THE ARGYLE FAMILY

Ahhhh! Time goes too fast!

2011-06-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

My little baby girl just rolled over BY HERSELF for the first time! She's only 4 months old, people. I can't believe it! She is getting so big. Part of me wants her to stay small for awhile longer. I still want a baby. But she is just getting so big. Ryan can already balance her in his hand, and she loves it. She pulls herself up to a standing position when she has your fingers, she's trying to sit up.... Oh my! It's going too fast!

3 Year Old Boy 3 Month Old Girl

2011-05-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Dainen turned 3 years old!! And Alivia is 3 months old! So we had to take pictures :)

I LOVE my cute kids!!

San Francisco - Fort Point

2011-05-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan's parents came and stayed with us for a few days before Alivia's blessing. We had a lot of fun together. We went to Fort Point in San Francisco. If you haven't been there, I would recommend it. It was really cool!

Here we are driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Here is San Francisco!

Fort Point was one of the first forts built on the West Coast. It was built to protect the bay, but it was never needed. They had lots of cannons like this, and some even bigger.

We were lucky enough to be there right when they were doing a cannon demonstration. Dad, Ryan, and Dainen got to be "soldiers" and load the cannon. Afterwards, they got their "Cannoneering certificate". It was so cool!

Here are Ryan and Dainen pushing the cannon ball into the cannon. I wish I had been on the otherside so I could have gotten a picture of Dainen's face. He loved it! Ryan held on to his hands on the rod and lifted him up to push the cannon ball into the cannon. He thought that was pretty fun.

The view from the top of the fort is so amazing. The fort is located under the Golden Gate Bridge, right by the water, so the view you get is of the bay and the underside of the bridge. (It's cooler than it sounds.)

Here are some pictures from when Ryan, Dainen, and I went last fall with some of Ryan's classmates.

Here we are at the top. I told you it was cool!

We had fun while Ryan's parents were here. It was good to spend time with them. And I'm so glad they got to spend time with their grandkids.

Alivia's Blessing Day

2011-05-26T10:11:00.002-07:00

What a wonderful day!! We felt so blessed to have so much of our family here to support Alivia. She looked so beautiful!! And the blessing she recieved was so amazing! What a special little girl we have. I'm so excited for her to be a part of our family.

See how beautiful she is?!!

A four generation picture with Alivia, me, my dad, and his mom.

Grandma and Grandpa came all the way from Idaho to be with us. They stayed with us for a few days so we had a chance to do some fun things. (More on that later.)

The WHOLE Ivey Family!! Brad and Mallory, and Mike and Ariel came all the way out here from Utah just for this. They spent more time in the car driving here and back than they did actually being with the family. Sorry guys!! But it was SO AWESOME that they came! And we were so glad to FINALLY meet Ariel! YAY! (Although, I just realized that she is not in this picture. Sad. But she was in others.)

My little family.

What a fantastic day!! Thanks to everyone who came to support us, and to those who were supporting us from afar! We love you!

Easter Pictures

2011-05-26T09:40:00.001-07:00

I know I have a bias opinion, but my kids are THE CUTEST kids EVER! And I have these pictures to prove it! Hahaha!
These are our Easter outfits. Aren't they cute?? Dainen LOVES holding his sister.

So I found this cute little dress for Alivia and I just fell in love with it. So I wanted us all to match. Ryan and Dainen already had ties, so I just needed to find a shirt or something to match everyone. It was so frustrating!! I am so NOT a fan of shopping when I am looking for something specific, cuz I can never find it. Plus, I was shopping with both kids, so it was just frustrating at the get go. But I finally found something, a super cute top, so I was pretty excited. Easter morning, I'm getting the kids ready for church, Dainen is done and ready to go and I'm getting Alivia dressed... the dress that was the inspiration for all of our outfits was too small! :( It's ok, though. It was just barely too small, so I kind of forced it on... is that bad? It wasn't squeezing her or anything. Once it was on, it was fine. It was just getting it on that was kind of hard. Anyways... here she is in her cute dress.

These family pictures are kind of blurry but that's because we set the camera on the mantel of the fireplace all the way across the room and set the timer. So I had to zoom in A LOT. But that's ok. They still look good. I like this first one better, except for the huge gap between Ryan and me. The second one is cute too, though. :)

Yay for Easter!

We truly are blessed to have the family we have. We love our little kiddos! And how blessed we are to have a Savior who loves us enough to lay down His life for us, and take it back up again so that we can return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven. I know that He lives and loves us! Happy Easter!

Moments that make it ALL worth it

2011-04-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Being a Mom is hard work. And sometimes it is very thankless and I feel so under appreciated by my kids. But every once in awhile, there are these sweet moments that make it all totally worth it.
Some of those moments happened for me this past week:
1. Dainen started saying his prayers completely by himself, which is so sweet in and of itself, but the other night he said, "We're grateful for Alivia, that she's here in our home and not in Mommy's tummy."
2. When Dainen wakes up in the morning, he comes into my room where I'm rocking Alivia and before he acknowledges my existence, he climbs over to Alivia and says, "Hello my love!"
3. I was giving Alivia a bath and she was screaming and crying. Dainen came over, put his hand on her head and said, "It's ok, Alivia. I just love you."
(Are you noticing a theme?)
4. Dainen started calling Alivia "huggies" because he likes to give her lots of hugs.
I really do have the cutest kids ever!! And they love each other. What more could a mom ask for?

It's time

2011-03-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, all you Moms out there, it's time I got serious. Alivia is here, Dainen is 3, we are all adjusting... It's time to potty train. Some of you may be thinking "What?! Dainen isn't potty trained?" No, he is not. We tried 4 or 5 months ago, but he was so NOT interested and I was sick and not up to fighting him every day. I was also afraid that if we did get him potty trained before Alivia came, he would just revert back for attention. So here we are. I'm tired of changing two kids, and I think he's ready. He tells me when he needs to be changed, especially when he stinks, and he's shown more interest in the potty. So.... what do I do? I want to hear all your tricks, all your advice. If you can't tell, I'm a little bit intimidated by this task and not really sure how to go about it. So any and all advice would be helpful. YAY!! Here we go!

Welcome to our Family, Alivia

2011-03-02T10:48:00.001-08:00

After a grueling 9 months, and much anticipation, Alivia is FINALLY here!

Born February 7, 2011 she weighed in at 7lbs 14oz and measured 19 1/4" long.

The labor went quickly, a little less than 5 hours.

My mom and sister were able to be there, along with my wonderful husband who was so amazing and supportive. What would I do without him?

It all started at home when, after running down the stairs from our 3rd floor bedroom to our first floor entryway to answer the door for a brother in our ward who was delivering a meal, my water broke. (If I had known that's what it would take, I would have run up and down the stairs a lot sooner!)

