The treadmill is Ethan's favorite place to play at his Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house, but it isn't ever turned on (for obvious reasons). He is a pretty good little runner when he runs around outside so we decided to see how long he could last on the treadmill! He ran for about 5 minutes straight and only fell down a few times and he even ran on it while inclined for awhile! He was of course supervised by his Uncle Nathan on the treadmill but had the whole family as his audience! We are wondering if we have a future track/cross country start on our hands! Check out this endurance!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Happy 3 Year Anniversary!
On the 16th of December Justin and I completed 3 years of complete marital bliss! This was the first time since we were married that we did not have to take a final (or multiple finals) on our anniversary. When we decided what date to get married, we never took into the account that we were setting ourselves up for never being able to celebrate our anniversary for the next few years! Needless to say, we took advantage of this opportunity and went out on a date! We left Ethan with our neighbor, who so graciously offered to watch him even though she has 3 kids of her own, and we went out to eat at a really nice Italian restaurant there in Culiacan called Italianni's. It was so nice to spend some one on one time with Justin without having to worry about watching Ethan so he doesn't destroy anything in the restaurant. For our anniversary, I compiled all of the pictures we have of just Justin and I (and few of Ethan) from the beggining and put them into a movie of our lives thus far, complete with music and some video! It turned out awesome and is something really neat for our future kids to watch someday!
So here are a few pictures that I put in the movie of our lives thus far...
Our first date to the Utah State Fair. When I asked him to go with me, I had no idea that he would pursue to throw up all over the place (and on me)! Despite this, we both had a lot of fun together and he continued to ask me out from this point on...
After a 7 months of dating, I went to study abroad in Guadalajara, MX for the Spring. After I returned, we both decided that it wasnt very much fun to not be together and decided to get married! This picture was taken a few days after I got back from MX up the Nebo canyon
We then decided in August that it was probably a good idea for my family to get to meet Justin before our wedding day so we flew to Houston for a week or so...dont worry, my family loved him from the beggining... Here we are at the Houston Temple where we would eventually get married
After many months of knowing we were going to get married without a ring to prove it to everyone else, I finally was "officially" proposed to and had the ring to prove it!! I wish I wasnt covering my face, I was really excited!
The big day! It was freezing cold and rainy in Houston the day we got married. Too bad the next day was like 70 degrees and beautiful..oh well!
We went to Maui, Hawaii for 7 days and 7 nights for our honeymoon and all for a whopping $500 for everything (tons of activities, food, airfare, housing, etc!) My husband is amazing at finding good deals and we have a few VERY generous people in our family! Maui is BEAUTIFUL and I would recommend this place to anyone!
Ethan arrives to our little family!
And now we are just as, no, even more happy than we were from day 1!
I have loved being married to Justin and am so grateful that I was so blessed with such a patient and loving husband who constantly helps me to become a better person everyday. Thank you Justin for an awesome 3 years! You are my best friend and I am so excited to spend all eternity with you! I love you!
So here are a few pictures that I put in the movie of our lives thus far...
Our first date to the Utah State Fair. When I asked him to go with me, I had no idea that he would pursue to throw up all over the place (and on me)! Despite this, we both had a lot of fun together and he continued to ask me out from this point on...
After a 7 months of dating, I went to study abroad in Guadalajara, MX for the Spring. After I returned, we both decided that it wasnt very much fun to not be together and decided to get married! This picture was taken a few days after I got back from MX up the Nebo canyon
We then decided in August that it was probably a good idea for my family to get to meet Justin before our wedding day so we flew to Houston for a week or so...dont worry, my family loved him from the beggining... Here we are at the Houston Temple where we would eventually get married
After many months of knowing we were going to get married without a ring to prove it to everyone else, I finally was "officially" proposed to and had the ring to prove it!! I wish I wasnt covering my face, I was really excited!
The big day! It was freezing cold and rainy in Houston the day we got married. Too bad the next day was like 70 degrees and beautiful..oh well!
We went to Maui, Hawaii for 7 days and 7 nights for our honeymoon and all for a whopping $500 for everything (tons of activities, food, airfare, housing, etc!) My husband is amazing at finding good deals and we have a few VERY generous people in our family! Maui is BEAUTIFUL and I would recommend this place to anyone!
