the-every-day-kind-of-update.

I sometimes get overwhelmed with blogging---I feel like we do so much fun stuff and I don't get it all documented. If I had any talent in creative writing, I would be updating this blog of mine every day because I feel like each day is better than the last. But while I'm waiting to update my blog on the big interesting things, I decided to post on the small, yet meaningful things.

Small update #1: We have decided to stay at Peterson Pointe until after we have baby Rad 2. Possibly until December. Our original plan was to move out when our contract is over in July and live in Rigby, Lewisville, or IF. The main reasons we decided to stay are: awesome friends, cheap rent, we live close to parks, we have a great ward, and we just got an AC unit from Sam's, so now our apt is even better. Plus I don't want to change a lot of things for Stori because she is going to have the shock of her life when new baby comes---and she's potty training herself pretty much, so I don't want to mess that all up by moving. Dan will still have to drive a lot and spend a lot in gas, but we decided that this is best for now.

Small update #2: Dan got his scores back from the LSAT! He scored a 153!!!! That is a good score that can for sure get us into Law School, especially with his great GPA! However, he has decided to take it again in October to see if her can get a 160 so that he can apply to BYU and U of U. Those are our top pics. It's crazy to think that we only have one more year here! We have loved this journey so much.

Small update #3: Our stupid friends, the Allreds, move in just 2 short weeks!!! I could cry just thinking about it. Stori and Tracen play so well together and I hate the thought of them leaving. We are still recovering from when the Thompsons left us. We have been overly blessed with great friends here in Rexburg. I hope wherever we end up, we find friends like these! Luckily the Foresters don't leave until April!

Small update #4: I'm still pregnant. I am having the hardest time keeping track of how far along I am. I am pretty sure it's around 34 weeks??? but I'll have to do the math again. At my last Dr. apt I had to have another ultra sound because I am measuring behind just like I did with Stori. Luckily everything looked great and I am in fact measuring right on. The Dr. phrased it like this: "well, you just have great birthing hips."
 haha geez thanks doc! Just what I wanted to hear! But I guess it is a good thing even though it sounds horrible. The baby is head down and just sort of stays in my "deep hips" making it appear to the Dr. that I am measuring behind. He says he will do as many ultra sounds as he needs to make sure that everything continues to look great. He doesn't want to settle with "just ok." Which I appreciate

Small update #5: Astoria Rose. Just her in general. She changes so much each and every day! She knows all the words to all the nursery songs and knows most words to her favorite movies. I put Enchanted on the other day and she starting singing along---we haven't watched that movie in several months! She counts from 1-14 (after 14 is eleven-teen). She knows colors, letter sounds, the abc's, and she knows which roads to take to get to granny's house. She calls her baby sister by name and even thanks Heavenly Father for her in her personal prayers. It's too cute and sometimes my heart almost explodes! I love being a mom! She is addicted to the park and playing outside, so our mornings are spent outside, then I get to relax during nap time, then back outside for us after that! I have a pretty great life!

Well that's my update of the day. I feel a little bit better about documenting my blog.
P.S. Family is here for a long time and we have enjoyed going out to my mom's house several times a week to play! Stori has loved it! More on that later.

top left---girl movie night with the Foresters. Lila and Stori let us wrap them up like babies and actually almost fell asleep :) Other 3 photos from our daily park trips that turn into water park trips also.


A random puppy that found it's way into Stori's arms at my moms house. One of my favorite pictures of her!!!

Dan is the Dad and he is Rad

This guy that can make her laugh 'til she cries. Literally.

The Rexburg air show with the Allreds. Such fantastic friends we have here!!

I love how in the top picture they are making the same exact face. 

Well we love this guy a whole heap! 

He does so much around the house to help out (cleaning, cooking, making decisions), he's always willing to go get me ice cream, a great walking companion, and a full time PSR worker. He even fixed his very own Father's day dinner... and did the dishes. PLUS he was sick. I did have plans of making a fun dinner for him but then those plans changed and we improvised. 

