Adventure Maughan

Lucky #7: Our Anniversary

2012-01-13T03:23:00.002-07:00

Happy 7 years to us today! Lucky #7, woo. This is the year we make it or break it, right? We'll make it. This year of 2012 I wanted to take you back through our last 7 glorious years. We'll take you though the main holidays we've had the past 7 years and show you how our life together has been full of adventure before and after children and what it has grown into now. We were married in the Bountiful, UT Temple in the mid-morning, then had the normal wedding day. Though it was winter, we had a beautiful clear day. We chose this location because we had the valley on one side and our mountains on the other side. The mountains have become very important to us, as that is where we have been a lot these last 7 years.

The big day happened January 13, 2005

We exchanged vows to love each other through thick and thin for the eternities

1st Year Anniversary 2006

St. George, UT [Mobile Home] & Las Vegas, NV [Bellagio]

We started in Spencer's grandparents mobile home in Hurricane, UT. It was freezing! We played games and watched the little t.v. they had.

After 2 nights we continued on to Las Vegas for a couple nights at the Bellagio! We ate lots of yummy food and had fun in their swimming pool outside. It's January and we got to swim!

2nd Year Anniversary 2007

Midway, UT at Spencer's parent's Cabin

Crackling fires every night, sledding, lots of movies and of course yummy food! Nice and relaxing since there's not much else to do around there in the winter.

3rd Year Anniversary 2008

Midway, UT at Spencer's parent's Cabin

again, Crackling fires every night, Cross Country Skiing and Tubing, games and of course yummy food! This was my first time ever on ski's [been snowbarding a few times] So it took a little time to get the hang of it! But I got it! We LOVED cross country skiing! Of course, Spencer is a natural.

4th Year Anniversary 2009

Manti, UT at a Bed and Breakfast

details in this blog post

Food. Pinball, Bowling & Pool Table. Temple. Relaxing. Reading. Spencer's long hair!

5th Year Anniversary 2010

Midway, UT at Spencer's parent's Cabin

[this was supposed to be a big, faraway adventure loaded one, but we decided to be pregnant instead]

Since I was 8 months pregnant we took the safe route and stayed close to home and relaxed.

Short blog post here of details

On the actual day we went to Cheesecake Factory for some delicious cheesecake, of course!

6th Year Anniversary 2011

St. George, UT

Hike, Golf, Temple. Having a child now cuts down the time away we have, for now at least with the younger kids. We both missed Allstar very much, but definitely made the best of the couple days we had, in the somewhat nice weather! Blog post HERE

7th Year Anniversary 2012

...I'll fill you in later!

Baby Girl's Unmedicated Birth Story

2011-12-21T15:16:00.003-07:00

Laboring, Concentrating, at home!

Spencer suiting up to "catch" the baby!

Right after birth

First Family of 4 Picture!

I am always interested in hearing birth stories and the different journeys all women take in their amazing experience. So here is my birth story, sorry it took 2 months! This labor and delivery experience went exactly how I wanted it to go, I loved it! The story is very long, of course, even after trying to condense it from 6 pages, I only got it to 5! Read it, skim it, skip it, whatever your interest level is. Enjoy my birthing journey!

Friday, October 21, 2011, my “due date” I started having some very light contractions, just one here and there. I went in for my appointment that morning, and the Dr. checked me. I was thinned 75% and opened still only to a 3, same as last week. He said he thinks I have at least 1 more week to go! He was going out of town for a week, but we shouldn’t worry since I probably have the time…

I thought otherwise. I thought my baby may come that night, or the next day, especially if it was going to be anything like the first baby, where the day my contractions started was the day I was going to start laboring.

Spencer had a tee time with his dad that afternoon. I needed to go to Costco sometime in the next couple weeks, but had planned to go that weekend if there was time. I, being a little superstitious, made it to Costco. The day of labor with Allstar, Spencer & I went to the driving range where he hit a bucket of balls, then we went to Costco…So this day, since Spencer was playing golf I wanted to go to Costco! Maybe that is the trick for our babies! [Allstar's birth story] My mom and I also went to JoAnn’s Fabrics to get me some fabric for some projects for the next week. I had told my mom the doc said we probably had a week, so she suggested we go get some fabric for some projects, to keep me busy with something I enjoy doing to help pass the time of waiting.

I went to the bathroom that afternoon and noticed the little mucous plug in the toilet! Yea! After reading up about it again, it confirmed that losing the mucous plug means labor is soon, but that could mean 1 day or it could mean 1 week! I needed to see the bloody show for it to be within 48 hours. I will keep waiting and watching, but there was hope!

I didn’t want the pregnancy to be over with because I was uncomfortable and tired and just done with being pregnant. I love being pregnant, I actually feel more comfortable about myself. I am very healthy and well feeling. I just wanted to meet our sweet little baby…boy or girl?!!

We went to bed that night, contractions had not gotten any stronger or more frequent, but I still just had this feeling that I was going to experience birthing again, and we were going to get to meet our baby really soon.

Saturday, October 22, 2011 I woke up at my usual 4:00 a.m. potty time. I felt pretty uncomfortable, and then a contraction, a bit stronger, like it was meaning something. After wiping I noticed there was a bit more mucous. I sat back in the bed and laid down and felt something. Something sticky and wet. I didn’t think a whole lot of it, since there is stuff, especially near the end, and I wanted to go back to sleep. About 4:45 a.m. I had another contraction that stirred me. At 5:00 a.m. I decided to go back to the bathroom because there was a lot of sticky wetness and I needed to wipe it up. There was the rest of my mucous plug! Lots of it, and the little bloody show as well! I laid back down in bed and felt a couple stronger contractions, 10-20 minutes a part. I knew today was the day!!!!! I fell asleep between a couple, but then started to battle with myself. I wanted to take a shower, but did I really want to get up that early or try to sleep it out and shower in a couple hours? By 5:45 a.m. I was feeling the contractions like 6-10 minutes a part. I decided to get up and shower, I felt the time was going to be sooner than later and if I wanted to wash my hair I had to get up. I had just downloaded an app on my phone for timing contractions. Last minute before I went into the bathroom I decided to grab my phone so I could figure out how the timer worked, and wanted to see if it made any noise so I could lay back down in bed while Spencer was still sleeping and time them. As I was going to the bathroom, yet again, I started timing them and they were consistently 4-5 minutes a part. I read that was in active labor for sure! After 20 minutes I got in the shower. They kept coming. Why had Spencer not gotten up and asked what I was doing? I brushed my hair out and went to wake Spencer, to tell him we needed to maybe call his mom and let her know she needs to get ready so she can come and get Allstar the moment we tell her. He asked if I was sure and I told him the timing and what I was feeling. He immediately got up. We decided to wait until 7:00 a.m. to call Jeri. Spencer got in the shower, I told him to be quick so he could take care of Allstar. It seemed like a long 30 minutes waiting for Jeri to come pick up Allstar. I love my sweet little boy, but going through contractions is not easy with distractions, even if they are good distractions! He just wanted to hang around me, but I had to ignore him as much as I could and ride through the contractions when they came, which was frequent, every 3-4 minutes. I was relieved when she got there at 7:30 a.m., but had many mixed feelings as well, knowing I had to say goodbye to my sweet boy for the last time with just the two of us. I had thought about this moment many times before, knowing it would be hard to say goodbye. I held him and hugged him for a minute telling him how much I loved him. I cried as soon as Spencer took him away. I hoped he knew how much I love him, no matter what. I hoped he knew how much I still care about him, even though I was bringing another baby home that would take some of my attention away from him. [This is the 2^nd time I have written this part and I am still crying about it when I think about that moment!]

It took me a couple hours to finally get ready after the shower, in between waiting out the contractions and Allstar it just took some time. I wanted to eat something for breakfast, knowing I wouldn’t get to eat much later in labor, so Spencer brought me some toast, milk and a banana. I got 1 piece of toast down me, the milk, and throughout an hour got the banana down me. I turned on my soundtrack “Sleepy Sounds” which has relaxation music that I listened to during the last couple months of pregnancy to help relax. I had Spencer call my mom and tell her that I was in labor and that we would call her when I got checked at the hospital to give her the heads up on when to expect to come. We told her we’d probably be going that morning sometime. I wanted her to be there for a little support, but mostly to capture the birth of this baby with pictures and video. I wanted to get the video of Spencer announcing the gender of the baby, and receiving/catching the baby if he ended up feeling up to it at that moment. By 8:00 a.m. when I was ready, I put a shirt on and walked around the room for half hour. Holding my belly a little and just breathing through the contractions. I had been up for 3 hours, standing up for most of it. I was getting tired, and needed to sit down. After various positions and time I decided to move to the bed, to see if I could fall asleep a little in between contractions. Spencer helped me into bed, and situated the body pillow in between my legs. I was SO comfortable! Surprisingly I was able to relax enough in between the contractions to go into a deep sleep for a minute before they came again. It was around 8:45 a.m. by now. My contractions we getting harder, I could feel it was getting closer to the end, at least I thought. I was really trying to think back to my labor with Allstar, trying to find the similarities. I wanted to labor at home as long as I could this time, thinking I could be more relaxed and focused. I wanted to be strong. It’s just so hard to know. I was really trying to be in tune to my body. I had a couple longer, harder contractions. I mentioned to Spencer at 9:15 a.m. I think it may be time to go to the hospital. They were getting to the point that if they got any harder I would be too stubborn to get up out of bed and go! He asked if I was sure and suggested we wait just a little longer. He started timing my contractions again to see how far apart they were and how long they were lasting. We had a system down where I would tap my finger when it started and again when it stopped. So we waited. I had a contraction, then two more that lasted over a minute and were like two minutes apart. I was really feeling them, and getting a slight feeling of wanting to push soon. I really felt the time was coming! Spencer saw it too, after those long hard contractions. He said, ok we should go now! He loaded the car with the body pillow and a few last minute packing things then came to get me. I took a good 10 minutes to get me to the car. We are so grateful to live just right behind the hospital. We drove the couple minutes and were there!

So we ended up checking into the hospital around 9:45 a.m. On the way up the elevator I looked at Spencer and said “I hope I am at least a 6 [dilated].” In my head I was thinking a 7, but thought it’s better to vocally guess lower than higher, less disappointment. He said “I hope you are at least a 5!” [I checked in at a 4 last time] I stood at the check-in desk with my hands on the counter and my head down, just concentrating on going through the contractions. I was bugged at the little questions they had to ask us to get checked in. Spencer, when under any kind of pressure always gets my birthday wrong! So I had to take a little energy and correct him. I was especially annoyed when Spencer asked the receptionist if there were any nurses who were more for natural birth that could help us, and she replied “Oh, cause you are trying to go natural... Trying? No, we are going natural! We finally got taken to our room. The nurse asked me to change into the gown and go to the bathroom to give them a urine sample. It took me like 15 minutes to do this. When I am going through my contractions I just have to get in my own little zone, and really tune out anything going on around me as much as I can. This really comes off as me not being very nice, but a bit stubborn, unfortunately. We asked her if she had experience with natural birth and part of her response was something like “you are trying to go natural?” Again with the trying! We informed her that this was our second birth, and the first one came natural, and un-medicated. We really wanted a nurse who was supportive of natural births, because they seem to be more helpful and sympathetic to our desire to go un-medicated. Anyway, the nurse had me lay on the bed and it was time…time to see how I did, time to see how strong I was, time to see if I lasted longer at home, and to see if I was able to be strong. How dilated was I?...The nurse checked me, it seemed like she was taking and feeling longer than needed. Uh oh, I thought, this can’t be good, she is trying to give me some number. [Remember the day before I was only at a 3.] She finally announced, you are 85% effaced and at a 7. YEAH!!!!!!! Both Spencer and I smiled and were SO happy! We let out a sigh of relief and said we were so happy. She said “I am glad I could give you that present!” It definitely was. I was so happy, so grateful for my body and truly amazed at how quickly it was progressing! I can do this! We are going to have a baby sooner than later! I just have to keep my body going!

My doctor had just left out of town that morning, which I knew. So the on call doctor for that day came in and introduced herself and see how I was doing, check all the charts and graphs and heartbeat. She stated she knew we were planning an un-medicated birth. We told her that Spencer would like to receive the baby, and she was just ok with that. I remembered about not wanting pitocin after birth, that we had spoken with our Dr. about this and he had agreed to wait 5 minutes after the placenta was delivered to give my body the chance to contract and stop the bleeding itself. The on call Dr. would not even give me that option. She said there is no way, and that I would be given the pitocin, and did not leave it open to discussion. I was very annoyed and put out by that, but knew it was a battle I didn’t want to fight at that time; I had to focus on my contractions and keeping my body calm so I could get this baby here how I wanted to. I could be annoyed after the birth all I wanted! I looked at the clock and did some calculations. I wanted to have a 7 hour or less labor. Labor really started at 6:00 a.m., so that meant 1:00 p.m. would be 7 hours. It was almost 10:15 a.m. so I really could be there for 2.5 more hours.

