Little Ones

Life has been crazy but wonderful lately.  Randy worked so hard on making this announcement for our beautiful baby girl, and then we never sent it out.  Life was crazy for a few months!  I always think that if you can make it through the first three months of a new born, you will be okay.

Mikayla is a sweet little girl who loves to look around!  She always wants to see what's going on.  She loves her big brother, and he loves her.  We'll see if that changes once she's big enough to steal his toys :)

Parker has been really helpful and hasn't been too jealous.  He is really great at going and finding me wet wipes or burp cloths.  He has learned the new term "spit up.  One day he was really sick and ended up throwing up.  He yelled "Daddy I spit up!"  Luckily they are both feeling much better now, but I can't wait until it gets warmer around here!  Speaking of sickness... Here is my solution for a constantly runny nose.



Randy did an AMAZING job presenting at Rootstech yesterday!  He was pretty nervous, but I was really proud of him.  He is such a good husband and dad.  Parker loves it when Daddy gives him rides on his shoulders.

I have been busy with my calling in our ward and learning how to take care of two little ones now.  They sure keep me on my toes!

Summer

(Pictures below)  This summer has been really busy and fun.  My sister and I worked hard de-junking my parent's house, which took a lot of time!  I can't believe all of the stuff that my siblings and I still had there.  It has been fun going swimming with cousins, playing outside, going for walks every day, and having more time with family out of school.  We bought a zoo pass, and I have gone to the zoo at least 8 times since buying it, so I got my money's worth!

Parker is growing and changing so much every day.  He says "Hi, Bye, Guck (truck), Aight (light)", and his very FAVORITE exclamation, "UH-OH"!  He thinks it's great to chuck his sippy at the ground and then say UH-OH!  It was funny the first few times... :)

Parker and I got to go to California at the beginning of August, and Randy joined us at the end of the week.  It was good to see my Grandpa and my Aunt Deanna.  Parker loved to chase the cats around the house.  I felt bad because he was throwing a lot of tantrums, and crying while we were there.  It wasn't until we got home that I discovered that he had four molars coming in.  Poor guy!  He was definitely happy to get home and sleep in his own bed.

We also had an impromptu trip to Disneyland.  I LOVE Disneyland, and we decided to take Parker there on our last day since the trip had been so rough.  We had so much fun!  Parker loved the rides (except the carousel) and it was great to see him smile.  Randy and I paid for my Mom to go with us, so she could take Parker home when it was time for bed and we could stay longer :)

Parker LOVES the water!  I couldn't get a great shot without some weird faces.

We went camping, and survived!

Parker's face- post camping.

He was sooo scared on this ride.  He was literally shaking every time the horse went down.

Tired.  See that Mickey with the santa hat?  Parker won't sleep or go anywhere without it.  He got it at Christmas time, and it already looks like it's five years old!

Too early to be awake in California.

It's sad to see the summer coming to an end, but at least we had fun!  And it will be nice to have cooler weather.

Over-Due Picture Dump

I haven't added pictures in a really long time, so I decided to just put a bunch of pictures on here.  Finally!!  Our little guy will be ONE on Wednesday, and I can hardly believe it!

Parker's favorite thing to do at the park: eat as many wood chips as possible and save some in his mouth for later...

Just in our backyard, enjoying the sun and the lilac bush

I couldn't resist.  I miss that hair!

After the hair has been combed... So cute :)

He is such a good helper with weeding.  He plays with the tools for a while, then crawls around in the dirt.  He also hands me any plants he finds.

This was hilarious.  He LOVES the tub!  I got the camera out, and these are the faces he pulled!

Crazy Parker!

This was from Christmas when his hair just stuck up all the time.

Family picture- Christmas

I just couldn't resist!!  What a cute bum!

Randy's Birthday.  It totally looks like I'm blowing out the candles.  Randy blew out the candles, and there was smoke everywhere, and I was blowing the smoke.

Parker's new haircut. So different!

