Allens Gone Wild!

Zumba

2012-02-10T09:34:00.001-07:00

So I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell you how I'm living up to one of my New Year's goals (it only took me until February to get started!). For a long time many people have tried to get me to go to Zumba. It's an exercise class where you dance non-stop for an hour straight doing some pretty intense cardio stuffs. I didn't think I would ever like it or be good at it, so I kept saying, "Eh, maybe one day," making tons of excuses for myself.

Well finally a girl in my ward convinced me to go. She told me that a bunch of girls in the ward like to go and it would be so fun if I came too, so I went for the first time Tuesday night. It was crazy intense!! I've never been so tired after a workout in my LIFE! The next morning I was beat. I could tell that I had worked my muscles and my body a lot more than they were used to (but because of Melaleuca's Access bars, I wasn't sore) and honestly, I was excited for the next time to go. The music is so upbeat and the instructor is one of those women you just can't help but stare at. She's had eight kids and is somewhere around 50 years old, but she looks like she's 25. She's in better shape than anyone I know and is, of course, disgustingly beautiful.

Last night was my second workout and today I can tell that my body is starting to acclimate to the intensity of the workouts. I'm not sore like I would be (thank you, Melaleuca!), but I can tell my muscles have WORKED! I love this feeling! I'm tired, but not overly so, and as long as I keep moving throughout the day, I'm fine.

I bought a scale and I'm going to weigh myself weekly to measure my progress. But the scale doesn't just do weight, it estimates body fat percentage, water weight percentage, and muscle percentage (you enter your height and age and it calculates all that based on what you weigh). So I have a journal and I'm going to weigh myself every Tuesday to see how I'm doing in all those categories. I'll write down my numbers so I can compare to previous weeks and make sure I'm doing things right and making real progress.

I'm trying to think of something I can do on my days off of Zumba (since it's only 3 times a week) that will keep my muscles loose (and will be less intense). I'm thinking of just doing some yoga because it's low intensity, but can still be a great workout if you put the effort into it. Plus it's just a relaxing way to spend my time which is exactly what I need.

So...yay Zumba. Yay getting fit. Yay following through on a New Year's goal.

Birth Control Question

2012-02-08T22:30:00.003-07:00

Since this isn't something I necessarily want to blurt out openly for the whole world to read, I thought I'd pose the question on my blog so the few of you who read could maybe help me with a question I have about birth control. Be warned that I'm not shy in talking about my period, so if you'd rather not hear about it or if you don't think you could answer my question, then feel free to skip this post.

I am relatively new to "the pill". I took it for a couple months right before I got married to get rid of a huge ovarian cyst, I took it for about a year after I stopped nursing Lili, and I'm back on it again now that Moriah is born. Right after Lili was born, we just used the barrier method (mostly because I just procrastinated getting on the pill). I didn't have monthly periods until I completely weaned her from nursing which was when I started taking the pill. While on the pill that time, I was 100% regular. My periods/withdraw bleeds were completely predictable.

After Moriah was born, I started taking the pill about 6 weeks later. About two weeks into my first pack I started bleeding heavily. Like, scary heavy. I put a super tampon in an hour before church and 45 minutes later I was leaking EVERYWHERE (luckily I made it home before it got to my clothes) and there were larger blood clots. The days previous to this were SUPER light, like...panty-liner light. I called my doc and he said not to worry, it was probably just leftover from pregnancy. Okay, fine. No big deal.

I started my second pack two weeks ago and I've started my period again! In the middle of the pack! The withdraw bleed is supposed to happen during the last week of the pack when you're taking the sugar pills. So now I'm all worried that my body is ovulating on it's own and that the birth control actually isn't working and that I could get pregnant! I asked Artene about it and he said, "Could you be pregnant?" How the heck should I know? "Maybe you are miscarrying?" What?! He totally freaked me out with that one, though I know that wasn't his intention.

So my question to my dear devoted (or not so devoted?) readers is this: is this normal to bleed in the middle of the pack instead of withdraw bleeding during the last week? Could this birth control not be working and could I, in fact, get pregnant/be pregnant? I've googled it and I can't find any credible information (just forums and the like with anecdotal information) to help me out. So I'm opening it up to you. Ready...go!

My next step obviously is to call my doctor, but I just wanted to know what you all think first. :)

February 2012 Family Update

2012-02-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

So life comes and goes faster than I can keep track of. I don't even remember the last time I did a family update, so if it was too recently, just forget about this post. :)

Artene is stressing out at work a little. Lately, people have been kind of jerky and it bugs him, especially when he's so tired. Moriah is past the colicky stage, but I think teething is starting, so...yeah, still no sleep for us. We get to bed about midnight and Artene is up a little before 6:30 to get ready for work and out the door by ten to 7. He works till 4 and goes to donate plasma Mondays and Thursdays after work. He doesn't need to go, but it's nice to have extra cash on hand whenever something comes up. He loves hanging out with friends (it's how he unwinds from work), so anytime he can, he tries to get together with them. He enjoys playing with (and talking about) his birthday present (the Mosin Nagant rifle I got him) with his friends and is itching to go out and shoot it some more. He still teaches in Elder's Quorum, though one of the counselors in the bishopric is moving soon, so I've been teasing him that maybe he'll be the one to replace him. Hah!!

I have been struggling to keep my head above water as I juggle school, church, and home responsibilities. I figured out I was taking 14 credits, not 12 like I thought, so I dropped one of my classes. I'm down to 12 credits (4 classes) and so far it's been a lot more manageable! I feel like I'm not rushing to finish my assignments just because they need to be done, but that I'm actually able to learn and grow from the things I get to study about. It's been great. Relief Society is wonderful. I love the sisters so much. I feel so blessed to be able to serve them and to serve with such wonderful sisters in the presidency. I enjoy planning the activities and getting to know the sisters. Tomorrow marks the start of one of my New Year's goals, getting in shape! A bunch of girls from my ward go to Zumba three times a week and I've decided I'm going to go with them. (Zumba is basically exercising with dancing instead of going to the gym.) Artene wants to start exercising, too, so we've been talking about going together either up to the indoor track on campus or just to the lounge here at the complex to do P90X or use the workout equipment they have. He's being very supportive of me going to Zumba because he wants me to feel good about myself. I love him.

Lili is LOVING preschool. She does so well there. Everyday she comes home and talks about a new friend that she's made and the new songs she's learned. It's been wonderful for her to have that structure and learning around other kids her age. She brings home pictures and projects that she's done and she is so proud of them. Our fridge is plastered with her artwork! She is a huge helper with Moriah and is starting to learn how to do things to take care of her on her own. She likes to help me cook and clean (well, do anything that I'm doing, really) and jumps at the chance to play with her friends. Whoever said terrible twos were terrible is a liar, though. The threes are much worse, I'm telling you. I long for twos back! She's in the throws of that stage where anytime I ask her to do anything, she refuses outright. Counting doesn't work, timeout doesn't work, taking away toys and books doesn't work, restricting snacks or other privileges doesn't work. It's SO STRESSFUL! I am working really hard on keeping calm when she does that, but it's seriously the hardest thing in the world. My parenting class has opened my eyes to a lot of things I would have never thought about (that would have caused many more headaches) and I'm really trying to do better, but she is so stubborn!

Moriah is the sweetest little thing ever! She smiles at everyone she sees, and she does it all the time! We're pretty much out of the colicky stage, thank goodness, but I think we're about to start teething. The other night she had a low-grade fever, a little bit of congestion, and was fussy all night long (we didn't sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time), the exact same way that Lili was when she was teething. Who needs sleep, though, right? (she said sarcastically) She is SO chunky. 16 1/2 pounds already, bigger than 95% of kiddos her age, following right in the footsteps of her big sister. Her clothes are mostly 3-6 months right now, but she's wearing a lot of 6-9 months already and her little jeans are 6-12 months. What can I say, we grow 'em chunky (and bald).

Thay about does it for our family this time around. Until next time!

Birthday Celebration

2012-02-06T21:22:00.001-07:00

Artene and the girls spoiled me rotten for my birthday! Okay, not rotten, but it was a wonderful day! I got to sleep in till about 8:30 (which, anymore, is absolutely necessary) and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast while we planned out what we were going to do for the day. Mostly I just wanted to spend the day with my hunky hubby and my girls, so I got what I wanted! We ran a few errands (that have been put off for weeks) including Wal-mart where we finally replaced our cracking, chipping stoneware dinnerware with Corelleware!

We've been meaning to do it for ages, and as luck would have it, the IRS gave me a nice HUGE birthday present and we were able to buy a couple sets, plus some serving platters and serving bowls. It takes up 1/3 of the space our old dinnerware used to and the stuff is practically indestructible, so I'm excited. I can dress up the white with fancy foods, fancy napkins, fancy chargers...the possibilities are endless. Or...I could leave them as they are. Haha!

We left Wal-mart and went through a car wash, Lili's first one. It scared her a little, but with some reassurance, she started to enjoy it by the time we were done. This was long overdue and believe it or not, was a lot of fun. Artene took me to lunch at Gator Jack's here in town, one of my favorites, and we stuffed ourselves silly.

Instead of making me a cake (which Artene is quite capable of doing), I suggested we just go and pick up a cake at one of the grocery store bakeries (can you blame me? They're really good!), so we headed over to Broulim's and laid our eyes on a 1/4 sheet cake that was Snickers! It was too much cake for us, so we asked if they happened to have an 8 inch round one, which they did! Of course, it came out that it was for MY birthday, so the lady at the bakery made an embarrassing announcement over the intercom that it was my birthday.

We bought the cake, took the girls home for a nap, then sat down to order my REAL birthday present, The Zing (see previous post!). Since we got our tax returns that morning (thank you, Uncle Sam!), we ordered it and a few other little things to go with it. It should be here any day now, I'm so excited!

After the girls woke up, we dropped Lili off at a friend's house and took off to Idaho Falls to do some shopping. I'm really in need of dresses/skirts/Sunday clothes, so we hit up tons of stores in the mall, Target, then Ross. I came away with one measly skirt. I was a little bummed, but determined to have a good day. We picked up Panda Express for us and for our friends that watched Lili and headed back to Rexburg to finish off the night there having fun.

I got to spend a low-key day with my family which was exactly what I needed. I've been feeling totally overwhelmed since school started and I needed that break. I've finally started figuring out a routine to juggle all of my responsibilities and I think I'm going to survive the semester. Afterall, next week (or the week after, I can't remember) is mid-semester (already?!) so it will be over before I know it! Another birthday come, another birthday gone. Am I really 23 years old already? Some days I still feel like I'm 16, and other days I feel like I'm 35. Before I know it, I will be 35! Ahh! But anyway, life is good (which I will further expound upon in my next post).

Silhouette Update

2012-02-02T21:58:00.001-07:00

So...I love my Silhouette. Except, I don't. It cuts wonderfully and would ordinarily be able to do everything I want it to. Except it has a MAJOR design flaw. Well, not the machine itself, but the blade, and if you're going to cut anything even remotely intricate, I suggest you pass the Silhouette by. Study the picture below as I tell you why.

The machine cuts well and is very versatile. But as soon as you get into intricate details, your problems begin. The small, tiny pieces of paper (or vinyl, or whatever you're cutting) gets jammed inside the blade housing (the hole in the white cap on the bottom of the black housing unit is where the blade comes out). There is no way to remove the cap and clean it out. Do you know what Silhouette suggests? Blow hard and stick a needle in it to attempt to unclog it. Not only will you destroy the plastic on the housing, but it won't work. They'll send you a new blade if you want, but replacing the blade every month seems a bit extreme, even if they send it to you on their own dime. They will not accept for returns any machine that has been used, so you're out of luck the second you break it open to start your first project. (Luckily we bought it from a third party store that was willing to let us return it.)

Everything else about the Cameo I love. The software is incredibly easy to use, the image store is reasonably priced (they have regular free images for you to download as well), and the images it comes with are darling. That said, this major design flaw with the blade is not something I can overlook. I used my cameo for two projects and after a very short time, it started eating my paper because the blade was jammed and wasn't able to turn properly to complete its job.

So, with that being said, the Cameo has been boxed up to make it's way back to its original owner (a scrapbooking store in Utah) and hopefully on to someone who can live with the poorly designed blade assembly. Not long after we made the initial purchase of the Cameo, Artene found a better alternative. This machine has a blade assembly that is open and will not jam. It can house a myriad of blades and attachments. In fact, you can even use your own pens or pencils inside the housing and it will draw the design for you. It has three times the cutting power that the Cameo does, which allows it to cut even more materials including chipboard, balsa wood, crafting rubbers and more. It's called The Zing.

Click here to go to the website.

After we get refunded for the Cameo and after we get our tax returns in (any day now!), we'll be able to get this machine. It's a little more than we planned, but we weren't counting on our tax returns, so it all works out. Plus, the cost of maintenance is much lower so overall, I think this machine will be the best bang for the buck. It also has an attachment for you to cut gum paste to decorate cakes with. Artene will probably hate me for having that. I'll just have to find people who want cake so I can play around with that (something I've always wanted to do, even before the idea of the machine entered the picture). We plan to order it soon, so I'll let you know what of think after I get to play around with it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2012-01-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting one of these for...well...ever. Okay, not forever, but it's been at least two years. Granted, the one you see below is the newest model that barely came out, but it's the same as the previous model, just cooler! With this year's tax returns (which should be here any day now!) we had plenty of extra to splurge a little for me. :D We found a great deal through a third-party store and it came last week!

I needed to christen my new toy, so I looked through the designs it came with and found an adorable heart image (which will be used on the invitations to our February Relief Society activity).

I'm waiting for my order of vinyl to get here (that I ordered from another third party site for MUCH cheaper!) that has like..10-ish different colors. I've got all these projects to do now that I actually have a way to complete them! Stay tuned for more!

Artene's Birthday

2012-01-31T15:58:00.002-07:00

Artene turned 26! Ahhh! I can't believe how quickly that "scary" #30 is approaching for us! I threw him a little birthday bash (that was supposed to be a surprise, but Lili spilled the beans the night before!) themed after the game Portal. I didn't get very many pictures, unfortunately, not even of the AWESOME cake I made. It was homemade German chocolate cake with homemade coconut pecan frosting and was absolutely DELICIOUS!

We played Pictionary:

I made a flubber recipe and named it Propulsion Gel (it's part of Portal). Everyone got a kick out of it.

Lili made a new friend!

This is the only picture I got of the Portal-themed stuff! I can't believe I didn't take pictures of anything else! Repulsion gel (the gatorade), Propulsion gel (the flubber in the tupperware), tubes of Propulsion gel (the skittles), and companion cubes with candy inside. It was a lot of fun to put it all together, even though it ended up being a little lame because Artene knew! Ugh!

Artene's birthday present was the Mosin Nagant (it's a gun) that I posted about with the Christmas pictures.

My birthday is coming up on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see what Artene does for me. I already got my birthday present, though!! Stay tuned for a post with pictures about what it is!

Same Gender Attraction

2012-01-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm learning a TON in my classes this semester. I'm taking Marriage, Parenting, Family Relations, Family Foundations, and Money Management. Right now I'm reading about same gender attraction. I've always had a hard time defending my position on this issue. It's so controversial and those who advocate for it are very unreasonable in a lot of respects. I read a quote by Dallin H. Oaks just now and it completely sums up my thinking, so I'd like to share it (for those of you who aren't members of my church and may not understand my/our position fully).

"This is much bigger thanjust a question of whether or not society should be more tolerant of thehomosexual lifestyle. Over past years we have seen unrelenting pressure fromadvocates of that lifestyle to accept as normal what is not normal, and tocharacterize those who disagree as narrow-minded, bigoted and unreasonable.Such advocates are quick to demand freedom of speech and thought forthemselves, but equally quick to criticize those with a different view and, ifpossible, to silence them by applying labels like “homophobic.” In at least onecountry where homosexual activists have won major concessions, we have evenseen a church pastor threatened with prison for preaching from the pulpit thathomosexual behavior is sinful. Given these trends, The Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints must take a stand on doctrine and principle. This is morethan a social issue — ultimately it may be a test of our most basic religiousfreedoms to teach what we know our Father in Heaven wants us to teach."

Jesse's Grave Site

2012-01-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

I've had these pictures for awhile (well, since the day after Christmas) but I've been a slacker. It's so hard to plug in a camera and download pictures, you know? ;)

This was the first time Artene and I had been back to Jesse's grave site since he passed away and the first time we'd seen the completed headstone. For those of you who don't know, Artene's youngest brother passed away a year and a half ago at age 16 from a heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It's a hereditary disease that can (and did, in this case) be unexpectedly fatal. Artene's dad, other brother and sister all have it as well and have had surgery to implant a device that shocks their hearts if they stop (it's called an ICD).

First Family Update of 2012

2012-01-09T08:38:00.001-07:00

It's about time for another family update! I've got a bunch of pictures that need to get from our camera to our computer (that obviously haven't yet), so I'll post pictures in a separate post another time.

Artene is deferring from school this semester. He's working hard to help us save money if we end up having to move for an internship. We're thinking of trying to find something in Utah, but it that doesn't work, he might just try to get an internship at Melaleuca. His academic advisor said he should try to get an internship outside of Melaleuca to really broaden his horizons, so we'll see what happens. It would be easier for our little family to stay put, but again, we'll see what happens. I got Artene an early birthday present while we were in Utah, a rifle that he's been wanting forEVER. He finally took it out for a spin on Saturday with a couple of his guy friends and came home grinning from ear to ear. He loved it! I'm really glad that he is so into firearms. I really believe having them is a form of preparedness. He keeps busy at home helping with the girls and other household responsibilities and has been very supportive of me going to school this semester. His birthday is in just under two weeks (the 21st) and I'm throwing him a surprise birthday party themed after the computer game Portal. I've got the help of some great people to get it done, so be on the lookout for those pictures!

I'm taking 13 credits this semester. 13 credits with a 3 month old is probably the craziest thing I've ever tried to do. Having two kids and all the things that need doing around the house have kept me crazy busy, and adding a full load of classes to the mix is probably going to be the death of me, especially on top of my Relief Society calling. But I love to be busy, so I think I'll manage just fine. The first week of school was last week and even though it was all introductory activities, I had plenty of time to complete my assignments. Artene has been very helpful taking care of the girls when he gets home so I can shut myself in the office and have some uninterrupted homework time. This year for our Relief Society activities we're going to have so much fun. For budget reasons, I figured out what our activities will be every month for the whole year and I'm so excited! It will help me be able to look ahead in the year and make arrangements plenty early so I don't have to stress about it when the month comes around. I've had to ask Artene for help around the house so I can balance the rest of my responsibilities, but other than that, I'm gearing up for a CRAZY semester. Oh, and my birthday comes in just under a month. Woohoo!

Lili turned three last year which means she was supposed to start primary at the beginning of the year. Being a student ward instead of a family ward, we are lacking in the primary department, so they kind of dropped the ball as far as calling a teacher for her, so she's still hanging out in nursery. She's a little bummed because she's been so excited to get to go to the big girl classes, but she still gets to be with her friends in nursery, so it's not a big deal yet. Next week she starts preschool up on campus (which she is out of this world excited about!). I would have put her in a semester earlier, but she had to be 3 years old by the first day of the semester, which she wasn't, so we had to wait. She would have done beautifully there even if she didn't meet the age requirements, but alas, that's life. I'm going to use this preschool experience as a trial run to see how she'll do. If she likes it and really shines, we might consider sending her to public school. If she's outshining other kids and being held back, then we might just keep the homeschooling idea after all. She's really turning into a little child rather than being a toddler. I can't even begin to describe to you how articulate she is. We read scriptures with her every night and have her repeat after us which has really helped her language skills just take off. She loves to sit in her room and read anyway, so we're excited about that.

Lili is so sensitive to emotion. She recognizes emotion in others really well and really hates to see others sad or upset. She's an incredible big sister. She loves to hold and take care of Moriah and never misses a beat when Moriah starts to fuss. She talks to me about when she grows up and gets married (in the temple) and how she will have her own children. It makes me happy to listen to her talk like that. I know she's mostly just repeating what she sees and what we say, but deep down I think she really believes it. So far, she still loves to help me around the house. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, you name it, she'll help. She loves to be busy and doing things (sound familiar?), but mostly I think she just likes to be around people (sound familiar?). I can't wait to watch her grow up and become her own person.

Moriah is growing like a weed! Okay, more like a tree trunk or an elephant, but you get the idea. We have a knack for growing solid, chunky babies, I guess, because Lili was the same way. Moriah wins for most baby fat rolls, though! She's lost all her newborn features and I can see her motor skills really developing. The colic is mostly gone, though she still has some crazy fussy nights sometimes. It's incredibly difficult, but we handle it the best we can. She ends up sleeping in our bed every once in awhile (which I'm really not a fan of at all), but it's easier to deal with the colic and fussiness when we can lay down and rest, too. So far we've survived so I call that a win. She is an absolute joy to have around. She is seriously the most smiley baby I've ever known! You just look at her a..nd she smiles those big, open-mouthed, no-teeth, light-up-her-whole-face smiles. She's at the age now where we can actually play with her which is a lot of fun. She laughs almost like a grunt and it's so funny. I think she's going to be one of those deep-gut laughers when she gets a little older.

