Miguel, Jeri, Audri, & Elsie

MIA

2012-01-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll. I'm I have to duck out for a while. I'm super busy right now :) BUT I'll still be checking in every once in a while to see what's up with ya'll, cuz I love you guys :) All is well with the fam, life is crazy but awesome. To be continued...

Pictures Galore!

2011-12-16T19:03:00.001-08:00

Okay, so this is the most pics I've ever posted and in the most unorganized way, but I just wanted to get them all up. Enjoy!

Elsie during "tummy time"...passed out

Audri helping Mommy do the dishes

San Diego trip-sis Claudia on the beach

San Diego trip- Carolina and Luis on the beach

San Diego trip-Baby Elsie all wrapped up in her Moby on the beach

San Diego trip-Miguel on the beach

San Diego trip-la familia

San Diego trip-Carolina and Luis feliz :)

San Diego trip- Me n baby Elsie all wrapped up

At the family reunion- Uncle Kyle playing with baby Elsie

Audri holding Daddy's leg

Aunties with little baby

Audri sympathizing with her little sis

Audri at Red Robin workin that dessert

Baby Elsie at Red Robin

Audri go like -this-..."Okay"

Me n my little baby at Red Robin

Baby Elsie's blessing day

Daddy and Audri

The remodeled living room at my parents house (Christmas present from the kids)

Baby Elsie one Sunday morning

Audri....eating, lol

She wants to be like Nana and put curlers in her hair

On a fall walk with the family

My wonderful in-laws Carolina and Luis

Me n Baby Elsie on our walk

Nana and Tata helping Audri kick the leaves

Audri playing in the grass

Loving the new double stroller

Having fun being able to stand up in it

Nana with her little girls

Audri drinking Eco with Nana

Audri and Olivia all bundled up playing outside

So excited

Halloween Ladybugs

The Scientists with their Ladybugs

Ladybug Audri

Mr. Entymologist and Ladybug Audri trunk or treating

Smileys and Russian Tea Cakes

2011-12-11T18:28:00.000-08:00

Elsie is really good at those now. She loves to smile. Especially when you smile at her first. I love it. My fav is when she sticks her neck out slightly and gives me a little smile with a coo, as if to say "hey." So cute. None of us are sleeping through the night yet...neither child is potty trained, okay, so Audri isn't and Elsie shouldn't be. Both still take bottles (I pump for Elsie, every single feeding. Ridiculous? Yes indeed.) and I think it's a comfort for Audri during this huge time of change for her to still have her bottle. Actual milk seems to irritate her stomach and give her rashes so we've switched her to rice and/or almond or soy milk and she does just fine. I'm thinking after we get some good sleeping patterns in we can work on getting rid of the bottle for her.

Also, Audri is turning 2! In 3 weeks I will have a 2 year old and a 3 month old. They are absolutely wonderful little girls and I'm excited. They've both brought us so much joy and happiness. I never knew I would enjoy sleep deprivation and changing poopy diapers so much. Okay, so those aren't the parts I actually enjoy. You get my point though right?

Audri is saying and doing incredibly silly things now. I can't even keep track of them. Miguel wants me to take pictures whenever she does something crazy, but I'm trying not to encourage all of those things and I'm thinking if I take pictures she'll think they're...cool? Like unrolling an ENTIRE roll of toilet paper in the living room and stringing it about. Not cool. Oh, and waiting until you're pooping to tell mommy that you need to go potty...when you don't have a diaper on. Not cool. Trying to share with baby Elsie...pieces of your cheese...Not cool.

In other news: Miguel is almost done with the semester and then we're headed to Portland for Christmas and New Years. Woohoo!! I'm excited for him to be able to chill a little and not have school. We miss him when he's gone all day at school. For Christmas this year Miguel and I got each other the Asus eee Transformer. Its a tablet. We got the attachable keyboard as well that turns it into a little notebook. We pretty much love it. But yeah, basically we're still getting stuff in our stockings and maybe a small gift just to have something to unwrap on Christmas Day. Audri is going to have a blast because it will be her first Christmas that she actually can unwrap her presents and know what's going on. I'm going to love it too.

Our ward has recently been split up. They took apart the two wards that were here and made a third ward out of some people. We're still in the same ward with the same callings though. Which, I think is kind of nice in a way. We're just now starting to get settled and knowing people. Tonight is a Relief Society activity. A cookie exchange. I'm going because I have to lead the music :) I'm excited for cookies. Someone should definitely bring Russian tea cakes. Yum!

I know I've been promising pictures for forever now, but they will be up this week before we leave or else I'll have WAY too much to catch up on. Love and miss you all.

Um...maybe

2011-11-30T11:45:00.001-08:00

Audri says that a lot when she's trying to convince me we should do something that SHE wants to do. It's super cute. And super hard to say no to. For example, we'll be talking (me and Miguel) about what we want to do and she'll come lean on you with her elbows, wiggle a little, tilt her head sideways and say, "Um...maybe we should watch a pincess (which means princess of course) movie." Love it. Last night we had soup and grilled cheese sandwiches and Audri decided she was done but she didn't eat her sandwich so Miguel grabbed it and took a bite. She said, "Daddy that's mine sandwich." And then she held out her hand in his face and said, "Spit it out." Buahahaha! Basically, she's starting to use full sentences now so everything is adorable. She just gets cuter and cuter. Do parents suddenly become disenchanted with their children once they hit age...7 or 8? I personally think that's the un-cute stage...hmm, I guess we'll see.

Elsie is moving right along being as cute as ever as well. She's been smiling up a storm lately. What's really hard is in between burping and eating when she just sits in my arms staring up at me and starts being all smiley. I'm so exhausted!! And I don't want to play with her and let her think it's okay to be up and playing at whatever ridiculous hour it is. But it's so darn cute!! Of course I smile back and do a little baby talk routine with her. She's getting chunkier, baby chunk is cute of course. However, mommy's leftover pregnancy chunk...not so cute. I'll get working on that. She still isn't sleeping through the night, but I'm kind of shooting for 3 months on that one. She's grown out of most of her newborn onesies and such and is fitting into her 0-3 month clothes pretty well.

We're headed to San Diego tonight for an international conference. So excited!! I love them. AND we'll be hangin out with my awesome sis Claudia, my amazing in-laws, and all the Portland peeps. Maybe we'll stop at the zoo??

Our Christmas shopping is complete. We'll be spending it in Portland with the fam so I'm not gunna bother decorating...is that bad?? Nah. It's not about decorating anyway right? We'll basically be with our family for a month so...yeah. And we'll be there for Audri's birthday!! My little girl is turning 2. So crazy.

As for our Christmas list...I have a running Amazon wishlist...and Miguel...well, he's indecisive so maybe he won't get anything :) Basically we really don't need a lot this year. We've been very blessed. We've been so happy to be able to remodel my parents' living room for their Christmas present (I'll have to post pics of that too) and pick out presents for other family members that we haven't really sat down and decided anything.

I'll post pics soon of the things we've been up to, but for now I figured just a written statement of existence should be good :)

Wow!

2011-11-11T22:22:00.001-08:00

I can't believe it's been almost an entire month since I posted last... boo. Shame on me. But of course you know what I've been up to already if you've seen anything on Facebook. I'll just sum it up anyway:

-Halloween of course, was awesome. Audri loves trick or treating

-We went down to my parents for a few days and remodeled the living room with the help of my wonderful in-laws

-who have been here for two weeks and will be leaving Monday

-We're blessing Elsie on Sunday, woohoo!!

-Miguel got me a touch lamp :) to put by my bed because I get up so often in the night to tend to the kiddos

-My mother-in-law is teaching me how to crochet. I'm doin pretty good I think ;)

-Um...Elsie will sometimes sleep longer than 3 hours now and it's getting me all excited for when she can sleep through the night and I become a normal non-zombie person again

-I've been on a planning spree, Christmas, Thanksgiving, presents, business trips...yep, gotta have everything all planned out and budgeted so I know where I can splurge ;)

-Claudia and the fam were supposed to come up for the blessing on Sunday and I was super excited to see them all and have them meet little Elsie but my nephew Bretton is in the hospital and is going in for surgery tomorrow to have a cyst removed from his spine....ick. We'll be praying for him this weekend. Is it awful that I'm still sad they couldn't come?? Miss them.

-Yup. There's prolly some more but I should really go to bed so I can get some sleep tonight just thought I'd drop in and let you know that I'm still alive and still incredibly fortunate and blessed. I have amazing friends and family, a husband who loves me in all my grumpiness, and two gorgeous little girls who are learning so fast

Life as a mother of two continued...

2011-10-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry ya'll. This will most likely be the topic of my blogging for a while :) Wait...I'm not sorry. It's my life, and no one is forcing you to read my blog right?? Right?? Okay, my sisters are forced by relation...

Things are going well. We're sleep-deprived zombies most of the time...but hey, isn't that what *parenting is?

*Giving up sleep, time, warm food, a rockin' body, and sanity to bring up children of our Heavenly Father and teach them things they would have a hard time learning on their own:) That's my definition anyway.

No really though Miguel and I are truly blessed. I can't even explain how much. Our little home is filled with so much love, which overcomes all of the frustration and short-temperament that accompanies sleep-deprived parents.

Oh! Miguel's parents are flying in from Chile on Friday. We're picking them up at the airport :) They're going to stay until we bless Elsie on the 13th.

Also...I want to have a Halloween party...because it would be fun. Audri and Elsie are going to be Ladybugs and if I can find a couple of lab coats Miguel and I will be Ladybug Scientists....

Here are some goodies from recent happenings for ya.

With all the commotion I forgot to post about Audri's haircut. We were just sick of it being all up in her face and I don't always have time to do little pigtails and stuff (and even when I do she rips them out at some points during the day). Miguel did it and I was really nervous and on the video I took I'm freaking out telling him he's not doing it right...it's great. But really I think it turned out fine. These aren't very good because I grabbed them off the video camera, but it's all I've got! She's still cute!! Haha.

And that's it for now.

Dress up

2011-10-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Audri had a blast playin with the kids at my parents' house last week.

Ashley was excited to have someone to dress up as well.

Here's what they came up with one afternoon...

A fairy.

Elsie Jane Elgueda

2011-10-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yes this will be a somewhat long post. Heck, I birthed a baby okay??

On October 1st, 2011 we went to bed around 11 or so...nothing out of the ordinary. We had spent a wonderful day watching conference with friends and all was well and normal in the Elgueda household. Little did we know...our plans were about to be drastically changed.

At 2:15 a.m. I woke up to go to the bathroom, pretty routine considering I was almost 9 months pregnant and frequently had to make trips to the bathroom during my sleepless nights. I went back to bed and at 2:30 a.m. I was awakened by this gush of fluid coming out of my body. At first I thought I had just peed the bed...silly right? But it happens to pregnant women I hear...I got up and ran back to the bathroom where more fluid leaked and leaked. This fluid was clear and had no smell. I ran to the computer to google my "symptoms" before I did something drastic :) Every website and blog I read on the matter said that it was probably my water breaking and they advised hurrying to my doctor or the hospital...what?? It was now October 2nd and I wasn't due until October 19th....and my water broke and I was having no contractions?? Didn't make sense. BUT, none of the people posting said that they went in and the doc sent them home. In fact, ALL of them said they had their babies within the next 24 hours. SO, I decided to call the hospital and and ask what the procedure would be and then go wake up Miguel and let him know that we needed to go to the hospital tonight. The nurse at the birthing center said that I could have peed myself but that there was no way to be sure without an examination and either I could come in now or I'd have to come in later...I said I'd be in and went to wake Miguel.

I woke Miguel and explained what was going on and he got all excited. I told him not to get too excited in case it was a false alarm of some kind. He calmed down and went to go put the video baby monitor on Audri so our landlords/friends/neighbors downstairs could watch her for us. I packed my bag quickly (because that was on my "to-do" list for the week and had not been done yet), grabbed baby's bag, and we went to wake our friends. By the time we left it was about 3:30 a.m. We knocked a few times. Lorien came to the door and said, "you guys has better be having a baby." We explained briefly that we could in fact be doing just that and headed out to the hospital.

We had to enter through the emergency room because all the other entrances were closed this late/early. We went and got all situated in an examination room and after a series of tests the nurse determined that my water had in fact broken...on it's own...while I was sleeping...but I was only dilated to a 1. I was having absolutely no contractions. My doc was called and he said that they'd give me the chance to start going into labor on my own, check me again around 8:30 a.m. and then start me on pitocin if there wasn't any progress because they had about a 24 hour window to get the baby out before there's a very high risk of infection.

We called my family and told my mom she could head up any time that morning (she only lives 2 hours away now :) and that we'd probably be having a baby that day. The nurse put an IV in, I filled out all my paperwork, and tried to get a little sleep before all the action.

Also, 3 days earlier I had had my wisdom teeth pulled...all four. Since I had been pregnant I could only have a local anesthetic and T3 pain killers. They continued giving me my antibiotic and pain meds at the hospital and said that my limited diet would work great because they were noticing a few dips in baby's heart rate and I couldn't eat anything in case I needed to go into surgery...boo!

The doc showed up in the morning, saw that there was very little progress, and gave the orders to start my pitocin dripping very very slowly and to increase dosages by blah blah blah every so often. Doc said I could eat something really light around 11 a.m. so I ordered toast and soup. I threw up the soup within 30 seconds of finishing it. Bleh. I went on a walk around the hospital with Miguel and my IV. My mom showed up to hang out at the hospital with us until I had the baby and then take over caring for Audri. The whole thing is pretty normal I suppose. I hadn't been induced with Audri so it was all kind of new to me. The contractions started coming....by the time I was at a 5 I decided I was ready for an epidural. The guy came, did his thing, and within an hour I was all the way to a 7 and feeling pretty great with my little button. I could just feel the pressure from the contractions, no pain. It was awesome. By about 9:00 p.m. I was all the way to a 10 and completely thinned out and that baby was reallllly low. The nurses started to panic a little because when she called the doc he had left for a delivery in Moscow...and JUST started. So she said I had to wait. I felt like I could wait...about 5 minutes. After that it was realllllly hard to not push.

He showed up at about 9:20 p.m. and after 3 sets of pushes baby Eslie Jane was born at 9:30 p.m. at 6 lbs. 13 ozs. and 18 1/2 inches long. The cord was wrapped around her neck and she had a little trouble breathing at first from being in there with no fluid. But I was okay with them taking care of her and making sure everything was okay. I got to hold her about an hour later after all was worked out. I did have a small tear that he stitched right up. Miguel got to cut the cord. My mom left to go sleep at our house and take care of Audri. I was absolutely starving and my dear sweet husband said I should order some food from Denny's and he would go pick it up. So I did that and I ate everything I wasn't supposed to that would get stuck in my gums. I had eggs, waffles, hashbrowns, hot cocoa...yeah, it was awesome. The next day was re-coop day. I tried to get as much sleep as I could before we checked out. I was still on pain meds for my dang mouth...nothing else was really hurting that bad. Miguel left with my mom to go to some stores and help her find her way around. He brought back balloons and a teddy bear for our new little angel. And he got me a new bed and went to the house to get it all set up for our homecoming. YES!! It is awesome. He decided it was good timing, considering I needed to be comfortable and sleep well in order to recover quickly. I love him. And the bed he picked is just perfect. It's just firm enough for support but has a soft little mattress topper that makes it hugable. Love it.

Elsie didn't eat right away, wasn't interested at all. I fed her throughout the night, just a little here and there. We're still struggling with breastfeeding, just like with Audri. She doesn't latch well at all, and barely is satisfied with the shield. She's super impatient. She likes the bottle. I pump for her and try latching and everything every day. It's a process for us. BUT she does eat well. At 2 weeks she is now 7 lbs. 4 ozs. and 20 inches long.

My mom stayed for a few days and that was really helpful. Then she came back that Saturday to throw me a baby shower :) it was lovely (pics to come). I love my mom. Then Miguel was going to head back to school on Monday so she came back on Sunday to help me out for another few days and take me back home with her for the rest of the week so I wasn't alone all week trying to adjust. Again, I love my mom :) Miguel came on the weekend and picked us up to take us home. It's nice to be back with all my comforts and my amazing new bed :)

Everything took almost the same amount of time as with Audri's birth, a little longer from the time my water actually broke. But the whole labor and delivery experience went much better. I felt almost no pain at all after my epidural. I know that's not natural, but I'm an overly sensitive and emotional person, lol. I tried to hold out as long as I possibly could before I got drugs. I contemplated a natural birth a little bit ago but decided that I hadn't mentally prepared enough to do it well. I was realllllly swollen after and did the whole ice pack thing for 2 days at the hospital but I go in tomorrow for my check up but I feel pretty great. When I weighed myself at my mom's I weighed less than when I got pregnant!