My haircut from Christmas (I never posted it before!)

And just for kicks... look at how small he used to be!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

The Best Part

Motherhood is a struggle.  I'm sure it will always be a struggle.  For the last few weeks, I have really been trying to find joy in my new life.  Sometimes I get frustrated, angry, and feel lonely as I stay at home with my now 11 month old, trying to figure out how to still feel productive and happy.  It truly has been a struggle.  But I love my little boy.  I couldn't imagine my life without him.  So I decided to make a list about the best parts of my life.

Hearing giggles
Smelling that sweet, baby smell
Watching him play
Watching him discover new things
Seeing him reach all of the "milestones"
Seeing him smile at me
Feeling wanted (even if I need some space sometimes!)
Checking on him at night
Watching him sleep
Seeing his silly faces
Getting WET kisses
Stroking his baby skin
Feeling him rest his head on my shoulder
Being in the splash zone when he's in the tub
Holding fingers
Blowing on his tummy
Hearing him "talk"
Snuggling while reading books

I have a lot of hard days where I feel like giving up.  I have days when Parker will scream and scream and I don't know how to comfort him.  We also have really good days, and I want to try to focus more on those.  I want to remember my list so that I can focus on the joy of being a mom.  I can't believe my little guy is going to be one soon!  How life has changed in the last year.

100th post

This is my 100th post. Monumental! I just don't update this blog enough.

Parker is 10 months now! I love my little boy very much, but I have felt every day of those 10 months. Parker is doing so much better at sleeping through the night lately, which makes me very happy. Here are some things Parker is doing:

-Eating dirt/leaves/grass/paper

-Pulling to a stand

-Crawling all over the place

-Learning how to navigate the stairs

-Throwing tantrums when I don't give him what he wants

-Eating small bites of real food

-Has 3 (soon to be 4) teeth

-Obsessed with cords

-Cuter than ever!

Since we moved into our new home, he has become much more mobile. He has hit his face on the floors and walls many times now attempting to stand and such... Poor kid. I can't imagine life without my little guy! Every time he smiles, he melts my heart.

Welcome to 2012!

It would be an understatement to say that it's been a while since I blogged... I got a text this morning from my brother that said that he was "appalled at no blog posts for the last four months!" Yep- those were his words. I told him that my excuse is that I loathe posting pictures on my blog because it seems to take for-e-ver. But I decided to sit down and just do it! First I'd like to give a little update on each of us:

Randy- Still LOVING his job with the Family History Library downtown. Almost every day he comes home with a smile on his face and at least three stories to share with me :) I need to be better at not rolling my eyes at how excited he gets over finding (seemingly random to me) death records, birth certificates, connections to other people, etc. He is such a good dad and husband and always treats us well. We love it when Randy gets home from work and we especially love the weekends!

Emily- Going crazy with packing, trying to get Parker to sleep, trying to keep a clean house and get meals on the table. I feel like my life is pretty much the same every day- feed, change, sleep, repeat. But the stay-at-home life is getting easier.

Parker- Has two teeth!! He was unbelievably ornery for a week, and I realized a little too late that he was teething. He is on the verge of crawling, and can now sit himself back up after laying down. He is still learning how to sleep through the night, but usually wakes up at 4 or 5 am. We love to capture him laughing hysterically at random things, and hopefully I will be able to post a video of him laughing at paper. Or maybe him yelling at a spoon...

The biggest change of all is that we bought a house! We are moving this weekend, and I can't wait to get settled in our new place. I am excited that the kitchen is nice and big, and I won't have to use a 2x2 foot counter to prepare all of our meals! There are some fixes that need to be done, but all in all we are really excited.

His hair is getting so long! This was taken after I took his hat off, and his hair was sticking out in all directions. Such a cutie :)

I love seeing all of Parker's rolls when he takes baths! He was just chilling on the floor with his towel after his bath.

