Happy Spring! Happy Birthday Mommy! Happy Easter!

Happy Spring!

After walking outside in our back yard and seeing the beautiful daffodils that I hopefully planted last year I was so so so excited for the Spring. As the days continued and the other plants I'd planted started coming back again I got even more excited because I thought some of them were dead. Even though our backyard is really little I love coming out and enjoying the beautiful trees and landscaping. I'm excited when we have a more permanent home and I can landscape a lot more and enjoy the life plants bring.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

My birthday this year was wonderful. Scott took me out to a new and really fun Thai restaurant where I ate my favorite, Pad Ki Mao (I think that's how you spell it) and we got to laugh at the cute old lady cutting beans in the corner and the lady who kept subtracting numbers when she was figuring out our bill. We then went to a cute little bakery called The Sweet Tooth Fairy where I picked out a Strawberry Lemonade cupcake (that was delicious) and drove up to the look out where you begin the hike to the Y (the place Scott brought me our first Valentines while we waited to be seated at Bombay house). When we got up there he got out of the car and I could hear him in the back trying to do something (I later discover trying to light a match without the little strip thing). He had taken the cupcake and brought a candle and lit it. He sang me Happy Birthday. To finish off the night we went to get one of my favorites, Juice Press Smoothies and we returned home to our sweet friend Mary who agreed to babysit for us. What a wonderful Birthday! Thank you Mr. Taylor for making my Birthday wonderful! Thank you Mom and Dad for taking me out to another fav, The Cheesecake Factory, and thank you Tamera and Dave for the delicious Pasta dish, your gift and another fav, Banana Creme Pie! 

Happy Easter!
This Easter was even more fun now that Dresden is a little older. I tried explaining to Dresden what Easter as really about, I don't think he really grasped it. Perhaps he did though. He is such smart little boy. I am reminded of that everyday. The day was wonderful. We woke up and found our Easter baskets. Dresden was most excited about the Thomas the Train fruit snacks. I think Scott's favorite thing was his pink tie and my favorite were the absolutely scrumpcious Apple Crumb muffins Scott got up early to make (Mr. Taylor is such a sweetie). We then got dressed for church. This part was one of the funnest things for me. I loved trying hard to have us all look colorful and matching for our Easter Sunday at church. We had a great time at church. We talked with our sunbeams about the Christ's Resurrection and then went on an Easter egg hunt. I enjoyed talking about what Easter is really all about. I gained a greater appreciation for my Savior and I hope in some way the kids were able to as well. On our way to the Taylor's we stopped and said Hi to my parents because they had unexpectedly gotten back early from their camping trip (which I was sad to miss but figured taking a one month old wouldn't have been as much fun as I would've liked). At the Taylor's we went on their traditional and very generous (giving away money) Easter egg hunt and celebrated my birthday. It truly was a beautiful day.

Estelle-Our Little Star

One Day Old

Estelle is only a month old and I'm finally blogging about our beautiful new addition. First, I must explain why I for one am so excited we got the little girl we were hoping for. Prior to hiking the 10 miles down to Havasupi and cliff jumping into the beautiful water I was hoping to have gotten pregnant the first month we tried, but when the test I took right before the hike came back negative, I was a little sad. Fortunately for me the stars in Havasupai were so phenomenal, I was able to make a wish on one of the many falling stars that we could have a baby. After taking a second test about a week later we realized that we indeed were pregnant. Estelle (which means Star in Latin) fell into our family about 9 months later. Heavenly Father responded to my little prayer so when we came across Iliana which means "The Lord Responded" in Hebrew, we had to make that part of her name. She definitely fell from the heavens a bit unexpectedly and rather quickly. Her delivery was significantly shorter than Dresden's and boy was I glad.

