holidays and all that goes along with it... mainly family. After Thanksgiving, I'm glad we're having our own Christmas again this year. I have always loved being around family for the holidays but it's just gotten too difficult emotionally for me. It's no secret that I haven't had the best relationship with my family over the past few years and I've finally had enough. I'm just tired of being walked all over and being neglected at the same time. Someone's getting a time out!!! I've been trying and trying (for three years) and haven't felt the same effort from others... hopefully having us absent for awhile will help get my point across. I feel like I've tried everything else and am sad that it's come to this :(

On a happier note, Ainzley seems to be doing well. She is growing and is soooo active! She's way more active than David was. Next week, we're getting our family/Christmas pictures done and I'm getting some maternity shots - I am so excited! I never even thought about maternity pics when I was pregnant with David and I wish I had. It's such a special time and it should be documented.

Anyway, I guess that's all I've got for now. Hope everyone had a good week! And yes, I did give up on the 30 day blog challenge, lol

Thanksgiving trip

2010-11-28T16:15:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! Ours was pretty good and very eventful. We left Springfield Wednesday morning headed for St. Louis and it was a pretty easy trip. We gave some friends of ours a ride to Troy so they could spend Thanksgiving with their family in Hannibal, MO. It definitely helped the drive go faster and David was pretty content because he LOVES these particular friends - he's always sad when they leave! Once we got to Troy, we had to pick up my little brother from his friend's house then went and hung out at my parents' house. Since Wednesday was our anniversary, Jason and I went out to dinner and saw the new Harry Potter movie (thanks to my dad for watching David for us!!). We got home in the midst of tornado warnings which thankfully missed us!

Thursday was great. Well, the worst part was David waking up at 4:30ish and jumping in his pack n play... he wasn't making noise or anything... just jumping, lol. So he did that until about 6:45 (taking a few breaks of course) which is when I decided we needed to just get up. So we got up, lounged around for a little while and decided to get some breakfast and head to WalMart for some last minute things - including a news paper so we could get the Black Friday ads! We came home, got ready and headed to Jason's family get together around 11. It was a pretty good gathering though his grandma seemed pretty worried/confused with so many people over all at once. There were some rough times, but overall she seemed to enjoy seeing everyone. We headed over to my brother's house to see my family and it was great. My brother was dealing with an unfortunate personal issue and wasn't able to participate much, but it was nice of him to still let everyone come over. Mom did most of the cooking and everything was delicious. It was awesome to see all my family! Thanksgiving is really the only time I get to see ALL of my family so Jason and I try to spend as much time as we can with them. We really enjoyed our time there.

Friday was filled with Black Friday shopping and Jason got to participate in cleaning the sheep barn... yuck. David loved chasing the sheep, though! As a matter of fact, he loved all the animals! LOL My parents have two Golden Retrievers - one named Ginger and One named Buck. David likes Buck the best. Buck lives in the basement outside the room we always stay in when we visit. The first thing out of David's mouth when he wakes up is "BUH!!!" (his rendition of "Buck"). He just can't wait to see that dog! He'll peek his head out the door, say BUH! then giggle as he runs back into the bedroom. He'll then go put his face against Buck's cage to get kisses... the boy just loves that dog!!! Now when he hears our neighbor's dog barking, he'll get all excited and scream "BBUUUUUHHHH!!!"

We came home Saturday morning. I was so thankful that I cleaned the house before we left because when we got home, I was so sick! My allergies had been driving me crazy while we were at my parents' house since they have inside dogs and once we got home, my allergies turned into head cold/ stomach flu. Thankfully my stomach is now fine and I'm just dealing with the cold part... which is still difficult. At least my house is clean and I managed to get the laundry done yesterday :)

Overall it was a fun trip. We'll be going up to visit the week before Christmas since Jason has to work on Christmas again. At least he only has to work for his home care assistance guy - so far, he's not scheduled to work Christmas for his full time job. This year, they decided to let employees volunteer for the holidays which is great! He obviously got off Thanksgiving, will hopefully get off Christmas and volunteered to work New Years day. Anyway, I think our Christmas trip will be our last trip up to St. Louis before Ainzley is born but things are always subject to change.

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

2010-11-12T14:07:00.002-06:00

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

I am going to opt out of the actual photo part as my computer doesn't like me trying to save pictures from the internet... crap happens.

