tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41452733133407499442024-03-19T02:56:33.496-06:00Scott, Maria, Logan, Olive, Axl, and Bunsen StevensMariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-86368113835350612002014-03-26T09:47:00.000-06:002014-03-26T09:47:59.561-06:00I know I am a Terrible BloggerI hardly ever blog anymore, which makes me sad because I really do want to record what is going on in our lives. In an attempt to revamp my blog, I will once again do a "catch up" post for all of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014..<br />
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Let's see, since the last time I blogged (Axl's first birthday) a LOT has happened.<br />
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Logan turned 5 in April. We celebrated at Hoots (a local indoor jumper play place).<br />
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In May 2013 we took a family vacation to Florida. We spent 7 days at the Disney World Resort and 3 days at St. Pete's beach. We had a ton of fun in Disney World, the kids really enjoyed the rides this time and had a blast meeting all of their favorite Disney Characters. We stayed in the Disney Animation Suites which were a lot of fun and had plenty of room for our family of five. We also went to Lego Land on our way to St. Pete's beach and visited Sea World for a day. Lego Land was fun but we got caught in a torrential downpour and every one got soaked. It was a good thing we had all of our luggage in the car so we were able to change into dry clothes. It was a little hard traveling with Axl, mostly due to his age. He was a little too young too fully enjoy or understand why we were standing in such long lines, he didn't necessarily want to be held but couldn't really be put down either. I imagine our next Disney trip (maybe Disney <i>Land</i> in 2015) will be much easier on him. Here are some pictures of our adventures.<br />
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As soon as we got back from Florida, Olive had her first dance recital. She was a little nervous to go back stage without me, but once she was there she was happy. She loved dancing on "the big stage" and had a huge grin on her face the whole time. She keeps asking me when she will get to do it again. Her dance studio is great because we didn't have to buy her a costume and she was able to come back into the audience as soon as her piece was over. It was very laid back and enjoyable.<br />
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The following week Logan started his first week of Kinder Camp. Because all of the schools in NM have switched to full day kindergarten now, our elementary school offers a four week Kinder Camp. This is a time when Kindergartners get to know their teacher, learn their way around the school, get used to eating lunch in a big cafeteria etc. without all the commotion of having a bunch of other (and older) kids around. Logan was pretty nervous the first day and cried when I left him, but each day got a little easier. He even wanted to ride the bus. What a big boy!<br />
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Getting Off the Bus (I followed the bus on the first day)</div>
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Our next big milestone was Logan's last day at MDO. The Mother's Day Out program at the Placitas Presbyterian church has been a wonderful program for Logan (all of my kids really). Logan has been going since he was 20 months old, year round. Ms. Debbie has been a great nurturer to Logan and really helped him grow. He made a lot of friends there and enjoyed going. His last day was bitter-sweet but I did get to stay with him that day and we had a lot of fun together with Olive and Axl.<br />
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And then came Logan's first day of Kindergarten. This day was really hard on me. I felt so nervous leaving him all day in the care of basically strangers. Logan cried when I left him and it was sad. I told him he would be safe with his teacher and then later in the week found out that he was crying at lunch because his teacher wouldn't stay in the cafeteria and he didn't feel safe. Poor guy, he really internalizes everything I tell him. He is getting so big and so brave though, it is amazing how much they grow when given the opportunity. Logan is the most popular guy in his class. All of the other kids adore him and his teacher even has to draw names before lunch to see who will sit next to him in the cafeteria (apparently the other kids get into shoving matches trying to get a seat next to Logan). Logan is so sweet and kind to everyone. He is excelling in Kindergarten and is above all the benchmarks academically. His teacher is now working on teaching him some basic multiplication.<br />
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Since Logan's first day of Kindergarten (back in 2013) he has lost 4 teeth (1 in October, 1 in December, 1 in January and 1 in March). Olive turned 4 and Axl turned 2. I started a business as a Doula and have had the pleasure of welcoming many babies into the world. I am in the process of starting a Doula Cooperative where I will be on call two or three days a week and along with 2 other Doulas have up to 8 clients per month. I am training for half marathon number three in Nashville on April 26th. Olive had her tonsils out on the 4 of March. She did fantastic. She woke up from her anesthesia very happy and calm. The doctor said he has never seen a child wake up without screaming. She hardly complained about any pain and we controlled her pain with tylenol. She was ready to eat right away and loved all the Popsicle and ice cream. Since her surgery she has quit snoring and is sleeping so much better. It really is amazing.<br />
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I am sure there are a ton of things that have happened that I am forgetting, maybe someday I will come back and fill in the blanks. For now, my goal is to update this blog at least monthly...maybe weekly. And I am not making any promises about the length of the posts, heck they may even be just pictures. It was recently brought to my attention however that it is important to document everyday life so that is what I am going to try to do. Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-55714766436548046942013-01-05T21:31:00.000-07:002013-02-17T21:31:44.308-07:00Axl turns One!Axl celebrated his first birthday on Friday, January 4th. It is hard to believe that he is already a year old. I look back at the past year and feel like it literally flew by. I tried really hard, being that he is my last baby, to enjoy and savor every moment, but I feel like my memory has failed me and I barely remember a thing. I do remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. <br />
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Axl has grown into such a happy and independent (as much as one year old can be anyway) little toddler. He is still my baby though and I often feel like maybe I baby him too much. Oh well, I am not beating myself up over that one. I enjoy him being little too much. For his one year check up he weighed in at 20.2 lbs and 31.75 inches. Long and skinny just like his brother and sister. He can't walk yet and doesn't talk very much at all. He likes to give big, open mouthed, wet, slobbery kisses and LOVES to scream. I have never had or heard a baby who screams and squeals as much as this boy. His grandpa calls him a "noise maker" and he couldn't be more right. Axl is sleeping through the night on most nights, takes one 30 minute nap in the morning and a one hour nap in the afternoon (only if someone is laying next to him, otherwise his naps are about 15 minutes each...as I was saying, he is slightly babied). He has six teeth but still only eats baby food. Oh, and Axl is the only one year old I know who throws tantrums....not sure what to do about that. Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-88390204975411553562012-12-05T15:25:00.002-07:002012-12-05T15:25:21.428-07:00Happy Birthday OliveMy sweet Olive turned three on Monday! I cannot believe three years have gone by since the day she graced us with her presence! And while she just now turned three, it seems like she has been three forever. She is so busy keeping up with her big brother, I think she skipped the two's altogether. Olive was a wonderful two year old, I don't think she ever threw a "two year old tantrum" (come to think of it, neither did Logan), so we will see what the three's have in store for us. <br />
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We moved Olive out of her crib on Sunday night and moved her into a big girl bed. She loves her bed and her new found freedom. She comes out of her room several times before falling asleep for random things such as "more guys" (stuffed animals) to blow her nose or go potty. She even came out in the middle of the night once to go potty even though she is still in pull-ups during the night. I love having her in her big girl bed because instead of not being able to reach her due to the crib bars, I can actually smother her with kisses when I go in the room to check on her. She looks so small in her big girl bed too.<br />
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Olive really is a sweet girl. She loves to take care of her baby dolls, her baby brother and loves to be held and cuddled (for a minute or two anyway). She LOVES to talk, but what girl doesn't right? She also loves to sing and loves it when Mommy and Daddy dance with her. She is overall just a great, fun girl and I am so blessed to have her as my daughter!<br />
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Happy birthday Olive!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-47049444030786941762012-12-05T15:17:00.004-07:002012-12-05T15:17:39.678-07:00MobilityWith each one of my babies I have looked forward to the day they learned how to crawl. I always thought that with new found mobility I would find myself with a little more freedom. In my naive mind I thought that if I could put my baby down on the floor (and trust that they wouldn't fall over backwards) then I could get a lot more done with my free hands. In my mind, I could also walk away to do something and if my baby needed me, then they could just follow me. Simple, right? Not so, in fact my experience has been just the opposite, as I am sure it is for most parents. When my babies need me they don't crawl after me, instead they sit in one place immobilized and crying. When my babies don't need me, rather than peacefully playing with the safe, age appropriate toy I have provided for them they instead go exploring. And, in the case of Axl, he goes exploring all of the places that are beyond dangerous. This boy is persistent, more so than Logan and Olive were. He LOVES to play with nightlights, the DVD player, the TV and the TOILET. I have never had a baby who liked the toilet before. <br />
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I remember the day that each of my babies started crawling because it was such a big milestone for me. Logan started crawling on January 14, 2009. Olive started crawling on August 3, 2010 and Axl started crawling on October 7, 2012. I have no pictures for this blog because Scott has stolen my computer and I am forced to work on his Mac, perhaps someday I will come back and update with pictures.<br />
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-21069205385033796392012-05-20T21:19:00.001-06:002012-05-20T21:19:19.504-06:00Sleep TrainingI hate sleep training. It is so hard on me and my babies. I never had to "sleep train" Logan, he just seemed to start sleeping through the night on his own around four and a half months. Olive and Axl seemed to start creating bad sleeping habits around four months. The "experts" call this the "four month sleep regression." According to the experts, the sleep cycles of babies begin to change and mimic those of an adult around four months. This is when babies often begin to create bad sleep habits or associations. In Olive and Axl's case the association has been the need to be nursed, rocked or walked back to sleep. So Axl has been waking every one or two hours needing my help to get back to sleep. At first it wasn't so bad, I would nurse him, or rock him and he would fall asleep and I would put him back in his bed. Then I would nurse or rock him, he would fall asleep but as soon as I tried to lay him down he would wake up crying again. Then I became lazy and just put him in bed with me to nurse while I slept. That worked for a few weeks, and then he began to get really restless around four or five am and not be able to go back to sleep at all, even though he was trying to. This just doesn't work for me. I have had to teach him how to soothe himself back to sleep, and even though it has been hard, it is working. <br />