We have awesome friends and family who bring us food and presents and help out with rides and things and it's great. Miguel is driving to school now 3 days a week and parking off campus and riding his bike up to class. The other two days he's getting rides from friends. This week the Relief Society has arranged for meals :) And basically all is well.

Audri is coping. She throws fits now, is clingy and whiny a lot, but that's to be expected right?? She loves baby Elsie, even though she's the one taking away all her attention. She gives her kisses and asks to hold her a lot. So cute. I love my two little girls. Miguel and I are amazed at how our little family is growing and how much our hearts have expanded. Elsie still has her days and nights mixed up so we're pretty much exhausted, but all of the love and cuteness in our home overshadows that significantly. We are so blessed. I've probably left some stuff out, but maybe it'll show up in later posts as I remember that I forgot whatever detail. That's it for now though and we're home in Pullman loving our two baby girls.

P.S. For a comparison on Baby Audri's birth story, click here.

I know why I was supposed to be a mom

2011-10-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Besides the fact that it's the only way for my children to get to earth and learn and progress and make decisions...

It's so that I am humbled often and brought to my knees multiple times daily in supplication to my Heavenly Father. Being a mom is hard. Being a mom of two is harder. Being a mom of two with an absentee husband is even harder. But being a mom of two with an absentee husband with the gospel makes all of that a lot easier. The upside:
-I know that I can pray whenever I need to and know that my prayers are heard and will be answered. A lot of people don't know that...
-No matter how hard my day is, at least I know that my family will be together for eternity because of the sealing power of my marriage to my husband.
-Even though I may feel like a single mom sometimes...I'm not. In reality, I'm indulging in self-pity and have it way better than I think. My husband comes home every night and takes Audri on bike rides on the weekends. Sometimes he even ditches school so we can hang (like when I had to go to the hospital to have a baby last week, lol).
-I'm done with school! It was so hard to finish my last year with Audriana. But I did! And I'm done. And I might go back to get my masters some day....but not today.
-Their smiles make my heart melt.
-I'm living in a photographer's dream...two adorable little girls to dress up and take pictures of all day.
-I feel so close to heaven when I hold my little girls in my arms and give them hugs and kisses.
-Also, I have amazing friends and family who offer to assist me all the time. Without being who I am with my little family they would not have the opportunity to serve and I would not be able to accept that service.

Audri has been throwing these mega-tantrums (that my mom says all of her kids threw when another sibling arrived just below them on the food chain). Elsie is still a perfect little angel of course but she's got her nights and days confused :) which makes for a grumpy and tired mommy of an almost two-year-old and a newborn. Thank goodness for my loving mother who came up to Pullman to help me twice and brought me back home so that she could continue helping me while she took care of the rest of her poor, neglected family. I love my mom.

I have to go back home on Sunday because we have all of these doc apts. next week but the compassionate service leader called and has set up meals for us for the whole week :) I love the Relief Society.

I'm still working on that birth story :) But I promise to post it this month...also, Miguel's parents are flying in from Chile at the end of the month to come see the baby and we'll hopefully be blessing Elsie within their stay.

For now, know that all is well and I'm progressing as a human being, wife, and mother.

Baby Elsie

2011-10-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

So hopefully most of you know that we ended up having our darling little girl on Sunday, October 2nd. End of pregnancy, yeah!! I will post our birth story soon :) It's a good one! For now though, I'm adjusting to life as a mother of two beautiful little girls. Love and miss you all! Hope to see some of you soon!!

um. yes. it worked out :)

2011-09-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, as sister suggested, mother is going to be throwing the shower :) I asked if she'd be willing to do it up here since they need to come up that weekend anyway and she has graciously accepted! I love my mom. It will be fun I think.

Also, today Audri was being super cute and saying hello and bye bye to absolutely everyone...and everything now that I think about it. She does that anyway...but I guess I just noticed more. AND she sat in the cart as we went shopping...without complaining. Don't tell Miguel; he'll get jealous. She also did a good job not breaking anything in the store and not throwing any tantrums. Oh! She's been throwing tantrums...I don't think this has come up yet. They're little, but they're loud and just...you know, a zing to the brain. I immediately raise my eyebrows and try to stand my ground. The dentist said she'll be teething till about March or so?? And that might have something to do with it. Anyway...curse teething.

And I'm going to try nursing Elsie. Well, I should say: I'm going to start out nursing Elsie and hope that things go a little differently this time. With Audri it was a mostly terrible and painful experience until I just stopped producing enough milk and she was weened at 7 months. I'm thinking that since I have more time, no school, and I choose when I work that it will be less stressful and I can just do it. We'll see I guess?

The things I'm most excited to use for baby Elsie:

-new swing (which we have not purchased yet because we're deciding between these two a) andb)

-soft green beanie that Audri only got to wear for a little bit

-my Moby wrap!! :) I just remember that it helped Audri out soooo much. She just wanted to snuggle and look around all the time and I still got to do dishes and fold laundry and all that jazz.

-cute little teeny tint baby clothes. She'll be like my little dolly. I hope she is as small as Audri was, lol...that was nice.

I slept MUCH better last night. I think it's because I've propped up my pillows to combat the heart burn? I still wake up 2 times or so...but I'm not in so much pain and I don't have to get up and get a glass of milk! It's weird to sleep like that, but I'll do just about anything these days :)

Elsie had better have a lot of hair

2011-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

or else the heart burn totally isn't worth it. That's the myth, right?? I had it really bad with Audri too and she seemed to have a lot of hair at the time??

Last night was basically the worst night ever. I couldn't sleep very well in the first place (prego insomnia?? I dunno) and on top of that I had major heartburn (even after several glasses of milk), Elsie was break dancing in my tummy (I think she has her days and nights mixed up now), which in turn made me a little hungry so I had to get something to eat, I had to go to the bathroom 3 times, I had a headache, My feet/ankles were swollen, I had major restless leg going on, AND almost every time I did fall asleep I started having bad dreams...that I can't remember now. I got up around 12:30 to see if I could get tired by being on the computer and making a photo book online?? No dice. So at 2:30 I just went back to bed. Finally by 5 am I was tired enough to semi ignore my legs and everything else going on. I said a little prayer and got some 1/2 hour pockets of sleep until I had to take Miguel to school at 8:30.

So today I'm pretty much a zombie with a list of things still to get done. The heartburn and headache are back and I'm semi-nauseous now. It's just gunna be one of those days I guess. So my friend who was going to throw my baby shower is actually going out of town with her family for a little vacation because her husband just got back from being in D.C. for the summer!! The whole summer. I don't blame them!! I'd need some time too, lol. So yeah...baby shower planner gone...what do I do?? I've already mentioned it to people and cleared the day with my mom and aunt...would it be weird to throw my own shower?? Yeah...that would be weird. That's all I've got for the grumble of the day. Later I'll post about my much more pleasant and uplifting Sunday morning/afternoon to counter-attack my bad mood :)

Help?

2011-09-24T13:36:00.001-07:00

I've decided that it doesn't really matter what I get Audri for Christmas or her birthday which shortly follows, but I want it to matter. Is that shallow?? Presents aren't everything, but I want to make birthdays a big deal. Like...it's your day and you get to choose the activities, the food, the fun, etc. because it's not going to be like that every other day :) MOM chooses every other day. Lol. Anyway, I started actually looking at the GroopDealz thing that I signed up for (if a certain amount of people purchase the item you all get it at this certain price). Um...they're STEALZ! I was looking around for some little ID bracelets to give Audri and Elsie for Christmas and they all ranged anywhere from $30-$100 with names engraved on them. GroopDealz was offering them at like $12? Anyway, I sent a few of you my referral link :) because I think they're adorable. AND because I really want them...at that price :) As far as birthday presents go...I'm stumped! There are so many different directions we can go. Toys are out...except kitchen play toys (she loves the kitchen) and baby doll stuff. We have a TON of books, but there are still a TON more that I want to get eventually. We've been slowly racking up a winter collection in 18-24 mo. clothes that will hopefully do her for the winter. I made her a quilt this summer as mentioned in a previous post:) because I'm her mom and I wanted to and I gave it to her already. I'm working on decorating her room, but that's more of a me thing than anything she'll really care about. So like I said before, I'm stumped. Any ideas??

Also...I think I'm having a baby shower for Elsie? My friend said she wanted to do it for me and that it doesn't matter if it's a second girl. We should celebrate every baby and what if all the people gave me gift cards or diapers?? Yeah she has a point. And it could be fun I just don't want to feel like I'm asking for more than I need. We have a ton of stuff from Audri, you know? So I only really have one day that works...and she hasn't contacted me since I told her what that day was, and I should probably be letting people know like...now, because the date would be Oct. 8th and I already kinda mentioned it to some people??...um...any other volunteers for throwing a shower?? Lol. Yep. That's what's up. And I want to meet my little baby girl. I have the house almost completely ready. I'm having dental work, chiropractic work, and doc apts. next week. After that she can come whenever!! Oh, and it will be past 37 weeks after then too.

Miguel should be home tonight he said. We've missed him, but I really have gotten a lot done without having to run him around all the time. Darn public transportation that we can't use...grr. Audri is napping right now (hence my blogging). I've got to finish up some laundry, go pick up some prints that I ordered, and get a few things for the house. Then I just have to decide what's for dinner! Love and miss you all. Happy fall season! If it ever really gets here...bipolar weather weirdness is going on here.

Here's a little desktop background I made for Miguel a few weeks ago :) I like it.

P.S. If Elsie is born on her due date (which, some babies are!!) she'll be born on our 3 1/2 year anniversary :)

some little snippets for ya

2011-09-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of little Audri pics for ya :)

Camping in Kamiah with the fam. She's a country girl :) Likes to get down and dirty

At the hospital...having fun? Haha.

At our September 18th celebration, excited to see some chickens.

P.S. Today Audri and I went shopping at Michael's and JoAnns. We found some little antennas and some mittens to finish off her costume!! Gunna be cute! Now I just have to find white lab coats for me and Miguel...

Own it

2011-09-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I have to report back that I did actually accomplish quite a bit today :) around my 12 o'clock dentist apt. to fix a few fillings. My landlord/neighbor/friend Lorien watched Audri for me while I went since Miguel is gone. Their little girl Olivia is just a few months older than Audri and they like to play out in the front yard together. They did that the whole hour I was gone!! Anyway...all my dental work is complete for now EXCEPT that I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out next week (baby willing). Everything is cleared with the doc and the dentist. I will not be put out but be given only a local anesthetic and I won't be prescribed any paid meds....am I getting the worst part of the deal?? Most definitely. BUT my dentist is highly recommending I do it now because my insurance will cover it 100%. So, provided I don't have a baby between now and next Thursday (highly unlikely that I will by the way), I will be having my wisdom teeth removed.

Now about what I accomplished :) I'm very proud of myself you see because Audri is so clingy and needy lately that I find it very hard to do anything but cater to her all day. I think she can feel that there's a change coming on. She knows! But I also think she'll be a great big sister...I just have to make sure she doesn't try to feed Elsie her food (like she sometimes does to other small children). I think I got done everything that was on my list for the day. I cleaned up my room, the spare room, and Audri's room, vacuumed the whole house (which only happens about once a week or so), swept, fit Elsie's bed into our room without having to buy a bassinet, and did some other small organization projects. Now for tomorrow...mostly simple house-cleaning like dishes and laundry etc., some small decorating projects in Audri's room, and packing hospital bags for me and baby (is it too early???....nah).

Miguel is still in Seattle. But he calls every day at least once, if not twice. He's having fun and I'm glad we decided he could go. Today he got to interact a lot with a major firm there and pick some brains and he really enjoyed it there. He's even talking about trying to intern for them next year...tomorrow he gets to do all the touristy stuff like go to the space needle and pikes place market, all those fun places. I'm jealous....but we're going to Seattle again in January.

36 weeks

2011-09-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I posted exactly a week ago :) So I figure I'd better update.

Miguel is in Seattle today until Sunday-ish. It will be sad without him; Audri barely lasts one day without asking where daddy is already...now 4? Well...today I decided that I can probably get a lot done with him gone because I'm not going to be running to Moscow 2-3 times a day to drop him off and pick him up from classes. Woohoo!! Stuff would be things like: more deep cleaning, rearranging, organizing, etc. for our new little baby who we will be expecting in approximately 4 weeks! I had a doc apt today and I'm not dilated, the baby is still in position but she's not dropped yet, but of course that could change pretty much...anytime now :) I'm hoping for early, but another week or two would be nice so I can be all ready and it would be safe for her to come.

Today before Miguel left we got all of the baby stuff from the attic down (car seat, bath seat, bouncer, etc.)

On the agenda tomorrow: clean my room and the spare room, decide where we're fitting this new child :), dentist apt., schedule wisdom teeth removal :)...bleh. I'll update you as we go! Getting close now!

Home Semi-sweet Home

2011-09-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

We're back. Again. This time from a business conference in North Carolina. SUPER fun. And Miguel was able to come with me this time so we got to go out on a couple of date nights :) It's only semi-sweet to be home because we left it kind of a mess :( I hate coming home to a messy house. Anyway! We went and saw Contagion at the EpiCentre in Charlotte. That place was pretty awesome. We also went to this Mexican place there for dinner one night, A deli place for dinner one night, and Five Guys *which Miguel has missed terribly* for lunch one day. The only disappointment was that my feet would get really swollen really fast from walking around OR sitting too much so we couldn't go dancing or hang out late too much. The absolute WORST though was the 6 hour connection flight home where even my calves were swollen. I hate edema. Anyway...

In Audri news: She had her first trip to the hospital while we were in North Carolina. Her first x-rays, IV, hospital meals, overnight stay etc. experience. I was sad that I couldn't be there to comfort her but glad that Claudia and Troy and the kids were there for her. She's a sneaky little speedster and got into some incense oils (and drank it) while no one was looking. One of the reasons it was such a big deal is because no one had the original bottle and could tell what exactly was in it. Anyway...everything is fine. She's great, fully recovered, not even coughing anymore. She's just still a little bit clingy and whiny is all, which is to be expected. I heard she was lots of fun and all the hospital staff just fell in love with her :) Which I understand ;) We missed our little baby and we're excited to have another little baby in...5 weeks! Approximately...I'm "35 weeks" today.

I'll post our most recent pics as soon as I get the house clean enough to live in.

Oh yeah!

2011-09-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back. From camping with the fam for Labor Day weekend. Also it was Tyler's birthday and Jana's birthday while we were all together. Probably not an ideal birthday spend, but they can have parties later right?? We went fishing, berry picking, played a few games, went semi-swimming in freezing mountain creek water, got some wood, got REALLY dirty, ate a lot of smores and other delish camping food....and had an overall great time :)

I think that's about the last camping trip we'll be taking for a while...well, till next summer anyway. Had a doc apt. today, I'm measuring at about 34-35 weeks...what?? There's like a whole week difference there right? Hopefully I'm closer to the 35 :) because technically today I'm only 34 weeks...

Me and Audri both have dentist apts. today. Miguel has a haircut apt....no I don't cut his hair. He's too particular about it and I'm waaaay too nervous. Maybe I'll practice on dolls or something first. Me and Audri need haircuts too but that's just going to have to wait. We're leaving tomorrow to drop Audri off in Portland and then fly out to Charlotte for an international business conference. Excited!!

In Audri news:

Bought her some cute little panties to show her that she could be wearing...maybe she'll be more motivated? Yesterday she went pee in the potty and then pooped...on the carpet as she was trying to make her way to the potty. I didn't get mad, but I didn't give her candy...that's not something I want to encourage, lol.

Miguel has been SUPER busy with school and such, but he's really liking his classes so I guess it's money well-spent. More to come as I get more time :) Off to the dentist!!

backpack backpack

2011-09-02T11:27:00.001-07:00

The latest photo shoot with my little girl.