Right now, I am enjoying not having any pets, lol. I grew up around A LOT of animals - dogs and cats of course, horses, chickens, ducks, turkeys, peacocks, sheep, I always had at least 1 goldfish, exotic birds and our family monkey (a ring tailed-lemur). It was always a lot of responsibility and work which I enjoyed at the time. Currently, however, I'm more focused on raising David, helping Jason through school, growing Ainzley, keeping the house nice (something that would surely suffer with a pet), and focusing on my own school work.

If our apartment didn't have a $500 non-refundable pet deposit, I wouldn't mind having a puppy for David to play with (he LOVES puppies!), but besides the deposit, I've also developed an allergy to dogs... booooooo. It used to just be cats, but now it's both. Even hypoallergenic dogs get my nose going! I wouldn't want a dog to have to live in an apartment anyway. Sure, we have a larger apartment square footage wise, but we don't have a big backyard that I think a dog deserves. When Jason's graduates nursing school (hopefully in a year), we're planning on buying a house, with a fenced-in yard and a puppy. It makes me happy to think about

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago

2010-11-11T22:15:00.003-06:00

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago

This pic was taken 2 years ago on our 1st wedding anniversary. We spent the day around Forrest Park. At this point, we were making David a bear a Build-A-Bear at the Science Center obviously before he was born. We made one for Ainzley not along ago complete with a Pink Cardinal's shirt and pink bow around her ear. Hopefully we'll remember to do this for all our children :)

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend

2010-11-10T14:54:00.007-06:00

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend

This one is a toss up... mainly because I have 2 best friends. I know it's "cliche" or whatever, but of course there's Jason and my friend Kjirstin.

For Jason, it's actually a sequence of pictures from David's birth:

Obviously the first time he held David... it is so sweet! It's easy to kind of "forget" what he's like as a dad to a newborn since David hasn't been in that stage for quite awhile. I'm so excited for Ainzley to get here and to get to experience this all over again!!!

And for my dear friend, Kjirstin:

A beautiful picture from our wedding. She was my maid of honor that day and it was terrific to have her be there for our special day! Living in Springfield reminds me so much of the time we spent together and good times we had... I wish she would leave boring old KC and come back to Springfield! LOL I miss her

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.

2010-11-09T21:39:00.003-06:00

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.

I LOVED mine and Jason's first date so that's what I'll talk about. First of all, I had no idea it was a date... I thought it was just going to be a group of people hanging out, lol. Anyway, we ate dinner at Jason's parents' house which was a first for a date - jumping right into the meeting the parents situation. It was us, Jason's parents and the missionaries. What's funny is one of the missionaries that ate with us that night happened to be in our ward after we got married... it's a funny coincidence. After dinner, we went to a roller skating rink which Jason had opened just for us (definitely a plus to know the owners!). We skated for a long time just talking and getting to know each other - it was perfect. Our night ended with a good night hug and a second date.

I loved the fact that the ice had been broken on our date by a group dinner but we had an individual activity. I've never been big into the whole group date thing. I feel like there's too many distractions and you don't really get to know the person you're supposed to be on a date with, lol. Jason's favorite part of our first date? It was completely free! A definite added bonus!

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today

2010-11-08T14:44:00.003-06:00

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today

This is the last thing I ate... about 5 minutes ago, lol. For weeks, I have been craving chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing - not something I get often since Jason severely dislikes chocolate. Yesterday, while I was sewing his Thanksgiving scrubs, Jason and David surprised me by making me chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing! They were delicious!!

FINALLY - Day one!

2010-11-06T22:20:00.002-05:00

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

This pic was actually taken yesterday... but it's the first pic of me taken in a long time, lol. Yesterday was pretty good. We got up and ran our errands, came home and cleaned the house during nap time. It was so nice to have help cleaning! I normally wouldn't ask since Jason works so hard at both his jobs and school and I try to make the house my "chore", but I've been so exhausted lately and was trying to keep my back from hurting. Jason was a rock star helper!

After finishing cleaning, Jason played Mario Kart while I jumped in the shower to get ready for our date night! We had dinner at home with our friends who watched David for us. After dinner, we cleaned up, made puppy chow and left for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert. It was a late night but we enjoyed ourselves... especially since it was only our second date without David since he was born!

Today was pretty great as well. We had a lazy Saturday morning at home. We eventually decided to break out the Christmas decorations... yep, we're junkies! LOL Jason had to work so David and I hung out. We took Jason dinner and got home just in time to get ready for bed. After tucking him in, I straightened up the house and got our stuff ready for church in the morning.

