tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68022255398452687132024-02-07T22:09:40.267-08:00The Adventures of Morgan and CrystalCrystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-35129511374795103722016-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:002016-10-09T10:59:07.254-07:00The Narrows<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Narrows</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I was in high school We had to do a report on a National Park, and I picked Zion. That is where I first learned about the Narrows. The Narrows is a hike that can be completed in one of three ways:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">First you can start at the bottom and hike in a
few miles and then turn around and hike out</span></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Second you can take a 90 min shuttle to the top
and then do the 16 mile hike down over the period of two days. They have 12
designated campsites </span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">where you can stay overnight and continue your journey in
the morning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Third you can take the 90 min shuttle and do the
complete hike in one day without stopping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Originally I wanted to do the overnight version, but then
the idea of backpacking in all my overnight gear, and carrying it for the full
duration of the hike intimidated me. The majority of the hike is through water
so the thought of needing everything to be waterproofed just seemed
complicated… Anyways, to move this along, after nine long years and two
babies all the stars aligned so I could go on my dream hike. I had it all
planned for the end of August with my mom. As I said before we opted to do the
one day version, which left us with 14 hours to complete the hike in order to
catch the last shuttle at 9:30pm. Well, long story short the weather did
not cooperate and once we arrived to Zion the rangers strongly discouraged us
from going through with the hike due to the risk of flash floods. I was extremely disappointed so I rescheduled my trip for October when Morgan could come with me. There were
a few disadvantages to October. First, the air temperatures were much cooler; second, the
water was much colder; and third, the days were much shorter. The last shuttle in
October leaves at 7:30pm so you only have 11 hours to complete the hike. They say
that the most experienced hikers can usually complete the hike in 12-13 hours.
If we missed the shuttle we would be stranded there 4 miles away from any electricity and cell phone
reception. The ranger strongly advised us to reconsider doing the day hike in October because completing it in 11 hours is pretty intense, but of course we thought we could do it. This is where my adventure
begins:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Morgan
and I arrived to Zion Monday afternoon, and decided to squeeze in a hike to the
top of Angels Landing before going to bed. Morgan had never done that hike
before so we did not want to miss the opportunity. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Top of Angels Landing</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tuesday we woke up at 5:00
am to get ready and catch the bus. We then had a 90 minute bus ride to the top
of the trail head. The high temperature in the canyon was 53 degrees for the day with a low
in the high 20s. Our shuttle ended up getting us to the trail-head 30 minutes
later than expected (because they waited 20 minutes for a late couple who
had stopped to pick up some carry out food and coffee, another 15 minute delay came because our bus driver passed one of the stops on the way up and
had to turn around to drop someone off). Once we finally arrived at
the trail head we tried to walk the first three miles as fast as we could
because you start on level path that leads you down to the water where the
hike begins. Crossing the river the first hour was pretty intense. Even though
we were wearing high quality canyoneering shoes and neoprene socks, your feet
still burned from the cold. They hurt pretty bad but eventually our feet numbed
out and the burning went away. This early part of the hike was my favorite. The
leaves were changing for the fall, and were absolutely stunning. I honestly
don’t think I have ever seen anything so beautiful. I was obsessed with the
leaves, I just cannot get over how amazing they were. Anyways, we tried to move
as fast as we could because we knew that time was not on our side. It was
really hard to not stop and take pictures every five minutes because the views
were stunning. We had a map with some land marks to help gauge our time and make sure we were keeping a
reasonable pace. When we passed the first one we were 20 minutes ahead of
schedule. When we reached the second, which was a waterfall, we had fallen 15
min behind. I wasn’t surprised because we had been stopping and taking lots of
pictures with the leaves. That was the last time we would see the map because
sometime after the waterfall the map fell out of our pocket never to be seen again. That was also the last time we would see any other
people along the trail. This hike has a limited number of permits handed out each day so
there are a limited number of hikers passing through. I guess this day there
were not many out because every campsite was vacant. We kept hoping we would
bump into somebody so we could take a picture of their map but, unfortunately, we saw no one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were walking as fast as we could at this point, only
stopping if we had to take something out of our packs. I literally think the
only time we sat down was to take off some of our layers when the weather
warmed up. We ate our lunches while we walked along the river. After walking
for 8 straight hours, we were completely exhausted. We kept trying to remember
the details of the map, but neither of us had a clear memory of any of the
landmarks. So we really had no idea how close we were to the end. We just kept
pushing forward trying to walk as fast as we could in hopes that we would not
be stranded in the narrows overnight. Morgan was trying to rush me along, but
my body was hurting so bad I did not think I could move much faster. Both of
our knees and ankles were just throbbing. Walking on river rocks for 16 miles
really does a beating on your feet. It was starting to get dark and we had been
walking for just under 11 hours. I felt like I was never going to get out of
the water. I was so tired and exhausted and just wanted to give up. Finally we
stopped to put on our head lamps because it was completely dark. Once we put on
our headlamps we crossed the river one more time, and that is where Morgan saw
some stairs. He climbed out of the water and yelled to tell me this was the
end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I told him to run ahead and try to catch the shuttle, as we
were only ten minutes past the time of the last shuttle. Morgan limped ahead and once I climbed out I
just lost it emotionally and started crying. I think I was really getting
worried that we would be stranded in the water over night and that was making
me very nervous. We both limped down this long asphalt path, and arrived to the
shuttle stop at 8:00pm… thirty minutes after the last shuttle had gone. We sat on the
bench and waited hoping there would be a ghost rider shuttle, or that a ranger
would do a drive by and check to see if people were at the shuttle stop. While
we waited we decided to eat, since we hadn’t taken the time to consume much
food. As we sat on the bench I remember that my mom had forced me to bring two
of her 99 cent emergency blankets. In the past I have always made fun of my
mom’s obsession with these blankets. She uses them for everything, but in this
moment we were desperate to be warm. So we laid on one of the blankets, and put
the other one over us. We sat and waited on the bench of the shuttle stop for
three hours. Eventually the wind got worse and the temperature continued to
drop. We had the option to walk to the lodge about 4 miles away but we did not think our achy
bodies could handle another four miles of walking, especially in the cold. Out of desperation we
moved into the family bathroom. We laid an emergency blanket on the floor of
the bathroom and laid on top of that and used the other one to cover
ourselves. This was not my highest moment, but we were so grateful for a closed
building. The low for the night was below 30 degrees, and we did not have a
good assortment of warm clothes. We left a flashlight on the bench with hopes
that somebody would drive by and know we were there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nobody ever drove by and at 7:00am we went out to wait
for the morning shuttle. At that point a ranger came by and saw us sitting
there. She asked if we had been there all night and we told her that we had.
She apologized and said normally a ranger comes by and checks to see if there
are any people waiting but for some reason the ranger must have got caught up
doing something else and never made it. Just our luck….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I want to conclude my story by saying this was by far the
most beautiful hike I have ever done. The scenery was unbelievable.
The pictures hardly do it justice. Even if I had known the way the trip would
end I would still do the whole thing over again. It was such an incredible
experience. I feel so proud of myself for not quitting or giving up and the
memories I made are priceless. It was such a cool one-of-a-kind hike. The views in the canyon walking along the Virgin River are just incredible. There
is no other way to fully appreciate the beauty that is there other than to do
the full hike, but it is defiantly not easy. Next to child labor I would say it
is the hardest thing I have ever pushed my body to do. I will also say, for any of
you considering this hike, you would have a much different experience if you
opt to do the overnight version. I think if we had done that it would have
eliminated all the stresses and pressures we felt throughout the hike. I
definitely plan on doing this hike again but this time would like to camp in
the middle, so that I can really soak in the amazingness this hike offers. This
is a hike everyone should do in their lifetime but it is important to be
prepared. It is definitely doable in one day, especially in the summer, but
don’t plan on much time to stop. I strongly believe if we had the map and could
have seen how close we were to the end, I think we could have pushed ourselves
a little harder to catch the shuttle. Bottom line…everyone add the Narrows to
your bucket lists!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-10652859427409903752016-01-05T20:03:00.001-08:002016-01-05T20:05:08.557-08:00San Diego Trip Part 3<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So we ended up in Orange County at some crazy hour in the
night. The first thing we wanted to do was get the kids beds’ set up so they
could go to sleep. Unfortunately, Levi woke up as soon as the car stopped and
was following me around as I unloaded the car, and he tripped on these stone
steps and banged his head pretty hard. He had a huge lump, and as you can
imagine he was pretty upset. We just took out the minimum things we needed and
then headed to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning we spent most of the day unloading
everything from the car and getting all the sand out of it. We set up the tent
and hosed it off, and then we let it dry. Later that day Ariel and her family
came up. We played lots of board games, and at the end of the day we had a
campfire in the backyard. It was a lot of fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning we woke up and headed to the beach. Ariel’s
family came to and all the cousins were able to play together in the sand. It
was nice to spend time with everyone at the beach and just relax. It had been
such a crazy week, and it was nice to just have a little down time.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When we got back we took a little nap, then we got everything
packed up because we had to drive down for an interview. We had applied for a
trip to Israel and our interview to see if we qualified was that night. We
dropped the kids off with Wendy and then headed down to San Diego. Everything
seemed to go pretty well, and it was nice to just go back to Wendy’s and go to
sleep. We were pretty wiped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next morning we woke up pretty early and headed to Sea
World. My brother spoiled us with free tickets into the park. It was so fun
taking the boys to Sea World. I have been countless times but going with my own
children made it a whole different experience. We wanted to take full advantage
of our tickets so we made a goal to do a little bit of everything! We started
off going to the artic exhibit where we saw polar bears, penguins, walruses,
and many other cool animals. We then headed over to the sharks. Levi seemed
pretty fascinated with the sharks. I think he had a fun time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Later we went </span><span style="line-height: 107%;">to the Dolphin Show. We didn’t get to there too
early so seating was pretty limited. The splash zone however was full of front
row seats! Somehow I convinced Wendy and Elizabeth to sit in the splash zone
with me and Levi. Morgan was not quite man enough to brave the splash zone, so
he took Parker and moved to dryer ground. I will be honest I was pretty excited
to be in the splash zone, but I was a little worried as to how Levi was going
to handle it. At the beginning of the show there was a little splashing and we
got a little spray of water. It definitely startled Levi, but he showed no
emotion. He didn’t seem to get too upset, and was able to continue watching the
show. Later the Dolphins came out and did lots of splashing. Levi did not
really enjoy this part, and he did get a little upset, but he was immediately
distracted watching the rest of the show. Towards the end of the show I notice
out of the corner of my eye that they opened the gates for more animals to come
out. I can see a big dark shadow of a whale coming through the bottom of the
pool. At this point I knew that a tsunami was about to be coming our way. I try
to grab Levi and shelter him from the wave of water that was coming towards us,
but it was not enough. We were soaked and Levi completely lost it. The poor kid
was traumatized. I instantly knew this would be out last soak zone experience
of the day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">By the end of the day we saw all the animals, fed the
stingrays, saw the Shamu Show, Pets Rule Show, Cirque de la Mer Show, rode
Atlantis, rode Manta, rode the gondolas, and pretty much did everything the
park had to offer. We made it a very full trip. It was so much fun, and we are
so grateful for the experience.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next day we woke up pretty early to get ready for a fun
day at the San Diego Zoo! Mike’s sweet mom planned a beautiful gathering at the
zoo so that the two families could sit and have lunch together while
celebrating Wendy and Mike. It was fun to have some more time to visit with
both families. Before lunch we got a private bus tour of the zoo. This was
pretty cool, and Levi loved being able to ride on the bus. After the delicious
feast we had several hours to walk around and enjoy the zoo! At this point in
the trip we hadn’t had much time with Aaron and Gina so we planned on spending
the rest of the day with them. The first thing I wanted to do was see the
zebras since those are Levi’s most favorite animals. Little did we know that in
order to get to the zebras we were going to need to encompass quite the hike!
We walk all the way down this crazy hill, only to find Levi asleep in the
stroller upon arriving at the zebra exhibit. Since I do not believe in waking a
sleeping baby we decided to hike back up the hill to head to the next animal
exhibit. Of course Levi wakes up shortly after we make it to the top. We made
the unanimous decision not to go all the way back to the zebras, although we
did consider it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We walked around the zoo for a while. We saw the bears,
gorillas, Pandas, monkeys, and lots of other fun animals. Once we decided we
had seen enough of the zoo we decided to head to dinner. We all seemed to agree
on trying this cute little Greek restaurant. It was my first time having Greek
food, and it was my first time trying lamb. It was a fun experience. My
favorite part was the company. It was especially nice to spend time with Aaron
and Gina. We really enjoyed spending the day with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Finally we get to the big day! The whole purpose of this
trip! The grand finale! The wedding! Elizabeth and I woke up early to go and
join all the bridesmaids in Wendy’s hotel room to get ready for the wedding.
Once we were all beautified, we headed out for pictures. I drove everyone to
designated picture spot, and somehow we ended up being the last to arrive. It
was ok though because we had the bride so technically we were not late. After
pictures the other bridesmaids and I boarded the boat first to set up, before
all the other guests. I guess I forgot to mention earlier that this wedding was
to take place on a boat! So cool! I took Parker on the boat with me so that I
could nurse him before everyone else started boarding. Levi also came on the
boat early. He was so excited to ride the boat. He kept saying “Levi ride the
boat” over and over again. It was so cute! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We stayed on the bottom of the boat until all the guests were
seated. As soon as everyone was seated the ceremony started. I stayed back to
help the kids down the aisle. I guess I should specify that Levi was the ring
bearer and Amelia was the flower girl. Levi had his pillow all ready and Amelia
had her basket of rose petals. Amelia loved her flowers and her basket. That
leads into the next part of the story. As we were walking up these very steep
stairs to the start of the aisle the wind blew Amelia’s petals right off the
boat. To say she had a meltdown does not even begin to describe the devastation
she felt as she watched all of her beautiful roses blow away. She threw herself
on the floor screaming, until finally her dad went and picked her up. I am sure
this is a story we will look back at and laugh at one day. Levi on the other
hand walked down the aisle and would not even give the slightest smile. He just
stood up there with a very serious expression. I guess you could say he took it
job a little too serious. Haha, that’s Levi for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">After the ceremony we ate and partied on the boat for a
couple more hours. It was a lot of fun to be surrounded by so many friends and
family. When the ceremony was over Wendy and Mike were carried off in a horse
and carriage just like Cinderella. It was very sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We went home to Wendy’s after the reception and immediately
changed into sweats. We lounged and watched TV with Elizabeth and we all took
naps. To say we were pretty wiped would be an understatement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next day was also pretty full. We drove up to Orange
County to return the car we were borrowing. On the way home we swung by the
Rainbow Outlet and bought ourselves some new rainbows. That was definitely a
highlight. Our old rainbows were four years old so we were due for an upgrade!
After that I needed to go and find myself something yellow to wear in our
family pictures we were going to be taking that night. I was not originally
planning on taking family pictures when I went out to San Diego so I did not
plan out matching clothes for pictures. Wendy and I drove all over town
searching for something yellow for me, but we were having pretty poor luck.
Finally we decided to try Target before calling it quits. I walked into Target
and searched everywhere and could not find a single item that was yellow in the
women’s or juniors section. Finally right as I was giving up Wendy suggested I
check the children’s section. So I did, and of course I find a yellow shirt in the
little girl’s area. Luckily I am small enough that it fit, because if it didn’t,
I was out of options. We rushed home changed and headed to the beach to take
our family pictures! They turned out great! I could not have hoped for a better
photo shoot.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As soon as we finished the pictures we rushed over to Chins
to meet my Dad and Denice for dinner. It was fun to be able to squeeze in one
last visit with my dad before we were going to have to fly home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Finally it was time to go home! We woke up the next morning,
and packed all of our stuff. We helped Wendy clean her house so that we did not
leave her with a big mess, and then we rushed out to meet my grandma at her
house because we were all going to be heading out to lunch. On the way over
Levi fell asleep in the car. We transferred him to the bed at my grandmas and
he stayed asleep. My grandpa said he would stay and keep an eye on him in case
he woke up. This was a great idea because the poor kid was so exhausted from
this crazy busy trip. Morgan, Parker, Wendy, Grandma, and I all headed to the
garden center for lunch. It was nice and relaxing. We enjoyed and valued the
time we were able to spend with Grandma before leaving for Texas. We went back
to grandma’s house and picked up Levi. Turned out he had slept for most of the
time we were gone, and enjoyed playing some ball with grandpa when he woke up.
Grandpa is really excited for him to become a left handed pitcher!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After that we picked up our luggage and headed to the
airport. It was a very busy and fun trip, but it felt so amazing to be home.
Glad we had the opportunity to do so many fun things!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-4697325136353904262015-10-14T21:46:00.000-07:002015-10-14T21:46:25.443-07:00San Diego Part Two: Beach Disaster <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is continued from my previous post, so I am just going
to pick up right where I left off…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Monday we were supposed to wake up early and pack the car for
our four days of camping at the beach. My goal was to get there late afternoon,
particularly around two because that was when check in began. It was especially
important for me to arrive before dark, because I did not want to be setting up
tents and cooking dinner in the dark while entertaining two babies. My Dad and
Denise were supposed to be joining us for our camping adventure, and since we
lived about the same distance from the campground (around 2 hours) I figured it
would make sense for us all to leave about the same time. We had previously
divided up food assignments, so we all had certain ingredients needed to make
the meals. Also since we were traveling from out of state my dad said he would
bring the majority of all the needed camping gear such as the stove and
lanterns. Well we waited and waited for them to leave, and by about five o
clock I decided that we better go on without them. We had our tent, so I
figured if nothing else we could pick up food once we got there and get our
tent and pack and plays set up before it got too dark. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well by the time we got to the beach the sun had almost
completely set, and that is about the time we remembered that my dad was in
charge of bringing all the flashlights and lanterns. Luckily we were both
equipped with smart phones, so we were able to use the flashlight app to bring
us a little light. We then carry on frantically trying to get everything set up
before it goes pitch black on us. We finally get everything set up by about a
quarter till nine when the ranger comes by and informs us that they will
locking the gate into the park at nine o clock. Once that gate is locked there
is nowhere else to park within a five mile radius of the beach. So frantically
I call my dad to see where he was only to find out that he still has not left.
