I Want To Go To There

Preschool, Already???

2010-09-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

I once heard a quote about motherhood that said something about how, as a mother, the days drag on forever, but the years fly by so quickly. Since Mya was born, I've believed this--but today it hit me like a ton of bricks. Today was Mya's first day of preschool!

We were lucky to get her a spot at a nearby preschool, Children's Discovery. We know many people who have absolutely loved the school, and we couldn't be more excited about it. I didn't expect to be terribly emotional about today. I did alright as she got out of the car, and only choked up a little as she walked away. But when I got home and looked at Max, I lost it... For a moment, I didn't see Max, I saw this...

My sweet little angel--the time really has flown by. As exciting as today's milestone was, it was definitely bittersweet. I love seeing Mya grow and learn and develop. And I love how independent she is... But a part of my heart aches to think about how she (along with all of my children) are going to grown up. And all too quickly!

And here's my little angel this morning, bursting with excitement to go to her new school!

And here's Mya with Miss Dee, the owner and director of Children's Discovery. The teachers at the school load and unload the children each morning--VERY nice!

And here she is... walking away.

When I picked her up, she was just buzzed with the excitement from her first day! She absolutely loved it. She told me all about playing on the playground, singing songs about ducks, and making a jack in the box toy. She said that all of her new friends are really nice, and so are her teachers. I know Mya will love it, and I'm so excited for her and for this new adventure!

Great Day

2010-08-14T15:00:00.001-07:00

Let me just say, I think my kiddos are pretty cool. Especially when we have a fun day like today! Alex was working, and it was a beautiful sunny day, so I took Mya and Max (and enough stuff for a week long trip...), and we went to Sugarhouse Park. Mya LOVED running around the playground, making friends with whoever would talk to her, and going down the slides. I loved relaxing in the shade with Max, and we all enjoyed our picnic lunch!

Mya wanted me to take a "sad face picture"

For the first time in my life, I saw two LARPers (Live Action Role Players)!!! Granted, they weren't actually LARPing, but it was obvious that they were practicing. It was awesome, and I hope to see some again someday.

I think Max likes his big sis (and he likes his mommy too)!

At one point, I saw Mya at the top of the slide making a face that I haven't seen her make outside of the bathroom for awhile--uh oh. Then came the yell from Mya at the top of her lungs: "Mommy! I HAVE TO GO POOP IN THE POTTY!!!" Unfortunately, the 'face' she made was the face I was afraid of, and she didn't make it all the way... So it was a bit of a mess, but on the bright side, I had an extra pair of panties in my giant bag, and she actually was able to hold most of it for the toilet too. That was actually her first real accident since she completed potty-training, so I really can't complain!

The drive home was a little rough, with a super tired 3 year old, and a hungry baby. BUT, we all survived! What a great day!!!

A Name & A Blessing

2010-08-07T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today we had Max's baby blessing. We held it in our home, which was really nice! All of our family in the area came, and we're so grateful for their support!!!

And we are especially grateful for this little guy! He's 7 weeks old today, and growing so fast. The outfit that he was blessed in was the same one his daddy was blessed in 30 years ago.

"Leave me alone crazy lady! Quit taking pictures and let me go back to sleep!!!" Poor kid.

Max did sleep most of the evening (when I wasn't tormenting him), which was great! Getting a picture with him was a piece of cake...

Getting a picture with a cranky 3 year old on the other hand... not so easy : )! This was the best family picture that we got, and we were just focused on trying to get Mya to quit crying. Good times!

Alex did a beautiful job of conducting the evening, as well as giving the blessing. I'm so proud of my sweet family. I'm so thankful for each of them. I'm especially thankful for the Gospel. It is true, and I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us beyond what we can comprehend. What incredible blessings I have in my life because of this powerful truth.

My Happy Boy

2010-08-05T11:41:00.001-07:00

We've been busy having fun adjusting to life as a family of four! Mya LOVES her new baby brother Max. We all love the little guy dearly!! He is almost 7 weeks old, and is quite the funny baby. Here are a couple of pictures and a video of Max and Mya!

Notice Max's crossed eyes... Newborns are hilarious

Yes, question?

Happy America Party!

2010-07-04T12:09:00.001-07:00

On this beautiful 4th of July, I'm thrilled to say that my family and I have more to be grateful for than ever. We've had our little boy home from the hospital for a week now, and he's doing great. We've had some of the usual ups and downs of bringing home a new baby, but as of today, everyone is healthy and doing really well! The day he came home, I came down with some bad breast infections; that was surprisingly rough, and I was pretty sick for about 3 days because of them. The antibiotics have kicked in now, and thankfully I'm feeling much better!

Mya and Max have been so cute together. Mya absolutely adores her baby brother, and so far, has been so loving and sweet with him!

On Saturday, July 3rd, we had some family over for a 4th of July party. As we explained to Mya what the 4th of July means, her cute interpretation was that we were having an America Party--and she had a GREAT time with family, food, and her very own sparklers!

Max was clearly wiped out from all of the excitement, and having to entertain all of our family! He was a champ though. Our 4th of July turned out to be one of the best ever--Happy America Party!!!

Our New Little Man

2010-06-25T20:31:00.001-07:00

After a couple of months of stress, unknowns, and almost constant contractions... THE TIME HAS COME!! At my 38 week doctor's appointment, I was 5cm dilated, 80% effaced. My OB-GYN went ahead and scheduled me to be induced the following week, on 6/22. Alex and I were getting all set to have this kid!

The night after that appointment, I started having contractions... nothing real consistent or strong... nothing different from the previous two months. The next morning, Saturday 6/19, I was still having contractions. I took a shower, and they got stronger--was I actually in labor??? Shortly after that, things got really intense, really fast. Of course, it would make sense that my little boy would come on the ONE day that my doctor was out of town : )! We started getting things ready around 9:45am, and got to the hospital around 10:45. That hour SUCKED. BAD. What didn't help was that while I was crawling on all four during my 20-30 second breaks between contractions, trying to get things together, Mya thought that Mommy looked like a horse... and of course, who could resist a horsey ride? Ouch!