We took our traditional front door picture again and this time it's Peterson Pointe 300. Dan, like I said, was sick so he didn't go to church---hence the sloppy clothes and non-showered appearance. 

I have written quite a few times on this here blog about why I love dan, so this time I decided to ask dan his feelings on why he's the best... here they are. haha enjoy

Dan says his 5 best qualities are: 

1. He's better looking than most guys, in fact, he's really ridiculously good looking

2. He knows all the songs/words to Tangled

3. He can clean a gun in the blink of an eye

4. He can make a mean BBQ chicken pizza

5. He's successfully won the heart of the two most beautiful girls.

I think I can agree with more than a few of those. :)

And now some pretty freaking cute videos of our Stori Rose. (FYI my "hat" is actually her sipper cup)

Pregnancy update

30 WEEKS!! Goodness gracious that's a long time that I've been pregnant. 

And so weird that I keep forgetting I'm pregnant. You would think my giant belly would help with remembering that. I guess the trick is to have a 22 month old who is attached to you at all times.

Anywhoo, here is my update...

*We have finally decided on a name! The only reason we would change the name is if:

 (a. we find a better one, duh. 

(b. if Kate Middleton uses the same name

or

(c. if we discover it also sounds good with Kardashian

But we are fairly confident that no famous person will be using this name any time soon. 

(And if they do, it's because they saw how cute our little girl is with this name).

*I see the Dr. every 2 weeks now

*I passed my glucose test 2 weeks ago

and

* At my Dr. appointment today, I was measuring 1 week behind (boo!) and my baby is measuring a week ahead so maybe it will all even out?

I grabbed this little questionnaire from babycenter because I keep forgetting to update about my pregnancy and this should be a good way to formulate my thoughts--because let's be real, my pregnancy brain is kind of fried. So here goes. 

How far along: 30 weeks!

Total weight gain: rhymes with shmineteen

Maternity clothes: yes and no. I only own a few maternity outfits. Most of the time I'm in my yoga pants and a t-shirt.

Stretch marks: Just the few from last pregnancy around my belly button so far.

Sleep: amazing! I haven't really needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night yet, and I'm still pretty comfortable. Plus Stori sleeps 12 hours at night which is fantastic.

Best moment of this week: Dan taking the LSAT and hanging out with friends. (my answer is not pregnant related, but then again remember how I keep forgetting I'm pregs...)

Miss anything: sleeping on my stomach!!!!

Movement: SO much movement. My belly looks like something is literally trying to come out of it at times. We call it the baby wave or baby roll, because she will start on the right side of my belly and we will watch as she literally moves my whole stomach as she ends up on the left side! Coolest feeling ever.

Food cravings: Oddly enough, haven’t felt as hungry as usual this past week..maybe I’m beginning to run out of room in there! And I would also say ice cream, but that's nothing new to pregnancy.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Just Obama

Have you started to show yet: OHHH YEAHHH!

Gender: Girl!!

Labor signs: A few Braxton Hicks, but those have stopped now that I've stopped running. We walk 5 miles/day now instead and that has helped. And the Dr. told me to take Magnesium pills and those work great also. 

Belly button in or out: OUT! and has been since about week 12. I like to make people feel it. haha

Wedding rings on or off: On

Happy or moody most of the time: This is probably a question for Dan to answer. I choose happy though. :)

Looking forward to: All of my family coming to visit starting next week!

And now for my first ever dreaded-selfie. and to make it even worse, it's in a MIRROR! 

I'm so ashamed. 

Plus, I think my stomach is bigger in real life. I will have dan take one later and hopefully replace this nastiness.

P.S. I just had to include this picture of Stori. She got this shirt at a 6 months Dr visit and it just now fits... somehow it's a lot creepier now that she's almost 2 hahaha...

Summer days that are actually still our Spring days.

