And Baby Makes Three

Harlow's Blessing

2012-01-31T08:37:00.000-08:00

On December 18th Harlow was belssed at church. It was a very special day because our family was back together again and both Brent and I had our parents there. I know those of you who were there had a huge laugh at the irreverence of my 2 year old...but what do you do? I really appreciated having my parents, sister (and family), grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin and friends there to support my little girl.

These are some of the important people who were there. My uncle was there but he missed the picture somehow.

My little Harlow baby.

Sisters...It was still hard for Brenna to hold Harlow at this point as you can see on Harlow's face.

Our family.

Mommy and baby.

Daddy and Brenna reading a story. As of this day they had only been back together for 2 days and she was attached to him.

Snuggles at the end of a long day. I love my girls!

Thanks to everyone who came. We loved having you there for Harlow's special day!

Lights

2012-01-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

We got this idea last year and the pictures turned out so great we wanted to take more this year.

I think this will be a yearly tradition!

Hunting for the Perfect Tree

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hunting for a Christmas Tree is one of my favorite traditions that we have now that Brenna is old enough to understand what is going on. My dad usually has the tree scouted out months early but he makes a really fun game for Brenna when it is time to go get the tree. He cuts it down and then sticks it in the snow in the woods near the house. Then we go find it. She loves it and it makes for a great Papa activity.

This is the gang heading out to look for the tree. Grandpa D was there with us too this year but since he was taking pictures too he wasn't in any of mine.

We weave around on different trails on their property and my dad points to "obvious NOs" so that Brenna feels like she is the one choosing the tree. Here is the winner for the year. She approved so we decided to take it home.

Papa "cutting" down the tree. I am bummed because I didn't get any of Brenna helping him with the saw.
Ready to take it home!

This is possibly even cuter than her on the sled...she helps tighten the screws on the stand. I love seeing her down there with the guys.

Daddy did the lights and Nana did the garland and the glass ornaments. Brenna got to do all of the kid friendly ones at the bottom. She loved getting to choose where to put them and getting to do it all by herself.

This ended up being one of my favorite trees from the past few years. I was surprised at how great the kids did around it. We didn't break a single ornament or ruin any of the decorations. The closest we came was when I found Harlow with a strand of the lights in her mouth. That is when I realized that she was reaching out to grab things that she wanted!

Ellensburg

2012-01-26T19:56:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite new traditions when I go visit my family is to drive to Ellensburg to see Vanessa and Ray. I was SUPER excited for this trip because not only was I taking the girls...my Mom, Dad, Veronica and Chase came too! We had a quiet and peaceful drive down on Friday night. We didn't really have anything big planned but we were excited to just have time to hang out and do whatever we wanted to. This turned out to be a very good thing because I GOT THE FLU! I was able to enjoy a few hours of fun with them Friday night and then I was so super sick for the rest of the 2 days we were there. I didn't leave the house and I had to listen to way more episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba than any sane adult ever wants to hear. Needless to say I don't have a single picture. Thanks Ness and Ray for letting us come invade your house for the weekend and for letting me spread my vomit germs all over your things. We will have to go for a re-do this summer!

Cousins

2012-01-21T00:18:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts about visiting family was that Brenna and Harlow got to spend time with their cousins. In Portland we got to see Ethan and Parker, and in Spokane we got to see Chasey and Patrick. It was so much fun watching how the 3 older kids would interact and play together. We decided that any combination of 2 kids was great...but add in the 3rd kid and someone was going to get hurt. Usually it was Chasey getting hurt by my sweet little Brenna...Sorry Chasey! It was fun to get them to be silly together. I love that they are so close in age because I know that they will always be good friends.

The boys really loved playing with baby Harlow. The last time we were home it was baby Chase...but he is 2 now!

I have to include a series of pictures of Patrick and Harlow. I didn't realize how funny these pictures were until I sat down to do this post.

Patrick: "Hey...I am holding a baby."

Patrick: "Check me out...I AM HOLDING A BABY!"

Patrick: "I love you baby Harlow"

Patrick: "Lets snuggle"

Patrick: "I am not sure...but I don't thinks she is cool with all this lovin'"

Patrick: "Nope...definitely not!"

This is the newest cousin Mustache.

One night Veronica and I wanted to go to Newport to see a movie so my Mom and Dad babysat for us. They were so great to take pictures of the kids. Here they are watching a movie and eating popcorn. I love that they caught Brenna in the act of feeding popcorn to the cat! Naughty Naughty!

I got to babysit all of the kids one day while Veronica and Nick were at work/school. I couldn't help myself.

Everybody say CHEESE!

Make a monkey face!

Make a scary face!

Kisses!

We also made cookies.

I can honestly say that the best days we had on vacation are the ones that we got to spend with these two. They are such sweet little boys and Brenna loved every second she had with them. We love you Chasey and Patrick!!!

Disney On Ice Round 2!

2012-01-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

After seeing Disney On Ice Toy Story 3 for my birthday this year we found out that it was going to be in Spokane while we were there visiting and we knew we had to go. I was even more excited when my parents and sister (and fam) decided to join us. When we went the first time we told Brenna about it and told her that is what we were doing to celebrate Mommy's birthday. She took that into her sweet innocent mind and when she told people about it this is how it came back out..."It is my Mommy's birthday and we are going to have a big Woody party!" or "My Mommy had a big Woody party for her birthday!" Haha bless her heart! Of course once we were in Washington and she found out we were going again she shared with all of my friends and family that her Mommy was having another big Woody party. I could only imagine what they were thinking so I always made sure to explain so as to avoid ideas getting into their heads.

Brenna LOVES Toy Story...especially Jessie. With as popular as the show is lately, I was surprised at how hard it is to find Jessie stuff. The first time we went the only thing I could find was a t-shirt with Jessie on it. We made the best of it with braided pig tails and jeans. The one thing that Brenna continually asked for was a Jessie hat. We looked everywhere and finally found one a week before the show. I had it shipped to my parents house and she was beyond excited to finally have a Jessie hat.

We had a great time. I am so impressed at the quality of the Disney on Ice shows. If you havent had a chance to go I strongly suggest you do.

Who are you?

2012-01-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I put a ticker on the bottom of this blog that would count how many times someone came to this page. I was shocked to see how fast the numbers would climb each day. Now I am noticing that even though I only have 12 people who will admit to reading my nonsense...this blog has anywhere from 50 to 100 hits PER DAY! So I have to ask...Who are you? Are there really that many different people interested in my family's day to day...or are you my 12 followers coming back multiple times each day? So do share! Leave me a comment and let me know how you found my blog...if I know you...and how many times you visit in a day!

Candlelighters Christmas Party

2012-01-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

When we were kids my older sister had cancer.

Since then we have been lucky enough to be a part of the Candlelighters organization. They offer services to families of children with cancer. It is great because you get to remain part of the organization even after you are done with treatment. over 15 years after my sister beat cancer we are still able to celebrate her life with

them and show families who are currently in the fight of their lives a success story. I like to think that my sister gives these families hope for their future.

One thing that they do every year is to throw a Christmas party for all of the families. I remember going to these as a teen and loving it so it was extra special to go now that we are grown and have kids of our own.

When you walk in you first go to the sign in area. They have name tags for you to wear as well as tickets for the kids to pick out a game or a movie, a water bottle, hand made blankets and lots of other cool stuff. They also hand you a bag with presents that have been personally selected for each child. Then you go find a table to sit at. While waiting for lunch to be served you can do art

projects, hang out with the character visitors, snack on candies, and visit with the other families.

The kids got clown noses and balloon animals from Bubbles the clown.

They got to talk to Cinderella. She was there to sing Christmas songs with the kids. While she was singing the MC handed Brenna a full size pillow pet for her to keep! She was in HEAVEN!

They also got to sit on Santa's lap. I think we can all agree that this isn't the REAL Santa (the brows give him away!) but I am sure he passed on all of the important information to the big guy.

Santa gave all of the kids a candy cane and a ticket to go pick out a stuffed animal. Brenna wasted no time choosing this purple Carebear. She instantly fell in love with it and still sleeps with it at night.

We had to leave before lunch was served because the kids needed naps before we went to see Toy Story 3 on ice (stay tuned for a blog post about that). We had a really great time and are always grateful for all that the Candlelighters do for our family. Each year in the summer my mom heads up a benefit golf tournament to raise money for this wonderful organization. It is a blessing to be able to help out families like ours and we pray that they will have the same outcome that Veronica had.

5 Months Old

2012-01-16T17:56:00.000-08:00

*Pictures will be added soon...as soon as I can get together with my fab photographer Ashley to have them done!*

Harlow is 5 months old today! For some reason having her life spent half here at home and half in WA makes me feel like time has gone by super fast. It feels like she was just born like 2 months ago, yet the last time we saw her Dr. he told us that we could start giving her rice cereal at any time. Here is a little bit about 5 month Harlow.

Harlow Stats:
At 15 pounds and 24 1/2 inches she is still in the 5oth percentile for her age. She seems to be slimming down a bit and has lost all of her rolls except one small one on each leg. She is still wearing size 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.

Harlow continues to get more beautiful every day. She has the most beautiful smile and laid back disposition.

She is still sleeping in our room which I love. I love being able to roll over and know that she is close by. I feel like I want to cherish every baby moment of hers since I missed a bit of Brenna's while I was working part time.

Harlow can laugh! The first time we heard this glorious sound was on New Year's Eve. My mom put a huge hat on her and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. She doesn't laugh often, but Brenna seems to be the most successful at getting it out of her.

Harlow is still a binkie baby, although the thumb is slowly taking over.

When we were still in WA, Harlow's favorite person (besides me of course) was my dad. She would actually lean over so he would take her out of my arms, and he is the only person who can get her to sleep up on his shoulder.

She is starting to "talk" a lot more. She is slowly becoming the loud baby at church (and other relatively quiet places). I have conversations with her every day and she will try and mimic the sounds and tones that I make.

We recently found out that she also has a soy allergy...which makes me wonder what we will give her when she is a year old and can be done nursing and done with formula. It is again a protein allergy but not as severe as her allergy to milk protein.

When she cries she says "mamamamama" It makes me smile which I know isn't the reaction she is going for but I can't help it!

She really wants food. She stares at us when we are eating like a dog looks at a bone. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts drooling someday.

We haven't done her 5 month pictures yet but I will add them soon. As usual, she is one of two of the greatest blessings in ou lives and we couldn't love her more!

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

I am going to start this blog by explaining a bit about the past 2 months and why I was gone for so long. I love my family and miss them every day. It is no secret to anyone that Brent and I never really wanted to move to Arizona 4 years ago...and while we really like the town we live in, our friends, and his job...it isn't home. I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to go home for a visit 3-4 and sometimes even 5-6 times every year which has made living away a little easier. Last Christmas when we found out I was

pregnant with Harlow I knew that I wouldn't be able to fly home until after she was born...big bummer but worth it for our little one. That being said, I also knew that we wouldn't have the money for the girls and I to fly home in October (as we have done every year since we moved here) and then back again for Christmas. I decided that I wanted to make up for lost time by flying to WA in time for my nephew's birthday on the 19th of November, and stay until after New Years. It was very hard being away from Brent (I know it was worse for him because he was by himself in AZ), but we LOVED the time that we got to spend with family. We also were able to fly before and after the big holiday seasons so our plane tickets were about 1/3 of the cost of what we normally pay. Now that I have explained why we went...let me begin to share with you all of the fantastic things that we got to do while we were there. Starting with Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving in my family has always been small. We have had grandparents over each year, but other than that it has always been just us. This year we had just over half of what we would like to have had...but we will take what we can get.