Sorry, it might be size HUGE when you click.

She was modeling her new little backpack and sweater (both of which we got for a grand total of $3 :)

Sharing the Love

2011-08-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

Made me tear up. Also, I think I might do that today :)

33 weeks

2011-08-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow. I will be 33 weeks pregnant. That means that technically I will be considered full-term in exactly one month, right? I think I'm starting to understand pregnancy stuff....kind of. Audri was like...20 days early? So I'm hoping this is a trend...not necessarily that interval of time, but early, ya know? Anyway, update-wise things are going well I suppose. I am drinking more water and still debating on weather I can be mentally prepared in time to do a natural birth this time. Any reading suggestions?

Also doc said I've gained weight just fine, lol (after staying with the in-laws for a month). About 15 lbs. total. Last night Miguel and I decided that my t-shirts were unacceptable. I just want something to lounge in and not feel completely frumpy (word courtesy of Austin Finch). I wore my BYUI t-shirt last night to the store and had to keep pulling down because it was molding around my belly...I'm not sure if that makes any sense, I'm sure you can imagine though right? So we found a bunch of rather large shirts on mega sale at wal mart. They're still super tight because I'm pregnant and all, but they're not weird and frumpy looking :) Thank you husband. You are the bomb.

One of the shirts I got. I thought it was hilarious....maybe it was a little late at night :)....Nope, I still think it's pretty funny.

P.S. We have arranged a carpool to school on MWF for Miguel! I'd say the whole ordeal was coincidental or that we have great luck, but I know that God was answering one of our prayers :) So now I just have to drop him off T-Th and pick him up every day (which, actually he might have some rides in between there as well). Things are getting worked out and it's helping Miguel focus on his schooling instead of stress out about rides. Just thought I'd letcha know.

It's been so hot this past week

2011-08-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

I think I might die. Glad I'm getting this baby in October thing over with...remind me that it will be almost just as bad if we ever decide to have one anytime between August and November. Maybe it'll be straight winter and spring babies for us :)

I don't really have much else to say...except that Miguel got me some new tennis shoes (for comfort and running whenever I decide that is going to be). My old ones have gotten all torn up and lost lace eyelets and stuff so while we were school shopping for him he took the challenge of trying shopping therapy on his grumpy preggo wife and it worked! They're cute. I like them, and they were on mega sale.

Oh!! And Miguel's parents and sister left for Mexico a few days ago and things are going pretty rough. They've run into all sorts of vehicle problems due to stupid people working on cars who shouldn't be. If you could try to remember them in your prayers that would be great. I feel like they're having such a hard time getting there because my sister-in-law and her husband have a date set to be sealed in the Guadalajara, Mexico temple (and that's why her parents are going down). Satan really does try everything he can to make it hard for us to get where we should be going, doesn't he? Anyway...prayers and good thoughts welcome! Thanks!

Water

2011-08-27T07:12:00.001-07:00

I hate drinking water. I've gotten better since I married Miguel because he's crazy and he LOVES it, but it's still hard. Today I'm actually making an effort to avoid being so swollen by drinking more water. I've almost finished a tall glass for the morning and I can already get my wedding ring off my finger!

Last night my feet were so swollen that it hurt to walk around...and I had kankles...don't ask me where that word came from (knee-ankles? Idk). Actually, I just googled it. If you'd like to find out click here :) Anyway, Miguel got a huge pot of cold ice water and had me soak my feet in it, absolutely insisting that it probably helps swelling go down. I think he was just trying to avoid having to give me a foot massage, lol. But I appreciated his concern...and it was super cold. And yeah, basically water is the a necessary evil in my life right now....unless I'm swimming IN it.

Audri woke me up at 6 AM

2011-08-27T07:03:00.001-07:00

And then she went back to sleep....so I decided to get some stuff done :)

Like this:

Audri LOVES to *splash splash splash*

If you click on the pic you can see it bigger :)

So this little pool is in our front yard and I must say that we've made very good use of it this summer. Also, I've posted pics of them before, but I don't think anywhere together so I must point out that these are Audri's two little swimsuits :) She'll never fit into them again after the summer. They're adorable and I love them. I have to mentally make an effort not to buy more little swimsuits whenever I see them...

Also, Olivia and Audri love to play together. They're pretty much besties.

Potty news

2011-08-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Audri went in the potty today. Yes. She pooped. In the potty. Isn't it exciting? Hopefully we can keep this pattern up...no guarantees, but we'll sure try. She got M&Ms, we called Daddy, clapped our hands, gave high fives and then...put a diaper on :( I'm thinking, maybe even though she's not ready for underwear I should get her some cute little panties and show them to her?? Maybe she'll want to wear them instead of diapers? She's kind of a little diva like that, lol. We shall see. Hopefully I continue to have more great potty news!

I did not take any pictures...just wasn't that excited about it I guess...or maybe that would just gross me out.

Other things we did today so far:

-were sad when we dropped daddy off at school

-practiced counting to 5/10 with flashcards

-played with babies

-colored in the coloring book

-talked to daddy on the phone

-ate raisins and cheese

-put lotion on

-looked at pictures and practiced remembering people's names

-read books

Now we're going to take naps, later we'll go get some ice cream with some friends. And maybe LATER we'll post some videos and such.

Still trying to catch up

2011-08-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the text of what's been going on lately for our little family. If you'd just like to see pictures please view the previous post :)

Basically Miguel started school this week. Audri is adjusting to not having Daddy here all the time...so am I. We miss him. We try to keep busy by playing with Olivia, learning to clean up, watching UP (her fav), reading books, playing with baby dolls, etc. I hate going on walks...no really. Well, every once in a while I just feel like getting out and going for it, but most of the time I get really hot outside (because I'm enormous). Audri loves walks though.

The commuter bus that used to run between Pullman and Moscow and was free for students stopped running...so that sucks. And this week I'm driving Miguel to school every day and picking him up because we refuse to pay a ridiculous amount of $$ for a parking pass. We're trying to figure out some kind of carpooling schedule with other U of I students/Pullman residents :) Wish us luck!

Went to the doc today. He said everything (being me and baby) is looking fine. She's growing great, heart beat and blood pressure stuff is great, and the baby is IN position! Most likely she'll move out of position between now and when she's due but hopefully she moves right back in again :) Crossing my fingers for an easier labor this time...

Trying to decide if a baby shower is necessary?? One of my friends absolutely insists that it is important for nesting and to be able to treat each child special and she wants to do it "if no one else is going to...??" I don't really have any super close friends nearby who are into that kind of thing so I'm thinking about foregoing a shower this time around, especially because we have a lot of what we need. I still need to make a list of what we don't have tho...ugh.

Um...I'll post more pics and videos as I make time :) That's it for now folks.

Warning: Lots of pictures. Very little text. Trying to catch up :)

2011-08-24T21:37:00.001-07:00

At Multonomah Falls in Oregon...I was tired of driving okay?

Still my traveling pregnant face...I'll work on it

Finally got Miguel to take a picture of me...this is me at 6 months! And I'm even bigger now...ugh

Audri playin in the splash park in Oregon. She just LOVES water :)

The only picture I have of Audri with her little sun hat on...because that's about how long it stays on :)

Chillin with Auntie Claudia

Love that little suit. Could not resist buying it. Do not regret it.

I know. On an air mattress in the lake...yep

This girl LOVES watermelon

Swimming in the lake in Cali with Daddy

Gotta have the morning paper...even when camping

Eating oranges

Trying to be a big girl

At the Vortex crazy place in Oregon

At the fair in Oregon

Helping Daddy open his Father's Day present

Audri loves swinging

And helping Nana in the kitchen

And most recently...playing in a park fountain after a wedding. I think we can say this is one of her favorite pass times.

The craftiness of Jeri...and her mother

2011-08-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Behold. The quilt:

Audri likes to give it kisses and pet the soft green squares (which were the most expensive ones by the way...). I still have to get it to fray...but that shouldn't be too hard over time :) For details on the building of this quilt keep reading. If you've seen enough you're excused :)

I picked 2 purple patterned fabrics, a yellow patterned fabric, and a green patterned fabric to make up my 9 patches for the front. The back has green and yellow checkered flannel fabric. I was about four 9 patches short when we were cutting up all the squares so we went upstairs and found a green that would work to tie in to four the the 9 patches and we placed them in the corner ( I love having a mom with a built-in fabric store :) The back also was about 6 inches short in the length so we found the green checked flannel from my mom's stash to add strips on the side and make it work. We sewed all the nine patches and then sewed them altogether to make the topper, leaving one inch around all four sides to clip later. We laid the backing down, the batting in the middle, and put the topper on and then tied all the yellow squares with purple and green ribbons. Then we just sewed around the edges and clipped all the borders to make this twin size rag quilt :)

It was a learning experience and some good quality time spent with my wonderful mother. I'd better get started hunting down fabric for Elsie's quilt! By the time I get that done she'll be the same age as Audri is now! Lol.

I owe a blog or five or six...

2011-08-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am blogging because I was reprimanded by my sister...also, because I have this guilty feeling because I haven't in so long. We have been super busy, but I know if it were higher on my priority list I would still make time for it. I do not feel bad for it not being higher on my priority list because the things above it are far more important :) Take sleep for instance...super important to a 7 month pregnant woman with a toddler and full-time student husband...yes.

I made Audri a quilt for her new toddler bed. My mother helped me with it...a lot. But still, I bought the fabric, made all of the big decisions and probably did about half of the sewing. It is cute. I love it and Audri gives it hugs :) *big smile*

Miguel started school today. Unexpectedly. We thought it was later for some reason. Oh well...it's too late now. He'll be in school till December so I'm just going to get over it. Me and little Audri missed not having him around today.

We had a couple and their little 2 month old over for dinner and FHE tonight. We saw them at church on Sunday and I just got the feeling that I should say hi because they looked new and stuff. I remembered our first Sunday and how lonely and quiet I felt and then we were invited over for dinner and FHE by a couple close to our age with a baby (The Shaffers). I felt relieved and excited to have met new friends. And they were the bomb. So we said hi and talked a little and invited them over. They are pretty cool people and I'm glad we did the awkward and out-of-the-way thing.

Tomorrow Miguel will go to school again and I will be at home with Audri. She drives me nuts some times...I really need to get a concrete schedule down or I think I'm going to lose it when we have two little girls. By the way, I'm still excited to have two little girls. I hate being pregnant; I don't care if it's a beautiful, sacred, special, privileged and honorable thing. I am one of those people who focus on the end result...my baby. I do not feel bad about this. I am grumpy, irritable, slow, swollen, fat, uncomfortable, sometimes in pain, constantly kicked around, impatient, and I want to be done. Although two people told me I looked cute at church yesterday and that was a nice little pick-me-up, even though one of them was Miguel :)

I will post pictures when I'm not sleepy or swollen :) Later.

Focus

2011-07-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

One thing at a time. I feel like I always do these overwhelming mondo blog posts. Maybe I can separate them into events and do several in one day!? Yes. I think this is the solution after all.

First. *Warning* If you have an extremely sensitive stomach, like worse than mine, stop reading this paragraph :)

Today I woke up extremely nauseous, which hasn't happened in quite a while. I was throwing up bile because I hadn't eaten anything yet. So now I've eaten an apple in case I need to throw up some more. Miguel graciously took our little girl to church by himself and I'm about ready to head back to bed.

Second. Our trip was spectacular and I'll be picking out specific events to post about with matching pictures!! But they're all still on my SD card for now so I'll wait.

Third. We've decided so far that our new little baby girl's name is going to be Elsie...in case I haven't posted about that. I'm not one for secret names or worrying about name-stealers. Now you can feel free to make us cute things with her name on them! Lol.

Fourth. Here's what we've done since we got back:

-Went through all of Audri's old baby clothes to pick out things for baby Elsie. Audri had a lot of clothes...It took me an entire day. But I think we're pretty much covered. I'll be posting a list of things still needed (mostly for my own use). Is it wrong for me to still want to buy her adorable cuteness that I absolutely cannot resist in the store?? I think she should get a few of her own outfits right? Considering all the pictures I take...Anyway, all the newborn size clothes are in a drawer for her, the 0-3 mo. clothes are in a box above the closet ready to be pulled out, the 3-6 mo. clothes are in a box waiting to be placed somewhere, and the rest are in a huge box going back into storage.

-Still reorganizing some of the house to fit our pack-rat lifestyle.

-Got Audri an adorable little toddler bed from IKEA. Literally could not resist it. I think I'm extremely over-emotional when pregnant. I mean, a little baby bed made me tear up. Yeah.

We set up the bed when we got home and Audri loves it. She gives it hugs.

-Went to a local grocery store's free BBQ and saw some friends AND got a free watermelon :) Ate some of it last night with more friends. It was DELISH.

-Audri's been playing in her friend Olivia's sandbox. There is sand all over our bathroom.

Also, she stained three new items of clothing....how do I get it out? I tried cold water and Shout stain remover....any suggestions? I don't want to put it in the wash till I've resolved this issue.

And Fifth. Miguel's sisters are coming to visit and work up here next week. Exciting!

Here is the cute little bed we got Audri. We bought purple sheets and I'm making a rag quilt to top it in the winter. Remember my crafty post a while back? I'm not sure if I'll follow the exact pattern but I've got all the material and everything and I'm ready to go! It cost me the same as if I were to buy a quilt from the store, BUT I'm making it which makes it way more special, right??

Livin' the crazy life

2011-07-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

Yay! I'm posting.

Basically, we went to Cali for a little family vacay and it was awesome.

I have to admit that I pretty much lucked out as far as in-laws go. You hear about all these life-long stuggles between new families and their in-laws and how they just hate being together. But the fact that we'll have been here for a month when we leave says a lot I think.

My SIL Sole is back from Mexico so we're almost all together (just missing her husband who is still in Mexico). We went to a resort in Angel's Camp, CA. Kind of out in the middle of nowhere? Really pretty and away from the busy life. We just relaxed, ate good food, watched some movies, slept, swam all day, and talked. One day we went up to a nearby lake, which was fun, but still the same story-food, talk, sleep, swim, etc. :)

One day Miguel and I left Audri with the fam to take a small trip to San Francisco (since we were only 3 hours away and it was the nearest Chilean consulate) because Miguel needed to renew his passport. Hopefully it's waiting for us in the mail when we get home :) It was an extra expense that wasn't quite planned for but we're lucky we were so close and that our wonderful neighbors/managers were willing to mail us his expired passport from the house. It was a fun day for me and Miguel to spend together, although we kind of hurried home because we didn't like driving and parking in SF and decided some other time we'll go back together to sight-see(we've both been there separately, but never together!!).

Then we went down to San Jose for a few days for business conferences. It was awesome of course and we had even more fun going crazy :) Annie and Shawn and the boys came to visit for an evening and we went to dinner/dessert. It was fun to see them and hang out for a bit.

We're still here in Portland with the family, chillin', celebrating special occasions, helping remodel, attending to business, shopping, etc. It's nice to have family to help out during this time when I'm just so UNcomfortable! That's right, I'm to that point. I can barely stand, sit, or lie in any position for very long without starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable. I've definitely gotten bigger, maybe someday someone will take a picture of me. So I've put on some weight too then, right? We'll see when I get home and go back to the doctor.

Everyone is just fascinated with Audri and watching her develop so fast right now. She's a crazy little baby on the move and we love her so much. She's so busy and adventurous all the time; it's so fun. And we get more and more excited to welcome our little addition to the family in October. Speaking of our little Audri, she's currently:

copying absolutely everything
saying real words like gracias, thank you, please, aguita (water), food, bottle, baby, doggie, play, up/up please (kind of all one phrase), color, mas (more), cheese, peoples' names, and mommy and daddy of course. She's got a pretty large vocabulary and being here with Miguel's family she's become semi-bilingual! It's super fun.
dancing, singing, pretending to eat fake food, pretending to cook, trying to help
giving hugs and kisses
coloring
trying to feed herself
drinking like a big girl
and getting ready for potty training ;)

Yeah, she's crazy, like I said. We're having a blast trying to keep up with her.

Is it weird that I'm 25 weeks already?? I'm pretty sure I am anyway...I never was very good at math. I've got food cravings coming a going like crazy. I love it and I hate it. They're more severe this time around and it kind of drives me nuts, but at the same time...at least I live close to stores, unlike my parents. I still get terrible headaches, although I'm thinking they've become less frequent. I'm insanely exhausted the majority of the time and I'm starting to swell when it gets hot (I know, I need more water, right??).