Spring is technically the current season,
but summer makes me happy, and this be the reason...

Bike rides and walks, fill up our morning,
playing with my red-head never gets boring.
Dan's work is ending earlier in the day,
making it easy for all three of us to play.
My friends in Rexburg are pretty dang cool,
we walk, we talk, and we swim in shasha's pool.
When Stori wakes up, she asks for the slide,
and doesn't even complain about the long stroller ride...

This summer is going to be great like the rest,
cause my family is coming soon and they are the best.
Also this summer, you best not forget,
we're having our second baby and gettin in major debt...

Dan takes the LSAT tomorrow and that's fine,
but after it's over we are going to party like it's 1999.
we find out in July how he scored,
and hopefully get's into the only school he toured...     (BYU)

Other fun things to look forward to this summer (that I can't get to rhyme).

-CFFR8

-July 4th festivities

-Astoria Rose turns 2

-Mel turns 28

-Dan and Mel celebrate 4 years of awesome marriedness

-Baby Rad 2 gets born

-Dan turns 29

-many nights of porch sitting

-endless bonfires and BBQ's

And not so cool things for the summer

-Friends moving away. Stupid friends! Who needs them anyway... 

his story-telling skills are very entertaining 

still crossing her little leggies

painting inside cause she's sick while her friends play at the park

Star Valley, Jackson, and throw up

Let it be known that I cannot recall a Memorial Day where it has been nice and sunny. Nor can I recall a Memorial Day that we haven't gone to Star Valley. Perhaps there is a connection there that I'm not picking up on.

But I still love me some Wyoming.

This year I realized that Memorial Day is becoming less and less about remembering loved ones, and more about shopping and camping. Shopping and camping are perfectly great activities, and ones that I happen to love. I can even love them on Memorial Day. This is just my little observation.

With that said, we spent the weekend traveling through Jackson and staying in a cabin in Thayne, WY.

One day was spent driving through Teton National Park searching for bears. Sadly we only found a Moose and lot's of duck poop. It's never too much of a disappointment because of the beautiful scenery. Even Stori noticed how "pretty" it all was.

Apparently we missed seeing a grizzly by 20 minutes, so when we found a Park Ranger we decided to follow him, thinking he was going where the bear was. Turns out he was just driving down an incredibly rough/bumpy road that gave one little red-head a case of the throw-ups. Yep. All over her carseat! It was so disgusting that I sat my pregnant self on the side of the road retching, trying my best to not spew all over myself. Luckily I married the most amazing man ever and he cleaned up Stori and her carseat without even a grumble. In fact, he gave Stori loves and told her he was sorry she got sick. Best. Dad. Ever. After that excitement, we decided to cut our Jackson trip a little shorter than planned and took off for Thayne after we ate a very late lunch. (For some reason we didn't feel like eating right after the throw-up fiasco).

We got to the cabin and my nice cousin washed all of the puke stuff while we gave Stori a bath and got her ready for bed. Dan and I watched "North America" while my mom hung out with her family.

before the throw up

As for memorial day, we (my mom) were able to take flowers to several of my family members graves (and even one to sweet Desi). My Dad's headstone looked exceptionally beautiful this year. I sent a picture of it to my siblings and my sister Aleisa replied, "...it's weird that it doesn't seem like a new headstone anymore." It's true, it doesn't. Stori loved climbing on it, despite our attempts to keep her off, but it was kind of fun telling her about her Papa. She counted all the names on the back of the headstone and it felt oddly comforting to have her acknowledge the words there.

After the cemetery we had a potluck at my Aunt and Uncles house. Stori played and played and played. Then she cried and cried and cried when she could no longer play. She is very spoiled whenever there are older cousins around because they all seem to want to make her happy. Which is easy for me! :)

After lunch and visiting, we made our annual trip to Maverick for some frozen yogurt and then drove home through Fall Creek. It is seriously such a beautiful drive! Dan and I made it our goal to really soak up the beauty around here before we move out of here next year.