Every night when I count my blessings my family is always the first thing on my list. The most amazing thing about my life is being a Mommy to Brenna and Harlow. They are my reason for being here. Also, being a wife. I am so lucky to be married to Brent. He works so hard for our family and we are so proud of him. I know it isn't easy for him sometimes to go to work while we are playing, but he does. He does extra duties to help our financial situation, and has worked so hard on his Masters program in hopes of progressing at work. I am thankful for my parents and the example they are to us. It is very sad, but not many people can say that their parents are still married but Brent and I both can say that. My mom and dad are the backbone of our family and we all love them very much. My sisters are my best friends. I am thankful to have them to talk to, laugh with and grow up with. We are all incredibly different but thanks to our roots we will always be close. And then there are the boys that we have added along the way. I don't say that in a negative way...they are part of our family and we love them. Nick, Ray, Patrick and Chasey are all important pieces in my family puzzle and we are not complete without them. The other half of my family puzzle is made up of the DeRoest family. That half is just as important in making us feel whole.

The other thing that I am always thankful for is good health for myself and my loved ones. There are other things that I am thankful for such as my senses, the ability to walk, Brent's job, our home, car and possessions...but as long as I have the first 2 things on my list I know I will be ok.

I love Thanksgiving because it helps us to slow down and realize what all we have to be thankful for. I hope you all took the time to count your blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2012-01-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Our fall trip is over...sad day. We absolutely loved being able to spend so much time with our loved ones. We actually got to see people more than once this time! It was really hard to leave knowing that it would be another 6 months before we get to go back, but we had some very special people here waiting for us which helped a ton.

When we got home we were all tired from a long day of traveling...but who could resist a pile of Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa. We added to our already messy house by opening the presents and throwing wrapping paper and boxes everywhere. We are now faced with the task of putting away clothing that is too small (since both girls grew out of their clothes while we were gone), getting out bigger clothes, emptying 5...yes I said 5 gigantic suitcases and finding a place for over 200 pounds of STUFF!!! I ignored it yesterday but today we have to do something about it. I also have over 2,000 pictures to sort, file, edit and blog. Not to mention get my coupons organized, do laundry, hang out with friends and catch up on all of our Dr. apts. Wow...coming back from vacation is a lot of work!

It will be a few more days before I see myself finding time to blog. It is very much a priority, but I can't think when my house is messy.

Brobee

2011-12-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

After we left Portland we flew to Spokane to spend some time with my fam. My nephew Chase and my sister Veronica share a birthday on the 19th. Chase really likes Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba so Veronica decided to use him as the theme for the party. I really wanted to help out so my mom, Veronica and I made Brobee cake pops. They turned out super cute and the kids (and adults) loved them.

My mom also made a Brobee cake.

We also made one of these...I have no idea what it is called but it was really fun to play with!

Happy 2nd Birthday Chasey! We love you!!

JJ Jump

2011-12-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

We were super excited to find out that Brent's brother and his family would be in Portland around the same time that we were there. It had been 2 years since we had seen each other so we knew we had to make the most of the 24 hours that we would be in the same city together. We got together the night they flew in to let the adults catch up and the kids play together.

Here is Uncle Anthony and Auntie Chelsea with the girls.

Brenna and cousin Ethan playing together.

This is sweet little Parker...he obviously wasn't too happy to be having his picture taken with me. By the end of our time together he was more comfortable with me which was nice.

Auntie Chelsea and Baby H.

Ethan was so proud of himself for holding Harlow all by himself.

Uncle Anthony laying a big smooch on B...she was acting like she didn't want it but that little smirk on her face tells me otherwise!

The next day we all met at an indoor bouncy center called JJ Jump for a morning of bouncing. The kids had a BLAST as did the adults. My nephews can really wear me out! I wish I had that much energy.

Towards the end of our jumping time we decided to try and get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with the 4 kids...what we didn't realize was how difficult it would be to get 6 people looking at the camera at the same time.

In this one we have to blame everyone except Ethan...

...Grandpa......Grandpa...

...Grandpa...
...Grandma and Grandpa...

...everyone except Grandma and Ethan...

...The kids...
...Grandpa...I don't even know what to say about this one...

We ended the visit with a Costco hotdog and then it was home for naps...kids and adults!

4 Months Old

2011-12-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is beyond old, but I have been trying to find time to edit her 4 month pictures. I am going to post them here with the promise to myself that I will exchange the pictures once they are finished.

At 4 months, Harlow is a very happy baby. It has been great to share her with my family while we are on vacation, and I know Brent was excited to see her when he got here. Here is a little bit about 4 month Harlow.

Harlow Stats:
In my opinion, pictures of Harlow are deceiving. She has the "DeRoest cheeks" that Brenna had so she looks like a huge chunk. She is bigger than Brenna was at this age, but she is in the 50% for height and weight. She weighs 14 pounds and is 24 inches tall. She doesn't have any teeth...thank goodness. She is wearing size 3/6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.

We have finally figured out Harlow's allergy which makes us all happy. Not too surprising, she is hesitant at times to nurse. I have figured out that if I stay away from any product that has milk as an ingredient she will be fine. Allergies are so common now that I really have been able to find a substitute for just about everything....except at a much higher price.

Harlow can roll over!! She has only done it a few times, but she does know how. I was able to get a video of her new trick when she was in the bathtub, but it was accidentally deleted off of my mom's new camera.

She is still a great sleeper. I love being able to count on her sleeping until at least 6:30 every morning.

Harlow has such a great smile. It is like her entire face smiles and not just her mouth. She loves when people notice her and smile at her...she flashes the biggest grin that will melt any heart.

Harlow's favorite thing to do is to stand up. She obviously can't do it by herself but if someone will just hold her up so she can be on her feet she will love them forever.

Harlow met her feet this month and it was love at first sight!

We are so glad that this little one is a part of our family. My parents have loved having her around, and I love giving her the chance to get to know some of her extended family.

Seaside, OR

2011-12-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do when we are in Portland is go to the beach. My favorite cities are by far Seaside and Cannon Beach. There are shops in both places that I try to go to every time I am there. It was a little disappointing this trip because I had to pass up my favorite treat (chocolate covered sea foam) because of Harlow's allergy, but I made sure to eat a ton of salt water taffy to make up for it. We had fish and chips for dinner Sunday night and then went back to the beach front hotel room to play games and watch a movie.

Brenna liked playing on the luggage carts. She was "taking a nap" in this picture.

Grandma D bought Brenna a sock monkey game to bring with us. She LOVED it so much I bet we played it 20 times in one night.

The next day Grandpa D and I took Brenna to the beach. It was really cold and windy but I wanted her to see the ocean close up and be able to look around a bit.

I wrote her a little note in the sand.

After the beach we walked around Seaside a bit. There is an indoor "mall" that has a few shops and a carousel. I tried taking Brenna on it when she was a baby but she was totally not into it. She was really excited about it this time. Grandma D went with her, went to her choice of animal and got her strapped in tight. She was all smiles...

...UNTIL IT STARTED MOVING!!!

One thing I really wanted was for Brenna to be able to find some shells at the beach. Since we were at very popular and sometimes crowded beaches I knew that wasn't really possible unless I did a little cheating. While we were out shopping I went into a shell shop and bought a few things and then we stopped in Cannon Beach to go "hunt for shells" The first one she found was a starfish. She was beyond excited and we could have stopped right then and she would have been happy.

We walked a little further and she found a little white shell. (This is where the story gets interesting!)

While she was bending down picking up the little white shell Grandma D and I noticed that a big wave had just come in and the water was most certainly going to come up past where we were standing. I was a ways away from them taking pictures so I figured that Grandma D would grab Brenna and rush her up higher on the beach so she wouldn't get soaked in the freezing ocean water...instead this is what I saw...

HAHAHA She was saving herself and leaving Brenna to fend for herself! I almost died but then I remembered that I was the only other person there that could save my sweet Brenna from being washed away at sea...(now you all know that isn't exactly true but that is honestly what was going through my mind at that moment)

In reality she was running to save this...

...a sand dollar that she had tossed for Brenna to find. She didn't want it to get pulled back into the ocean. All that trouble and Brenna didn't even seem interested in it because it wasn't a starfish.

On the way back to Portland we went through Tillamook so we could stop at the creamery...another bummer for me but it was worth it for Brenna.

This is in the observation area. We watched the cheese be cut, wrapped and boxed.

The trip was completely perfect until the ride home when Harlow decided she didn't want to be in the car anymore...stack that with horrible Portland traffic and we had ourselves 2 horrible hours in the car with a screaming baby. All in all it was another great trip to the beach!

Where have I been!?!?

2011-11-28T15:14:00.000-08:00

The girls and I are on a vacation! We left a few weeks ago to visit family (since Harlow hadn't met many people yet). We spent the first week in Portland, OR visiting Brent's parents and extended family. It was my first time flying with 2 children by myself and I have to say I don't think it could have gone any better. Brenna loved having her own seat on the plane and Harlow slept most of the 2 flights that we were on. Our layover was just long enough to use the bathroom and find something to eat before getting on the plane again.

We were able to do a bunch of fun things in Portland so I am going to have to split up the week into a few different blog posts. This first one is from our trip to the Portland Zoo. Brenna loved that we went to the Tucson Zoo on Thursday and the Portland Zoo on Friday. We could go to a different zoo every day and not ever get bored! The main difference we saw between Tucson and Portland was how COLD it was in Portland! I had us in coats, long pants/shirts, and socks with close toed shoes and we were still cold.

Brenna loved seeing all of the animals and having a place to run around and get out her ever increasing energy. She tried her very first elephant ear and of course loved it.

I have to admit that many of the pictures from the zoo were a bit blurry...I am going to blame that on the fact that she didn't stop moving the entire time we were there. I couldn't use most of the pictures because all you see is a Brenna blur.

I was able to get a few cute shots that show her silly personality a bit.

We saw the important things before deciding to head for home because the rain had started.

By the time we got the kids in the car we were all drenched and the rain was really coming down. This was the first of many fun things we did in Portland. Stay tuned for more from the Great Northwest!

New Trick

2011-11-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

Harlow has a new trick...and since it will be awhile before I can sit down and do a real blog post I thought I would leave you with this picture!

Isn't that the cutest thing!

Another Adventure

2011-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Last week the girls and I set of for a long adventure. We have been in Portland visiting Grandma and Grandpa D for the past week. We have had such a fun time and it will be very hard to say good-bye to them tomorrow. From this week alone I have over 300 pictures to sort and organize...not to mention I am still behind on my October blogging! Yikes...having 2 babies to snuggles doesn't leave me much time for blogging! Tomorrow evening we will set off on the second part of our trip (which of course means many more pictures and things to blog about). Stay tuned for details from our time in Portland!

3 Months

2011-11-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Shame on me...I didn't get this posted earlier. Harlow is 3 months old! She is growing too fast. I keep telling her to slow down but she hasn't listened to me yet. Here is a bit about 3 month old Harlow.

Harlow Stats:

She is a big girl...opposite her sister. She weighs 13 pounds and is 22 inches long. She is wearing size 1-2 diapers and is wearing size 0-3 or 3-6 month clothing depending on the brand.

Harlow is a very happy baby. As long as I don't eat a drop of dairy she doesn't cry. If I lick a piece of cheese...she will scream for hours and hours and hours...

She smiles all of the time. I love having family around to help me snap pictures of her when I make faces at her.

She is very stiff. I have pictures of her standing all by herself on the couch (propped up against the back of course), holding onto the couch while standing and the funniest is when you hold her up in the air she looks like superman.

She is still a great sleeper, however since we are around more family she likes to stay up later than she did at home. I am slowly working on that.

We have started hearing the cutest little coos out of her. I have gotten little bits and pieces of her stories on my phone but I am always torn between going to get my phone (and possibly missing everything) or staying to listen and not getting anything recorded.

She is much more friendly than Brenna was. She will go to just about anyone and not make a fuss about it.

She likes to be held facing out so she can see everything.

I fell into the same routine I did with Brenna when it comes to sleeping. Harlow sleeps swaddled in her Miracle Blanket with white noise in complete darkness. These 3 things are the pieces to my sleep puzzle. I swear by them all and I am sure all of my kids will be the same way.