We had been there about 30 minutes. My contractions were strong. Spencer was to the left of me, not sure what he was doing, and my mom was down at my feet, massaging my legs. I was going through these big contractions and really breathing those contractions down, making them work for me, when all of a sudden…GUSH, my water broke and came flooding out! Both Spencer and my mom jumped out of the way, very surprised. It gave me a good chuckle! I didn’t know that was going to happen, but it was amusing to see them jump out of the way so they didn’t get it on them. We called the nurse in there to let her know and help get new sheets under me. I wanted her to check me soon after that, so like 45 minutes after we had been there and checked at a 7. I felt like I should have progressed more with these strong contractions. I was at an 8, but still only 85% effaced. My mom was asking me if I was wanting to push, because my body was wanting to a little she could see when I was going through the contractions. I nodded yes, a little. The nurse told me not to push yet, to try and calm my body so I didn’t push. She said I was not thinned out all the way and my body was not physically ready to push yet, the baby couldn’t get out yet. Man, that was hard to hear at that point! It made me a tiny bit nervous, worried that I was going to get stuck and not progress and it would go on for a couple more hours. The nurse left and I was focusing on breathing the baby down. I remembered something from my Hypnobirthing class that the teacher told us, in my own words, “Use the contractions to help, that’s what they are there for. They are necessary to get your baby down and out. When your body is contracting is when your body is trying to move the baby, so breath the baby down through them. Take deep breaths to push out your stomach to give your baby room to shift itself down.” Information like that. So instead of just making it through the contractions I really focused on using them to keep things progressing. It seemed to help the contractions not be so bad because I was thinking of something else now, rather than just how hard they are. Labor is SO hard! It really is. It is not SO painful, but really tough on the woman’s body, really hard work to get these sweet little babies here! The other thing that kept going through my mind through labor, helping me be strong and cope was an affirmation from the Hypnobirthing CD, “My body and my baby will work together in harmony for a smooth, easy birth.” I know that is true. I know that my body and baby have to work together. I know that I can control a small part of my body to help, to keep it relaxed so it can do its thing. So, I had been there for 1 hour now. It was around 10:45 a.m. My mom suggested that I turn on my side, since that seemed to be the key in helping my labor progress with Allstar. After a couple minutes and contractions I finally decided to do it. I kept having very strong contractions. I was really trying to think back to the end of labor with Allstar, trying to remember what it felt like, trying to think of I was at the end. My body sure felt like it was and I really believed I was. With each contraction I would kind of grunt, as my body was pushing a little at the end of each one. My mom kept saying “breath the baby down, breath, relax.” While it was helpful to keep hearing that, it was sort of annoying too, I wanted it quiet. It’s ok, I was almost done. After 30 minutes, and some huge contractions I felt it. The baby’s head starting to sting. I knew it was time, I knew I could start pushing, because the baby was coming now!!! My mom asked me if I wanted to push and I nodded a definite yes. She mentioned it to a nurse there, but they didn’t really believe it. They didn’t come over yet. I was raising my leg a little, giving me some room. The nurse checked me while on my side and said that yes, I was fully dilated and effaced and I could push when I wanted to! I shifted onto my back and spread wide open, I was going to push whether they were ready or not! I could feel the sting of my baby. I was fully aware of what was going on. I wanted Spencer to catch the baby if he wanted to and I wanted my mom to video and take pictures. I turned to Spencer and told him to go get ready if he wanted to. He was very hesitant to leave my side, wanting to help me be strong. I told him I was just fine and I wanted him to go catch the baby if he still felt comfortable with it. He left. I told my mom to go and get the camera and start the video. She did so. I was there, by myself to finish these contractions. I had to be strong for just a couple more minutes. I just had to get the baby’s head out and the body will just come out and labor will be over. The nurse said she could see the baby’s head. They were not ready for me to have this baby yet. I had gone so fast they didn’t get ready, so everyone was scrambling. The doctor was suiting up in her waterproof gear and mask! The nurses were getting the last minute prep. Spencer was trying to get ready. SPENCER WRITING: I’m frantically looking around, trying to find something to put on. I see the doctor putting on her waterproof gear and wondered “do I need that? Where is my stuff?” So of course all of the nurses were scrambling, none of them were able to help me, or get something for me to wear. So I looked in the cabinet to see what I could find. I saw the gown the patients wear, that Melina was wearing, so I grabbed that and as I was putting that on a nurse sees me and says “Oh, you don’t wear that, here put this on.” I grabbed it and put it on over the gown, I didn’t have time to take it off! It was the same kind of green shirt thing the doctor was wearing. This is all I got though, I didn’t get the mask, and booties for my shoes, just the shirt and gloves. I was wearing my old shoes that could get “yucky” doctor Smith had warned, since stuff tends to fall and splash on them! I could see the baby’s head crowning, I was right there with the doctor. I was very nervous to do this and wanted to back out and just let the doctor do this. She was really good, encouraging me. She started explaining to me that when I see the shoulder that I needed to turn the head and shoulder to a certain angle. I said, no, you do it! She did it, but kept me there to do the rest. MELINA BACK TO WRITING: They told me the baby was crowning and to push. The stinging was very strong, I just needed to get the baby’s head out. I think I was thinking to myself, hurry, get the head out, which was the most uncomfortable part. I pushed one last time and heard praises and that the baby’s head was out. I heard Spencer say that he couldn’t do it, and that the doctor should just do it. She was really great, telling him he can do this. She was redeeming herself for making me have pitocin I thought. She places Spencer’s hands underneath the baby’s head ready for the body to come out. The nurse told me to push 1 last time to get the body out. I had kind of forgotten that I need to still push. I did one last time and felt the baby’s body come out and felt that emptiness, that the birthing was done! I had did it again! Spencer’s hands were there, holding the baby’s head and back as it came out. He held it in his hands, and couldn’t put the baby on my stomach because the umbilical cord was not very long. He then made the announcement “IT’S A…..…ALLSTAR…..…HAS A BABY SISTER!!! IT’S A GIRL!!!” My eyes were still closed, from the concentrating. I realized I could open them now, I could see my baby! When Spencer was telling me what we had there was a pause after he said Allstar enough for me to think that it was a boy. That he was saying it’s a boy like Allstar. Then he said “has a baby sister.” A Girl! I couldn’t believe it, I really couldn’t. I was really thinking it was a boy, I was not prepared to have a girl! I patiently waited a couple minutes to hold her. We wanted to wait a couple minutes to cut the umbilical cord, wait until it stopped pulsating. They finally did that and handed the baby right to me. They did not wipe the baby off at all, like they did Allstar. I was SO happy about that. I held my sweet baby girl. Again, I could not believe it, my little angel! Then, I saw all her dark hair! Wow. This little baby was not only a girl but she had lot’s of dark hair! It was very unexpected. But I remembered my thoughts earlier that if it was a girl I pictured her having brown hair like her daddy. I held her and cuddled her, trying to keep her warm. The doctor told me to push one last time to get the placenta out. I just wanted to hold my baby! But I did what she said, and it came right out. Spencer thought it was very gross looking. She told me she was just going to put a couple stitches in me just to be sure. I only had a tiny tear. The nurses took the baby’s temperature and cleaned things up down there. Spencer came up by me and we just gazed at our baby girl. My mom took some pictures of us and everything going on. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 ½ inches long. I was a bit surprised to hear 7 lbs rather than the 6 lb range. It was a little after Noon. I did it! I actually labored 1 hour shorter than my goal! I was expecting the nurses to come in at any moment to move us rooms, but they didn’t come. We just got to hang out in that room for a couple hours. It was nice to relax like that for a couple hours, soaking up all that just happened, rather than rush to be moved out. Later we found out why. They had just had 8 births that morning, their busiest ever. The delivery room I was in wasn’t even their normal delivery room, it was their overflow ones. The bed I was in did not come apart like normal beds, it just slanted down a little. I was so proud of myself. I am proud to say that I checked into the hospital after all the other women then gave birth before all the 7 women who gave birth that same day! I labored for 4 hours at home and only 2 hours at the hospital! As they moved us to our patient room we passed a girl who was in labor still, the same girl we passed as we checked into the hospital! Yea, I felt great!

1 Month Old

2011-11-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we have had this sweet little girl for 1 month now! She is precious and adorable and sweet and yummy...and...anything else you think she is. I LOVE having a girl. Allstar thinks it's just ok, he'll take some time to get used to having to share the attention. We went to my sisters house to get some pictures in some of my baby outfits. The green one I have some pictures done at 2 months, so we'll do that again next month. The purple one was my blessing dress, which was at 1 month. I hope she will still fit in it at 2+ months, pretty sure she will. Enjoy our sweet darlings, they turned out really great!

It got quite hectic with 4 little ones [newborn, 3 month old, toddler and a dog!]

When you want to take a picture with a toddler and a baby, you have 1/4 of a second, so you better be ready! Guess we weren't quite ready with this one. that binky.

Newborn Pictures

2011-11-16T11:23:00.001-07:00

We decided to get professional newborn photos taken of little Ladybug, so we took her to Fotofly! Of course she didn't want to miss any of the action, so she was awake for the whole shoot. I was glad for the most part because I wanted to have some pictures with her eyes, but I did want some of those sweet sleeping poses as well. It's ok, we got some really great shots of her with all the different looks they have as a newborn. You can see all of the photo shoot Here.

We had a baby GIRL!

2011-11-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

Meet our sweet little GIRL!!

I am so sorry for posting this so late. It got put up on Facebook and texted right away, then emailed out a couple days later. I realize I have some blog friends [who have given up on my blog by now] who haven't heard or seen the news.

"LADYBUG" MAUGHAN

born Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 11:55 a.m.

weighing 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 1/2" long

1st Bath

I had made cookies for "It's a Boy & It's a Girl" a few days before, then gave them all away to the nursing staff that attended us.

It is amazing how much they change in just 10 days...

7 years ago today I got a Ring

2011-10-01T22:21:00.003-06:00

October 1, 2004

The Proposal

Spencer & I drove to go hiking at Teton N.P. for the first time, then on to Pocatello, ID to stay with his sister for Conference weekend. It took like 6 hours to get there. Spencer drove very fast in his beamer, and was a bit agitated with the construction we hit part way there. I told him we'd be fine, we'll still be able to hike, but he was still bummed about being so late. As we got to the trailhead to Hidden Falls Spencer took off, hiking very quickly! I again reminded him, then and throughout the hike that we were fine on time, and we'd finish the hike. In the end, it was a fast hike up! I love to take pictures and document memories, so I set my film camera up to take our picture in front of the falls. As I was doing so 3 men got there and asked if I wanted them to take the picture for us, to which I said "Yes, that'd be great!" I soon found out Spencer didn't like this idea, as it was ruining his plans, that I didn't yet know about! See his fake smiling face in pic #2, not sure of what to do now...That was the last picture on my camera, so I sat on the log and reloaded some new film. Spencer nonchalantly asks me if I would like to take another picture. I of course said "sure" because I love to have lots of pictures, especially with my cute boyfriend! So I set the camera up again and set the timer. As I walked over to sit next to Spencer on the fence he, all of a sudden, got up off the fence. I started saying "sit down, it's about to take the picture" when

he tells me to sit back down on the fence

gets on 1 knee

and pulls out a beautiful diamond ring...

CLICK goes the picture.

I promise, this picture is not a re-enactment, it is for real!

Perfection. Go on, say it...Awwwww. He knew me well enough to know how much I would cherish having this moment on camera. I think this moment in our lives began our adventurous life together, and solidified hiking/camping to be "our thing" to do together. It has allowed us to talk and think so much on the drives and hikes and around the campfire. Now you can view the pictures [which aren't awesome quality since they are scanned]. So this story explains the fast driving, agitation and practically running up the trail without me. Someone was a bit nervous about what he was about to do. He told me later that he kept feeling the ring in his pocket, so nervous about loosing it or having it fall out of his pocket, since it was just the little ring itself. He took it out of the box so I wouldn't see the bulge.

The Proposal, the picture before the proposal, just me with my new beautiful ring, and going out to a late dinner after the hike.

August 1, 2004

We Met

at a single's ward Ward Prayer. We were not in the same singles ward, Spencer just came with his friend this one night...and chose me! That whole night is another story by itself, very comedic!

We had our first date August 7, and saw each other almost every day thereafter. It truly was love [not at first sight] but at first date. There was the special, deep connection there neither of us could deny.

I think this was our second weekend together up at Park City, one of our dates we remember a lot about. I actually ended up meeting his parents this night.

If you have noticed my dates, and done the math already, you have calculated that we dated for exactly 2 months and were engaged. Like I said, we hung out everyday but like 2-3, and really got to know each other so quickly through all the fun things we did.

We went to a BYU game

[We look so young here! Must be the lighting. We are 23 & 21]

We did our first of 5 'Wasatch 100' volunteer overnight backpacking adventures.

Spencer actually told me about this on our first date and invited me to come. At that time I hadn't decided if there was even going to be a second date, so I was a bit hesitant to say "yea, I'd love to come" when it was a month away. Of course I did to be polite. I am so glad I was still with him a month later. What a neat experience!

He took me to Norah Jones at USANA

where he almost proposed, since he got my ring [which he picked out himself] that morning. So glad he didn't, since his other idea was something we love to remember!

It is so fun to look back at where we began and how far we have come. Life changes a lot in a couple months, and even more in a year, and so much more over the years. I am truly satisfied with life and how it has come about for the both of us. We had a lot of fun times before we met, and have had more fun times than we could imagine since we've been together. It's fun to live life and see what comes next...

All about Allstar

2011-09-18T20:51:00.001-06:00

Here is some of what Allstar has been up to, for the months of May, June & July...There were so many picts to choose from, here is just a little bit to show you how he's growing.

He loves to swing. We got this little swing set from KSL, and it has been so awesome to have!

He climbs into his stroller; loves to take walks.

Still loves to "clean"!

Mr. Self Sufficient. I opened the Honey Greek Yogurt [the best!] and let him go to town for a bit. It was so cute I just let him at it for a while. He was so excited to kept going and going!

He loves playgrounds. We are lucky to have this toddler-friendly one at the Elementary school in our backyard. He now always climbs until he is at the biggest slide and goes down himself.

This is obviously him letting us know he wants out. He never successfully learned how to climb out, thankfully.

at the Sandy Library, which we frequent a couple times a week! He LOVES books.

He learned how to give kisses around 15 months old. SOooo Cute!

and I made the mistake of letting him climb up on the table a couple times, an action I had to quickly stop! But he's just so cute isn't he!

He learned how to open the caps on pens and markers. Here he got a highlighter to his face before I really noticed! Let the drawing games begin.

We haven't given Allstar many sugary foods yet, we want to establish a good eating habit, which we are very proud of! We have started giving him more sweets though, so he's not the only one left out. I gave him 2 scoops of ice cream, while his cousins got a cone full. Well, lucky for Allstar his cousin was done with hers and offered it to him, which he glady accepted and thoroughly enjoyed! I let him savor the moment and happily took pictures of him. Who could with that face!

The 3 Glade cousins. 13 mo, 16 mo, 20 mo. It's already getting fun for them.

Monkey see monkey do...

Since 14-15 months he won't let us feed him anymore. He loves to use his fork and spoon and help himself. The messes have begun. Full wipe downs after every meal. I don't complain, because he is a super eater.