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So how do I sleep train? Basically I start a bedtime routine and then put Axl down to bed awake. If he cries, I go in his room after five minutes and give him his binky and remind him that he is okay. Then I leave. If he cries again, I go in after ten minutes and do the same thing and then fifteen minutes. I continue to do this every fifteen minutes until he falls asleep. I also determine when he usually wakes to eat and feed him about 30 minutes before that time so I know he isn't hungry. So our plan has been that i put him down at 7:30 with feedings at 12 and 4.<br />
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The first night he cried for 30 minutes before falling asleep, Then I woke him at 12 to feed him and when I laid him down at 12:30 he started crying. He cried for two and a half hours then whined for 30 minutes before falling asleep. Then I woke him at four to feed him and when i laid him down he slept until 7:45 and woke up very happy "talking" in his crib. The next night he cried for 20 minutes and then not at all during the night. The third night he cried for 15 minutes and now he doesn't cry at all. The last two nights I have gotten lazy and instead of waking him to feed him I have waited for him to wake up...bad mistake, he now needs me to nurse him again every time he wakes. Sigh. I guess I will have to start setting my alarm for 12 and four again. <br />
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Once we get this down the next steps are...add a feeding at 9:00 pm, eliminate the midnight feeding and push back the four am feeding to five. That way I will be able to sleep from 9:30 to 5:00 in FOUR shorts weeks when I go back to work. This plan is somewhat comical to me, because honestly I am horrible at timed/scheduled feedings. I would rather just feed my baby when he is hungry. Hopefully soon he will decide he isn't hungry in the middle of the night.<br />
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On another note, I really wish my house wouldn't make funny noises at night. Really freaks me out. I don't like nursing Axl in his room in the middle of the night because I feel so isolated from everyone. And with all the white noise machines we have in our house, I feel like Scott wouldn't hear me if I needed him. In fact, I <i>know</i> he wouldn't hear me. He can sleep through anything. I usually get up and feed Axl in front of the computer while I blog surf...I would use the time to update my blog, but I have a hard time typing with one hand. However, this also freaks me out because the screen is so bright I can't see anything except the computer screen. I think I am sleep deprived, I am not usually so afraid of the dark. Last night I was having nightmares and yelling in my sleep. Scott had to wake me up. It was one of those dreams you have where you know you are dreaming, but you can't seem to wake up or move. <br />
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One of these days I will sneak in and take a picture of my baby sleeping so I can post it here. He never naps unless I am laying with him so sleeping picture ops are few and far between.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-74289923683918802512012-05-18T20:43:00.000-06:002012-05-18T20:43:29.305-06:00Blog TagAlright, I was tagged in a blog tag, and I have never done this before so I thought it would be fun.<br />
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The Rules:<br />
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1. Post these rules<br />
2. Post 11 random things about yourself<br />
3. Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you<br />
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag<br />
5. Tag 11 people<br />
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11 Random Things about me:<br />
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1. I haven't had a pedicure in four years (since Logan was 5 weeks old). I enjoy pedicures but don't think the fumes are safe for small children/babies to inhale and if I ever have free time without my kids, I can think of many other things I want to do with my time and money.<br />
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2. I don't like meat. I can't stand the texture, I hate to "chew and chew and chew." The last time I had a cheeseburger was when I was in the 10th grade. I had a Super Sonic Cheeseburger from Sonic.<br />
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3. I am terrified of tornadoes.<br />
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4. I never have long finger nails...they always break.<br />
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5. I like to watch sports on TV...Football, basketball (college) and Hockey.<br />
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6. I am a closet soap opera fan. I have watched "The Young and The Restless" for as long as I can remember. Now in the age of DVR I just fast forward through the cheesy parts...I can watch a one hour episode in about 20 minutes.<br />
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7. I used to spend forty-five minutes to an hour in a tanning bed EVERY day. I now regret that and hope Olive never goes near one.<br />
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8 My middle name is Ellena...not so random I know, but I used to hate it because I thought it was hard to pronounce and spelled wrong. Now I love it.<br />
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9. I like to have my sheets and and blankets tucked VERY tightly under the mattress at the foot of the bed and on all sides when I sleep.<br />
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10. Growing up I hated that I had freckles on my face, now that Logan is getting some I think they are soooo cute!<br />
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11. I love High Heels.<br />
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11 Questions from Amber:<br />
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<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">1.What
is the one food that you would never give up? Avocados...I love them with salt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">2.What
is your one achievement that makes you the most proud? Running a 1/2 marathon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">3.What
are the 5 most important things in your life? My children, Scott, my health, my family (extended), my friends.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">4.What
is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? I don't know...funny things don't happen to me, although I do some pretty funny and embarrassing things all the time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">5.Are
you a night owl or a morning person? Morning person, I am too tired and can't keep my eyes open much past 10:00 pm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">6.What
crazy things do you dream of trying someday? Sky-diving, once my kids are adults. So I don't have to worry so much about dying and leaving them without a mother.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">7.What
is the one physical feature that you get complimented on most often? My eyes</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">8.What
is your weirdest quirk? I have to shower first thing out of bed in the morning...if I don't I just don't feel right.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">9. If
you were invisible, where would you go? Into Logan and Olive's room at night after I have put them to bed, just to see what they are really up to in there.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">10. What
traits in others are you attracted to? Honesty and loyalty and being nice above all else and then a good sense of humor about themselves.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 0.23in;">11. What
is the kindest thing anyone has done for you? Well I have been the </span><span style="line-height: 22px;">recipient of so many wonderful kind gestures. The most recent that stands out is when I went out of town on a family vacation, when I came home my wonderful mom had cleaned my house top to bottom! Love her!</span><span style="line-height: 0.23in;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 0.23in;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 0.23in;">11 Questions</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 0.23in;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">1. Where were you born?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">2. What did you want to be when "you grew up?"</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">3. What do you like to do on Friday nights?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">4. What is your favorite sport/activity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">5. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">6. Is there anything you wish you could do, but can't?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">7. What was your favorite subject in school?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">8. Where did you meet your significant other?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">9. Is there anything that terrifies you, if so what is it?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">10. What is your favorite movie?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">11. What is your favorite book?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Now to tag 11 people..haha. I can only think of two people who read my blog and also blog themselves. Amber (who tagged me, so I doubt you feel like doing this again) and Erika. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<br />Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-87921462569181865112012-05-18T20:32:00.002-06:002012-05-18T20:32:46.271-06:00Happy Birthday LoganMy baby boy was four on April 19th! I can't believe it has been four years already and then at times I can't believe it has only been four years! It seems like he has been with us forever. <br />
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It is amazing how much he has grown and changed these past four years. Logan is one of the sweetest boys I know. He is so kind and caring. He listens very well and loves his sister and brother. He always comments on how he and Olive are best friends and he takes very good care of her. Just the other day we were outside walking to Grandma's house and he told Olive, "Don't worry if you see snakes, it isn't a problem, come over here and hold my hand and I will take care of you." He is really into Toy Story this year, as well as Thomas the Train and Minnie Mouse of course.<br />
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I thought in honor of his birthday I would blog about his birth story, but I don't have time right now so that will have to wait for another day.<br />
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We celebrated his birthday at "school" on the 19th with Ms. Debbie. He had so much fun with all of his friends. We then had a birthday party for him at a really nice park in Albuquerque. Logan had fun playing on the playground and I enjoyed not having to clean up or entertain.<br />
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At Logan's 4 year check up he weighed in at 33 lbs (with shoes) and 41 inches. Still long and skinny. He had his hearing tested and his vision tested. He did great on the hearing test but his vision test was "a little outside the normal" range. The doctor advised we watch him and if he seems to be squinting a lot then have his vision checked, otherwise we will check it again in a year before kindergarten just to be sure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bNfW3kWfm-pb83WwIYjKXZ5pBYlrE46jDpi2S5V8mMM7yys8TWkxooJga_4Q6Ya31KZZtnABthnQqrZpiyPHgNIV_Yun3TFUyQyE06JFtSWbJZg6iHfSkhLww0AfCYs7vficH78E2hkt/s1600/IMG_5954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bNfW3kWfm-pb83WwIYjKXZ5pBYlrE46jDpi2S5V8mMM7yys8TWkxooJga_4Q6Ya31KZZtnABthnQqrZpiyPHgNIV_Yun3TFUyQyE06JFtSWbJZg6iHfSkhLww0AfCYs7vficH78E2hkt/s320/IMG_5954.JPG" width="320" /></a>We love this boy so much!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-85867339502208026642012-04-12T14:59:00.000-06:002012-04-12T14:59:42.209-06:00The Story of Axl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kq6yKKZ4y7dCSrc3IB-mrP3xXdPNLpgDZ7krVd8bsOe7yshRvM_ejomQYQ69bEp8n-We3Tl_rcJL2dWGP-f0fCW2vxqFa0sqLkmfvTa7k-EqcmBmJ4R6jDPauEwwCjRLtVC75R6RWTYO/s1600/IMG_5724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kq6yKKZ4y7dCSrc3IB-mrP3xXdPNLpgDZ7krVd8bsOe7yshRvM_ejomQYQ69bEp8n-We3Tl_rcJL2dWGP-f0fCW2vxqFa0sqLkmfvTa7k-EqcmBmJ4R6jDPauEwwCjRLtVC75R6RWTYO/s320/IMG_5724.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>So many people ask me about Axl's name and where it came from. Most people think he was named after Axl Rose or Axl from the sit-com <i>The Middle.</i> In fact his name didn't come from either of those.<br />