I had her 3 month pictures taken a few days before I left on my trip so I don't have the CD yet. If you want to see our little beauty visit
www.ashleyelicio.com
Enter the site
click on client login
and enter "girls" for the password.

You will see Harlow and her friend Kaylee. I will add the pictures to this post when I get my CD.

The long awaited pictures!

2011-11-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

It is very difficult to take pictures of a 2 month old. She is SOOO wiggly and can't really do anything but lay on the ground. Regardless...I am in love with these! I will move them soon to put them in her 2 month post, I just wanted you to be able to see them before I do!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T20:25:00.001-07:00

This year we actually didn't do quite as much for Halloween as we would have liked. We were able to go to a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago with our friends. We got to go on a hey ride, walk through a petting zoo, and pick out a pumpkin. Brent and I wanted to get a big pumpkin to carve... Brenna wanted a little tiny pumpkin that was her size. We ended up with 3 different sizes, 1 for Mommy and Daddy, 1 for Brenna, and 1 for Harlow.

When it came time to decide on a costume Brenna wasted no time in choosing a cat. I was walking through Children's Place with the girls one day and we found "the one". It was a fluffy pink cat and it was PERFECT! Brenna insisted on wearing it around the house for the next few days. It was no surprise that she was all for wearing it to the park for pictures. Ashley took a few of the girls in their costumes at the same time she was doing Harlow's 2 month pictures. They turned out SO GREAT! Harlow ended up falling asleep so we only got this 1 picture of her...but have no fear I took them to Sears for another freebie and got more of Harlow since Brenna refused to cooperate.

I keep getting freebies in my e-mail from Sears...they probably miss my business now that I am having Ashley take all of our pictures! I am not one to pass up free pictures so I took the girls in for more Halloween pictures. Brenna was being a pill so I ended up with the opposite of what Ashley got...more of Harlow and 1 of the two of them together.

Tonight we went with Ashley's family for a night out on the town. We started at the mall for some trick-or-treating and then went to the city park for games and LOTS more candy.

These pictures make me laugh. As we were walking from store to store in the mall I tried a few times to get a picture of Brenna with her buddy Spiderman...aka: Brody (he is one of her boyfriends). This is the best I could do. In their defense there were a ton of people dressed up in different costumes and people were handing them candy. I wouldn't want to look at a camera either!

It is fun now that Brenna is old enough to enjoy Halloween. We didn't have time to carve our pumpkin...although we have plans for that tomorrow. We also didn't watch any Halloween movies. The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is one of my favorites. We also didn't hand out any candy this year, although I don't think we would have had many visitors even if our light had been on. She did have a few pieces of candy and is now crashed in her sugar coma for the night! We hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!

2 Months

2011-10-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Harlow was officially 2 months old. I had to postpone this post until today because I wanted her pictures to be included...but I am still working on that so they will have to be added when I can figure out how to shrink them down.

*I have to take a moment to formally apologize to Brenna because she got the shaft in the picture department. We took her to Sears (which was fine) and my friend Ashley (who is a professional photographer) is going to be taking Harlow's pictures. *

Harlow Stats: At 2 months old I would guess that Harlow weighs 12 pounds and is 22 inches long. We will see for sure tomorrow at her dr. appointment. She grew quite fast the first 6 weeks but it seems that she has slowed down recently. She is wearing size 1 diapers (although size 2 isn't far off) and size 0-3 month clothing. Her eyes are blue and although her head is growing making her hair thinner, it is still dark brown.

Eating and Sleeping:

We have finally settled into a eating routine. Most of the time she will go 3ish hours before she needs to eat again. I have noticed that lately towards the evening she eats more often...because she is sleeping through the night!!! At least I consider it to be "through the night". I don't know if there is a magic time that babies have to sleep until before the parents can say "my baby is sleeping through the night", but I am saying it. At 7 weeks I noticed that she was eating for the last time at around 8, going to bed, and not waking up until 4:30 - 5. Now she is sleeping until 5:30 - 6:30. At that point she wakes up, eats for a few minutes and then goes back to sleep until around 10. From there her naps are hit and miss. I can give up the set nap schedule at this point, I am just thankful for a good nights sleep!

She is also able to fall asleep anywhere. I have laid her on the floor for a few minutes before only to come back and find her sleeping. It is one of my favorite Harlow things!

Likes and Dislikes:

She very much likes to be held. She is such a snuggly baby which is so nice because Brenna never was. I love finding quiet moments (usually when Brenna is sleeping) to snuggle her.

One of my favorite things that she has done since birth is she holds onto my shirt when I am feeding her. She also holds onto my hair when I burp her which I don't love so much but I will deal with it.

She has turned into a binky baby. When my mom was here it seemed that each of the adults had one that they thought she liked the best and in the end it was Brent's choice that won out. We only have 1 of them and luckily for us we haven't lost it yet.

Ever since she was first born I have noticed that she likes to lay on her changing table and look out the window. We don't open the blinds (because then we would see how dirty the window is) but I think she sees the light shining through the blinds. It must be calming for her.

She takes after her Mommy and doesn't like to be cold. Brenna and Brent are both always hot...which left me out numbered. Now it is even in our house and since Harlow is a baby her preference usually breaks the tie.

Harlow doesn't like to sleep in her car seat unless it is moving. She will sleep for 2 hours in the car on the drive to Tucson but as soon as she is out of the car and set down she wakes up. My friend Karalee has a swing that holds the car seat that I might borrow so hopefully we can trick her!

It really is true what people say about the second (and probably 3rd, 4th 5th...) child, she is really easy. Brenna was such a demanding baby and Harlow is totally opposite. She does love to be snuggled, but she doesn't demand it. I almost wish she would sometimes because it is some of my favorite parts of the day!

Family Pictures

2011-10-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken by my amazing friend Ashley Elicio. We went out to Brown’s Canyon on what we hoped would be a nice warm evening. We were a little surprised because it ended up being windy and cold. I am amazed at how Ashley was able to make these pictures seem as if it was a perfect day. The pictures really don’t need any commentary so I will just leave you to enjoy!

Just to keep you interested...I am saving my favorite picture for our Christmas card! I hope I have your address because you are not going to want to miss it!

Sisters

2011-10-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Brenna and Harlow are already best friends. I have been very impressed at how easily Brenna adjusted to having Harlow around. Every morning and night she gives her hugs and kisses. She worries about her when she cries. She even shares Baby with her! These aren't very good pictures but they show the bond between these two.

This was the first way Brenna was able to hold Harlow. She still struggles but we have figured out a way for her to hold her sister long enough for a kiss and a picture.

At night Brenna likes it when they lay in bed together and snuggle under Baby.

Brenna likes to sit and rock Harlow in this chair. If they get any bigger they wont fit, but for now it works.

One day I put Harlow on the floor so I could make Brenna some toast and I came back to find them like this.

I am really lucky that Brenna is such a great sister. I love that I can leave the room for a second without worrying about Harlow getting hurt or smothered. I know that Brenna is going to love it when Harlow is big enough to start playing with her. I love these two girls!

A Work of Art

2011-10-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite cartoon growing up was Winnie the Pooh. I have loved the characters ever since and even more so I love the Classic Pooh design. We decided that both of the girls would have Classic Pooh decorations in their rooms. The only problem is that it is really difficult to find things to make their rooms cute. We had the bedding and a few other little things but not enough to really complete the theme. I am really good at coming up with great ideas, but not being talented enough to carry them out. I am, however, also really good at knowing who is talented enough to create what I want. My idea was to buy huge pieces of canvas, have Brent draw a scene from one of the Winnie the Pooh stories, then have my mom color said pictures, and then have Brent make frames and stretch the canvas to make beautiful works of art that are one of a kind for each of the girls. Easy right?

My first task was to look through all of the Classic Pooh books that we have to find the pictures that we wanted to draw.

After we choose the pictures I went to Walmart to get my canvas.

At this point we were ready to draw our pictures. We decided to make an evening out of it by going to Brent's school for family movie night. We picked up a pizza, took a movie and had family night watching Charlotte's Web in his classroom. He went to the class next door to draw and this is what he came up with! I only took pictures of one of the canvases at this point but you get the idea.

I really couldn't have lucked out any more than I did with the next step to my project. My friend Jerie holds a monthly craft night at her house and the August craft project was making frames to stretch fabric on to create art! I was able to pay for the supplies (that she picked up), and watch her make my frames...all while hanging out with my friends! SCORE!! I left craft night with my pictures stretched over the frames and ready to be painted.

When I first asked my mom about painting the pictures she wasn't quite sure what medium to use to get the look that I wanted. The colors needed to be soft and light, but not soak into the fabric and not smear when touched. She finally decided to try using oil pastels which worked PERFECTLY! They are very similar to using crayons and gave exactly the look that I wanted.

My mom is such a great artist and did an amazing job with the coloring and shading.

After they were finished we took everything off of the walls in Brenna's room so that we could use this as the focal point and use everything else to accent this picture. I still find myself stopping in her room just to admire what we all did!

We haven't set up Harlow's nursery yet but her picture is also beautiful and will look amazing in her room.

These pictures mean so much to me because Brent, Mom and I all had a part in making them specifically for the girls. I love that they have an original piece of artwork in their rooms and I hope that they will eventually see how special they are.

Are You Serious...Really!?!?

2011-09-29T16:15:00.001-07:00

Today I had a phone interview with my new health insurance company. They had to get further information on all of the questions I had answered "yes" to. One of the questions was "In the past 12 months have you gained or lost more than 15 pounds". The man that was conducting the interview read the question to me and then asked me to explain. I told him that the cause of my weight gain was because I had been pregnant. He then asked me "And do you personally gain weight with all of your pregnancies?" Haha...he must not have kids...or a brain! I said "heck yes I do!"

Ballerinas

2011-09-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

One of the things that my mom worked on while she was here was making the cutest tutu skirts for the girls. At first she was only going to make one for Brenna but after we saw how cute it was we though why not make one for Harlow. Brenna was beyond excited to have a pink princess skirt and could hardly wait to get it on. Harlow was less than thrilled but we did manage to get a few pictures of her before she totally lost it.

Brenna is undecided when it comes to Halloween. Sometimes she wants to be a ballerina and sometimes she wants to be a ladybug. I would be happy with either, although I don't have to go buy a costume if she decides to be a ballerina. I guess we will just have to wait and see what kind of mood she is in next month. For now, she loves when I turn music on so she can dance and twirl in her skirt...she is such a girl!

Nana Comes to Visit

2011-09-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

My mom was able to come and stay for 2 weeks when Baby H was born. The timing worked out and she only had to take 3 days off of work so we figured why not. I had a long list of things that I wanted my mom to do while she was here and we wasted no time getting started. These projects deserve their own posts and I will save that for another day. It was great having 2 weeks where I didn't have to worry about dinner, laundry, dishes, etc, etc, etc. My mom is like a machine!

Thanks for coming to stay and for everything that you did! Thanks Dad for loaning Mom to us for so long. We loved having you and can't wait to see you again!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-09-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Brenna really enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa here. We made sure to do fun things for her so that she didn't feel left out. She wanted to take G & G to some of her favorite places in SV.

One place that is a must to take any visitor is the Cove. Brenna loves to swim and she was excited that Grandma wanted to get in the pool with her. She showed off all of the things she learned in swimming lessons this summer.

We also took G&G to playgroup at the park. It was still a bit warm when they were here but that beats playing in the cold.

One thing that Brenna had been talking about for a few months was making cookies when G&G came. They brought this cute froggy apron for B to wear and they made butterfly shaped sugar cookies.

It was fun for her to get to do big girl activities in the midst of all of the snuggles Harlow was getting.

Aunts and Uncles

2011-09-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

Harlow picked a great time to be born because we were able to have Auntie Lauren and Uncle Rodney AND Aunt JoAnna and Uncle Zack come for a visit...at the same time as Brent's Mom and Dad were here. That made for a lot of DeRoests under one roof!

