The Thornocks

BIG NEWS!

2012-02-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

Nope, we're not pregnant.

We are MOVING! Yep, it's a bit crazy and a lot faster than we had ever anticipated, but there it is. You want to know the really crazy/awesome part? We're not just moving to some random house, we are building our house. I KNOW!!! It's all happening so fast that I have kind of been in a daze from it all. We went from having a conversation about not moving/being able to build for a few years, to literally the next day discussing plans to buy some land and build, to the next week where we made the decision on what property we wanted and that we were going to be able to build now. This was not in the plans, but we are thrilled! We will only be moving about 10 minutes away from where we are now, but it's in an awesome neighborhood right off the Yakima River.

We know quite a few of the people building there and can't wait to start our block parties and get-togethers. As far as info on the property, it's lot 6, which is 1.77 acres on a corner lot. Part of the property is on a cul de sac, which we LOVE. It will be nice to have that as an area for the kids to ride bikes and feel a bit safer. Here's a little video that we took driving out to the new development:

The blueprints to our home are being drawn up now, and after they have been okay'd by us and the permits are all taken care of, they will start building. They said they will probably be able to start the beginning of April and be done by July, which means we have got to finish our projects at this house and get it sold soon. Know anyone who wants a 2400 sq. ft. rambler?
Here are the house plans that we liked. It's just barely over 3,000 sq. ft., but we made a few changes (first floor and then the 2nd floor upstairs):

On the first floor, we're changing the dining room to a study with some french doors, pushing the family room wall back so that it's even with the breakfast area and master bedroom wall (we'll add french doors to the back wall there), a few switcharoos in the kitchen, a pantry and a secret room for the kids under the stairs, making a few small changes in the master bath like having a big claw foot tub instead of the garden tub, adding some storage rooms in the garage for all of our food storage, and then a few other small things. We are just so ecstatic and in disbelief that this is all happening. We have been so blessed to live in places that have always accommodated our needs and wants and that we have been able to afford. We feel incredibly blessed (and a bit guilty) to be able to build this beautiful home. It's going to be somewhere that we live a very long time in, and that we will be able to enjoy and make lots of memories. We can't wait and we'll keep you updated on the whole awesomely, wonderful progress.

Family Pictures

2012-01-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

I have been needing to take some more pictures of the family in order to update the frames around the house. I still need to get one of all of the girls together as well as one of the entire family, but these were the ones I have so far. I just love my family!

Baleigh has the funniest faces as well as some of the sweetest

Happy 5th Birthday, Ryleigh!

2012-01-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Ryleigh's birthday was about a week ago, and we had a ton of fun celebrating it. To start off, I surprised her by taking her to Petco and letting her pick out a fish. She wanted a pet, and since I'm not quite ready to go back down the dog road, I thought a fish would be easy enough for her to take care of, as well as a lot of fun. Jayden and Ryleigh looked over all the fish, and ended up picking out a Betta Fish. I wanted to get a cheap one, so I had the girls choose from the female fish since they are cheaper. The girls were fine with that since they wanted a girl fish anyway. Apparently the fish containers were labeled wrong though, and we ended up buying a boy, but the girls don't know that. His name is Princess Lolly.

Then for her birthday party, she decided she wanted a Candyland theme. She's been throwing out a million different ideas on what she wants since the second her last birthday ended, but we ended on this. It was a fun theme, especially when it came to the cake. I loved making it!

Since the makers of Candyland keep updating the game every 5 seconds, there were quite a few versions to choose from. I decided to go with the one that I am the most familiar with.

I thought about doing a flat cake to look like the actual board, but then thought it would be more fun to do 3 tiers and wrap the path around it to the top. Here is the front and the back of the cake:

It starts with Mr. Mint. Now, originally it would be Plumpy with his basket full of plums and the plum tree, but we didn't have enough room, and I thought out of all of the characters, he was the most expendable.

Then along to Jolly and through the Gumdrop Pass.

And everybody's least favorite, the evil Lord Licorice.

Sweet Gramma Nut and her delicious peanut brittle

Princess Lolly (Ryleigh's favorite, hence the fish being named after her)

Gloppy the friendly chocolate monster

The beautiful Queen Frostine (who has been demoted to Princess in the later Candyland versions as well as become more scandalous looking).

And the great King Kandy!

For her party, we just had a few girls over and played some fun games like pin the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae, a scavenger hunt that lead to the pinata, the breaking of the pinata, and then cake and presents. We all had a lot of fun!

Happy 5th birthday, Ry!

Late Christmas Post

2012-01-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well, better than never, right? We ended up driving to Utah for Christmas where my side of the family all got together at my sister, Jamie's house. My parents flew in from Israel, as well as my brother and his wife from Boston. We don't get to see them a whole lot, so this was a lot of fun. There were 15 people all together under one roof, and it was awesome. On Christmas Eve we all went to the movie theaters and watched Arthur Christmas. It was entertaining for both the kids and the adults. Loved it!

Christmas Eve is always exciting with the kids. My dad read "T'was the night Before Christmas" and Luke 2 as we all sat together in the living room. Notes were left for Santa on the fireplace with cookies, milk and carrots for the reindeer.

On Christmas morning, the kids ran up the stairs and we all had a blast opening gifts from one another.

Later that evening we had my Grammy and Grandpa Call over so we could give them their gift from all of us. I put together a family tree of our entire Call family, starting with them. They loved it.

That next week we all took a nice stroll around temple square and saw the beautiful lights.

And then before heading back home, we had to get a few pictures of the family and siblings together.

This last picture is a tradition that we started back in 1990.

1990, 2004 and then 2011.

Once There Was a Snowman...

2011-12-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas festivities are upon us and I'm trying to fit in a little something fun with the girls when I can. I saw this cute idea the other day and decided it would be fun to attempt.

We made some yummy sugar cookies and frosted them...

...and turned them into melted, little snowmen. We didn't have the right kind of frosting for the face and scarf (note to self: don't buy gel frosting again), so Frosty turned into a real mess, but I guess it kind of fits. Poor Ryleigh's snowman was extra sad, though.

Poor Frosty may have melted, but he melted into a pool of sugary, adorable goodness.

Cookies w/Mrs. Claus and the Lighted Farmers Implement Parade

2011-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

The day after the tree lighting incident, there was another fun little activity going on. At the Darigold Factory Mrs. Claus and Santa came for a visit to decorate cookies with all of the kids. Chad took the girls and said it was PACKED. The kids enjoyed themselves, though.

Later on that night, the Lighted Farmers Implement Parade was going on. It was freezing, but again, the girls love it. There were semis and tractors and all sorts of vehicles lit up for the parade. Apparently there were also a bunch of runners to start off the parade...I will have to join them next year! Wish I would have know.

Town Tree Lighting

2011-12-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

I love the holidays, don't you? It's even more fun being able to watch my kids get so excited over everything. Our little town has put on a few events for the kids to enjoy, and they have had a ball. Last week we read in the newspaper that Santa was going to come and visit. So, we took the kids downtown to where there was a small gathering of children and adults, enjoying hot chocolate, cookies, and singing carols as they waited for Santa to arrive. The girls both got to place ornaments on the town Christmas tree.

It was freezing, but we bundled up and waited for the big guy. Finally he came, riding on the side of a big firetruck. All of the kids rushed to him, giving him hugs.

He handed out some candy canes to all the kids.

...but not before Jayden had a word with him...notice the look in his eyes

This is a picture of Jayden informing "Santa Claus" that she knows that he is not the real Santa Claus. She told him that he is just an elf that helps Santa, because Santa Claus is too busy getting things ready for Christmas and needs special elves to visit the kids. She apparently got the idea from a Berenstain Bears book that she read. That's all fine and dandy, but I'm pretty sure the 20+ kids there were not wanting to hear Jayden yelling out "I know you're not the real Santa! You're just an elf!"

We left about 5 seconds after I heard what she said to him. I guess I should just be happy she didn't yell something else....

Is Someone Missing a Tooth?

2011-12-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Yep, our Miss Ryleigh is! A few weeks ago she informed me that her tooth was loose. I thought she was making it up because she's a little young to have her first tooth come out, but lo and behold she was telling the truth. It was loose and she's been wiggling it ever since. I didn't want to rush the tooth...exiting process, so I told her to wiggle it and then we'd check on it later. Well, this is what it looked like later:

It was disgustingly loose and needed to come out before she swallowed it! Chad and I tried to get her to just let us pull it out, and she broke down. Eventually I ended up getting her to let me pop it out so the tooth fairy could visit her that night. She was ecstatic to find a quarter under her pillow (yes, a quarter) and is proudly showing off the gap to everyone around.

December update #1-The Fireplace Remodel

2011-12-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'll start off our December updates with the ol' fireplace remodel. For anybody following my life, you know that we have had a long list of projects since moving into this house, and the upstairs fireplace has been patiently waiting its turn. We finally got to it and I love what it's looking like so far. I'll show you some of the before pictures first.

BEFORE (when the renters lived here)

BEFORE (when we painted the walls and decorated)

We wanted to put on a new mantle, take out the built in bookcase that was also connected to the old mantle, replace the tile on the hearth (the black grout kept rubbing off on anyone who would touch it and the tiles were cracked), and possibly paint the brick.

Chad had already replaced the tiles in this picture, and then he started taking off the mantle. It was actually solid mahogony, which is really expensive wood. After taking off the mantle, we found a few little treasures:

A letter with a number and an old stamp and then a high school ID card from 97-98.
The stamp and letter were from the Moores that owned the house back in the 70's I believe. At some point after they moved, the house turned into a drug house...nice, I know.

And here are the AFTER PICTURES:

(please take into account that it's not 100% finished. We haven't put up any molding yet, not even the chair rail, that's just photoshopped, and the fireplace just has primer, not white paint...but you get the idea)

I love it! The brick was so dark and dingy, and it just brought the whole room down. It looks so much cleaner and we haven't even painted the brick with white paint yet! I plan on getting one of those leaning ladder bookcases and putting it in the corner there. I think it will look nice.

November

2011-12-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Since my last post was in October, I figured I'd go back through November and update you on some of the bigger events that occured.

BALEIGH TURNED A YEAR OLD!

Okay, that was actually on October 29th, but it's pretty close to November, and it was definitely a big milestone. We didn't do a whole lot for the actual birthday, but we did sing happy birthday and have some yummy red velvet cake. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but eventually she got into it.

Baleigh is so many things. She is incredibly smart, curious, snuggly, cautious, sweet, and emotional. We love her so much! She has already learned how to say quite a few words, but we are also trying to teach her sign language. Here a some videos I've caught on my iPhone of her.

She's a sweetheart!

~
After that, I guess the next big event would have have to be Thanksgiving! Our ward at church is a newly combined ward, and so we are trying to make our own traditions. All growing up my ward ran a 5k Turkey Trot and then played some Turkey Bowl the morning of Thanksgiving. I always loved it! I decided to make sure it happened for our ward, so I mapped out a course for the 5k with my friend Shaina and then provided hot chocolate and cider after the run for everybody. I thought it was pretty darn fun and I even got my fastest 5k time yet. 26:00 flat, even with a couple of nice steep hills in there.

We didn't have much of a turn-out for the football game, but that was alright. I had a bunch of food to make for our feast at my in-law's house anyway. It was great getting together with Chad's parents and his brother's family for Thanksgiving. The kids had a blast and us adults were able to squeeze in some card games and pie after dinner. Perfect way to end Thanksgiving in my book!
~

And last, but not least of my November updates was mine and Chad's 8th year anniversary. We never really do anything for our anniversaries, so I decided to put forth a bit more effort this year. I decided to stay at home so we could keep it cheap, but I still wanted it to be sweet and romantic. I set up a little sheet canopy/tent over our picnic table on the deck and lit some candles. I also set up our heater and blankets out there so that we wouldn't freeze. I had Chad pick up our dinner from a local restaurant and come home to all of the lights out. I took him to the deck and we had a nice little dinner together out there. It was actually very romantic, even though it looks trashy and ridiculous in the pictures. Just imagine it all dark, only lit by candle light.

After our dinner, we put the kids to bed (they had already had dinner and were watching a movie so we wouldn't be bothered) and then we snuggled and watched a movie together while eating apples dipped in caramel. It was a simple anniversary, but it was also really nice.
The next day the girls and I had a special little surprise for Chad that we had planned on doing the night before, but it just wasn't able to happen. I went to the store and bought some Nerf guns and then put this note on the front door:

Needless to say, we had a blast.

I've got more updates to post for December! Somebody lost a tooth, and a long awaited remodeling project is just about finished!

Our Radically, Bodacious Halloween

2011-11-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

I tend to get a little obsessed when it comes to our Halloween costumes. I don't know where it comes from, since I never really used to be that into it. I didn't get to go all out last year, because I had just given birth to Baleigh, and had no energy for costumes, but the year before was fun. The year before that was also fun. Heck, even the year before that and that:

(2007)

(2006)

If you notice in both 2006 and 2007, I did some 80's costumes. Jayden's in 2006 was THE BEST. She looked like an adorable little 80's chick. Then the next year, Chad and I got in on the fun and dressed up as people from the 80's. The next couple of years I took a break from the 80's theme and did some characters that the girls would like (Dora and Diego and then the Wicked Queen, Snow White and the Magic Mirror). This year, I wanted to go back to my favorite theme, but include the entire family. I wanted the girls' costumes to be something that they really loved, but still something that would stick to the theme. I decided on cartoon characters from the 80's. There is a TV network that shows the classic 80's cartoons and Jayden and Ryleigh love it. Here's what we all came up with!

Baleigh was a cute My Little Pony. The costume was $4.00 at Goodwill and I just tweaked it, sewed up some stuff, and then added the classic My Little Pony eyes. It was a bit big on her, but she loved wearing it.

Next Came Jayden dressed up as Jem from Jem and the Holograms. Jem is basically the 80's version of Hannah Montana. It's about a girl named Jerrica who has magical earrings that change her into a rockstar named Jem. I was surprised that not many people knew that show, but Jayden did and LOVED it.

Ryleigh has been a bit obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake for quite a while, so this was an easy decision. There are 3 different versions of Strawberry Shortcake (the classic 80's version, the "updated" version, and then the most recent updated version). Ryleigh chose the less updated version, which was fine since it was the least amount of work. We sprayed her hair red, pinned it up, and threw together the outfit.Viola! She's berry cute ;-)

(classic 80's, updated, and most recently updated)

I think Chad enjoyed this costume the best. We had a few male 80's characters that we came up with, but this was the "coolest" one. He makes one studly G.I. Joe. He wanted to bring his guns along to our church Trunk-or-Treat so that his costume would be complete, but I informed him that it might be a bad idea to bring firearms to a church gathering with a bunch of little children.

