3 years

Today is our 3 year anniversary! It's one of those, "I can't believe it's been three years/ I can't believe it's only been three years" things. The last year brought a lot of change for us, especially the last few months of being parents! Tonight we are going to The Melting Pot to celebrate. Being a sucker for presents, we've already opened them! Sean got me a webcam (Skype anyone?), and I got him a food grinder attachment for the KitchenAid. Both things will most likely get a lot of use!


In other news, we're almost done Christmas shopping. Only 2 more to buy and we're done. Abby ended up getting more than I anticipated on buying her, but walking down the toy aisles, it's so hard to resist all the cute toys these days! Needless to say, she's spoiled. Speaking of spoiled, she even got to see Santa. The picture isn't the greatest, it's not very close and she's slumping down in Santa's arms, but you can't complain with free.

Yesterday I went back to work for the first time since Abigail was born. It was hard to leave her, but Sean was with her all day so that made it a little better. The worst was it was a super busy day, everyone's patience was fried, and it was one of my worst days working at the hospital. It didn't make it easy to come back. But I will only be working 1-2 days a week so it won't be so bad.

We're excited for Christmas and have been listening to Christmas songs all month. We especially enjoyed the Christmas program at church on Sunday with the beautiful music. It really helped us tune into the true Spirit of Christmas and remember the birth of our Savior. We are so grateful for Him and His life and sacrifice for us, and are glad to celebrate His birth.

We're are also excited to bless Abigail on January 1st. Anyone who wants to come is welcome:) I still haven't gotten her a blessing dress yet, but I'm going on the hunt this week. I've been waiting since I didn't know what size she would fit. Speaking of size, she's starting to outgrow her newborn clothes, but mostly just in length. Which makes it even more difficult to choose a size since most of her 3 month clothes are a little too big. But, better too big than not being able to get it off! Here's a perspective picture with Daddy to see how big she is getting!

We also started bring her to church with us on Sundays. She and I only stay for Sacrament, but I think she likes it!

2 months old!

Yesterday Abigail turned 2 months old! I can't believe how fast these last 2 months have gone, and especially the last one since she's been home! I thought I'd update you all on her goings on.

She learned how to roll over from her tummy to her back. As I'm writing this I can't remember if I wrote about it in the last post or not, but I'm going to include the video as proof! I thought that she had lost the ability (because of her ever increasing chubbiness) or had forgotten how, but she did it again yesterday.

She's also started Army crawl-scooting. It's the best way I can describe it. It's not exactly like an Army crawl, but she's getting around. Here's here before and after pictures, and I swear I did not move her!

Before: the way I set her down

After: the way she ended up

We went to the Dr.'s on Wednesday and had her 2 month check-up. She'd been off the oxygen for a week, and when they checked her again, she was perfect! No more oxygen!!! I'll be glad to get all the tanks out of the house. She's growing well and is in the 3rd %ile for weight, the 5th %ile for height, and the 0 %ile for head circumference. I had to laugh when I saw these because it's the charts for a 2 month old born at ~40 weeks. On the charts for preemie's she's doing great and is in the 50-75th %ile in all categories. She's now above 8 pounds and gaining it all in her thighs and cheeks, and she's 21 inches long.

The doctor gave me the go ahead to start letting her sleep longer during the night, and I love it! The first couple nights she did great and slept about 6 hours, but she's also learning how to wake up better and so it's looking like the longer sleeping might not be long lasting, at least for a while. We also got a prescription for her acid reflux, and she is doing soooo much better. Less fussy, sleeps better, and eating better. After the first day of having her medicine, she started eating almost an ounce more than she was before, which leads me to believe the acid reflux was keeping her from eating as much as she could/should have.

She also got her shots, which made for a fuuuussy baby. I know I have it easy when it comes to her, she's usually pretty calm, easy to console, and doesn't cry much, but that day she cried and cried and no amount of consoling helped. Needless to say, we do not like shots.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving at Sean's parents and Abby got to meet her uncle Owen and friend uncle Steven. She also got to wear her cute Turkey onesie that Brenna made.

I like this one because it's so cute when she yawns! Also one of the turkey's pupils fell off. I tried to fix it with super glue, but all the glue ended up on my fingers and none on the eye. Hence, the one pupiled turkey.

The cute tail feathers!!

Anddd she's awake!