I was home alone; Dainen was playing at a friends house and Ryan was at work. I tried calling his cell phone, texting him, telling him he needed to come home, but he was not responding. So, in a panic, I called my dad's office and he suggested I just call Ryan's work. (oh yeah, duh. Thanks Dad!) He answered and when I told him my water broke, he said, "Hot Dang! I'm on my way!" We grabbed our bags- I was prepared this time- and dropped off an overnight bag for Dainen at his friends house and we were off to the hospital. By the time we got there, it had been about an hour and a half since my water broke and the contractions were coming pretty strong. We got all settled into a room and the nurse, Natalie, confirmed that my water broke and said we'd get things started. As politely as I could, I let her know that I would like an epidural as soon as it was possible. Ryan laughed when I did that. (Apparently, and according to him, I wasn't very nice or patient with the nurse when I had Dainen.) The nurse told me I was extremely dehydrated, a part of the hyperemesis I had been dealing with throughout the whole pregnancy, and that they had to get fluids in me before they could do the epidural. In the meantime, they gave me some pain medication that made me a little loopy. I just remember being tired. Mom and Kristin showed up about then, making the two hour trip in just an hour and a half. (good job Kristin!) The Anesthesiologist came, kicked everyone out, including Ryan (apparently she had an experience where a woman's husband fainted while she was doing an epidural and he hit his head and ended up dying so now she won't let anyone in there except the nurse) and I got the epidural. Natalie, the nurse, was awesome during this time. When I had contractions, I needed Ryan there to hold my hand and talk to me. While he was gone I started to panic so she grabbed both my hands and helped me through them. When everything was in place, they let Ryan back in. But the epidural only took on one side of my body. My left side was numb but I could still feel every contraction on my right side, and they were BAD! They were coming fast and incredibly strong. I really thought my body was being torn in half. The anesthesiologist was called back in and she readjusted everything (and allowed Ryan to stay with me). I was pretty out of it here. I just remember the intense, searing pain, telling Ryan I couldn't do it and that I was scared. He reassured me that I was strong, that I could do this, and that he loved me. At one point they asked me to roll over to my side and scoot towards the edge of the bed. I couldn't respond, I couldn't move. So Ryan had to literally roll me and pick me up to move me where they needed. After they were done, it kicked in through my whole body and I could feel myself relax. I told Ryan I could do it now. :) My nurse checked me and found that in the last 15-20 minutes, the time it took for them to get the epidural in, I had gone from being dilated to a 5 and 75% effaced to a ten and 100% effaced. No wonder I was in pain. She had me push once to see if baby girl was ready and she was, so the doctor was called in, my mom and Kristin were let back in, and we were ready to go. I pushed a total of 6 times, the doctor asked if I wanted him to help me, I said yes, and he got her out. Ryan was able to cut the umbilical cord and they laid her on my chest while they wiped her off. I cried and cried while she kept reaching for my face. The nurses took her over to a station in the corner of the room to clean her up, check her out, weigh her, and do all that they do before they gave her back to me, wrapped up and beautiful. The next few hours were sort of a blur. It was really late, we were really tired, we were really excited, there was just a lot going on. But our baby girl was here! Mom and Kristin brought Dainen to the hospital the next morning. Ryan met them at the door and explained to Dainen before he came in what was going on; Mommy had sister out of her tummy and because of that he needed to be soft with Mommy and with sister. When they walked in, Ryan holding Dainen, he saw me and said hi and then Ryan pointed to sister who was in her bassinet. Dainen said, "Oh! I want to see her!" He was so good with her. He gave her loves and kisses, and just held her, with Daddy's help. He kept looking at her and then looking at my tummy like he was trying to figure it all out. But he finally understood that sister wasn't in my tummy anymore. What a smart kid. We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours due to the fact that I had tested positive for Group B Strep and wasn't able to get all of the medication before Alivia was born. They just had to watch her and make sure she didn't have any problems, which she didn't. We came home Wednesday night and were so glad to be able to sleep in our own beds. Mom and Kristin stayed with us for almost two weeks, and then Ryan's mom stayed with us for a week. It was SO awesome to have their help! Family is so awesome! I love mine. We've had a lot of fun having everyone over to visit and to see Alivia. Dainen has had fun with his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents and has been very grateful for their attention. We have also recently celebrated his 3rd birthday!! I can't believe it. We had a family party and a friends party for him. It was good for him, for all of us, to be able to focus on just him and let him know how much we love him. We're all adjusting to our new family and loving it. Thanks to all of you for your love and support!!

Family blessings

2010-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

So I'm sitting at my parents house looking at the blogs of my sister and sister-in-law and I realized it has been a long time since I have posted anything. We are doing well...I guess you could say. Maybe I should say we are surviving because that is more what it feels like. I wake up each morning and tell myself I just have to get through this day. I am in my third trimester, 31 weeks, and feeling huge even if I don't look it. It is challenging trying to keep up with my almost 3 year old, as well as keep up with the house and everything that a "good wife" does. I think often of that saying "When you feel you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on." Unfortunately, I'm not very good at tying knots and it seems mine keeps coming undone. I find, however, that I am very blessed. I have the very best husband in the world, who knows me and knows how I get, and knows just what I need. He is very supportive and loving even when he has tons going on himself. He takes time for me, to make sure I'm doing ok and that I know he loves me. I have a son who, despite his energy, is probably the best behaved two year old I know. He really doesn't have tantrums very often and when he does they are mild compared to some I've witnessed. He says "please" and "thank you" and "you're welcome" and he obeys very well. He sleeps all night long and takes great naps. And he loves me. He frequently comes up to me and gives me hugs and kisses, or super hugs or super kisses :). He also loves his sister. I was sitting in the dining room working on Christmas presents and he was watching a movie, or was supposed to be. But every five minutes or so, he would run in to where I was working, put his hand on my tummy and say "Hi sister!" Not "Hi Mommy". At night when we put him to bed, he wants to sing her songs and he tells her he loves her. It makes my heart smile. He is such an amazing little boy. I am so blessed to live close to my family. Every three weeks or so, Ryan has exams and he sort of disappears to study. Even when he is home, we try to leave him alone so he can focus. (Sometimes it's easier than others, if you can imagine.) So Dainen and I usually just cruise on up to my parents house and spend a few days to a week with them. They are so great! They love Dainen and they play with him and they have a great time together. And I get some rest. :) They take time off of work and their busy lives to help us out and spend time with us. It truly is a blessing to be so close to them. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or just plain exhausted, they are there to help. Family is the greatest gift and I have been so blessed with mine. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas season!

Officially a "Student Doctor"

2010-09-06T15:45:00.001-07:00

SO!!! You may all be wondering what has been happening to us. First of all, just so you all know, Ryan has to take the computer to school with him EVERY day, so I never have the access to update our blog. Today is a rare day when he was able to leave it for a few hours. So I have taken advantage of it. :)
Things are still going well. Ryan has finished his MPH classes for the summer and has started his DO classes. He is LOVING it! He came home one day the first week and said, "I got to cut through a human sternum with a bone-saw!" He wanted to tell me all about it, but I had to stop him from going into too much detail. Needless to say, they have started working with cadavers and he is really enjoying it. He has also been practicing his OMM (Osteopathic Manual Manipulation) on me a little bit, which is fun. He gets excited when he can find everything and move it the way he's supposed to. He stays pretty busy though, and we try to enjoy what time we do have together as a family.
Last week, Ryan had his White Coat Ceremony. This is where they are given their first white coat that doctors wear and they say the Osteopathic oath. It was really cool and exciting to see him become a "student doctor" and get his coat and everything. :) We are so proud of him and all of his hard work!

