Gabbing Greens

Gardner Village

2012-01-16T13:24:00.007-07:00

Every year in October, Gardner Village has their Witchapalooza. They put a bunch of witches everywhere around the shopping center. We thought Daphne would enjoy seeing that this year, so we went up with my parents and sister, Kristen, and walked all around. My uncle owns the bakery there too, so we stopped in there and got some of their yummy bread! It was a great way to get in the mood for Halloween, and Daphne loved going around finding all the witches. I think this has to be something we do every year with her now!

Karen's Wedding

2012-01-16T13:16:00.007-07:00

One of my best friends, Karen Springer, got married September 17th. Andrew and I were lucky enough to be able to attend her wedding up the canyon at Conrad Ranch. It was beautiful! Congrats Karen and Nate!

Daphne's Second Birthday

2012-01-16T12:52:00.011-07:00

Now that Daphne is almost two and a half, I think it's time to finally post about her birthday party from last August. :) We had a great time eating dinner and cake and ice cream at my parent's house. We had planned on having it all in the backyard, but of course it started raining that day. By the time we had all finished dinner though, the rain had stopped so we were able to open presents and have cake and ice cream outside. We had lots of family come to help us celebrate. Daphne was spoiled rotten with so many presents. Thank you to everyone for coming and for everything you gave Daphne. She is so lucky to have such a great family that loves her so much!

We let her open one present when she got up in the morning so she could wear it that day. She loves Elmo! So she was really excited about this shirt.

My big 2-year old!

This is the cake I made for Daphne. First time making a shaped cake. Thanks Robyn for helping me so much with it!

She knew just what to do with the candle. Blew it right out!

She got lots of great presents. She is so fun, she absolutely loved every single one of them!

Due in about 8 weeks with our second little girl!

Easter

2011-10-10T17:53:00.012-06:00

I got some really great pictures from Easter, so I wanted to finally share them. We got a cute new dress for Daphne and a cute bunny hair thing. She loved going through her Easter basket she got at home, and then she got to do an Easter egg hunt at her grandparent's house too. It took her a minute to understand what she was supposed to do, but she got it down, and she had lots of fun doing it!

My grandpa came down and had dinner with my family for Easter, so we got to visit with him for a bit. We thought it would be fun to get a four-generation picture.

Pickles

2011-10-10T17:43:00.006-06:00

Daphne loves pickles. It's funny to me how much she really loves them. She'll eat a whole plateful of sliced pickles. I tried to get a picture of the sour face she makes when she eats them, but this was the best I could do. I love my little angel!

Anniversary Getaway

2011-10-10T17:11:00.010-06:00

Andrew and I love to go away for our anniversary every year to the same spot. We go to the condo our work has near Park City. This past anniversary was no different. We packed up all our stuff and Daphne and spent a few days there this past March for our third anniversary. (Yes, I'm still trying to catch up. :) ) We had a really good time, just hanging out and going to Park City for a day. Daphne really enjoyed playing there and hanging out in her pajamas. She had a few meltdowns, but even her sad faces are cute. I hope it's a tradition we can keep!

All Grown Up!

2011-10-10T16:38:00.015-06:00

No, I'm not talking about Andrew or me....we still have some growing up to do. It's our little girl I'm talking about! She's two already! It's so crazy how fast time goes by.

She already loves to dress up in Mommy's clothes.

And Daddy's...

And more of Mommy's...

This is her "beard" she likes to wear

She loves to just hang out with Mommy and Daddy.

And get her hair done all pretty by her Aunt Kristen. It even matches her baby doll.

The cutest, sweetest little girl ever!

Catch Up

2011-09-29T17:23:00.008-06:00

I finally downloaded all of my pictures from my camera, and I am really embarrassed to find that I have pictures all the way from last Christmas up until now! I think it really is time for me to do a little catching up, mostly for me, to help me remember this last year. I think it will be really slow-going, but I'm going to start with last Christmas, and catch up as fast as I can. So here I go....

Daphne's gorgeous Christmas outfit that I just had to get for her. Isn't she cute? :)

She loves balloons, so we got her some for Christmas.

She loved gazing up at them, but was a little afraid to play with them.

She got a new chair and a big teddy bear too.

She really liked her teddy bear. She still loves to sit him down in her old car seat and buckle him in. I hope you all had a good Christmas ten months ago! :)

Photo Book

2011-05-25T12:04:00.002-06:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted. I keep hearing about it from everyone. :) We're still here and everything is going well. I'll post an update on our family soon, but until then, here's Daphne's photo book from her first year that I finally finished! Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Lagoon

2011-05-24T22:44:00.000-06:00

I found this post that I started forever ago. We went to Lagoon with my sister, Rosie, and her family last August I think it was. It was a lot of fun. So here are some pictures from that, even though it happened about nine months ago. :)

Family Reunions Galore!

2010-08-28T22:33:00.001-06:00

Andrew and I both had lots of family reunions going on in July and August. It was so fun getting together with our families so much! I wanted to take lots of pictures to remember them by, so just a warning this is picture overload time!

Daphne had so much fun swinging with her Aunt Kristen at the Hansen Reunion!

Andrew had fun swinging too. :)

Our family at the Hendriksen Reunion up Hobble Creek Canyon. Daphne got car sick on the way up, so we had to change her into her pajamas a little early.

My cute hubby!

Daphne chilling with Grandma. I love that she sticks her tongue out like that!

Daphne finally got to meet her Aunt Robyn and Uncle Eric! They live in Ohio and had to leave to go home just before she was born last year, so I was excited she got to meet them.

Daphne had so much fun playing with cups at the Hill Reunion we had at the Girl's Camp above Heber. Her cousin Ethan was nice enough to keep picking them up for her when she dropped them and she thought it was hilarious!

Playing with Aunt Kristen

My cousin, Ashley and her daughter, Kayley playing with Daphne. Kayley kept giving her kisses, it was so cute! Daphne loves playing with other little kids!

Playing with Daddy in the cabin

Campfire in my parent's backyard so we could make s'mores! We had so much fun playing with Robyn and Eric's family while they were here!

My mom and sisters

Daphne just before she went swimming for the first time as part of the Shurtz Family Reunion.

Daphne's first time in the pool!

Andrew and Daphne with Andrew's sister, Jordan and her daughter, Ellie playing in the pool. Jordan brought that little floaty thing and Daphne really liked sitting in it!

She loved going around the pool with her daddy.

My sisters and I don't get to be all together very often, so every time we are we like to take a picture of us all. This was in my parent's backyard the night before Robyn and Eric left for home.

Our little family at Jordanelle for the little vacation we went on with my parents and siblings.

Daphne having fun hanging out with Aunt Mel

We rented a wave runner at Jordanelle. Andrew really liked driving it! It was lots of fun to ride on!

We went to Antelope Island as part of this vacation, on the way there we stopped to see this. It's called Devil's Slide. Just an interesting rock formation that my parents saw when they were on their honeymoon, so they wanted to stop to see it again.

We had so much with our families at all of these reunions and trips! Thanks to everyone for all the hard work and planning that went into all of them! We love you all!

Daphne's First Birthday!

2010-08-20T23:22:00.025-06:00

My little girl has turned one already! I can't believe a whole year has gone by! She is still really little for her age - she's 18 lbs. 4 oz. (just barely on the charts) and she's 27 inches (10%). It's so fun having a little baby though. She can say yeah, no, hi, dad, and juice. She loves to eat! She would be eating constantly if we let her. She recently started figuring out when she's full though, so she'll actually stop eating if there's no more room for food in her tummy! Her birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we had a party for her on Saturday with both Andrew's and my families. We had dinner at the park, and then let Daphne eat her own piece of cake, and then she opened presents. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for coming and for all of your help and for everything you gave Daphne!

We let her open one present in the morning so she could get the hang of it. She caught on pretty fast.

With her cousin, Rebekah in her beautiful birthday skirt her Aunt Jordan made for her.

Her free cake from Macey's.

At first she wasn't sure what she should do with it....

but she soon figured it out.

Our little family.

She was really excited about her presents!

And even got pretty good at opening them.

She got a little upset when we took away the present she just opened so she could open the next one though...

We had lots of family there to share in this fun day. Thanks everyone for coming!

My big 1-year old on her birthday! It's so tiring getting old!

Her birthday outfit Andrew and I got for her.

We are a happy family.

Fourth of July

2010-07-07T16:03:00.001-06:00

We had a great 4th of July this year. We spent a lot of time just with our little family on Saturday. Daphne took a late nap that day, so we kept her up to watch the fireworks show in PG that night. We bought some glow sticks and Daphne had a great time playing with them. I thought the fireworks might scare her, but she was just fascinated by them! She just stared at them for a while, then she decided she had had enough and just laid down on my shoulder. I guess she was tired! The next day we had dinner at Andrew's parent's house and Daphne had such a good time crawling around and playing with her cousin, Ellie, and her grandma. We tried to get some good family photos in our patriotic-wear, but Daphne didn't really want to cooperate. Oh well! I hope you all had a good Fourth of July!

Yucky Foods

2010-07-01T21:29:00.002-06:00

You'd think by these videos that I feed my daughter things that taste yucky. But really, it's just pasta in the first video and water in the second. So funny what she thinks tastes gross! But she's cute no matter what, sometimes even especially when she makes her funny faces. Enjoy!

10 Months

2010-06-18T17:38:00.005-06:00

Each month seems to pass more quickly than the last! Daphne is ten months old now. She can crawl--it's taken her awhile to get down the real crawling motion. But she still doesn't love to crawl. My favorite is when she was crying as she was begrudgingly crawling last week at my parent's house. It was as if she was asking why we were making her do this horrible thing. She can pull herself up to a standing position using the couch. She hasn't really said any words yet that I'm sure she knows what she's saying. Andrew asked her the other day if she loved mommy, and she said "yeah! yeah." :) I would love to think she knew what she was saying, but I don't think she did. We keep trying to teach her to say "mama" and "dada". So far she's much better at saying "dada", but I'm hoping she'll be able to say "mama" sometime too. :) She now has three teeth! Two on the bottom, and one on the top just poked through last week. Very sharp teeth Andrew and I have both discovered as we've tried to feel them and she bites down on our fingers. She's such a happy girl. She loves to laugh, she loves meeting new people, and she is getting more beautiful every day! She just has us wrapped right around her cute little fingers! We love her so much and are so grateful to have her as part of our family!

Summerfest

2010-06-18T17:29:00.004-06:00

Since it was so rainy this year during Summerfest, we ended up skipping all of it except the fireworks. Kristen and Tamara with her family came over to Grandma Hill's house and we all watched the fireworks together. Tamara's kids all had fun watching the fireworks from Kristen's trunk along with Kristen, and I just had to share these cute pictures of them all.

New 'Do

2010-06-11T17:22:00.004-06:00

I decided it was about time to get my haircut, so I called my good friend, Sue, and she chopped it all off for me! It's been a long time since I've had short hair, and I don't think I've ever had it quite this short before, but I'm liking it. It's nice and cool!!

Before....

And after

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-06-01T17:35:00.002-06:00

We had a very busy Memorial Day this year! We started out the day by visiting my grandpa's grave in the Orem Cemetery. We gather with as many in my family who can make it, and we always sing a few songs and take some pictures. It's nice getting together there to remember him. After that we headed over to Big Lots to get some things they had a good sale on. We ended up getting a camcorder there, so we don't have any pictures from the day, just a few videos. After that we had a bbq with Andrew's family and played on the playground with Daphne a little bit. She did not actually enjoy that. We got to go home and take a nap after that, and ended the day with another bbq at my sister, Rosie's house. Just a few videos we made while playing around with our new camcorder that day. Happy Memorial Day everyone! I hope you had a nice one!