Halloween time- we got good use out of this costume. I think he wore it at least 3-4 times. What a good sport :)

2 years for us, 5 months for Parker!

I can't believe that Parker is 5 months old. A few weeks after he was born, I honestly didn't believe he'd ever get this far! He is becoming a little more mobile, and is grabbing things with his hands like crazy. He is so funny. His new favorite thing is to rock back and forth really fast while we're trying to burp him. I think it's his way of telling us that he wants to stand up!

He's still a healthy boy, and I am still learning about being a mom. My new thing is not to stress so much if he wakes up early from his naps. He used to take 2 to 2.5 hour long naps, and it was wonderful! Lately, he wakes up after 45 minutes. I really had a hard week last week, so I decided just to let him be up if he wakes up during the day. I already feel better :)

Randy and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary a week ago. We decided not to get a babysitter because Parker kept waking up screaming-so we thought it would be a bad idea. We ended up getting Olive Garden to go, and stayed home and watched the Andy Griffith Show. We didn't really see anything on Redbox that we were interested in, and we love the Andy Griffith Show, so we thought, why not?? Randy bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that had 2 cala lilies in it because they are my favorite. I stole my sister's idea and blew up 30 Helium balloons myself* and tied pictures to the balloons with reasons that I love Randy written on the back.

I love our little family and the time that we get to spend together. Even though sometimes I dream of the time when life was so much less complicated, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

*I bought a balloon maker because there was no way I could fit 30 helium balloons in my car. I was trying to fill up the balloons and Parker decided that he didn't want me to put him down and screamed and screamed. Randy got home from his business trip too early, so I ran outside with a screaming Parker and said "You need to watch Parker and you can't come inside for a few more minutes!" Luckily he was still surprised, and Parker still loves me :)

Confessions about Grocery Stores

When I wasn't married, I absolutely hated going to the grocery store. Now that I am married, I still hate going to the grocery store, but if I don't go, we don't have food. Therefore, I have found that there are some grocery stores that I kind of enjoy going to once in a while, and other grocery stores that reinforce my hatred of grocery shopping.

The store that I absolutely love is Winco. What a glorious place! I love all of their variety. They keep the store nice and clean, they have enough check stands open so you don't have to wait an eternity to check out. Their prices are also really good. Winco is awesome.

Harmons is another pretty good grocery store. Clean, great produce section, good selection... They are just a bit more pricey.

The absolute worst grocery store in the world is Walmart. Sometimes I don't mind going to Walmart for other things, but I HATE grocery shopping there. It's almost always crowded, the lines are forever long, and their produce and meat are expensive. For some reason, I don't like their selection either.

There is a Smiths by us that I don't like. It feels dirty, and for some reason it's hard to get out of their parking lot for me. They do have some good deals there, but I still prefer Winco.

There you have it. Winco is the best. If you haven't been there, you should check it out!

Shots, Sleeping, and Eating

Parker had his 4 month check up this week. He is huge! 18 lb. 13 oz. and 26.5 inches long. He is in the 99th percentile for weight and the 92nd percentile for height. He is doing great. At this appointment, Parker had to get his second set of shots. It didn't seem too bad the first time he got his shots, so I thought this time would be the same. I was wrong.

Parker wouldn't let me put him down that day without crying. He was needy, and I could tell that he didn't feel well. This continued the next day. The day after that, my mom babysat and Parker screamed the entire time. Poor little guy! I think he was exhausted and still didn't feel well from the shots. His week has just been off.

It also seems like Parker is not being a very good eater this week. I know, I know, 18 lbs. 13 oz. what are you complaining about?? I just worry that my milk supply will start to go down if he doesn't start eating regularly again. This week he gets really mad at me after eating for about 5 or 10 minutes. The mornings are especially hard. Oh well. At least I know he's not starving.

