Daisy Anne Brooks

Daisy Anne was born Nov. 28th at 6:42 AM, weighing 8 pounds and 1 ounce. She was a week over due, I guess she just wanted to come on her own time. We were very ready for her to come on or before her due date of Nov. 21st, but she had other plans. The week following my original due date was a long week. We wondered everyday if this was going to be the day. But finally on Saturday the 27th I felt a little bit different. I had spent the day putting up Christmas decorations and I felt so tired. In the evening Aaron got home from work and we went over to his Grandma's house for a family gathering. While we were there I could feel little contrations, which wasn't a big shock because I had been feeling them all week, but they were actually coming with more consistency every 20 to 30 minutes. So I decided to time them since the were becoming more uncomfortable with each one. By the time we went home around 9:00 the contrations were coming every 15 min. I told Aaron we may need to be ready to go to the hospital. So for the next hour I kept timing my contrations. During the hour our electricity went out and I was really focusing on my contrations. By the time our electricity came back on I told Aaron we could probably go to the hospital. So, we packed a bag and drove the 10 minutes to Del Web. I remember trying to remember the songs that were playing on the radio so someday when Daisy was older I could tell her "this song was playing when we went to the hospital to delivery you..." I can't remember any of the songs :) I do remember that my contrations were becoming more painful and more frequent, but nothing horrible. We got to the hospital, registered and were then taken up to labor and delivery. They gave me a gown to put on, but I couldn't figure it out. All the snaps were undone and I couldn't figure how to wear it. So there I was in the bathroom having contrations while wearing nothing and not being able to figure out how to get dressed. I poked my head out and asked Aaron to come help, he couldn't figure it out either, so he went and got our nurse. Luckily she was an awesome nurse and helped me get dressed. I was then checked to see how much I was dialated and I was at a 5. This meant I was really in labor and got to stay. I had been hesitant about going to the hospital earlier in the week for my contractions and then having to be sent home, but I knew it was time. Aaron and I were then taken to our room, where I promtly recieved my epideral. They asked me on a scale of 1-10 when I wanted to recieve my epidrual and I said 5 or 6... and I was at a 5 or 6. I had felt enough of labor to get the jist of it. If you know my husband you know that he has a tendancy to pass out in truamtic situations, like if there is blood or something of that nature. During my entire pregnancy he threatened to not be in the room when I delivered because he didn't want to pass out. Of course this wasn't an option, I would rather have a passed out Aaron with me than no Aaron :) Anyway during my epidural Aaron started to get clamy and tunel vision. He must have caught a glimps of the needle (I didn't look, I still have no idea how big those things are). He was sitting down as a precaution before the epidural, but it didn't help. The nurse got him some apple juice and he was fine. By this time it was around midnight and we had a few hours of labor a head. So Aaron and I tried to get some sleep. Aaron hadn't sleep in over 24 hours by this point because of work so I was glad that he was able to get some sleep. I was in and out of it for the next hour or two. I would watch the monitor and see a contration coming and think "I am so glad I am not feeling that!" It was a stange feeling to have my lower half be almost completely numb, but I was glad that it was numb. By 4:00 I had dialated to a 9 and the nurse said that Daisy would probably be here within the next few hours. By 5:50 I started pushing. We had a great nurse, she did a really good job. About a 20 min. into pushing our nurse told us she could see the tip of Diasy's head and that she had a lot of hair and it was dark. Aaron and I were both surprised, we had been expecting a bald blond baby. I think at this point Aaron scooted his chair over to my bed and the doctor came in. The doctor told Aaron and I to kiss one last time while it was still the two of us and we did. I pushed for a few more minutes and then she came. She didn't really cry, and I can't remember if her eyes were open, but I do remember how wonderful it felt when they put her on my chest. I couldn't get over how much hair she had and what she looked like. I also loved the expression on Aaron's face, he wasn't woosy and even cut the cord. They took her away for a quick bath and weigh. Aaron held her and then they gave her back to me. She was sucking on her little pointer finger and it was so cute. She had actually sucked on the doctor's finger while coming out.... She came just before sunrise on a sunday morning. We stayed at the hospital till Tuesday and then went home. I love the feeling of warmth that Diasy brought with her. One of Aaron's cousins put it like this "she's fresh from heaven" and she really is. I love having this new little spirit in our home. She is grand baby number 6 on the Brooks side and grand baby number 12 on the Merrill side. I am so grateful for her and my own little family.

I want to thank everyone who came to see her in the hospital. It meant a lot to see everyone come and support us :) I also wanted to thank my Dad for driving 6 hours in a snow storm, after getting only a few hours of sleep from drivng home from Flagstaff the night before to come see Daisy. I also wanted to thank my mom for coming to help me for the first few days and for all her her help. It meant a lot to open my fridge and it was full of food... so thanks mom! I love you! I also wanted to thank Aaron's mom Rena for all of her help and her meals, it meant alot. This little girl has some great grandma's! and great Grandma's :)

p.s. I know there are alot of words spelt wrong in this post, but my spell check won't work and I am a horrible speller... so that is that.