Stori prayers

Each night we gather for family prayers in Stori's room. I've always had to help Stori say hers, but about 2 weeks ago she has started saying her entire prayer all by herself. Her typical prayer includes, "Father. Thank you. For. Daddy, Mommy, Shasha, Lila, Drew, Nornie, Ryder, (then she'll repeat all those again or more), Papa, Granny, (long pause) Christ, Amen."

So it is really quite adorable. At the end of her prayers she asks to say them again, so usually she will lay in her crib saying prayers for about 5 minutes. I tried to get one on camera, but this stinker spotted the phone. 

 At the beginning of the video, Minnie Mouse is hiding in the diaper box and Stori is telling her to say prayers with her. Then at the end, when she says 'ah, scary," that is when Dan enters in the room haha.

it is a lot more difficult than we thought.

I don't exactly know why picking out a baby name is so blasted difficult!
-maybe it's because this human has to live with this name forever and she has no say about it?
-maybe it's because I already have one child with a super unique name and all other names just don't fit?
-or maybe it's because Dan and I are quite possibly the worlds most indecisive people you will ever meet?

We have a list of names that are just mediocre at the moment. I like 2 quite a bit but dan isn't sold on them yet. I definitely have a great list of middle names to work with though! :)

Speaking of baby rad 2, I am now 26 weeks and feeling great!

Mothers Day 2013 by apartment #300 at Peterson Pointe, holding my 2 girls! 

I haven't reached the "complete freak out" stage of my pregnancy yet because I am busy with my other tiny human. Stori is just so much fun and I absolutely, 100% love her.

On one of our daily walks to the park, we noticed that the sprinklers were on and slightly covering the play area. I did my best to keep her away from the mud and puddles so that she would stay clean and warm. Well that lasted a whole 10 minutes before her curiosity got the better of her. She took off for the sprinklers and giggled from head to toe.
It was right then that I remembered the quote from Marjorie Pay Hinckley, "whenever possible say yes, they are only kids once!"

So she played and played and played. By the time we were ready to go home she was covered in mud and soaking wet. I LOVED IT!

{and just 2 cute pictures from the weekend} 

Stori playing the piano at Aleisa's house and dancing with Daddy at Cafe Rio.