At this point he told me that he was going to discuss their options with Denise
and call me back with their plan. Morgan and I were starving at this point. We
had some food, but nothing to make a meal and even if we did we had none of the
necessary tools to prepare it. There were restaurants but all of them were 15
minutes out, and there was no possible way we could get to anything before they
closed the gates to the park. As I sat there and listened to the kids screaming
I realized that I was starving, angry, exhausted, and completely worn out, but
all that was left for me to do at this moment was carry on and put the kids to
bed. Once both kids finally fell asleep Morgan and I laid in the pitch black
tent because at this point in time both are phones were on the verge of death
and we ate chips and grapes until we fell asleep. It turned out to be a pretty
stressful night.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next morning the waves woke me up at six. I decided that
I would take advantage of the opportunity to get up and start getting breakfast
together before the kids woke up. First thing I do is call my dad to find out
how close he was since he had the stove needed to make breakfast. First I call
my dad’s cell phone, and there was no answer. Then I call Denise’s phone in which
she also does not answer. I then take a deep breath and call their house phone
in which somebody answers and takes the phone off the hook. At this point I
realize not only have they still not left, but they were most likely still in
bed. Once Morgan wakes up I tell him the news and we decide the only option is
to go out to breakfast. We then proceed to get everyone dressed and loaded into
the car before heading to a nearby pancake house. Finally by about nine my dad
calls me and informs me that they are just getting out of bed. I of course am
pretty frustrated with new update, but I carry on and move forward with the
day. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We head back to the beach get everyone changed into their
swimsuits and head down to the water. That is when we discovered that the beach
was full of some pretty intense rocks. As if the rocks weren’t enough to make
you not want to go into the water, the waves were also pounding into the
surface and some pretty extreme rates. Morgan went and talked to the lifeguard
and she said there were some other areas having some extreme weather and it was
effecting the beaches there hence the crazy waves and rocks. We were also
sitting in direct sun light, and by direct sun light I mean the sun was just
beating down on us. I could just feel my skin burning and there was nothing I
could do about it. I was soaked in sweat, and I was just burning up. Even with
sunscreen, I still felt like I was sure to be the suns next victim and I had
nowhere to hide. Of course my dad had all the canopies along with all of our
other camping gear in his car. On top of all this it was early afternoon and
both kids were ready for their naps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I tried laying Parker down in the tent in his pack and play,
but he was not having it. He was way too hot, and the sun was way too bright!
Finally I got the idea to put him in the stroller, and I just pushed him around
until he fell asleep! That was a huge success, and reduced so much of my stress
and anxiety once he was asleep and happy. However, I couldn’t relax too much
yet because I still had to figure out a way to get Levi to fall asleep. I just
picked Levi up and laid him on a beach towel with me, and he almost immediately
conked out. As Levi laid there asleep, I realized I needed to do something to
shade him, and get him out of the sun or else he was going to wake up from this
nap a lobster. I was desperate, and just started to search the car for anything
that could provide shade, and to my surprise I found an umbrella! I have never
been so excited to see an umbrella in all my life. Finally Morgan and I could
sit down and relax.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I call my dad later that afternoon to see where he was,
because I was starting to get hungry and he had all the lunch supplies. Well
not to my surprise he still had not left. Shortly after that Parker woke up. I
knew I had to find a place to sit with him where I could have some shade, so
again of desperation I went and asked some strangers if I could join them under
their canopy and sit with my baby. Luckily the lady was so sweet and welcoming
and she let us sit with her for hours. Eventually my dad did arrive, and
finally I was able to eat, set up the canopies, and start to actually enjoy the
trip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We finally got all situated and so we decided to sit around
the picnic table and play a game. When we notice a life guard approaching our
camp. She came to inform us that the tide was going to be bigger than the
previous nights. She assured us that we should be fine, but just encouraged us
to keep an eye on the water. Shortly after she left the tide came in and flooded
the entire inside of our canopy. We immediately looked at our watches and
realized that we still had another two hours till high tide and it was only
expected to get worse. None of the other campsites appeared to be too worried
since most of them were camping in RVs and were hardly effected by the raise in
water. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Morgan then had the idea to build a mote around our campsite.
I went and borrowed a shovel from one of our neighbors and Morgan began to dig
viciously and my dad was on his hands and knees also digging. Shortly after
they begin digging, another wave came in and flooded the tents. Luckily nothing
inside got wet, so I quickly started to remove all of our belongings out of the
tent to ensure they could stay dry. Meanwhile the waves are quickly increasing,
and I was of course stressing. Levi however, was as happy as can be sitting and
playing in the sand with his trucks and toy shovel nestled safely on the safe
side of the mote. That was until a wave came crashing over and diminished part
of the mote and soaked Levi. He was of course mortified and so upset. He did
not even have a chance to process what had happened to him. Denice (Nana) took
Levi and his dry clothes to the back of the campsite next to the car, and laid
him on the ground to change him, when all of a sudden another ginormous wave
can crashing over and again soaked him. We could not believe that the waves had
reached all the way to the back of the campsite where the cars were parked.
Poor little Levi was completely traumatized. It took him awhile to regain his
love for the ocean after this experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At this point I was questioning whether or not I wanted to
stay here for another night, so I headed down to the ranger station to find out
what the tide would be looking like the next day. After talking with the ranger
I learned that high tide would be at seven a.m. the next morning, and it was
expected to be worse. Since I knew we would not be getting up at five to start
rebuilding our mote, this made the decision to go home and easy one, as I
headed back to deliver the news. I am not going to lie, at this point it was
nine o clock at night, and I was exhausted. The kids were several levels beyond
exhausted and I was really dreading the idea of having to pack up camp in the
dark. That is when this group of random women showed up and offered to help us
pack up. Morgan’s initial reaction was to say no, but then I stepped in and
said we would be so grateful for any help! These were the nicest ladies.
Apparently they were celebrating somebodies 60<sup>th</sup> birthday, but the
group ranged from age 19 to mid-60. They were a hoot. They had defiantly been
drinking, but oh man they were so sweet and helpful. If it wasn’t for them we
would have been there packing all night. The family I sat with earlier that day
to get shade, offered to watch Levi well I packed, and one of the sweet 19 year
old held Parker. We were so looked out for and blessed. I was so stressed out
I was on the verge of tears, but the ladies just kept laughing and telling me
that one day I would look back at this moment and just laugh, and they were
right. I look back at that day now, and I just smile. What could have been a
really horrific experience turned out to be a pretty special one, because I
realized how many great people there still are in this world. I hope one day I
can return the favor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we got in the car and started driving, I felt so sad this
adventure had to end. I was also so worn out, and could hardly hold my eyes
open. I felt so guilty that my dad finally drove out to Orange County just to
turn around and leave. I also felt bad we put so much time and money into
panning the food, to just pack it up and leave. As we approached the freeway, I
realized that the family I was doing a house swap with had given me a key to their
house, and told me I was welcome to stay there if I needed to. So this made it
only a forty minute drive instead of a two hour drive. It also meant that my
dad could come stay with us and we could still finish out our trip together. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next post will include our adventures in Orange County. Don’t
worry the rest of the story is much happier. I did not initially plan on this
post being so long, so I am going to end this here. There will be a part three
to my trip. That will be the last post, promise! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-89986753852512741252015-09-22T11:56:00.001-07:002015-09-22T12:02:23.287-07:00San Diego Part One<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This post has been taking me forever to write because I have
an overwhelming amount of information I want to share, but every time I have a
few seconds to myself all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch Gilmore
Girls. So just know this is taking loads of self-discipline to sit here and
type this post rather than watch television! (I am at the end of season seven
and it is getting really interesting…)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So our adventure started at the crack of dawn, we had a
pretty early flight to catch! We carpooled down to the airport with some
friends who happened to be on our same flight. This was a life saver because
not only did that give us some extra hands to help with the kids but it also
gave us some great company! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had lots and lots of luggage because I am too cheap to pay
to ship stuff so instead I choose to fully utilize southwest’s luggage policy
and bring everyone their things via my suitcases. Well one of the items my dad
wanted was this laser printer that I was getting rid of. I was worried that if
I checked the printer with my other suitcases that it would get damaged, so in
order to ensure that it was nicely handled I decided to carry it on. Well
little did I know that a printer falls into the same category as a laptop when
it comes to security? This led to my bag
being automatically flagged on its way through the x-rays. Of course we were
short on time, and I was feeling pretty high anxiety because as anyone who
flies with children will relate to it can be extremely stressful. Well they
then proceeded to swipe the inside of my bag with something that checks for
explosives and of course knowing my luck it comes out positive. Apparently my
stuff has bomb particles on it. So then I had to have all my bags searched, and
have a full body pat down. Meanwhile, Parker pooped, but Morgan was not allowed
to take a diaper out of the diaper bag to change him because I was still being
heavily searched, and who knows what kinds of explosives I could be hiding in
my diapers. Apparently I look like a pretty threatening terrorist. Long story
short it was a miserable experience!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We finally land in San Diego and at this point I am beyond
exhausted. My sister Wendy picks me up from the airport and we decide to forgo
our previous plans and decided to just go home and sleep. When we woke up we
went and picked up the car we were borrowing, went to Whole Foods to get Levi
his milk as well as some other food for the trip, and we finished off the
evening with dinner at Rossi’s. Morgan and I always look forward to eating at
my dad’s restaurant. His food will always be my favorite, but hey what can I
say, “It’s the best in town!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The next day we went to the Padres game.<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 107%;">We were so excited
for this because Levi has not been to a baseball game since he has been old
enough to actually appreciate it! So of course we spring for the cheap parking,
which automatically means we had a hike into the stadium. (I do exaggerate a
little it was like a 15 min walk) the worst part of the walk was listening to
my dad tell me about how I should have bought a backpack stroller, but that is
a conversation for another post. Anyways, we get into the stadium and we sit in
our seats and we are in direct sunlight. I mean it was some intense sun, and it
was hot. Parker was being extra fussy because it was too hot for him to sleep,
but Levi on the other hand passed out as soon as we got to our seats and he
slept through the entire game; so much for him experiencing his first baseball
game. Eventually, after we were dripping wet with sweat and sunburned, we
decided to move down into some empty seats that were under an overhang. Once we
moved down there it was literally like ten degrees cooler, and the game was
much more enjoyable. It turned out to be a pretty fun! I love baseball games!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Sound Asleep!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Direct sun!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wake up just in time to leave</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Best Pals</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not awake</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The next morning we woke up early again, and headed to
Legoland! We met my Dad and Denice. We were all super excited for Legoland, but
once we got there we discovered that Levi was like half an inch too short for
the majority of the rides. There were like six rides he could do, but there was
also tons of other stuff to keep him entertained throughout the park, so we
still had a pretty awesome time! I mean after all everything is awesome!
Legoland has this rule that two people over the age of 18 are not allowed to
ride the rides together. So we ended up going on this helicopter ride, and the
attendant assumed I was seventeen so I played along and got to ride with my
dad, so that was pretty awesome. My favorite activity was riding these boats
that had basically no motor and just floated through this course at like half a
mile per hour. It was extra fun because we were all trying to race each other.
Wendy got on first, then Levi and Morgan, and my dad and I got on last. Morgan
passed Wendy right away, but she was an easy target so we don’t give him too
much credit. We pretty much passed Wendy right after they did, shortly after
that there was a huge boat jam, and we were all turned sideways and backwards.
Soon we were able to fly by Morgan making us the winners of the race. If was
pretty fun, but you probably had to be there to fully appreciate it. We are
excited to go back to Legoland once the boys are a little taller!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Parker and Nana</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wiggy and Levi</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iBDmiCSotRE0qsnHNzy-jYTP4ENETGu2l64m9YwmyyCbLWQhqYUPuZTtMQ3nHfXx3KH-13CFA-wuHeFj-GEAeC4rBzbfmARKnV0ncaqvy00lEVK-Uj3ROm3DmuOntwH4B538BUWi11Rs/s1600/20150723_114040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iBDmiCSotRE0qsnHNzy-jYTP4ENETGu2l64m9YwmyyCbLWQhqYUPuZTtMQ3nHfXx3KH-13CFA-wuHeFj-GEAeC4rBzbfmARKnV0ncaqvy00lEVK-Uj3ROm3DmuOntwH4B538BUWi11Rs/s320/20150723_114040.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wiggy and Levi</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6CjrH4U618R2ctADsAUTzQlGOmvUirkp1AyzFtmu__uGjdUGbKIDHyosVMntgv5FPJweMRaw7DQltFEKtFp3lmnNu5n0W45U75mrvt1shrPER4bZqvGmDLMRWMcE7UEFeoQCbzwyN-Hc/s1600/20150723_114059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH6CjrH4U618R2ctADsAUTzQlGOmvUirkp1AyzFtmu__uGjdUGbKIDHyosVMntgv5FPJweMRaw7DQltFEKtFp3lmnNu5n0W45U75mrvt1shrPER4bZqvGmDLMRWMcE7UEFeoQCbzwyN-Hc/s320/20150723_114059.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dad</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L3xU-GZg20l_Inp6Td7J4OFZdpWwwwKj77CKvqRECa5su7fTrEHdIC4IkgVJnj04gdWcMSqY6IiIDj-bN_OXoToJFg-TLrvpVQ1yz4elOaKRv_lOmmXlB9BIVJwo3cg_62wAruN53uYW/s1600/20150723_114347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-L3xU-GZg20l_Inp6Td7J4OFZdpWwwwKj77CKvqRECa5su7fTrEHdIC4IkgVJnj04gdWcMSqY6IiIDj-bN_OXoToJFg-TLrvpVQ1yz4elOaKRv_lOmmXlB9BIVJwo3cg_62wAruN53uYW/s320/20150723_114347.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwzn6BHb8iqBQwZ3ODJbjbMiKj4WL2eP0VpFqCeyT6WW3KZed6ELkQI3XFjemSXyeV2yKY0dR_irJF5DhwYxjrFunKkyrgFzKjfa9ZuWXauhoesw24rRwORLN9wYK_w8Zlz47AM_OkZEn/s1600/20150723_122305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwzn6BHb8iqBQwZ3ODJbjbMiKj4WL2eP0VpFqCeyT6WW3KZed6ELkQI3XFjemSXyeV2yKY0dR_irJF5DhwYxjrFunKkyrgFzKjfa9ZuWXauhoesw24rRwORLN9wYK_w8Zlz47AM_OkZEn/s320/20150723_122305.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wiggy first on boat</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnuVCJ4AFRC3nvjr2RytmDGe8EXF4FJxDByeVZIjLRKa6PYHWhGONGTQGklqy2lqFJoOqwote0oNxAsq3a1aQgRJjtgIhvcPWwzIAlizjEdhXJn6hXv0jGc4_wtIMhODjOMQ4jLhx9qKJ/s1600/20150723_122343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnuVCJ4AFRC3nvjr2RytmDGe8EXF4FJxDByeVZIjLRKa6PYHWhGONGTQGklqy2lqFJoOqwote0oNxAsq3a1aQgRJjtgIhvcPWwzIAlizjEdhXJn6hXv0jGc4_wtIMhODjOMQ4jLhx9qKJ/s320/20150723_122343.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Morgan and Levi second on boat</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMHYQqC4qMevmbCoCWVfmLZJ7YBQ7qemdKoXWdL6Ym7SgXSqbK_fGOHComiZr0e33E9ZSn0pqp21FkuQLBVCQKiPNLpqQNT9H6xZZFRtMjUnKR5nF-QQ1Q6mQf7xYFR7HBiLvsUcxXrUH/s1600/20150723_122508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMHYQqC4qMevmbCoCWVfmLZJ7YBQ7qemdKoXWdL6Ym7SgXSqbK_fGOHComiZr0e33E9ZSn0pqp21FkuQLBVCQKiPNLpqQNT9H6xZZFRtMjUnKR5nF-QQ1Q6mQf7xYFR7HBiLvsUcxXrUH/s320/20150723_122508.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is when are boats crashed and we were side by side</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43K_JrE2LM-T0x0OlJIFxX_4G9rD5_OwKGZ-di7CFN-1UgYJ0etNF3lYMW6C-oK3apmBtkh5Tm0g1plhEeALY7aTY6-hdLqW7FA5jXc4SGuak26LJmpoGSD87RsAWbDoVFPkAJITcsOGl/s1600/20150723_122549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43K_JrE2LM-T0x0OlJIFxX_4G9rD5_OwKGZ-di7CFN-1UgYJ0etNF3lYMW6C-oK3apmBtkh5Tm0g1plhEeALY7aTY6-hdLqW7FA5jXc4SGuak26LJmpoGSD87RsAWbDoVFPkAJITcsOGl/s320/20150723_122549.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Winners! Everyone behind us!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDt2zB1xEYCg_2cS5M_ySs0yrMP3IqcvnAOJJ9Sb3pLisB6aftXw45z26NIxvSlB5egPXzUpCIdCEaKvNjeguZ-biClleKtqttQejzOkU_ShspbXw5o6bnzjE6DmzGxzdibSlIlZ73En4/s1600/20150723_151100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDt2zB1xEYCg_2cS5M_ySs0yrMP3IqcvnAOJJ9Sb3pLisB6aftXw45z26NIxvSlB5egPXzUpCIdCEaKvNjeguZ-biClleKtqttQejzOkU_ShspbXw5o6bnzjE6DmzGxzdibSlIlZ73En4/s320/20150723_151100.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Legoland Aquarium</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6FEIUyEVrXtUcOPQonPEG7aQYUSbz5g6-02VG7OWEM8391_ImZINE3A47MlyjQYVbHzWIweuY8GmnqLlnHjDCecT43zZzivjpopZ5DZDGhO-DCpUYH5UL9cP2o35tYzR3Dw-m_-I76lo/s1600/20150723_175327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6FEIUyEVrXtUcOPQonPEG7aQYUSbz5g6-02VG7OWEM8391_ImZINE3A47MlyjQYVbHzWIweuY8GmnqLlnHjDCecT43zZzivjpopZ5DZDGhO-DCpUYH5UL9cP2o35tYzR3Dw-m_-I76lo/s320/20150723_175327.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Zebra Car</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJ1QGbdqAv75kgQfpUxpNKaMfNK5U5Eg8-9KekQ3JPQZ2jsPAzJ7EKhY68o8KV0_hB2M5CT3U7YcYgqCDshbEzE5yYGsjjJdElEtUS1Q0NCjJ87rEwCDV52qbKHdBg4emwr9UewGPr6gR/s1600/20150723_175629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJ1QGbdqAv75kgQfpUxpNKaMfNK5U5Eg8-9KekQ3JPQZ2jsPAzJ7EKhY68o8KV0_hB2M5CT3U7YcYgqCDshbEzE5yYGsjjJdElEtUS1Q0NCjJ87rEwCDV52qbKHdBg4emwr9UewGPr6gR/s320/20150723_175629.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I love that everyone thought I was seventeen</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgho8r_S8xXiu3K87TlnLjW24sUQxEIhkoBstuEXN0ek2r4Y5bv70TtQ9yz2NQfdoqpjD2pP-_0fs73uAlDbE3i_XSdbe_beWqensuF9RqLvwRqMTVjuLLojqTrfr4oYoXwMzW8iOKQcAz2/s1600/20150723_175933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgho8r_S8xXiu3K87TlnLjW24sUQxEIhkoBstuEXN0ek2r4Y5bv70TtQ9yz2NQfdoqpjD2pP-_0fs73uAlDbE3i_XSdbe_beWqensuF9RqLvwRqMTVjuLLojqTrfr4oYoXwMzW8iOKQcAz2/s320/20150723_175933.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dad wanted this Picture</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3OnJE0KC7pXjSJkMW6I0DXluw6QqXC1tdRN0_88V8ZmA-TGl7-0zvhEiacqoO54ZFZ3I44tQiGKeB3VS4j0gJEmhUP_YYGUorYl2DALCyqgJAjFJqorH60bdizcP4n-jCnmvA1CzMOs2/s1600/20150723_180316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3OnJE0KC7pXjSJkMW6I0DXluw6QqXC1tdRN0_88V8ZmA-TGl7-0zvhEiacqoO54ZFZ3I44tQiGKeB3VS4j0gJEmhUP_YYGUorYl2DALCyqgJAjFJqorH60bdizcP4n-jCnmvA1CzMOs2/s320/20150723_180316.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All of us in front of the welcome sign</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The next day we decided to take a much needed morning of