Gratitute

I cannot even fathom that Thanksgiving is now less than a week away! Even so, I have been thinking about all of our very many blessings and the things that I am grateful for.

Today is a day to be especially grateful. Abigail passed her room air challenge! Meaning she doesn't have to wear the oxygen anymore! She will get checked again next week at the doctors office, so it may not be permanent if they think that she's working too hard to keep up her saturations, but we're thinking on the positive side of things! For now, no more lugging around the oxygen tank. No more tripping over the tubing. No more "can you hold her so I can go into the kitchen because her tubing is not quite long enough"!

I am grateful to be eating delicious 1000 mile stew. I may have already had 2 heaping bowls... The only things that could make this bowl even better is from a dutch oven at the cabin with family:) That seems to be when it tastes the best! (and for those of you who are wondering what in the world 1000 mile stew is, it's a family recipe beef stew)

I am also grateful for Dr. Brown's bottles. I bought one this morning to see if it would help with Abby's present eating issues. She's been really fussy when she eats lately and has been spitting up more, eating less, and has thrown up a few times. The home health nurse practitioner agreed that it sounds like she may be having a little bit of reflux. We have a doctors appointment for next week, but in the mean time I needed to figure something out. Dr. Brown's bottles are expensive, but I can already tell a huge difference. Over the last two feedings she's been a lot less fussy, hasn't spit up very much, and is eating more than she was. and sleeping better I may add.

Thank you Dr. Brown, whoever you are!

I am also grateful for the pumpkin cookies that I will be making later and eating way too many of.

I'm grateful that it is Friday. Even though there is nothing to differentiate it from all of the other days when you're at home with a baby, there is just something satisfying about Friday's.

Thinking back, I am also grateful that my mom was able to come help us when Abby came home!

I'm thankful for my in-laws who have helped a lot and who gave Abby beautifully painted furniture! Now her clothes can be organized in drawers rather than on the floor in stacks:)


Now that Abby is off the oxygen, I think we'll be making the transition to her crib full time. It won't be anything new for her, but I think I might not be able to sleep the first night with her in there!

November already?!

The past two months have been a crazy whirlwind and I can't believe it's already mid-November. I thought I'd jump on here (despite my long list of things to do, which includes taking a nap) and catch y'all up on what's happening in our lives.

After 31 days in the NICU, Abigail finally came home! She's still on oxygen, but we're hoping she'll be off that by the end of next week when the home health nurse comes. Two hours after we got home, we got a call from the hospital saying one of the babies had tested positive for pertussis (whopping cough) and had to take her to the dr.'s office , which is conveniently only 2 minutes away, to get tested. As a precaution, they put all the babies on an antibiotic for 5 days. The combination of her transition to being in our home, and the antibiotics made for one fussy baby, at least for her. She's a lot better now, is sleeping better, eating better, and not so fussy.

We love having her home with us and having our family all together. We were lucky enough to have my mom come for a week to help us with this transition and I'm so glad she did. I always told myself I wasn't going to be a worry-wart of a mother, but I think it's innate. You can't help it! and it was so nice to have her there to reassure me, give me advice, and for me to ask her questions.

We also got Netflix and I've been watching 30 Rock from the beginning. Mostly I watch it while pumping to make the time go faster and keep myself awake during the night. We also love our new apartment. Although it is smaller, we like the floor plan much better and I think it's more inviting. We also have a nice storage closet out on the patio so that Abby still has a closet instead of using it for storage.

I also had a baby shower here in CO thanks to my lovely mother-in-law! My sister-in-law Susanna did the games, and it was a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who came and for all the gifts!!!


Here are some pictures!

Here's us coming home from the hospital on the first snow day of the year!

A cute outfit she got at the baby shower!

A cute outfit I got for her:)

Her Halloween costume, a ballerina!

Abigail Jo Robison

So many of you may be wondering why in the world (or how in the world) Abby is here 8 weeks early. I'm still wondering myself, but I am glad she is here and is healthy and doing well! Not to mention she's the cutest baby that has ever lived, not that I'm biased or anything... Anyway, here's the story...