Parker's naps haven't been very good either, and I decided to let him cry today. I know some of you might think I'm a bad mom (negative comments not welcome) but he NEEDED to sleep. Maybe now he will eat really well at his next feeding and will have a great afternoon nap. One of the hardest things about letting him cry is that we have neighbors next to us and below us. I'm sure they get annoyed with Parker's crying fits sometimes, but I don't know what else to do. It will be nice to be in a house one day where I don't have to worry about that. Here's what my mom told me earlier: "welcome to the joys of motherhood!" How true! But there really are true joys to being a mother.

Parker is also cuter than ever. We have to do all sorts of crazy things to try to get him to laugh. Things that are funny one day are never funny the next :) One time I sneezed while changing his diaper, and he thought it was hilarious. I continued to pretend to sneeze and he laughed and laughed.... I tried it again the next day and he just stared at me. What a funny guy!

Fitness

When I was younger (elementary, Jr. High) I was pretty physically fit. I LOVED running, and track was my favorite sport. I played basketball in Jr. High and woke up at 4:30 every morning to get to practice. It was a great way to stay fit!

So what happened to my motivation? I am not accountable to anyone. I don't have a coach yelling at me, and I don't have a team.I got busy in high school with music stuff, and then went to college where it seemed like I had ZERO extra time. I tried to stay active during the summers, but it still wasn't what I really needed to do. Now I'm a mom, and the time seems like it's even more limited, but I REALLY want to work out. We also get a bonus from our insurance if we work out for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, so that's more motivation!

I decided to write my first mini goal in my blog so that a few people out there in the blogging world can remind me of my goal (Especially you, Amy, since I KNOW you read my blog!). My first goal is simply to get out of bed at the same time as Randy and either put in my Pilates DVD, or do some resistance training. I've been doing a lot of research on work out DVD's since I don't really want to cough up the money to go to a gym right now, and there are a lot of really good options out there.

Anyway, here's to more fitness in my life!

Parker is Independent

It is amazing how different life is. I told Randy that I feel alive again, which is a really great thing.

The reason for the change? Parker decided he doesn't need our help putting him to sleep, and prefers to cry a little to himself and then sucking on his hand through his blanket. We were spending SO much time trying to rock the little guy to sleep... and he would just scream, and scream, and scream.... So one night, I decided to try setting him down because NOTHING was calming him down. I set him down, and he was out. I couldn't believe it! I decided to experiment the next day by putting him down while he was still awake to see if he would do it again. The next day was amazing! Every nap he went down by himself. Sure he cried for a few minutes sometimes, but other times, he just went to sleep without fussing.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is not to have to spend 30 minutes to an hour trying to bounce Parker to sleep! The only down side- I'm pretty sure I'm gaining some weight back because my exercise "routine" has been abolished :) But hey, I'll take the happy baby over the exercise routine.

We have also decided to put Parker on his tummy. I know they say you're not supposed to, but he WON'T sleep any other way. He is great on his tummy and holds up his head really well. He can also move it from side to side without any problems. So we feel good about putting him on his tummy. The first few times I did it, I checked on him probably every 20 minutes. Now I don't worry at all.

Life really is good, and is getting better. I actually feel like doing things now (like decorating his room!) and being more productive. Before, it was great when I could just get the dishes done, and then collapse on the bed. Parker is doing so much better, and so am I :)

I see the light

Having a baby has been one of the hardest experiences of my life. I had no idea how much everything would change, and just how difficult it can be. I have to say that I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Parker has been a difficult baby who screamed a lot. He would scream every time I tried to put him to bed, or sometimes just because he was hurting with gas. I would bounce him in my arms around the apartment, which was a great workout, but which also left me exhausted both emotionally and physically. I was at my whit's end.

I decided that I would rock Parker in our recliner to sleep, no matter how long he cried in my arms. I would just turn on a show to distract myself and keep rocking and telling him that I loved him. That way he could know that I wasn't abandoning him, and would give me some much needed rest. Guess what? It's been working! Yes he has cried, but only for up to about 15 minutes. It has gotten less and less. Today I rocked him to sleep and he didn't cry AT ALL.