That's all I've got for now....more to come :) And pictures soon, I PROMISE.

Baby news

2011-06-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

I had a doc apt yesterday as well as my ultrasound. They both went well. All good things were said, "baby looks perfect," "you're right on schedule," "everything is great," you know. And then the doc said,....BUT...you need to start putting on some weight. Excuse me???? I was overweight just 4 months ago...now I'm UNDERweight... He said that I've put on a total of a 1/2 lb. and generally they like to see a 25-30 lb weight gain. I will not intentionally be putting on weight mind you, I'll just let the little baby do her job. She puts on weight=me putting on weight right?? I have been trying to eat more often when I'm not feeling nauseous and I hardly ever throw up. I think I'll be good.

We're officially having a baby

2011-06-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

and it's going to be a GIRL!! I mean...of course we've been officially having a baby for a while, but it doesn't really seem all so real for Miguel until we know what we're having. He is barely willing to talk names with me until then! So we talked names today on the way home from the ultrasound :) and we stopped at WalMart and bought her first little onesie (just had to do it). I'm excited to go up in the attic and get all of Audri's boxes of old clothes that are too small down and go through them all. I'm seriously constraining myself from doing it right now. Maybe it won't be too much of a rush to do it when we get back in July?? Yay!

So yeah. That's basically it. We're having a girl. We're excited. I'm overly excited and going to go crazy constraining myself. Miguel is trying to teach Audri now that there is a baby sister in Mommy's tummy. It's super cute. Maybe I'll post an ultrasound pic later. Need a nap. :)

A little something to let you know we're still alive

2011-06-01T16:04:00.001-07:00

No pictures yet...but hopefully I can get them up this week before we leave again on Sunday!

Also, I have some cute little Audri vids :) Be excited.

Well, got back from my family's house. Graduation went well, Kyle's Eagle Court of Honor went well, the graduation party went well, and I didn't really accomplish much :) except my main point in going was to support my family and help out my mom as much as possible (she hasn't been feeling well this past month). The doctor said she needs to eliminate as much stress as possible and try to rest whenever she can. So first thing when I got there we tore her over-scheduled appointment book apart. We called and e-mailed people to un-schedule her from anything unnecessary and then I stepped in and played mom for anything necessary. We tried to only let her help prepare food at home and be present at important events. I think we did okay! She looked like she was doing better when I left. And they're all headed to South Dakota for a little family vacation this weekend while they drop off Kyle and his two compadres so hopefully she's rested enough to take on that car ride.

Miguel was able to work some down there for a neighbor and help out my dad whenever he was needed. I bet dad likes having young, strong sons-in-law who come home and help when his sons are leaving, teehee. I'm happy to have a husband who knows the value of work and doesn't grumble when I loan him out :)

Kyle gave his Valedictorian speech (that I "helped" write) and it went well. He did a good job and it ended up being just the right length. Can't believe he's all graduated and moving out to work...starting college in September and then off on a mission by the end of the year! It's so crazy that all my little siblings are growing up. I'm happy though that we have more and more in common and better relationships as we get older.

So we're headed off to Portland on Sunday for the month of June. I'll try and keep my blog a little bit more updated as I go so that I don't have to do a big 'ole re-cap when we get back. We're excited to get to see everyone and show off our little monster baby who's getting so big. She's fitting into 12-18 month clothes now!! She's growing out of a lot of her clothes! So the other day we decided to run to Moscow (where the shops are) and look for a few baby Audri t-shirts. We went to Old Navy, Ross, and a thrift store. I got her 4 t-shirts and a little swimming suit (that I could not resist and she most definitely "needs"....just in case the other one is dirty or something ya know??) all for UNDER $10! Yes. It was awesome.

We find out Friday if we're having a boy or a girl. I'm excited/nervous. Don't know why I'm nervous. Oh well. I'll keep ya posted as to what the results show.

Bring it on

2011-05-21T12:07:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, I had my whole post typed up and magically lost all the text while adding pics...I don't feel like re-typing all that hoopla so forgive my briefness after such a long absence :(

Today is one of the first days I haven't had an immobilizing headache, hence my tenacity in posting :)

Basically, Mother's Day/Birthday weekend was fantastic. My mother was thoroughly surprised by us showing up, then Erica & Anton, then Annie & the boys. We had some good family fun being crafty, helping out around the ranch, watching old movies, BBQing, eating cake and ice cream, and playing games.

I love my mom. She's so talented at absolutely everything AND she's charitable and kind to boot. I want to be more like her every time I spend time with her. I regret not being a better daughter when I lived there. It's easy for me now when I go home to help without complaining or being asked and I enjoy our time together, but I wasn't like that when I was little...r. Maybe I'm actually maturing! Or maybe I'm just an emotional prego lady.

As for our little family, we're chuggin along. Miguel did get out of school for a week but started online summer school this week to get ahead for next semester. We're headed back down to Kamiah on Sunday for the week to help prep for Kyle's Eagle Court of Honor, Grad Party, and Graduation! How exciting. Maybe I'll get to make an apron! Anyway, here are some pics of our little ball of sunshine. To view more visit my Facebook album!

P.S. Our official ultrasound date to find out what kind of human baby we're having is set for June 2nd :)

Sickly

2011-05-06T07:34:00.001-07:00

Decided to get a blog in early so I can spend the rest of my day tidying up the house and getting ready to head out of town. I dunno if my "family" reads my blog...hopefully they do not :) but for safety I will wait to post details till Tuesday ;)

Yesterday was my first vomiting experience in this pregnancy. Not to be too detailed, but it was my breakfast apple...good thing I decided not to drink that orange juice I wanted. I've had a terrible headache the past three days and it's basically knocked me out of commission. Sleeping and eating were already tough and now even taking care of my little one and the house are as well. I can't decide if my headache is from my wisdom teeth coming in and out or from my terrible lower back being out of place. I have a doctor's apt today so hopefully something good will come of it. Also, I think I might be developing allergies...like the sneezing and runny nose ones that people get in the summer? The ones I've never experienced in my life? I haven't sneezed so much before ever...like 4 to 8 times a day.

Miguel is almost out for the summer!! Exciting?? Yes indeed.

Because I love pictures, here's an oldie that's one of our favs:

AND I found some more of our wedding pics that I hadn't really really looked at before....exciting?? Yes!!

Um. Cute. Fabric.

2011-05-05T11:25:00.001-07:00

Just found this website...will add as I continue to discover :) LOVE their geometric prints :)

http://warmbiscuit.com/geometric-fabrics.html

AND I found this pattern :) I think it will be my first adventure in quilt making. Rag quilt. Cute.

http://www.zimbio.com/Quilting/articles/PbCg-HrT4Wl/Rag+Quilting+Easiest+Newest+Method+Quilt+Making

And THIS is my new favorite crafty blog...for the week.

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/find-projects/decor/

Me

2011-05-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

We sold our car! It was a good compromise, she was nice and Asian, lol. Not that that matters. And she didn't have a car already (and everyone else who had come to look at it already had at least one car...). So she needed it and we needed to get rid of it. Deal. Our insurance went down some, we'll be paying for less gas and maintenance, and someone who needs our car will be using it.

Um. I probably talk about me too much. But hey...this is MY blog right?? Muahahaha.

Pregnancy tidbits:

I still feel pretty crappy a lot. But I'm kind of getting used to it. EXCEPT that I miss food. I love food....I miss eating what I like, or anything at all for that matter. It's so hard to force things down into my ever-complaining tummy. Every once in a while a get a little lapse of hunger and stuff something down my throat before it disappears. Hopefully I'm doing better and have not continued to lose weight by my next apt. (which is sometime this week, hopefully they call to remind me or something... :). Although I'm not too worried about dropping weight at this point...in a couple of months I will be :)
I'm showing...more than I was at this time with Audri. It's annoying because it's not the "obviously pregnant" look, it's the "is she possibly prego or just...fat??" look. Like I said, annoying. BUT I have some pretty cute prego clothes :) coming back from a friend sometime this week, excited to see if any of them will fit me this time around....(considering my weight is starting out way above what it was the first time :( ).
Um, I'm tired. All the time. Seriously. I hate that we're switching Audri over to one nap a day because that means that I'll only get one nap a day...or no nap (she's sleeping right now so I'm blogging :)
Super emotional. Of course. Cry about everything. Relief Society on Sunday is torture. They prolly think I'm all spiritual...or some huge baby...but it's pregnancy hormones :) AND I'm a huge baby anyway. Double whammy.
Miguel still doesn't get it. He should read a book...or maybe we should take a class this time. He doesn't understand all the changes that are happening and whatnot. Grr.

Non-pregnancy Me-ness:

My birthday is the day after Mother's Day. Which will most likely mean no present or one present for both occasions :) Should I be stingy about that?? It's like people who have birthdays on/around Christmas...or Father's Day.

I still have an Amazon Wishlist. I haven't updated it in a while with new things or deleted old things. BUT, it's still pretty reliable. The majority of the things are for Audri or my photography business, but still...that's part of who I am right??

Not on my Wishlist that I would love:

-spa day (never had one)

-manicure/pedicure

-salon trip to fix my multi-colored, no longer layered hair

-a big huge box of fabric (cute patterns of course) so I can start my quilting hobby when I get around to it. a bunch of my friends have or will have new babies and I feel like a schmuck for going to the store and buying something. i want to give something meaningful memorable :) from my heart.

Mostly though, the only person I want something from is Miguel. That makes sense right?? I want a love letter. That's all I really need. He's not really the mushy gushy kinda guy so it would be out of the ordinary for him to write me one...which is great! Out of the ordinary is great! Especially on my birthday/mother's day.

That's it for now.

Easter :)

2011-05-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

So basically Easter was awesome. We made a little Easter basket for Audri to open. It had some eggs with candy, a little bunny and pictures of Jesus Christ. She got to do a little Easter egg hunt with some neighbor boys when we went to eat dinner at my cousin, Jenica's in Lewiston on Saturday.

Sunday we had the missionaries and Shaffers over for Easter Dinner. Twas lovely and a good time was had by all. Audri wore her little Easter dress to church and we got some pics :)

Also, here's my favorite Easter message.

Audri all excited about her Easter basket

Playin outside in her Easter outfit

Photo session with Myra after church

After Easter....our friends the Shaffers are moving. So we've been hangin' out, helping pack and load their apartment, and just getting our last minutes of good laughs in before they're gone. It is sad, but at the same time, they're moving to a place they want to, into a new place they will like, with a new job they will enjoy, and a new baby to boot! So we're extremely excited for them, and feeling sorry for ourselves because we're the ones who will be missing out :( They've been our best friends since we moved here and we were lucky to get to know them so well. Good luck Shaffers! You will be missed.

Our friends the Snows are moving this week as well, but they will be back after the summer :) They've also got an adorable little new baby who is growing healthy and strong. We're excited for them, but sad we won't get to hang out over the summer. If anyone else is moving...please just don't tell us :)

I will post the rest of my thoughts in a separate one so that your eyes don't get sore :)

Dear MaLyn

2011-04-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

I was reading a post I wrote about a year ago when Audri was only three months old and I added in a scattered thought about how much I love your faithful blogging and how my days are brightened when I get to read your peppy thoughts and goings-on and whatnot. Then I read your comment on how much it meant to you and that you decided not to decrease blogging like you were debating about earlier...

Because your blog is private I don't get updates on my feed so I have to physically go there and check...every day...to see if you've posted (same with you Linda, Val, Alicia, Rach, etc. lol). If it looks like I stalk you because you see how many times I visit or I comment on too many posts...well, I guess I do!! But at least I know what's going on in your life and am inspired to be more happy more often by choice. Miss and love you.

Love,

Homeslice

P.S. Thank you for posting today :)

Also, everyone else reading this...you're special too. I love all of my blogger friends very much and read about your lives weekly. This is just one example. If I wrote to all of you today I would accomplish nothing else, lol. Oooo....idea!!! Miss and love you all.

California Trip Part II WARNING: Picture Overload

2011-04-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

So here are some more pics. Mostly just Audri doin' her little thang.

Stay tuned! Easter Sunday is next!

Pier 39. Rule: If Audri looks good, I cannot. If I look semi-acceptable, Audri looks away.

Gold Gate Bridge...the one tower that wasn't covered in fog.

Audri in her swim attire. She had fun in the pool...although I think she's still a little too light to walk around by herself!!

Audri always managed to find some dishes to stir...and carry around the house.

At the Dennis the Menace Park

Stopped by the beach for lunch...it was too windy to go down tho.

At MyMuseum. The kids had a blast.

California Trip Part I

2011-04-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun, even though Audri and the boys (and eventually Shawn and Annie) all got sick :( Everyone took turns. Except me :) Lucky I guess. But probably because I pretty much feel sick all the time anyway!

I'll give you the run down as quick as possible so you can take a peek at some of the pics from our trip:

Went to Debbie and Rob's wedding. Everything was fantastic, they were gorgeous and glowing. I'm so proud of them for doing what it takes to be sealed for time and all eternity in the holy temple. Their wedding pics can be viewed on Facebook for now.
Annie and Shawn were kind enough to invite me to stay with them in Monterey for a while and I chose a week. Ha! So Miguel could pick me up on a weekend and not miss school. Even though the kids took shifts being sick we still got to go to the library, play at theDennis the Menace park, go swimming, go shopping, go to MyMuseum, eat Chinese, go yard sale-ing and make some quick stops around San Francisco before catching our flight.
Overall it was worth the trip to spend time with family. My favorite parts were just hanging out with my big sis, watching movies, eating fruit and/or ice cream and talking about life.
We were sad Miguel couldn't come because he would've loved it, but hopefully we'll be back down in the area again this summer and Miguel will be with us this time :)

So here are some scenic pics. I'll do another post with Audri pics :)

San Francisco Pier 39 and the Golden Gate Bridge (It was so foggy we could only see one tower!!)

Dennis the Menace Park

Santa Monica Pier and beach

Anniversary trip

2011-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

was fabulous.

Miguel skipping school (his teachers said "Happy Anniversary, it's all good") + fancy downtown hotel reservations + leaving baby with awesome friends + one bottle of sparkling cider + a little shopping + good food = Best idea ever

I wanted to do cheap-o day date if Miguel didn't have anything planned. But he did :)

We had fun. Here are some pictures of our 3 year anniversary celebration adventure:

Click to enlarge.

At the mall. We went shopping and to a movie.

We went and saw Source Code in the theater. It was pretty good. We were the only ones there for the first 30 minutes :) and we got to put our feet up and pick the best seats in the place. Woot!

Miguel bought me my first NEW Banana Republic clothing items. They will still fit me when I'm mondo later on in pregnancy :)

We also went to Red Robin for lunch (Miguel's fav) and Olive Garden for dinner (my fav :) Then before heading home we went roller blading around the park and grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor :) Such fun.

Love him.

P.S. Don't forget to view my previous post for important Elgueda update if you haven't already!!!

I guess I'd better get this out of the way

2011-04-21T11:12:00.001-07:00

The elephant in the room...will soon be me.

We're having another baby just like this one...

I'm due October 19th, which makes me...I'm not sure. 14 weeks?well, we don't know the gender yet.

I have a doc appointment in 2 weeks. I'll update you on the matter then :)

I'd have posted our ultrasound pic from 10 weeks but I don't really get those...and the baby just looks like a little kidney bean.

So tada! Yay.

P.S. I want another girl. Miguel wants a boy...just fyi.

Home on the range

2011-04-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Not really. I don't live on the range anymore. Teehee.

But I am home.

Miguel came and picked up me and little Audri from the airport in Spokane on Saturday and we've been kickin it here trying to unpack and catch up for a couple of days.

We had a fabulous time (except for the getting sick part) but are glad to be back.

ALSO, today is Miguel and I's 3 year anniversary. This day 3 years ago we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland, Oregon temple with some of our dearest friends and family present to support us. Loved that day. In celebration of the best decision we ever made as a couple we are headed up to Spokane for the day and night. We're going to stay at Hotel Lusso, go see Source Code, soak in a tub, eat Olive Garden and fresh fruit and walk around the parks and local attractions.