Sunday morning
2 AM - I'm peacefully sleeping when I awake to a "pop" and guuush (gross I know). My heart started racing when I realized what had actually just happened. Sean was still up watching TV upstairs so I grabbed my phone and called him without getting up. The conversation went something like this, "Hello", "SEAN MY WATER JUST BROKE!!!", "Seriously?", "YES, COME DOWNSTAIRS!", "Something something", "I DON'T KNOW JUST COME DOWN RIGHT NOW!!". It took him almost an hour to get downstairs or at least it seemed that way. When he got to the room I ripped off the covers and he realized that my water had indeed broken. We both got appropriately dressed for a trip to the ER. Meanwhile I'm trying to breathe and slow down my heart rate knowing that freaking out wouldn't do the baby any good. Sean called his mom, she said go to the ER. Called the doctor, and got the one on-call for the night. He asks how far along, I say 32 weeks, he says "wow that's early" (as if I didn't know this already). He says go to the hospital, I'll meet you there.

2:30ish - We get to the ER, and don't have to wait long for someone from labor and delivery to come pick me up and take me to their triage room. I should mention at this point, I have no contractions and am just fine besides being scared. I change into a gown, and the nurse takes my vitals, history, finds the baby's heart rate etc. She says their going to check the fluid to make sure it is indeed my water that had broken. When she comes back and sees how much liquid (probably TMI) there is, she says "oh yeah, I probably don't even need to check it, but I will just in case". She comes back a minute later and says it was indeed my water and they'd be taking me to a regular L&D room. Meanwhile, I start having little contractions.

3:30-4ish - I get to the other room, and they start an IV, give me a steroid shot for her lungs, and tell me they're going to try to keep me pregnant for 48 more hours. My contractions started getting longer and more painful, and closer together, but the monitor wasn't picking them up very well. Finally they got so bad, I told Sean I wanted something for pain, and they decide to see if I was dilated. After 2 people checking through the contractions (which was very painful) they decide I'm 7-8 cm dilated. This is when we alllll realize the baby is coming soon. They ask me if I want an epidural, I say "YES PLEASE" and that was the smartest choice I'd made for the last month. Before I got the epidural, I wasn't getting any relief between the contractions. Afterwards, I could at least relax and breath, which is a lot harder through contractions than I had ever imagined. My anesthesiologist was amazing and even let me keep laying on my side which they usually don't do. My doctor was also awesome, even though I'd never met him before. He was very helpful, calm, and caring.

7ish - I start pushing through the contractions. The epidural and the magnesium they had given me earlier had made it harder for me to feel the contractions, so they gave me some pitocin to make they more regulated. I should mention that through all of this, Sean was the most awesome husband ever. He rubbed my back and would have done anything to help me:)

9:02 - Baby Abigail is born! They took her straight away to the warmer to get her warm and check her lungs, which were a big concern considering how early she was. She scored 8's on her apgars, which made me quite pleased. Abby got a c-pap put on, and then Sean went with the nurses to take her to the NICU, while I got pampered with apple juice.

Later that afternoon I got to go see her. She is beautiful! Easily the cutest baby I've ever seen:) Sean, Aaron, and Jan were able to give her a blessing that night, which definitely made me feel better, and helped Abby's lungs get strong quick!

The next day they changed her oxygen to a regular cannula, and the next day she was completely off of the oxygen. She is continuing to get stronger and closer to coming home! She's off of her IV's, her pulse oxygen monitor, and is at her max for her feedings. She's surprised the doctors at how well she's done and how far she's come considering how early she was.

Sean and I are smitten and love to hold her and take pictures of her. We're hoping that she'll get to come home in a couple weeks and are so excited to have her in our family! Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Brand new! Look at that hair!

On her C-pap machine. Day 1

Regular oxygen! Day 2

First bath! You can see how small she is.

Hanging out in her phototherapy lights

She loves it when Daddy holds her!

Hit by a...

Train. Or at least that's how I feel this last week, like I've been hit by the third trimester train. Pregnancy was going well and I was feeling good, until BAM, it's a lot harder and I'm not feeling so good. Mostly just uncomfortable. On Monday I will be 32 weeks. That means 8 weeks left to go, and 7 months down. It seems like no matter how I sit, it's always uncomfortable, and so is laying. Sleeping is almost not enjoyable since I wake up at least every 2 hours to pee and have to move around. My hips and/or back are almost constantly hurting, and it's hard to find relief from that. I've also freaked out several times this week because she's not moving around quite as much as she was before (probably because she's so squished!), but I just have to lay down and eat some sugar to get her going.