When we got to the hospital, the nursing staff got me into a room and checked me really quickly. In that hour before getting to the hospital, I had gone from 5cm to 8cm! Thankfully the nurses moved REALLY quickly after that, and within about 20 minutes, I had my beloved epidural. (Irrelevant side-note, our anesthesiologist was in our stake presidency : )! ) They checked me a few minutes later, and I was at 9cm. After one more contraction, I was at 10cm and ready to go!! My doctor's partner was there and ready for the show to begin! The labor continued to go really fast. After 6 sets of pushes, and about 12 minutes (and a short break for me to vomit a bit), Max was in our arms!

Max Alexander Berndt. Born on Saturday, 6/19/2010 at 12:42pm, weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz., and was 18 inches in length. He cried a little after his arrival, but not much--not as much as we'd have liked. Some NICU nurses came up to check on him and get him to cry a bit more. His APGAR score was 8.9, and they decided they'd take him to the nursery to do his bath and initial testing. Alex went with him while I recouped a bit, and got moved to my postpartum room. We were thrilled to have him here!!!

After Max was in the nursery for a couple of hours, the nurse came and talked to us about some concerns they were having. His breathing was still quite irregular. This of course is normal for most infants, but the problem was that he wasn't pulling himself out of it. He'd fall asleep and stop breathing, turning blue a couple of times. They sent him to the NICU for some closer care. This was a concern to hear, but we felt good that he'd be in good care, and felt like things were going to be okay... maybe it would just take a little longer to get him there than we had thought.

As it turns out, part of why Max was having breathing problems was because he was fighting some sort of infection. He also had some fluid in his lungs, which may have been what showed up as an infection in his blood work (we'll never know for sure what was wrong specifically). They started him on a full round of antibiotics to clear up whatever may have been wrong with him. Having a quick delivery was nice for me, but it was probably to quick for our little Max, because that was likely the cause of the fluid in his lungs and the infection--it was too shocky and he didn't experience much of the stress that is needed in the birth canal. It's interesting, and a little ironic if you ask me!

It's been nearly a week, and Max is ready to come home tomorrow! We are so proud of him, and the progress he has made. His breathing is perfectly 'normal' (I hate that word--normal--but I'm not sure how else to put it) now, and his blood work is all clear. They would have actually released him a couple days ago, except that they needed to finish up the antibiotics. Mya has loved seeing him through the window, but I think we're all ready to start our lives together as a family of four! I will admit that getting more rest at night this past week has been kind of nice, but I'm ready to not be going back and forth between the hospital, pumping almost constantly when I'm at home (and not fully being able to get the hang of nursing Max at the hospital, especially since they need to bottle feed him for most of his meals), and being able to truly feel like his mommy.

I can't even express how grateful I am that Max is here, and that he is well. Being in the NICU, we've had the chance to see a lot of newborns at different stages of life, and talk to their parents about their experiences. There have been a couple of babies that were born at 28 or 29 weeks. I was at 29 weeks when I first went into labor with Max... After seeing what these babies and parents have gone through, I am more thankful now than ever that Heavenly Father blessed Max to stay inside me for an additional 9 weeks. We've been really impressed with the NICU too, and we've been really thankful for all of the caring nurses who have taken such good care of our little angel! We're so excited to bring him home tomorrow, and I will try to post updates as I can!

Birthday Time for Mya!

2010-06-08T10:14:00.001-07:00

My little girl is 3 years old! We had a little birthday party for her on Memorial Day (her birthday was on June 5, but we had her party early since her soon to be baby brother was/is due to arrive any day!), and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day or a more fun party. Thank you to all of our awesome family and friends who not only came to support Mya, but who helped out tremendously (since I was still supposed to be on bed rest and couldn't do much to help...)!

We got some bubbles and tattoos for all of the kids--they were a big hit!

Time for presents!

I think Mya was a little overwhelmed with all the people, treats, presents, attention, etc. A couple times we found her sitting off by herself, just hanging out and getting some peace and quiet : ).

Alex recreated this scene from the first Toy Story movie for Mya's cake (where Buzz and Woody are chasing the moving truck on RC)--as always, he did an incredible job! He even put sparklers in the back of the rocket : )

I'm so thankful for this little girl! I'm grateful for the chance we have each year to take a day to celebrate the day she was born, and what a wonderful day that was. Happy Birthday my sweet little angel!!!!!

The Coolest Surprise Ever

2010-05-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

QUICK UPDATE ON THE BABY AND I: Things are going quite well with us these days... and by that, I mainly mean that I'm still pregnant! Tomorrow marks my 34th week, and I'm getting more relieved day by day, and more excited, as I gain more confidence that he'll be more ready to enter the world when he decides to do so. I did go to the hospital again last week, but thankfully they let me come home (barely)! They upped my medication a bit, and ordered me to be on strict bed rest (rather than the 'modified' that I've been on). It's made a big difference in keeping the contractions under control!

Last week, my incredible sister, and her husband and little boy, drove up from Arizona to surprise me. They stayed with our Mom for about 5 days. While here, they made freezer meals, helped with some baby prep stuff, and took Mya out on some awesome outings. I still can't believe that she did that for me! It was the best.

Not only did my Mom and sister make freezer meals, but they catered them to my present needs. Most of the meals are already cooked, and are portioned individually--ready to just be popped into the microwave and enjoyed! Our kitchen is upstairs, which I can't really do; and my Dad and sister just barely bought us a chest freezer for downstairs. SO, with the fridge and microwave we already have down here, now I can actually take care of Mya and I when Alex isn't here!