I will be sure to do a better post about our recent Cali trip when we return!

Ramblings

2011-04-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

I haven't a lot to say that makes much sense. My mind is wandering today.

I went Visiting Teaching this morning. It was nice to talk with some adults for a couple of hours.

For lunch I ate eggs and potatoes. I love breakfast. Also, we had leftover baked potatoes from last night and they're just perfect for dicing up in the pan and cooking really quickly so there was another good reason to do it. Oh! And I'm drinking hot chocolate. My feet are cold and I like that stuff. We'll see how they mix in my tummy later...

I guess I could just put some socks and shoes on...

This past weekend was General Conference and I loved it. I left my notes at my parents' house though :( which kind of sucks. BUT I was at my parents' house and that was fun. We were there just in time for my mom's birthday. We got to hang with the fam and play games and talk. Audri had fun playing with the kids. She didn't get to go outside because it was snowy and muddy most of the time...but it's not snowy or muddy here! So maybe if it warms up we'll go outside today.

Miguel doesn't get out of school till May 13th. Um. That sucks. But we're making plans with my family to go down and help out around the ranch for a week before Kyle's graduation. That will be fun. It just sucks hearing about all my friends in Rexburg doing finals right now and Miguel just had midterms! I mean...I'm not in school, but his schedule kind of dictates what we can do. For example, I'm headed to my friend Debbie's wedding in LA this weekend and then I'm going to stay with my sister in San Jose for as week. I hate traveling by myself (as we've discussed earlier...there are kidnappers and robbers and worst case scenarios) and I've never traveled with Audri by myself...on a plane. So I'm nervous for us and sad that he won't get to share these fun times with us and I miss him when he's gone AND I worry that he won't eat...lol. Sad but true. So basically, if he were taking finals right now and we had an extra $350 he could come with me...but he's not and we don't.

That is basically all I have on my mind right now. And I'll post some pics of the flooding at my parents' house this weekend when I decide to go out to the car and get my camera.

Miguel will be home soon for lunch so I have to go pick him up from the bus stop...he won't be eating eggs and potatoes because the baked potatoes are gone and he doesn't like breakfast as much as I do.

I'm getting off to a late start

2011-03-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

but it's better late than never right??

Got to bed late last night, slept HORRIBLY, woke up with a half-headache, husband is gone, crazy baby child is not gone....

BUT, I have managed to shower, give child food, put child down for a nap, and catch up on friends' lives...I know it shouldn't matter that much to me but it does. I care about my friends' lives. Does that make me nosy? Maybe. I have also gotten my chick-flick of the day out the way (Fools Rush In for those of you wondering). Currently I'm contemplating where to start next...the bedroom or the pantry. I might possibly have enough time to finish the pantry before crazy baby wakes up...but also, my husband said he'd help me with it and he's not here....bedroom it is!

Miguel's fam is sending us our long lost SD card that I left in a laptop there...so hopefully more pictures will be coming soon.

Oh! And we're going to my family's house for General Conference this weekend. I'm excited! I just saw them last week in Lewiston for a little lunch/movie/shopping rendezvous, but we didn't really get to talk at all. AND I get some homemade potato salad :) More to come later.

Rain

2011-03-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

Today it rained.

I'm pretty sure that yesterday it rained.

I don't know what the weather forecast is for tomorrow, but chances are there will be rain.

Okay, I love rain, but Audri isn't exactly a "rain-friendly baby" yet. She still falls a lot, is practicing running, gets colds easily, and likes to pick stuff up off the ground. Therefore I cannot just go for a walk in the rain with her and not be freaking out all the time. Especially if I expect to be able to take any pictures.

We only go on sunny walks :)

I heard it snowed a lot of other places. Bummer. I want spring so bad. In fact, the other day we put all of our winter coats and snow stuff up in the attic. AND brought down the camping stuff :) YES.

I want to go camping sooooo bad. I know Miguel will be bummed when we finally get to go and we're loading up the van instead of the summer-friendly, manly, outdoorsy Jeep... :( sorry. But we do love our van.

In Audri news:

She looooves to say "hi" to people, especially on the phone.

She also says "no" very clearly.

She mimics a lot of things we say but doesn't really know them yet.

SOMEtimes she says "potty" and brings me diapers after she drops a bomb and then runs over to the bathroom door. Cute, but still the same disgusting experience. Her potty chair has not successfully been used yet.

She gives lots of hugs and kisses.

She blows kisses.

She gives high fives.

She knows where her head, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, and tummy are.

She still loves to "read" books.

She knows the animal sounds for dog, tiger, lion, and bear.

She's getting some molars in *ouch*.

SOMEtimes she brings me clothes and shoes to put on her in the morning if I haven't already dressed her.

She loves to hug her blankies and play hide and seek with them on her her.

Her favorite songs right now are "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" and "pattycake."

She will dance to anything. Even a beat-box, especially if you actually say "dancin."

She's learning her name, "Audi" Close, eh?? Maybe she'll have an "r" problem like lots of kids.

She still does "da face" on demand. And she has a new one...it's like a huge kissy face only she just does it for fun and when you ask her for a kiss she usually shakes her head no.

She's still a crazy little baby and we love her to pieces. I never imagined how much I would love my little girl.

An older pic from back in November. Just makes me smile.

Spring Break-Portland

2011-03-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

Spring Break. Was awesome.

We got to see our family and friends, went to an awesome seminar, Miguel got his driver's license renewed, and we got to celebrate our nephew's 16th birthday.

Quick summary:

The seminar was a motivational seminar featuring speakers like Rudy Giuliani, Laura Bush, Colin Powell, Krish Dhanam (my fav.), Bill Cosby, Steve Forbes, and some other pretty cool people. It was all day, but it was pretty awesome.
We miss our family and friends. Every time we leave we talk about moving to Portland to be closer. Of course Miguel loves school here and we have friends here (the Shaffers even came to visit in Portland!) But I'm sure you know what I mean...We'll all be together later eh?
Miguel finally went and took the DMV test and got a license. Now he's fo real.
Bretton is 16 today. Happy Birthday! But we celebrated early so it could be a "pre Stake Dance" party. It was super fun. Then after that we went out to this awesome little Mexican place called Ochoa(s?) at like....10. Fun.
We went to the Japanese Garden with the Shaffers while Nana watched the babies. It was nice to get out for a bit without a screaming child demanding my attention.

Some pictures from our Spring Break adventure at the Japanese Garden:

Click to view larger

To view more of my scenic shots from the garden click here.

Things I've learned about Mac 'n Cheese

2011-03-23T15:27:00.001-07:00

There is a disadvantage to not growing up with things like Mac 'n cheese...

Disadvantage 1) Feeling like a retard when you make it as an adult and it doesn't turn out/tastes funny...

Disadvantage 2) Having to find something else to cook and eat after wasting 15 minutes making something "easy" that didn't turn out...

Here are some things I've learned about Mac 'n cheese:

not cooking the macaroni long enough is just as bad as cooking it too long
putting it back on the stove after being all mixed up does not fix the problem
even though it says not to rinse...if the water is all cloudy after it's done cooking, rinse it anyway
if the box says margarine and not margarine/butter...use margarine
the cheese will dissolve no matter how much you pour in at a time or what you mix in when. it's supposed to be like that.
there really are some brands of mac 'n cheese that just are not tasty
it rarely tastes good cold or reheated (kind of like french fries)

There you have it. Mac 'n cheese wisdom from the rookie.

Sick and tired

2011-03-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

my little family and home = tired. sick. messy. busy. lazy. under the weather. neglectful. loving.

We got home Sunday. Monday Miguel was getting ready to go to school and both Audri and I felt terrible. She had this heartbreaking little cough and weeze (that could easily have been rsv in the mind of a worried mother) and I was achy all over and completely exhausted. At the last minute Miguel decided to stay home and take care of us (which means, let me sleep and chase after crazy Audri). I slept most of the day, Audri took her naps, ate her food and was still pretty sick by bedtime. We gave her some garlic pills, nasty I know. She had one and wanted more....and more...and more! I let her have 4. I figured as long as she was going to bed and I didn't have to smell her it would be fine.

In the morning she was about 75% better!! Hooray! And she had some more garlic yesterday and is almost completely recovered. No more wheezing, just a small cough 5 or 6 times. Huge thanks to my witch doctor mother who's natural ways work miracles. Garlic. Bleh.

Here are some pics from the past week.

Click to view larger

I left one of my SD cards at the fams house in Portland. Boo. So I'll have more later.

I got it!

2011-03-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

I got my ring back today :) Miguel forgot to take the receipt with him to school yesterday so I had to wait another :( BUT I got it now, It's super sparkly cuz they cleaned it all up after they resized it.

I felt kinda bad because having my dainty cute little ring brought up 1.25 sizes is a little depressing...but hey...I can always have it sized back down if they ever get back to a 5 right?? Which they won't. But still. 6.25 is NOT big! All jewelry store display rings come stock size 7 right? So 7 is average? Haha. I dunno. But my fingers aren't fat. I swear. I'd post a picture...but, oh...I have some from before :) And it's still the same ring. Just 1.25 sizes bigger. And I have my band too...

In other news not so boring and shallow: I finally made my website. I'm constantly changing it because I'm not sure exactly how I want it yet and I'm finding new things that I like, but all the info is always there and it never says "under construction" haha.

I also finished my Facebook page!

If there are pictures of you up and you'd like to tag them feel free. If I've taken pictures of you and they're not up, don't be offended. My desktop computer is still pretty disorganized since I moved everything over from our laptops. AND I have pictures on CDs that I don't even have on my computer yet. I seriously have something like 33,000 PICTURES. Anyway, you're all welcome to view them, like them, share them, link them up :) Of course that would actually even be helpful.

I'm planning some shoots down in southern Idaho for July. I'll post some promotions about it later. If you want in shoot me an e-mail :)

So here's the run-down on my list making/doing things on my list ability...

2011-03-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

I didn't quite accomplish EVERYthing on my to-do list from yesterday, but here's what I did do today :)

watched this little girl pretend to be a big girl with her purse

how cute is she???

At one time there were even sunglasses but I couldn't catch it.

Love her.

And then I did some stuff from my yesterday's list today (like the laundry and call about when my sis is coming...only I called my mom instead :)

Only disappointment was that I couldn't pick up my ring :( The sales guy TOLD us "next wednesday" but on the receipt it said it would be ready the 9th...which is still one more wednesday away...so he was wrong, and then when I went to pick it up I was wrong...so I still lose. But I get to go get it NEXT wednesday :) Excited!

I've decided though that when I make a "to-do" list it's usually more for that week than for that day. Cuz I really just write down everything that I know of that I need to do...including things for the next day and next day etc. So maybe I should write things in the order that they need to be done?? And then put milemarkers on them...so like I can't check my Facebook until I get to ____ on the list. And I can't blog about it until I get to ____.

So right now I'm going to go put away things on our new storage shelves that we bought last night. They make it easier for me to store and organize. :) This will help me accomplish my goal of cleaning up the dining room...

Not too shabby

2011-03-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

has been my day so far. But then it's only 11 AM! Basically here's what's gone down:

-made husband shower to wake up and get to school on time

-husband's friend called and said he would pick him up...YES!! This meant that I didn't have to get out of bed OR wake up Audri to come drop Miguel off at the bus...

-slept in till 8:30

-went to get my lonely little baby from her bed

-played with baby on the bed while she drank a bottle

-played all morning reading books, tickling, finding toys, etc.

-tried to teach her how to clean up her toys

-put grumpy baby down for a nap

-put a load of laundry in

-read some of my romance book from Christmas

-caught up on friends via Facebook and Blogger (if you haven't posted lately I don't consider us caught up...just FYI :)

Next on my list:

-give baby a bath when she wakes

-call Zales about my re-sized ring and when I can pick it up!!!!

-call sister and ask when she's coming to visit this month and pick up her thing, lol

-head to Moscow and possibly take husband out to lunch

-maybe hit a couple thrift stores (depending on baby's attitude)

-fold all of my clean clothes sitting on my bed

-plan dinner for tomorrow with friends

-find something fun to do when Miguel gets out of class

Also, I've decided I'm going to post a favorite picture of the day when I post :)

Today's favorite is of me and Miguel when we went mudding with Jared (and possibly Molly, not sure if she came this time) in 2009. Miguel has been missing his Jeep lately with all this crazy weather. And I miss those glasses I'm wearing:(

Snow Day!

2011-03-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a snow day. Miguel didn't go to his morning classes and his evening class was canceled. We seriously got about 16 inches of snow. I'm just going to round up to 2 feet because in the places where it had piled up or been shoveled it was easily 2 feet. Lol.

We decided that after Audri's morning nap we would invite some friends to come play in the snow at the park down the street. Get some pizza, and eat and dry off after. That's exactly what we did. Here are some pictures to illustrate our adventure.

Miguel taking the girls for a ride
and Mason and Myra by the huge snowman we built

Audri seriously wanted to eat the snow the ENTIRE time

The girls played on the playground stuff

Audri couldn't even walk in places we hadn't plowed out for her

Basically we had a lot of fun :)

Monday shmunday

2011-02-28T15:13:00.001-08:00

Today was mostly a meh day, except for Miguel being so caring and loving and Audri being so darn cute. Yes she cried in the car for 15 minutes while I picked up something for my sister in Pullman. All the way there and all the way back. Yes she took a short nap this morning, also cutting mine short :( But she also played with me in the bathtub and gave me hugs and kisses when I asked for them. She also brought me a book to read to her. She also shared her food with me. She also said "mama" 100 times today. She also danced to Shakira with Daddy.

I love her. And she made my day much better than it would've been had she not been here.

We bought her a potty chair...she says "ca ca" for poop. It's funny.

Miguel had to go to school this morning but as soon as I got out of bed I felt like throwing up. So I ate an apple in case I had to throw up. Ha. But I didn't, just felt like it. When Miguel came home he made me some tea. Then I finally felt like eating lunch so we did and the day went on. Got all showered, bathed Audri. I dropped Miguel off at the bus stop and got that thing for my sister. Now Audri is taking another nap and I was catching up on all of YOU via Facebook and blogs :) Now I have to decide what to make for dinner for FHE tonight....

And I've decided that my blog entries are usually too long. So I'm going to be more precise and to the point.

I didn't take a lot of pictures in North Carolina because I was in conference most of the time, but I had a great time with my brother and sisters-in-law. Glad I got to see them and hang out a little. Miguel had a good time in Portland and now he's back in school mode. I'm in work mode, scheduling shoots and appointments. Ignoring my laundry and avoiding the deep clean that needs to happen soon in my house.

We had dinner with our managers/friends last night. It was fun. They're little Olivia is about the same age as Audri so they tore up the house playing and we chatted about their trip to France and England.

Life is good. I miss some of my friends....pahaha, okay all of my friends, well the ones who aren't here. And even some of them.

Also, we decided we're probably going to be staying here until Miguel graduates. Like actually in this house. I hate moving. Especially if it's somewhere close...like a mile away?? Total waste of my energy. Anyway, prolly not gunna move till Miguel graduates, at which time we'll be moving to Chile for a couple of years. Feel free to come visit! More details as that whole thing develops.

Home sweet home

2011-02-23T22:06:00.001-08:00

Wishing that I wasn't tho. Terrible snow here :( I WAS feeling summery and sunny everywhere else!

OH well huh?

I don't even know where to start....perhaps tomorrow?

Getting ready and freaking out

2011-02-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

because I don't like traveling by myself. I am super excited for Charlotte this weekend, but still...

Sorry you can't come Linda :( maybe I'll see you in Portland??

Also, yesterday was a disaster. Miguel failed his written driving test so he has to take it again...(one of my friends told me that they always fail internationals the first time. um racist?? yes. and all our other hispanic friends had to take it multiple times. sucky. maybe they just don't know washington laws. lol. I don't even know them.)

I got pulled over while I was going to pick up Miguel from his failed driving test...the officer was rude. He gave me a $550 ticket for not having insurance (which I did...just for the wrong vehicle, but they're the same policy number!) but I'm glad because he probably would've given me the speeding ticket if he couldn't stick the insurance ticket. It will cost me $25 to have dismissed...which is a worthy sacrifice. Miguel walked to meet me and the officer told him he couldn't get in the car and he had to stay on the sidewalk. Rude!