At 3 months old, she weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 pounds and is currently wearing some 0-3 and a lot of 3-6. I put a 6-12 month dress on her yesterday that was only slightly big. YIKES! I told you we grow them chunky. She's starting to grab at things and she knows where her hands are! She's given herself a hickey on her knuckles because she likes to suck on them until I feed her. She sleeps solid chunks at night, between 6 and 9 hours at a time. I just wished those chunks started at 10pm instead of 12 or 1 in the morning! She still loves being swaddled to sleep, but since she's far outgrown the Halo sleep-sack thing, we just use blankets. She doesn't hate her car seat anymore which is a huge plus! She used to scream and scream and scream when we put her in, but now she does just fine. In a month or two we're going to start trying solid foods which I'm super excited about! As much as I have enjoyed nursing this time around, I'm excited to make her purees from scratch and get her healthy eating habits started early. Lili was a pro at solids, so we'll see how Moriah stacks up. :)

That's about all for the Allen clan today. It's 8:30 and Lili is ready for breakfast. I'm going to try to kick myself into gear so I can get some errands run this morning, but I don't know if I'll make it. Last night was a rough night for the girls (I think it might have been a full moon...?) and I'm exhausted already.

Matchy Matchy

2012-01-03T15:40:00.002-07:00

Aren't they so cute?!

Goals

2012-01-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

I am not one to really make New Year's resolutions unless there's something I already want to work on. I think that if you want to set goals for yourself, you need to do them as you think about them, not wait until there's an event to kick them off (like New Year's). That being said, I've made some goals for myself this year and I'd like to share them with you.

First, my goal is to read my scriptures every day. I know I can do it. It's probably one of the simplest, least complicated goals a person can make. But it has always been so hard for me to do. I make this goal for several reasons. One, for my own personal benefit. Reading the scriptures brings great power and blessings to me and I am constantly amazed at when I do sit down to study, how much I actually learn. Two, I'm doing this for my family. My increased spirituality will increase the spirituality of my family and set a good example for our children. I want my kids to value the scriptures as much as I do and if I'm not constantly studying from them, how will they understand their importance? I shared this goal with Artene yesterday and asked for his help in reminding me, which challenge he gladly accepted with the stipulation that I remind him to do it, too. I'm excited for this.

My second goal is to have regular Family Home Evening at our house. I understand busy schedules and crazy weeks, but I'd like to have more weeks of FHE than not. I think my first goal will significantly help with this one. Again, I have my husband's help with this, so I'm excited to get started.

Lastly, and I know this is totally cliche', I'd like to get in shape. I really don't care how much weight I lose, as long as I'm in shape. So instead of placing a number on it (which, if I did, would be about 160 instead of the 180 I am now), I'm going to make specific goals. I'd like to tone up my jiggly tummy. I love having babies, but I HATE the jiggly tummy that causes me to have a muffin-top when I try to wear jeans. So, toned up tummy. I'd also like to increase my arm strength and overall endurance. In pursuit of these sub-goals, I hope to achieve the main goal of getting myself in shape.

Of course there are always the standard goals that I think about constantly: being a better wife, being a better mother, being a better daughter of God...etc. The classes I'm taking at school over the next few years will help me do all of those. This semester I'm taking Family Foundations (which is a religion class here), Marriage, Parenting, Money Management, and Family Relations. I'm super excited to learn all that I can about these subjects because I know I'll gain valuable insight to use in my own family. (Though I'm nervous that the classes overlap in subject-matter. It will be tricky keeping assignments straight!)

2011 was a good year, and I'm determined to make 2012 better. Who's with me?!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:24:00.003-07:00

Okay so really, I'm probably one of the least sentimental/nostalgic people when it comes to New Year's. I mean, I'm excited for another year to come and for the opportunities it brings, but other than that, I just don't spend a lot of time thinking about or planning for New Year's. That being said, let's take a look back through the year and recap all the things that have happened.

January:

We started potty training Lili. She had turned two a few months before and got "big girl" underwear for Christmas, and our New Year's goal for her was to have her completely potty trained by her third birthday. We almost met our goal, but Lili still isn't night-time potty trained. That's been a real struggle, but we've not lost hope (yet!)
Artene and I started a new semester of school. I decided to take a DNA class online (which was a dumb idea) and somehow managed to pass with a B.
We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 5th!
Artene turned a quarter of a century old on the 21st!

February:

I had my 22nd birthday on the 4th.
On the 5th, we found out we were expecting baby #2!they
My dad revealed that he and his girlfriend had taken off to Vegas and eloped on January 2nd without telling anyone until Valentine's Day.
I began training to be a certified birth doula.

March:

We had a little scare after my 12 week doctor's appointment. My doctor wasn't able to find baby's heartbeat with the doppler, so he sent me to the hospital to have an ultrasound. Artene was at work and it was just me and Lili. I was freaking out, but it turned out that there was nothing to worry about. Baby was alive and healthy.

April:

I got into the ASL class I wanted for the spring semester. I was convinced I would get a degree in Deaf Studies, but after I took that class, I knew it would be so much work and I didn't think I could devote the time to it. So I let that dream go.
We ended the winter semester with great grades.
We moved from a 720 square foot, two bedroom apartment, to an 1100 square foot, three bedroom apartment for only $44 a month more. It's been one of the best decisions we've made so far. We have grown to love our ward so much, and the space here has been very nice.
Spring semester began!

May:

News spread like wildfire that Osama Bin Laden had been eliminated. There was all sorts of speculation that it had happened 10 years ago and they're just now telling us or that he's not really dead at all, but whatever.
We found out that baby #2 was another girl!
Artene got called as a teacher in Elder's Quorum. He teaches every third Sunday.
With our growing family, we needed a vehicle upgrade, so we shopped around and found a fantastic deal on a Ford Explorer on Memorial Day weekend.

June:

I attended my first certifying birth for my doula certification. I didn't really do a whole lot as this was the mom's 5th baby (6th pregnancy), but it was an amazing experience to be a part of.
We made a quick weekend trip to the other side of Idaho for a family reunion (my dad's side).

July:

Spring semester ended and we were excited for a break for the rest of the calendar year!
I got released from my calling as the Relief Society pianist and was asked to serve in the Relief Society presidency.
I attended my second certifying birth for my doula certification. She rocked it and it made me excited to give birth to our baby.

August:

I completed all the tests for my doula certification and passed with flying colors!
We finally decided on a name for baby #2: Moriah Siroun Allen.
We were maniacs sewing and getting ready for the mountain man rendezvous over Labor Day weekend.
Lili started napping without a diaper on and had very few accidents before she really got the hang of it!
We went to our ward campout.

September:

The mountain man rendezvous at Fort Bridger, Wyoming happened. I was 5 weeks to my due date and camping in extreme temperatures (HOT during the day and literally freezing at night).
We attended a ward Family Home Evening at our bishop's house. We really started feeling at home in our ward about this time.

October:

Moriah was born 5 days early on the 6th. My water broke at 2 that morning and she was born at 5:50PM.
Lili turned three on the 29th! Where did our baby go?
We blessed Moriah in church on the 30th since Artene's family was able to be in town that weekend.

November:

Moriah started getting colicky at night. Well, by definition, she wasn't colicky because she didn't scream for three or more hours every time she got fussy. Some nights it was only two hours, but whatever. We started her on probiotics and that seemed to help quite a bit.
We had a low-key Thanksgiving with friends since I had just had a baby and she was due any day.
I finally declared a major that I'm completely excited about! Marriage and Family Studies with a clinical emphasis and I registered for the next semester of classes. 13 credits. Yikes!

December:

My girlfriend gave birth to her baby two months after Moriah was born and I was there to help her. It was a beautiful experience and lucky for me, Moriah passed out and slept through her transition and pushing.
I attended the ward Christmas party with the girls while Artene went to the Melaleuca Christmas party (on the off chance that his name was called for him to win something).
We took off to Utah for an extended weekend trip over Christmas. We did some shopping at the mall there, sprucing up my wardrobe and buying Artene a nicer professional wardrobe.
We had a small New Year's gathering at our place with some friends and their parents. We had all the traditional holiday foods (ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs...etc) and played games until midnight.

That sums up our 2011. My goals for this year are to get in shape (no weight-loss goals, just getting "in shape") and to read my scriptures every day. I can do it!!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

Gingerbread house making!

Artene got a call from his friend while we were making them.

We decided to open a few gifts before we went down to Utah for Christmas. Here's what we opened:

This is an essential oil diffuser that Artene got me, along with 4 different oils.

Artene got a marshmallow gun (well two, but one's for me!):

He got me a huge rotary cutting mat since the one I have is TINY.

Once we were in Utah, we did a little shopping (they have many more stores with a much larger selection than here in Idaho) and we decided to buy Artene's birthday present while we were down there:

Christmas Eve, we sprinkled reindeer food off Grandma and Grandpa Allen's porch so the reindeer flying Santa's sleigh would be attracted.

Here's the girls all bathed and ready for bed on Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning presents from Grandma and Grandpa Allen (except that big green sign):

The tree and the booty from "Santa":

After church (and before presents), we took some family pictures:

This one cracks me up. Every time I look at Artene's face, I burst out laughing. He's just so funny!

Time for presents! Lili got two pairs of shoes:

Moriah got huge hair bow flowers:

Lili got two sets of the same hair bow flowers (for pig-tails when she wants them):

I got Artene Buckyballs (rare earth magnets):

And one of the books to go with it:

Artene got my a large spiral bound hymnbook (to use while playing the piano--so helpful!) and a TON of sewing supplies:

Lili got a play-dough-palooza kit:

And a HUGE princess playhouse from her aunt and uncle:

Moriah hanging out with her aunt Audrinee'

Love.

Lili convinced just about everyone around that day to climb into her princess playhouse with her:

The gift we made for Artene's mom. A board to hold photos of her grandkids:

Traditional Christmas morning breakfast? Cinnamon rolls! My mother-in-law decided that if we were going to do them, we should do them RIGHT! :D

Lili on the phone with her aunt, thanking her for the playhouse.

Grandma and Moriah hanging out.

Lili getting ready for bed in her new playhouse!

Best Friends From the Beginning!

2011-12-17T19:18:00.003-07:00

Lili's best friend, Quinn, just got himself a baby sister just a couple months after Moriah was born. Her name is Raelynn and she is the cutest thing!

Moriah has a new (or first?) best friend!

Teachin' 'Em Young!

2011-12-17T19:14:00.002-07:00

We're teaching her how to love lounging on the couch all cuddled up in a blanket:

And maybe more importantly, we're teaching her how to love Lord of the Rings! Last night concluded our three day (well, night, really) movie marathon:

Sisterly Love

2011-12-17T19:12:00.004-07:00

(Wow, I just realized Moriah is wearing the same two outfits in all the pictures. How funny!)

Family Update

2011-12-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

So here's a quick update on the happenings around the Allen house.

Artene is still working hard at Melaleuca. He loves working there! He's trying to convince me to be a hot-shot (someone who only works the last few days of the month) so we can have two $80 product checks to spend in the store there, but I just don't have that in me right now. Maybe when Moriah is a little older and life is more stable for her. Artene is constantly getting compliments on the lessons he teaches at church and I'm always hearing through the grapevine how awesome people think he is. I agree with them; he is pretty awesome. He's been shouldering a huge portion of the load when Moriah goes through he colicky phases. He will stay up with her (because honestly, it's entirely too stressful for me) so I can sleep and have enough energy to take care of the kids during the day. I find that pretty heroic, actually. He's so patient and loving and I'm so grateful for that. He's spending his free time researching essential oils (because that's something we're seriously starting to get into) and I think that's what my Christmas present from him might be related to. He's going to be deferring from school this next semester so he can continue working and helping us catch up a little bit (since we just had some unexpected expensive car repairs done among other things like...you know...having a baby).

You've pretty much read what's been going on in my life, so I'll keep it short. School is starting in 3 weeks and I'll be going back full force. I'm super nervous, especially because I actually have an on-campus class this semester, but I think once we get into the swing of things, it will be great. I'm taking some awesome classes: Family Foundations, Family Relations, Parenting, Marriage, and The Developing World. 5 classes totaling 12 credits...yikes! But I'm really excited about these classes, so I think it's going to be a fun semester. My calling in the Relief Society presidency has been great. I'm getting to know the sisters and am really developing a deep love for each of them. It's a feeling that I can't describe in words. It's so much more than just love. I still haven't revised my last assignment for my doula certification (ugh! I'm such a slacker!) but I'm thinking that since I'm in such a good mood today, I might work on that. I've been done for months, now, and it's about freaking time already!

Lili is growing and changing so much. She's turning more and more into a child instead of being a toddler and it's throwing me for a loop! She's soooo talkative (just like I was at that age) and sometimes I just have to grab her shoulders and say, "Lili! Calm down for a minute! I can't understand you." She's just as smart as ever and we're starting to not be able to get things past her anymore. We're resorting to spelling words when we don't want her to know what we're talking about. I remember my parents doing that with us kids growing up and it was so irritating, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do! I mentioned this earlier, but Lili got into the preschool on campus for winter semester!! We applied a little late so I wasn't expecting to hear back, but last week they called and said they had a couple cancellations and that Lili was next on the list. I almost fell off my chair I was so excited! So for three days a week, two hours at a time, she'll be at preschool getting some structured learning and play time, something I'm severely lacking in providing for her. Not only am I excited for her to have that, but I'm excited because that will give me some homework time, sans needy toddlers.

Moriah is growing SO FAST. She's my little chunky monkey! At her 2 month check up, she weighed in at just over 13 pounds. Wow! I know 4 month old babies who weigh that much. She's topping the charts for height and weight, but her head is only average. She's gotten really fun to play with now. I can't believe how much she smiles! With Lili, we had to really work for it when we wanted her to smile, but Moriah is always smiling!! She's currently staring at the Christmas quilt I made awhile ago and smiling at all the colors and patterns. She's learning how to use her voice and when she gets on a roll, she makes the most hilarious noises. Squeals and high-pitched chatter are common for her. It's adorable! She's really a well-mannered baby which is what makes the fussy/colicky times at night so challenging. The colic all but went away until this past Friday and Saturday nights when it came back full force (not for 3 or 4 hours, though. Only about 45 minutes). I was really looking forward to being out of that stage! But then last night (like I mentioned before), she went down so peacefully, you'd never know she was colicky. I hope THAT'S what sticks!

All in all, we're doing really well. Life is hard, but that's just the way it goes. We are blessed to have everything we need and lots of things we don't.

Sleep is for the Weak?

2011-12-12T12:19:00.001-07:00

Well duh! Of course sleep is for the weak. People who aren't weak from exhaustion (aka well rested folks) don't need to sleep. Us weaklings need sleep! So yeah, sleep is for the weak.

My point, friends, is to inform you of my better mood. All those things I ranted about previously still apply, but today I find myself bearing life a little easier. Moriah when down SO peacefully last night. ZERO fussing. ZERO crying. She pretty much just passed out in my arms after nursing. I thought it might be a fluke, so I laid her down (around 11) to see if it would stick or if I would be up for another couple hours with her. She didn't make a peep. And for the next 5 1/2 hours, she was completely silent. When she woke up to eat around 4:30, she went right back down. No fuss, no muss. I went back to bed until 8 which gave me a little more than 8 hours of sleep. VICTORY! I can't remember the last time I got 8 hours of sleep. I've been running on 5, maybe 6 lately and if you add up the lost 2-3 hours of sleep a night, after 3 or 4 nights, I'm out a whole night of sleep! Ack! No bueno.

So anyway, I woke up this morning around 8 (after sending Lili to play when she tried to wake me up at 7) feel rested and ready to conquer the world! So far the beds have been made, the laundry is going (and I'm actually keeping up with putting it all away!), the dishwasher is unloaded and reloaded, the handwash dishes are finished and the girls both had their lunches. Once they go down for their naps, I'll be found cleaning the bathrooms and working on Christmas presents in between timers going off for various baking escapades. YUM!

I've found some great crock-pot freezer recipes (thank you, Pinterest!) to try, so probably right before school starts in January, I'm going to have a food-prep day specifically for preparing meals to freeze and cook in the crock-pot at a later date. I'm pretty excited! I'm trying to plan ahead as much as I can for when school starts (kind of like I did when waiting for Moriah to be born) so I can kick this semester in the rear!

Anyway, my point in all of this randomness is that sleep drastically affects one's mood. Lack of sleep is one of the main triggers for post-partum depression (not just baby blues). The more sleep you get, the more level your hormones and the happier you are. And by you, I mean me. :) Today's a good day, folks!

Family Pictures

2011-12-11T19:14:00.001-07:00

We had our friend shoots some family pictures of us the other day. The kids weren't terribly cooperative, so what you see is the best of what we got. They're still in their raw form without any editing, so take them for what they are!

It's a Ranting Kind of Day

2011-12-09T20:25:00.001-07:00

Ugh. It's been one of those days. I have lots of good news to post about, too, but right now I just feel like ranting. So if you're in a good mood and don't want to spoil it, feel free to skip this post entirely. :)

All day I've been having those, "I'm never having any more kids," kinds of thoughts. Having one baby was fun. Kind of like playing house. People aww'ed at her cuteness and as she's grown, they've been aww'ed at her well-mannered behavior and her incredible intelligence. With one, I had so much time to take care of her and of myself, and to nurture my still newlywed relationship with my husband. Life was good. We had it all. Eventually we started school and that added a level a craziness to our lives that we had to adjust to, but once we did, things were still great.

Adding a second baby to the mix has been a huge dose of reality. I know it's because she's still little tiny, but I don't have time to do everything I want to do. The kids are the first priority and once they're taken care of, I have a choice to make. If I want to take care of myself, then the other things around the house don't get done. If I want to get the house taken care of, I have to let myself go. Rarely RARELY do I get to do both. It's absolutely frustrating to me. I am one who NEEDS a clean house. I grew up with a mom who made sure our home was clean and organized. I never understood the value of that until I grew up and got married, and now it's become something I have to have. Having a cluttered and unclean home is completely stressful for me; just as stressful as a crying baby. But when I don't get to shower and do my hair, I feel like a disgusting bum.

I think I could handle all that better if I felt better about myself at this point. Post baby life is hard. Post baby life with a toddler is even harder. I am the last one to get new clothes, shoes, and whatever else is needed because Artene needs to look nice for work, and the kids are constantly growing and needing new things as well. So right now I'm left wearing two pair of pre-pregnancy jeans (that just barely fit me) and the lounge pants I have (that I'm pretty sure I've had since my freshman year of highschool) are beyond repair. My shirts consist of free t-shirts from various places (Liberty Tax Service after we got our taxes done last year, Dodge Ram from the rodeo this summer, and my campus-approved BYU-I work-out shirts) and a couple maternity shirts that can pass as normal non-pregnant woman clothes. So chances are, you'll find me wearing the same things more than once a week (because I end up having to do laundry so much throughout the week anyway).

Again, I could probably handle that okay, too, if it weren't for the post pregnancy body I'm stuck dealing with. My tummy is flab city. There are new stretch marks, though not as many, to add to the abundance of stretch marks I had previously, and I just feel sooooo unattractive. Unattractive body+unattractive clothes=stressful. I have been dying to workout, but Moriah is so unpredictable with her feeding schedule (sometimes she cluster feeds like crazy at night), and she STILL won't take a bottle, so I'm too scared to leave her for an hour. I know I could do it and Artene could call me home to feed her, but...I just...ugh. It's stressful.

Then there's just the demands of motherhood. I am feeding Moriah on-demand which means I'm literally just waiting around for her to be hungry. Lili needs me to get her breakfast, Moriah needs to eat, Lili needs me to get her dressed, Moriah needs a diaper change, Lili needs to have some structured play-time, Moriah needs to eat again, Lili needs me to help her button her pants after going potty, Lili ran into the wall again and needs comforting, but wait, I can't hug her because I'm nursing. I feel like I'm being pulled in a million different directions and, oh wait, I still have to eat breakfast even though it's already 11 (and I've been up for 4 1/2 hours already) and Artene will be home for lunch any minute! Artene works full time, so not only am I the sole care-taker for the kids, but I run the house and the bills and everything else by myself.

Forget grocery shopping and all the other errands (those generally happen on non-shower days, or when Artene is home on his lunch break so I can sneak away)! Staying at home doing nothing but tending to the kids is absolutely the most exhausting thing I've ever done and I gotta say, I'm liking the prospect of not adding anymore kids to the family! I want my body back. I want to feel sexy again. I want to have time to be me and do things for me. Right now I feel like anything but a beautiful, individual woman. I feel like my life have been overrun with all the things that need to be done and I really really really don't like it. I don't know how on earth I would handle adding another baby to the mix and today I found myself thinking, "I'd be okay with just two kids."

But as soon as I thought that, I thought about how selfish that sounded. I LOVE kids! My girls are so wonderful! I'd always wanted a huge family and I still do, but the sacrifices are so incredible and I find myself thinking, "Do I really want to do this all over again? And again and again and again?" I told Artene not long after Moriah was born that the next time I get pregnant, it better be with twins (or more) so I can have more kids with less pregnancies. I love being pregnant--I'm one of those super lucky ones that never gets sick or has complications--and to be honest, I love giving birth. It's absolutely empowering. I just hate the after birth part. The bleeding, the hormones, the leaking and sore nipples (sorry if that's TMI), the lack of fitting clothes (since maternity clothes are too big and pre-pregnancy clothes are still too small, but you don't want to buy new clothes because your body changes as fast a deflating balloon), and the inability to be intimate with my husband until things have healed down there.