May Birthdays

2010-05-29T17:23:00.004-06:00

May is a very popular month for birthdays in our families. We have my niece's birthday on the 5th, my mother-in-law's on the 8th, mine on the 9th, my brother-in-law's on the 16th, another brother-in-law's on the 19th, and Andrew's on the 22nd. So May is a very fun month for us! I don't seem to have taken many pictures for all our partying this month, but here are a few pictures of our festivities for Andrew's birthday at my parents. Happy Birthday honey! I love you!

Nine Months

2010-05-27T17:08:00.007-06:00

Daphne is growing up so fast! She is already....

Eating her vegetables

Feeding herself breakfast and snacks

Chasing after boys

Wanting her toenails painted

And acting way too cool for Mom

Rockin Baby

2010-05-17T16:59:00.000-06:00

Wedding

2010-05-04T22:06:00.007-06:00

Well I've fallen behind again on my blogging. So this happened almost a month ago now....

One of my best friends, Kimmy, got married in the Bountiful Temple the second weekend in April. Andrew and I were able to attend the ceremony and luncheon afterwards. My family was kind enough to take Daphne for half the day. I was a little apprehensive about leaving her for that long--first time we've done that while she's been awake, but she had fun with her aunts and grandma. Kimmy looked gorgeous, and she and Tyler look so happy!! I'm so excited for them both! I love you guys!!

Some pictures from the day....

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T23:56:00.005-06:00

Happy Easter! I hope you all had a great one!

Anniversary

2010-04-03T21:35:00.001-06:00

Well Andrew and I have now officially been married for two years! Since we already took a trip to celebrate our anniversary, we just ended up going out to dinner on our actual anniversary. We ended up going to Bombay House. It was super yummy! And Daphne gave us the best present of all! She started sleeping through the night this past week! It's been fabulous being able to sleep through the night again! It's been so long! And her first tooth just broke through too! She's growing up so fast! Happy Anniversary Andrew! I love you!

Say Cheese!

2010-03-25T17:54:00.000-06:00

Some new pictures we had taken at Sears. Daphne didn't really feel like cooperating after two outfit changes, but we still got some good ones.

Daphne and her cute cousin Ellie in the matching dresses Aunt Jordan made for them

Spring Break Getaway

2010-03-23T23:27:00.000-06:00

Andrew and I took a little trip over his Spring Break this year. We were so ready for a vacation, and it was also to celebrate our anniversary--2 years this Saturday! We went up to the condo our work owns near Park City. It was so nice to just get away and relax! We mostly just stayed in watching lots of movies, making yummy food, and relaxing in the hot tub whenever we got the chance, but we also got to visit Park City while we were there. It happened to be St. Patrick's Day, and since Andrew is part Irish, and we are the Greens, we decided we needed to dress up a little. We had lots of fun walking around the outlets and shopping. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Bed Head

2010-03-23T23:20:00.004-06:00

Daphne has the coolest hair when she wakes up! It looks like this pretty much every morning. I'm not sure how she sleeps to make it look like this, but I love it!

So Big!

2010-03-15T23:06:00.000-06:00

My baby girl is growing up so fast! She's already 7 months old! I took these pictures realizing that it has been way too long since I took cute pictures of her. Here she is in all her glory!

Isn't this the cutest bow you've ever seen? It's called the Charlotte from Bitty Bows Boutique--an online store my sister-in-law pointed me to. They have the best baby clips that will stay in the feathery baby hair really well!

Six Month Stats

2010-02-24T21:12:00.004-07:00

Well, Daphne turned six months old about a week and a half ago. Crazy to think that she's been here for half a year already! Time really does fly! We had her six-month check up at the doctor's and she's doing fantastically well! She now weighs 15 lbs. which puts her in the 50th percentile. Amazing when you remember that two months ago she wasn't even on the charts with her weight. She loves her solid foods! It's so fun to feed them to her. She's also still in the 50th percentile for her height and head circumference, so she is just very nicely proportioned.

Peas are not her favorite food....

She is so much fun! Lately she has been watching the tv show 24 with me. Her favorite part is the credits at the end. As soon as she hears the music, she'll turn her head so she can see the tv and just grins and watches the credits. I don't really get why, but it is adorable! She has very strong legs and is constantly moving them. She's either jumping up and down or doing a little dance. It's fun to watch, but hard to hold on to her. She has started sleeping longer at night, which Andrew and I love! She's been sleeping about 13 hours at night, waking up only twice during that time. We feed her, and then she goes right back to sleep usually though, so it's not too bad. She doesn't love to take naps. She takes two naps a day, usually about 45 minutes each, sometimes shorter. She's growing up so fast and we just can't get enough of her!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-23T21:26:00.017-07:00

Andrew and I had a great Valentine's Day this year! Friday night, the 12th, I had gone to a shower for my cousin's fiancee, and when I got home, this is what I found....

Gorgeous, aren't they!?!

He put these little sticky hearts all over the mirror in our room, on my side of the headboard, and all

over the bathroom mirror too. Isn't he so cute?

Yummy chocolates and the little pillow and blanket were waiting for me as well! The hat he picked up for himself while he was at the store. :)

I sure love this crazy Valentine of mine! Happy Valentine's Day honey!

Our Little Genius in the Making

2010-01-22T23:15:00.003-07:00

Family Reunion

2010-01-22T22:34:00.004-07:00

The week after Christmas my family was able to get together at a Lodge in St. Anthony, Idaho. Courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law, Devin and Emily. It was lots of fun to be able to just hang out and spend time with the family. Though we really missed my sister, Robyn (she wasn't able to make it out from Ohio because of the bad weather), everyone else was able to make it. It was such a fun place, for the kids especially because of all the fun, cool, kid-friendly things they had there. Although little do the kids know that this is what the adults do as soon as they're in bed....

Thank you Devin and Emily for providing such an amazing place for the family to be together. It was fun spending time with you, and we miss you!

Sleeping Like a Baby

2010-01-22T22:20:00.010-07:00

Sometimes, I really wish I could sleep as well and as easily as a baby....

Although I missed the best picture of all when she was falling asleep while we were feeding her cereal. Her head kept falling down to lean on the side of the Bumbo chair. It was hilarious! Too bad I missed pictures of that one, but Daphne sure does sleep in the cutest positions!

More Laughing

2010-01-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

I got some more of Daphne's cute laugh on video. Andrew and I love to make her laugh, and it's getting easier and easier to hear her giggle these days!

Solid Foods

2010-01-20T00:26:00.003-07:00

We started feeding Daphne rice cereal a few days before Christmas. She was very cute trying to eat it and made some really funny faces. It took a bit, but she has been doing really well with eating it. We're going to start feeding her some more food starting tomorrow. I'm excited to see all the faces she makes as she tries new food! We did get her first try of the cereal on video, but it's too long to post here. I'll just have to leave you with this cute picture of her before we started feeding her.

Temple Square

2010-01-19T22:30:00.004-07:00

After the annual Hendriksen Christmas Eve party this past Christmas, we went to Temple Square with some of my family to see the lights. It was so fun to see the way that Daphne reacted to all of the lights everywhere. Even though it was cold outside, she was excited to be there. We didn't get to stay long before the lights got turned off, but we were able to get a few shots in.

Catch up time!

2010-01-04T23:48:00.004-07:00

You'll have to forgive me for all the delayed posts, but I'm trying to get caught up on here with everything that has been going on with us in the past few weeks! It's so hard to keep caught up with everything, but hopefully I can get everything posted that I want to soon.

Family Pictures

2010-01-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

Way back in November, my sister, Rosie, and I decided that we both needed to get family pictures taken. We wanted to take them outside, and did so just in time as it snowed the next day. We went down to the River Woods Mall area and took pictures for each other. Poor little Daphne was freezing to death out there, so she was not happy for any of the pictures. But I think they still turned out pretty well. Andrew and I meant to clean them up and get some copies of them for our families for Christmas, but we didn't ever quite get around to it. Sorry! Maybe we can still do that sometime soon. But here's a little preview of our family photo shoot.

And just to leave you all with an actual smiling picture of Daphne....

Four Month Checkup

2009-12-23T17:13:00.004-07:00

My baby is already four months old! So weird. Time goes by so fast! We had her checkup last Friday and things are going well with her. Besides her weight...she's developing perfectly. She's in the 50th percentile for her height and her head circumference, but she's not even on the charts for her weight. She's only 9 lbs 9 oz. I totally thought she was at least 10 lbs, but apparently not. We're going to start feeding her rice cereal now though, and hopefully she'll gain more weight. Isn't she adorable though? She rolled over for the first time yesterday!! I was so excited about it. She's growing up too fast! Here she is in her beautiful dress her Grandma Green gave her as an early Christmas present.

Never Be The Same Again

2009-11-13T13:00:00.005-07:00

Okay, so I've been promising Charlotte for months that I would contribute to the family blog. Unfortunately, my mind set takes the thing that I feel has the most priority and helps me focus on that first. I find it sad to say that, at times, well... I guess all the time up until now, entertainment has taken a slightly higher priority than blogging. Finally my school work has turned into larger, slower, developed projects and I can do other smaller projects on the side like writing here.

I know that Charlotte likes to talk about our darling girl, Daphne, all the time and I intend to let her announce every sweet little giggle, sigh, and mumble amongst other things that our precious does. However, I need to talk about her just this once so you know that the way that I see things may differ slightly from Charlotte's view.

It is important when dealing with small children to keep in mind that they don't fully control every action they take. In fact their actions become all the more amusing when you remember that they don't really have control. I absolutely love to play with Daphne: and although I may feel MY personal bubble is shattered when people get too close to me, I get the feeling that she enjoys how close we get to her. Regardless of the way she may really feel about the invasion of her privacy, caution must be taken when approaching her. Just yesterday she had been sitting in her car seat and as I came in close to her face she kicked me in my Adams Apple. Surprised and a little amused I coughed, then laughed, and moved in close again. Once again her foot met my neck, and so it did the third time as well. On my fourth decent, I grabbed her foot and moved it aside, and I thought that I noticed a hint of frustration in Daphne's eyes.

Daphne's strange reflexes don't stop with just me. Last night Charlotte and I held Daphne between us, and as I was playing with her she reached out and honked my nose. Charlotte loved that and laughed for a good two minutes over it. Then, still laughing, she reached over to give Daphne a kiss on the head, only to have a tiny fist backhand her in the face. It made a lovely "thock" noise which I then laughed at. So apparently they are teaching self defense in the pre-existence now. Either that or my martial arts training has been passed on genetically. Expecting parents be on your guard.

Alright, I really set out in this post to talk about the way things are the first time that we see them, how others change them and in turn change our perceptions, and how we will see the same event, dialogue or image in the future. I have three experiences to explain what I mean.

The first two being almost the same experience. I've had the pleasure of watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and poured meticulously over its cinematic beauty. It is a masterpiece. All of it has been turned into one big joke after another. When I was dating Charlotte, I had the opportunity to meet one of her friends, Tom. Tom has done some film and editing on a personal level and I like most of what he has made. One of his productions showed the mirror scene in the Fellowship movie where Galadriel tells Frodo to look into the mirror, and as he looks in he sees clips from past seasons of American Idol. Still afraid of what he sees Frodo falls back to get away from these terrible images. I loved it.

The second experience is mostly from the Two Towers movie and can be found on YouTube as "taking the Hobbits to Isengard" where lines from the movie are arranged to a bad rendition of the movie's main musical theme. Its an addicting clip, I don't recommend watching it with sharp objects laying around. I'm trying to get it out of my head right now.