Just Killing Time

I have some time to kill today or in other words I am putting off my homemaking duties because I don't want to do them :) So I thought I would blog about the thoughts in my head not related to having a baby, which are few, but still there.

My random thoughts:

I love 70's music. I have on the 70's station on the TV and I really am enjoying it. I think its because it reminds me of driving with my Dad to do appraisals, plus it was a good decade for music.

I miss real clothes. I hope that I will be able to lose my baby weight so I can wear cute clothes agian and feel cute in them.

I love that it is not hot outside anymore. I love opening all my windows and letting my home be filled with natural sunlight! Its the best.

I have discovered that Ande's makes cookies. They are awesome. They taste like Ande's candies and Thin Mints... two of my favorite sweets.

I am also wishing I was in Arkansas because Jill can light a fire in her fireplace and they have a little boxer puppy, I miss you Jill and your kids.

I need new glasses.

I love Harry Potter. I am a grade A dork when it comes to all things Harry Potter. I have read and listened to these books since the 4th grade over and over and over. They are never boring and so well written. More than once my mom has told me to branch out and read other books and I have but nothing has compared to Harry Potter. Aaron thinks its pathetic that I like it this much, but I have decided to have no shame. Some might think it is dork like to go to the midnight release of all the books since the fifth book and stay up for the next day reading. I am proud to say though that I have never dressed up as a Harry Potter character and gone to the movie premires (like those wierd 35 year old men... creepy). I think one of the reasons I like Harry Potter so much is that the books came out every summer so I could read as much as I wanted too. I was also close to the same age as all the characters so that was fun. I could write more like how when I was 17 and the final book came out during our volleyball camp in California and I read in the closet till 3 am so I would know what happened ,but I won't.

The reason Harry Potter is floating around in my non baby thoughts is that the first part of the final movie comes out on friday and I don't really care.... Which is not normal for me, but I want to have a baby more than I want to see Harry Potter.

So close, Almost there, A few more steps...

39 Weeks

Well I have been officially full term for over a week now and I am feeling it. I finally feel I understand what all those pregnant ladies before me were talking about. It is uncomfortable to be this big and expectantly waiting to go into labor. I am hoping that she decides she wants to meet us this week. I have been trying a few things to induce labor. I have been going on long walks with Aaron and even went over to Heidi's for a walk yesterday. I also looked up a few homemade ideas online. I have decided to avoid caster oil for now though..... instead I have been eating lots of black licorice, pineapple, and rasberry tea, all of which were on a list of labor inducing foods. Some websites also said spicy food, maybe that will be dinner tonight. I am ready for her to be here, not just so I don't have to be pregnant anymore, but I am ready to start this phase. I haven't had much motivation to do much else lately, its like I don't want to do anything, but have a baby. I am ready to know that I am really in real labor, I have contractions, but nothing is sticking so far. I am ready to get labor over with so I don't have to be so scared of the unknown. I also am anxious to actually bring her home and know that she is mine and Aaron's. I am excited about that. I have most everything ready to go to the hospital, everything but a bag packed... maybe if I go pack it she'll come.

Random...

I haven't been up to much lately just waiting to pop this little girl out, but I have found somethings to occupy my time.

This is one of the dishes I have made to freeze for when I don't want to cook, which to be honest is all the time. I am not that enthusiastic about cooking. But this dish turned out pretty good, it is a potatoe casserole dish. I also made some chicken alfredo lasanga, and a pizza casserole.

These are obviously my feet. However they are swollen in this picture, if you look closely you can see the line from my sock. The weird thing though is that my feet aren't really swollen anymore. For about a week my feet were incredibly swollen and now they are only normal prego swollen.

This is a tailess lizard. You may be wondering why I am posting a picture of a lizard without a tail. Well I found this lizard in my kitchen, not by the door or running across the floor, but in my cabinet squished between my casserole dishes. SO GROSS! I screamed and then realized it was injured and probably half dead. So I tossed it outside. I suspect that Finch had something to do with the missing tail.

And this is our Halloween pumkin from 2009. Aaron found it in the backyard, for the past year I have been using our backyard as my own personal dump and I may have just tossed this pumkin over our fence and forgot about it. Its kind of gross and funny.

This year I am thankful for...

1. Aaron
2. I get to become a mother
3. Family
4. Freedom
5. My testimony
6. Food
7. My home
8. Laughter

I thought I would follow my mom and sisters' blogs by listing all the things I am thankful for, although I am not going to try and do it everyday this month, since I plan on getting busy later this month ;) I am thankful for more than 8 things, don't worry, these things have just been at the front of my brain and I am thankful for them especially right now.