Bath time! His favorite game is to throw everything out of the bathtub,as I'm sure most of you are familiar with.

He's no longer my little boy, he has really grown up. It is so sad for me to watch, but so fun at the same time to see him exploring and enjoying life. Aren't his little Nike shoes darling, thanks to our friends for their hand-me-downs.

Blankets...he sleeps with these, but we have not let him get attached to have to take them everywhere with us. However, he has started dragging them around the house quite often, usually with his binky. He will usually listen when we tell him to leave them all, or go put them back in his room before we go somewhere, so it's not a battle.

We love this little boy SO much! I tell him that a hundred times a day and kiss and give him loves a thousand times a day. If he wasn't so stinkin' cute. We are so glad to have this little guy in our family.

Pregnancy Update

2011-09-15T23:06:00.001-06:00

So I am now 35 weeks along, that means about 5 weeks left! Oct. 21 is the official "due" date. This pregnancy has gone by mostly quickly. Having a toddler makes you think less about being pregnant, except for when I bend over, which is quite frequently! I have had a really great pregnancy again, feeling healthy and being able to be as active as I choose to. This pregnancy has been almost the same as with Allstar. I do feel a bit looser, like my body doesn't keep things in as well, and feel a bit more weight on my pelvis at times, but otherwise, it's been the same. Oh, 1 difference, this baby moves! Allstar was very calm, and I did not feel him move very much. This baby is all over the place, several times a day. Spencer has been able to feel it way more, which is great for him. When it started moving so much it kind of made me nauseas because I wasn't used to it, but now I am, and it is so fun to feel it so much! We have stuck to our decision of not finding out the gender of this baby, and it hasn't even been a temptation to me at all. It is fun hearing what everyone thinks...which is surprisingly one way more than the other. I will take a poll soon to see what more people want to guess! My mom has a friend who she says is 'gifted', and she said from the moment she knew I was pregnant that it is a BOY, then my mom saw a psychic while out of town last week, and that woman said I was having a GIRL...so this makes it even MORE exciting for me. [I do believe to an extent that some people just have a special gift here and there. Spencer doesn't agree. He just read this and told me to let you all know! Silly boy.]

So, I decided to let my hair grow out for now. I figured during pregnancy is when your hair is supposed to be it's healthiest with taking the extra vitamins and such, this would be the best time. It is ok, I still love short hair better, and will likely cut it sooner than later, but for now, I will keep on growing it. I have kinda been in a funk though, just dealing with it, not liking it much. My sister-in-law, who does my hair, told me that she tells people trying to grow their hair out to change their hair color since they aren't cutting it. I took that advice. So here I am now, a real Brunette! I Love It. Not sure if I will slowly put highlights back in just yet. The color change has totally helped my confidence, and I now like my hair again. I am a firm believer in changing or updating your hairstyle and make-up when you are not loving the way you look, it really does SO much for you! This isn't a great pic, you'll see more of the normal picts as the time goes on. It's only been 1 week.

And here I am just 2 weeks prior, so like 33 weeks? I am the same size round right now that I was when I delivered Allstar...oops, and heavier, but I started a little heavier too, dang. I just say it's because this is my second, and my body just isn't able to hold it in as tight as before, like I explained above. I have definitely not been good with taking my weekly belly picts, like I did with the first, it's more like monthly. Life is just busy, and the first pregnancy is just different than any other, unfortunately. Anyway, I think that's all for now. I am excited and scared for this second birth, hoping to do it natural again. I thought I'd be better for the second one since I've done it once, but I now know how it is, and it kinda makes it more scary, wondering if I can do it again. It is hard work! Thinking of having 2 kids is also exciting and a little nerve racking. The latter mostly because I still want Allstar to get lots of attention and love that he should get. This time in our lives is definitely the time of Sacrifice, in all aspects of life. To have a family beyond husband and wife is a lot of work, but these little kids are something special. My next post will be about Allstar, he is just so dang Cute...seriously, I can't even explain the love we have for our little boy.

Grand Teton's

2011-09-01T16:04:00.001-06:00

This is our favorite National Park. It is beautiful every time we have visited and the campgrounds are always great. Obviously as you have seen a couple outings, we have had quite the summer of camping! It has been awesome. This Teton's trip was our big one of the summer, we took it over July 24th. We were gone 5 nights 5 days, 2 at family's house to start and end the trip, 3 nights & 3 days at the campground/park. Plus, it's like a 2.5 hour drive to family's house, then another 3 to the Tetons, total of 5.5 hrs in the car...yuck. Allstar hates being in the car for longer than 30 min. He just wants to be out moving, we think he gets bored in the car, like his mom. So anyway, because the Teton's is so far away it's the drive that was the scariest part. In the end, he did Awesome! He slept a good part of most of the drives, and played with toys the other little parts, and only fussed a little. Wow, we were so thankful for that. We had a wonderful time, of course. We ended up taking Spencer's parents tent trailer since it was a longer trip, as well as our friend's canoe. Both ended up being fun to have. I'll let the pictures tell you the summary of our days!

This is actually the very last picture of the vacation, as we were leaving Idaho Falls. If you look close at our faces and hair you can see they look 4 days old! I still think this pic is really cute; dirty and all.

This is my latest invention...the car tray. We looked at the ones to buy, and decided we didn't want to pay $15 for something that may or may not work. So, this is what I thought of! Genius if I say so. I bungee'd it to the sides of his carseat to keep it in place. It worked for the way up, then he started to figure out to throw things out, then to kick it with his legs. It's ok, it worked for moments here and there!

We stopped here to eat on our way to Pocatello, where Spencer's sisters live, who we stay with in ID. It's just down the street on the Exit for Malad. Highly recommend this little bbq joint. Prices are great, food is awesome. Only open like March-Oct.

We canoed a couple times. Jackson Lake was first, pictured below. It was a bit rough since there are boats, but it was nice to get out. String Lake we liked better. It was so calm and smooth. Allstar didn't sit for long. He was usually in between my legs while Spencer rowed us around.

We learned after our first camping trip to take plenty of toys for Allstar. We filled a canister and little backpack full, which worked out great. This was our dirtiest camping of the season, nice brown dirt covered us most of the time, caked on with bug spray!

My friend gave us this little stroller a couple days before this trip. It is missing part of a wheel and the handlebars are bent a little. Out of all the toys to choose from in her garage, this is what Allstar wanted!!! She said it'd be great for him to have, with the new baby on the way. I don't mind the pink, and neither does he, it was his dad who had to be convinced! After Allstar wanting to push this thing around for blocks of time throughout the day, Spencer was convinced pretty quickly that this stroller rocks and is now taken on any trip we go on!

This is the hike to Hidden Falls. It's our special hike that we will forever remember. It is actually where Spencer proposed to me! Awww...which that moment we caught on camera, you may be lucky enough to see it if I ever remember to scan and post! Anyway, we took the other hike route and ended up not liking that way. Between the backpack with a 21 lb toddler on Spencer's back and a big 7 month belly on me, squishing my bladder, we made it. There were tons of people, way too many, but you wouldn't know from our great pics! We managed a quick, not so great, family pic and headed out, the easy way...

We took the ferry boat back to the trail head! The hike proved too much for Spencer's back and my hips that we decided to take this out, this one time.

the Beautiful Teton Mountains. We have managed to have blue skies every time we come.

Sunday we went into Jackson for an hour of church, then spent the afternoon at the park for lunch and delicious ice cream. It was a nice, relaxing day for us. Much hotter than at the Tetons!

We always take a pic in front of the N.P. signs. It proves a little more difficult with a kid now, but we still take the effort to get one! Maybe sometime I'll show you a post w/all the N.P.s we've been too...it is quite the impressive list I must say!

Eating w/Allstar was much easier with this chair we borrowed. Though we were not great parents for a moment and he wiggled his way to the edge of the table [b/c of course we had him on top of the table] and tumbled off. Whoops! He was fine, just got scared. He loves to eat corn ON the cob. btw.

Sleeping arrangements inside the tent trailer. Allstar get's one side in the pack 'n play, we get the other. He actually sleept really well, throughout most of the nights. It was CUTE to wake up to this though, don't you think!

Camping is over, we are now on our way back to Pocatello, where our sweet boy starts to get creative! I of course find this highly amusing and totally laugh and watch him for 10 minutes, only encouraging this behavior! I stopped after a while, and he actually hasn't done this since.

Idaho Falls. Spencer hadn't ever been here, and it had been like 10 yrs for me, so we finally rerouted over to it. The temple is beautiful, of course. The falls were interesting to read about.

Allstar LOVED all the ducks and geese. He chased them around, and got a little too close to the water for a good half hour or so. We restrained from feeding them all, since it is not healthy for them anyway. It was pretty gross with all the bird droppings everywhere, but definitely worth that little boy's excitement!

I stuck with the stroller and the shady spots and let Spencer chase after the curious boy. Too hot for this mama!

I guess that is the end! A shower was so nice to have, but we instantly miss the campfires and being outdoors 24/7 in the beautiful nature that we can find.

Payson Lakes Camping

2011-08-17T22:03:00.001-06:00

We organized a Payson Lakes Camping trip with a bunch of our friends last weekend. It was SO fun. We ended up with 4 camp sites, but crammed all 4 trailers and 2 tents into 2 sites so we'd all be there together. Nice weather, great camp spot, fun friends and kids who mostly got along when they weren't trying to steal each other's toys, water fun with canoes, walks, yummy dinner & dessert, roaring campfire with lots of treats...definately a success. Let's do it again next year with even more people!!!

This little boy loves his float toy

Little sneaky boys...found the snack box, grabbed what they would like, then took hiding under the tent trailer so it'd take us longer to catch them! Silly. We let them be to themselves and enjoy!

We hiked this trail called "The Grotto" about half way up Payson Canyon, which leads to this pretty waterfall. Ryder insisted on walking the whole way himself. It took us only 15 minutes to get to the waterfalls. We definately recommend taking 45 min to do this hike if you are in the area! It is a beautiful hike with trees shading the whole way ending at a fun destination.

Isn't he the cutest little thing. Seriously! My little boy is now 18 months old. We are hopefully teaching him young to love hiking and the great outdoors! Seeing him walk, can't you see he is just thinking, like we all do while hiking, clearing our head. I LOVE my boys.

Summer Camping

2011-07-08T15:54:00.000-06:00

We took our 2nd camping trip of the season June 30-July 1st. up American Fork Canyon at Granite Flats Campground. Being the holiday weekend we were pushing it trying to get a campsite. We figured we'd be fine for Thursday night, but Friday was the question, but we were determined to find us a site! This is what we got for the 1st night. Perfect, we'll definately come back to this specific site again.

Darn, I uploaded the wrong pic, sorry. You can see the large deer in the right background, it walked right up through our site! We saw them everywhere.

Allstar loved eating at the table for a couple days. We're looking for the little portable chair only kind for cheap to take around with us.

This was Friday morning. Determined I tell ya! We found the 1 and only site open and took 3 trips to move our stuff. Takes a bit longer when you have a toddler.

We hiked around Silver Lake, which was beautiful. We normally would do a big hike, but paking a 22lb toddler around and being 6 months pregnant just isn't as easy!

Father and Son, so precious. Spencer teaching Allstar the ropes on throwing rocks into the water, loving it, of course.

Allstar LOVED this backback, riding on daddy's back.

Our site for the 2nd night. So not as good, but we were willing to take anything. Our tent was too big for the 2 tent spots in the trees, so we had to settle on pavement, which was easier w/a baby anyway.

Don't forget about the smores. Both nights. With extra Chocolate, Reeses and marshmallows!

This was our first overnighter, with some friends. We were supposed to go up American Fork canyon, but there was snow where our reservation was so we got cancelled. We finally found an open site at Utah Lake State Park. Woo! Definately not in the mountains, but we got to camp. Used Spencer's parent's tent trailer, testing that out to see how we like that compared to a tent this summer.

He LOVES dogs!!!

We've got a 5-day planned to Teton National park this month, then a 3-day in Payson Lakes next month with some friends. We are SO happy to be out again. Last summer w/a baby made it more difficult. This year with a toddler still has difficult moments, but he has done awesome so far, sleeping through the nights and enjoying the great outdoors with us!

Mr. Clean at 15 months old

2011-06-01T09:38:00.007-06:00

Daddy is teaching Allstar from an early age to be a cleaner just like him! He's been trained on sweeping, mopping and putting things away. Ok, well maybe not trained, but Allstar has really caught on to the watch and do thing. He loves to get the broom out of the closet when it is left open. One of his first real words was "back", meaning he's putting things back, like we ask him to. He'll take things out of somewhere then put them back. It is amazing how much these little ones understand!

This little 1:13 min. video is so amazing. It shows Allstar "mopping" the floor at my office that we clean. He watches daddy do it every other week.

It's Business: Fancy Fabric Flowers

2011-05-19T13:10:00.011-06:00

I have officially worked my last full day as a part-time employee for the Law Firm that I worked at for the past 6 1/2 years. It was a wonderful company to work for, and I will keep my ties with them as a consultant, b/c I was that good and they will still need me here and there for my expertise! Anyway...so what will I do now? Be a stay at home mom, and try and build this new company that I have created.

Fancy Fabric Flowers. I came up with this idea October 2010. It started just as H.S. Flowers - Corsages and Boutonnieres. They are made out of fabrics so they can be a keepsake forever for these girls, they won't die and crumble and eventually get tossed out when they move out of their parents house. However, what my special niche is, that all my flower arrangements come with a detachable accessory. All or part of the flower detaches so the girls can wear it in their hair after the dance, or formal event. Holla! I made up a couple and presented the idea to a couple of YW groups. They all LOVED the idea, so I got busy. I came up with the 4 main styles of flowersI wanted to have and started making a couple different ones.

I officially started the company Fancy Fabric Flowers in January 2011. On a whim Spencer & I decided to have a booth in the Utah Bridal Fair in Provo in a 6x10 size booth. It was so small! We signed up 1 week before, and I had NO Bridal Bouquets. My mom came in to save the day, of course. We made Bridal Bouquets for a week straight. The show turned out 2 Brides work, which they both loved. I learned I needed a ouple more flower arrangements to focus on for the weddings. We did another show at the South Towne Expo in April, in a 10x10 booth, where the below pictures are from. That extra couple feet made a world of difference, and we were able to showcase our product much better.