sleeping in. once we stumbled out of bed we had breakfast, and then Morgan
announced he really wanted his morning free so that he could catch up on some
work stuff, and of course play on his budget. I decided to take advantage of
this opportunity and went out with the ladies! Mom, Ellen, Elizabeth, me, and
the boys all went and enjoyed an afternoon at the mall shopping. This worked
out well because I needed to find a shrug to wear with my dress for the
wedding. We looked everywhere, and by everywhere I mean all over Macys. (To my
family Macys is the mall) we were having no success when Ellen suggested
checking the little girls department. Sure enough there we found exactly what I
was looking for! It pays to be small. After shopping we went and had lunch at
souplantation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tdgiXeIlxHETmrGR7XKbU5RhGJIng3h07U1lb7qFzvwYO9RcHRHOqTsYjQOjMWFEDnjdw4KWxgV-TlNbqzGaFL45AC7ybMjuwuEEtQu8r2bYB-63NCpZJq5Gmc-tEhAz9jGRTAXmbCm7/s1600/20150725_091408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tdgiXeIlxHETmrGR7XKbU5RhGJIng3h07U1lb7qFzvwYO9RcHRHOqTsYjQOjMWFEDnjdw4KWxgV-TlNbqzGaFL45AC7ybMjuwuEEtQu8r2bYB-63NCpZJq5Gmc-tEhAz9jGRTAXmbCm7/s320/20150725_091408.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Found a gecko</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After lunch we rushed back to Wendy’s to grab all of our
beach gear because we were having a family potluck at the beach! This was one
of my favorite gatherings of the trip, it was so good to get most of the family
together for the first time. For the potluck I assigned everyone certain
ingredients to bring as far as the food was concerned. Well everyone brought
those items, and literally nothing else. Apparently when you’re having a
gathering at the beach it is not implied to bring chairs or towels. Luckily we
brought some extra, so we were all able to make it work. Hahaha. The kids had a
blast! Grandma Paula was holding Parker and of course he was wiggling out of
her arms. Grandma took his inability to sit still as a sign that he wanted to
get down so that he could play in the sand. Well of course the minute he was
put down he started shoveling sand into his mouth. It was a good dessert for
him I’m sure. As if one super messy kid was not enough, mom took Levi down to
the ocean to play in the water, and of course he got soaked! I will say that he
had the time of his life! Levi loved the ocean and playing with his grandma, it
was so fun to watch the two of them together. The whole family had so much fun!
It was well worth staying out late, and having two messy boys to get to spend time
as a family on the beach!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMIDWq9mBSu5tF27D47zLeQFPzPknEUPkgNyFW5Lfz_RY3sQoVOo5KGRMPvYbPUi5M0zMJCrWxTRQniyLsyx6kgdz3Iz05TjzM17DpIHzs_w5xBsmiHraQqVjXAlZpC_FRf7TMrI2TGyO/s1600/IMG_1291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijMIDWq9mBSu5tF27D47zLeQFPzPknEUPkgNyFW5Lfz_RY3sQoVOo5KGRMPvYbPUi5M0zMJCrWxTRQniyLsyx6kgdz3Iz05TjzM17DpIHzs_w5xBsmiHraQqVjXAlZpC_FRf7TMrI2TGyO/s320/IMG_1291.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know he is pretty cute!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShvjAk6uHxMLa0dQ7E6pWOvCPc-8plhhLqZkSyYPzE6wp1zXYA3stukLREkhQpz_ceKPjM3l6ORAoGEXOP__GyyM-FGylNeSEK-B2fLylUlURda-v6-3PBYz_NI2RREArNS9YkLVzWbMP/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShvjAk6uHxMLa0dQ7E6pWOvCPc-8plhhLqZkSyYPzE6wp1zXYA3stukLREkhQpz_ceKPjM3l6ORAoGEXOP__GyyM-FGylNeSEK-B2fLylUlURda-v6-3PBYz_NI2RREArNS9YkLVzWbMP/s320/IMG_1294.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Many I miss these beautiful ladies!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoJu9LvNr2M3BI6XBdh-jOoXx8G6HfIle5tOoKfSAgMJY6bJ6l-8PYfitMpUBrbkxa25rNd8mf5QEhlD7oSYYdAshPJ0zAmuGxLVU1ItiQ5b8QhRU603GFfDmVU11ki_9ejxTfh6rI_HH/s1600/IMG_1298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKoJu9LvNr2M3BI6XBdh-jOoXx8G6HfIle5tOoKfSAgMJY6bJ6l-8PYfitMpUBrbkxa25rNd8mf5QEhlD7oSYYdAshPJ0zAmuGxLVU1ItiQ5b8QhRU603GFfDmVU11ki_9ejxTfh6rI_HH/s320/IMG_1298.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was before the mouth full of sand</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5nOMQL1o5Hg1c8nOLrbJfPMAqUXoS2_KZ8vraVPzlW8VzhTFyjY_sP90eT6YmDZLDcuaA75sOJ_1pWSTeTFPZ-Q_64c97lXL88O_UOoGe2REU3lzAKQMcs_f0M7yzXT5LePcjE69EPvm/s1600/IMG_1309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5nOMQL1o5Hg1c8nOLrbJfPMAqUXoS2_KZ8vraVPzlW8VzhTFyjY_sP90eT6YmDZLDcuaA75sOJ_1pWSTeTFPZ-Q_64c97lXL88O_UOoGe2REU3lzAKQMcs_f0M7yzXT5LePcjE69EPvm/s320/IMG_1309.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Man, what a great looking group</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfppSSxTgsDU5IgdMkxj5vt_5rb9v-khUYJf1YaxcYBCObg39BcFyJ-7q87XRfbkZ3LZXeD_x8uy0cekYFizm82aHzh1xV4Mf64aL9tk2RUwoBdfO1xGVm9iJPlQphfdp-1m9Td4nc8b5M/s1600/IMG_1313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfppSSxTgsDU5IgdMkxj5vt_5rb9v-khUYJf1YaxcYBCObg39BcFyJ-7q87XRfbkZ3LZXeD_x8uy0cekYFizm82aHzh1xV4Mf64aL9tk2RUwoBdfO1xGVm9iJPlQphfdp-1m9Td4nc8b5M/s320/IMG_1313.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">so sweet</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Saturday was the Bachelorette party and boy was that a hoot!
Wendy really wanted to have a party that all of her close girlfriends could
participate in so after much thought and many ideas she decided to do a limo
tour around the Temecula wineries. She strategically planned it the weekend our
family was in town. This party had a little something for everyone. Even though
I don’t drink I was sure excited to meet Wendy’s friends and ride in a limo for
my first time! Since I live so far away I don’t get to see my sister as much as
I would like, and I have not had the opportunity to meet many of her friends,
so it was fun to meet people who love and support my sister the same way I do!
Once I got to the winery I ordered lunch and everyone was drinking, so of
course I went to the bar and ordered me a ginger beer! I wanted to feel cool
and drink at the bar with everyone else, so I gave into peer pressure and
ordered me some beer! Hahaha! It was so fun, and I am just so grateful that she
included me and let me be a part of her party even though I don’t drink! I know
most traditional bachelorette include heavy drinking and extreme partying so I
am just thrilled I was able to participate! Once Wendy got home she was not
feeling so hot, so I went and picked us up some pizza at Rossi’s because we all
know that my Dad’s chicken ranch pizza can always make everything better! It
was just such a fun day!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our first Limo ride!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The next day was the Bridal Shower! Janelle (Wendy’s maid of
honor) and her mom put so much time and energy into making Wendy’s Bridal
shower extra special, and they did such a wonderful job! It was a beautiful party!
It was a tea party theme, and they had the cutest china, and the most delicious
food! It was very clear they have been working on this party for months. It was
so cute, and it was wonderful to have the family all together to celebrate
Wendy! I especially loved getting to meet Mike’s family. His mom and grandma
are just the sweetest. I feel like Levi got another adopted grandma! It was so
fun to visit with them, I hope we will get to see them more often. I was in
charge of games, and I had fun putting those together. I planned one with
Wendy’s baby pictures. I found a picture to represent each year of Wendy’s life
from birth to age 18, and people had to try to put them together in the correct
order. I also did a game where I videotaped myself asking Mike questions, and
then Wendy had to try and guess his answers. It was pretty fun! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ok I know that was information over load, but that was only
half the trip. I will start on the other half and hopefully have it up in about
a week!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Forgot to mention the Thurs. night we lit the leftover sparklers from Aaron's wedding! so fun!</span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-24682358999863329412015-07-08T16:20:00.001-07:002015-07-08T16:20:26.730-07:00Everybody Rides the Something!<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">This is a post I have been wanting to write for the last
several months, but just have not been able to find the time. Levi has been
obsessed with having all his animals and toys go for rides. It is so hilarious,
he just loves stacking everything up and saying, “blank ride the blank.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">It all started at church. Every Sunday all the kids between
18 months and three go to Nursery for the last two hours of church. There they
have lots of toys, snacks, and fun activities for the kids to participate in.
One of the toys that was in our nursery is an old fashion rocking horse. It is
plastic and has metal springs holding it up, so when the kids sit on it they
can bounce/rock it back and forth. Levi immediately fell in love with this
horse. He would run out of the chapel after sacrament yelling, “ride the
horsey” on his way into nursery. All the nursery leaders said he would play on
that horse the whole time, and he just loved it so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">He soon became obsessed with riding everything! He would sit
on his little plastic animals and say, “ride the giraffe.” He would find every
picture in every book we owned that involved somebody riding somebody. All he
could talk about for months was riding things. I would type horseback riding in
on google images, and he was glued to the screen. It was as if I were showing
him pictures of magic balls or something. Finally after his grandmas saw the
dozens of videos and pictures of him riding his animals and of them riding each
other they decided to go in together and get him his own personal rocking
horse. Not just any rocking horse but this one also has the springs, sings,
moves his mouth, and says several different phrases. Oh man, he is in love with
this thing. He has had it for two months now, and still gets on it several
times a day. It currently sits right in the middle of our living room. I have
tried to move it out several times and every time he has a meltdown. It is like
I am taking away his favorite toy. I would not hesitate to say this horse is
his very best friend. Morgan was worried about getting him a toy like this
because he thought he would get bored of it after a few days, but that is
absolutely not the case. This toy has gotten more use then any we have bought
so far.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">His obsession with riding things has only increased. He
loves for all his Little People guys to ride each other, along with his animal
figurines, rubber ducks, balls, cars, and anything else he can stack on top of
each other. It is so entertaining. Morgan and I will get up and find Batman
riding a horse, or a rubber duck riding the whale. We can’t help but laugh hysterically,
it is just so funny. Sometimes he will get more intense and stack them like
four tall. He would say something like, “hippo ride the zebra ride the dinosaur.”
He also loves to ride Mom, Dad, Parker and Penny. Poor Parker is the most
defenseless. He doesn’t even see Levi coming. No matter how many times we have
told Levi he can’t ride the baby, he still doesn’t get it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">We need to take him to ride a horse! Hopefully that will
happen soon and I will post more about it, but for now you have a little more
insight on Levis riding obsession.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">There is a downside to Levi’s cute little new found hobby,
and that is his overwhelming desire to have constant perfection. Meaning that
every time he schemes up a new scenario in his head of who needs to ride who,
it has to come to be no matter what the cost. Sometimes batman cannot ride the
zebra, because the laws of common sense say that he is too big to balance on
such a narrow uneven surface. Or maybe it would take the world’s most steady
hand to stack Robin, on the hippo, on the lion. When these impossible scenarios
unfold Levi instantly enters melt down mode, and comes screaming at me. I then pathetically
attempt to make these figurines balance, and generally I fail miserably, because
if he cannot do it then I certainly cannot. In the rare case when it does work,
I have to pray that I don’t mistakenly turn on the fan or do anything for that
matter that can knock them down because as soon as they tip over we enter freak
out mode. Yes, it is a lot of fun, but mostly exhausting. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Levi Ride the Giraffe</div>
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Of course he Loved Levi Ride the Zebra! He could stare at this pic all day</div>
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My favorite in this pic is duck ride the whale </div>
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pooh ride the elephant, duck ride the tiger, ect </div>
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Shark ride the shark</div>
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Zebra ride the zebra, zebra ride the hippo, dino ride the car</div>
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Daddy ride giraffe</div>
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Dino ride the dino ride the zebra ride the hippo</div>
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Buzz ride the zebra ride the zebra </div>
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Zebra ride the duck ride the car </div>
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ducks ride the horsey </div>
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Pig ride the duck </div>
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batman ride the cow and robin ride the horsey</div>
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Dora ride the hippo</div>
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Got a little carried away one night</div>
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Levi's Heaven</div>
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football ride the horsey</div>
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My personal favorite duck ride the whale </div>
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and of course horsey ride the zebra</div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-23180051326427900962015-06-30T15:09:00.000-07:002015-06-30T15:09:20.635-07:00My Brothers Wedding<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>So this past April we took a
trip down to California for my brother’s wedding. Of course traveling anywhere
with kids can always be a little stressful, but luckily we planned well and
everything seemed to go fairly smoothly. We had a late flight so by the time we
arrived in San Diego both kids were extremely exhausted. Of course I forgot
Levi’s sippy cups for milk, so we had to make an extra stop to buy him some new
sippy cups. We also had to stop at Whole Foods to buy him his milk. By the time
we got to my sister’s house both kids were just screaming out of exhaustion. We
put them to bed then started so settle in and do some unpacking.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>The next day we went to the
Avocado Festival with my sister. It was amazing we got fresh strawberries,
fresh oranges, and some incredible juice! There is nothing that can compare to
freshly picked produce! I think the thing I miss the most about San Diego,
outside of the beach, would definitely be all the fresh fruits and veggies. I
ate almost three pounds of strawberries in one sitting. It was so good! Later
that night we went to my Dad’s restaurant and had some delicious pizza! My dad defiantly
makes the best pizza I have ever had, so I always look forward to that when I
come into town. Morgan is obsessed with his bread sticks. He could probably
just make a meal out of those alone he loves them so much! Needless to say, we
love Rossi’s!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Monday morning we left to pick
up our rental car because we were going to be heading up to Avala Bay, which is
in San Luis Obispo. It was a five hour drive, and let’s just say the kids did
not appreciate it. Three hours in we decided to stop at a park on the beach in
Ventura so they could run around and stretch their legs. That helped, and made
the rest of the drive slightly more pleasant. Morgan’s parents and sister met
us there and we stayed in my dad’s timeshare. I have pictures of me at this
timeshare when I was in diapers so it was especially fun to take Morgan to a
place where I have so many childhood memories. The first night we were all
there we went and ate at this restaurant that was on the pier. The tables have glass
so you can see down into the water as you eat. It was pretty cool. The next day
we went to a park to fly Brad’s (Morgan’s Dad) drone. We picked a place there
had a cool park so that Levi could play, but of course he fell asleep on the
way there and slept through the entire activity. Hannah (Morgan’s sister) and I
were both slightly bored but had fun playing with Parker while we watched. It
was fun to just hangout and visit. Later that night we went to McKlintocks, one
of my favorite restaurants. They are a steak house, and as a kid it was the
coolest place to go. I always loved to get my picture in front of the bison
after we finished eating. Lots of good memories there. On Wednesday Morgan and
his dad went and played a round of golf. This was one of the things that Morgan
was looking forward to the most. He always really cherishes any time he gets to
spend with his dad, and golf is one of their favorite activities they do
together. I was excited for him to have the opportunity to do that. I know he really
had a great time. I will never understand what is so fun about golf, especially
since guys don’t generally take advantage of the time to talk during the game,
but hey it makes them happy and that is what counts. Every time Morgan gets
back from a round of golf I ask what he talked about, and he always responds
with “not much”. That my friends is the difference between girls and boys.
