The Nick and Dani Bastian Family

Swing, Swing

2012-01-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

We have a great park accross the street from our house. It's a blesing and a curse. Zeke loves the swings and has so much fun toddling along the grassy feilds, which is so much fun, but then everytime we walk out the front door he throws a fit when we don't start heading to the park! Oh well, I still love the location, and I love that it's a great wide open space for Z to get his wiggles out!

"Sweet Home Alabama"

2012-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Our House

What I Love So Far:

Wonderful park that takes up a block accross the street

Lots of space inside the home

The PX and Commissary (military walmart and grocery store) are only a couple blocks away

The commissary carries fruit I can't find anywhere else this time of year

It is VERY safe on base

The area is well cared for and clean

The clubhouse is extremely nice and has a splash park and rec-size pool

Daycare for only $3 per hour (Not sure if i can bring myself to try it, though!)

The weather is fantastic!!!

There's storage in my kitchen for everything!!! I'm still not used to it!

We get to recycle for free! There is a cute little recycle bin by our outside garbage can

The ward seems great so far!

What I'm Not a Big Fan of:

The Speed limit is 20 mph in the neighborhoods (Cruise control only goes down to 25)

Terrible bugs EVERYWHERE! Brown widows (brown black widows), cocroches, fire ants, BANANA SPIDERS!!!

{I was sweeping the kitchen for the first time and peices of the pile started jumping away...}

The boys' granparents, aunts, uncles and cousin aren't out here. :(

Our Move to Fort Rucker, Alabama

2012-01-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas Nick and his dad left Utah to drive our belongings accross the country to Alabama. The boys and I stayed at my parents until December 29th. (On the 28th we were notified that our flight was scheduled for the following morning!) We were so blessed as Nick's mom was able to fly out with us and she's been great, helping us unpack and keep the babies occupied while Nick and I work on what we can!

Eli's First Christmas, Last Christmas in Utah

2012-01-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Christmas Eve through Christmas morning at Jerry and Kelley's. Since they've had the Randy Michelle family living with them there were 19 people's gifts under the tree!

Unfortunately we only got one picture of Eli, so I had to unclude it!

Jerry got an awesome helicopter!

Nick got a tank that shoots down helicopters! ;) (Which is funny since he's about to become a helicopter pilot!)

Eli's Birth

2011-12-04T10:25:00.001-08:00

Elias James Bastian

5lbs 5oz, 17"

Dark Brown Hair

Born @ 5:45 Thanksgiving Morning

(11/23/11)

We're so grateful Nick got to fly home for Thanksgiving so he could be here for Eli's birth! I was induced around 6:30 the night of the 23rd and thought Nick might not get home before Eli came, (since I'd heard second babies come faster!) However, Nick got to the hospital around 10:30pm and Eli didn't come til 5:42 the next morning!

I guess I just have bad luck with epidurals. This time the tube administering the medication was pulled out (either by Zeke or by me, itching my back!) and a couple of hours {and pain} later the medicine was in a big puddle on the floor, so they had to do it all over, again! This time I was in more pain, so the epidural didn't bother me at all. Unfortunately, near the very end I was in a lot of pain again and they gave me one more shot of medicine right before I began pushing.

We were all pretty stressed at this point because the umbilical cord was wrapped around Eli's neck and the Dr was ready to do a c-section. I'm not afraid of having a c-section, but it's maddening to know that your baby is suffering and in danger. Our Dr got the vacuum and got Eli out in about 5 minutes. Just like Z, they let me hold him for a moment then took him away to put him on oxygen, but this time it proved to be much shorter than last time. We were so happy and relieved that he was safe and healthy!

None of these pictures look very small, but Eli was a tiny guy! As you can see, we rounded up to 5oz!

I'm grateful that Nick was the only one who could go with him when he was put on oxygen. It makes me really sad to see the little ones go through that!

Thankfully Eli was only on oxygen for an hour before they were able to bring him to me.

We're so happy that he's here! Overall it was a very good Thanksgiving Day!

Our Happy Halloween

2011-11-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

For Halloween, this year, we went trunk-or-treating with our stake to start the evening off. It was awesome! I think that is the best idea! Grandma Kelley came with us as a 'Fairy Grandmother', Malachi was Mario, Chris was Luigi, and Dani was Princess Daisy. (Luigi's girlfriend!) I was a witch, but I forgot the hat all day long!

Z's Grandma Kelley as a 'Fairy Grandmother!" It was AWESOME!

Malachi know what the good stuff is!

You can't tell, but I was a witch! A big pregnant witch... who apparently has cute vampire babies.

To top off our wonderful Halloween night we played peek-a-boo over Grandma Healey's couch. (I think that was the highlight of Z's Halloween experience.)

Z's First Birthday!!!

2011-10-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Birthday Boy!

The Cake

(This cake was supposed to have two planes on it, but when I got there they were out of planes and they put blimps on it... Why would they even have blimps for birthday cakes? Anyway, I just took the blimps off! That's why it's missing some frosting.)

Hangin out with Grandma and Grandpa before the party~

Zeke was a tiny bit spoiled with gifts for his first birthday, but right now his cousin, Malachi, lives with us, so they're being put to good use!

Malachi had fun at the party, too!

Z and Kai both loved the army bear we made at Build-A-Bear! Thanks Nick!

Bring on the Cake!!!

...And then my camera died. So I'll have to get the messiest pictures from my mom and post them! He had a lot of fun when he really got into it!

Z would like to thank...

Daddy for his army bear,

Mommy for his fire truck,

Gma Kelley & Gpa Jerry for the amimal train,

G & G Healey & Aunt Sam for the race car tower,

G-Gma Healey for the wonderful book,

Uncle Davey & Aunt Amy for the fun cars

The Webb family for the shape ball!

Also thank you to everyone who came and made it such a fun celebration! We love you!

Naughty, Naughty!

2011-10-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

My little stink-bug loves to get into everything he shouldn't these days. It certainly keeps me on my toes (when I have enough energy to get up...), but it also keeps a smile on my face. He understands what the word 'no' means, but just like every other baby, hearing that just makes things more exciting! In addition to his top three favorite naughty things (which are turning off tv's, getting into mom's wallet, or ripping the cords out of everything in site at G & G's houses), Z also loves to...

Unravel any toilet paper in site,

Climb from the floor to the love sac, over the arm of the couch, up the back of the couch, to flip on and off the light switches, :)

Eat anything he finds on the floor or elsewhere... in this case, aunt Sam's purple Popsicle, :)

And anytime this boy gets anywhere near chocolate, it gets all over EvErYtHiNg!!!

C is for Cookie

2011-09-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

That's good enough for Z!

Z's First Haircut

2011-09-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

His hair got a little too long in the back, so I had the girl use the three on the back of his head and to the ears.

He was tolerating my picture taking for a while...

After a while he got tired of it, but he was a good sport and sat still the whole time! (Like most of his other firsts, Z getting his haircut was a lot more exciting for me than it was for him!)

6 Days of Hot, Humid Heaven!

2011-08-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

(Pictures below!)
In Fort Benning, Georgia, they spent more than 60 days in 3 digit temperatures this last summer! It's hot out there! And soooo humid! Fortunately for Z and me, the temperatures stayed in the upper 90's while we were there!
From the 23rd of August to the 28th, Z and I went out to Fort Benning, Georgia to see Nick graduate Basic Training and to spend a few precious days with him!

The 23rd we flew in to Georgia and didn't actually see Nick, but Z slept for almost the entire flight and was flirting with everyone around for the last 15 minutes! (He was great on the flight home, as well!)

The 24th was family day, where we got to hear Nick's company (a little over 200 soldiers) sing cadences and a couple other cute things and then our boys were released to us until that evening! It was so wonderful to see Nick for the first time in 3 months! He looked so happy to see us and as soon as he saw me he wrapped me in the tightest hug! When Nick reached for Z, Z was pushed away, but Nick wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, so he just grabbed Z out of my arms! Z studied Nick for a moment, realized how neat his uniform was and decided that they could be buds! (He was never afraid of Nick at all and he never even tried to push him away, again. We were both very happy about that!)
The 25th was the day Nick graduated officially. Zeke and I got too spend the entire day with him, again, and it was wonderful!
The 26th and 27th, Nick was supposedly meant to be under lock down, which meant that Z and I would have to spend two days in crazy hot Georgia with not much to do while Nick did nothing at his barracks. I thought that was silly, so I said a prayer (lots, actually) for the courage to ask whoever was in charge if I could come see Nick the next two days at the base. We were told not to even ask because there was no way that would ever happen. I finally got the courage to go and ask, anyway. I figured that just asking couldn't hurt anyone, even if there was no way I could see Nick, there certainly wouldn't be if I didn't try. We (Me and another wife who came with me) were sent to the Captain, (he's kind of a big, scary deal), and when we asked he actually said we could take our boys until 2200 (10:00pm) the next day!!! I couldn't believe it! Heavenly Father was just waiting for me to ask so he could bless Nick and I with TWO more days with each other! Needless to say, we were happy!
The 28th was a Sunday, and we were able to meet Nick at church for the 2 hours they offer it! It was wonderful! We'd said our tearful goodbye's the night before, so Sunday was able to be a happy "till next time" parting. :)
Z was Nick's little bud the entire time. He never showed jealousy that most of my attention was being spent on Nick, and he acted as if Nick had always been around. :) That gave me strength for this next separation. I now know that Z hasn't forgotten his daddy.