The third comes from an assignment I had in my storyboarding class. We were asked to watch some lectures online @ Ted.com. Ted is full of great lectures and inspirational talks by people who have made breakthroughs in their field of expertise. If you like TV I recommend listening to the one by JJ Abrams. The one I need to talk about comes from Sir Ken Robinson, who is British and an expert on creativity. He says a lot of interesting things about how most education systems squander the creativity of the children in school. In most cases, children will say what they think is right until they start to fear being wrong. Specifically, he talks about a Nativity play that his son was in where the wise men spoke out of the order we all think is most common when retelling the Nativity story. The first wise man stepped forward with his gift and said, "I bring you gold." The second did the same and said "I bring you myrrh." The third then came forward and said, "Frank sent this!"

Well Charlotte and I are still laughing over that one, and we agree in all three cases that we will never see the Lord of the Rings Trilogy or hear a Nativity play where we won't think of it the new way that we've heard it and roll over laughing. Its a curse that we may never take anything seriously again, but a blessing that we are able to laugh more.

I think that this is more than a good sized post, considering I haven't written anything up to this point. So I'll leave you with these nuggets and hope you all find new and interesting ways to see things without losing the original meaning and emotion. Bye.

Just Chillin

2009-11-07T18:15:00.006-07:00

I love how chill Daphne always is! I take her to work with me when I go in for a few hours three days a week, and she's usually so good while we're there at work!

Chilling on Daddy's lap while he's working

She woke up from her nap and was just hanging out in her bed. I love how she entertains herself while she's laying there! She really is just the best baby!

She is cute while she's sleeping too, so I wanted to take this picture. She has started this past week sleeping through the night! She's done it four times this week, and I am loving getting more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep at a time!

First Laugh

2009-11-07T17:54:00.003-07:00

Okay, yes...I have turned into one of those moms who only blogs about my baby. I can't help it! Besides the fact that I spend all my time with her, she's just so dang cute! She just laughed for the first time Sunday night. She's actually laughed in her sleep before, but this was the first time while she's been awake. I missed her first really cute laugh in this video, but this is what she was doing after that first laugh. Still very cute! (Sorry it's so dark. It wasn't that dark on my camera or on the computer before...not sure why it is so dark here...)

Halloween

2009-11-01T14:47:00.009-07:00

For Halloween this year Daphne had a couple different outfits. At work on Friday, we decided to dress her up in the little ghost onesie we got from her Aunt Jordan. She got to be dressed up alongside her daddy, Mr. Incredible.

On Halloween, it's my sister, Kristen's birthday, so we went and had dinner at my parent's and hung out there watching a movie. Happy Birthday Kristen! We started Daphne out wearing a little pumpkin-type Halloween outfit Andrew's mom got for us a few months ago. It says "Baby's First Trick-or-Treat" on it.

Doesn't she have the cutest dimples ever?!

A fun family picture

After that outfit, we changed her again into a Minnie Mouse outfit that my sister, Rosie, gave us.

Dressed up again with daddy, this time he's Stitch.

It was a fun night, and we had fun dressing up our darling little girl, although next year I think we'll be a little more adventurous with her costume.

Dancing Daddy

2009-10-29T14:19:00.004-06:00

Daphne just loves her daddy. She'll just watch him and smile at him all the time. I have to work for the smiles and attention, but she just gives them to Andrew freely. I just thought it was so cute how she was just watching him, I had to take a video of it. There was another night when Andrew was dancing around with her, it was so cute!! Just makes me fall in love with him all over again seeing how cute he is with her. So here is the video. Enjoy!

First Snow

2009-10-27T14:06:00.002-06:00

Well Daphne had her first snow today. She just looked so cute dressed up in her jacket and mittens and shoes that I had to take a picture. Yay for firsts!

Two Months

2009-10-22T00:12:00.010-06:00

Well here October is already almost over and I still haven't written a blog post this month. I'm horrible at this multi-tasking thing with a baby! I love to just hold Daphne all day long though. Even the days when I go to work, I'm holding her in the sling that my fabulous sister, Rosie, made for me most of the time. So here I am, now that Daphne is just over two months old, finally writing some more. I really don't have too much to write here, except about my adorable baby girl. She really is my life now, as I'm sure most of you moms can relate to. We had her two-month wellness check at the doctor's last Friday. She is 22 inches long, but she only weighs 8 lbs. 14 oz. now, so she really hasn't gained a whole lot. The doctor is not so happy with me about that one. I just don't get it though, cause she seems to be satisfied when I feed her. She doesn't seem to be super hungry all the time. She just isn't gaining a whole lot of weight either. Anyone out there have any advice for me on how to build up more milk or anything though? Cause the doctor wanted me to pump to see how much I've been getting..and that hasn't really worked out so well for me. Apparently I'm really not producing enough, but she still seems to be satisfied with what I am producing. It's just turning out to be super frustrating to me...so any advice any of you have about that would be helpful. Here are some updated pictures of my little princess. She is just the cutest baby in the world! How could you not want to spend all your time with this cutie?!

She has dimples and everything. And she is still such a good baby. She makes being a parent easy! I love how she will interact with Andrew and me now. She coos and reacts to peek-a-boo, and likes to be read and sung to, and just has the cutest smile ever! (Sorry, I couldn't decide which picture I thought was cutest, so I just had to post a bunch. :) ) We are so in love with her!

She knows and loves her Daddy. These were all taken while he was getting her to smile....

Daphne Helen Green

2009-09-12T18:29:00.014-06:00

Well for all those that have been waiting to see pictures of my beautiful baby girl, I'm really sorry for how long it's taken me to finally post some on here. I'll start out with the picture of her that they took at the hospital the day she was born. Isn't she adorable? She's already lost some of the chubbiness of her cheeks, and I can't believe she's already four weeks old today!

I'll briefly tell of my birthing experience with her...mostly just for me so I have recorded what happened. I was due on the 6th of August, but at my doctor's visit that day I hadn't made any progress really from the previous week's visit. As you can tell from my post that day, I was very frustrated and depressed about this. Partly because I had lots of people tell me either that they thought I would come early, or they were telling me about how they or their spouse came early. I just wanted that to be me too. I was so done being pregnant! Mostly I was upset though because Andrew's parents and sister were going out of town two days after I was due and they were going to be gone for a week. I was sad that they were not going to be able to see their grandchild/niece for a week after she was born...from when I was hoping that she'd be born anyway. Then four days after I was due, my sister, Robyn, and her family who had been in town from Ohio left and went home. I was sad that they too were going to miss the birth of my baby. She just didn't want to come yet. Well I had a doctor's appointment a week after my due date, and the doctor decided that I would be induced the next morning. He sent me into the hospital that night for them to apply some gel on me to make me more effaced. I had to go in twice that night for them to give me the gel, and both times I had to lay flat on my back for about an hour so that my body had time to absorb the gel. The next morning when I went into the hospital to be induced, they checked me to see how far I was dilated. The nurse stretched me to be dilated to a 3...and after 8 hours of pitocin and two doses of this other stuff they gave me after the pitocin wasn't working and having contractions with all of that stuff, I was still only dilated to a 3. We had gone into the hospital at 6:30 Friday morning, and by the time we were done with all of that it was about 3am on Saturday. I was exhausted, having only slept about half an hour all day, being allowed to eat only a few clear liquid things, and having contractions all day long. The doctor was going to have the nurse administer another dose of the second medicine they were trying to get me to progress, when I told her that I just couldn't take any more. She went and got the doctor and we discussed all of my options. I told him that even if they would be able to finally get me dilated to a 10, I didn't think I would even have the strength to push out the baby, so after talking it over with Andrew, we decided that the best thing to do at that point would be for me to get a c-section. After that was decided, everything happened really quickly. They got me all prepped, then took me into the operating room where they gave me an epidural, then they brought Andrew in and our baby girl was born at 5:48am Saturday morning, August 15th.

I've been really blessed to be able to heal really quickly from having the c-section. I've never done it the other way, so I don't know how quickly I would heal from that, but after just about a week, I barely even noticed my incision. And Daphne is such a good baby she makes it easy to be a parent. She just has us wrapped around her long, perfect little fingers. She's so fun, and Andrew and I feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Now that I'm finally caught up with posting about this, maybe I'll catch up on the other things that happened just before she was born. Until then, here are just a few of the many pictures that have been taken of our little Daphne. Enjoy! :)

Sorry this one is a bit blurry...I took it with my phone, but I love this picture of Andrew and Daphne

After her baby blessing in the beautiful dress Andrew's mom made for her

I love her face in this one

With her namesake, Grandma Hill

Our cute little family

Her cute little shoes and socks under her blessing dress

Sleeping on her grandma's shoulder at the luncheon after her blessing. Such a hard day for her!

She was smiling a lot right before I took this picture, but I just missed it. I know she's really too young to be smiling at us, but she totally does already. It just melts my heart. So cute!

One of her favorite sleeping positions

40 Weeks and No Baby :(

2009-08-06T11:03:00.003-06:00

Well I had my 40 week checkup today--on my due date. Apparently this baby is really just loving where she's at and doesn't want to be born yet. I'm still only dilated to a 1 (where I've been for 3 weeks already.) I'm more effaced than I was before, but baby is still floating up too high. She's a little lower than she was last week, but still not low enough. I'm so depressed about it all, especially since most people I've talked to lately have either been telling me that I'll have the baby early, or they've talked about their babies that they've had early. How come everyone gets to have their babies early but me?! I just don't love that. I'm so ready to be done being pregnant! I just burst into tears at the doctor's office when he said that I'm still just dilated to a 1. I really thought I'd be a little further along than that. Also he won't induce me until I'm 10 days past my due date...so I could be pregnant for 10 more days still. I'm really not happy about that. I had a couple of contractions yesterday that were about 20 minutes apart, but then they just stopped. :( I think it's starting to feel pretty official...this baby is never going to come!

Pampering Time

2009-07-28T16:22:00.006-06:00

Well it's getting to be crunch time for getting things done before the baby gets here! I made a list of everything I want to get done before she comes. Most of the list is filled with the normal things you would expect--build the crib, install the car seat, pack the hospital bag....stuff like that. But I decided to include some other things on this to-do list that are purely for my own enjoyment as well. I realize that my life is going to be drastically different after I have this baby, so I want to enjoy my last few weeks (well...days now...) of not having a baby to take with me everywhere I go, or worrying about getting a baby-sitter. So I also added getting a pedicure and going to see the new Harry Potter movie--two things I wanted to do sometime before the baby was born. Well last Saturday I was able to cross both of those things off my list. I went with my sister, Kristen, and friend, Karen, to get a pedicure. It was so nice to just relax and have someone take care of my toes that I can no longer reach. And they're so cute now! :) Then Kristen, Andrew and I got food at Five Guys Burgers and Fries--a semi-new burger joint in Orem that we've all wanted to try out since it opened. (Very good, by the way.) Following that, the three of us went to see the new Harry Potter movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly, even though it was really hard to sit through the whole thing in the theater. Good thing no one can tell that you're fidgeting a lot in the dark theater. It was a nice relaxing day, after which Andrew set up the crib and we got things mostly organized for the "nursery" we'll have. So it was a fun day AND we got something accomplished as well. I was so happy to be able to cross so many things off of our to-do list. I totally recommend everyone taking a day off (or at least half of a day) and doing something just for you! It's very rejuvenating and makes it easier to deal with the stresses of life. Andrew and I pretty much have things set up for the arrival of our newest family member now, and are getting very anxious for her arrival. Me especially as I can't sleep very well anymore and am mostly uncomfortable a good majority of the time. Pregnancy is so much fun. :)

Fourth of July

2009-07-17T16:41:00.005-06:00

I realize that I'm about two weeks late in posting this, but I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July! Andrew and I were able to celebrate it two days in a row with both of our families. Friday night my mom's family got together for dinner. My uncle Kent just finished with his three years being a mission president for the Tulsa, OK mission, so we were able to see him and my aunt Joyce again! It was so nice to catch up with them, and Andrew got to meet uncle Kent for the first time! (We started dating after they left on their mission.) It was a nice, relaxing evening with the family. Saturday, the 4th, we had a nice dinner with Andrew's family and some family friends, the Jacksons, at the park. We had lots of yummy food and it was fun watching the kids play around there, especially our niece, Eliana. Our baby will be born almost exactly one year after she was, and I love being able to see where our baby will be one year from now. I love how my baby reacts to sound already too. Eliana dropped some keys onto the park bench a couple of times and it was pretty loud. My baby jumped every time. I guess she doesn't like loud noises. :) I love feeling her move around though. It's very comforting. Sorry, tangent. :) Anyway, that night we went with Andrew's parents to Pleasant Grove to watch the fireworks show they do there. We met up with his aunt and uncle and some cousins there, and we loved watching the fireworks! I don't know what it is about colored bits of fire up in the air that are so mezmerizing, but I sure love them!