Everyone took turns loving on my girls.

Brent and I don't get to see his siblings very often so it was fun for us to get to hang out with them. Brent was able to take everyone to Kartchner Caverns. I went there with Vanessa when she was visiting and it was fun for Brent to experience that with his family. We stayed up way too late talking about the present and what we see our futures looking like. Rodney, JoAnna and spouses are just about to enter the "big boy and girl" stage in their lives where they are finishing with college and on to real jobs, expanding their families, and making real adult choices for their families. It will be exciting to see what the future holds for both of these families!

Thanks so much to all of you for taking time to come see us and meet our little Harlow. It was great to see you!

1 Month

2011-09-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Harlow is 1 month old! I know there isn't too much that I can say about my little girl after having only known her for 1 month but here I go.

Harlow Stats:

She weighs 9.5 pounds and is 21 inches long. She is quite the eater so it doesn't surprise me that she has gained so much weight. She is wearing size 1 diapers and Newborn clothing. If she was living in her fantasy world she would be able to eat all day long and never be put down. She does like to sleep as long as someone is holding her...making it really hard for that person to sleep.

Harlow's likes:

This little girl likes to be held...by her mommy. I love all of the snuggles that I get. It is so nice knowing that she recognizes my touch, voice and smell. She knows that we have a 9 month history that no one else has with her.

She really likes to be held, the tighter the better. Her favorite position is to be up on a shoulder with both of her arms up above her head.

Harlow is a tummy sleeper. I only let her sleep this way if I am sitting next to her though because it makes me nervous.

She really loves Brenna. There have been a few times that Brenna has wanted to hold her sister when she is fussy. As soon as I lay her down in Brenna's arms she stops fussing and watches B. I know they are going to be best friends!

One of the things Brenna was most excited for was being able to help me feed Harlow. I pumped some so she could do just that. She doesn't have the patience to hold the bottle until it is empty, but she did love it for a while.

Harlow's Dislikes:

She doesn't like being in her car seat. She has learned that if she falls asleep she doesn't have to experience the torture so she tends to take that rout fairly often. This is a blessing for us all!

She isn't really a binkie lover like I thought she was going to be. We have tried a few different kinds and she spits them all out. I can't really complain though because it will be one less thing to break her of in the future.

Extra Facts:

At about 2 weeks old I started noticing that Harlow was extremely gassy. She would get really stiff and her little tummy would turn rock hard. She would scream and scream for the longest time until she got it all to come out. As a mom I struggle with finding a balance between running into the dr office for every little thing, and thinking that it is normal for babies to go through this. After about 2 weeks of this I got a random call from the hospital conducting a survey. I asked a few questions and was referred to a woman who told me to try going off of dairy. She said that Harlow may have an intolerance to cows milk and the only real way to know would be for me to go off of it for 2 weeks. I did and it took less than 24 hours to see a difference. Now she doesn't struggle when she has gas...she toots like a normal baby. I am not going to lie...it sucks! I didn't realize how much dairy I eat. Combine this with Weight Watchers and I feel like all I can eat is produce and meat, but it is worth it for her to feel better.

We have all loved having this little girl in our family. We are not totally adjusted to the change yet, but we are getting there. Our house isn't nearly as clean as it used to be, and we are never on time for anything, but we wouldn't change it for the world.

Grandma and Grandpa DeRoest

2011-09-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

A few days after Harlow was born Brent's parents flew into town for a visit. Brenna was a little shy at first since she mainly sees them on the computer when we Skype, but before long she was dragging them around the house showing them things and teaching them her favorite games.

They were able to spend the week getting to know both of the girls better and enjoying the Arizona sunshine.

Brennaism #6

2011-09-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

This girl has been coming up with some good ones lately!

Yesterday Brenna asked for my help with something and I told her I would as soon as I was done feeding Harlow. She was confused because it didn't look like I was feeding her...there was no bottle. Brenna climbed up on the couch to get a better look. With a scared look on her face she said "Oh No Mommy! Harlow is chewing on your bosom!"

Brennaism #5

2011-09-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we all went swimming at The Cove. I had asked my mom to help Brenna get dressed so I could get myself changed. Mom was bent over Brenna trying to hide her little body when Brenna got a worried look on her face and said "Oh No Nana! Those things are jiggling!" Haha poor Nana! She can't help it if she nursed 3 kids and her body isn't the same as it used to be.

Harlow Grace

2011-08-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

To help my memory from failing me I am going to document all of the fun details that lead up to our little girl being born. Just a warning for anyone who isn't interested in labor stories...you may want to come back for my next post.

August 16th...

Brent and I had gone to bed at the very irresponsible hour of midnight thinking that we could make it through our Tuesday with less sleep than normal. I had been working on my coupon list for the next day and Brent was working on homework. After 1 short hour of sleep I woke up to use the bathroom...only to discover that my water broke. I didn't experience this with Brenna so I really didn't know what to expect. I tried waiting for it to stop...it didn't. I tried looking it up in my "What To Expect" book...it didn't give very good details. I tried to remember what my Dr. had said to do...we didn't ever talk about it. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to wait for contractions to start and get to every 5 minutes before I called the Dr. Finally, Brent convinced me to call my Dr. for advice. I was told to go to the hospital and if the contractions didn't start on their own that they would be induced at 5.

After dropping Brenna off with a friend we got to the hospital, got admitted and settled into our room. I got my IV, epidural and all of the other fun cords set up before the contractions even started. At around 5 they started me on pitocin to try and speed things up. I literally went from being 3-4 cm to being 10 and ready to go in less than 30 minutes. It was the most amazing thing to not have to feel any contractions, rather to take a little nap and wake up ready to go. Harlow was born at 9:22 in the morning. She weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20 inches long. My first thought was how big she was compared to Brenna, although now that she isn't puffy she doesn't seem so big to me. It is amazing to me how much Harlow looks like Brenna (except the brown hair...where on earth did that come from!). It reminds me of when Brenna was first born and at the same time helps me imagine what Harlow will look like when she is Brenna's age. I have a feeling that her hair will lighten up but I guess only time will tell.

I love that both of my babies were born with red lips. They are such little beauties!

This pictures looks exactly like Brenna to me. I actually didn't realize that she had brown hair for a few hours because she had a hat on. I just assumed that any baby of ours would have blond hair...I was WRONG!

I very impatiently waited for it to be time for Brenna to come visit. I was so excited to hold her and see her reaction to Harlow. We sent a picture to Karalee (who was watching Brenna) and when Brenna saw her sister for the first time said "Oh Baby Harlow...Can I hold her?" Karalee let her carry the phone around so she could look at the picture.

When Brenna got to our room she couldn't wait to hold Harlow. She crawled right up on the couch like she knew exactly what to do. She was so gentle with her and gave her the softest kisses.

Karalee had taken the kids to the store for some pink cake mix because Brenna had her heart set on bringing pink cup cakes to Harlow's birthday party. She and Daddy sang Happy Birthday to Harlow before enjoying a treat.

Harlow also came with gifts for Brenna. She brought her this little baby doll and some accessories. Now when I am changing Harlow Brenna changes her baby. It is fun for her to be able to do the same things as me.

Mommy with her 2 beautiful babies.

Brenna is the perfect big sister. She is constantly telling Harlow how much she loves her, giving kisses and wanting to hold her. It was really hard on me not being able to be home with Brenna that night. It was the first time I have spent the night away from her. It was comforting to know that she was at home in her own bed and that Brent was with her.

Harlow and I were awake for most of the night at the hospital. She had slept all day and wanted to be up screaming all night. I was so tired from the night before but I am not comfortable sending my babies to the nursery so I sat up with her until 5 when she finally decided to go to sleep.

Wednesday morning we were able to go home at around 10. While we were waiting to be discharged Brenna sat up in my bed to watch cartoons.

Ready to go home!

I was so glad to be able to have my family all home together. Harlow fell into a bit of a routine, Brenna loved having her Mommy and Sister back, and thanks to Brent I was able to take a nap.

I know how this picture looks, but in reality Brenna was trying to comfort her sister. She is so sweet to her!

My 3 favorite people!

Night #2 was much better for Harlow...she only woke up once! Brent and I were too tired to wake up constantly to check on her which helped us get more sleep.

Overall I was very pleased with labor and delivery this time around. There are always situations that get to you but in the grand scheme of things it was very easy. I have loved getting visitors who want to come meet our new little sweetie, and I have also loved the quiet times at home with just the 4 of us. I think that Brent and I are still in a bit of a whirl wind trying to figure out a balance in our new lives, but it is nothing we can't handle.

Thoughts From a Second Time Mommy

2011-08-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

I am almost 37 weeks pregnant. The time is going by quickly...almost too quickly. I am now down to weekly appointments, as well as the realization that I have 25 days left until my due date...and Brenna was born 21 days early. We have things ready at home so now all we do is wait. As my due date creeps closer I have had a ton of thoughts run through my head and for some reason I feel the need to let it all out here.

I am constantly having people ask me if I am "done being pregnant", or other pregnant friends begging their ob to induce labor so they can hold their baby. I have my own selfish reasons for not wanting to be pregnant anymore. I hate what being pregnant does to your body. I worked really hard after Brenna was born to get back to a good weight...and now it is ruined. I hate limping around because my back hurts. I hate that my feet are so swollen that my shoes leave marks on them and I literally have to pry my shoes off at the end of the day. I hate that I can't play certain games with Brenna. And lastly, It never feels good to have someone comment on how big you are...pregnant or not.

All this being said, I hope that I stay pregnant until my due date for other reasons. I want to cherish every last moment that I have with Brenna. Things are so easy right now when it is just the two of us. We can pick up and go anywhere we want in a seconds notice. I can focus all of my energy on her and give her all of my attention during the day. Now don't get me wrong, I do realize that I will feel the same way about Harlow that I do about Brenna. I know that it wont take long before life feels "normal" with her in it. I know that I Brenna will love being a big sister and I will love being a mommy of 2. I am just not in any big hurry right now.

I have friends that have gone through the same thing while being pregnant with #2 so don't shake your head at me and think I am the only horrible mom out there that is a bit nervous about sharing their love between 2 children. I am sure there is a part of every mother that feels this way at some point. I just feel guilty at times that I don't seem as excited about Harlow as I was about Brenna. I remember a quote from one of my favorite "I only think to watch this when I am pregnant" shows Juno. "A woman becomes a mom the moment she becomes pregnant...A man becomes a dad the moment he holds his baby." I guess right now I am like a man. So as much as I hate being pregnant, for the time being I am happy this way.

Brennaism #4

2011-08-02T01:00:00.001-07:00

The following took place at church on Sunday...

Brenna and I were in the bathroom. I had just set her up on the toilet to do her thing when she started wiggling around. She looked at me and said "Mommy, this is actually very cozy!" Haha I would never use cozy to describe a toilet but I guess she is entitled to her own opinion!

My Girls

2011-07-27T15:04:00.001-07:00

Brenna:

There is nothing like being able to watch your child grow up. This summer has been really great for both Brent and I because we have had so much time to spend with Brenna. Many times each day we talk about how funny she is, or how stinking cute she is. Here is a little bit about Brenna at (almost) 2 1/2.

She is turning into a girly girl. She has decided all on her own that pink is her favorite color. She loves things for the simple fact that they are pink. Piglet for example is loved because he is pink...she also happens to love Winnie the Pooh, but she frequently talks about how Piglet is her favorite color. 9 times out of 10 she will choose pink ice cream, sucker, sticker, shoes, ear rings, toe nail polish, etc.

She LOVES little stuffed animals and rubber animals. Her bed looks like Noah's Arc because she can't leave anyone out. She has to have her little lamb and her big little lamb...both elephants...all of her Pooh guys...both rubber duckies...all of her doggies...and the list goes on...and on...and on! She is always carrying at least 1 of her guys around with her and it is sometimes a fight as to how many is a good number to be able to take in the car.