Reunited!

Nick and a few of his buds (and their sons) after Graduation

Dinner with Nick's friends!

A Couple of Updates on the Nick and Dani Bastian Family

2011-07-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

As for NICK:

A little over a month ago my sweet husband shipped off to Fort Benning, GA to train with the Army for six months. I miss him very much, but I am doing well and I'm happy. I haven't blogged since just before he left because I haven't felt up to it. :)Hopefully this is me starting up again.
Nick is happy and he's got a great attitude about being out there at Boot Camp.
He has been made squad leader in his platoon.
Nick is currently bringing 11 people to church with him from basic training. (He's at boot camp and he still finds every opportunity he can to share the gospel. I love and admire him for that!)

As for ME:

I'm still pregnant. (5 1/2 months to be exact...)
I'm learning how hard it really is for single moms.
I'm really doing well and I'm happy. I keep my days busy and visit family every single day.
Unfortunately, since Nick left I don't like my house anymore, so it's falling apart around me. :S
I'm starting a quilt for the new baby! (This will be my first attempt at sewing something other than pajama pants, purses, or a pillow case that we made in school! Wish me luck!)

As for Z:

HE'S SCOOT-CRAWLING ALL AROUND!!! (He's been officially going wherever he wants for two days, now.)
He has four teeth!
His favorite game is to shake his head and have you shake yours back at him. (Over and over and over!)
His favorite things to watch are tractors, motorcycles, lawnmowers, and garage doors, but interestingly he is afraid of the blender and the vacuum...
This kid is entering the cling-phase. I'm really worried about that.

And Finally the new BABY:

The new baby is a !!!BOY!!!
His name is Elias and he'll go by Eli. (No middle name has been chosen, yet.)
He kicks his mom when she's desperately trying to sleep and I imagine he thinks it's funny.

So Z is Allergic to Amoxicillin...

2011-05-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

My poor baby has had pink eye for a while now. He's been taking a lot of drugs every day as well, but I didn't see a lot of improvement. Our new doctor says this one is probably going on so long because his tear ducts weren't fully developed when he was born. (Which we already knew to be true.) When regular pink-eye drops didn't work he gave us a new kind along with amoxicillin to help with the severe cold Z has had. One night I noticed a rash of red bumps right above his diaper line, the next morning it was on the other side and on his thigh. A couple hours later I took Z to show the rash to my mom and it had spread up to his neck. I immediately took him into the doctor. (I know rashes aren't a big deal, but this one had me concerned.) After checking Z's rash out and asking a few questions, the doctor told me that he was allergic to the amoxicillin and all penicillins. :S He said the more you give someone penicillin when they're allergic to it, the more severe the reactions become. The rash wasn't a serious reaction, but he said it could have affected his breathing if he kept taking it. We immediately took him off all medicines he was on and started administering Benadryl every four hours. (Which I learned is often used for most allergic reactions!) The rash is mostly gone. I'm really glad I didn't ignore my instincts.

A Little Message My Husband Left Me...

2011-05-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up one morning and found this message made from Ezekiel's blocks. :)

I truly love my husband.

My heart is breaking right now, because I only have three more weeks with him before he leaves to train with the army. He will be gone until the end of November.

I suppose these little signs of love are just extra special right now, because I'm going to be without him for the next 6 months.

This baby is actually due just days after he graduates. Hopefully we'll be together when he/she's born!

Z really is old enough to miss Nick. I don't know what it will be like when he's gone, but Z LOVES his father! He saves his biggest smiles and laughs for him! I will send Nick videos (if he can receive them) and lots and lots of pictures while he's gone!)

As for myself, I'll keep pictures of things like this that I can look at every day and I'll remember how much he loves us. :)

Our First Cruise

2011-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

On May 2, Nick, his sister-in-law, Dani and her husband Chris went on our first cruise. It was so much fun! It definitely won't be our last! We left our babies with our parents and I don't think either of them was ever more spoiled in their lives'! (They were both SO much bigger when we got home!) The cruise was lots of fun. We did a bit of sun bathing, hot tubing, show seeing, and LOTS of eating! (We decided in order to avoid gaining too much weight we'd take the stairs the entire time. We were located on the furthest deck from anything. :) It was good, though! We didn't gain any weight!)

Dolphins! (Sorry about the fat-head in the picture...)

Our Cruise Ship

Dani and Chris after they made Bin Laden's compound from sand and destroyed it with rocks. :)

Nick went running along the mountains of Catalina and the hills of Ensanada, Mexico. This picture doesn't show it well, but he was burned a deep, dark red color, and the next day it was brown. This guy tans like no one else I've ever met!

We got lots of fun towel animals!

Formal Night!

Comedy Show in the Queen Mary Lounge. (Not so funny..)

Moments before getting off the ship! I was SO excited to see my baby!

Mission hair to Mohawk to Fauxhawk

2011-04-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

^Nick's last day at the MTC he left looking like this^

...and he came home after what I thought was a routine haircut looking like this...

Z caught a tiny version of the mohawk fever!

Chris got one, too!

I'm surrounded by hooligans, but we love them!

Egg Hunts, Baby Blessings, and Easter Outfits!

2011-04-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

The day before Easter our complex had an Easter Egg Hunt in the morning. I know Z is not actually old enough to find an egg, but I wanted to participate! We waited until the other children found all the eggs they could and moved on. Luckily one was left over so we grabbed it for Z!

This is the first Sunday outfit Z has had! No more wearing footsies to church!

Not only was Z dressed up for Easter, but Sunday was also Malachi's baby blessing day! He wore the tux that Chris wore 23 years ago! {It was so cute!}

After a delicious BBQ for Malachi's blessing we went to my parents for Easter dinner, which was sooo-so good!

Healey family picture! :) {Minus my dear brother, Chad, who's serving in Argentina!}

6-Months-Old!!!

2011-04-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to believe, but Ezekiel turned 6 months old on Tuesday! He weighs 16 pounds and is 25" long! :) He's doing lots of fun things and Nick and I fall more and more in love with him every single day.

This morning Nick watched Z while I took a much needed nap. Z got himself into a funny position so Nick grabbed the camera. While he was taking pictures Z fell right to sleep. Love this boy!

General Conference April 2011

2011-04-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Since we live so close to both our families we spent the Sunday morning session at my parents' and had lunch with them, then we watched that afternoon session at Nick's parents' and ate dinner there, too!

Over the phone Brennen, Nick's cousin, announced the much anticipated engagement to Brianne Larson! We were all very excited! When Richard G Scott, (I think...) made a comment about how young people need to get married Nick sent Brennen a text saying something along the lines of, "Get married, you sinner!!!" An hour later Brennen called with his announcement that he had proposed to Brianne between conference sessions a short while before Nick sent the text. It was funny. We're excited for them!

I was fully alert and taking notes for every session... until the last...:( {Everyone fell asleep except Kelley!}

Ok, Baby Status Change!

2011-03-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Way, way off!

So we are not 3 months pregnant!

Just 5 weeks!

They won't be 10 months apart, they'll be 13 months.

The due date is the end of November.

To Answer a Few Questions:

2011-03-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to see our doctor, yet. :( We're working on that. It will happen soon, enough. If we're really 15 weeks, already, that means I can get an ultra sound to find out the gender next week. {And the tech can check to see her size (age) and to see that she's healthy. (Or he!)}

If we go from the first day of my last period this baby would be due Sept 10. I have been experiencing every symptom in the book, {and convincing myself I wasn't pregnant} for about 3 months, now, so it's probably right that I'm 15 weeks.

I've been taking pregnancy tests every couple weeks. I called the Dr to see if they had anything more reliable, but the tech told me if at-home pregnancy tests weren't working I'd just have to wait and find out the old fashioned way. {Not a very helpful lady...} The first positive result I received was Thursday. To be sure, I took a couple more the next few days. It's definitely happening. The at-home tests never worked for my pregnancy with Zeke, either.

I'm probably going to need extra love when June arrives. Nick will leave for military training for 5 months on June 7th. He'll miss this baby's birth by two months. I know that we will be OK, but I do get so sad when I think of it.

Thanks for the congrats and well-wishes! I know I'll need it! I do want you to know, though, that I am happy and comfortable with this little guy/girly inside me. Nick and I planned on having our children close together. {I wasn't thinking this close together, but Nick was!} I'm grateful for this little one. We had to use fertility treatments to get Z, and we anticipated always having difficulty getting pregnant, but we are so happy to find that that is not the case, anymore! :)

Big News...

2011-03-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

In the last three or four months I've had every symptom possible, but I didn't think it was possible...I was wrong.

We're pregnant. again.

5 Months

2011-03-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 19th, Ezekiel turned 5 months old! {That means there's only one month left until we can go to church full time! Yaaaaaay for not being inactive!} Z has been such a fun part of life since he entered ours! He is the happiest, most curious, flirtatious, fun-loving baby I know! You've seen his crying pictures, so things aren't always giggles and rainbows... but they usually are. {Maybe that's why I think his cry is so funny...}

When Zeke is excited he points his toes and kicks really hard.

He smiles at basically everything that's meant to make him smile.