I'm pretty excited about Daylight Savings Time tonight... an extra hour of sleep? Heck yes! Child permitting, of course ;)

Copy Cat

2010-10-15T14:57:00.002-05:00

Like so many of my friends, I've decided to go ahead with the 30 Day Blog Challenge!! We'll see how this goes... I probably won't start until tomorrow since David is the only one around to take a pic of me today, lol. Here's the 30 Day List for anyone who may want to participate :)

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past.

Ainzley Renee

2010-10-12T21:48:00.008-05:00

As promised - Ultrasound Pictures!!!

We just can't believe we're having a girl! LOL I am so excited for David to become a big brother!!! He is so interested in other babies and is such a snuggly boy! If we ask him where Baby Ainzley is, he'll lift up my shirt and point to my tummy. He'll give her snuggles and kisses, too. He's such a great boy! We are so blessed to have 2 sweet babies!!

Quick Update

2010-10-10T22:52:00.002-05:00

Hi friends!!! Just wanted to drop in and let everyone know we had an ultrasound this weekend and....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so ecstatic! Her name will be Ainzley Renee (she and I will share our middle name). I'll post the pics when I get a little less busy :)

David

2010-10-07T10:14:00.002-05:00

It's so hard to believe my little man is 18 months old! We took him to the doctor the other day and he is 35.5" tall and weighs 36 lbs - off the charts in both! Not that it's a big surprise, but it kind of is, too, lol. It's so fun to see how far he's grown!!! He's in the nursery at church now and didn't like it at first, but did really well 2 weeks ago. He is sooooo smart! It amazes me how quickly he picks up on things. Jason recently bought a Wii and we have the wheel controllers for Mario Kart. We even bought David Nerf ones so if he throws it, it won't break - good find, Daddy! David loves to watch Daddy play and will grab his own controller and turn it likes he's driving too - it's so funny! He's got such a fun personality and LOVES to play outside. He's so great and we absolutely love having him in our family!!!!!

15 weeks

2010-09-14T21:56:00.002-05:00

I am 15 weeks into this pregnancy today! I can't believe how fast everything is going by... not to mention we're only 5 weeks away from finding out what we're having! Initially, I really wanted a girl, but just recently, my opinion has changed. I know David is really too young to have a preference, but I think he would LOVE a brother. I love having a boy so much and two would be a blast! Not that having a girl isn't great and I would definitely love a daughter, but another boy just sounds so appealing to me, lol. It's so funny because picking out a girl name was no problem for us (the one we have picked out isn't even one we were considering the first time around), but we have no idea what we'll name this one if it is a boy.... No idea at all.

In other news, we are finally feeling settled in our new apartment and LOVE it! We feel so much more at home here and we're even close enough that Jason can come home on his lunch break which is so nice on the days when he has work and school. It doesn't have outside storage like our old place did, but there's so much space, we don't even notice the difference. We live in a smaller apartment community and everyone is so nice! We had an end of summer luau last week and we won $300 off our rent as a door prize - YAY! It was so great! We'll probably use it in December so we can have extra spending money for Christmas, lol. They also have a big Halloween party with more opportunities for monies off rent so I'm already thinking of awesome costume ideas!

School is going great! Jason's classes are super easy (Nutrition and Sociology) which is nice. Both of his teachers told him he wouldn't even need the book for the classes and Jason really likes them. So far, my online classes are going great! Anthropology is the only one I'm in currently and Psychology will start in October. Anthropology is so interesting to me and I LOVE online classes. Yes, they're more challenging and you definitely have to be self motivated, but it's great to be able to work at my own pace. Overall, it's going to be a great semester.

HEEELLOOOO 2nd Trimester!!

2010-09-02T17:03:00.002-05:00

I'm back! FINALLY!!! This pregnancy has kicked my butt so far! I felt great up until about week 6 1/2 then nausea set in. Every. single. day. I just stayed on the couch all morning and it was awful!! I'm so glad it was summer and Jason was home to help with David because I just couldn't meet his needs and THAT is the worst feeling in the world. Knowing that I can't pull it together to take care of David was the worst part of the nausea by far. I'm so so so glad it's over! I'm officially in my second trimester and from 13 weeks and 1 day, there was a dramatic difference. I felt a million times better and wasn't so tired all the time.