I also decided that I have to change my attitude. It was getting to the point where Randy would come home and I would be in tears at least three times a week. Ridiculous! I wasn't enjoying Parker the way that I should because I was just so tired from all the bouncing! I know it might not last, but the last two days have been heavenly. I have loved Parker more than ever before, and it has been much more peaceful in our home.

He is getting so big!! 3 months old already! My cousin Kim had a baby just a little bit ago, and I saw him last night. It's hard to believe that Parker was also that tiny! He also giggled for the first time today, and it almost made me cry. It was the most wonderful sound that I have ever heard in my life. Today I love being a mommy :)

Parker Update

Wednesday was a bad day. When I say bad day, I really mean a BAD day. Parker was awake and in tears most of the day, which means that I was awake and in tears most of the day, too. Like I said, a bad day.

I don't remember if I posted this in the blogging world yet- but Parker hates his car seat, the car, and his stroller. Whenever we would go anywhere, Parker would scream the entire way. So Parker and I spend a lot of time at home, unless I want to listen to the scream fest as I drive to my sister's house in Cedar Hills.

Well, Thursday was a good day. I mean a REALLY good day! I decided to risk taking him in the car down to my sister's house because Wednesday was so bad. I had to get out. I put Parker in the car seat, tucked his blanket in and made him all snug (he likes that), and when he started to fuss I gave him his binky. Lo and behold, he started sucking on the binky! No crying. Okay, now if only we could make it to the car... still no crying! I even stopped at the gas station and filled the car. I kept opening and shutting the door to see if he was still quiet. I couldn't believe it. On the way down to Amy's house, I called all of my family to tell them that Parker wasn't crying. I even called Randy and started tearing up on the phone because I was so happy!

We made it to Amy's, went on a walk where Parker fell asleep and STAYED asleep until his next feeding at noon. Then came the car ride home... Parker fussed for just a minute, and then I got him to calm down by the first light we came to. He even slept when we got home! Last night, he let me sleep for four straight hours, which was heavenly.

Since yesterday was so good, I decided to try to take Parker for a walk in his stroller this morning. I put him in his car seat and he started crying and wouldn't take the binky. I decided to go anyway. After I started walking for a few minutes, he quieted down, and fell asleep. He is still asleep in his car seat.

So even though he has his bad days, the really good days make it worth it. Thanks Parker!

Menu

I am just starting to feel comfortable enough to the point where I feel like I can plan my meals again! I love finding and trying new recipes, or just trying to perfect old ones, and I'm excited to start cooking better meals.

Monday: BBQ

Tuesday: Hawaiian Chicken

Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches

Thursday: Potato Bar

Friday: Chicken Parmigiana

What are you eating this week?

Crazy Life

This is just a short update to let the world know that we are still alive at 6 and a half weeks! Parker is doing well, although he has gotten really fussy lately. I actually decided to stop eating most dairy last week to see if it would help him. Over the weekend, we saw a dramatic difference with Parker. He was much more calm, and we could put him to sleep much easier than we ever have before! I thought the fussy spells were over, until last night. He wouldn't sleep, and therefore, we couldn't sleep. Something was really bothering him. The hardest thing when he is upset is that he can't talk and I don't know what's wrong. I mean, I know when he needs feeding and changing, but the hard times are when he's crying and I have done everything that I can do to make him feel better... But we survived, as we always will...

I had my 6 week check up today and it went well. I can't believe that time has gone by this fast. Parker is still as cute as ever. When I have a few more minutes, I will post more pictures of our little cutie. I can't believe the rolls this little guy is getting! He is definitely eating enough :) Here's to making it 6 and a half weeks!

Almost 5 Weeks!

