It was too good to be kept a secret!!

As you may or may not recall, I recently posted that we were planning on doing something a little crazy... But I couldn't tell you what it was... Well, that is because it was a surprise that we were going to pull on one of our bestest friends. But Ryan ended up blabbing it, so it's not a surprise anymore. (For the record, he talked to me about blabbing it before he actually did and we decided together that it was okay to blab... so blab he did.)

We were standing in the kitchen a few days ago and Ryan commented on our Acadia National Park calendar... about how nice it is there. I said that there were two places I really wished we could go visit next year - Acadia National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park (up in Canada). But I knew that we would not be able to go to Acadia. :( However, Waterton is actually quite doable since it is within a (long) day's drive from here and would only cost us gas and camping fees.

And that's when Ryan looked at me and said, "Let's go at the end of the month! We can drive up, surprise Landon, and spend a week there!" I looked at him as if he were crazy! lol And I said, "It would have to be right after I got back from Sacramento, we only have that one week before school starts..." And he said, "Yeah" And I realized he was serious! So I started to think maybe we could actually do it... and then I realized I was crazy too!

So we decided we would go to Canada in a couple of weeks to surprise our friend who was working at Waterton. We've had some contact with him over the internet and both of us have been trying to get info out of him... like when is his last day of work... what are his plans after that... Mostly what we got was that he was sick of this summer and sick of working there. Ryan decided that our good friend shouldn't be left in the dark, that 1) it might give him something to look forward to and cheer him up if he knew we were coming (kind of egotistical of us to think we're that special, huh? lol) and 2) since it would be so close to the end of his time there, it was risky going up without telling him - what if we missed him? What if we got there and he simply didn't have any time to "play" or anything?
So this morning during an IM conversation, Ryan told him our plans. And now Landon's trying to get stuff figured out to see if it will be a good time or not... and we will know in a couple of days whether or not we're going forward with it. If not, he's going to try to come here next month.

We really want to go up. In large part to see our friend, but also just to see Waterton again. I can't tell you how gorgeous it is there! We LOVE it!!! And after this crazy summer, we could all use to have some relaxing "down" time in such a beautiful place. :)

"Baptism"

Journal Jar Question: Talk about your baptism. Where was it? How old were you? How much do you remember about that special day?

I was baptized a member of the Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when I was 8 years old. I remember the bishop interviewing me, I remember the questions he asked were really easy. Things like, Did I believe in God? Did I believe in Jesus Christ? Did I know what it means to be baptized?

We didn't have a font in our building - or even in our stake... we went to a different building to use their font. If I had known you could get baptized in the ocean back then, I probably would have made my family let me, lol. Hey - it was summer time! ;) But I didn't know that back then... so I was baptized in a font in a church. I remember the water being warm... I wouldn't have gotten that in the ocean!

I don't remember a lot about the baptism itself. I do remember that my parents had gotten me a new dress (or two) and I really liked wearing them afterwards. I also remember having a little party after the baptism, maybe like an open house? I remember we had to clean the playroom but I kind of made everyone else do it because it was my special day. What a selfish attitude... well the "clean slate" sure didn't last long I guess! lol

Now I am looking forward to next summer when Acadia will be old enough to be baptized. I can't believe that she is already 7 and will be 8 in less than a year! She is excited for it and I am so proud of her. It is amazing for me to realize that she has grown so much and is now becoming old enough to be responsible for her choices. It's fun to see her learn about the Gospel, to see her begin to develop her own testimony of things. She is such a good girl and just wants to do what is right. I think I'm pretty lucky to have her. :)

Doctor Visit

Today was Aurora's two week check-up! Wow, time is flying fast!

Her stats: 7lbs 8.2 oz, 20 inches long. For weight, she is in the 25%, just like Acadia was. For height, she is 25-50%, Acadia was between 75-90% for height. It is fun to see the similarities and differences between them.

