2 MONTHS!! Where has it all gone?!?!

Yesturday was Alice's 2 month check up. She did really well. She didn't make one peep the whole time and was very intrigued by everyone at the Dr's office. I cannot believe she is growing SO fast!! She is still a bit wibble wobbly in her neck, but she managed to lay on her stomach for Dr. Barton and hold her head up high (which I didn't get a shot of...). We were so proud of her...

She weighed in at 10 pds 8 oz (from 7 pds 4 oz) thus putting her in the 39%. She's shot up length wise from 21.5 to 23.5 (tall skinny little thing) putting her in the 86%.
She even managed to smile at the Dr.The girls had a great time playing with toys while there.... Other adventures Alice is taking on are starting to arch her back sideways and ready to roll over (not quite all the way, but her feet are super strong so she ends up pushing her whole body upward, thus leaving it hard for me to leave her anywhere unguarded). She LOVES smiling and "talking". The best part is she is sleeping for sure thru the nights (going down at 9:30 and waking up at 6:30 is pretty good sleep to me). When she wakes up she smiles and just jabbers for a bit and then is finally hungry. She loves her swing and takes a few long naps in her crip thru out the day. Not all is hunky dori however. She does have her moments of wanting to just cry and whine; but for the most part, we are doing really well (considering). Emma is back home and loving every minute she has to get to hold her baby sister. She and Lilly are back to role playing princesses and having their on-going sibling moments.
(sigh...) I love being a mom of GIRLS!!

Happy 4th of July!!

For the 4th of July, we (minus Emma; she is still in Cali w/ Nana and Papa & the boys) decided to spend it down in Arizona (crazy I know... what with how HOT it is down there). We went and spent the weekend with my bro & his fam. It was a ton of fun. We left Thursday and stopped at a historic Navajo Bridge along the way... it was overcast that day and thus made for GORGEOUS pix taking along the way. It made me think of how grateful I am to live in such a beautiful country and the freedoms I have that most don't.

Lilly & cousin Claire had a great time cooling off in the backyard in their blowup pool. As did the rest of them once they saw what the two mischief makers were doing...

The kids enjoyed spending 4th of July at a park where they provided free water rides for everyone to cool off in (what a novel idea!!). The kids enjoyed just a few rides as the lines were SUPER long (did I mention it was free?). We later enjoyed food by the carside as we watched the parks fireworks show. The kids enjoyed it (Lilly & Claire had to get used to it from the safety of the car and Morgon and Mae-Mae had to cover their ears at first (thinking it was going to be TOO loud). (I didn't get a pix, but Morgon ended up falling asleep during half of it, it was too funny). Claire & Morgon were the only ones really to get into the free water rides... Of course, they all got into a little mudhole (below)...And of course little Ali & her cousin Gi-gi enjoyed relaxing in the stroller. (Bonnie and I went shopping Friday and I had our double stroller with the 2 babes in it; people thought I was toting around twins (yah right!!)...Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!!

My friend's mom sent these newspaper headlines via email & I thought they were pretty funny...

Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter
(This one I caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and called the Editorial Room and asked who wrote this. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible! They put in a correction the next day.)

Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
No crap, really? Ya think?

Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that's taking things a bit far!

Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!

Miners Refuse to Work after Death
No-good-for-nothing, lazy so-and-so's!

Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!

War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!

If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya think?!

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!

Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!

Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there's something stronger than duct tape?

Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!

New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren't they fat enough?!

Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That's what he gets for eating those beans!

Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!

Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!

And the winner is... Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Did I read that right?

Lulu without her sidekick Emma...

So Em has been gone the last week and a half at Nana & Papa's in Cali. When we were kids we used to go to our Gma & Gpa's house for a few weeks (even as long as a month) during the summers and really get that one on one with the grandparents. (Those were memories we still remember to this day and will forever and ever...) So, we decided to do that with our kids, at the request of course of Nana & Papa.. So, Em has another week and a half before she's due to come home and boy is Lilly getting anxious. She def. misses her sister, but still finds things to do either around the house or outside. We came home and set up the girls' swim pool in the back and Lilly went right down to business pulling out toys and getting in. She had a blast, but still found time to ask, "Where Emma?" Poor thing, all alone in her own little pool, she sure misses her sis!!
Once she hears her sis is coming home soon, she's happy for at least a while longer.