Business has been very slow, expectedly, as most new businesses go. I am so grateful for the couple orders for Bridal Bouquets and H.S. Corsages and Boutonnieres that have given me a chance to show what I can create. This is a very unique product that not everyone will want, I know, but I think there are enough people out there who are looking to have something different and stylish like this to have at their formal event.

Spencer has been an amazing support throughout this 6 month endeavor, never really complaining about the large amounts of time I have spent here and there, or the money that was being used for this business instead of new carpet for the basement! I could not have taken this idea and turned into a business without Spencer's support, your spouse or loved ones are really the people you have to have in making your ideas a reality! My mom has also played a huge role as well, teaching me a few sewing techniques and the basics of putting flower arrangements together. It is crazy how fast this business has become a reality, but I am really excited to see where it can go. We have gotten nothing but awesome feedback from everyone who sees our product. I am hoping to be busy throughout this summer with all the weddings going on, especialy now that I have a lot more time to be at home. Feel free to check out all the different work I have created on the website http://www.fancyfabricflowers.com/ and see us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyfabricflowers. So far, the favorite style has been the Button Beauty line. It's different, don't we all want to be different?! Wish me luck!

Wedding Cake Flowers. All the roses detach from the cake, so you can give them out at your reception as gifts to your family & friends who are there!

We had a Photo Shoot done in March by Whitney Lewis Photography. All of our pictures turned out amazing, and really helped us to showcase how our flowers look on people!

Cheeser

2011-05-06T11:14:00.010-06:00

I just had to post all 5 of these picts that were taken by my sister at our Easter Dinner b/c my little "Safari" Allstar is Hamming it up in ALL 5 picts, looking at the different directions of the cameras that were there, making sure we all captured his cuteness! What a little cutie pie I have, with 100's of other picts of this sweet boy.

These are the grandkids on my [Melina's] side. The 3 boys on the end are all w/in 6 months. 15 mo, 18 mo, 12 mo [in order of the pic]. It'll get crazy fun soon enough w/those boys!

Secret Pictures

2011-05-01T16:15:00.013-06:00

Remember our photo shoot in February? Since I haven't written much lately, it is only a couple posts ago, if you want to check them out! Anyway, there were some pictures that I kept a secret from you all! It wasn't time to reveal them, or their secret quite yet...

October 21st is the official date, but we know that won't be the actual day!

We are SO EXCITED to jump right into this family thing.

I knew I couldn't top the way I told Spencer the First Time, but this one ended up being great still. I told the photographer while Spencer was in the bathroom changing his clothes that I was going to do this, and wanted him to snap away at the camera to get all the reactions. I love how they turned out!

Here are some common Q&A's we have gotten since letting the word out this last couple weeks... *Is this a surprise? Absolutely not. It was planned all the way.
...to that comment, are we crazy? Yes, probably, but we are willing to be so for the next little while.
*How far apart will the kids be? 19-20 months
*Do you want a boy or girl? We have no preference, and WE ARE NOT FINDING OUT. Period. We are going for the SURPRISE factor, second to the surprise of just having the baby. Just go along with us, will ya?!
*So how far along does that make me, for those who don't want to calculate? 15 weeks
*How have I been feeling? Mostly good. Super tired the first trimester with uneasy stomach feelings. But I am great now, back to normal.

That's all I can think of for now. We'll start all the belly pictures and updates from here on out.

Really...Last Time was on March 7th?

2011-04-28T08:30:00.000-06:00

Whoa! So I'm browsing around some of my favorites and I click on my icon for AdventureMaughan thinking that Melina has probably written something in the last few weeks or atleast the last month and a half. Sadly, I see the last post that I did way back on March 7th wishing Melina a Happy Birthday. Well now it's April 28th and my oh my has it been absolutely CRAZY!

Very quick breakdown with details to come. We did another bridal show and things are picking up with that. Visited the Erickson's in Idaho and saw their beautiful new home. Congrats! Went to San Diego for a vacation, way to cold for that week (low 60's). Started and still working on finishing the closet in the third bedroom upstairs. Trying to raise Ryder (wow, he's a handful but we LOVE him soo much).

I'm sure I've forgotten a few things but we'll dive into the details hopefully sooner than later.

Happy Birthday Melina!

2011-03-07T09:20:00.002-07:00

(From Spencer) March 7, 1983, the lovely and talented Melina Glade Maughan was born. Melina, you are the love of my life. Everyday I thank our Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a wonderful wife. You are an incredible mother and wife to me and Allstar. I love being with you. Thank you for everything you do for me and our family.

I love you,
Spenny

We're so Fly

2011-02-27T21:35:00.012-07:00

We got our first professional family photos taken, and I LOVE them! Thanks to Daniel at Foto Fly here in Draper, we have too many good ones to choose from. Here are just a couple of our favs. I love how we captured many of Allstar's expressions, the handsome little devil. He can be so stinkin cute & smiley 1 second and so serious the next.

I LOVE my little family. These guys in my life are the best. Just look at 'em, seriously.

First set of Clubs

2011-02-21T08:13:00.008-07:00

Allstar turned one the other week. Wow, time just flew by! Spencer got him this present, his first set of Golf Clubs! I was actually very surprised, I had no idea. But Allstar loved them! He pulled out the clubs and walked around with them, then played with the golf balls. Spencer stood up behind him and they hit a couple balls together. It was so cute!

We had his 1 yr appt last week, here is how he is growing!

Weight: 19.67 lbs (8%)

Height: 29.21" (29%)

Head: 17.7" (12%)

He's still kind of little, but the doc says he's not worried, as he is very active and accomplishing a lot. Getting out the club, the driver, of course!
This one is so funny, it looks like he is 'Praising the Lord', so thankful he got clubs for his birthday!

He already knows how to do the golfer's pose!

Allstar has mastered the stairs, up and down. I don't worry about him anymore, and don't have to watch him around them. He is a mover, and won't sit still for more than a couple seconds. He always wants to go, play, touch, and make messes. He's walking here and there a little more everyday. He loves balls, and calls everything "ba-l". He'll also say mom and dad and babbles. He knows what a cow is, and he just Loves Kittly Jynx. He loves to "sing" in church when everyone else does, and when I run the blender. He is a great eater, we give him a wide variety of foods and he will eat anything. Oh, he just reminded me he is getting good at throwing little tantrums...what! I didn't know that started so early! However, we love this little boy so much, what a cute little thing he is. We're taking some family picts this weekend, can't wait to see how that goes.

Baby Steps

2011-02-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

Allstar is doing the 'Drunken Sailor' walk! He's not steady yet, but he can take 5-10 steps at a time! His crawl has now turned into a knee & foot crawl. Hopefully he'll get himself up all the way soon! He is such a cutie.

My sister took this video at work on her iphone. She named it Gangsta Walking bc of his "pants." I waited too long to change his diaper [crazy day] so pee soaked through his jeans. He crawls around everywhere, and the office has that industrial carpet, not soft, so I put his legs through his jacket arms and zipped it up a little to keep that over his legs, protecting his knees! So it looks like he's got a long crotch {it's a hood crotch}, like a gangsta...enjoy.

walking boy 2 from Carla Thorup on Vimeo.

Stylin' short

2011-01-31T09:10:00.011-07:00

Allstar has had this funky mohawk thing going on. He's almost 1 so I finally gave in to a little trim, so a trip to Pocatello, ID to Aunt Emily's house was scheduled. I needed mine renewed anyway. He did awesome, and was just a little wiggly like all kids!

The two of us with our new haircuts. Emily does a perfect job everytime! It always amazes me how much better I feel about myself after getting my hair done.

Anniversary Highlights

2011-01-16T19:57:00.008-07:00

Spencer surprised me with a get-a-way to sunny St. George for our 6 year anniversary. I told him I would leave Allstar for 2 nights, so he took that and planned. My MIL & sister shared the responsiblity of the baby, and of course, Allstar was an ANGEL for them the whole time; eating and sleeping perfectly...well that ended quickly as soon as we got home.

Anyway...here's what we enjoyed for 3 days, beside the 50-60 degree, chill free weather:

the St. George Temple

A Heart Jacuzzi Tub...which was heavenly, especially for 2 people at one time, we both had our own spots to sit back and relax

a Hike in the warm, sunny weather

Good Eats, of course.

Basila's Mediterranean Restaurant was delicious, and a cute, quaint, intimate place.

Don't forget the Nielsen's Frozen Custard...mmmmm

and we ended all this with GOLF. Spencer was SO happy that I suggested we go.

He had his clubs ready and waiting in the car already!

Marriage rocks, we are so grateful to spend some time just the two of us and remember what the "old times" used to be like. However, it sure was nice just the two of us, but we did feel like a something was missing. Our sweet boy clapped for us when we walked in the door.

Happy Holidays

2011-01-04T21:04:00.003-07:00

Happy 2011, may we all have a delightful, successful, awesome new year!

Working Reality

2010-12-27T11:14:00.003-07:00

It's usually only when I have to make or take a quick phone call that Allstar wants to fuss his loudest! I really do try to be professional most of the time, but I just can't override the background noises! Haha...oh well, I wouldn't have it any other way. So grateful for my job letting me bring the baby, and just be partly here b/w taking care of work and babe.

Instructions for Installing a Husband

2010-12-16T19:18:00.003-07:00

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.What can I do?

Signed, Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.exe and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0; program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck Babe! Tech Support

My mom fowarded this in an email to me. Hilarious!! Fortunately, upgrading my boyfriend to husband came almost perfectly, as most of you know. He does have to have a couple faults, because 100% perfect would make it boring.

Free Christmas Oranges Concert

2010-12-02T10:17:00.005-07:00

This is one Christmas Event worth your time, you will walk away happy and filled with the Christmas spirit!

Christmas Oranges Benefit Concert - MONDAY NIGHT!
Monday, December 6th at 7 pm
Jordan High School Auditorium
95 East Beetdigger Boulevard in Sandy, UT 84070

Featuring: Marshall McDonald & Steven Sharp Nelson
Young Artist Chamber Players & Jordan High Chamber Choir
Celebrate this holiday season with a traditional program of holiday selections followed by a reading of the Christmas Oranges story as narrated by FM100's Rebecca Cressman and accompanied by the complete ensemble of performers.

Admission is free, however cash and food donations are strongly encouraged to benefit the Utah Food Bank.

This is Marshall McDonald. He used to be in our stake, and I worked with him a little with my old calling. He is an amazing pianist and music man, and person in general!

a Classic

2010-12-01T12:40:00.007-07:00

The Scrunchy Face!

what makes it so funny is how the camera captured that akward in motion pose! Plus with his scrunchy face I guess his neck muscles tighten, which makes his body look even more silly and distorted!

Legs

2010-11-28T20:41:00.007-07:00

Well, looks like Allstar has discovered how his legs can MOVE him!! Watch the short videos below to see him move! We did this last Sunday, so it has been one week now.

#2 Monday Night: to THAT.......................................... #1 Sunday Night: From THIS

Things that change life when you have a baby

2010-11-22T07:00:00.002-07:00

People ask me if life is that different with a baby, and to them I say "It's completely different, we have similarities, but daily life in general is totally different." This has been somewhat hard for me to handle, it changed more than I expected it to, and I am still trying to figure it out so I don't lose my identity among the busy everday baby life that consumes me [which I love, don't get me wrong, but I still need some Melina time for crafts or what not!] I get emails from BabyCenter.com about my growing baby. This is an article that came the other day. It is nice to be reminded of all the good things that have changed in life, because sometimes it's just gets hard, though we would take every bad day over again if we had to, because it is still worth it. The items bolded really hit me more than the others.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. [See a reader's perspective in #22, below.]
3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
4. You respect your body ... finally.
5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
9. Your heart breaks much more easily.
10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.
11. Every day is a surprise.
12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
14. You become a morning person.
15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
And from our readers...
1. "You discover how much there is to say about one tooth."
2. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth."
3. "You now know where the sun comes from."
4. "You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have."
5. "You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers."
6. "You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night."
7. "Silence? What's that?"
8. "You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having."
9. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had."
10. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule."
11. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one."
12. "Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog." [Many readers begged to differ, saying things like, " I disagree with number 12. My dogs are my additional children," "Nothing about previous babies, whether two- or four-legged, changes when a new miracle comes along," "My dog will never be 'just a dog," and "This is sad to me. My cat is still my baby too."]
13. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late."
14. "You learn that taking a shower is a luxury."
15. "You realize that you can love a complete stranger."
16. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place. [even more so now]
17. If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!
18. You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution.
19. You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart.
20. You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them.
21. You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts.
22. In response to #2 [above], I'd say that where you were once afraid, you're now fearless. I was always very timid and shy and let myself get walked all over … but now where my kid's concerned, I'll speak my mind and really connect with my inner "b"!
23. The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect.
24. Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING!
25. No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!"
26. You want to take better care of yourself for your child.
27. You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo."

White

2010-11-21T11:45:00.005-07:00

From inside the comforts of home, it's definately bearable, but I am not sure I am ready to handle this stuff outside yet! Burrr...

9 MONTH [& 1 week] APPT.

He was crawling all over this crinkly paper stuff, he loved it.

Still a little guy, but not a shorty like his mom!!!
Height: 29" (70%)

Weight: 18 lb 3.5 oz (14%)

Head: 18" (60%)

Adopted Boys

2010-11-17T21:35:00.006-07:00

We seem to adopt 12 big Basketball players every year for a couple months. They are always seen & heard on the big screen in our home! Luckily, our friends gave us the opportunity to see them in person Monday night. Woo woo! It was a fun spur of the moment date night, thanks to our friends and sister. GO JAZZ

Nine

2010-11-12T07:09:00.001-07:00

Our baby is nine months old today. Wow how time flies by. So much has happened developmentally in this last 3 months. He is crawling around like crazy, and pulling himself up onto everything. It was amazing how fast he figured that out. With all this crawling he is getting himself into everything, and making lots of messes, which is fine right now. An exploring little one he is. He loves to climb up the stairs, and is pretty stable at it now, but it still scares me! He actually crawled up one flight at my office all by himself. (I thought Spencer had him, Spencer thought I had him!) He babbles and makes lots of noises, baby talk is so darling to hear! He has 3 teeth now, the top one just cut through a week ago. He loves to eat real food, and will eat almost anything we give him, which is only healthy of course! His stats will come next week after his appt. We love this little one, he smiles and smiles and smiles; such a joy.