It's been a little crazy trying to find a good time to post again on my blog. Parker is adorable, and the last few weeks have been really interesting trying to figure out how to be a mom. Here are some things that I am learning:

1- Patience. It's all about Parker and his schedule, not mine. This means that when I shower, he inevitably will wake up right at the end when I am still dripping wet and trying to get some clothes on. The other day, he decided to wake up when I started making brownies :)

2- Selflessness- Again, it's all about Parker. I am finding that his needs ALWAYS come before what I "need". I can't really explain the feelings that I have when it comes to making sure that he comes first. I just love him so much that I want to do everything that I can to make him happy before I make myself happy.

3- Empathy- To all you other moms out there, how in the world did you do it?? My sisters have kids, and I was so awful in thinking that they could do everything without my mom's help, or anyone's help. It was so nice to have my mom for emotional support those first days home from the hospital. I just didn't understand how difficult motherhood can be, and I know I have a lot more surprises to come!

The first two weeks were the toughest for me. I felt inadequate, scared, and exhausted. Because of the hormones going crazy, I would break down in tears out of nowhere. I would question every decision that I made... "Should I feed him now? Should I change him now? Should I wake him up? Should I put him to sleep?" My brother in law gave me excellent advice: "Make a choice, and don't look back and regret it".

I am feeling much better now. Parker still has times where something is wrong and I can't help him, like gassiness, but I have changed my attitude about things. I am figuring out what kind of things make Parker happy, and what he hates. He is sooo close to smiling! I was talking to him this morning and he sat and cooed back at me, and pulled a face that I swear was a semi-smile. It was so cute :) I am so glad to have him in my life, and I can't wait until that first "real" smile!

Things Parker does best:

1- Poops
2- Eats
3- Makes me laugh with his crazy faces

I'm sure this list will grow eventually, but that's it for now!

Definitely the cutest baby around!

We cannot get him to keep his arms down when we swaddle him.

We went to the zoo and Parker loved it :)

Parker Randall Hoffman

Warning: Long post about the birth! Skip to the end for more important details.

I started having some "painful" contractions starting at about 3 am on Sunday morning. They weren't too bad, but I knew they weren't Braxton Hicks. I waited until about 5 am to tell Randy that I was actually having real contractions. He didn't freak out like I thought he would :) Although he told me later that he was freaking out on the inside. We started timing the contractions to see how far apart they were, and they were about 10 minutes apart for quite a while.

I called my mom around 7 am to tell her that I thought we would be going to the hospital that morning because the contractions were getting closer together. I had a few that were REALLY starting to hurt. When we were almost ready to go, the contractions stopped altogether. I was really disappointed. We decided we would still go to my cousin's missionary farewell. I was still having some contractions, but they were so sporadic. At about 2 pm, the contractions started coming a little more "regularly" at about 10 to 15 minutes apart, and started becoming even more intense and painful. It took until about 9 pm that night for the contractions to become regular enough that we knew we'd be going to the hospital soon.

We got to the hospital at about 10:30, and I was a wreck. I was shaking so badly because I was hurting so much and was feeling anxious about everything. Randy finally said "hun, I think you should just get the epidural because I think it will help you calm down". They checked me and I was dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced. She asked if I wanted the epidural, and I said yes. Oh. My. Gosh. Right after the anesthesiologist gave me the epidural, I immediately calmed down and stopped shaking. I can't tell you how wonderful I felt! I went from a 5 to a 7 in about a half an hour after I got the epidural. Randy and I fell asleep while we waited for me to continue to dilate. The nurse came in and I was dilated to a 10 at about 3 or 4 in the morning, but something with the machine that was regulating the amount of medicine that the epidural was giving me was wrong. It ended up giving me too much so that I couldn't feel or move anything from the waist down. My doctor wanted me to be able to feel the pressure of the contractions so that when I pushed I would actually be useful.

They unhooked the epidural at that point, and we waited for the doctor to get there so we could start pushing. It may sound like this is a really long labor, but if it was, I definitely couldn't tell. It was nice to have one last night of sleep! Finally, the doctor got there and Parker was out in 3 pushes :) What a beautiful little angel! I was amazed at how wonderful he looked right away. Healthy, good color, and so adorable! I can't describe what I was feeling at that point.