And then there is me. I had a hard time with my Rainbow Brite costume, because I was so busy putting everyone else's together, that I didn't put as much effort into making mine exactly the way that I wanted to. I don't like to spend very much $$$ on our Halloween costumes, so I either make it from what we have at home, go to Goodwill, or sometimes I will get something cheap from Walmart or online. The wig was a bit of a disaster, but it was what I could find, on my budget, in the time frame that I had. I think overall it was successful. I had fun with it, anyway!

Jayden's 7th Birthday Party

2011-10-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

This year for Jayden's birthday, Jayden decided that she wanted to do a Monster High Party. For all of those who don't know what Monster High is, it's a bunch of dolls that are supposedly the teenage kids of famous monsters. There is Frankie Stein, the daughter of Frankenstein, Draculaura, the daughter of Dracula, and a bunch of others. They are fun, sweet little characters that embrace being monsters and being different, which I like, but they kind of look like the Bratz dolls that I CAN NOT STAND! Bratz are sassy and have lots of attitude and they dress scandalous. Needless to say, I wasn't sure about the idea of throwing a whole party with a Monster High theme. I decided that we would do more of a general monster party since it's close to Halloween, and then we could do a couple of Monster High things for Jayden to be happy.

I made a cake that was supposed to resemble the Monster High colors and theme, but we couldn't get the colors quite right with the fondant, so it looks more like a baby shower cake with a doll on top. The only reason why it looks somewhat good is because my friend, Alisha came over and helped me out.

I also made a little game called Pin the Bolt on Fankie Stein. I drew a little picture with her missing a bolt and they had to pin it back on.

Unfortunately, I was a big slacker this year and left the invites until last minute. We were out driving around like 2 nights before to try and get out as many invites as we could. That meant that we left out a couple of friends, but we were glad for those who could make it. Jayden's got some great friends out here!

Other than pinning the bolt on Frankie Stein, we also did a mummy race. The girls broke up into 2 teams and had to wrap one of their teammates in toilet paper, so they looked like a mummy. Then the 2 mummies had to jump across the yard and back racing each other. It was pretty funny!

After the race, we did another fun monster game. We took the girls downstairs and kept all of the lights off. They all sat around in a circle and I told them that we were going to make a monster like Frankenstein and they were all going to feel the different body parts for the monster. We passed around a bunch of items that were supposed to be the body parts, but the girls knew better and instead we turned it into a game of try and guess what it really is.

(peeled grapes for the eyes, oatmeal for the brains, hot

dogs for the fingers, dried apples for the ears, a balloon with warm water for the heart, and then some spaghetti which isn't shown for the intestines)

They all seemed to have lots of fun!

What's Up With The Thorn-dizzles?

2011-10-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

Since I dropped off the face of the blogging earth for a month, I am now required to update you on our life complete with pictures and all. Here's what you missed:

In July I traveled to Utah with my 3 girls and got to see 2 of my cousins get married in the temple. It was awesome. I also got to photograph one of them, which is one of the reasons for being so busy these past few months (thus the lack of posts). Editing photos takes a while, especially when you've got a million of them and you are also trying to be a mom at the same time. It's fun though, and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.

Then August came and we kicked it off with not one, but two family reunions back-to-back. The first one was the big Thornock family reunion. It was all of the Dean Thornock family (Dean is Chad's grandpa), and their families. There were around 100 people all camping/staying at Chad's parent's place, which is a beautiful house on the river. It was so much fun getting to know so many Thornock's, but man was it exhausting! I wish we would have taken more pictures, but alas I only took some on the last day. Here is the big group photo with almost everyone there.

After that reunion, we immediately jumped into a reunion with Chad's brothers. Some of us were at the giant family reunion, and so we were so tired and exhausted that we weren't that much fun for the second one. It was great to see everyone, though. Chad's got some great family.

The week after that, I ran my Hood to Coast Relay in Portland. You can read my blogs about it a couple posts down. I plan on running it again next year!

In September we tried to enjoy the last bit of Summer by swimming at the brand new pool in Prosser, the next town over. It's a GREAT place, and we will definitely be going there quite a bit next summer.

Jayden definitely had a blast...

Ryleigh had fun, but she clung to me quite a bit. When we tried to get her to go down the waterslide, she freaked out and threw a fit.

Summer ended and school started up. Jayden and Ryleigh have been loving school, and I've been loving the extra free time on my hands. I decided that since I had the time and energy, I would try to do something that I've never really done, nor had any real interest to get in to.
Sewing.
I made some high waisted skirts for the girls and ended up sewing Ryleigh's to an old shirt that she had so it could be worn as a dress. They are a mess as far as the sewing goes, but I still think they're cute.

At the end of September I started my "run a race every month" goal. I plan on keeping up with my running so I will be ready for the Hood to Coast next August. Running a race every month will keep me motivated to train. This last race was just a 5k, but it was a fun one, especially since I ran it with my friends Shaina and Alisha. I ran it in 27 minutes, which is great, but I want to train harder and do better. I love pushing myself and seeing how far my body can take me. It's definitely a thrill.

Now that October has come upon us, I've been a bit more busy. I've got Halloween costumes to put together (oh, I can't wait to show you them!) and 2 birthday parties to plan. Jayden is turning 7 in one week, and Baleigh is turning a year old in 2 weeks. Crazy! Today we decided to take a break from some of the craziness and go to a fun little place called Bill's Berry Farm. It's a family owned farm that has some great activities all year round (not to mention the best homemade doughnuts EVER). Since it's fall, they have a corn maze, pumpkin patch, apple picking, cider making, apple launching and a few other activities. We have gone about 3 times already, but today we decided to go back and get some pumpkins.

Before picking out our pumpkins, we decided to try the apple launcher. It was awesome. I'm pretty sure we could have been there for an hour doing nothing else and have been happy.

Then we went to the pumpkins, which always puts you in the fall/Halloween mood.

Other than that, we've been busy with our own individual things. Chad is busy at the practice as always. I know my opinion may seem biased, but he is honestly the best chiropractor ever. It's been touching to meet some of his patients and have them tell me how much Chad has helped them overcome some physical handicaps that have plagued them for so long. He truly has a gift.
I have made a goal to try and get as fit as I can before getting pregnant again. We've talked about trying for our fourth child sometime next fall, so I have a goal to run a race every month until the Hood to Coast in August 2012. After that, we'll see what happens ;-) I have been working out every night and running as well. I have really noticed a big difference in how I feel. I feel strong and toned and it motivates me to keep going. I am healthy and happy and loving life.
Jayden and Ryleigh are doing great in school. They are such great friends and are constantly making me laugh. Baleigh is one smart cookie! She can already say quite a few words and she knows how to sign "please". She walks and takes naps like a champ. We're teaching her new things every day and she seems to pick up extremely quickly.

Well, that's about it. I should be blogging quite a bit in the next few weeks with all the birthdays and Halloween approaching, so keep checking in!

Back to School

2011-09-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year, when all of the summer craziness comes to an end and the school scheduling begins. Jayden started 1st grade this year and is so stinkin' grown up. She already reads novels, writes her own stories and books, does advanced addition and subtraction (with some easy multiplication and division), and is the most creative little thing, it's amazing. Seriously, I don't know how she got so smart! I'm a little afraid that she will get bored in 1st grade and won't be stretched enough. I'm hoping that if that's the case, there is something we can do to push her and help her grow instead of going over the same stuff all year long. She's excited, though and likes her teacher. She has also lost all 4 of her top teeth in the last 2 months. Her 4th one fell out yesterday at school and she was ecstatic! It's so much fun watching her mature and blossom into this beautiful girl.

Now, Ryleigh just started her first day of Pre-kinder yesterday. This is the same place we sent Jayden when she was Ryleigh's age and she loved it! Ryleigh always wants to do what Jayden is doing, and so when Jayden was sent off to school, Ryleigh was dying to go as well. She finally got her chance yesterday. Ryleigh is a little more emotional and spacey than Jadyen is, so I hope she doesn't struggle too much, but I know this will be good for her. She told me she had fun after I picked her up, so I think she'll really enjoy it. I've also been trying to do more with the girls' hair lately since they are both in school and I don't want them looking scruffy on my account. I don't know how to do hair, but I'm trying.

Hood To Coast Relay pt. 2

2011-09-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

So, van #2 has now finished up with our first 6 legs of the race and our last runner Dan passed off to van #1 so they could start their second 6 legs. We were all sick from the heat and so tired, and just wanted some food and rest to get us ready for our next runs. Scott (the tall guy on the far left) had been texting his parents throughout the race and were asking them to get us a bunch of stuff to eat once we were done. They were so sweet and had a feast waiting for us once we got to their house. I kid you not, there was everything and anything we could have wanted and more. They were kind enough to let us take showers, do some laundry and they even gave us each rooms to take a quick nap before we had to leave again. I was feeling really sick, but tried to shake it off. I think I just had some heat exhaustion and I was too dehydrated. I also have a really big problem with car sickness (anyone who has spent any amount of time with me in a car will attest to this) and so the windy roads in the back of a van were really doing a number on me. Needless to say, I felt like crap, but I was still excited about the race. This was a neat opportunity that not a lot of people get, and I felt pretty great being a apart of it.
So, after we stuffed ourselves, cleaned up and got a 5 minute nap, we all piled back into the van. I think it was somewhere around 11:00 p.m. when we left. We drove to our next exchange point and sent Zach on his second run. When Zach got back in the van, he said that this run felt SO much better and you could tell he just felt great. Then Hailey came back saying the same thing. I was feeling extremely sick at this point, so I wasn't so sure my run would be the same. I was nervous. Scott got back and passed off to Ksenia and while she was on her run, we decided to stop half way and cheer for her. I hopped out of the van and tried to throw up as I was so nauseous and sick, I thought it would just make me feel better to get something out!

(me trying to puke, but much to my and Scott's disappointment, nothing came)

I couldn't throw up, but I started getting another rumbling in the tummy, if you know what I mean. I needed to evacuate things on the other end. I was up next to run and I was nervous that if I didn't go then, I might have another "incident" like last time. I grabbed my very close, very wonderful friend Hailey and asked her to watch guard as I crept into the woods and did my business. As all great friends do, she obliged and I was extremely grateful to her. I felt ready to go, which was good because I was up next.

We hopped in the van and got to the next exchange point. While I waited for Ksenia to get there and pass to me, I started really getting nervous. I didn't want to disappoint the team and run slow again, I didn't want to feel sick again, and I just wasn't sure what lay ahead of me. I had my new friend, Dan standing next to me and I informed him of my fears. He was awesome and gave me a little pep talk. He said, "Ashleigh, nobody cares about your time! Don't worry about any of that. Just think of this as if you were home, the kids are asleep finally and your husband says you should just get out and go for a relaxing run. Pretend like this is just some time for you to relax." I love him for that! That's all I needed as Ksenia came running in and handed off the slap bracelet to me. I grabbed it, turned my little head lamp on and started jogging. It was almost 3:00 a.m. and the night was cool. It felt amazing to run in the dark, through the forest, without anybody really around me. When was I ever going to do this again? It was AWESOME! Now I knew what everyone was talking about. I was pumped. I started singing a Mindy Gledhill song to myself while I ran, smiling from ear to ear. "I'm gonna walk a hundred miles. I'm going to whistle all the while. If that's what it takes to make me smile, I'm going to walk a hundred miles." I kept going and even started to giggle to myself. It was surreal. I was only running a little over 4 miles on this leg, but I wish it were longer. It ended too quickly as I came to the exchange point and passed off to Dan. I was on a little high and felt great.

We only had Dan left to run until we could go to our sleeping area and nap for a for hours. As we drove, we tried to contact Van #1 since they needed to be at the exchange and ready to go. They were at their sleeping area and they weren't expecting us for another couple of hours. Since there is no phone reception where we were, we had walkie talkies that we tried to communicate on. Apparently, they didn't work so hot either. Ksenia was calling over and over trying to get somebody on the other line. Eventually Colleen from Van #1 woke up and took a restroom break. If she hadn't, nobody would have heard the walkie talkie. She picked it up and quickly found out that she needed to be at the exchange area NOW. As van #1 was frantically putting their sleeping bags and tarps away, we pulled up.

They got on their way and we now had to find our designated sleeping area. Little did we know that it would take us 3 hours in traffic to get there! We had a while to nap before we had to run again, but since we were stuck in traffic, it ate up our sleeping time.

(traffic was horrendous!)

(Scott thought it would be funny to take a picture of us passed out in the van...yes, I know I'm adorable when I sleep)

We eventually made it to the large field that they had designated as a sleeping area. We stopped the car, plopped down a tarp and tried to get at least a little bit of sleep. It didn't quite work out as well as we had planned, but it's all part of the experience.

We were there for what felt like 10 minutes (probably closer to 45 minutes) and then Ksenia and Zach decided to just check at the exchange point to make sure nobody from van #1 was there waiting to hand-off. Lo and behold, Travis, runner #6 had been waiting for 15 minutes just calling out our team number, hoping someone would be there. So, off Zach went and we all quickly threw our stuff back into the van. These were our last legs and we were all pretty exhausted. I was truly terrified about what lay ahead of me. I was still feeling extremely sick and I had over 8 miles to run for my last leg. Little by little, each team member passed off and were done with their Hood to Coast runs. All of the sudden it was Ksenia's turn to go and all that was left was me and Dan. I wanted to trade my run with someone else. I wanted to just quit right there. I didn't think I was going to be able to run it. I wanted to cry! I turned to Zach, our team captain and I told him I might have to walk the whole thing. I seriously was not feeling good and my confidence was low. We made it to the next exchange point and as I got things together for my run, my teammate Dan said I needed to bring something to drink with me so I didn't have a replay of my first run. I grabbed some watered down Gatorade and waited for Ksenia.

Ksenia got back and was not feeling great herself, but she was done and ran amazing! She handed off to me and then fell into her husband, Zach's arms.

I took off and just told myself to enjoy the run and enjoy the experience. I was going to do my best and if I had to walk, I'd walk, but if I felt good I was going to go for it...and I did.

(me starting my last leg, 8 miles up hill)

All of the nervousness and sickness left me and I felt great. I knew I could do it. I kept a pace that was comfortable for me and before I knew it I ran 1, 2, 3 miles and I kept going. My van was waiting for me just after my 3rd mile marker and they cheered me on. I gave them a thumbs up and told them I felt fine. They drove away to meet me again at another mile marker and I kept going. The course started getting harder as it wound up and up and up. I felt like I was running up a great big hill the entire time, but I was okay. I was doing it!!! I wasn't going extremely fast, but I wasn't needing to walk. I took it at a nice jog and just looked around me as I ran. It was beautiful! Random gusts of ocean wind would blow towards me and I would get another gust of energy surge through. It got a little bit harder as it kept winding up this hill, and I started to get light headed so I walked those parts, but it was okay. I felt good.