His 6 months collage of my favs. What a little HANDSOME, just like his dad!

I Lost

2010-11-11T18:52:00.003-07:00

10.9 Pounds in the last 17 weeks on the Weight Watchers program! I feel so much better about my self esteem, losing some of the baby weight. Though there is still some pudge left, I can deal with that! I mainly only made one small change, cutting out 1/2 of the sugars I was eating, and that really what was keeping my weight on, which was very surprising to me. Though that is the hardest thing for me to cut out! So, I am no longer paying for the program anymore, I couldn't justify paying for something I know how to do now. However, I am glad for the information I learned at Weight Watchers.

Mickey, Minnie & Tigger

2010-11-04T07:50:00.003-06:00

Halloween...another year, but with a baby! I know baby's first holidays are supposed to be grand, but we are not really that type of people I guess. So we made do with what we had around and to borrow! We introduce our small Halloween festivities.

Trunk or Treat

Little Tigger cutie. A bucket of candy...in his dreams. Maybe another couple months buddy.

My little bro and wife were in town and joined us for Trunk or Treat.
Not a costume, but it could be! His first time in this nightie. Our Allstar baby.
Cousins. 3 months apart.

our one Little Halloween party at my brother's house.

the Spontaneous Hike

2010-10-31T18:44:00.011-06:00

...the Willow Heights Trail. This has become our annual fall hike. We have been trying to plan this hike with our friends for the last couple years, but it just wouldn't happen. Life. And that's why this hike is now spontaneous, when we can go!

Spencer and I still really wanted to hit it this year, knowing our colors most likely won't be great. On a Friday morning Allstar woke up at 6:30 am to eat, so Spencer decided to get up as well and take us on this hike! We made it to the trailhead at 8 am and were up there by 8:45. We were hoping to catch the sunrise, and we would have, but the overcast sky prevented it being seen. As we suspected, most of the Quakies leaves were already gone, but we were able to catch one little forest that was still in yellow bliss. Enojoy our early morning hike! Haha, you can see our early morning eyes.

We bundled Allstar up. Fleece PJ's w/fleece top & bottom over that!

Jump Jump...can't forget the JUMPS!!! I love it.

Wow!

Babe fell asleep on the way down. So sweet.

Announced

2010-10-24T18:41:00.006-06:00

It's that time of year...what is that time you say? Time to figure out where to order those family Christmas Cards! Go check out our friend's site, Announced. You just pay a small flat rate for her to insert your family pic and info into on of her many custom designed cards, and then she'll give you the .jpeg file to you so you can then print as many of your Cards you want anywhere you would like to! CLICK ON THE PIC TO VISIT THAT, she'd love to get you "Announced" for the holiday season.

She also has a craft blog, Less Cake More Frosting. Wow, super cute crafts on a low budget. I don't know how she thinks up most of her projects, but you should go check them out, and maybe become a follower too...She is very creative at writing, and though some of her posts may seem so long, just read it, you'll be entertained. CLICK ON THE PIC TO VISIT.

Believe it Folks

2010-10-08T15:54:00.005-06:00

I thought I had a couple more weeks, but this boy ain't wastin' time. While on his stomach he gets his knees under him real well, but just didn't know how to move. Last Night I pushed his knees while he moved his hands...then this morning he remembered and thought he'd try it out himself! Wow...it's time for us to get on our hands and knees and babyproof for real now! He has been movin all day, albeit a bit slow, he'll speed up in no time and be in all sorts of trouble. This one is alive and curious, just 4 days short of 8 months.

He also just got his first cold yesterday, full blown today. It's the saddest thing ever, especially hearing him trying to breath with all that snot in his nose. He was up almost every hour for a 4 hours last night. Sad.

Lake Mary, sort of

2010-10-06T21:55:00.010-06:00

We forgot to put the shoulder straps on him, and he kept sticking his head and body out. He'd never done this, and it took us 10 min to figure out why he was being silly.Lake #1, Mary: WHAT's WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???
Aww, that's much better. What a SAD sight to see when hiking to a lake...emptiness. Only 1/2 of this lake was full.

Lake #2, Martha

Lake #3, Catherine

Getting the Fall colors this year has been a little rough with our weird cold then warm weather. The reds were already dying out while the yellows are just starting to turn.

Man, I love this nature stuff! It is beautiful and rewarding.

Golden Gate + Baseball =

2010-09-28T21:57:00.011-06:00

EXHAUSTION for poor Allstar. We rented bikes to bike across Golden Gate Bridge. Allstar did not take a very long nap to begin with, and was so tired for most of the ride. Then, once we got onto the bridge it was SO noisy from all the cars he got even more upset. Too bad. The ride had a couple little hills that surprised us, but it was a pretty good ride altogether. The bridge is very long and seemed to go on forever. All in all, it was a fun experience worth doing!

We stopped before entering the bridge for our tasty [and pricy] cheese & crackers w/grapes. YUM.

and to take the family picture

Allstar got so upset that we took him out of the bike trailer and I went totally illegal riding w/him like this. I was so scared on the hills, well and most of the time. Not from getting in trouble, but for the tiniest of rocks that could've caused a crash.

DONE. See, look at all those cars! So busy

After he fell asleep in our arms we softly laid him down like so, we should've done this the first time he fell asleep so he was more comfortable. Then, when we boarded the ferry they made us take him out, which meant waking him up yet again. Afterwards I wished we didn't tell them he was in there!

To end the day we were so excited to see this MLB game. Unfortunately, after getting there a couple minutes late, then figuring out what to do w/the stroller we forgot to think about, then waiting in the "Gilroy's famous garlic fries" line for 20 minutes, we saw like 2 innings before having to leave the game...the babe would just not be happy or sleep. The noise and the cold just was not in our favor. Darn, we were really looking forward to this. We had sweet tickets too. In all the crying and everything we didn't even get a very good pict of the whole field. Next time Allstar, there will be another and you will enjoy it!

He even wore his Allstar Baseball shirt!

Alcatraz

2010-09-23T08:31:00.008-06:00

Alcatraz was very interesting to see and learn a little more about. We really enjoyed the tour and highly recommend it. Though there were a lot of people, the tour is very well designed for a lot of people to flow through it. We took the audio tour, which had a couple prison officials and inmates telling the main stories and facts of Alcatraz when it was a prison, which is what it is most known for. We have toured the Utah Prison, so seeing the cells were not new to us, but it does remind you how awful of a life it would be to have to live in such tiny, dirty, cement quarters for years and years. 1 interesting fact I got out of it: those in prison read more than the outside population, something like that.

Some of the re-reations were very neat, such as this head that was made out of wax, concrete and paint; made by the prisoners who escaped, to look like they were still in their cell.

We used this front carry pack a lot during this trip, when he got tired of the stroller.

San Fran Overview

2010-09-19T20:54:00.013-06:00

We just got back from our vacation to San Francisco, CA. We went Mon-Fri this last week. It was a success, in that we were so tired when we got back to our room each night from going and going and going! Seriously, we need to learn how to take a vacation. So here is a quick overview, minus the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, and some of the smaller sights we saw and did.

To start out...we stayed at a HOSTEL...for reals. It was right downtown, and it was the place where the price was right for us. Everything else was over $175/night. We got this private bedroom for only $90/night! We got some very strange looks walking around in there w/a baby, but we didn't really care, he was great sleeping at night and wasn't a bother to others. Buses, Cable Cars and Trolleys. We most likely took every route and bus possible in San Fran! We prefer to take public transportation when they have great systems, and this place did.

The Japanese Tea Gardens. This was the only hour that we really felt like we were on a relaxed vacation. Spencer really likes the Japanese type gardens in particular, and we will most likely have a little splash of this type in our perinnial gardens here at home.

Lombard Street a.k.a. the Crooked Street. It does have like 6-7 bends, very crooked, but beautiful with hedges and large begonia flowers spread throughout. There are very steep streets in this city as well.

Coit Tower, it's their overlook to the city. Definately not worth it. Most of the weather has fog, so you can't see too far. However, if it is for sure a clear day w/no rain, then it may be worth it.

Unfortunately, we didn't find as many great eats as we would've liked to, but by the last night we found the jackpot, and went back for lunch the last day.

Overall, it was a very eventful, successful vacation. We did almost everything you could do there, just like we usually do. From here on out, we have decided to slow down and try to relax and enjoy the city more. Traveling with a baby is DOABLE, just adds a bit more work and time needed to get from here to there. Oh yea, and a bit more stuff to take around everywhere with you. Another couple posts to follow...

Comical

2010-09-12T21:09:00.003-06:00

It's the warm water...just relaxes those muscles everytime!

See you in a week with fun vacay picts.

Gettin' Down on the Farm

2010-09-08T09:52:00.014-06:00

...lyrics from a Tim McGraw song, which I find very enjoyable I just wanna dance. It talks about kids in a rural area gathering together at the Barn to dance and have a good time! I love country music btw.

Anyway...we didn't really get down on the farm, we just took pictures in front of the barn! We're not country, but I guess we were a little bit of posers here. These family picts turned out darling, even if we were in front of a barn [which I don't usually love] but Carla did well with placing the family then turning on her self timer and running into the picture!

Then of course we had to shoot a million picts of Mr. Handsome for 6.5 months! Go HERE to see more of our darling little man.

the Birthday Bash

2010-08-20T09:37:00.013-06:00

"Your 20's were fun, but now you are done. 30's are neat, but be careful what you eat!" [from his sister]
That's right folks, he's the ripe old age of 30! Spencer has always made such a big deal about turning 30, thinking it was when you really started to get old! So, I had been planning to do this type of party for 3 years now. Our friend in our ward threw this "Old Party" 3 years ago for her husband. We weren't in this ward or even friends yet, so we didn't go, but our mutual friends did, and that's how I knew about this party idea.

We made yummy golf cakes and decorated them into the late hours. Secured the beloved soft serve ice cream machine from our friends. Went to the store many times. Decorated the deck. And waited for friends and family to show up.

THANK YOU's for every person who came!! We really feel loved and supported.

Surprise parties are so hard to pull off! I am horrible at lying, so I made up lame things I hoped Spencer wouldn't catch on to. He said I blew the surprise the night before, but he misunderstood what I said, oh well. I felt so sick right before the party, wondering if I could really pull it off! Will the decor look lame? Does Spencer know? How do I get him here w/o suspecting? Will friends and family even show up, like more than 10 at least? Are my cakes good? Will he even enjoy the "old" party? Well, my friends, a SUCCESS it was. The decor was good enough; I got Spencer there, though I guess I did some things inadvertently that confirmed to him a party was most likely going on. He very much enjoyed himself with friends and family...who more than showed up and made it a party! And the cakes seemed to be good, most of them were eaten. I did it! And it is over. Thankfully. I will personally not be putting a surprise party on for a very long time. The stress!

SURPRISE!

Friends & family came

Some dressed up so fun. Sorry I didn't get many picts. The Golf Cakes, patterned somewhat after St. Andrews Golf Course in Scotland
A favorite course he has played

I even got Sparkler Numbers, instead of candles! They last a while, akward pause & watching.

Our "Old" outfits I had ready to change into.

Spencer was a good sport, and played the part very good. Doesn't he age well??!

ODE TO SPENCER

I hope you had/have a wonderful birthday. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are simply Amazing. You are fun, caring, loving and adventurous. You cook & clean, and enjoy it! I have said it before, you are 1 in a million men who do all that you do, willingly.
You are the best husband and father I could have ever chosen. Thank you for all the adventures in life. I always look forward to what life throws at us next.
WE LOVE YOU!

Not so Baby

2010-08-12T10:12:00.008-06:00

Allstar is 6 months old today
It has flown by. He loves that he can sit up now. That has opened up a new world for him [and more time for mom!] He can also roll over, then get stuck and call for help after a few minutes. He babbles. He loves to play and suck on toys, exlpore everything he can reach and see, and always wants to be a part of everything and everyone. He is always smiling and being sociable when others are around and and gawk at his cuteness. We coudln't love this guy more and are happy to have him in our lives!

to celebrate I put him in this new outfit his aunt & uncle just couldn't resist buying for him!

Perfect fit for our little "Allstar!"

look close, you can see a little hair he's finally getting

Want to hear the cutest giggles ever? Watch what my sister & her dog got for me.

giggle happy dos II from Carla Thorup on Vimeo.

the iPhone

2010-08-09T13:22:00.006-06:00

I must say, this picture feature on the iPhone is pretty neat. Pic was taken by my sister, not myself.

We do not have iPhones [but all the Apostles do!]

Spencer wants one badly

I only sort of want one

the overall cost of them is not worth it...yet

I told Spencer once our website is making enough monthly sales to pay for the phone and monthly fees, then he can get one!

P.S. Go check it out! [http://www.ruggedhiker.com/] we have been doing an overhaul on it. Great products to make your outdoor adventures more fun!

Heartbroken

2010-08-03T09:56:00.007-06:00

My talented artist bro in law, Matt drew this picture. My sister asked him why he didn't draw a couple breaking up for the emotion "Heartbroken" and he said, "Look at that picture, doesn't she look heartbroken!"

This is how I felt 4 weeks ago, when I joined the Weight Watchers program. Life has gotten busy b/w family, work and home, such that working out has just not made it's way back into my life, not that it was ever really strong! I know what I need to do to lose this baby weight, Run...however, that is the last thing that I would enjoy doing to work out my body. I just really do not enjoy running. I would rather hike, walk for hours, dance, ride bikes...just not run. So, after hours of complaining about wishing I were skinnier, Spencer, my dear husband, suggested I sign up for Weight Watchers and we do the program together. My friend joined the program a couple years ago and got really fit, then after her baby lost it all w/in a couple months. I knew it could work, just the thought of "dieting" is hard for anyone. But I needed to start somewhere. Counting points never sounds fun, and I always thought those people were not enjoying it. Well, I am now one of those people. It really isn't too bad for me, just my sweet tooth. I don't have a problem w/my portion control and fatty foods, my problem lies in the sugary goodness! Thus, the drawing fit perfectly to my feelings. I have had to cut back on 1 piece of candy rather than 3, or 1 portion of ice cream rather than 2. Because I am not making major changes to my eating habits, they told me I will lose weight slower than most. Sad, but understandable. The program has taught me to look at foods differently, see how many points or how little points they have. I felt very restricted the first couple weeks, but am figuring it out more each week, but still feel a bit limited, because I can't eat the sweets just whenever, I have to plan what I can have for the day, which I totally do!