She loves to sing and still frequently makes up songs with made up words. She also knows a lot of songs from nursery and the CDs that we play for her.

She has the funniest sayings.
- Out of no where she will stick her pointer finger up and say "I have an idea!" When we ask her what it is she often will say "I don't know." which makes us laugh.
- Another funny thing she says is "Oh My!" We were having dinner with some friends and the Dad in that family told Brenna that he liked hotdogs. She looked at him and in such a sweet voice said "oh my!" That was when he decided he really liked Brenna.
-When Brent or I am gone from her she says that she is blue.
- If she can't find a toy she will tell us "I can't find my darn ________."

It makes me giggle just thinking of all of these things!

She has 3 boyfriends. Nathan, Ethan, and Brody. She is the only girl in this group of friends that we have and she does a really great job adjusting. She will either separate herself from them completely, or join in the fun in a "girl" sort of way. One night all 4 families got together and she had been playing alone for most of the time. Once the boys started playing guns she grabbed a toy drill and started shooting with it. It was the cutest thing and she never knew that she wouldn't really get too far with a power tool!

Harlow:

I was able to have another visit with Harlow last week. The Dr. wanted to check on the placenta to see if it had moved any (which it has and is not a worry anymore!). The ultrasound tech at my Dr. office is amazing. She was able to tell in seconds that the placenta was out of the way and then she told me "well now we get to play!" She was really great about hovering over Harlow's face so I could just watch her. I was able to learn a little bit about our little girl from the time I spent watching her.

She is already a thumb sucker. I have 1 ultrasound picture of her at 20 weeks when she was sucking her thumb but I never expected it to last. The entire time I was watching her last week she had 1 or both hands up in her mouth or near her mouth. There was one point where I could actually see her little mouth move and see her sucking her thumb. My nephew Chase was born with a little sore on his hands from sucking on them...I wonder if Harlow will be the same.

This is her profile. The white blobs below her chin are her hands. She is getting ready to start sucking on them!

She doesn't have much hair. I don't know how fast it grows at this stage so she may not have as much as Brenna did when she was born. The tech said that there was a little bit of peach fuzz but not much. Brenna was born with a full head of hair so we will see if that is going to be a trend with our babies.

This picture is super cute if you can see what it is actually of. She is turned towards the camera. You can see her facial features pretty clear. You can also see that she is holding her hands just below her chin. Initially it looks like a big blob but if you look you can see her little fingers .

She is already head down which is a good thing. I suspect that she has been this way for awhile but at least I know for sure now.

She has really big lips. That is something that Brenna and Harlow get from me, and I get it from my Grandma Toner. I love being able to see myself in her before she is even born. Not that I am looking forward to carrying her to 40 weeks but if she is born on September 1 she will share a birthday with my Grandma Toner.

Other than the blood test there are no signs of Downs! All of the doctors I have seen have told me that they still can't guarantee anything but the pictures look good. To be honest I haven't really thought about it much in the last few weeks. I have done a bit of checking on things like insurance just in case but my heart feels good about her being healthy. I was talking to my dad last week after the ultrasound and he reminded me that it doesn't matter either way. She will be loved the same regardless. It makes me feel good to know that people are supportive of the decision we made. Brent and I wouldn't have it any other way but I know that some people only want a baby if it is a healthy one.

I am so excited to be able to hold both of my girls and for us to be able to be a family. The Dr has said that he will let me go into labor any time between August 2 and August 31. If she isn't out by her due date he said he is going to smoke her out. Haha. If it comes to that I might make him wait 1 more day so she can share a birthday with her Great Grandma. Brent and I feel like the luckiest parents to be able to have these two little angels in our family. Life can't get much better than this!

Roadkill Rescue

2011-07-21T20:30:00.001-07:00

You probably don't remember the initial post that I did about re purposing an old console radio so I will start from the beginning. I found this amazing radio that I had a wonderful idea for, the only problem was that I didn't have a way to get it home from the thrift store. I know I just admitted that it was from the thrift store and not true "road kill", but I have to take it from where I can find it. We ended up leaving for our Christmas vacation and when we got home I was delighted to find this fabulous radio sitting in front of my house! My friend Karalee knew how much I loved it and she went back to snag it for me while I was gone!

To begin the project we tore out the actual radio. I know that we ruined a working antique, but really who would want something that looks like this?

After this step it sat in our garage until about a week ago because Brent was too busy with work, track and school to think about this project. I wasn't able to help out much this time around because sanding and staining is not on the list of approved activities for a pregnant lady. Last week he did all of the sanding (with his new sander). He also added a shelf, replaced the wood on the bottom, and fixed the backing.

From here he did the stain. We used the same stain that we used when we did Brenna's furniture because we love the color and it is a stain/poly all in one...can you tell what it is going to be yet?

For the finishing touches we added a pad, some baskets and new hardware to the fake drawers at the bottom.

And there you have it! A "new" changing table for Harlow! I still need to find a few larger baskets for the bottom shelf and sew a cover for the pad but I am so in love with it and excited to use it when our little girl is born. I am so impressed and proud of Brent for doing such a great job. I know he may have thought I was crazy when he saw the radio and I asked him to turn it into a changing table but he went along with it and I think it will look perfect in Harlow's nursery. I love that both of the girls have a piece of furniture that we refinished for them. We have just over a month left to get Brenna moved into her new room and set up all of Harlow's things before she joins our family. I can't wait to post pictures of this in her nursery!

My Take On Couponing

2011-07-14T13:04:00.001-07:00

For the past month or two I have been learning a little bit about how to save money when you shop with coupons. I am lucky to have friends who can help my coupon supply, teach me their tricks, answer questions, and provide moral support along the way. Yesterday I got together with 3 of my friends to work on this weeks shopping trip. We sat and talked (helped our kids with ALL of their needs) while we cut out coupons. From there I spent the rest of the day planning out my shopping trip.

I went to the grocery store this morning and after it was all said and done I came home with this...

Some of the best deals included:

12 bottles of Wisk laundry detergent $1.00 each
10 bottles of Palmolive dish soap Free
16 bottles of vitamin water Free + $5.00 to spend on other products
20 3 musketeer bars Free
10 packages of Carefree liners $0.09 each
2 bottles of 7th Generation dish soap Free
2 Gerber ravioli meals $0.17 each
10 Boxes of Life cereal $0.70 each

And a bunch of other stuff! I was excited because not only did my total include all of the above mentioned products, some of which I won't have to purchase again for at least a year...but also included all of the food that we will need for the next week. Brent and I decided to budget $100.00 each week for groceries and to put any left over money in our savings account.

This weeks shopping trip:

Total before coupons $352.52
Price I paid for everything $ 62.91
82% savings
Not to mention, I have a raincheck on 10 tubes of Colgate toothpaste that will be free...Not bad for my first attempt at couponing!

Bowling

2011-07-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided that it was time to take Brenna bowling. I am constantly searching for fun things to do with her that are indoors so we can escape the heat. Our play group went bowling the week that we were in Tucson on our staycation so we missed it...but I knew it was "2 year old" appropriate. I was very impressed at the way this bowling alley was set up. There were avid bowlers there practicing for league or simply to improve their game, as well as families with small children. We were able to bowl for $1.00 per game and since Brenna's feet are too small for the shoes we didn't have to pay for them so it made for a very inexpensive activity.

Since it was 3 children bowling we had the bumpers set up also to help their scores. Another thing I fell in love with (everyone in the world probably already knows these exist but I didn't until this day) was the ball stands. They are metal stands that allow parents to set the ball up for the children and the kids just push it down the "slide" which gives the ball enough momentum to actually get to the pins without getting stuck in the middle of the lane. Genius!
We went with our "extended family" the Merrills, as well as our new friends Jessica, Ethan, and Mason.

This is how the kids took their turns. Each series of pictures shows the kids personalities very well.

Nathan:

He is the smallest of the group so his mom had to put the ball on the ball stand for him.

He is VERY good at all sports. Somehow he was just born with great form when it comes to shooting hoops, swinging a bat or golf club and throwing...so it was no surprise that this little guy knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

He is also a climber so we just had to laugh when this is how he chose to watch his ball roll towards the pins. Classic Nathan!

Ethan:

Ethan is the biggest of the group so he was able to do this all by himself...and even help out the other 2 kids at times which was nice.

He stood so patiently and watched his ball hit the pins (and often times it hit all of them down).

I love this because you can almost hear him cheering his ball on as he is watching it.

Towards the end of our game Ethan decided that he really wanted Brenna to watch him bowl. He would put his ball up on the stand and then shout for her to watch him bowl. They have only played together a few times and it is nice to see another boy, besides Nathan, be so tender to her.

Brenna:

When she is surrounded by boys it is easy to see that this little lady is all girl! She liked to help me carry the ball over to the stand and put it on top. Then she gave it a hug...

...before gently nudging it down the slide and towards the pins.

What would you expect a little girl to do while she watched her ball? Jump up and down and cheer for it of course!

We will be going back many times in the future to bowl. It makes a great play date as well as family activity for the 3 of us.

Swimming Lessons

2011-07-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

We have been trying for the past 18 months to get Brenna into swimming lessons...the only problem was committing to 8 weeks worth of Saturdays. For one reason or another we haven't ever been able to get it done until this summer. We joined forces with our "extended familly"...the Merrills and signed Brenna up for the same class as her buddy Nathan.

The kids are both familiar with The Cove since we go to splash time there, and I think this helped their comfort level on day 1. Since they are under 3 parents were in the water with them so Brent and I took turns swimming with Brenna while the other took pictures. The class focused on getting the children comfortable in the water, going under the water and putting their face in the water...not turning them into Olympic athletes just yet.

Brenna and Nathan waiting for their first class to begin.

On day 1 we worked with the kids on glides. The first time we tried this with Brenna she tried being upright as if she were sitting in a chair instead of floating on her tummy. With a little bit of speed we were able to get her stretched out.

Notice that her hair was wet. She had just taken her first jump (actually she was pulled off by Brent) into the water.

Brent trying to teach Brenna to blow bubbles in the water.

Seeing what it feels like to lay on her back in the water.

Each day we started off by practicing the skills we had previously worked on. It was great to see Brenna get more comfortable each day.

The instructor had toys for the kids to throw out in front of them. Then they had to glide out and get it. Brenna chose the whale on the first day and HAD to have the same toy each day. She
would even grab it out of the box before the class even started to make sure that the other kids didn't get it.

One day Brenna had a meltdown because she wanted Mommy to swim with her. We ended up getting out of the water 5 minutes early that day...other than this day she loved every minute of her lessons.

After the first week of lessons Brent got an ipad from work...and of course he HAD to take it to the pool to take videos. We don't have as many pictures, but we have great videos of our little fishy. These aren't in any order but I will briefly explain each one.

Brenna felt more comfortable jumping in the water if she was holding onto a toy. The lady that takes her for a swim after she jumps is her teacher Jan.

Jan showed us how to use a water noodle to help Brenna fell more comfortable laying on her back to kick. This was the key to her success and she turned into a kicking machine!

This is another example of how to use a water noodle. This is her favorite way to jump in now.

Brenna kicking away.

Now that swimming lessons are over we try and make sure to go to the pool once a week so that Brenna stays familiar with the water. She now can jump off the wall without anyone pulling her and without any toys. She is more comfortable putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles. I am really glad that we were able to do this before Harlow is born and hopefully we will have both girls in lessons again next summer!

Birthday Staycation

2011-07-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

This year for Brent's birthday his parents gave us 2 nights at the Trendwest Resort in Tucson. The first day we decided to try and time things so we would get there with enough time to go to a movie before dinner time. The timing couldn't have been better and we were able to go see Rio at a nearby theater. This was the first time we have ever taken Brenna to see a movie in the theater and we were surprised at how well she did.

Day 2 was our water day. We started out with a trip to the resort swimming pool. Brenna and Brent took a dip while I hid out in the shade with the camera.