Hahaha. Anyways while they golfed we took Levi back to that park so he could
play on all the animal statues. Of course, he loved it and had a great time.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>That night we all went down to
the pool, and Levi was in heaven. There was a very cold breeze that was blowing
through, which made the air outside pretty cold. Levi could have cared less. He
stayed in that pool till his lips were blue, and his teeth were chattering.
Morgan and Grandpa Brad kept throwing him in the air and catching him and he
just thought that was the coolest thing. It was pretty cute to watch. Levi just
loves his Grammy Julie and Papa Brad!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>On the last night we went down
to the farmers market which was amazing! I bought another three pounds of fresh
strawberries and ate almost all of them. They were so good. We also got dinner
there, and of course washed that down with some good old healthy funnel cake
topped with you guessed it…strawberries! Yum!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>The next day we made our way
back to San Diego for the other half our trip! The drive was killer we had to
leave at six in the morning to make it back in time for my brother’s rehearsal
dinner. Therefore, we could make absolutely no stops. Yes we set ourselves up
for a nightmare of a trip. We tried to leave earlier, but unfortunately packing
all of our stuff and the stuff for two kids is a lot of work and we did not
plan enough time. It was what it was. So after listening to Levi scream for a
solid five hours (there was a few brakes but Parker would always fill in where
he left off) we were pretty much at the edge of our rope. Thankfully my mom and
Ellen met us off the freeway so we could pass Levi off to her and put him out
of his misery so he did not have to complete the drive and wait at the rental
car place. Once they got him they fed him the “magic raisons” and he was happy.
Eventually he fell asleep, and we could all take a deep breath of relief.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;">The rehearsal dinner was a lot
of fun! It was nice to see the ve</span><span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;">nue, and get to meet up and visit with all of
my family. After the meal we went back to Wendy’s and we got ready to the Padre’s
game. We were pretty wiped, but the game was still so much fun! This was Parker’s
first Padre’s game, and I am pretty sure he loved it! That night Levi slept at
Grandma’s house. This was the first time both me and Morgan were away from him
for an overnight. It was little bit hard, but I am not going to lie it was nice
to have one less tiny person to take care of because let’s face it…we were
pretty wiped.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>The next day was the wedding! It
was so much fun. Levi was the ring bearer and he was about as cute as they can
get! My sister’s daughter, Amelia, was the flower girl, and oh man were they
melting hearts! Parker got to wear Aarons old designer tuxedo he had when he
was a baby. My family has a running joke that Aaron was the most spoiled baby
because he had a designer baby tuxedo. This made it pretty cool to get to see
Parker in the forever talked about outfit. The wedding was a lot of fun. There
was lots of dancing, cake, and steak! I have to say I got to experience a whole
side of my family I had never seen before, and that is an understatement. It
made for quite the interesting night. Gina looked beautiful! I am so glad I get
her to be my sister in law. I couldn’t have picked a better match for my
brother. The wedding was amazing, and the family was entertaining. What more
could you want?<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>The next day we got the family
together at Wendy’s house and Ariel and Thomas went above and beyond to make a
massive breakfast! It include eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, juice, pancakes,
and my favorite strawberries! It was nice to sit and visit one last time before
people started leaving the next day. Monday we all just laid around and
relaxed. We were all pretty exhausted. Monday night we met several members of
the family at Islands for my favorite burgers and fries. It was a nice way to
end the trip.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Now we are preparing to leave
again next month for another trip to San Diego for my sister’s wedding! We
couldn’t be more thrilled for Mike to become an official member of the family.
More updates to come!</b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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This was the park we stopped at on the drive</div>
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This is where we flew the drone</div>
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Levi slept through the whole drone flying</div>
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Mclintocks</div>
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Funnel Cake</div>
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Grandma Ellen</div>
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My adorable Niece</div>
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First Padre Game</div>
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Getting ready for the wedding</div>
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Baby Tuxedo</div>
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Flower Girl and Ring Bearer</div>
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Cousins</div>
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Sisters</div>
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Islands</div>
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He loves his brother! on the plane</div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-52813147946632610282015-05-15T14:45:00.002-07:002015-05-15T14:45:32.065-07:00Levis 2nd Birthday<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let me just start out by saying
that this party was kind of a last minute idea, and was supposed to be super
simple. I am oneof the people that never really understood why parents go all crazy throwing
a party for a child who is too young to understand and appreciate it. I wanted
Levi’s party to be easy, and simple, but if you were here then you would know that
it was far from my original plan. It is very easy to explain how I lost
control, in fact it really only takes one word to sum it up and that </span><span style="font-family: Batang, serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">is…Pinterest!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see I had two main goals for
Levis party. The first was to have a theme and activities that Levi could get
excited about and enjoy, and the second thing was to have all the food be healthy
with little to no sugar. As many of you know I try to give Levi as very little
sugar as possible, so with that being said I wanted to make sure that he would
be able to eat all of the refreshments at his own party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Well I had a plan of what I was
going to serve at his Birthday, and it was all very easy and simple. However, that
plan was changed the night I could not sleep and browsed Pinterest. I was just
so surprised by all the ideas for healthy food, and I could not choose which
ones were my favorite, and so what do I do……I made them all! I got in way over
my head, so for everyone who attended do not expect all my parties to be this
elaborate! Luckily I had a few awesome friends who were able to come down the
day before and help me put it all together. Thank goodness they did because without
them this party would not have happened!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So the party was a ball theme,
and of course Levi loved it! We filled the whole living room with balls and
balloons, and let Levi go to town. He played with the balls for weeks after the
party; there are some videos to show some of the fun we had with them. I can
say with one hundred percent certainty that Levi loved his party, primarily
because of all the balls! We also let all the kids take home a ball as a party
favor and they loved it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Batang, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">All in all I loved the party, and feel very accomplished with how well it turned out. I do not see me throwing another party like this for awhile because of how exhausted I was at the end. It took me the full week after to feel normal again. Some of you may be wondering what my future plans are for Parkers first Birthday, and of course I have already made those </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.5333347320557px;">arrangements</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"> as well. Morgan and I will go out to dinner by ourselves and celebrate the completion of the first year. We will have dessert with the kiddos once we get back. His birthday will be all about Mommy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here is a photo bomb of the
before and after the party, and of course the whole party!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The cake was a homemade whole wheat biscuit (with zero sugar) layered between strawberries and homemade whip cream</div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-43735912824155456272015-03-03T22:18:00.000-08:002015-03-03T22:28:58.421-08:00My Sweet Newborn<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>As many of you know, I really struggled with Levi when he was
a newborn. I mean now he is the world’s best toddler, but he has not always
been like that. When he was born he pretty much just cried and slept. Sure I was
grateful for the sleeping, but all the time he spent awake was pretty draining.
On top of that Levi did not enjoy any type of hugs and snuggles. He would never
sleep on my chest, and would only let me hold him if he was facing out. Levi
rarely smiled, and I do not remember him laughing until he was around 6 months
old. As you can imagine this extreme grumpiness would suck the energy out of
any new first time mom. Eventually Levi got easier and became the sweet, smiley,
and affectionate little boy that he is today, but I promise those characteristics
came later. Because of this experience I have dreaded going back to those early
months with any of our future children that was until Parker came along. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Since the first night Parker came into this world he has
wanted nothing more than to snuggle with his mommy. Parker was born at 10:30 at
night, and after a thirteen hour labor I was beyond exhausted. My mom spent
that first night in the hospital with me, and she was going to stay up with
Parker so that I could get some rest. Well shortly after I fell asleep Parker
just flipped out and would not stop crying. My mom tried for a while to sooth
him, but eventually caved and woke me up. As soon as I took Parker I lied him
down on my chest and he immediately calmed down and fell fast asleep. My mom
could not even believe it, all he needed that night was his mommy. I am so
grateful that I was able to snuggle and sooth my sweet new baby that night. It instantly
made me feel so loved and cherished. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The next day I had come home from the hospital and Morgan and
my mom were taking care of Parker so that I could take a nap. He again started
crying uncontrollably. Eventfully they decided he must be hungry so they came
in and woke me up to feed him. I remember walking out into the living room,
where they all were and I started talking. As soon as Parker heard my voice he
instantly fell asleep. It was like all he needed was to hear the sound of his mom’s
voice so that he could feel safe enough to close his eyes and fall asleep.
Since Parker has been born he has always taken extra comfort to having his mom
close by.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Parker has just been the sweetest newborn and I love him so
much. I now see why people cherish the first year of a baby’s life so deeply. Parker just loves to be held and cuddled all
the time, which I don’t mind at all. I love that Parker gets so much fulfillment
from being close to me. He will just lie on my shoulder and snuggle till he
falls asleep, and he will sit on my lap for as long as I am willing to hold
him. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to feed him, and I just get so over whelmed with his smiles and stares that I cannot help but stay up
for an extra hour just so I can just look into his eyes, kiss his little neck,
and soak in all his smiles. It is like for those few minutes I completely forget
how tired I am. I just become so over whelmed with his love all I can do is just sit there in aww as I think about how perfect my sweet baby is. He is always happy and smiling and he just has the sweetest
laugh that I have ever heard. He is just such a happy boy, who loves life. He
just melts everyone’s heart with his smiles and dimples, and I cannot get over
how much I am dreading him growing up. I wish I </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">could keep him
this age forever. I know I have said the word smiles a million times, but I just cannot get over how smiley he is. He pretty much always wears a smile.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">It is
amazing to me how different two babies can be. I know Levi loved me with all
his heart, but when he was a newborn he did not have the best ways of showing
it. Now that he is older he loves to give his little brother kisses and hugs all the </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">time</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">. He
is honestly one of the </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">most affectionate little boys I have ever met. I am so
grateful for all the time I have with my boys, and I am glad I get to be the
one to help them experience their different stages. It is fun to see their
little personalities as they grow and experience all the different parts of
life. I am loving this stage of my life, and I am just so grateful for the </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">opportunity</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> that Heavenly Father has given me to be a mother to such </span><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">beautiful</span></i></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> little spirits who I love more then I thought possible.</i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-21844499097850699272015-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:002015-01-14T15:11:47.242-08:00The First Months with Two<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
Since Parker has been born so many things have happened, and
it is over whelming to think about where to start. After Parker was born I had
the luxury to have my mom here for three weeks, and I have never been so
spoiled and well taken care of. She showered Levi with more attention than he
knew what to do with, did all the cooking, shopping, and believe it or not she
also did all the dishes. I was so grateful for all of her extra help especially
in those first couple weeks, because it took me almost a month to start feeling
like myself again. Breastfeeding is always hard for me because I get extremely engorged
when my milk comes in. To the extent that the lactation consultant said it has
been over three years since she has seen somebody with so much milk, and my
midwife said I was one of the worst she’d seen. With the engorgement came mastitis,
clogged ducts, and an intense amount of discomfort. My mom was so supportive
and sweet, and I am just grateful I had her through all of my tears and
struggles. While she was here I was also able to go to the zoo, celebrate
Thanksgiving, black Friday shopping, set up our Christmas tree, and all kinds
of other fun outings. Spending time with my mom will always be some of my most
cherished memories. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Levi Loves holding Parker!</div>
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My mom loved to cuddle Parker!</div>
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First family picture!</div>
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Right after my mom gave Parker his first bath</div>
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I love the turkey leg pictures on Thanksgiving! </div>
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My family is obsessed with Rudys </div>
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setting up the Christmas tree </div>
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My mom got Parker a superman outfit, and we recreated the pictures of his uncle Aaron</div>
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Morgan asked me if I put that ball there...I said haha ask Levi</div>
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Levi was excited to ride his favorite animal!</div>
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We will need to get a coy fish pond!</div>
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Shortly after my mom left, Morgan’s parents came in! I was
so excited to see them, and to show off Parker. Morgan’s mom (Julie) was so
helpful! She helped with all the cooking and cleaning. She loved holding
Parker, and playing with Levi. Morgan’s dad (Brad) is Levi’s biggest fan! He
just loves him to pieces and had so much fun playing ball with Levi, and taking
him outside. It is one of my favorite things to watch my kids spend time with
their grandparents. I had the luxury of seeing my grandparents almost every day
when I was growing up, so I love it when my kids can have the opportunity to
see theirs. It was so great that they were able to come out for a full week. I
almost forgot that we also blessed Parker while they were here, and Morgan gave
a beautiful blessing. It was a very fun and special week.<o:p></o:p></div>
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we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant "Love and War in Texas"</div>
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Grandma and Grandpa</div>
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our little family</div>
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I literally dropped Brad and Julie off at the airport and
picked up my sister in the same trip. Wendy was on her way back from a work
conference and she happened to have a layover in Dallas! She was able to stay
for almost a week, which was awesome because I love the company. We were able
to do a trip to the zoo, which Levi loved! He is obsessed with the brass
animals scattered around the zoo. Wendy called them his animal friends. It was
nice having Wendy because she chased Levi around the zoo while I took care of
Parker. My favorite part of the trip was the gorilla who came right up to the
glass. As many of you know gorillas are mine and Levi’s favorite animal. So seeing
one so up close was like a dream come true! Outside of going to the zoo we
spent a lot of time lounging around. It was nice to just relax and chat. We had
a good time catching up and spending time together. Wendy was also able to be here for our ward Christmas party, I was one of the people in charge of the planning, so it was cool for her to get to see the activity that I worked so hard on come to life. Parker got to be the baby Jesus in the nativity scene, it was the beginning of his acting career. I was also very grateful that Wendy was able to babysit the boys so that we could go to Morgan's work cocktail party. I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving Parker with anyone outside of family, so I was very fortunate that my sister was able to be here. she will always get to be the first one to babysit Parker. I was sad to see her go,
but I knew that we would see each other again real soon, so that made it
easier.<o:p></o:p></div>
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baby Jesus </div>
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Can you tell that Penny was insanely Jealous</div>
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Morgans work cocktail party</div>
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The gorilla</div>
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More of the Gorilla</div>
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One of Levi's brass animal buddies</div>
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I felt pretty down once all of the company was gone. I don’t
really get bored of having family around, and I am not really a person who
needs a lot of “me” time. I like to be around people all the time and I hate to
be alone. Luckily I knew Christmas would be coming up fast, and Morgan had
another week off of work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before I knew it Christmas came…and to my surprise it was
not as exciting as I anticipated. I blamed the lack of excitement on Morgan for
being sick, but to be fair I don’t think it was really his fault. When you’re a
kid Christmas has this special magic to it. I am not sure if it is the presents,
Santa, or all the sugar, but there is something that makes it so exciting. Once
your grown up it feels more like just another day of the year. I don’t really
know how to explain it, but the feeling of Christmas changes as you age. I feel
like the magical feeling I am describing will come back once Levi is old enough
to get more into the Christmas spirit. We did not really do a whole lot on
Christmas because Morgan was pretty sick, but it was nice to just sit around
and enjoy the piece and quite. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A couple weeks after Christmas my grandma and Sister Wendy
came into town. It was a short trip, but it was still so fun to see them! We went
to David’s Bridal and I got to see my sister’s wedding dress! It was beautiful!
I also got to pick out my bridesmaid dress for her wedding this summer. I can hardly
wait! On Friday we decided to brave the 30 degree weather and go to the zoo.
When I pulled into the parking lot I could not believe that there were only two
other cars there, and when I got our tickets I asked how many people were in
the zoo and she said there was only 6 other people in the entire zoo. Crazy!
Once we walked in I noticed the fountain had icicles on it, and I was freezing.
We immediately went and found the reptile room, and of course it was much
warmer in there. Lucky for us we happened to be there on feeding day, and we
got to watch the snakes swallow frozen mice. Apparently this event only happens
once every six weeks, so you could say we were lucky to get to witness that (sarcasm).