He is a HUGE cuddle-bug!!!

If he's crying because he's hungry and he see's you making the bottle he'll immediately stop and watch intently until the bottle gets to his mouth.

He LOVES his Johnny Jump-up, bath time is a traumatic experience or him, and his favorite baby-food is still sweet potatoes.

Z and Kai's First Adventure at the Park

2011-03-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

There's a little park in our complex that we took Z and Kai to the other day. I can tell these cousins are going to have lots of fun together! I think this time it was mostly the parents who were having all the fun.

Z is almost 5 months old and Kai is 1 month old, today! Yes, we did put them both down the slide by themselves. They each had a turn head first, too, but I'm not going to post that in case child's services gets a hold of those pictures. ;)

You can see from their facial expressions they were thinking: 'whatev'. Zeke was just interested in playing with his toes and Malachi just wanted his bink. Good times. :)

Sweet Potatoes WIN!

2011-03-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

In my recent adventures of discovering what and what not to feed Z I have learned that chicken broth and beef broth baby foods are disgusting to him. As for those he loves: sweet potatoes comes in first, bananas follow in a close second and sweet carrots takes third!

Johnny Jumper

2011-03-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty excited. Z is starting to like his Johnny jumper! I first put him in there hoping that I could get a little cleaning done. Wrong! Z looked oh so precious and I had to take 100 pictures of him with my new camera.

Do you love the 'Sweet Carrot' leftovers all over his face? That was the second time I fed him and I hadn't mastered cleaning his face, yet. (Some of those orange baby foods stain skin for a while!) He also had pink eye and developed a habit of waking up every morning with a new cut on his poor baby nose or eye... Still cute, though!

World's Meanest Mommy?

2011-03-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

His cry face makes me laugh every time! It's so cute to me. Am I terrible or what?

Z has always had pretty cute cries, but he's growing and learning more ways to express himself when his patience has run out. His new angry cries are kind of frightening, but they make me laugh even harder. Poor Z. Yes, I am a mean mommy. :)

4 Months

2011-02-23T13:24:00.000-08:00

Our little Zeke turned four months old on Saturday! (Feb 19) I would have posted about it, but I have been super sick! SuPeR, SUPER sick with strep throat. {Thank you SO much to Stephanie and my family who selflessly served us through this last week!}

Anywho, at Zeke's 4-month appointment we were told that we could start feeding him baby food! (Already?!) We had been given a bottle of green beans a while back, so we decided to give that a try! We took two videos, but the first was was too blurry. Since our first try my dad showed us how the pros do it! Zeke has now successfully eaten peaches, sweet potatoes, and squash! All of which he loves. :) Feeding him is so much fun, now!!!

Jackson's Mission Call

2011-02-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

Jackson, my littlest brother, received his Mission Call on February 16, 2009! He will be serving in the Japan, Kobe Mission! (My dad also went to Japan, and that was my dream destination when I wanted to serve!) We are all so excited or Jackson! I honestly couldn't imagine him going anywhere else!

I'm not so sure how this video will turn out, so if it's tiny check it out on Youtube by clicking here!

Malachi Holden Ward is Born

2011-02-14T22:51:00.000-08:00

Malachi Holden Ward was born at 4:41pm on the coolest day to be born!

VALENTINES DAY!

He was 7lbs 15 oz and 21 inches!

In addition to welcoming my first nephew into the world on this wonderful day my incredible husband also got me what I've wanted for years! A DSLR camera! :) {I got the Cannon EOS Rebel T2i and I'm in heaven.} Therefore I took 122 pictures. Don't worry, though, I'll only post about 50. ;) Just kidding.

Here we go~

Me, pouring over my new camera manual while Dani was in labor:

Waiting in the waiting room:

Malachi looked pretty pale and had a little bit of trouble breathing when he was first born. So they took him straight to the NICU. By the time I left he was no longer on oxygen and was trying to nurse!

Chris stayed by Malachi's side while Dani was getting cleaned up:

Ezekiel was a sweet patient angel 75% of the time.

Still being an angel:

So Precious and CUTE!

Dani Update...

2011-02-12T22:17:00.000-08:00

So Dani's actual due date was yesterday, but Malachi is very comfy in this beautiful belly of hers! She's either been having false labor or is in the early stages of labor, though. Dani wants to go natural so she's going to wait until the 16th to see if she needs to be induced. {We don't want that baby getting too big in there!} As for now she's sticking to stripping the membranes and running every night!

We took this picture last week sometime, thinking she was going to have him any day! {She really has the cutest prego body I have ever seen!}

I'm also excited to announce that she and Chris have started a blog! The Three Musketeers and Dartanian! Check it out!

Poor Little Baby

2011-02-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

My poor little baby had his first fever the other day. It broke my heart. He slept terribly, but only opened his eyes halfway when he was awake and he hardly moved all day. It seemed like he was struggling for each breath, so I called his doctor to see if he wanted to see Zeke and he definitely did. He was afraid he had RSV or Pneumonia, again. After Dr Willmore {The best doctor we'll probably ever have...} checked Z out he decided that wasn't the case, but a sinus infection was a possibility. Z will see him again on Monday for his 4 month checkup and to investigate the crazy cold.

Although he's been sick and sleeping TERRIBLY he's still happy as a lark and loves to smile and sigh contently. :)

When he's sick he believes he must only sleep in my arms and I can't lie down, too, or he won't close his cute little eyes. {But it's he so sweet-looking when he sleeps?}

This little dude hates tummy time, however he's pretty content for about 5 minutes when he's perched up on the boppy. Remember how he rolled over all the time when he was 2 months old? Not anymore. He is scooting, though. I hope he doesn't start crawling too soon!

I stoll this from Nick's Cousin's Blog...

2011-02-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

What are your middle names? Marie and Denny
How long have you been together? 2 1/2 years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? Couple seconds. (JK- A couple hours.)
Who asked who out? Nick asked me out. :)
Do you have any children together? Yes! Baby Z!
What about pets? Unfortunately none that are living. :( RIP {Kitali the Gecko!}
Did you go to the same school? Nope
Who is the smartest? Nick. Definitely.
Who is the most sensitive? Me... Definitely
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Our parents' houses. :D
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Florida
Who does the cooking? I do.
Who is more social? Me
Who is the neat Freak? Nicholas
Who is the more stubborn? It's a tie... but I guess he usually wins.
Who wakes up earlier? Depends on when Z wakes up. Nick's usually up at 6:30 for work.
Where was your first date? Gymnastics gym in Provo.
Who has the bigger family? Individual: me. Extended: It's a tie.
How do you spend the holidays? Family party hopping!
Who is more jealous? Couldn't say. Neither of us is the jealous type.
How long did it take to get serious? One look. Just Kidding! A couple of minutes.
Who eats more? We eat about the same...( I should probably fix that.)
Who’s better with the computer? Nick, all the way! All I know is how to do is blog, facebook, and deal with pictures!
Who drives when you are together? Nick, always. :)

Super Bowl!

2011-02-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

Nick and I had Super Bowl dinner at his parent's. Among other delicious dishes we made our own pizzas from scratch! They were so very good. :)

(Sorry for the terrible picture quality! I used an old 6 megapixel camera! Oops!)

So Good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the day there was a robbery about a block away. A woman heard someone in her house, grabbed a gun, went to investigate, ran into the robber who took the gun and shot it at her, she escaped, locked herself in her room and then called the police. She didn't get hurt, but the robber made off with her gun.

Sooooo...

We got onto the subject of how 'everyone should own a gun to protect themselves'. Thus we have the following picture of Dani (9 months pregnant, mind you!) holding her father's shotgun. Jerry was showing Dani how to properly use it in case she ever found herself in a situation where she needed it. :)

The Final Countdown for Dani...

2011-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Her due date is close and the clock is ticking! Dani is due on the 11th. She has now tried eating a pineapple, kiwis, and a mango, (for the enzymes). She's tried swinging, running, the basketball thing, and she goes on walks with her puppy every day... multiple times a day. I haven't asked her if she's doing that thing everyone says to do. And I'm not going to.

So basically~

This baby has a mind of his own, (just like mine did and chances are yours did, too!) He's coming when he's coming and there's probably nothing we can do about it. {It is fun to pretend, though!} The only problem with that is that I'm almost as excited about her having this baby as she is and I want him to hurry up! Ezekiel and I have talks daily about how excited he is to get a best-friend-cousin.

By the way, my sister-in-law is the only one I've ever known, EVER, who's arms and legs actually got skinnier when she was pregnant! Very impressive.

A Name and a Blessing...

2011-01-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 30, 2011, Ezekiel was given a name and a blessing. We basically only told our grandmas and a few of our closest friends because Z still doesn't have a strong immune system. It was so good to see those that we haven't seen for a while! Z looked so precious in his little blessing outfit. Everyone had a lot of fun holding him!

His face in this one with Grandma Bastian makes me laugh SO hard!

Dani's Excellent Baby Shower

2011-01-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

Before...

During...

After...

Dani's shower was a great success! It was wonderful to see everyone who came! {Thanks so much for coming!} She got everything she needed {and wanted}! Dani and Chris are now so ready for the baby to come that she's actually trying the old wives tales like jogging and playing basketball! {FYI - B-ball - Not the best idea at this point in the pregnancy!}

Have any of you done anything to hurry the baby along? Whether it worked or not, I'm interested in suggestions to pass on to Dani! ;)

Very, Very Interesting.