In other news....I am now 17 weeks along and feeling pretty good. :) I feel a lot better than I did in the beginning, that's for sure, but I'm still tired. I guess that's not surprising though when you're pregnant and have a two year old to keep up with. We are looking forward to the day we find out the gender of the baby, and we WILL be finding out. I am not the kind of person who can be surprised. Maybe if/when I have a boy and a girl then I can be surprised, but until then I need to know so I can plan. At 7 weeks, we had an ultrasound done. I was in the hospital for the second time with hyperemesis, severe morning sickness that causes dehydration and can endanger the baby. So the doctors just wanted to check and make sure everything was alright, which it was. I am taking medication now so I feel pretty good. I have heard the heartbeat several times now and the NP always tells me it is a good, strong heartbeat so we have nothing to worry about.
Dainen continues to be as active as ever and he keeps me on my toes. He is talking all the time and says the funniest things. Recently, he has wanted me to call him "Mister Dainen" and he calls me "Mister Mommy". I try to correct him, but he just laughs. When we stop at red lights in the car, he will ask in his sweetest voice, "Turn green, please!" and when it finally does he says, "I did it!" He still says Peace out Homey, Boom Sucka, and Boom Baby. He has added to it Rock on Dude. Thanks to Uncle Brad, he mostly says this after he toots, after saying excuse me of course. It is pretty funny, I have to admit. :)
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll try to update again when I can. We love you all and hope you are doing well. :)

Ryan's update

2010-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

SO!!! Things are settling down here for us. In case you don't know where "here" is, we are now in Vallejo, CA. Ryan has started classes and is loving it, but before I get into that, why don't I just share with you all his update...

Howdy one and all,

Rarely do we get a chance, or take the chance rather, to update folks on whats going on with us. So get this...

First, to moving: When we picked up the Penske moving van May 14th to get to California from Utah I got a quarter mile down the road before the coolant level light came on, flashed and buzzed three times, and than shut the engine off. I started it again and went back to the penske pick-up location only to be told "this is a common glich with these trucks, pay it no mind. Most say after the truck warms up 10 min. it never happens again." He then checked the coolant level just to be sure and sent me off. It didn't do it again that day but the next 2 days of driving, unpacking the truck, and returning it probably had 15-20 incidents, some of which happened in those killer mountain passes of Northern California. When your engine dies repeatedly as your screaming down a mountain in a 26' moving van with a car trailer it really ticks you off. If we hadn't had so many great experiences with Penske over the summers I sold pest control we would have a very poor impression of them after this move. Aside from that, we found our new home in Vallejo CA to be exactly what we were hoping for. (*I have to interject here, because what Ryan failed to mention with this story is that before we even started packing the truck, as he is trying to park it in the lot, we hit a car! Great way to start the day! We had to find the owner, call the insurance, call the police and file a police report... it was fantastic! Then, when we get to Vallejo, the truck gets stuck. To get into our complex, you have to go up this fairly steep hill. Well, let me tell you, a 26' moving truck weighted down with all of our earthly belongings and a steep hill do not go well together. The back of the truck gets stuck in the asphalt. Ryan couldn't pull it forward without digging it in deeper, or backward. People would try to pass, but the truck was blocking the entire road. They would see that the truck was stuck and say, "Oh yeah, that happens all the time!" which was evident by all of the gouges in the road. However, none of these helpful people knew how to get the truck unstuck. When Brandon and Jennilyn showed up, the truck was already being unloaded right there in the street into other cars, in hopes that lightening the load would help it get out. But Brandon, being Brandon, knew there must be a better way. He and the guys hook the truck up to Brandon's car, wedge stuff under the tires of the truck, including the extra leaf to our table, and Brandon guns his car forward while Ryan guns the truck in reverse. And you know what? It actually worked! There was minimal damage to the stuff in the truck and no damage to the table leaf, or Brandon's car, thank goodness. I don't know why Ryan didn't remember to include that whole story, but there you go.*) Vallejo itself was the first and largest city in CA to go bankrupt, which isn't great, but we used our connections with friends out here to score a great 3 bedroom 2.5 bath 2 car garage condo to rent for a great deal while we're here at medical school. The complex is just off the highway but far enough away from it to be very quiet. It has a fenced vacant lot between it and the highway as well as beautiful grounds and a vacant lot behind it which is also fenced and thus makes us sort of our own very private community. Because we are "bordered" by empty fields, it is also apart from any trouble hot-spots a struggling town may see. With exception to some of the parks and certain parts of town, the economic difficulties here aren't super evident to us, yet.

I actually start classes today at Touro University California. I was accepted into their medical Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) program as well as a masters program in public health (MPH). The combination of the dual-degree is not common in the medical field as a whole but adds an extreme amount of value to a physician that has also earned an MPH. (The MPH is a professional degree by itself which makes it an alternate career path/enhancer to a career as a physician.) The school itself brought life back into Vallejo after the navel military base, which was the life of this city, left in 1996. It is now recognized to have brought many economic strengths and credibility to Vallejo. Its masters in public health (MPH) program, was recently recognized by two accreditation agencies for its excellence. The second agency is a "big one," one that really means a lot. I quote : "Since submitting its first application in 2006, the MPH Program at Touro University California has received full accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) for a five-year term, effective October 30, 2009 extending to December 31, 2014. The Public Health Program truly appreciates and recognizes the valuable support of the Touro Community for their participation in the accreditation process." The significance of this 5 year accreditation from this particular agency is that it normally grants only 3 year accreditations to a university. The fact that it granted a 5 year term for Touro means they were extremely impressed with the program and its effectiveness. Touro University itself was just ranked 10th in "percentage of primary care physicians produced," as described by an articly in a May issue of the Times-Herald newspaper. That is an impressive feat for any medical school to accomplish when being compared to all other accredited medical schools. I have learned even more about D.O.'s since I applied to medical school and been out here at Touro. Basically, D.O.'s and M.D.'s can take the exact same board exams at the completion of their medical school experiences and hence are certified to practice in the same fields of medicine. There is no difference between what either degree will let you specialize in or accomplish in health care. The difference between the programs are an emphasis D.O.'s place on holistic medicine, which among other things tries to diagnose the sources and all interactions causing a disease as well as what preventative measures can be taken. D.O.'s also take an extra series of courses, outside the curriculum M.D.'s use, in hands on manipulation, learning skills that physical therapists and chiropractors implement in their practices. As far as I understand, because M.D.'s have existed longer than D.O.'s there are more residency opportunities in certain circumstances for M.D.'s. Fortunately the residency advantage for M.D.'s does not exclude D.O.'s from any kind of residency they would like to pursue. Any inequality has been constantly disappearing as statistics show over the years and an equality that seems to have started in the eastern U.S. continues spreading west. I have had the opportunity in preparing for medical school to work with D.O.'s in all kinds of practices from specialized to family practice and have enjoyed each experience that demonstrated some of the aforementioned skills D.O.'s stand apart in. In summary, I am extreamly excited to earn degrees in both programs as I love the subject matter and facing the challenges that exist in the ever changing fields of medicine.

