Had A Little Time and 2 Free Hands

At the moment Henry is asleep, Teddy is banished to the downstairs so he won't wake Henry up, the desk and kitchen is as cleaned off as they are going to get tonight, and it's not quite time to start supper, so I thought I would give a quick update and post some pictures (which I just realized hasn't happened in a very long time).

Henry had his 2 month appointment at the beginning of the month. He has fallen in all of his percentiles since his 2 week appointment, but we're not worried. We're pretty sure that Pyloric Stenosis thing is what did it and he's back to growing at a healthy rate. He's a little baby, but healthy as ever. His stats are:

Weight - 10.19 lbs - 10th %tile
Length - 23.25 in - 50th %tile
Head - 15.75 in - 40th %tile

He's pretty cute, I think. He's getting pretty good at rolling from his tummy to his back. He loves to lay on his sides, so he finds this new skill to be handy. I think he started to figure out that rolling can be done both ways yesterday. He got this really ponderous look on his face then started trying to roll from his back to his tummy. He didn't make it, but he ended up on his side and seemed to be content with that.

This is him being content kinda on his side. Who needs to roll all of the way over when you can lay like this?!

Maybe I'm a bad mother, but my boy already likes to watch tv. I think he was watching Keeping Up Appearances here. Or maybe it was Harry Potter. Either way, lots of British people.

He likes to talk to us and smile, which we rather enjoy. Those are my favorite parts of the day. Too bad I don't know what he's saying, 'cause he sure seems to think he's clever.

Emily has some really cute pictures she took while she was here for his blessing. You can find them at her blog, 'cause I really don't feel like posting them myself. I'm pretty lucky to have a talented photographer for a sister. Thanks Mims!

As for the far less interesting grownups in the house, I started back to work yesterday. I only work 3 1/2 hours a day, 4 days a week. Nate gets to take care of Henry in the morning then they meet me at my office where we just do a switch off. I'm grateful for the extra moolah and for the chance to get out of the house without spending the moolah, but it is kinda sad to leave Henry for a few times a day and miss the mornings with him. I am glad that we both have good employers that are flexible and that he's not going to a baby sitter at all! Nate is still working full time and working on his MBA, plus being an amazing father/husband. We're both looking forward to him getting a short break from school for Christmas. Wahoo! No papers/quizzes for a couple of weekends!

Spinning in I-15

To add to our list of good luck happenings as of late, we got in an accident on Friday (the 4th). Nate took the day off so we could go up to Salt Lake for a day of family fun, followed by buying a Christmas tree, but on our way up our plans were changed.

We had to stop by Costco for gas and to pick up some stuff, so we were sitting in the exit late to get at University Parkway. Traffic was backed up at the exit, so we were at a dead stop in a line of cars. Nate, for some lucky reason, had angled out so that the front of our car was not facing the car in front of us, but the shoulder. We were sitting there, waiting, when Nate looks up in the rear view mirror and sees a car coming for us. We're not exactly sure what happened, but a Honda managed to take out the rear axle of an SUV, spin around and hit our trunk. We went for dead stopped, facing about 2 o'clock, to spinning in circles 3 lanes over then back to the shoulder. While we were spinning out to the middle of the interstate, I looked up and just watched the oncoming traffic. It's times like that when everything is in slow-mo and you just pray you make it out alive.

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. We were the only car that drove away from the accident, but the total damage to our car is still unknown. We know we'll need a new bumper and there is a dent in the trunk.

After the accident we spent the rest of the day getting everyone checked out. Henry seems to be okay. You never know how much his little brain shook around though and seeing as how he just had surgery a few weeks ago, I'm a little bit of a nervous mother. Nate and I did get whiplash. We've both been sore and are in need of a chiropractor or massages or something.

I'm excited for life to slow down someday and return to normal. Next week is the last week of my maternity leave, so hopefully we'll have our car back or a rental car and we'll be able to have a nice week. With any luck, this weekend we'll get a Christmas tree, decorate, get Teddy a hair cut and unstinkyified, and maybe even go to see the lights on temple square.

A little early, but still fun

This is a couple days early, going by my usual "Christmas starts after Thanksgiving" stance, and I'm usually not a fan of this type of thing and royally stink at them, but I'm getting excited about Christmas so I decided to participate. If you would like to participate, that would be lovely. Otherwise, just enjoy.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I'm no pro at it, but I still like it.

2. Real tree or artificial? Real! There is no candle I've ever smelled that can replace the smell of a real tree.

3 When do you put up the tree? Growing up we usually picked one out the 1st Monday of the month for Family Home Evening. Now, we don't really have a tradition yet.

4. When do you take the tree down? After my Birthday New Years-ish. Again, growing up we would burn it in the back yard on New Years activity then roast marshmallows or hot dogs, but that's a little hard to do when you live in a town home.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but I only have a glass or two a year.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a little one, but am keeping my eyes open for one that I love (and another one that is child proof).