Moriah is 9 weeks old as of yesterday and I'm ready. I'm ready for the crying and fussiness before bed to be over, I'm ready for her to really nail down her sleeping routine (Lili had hers figured out by 6 weeks), and I'm ready to move on. School is starting in a month and I'm freaking out. How am I going to handle two kids on top of 12 credits of classes? Lili got into the preschool on campus for this semester (thank you, God, for that blessing!) so three days a week for two hours she'll be getting the structured learning she needs and I'll be getting some mostly uninterrupted homework time. But still, I don't know how it's going to work. All of my classes are online except one, so on Mondays and Wednesdays I HAVE to shower and do my hair and do my make-up. And crap! Moriah HAS to take a bottle by then and so far, she's not okay with that at ALL.

Okay, I think I've exhausted my rants for today. Sorry to be such a downer! I've just been having all these thoughts for the last 9 weeks and I needed to get them out. All things considered, I'm doing well. I just have days like today where I wish things were different. I'm grateful to have my RS calling because that's something I love and I can be a part of sans children. It keeps me sane.

Finally Figured Out!

2011-11-28T08:53:00.001-07:00

We have finally figured out the colic and I'm happy to report that IT'S GONE! Artene's sister suggested giving Moriah some acidophilus (sp?) to boost her digestive system. We'd tried everything else (seriously...) and thought, "What the heck, we'll give it a try." We took a capsule of the probiotics that I take, opened it up, mixed half the powder with a little water, and gave it to her via syringe. That night the difference was crazy noticeable and in the four days since we started giving it to her, her colic is completely gone. Completely. Last night she didn't fuss or scream AT ALL. Part of it may be due to her age and slow maturation of her digestive system, but I believe the probiotics are what has ultimately sealed the deal. In fact, after she went to bed last night, I googled probiotics for infants and found it to be a treatment for colic, even though when I googled colic treatments, it wasn't among the results (which completely irritates me!). It wasn't until late last night that I found the following article that explains why probiotics curb colic. I'm telling everyone I know about this!

Treating Your Baby's Infant Gas, Colic and Reflux with Probiotics

by A. Lawrence Ph.D.

Anyone who has been put on a course of powerful antibiotics is probably aware of the havoc caused to one’s digestive system as the medication kicks in and does its job. Not only the bacteria causing the infection are targeted for a concentrated attack; other friendly and benign bacteria that are doing such a valuable job throughout the digestive system by helping convert ingested food into nutrients and energy, also come into harm’s way. The result can be extremely unpleasant for the patient – the more powerful the antibiotic the longer and more severe can be its effects on the gastric tract.
Many enlightened physicians have long been aware of this and will often recommend their patients to start taking a readily available probiotic suchlactobaccillus acidophilus, lactobacillus reuteri and bifidobacterium infantis. This helps restore intestinal flora and bring the stomach’s natural balance of bacteria and enzymes back to normal as quickly as possible.

Many leading yogurt makers now advertise the fact that their products contain probiotic additives to help deal with digestive problems. Probiotics are thought to work by encouraging the growth of friendly intestinal flora and are believed to actually promote the development of a healthier immune system. Studies have indicated that long-term consumption of infant formulas supplemented with B. lactis and S. thermophilus reduce the incidence of colic and irritability. Other studies have shown that feeding probiotic organisms to infants or young children can reduce the incidence of infections and decrease the incidence or severity of eczema.

Probiotics versus Colic – the likely favourable outcome

So far there is no commonly accepted explanation for colic. A baby is deemed to be “colicky” if it cries intensely for more than three days a week, for more than three hours, for more than three weeks in a month. Over the years, colic has been considered to be the result of abdominal pain arising from trapped gas in the digestive tract. But now a considerable body of medical opinion questions traditional theory and is looking for answers elsewhere.
There is solid and mounting evidence that the causes of colic are related to gut flora. Multiple studies have shown that colicky babies have different gut flora patterns, which includes a lack of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Some of these studies suggest the administering of a probiotic, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, will improve the condition. Probiotics have been shown to improve other conditions associated with colic, such as lactose intolerance, necrotizing enterocolitis, and gastric inflammation. Additionally, probiotics have been shown to generally improve the health of children who take them. Certainly there has been a movement within the health food industry to emphasise the positive qualities of proprietry products such as yogurts containing additional probiotic cultures.
A baby's first ingestion of friendly digestive bacteria occurs naturally while passing through the birth canal. But there are times when a baby may need assistance in maintaining the levels of these friendly bacteria. It is worth noting, probiotics occur naturally in breastmilk and furthermore a breastfed baby and a formula fed baby have very different gut floras.
Some doctors claim that it is a combination of a baby's sensitive temperament, the environment, and its immature nervous system that may makes a child cry easily and without control. Others believe that the problem originates in the baby's digestive system, specifically because of the buildup of gas which cannot readily be released – the traditional theory. But new studies at the Colic Clinic at Brown University have demonstrated that nearly half of babies with colic have mild gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Some cases may be the result of lactose intolerance or lactose overload (the latter when accompanied by green stools).
Given the links between such factors as prenatal stress, birth trauma, maternal stress and colic itself, it has even been suggested that some forms of colic may actually be beneficial. Excessive crying, it is postulated, facilitates a healthy release of stress and needs to be encouraged rather than suppressed or cured. There can’t be too many sleepless parents happy to support that theory.

Summing up

Although there may be widespread controversy surrounding the actual causes of colic, it is now widely acknowledged that probiotics can have a very beneficial effect on an infant’s evolving digestive system as it gradually learns to cope with new foods. Probiotics certainly seem effective in helping promote the build-up of benevolent gut flora to a level where the right balance is achieved. But it must be stressed that a probiotic needs time to take effect fully in the replenishment of the necessary gut flora – a month or more is now the general consensus. Many pediatricians suggest that during this interim period, a colicky baby can greatly benefit from a regular ingestion of a natural gripe water such as ColicCalm to help sooth the transition to a harmonious digestive process, able to deal with new foods without trouble or colic pains.

Christmas Project

2011-11-26T13:14:00.001-07:00

I found this idea on Pinterest and ran with it. I found LDS file folder games books at Deseret Book for fairly inexpensively, so I snatched up two of them and went to town. I figured this would make a good Christmas present for Lili and would make a good activity for her to do on Sundays.

I got to work copying the games I wanted to include and spent three and a half days coloring them all. I love coloring, so this was a lot of fun for me. After coloring and cutting them out, I glued the large sheets to file folders and laminated them, along with the matching pieces (just from regular printer paper).

I attached each piece with velcro dots. The only thing I have left to do is make a pocket for all the pieces to go into when not in use.

Moriah at 7 Weeks

2011-11-26T13:11:00.001-07:00

I was playing around with the settings on the camera Artene's sister gave us for Christmas last year and here are the results. The flash is SO bright, so a lot of the pictures are washed out, but you get the idea. My little baby is a CHUNKER these days!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T12:38:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pictures of our Thanksgiving fun.

Lili eating lunch before we really got cooking our dinner.

The boys played a little football while things were cooking.

And so did the kids!

The 20 pound turkey!

The boys carving the turkey!

Hollie playing with Moriah and Lili.

And Quinn being shy!

Stake Conference

2011-11-14T06:51:00.001-07:00

Our Stake Conference was this past weekend. Though I spent the last 45 minutes nursing and taking care of Moriah, I enjoyed the talks and especially the musical numbers (it wasn't your average run-of-the-mill choir!). One of the members of the Stake Presidency spoke using a bunch of really helpful analogies (he's a religion professor on campus, so he's good at stuff like that). His talk was centered around one specific analogy where he compared the scriptures to the lanes dividers in a swimming pool. He told us that when he had the lanes in place, he thought he could swim in a straight line without them. When the lanes were gone (during one of his first triathalons), he couldn't swim straight if his life depended on it. The scriptures, he said, are life's lanes. Thought provoking, for sure, but he said something even more provoking that really made me think. He knew a boy who received his mission call and with it, a letter from his mission president. The president invited him to read the Book of Mormon before he reported to the MTC. The boy said, "Oh, I don't need to read it again. I just finished reading it." Our Stake Presidency member said, "That's like going to someone's house for dinner tonight and saying, 'Oh, I don't need to eat. I ate dinner last week.' " Daily feasting upon the words of Christ helps us apply those swimming lanes to our lives. Awesome thoughts? I think so.

Fluke?

2011-11-12T17:46:00.001-07:00

Things have been going great for us the last couple days! I took Moriah to the chiropractor Thursday morning first thing. He talked with me for a little bit and thought that her colic might be allergy related because of her acne, so he didn't think a regular adjustment would do the trick. Turns out he was WRONG! That night, Moriah fussed a little (30-40 minutes) and then went right to sleep. No two and three hour crying sessions. I was so pleased! And last night she didn't fuss either. And she slept SIX hours. Oh man, it was heaven. Well...almost. I woke up extremely full of milk because she was two hours overdue for a feeding! But I didn't mind.

I think because of the chiropractic adjustment and what I talked about in my last post (the hindmilk), we're back on track again. I started letting her drain one side at a time (even if it had to be over multiple feedings) and though it messed up my milk supply a little, it's been working great and things are leveling out again. I am one happy camper! Not only was I stressed because of the crying, but I also was preparing myself for the very real possibility that I would need to formula feed my baby and I didn't know how I would do with that. I'm 100% for breastfeeding (but I realize not everyone can) and I'm actually enjoying it this time around (it definitely wasn't a bonding experience with Lili, even though I was a little sad about weaning her when that time came).

Anyway, that's the update for now!

Solutions

2011-11-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

So here's where we stand. Took Moriah to the chiropractor this morning and there wasn't much that needed to be adjusted, though he did do some work on her. He's leaning toward allergy-related colic as she has some pretty bad baby acne on her face and her chest/abdomen. He said that if she's still colicky tonight after being adjusted then it's probably allergies, not a misalignment, and to bring her back in tomorrow for an allergy treatment. *Sigh* I REALLY hate this.

However, I am running across other alternative reasons. For example, perhaps my milk production is too high:

"Babies of mothers withoversupply frequently have bowel problems because the over production of milkcauses the baby to get more foremilk ( the lower fat first milk) than hindmilk. Hindmilk is the higher fat milk that comes later in the feeding. Becausethe fat in the milk helps to slow digestion, a baby who receives more foremilkthan hind milk may experience very rapid digestion. This would allow some ofthe lactose, a milk sugar, into the bowel undigested. Once in the bowel,lactose creates irritation that often leads to gassiness and explosive,sometimes green bowel movements. Irritation also further inhibits the bowel'sability to manage the lactose, creating a situation that often getsprogressively worse. This bowel irritation sometimes becomes so severe it cancause bloody stools." Source

After reading that, I think it could be a real possibility that that's what's happening to me. But how does one fix an oversupply of milk? I mean, I know my milk supply will level out as her nursing levels out, but...ugh! I need a solution NOW. So we're playing the waiting game. If she gets colicky tonight (pray she doesn't!), then we'll treating her for allergies. If the allergy treatments don't work, then...well...I don't know where we'll go from there. I'll probably call her doctor in tears. It's so hard to see my baby suffer at night and not be able to do anything for her!

Colic

2011-11-10T06:58:00.001-07:00

It's official. My poor baby has colic. This past week she's been getting progressively fussier at night and last night, the screaming intensified and lasted a whopping three hours. Three incredibly long, exhausting hours. It was absolutely the worst experience of my life. Here was my poor, innocent little infant, screaming for who knows what reason, and there was nothing I could do to help. Artene and I took shifts rocking, bouncing, swinging, shhhh-ing (you know, the whole nine yards) and I even tried the occasional feeding. Artene would be in the family room with her and I in our room. When he had her, I was a basketcase. My stress hormones were firing like crazy and I bawled almost the entire time, which only further added to my exhaustion. When we finally got her to sleep around 1 this morning, she slept for almost 5 hours before waking up to eat (which she did so calmly, thank goodness). Only problem? She didn't want to go back to sleep. It's currently 7:10 and she is just now falling back to sleep. It's going to be a long day.

During her marathon screaming fest, I did some reading about colic. I did not like what I found, A lot of people said, "Eh, there's nothing you can do except deal with it. They'll grow out of it eventually, usually by 3 or 4 months, but sometimes it lasts for 12 months." Well gee, that's helpful. Thanks a LOT. I might go insane if I have to deal with this for 2 or 3 more months and you can bet I'll probably be dead if it goes on to 12 months. The more trusted resources claimed that a change in mom's diet and a visit to the chiropractor have been the most helpful in working with colic. So with that in mind, I'm calling my chiropractor as soon as his office opens and I'm getting her in TODAY. I'm going to cut out dairy from my diet (*whimper* *wine* *cry*) and see if that helps. If it's not dairy, then I'm going to start eliminating allergens from my diet (peanuts, citrus...etc) to see if any of those are making it worse. I suggested to Artene perhaps supplementing Moriah's nursing with some formula for colicky babies, but he's not a fan of the idea. He prefers natural supplements. We'll see what happens.

If this really is colic, we've got a long road ahead of us. A long, exhausting road.

Baby Blues

2011-11-09T19:53:00.002-07:00

I didn't want to admit it at first, but I'm definitely feeling the baby blues. By the end of the day, exhaustion sets in and after a long day of being stuck in the house disciplining an increasingly independent three year old, nursing my infant on demand, and somehow managing to feed, dress and take care of the rest of us, I'm beat. I try to get out once in awhile, but with Moriah being so young, I just don't want to. We go to church on Sunday and either to Wal-mart or the grocery store sometime during the week.

I hate that my body likes to have kids right before the cold season because I LOVE walking outside. Taking in the fresh air, getting some exercise, and letting Lili run free is so wonderful, but I can't do that now because it's so freaking cold out! I decided I wanted to wait to get into an exercise routine until my post-partum bleeding stopped (sorry if that's TMI for you) and it pretty well has, so there's no excuse for me not to get up and get moving (which, I know, helps combat the baby blues and post-partum depression).

So today I spent most of the day scouring the internet for things to do during the day to keep us busy and to ward off cabin fever. I wasn't very successful. Things like building a fort sound fun, but the clean-up just doesn't appeal to me too much, especially since my newborn will surely be calling for me soon. I guess I'm just out of creative ideas. Wait...is that possible? Yes, I think it is.

Yesterday I called my mom because...well...sometimes a girl just needs her mommy. Since my mommy lives a 9 hour drive away (on a good day), phone calls and skyping is how we stay connected. She never fails to lift my spirits and our chat last night was exactly what I needed. I wish we lived closer to her.

Artene is gone during the day at work which, though necessary, is still a bummer. I'm a girl who really misses her husband when he's gone, even if it's for something so consistent and necessary as work. (I sometimes get frustrated when he gets home and wants some down time before doing anything else because all I want to do is neglect everything else I should be doing and spend all my time with him.) Lucky for me, he's home in the evenings when Moriah goes through her two hour inconsolable fussy time. We take turns bouncing, rocking, swinging and shhhh-ing her while the other lays down and rests. It can get pretty stressful and I'm sure it would push me over the edge if he wasn't home.

I'm mostly just rambling here while I wait for the granola to finish baking in the oven. My goals to fix this is to start (and keep up) an exercise program, eat better and perhaps start napping occasionally. We shall see.

My Little Copy Cat

2011-11-09T18:16:00.002-07:00

After getting dinner in the oven tonight, I turned around to find Lili sitting on the couch, her jammies unzipped, nursing her baby with my boppy pillow. Copy cat much?

Nursing Cover

2011-11-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had a dinky nursing cover when Lili was a baby. It worked (and still does) but isn't satisfying me anymore. Plus, I wanted to use up my leftover ladybug fabric to make a cute one. I picked up some red rick-rack and boning at the store yesterday and went to town while Moriah was sleeping. Like it? I sure do! I used this tutorial which includes putting a POCKET on the underside for burp rags, breast pads or whatever you might need.

Homemade Moby Wrap

2011-11-09T08:34:00.002-07:00

So I made myself a homemade version of the Moby Wrap. I found a tutorial for it online and was super excited to make it. It doesn't take much effort. In fact, I made it even easier than the tutorial suggested. She has you do all this measuring and nonsense (who really measures their sewing projects?). I just cut my 6 yards of jersey knit fabric in half lengthwise and called it a day. That is, until I decided yesterday to finally add a cotton panel like she suggests. I didn't think it would make a huge difference, but it TOTALLY does. Lots more support for baby, which makes me feel even better when I wear it. See for yourself!

There's all these hippies (I don't use that in a derogatory way AT ALL!) who are part of this "baby wearing" movement who "wear" their babies like an article of clothing every second of every day. I don't know how they do that. It would drive me nuts, and for the record, I'm not one of those people. I just need to be able to carry my baby while she's fussy, but still have hands to do things with, or go grocery shopping without having to leave my baby in her carseat (which she HATES). I went grocery shopping one afternoon with my moby wrap and aside from all the people looking at my strangely (it was really quite amusing), it was a huge success. Instead of being awake and screaming in her carseat, Moriah was totally passed out, nestled up close to me.

Oh, and here's what the original Moby wrap looks like (I chose this picture off their website because I thought it was completely hilarious):

Moriah Smiles!

2011-11-08T19:58:00.001-07:00

Family Update

2011-11-04T07:12:00.001-07:00

Well, you kind of already know what we've been up to the last several days, but here's a quick update anyway. (I started writing this post yesterday, but life just gets crazy with a newborn around, so you didn't get it till today.)

Artene is no longer the acting supervisor at his job anymore. They finally hired another supervisor, so he's back on the phones earning accolade points again (yay!!). He's not coping with the lack of sleep that a newborn brings super well, so he's often seen resting his eyes whenever he can. He's been a great help, though, when I've needed him in the middle of the night. He's still teaching every third Sunday in the Elder's Quorum and loves it. He regularly receives comments about how great his lessons are. He's such an awesome teacher, so I'm not surprised. He's also getting ready to register for classes for the upcoming semester. Last night he said to me, "I don't know what it's going to be like going back to school." After all we've been through this summer/fall, it's going to be a crazy adjustment when we add school into the mix.

I'm hanging in there in my new title as mom-of-two. For the first three weeks, Moriah slept great at night, only waking once or twice to eat. That's since changed and now I'm REALLY feeling the lack of sleep. I ~~fell asleep~~ completely passed out on the couch last night at about 8 or 8:30 by accident. After feeding Moriah, I set her up on my chest to burp her and next thing I know, Artene comes into the room at 9:30 to wake me up and take me to bed. Other than that, though, things are going great. I'm recovering really well and am almost back to my normal self again. The hormones are still changing which is expected, but kind of annoying. I'm pretty sure I'm feeling a teensy bit of the baby blues, but I think I'll be able to skip out on the post partum depression this time *fingers crossed*. Figuring out a routine hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, the whole adding a second kid to my family hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. I'm still in the Relief Society presidency and I'm loving it completely. We have such an awesome group of sisters in the ward and I am humbled to be able to serve them. I'm in charge of the monthly activities we do as a Relief Society and so far we've been having a lot of fun with them. I'll be going back to school (full time...eek!!) in January as well, so my schedule and routine will probably be changing again around then. I don't know how I'm going to manage, but I will! I WILL! I'll be finishing up my associate's degree, so I'll still be taking online classes (which I love).

Lili turned three! Ahh! I have a three year old?! Seriously, the time is flying by and it's speeding up with every passing day. She just had her three year old check-up and I'm not surprised by the results. She's 40 1/2 inches tall which puts her off the charts for her height. They told me she was in the 100th percentile because the "charts" don't go any higher than that. Haha! She's taller than all the kids her age which doesn't surprise me. She's been that way ever since she was born. Weighing in at 34.3 pounds, Lili is in the 85th percentile for weight, which is also not surprising given her height. Tall and skinny, that's how we make 'em! She's growing and changing every single day. The last couple weeks have brought out a new, more grown up side of her that is a little scary to see! She's turning into a little GIRL and leaving all her baby/toddler tendencies behind. Pretend play is her absolute favorite. She nurses her baby doll when I nurse Moriah; She cooks meals in her kitchen, sings happy birthday to her puppets, and puts her stuffed animals in time-out when they're naughty. She's becoming increasingly aware of her appearance and, of course, is asserting her independence more and more.

With Moriah, Lili has been a super big helper. When I nurse, she will get things I need (like a pillow to put under my arm) or will start getting things out for when Moriah needs her diaper changed. She helps me with laundry, cleaning, and even cooking. It's crazy to watch her grow up and become an independent little person!

Moriah is growing like crazy. At her two week appointment, she had gained a whole pound already (which put her at 9 pounds) and at her four week appointment, she had gained another pound and a half. She currently weighs in at 10 pounds, 7 ounces. Her PKU bloodwork was normal, her jaundice (which was as minimal as they come) is gone, and everything else looks great. She's spending more of her time during the day awake which has been fun (though it's harder to get things done when she is...I just want to play with her!) and her eyes are opening wider and wider all the time. She's already following people with her eyes/head when they walk across the room, and she is already turning her head to look at us when we talk to her. Her neck is incredibly strong and stable. From day 1, she was picking her head up off our chests and holding it up for extended periods of time (20 seconds or more!). If we sit her up, we don't have to hold her head/neck because she's strong enough to do it herself, but we do because...well...she's still little.