Ethan arrives to our little family!
And now we are just as, no, even more happy than we were from day 1!
I have loved being married to Justin and am so grateful that I was so blessed with such a patient and loving husband who constantly helps me to become a better person everyday. Thank you Justin for an awesome 3 years! You are my best friend and I am so excited to spend all eternity with you! I love you!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Our Eventful Day at Sams Club
This funny experience at Sams Club happened about a week ago in AZ and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to blog about it. Ethan was super fussy at home and nothing we did could make him stop crying, so we, my mother-in-law and I, took him for a ride in the car to Sams Club. He was super happy there running around and touching everything he could. We were walking down one aisle and Ethan was walking a little behind me holding my hand when all of a sudden he slipped on something. I looked down and realized that he slipped in some kids throw up! Sick! I actaully thought to myself "Gross! What kind of mother would just leave their kids throw up there with out asking somebody to clean it up!" As I went to pick up Ethan I noticed that there was throw up all over his clothes, shoes, socks, everything. At first I was pretty confused about how that throw up ended up all over him but then I noticed that he also had it all over his mouth! It was Ethan's throw up! We quickly got help to come help us clean and mop up the nasty mess and his clothes were beyond the ability to keep wearing and smelled terrible, so I stripped him of all his clothes and let him be free in his diaper. After a few comments from other shoppers about where his clothes were, I gave him my white sweater to wear, as pictured below.....
He was very happy and obviously didnt care as much as I did about the lack of clothes. I dont know what he had eaten that made him throw up but he was sick the whole rest of the day as well.
Through this funny experience I realized just how much love a mother has for her children. I've decided that it's a different kind of love than that of a spouse. For example, as much as I love Justin, I would in no way, shape or form stick my hand under his mouth to catch his throw up or let him bury his head into my new white sweater with throw up all over his mouth just to comfort him, nor would I clean up all of his throw up all over the ground, couches, etc and not even think once about how disgusting it is. There is a strong love that is between a mother and child that I cant quite describe but I love how it brings some unselfishness out of me! Anyways, I thought you might enjoy hearing about our eventful day in Sams Club!
He was very happy and obviously didnt care as much as I did about the lack of clothes. I dont know what he had eaten that made him throw up but he was sick the whole rest of the day as well.
Through this funny experience I realized just how much love a mother has for her children. I've decided that it's a different kind of love than that of a spouse. For example, as much as I love Justin, I would in no way, shape or form stick my hand under his mouth to catch his throw up or let him bury his head into my new white sweater with throw up all over his mouth just to comfort him, nor would I clean up all of his throw up all over the ground, couches, etc and not even think once about how disgusting it is. There is a strong love that is between a mother and child that I cant quite describe but I love how it brings some unselfishness out of me! Anyways, I thought you might enjoy hearing about our eventful day in Sams Club!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Thanksgiving in AZ
We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Smiths and had a blast! It was so fun having Chanda and Davin come home from BYU for the week and to watch all the siblings play with Ethan. I think Ethan knows he is the center of attention most of the time and he loves it! We were only planning on staying there for the week of Thanksgiving but Justin decided last minute to go with his dad to Turkey for some business for the next week. So we were there for 2 weeks and it was fun for Ethan and I to stay with the family there while Justin was out of the country (although I secretly really wanted to go to Turkey with him). Here are some pictures of our trip!
Uncle Davin and Ethan rockin out to some music...
Have I ever mentioned how much Ethan loves to vaccum?? You could really call it an obsession. I just hope he has this much excitement for all household chores when he becomes of age to start doing them! But that's probably wishful thinking...
He loved to go to the park and play! Sorry Nate... Im sure your not a fan of this pic but it was too cute of Ethan not to post! :)
Believe it or not, this was the best picture I could get of Ethan. He was too busy at the park to take a time out for pictures.
There is a house a few streets down that has Christmas lights that play to music. We took Ethan to see them and made himself quite at home in these people's yard. He just kept running around saying "Wow! Wow!" He was obsessed with the snowman by the way.....