7. hardest person to buy for? Me. I'm a tightwad that would rather spend money on other people than myself.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Now... Henry. Baby stuff is cuter than grown people stuff

9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? good question. None come to mind.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm lucky if I do either.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Santa Clause - "It's an American institution!"

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I start thinking about it. Usually about September/October

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? There are lots of foods I love at Christmas, but it's not Christmas without Pineapple Raspberry Pretzel Jello and Frog Eye Salad.

14. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

15. Favorite Christmas song? Good question! I like so many.

16. Travel or stay at home for Christmas? Staying home

17. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Without singing the song? No.

18. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. I have strong feelings about this.

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

Pyloric Stenosis

Sorry, this another long one, but life has been eventful.

Monday (the 9th) I went in for my gallbladder removal. The surgery went well and so far the recovery has been fine. I'm eating slightly more exciting things and the occasional accidental way too greasy thing no longer sends me to my knees in pain, which is good, so I'm thinking the surgery was worth it. Ground beef hasn't sounded appetizing in the least for a rather long time, but it's starting too again. I'm still a little frightened to eat it, but I'm getting there.

As I was recovering and again on some nice pain killers, Henry started to get sick. Monday we noticed some pink in his diaper. We thought "we'll keep an eye on it, but no need to rush to the doctor." That was Monday morning. Tuesday-day, Henry was fine. He spit up a little bit during the day, but he's a baby. They do that on occasion. No big deal. Tuesday night (just after Mama left to go home from helping with my surgery), Henry started throwing up. It seemed like a lot of throw up for someone his size, so I called the after hours pediatrician. They said to give him Pedialite and if he kept that down there was nothing to worry about. He drank some and seemed to keep it down. Wrong! The next time he ate, in the middle of the night, he lost everything. I woke up in the middle of the night to Henry throwing up more than I thought his stomach could hold, his half of our bed soaked, and half of him covered in baby throw up. I got up, gave him a bath, then we both went back to bed where he slept on my chest the rest of the night with random bouts of throwing up.

The next day he continued to throw up everything he ate, and by throw up, I mean projectile. He would be sitting on my knee, throw up, and he and I would both get soaked as well as the chair we were sitting on and the floor all the way around. Gross, I know, but it's actually an important part of the diagnosis.

After a whole day of that we decided to call the pediatrician again. It was again the after hours clinic, but man was I glad it was! Within 3 min of being in the office the wonderful pediatrician that was working that night had figured out what was wrong. The conversation went a bit like this:

Angel Pediatrician Lady: "Have you every heard of Pyloric Stenosis?"
Me: (Strange face) "Ply... what?"
Angel Pediatrician Lady: "You haven't heard of it. It's genetic and requires surgery"
Me & Nate: (Jaw drop and thinking "oh crap! What!?")

She quickly got on the ball calling surgeons, giving us our laptop to check insurance details, calling the ultrasound lab to confirm, getting all of the paperwork ready for us at TWO hospitals, just in case we needed them.

We walked down to the ultrasound lab and not 30 seconds after the ultrasound wand touching poor Henry's tummy the tech started making calls and taking pictures. Sure 'nough. Textbook Pyloric Stenosis. Lucky us...

**A brief explanation: The Pyloric muscle is the one at the end of your stomach that helps work food down. It is supposed to be short and thin. Henry's was VERY long and thick. It is genetic, but we aren't really sure which side it comes from. We think maybe my Mama's side, but we don't know. To correct this, they go in and slit the muscle a little to let food through. Luckily, the whole thing can usually be done laparoscopically. No major incision, just 3 little holes and one of those is through the belly button.**

The plan was to admit him to Utah Valley and get him hydrated over night, but he was good enough to make it up to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake, so up we went. Paperwork was done when we got there (thank you Angel Pediatrician Lady!), Henry was admitted, i.v. was hooked up, and he was given fluids. I cann't believe how dehydrated he got and how quickly. Tuesday morning he was fine and Wednesday night he was not.

Long story short, he had a tube down his nose to pump everything out, was on fluids and was not allowed to eat until he went in for surgery the next afternoon. I can't explain how hard it is to see your baby in so much pain and not be able to do a thing about it. Can't feed him when he's hungry, because he's not allowed to eat. Can't hold him when he cries because he's hooked up to so much stuff. Then there's me who REALLY can't hold him or even stand so close because he can smell you and it reminds him how hungry he is, so you just don't stand close 'cause it hurts him more. Can't explain to him what's going on, 'cause he's too little to understand, so he just hurts without any idea why. It was hard all the way around.

He went in for surgery Thursday, about noon. Just over an hour later he was all done and doing well.