Dainen has recently started acting very two lately. He has started tantrums, which are interesting seizures of wails and flailing. They are not often, but when they happen he gets to sit in his room by himself for a good while. On the flip side, he is developing quite a personality. He is a blast most of the time to be around as he talks much more and discovers innovative solutions to problems. Overall he is a fun and desirable companion to go on walks with, play games with, eat and live with. We love him lots. Shannon is doing great. Her allergies are not treating her great this time of year but she has persevered nobly, better than I have ever seen with how uncomfortable they really have made her. Overall we are all now very settled, surprisingly unpacked, and ready for action in California. We love you all and hope all is well with you!

So there you have it! I don't have much more to add. We are really enjoying being so close to family and have already been able to spend a lot of time with them. For those of you who have heard about our place, there will be pictures coming soon, I promise. All in all, we are loving our place and are making it our own. We love you!

Catching Up

2010-04-03T14:30:00.001-07:00

Well, I was doing better at keeping this up to date, but this past month was busy. Here is a re-cap of what went on:
1. Brad's birthday was on March 7th! Happy Birthday Brad! His birthday wish was for Ryan and me to join him and Mallory at Brighton to snowboard. So I went snowboarding! I have been once before, but I don't think you could technically call what I did that first time snowboarding. It was more like scooting down the mountain dragging my hands behind me. This time, however, I snowboarded. Ryan was an excellent teacher, and Brad and Mallory were patient enough to wait while I learned. Then we conquered the mountain. (OK, I actually only went down the big mountain once, but I was tired. Can you blame me?) We had a great time and went to IHOP for hot chocolate afterwards.
2. Ryan, Dainen, and I took a trip to California to find a place to live when Ryan starts medical school. We found a couple of places we liked, and have since negotiated terms with an older couple who owns a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath condo. It is located right down the street from another couple our age who are also going to the school Ryan will be attending. They are also in the ward. We got to spend time with them while we were down there and we are excited to get to know them better. (YAY Matt and Chelsea!) We also got to spend time with Jennilyn and Brandon and their kids. They are so fun and we can't wait to be closer to them. Dainen had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. Nonna and Papa didn't get to see him much, but are counting down the days until we are closer.
3. Ryan started a new job working for his uncle. He is developing a door to door sales program for a computer support/anti-identity theft product. He is really busy meeting with the CEO of this company and a board of other employees trying to come up with a working program, and also taking ti door to door to see if the program works. It has been time consuming, but he has enjoyed it.
4. We are trying to sell our house and have "showings" once or twice a week, so I'm busy keeping up with the cleaning, and chasing after our kid. I've also tried to do a little packing now and then so that when the time comes, it won't be so stressful. Have I mentioned how much I loathe packing and moving? I lay awake at night trying to figure out what we can do without for the next month or so, what needs to stay out until we actually leave, and where we're going to put it when it is packed up. I also get rteally excited thinking about where it's all going to go in the condo in Cali. :) But one step at a time.
So, as you can see, it has been a busy month. Also, by way of excuse, Ryan has been taking the computer to school a lot so I haven't had access to blog. But, here is a funny story to try to make up for it...
Last week, Dainen and I got up early to take a friend to the airport. When we returned, I emptied out my pockets, put the diaper bag away, put Dainen's jacket in the closet, and got him some milk. As I was in the kitchen getting the milk, I looked in our backyard and noticed that some plastic bottles that we have in a bag to recycle were scattered due to the wind. So I went out to clean them up, shutting the door behind me so Dainen wouldn't come out, and because it was really cold. (I made sure it wasn't locked.) I cleaned up all the bottles and went to walk back in the house but the doorknob wouldn't turn. Dainen was standing by the door. I was suddenly struck by the realization that Dainen had locked the door. Frantically, I tried to get Dainen to unlock the door and let me in. I could see him and he could see me, so he wasn't freaking out, and I knew he was ok. I kept telling him to unlock the door until finally, I could turn the doorknob. But the door still wouldn't open. He locked the dead bolt!! Now, on our door, when the deadbolt is straight up and down, it is unlocked, and when it is horizontal it is locked. Apparently, he couldn't get the leverage he needed to get it back vertical. He started climbing up the door, but I was afraid he would fall and hit his head on the floor and I would have to break the window to get in and then call 911 and that just wasn't looking good. So I told him I was ok and that he should go watch a movie, I would be back in a minute. So I watched him run into the living room and heard the TV turn on and then I ran over to my visiting teachers house. Fortunately she lives right across the street from me. I called Ryan, who was at school, just about to start class, and told him he had to come home now because Dainen had locked me out. With a hug from Ruby (Thanks Ruby!) I ran back home to the back yard where I could watch Dainen. We played Peek-a-boo, he stacked boxes of Macaroni, asked me repeatedly to come in and make him some food and to turn on "Boo" (Monsters, Inc.), and he kept trying to unlock the door. When I still wouldn't come in, he got frustrated and said, "Uh-mon, Mommy! Uh-mon!" And then he threw himself on the floor and gave me the pouty face. That broke my heart. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Ryan got home and let me in. He saved the day!
Oh, I love my little 2 year old!

THE BEST Husband EVER

2010-03-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

I just have to say that I have THE BEST husband ever. I know you might be thinking, or saying aloud, that your husband is the best, and I'm sure your husband is a good husband...but my husband is THE BEST EVER! Here's why:
I went to the doctor yesterday morning, urgent care in fact. They told me what I already knew, that I had a bad sinus infection. As if the pounding headache, sinus pressure, stuffy/runny nose, and sore throat didn't tip me off. I got antibiotics and a decongestant and went to pick up Dainen at Lesley's, who was kind enough to watch him for me. When we finally got home, Dainen threw a fit and threw his body against the front door repeatedly telling me he wanted to go. I took my medicine, regathered our stuff, and packed him in the car. Once inside the car, he proceeded to thrash around in his car seat telling me he wanted to watch cars. I went to get him out of his seat and he cried and told me to go. Anyone who has a two year old will know how I was feeling at that point, but add to it the sinus infection and we can just say I was less than happy. I decided to take him for a drive in hopes that he would just fall asleep. No such luck. (I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with Ryan and what makes him THE BEST husband EVER. Just hang on.) After 10-15 minutes of driving around listening to him scream and thrash his body around, I called Ryan, desperately hoping that he would answer his phone. I knew he had classes all day, but I hoped maybe I would catch him on a break. Just when I thought his voice mail was going to pick up, he actually answered!! I told him, through almost sobs, what was going on knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but just needing to talk to him anyway. Without hesitation he told me to meet him on campus and that he would take Dainen. It turns out he had a 3 hour break and was just heading to the library to study for a test. So I went to campus. As soon as I pulled up, Ryan took Dainen, packed a diaper and the wipes in his backpack, grabbed Dainen's cup of milk, kissed me through the window and told me to go home and sleep. For the nest three hours, instead of studying for his test and doing his homework, Ryan tackled our two year old. And I went home. Ryan and Dainen had a fun filled afternoon of playing with salt and pepper shakers, playing skee ball, bowling, and watching Aladdin in an empty classroom. When I went back and picked up Dainen, he was so tired, he fell asleep on the way home and slept for the next two hours. By the time he woke up, Ryan was home for the night.
I am truly blessed to have such an amazing husband!