Kara helped put together some shelves that I've been wanting to put together before the baby comes. One thing that's tough about being on bed rest is that I'M STILL PREGNANT.... meaning, I still have little cravings for things that I can't go get for myself, and I'm still nesting (in my head). My dear big sis helped get some of the nesting things ready for me! (And of course, Mya loved to help her Aunt Kara!)

I just loved this picture too much not to share it. And I know, I cheated a bit on the 'strict' part of the bed rest orders.

One day, Kara and Jared took the kiddos to Hogel Zoo. Obviously, it was a WONDERFUL day!

Aunt Kara, her adorable little boy Liam, and Mya

Again, too cute not to share--they didn't pose her or anything!

Here are the kids playing together at the park

Cheating again (by not laying down). We haven't been great about taking 'pregnancy pictures' at the different stages. So here's me at 33 weeks!

My nephew Liam turns 2 next week, and Mya turns 3 on June 5th. So while they were in town, they planned a little birthday party for the kids! This train cake turned out so completely awesome--and of course, the kids LOVED it!!!

Presents!

My beautiful, amazing sister and I

Fun family time : )

As usual, there's a million pictures--sorry about that! There was just too much fun over the past 5 days not to share. I can't thank my sister enough for taking the time, and making the effort to come up and be with me. I really needed that time with her. On top of that, it was just great of her and her husband, Jared, to help so much with the food, baby preparations, and taking Mya out to have such a great time (and give me some extra rest time). I LOVE YOU SO MUCH KARA!!!

I Won't Complain About Bed Rest Anymore, I Promise

2010-05-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

What a week. A lot has happened with our little unborn baby and myself these past several days. I am really grateful to say that at this point, the baby is still unborn and safe in my good ol' uterus. Almost two weeks ago I went to the hospital because of some really consistent contractions (see a couple posts below if you care about the details of that ordeal). Since then, I've been on modified bed rest and have been taking some medication, nifedipine, as needed to stop contractions. Well, this past Sunday afternoon, I started having quite a few contractions again. I took as much of the nifedipine as I was allowed to, but unfortunately, things just still didn't seem right. I went to the hospital again, and it's a really good thing that I did.

I was feeling an occasional contraction, but was having a hard time actually telling what was a contraction and what wasn't--they weren't painful, so I didn't notice a lot of the 'sensations' in my lower back and abdomen. When they got me hooked up to monitors in triage however, I was contracting every 3 minutes or so--yikes. I hadn't dilated much further, thank goodness. I was at 1.5 cm/50% effaced. One of the biggest concerns though was a test they did called the fetal fibro nectin (FFN). This test can help determine the likelihood of me delivering the baby within the next 14 days. The test came back positive. This doesn't mean that he's for sure coming within 2 weeks, but it does up the chances to about 1 in 6. Also, the baby was pretty low in my pelvis, with a really soft cervix.

I was at 31 weeks when I went in. They went ahead and admitted me to a labor and delivery room and started all sorts of fun stuff. First they gave me a steroid shot (betamethasone) to help my baby's lung development (it was a big shot in my hip--I have so much extra fluff around my hips, and yet, they went for one of the less 'fluffy' areas--not a terribly pleasant shot, just to warn anyone that gets one in the future!). They had given me more nifedipine, which did nothing to stop the labor. So the doctor on call gave me some demerol (again,

an unpleasant hip shot) to try to relax my uterus. She was trying to avoid having to put me on magnesium sulfate, but alas, it was not meant to be...

The next couple days were a bit of a blur. My doctor came in first thing Monday morning and had them start me on a pretty aggressive dose of the magnesium. Anyone who's been on that stuff knows that it's pretty yucky. The way they explained it to me is that it's kind of the big guns when it comes to stopping labor--it's basically a big muscle relaxant. The goal is to relax the uterus and stop the contracting; some of the side effects are that it can relax other smooth muscles too much, such as the heart and lungs, so they had to monitor me pretty closely. And the super fun side effects that I got to experience were dizzy spells, hot flashes/sweating, vomiting, aching, blurred vision, and stuff like that. They had me on an IV with lots of magnesium for nearly 48 hours--maybe that's why those couple days were such a blur : ) ?

I think the worst part of those few days actually had to be the catheter. I won't go into too many of those details, but in short, I ended up having issues with the first one, so they had to pull it out and put in a second one....it was one of the more painful things I've ever experienced; it actually caused me to spasm so bad that it made me vomit. Yuck. Are catheters really supposed to be that bad?

Also, my veins weren't helping anything. I have at least 6 awesome bruises on my hands and arms from them struggling to get my IV in a good vein. Oh well, those look much worse than they actually are! At one point they thought my water broke; thankfully I just peed my bed (thus the need for the 2nd catheter, placed properly this time). Did I just say: "thankfully I just peed my bed"? At another point, they thought I had fluid in my lungs from the magnesium. Again, thankfully, it's just a cold.

Have I complained enough yet??? Sorry. I'm a BIG baby. A big baby with a low tolerance for pain and discomfort. So here's what the end result of my 6 day stay at the hospital: They were able to stop the labor (at least for the time being), as long as I make sure and take nifedipine every 4 hours. I am at home now, and am so grateful to be here! My bed rest is fairly strict for this week. I have my next appointment on Thursday, and depending on how that goes, I may or may not have to stay on as strict of bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. To be completely honest, I have still been contracting a bit. Not tons, but enough to concern me, and enough to most likely necessitate that the strict bed rest continue. After the hellish time in the hospital though, I promise you won't hear me complaining anymore about being on bed rest at home!

