Our First Family Photo

A few weeks ago we got with our wedding photographer (who I love) to do some baby/family photos. They turned out AMAZING! Really, it's hit or miss with babies and some of them are not good because you can't really tell a baby to look a certain direction or well, not cry. After an hour of photos he started crying and was just done with the whole thing. A week later we were able to see the proofs.

I really do love this photographer. See his website here. And don't be surprised if you see some photos of me and Leland in his galleries. Anyway, why do I love this photographer?

• He's personable and really easy-going.
• He doesn't mind doing a location shoot.
• His studio is in a really nice office complex for doing some outdoor photos.
• He has some really good ideas for different poses.
• His prices are reasonable, especially since he ends up giving you a disk of all your photos and doesn't make you pay for proofs as long as you do an order.
• He does everything with digital which means he takes WAY more photos so your chances of getting good photos and not just okay photos is increased. (We got a disk of over 900 photos from our wedding. With that many, I actually had trouble picking out the ones I wanted.)

So here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!

These were great, he looked right at me and I think it totally made the shot.

I love this little man's smile!

Identical to our engagement photo: stairs, jeans, black shirts.

Growing so fast...

My little man keeps growing so fast. Here he is with his new bear. I noticed he was starting to grab and hug my arm/hand whenever I would try to comfort him or give him his pacifier. So I replaced my arm with this Pooh Bear and *magic* he grabbed onto it and spent the next hour content and quiet while snuggling his bear. Later in the evening (when I was taking these pictures) he decided he might like to taste his bear. He started wrestling it with his two little fists and putting the ears in his mouth. So cute! I love watching his little mind and personality grow. He's so amazing to me.

Day 1: The 30 Day Shred

As you all know, I just had a baby. And though I tried to be active and not let my eating and weight gain get out of control, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Around the time I hit my last trimester, I lost all my energy. So even though I felt great, I didn't have the energy to keep up the walking, etc. I also let my cravings get the better of me and had a few too many desserts and french fries (my ridiculously stretch marked thighs and bum will testify to that).

So I was browsing some different movies and tv shows on my AppleTV the other day and came across the Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. For those of you who don't know, Jillian Michaels is one of the trainers on the tv show, The Biggest Loser. I decided to read some of the reviews and saw that almost everyone who had commented had at least moderate success. So for $8.99 I purchased the 3 different workout levels.

My friend, Ashley, asked me to blog about my workout experiences; so here I am, humoring her. I agree, I think it will be good to be able to look back and track my success. Every week I'll weigh and measure myself to gauge my progress.

Here are my starting measurements:
Weight: 151 lbs. I gained 51 lbs. during my pregnancy. I went from 132 lbs. to 183 lbs. Two weeks after I had the baby, I weighed in at 155 lbs. Not bad for having a 9 lb. baby. Eleven weeks later I am still in the 150s so I know I'm going to have to do this with exercise, not just eating better.
Upper arms: 12 in.
Waist: 32.5 in.
Hips (or what I like to call, my big fat bum): 43 in.
Thighs: 25 in.
Calves: 16 in.

Let me tell you, for a 30 minute workout, this is hard. Especially for someone as out of shape as I am. The workout consists of a warm- up, three six-minute segments beginning with 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and finishing with 1 minute of abs, and ends with a cool-down stretch.

The Warm-Up: I was totally winded by the end up the warm-up. Who would have thought that jumping jacks could get you so tired.

Three 6-minute segments: I wanted to quit so many times but Jillian keeps reminding you through the whole thing that it's only a 30 minute exercise and you have to keep at it if you want results. And I want results.

The Cool-Down: This was great because after all that work, some of my muscles were starting to cramp from all that time not being used.

I have confidence that after 30 days I will feel like a new person. I'm putting it out there for everyone to see that I'm committing to do this at least 3 days a week for a month. Please ask me about this if/when you see me. I want to be accountable to everyone reading my blog so that I'll have the motivation to keep doing this. I wanted to quit a couple of times in the middle of the video but I know that if people are going to ask me about it, I'll keep going. Wish me luck!

