Girls, Girls, Girls (and Grandparents)

Today was another fun filled day with the girls... and Grandpa Fred! Molly & Sierra didn't wake up until 11am (apparently they were up until 5am.. CRAZY). Alexa & I went on a LONG walk before they got up and came back to some yummy pancakes, we just have to give grandpa the "eyes" for pancakes. We took off around noon to go to the Mayan for lunch but they don't open until 4pm so we ate at Joe's Crab Shack instead. Sierra had a date with her friends and Molly needed to get home to BLOG :). Later Alexa, Grandma Judy, Grandpa Fred and I had a fun night at Thanksgiving Point. We had dinner and then walked the gardens. Alexa had a great time and REALLY wanted to walk the entire time, she wasn't too excited about the stroller. She didn't want to leave and Grandpa had to swoop her up and put her in her car seat! It was a beautiful night and a fun time at the gardens.
Unfortunately I left my camera in AZ and my dad's is in the shop.. so we bought a disposable camera. The pictures below are from the gardens but are not very good quality. I had to share anyhow.



Click on the slideshow above to see it bigger. Then click on "slideshow" to the left of the picture.

Fun In The Sun

Click on the slideshow above to see it bigger. Then click on "slideshow" to the left of the picture.

Alexa & I flew to Salt Lake for a fun filled week with family. Today was the most jam packed exciting day that we have had in a long time. Alexa had a sleep over with her grandma Chazen Friday night and spent the morning with her while I attended the movie premier of 'Daddy Day Camp' (I will write more about this next week). I picked her up after lunch and headed to my parents house along with my niece Sierra. My brother Jim & his family came over too for the neighborhood block party. We grilled chicken and had some good treats as well as being treated to some Karaoke MOSTLY by Grandpa Fred. He sang some Elvis, YMCA and other old man songs... he is a ham! Then all of us "kids" swam and then headed home for Alexa's bed time. Sierra, Molly & I then had a "girls" night while Grandma kept an ear open for Alexa. We headed to Wal-mart at 11:30 pm to get Molly a dress for church. Little girls get a little loopy in the wea hours of the night! Coming home was a crack up I had to stop at McDonald's for some soda and french fries and then there was "One Eyed Willy" & "Ralphy Raccoon" (you had to be there). Anyhow, it was a really fun night and I am obviously still wide awake because of them (it is 1:15 AM).
Sierra was my personal photographer for the day.. she took a bunch of snap shots of Alexa & I. As well as some of the others shown. :)

The Dreaded ER!

We have been flooded with emails and calls asking how we were doing with the whole miscarriage experience. I have gotten carpel tunnel re-typing the story so many times that I figured I would post. Again, I contemplate; "Should I really be sharing this on my blog.." but again I think.. this is truly MY journal so if you don't want to read about it... DON'T come to my site!! jk Really though, if you get grossed out by this stuff.. don't read this post!

Last Tuesday I had to go into the ER because of excessive bleeding and pain due to the miscarriage. I had what is called a missed miscarriage which means that my body didn't recognise that the baby had died so I kept accumulating tissue and other fun stuff in my body but I never got rid of it. (this is info from the ER docs) Finally it started to happen (much later than it should have) and because of the excess of tissue and blood etc it happened to be more messy and painful than it should have been. Anyhow, per my doctors office advice (because of the bleeding) Greg rushed me to the ER. I told him to go to a certain ER and we SHOULD NOT HAVE gone to that one. After bleeding all over the ER and their bathroom, I was given several pair of scrubs because of it going through my pants every 5-10 min and making the poor cleaning ladies clean up the chairs and the bathroom several times.. they finally got me in 3 hours later. WOW 3 hours. Hello, what is the point of an emergency room.

After getting fluids for dehydration, morphine, an ultrasound and tissues suctioned out of me, the ER doctors were still sure that I would need a D&C. After nearly 9 hours in the hospital I was sent home with a closet full of prescriptions and lucky me, a few new pair of scrubs. (that was the only bonus). I was required to see my doctor the next morning and by that point I had much less bleeding (due to one of the prescriptions) and we opted to not do the D&C. I am really afraid of surgery so I was very happy about this. BUT.. if it happens again, I will do the D&C rather than have to go through the awful experience of that day.

Other than a constant headache (which I read is a side effect of one of the medications) I am doing much better and feeling great. I did get some advice from my doctor though. He told me to go to a different ER which is just as close to us. They pride themselves on getting you in to a bed and seen by a doctor w/in 30 min!! Why when Greg asked me which one to go to I didn't chose this better hospital, I don't know but now we know.

My new pants & prescriptions and my poor STILL bruised arm from the IV.

Shopping Fun!

Today we went to the famous Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It is funny how different it is here than in Utah. In SLC the doors open with about 100 people waiting to rush the entry. In AZ doors don't open until 11 and I counted 7 people waiting to get in. Anyone who wants to beat the crowds next year should come to AZ. It is much better. We met a few friends there in the morning and then shopped til we dropped, litteraly. Alexa was exhausted by the end of the day. It was so funny. Here are some funny pictures of the shopping experience.