On a positive note, Sean felt her move for the first time this week. He was pretty excited but said that it felt weird. I also had my first Braxton-Hicks on Sunday. Not very exciting, but at least my body is getting ready to bring this little girl into the world. Also positive, we've started our parenting/birthing class, and last Monday I pretty much got a 3 hour massage from Sean in practice for relaxing techniques:) He swears the whole class is a ploy for him to give me a massage.

Unrelated to the baby, Fall is almost here and I'm so excited to start eating Fall foods, like my favorite, pumpkin. Tonight we're going to try a pumpkin pasta. Hopefully it's good. I'm also going to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies later this week. I was surprised when I went to Target that they already had Christmas decorations for sale, right next to the Halloween stuff. Are they forgetting Thanksgiving too? At least we have something in common. We also get the keys to our new apartment this Friday and I'm excited to start moving. I also have this thing for re-arranging furniture, so setting up our furniture in a new configuration is pretty exciting. Sean also gets to do a Crisis Intervention training this next week, which he was looking forward to. He had actually gotten approved for the training that was right around when the baby is due, so he was fortunate to be able to switch and get to participate in this one.

Summer, baby, Christmas

I think that it is trying to turn into Fall here in Colorado. It's getting cooler and terrifically more bearable. However, my mind seems to go through this sequence: Summer, baby, and then Christmas. Fall shmall. Or the other two big holidays that exist between now and Christmas. In order to get ready for the arrival of our new little one, it seems like nothing else matters. That alone is the biggest event until Christmas, and in my defense, Thanksgiving will totally overshadowed by the fact that a) I have a new baby at home, b) I'm in the hospital with a new baby, or c) I am feeling like I'm going to explode because new baby is late. On Monday, I'll be 30 weeks along. That's 3/4 of the way. 10 weeks left.

Anyway, as you can tell I have baby on the mind. In other news, Sean and I have been trying to expand our food horizons. We've tried several new recipes, which have not disappointed thus far. Some of the new ones we'll be trying this next week are orange Thai beef skewers, baked creamy chicken taquitos, and grilled cheese with pineapple. Sean also make his own chili from his own recipe the other night. It was pretty tasty! I also have a new addiction to food blogs. It's so nice to have people think of new things to eat for you. 

We're also excited to be moving at the end of this month/ beginning of next month. It's a little smaller, but I actually think the amount of storage space is bigger. It's also cheaper. and I'll finally be able to set up the nursery. That's probably 75% of the reasons why I'm so excited to move. We're also moving in next door to a family in our ward, which I'm also excited about. Also it has new carpet, which means no smelling like dog pee! (yes, our apartment still smells like dog pee occasionally).

Yesterday I canned peaches. It was the first time I have canned all by myself. Luckily, I was pretty successful, except having a sticky kitchen, but what's the fun in canning if you don't make a huge mess, right? Actually, our kitchen is probably the cleanest part of the whole apartment now because of the after-canning clean up. 

I have a few projects I want to finish before we move. One is finishing up the kitchen chairs. I painted another one last weekend so now I only have one left. I also need to redo the rocking chair, but that requires Sean's assistance to strip it. I also really want to redo the coffee table before we move in, but he needs to strip that also. They should be pretty easy once stripped, just a coat of primer, and a couple coats of paint, and stain for the top of the coffee table. Could it be that I'm starting to feel the nesting instinct? Probably. 

6 months!

Here I am at week 28. 6 months down, and 2/3 of the way done. My doctors appointment went well and I passed my glucose test. Thank goodness. I'm also to the point where my doctors appointments are every two weeks, making the reality that we are having a baby, just a little more real. She is moving around a lot and tiring me out! I've been working overtime the last few weeks to save money and it has got me realizing how much harder it is getting. Bending over is a feat, more like squat awkwardly to pick up whatever it was that was worth picking up.