I thought it was disgusting and reconfirmed my decision to never own a reptile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Parker has been an amazing baby, and I am so grateful for
him every day. When we first came home from the hospital he was sleeping for
about six hours at night, but currently he is up to 8 hours! He also takes two
four hour naps. He is seriously the world’s best baby. He hardly ever spits up,
and is happy almost all the time. Levi just loves to hug him and hold him. He almost
says the word “baby” more than “ball”. I was so worried Levi would have some jealousy
trouble but he has been more interested in playing with Parker then he has in
competing with him for attention. Parker LOVES being swaddled, and of course no
one can swaddle him as good as Daddy. When Morgan swaddles him he sleeps for
twice as long. I need to learn his skills. I am trying really hard to just soak
up this newborn face because I know it will go by fast, but I am excited to
watch Parker grow. I just love my boys so much!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Parker Loves to be swaddled </div>
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my buddy!</div>
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Grandma got him a new bike for Christmas!</div>
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I am still really into cooking, and I am loving that I have
still been able to find time to cook. Last January was when we made the goal to
cut out processed food, and although we are not perfect I still feel like we
have done a darn good job! This year we have made the goal to cut out sugar. So
far it is going well, but I look forward to seeing what the future holds!<o:p></o:p></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-45268620259324139052014-11-26T14:57:00.001-08:002014-11-26T15:00:32.653-08:00Parker's Newborn Photo shoot <br />
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I had some of my amazingly talented friends take Pictures of
Parker the week he was born. I felt miserable because of my breastfeeding
struggles, but it was really important to me to have pictures done of him. A
huge thank you to my friends Larissa and Stephanie for them taking their time
to photograph my sweet baby. I cannot say thank you enough times, nor could I emphasize
how grateful I am!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-16724931298927769262014-11-26T14:37:00.002-08:002014-11-26T14:37:55.649-08:00Parker's Birth Story<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Parker tried to come into this world at 34 weeks. This was
very scary because that means that he would have had to go into the Niccu. I
ended up spending the whole day at the hospital as they tried to stop my
contractions so that I did not go into active labor. Eventually the efforts
paid off and I was free to go home. For the next several weeks I took it very
easy to assure that Parker had enough time to develop. I had many people from
church as well as close friends helping me through this tough time, so that I
could rest and stay off my feet. I was so excited when I reached 37 weeks and
Parker was considered full term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At this point I was doing everything in my power to put
myself into labor, but nothing seemed to be working. Parker was just awfully
comfortable, I guess. I felt like everything was progressing perfectly and
everything was in my control as far as birth decisions. That changed when I
walked into my 39 week apt. I could feel a lot of pressure at the top of my
stomach, and there was the big bulge sticking up. Not thinking much of it I
casually asked my midwife what body part that was. She was not 100% sure but
she said that she thought it could be a butt, since she was not positive we
decided to do an ultra sound just to be sure. That is when we realized that
Parker had flipped and was now head up, or breech. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That is when my head started spinning. How could this happen
to me. I had an all-natural home birth with Levi, and I had every intention of
having another all natural birth. I knew this would be impossible since breech
babies are automatic c-sections. I just wanted to cry, but I held myself
together in the Dr. office so that I could go over the few choices I had. We decided
I had a lot of things going in my favor if I were to decide to do an inversion.
An inversion is when you go into the hospital and they try to manually flip the
baby by pushing on your stomach. Since I am so small it would be easier to push
the baby directly, I also had lots of fluid still in my stomach, Parker flipped
so late in the pregnancy there would be a good chance he could do it again, but
at the same time I was 39 weeks pregnant and the further you are the harder it
is. I decided I had nothing to lose by scheduling the apt. We made it for
Thursday morning, which was three days later. As soon as I got out to the car I
just lost it and became an emotional wreck. I could not stop crying. I called
Morgan and my mom to tell them about the apt, and they could not believe that
Parker would go from being head down at 38 weeks to breech at 39 weeks. My mom immediately
got her plane ticket changed so that she could arrive Thursday afternoon in
case Parker was to be born early.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meanwhile they gave me a stretch to do that would help encourage
the baby to flip back. I had to sit with my feel elevated in the air, and my
back and head to the ground. It was highly uncomfortable, but I did it
religiously. I also read online that if you put heat on the bottom of your stomach
where you want the head, and ice on the top that also motivates them to move
towards the heat. These methods both helped I am sure, but I think the thing
that made the greatest difference was the fast that took place within our
family. Morgan and all his family as well as my brother in law Thomas all
fasted for me on Wednesday that Parker would flip back and be head down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We got up at 4:30a.m. Thursday morning because we had to be
at the hospital by 5:30 in order to get everything ready for the procedure. I
was crazy nervous. I felt like I wanted to throw up and I had a bazillion butterflies
in my stomach. I am not sure if I was more nervous for the IV or if I was
nervous for the procedure that was about to take place, but either way my heart
was racing. When the first nurse came in to do my IV I told her not to miss because
I had a huge phobia of needles, and of course she missed, and it hurt so so so
so bad. Right after she missed Holly the nurse who was going to be taking over the
shift came in, so they decided that she would be the next one to make the
attempt at my IV. I was very hesitant to let them try again with my arm, but I knew
I had no choice. Let me just say Holly was amazing. It hardly hurt. She had
that needle in and out so fast. My arm was throbbing from the first attempt,
but felt fine where Holly did it. I talked about Holly’s IV skills for the rest
of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally it was time for the procedure. The Dr. came in to
meet me and explained the way everything would work. They would have to move me
into the operating room, just in case while they were pushing on my stomach the
placenta detached and they would have to go straight into and emergency
c-section. Before they moved me they did one last ultrasound to check Parkers position. At first look we were pretty
sure that he was still breech, and my heart sank. I was so disappointed. But after
a minute of looking we realized we did not see the head. Finally we found it…and
it was down! His head was sitting super low. I could not believe it, he flipped
again! I was beyond happy, not only did I not have to get that procedure done,
but I would also have another chance at a natural child birth. I know that
heavenly father was watching over me, and that our family’s prayers and fast
was answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I now had a very hard decision to make. I could be induced,
right then and there and ensure that Parker would not flip again. Or I could go
home, and wait for labor to start naturally, but if he flipped again I would
end up with a C-section. We figured since he had flipped twice now in my final
week of pregnancy there would be a high chance that he could do it again, so
even though I knew that a natural child birth would be much more difficult with
an induction I decided that it was my best shot. I have never liked the idea of
being induced and I have always believed that my babies would come when they
were fully developed and ready. I knew that Parker was not fully ready to be
born, but I did not want to chance him going breech again, so considering my
options that is what I decided to do. Parker was going to be born, and I was
very excited. I was also very nervous because I knew that the labor was going
to be extra tough, since I was going to be starting it artificially<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was not dilated at all, and his head was still sitting at
a +2, so not much was going in my favor besides that fact that I had a super
soft cervix. (I attribute this to an amazing cervix softener I take starting at
36 weeks.) We decided that we would start with Laura, my amazing midwife,
stripping my membranes. After that I walked around the hospital for two hours
to see if I could start labor somewhat naturally. After two hours nothing was progressing,
so I had get hooked up to Pitocin. I was very hesitant and nervous about this,
but I fully trusted my midwife and knew that it would be the only way to start
labor that day. After several hours I was having very routine contractions
about 2-3 minutes apart, I was dilated to around a six, but Parker was not
dropping. At this point my best friend Anita came down to the hospital to
support me through my labor. I was so excited she was able to come and be with
me during this time, because talking to her made time move so much faster. I
honestly think we could talk all day and never get bored. Every couple hours
they would come in and turn up the Pitocin, and the contractions were slowly becoming
more intense. I kept pushing everyone to let me go and labor in the tub, but in
order for them to let me do this they would have to take me off of the Pitocin.
So they checked me again and I was dilated to seven, but Parker still was not
dropping. Laura said they would take me off the Pitocin and if my body could
maintain the contractions on its own then they would move me to the tub. So
after thirty minutes of no Pitocin I was still contracting so they let me move
into the tub. On my way to the tub, my mom arrived to the hospital. Dean, Anita’s
husband, was able to pick her up from the airport. I was very excited to have
my mom there with me also. From there the contractions slowly started to fade
over time. I remember sitting in the water just having a grand old time. I was
still contracting a lot, but it was not bad. I was able to talk through all the
contractions. I just remember we were all laughing a lot and having a lot of
fun. I think this was the highlight of the labor, not counting the actual moment
Parker was born of course. Even though we were all of having such a fun
conversation, we knew the contractions were not intense enough if I was feeling
so chatty and cheery. Laura checked me and I was still at a seven, and Parker
still was not dropping and my cervix was still super high. That is when Laura
suggested she break my water. I really did not want her to do this, because I knew
that would bring on really fast and hard contractions, but the only other
option was for me to get out of the tub, and go back on the Pitocin. Since I knew
I wanted to stay in the tub for as long as possible I decided to have her break
my water to see if that would progress things. By breaking my water that would
drop Parkers head down, so that the contractions could be more effective in
helping me dilate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well she broke my water, and sure enough the contractions
got much more intense. I was no longer the one leading the conversation, but
instead I was the one listening to the conversation. This was fine because even
just listening was still a distraction. Pretty soon my labor took a hard turn,
and I started to loose confidence in myself and my body. I was about to enter
what I consider to be the hardest part of my labor. The contractions were
getting to be extremely intense and close together which is fine because that
is how it should be, but the discouraging thing was that I was still not dilating
past a seven and Parker still was not dropping. I felt so defeated. I had been
up since 4:00am had eaten hardly anything all day. It was probably close to
seven and nothing was progressing. The
contractions were becoming more and more unbearable and I had nothing to show
for it. Had I been having hard contractions and been progressing it would have
been much easier to bear, but I was just so exhausted. To top it all off the
tub did not get very warm water, so I was freezing cold and shivering. At his
point I was running out of options and energy, so Laura recommended I get out
of the tub and go back on the Pitocin. I remember I agreed if they would wrap
me in warm blankets when I got out. I just loved the blanket warmer at the
hospital. So I moved from the tub to the bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As much as I did not want to do this I was ready to try
anything that would get Parker out of me. She also checked me again at this point,
and parker had turned again. I was still at a seven, and he was not dropping. Since
he was no longer in the correct birthing position, Laura laid me on my side
with a huge ball between my legs in order to help Parker get into the correct position.
At this point I was completely wiped out, and I was asking for an epidural. I
just felt so depleted and discouraged. I wanted to give up. That is when my
mom, Anita, and Morgan all just started to encourage me and help motivate me
through those last moments. They cranked up the Pitocin and I had three of the
most painful contractions I have ever experienced. I remember I punched Morgan in
the head like three times during one of them because it was so intense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shortly after that I started to feel a strong urge to push.
I was telling Laura I was pushing and I could not control it. At first I don’t think
anyone fully believed me since I had wanted to push through the whole labor,
but I could feel that this time was different. I asked Laura if I was close to delivering
the baby and she said I need to have a more extreme push then that before it
would be time to have the baby, but she said to listen to my body. Sure enough
the next contraction I had a very extreme push, and everyone realized Parker
was really coming. I remember pushing like crazy but I could not get his head
through. At this point Laura told me she could see it and asked if I wanted to
touch it. I said no, haha. Once people could see the top of the head I think
everyone realized that this was going to be a BIG baby. With Levi as soon as
his head was though his whole body literally just slid out, but that was not
the case with Parker. Once his head was out, I remember yelling he is stuck! And
I could not push him out any more. Laura told me to do one more big push, and
she pulled and twisted and finally Parker was born 9 pounds 3.8 ounces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The original plan was for Parker to be put on my chest right
away so that the cord could pulse, but this was not an option since Laura felt
like there was a chance he could have a broken collar bone because he got kinda
stuck and had to be pulled out. Also since he was so big there were also
potential risks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I need to brag for a minute about how awesome my midwife
Laura was, and also my little support group. Laura was able to get Parker out
without hurting him, and left me with just some very minimal tearing that left
me walking around that night. I had a bruised Pelvis from where his shoulder
got stuck, but outside of that I felt great. I could not even feel the
stitches. I will say I preferred the stitches more than the numbing stuff. The numbing
shot was worse than the stitches. So Laura stopped giving me the numbing
medicine upon my request. She acted quickly and was amazing. I did not feel
like she was just my Dr. but also my friend. She was with me through the whole
birth and was such a great support. In addition to Laura I had my mom Morgan,
and Anita also there. They were incredible. Laura referred to them as the dream
team, and said I had one of the best support circles she had seen. They all
motivated me, loved me, and most of all believed in me. I cannot say how
grateful I am to have such supportive family and friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know that heavenly father had a hand in my child birth,
and I know I could not have delivered Parker naturally without him. Had he gone
to the same term as Levi Parker would have been over ten pounds and may have
not fit through the birth canal. Just the fact that he was able to flip
weighing 9 pounds blows my mind, but heavenly father knew that would be the
only way I would agree to an induction. Parkers birth was 13 hours and it was
rough, especially at the end but I am so grateful for the end result. Thank you
to everyone who prayed and fasted for me, and to everyone who supported me
through my birth. We love Parker so much!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-77882858475925057692014-11-11T17:33:00.000-08:002014-11-11T17:40:42.134-08:00Last Days as a Family of Three<br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is crazy for me to think about how any day we are going
to have two sons! I am so grateful that we will be able to raise two boys so
close together. Levi has been the best toddler, and he is just bundles of fun!
He is obsessed with balls, and I mean obsessed. He reaches for any and all
round objects and then throws a fit until he gets them. It does not matter if
it is the red round giant balls you find in front of a target, or a watermelon
at the grocery store he wants them all the same. He does not only like holding
the balls, but he loves throwing them too. I cannot wait for Parker to be a
little older so that he and Levi can play catch together in the backyard. He
had one of his first tantrums the other day at sports authority because I would
not buy him this twenty dollar red Nike football. I felt like the meanest mom
in the world when I had to take it away from him, and let him scream all the
way out the door. Levi is just so sweet and loving which makes it very
difficult to take things away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He is also very good at playing catch. It has been easy to
develop this talent of his since Morgan is always throwing balls in the house.
Forget having a no throwing rule in our house because Morgan is equally as
obsessed with balls as Levi. Levi seems to prefer to throw with his left hand,
so I am excited to see if that sticks. He is going to be a great athlete one
day and I cannot wait to start him in sports.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every time Levi goes to bed I get to hold him while he
drinks his sippy cup of milk. This has become one of my favorite moments in my
whole day. He snuggles into me and just smiles, and it is the most precious
thing. When I get up to lay him down I kiss his forehead and he just smiles so
cute. Later when he wakes up I go in to get him and he just lays his head on my
shoulder and gives me so much love. I just hope these moments can last forever,
and that he will stay so sensitive and sweet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Levi is also in love with his daddy. All I have to do is say
daddy is home, and he runs to the door to look out the window. Once Morgan is
inside Levi does not let him leave his sight. He chases him all over the house,
and follows him anywhere and everywhere that he goes. If Morgan has to leave
and do something outside of the house Levi will throw himself to the ground and
have a huge tantrum because he misses his dad so much. It is so sweet to see
how much he loves his mom and dad, I guess that means we are doing something right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Levi went to nursery for the first time a few weeks ago, and
he loved it. I was a little uneasy about taking him, but once he was there I
did enjoy having my hands free for the rest of church. I forget what it was
like to pay attention in Sunday School and Relief Society. Of course I went and
peeked my head in to see how he was doing and I just saw him walking in circles
with his arms full of balls. I would not have expected anything different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Levi loves books too! In fact I would say that books are his
next favorite thing after balls. He will bring me books all day long, and then
he expects you to drop everything to read it to him. He will sit in listen to
three stories in a row, and be completely entertained. I have also put some
books in his crib so before and after he naps he is always flipping through the
pages and reading them to himself. It is so so so cute. I have always wanted my
kids to love reading, so this makes me very happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have been taking Levi to the Ryme time at the library once
or twice every week to help get him more socialized and use to being around
other kids. This has been extremely successful, and he has been having more and
more fun. The first time we went he hung on to my leg the whole time, and would
not leave my side…not even for bubbles! After going for several weeks now he just
runs into the middle of the crowd and goes crazy. He steals the librarian’s
stuffed animals, and goes wild over the bubbles. It feels good to see my
efforts paying off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Levi is also at the age now where he can fully enjoy the
park. He loves to go in the swings, and of course down the slides. He just runs
all over and has a blast. It has been so nice to be able to keep adding more
activities that we can do outside of the house. Levi loves to get out, and we
try to do at least one outing a day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could talk about Levi all day, but I want to be sure to
also talk about Morgan and I. We are very excited to welcome Parker into this
world. We know it will be an adjustment to go from being a family of three to a
family of four, but we are so excited for the change. It is fun to see our
family growing, and cannot wait to see Parkers personality. We are prepared for
the challenges that come from having a newborn in the home, but neither one of
us feels stressed or over whelmed. We make such a great team, and are so
excited for the adventure. We are so grateful for all of the blessings in our
life, and love the direction we are moving. We cannot wait to see what Heavenly
father has in store for us!</span><o:p></o:p><br />
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-84840217536178151502014-11-11T16:57:00.000-08:002014-11-11T16:57:10.649-08:00The Joys of Pregnancy <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am not going to sit here and sugar coat how amazing and
awesome pregnancy is because right now I am sick of being pregnant. This will
be a post of me complaining so feel free to skip it if you don’t want to listen
to me vent. Also feel free to not read if you might get offended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being pregnant of course is a blessing, and I am grateful
every day that I am able to have the opportunity to have children. However,
that does not mean that pregnancy does not bring challenges. For me I do not
have to deal with much nausea or morning sickness. I also have not had too much
back pain, and I have had no signs of any swollen body parts. Instead I have
had the challenge of being small and pregnant. When I got pregnant I only
weighed 100 pounds, and so far I have gained almost 40lbs. That is me gaining
almost 50% of my body weight in a very short amount of time, and that comes
with its own aches and pains. I have been so sore. My stomach is so tender, and
sensitive. In addition to that I feel every movement the baby makes which is
fun until they get stronger and those kicks start to really hurt. Bending over
and picking things up is always a daunting task. I started having trouble
putting my pants on in the second trimester, and socks well forget it. I pretty
much have accepted I am going to be in a lot of pain and remain pretty
uncomfortable until this baby is born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other challenge for me has been everyone asking me about
the pregnancy. Don’t get me wrong I love attention, but I literally cannot even
walk inside of Costco without 10 strangers telling me I am hiding a basketball
under my shirt, and then asking me my due date, gender, and name I have picked
out for the baby. It’s not that I do not enjoy talking about these things, but
imagine having this same conversation 20 times a day; it can get extremely
exhausting not to mention boring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On top of that I am constantly being asked how I feel, and
the truth is I feel miserable. I feel like people ask me that question
expecting some fake cheery response like “life is all butterflies and rainbows”
but really I just want to say…”how do you think I feel, I am 38 weeks
pregnant.” I would rather they just acknowledge these last few weeks are hard,
and then give me some words of encouragement. That way I do not feel the need
to put on a fake smile. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And last there is the challenge of never knowing when the
baby is going to come, and that is hard in itself, because you want to be able
to physically and emotionally prepare for the arrival of your new sweet baby,
but every time you let yourself think the day is coming it doesn’t and then
your left filled with disappointment just to wake up to a text asking if the
baby came.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pregnancy is rough, but it’s worth it. I am glad that mine
is almost over and I will get to meet Parker in a few short days.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-46057457507328635302014-08-14T16:40:00.004-07:002014-08-14T16:40:58.854-07:00From Infant to Toddler<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">This has been such a crazy month. I can hardly believe how
many changes Levi has gone through. He has pretty much gone to all walking. He
loves to walk and explore…everything! I got him his first pair of shoes, and he
loves them. I decided to get him a pair of stride rites because they are
specially designed to help kids learn how to walk correctly, and I felt like
that was very important. Every time I go to put his shoes on he smiles and gets
excited because he knows that we are probably getting ready to go outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">He has had a crazy huge growth spurt, and is now on the
charts! He is in the 25% tile for height and weight. He has outgrown a lot of
his summer clothes. We bought everything 2 sizes to big thinking that he would
easily make it to the end of summer, but we were so wrong. He is really
starting to look like a little boy and not like a baby.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">His appetite has also decreased dramatically. He still loves
food, but is not nearly as interested in it as he used to be. I think that a
lot of that is due to the fact that there are a lot more distractions. He also
insists on feeding himself. He will not let me feed him bites, but instead he
needs to be holding the fork and be in control of what is going in and out of
his mouth. In a lot of ways this is easier because it means I no longer have to
sit there and feed him, but it also means that he pretty much needs a bath
after every major meal. His favorite food still remains to be anything and
everything that Morgan and I are eating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Levi has found a new love for books! Denise came to visit it
and while she was here she spent a fair amount of time reading. Levi immediately
had an interest in her book, and was constantly reaching for it. Denise spent
some time walking with him to his room and picking books off of his book shelf
and then reading them to him. Ever sense she left he has been obsessed with
books. He will walk up to me while I am sitting in the recliner, grab my hand,
put a book in it, and then try to climb up onto my lap. He is not as interested
in the words, but instead loves to see the pictures and flip through the pages.