I picked it back up and saw my team waiting for me again. They filled up my water and poured some on my head to cool me off and away I went. I knew I had less than a mile to go from looking at a map previously and so I pushed through and made it to the hand-off. Dan was there ready with a high five and the whole team made me feel like I had just hiked Mt. Everest. I was done, and I had made it!

The traffic was pretty crazy as all the teams were trying to make it to the same place, but we felt good to be done. We had accomplished it as a team. Unfortunately we were stuck in traffic so long that we didn't get to be there to see Dan cross the finish line, but Van #1 was there to cheer him on. Once we did get there, we all came together as a team and ran across the finish line together.

It was amazing! With this awesome team of 12, we ran 200 miles, from Mt. Hood all the way to the Oregon Coast. Did I do as well as I had hoped? Not really, but it didn't matter. We finished and that was really the goal all along. It was a great experience and I'm so glad that I got to share it with some of the best people in the world.

WHO'S UP FOR NEXT YEAR???

Hood To Coast Relay pt. 1

2011-09-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

So, I've said this a time or two...or dozen, but I'm not what one would label as "a runner". I enjoy being physically fit and active, and I enjoy seeing what my body can do. Running is good exercise and it doesn't take much to participate in it. A pair of good shoes and some time away from the kids and I'm set. I am not someone who can go running for miles on end just for the fun of it unless it's part of a race. When a race is involved, I'm all for it. It gets my blood pumping and my endorphins on some kind of a high. So, when some long-time family friends ran the Hood to Coast Relay last year and told me they were going to do it again, I was on board!

Let me start with some info about the race for all of those who know nothing about it. The Hood to Coast is the largest relay in the world. It starts from Mt. Hood all the way to the Oregon Coast and spans 200 miles long. The course consists of 36 legs; each team member runs 3 in rotation which can be anywhere from 4-8 miles long. Teams are made up of 12 people, which are divided into 2 vans, 6 people in each van. Van #1 starts off at Mt. Hood and runs their first legs, passing off a slap bracelet that is used as a baton to the next runner on their team. Once each member from van #1 has run their legs, their 6th runner passes the "baton" to the first runner in van #2. Then van #2 runs their 6 legs and the last runner passes to van #1 and so on and so on.

(our official team name, The Long Running Jokes)

So, I was in van #2 which consisted of an awesome group of people. I've known all of them for years and years, except for one guy that I had never met before. We quickly became good friends, though. On Friday morning we woke up, ate some breakfast, took showers and waited to hear how van #1 was doing on the first part of the race. We didn't have to be out there until 11:00 a.m. when their last runner would pass off to our first runner, Zach. We got there and the hand off was made. Zach took off and we decided to stop part way through his leg and wait for him so we could encourage him as he passed and give him some water (Hood to Coast doesn't provide water on the runs).

His run was a 6.5 hilly run and it was HOT. You would think 6.5 miles isn't too bad, but with the excruciating heat, it kills ya (we each found that out later). Zach ran it in and passed off to his sister Hailey and then he collapsed in the shade. He was beat.

(Hailey waiting for the hand-off and then Zach passing the "baton" to Hailey)

(poor Zach was pretty exhausted after the first run)

So Hailey runs her 4.5 miles and does really well (she's a rockstar, what can I say?) and she passes off to Scott. Scott had been training for a few months and was running like 10 miles a day! We figured he'd be able to take some of the harder legs since he was so prepped. Little did we know what the heat would do to him and the rest of us.

(Hailey running it in strong, and Scott closing in on his first leg)

Poor Scott handed off and then just fell to the ground. He didn't know that there was not going to be any water available, and he was running on blacktop the entire time without any shade. The temperature was somewhere around 98° F with full sun. Needless to say, Scott got a bit delirious. He kept asking us where Ksenia, our teammate was and we had to keep reassuring him that he had passed her the baton and she was on her run. Then 2 seconds later he'd be asking where she was again. He was really out of it!

(the hand-off to Ksenia and then our teammate, Dan pouring some cold water on Scott)

So with our team members coming in from their legs feeling exhausted and extremely beat, I was getting nervous for my run. It was almost 5 miles, but there weren't really any hills, so I thought I would be fine. I knew I needed to hydrate, but I also didn't want to have to go to the bathroom on the run, so I made a big mistake and didn't drink very much water. Ksenia came in and passed off to me and I took off feeling good. I could immediately feel the heat of the sun burning on my skin, but I thought I would be okay. I kept up my pace and was on my 2nd mile. I was on for a 9 minute mile when I really started to feel the heat on me. My face felt scorched and dry, so I kept licking around my mouth. Soon I had no spit and couldn't lick anymore, but my lips were so dry and burned that I just kept licking and licking. I was starting to really slow down and then all of the sudden I felt a stinging pain in my gut. Oh no! Oh, not this! I was terrified the entire time that during one of my runs I would have the dreaded diarrhea hit. With all of the stress, it hit. It was coming and I panicked. I stopped mid-run and just clenched my body tight. There was no way I was going to be that runner. This was a measly 5 miles, I could get through it. I started to feel better, so I went on my way again. Again, it hit. I had to stop and clench. It hurt so bad and all I could do was pray that it didn't come out all over the course. I was being passed by runners who were probably laughing at me, but I didn't care as long as I held it in! I kept going and stopping and was so physically sick from the heat that I thought I would have to sit down, but my pride wouldn't let me. "THIS IS ONLY 5 MILES" I kept telling myself. I could have run this distance no problem back home, but the heat was too much. I was so dehydrated that my body was shutting down. I finally saw the hand-off in the distance and I pushed myself to get there. After handing off to my teammate Dan, I gulped down a ton of water and rushed to the Honey Buckets. I needed to empty the system out!

(Dan running after the hand-off and me sucking down some much needed water)

Dan ran it in to downtown Portland and passed off to van #1's first runner. Our team was done with our first leg and we needed some food and rest.

(Walking through the crowds to get to our next stop. Food.)

to be continued....

Jam-packed Summer

2011-08-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's been just that, which is why I haven't been able to blog as frequently (see posts below for more updated fun). So far, this summer has been filled with thing after thing and it's only going to get more crazy! A few weeks ago I drove out to Utah with just me and my 3 girls (I know, I'm crazy) because I had 2 cousins who were getting married. My sister lives out there with her family and we love visiting them, so we take any opportunity we can to go. My sister's kids and our girls have so much fun together, especially Jayden and her cousin Emma, since they're both about the same age. They played dress up and did each other's make-up and spent every second they could together.

I also got to take lots of photos while I was out there. I've taken a bit of a break from my photography since having Baleigh, but this trip REALLY threw me back into it. I got to take a ton of family photos for my sister and her family, my cousin's family, my aunt and uncles' families, junior pictures...

but the main reason I was out there was to photograph my cousin, Logan's wedding.

My dad's family were all out there and it was so great to see them all again. This was the first time in a while that this many of them have been together. The only one missing was my dad's youngest brother, Leslie (there's a picture of him on the phone that my Uncle Jeff is holding).

We also got to go to my other cousin Hillary's wedding. Isn't her dress gorgeous??? Ryleigh couldn't stop touching it.

After all of the weddings and photographs, we got to relax and have fun as a family. My parents are flying to Israel today to live for a year, so this Utah trip was priceless. My parents, sister Whitney, Jamie and her family and me and the girls all got to go to Seven Peaks water park that Saturday. It was a blast! We were there for about 5 hours and the kids were in heaven. There were a few bumps and topples on the water slides, but over all, I think we had an amazing time.

I got home safe and sound and we are now preparing for 2 family reunions and my Hood to Coast Relay at the end of this month. I've had so much on my plate that I don't really feel as prepared as I want to be for the relay, but I'm excited about it. I'll try to take lots of pictures of the family reunion these next couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

Baleigh Bug

2011-08-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Baleigh is now 9 months old. I don't want to forget all of the milestones that she has hit, so here is an update on her for any and all who are interested. She started crawling at 7 months as well as growing teeth like a mad woman. Actually, sometime in between 6-7 months, she sprouted 8 teeth! That's not including the first 2 she had by 5 months. By 7 1/2-8 months she started pulling herself up. She looks like she'll be walking by this next month. She eats like a champ which is why she weighs 23.5 lbs. And she is a BIG mama's girl....but you wouldn't know it from listening to her. Her first word? Dada. Yep, and she still won't say mama. She calls everyone "dada".

Paper Airplane Competition

2011-08-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Welp, we've been a busy little family over here. I won't get into it quite yet, but just know we're still alive.
A few weeks ago, Chad's parents got back from their 3 year mission in West Virginia. They stayed with us for 4 days while they painted their house and got it fixed up. While they were here, Chad decided to get creative and have some free family fun. None of us knew what was in store until we read this note on the back sliding glass door.

It was a cute idea, but I told Chad that I was going to be all pictured out soon (more on that later) and so I was not going to be the photographer, nor was I going to be editing any of the photos. Chad gladly obliged. We all got busy making our own paper airplanes. Some were better than others (some people cheat and get ideas off of the internet beforehand...cough...CHAD....cough....), but it was all for fun.

Even Bai got in on the action....sort of...okay, not really.

After a few practice throws, the competition was about to begin. We all got in position and waited for the word "go".

And they're off....

Some went flying over into neighbor's yards, some soared and loop-de-looped to the back of our fence, and then others just flopped to the ground. It didn't matter. In the end, we all got yummy awards for our efforts.

Aunt Whitney

2011-07-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

My sister, Whitney came to visit over July 4th weekend. It was SO nice having her stay with us. My sisters are my best friends and I just don't get to see them as often as I want/need. While she was here, my girls were in heaven. Whitney is so animated and creative. In fact, one night after the girls were put to bed, they wanted her to read them a bedtime story. Instead of one of their books, she pulled out her laptop and read some stories that she wrote herself. They were about cotton candy clouds and orange juice tears and laughs that erupt and fill the sky with colors. They LOVED it. I also caught her reading them Rapunzel (the Mickey Mouse version) and it was hilarious to hear the characters voices and little side comments. Here's a little clip:

Daddy Day

2011-06-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, Father's Day.

My wonderful husband was hoping to sleep in this morning, but alas, our sweet Jayden and Ryleigh decided otherwise. How could they let him sleep in when there was breakfast in bed to be given? They didn't get the "need more sleep" memo, and woke up nice and early to make Chad a bowl of Kix. After they woke him up and gave him the cereal, they sat there and waited for him to eat it. He finally decided that he wasn't getting out of it and got up out of bed to eat it. They're so thoughtful that way.

Then before we left to church, the girls and I gave Chad our homemade gifts.

Here's what we did:

I made the world's sweetest card.

Then the girls and I picked out a ton of paint sample cards (in Chad's favorite colors) and wrote down "samples" of why we love him. It was filled with all sorts of things like "...because you adjust my neck" all the way to "...because you have a mind of your own (a crazy one)". The girls came up with their ideas all on their own and drew pictures along with it.

And last, but not least we made one of Chad's favorite treats. Cracker candy! It's a treat that tastes like Almond Roca, but not as hard. It's made with saltines, homemade caramel, and chocolate. Then we broke them up into small pieces and put them in this cute little container we made.

Chad doesn't really like a lot of hoopla surrounding him on any given holiday, but he definitely deserves today. He works so hard and is such a loving, playful, amazing dad to our girls that we love him to death.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY CHAD!

P.S. Some of you wanted the recipe for Cracker Candy. Seriously, it's fool proof and ridiculously easy. Don't let the simplicity of it stray you from trying it. It's good stuff.

CRACKER CANDY

Saltine crackers

2 sticks butter

1 c. brown sugar

chocolate chips

1.5 c. chopped almonds (or any other nut you prefer)

Line cookie sheet with foil and cover with rows of saltine crackers. Boil butter and brown sugar for about 3 minutes and whisk together to make a nice caramel. Pour over crackers.

Bake at 400°F for 5 minutes or until the edges of crackers start to brown. It will bubble. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and then the chopped nuts (I always melt the chocolate and pour it over the crackers because I find it works better and we leave out the nuts because Chad doesn't like them). Let set 5 minutes. Spread chocolate with spatula. Refrigerate at least 1 hour; break into pieces.

CARPET!

2011-06-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

Who knew how much carpet could really finish off a room??? Okay, I did, but it's been a long time coming for our basement and we finally have some. I'm sure it's nowhere near as exciting for anyone else, but we are sure loving it! Here are a ton of before and after pictures (click on them to enlarge).

This is a shot from our stairwell. The first one is from the landing on our stairs, shooting up into our kitchen and the second picture is shooting down from the kitchen to the landing on the stairs. Get it? We ripped out the ugly stair runner (that thing was FILTHY!) and put in new carpet, put in a new door to the garage, screwed in some coat hooks, and painted. We've still got base molding and touch up paint to do, but I think it's much better.

These are 3 shots of the basement hallway. The first is from when the renters were living here, the second is after we ripped out the paneling and put up the drywall, and the 3rd is with the carpet, new paint and new doors put in. Like before, we've still got molding and touch-up paint, but it feels amazing when you walk down there now compared to before.

These are of the basement family room. The first set of 3 are looking into the family room from the hallway, and the 2nd set are looking from the far corner of the family room out towards the hall/playroom door. Like before, the 1st pictures are from the renters, the 2nd are the remodeling, and the 3rd are the final product minus a few small things. We have ripped out the paneling and put up drywall, painted, put in new lighting, carpet, molding, put slate on the fireplace, put in a new door to the playroom and widened the entry to the family room.

And last, but not least is the play room. The top row is as you enter the playroom, and the bottom row is from the far corner wall where the slides are. We did the same things to this room, but we also bricked up this side of the fireplace (it was a 2-way from the family room) in order to make a closet.

Chad has done most of the labor with this basement so far and I just think he is amazing! The basement feels so much more comfortable, inviting and CLEAN! I love working on this house and making it our own. It's also nice to know that with all of the fixing up we've done, we're adding so much more value to the house. When we do sell it someday, we'll be able to get quite a bit more out of it from all of the hard work we put in. Such a nice feeling!

Dining Room Remodel

2011-06-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

It's so fun making our house our own, ya know? We've had fun (fun?!?!) fixing up this place and putting our own stamp on it, and even though we're no where near finished, it's neat to see some of the progress from things that we have done. Today we got pretty darn close to finished in our dining room, so I thought I'd just go ahead and post some pictures. We' still have to repaint the ceiling and touch up the wainscoting, but it's basically done.

Here are some pictures of what it looked like before we moved in. These are pictures we took when the renters were living here.

(keep in mind the second picture with the glass display case)

Well, we decided to replace the light and paint the bottom color a deep red after we moved in.

(Don't mind the mess, there was construction going on)

Then we decided that the big, glass display cupboard splitting the dining room and kitchen needed to go. It was blocking lots of natural light from getting into the kitchen and it was just in the way. So we took it down.