I can't even begin to express how thankful I am right now. I have been overwhelmed with gratitude in so many ways. The medical technology that has more than likely saved my son's life, and the medical staff that were so incredible--my doctor is amazing, and every single nurse that helped me was wonderful. All of mine and Alex's family, our friends, and everyone in our ward have all been completely willing to help us in every way. We've needed help, and probably will for a little while....... and I have no idea what we'd do without our selfless, generous loved ones. Among the support they have all shown, I have felt the countless prayers on our behalf. THANK YOU--from the bottom of our hearts. Calling my husband incredible really doesn't even do him justice... he's really been a saint, and has been calm under pressure as he handles being both Mom and Dad to Mya, plus working, making arrangements for Mya, taking care of me, etc. I swear I love him more and more each day. And then there's Mya. If you were to spend time with her, you'd never know that things have been weird at home. She has been so very loving, understanding, and adaptable. She's an amazing little girl.

It's About Time, I Know

2010-04-26T21:47:00.001-07:00

Easter was over 3 weeks ago, and it's taken me this long to post pictures. Ah well, who doesn't enjoy an extended holiday?

Before I start the Easter stuff, I'll give a quick update in regards to Alex and I, and my not so uplifting previous post. Alex is doing well and still recovering from his tooth ordeal. He is healing very well, although the pain has persisted quite a bit as his jaw (and everything else involved) is still recouping. The baby and I are doing alright. At least I think we are... I've pretty much been on bed-rest this past week, and have had to take my 'contraction stopping' pills just about every day; I'll be seeing my doctor tomorrow, and I just hope that the labor hasn't progressed. Family and friends have been very helpful and supportive, and we really are deeply grateful for all of that love and support. I'll keep updates coming (for those of you who actually read my blog)!

So here's Mya at Albertson's with the Easter Bunny! She didn't hate him, but she was just slightly uncomfortable (if you can't tell by the look on her face) when I plopped her down next to him and walked off : ). Such a funny girl!

My beautiful girl in her Easter dress. Can you believe she's not even 3 years old?

Mya's Grandma Diane put together an adorable Easter Egg hunt. Here she is in a tree enjoying some of the spoils of the egg hunt!

Here's the picture I got when Alex said "let's laugh at Mommy!" I love my sweet family!!

My darling little buddy

HAPPY EASTER!

Quite the Couple

2010-04-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

These last few days have been pretty eventful at our house. I usually prefer things to be uneventful--and now I remember why! In the early part of the week, we found out that Alex needed to have oral surgery right away. They were able to get him in on Thursday. Poor guy--our dentist several years ago in Logan screwed up a root canal, and Alex has been paying for it ever since (by the way, THANKS Dr. Hammond). About a year ago he had the root canal re-done (FUN), but it didn't quite do the trick. So on Thursday, the good dentist here in SLC drilled into his jaw, clamped back his gums (ewww) and did his thing. I'm not sure what exactly that thing was, because anytime Alex explains it to me I automatically go to my 'happy place' in my mind--that stuff is too yucky for me. Anyway, it went well, and hopefully it will save the tooth. He's still on Lortab and a soft food diet, but doing pretty good otherwise!

As for me, we've had a bit of a scare. Yesterday afternoon my braxton-hicks contractions started to feel different.... lower, more painful, and about 3 minutes apart. I went to the hospital for a pre-term labor evaluation, and sure enough--at only 29 weeks pregnant, I'm already 1 cm dilated. The good news is that my body responded well to the terbutaline shots, which stopped the contractions. They sent me home with an Rx of the same stuff, to take as needed, and put me on bed-rest for the time being. I needed one early this morning when I got home from the hospital, but haven't needed once since. I've felt pretty good today. I'm scared. We've definitely felt the prayers offered on our behalf, and we're so thankful for modern medicine as well.

I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, and I'm really anxious to see what he has to say about everything. A few days ago I thought that having to be on bed-rest would just be awful; but at this point, I'll be truly grateful if that's the worst that happens. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

To sum it up, Alex and I are a little pathetic right now. He still can't talk very well, and I can't really walk much at all (or do anything else besides talk)--so I guess you could say that together, we make a fairly whole person! Sweet little Mya is so precious. I know she's a little bored with Mommy and Daddy being slugs, but she's so helpful and good at playing either on her own, or doing things that we can do with her (reading books, watching movies, etc). What a doll she is! I'll keep everyone posted with what we find out about our baby boy!

"Karissa Mommy, I'm Ready For My Big-Kid Bed Now!"

2010-04-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

These were the cute words that I woke up to yesterday (yes, sometimes Mya calls me Karissa, and on extra special occasions she calls me Karissa Mommy : ) !) We've been talking to her lately about her getting a new big-kid bed soon... And here it is!

She had fun putting it together with her Daddy today while I was at work (even if Daddy told me that she wasn't very helpful--how dare he say that? Who has ever heard of a 2 1/2 year old that's not actually helpful, especially with assembly projects!?) The whole time she was saying "this is SO cool!"--Alex tried to catch it on film, but didn't quite get it in time. This little video is still pretty cute though, if I do say so myself!

So Warm...So Beautiful...

2010-03-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

My work sent me down to St. George for a day to teach a finance class at an expo. So we decided to make the most of it by turning it into a little vacation! Alex and Mya and I drove down a couple days early, and got to stay at Alex's Grandma's vacant condo down there. Plus, our friends that live in Flagstaff were able to come and stay with us too. They have 2 little boys, and Mya had a blast with her best friends, Jeffrey and Jackson. It was a wonderful trip!! We had some sunny, beautiful days at nearby parks, and one particularly fun day at Zion's National Park.

The trip was great (and I'm officially more in love with our new minivan than I ever have been before)! We came back to Salt Lake to some 'spring' snow--blek! What can I say, I think I'll always be an Arizonian at heart...

DADDY'S GOURMET--Off To A Great Start!

2010-03-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

After months of research and preparation, my amazing husband launched his ice cream sales last week! For right now, he is only selling it at the Wing Coop (3971 Wasatch Blvd). There are some other potential locations in the works, so you'll have to stay tuned for updates! Speaking of updates--join the Daddy's Gourmet group on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter!