I am glad he is finding a love for reading so early on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I could spend all day talking about Levi but I think I covered
most of the big changes. Morgan and I are getting ready for baby #2 and we are
beyond excited! We know it will be an adjustment to have two kids, but we are
both excited for the adventure, and even more excited to watch the brotherly
bond develop between Levi and his new little brother. I cannot believe that I
am almost to my last trimester, and we are going to meet this little guy in
just 3 more months! It is crazy how much times flies! Christmas will be here
before we know it!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-72804189769208804622014-07-27T17:28:00.000-07:002014-07-27T17:35:40.635-07:006 Month Overload!!!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">So, apparently, the last time I blogged was January. That is
embarrassing…I have just been so intimidated to start up again since I have
gone so long without posting anything. I feel like there have been so many fun
things that have occurred and I know that I won’t be able to cover everything. Therefore
I am just going to try my hardest to outline some of our highlights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="color: purple;">Levi</span></b></u>: Of course I need to start off with a Levi update! O my
goodness he is getting so much personality I can hardly believe it! My little
baby is growing and developing into a little toddler, and I love every minute
of it! I am not going to lie, the newborn months were not my most favorite
times, but I absolutely love these later months. Levi is finally walking! It only
took him 15 months to start. I was starting to feel like the kid was never
going to walk, and I was going to be carrying him around forever. I know that
15 months does not seem to incredibly late to start walking, but when you
consider that he started crawling around Thanksgiving then that makes it seem
like forever. He started walking along
furniture in January, and then just decided to stop there. That just goes to
show that he has his own little agenda. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition to walking he is also talking! Most kids
generally say mom or dad as there first words, but not my son. His first ward
was “ball” and oh man is he obsessed with balls. He hugs them and cuddles them
as if they are stuffed animals. He points to any semi round object and says “ball”.
It is the funniest thing walking through whole foods and having him point to
all the apples, oranges, and watermelons yelling and pointing “ball, ball, ball.”
Levi loves to play catch, and loves to dunk the balls in his basketball hoop. I ended up taking out Morgan’s bins full of
professional sized balls and he has loved those as well. I would say that his
most favorite have been the football and the volleyball, but we will see how
that changes over the next several years. Morgan and I look forward to a future
of sports with our little man! Levi also is saying “Thank You” , “Da-da”, “Love
you”, “dog”, and whenever he wants something he says “what’s that”. I am sure
he is saying more words since he talks pretty much all day (I am sure that characteristic
came from my side of the family :) but those are the only words I have been
able to clearly make out.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> He is to big for baby balls!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Levi's version of Heaven</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Cant fall asleep without his ball</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgR0lYuBFzxaFBW6-qeL-qXi4YOlfSDjcPhPzuX36YGq03X_7j1AFklwcQ4mtg7gGkBrcccROuqf4JpxKs7beAIRDOBJIpo9mi8tL1PnBOwn59RJrX_IDr97XyhTMubSKdXlEDd6URj5_/s1600/20140722_122921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgR0lYuBFzxaFBW6-qeL-qXi4YOlfSDjcPhPzuX36YGq03X_7j1AFklwcQ4mtg7gGkBrcccROuqf4JpxKs7beAIRDOBJIpo9mi8tL1PnBOwn59RJrX_IDr97XyhTMubSKdXlEDd6URj5_/s1600/20140722_122921.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">who needs stuffed animals?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Levis is a very good eater, and absolutely loves to eat
anything and everything. Pretty much if you sit down with any form of food he
will be at your feet begging for bites. He loves broccoli, cheese, yogurt, asparagus,
avocado, cottage cheese, smoked chicken, cuties, blueberries, green smoothies,
smoked paprika and pretty much anything else that is edible. He does not like
his food cut into small pieces but like to bite out of things that are whole. This
makes me nervous at times, but he seems to handle it like a champ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><u><b>San Diego Visit</b></u></span>: Back in February I took a trip out to San Diego
to visit my wonderful family. Morgan was working some extra-long hours, so it
was nice to have an excuse to get away. I stayed with my sister Wendy and we
had so much fun! We went to Sea World on one of the days, and that was really
fun. We also had lunch at Rossi’s with my dad and Denise and I really enjoyed
that as well. I was able to go have brunch with my grandma and sister at this cute
restaurant in Fallbrook that was in a garden. My dad and Denise took me down to old town San
Diego when I first arrived and we walked around and toured down there for a
while. I was able to visit a few of the families that I use to babysit for, and
that is always a real treat for me. I cannot believe how big all those kids are
getting. I had dinner with my brother and his fiancé down in San Diego, and it
was good to see him also. This section is a little jumbled but I am just typing
things as I am remembering. I also had a good time visiting and catching up
with my family and friends. I am grateful for the time I was able to spend in
San Diego <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Dinner with Aaron and Gina</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Sammy sitting on Levi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Levi with his Grandma and Grandpa</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> The Gardens</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaESgY_hDFTHFsc4FwFHisW1wjymLKCRxCFILHRiQoOfTSkIKPhOYVyv8-QEy0567Ua34ShIbpH1Ke-XMt7zBS4s81asC18tiElOh9LbIqqvIcagZ4CpVTQmMwXg_duRaQDd-1zvfdRmN5/s1600/DSCN4434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaESgY_hDFTHFsc4FwFHisW1wjymLKCRxCFILHRiQoOfTSkIKPhOYVyv8-QEy0567Ua34ShIbpH1Ke-XMt7zBS4s81asC18tiElOh9LbIqqvIcagZ4CpVTQmMwXg_duRaQDd-1zvfdRmN5/s1600/DSCN4434.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Seaworld </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Gardens</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Levi's first bagel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: purple;">Utah Visit</span></u></b>: The trip to Utah was pretty sporadic. Morgan got
permission to go to BYU for a recruiting event with Deloitte and so that meant
that his plane ticket was completely covered. We have both wanted an excuse to
plan a trip to Utah because we have been missing all of our friends and family
who live out there, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I flew in a
few days before Morgan so that I could maximize the time I had to spend with my
grandma, mom, and sister. My mom and Ariel both picked me up from the airport,
and I stayed with both of them at Ariel’s apt in Tooele. They were literally in
the process of getting all of their stuff packed, because they were getting the
keys to their first home that Friday! Levi and Amelia became instant friends;
they had so much fun playing together. Amelia is Levi’s one and only cousin so
he loves to spend lots of time with her. A couple days after being with Ariel I
ended up going to stay with Grandma Price. Morgan flew in that same night. His
flight was delayed three times so he ended up arriving at like 3:30 in the
morning. Grandma and Grandpa were so sweet and offered to go and pick him up at
the airport so that I could sleep. I was very grateful for that because I was extremely
tired. We had a family gathering on Saturday, and that was pretty fun. I was
also able to catch up with my old friends from 4-H while we were there and that
is something I always look forward to. It was a really fun trip, and we look
forward to another in the near future!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg75mCtNBwsx7jd2A3xYZHf28wgg7x0rFyfYHiwHILlca_qVgwaqSJ28zcv_7I5E3qqp2kOqKP-iTWbBjtvKO3ErL9GLzxcsAyPrw2GX20ipbld3fB_tCn97IGbwoJzI4iHe-b_xf9w8FB/s1600/20140402_113101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg75mCtNBwsx7jd2A3xYZHf28wgg7x0rFyfYHiwHILlca_qVgwaqSJ28zcv_7I5E3qqp2kOqKP-iTWbBjtvKO3ErL9GLzxcsAyPrw2GX20ipbld3fB_tCn97IGbwoJzI4iHe-b_xf9w8FB/s1600/20140402_113101.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Chucke cheese with Grandma</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Boxes!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-SjN4k3LNSLOeq5RRqemOdtpoEDLtiAvSN9Ii6goSmcEtfWwSj-z7anb5QESrgFBjs3vpaawhREX8LkxQgvIY263EEx3JwfUNMVkYwwJYxSsaMFxIWS4faT6KZxjIt1kdlbDLpNIDj4h/s1600/20140404_181455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-SjN4k3LNSLOeq5RRqemOdtpoEDLtiAvSN9Ii6goSmcEtfWwSj-z7anb5QESrgFBjs3vpaawhREX8LkxQgvIY263EEx3JwfUNMVkYwwJYxSsaMFxIWS4faT6KZxjIt1kdlbDLpNIDj4h/s1600/20140404_181455.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Playing with his favorite cousin!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PcO4igvWp_wT67quAKSIM-KOfDR7nbck5Q9Xy-ro7lTt_ULjEVY0n6W7B7r3G_FhDnpK92f-g50fBV0l5KthhB61WvNhsMiMQDIALa2DzPp2XL7-pmHp0tZnZiFXZRQ09CLAn9ywltQE/s1600/20140407_160252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5PcO4igvWp_wT67quAKSIM-KOfDR7nbck5Q9Xy-ro7lTt_ULjEVY0n6W7B7r3G_FhDnpK92f-g50fBV0l5KthhB61WvNhsMiMQDIALa2DzPp2XL7-pmHp0tZnZiFXZRQ09CLAn9ywltQE/s1600/20140407_160252.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Model Picture!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Love my sister!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Great Grandma and Grandpa!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><u><b>Hannah Visit</b></u></span>: Morgan’s sister Hannah was able to come down
for a week to visit this summer! It was so fun to see her and catch up, and it
was especially fun to see her interact with Levi. When she first got here we
were in the process of trying to finish painting the full interior of our
house. Luckily that did not take too much time after Hannah arrived. We did a
lot of random things, and mainly just enjoyed talking and hanging out. We were
able to take Levi to his first water park that week, and he had so much fun. I
feel like Levi did not really like being in the water much before the waterpark
but after it was like he found his love for swimming. He had so much fun. We
brought his infant tube and put it in the lazy river, and he loved just
floating around. It was so cool to see such a little person just going around
the lazy river. He also loved the wave pool. When you first walk in the water it
is really shallow and then the further you go it deepens. He had a lot of fun
crawling around in the water. Let’s just say he thoroughly enjoyed himself. We
were also able to go to the zoo, and that was also a nice outing. We spend
quite a bit of time learning about elephants and zoos, so that was pretty interesting
and factual. I think that Levi really enjoyed seeing the animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Levi pet his first giraffe </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Family Safari</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqVL-XEc0mDOFplx5E2-ZuplreqHturD9GrIGgReKR53ghYicGhUuovONXAHT_cEhQ-kQOxcqHAe3WwplSjZvBQIYhae3-l1N8Mzv1t5c0XDD9JbU7JDwbiEs11mYmbHytNZ0cl_kWT2q/s1600/20140628_191216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqVL-XEc0mDOFplx5E2-ZuplreqHturD9GrIGgReKR53ghYicGhUuovONXAHT_cEhQ-kQOxcqHAe3WwplSjZvBQIYhae3-l1N8Mzv1t5c0XDD9JbU7JDwbiEs11mYmbHytNZ0cl_kWT2q/s1600/20140628_191216.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> We loved learning about elephants</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">what can I say Levi's favorite animal is a gorilla.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">My family visit: My family came literally the week directly
after Hannah. I was able to see Wendy, Mike, Ella, and Grandma Paula. I was so
excited that they were able to come and see our new home. We were able to do
loads of fun things while they were here. I don’t think that there was ever a
dull moment. We went to downtown Plano and had tea and that was so much fun. It
was nice to have an afternoon cup of tea with all the ladies. We also went and
toured an old farm house in Plano, and we learned a lot of historic facts about
the area that I did not know. We went out to eat several times, as well as
enjoyed several awesome home cooked meals. Levi is completely in love with his
uncle Mike. He had so much fun playing with him. Mike was so sweet to give him
so much attention. They played all kinds of games together and really enjoyed all
their time. I am glad Levi has been able to have so much interaction with all
of his family even though we live so far away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> yes we are a patriotic family </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Why couldn't Levi smile this good for my picture?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> My fancy tea cup...pinkys up</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Levi and his great Grandma Paula</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Levi loves his uncle Mike</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The whole crew!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;">New baby boy: I am sure that everyone has seen the
announcement at this point. We are expecting our newest addition to the family
this November. Levi will be having his first younger brother. We are beyond
excited. We really wanted our kids to be less than two years apart and so we
feel like we are getting exactly what we wanted. I am sure that it will be an
adjustment at first, especially Since Levi gets very jealous if we give any
other kid any sort of minimal attention, but we are so excited for the
adventure. We cannot wait to meet our
sweet new baby.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Love my announcement...my brother is amazing!</span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-41299128543231058392014-01-15T16:24:00.000-08:002014-01-15T16:24:12.870-08:00I Don’t Even Know Where to Start!<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">So much has happened over this last
month, and I do not even know where to start. I cannot believe that January is
already half way over. I do not know where the time has gone, but it is flown
by! I decided to break this post up into four categories, just a warning this
will be kind of a long entry! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Trip to Houston</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Morgan had to do a trip to
Houston for work, and was going to be gone for a couple of days. Of course I was
sad and dreading the idea of being alone. In case you did not know this about
me I hate sleeping alone. I kind of freak myself out at night. I have like
super hearing in the middle of the night and I can hear every single noise no
matter how small. Anyways I got this awesome idea of going with Morgan. So he
called and they said that I could tag along and hang out in the hotel while
Morgan was working. So we leave late Wednesday and arrive at this amazing
hotel. I knew it was going to be awesome when we pulled into the front and
parked by a Rolls Royce and a Bentley. The only option for parking was valet
and they unloaded all our bags from the car and carried them up to our room.
When we went to check in one of the employees came over with a wagon of stuffed
animals and gave Levi a cute horse. Then they escorted us to the elevator and
showed us to our room. The room was beautiful and had an incredible view of
this amazing pool! As we were getting ready for bed Morgan realized he forgot
his cell phone charger in the car, so he called the front desk and they had one
of the bell men go to his car and get his charger and then they had it up to
our room with in five minutes. Whenever we had to go anywhere we just called
the front desk to have our car brought around, and I think it is safe to say
that I never had to open up a door while I was there because they opened them
all for me. It was just a beyond amazing trip! I love Morgan’s new job!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Christmas:</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">We had a very special Christmas here
in Texas! Morgan’s family was able to come out and see our new house and spend
the Holiday with us. We had such a fun time visiting and got to do so many cool
things. Just to list some of the activities we went to the Chinese lantern
Festival, a rodeo, the Galleria mall (this was the first time I ever saw Brad
go to a mall), several restaurants, the park, Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and many
other places. We had a fun time exchanging gifts with each other. Morgan got me
some Tiva sandals, the Sound of Music, and some moccasins; I got him a couple’s
massage class where they teach you several techniques about giving each other
massages. Levi got a new little peoples Noah’s ark set from his grandma Julie
and Grandpa Brad, and he got some very cute clothes from his grandpa Marshall
and grandma Denise. He is obsessed with Little People, and loves to play with
all the little people sets it is very sweet. It was very cool to get to watch
Levi interact with his extended family. They all loved to help with everything
relating to Levi so it was nice to have all the extra hands. I cried for two
days when they all left, the one thing I dislike about Texas is being so far
away from family.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">New Year’s Resolution: </span></u></b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">So I know
that people often times make new goals at the start of the New Year and then
end up breaking them a couple weeks later</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">.well that’s not going to be me! I am determined to eat healthier
this year and cut out processed foods. I am following the rules from the “100
Days of Real Food” blog. Some of those rules are not eating white flower, and
form of sugar, and not purchasing items that have more than 5 ingredients. I am
not planning on following these guidelines perfectly. For example if I am at a friend’s
house and they offer me a cookie I am not going to deny it, or if I go to In N
Out with my friends I am not going to refuse to eat. I am just going to try to
control the things I make in my own home. I drink a green smoothie every
morning (mainly spinach, kale, chard, and chia/hemp seeds), I am grinding my
own whole wheat flower, and I am buying most of my produce and dairy organic.