That left an ugly spot on the wall and ceiling from where it was left behind, and so since I was wanting to repaint anyway, we got to work picking out some new colors.

After painting a million different swatches on the wall, I also decided that I wanted to do some wainscoting on the bottom. I like wainscoting in dining rooms and we found a REALLY cheap and easy way to do it. The art also had to go because I wanted something that filled the wall space as well as played off the fact that it was a dining room.

So here is the final product:

Very cheap and easy to do and I think it looks a whole lot better. We are still in the process of painting over all of the red that flows into the kitchen as well as painting the ceiling, but here's what the space looks like for now from where we ripped out the glass display case.

I'm liking it a whole lot! What do you think?

Another reason to buy more jewelry....

2011-05-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Welp, we did it. A few weeks ago Jayden saw me putting on some earrings and decided she wanted to have some fun, too. I gave her some magnetic earrings to put on, but they kept falling off anytime she would touch them. I told her that the only way they'd stay on was if they were pierced. That was enough for her to make up her mind that she wanted pierced ears. Chad and I hadn't really talked about when the girls could get their ears pierced. We just decided that they would be the ones to bring it up when they wanted it, and then we'd decide. Well, that time came. Chad wanted Jayden to wait until she was 12 and I said that was crazy. Jayden is very responsible, and I felt that as long as I sat down with her, explained EXACTLY what was going to happen, let her know how much it hurts, how much care she has to devote to them, and the rules that they are the only piercings she will ever get, then if she decided she still wanted to do it, then we'd do it. Chad said he was alright with whatever I decided, so we waited until my mom and dad came out to visit so Grandma Call could be there for the special occasion. I got my ears pierced at the same age, so it was fun to go through this with her.

I was afraid Jayden would wimp out or start bawling, but she did extremely well! She was just so excited about the whole thing that the pain was worth it to her. We also let her pick out whatever starter earrings she wanted, and she chose her birthstone which is tourmaline (a pink crystal).

I shot a video before and after. She was a bit distracted in the before video, and the after isn't great quality, but I'm glad it's all documented. She was a trooper and now she wants to wear her hair up all the time so everyone can see her ears.

The Rapunzel Story

2011-05-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I caught Ryleigh acting out a scene from the movie Tangled and I thought it would be cute to have her tell me the story in her own words and catch it on tape. It's almost 6 minutes long, but she's adorable, so it's obviously worth watching, especially if you've seen the movie.

Sage Rat Run

2011-05-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

I want to be a runner. I am not a runner, but I want to be a runner. I don't have that natural ability to run for long periods of time at a very fast pace and I don't ever get that "high" that they all talk about when you go running. Like I said. I want to be a runner, but I'm not a runner....yet.

In my journey towards someday actually being able to call myself "a runner", I have signed up for a bunch of races in order to force myself to train for them. I need big motivation along the way to get me off my tokus and out the door. My really big race this year is the Hood to Coast which I will be running the end of August. I'm psyched about it, but nervous about my lack of...ability. In order to prepare myself for "the big one" I signed up for a 12k here in my little ol' town. It was called the Sage Rat Run. It was actually a half marathon, but I didn't feel up to running that, so I opted for the 12k (12k is 7.46 miles). I've been running a few times a week, trying to get my pace up. I also ran with a friend of mine and convinced her to run the 12k, too. She isn't a runner either, so the fact that she agreed says a lot about her. She was nervous, but totally pulled it out and did awesome. I also had another friend of mine run it, but she really is a runner. Like, she could have won the entire thing and she just had a baby a few months ago (sick, I know). So long story short, I ran the race, I felt really comfortable throughout the whole thing (except for the HOT sun that left me with a bit of a sunburn), and I feel like I accomplished another hurdle in my journey towards running.
I stayed with my one friend, Alisha (the one who just starting running) for the first couple of miles or so and then like a jerk, I felt the need to go faster, so I left her behind. I know! I already feel guilty about it, lay off! My other friend, Shaina (the incredibly awesome runner) took off towards the beginning and pretty much left everyone in the dust. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I got to experience it with some friends. I'm not sure of my time, but I think I got somewhere around 1:15. I checked my cell phone a couple minutes after I crossed the finish line, so I'm not sure what the official time was. 1:15 isn't great, but it's good for me right now. I'm thinking about running a 10k in Portland sometime in June. We'll see!

Me, Shaina and Alisha before the race

Me and Shaina after the race

Some finished Crafts

2011-04-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Remember my post about wanting to finish up some craft projects?

Well, I did and I thought I'd share with you.

The top picture didn't turn out quite as well as the B&W ones, but I love the picture, so I don't care. I love how the damask paper on the sides of the canvases turned out. We'll be hanging them up soon. Just to give you an idea of their size, I had Ryleigh hold on of them. They are 16x20, and after buying the photos and the canvas, the total for all 3 came to about $25.00. I already had one of the canvases and some of the other materials, the Mod Podge was cheap and so were the photos from Costco. VIOLA!

This actually turned out better than it shows. The wall is hard to get a good shot of because of the hallway it's in. The lighting is not great either and I had to take it with my wide angle lens which distorts the picture a bit. Just take it from me. It looks cute, very similar to the Pottery Barn one at the top of the post. The girls also love that we can hang up their artwork and pictures for all to see.

Easter Fun

2011-04-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I would have posted these pictures a couple of days ago, but I just took so darn many of them and didn't want to have to go through them all and edit them for you...so I didn't. I chose from the bunch and didn't edit them, so bare with me.

Before Easter came, I decided to make some yummy treats for Jayden's class at school. I found these cute bunny cupcakes with cookie ears and tried my best with them. The cookie ears ended up baking too big, so they were leaning all over the place, but the kids thought they were cute as well as delicious, so that's all that matters.

On Saturday we did 2 Easter egg hunts. One at Chad's brother's house with all of the kids from our ward, and another at Chad's uncle and Aunt's house with all the cousins. Here are some from the ward egg hunt:

Ty and Laura (my brother and sister in-law) have chickens, so all the kids wanted to check them out.

These are just some of the kids from the egg hunt.

All of the kids waiting for the words "GO"

I stood in front of the mob of kids as they ran out to find the eggs.

Afterward they had fun playing on the tree swing and eating their candy.

We had lots of friends come, including the missionaries (not sure what the Elder on the left was doing...)

Aaaand poor Baleigh was too small to join in on the fun, so she just enjoyed watching it all happen

Pottery Barn knock-off and other fun things

2011-04-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

You know, it's funny. I NEVER used to like crafts. Okay, maybe as a kid in elementary school I got into them, but as a teenager I can specifically remember sitting down with my bishop at church and telling him, "I HATE crafts. I want to go play basketball or capture the flag instead of sitting around making stupid junk that I'm just going to throw away." Yes, I had the world's best attitude. Now don't get me wrong. I still love my sports and running around outside, but after having a place of my own that I want to beautify and popping out a couple of kids who light up at the smallest things, crafts ain't lookin' so bad.

I have had quite a list of things on my "craft to-do list" and today I finally checked off a couple of them. The first was inspired by a Pottery Barn Butterfly Mobile that looked cute, but not $59 cute. I knew I could make something like it easily, and Baleigh needed a mobile, so I got to work and when all was said and done, I spent $0! That's right. Nothing. Chad had some fishing string (although it would have worked better if I had some thin nylon string so it dropped straight instead of bendy, but you work with what you've got) and I just cut out all of the butterflies by hand (it's easier if you have a butterfly punch-out, but again, you work with what you've got). Once I had the string and butterflies, I tied a few knots, strung the butterflies, got some wire and ribbon for the hoop at the top, and VOILA!

This is Baleigh's view from the crib.

Now, does it look exactly like the PB mobile? No. Is it quite as flashy and cute? Probably not, but I love it anyway and Baleigh thinks it's very interesting to look at, especially when the air catches it and the butterflies spin around. I also made some butterfly art on the wall out of some old frames that were sitting empty and some cute paper I had in the closet.

The nursery feels much more whimsical. I love it.

I've got a whole list of projects to do, but here are 2 that I plan on getting done this week.

I want to Mod Podge some family pictures onto some large canvases I bought from Wal-mart ($10 for 2) instead of printing them on canvas and spending a couple hundred dollars.

(picture courtesy of The Sassy Pepper Blog)

I also plan on making this simple art cable system for the girl's pictures. So easy, and a cute way to display them, especially since we have a wall that is bare in the play room that would fit this perfectly!

(another Pottery Barn item I won't be wasting my money on)

The Face

2011-04-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

What in the world could make my sweet little baby's face go from this:

to this in a matter of seconds?

It couldn't possibly be the fact that maybe she was just born that way, could it?

Oh wait, yes, yes it could.

BUT, it could also be this:

Mmmmm, looks tasty doesn't it? That's right, we've hit a milestone in Baleigh's life and have started on the solids. She has been grabbing at our food and trying to eat anything she can get her hands on, not to mention she's also got 2 new pearly whites that want something to chew.

So here's how it went down.

Hi, I'm Baleigh and I'm a happy girl. Look at me in my big girl seat at the table!

What is that green stuff? I'd better investigate. Mommy, let me help you bring that closer.

(CLICK ON THESE PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

Oooh, yes...interesting...uhhh.....

This stuff is gross mom.

Yep, the verdict is in. She loves the stuff!

I love my family!

2011-04-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty awesome day. We woke up, watched some general conference together, ate some deliciousness with friends, watched some more conference, and then got outside in the beautiful weather and updated the family pictures. My brother and sister in law live 2 seconds away and their place is perfect for pictures, so we took the opportunity and headed on over there.

The weather has been so gorgeous and it's making me SO excited! I can't wait to go for runs and play in the grass with the girls. Speaking of the girls, we also got some pictures of all 3 of them.

Aren't they cute? I am seriously head over heels, in love with my family.

Tangled Movie Party

2011-03-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

For all of those who don't know, the Disney movie 'Tangled' came out today. We've been a bit obsessive about it in our house (remember Ryleigh's birthday party?) and so we were counting down the days until we could buy the movie. I decided that since my girls wanted to watch it so badly that it might be fun to invite over the rest of the girls from our church to watch it with them. We had a little girl's movie date over here and I think they all had lots of fun. They were dropped off right after school, we popped popcorn, got out blankets and pillows, turned off the lights and let them enjoy the movie.

While they watched, I was upstairs making cupcakes for them to eat and then take home. I wanted to make something cute from the movie and so I came up with 2 ideas. The first was a Pascal cupcake.

He was the chameleon sidekick to Rapunzel in the movie. He is so cute and feisty and I think all of the kids love him! So, here was my little creation:

It's not an exact match, but for something that I threw together quickly, I think he's pretty darn cute. I also wanted to incorporate Rapunzel into some of the cupcakes, so I made some marshmallow fondant for the first time ever and decided to play around and see what I could make. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to really finish her, but it was fun to do anyway. The kids helped frost the cupcakes, and since they were all heading out the door, I just squirted a bunch of hair on her and left the face off, just so the could see the end product.

We had lots of fun and I'm glad we got to break in the movie with so many friends!

Mindy Gledhill Concert

2011-03-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Oooooh, I love me some Mindy Gledhill. I first heard a song of hers sometime last year called, 'Child of Light'. It's an amazing song, and it totally touched me. Since then, I have been listening to any song of hers that I can get my hands on, and I've got to say that she does NOT disappoint. Her voice is so soothing and bright. Here are a few songs that I love so you can check her out and get a feel for her awesomeness (double click on them so you can see the full screen):

This was taped by a fan...obviously. It's the first one that I heard from her.

This one you need to skip to 1:54 to hear the song. It's worth it! I sang this to Baleigh when she was in my belly and Chad played it on his iPad at the hospital right after I had her.

This song touches my heart so much as I've studied about Emma Smith for the past month and have just fallen in love.

I just think she is so amazing and I'm SO EXCITED because she is coming to Yakima on April 1st to do a small little concert and I got my tickets today!!! Anyone else want to come with me??? Click HERE for a link to her shows and to buy tickets.

Baleigh's Birth Story

2011-03-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to making Baleigh's birth story video. I've wanted to do this for a really long time, but today was the day I actually sat down and just did it! It was put together quickly, but I'm happy I have it. Watch it and tell me what you think.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, today has been quite an eventful day. I enjoy the chance to do special things on holidays because it makes for good memories. I don't know that we did much as kids with St. Patrick's Day other than wear green, but I thought it would be fun to start our own traditions. We did the "wear green so you don't get pinched" thing (Ryleigh was quite concerned about the pinching) and I made a special "all green" lunch for Jayden and Ryleigh that consisted of green milk, spinach salad, green vanilla yogurt, green apple slices, a green fruit roll up, and then a special note for Jayden with a piece of chocolate leprechaun gold on it. Here's Ryleigh with her green milk.

I also wanted to make something special for friends and for Jayden to bring to her teachers. This is what I came up with:

(found at http://bethproudfoot.blogspot.com/2011/02/youre-my-pot-o-gold.html)

Some baggies with rainbow licorice and either gold coins or a piece of ferrero rocher.

After Jayden got back from school, I told her that we should make a leprechaun trap in the backyard. I told her they were very sneaky and don't like to be around humans because we steal their gold. She didn't think that was very nice and so she made sure that we voiced very loudly (so the leprechaun could hear) that we wouldn't hurt him or steal his gold. She also informed him that she was a "gentle Jayden". I thought that was cute. Here's the trap that we made:

I let the girls paint a shoe box and then we hung a gold sprayed jar top to the roof of the box with some rainbow ribbon. The jar top is supposed to resemble a giant piece of gold in order to trick the leprechaun into grabbing it and pulling the box down on top of himself. And apparently it worked:

Even though the leprechaun got away, the girls still felt pretty "lucky" to have trapped him for a little while. Jayden proclaimed, "Victory is ours!" She makes me laugh.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tortillas!

2011-03-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I'll post more on the events from today in a later post, but for now I thought I'd share with you our dinner last night because apparently my life is just that exciting. I've been trying to cook a little more and last night I tried making homemade tortillas from scratch. It was pretty dang easy and they turned out good! The kids loved them.

Ryleigh was my little helper in the kitchen and she had a ball!

After rolling out the dough, we fried them up on a very lightly greased pan.

Ryleigh was my guinea pig for the first tortilla. She approved, so we fried up the rest.

We each got to choose our own toppings.

Baleigh was obviously impressed. Chad...well, he was just happy to have a warm meal in his tummy. Kidding, he thought it was great.

I found the recipe HERE, in case you wanted to try them out yourself.

Bits and Pieces

2011-03-09T23:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't fallen off the planet, we've just been struggling with sickness and sleep deprivation for the last 3 weeks, so I've been a bit unmotivated. I will now share with you what is going on in the lives of the Thornock's.