Brenna is a little fishy and loves the water. Her favorite part was the kiddie pool that was shallow enough for her to walk around by herself.

After lunch and naps we ventured out to a water park that was nearby. I had seen commercials for it on TV and was excited to see that it was only a few miles away from where we were staying. We put the address in the GPS and off we went. This is where the story gets interesting. Have you ever seen the episode of The Office where Michael Scott drives his car into a lake because his GPS told him to?? That episode was running through my head as we were following the directions. The distance from our location to the water park...one tenth of a mile...and this is what we see! If I had been by myself I actually would have been afraid!

See the slides in the distance...yup, behind that rusty farm equipment...that's it!

Brenna liked the kiddie area. The pool was shallow and they had little things that would squirt water. She didn't however like the wave pool. She screamed and yelled the entire time...wouldn't even let me sit in the water for fear that I would be swallowed up by the waves.

She did however, let Brent go down the slide once...which he seemed to enjoy.

Day 3 was our last day at the resort. We planned a trip to the zoo and even talked our friends (Karalee, Nathan and Kaylee) to meet us there. Nathan had never been to that zoo before and Brenna loved showing him all of her favorite animals.

Extra facts about our trip...

*Brenna's favorite part about the trip was the hotel. She called it our "trip house".

*I had the most amazing idea to bring blackout fabric and thumb tacks with us to make our bedroom dark...I will never leave home for an overnight trip without it! We slept so great and didn't have to worry about the sun shining on us!

*Brenna is NOT ready to be "nap free" yet. We tried that on day 1 and it backfired on us for the entire trip.

*We used an entire bottle of spray on sunscreen while we were gone. (We are VERY white people!)

*This was a fun way to get away and celebrate Brent's birthday without going too far!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

We hope you all have a fun and safe day celebrating the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. Thank you to all of the men and women who serve to protect these freedoms. I am thankful to be able to live in and raise my children in the USA!

We have been preparing for todays fun since Saturday. We got together with our extended family to make star shaped sugar cookies. We only had 1 star cookie cutter so we had to improvise and use a star of David one as well. You can't have 2 kids and only 1 cutter and that was as close as I could get. The kids had a great time mixing up the cookies, using the mixer, rolling out and cutting the cookies. It was a long process and they lost interest when it was time for frosting so Brent and I did that part.

Brenna with the finished cookies...after she had eaten a few.

Sunday we got ready for church in our red, white, and blue. We spent the morning at a baby blessing/bbq and the evening with some friends in town. It was a busy day but we sure enjoyed ourselves.

Today we woke up early to go to breakfast at the church. Brenna wasn't too thrilled about being woken up at 7:00 but she finally forgave us when she saw that we were having pancakes and syrup. This afternoon we will be spending time with some friends. We have planned a BBQ, water activities and possibly a trip to the park to see what the city has planned for this evening. It should be another eventful day!

Back Yard Fun

2011-07-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is the first summer since we have lived in Arizona that we have not been able to go home to visit. As the school year ended we knew we were looking at 3 long, hot months in a little town with not much to do, so we decided to buy Brenna a sand box and a swimming pool for the back yard. We went to Walmart and got 2 cheap plastic swimming pools, some sand and some outside toys. We put the sand in the smaller pool and water in the larger one and let Brenna go for it.

Little did we know that this city girl would hate getting sand between her toes. She insists on wearing shoes in the sandbox! I guess we should have known this would be the case since this is the same girl that still wont feed herself because she doesn't like to get dirty!

These next few pictures I like to call "The Many Faces of Brenna". She comes up with some good ones when I am trying to get her to smile.

She likes her pool, although she regularly tells us that she prefers the hot tub.

One thing we really didn't account for was the fact that in Arizona during the summer it is HOT...as in NEVER COOLS DOWN! Now that the monsoons have started we have been getting outside to play a lot more often.

My Newest Creation

2011-07-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

While blog surfing a few months ago I came across this skirt.

It had been featured on a news station in Utah as one of the five finalists for a $5 craft special they were running. I thought it looked amazing but really difficult...until I read the directions and realized how very simple it was! It took me about 2 months to actually get to Tucson to buy the fabric and then another few weeks to get myself to sit down to do the cutting/sewing. I was amazed how fast and easy it was to make.

Here is my take on the skirt. I think Brenna wears it well!

I plan on making one for Harlow to wear next spring but I figured it would be smart to wait until I can measure her before I start.

Here is the link to the tutorial and directions if you are interested.
http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=71&sid=14292573

Monument Fire

2011-06-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

For the past week our town has been battling a forest fire that has gone from bad to worse. It has been named the Monument Fire and as of a few days ago has been listed as the top priority forest fire nation wide. It isn't as big as some of the others but in the past week it has burned at least 47 homes and is threatening hundreds more.

Where we live Brent and I don't feel like we are in any danger, but we have a short list of things to grab if we do have to leave our home. I have never been in a situation like this before and it has been so sad watching the brave fire fighters fight what seems to be a loosing battle. The morale around town has slowly gone down hill as more and more people are being evacuated and/or left with nothing to go home to.

Today was expected to be the wost as far as the weather goes. Hopefully things will start looking up from here although you can never be sure. For now we are crossing our fingers and praying for a miracle.

Brennaism 2 and 3

2011-06-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Brennaism #2

We have made it to the stage where taking Brenna to the bathroom is totally embarrassing. Last week while in a crowded public restroom I had this conversation with my daughter...

Brenna: Mommy, are you going potty?
Me: Yes
Brenna: Mommy, are you going poo poo?
Me: No, just pee pee
Brenna: YAY MOMMY! YOU DID A PEE PEE! (while yelling, jumping and clapping her hands)
Brenna: Mommy, now are you wiping your big bum?
Me: Brenna, be quiet now!

She has also recently had a conversation with her dad that went something like this...

Brent: Are you all done or do you have to go poo poo too?
Brenna: Just pee pee, It is all empty back there.
Brent: What?
Brenna: My poo poos are sleeping Daddy!

Brennaism #3

This is something that I am not sure if other kids do the same thing or if it is just Brenna.

She has started making up words and she really thinks they have meaning. Her favorite and most frequently used is "mindapet" (this word can be conjugated). She told me a few days ago that she was going to have 2 sisters. 1 sister named Harlow and 1 sister named Mindap". She will throw it in the middle of a very normal sentence making it hard to understand what she is telling us. We have told her that it isn't a real word and she just says "Oh...ok". Please tell me this is something other kids do!

Sweet Moments

2011-06-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am not going to lie...I have a few sweet teeth. Since January, Brent has decided not to eat sweets so that leaves Brenna and I to take care of the desserts. We don't have them often, but when we do I like to make a big deal about it. Here are a few of the sweet moments Brenna and I have shared together recently.

An Olive Garden recently opened in our town and my all time favorite thing there is the soup, salad and bread sticks. It is all you can eat and I like to get my money worth. Needless to say I never have enough room for dessert so one day Brenna and I decided that we needed to go specifically for something sweet. We didn't have the patients to wait for a table so we went into the bar area and found a table. Brenna loved sitting at a bar height table because she said she was big.

I let her pick what we ordered and she reconfirmed that she is a mini me by ordering the tuxedo cheese cake. I am not exaggerating when I say that every person who walked by our table commented on how cute Brenna was sitting at such a tall table with such a huge piece of cake. I let her have it in front of her and she looked so cute with a huge fork diving in. The best part was being able to talk to her and have a special moment with my little girl.

By the time we were finished she was on a little sugar high and was getting a little silly. She loved playing peek-a-boo behind the menu and playing with her sunglasses.

This is something that we will be doing again someday!

While my sister was here visiting Starbucks was having a happy hour sale on frappuccinos. I obviously order the coffee free version since I am pregnant, sharing with Brenna, and don't drink coffee. I think we stopped in for a drink every day for a week! Brenna LOVES them and loved getting to hold the cup herself. These pictures were taken on the way to a birthday party. I let her hold ours and whenever I would ask her if I could have a drink she let me know how much she didn't want to have to share with me. I would finally get her to hand it over and before I could get the straw in my mouth she would say in the sweetest voice "Is it my turn?"

This is what happened when her drink was all gone. Poor baby! Don't worry Brenna, there is always tomorrow!

This was our first taste of a slurpy at Target. She picked the blue kind (more proof that we are just alike). It seemed like the perfect way to kill time on a hot day while we waited for Daddy.

This was the day we took advantage of $.31 scoop night at Baskin Robins. We had dinner in the park, played on the toys and then went out for some ice cream.

I know it looks like we eat tons of sugary treats, but it really isn't as bad as it seems. We just have to satisfy our sweet tooth every now and then!

Saying Good-Bye

2011-06-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we all got in the car to drive Aunt Nessy to the airport. We were so sad to see her go but it was so nice of her to come and see us. I don't know of many people who would cut their time in Hawaii short to come to a small Arizona town to see their family. We won't get to see each other again until this fall when I take my girls to the NW for a while to spend time with family. I hope that anyone who is thinking of coming down for a visit looks at all of the fun we had and decides there is no place they would rather be than in SV with us!

Big Thank You to Aunt Nessy for making us feel special and coming to visit. Brenna still refers to the guest room as your room whenever I go in there. We love you and can't wait to see you this fall!

Tombstone

2011-06-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we ran into a few set backs in the "activity" department. That morning we had planned on going to play group at the mall. When we got there we saw that the mall toys were closed down because they had shampooed the carpet and it was still wet. Instead of admit defeat we decided to go to a nearby park to play for the rest of the morning. It was nice and relaxing because for the most part we were the only ones there. We watched Brenna play on the toys and Vanessa and I relaxed a bit.

That afternoon when Brent got home we had decided to go to Tombstone for the afternoon/evening. We were unaware however that the town shuts down at 5:00! We were only able to get through a few stores (and a very long and horrible bathroom experience) before all of the shops closed. It was fun to show Vanessa some of the historic and more famous sights of the city while we were there.

Brenna loves rocks so we couldn't pass up the chance to let her pick her own special rocks out

We also found a few of these horse drawn buggies on main street. If you have never been there, the main par of town is closed to cars. It is a dirt road and almost every time we have been there we have seen cowboys dressed up that have ridden their horse to town. It makes me smile every time I see it!

The only thing left to do at that point was to grab some dinner and head for home.

While we were sitting at our dinner table we were pointing out some of the fun pictures that were decorating the dining area.

Brenna pointed at this picture and said "Look...it's Jesus!" All of us (including the waitress) couldn't help but laugh at that!

Kartchner Caverns

2011-05-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning Brenna and I took Vanessa to the pet store. We never have a real intent on adopting one of the dogs...some day but not now. We do however love going to visit them. I can actually say that even if we were in the market to take home a pet we wouldn't have chosen any of these little ones. Brenna picked them one at a time to be taken out so she could play with them. Unfortunately for the puppies they are kept in little pens so when it was their turn to be taken out they went nutso. Brenna couldn't handle the hyper, crazy, scratching, biting and jumping that they all did and would quickly ask for them to be put back in hopes of finding one that would sit and let her love on it. I think what she was actually looking for was a super old dog with arthritis that couldn't move even if it wanted to.

Brent had taken this day off to catch up on homework as well as to spend some time with Brenna while Vanessa and I went to Kartchner Caverns. This was one of the things on my "to do list" while living here and I knew that Vanessa was just the person to take with me. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside so I borrowed some from their website. We did however snap a quick picture just before going into the cave.

I had never been to any cave like this before and I was very amazed at what was hiding inside of the mountains that I see every day.

There are two different tours offered. We went on the rotunda tour. The Big Room tour is only opened in the fall and winter and I most definitely plan on going back to check out that one.

The Zoo!!

2011-05-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

An obvious choice for an activity was to go to the zoo in Tucson. Brenna loves it there and who wouldn't love the chance to hand feed a giraffe. Tuesday morning we got all pack up and headed out to the Reid Park Zoo. We thought we had left with plenty of time to get there during the feeding time, but forgot to figure in time for a potty stop.