"Wash wash, Scrub scrub"

We keep the water for the cats in our kitchen on the floor. Alexa absolutely, positively can not stay away from the cat water! ARGGG! It doesn't matter how many times we discuss that it is the kitty water and not Alexa's water, she doesn't care! Even when I start to say, "ALEXA" in a stern voice, I get that mischievous smile or a shout in return, "NO, NO, NO"! (Who taught her how to say NO????)
This would be her morning hair. YIKES!

This morning I was doing dishes and she was playing with her baby. I turned off the water to hear her singing, "Wash wash, Scrub scrub" from the Signing Time videos. I looked over and there she was giving her baby a bath in the kitty water. She was washing her bald head thankfully because the baby is fully dressed. I tried to grab the camera to record the comedy but she saw me catch her in the act of playing in the water and she quickly ran away! It was too funny.

Here is also a picture of her when the Signing Time Video starts. It is fuzzy but it shows how excited she gets!

Albuquerque II

This last weekend we were able to visit my brother Corey and his family in Albuquerque. With all that was going on with us we weren't going to let that stop our visit, we were so excited to see them.
Corey & Stacey's son Jayden was Baptised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Saturday the 14th. He looked so handsome in his white clothes and little man suit. My parents gave awesome talks, Corey baptized him, Greg confirmed him and lucky me.. I was asked to sing the primary song Baptism. Luckily we talked Corey into singing with me. After all, he is the singer. La La La!!
We also celebrated Jayden's birthday and had a lot of fun with them. He loves action figures and video games so this is mostly what he received. He was most excited about his video camera and mini Book of Mormon and scripture case though. He couldn't wait to show his friends at church his very own Scriptures. He is so dang cute.

Good Friends

So this past week was just crazy. But we have some very kind family and friends. Although our friends don't always agree :), I do love them and it is sad that we are not home to be near them more often.

We found out on the 5th of this month that we were going to have a miscarriage. I don't know that this is news that we want to share with the whole world but since this is my journal and I want to remember dates and info for the future I will post the info. Anyhow, the miscarriage is well underway and I am hoping that my body can take care of it naturally. Emotionally we are doing well and physically I am fine too.


In researching the Internet and books as well as getting a lot of info from my awesome doctor Rick Wilson I feel really informed and got some interesting facts. Did you know that as many as 50% of pregnancies end in miscarriage? That was crazy to me. Most occur before the woman even knows that she is pregnant and therefore it is never reported. But of the reported pregnancies still an astonishing 25% still end in miscarriage. I thought those numbers were so high. The comforting thing is to know that most occur because something is not correct with the baby's chromosomes and your body recognizes this and ends the pregnancy. It is rarely because of something that you (the mother or father) did wrong. I never researched miscarriage when I was pregnant with Alexa so I never really knew some of this info and thought that it was interesting enough to share.


Our friends the Palmers & Galoviches sent us some flowers the day after we found out. They are always so thoughtful. And word spreads quickly so we have gotten a lot of well wishes and concern from family and friends. They are all so kind and we are doing great!

Big Girl Chair

Why I don't listen to my friends more often, I just don't know. Brit told me to not get the massive highchair contraption and to get just the booster seat with attachable tray. Well, we had dinner at our friends Brian & Kristy's home a few weeks ago and they had the chair that Brit told me to get. Alexa ate dinner in the chair and it was fantastic. No big bulky eye-sore and no washing the fabric weekly to keep the stains out. It was so nice. The next day I went out and got one for only $15 (a tenth of the price) and put the massive highchair away. Alexa looks like a big girl and I can definitely say that I should listen to the advise of others more often.

Silly Monkey

We call Alexa our "silly monkey" because she is a goof ball and acts like a monkey. Especially since she started walking she is a little comedian. We are constantly laughing at her. Tonight at dinner we ordered Chinese food and she had her own bowl of noodles. We didn't put a bib on and she was wearing her whitest possible shirt. She got extremely messy and thought she was so funny. Here are some silly pictures.

Independence Day

Alexa & Izzy
We celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd with a BBQ at Danny & Shantel's house in Anthem. Alexa & I got there early and had lunch with Shantel & Izzy. Then Britany, Jeremy, Maya & Kenyon met us there as well as Greg & Danny after a little game of Golf.

The boys stayed at the house with the kids while us gals did a little shopping at the Anthem outlets. We then went to the community swimming pool and had some fun in the water. Alexa LOVES swimming!!! We were all exhausted after playing in the 116 degree weather and we were ready for some dinner.

The mom's & dad's with the kids
Danny grilled us up some hot dogs and burgers and Miss Shantel, the master hostess, had a huge spread of side dishes. It was all great. Our family then became the party poopers and headed home around 8:30 pm. We had over an hour drive and I knew that there would be a melt down if we stayed much later. (I would have had the melt down.. bed time for me is at 9pm :).) The others stayed and watched fireworks and had a great time.

Talking!

Alexa is a silly gal. She really loves to talk, talk, talk! She copies everything that we say and it is so cute. The joke with my uncle Bob is that he gets all of the babies to say his name before anyone else. That is what the BOB is in the video.

My Cousin Matt!

My cousin Matt from Minnesota proposed to his girlfriend Kristin last week. They haven't set a date but we are very excited for them! Congrats Matt & Kristin!!