The family entertaining themselves before the fireworks

Andrew and me dressed in out red, white and blue. That's his cousin peeking up behind us. :)

Happy (very late) Fourth of July!! I guess by now this can count for Happy Pioneer Day too, right? :)

Baby Showers

2009-07-17T15:55:00.007-06:00

Well it's been forever since I've written anything here. Mostly it's cause I'm lazy, but also because I don't have a lot to say. Not a whole lot has been going on with me besides getting ready for the baby lately. I'm due in just under 3 weeks now and it's coming fast! I can't wait till she gets here, but we still have plenty to get done before she comes, so it's good that we still have a little bit of time.

I've had two baby showers so far, and I have one more on August 1st. As long as the baby hasn't come by then. :) Both showers were lots of fun though, and I'm amazed at the generosity of everyone! I have the best family and friends! I actually forgot to take any pictures at my shower my friend threw me, but I do have some from my Hill family shower, so I'll share those.

Some cute bibs my cousin made for me

Present my cute sister-in-law sent for me even though she couldn't make it. Thanks Jordan!

Present from Rosie and Julia.

Julia and Mierae

Robyn and Jolie--I was glad that Robyn was able to make it. They got to Utah just in time to come to the shower. And I love Jolie's little half smile here. :)

Thank you so much to everyone who came to one or both of these showers! I'm excited for the Hendriksen family shower I have coming up too. I just want to say an early thank you to all of you who are throwing it and will be coming! Andrew and I truly appreciate all the love and support shown to us by everyone. We love you!

Choir Goes Down a Storm

2009-06-16T17:48:00.004-06:00

Andrew found this video online and shared it with me. I thought it was cool so I'm sharing it with all of you too. :) No idea who this choir is, but they're pretty good. We do the storm thing they do in nursery with the kids and they love it. And I love the song they sing. So enjoy!

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2009-06-12T17:13:00.006-06:00

You know those days when everything just seems to go wrong? Yesterday was just one of those days for me. I know I should be so extremely excited at this point in time....just 8 weeks left till my baby's due!!! And I am so excited about that. Work was pretty normal, but I was not in a good mood, so all the normal little annoyances that happen at work I took pretty hard yesterday. I started crying at least twice at work. All this hormone stuff is so much fun! :) I had a terrible headache, and just my luck, all the Tylenol we had at work was gone. I haven't yet stocked any in my purse just in case I need it, so I just had to live with it until I went home after 6. I had a doctor's appointment which should have been just a really quick check-up. Well, it was a quick check-up when we finally made it into the back...but we had to wait in the waiting room for almost 45 minutes! Then my normal nurse had called in sick for the day. Not really a problem, but it was just another thing that threw me off yesterday. And the doctor said I'm starting to get carpel tunnel. Apparently it's something some pregnant women get....and hopefully it'll go away after the baby is born. My hands have just been bugging me for a little while now. My fingers will go numb, and I can't grip things very well with my right thumb anymore. It hasn't become a huge problem yet, just an annoyance so far. Hopefully it doesn't get any worse! And I've decided that, at least for me, headaches cause me to be totally irrational and over-sensitive about everything. The really bad ones at least. Hooray for Tylenol! I took two as soon as I got home, and the world seemed to be a better place. After that and a bowl of ice cream of course. :) Here's hoping for less days like this for everyone!

Andrew's Birthday Celebration Weekend

2009-05-26T12:04:00.011-06:00

Andrew's actual birthday was on Friday, the 22nd. He was lucky and only had a three hour work day on Friday, then we had a nice long weekend to celebrate! Friday night we had dinner at his parent's which was a lot of fun. Good food, good company, and little Eliana, our niece, there for good entertainment. :) I love how the kids end up being the entertainment for everyone. After staying a while and talking with his parents, we stopped by my parent's house to see my sister and brother-in-law who are in town for the week. Eric was already asleep by the time we got there, but we got to visit with Robyn for a bit along with Kristen, Melodie, and my parents. Then we went home and watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop that we got from redbox. It was actually pretty funny; we both enjoyed it. The next day we got to sleep in really late, then we got up, got ready and went to get tickets for Star Trek. We had a little time to do some shopping before the movie started, then we went and enjoyed this new movie. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen it...but can I just tell you that the opening scene is not good for a pregnant lady to watch. There is a lady having a baby on this ship that is getting attacked, so everyone aborts ship except her husband who is the captain. He stays to make sure everyone can get away, and then he ends up dying on the ship right after he hears his son cry for the first time. I was totally bawling!! Never thought a Star Trek movie would make me bawl. :) So after that emotional roller coaster...(really good movie, even for me after that first scene...fyi) we went back to my parents so we could say hi to Robyn, Eric, Mierae and Jolie since we only got to see Robyn the night before. We stayed there for a little bit, then we ended up going to Goodwood for dinner. It was yummy. Afterwards we went home, and Andrew finally put together the new dresser we bought for him at Ikea a few weeks ago. The whole process took a lot longer than either of us thought it would, but it was worth it in the end for all the extra drawer space he now has. Sunday, after nursery was over, was nice and relaxing. We took an extra long nap, and had dinner at his parent's, then spent a little bit more time at my parent's again with everyone. Monday we got to sleep in, then we actually got some stuff accomplished--some laundry, reorganized the pantry which I've wanted to get done for a long time, and I swept and mopped the whole kitchen area. Then we went to the store to get some things we were out of, and then off to Rosie's and Derek's for our annual Memorial Day bbq. We also were celebrating Andrew's birthday. Yay for family bbqs! It was a lot of fun and such a beautiful day! Then back at home we got to eat lots of watermelon we bought that day! I just love watermelon!! And we watched X-Men. Lots of movies, lots of food, and lots of time with family. What a great weekend. :) Happy Birthday Andrew! I love you tons!!

Andrew with his cake

Right after he blew out the candles. He was too fast for me!

Opening presents

The two of us. First real belly shot I've taken...almost 30 weeks here. Just 10 weeks left!!

Popsicles

2009-05-26T11:50:00.006-06:00

Aren't popsicles the best things ever invented? Now that the days are getting warmer, I just love to lay on my bed with the fan blowing on me while eating a popsicle. It doesn't get much better than that. Unless I'm sitting in my nice air-conditioned car with the ac turned all the way up blowing all around me....mmmm....so nice. I'm just wishing for cold weather again and vowing that I'll never have another summer baby. :)

At least popsicles give us nicely colored tongues and teeth...

Under 100 Days!!

2009-04-29T14:24:00.002-06:00

As of today I have less than 100 days before the baby is due! I like having a countdown on here to keep track for me. And for some reason 99 days left just sounds like less time to me than saying I'm 26 weeks along. This second trimester has been flying by though! In just another week I'll be in my third trimester. It's crazy how I felt like August would never come, and now it seems not too far away. Kind of freaks me out a little, but I'm super excited! Hopefully the summer will pass by quickly! Not too excited for all that heat...and I can't wait to see what this little girl looks like! She's moving around so much already, and I can tell she's getting bigger and stronger every day! It's very comforting to feel her moving around. We bought a crib and a changing table from IKEA last weekend. I'll have to take pictures when we finally get them put up. I just worry now about getting everything that we need to for her. I don't even know what all we should get. Anyone have any checklists of baby things to get? We still need to register for baby showers and stuff, so it would be nice to know what all we're going to need. I just don't want to forget anything! I've looked at a few checklists online, but any suggestions from you moms out there? Must-have things for your baby? First time mom needs some help. :)

An Easter....Mouse?

2009-04-21T16:27:00.005-06:00

On Easter Sunday Andrew and I walked into the nursery room in our church to get things ready and set up for the kids as usual. Our nursery leader was out of town that week, so we were in charge. We opened up the cupboard that held our snacks and supplies. The paper towels we had sitting on top of the bin with the snacks were strangely shredded...Then we noticed inside that bin the pack of saltine crackers we had in there was gnawed off on one of the corners. The little bag of mini candy bars had been chewed into and some of the candy bars--still in their wrappings--had been chewed into as well. We had an open box of cheez-its with a sealed bag...now there was a hole at the bottom with obviously nibbled on cheez-its. Then, the dead give-away....mouse droppings all over the bottom of that same bin that our snacks had been in. Finally, I saw something moving on one of the bottom shelves in the cupboard quickly moving to the shelves above it. Then on the very shelf where we had moved the snack bin from, out came a mouse. That's right, we had a mouse visiting our nursery that day. It stayed up on that shelf for about a minute, I think trying to figure out where it's new home had disappeared to. Then it crawled down behind the books we had in there and I didn't see it again. Now to Devin and Emily, this means nothing I'm sure, in light of their fun experiences with mice all over their house. (Just another reason Africa would not be the place for me! :) ) But for the parents of some of our nursery kids, it was just too much to handle. We tried to keep the whole thing quiet, knowing how some of the parents would overreact to this knowledge. But when Andrew went and got some of the men in the ward to help get rid of it, news spread quickly. Apparently it was the talk of Relief Society that day. Some of the parents took their kids home, while others would not let them back in the room we adjacent to where the mouse was, even with the curtain closed. I ended up taking the kids for a walk around the halls of the church with the help of some of the parents, then in to play in another room with some toys brought from home by the helper we had in there with us that day. Andrew stayed with the five men in the nursery room that had all come to try to catch the mouse. None of them ever saw the mouse, and the traps we left in there after church were empty this past Sunday. So no one knows what happened to our quiet little church mouse. Unfortunately I was not in a state of mind to take pictures as proof of this whole experience. But, needless to say, it was an interesting day in nursery that I hope we never get to repeat!

One Year Ago....

2009-04-03T16:46:00.016-06:00

(Plus a week.....) I've never written down anything about our wedding day before. So I decided that it would be appropriate to post something here in honor of our anniversary so that I can remember what happened that day. Sorry it is so long! But this is mostly just a record for me, so feel free to skip it. :)

Knowing that I am definitely not a morning person, and also realizing the extra time it would take me to get ready the morning of my wedding, I decided it would be a good idea to schedule the wedding as late as possible while still leaving time for the luncheon and reception the same day. The wedding was scheduled for 11 am at the Mt. Timpanogos temple, meaning that the guests had to arrive by 10:30, and Andrew and I by 10....apparently not quite late enough for me. So...