Chad is working hard. He's always working hard. It's one of his better qualities. He is currently owning his own portion of the chiropractic business and doing incredibly well. We're slowly paying off some of the astronomical debt from school loans, business stuff, and buying our house, but it's happening because Chad is amazing at what he does. He is currently obsessing about big plans for the future. He would like to build a bigger clinic, but we've got to pay off our debt first and figure things out.Hopefully this isn't too far away.

I am trying to get back into shape after having Baleigh just over 4 months ago. I am training for the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon this summer and I'm SO excited about it. I am definitely not a runner, but I would like to be and so I'm trying. I am working out and running on the treadmill as well as trying to stay away from too much junk food. I'm only 1-2 lbs. away from my pre-pregnancy weight and so that's always nice. I've still got a whole ton of loose, jiggly junk that needs to be toned and tightened, but it's getting there. ALSO, an amazingly awesome friend of mine sent me 2 new pairs of Women's Nike running shoes (Nike Lunarglides and Nike Free N7s) for FREE and so I'm trying them out to see how I like them. The Lunarglides have been a hit right away, and the Frees are supposed to be like barefoot running which is apparently something big that runners are doing lately. I'm still trying to get used to them, but they're feeling better every time I use them.

Other than that, I'm just trying to take care of Baleigh as well as do my church calling which is First Counselor in the RS Presidency. Fun stuff!

Jayden is still as kooky as ever. She is too darn smart for her own good, but we like her that way. She is thriving in school and her teachers are always making comments about how they are amazed at how intelligent she is and how much fun she is. She is currently on her way to losing her 4th tooth (as evidence by the picture) and she is always trying to be the big helper around the house. She likes to "take care" of Baleigh and make me sweet little notes and homemade crafts. Down below are some letters she wrote to me today.

She loves my "kacs" (cakes) and she will "olwase" (always) love me.

She is my "doter" (daughter) and she will "olwase" love me if I'm bad or not (what does that mean???) even if we get a new baby, she'll still love me. Wow, that's....I don't even know where to go from there. I guess I'm just glad she'll still love me.

Ryleigh is so sweet. Seriously, she is the most lovey girl. She probably tells me 20+ times a day that she "loves me so, so, so, so, SO much" and that "I'm the best". She knows how to make me feel good. She is still the most stubborn little thing and will bust out some dramatic tears at the drop of a hat, but you can't help but love her. We are trying to work with her on writing her ABC's and numbers, but she isn't catching on as quickly as we would like. She is just a bit in her own world and wants to do what she wants to do.

Baleigh is growing so quickly! She is a little over 4 months now and is so chubby and smiley, I just love it. She rolls over and loves to "talk" and laugh with us. Currently she is trying to get over an ear infection and RSV which has been a headache for Chad and I. She isn't grumpy at all, she just hasn't been sleeping at night because she can't breathe and the coughing wakes her up. She will get into coughing fits so bad that she throws up. She is getting better (hasn't thrown up for the past 2 nights) but I think it will be another couple of weeks before she's completely over it. She's a trooper, though. She is also scheduled to get her frenulum on her tongue clipped in a few weeks since she is tongue tied and we don't want her having issues from that when she gets older. I pray that it isn't a horrible experience!

Who is that?

2011-02-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

So today we had some fun with Ryleigh's hair. I LOVE her curly hair and we always get comments on it wherever we go. Lately though, she has been wanting to have "stripey" hair (aka straight hair) like Jayden and Rapunzel (yes, she is obsessed with Rapunzel). So, I decided to just see what it would look like if we gave her straight hair. This is what her hair normally looks like (maybe a little more scraggly and poofy than usual, but you get the gist):

Aaaaand, this was her after some serious hair straightening.

Needless to say, she LOVES it. In fact, when she saw herself she was bouncing off the walls and just touching her hair constantly. I think it's definitely cute! I couldn't stop looking at her because she just looks so different, but I don't want her hating her curly hair and wanting this style all of the time. It's too much work, and I will start to miss those curls before too long.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Valentine's Day was yesterday, but whatever. We had a nice, calm V-Day over here. Chad and I don't necessarily go all out on days like this. We do little things here and there, but we figure that with our lack of extra $$$ to spend, and with all of the extra pressure to do something extraordinary for this one day, we would just defy it all and do something small. I think my favorite thing about Valentine's Day is making the cards for my kids. Kids are what make holidays fun! I like holidays where I get to be creative and crafty with my kids. For Valentine's Day last year, I made a valentine for Jayden and Ryleigh to hand out. Here's what they looked like:

They were fun to make, and a little more meaningful than the store bought ones (although what kid doesn't love a Transformer professing it's love to you and asking you to be it's Valentine?). This year I picked a few designs for Jayden and we narrowed them down to 2. Here's the one she didn't pick, although I really liked it:

And here is a picture of the one she did pick:

This is the picture without the lollipop.

We just took a picture of her holding out her hand, cut some slits in it and put in the lollipop so it looked like she was holding it out to her valentine. Kind of fun!

I also made a valentine for my Chadley. I thought he might like all of the thought and romance that I put into it:

And when Chad came home from work, he had some sweet little surprises for his girls.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

My First Levi's Jeans

2011-01-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

I was taking some pictures of Baleigh today and I noticed her outfit. Our good family friends, the Southwicks bought this for us when we had Jayden. It's a pair of Levi's jeans with 2 different onesies (a long sleeved pink and short sleeved white) that say "My First Levi's Jeans". I love this outfit and it always gives me good memories when I pull it out of storage for the next baby. Each of our girls have worn it and we've taken some pictures along the way.

(click to make bigger)

First was Jayden, then Ryleigh, and now our little Baleigh. I love my sweet little girls!

Happy 4th Birthday, Ryleigh!

2011-01-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

So today was the much anticipated birthday party for Ryleigh. She has been talking about turning 4 since the beginning of this last summer. Along with the whole turning 4 thing, she was most excited about her birthday cake. She likes watching all of the cake shows with me and so she wanted something pretty cool for her cake. I kept asking her what kind of cake she wanted and the theme changed every time until she heard about the Disney movie "Tangled". After that, she was sold. She wanted to be Rapunzel for Halloween and she definitely wanted a Rapunzel birthday cake. I am obviously no expert cake maker, but I have fun with the girl's birthdays. I try to put some extra effort into the cakes because it's something they look forward to. Here are a couple of birthday cakes I've done so far:

My first attempt at doing something other than a plain, ol' cake. Not too extravagant, but Jayden loved it.

Then I got a little more creative and decided to free-hand a picture of Tinkerbell onto her cake.

Then there was this Barbie one I did for Jayden. It's supposed to be Barbie from the new movie, "Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale". It was the first time I had tried to do a non-sheet cake and I think it turned out alright. Jayden and Ryleigh both loved it, and that's all that matters.

So with Ryleigh's Rapunzel cake, I threw together some ideas and just decided that whatever came out of it would be fine. She'd love it as long as it resembled something "Rapunzel". Here's what it looks like:

I had Chad make a base with a dowel in the middle of it in order to stack the cakes on the dowel and give it some support. Then I frosted the tower and placed candy rocks all over it. I wish I would have done only the gray and white rocks so it looked more uniform, but it's what I had, so I used it. Then I made the window out of black gel, and shoved a mini Rapunzel doll into the cake to make it look like she was looking out the window. I had Chad make the top of the tower out of frosting and golden grahams cereal. It turned out okay, not exactly what I wanted, but the kids went crazy over it. All of the kids thought it was the coolest thing, so that made me feel good.

We played pin the hair on Rapunzel.

Then we made these chameleon party blowers out of craft foam. It's supposed to be the character "Pascal" from the movie "Tangled".

Then we blew out candles, ate come cake and opened some presents. I specifically told the moms not to get any presents since we bought a few for Ryleigh and she definitely didn't need any more stuff after Christmas, but they were little stinkers and did it anyway. Ryleigh absolutely loved it and we were so happy to have all of the kids over to make it such a fun day for her.

I'm back!

2011-01-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

Alright, after procrastinating long enough on this blog, I've decided to finally just sit my rear on down and post again! I've been so busy and every time I sit down and think about updating you all on what's been going on, I decide it's going to take too long and opt out. So I won't make this long, I'll keep it to the point.

We went to my parent's place for Christmas and enjoyed getting to hang out with almost my whole family, minus Justin and Collette. On Christmas day we skyped with Chad's parents so that they could experience Christmas with the grandkids. They are in West Virginia on a mission for our church, and they are missing the family very much. It was fun having the girls open presents from them and letting them see how excited they were.

My sister Jamie and her family came out a couple days after Christmas. My kids LOVE their cousins and were so ecstatic to have them around for a whole week.

My parents have this funny little (okay, not so little) table that you can rotate around like a lazy susan. All of the grandkids had fun riding it while grandpa twirled them around.

We also got to visit with Justin's daughter, Leila and her mom Jane. Leila was born on Christmas day and so we met up with her to give her birthday/Christmas presents. The kids loved it!

After all of the Christmas fun, we came back home and have been starting the year off right! I've started my private workout blog again where I am doing the Whittle My Middle Challenge with a ton of ladies who want to get fit and be held accountable for their progress(if you want an invite to the blog, let me know). I've got a little bit of extra weight to lose and some muscle to build back up after having Baleigh, and so this has been a good motivator for me. I have about 8 lbs. to go until I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight and I'm fitting back into a lot of my old clothes. I've still got more tummy than I want, but it's only been 2.5 months! I can't expect miracles here!

Things are going well with Chad and the girls. Chad buying the practice this year took a bit of a different twist than we had planned, but it's all working out really well for us. He's buying his patient load from the practice and will eventually build another practice under his name. It's going to be much larger and include other options like massage therapy and physical therapy. We're really excited for it all to begin, but it just takes time and money ;-)

The girls are all happy and healthy. Jayden is continuing to thrive in school and impresses me everyday with how well she reads and writes. She also has a passion for drawing and designing. I should take pictures of the dresses that she has designed. She literally has a big notebook filled with dresses that she has drawn out and they look so awesome. She's very bright and talented.

Ryleigh is turning 4 this week and she can't talk about anything else. She has been looking forward to this birthday since the beginning of last summer. She wants a Rapunzel cake, which I am in the process of figuring out how to do. She is so much fun to have around during the day since Jayden is off at school.

Baleigh is the best baby ever! I love her so much, it makes my insides just feel all gushy. We have her on Zantac for her reflux and although it doesn't do a whole lot for the spitting up, it definitely has made her a happier baby. She is SO smiley and giggly. One of our favorite things to do is just "talk" with her. She babbles and smiles back with those chubby little cheeks and dimples. We love it. Her sisters are in love with her as well. They can't get enough of her!

And here are a few more pictures of Baleigh within the last week.

Aaaand, so much for keeping this short. Oh well, at least we're up to date. I'll be posting again soon after we have Ryleigh's birthday. Wish me luck on that Rapunzel cake!

Updates

2010-12-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

Alright, so I've been a bit busy lately (aka: sleep deprived, lazy, etc.) and I have not blogged about a few things that have happened over the last few weeks.

First there was Thanksgiving:

We went to my parent's place in Portland and enjoyed hanging out with them. The girls had fun playing games...

Baleigh got lots of the attention and let us know just how she felt about it...

There was lots of delicious food to fill our tummies...

And we all enjoyed going to the movies and watching the new "Tangled" movie. It was very cute!

My mom and I also took part in the annual Turkey Trot that the ward puts on. It felt good to get out and exercise again after having a baby. We love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Then we came home and decided to bless Baleigh that Sunday in church. My parents decided to come out for it, which really meant a lot to us to have my dad as part of the blessing circle. The night before, our ward put on a Christmas party that had the "Polar Express" as it's theme. Everyone came dressed in pajamas and we ate pancakes and sausage for dinner. There was a reading of the story, "The Polar Express" and afterward a special visitor came to say hello to all the kids(thanks mom for bringing your camera since I didn't!).

The yummy candy train that my friend Carina made. I was obviously impressed by her crafty skills.

All the kids having fun!

Jayden and Ryleigh listening to The Polar Express

Ryleigh's expression when Santa walked through the door

The infamous Santa's lap pictures

Santa handed out some yummy bags of candy

The girls had tons of fun! It was nice to have my parents there as well.
The next morning was Sunday, the blessing day. As I said before, my dad was part of the blessing circle as well as Chad's Uncle Todd, his best friend Pinky, and our friend Jeremy Anderson. His grandpa was there, but was not physically able to join in. We're just grateful he made it and was able to hear the blessing. It's something so special that I'm grateful my husband is able to perform for our children. Each of their blessings are so personal to them and have truly described their personalities. We have already seen things from Jayden and Ryleigh's baby blessings that have proven to be true and the blessings and promises given to them give me so much peace.

My Baleigh girl all dressed up in my blessing dress that I used when I was a baby.

All of my girls have used it so far, so it's pretty special to us.

I tried to take a quick picture of my dad and Chad holding Baleigh, but it's a bit blurry.

Me and the little princess.

Aaaaand, that's my girl!

And since then, not too much has happened. We took Baleigh in for her 5 week appointment and she weighed in at a hefty 12 lbs.! We talked to the doctor about her reflux issues and her being colicky. He prescribed her some Zantac that we're hoping will help. We also asked to schedule an appointment to get her frenulum on her tongue clipped. She is tongue tied and we don't want any future issues to arise because of it. Chad was tongue tied as a kid and didn't get it clipped until about a month ago. It's been a fun problem for him to deal with (obvious sarcasm) and so we're wanting to get Baleigh's taken care of early. Baleigh also has had a slight heart murmur since birth, but the doctor said it's very small and not something to worry about. Other than that, everything looked great!

Now we are getting things ready for Christmas. We decorated today and I've been finishing up the Christmas shopping. Poor Chad won't be getting much on Christmas day because he decided he really wanted an iPad, so we counted that as his Christmas present. I felt bad and wanted him to have something under the tree Christmas day and so I bought him some new Ecco dress shoes that he has desperately wanted/needed. I ordered some that I found on Ebay and was waiting to receive them in the mail when he came home one day and said we needed to buy new shoes ASAP because his had finally wore a hole in them. As he was walking out the door 2 minutes later, the UPS guy showed up with a special package. I just told Chad to open it because I didn't want him going out and buying a brand new, expensive pair of these shoes when I found the exact pair that he wanted for 1/3 of the price.

Oh well, Merry Christmas! We'll be celebrating it at my parent's house and I can't wait! The girls are so excited and I can't wait to spend some time with more of my family.

So far...

2010-11-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Well, today my baby is 3 weeks old and we're starting to get the hang of things....sort of. We discovered that she has infant reflux which basically means that she spits up/vomits up her milk after every feeding, she won't let me put her down for longer than 5 minutes at a time, and the sleep doesn't happen unless I am holding her! I've been a bit drained to say the least, but I'm hanging in there. I am trying not to let myself get down or depressed or sink into the frustration. It's hard when I feel so gross about myself on top of everything, but thus is the life of a new mom, right? We're not supposed to look like super models right after we have our babies...but could I at least find something that looks remotely flattering to wear??? But I digress...