We MISS you Em, but we know your having a SUPER fun time with Nana & Papa & the boys...

XOXOXOXOOX

Birthday Wishes...

Thanks to all who remembered me on my birthday. I appreciate your birthday wishes and so here is what I did on my big 31. (I was in complete denial the full year I was 30, but now there is no denying it, I am now into my 30's... sigh). The day started out just as normal as any other day, baby feeding, burping, cooing and talking and of course right back to sleep we go. At 10:00 am I began my first birthday adventure, by spending it at the dentist office. I know, I know, that doesn't sound like the most ideal place to spend your birthday, but I LOVE getting my teeth cleaned. I did just have a baby and they say that you tend to loose at least one tooth for every baby you have. In that case I'm doing pretty good considering with Emma; no cavities, Lilly; 1 cavity, and now Alice; 4... but no losses thank goodness. Thus I was off to a pretty good start that day. Afterwards the day just seemed to fly by with errands and kid stuff. Nate came home a little early from work and surprised me with dropping off the kids at a friends house and treating me to 2 fav's; Olive Garden and shopping. SO much fun to spend time with him and not worry about kids kicking and screaming they want to go home while at the stores. It was nice to spend some quality time with eachother and have an actual adult conversation. The day was just as I hoped; my birthday wish come true.

New Moon Teasers...

My little girl is growing up...

So we are out in California for my youngest brother's HS graduation as well as a little R&R with family & friends. Nate comes in the room as I'm feeding the baby and he reminds me of a recent conversation of how Emma would eventually pretend to feed her baby breast milk like mommy... We didn't expect it to be Lilly first. Nate was downstairs with the girls and Lilly came into the room with her shirt up and her doll plastered to her chest. Nate asked her what she was doing with her baby and Lilly simply replies as she's concentrating on making sure the baby is in the right spot, "Feeding the baby..." I was laughing... never a dull moment with that girl. Anyone else have stories like that? I'm sure you do!!

2 weeks old

2 weeks old and we have been so in love with this new little one. She had her 2 week check up today and she's growing just fine. 7 pds 15 oz now and still as long and skinny as ever.. We absolutely adore her!! So do the girls; and who wouldn't... just look at this squishy little bundle!!

Lilly is always wanting to hug and kiss her. She is always asking (more at the most in-opportune times like nursing and changing the diapers) if she can hold her. When she does, she loves just looking at her and pointing (more so poking and prodding) at her nose, eyes, mouth, ears... all the things she has the same of; it's quite comical. (as long as one of us is with her).
I had to take a pix and post this adorable pix Emma made on her doodler. She was so proud of her latest stick figure drawings... Alice is by far one of the tallest babies, and then there is mommy, daddy with the spikes (she thinks daddy's hair tends to look like a tall mo-hawk at times), Emma & of course tiny little Lilly (whom act. is almost about the same size as Emma at this point). I had to laugh. REminded me of some cute posts I've seen on others' blogs..

Alice Part 2...

Part 2 at the hospital... A few hours after Alice was born, she received her first set of visitors: her big sisters. Along with her arrival, Alice brought her two older sisters a little present; their favorite disney character, Arial. As you can tell, Emma was absolutely ecstatic. The girls were so excited to finally meet their new little sister. Every time I would come home from Dr appt's, Emma would be the first to greet me at the door asking, "Did you bring the baby home?". Thus, she was very excited (as was Lilly) to see their brand new baby sis. They were so cute. (Of course, after they got their Arial dolls they lost interest and were completely consumed with playing).

Alice Jane Dial

It all began Monday morning at 5:30 am when we received "THE CALL" to come in and prep for our inducement. We arrived at 6:30 am and were taken to the delivery room. The short version plain and simply:

1. Everything was wonderful; EXCEPT my epidural (the aneth. guy, come to find out later, was the worse there... WHY ME!?!?!). He came in, gave me the first shot, couldn't get the needle in right so had to start with a new one all while I'm hunched over and IN PAIN with the first shot; TOOK FOREVER!! Even then, was numb but not as numb as I should have because when my Dr. came in to break my water he was only able to skimb it; enough so that when he felt that he couldn't get any further without hurting me anymore thus relaxing and thus my water breaking on it's own right then (which was something I def. felt and my nurse noticed it). They had the aneth. come back in and they decided to try another shot in a different spot. Well, THAT didn't feel good either and took just as long for the clumsy OAF to stick me again but this time he gave me such a LARGE block that I felt it almost immediately and was SUPER numb. However, it was such a large block that I went immed. pale, started throwing up over and over again and my heart rate began decreasing very rapidly to the 50's. I passed out but could hear people rushing all around me and eventually color and heart rate was back to normal (SO SCARY). After that, we were in heaven.