We had to have the yucky PKU test done... and Rori and I decided that we are not putting the nurse on our Christmas card list. Too much "ouchy" pain. :( But Rori did take it well. She still didn't cry a whole lot. She is such a good baby. But she sure didn't like it. :S

Because Cadi is such a good helper, she got to choose a sticker at the doctor's office. We then went over to get Rori's birth certificate. They were out at lunch, so we filled out the form and paid the fee... it should be in the mail today or tomorrow and we'll have it early next week. :)

I have so much to do in the next week! I think it's funny that I am so surprised at how little I can accomplish in a day. You'd think this was my first time having a baby! I guess you conveniently forget all the "inconveniences" a baby brings. How every couple of hours I'm forced to sit down for 30 minutes MINIMUM to feed her, then there are the constant diaper changes, and don't forget some cuddle time... That doesn't leave much time to get some good work done. But slowly, I'm making progress. :)

I think we're crazy!

Hehehe, We are seriously considering doing something a little crazy! And it is all Ryan's idea! And I'm all for it! But I can't say what it is! And now you're all gonna be going crazy trying to figure out what it is! LOL

Happy Birthday!

Okay, I promise not to do this every week...But...

Aurora is one week old today! I can't believe it's been a week already. And at the same time, I can't remember NOT having her here... Okay, I do remember it, but I can hardly remember what it felt like not to have her in our family. She belongs here so well and we all love her so much!

She and I are both doing well. It is amazing to think about just what my body did one week ago. I was in a lot of pain for several days afterwards, but I'm starting to heal and I'm not on the heavy meds anymore. :D She is adjusting well to life in this crazy world. She still sleeps well, eats well, and rarely cries. Yep, we're pretty spoiled here. And I am anxious to see if that changes... lol.

It is fun to see the differences in Acadia and Aurora. Acadia screamed through her bath in the hospital, but was fine with them at home.... Aurora didn't make a sound during her hospital bath, but she has cried during her baths at home. Acadia had a hard time going back to sleep after feedings at night, but Aurora never has a hard time sleeping, lol. I'm sure there will be plenty more differences as they continue to grow. :)

We sure do enjoy having Aurora here. And I'm so grateful to have Acadia too. She is a great helper and it's so nice to have a big girl here to help me enjoy our baby girl. :D

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Early this morning we were enjoying a nice sleep, Aurora was in the middle of her 5-6 hour sleep (don't hate me because my kid is so wonderful)... and all of a sudden I was shaken awake! It lasted for several seconds and I could hear a rumbling noise. As soon as it ended, I said, "Ryan?"

R: "Yeah."

Me: "Did you feel that?"

R: "Yeah... What was it?"

Me: "I think it was an earthquake."

Sure enough... when I turned on the news this morning, there had been a 3.8 magnitude earthquake just a few miles north of here. Ryan says this is the first earthquake that he has actually felt. I have felt them in So. California but he was usually at work and probably too busy to notice them.

The news also reported a 4.4 earthquake near San Fransisco last night. But they are supposedly not related. Now of course, they are talking up 72 hour kits and pushing emergency preparedness on the news. :) Hmmm, where have I heard this before? I'm so glad that our ward has been really good about helping everyone get their 72 hr. kits and building their food storage. :)

A mother's thoughts.

I've been thinking about all that has happened in the last few days...

As we prepared for Aurora's arrival, so many things went through my mind.  I was often asked, "Do you think you'll have more kids after this one?"  How am I supposed to answer that?  Doesn't anyone realize how fortunate I feel just to have HER?  And at that point, I hadn't delivered her - I wasn't about to "count my chicken before she hatched".  I just wanted to get through the delivery and finally have my baby with me.

The moment she was born and they placed her on me, I could finally breath easy.  And I was filled with so much love for this little person we had waited for all this time.  She has such big, beautiful eyes and it was as if she had been waiting just as long to look at me.  She just kept staring at me and she was so sweet! 

While I was anxious to meet our little girl, I have to admit that there was a part of me that was very nervous too.  I was worried about how I would feel seeing her after losing the other ones.  I was afraid that holding her would remind me of how much it hurt to not have the others to hold.  And there was a moment as I held her that I did think of them and it was a little bittersweet.  But then I just looked into Aurora's perfect face and I was just so happy to have her.  The past few days have been so healing for me.  I love to hold Aurora and she has been such a good baby.

I feel so spoiled to have her.  She's been too easy on me, lol.  She sleeps so well, eats so well, and she's so dang cute!  I love it when she laughs in her sleep.  I know, I know... it's gas...*rolls eyes* ;)

I took a few pictures that I think are just precious.  The first couple of from Ryan giving Aurora her first bottle...





The next few are of Acadia holding Aurora and playing with her...