I dont think this is very sanitary, but yet it was his favorite place to play outside.....
This picture was from our trip to AZ about a month ago for a work conferece there. We went to my first Phoeniz Suns basketball game against the Houston Rockets. The company bought box office tickets complete with lots of yummy food and a great view! It was fun to see how the rich live although we didnt pay a penny of it- thanks BHN!
Stay tuned for some fun videos of Ethan!
Uncle Davin and Ethan rockin out to some music...
Have I ever mentioned how much Ethan loves to vaccum?? You could really call it an obsession. I just hope he has this much excitement for all household chores when he becomes of age to start doing them! But that's probably wishful thinking...
He loved to go to the park and play! Sorry Nate... Im sure your not a fan of this pic but it was too cute of Ethan not to post! :)
Believe it or not, this was the best picture I could get of Ethan. He was too busy at the park to take a time out for pictures.
There is a house a few streets down that has Christmas lights that play to music. We took Ethan to see them and made himself quite at home in these people's yard. He just kept running around saying "Wow! Wow!" He was obsessed with the snowman by the way.....
I dont think this is very sanitary, but yet it was his favorite place to play outside.....
This picture was from our trip to AZ about a month ago for a work conferece there. We went to my first Phoeniz Suns basketball game against the Houston Rockets. The company bought box office tickets complete with lots of yummy food and a great view! It was fun to see how the rich live although we didnt pay a penny of it- thanks BHN!
Stay tuned for some fun videos of Ethan!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Another Miscarriage :(
So for those of you who don't know (which I think is all of you), I had another miscarriage this week. Bummer. This makes 2 in 5 months. Unlike the last pregnancy, I had no idea this one was coming. With my first miscarriage, I never felt any signs of pregnancy throughout the whole first 2 months. I knew that that wasn't normal but was just hoping that I was one of the "lucky" ones to feel great in my first trimester. So when I starting miscarrying, I wasnt too surprised. I was sad of course, but not surprised. With this last pregnancy, however, I felt all the signs of pregnancy and was nausiated a lot during it. I thought that this was a good sign and got my hopes up! I even made it to the 10 week mark and was relieved that I only had 2 more weeks to go to get into the "safe" zone. Unfortunately, I couldnt keep the baby. On our way home from AZ, I started bleeding and knew what was coming since I had been through it before. Once we arrived to Cuiliacan, we rushed over to my doctors office there and he took good care of me. (I had already lost the baby by this time). He performed an ultrasound and found that there was still some tissue left in there. So he performed a mini D&C on me and extracted a lot of tissue using a syringe. So anyways, he has been having me come into the office every other day to make sure the tissue is decreasing and that there is no infection, hopefully this coming Tuesday will be my last day. We have talked to him about our concern with having 2 miscarriages in a row and our chances of having a third, and he has taken some tissue sample and blood test to run an analysis on it to see what he can find out. Dont worry, we dont think anything is seriously wrong!
So, Im not writing about my experience with having miscarriages for everyone to feel sorry for me ( there are some people out there who go through trials that I cannot even fathom) but I simply want to try to help someone out there who may be having a tough time going through the same thing or another difficult trial. I have felt strongly that one of the reasons why I am going through this right now is so that sometime in my life (either now or later), I can maybe help other women who experience the difficulties of having miscarriages. I think when a woman finds out she is pregnant, she feels an instant bond to that tiny life growing inside of her, and to lose it is very painful and tough to go through. I always had the fear of having miscarriages or of infertility issues before I had Ethan, but I never would have thought it might be a problem after. After I had Ethan I thought, "Oh this is great! We can have each kid 1/12 to 2 years apart, stop when we get to 8 or 9 kids and by that time, I wont even be 40! Perfect!" I have found out however, that our "perfect" plan of life does not always follow the Lord's perfect plan for us, and I know that His plan is perfect, not ours. I know that we will recieve all the precious little children the Lord has for us in due time- I just have to learn how to be patient!