Dainen's Birthday Party

2010-03-05T09:25:00.001-08:00

We had Dainen's birthday party with some of his friends last Saturday. This is the first time I've had the computer so I decided to put up the pictures while I had the chance. We had a lot of fun! YAY Dainen!

Here are Dainen, Chloe, and Braeden coloring Toy Story characters

We played Pin the Sheriff's Badge on Woody. Here is Dainen taking his turn

Braeden had fun spinning

Dainen blew out his candles all by himself

Close-up of the cake. Are you noticing a theme?

Dainen got some Toy Story figures from Braeden and Chloe, in addition to the ones on the cake. He LOVES Toy Story!

He also got a shirt and pants from Braeden and Chloe. The shirt has a monster on it that says "NOISY". It's so Dainen.

Play-Doh from Nonna and Papa. We think he learned this face from Ratatouille. So funny!

Nonna and Papa also gave Dainen a little bowling set. Braeden was really excited to throw the balls at the frog-shape pins.

Buzz Lightyear and his evil nemesis Emperor Zurg! The outfit is from Nonna and Papa.

Have I mentioned Dainen loves Toy Story? Specifically Buzz. Emily and Mike and their kids got Dainen footy pj's that look like Buzz Lightyear. He loves them!

Thank you so much everyone, for making this a great birthday for Dainen. And thanks to all those who sent cards, it meant a lot. We love our TWO YEAR OLD BOY!

Birthday Pictures

2010-02-22T20:09:00.000-08:00

So when Dainen woke up this morning, Ryan and I went to get him from his crib and we sang the Happy Birthday song as we did so. As soon as we started singing, Dainen got this huge, ear to ear grin on his face and started jumping up and down in his crib. We got him out and were still singing when he started clapping and saying, "Yay! Yay!" It was so cute and so fun to see him excited about his birthday. We're not sure he really understands what was going on today, but he was getting everyone's attention and people were singing to him all day long, so he wasn't complaining. :) It was a good day.

Here are some pictures from Dainen's birthday:

This first one is Dianen talking on the phone with his cousins, Kali and Maci. They were singing Happy Birthday, hence the big huge smile.

Brad and Mallory gave Dainen an M&M dispenser.

Dainen loves Grandpa Gardner, affectionately called "Papa".

Daddy helped him blow out his candles. They were shaped in a "2".

Grandma and Grandpa Juchau sent Dainen some balloons with a card.

Thank you everyone for making this such a great day for him! He had so much fun and is so excited to be two!! We love you all!

All grown up

2010-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAINEN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAINEN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAINEN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAINEN!
I can't believe my baby is two years old today!! He is getting so big! I love him so much and can't wait to see what this next year brings!

Happy birthday little man!

Valentine's Day Weekend

2010-02-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

For Valentine’s Day weekend, Ryan, his brother Jordan, his cousin David, Dainen, and I went to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit Ryan’s family. We had a fun and… interesting time, filled with moments we aren’t likely to ever forget. ;)

Memory 1: Going to church with Ryan’s grandparents. We were looking forward to spending quality time with them one on one, and then we would go to their house afterwards. Good plan in theory, choppy in the execution. We got to the building, were about halfway through the first hour, the first speaker was up giving her talk, and I see Dainen sitting on Ryan’s lap puking his little guts out… all over Ryan, his phone, the pew, and the chapel floor. I grab him to take him to the bathroom and he proceeds to puke all over me. I won’t gross you out with more details, but needless to say, we didn’t stay long. We cleaned up the mess after everyone left the chapel and went back to Ryan’s cousin’s house. Happy Valentine’s Day to us!!

Memory 2: Having a relaxing dinner with the family at Dan and Lindsey’s house. It had been crazy and they wanted us to just relax and enjoy a good meal. Who knew we’d get a water show spectacular to go with it? After dinner we were all sitting around talking, watching the Olympics, when water started POURING from the recessed lights in their kitchen. Come to find out, pretty quickly I might add, the upstairs bathroom toilet had flooded and the water had drained into the floor vent that goes between the two stories and the only place it had to escape was through the lights. Alex, Dan and Lindsey’s oldest son, was ecstatic to have a waterfall in his kitchen and thought it was so cool! Lol. (As it turns out, it seems the damage wasn’t as bad as it looked and won’t be too bad to repair. YAY!)

Memory 3: Driving home, sitting behind the wheel, looking in the rearview mirror and seeing Dainen choking on a mouthful of peanuts. Dainen has this weird tendency to not swallow carrots and peanuts once he has chewed them. He always asks for them and wants to eat them, but he will not swallow them. Instead he usually ends up keeping them stored in his mouth for awhile and then spitting them out in my hand. Well, because I was driving and Ryan was in the passenger seat, we had no way of knowing that he was eating peanuts and not swallowing them. Ryan’s brother and cousin had no way of knowing about Dainen’s weird tendency, so he just got more and more peanuts. All it took was one cough and suddenly he was choking on peanuts. With one hand on the wheel, I reached my other hand back, shoved it in his mouth and scraped out all the peanuts I could, until Ryan realized what was going on and took over so I wouldn’t crash. (Wait until you’re a Mom, and then you’ll understand my priorities.) It took some coaxing, but they were finally able to get Dainen to spit out all the remaining peanuts and he was ok.

Despite all of these wonderful memories, we really did have a good time. Lol! :) Ryan and I got to spend a night out just the two of us, which doesn’t happen very often anymore. We got to spend a lot of time with family that we haven’t seen in a long time. We got to go to the aquarium, and Ryan got to snowboard with his cousins. It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun!!

(I tried to post pictures and videos, but for some reason, my computer is having a hard time doing it. So….pictures and videos to come. Sorry!)

Resolution

2010-02-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

So I have to say I'm probably one of the worst bloggers on the net. And it makes me sad that I haven't chronicled any of our doings this past year. SO! With a renewed sense of... something, I have decided to give it another go. :)
This past year has been really great! We stayed home, here in Utah, for the summer. YAY no summer sales! Ryan took classes, shadowed doctors, and did research for one of his professors. He also took the MCAT, and did really well. We bought a new car, a Honda FIT, that we absolutely LOVE!! Ryan applied to Medical schools and D.O. schools (Doctor of Osteopathy), and we recently found out, after interviewing, that he was accepted to Touro University in Vallejo, CA. It is a DO school that also offers a dual degree program, so he can get a Masters in Public Health along with his Doctor of Osteopathy. He still has an interview scheduled with a school in Arizona, so we haven't made any final decisions, but we are really really excited about this school and the possibility of living so close to my family. Not to mention that it is just an awesome school with a great program!
Dainen is now almost TWO years old!! He loves to jump around the house, literally, and climb and jump off of things. It scares his mommy to death, but he has a lot of fun. His favorite game to play is tackling daddy. He runs as fast as he can across the living room and tackles Ryan at full force. He doesn't even slow down. He loves wrestling and playing with his daddy. He also loves movies, talking on the phone, and playing on the computer. He isn't quite talking in complete sentences, but he is trying. I understand about 90% of what he says, and the rest he makes up. We have a lot of fun playing together.
I am currently just a stay at home mom, and loving it. I have been working on a lot of projects around the house. Recovering the couch, making curtains for the kitchen (thank you Mallory for your sewing machine), decorating Dainen's room with vinyl lettering (thank you Lesley for your Cricut), rearranging the furniture in the living room, getting rid of old furniture and replacing it with new stuff, going through closets and getting rid of old clothes, organizing and cleaning... etc etc. Have you ever gone through a "nesting stage" when you weren't actually pregnant?? Weird. But it feels really good to be getting things in order.
So that's pretty much what has been going on with us lately. I'll update again soon.... I promise!! With pictures. :)

FIRST BIRTHDAY!!