Then we took our insurance to the court house and she said I needed to find my expired one that shows I have coverage now...because I brought my new one?? That I just paid for last month and it doesn't show that it starts till March...booo! Don't they always say to get rid of your old ones and make sure you replace them with the new one?? Lies. So now I have to find my old one...that is expired.

Then I took Miguel to the bus stop so he could go back to school for 5 more hours. Which meant I would have to pick him up from school because he didn't drive and the bus doesn't run after he gets out of his last class.

So I decided to surprise him and pick him up and take him out to dinner because he'd had a pretty awful day. The Shaffers were kind enough to watch Audri for a little while so we could eat in peace. We went to 'La Casa Lopez' and the food was delish. It's one of our new favorites. We picked up Audri, who is dealing with a molar coming in and a terrible diaper rash...took her home and went to bed at 9:30!! We were exhausted.

Today I'm prepping for our trip. Made a checklist so I don't forget anything. Going to do some laundry so we have plenty of choices and a clean house when we return :)

Any recommendations for rash creams?? Audri's is terribly painful. She screams every time she goes poo and the entire time we're changing her. I feel so bad. I have a prescription one but I can't seem to find it ANYwhere! Sad day.

Valentine's Day spectaclarium

2011-02-15T08:25:00.001-08:00

Let's start with yesterday, which was amazing. Today I might not discuss until tomorrow for it is another matter entirely.

I took Miguel to school and then went shopping for some groceries. Then I picked Miguel up from school and we got lunch with Audri. Then I dropped him back off and went to the store. While Audri was sleeping I put together his present, cleaned the house and started on our dinner surprise.

Miguel got home and dinner was almost ready. He took care of Audri while I finished everything up. We had steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli (I decided we would eat in for convenience sake and that if we had gone out that's what we woulda ordered at Applebee's). It was delish. First time getting the right kind of steak, successfully marinating it, and cooking it good without a grill.

After dinner we exchanged gifts. Miguel got me a little heart necklace with a few sparklies on it, perfectly gift wrapped and accompanied by a love note (I cried). I loved it. I knew I would because I picked it out. Is that cheating?? Well, I gave Miguel a very specific list of things I like for certain occasions and things I don't. From that list he decided I wanted jewelry for Valentine's Day this year. Correct! He was getting frustrated so he told me what he wanted to get me :( so cute. And I suggested that we go to some stores and look at stuff and then he can choose after that so he has a better idea but it's still something he picked out and a surprise to me! Genius right? Haha. Anyway, he got a super cute little one. It's white gold and has a lifetime warranty (so I can pass it on to my kids :) Cute. Love it. Pictures below.

I got him something much more lame....but still from the heart :) Well, dinner was a big thing. Took most of my day getting everything and putting it all together. Fancy candlelight, some sparking cider, yummy dessert (which we have leftovers from, yay :). But I also got him a card with love note inside, an enormous basket of mostly snickers but some milky ways and twix and stuff too. I also made him a jar to start his mixer fund for. He has this dream mixer that's a little spendy and I decide if we actually had a little fund sitting there that we could put money into then it would seem a little more real for him and we would get there quicker. We also donated all of our change and the cash we had in our wallets to it :) THEN I let him pick out 10 songs to buy from amazon or itunes. Because he LOOOOVES music :) And he seemed pretty pleased?

Today is Valentines Day

2011-02-14T12:28:00.001-08:00

And we are so reaaady. It will be fun. I will take pictures and update you after the festivities have ended. Right now Miguel is in school and Audri is sleeping so I'm taking the opportunity to update you all and then hopefully I'll get the house cleaned :)

Well, it looks like Alan and Beth will be coming with us to North Carolina (us being me and my sister-in-law Claudia). Miguel, unfortunately cannot come. The tickets are just too expensive now (like $600-$700!!!). And we refuse to pay over $350 so...yeah. He'll probably just be staying home with his family and little Audri. We'll be leaving Thursday night after Miguel's class and then I'll fly out Friday morning.

Little Audri is doing awesome (mostly). She's walking now, but still falls down a lot and I think she'll be in the funny-looking wobbly walk for a while. Which is fine because it's so freakin cute! She loves doggies still. Eats ANYthing. Takes two naps a day. And is starting to mimick words I say (or that baby signing time says). Adorable. I love it. She also fully fits into 12 mo. clothes and barely has any 3-6 mo. left. She's growing into her size 3 shoes, but still pretty much wears her same old 2 and 2.5s. Her hair is getting longer in the back so it looks kinda funny and is really hard for me to do anything with...plus she pulls it out anyway :) She likes to hold people's hands and drag them around to where she wants to go. She LOVES bringing me and daddy books to read to her (or look at the pictures and turn pages). She loves her little baby doll but still calls it daddy, like most other things. And she knows that she's not supposed to be in the bathroom or the trash so takes advantage of every opportunity that we're not guarding them...

Also, this last weekend we had a party with the Shaffers. Saturday we did breakfast and lunch at our house. The girls played and we watched movies. And then we went on a walk after naptime. I took pictures from the walk and she might have some of the cookies we made posted on her blog sometime soon :) Then we went over to the Shaffers for dinner and "You've Got Mail." Love that movie. A good time had by all.

Headed out!

Me and my love

Miguel deciding it's not a good idea to take the girls "off-roading"

That hill was killer...good job Miguel!

Audri and Myra in the stroller.

Myra wants out...lol

Love my little girl. Love my husband. Hope tonight turns out well. Love you all as well. Wishing you the best of love on this Valentine's Day.

P.S. This is my 100th post!! :) I'm doing good right??

I think I'm really getting the hang of things...

2011-02-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

now that I'm 21...semi-almost 22, married for almost 3 years (aren't we always rounding up?? haha...till we hit 40 right? then we're rounding down), a mother of a 1 year old, a college graduate, business woman and entrepreneur, and a few other things that I don't care to mention or can't quite articulate :)

Although my life is constantly changing all around me and I'm nowhere near perfect, I feel like I'm starting to fit in, make connections, and get things right. Ya know??

It's kind of like when you get up early in the morning to shower and you get the house cleaned and breakfast made before anyone else gets up? You just start the day off right...and then you get some things in the mail that aren't bills or mass mailed crap, maybe even a package? How exciting! Then your husband gets home from school/work and gives you a kiss and says he's taking you out to dinner and a movie while your friends graciously watch the baby for the night. Why? Because you're wonderful, beautiful, amazing, and you deserve it.

So...you know how you feel on days like those? That's how I'm feeling, even though those things haven't happened to me today. Things are just starting to fit into place and work out when the odds are/were that they won't. People (friends, family, and acquaintances) are being nice and helpful and understanding. My family is eternal. We have a house to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear, we have all our teeth (that seriously is a fear of mine...losing teeth), we pay our bills every month. And we're slowly but surely being educated and getting somewhere in our careers. It even looks sunny outside.

I'm not saying that it's all my doing. I know it's not. I know my life wouldn't be like this without the constant guidance of my Heavenly Father and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I know that I owe my existence and future existence to them. I have no past, present, or future without the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't always openly bare my testimony, not even in church on Fast Sunday, but it's not because I don't have one. I've worked very hard to have one of many many things, even early on in my life. I do not know everything, or have powerful and complete testimonies of EVERYthing, but that is not what's asked of me. And I am glad. I can work at my own pace, developing my testimony as I can and that is acceptable.

Today I am feeling especially grateful and blessed (not just because I got my tax refund...but I did!!). More on this topic later...I've got to make Audri go to sleep :)

Birthday video...I hope

2011-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

So, this is me attempting to preserve Audri's life in little digital memories :) Maybe one day she'll be happy I did. Until then they're just taking up a bunch of room on my hard drive and reminding me why I love her so much :)

Books/Birthday Video

2011-02-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

So when I went thrifting the other day I found some things I wasn't looking for....ha! Well, and I bought them. They were books. Lots of really good condition baby board books for like $.50-$1. Some of them have interactive flaps and textures and things and some of them are just books made for songs that already existed, lol (like The Itsy Bitsy Spider). But I was so happy to find them in good enough condition to bring home for Audri to ruin :) not that that was my intent, that's just what happens. She looooves books and sometimes I grab 5 or so and we just go sit down (her in my lap) on the bed and read them until we're bored and then I tickle her till she's tired. As boring as it sounds, it really is quite fun.

Anyway, my point is that I got good books for a good deal :) and that makes my momma and little girl happy!

Also, Audri loves doggies! Everytime she hears something that sounds like a dog or sees something that could possibly resemble a dog she makes her "doggie sound." It's cute.

some of the books

Also, I had the video posted but I forgot to put in the part with her cake!! So I fixed it and now it's not re-uploading. Anyway, I'll try it in a new post today. Hopefully that works!

Miguel's Slopes Video

2011-02-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hey ya'll. Here's a video Miguel and I worked on for his Landscape Construction class. Audri makes a couple of appearances as well :) Enjoy!

9% Slope

37% Slope 0% Slope

Yesterday was an especially fantastic day

2011-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

because...well, good things happened, but I think I just chose to ignore all the bad things. Ya know?

But let me tell you about the good things :)

-I got my Zumba in the mail :) yay! Did I ever tell you that Miguel and I met latin dancing? And when we were in Mexico we went latin dancing with our family at these clubs, so fun. And when we're at home sometimes we latin dance, just for fun. So I figured, why not dance to get back into shape?? I tried it today. Totally awesome, and fun. Love it.

-Went thrifting and found some AMAZING deals. So excited.

-Someone bought our laptop that doesn't work so he could fix it and give it to his kids.

-Alan gets to come to North Carolina with me (P.S. today is Beth's 21st birthday!! Happy Birthday Bethster)

-I get to do my friend's wedding in LA in April

-And I made enchiladas in time to eat when Miguel got home from school

Pretty good day. After Miguel get's home from school we might go to the pool and swim...for fun.

Here are some pictures I've taken of Audri this week. Enjoy!

walking!

helping mommy with the dishes...but really she's not

being mischievous in her little highchair

Revamp

2011-02-01T11:13:00.001-08:00

Revamped my blog today because I felt like it. Might be changing some more as I go along. It's almost like how I get the urge to rearrange my house sometimes?? Which I sort of did the other day...moved some things around between our office space and closets. Much better.

It's soooo sunny outside!! I'm excited. And then I walk out the door and am unexcited. It's freakin cold! I had to drive Miguel to school again this morning, but this time on purpose. He started the car like 10 minutes before we left so it wouldn't be freezing when we took Audri out...it was still freezing. The windows were still frosted over. Nature plays some nasty tricks.

Made bread for the first time, well, made whole wheat homemade bread, haha. Miguel helped a little and Mason Shaffer did most of it. We were gunna have Navajo Tacos cuz I was already making the dough, but something went wrong and it was taking an unusually long amount of time for the dough to rise...so we went to get some burgers instead. With the scone dough that took too long to rise I made a round loaf of bread instead.

I filed my taxes today!! It said that it was denied the first time cuz my name and social didn't match. Yeah...got that fixed. :) Now...to wait.

I'm still working on my creative V-Day ideas, but here's a link to some AWESOME Valentine's Day cookies, in case any of your are feeling extra creative and daring :)

And I would absolutely LOVE to adopt her idea of Love pillows...SO cute. But I don't even have a sewing machine :(

It looks like some of our friends are going to buy our car from us. Then we can take it off our insurance!! Yay!! And they'll have a vehicle :) Happy for them. Then we'll have a lower insurance payment to go along with our lower car payment. Score. Speaking of insurance. Anybody got any recommendations as far as health insurance goes?? Miguel has to have his own or pay for the schools (too expensive and we don't use their on-campus health center cuz we don't live there). He's already paid for it, but I'm pretty sure if we find something soon they'll reimburse us for it.

P.S. We love our van. Miguel still looks at Jeeps when they drive by and finds them on the internet...but he seriously loves the van too. We keep Baby Signing Time in the DVD player for Audri to watch if she's too sleepy to behave or just being a pill. She get's so excited!! Now if only she would sign with us...huh.

Today was just another one of those days

2011-01-31T21:27:00.001-08:00

It pretty much sucked.

Except that I got a bunch of magazines for 10 cents each while thrifting to cut things out of for our "dream board." And I got to talk to Anna Warnock for a good 40 minutes. We haven't seen each other in 8 years. Good to catch up.

AND that we had FHE with the Shaffers.

AND Miguel helped me make dinner. Tacos. Yum. Food is one of my comfort mechanisms. Hence my weight and health issues :)

THERE. There are some good things about today :)

Anyway. Don't really feel like blogging about my issues. Will be back on a better day with more than a grumpy face.

North Carolina

2011-01-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm taking a business trip to Charlotte, North Carolina next month. I'm super excited!! But I'm posting about it because it's completely official. I'm now hundreds of dollars poorer than I was an hour ago... :( Hey, it takes money to make money, right? Anyway, Miguel can't come because we could only REALLY afford for one of us to fly, so it's just me and Miguel is gunna stay with his family and Audri in Portland (where I'm flying out from). I'm excited for the trip (obviously) but I hate hate hate traveling by myself...in, to and around places I've never been. We'll see how that goes. I'll bring the laptop and use the airport WiFi so I can post my locations periodically to let the outside world know where I am. That way if I get abducted and no one knows where I am on Monday morning we'll have some bread crumbs to look for. :) Seriously though, makes me wish I'd kept practicing my karate skills....

I'm flying United. Don't think I've flown with them before...maybe once? Wish me luck! And tell me if you need me to bring you back any souvenirs :) teehee.

In other news, Audri is taking a nap. Hence the reason I have my hands empty and have time to blog. Today I'm working on cleaning out our dining room closet (aka: the junk closet). It's just got all our office stuff, paperwork, extra books, craft stuff, etc. and needs to be whipped into shape.

Also, yesterday I went thrifting *teehee* and picked up some cute little kid lounge chairs for like $5. AND, remember those curlers that I had on my Christmas List? I found them!! For $3 at a thrift store. Apparently they're "vintage." My heart seriously skipped a beat. Anyway, that's all I've got so far. Oh wait! Audri is walking...not stable, but she's trying really hard without us coaxing and beckoning. So cute cuz she's still so little. Love it.

P.S. Any cute/creative/thrifty Valentine's Day ideas? Got a few....need more options before I decide completely.

You know how it's really hard to tell people how you feel about them?

2011-01-26T11:37:00.001-08:00

Like...especially brothers and sisters and people close to you.

I feel that way about my mom. It's hard for me to tell her that she's amazing and I admire her and everything she has accomplished in her life and that half of my friends tell me she's their role model. Also, it's really hard to be like her, so talented at everything (piano, singing, sewing, cooking, being healthy, etc.). But I guess I still have some time to figure it all out huh? So this is me telling my mom that I love her and she's the best mom ever.

Thanks mom.

A walk in the park

2011-01-24T23:21:00.000-08:00

These last few days it has been so nice out...except today it rained all day, but at least it wasn't snow! Anyway, we decided to go on a walk and I got to take some pictures of Pullman :) Loved it.

Also, things are going really well for our family right now and we're just overall excited about what 2011 has in store for us.

What do you feed your kids?

2011-01-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

When they don't eat what you give them...

Lately all Audri wants to eat are little cheese fish crackers. She'll take a few bites of whatever I made/have for her (eggs, soup, banana, etc.) and then refuse to eat the rest. When I let her down she goes and finds her little cracker container and eats those...

I feel like it isn't healthy?

Suggestions?

Guess what!

2011-01-20T18:24:00.001-08:00

No. I'm not pregnant. I swear, if I had a FAQs page that would be the only question on there besides: "Aww, how old is your baby?"

Today we sold another book :) It's kind of fun actually. Made $100 or so, so far. Only a few books left to go but we're thinking about selling some other stuff too (hence our choice of Amazon.com to sell even tho they collect fees from you).

This morning Miguel missed the bus...like...we were letting him out of the car and it drove away. So I drove him to school because I needed to return something in Moscow anyway. Stopped at the mall after I dropped Miguel off at 8 am and they didn't open till 10! Ridiculous. So I go home and decide I can ship that book someone ordered because I brought it with me...Driving by the post office and ask someone standing out what time they open:

Man: "Um...looks like 10."

Me: "10? Really??"

Man: "Well...it's pretty hard to tell." Man starts walking off.

Thanks a bunch preoccupied jerk (of course I didn't actually say that).