After surgery he still wasn't allowed to eat for 8 hours, and then it was only 1/2 an ounce, three hours later, 1/2 an ounce, three hours later, one ounce, etc until he got up to 2 1/2. He got released Friday night before 11 p.m. We stayed close to the hospital to make sure he was ok overnight and so we didn't have to drive all of the way home as tired as we were.

He is still doing well. You can tell his tummy hurts. He'll cry a new cry that he's never cried before, but overall he's a happier baby. He smiles a lot more than he did this time last week. He tries to talk to us more. He stays awake and sleeps longer and is just overall happier. All three of us have been lucky to have good help here with us. Both of our moms are here helping, the pediatrician really was amazing, the doctors, surgeons, nurses, techs, and everyone else at the hospital were all wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Hopefully life will calm down. I am very much looking forward to having nothing to blog about besides Henry cuteness!

Breathing Thing

I'm not really sure how to describe all of these things, especially how it was in the beginning, but here goes.

In May, I started having this really annoying thing where it just felt like there was too little space in my lung area. Understandable seeing as how there was a baby growing in there, but it wasn't just that. Occasionally pressure would start to build up, so I would find ways to burp it out. Most of the time this would take care of it, but sometimes not. Pressure would build up so bad that my back would start to hurt really bad, it would hurt to breath, and nothing was comfortable. When it got like this I would just pace the halls, lay down, writhe in pain, decide that wasn't helping, repeat process.

One time it happened so bad that I really couldn't breath to the point that I was blacking out and could no longer feel my fingers or toes. Being 16 or so weeks pregnant and not getting oxygen is a little frightening, so we called 911. I am a little embarrassed to say it, but we did. Had it just been me I probably would have toughed it out, but I had no idea what was going on and I figured me having oxygen was important, so we did it. Apparently, when you say "blacking out" and "pregnant" on a 911 call, they send out the troops. I can't remember exact numbers, but I think they sent a handful of police officers, 3ish paramedics, and a guy from the fire department. Our whole parking lot was full of their vehicles and I don't recall this being normal. Maybe it is...

I digress.

They gave me oxygen and offered me a ride in the ambulance. Seeing as how I was doing fine then and not wanting to pay for such a fancy ride, we opted to drive ourselves to the hospital. Long story short, they gave me a breathing treatment, offered x-rays, which we again declined, then went home without any idea of what had caused the problem. They really didn't have a clue and we could tell.

I talked about it with my OB, who didn't seem to know what was going on, or at least didn't share his thoughts. Everyone just blamed it on pregnancy and said it would go away after the baby was born (FALSE!), so I learned how to deal with it: avoid certain foods, if the pain started - get a Sprite and hopefully burp it out and take extra strength Tylenol and hope it kicked in before the pain, if it continued, build up enough pressure to force myself to vomit until my stomach was completely empty, go to bed and hope I could sleep pain free til morning.

I really got the hang of that and was able to avoid the extremes of vomiting most of the time.

3 weeks after Henry was born it started happening again. 3 nights in a row, in fact. After 2 nights of that lovely fun, I called my OB to tell them it was still happening and they said next time to go to the ER while it was happening so they could see stuff while it was a problem, so I did. They gave me painkiller (very nice :D), did an ultrasound and found that I have gallstones. The ER doctor then referred me to a surgeon. I visited him and we decided that the best thing for me to do is have my gallbladder removed. I'm not looking forward to more of the hospital, more IVs, more blood work, more recovering, or any of that, but at least they know what the problem is.

The surgeon pointed out that after Henry was born I had a high live enzyme count, which is what happens when a gallstone goes into the ducts and get stuck. Stuff starts backing up into your liver and can eventually cause serious problems if the gallstone doesn't become unstuck soon enough. Luckily my liver enzymes were back down to normal, so no need to worry about that, but apparently pregnancy increase your risks of gallstones and once it's a problem, it's not a problem that will go away. So, because we would like to have more children, in order to keep it from being a problem in the future, I'm having mine removed. If I didn't there is always they chance of having a "gallbladder episode", getting a gallstone stuck in a duct which would lead to emergency surgery that is much riskier, or it becoming a problem while I'm pregnant and having to have it removed then, which would be risky for me and the baby.

Since visiting the ER, I've been on a non-fat diet (except I cheated the day of Henry's blessing). Non fat can be very boring, but I haven't had an "episode", so it's worth it.

That's my story. It is what it is.

Details

Over a month later, I figure it's time for some details. This is as much for my remembering as for your entertainment (I'm sure), so here it is.