2009-02-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Dainen! Happy Birthday to you!

I can't believe my baby boy is one year old!! His birthday was on Sunday, the 22^nd. We had a little party for him the Saturday before. My mom, my sister Allison, and my brother Mike were in town for the weekend so they were able to come. In addition, my other brother Brad and his girlfriend Mallory came, and my best friend Lesley and her family came. It was so fun! Dainen opened presents (he likes taking the tissue paper out of the bags) and played with his toys. Braeden and Chloe played with him and showed him how the cars he got went into the little garage. It was fun to watch them all play together. He got lots of cars, some blocks to stack and build towers with (I think Ryan plays with these more than Dainen does), a steering wheel that honks and makes car noises, and lots of clothes. The clothes are a little bit big, sadly, because he's still so tiny. He's still wearing 6-9 month clothes. But at least he'll be able to grow into them. He's just so little. :)

After he opened presents we sang to him and had cake and ice cream. We stripped him down to his onesie and put him on the floor with his own little cake so he could just plow into it, but he didn't really like it. Ryan mashed Dainen's hand into the cake to show him what to do and Dainen just got frustrated. He didn't like the feeling of the cake mashed into his fingers and he kept trying to wipe it off. It was pretty funny. When he had obviously had enough with the cake we washed him off and just shared our pieces with him. I think he much preferred it that way. :)

The cake I made for everyone else was way fun. I'm proud of how it turned out. :) Dainen likes to climb all over us and everything else, so we call him our little monkey boy. Plus, he makes this face sometimes that looks like a monkey. So I thought it was only fitting to make a monkey cake. YAY me! Some of you might be laughing at me, but I don't care. I didn't have a cake mold or anything, just a picture, so I think it turned out really great. (Thanks Mom and Alli for your help!)

After cake, we just let the kids play with all the new toys until it was time for bed. Dainen had had a long and fun-filled day, so he was pretty tired by the end of it. (So was his mommy to be honest.) But it really was a great day! Thank you all for your love and support! Thanks for the cards and phone calls wishing our little man a Happy Birthday. We really appreciated it.

Here is a picture of Dainen trying to get to the presents on the table. He was really excited!!

Update

2009-01-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

I know it has been forever since I last posted, and I'm so so sorry. Things have been going really well. We had a lot of fun over the holidays. We spent Thanksgiving in Nevada City with my family and Christmas in Idaho Falls with Ryan's family. It was so fun to see everyone and to be able to spend time with them all. Dainen has had a lot of fun getting to know his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. And they all love him (who wouldn't, let's be honest).

Dainen is now 11 months old and he is walking. He took his first steps at 10 months and has spent the last month perfecting the art. He is still wobbly, but he's more confident. It is still shocking to see him walk, though, because he is so little. For those of you who haven't heard, he is in the 0% for his weight. When we took him in for his 9 month check-up, they were concerned about his weight so they told us to bring him back for a weight check in a month. So we did and he had only gained 5 oz. that whole month, bringing him up to a whopping 15 lbs. 12 oz. He's just so little. But one of the first things people say when they hold him is how solid he is. He's a strong little guy. And he's so smart. He understands what NO means, but he likes to test his limits, see how serious we are. He knows when he is in trouble, and he speed crawls to try to get away. Sometimes I can't help but laugh, even though I'm supposed to be serious so he knows I'm not playing. Kids are so fun. :) I love being a mom. I love watching him learn and experience things. I love it when he hits those milestones, or even when he just does something that he's never done before. He has started making this cheesy smile face when he thinks he's being funny, or when he thinks we're talking about him. It is the cutest thing! And he does this fake laugh with it. And it's great because it's one of the only times you can see his one little tooth. It finally came in last week, the only tooth he has. So stinkin' cute! I haven't been able to get a picture of it, but when I do, I'll post it.

So, last Thursday, I went to vacuum and Dainen was just walking around the living room. As soon as I turned on the vacuum, he froze. He didn't like it and he thought it was going to get him. So I turned it off and grabbed the camera, and this is what I got. At one point, he had the vacuum on one side of him and the door stop on the other, and he just didn't know what to do. (He really doesn't like door stops. The noise they make scares him.) Poor kid! But So cute!

MY Bubbles!

2008-11-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Dainen had his first bubble bath and he LOVED it! He kept splashing the water and trying to grab the bubbles. What a cutie!

Halloween

2008-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah! I'm finally getting Halloween pictures up. Thursday night before Halloween, we went to a party at Chris and Alisha's house. They have a son, Heber, who is only a month older than Dainen. They had fun playing together. Lesley and Neal, my best friend from high school and her husband, came with us with their two kids, Braeden and Chloe. It was a lot of fun. Dainen was a lion. I was a tree. (Laugh all you want but I won the costume contest!) Chloe was a fairy, Braeden was a cowboy, and Heber was a pirate.

Heber Kept trying to lay on Dainen. He would pin him down and lay his head on Dainen's back. He really liked Dainen's soft costume. So Dainen tackled Heber when Heber was drinking a bottle. It was so fun to watch them. We just kept laughing. They had a lot of fun together. :)

Lemons Lemons Lemons!

2008-09-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

So Mike and his friend Brian came to visit us awhile back and we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. Dainen tried a lemon for the first time and, after the initial shock, loved it and wanted more. This video is kind of dark, but it's all we had. His face is hilarious! Enjoy!

Big Boy!

2008-09-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here are Dainen's 6 month pictures. He is getting so BIG! (But he is still in the bottom 3% for his weight.) He is so fun and so active. He loves to talk and play and he loves loves loves to jump on mom and dad's bed. He thinks it is so fun and laughs hysterically every time. We love him and are so glad he is in our family!

He loves his horse. Thanks Aunt Alli!

He's started sticking out his tongue like this. It's so funny!

This one is Ryan's favorite. His little tongue is sticking out again.

YUMMY!

2008-07-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Dainen had his 4 month check-up on the 23rd and, after discovering that he is in the 3rd percentile for his weight, we decided to start solid foods. So here he is trying rice cereal for the first time. He really liked it! He would reach for it when Ryan took too long getting it to his mouth and he would open up wide when he saw it coming. We are SO excited!! Maybe now he'll start sleeping longer through the night... (I can hope.)