The first few weeks of her life, she was only waking up 2 times a night to eat, once about 2 or 3 in the morning, and once when I wake up anyway, about 6:30 or 7. Now she's waking up every two hours and it's KILLER! I actually had to give in and make myself take a nap yesterday, the first nap I've taken it at least a couple months! Last night, however, she again only woke up twice, so maybe those 2-3 hour nights were just a fluke? I'm hoping Moriah turns out to be as good a sleeper as Lili was/is.

That about wraps it up for the Allens as of late!

Halloween!

2011-11-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic Halloween weekend! It was pretty low-key since we have a three week old baby, but it was still fun!

We started off the festivities Friday morning. At Artene's job, they put together a huge trick-or-treating thing for the employees and their kids. Since the end of the month is super busy for the employees, a lot of them don't end up getting to take their kids trick-or-treating. Instead, they get to take their kids trick-or-treating through the call center. It was so much fun. Here are a couple pictures:

That night was our ward Halloween party. I didn't take many pictures (actually, I only took this one) because we were so busy having fun. This guy I met back in Missouri when I was in high school. We both ended up out here at BYU-I with our spouses and his wife is now my visiting teacher. Here's a picture of Lili taking a "ride" on his costume at the party:

Saturday was Lili's birthday party. See a couple posts back for those details. Sunday we blessed Moriah (see the last post).

Halloween day we didn't actually go door-to-door trick-or-treating. Mostly because we had Moriah with us and it was a little too cold and windy. Instead, we stopped by a carnival put on by the local Mommy N Me store that was supposed to go till 9 but everyone packed up and left at 6:30 so that was a huge bust. They did have a dinky straw maze still set up, so Lili (and her friend Quinn) went through it a time or two:

They were handing out candy at the Mommy N Me store, too:

Once we decided to leave Mommy N Me, we headed over to our local FatCats place to go trunk or treating. There were a bunch of tables set up inside with businesses handing out candy (and their respective fliers, of course). Here's Lili with FatCat, himself (left) and some other bear.

Once Lili collected her candy, we took some pictures of the rest of us and headed home for the night. Here's Artene's brother, Stefen:

Artene's mom:

Audrinee, Artene's sister:

Lili wanted face paint like Aunt Audry:

Here's me as Cat Woman, minus all the fancy make-up. I just didn't have that in me.

Here's our whole group before we left to go home.

(*As a side note, I made a Moby Wrap yesterday and I'm already in LOVE with it! I'll write more about it later.)

Moriah's Blessing

2011-11-01T11:21:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we blessed Moriah in church. She wore the same blessing dress that Lili wore, complete with the same pearl bracelet she wore. Artene's family was able to spend the weekend with us to be a part of it which was really awesome. We had a few very close friends join in the blessing and also our home teacher (the one who helped Artene give me a blessing while I was in labor). It was sweet. Artene channeled the Spirit with incredible power and I've got to say, Moriah has a lot to live up to. Here's a picture of the bunch, minus our home teacher.

Happy Birthday, Lili!

2011-10-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Allen meets Moriah for the first time!

Uncle Stefen meeting Moriah for the first time!

Though a fair amount of work, this rainbow cake was so much fun!

Uncle Stefen got dot clean-up duty

Lili helped clean up, too!

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy

2011-10-20T08:10:00.002-07:00

My marriage to my husband that will last after "till death do us part." My marriage that will last throughout the eternities:

The eternal family we have so far and hope to continue to add to:

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.

2011-10-20T08:06:00.003-07:00

See Day 13 from this blog challenge. Hooray for duplicate posts.

Day 19 – Something you’re proud of in the past few days

2011-10-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

This picture serves a couple purposes. Firstly, I'm proud of the fact that I had another baby. It was hard work and I wanted to quit, but I did it and feel so accomplished. Second, we've done really good as a family at reading scriptures and praying together every night before bed. It's something we've always wanted to make a habit, and several weeks ago we said, "Enough's enough!" and just started doing it. It's stuck ever since. :)

Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about the opposite/same sex

2011-10-20T07:59:00.002-07:00

I think this is going to be a difficult one to do. I really dislike the whole stereotypical gender labels, but I'll do my best.

Females:

1. I really dislike the superficial nature of girls on the whole. There's always an element of a facade in almost every person I've met (myself included, I think) and it's rare to find someone who is completely real.

2. I don't understand why women settle for things and make excuses about it. The one that really irritates me is the, "I don't have time to get everything done," one. Yes, yes you do. You just have to make sacrifices and budget your time. Most girls don't want to do that, and so they make excuses. I've noticed this especially in the church with things like prayer and scripture study, visiting teaching (that's a big one, unfortunately), and other responsibilities.

3. I don't like their constant need to one-up each other. Women are just as competitive as men, if not more so. I've seen over and over again women discussing crafty things they've made and all of a sudden it turns into a competition about who has more fabric or srapbooking supplies stored in their closets, who has more "connections" to get their supplies, or how long they spend doing these things. It's dumb and just makes girls feel bad about themselves.

Males:

1. It really bugs me when guys write women off as confusing and emotional from the very beginning without even making an effort to get to know each one of us individually. Women think men are just as confusing.

2. It irritates me when non real-life things become priority over real-life things, even if only for a short time. Picture this: husband playing video games, wife needing fairly immediate help with dinner or the kids or whatever. Either he is oblivious entirely, or refuses to pause the game to help when help is needed because, "It's a really intense part of the game," or they're about to "die." Do I care? No. It's a game. Dinner and kids? That's real life. Luckily, Artene isn't like this. Occasionally I'll have to call for him a couple extra times because he's so wrapped up in the game, but he usually always helps when I need him.

3. One of the biggest ones for me is when men trash talk their wives or girlfriends (or girls in general) to other men because they want to "fit in" or blow off steam or whatever. No matter what kind of beef you have with your significant other, you never ever trash talk them to anyone. If the conversation goes beyond non-critical advice, it's gone too far.

Okay, so I could only come up with three for each of the sexes. I think that's a good thing!

Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like

2011-10-20T07:38:00.004-07:00

I have all sorts of hopes and dreams for my future.

Individual:
-I want to finish a four year degree relatively quickly. I really don't care what I get my degree in, really, but I'd like it to be something that I can use in our family dynamic as well.
-I want to refine my sewing/quilting skills. I imagine a room all to myself to line with fabrics, to have a wall to lay out my projects, and to be able to spread out my big projects.
-I see myself really educated as far as the gospel is concerned. I want to know all the scripture stories and I want to be able to apply them to any given situation.
-I want to be the best visiting teacher I can be. I've improved a great deal over the last almost four years, but I've got a ways to go. Sisters really need that in their lives and I don't want to let them down. Or the Lord.

Married:
-I want to go on a mission with Artene once our kids are grown up. I always wanted to serve on my own, but got married before I had the chance. What better way to do it than with your eternal companion?
-I envision us living debt-free (with the exception of a mortgage), and living very self-sufficiently. I'd like to have a few chickens for eggs, maybe a goat or two for milk, and a relatively nice-sized garden we can eat (and can!) from.
-I see Artene working a great job, coming home for lunches, and sometimes even working from home. All while I stay home and raise our brood of children. When he gets home, he'll play with the kids, help me around the house, and life will be grand.

Family:
-I want a truck-load of children. Having just added another member to our family, I am in love all over again and I can't wait to add more. I want to have a large family for sure. When my body is no longer able to have children, I'd like to continue adding to our family by adoption. There are so many children out there who need loving and caring parents, and more continue to be born every day.
-I imagine our future family praying and reading scriptures together, attending church functions and activities together, and growing closer to God as a family unit.
-If we do ever have sons (I'm still hopeful!), I envision them all as missionaries for our church and maybe even our daughters as well.
-I hope for a cohesive family unit that loves and supports each other. With the degradation of the family rapidly increasing anymore, it's something I think about a lot and really strive for.
-I want to homeschool our children, and I see a whole room dedicated to schooling with maps lining the walls, desks throughout the room, and our kids busy with their imaginations.

I have lots of other goals and visions for our future and I could spend hours writing them down, but these ones are the main ones, I think. It's so hard to put into words this picture I have in my head of how I see our life down the road.

Back to the Challenge! Day 16 – Something you crave for a lot

2011-10-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

So since I had a baby and all, I kinda gave up the whole 30 day blog challenge. I don't even know what day I'm supposed to be on, but I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be close to finishing up, so I'm going to do a few posts every day until I'm finished. Sound good?

Something I crave for a lot? Hmmm well honestly since I've given birth, I've lost almost all my cravings. Lately I've been craving salty things, so I've indulged a little with some chips and such, but they're almost gone and I'm too nervous to take both girls grocery shopping by myself yet. So...this is kind of a boring post!

It's a Ranting Kind of Day

2011-10-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, Monday! Moriah was a little hard to get to sleep last night and as such, I didn't get to sleep as much either, so...momma's a leeeetle bit cranky this morning (but really, just a little bit). Anyway, I'm in a bit of a ranting mood and I need to sit down and write it out so I can feel better. Feel free to just ignore this post completely since it doesn't really deal with any of you.

So...I had a baby. Yay! Happy day, right? Right?! Wrong. So remember when my water broke at 2 in the morning and I got online to 1-get ahold of my mother-in-law (because I know she stays up that late and plays around on facebook) so she could pack up and drive to Rexburg ASAP and 2-tell everyone that baby was on her way? Well, I sent an e-mail to my family (because none of them are really on facebook or read my blog and it was obviously too late to call anyone) letting them know that my water had broken and that they were about to have a brand new niece/granddaughter that day.

Okay, so let's take a time-out and assess the situation at this point in the story. If you were me and you had done the same thing (i.e. tell everyone the good news), what would you expect to happen? You would probably expect a plethora of e-mails back saying something along the lines of, "Hey, congratulations! Can't wait to see pictures!" or "Good luck, we know you can do it!" or "Woohoo, that's awesome! We love you!" You probably wouldn't expect an empty inbox.

Essentially, that's what I got. Only one person e-mailed me back with words of love and encouragement, my eldest brother. The rest? Nothing. In fact, I got badmouthed (behind my back, to all the other members of my family) by another brother about my online social life. Are you kidding me?! This is the second time said brother has trashed me behind my back to the rest of my family members (that I'm aware of), and if it weren't for my loving and supportive eldest brother, I wouldn't have known at all. This happy time in my life, adding another one of God's precious spirit children to my family, was tainted by my horribly self-centered and insecure brother. I honestly could not believe it. So now I'm left wondering about where I stand with my family. I called my dad very soon after Moriah was born to tell him the news and he seemed genuinely happy for me/us. My eldest brother actually called me to wish me congratulations, but again, silence from the rest.

I knew our family dynamic would change when my parents divorced. I knew holidays would be more difficult logistically. I knew people would keep to themselves more. Then when my parents each remarried, the dynamic changed even more. We were divided. Big time. Now I feel completely cut off. The only people I really keep in touch with and who have expressed any kind of love and concern for me are my mom, oldest brother, and occasionally my dad. If I do ever talk to any of the rest of them, it feels forced and completely fake. If I've done something to offend, I'd like to know so that I can rectify it.

At this point, all I can do is focus on my own growing family. The last several weeks have been absolutely wonderful for our family in so many ways. Preparing for Moriah to join our family has brought us incredibly close together and has helped jump-start habits we've always wanted/tried to implement. We've finally gotten into the habit of reading scriptures and praying together as a family every night. Though Artene and I haven't mastered personal scripture study yet, we've made a habit to pray together every night before bed and I can already tell a difference in our own family dynamic as we've focused on these things.

Anyway, I guess my point in all this is to have a minor pity party for myself and then move on. I feel hurt, I feel angry, I feel sad, I feel forgotten. But I know that if I focus on my own family and focus on the Lord, those feelings, though they won't go away entirely, will not bring me down.

Moriah's Birth Day Pictures

2011-10-13T14:05:00.003-07:00

This was about 10AM--8 hours after my water broke--while I was laboring at home.

This is when we first arrived at the hospital and they had to monitor me for 20 minutes (ugh!).

As soon as the monitoring was done, I jumped out of that bed and we got to walking the halls.

That progressed my labor and soon all I wanted to do was sit and relax so I could really focus.

Artene's mom was a huge help in getting me to relax, especially with her essential oils. Artene was the emotional support I needed.

This was moments before I began pushing. Sitting there I started feeling the urge to push, so I quickly flipped on my hands and knees after the bed was raised.

By the time I flipped over, she was pretty much crowning, so the nurses were scrambling to get ready since my doctor hadn't quite arrived yet.

My doctor walked in just as she was born.

There's my girl! She looks JUST like Lili!

They laid me down immediately because I was bleeding a LOT and it made them nervous.

First picture together!

I was calling, texting, and facebooking everyone to let them know she had arrived!

Daddy's little girl!

Lili arrived an hourish later. Here's the first time she saw her sister!

Mom and baby after we both were cleaned up.

Filling out birth certificate paperwork.

Dad changing the first diaper.

First family photo!

More Moriah

2011-10-13T08:22:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry again, but this post won't include pictures either. Lili's watching a movie on the computer that has the pictures, and I'm on my laptop. I'll try to get those up this afternoon while the girls (!!) are sleeping. I wanted to talk more about my labor and delivery and about the transition (so far) from one to two kids.

I'm going to be honest with you, I was a little nervous about this labor and delivery. Well, more than a little. With Lili, nothing was really in my control. The doctors and nurses pretty much made all the decisions for me and I just went along with it. Since then, I've educated myself. Education, I've learned, is empowering. I was determined to be in control of this labor and delivery, but I knew that that came with much responsibility and that was making me nervous. What if I didn't have the clarity of mind to make good decisions for myself and for Moriah? What if something went wrong and all my plans to have a better birth than before were thrown out the window? I knew I had a top-notch labor support team, but I was still nervous.

I didn't know what it would feel like to start having contractions on my own. With Lili, I was on Pitocin and as soon as they start you on it, the contractions go from barely there to, "OHMYGOSHI'MGOINGTODIE!" in a matter of minutes. I didn't know how my body would labor on it's own, and that made me a little nervous, too.

When we arrived at the hospital, I told the nurses flat out to leave me alone. I didn't want to see them at all and except for occasionally monitoring, I didn't. While I was in the tub, my doula asked the nurse if she could monitor the baby's heartbeat using the doppler instead of having my lie down in bed (which is absolutely counterproductive to labor and way more pain than it's worth!). I'd forgotten that little detail and was incredibly grateful that she remembered. I was free to be in any position I wanted and the nurse could monitor baby's heartbeat just fine.

I didn't have an IV. Not even a heparin lock "just in case." I kept myself hydrated by drinking lots of water. I don't have a whole lot against IVs except that you are very restricted in your movements and that it's so much more tempting to take pain meds because you're already set up to receive them. Instead, I was able to sit, stand, move, turn, walk...etc...all throughout my labor as my body needed without having to be distracted by stupid IV lines. Towards the end of my labor (in transition), this was especially helpful. I know that if I had had an IV and was made to lay in bed to be monitored, my labor would have taken twice as long and would, without a doubt, have resulted in some unnecessary medical intervention.

Before I went to the hospital, I ate. I made sure to. Laboring and giving birth on an empty stomach is like asking someone to run a marathon without eating or drinking anything. It's stupid, and causes more complications than anything else. So I ate. Not much, but enough to keep something on my stomach. Of course, I threw it up during transition and that was an awful experience, but it definitely beats being absolutely starving for 12 hours. Given the choice again, I'd still choose to eat hands down.

My labor team was awesome. I mean...really awesome. Artene, of course, just knows how to dial into me. His touch is so calming, and he always has the right words for any given situation. He was a great source of comfort. Artene's mom has many many gifts. She is incredibly educated and has an exceptional gift for healing. Armed with her knowledge and some essential oils, she was able to help keep me relaxed and calm enough to allow my body to labor. My doula (and really great friend) knew exactly how I wanted my labor and delivery to go and was able to make sure that everything went that way (talking to the nurses for me...etc). She also took incredible pictures for me! During transition, I was struggling to keep it together. Contractions were fast and strong and I was nauseous throughout most of it. While sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, I had Artene in front of me (on the birth ball, actually!), his mom behind me, and my doula to my side. All three of them were rubbing me, supporting me, loving me, and though I was dealing with the most intense part of labor, I felt so encouraged. Definitely a change from my labor with Lili.

I am so pleased with how things turned out. It was hard. Oh was it ever hard. I kept saying over and over "I'm too tired. I don't want to do this anymore," but with the help of my supporters, I did it. Again. I couldn't believe it.

Coming home was just as nerve wracking. I felt like a first-time parent all over again. Luckily Artene's mom was here for about a week to help out and boy was that ever wonderful. She was able to give Lili the attention she needed while I tried to remember how to be a mom of a newborn again. It all comes back to you, but it takes some time, especially with nursing.

Most people think babies come out of the womb knowing how to nurse. Though they know how to suck in general, they have to learn how to nurse just like mom has to learn. This last week has reminded me why I wanted to give up nursing after the first week or two with Lili. OUCH! She doesn't always latch properly and she doesn't always stay latched (plus, I just haven't toughened up yet), but she's catching on quickly. Unfortunately, though, these things cause me great ~~pain~~ ~~discomfort~~ pain. By the end of the day, I'm rubbed raw and just want to cry. We're taking it all in stride, though.

Lili has been a great helper. The first few days, though, she decided to really test her boundaries again. Since life was changing with a new baby, the rules must have changed too, right? Not! It took two or three days to get her back on track, but she's rocking it now. She's become my super duper helper. During diaper changes, she gets the diapers and wipes out for me, hands me the wipes, hands me the diapers and throws away the dirty ones. When I nurse, she gets the burp rag for me, gets breast pads for me if I need them, and helps me burp the baby when it's time. She loves being involved and that was my main concern: how do I spend the time taking care of the baby I need to without neglecting Lili? We've been really mindful of how we divide our attention and so far, so good. Of course, it's only been a week, so we'll see what happens when the novelty of a new baby wears off.

Yesterday morning Artene's mom left, so I had to start roughing it on my own. Surprisingly I did pretty well. Lili helped me do laundry, and though the meals were less than ideal (cold cereal, sandwiches, and frozen chicken wings), I was up and about, getting things done. My recovery has been going well. I'm still a teensy bit sore, but not nearly like I was with Lili. I have been pretty active ever since the baby was born, but with Lili, I was really recovering for probably two weeks.

Poor Artene has been hit hard with some sickness. He was over what he had right before Moriah was born, but a couple days after she was born, he came down with something brutal and has been really miserable ever since. It's been a little hard because he really needs his sleep to recover, so I don't have his help when I get up to nurse the baby, and when he comes home from work, he's just beat. I had our home teacher come help give him a blessing yesterday, so between that and all the supplements he's taking, I'm hoping things settle down soon.

I think that about covers things for now. I promise I'll try to get pictures up this afternoon!

The Birth Story!

2011-10-07T10:49:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately this post won't include pictures as I am still at the hospital and all the good pictures are on our friend's camera (and we don't have the cord for it right now).

Wednesday night I had a wonderful opportunity to relax. Artene made and cleaned up dinner, got Lili bathed and put down, and then drew me a warm bath, complete with candles and soft music. I had been really starting to stress out lately about everything, being sick, being so hugefatpregnant, and a little about the labor/delivery and it was taking a toll on my emotions. Artene took his cue and really helped me relax. He gave me a massage and was just really emotionally supportive. I knew that if I could just relax, labor would happen on it's own. I'd been feeling for a week or so that labor was just right there, but that I just needed to relax.

Well, that did the trick because Thursday morning my water broke a few minutes after 2. I remember waking up feeling like I had just peed myself a little, so I jumped out of bed, rushed to the bathroom and barely made it in time for the gush of fluid that came next. With Lili, my water never gushed, just trickled all day long. This was so much different! "WOAH!" was all that came out of my mouth. Artene jumped up to find out what had happened, helped me clean up, and then I sent him back to bed so he could rest.

For some dumb reason, I didn't have my mother-in-law's phone number in my phone, so I jumped on facebook hoping she'd pulled one of her late-night facebook sessions and was still online. I had just missed her by 15 minutes! Luckily, Artene's brother was online and called her for me to tell her the news. He gave me her number and after texting back and forth a little while, she got in her car and made the trip up from Utah. She arrived about 10ish that morning, having only stopped for a brief catnap and not actually having gone to bed.

I was surprised how quickly contractions started up after my water broke. With Lili my water broke, but I didn't start contracting immediately. Instead, they made me go to the hospital and get hooked up on Pitocin, which I refused to let happen to me again this time. I sent Artene off to work for a few hours (since my contractions were barely there) and then I called my doctor about 7:00 and let him know that my water had broken. He wanted me to head up to the hospital right then, but I said no way! Firstly, I was waiting for my mother-in-law to get there and secondly, I had to run a couple errands. I asked if I could wait a few hours and he said that was fine as long as we didn't wait too long. (Hospitals have this ridiculous rule that they want the baby born in the next 24 hours after your water has broken to reduce risk of infection and what not. As long as you're not shoving things up in your private parts--like a doctor's hands!!--your risk of infection is virtually nothing.) So I got off the phone with my doctor, not intending to run up to the hospital in a couple hours, but to stay home and labor for awhile.