This has been a big life style change for me but so far I have been really
enjoying it. Levi has also been enjoying all the healthy foods so that is a big
bonus! He drinks a green smoothie with me every morning! I am excited to make
all of these new changes part of my everyday routine!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Levi Update</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Levi has grown a ton since my
last blog update! He has mastered the army crawl, and he is crazy fast! I have
blocked off all the exits to our living room and I just let him explore all
over. He loves to crawl around and play with his toys. Grandpa Brad moved his
swing from outside into the kitchen living room area</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">.and he loves it! I can put
him in that swing anytime I want and he will always calm right down, even if I am
not pushing him. This is great because I can put him in the swing and then
clean the kitchen, and he stays perfectly content just sitting there watching
me. It has truly been a live savor. He is starting to prefer real food over
breast milk, and loves to eat everything that he can fit in his mouth. He loves
these chicken meat balls I get from Costco, but he also eats cheese, goat yogurt,
banana, beans, quinoa, and anything else that is soft that I make for dinner.
He moved back up to the 2<sup>nd</sup> percentile. He gained a pound and a half
over Christmas! He still loves to play with Penny too. Every time I put Levi on
the floor Penny runs over ready to play. Levi is obsessed with Penny’s toys. I
will have ten of his toys on the ground and he still manages to find the ones
that belong to Penny. I should just go get Levi some dog toys of his own. I’m
not sure if it’s the squeakers or the smell of Penny’s spit but something keeps
attracting him to her toys.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Levi is Excited for his Uncle Devin to Move here in a few months!</div>
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I love this Picture! So Sweet!</div>
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It was cold..can you tell.</div>
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This Picture belongs on a magazine cover!</div>
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Hannah Loves Penny!</div>
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How men go to the mall</div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Levi and Grandpa putting up his swing!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well that is all I got for now feel
free to leave comments, I love to read everyone’s comments, it makes me feel
good to see that some people actually read this. Hahaha.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-46775548901580452252013-12-03T22:55:00.000-08:002013-12-03T22:55:33.738-08:00The Midnight To-do List<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here I am awake at midnight cooking
me up some mac and cheese. I decided that I wanted to make bread tonight because
my buttermilk was quickly approaching its expiration date, but of course by the
time I got to it, it was already 10:30 at night. I am super tired, but for some
reason I always think of all the things I need to do right before I go to bed.
I am sure that most normal people think of bedtime as the part of the day when
they clear there mind from all the worries of the world and go to bed. However for
me it is the opposite. I get home and I am exhausted. My feet hurt, my bodies
tired, and I feel extremely sleep deprived. So what do I do?...walk in the door
do the dishes, clean the stove, make bread, and then start cooking some mac and
cheese. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Earlier this week Levi woke up at
nine, which is earlier then his normal awake time, and it took every ounce of energy
I had to pull myself out of bed and get him. I stumbled into the living room
and put his new little people barn (this is his new favorite toy, he is obsessed with
it!) on the floor for him to play with. Then I stumble over to the couch. As
soon as I sit down I look at Levi, and he looks at me with the saddest eyes,
that second I knew what was going to come next. He puckers the lip and starts
crying. Levi has the sweetest most innocent sad face I have ever seen, and I cannot
help but feel emotional when he starts to cry. He just looks at me with this
look of abandonment and I can tell that he is thinking, “How dare you ditch me and
move to the couch and just leave me here on the floor.” He then starts to reach
for me and throws his hands in the air to pick him up. I knew that I did not
have the strength to bend over and pick him up. My body was just not fully awake. So I lie down next to him and start to play farm. Levi seems to be
satisfied as long as I am lying next to him, so I think ok he is happy so it is
ok to just rest my eyes a little</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">... Next thing I know I wake up and Levi is on the other side of
the room wrapped up in Christmas lights as happy as a little boy can be and
Penny is just sitting there cheering him on. He is just laughing and talking
and just in the best mood ever. I then jump up in a panic, pick him up and then
tried to figure out how long I had been asleep. I really have no idea how much
time passed, but what I do know is that I need to be much more careful now that
Levi is becoming more mobile. What can I say, no mom of the year awards being
handed out here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">On top of me staying up way past Levi’s
bed time, Levi has also decided that he has gotten too big for naps. He has not
napped for the past two days! He use to have like three naps a day and then all
of a sudden that changed to 0. I do not think that he understands that his nap
time is not just for him, but it is also for mommy. It’s really OUR nap time,
and even if he has already outgrown it I haven’t. So I am hoping he will decide
that he isn’t to grown up for nap time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Levi is also getting his top two
teeth. At first I was super excited about this, but now I am realizing the
burden of nursing a child with top teeth. I do not think that he has quite
figured out how to nurse with all of his new teeth, and let’s just say that
this is leaving me with lots of sores.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Changing the subject Morgan and I got
our Christmas tree up, and decorated! (Another one of my midnight projects.) I am very excited about this because I
love our Christmas tree! Levi and Penny have both been treating it more like a
toy rather than a decoration. I left Penny inside tonight and came home to a
shattered bulb all over the floor. I wonder how many bulbs she is going to have
to break before she figures out that they are not balls. Every second I turn
around I find Levi over at the Christmas tree playing with the lights and
reaching for the bulbs. Even though the tree causes lots of challenges and
creates new obstacles I still love it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last I just want to mention some of
Levis newest achievements: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He is getting more efficient at
crawling</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He is talking tons!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He can eat blueberries that are
cut in half</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He has tried mangos</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">and loves them (must not have
got the mango allergy from his aunt Wendy)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He can play with toys! He will
sit up and play with his little people barn for hours</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He can suck on the applesauce
pouch snacks. He can suck one of those dry in seconds</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">He takes a bottle!</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">He just went to the Dr and He:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Weighs:
14.15 (1<sup>st</sup> percentile)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Height: 27.5 (40<sup>th</sup>
percentile)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Head Circumference: 18 (73<sup>rd</sup>
percentile)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well it is now 1:00 am so I am going to go put away the left over mac
and cheese, and hopefully go to bed. That is assuming I do not think of anything
else I need to do first!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-7000108446159843842013-11-16T03:35:00.002-08:002013-11-16T03:35:39.079-08:00Can’t Sleep…Again!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I seem to find myself wide awake in
the middle of the night all too often. I have been awake for almost two hours
now and I cannot seem to get any sleep. So I might as well take advantage of
this opportunity and catch up on my blog! Let me just start by saying, “holy
cow I cannot believe that November is half way over!” Time seems to be flying,
and I have no idea where it is in such a hurry to</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">get to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanksgiving is the week after next,
and I am so excited! We have some of our closest friends coming over to have
dinner with us. We are going to smoke a turkey on our Traeger, and I know that
it is going to be amazing! I have practiced making grandma’s famous rolls, and
they turned out awesome. I have a few adjustments I still need to per-fect, but
I have full confidence that I will get it down. This is going to be my first
time cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I am really looking forward to it. I feel
like such a grown up! I will miss being with family, but I am really grateful
to have such awesome friends to share the holidays with, I could not imagine settling
in to Texas without them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Levi is starting to crawl</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">.kind of. It’s more of a forward
scoot and roll. He is able to get to any destination he seeks, and lately he
seems to be attracted to my scrapbooking stuff. It does not matter where on the
floor I set him he always seems to end up with both his hands in my
scrapbooking bins. He must be excited to get into scrapbooking. He likes to
play with Penny more and more every day. Every time Penny walks by he grabs her
fur and smiles. He also spends a great deal of time talking to her. He must
have a lot to say. Penny is starting to really warm up to him too. Whenever
Morgan and I walk in to the door we are always greeted by lots of jumps and
kisses from Penny, she is always just so excited to see us. Well lately she is having
that same reaction with Levi. As soon as we walk in and I set Levi down, I
cannot get her to stop kissing Levis head. I am sure that many of you find that
disgusting, but he will have a stronger immune system for it. I am also running
into the problem of keeping Penny’s toys separate from Levi’s toys. It would be
easier if Penny was not constantly bring Levi her toys and dropping them on his
lap. This will be a fun puzzle to solve. Levis favorite activities still
consist of watching me vacuum and wash the dishes. It does not matter how tired
and fussy he is as soon as the vacuum or sink turns on he goes silent. This leaves
me with a pending excuse to always be cleaning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlI1S5jdRszOzbDifkE8LumKr1Tx8_K5snEiml-fKDaAeLibsLseASZgsIT4QxzG53J3fqx2tMXDRGRM57lD9xadGIlka7uWYqmnoUJB2D-aO5UCsRf8Zq0QHxZU6Nr-i-x56Qapb29na/s1600/20131009_093636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAlI1S5jdRszOzbDifkE8LumKr1Tx8_K5snEiml-fKDaAeLibsLseASZgsIT4QxzG53J3fqx2tMXDRGRM57lD9xadGIlka7uWYqmnoUJB2D-aO5UCsRf8Zq0QHxZU6Nr-i-x56Qapb29na/s320/20131009_093636.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">Best Friends!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have also been doing a lot of
baking. I think it is safe for me to say that I have mastered buttermilk bread!
I am going to try to get into the habit of making my own bread instead of
buying it at the store. It just tastes so much better when you make it
yourself. Morgan is very excited for this decision. Every time he comes home to
anything homemade he just gets so excited. It makes me feel good and appreciated.
This keeps me excited to cook things that he likes. I am really enjoying having
the extra time to cook and bake.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have to take a moment to get on my
soapbox to complain about all the stores that are opening on Thursday for black
Friday. I hate that I am going to have to choose between going shopping which I
love to do, especially on black Friday, and sitting at the table and enjoying
Thanksgiving dinner. I just hate that stores are opening earlier and earlier
every year. It is sucking the fun out of black Friday. It is not enjoyable when
you cannot even get a couple hours of sleep before leaving for a long stretch
of shopping. I am just starting to realize that my black Friday days may be
coming to an end if they do not stop this selfishness. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last, me and Morgan have been talking
about the possibility of adding the second addition to our family sometime
soon. I am over whelmed by the idea of having two kids, but I really want to
have them all close together. I can’t decide if I want to wait for Levi to be
25 months when the next baby is born, or 18 months. I just don’t want to completely
over whelm myself, but I think the closer I can get them in age then the easier
it will be in the long run. I will keep you updated with that if there is any
news to share.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well I am going to go have a piece of
homemade toast with a heaping glass of chocolate milk, and then maybe I can
sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sweet dreams!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">This is my new favorite pic of Levi</span></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-41028043542245950132013-11-06T17:07:00.000-08:002013-11-06T17:07:14.625-08:00Keeping Busy <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last time I posted I was talking
about Levis weight so I thought I would start with an update. He is still in
the second percentile, however he is growing consistently. He has moved up to
the 28<sup>th</sup> percentile on height, and is head is in the 70<sup>th</sup>
percentile (probably due to his big brain!). I was super concerned with how
small he was, so I decided to call my mom and ask her about how I grew. She said
when I was born I was a HUGE baby! I was 9 pounds 9 ounces, I was at the top of
all of the charts, I was the biggest baby in the family, but once I came out I
just stopped growing. Doctors want babies to double their birth weight by the
time they are six months and triple it by the time they are a year. I however
barley doubled my birth weight by the time I turned one. I dropped off of all
the doctors charts; I was way lower than the first percent tile, and it stayed
that way for a long long time. It wasn’t
till I was in middle school that I finally started to barley creep onto the
charts again, my mom got so excited that she called the whole family to tell
them that I was back on the charts! Its crazy that I was the biggest baby in
the family, and now I am by far the smallest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The doctor’s charts are good to help
keep babies on track, but they shouldn’t dictate your piece of mind. Every baby
is going to grow different, and there are hundreds of factors that are going to
play into the way children grow. I have decided that Levi is growing the way he
is supposed to and I am going to stop stressing about it. I am just going to
trust that he is growing the way that is perfect for him. It makes sense that
he is small, especially when you look at his mom and dad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition to his growing Levi is
advancing in many ways on a daily basis. My favorite thing he started to do is
he reaches for me. When I go to pick him up he will throw up his arms for me to
get him. It is so sweet! He also rolls all over. I have to watch him every
second to make sure he is not getting into any mischief. I will leave him on
one side of the living room, and before I know it he has rolled all the way
across the floor. Penny has loved playing with Levi to. She is constantly bringing
him balls and toys. She will bring all of her toys to Levi and drop them right
on top of him, and then of course Levi will pick them up and attempt to put
them in his mouth. I know gross! So I am always supervising the two of them in
order to make sure that they are swapping germs minimally. They say that babies
that grow up around dogs have a stronger immune system, I am starting to
realize why! lol! Levi also loves to laugh and smile. That is my most favorite,
I am glad that I have such a smiley baby, it helps to keep me in a good mood. I
mean how can you not be happy seeing that smile all day long!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I am glad that it is finally November
because that means that Christmas is next month, and I love Christmas! There
are so many things that I love about Christmas, but the thing I am most looking
forward to right now is all the Christmas movies I am going to start watching.
I want to have a huge Christmas movieathon and watch everything from Elf to It’s
a Wonderful life! I have already told Morgan that I want to get our Christmas
tree the day after Thanksgiving, but he is concerned that the tree would dry
out before Christmas. I don’t care if it gets kind of dry, I just want to enjoy
for as long as I can. I have already ordered Levis ornament off Lenox, it’s a cute
blue elephant that it says his name and the year. I can hardly wait for it to
get here! I don’t know why but I can just feel it in my bones that this is
going to be a truly special Christmas! Morgan’s whole family is going to be
coming and staying with us for ten days! So I am really looking forward to
that. I love company, and I especially love seeing our family! I am excited for
the start of the Holiday season!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This is Levi right when he got out of bed! He loves the mornings!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Penny and Levi are going to be life time friends!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Visiting Daddy at work! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9qubcU78iG4ebcnm3KOEmVhcAWKYDh96ws0185JHyToqgfAL1iULHUG4300vcP9EAOLQgYpEWVjtYkvOmRVtPV9IECYxcm8RqwEEmD4b71QCSQkDJLsGz554Pk2TGYW04dc6CYvB-hyD/s1600/20131031_185237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN9qubcU78iG4ebcnm3KOEmVhcAWKYDh96ws0185JHyToqgfAL1iULHUG4300vcP9EAOLQgYpEWVjtYkvOmRVtPV9IECYxcm8RqwEEmD4b71QCSQkDJLsGz554Pk2TGYW04dc6CYvB-hyD/s320/20131031_185237.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Cutest Batman on the planet! </div>
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My boys! They are the loves of my life!</div>
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He is so cute in a baseball hat!</div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-90052976092593658422013-10-09T11:34:00.002-07:002013-10-09T11:34:34.828-07:00Calories and Breastfeeding<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This has been a hard post for me to write
because I have not known how to express how I feel without offending anyone. My
whole life I have always been small and skinny. In fact I have always been so
small and skinny it was always really hard to find any pants that fit. The
pants that fit around the waist were to short, and the ones that were long
enough were too big around the waist. This was so frustrating to me, but I was condemned
to silence. If I dare bring up this problem people would just get annoyed and
rolled their eyes, and they would say things like “I wish I had your problem”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It’s socially accepted to talk about
how you’re too fat or how you need to lose weight; but don’t you dare even
bring up the topic of needing to gain weight. For years, I have hid my frustrations
of being so small, but I am done keeping it to myself. Being small is not as
easy as it sounds, and it comes with its own type of struggles. Lately I have
been facing a really big obstacle and it is centered on my weight and breastfeeding.
Since Levi has been born I have dropped to be 7 pounds below my pre-pregnancy
weight, and this can get dangerous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I have always produced plenty of
milk, and Levi has always seemed to get enough milk,; but he has always been
slow to gain weight. At his last doctor’s appointment I realized that although
I made plenty of milk, it was really thin, and it did not have enough nutrients
to provide him with what he needed. In addition to him not getting enough
nutrients I always realized that I was not getting enough nutrients. I have
been feeling very tried and weak, and often times when I stand up I would get a
little light headed and dizzy. Levi’s doctor suggested that I try to supplement
some formula, but it has been really important to me to strictly breastfeed.