By the time we got parked we had exactly 4 minutes to get to the giraffe station if we wanted to get to feed our friends. The keeper said he could see us running his way so he was nice enough to wait for us. The best part was that we were the only ones there at that time so we got to ask questions, take our time and get some great pictures. Brenna had been asking for awhile what a giraffe says. The keeper told us that they don't really say anything. Not exactly the answer she was looking for but at least now we know.

Since I have had many chances to feed them I let Ness and Brenna do it all this time while I took pictures. I loved watching their faces each time they would offer a carrot to either Denver or Texas. Vanessa always had the look of amazement on her face and Brenna was caught on camera many times with her tongue out.

After feeding the giraffes we went to say hi to the elephants. One of the elephants was swaying back and forth like he was dancing. We walked past him a few times while we were there and he was always doing the same thing. He must have had a song stuck in his head.

We were able to catch our first sight of the polar bear that day too. I always thought that maybe they didn't have one because I had never seen it. He was out and quite friendly this day. We were able to watch him swim around, dive and play. When he crawled out of the water and Brenna saw how big he was she gave a surprised look like "did you see the size of that guy?"

We were also able to see a exhibit at the otter pond where we watched the trainers work with the animals. We saw the different cues they use, reward signals and feeding routines.

We spent a few hours at the zoo and were able to see all of the animals there, as well as test out a few of the benches.

After the zoo we went to Olive Garden for lunch, made a stop at JoAnn Fabric to get a few things for Brenna and Harlow and then went to Trader Joe's. Neither of us had ever been to a Trader Joe's before so we were excited to get a few things to try as well as some Gluten Free products for Vanessa to take home to our mom.

We had a long and very fun day so it was no surprise that Brenna was asleep before we left the last parking lot before heading home for the day.

That night after putting Brenna to bed Vanessa and I let our inner Martha Stewart come out and we made freezer jam for the first time. My friend Karalee came over to walk us through it. I was surprised both at how much sugar is in jam, and how easy it was to make. The next time I decide to make jam I am going to test out either the sugar free or sugar substitute kind.

That marks the end of day 2...on to day 3!

Splash Time and the Park

2011-05-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we decided to show Aunt Nessy one of Brenna's favorite places to go in SV...Splash Time! We were able to sleep in and got to the pool just as things were getting started. I think it was fun for Vanessa to be able to experience something that she had read about before. Brenna is really comfortable in the water so it was a nice chance for Vanessa and I to sit and chat while we watched Brenna play.

Swimming really takes a lot out of you so when we were done we went home for lunch and naps. It just happened to be Brent's last track meet that day so we had some time to kill before picking him up and decided to go to the park for a bit.

Brenna loved that Aunt Nessy was so quick to play on the toys with her.

Brenna showed Auntie that she can go on the big kid swings now.

They played on the bars and rings. B wants to grow up and be strong like her Auntie.

After we picked up Brent we went back to the house for dinner and more playing. Somehow Brenna knew that she only had a week to spend with her Auntie and she didn't want to waste a second of our time together.

Aunt Nessy

2011-05-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

I had the most amazing Mother's Day this year. I told Brent that I didn't want him to get me anything, but instead let me to shopping in Tucson for maternity clothes. We also got to have my younger sister Vanessa come for a visit. She flew in on Sunday making it a nice added gift.

Vanessa had spent a few days in Hawaii and after a promise of ice cream and the zoo I convinced her to stop in Arizona for a week on her way back to Washington. It has been over 10 years since we have been able to spend this much time together so I was really excited to have time with her. I was also happy that Brenna would be able to have some special time with her Aunt Nessy. A few months before Brenna was born Vanessa was offered her job as a corrections officer and has limited time off. She always makes a point to come see us when we are visiting but it is usually only for a day or two before she has to be back to work.

I packed our schedule full of activities that Brenna loves as well as a few things that I wanted to show Vanessa. I am going to post in the order that we did things for journaling purposes.

The night that she flew in we relaxed and let Brenna get comfortable with her Auntie. Ness had spent almost 24 hours traveling and wasn't up for much excitement that day.

It didn't take much longer than 10 minutes before Brenna had attached herself to Auntie.

She followed her everywhere and was excited to see that Auntie wasn't going anywhere but to the room across the hall at bed time.

Easter

2011-05-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

I have been a slacker (again...I know!). I have 1 old blog post to do and then it is on to new and exciting things.

Easter morning Brenna woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had left her this.

She got a chocolate bunny,

Toy Story 3, (I think this was more for Daddy. She loves the 1st Toy Story and would have been fine just having that one. Daddy is happy to have them all and I know Brenna will appreciate them all when she is bigger.)

The quiet book that Mommy made for her,

And golf clubs. The Easter Bunny must know that Nana, Papa, Daddy and Grandpa are all golfers.

After playing with all of the great things in her basket we went out back to hunt for eggs. It didn't take long for her to figure out what to do. She would get so excited and whenever she found one she would yell "Ta Da!".

After she found all of her eggs we went inside to open them up. The Easter Bunny knows that this Mommy doesn't like feeding her little one much candy so he was kind enough to put coins in her eggs. One of Brenna's favorite things to do is put money in her banks so it was a perfect substitution for her. We got out both of her banks and she decided that the big money (quarters and nickels) needed to go in the big bank and the small money (pennies and dimes) needed to go in the small pig. Brent and I decided to make the money last so we only gave her 3 eggs worth that day and every day after that until it was all gone.

When all of our Easter activities were over it was time to get ready for church. Nana and Aunt Nessy had found this cute dress and sent it to Brenna to wear on Easter. I thought it was perfect and I especially loved the flower that came with it. It is made out of paper flowers. I think I smell another project I need to start working on!

When our kids are older we definitely want to teach them the real meaning of Easter, but while they are young I figure we could settle for showing them that there is something special about this day. After church we had a nice ham dinner and played a few rounds of golf in the living room. It was a fun day for our family and the start of many family traditions we can look forward to each year.

My Name is Randi and I Have an Addiction.

2011-05-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

I really love making pretty things for Brenna's hair. It is even more fun when I can be with a friend who also has a little girl and we can sit and talk while we make said pretty things for our little girls. The very best though is knowing that I have another little princess on the way who will need some pretty things for her hair so she can match her big sister.

I guess you could say that things got a little out of hand and I literally ended up with a few boxes full of flowers and bows for each of my girls. I was getting frustrated because the petals were getting bent and I am sure Brent was getting frustrated because he was finding hair bows all over the house...so we made this!

I am so excited because it holds ALMOST all of her hair things and it is hidden on the inside of the door. I actually did run out of room so I had to put the white, black and brown ones on another holder in her room. I am not sure what we will end up making for Harlow but she will for sure need a space like this. She has almost the same amount and she isn't even born yet. I am sure we will look into making something for her once we know what her furniture will look like.

Brennaism #1

2011-05-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Brent requested that I make a list of Brennaisms to help us remember all of the funny things she says.

Today I took Brenna to the school I used to work at to watch my past Kinder kids perform their play. After playing with the kids we went to the swings to play for a bit.

She looked at me and said "I love school. I love the kids. They are so happy. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

On our walk home we talked about how big she has to be before she can go to school. She made me feel better by telling me that she wasn't ready to go because she is just little.

Quiet Book

2011-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

For the past 6 weeks I have been working on this quiet book to give to Brenna for Easter. My friend Karalee had the idea and we were lucky to find an amazing pattern with instructions and a supply list for free on line. It wasn't difficult to make, just time consuming. We worked on it 5 days a week during nap time (2 hours each day). We were able to finish just in time to give our kids for Easter.

The entire book is made out of pellon and felt and each page has an interactive aspect that is developmentally appropriate for a 2 year old.

This page helps teach colors. The balloons are removable with the color outlined underneath the piece. She has to match the balloon to the correct color. The color wheel at the bottom also rotates.

This paint tray teaches matching and colors. Each paint spot has velcro so she can match them to the correct outline. She can also use the paint brush to pretend to color a picture.

This tree actually has 2 functions. It can be used to teach seasons by changing what is on the tree. She can also practice using snaps because the leaves/flowers snap in place on the tree branches. The grass is used as a pocket to hold the extra pieces.

Winter

Spring

Sumer

Fall

The barn doors on this page open and there are 3 finger puppets inside (a cow, a pig, and a chicken) to play with.

This page has a bunch to do. The car in the garage comes out and she can drive it around the streets. Also, the road signs are removable so she can change their location if she wants.

The strings on this tennis racket are for her to practice weaving.

The petals on this flower have numbers that she needs to learn to put in order. The flower pot is a pocket to hold the petals when they are not stuck on the flower.

These two pages go together. One page has a note pad and pencil for her to write things and then on the other page she can put it in the mail box. The lid opens and closes and the flag can be raised and lowered.

This is a puzzle that also helps with colors.

This is to work on tying a shoe lace.

This page has 3 buttons for her practice with.

Here is a page to help her work on threading and lacing.

This page has 3 zippers that she can practice with.

This was a really fun project to work on. I am not going to lie, we were very frustrated at times, but everything worked out in the end the way we wanted it to. One of the best parts was learning to use new materials. We used pelon for the pages which is similar to felt but it doesn't stretch like felt. We also used Wonder Under which is an iron on double sided glue. We would iron it to the back of our felt, cut out our pattern and then remove the paper so we could iron the felt down. It is very amazing and cut down the amount of sewing we had to do. The most interesting thing we got to use was the gromets. They are the metal reinforcements that are around the holes. We ordered them online and had to teach ourselves how to apply them without any directions. We wasted a few before figuring it out. Other lessons we learned included how important it is to sew the snaps on the right way, it is not a good idea to try and sew through the wonder under, and hand sewing button holes is not as easy as it looks. Overall I am very happy with the book and I hope that Brenna enjoys playing and learning with it.

Dying Easter Eggs

2011-04-23T16:42:00.000-07:00

Earlier today we colored our Easter eggs. This is the first time that Brenna has been big enough to really get into it so we were all very much looking forward to it. I found the greatest egg dying kit that is completely spill proof, and allows Brenna to dye the eggs by herself. The plastic lids have egg shaped holes in the top for her to drop the egg into. They sit in the dye and then when you are ready to take them out you roll the egg out and the dye goes up into the top of the lid and not all over the place. Quite genius!

I decided that just in case the kit didn't work she needed to wear one of her aprons to protect her clothing. She always looks so cute in an apron!

While Daddy was mixing the dye Brenna was coloring a picture with the new crayons that Nana sent in her Easter box.

Brenna trying out the first eggs in the dye. She was very excited to be able to do it by herself since a lot of things she still needs help with at this age.

Brent picked up an egg and started coloring on it with a crayon...which Brenna copied. This was by far her favorite part about the entire process. She could have colored on a few dozen more if we had cooked that many.

When we asked Brenna what she had drawn on her egg she said Spiderman...who knew!

This is what the cups look like with the eggs inside.

Brent was in charge of taking the eggs out of the dye and drying them off. The hope was to keep our fingers clean since he had some gloves from our kit to wear. As it turns out, dye takes a VERY long time to dry so we all have colored fingers. I suppose this is all part of the fun!

Brenna and Mommy decorating some eggs.

Brenna and Daddy. He is very artistic and always out shines me when it comes to drawing. Brenna was very interested in the drawing he did on his egg. If you know Brent at all you know that he drew a dolphin!

The finished product!

Brenna doesn't really know what to expect tomorrow, but she does know that the Easter Bunny will come while she is sleeping. Tomorrow she will be searching for plastic eggs (with coins in them) because in this hot weather we don't want to risk loosing any real eggs.

Brenna's 2nd Birthday Bash

2011-04-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

On March 26th we had a party to celebrate Brenna's 2nd birthday. We invited a bunch of her friends to join us at the local swimming pool and then went to the park for pizza and cupcakes.