My doula and great friend showed up about 7:30 (?) and after having some breakfast, we took off to Wal-mart and K-mart. The walking sure got my contractions going, but they were still very bearable, so we kept trucking along. Unfortunately, God decided to have a sense of humor that day because he made it start snowing around then, and it didn't stop ALL DAY LONG. Cars were white with accumulated snow, and it got COLD outside. Funny. Reallllll funny. The first snow of the season last year was October 26th. Why couldn't it have waited again this year?! We got home just after 9:00 and I got bouncing on my yoga ball.

Artene got home around around 9:30 and at 11ish the hospital called ME! I was a little stunned actually. They said that my doctor had called up to let them know I was coming, but since I hadn't shown up, they wanted to know what was going on. Apparently things were starting to get busy and they wanted to figure out staffing arrangements. I told them it would at least be after lunch before I made it up. They weren't happy with that answer, but what were they going to do, come to my house and wheel me to the hospital? Hah, yeah right.

I was feeling hungry, but I didn't want to eat anything too heavy, so I cut up a small apple and dipped it in peanut butter to calm my appetite a little. All this time I was loading up on water because I was planning to refuse the IV at the hospital and I didn't want to give them any excuse to try and force me to have one. So after eating, I decided we should head up to the hospital. My main reason for that was that I wanted to go out walking, but due to God's funny sense of humor, it was too cold to go outside and the hospital provided a nice layout for walking, including stairs. We (Artene, his mom, and my doula) got packed up, dropped Lili off with a friend, and arrived close to 1:30, almost 12 hours after my water had initially broken.

They checked me when I got there and I had dilated to a 4. Not bad! I was a little disappointed that it wasn't more, but I took what I had, and once we got settled, we went walking around the hospital to get things moving and then I sat in the Jacuzzi tub for a little while to try and relax. I'm not sure how long we walked, but they checked me again a couple hours later and I'd progressed to a 6. I was ticked it wasn't more because the contractions were getting pretty intense and were very close together (I wasn't keeping track, so I might have to ask my labor supporters who could tell you better), but what could I do?

It was about this point where I was saying, "I don't want to do this anymore." The contractions weren't killing me, but I was getting tired. My sleep had been interrupted when my water broke, and I didn't get back to bed for two more hours, and even then, I still got up at 6:00. Through the help of Artene's mom, my doula, and my husband, I had so much support at this increasingly vulnerable time. It was about this time as well that the intensity of the contractions increased greatly, causing me to get nauseated and throw up a little. That was not an experience I'd want to relive, but I would take it over being starved in labor any day! Artene's mom busted out her essential oils to help calm me--including my stomach--and boy was I ever grateful. She has the magic touch!

I think it was about an hour(ish) later, at 4:45, they checked me again. I had only progressed to a 7. This did not make me happy, but I knew that once I'd gotten to this point, it would happen fast, so my spirits were relatively high. By this time, though, I was done. It hurt and I was tired and I just wanted to be done! I sat on the edge of the bed, straddling the corner, taking turns weeping and moaning through the intense transition contractions. For me, the moaning REALLY helped take the edge off the pain. I'm not sure how it works, exactly, but I couldn't believe that it did. So as I'm sitting there, the next few contractions brought a small urge to push. I was breathing and moaning through these contractions, so all the pushing that was happening was coming directly from my body's own work, not from me. I was a little surprised.

After two or three contractions like this, I could feel her head getting ready to pop out! I flipped as quickly as I could onto my hands an knees, resting on the propped up bed, and that's when gravity kicked into gear and she started coming! The nurses were freaking out because 15 minutes prior, I was only at a 7 and wasn't feeling the urge to push. My doctor was on his way, but hadn't arrived yet, so the nurses kept telling me not to push. I just screamed. Screamed at them, screamed in pain, screamed with all the intense emotions I had. I hate when they tell you not to push. Do they really think you can control it like that? Because you can't. So I'm screaming at them, and her head is coming. For one split second I really believed I couldn't do it anymore, but as long as it took me to think that, her head popped right out. I was so focused on coping with the pain that my body did all the pushing for me. One more push later (after a mere 5 minutes of total pushing), little Moriah Siroun Allen was born right as my doctor walked into the delivery room.

All I could do was cry. I couldn't even turn to look at her because I was literally weeping with my whole body. Weeping that I'd just done it again, had another baby. Weeping with pain, weeping with intense emotions, weeping with incredible gratitude for my support system, and weeping to God for a smooth labor and delivery. Her cord was loosely wrapped around her neck once, but because of how quickly she came out, her entire head was bruised blue. She started crying almost immediately, but it was short-lived as they took her to the warming table to make sure she was alright, which she was. 8 pounds even, 19 1/2 inches long, and a mini-me to her big sister. Meanwhile, my doctor was checking me out to make sure I was okay. I tore very superficially, so he placed a couple stitches and that was it! They brought her to me, laid her on my chest, and I was smitten.

She immediately was smacking her lips, looking to nurse, so we tried it and she latched on perfectly! I couldn't believe 1-how quickly she latched 2-how well she latched and 3-how hard she was sucking! She is an intense feeder, but gets bored really quickly, so I have to poke at her sometimes to get her attention back. It's really adorable. I kept saying all throughout my labor that a juicy cheeseburger and curly fries sounded so good (that is, until I threw up), so not long after delivery, my nurse had already gone and gotten them for me and let me tell you, they were SO delicious! I downed them quickly, got showered and cleaned up, and we headed over to the mother/baby unit to get settled for the night.

I was bleeding a lot, though, and they couldn't get it to stop. After a shot of pitocin in my bum and some seriously painful uterus palpitations, the bleeding finally got under control and they stopped coming in to bother me about it. Moriah spoiled us last night by sleeping more than 6 hours without waking up. It threw me for a loop and I was up every couple hours to make sure she was alright, which she was. She's a mellow baby, but really likes to be held close, so she's not always a fan of the hospital bassinet.

I can't believe it's real. I can't believe it's finally happened and it's finally over! She's here and now my family has gone from a size 3 to a size 4. I don't know how our lives are going to change, but I'm looking forward to it! I can't write any more right now as they're about to bring my super special steak dinner (lunch) complete with sparkling cider and some visitors are on their way. I'll post more soon, I promise!

Day 15 – Something you don't leave the house without

2011-10-06T02:02:00.002-07:00

Since I'm currently in labor, I was going to make a joke about how I never leave the house without our baby (ha ha ha), but I couldn't figure out how to say it in a funny enough way...so...that's all you get.

This is my phone (well, not my phone, but one exactly like it), the Motorola Defy:

I never leave the house without it. Ever. For a lot reasons, really. First, it's a safety thing. If I get a flat tire on the freeway, I can call for help. If I'm in a store that's getting robbed, I could potentially have a way to get help. If I need to get in touch with my husband while he's at work to tell him I'm in labor (hah!), I can do that. Second, I'm a social butterfly and love to be in touch with people. We recently made the switch to data plans and now the world is at my fingertips and with me wherever I go. I can browse pictures, read blog posts and facebook people all while I'm waiting at the doctor's office or in line at the grocery check-out. One of my favorite things has been the ability to post pictures of Lili's ailments (or just post questions I have) and get feedback from other moms (or other educated people) about what it could be. I can't tell you how helpful that's been! It's been an adjustment, but it's allowed me to be even quicker with my time online so I can live life for real instead of just living life online. Make sense? It does to me.

Well, I'm going to try and rest up so I can have a baby later. Sound good?

It's Starting!

2011-10-06T01:41:00.002-07:00

It's 2:31 in the morning and I can't sleep. But for good reason, of course. My water just broke!! Hahaha! Yesterday I went to the doctor and was feeling a little down and out (being sick and having still not progressed any) and I knew I just needed to come home and relax. So I did. I spent all day resting and doing minimal house-duties. Artene made and cleaned up dinner, got Lili showered and in bed, and proceeded to draw me a nice warm bath. I soaked for a good half hour and when I was done, there were candles lit about our bedroom and soft music playing. We just laid in bed, relaxing to the music and let me tell you, it sooooo helped. I was able to de-stress and relax from all the overwhelming thoughts and feelings I was having.

And then my water broke at 2:00 this morning! I knew that if I could just relax, I would go into labor. I knew it. And it happened. So stay tuned for more updates! (Mom, you can call me when you read this, or maybe I'll get to you first!)

39 Weeks and Counting

2011-10-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I hit 39 weeks, but unfortunately, I got hit back by a fierce, mean monster. My glands started swelling, my throat started hurting, there was mucus and congestion, and the whole back of my mouth/throat turned white. Not a good thing at all, and not good timing either. I spent most of last night attempting to sleep upright in our recliner so I could breathe. Lucky for me, I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 9AM this morning, so I had him check that out in addition to my normal pregnancy check-up. I told him I needed something to get rid of this and FAST because I wasn't about to give birth being miserably sick. Giving birth is hard enough. Doing it while being sick? Not an option for me. He wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and I felt much better. I don't particularly like antibiotics because generally, they do more harm than good, but I need them badly! I'll just load up on probiotics to make up the difference. Ugh. Today's agenda includes drugs, water, lots and lots of rest.

Oh a semi-brighter note, I've only effaced to about 50% and I've only dilated to a 1, though apparently I have a "soft and ripe" cervix that is in perfect shape for labor. Heh. Of course that doesn't mean anything. I could go at any time. I'm hoping for sooner rather than later because honestly, I'm totally miserable now. :( Not so much the being pregnant part, but the combination of being pregnant, being sick, being overwhelmed and emotional...you know...the usual. All I want to do is finish growing/having my baby, but I've got all these other responsibilities like...you know...an almost three year old. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad for those other responsibilities because they keep me busy and keep me thinking less about having a baby. But I'm tired. All the time. No matter how much I sleep, no matter how many naps I take, I'm literally exhausted all. the. time.

No contractions, no braxton hicks, no nothing. So here's to hoping for broken water soon!

Day 14 – A TV show you're currently addicted to

2011-10-05T06:36:00.001-07:00

First of all, I wouldn't say I'm addicted to any TV shows. It's been over two years since we've had a TV in our home and it's been one of the best decisions we've ever made. That being said, I still miss some of the TV shows I used to watch. When I'm sick, I just want to sit down and veg in front of the TV (which is hard to do when you don't have one), so now I just watch movies. Annnyway. The two shows I've been able to keep up on since leaving our TV in Missouri are Grey's Anatomy and NCIS. They both air their episodes online the day after they're aired on screen, so I can actually watch them whenever it's convenient for me. So there you go.

Day 13 – The meaning behind your Blog name

2011-10-04T06:12:00.002-07:00

Honestly, I don't remember how I came up with "Allens Gone Wild," but said blog name and meaning has evolved over the years (three years, to be exact).

I think right now it mostly refers to my habit of candidly discussing things of a personal or taboo nature. Like last week when I posted about the intense vaginal pain I was having that pretty much made me unable to walk. *Shrugs* I'm not afraid to write about that stuff 1-because it's my blog and if you don't like it, you don't have to read it 2-because I don't think body parts and processes should be considered taboo (obviously one must use discretion, but you get my drift). That particular blog entry brought lots of comments from my readers, many of which were VERY helpful in ruling out certain possibilities or pointing me towards other possibilities. So thank you for that!

Anyway, back on track. I don't think people should stop discussing things because they're uncomfortable or awkward to talk about. In fact, I think those things deserved to be discussed more. So some people may color me a little "wild" and that's fine. I like it. :)

Day 12 – Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play

2011-10-03T06:26:00.001-07:00

Well it's a little presumptuous to assume that everyone has an iPod, because I sure don't. However, I have the new Music Beta by Google that has allowed me to upload all the music from my computer(s) onto the Google server and have access to it from any computer (or smart phone) in the world without having to lug around a storage device to carry it all. Pretty great, right? Okay, so here's my shuffle list:

"Up a Tree/The Fall/Timothy's Theory" by Frank Churchill
"Cello Concerto in B Minor Op. 104, II. Adagio ma non troppo" by Antonin Dvorak
"Cablnessence" by The Beach Boys
"February Song" by Josh Groban
"Good Time" by The Beach Boys
"The Man From Snowy River" by Bruce Rowland
"Heaven" by DJ Sammy & Yanou/Do
"Orange Crate Art" by Brian Wilson
"Rock You Baby" by Toby Keith
"Fool to Think" by Dave Matthews Band
"Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra
"My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion

(I just reread the directions that told me to post my first ten songs. I did twelve. Whatever.)

It's quite the variety, that's for sure, and actually, the variety of my music extends to even greater lengths than what you see here. I love music and always have. I appreciate most all different types of music for one reason or another and rarely do I judge said music based on genre alone. My distaste for certain songs (not genres, but songs) usually comes from a horrible musical composition or simply a lack of musicality on the musician/singer's part. There are rap songs I enjoy just as much as some classical music pieces. Frank Sinatra makes me tap my toes just as much as The Beach Boys.

I love music so much that I've created two playlists of songs to listen to while I'm in labor (come one, you didn't think I was going to let one single post slip by where I didn't mention birth or babies or pregnancy, did you?). The first is an upbeat mix to keep me up and moving while in the early stages of labor. It's got everything from the Bee Gees to Josh Groban to Journey to Bobby McFerrin. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be long enough, which is why I plan to use my highly refined "every-day" mix on Pandora which has turned into a rock solid awesome collection of songs. The second playlist I've made up is my calming mix to help me breathe and focus. It's got a lot of Jon Schmidt, Enya, and some Kirkmount. None of the songs on this playlist have words so as not to distract me from the task at hand (you know, giving birth).

So there you have it!

October Already?!

2011-10-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I can NOT believe it's October already!! Where has the year gone? This month brings some special things for our family.

First, a new baby. I thought yesterday that things might be starting to move in that direction, but after some rest and extra hydration, things settled back down. Speaking of things being down, Moriah is SO LOW right now, I feel like she's going to literally fall out every time I stand up. I'm due in a week and two days and I feel like any second things are going to just kick into gear. I go to bed every day hoping my water will break in the middle of the night and a part of me is disappointed when I wake up in the morning and nothing has happened. I know I still have a week left so I shouldn't be so impatient, but really, can you blame me?!

Second, my first ~~baby~~ child is going to be turning three. THREE! I can't hardly believe it. I don't feel old enough to have a three year old! I don't feel old enough to be having a second child already! Artene gets paid this week and, if I haven't gone into labor yet, I'll be doing what I can to prepare for her birthday party. It won't be anything super huge, mostly just family, friends, and the few kids in her nursery here at our apartment, but I want it to be special for her since Moriah will have just joined the family and a lot of attention will have shifted from Lili to her. Plus, I have no idea what to get her and I need some time to figure it out.

Thirdly, we will be blessing our second born child in church. Nothing much to expound upon here, but priesthood ordinances such as these are always special.

Fourth, though a direct result of things one through three, we'll be getting LOTS of familial visitors! Artene's mom will be here for the birth of the baby and for some time following, and as soon as she goes, my mom will come up for the last half of the month to help out and to be here for Lili's birthday and Moriah's blessing. I'm pretty sure my in-laws are all planning to come back up to visit the weekend Moriah is to be blessed, so it will be a whirl-wind of fun. We're just waiting, now, for things to happen! I'm trying to convince my dad to come visit as well, but I don't know if he will. Throughout all the years, throughout all the internal struggles I've dealt with concerning my relationship with him, he's still my dad and it's nice to include him in the special events of our growing family's lives, regardless of anything else.

That about sums things up for now. My 39 (!!!!) week appointment is on Wednesday, so if I haven't gone into labor by then, you'll be getting yet another update. I'll see the chiropractor on Tuesday (I am fully convinced that chiropractors are angels sent from God in disguise!), so hopefully that alignment will help move things along. I'm so incredibly tempted to ask my doctor if he'll strip my membranes on Wednesday while I'm in the office. I haven't mentioned this to Artene because I'm pretty sure he'll tell me I shouldn't do it before I can even finish getting the words out of my mouth. I know I shouldn't. I should just let things happen when they're supposed to. But like I said, I'm sooooo impatient!

Okay, I'll stop rambling for now. Until tomorrow!

Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?

2011-10-02T19:18:00.001-07:00

My make-up "bag" is pretty simple. I'm a no muss, no fuss kind of girl when it comes to my make-up. I do it the same every ~~day~~ time I put it on (who am I kidding, I don't wear make-up every day!), unless it's a super special occasion, and even then I don't spice it up too much more. Why mess with what looks good, right?

My make-up consists of:

Concealer (for those pesky blemishes!)
Mineral foundation powder*
Blush*
Eye shadow
Mascara
Finishing powder (which I almost never use)

(*From Melaleuca's Sei Bella line. Once I run out of my other stuff, I'm switching to pure Sei Bella. The stuff is magical.)

If I'm going out and I don't want to look like a complete dud, I'll do a once over with my foundation and blush and be on my way. For anything more than that, I'll do the whole she-bang (which only takes me like...5 minutes more?). But honestly, most days I go without. If I go anywhere, it's just to the grocery store or other errands; otherwise I'm just at home. Why waste a perfectly good make-up day on just being at home? Haha! So there you have it, my make-up secrets.

Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat

2011-09-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

(So I realize I'm supposed to post this tomorrow, but tomorrow is going to be a busy day filled with a HUGE grocery shopping trip to stock us up for the entire month of October, and watching general conference, so you get two posts today. And none tomorrow. Life's just unfair that way.)

My favorite place to eat is Applebee's. It always has been. It just so happens that Applebee's is the only really "nice" sit-down place here in Rexburg. PLUS...this super awesome guy we know is one of the managers there, so it's cool to see him when we go (we used to live in the same complex as them, but we moved and now we don't hardly see them anymore :( ). This picture is a picture of the Applebee's here in Rexburg (I can't believe I found one online). Of course there's snow on the ground, too.

I love the variety. I can get burgers, I can get ribs (which just so happen to by my favorite), I can get sandwiches, salads, orange chicken and a whole host of other things and you know what? Everything is really good there. I've never had a dish I didn't like or wouldn't order again. When I become a millionaire, I'm going to have an Applebee's attached to my house with my own personal staff and everything. How's about that?!

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased

2011-09-30T06:00:00.003-07:00

I can't remember the last thing that was bought on my last shopping trip (and I'm sitting in bed, so I'm not about to go get my receipt), so I just picked something I know was on said receipt. Our car seat should arrive any day now (I'm actually really ticked it's not here yet. It's been like...two weeks already!), but it wasn't until the other day when I was at the store that I realized I needed to get a cushion for my little tiny baby to sit in, so I picked up this beauty. It's machine washable (the fact that sealed the deal!) and lightweight. Look at that beautiful little tiny infant. Isn't he just so adorable?! My whole body is aching to hold my little girl. I hope she comes soon! This weekend would be the perfect weekend, so we're hoping!

38 weeks 2 days

2011-09-29T12:08:00.001-07:00

38 Week Doctor's Appointment

2011-09-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Facebook is freaking out right now (actually, it has been since last night) and not letting me post anything, so I'll update you about my doctor appointment today.

Got monitored for another 30 minutes. Moriah was crazy active as usual, but this time there were some slight contraction-type activities happening. Nothing I could really notice on my own, and nothing that was really in a contraction-like pattern (says the doc) but it's activity! So that's good...ish. My blood pressure was higher today. Still in a good range, but higher than normal. Again, that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I'm hoping that these tiny little elements combined means that things are happening SOON! I'm just so tired all the time and I'm ready for this baby girl to join our family!!

So that's it. A short little update for you. If things start changing, I'll let you know!

What We've Been Up To

2011-09-29T07:42:00.003-07:00

Here are some things we've been up to lately:

Lili asked me to learn a new song last week. She specifically requested this one, so I taught it to her and she caught on really quickly. The words (if you can't understand her or don't know the song) go like this: "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah. Jesus annointed that prophet and seer. Blessed to open the last dispensation. Kings shall extol him and nations revere. Hail to the prophet, ascended to heaven. Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain. Mingling with gods he can plan for his brethern. Death can not conquer the hero again." (That was from memory so if the punctuation is off, I'm sorry!)

I told you've I've been a sewing fool lately, so I thought I'd show you what I've been up to. I've been working on one project I can't show you yet because it's a Christmas present for someone who reads this blog so...just know there's another huge project in addition to all these. Remember this baby quilt I started working on forever ago (I think I started it before I got pregnant, even)? Well, I finally got it bound yesterday. Me=slacker.

So this fabric I got on sale for $1.50 a yard. I wasn't sure I would like it as a dress (for Lili, obviously) and I'm still not sure I do. I was going to add a yellow or pink sash around the middle to break up the business, but I don't know if that will help. It was a fun experience and if we decide we don't like the dress afterall, I'm only out a few bucks and a few hours of my time!

Remember that table runner I made? Here are the scraps from it. Someone suggested I make a pillow out of it, but I didn't have enough for a decent sized pillow, so I settled for this. I like it and it adds a nice touch of Halloween to our walls.

This wreath was SO easy to make and SO inexpensive. I spent a couple bucks for the orange fabric, I already had the black fabric on hand, and the three wooden figures (a witch, a black cat, and a ghost) were all $1.00 each at the local craft store. So for $5, I got an adorable wreath!