After being on the program for 3 full weeks, I have lost 4 pounds, very surprised at that, especially because I do great during the week so I can have a few more treats on the weekend, and it still works out! Spencer has lost like 8, but we won't talk about guys and the unfairness of all sorts.

Classics

2010-07-27T22:20:00.003-06:00

the Carrier is not only for hiking. Awesome!
Butternut squash, he actually really likes it

Fuzzibunz Diaper Review

2010-07-16T09:47:00.010-06:00

We started Allstar on these cloth diapers at 2.5 months old, and we have been totally satisfied with them. We planned on moving him to cloth diapers around 1 month, but beacuse he was so small the first couple months we had to wait a bit longer. That meant that much longer with disposable diapers. We became very quick and got a good routine down with disposables...then we started cloth. It took us 2-3 weeks to get a good routine down, and start to fall in love with the cloth diapers. Allstar is still growing into them. He has some "junk in the trunk" for now, but he'll have the cutest bum on the block! They come in a variety of fun colors, and are darling on.
Why did we choose cloth diapers?
1. Healthy for the environment & baby
2. Cost savings [click here for estimates]
3. Comfort for baby
When I first brought up the idea w/Spencer he was totally against it. Then I sent him some info about cloth diapers and their perks, and he said we could look into them, but was not hopeful. That's what took us to the baby expo....
Why did we choose Fuzzibunz Cloth diapers?
We went to the baby expo before having the baby, specifically to check out diapers and see if we really wanted to go this direction. There was Fuzzibunz and Bummis there. I was originally swayed towards Bummis from the little research I had done, but whe we saw the Fuzzibunz, wow, there was no contest. With Bummis you are still using the pre-fold white diapers inside a cute waterproof casing w/velcro. But with Fuzzibunz, it's all in one. You just stuff an insert inside to absorb the pee, and put the whole diaper on just like normal, with snaps. At the expo we talked with the woman selling Fuzzibunz for 45 minutes, going over all aspects of cloth diapering. She really had to sell us, because we knew that cloth diapering would take some work. Well, she did great! We bought 18 diapers for $350. We have figured out that it will take us 6 months of use to recover the cost of cloth diapering, then after that, it is free diapers! There are many companies out there with different types and styles of cloth diapers now. They are macking a comeback for sure, especially with all the "go green" campaigns going on!
Other thoughts on our Cloth Diapers
1. We decided to purchase the One Size diapers, which means that they grow with the child, birth to potty training. They have adjustable elastic on the legs and waist to make the diaper smaller or bigger. We started with 18 diapers and now have a total of 22. This allows us to wash every other day or so, rather than every day. [This place is just down the road, if we ever want more]
2. Washing the diapers is really simple, it takes only a minute to toss [w/o touching them] into the dryer, thanks to our wet bag. It unzips at the bottom to invert the bag, pushing the diapers into the washer. It takes about 10 minutes to stuff the liner inside the pocket diapers afterwards, making it a 15 minute working process start to finish [minus the wash/dry obviously]. Spencer usually stuffs them while watching t.v.
3. We have made it very easy on us, getting & installing the right accessories. We have a Bidet Sprayer that Spencer installed for $35. This is for the poop, we spray it off rather than rinse directly into the toilet! We use wet bags that we put the used diapers into, while out and at work [diaper tote] and at home [diaper pail]. By using this diaper pail inside the closed lid wastebasket, it elimiates any smell in the bathroom & house.
4. So far, we have not experienced any "blowouts" or leakage. The elastic leg and waist casings have kept all the poop inside! One time, if it were a disposable, the poop would've been up his back, but the elastic was the saving factor in that case.
5. Most prople probably think it's disgusting that we have to deal with the poop, spraying it off, which means smelling it a little while we do that. Spencer deals with it, I don't mind it at all. I am actually really happy when I see the poop, knowing that he's getting it out and not keeping it in, causing his tummy to ache. And, the older he gets, the better his poop is spraying off the diaper anyway! We have started to use these flushable liners a couple times per day when I think the poop is coming. If I guess right, then the poop is mostly on the liner, which I can throw into the toilet, and not much poop is left on the diaper.
6. We will use disposable diapers while vacationing if more than 2 days, depending where we are going. Our last camping trip we used disposables. See, we still take advantage of the ease of disposables when needed.
7. CONS: there is a slight smell after baby urinates in the diaper. Most say it's like an ammonia smell. We are still trying to figure this out, by changing the settings on our washer and using different detergents. To us, we are used to it, to me it now smells a little like lemon. The other CON, is the microfleece "wicks" the wetness onto his clothes at his crotch if he has peed a couple times and I don't change him within 30 minutes of those. Really, if it's just pee, I could go 2-3 hours without changing him because of how the fabrics are made, because it draws the wetness away from the babys skin. But, because of the wicking, I change him every 1.5 hours usally. 30 min after feeding, then 30 min before next feeding. For now, those are the only CONS, and they really are not bad!

We hope you enjoyed this educational post, showing you that Cloth Diapers really have come a long way. We totally understand that this is OUR personal preference, and respect your decision of using disposable diapers, we really don't care either way what you choose. It does take us just a little bit more effort, we admit that, but to us, it is well worth it. Here are some of our pictures of this cloth diaper adventure!

the Uintah's

2010-07-08T08:53:00.012-06:00

over the 4th of July weekend we took our days off to the Uintah's, specifically Washington Lake. 3 nights and 2.5 days. This was Allstar's 2nd time camping, and for real this time! It was quite a feat, having to take more stuff, our car was packed like tetris, but we made it!! The sleeping was not great, though, making us all tired each day, but of course we trudged on to do the things we wanted to do:

We hiked to Long Lake

we bundled up and strolled around camp
had a great campsite, and were mostly organized!

Got in the fire...well had some great warm fires this time!

and we went on the Canoe. I started out w/him strapped on like this, but then we just stood the backpack up in the middle, and that worked great too.

Allstar wanted to help paddle around the 2nd lake

Oh yea, we roasted our almost stale donuts to warm them up. Yum!

We battled all the mosquitoes and came home w/just a couple for Spencer and I. Allstar somehow escaped with none! Success, hard at times, but we'll keep on going. Hopefully Allstar will learn to love the outdoors like we do, so far so good.

R-Zilla

2010-07-06T11:42:00.003-06:00

Spencer created this a while back, and thought it was hilarious! It is; poor kid, hope he doesn't get a complex. We'll teach him to laugh

Growing Boy: 4.5 months

2010-06-29T22:36:00.009-06:00

We went to his 4 month appointment today. The babe is actually 4.5 months old now.

Weight: 13 lbs 8.2 oz (12%) [so surprising, we thought more around 15 lbs]

Height: 25" (39%) [he may not be a shortie like his mom!]

Head: 16 3/8" (22 %)

Doc said Allstar is the perfect, healthy looking baby. Awesome!

He loves to be outside. We've just began using our our Chicco Umbrella stroller and love it. It is lightweight, small [as in not bulky] and smooth.This guy loves to stand, and is growing to love the Johnny Jumper, lasting 15-20 min.
He has started this, bringing his feet to his hands and grabbing his toes, it is soo cute!
Still loves the bath, and is slowly learning how to splash

He really is a happy little guy for the most part, hence all the smiley pictures. However, don't be fooled, because under all those smiles are a few tears too...he sure can belt out some good, sad sounding cries.

Number 4, ugg

2010-06-29T22:16:00.008-06:00

I say ugg, because it is the 4th feathery friend [no more] that has been inside our basement in the last 2 months, this last one being the worst! The bird hunting season is in full swing for Jynx. I'll bet the birds will be happy to fly south come fall/winter!

THE HUNTER, watching for his next prey

#4 put up a good fight. Poor thing left dead by the curtains, not even eaten. Jynx just uses them as a game. He has to drag them through 2 kitty doors to get them inside, guess he's determined to torture & kill on his home turf, sick! Guess our carpets will be getting frequent cleanings. He's only 1.5 years old...still have like 15+ years to go!

#3, not sure what Jynx did, but I looked behind my sewing table [a fav spot of Jynx's to hide] to find a large, full, dead bird!
#2 my mom heard flapping around the laundry room, trying to stay high enough from the hunter while tyring to escape. My mom set him free, lucky one, but surely injured pretty good!

#1 left some remains, but Jynx kept this first one pretty clean so I wouldn't freak out too bad, just a few feathers scattered about...until I walked down the hallway to his old room...and found the huge, silver wing [SHREIK! It was disgusting, I couldn't bear to take a picture and have that imprinted in my brain! Spencer cleaned this guy up when he got home, I just couldn't do it.]

A day at Work

2010-06-14T22:35:00.012-06:00

I have been SO fortunate to have a job that let's me bring the babe with me to work. I went back April 9th, it's been 2 months now. [I wouldn't have it any other way, I don't think I could do it; you women who do are stronger than I!] It really is working out great. We have a great routine throughout the day. The first month I didn't feel I was giving him the attention he needed and felt bad about that, so I just started taking more time off throughout the day to give him more attention. I figure whether I am at home or at work, it's the same, so I just take more time off the time card to make us both happier! I work 3 days a week, on a flexible schedule. Being the one in charge really has it's perks! So here is a little peek at what our days look like.

Sometimes he likes to act like the boss, he definately makes a much cuter one!

he sleeps, in the swing [thank's Cocho's]
sometimes right after eating

He Plays

and sucks on his hands and drools a ton

Seriously, this is what I get to look at all day, I am so lucky!

And he sleeps in this too, most of the time. I put the blanket over the top to make it more dark, and keep the AC from blowing on him.

My 1st day at the office, April 9th...

And now...just a bit more mess!

I am grateful to continue working for this first little while. People ask what I will do when he starts to crawl...we'll continue on, possibly w/the door shut so he can mosy around my room. We'll see how long this lasts, I think my time of working will be shorter than I ever thought it would be, but I am so ok with that! I used to be a work-a-holic, but when I married Spencer and we started to travel work slowly began to take the back seat, now w/Allstar it is taking the Trunk space. But for now, I will bring in a little extra cash. I also owe my boss some time for being so great about the baby thing!

The Ultimate Infant Swaddle Wrap

2010-06-06T19:20:00.004-06:00

**Click on the picts to see larger. Call me if you need some help!**
1: Start with a 45x45 single piece of flannel, sew the edges.
2: Lay it out like shown below, folding the top side over 2 inches
(Try to keep the baby's arms down by their chest or sides, especially when they get a few months old.)
3: Tightly flap one side over, tucking under baby's back, then do the same for the other. Tuck under baby's back, keeping it tight.4: Criss Cross your botom corners up across the baby's chest, to their shoulders.
(if you flip flap right then left, then criss right then left, and vica versa)
5: Tie your ends by one shoulder or the other, so it is not in the back underneath them.
6: Then enjoy a good nights rest...hopefully!

Thanks to my mom for teaching us this sleep-saving, amazing technique! We have now moved up to the 60x60 swaddle wrap. Allstar has been sleeping 5 hours since 2 weeks, and is now sleeping 7-10 hours at each night.

First Camp, Smore and Hike of the season

2010-06-02T10:10:00.013-06:00

Allstar is now 3.5 months old, and we were ready to begin the camping & hiking w/him to see how he would do! We began Thursday night up Little Cottonwood Canyon at Tanner Flats Campground. There was still snow at a lot of the campsites! But it was 60 degrees at 7:00 p.m. We got a great site by the waterfall, but it was like 5 deg colder than all other sites. We had Allstar in a longsleeve shirt and his jacket to begin with. He just hung out while we got set up! Then we attempted a cute fam pic by the waterfall! This was best out of 10.

Then we went for a walk around the place, with Allstar in his new backpack carrier.

We are so happy to announce that he LOVED it!!! Woo woo and phew for us!

After 1 more fleece layer added the temp was dropping fast. But he didn't mind, and was mesmerized by the fire, and eventually just fell asleep.

He was swaddled in 2 blankets, then wrapped w/a fleece blanket, then surrounded and covered by a double fleece blanket...he stayed plently warm and slept 10 pm to 7 am. [We didn't come prepared ourselves and were very cold all night!] We guess it dropped just below 40 deg.

Next we traveled up to Park City for a couple nights. We did our first hike, some random one that lasted about 1.5 hrs rountrip. Again, Allstar did awesome and fell asleep on the way down, soo cute!

We ended our long Memorial time-off hiking in Corner Canyon, behind the Draper Temple. Actually tons of trails out there. We hiked about 6.6 miles, were out there for 3.5 hours. We fed and diapered once on the trail, and he did awesome. So far so good, we are so excited for such a great baby.

We ultimately made it to Ghost Falls, then made our way back home. This was a very busy, but accomplished Memorial Weekend!

Baby Einstein? what else?

2010-06-01T12:18:00.005-06:00

So Allstar is growing like crazy, smiling like you wouldn't believe and doing a little "talking". We would like some feedback on what you felt worked to help your babies grow and discover the world, and also communicate with you. Baby Einstein DVD's, books, etc? Please give us some quick feedback, as we know most of you have little ones of your own. Thanks!

Sunday Naptime

2010-05-24T07:44:00.002-06:00

Lunch at the Park

2010-05-09T22:21:00.006-06:00

our Spread
Mr. G Funk, yea

"Just dancin' the Jig...I'm so good!"

Get out and enjoy the beautiful weather when it's here!

Momento

2010-04-29T12:22:00.003-06:00

to Allstar, from aunt Carla, because I love you!

Spencer gets to bless him this weekend. He will do amazing!