Early morning on September 29th, I was up with that "breathing" problem (more to come on the "breathing" thing). That's never any fun, but I finally made it to bed about 3. I woke back up about 6 with annoying cramping that would come and go about every 5 minutes, but there was no way I was getting out of bed. I was extremely determined to not get up until it was time to get ready for work. When it was that time, I got up, took a nice and long shower, got ready for work, ate breakfast and everything. By the time it was time to go, the pain hadn't stopped or become less frequent, so we decided we might as well go get it checked out. When we first got there I wasn't any more dilated than I had been 2 weeks before. I was only at about 1 1/2. We hung out in triage for an hour and a half with little dilation progress but the contractions were slowly getting stronger and were still about 5 min apart. The nice nurse lady asked if I would be okay if I went back home. I said something like "I guess I could manage going to work." I got a funny look and "Work?!" (with a big huge question mark). We proceeded to explain that we lived in Payson and that if I went home and then went into labor I wouldn't really have anyone to drive me up. She very promptly and decidedly said that I was staying. So stay we did.

So, after being admitted, given some pop-cycles and water with lots of the good kind of ice, TWO epidurals (yes 2! The guy messed up the first one. They had to come in and give me another one after the contractions got much worse. I was a little ticked about that, but at least the messed up one didn't do any damage.), getting hooked up to my antibiotics for Group B Strep, and just laying there in my lovely corner room delivery room, the nurse told me I should take a nap 'cause it could be a really long night. Well, I didn't have time for a nap. Shortly after she left my blood pressure decided to shoot through the roof. I'd been boarder line for preeclampsia off and on for a couple of months, but not bad until then. Suddenly I had a lot more attention. They added another line into my IV and gave me Magnesium-Sulfate. (The stuff is horrible. It makes you really hot and your vision do funny things. I guess it was worth it, but you don't want it!!!) At one point I remember there being 5 people in there working on me and a few trying to talk to me at a time.

After a couple hours of being hot and tired and contractions, all the people were back and it was baby time! I pushed for about 30 min and they called the doctor. He was out in the hall on an "on call" phone call. (Some lady that was 20 weeks was worried 'cause there was a lump on her tummy. :) The doctor told her that it was just the baby poking pushing to one side. She was freaking out, so he told her to come in if she was really worried. Not relevant, but I thought it was funny.) Anyways, darned doctor to FOREVER (about 5 min) to get his bumm in. They kept telling me not to push, to wait for him. Umm... EXCUSE ME!!! You tell me to push and to push and to push to get the baby out as far as possible, then you tell me to hold him in?! Right... The doctor finally made it in and our little Henry Nathan Butterfield was born a few min later at 8:43 p.m. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and19 1/2 in long

If you're really interested, Nate took video footage of Henry getting cleaned up and all of that jazz. I will mention that when they were cut the umbilical cord, it flipped up and sprayed the nurse in the face. Really kinda disgusting, but funny.

Here are just a few pictures of his first few weeks. Do not fear. We have a whole lot if you want more.

Teddy checking out the new toy the night we brought him home.

Henry wants to be a frog when he grows up.

Getting ready for his two week checkup.

Thoughtful baby asleep in his laundry basket bassinet.

Welcome Henry Nathan Butterfield

He's finally here. We thought we would post some pics and videos of the little guy.

Getting Closer!

It kinda feels like this baby will never come and that I will be this big, puffy footed thing for forever, but we're getting SO close!

Because I know it's only going to get harder to catch up on the last couple weeks as baby time gets closer and then even harder after that, here is a poor attempt to do so.

Last week was very busy, but lots of fun. A bunch of lovely ladies from church decided that because I don't really know anyone in the ward (seeing as how I'm related to zero of them and spend all of my time in Primary), they should have a "Get to know Annah" baby shower. It was fun to get to know my neighbors better and to actually meet these people I see walking around the church building every week but never talk to. AND they were all very nice and got/made some very cute baby stuff. The next day Nate's work threw a luncheon baby shower where we spent time chilling, eating yummy lunch, and opening a few fun presents. THEN, on Saturday, I got to see some of my fravoritest people in Utah at a little baby shower get together at Becky's house. There were yummy treats, cute stuff, and good friends. Thanks for hosting that and getting all of that together Becky and Lisa! (Also, I might have to snag some pictures from the people that remembered to take them. I brought my camera but failed to get it out of my purse.)

The last couple of weekends Nate and I have put a lot of time into getting the baby room together and cleaning up after 2 weeks of some evil flu. I am proud to say that the house is pretty much clean. Just the computer table to go!

I think that's about it. We're going to go on a date now while it's still just 2 of us. :)

P.S. I have pretty pictures of my flowers. I'm working on 5 or 6 hydrangea balls right now! Funny how that's the only thing I've managed to take pictures of lately.

Flowers make me happy

I am proud to say that my little "garden" is finally showing signs of prosperity. I was actually proud of myself for not killing it all, so I am VERY excited that it's actually doing something now (even if it is a little late). Here are some pictures of some pretty things in my little back yard.

Utah is not exactly friendly toward hydrangeas, but this on is HUGE compared to its size when we bought it this spring. I'm rather happy about that. Please note all of the budding flower balls.