Day 8 – A song to match your mood

2011-09-29T06:41:00.001-07:00

I really don't like these song questions! Particularly this one because I have to first identify my mood (which sometimes takes a lot of work!) before I can pick a song that matches it. So with that sad, I'll talk about my mood first.

Right now I'm feeling anxious (like I'll never go into labor--which, let's face it, I will eventually). I'm trying to feel hopeful (that today's doctor appointment brings good news). I'm feeling lazy and exhausted (growing a baby is hard work, you know). I am overwhelmed with love and affection for my husband and daughter (life changing events such as, you know, having a baby tend to do that to me).

I think that about covers it. So without further ado! Jon Schmidt's "Tribute"

Things I'm Grateful For

2011-09-28T12:19:00.002-07:00

I'm having one of those days. No, not one of those good days, but one of those super emotional, completely restless, overly crazy days that make you just want to go back to bed and hope the next day comes quickly. I feel like a whiney two-year-old ready to throw a temper tantrum at any minute. Artene came home from work for lunch, hugged me like usual, and I just started crying. It's been a long morning. He gave me some great advice: read my scriptures, pray, call my mom, call his mom, or call his sister Glenna. I decided to first sit down and write down some things I'm grateful for.

-I'm grateful for an uncomplicated, smooth pregnancy. I know many people who have had difficult times getting pregnant, and/or who have had problems carrying a pregnancy to term and I am just really grateful that things have always gone so well for me.

-I'm grateful that Lili is as smart as she is. Her level of understanding is far beyond any child her same age and when we explain things to her, even complicated things, she almost always understands it. The "why" questions she asks can get tedious sometimes, but I love explaining things to her.

-I'm grateful for Lili's independence. It's soooo hard to parent her when she's exerting that independence, but I don't have to do everything for her. She's still not nighttime potty trained (we're so close!) but when she wakes up, she changes her own diaper and puts underwear on. She puts her dishes in the sink after she's done eating without being asked (generally), she cleans up her toys, puts her clothes in the laundry, plays by herself when I ask her to and does a whole host of other things on her own.

-I'm grateful for an incredibly supportive and understanding husband. He always knows what to say in every situation and I can always count on him to be kind and loving. He never utters negative words or speaks to me disrespectfully (I could learn from him, that's for sure). He is my best friend.

-I'm grateful to be living in Rexburg right now; to have access to so many wonderful opportunities. This ward we're in, this university we're attending, the temple that is so incredibly close...all of it has been such a blessing to us. To me. If I could, I would live here forever.

I'm already starting to feel better, so I'm going to stop for now. I think I'm going to finally get out my pajamas today and get ready to go somewhere and do something. Not sure what yet, but I'm done lounging around all day.

Day 7 –Your wedding

2011-09-28T07:31:00.001-07:00

Our wedding was a bitter-sweet day, but we'll mostly focus on the sweet stuff.

Here we are, freshly married as husband and wife for eternity. This, alone, made my wedding day the most special it could have ever been. I get to be married to my husband, not just till death do us part, but for all eternity, even after we both pass on.

We took pictures around the temple after we got married while everyone else went home and had lunch before the reception.

My amazing sister-in-law made this quilt for us as our wedding present. She sent blocks to all our family members to have them write on and send back. She compiled them into this quilt and it is AMAZING. I wish I had HALF her talent.

Our cake was outrageous. It was HUGE and each cake was a different flavor. Our cake-maker made it as her gift to us (which she'd done with all my brothers as well) and she did an incredible job. It was delicious and there were entirely too many leftovers, but my high school friends took care of it by having a cake-eating contest towards the end of the reception. I would have smoked them all. The only bite of that cake I got was captured on film (which you'll see below). We tried to eat the top of our cake a year later, but it was gross, so we threw it out.

We took all the standard formal pictures. Us and my parents:

My goofy brothers (I thought this candid shot really captured the essence of all our personalities):

Artene's family:

Our best man, maid of honor, and flower girl:

We had live music for the first half of the reception and it couldn't have been more perfect! The sax man and the drummer were kids I was in high school band with. Their music made the night as fantastic as it could have been and I was so grateful to have them there, even though I didn't really get to talk to them that night.

The tables were clad with homemade centerpieces (that my mom, my sister-in-law, and her mom designed and put together). I was very pleased with how they turned out.

Our sign-in table with wedding pictures of our respective parents and ours in the middle.

We had TONS of food and if I remember right, a majority of it got eaten (though I can't be sure since I wasn't there for any of the clean-up). Doesn't it look pretty?

I danced with my dad:

I danced with my new husband:

And we partied the night away with our friends from all over.

We had a blast at our reception and were so grateful for all the people the came out to celebrate with us. I couldn't believe how many people came, enough people that there was standing room only. We sent out paper invites, but verbally invited just about everyone (at least we meant to!). It was a blast and I want to do it again, just for the excuse to dance and have fun with every single person I know and for the excuse to be completely smitten with my husband in front of all those people. Is that weird? :D

38 Weeks

2011-09-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well today marks 38 weeks! It just doesn't seem real to me. My belly could pop any day now and that's a little crazy. Of course, with my limited track record

This are going as expected. That intense vaginal pain I mentioned before has subsided, but the ligaments in my lower abdomen are in literal pain, no just "Oh, I'm uncomfortable," but actual, intense pain. It's unfortunate, really, because it's limited my mobility and if you know me at all, you know I don't like to be limited and I like to be active. So...yay. Last night was a ward activity at our bishop's house and I spent most of the 2 1/2 hours we were there playing volleyball which was SO nice! We had fun, I got to be up and moving, and it took my mind off baby. I paid for it when I got home and laid down to bed, but it was worth it!

I get up once a night to go to the bathroom, and most nights I stay in the same position all night long because it's too hard to flop myself over. My arms fall asleep a lot. Haha! Laying down to bed and getting out of bed are the two hardest activities of my day. Thankfully Artene is there to help me with that. I can feel my body changing and loosening up, but combined with my hard sleeping, it makes me pretty sore in the morning, so I get a lot of cricked necks and achy shoulders. I've started going back to the chiropractor on a weekly basis to help my body get ready to birth. It will make all the difference, I'm sure.

Yesterday the nesting instinct hit me HARD. Of course, my stamina is shot so I don't get nearly half the things done I want to, but it is what it is. I spent the whole day cleaning and doing laundry so that today I could spend the whole day organizing everything. I want to reorganize every closet in the house, pull everything out of my fridge and clean it, and even crazy things like put together little make-shift emergency kits for the cars (that was a random one that popped into my head last night). I got October's dinner calendar all made up, so even if I don't feel like cooking (who am I kidding? WHEN I don't feel like cooking), I'll have all the stuff on hand so Artene can make it (or his mom, or my mom when they're in town). I'll hit up WinCo probably this weekend or early next week to stock up the house (I seriously LOVE WinCo) and then we'll be all set.

Everything is pretty much ready for Moriah's arrival. We're just waiting on the car seat we ordered to arrive; it should be here any day now (which is good, since Moriah could be here any day now). There are a few little odds and ends, but I'm not worried about them. She's got everything she needs and we're just so excited! I keep dreaming that we're going to get to the hospital, I'm going to push her out and "Surprise!" it's going to be a boy. Oh my gosh, I don't know what I would do. I've spent all this time preparing for another little girl and if it turns out to be a boy...well...I think I'll probably just laugh hysterically because I wouldn't know what else to do!

That about covers it for now. Normally I would have had my 38 week doctor appointment yesterday, but because I had two appointments last week, I didn't really need to see him till later this week: Thursday. Sooooo....after that appointment, hopefully I'll have some more news for ya. In the meantime, send laboring thoughts my way!

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet

2011-09-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

This one is tough. I've never been a pet person (though at times I've wanted to be). I attribute that mostly to my childhood where my mom didn't like dogs, my dad didn't like cats, and none of us were home long enough to take care of such creatures. I had a fish in high school that my nephew accidentally killed. And after we got married and moved to Idaho, we got a fish for Lili's sake, which also mysteriously passed away. No more pets for me! They're messy, require lots of work, and they don't talk to you or clean up after themselves. I'd rather craft.

That being said, if I had to pick an animal to keep as a pet, it would be something like this:

Or like this (no that's not a rat, it's a gerbil):

These animals are relatively low-maintenance, stay in a cage (no shedding or pooping all over my house) and can easily be picked up and played with or set back down again. No fuss. I've never understood people who treat their pets like humans, even getting all bent out of shape when they pass away. I mean, animals are cool and all, but they die. That's just life. What are your favorite pets and why?

Day 5 – How important do you think education is?

2011-09-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

This question kind of makes me laugh a little, considering it has been the topic of many-a-posts throughout the history of this blog. Alas, I shall reiterate. For me, education is definitely important, but not a number one priority. Having and raising my family is my number one priority. It just so happens that I'm able to do both right now.

The prophets counsel all people to gain an education in this life.They're never specific about to what degree or whether that education should be formal college training, but they always always teach us to educate ourselves. I think I've done a pretty good job following that counsel in my life. Aside from the fact that I'm working towards a formal degree in school, I've just about completed my doula certification (I still haven't finished the final draft of my final assignment! Ahhh!!) which, in and of itself, is education, and I think religious education (even through independent study) is just as important.

Artene's degree is first priority in our family right now. He's the provider and he needs to get through school, get a job, and really support our growing family. He's doing an excellent job and I'm excited for him to finish (in 32948623 years) and to move on to our next stage of life. That being said, my education is not any less important, but my purpose for receiving one isn't to provide for the temporal needs of our family necessarily. If I do end up getting a degree in marriage and family studies, that would benefit our family on a day-to-day basis as a unit, rather than my finding a job to support us. Anyway, that's that part of it.

I have my opinions about public education, and if you know anything about me, you know they're not very high opinions. Public schools are more about politics than education and because I value education so much, I'm not sure I'm going to send my kids to public school. Firstly, don't go labeling me as a crazy, homeschooling hippie that thinks people who send their kids to public school are stupid and don't know anything. Just because I believe in one thing doesn't mean I'm against another. Okay? I had a decent public education experience, but the farther I got in my schooling, the more I realized what a joke it was. Getting good grades wasn't about performance, it was about figuring out the teachers' games and winning at them. To a degree, this principle holds true in college as well. I took a DNA class a couple semesters ago and I successfully came out with a B in the class not having learned anything, really, about DNA. How? Because I played her game and I won.

Anyway, I think children should be able to learn at their own pace, not being set by some political standard, and that is one of the main reasons for me wanting to homeschool. I can oversee independent learning and be involved in my kids' education in a way that I couldn't necessarily in a public school setting. My super smart kids (like Lili) can work ahead as their interest suits them, and my slower children can have the one-on-one instruction they need to achieve.

"What about socialization? Aren't you worried about your kids not getting socialized properly?" Uh, no. Homeschoolers have just as many activities and field trips as public schools, if not more! Not only that, but Lili sees/interacts with children at church on Sundays (and during the week as well), and honestly, I'd rather my kids learn to love and play with each other first before other children.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts I have on education for myself and my children.

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend

2011-09-26T07:16:00.004-07:00

I've got several pictures of my best friend that I just can't choose one from, so I'll tell you why I chose each one. My best friend is my husband. He is so wonderful to be married to and I feel lucky to be the one he chose out of the many he could have had. (The pictures are out of order and I don't really feel like fixing them, so it is what it is.)

This first picture was taken last year at the burial of Artene's youngest brother, Jesse. He had just finished dedicating the grave site and this tender moment with his father was caught on film. Artene has such a huge heart filled with so much love. Part of what first attracted me to him was the intense love he had for his family.

This next picture was taken almost three years ago when Lili was born. Artene was a SUPER labor support to me and was absolutely ecstatic to become a father. He's been the best father I could have ever hoped to have for my children and I, again, feel so lucky to have him.

This picture is from, can you believe it, our wedding! Like I said before, Artene is just so tender and loving, and I feel like this picture captures that essence really well. I am so smitten.

This final picture is from our honeymoon to Orlando, Florida. This picture was taken while we were waiting in line for the Terminator 3D show at Universal Studios and we were totally hamming it up. I won't show you the matching picture of me...

I don't know if it was just my pregnancy hormones or what, but the other night I was able to really step back from all the little things and appreciate what a wonderful husband and best friend I have. I can share anything with him, for the good or the bad, and he always knows what to say in every situation (except when I complain to him about pregnancy pain....he just looks at me like, "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't really help you!"). He makes me laugh all the time and he is so genuine and sincere about life. He's crazy, spontaneous, and can be downright outrageous, but he's down to earth and very grounded. He has a solid head on his shoulders and works hard in everything he does. He is absolutely respectful to me and to everyone he comes in contact with. You'll never hear him utter an unkind word about anyone, including me. I have THE best friend in the world.

Day 3 – Your first date

2011-09-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is referring to my first date with my husband, or my first date period. I'm just going to tell you about my first date with my husband because, honestly, I can't remember my first first date. Is that sad? Sorry if you're the one who took me on my first first date!

Okay, so my first date with Artene. It's kind of a funny story, actually. Artene was fresh off serving his two year mission for our church in Africa (when I say fresh, I mean less than 6 months) and hadn't dated anyone. In fact, I think he still had a tiny bit of an aversion to girls. Or perhaps he was just focused on his work (which, I've learned, is so like him). Anyway, I became friends with his roommates first, and subsequently, became friends with him (I use the term 'friends' very loosely here). One of his roommates whom I'd spent a lot of time with had been diagnosed with pretty serious cancer that summer (he ended up dying a year later from it), but being a new convert to the church and living relatively close to Nauvoo (2 1/2 hours), he wanted to go and see all the historical sites and see the pageant there. A newly married couple amongst the summer sales crowd (that's what Artene was doing in Missouri instead of Utah--door to door sales) put together a trip to go up to Nauvoo and invited Artene along.

Artene thought it would be a good time to get to know me, which is something he really wanted to do, so he called me up and asked if I'd like to go "with them" to Nauvoo. I had to work that Friday, so I quickly found someone to cover my shift for me and took the chance. It wasn't long after I hung up the phone that I realized he asked if I "would like to go with us to Nauvoo," as opposed to "go with me to Nauvoo." But he told me that it would be this previously mentioned married couple, the friend with cancer, and us. After pondering on this, I realized...oh...this is probably a date! I still pick on Artene about that to this day and he just shakes his head. He says that he didn't mean for it to be so formal; he just meant for it to be an opportunity for us to get to know each other.

Well, from that day forward, I was smitten. We made the 2 1/2 hour drive up to Nauvoo with Artene's friends and spent the day touring the historical sites (which I'd seen a hundred million times before). We took lots of pictures (which are up on our respective facebook pages if you want to travel that far back in time) and by the end of the day, we had pretty much mutually decided (without actually saying it out loud) that we were "together." The whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing was never really said out loud, it was just that we were "dating." And I'm fairly certain that from that night forward, we spent every day together throughout our entire (very short!) courtship and engagement except one.

So there you have it, how we got started!

Day 2 — Your favorite movie

2011-09-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

These questions are so hard to answer because I don't have just one favorite movie. My favorite Disney movie is "Enchanted", my favorite musicals are "Newsies," "White Christmas," and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." My favorite action movie (as of right now) is "Transformers 3." "Steel Magnolias" is probably my favorite chick flick...and the list goes on and on. So...I don't have one favorite. I have at least one favorite per genre, but I can't narrow it down to one overall favorite, sorry!

Day 1 — Your favorite song

2011-09-22T06:45:00.001-07:00

This is a really tough one for me to answer. It should say, "Your favorite song for every mood you have," because that's just about how many favorite songs I have.

But if I had to choose one, it would be Josh Groban's "You Are Loved." Sure, it may be a little cliche and the reasons it's my favorite are probably even more cliche, but I don't particularly care. Life has thrown me some lemons over the years and this particular song has helped remind me that not only does my husband love me, but God loves me and that whatever the lemon is, I can get through it if I just hold on and refuse to give up.

For your listening pleasure:

30 Day Blog Challenge--Revisited

2011-09-22T06:32:00.002-07:00

Remember eons ago when I did a 30 day blog challenge? Well, it was fun and I've been meaning to do it again, but I didn't want to be lame and do the exact same one. A friend posted this one yesterday and since it's different than the one I completed before, I'm stealing it from her and going to do it! I love these blog challenges because it gives me something else to write about other than pregnancy related stuff and the day-to-day happenings of our lives. Sometimes I feel like my blog just gets too boring to read. So here goes nothing!

Day 1 — Your favorite song.
Day 2 — Your favorite movie.
Day 3 – Your first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – How important do you think education is?
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 –Your wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 13 – The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 14 – A TV show you're currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don't leave the house without.
Day 16 – Something you crave for a lot
Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like.
Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about the opposite/same sex.
Day 19 – Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 23 – A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Who are you? What makes you different from everyone else
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you've been and a picture of somewhere you want to go.
Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you.
Day 28 – In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

The Waiting Game

2011-09-21T06:43:00.002-07:00

I think I have been fairly patient with this pregnancy. In fact, it's flown by so fast, I don't think I've really had time to be impatient! I've definitely had my off days, but over-all, things have gone smoothly and I've been able to wait it out (wait it out....as if it were a disease or something! Hahaha!).

Today, though, I'm starting to feel extra anxious. I told myself this time around that I wasn't going to subject myself to a bunch of vaginal exams (to check effacement/dilation) because that would only make me more impatient, but with what I described in my last post, I really felt the need to have my doc check things out. 30% effacement is nothing, really, but it's got me hopeful! It means my body is working on getting ready for Moriah's arrival and every time I get out of bed, or stand up from the couch, I keep hoping that my water will suddenly break or that those annoying cramp-like pains (no, not Braxton Hicks) will turn into real contractions.

The only problem? I sat at 2cm and 75% effacement for two whole weeks when I was pregnant with Lili and it was two mornings before her due date that my water finally broke. Two weeks from now still puts me a week early (which I wouldn't complain about), but I'm starting to understand the whole "social induction" practice that's becoming popular these days. It would be so easy for me to say, "Hey, I'm tired of being pregnant, doc, let's fix that, shall we?" and there's a teeny tiny part of me that just wants to do it because I want my little girl here!

I could handle it. I did it before. I was stupid and followed the "expert" advice of the nurses in the hospital while I was laboring with Lili and I let them "induce" me with Pitocin after my water broke. That stuff is nasty. I could do it again if I wanted to make labor and delivery harder on myself--which I don't, so I'm not going to. I'm just going to sit at home (with nothing of super importance to do) and stew. I'm going to keep cooking this little girl as long as she needs and I'm going to be just as impatient as every other pregnant momma out there.

I've got some things to keep me busy, but the growing belly and the growing tiredness has prevented me from doing a lot of them, so I spend a lot of time bouncing on my yoga ball, sewing, playing Sims 3 (I forgot we had that game until a couple days ago), and lately, playing the piano. It's been nice to relax, but I'm starting to get bored! A lot of you know me well enough to know that bored and I don't get along very well.

Okay, you're probably sick of hearing about my pregnancy-related "diarrhea of the blog posts" so I'll stop there and give you a family update.

Artene has been the acting supervisor at his job the last week and a half as his supervisor is out doing training for another possible promotion. This has turned out to be a fantastic opportunity for him! He is learning a lot about what it means to be a supervisor and even though he just barely got promoted to a team-lead (which is like an assistant to the supervisor), the managers have told Artene that he is starting to look very promotable for when his supervisor actually does take off. The managers took a couple guys out to lunch yesterday to discuss this very subject. They asked about Artene's goals, what he likes/dislikes about the company, and what changes he would make if given the opportunity. He said the lunch went really well and he's seriously considering taking the supervisor position if it is ended up being offered to him.

The only problem with that is that he would be working close to full time, if not completely full time, while taking a full load of classes once January comes around. I've mentioned this before, but Artene is the kind of person that doesn't like to do things unless he can do them well. So dividing his time between work and school and only getting B's in his classes really stresses him out because he knows he is capable of straight-A's. When he asked my opinion, I told him that, but I also said I'd support him in whatever he chose to do, so we'll see what happens if/when that time comes. I know I definitely wouldn't be complaining about the paychecks!

I've spent most of the post talking about myself (how conceited am I?! ;D) but oh well. I'm cooking a baby. Tell you something you don't know? Okay...uh...I've been sewing like crazy the last two weeks trying to get my projects done (I think you knew that already, too). I am dangerously close to finishing, too! Tomorrow I'm going to re-focus on them and start sewing matching dresses for the girls. I've got all the fabric cut and I'm getting so excited. They're going to be ADORABLE!

I'm absolutely loving my calling in the Relief Society presidency. Getting to know the sisters has been a serious treat and I have loved planning and executing monthly activities for them to participate in. The presidency members I serve with are seriously top-notch ladies and I'm loving getting to work with them regularly. We have so many great ideas that it's hard to get them all planned and worked out, but we're having fun figuring that all out. Our president is the only one who's ever been in a RS presidency before, so we're all learning as we go and I think that's really helped us grow closer.

Lili has grown up so much. I mean, literally, I can't even see anymore "baby" in her. She talks to me like a super smart, sassy pre-teen and it's throwing me for a loop. She's getting more and more curious about life and the way things work and it's sometimes hard to keep up with her questions! She has a stellar memory and does not forget one single thing which makes it hard for us, but we're figuring it out. The other night, Artene and I sat up and discussed how we would introduced the topic of sex to her, or rather, how we would encourage openness in our respective parent-child relationships so that she felt comfortable asking questions when that time came. (Ohmygosh, are we really thinking about that ALREADY?!) Her enthusiasm for learning continues to grow and she is so excited to start school.