Estelle's Birth Timeline

1. Friday before her birth, I got checked by the nurse midwives and I had gone up one inch dilation from the week before and was a 3.5. (I was thrilled because to get to a 2 with Dresden it almost took 24 hours of pretty strong contractions).
2. Monday (day of her birth) I woke up at 6:30am and realized my water had broke. I text my midwife/doula and she said she would be there by 10:30.
3. I then took a walk with Izzy and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day.
4. Came home made a delicious fruit smoothie (my fav), got Dresden fed and called Tamera to have her come get him (about 10am).
5. 10:30- Tamera got there and contractions were just beginning to get strong enough to where I had to focus.
6. 11am- Midwife got there and checked me and I was a 7.5
7. 12pm- Other Midwife and apprentice got there and set up the tub* in the kids room.
8. Around 12:30-12:45pm I got in the tub and had about 4-5 contractions in the tub and then was told I needed only 2 more contractions and I could push. I realized that even if I wanted to go to the hospital at this point it wasn't going to happen.
9. Two contractions later, I was told to push.
10. As far as I can remember I pushed about 3/4 pushes and our "little star" (caught by her daddy) was here. Because her cord was short, was wrapped around her neck and ended up tearing she needed a little help breathing and had some bruising. But she was here all 8lb 9oz 20 inches of her. :-)

*The tub was a horse trough that had a padded blanket placed inside and then a thick plastic lined it and it was duct taped.

One Day Old

Even though there were a few times I thought "What am I thinking? Why don't I have drugs?" I was so glad I was blessed to have the peaceful and calm home birth I ultimately wanted. The only thing that could've made it better would've been to have a pediatrician check her out right after. We were so blessed that things went so well. I told myself that whether I went to the hospital or stayed home depended on how I felt (I had packed a hospital bag and a homebirth kit). With how quickly everything went and the fact that I felt so good with how things were going I just had to proceed with a home birth. Boy was I glad. I loved delivering her naturally even though it was some one of the most challenging thing I've ever done, it was well worth it.

 I realize now that I probably should've been more frightened than I was the fact that she didn't come out screaming and looking a normal color, but I'd like to think that Heavenly Father and his angels were there in that very room comforting me and making me feel confident that everything was going to be okay. I was so grateful for the wonderful Midwives (Sherri Price and Roxanna Mauer) who were experienced enough (only witnessing a cord tearing 3 or so times in their long midwife career) to assist Estelle with her first few minutes that were a bit difficult. I am so so so so grateful that Estelle was so strong and made it through her unexpected and difficult delivery. 

When Dresden saw her for the first time, I don't think he quite understood what was going on, we had him to climb up on the bed with us and asked him to sing "Happy Birthday" to his new baby sister. He agreed and as we sat in our bed together as a family and sang to our new little blessing, I felt the spirit so strongly. I felt so loved by my Heavenly Father that he would bless us with such wonderful children. I also felt stronger desire to help my children love one another. I just felt that Dresden was going to love and take care of his little sister. Even though I never had a big brother, I can just imagine how wonderful it is to have another protector in this crazy world. We tried making a new little sister not seem too crazy by taking a suggestion we received by a fellow ward member. We were suggested to get him a present and say that it was from her. To this day he still remembers it, in fact, the other night he mentioned that she gave him "trucks" and I told him it was because she loved him. His response was "Thank you Estelle". I am the luckiest girl in the world! Welcome to the world Estelle! You have been blessed to be born in the covenant and to be loved by sooo.... many people. 

 Two Days Old

Pictures of the first two months 

Man-training, Sewing and Flying

On a Dresden Note:

Although this happened a little while ago, I had to post this. This is what happens when Mommy has to work late and Daddy is in charge. Daddy teaches Dresden how to "Be a Man" (in Scott's words).

First, get a piece of pizza WITHOUT a plate or a napkin.

Second, make sure you are comfy in your favorite chair. (Who cares if your shoes are on.)

Lastly, turn on the TV to whatever seems interesting and stare into the TV while eating your pizza.

I think Daddy taught him quite well. Don't you think?