The biggest of the budding flower balls. I'm thinking it's going to be pink.
I LOVE hydrangeas!!


My black and blue flowers. They've been blooming all summer.

We also planted a squash plant in a huge flower pot. It's pretty and we can eat it. I'm a fan! This is our 1st squash! I think we might get a few out of the plant before the cold gets it.

My name is Annah and I'm a sugarholic.

Yes, it's true. I am addicted to sugar! At least, that's all that's really sounded good all of the time lately. I try to have a nicely balanced diet. I eat what veggies I can and I eat meat when it sounds good or when I need the iron or something. The other food groups I don't have issues making myself eat, but I don't really crave them. Fruit I'm actually good with. It's sugar! Natural and healthy, but sugar all the same. But if it's cake, cookies, ice cream, Sonics Lemon-Berry slushes, or a nice and healthy nectarine, I'm all over that! I can't go a few hours without having more. WHY?!?! Here's what I've figured out (or have been telling myself):

- A lot of veggies give me heart burn or other not fun symptoms.
- Plain ol' carbs just aren't yummy to me.
- Let's just say hamburger meat hasn't been my friend for the last 7 months.
- I don't like spending the money on steak all of the time.
- I do like pork (especially pulled pork) but you can't eat that all the time either.
- Dairy makes me stuffy and I'd really like to avoid sinus issues right now, so besides my daily bowl of cereal (actually the healthy kinds), a couple of yogurts a week (sugar), a few Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches (sugar) a week, and cheese I stay away.
- I prefer having some sort of flavor and spiciness to my food, but that doesn't do good things for me right now. So, food without much of either is rather boring and gets old really fast. There are only so many ways to make chicken yummy without flavor or anything spicy.

As long as I don't eat too much sugar it doesn't hurt my tummy or give me heartburn. It's pretty much the only food group right now that doesn't give me grief and it tastes yummy. I'd like to tell myself that it's ok, but I know I'm going to regret it when it comes time to put away the maternity clothes and get back into the regular clothes. In the mean time, I'll just do what I can to keep satisfying my sugar cravings with fruit and find more creative ways to force down the other food groups.

*Yes, I know sugar isn't really its own food group, but it sure feels like one to me!

Sudden Hawaii Flashback

I can’t say that this is an uncommon occurrence, but I have random flashbacks of different times in my life, especially of Hawaii. I’ve seen a lot of old Hawaii friends lately, I just heard that a Mike friend of mine recently moved back to go back to school, and it seems as though everyone I know decided to post old pictures of BYUH on Facebook all at the same time, so I’ve had a lot of these random flash backs lately. I just had another random Hawaii flashback, and it is not that this one is particularly worth noting, but I thought I would share.

It was way back in the very beginning of my BYUH experience when I was living in Hale 3 with Becky. We decided one beautiful Saturday morning that we needed to make the rather long bus ride/adventure and go to the Swap Meet. (For those of you that have never made said trek, when I say long, I mean it takes ALL DAY to get from Laie to pretty much anywhere in Honolulu and back with only a few hours to spend in between). So, after prepping for a long day of spending (very little) money we made our way to the bus stop. All of the time I spent sitting at bus stops has all meshed together, so I honestly don’t know if we’d been there minutes or hours, but these two girls pull up in a white, beautifully clean, topless Jeep. (Also for those that have never experienced Hawaii/the Hawaii bus system: You almost need to sterilize everything when you get done with the bus unless you’ve given up on being super clean. Giving up is an important part of living on a hot, sticky island, but you never really feel clean after spending hours on the bus). I’m pretty sure I looked at them funny, ‘cause who in a car pulls up to a bus stop? Anyways, they asked if anyone would like a ride. Mind you, these were not questionable looking characters that so generously stopped to offer a ride. They were about our age and just with a glance one could be 99% sure they were also BYUH students, just like us. We hesitated a moment and said something to the effect of “Heck yes!” I mean, it wasn’t the bus, it was a comfy automobile, it was faster, and IT WASN’T THE BUS! I didn’t think we’d make it much further than Hauula in our new mode of transport, but anything was better than nothing! So, all excited, we climb into this beautiful Jeep and head off. I’m sure we chatted a bit and I know they asked us at some point or another where we would like to be dropped off. We told them we were headed to the Swap Meet, so as far as they’d like to take us would be great. Well, low and behold, they were also going to the Swap Meet!!!

My flash back pretty much ended there, and you'd have to ask Becky about the accuracy, but I am still enjoying thinking about the feel of the warm sun and the breeze from driving along the ocean, as well as the beautiful blue sky, green mountains, and blue ocean that was beheld on our adventure in the topless Jeep. Thank you random girls that so generously gave us a ride that day! Almost 6 years later and I have obviously not forgotten. Good times, good times!