March 27th, 2008

I woke up that morning thinking I would have plenty of time to get ready, but instead was running late, as usual. My friend, Sue, did my hair for me that morning after I had showered and done my make up, and it took longer than I was expecting. By the time we were done, it was already about quarter to ten. I still had to get dressed and double check and make sure I had everything! Andrew had gone with his parents to the temple, and I rode over with my mom. Mom dropped me off at the front doors of the temple and went to park. I was extremely grateful for that, not only since I was so late already, but because it was incredibly windy outside and it was whipping my hair all over already! I didn't want to have it all messed up before I even got inside the temple! :) I got inside and saw Andrew and his parents. Andrew had called me just before we drove up to the temple to make sure I was okay and find out where I was. I guess the temple worker was worried about me getting cold feet, but Andrew knew I was coming. It was so nice once we were finally at the temple to slow down and be able to enjoy the ceremony! We had lots of family and friends there to support us which we were both so grateful for. It was nice to be surrounded by people that love us and were happy for us. It's still weird to me how you're not married one minute, and the next you are. Doesn't feel real at the time at all! But I was so grateful to know that after that I would get to be with Andrew forever.

Coming out of the temple. Oh my gosh, we're married!! Crazy!! :)

So after we came out of the temple, we did a ton of picture taking! Usually a really good thing--especially for your wedding, you want to have lots of good pictures and memories of the day. The only problem with that this day--it was FREEZING!! Not only was it still incredibly windy, but it felt like winter still. Don't let the sunny pictures deceive you.

I love having pictures from the wedding so I can remember who was there! All the people we saw that day are now just a blur, so I still have pictures for me now to prove who was there. Tiny picture, but this is all the people who were at the temple with us. We love you all!! Thanks for your support!

The Greens and the Hendriksens

About the time we were finished taking pictures it started snowing. Everyone had abandoned us long before this to get out of the cold, so it was just Andrew and me and our photographer. My mom had stayed behind thankfully to help me change out of my dress before going to the luncheon, but she had to retire to the shelter of the temple. Andrew kept rubbing my arms to try to get some warmth back into them.

My veil kept flying up like this in all the wind. It eventually flew off my head and Andrew had to run catch it!

We got some great shots on the grass...the only problem was my heels kept sinking down into the very soft soil! So that was fun. At least you can't tell in the pictures.

The wind did make for some nice pictures with my veil flying just a little away from me. A swept-away look. :)

Finally we were done, just in time to get out of the snow! We both got changed and headed to Andrew's parent's church where we were having our luncheon. Andrew's mom had made tons of yummy food for us all. It was fabulous as we were both starving! While we were eating we watched our wedding video my brother had so nicely put together for us. It's lots of fun watching a montage of pictures of the two of you set to music. I don't know who started that trend, but I'm a fan. :) My sister, Melodie, then said some stuff about me, then Andrew's dad some stuff about him. People should have days like this more often where people just boost your ego all day long. :) Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the luncheon since the photographer wasn't there, and I didn't take any of my own pictures all day. So if anyone has pictures from this they'd like to share with me, that would be much appreciated!

When the luncheon was all over, we both had to go to our parent's houses to finish up packing for our honeymoon so we could just take off as soon as the reception was over. Andrew dropped me off at my parents where I was frantically searching for everything I needed to take, trying my best to not forget anything. I was the only one at home as everyone else was over at the church getting ready for the reception. I was looking for a power cord for the car that I wanted to take with me, but I had no idea where it was! I called my brother, Quentin, hoping that he would have some idea where to look. While I was on the phone with him, my sister, Melodie, who knew I was home as she was taking off when I arrived home, called on the other line. She had forgotten a few things and wanted me to bring them with me to the church. Then the home phone rang. It was my sister, Robyn, calling to see if she was needed over at the church or what she needed to bring. Then the other line rang on the home phone. It was my sister, Kristen, who forgot her shirt for the reception and wanted me to bring it with me. I had to laugh that I had four people on the phone at the same time--all while I was trying to quickly pack for my honeymoon so I could hurry over to get pictures before my reception! Feeling a little too stressed about trying to worry about bringing anything else over to the church besides what I needed, I told Kristen that she should just come back home and get her shirt, then she could pick up what Mel needed too. That way I could just focus on me. :) I quickly got off the phone with all four people, and finished getting my stuff together just in time for Andrew to pick me up and load my stuff into the car. Then we were off to the reception.

I had a fun time trying to hurry and get ready in the bathroom at the church so we could get pictures taken. My sister, Rosie, re-curled my hair for me while my other sisters and my mom were finishing getting ready themselves.

We took lots more pictures before the reception started with both our families. I love seeing the progression of the pictures with all the little kids. It's funny to see where they're moving to in the pictures. Almost like a movie. :)

All the Hendriksen girls

All my crazy bridesmaids doing their Mission Impossible poses

My new sister in law, Jordan

The cultural hall at the church looked great! We had gone to the church and decorated the night before, and I was very pleased with the way the decorations turned out for the all the tables. We had yummy food there too (at least I'm told. We didn't actually get to eat any....we did end up taking some with us after the reception, but it's just never quite as good the next day.) We did the line at the reception just with Andrew and me and our parents. We didn't want to make anyone else suffer through that. We had a never-ending line all night! We were a little surprised at the number of people that showed up to support us! It was so good to see everyone there, even though we were exhausted by the end. Although the whole reception was supposed to last only until 9, that's actually when we got through the whole line of our admirers. :) So finally at 9 we were ready to cut the cake. I was starving by this time and had the worst headache! I just wanted to sleep!! But we had to finish up everything at the reception. So we cut the cake, I threw my bouquet, then we changed and left!

My beautiful cake that my friend, Kimmy, made for me. She's amazing!

Throwing the bouquet

Mellie caught it. She was SO excited! :)

Finally we were out of there. It was a really long day, but so much fun being with our family and friends all day! It was such a great start to the rest of our lives. Thanks to everyone for making it so special for us! We love you all!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-03-30T13:18:00.014-06:00

Our first anniversary was this past Friday, the 27th. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Kajsia, for covering for me at work, we were able to leave Thursday night to get away for the weekend. We went up to the condo my work owns near Park City--same place we went to the weekend after we got married. It was so beautiful up there with snow on the mountains, but surprisingly warm weather with the snow all around. We went to Park City on Friday and bought some cute baby clothes!! And also a few little things for ourselves. We were able to rest and relax and not worry about anything all weekend long! It was a great chance to go through names for the baby (still haven't picked one, but we've narrowed down our huge list!), spend a little time in the hot tub (just a minute for me...I know I'm not supposed to with the baby), and practice our culinary skills as we made fun meals for ourselves. I'm so grateful for my amazing husband and all that he does for me! It was so fun to just be together for 3 whole days! So here are some pictures of our amazing weekend.

Hanging out on the couch

Crazy hubby opening the sparkly. Yummy!

Our yummy creations for dinner Friday and Saturday nights

Here's to one fabulous year! Happy Anniversary!

My hunky husband at the hot tub

In the hot tub--do you love our new sunglasses we got in Park City? We do. :)

Ahh....relaxing!!

Going through a baby book name

Just before we left. I look really tired for some reason...but I was actually very well rested! Maybe it's cause I wasn't wearing any makeup at all....

To my wonderful, amazing, kind, sweet and hottie husband! I love you!! The past year has been happier than I could have imagined. I'm so glad that I get to spend forever with you!

Pictures

2009-03-25T16:41:00.008-06:00

Here are the ultrasound pictures that I promised I would post. :) I'll let them speak for themselves since I can't really draw lines to show you what is what...we had to have it explained to us though. That is why I am not the ultrasound technician. :)

It's a girl! Her legs on the left side and little bum on the right.

Hand and feet--you can see the fingers and the toes

Lips and Nose--this one's really hard to make out, especially on here.

Profile shot--isn't she so cute already? :P

Profile shot #2

And face (I'm still not really sure how this is the face...)

So there you have it! It definitely is starting to be more and more real to me now that I'm going to have a baby! And now we have some pictures to prove it. :)

The results are in! It's a....

2009-03-24T16:20:00.004-06:00

...baby!!! No really...it is... :) Andrew and I were joking that that's really what we should just tell everyone, but I thought we would have some very upset people. So I'll tell you all...it's a GIRL!!! Andrew and I were totally convinced it was a boy, so we were both very surprised. She was not shy at all about showing us though, so they were very sure! :) I'm so extremely excited to be able to start buying cute little baby girl clothes! But most of all we're both very happy that the baby is healthy and that everything looks good! The ultrasound technician said that she couldn't see anything wrong at all. Yay!! Very relieving to hear that! And I'm almost 21 weeks now, so I'm just over halfway done with this pregnancy! It hasn't really felt like it's gone by fast...I feel like I've been pregnant forever!..but it is weird that I've got just a little less time left than I've gone through already. And now that I'm feeling better I'm thinking it'll go by pretty fast! I'll have to post the ultrasound pictures later when I can get them scanned cause I still haven't figured out how to use the one at work to scan my own things. For the record, on my poll we had 5 votes for boy and 4 votes for girl. So sorry for misleading you all. It was unintentional! :)

On an unrelated note...I just need to tell you all how much I LOVE strawberry cream slushes from Sonic!! I hadn't had one in quite a while, but I told Andrew that I'm going to be getting a lot of those during this summer! He just kind of laughed...but I'm really not kidding! Oh so yummy goodness!! So yep...go get one, or you can just bring me one instead! :)

Tagged--8 Things

2009-03-18T17:49:00.002-06:00

--By Laurel!

Little known facts about me...or maybe they're really well known facts. Who knows? So in no particular order for any of the 8 things in any category...

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
This is hard for me cause I'm such a tv addict and I love so many shows! But I'll give it a shot...:
1. Scrubs
2. Alias
3. Arrested Development
4. Buffy
5. The Office
6. Firefly
7. How I Met Your Mother
8. Gilmore Girls

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Slept in
2. Worked
3. Cleaned out the fridge--finally!
4. Made dinner with Andrew
5. Finished season 1 of Alias
6. Went on a walk with Andrew
7. Hung out with my parents, Mel, and Kristen while Andrew was at work
8. Started the movie "Around the World in 80 Days"--I had only seen about 10 minutes of it before, and now I've seen the first half. Pretty good so far...

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. My ultrasound--next Monday!!
2. Craving chocolate again
3. Going away with Andrew for our anniversary next weekend
4. Weekends and extra time I get to spend with Andrew
5. Sleeping in
6. Not feeling sick anymore--which is already starting to happen. Yay!!
7. Being a mom
8. Andrew finishing school

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Wingers
2. Kneaders
3. Sconecutter
4. Los Hermanos
5. Chile's--but really I just love the chips and salsa there
6. Wendy's
7. Tucanos
8. Costa Vida

8 THINGS ON MY WISH-LIST
1. For my pregnancy to go well and result in a healthy baby
2. Andrew to be able to find a new job
3. For the world to revolve around my schedule instead of everyone loving to get up so early in the mornings. I just don't get morning people... :)
4. My own condo/house...some place to live that I can call my own
5. Ice cream that tastes the same and is good for you
6. An end to my eczema and itchiness
7. To be a good mom
8. For people to think about others and stop just thinking about themselves

8 PEOPLE I TAG--if you want to....or anyone else that wants to be tagged...you're it! :)
1. Kristen
2. Jordan
3. Kimmy
4. Ashley
5. Amy
6. Melanie
7. Julianne
8. Mary

Giveaway

2009-03-13T15:35:00.003-06:00

Well my sister-in-law posted on her blog about a giveaway done by BabyLuxe{daily}. Thanks Jordan for the heads up! :) I'm new to all these sites about things for kids, but I guess they're a site for mom reviews? Something like that...Anyway, they're having a giveaway for a Baby Einstein adventure gym, so head on over to the site and enter if you want to.

Vote!