And just for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of Sean. Sitting in front of our new desktop computer. We're moving on up in the world. Mostly out of necessity since our laptop got a virus and decided to poop out on us. My favorite part of the new computer so far is the sticky notes, and the 10 key:)

And here is a picture of Sean's head. Just so you remember how big it is. (For some reason this picture makes his head look HUGE... like an orange on a toothpick...)
This is a little rocking chair that Sean's mom bought and painted for us. Isn't it pretty?
Other than preparing for the baby, we've both been working overtime, and then spending our days off catching up on housework and hanging out with each other and family. I ordered a box of peaches (which are unfortunately all hard as a rock), which I will be canning tomorrow (so thankfully they'll be drowning in sugar). This picture is of a recent attempt to make calzones. Rather than making one big one for the two of us, we each made our own so that we could have slightly different toppings (or innards, whatever you call them in a calzone...), and had a major fail. First of all, the dough did not want to be round, so both of ours ended up being more awkwardly oval. Secondly, I made mine on the pan, which was on the heated oven. So when I went to flip the top over, the dough had started to cook and stick to the pan. Thirdly, Sean made his on the counter top, and filled it full, and had the most hilariously difficult time getting it off the counter and onto the pizza pan. This picture is of said effort. It was probably one of our worst dinner attempts, but the time we had laughing together made it all worth it:)

Our fun plans this month include a 4 week parenting class, going to see Les Miserables, and moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. and being one month closer to having our little girl home with us!

mini vacation

This past weekend my sister threw me a baby shower in Utah so that all my relatives and friends could help me celebrate this little girl inside me! It was so cute and such a blast and I got so many awesome presents. It was good to see everyone who came and thank you to those who did! Here are some pictures:

This is me at 25 weeks. Starting to get big!


I'm not sure what's with my face, but the onsie with the outfit says "pretty like mommy":) (Thanks Tahsha!)


I had to put this one up because of Carly's face:) That's a teeny tiny bathing suit from Beth.
This is me and my gals after everyone else left. Not the most flatter picture, but I just love them!

All in all, it was so nice to just get away, see family and friends, and prepare for the baby! After the shower, my mom and sister drove back to Denver with me and all of our newly acquired baby gear. They stayed a couple days and we had a lot of fun going to the new IKEA and to Jerusalem for dinner!

I'm starting to get nervous about the whole, being a parent thing. It's hard to believe that in 3 months we'll have a little baby that we're responsible to take care of. We're super excited, but it's a little scary! Physically, things are getting a little more rough. My feet are swollen after work, it's getting harder to bend over, and my hips hurt when I sleep. I've also noticed that my cravings have changed. Now it's root beer, Sprite, and fruit, and occasionally something sweet.

We're also trying to find ways to save money. Any ideas? We'll be downsizing to a smaller apartment (which equals less rent) in October, I've been using coupons to buy diapers cheaper and stocking up, along with using coupons for grocery shopping, and we've been trying to stick to our budget. But any other ideas would be awesome. Also, has anyone has experience with either Amazon moms or diapers.com?

It's a...

Girl! We found out last Wednesday that our little one is a female. Please excuse my daughters see through skin that makes her look like she has two heads. On the other hand, isn't it neat that you can see her skull and her face at the same time? It is also possible that she was moving in this picture and so that is one of the reasons that she looks like she has two heads. She was moving the entire time. It was hard for the nurse to get a decent listen to the heartbeat because she would move as soon as the nurse found it. As she is growing bigger and kicking harder, my tummy is getting bigger. I had a patient ask if I was pregnant the other day, which was the first time that someone I didn't know mentioned my being pregnant, so apparently (even with baggy scrubs) my tummy is now unmistakable. We are getting together all the things that we will need for the little one and I'm enjoying sewing and crocheting for her. We are so excited for our little girl!

In other news, we enjoyed our 4th of July with Sean's family in Texas which included Owen and his friend Raines. It was really good to see everyone and finally be able to see the family farm I've heard so much about.

Sean's birthday is coming up (the 19th) and we'll be going to a Rockies game to celebrate his getting old(er). He's already been spoiled and got a tent a couple months ago, and then used birthday money to buy a new shotgun. Then I was feeling bad (before he got the shotgun) that he wouldn't have anything to open on his birthday so I bought him a Texas Tech t-shirt and a Rockies t-shirt. Only I ordered them on Amazon and forgot that I was on his account which goes to his email, so no surprises for him this year. We are also going to see Harry Potter and I don't think I could wait much longer. I am somewhat regretting not reading all the Harry Potter books and watching all the movies again before this last movie. It just seems like the right thing to do. However, I did not. Oh well.

I got my hair cut today. It is the shortest it has ever been and I'm still trying to decide if I like it. Although it is not like I have a choice at this point, I can't glue it back on. It is shorter than I asked for, which is funny because when I said how long I wanted it, she said she was going to cut it just a little longer because she thought it would frame my face better. Oh, and I forgot to mention, this salon is specifically for curly hair. Hallelujah. Besides it being shorter than anticipated, it is awesome. She did a great job "shaping" (or layering) it and I got a free deep conditioning treatment for being a first time customer so now my hair is so soft. Most importantly, it is out of my face, easy to manage, and will keep me cooler.