This pregnancy is completely different from when I was expecting David... holy cow! With David, I wasn't really sick in my first trimester, but got REALLY sick in the second. Besides that and the obvious growing tummy, those were my only symptoms and it was glorious! This time, however, I was really sick in my first trimester, I've got ridiculous acne (something I've never suffered from - ever), really dry facial areas in tandem to the acne and I've had heartburn since day one. 26 1/2 weeks to go! LOL

David has been doing great! He's grown so much lately!! We started a new ward in conjunction with our move last week and David was allowed to go to nursery for the first time! He was initially interested in the toys and Jason and I left with no issues. About 15 minutes into Sunday School, the nursery leader came and got me. Once David saw that we had left, he was not happy. So I went and kept him company for about 15 minutes... I literally just sat on the sidelines - just my presence was comforting to him, but he still wanted to play, lol. I kept scooting closer to the door and once he had stopped glancing over his shoulder to check on me, I snuck out and he didn't seem to miss me. I got back to Sunday School for the last couple minutes and got to sit through the beginning of the 5th sunday activity before the nursery leader came and found me again. David was sad once the toys were cleaned up and was frustrated they hadn't gotten to his favorite song in singing time yet, lol. He was really tired since he woke up early so we took him home for a nap - we didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he was asleep! I think that now that he's used to sleeping in our new apartment, he'll do better next week. On another note, David loves to point out the baby in my tummy! I'll ask him where the baby is to which he'll point to my belly button and if I tell him to give the baby love, he'll either kiss or snuggle my tummy - it's very sweet! Then again, he is a super-snuggler just like his daddy! lol

So, I mentioned our move and there's not much more to say about it, lol. I'm glad its over! We are in a new ward and new stake and we're adjusting. We absolutely loved our old ward so we're just trying to stay open minded and make friends quickly. At least we're still close enough to hang out with our friends from our old ward - we only moved 1 street above ward/stake boundaries. They're talking about redoing the boundaries (like seriously talking compared to the rumors that have been circulating for years) so we'll see what that brings.

Sad news time... we had to cancel our trip to the Philippines :(. One of our connecting flights got canceled and we couldn't change the dates because of school so we were able to get a full refund. Now we're thinking about a smaller vacation... possibly Salt Lake around Christmas time... we're not sure, though. Definitely want to go before baby and I can't fly after February 6th because of the whole 30 day due date cut off and after driving from St. Louis to Miami pregnant, I refuse to do it again! We thought about another cruise, but we're not sold on that idea either. I'd love to go to New York again - it was amazing! We want to go to Disney, but I would want David to be older. I've been before and don't think I would have the patience to do it pregnant. The walking would be fine... but not the lines, lol

So, that's basically all I have for now. Gotta start dinner before David wakes up from his nap! :)

I feel like I haven't missed a beat

2010-07-18T12:35:00.002-05:00

So, being almost 7 weeks pregnant... I feel like it hasn't been 16 months since I was last pregnant. Right back into prenatals (which I took the whole time I was nursing so it's really only been like a 4 month break from those), sleepless nights, and stupid ingrown hairs on my legs. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I NEVER get ingrown hairs unless I'm pregnant, lol. Oh, and the exhaustion and raging hormones. I've cried every day of this pregnancy and for absolutely no reason. The part I do like about the hormones is how "lovey" I get... Every time I see Jace, I just want to give him a huge hug and not let go! I feel like, mostly, pregnancy is good for my marriage, lol

We are so excited for this little one! I'm still trying to adjust to David not being the baby, but everyday he is growing and learning... proving to me that it's ok - it's all a part of life and it all will be great. We've got big plans for this birth, too. I found a terrific midwife that delivers in hospital! A home birth is still my first choice, but we're weighing our options. We've decided our official stance is pro-home birth, but not anti-hospital. We LOVE the idea of home births and the freedom it gives women and families, but also understand that it's not for everyone or every situation. Because of David's brain cyst, his birth was not an ideal home birth situation and that's ok. We still had a terrific birth and came home happy and healthy, but that doesn't mean ALL my births have to happen the same way.

Anyway, on another note, we are really enjoying our summer! We love the break from school and all our free time! We're moving at the end of next month and cannot wait! Our apartment we live in is OK and nice by all accounts... but it's more of a "pretend" nice as me and a friend decided. It's obviously cheaply constructed, poorly managed (even though the manager we deal with is awesome, it's overall a lazy job), the maintenance guys are rude and also lazy and we have terrible neighbors! Well, except for the missionaries who live across the breezeway from us, lol. I'm glad our complex has 4 pools because the one closest to our apartment is ALWAYS closed! People know the managers never come over and check for the pool bracelets we're supposed to always have on us so we have random people come over and swim - people who don't even live here! Our pool is currently closed because some idiots took glass bottles into the pool and broke them. Apparently, that means the pool has to be closed for a week... awesome. Our new apartment is so great and we can't wait to live there! It will, without a doubt, be the last apartment we live in before we buy a house... it's going to be a long lease, lol.