So I head home to wait for the post office to open. I check online and it actually opens at 8:30...10 minutes later than when I was there. I decide I'll just pick Miguel up from school so I can return that item in the mall and go to the post office THERE. Finally. Success. EXCEPT, I got there at 12:50 something and they were closed for lunch from 12 to 1:30...so when went to the post office in Pullman when we got back. It worked out. When we got home we took a nap :) Yes. And it ended up being too long because Miguel woke up just in time to leave for class instead of early enough to do his homework before class.... :( Now Audri and I are watching Bee Movie and deciding what to eat for dinner. Miguel will be home in an hour and we're going to watch the 3rd LOTR (my first time!!) finally. And there will most likely be hot chocolate with ice cream accompanying us.

Might get to see my mommy this weekend. Booking flights for Charlotte, North Carolina (business trip). Excited!

Amazon Part II

2011-01-19T15:23:00.001-08:00

I'm adding things to my list as I think of them. I love this.

Also, we sold our first book last night! Awesome :)

The big 25/Amazon

2011-01-18T09:33:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was Miguel's birthday and I promised a report and pictures today. But really, I forgot to take my camera with us :( so you'll have to settle for a report.

We went to Wingers for dinner with some friends (because the nearest Red Robin is 2 hours away) and it was fun. He even got a free concrete pie for his birthday :) Super yummy. Highly recommend it.

Then we went to our friends house and watched a really funny (if you don't mind people making fun of racism) 90's movie called Amos & Andrew. And then we came home and I helped Miguel with his homework after Audri went to bed.

I told him that I was sorry I didn't plan something bigger (normally I try and do some kind of party, or surprise of some kind) but he seemed happy with what we did. Oh! I made him a card. Yes. We were at Joann's Fabric the other day and there were these 5 lb boxes of different square sizes of cardstock. There were textured ones and all sorts of colors and I was impressed. I convinced Miguel to let me buy it and told him I would make a birthday card out of it and I did. Maybe I'll take a picture of it. On a similar topic, I also bought fabric to make Audri a fleece blanket from (all the fleece was 40% off and I couldn't resist). I figure I can quilt her one after I get my own sewing machine and that a tied fleece with do for now :)

I've recently become obsessed with Amazon. Darci and my sister Annie always rave about how you can find anything on there, one of our friends has an Amazon rewards card, etc. So we bought Miguel's school books and backpack there and I found the Wishlist button :) I have a wishlist. It keeps growing. I'm getting Zumba. I think this week...so I can start shaking my booty to lose some weight :) They also have their universal wishlist button that you can add to your browser and add things to your Amazon wishlist from any website you're on. Love it. I've decided that whenever its my birthday or mother's day (same time frame for me :) or Christmas...I'll send people my link! Genius.

P.S. We are also selling some of our old school books on Amazon. Money!

Audri...is that a poopy face?

2011-01-17T11:16:00.001-08:00

yes. yes it was. and where was she making her poopy face?

in the bathtub, of course. yelled for Miguel, she didn't wanna get out, he cleaned it all up and we refilled and washed her again :) during which time she was trying to eat the bubbles (I gave her a bubble bath).

prior to the poopy experience Audri was caught playing in the toilet with her hands and a book...what joyous memories.

lots of firsts today.

in other news, today is Miguel's birthday. happy birthday you. we get a discount on our insurance because he's 25. tomorrow we have to go in and get him a new driver's license because his Florida one expires today. we're going to dinner with friends and coming back to the house for dessert and movie/games. today Miguel is my favorite because Audri messed up big time. I love him. and I love her, but man is she a nuisance.

hopefully I will post of today's activities tomorrow. love.

makes me laugh

2011-01-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

I posted this on my facebook....because I can.

Conversation last night as we went to bed
Miguel: "hey! you're wearing my shirt!"
Me: *giggle* "yesssss"
Miguel: "why are you wearing my shirt to bed?"
Me: "it smells good. it smells...like you!"
Miguel: "why don't you just smell ME?"

*laughing*

He makes me laugh a lot. I love him.

My little baby turned one....

2011-01-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

My little baby turned one! It's crazy that she's one already. People tell you that you better enjoy every moment because they grow up so fast. People are right! Well, she'll always be my little baby. I think we did a pretty good job organizing a last minute 1-year celebration. Nana and Tata came over from Oregon to celebrate with us. And we're luck to have good friends who were willing to come celebrate with us on such short notice (not that those of you who didn't aren't great friends...I love you all ;). We did minnie mouse themed-ish kinda (cups, plates, stickers, etc.). Nana brought a lovely cake that she made. It was delicious. And Miguel came up with the awesomest idea ever to blow up all the balloons and put them in one room (the "balloon room") for the kids to play in. It worked out perfect and the kids (and adults) loved it.

Overall, it was a super fun night and Audri did everything she was supposed to do except blow out the candle...which is understandable, right? Love that girl. She's my fav.

I don't know how, but I managed to misplace practically ALL of the birthday pictures from her party, but I do have a few from that weekend and a lot of videos that I can post. Enjoy!

Dinner with parents

Audri thinks she can drink out of cups now...good thing there was nothing in there

And now for a video of the Balloon Room

I couldn't get the other one uploaded, it was taking too long...possibly tomorrow??

New Years in North Dakota...yes, North Da-freakin-kota

2011-01-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

We randomly decided to go to North Dakota with Alan and Beth (that's where her family lives). Alan dropped his car off somewhere in Montana and we drove the rest of the way together in our van :) It was awesome. We rented a couple of Redbox movies and switched drivers every couple hundred miles so some of us could chill in the back and a watch a movie. Miguel drove the most I think... :( poor guy. But I get nervous when it's super windy or the roads get icy at night and let him take over.

Audri's new friend Landen

A stuck semi on the freeway that was closed almost the whole time

Goofballs :) on New Years Day

I gave Miguel his birthday present early....we made a scavenger hunt out of it. He thought he got the coat, but in the pocket it directed him to look under the table for his REAL present :)

Oh! So in case you can't tell, Miguel's present is a laptop. We researched it for a while and it is THE one he wants :) I figured since he was starting school soon I could give it to him early. It was super fun to watch him run around looking for all the clues to where it was and then find the coat. He pretended to be happy about it but then he told me how he really felt after. Ha! I win :)

Here's a picture of the laptop we got.

Christmas in Kamiah

2011-01-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

So we got to Kamiah the weekend before Christmas to help my mom get ready for the ENTIRE family to be home...and some friends :) I got sick the day after we got there and was in bed ALL of Saturday. I was throwing up everything and just felt icky. Not fun at all. No I'm not pregnant.

The rest of the time was mostly enjoyable. We went snowmobiling Christmas Day and the day after. We ate a ton, played games, the boys helped dad out with various projects, we decorated the tree a couple days before Christmas, and Annie and I helped mom fill stockings and wrap presents Christmas Eve (by the way, we don't believe in Santa in my house...fyi). Audri had lots of fun here too :) and there were more kids to play with so she was fairly entertained most of the time.

Our friend Debbie and her fiance Rob came up with Alan and Beth and spent Christmas with us as well. It was nice to meet him and see her after the mission. I think they're perfect for each other and they'll be very happy together :) AND we finally took a family picture.

The last family picture in who knows how long...

Overlooking the ranch

All the kids but Annie out playin in the snow

Obviously I'm taking the picture :) or I'd be in it too. Another sibling shot

Alan and Miguel havin a blast on the snowmobiles

Miguel consoling little Audri

San Diego

2011-01-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

So we took the van down to San Diego because there were 5 of us going. It was nice, even though we drove all night there and all night back. We went for a business convention and it was AMAZING. Totally worth driving all night and all that it cost. Loved it. So here are some pics.

Brother and Sister-in-laws Claudia and Troy

Me and Miguel at dinner

Most of our team together at the convention

I didn't get to take as many pics as I wanted :( it was absolutely beautiful in December down there. But hey, maybe next time :)

Finalmente!

2011-01-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Here we are at home again, finally. I'm not sure why I can't bring myself to blog while I'm on the road. Obviously I would made a terrible travel-blogger....because I'd always be traveling and therefore, never blogging. I've decided though that instead of one humongous blog I'm going to split it up into sections :) So the first section will be Thanksgiving in Portland!

We left a little before Thanksgiving so we could hang out some AND we stayed a while after too because we were headed back there in 2 weeks to go to San Diego...decided it wouldn't be worth the gas money to drive back on those terrible roads.

We were also shopping for vans for my parents while we were over there because they're less expensive and there are more options. While we were looking for them we kinda started looking for us too! Weird I know, a van? We only have one child. No I'm not pregnant. We just always have people with us wherever we go and we travel a lot and feel like we're more comfortable in a van. So we found a Mazda MPV from a dealer. It only had 54,000 miles on it and it's fairly new so we were excited when we were approved at a lower APR than we were paying with the Jeep. Traded in Miguel's Wrangler :( poor guy, and got a van. We love it though. In fact, in the stories to come you'll hear of our travels and how we've already put 6,000 miles on! Insane.

So, I only really took videos of Thanksgiving and they're just of us playing Cranium for hours...but we had a ton of fun hanging out with family for a few weeks and baby got used to them all too, which was nice. She got to spend lots of quality time with them :)

So now I'm just gunna post some pics of everything that went down in Portland and such.

The van

Self-portrait :)

Christmas time

Playing Taboo

Audri getting into the recycling bag...

Been a long time

2011-01-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

I promise to post as soon as I get home. I can't get my pics off my camera because they're in RAW format...but I PROMISE :) and boy are there some fun updates :) Love and miss you all.

Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year!! We're definitely excited for what this next year brings.

Craziness

2010-12-14T05:11:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy busy for the Elguedas. We're back from San Diego. It was amazing, and totally worth the 2,000 miles, 36 hours of driving, and gas and fee $$$. We're in Portland now and planning to head back to Pullman tomorrow morning. I'm praying the roads are good. I woke up this morning at 4:30 because I heard Audri wrestling around (in Portland we share a room with Audri). Then I couldn't go back to sleep like she did. I got up and got a chocolate muffin and glass of milk to apease my tummy while I catch up on my blogs :) All of you! I love just sitting for a little bit and reading about my friends' lives. It's nice to know what's going on even though I'm not there. It makes me feel like I'm not actually missing those moments and that we're not actually growing apart.

I was going to do a full blown update since I'm up so early and no one else will be awake for at least 2 more hours....but this laptop won't read my camera's pictures :( so I think I'll wait. I can do an Audri update though :)

She is a super crawler now, no more army crawl for this baby.

She knows how to go up the stairs...but not the right way down. We're trying to teach her to go down backwards so if she mysteriously gets up them herself and no one notices, she won't crack her head open trying to come down by herself.

She walks around the furniture. While we were gone for a few days nana and tata (Miguel's parents) watched her for us and they said she was walking around the couches with her hands up using her little belly to keep balance. Can you imagine? lol.

She has at least 8 teeth. We think she's getting some more in, but it's really hard to get her to hold still and open her mouth at the same time for long enough to get a good look.

She eats anything and everything. I'm tell you, this girl LOVES food. She even eats things that I don't like :) that's something I'm proud of...that I'm feeding her food that I don't like, yay!
Her hair is still super short. Miguel's dad says we need to cut it to make it grow. But I've only heard of that working sometimes and I'm not willing to make her look like a little baldy just to put her hair in pigtails 6 months sooner.

She waves bye and hi.

She claps her hands and pretends to sing.

She says "mama and dada."

She mimics us when we tell her to say things.

She shakes her head no. A lot. Sometimes she knows what she's saying no about. Sometimes I look over to where she's sitting and she's just shaking her head...about nothing. I think she thinks it's fun. The other day she was reaching for the christmas tree. She would stop and shake her head and then reach, stop and shake her head and then reach. I think it's because when she was reaching for it the other day I told her no and shook my head at her. So cute for some reason.

She dances when she hears music. Also she loves to dance in our arms, we jump around and twirl and she just laughs.

She loves the word "icky." It makes her laugh for some reason.

She crawls away as soon as you try to put on her clean diaper.

She loves baths and showers.

She loves books.

She loves people. At first she plays shy and puts her head in mommy's shoulder but if you make her laugh and play with her she warms up to you really easy.

I love my baby girl. She's growing up so fast. She'll be one in less than a month!

P.S. Any ideas on how we should celebrate?? I know she won't remember and I know she doesn't even care, but I kind of feel like 1 year is a big deal!! It's Miguel's first day of school :( but we don't have to celebrate ON her birthday :)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know it's been forever and I basically am just a big slacker....but we've been driving a lot if it softens your heart at all :)

So first we decided to head over to my family's place in Kamiah for a couple of days to help out and chill because neither of us really have a lot going on right now. So we did that and Miguel helped our friend Matt and my little brother get deer during the hunting season (ends today I believe). And he was nice enough to help my dad out around the farm while the boys were off at school. My sister and I worked on the basement with my mom. We're getting it all cleaned out and organized. I was very proud of the progress we made :) My mom's letting go of her inherited pack-rat ways. Proud of her too.

Then we left to go back to Pullman and pack so we could leave for Portland in time for Thanksgiving! Ha. We unpacked the Jeep that night and re-packed it in the morning. Normally we take the car places and we just had the snow tires put on but the roads were exceptionally bad this last weekend and I just feel a lot safer in the jeep and all it's manliness. Also, we decided to bring the Jeep to Portland so we could get it registered. So basically the trip to Portland was stressful and tiring, but we made it safe and sound. We celebrated Thanksgiving with all of Miguel's family and Claudia's (my sister-in-law) extended family. It was fun to cook and prepare all day and then hang out with family and friends. We played Cranium (which apparently I've been playing all wrong for a long time) and had a blast.

Also, in the way of overcoming food fears: I ate pumpkin pie!! Like two pieces :) AND pumpkin bars. For those of you who don't know, I have very large and debilitating food fears that keep me from enjoying life like I should and pumpkin is one of those things I just haven't developed a liking for. But my SIL made a pumpkin pie that had a cream cheese layer with it and kind of broke up the solid pumpkin-ness of the pie and with a huge scoop of whipped cream on top it was delish. And the pumpkin bars I ate were the best pumpkin flavored dessert I've ever tasted in my life (including Great Harvest pumpkin chocolate chip bread). So, recap: thanksgiving cooking, hanging out, eating amazing food, staying up late = so much fun!

We got home at like...2ish and were debating whether there would be any black friday deals worth wasting our beauty sleep on. We decided to chance it because Miguel and I had never been and were disbelieving of the chaotic event.

So 3:30 we head out. Miguel and I wait int he Target line while Sole and Claudia go wait in the Wal Mart line. We finally get int he store, grab everything we were hoping to get, and wait in line again to check out. Claudia and Sole came and picked us up and said that Wal Mart was an absolute bust. Apparently they had handed out wrist bands to reserve the big items at like 12 or 2 or something and people came to PICK UP at 5 am. Weird. We stopped at Best Buy where Miguel did that Xbox dancing thingy...which was extra funny at 6:30 am. Then we went and walked around the mall just to make sure we didn't miss anymore AND to completely wear ourselves out to make it worth it. We finally got home around 9:30 am and I seriously didn't get back out of bed till 4 pm. Thank goodness for grandmas or my child would be taken away by social services. Lol.

The other night we all went out together to see Tangled, the new Disney movie about Rapunzel. I was very pleasantly surprised and highly recommend it.

The DMV is closed on Mondays...weird. So Miguel is there today trying to see if he can get the Jeep registered without paperwork. Yep. We forgot the paperwork. Dumb. I think it's in the dining room closet sitting in a pile of paperwork from when we took it with us last time we were in Portland to see if we could use the paperwork without the Jeep to get it registered. Dumb. Anyway, he said there's like a 4 hour line....but we WILL get this done. If they don't let us register it without the paperwork we'll have to have someone send it :) Any volunteers??

Last night we decorated Claudia and Troy's Chrsitmas tree. It is absolutely beautiful. I'm jealous :)

So yeah, since we're just waiting to hear back about jobs, we figure we might as well be spending our time with family and trying to do SOMEthing :) It's nice to be with people you love and who love you.

I promise to be a little better about keeping you all updated while I'm not in my own home :)
Happy holidays!