18 weeks and 22 to go

I'm at 18 weeks now and our baby has fingerprints. It's so amazing how fast this little one is growing and developing. I mean, only 18 weeks and it has fingers and toes and prints and it can hear me! I have felt the little one move around. The first time was about 16 1/2 weeks, and now it's just every once in a while (last night I felt it kick when I said "baby" when talking about some commercial). But I'm sure quickly it will be alllll the time.

In two weeks is THE ultrasound. The one where we make sure it's growing properly, has all its fingers and toes, a cute little nose, and the one we've all been waiting for, what gender this little baby is. We're so excited. Even if we didn't find out the gender, it is such an exciting thing to see your little baby moving around and see how big they've grown. It's just like when they're older (and out of the womb) and you realize how much their growing, except when your pregnant you only get to see it every so often. We've been lucky to have had early ultrasounds and have literally seen this baby grow from a tiny little dot. It was so exciting last time to see it had arms and legs, and now it has fingers and toes!

Other than the baby (I swear that's not all we talk about here), I just got back from Girls Camp. It was a very humbling experience and made me very grateful for my girls camp experiences when I was younger. At time I felt like I was (and sure I seemed like) the big bad guy who won't get off your back, but I hope they realize how much they learned from their experiences, even if they were forced to go:) I think it was also a good experience for me to learn more about the girls, and even just about how their lives are today; what they're struggling with and what's on their minds. Although it wasn't super different from when I was growing up, there are some very big differences that I feel like now I know, I will be able to help prepare my children for those challenges. I am grateful for all the people I was able to meet and get to know better. It has been hard to meet new people when I can't go to church 2 Sundays out of the month, and usually can't make it to many of the RS activities.

We got one of our windows half replaced because you pretty much couldn't see through it because it was so foggy, and suddenly there is mouse poop on the window sill. Now I'm left wondering, did a mouse get up here? and how? or when they replaced the window did mouse poop fall onto the sill? I have heard some weird noises that (perhaps I'm just paranoid) sound like they could be mice running mischief around the apt. Oh, and all they did last time was put a box of poison in the utility closet. I hate mice. Period.

Pregnancy

I'm not in much of a writing mood, but I thought I would post these pictures so you guys can see how much my tummy is starting to grow. Although I'm right on the "she looks fat/she looks pregnant" line. I was really excited when my doctor told me my weight gain was "right on track". I feel like I've been eating for 10, but I also haven't gained all that much weight. Hopefully that right on track will stick for the rest of the pregnancy.
This is me at 14 weeks.

And this is me now at 17 weeks. It's hard to believe there is a baby inside of me, although I have felt it move a couple times.

Baby Robison

As you all may know (or may not know, but will know now...) we are expecting! The baby is due to come November 21st, which means I'm at 14 weeks and in my second trimester! We've been lucky enough to have had 3 ultrasounds already and always love seeing the little bebe.

It's moving around a lot, which I have yet to feel but I am getting so excited to! The nausea is getting better, but the headaches are starting to come more often. My clothes are getting pretty good exercise and maternity pants fit much more comfortably (I told Sean he should get a pair) than my jeans. I will put tummy pictures up later. My constant cravings are cheetos and refried beans, odd I know. I am also not allowing myself to go shopping alone, since last time I did I came home with Oreos, cheddar cheese and sour cream chips, and lemonade. I've already had a few bizarre dreams, such as the one where I was pregnant with a whale, and I only expect them to get weirder. We are going to find out what gender it is, and already have names picked out (but will probably keep them a secret for a while). Also, for the curious, yes we were trying.

On an unrelated note, I saw a mouse in the apartment the other day, Monday to be exact. The exterminator only comes on Fridays. Seriously? I can't leave my feet on the ground for nearly a whole week. Not to mention, can't like 100 little mice be born in that time?!

Besides the baby and the mouse, we are doing swell. Working seems to take up the majority of our week so it seems like we don't do a whole lot but I guess that's what being grown up is like most of the time. We're enjoying the Colorado spring weather (or at least I am). Lots of rain and thunderstorms! We are grateful to not be in the midst of tornadoes. We aren't very happy with the Rockies this, but have gone to a game anyway (they won!). We are excited to go camping this summer. Sean is running in the Bolder Boulder 10k on Monday. and we are missing our friends and family who are not near!