David is becoming quite the little man. He can now successfully locate his tummy, ears, mouth, nose and eyes. He's known his tummy for a long time and just learned the rest in the past 2 weeks or so. He loves books and his favorite toys are his Mega Bloks and his beach ball. We were very interested in extended rear facing in his car seat. The APA is now suggesting 2 years before forward facing children or when they outgrow the rear facing aspect of the car seat... he outgrew it at 15 months, lol. So now he's forward facing like a big boy! I can't believe how big he really is! There's several children at church who are his age or older and he's much bigger than them! Not that it should surprise me, but I always forget about it, lol.

Well, Jason will be getting home from church soon so I guess I'll start working on lunch and less on blogging :)

Our latest news

2010-07-07T16:25:00.004-05:00

We're pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby Duree #2 will be joining our family sometime next March and we are so excited! It's bittersweet for me knowing that David won't be the baby anymore, but it's all part of life. I know he'll be a great big brother. Jason is hoping for another boy and I'm hoping for a girl - we need a little variety! LOL Boy or girl, we just can't wait to meet our new addition!

2010-06-12T21:10:00.002-05:00

I really don't have much to say... so I guess I'll write until I've said something.

I have decided that my creativity far exceeds my pocketbook. I have so many ideas - great, creative, unique ideas - and no money to bring them to life. Hopefully that will change soon. I've recently tapped into the apparel needs of the local nursing home (aka Jason's work, lol). There is a rather large woman who is a resident there that has specific clothing needs and, thanks to my advertisement-savvy husband, I have been asked to make her custom clothing. I completed my first set yesterday and was quite proud. I had to make up the majority of the "pattern" and they looked great. Anyway, hopefully other families will see my work and ask for more clothes. Then I can take the money from that and invest it into my other ideas... I guess we'll see in the coming weeks.

While shopping at Hobby Lobby this past week for material for the aforementioned clothing, I had lots of time to kill and decided to see what new and exciting things they had to offer... lo and behold... they were stocking their Christmas merchandise! I knew it started early, but I was completely blind sided, lol. I have to admit the thought of celebrating such a cheerful time of year made me excited. Jason LOVES Christmas... even that is an understatement of his affection for this special time of year. Last year was our first Christmas at home by ourselves and I loved it! I definitely missed the hustle and bustle of visiting so many family members in a short time period of time, but it was also nice to relax, cook EXACTLY what I wanted for Christmas dinner, and watch our favorite movies. We got to go see our families the weekend before Christmas which made it less stressful. We really enjoyed setting our own family traditions and I'm secretly hoping to have the same situation this year.

Speaking of family, we got to spend last weekend with Jason's family in Branson and we had a blast! We spent most of our time at the pool and hanging out. I got a surprise phone call from my Dad which was awesome. My family members aren't big phone conversation people so it was nice to hear from him. My mom and little brother were out of town and Dad was all by himself and sounded so lonely! I've always been really close with my dad and miss him a lot... I miss my whole family, actually. I love Springfield and being on our own, but we miss home! Hopefully these next few years will pass quickly.

Well, I guess that's sufficient... I don't really have too much on my mind, buuttt, guess that's a good start :)

2010-05-29T16:06:00.002-05:00

Oh man are we loving SUMMER!!!! David and I love waking up and having Daddy with us now that he's out of school for the summer. We go to the pool almost everyday which is so much fun! When I was younger, I loved going to the pool. Partly because it meant a visit to my grandma and grandpa's, but also because I love the water! Well, pools... I like pools. I get nervous when I can't see the bottom which is why I'm not a huge fan of lakes.

Anyway, David is a huge water baby!! He loves to splash and go between the hot tub and the pool. I found an adorable swim suit for him and he's a stud when he has his shades on! I'm glad that we haven't missed many days due to bad weather and I can't wait to take him swimming at his Auntie Linda's! Their subdivision has an AWESOME theme pool that he's finally old enough to enjoy.