Alex hosted a launch party at the Wing Coop last week, and we had tons of support from family and friends--and some great Daddy's Gourmet shirts!

Four of Alex's biggest fans!

Alex's brother, Josh, with his two younger boys, Trey and Devin

Alex will be switching his flavors every two weeks. To start out with, he has been selling his Berries 'n Cream, and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle..... yum...

Happiness in a little plastic cup (no, seriously)

Sales are doing great so far. I'm so proud of my sweetheart, and so excited that now other people can enjoy his delicious talents!!! And I'm looking forward to his next flavors--he hasn't decided for sure, but maybe Cookies 'n Cream, Mint Chocolate, or Banana Split... AWESOME

He's A HE (And Is Already So Handsome)!

2010-03-02T19:05:00.001-08:00

I am now in my 23rd week of pregnancy, and last week we finally had our '20' week ultrasound. It was wonderful! First, it's a BOY! Sure, it's a little less economical (already being fully stocked with girl's clothes, that is), but we are totally thrilled. Mya is VERY excited too--and since we told her that she's getting a baby brother, she has stopped calling the baby 'Peaches'--so that's a good thing!

Our little guy was very wiggly, and kept hiding his head under my belly button (thus the shadows on his head).

The 3D ultrasounds is so amazing--I can't get over the cool technology that let us see our baby like this!

His cute little profile

And there it is ladies and gentlemen--his little boy part! (I actually wasn't too sure about this shot... but you'll just have to trust me that we saw a couple of much clearer shots of the area--and he's definitely a boy! He was just moving around too much to get a better picture proving it.)

More importantly than knowing the sex (although it is really fun to know, and to call the baby "he" rather than "it"), we learned that he is a very healthy baby so far, and is developing just as he should. All of his organs, limbs, features, etc. measured right on, and we couldn't be happier about it! The due date is still set for July 1st for now. Now we just need a good name... and a bed and some blue stuff....

4 Months? Really??

2010-02-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

Lots has happened since Halloween! Lets see, how about a brief re-cap of the past four months...In November of course, there was Thanksgiving. What a wonderful holiday--a day set aside to be with family, and show our gratitude for our many incredible blessings. We had 20+ people come over, including lots of Alex's family, and my mom. We took some family pictures, and had a great time enjoying the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner ever (everyone's cooking was yummy, but I particularly enjoyed my dear husband's INCREDIBLE turkey, plus his homemade pumpkin cheesecake.... mmmm....)

Something that we found out about in early November that we are particularly grateful for is

that we are expecting baby #2! Right now, I'm in my 19th week. So far, the pregnancy has been very 'textbook', which I am so thankful for. I've had the regular, expected symptoms and discomforts, but no problems. I'm starting to feel the little one move around quite a bit, and I'm loving it! We'll find out if Mya will have a baby brother or baby sister in a couple more weeks--so stay posted!

In December, we had a couple of big things happen. First, I quit my job as a Housing Counselor at CDC. I had been there for almost 2 years. It was a great job... but I almost lost my mind and had to get out while I still could! Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. Actually, I found another job that just suited what Alex and Mya and I need! A part-time job as an Educator with USU Extension. I started in January, and I'm really enjoying it. I teach classes in the community about housing and finances. It's great! I really miss some of my dear co-workers (pictured below) from CDC. Other than that, I am loving working less hours, and living with much less stress!

The second big thing in December was... you guessed it... Christmas!!!

My favorite holiday ever!

I love the festivity of the lights and music, and the camaraderie that can be felt just about anywhere. It was so much fun shopping for gifts for Mya this year--at age 2 1/2 she is SO excitable, and she loved everything she was given.

Most of all, the Christmas season is a time to reflect on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I can't think of many things better than that! To celebrate this special holiday, Alex and Mya and I packed up our little Subaru to the brim, and we drove down to Arizona! We stayed with my sister, Kara, and had a WONDERFUL time! It was warm outside, we had lots of great family time, yummy food (by that time, the pregnant lady was starting to have a pretty good appetite), and an overall amazing time!

January was cold. The end.

February has started out with a bang. WE BOUGHT A MINI VAN!!! Yes, I am 25 years old, a soon to be mother of 2, and I proudly drive a mini van. We have been talking about it for a little while, especially as our good ol' Nissan has, well, gotten older. And with the approaching addition to our family, it seemed like it was a good time. (Plus, I think that the drive to AZ in our Subaru pushed us over the edge a little--we could neither one bear the thought of another road trip in that dear, small vehicle!) Just a couple days ago, we came across a deal that was just too good to pass up. We found a 2006 Honda Odyssey in great condition, with low miles, that was amazingly within our price range. After lots of research, etc, etc, we bought it. We have been so thrilled with it!!!

Alex's job managing the Wing Coop has been great. He's really able to utilize many of his skills with HR/management, and he enjoys it. Plus, what's even more exciting is that he is on his way to selling his homemade gourmet ice-cream at the Wing Coop! It's been an interesting learning experience to find out what goes into legitimizing ice-cream sales--it's a lot! Alex has been working with the Utah FDA guy to get his approval, plus he's getting all of his licenses lined up that he'll need to vend. He has some AMAZING recipes--so if you like ice-cream, visit the Wing Coop in the coming weeks, and enjoy some of the best ice-cream you've ever had! Oh yeah, they have great wings too. I'm so proud of my talented husband!

Happy Halloween, Mateys!

2009-11-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, Mya dressed as an adorable little pirate. She's almost 2 1/2, and this is the first year she kind of understood the idea of 'Halloween' and 'trick-or-treat'. We had lots of fun Halloween festivities.... We went to our Ward's Trunk-or-Treat, went to TWO different pumpkin patches, and had fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, and visiting relatives.