On a Mommy Note:

This week I sewed my first window Valances for the baby and Dresden's room. Fortunately Grandma Tamera knows how to sew and showed me all I needed to do. I had so much fun making them! I can't wait to sew Dresden's blanket that will go along with the valances. Stay posted for when I complete that. It may take longer than a week though, but be patient!

On a Daddy Note:

Friday around 11:30am Scott called and said that he wanted take me on an early date. Of course I had to pry a little and eventually he decided he'd better make sure I was up for going on an airplane ride in his buddy Jeff Jensen's plane (being 7 months pregnant and a mom). I was glad he did, but then maybe if he didn't give me the option I wouldn't have had to be a paranoid stress case and worry about where Dresden would go if something happened to us on this short little flight. Boy am I glad I went with my instincts and decided to go. I'd been in a little plane when I went Sky diving, but Scott hadn't so he was really excited. Even though I'd been in a small plane I didn't get to take off. His buddy trusted me enough to safely get us off the ground and it was so Awesome! We flew around by BYU and went up Provo Canyon then followed AF canyon out til about Traverse mountain and then back again. It was so so so much fun! I'm so blessed to have an adventurous, spontaneous husband. I wrote in my journal a long time ago thanking Heavenly Father for Scott because I knew he'd never make my life boring and so far Scott's made our life together interesting and fun. I love you Hubby!

Mom's Done It Again!

I don't want OUR blog to be just about me, but I wanted show what I did New Years Eve. Many of you are probably thinking...didn't she just cut her hair short a little while ago? Yes I did and yes I cut even more off. This was my original plan and I couldn't handle keeping it as long as it was any longer. I believe this is what you'd call a pixie cut. Do I love it? Yes. Will I keep it this way forever? Probably not. But it is a fun change.


Oh... and I decided to include a picture of the baby bump at 30 weeks! I can't believe we only have to wait 10 more weeks til we get to meet our new little addition. Hopefully it won't be longer than that I already feel huger than huge!

Christmas 2011

Our first Christmas Morning at home! For the 23rd and Christmas Eve we spent the evening with my parents and my wonderful families on both sides. Dresden was ecstatic when his Nani and Bopba gave him a Lightning McQueen tent, sleeping bag and backpack combo. He insisted that we "shut the door" and quickly wanting us to open it again. He felt so big in his very own tent. He also really enjoyed the soccer ball and net that his Bopba picked out special for him. As for me and Scott, my parents amazed me and completed a beautiful book shelf. I love my dad and mom they are so talented. Some of you may remember the shelf he made me a couple years ago. It too was amazing! I really gotta learn how to do what he does. It is amazing! I will cherish those gifts forever because I will always remember my dad made them for me with a lot of love. For my parents we gave them some framed pictures of Dresden and (my favorite) a framed Family Tree filled out with a whole bunch our families names. I was hoping my parents would like it and my mom gave me exactly the reaction I needed. My cute brother was there and that was a present in and of itself and he brought his cute girlfriend Maura. I really liked getting to know her. She is such a positive person and I'm so proud of Ty for finding such a cutie. The only thing missing was my other Little Brother Trevor. I missed him so much. It just wasn't the same without him. I hope next year we'll get to see him.

Well as for Christmas Morning I woke up to my sweet sweet husband having breakfast made and the table set. He had to get up extra early to make the breakfast casserole and I was so grateful for his efforts. Dresden came down and a fun time opening presents. He was most excited about one of the smallest presents (an addition to his Thomas the train set, Henry) not the one that I've been hiding and he's been asking about since his Birthday (Lightning McQueen rolling bag). Boy is it nice to buy presents for a two year old. I can't imagine what it will be like when $75 will barely get us one present for our kids.

After we opened presents, had a delicious breakfast and went to Church (Which was lovely by the way. I found a new favorite Christmas song: Where Shepards Lately Knelt), we went to Grandma Tamera and Grandpas house where they were so generous to give us more presents. Despite Izzy's lack of joy (to say the least) Scott and I were excited for the Shock collar we gratefully received from Dave and Tamera. Hopefully now we can keep Izzy from tearing apart other peoples garages while chasing after their cats.