I GOT A STICKER TODAY....

for voting! I live near Sun City with all the snow birds, retirees, and those with more years :) So I got to go to the Sun City social hall to vote and I was the youngest person there. When I walked in and handed my drivers license to the poll worker she looked at me like "what is this?" I had handed her my driver's license that was still vertical stating that I am under 21, although I'm not any more, I just haven't changed it yet. Anyway she looked very confused that my license was in the wrong direction, then she said "Wow your license doesn't expire till 2054.... I'll be long gone" It made me laugh then all the other workers commented on how long I get to drive and that I was voting for 2 :) Overall it was a good voting day and I am glad I went out and voted! Oh and this little girl dropped today, I can breathe again! So hopefully she will make her debut soon:)

Bathroom

I know this isn't very impressive, but I love this bathroom. Since we moved in to our house this little second bathroom has been neglected. Aaron and I never needed it, but whenever we had someone over who needed to use the bathroom is was kind of embarrassing to send them back to our spare commode. If you scroll down you can see the before pictures. I know this isn't a big project, but I am glad that if you come over to my house now you have a nice place to go :)
Oh and the cabinet door is still a work in progress to be finished when I don't have a belly that makes it difficult to paint on the floor.

Pinetop Sprinkle

A few weekends ago my mom and sisters threw me a little baby sprinkle. It was a small shower in other words. It was so fun! I went up with Heidi and her family a few days before the sprinkle and got to spend some time in Pinetop. I love the fall there, it is my favorite time of year. Aaron couldn't come because he had to work :( but life went on. I got some very cute baby gear from all the wonderful ladies who came to my sprinkle. I have had to accept though, that I am having a girl and girl things are pink. I have never been a big fan of pink, but it is hard to resist when everything is so cute and tiny:) My favorite gift was from my sisters. It was a trendy diaper bag stocked with all the diaper bag essentials. I am looking forward to having a reason to wear it... I am tempted to use it now, but I won't. I just wanted to say thank you to my mom and all my sisters for throwing me a much needed sprinkle (with very tasty food)!

Heidi, Me, Mom, and Brittany

P.S. Missed you Jill and Connie, Love you!

Stories to Remember

The Big News:



"BAM" would be the word I would use to describe how fast I got pregnant. Aaron and I decided last Feb. to stop using birth control and I was seriously pregnant two weeks later. Aaron had been wanting to try and start a family for a few months and I was not quite there yet. But I obviously had a change of heart and we started "not preventing". I knew we would get pregnant fast, even with Aaron's reassurances that it would probably take a while. I just felt like it was going to happen really fast. Aaron was cute and brought me some pregnancy tests about a week into the "not preventing". He was excited. It was the early detection test that claims to have the results 5 days before your missed period. So around 5 days before my "fun time" I took the test and it was negative. My only thought was "I took it too soon". A few days later on the Thursday before my mom's marathon in Utah I kept thinking I should take it again. Aaron said "don't do it you just took one and they are expensive" which was true, but I wanted to. I remember doing a volleyball roll off the couch that night and thinking that felt different and that was when I decided to take another test. So sure enough 3 minutes later I knew I was pregnant. I remember looking at the two little pink lines and feeling all warm and peaceful. I went into the next room with the stick and showed Aaron. I loved the look on his face... it was like are you kidding! He then gave me a hug and I asked him to go to Wal-Mart and pick up some more tests just to be sure. He was out the door pretty fast :) I said a quick prayer and then Aaron was home before I knew it and I took another test, and then another. And that is the story of how we found out we were pregnant. I wanted to keep it a secret for a few months just to be safe, but it is really hard to keep a secret that big when your in a car for 10 hours on your way to Utah with your oldest sister. By Sunday all of our immediate family knew and soon enough it seemed like everyone else did too. Maybe next time we will keep it a secret for a little longer:)



Morning Sickness:



I hate morning sickness! So far it has been the worst part of being pregnant (knock on wood). It is a type of nausea that can't be described but I felt it constantly. I was sick all day. I read or heard of an article by some doctor that said that morning sickness is just in the head... that guy obviously has never been around a sick pregnant lady. Because it is not in your head it is in the toilet. My morning sickness hit around 8 weeks and I couldn't keep anything down except for top roman around 2 in the afternoon... weird. I no longer drink V8 Fusion or Honey Nut Cheerios...FYI. About a week into feeling sick I was lucky to have my sister-in-law Kim offer me some medicine to help with my nausea. I love zofran! It was my life saver. I got my own prescription and it helped me keep my food down and get through work. I still didn't feel great but it was a huge help and will always be thankful for it. The other weird part of morning sickness was how even the faintest scent of bacon or raw meat triggered my gag reflex. This post might be too much information but its my blog :) Anyway I think the thing I hated most about morning sickness was that it has made me not like the smell of Aaron's body wash. It was one of my favorite smell because it reminded me of when we first started dating. Now it only reminds me that it can make me queasy. It is funny though how being sick just becomes the norm and throwing up a few times a day becomes not a big deal. Yet even now whenever I hear our TV turn on, smell a candle I bought in the middle of morning sickness, think of my classroom observation hours, or look at my purple shirt I shudder because they all remind me of being sick. My morning sickness ended around 16 weeks and I am so glad. I still get sick from time to time but it always goes away. Aaron was glad that it ended too because I can't deny that my housekeeping went to pot. Who wants to do the dishes when it makes you gag? My poor house felt neglect for a few months. Next time I am pregnant I am going to definitely have to toughen up, but since it is was my first time I gave myself a break and luckily so did Aaron:)



Pregnancy Brain:



For those of you who know me you know that I can be a little aloof on occasion. I can be very comfortable in my own little brain thinking my own little thoughts and be clueless to some of the things going on around me. This is not how I am all the time and I am not proud of this character flaw, but hey. Since I have been pregnant I have noticed an up swing in my absent mindedness and What to Expect When Your Expecting says that absent mindedness is a side affect a pregnancy so there is my defence. There have been a few times though that its been really annoying. Like the time I went grocery shopping, got all of my food, went to check out and I didn't have my wallet. I had to go home while they put my food in the freezer so I could get money. Then there was the time I sucked up the window blinds cord with the vacuum and broke it. I hurried up and fixed it before Aaron got home so he wouldn't know... guess he does now. Then there was the other time when I left the water on in the front yard for 4 hours. Or when I thought KTAR said the word QU-TAR. Many times Aaron and I will be talking and he said "Lee you told me that yesterday". There have been more but with my current pregnant brain I can't seem to remember them.



Crazy Pregnant Lady Lee:



I can't pretend that I am someone who has my emotions together all the time. I am always working on trying to fix some flaw that I think I have. It can be exhausting and pointless sometimes. Luckily I married a boy who never does this and helps me be more at peace with myself. I am still a girl though, a pregnant girl at that, and sometimes I can't help it when I tear up over something as small as one of those Mormon Adds they have on the BYU channel or cry over the first part of UP! Being pregnant like most pregnant ladies know, makes you very in touch with how your feeling:) I (even if no one believes me) felt that for the first few months of being pregnant didn't get very emotional. It wasn't until recently that I have been feeling a wee bit more crazy. However, I did have my moments over the past few months that probably had Aaron very confused :) One Sunday night a few months ago we had just got home from Aaron's aunt's birthday party. At the time I was working on being a better house wife and making sure we had clean sheets and the laundry was always done... whatever. Anyway that night I was slacking and feeling like a bad wife. I had been lazy and not waited for our dryer to dry our sheets. The dryer hadn't been working all that great because we had moved it to put tile in the laundry room and it wouldn't get hot when we put it back in. So that night I tried to put damp sheets on our bed. This wasn't going to fly so I put them back in the dryer. Aaron was in the shower while I was doing all of this. While I was waiting for the sheet to dry I worked myself up because I wasn't a good housewife that could dry sheets. I eventually started to cry and that when Aaron found me. Poor boy. He asked me why I was crying and I told him it was because the sheets were wet and I was a horrible wife. He was trying so hard trying not to laugh at me. He told me to go lay down and he would fix the dryer, which he did. I got over the wet sheets.



Aaron:



Aaron has been really good to me. He has rubbed my feet and my back and picked up food whenever I didn't want to cook. He also was really supportive when I quit work a little earlier than planned, thank you! He has also helped me not be the baby and made me suck it up... more times than I would like, but its good for me. I am so glad the we are starting our own family and I am excited to see if our little girl will look like a Brooks or a Merrill. I know he is excited even if he doesn't want to be in the delivery room. Don't worry he'll be there, he just doesn't want to pass out, which he won't. He was sweet the other night. I do try not to wake him up during my many visits to the bathroom during the night, but I haven't been trying so hard now that I can't really turn over with feeling rather uncomfortable. Anyway the other night I woke up so hungry, I went to the kitchen to get some yogurt. When I reached for the yogurt I dropped the jar of salsa and it made a loud noise. A few seconds later Aaron came running out, looked at me and said I thought you fell over.... I thought it was sweet that he came to check on me. Even if it was just the pregnant lady getting a midnight snack:) He is going to be a good Dad.



The Name:



Aaron and I have butted heads about what this little girl will be named. He has liked the name Daisy since his mission. There was a family in Costa Rica whose Dad was some kind of ambassador and they were really good to the missionaries. They had a little girl named Daisy that really liked Aaron. She had blond hair and blue eyes and Aaron thought "I want a little girl with blond hair and blue eyes named Daisy". He told me that when we were first dating and my first thought was "like Daisy Fuentes?" We both felt like we would have a girl first and we looked through baby name books and family genealogy records looking for a name. Aaron always liked Daisy, but I could only think of all the Daisy's out there. Like Daisy Duke, Daisy Duck, Daisy sour cream, Daisy BB guns, Daisy the flower.... I liked the name but I still wanted to see what other names I liked. So over the past few months I have liked JOVIE, ELEANOR, MARGARET, REESE, RUBY, LUCY, ELLIE, TEAGAN and the ones that came and went I don't even remember what they were. JOVIE has been the only name I have been constant with me, but I can't think of a name that I just love! But Aaron can... DAISY has been the front runner since the beginning and the closer we get to my due date it looks like we are going to have a little Daisy. My thing is I am having the baby so I get the last say on what her name is. So if she comes out a little Daisy then she is Daisy, but if not then who knows what her name will be? Aaron and I still don't agree entirely on this but, we probably never will :) I can't wait to see her and who she is!

The longest post ever

My mom said something interesting the other day about birthdays. She said that a birthday is a marvelous day. It is the day that we came to this earth from our father in heaven and that it should be a celebration of our decision to come to earth and that as parents we should celebrate the spirit that we have been given to protect and help grow. I've been thinking about that since our little girl's birthday is just around the corner.