I know that those of us who are searching for peace and comfort during hard times, can find it through prayer and through our Savior. He has felt all the pain that we feel and He understands more than anyone what you might be going through. I know that we can feel so much strength from others' faithful prayers and that there is so much hope and joy in this life on earth! I feel so lucky to have the wonderful little boy that I have and plan on enjoying the one on one time that I have with him now, because I know that it wont always be that way! Im so grateful for my supportive husband who has been there through everything with me and who never has a negative thing to say. I am grateful for his positive outlook on life, how he always looks on the bright side of things. He has taught me so much! Well, I feel as if I am not the most articulate writer there is and I can never quite write how I want to say things, but I hope that I have helped someone out there who might be reading this. I hope I have helped them feel that their Savior loves them very much and again that you can always find peace and comfort through Him.
But, all in all, we are doing great and are loving life! We feel as if all the experiences we have had together has made us stronger and we are grateful for them. We have complete trust in our Heavenly Father and know that He knows what is best for us and hopefully I wont be having to make any more of these miscarriage announcements anytime soon, eh?! Luckily, Im still young and have lots of child-bearing years ahead of me! Thanks for reading if you have read this far and look for more post to come on our awesome Thanksgiving holiday in AZ!
So, Im not writing about my experience with having miscarriages for everyone to feel sorry for me ( there are some people out there who go through trials that I cannot even fathom) but I simply want to try to help someone out there who may be having a tough time going through the same thing or another difficult trial. I have felt strongly that one of the reasons why I am going through this right now is so that sometime in my life (either now or later), I can maybe help other women who experience the difficulties of having miscarriages. I think when a woman finds out she is pregnant, she feels an instant bond to that tiny life growing inside of her, and to lose it is very painful and tough to go through. I always had the fear of having miscarriages or of infertility issues before I had Ethan, but I never would have thought it might be a problem after. After I had Ethan I thought, "Oh this is great! We can have each kid 1/12 to 2 years apart, stop when we get to 8 or 9 kids and by that time, I wont even be 40! Perfect!" I have found out however, that our "perfect" plan of life does not always follow the Lord's perfect plan for us, and I know that His plan is perfect, not ours. I know that we will recieve all the precious little children the Lord has for us in due time- I just have to learn how to be patient!
I know that those of us who are searching for peace and comfort during hard times, can find it through prayer and through our Savior. He has felt all the pain that we feel and He understands more than anyone what you might be going through. I know that we can feel so much strength from others' faithful prayers and that there is so much hope and joy in this life on earth! I feel so lucky to have the wonderful little boy that I have and plan on enjoying the one on one time that I have with him now, because I know that it wont always be that way! Im so grateful for my supportive husband who has been there through everything with me and who never has a negative thing to say. I am grateful for his positive outlook on life, how he always looks on the bright side of things. He has taught me so much! Well, I feel as if I am not the most articulate writer there is and I can never quite write how I want to say things, but I hope that I have helped someone out there who might be reading this. I hope I have helped them feel that their Savior loves them very much and again that you can always find peace and comfort through Him.
But, all in all, we are doing great and are loving life! We feel as if all the experiences we have had together has made us stronger and we are grateful for them. We have complete trust in our Heavenly Father and know that He knows what is best for us and hopefully I wont be having to make any more of these miscarriage announcements anytime soon, eh?! Luckily, Im still young and have lots of child-bearing years ahead of me! Thanks for reading if you have read this far and look for more post to come on our awesome Thanksgiving holiday in AZ!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Santa!!
This was how Ethan's first experience with Santa was....
....and that about sums it up. He is NOT a fan of the big guy in red! Oh well, maybe next year?!
....and that about sums it up. He is NOT a fan of the big guy in red! Oh well, maybe next year?!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Ethan Update!
Ethan is coming up on his 17 month mark and I figured its about time for an update on our little guy. This last week, he had his 18 month check up (because we live out of the country, the doctor made an exception for us to come in early for the appt while we are here). It went really well and Ethan weighed in at a whopping 22lbs and is 32 in tall. He is still kind of a little guy but the doctor had no worries! He is now done with all of his shots until he is 2 years old and he is very excited about that! He has almost all of his teeth in (except his 2 yr molars) with his 4 vampire teeth (eye teeth?) making their way down as we speak. He is sure a little jabberer! He talks gibberish all day long and occasionally throws in a few "real" words that we can actually understand. It is fun seeing and hearing him try to repeat everything we say. Some of his new words are:
-"Bampa!"- this is the word for both grandma and grandpa
-"Nigh nigh"- or night night. This is usually followed with him reaching out for his crib.