Therefore I realized I was going to have to make some major dietary changes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I love to eat, but I do not love to
eat a lot. I am not a big morning eater at all. In fact I hate eating in the
morning. It makes me feel sick to eat before noon. I also do not love sweet things
or desserts. I love to eat dinner, and to snack all day. I will eat up unto the
time I go to bed. I will have two big meals after five. My eating schedule
kinda goes like this: eat a light lunch at twelve, snack all afternoon, eat a
big dinner at 6:00 and then another big meal at like ten right before bed. I
eat fairly healthy, but I am definitely far from being a health nut. I would
say I average about 1500 calories a day</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">…</span><span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">.maybe even a little less than that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One thing about breast feeding is
your body burns 500 calories a day just making milk. Also if you’re not eating
foods with high levels of nutrients, then your body will suck all of your own
personal stores and give it to the baby. For example, if I do not consume
enough calcium then my body will take my personal calcium directly out of my
bones and give it to the baby.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I decided to make it my personal goal
to try to double the amount of food I eat, meaning I would eat approximately 3000
calories a day. Many people hear this and think</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">…</span><span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">.Sweet just each a bunch of chips, chocolate, and cake, but unfortunately
it does not work like that. I have to eat 3000 calories worth of foods that are
high in nutrients and that are healthy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This has been a real challenge for me
because pretty much my stomach always hurts from being full, I have to make
sure I always have healthy nutritious snacks on hand; I have to plan more
meals, do more shopping, and spend more money. In addition to the physical obstacles
I have faced I also have had trouble emotionally because I have felt guilty for
starving my baby, and not being able to provide him with what he needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I just want to take a moment to hop
on my soap box and say; this kind of diet is just as much work if not more work
then somebody who is trying to lose weight. Gaining weight is hard too. I have
to also plan healthy meals just like someone who is on a diet to lose weight, I
have to deal with the uncomfortable feeling of always being over full, rather than
hungry, and I am constantly focused on counting calories and shoveling more
food into my mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I will take Levi back to the Doctor
next week and I will get to see if he has gained enough weight. I am hoping
that I eating more will be enough to help him gain the weight he needs to grow
to be a healthy strong little boy. I love him so much! I will post an update
after his appointment next week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Here are the stats from Levi’s Apt:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Height: 25 and half inches (16<sup>th</sup>
percentile)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Weight: 13lbs 13 oz (2<sup>nd</sup>
Percentile)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-20494324632770440722013-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:002013-09-25T08:23:27.520-07:00Texas Life<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So moving to Texas has been an
exciting adjustment for me. The first thing people think of when they hear the
word Texas is heat and humidity. Every time I ever mentioned that I was
planning on moving to Texas people always took that as an invitation to tell me
about all of the negative things they had ever heard about Texas. Let me also
elaborate on the size of Texas</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">…</span><span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">it is huge! So while yes Houston may be intensely humid that does
not mean the whole state is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am not going to lie and say it has
not been hot hear, because it has. However the humidity has not been largely noticeable.
From what I understand that hottest month of the year is August, and I have
survived that month, and from here on out the weather is supposed to just keep
getting better. For the record I will take any amount of heat if it means I
avoid snow and freezing temperatures! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In addition to the weather I received
many warnings concerning the bugs in Texas. Let me also say the bugs in Dallas
are no worse than any of the bugs in Utah or Southern CA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: CK Toggle; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now that we have discussed all of the
negative things about Texas let me tell you some of the highlights. I have
seven malls within ten minutes of my house. Talk about shopping opportunities! We
have more restaurants per </span></span><span style="font-family: CK Toggle;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">ca-pita</span></span><span style="font-family: CK Toggle; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> here then they do in New York City, and did I
mention that the food is amazing! And the best part so far is they have some of
the nicest people. I love southern hospitality!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">I was
worried about making the adjustment of living in a new place without much
family around, however I have made some of my best friends out here already; It
has been fun to build such strong relationships. Before when I was in Utah I
knew that any friends I made would have to be temporary in the sense that I
knew we would be moving away after graduation. This made it hard because I got
really close to several different people, and then I had to leave them all and
move 20 hours away. However, since I have been in Texas I have not stopped
getting to know people. Everyone is so sweet and friendly. I feel like I have
already made some lifelong friends out here. It has been a hard adjustment to
get use to Morgan going to work, and me staying home with Levi, however I am
really grateful for my friends who have been helping me through it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">On my Birthday
2 of my friends came over and took me to get pedicures and to go out to the
mall! I have never really had friends come and take me out on my birthday
before so this was such a special treat. While we were out doing that Morgan
made a beautiful dinner! He smoked ribs all day, and he even made an ice cream
cake! I was very impressed. We had a very special time hanging out with our
friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Well that
is all I have time for right now because Levi will be waking up any minute, but
I will keep you updated with all of our future happenings!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Penny Sees a squirrel in the backyard, and she is hypnotized!</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Levis new friend Jax!</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Daddy loves to give Levi his baths! </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Levi at a restaurant way passed his bed time! This is his first time in a restaurant high chair!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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My birthday cake!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "CK Toggle"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Batang;">Seeing the Deloitte office where Morgan will be working!</span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-74757722798209319062013-09-09T06:41:00.001-07:002013-09-09T17:16:11.358-07:00Levi’s Birth Story<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I am trying to decide exactly where I
want to start my birth story. I was a pretty inconsistent blogger through the
bulk of my pregnancy (and by inconsistent I mean only posting once) and so I am
going to do a brief summary of being pregnant before jumping into my birth story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">I have heard many people tell me that they “love to be pregnant”
or “they love their pregnant bodies” I however was not one of those people!
Being pregnant was a lot of hard work and most of all exhausting. My first
trimester was not too horrible. I did get extremely nauseous in in the morning,
especially if I worked outside in the heat; however I did not throw up at all
so that was a blessing. The second trimester went by pretty fast, but the third
trimester was where I grew a whole new appreciation for pregnant people. My
body was so sore. I could not bend over what so ever, and I mean not at all.
Poor Morgan had to pick up everything I dropped on the floor, pick up all of Penny’s
poop, and he even shaved my legs</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">…</span><span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;">.I was one lucky girl to have him throughout the pregnancy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">My due date technically would have been March 14<sup>th</sup> if
you were doing the mathematical calculation, but based on ultrasound it was
changed to March 21<sup>st. </sup>So I
was thinking that Levi would for sure come early. I could not see any possible
way he could come any later than March 21<sup>st</sup> but boy was I wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"> I also took a Hypnobabies
class and decided to do an all-natural home child birth. I know most people
think this sounds crazy, but I have the biggest phobia of needles, and I would
rather take on any amount of pain if it means no epidural and IV. I could wright
a whole post just on natural child birth, but I do not want to get into that,
nor do I want to bore you with those details. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">I started to have contractions at the beginning of March, but
these were not your normal contractions. When I would have a contraction I could
feel my stomach get really tight with pressure and then it would relax and
loosen. This would be the way that most contractions feel, but the only
difference was I felt no pain what so ever. These contractions went on for over
a month, and the whole time here I am thinking that Levi is going to be born
any day now, but he just wasn’t coming. When I got to my due date my midwife
tried rubbing different oils on my belly, but that just was not starting labor
either. Every time my midwife checked me I was not even dilated to 1cm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">The contractions continued for about another week, when we decided
to try to induce labor naturally by the consumption of castor oil. Let me start
by saying castor oil is the most disgusting thing to ever touch my mouth. I
took it at about four o clock, and nothing was happening. In fact I felt completely
normal. I went and took a nap, and still nothing was happening. That night
Morgan has a dinner with other students that were being hired to work for Deloitte
We decided to go, since nothing was progressing with my labor. For those of you
who are not aware castor oil causes people to have lots of bowel movements, and
the theory is by having bowel movements if causes your body to dilate. So we
are getting to the end of dinner when I began to have regular bowel movements,
and my contractions were all within three minutes apart, and again I remind you
I feel no pain from any of these contractions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle';"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> I get home and call my
midwife, and tell her my progress. She tells me to get some sleep, and to
caller her back when the contractions hurt badly enough that I have to breathe
through them. At about 10:00 p.m. Morgan calls my midwife back and tells her I
can now feel a slight amount of pain, however in the progression of this 30
second call the pain got 10x more intense and I told him to tell her to come
over ASAP. She was there at 11:00 and I had already dilated to a three and my
contractions were 3 minutes apart. I was lying on my bed, and I remember just
trying to focus on keeping my body relaxed. I learned in my hypnobabies class
that the more you can relax your body, the faster it can progress though labor.
My midwife got the tub of warm water ready so that I could labor in the tub,
she had this set up within an hour of her arrival, and then she came to check
my progression again and I had dilated to a six! Once I was in the tub the contractions were
getting more intense. I was lucky to have 5 midwives/doulas there to apply pressure in different places. I would have never guessed that applying pressure could relieve so much of the pain. I had one midwife on each leg, one pushing on my hips, Morgan holding my head, and my mom holding my hand. I was very blessed to have so many people helping me through out my labor. they would coach me through the contractions and remind me to relax. I am the kind of personality that does really well with </span><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">positive</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 27.77777862548828px;">encouragement. I just thrive off of people cheering me on. I am really lucky to have so many people in my life who believe me, and encouraged me all the way to the end. I was going to need all of the encouragement I could get because once I got in the tub The contractions</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> basically never stopped; it was like an hour of straight contractions. It would get really bad and then it would loosen a little bit and
then it would get really bad again. I remember just saying that I wanted a two
minute brake. I remember thinking that you usually have at least a minute of
relief in between contractions, but not me. I threw up at some point during
this hour, and I remember being very concerned that I was going to poop in the
water, but I never did. Hahaha I know that is grouse but I want to remember all
these details. After being in the tub for an hour, I got to the point where I
was just like I cannot do this anymore and that is when my midwife checked me
again and said it was time to push.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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out of the water and pushed for like thirty minutes, and then Levi was born at
3:30 in the morning. My whole labor from start to finish was only 4.5 hours. (This
is starting at the time I could feel any pressure/pain/discomfort)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">At
this point in time I thought the worst was over, I had survived child birth;
but boy was I wrong. Personally I think the most painful part of the whole experience
came 2 days later when I was awoken at like 4:00 a.m. because my milk came in.
I remember wakening up my mom, and she helped me go and stand in the warm
shower to try to relive some of the pressure, but this was not helping. I was
so engorged I did not even know how so much milk could fit in such a small space.
This is probably too much information, but I feel it is important. Nobody ever
talks about the milk coming in, and this is an entire experience in its own. I
had constant milk dripping out of me. I know they make pads that you can use to
line your bra with to absorb the milk, but these pads would only last me about
three minutes before I was leaking through. Every night when I went to sleep I
took one of the giant Egyptian cotton beach towels and I folded it into quarters
and then I would wake up and it would be completely soaked with milk. I
remember Morgan waking up one night and asking me if I had just pulled it out
of the washer because of how wet it was. I went to the doctor to have a check
up, and he said I was one of the top ten most engorged he had ever seen. This
made me feel good because I felt more justified for all the pain I was feeling.
I could write a whole post just about my breastfeeding experience but I will
leave it at that for now.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Overall
Everything went perfectly, I was really proud of myself for having Levi all
natural. So many people told me that I would not be able to do it, and they
said things like “you’re going to be begging for the epidural” so to all of
those people who questioned me and did not believe in me I just want to say “I
did it! And you were wrong!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'CK Toggle'; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">Morgan
and I are now living in Dallas, and I am no longer working so I therefore have
a lot more time on my hands. I am excited to become a regular blogger, so look
forward to more future posts from me!</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-9800718168967881392012-09-24T18:33:00.000-07:002012-09-27T09:15:15.501-07:00Craziest Summer Ever<br />
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So it has been a crazy long time since I have posted. I want
to be a better blogger, but I just don’t ever seem to have enough time. So here
is an update of Morgan and my summer. We sold pest control this summer in
Sacramento, and hated it! The most miserable job I have ever held in my entire
life. I hated it! I did enjoy living in Sacramento with the family. We all had
a fun time getting to know each other on another level. We did lots of fun
things but my favorite was going boating. Morgan and I ended up getting a new
car. We went with a white Prius and we love it! So far we have driven over
8,000 miles and averaged over 50MPG. Julie has also been teaching me how to
sew. So I can now make a few things so that has been a lot of fun! We adopted
the worlds cutest more spoiled puppy. She is a mini Australian Shepherd. She will
probably grow to be about 35 pounds. She has been loads of fun. That is an
update of the summer.</h3>
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Our spoiled dog</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Since we got back to Utah, we have moved into a new apartment; however we still live in Provo. Morgan and I are both in our last year of school. Morgan will have his Masters in April and I will have my bachelors. Morgan has begun interviewing for full time jobs with the big four accounting firms. He has applied for Dallas and Orange County so we are very excited to see where we will end up. I am just most excited to move out of Utah.</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We went camping this weekend for my birthday at Zion National
Park. My Grandma, Sisters, husband, mom, and Billy all came. We had a ton of
fun. It was so awesome to get to spend time with my family. It has been a very
long time since we got to spend that much time together. I also hiked Angels
Landing! When I was like seven years old I hiked all the way to the part with
the chains, and then I sat down and refused to go on. So my whole family
(excluding my mom cause she stayed with me) including my younger sister went on
to hike to the top. There was lightning, wind and rain while they hiked it. In
fact I guess my sister all most fell of the cliff. The story goes she slipped
and was dangling and my dad was holding her just by the arm. People were hiking
down discussing the little girl who almost fell off, little did we know that girl
was my sister, crazy! Anyways, even though they were crazy to finish the hike I
still never lived down the fact that I was the only member who did not finish
the hike. So this summer I did redeem myself by finishing the hike, so I felt
very accomplished.</span></b></h3>
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My first attempt at Angels Landing</div>
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This is the whole family Camping!</div>
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<h3>
<br />Lastly Morgan and I are expecting a new addition to our
Family at the end of March. We will find out the gender next month so we are
crazy excited about that. We are hoping for a girl, but will be happy with a
healthy baby. Life is moving so fast, but It could not be any better. We are so
blessed.</h3>
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I just love this Picture!</div>
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<br />Crystal</h3>
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Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-79395714979035734642012-02-15T10:34:00.000-08:002012-02-15T10:34:05.191-08:00I Love Valentines Day<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Valentine’s Day might just be my new most favorite holiday. I had the best day of my life, and I have the greatest husband in the world! Let me take you all through our fantastic day. So on Saturday night I made Morgan 7 Valentines day cards. They were all different and unique. Within all the cards I included a verse from a song that has impacted our relationship. (The songs were: History in the making, Waiting on a Women, Alright, I Can Love You Like That, She’s Everything, We Danced, and Then) And then I wrote about why that song has been so special to us. So then I woke up early on Valentines Day and left him his first card with some roses and his favorite candy bars on our kitchen table. I then put his 2<sup>nd</sup> card on the seat of his car with a rose and some more candy. I then waited patiently for him to leave for BYU. I then followed him to BYU and decorated his car with window stickers, and left him his 3<sup>rd</sup> card with another rose and some more candy. Then once he went to work I went to his car again and left him a yummy lunch, card number four, a rose, and more of his favorite candies. From work he went back to BYU and I left him his 5<sup>th</sup> card, another rose, more candy, and I put a bunch of balloons on his car. While I was attaching the balloons I accidently locked my keys in his car. HAHA I am a dork, so I was stuck sitting there for 45min until he got out of class. He then came home and made dinner and refused to let me help, so I went home and took a two hour nap…..so nice! Then he surprised me with a candle lit dinner. He made Flamin Young Steaks rapped in bacon….YUM, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I left him his 6<sup>th</sup> note on his chair with another rose. He then surprised me with a bracelet he made me, and some gourmet chocolate dipped strawberries. I then gave him his 7<sup>th</sup> note which was the one about the song we danced by Brad Paisley. We turned off the lights, but left the lit candles and danced to all 7 songs. It was the most amazing day of my life! I have the greatest husband in the world. I am sure we wont have a lot of opportunities to go all out like this, so I am glad we took advantage of the opportunity before we have kids and full time jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span></span><span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">There are so many people who do not like Valentines Day. They claim it is a commercialized holiday that was just created to help the card companies make money. They also say that you should express your love on a daily basis and not a yearly basis, and you do not need an annual day to remember to do this. Here is my opinion: They are right the card and flower companies do make a lot of money off of Valentines Day, and they are right when they say you should express your love year around. However why not have a day devoted to focusing on your relationship each year. It can really be a lot of fun if you get into it. Even if all you do is make dinner together at home it can still be super special. All holidays or significant events are commercialized any more. Let us take a minute to think about Christmas. I think Christmas is one of the most commercialized holidays, however nobody complains about this. You could also claim that people should remember the savior all the time, and we do not need a special day to do this. Ok this is an extreme example, let’s look at the superbowl. This event is also much commercialized but I am pretty sure that people really still get into this event. I am sure several people disagree with everything I just said, but all I am saying is that Valentines Day can be a lot of fun and really special even if u you just do something small.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Hope everyone had a super fun day,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Crystal</span><o:p></o:p></div>Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6802225539845268713.post-24406773806260847722012-02-12T19:18:00.001-08:002012-02-12T19:18:54.927-08:00Crazy Month<div class="MsoNormal">So it has been a long time since I have done a blog posting, and the reason is I have felt like I really have nothing to blog about. I want to say our life has been way uneventful and boring, but that has not really been the case. The last few months have been crazy. I feel like I have not slowed down for even one second, but at the same time it has not really been exciting or fun. We have been slammed with school and work. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I went to Albuquerque for a week for a 4-H training and that was really fun. I however did not like the food at all. I guess New Mexicans have a different way of cooking. The food was really spicy and had odd textures. I had a ton of fun though. I got to hang out with several people that I work with and we had a super fun time. I was gone for 5 days, which is the longest me and Morgan have ever been apart so that was hard. I was really excited to see him when I got back.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is my last year of school I will finish in December, but it has been a really hard year. I am exhausted and overwhelmed. I cannot wait to take my last day of classes. I think that me and Morgan will be moving to Sacramento for the summer and living at his parents’ house. I am looking forward to that opportunity. I am going to sell pest control while he does his internship, it should be a fun summer, especially since it will be my first break from school in the last 2 years. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Well that is all for now, hope everyone is doing good!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">~Crystal<o:p></o:p></div>Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16373553277660965092noreply@blogger.com1