Baleigh really is a good baby, it's just that she's struggling with the reflux and it makes things a littler harder. She is so darn sweet, though. Here is a picture that Chad took in the morning right after her and I woke up. I fed her and she inevitably spit up, but then started giving us the biggest smiles! She's cute, even when she has chunks of spit up all over her mouth.

Honestly, being a mommy of 3 terrified me, but so far things aren't bad at all. Yes, it's hard and frustrating with the reflux issues, and yes I am tired and I can't go out and do as much, but I love it. Jayden and Ryleigh are pretty independent and they love being big sisters. They are always willing to help and they make me so happy to be a mom. I'm so thankful for my little family!

Getting Back into Shape

2010-11-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

Obviously I can't do a ton right now to get back into shape (it's only been 2 weeks since having a baby), but I still want to track all of my progress in order to motivate myself. I have a private blog that I started up about a year ago that was focused on a challenge called "Whittle My Middle". It was all about strengthening your core and tracking your progress through pictures and measurements as well as talking about what you ate that week, or what kind of workouts you did. As soon as that ended, I got pregnant and started posting pictures about my pregnancy and showing off my growing belly. Now that I've had my baby, I'm wanting to track my way back to where I was after the "Whittle My Middle" challenge. It's going to take a while, and it won't be pretty, but it's important for me to be held accountable for what I eat and do in order to get back to the body that I'm happy with. If anyone wants to check it out, message me for an invite. It's a private blog because I post pictures on there that I'd rather not reveal to the whole world. Like I said, it ain't pretty, but it's all about progress!

More Baleigh Pictures

2010-11-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay. I've been having people tell me I need to post more pictures of Baleigh, so here are a few that were on the camera.

These were a few more from the photo shoot I did with her. I plan on taking more since this one didn't go as well as I had hoped. I still got some cute pictures from it, but I need to take more.

We took this one last week after her first bath at home. I love that scrunchy face! The furrow between her brows is already becoming a little less creased since then. It's sad.

And the rest of these were taken yesterday after church. We went to sacrament meeting and then left so that Baleigh wasn't exposed to too much. Every little cough and sneeze made me really uneasy!

My Baleigh

2010-11-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

My Baleigh Grace will be a week old tomorrow. I figured I'd update you on how things are going, and what we know about this sweet pumpkin bum so far.

After a long week of realizing that my milk wasn't coming in as soon as I'd hoped, we finally got things under control and my very chubby, very hungry baby is now happy and fed. She truly is such a good baby! She has an extremely large appetite, but once that is satiated, she is calm and contemplative. She likes to look around quietly. Well, it's more like squinting around. She doesn't open her eyes very often and when she does, it's either a little peek, or just one eye. We call her Popeye.

Like I said in my birth post, she has dimples. We LOVE her dimples. Today she has been smiling like crazy and when those dimples come out, my heart just melts.

I tried to take some pictures of her today, because that is one of the many things that I was really excited about with having my own baby. I love taking baby pictures...but when it's your own baby, and you're tired and have a million other things that you should be getting done, it's hard to feel motivated to even do it. I didn't go all out, or even get very many good ones, but I have what I have and I'm glad I did it. Her squishy little face won't be so squishy for long, and I want to remember it like this forever.

Well, maybe not like this...okay, maybe this too. Her face is so funny to me. She has very light eyebrows that point downward towards the furrow between her eyes. Ryleigh looked the exact same way when she was a newborn, and I don't remember when the furrow goes away, but it didn't stay for too long. We love laughing at her different looks. She's got the Popeye look, the "turtle" look (I'll explain later), and then her Klingon look. She's our baby Klingon. We may just rename her Worf (FYI, only I can say that because I'm her mother and I love her sweet little face).

We are feeling very happy lately. Baleigh brings so much joy into our lives. The whole family ooh's and ahh's over every little thing she does. She had her first poopy diaper yesterday and it was awesome. She squeaks and yawns and scrunches and we love it. We feel very blessed to have her as part of our family.

P.S. I know that there are a few of you out there who are wondering why we spelled her name the way we did. Her name is pronounced BAY-LEE, not BAH-LEE. Chad was pushing for the "leigh" to be part of her name since my name is Ashleigh, then there is Jayden Leigh, and then Ryleigh. I didn't want to be one of those parents, but I gave in when we were choosing her name. We waited to name her until we saw her, and this is what felt right to us. I wanted it spelled B-A-L-E-I-G-H, without any extra vowels with the "a" because I felt like the name looked complicated enough with the "L-E-I-G-H" and so I just wanted to keep it as simple as I could. So nobody give us grief about it! We love it, and it's kind of final now anyway, so tough cookies.

Happy Halloween...a little late

2010-11-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well this year, Halloween was a bit different. Normally I get really into Halloween and start planning costumes that the whole family can get into, or just something really fun for whoever will join in with me (see previous Halloween posts here and here). I knew that I wouldn't be able to put much effort into the costumes this year since I would be having a baby so close to the 31st, so I just asked the girls what they wanted to be and then left it at that. Jayden kept changing her mind until she finally decided that she wanted to be a detective. Easy Peasy. We bought her a cute little hat, put on one of my coats, made a fake badge, and gave her a magnifying glass and brief case. Done! She loved it, and that's really all that mattered. As for Ryleigh, I really wanted to dress her up as Strawberry Shortcake. She's got the short curly hair that would be perfect if we dyed it red, and we already had clothes that matched at well. Then it would just be making the hat and VIOLA! Well, now that stores are starting to carry Rapunzel stuff from the new movie "Tangled", Ryleigh decided she wanted to be Rapunzel instead. I bought a wig at Walmart for a few bucks and then braided it and put in some flowers, put on one of our many dresses from the dress up box and she was set. I couldn't help but laugh at my dark-haired, dark eyed child wearing this long, bright blonde wig. She's a cutie! We had some really cute Halloween-ish outfits for Baleigh from my Aunt Vicki and another one from my mom. She wore one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I forgot to get pictures of her in them, but luckily my mom had her camera and remembered to take some. She sent those to me today so you could all see how adorable she was!

Since Halloween fell upon a Sunday this year and we choose to keep the Sabbath day focused on family and Christ, we had the kids go to a trunk-or-treat party at our church on Saturday instead. There were a TON of really fun games and food, and then afterward, all of the cars in the parking lot opened up their trunks and the kids went from car to car to get the goods.

As far as Chad and I, it was a no-go for costumes this year. We'll have to make up for it next year with something grand!

Baleigh Grace Thornock is here!

2010-10-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

I was scheduled to be induced yesterday morning, the 29th. I was at 4 cm. and 70% effaced when my doctor broke my water at 8:15. That's when my parents and I started walking and waiting....

(click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Chad was at work across the street and was planning on coming at noon which is when he scheduled to take the rest of the day off. He was pretty anxious being away from me while I was in labor, so he was calling every chance he could get. I was doing pretty well and was just so grateful to have both of my parents by my side. As soon as my water was broken, I started to feel harder contractions, but nothing that I was going to complain about. I walked and got on the stability ball to try and move labor along. The contractions got even harder, but I didn't want to get too excited, so I kept telling myself I wasn't far along, I just needed to be patient.

At about 11:30 the nurse came in and monitored the baby's heart beat. I was feeling uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. As the nurse was leaving, she said she'd be back at 12:00 to check me and see how far dilated I was. As soon as she left the room, I got out of the bed to walk and that's when a big contraction hit. I told my dad to help hold me so I could get through it. I wasn't comfortable in that position, so I got on the floor. That didn't feel good either, so my parents helped me onto the bed. BOOM, big contractions started! I was trying to get comfortable, but the contractions were coming so fast and hard that I didn't know where to position myself. I ended up smashing my face against the side of the bed and having my dad hold my hand. I wanted the nurse to come in and check me so I could justify all this pain I was in. I told my mom to quickly call Chad and have him come over. Luckily he was with his last patient and so he adjusted him and ran over. He got there just before noon and the nurse came in after him to check me. I was dilated to an 8! TRANSITION! The best part of labor ;-) If you remember, I decided to go all natural this time around, so I was feeling everything. All of the sudden I felt the urge to push, so I informed my nurse. She had called my doctor already and she was just about there. My nurse checked me again and I was at a 10 and 100% effaced with the head right there! My doctor came in the room and I pushed for about 5 minutes and she was out. She arrived at 12:21 p.m. with lots of dark hair, the classic furrowed brow (both my other girls had that) and a bunch of chunk. She was 21.5 inches long and weighed 8 lbs. 14.4 oz. and that was AFTER she had a bowel movement. The nurses said they should have weighed her before, because they think she would have been 9 lbs!

She was so content and quiet! Lots of faces, but not much crying. I'm so glad I got to share this with my parents and that Chad was able to make it in the nick of time. I had the world's best doctor and nurse accommodating all my needs and wishes for this birth. I loved it! In fact, everything went so well that they let me go home early. We checked into the hospital at 6:30 a.m. and went home at about 6:30 p.m.

My mom and dad were there to take lots of pictures for me. This is one that my dad caught of Baleigh's dimples. SHE HAS DIMPLES! I just love her.

Ryleigh helped me pick out the coming home outfit. I think she did pretty well ;-)

My sweet little Baleigh Grace Thornock.

39 weeks

2010-10-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'm still here...but not for long. Or at least, not pregnant for long. Tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. my doctor is going to break my water and the fun little journey to getting this baby girl out will begin. I'm really excited and so ready to be done with the uncomfortable, giant watermelon belly, but I'm also nervous. I'm nervous about going natural. I'm nervous about not progressing with my labor fast enough. I'm nervous about complications. I'm nervous about whether or not she'll be healthy. I have all of these worries on top of all of the excitement, but I'm am just putting all of my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father that everything will turn out alright.

My parents are driving out tonight so they can be there for the birth. I so happy that they will both be able to experience this with me. I'm extremely close to my family, and we're also very open about anything and everything, so this means a lot to me. They will only be able to stay until Sunday night, but I'm just happy they're able to be here at all. It has worked out so well that I haven't gone into labor yet, and that we have been able to plan out everything so that it works with my parent's and Chad's schedules.

So, tonight we will drop the girls off at Chad's Aunt Sandy's (THANK YOU!!!) where they will spend the night and stay all day tomorrow. That way we can wake up bright and early to go to the hospital without the hassle of babysitting arrangements. Chad and my parents will be with me until about 7:00-7:30 when Chad will head off to work. He literally works across from the hospital, so if anything happens, he can be there within a couple of minutes. He will try and work until noon and then he's taken the rest of the day off so he can be with me. If my labor progresses a lot faster and I need him sooner, he'll drop everything and come over. It's so nice that he's able to do that!

I'm hoping to deliver sometime in the afternoon. I obviously have no idea when she'll come, but going from my last 2 labors, if my water is broken at 6:30, then anytime around the early afternoon would be about right. I pray that my labor progresses quickly on it's own. I DO NOT want any pitocin given to me. If I'm doing this whole thing natural, pitocin would just make it a million times harder, and that whole thought scares me a bit. I also am not a fan of staying in the hospital for very long, so if we can get out of there Friday night (most likely will not happen, I know) or early Saturday, that would be great. As long as me and the baby are healthy and doing fine, I see no reason to be there. I would rather be comfortable in my own home.

I am just so ready for this! I honestly hate going out these days because people literally gawk and stare. I try to avoid their eyes, but when people do double takes and whisper, it makes me feel like a side-show freak. I KNOW I'M HUGE, DEAL WITH IT! There was once when I was picking Jayden up from school and there were these junior high girls walking in front of me. They turned around to look at me and then started whispering, "Oh my gosh, do you see how BIG she is?" Yeah, thanks a lot, I can hear you. I don't know why my belly gets so big with my pregnancies, but I am healthy and so is my baby, so it's not really up to me, is it? I'm trying not to get too depressed about it, but like I said. It does make going out of the house a big drag. I'm excited for my belly to shrink back down. With it being this stretched out it's obviously going to take a while to deflate, but I'm ready for the challenge. I'll have to post pictures throughout my challenge to get back to my regular size. Won't that be fun!?!?

Well, pray for me! Pray that I get through this safely and that my little baby girl is healthy. I can't wait to meet her.

Happy 6th Birthday Jayden!

2010-10-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

My oldest turned 6 today! Jayden has grown up so fast, it's just amazing to me. She's such a grown up, responsible, intelligent, crazy, wacky kid and I love her. For her birthday, we had already planned to keep it very low key since we didn't know if I'd have just had a baby, be in labor with a baby, or be plain old tired from still being pregnant (obviously the latter is what happened). I was hoping I wouldn't have the baby today so that I could make it a special day for Jayden. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she told me she wanted a Barbie Fashion Fairytale cake. This is the newest Barbie movie to come out and for anybody who knows us, we are a bit in love with the Barbie movies (yes, me too).

I had not seen this one yet, but I figured I'd do my best to make what she wanted. I searched the internet and found some ideas for Barbie cakes. I found the ones where the cake is actually the Barbie dress with a little Barbie doll wearing it. I wanted to make one, but wasn't sure I'd be able to since I had no idea what I was doing. I decided to wing it and I think it turned out pretty well.

I used one of our many Barbie dolls, did her hair up like they do in the movie (I just copied the picture on the DVD box that we bought as a surprise present), and then did my best to get the dress right. It's not exactly like the picture, but I didn't have a ton of time, tools, or patience this morning. While Chad gave the girls a bath, I whipped this together and then had Chad bring Jayden out with her eyes closed. She had no idea what it was going to look like, except that it would have something to do with Barbie Fashion Fairytale. Here's a sequence of shots of her reaction to the cake (click on the picture to make it bigger):

She liked it, which made me feel good. I like to put a little bit more effort into things like this so they know that I love them and that it's their special day. After we revealed the cake, we took Jayden and Ryleigh to Tri-Cities and ate lunch at Nothing But Noodles. After we were done, the server brought out 2 pieces of cheese cake for Jayden. She felt pretty special! She was so sweet and even shared a bunch of it with the rest of us.

After that, we took her to the Dollar Tree so she could spend part of the $$$ she was given from her Grandma and Grandpa Thornock. We figured she would like browsing the aisles of ~~junk~~...er...treasures and pick out a few things that she wanted. We told her she could have anything! She liked that and ended up with a pair or binoculars, a flute, and a notebook. I think it was a pretty fun day!

Happy 6th Birthday, Jayden!

Birth Plan

2010-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Can I first start off with saying that I have never written up a birth plan before. With my 2 previous pregnancies, I had them at the hospital, with my OB delivering, and whatever the nurses and OB told me needed to happen, I was just fine with as long as it meant my baby and I would be safe. I had great experiences with both of my deliveries. I loved the hospital and my OB, BUT now that I am having my 3rd, I've been hearing a lot of natural birth stories, and specific birth plans, and alternative benefits to the "routine hospital birth". All I can say is I'm excited about having options and being able to do what I want! The more I research the more of an opinion I have about how I want to bring my baby into the world.