2011-01-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

Someone in my mother's ward sent her an e-mail containing the following article about Mormon Mommy Blogs. I was pleasantly surprised by what this woman had to say. It only goes to show we don't always know who's watching us.

"Young, Feminist Atheist Writes: Why I Can’t Stop Reading Mormon Mommy Blogs

By Maurine Proctor Jan 17, 2011

“I'm a young, feminist atheist who can't bake a cupcake. Why am I addicted to the shiny, happy lives of these women?” writes Emily Matchar in Salon.

Matchar says she can’t stop reading the blogs of young Mormon Moms.

“Yep, Naomi and Stacie and Stephanie and Liz are Mormons. They're members of a large, close-knit network of Mormon lifestyle bloggers -- young stay-at-home-moms who blog about home and hearth, Latter-day Saint-style. From Rockstar Diaries (Naomi) to Underaged and Engaged (Stacie) to Nie Nie Dialogues (Stephanie) to Say Yes to Hoboken (Liz), Mormon lifestyle bloggers occupy their very own corner of the blogosphere.

“Their lives are nothing like mine -- I'm your standard-issue late-20-something childless overeducated atheist feminist -- yet I'm completely obsessed with their blogs. On an average day, I'll skim through a half-dozen Mormon blogs, looking at Polaroids of dogs in raincoats or kids in bow ties, reading gratitude lists, admiring sewing projects.

“I'm not alone, either. Two of my closest friends -- both chronically overworked Ph.D. candidates -- procrastinate for hours poring over Nat the Fat Rat or C. Jane Enjoy It. A recent discussion of Mormonism on the blog Jezebel unleashed a waterfall of confessions in the comments section from other young non-religious women similarly riveted by the shiny, happy domestic lives of their Latter-day Saint sisters.

"They have lovely homes, picture-perfect kids, loving, super-attentive husbands, and things seem very normal and calm," writes a commenter named BrookeD, who admits to reading five Mormon blogs daily.

"I thought I was the only one!!" responds another commenter.

"THANK YOU," adds a third. "I'm another closet non-Mormon reader of Mormon mommy blogs."

“So why, exactly, are these blogs so fascinating to women like us -- secular, childless women who may have never so much as baked a cupcake, let alone reupholstered our own ottomans with thrifted fabric and vintage grosgrain ribbon? …Well, to use a word that makes me cringe, these blogs are weirdly "uplifting."

“…But the basic messages expressed in these blogs -- family is wonderful, life is meant to be enjoyed, celebrate the small things -- are still lovely. And if they help women like me envision a life in which marriage and motherhood could potentially be something other than a miserable, soul-destroying trap, I say, "Right on." I won't be inviting the missionaries inside for hot cocoa now or ever, but I don't plan on stopping my blog habit any time soon.” "

Dani's Baby Shower!

2011-01-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law, Dani, is expecting her first baby on February 11! I am so excited to meet him! {and can't wait for Zeke to have a cousin!} Dani is looking so cute with her perfect prego belly! I wish I had a picture-expect one, soon! Anywho, we're having a baby shower for her and baby Malachi this Sat, Jan 22nd from 1-3pm!

Since most of those who read this blog are family and are attending the shower I thought I'd include a list of things she could use! Since I just had Zeke I knew some of the things she needs, but I also know some specific things she wants.

Diapers! {Her biggest need} (Huggies 'Little Snugglers' or 'Pampers Swaddlers')

Burp Clothes

Diaper Rash Cream

Johnson's Bedtime Bath and Lotion (They really do work to calm the baby!)

Dr Brown's Dishwasher Basket {$6.99 @ Babys-R-Us}

Check it out here!
Bumbo-(I received one for my shower! They're wonderful!)
Poppy (I think everyone needs one of these. period.)

Wipe Warmer

{This is something she's actually said she wants a couple of times. I found one for $17 on Amazon- check it out! Or there's a great variety at Babys-R-Us!}

Loving the Kindle

2011-01-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

My mom, sister and I all received Kindles for Christmas and LOVE them! I've already read a natural birthing book {to see what my sister-in-law is about to go through!}, and now I can't wait to tackle the free classics! I love the games and internet, too.
My mom, sister and I are each other's biggest reference guide for great books. (Twilight, Hunger Games, The Brothers? Heard about all of them from each other first!) That makes it so much fun to talk about what we're reading, what we think is going to happen, and what we want to happen. Before we all had Kindles we had to take turns reading the books one by one, however, we are all now using the same account so we can still buy one copy, but read it at the same time on our own Kindles. Yay for technology!

Testing

2011-01-16T01:27:00.001-08:00

After months of trying to figure out how to make the pictures bigger I finally did it! I am SO proud of myself right now. :) {Go me!}

I posted this random picture so I can remember his gorgeous blue-gray eyes. I know they won't change to my brown, but I still wonder if they're going to turn Nick's shade of green, (which changes color from blue to green depending on what he's wearing.)

Z's First Christmas!

2011-01-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

K, I'm just preparing you, now! There are 20 pictures in this post!

First we had the Hawke Family party at Kelley's house.
This picture is of 5 generations alive at one Christmas party! Nick's Great Grandma Blanche is sitting by her daughter, Grandma Elaine, who's sitting by her daughter, Kelley, who's the mother of Nick, who is the father of Ezekiel. That's amazing to me!

This was also Z's first time meeting Santa! He actually slept through the whole thing, but that's ok! I got my pictures and that's what I wanted. :)

Christmas Eve we met at my parent's and did the sibling gift exchange.

Molly had a fun time with us, too!

All of the siblings with their gift exchange presents-

We also had a Christmas party for the extended Healey family. This is Z's Great Grandma Healey giving him loves. :)

Isaiah & Kingston, (my cousin's beautiful boys), were hanging out with Remington, (my other cousin's beautiful dog) when it was time to go! They look so cute in their matching blue!

More loves from Grandma...

And Kiley, too! (I love the little "Brrr" printed on Z's bum)

Zeke, Nick and I spent the Christmas Eve night at my parents and opened presents there in the morning. My mom, Grandma Healey, held Z while Nick and I looked in our stocking!

Santa brought my sister Sam a Kindle, and my brother Jackson a digital Camera for his mission.

Our first Christmas as a little family. :) (We look so nice after sleeping on the floor in the basement.) ;) Santa (we) brought us a kindle, bluray player, and wireless printer!

My cute boys!

Aunt Sami, as beautiful as ever, can always be found playing with her favorite nephew!

Nick's Uncle Randy and Aunt Michelle sent Z the cutest set of car keys for Christmas. That's one of my favorite gifts for him. :)

I got him a tie so he could look so cute at church!

Granpa Healey and his little buddy chillin on Christmas morning.

Z has so many different smiles. I love them all,! His half smile makes me weak every time!

What a BABE!

One of the highlights this Christmas was talking to my brother Chad, who's on a mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Chad, this is what we looked like when we were talking to you! Sorry we couldn't skype!)

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin...

2011-01-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

This last week Z rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time! It was AwEsOmE!
This is the first recording of it:

Haha, please don't pay attention to the way I'm talking to him. :S I think all moms sound a little bit ridiculous when talking to little babies.

Joe and Linda's visit to Utah!

2011-01-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

Joe and Linda are the wonderful couple who invite us to Catalina Island every year. (Joe is Kelley's uncle through her father's side.)They were traveling from California to Idaho and stopped by Nick's parents along the way! It was wonderful to see them and to show Zeke off. :) He did his sweet baby thing. He smiled, he cooed, and snuggled nicely... all in only his diaper and blanket because he had a wicked explosion that went through his diaper, clothes, blanket, and soaked his car seat liner on the way to Nicks' parent's. That was yuck. Anyway, it was great to see Uncle Joe and Aunt Linda!

Pictures taken from Uncle Joe's facebook. :)

This next picture is kind of blurry, but it's the only one of uncle Joe and Z. :)

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” Mother Teresa

2010-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

Smiling is infectious,
It catches like the flu.
Someone smiled at me, today,
And I started smiling, too!

One for the ladies...

Best Day of Z's Happy Little Life...

2010-12-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

I just have to proclaim to the world that Zeke slept 8 HOURS straight last night! Not making a peep! And when he woke up? He didn't cry at all! In fact, Nick and I woke up to him making adorable happy noises and smiling the morning away. He smiled and coo-ed for a 1/2 hour before he started sounding concerned. I have been elated about it all day. Just had to tell you about that! (I think maybe the reason I'm so excited about it is that even though I only slept 6 of those 8 hours, that's the greatest amount of time I've slept in one night since he was born! And to add to that, the last three days he'd decided he needed to wake and eat every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. [That part was a nightmare that made the 8 straight hours even more appreciated!!!])

Z's 2 month Immunizations and Remnants of the Provo Tabernacle

2010-12-22T15:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday, December 17th, Ezekiel and I headed to Provo to get my flu shot and his 2 month immunizations at the Utah County Health Department. The building is located kitty corner from the Provo Tabernacle which had caught fire the night before. All the streets surrounding the area were blocked off with fire engines, police cars, and ambulances, so we had to walk the same block the tabernacle was on and I took some pictures. I was very sad to see such a beautiful, historically/religiously significant building destroyed. I really hope they can rebuild it.