I am soooo looking forward to taking him to the beaches in the Philippines! He probably won't be fond of the sand, but I'm sure we'll have a blast. In a place as gorgeous as that, how can you not enjoy it? We can't wait!!!!!! :D

2010-05-25T22:10:00.002-05:00

I just heard that one of my friends is getting a divorce and my heart aches for her!!

Growing up in a house where divorce was brought up quite frequently (or so it seemed), I grew up thinking that a successful marriage was near impossible.

Then I met Jason... he's sweet, charming, caring, loving, giving and the best man I have ever known. I am so grateful to not only be married to him, but to have made a covenant with him and Heavenly Father that allows us to be together FOREVER. Time and all eternity with the love of my life - perfect!

It's been awhile

2010-05-17T21:59:00.004-05:00

Jason is such a giving person... I guess that's the best way to start this story, lol. He has been in contact with his "trainee" mission companion lately which is awesome! His companion is a native Filipino (yes, that is spelled correctly) who currently lives in Hawaii - way cool! However, he has a job making minimum wage which won't get you much in Hawaii! He and his 4 roommates share a 2 bedroom apartment which costs $2250/month!!! So, he makes minimum wage ($7.25) and pays $450 for housing. To give you an idea of the cost of living, in case the housing didn't make it obvious enough, a gallon of milk costs $6 - holy cow!!! Anyway, back to the story...

He isn't going to school currently, can barely afford living and doesn't really care for Hawaii. My husband, being the ever caring person he is, offered to let his mission companion live with us - what?!? I mean, he's a nice guy, shares our values and is a hard worker, but I haven't ever met this guy before!! I trust Jason's character judgment, but I'm still hesitant. I don't mind helping him out, but we are going to be working very hard to find him a job and an apartment, lol. Jason's boss has already said that as long as he has all the proper documentation (visas, etc) that it shouldn't be an issue hiring him so that's good.

Other than that, we're not up to much! Jason's on summer break which is awesome. One of the missionaries who was here when I was baptized is in town and it's been great!!! She has an internship at the zoo and we've been able to hang out a lot. She lives in Spokane, Washington so we obviously don't get to see each other often enough, lol.

As promised

2010-05-07T22:05:00.003-05:00

Today, I woke up to this:

On days like this, I spend my day wearing this:

And in here:

I have a confession... I have never made a Red Velvet Cake. Yes, shocker, I know! I found this recipe for Red Velvet Cookie Sandwiches - YUM! What a fun afternoon...

1 cake mix in large mixing bowl. I expected the cake mix to be a bit more........ vibrant.

Oh, wait... there are a couple pigments

There we go. Definitely on the right page :)

Into the 350 degree oven for 15 minutes

Gotta stop and feed the babe. Oh he is PRECIOUS!!!!! He, too, enjoyed his first bites of Red Velvet goodness

DING! First batch done!

The camera was MIA during the frosting making, but here's the end result:

Nom nom nom......

Today was a fantastically creative day. When I wasn't in the kitchen (and when I wasn't spending time with Jace & David), I was doing lots of brainstorming and came up with some really awesome ideas. I'm very into the "creative baby items" market right now... I guess we'll see how that goes!

Besides that, it was a really fun day. Hope yours was, too!!!

"Ok, Jace, I'm gonna need you to start making more money"

2010-05-07T13:05:00.006-05:00

Because apparently, I must have EVERYTHING!! lol

Like these lovely little sweethearts:

Or these!!!
Or these in every color!
And come on... who DOESN'T need a castle cookie cutter?!?!

Or a cake pan that makes cake "sandwiches"??

Cleverly named "The Cakewich"

Be still my heart!!

I have this friend...

2010-05-06T22:09:00.002-05:00

We'll call her Caryn - because that's her name! lol
A little background information: I've been having a tough week emotionally. Basically I've been remembering times that I've been hurt or wronged by family members (mine and Jason's) and getting really frustrated because the emotional wound is still there.

Today, Caryn made a blog post and while it didn't really have anything to do with hurt feelings or earthly family relationships, I was so uplifted by reading it! She always seems to have an eternal perspective - ALWAYS and I love it! As a convert, I really appreciate the example that Caryn is to me. It bugs me when people who grow up in the church take advantage of the amazing blessing they have to learn and grow... Caryn has never come across as one of those people.

I am so grateful to know Caryn, her husband, and their beautiful daughter and we miss them immensely! Jason and I speak of them often and hope we can have a reunion soon. We miss you guys!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite pics of the Allen family, lol :)

The boy that makes my heart melt

2010-05-02T22:27:00.003-05:00

"David, where's your tummy?!?!?"