-"Yeah!" -He says this with tons of emotion after any question we ask him.
- "Pay"- or "prayer". He is so cute with saying prayer. He will say "Pay" , fold his arms and then kneel down on the floor. Of course he doesn't close his eyes quite yet but he does bow his head and look up at you with those big eyes- it melts my heart every time!
-"Oh yeah!"- I crack up every time he says this! Our morning wake up call goes like this: Ethan playing in crib "Momma.....pause....Daddy...pause.. OUT!.... I come in the room, "Ethan do you want to get out?" Ethan: "Oh Yeah!"....... I love it!
"Poo poo"- He is starting to recognize that he is a little uncomfortable in a poopy diaper. Before and after he goes #2, he will hit his diaper and say very loudly,"poo poo, poo poo" over and over. I would say, "oh yay, potty training time!" but he says this anytime he passes gas too. So I figure he isn't ready and neither am I. I'm in no hurry :) It's pretty funny when he does this in public though. "Poopy" is definitely not one of those toddler words that only the mommy knows what it means. Pretty sure everyone can understand what he says and usually everyone thinks its pretty funny.
Well, I think that's all I can think of for now. I have loved every stage he has gone through and absolutely love this little defiant toddler stage too! Everyday he usually gives us at least one public melt down, but I don't even mind! I know that that is our job to teach our children how to best handle their emotions in appropriate ways and to show them our love for them! I love being a mother and I think my love for our little boy has grown so much as he has grown! I think I have the best job on earth!
Here is our Christmas card picture! I actually don't have a good, recent picture of just Ethan, so you get the whole family instead!
-"Bampa!"- this is the word for both grandma and grandpa
-"Nigh nigh"- or night night. This is usually followed with him reaching out for his crib.
-"Yeah!" -He says this with tons of emotion after any question we ask him.
- "Pay"- or "prayer". He is so cute with saying prayer. He will say "Pay" , fold his arms and then kneel down on the floor. Of course he doesn't close his eyes quite yet but he does bow his head and look up at you with those big eyes- it melts my heart every time!
-"Oh yeah!"- I crack up every time he says this! Our morning wake up call goes like this: Ethan playing in crib "Momma.....pause....Daddy...pause.. OUT!.... I come in the room, "Ethan do you want to get out?" Ethan: "Oh Yeah!"....... I love it!
"Poo poo"- He is starting to recognize that he is a little uncomfortable in a poopy diaper. Before and after he goes #2, he will hit his diaper and say very loudly,"poo poo, poo poo" over and over. I would say, "oh yay, potty training time!" but he says this anytime he passes gas too. So I figure he isn't ready and neither am I. I'm in no hurry :) It's pretty funny when he does this in public though. "Poopy" is definitely not one of those toddler words that only the mommy knows what it means. Pretty sure everyone can understand what he says and usually everyone thinks its pretty funny.
Well, I think that's all I can think of for now. I have loved every stage he has gone through and absolutely love this little defiant toddler stage too! Everyday he usually gives us at least one public melt down, but I don't even mind! I know that that is our job to teach our children how to best handle their emotions in appropriate ways and to show them our love for them! I love being a mother and I think my love for our little boy has grown so much as he has grown! I think I have the best job on earth!
Here is our Christmas card picture! I actually don't have a good, recent picture of just Ethan, so you get the whole family instead!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
In the Arms of His Love...
I absolutely love this picture of the Savior holding an infant and have wanted it for our nursery and future kids room for quite awhile now. I have searched and searched for it but could only find the washed out sepia version of it and I wanted to true colors. I finally found it and ordered it but it came without matting (sp?) and without a frame. I walked into Decor Unique and found the perfect matting for it for only $5 and this frame which I love!