Our JibJab Rockband

2010-12-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

FEATURING:

EJ Silencer
Notorious Nick
Dazzling Dani
Shady Shelly
Dan Devastation

Sigh...I just don't know how to make these things fit...

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree... Thanks for Soothing My Baby...

2010-12-01T00:32:00.001-08:00

Christmas season has started and we have gotten our very first Christmas tree!
Thanks, Kelley-Mom!

Assembling the tree was special this year. I set up the tree, Nick helped with the lights and Z watched, so we did it as a family!
I love having the tree in our home! It brings in the happy, loving spirit of Christmas and makes me a little excited! The best part about the tree, though, is that when all else fails it soothes Z.
Just tonight he was crying and nothing we did soothed him.
I knew he loved to stare at his Grandma Kelley's Christmas tree so I brought him to ours and he immediately stopped.
Out of curiosity I turned him away and he started wailing again.
Toward the tree silence.
I am so happy to discover yet another benefit of the Christmas tree. :D

Nick and I need to go to bed, now, but tomorrow I'll post about the one thing that puts Z right to sleep and keeps him sleeping for hours. :D

Z's First Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

I wonder how long I'll label every Holiday as Z's first, second, third, fourth...

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at Nick's parent's house.
We didn't go to any of our Grandmas' houses, because Z isn't supposed to be around children or large groups of people during RSV season. (I've already taken him to events with most of the extended Healey family, but he stayed in his car seat with the blanket over him and the family knows what's going on, so they kept their distance. [thanks guys!])

It's strange to say that we had Christmas at Z's Grandma and Grandpa's house.
It was just Kelley, Jerry, Nick, Me, Z, Dani, Chris, and Hannah,this year.
After the guys played a couple games of pool we finally got them upstairs and put them to work! Nick cut the turkey while the rest of us buttered and foiled the crab legs! (That's right! King Crab legs!)

The table was set with Kelley's beautiful china and many of the typical Thanksgiving favorites- the turkey, the mashed potatoes and gravy, the squash, delicious rolls... but all of those were just building up to the main entree...

The King Crab!
It was awesome. :D Jerry has a job where he flies helicopters in Alaska and he picked these big boys up this last time! It was a lot of fun! Seriously, --watching your in-laws using pliers and household scissors to pry open crab legs over Thanksgiving dinner conversation was Awesome!
We will never forget this Thanksgiving. :D

Elliott and Z got to chill around by our feet as we ate. ;) (Don't worry, I gave Elliott a tiny, teeny bit of crab.)

I just had to post this one cuz it makes me laugh. (I wanted to take the baby, but Nick gave me the stink eye.)

Newborn Pictures by Brittany G Photography

2010-11-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

The photographer, Brittany Griffiths, was SO nice and made this so much easier than it could have been! She was amazing, and I am so happy with the results! These were taken when Z was still on oxygen, and the tubes were being held to his face by abrasive tape. I removed them for the pictures and they left deep redish-purple circles where the tape was. She edited his cheeks in every single picture and they truly look amazing! If you want to check out her site it's BrittanyGPhotography.com.

Now that our Two has become Three...

2010-11-18T16:54:00.000-08:00

It's been fun with just Nick and me, but now baby makes three! That means it's time to say goodbye to our old banner and hello to the new. :) I did love this picture, though!

Tuesday, November 16th - Getting Sworn In

2010-11-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

Over the past two years Nick and I have been trying to decide what Nick should do after he graduates BYU and is finished at the MTC. For a while, now, Nick has been exclusively interested in the Armed Forces and after much investigation and prayer we have decided to join the Army. On Tuesday Ezekiel and I headed up to Salt Lake City and got to watch Nick get sworn in. Nick will be heading to basic training June 7th and I'll be sticking around a little longer than that. We will be committing to the Army for 3 years and after that if we still love it we'll stay, if we're ready for something new we'll hop out.

4 Weeks Old :)

2010-11-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

Z reached 4 weeks old , yesterday, and on Friday he'll be one month old! I cannot believe he'll have already been here for a whole month! We love this little guy to pieces! We are so grateful to the family who has spent the night or come over at all times of the day to be with Ezekiel while I've slept or bathed or cleaned up a little. It is amazing how much a few consecutive hours of sleep helps one stay sane! :)

My Marmy watching Z

Sam & Jax

Kelley Mom

Jerry Dad

Aunt Dani

(So sweet!)

K, Sean and Lauren never actually watched Z, but they hold him the whole time they're here!)

Uncle Chris

... For a while I never looked nice enough to be in pictures, but I made Nick take some of Z and me the other day. I'm glad I did so that he'll look back and see that I loved him, too!!!

This is my evil eye because Nick was taking so long to take the picture. :)

Now I'm happy!

Z is a Great Little Sleeper...

2010-11-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Once he really falls asleep anyone can hold him and I can set him down anywhere! The only problem is that he's recently gotten this idea in his head that he must be held to fall asleep.

Z's First Halloween

2010-11-06T18:23:00.001-07:00

Our little monkey was a monkey for Halloween.

He had such a cute little tail!

First Pictures of Ezekiel

2010-11-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

There were so many pictures I wanted to post, but here are just a few!

Z's eyes have always been so bright! I vote that they'll be dark brown like mine. Nick thinks they'll turn green like his. (He's probably right, but I don't mind!)

After months of telling me there was no way he was going to cut the umbilical cord, when the moment came Nick went for it. I was so proud of him. :)

Waiting for the respiratory specialist to arrive.

Nick loves this little guy so much! It melts my heart all the time!

He became the cute little bubble boy when they moved him to the special care unit.

They way Nick looks at Z is so precious.

The first time he slept in his cradle was perfect! He relaxed and slept for hours. :)

~I love Nick, he loves me! We love baby, yes-sir-y! He loves us and so you see, we are a happy family!~

Z's Birth

2010-11-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in so long partly because we were staying in the hospital for so long, and partly because I knew this one was going to be a long one...

Ezekiel Jackson Bastian
was born
October 19, 2010
weight and length:
6 lbs 13 oz, 19 inches

Even though I was having contractions 2 minutes apart 3 weeks before Z was born, I still had to be induced two days after his due date. On the 18th of October I was scheduled to be induced at 6:00 am. They were pretty busy at the hospital, so when I called them at 5:30 they told me to wait til 10:00. I pouted a bit, went back to bed, and got a call at 7:30ish saying, "come now!", so I did. :) I was only dilated to a 3, so they gave me pitocin and after a few hours the contractions got intense. :) I was so happy to be in so much pain because it meant Z was so close to getting here! At noon they gave me the epidural and I was so happy that I was no longer in pain and Z was still coming! (I didn't experience a single discomfort others had told me about. I was very pleasantly surprised and lucky, I think) Unfortunately, around midnight that night my epidural ran out, which happened to be right when pushing began... The anesthesiologist was in the middle of something else so he took a long, long time getting to us. It was killing me to push, but it was almost worse not to. It was just bad news! I remember saying repeatedly, "This sucks!" and "Jeez!" Haha, Pretty weird things to say when in labor, but hey, it could have been worse. :) FINALLY, the anesthesiologist got there and put more medicine in the IV thingy and for my very last contraction (so last 3 pushes) I was ok, again.
After about 18 hours of labor our son was finally delivered and was set on my chest. He was so alert! His bright little eyes were open and when he heard my cry he kept looking up toward my face. He was so beautiful! Nick held me as I held Z and we all cried. Our beautiful, perfect moment together only lasted a minute or two. I don't remember at what point, but either the Dr or nurses realized there was something wrong with Z's color and breathing. After cleaning him off a little they took him away where I thought they were just giving him his first bath. Nick went with them, and I waited while I got stitches for the multiple 3rd degree tears that helped get Z here. :S
What seemed like an eternity later, (really about an hour maybe) They put me in a wheelchair to bring me to see my baby. Eventually, Nick came back to get me and mentioned that they said something about his breathing not sounding quite right. I didn't actually read much into that, though, I was just happy to go see my new little baby. The seriousness of the situation didn't register until they called the respiratory specialist in from his home at 2:00 am. He came and examined Z. After a while he compassionately explained Z's situation. Basically he had pneumothorax in both lungs, which is the collection of air in the space around the lungs. The air puts pressure on a lung, so it can't expand as much as it normally does when someone takes a breath. People refer to it as a collapsed lung. The reason this happened is because he contracted viral pneumonia from a sickness Nick had from the MTC and I pushed him out too fast, (at the end of an 18 hour labor), so the nurses described it as "popping his lungs." The Dr said that Z would have to be in the hospital for a minimum of a week until his lungs healed and he'd gotten the proper medication through IVs for the pneumonia.
I cried, because I'm emotional like that, and we were worried, but as the days passed I got to hold him, then to feed him, and eventually to change diapers and the rest of the good stuff. :) We went through so many changes and scares through his time there, but now he's a happy, (nearly) perfectly healthy baby who's just on oxygen and is highly susceptible to pneumonia and RSV. :D We ended up staying in the hospital for 10 days and now I'm home with Z tied to me in my homemade 'moby' wrap (which he LOVES!).
Because Z is at such a high risk for pneumonia and RSV we've been advised not to go to church or the grocery store with the baby until spring. We can't bring him anywhere that has children under 14 years old, and no one may hold him if they even have the sniffles. :S It looks like it will be a long, but wonderful winter. :)

October 16!!!