Part 2: DISNEYLAND

Oh gosh I can't believe that I can actually say that I've been to Disneyland! Just saying it makes me feel cool! :)
We went for two days, a Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Tuesday, we got there right as it was opening and got to see a bunch of characters put on a show right in front of the castle. Stori was sitting on Dan's shoulders as they started to walk out and yelled "OH DARE DAY ARE!" and had perma-smile the whole show. Donald Duck grabbed her hands and danced with her and completely made her day. The whole day was perfect after that.
We had packed enough food for snacks and lunch so we wouldn't have to leave, which was good, because there is so much to see! At first we were overwhelmed with how many rides and attractions there were, but we found our way really quick.
Stori's least favorite ride was "It's a Small World." For some reason it terrified her. The only part she liked about that was the water. I would say the highlight of her day was going to the play at the Royal Theatre to see 'Tangled.' She got her picture taken with Rapunzel and hugged her for at least 3 solid minutes. I kept having to say, "ok Stori, that's good," or "It's time to go now." I finally got her to let go of her by telling her we needed to go find Pascal. haha She also fell in love with the Carousel and could spot the "hornsey's" from anywhere. Even if we tried to avoid it she would somehow spot it and want to ride. One time when dan was off riding the matterhorn, I took Stori to ride it again. When it finished she asked "again, please." I told her no, and that we needed to find dad. Then I thought, no, I'll let her ride again. So we got in line after I told her yes and she hugged me and kissed me repeatedly until it was our turn to ride. Melted my heart that something so simple made her so happy. So happy, in fact, that she wanted to thank me with such sweet affection for 5 solid minutes. Definitely a highlight for me.
We spent a lot of time getting pictures with characters and Tangled signs. We spent a while in toon town seeing some favorite characters and playing in fountains. Stori LOVED Goofy and Minnie! Like a lot!!
Another fun ride we took Stori on was Pirates of the Caribbean. She was a little scared at first, because there is a big drop in the dark that you don't see coming, but after that she really liked it. Dan was able to ride a lot of the bigger rides, but I couldn't go with him because a)) I am pregnant and they specifically say you CAN'T if your prigs and b)) we had Stori with us. Next time we go I really want to ride Splash Mountain. That was my favorite one to watch people go on. I'm sure I am missing so much of what day 2 consisted of, but luckily I have pictures and I made a California book. OH-the PARADE!! Stori absolutely loved that! She got her moves on when she heard the music and saw the characters performing. Everything there really is so magical! Even more so when you have a little girl and watch her experience it. After the parade we went on a few more rides until it closed and then spent time in downtown Disney til that closed. Our hotel was right across the street so we just walked home, ate some Chipotle and fell asleep. Stori actually just laid her head on my pillow while we were eating and fell asleep.
Wednesday we got to the Park as it was opening again and headed straight for Flynn Ryder. We didn't get to see him the day before and made that our priority. Found out what time we could get our picture with him and entertained ourselves until then. Dan's parents, sisters, brother, and nephew came that day also, so Dan was able to ride some rides with them while Stori and I went to Tangled and Beauty and the Beast. Stori met all the Princesses, and even had Peter Pan come up to her and ask for a picture...haha it was kind of weird and Stori was less than impressed. Finally the time came to meet Ryder (probably my favorite part of the whole experience). Rapunzel and Flynn were standing together for pictures and when they saw that it was Stori's turn, Ryder said, "Oh I bet this one is here for you Rapunzel." When Stori didn't run to her I told him that she was actually  here to see him! He looked surprised but raised his arms out to her and she ran in for a giant hug! She layer her head on his shoulder and got really comfortable. I told him how much she loved him even though he could clearly see that. IT WAS PERFECT! she spent the rest of the day asking for him and would point out his home. She saw a few posters of him and ran up to it to hug it. She even found the Tower and tried to climb it because it was Ryders home. :) I just love her.
The 3 of us shared some Mexican food for lunch and then continued to ride rides and find characters. Stori's favorite rides of that day (besides the carousel) were the Buzz Lightyear one and the Jungle Tour. Dan and I actually really liked those too. Dan's favorite rides were Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours (he's been to Disneyland twice and both times Space Mountain was closed-he was very disappointed).
We finally found our souvenir ornament (we get one on each vacation) and Stori's souvenir Rapunzel doll. No one sold Flynn Ryder dolls, so this was the next best thing.
We finished the night by watching the parade again. This time by the entrance. Stori made a few friends and they chased each other around a flower garden for 20 minutes just laughing waiting for the parade. We headed back to the Hotel and cried that our trip was ending the next morning.

Both flights we took, Stori was such a champ. She actually slept the whole way home except for the landing that was "scarrryy!" To be fare, it was scary. The key to her smooth traveling was "Tangled" and "Madagascar" on my iPhone. And a lot of fishy crackers.
California, we love you!
It was so much fun making these memories with my little family, and I feel so blessed to have been able to go.

 

d

Part 1. California love.

Well, I did it. I finally ventured into the state of California for the first time at the age of 27. Stori went for the first time at 20 months. She's way cooler than me.

Our trip started on thursday April 18. 

We flew into LAX, got our rental car, got our luggage, and headed to Claremont where we would stay for the first 2 days. the drive there was... well... let's just say we hated our first 2 hours in California. It took us 2 hrs when it should have only taken 30 minutes. (who knew 1:30 would be rush hour)?

Once we got to Claremont however, we fell in love!! It is the cutest town with such cute homes. We stayed with the Foresters until Saturday. 