My Little Man

So here's my new little sweetheart...Carter Owen Daniel...born December 10, 2009 at 4:28am after 14 hours of induced labor. I went into the doctor on my due date, December 8, and I was dilated to 4 cm without being in any kind of active labor. So we decided to induce because I didn't want to wait anymore for my little guy; we were scheduled to go in at 10 am the next morning to be induced. By 2pm we were finally getting started with the pitocin and things started moving along. The doctor broke my water, at which point the contractions became unbearable and we called for the epidural, right away! By the time I was dilated to 10 cm I was too numb to push at all so they slowed my epidural down and we got to pushing. The doctor was called and at 4:28am we had our new little man. He weighed in at 9 pounds 3 ounces and was 21.5 inches long.


I feel so lucky that I was able to have all the people I wanted in the room with me and they all did a great job of coaching and cheering me on. Leland (of course) was right by my side and he was a huge help and support for the hardest part of my pushing. Helping hold my legs for the pushing were both my moms, Lisa (mom) and Lawanna (Leland's mom) and they were so great rubbing my hands and feet between contractions and giving me ice. On the sidelines watching and cheering were my Aunt Linda (mom's sister), Ashley (Leland's sister), and Ashley (my best friend, she drove from CA to be here, what a pal!). Everyone was so awesome and I wouldn't change a bit of it, I loved having everyone there. Sorry to all of them for having to see me all naked, but I'm sure they don't remember much of it, it was probably knocked out of their minds once the baby arrived.


Mixed in with all the commotion of giving birth was closing on our house. We actually closed escrow on December 9 while I was being induced. While I was still in the hospital a bunch of friends and family went to our house and got stuff cleaned up and some painting done so that things were more ready for us to move from David and Lawanna's house. We're pretty settled now and we love our little house. It's so nice to have our own space and really be able to do what we want with it. We've been making lots of plans and we're excited to move forward with them.


So here are some of my thoughts on my little man and on being a mom:
1. I absolutely love snuggling him. His little head is so soft and I'm always rubbing my cheeks on him and kissing his head and cheeks.
2. I love to watch Leland with him. He's so sweet and he really loves his new little dude.
3. Sometimes I love his cries. About half the time his cry is this pitiful, whimpering cry that is so incredibly adorable.
4. Sometimes I just sit and stare at him sleep. I can't help it.
5. I feel really lucky that he almost always sleeps from midnight until 6am. He doesn't go that long between feedings during the day, but almost every night he lets me sleep for almost 6 uninterrupted hours.
6. It's weird being a mom. Because I'm a mom forever now, and every once in awhile I look at him and think, "Holy crap, that's my kid."
7. I love his smile and the noises he makes when he gets excited and happy. Leland and I have a lot of fun getting him to smile.

Four Great Years!

Last week was our fourth anniversary and I have to say, it feels amazing.

We had a great time celebrating by going to see Phantom of the Opera at Gammage. Leland's first and only encounter with Phantom was the movie so he was excited to see it in person. He said he actually preferred it to the movie. I hadn't seen it in so long it was great to reexperience the magic of it all on stage. The flash of light and loud bang at the beginning of the overture startled me (and Carter) and got my eyes watering a little. Leland thought I was crying (maybe I was, a little). All in all it was a fantastic night and we had a wonderful evening together.

(Of course I don't have a picture of us at Phantom because I'm totally lame. Note to self: stop being lame and take more pictures.)

I've been contemplating the last four years of our lives and it feels pretty great! Of course we've had the little ups and downs, but never anything major. And then getting sealed in the Mesa Temple two years ago. Many struggles were placed in front of us as we made our journey towards the temple, but we overcame them all with each other and the Lord's help. There have been a few health scares (Leland's dirtbiking accidents, my heart condition and the procedures for that) but we've always come through.



Then our big surprise this year, a baby. I can't say enough how grateful I am that our prayers were answered regarding my heart condition before I got pregnant. That was biggest reason we pursued the most aggressive treatment option, so that it would never be an issue during a pregnancy. And so, even though we weren't making any baby plans, the Lord was watching out for us and taking care of things before we even knew we would need them. Not six months after my third and last procedure to stop the electrical "short circuits" in my heart, we were pregnant, and not of our own choosing. The Lord certainly does do things in his own time.