2. 5:47 pm we welcomed our brand new little 7 pds 4 oz & 20 1/2 inch little girl Alice Jane to the world. She came out with eyes wide open (LITERALLY). She cried just for a moment but overall was very patient with the nurses cleaning her up. She was perfect from head to toe and we have absolutely loved having her. (Just a side note; a few days later I was talking to a mom from Emma's preschool who was a CNA at the hospital for the Labor and Delivery station and she knew the aneth. who had given me my shot. She told me he was the worse one there and that she had had a similar experience as far as the shot numbing her from the waste up instead and then her heart rate crashing as well... SO SCARY!!)

The name is another funny story. We had decided we liked Alice long before and felt that once we saw her we'd know if it would fit her or not (it does btw.. perfectly with just her mellow temperment alone...) As far as the middle name goes... we were wanting to use Raeanna (my grandma's middle name and great grandma's first name combined) but then we found out that she was born on Nate's grandma's birthday... thus feeling it even more appropriate to use his grandma's name as the middle name... Alice Jane Dial.

Proud mommy...

Proud Nana...

Thanks for all your comments and prayers. It was funny because we got in the car to come home and Im looking at all 3 kids in their seats and I felt almost complete.. (it's wierd how much more I feel like a family with 3 rather than the 2 we've had so far... so complete). Love my girls...

BTW: these were all the pix we got on our camera; my mom has more I'll be getting from hers later so I'll have to post more when I get them... sorry it's taken so long.

The Countdown Begins...

Ok, so I haven't been on blog for a while, let alone checking. Today is currently my due date and no sign of baby yet... (sigh). Thus, had my dr's appt yesturday and only at a 2 I am just fine with that. There is a part of me ready for this little one to be out but another part of me says just one more weekend. So, Monday will be the day if she doesn't arrive before then. I went today (due date in mind) Las Vegas to pick my mom up from the airport. (No worries; I took a friend just in case, Nate had to work). Again, no worries, I'm still with child. I'm looking forward to a weekend full of family considering last weekend I had all to myself (HEAVEN!!). Nate took the girls up to SLC as he had a side job and the girls got to see grandma and grandpa Dial along with cousins. They had a fun time as did I... at home... by myself... no baby... just myself... (sigh). I must say though, the day before they left the girls and I had somewhat of a hard time getting along that day thus as they left the following morning I was really regretting them leaving so soon and praying all day for their safe return home. Needless to say, my weekend was full of planning, organizing, resting, catching up on some shows (bless you DVR!!), and dinner and a movie with friends... it was SOOO nice. However, it was SO nice to have the hubby and kids home Sunday evening as my mind tends to play tricks on me; esp late at night 3:00 in the morning wondering if your going to survive the rest of the night all alone in a big empy house. (whew) I guess watching those scary late night shows don't help either.
So, this is the countdown to the baby... No baby news as of yet for those of you wondering and calling... I promise we'll post as soon as we possibly can!! Thank you for prayers, loves, calls and letters!! Until then.....

Easter Bunnies to Easter Hunts...

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. It's a little late, I know, in getting this on here, but I guess better late then never, right? We started off the weekend by going and seeing the Easter Bunny. Emma's friend from preschool invited her over to take pictures with the Easter Bunny and I figured rather than going to the mall to get pictures of them both, I figured this was the perfect chance to get it all done at once. However, Lilly was NOT too keen on the idea as she soon found herself one on one almost with the GREAT WHITE MONSTER.. She would not release her claws from my side for one second so I had to go and take the pictures with her. It was quite a site, but she did just fine. Emma obv. was used to it by now so we hope Lilly will grow out of it as well..

We then made our way to Phoenix, AZ (all last minute planning BTW) and were able to go down and visit Brett and Bonnie and the kids. It was so much fun. We were able to have a small easter basket hunt in the morning and then later after naps went on an easter egg hunt at the park across the street. It was a lot of fun and the kids were so happy to be with eachother as well as finding their candy filled baskets. It was so nice to relax a bit and visit with family (even though it seems it was such a quick trip). However, Bonnie surprised us all by having the baby the night before we left. Jenavive Emalynn George (8 lbs, 1 oz; 22 inches long). Congratulations you guys!! Thanks for making it such a sweet time... we SOO needed it!!