I have also been thinking that the older you get the less exciting your own birthday seems to be. I am now 21 and I keep comparing my 21st birthday to all my other birthdays. I love my birthday not because it is my birthday but that it is the beginning of fall and that means the holidays are coming and the weather starts to cool off. However I have noticed that every year not just with me but with most people a birthday is just another day that happens to mark the passing of time in your life. When your a kid your birthday is like your own personal Christmas. You get to have a party, games, candy, friends, cake, and of course presents. It is a little celebration just for you. I am not saying that no matter how old you get you should have a party and act like your 6 again, but birthdays were a much bigger deal when I was in elementary school. I guess I am thinking that because in the world 21 is a mile stone kind of birthday for obvious reasons. A lot of people have a big party and get to act like they are 6 again ;) But for me I was happy to spend the weekend with my family which is usually what I do every year and wouldn't really want it any other way.





One of my favorite games is the "grade school game" where you go around and tells stories from each grade. It always makes me laugh. Anyway I am going to play the " birthday game" and try and remember all my birthdays. No one has to read this because it might be long and boring but for my own fun I am going to do it:)





Birthdays 1-5: I don't really remember to much from my earlier birthdays. A few things that stick out to me are a barbie that Grandma Beverly and Grandpa gave me that had a wand that was a flower and it had a magnet in it. Then I remember getting a collection of the those Little Golden Books from Aunt Lyn while I was at Grandma Brewer's house. I also remember having a birthday party at home and unwrapping my presents and having to give everyone a hug after I opened their gift. I think that birthday was the birthday that Tim or Mom accidentally left the video camera rolling in the kitchen for like an hour and all you can here are little kids and all you can see it the kitchen table. Exciting.





6th Birthday: I think this birthday was my princess party birthday or maybe it was just a dress up party.... I remember all my joy school friends coming and were all dresses up in princess gear. I was wearing my pink sparkly dress with the gold trim that mom made me. I don't remember much about the party other than taking pictures at the end. Mom if your reading this maybe you could fill me in if you remember.





7th Birthday: I think this was the first birthday that I had a sleep over. It might have been my 8th but I can't seem to remember. Anyway what I remember most about this party was that Heidi threw this one for me or at least she once claimed she did. It was a Friday night and that meant there was a football game somewhere so mom and dad weren't home and Heidi was left in charge. I think this party was a last minute party, but it was a lot of fun. Heidi put up steamers and we had a store bought cake and we played a game where no one was aloud to eat their cake with utensils but only there mouths. I remember feeling cool when we did that because every one of my friends parties that I went to for the next year had cake eating in the same style. ( I do think that game was Heidi's idea) We also played dogs (Erin Brackney was my best friend at the time and we always played dogs together). I remember opening presents and getting a doll that came with about 20 different outfits.





8th Birthday: I remember my baptism dress was purple and made of a velvety material. My mom made it and I liked that I had a purple dress when everyone else had a white dress. I remember going into the water and seeing my dad on the other side of the font. I also was worried that I wouldn't go all the way under and that no one would notice. I remember getting my first set of scriptures with new scripture pencils and and a green scripture case. I also remember that I got baptised on the 4th instead of the 3rd my actual birthday because I wanted Pete to be there, but he couldn't make it on my real birthday because he had a football game.



9th Birthday: I was in the third grade for this birthday. I don't recall if I had a party, I don't think I did. But I remember getting a new bike that was purple and hard to ride because I was too short, but I thought it was the coolest bike because it was a real bike (I'd been riding a green banana seat for a few years, which I liked). I also got a jean quilt from Heidi that I still have and love. I remember when Heidi started making that quilt she didn't know what she was going to do with it but decided to make a gift of it to me. And more than once she has told me she regretted it because it was so nice:) I also remember getting an Idaho post card From Pete telling me happy birthday.



10th Birthday: I liked turning ten because I was in the two digits. I can't think if I had a party this year. I remember wanting horses because my cousin Marielle was into horses and I wanted to be able to play with horses when I went to her house. I think I got a necklace from the LDS bookstore with my birthstone on it. I do remember getting a watch and feeling like I was growing up because mom and dad gave me a watch.



11th Birthday: I remember asking mom if I could have a sleep over with just Ashley and Hannah. We watched movies and played hide and seek. I remember hiding in Jill's old closet while they both looked for me. And more than once they would come into the closet and pull all the coats back but couldn't find me. I was in there for like an hour. I remember thinking "this is awesome, I am the best hider" but then I thought "what if they saw me but pretended they didn't...." Anyway I finally came out and we all laughed.



12th Birthday: My mom planned a surprise party for me this year. It was a half day at school and picture day. I remember that no one got me a gift and or really said happy birthday and I was bummed. I do remember Hannah getting off the bus and throwing her arms up and saying "Dang it I forgot your present!" After school was over I walked over to the library where my mom worked and we were there while everyone went to my house. I don't remember the surprise part of my birthday but I remember thinking "wow". I had chocolate cake and got a new comforter for my bed.