2010-10-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

(Drum roll, please!)

Today is Z's due date!!!

I just hope hope hope he comes, today!

Wish us luck! (and labor!)

Maternity Pictures!

2010-10-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Nichole Enoch is a great photographer in our area. She was doing a deal for a while where we could get a session for free! We were definitely fans of that! She did an amazing job! We were so happy with her work! Nichole was so much fun and really easy to work with! You can check her out at http://choleyphotography.blogspot.com/

A Pregnancy Update...

2010-10-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I went to the Dr for my last prenatal appointment. After having contractions 2 minutes apart the previous weekend I was hoping I would be having this little guy a little sooner, but I was only dilated to "almost 3". :( The doctor scheduled the induction for the 18th if Z doesn't come before then. (I'm really hoping he comes before then, but Monday isn't far out, so I'm happy.) So, there you have it. If I don't go into labor before then, he will definitely be here by the 18th. :)

Wish us luck!!!

Jess tagged me, so here we go... :)

2010-10-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

9 TV shows I love to Watch
- Psych
- Scrubs
- Almost anything on Discovery Health
- Studio 5
- Just about anything on HGTV
- So you Think You Can Dance
- The Office
- Divine Design
- What Not to Wear

9 Favorite Restaurants
- Olive Garden
- Wingers
- Rumby Grill
- Panda Express :)
- JambaJuice
- P. F. Chang's
- Zupas
- Gandolpho's
- Cafe Rio

9 Things that Happened Yesterday
- Helped my mom pack a case of chicken in air-tight freezer safe bags. :)
- Got my face waxed! (pregnancy turns me into a werewolf...)
- Experienced intense contractions
- Napped for hours :)
- Cleaned my House
- Laundry
- Got pumpkins and an ice cream cone from Macey's Grocery Store
- Got together with Amy, Davey, Jessica, and Shawn and carved pumpkins, drank hot chocolate and watched some funny labor episodes of Friends.
- Took pictures of the pumpkins we carved and baked and ate the pumpkin seeds.

9 Things I am looking forward to (My Thoughts are a little consumed at this time...)
- Z's long awaited debut
- Becoming a mother
- Holding the baby that is now living inside my belly
- Sharing this miracle with my hubby
- Sharing this miracle with my Family and Friends
- Chad getting home and meeting this little guy
- Nick graduating in December
- Cuddling my new baby and hubby :)
- Getting rid of this prego belly!(I know! It's gonna take a LOT of work!)

9 Things on my wish list
- Z to come!!! :)
- Z will be born healthy and strong!
- Labor will go well
- Medela Pump In Style Advanced Breast Pump (I know no guys read this blog)
- A Rocking Chair :)
- Baby Whisperer :)
- Babywise
- Happiest Baby on the Block
- Baby Monitor

Tag 3 People
- Amy H.(Ha, Amy! Double tagged!)
- Stephanie Cooper
- Sami

Our Eventful Saturday...

2010-10-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

At 6:00am we all got up and headed to a park just above Provo Temple so that we could go on a Hot Air Balloon ride.

It was dark and cold, but we were excited ;)

Was anyone ever thrilled with the way they looked when they were at the end of their pregnancy? :S

I always like the way he looks, though. ;) Unfortunately, the people putting up the Hot Air balloon took a lot longer than they'd said. Nick had to go to work before the balloon was even set up. :(

Set up took about another hour after Nick had left. (I like that the photographer took a picture of us while I was taking a picture of them.)

After hours of waiting we actually only went up 25 ft and the ride lasted about 45 seconds. :) It was a fun adventure, though, and now I can say I've been on a Hot Air Balloon ride. :)

After the Balloon ride my day didn't exactly slow down. After visiting Nick's grandma Elaine briefly on the way home, and picking up a container full of adorable baby clothes from Nick's mom's family friend, (I'm so excited about those!) I got home and crashed for a few hours.
I woke up when Nick got home from the temple and we ate some pineapple, together. When I felt up for it we went to the swings for a little bit. That's where the contractions got intense. :)

Nick actually had to help me carefully walk home where I tried to nap for a while. (I've had lots of intense false labor, so I needed to make sure that wasn't what was going on.) After a few hours of contractions going from 7 to 6 to 5 minutes apart we decided to go to the hospital. After being hooked up to the monitor for a while the nurse let us know that my contractions were actually 2 minutes apart!!! [In birthing class we were taught that once contractions were 5 minutes apart you were to head to the hospital and have your baby.] Unfortunately, I was only dilated to a one... even with contractions that close together, one is just not far enough. The nurse sent us home after taking a couple porcocet, (which I threw up.) and told me that when the contractions were excruciating to come back.

All of Sunday I was still experiencing contractions about two minutes apart, but they weren't as intense. In the afternoon they got pretty bad and I lost my plug, so I hoped I was progressing. I called the hospital to see if I should come in, but that nurse wasn't as nice as the first one and said no. (Well she wasn't mean, but I didn't feel like she really considered what I was saying. Oh well, I guess they deal with inexperienced first time laborers all the time.) When I hung up I started crying because contractions over long periods of time make life a little miserable. Nick was so so SO sweet and when he saw my tears he held me for a while, then came on a walk with me to see if we could get this labor going. It did, but I wanted to make sure that they were unbearable before going to the hospital, again. We went to my parents house, (since that's what we do every other Sunday) and the contractions weakened. :( After dinner my sweet mother and sisters, Amy and Sami, went on a power walk with me to see if I could get things going again. This time all a walk did was make my joints and ligaments ache. :( No labor.

So today is Monday, and I woke up having weak contractions. I'm running out of excitement, patience, and energy. ;) Nick and I were wondering why my body isn't doing things the way it's supposed to, but then Nick reminded me that... it's never done things the way it's supposed to! Then I started realizing how blessed we've been! We're blessed that after a while of trying, only a few treatments of clomid and some fem-mend we conceived when tests were showing that I wasn't working still! This has been the nicest pregnancy...(until the last month, lol)! And we have family and friends who have supported us and cared for us every step of the way! :)

Anyway, I really hope we have this little guy soon! :) I don't care how much more pain there is to come. If it's bringing about the arrival of the little guy I'll take it! Wish us luck! (and labor!) :)

I Need to Take a Blog Class...

2010-10-11T10:01:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 8th -
So the site I like for my blog background is having troubles and every couple of weeks my background randomly disappears. I found it that way again the other day, so I decided to do some work and figure out a couple of other things I wanted to do (like make the pictures wider like I've seen on others' blogs), but I ended up completely ruining my blog set up and I could not figure out how to put my gadgets back or my header or anything. I was devastated cuz I really messed things up, big time. After a couple of hours of trying to fix it and a little bit of tears I finally said little prayer. :) Then, within a couple minutes I figured everything out. I couldn't get the old background to work, but now I have a cute Halloween one and I know that Heavenly Father even hears my pathetic little prayers to fix my blog. It makes me happy that he loves us. :)

An Extra Special Something for Z

2010-10-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Nick and I have gotten so many special things in preparation for baby Z's arrival.

We now have the pack-n-play, which will double as his actual crib:

We have a dresser to store his little baby things in: (Should I paint it brown?)

We have the swing, stroller, and car seat (already installed and waiting!):

And many more little things to make life a little bit easier:

There is, however, one very special something we've received that's a little more precious than the rest. --
A little over 24 years ago, Nick's mother, who was about to have her first son, asked her sweet grandfather, who was a carpenter, if he would make a cradle for her baby to sleep in. Nick's great-grandfather did so with love and Nick slept in that cradle all throughout his parent's travels while he was a baby. This little cradle held Nick and his little sister, Dani, throughout the US, Panama, and Germany. When Nick and Dani were too big for the cradle, their mother brought it safely with them even till today.
This special cradle was brought out of storage and prepared, again, to cradle another sweet baby who is due in just 9 days! I think that it's a sweet, special blessing that this little baby gets to enjoy the work of his great-great-grandfather's hands even after he passed away. Not only will our baby get to use it, but by the time he needs to move to a bigger crib, his little cousin, (Dani and Chris' baby) will be able to use it as well. :) Every morning I wake up, my eyes fall on that sweet little cradle and I feel happy and blessed. :)

Puppy Sitting Molly

2010-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

This last week Nick and I had the opportunity to watch Davey and Amy's new puppy, Molly. Molly is the sweetest, smallest, cutest puppy I know. I love her. Nick and I really enjoyed watching her while Davey and Amy went with her family to Disney Land for a week! It was the best!

Baby's Shower!

2010-09-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

So on Saturday my moms are throwing me and baby a baby shower!

It will be an open house on September 18th from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at my mom's house in American Fork. :)

There was going to be another shower, but that one didn't work out. I know a few people were invited to that, but didn't hear anything more. I contacted some, but if you haven't been notified further about the shower you are definitely invited to this one!

Trafalga!

2010-09-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

I actually am not a huge fan of mini-golfing, but with the Trafalga season passes we also get a season pass to Seven Peaks, Flash games, Owls games, and Trafalga in Orem and in Lehi. We figured we could have a few fun date nights, especially since Nick's sister and her hubby got season passes, too.