This is a really cool pumpkin that we didn't carve. Our talented sister-in-law carved this, and we thought it was the perfect centerpiece for our family picture--thanks for sharing your talent with us Heather!

This was the first pumpkin patch that we visited. It was fun running around and looking at the pumpkins, but it was super cold, and none of us lasted outside for very long!

This was the pumpkin patch we went to on Halloween day. The weather was gorgeous, and the only problem was the bright sunshine washing out some of our photos--a minimal price to pay for nice warm weather to play in!

There was an awesome pirate ship at this pumpkin patch, and obviously, it was PERFECT for our little pirate. She had so much fun climbing up and down the ladder, saying "aaaarrrrggg" to anyone that would humor her, and steering the big ship!

I thought all this pirate booty was cool, but apparently Mya just wanted to play on the ship (and we accidentally kept her there about 3 hours past her normal nap time so she was a little grumpy...)

And here's Mya, all ready to go trick-or-treating on Halloween night! She had fun saying trick-or-treat at all the houses and getting to pick out candies. I was very proud of how politely she would say "trick-or-treat please", and follow the receipt of candy with a very sweet "thank you". At a couple of houses, she would get some candy, then say "excuse me" to the homeowner and try to sneak her way past him/her to go inside their house! I think she was a little cold. It wasn't as weird when it was a friend's house, but when she did it to a stranger, we were a little embarrassed (especially when I actually had to go into their house to pull her out!). Good thing they were really nice!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Now I Can Rent a Car (as an Adult)!

2009-09-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I turned 25--or as my parents both like to point out, I am now a quarter of a century old! I had the greatest birthday! Alex and I got to go on a wonderful date while my Mom babysat Mya for us. My Dad treated us to a delicious dinner at Cafe Trio, then we got to see one of our favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan.

This was our dessert at Trio. Can you guess what it is? Ice cream? Nope. Gelato? Nope. CHEESECAKE! It was the chef's special: peanut butter cheesecake with Venezuelan chocolate, and candied bananas on top. It was even more delicious than it looks!

And here we are with Mr. Gaffigan. You may have noticed that my hair is longer in this picture than in the first one (and Alex and I look a bit younger...). That's because this picture was taken 3 or 4 years ago when we first saw Jim Gaffigan perform. He doesn't do his 'meet and greets' anymore, so I thought I would at least put the picture up from when we did meet him! The show was even more hilarious than I had anticipated, and we had an awesome time!

This painting was given to me by my incredibly talented, super cool father-in-law. He painted it--and in case you couldn't tell, it's me! Pretty awesome, huh? If you want to see more of his artwork, visit http://laughing-guy-art.blogspot.com.

Alex's Grandma Nola is so thoughtful. She knew that I would have some birthday presents to open on my birthday, and Mya would want to open something too. So, she bought Mya a darling set of dress-up jewelry, with accompanying purse, high heels, and hair accessories. If you can't tell by the picture of Mya checking herself out in the mirror, she loved everything in the set!

My little prima donna. She did NOT like it when I made her take everything off for bedtime. She's only two years old... I somehow thought I would have more time before seeing my little girl in earings and high heels!

For my birthday dinner, my talented chef husband made my favorite Greek dinner. And for dessert, he made an incredible ice-cream cake. It was a chocolate cake, with homemade chocolate cake batter ice-cream (that's right, he put chocolate cake batter into the ice-cream. And yes, it was even more amazing than it sounds!), and a homemade chocolate ganache on top. YUM. At work, my co-workers bought me a wonderful cake from Schmidt's Bakery. And to top off the birthday festivities, my Dad, Step-Mom, and sisters sent me flowers! I don't think I've ever had flowers delivered to me at work before. It rocked. I am officially one year older and... uhh...a few pounds heavier (but all the yummy desserts were totally worth it)! Thank you to all my amazing family and friends for making my 25th birthday so memorable, and so wonderful!!!

On an unrelated note, I'm feeling like a big looser every time I log in on my blog and all my posts get "0 comments". If you read my blog, don't hold back on the comments! Then, maybe I'll blog more, if it looks like someone might be reading this thing. Or maybe not.... It'll just help me to not feel like a blog looser! I'm a blooser. So sad...

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2009-09-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

What more can I say.... nothing, really, because the video says it all!

The Adventures of Mya & Mommy

2009-08-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Mya and I took a quick trip down to Arizona to surprise my sister for her birthday. It was a long drive, and a short time in Arizona, but it was a super fun trip! Alex had to stay home to work, and to take care of our diabetic cat. We missed him, but it was fun to have some Mya/Mommy time!

Apparently, poor little Mya has some car sickness issues. The drive down was pretty messy, because she kept throwing up. Here she is after one of our clean-ups.

And here's Mya enjoying some Jack In the Box in Mesquite, NV. (Unfortunately, it did come back up later...)

My Mom was visiting my sister, Kara, in Arizona. For her birthday present, I had gotten her a gift card to Dolce to have a nice pedicure, and a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory, so that they could have a fun birthday morning together. What Kara didn't know is that I had driven down the night before, and I showed up at the salon to join them!

It turned out to be the perfect surprise!

We got these chocolate pedicures that were SO great. Here's a picture of my foot getting a chocolate souffle mask. It was very decadent, to say the least!

Me with my beautiful Mom and sister at Dolce Salon.

And here we are enjoying a wonderful lunch at the Cheesecake Factory

While I was having a girls day with my mom and sister, Mya got to have a wonderful day with her Grandma Merla, Grandpa Brian, Aunt Kaiti, and Uncle Richard.

They had a very busy morning swimming and playing at the park

And here is Mya in the awesome tent that her aunt Kaiti made for her to take a nap in

She zonked out for over 3 1/2 hours.... she was pretty worn out from the exciting day!

Mya also had a wonderful time playing with Kara's adorable little boy, Liam

On the return drive, I gave Mya some dramamine and we made lots of stops to get some fresh air. Here's Mya enjoying a sucker in Wikiup AZ

Mmmmm.....water.....