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The story began way back in the summer of 2009 when I was pregnant with Olive. Whenever I get pregnant, I like to play the "name game" immediately, but Scott doesn't like to participate until much later into the pregnancy, at least until we know what we are having. We already had "Olive" picked out if the baby was a girl. In my typical fashion, as soon as I found out I was pregnant in 2009 I started e-mailing Scott lists of names to name our unborn child should it be a boy. He replied to every single name with "no." Finally one day I got fed up and told him that he needed to send me a list of possible names. In spite, he replied "Axel." I wrote back and said "never" and then didn't ask him anymore to play the name game. Shortly after, we found out we were expecting a baby girl and so had nothing left to discuss.<br />
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Fast forward to pregnant with Axl. Because we were both pretty certain we were having a little girl we concentrated most of baby girl names. Scarlett was the name we finally chose. We talked a little bit about boy names, but nothing serious. We both really like the name Michael and figured that would be our baby's name if it happened to be a boy. Scott and I joked around about the name Axel. We had picked the middle name Bradley because it is my dad's middle name, so that was easy. A few weeks before I was due, my dad was over at our house watching basketball with us and he asked about names. I jokingly said the baby's name would be Axl and he LOVED it! He and Scott talked about how cool the name was. So it was at that moment that I told Scott he could name our baby Axl if we had a boy. I figured I was safe though as I was convinced we were having a little girl.<br />
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Fast forward to January 4, 2012 when baby was born, the midwife asked if he had a name and Scott proudly announced "Axl."<br />
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I fell in love with the name after my dad told me how much he liked it, and EVEN more in love with it as soon as I saw my baby Axl for the first time.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-9146263858791265332012-04-04T21:09:00.028-06:002012-04-15T21:00:25.008-06:00Axl is Three Months!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4dJapPpRwYiKSeiiSNQK8VokCg33awE1ufjQ6mx_4pPkeZxi5XOLYslWwrItQ4Achy93NPQkd6P_A2mVfBS0wcVyWQcuR26fegZe69AJYGlmwDJ2serZd0HuK2fdQw9UwYPrETMHNHuk/s1600/24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip4dJapPpRwYiKSeiiSNQK8VokCg33awE1ufjQ6mx_4pPkeZxi5XOLYslWwrItQ4Achy93NPQkd6P_A2mVfBS0wcVyWQcuR26fegZe69AJYGlmwDJ2serZd0HuK2fdQw9UwYPrETMHNHuk/s320/24.jpg" width="212" /></a>Well, my newborn baby boy is no longer a newborn anymore. Three months always seems like such a big milestone for me (and my babies). It is like they finally wake up and become more aware of the world around them. The fussing and crying decreases significantly and the smiles and giggles become more abundant and not so much work to elicit.<br />
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I cherish every moment I get to spend with my baby boy and even though I have done the baby thing twice before I am still so much in awe over the things the baby does. I love when he wakes in the middle of the night to eat because I feel like that is our only time we get to spend where we don't have the distractions of everything else going on. I love to marvel at his little limp limbs as he quietly nurses and I often remove his socks and rub his soft little feet that have yet to be hardened from running and walking every where. I love how during his night feedings he slowly rubs my face with his soft hands and then he quietly drifts off to sleep and I get to feel his sweet baby breath on my face as he dozes. I never got to experience these quiet moments with Logan and Olive because they both were able to nurse while laying down and so I just slept while they ate. It makes it easy to enjoy this time with Axl because he only wakes once a night to feed.<br />
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During the day I love to watch Axl try to bat at toys, suck his fingers and watch (for seemingly hours) as he studies his hands and feet. He talks so much and loves to watch and laugh at his big brother and sister. It is so great that he is laughing now as they try to entertain him because it encourages them to continue! We call him "Mr. Serious" because when he isn't laughing, smiling or talking he has such a serious look on his face.<br />
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Axl has sleep through the night four times now, which is great, but I prefer he wake once to eat because I worry about him gaining adequately given he had such a hard time gaining in the beginning.<br />
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I love every minute with my baby and with Logan and Olive and am so grateful I have had the opportunity to spend so much time away from work to enjoy my babes!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-22834064470201390542012-03-20T15:01:00.023-06:002012-04-15T20:41:01.411-06:00StitchesWell, Olive wins the prize for being the first of my kiddos to get a "serious" injury. On Tuesday, March 20 she was at my mom's house playing and ran into the rounded edge of a wood coffee table. She split open her face, just above her eyebrow. Poor girl.<br />
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I was happy I did not know about her injury until after it happened. I think I would have freaked out if I saw her face open and bleeding.<br />
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On the day it happened my dad was putting in a culvert in the middle of our driveway so we would no longer have to drive through an arroyo every day (thanks Dad! :)) So we made plans to be home bound for the morning while he dug up the road. Scott got the kids dressed and walked them over to my parent's house at about 9:00 as he does most Tuesday mornings. At 10:00 am Axl and I laid down to take a nap. At about 10:15 Scott rushed into our bedroom and grabbed his wallet and sunglasses and then left. I figured he forgot about an appointment he had or maybe my dad needed his help putting in the culvert. So I proceeded to take a short 30 minute nap with Axl and then sneak in a quick shower while he continued to sleep. After my shower I realized it was almost 11:30 and Scott wasn't home yet so I called him and he told me that he was at the Dr's Office with Olive getting stitches! He let me talk to her and she was in good spirits waiting for the nurse to come back in and give her a shot to numb her little face. She told me that she was going to get some ice cream when they left the dr. and was excited.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge78QDYlMjIT32qUiygBpq2SSRHhejbZKAzXMjVFj7q0UBfLM12hV02n08Rkwgo2DvKYt8AM932WD2DU42mVsH4_uN7Iw3Mci5oG3mzMQRxOoNvC7fwbObfVhQBp8-_kBh4bpDTNyCuh89/s1600/IMG_5821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge78QDYlMjIT32qUiygBpq2SSRHhejbZKAzXMjVFj7q0UBfLM12hV02n08Rkwgo2DvKYt8AM932WD2DU42mVsH4_uN7Iw3Mci5oG3mzMQRxOoNvC7fwbObfVhQBp8-_kBh4bpDTNyCuh89/s320/IMG_5821.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It didn't take too long before Scott was home and Olive was back at my mom's house playing with Grandma and Logan. Scott said she screamed bloody murder when she got her shot and the whole time she was being stitched up...poor girl was so scared.<br />
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We made an appointment for the following Monday morning to have the stitches removed. Again, Olive screamed bloody murder during the whole procedure. That evening when Scott was getting Olive ready for bed he noticed a tiny piece of a stitch was still left so he tried to get it out but couldn't. I took her back to the dr, that night to have it removed and again she was so scared she screamed the whole time. The dr. was able to get the stitch out with a needle and it was so tiny you could barely see the stitch on the tip of the needle. THEN, on Wednesday morning as Scott was getting Olive dressed he noticed ANOTHER piece of a stitch left. Back to the dr. This time the piece was stuck in a scab and significantly bigger so the nurse was able to soak the scab and then remove the stitch with tweezers. Olive still cried, but this time it was just crying and not screaming. Poor girl. It broke my heart to hold her down and try to convince her that she was okay when she was so scared and hurting. She got over it very quickly though, and unfortunately has a scar to remind her to "slow down" as my mom always says. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOtIdV0ggriIzwkzaaWpZCeclSSAfX-k0VyDHzS_ut1zQVM-wnJ6jJrzRbtxydzsRfnSV6xmnjXyM-RI1NCbUt2CylAb3w9n6SVol7IwNSCjSlPsCiJfkguOV9XlrYMT_VGvl_F-n5WUB/s1600/IMG_5944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOtIdV0ggriIzwkzaaWpZCeclSSAfX-k0VyDHzS_ut1zQVM-wnJ6jJrzRbtxydzsRfnSV6xmnjXyM-RI1NCbUt2CylAb3w9n6SVol7IwNSCjSlPsCiJfkguOV9XlrYMT_VGvl_F-n5WUB/s320/IMG_5944.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
We are treating her scar with Bio Oil and hoping it will get smaller as her little face gets bigger.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-91422705555947893322012-02-15T21:27:00.000-07:002012-04-15T21:01:26.744-06:00Red River<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZ_jDHjp9g8FYN0ylNb0rwniTXI92NHmY7tgbPx_56cgC8wgvdJZCu6mCQ9ePJ2Y0sMVi8uUMsv9b5NjCVybqN7oJ_U0lIbY_uocvNrVUJtHPFY-UhJGultQto6KECABct10jvpZuKPS0/s1600/IMG_5678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZ_jDHjp9g8FYN0ylNb0rwniTXI92NHmY7tgbPx_56cgC8wgvdJZCu6mCQ9ePJ2Y0sMVi8uUMsv9b5NjCVybqN7oJ_U0lIbY_uocvNrVUJtHPFY-UhJGultQto6KECABct10jvpZuKPS0/s320/IMG_5678.JPG" width="320" /></a>We took a ski trip this February to Red River. We had never been before so I was excited to go and try something new. We booked our trip last October and I was a little worried that there wouldn't be any snow (since the resort didn't offer refunds). We made a family trip of it and my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew all joined us.<br />
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I was a little overwhelmed packing for three kids and myself and Scott and had no idea how our four week old Axl would do. I was also a little nervous that it would be too soon after child birth for me to go skiing but figured I would give it a shot. We made it to Red River in about three hours, just in time to see the kick off for the Super Bowl! <br />
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We stayed in an awesome condo that had three bedrooms and shared with my parents. It was so nice to have live in help :). Although I am not sure that is what my mom signed up for when she agreed to go. The condo was a ski in/out condo meaning it was right at the main lift for the ski area so we didn't have to drive anywhere. I even made it out to the slopes twice and enjoyed some quiet time alone.<br />
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We intended to put skis on both Logan and Olive and see how they liked it, but Olive was so distraught over having to wear all that gear that we decided to skip the skis for her. The thing she hated the most was the turtle fur I made her wear around her neck. I tried to find her a turtle neck shirt before our trip but couldn't find one any anywhere. At first Logan didn't want to ski either but when we got to the rental place and we were renting our ski equipment he said that he wanted to try it. So we rented some skis and boots for him and he was so excited.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIRHuMGKY8KqWJnEhb6mpk8ppG5y2dKh6O-PNxMB6ZIU1jfXMmfm4I4G7YV7qpQiq0A8c6amGhGjgwCIAKMZycIi3KOuAoHWNCtFsMcwLFSzT5qi0kVURN_KC-9FcVMnDhxl6NjPrJGp0/s1600/IMG_5680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdIRHuMGKY8KqWJnEhb6mpk8ppG5y2dKh6O-PNxMB6ZIU1jfXMmfm4I4G7YV7qpQiq0A8c6amGhGjgwCIAKMZycIi3KOuAoHWNCtFsMcwLFSzT5qi0kVURN_KC-9FcVMnDhxl6NjPrJGp0/s320/IMG_5680.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKtsSeN-FITXcgBHuLYQFcCw6WXMgAh4x_2Rey4isPuQDalBBFR_bE5n_RnYlcf8dS9_xszTStshVGnScCNrekBasjED-KH7UPEeAnR3bpwk7Vbukr1_Vrns7aopPu6RxWvmZaZs-xkxT/s1600/IMG_5682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKtsSeN-FITXcgBHuLYQFcCw6WXMgAh4x_2Rey4isPuQDalBBFR_bE5n_RnYlcf8dS9_xszTStshVGnScCNrekBasjED-KH7UPEeAnR3bpwk7Vbukr1_Vrns7aopPu6RxWvmZaZs-xkxT/s320/IMG_5682.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>Because we didn't have to drive anywhere to get to the ski lift, we put skis on right outside of our condo. This was a mistake. Scott attempted to have Logan hang on to his pole while he pulled Logan across the parking lot. Logan HATED it! Poor guy he was so uneasy with the gliding feeling of the skis and couldn't get a good grip on Scott's pole with his big ol' gloves on. They made it about 20 yards (if even that ) before Scott decided to give up on the idea for this year. Logan was still in good spirits and we wanted to make sure that his first skiing adventure ended with him happy and not in tears. Next year we will wait until we get to the slope to put his skis on and then he can ski between Scott's legs where he feels he has some more support.<br />