Lilly and her cousin Claire loved finding the eggs more for eachother than they did so much for themselves. It was the most endearing site to watch as they would find an egg and then pass one off to the other. SO CUTE!! They just loved eachother.

Lilly loved finding the eggs and showing them off. She was so funny to watch as this was more her first time really getting into searching and finding the eggs without help.
The girls had a blast that weekend we were there. They enjoyed all sorts of fun things. One of their favorites was dressing up and having little parties. We decided to get them to dress up and take pictures of their little tea party. It was so much fun and the girls loved the attention. It was absolutely adorable!!

Hope everyone's Easter weekend was fun with clear skies.Happy Belated Easter from ours to yours!!

Driving on the Road...

So I was checking my email today and I received this from someone who was obviously upset with whatever driving I had succumbed to yesturday...

"I wouldn't buy from you because you are your own worst advertising. Maybe if you were a little more respectful on the road it would help your business and not hurt it. Just a thought from a fellow driver who watched you drive with little respect for others today."

What do you say to that? Do you say anything at all?
Part of me wants to lash out and ask, "Who are you to tell me how to drive? Are you so perfect as to feel you have the right to mis-judge someone else by the way you think the WORLD should be driving? Just because you were able to use my business website and lash out at me the way you did, does it make you feel better?"
But then part of me just says let it go, you know what kind of a driver you are and you don't remember doing anything as wreckless as this person claims you did, let it go (oh, wait, that's not part of my conscience saying that, that would be my husband telling me to just let things go...).
Please, someone, make some sense of this for me!!! How rude can people get these days?
(BTW, those of you who check this and knew me back in high school... I'm a MUCH better driver these days than I was back then, so please, be nice.)

The Dentist Visit!!

Yesturday was the Lilly's first dentist visit. She was somewhat excited... (Emma kept telling her it was going to be a TON of fun, I just love that girl!! She's such my big helper!!) The outcome was fair. Understandably, she's 2. But I figured I'd get her going a little earlier than I had with Em. Thus we made it a double duty day... Emma of course (this being her second time; she did fabulous the last time considering she was familar with the last dentist, it being one I worked for), so she was very familar with the settings. Lilly on the other hand was not ok with laying back in the chair. This was as far as she was willing to go. Not too bad, however she didn't like the "electric toothbrush" they use (she likes her Hello Kitty one more and likes it when mommy does it rather than some stranger doing it...). So, the assistant had to brush her teeth with a regular toothbrush. She did great with that part. Then, when the dentist came in, she didn't want anything to do with him, thus mommy had to lay her down and somewhat hold her while the he checked her teeth. NO CAVITIES, YAY!!! Same with Em's. (Whew...). So, suffice it to say, it was a fair visit for poor little "lu-lu" but a fabulous 2nd timer for Em's. To top it all off, I was in sucha hurry to get to the appt. that I forgot my camera, so I had to resort to the good old camera phone. Not too shabby I guess..

(Here is Lilly awaiting the "DREADED" cleaning...)

(She didn't want to lay down, so this is how we had to do it... Unfortunately no pictures of her screaming and not wanting to get NEAR the dentist as I am holding her down long enough for him to have her open; which she eventually willingly did on her own. )(Emma did great, this was a pre-pix before he really got started on her). Needless to say, WE MISS YOU DR. FRANCIS!!!!

We had a pretty fun day today. The sun finally came back out and even got as warm as in the 70's today. Nate had to work thus we had one of our first Saturday's to ourselves. We decided to make the most of it and really make daddy jeoulous by going and enjoying the sun and water without him. So, we went to the "water park" without him. "Water park" is what the girls call it, but what that really means is a park with a fun little splash pad and pond with rocks where the girls can wade in it and cool themselves off (great for those of us not willing to give a "whale" watcher's show; if you know what I mean). Here were just a few snap shots I got of the girls having fun in the water. Emma found a plastic baggie out of our car and decided to have a little fun with it. She played with this the whole time she was there; filling it up and then dumping it out all over the rocks. She's so easy to entertain...Lilly loved sitting and relaxing... (at least I hope that ALL she was doing..)..