4th of July

We had a lovely 4th of July this year. We decided that we were well overdue a trip up Payson canyon, so we gathered a little picnic, Teddy, the camera, and headed up. We drove up the canyon for a bit, with a few treks off the main road, in search of a nice picnicking spot. After driving for a while we decided on a lovely open field with a clump of trees and some nice sitting rocks in the middle.

Nate and Teddy. Teddy found some cookie crumbs where he is sniffing and was obsessed with that spot the rest of the time.

Chillin' with the pup.

After our little picnic we headed out of the canyon to go home and smoke some ribs. Mmm! Later that night we went and staked out a spot on a hill in Provo to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks and eat some watermelon. I have to admit we got a cool spot! It was at the top of a hill in S. Provo, so we could see all across northern Utah county and all the fireworks everyone else decided to spend their money on. Good times!

I had to make a birthday cake! Happy Birthday America!

Here is a picture or two from our trip to Oregon and Washington. I didn't realize how few pictures we took until now, but here you go. I guess I just don't find pregnant pictures of me worth taking.

The view of Mt. Rainer from the wedding. Very pretty! My favorite parts of our quick trip were seeing family, getting out of Utah, and things being GREEN. I miss green!

Road Trips with Trees!!!

I apologize for the lack of pictures at the moment and I would like to warn you this is rather long, so if you are in a hurry feel free to skip to the last paragraph where I will sum up. :)

Last weekend we took a fun trip to the Northwest. After working a half day Thursday we were off to see my family in Eugene. It was noon, almost on the dot, when we left Nates work in Orem. So, Nate, Teddy and I made our way with the goal of making it to Eugene by 1-ish that next morning. That gave us 13 hours to make a trip that Google Maps says should take 13 hours and 42 min. Considering we had a puppy and a pregnant lady, I was well aware how ambitious (and totally law abiding) of a goal that was.

Considering there was a rather nasty accident just south of Salt Lake and that cut I-15 down by 2 lanes, I believe we made pretty good time. Until Boise... We were trying to be cheap and decided to fill up at Costco. I had the exit, but we got kinda distracted by what all was at that exit, so we didn't see Costco and ended up driving around for like 20 min before we finally found it. Really, it was ok. No big deal. It was towards the end of rush hour anyways and we figured we just didn't have to sit in as much traffic. Right? Right... Little did we know that a few miles up the road there was construction AND a VERY nasty accident. (I really hope everyone survived that!) So, it took us FOREVER to get out of Boise. Anyways, after that we did pretty well again. I have lots of stories about our lots of stops and evil cops that like to hang out in Easter Oregon (we didn't get a ticket or anything), but I won't bother you with them now. When we finally got to Portland (around midnight) we were rather low on gas so we stopped at a conveniently off the interstate Chevron. All I have to say is that I was actually grateful for Oregons stupid "You're too dumb to pump your own gas" laws. We pull up to the pump, the guy starts pumping our gas, does an EXCELLENT job cleaning our bug covered windshield, hands us our receipt, and walks away. We then try to turn on the car. Didn't happen... Try again. Didn't happen... CRAP!! We are WAY too tired to mess with this! Well, here comes our handy-dandy Chevron worker to the rescue carrying a battery charger. After a few attempts the car starts!! Wahoo!! We decided we were not turning the car off again until we got home! We made it to Eugene at a time which I do not remember because I was way too tired. I just know it was after 2. It might have been 3.

Friday was spent in Eugene hanging out with my family (minus my Scotland visiting sister). It was really nice to see them even though we didn't get to stay very long. While we were there Nate and Daddy replaced our dead as a doornail battery, Mama, Chelsie, and I went shopping, then the whole family attempted to go to their ward bbq (we were 20 min late and missed it due to rushed bbq-ness because of double booking with the local singles ward). We then went back home and chilled for the night. It really was fun to be home for a day.

Saturday we got up semi-early and drove up to Washing to go to a friend of Nate's, Nick's, wedding. Before the wedding we had a chance to go see Grandma Talbert, which was nice. After visiting for a bit, we went and got ready for the wedding, went to the wedding, and enjoyed. The wedding was outside at a golf course with a beautiful view of Mt. Rainer. (I will post pictures as soon as I get them off the camera). After the wedding we chilled at Nate's house and visited there. It was also nice to see them for a bit and not be rushing to the next leg of our trip.

Sunday we got back in the car and drove home only we went through the center of Washington, Yakima, way. It was fun to have a change of scenery for a bit and I am happy to say that they drive home was much faster (due to more strategic bathroom stops) and much less eventful. We did stop to see Grandma and Grandpa Dixon on the way home. You can't drive by Grandma and Grandpa TWICE and not say hi once!!! We didn't stay very long, and I would have loved to, but we did have to work Monday morning and our goal was to make it home before Monday. We made our goal and made it home at 12, on the dot.