Cute Babylegs!!!

My Favorite Hymn

2010-04-27T19:07:00.002-05:00

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died

Chorus:
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me
Oh, it is wonderful
Wonderful to me

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine
That he should extend his great love unto such as I
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify

(Repeat chorus)

I think of his hands, pierced and bleeding to pay my debt
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me
Secure in the promise of life in his victory
Thus ransomed from death I will live to my Savior's praise
And sing of his goodness and mercy through endless days

In our ward, we don't really sing hymns that I'm familiar with... including this one. It makes me sad that I don't get to sing it in church very often, but I am happy to come home after church and listen to it while I make dinner. It's one of the highlights of my sunday... even though I sing it quite frequently throughout the week :)

Weekend Getaway

2010-04-26T22:52:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, Jason, David and I went to St. Louis for a visit & we had a blast! We were plagued with a couple tornadoes, but we survived :) It was great to see my family again! It seems like a long time between our visits even though it's only about 4 or 6 weeks. My little brother is turning into quite the stud... he's very busy finishing the school year, running track and playing baseball. They have quite a few tournaments so I'm looking forward to getting to see him in action someday soon. Dad is hard working as always and mom is working diligently to finish her PhD work.

Our main reason for our trip was my cousin's wedding - it was beautiful! She and her new hubby have been dating for a long time and it was wonderful to see them become man and wife. We had a blast at the reception! The food was delicious and the music was great for dancing. This was the first time in a long time that Jason and I got to dance together and we really enjoyed showing off our swing dancing skills :)

Now, we are back to "normal" life and quite happy to be home

Extra time

2010-04-21T21:55:00.003-05:00

Today, David went back to his 2 nap schedule - what a difference!!! Not sure why he chose to cut it out, but we much prefer 2 naps. David woke up a little before 8 this morning which is completely normal. We ate breakfast and played for a little while. At 9:45ish, I went to the bathroom to wash my face and when I came back into the living room, David was almost asleep on the living room floor! I picked him up and put him in his crib and he slept for 2 hours! After he woke up (and after Daddy left for work), we went to run some errands. On our way home, David fell asleep in the car. After bringing him into the house and putting him in bed for the second time, he slept for another 2 hours! I had no idea what to do with all that extra time! lol It was fabulous to get the after bedtime chores done before dinner.

Besides our new schedule, we are getting ready to head up to St. Louis this weekend and we can't wait! We got a new case that will allow us to attach our portable DVD player to the headrest of our car seats so David will have a new form of entertainment - thank goodness! We're so excited to go home for a little while... we're needing a break! :)

2010-04-20T16:48:00.002-05:00

Well, today we got a letter from Jason's school... he didn't get into nursing school this semester. We were pretty distraught so Jason called the school to find out why. Apparently, one of this 3 references never made it into his file. He asked the people who wrote his references repeatedly if they turned them in and they all said yes - We even gave them stamped, addresses envelopes to make it easier! We know which person's reference never made it so Jason doubled checked with him and he assured us he mailed it. So, who's to blame? The school for possibly losing it or the post office for not delivering it? The school is on the lookout for Jason's lost reference - which apparently happens more often than you would think - but we're not counting on much. We feel hopeful but chance-less currently. So, unless we get our small miracle, it looks like we're going to be postponing nursing school 5 months (fortunately OTC offers nursing school twice a year!). This isn't really how we imagined the situation happening - something so small is what's keeping us from our goal - it's so frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're just trying to focus on the positive and see where we end up.

Wish us luck!

Day at the Park

2010-04-17T14:27:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was Jason's day off (besides Sunday) so we made the most of it. We ran errands most of the day and took a break at the park - David LOVED it!!!!!!!

David's first time to the park

2010-04-15T21:38:00.002-05:00

Today, David and I got to go to the park and we had a blast! We only had about 15 minutes before we needed to be at Jason's work since we were taking him dinner, but it was plenty of time. In the 10 minutes it took for us to drive to the park, David fell asleep - awesome... I thought for sure our play time was going to be horrendous. As soon as I took him out of the car, he woke right up - almost as if he knew what was coming, lol. We visited the swings first and they were a hit! I got some really cute videos on my phone. Next we tried out the slide and he wasn't sure at first. After a couple times, I couldn't tell if he loved the swings or the slide more! Hopefully we can go back to the park tomorrow with Daddy so we can get some cute pics, too.

We had so much fun!!!!!!!