2 Months & Smiles

2010-04-19T21:07:00.008-06:00

Allstar turned 2 months last week. Everyone isn't kidding when they say it goes by SO fast. He is such a growing boy...it's sad for me but great for him. He is getting so big, weighing in at 9 lb 9 oz (7%) & 21 3/4 inches (8%) now. He is really starting to smile so much now [when you make eye contact w/him], and he loves to do it. The smiels are so darling and light up your life. The picts don't do them justice, you have to see them in person! He's had to wear bibs lately after eating since he loves to spit up!

First time outside to do yardwork. Isn't his hat just darling!

Makeshift bed

2010-04-12T09:08:00.007-06:00

Doesn't it look comfy! We went to Tuscon, AZ a couple weeks ago. Sunny weather in the 80's...oh so nice! Visited family, Spencer golfed and we just enjoyed being warm for a couple days. Allstar did awesome on the airplane rides, looks like he may be a good little traveler with us. Melina's Grandma and Grandpa. We love visiting them and their home.

by Natural Means: my Birth Story

2010-03-22T10:42:00.011-06:00

12/11/2009 "I have always wanted to have a natural birth, without the Epidural, but possibly go with some of the short-term, less strong pain medication near the end if needed. Spencer has not liked this idea, and agrees with everyone who has told me: because this is my first child, first birthing experience, I should just get the Epidural. I have listened to those comments and have somewhat doubted myself, and my tolerance of mind over matter in this. So for the last couple months I have kind of planned on getting the epidural, but still feeling a bit disappointed in myself. So, as I am now nearing the end, only have about 2 months to go, I have decided that I need to make this decision, and just go with it. If I want to deliver naturally, then I need to do my research and prepare like crazy. If not, and I am going to go with the Epidural, then again, I need to do my research and be content with that decision." from my journal
I read this thought on another blog, and it was totally what I was feeling: "Going natural DOES NOT MEAN denying medical intervention when it is needed and necessary - it just means denying unnecessary medical intervention when your body is doing everything right on its own."

We ended up taking the HypnoBirthing classes from the hospital. They were very informative and helped Spencer and I prepare for our hopeful natural birth. We took two other classes from there and were very pleased with all the information given; we highly reccommend them!

Thursday, Feb. 11th I woke up at 5 a.m. to feeling contractions. I had felt one before for a minute is all. I could now feel these more intensly, so I knew they were here to stay. I thought there was a really good chance of having my baby that night, or the next morning. Spencer started to wake up and I said "it's time to play hooky from work today!" He was so excited, the time had finally come, we anticipated! We started timing them. They were coming 6-10 min apart. We ate breakfast and told my mom what was going on. We wanted to keep the contractions going. So I took a bath, relaxed and got ready. [I wanted to have straight hair when giving birth, I think it's more cute than my curly hair, so wanted to look cuter in my delivery picts, b/c thats important! wow.] It was a beautiful day outside, so we walked for an hour around our neighborhood, stopping every couple minutes to let the contraction pass. I was having all BACK LABOR. Pressure is what I was starting to need, so Spencer would push on my lower back as the contractions came. We got home, it was only 1 p.m. Spencer wanted to do something since he took the day off work...so I went and hit a bucket of balls with him. Contractions now about 5-6 min apart. We packed the car with the hospital stuff just in case! After this we ran to Costco to get some stuff we needed, and use our coupons. It was 4:30 by now, and I was really starting to feel them more intensly. It was time to go home and rest. But because they were 4-5 mins apart now, I thought we should go get me checked to see where I am at, hopefully give us some sort of time frame. A nurse checked me at the dr. office, said I was a 3 & 75% thinned...dang! She did say I was in labor though, but not quite active yet. Off to home for rest. By 7:30 p.m. I was on my bed with Spencer and my mom pushing on my back and legs. It was really starting to be uncomfortable. Not painful. The hardest part, is knowing when to go to the hospital, we wanted to labor as far as we could at home, but not knowing what labor and getting close even feels like was difficult. I was at a consitent 2-4 min apart, so by 8:15 p.m. we packed in the car to go. We asked my mom to come, since she was really a huge help with putting some pressure on me. Checked into Alta View hospital at 8:30 p.m. I was now opened to a 4...really? I wanted to be at least a 5. We settled in, I was feeling uncomfortable, needed lots of back pressure for the labor. I got in the bath for a while, was feeling more and more. My labor was progressing normal, opening about 1 cm per hour or so. I was to a 7 by 1 a.m. I wanted to deliver at 2:12 a.m., so he'd be born 2/12 at 2:12 a.m. Thought it was a possibility...but my body had other plans. It decided to stall out at a 7 for 4 hours! After 2 hours my water finally broke, so we all thought that'd start the process and have a baby by 4 a.m. Nope. Spencer and my mom were exhausted. Their arms and hands were so tired from putting pressure on me. My body was starting to get exhausted as well. I was very uncomfortable (not in pain) uncomfortable, labor really is what it means! It was getting long, we were all tired. Our nurse was amazing. After the 4 hours she said she'd need to call the doc if I wasn't opened anymore. I was not. But she asked to try something, she did something we don't know, mabe pushed my cervix, and it began to open. About an hour later she said we were just about ready! They set my room up. I didn't think I'd be able to get the baby out of me. I could feel him near my ribs, there was no way he was coming out! However, the nurse again was awesome. She told me it was time to push. I was such a wimp, only holding it for 4-5 seconds when she said do it for 10! This happened a couple times, then I finally got it. She decided I needed more oxygen to help out. After 40 minutes of pushing (total of 10 hours of active labor), OUT OUR SWEET BABY BOY CAME! Wow, how amazing. It was really, really hard work, but we pushed through and had our unmedicated, natural birth. I am so proud of myself. I will do it again!

P.S. It was Allstar weekend for basketball, and the opening night of the Olympics. That's where his nickname of "Allstar" came from.

Celebrate

2010-03-17T12:12:00.004-06:00

It's St. Patrick's Day!

Guess he thinks it's pretty boring

Remember that awesome video I captured when I told Spencer that I was pregnant? This is the Onesie [I found in June for $ 0.99] that was in the present, and it just so happened that Allstar was going to be the right size to wear it!

Food for Thought

2010-03-15T22:19:00.003-06:00

I got this from my friend's blog, and found it very thought provoking!

What would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our pockets or backpacks?
What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
What if we flipped it open several times a day?
What if we spent an hour or more using it everyday?
What if we used it consistently to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we searched for new applications?
What if we used it as we traveled?
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
What WOULD happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like we treat our cell phone?

How different our lives would be if we only treated our Book of Mormon differently. How do you treat your Book of Mormon?
Think about it.

A legal way to keep the binky in the baby's mouth

2010-03-11T11:26:00.004-07:00

Since it's illegal to tape or tie the binky to the baby

I pay him 1 Whisker Lickin' treat per hour

Sew Cute

2010-03-03T22:18:00.007-07:00

I found a darling free pattern for these shoes at this blog. I had to tweak the pattern a bit, since the pattern was for size 1 year+. They look So Cute on our Allstar.

Nursing Cover. Don't you love my fabric choice! ok, my mom actually ended up making this while she was here.

Reversible Carseat Canopy. I love how it turned out. I had to sew the straps on 2 different times, but it was worth it in the end.

7 hour Breakthrough

2010-02-24T15:34:00.010-07:00

He did it...he slept last night! We got a good 3 hours then 4 hours, and it feels so good. I am so proud of him. This has been our main work in progress for the first week and half. Almost 2 weeks old now (man how time flies, so sad) and he is already getting himself on a pretty good schedule of eating, being awake and taking naps [repeat]. We just love our little guy to pieces. He is the most adorable being out there. I will admit, he is more cute than my kitty (i didn't know if that would be possible for me). Spencer was lucky to take last week off of work while we began our adventure on learning how to be parents [still weird to think, I know]. There were definately the ups and downs, both of which we are grateful for, we are stronger people b/c of that! Spencer went back to work on Monday, so it's just been my mom and I the last couple days. She has been amazing help the last couple weeks! Thanks to all the visitors, it's fun to share the joy w/you all. Now, enjoy the cuteness overload. My sis came and took picts of Allstar for his 1 week mark.
His little feet are my favorite! Perfectly cute shaped toes

Jynx is great. He tiptoes around and smells Allstar now and then.

He does great with his little shoes onWhen we brought him home from the hospital, we pulled into the garage and parked the car like normal. But...we couldn't get the carseat Out of the car!! We were all just laughing, trying both doors and all angles. We had to pull forward a bit more, then succeeded. It was a great laugh.

Beautiful Boy

2010-02-15T16:50:00.006-07:00

*R. Spencer Maughan
Friday, February 12, 2010
6:14 a.m. weighing 6 lbs. 4 oz. 19 inches long

The birth was amazing, we did it all un-medicated, and we are all healthy and well. (We'll tell you more details later)

*We are choosing not to post our son's first name, since we'd like to keep this blog public. Thank you for your love and support, we are so excited to have this HANDSOME little guy!!!

Healthy and Content

2010-02-09T11:04:00.003-07:00

UPDATE for all the curious: Doc monitored baby's heart rate today. He said he printout should be published in a textbook for what the perfect, happy baby's heart rate should look like! Guess my tummy is nice and comfy for our little guy. Fluid level is at a 7 (ave. is 5). Dialated to 1.5 last Fri and 70% thinned. I am doing awesome. Energy levels are perfectly normal, and sleeping great every night still, going to work everyday still. We aren't feeling as anxious waiting, and are more content now. We'll expect his arrival when he decides to come. Still EXCITED as ever though!

Boppy Body Pillow Testimonial

2010-02-07T18:03:00.009-07:00

"Comfy enough for cats!"
Lucky for him we are on opposite sleeping schedules. Jynx's by day, Melina's by night!

"Ask and ye shall receive"
I requested to have a couple really good smelling flowers in my birthing room. I love flowers, love to smell them, and I always relax when smelling them. These are awesome! Spencer is THE IDEAL husband and bestfriend to ever have! He gambled on getting them now, hoping babe would come this weekend...Hopefully they'll last a couple more days.

P.S. The baby countdown ticker is now counting UP, from the baby's "due date"! Doc will give the baby until the 16th to come on his own. Otherwise, that is when we will expect his arrival. Pray baby will want to come naturally...soon...this anticipation is CrAZy!

Zero

2010-02-03T20:53:00.007-07:00

Zero days remaining on the baby countdown ticker

Zero baby in my arms

Zero baby to show off to the world...

Guess it's just me and my belly left to show still.

hmmm. Good thing I realize the "due date" is just an estimation date.

He seems pretty content inside; we may not see him until next week!

Guess you'll all just have to keep up the anticipation with us!

Isn't it just crazy fun?!

Little basketball

2010-01-31T19:58:00.004-07:00

Is still in there just hangin' out. Awaiting our little bundle of joy, I am really feeling great and in no hurry; and am fine waiting 'till he is ready to come. We were so blessed with many many gifts from friends and family, and we are so grateful for all of the support everyone has given to us. THANK YOU to everyone for your generosity!

about Haiti and a chance to Help

2010-01-20T09:04:00.003-07:00

I know there are so many organizations out there that are accepting donations towards the Haitian relief effort - but I have to let anyone I can know about this one. It's called For His Glory Adoption Outreach . My boss is not only the attorney for this office, but he is also the attorney for the Maison des Enfants de Dieu Orphanage in Haiti. His wife is the Medical Director over the orphanage. They visit Haiti mulitple times a year to check on their children, to help adoptive parents meet their future children, and to make sure everything is running as smoothly as possible. They have 2 adoptive children from Haiti in their home. This earthquake seems very real when our office is so closely related to the disaster. At this time, the Government is attempting to evacuate as many children as possible. Our attorney is literally receiving emails hourly with more information about "the orphan airlift." For His Glory Adoption Outreach is one of the orphanges on this list for evacuation. In order to send people down - they need financial contributions to help pay for part of the travel costs for 15+ women to go and pick up 50+ children. The ratios are not in their favor, but they are doing the best they can. Any financial dollar amount would help. Please contribute if you can. I will directly be able to relate where the money is being spent, and hopefully they can bring as many children away from the disaster and chaos as possible. They also need donations for new land, new buildings, and newly orphaned children. And send prayers, because we know those are always helpful.

You can donate here. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG. Thank you in advance.

60" x 41" photo shoot

2010-01-17T21:39:00.009-07:00

My talented Sister took us out for a photo shoot this weekend to document my growing size, with only 2 1/2 weeks left! I have loved watching my belly and body grow to accomodate this new little life, and have been very fortunate to have great health throughout. Here are just a few of the many favorites.

Spencer took this last one. I made the cute little shoes in the first pict.

5 Years of Adventure

2010-01-13T07:58:00.003-07:00

It has been nothing short of amazing! Wow, what have we not accomplished? 2 homes, 1 kitty, 1 child nearly here. Great jobs, lots of new friends. Exploring 11 National Parks, 9 Countries and 7 States, we have been the most blessed ever. Here's to Eternity!
We would be on some fantastic week-long vacay right now to celebrate...but we sorta made other plans about 9 months ago instead! Guess we'll just have to make up for it later this year.

How to Start a Vacation

2010-01-10T19:57:00.007-07:00

Start by eating your favorite dessert. Make sure the T.V. is hooked up and ready to go, lay out the rest of the good stuff for you to eat all weekend long! Then, spend the weekend sleeping in, having fires, watching movies and Lost, eating rootbeer floats, going on a walk, and just hangin' out. We celebrated our anniversary this weekend up at the family cabin in Midway. It was a much needed relaxation from daily life!

the Flying V

2009-12-17T10:49:00.005-07:00

I've been seeing a lot of these lately with the weather changing. This is one of my most favorite animal things to watch in nature. I learned about why birds fly in a V at school when I was young, and have always been facinated and love to watch them.

"as each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. by flying in a “v” formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. when a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. it quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.the geese flying in formation honk to encourage those upfront to keep up their speed. when a goose gets sick or wounded, other geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. if it becomes able to fly again, the group catches up with the flock or launches out with another formation.”