He was 7 lb. 10 oz. and 18.5 inches long. He has been a perfect little angel :) It's so funny to think that we have our own little boy. He hates having his diaper changed, but hates being poopy, so it's a no win situation! It will be interesting these next few weeks as we adjust. He is just the perfect little boy, and I'm glad he finally decided to join us!

May the 4th!

May the 4th Be With You!!!

I have an awesome friend who shared that phrase with me a few years ago. She is a Star Wars fan, and every May 4th I think of her :)

Randy's birthday turned out to be a not-so-amazing day. Randy told me he felt sick at work, and that he thought he was going to throw up. I told him to go home, but he stayed at work because he only has 2 days off right now and he's saving those for the baby. Then we found out that my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and brother were all sick. I was feeling fine until dinner that night, and then I wanted to die. I ended up throwing up 3 times and stayed home from work on Tuesday. Yep, Happy Birthday Randy! Needless to say, we celebrated on Friday by going to The Garden downtown, and it was fabulous.

I am now officially 37 weeks pregnant, and I am definitely feeling it. I have been really lucky with this pregnancy because I haven't had many aches and pains, but I feel like all of the sudden the last 9 months have caught up with me. My belly feels like it's stretched to the max, and I get REALLY tired for the last 10 minutes of our walks. (We try to walk 30 minutes for our exercise). Sometimes I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. We are still getting some things ready for the baby, although emotionally I don't feel ready. It's pretty crazy to think how drastically our lives are going to change in a few weeks. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited about our baby boy, it's just that life is going to be very different.

As for dinner this week...

Monday: They fed me at school, so Randy had soup
Tuesday: Lasagna
Wednesday: Blender Pancakes
Thursday: I'm thinking sour cream chicken stuff?
Friday: Leftovers

I hope everyone else is enjoying the beginning of nice weather!!!

Happy Birthday, Randy!

Today is Randy's birthday! We celebrated last night with cake and ice cream. We had a lot of fun :) I decided to surprise Randy with a Wii for his Birthday. His parent's gave us some money at Christmas to start saving for one, so I decided to see if I could use that money, some rebate cards that we had, money from Grandma, and then help from my parents and siblings to see if we could scrounge enough money to get one! Well I am proud to say that with it all said and done, I only spent $25.00 out of my own pocket to get Randy's present. Woohoo!

Randy is such an amazing husband. I am so grateful to have him in my life. He always makes me smile, is such a huge help around the house, and always wants to be together. I am definitely glad that you were born! Happy Birthday!

Empty Wallet, Full Cupboards, Not Starving.

So I haven't blogged in a while, because honestly, I haven't really felt like it. Our menus haven't been that exciting. We have been trying to be very good with our budget this month, and this week I realized we only had $20.00 left in groceries for the last half of April. So I abandoned our original menu, and have been living off of what we had in the cupboards. Guess what? We haven't starved! I have still made Randy's lunch every morning (he hasn't gone hungry!) and we have had good meals.

Monday: Navajo Tacos

Tuesday: Teriyaki Chicken with Egg rolls

Wednesday: This good chicken stuff my mom made

Thursday: I think tonight we might be having Shepherd's Pie

Friday: Some other meal we have hidden in our cupboards :)

I am now 35 weeks, and the baby is still moving like crazy. I am starting to get kind of anxious about labor and delivery, since I have no idea what to expect except for pain. I have been doing my own research about "going natural" vs. having an epidural, and while I know there are pros and cons for both, I still don't know what will happen. I think the most important thing for me is to be informed and make the decision based on how I feel later. Both of my sisters decided that they were going to see what happened, and one of them ended up going natural, while the other decided on an epidural. And guess what?? They are both still amazing for having a baby :) So no matter what I decide, it will be nice to hold that little baby in our arms and see him for the first time!