Easter Pictures

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

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

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

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

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"

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

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!