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My awesome mom bought a sled before we went on our trip and took it with us. Not only what the sled a great place to play with play dough inside the hotel room, it was great fun out in the snow too! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOC2MlJYQBDGWUg0SVu0MrGs2SJxhlMIwhxhyphenhyphenRWe2G0AJ2AkbS6tyURnwl7XmtHbhlrr4DdnJAb9jXgogNigsGU2hKjByvt1XNk7HiXTyfaaZSJxENNb2LzyFpvSLdi00Xh4WQFpa5dD-m/s1600/IMG_5686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOC2MlJYQBDGWUg0SVu0MrGs2SJxhlMIwhxhyphenhyphenRWe2G0AJ2AkbS6tyURnwl7XmtHbhlrr4DdnJAb9jXgogNigsGU2hKjByvt1XNk7HiXTyfaaZSJxENNb2LzyFpvSLdi00Xh4WQFpa5dD-m/s320/IMG_5686.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM746T4G_2k26MmKts_AG8y5fFgrDksM1lPfwOQd2Arqp2YeQQ_zkuiBKS157z2OuRHmChLO2Iv3V7nUAjomMAbBeN7x02jMNk9g7CXsWt7g3kxxmk4rao1kq2GyM_5lle8JQ6ES-wF44/s1600/IMG_5690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM746T4G_2k26MmKts_AG8y5fFgrDksM1lPfwOQd2Arqp2YeQQ_zkuiBKS157z2OuRHmChLO2Iv3V7nUAjomMAbBeN7x02jMNk9g7CXsWt7g3kxxmk4rao1kq2GyM_5lle8JQ6ES-wF44/s320/IMG_5690.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We had so much fun that Scott keeps talking about going back. Scott hadn't been in several years. It is amazing how kids can make the little things that have lost their spark so much fun again! Hopefully next year will get to go with the whole family again!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-20390276737325164332012-01-06T21:21:00.001-07:002012-05-18T22:07:58.025-06:00Welcome to The WorldAxl Bradley Stevens was finally born on January 4, 2012 at 11:57 pm. He was most certainly worth waiting for and he really did make us wait.<br />
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I wasn't sure if I would blog about my pregnancy and birth experience with him because it was such an emotional time for me, but then I figured that I should in order to remember the experience in detail. I will warn you though that it is hard for me even now to talk (or write) about and this post is not eloquent and may ramble at times.<br />
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Our journey with Axl began as a surprise as we did not think that we were ready yet to venture back into pregnancy and having a new born around last April when we discovered we were expecting again.<br />
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My pregnancy started out horrific as I was very sick and exhausted from what seemed like the day I found out I was pregnant. I was a little worried because we had already paid for a trip to Disney World and I didn't think I would be able to fly and deal with the humidity in Florida while I felt so crummy. Two desperate attempts at acupuncture however left me feeling good as new. :) At this point I was convinced I was having a little girl because I was so sick when I was pregnant with Olive and not so much when I was pregnant with Logan. When I saw the doctor on June 8, she told me that my due date was December 27, 2011 although according to my calculations I really thought my due date was January 1, 2012. I had an ultrasound to confirm the due date, and according to the ultrasound my due date was changed to December 25, 2011. This pregnancy continued on as normal and we decided not to find out the sex of the baby ahead of time and instead wait for a surprise. This is something I had always wanted to do, but never really had the will power. <br />
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At 19 weeks we had our first scheduled ultrasound and we were excited because it was our first 3D ultrasound. We were having a 3D ultrasound because early on in my pregnancy (before I knew I was pregnant) I had received a steroid shot in my ear to stunt the growth of a keloid that I had had for ages. As it turns out, the steroid is known to cause cleft lip/palate when provided to pregnant women early in the first trimester. Although I wasn't really worried about a cleft because the timing was off by about three weeks, I still wanted to be sure that way we could know what we were dealing with. During the ultrasound both Scott and I thought we knew for sure we were having a little girl. Scott thought this because he didn't see any "boy parts"...and remember Scott has dubbed himself the resident expert "Ultrasoundologist." and I thought girl because I was sure I saw girl parts aka three white lines. The Ultra sound tech took all of her pictures and then left to show everything to the dr.. The ultrasound tech said our due date based on this scan was December 28, 2011. We were expecting the dr. to come in and talk to us about the cleft lip issue and so were not alarmed when she walked in the door five minutes later. She discussed with us the medicine (steroid) I had taken and the possibility of a cleft lip but didn't see any indication of a cleft on the ultrasound and then told us that she wanted to discuss "another finding that had shown up during the ultrasound." My heart sank. She told us that the tech had noticed two fluid filled pockets on the baby's brain, in an area called the Choroid Plexus. She said that the cysts, as they are called, are not concerning in that they are not known to cause brain problems or problems with learning, speech, memory, personality etc. However, the Choroid Plexus Cysts cause more of a problem of association, meaning that their presence is correlated to the baby having a severe chromosomal abnormality called Trisomy 18. She then went on to tell us that Trisomy 18 is considered "incompatible with life" meaning that babies with this condition most often die in utero and if they do survive birth then they will die with-in hours to days afterwards because their bodies are so severely defected they are not able to function correctly. The good news, the dr. said, is that most often when the cysts are present in Trisomy 18 babies there are also other indications such as a defective heart, kidneys, and stomach as well as clinched hands and toes and severe growth restriction. Our baby did not show any signs of the other soft markers. The doctor suggested that we run some blood tests to calculate my risk of having a baby with a chromosomal defect and also repeat the Ultra Sound in four weeks to see if any of the defects showed up. She also suggested that I have an amniocentisis in order to know for sure. I declined the amnio as there is a risk of miscarriage associated with it. I of course was terrified and went home in tears and immediately started researching on the internet. I spent the three days doing nothing but looking up Choroid Plexus Cysts and Trisomy 18 online. This just made my fears worse and really sent me into a panic. Scott was not worried, as our blood test results indicated that my risk was the same as a 20 year old and he is more practical in realizing that the worry would do us no good considering there was nothing we could do about it anyway. So we had our follow up ultrasound and everything looked great, the doctor told me that no further testing was necessary and that we would watch and wait. If I started to show signs of growth restriction then we would consider amnio. At 28 weeks pregnant my uterus size began to fall off of it's curve and I began to measure small at each appointment. Here comes the worry again. I was not measuring significantly small, but on average about two weeks early at each appointment. At 34 weeks I had a repeat ultrasound and everything looked great, the baby was big and healthy with a new estimated due date of December 19th. It was at this ultrasound that I began to suspect that I was having a little boy, as Logan always measured big on ultrasounds and I knew there was absolutely no way that I had conceived this baby early enough to have a due date of December 19.<br />
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For about three weeks I felt really good about my decision not to have amnio and really positive that our baby was healthy. Then around 37 weeks I started to become anxious and depressed again. I asked Scott to sit with me and consider how we would tell our children if it turned out that our baby did not survive. I was an emotional wreck and fought hard to keep back the tears when ever Logan and Olive would talk about our baby and ask when the baby was going to get here. As our due date approached and passed I worried more. Babies with Trisomy 18 also have a defective placenta, and the placenta is responsible for triggering labor when it is ready. Trisomy 18 babies and subsequently placentas often have to be induced because the placenta will not release the hormone to trigger labor. Sigh. More worry. Honestly every day after my 19 week ultrasound I would cry and worry about my "surprise baby" that when I found out I was pregnant I wasn't sure I was ready for and now I was in desperation because this baby was all I really wanted at the moment. I would cry and pray every day as I took a shower and drove to and from work, asking God to provide me with the strength I needed to survive this trial with grace and dignity and to provide a source of strength for Logan, Olive and Scott. Even though I knew I would be devastated if I lost my baby, I was so concerned with sparing my family and my other babies from that heart ache and pain.<br />
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At 40 weeks my midwife ordered a routine ultrasound for babies that go over due and everything looked great. The baby was still growing well and was able to open and close it's hands...a sign that they were not clinched and that the baby was thriving. All of the tests came back normal, so we decided to continue to wait and see if the baby would come out without induction. I wanted to wait because I wanted to deliver our baby in the Natural Birthing Center at Lovelace Women's Hospital. However, the only way to deliver there is to go into labor on your own and not have any pain medicine...oh and also not to be more than 40 weeks and 6 days pregnant. So I was willing to wait but hoping to go into labor on my own before 41 weeks. I decided that if I made it to 41 weeks then I would ask to be induced.<br />
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So, 41 weeks came and went. Every night up until that point as I went to bed I kept hoping that I would wake up in the middle of the night in immense labor pain...no such luck. As the days passed I continued to worry more and more. I had an appointment with my mid-wife on Wednesday January 4th and I asked to be induced. My plan was to be induced on the 5th because that is the day my mid-wife is on call and delivers babies. However, she informed me that she was working the West Side hospital on the 5th and so suggested I be induced right away. She called labor and delivery and they told me to go over immediately. I WASN'T ready. I told her I had to go home first and say good bye to Logan and Olive and pick up my husband. So, I was supposed to check in at 9:00 am and instead I checked in at 10:00. When my midwife called labor and delivery at 8:30 they had plenty of empty delivery rooms, when I checked in at 10:00 I got the last one! I guess it was going to be a busy day on the floor.<br />