His bib says "Chick Magnet". Thanks Brad and Mallory! YAY! My big boy!He really did like it. It doesn't really look like he did in this picture.

TAGGED!

2008-07-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged for the first time ever by Paige Lloyd. So here you go:

How to play: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprises about yourself.

3 joys
1. Being a mom
2. Being a wife
3. Getting time to myself :)

3 fears
1. losing my baby
2. losing anyone in my family or anyone close to me
3. drowning... I am TERRIFIED of drowning

3 goals
1. travel the world, including going to the DR where Ryan served his mission
2. be a better wife and mom
3. lose the baby fat... it's harder to do than I thought

3 current obsessions/collections
1. blogging
2. playing with my baby
3. taking pictures of my baby, and husband, to put on my blog :)

3 random surprises
1. i'm allergic to sunblock
2. i've watched all 120 dvd's that we own in the last 2 1/2 months, some more than once
3. i'm learning to be a coupon shopper

I now tag: Julie Avery, Lesley Jensen, Breanne Smith, and Mallory Lenhard
Have fun!!

An Outback Birthday

2008-07-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

Ryan turned 25 yesterday!! He said he had a great birthday despite the fact that he had to work. He received many birthday calls wishing him well. Thanks to you all! We went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner, one of our favorite places. We had fun! I brought his presents for him to open there. Dainen had fun helping him open them. I gave him the Planet Earth series on DVD. He loves it! He could sit and watch it for hours! So we watched the Deep Ocean episode as soon as we got home. It is fascinating! We had a good time. We are so thankful for Ryan and for all that he does for our family. He is an amazing husband and an awesome dad! We love you! Happy Birthday hon!

Our Sea World Adventure

2008-07-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

My sister, Jennilyn, and her husband, Brandon were here over the weekend from Palo Alto with their two girls, Kalijane and Maci. We had so much fun with them! We went to Sea World on Saturday and saw Shamu! We saw the dolphin show, the Cirque De La Mer, the sharks, sea turtles, held star fish in our hands, and more. It was a great great day! Here are Dainen and Maci. It was so hot, they got pretty worn out quickly. But they had fun together. Maci kept giving Dainen kisses. :)

Brandon tried to reach out in the water to get a baby starfish for the girls to hold, but he almost fell in. It looked closer than it really was. So Ryan held on to him while he reached out and got it.
The girls really liked holding the Starfish. It had to stay under the water though so it could breathe, and the water was really really cold, so they didn't hold it for very long. Kali thought the underside of the starfish felt funny.

We went into one of the aquariums and they had this magnifying glass so you could get a closer look at the fish... needless to say, we had more fun looking at ourselves. (You can see our small legs under it.)
These are from Cirque De La Mer. There were two performers/clowns who did things with the audience in between the other performances.This guy was hanging onto a net. He would wrap it around his body and then fall and the net would hold him because of how it was wrapped. It was so cool!
Dainen was actually awake when we went into this aquarium. He just stared at all of the fish. He liked the different colors. This is him looking at the octopus. We went across a bridge and there were just tons of Flamingos. It was so cool. Ryan told us that the reason they are that color is because they eat Salmon and the color in the Salmon turns the Flamingos that pinkish/orange color.
Here's our little family. Aren't we cute?Jennilyn and her family came over on Sunday . They went to church with us and we all had dinner together. Kali wanted to play dress up, but we have a 5 month old boy who doesn't play dress up... So this is the best we could come up with. I actually still wear this outfit.After dinner, we drove over to the San Diego Temple. It is So Pretty!! Here I am with Ryan, and one of Jennilyn and me.
My mom asked me to get a picture of all of her grandkids together. We thought it would be fun to do it at the temple. The kids, however, did not agree! Here you go Mom!
And, last but not least, a picture of my boys looking at the temple. How sweet is that?!

Fourth of July Fun

2008-07-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

(I tried to post this on the 5th, but our internet was having issues, so you get it now a little late.)

Happy Fourth of July!! I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday! Ryan and I spent the day working. :( Ok, not the whole day, but part of it. I guess that just comes with the nature of his work right now. Luckily, we won't be doing this forever. :) So after work, Elizabeth and I went to meet our husbands out where they were selling. And then we all went to Huntington Beach. We met up with other people from the team and we had a picnic, played frisbee, and shared stories. Dainen saw the ocean for the first time. We've taken him to the beach before, but he fell asleep. This time, he seemed to like looking out at the water. Here is Ryan balancing Dainen in one hand. Dainen thinks it is so fun and he just laughs and smiles! It freaks me out, to be honest, but I trust my husband. :) Here I am with my baby. What a cutie! Sitting with Morgan and Madelynn. At sunset. So pretty! The water was too cold to go into, but the sand was fun to play in. Dainen thought the sand felt funny on his feet. Every time I tried to set him in it, he would curl up his toes and his legs and not want to stand. It was really funny. The fireworks were really great! We were going to go watch some from downtown San Diego, but we were told that Huntington has the best show, and I think they were right. Dainen really liked watching the colors and the lights. We made sure to bundle him up good and we just sat back and watched the show. We thought he would fall asleep pretty quick, but he got through most of the fireworks. All in all, it was a great day!

Pool Time!

2008-07-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

This was Dainen's first time in the pool. It's different from his bath, so he wasn't really sure about it but we had fun. We went with my friend Elizabeth and her daughter Madelynn.

Madelynn was totally chill and didn't really react, even when some of the other kids in the pool pushed her around in her floating car.
Dainen just kept looking around and held on to me for dear life. When I would dip him in the water up to his chest he would get this really worried look on his face and his eyes would get really wide. It was funny. He is so cute! (Have I said that before??)
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a swimsuit or anything for him to wear in the water so he just wore a onesie. If anyone knows where I can find a suit that will fit him, please let me know! Overall, it was a good experience. We had a lot of fun and look forward to going again!

Too much Fun!

2008-07-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

I put Dainen in his bouncer while I was doing the ironing today and he had so much fun! He loves his bouncer! He just talked and played and would get so excited he would scream out. Eventually, his talking got more quiet and his "squawks" came less frequently. I looked over at him and his eyes were drooping and his head was bobbing. :) He had worn himself out playing. Poor guy. He fell asleep right in his bouncer with his arms sticking straight out. I laughed so hard! I had to take pictures. What a cutie!

The CUTEST Argyle Boy

2008-06-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

More pictures of our little man.

Dainen in his blessing suit. What a stud!

He likes his toes.

What a smile!

Dainen in his cute "old man" outfit.

Playing in his bouncer. He loves it!