I think that about covers us for now. I head into the doctor tomorrow morning again (he wanted to check up on me before the weekend came), so maybe I'll have some more exciting news? (*Trying not to get my hopes up*)

37 Week Doc Appt

2011-09-19T11:55:00.003-07:00

Just a warning, this may be a teensy bit (and I do mean teensy) TMI for some people. It doesn't get graphic, by any means, but I'll be talking about pregnancy stuff. If you start reading and don't like it, don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Yesterday morning I woke up to some mildly painful vaginal pain. No big deal. Being pregnant, you learn to expect things like that. I got ready for church, went to church, and by the end of the three hour block, I was hurting pretty badly. Anything I did only made it hurt worse: walking, sitting, standing...everything. I wasn't terribly worried. I figured resting and putting my feet up would help things settle down (that's the cure for everything when you're pregnant...). Well. It didn't. :( It got worse and worse; so much so that I could barely walk.

I ruled out things like placental abruption (there's bleeding involved with that, which I wasn't experiencing, thank goodness!) and a UTI by keeping a close eye on the things my body was doing. After a few more hours, I broke down and called my doctor. It hurt SO BAD and I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything else serious. I just needed a little reassurance for that night since I knew I'd be seeing him the next morning anyway. When he called back, he asked the standard questions I knew he would and explained that I didn't have anything to worry about right now, that it was probably just the baby really putting pressure on my cervix and my ligaments really stretching. (Apparently with subsequent children, this issue is commonly exacerbated. Who knew.) Then he added, "If you go into labor tonight, make sure you call me and let me know what's going on." Uh...what?! Apparently he's seen this happen many times before. Momma in pain and a fast labor. Oh...okay...great.

So I went to bed, still in a lot of pain, wondering if labor was going to spontaneously start in the middle of the night. It didn't. Thank. Goodness. This morning when I woke up, the pain was pretty bearable. As the day has progressed, it's gotten worse. I had my appointment at 11:15 and by the time I got there, I was hurting a lot. They monitored me again for another 30 minutes (apparently this is standard procedure for all their pregnant mommas their last four weeks) and baby looks great. My stats look great...and I actually lost 5 pounds since last week! Isn't is supposed to be the other way around? Weird.

After talking with my doc some more, he reiterated what he said on the phone last night and decided to check my cervix to see if maybe rapid effacement and/or dilation was the cause of the pain. Slight effacement (30%) and no dilation, so everything's right on, though he does want to see me back on Friday instead of on Monday to make sure things are still on track before we get into the weekend.

As good as all this news is, it still doesn't change the fact that I HURT. Constant, never-ending pain. Getting in and out of bed (or the car!) makes me want to cry. I just hope that either this pain goes away so I can survive the last three weeks of this pregnancy, or that Moriah decides to come early to keep her momma from dying. What do you think?

Geocaching and Halloween Decorating!

2011-09-17T19:56:00.001-07:00

If you've never heard of geocaching, click here to go to the website that further explains it. Geocaching is basically a world-wide "treasure" hunt using GPS coordinates to find containers hid literally anywhere you could think of. The containers usually have a log book for you to sign if/when you find it and can contain anything else in them from chapstick to trackable items. It's incredibly amazing! So Friday night, I signed up on the geocaching website (it's free) so I could see where caches are hidden (approximately) and log when we've found them. We went out for an hour Friday evening to find a few here in town (there are easily 50 hidden in Rexburg alone). WARNING! If you're a Rexburg resident and like to go geocaching, we took pictures of the caches we found, so skip the first eight pictures!!

Here's Lili, excited to find some caches.

Artene getting his GPS navigation on!

The start of our journey (in front of the BYU-I Center).

We found one hidden in the wall of one of the buildings on campus:

This one is considered an easy cache to find....obviously:

The second cache that I spotted. Artene combed the area and couldn't find it, but somehow I found it!

This cache was hidden in a cleaned out powdered lemonade container!

We tried to find another one, but it was hidden too well and we finally gave up our search to go home for dinner. But we had a lot of fun going geocaching, but I got tired really quickly. 36 1/2 weeks pregnant is not good for long walks/hiking all around. I can't wait till Moriah is born so I can move around more easily to find caches!!

Speaking of Moriah, I've been busy working on the last things we need to do to get ready for her arrival. I spent all last week making freezer meals, freezing cooked/shredded chicken and cooked ground beef so when I don't feel like cooking, I can just pull them out of the freezer, heat them up, and have a delicious dinner. We ordered her car seat through the rewards program at Artene's job, so once that arrives, we're SET. I've been working through my stash of sewing/crafting projects that are all at various stages of completion and it feels SO GOOD to be getting everything DONE, especially before Moriah comes! One of the projects I worked on was a Halloween table runner. I got 6 fat quarters on sale at the local quilting/crafting store and went to town. See for yourself:

I had a bunch of scraps leftover from this project, so I made coasters out of them (which I conveniently forgot to snap a picture of!) and still have scraps to spare. I'm not sure what I'm going to make out of the rest of the scraps, but it's going to be good!

Anyway, instead of waiting until I'm literally ready to have a baby any second, I decided to decorate for Halloween early. And by early, I mean...tonight. I snagged a bunch of adorable decorations last year in Wal-Mart's Halloween clearance the week after Halloween and I'm really pleased with how they look in our house this year!

Here's a Happy Halloween banner above our kitchen cabinets:

Fun hangy thingies:

A Halloween throw blanket and matching pillow:

And TONS of window clings (which are put up on all the windows of our house, plus some in the bathroom). Here's a two-for-one picture! Some window clings and my 36 1/2 week belly.

Perfection

2011-09-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering a lot on this particular subject over the last...I don't know...year or so. Actually, I remember exactly when I started thinking about it. It was a religion class I was taking last year (Book of Mormon) and it was right after Artene's 16 year old brother died. Our lesson was on perfection and my professor made a statement that perfection is, indeed, possible in this lifetime. Of course, he changed the definition of perfection slightly to be "as perfect as we can be" through the help of constant repentance and forgiveness through the Lord's atonement.

With that in mind, I've been thinking a lot about my role as a wife and a mother. It is divine. It is inspired. It is freakishly hard. But I don't think that being the perfect wife or perfect mother is that far beyond my reach. In fact, I think it's entirely possible. It bothers me when I hear people say "perfection in this life is impossible," or "no one has time to be the perfect wife/mother and still get everything done." It makes me feel like they're just settling for mediocrity, or making excuses for why they choose not to put forth the effort to rise above.

It's taken a lot of time and pondering, but I've finally found a balance that works for me so that I can do everything I want/need to do and still be the kind of wife/mom I want to be. I get to have regular crafty time, I make three meals a day, I get myself showered and dressed by 7:30AM, I pay bills, I clean the house, I get my homework done, I plan and attend my Relief Society meetings, I love myself, I am confident about who I am, I have a wonderful relationship with my Savior. The list goes on and on. I am in no way trying to toot my own horn, but merely make a point that it IS possible to be the best you can be. I don't claim to be anywhere near there yet, but I'm not settling for anything less! I am constantly trying to figure out ways to do things better and to be better than I was before and while some may color me and over-achiever or a show-off, I call it "giving it all I've got!"

I want to be the best at everything! And by the best, I mean in comparison to myself, not anyone else. I know people are better cooks than I am, better scripture studiers (is that even a word?), better crafters...etc than me, but I can still be the best I can be in my own individual roles as wife and mother.

So my question is, why are people so satisfied to settle? Why do we preach that we can't do it? There doesn't have to be a winner and a loser. We can all win, no matter what level of progression we're on, as long as we're satisfied with what we've accomplished and are resolved to continue working towards bettering ourselves every day. It's hard, but that's life, right? It's not supposed to be easy.

Fort Bridger Rendezvous 2011!!

2011-09-14T08:01:00.004-07:00

So it's only taken me a week and a half (and several other posts) to put up pictures from the rendezvous!

Here's our car packed and ready to go. Artene had to work that morning (Thursday) which left the bulk of the packing to me. I didn't mind. I was so anxious to get going that I needed to be doing something, you know?

After a four hour drive, we arrived and boy was it an adventure! Here's Lili and her Aunt Nanny on Friday morning.

Aunt Nanny decided to do Lili's hair crazy for going into the fort that first day.

Here's my Artene with his brother and sister. We were in the fort at this time, but I can't remember what we were doing.

Perusing the merchandise at one of the shops in the fort.

It's always windy at Fort Bridger (it's at nearly 7,000 feet elevation!), so this year someone brought a kite. Artene had so much fun flying it and Lili had so much fun helping him.

It got cold at night (33 degrees!) so morning times were always chilly, but we bundled up and made it work.

Artene slept with one of my ear-warming head bands on (since he doesn't have long hair like me!) to keep his head warm. I didn't think to get a picture of it, but Lili slept in the back of the Explorer! We fashioned a tent to go up over the windows to block sun and to insulate her and had sleeping bags and blankets for her to be comfortable. She loved it! When she woke up every morning, we'd go get her and bring her in the tent with us. Here she is snuggling with daddy one morning (Saturday, I think).

Here's my mom-in-law washing dishes in our camp's kitchen. It was a SWEET set-up!

The kids LOVED playing with Aunt Nanny (Artene's sister)!

Lili and her cousin, Jivan.

Lili and her cousin, Joshua.

Lili being a ham while wearing my snood.

The kids had a blast playing with their aunts. Here's one of the many games of duck, duck, goose that got played.

It's a terrible picture, but it will give you an idea. This is maybe half of the congregation that showed up for the LDS church services held Sunday morning. I don't know how many boys they had blessing the sacrament, but there were over 30 men/boys passing the sacrament. There were a LOT of people there.

Mommy and Lili huddling together for warmth. It was maybe 40ish degrees that morning.

Belly-shot! This is at 35 weeks. And yes, I camped for a week in extreme temperatures (HOT during the day and FREEZING at night). It was an adventure, and totally worth it!!

This is the original "Mormon Wall" there inside Fort Bridger. The remnants of this wall are housed inside a building for protection and for excavation purposes. Church services are held around/next to this building.

Sunday afternoon was a time for us all to relax.

Two of my crazy awesome sisters-in-law!

Mom and Dad Allen brought a ton of firewood that needed to be chopped up, so here's Artene and his brother-in-law Matt doing the "man" thing getting it all done!

Family picture! It was so nice to have so many people there this year. We really missed Chad, though! He miscalculated his vacation days and when it came down to it, he didn't have enough to come to the rendezvous this year. :(

Here's GREAT grandma Glenna who came and spent the whole week camping with us. The little kids just LOVED her! She had such great stories and songs for them! This was while the rest of us were packing up camp.

Lili did such a good job playing with/taking care of her little cousin Joshua. She's going to make a great big sister!

So there you have it, our little rendezvous adventure. It was crazy, it was fun, it was a huge success. I can't wait for next year when we have TWO kids (yes, you may have detected an ever-so-tiny amount of sarcasm in my voice (or...words?) just then...)!

36 Week Update

2011-09-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

One of these days I'll get to posting about the Fort Bridger rendezvous. Sitting and typing is just so much easier than waiting to upload lots and lots of pictures (I took a ton, so...I'm a little intimidated).

I had my 36 week check-up today. Can you believe it? I start going EVERY WEEK now! Ahhhh! Every week! That will make the next four weeks fly by so fast, I'm pretty sure. We've just about got everything ready for baby girl. We still need to go get a carseat--an activity planned for this weekend--and I'd LOVE to somehow squeeze a chest freezer into our budget for freezer meals, breastmilk, and homemade baby food (because, let's face it, the shoe-box freezer we have right now barely cuts it for our family of three), but...I don't know that that will happen before baby comes (which has me SERIOUSLY bummed out since I FINALLY convinced Artene that it was a good idea that we got one and I've been coming up with all these awesome recipes and tips on how to really rock freezer meals!!). Artene surprised me last night by saying that he'd really like to try cloth diapering. I was a little shocked. I mean, I know Artene is just as into those kinds of things as I am, but he had never vocalized anything of the sort before. So we started looking into it today. With the points he has saved up at work, we could get a nice starter amount of cloth diapers, so the possibility is much greater than we thought. Guess we'll see what happens!

Okay, so back to my doctor's appointment. Moriah has turned head-down and is rip-roarin' ready to go! They did a non-stress test on me today to monitor her heart-rate. They wanted to see 2-3 spikes in her heart-rate over the 30 minutes they monitored me and there were at least 10. My doc just laughed and said, "That's a little ridiculous. She's one hyper-active child!" Uh huh, I know. This is why I spend at least half of my day running to (or in) the bathroom! Her heart-rate is great, my stats are great, and I've gained about 6 more pounds....YIKES! That pushed me over 200 pounds. It was sad to see, but I know it's just baby weight (well, mostly) and I'm super determined to shake it once she's born!

I can really feel the pressure on my cervix and it's definitely not always pleasant (and by that I mean, it hurts...frequently). The whole sleeping well thing hasn't been going so great the last week. I toss and turn a lot during the night and I get up to go to the bathroom once. I could make it the whole night, but I finally gave in because the last hours of sleep were so light because I knew I had to pee. *Sigh* And it takes me forever to fall back asleep once I get up to go, it's so not fair.

I'm thinking I might head to the hospital to pre-register tomorrow. My doc told me a story of one of his patients that didn't get around to pre-registering and when she got to the hospital ready to push, but they wouldn't let my doc give her the drugs she wanted until she was registered. He was so ticked, and the momma was NOT a happy camper. Not that I foresee this situation applying to me, but I just know things will run more smoothly if I get that out of the way now.

We're pretty much just playing the waiting game now! I've been killing time by working on my stash of projects that are all at various stages of completion. I finished a quilt top today, but it's a double-sided "his and hers" quilt, so I've got to cut the pieces for the back side and get those sewn. I'm going to try to make my own quilt binding this time around...so...we'll see what happens. I may just give up entirely on that avenue if it turns out to be too tricky. Haha!

So aside from working on my projects stash, I spend the rest of my time doing housework and resting. I have definitely made sure that I get enough rest! With Artene's work schedule, I get up early with him which gives me about an hour to shower and get things done before Lili wakes up (which has made me understand why my own mom would get up so early every day!!). I do, however, get tired much sooner than before, so I take semi-regular naps each week along with an earlier bed time. Of course, none of this really makes a difference because I'm just tired ALL THE TIME. No matter how much I sleep at night or how many naps I take, I'm still just tiiiiiired. (Come on four weeks, hurry up and go by already!)

Other than that, life is good. No, life is great. We're still poor college students, but we are immensely blessed and we truly truly enjoy the life we have.

Whatever Will I Do With My Life?

2011-09-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

I used to talk about my education a lot. Well, rather, I used to think about my education a lot. Once I got pregnant again, all those thoughts kind of went out the window. My only goal was to finish my associate's degree (which, if I had been paying attention, I could have finished in one more semester instead of one and a half) so I could check something off my list. Well, yesterday I felt the need to decide on a major. Like...for real. When we first came to school here I thought, "Psssh, I've got plenty of time to decide. These generals will take up two years of my life anyway!" Well, I'm about done with my generals and though I was sort of semi-planning to take a break after that point, I'm feeling like I should keep going, even if it is going to be hard.

So this left me with a major dilemma. You see, I've done a majority of my associate's degree online and have grown to love it. Really. I appreciate the ability to be at home with Lili and do homework when I can fit it into my schedule. I like not having to be in class at specific times throughout the week. There is a greater amount of self- disciple involved and it really has taught me a lot about 1-what I'm capable of and 2-self mastery. This is all wonderful. Except. A lot of major classes can't really be taken online. I'm sure there are some, and if there are, I'll take advantage of that.

Now the real problem is this: When I decide on a major (which I'll get to in a minute), I'll probably have to start taking classes on campus again. Not a huge deal because we've done it before, but I was only taking two or three classes at most, not a full load. We juggled Lili back and forth between our classes and between Artene's work schedule. It was hard and completely inconvenient; I never got to see Artene and that was a huge huge bummer. So taking all that into consideration, I felt I needed to decide on a major that would be most practical for our family's schedule (meaning something like an education degree wouldn't fit the bill as I would have practicums and student teaching...etc etc etc), but was still something that I would enjoy and could turn into a career if I had to.

Last night we were laying in bed watching Dirty Jobs on Artene's laptop while I was scouring the byui website for ideas, requirements, and all sorts of information. I looked at nursing degrees, but I know I couldn't put in the time and effort I needed to do well in that area. I looked a music education degrees, but I know how demanding the music field is and it includes student teaching which, in a couple years, would be really hard to make work. I looked at tons and tons of degrees and their requirements and I started getting a little discouraged. No matter what I choose, it's going to be hard. I knew that when I first started looking. But I didn't know what I really wanted to do with my life if I ever had to get a career.

Then I thought about how much I've come to love and embrace my role as a wife and mother. I thought about how much I enjoyed my child development classes over the years and how much I love studying marriage and family relationships. So I went and looked at the home and family (I think that's what it's called) department catalog. I found a news release from July of this year saying that the school will start offering marriage and family studies as a major now, as it had only been previously offered as a minor, because there was so much interest in it. Marriage and family studies. That sounded really good to me. So I delved deeper and checked out the classes I would be taking and potential careers I could have with that degree. Guidance counselor. I loved it! Not only will this degree benefit my family in the immediate, but should the need every arise, I could help provide for our family in a way that would be enjoyable to me.

In high school, I worked closely with the guidance counselors. I was a part of peer mediation and was called upon frequently to help out with a whole myriad of things. I enjoyed being a part of that and working in that capacity and I think I would really enjoy it again. So having said all that, I think I'm going to change/declare my major as marriage and family studies. What do you think?

Quick Family Update

2011-09-08T11:46:00.003-07:00

I promise that my next post will have pictures from the rendezvous, I just haven't gotten around to uploading them to blogger; and with the new format, everything is a little weird anyway. Today is just a quick update on the Allen family.

Artene (finally!!) started working full time at Melaleuca. I can't tell you how relieved I am. We've been scrimping and passing on a lot of things in order to make ends meet lately, but now that he'll be working more hours (with a pay raise!), we'll be back where we need to be. His schedule is perfect! He works 7-4 with an hour lunch break that he gets to spend at home! We get to eat all our meals together again, and I'm up early enough with him to get showered and dressed before Lili wakes up. It's a win-win all around. He likes being home in the late afternoon because it gives him a chance to do all the things he wants to do before it gets late and he gets tired.

He's still teaching the third Sunday in Elder's Quorum and he does a great job. Maybe it's the missionary in him, but he has this ability to sit down the night before, read through the lesson, and BAM, teach it no problem. I wish I could do that! I have to prepare for a week before I feel even remotely confident!

I'm still alive and kickin'. Artene's new schedule has turned me into a new woman! I'm up early (6:30...yikes!) and I get so much done during the day; it's incredible! I spend more quality time with Lili, the house has stayed cleaner, and I have more time to rest when I need to (which is a lot lately). In an effort to get caught up on my projects, I've dipped into my stash of works-in-progress (and believe me, there's a lot!) this week and have been slowly getting things figured out again. I hope to get a lot of them finished before Moriah makes her grand entrance into this world, but that may be a little ambitious, even for me.

Speaking of Moriah, things are still going well with the pregnancy. We went to the rendezvous this past week and yes, I rocked it. I was really skeptical about camping for a week (at nearly 7000 feet elevation!) at 35 weeks pregnant, but I did it, and it wasn't miserable! In fact, it was loads of fun. I didn't do as much walking as last year and I spent a lot more time resting, but I got to know Artene's family a lot better (and so did Lili) which was really nice. Next week I go in for my 36 week appointment and then I start going every week after that! She could come very very soon and I'm getting more and more excited. Of course, life is getting more and more difficult as well. Getting up off the couch, out of bed, or even out of a chair has become extremely difficult. Crawling in and out of our tent at the rendezvous was kind of a joke, so I tried not to do it unless I had to. The belly is bigger than ever and I'm pretty sure there is zero room left for Moriah to grow. We'll see.

Lili has turned into quite the little child. She's lost a lot of the normal toddler stuff and has blossomed into--dare I say it--a pre-pre-teen. Just yesterday she kept bugging me in the kitchen and I finally told her to leave while I finished up. She just stared at me and when I repeated myself a little louder she replied, "Alright, alright, ALRIGHT!" and stormed out rolling her eyes. *Shakes head* I thought girls didn't start this until they were closer to their teen years! She's still asking loads of questions, but she's learned to have a conversation without them now. She describes her days, the things she does, what she wants to happen...etc. I've been so lax in working with her language skills lately, but we've finally started back up again. We're working on word-recognition/spelling now since she's known her alphabet since she was 18 months. She learned how to spell her name probably close to a year ago and since then, she's learned to spell a couple more words (including 'stop' since she sees it all over town). It's time to kick it up a notch and really get her going!