We're also excited to be buying our first home (hopefully to be closed on next Monday, the 23rd). This is a huge event for us and we're very grateful to be blessed with the opportunity and ability to do this, especially since our family is growing by one.

I'm starting to get a little teary eyed writing this (dang hormones!) but I just want to wrap it all up with how amazing my husband is. He is my rock and I can't imagine what my life would be without him. I'm so proud of all he's done for our family by finishing his Associate's program at ITT Tech last year and becoming an elder as we were preparing to go to the temple. I know he's going to be an amazing father to our son (and any other children we have). I'm so blessed to have him as my eternal companion and I'm excited for what our future will bring.

Quit Touching Me...

I'm aware this isn't a new subject for a pregnant woman to have an issue with, but bear with me because I need to vent my frustrations. Anyone reading this should know ahead of time, if we are close enough that you know about and read my blog, I'm not talking about you in this post.
I have never been incredibly comfortable with touching other people or having them touch me. Hugging, for example, is one of these touching scenarios. I only do the "side hug" with male friends because I'm of the opinion that, as a married woman, I shouldn't be pressing myself against a man that isn't my husband. This doesn't apply to all men; I have no problem with normal hugs with male family members who I'm close with (i.e. my dad, brothers, cousins).

Another example is the pat on the arm/back vs. the rub on the arm/back. If we are friends, I don't have a problem with a pat on the arm and a, "How are ya'?" But don't come up to me and start rubbing your arm up and down my back and ask me, "Are you doing okay?" Friction of any kind should be kept out of platonic touching. I certainly would not want my husband doing this with another woman or a married woman for that matter.

And now for my belly. I have not had one woman touch my stomach without asking or me offering. This is because women understand that, though there is another person occupying my abdomen, it is still MY personal space. While my female coworkers (and even my mother-in-law) have all asked if I'm okay with them touching me, a few of my MALE coworkers have assumed that it's fair game and have repeatedly touched my belly without permission. Granted, I am on good terms and friendly with everyone who has done this AND I really don't mind a small pat or brief touch. But in what part of our culture, is it appropriate for a male, non-relative to attempt to rub another man's wife's pregnant belly? When I say "rub" I mean in circles over and over. Some of these guys are married; I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even want my husband touching another woman's pregnant belly, let alone rubbing it. I'm not a freakin' Treasure Troll! And some people are getting kind of offended that I'm telling them to stop, like I have a problem with something that's totally normal. It's not normal! And I'm the one who gets to be upset, okay?

Example (and not the only one I have): I went to the movies with my mom last and as she and I were leaving the theater we ran into a male friend of mine from work with his sister going in to see a movie. During our brief conversation, he went to touch my belly and started to rub in a circle. AWKWARD! I said, "Dude, don't go rubbing on it." He responded by laughing and reaching for my stomach AGAIN. I had to wrap my arms around my belly and turn away to get him to stop. Even his sister said, "You can't just go rubbing on pregnant women like that."

So thank you all for letting me rant (not that you had a choice, I'm posting this whether you end up reading it or not).

Our Fishies

So one of the big issues with our moving in with David and Lawanna's house was what to do with our fish tank. One of our fish has been pregnant and releasing babies as they get big enough to survive on their own, but we were concerned that during transport some of the little guys would be hurt or eaten since there wasn't anywhere for them to hide. We ended up separating the momma fish and the babies in one of Bryan's extra tanks and then we set up the rest of the big fish in another small tank. We're going to wait until we get into our house (or wherever we're going) to set up our big tank again.

Here's some video of the momma and babies. She just released five more little ones (they're schooling at the top of the tank) and the few that survived our big tank and the move are all down at the bottom. You can see the momma still has some incubating in her mouth because of how puffy the underside of her mouth is.

This is the rest of our fish or at least the ones not hiding behind all the rocks at the time I took the video.