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My midwife warned me that a lot of over-due babies don't due well with Misoprostil (the drug they used to induce me) and to not worry that any complications were due to the baby possibly having Trisomy 18. So the deal with Miso, as it is called, is it is placed on your cervix and you lay down for two hours while it dissolves and the baby's heart rate is monitored. It is not expected to start labor until after the first two hours. So after two hours you then get up and walk around to try to get things moving. I knew the whole drill as this is how I was successfully induced with Olive. So I had my first dose at 11 and laid in bed till 1. Then Scott and I walked around until 3 when we went back to check for progress...no progress time for the 2nd dose. At some point as I was laying there being monitored the nurse came in and told me that the baby's heart rate had decelerated and she wanted me to switch positions. I had a meltdown, I was so scared that that meant my baby had Trisomy 18. I cried and the nurse tried very hard to comfort me. After switching positions the baby did great. I laid in bed until 5:30 and then Scott, Camella (our Doula) and I walked to Souper Salad for dinner and then back at 7:30 to check for progress. Still no progress. The third dose was placed at 8:00 and at 8:30 I started having contractions. I knew that the contractions were from the 2nd dose and not the 3rd as it takes at least two hours for each dose to work...uh oh. I was scared because they had already placed the 3rd dose and there was no way to take it out. At around 9:00 the nurse came back in and wanted me to drink a lot of juice and go on oxygen because the baby wasn't moving very much and they were concerned again. So I drank the juice and had the oxygen and the baby woke up so all was well. I laid in bed until about 10:15 having some pretty intense contractions and laying down during them is not an effective coping strategy for me. So at 10:15 I decided to get up and walk around. This helped the contractions and even though they were intense I had still not made a lot of progress. I was still at 2cm. Geeze. We walked around with the Doula and walked three flights of stairs twice. After the second time, I told Scott and Camella that I was exhausted and didn't think I could do "this" anymore. "This" meaning labor. At this point my contractions were about 90 seconds apart and lasting for about 1 minute. At 11:15 we went back to the room so I could take a bath or shower. I had a few really hard contractions while waiting for the tub to fill and then at 11:40 I told my Doula that I had to push. Sometime during the pushing my water broke and it had meconium...great another sign of Trisomy 18. <br />
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And now the best part of the story, at 11:57 our beautiful baby was born. I didn't look as the mid-wife held him up high and instead I looked to Scott and asked him to tell me what it was, Scott's response was the highlight of the night...he said "it's a...it's a...it's a boy?" I was so delighted. Axl was placed on my chest as the midwife cut the cord and I was so worried because he was not crying. I started crying and begging him to cry and that is when Camella pointed out to me how perfectly healthy and alert he was. Then the NICU nurse took him to the warming bed to suction out his lungs and belly (due to the meconium) and look him over. I could hear her talking to Scott pointing out all the things they would look for in a baby with Trisomy 18. I heard her say that he had a Simean crease on one of his hands...another sign of Trisomy 18...but that every thing else looked just perfect. She then gave him back to me and in that moment everything was perfect. I held him and examined his every inch and couldn't see the "crease" she was talking about. <br />
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When I checked in to the hospital that morning, the nurse had written some information on a white board, basically her name and the midwifes name and the "goal for the day" was to "have a baby." I was so proud of myself when I realized that I had met the "goal" and had our baby on 4th! Axl weighed in at 7'1 oz and was 20 inches long.<br />
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The next day when the pediatrician came to check out Axl, he said that Axl didn't have a simean crease and didn't know why the nurse had told us that. Everything looked great, but I insisted on having a blood test to confirm there were no chromosomal abnormalities. The blood test came back negative and all his chromosomes are in order with no extras! Phew, what an ordeal.<br />
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The odd thing about my pregnancy is that even though I was such an emotional wreck, physically I felt great. I continued to walk between 5 and 8 miles every day, I could sleep great and Logan and Olive made it so much fun. Olive liked to lift my shirt and ask to see my baby, and Logan kept insisting that we were having a baby boy and every time I would tell him I thought it was a girl he would cry. When I called Logan and Olive on the 5th to tell them we had a baby boy, Logan said "Yay, my mommy bought me a baby brother."<br />
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I told very few people about my ordeal during the pregnancy and was very careful not to tell my family ( my mom and dad, in law's etc) as I did not want to burden them with the worry as I was burdened. I wish so much that the doctor would have never told me about the cysts and even sometimes wish I didn't have the ultrasound at all.<br />
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What a blessing it is to have three wonderful, healthy children. I know that now more than ever and am so grateful for my family and all the joy it brings me, like nothing else in the World.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-86028534271888738092011-12-03T14:31:00.000-07:002012-04-04T08:17:41.128-06:00Olive turns two!Wow, am I behind. It was my intention to "catch up" on this blog, but too much time has passed. So will post about Olive's b-day and then move on to the more recent.<br />
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On December 3, our baby girl turned two! I can't believe she is two already and in some ways, I can't believe she is ONLY two. She thinks she is so much bigger and older than she is, and really she is quite independent for a two year old. She can talk as well as Logan and even talks more than Logan, which if you know Logan, is not hard to believe.<br />
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Olive loves baby dolls and can't wait to be a big sister. She likes to play dress up, take her babies "grocery shopping" and make pretend cupcakes for them to eat. She sleeps wonderfully and shares a bedroom with Logan. We have to make sure we put her to bed before Logan however, because if we don't she will talk his ear off all hours of the night. She loves her big brother so much, and even turns to him for comfort more often than she does me. If she gets hurt or sad the first person she looks for is Logan and Logan is always quick to give her hugs and kiss her owies. I do find him from time to time however telling her that "he doesn't feel like talking right now." This is his attempt to get her to be quiet for just one moment although it rarely works. Olive loves to give kisses and be held. She also "loves" everything. She tells me every day that she loves my hair, loves her breakfast, loves her cups...whatever it is, she loves it. Her favorite phrase is "yeah, but that's okay." She usually says this after she gets caught making a mess or doing something she isn't supposed to do.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYKRvW5dTWk9-uG5PCc5oFn2YP3hVyxvwGbWleWH__SXPfGHgmFFEB0aTl-zZaQfvaLl8WZx3bkHHv6OMUwfCsmZFHdTdhkYfrk8inAS2rTcFpBA4ZBnupLA__E3r9imR9xGVxc9t97cl/s1600/IMG_5432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpYKRvW5dTWk9-uG5PCc5oFn2YP3hVyxvwGbWleWH__SXPfGHgmFFEB0aTl-zZaQfvaLl8WZx3bkHHv6OMUwfCsmZFHdTdhkYfrk8inAS2rTcFpBA4ZBnupLA__E3r9imR9xGVxc9t97cl/s320/IMG_5432.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dFrgXSxCwONWY0l7-AQBMYwk44kBLEvNeeU9pEm97Vlm4hZTFRJLyzAPwXGeVYg4iKmxZ0WftraF7Q12D7JyTVOUaOOgYUfmkDCG8ak9moNiMCDZKt_If2btS4j1QCrMPWscMhPV9TJF/s1600/IMG_5443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7dFrgXSxCwONWY0l7-AQBMYwk44kBLEvNeeU9pEm97Vlm4hZTFRJLyzAPwXGeVYg4iKmxZ0WftraF7Q12D7JyTVOUaOOgYUfmkDCG8ak9moNiMCDZKt_If2btS4j1QCrMPWscMhPV9TJF/s320/IMG_5443.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Olive is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. This year we woke up on her birthday to snow, which was especially sentimental to me because she was born during a snow storm.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-69425088287537499902011-07-27T12:14:00.000-06:002011-07-27T12:14:01.627-06:00Utah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last week we decided to take a last minute trip to Salt Lake City to visit Scott's family. There was already a "reunion" of sorts going on so we thought we would take advantage and visit as many people as possible. We really enjoy going to Utah and always feel so welcome and at home when we travel there. Salt Lake City is an amazing place to go when you have little ones and we really enjoy all of the activities and visiting with family. We started our trip at 8:00 pm on Wednesday night and drove to Montecello. We arrived there at about midnight and stopped at the Rodeway Inn. The next morning we got up around 7:00 and headed to Salt Lake around 9:00. We stopped in Price to play at a McDonalds and grab some lunch and then on we went. I will say that I was not impressed with the Price McDonalds as the women's restroom was under construction, had step ladders all over the place and the TP was just stacked on the floor in the stalls. There were no mirrors, no soap and no paper towels or air hand dryers. In addition to all of this, the kids in the play land were way TOO BIG to be playing there and were not nice and considerate of my little ones. Once we got to Salt Lake we basically just hung out with Scott's AWESOME family. Logan had his face painted for the first time ever and was so excited. At first I didn't mention anything to Logan about having his face painted because I wasn't sure if he would be interested or not or just freaked out by the whole idea. He is very particular these days. Well, I guess he saw the other kids having their faces painted and maybe Scott suggested it to him, but he was so excited to have a snake painted on his face. I didn't attempt to have Olive's face painted. I doubt she would sit with a stranger touching her face. Olive had a great time playing with cousins at the park and catching bubbles. We even played our first ever game of Frisbee Golf and had a great time. Logan lasted for about three holes and Olive for one. They enjoyed walking in the park, picking up sticks and using their Frisbee as "plates" to make pretend food out of grass, rocks, sticks and other things you find in a park. Unfortunately, the playground equipment was way too hot to enjoy...I really think engineers should come up with a better material to make slides out of...what good is a slide if it burns your buns on the way down? We left Salt lake for home at about 8:30 on Sunday night and again stayed in Montecello and then made our way home on Monday. We had a great trip, our new van did great and as always, the kids were easy going and well behaved. We can't wait for our next road-trip....maybe Tennessee in October.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing London Bridge on the Trampoline</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helicopters in the park</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logan being patient as always</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A work in progress</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQEQN9mflsXr4nWMYosejA_O2vSItNumooPSJkSiT_uJ1sFrEH1ULct5VH3KNF0a3vEc-TECSDGsgdZr4mwOY-upAMyX5rcEbKyA-B_Xj_LkxmucvoP3RIZa4dAJ7NqJEXnPQCeQ_MTsj/s1600/IMG_5119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQEQN9mflsXr4nWMYosejA_O2vSItNumooPSJkSiT_uJ1sFrEH1ULct5VH3KNF0a3vEc-TECSDGsgdZr4mwOY-upAMyX5rcEbKyA-B_Xj_LkxmucvoP3RIZa4dAJ7NqJEXnPQCeQ_MTsj/s320/IMG_5119.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proud Boy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgBj35qP5ubY5oZC-8MrlPCMk3WXlOLTTs8bFjd4OBS3cM69l33Trnpmh5rXtVoa7muy7TSCKzEXx7xcKXr8kT56Ktbaup5U1d7G8FnBViffrC9n22o5jK8qU3tJes88HFBbzvKhiJI4p/s1600/IMG_5123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgBj35qP5ubY5oZC-8MrlPCMk3WXlOLTTs8bFjd4OBS3cM69l33Trnpmh5rXtVoa7muy7TSCKzEXx7xcKXr8kT56Ktbaup5U1d7G8FnBViffrC9n22o5jK8qU3tJes88HFBbzvKhiJI4p/s320/IMG_5123.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jump Rope!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXaAzWegaPJ60HPx0f7kFQO9tJTvZeBpBYQvTKDNz5xmo_96jbU7JcIhyOU-zEYS2WnqKpvLvaGIj1CztcRYpazgss-5vjAexdRxp4rtjxojaNcv0vC1Fhb3eedwyj3U5lw1ivTDBQwh-/s1600/IMG_5132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXaAzWegaPJ60HPx0f7kFQO9tJTvZeBpBYQvTKDNz5xmo_96jbU7JcIhyOU-zEYS2WnqKpvLvaGIj1CztcRYpazgss-5vjAexdRxp4rtjxojaNcv0vC1Fhb3eedwyj3U5lw1ivTDBQwh-/s320/IMG_5132.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought you were supposed to kiss frog...either way it didn't turn into a prince</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Limbo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvGerqLYvxNiqUEkdOVsY4xjCGSa6VmqcjSYPMV-gMD4xD6l7VApY5hMzoj10oGL7GQ4rcLtUGDHaoG7L8hHewuDKwVDwURsBcepnorvaqO2VHhY9fWgceQp_0wLqRtD8-XQoRQ_JYYWX/s1600/IMG_5161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvGerqLYvxNiqUEkdOVsY4xjCGSa6VmqcjSYPMV-gMD4xD6l7VApY5hMzoj10oGL7GQ4rcLtUGDHaoG7L8hHewuDKwVDwURsBcepnorvaqO2VHhY9fWgceQp_0wLqRtD8-XQoRQ_JYYWX/s320/IMG_5161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bubbles with Daddy! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-31633513833931212642011-07-20T11:54:00.000-06:002011-07-20T11:54:02.480-06:00Catching upI have been looking through the endless pictures on my computer from 2011 trying to decide which ones to use in order to catch up my blog, and I have realized that we really haven't had much going on. Well, besides being busy with a full time job (3 if you count Scott's 2) 2 kids, one on the way and an energetic dog. Our days are busy and fun and my house is always a mess. Instead of creating a separate blog entry for each of the "events" over the past 6 months, I figured I would just create on entry and try to hi-light on the big ones.<br />