I'm a Mormon

I'd like to draw attention to the new button on the right side of my page. The one that says, "I'm a Mormon". I invite you to take a look, maybe not just at mine, but there are thousands of other people who have created profiles. There are answers to common questions that Mormons are asked, and some clarifications of things that we believe. One thing I've realized since moving here to Denver is that people seem to think we are so different. That we are not like them. Which, in some ways is true. We don't smoke or drink, etc.which may be a little weird to some people. However, we really are no different. We all want to be successful. We work hard, we don't have 10 wives, or 20 kids (usually). We celebrate holidays, we eat good food, we watch TV, we go running. We may be peculiar in some ways, but I guarantee, we're not much different.

The Ultimate Update Cont.

I was having problems with the last post so I decided just to make a continuation. Make sure to read the last one first!

Our master bath.

The guest bath.
The laundry. I am not a fan of the stackables. They definitely take up less room, but I feel like I do laundry foooreeevverrr. You have to do twice as many loads since it doesn't hold as much.
One part of our guest bedroom. It may look messy and chaotic, but believe me, it is organized chaos. The closet is barely in the right of this picture. Believe me, you don't want to see it.

Another part of the room.
Last part of room. This is my crafting desk:)

I also had a request to include a few of my latest craftings (I'm pretty sure I just made up that word).I made this pot holder for a friend's birthday.
I got these salt and pepper shakers at Ikea for pretty cheap a while ago. They were okay, but I wasn't digging the egg shape. Nor did the yellow really go with any color scheme I had going on in the kitchen. So I sanded the paint off the shakers, (which was a lot easier than repainting them like I thought I was going to have to do), and spray painted the dish black. I already had the black paint too, which means this little project was freeee. Here is the end product:
I think eventually I might do a S and P on them, but I don't know. I kind of like the clean look of just white...

The Ultimate Update

Confession: I have not blogged in a long time. As is obvious. Therefore I am going to use this post as an ultimate super-duper update to our lives since moving to Aurora. I am also going to include pictures of our apartment so that those family members and friends who have not had the opportunity to come visit will not be missing out.

August-October consisted of living with the oh-so-gracious in-laws. Sean went through his academy, and I got to babysit the cutest niece and nephew who have ever lived (so far). In October, Sean started his real job, and I got a job at the hospital here, a convenient 10 minute drive away. We moved into our own apartment, and (re)realized how much stuff we have.

October-now consisted getting involved in our ward, getting to know new people and making new friends. I've been called to the nursery and as the ward Girls Camp director. Sean has avoided being called to anything. We love our ward and are glad there are many couples are same age and life circumstances.

Now for the apartment!

The first view when you walk in the door. Granted, it is not so close to the door. Also, the Fleur-de-lis on the second shelf from the top right, I got for $.97 from Ross because it was broken. But after a coat of black spray paint, you barely even notice.
This is the view of the living room from the loft.Here is a closer picture of the fireplace and mantle.

This is our loft. It adds a lot of space to the apartment, however the narrowness of it is almost impractical. The other side of the loft.A view from the top of the stairs. That buffet looks really small but it's actually quite a bit larger and helps a lot with storage.

The kitchen. My favorite part- the dishwasher!The dining room. Recently redecorated. The tablecloth, place mats, and napkins are all new, and were all on sale!
This picture I included for comic relief. They recently installed this carbon monoxide alarm (which was suppose to have been installed long before we moved in...). However, what kinda idiot installs it on the wall, plain view, at eye level in the dining room? Wouldn't the ceiling have sufficed?This is the master bath vanity. It's really nice having a bathroom attached to your room I've decided.The camera stopped wanting to work so all the rest of the pictures are kinda dark. Here is our bed with our lovely photo montage. At least I think it's lovely.The corner of the room. With a door to the balcony, which I did not take a picture of because it's kinda lame. Also it is not private, which is super lame. We keep our bbq grill out there (actually I haven't checked to see if it is still there in awhile so it may not be...) and it has been moved around without our help. Also, ignore Sean's gun cleaning mess. I don't touch it. I may get in trouble. Our wimpy walk-in closet. Tooooo small. But it's a walk-in so I shouldn't complain.