13th Birthday: I remember thinking 13 isn't that big of a deal I am a teenager now but I can't do anything. I didn't have a party this year. But this was a fun birthday because we had a softball game in Alchesay and I got two home runs on my birthday (who cares if it was only Alchesay). I also got Monsters Inc., a CD case, and hard stuff.



14th Birthday: This was another surprise party. I was really surprised. All that day I remember feeling so sorry for myself because once again no one seemed to remember my birthday or get me a gift. I am ashamed to admit that but its true. I also was kind of bummed out because usually on your birthday you got to open your gifts in the morning and have your favorite breakfast. But all I got in the morning was the Bruce Hornsby anthology and a CD. Sorry mom I was a turd. Anyway I got home from school and pooped around the house for a few hours until my dad asked me to pick up the pizzas with him. I didn't think anything of it when we drove all the way down to Show Low and picked up 10 pizzas for mom, dad, and me. When we got home I walked in the door and my friend Kelsey was standing in the middle of the kitchen crying and I was so confused, but then all my friend jumped out and yelled surprise. And as for Kelsey she was having a rough day because her cat had been put to sleep and she was caught off guard when I walked in. That was definitely one of my favorite birthdays. It was way fun and much needed because I was feeling kind of blue since Heidi had left for college. So thank you mom and dad for throwing me a surprise party. I also got more gifts than usual because I think my mom wasn't sure how to shop for just one kid yet.... I got a jansport backpack which was a big deal in my brain because that was a nice backpack, a purse, and clothes.



15th Birthday: I liked this birthday. My birthday was on the weekend, Jill and John had come up with Quinn for general conference, Heidi came home too, and Tim and Connie. I remember Quinn getting a bath before breakfast and Heidi doing her laundry (I was keeping an eye out clothes). We had biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Jill gave me a yellow fleece blanket, Heidi gave me a box with twall fabric on it, and Mom and Dad got me new set of scriptures for seminary with some very pretty piano music. We went up into the mountains to listen to conference and dutch oven-ed and ate camels:) And John let me drive their Tacoma, that was the highlight of the day.



16th Birthday: I got an ipod for this birthday, however I was more excited to get my driver's license. But I remember going to the DMV and finding out that I couldn't get my licence that day because you have to make an appointment, you could no longer just go in. Plus the speedometer in my jeep stopped working. I was beyond disappointed. I wanted to drive so bad and even though had an appointment for the next day (which I passed) it still sucked. I guess heavenly father was teaching me a lesson in patience. I remember going to Denny's with my Mom after we couldn't get my license and knowing that I should be acting more mature about the whole situation but I didn't care. I got over it and I am thankful that my mom was so understanding.



17th: I remember this as a good day. At the time I really wanted a boyfriend, but at Blue Ridge that wasn't going to happen. So my friends knowing that I wanted a boyfriend got a poster of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (mmmmm) and put him in my car as a filler. They also decorated my car and that made me feel special. I also go a new ipod as my gift from my parents my previous one had been stolen from my car along with my jansport backpack in the Taco Bell parking lot. So luckily they were nice enough to get me new one. I also had fun that day because for volleyball we went up in the country club and played sand and celebrated mine and Katie's birthday with cupcakes. Then for dinner we went to Native New Yorker. I also got a fun gift from Jill. She put together a gift basket full of random things like pantene shampoo, post its, socks and pens. I still have those socks and they are the best. I also got a fun card from Tim and Connie that sang the "its the perfect day" from the Legally Blond soundtrack and it was a volleyball card.



18th: This was my last birthday at home. I got a red camera from mom and dad. I like this birthday too. I had a volleyball/birthday party with the girls on my team at my house. We went to the football game against Show Low then came back to my house. We ate and watched movies (Elf is ten times funnier at 3 AM). It was just a good day.



19th: This birthday was a little bit different than all my other birthdays. I had a volleyball game against Yavapia and we won which was awesome. I hadn't really told anyone it was my birthday and some how my coaches found out so after the game they had a brownie bites towere with candles on it and the team sang happy birthday to me. That was very sweet. Heidi also decorated my bathroom for me which started my day off fun. I got Mrs. Petigrew lives for a day and all of the Anne of Green Gable movies. But what was different about this birthday was that my boyfriend took me out to dinner. Aaron and I had only been dating a few weeks but he was officially my boyfriend. He took me to the Olive Garden and gave me a card with flowers. The card was an Office card and he wrote "love" Aaron. After we went to dinner we went back to Heidi's and "watched" Hot Rod. It was fun birthday.



20th: Last year Aaron and I went up to Pinetop for my birthday. That alone was a great birthday present. Tim and Connie we up too and we drove up to Green's Peak. In the evening after them men got home from the priesthood session we had cake and ice cream. Then on the way home we stopped in Mesa and picked up my birthday present Finch. He was tiny. My mom also gave me a basket of fall decorations which i really liked because it made my house feel all cozy.



I doubt anyone but me with read all of that but I thought I would write down all my birthday memories before I forget them.