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In February, after recovering from strep throat I starting training for a 1/2 marathon race (against myself) in April. My original plan was to run a 15.3 mile race in White Sands in March, but with having two kids with Chicken Pox, one with possible encephalitis and strep throat myself those plans were quickly derailed. Oh, and while all of this was going on, Scott was working in Roswell every Sunday through Friday. At any rate, with the help and motivation of a great friend I started a 10 week training program to prepare for my first EVER race. I had never run a 5k or a 10k or even a 1 mile fun run race before. I doubted myself at times and thought I would never be able to run outside on the hard pavement without hand rails to hold on to, as all or most of my running experience had been on a treadmill. But I pushed hard, created a great play list on my i-pod, which if you know me this won't come as any surprise to you, I listed to over and over and over again . I ran in the foothills outside of my house for most of my short runs, got lost once on a "long" run and found a great running partner in Bunsen. I would complete my long runs at lunch time on the Fridays that I worked, with Noel who really was my inspiration. One day I had to do a "long run" by myself and I thought I would never make it. She was great at pacing me and encouraging me to push harder when I thought I couldn't go any more. When race day came, I was so excited and nervous I couldn't sleep the night before. It was a great morning for a run though and I was pumped. We started out slow and steady and kept a great easy pace. In fact, I would say I finished my 13.1 miles with ease and even thought when it was over that I could run a full marathon. Here is a picture of me at the starting line with my running buddy.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjochTNn03Y_XZzjS5csCtwLmzrKogz10Amj9WnnuVvdasj-2EkQvEM-5318xbeFSG-c98P3NIvxIawZLyYmBHhFgr5zPllUs0jCrzD1hbYKCpqey_HsyK83TW4thKRVMva13oKWYW0APc3/s1600/.5+marathon" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjochTNn03Y_XZzjS5csCtwLmzrKogz10Amj9WnnuVvdasj-2EkQvEM-5318xbeFSG-c98P3NIvxIawZLyYmBHhFgr5zPllUs0jCrzD1hbYKCpqey_HsyK83TW4thKRVMva13oKWYW0APc3/s320/.5+marathon" width="320" /></a></div><br />
That afternoon after running my half marathon I was tired and didn't quite feel right. I felt a little queasy, uneasy and anxious. Without any real prompting I started to wonder if I was pregnant. I immediately went to the store and bought a home pregnancy test and discovered that I was indeed expecting our third baby. I was so happy that I didn't suspect anything until hours after the race rather than before. I think if I knew I was pregnant while trying to run a 1/2 marathon it would have gotten in my head. So there it is, our last baby is due on 12/31/2011. A little earlier than I would have liked, in my ideal world, but we are thrilled and excited non-the-less. <br />
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Next in April was Logan's b-day. I can't believe my baby is three already. Logan loves to play with Olive and really is such a sweet and caring boy. He isn't crazy, obnoxious or overly hyper. He has a very calm and shy demeanor which I love. I try hard to get him to come out of his shell by giving him plenty of opportunities to interact with other kids and be independent. For Logan's birthday this year we were going to get him a bunk bed and thought it would be fun to take him shopping so he could pick his own out. Well, while shopping for the bed, Scott decided it would be more fun if he and Logan made the bed themselves. I agreed and we bought just a double mattress because I knew that Logan's uncle John was buying him Spiderman sheets and a blanket for his new big-boy bed. Logan had two birthday parties this year, one with just family at our house and one with friends at Gymboree. Oh, and one other thing, Logan and Scott both had the stomach flu the week of Logan's birthday, this has been the case every year since Logan was one. A birthday tradition I HOPE does not last.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOsbMcmx5ne32TouzTL5Stvfs05Try1oPTDcetSPDYQEPuIAHjjOvhKARyJHBBQTy25gIgj9AAARITw0vGmY2mMbSoZCPH3Qo-6j29NsPbsOqLm2sz041mAwYl_GgyW0SYjO59DQwyI-p/s1600/IMG_4510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDOsbMcmx5ne32TouzTL5Stvfs05Try1oPTDcetSPDYQEPuIAHjjOvhKARyJHBBQTy25gIgj9AAARITw0vGmY2mMbSoZCPH3Qo-6j29NsPbsOqLm2sz041mAwYl_GgyW0SYjO59DQwyI-p/s320/IMG_4510.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logan in his Buzz Light Year rocket ship</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Logan and I opening his b-day gifts while the rest of the house was sleeping (or puking).</td></tr>
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In May we took a family vacation to Florida to visit Disney World. We had a blast, despite my severe "morning" (all day really) sickness. The kids had so much fun playing in the hotel pool, going to Disney and Sea World and playing at the beach. And as always, my kids surprised me and traveled very well, with little drama and no melt downs. Here are just a few of our pictures, there are many, many more on Facebook.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only family picture, this is in line for "it's a small world"</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNdgtxcsXEHLEiarPF3kkzPOOTx8AKyuiqSGD7Ez4mwoGO-NaH4JLHNhLqa1fj82qp4T2UrX3roNe0lbn934srdE4jXFBPKqV66_MgAKO7j7zcxE4JxbA_z1udOFc2E1FRjIo_uuFUfgH/s1600/Copy+%25282%2529+of+IMG_4739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNdgtxcsXEHLEiarPF3kkzPOOTx8AKyuiqSGD7Ez4mwoGO-NaH4JLHNhLqa1fj82qp4T2UrX3roNe0lbn934srdE4jXFBPKqV66_MgAKO7j7zcxE4JxbA_z1udOFc2E1FRjIo_uuFUfgH/s320/Copy+%25282%2529+of+IMG_4739.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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June and July have been relatively slow months for us. Just hot and pregnant! I have been riding the rail runner and bus to work and that has been saving me a ton of money and I get a little time to myself everyday. It does make for long days however as I leave the house at 5:30am and don't get home until 6:00 pm. We went to the Annual Placitas Village 4th of July parade this year. Scott and I had fun and the kids did too, well until the fire truck sprayed us with water. That is it for "catch up" hopefully I can keep on top of things and can avoid having to do too many more "catch up posts" in the future.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxFyf1m1Mr_ZWsPy1HiNJPn9eZEXuIaWb_90tb3Sg-R2DzCZRy8aSS9g2i83AKGtYyxIcBeQzg7hLzRyMhdkJCP0aRaMo6MfQC6s2VU67GemrOubz1BPoqu8B080lyhcr77qo1Kc_G2hJ/s1600/IMG_5012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxFyf1m1Mr_ZWsPy1HiNJPn9eZEXuIaWb_90tb3Sg-R2DzCZRy8aSS9g2i83AKGtYyxIcBeQzg7hLzRyMhdkJCP0aRaMo6MfQC6s2VU67GemrOubz1BPoqu8B080lyhcr77qo1Kc_G2hJ/s320/IMG_5012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-76265206457025217472011-01-24T09:04:00.004-07:002011-05-22T15:45:13.870-06:00Chicken Pox!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DId7WyJKIN9Qflchz2xFSpAya-MBntczVvwv-oH8_BmAKxmLDNE1hkU-7a7_JhImdqLDOKgcr3aGwJBbMJeZdNOQt5h09vfsXS2lkUPmXeiNZHYjLygFD1CbE5fb8ojbGYgPMWkbbvwQ/s1600/IMG_3906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DId7WyJKIN9Qflchz2xFSpAya-MBntczVvwv-oH8_BmAKxmLDNE1hkU-7a7_JhImdqLDOKgcr3aGwJBbMJeZdNOQt5h09vfsXS2lkUPmXeiNZHYjLygFD1CbE5fb8ojbGYgPMWkbbvwQ/s320/IMG_3906.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>Logan and Olive have both been sick the past few days with a fever. This morning, Logan woke up with a rash on his face...just a few pimple looking things. I honestly thought they were just pimples from all of the lotion and petroleum jelly I have been rubbing on his face/nose to keep him from chaffing due to all of the nose blowing! Well, I decided to take the the kids in to the Dr. because I wasn't sure what Olive had. She just had a fever with no other symptoms. And the diagnosis is....Chicken Pox for Logan and Strep throat for Olive and mommy! The chicken pox are so rare these days that the Dr. was very surprised to see them. Logan has been vaccinated for the chicken pox, but apparently even with the vaccine, it is possible to get them anyway, however it is usually a very mild case. Logan has been such a good boy and really hasn't complained much, he really is a tough guy. And Olive is tolerating her antibiotics well, which is always a concern since we have allergies in the family. I can't remember the last time I had strep throat...I think it was in the 2nd grade right before I had my tonsils out. It is horrible! I feel so bad for my kids now, I have been so sick even my skin hurts to the touch! I can't believe that such a common infection could make someone feel so bad. I guess I thought that strep throat was just a bad sore throat!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-11091826617971527392011-01-01T08:48:00.001-07:002011-05-22T09:04:52.481-06:00Christmas 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmI5jA-hpAFe8a4ibpnS0cLVsTU1nwi8GFp2ZbkLa28r5Pb6O19mf07WP0V4uqb4E_JMCyRb6rLwKDy_zBD4VwgAAUd3S_OqNB2oK3Ja1hkiQXfB234nwUSSWZN1rsr3DUlwOfdfmZS0K/s1600/IMG_3766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLmI5jA-hpAFe8a4ibpnS0cLVsTU1nwi8GFp2ZbkLa28r5Pb6O19mf07WP0V4uqb4E_JMCyRb6rLwKDy_zBD4VwgAAUd3S_OqNB2oK3Ja1hkiQXfB234nwUSSWZN1rsr3DUlwOfdfmZS0K/s320/IMG_3766.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Ethan and Logan and Grandpa's Cabin<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdN6qVjt1qJ4VO_4uFyQXGKIbd8P19qt-eVvLgaGdVCfYXylfCJD4soAgvxmn-ArHlosMPM4Y388VIZpqbnNYMieR04_BfR8ofnFrEm8wtYwl3hI5oSv98lr9l92lgw42d409NLRDGpGo/s1600/IMG_3758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdN6qVjt1qJ4VO_4uFyQXGKIbd8P19qt-eVvLgaGdVCfYXylfCJD4soAgvxmn-ArHlosMPM4Y388VIZpqbnNYMieR04_BfR8ofnFrEm8wtYwl3hI5oSv98lr9l92lgw42d409NLRDGpGo/s320/IMG_3758.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Christmas Dinner at our house...Pizza in the living room! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK2EjV9sEm1UHoRk4_ZfdyiQk5JIpQYBAKnERyoJdqldVxeCTH8neVEUriPlINopIg0EaU3h45KDdI1D8VuknNmUOi-TP7EsOlrilwyGXkjLa1WB-vzKnVU2Lml8MjISMHU_RQErXcsXX/s1600/IMG_3760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK2EjV9sEm1UHoRk4_ZfdyiQk5JIpQYBAKnERyoJdqldVxeCTH8neVEUriPlINopIg0EaU3h45KDdI1D8VuknNmUOi-TP7EsOlrilwyGXkjLa1WB-vzKnVU2Lml8MjISMHU_RQErXcsXX/s320/IMG_3760.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Olive, making messes at Grandpa's Cabin<br />