Let me also make a point to say that I have no judgement on how other people decide to give birth to their babies. Heck, having a baby in and of itself is amazing and makes that mama a Wonder Woman, so however she decides to do it is awesome.

So, let me show you what my birth plan looks like.

BIRTH PLAN

*I plan on having a natural birth, without the use of drugs.

*In order to get labor progressing, I want to walk, use a stability ball, do nipple stimulation in the shower, and any other natural ways that feel comfortable to me. I DO NOT want to stay lying down for long periods of time. Only until the contractions get too painful (i.e. Transition).

*If I must have an IV, I would like a heparin lock, but I don’t want it inserted until later in labor. I do not want fluids or anything else administered through the IV unless absolutely necessary (even then, my permission is needed). I would like to be able to drink fluids instead of being administered them through an IV.

*NO pitocin unless labor will not progress or in order to stop too much bleeding after delivery. In both cases, I must be informed and have my permission given.

*I would like INTERMITTENT fetal monitoring.

*NO catheter.

*I would like to birth in the position that feels best to me and not necessarily on my back.

*NO episiotomy unless absolutely necessary. I would like to try stretching and perineal massage first. I would rather tear than have an episiotomy.

*Wait to cut cord until it stops pulsating.

*NO vacuum or forceps.

*NO Vitamin K shot or eye drops are to be administered to my baby.

*I would like to stay 24 hrs. or less, unless baby has health problems that require staying longer.

I am excited about this. I want to have more control over what goes on with my body during labor. I feel that some of the hospital standard routines are not necessary, and if I have an opinion that will make my labor and delivery more comfortable for me, then by golly, they better listen! Even if something is "hospital policy" they can't make me do something that I feel strongly against. Now, obviously I am open to whatever needs to happen in order to have a safe birth and if plans NEED to change I am prepared for that, but I feel that since I am a very low risk pregnancy and everything looks like it's on track, then I should be able to birth however I see fit. It's empowering!

I have gone over my birth plan with my OB and she is 100% on board with everything. She agrees with all of my options and honestly just wants me to have the kind of birth that I want. Can I just say that I LOVE MY OB? She's the best! I just hope that everything goes smoothly and that we don't have any unforseen complications. I also hope that I do well with going natural. I know how painful natural birth can be, but I also know that my body was made for this and that I CAN do it.

(Ryleigh and I soon after her birth)

Do you have any tips or info on natural birthing? Anything you wish you would have done differently with your birth?

37 weeks

2010-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am officially considered to be full term! In fact, if this were my pregnancy with Ryleigh, I'd be having her in the next couple of days. Goodness, I'm ready to be done with the giant hippo and onto holding my precious little girl! Here are some shots from all angles because I know some of you want to see all of my large action in detail.

Front Shot.

Yowza! Yes, that is my real belly being stretched through the shirt.

The Side shot

Aaaaand The Behind Shot.

(Please forgive the wrinkly shirt)

As far as updates, I had a doctor's appointment this past Monday. I got to do my group B Strep test (insert sarcastic "yay") and I'm hoping that turns out to be fine. I was also measuring 2 weeks ahead of my due date (no surprise there). I asked my doc to check me in order to see if I was progressing at all, and thank goodness I am! I was 3 cm. dilated and 30% effaced. She also said my cervix was very soft. I've been having very little, short contractions the past couple of days, but it's nothing to get excited about. If I wasn't paying attention I wouldn't even know they were happening.

So on the docket for this weekend is to exercise a bunch and try to get some more contractions going. I would be ecstatic if I had her this weekend because it's really the best time for me and all of those who I've invited to the birth....but obviously, she'll come when she comes. It would be best to have her on a weekend for the obvious reasons (no work, mom and dad can drive out, not as many "to-do's") and I don't want to have her next weekend because that's Jayden's birthday. I'd hate to have this baby on or that close to her birthday. It wouldn't be fun later on down the road when they both want their own parties and I have double the work right before Halloween! If I don't have her this weekend or next, then I guess I have her the next. That's the weekend of the 29th where I will most likely be induced. I'd just rather have her earlier so it's not so close to Halloween. Now, if she could just take all of that into consideration and come when I tell her to come, all would be great....but we know that's not how it works, so I can keep hoping.....and exercising.

Speaking of exercising, I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping up with it. Don't get me wrong, I haven't been doing it everyday, but I do workout a few times a week and each time I get a good enough sweat going that I feel good. I think it's helped me to feel better this time around. I honestly feel great, despite how incredibly large I am. I have gained 32 lbs. which is good for me. I am sleeping relatively well, and I feel prepared and ready! Thanks to all of my family and friends (seriously, you guys are so incredible!), I've got everything I need and I am just twiddling my thumbs hoping my water breaks any second.

In case you are wondering, I have decided to go natural this time around. I don't want to be hooked up to a bunch of junk and I don't want to deal with the possible complications or side effects from drugs. I plan on being vocal about what I want and I'm excited for it. I will need a ton of help and I'm not exactly as prepared as I should be, but I know it will be okay. I just pray that this girl isn't TOO big and that she cooperates along with me. I can't wait! Send you're prayers my way that everything will go well. Hopefully this is my last preggo update, but I'm not holding my breath. You will probably be seeing yet another picture in the next week or 2. I'll take it though as long as we're both safe and healthy.

Surprise Baby Shower!

2010-10-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

I am feeling so speechless and grateful and shocked and...well, most of all loved. I seriously am having one of those moments where words are not enough, and even if they were, I wouldn't know how to accurately convey how I am feeling in order to make you understand how much I appreciate every single one of you who contributed to this surprise baby shower for me.

For those of you who were not in the loop, let me inform you on this wonderful event that took place today. A few weeks ago, I was having one of those hormonal/emotional pregnancy days. I wasn't feeling very special or loved for one reason or another, and thus opened up to some of the people closest to me. I wasn't expecting anything from them, I was just wanting someone to listen to me. Well, they went above and beyond. My incredibly sweet sister Jamie contacted what seems like ALL of my family members (aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, parents, etc.) and close friends and told them that she was wanting to throw me a "baby shower in a box". Jamie and I are very close, but since she lives in Utah and I live in Washington, we aren't able to share in a lot of the events in eachother's lives. Jamie wanted to throw me a baby shower, but since she couldn't be here, she got all of my loved ones together and asked if they wanted to help throw one for me.

Fast forward to this evening. My parents drove from Oregon to visit my sister, and were driving back home today. I live about 3 hours from my parents, so I get to see them every so often. Well, I ended up getting a call from them informing me that they were going to stop by on their way back home. It's a little out of the way to make the trip, so I was surprised but thrilled that they were coming out. When they got here, my mom and dad started pulling some stuff out of their car. One of those things was a baby shower type gift bag. I asked my parents who it was from, but they wouldn't tell me. I thought it might be from Jamie since she said she wanted to get our baby something.

*Just for some background info. Jamie had been secretly planning this "surprise baby shower in a box" idea for a little while and was casually asking me for things that I needed for the baby. I kept thinking that she was asking about ideas that she could get the baby since she told me she wanted to do something nice, so I didn't want to tell her anything too extravagant. In fact, I kept telling her that we were fine! "We don't need anything, really" I said. "There are just a few small things that we can get on our own." I didn't want to seem greedy or ask for anything big, even though there were still some bigger things that we needed for this baby.*

So back to my parents and the gift bag. They came inside the house and I showed them some of the new remodeling we've done. Chad was coming home from his Uncle's house and my parents wanted me to wait to open the gift until he was there. Then my mom asked my dad to go get "the other thing" in the car. I didn't really think anything of it until I see my dad carrying out this GIANT plastic tub with a big pink bow tied around it. My mouth dropped! "WHAT IS THAT???? WHO IS THAT FROM????" I was literally in shock. My parents were just laughing and telling me I'd have to wait and see. I just couldn't believe what I was looking at.

Finally Chad got home and immediately got out the camera in order to record my reaction to the gifts. My parents were needing to get back home, so I quickly sat down to the gifts so they could be there when I opened them. My parents informed me that the bag was from my sweetie pie cousins, Dave and Annie, and then that's all they would tell me. Here's the clip from what happened after that.
(you might want to open the clip to full screen)

I seriously don't know how to express how loved I feel. I wish you could see my face better in the clip, because I was literally shocked and so emotional. Each and every one of you who contributed to this are so generous and wonderful. From the clothes, to the gift cards and gadgets and notes and cards, I am just overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness. I knew that I had lots of friends and loved ones, but since I live out here away from you all and don't get to chat with you as much as I'd like, I sometimes forget how much I truly am loved. I am just tearing up at the thought of each of you thinking of me and wanting to do something special, just for me and my baby. I can't thank you enough, but I will try. Thank you! I really, really, really love you.

Here are a couple of pictures I grabbed from the web of things that Jamie bought with the money that some of you sent. I figured you'd want to know what you helped buy for me. I really appreciate it as these were some of the bigger things I was in need of. I should really get pictures of all of these things in real life, as well as the other gifts, but I was wanting to get this post out ASAP because I just felt so much gratitude. I'll have to take and post those pictures later.

35 weeks

2010-09-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully I'll be having this baby girl in the next 2-4 weeks. I'm so excited to meet her! She is constantly moving and kicking and squirming around inside my tummy and I'm a little worried that she's going to be a hyper child. She is ACTIVE! But, I love it and it lets me know that she's doing okay in there. I will have my next doctor's appointment on the 11th, where I'll be 36.5 weeks. My doctor has been out of town, so instead of the frequent visits towards the end of the pregnancy, I've had to wait. I'm hoping that at the next appointment that she tells me I am somewhat dialated and effaced because I SURE FEEL LIKE I AM! I seriously feel like I am carrying a heavy bowling ball that is constantly pulling down on my abdominal skin. I hurt, but I'm trying to stay active. I still workout on Tuesdays and Fridays, and I go to the park and walk sometimes on Mondays and Wednesdays. For anyone interested, I think I have gained 30 lbs. so far. My scale is always a little heavier than the doctor's, so we'll see the official weigh-in next Monday. I feel fine about the weight gain, because I've been staying healthy and active, and I gained a little over 50 lbs. with Jayden, so this is fine! I gained 35 lbs. with Ryleigh, but I had also been struggling with some weird health issues and so I started out 10 lbs. heavier with her. So, technically I guess it would have been 45 lbs. with Ry.

I'm trying to get everything prepared before having this baby, and I feel pretty good about what has been accomplished. The nursery is done and all of the baby stuff is washed, organized and put away. I've pulled out a few things for the hospital bag, but haven't quite finished yet. The girls' room is done, as I mentioned in my previous post. They love it and are extremely excited for baby to come as well. I'm still figuring out who can watch them while I have the baby, because I don't know if it will be on a weekend or weekday, which means Jayden might need to be taken to school. Also, I don't like imposing on people and taking my 2 girls for a day or 2 is probably not what everyone is jumping at the chance to do. I've had a wonderful woman in our ward offer to watch the girls, but they don't really know her and I think Ryleigh would have a hard time with that. She needs to be with someone that she knows and who can handle her tantrums.

I am still figuring out what I really want with this birth experience. I think I would really like to try and go as natural as possible, but I don't know that I'm prepared enough for it. I think I will go in with the intentions of doing it all natural, but I would still like the option of the epidural if I really feel like I need it. We'll see what happens.

I just have to mention Chad in this post. He is seriously the most considerate, wonderful human being on this earth. I am so lucky to be married to him. He is constantly listening to my groans and moans and trying to help in any way he can. He surprises me with deli sandwiches for lunch and takes care of the girls when I'm feeling sick and exhausted (which is pretty much all of the time now!). To top things off, he did something last night that was so sweet and made me feel VERY guilty. I was getting into bed and hadn't been feeling well, so I guess I was kind of venting to Chad. I told him that I hated how I had to be careful every time I switched positions in bed because I didn't want to wake him. I have a million pillows propping me up which makes for even less room for me to move, and makes it more difficult to not bother Chad. I said (in a joking way) that it would be awesome if I could just sprawl out and have the bed to myself, but still have Chad in the room (since I'm afraid to sleep without him...another topic for another time). I honestly was not trying to make him feel bad, or trying to subtly hint that I wanted the bed to myself, I was just talking (wow, this seriously makes me sound rude and whiny)! Well, the next thing I know, Chad is pulling out all of our blankets and quilts and putting them on the floor. He wanted me to be comfortable, so he slept on the floor. I told him to get his rear back in bed, because I didn't mean I wanted him out, and that I was feeling very guilty, but he's such a sweetie that he told me to just enjoy it and to sleep well. I love him!

Girls' Room!

2010-09-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

FINALLY, THE GIRLS' ROOM IS DONE!

For all of you who don't know, this has been something that I have been stressing and working on for quite a while. In preparation for the new baby, we realized that Jayden and Ryleigh would have to share a room in the basement so we could have the nursery free upstairs. Being the OCD freak that I am, I've been planning and prepping and organizing everything so that it would be cute, cheap, and something that would actually work for the space. We knew we needed bunk beds, so we had someone make them for us for like 1/6 the cost that it would have been normally (see post here). While we waited for those to be made, I was trying to figure out how to incorporate Ryleigh's stuff into the room since we had little storage and space, and the closet wasn't even finished. Chad finished the closet for me (sorry, no pictures, but it's awesome!) so I could fit all the girls' dresses, shoes, and other miscellaneous stuff in there. Then I tried to figure out where to put Ryleigh's clothes! Jayden's take up the entire dresser, so I decided that under the bunk beds would have to work. I found these cute pink bins on wheels and stored all of her clothes in there (I got the bins at Target and used a free $20 gift card I got in the mail to pay for them). Then I realized that we needed somewhere to put their books and toys that weren't going into the playroom. Chad made me the beautiful storage cube bookcase, and I found an awesome book/magazine rack at a garage sale. Problem solved! Then I wanted to make a jacket/coat rack for the girls because it's turning into Fall weather, and I wanted their jackets accessible. So, I found some stuff that we already had around the house, and made one myself! Take a look at all the pictures!

This is the coat rack I made for the girls. I was going to make one with high heeled shoes as the hooks, but it didn't look good to me. So, I used these letters that I bought from the dollar store a few years ago and we had this little rack that we weren't using. I pulled it out of the closet upstairs, put some flowers on it, glued the painted words on there, VOILA!

These are the cupcake liner pom poms that I wrote about in this post. The majority of you thought these were the cutest option, so I made them!

Here is the dresser that I tried to make cute with some fake flower heads on the knobs. This was Chad's old dresser as a kid. We just painted it white and made it more girly.