Brenna and her Daddy enjoying the pool.

This is Nathan (Brenna's BFF).

Brenna and Mommy

Here are a bunch of people from our group. The lighting made it almost impossible to get a good picture, but this will have to do.

Melissa, Jacob and Samantha. They watched Brenna for a few months last year. It is funny because Brenna knows that she likes them but I don't think she remembers why.

The birthday girl.

Parker practicing his kicking.

He found his tongue and loves to have it sticking out.

Brent left the pool early to go set up at the park. We were lucky to get our 1st choice of tables so the kids were right next to the playground.

Brenna blowing out her candle.

This is Cora. I have never seen a baby love her sweets as much as this little girl. By the time her cup cake was gone she had it EVERYWHERE and was the happiest little girl there.

Brenna had to use the potty and since I don't do public bathrooms we set up our own in the grass.

When it was time to open presents she was a bit shy and slow.

Although it didn't take long for her to get into it!

I don't think things could have gone any better for her birthday. Everyone had a great time and we all left ready for a long nap. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us.

Late Night Fun

2011-04-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

Brent and I have been much more relaxed when it comes to Brenna's bedtime. It bothers me when I put her down at 8 and I can hear her happy and talking to herself for the next 1 1/2, I feel like I am missing out on fun time with her. Lately we have let her stay up later if she is happy or I will go get her out of bed if she is still awake after about 30 min. She is still getting a ton of sleep because she wont wake up until after 8 in the morning and she is still taking 3 hour naps during the day so I don't feel too bad.

Last night she went to bed at 9 but was still awake at 10. We were about to go to sleep but I thought I would go get her for just a minute because she was quietly calling my name. Turns out she had seen something she thought was scary so I was glad I went to check on her. I took her into our room and as we were sitting talking with Brent she was looking from him to the wall, back and forth. We finally realized that she was noticing his shadow and trying to figure out what it was all about.

We showed her how she could make her shadow show up on the wall and from there we spent the next 30 min making shadow shapes on our bed room wall.

Here is Brenna's head and Brent trying to figure out a puppet.

Once Brenna got going she decided she really liked seeing her bum's shadow on the wall.

Here is Brenna making herself "BIG".

Brenna's a little teapot.

Brenna giving Mommy a kiss.

I know this one looks like I was beating my child but I was actually playing the drums...on her bum.

Brenna giving Brent's long neck puppet a kiss.

We all had such a great time and it is times like this that make me happy to take advantage of all of the times I get to spend with Brenna. I am sure this wont be the last time we make late night shadow puppets when we should be sleeping.

No more double chin!

2011-04-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

I've never been uncomfortable with my weight, but these last few years I've thought that I could lose a little. Since January I've been able to lose a little over 2o lbs, bringing my weight back down to under 200 lbs and my waste line back down to a size 34.

I've told this story a few times before, but in January I went hiking with a couple of guys from church who were both pushing 60 years old. I was amazed to see how quickly they were able to hike up to Huachuca peak. I was even more amazed that they were holding a steady conversation the whole way up without breaking a sweat or breathing heavily. I, on the other hand, was 20 feet behind them, requiring frequent breaks, and unable to answer them any time they asked me something.

When we reached the top, I asked them if they did this on a regular basis (or at least worked out, because they made the hike look easy). They said that they didn't but they obeyed the word of wisdom. At first I thought they were joking, but one of them said that he gave up sweets 6 years ago (candy, desserts, etc), and lost a good 20 lbs, and has had a lot of energy. He said that once he made the decision to give it up, he didn't have a desire to eat it anymore.

I had heard the story before, but I was being shown up by someone who was almost 60 years old, so I needed to change. I decided to give up sweets and soda for good since I have no portion control and would drink a 12 pack within two days. Everything else in my diet hasn't changed, my portion sizes are the same, and I don't routinely work out. I saw 195 the other day and it's great. I don't have any desire to eat sweets or drink soda, and I'm loving it. As an extra bonus, I'm able to fit into a suit that I haven't been able to fit into for 5 years. It even fits better than it did when I bought it.

Daddy

2011-04-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Lately Brenna has been coming up with the greatest nicknames for Brent. They include:

Big Daddy
Super Daddy - Usually when she needs him to fix or get something for her.
Daddy-O
Hey Babe - When she cant find him and is yelling through the house for him.

She makes me laugh!

20 Weeks

2011-04-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

I got to see Harlow again yesterday. This is my favorite ultrasound picture of her so far. I love that she is sucking her thumb!

The last time I went to see my Dr. I elected to have a blood test done. I got a call from Dr. Silva last week telling me that according to my test results Harlow was at high risk for having Downs Syndrome. A more detailed ultrasound was scheduled to check her over from head to toe and we could use those results to help us know what to do next.

Yesterday I went in to see Dr. Dixon who specializes in high risk pregnancies. He told me that after looking at every tiny part of her that she looks good for now. He said that the test "is what it is" and for whatever reason my counts were off so they can't rule out any health risks. After talking to him about our feelings against terminating a pregnancy, we decided that we would monitor her for the next 2 months. There are certain things that he will be looking for as she develops that can't be seen right now. We have another ultrasound scheduled for June 6th where they will be looking at her intestines, kidneys, neck and heart. Some things may take more time to show up so June won't be the last time we meet with Dr. Dixon. He said that he can't rule out Downs and he can't rule out that she doesn't have a "non Downs" related heart defect.

When I was pregnant with Brenna I was almost offended when my Dr. offered me a genetic test. I told him that unless he could fix any problem they found then I saw no reason to test because I wasn't going to end my pregnancy. This time around I have had to start to come to terms with the fact that this may or may not be a "normal" baby. I am really glad that I have this time to deal with my emotions and to be able to do research before she is born. I want to know in my heart that on the day Harlow is born that I will feel nothing but happiness. After talking to Dr. Dixon yesterday he also explained to me the difference in delivering a possible Downs baby in a hospital that deals with fragile babies on a regular basis compared to a hospital that gets one every 5 years. We will use the next few ultrasounds to help us decide if she will be born in our town or if we will be driving to Tucson when she is born. It is small things like this that make me glad that I had the test.

For whatever reason both pregnancies have provided me with the chance to have frequent ultrasounds and see my babies on a regular basis. I can't say that this is a good thing, but it is something that we have had to make the most of. We lucked out with Brenna and she couldn't have been born more perfect. We hope that Harlow will be blessed with great health and that she will live a "normal" life like her sister. We know that regardless of what her health looks like when she is born that this is the little girl that is supposed to be a part of our family and that she is perfect for us.

My Princess

2011-04-10T18:57:00.001-07:00

Brenna looked amazing today. She wore a beautiful white dress and a new white headband with a pink flower on it. The minute her dress was zipped up she started twirling around the living room. She loves the chance to get dressed up like a princess.

As we were sitting in church she was sitting on my lap and she started to squirm. I put my hands around her to lift her up so I could set her in her own seat and I must have squeezed too tight because my beautiful little princess let out a belch that rang throughout the room...and of course it was at a moment when everything else was silent. I couldn't help myself and I started laughing. She looks at me and said "Whats the matter Mommy? I just burped."

Playmates

2011-04-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

The best part of the trip for Brenna and I was getting to spend time with the family. When they came in November we weren't sure how long it would be until we would be able to meet up again. Lucky for us we squeezed in this trip just before Brenna turns the ripe old age of 2 (which means another plane ticket when we travel). Brenna would wake up every morning asking to play with her cousins, she was constantly asking Auntie Omi to hold and rock her, and she could hardly leave Uncle Michael alone while he worked. I loved playing with my nieces that I don't see often enough and visiting with Naomi and Michael.

One of the "go to" activities that we used to tire out the kids before bed time was to play outside. They have a great back yard, a slide, balls to kick and dogs to chase.

I had to giggle when I saw Brenna sit on Naomi's lap. I told Naomi that Brenna looks more like what one would expect Naomi's daughter to look like than her own children.

Another fun thing was bath time. Naomi has bubble bath that she added to the tub which was really fun for Brenna.

I love kids in pjs.

I thought this was the cutest. Michael got out his ipad and was showing the kids a bed time story on it. He was the luckiest man in the world at that moment to have all three of these sweet girls in his arms.

A huge thank you to the Owuor family for letting us come and stay for the week, and thanks to Brent for encouraging us to go. We loved every minute of it and can't wait to meet up again!

Glass Bottom Boats

2011-04-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Another Groupon that Naomi had found was for a glass bottom boat tour in San Marcos (the funny thing being that it was spring break and the Groupon wasn't good during spring break. Luckily it was free for all of the kids so we paid and went anyway!). I had no idea what to expect but it sure sounded fun. The day before going back to Arizona we drove down south towards San Antonio. We started the day by stopping for lunch at my all time favorite restaurant Johnny Carino's. There aren't any in Arizona and it had been too long since I had had my favorite dish (spicy shrimp and chicken). Needless to say I ate entirely too much but I loved every bite!

After lunch we found the location for the tour and decided to let the kids run off some energy while we waited to load the boat.

We had the kids race back and forth from me to Naomi and back as many times as they could.

We loaded onto the boat and headed out for the tour. I honestly can't tell you anything that the tour guide said but I do know that it is very historical and very interesting, but my pregnant/mommy memory fails me.

The kids loved looking down through the glass at the underwater world.

Lexi was more interested in looking at the water from the window so she stood behind Naomi for most of the boat ride.

One of the only group shots we got of the entire trip.

I know the last time that we all were together I remember saying that I needed to make sure that Naomi and I were included in some of the pictures next time. I think we did a pretty good job of accomplishing my goal this time around!

April Fools!

2011-04-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Just admit it...I got you!!!

Lets start over...
It's a girl!!! (For real this time)

This picture is from the bottom up. Her bum is on the left with her legs sticking out. Notice there isn't an extra part! She is not a very modest little one. She was spread eagle most of the time we were watching her.

We went in for our midterm ultrasound. It was a much better experience this time than it was with Brenna. My new Dr does has a machine set up in the office and the technician specializes in doing ultrasounds on expectant mothers. Brent and Brenna came along so that we could all see the baby together. I asked to see the gender first off so that I would be able to relax and enjoy the rest of the ultrasound. She said that they can't guarantee, but if it was her grand baby she would be buying some serious pink.

She is a very active little girl. At one point she had her legs straight up with her feet by her face. This made it easy to see that she has all of the same parts that Brenna has!

Here is a picture of her hands.

Her little feet.

This picture might need some explaining. The round circle is the top of her head. She is facing left and her right arm is out. I love the little fingers!

Here is our beautiful little girl. I bet she will look just like Brenna!

We decided not to let anyone know what we were having until we had a name picked out. It took forever and we couldn't come up with anything but in the end we decided on Harlow Grace. It was a very quick decision once the name was put out there. I guess it just fits. Brenna knows her by name now. She talks about how tight she is going to hold Harlow when she is big enough to come out. Yesterday we went swimming and Brenna asked me if her baby sister was coming with us. I told her that the baby would most definitely be swimming!

As far as development goes she is growing just as she should. She is about the size of 2 sticks of butter (about 5 inches and 1/2 pound). I do have a placenta previa again which is unfortunate. This isn't supposed to be something that I am prone to because I had it with Brenna, just a bummer of a coincidence. We are going to have another ultrasound at 34 weeks (mid July) and if it is still present they will schedule a C-section. I assume that at that point we will continue to monitor things up until the surgery date just in case it corrects itself.

After the appointment yesterday I asked Brent if he was happy and he smiled and said "Of course, but I guess the father / son camp outs will have to wait" I am excited to have another beauty to dress up and play with. I made a deal with myself that I am only allowed to buy matching outfits from now on. My rational is that neither of the girls really need anything for awhile so if I find something special I will just have to buy 2. It makes sense in my irrational, pregnant head! We are super excited to have another little princess in our family and we can't wait to meet her.