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

I am now 21 years old! wahoo! I am a real adult now... not really. I am excited to change my drivers license from the vertical view to the horizontal view though. I had a good birthday. I have always liked having my birthday be on or around the fall general conference. I wish Aaron and I could have gone to Pinetop and gone up into the mountains to listen to conference. That was and still is one of my favorite things to do for my birthday. However, my first birthday away from pinetop was a very good one. Aaron and I spent about and hour and a half in Hobby Lobby picking out my birthday present and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory. I was impressed with Aaron, he is a fun shopping buddy. I just have to catch him on the day that he is so bored he is willing to spend over an hour and half in Hobby Lobby... And the Cheesecake Factory is always delicious! Plus the last time I went was on the date when Aaron told me he loved me so it was kind of fun to go and see how far we have come since then. A lot can happen in a short amount of time. We also went over to Steve and Rena's for the the second session of general conference. We had a really good dinner and Jeremiah made the best apple cobbler in his dutch oven. It was funny when I was trying to blow out the candles because they wouldn't stay put in the cobbler. They kept tilting and come to find out after I blew out the candles they kept falling because the cobbler was so hot the the wax was melting in the cobbler. It was really funny but probably one of those things where you had to be there. Over all I had a good birthday.

Fleming Family Reunion

This Labor day weekend Aaron and I went to his family's annual Labor Day reunion in Strawberry. The Fleming family is Aaron's Grandma Davis's family. They have been doing this for over 50 years! I had the best time and so did Aaron. Aaron and I even got to use our camping gear for the first time :) Camping is the best. I love camp fires, camping food, being outdoors, but mostly I loved being around good company. We got into camp around 10:30 Friday night and it seemed like every man that was awake came and helped set up our tent. I appreciated that since it was dark and it is becoming a little bit more difficult to bend over :) Aaron has a great family with a lot of good examples. I am thankful we were able to go and be a part of the weekend. Aaron always tells me the best stories of when he was a kid at this reunion and how much fun he had with his cousins. I can't wait till my kids are old enough to make their own memories at this reunion. I sadly however was too lazy to walk to our car and get my camera to capture my own memories. I regret this now because there were some pretty good picture opportunities.

Highlights of the Weekend:
Testimony Meeting
Aaron trying to eat an oreo off his face without using his hands
Good jokes
The annual horse shoe tournament ( Aaron and I were partners, he carried the team)
Chicken Fajitas
The second nights sleep with my jean quilt

It was a good weekend.

Aaron's Toys

When I married Aaron I knew he liked cars and toys, I knew he wanted to work on cars for a living, and I knew he liked to take a gander at Craig's list, but what I didn't know is how MUCH he liked his cars. Every week he has a new idea of the car he wants to fix or of a toy he wants. The past few weeks it has been a pop-up tailer and a mini bike. Luckily every idea doesn't materialize :) Yet in the year and half we have been married a few ideas have come to life or at least have been started. We have been the owners of a sand-rail, which was soon traded in for a Volkswagen bug, which was quickly traded for a motorcycle, and then finally for a fender guitar (kind of random). After the guitar Aaron found the car of his dreams, a 1971 Plymouth Duster. It was the perfect project car that he said he always wanted but never had the opportunity to buy. However, the Duster has been sitting in the garage for the past few months with Aaron only occasionally being able to work on it. So with our baby girl coming it started to make more sense to sell the Duster and wait for the day when he had more time and money for a project car. It still amazes me that we have had that much stuff in such a short amount of time. Hopefully we will have a breather for the next few years while our family grows... somethings tells me though that that will problably not be the case.

The Sand-Rail

The Bug

The motorcycle



The Fender

The Duster



Aaron saying goodbye to the Duster... So sad.

Kitchen

Since the first time I saw my kitchen I HATED my cabinets. I love my house, but those cabinets had to go. With school, work, and volleyball there really hasn't been time to do anything about them. But with inspiration from my sisters and mom I finally did something about it. I have had a little time on my hands before our baby girl gets here and decided to give these cabinets a face lift. (Although now that I am done with the cabinets, it seems Nov. 21 isn't very far away!) Anyway it was a lot of work, but I am proud to say I did it all myself with the occasional advice from Aaron :) and now I can't stop looking at them.

This is what it looked like when we first moved in… so nice. Couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

This is what it looked like after a lot of help from family (thanks guys!). Oh and Aaron put on the missing cabinets when I was in Wisconsin, it was a very nice and thoughtful homecoming gift.
Picked color and painted away the brown wall. I decided to not go with green even though I love green. I think Aaron was a little skeptical at this piont haha. Sanded, primed, and filled in the weird gap thing.
I mitered all of the molding and put it on myself. Wood putty is my friend:) Oh and note to self for future projects don’t start painting until it’s time to paint.

It’s so pretty! It took a week and a half with plenty of pregnancy breaks (naps). Oh I almost forgot to mention our wonderful tile floor. One of Aaron’s mission companions did our whole house for us and it looks great. I am so thankful for my kitchen.Eventually I want to put up a bead board back splash, but that’s for the future.You may notice my sink curtains. This was a cute solution to an unforeseen problem. I didn’t account for the width of the molding placed on the cabinet. Long story short I couldn’t open some cabinets because there wasn’t enough space between them. They would hit each other and only open to about a 20 degree angle. So yay for cute Hobby Lobby fabric and fabric tape! It’s one of my favorite things about my kitchen now. I also have cute handle’s for the draws that Heidi had but I took these pictures before I put them on and they look very good.