2009-03-02T17:29:00.003-07:00

Well I now have my ultrasound appointment set up, so I decided that it's time to set up a poll to see if you think I'm going to be having a boy or a girl. The appointment is 3 weeks from today, on the 23rd of this month. So everyone make sure to get your vote in before that! :)

The doctor's appointment went really well today. The shortest of them all so far. We only had to wait for the doctor for like 20 minutes instead of the 45-50 we had to wait last time. That was a definite plus. :) We listened to the heartbeat again--I just don't ever get tired of that! I feel relieved every time he finds it cause then I know my baby is okay! The doctor is guessing it's a boy...and Andrew has a feeling it'll be a boy too. What do YOU think? Some of my symptoms that might help you decide if you put any stock into Old Wives' Tales:

--baby has a slower heartbeat
--I crave fruit, but haven't craved chocolate or other sweets at all
--Andrew has not gained any weight
--I started experiencing morning sickness at about 6 weeks. I think that's early...
--my face has been breaking out
--my age+month of conception=even number

So there ya go...make a choice. :) We'll find out who's right in just a couple weeks!

Edited to add (just for you Robyn :) ) : Even though the doctor guessed this last time that it's a boy, he guessed girl the time before. And also, although boys tend to have slower heartbeats, he said that he has two girls who both had slower heartbeats. Just throwing that in the mix...

Sick Sick Sick!

2009-02-27T17:49:00.004-07:00

Well I was writing a whole story about how I've been so sick this week...but I decided that I didn't really want to post about all of it. So I will sum it all up by saying that just in case you were wondering, it's really no fun at all to have the flu on top of being pregnant. I'm sick if I eat cause I have the flu, I'm sick if I don't eat cause I'm pregnant...let's just say it's been a long week! And I'm so glad that my husband and my dad were able to give me a blessing Wednesday night, otherwise I don't think I would have made it into work at all this week!

On a happier note...I have my next doctor's appointment on Monday where we will get to schedule the ultrasound! Get ready to vote on whether you think we're going to have a boy or a girl! :)

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

2009-02-16T15:45:00.004-07:00

"We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots."

Just a sample of what's in store for you on this video. I SO agree with what this guy is saying. So thank you, Kajsia, for sharing it with me, and I hope you all love it like we do!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T15:28:00.005-07:00

Well I'm obviously two days late, but Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! I hope it was a great day for you all and that you got to be with the people that you love.

When I walked into our room Friday night after work, I found this: (sorry about the messy bed...that's all my crap I like to leave at the foot of the bed. :) )

And this cute little cow!

I didn't get a picture of them, but Andrew also got me some yummy desserts! Isn't he so cute?! He put it all out on Friday night so that I would be surprised since we got to spend the entire day on Saturday together! It was so nice! We got to sleep in really late, we made breakfast together, and went and rented some movies and stayed in watching movies all night! It was such a nice relaxing holiday! Thank you Andrew for making my life so special! I love you!

It's a bird...it's a plane...no...it's a....

2009-01-30T13:28:00.003-07:00

Baby! Yes, that's right, Andrew and I are going to have a baby! Most of you reading this probably already know, but I thought that now that the announcement is mostly out there for people to know that it's time I start posting on here about it. :) I was 13 weeks yesterday, so I'm almost in the second trimester. I'm due August 6th--really close to our nieces Julia and Eliana's birthdays (the 7th and the 4th), so maybe there will be some double birthdays going on. Someday I might post on here all the happenings up till now, mostly as a record for me. I was keeping a pregnancy journal for the first couple weeks, but now that I can talk to my family about it, I haven't written in it since then. Mostly I've just been feeling really tired and nauseous on and off again, and really really hungry! :) We made the announcement to our families on Christmas Day (8 weeks), but we've been pretty slow to tell anyone else since then. I have my second doctor's appointment on Monday, so we'll see how that goes. Until we get a picture of our baby (besides the one we got at 6 weeks that just looks like a little peanut...) this will have to do. I'm sure our baby will be cuter though. :) And hopefully now that I'm feeling a little better and might actually have some things to say now that I'm going to be talking about my baby, I'll actually post on here more than every 6 weeks.

Family Time!

2008-12-11T10:35:00.009-07:00

Well Robyn and her two girls are here! They got here Tuesday afternoon. We have all been so excited for them to come! Eric will be here joining them in just a few weeks, followed by Devin and Emily and their family! How fun Christmas time is with family! We'll only be missing Tamara and David and their family. We're sad they can't come, but they've already come out twice this year--for my wedding, and then for David's sister Annie's wedding. Ethan and Julia were so excited to have some cousins here to play with though, and they have been over at Grandma's a lot playing with Mierae and Jolie.

Ethan and Julia were reading Mierae some bedtime stories

And as soon as they saw the camera they all wanted to take a turn taking a picture. Here is Mierae's picture:

And Julia's:

And then Ethan wanted to take a picture of their feet:

After this, Ethan started playing the piano and then Mierae was dancing around the living room until she hit her head on the wooden legs of the chairs in there. Then it was time for bed. :)
Here is Ethan sitting at and playing the piano. He's getting so good!

And cute little Jolie the night after--just last night. All the kids kept laughing at her when she put this "hat" on, so she kept doing it. :) Isn't she adorable?! It's so great to have family in town!!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

2008-12-11T10:21:00.006-07:00

Well I decided that I really wanted to have a tree for Andrew and me on our first Christmas as a married couple. We don't really have anywhere to put a big tree (and I SO do not love fake trees....it has to be the real thing!) So instead I stole a little tree that we had sitting in a closet at work that I don't think has ever been used. It's just a little 3 foot tree, and Andrew and I decorated it with the lights that came with it, and then all the ornaments I've gotten through the years at the family ornament exchanges. I think it turned out very nice! So here's our first Christmas tree sitting on the desk in our room. It definitely makes it feel more like the Christmas season!

Kind of reminds me of this little tree.... :)

Merry Christmas everyone!! Just two weeks from today!!

Hospital time, again...

2008-12-01T17:52:00.003-07:00

Sick of my new posts yet? I told you I had to catch up!! :)

Well Andrew's dad is back in the hospital again as of yesterday. He went in the day before Thanksgiving because he was feeling some pressure in his chest that had moved around to his back. They did all sorts of tests and ended up putting in two stints and sent him home the morning of Thanksgiving. We were all hoping that would be the end of it, but we got a call from Andrew's mom yesterday afternoon telling us that he was back in the hospital. He was feeling pressure in his chest again, so they kept him overnight last night and they were going to do more of the same tests on him. We went to visit him last night and he was in good spirits. He said that, of course, when he got to the hospital he wasn't in much pain at all anymore. Hopefully they can do something so this doesn't keep happening and so that he can recover fully from his heart surgery! We haven't heard any more updates today, so not sure what's going on now, but any prayers on his behalf would be greatly appreciated! I'll update this when we hear something.

Presents already?!

2008-12-01T17:46:00.003-07:00

That's right...Andrew and I decided to buy ourselves an early Christmas present this year. We couldn't pass up the good deal on this huge tv! So we bought it...isn't it so pretty!?! :) We love it. It's a 32 inch HDTV. That's not what we watch on it, by the way...in case you were confused about that picture. We watch things that are much more entertaining than sailboat races...not that there's anything wrong with that. If you're into that sort of thing... :) So yeah...be jealous...

Salt Lake City

2008-12-01T17:33:00.004-07:00

Andrew and I got the chance to go to my friend's sealing in the Salt Lake Temple last Saturday night. I had never been in the Salt Lake Temple before, and it just gorgeous! If you get the chance, you should definitely go sometime! We were stressed out on the way there because we left later than we had planned and of course traffic was bad in Salt Lake! There aren't any left turn arrows where we wanted to turn left, so it took forever to park! But we finally make it to the temple and weren't even late for the sealing! :) We didn't get to stay after to take any pictures cause Andrew had to get back to work, but we did take a few pictures on our way back to the car of the two of us. I just love seeing all the lights on Temple Square! We didn't get to see many since we were in such a hurry, but we decided we definitely need to go back to see the lights sometime this month. Anyone want to come? :)

You can barely make out the Salt Lake Temple behind us here

Kajsia's Wedding!!

2008-12-01T17:02:00.014-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I last posted...I would say I've been busy, but that's not exactly true. I've just been reading instead of posting on here. :) Now it's time to do some catching up on what Andrew and I have been up to.

On Thursday, November 20th, one of my best friends, Kajsia, got married. Normally if I were going to someone's wedding and luncheon and reception, I would take at least most of the day off of work. Since it was Kajsia's wedding though, that wasn't really possible since she's really the only one that could cover for me. We're the two receptionists at Infotrax, and if one of us isn't here, the other one has to be. Now luckily Kristen has been trained to answer the phones so she could cover the desk for me so I could leave for an hour here and there to go to Kajsia's luncheon and wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at the Bungalow in PG. So now I will post some pictures of her wedding. Obviously I'm not the best photographer and had a really hard time getting a good picture during the ceremony and stuff. These are the best ones I got...

Obviously this one was after the ceremony...Cesily, Tom, Crista, and Emily

Kajsia and me--isn't she a beautiful bride?!

And here are some pictures from the reception, held at the same place:

Cutting the cake...my favorite is Andrew and and my friend, Tom, standing in the background both smiling big. We're all happy for you Kajsia and Mike! :)
Throwing the bouquet
I love this picture--Tom just hanging out with Kajsia's grandma. I don't think they had met before this and they became good friends during the reception. :)

Congratulations Kajsia and Mike!! I'm so excited for you and the start of your life together!!

Applesauce!

2008-11-17T17:38:00.011-07:00

Saturday was a very busy day at the Hendriksen household! Grandma Hill and I went over to my parents to help make applesauce. I think we ended up being there working on it all for about 10 hours!

Here is Mom and Grandma doing the hardest part of cutting up all the apples!

Kristen and me doing the fun part of making the applesauce

Here's Dad standing in the storage room which we also organized that day in order to make room for all the new applesauce and organize all the other bottled stuff Mom has. What a chore that was!

Even Andrew got in on the fun after a school project he had to do.

The hallway after we had cleared all these boxes out of the storage room

And all the boxes neatly stacked in the storage room. So much more organized!

Doing dishes after we had finished

Kristen really didn't want her picture taken, but I told her too bad. :)

Kristen and I also organized the shelves in the storage room. She really is very good at getting rid of things and packing all those cans in! Mom and Dad sure have lots of food storage!

And our spoils for the day. Lots of applesauce, right? Mom had even made more before this night and there are still LOTS more apples on the trees and the ground...but I think I've had enough applesauce making for the year... :)

'Twilight': The Lost Script

2008-11-13T12:20:00.002-07:00

I know that most of you reading this absolutely LOVE 'Twilight' and all those other books after it. But my friend showed me this 'Twilight': The Lost Script, and I thought it was hilarious!! I just had to share with you all. So don't be offended at this spoof; it's all in good jest. :) Read this speculation on what the movie will be like! Make sure you read all ten pages! I hope you laugh a lot, out loud...cause that's what I did sitting here at the front desk at work. Love it!

Puppies!

2008-11-13T09:55:00.003-07:00

A friend from work showed me this live video feed of these puppies. Someone just posted a video camera on a basket of a bunch of puppies and they have become quite the celebrities overnight! There are over 13 thousand people watching these puppies right now. They're not doing anything out of the ordinary either--they're just puppies in a basket! They are very cute puppies...but still, I think it's funny how many people would waste their time just watching these puppies do nothing. But then...I'm blogging about these puppies who are doing nothing...anyway, watch and enjoy! :) Just don't get hooked on watching them and forget to live your life. :)

Tagged

2008-11-11T14:30:00.001-07:00

again by my sister, Rosie!