In about 2 Months

2009-12-03T09:19:00.006-07:00

this cute little bedroom should be occupied. That is pretty crazy for us to think about! Like, a real baby in that crib? What? The room turned out very nice. We painted the tan color when we moved in. We added the trim everywhere (lot's of caulking!), then finished off with a light blue (clear water) for the top half. I think the room is very calming (which matches this babe's personality thus far). We kinda splurged on this 9 piece Argyle bedding set, but I love it! If you know Spencer, you know the Argyle is for Golf. We'll see what little golf decor we can find, but we aren't into putting much on the walls, so they probably won't get too much. Let's just keep this simple, since the whole baby on board experience, I assume, will be just the opposite!

Farr Better treats

2009-12-02T10:36:00.012-07:00

Tis the season for yummy treats that only come for the holidays. I think I have found my Top 3 favorites.
1. Farr's Peppermint Stick ice cream*.

Seriously, this stuff is worth finding! It's so creamy and the peppermint has such a better flavor with both red and green candies. Way better than just the red & white stuff you can find anywhere. [I've only seen this special kind at Macey's & WalMart so far]

2. Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses.

It's like the Holiday's in your mouth! I started on these last month. So worth it.

3. Lindt Lindor Truffles.

Can't go wrong with these truffle chocolates, where the meltaway creamy insides are just to die for.

*Last year when I tried this ice cream for the first time, it was love at first taste! It was creamy and delicious and I was instantly hooked. I couldn't wait for the next night to eat it again! The next day came, and I took it out of the freezer to eat it. I opened it up, and the Carton was Full, like I didn't eat any of it. I was baffled. Ok, so next, I had a "blonde" moment, as this is what I thought for the next split second "It [the ice cream] knew I loved it so much that it refilled itself for me!" ...Serious. After I came to my senses, I realized I must've opened the wrong end. So I checked the other end, where I found, to my disappointment, the eaten ice cream. I am obsessed. [P.S. I felt the need to document this story somewhere, for my sake, and to give my posterity a good laugh]

Anyway, I hope you can enjoy some of these Sweet & Delish treats this season, they are 100% worth the extra calories and lb's you may see creep in. I Promise!

Lastly...It's now official...Meowy Christmas!

He can sometimes be uncooperative...hmmm, I wonder why?! I made sure to give him a treat after this one! I'll try for another later when he forgets he was traumatized.

4-Course Meal

2009-11-22T21:13:00.013-07:00

by Chef Spencer. Special Guests + a couple hours = a Very Special, Delicious, Gourmet Dinner. The Starter was an Artichoke Dip with bread. Then we had lettuce wedges with a Bleu Cheese dressing (was surprisingly good, turns out none of us really like bleu cheese). For the Main Course came Asparagus with Angel Hair Pasta, Baked Salmon and topped with an Alfredo like sauce with a hint of Lemon...your mouth watering yet! To end the evening, the Chef made Cream Puffs with Strawberries. It was a busy busy couple hours, but it was perfect, down to the presentation of the food and table of flowers. Seriously, I have the most amazing man in my house!

Want a close up of those babies? That's what I thought...and yes, they DID taste as good as they look.

The special guests came for the new happy couple, my baby bro who tied the knot. It was a beautiful day for them. My grandparents live in Arizona, they get cold super easy. My grandpa is wearing one of Mark's jackets that someone gave to him...isn't he Super Stylin'! Representing!

the Bakers

2009-11-11T10:20:00.004-07:00

Doesn't Spencer look great in an apron! Spencer made a pumpkin pie, I made an Apple pie (w/our apple tree apples). This day we worked pretty well together. Usually it's 1 or the other in the kitchen, not both, we have pretty different styles. We are working on this! Spencer does great with the cooking, Melina with the baking. (I also just made my apron at Super Saturday! Cute.)

Looks Grown Up

2009-11-02T21:02:00.007-07:00

We finally purchased our first real home furnishing item, and we're loving it. We have been using "hand me downs" for everything for our almost 5 yrs of marriage. Nice, since we saved all that money, but it was time to say good-bye to our red couches (they looked awesome in the old house, but not this new one). Everything is from Ashley Furniture, where we have a sweet hook-up. We made that little cat tree for Jynx, to try and keep him off our new stuff...it's working so far. My sister's first comment was "It looks grown up!"

Expelliarmus

2009-11-02T20:48:00.004-07:00

We dressed up for our ward "Trunk-or-Treat" and had a good time w/friends there. We had the best decorated trunk, of course! As for Halloween night...we didn't pass out candy, but instead went out...and it was Awesome! (Didn't feel bad, since the kids who would come by our house we already saw at Trunk-or-Treat) We had the restaurant and stores all to ourselves. That's the best evening to have a night out and not have to see all the crowds.

In my Belly

2009-10-28T10:26:00.007-06:00

So here are some picts. I saw this idea on another blog, to take a pict each week, wearing the same thing. It was my idea to measure, I like to see when the changes are happening. Not much change the last month except I gained 1 more inch. What's the most interesting, is in the morning I am my regular 36-37 inches, but by night I am a whole 2 inches rounder, the clothes definately feel tighter! All these picts are taken on Friday mornings, so you don't see my full 'large and in charge' yet! I am feeling bigger, but still feel healthy and well.

I started a journal for myself and baby, again to document when changes happen, how I feel physically and mentally at different times, what people say, stuff like that. This is an exerpt of what I wrote about my growing belly: I am about 6 months (24 weeks) along now and you can tell that I am pregnant, and don't just have a chubby stomach! I am loving my cute little round belly. Some of my clothes look even better! I have looked forward to seeing myself with a pregnant belly, and my body is growing well to accomodate you. It's funny, because people now give me a look that says "Oh, you have a pregnant belly now!" Which is then what people voice to me in some way. My friend's husband saw me yesterday and noticed my growing belly and said "Ya know, there's nothing more pretty than seeing a woman pregnant." That was very nice of him. I am mostly getting surprised looks from those who didn't know I was pregnant (acquaintences), or people saying I am now looking pregnant, pointing out the obvious. It is nice to hear genuine comments about my quickly changing looks.

99 days

2009-10-27T12:17:00.005-06:00

...until Baby is supposed to come. Um....hello, that is less than 100! Where has the time gone? I am 25 weeks and 6 days along (6 1/2 months); I only have 14 weeks and 1 day to go. Wow! Tis the season for time to rush by even faster now too. I will post some picts of the growing belly soon. I am beginning to start feeling him moving more distinct now. Spencer felt his movement last night for the first time. Sweet.
"I weigh just under 2 lbs and am 14 inches tall; I can respond to noises from outside."

Cruisin the Cold

2009-10-19T21:28:00.012-06:00

September 10-18, 2009 we left for Seattle, WA to catch the inside passage Alaskan Cruise. Click on the pictures to enlarge. We were so excited for the fun. We met up with Spencer's old H.S. friend Rachel and her cute little family in Seattle. They were so great and took us to see Mt. Ranier. What an amazing National Park. It's this huge, snowcovered mountain in the middle of the forest. So crazy. We loved Seattle and want to go back for a real vacation. Thanks Rachel, Sterling and Stockton for the great time. CRUISING ALASKA: Day 1: we left Seattle to make our way towards Alaska. We saw our 1 and only sunset this night. It was beautiful! (The flowers I got for $5 at Pike's Place Market in Seattle before we left)

Day 2: Was our first day at sea. No pictures, no need. The boat was rocking so bad, going over 16 foot swells, let's just say that is NOT ideal! Melina threw up 6 times (after everything she ate) and Spencer just did not feel normal either.

Day 3: Our first port, Juneau Alaska. We took a bus tour to Mendenhall Glacier. We wanted to do a little hike here, but Melina wasn't fully recovered from the day before, and it was a little colder than we expected! We walked around the town, then got back on the ship.

Day 4: Our second port, Skagway Alaska. This was our favorite port in Alaska. We had our full energy back and had a beautiful, sunshiny day. We started out on the White Pass Railway tour. It was a bus tour that took us to the top of the railroad, then the railway took us down it's route. It was so interesting to learn about the Gold Rush and all the drama that went on back then! After this we went back and changed to some cooler clothes and did a little hike. It was so green, and being in the fresh air did us some good.

Day 5: The ship took us to a Fjord, which is an inlet, to see a Glacier. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one on the schedule, and not as pretty, we heard. We were in there at 6 a.m. and left there at noon. So the rest of the day was a day at sea. (we did not look forward to 1.5 days at sea). We got some cool pictures, and the glacier was neat, seeing all the broken ice in the ocean, but there was no wildlife.

Day 6: our second Day at Sea. We played it really safe, not wanting to have another awful day at sea. We woke up and made it through breakfast. We found mid-ship where it rocked the least, and parked it there for the day. We took our books and labtop, read and watched a movie. We made it through the day not throwing up, but we still did not feel ideal, and on the brink now and then. See all the fun towel animals our stateroom attendant left us each night.

Day 7: Our last port in Victoria, Canada. Again, we had a beauiful,clear day. Our main event here was to visit the Butchart Gardens. WOW, they are so worth it! We love flowers and landscaping, so it was perfect for us. Even though it was the end of the season, it was still an amazing sight. One day...hopefully our backyard will compare!

Day 8: We ended the cruise at Vancouver, Canada. We wanted to spend the day here, so booked our flight for the next day. We were SO glad we had this extra day. We absolutely loved Vancouver. There is a ton to do, but we figured out a great game plan that allowed us to do a lot, and enjoy what we did. We laughed and lived up the last day of spending with each other on vacation.

In the end, this Alaskan Cruise was a little rough for us. We did not see really any wildlife we expected to see (dolphins, eagles). The mountains were cool, but we have awesome one's here. We had an awesome start in Seattle and end in Vancouver, with some high points in between, but this vacation took a little toll on us. We still love the idea of the cruise, and will go on another, but we'll make sure it's in mostly calm waters...and I'm not pregnant! Enjoy the pictures. You can view these and lots more in our picasa album.

Warnings/Precautions

2009-10-07T10:00:00.002-06:00

I received this email from 2 family members now. Usually I don't pass the word along b/c I've heard it before, but I found these to be some very good tips on avoiding danger and keeping ourselves a little bit safer by being aware of what we can do.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you....Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy..The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.) DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..
...If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage: A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars. C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side.... If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP. It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird.. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door..'The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full ball so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!

Have fun and Rock Out

2009-09-29T19:49:00.007-06:00

Sept 9th we were at the Keith Urban Concert. He just rock's out and shows us why we keep going back to see him every year! (this was my 4th or 5th of his). It was a BLAST!!

Boondocks opened the show for him with their harmonizing bliss. They really are amazing singers, all 4 of them have really great voices of their own, and together produce such a unique, yet fun tune.

Rock out with Keith Urban

Funny Quotes

2009-09-24T11:56:00.012-06:00

from "Dancing w/the Stars" I just watched them all last night...
(May not be word for word, just from memory, but you get the jist of why they would be funny...maybe, at least I was laughing!)

Kelly Osbourne first said when hearing about the cha cha "Now does that mean you take 1 step on every Cha of the Cha Cha Cha?!" Then later after getting her Cha Cha routine down she exclaimed, "That's it, I'm changing my name to ChaCha!" in her accent, of course. You go girl! She is one of my favs for this cast.

Donny Osmond: was told by the annoying voice comedian (sorry can't remember his name)

"Donny, you are 51 years old, don't you think it's time we start calling you DON!"

Very nice, I had a couple real great laughs last night.

Outnumbered...

2009-09-21T10:27:00.007-06:00

The most anticipated news is here for you today...

We have a perfect and healthy growing BOY

ABOVE: His head is on the left. Closed fist is the "bubble" looking thing. The knee, leg and foot is after the fist, going to the right.

BELOW: The V-looking thing are his 2 legs. The "junk" (as Spencer put it) is sticking out of the middle of the V. His head is in the background, I think. The bubble on the left I think is his fist.
Isn't technology amazing. They said he is growing perfectly and healthy, and so am I.

I will officially be outnumbered come February. It's all good, I love boys.

P.S. This is my 100th Post! How's that for perfect subject timing.

Baby Q&A

2009-09-09T09:24:00.009-06:00

Due date: February 3, 2010 (so I am 19 weeks along, almost 5 months)
Gender: We will find out on Sept. 21st. We don't have a preference, or had any special feelings on what it could be. Thought alot about which we prefer, but in the end would just love a healthy babe.
How have I felt? Good for the most part. Didn't get the whole morning sickness/throwing up in the first 3 months, just had an uneasy feeling in my stomach the whole time. I was super tired and only had 80% energy levels throughout, which was the hardest for me, since I wake up and don't stop until I go to bed. But I just couldn't do that! It has been harder than I expected, I felt like I was a tough girl going into it, all the pregnant women I see make it look so easy! I had not researched or talked to many women so I did not know what to expect really, also did not think it'd happen so fast, but greatful for it. But I made it through and feel awesome and back to normal again...for the next couple months at least.
We have known since June 1. Yes, we "lied" when you asked if we were expecting, but hellooo, you should not have been asking in the first place! Manners people, this is a VERY personal matter, to be made public when we felt ready. (by asking, it tells me you think my stomach is fat enough to have a baby inside!)
...I guess there is really nothing else yet to tell. We are super excited and looking forward to the biggest adventure of our life!

About the video:
I took Spencer to Asian Star. I had dropped off the present earlier. I held the camera in my lap, waiting for the waiter to bring out the surprise. As soon as he did I put the camera on the table and started rolling. No, Spencer did not notice it, he was too busy trying to figure out what was going on at the moment...as you can tell by the expression. What was in the present? Just a little onesie and my positive test. The card read: Dear future daddy, I can't wait to meet you in 9 months. Love, Baby. Awwwwwwww, I know! Spencer actually couldn't really read it, just kept looking at love, Baby and realized his thoughts were really true by that point. (idea's found online)

P.S. Is Spencer not the most adorable, sensitive man! I love him more than the world. (See the video below if you haven't yet)

It's all in the Eyes

2009-08-30T15:52:00.006-06:00

Not much of a video person, but found this video to be HILARIOUS! This is a must watch. It's only 38 seconds.
Pay special attention to the First 6 seconds and the Eyes. Turn up the volume as well. Enjoy!