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Christmas was great this year! On Christmas eve before bed, Logan put some reindeer food out on the front porch and some cookies out for Santa Clause. He wasn't totally convinced that any one was going to come and eat the food, but he played along anyway! In the morning he immediately went outside to see if the reindeer food was gone, and much to his surprise it was! He was so excited. We then opened presents at home and then went to John and Peggy's house for the family Christmas gathering. My kids were spoiled as usual and ate way too many sweets. That's okay, all of the fun and the sugar crash makes for a great nap for everyone! Santa brought a rocking horse and Mr. and Mrs. Potato head to the kids. They had so much fun with their toys. On the 26th we were supposed to fly to Tennessee to spend the last half of our Christmas break with my family, but our flight was canceled due to major snow storms in the southeast, so we got to spend one more day at home enjoying our family and taking it easy. On the 27th, we ended up being able to fly into Tennessee. We had a lay over in Atlanta, with only 40 minutes to catch our next flight...needless to say we didn't make it. We were only seconds late, which was a bummer. We were able to get on the next flight out and landed in Nashville at about 10pm. After that we had to get our rental car and drive an hour and a half to my parent's cabin. The kids were great troopers and slept most of the way to the cabin. We didn't do much in Tennessee, but it was great to hang out with my parent's and sister and her family. We flew home on New Year's Eve, again through a snowstorm. It was funny though, this time we had a lay over in Minneapolis, where it was snowing like crazy. I thought for sure our flight wasn't going to go, but it DID! It is amazing what a difference snow makes in a place where they are prepared for/used to it rather than in somewhere like the southeast! Over-all, we had a great holiday season!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-27430707826809521982010-12-04T20:49:00.001-07:002011-03-06T21:24:50.724-07:00Happy Birthday Olive!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTNr0wCBL8V8sbraZXcaiir_RuQiz7hx63T5vpKKlgzFRgmrb8Fxj7loHbOkjlotZHBOOToqUMpJNfM3nl-3Zz7TpGqi3kERS2usp6V-awAWpD5EXvji-pW6yyn321UrQMfxA0-ZGHmPqq/s1600/0087.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTNr0wCBL8V8sbraZXcaiir_RuQiz7hx63T5vpKKlgzFRgmrb8Fxj7loHbOkjlotZHBOOToqUMpJNfM3nl-3Zz7TpGqi3kERS2usp6V-awAWpD5EXvji-pW6yyn321UrQMfxA0-ZGHmPqq/s320/0087.jpg" /></a> </div><br />
Olive turned one on December 3! I can't believe a whole year has passed! She is such a little dolly and so much fun! She loves to follow her brother around and try to do everything that he is doing. She loves to hold on her to her babies. She is a great sleeper and sleeps every night from 7:30-7:30 am. She isn't much of a napper, but I would trade naps for a full night's sleep any day. She can say hi, bye, bonk (binky) bonk (as in bonked my head), down (she says this for both down and up), mama, dada, brub (brother), bee (bunsen) and more. She really likes to eat and insists on feeding her self. She dislikes having her diaper changed because it really is such an inconvenience for her to be held still for that long. She enjoys taking baths with her big brother and is pretty much all around a very happy girl. This year we had two birthday parties for Olive, one on the 3rd for family and one on the 4th for friends at Gymboree. I think Logan had more fun than Olive did at Gymboree, but all things considered it was great! Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDgR3LczOwz0hRS_9DKHb8cwn_wI0nElDpizD4oIr_g6CmWRLWNTY30MP4G0m4AEAGdhn2TKmtenbTfvrwL2AZW-eeBXXBNd8xIgCCBxaBFy2ln4f9vgEVXwRONKz8282DLl6uJg1zKoV/s1600/IMG_3698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDgR3LczOwz0hRS_9DKHb8cwn_wI0nElDpizD4oIr_g6CmWRLWNTY30MP4G0m4AEAGdhn2TKmtenbTfvrwL2AZW-eeBXXBNd8xIgCCBxaBFy2ln4f9vgEVXwRONKz8282DLl6uJg1zKoV/s320/IMG_3698.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCy2HPFtIro7zLnuUSpAZZR7dVGnDeT1Dj6xnnpli92FRfevUMAxqIrLKbivT4pCnt4-ZiGM0_37ZQu-7hRbDEZxpMdwI5uJrPuLn4Y6nbwRVhamsEot_-tYEkppmhJsMerRpWrR1L1v2/s1600/IMG_3671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCy2HPFtIro7zLnuUSpAZZR7dVGnDeT1Dj6xnnpli92FRfevUMAxqIrLKbivT4pCnt4-ZiGM0_37ZQu-7hRbDEZxpMdwI5uJrPuLn4Y6nbwRVhamsEot_-tYEkppmhJsMerRpWrR1L1v2/s320/IMG_3671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgQVloxIJje7ENm-8e5LrqZ0lJhNjFnB_2-7DS7u1VY1otp818fZPVBdlbXs3ANXATdvdJmHNo7hEadPEvT5mV1tN1JkRBGZIwkiDDVOsM2jzaOF2VRjuBSKs3OHh9ffqEntGtRKYOrWo/s1600/IMG_3675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgQVloxIJje7ENm-8e5LrqZ0lJhNjFnB_2-7DS7u1VY1otp818fZPVBdlbXs3ANXATdvdJmHNo7hEadPEvT5mV1tN1JkRBGZIwkiDDVOsM2jzaOF2VRjuBSKs3OHh9ffqEntGtRKYOrWo/s320/IMG_3675.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYJTOL5rJDrptyJeMpluogaayqxfyhttw9pOS2A1TPAhS8AGx1p1P7BQcNPjVywl4wonqaod1HT9aqS45Im7Bbw3gPaMzPZ_WehUQrAwyP9MuhRECqtMRjdoK3cG0wt3hmUg13F9SPzEd/s1600/IMG_3687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYJTOL5rJDrptyJeMpluogaayqxfyhttw9pOS2A1TPAhS8AGx1p1P7BQcNPjVywl4wonqaod1HT9aqS45Im7Bbw3gPaMzPZ_WehUQrAwyP9MuhRECqtMRjdoK3cG0wt3hmUg13F9SPzEd/s320/IMG_3687.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01GtRKSAA8UdJ4rJOSwjG5Cc559pVFgguFtRfHs7bbiSH6GUnH2jFIAuLyLMe7dOV2rpkKmz9QxUPxTpwn0UUHgZ1yK8gaPl3fHLKAg4NW1fa7VdRl5Yo4LwKTlMRusQpk5MQh5eXkgnF/s1600/Copy+of+IMG_3669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh01GtRKSAA8UdJ4rJOSwjG5Cc559pVFgguFtRfHs7bbiSH6GUnH2jFIAuLyLMe7dOV2rpkKmz9QxUPxTpwn0UUHgZ1yK8gaPl3fHLKAg4NW1fa7VdRl5Yo4LwKTlMRusQpk5MQh5eXkgnF/s320/Copy+of+IMG_3669.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0eU7rfsXJoU1kP1f__cF7laoYfYZvqAU3qRFH4vrH22fKn3WNw8ulLdkyIY2aOoNM4DBZGdn2a4DsO_-yHcNQZ8KKprGkc0eOAT8Z8_fyJ8tC8RLJ8S_GTdABk6rGqoDf4FNgNpsNBKu/s1600/Copy+of+IMG_3667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0eU7rfsXJoU1kP1f__cF7laoYfYZvqAU3qRFH4vrH22fKn3WNw8ulLdkyIY2aOoNM4DBZGdn2a4DsO_-yHcNQZ8KKprGkc0eOAT8Z8_fyJ8tC8RLJ8S_GTdABk6rGqoDf4FNgNpsNBKu/s320/Copy+of+IMG_3667.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent; border: 0px none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-41973105819136408452010-11-26T20:26:00.000-07:002011-03-05T20:29:36.700-07:00Thanksgiving 2010<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlhi8Vy9VrCeoQIBuGbRRFfbKjpeijlHoyjr0rn2HkTMSiCPkoED186otldQn9AeCDk1blPXJ-i0aCVTi3wr6yB97z_8GL6c-PdeK4NEyLvyPBwpudWTVxU20T5AzglfW6TPShHgxWh5B/s1600/IMG_3623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlhi8Vy9VrCeoQIBuGbRRFfbKjpeijlHoyjr0rn2HkTMSiCPkoED186otldQn9AeCDk1blPXJ-i0aCVTi3wr6yB97z_8GL6c-PdeK4NEyLvyPBwpudWTVxU20T5AzglfW6TPShHgxWh5B/s320/IMG_3623.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1aHqeF1rUTla346BrLKcslOld6WzDDSbo77-ATN3FciCApEtq3Wg-4mOnGYR1eVF2N3dKluO8UeIecQNDrj1uHhV7O-WJE7B3Uh5e2h64FsrbBanAgBFooAKkmS_MM50iWnmJ-FrbqSt/s1600/IMG_3621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1aHqeF1rUTla346BrLKcslOld6WzDDSbo77-ATN3FciCApEtq3Wg-4mOnGYR1eVF2N3dKluO8UeIecQNDrj1uHhV7O-WJE7B3Uh5e2h64FsrbBanAgBFooAKkmS_MM50iWnmJ-FrbqSt/s320/IMG_3621.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZXgvIFMZ7in7c_cws3jFS9dM8h3JYANhOCHjeeg5f7HX19cxZXmUOZxXB8VM0Tdp4ZYGj-bNzowNfW4nT0FnpIcFxixqmWaPaANJnhyphenhyphen3iqNF5Beq7wjM2H6rQBa4_TeNnUKO76Se4D0k/s1600/IMG_3612.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZXgvIFMZ7in7c_cws3jFS9dM8h3JYANhOCHjeeg5f7HX19cxZXmUOZxXB8VM0Tdp4ZYGj-bNzowNfW4nT0FnpIcFxixqmWaPaANJnhyphenhyphen3iqNF5Beq7wjM2H6rQBa4_TeNnUKO76Se4D0k/s320/IMG_3612.JPG" /></a> </div><br />
We woke up on Thanksgiving to a light dusting of snow! I was quick to get the kids up from bed, fed and dressed so we could go outside and enjoy it before it all melted away. I knew it was going to be a challenge for Olive since she wasn't quite walking at the time, and crawling on the snow really isn't a good thing! Bunsen was so excited too! The snow didn't last long, but we made it outside in time for Olive to put her hands in it and Logan to walk around. Bunsen had a great time chasing bunnies, as always!<br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent; border: 0px none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-86056466513948722872010-11-01T13:50:00.000-06:002011-03-06T15:24:25.894-07:00Halloween 2010<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvAgfvAmwKqFBCQx0slum781KG0_wsnCDXsmeEoQydD8WPVEGOy2ZNIsE32sx2GVMLHxJFU5hqBp2aXwoQshhkY3FN4i42nw3sByXhaZFBAj4A7BwhfT6yGa9OvDSYMPfbjVi4ZvJsO-V/s1600/Copy+of+IMG_3541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvAgfvAmwKqFBCQx0slum781KG0_wsnCDXsmeEoQydD8WPVEGOy2ZNIsE32sx2GVMLHxJFU5hqBp2aXwoQshhkY3FN4i42nw3sByXhaZFBAj4A7BwhfT6yGa9OvDSYMPfbjVi4ZvJsO-V/s320/Copy+of+IMG_3541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEkoviMCWruqrjOo7cCd8JfPzAnamE8Q7SqVG5-_ack3mU3rCpzfiIcunFwF86Sq56WafZF8dS6hlm8AyKkSgYObGjjenR3ef3mN6kqpKAqkAgj3tWJx41XcWkmkd-O4MNcB8Nh5ERRQG/s1600/Copy+of+IMG_3515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEkoviMCWruqrjOo7cCd8JfPzAnamE8Q7SqVG5-_ack3mU3rCpzfiIcunFwF86Sq56WafZF8dS6hlm8AyKkSgYObGjjenR3ef3mN6kqpKAqkAgj3tWJx41XcWkmkd-O4MNcB8Nh5ERRQG/s320/Copy+of+IMG_3515.JPG" width="180" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"></div>This year for Halloween Logan dressed up as Nemo and Olive dressed up as a pumpkin (sort of). On the Friday before Halloween we went to McCall's Pumpkin Patch to pick out some pumpkins and try our wits at the corn maze. Olive and Logan had a great time and Logan really enjoyed the pipe slide. After the pumpkin patch we went to Grandma Peggy's house to carve pumpkins and bob for apples. Logan was so excited to bob for apples, but he didn't understand that you aren't supposed to take actual bites out of the apples. The kids had a great time. On Sunday, for Halloween, we went back to Grandma Peggy's house to eat dinner and then go trick or treating. We usually drive into Albuquerque to trick-or-treat with friends who live in a real neighborhood, but because Halloween was on a Sunday this year, we decided to stay close to home. There weren't very many neighbors near Grandma Peggy's house who were passing out candy, which was fine with me, and Logan and Olive didn't seem to really mind. <br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIE8fonmGrOB7HrK4rkVp3n8FN4ZjMDV84JOgCSsxtcc0nLiBwcUkptFvI17gWVmkS4Ib0wsijIyEzEgiX7B_ytIj9Geg7qjb3InfTqYwmDes4KYxWpec3cthCpQVweMWUEi9_gJslLcIL/s1600/IMG_3571.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIE8fonmGrOB7HrK4rkVp3n8FN4ZjMDV84JOgCSsxtcc0nLiBwcUkptFvI17gWVmkS4Ib0wsijIyEzEgiX7B_ytIj9Geg7qjb3InfTqYwmDes4KYxWpec3cthCpQVweMWUEi9_gJslLcIL/s320/IMG_3571.JPG" /></a> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYpx_pHQXj6yJsFwpEdJ8RfhDcKcoK21C9roARaAnjNgFuefr9g33oMaitXOQu6zhFksWT3Y2iPcl6fJse8bDNN6e_DT2GVPkv2zrAM6MbdfdMoIMkFAFji2BSnsni9mEroEO1m5N8rEX/s1600/IMG_3567.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYpx_pHQXj6yJsFwpEdJ8RfhDcKcoK21C9roARaAnjNgFuefr9g33oMaitXOQu6zhFksWT3Y2iPcl6fJse8bDNN6e_DT2GVPkv2zrAM6MbdfdMoIMkFAFji2BSnsni9mEroEO1m5N8rEX/s320/IMG_3567.JPG" /></a><br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtzs0_lnBG6Kwu-Nk45pshPmJCKRzqUU6q4e9a8FaULUQ2vrCFwiYWa-W1mhR4kZt4hsN6Xmag1Pakv609NInP2jV2UuFrVt2UAUSxJyFDY7K9BmblOYUCwdTioO_WoJvg4BO9F84K92S/s1600/IMG_3573.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtzs0_lnBG6Kwu-Nk45pshPmJCKRzqUU6q4e9a8FaULUQ2vrCFwiYWa-W1mhR4kZt4hsN6Xmag1Pakv609NInP2jV2UuFrVt2UAUSxJyFDY7K9BmblOYUCwdTioO_WoJvg4BO9F84K92S/s320/IMG_3573.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 50% transparent; border: 0px none; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-54266509481687547182010-10-09T21:08:00.009-06:002011-02-27T21:26:16.763-07:00Pendaries and Salmon Raspberry Ranch, October 2010We took a family vacation to Jeff and Alli's cabin in Pendaries. Scott and I were going to go up alone and play golf, but decided at the last minute to take Logan, Olive and Bunsen with us. We didn't play any golf, however we took a lot of walks on the golf course and then went to the Salmon Raspberry Ranch. On one of our walks, Logan found a golf ball...that was in plain site (I am not sure how the person who lost it didn't see it), however he and Scott washed it in the golf ball cleaner and dried it off. As we continued to walk, every time we came across a golf ball cleaner, Logan insisted on washing his ball! On our last day at the cabin on our way home, we took a 15 minute detour and drove up to the Raspberry Ranch where we had a great time. The raspberry bushes are the perfect size for little ones to pick at (even dogs too) and Logan and Olive had a great time eating raspberries. The raspberries were Olive's first real food (other than Gerber Puffs) and she did great! They were very ripe and perfect for her! I just had to be careful not to give her too many so she wouldn't get a tummy ache. After picking raspberries, we went to the little cafe and Logan had a PB&J (raspberry of course) sandwhich. We then all enjoyed a raspberry sundae and then headed back home! It was a great little trip and I can't wait until next year when Olive will get to help pick the berries and not just eat them!