I am: a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a receptionist, a book keeper, a pianist, a cellist...

I want: chocolate...always...

I have: an amazing husband

I dislike: mornings, annoying people, nuts, and stupid drivers

I miss: my family I don't get to see much

I fear: getting a migraine and driving in the snow

I feel: happy and excited

I hear: my fabulous music and the fountain at work

I crave: chocolate shakes and sleep!

I cry: a lot more than I used to

I usually: work a lot and don't get to see my husband much...tv is my friend :)

I search: for things that got lost when my sister moved my things...

I wonder: how people don't get my sense of humor

I regret: not having more pictures of Andrew and me when we were dating

I love: my husband and family...and fireworks...and holidays...and not having to work

I care: about my family and friends. They are everything to me.

I worry: about the state of the world today

I am not: tall...or thin...or out-going.

I remember: as much as I can of the important things

I believe: that I get to be with my family forever

I dance: with the kids in nursery, and very rarely with Andrew

I sing: my music out loud sometimes...sorry Kajsia! :) but also in the car.

I don't always: make dinner. Sometimes I'm just too tired!

I argue: with Andrew occasionally, but mostly I like to not fight with people.

I write: no more papers! Hooray for being done with school! But I did help Kristen write one of her papers a few weeks ago...besides that, just on here. I like blogs. :)

I win: stupid arguments, cause I just know I am right! :)

I lose: my cell phone, and then when I realize it I freak out for a second until I find it. Talk about being addicted!! I need to calm down.

I wish: for a better world to raise a family in

I listen: to whatever people want to tell me

I don't understand: people who are so selfish!! You're not the only person in the world, you know! Think of someone else sometime!

I can usually be found: at work or on my bed watching tv

I need: a vacation!

I forget: a lot of things. I have such a bad memory!

I am happy: most of the time.

I tag: Whoever wants to fill this out...I want to know more about you! :)

Kristen's B-day and Halloween

2008-11-03T17:27:00.012-07:00

It's fun having a sibling with a birthday on Halloween. That means that for sure we always have a family party and get-together on Halloween. I love the traditions that we've had. We always used to have soup and breadsticks, and we'd have to eat dinner before we could go trick-or-treating. Dad would always play Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree all night for us to listen to. I still only really know the beginning of that story....This past Halloween was no exception; all of us that live close got together and we had a dinner for Kristen. It was a fun night with everyone. Happy Birthday Kristen!!

Here is our fun group.

Kristen doesn't really like cake all that much, so instead we had a birthday pie for her. Here she is with her birthday pumpkin pie.

And opening some of her presents.

And here's Ethan and Julia in their cute Spider Man and Pilot costumes.

Mr. Incredible

And Mr. Incredible again with his Lady Bug...(thanks for the costume Kajsia! :) )

Cold Stone

2008-10-28T15:39:00.006-06:00

I LOVE Cold Stone. It's just the most delightful ice cream shop ever made! Andrew and I went there yesterday to celebrate our 7 months and also because we have a gift card and a Take 5 card (which is buy one get one free)! Score!! So we only used a little portion of our gift card and we both got our own ice creams! It is so yummy!! And just in case you're wondering, the peanut butter cup perfection is amazing! I don't know why I had never tried this creation before, but if you like chocolate and you like peanut butter, this is the creation for you! I even liked it better (dare I say?) than chocolate devotion. I know, crazy! :) Just wanted to remind you all how good ice cream is, especially Cold Stone. Now...go eat some!! :)

Spoiled at Work

2008-10-27T17:48:00.004-06:00

So I just wanted everyone to know that I really am so spoiled at work! Besides the fact that we have the best perks there are for an employee of any company (drinks/snacks, massages, office lunch on Friday, Lagoon company summer party, nice Christmas party/dinner, Costco membership, now a Gold's gym membership for Andrew and me, and lots of down time to watch tv shows and do whatever I want...) Kajsia and I now have new computers at the receptionist desk! They are HUGE and really really nice with a wireless keyboard and mouse. So here's a picture (that doesn't even do it justice), for you all to see and drool over. I know, I have the coolest job ever. Be jealous. :)

Makeover Time!

2008-10-23T11:46:00.002-06:00

So my sister, Kristen, told me it was time to change my picture as well as my background on my blog. I guess I've had the old one for too long...even though it really has only been a few months. :) So here's my new one. What do you think? I thought it was so cute! I got it from http://www.aquapoppydesigns2.blogspot.com/. Kristen shared the site with me, and she has a very cute new background too on her blog. They really have lots of cute backgrounds on there, including some cute Halloween ones. So if you want to change your blog to have a Halloween background for the season, you should check it out! Hooray for new backgrounds!

Dove Quote of the Day

2008-10-20T16:23:00.009-06:00

I realize that this is my second post about chocolate since starting this blog which is odd since I haven't been blogging very long. I might be a little obsessed...:) I just really liked the quote in the Dove chocolate that I ate today and wanted to share. It says,

"Life may change us, but we start and end with family."

So there is your uplifting quote for the day. So go eat some chocolate and enjoy your family! I love my family lots--the one I grew up in, the one I married into, and the friends that have become family over the years-- and I'm so grateful for all of your good examples to me and everything you all do for me! I look forward to the time when Andrew and I will start our own family and I have more family to love. A little sappy...sorry, but I love you all!! :) Anyway...here's another fun Dove chocolate quote that I totally live my life by. I hope you all do too cause it is so true!!

Update

2008-10-15T16:08:00.002-06:00

Andrew and I went to see his parents yesterday. His dad actually came home last Thursday afternoon, but this is the first that we've been able to go see him together. (Andrew's been at least once to visit by himself.) His dad is doing much better now. He has to go see his doctor in Murray for a follow-up visit sometime soon, but besides that he gets to do all of his recovery at home and with a physical therapist at Utah Valley Hospital. Great news since that is SO much closer to home than the other hospital! They have to keep a log of lots of different things like his blood pressure to show his doctor and chart his recovery. One thing not expected is that his neck muscles get really tired now just from holding his head up. I guess his muscles got used to him laying down in a bed and not being used, so he'll have to build up those muscles again. He said he'll probably return to work at the beginning of November as long as his recovery keeps going well. So yea! He's got a few weeks to just relax and recuperate from his surgery. We're so grateful that he's doing so well now! Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!

Tagged

2008-10-14T10:27:00.002-06:00

By Rosie!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Where is your significant other? Swimming
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Ruth
5. Your father? Mike
6. Your favorite thing? movieschocolateicecreamsleeping (all one word, right? :) )
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Family
9. The room you're in? Work
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Heights
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Family
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. What you're not? Old
15. One of your wish-list items? Raise
16. Where you grew up? Orem
17. The last thing you did? Work
18. What are you wearing? Jacket
19. Your TV? Home
20. Your pet? No
21. Your computer? Frustrating!
22.Your mood? Tired
23.Missing someone? Husband
24. Your car? Civic
25. Something you're not wearing? Socks
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? Over :(
28. Love someone? Andrew
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? Weeks

I award the following 7 people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions: (But only if you want to. :) I'm just bored at work...)
Jordan, Kajsia, Kimmy, Melanie, Laurel, Chelsea and Elise

Columbus Day

2008-10-13T17:00:00.003-06:00

Random thought...I don't really get what the purpose of Columbus Day is. I know it's to celebrate the person who we give credit to for "discovering" America. Still though, just feels like another excuse for people to have another day off from work. Like the bank people and the mail people. I'm probably just bitter cause there are parts of my job I have to wait for the mail to do, and since we don't get the mail today, I can't do them...or maybe it's cause I don't get the day off...

Rocky Balboa!

2008-10-13T15:19:00.005-06:00

I just want to remind everyone of how great Rocky IV really is. I spent probably about a month in the summer during high school when I would watch it almost every night--after everyone else had gone to bed of course :). Andrew and I started watching the Rocky movies from the beginning and got to the fourth movie just a little bit ago. It had been a long time since I had seen it and I just remembered how much I love that movie. So go watch Rocky IV! Such a great movie! And remember...."there's no easy way out..."

Heart Attack

2008-10-08T17:17:00.003-06:00

Well I'm a little late in posting this as it happened almost a week ago, but it is mostly for my own benefit to remember this last week. So feel free to skip this post if you wish :) ...

Last Thursday Andrew was visiting me at work and we were getting ready to leave when he got a call from his brother, Aaron. Apparently Andrew's dad was in the hospital because of chest pain. He had gone to work that morning but was experiencing pain in his chest, arms and neck, so the receptionist at his work drove him to the hospital. As soon as we could we left to pick up his brother and head up to the hospital in Murray. Of course we were headed up right at rush hour and before we had the chance to get on the freeway after taking back roads up to PG, we got a call from Andrew's mom. We were asked to return home to get some overnight things for her as they had just found out that Andrew's dad would be having bypass surgery the next morning. About two hours from the time Aaron had first called Andrew, we finally arrived at the hospital. We found out that he had indeed had a heart attack on his way to work that morning. We were able to visit with Andrew's dad for a little while after they completed some testing and we met the doctor who would be performing his surgery. He explained what would be happening during the surgery and why it was needed. Before leaving, their family bishop and Andrew were able to give him a blessing. We left that night feeling a little apprehensive and exhausted. Andrew went up the next morning to be with his mom and his sister, Jordan during the surgery. They had expected it to be a quadruple bypass surgery, but they ended up doing a triple bypass. The surgery went very well, and at first he was doing better than they had expected, but his recovery slowed down and he was behind schedule. We went to visit again on Saturday and on Sunday. It was hard to see him hooked up to so many different tubes and machines! He is now out of the ICU, however, and expected to be out of the hospital this weekend. If there are any updates to his condition, I'll post them here. Any prayers in his behalf would be greatly appreciated!

Six Months Down...

2008-09-29T16:23:00.001-06:00

Andrew and I reached our 1/2 year mark this past Saturday. Hooray for us! It's been six whole months since we got married and we couldn't be happier! I know I just wrote about our 5 month mark....but we actually got to go do something for our 6 months! So I'm writing about that too. :)We went the weekend before last because of a mix-up in scheduling, but it was still lots of fun! Even better that way too cause we got to celebrate twice! The weekend before and then the actual day of. So the weekend before last we went up to the condo that Infotrax owns - where we actually went for the first half of our honeymoon. It's so nice and peaceful up there! We got to go to Park City and we walked around for a little bit. Not quite as long as we were expecting to be there cause it started raining pretty hardon us. But up there we found a cute little shop called the Java Cow Cafe and Bakery. And since I am crazy for cow things, we had to go look! Inside we found a treasure trove of all different sorts of cow things! It was so fun to see! And, of course, we took some pictures.

An assortment of cow stuffed animals and cow mugs with sayings

A MooCoo Clock. I thought it was so cute! :)

They also had an Ice Cream-opoly game. I totally wanted to buy this, but I decided to not buy anything this time.

My crazy husband

On the streets of Park City

And of course we had to end the whole thing with a trip back down to Heber for some of their yummy shakes!

We didn't get to celebrate too much on our actual six months as it was a busy day! We went to the temple that morning with my cousin who went through for the first time since he's getting married this weekend, then we had a luncheon following that. Afterwards we went home and watched a movie, then went and got food with my mom and Kristen as is our tradition before watching Women's Conference. Andrew was at work during the conference, and then we got to go to a movie together. That was pretty much the extent of our date on our actual anniversary. At least we got to take a trip the weekend before! And Andrew got me two very pretty necklaces! What a guy! :)

Behind the Times

2008-09-26T15:44:00.012-06:00

So I finally uploaded some pictures to my computer today that I meant to put on here about a month ago. They are from when my sister, Tamara, and her family came to visit for David's sister's wedding and also from my Mom's birthday. I don't have many pictures from either one, but I wanted to post them anyway. For more pictures from our time with Tamara's family, you can visit this post on Rosie's blog.