If there's one thing she's got figured out, it's the big sister business. She describes to me all the time how she's going to help me take care of Moriah. She's also started really playing 'mommy' to her baby doll. She's learned how babies are nursed and now she nurses her baby, too. She hasn't quite grasped the concept of how the milk gets into a mommy's nipple, yet, so I'll find her with her baby's milk bottle "filling herself back up" with milk. It's absolutely hysterical! I've lost my little baby; she's a big girl now! The school has a pre-school lab on campus they offer every semester to train students to teach, so I'm thinking I'm going to sign her up for the winter semester. The kids have to be three by day 1 of the class, and I don't think Lili will quite be three when the fall class starts, so come winter, we're probably going to start her in pre-school. It will be nice for her to interact with other kids on a structured level and it will be nice for me to get things done since I'll be taking a full load of classes on top of having a 2 1/2 month old baby.

I think that about covers it for now. Maybe soon I'll post pictures of the rendezvous. But for now, I'm going to go get a warm chocolate chip cookie that just came out of the oven, put on a movie, and keep working on my projects. Wish me luck!

34 Weeks!

2011-08-31T20:38:00.001-07:00

So yesterday marks 34 weeks, can you believe it? Here's a recent snapshot, but don't judge! This was at the end of the day after a lonnnnng day, including putting on our Relief Society activity (Chocolate Appreciation Night!). I was exhausted, but remembered I needed to take a belly shot.

I'm definitely feeling the weight of pregnancy! I'm at that "I'm-uncomfortable-at-every-moment-of-every-day" stage. It's...well...been fun. I'm not going to say, "I'm so ready to be done being pregnant" because that's something that really annoys me when I hear it. Babies need the full 40 weeks and if mom's not ready to give it all she's got, she shouldn't have gotten pregnant. So maybe that's a little harsh, but that's how I feel. As hard as pregnancy is, it is just as fun. Standing in the kitchen cooking and feeling that little baby move in my belly brings a smile to my face every single time. It makes up for the lack of sleep (or the poor quality of sleep), the aching back, the swollen fingers and the puffy face.

I can only slightly bend over forward anymore. In fact, when I need to wear tennis shoes, Artene has to help me tie them! Luckily I'm flexible enough that when he's not around, I can pull my legs up to the side of my belly and take care of it, but it's mighty uncomfortable! Haha! I've been sleeping fabulous up until this point. I say that, but my sleep really isn't suffering too much. I get enough hours every night and I'm usually not very restless. About 2 or 3 in the morning, my bladder gets full, but I refuse to wake up in the middle of the night to go, so the last few hours of my sleep are...well...less comfortable. But that's to be expected, right?

I've gained probably 20-25 pounds thus far which just astounds me, considering I gained upwards of 45 with Lili. Of course, I do have six weeks to go, so I could easily get close to that number (lets hope I don't gain another full 20 pounds in that short of time!!). I'm currently sitting pretty at 199 pounds (please don't count backwards and do the math to what I weighed pre-pregnancy!) and if I wasn't pregnant, I'd be freaking out. Okay, who am I kidding, I'm still freaking out! I know I lose a ton of weight once baby girl is born, but I'm going to have to work really hard to keep it off and to tone myself up again. Yikes. I'm nervous, to say the least, but DETERMINED! But...we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I am getting so crazy excited to have this baby! All I can think about is how my labor and delivery is going to go and what life is going to be like with TWO kids instead of one. Okay, I've said that about a million times, but it's true!

That's about all I have for you right now. My next post will be filled with pictures from the mountain man rendezvous we're going to! Starts tomorrow and goes through Monday and we are SO EXCITED!!

Crazy Pregnancy Dreams #123897

2011-08-31T08:10:00.002-07:00

So I had two amazingly vivid dreams last night, which is interesting considering I didn't sleep very well at all (crazy thunderstorm and crazy screaming toddler).

The first dream was about me doing some family and marriage counseling. There was this couple with a young teenage son who just weren't where they should be. They didn't hate each other by any means, but they were forming some habits that would eventually lead them to a bad place and I knew I needed to knock some sense into them. I sat down with the family (it took some coaxing to get the son involved) in their living room and began explaining the story of my parents and their divorce. This couple wasn't always sleeping in the same bed together at night (the first red flag I noticed) and I began counseling them on what they needed to do to revitalize their marriage and keep it in tact. It was crazy interesting.

The second dream was, by far, my favorite. I'm not sure what my credentials were, but whatever the case, I was helping a woman labor and give birth in prison. She didn't want to birth in the infirmary, but rather, she wanted to birth in her cell. Apparently the law there (I think we were in Mexico...I'm not really sure) stipulated that she had to give up her baby since it had been conceived after her incarceration, instead of being able to keep a baby that had been conceived prior to. So as emotionally invested as this woman was, she was not going to be allowed to keep the baby.

The dream started right about as she was transitioning into the final stages of labor: delivery! I helped her get into a comfortable position and proceeded to actually deliver her child. Whether it was a boy or girl was not information that was presented in the dream, but I do know that the child was healthy and happy...and small. The whole while she was pushing, there were men in suits outside the cell, waiting to take the baby and do all this official, formal stuff. I had to yell at them several times to get out and leave us alone until we were finished as they were very impatient to get the child and leave the prison.

It was a sad situation because even as an outside party, I could feel the love this mother had for the child she was bearing. She wanted the absolute best for it and knew that she would not be able to take adequate care of it while still in prison. She was a beautiful woman with long, blackish hair and it was obvious to me that whatever it was she had done to land herself in prison was either for the sake of her family or through some outrageous misunderstanding.

It felt so good to be able to help her, to be there for her in her most vulnerable moments. She had no one to support her, and I got to be the one to do it.

It's been awhile since I've had such vivid dreams and this one was sure a treat. I remember another dream I had last not, but it's not worth telling, so I'll leave it be. I'll post a 34 week update soon, I promise!

Thoughts at Week 33

2011-08-23T12:54:00.003-07:00

So normally I don't post weekly updates about the pregnancy thing, but...I'm bored right now and have been doing something thinking so...here we go!

I'm 33 weeks today. Oh. My. GOSH. I can't believe how quickly the end is coming. Give or take 7 weeks and I'm going to be Caryn Allen, mom of two. TWO! Okay...deep breath. I really am excited. Artene is excited, Lili is excited and our close friends and family are excited, too. I found some ADORABLE fabric on sale at Wal-mart today for $1.50 a yard, so I bought enough to make the girls matching dresses (EEEEK!!!) for their first Sunday outing. Color me the nerdy mommy, but I think it's going to be fun to do silly things like that!

As of my last doctor's appointment, Moriah is sitting breech in my belly. For those who aren't familiar with the terminology, breech means that she's head up/butt down instead of the traditional head down position. Most of the time at this stage in pregnancy, that's fairly normal, but doctor's like to see the babies flip by about 37 weeks since after that point, there's generally not enough room for them to flip anymore. That said, having a baby in a breech position for birth is not a medical emergency. Babies are born breech all the time with absolutely zero complications. Artene's aunt gave birth a year ago to a happy, healthy baby boy who was breech. And she did it at home. Most doctors won't deliver breech, probably because they just don't know how. They will automatically do a C-section instead.

So of course my mind has been racing to plan birthing alternatives if Moriah stays breech and if my doctor refuses to deliver a breech baby. (I know I should have discussed it with him at my last appointment, but I have this terrible habit of forgetting all my questions once I get to the doctor's office! Plus I was more worried about that whole dizzy thing I talked about before.) I mentioned this to Artene and his first thought was, "So...just have her at home."

Firstly, I love my husband for saying that. It comforts me to know that he has such confidence in my ability to give birth. I have a great birth team in place to support me through labor and delivery and I am fully confident that if it came down to that, I could and would deliver at home. Secondly, I am so grateful to be married to a man who is so educated about the birth process. There is so much more to giving birth than pushing a baby out of your uterus that people just don't understand and refuse to learn about, and again, it is incredibly comforting to have him be so supportive of me. *Getting down off my soapbox*

From the time I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to give birth at home. Unfortunately, it's more expensive to give birth at home than at the hospital (which is outrageous!) and essentially, it came down to either buying a bigger vehicle to fit our growing family, or giving birth at home. Confident in our ability to create a natural birth environment in the hospital, we chose the car. Sometimes I wish we hadn't, but we needed the vehicle; we didn't need to give birth at home.

So now, my birth options come down to this: 1-Moriah flips head down and we proceed as planned giving birth at the hospital. 2-Moriah stays breech and my doctor allows me to birth vaginally like I want. 3-Moriah stays breech, my doctor refuses to let me birth vaginally, and I find a different doctor who will. 4-Moriah stays breech, no one will deliver breech, and I birth at home. Simple, really.

"But aren't you afraid something will go horribly wrong if you birth at home without a licensed midwife there?!!"

No, I'm not. My pregnancy is as low-risk as they come. There are absolutely zero indications of any type of complications, and if any do arise, my mother-in-law and good friend know enough to recognize them and get me to the hospital which, thankfully, is a mere minutes away from where we live.

In fact, I'm almost hoping (I said almost!) that things go in such a way that I do end up giving birth at home. As nerve-wracking as the unknown of an unassisted home-birth is to me, I'd love to give it a try. My support team couldn't be any better, so if things go as expected this time around, we'll be planning a home birth for sure next time.

Random Update

2011-08-19T19:05:00.002-07:00

So...life is good. No, life is great. Here's a little of what's been going on with us lately:

Artene has been trying to get into one of many full-time positions at Melaleuca for the last month (and then some). It's been frustrating, to say the least, as HR really hasn't been very helpful. But Artene has been persistent and I'm almost positive (like...90%) that he'll be starting a full-time position this upcoming week. This is fantastic news! He's been donating plasma regularly (which brings in an extra $200 monthly!) to make up the difference and it's literally saved our skin so many times. One of the members of our bishopric is a supervisor there and is going to make Artene his team lead which not only gives him full-time hours, but also a pay-raise. Woohoo!

Aside from work, he's been working hard on making moccasins for all of us for the mountain man rendezvous we're going to in two weeks. He's been having a blast working with the leather and engineering his own designs. It's funny to see him just sit and stare at the leather he's working with. 5 minutes will go by and I'll have to poke him to make sure he's not gone comatose or anything! He's finished his own moccasins, minus the finishing touches (like fringing the extra leather), and is hurrying to finish mine so that he might be able to make some for Lili as well. It's been a treat to have him home in the mornings helping with breakfast and getting the day going. I'm going to miss that once he starts working during the day!

I've been...well...growing a baby. I'm to the point now where no matter what position I sit or stand in, I can feel little Moriah at every second. She's getting so big and I'm really not. I'm carrying more inside this time than I did with Lili and I have definitely noticed the difference. Though I have been able to be up and active, doing things that a larger belly wouldn't allow me to, I am more uncomfortable as well. Artene had to tie my tennis shoes for me this morning because I couldn't really reach my feet! I actually sleep really well still and have avoided getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (I've learned the trick from my doula studies!!). I usually wake up sore or with tingly feet, but as far as the sleep goes, things are great! I can feel my body getting more tired more quickly, so I spend a good portion of my days resting anymore.

I've been sewing like a mad woman getting ready for the rendezvous as well. Three dresses for me, three for Lili, two aprons for each of us, one shirt for Artene, one shirt for his brother, and I'm really tempted to make a special rendezvous quilt out of all the scraps I have (do you think I could pull it off in two weeks?!). I kind of want t make Artene ANOTHER shirt since they're relatively simple to make...but we'll see what happens.

I'm loving my calling in the Relief Society presidency. I oversee the monthly Relief Society activities and have some great plans up my sleeve. This month we'll be doing a ultra casual get-to-know-you night that has been dubbed our "Chocolate Appreciation Night" (because really, what girl isn't enticed by a little chocolate?!). It's going to be fabulous! Next month we're doing a mini super-Saturday type activity based off of the nursery rhyme "This Little Piggy" complete with mini-classes and pigs-in-a-blanket. The members of the presidency are such great women and it's been an absolute treat to work with them. We jive SO well together. I can't wait to keep moving forward with them.

I've finished my doula training! I just have to submit a revised/final copy of my reflection paper and then I can apply for my certification!! It all came together so quickly and I'm so super excited. My goal is to hopefully turn that assignment in within the next few days and apply for my certification before we leave for the rendezvous!! It's only taken me 5 1/2 months! If I hadn't been in school full time, I think I could have easily done it in half the time but alas, that's just life.

Lili is still growing as fast as ever. She really is a miniature adult. She'll come find me just to talk or to ask me questions. She's always been a very curious girl, asking questions about everything, but she's really getting into it these days. Instead of asking one question and being satisfied with the answer, she continues to be curious, seeking deeper and deeper information. It's been a little challenging to satisfy her curiosity while still keeping things age-appropriate. Her new favorite song is "Mama Mia" which, honestly, I have no idea where she first picked it up (no, we haven't seen the new movie about it), but she'll run around the house and sing the only phrase most people know, myself included: "Mama mia, here I go again. My my, how can I resist you?" It's so cute!

We've taken the next step in potty training and gotten her to nap without a diaper on. I don't know why I was so scared of doing this sooner. She's been a champ! As long as we get her to go to the bathroom before we lay her down, she usually stays dry her whole nap, or will get up to go on her own. I'm terrified of night time potty training, though! 12+ hours is a lot longer than 2!! I know that she'll inevitably have accidents in the middle of the night and I'm just not ready to give up my sleep yet (says the woman who's about to bring a newborn into the house!). My goal was to have her completely potty trained by the time little Moriah graced us with her presence, so maybe it's time to get started on that since I've only got 7 weeks left (ahhh!!).

Lili is really excited to meet Moriah. She hugs and kisses my belly almost non-stop and talks about all the things she's going to share with her baby sister. I'm trying to think of some great ways to help Lili be involved in the day-to-day life of a newborn, so any suggestions would be much appreciated! I'm glad we got the girls' room set up awhile ago so Lili could get used to it. I think the adjustment period will go pretty smoothly for her since we've been working with her so much about the whole process.

That about sums up our lives right now. We're still poor college students, but we are immeasurably blessed. I do admit to really looking forward to graduation day so that we can move on and out into the "real world" (whatever THAT is!), but for now, things are great and we couldn't ask for anything more.

Named At Last!

2011-08-17T11:40:00.001-07:00

I've been saving this post for a little while now, just to make sure things stuck. Artene is still calling this name a tentative name since, let's face it, sometimes babies just don't look like the names you end up picking out. But for right now, we've decided on a name for Baby Girl and I'm super excited to tell you about it. Keep reading:

So after much debating, we've finally settled on a name for Baby Girl. First let me say that it's taken us this long, not because we couldn't agree on names because we certainly could, but because we wanted to make sure it was the perfect name for our perfect little girl. We spent countless hours surfing the web trying to figure out what direction we wanted to go in with the name. That said, let me break down the evolution of the naming process for you.

Firstly, we sat down and started listing names off the top of our head. We made a huge list and there was only one name on both lists: Elise. Artene's sister's middle name is Elyse and so for a long time we thought our little girl would have the same middle name. It took ages to figure out a first name to match. Abigal, Elsie, Sarah, Catherine, Elizabeth...the list went on and on. I really liked the name Emma, though the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. Emma is one of the most popular names these days and I didn't want my little girl to be one of many, I wanted her to be an individual.

That being said, we sat down (again!) to take a hard look at names. We started searching for scriptural names and found this book (through Google Books, woohoo!) that listed every name in the scriptures, their origins, meanings, and variations, including names of cities, mountains, rivers...etc. We were fascinated and spent several hours combing through the names.

We made it to the M's and one name jumped out at us. We decided that no matter how much we liked the name, if it had a horrible meaning, we'd skip over it and pick something else. This name means "God is my Teacher" and is of Hebrew origin. Perfect. We wrote the name down and continued through the list. Surprisingly it was the only one we both really loved. Moriah.

Moriah is the name of the mountain (Well, this is debatable. Some believe it was the actual mountain while others believe it to be the name of the whole mountain range.) where Abraham took Issac to be sacrificed and where Solomon built his temple. When we learned this, we were smitten. That story has become one of my most favorites to ponder on, not only on the faith and strength of Abraham, but the faith and strength of Issac who could have, at any moment, run away/escaped the situation as well. Moriah. We loved it.

But the journey wasn't over yet! We still needed a middle name! We wanted to keep some of Artene's Armenian heritage in the mix, so we started cycling through names we both had already talked about liking. After trying a few names against Moriah, we discovered the perfect fit. Siroun, which means "Lovely". Moriah Siroun (seer-roon or sehy-roon) Allen. You like?

It took a few days to digest, but the more we say it, the more we love it. I think it's going to be a perfect fit.

32 Week Update

2011-08-15T14:33:00.002-07:00

I had my 32 week doctor's appointment today. I know it's a day early, but I changed it this morning.

Yesterday after church I started feeling really dizzy. Nothing major, so I brushed it off with a resolve to drink a little more water and went about my day. After eating dinner, the dizziness got worse. I laid on the couch all evening and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, the dizziness still hadn't subsided and I would wager to say that even then it was worse. I kept drinking more water and I ate some more to make sure it wasn't my blood sugar, and I spent the rest of the night either laying on the couch or laying in bed, hoping that rest would cure it (the three most common causes of dizziness: dehydration, low blood sugar, not enough rest). By the time we turned the lights out, our bedroom was spinning every time I opened my eyes. Sleep, I thought, would help.

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't crazy dizzy like last night, but I was still feeling light-headed, so I called my doc and changed my appointment from tomorrow to today, just to be safe. I went in, did the standard pee test, and waited for the doc to meet with me. My blood pressure is phenomenal. I'm not sure what I'm doing to make it that way, but my doc is actually really pleased with how great everything looks. He told me I have the stats of a teenager which makes me feel really good, considering I feel like an out-of-shape old women these days. Baby Girl's heart rate is looking good as well. She's sitting breech right now, which is not unusual at this stage, but he told me he's expecting her to turn head-down by my next appointment. We'll see what happens.

After explaining the whole dizzy spell to him, he suggested we do an EKG. He wanted to make sure my heart wasn't causing me any problems since I'd done everything else I knew how to do. The EKG was normal, and he asked that the next time I start feeling dizzy like that to come into the office (or to meet up with him at the ER if it's after hours) to do another EKG to compare to today's. I'm really not that worried about it, but like my doc said, it's better to be safe than sorry with something like this.

I go back in 4 weeks for my 36 week appointment and then I start going EVERY WEEK because by that point, I'll be ready to have a baby soon! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by. Even since school has been out, my days have been filled with preparations for the mountain man rendezvous, getting acquainted with my responsibilities as a member of the Relief Society presidency, and just plain having fun. There are still a few things left to do to prepare for Baby Girl's arrival including (but not limited to):

-for sure 100% deciding on a name

-buying (we're hoping to use Artene's accolade points from work to do this) and installing a car seat

-packing our hospital bags (I might stick with tradition and pack it this week like I did with Lili)

-getting a few odds and ends (a few more outfits, some infant toys, a hygiene kit, a baby bathtub...etc)

-making and freezing some meals for the week she's born

-hand quilting that purple quilt I made for her (I know I tied it with yarn already, but hand-quilting is so much nicer...and a lot more permanent)

It's really not a lot, and I kinda wish it was! The more I have to do, the busier I stay, and the faster the time goes! I'm sure I'll find other ways to keep myself occupied, though. Well, that's it for now. Check back in 4 weeks for another pregnancy update!

Really Excited!!

2011-08-09T14:02:00.003-07:00

Okay, so I need to take a minute out of my afternoon to tell you why I'm really excited. I finished my doula tests (there are 8 of them!) today and passed them all with great scores. This was one of two major assignments I had left to complete. Once I took my tests, I started looking at what else I had left to do, and aside from that one larger assignment, I just had a bunch of little stuff to do, so I knocked them all out! With Lili still sleeping, I realized I had time to finish my last assignment (a reflection paper on Lili's birth--which I had started a couple months ago)!! So I've submitted all my assignments, finished all my tests, and now I'm just waiting to hear back on the paper I wrote. My trainer will read over it, give me some feedback with suggestions to improve it or add to it, then once I make those changes and submit my final paper, I can apply for my certification!!

My friend (who's doing her doula training as well) has already finished her paper and said that it took our trainer only a couple days to get back to her, so I'm hoping she's just as prompt with my paper so I can fix it, turn in the final, and apply for my certification by the end of the week! I wasn't expecting to be done so soon, but it just all worked out that way and now I'm peein'-my-pants excited to finish up, especially now that the finish line is in reach!

In other news, I haven't really done anything else on my August to-do list yet. Well, that's not true. I got the church building scheduled for the RS activity and have a pretty good idea of what the activity itself will entail, I just haven't sat down and done any actual work on it. The baby shower I'm throwing has all been thought out in my head, I just haven't done anything other than make the invitations.

So...here's an update to-do (You know, I write these for my sake, not yours. I actually come back and re-read my to-do list posts frequently to remind me!):

-Sew a few bazillion things for the rendezvous including: a dress for Lili, maybe a dress for me, a shirt for Artene, a shirt for Artene's brother, an apron for me, and one or two aprons for Lili

-Plan/Organize the RS activity including: making invitations, getting volunteers to bring treats, and approving a couple small purchases for the activity

-Plan/Organize the baby shower including: handing out the invitations I already made, getting supplies for the game and the activity I want to do, and making the things I need for the game

That about sums it up right now. Artene has been making us moccasins today (for the rendezvous) from supplies we purchased at the last rendezvous and they're coming along nicely. I'll be sure to post pictures when they're done. Can't wait!