Dresden was so lucky to receive Thomas the Train PJ's some Matchbox cars and Thomas the Train Movies. For Mama and Papa T we painted a new shelf for them to put coats on. I loved making so many of our gifts this year. It was worth all the late nights and work. I don't know if I'll be able to continue once we start having more kids though. Mama T is amazing making so many of her gifts with 8 children. Wow! Anyway, I think the highlight of the day was getting to talk to our brother Jon on his mission. I'm so grateful for technology these days. We got to skype with him and actually see him. It was so good to see how happy he is and how good of a missionary his. Scott and I (Izzy and Dresden) are really excited for him to be home next Christmas. Even though I want to be in Germany by then I really want to be able to see Jon when he gets home. Missions do such amazing things to young men. I can't wait to see the magic worked on Jon. He already was such a good example and so fun for Dresden but I can only imagine when he comes home. Well we finished the night at the Taylor's and had a lovely evening just relaxing. Scott got to get his Halo fix with his two sisters and Kristen's boyfriend David which I know he enjoyed. I am grateful though that he wasn't stuck playing til all hours of the night. Had Bryce been here I'm sure we probably would've had to have ended up sleeping over. Scott sure misses his Best Buddy Brother Bryce. Til next Christmas...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

St. Nikolaus Comes to our House

St. Nikolaus DID come to our house! Despite that Dresden might not have fully understood our new tradition, I think he thought it was pretty fun. He especially loved his new Thomas the Train Ornament and even though he didn't like eating the orange he thought that was pretty cool too. Scott did his research on this wonderful German Tradition. December 6th is the day that St. Nickolaus comes. You have to put out one of your shoes outside your front door the night of December the 5th and then if you are luck St. Nickolaus will come by and bring you oranges, nuts, chocolate Santa's and cookies or crackers. We were all lucky because St. Nickolaus did fill our shoes the morning of the 6th and we all got more and more excited for Christmas and to see Dresden's childlike excitement for these wonderful traditions that make up a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Decorating and Traditions

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. I especially love decorating for Christmas. This Year I decided that we try getting our Christmas Tree and decorating done early so that we could focus on getting our presents (at least a week before Christmas) and enjoying the Spirit of Christmas. December 1st I told Scott it's time to get our tree and so that evening we went and picked out our perfect tree. We took it home and as I decorated the tree with I got to watch my boys snuggle on the couch and watch The Polar Express. Dresden absolutely adores trains and so I thought he'd really enjoy the movie, but enjoy is an understatement he was captured by the movie. He watched the entire thing and wanted to watch it again right after and the next day. Let me just say that watching those two there on the couch made decorating the tree seem completely unimportant. Those two boys are my everything and seeing how much they love each other and enjoy being with each other makes me so happy. I love them so so so so much!

I wanted to involve the Savior in our Christmas even more and so I made this cute little 25 day countdown til Christmas where everyday we get to read a scripture, sing a song and do some sort of act that reminds us of what Christmas is all about. Thank you Tamera by the way. I also learned about some of the cute traditions that Scott enjoyed as a child and I loved the idea of reading a Christmas story every night. Even though we missed the last two nights because I was working late at my seasonal catering job I'm excited to try out that tradition. Another thing I think we are going to do is-since we have so much love for the German culture- we are going to set out our shoes (or at least Dresden's) for St. Nikolaus on Dec. 6. Stay posted to see how it goes. Dresden might be a little too young, but we'll see.

I made Izzy a stocking this year. It only cost me $1.50. I made it out of felt and a pre-made stocking I bought at Joann's.

I also made the tree skirt to match the ribbon on the tree. I love polka dots! Who knows if I'll love them forever but this was a fun easy project. Plus, every tree needs a tree skirt in my opinion.

And Christmas Lights... I love love love how simple little lights can bring the warmth of Christmas.