The night we got the passes Dani and Chris and some friends met up with us. They had a deal going. Whoever dressed the most extreme didn't have to buy ice cream that night...

Dani stuffed her tummy with a pillow even though she really is pregnant!

They did tell Nick to dress up, but he didn't pass on the memo...

Me and Nick! The only normally dressed people in the group!

3D 5 minute movie! Yay!

Nick cheering me on!

I managed to get my ball in the pond, but Chris and Dani's friend got it for me!

Chris got a hold of my camera...

Catalina Trip #3

2010-09-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

After about 10 hours of driving, (with many potty breaks for the two pregnant ladies, a few gas stops, and a lunch break) we finally arrived at Nick's great uncle Joe and aunt Linda's in San Bernadino!

We stayed the night and at 5:30 the following morning we arose to travel another few hours to get to the boat to take us to Catalina Island!

A four hour boat ride later we arrived!

The water was cold so I stayed behind and took pictures!

Nick was sick of pictures by this point...

Dani (Nick's sister) is in her 5th month of pregnancy! her little guy is barely showing!

You Shall Not Pass!

The days were perfect! (So was the water as long as I wasn't in it!)

The husbands jumping of the float:

Nick chased some awesome looking leopard sharks

Dani and Chris' Sand Barrier

DESTROYED!

This bug is a big as a whale's heart!

Rock Climbing!
Nick didn't use his legs on this wall -just his arms.

Dani Climbing

Me climbing...

Done!

Our hike to Chimney Rock!

Waiting for the boat to come get us.

On our way home, again!

After our 5 day journey we arrived home at 2:00am!

Davey and Amy ~ Sealed for Eternity

2010-09-01T10:46:00.001-07:00

So, my big brother and his wonderful wifey, Amy, got sealed in the Timpanogos Temple on
Friday! :)

They had a little ice cream get together with family and close friends the night before and I got a little camera happy!

Still Growing...

2010-07-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

More documentation of my ever growing belly. We're now in our seventh month and can't wait to be done. :) It's not that this pregnancy has been a pain, it's actually been pretty enjoyable, but there are the discomforts and I just want to see my cute, little baby boy!

Mmmmmmmm!

2010-07-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

P.F Chang's

So Stinking Good....

(This is called 'The Great Wall of Chocolate" and should probably be shared by 4-6 people...)

Growing Baby - Growing Belly :)

2010-06-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

I love this baby so very much! I just felt him kick for the first time the other day! I was floating for days from pure joy! Nick felt a little left out because he couldn't feel it for a while, but one day we were resting and Baby kicked hard enough for Nick to feel! We both responded like excited, giggly school girls... :D I love my Baby Z so much, already! I can't wait to be able to hold him in my arms and to kiss his sweet toes and cheeks. I love when he reminds me that he's there by nudging and poking all day long. :)

Jackson - class of 2010!!!

2010-06-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

My precious youngest brother Jackson graduated from high school just recently and we're so proud of him! My brothers are such cuties and I'm so proud of them! My other younger brother is serving his mission, working hard and having a great time. My big brother and his wifey just got their own apartment and I can't wait to see it! They are the best brothers of all time! I couldn't be more proud to be a sister to each one of them!

And I love my sister Sami, too! :D

Know any good Newborn Baby Photographers?

2010-05-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

K, so recently I've been looking for a photographer once the baby is born. I love the newborn photo galleries at nuttallphotography.com and Brittanygphotography.com. Unfortunately, those are all that I've liked so far... I was wondering if any of you mothers have gotten newborn photos that you are happy with... that maybe didn't cost $500 with the rites included.

Moving

2010-05-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Most of the moving happened while I was gone, but I was able to document the moving of the washer and dryer that Nick's sister let us use while they are living with others who already have one. :) (Thanks Dani!) My dad and youngest brother came and helped Nick with the heavy lifting!

Etney and Doug & Texas

2010-05-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago one of my good friends from Texas got married and I got to go to the wedding in the Dallas Temple.

Doug and Etney (Bethany) Hogan :)

Jilby! One of my bestoes!

A few of the other Texans that I love so much...

...And our wonderful decorations of their get-away car. Lol

We have another announcement...

2010-05-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

IT'S A BOY!

On Friday, April 30, a little after 9:30 AM we went in for an ultrasound at Utah Valley Ultrasound. At first the nurse showed us pictures of our baby's face, hands, fingers, and it was amazing to see the little thing turning all around and kicking it's little legs! I couldn't believe it. I'm only at 16 weeks, so I couldn't feel anything, but it was amazing to see! Nick and I were actually really hoping for a boy to be first, but the nurse announced that it was a girl without really looking. After a little better observation we saw that it is probably definitely a boy... the nurse said she was 95% sure it was a boy, but there's a 5% chance we'd be surprised. In four weeks I'll have my 20 week ultra sound to check on the rest of the baby's health and progress and then we'll know 100%. :) Anywho, I just couldn't keep that in any longer. The reason why I haven't blogged in so long is because we just moved into our first home and we were busy and didn't have the internet for a while. All is well, my stomach is just starting to show (I'm at four months), and I'm ready to pass out 24/7, but I've been blessed with not getting sick often (I'M SO SO SO GRATEFUL FOR THAT!) We're excited to have a home of our own for our little family to expand into and life is good. :)

2010-03-30T20:27:00.001-07:00

So I did end up getting a new camera. :) Aaaand then Nick and I got a new house. Here it is:

I also took the first pictures of my prego belly. :) It's actually not popping out, yet, but this is the end of month number 2. :)

Nick also got his lasic surgery done. It was crazy! The type of surgery he had was actually called PRK. After watching that surgery I would never get it done! It was so scary because he was conscious the whole time! Here are some pictures:

The nurse had to draw on Nick's eyes to mark where the astigmatisms were. He did NOT like that.

He looks like the terminator in this picture. :)

I had to watch through this glass wall while poor Nick's eyes were operated on!

Nick spent the next three days with this ice-pack on his eyes to relieve the pain.

These were all the drops he had to take. On the first day he had to take them every half hour, after that he's taken them every hour! It can definitely become a full time job to have to put 5 drops in his eyes 5 minutes apart every few minutes! But many, many people say that it's worth it!

:(

2010-03-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm very sad. :( Ever since the week before I found out I was pregnant I lost my digital camera. I cannot find it anywhere. So, unfortunately I can't take pictures of my pregnancy week by week. I've looked ev-er-y-where. I wonder about it all the time and I've even had dreams that it was returned to me and I hate waking up to realize it was a lie-dream. >:( I'll give it a month before I need to go get another cheap one. That's so sad.

2010-03-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

No more glasses or contacts for Nick! On march 25th, he's going to get RPK surgery on his eyes! That's a surgery just like lasic! :) We're pretty excited! Especially due to the fact that his glasses have been broken for the last two weeks.
We keep gluing them back together, but whenever he tries to tickle me I accidentally hit his face and break his glasses, again. :) I have to admit, I'm tired of those weak fragile glasses and I can't wait for them to be gone!

I ALSO GOT A NEW JOB!

2010-02-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

The same day we found out I was having a baby I quit my job that made me completely miserable! I had gotten a new job at a company called 1-800 CONTACTS. This company maintains the world's largest inventory of contact lenses at almost 10 million. It started 15 years ago out of a BYU college student's garage and now it's the biggest contact company in the world. I thought that was pretty cool :)

They have a gym in the basement and we all get access to a free personal trainer, (which I hope will help me keep me and my prego-belly the right size when it starts showing!)

My favorite part is that there is a restaurant upstairs that we all use. You come in and order off the computer in the morning and you select the time you want to go pick it up. It is amazing quality, delicious, healthy food and I am so impressed! The best part is that each meal is only $2.00-$2.50.

We Have an Announcement!

2010-02-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

On Friday, February 19th Nick and I found out we have a little one on the way who's expected arrival date is October 18, 2010.
:) We are very excited! (:

I honestly wasn't expecting to be pregnant when I found out! I have not been sick, yet, but I was 22 days late and when one is trying to conceive that stands out. (I also cried at stupid things.) :) I went to the Dr with no other symptoms that I knew of and he delicately told me that I probably was not pregnant. I told him that I agreed. I had taken 2 pregnancy tests one week apart a little earlier in the month and both were definitely negative. (I bought the kind that says YES or NO so there was no mistake in reading the test. A lot of good that did!) Anyway, I went to the testing center and blah-blah. The nurse came back with the results and handed the paper to me. I asked her what the results were and :) out of the whole sheet she pointed to the one word I'd been looking for this whole time! I looked for 'NOT PREGNANT' or something, but the word was 'POSITIVE'. :) (yaaay) She had to repeat it twice and point to the word before I actually understood it! I couldn't believe it! I started to cry and she asked, "Is this a good or a bad thing?" I was barely able to say, "So Good!" She started laughing and saying how she liked it when they were happy and I jumped up and hugged her. When I realized I'd just hugged a stranger I expected it to be very awkward, but she hugged me back and laughed. After that I practically danced back to the Dr to tell him the good news!
(: It was a happy day. :)

...