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZJLUsVIvUAfpsq7HY0uW6IWGuJBxGdntP8DQWiUGioqIfxSZzWXwxknz2yLfDtm_6SSkKKViwHWMJM7k2QMKm8TSIaQtyx9OZ7Wk2aaPQ4omhr5XjHS1mXSZ57xpzAujBjDyXKbFQgci/s1600/IMG_3238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZJLUsVIvUAfpsq7HY0uW6IWGuJBxGdntP8DQWiUGioqIfxSZzWXwxknz2yLfDtm_6SSkKKViwHWMJM7k2QMKm8TSIaQtyx9OZ7Wk2aaPQ4omhr5XjHS1mXSZ57xpzAujBjDyXKbFQgci/s320/IMG_3238.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-88659576543676577422010-09-15T15:40:00.000-06:002010-09-15T15:40:46.325-06:00Best FriendsMy kids are best friends and I love it! They have so much fun playing together. We flew to Mesa, Az, this past weekend for Scott's grandfather's funeral. The kids were great on the plane and they had so much fun playing together in the hotel. I even gave them a bath together...Logan thought it was the neatest thing. I had never bathed them together, but it was so late that I didn't think either one could wait. Here are some recent pictures.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> Olive was so tired after swimming she couldn't stay awake while I was getting her ready for bed. It has been a LONG time since that has happened.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3ti7D133VwvFJxSJFbCOyfoySa6sSkBE7PLEkDJdJX3DQ_4QR1rYznMnhMZ3-jyJPYwRTSHAjPKEDQP5f4Y5bppahluZbsp0K7fNRmkKrLrw8Id_EKmvoyR3YJm3gzITGyqLEj2aE8Lc/s1600/IMG_3178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3ti7D133VwvFJxSJFbCOyfoySa6sSkBE7PLEkDJdJX3DQ_4QR1rYznMnhMZ3-jyJPYwRTSHAjPKEDQP5f4Y5bppahluZbsp0K7fNRmkKrLrw8Id_EKmvoyR3YJm3gzITGyqLEj2aE8Lc/s320/IMG_3178.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Here is Olive at the airport</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMFsKtURqnsjPICg6B5uvmNL1RmqSxnGqn3TGPIQbr8ukOhq71Kzk8Jp4N7ncMef-dJIPS9tFbaqHliGnHzPDR452pQVLyzD-MbD2YJrLG5oUDpi3NXnKtkiNWW_aOC_v9qQh431ac-uK/s1600/IMG_3139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKMFsKtURqnsjPICg6B5uvmNL1RmqSxnGqn3TGPIQbr8ukOhq71Kzk8Jp4N7ncMef-dJIPS9tFbaqHliGnHzPDR452pQVLyzD-MbD2YJrLG5oUDpi3NXnKtkiNWW_aOC_v9qQh431ac-uK/s320/IMG_3139.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> Logan and Scott at the airport</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGWhk007kojBInbg-XI_fakK-FbfRX1qMq7yQrUzpQV7cgyO0A6rOHjObpLhCzDoDzg7zncxNNuIBA_0OkHJlVzyoXxA3oAOw_dRMY3ReWNR71-SH0lqjE5wglzLg-HdOqNdaSBYgBOl0/s1600/IMG_3143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIGWhk007kojBInbg-XI_fakK-FbfRX1qMq7yQrUzpQV7cgyO0A6rOHjObpLhCzDoDzg7zncxNNuIBA_0OkHJlVzyoXxA3oAOw_dRMY3ReWNR71-SH0lqjE5wglzLg-HdOqNdaSBYgBOl0/s320/IMG_3143.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Logan and Olive at the Observation Deck.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-gv5IcnVo7UNp8aCql-cJxY9kAqBzN7NIgN1AvhNvsl8iYStPHtXWeTgZxSRlvDPAYXWdrqNIs2OumFsv6HLCidPU5P7tPL_CAI7wvA4tP4FxB-tx83dZjFJ1Lh8baTZr8nHp1Lb0VOs/s1600/IMG_3148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-gv5IcnVo7UNp8aCql-cJxY9kAqBzN7NIgN1AvhNvsl8iYStPHtXWeTgZxSRlvDPAYXWdrqNIs2OumFsv6HLCidPU5P7tPL_CAI7wvA4tP4FxB-tx83dZjFJ1Lh8baTZr8nHp1Lb0VOs/s320/IMG_3148.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the bath</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclmrkU5_5bzA6xpO27wIQJObCXDu-sP8T5Hw0edQdaXVZXg2bkU-g9IwWJJ0g4Je1hnzOJj1HtI7pqNxNPiePN5eCwjAnO-QGn_MEaKIVTMfQ514jJPSXryrFxKXeBV3fhgQ12QWxC_yz/s1600/IMG_3167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclmrkU5_5bzA6xpO27wIQJObCXDu-sP8T5Hw0edQdaXVZXg2bkU-g9IwWJJ0g4Je1hnzOJj1HtI7pqNxNPiePN5eCwjAnO-QGn_MEaKIVTMfQ514jJPSXryrFxKXeBV3fhgQ12QWxC_yz/s320/IMG_3167.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Playing in the curtains...why are hotel room curtains so much fun?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2sLQgE5cajTu_M2MeJ5wLHofdiXyIFZkhQmPATaUVYKB7FIDbkNK0-cPm8E_f2PW3hPCD739sCtZCrLfMB_w97Np3Bwrpd-6howwOeHGqAEfTuSBYT-ANkPs_hb_VJapEUVq3LypGGdBa/s1600/IMG_3171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2sLQgE5cajTu_M2MeJ5wLHofdiXyIFZkhQmPATaUVYKB7FIDbkNK0-cPm8E_f2PW3hPCD739sCtZCrLfMB_w97Np3Bwrpd-6howwOeHGqAEfTuSBYT-ANkPs_hb_VJapEUVq3LypGGdBa/s320/IMG_3171.JPG" /></a></div>Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-55244225783398829372010-08-08T21:18:00.000-06:002010-08-08T21:18:00.723-06:00Busy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lTM_2JtDxeQlcvQscyIRMVjFroUrHnDoPTAQxxkH8ulOvjw5i3LONRLlQ2QuLaBVc0j8YITu2OzRtteTUP4PUTy4cSXB2Tk9ZB8NQzgRTmL54fLmJbmoTWVSFrDqFfneDPx9TnWiFMTl/s1600/IMG_2811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lTM_2JtDxeQlcvQscyIRMVjFroUrHnDoPTAQxxkH8ulOvjw5i3LONRLlQ2QuLaBVc0j8YITu2OzRtteTUP4PUTy4cSXB2Tk9ZB8NQzgRTmL54fLmJbmoTWVSFrDqFfneDPx9TnWiFMTl/s320/IMG_2811.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GV542dDnjkUve1-95VQsGdvyrFEMwH7jJp2KxrzzqIhwf9eUD9ek7FvSuS9Kd6SDatV44o3wogCIKiz6f8TSysNLrsmlGgRO-1QsQRcxMnIP2OGeoLUcD_eKpW3OaOdClVjmvi6ZI26j/s1600/IMG_2859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GV542dDnjkUve1-95VQsGdvyrFEMwH7jJp2KxrzzqIhwf9eUD9ek7FvSuS9Kd6SDatV44o3wogCIKiz6f8TSysNLrsmlGgRO-1QsQRcxMnIP2OGeoLUcD_eKpW3OaOdClVjmvi6ZI26j/s320/IMG_2859.JPG" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbhzp6zvKIOlC-vaLxIowYF2mAvtrWa-t1LDysucIizMt0DsPUugLmQwuYgdelcbvK3-ErpgTT6iBu6i-gZNaiayDozzN4sdGYoViB_8wQ_A2JlCqxdZSqsVATIuSMFgbNmJhsNEnrV7a/s1600/IMG_2870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbhzp6zvKIOlC-vaLxIowYF2mAvtrWa-t1LDysucIizMt0DsPUugLmQwuYgdelcbvK3-ErpgTT6iBu6i-gZNaiayDozzN4sdGYoViB_8wQ_A2JlCqxdZSqsVATIuSMFgbNmJhsNEnrV7a/s320/IMG_2870.JPG" /></a>We have been having a very busy, but fun summer. Olive turned eight months this week. I can't believe how fast the time flies. She is such a joy and such a sweet heart. She started crawling on Tuesday. She is still pretty slow at getting around and prefers to scoot on her bottom more than crawl. She loves Logan and wants to play with everything that he does. Logan is getting pretty quick at saying "no, no, no, Olive, don't touch." Poor kid, learning to share is such tough work. He is pretty good at quickly finding a replacement toy for Olive, so she isn't interested in the one he is playing with. This only works about half of the time though. Olive is getting to that "object permeance" stage, where she remembers the toy she had after it has been taken away and she doesn't much like that. She is very loud and vocal. She doesn't cry very much anymore, but is very good at letting us know that she needs some attention. She loves to eat baby food, and if you are too slow in giving it to her, she lets you know pretty quickly. Taking her out to a restaurant is always so stressful because she spends most of the time squealing and screaming for more food.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2e3nbFb4eeVTIv-BWeHkjhoF7wPBhfwzA5zPnzp-WTkpWnDTlfVoaUbip15xpDIu-BCw0rM7OGCQeTL6dnhvdeciEQf5z3xf3U5rRTXHFMvHw7EcnNUdtdbtR7zxD02dxbAIB8Hw6tR1e/s1600/IMG_2881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2e3nbFb4eeVTIv-BWeHkjhoF7wPBhfwzA5zPnzp-WTkpWnDTlfVoaUbip15xpDIu-BCw0rM7OGCQeTL6dnhvdeciEQf5z3xf3U5rRTXHFMvHw7EcnNUdtdbtR7zxD02dxbAIB8Hw6tR1e/s320/IMG_2881.JPG" /></a></div>Logan is growing so quickly too. He is getting really good at knowing his alphabet and spelling simple words with pictures. He can even spell his name. Although, sometimes after he spells L.O.G.A.N,and I ask him what that spells he will say "me." I am not sure if he does this just to tease me, or if he forgets that those letters actually spell Logan. He points out all of the letters that he sees when we go places and can recognize all 26 letters. He can also count to 12. Logan loves to watch "Wheel of Fortune" and can point out how many of each letter is on the board. I am so lucky to have such wonderful children!Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-7404758758272748442010-06-25T16:17:00.000-06:002010-06-25T16:17:56.236-06:00What is going on?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmnnvd5sW4C-AGowNMiY45w5Z1EK3MA-TrGRu6XzqC3FArg7ddaduZnntFdtApLNEOFmZ6MJFtglHDKIDWFVGXp3DJIIiHGK0Khv5AGc69K-9xMrhc8g439ZqUdg1CHZnMMQbheZRxNDz/s1600/IMG_2709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmnnvd5sW4C-AGowNMiY45w5Z1EK3MA-TrGRu6XzqC3FArg7ddaduZnntFdtApLNEOFmZ6MJFtglHDKIDWFVGXp3DJIIiHGK0Khv5AGc69K-9xMrhc8g439ZqUdg1CHZnMMQbheZRxNDz/s320/IMG_2709.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_Bhw9V6J3u1DsSj22Z3djL69AnZPJRHu2F7Pp4DSQ0lHZWosVG-6xqmAdhLBd-ifeocxnPwgR5bdrNJl3KmgCAC1PauxTKgHuNKvI_aoRIOLDWtgQRtSILFoilypvOAnXpwAA2o_KfW-/s1600/IMG_2737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS_Bhw9V6J3u1DsSj22Z3djL69AnZPJRHu2F7Pp4DSQ0lHZWosVG-6xqmAdhLBd-ifeocxnPwgR5bdrNJl3KmgCAC1PauxTKgHuNKvI_aoRIOLDWtgQRtSILFoilypvOAnXpwAA2o_KfW-/s320/IMG_2737.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlbRN0i989UeUQYB7S1UH-k45A7SSrwac-RnRb8JWa0A80WtAM_-VHeyjm4YDMkYQqtgmorGNseWgs3n4AWYAWuSmVQUgLCDg1NQaaut7L4ZFT81-fN8R6zyixJNPKFFeaCabuwFRXlBd/s1600/IMG_2559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHlbRN0i989UeUQYB7S1UH-k45A7SSrwac-RnRb8JWa0A80WtAM_-VHeyjm4YDMkYQqtgmorGNseWgs3n4AWYAWuSmVQUgLCDg1NQaaut7L4ZFT81-fN8R6zyixJNPKFFeaCabuwFRXlBd/s320/IMG_2559.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUv4urs5kTsQWlwsVgkRy-NvzgSDgnf_XxSQ-tQfZ6N_TDTU8PLwntLPDo8FMtHoIlHm0LD1VAEgfx9d9_Q3UjxcHdpr5sbPGg5hzF-mE79BdmGKH7sDnsDdPGXZdSmbtIK6ap6PyyJzSW/s1600/IMG_2621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUv4urs5kTsQWlwsVgkRy-NvzgSDgnf_XxSQ-tQfZ6N_TDTU8PLwntLPDo8FMtHoIlHm0LD1VAEgfx9d9_Q3UjxcHdpr5sbPGg5hzF-mE79BdmGKH7sDnsDdPGXZdSmbtIK6ap6PyyJzSW/s320/IMG_2621.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwszh2PGA8GCMpLSM6cAOYNHLAz-YHynYcxcpS4vHoMvZqO1Zlw4RHzgj8cHXws62z6rQtYPylcXDywXJGrKjhxQvwS-1zH0EpOa7EYm5GZSPioLOiP5TnnFph-dkNRbuTDpYRfI53ni1B/s1600/IMG_2694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwszh2PGA8GCMpLSM6cAOYNHLAz-YHynYcxcpS4vHoMvZqO1Zlw4RHzgj8cHXws62z6rQtYPylcXDywXJGrKjhxQvwS-1zH0EpOa7EYm5GZSPioLOiP5TnnFph-dkNRbuTDpYRfI53ni1B/s320/IMG_2694.JPG" /></a></div>Life in the Stevens' household has been very busy lately. I am not sure I can tell you what we have been up to...it seems like the days go by so fast, but we never really do anything. Logan has really been loving the Zoo, we try to go every other Friday when I am off of work. His favorite animal is the Peacock, and our Zoo has several which is very nice. Olive is growing fast and it makes me so sad. She is almost 7 months and getting so big. She has started "talking" and it seems like she is never quiet now. She loves to eat baby food, and I actually let her feed her self (something I never did with Logan). She can get up on all fours and rock back and fourth...which is amazing to me because Logan didn't do this until he was about 9 months old. She is sleeping well, from about 7:30-7:00 with one feeding around mid-night. My babies are such joy and such a blessing. They remind me everyday that there is good in the World! Just last night Logan told me that he loves me, which melted my heart. He loves his stuffed animals and likes to "change diapers" and "put them to bed." Every night as he puts them to bed, he tells them "night, night, sleep well and sleep late." Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4145273313340749944.post-86724032238896521782010-04-25T08:55:00.000-06:002010-04-25T08:55:41.691-06:00Yay for Sleep!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-LgwO9vtzeBZOl9ir-1InBx5g7LfRfA5raw3_7USCSi6d4qnC9l4_UVhSjOAtsihAeMNtIvoZcoCVsoD5WwJ2PySOjadEnC5FTkclCmg87hcPfNYex26QyrqB8VeyqLcowTPSSWXDmoE-/s1600/IMG_2198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-LgwO9vtzeBZOl9ir-1InBx5g7LfRfA5raw3_7USCSi6d4qnC9l4_UVhSjOAtsihAeMNtIvoZcoCVsoD5WwJ2PySOjadEnC5FTkclCmg87hcPfNYex26QyrqB8VeyqLcowTPSSWXDmoE-/s320/IMG_2198.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div><br />
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On Thursday night we "sleep trained" Olive, which was so hard and sad. She spent most of the night up crying trying to figure out how to sleep. I kept checking on her every 5-15 minutes to remind her that she was okay. Well on Friday night, Olive slept from 8:00 (she only took three minutes to fall asleep) till 11:00 when I woke up her to feed her, then I put her down and she put her self back to sleep and she slept until 3:30 when I fed her again and then she slept till 8:00 am. Last night she had a tougher time falling asleep, but slept from 8:15 until 12:30 when I fed her and then she slept until 8:00 am this morning! Yay, Olive! The only problem is, she is sleeping on her belly. I try to flip her over, but she wakes up only minutes later and flips herself back on to her tummy. Which worries me, and makes me not sleep so well because I am always checking on her. I do kind of miss her cuddling with me all night, but am excited about finally being able to get some real sleep.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00776308853312456505noreply@blogger.com2