P.S. I forgot to tell you. Audri has a ton of teeth now and effectively melts my heart with her little toothy grin. She walks around the furniture and crawls like a crazy person. She shakes her head no and claps when she approves of something :) Love her.

An awkward Thursday

2010-11-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

This morning I was awakened at 7:20 am by my cell phone ringing. I was expecting my family to call to tell me what time they were leaving so I kept it by my bed. I looked at it and it was blocked or something so I didn't answer. Then it rang again minutes later. It was a (503) 702 number just like mine! I thought maybe it was someone in the family since they all have Oregon numbers...although I didn't think that I do have all their numbers in my phone...it was this guy's voice who answered, then he wouldn't say anything so I hung up. Then the number texted me!! I texted back and asked who it was. Then he was asking for sexual favors!! Miguel called the number back and he answered and hung up....prolly because he heard Miguel's voice and not mine. Miguel called back and he wouldn't answer. Then he was texting me more...apparently he's 16, with blonde hair and blue pupils and he's christian?!?....I dunno what girl was trying to ditch this chat room loser but I'm very disgruntled that it interfered with my sleep and my husband's attitude. So I texted him back and told him that it was my husband who just tried to call and I don't know nor am I interested in knowing who he is and told him not to contact me anymore....following up with "you little punk." Those were the nicest words I could squeeze out.

So basically some teenage boy was "sexting" me this morning!! Baby woke up and Miguel reluctantly, but wonderfully took her for me so I could get another hour of sleep. Love that guy. My mom, sister, and the little boys will be here any minute to hang out for the afternoon :) Well, actually Annie has to watch a streamed video from BYUI's online stuff and it won't stream anywhere in Kamiah so she's coming here. But I like to pretend that they're coming to see me :)

Family visit

2010-11-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

I don't think I already posted about this...but if I did please just look for new parts of the story :)

My mommy and little brother's came to visit the other day! They were going to Colfax for chiropractic appointments and it's only 15 mins away from me so they stopped in for dinner and a chat. Earlier in the day Tracy and ChaeLynn had stopped in to say hi and see little Audri so I had Miguel go pick up a stuffed pizza while we were gossiping, lol. Friendly, always. So he got this all meat stuffed pizza and we put it in the oven. Then some of our friends stopped by to get directions to my parents' house to hunt hunt this weekend. We got all turned around on Google Earth and finally figured it out. My mom called and said they were stopping for gas and were almost there, and about that time I remembered that the pizza was still in the oven....it was too late. It was burned!! I have been terrible about burning things in that oven since we moved here. It's got this weird timer that I don't know how to use and I hadn't taken the time to figure out the microwave timer...bleh. So my family got there right as I pulled out the burnt pizza...I decided to go get another and Miguel wanted to try and cut off the top of the pizza to see if the middle would work (remember it was a stuffed pizza). My "little" brother Kyle decided to come with and we had some lovely conversations along the way. I love that the rest of my siblings are starting to grow up. I'm so excited for when we're all older with families and we can just sit around and chat and have fun while the kids play like my mom and all her brothers and sisters. So I got another pizza , brought it back, cooked it, and we ate that one too! :) It was nice to sit and talk with my mom and see how the family is doing. Wish that I could visit with them more often now that I'm so close....

So that's about all I have to say I suppose. My littlest brother, Logan, who has been having seizures off and on has been getting better (more time between the seizures) since he started seeing this chiropractor. He said the staff infection in the brain seems to be gone...interesting. I'm happy for him, we were all worried for a while.

Blog stalker

2010-11-13T17:42:00.001-08:00

So the other day I was just browsing websites and I came across a photographer/mom/wife/mormon gal and my heart just went out to her while I read through her blog. She's an amazing writer and artist and I hope I can touch people the way she touched me. To view her new blog go to http://natalienortonblog.com/ and to read the story I read about her family and what they've gone through (you might be able to relate or maybe it will just touch your heart) click on Baby Gavin. It has a link that will take you to her old blog where you can read her posts.

With that in mind. I can't tell you how much I love my little baby Audri. She means the world to me. I honestly can't imagine what life would be like without her. It's odd for me to think about other children though...can I feel the same way about every single one? I feel like my mom has treated us all pretty fairly and showed love for each of us...

I think of my Heavenly Father and how many children he has...the heart is an amazing thing! We have the capacity to give out so much love. I know that our children, and close friends and family deserve that love, but it seems that sometimes they're the ones we hurt the most. One thing I want to work on and become better at is showing and telling the people I love the most how much I do. I want to listen closer to the promptings of the Spirit to know when I should communicate something to someone in need. Too often the words I'm given go unsaid and I wonder if I could've helped a friend or family member put a smile on their face. I wonder if I would feel better about my day sometimes if I'd called someone I thought I should and just asked how they were doing....I can do better. So if you get a random call from me...I'm not the only one who thought you needed it :) Love you all. Thank you for being amazing people.

Snow tires

2010-11-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went up to Spokane for the whole day to get our snow tires put back on :) Yippee. But there's no snow yet, which is the key. If we wait till there's snow we might not be able to get there and then the line for tires is longer than 2 hours (like it was yesterday). We went to the Northtown mall and walked around and shopped with the Shaffers. We didn't buy anything and Audri fell asleep in her stroller. But it was fun and good that there was someone there to come get us so we didn't have to wait at WalMart for 2 hours. :)

I feel like we won't get snow for a while though even though there are small percentages here and there. Maybe it's because I semi don't want any snow :) We're taking our family picture in December outside and I don't want there to be snow in it...teehee.

Also, today I had a job interview for a place I really want to work. I got invited back for a second interview with the owners. Only setback is that the pay is less desirable than the other jobs I'm applying for. They would start the soonest though and all the others I have to wait till the end of the month to know... :( Boo. Also! If I start working next week our whole holiday schedule is off...that's life though right? Haha. I'll let you know how it goes.

One more thing. I feel like I don't post on here enough about how much Miguel does and how much I love him :) He's a big part of my life too, not just Audri. I wouldn't be able to do it without him. Today he came home from work for an hour to watch baby so I could go to my interview :) He loves her so much and I'm glad he's her daddy. I bet she is too. She loves to dance and sing with him and just gets so excited when he comes home. I love it. Also...gives me a little break from her :) Haha!

Plans for this week are clean the house and go to a work luncheon for Miguel and that's about it!! Maybe a little relaxing. Back to job hunt and craziness next week.

Toy Story

2010-11-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

I love those movies, although I haven't seen the 3rd one yet, I hear it's awesome as well. I'm excited!

But I actually have a "toy story." This morning while I was dressing Audri she grabbed this big (compared to her) box and was playing with it. So I flipped it over and put her hands on it so she could push it around. Then I decided that we should have just given her a box to push around and learn how to walk instead of her walker....oh well.

I guess I haven't made a post in...5 days!! So I should have a lot to say. Well...actually I posted my Christmas list...that's kind of a post. But it was a draft first so it went under the day I started it instead of the day it was actually posted (click here to view). Even if you're not getting me a present, maybe it will entertain you or give you some ideas!! Haha.

Basically I haven't been up to much. Dealing with finances, Miguel is losing his job this week because they're closing for the winter so we're deciding what to do there, he also starts school in January...blah blah blah, this is the boringness that fills my life. Normal human activity that everyone else is dealing with too, financial woe, family bliss, life's decisions, my crazy baby. I kind of feel like I just shouldn't blog unless there's something of great significance or importance to tell you all. How do you feel about insignificant and unimportant blogging???

I suppose I'll get on with it. Audri is teething like a crazy person and she's got 4 on bottom all the way through, 2 on top all the way/I can't quite tell and 2 more on top that I know exist...so she's basically a wretched little girl who cannot be calmed. We can't find teething tablets anywhere (recall??) and tylenol doesn't really have an immediate effect. And she absolutely despises ora-gel, in fact, she screams even louder when we put it on. So I just hold her all day and feed her cheerios, animal crackers, and goldfish...although I do love cuddling, I'd like to get a few things done during the day...like blogging! She climbs up on everything, discovered that the DVD player has buttons, and actually crawls around the house on her hands and knees.

I want to go out one of these days and get some pictures of the palouse up here. It's amazing with all the fall colors and rolling hills. I have plenty of time, my only problem is Audri. I can't take her to take pictures with me because it's getting cold and I'd have to hold her the whole time.

My food update:

I've been trying things a lot more often. Tried cooked spinach for the first time the other day. The big news though, is that I'm actually liking things! I like onions very sautéed, and most of the vegetables I had texture problems with are good steamed :) It's fun and adventurous trying new foods.

That's about it for the life of Jeri. More to come.

Today

2010-11-05T15:45:00.001-07:00

I woke up with a headache,

my child didn't feel like sleeping in,

and I did!

And I just felt...ugh.

Today

my face is incredibly broken out and I'm sick of my hair.

Today

is overcast.

Today

my little baby fell asleep in her bouncer watching baby signing time (does that make me a terrible mother??) I have no idea how long she was there before I picked her up and put her in her crib... :(

Today

Audri has another teething fever which makes her clingy, whiny, and cuddly (but of course I like the cuddly part).

Today

My husband came home during his lunch break and watched Robin Hood with the baby and held her for me since I've been holding her all morning.

Today

Audri only took a 45 min afternoon nap...which usually isn't good. I gave her a bottle when she woke hoping she might dose back (I know...another terrible mother indicator). She started crying 20 minutes later while I was trying to nap. I went in to get her and her entire little body was soaked; the bottle nipple had somehow wiggled out and most of it spilled in her bed and on her clothes and hair.

Today

I gave Audri a bath to clean her up after the bottle incident. She splashed a lot and soaked the bathroom floor (but it was seriously so cute I don't mind).

Today

Audri is taking a third nap (because of two short previous ones and a fever) in my bed and I'm nervously peeking in every 5 minutes because there aren't walls on my bed.

Today

has been one of those days so far.

Who knows how tonight will be...

Dear Tomorrow,

Please be better.

Love,

Jeri

Christmas list

2010-11-04T14:53:00.001-07:00

I told Darci I would post my Christmas list if she would post hers...and she did.

Here we go:

-Boxes of nifty craftiness to be crafty with, haha (material, ribbon, wood, paint, sparklies...you know ;)

-A lifetime supply of mint oreos...okay not really, that would be a lot, but I do love those things

-New moccasin slippers (mine are almost dead :( )

-Lock N Roll curlers. My sister-in-law has some and I just love them, so much faster and easier than normal hot curlers!

-A freaking paper shredder...I don't care if I'm being lazy. I tear up documents with important information with my hands every single day. I'm scared that some homeless guy is going to go through the dumpster one day and put the pieces back together like a puzzle and *tada* identity theft success because I didn't do a thorough enough job.

-A collection of old movies (on DVD, cuz we don't have a VCR). You know, the classics. Anything with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, the Rat Pack, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis...the good stuff.

-Disney movies on DVD...hard to find normally under $20 a piece, I know. I still need Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Lion King, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound,...and a bunch of Disney Pixars

Audri's Christmas list:

I know...she's not even one yet, what could she possibly want?? Well, I believe I have the right to decide what she wants until she knows it herself...even when she thinks she knows, I'll probably still be deciding what she really wants. Here goes:

-Book collections. By golly she's going to read. I wanted to find a little golden book collection but haven't really sat down and looked yet. Although I know there are probably hundreds of those books, they're all really good (the Disney books, Little Pokey Puppy...etc.).

-6-12 mo. clothes, even second-hand! Her clothes are as expensive as mine! It's ridiculous. And she's still growing pretty steadily. She's now out of all of her 0-3 mo. clothes and even fitting into some of her 9 mo. ones!

-Size 1.5-2 shoes

-A little soft lounging chair...or couch.

Please please no toys...unless it's mega leggos, blocks, or a ball....she has so many toys and still would rather play with my keys or a water bottle. If there must be toys, simple ones are the best.

Domestication

2010-11-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so remember how I'm learning to be all crafty and home-maky?? Love it most of the time, sometimes it's quite challenging though! I love my mother. She's so good at being that way.

For Halloween I decided to bake! I won't post pictures of the cookies because we didn't end up really frosting them...well, let's just say the frosted product didn't last long enough to have it's picture taken :) I also made some cupcakes. The majority of them are not frosted, we gave two away and the two that made it home are badly beaten from riding in the back of the car :) So maybe I'll decorate another one and take a picture of it. I DID take pictures of the pumpkin-chocolate chip bread! And, if I do say so myself, it tasted quite delicious (and it was my first time!). They may be viewed below.

And other pictures I will share today are from the rest of Halloween :) We went to WalMart all dressed up in costume with our friends and our friends (dressed as pigs) bought some chicken and some ham...just for fun. People were hiding around corners pretending to text...and then you'd see the little flash or click of the camera on their phone. It was fun.

The royal Snow family, and their cute little dragon

Our WalMart trip...

The Shaffer family of pigs

Miguel eating one of those gummy rats...soaked in sugar juiceness

Little Audri trying to be a big girl and climb on things...eventually she gets stuck somewhere and I have to pull her out. :) It's not so bad tho.

The loaf of pumpkin-chocolate chip bread that actually turned out

Non-stick my butt. The loaf that didn't

Halloween

2010-11-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

I said to Miguel at the ward trunk or treat, "What's the point of us going around getting candy for Audri?? I'm not going to let her eat it..."

Miguel said to me, "It's her first Halloween!!.." I said okay.

Here we are, a little chick and her mother hen walking around in the pouring rain getting candy. Everyone thought it was the cutest thing. I swear in the back of their minds they were thinking "Seriously?? She can't even walk yet...you should not be trunk or treating." Okay, maybe they weren't thinking that, but I imagined they were and felt terrible....luckily, Miguel ran out of candy back at the trunk and decided to join us. Then we were the "cute little chicken family." Aww. I felt ridiculous, but it was very warm, which was great! And I know Miguel was warm in his suit. And I'm pretty sure Audri was warm enough...and she was adorable.

So here are our Halloween pictures. I'll post more pictures of the rest of our celebrations later on.

The little baby chick with the booty from the trunk or treat.

Mama hen and baby chick. And yes that is a sucker in her mouth, no she had not gotten it open yet.
The whole "cute little chicken family." She's still workin on that sucker. Eventually she got the wrapper off. Root beer!

Templates

2010-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Made a couple of templates out of our little photo op yesterday. These are perfect for printing. I just love them!

Enjoy!!

Miguel, Jeri, Audri, & Elsie

MIA

Pictures Galore!

Smileys and Russian Tea Cakes

Um...maybe

Wow!

Life as a mother of two continued...

Dress up

Elsie Jane Elgueda

I know why I was supposed to be a mom

Baby Elsie

um. yes. it worked out :)

Elsie had better have a lot of hair

Help?

some little snippets for ya

Own it

36 weeks

Home Semi-sweet Home

Oh yeah!

backpack backpack

Sharing the Love

33 weeks

It's been so hot this past week

Water

Audri woke me up at 6 AM

Potty news

Still trying to catch up

Warning: Lots of pictures. Very little text. Trying to catch up :)

The craftiness of Jeri...and her mother

I owe a blog or five or six...

Focus

Livin' the crazy life

Baby news

We're officially having a baby

A little something to let you know we're still alive

Bring it on

Sickly

Um. Cute. Fabric.

Me

Easter :)

Dear MaLyn

California Trip Part II *WARNING: Picture Overload*

California Trip Part I

Anniversary trip

I guess I'd better get this out of the way

Home on the range

Ramblings

I'm getting off to a late start

Rain

Spring Break-Portland

Things I've learned about Mac 'n Cheese

Sick and tired

I got it!

So here's the run-down on my list making/doing things on my list ability...

Not too shabby

Snow Day!

Monday shmunday

Home sweet home

Getting ready and freaking out

Valentine's Day spectaclarium

Today is Valentines Day

I think I'm really getting the hang of things...

Birthday video...I hope

Books/Birthday Video

Miguel's Slopes Video

Yesterday was an especially fantastic day

Revamp

Today was just another one of those days

North Carolina

You know how it's really hard to tell people how you feel about them?

A walk in the park

What do you feed your kids?

Guess what!

Amazon Part II

The big 25/Amazon

Audri...is that a poopy face?

makes me laugh

My little baby turned one....

New Years in North Dakota...yes, North Da-freakin-kota

Christmas in Kamiah

California Trip Part II WARNING: Picture Overload