You might ask how Teddy did being in the car this much, seeing so many people, and meeting so many new dogs (Purdy at my parents, the dogs across the street, and Lady at Nate's house)... he did very well! He slept most of the way there, up to Washington, and back and made friends just fine. (Except Purdy. Teddy wanted to play with her, but she didn't want to play with him.)

****HERE BEGINNETH THE SUM UP****

It was a quick trip, but it was nice to get out of Utah, have a change of scenery, see both of our families, and go to Nick's wedding. Thanks Nick for giving us the excuse to get out of town! It was a lot of driving in 4 days, especially for a pregnant lady and a puppy, but it was totally worth it! We saw things outside of Utah, trees, family, a wedding, old friends, evil cops, then Utah again. Good times! Perhaps someday I shall post a few of the few pictures we took of this trip.

What an amazing Husband I have!

I am sitting here, enjoying a not frantic evening because I the most amazing husband of all time! This morning ran out the door (after deciding that getting up on time was overrated and I could be a little later for work than I had planned) thinking "When I get home I need to do laundry, clean the kitchen, make sure I start the dishwasher, get some stuff out of the attic, put up some already folded laundry, clean out the cars, clean the bathroom, and wash the dog (among other things). Should I take the time to get any of this started now or just put it off til after work? After work it is!" Well, I should probably explain that today is Wednesday, which means that I go into work at the normal time but Nate doesn't have to be at work til 11. This happens every Monday and Wednesday in a normal week and I'm usually pretty jealous that he doesn't have to wake up to the alarm and can kinda take it easy in the morning. I should know him better than to think he'll just sit and take it easy when there is stuff to be done, but I am not a morning person and I don't think very clearly until at least 9 (I'm making progress! I used to not even be able to function til at least 10). So, when I think he can "take it easy" here is what he really did this morning. He cleaned the kitchen, started the dishwasher, took care of all of the previously folded laundry, gathered everything that needed to be washed, cleaned the bathrooms, got the stuff I needed out of the attic, made the bed, and took out the trash. He also cleaned out the car that I didn't have. The biggest thing remaining on my list is finishing up some laundry (and really, how hard is a half a load of laundry) and washing the dog! He's amazing! That's all I have to say.

Okay, maybe not all I have to say. I have a quick update on the baby! We had another ultrasound this past week and everything looks good! I like ultrasounds! I think they said he is in the 63 percentile for length/weight his "age". Yeah for healthy, growing babies!

Ultrasound #1!

We finally went in for our 1st ultrasound (3 weeks ago now, but we'll not talk about how slow I am)!! The ultrasound lady said that everything looks good and that we have a healthy and super active little baby on our hands! Because of the way our little one was laying we get to have another ultrasound when we go back for the 24 week appointment, so in just over a week. I'm excited to see how much our little one has changed!

And now for the news I am sure everyone has been waiting for!!! We're having a...




drum roll please...




BOY!!! We're pretty excited!

Hey Look Mims!

Emily recently gave me a very cute vase that she made in her pottery class last semester. Upon receiving this vase I had to promise that I would put flowers in it, which I had every intention to do as soon as there were flowers to be put anywhere. Well, today I saw a plethora of some very pretty flowers at a friends house. I just had to pick some and come straight home and put them in the cute vase that Emily made. I love that there are flowers in the house now and that I have a cute vase to put them in!

Thanks Mims!

Welcome Home Cami!

Last month Cami came home from serving 18 months in the Tampa Florida Mission. Since she just happened to be so close to Disney World we just had to go pick her up! It was a fun trip! It was a lot of fun to spend time with Nate's family. AND as an added bonus we (1) got out of Utah with excellent timing seeing as how we missed the last big snow storm o' the season, (2) got to go to Disney World, (3) went to the beach, (4) ate at Brusters, and (5) got to totally warm up for the first time in about 9 months! What more could you ask for!?! Here are a few of the many pictures from our trip.

The big kid that I married.

We went to a Biergarten at Epcot. It was pretty yummy and lots of fun. We sat biergarten style (with people you don't know), had some dang good German food, and watched an Umpa band with all sorts of mad skills.

We were probably the only adults in the place that didn't order alcohol, but we tried the kid version! Don't worry. It's just apple juice and Perrier.

If I look evil in this picture it's because I was SO tired and the sun was in my eyes, so keeping them open and not watering was nigh impossible. I did love the flower festival that was going on at Epcot. There were floating flowers, Disney characters made out of flowers, hanging flowers. Flowers everywhere! I love flowers!

Our last day whole day in Florida we got some key lime pie, of which I do not have a picture, but Mmmm! That's all I have to say. We also spent a couple hours at Clearwater Beach. I love the beach!

Do you have any landscaping ideas?