A baby and Yosemite

2008-06-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

OK, ok, I know! I really really stink at this whole blogging thing. I promise I will try to do better. So here's the update... Dainen Ryan Argyle was born on February 22 weighing in at 6 lbs 9 oz and 19" long. He is now four months old and such a cutie. Everyone calls him Ryan's clone. Ryan calls him "mini-me". Needless to say, he looks just like his daddy. On a more recent note, we spent a week at Yosemite at the beginning of the month with Ryan's family. Dainen had a great time! We all did. Ryan and his dad and Robyn hiked Half Dome. They had a great time but were pretty tired and sore by the end of it.
We went out to Bass Lake one day and went canoeing. It was so beautiful. (Don't worry, Dainen stayed home with his grandma.) The weather was so perfect with clear skies and a bit of a breeze. Sometimes we just floated and enjoyed being away from everything. We hiked through mariposa Grove and saw the Giant Sequoias. Those trees are huge!! Some of Ryan's mom's friends came with us. Even with all of us holding hands, we still couldn't get all the way around the base of the tree. It was a beautiful hike with lots to see and enjoy. We hiked out to Yosemite Falls also. We went twice. The first time we just looked and took pictures. The second time, we actually hiked out to it and got pretty wet. It was fun and so amazing! Dainen got pretty worn out. He fell asleep in the carrier while Ryan was holding him as we hiked. It was so fun to watch him though. He was just looking around at everything taking it all in. He is so smart. You can just see his mind working, processing it all, analyzing everything. We have certainly been blessed with an amazing baby.

I'm going to just put up some of the pictures we got at Yosemite. There were lots but I'll just put up a few of the best ones. I hope you enjoy!

These two are not from Yosemite, but he's just so cute!

BACK IN UTAH!

2007-09-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back in Utah and doing well! I have to apologize for not keeping you as updated with our summer happenings, but things got busy and I got sick. For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, I'M PREGNANT!! We found out in June and told our families in July. I am due March 1, so the joke is that it (we don't know what it is yet) will come a day early and be a leap year baby. I'm not too excited about that. Call me crazy, but I just don't think having a birthday once every four years sounds like much fun. Ryan and I have been to the doctor only once since we found out and that was back in Cali. Not the best experience, but we did get to hear the heart beat so that made it all worth it. I don't know about Ryan, but it made it real for me... there is actually a little person growing inside me... So Weird!! But so much fun. Actually, I couldn't say that the first few months were fun at all. I got really sick, and whoever decided to call the nausea that you feel when you're pregnant "morning sickness" obviously has no conception of time, as mine usually lasted all day long. I became a slave to the great white porcelain god, but as Ryan pointed out the bright side, at least with all the brushing of teeth and mouth-washing I won't have any cavities! :) What a sweetheart! For the most part, that phase has passed and I am now able to enjoy the fact that I am going to be a mom (that is still weird to say). My mom is very excited and has already sent us some baby toys. My oldest sister Jennilyn, who now has two girls of her own, is very excited to be an aunt for the first time. She actually cried when she saw me after the summer and could see the little tummy starting to show. She and mom would tell the baby goodnight after family prayer and rub my little pooch. How wonderful families are! I'm only 15 weeks along, but I'm at that point where, if you don't know me, you'd wonder if I was just a little fat. My stomach has grown a lot in the past two weeks, but not enough for it to be obvious to everyone. Fortunately, J has lent me her maternity clothes so I have pants that fit and shirts that I can either hide in or show of my little tummy. Either way, I'm more stylish now than I was before or probably will be after. Thanks J!
On a different note, school has started and Ryan and I are smoothly making the transition. With Mom and Jennilyn's help, our little piece of heaven (the townhouse we bought before the summer) is looking great. The week they spent out here was filled with moving boxes, unpacking boxes, decorating and cleaning the house, with the ocassional horrified outbursts of "Why on earth are you keeping this?!!" upon finding Ryan's old toys, my old class notes, and a box of rocks... don't ask questions. We love our house and love having storage space... have I mentioned Ryan's obsession with the crawl space?? Things are just going really well and we are extremely blessed. Brad is home from the mission and back here at BYU. It has been so fun getting him settled and watching the horrified RM "what have I gotten myself into?" look cross his face. He is adjusting well and is so fun to be around. We love you all and will catch up again soon!!

Busy Month

2007-06-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well! This month has been busy with work and play. We spend most of our time working, but play hard when we can. We spent one Saturday night at the bowling alley with the team. We used two lanes and had a blast! The first game, I am proud to say, I actually got the highest score! I don't think that's ever happened. But then my shoulder gave out and I definitely lost the second. We had a blast though! We also played a couple rounds of air hockey. Ryan and I went at it first. He thought he would smoke me, but I gave him a run for his money. Little did he know that I used to play at the Boys and Girls Club with my best friend when I was little. I had him the whole game until the end. He won by one point.

Other than that, we spend time relaxing at the beach and just enjoy being together. This job demands a lot of Ryan's time, so when we have time to ourselves, we try to take advantage of it. Work is going well and the team is doing great! They all seem to get a long really well. We enjoy nights of board games, guitar heroes, and movies. Ryan frequently makes his now perfected Orange Julius's for everyone, accompanied by a bowl of popcorn. All in all, I'd say we're having a good time!

Our New House

2007-05-23T13:07:00.002-07:00

We bought a house!! It's a townhouse in Utah but it is ours. We have moved our stuff in it but don't actually get to live in it til after the summer, when we will move back to Utah. It is SO cute! It's a three bedroom, 2 bathroom, two story place. It has a bay window in the living room and kitchen, and it has a pantry and laundry room. I love it and can't wait to get decorating. The previous owners took really good care of it and had some cute decorations up before (as you can see in the pictures). We decided that we like the paint in the living room and kitchen, for the most part, but we made them paint the bright yellow room the same color as the rest of the upstairs. It was cute, but WAY bright and very intense. It looks better now. It's sort of weird how it all happened. This really just sort of fell in our laps. We were looking around to see what was available and what prices were like. Suddenly I had two separate emails from our real estate agents (there were two of them working together) saying that we should look at this place. I had just been online looking at it and had emailed them letting them know we were interested in it. So we went and fell in love with it and before we knew it we were signing papers! So on top of the finals we were taking at the time, we had to pack and get ready for California And move into our house. It was a crazy few weeks! But we love it and are excited to get back. It's the perfect size for us for now, and gives us room to expand in the future (you know what I mean :) ).

Sunny Southern California

2007-05-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, Ryan and I are here in Southern California soaking up the rays and enjoying life.... at least soaking up the rays, ok so mostly just Ryan. I spend most of my time in an office on the phone. And it's not like a vacation for Ryan either. He walks from door to door all day long selling pest control. This is his third summer and he is now managing his own team. They are all doing well and we are excited to get to know them all better. There is definitely some camaraderie and team unity going on. This summer will be awesome, I'm sure! We have already been to the beach where we played football, played in the sand, had a bonfire and listened to the guys sing and play their guitars. We all had fun and got to know each other. Most of the other teams were there as well so that was fun. Here are a few of them playing "Chubby Bunny" for money. It was probably the sickest thing I've ever seen. The new record was 25 marshmellows. How sick is that! I wanted to gag. But fun was had by all. The next weekend, the guys went paintballing and the girls had a night in with movies and popcorn. The guys had fun lighting each other up with paintballs and rolling around on the ground. The last round was a shirtless round... yes, you heard me...shirtless (As if the game wasn't dumb enough.) By the end of it, some guys were bleeding and all were pretty bruised. But there were still smiles and good times. No one knows who won, though. So what was the point? I'm not sure, but boys will be boys. All in all, it was a good time and that's what counts.