Rebekah who fell asleep on the couch during scriptures and prayer.

Sweet Amie

And Sanja and Amie watching Beauty and the Beast before bed while Rebekah sleeps through it. She was so tired!! Best thing about them sleeping all together on the floor there, which I unfortunately did not get a picture of, is that when they all fell asleep, Amie had rolled over and had taken all of the blankets. Rebekah was over on the other side with no blankets at all and Sanja, in the middle, had about half of her body covered. I couldn't keep from laughing when I saw that. I guess Amie was cold. :)

Now for Mom's birthday pictures. I was a little more busy preparing for her birthday than I normally am for anyone else's in the family. I can't believe what Mom has to go through every time someone has a birthday! She gets it all ready to go for everyone all by herself! I had to do all the shopping on Saturday for everything we needed for dinner and also for her presents we were going in on for her. It was a busy day going to three different stores on Saturday for all that! Then Sunday Rosie, Kristen, and I made the dinner for her. We were trying to do something that wasn't too difficult, so we just made angel hair pasta, garlic bread, some breaded chicken that I had bought and a salad. Rosie also brought some food that she had grown in her garden--corn on the cob, watermelon, and broccoli for the salad. Turns out, we really are not good at estimating how much food 12 people can eat. We had a TON of leftover pasta and chicken. When we had finished, it looked like we hadn't even touched it!

The blowing out the candles shot. That's Ethan's hand on the side...

This is the kind of moisturizer that Mom loves. It's pretty expensive though, so of course she'd never buy it for herself, so this was one thing we gave her.

We also get her a toaster. Apparently their toaster broke just a few days before.

So hooray for visiting family, and Happy Birthday Mom! (about three weeks ago now. :P) Good times were had by all.

Roses!

2008-09-26T15:02:00.005-06:00

Just a few days ago I was excited to get home and relax after a long day at work. I walked down the stairs to go to my room, and this is what I saw:

A beautiful bouquet of roses left there for me by my wonderful hubby! Isn't he the best?! I just love roses. They are my absolute favorite flower. Cliche, I know, but they're a classic! And I love the multi-colored bouquet that he picked out. He knows me so well!

So a big thank you to Andrew for the beautiful roses that he got me just because he loves me!

Where's the Beef!?

2008-09-12T17:10:00.010-06:00

A little while ago I was going through some things at my house. My sister so lovingly moved all my things over from my parent's house for me when, after I got married, I wasn't moving out fast enough for her. (Love you Mel! :) ) One big black garbage bag she had moved over was completely full of stuffed animals. I used to collect them when I was little. Most of them I'm getting rid of, cause who really needs a million stuffed animals? But there are also quite a few that I am going to keep. For those of you who don't know, I love cows. I must love them from a cow club my friends and I created in elementary school. Embarrassing to admit now I guess, but it was cool at the time. :) I now have lots of cow stuff! A couple key chains, a cow tea set, a crystal cow figurine, a cow cookie jar, cow salt and pepper shakers, and the list goes on. I even decided when I have my own house to decorate someday, I want to have a cow kitchen. I really like them that much. I know... I'm crazy. :) It was fun when I found out my sister-in-law, Emily, likes cows just as much as I did. Some of my cow things I got from her. Anyway, I realized as I was going through all my stuffed animals that I have quite a few stuffed cows. I even could tell you where I got almost all of them. Lots of fond memories, so I decided to take some pictures to remember just how many cows I have. I even found a few more after I took these pictures, but didn't really care enough to take them all out again. :) So here are a few pictures of most of my stuffed cows.

Quite a few stuffed cows for me to keep. Not sure where I'm going to put them all. :)

Side shot

And another...you'd think I was trying to get profile shots or something....

This was my favorite one forever! She was a present from my now brother-in-law's two sisters for, I think, my 10th birthday. Her name is Denise and the two little cows in front are Clarice and Buttermilk. I used to sleep with her every night. Yes, I was a little kid forever. She's been all over the US with me. :)

And my own personal cowboy. :) Just perfect for me!

Another Way to Help

2008-09-10T16:51:00.003-06:00

I was trying to come up with a way to put this story in my own words for my sister-in-law, but I think she tells it best. You can visit her blog post here, or you can read the part that I will copy here. :)

"Like many others I have been touched by the story of Stephanie and Christian Nielson, the couple whose plane crashed in Arizona....I have really wanted to be able to donate, but am not in a position to give anything....This morning inspiration struck and I realized what I can do to help. As an Usborne Books consultant I earn a 25% commission on my sales. I set up an eShow on my website and I'll donate my commission to the cause. After thinking about it a little more I remembered that there is no hostess to receive the free books. Who better to give the books to than the Nielson children? So, I am trying to get the word out to anyone who is interested in helping. The link for the eShow is here....What I ask of you is to advertise it on your blogs, as well. I don't make any money on it, so it's not a business tactic for me. It's just the only way I can help this family in need. Thanks."

So for those of you who would like to buy some great children's books and also help out a worthy cause should check it out. Thanks Jordan!

Jewelry Giveaway

2008-09-04T16:04:00.004-06:00

Most of you who read this probably already know, but I thought I'd post this here anyway in case there's any of you who don't. My oldest sister, Rosie, has her own online jewelry shop and she's doing a giveaway on her Etsy shop blog this week. You just have to leave a comment on that post and you'll be put in a drawing to receive a free necklace. So take a look and tell everyone you know! It ends this Sunday night. One of her most popular necklaces is the one that she gave me when I got married (pictured below)! I love all the necklaces she does! They're so cute and make great presents either to those you know or presents for yourself. :)

Five Blissful Months

2008-08-27T13:10:00.019-06:00

Well today is officially five months since Andrew and I got married. Not very long, I know, but really time goes by so fast! It feels like we got married just yesterday and it's been almost half a year already! We've settled in very nicely together, but we're definitely in the newly-wed stage still. I hope it stays that way forever! Two of the three members of our bishopric have even commented on how they like that they can tell how much we love each other...or something like that. Apparently it's weird to hold hands or sit close together or for Andrew to have his arm around me at church...Anyway, I love Andrew so much! He really is my best friend. It's been a great five months and I'm so glad that we have eternity to be together! So I decided today that I would post some of my favorite pictures of us that I have on my computer including some of our engagement pictures and some pictures from our honeymoon. Enjoy!

Those were some of my favorites from our engagement pictures. Andrew's dad took all of our pictures for us on BYU campus.

Some of our honeymoon pictures. Don't you love our Mickey and Minnie ears? I think they're cute. We went to Disneyland for our honeymoon and it was so much fun! We even got pins that said "Just married" on them from a worker there.

Inside Mickey's house. Those are our "Just Married" pins we're wearing.

Inside the "A Bug's Life" show. Coolest glasses EVER! Unfortunately you don't get to keep them...

Out in the area between Disneyland and California Adventures

Outside California Adventures. What a fun honeymoon that was, despite the blisters I got on my feet...stupid flip-flops....

Ice Skating at Seven Peaks

Hanging out at Andrew's parent's house

After Kristen's graduation at the Marriot Center

Andrew's birthday celebration at my parent's house

And the two of us at my cousin's reception.

And now that you're overloaded with pictures of us...I was just going to say that the pictures we took in the booth at Lagoon I was not able to get scanned in to put on here. I don't know how to use the scanner at work for that, so sorry! You don't get to see them. Just know that they were funny pictures, and maybe someday I'll figure out how to post them. :)

Lagoon Day

2008-08-19T16:22:00.010-06:00

Well it was Lagoon day for Infotrax, my work, on Saturday the 9th. (I know...I'm a little late in posting about this. I would have posted earlier, but I wanted to put up some pictures as well, and since I've moved I haven't been able to find the cord to my camera that connects to the computer. So finally Kristen made me borrow my dad's card reader so I can post some pictures on here.) Back to the story...sorry, I get sidetracked easily. :) It was a fun day. Kristen also works at Infotrax, and we're allowed to bring someone, so I brought Andrew (shocker, I know) and Kristen brought our sister, Melodie. We met up at Lagoon with my friend, Kajsia, and her fiance, Mike. Now Melodie hadn't been to Lagoon in about 10 years--the last time she went was with Rosie and Derek when it was their work party for PGM, so obviously that's been awhile. :) She gets a little motion sickness, so she was very hesitant about going on most of the rides with us. When we very first got there we got a few of the bigger rides out of the way, and apparently that was just too much for her all at the same time. She did not feel well and had to lay down for awhile while the rest of us ate dinner. She finally felt well enough to eat something and while she ate the rest of us went to ride on Wicked. Amazingly fun ride. If you ever go to Lagoon, you have to ride it. So the remainder of the day we went on the smaller rides so Mel wouldn't feel too sick. It was a fun day though, and not even too hot since we didn't get there until about 3 that afternoon. :) So here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is Andrew and me right when we got there.

And Melodie and Kristen

The three sisters

And all four of us. Don't we all look so cool in our sunglasses? :) And for some reason we all decided to wear very bright colors that day...Mel and I did not match on purpose.

Andrew and me on the Colossus before we took off.

Melodie and Kristen on the Sky Coaster ride. Mel took one of Andrew and me too, but I don't have it. I'll have to get it from her someday.

Kristen in the bumper cars

And Melodie. Her picture didn't turn out too well. I couldn't get it right before the cars started.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Kajsia and Mike before they left. But Andrew and I also got pictures taken in one of the picture booths there at Lagoon. I've always wanted to get pictures taken in one, and I never have before. I forgot to bring those pictures from home to scan in, so I'll have to share them tomorrow, but be excited! They're pretty good and I'll give an explanation for why they turned out so well too. So there was our day at Lagoon. Hooray for free work parties!

Back to the Beginning

2008-08-13T12:23:00.002-06:00

Well, Andrew and I have apparently not been acting our age at church because we were asked this past Sunday to stop going to Sunday School, Priesthood and Relief Society and to start hanging out with all the little 3 and 4 year olds instead. That's right....we are now in the nursery, and I think we fit right in. :) We just received the calling this past Sunday to be nursery workers and we're both rather excited about it. We both were surprised at the calling, but we went into nursery on Sunday and got to meet the kids and see how everything works in there. Or at least how they try to make things work. Little kids sure have lots of energy when they're all together, don't they!?! :) We have an interesting mix of kids in there though, so it should be very exciting! I'm sure I'll have stories to tell from our adventures in there, so stay tuned for updates. :)

Chocolate -- need I say more?

2008-08-08T17:29:00.004-06:00

Most everyone who knows me knows that I am an incurable chocoholic. My sweet husband will occasionaly suggest that I need to have my daily fix of chocolate when I seem to not be in the best of moods. He likes to keep me happy. :) Now even though I love chocolate so much, I've never really been a huge fan of dark chocolate. My friend, Kajsia, however, has discovered some dark chocolate that we both fell in love with. She also is not a huge fan of dark chocolate, but just loves these Hershey's All Natural Extra Dark Assortment that she got from Costco. In this particular package they have extra dark chocolate with pomegranate flecks (my favorite!), extra dark chocolate with blueberries and almonds (which I have not tried cause I don't like almonds, but I hear they are also delightful), and then the plain extra dark chocolate (also very good). They are just the perfect size to keep away the chocolate cravings for awhile, and also are semi-healthy because of all the antioxidants that the extra dark chocolate has. So now a yummy, healthy snack with all that chocolatey goodness! You should definitely try them out!