2010-02-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I said my desktop was basically on its deathbed and I was preparing to cut the cord... Well, I had a change of heart. My friend Stephanie's OUTSTANDING husband agreed to take the information off my computer for free! (I definitely do have to get him a gift card, though!) I was then able to do the system recovery and it's all fixed, so I am blogging right now on my devil of a laptop...:)

Broken Laptop

2010-02-16T10:16:00.000-08:00

I've had my laptop for about three years, now. It has broken down three or four times, now.

I think I'm going to leave it dead this time.

Having to pay a couple hundred dollars or having to beg kind friends' husbands to see what they can do every time this happens is enough to drive a girl crazy!

I've loved this laptop, but it's been so evil to me!

Before it stopped turning on this last time the sound stopped working, and for the last year I've had to have it plugged into a wall for it to work, the battery was useless!

Sigh.

It's time to put this thing six feet under. I'm very mad at it, but I'm sad, too.

Sigh.

We've had some good times.

(I'll probably post again when I have a new laptop... sigh)

Marmy's 50th Birthday!

2010-02-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

So Marmy turned 25 for the second time!

We planned a small party for her with the wonderful cake Amy made herself and Costa Vida catering!

What a cute couple!

We played one of her favorite games, which is 'Catch Phrase'! The girls team won, of course!

Wedding Prep

2010-02-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

So Dani is officially getting married tomorrow and there have been many preparations for the big day, but yesterday we needed to prepare ourselves! Kelley-Mom took us to get our nails done and I really wanted to show them off!

Dani's wedding colors are green, white, and black, but none of the greens they had were the right green and I LOVE red nails, so I got my nails french-tipped in red! Kelley got normal white and Dani was going to get green, but then she just got a green line right where the pinkish and white part meat. On her ring fingers she got a black line instead of white and now she has all of her wedding colors in her nails! They look great!

Also, Dani has been growing her hair out for months for her wedding pictures and it was so beautiful and long! The other day she came home and I glanced at her and ALL of her hair was cut off, died dark brown, and had a streak of white-blond through the Mohawk section! (4 days before her wedding!) At first it was really weird for me to see her like that! I've only known her with shoulder length to long hair, but after I got used to it I can see that it's Dani's personality and she still looks great! Her mom and friend tell me that they both like her better with very short hair, and they were never used to her with the long hair! Nick's still getting used to it. Apparently he was out of the house before she started cutting it and dying it, and he is... still getting used to it. Dani looks great, and she's glad to have a different hair style from everybody else!

Our Unfinishd Basement that Rocks!

2010-02-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

Nick and I have been living in his parents unfinished basement for the last nine months. It's been a pretty fun adventure. There isn't a bathroom downstairs, the floor was always freezing and when someone needed to exercise in the room next door we didn't get to sleep in. There aren't even walls, so for privacy I hung unfinished quilts around the room. That part doesn't sound like very much fun, but it has been great to live with Nick's family and to be able to have a place to stay for free.

24

2010-01-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

FACT: Pres. Palmer was actually the first black president in office, and he was great.

FACT: There has, in fact, been a woman president in office.

FACT: Heads of CTU are always mean, but good, and die in some gruesome way.

FACT: Jack can and does and will.

FACT: New York is about to get Jacked.

(I'm going to pretend that I work at CTU for the rest of the day!)

Busy Being a Busy Bee :)

2010-01-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

This, my friends, is one busy schedule, and this has been my life for the past... forever. ;) This is a copy of my google calender for this next week. If there is ever a time when I can't play, please don't think I'm ditching out, I really do have something going on!

In My Dreams...

2010-01-19T11:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've been vividly remembering my dreams,every single night for the last couple weeks. I've had messed up dreams about Nick taking on a second wife who was a hot, young, beautiful, blond and I was fine with it and loved her like a sister. I've also dreamt about Nick telling me I really had gotten fat and he was sick of it.

Last night's was the craziest, though. I dreamt that I was cutely pregnant and I was going into labor. I was at home and nurses came and stuck all these needles in my arm like acupuncture and I basically popped the baby out! -Yay!- but instead of seeing the baby I just turned my head and went to sleep. (All this felt normal, by the way.) I woke up and considered the wonderful nap I'd just taken then realized OH MY GOSH! I JUST HAD A BABY! I got out of bed and walked to the other side of the room. (Body all back to normal and no pain.) The baby was lying on the floor -head covered by a blanket- and a nurse and Nick were on banana chairs playing X-Box, not at all paying attention to the baby. I picked the little guy up and squeezed it tightly and got mad at Nick and the nurse. We then went to dinner in some giant cafeteria that was connected to the room which was our house. I was talking and joking with everyone and half way through the meal I realized I'd left the baby in the room on the floor. I ran back to get it and this time it was in a pile of laundry on the floor be the side of my bed. I picked it up, frustrated at myself for being so irresponsible and I brought it to the cafeteria. I began having fun again and then realized I'd forgotten about the baby, again, who'd fallen off the table onto the dirt floor. I picked it up and started crying. I felt terribly inadequate and that I never should have wanted a baby. I knew I wasn't responsible enough to watch over a little one.

I then woke up to the wonderful world of much welcomed reality, but I still had the feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness from my dream. I felt very depressed this morning, but I soon put the dream behind me when I started working. As I write about the dream, now, I can recognize that it truly was not reality. I absolutely love children. I am responsible when it comes to them, I truly care about each individual child. I know that if I had one of my own I would never, ever forgot about him or her. Whew, there... I feel a lot more secure than I did this morning. :) Now I better go write about the polygamist and fat dreams so I don't hold onto those feeling, either. ;)

2010-01-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

"Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

Albert Einstein

2010-01-12T12:44:00.000-08:00

So the other day Nick and this other kid who was applying for the Army got taken to Salt Lake City just to take a test. :) This test took four hours and is one of the things that determines whether or not one gets into the military. The other guy Nick was with had the mouth of a sailor and although the car was fun for Nick, the company wasn't. After they took the test Nick came out pretty frustrated, he felt that he'd bombed it. He and his bedraggled mouthed buddy decided to open their test results on the way home together. The other boy got a 51 and Nick got 99... out of 99!!!!!! :D He's in the top 1% of the country on this test. I am so HUGELY proud of him! My husband can do anything! Anywho, we still might not get in because they're not wanting to hire anyone, right now. :S We're still praying and working for it, though.

Letters To My Sister

2010-01-09T17:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I created a blog for my sister, Sami, called "Letters To My Sister". Even though I only live about 10 minutes away from her I wanted her to have a blog so she could write letters to me. She checks blogs all the time, but she never had one so she could never comment. The link is sincerelysami.blogspot.com I'm excited about it! :D

A FeW Of mY bEsTiEs:

2010-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

JeSsIcA MaRiE ElLiNgSoN WeBb...

...Has been my consistent, main best-o since High School. Even though we're both married, now, we still get together at least once a week to watch a movie, work out, go on a Jamba-run, or just to talk. I love my Jess Nights!

StEpHaNiE HaNdY CoOpEr...

... Is another one of my besties! I met her last year when I became her visiting teacher in a BYU ward. We became bosom friends immediately. :) We also get together one night a week and just take a much appreciated break from life!

AmY MaRiE ScHlApPi HeAlEy...

... Is one awesome sister-in-law and I love her to pieces. Sometimes she's able to join us for the Jess/Dani Night. (Sorry if I spelled your maiden name wrong! That's a hard one!) Aims also has a wonderful family full of sisters and children, so I'm happy every time I go over there!

My Nanny Family

2009-12-29T12:44:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas my nanny family, the Connels, came and stayed at Park City. On December 23^rd, Nick and I were able to meet them at The Gardens Restaurant at Temple square. It was so good to see them. I was shocked at how much older my little nanny babies are! Tanner, who was two-years-old most of the time I was his nanny, can now read the Book of Mormon almost completely by himself! LOTS has changed since I was their nanny, but each one of them is still the littler person that I loved so much!

Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of the whole family, together, but this is Tanner. He is the youngest Connel and we called him ‘Nunu’. He is now 5-years-old! He loves to golf and has baby vampire teeth!

Next is a picture of the two beautiful Connel girls taken while we were at dinner! Kenna will be 12-years-old in January and she will get to go join the Young Women’s Program! I’m very excited for her. I was also shocked to find that this little lady is already as tall as I am at 5 feet 4 inches! (This is one tall family!) Stephanie is the mother of these four amazing children and I think she’s wonderful! You can also see a small part of Daren, the father of the family, behind Steph. Sadly, I believe this is the only picture I got of him that night. Daren is tall. I’ve never met another person as tall as him in my life!

This is Jacob. He was 5 most of the time I was there. He was just baptized this last year and he’s just as cute and cuddly as he ever was! He used to go to a preschool that taught Spanish and I learned most of the Spanish I know from Jake while playing with him! He is such a sweet, caring, sensitive little guy! I miss these little guys terribly!

The young man-ish guy with Nick is Michael Porter Connel. This little dude is either going to be an astronaut or a weatherman when he grows up! He knows everything there is to know about space and rocket ships. His weather predictions are honestly more accurate than the weatherman’s! :)

After Dinner we were able to walk around temple square and to see all of the beautiful lights. The temple was breathtaking! Here are a few more pictures I was able to get:

And Lastly, I let Tanner take a million pictures with my camera and the little guy went to town! Here are some of the great photos he took! (He really took them all by himself! I'm so impressed!) :)