Mya has never really eaten a cheeseburger before (she usually prefers chicken nuggets or something). So when we went to In-N-Out Burger, I wasn't sure if she would like a burger or not. As you can see in the picture, she went to town on the cheeseburger! She almost ate the whole thing, and thankfully, she never got sick on the drive home. I'm so proud that Mya enjoys the finer things in life, like this delicious In-N-Out burger!

We had a fun time looking around at the Hoover Dam

The trip was exhausting, but SO much fun, and totally worth it. Mya and I had so much fun together, and it was WONDERFUL to get to spend some time with my amazing family. I'm thankful it all worked out the way it did!

Birthdays, Diabetes, and Exercise

2009-07-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

We have had an eventful couple of weeks! Last weekend, Alex turned 29, and we had a great time celebrating his birthday. I had fun planning some suprises for him--we went to a movie (Harry Potter, which was great by the way), then had a nice dinner at Market Street Grill, then spent the night at this great bed and breakfast called the Armstrong Mansion. Then after checking out the next morning, we decided to take advantage of having a babysitter (THANK YOU AGAIN MOM!), and we went to another movie at the dollar theater (we saw 17 Again, which was also good). Alex may be getting old, but he's as handsome and awesome as ever, and we had a super fun time!

One thing that wasn't so fun over Alex's birthday weekend was our trip to the vet. Our beloved cat, Moki, has been losing a lot of weight lately. We took him to a vet in May, who assured us that nothing was wrong with him and sent us on our way.... But Moki started losing more weight, and actually acting quite sick, so we took him to a more competent vet, only to find out that Moki is diabetic. Our once large and spunky cat of 15 lbs had lost over half of his body weight, and was very lethargic. We started giving him special food and insulin shots twice a day. I'm happy and relieved to report that he is already getting better, after only a few days of insulin. This morning he was more bright-eyed, and was even running around wanting to play! It's a bit of an adjustment taking care of his new ailment, but we're grateful that he'll at least be okay!

This was Moki a couple of days ago, all 7 pounds of him. And there I was, preparing to give him his insulin shot. The picture below shows him happy and plump a few years ago, at a whopping 15 pounds (with his little 'sister' Rudy of course)

So, my doctor has been telling me for a little while now that I need to exercise (yeah, right, like exercising ever did anything good for anybody). The only problem is, I hate exercising. I really don't even like moving for the most part. And I hate sweating. And I'm really awful at getting up in the morning just to start the day, let alone get up an hour earlier to work out--yuck. Anyway, Alex has decided to help motivate me to work out in the mornings. We've actually been doing it too--we're in our second week... I kind of feel like I want to die, but it's mostly going well. He's decided to do P90X, while I run next to him on my elliptical. I'm not sure how or why he is so motivated to do this stuff.... but it's a really good thing, and I'm grateful for it, so I guess I won't question him too much! I think he might start making us eat healthier too. I went to Arctic Circle today to get a nice, greasy lunch of fried chicken strips, french fries, and a milkshake--I wanted to have one last hoorah before I turn 'healthy'. But now my stomach hurts. So maybe eating healthier is a good idea... Wish us luck!

Mya Is Two Years Old!

2009-07-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

I put pictures from Mya's 2nd birthday on Facebook, and totally forgot to put some on my blog! It was a fun time. Mya's cousins and friends came over, and we all had fun eating pizza and cake and playing outside. I still can't believe that she's already two years old--it's been a wonderful two years, without any dull moments!!

Alex is usually the one who gets all the credit for stuff in the kitchen, so I am particularly proud to say that I made Mya's birthday cake! It was really fun, and I was really proud of how it turned out--and best of all, Mya loved it!

PRESENTS!!! Thank you to all of our friends and family who celebrated Mya's birthday with us!

A couple weeks ago, my dad and step-mom and sister came to visit from Yemen. Mya had so much fun with Grandpa Cozzens and Grandma Erl (which sounded more like Grandma Oatmeal). We all had a great time together!

Mya LOVED spending time with her Aunt Aiko!

While my dad was in town, we had a family/friend reunion at Lagoon. Little Miss Independent wanted to hold the umbrella herself : ). It was such a fun day, although the rain did eventually get the best of us.

Yay for carousels!

Mya being a goofball before church

Happy 4th of July!!!

My little 'All American Girl' with the American flag (thank you for the cute patriotic outfit Grandma Cozzens!)

Mya looks at my painted toenails sometimes and tries to color on her toes with crayons.... The other day she actually saw me painting them, and was just dying for me to paint hers too. I love having a girly little girl!

And Mya loves her 'pretty toes' (and is more than happy to show anyone that will look at them)!

And here is Mya enjoying an afternoon popsickle on this glorious Independance Day.

Another fun event that happened lately was mine and Alex's anniversary--6 YEARS! It makes me feel old to say that I've been married for six years... I guess I did get married just a tad young though, didn't I : ). I don't have any pictures from our big day, but we had lots of fun. Our actual anniversary was on a Wednesday, and Alex and Mya surprised me at work for an Arctic Circle lunch (romantic, I know) and some beautiful flowers! Then on Friday, we didn't have any work or school during the day, so we went on a day date. We saw The Proposal (which I thought was great--I would definitely recommend it), did some Costco shopping, and had a super yummy lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Happy Anniversary Sweetie!!! Thank you for being so amazing and reminding me all the time why I'm grateful I married you 6 years ago. I LOVE YOU!!!

I Sort Of Forgot That I Have A Blog...

2009-05-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, I can admit it--I actually forgot that I had a blog. I'm officially a worse blogger than my husband! Let's see, what's new with us...