Here's the book/magazine rack that I found at a garage sale for a few bucks. It matched the colors in the room, and it works really well for the extra books.

The beautiful cubby shelves that Chad made (thank you, thank you, thank you honey!). I found the white bins in the clearance aisle at Walmart, and I just painted the dots on them to match the room decor. We're storing toys and games in them. Here's the post about me wanting to make them.

These are the bins that I got for Ryleigh's clothes. The fit perfectly under her bed, and they wheel out easily for her.

And in case you haven't had enough, I tried to get a video of the room. It's small, bad quality and kind of yellow, but if you want a better feel for where everything is, it works.

P.S. If you want to see a video clip of how the room looked right after we remodeled it from this(same room, but the previous renters were living there):

Then click on this post and check it out. We put up drywall, put in new carpet and added our own stuff. I think the girls' room now looks so much brighter and put together since then (we repainted, if you couldn't tell), and I think it looks A MILLION times better than it did when the renters were living there. What do you think???

33 weeks

2010-09-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

It's getting close! I'm feeling very uncomfortable and large as always, but I'm not upset about it. It's almost funny to me now. I just don't care! I've been keeping up with my exercises and I've been eating pretty healthy, so if this baby wants to be huge and healthy, who am I to complain??? Speaking of huge and healthy, at my 32 week doctor's appt. I was measuring 35 weeks. This is not surprising as I have always started measuring larger towards the end of my pregnancies. My doctor said that with my track record, she would expect the baby to come around 38 weeks, but if not, then we can do an induction by 39. Yep, this is what I was already expecting, but it's good to go over it again with the doc. The baby is head down, and everything looks amazing.

We went in for an ultrasound yesterday because my doctor wanted to check on the baby's size, just to make sure she really was big. At the ultrasound I made them re-check the gender seeing as there was a slip-up on my last ultrasound CD. Remember that post? I told the ultrasound tech about my mix-up and he said, "OH, you're THAT girl!" Yes, I was that girl, and it was a bit confusing to be told I'm having a girl, and then see boy parts on my CD. So, he checked and we are undoubtedly having a girl.

As far as everything else goes, it's just as perfect. She is healthy and chubby looking. All of the measurements that he took showed her to be measuring around 35 weeks. I'm just glad that everything looked good and I am counting down the weeks!!! Not too much longer....

BUNK BEDS!

2010-09-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you how excited I am that my girls have bunk beds? We knew that they were eventually going to have to share a room once the baby came, so the hunt for the perfect bunk beds has been on for almost a year! We wanted something made out of hardwood so it could be sturdy and last for years and years and years....We also needed them to be white, because all of the other furniture in the room is white, and call me crazy, but I like when furniture matches. There were all sorts of different styles and designs out there that we found, but nothing was in our price range. Bunk beds are EXPENSIVE, especially if you want nice ones. We were thinking we might have to sacrifice the hardwood and just get something cheap, until Chad talked with one of his patients. This guy is a cabinet maker, and does beautiful detailed wood work. He said that he could make us the bunk beds if we just gave him a picture of what we wanted. We wanted something cute, but not extravagant, so we decided on this style in white.

I was nervous that they wouldn't turn out like we wanted and then we'd have to pay a bunch of money for something that we didn't like. Well, we got them last night, and they are BEAUTIFUL and extremely sturdy! Chad broke a few drill bits trying to screw them together because the wood is so hard. This thing is not falling apart anytime soon. They look exactly like the picture only white and the ladder is on the other side because that's where we wanted it to be. They can pull apart and be individual twin beds as well. I love them! You want to know the best part? We got a SCREAMING deal on these puppies. To have bought these exact bunk beds from the store made from all hardwood, no MDF or veneers and then painted white for us, it would have cost over $1,000. Because we have connections and are extremely blessed, we only paid a couple hundred. Here are some pics of it set up in the girl's basement bedroom. I am not yet finished decorating the room, so those pictures will have to come later.

(Side note: The bunk beds might look extra large or warped a bit in some of the pics because I used my wide angle lens and the ceilings in the basement bedroom are obviously a little low).

Which one?

2010-09-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, I'm needing your help with choosing between 2 cute, adorable crafts. As you can tell, I'm in a crafty mood lately, and I'm trying to pretty-up Jayden and Ryleigh's new room. I've decided that I want to put some cute hanging pom pom/balls/lantern looking something from the ceiling in one corner of the room. This corner has a circular, purple chair placed there, but nothing really on the walls above it. It looks blank to me, so I want to make 3 of either of these options, in different sizes, hanging at different lengths from the ceiling:

The Cupcake liner Pom Poms (found at http://www.howdoesshe.com/cupcake-liner-pom-poms)

OR

The String Lanterns, minus the lights inside of them. They will just be balls. (found at http://www.readymade.com/projects/string_theory)

These are both easy, cute options, and I'm not sure which one to go with. All I DO know is that I want to do 3 of them in colors pink, purple, and lime green. I also want one giant one, one medium one, and one small one. What do you think?

Cute DIY!

2010-09-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

I apologize to the 90% of you who could care less about this, but I have been drawn to a lot of cute, crafty stuff lately, and I'm amazed by how simple some of it can really be to make. This interest surprises me as I was never one for crafts. In fact, I remember being a teenager in an activity planning meeting with my church bishop and I told him, "I HATE crafts! Why do girls have to do crafty stuff instead of out playing sports like the guys?" Well, I still love my sports, but when you own a home that you want to beautify and you are pregnant, hormonal, and limited to the more low-key activities, crafts rock! Here are some that I found that I will either be trying out, or just pining over.

(Found this at http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/08/brand-new-sponsorand-gorgeous-giveaway.html)

This is definitely a pining item. I think this is the most amazingly, awesome, beautiful, cutest quilt I've ever seen. It's called a puff quilt. Maybe it's just my pregnancy hormones, but I want one for my little baby, and I want one now! Okay, okay, get a hold of yourself Ashleigh. Isn't it so cute, though? Doesn't it look so comfy? There's no way I'd ever buy one ($115!!!!) but maybe someday when I actually have the time, energy, talent, and money to spend on cute fabric I'll go make myself one. There is a tutorial on how to make it, which is so nice of the lady who does it. If any of you awesome seamstresses out there really love me and want to make one for my unborn child, that would be alright with me. Kidding, kidding....but not really.

(found at http://time-for-everything.blogspot.com/2010/06/alphabet-wall.html)
I love this alphabet letter wall and I think something like this would be cute in the nursery or even the playroom.

(found at http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-to-dos.html)

This would be SO easy to do, and I think it's super cute. It's just a "To-Do" list that you can reuse. You take cute paper strips, put them behind a glass frame, and then write your To-Do list on the glass with an erasable marker. Super easy, but this To-Do list project might end up getting lost on my never ending To-Do list in my head.

Now, before you stone me and ask what the heck I'm thinking, let me explain on this. The girls are going to be moving into the same room before the baby comes. We're getting some white bunk beds made for them and I'm having to try and figure out cute ideas to store/hang their stuff since they both have a lot of it. In their room, they don't have anywhere of their own to hang jackets or backpacks, and so I wanted to do something fun for them. I thought this was funny as well as something they would enjoy. I play on making it a bit cuter than this, but the idea of hanging up your coat on a high heeled shoe is so girly and fun to me, I know my kids will love it.

(found at http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/10-decorating-ideas-for-kids-rooms/index.html)

This is another storage idea for the girls' room, but it's something that my wonderful husband is going to make. I love the idea of these cubed cubbies with the little storage baskets inside. There isn't enough room to make one this big, but we do plan on making one that's 4 cubbies long and 2 high. It's easy to make, and I think it's really cute.

I have been wanting to put some fun stuff on the playroom walls since there is so much space in there. I decided that since Jayden and Ryleigh make so many beautiful pictures, it would be nice to have somewhere to hang them other than on the fridge. So, the clothesline idea came about. I want to do something like this picture, only in my own cheap way, and also in a way that something could actually be hung on it (these are just a vinyl stickers). For the clothesline pole and clothes, I plan on doing making this same black silhouette idea that is just stuck to the wall, but the actual clothesline will be a black piece of twine that I can hang their art on with real clothespins. I'll probably put up a cute little silhouetted shirt, then space for their art, then the silhouetted pants, then their art, etc. etc. I'll post pictures once I actually do it.

31 Weeks

2010-09-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am as uncomfortable as I look. Goodness, my poor belly! I'm carrying MUCH lower than with my other 2 pregnancies and a lot farther...OUT. I want you all to take a moment to appreciate the fact that you do not look like this. It's not as much fun as one might think.

Okay, blah, blah, whine, whine, I'm so big, blah, blah. I've got a doctor's appointment in a week, and we'll see if I'm measuring big. With all of my kids I started measuring quite a bit bigger towards the end, thus the induction with Jayden, and Ryleigh still weighing in at almost 8 lbs. even though she came 3 weeks early. I've still got a bit to go, but I plan on being induced by Oct. 29th as long as my body looks like it's ready to go (which means only 8 weeks or less!). A lot of you have told me that if I plan on being induced, it's more painful to go natural. I don't plan on getting any Pitocin, which is the drug that gives you the world's worst contractions. If I'm induced, I only plan on having my doctor break my water, and then I will take care of the rest (this is how I was induced with Jayden). There are lots of natural ways to get your body progressing in labor, and they worked for me with both Jayden and Ryleigh. I had very quick births with both of them, and I'm just praying that I continue that streak with this one. As long as me and the baby are healthy, I'll be happy!

Diapers Anyone?

2010-09-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have always been someone who loves to score a great deal, but lately I've been trying even harder because of our financial state. No, no, don't worry, we're doing fine. Chad's practice is doing amazingly well, and we've been tremendously blessed. We have just had a lot on our "financial plate" lately. We've had the downstairs that we've been trying to remodel, we're getting all of the papers signed and filed to buy the house, we've had lots of doctor appointments/ultrasounds/tests/etc. with this pregnancy, we're paying off the van that we bought last Christmas and trying to save up $ for another vehicle next year, we're paying off those dreaded school loans (in case you didn't know, chiropractic school is expensive!), we're buying the chiropractic business at the end of the year and we have to save up for quite a hefty down payment, and we're going to be having a baby next month and with the hospital bills and all of the baby necessities it's been stressing me out a bit!!!

*DEEP BREATH*

So, like I said, I've been trying to save money where I can. The other day I decided to go searching for deals on diapers since that is an inevitable evil when having kids, and it can be very spendy! I ended up finding the deal of a lifetime. I won't go into it too deeply, since that would take a lot of time to explain, but you can find out the information on this awesome deal here: http://queenbeecoupons.com/2010/08/last-chance-for-amazon-diaper-deal-plus-code-giveaway/

Basically, I've been scouring the stores and buying up parenting magazines in order to get these one-time use coupons for Amazon. Amazon is doing this deal where you can sign up for some program, get 30% off, then combine it with these coupons and get 50% off of diapers, plus free shipping. You can even stack some of the coupons to get even MORE off! Here's what I ended up getting:

(2) Pampers Size 1 Diapers, 252 diapers per box
(3) Pampers Size 2 Diapers, 228 per box
(3) Pampers size 3 Diapers, 204 per box
THAT'S 1800 NAME BRAND diapers!

Okay, that's great and all, but how much did it cost? Well, let's first see how much it would have cost me if I waltzed into some random store (ie. Target, Walmart, etc.) and bought them:

$45 per box, which would equal $385-ish, which is including tax.

Now, going through Amazon, using my coupons and getting free-2 day shipping it came to:

$22.64 per box, which equals to $181.12!!!

I saved $203.88!!!

WOOT! WOOT! Now, obviously we will have to buy more diapers eventually, but these should help. It just feels good to save!

My Kindergartner!

2010-08-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

Today was Jayden's first official day of kindergarten. She has been waiting for this day for quite a while. This morning she woke up bright and early, put on her clothes that she laid out last night (I let her pick her entire outfit on her own), and got some healthy oatmeal for breakfast.

All morning Jayden kept asking when she could put on her backpack. Backpacks are extremely exciting to kids just starting school. Ryleigh wanted in on the action, too. So we let her tag along and bring her backpack as well.

(Notice Jayden's outfit? She wanted to look sort of rocker-ish, I guess)

When we got to her school, I asked to take a picture of her. She said she wanted to pose like this so it looked like she was walking inside. She's such a photographer's child.

And here she is in her class. We got there early, and the only other kids in class were a table full of boys. Jayden sat here, and after the picture was taken, another girl walked into the room. Jayden immediately introduced herself and asked the girl to come sit next to her. I'm thinking she won't have any problems making friends.

Pregnancy Pointers to Live By

2010-08-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Because I'm pregnant and have a twisted sense of humor, I just had to pass these "tips" on.

Belly Bumps

2010-08-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

You'll have to click on the picture to really see it, but here are the updated belly bump pictures. Goodness, each week I feel like I couldn't possibly get any bigger, but obviously that's not the case. My poor belly will never look the same, but I'm pretty sure the kids are worth it ;-)

29 weeks

2010-08-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, large and in charge! I'm in my 3rd trimester and about 7 months along. As always, I feel gigantic, but I've just come to accept it and pray that once I pop this baby girl out, I can be motivated enough to work back down to those size 2's. It'll happen...it better happen.

I took my glucose test and it came back negative for gestational diabetes (Yay!). My iron is a teeny tiny bit low, but I can just up my leafy greens and bean intake(sorry Chad, you get to deal with the gas that comes with it) and all should be well. I talked with my doctor about the possibility of induction since #1. I've always come early and my babies have still been large, #2. I want my mom to be able to make it to the birth, which will probably only happen if it's on a weekend since she works, and #3. It will work out better with Chad's schedule as well. Obviously this baby will come when she comes, but if I don't have her earlier (which I'm thinking I will), then the talk of inducing me by Oct. 29th is in production.

I'm also in a big debate with myself about whether or not I want to go natural or get an epidural. I had an epidural with Jayden and it was awesome. I was smiling and happy throughout the labor, and I was still able to walk around right afterwards which was really nice. With Ryleigh I didn't get the epidural, and it hurt...obviously. I was crying and saying things like, "I can't do it, I can't do it!" It made me exhausted, but I felt proud of myself for at least doing it. Now you're probably wondering why I would even consider going natural when I had such a great experience with the epidural. I guess I just feel like I can do it, and I've been looking a lot into hypnobirthing. My friend, Courtney did it and had the best, most amazing experience. It gives you tools to be able to deal with the pain naturally and really be in tune with your body. When I had Ryleigh and went natural, I wasn't prepared to go natural and I freaked out. If I prepared this time around and had some tools to really help me relax, I feel like it would be okay. Like I said, I go back and forth about the idea. We'll see what I decide the closer we get to the birth, but I'm excited for it either way. I'm excited to have another baby and just pray that everything continues to go well.