Productivity

2010-04-15T13:54:00.002-05:00

Today, I am feeling good! I woke up naturally before my son and was able to have breakfast waiting for him. We ate breakfast together and sang silly songs. Afterward, we cleaned up breakfast and played with Mega Blocks for awhile. Once David was playing happily by himself, well, with his friend Roger the Giraffe, I started cleaning the house. I keep the house pretty clean normally, so it didn't take me too long to dust, sweep, mop and sanitize... I clean the kitchen and vacuum everyday anyway. Once I finished that, I waxed my eyebrows and got ready for the day. Once Jason got home from school, we left to pickup both our cars (oh yeah... we bought a new car on Saturday, lol) and came home for lunch. Now, Jason's at work, David's napping and I actually get to relax! I'm sure I'll be doing some sewing later, but for now, I'm enjoying catching up on my reading.

I'm currently reading "Born in the USA" by Dr. Marsden Wagner and it's a great book! It's about the problems with the maternity care in America. What's even better is that it's written by an obstetrician! I am a supporter of the education of women about their birthing options. Sometimes I feel a little overbearing when one of my friends tells me their expecting, but just because we're all young and not everyone has had the option to learn about birthing with a midwife or doula. It's such a wonderfully different and refreshing experience.

Anyway, just an update on my daily life, lol

Is this not the sweetest picture ever?!?!?!?

2010-04-11T12:41:00.002-05:00

This is my glorious new niece, Ava... Hello Sweet Girl! Auntie can't wait to meet you!!

I can't recall being so nervous

2010-04-08T18:55:00.002-05:00

Jason applied for nursing school a month and a half ago... We're still waiting to hear if he's being called back for an interview... and I'm a nervous WRECK!!!!! He's got a terrific GPA and has been working in the nursing field for almost 2 years which makes him pretty qualified already. Jason is very calm and confident, but I can't help but worry! If he doesn't get accepted this semester, it'll set us back a whole year :(

This is my fear:

When we moved to Springfield, Jason has 2 job offers. When we got here, the jobs he was promised weren't there anymore. He was crushed. We knew we were supposed to move to Springfield, but it felt like the odds were against us. I was worried sick... and so was Jason. Jason is a very emotional guy so I tried to stay strong for us. We spent hours calling to see who was hiring, I drove around with David picking up applications while Jason was at school. I would fill them out and Jason would return them. After 2 weeks, just as Jason was going to apply at a gas station, Jason FINALLY got a job offer that was better than we hoped... and that's when I cried. I stayed so strong for Jason and I could finally breathe. If Jason doesn't get accepted to nursing school... I'll be the one to break down first... almost guaranteed!

I guess now that it's "go time", the time for our plans to become reality, I'm so nervous.
Someone talk me down!!!!!! lol

*

"Make me up! Before you go go..."

The best of the best

First Snow Day of 2012

Christmas fabulocity

Thanksgiving/Anniversary

The bare minimum

Birthday recap

Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?

Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.

Day 8 – A song to match your mood.

Day 7 –Your wedding

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.

Day 5 – How important do you think education is?

Whoops!

Copy Cat

200th post!

Fall on the farm

4 weeks

We're IN!!!

Moving

As it turns out...

To my wonderful son

House update

I know I'm a day early, buuuttt...

Alright... let's talk about it

I live

What a weekend

Dairy free!

Finishing from last time

I knew this would happen...

House rambling, lol

Holy Cow - Another bit of good news!

Smile... then a head shake

Last night of hiding out

More on Nursing School

Hiding out

Ainzley's Newborn Pics

Writing this made me feel so much better

Weekending

Blah

What a month!!

HOUSE

More thoughts on birth

Still in awe

Ainzley's Birth Pictures

Ainzley's Birth Story

My predictions were correct

Hello March!

Dreams

Praise for the Webster Technique!

37 Weeks

First Blog Post of the New Year!

Oh how I miss thee!

Christmas blessings

It's kind of amazing

Preview **Updated**

Our week

Thanksgiving trip

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

Day 5 – A photo of yourself two years ago

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today

FINALLY - Day one!

Copy Cat

Ainzley Renee

Quick Update

David

15 weeks

HEEELLOOOO 2nd Trimester!!

I feel like I haven't missed a beat

Our latest news

It's been awhile

As promised

"Ok, Jace, I'm gonna need you to start making more money"

I have this friend...

The boy that makes my heart melt

My Favorite Hymn

Preview Updated