I am so happy and so excited to put it up in Ethan's room. I guess I love this picture so much because I see that sweet little infant wrapped up tightly in the loving arms of our Savior and I want my children to always look at it and be reminded that their Savior will always be there for them, to comfort them and to wrap them in the arms of His love, no matter how old they are. I think there is a sweet and beautiful message in this painting and I am excited to teach what this painting portrays to me to my children!
"In the Arms of His Love" - Del Parson
I am so happy and so excited to put it up in Ethan's room. I guess I love this picture so much because I see that sweet little infant wrapped up tightly in the loving arms of our Savior and I want my children to always look at it and be reminded that their Savior will always be there for them, to comfort them and to wrap them in the arms of His love, no matter how old they are. I think there is a sweet and beautiful message in this painting and I am excited to teach what this painting portrays to me to my children!
"In the Arms of His Love" - Del Parson
Monday, December 1, 2008
Happy Birthday to Me!
This last Saturday I turned 23 years old! When I walked in the kitchen in the morning I saw this...
Baloons were hung in the living rooms and kitchen and they had made this cute birthday sign for me with a few of my favorite things taped on it!
We then went to Cracker Barrel ( my favorite breakfast place) for a wonderful breakfast...
Later on that afternoon, the whole family went bowling together. Unfortunately I dont have many pictures but Ethan sure did show us up in bowling! He must take after his daddy...
Here, his Aunt Chanda and Justin helped him roll the ball down...
After bowling Justin surprised me with taking me to the nicest restaurant I have ever been to! It is called The Compass Restaurant at the Hyatt hotel in Phoenix. The whole restaurant revolves around (slowly) and gives you a breath-taking view of the valley. It was super expensive and so Justin and I (still with the college money mindset) ordered one plate and shared. It was fabulous! Unfortunately I accidentally left my camera in the diaper bag. I was so mad at myself! So here is a picture of the restaurant, courtesy of Google images:
I had a great birthday and thank you to everyone for making it special for me! I had a blast!
Baloons were hung in the living rooms and kitchen and they had made this cute birthday sign for me with a few of my favorite things taped on it!
We then went to Cracker Barrel ( my favorite breakfast place) for a wonderful breakfast...
Later on that afternoon, the whole family went bowling together. Unfortunately I dont have many pictures but Ethan sure did show us up in bowling! He must take after his daddy...
Here, his Aunt Chanda and Justin helped him roll the ball down...
After bowling Justin surprised me with taking me to the nicest restaurant I have ever been to! It is called The Compass Restaurant at the Hyatt hotel in Phoenix. The whole restaurant revolves around (slowly) and gives you a breath-taking view of the valley. It was super expensive and so Justin and I (still with the college money mindset) ordered one plate and shared. It was fabulous! Unfortunately I accidentally left my camera in the diaper bag. I was so mad at myself! So here is a picture of the restaurant, courtesy of Google images:
I had a great birthday and thank you to everyone for making it special for me! I had a blast!
Peter Piper Pizza!
Apparently going to Peter Piper Pizza is a big deal in Mexico and we were lucky enough to bring Ethan there a few weeks ago! One of our friends invited us along and we had so much fun eating pizza, talking with them, and watching Ethan run around the place pointing and saying "WOW!" to everything he saw. Here are a few pictures to show how much fun we had....
Ethan and Daddy loved playing air hockey together...
Ethan had fun driving cars....
But didnt so much like the rides, such as the carousel...
I think he was pretty scared of it and kept saying "Out, Out, Out!" and reaching over for us to grab him off of it. We think its pretty funny that this kid has no fear of stairs, animals, electrical appliances/outlets, or anything else that could hurt him, but when it comes to a carousel Ethan is apparently terrified.
Ethan and Daddy loved playing air hockey together...
Ethan had fun driving cars....
But didnt so much like the rides, such as the carousel...
I think he was pretty scared of it and kept saying "Out, Out, Out!" and reaching over for us to grab him off of it. We think its pretty funny that this kid has no fear of stairs, animals, electrical appliances/outlets, or anything else that could hurt him, but when it comes to a carousel Ethan is apparently terrified.
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