Now it's time for baby stuff!

Aaron

I am up in Pinetop for the next few days enjoying the rain and cool weather... its the best! Sadly though Aaron is not here with me, he had to work. He finished UTI today and we are both very happy to be done with the UTI phase of life. I am so proud of his commitment to his schooling. Going to UTI isn't fun. He went to school from 6:30 AM to 12:45 PM every day, five days a week for a year, then went to work! I admire him for doing that because I would have complained the whole time if it were me, but Aaron rarely complained. He also did very good in school ( I can brag,he's my husband and I am proud). He did so well he recieved student of the course multiple times and frequently won movie tickets for his good grades. Score! I just want to say A JOB WELL DONE & CONGRATS!

Finch

For my 20th Birthday Aaron bought me a little orange kitten. I named him Finch like Aticus Finch in To Kill a Mocking Bird. I like him.I may be a dork for liking him as much as I do, but he's a funny cat. I like dogs and cats, but cats do better at just taking care of themselves, they don't need as much attentions as dogs do. Finch is an intersting Cat. I think the only reason he's lasted this long without Aaron killing him is because he's fun. Some might say he's a wierd cat which is true but he's entertaining. I am writing all this down because when we have our baby, I more than likly will not feel the same about Finch when we have a baby, which is expected.

Top 10 Things We Like about Finch:
1. He's orange. All the best cats have orange fur.
2.He's declawed. This may be a wierd thing to like about a cat, but its funny to watch him pat at things and nothing happens.
3. He jumps really high. Every morning when I brush me teeth I lean one hand against the wall and wait for finch to jump the 4 and a half feet to try and attack my arm. Its really funny to watch.
4. He's lays on his back. If Finch is laying on the floor its on his back. I just think its cute.
5.He always greets me at the door when I come home from work.
6. He carries a little stuffed teddy bear around the house.
7. He sprints from one end of the house to other.
8. He can survive being thrown 8 feet across a room.
9.He's soft and snuggly.
10. He likes to sleep in wierd places like under the TV or the shower. He even still sleeps in the shower after Aaron locked him in there and turned on the water hehe.

The Top 7 Things We don't like about Finch:
1. He's naughty. He always jumps on the counters. I will walk into the kitchen and there he is, but as soon as he see's me he's off like a bullet. I have learned to stop leaving glass cups on the counter because he knocks them off.
2. He's a bitter.
3. He's a cord chewer. He chewed through our Christmas Tree lights last year. I am surprised he survived the shock.
4.Cat Box... need I say more.
5.He likes to wake us up by attacking our hands.
6. He likes to pounce at our legs in the middle of the night on a trip to the bathroom, which I have to admitt is pretty funny, but annoying.
7. He likes to be right in your face when your on the the computer, drives me crazy

This Might Take a While

Ignore the flaws in my posts.... like the extra long spaces between stuff =)

One Year Anniversary Concert

Tiny Lady A

Tim McGraw on the big screen.

Half way though the concert.

Waiting for the concert to start.

For our first anniversary Aaron and I got to go to the Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum concert at Cricket Pavillion. I love that Aaron likes to do things. I like to do fun stuff too, but he is proactive about actually getting out and doing it, unlike me. Anyway he found some pretty good tickets on line and we decided why not. It was SO much fun! The only downside was the lady who made me throw away my Bugels before we went in. It wasn't really that hot and when the sun went down it was perfect. And I have to say both Aaron and I were impressed with how good both Tim McGraw and Lady A sounded live.

It's Late....

It is almost 11:30 on a Friday night, and I am blogging for the first time. Aaron is working until midnight tonight. That is so late. I am feeling sentimental tonight, but that is probably because its late and my prego hormones are making me think. I am thinking about my best friend. Aaron is my buddy. We have been married over a year now. I occasionally think about what my life would be like if I hadn't married him. And I have decided it would have sucked. He works so hard to make my life easier. He is the best best hug giver (even if he is stingy about when he gives them... just kidding, but seriously). He makes me smile and and he is patient with my wayward brain. He makes me laugh too, which is very important to me. I miss him tonight. He got to go with me to my ultra sound appointment today to find out the sex of our little one, but he or she wasn't in the mood to give us a peek. The ultra sound tech said he thought it was a girl by the fact that he couldn't see any specific parts necessary for a it to be a boy. Aaron and I have both felt that its a girl, but you never know. So from now on until we find out if it is 100% a girl, I am just going to refer to "her" as a "girl". Anyway "she" was curled up in a tiny little ball in on the right side of my uterus. We were both a little bit disappointed to leave without knowing for sure what we are having, but everything looked in place and healthy, which we are thankful for. I am writing this down because the fact that this little one was curled up in a tight little ball, just reminded me of myself. I can get a little "tight" about somethings and Aaron is the best remedy for my "tightness". He helps me see things more clearly and helps me relax. So for the fact that this little one was curled up in a tight little ball makes me feel good that if that is a sign that this kid is like me, "she" will have a great Dad to help her have fun and see things more clearly.