Since we moved in to our new home in August I have been anxiously awaiting the day when we could make our back yard pretty. The inside of the townhome is all cute (despite my lack of decorating so far) but the outside is in some serious need of veggies and flowers. I want to make it all cute, useful, and family friendly but am not quite sure what the best plan of attack is. We have some pretty good ideas so far, but I am still looking for landscaping ideas for small spaces. It is a townhome back yard, so it's really not very big, but there is enough space to do something with. Does anyone know of any websites or books or anything with good ideas for small spaces?

Big Huge Slacker!

I have been one big, huge, fatty slacker. Lots of exiting stuff has been going on, but I have done almost zero blogging for myself this year. I haven't exactly been feeling up to snuff, because. . . wait for it. . . we are going to have a BABY!!!!!! Our little one will be joining us around October 6th. We are really excited and getting more excited all the time. So, now that I'm feeling 1000% better, I plan to resume the blogging. There's lots to catch up on and lots coming up, so here's to an exciting summer ahead!

Hahahaha

Hello everyone! This is Emily, Annah's sister. I am down at Annahs for the weekend and just got on to her blogger account and thought it would be funny to post on her blog! Wahahahaha! I love having sisters to bother! I have a few photos I would like to share with you. Shall we begain?

Photo number one:

This is Annah summer of 2007. We call it "Fish Face." I got an A in one of my photo classes for it!

Photo two:

This is our family when we went to Annahs Graduation in Hawaii. We are eating shave ice and I thought everyone needed to know what she looked like with a blue tongue.

Photo three:

This is my or I guess our Daddy, Annah, and Nate before there family wedding dinner. There is noting really cool about this photo other then yall probubly havent seen it before.

Photo four:

This is when we were little tots. I am in my Grandmas lap with all our cousins around and Annah is standing away, out of the group. I don't know why she doesn't like us, but she doesn't.

Photo five:

This is Annah feeding our first pet named Goaty! We loved Goaty very much. She died in 2001 of Hardware Cancer. May her little goat soul rest in peace.

photo six:

Little Annah with a big tomato out of our garden!

Photo seven:

Annah as a cat for Halloween. I think we still have this coustoom up in our atich somewhere... maybe in the toy box.

Photo eight:

Little Bitty Annah in a wash tub with a strawberry swim suit! HOW CUTE!!

Last but not least...

Annah and me together!!!

We look almost the same other then I am a good bit taller then her and we both are a little less cute. But I do dare to say that we still fancy being with each other, and arnt that bad looking together either.

I finished this a week after I started it, but I think its worth it. Please forgive any misspellings you may find. I am not known for my spelling abilities, so just over look them to the heart of the message; Annah is kinda cute, kinda funny, and I guess we kinda lover her!

Until I hack on Annahs account again, yours truly,

Emily Louise Dixon

Catch Up

It's almost a month after my last pathetic attempt at a post, so I figured it was time for another one. I even plugged my camera in and uploaded all of the new pictures. So here they are!

A dress Emily and I tried on at our favorite way out of our budget store. Just 'cause you're not going to spend close to $400 on a dress doesn't mean you can't try it on!


Yes. That is Guy. This is the proof that we went to Pat's B-b-q.

This isn't a very good picture at all but this is the only picture I have of the new perm. To be honest, I haven't even been curling it lately to even take pictures of. Not that I don't like it, I just get ready really slow and would rather sleep in a little longer than do hair.

Maybe I'll do a better job with this blog thing. I'm staying up a little later these days (past 7) so there is hope! There should actually be a lot to report on this weekend. Today we got a head start on the weekend productiveness by moving the tv stand downstairs and rearranging the living room, because...

***Drum Roll Please***

Tomorrow we will get A NEW KITCHEN TABLE!!!!!!! I am pretty excited about that. Our old Ikea table will not go to waste. We are turning it in to a computer table where we can begin organizing all of the office type stuff. So, by Monday, we will be able to...

• Have more than 1 person over before we have to move the party to the couch (1 chair was broken and is not yet repaired),
• Sit at a table to do computer stuff,
• Get the modem off the floor, AND
  
• Watch tv from a comfy couch instead of having to sit on the floor!
  

Oh happy day! I also have big plans to do normal weekly cleaning stuff, cut Nate's hair, and start cleaning out the back yard, but we'll see how ambitious I really get.

An American Institution

I haven't been very good at blogging lately. I have lots of pictures to post, such as the (not so new) perm, the beginnings of our Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives adventures, and random other stuff. I just plain-o haven't felt like doing the whole picture upload process. Just sounds like way more work that I'm willing to do right now. But, tonight was a late night for Nate at work, and on late nights we always go grab something to eat. I had the brilliant idea of having breakfast, so decided to go to Denny's (Mmmm!). "It's an American Institution!" (Name that movie!) I love that cheap food can be so yummy!