We had a fun trip to Phoenix recently! I went down for a week for a training for work, then Alex and Mya flew down mid-week and we stayed a few extra days for a wonderful visit with family and friends. We got to go swimming a couple of times--it was Mya's first time being 'dunked'. She was a little freaked, but she did really well! I hope that she's not too traumatized anyway. Mya also had a great time playing with her cousin and some friends...she's our little social butterfly, that's for sure!

Mya's 2nd birthday is coming up (pictures of her Dora party will be posted shortly thereafter) ... I can't believe how fast time has flown by! She is most definitely a 2 year old....adorable, loving, smart, and challenging. I love being her mom!

I'm as busy as ever at work! Unfortunately, I'm super busy and super stressed all the time because I have so many foreclosure prevention clients. I love being able to help people, but man, it sure gets tiring sometimes. Please folks...whoever's reading this... please, please try to be smart with your money. Not that everyone in foreclosure has been not smart with their money or anything, but sometimes there's something that could have been done on the homeowner's part to keep themselves from getting into foreclosure. If there's one thing I could advise--save your money!!! Save some money each month...especially if you're a homeowner...even if it's just a little. And never, ever refinance your house and pay off credit cards with cash-out--it's just dumb. (I apologize if I've now offended anyone....) Alright, I'll get off my soap-box now (my cynical soap-box...).

I'm having knee surgery in a couple weeks! It's minor, but I still get nervous about getting anesthesia. And I'm a total wuss when it comes to pain, so I guess I'm not looking forward to that so much. But hopefully my knee won't crackle and hurt all the time after I get it done! Wish me luck!

A Fun Day at the Park!

2009-03-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the park the other day. It was a bit chilly, but it didn't stop Mya and her friend Cole from having a blast!

I don't know who had more fun on the teeter-totter... the kids or the dads : )

Mya hasn't been a huge fan of the swings--but she enjoyed it a little more this time around

Hey, What's That Girl's Name Again?

2009-02-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

Lately Alex and I have been forgetting our daughter's name a lot... so as you can see, we posted it across her chest to help our young but already failing memories. Well, okay, maybe we didn't actually forget her name--but it's sure a cute picture! And Alex is mad that I put this picture on my blog (hey man, you snooze, you lose). But he wanted me to make sure and put a disclaimer on here that he was the one who came up with the idea to stick letters on our daughter.

As my dear friend/co-worker (AKA my "work wife" as Alex would call her) pointed out to me today, that I am officially no better at blogging than my husband. It's true. I figured I would suck at it, and I do. Really though, I just don't know if I have a whole lot of information to share with the world... And I don't really think anyone is reading the blog anyway, so I just kind of feel like I'm talking to myself as I type (and then I just start to feel weird...)

I've tried to think about what has been entertaining to me lately, because maybe if I blogged about whatever that might be, then maybe it could be entertaining to somebody else too. So, of course, my thoughts defer to Miss Mya...She continues to be a hilarious little girl, so very full of personality. The other night we went to a Jazz game, and we had a blast. Mya babbled on the way there about "pizza pasta pizza pasta pizza pasta pizza pasta" for I don't know how long. And on the way back, it was "yay cabakee ('basketball') and "choo choo" (we rode the trax down to the game). It was such a fun night!

Sometimes she talks in her sleep about 'Grandma,' 'hair,' 'jammies,' and 'Swiper no swiping' (all you Dora fans out there know what I'm talking about). I just wonder what is going on in that little head sometimes...

I'm going to try to start speaking more Italian from now on. First I will need to learn some Italian, but once I do that, I am going to try to speak it. The reason is, Alex apparently has the chance to do an internship in Italy next summer... so there's a chance that we might be living in Torino for two months in 2010! Ciao!!

Everybody Poops

2009-02-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Until you have a potty-training toddler, I don't think you can really understand just how exciting poop really is... Mya had her first success on the potty tonight! I never imagined myself having such a fun celebration over poop. Granted, the first part of it did exit Mya's little body while she was standing in the bath tub, but that's not the point. The second part came out in the potty (nice work on the quick hussle Alex ; )! ), and wow, was that a party! I think that Mya was a little too sleepy to fully enjoy our enthusiasm, but she had fun getting to pull some toilet paper off the roll, and then getting to flush the toilet. Hooray for pooping!!!

Here We Go!

2009-01-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I have recently gotten complaints from multiple sources that my dear husband is just too inconsistent with his blogging... and while he is brilliant and entertaining, I challenged him that I could have a prettier, more consistently updated blog. I've never done this before, and really, I'm not very good at keeping up with things that require any maintenance (it's hard enough for me to keep up with clipping my fingernails...). But what the heck, I'm always up for a challenge.

My fun little family and I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. We are lucky to be living with my husband's Grandma right now, and we have been her very own basement dwellers for almost a year now. I work as a Housing Counselor at the Community Development Corp. of Utah. It's a great place to work, with lots of fun people. I mostly do foreclosure prevention counseling, and I also teach first time home buyer education classes and do pre-purchase counseling. It can be stressful sometimes ("will you please save my house and keep me and my kids from being homeless??" No pressure there), but it's rewarding and I really do love it most of the time. My sexy husband, Alex, is a stay at home dad and a student in the CHEF program. He is a great cook (and yes, I know, I am a VERY lucky wife!), and it's exciting for him to be getting more into the Culinary Arts program.

Alex and I have been married for about 5 1/2 years, and we have one beautiful little girl that we like to call Mya. She is almost 20 months old, and she is a spunky little angel. She has officially mastered the highest level of cuteness, and she is currently working on mastering new levels of naughtiness. Mommy accidentally taught her the "C" word recently (c-r-a-p). Oops. Now I just try not to laugh when she says it, and we try not to say it in front of her anymore! She's like a 35 pound sponge.

Nothing real exciting is going on in my life right now. I think I prefer things that way actually. I have been blessed with so much, and I am very grateful to be able to say that my life is wonderful, even if it is somewhat uneventful!