Thursday we hung out in the back yard the whole time playing games, visiting, eating, and laughing. That night we went to '21 Flavors' for some yummy fro yo. Alicia and I were the only ones to stay up past 10:30 haha so we just sat on the couch talking for hours. Friday we got up and had a yummy breakfast in the backyard and took our first adventure to Pasadena. It has always been a goal of mine to go visit the 'Father of the Bride' house and everyone was kind enough to humor me. it is just as gorgeous in real life and the town is ridiculously beautiful. two thumbs up! 

Then it was off to 'In n Out' for some lunch. Stori finally ate french fries for the first time!! huge accomplishment!! and of course she also had a bowl full of tomatoes in front of her. :)

After lunch, we drove to Malibu so the guys could get their surf on. Drew was so nice to teach Dan and Dan. Neither of them got up, but they were pretty sore from it all and had so much fun. The girls just relaxed on the beach and went for a walk to discover that 4 girls just decided to make it a topless beach. it was GROSS!! Stori hated the sand this trip-not sure why either, because in Oregon she cried when we left the beach. She's a coo-coo. We had so much fun that day. It ended with garlic balls and italian food at C and O's in Venice. 

Saturday morning Haily and I got up and ran 4 miles in Claremont. (it was sad because it was our last time running together. The poops moved to AZ). It was a fun run because of our pretty surroundings and because we were at sea level and didn't breath hard at all. oh and we saw a lot of lizards. After breakfast dan, stori and myself headed off on our own, for a crazy tourist-filled day. We went to the Hollywood sign and saw a nasty old naked man, saw the 'star walk' or whatever it's called, got Chipotle, drove around Warner bro's studios, went to Beverly Hills (saw 10 ferrari's, and a mclaren f1-dan really wanted me to add that) and let stori play in a park there, went to the LA Temple, went to Long beach and saw the Queen Mary-didn't do the tour because it was $44, tried to go to the aquarium but it was closed for the Toyota grand prix, and then headed down the coast on the 101. We met up with the Thompsons and spent the night at Newport beach-our favorite. We grabbed dinner at 'Great Mex' and ate it on the beach while the sun set. We laughed a lot that night and tried to ignore the fact that it was our last time hanging out with Haily and Dan. We grabbed shakes at 'Ruby's' on the pier and ate up on the roof. It was a perfect night. We dropped them off at their hotel and had a very sad drive to San Clemente because Stori kept saying "bye haily, bye dan!" she will miss them so much. We got to Kristen and Ricks house late that night. They have such cute home and were so nice to let us stay there while they were remodeling. Sunday morn we went to church with Kristen and met Busta Rhymes. (ish). Stori took a good long nap at the Price home while we waiting for Kristen and Jon to get home to venture out to the beach. Stori loved chasing the pigeons, swinging on the swings, and walking on her own. She wouldn't let us hold her hand or carry her, so the stubborn girl probably walked 2 miles. Rick and Kristen made us a delicious dinner followed by homemade ice cream and pie! they were way too good to us! Oh and Kristen had a "Welcome to California" package put together for us when we got there. 

Monday we started our day off by going to Balboa Island to go whale watching. We got there just in time and the captain actually waited for us before he left. We saw 5 whales, many sea lions, and about 1,000 dolphins! It was a lot of fun. We grabbed lunch at 'In n Out' (again) and headed to Dana Point. I wish wish wish wish we would have swam there because there was the cutest beach there that had perfect sand. But, we went home instead. Dan's parents drove in that night so we got to spend a short time with them, Nicole, Chase, and Marisa. The boys rented Argo to watch because Kristen has Clear Play, but I fell asleep early to prepare for our early morning adventure to Disneyland. Oh man I wish I was there right now. Thanks Kristen and the Foresters for letting us invade your homes! We had so much fun seeing all the local spots and visiting with you! Now enjoy picture overload.