Stories of a Girl and Her Brother

What's your destiny

2011-08-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Ben and I were invited to attend the "Marriage and Family" Sunday School class in our ward a few weeks ago. It has been the most enjoyable class I've attended. Last Sunday we talked about our destinies. We had to write what we thought our spouses "destiny" is while here on Earth. This is what I came up with for Ben:

To be a leader and example for good, both in family and work. To bring others to the gospel thorough his laid back and accepting attitude. To magnify his Priesthood.

After we were done, I thought how it would be great to do this for each member of the family and frame it. How often do we think of what our destiny is? I guess this means I have a new project to do once we move into the new house.

What's your destiny?

Ava's Favorite Things

2011-08-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Ava, you are getting so big. We are noticing you have preferences for certain things. Mommy wants to help you remember what you loved when you were two. Here are some of your favorites:

Favorite song: "Here We Are Together" (we change the words a bit. "Here we are together, together, together. Here we are together in our family. There's Daddy, and Beckham, and Mommy, and Ava, oh here we are together in our family")

Favorite food: Oh-nill (Oatmeal) or Faffle (waffles) for breakfast, Nuh-neets (Nuggets) for lunch, and apples (applesauce) with cinnamon in it.

Favorite color: This is a hard one. We started out with black and orange being the only colors you actually recognized (I have a Halloween lover!!!), but lately I think it's blue.

Favorite person: Daddy. Beckham is a close second.

Favorite toy: the blue baby doll and stroller you got for your birthday, but the iPad and phone are faves, too.

Favorite movie: "Tangled" ("punzel")

Favorite TV show: Backyardigans ("ah-gans") took over Sesame Street about a month ago

Favorite activity: swimming and dancing.

Other things you like to do include taking walks, singing, and playing Mommy to Beckham. You are just as grown up as I let you be. I love that you don't crawl out of your big girl bed, but you wait for us to come get you every morning. You are very well behaved and smart. You've been able to recognize all the letters of the alphabet since you were 18 months old. You also know your numbers up to 20 (by sight). We are so lucky to have you in our family. You are a blessing to all of us.

Ava is "2tu!"

2011-07-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

Ava. You're 2. Where did the time go? How did you get so big? I'm not sure I can take much more of this growing up thing. Let's just have you stay young forever.

Avanese:
Ava: "Ah-ye," Octopus: "Ah-plus," One more: "Mah Mah?" Octagon: "Ah-gone" I love you: "luh you"
Popsicle: "cull" Garbage "gah gage" Cheerios: "Che-woes"

Refiner's Fire

2011-05-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 4 AM, and I've already been up for 2 hours. For some reason I'm having a hard time sleeping tonight. For the past 10 weeks our family has experienced some trials relating to illness. It's not a huge thing, but since Beckham has been born, we've had at LEAST one person sick every single day (right now we're batting 3 out of 4, and 2 of us have multiple things going on). It's becoming more normal than not. I had a blessing about a week ago, and was told to look for things I can learn from all of this. That's been on my mind a lot. So has the conference talk from Elder D. Todd Christofferson. To refresh, he says that we should be grateful for our trials, because those whom the Lord loves, he chastens. So what am I reluctantly learning? First, patience. Not because I am amazing, but because this is now my "normal" way of life. I guess that means it's not patience as much as it's just that I've consigned myself to this lifestyle. Second, I'm learning more about my need to be a better mother. Since Beckham was born, I've slacked on my scripture regimen. I feel like I'm always trying to "beat the clock" when the kids go to sleep, so I can either nap with them or clean. I don't take time out to read my scriptures when I'm awake... I usually try and read a chapter before I fall asleep at night, but I feel like I'm just giving the Lord my "leftovers." In the mornings, either Ava or Beckham is waking me up, so I hurry to get them going, and usually fore-go morning personal prayers because of it. I keep thinking things will calm down when we're all feeling better, but that's just not happening, so I need to adjust. I feel like part of the reason we are having these issues for so long is because my kids need a certain type of mom, and I'm not there yet. So, I've decided a few things. First, I will (hopefully) be tag-teaming initiatories at the temple this week with a sister I visit teach. Second, I'm going to start studying my scriptures for 10 minutes a day. It doesn't seem like a very lofty goal, but it's a huge step from what I've been doing. I also realize that the Lord must be sustaining me through all of this, because I haven't had a nervous breakdown yet, and I know me well enough to recognize that I should have had one by now. I AM grateful that the Lord loves me enough to chasten me, I just wish I could learn what I need to quickly so we could just move on....

In other notable news, Beckham had his baby blessing today (yesterday by now). He did great. Not one whimper or complaint came out of his little body. I worry, because of a few personal reasons, that he is in for a life of challenges and sacrifice. I hope against all hope that I'm wrong, but I know he will be strong enough to handle whatever he is given. We were honored to have many of Ben's family, as well as a close neighbor, attend his blessing. Pictures to come.

2 Months

2011-04-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

Beckham had his two month appointment today, and here are his stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 12 1/2 oz (92%)

Height: 24 inches (85%)

Head Circumference: 16 inches (73%)

The doctor said that anyone looking at Beckham would just assume he's a 4 month old. Why do my kids always have to be so big?? I love it and hate it at the same time. He's just growing up so fast, and if this is my last baby, I want him to stay a baby for a while. He's a cute little chunk, though. Here are some things he's doing for us:

Smiling
Cooing
Self soothing
Sleeping- he sleeps from about 7 at night until 2:30 in the morning, eats, and then goes back to sleep until 6:30

He doesn't cry very much for me (he does a little more for Ben, but once Ben gets the swaddling thing down, he'll be just fine).

Easter Fun

2011-04-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was running out of Albertsons with some honey so I could cook all day (more on that later), I saw some workers putting balloons in the front patio area of the store. I found out they were doing a little Easter egg hunt and cookie decorating booth. I ran home and grabbed everyone else and back we headed. We were too late to have Ava participate in her age group (8:30... really??!?), but we made it by 8:40, so they let Ava in with the 3 and 4 year olds at 9. The workers were so sweet with her! One lady even put some eggs out specifically for Ava and then asked us how many she found, just to make sure she got enough. We really appreciated it. Here are a few of the pictures I snapped:

Becks just hanging out

I'm so glad we were able to let Ava do this! She had a lot more fun than last year, that's for sure!

Keeping Busy

2011-04-07T15:26:00.001-07:00

It seems like the days are just flying by. I think I'm still keeping afloat, but it doesn't take much to start me drowning. I hope this is normal for adjusting to a second child. Beckham is doing much better at self soothing and sleeping at night. He's really only waking up once a night, twice a night every once in a while. When he gives me 5-6 hour stretches at a time I can get much more accomplished the next day. If not, we all end up back in jammies right after we get out of the shower. If we're not going anywhere, what's the point, right? Poor Ben.

A few days ago I made some more swim bags (waterproof bags that hold wet swimsuits). I gave all the ones we made away, but I'd like to get some more material and make Ava another one. I really enjoyed how the flip flop ones worked out.

It just looks so summer-y and fun! It's funny, because I get a lot of people that tell me they wanted to buy something like this. Maybe this will be my etsy shop idea?

Last night I went with some girls to see the new "Jane Eyre." I really liked it. It doesn't hold a candle to the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice," but does anything, really? It's hard to compete with Colin Firth. I had forgotten how depressing the plot is, and I wish they had extended the ending a bit, but it was still really enjoyable. The best part was the company!! Ben stayed home with the kids, and I think he slightly regretted it. Ava has gotten fairly particular about how she likes her blanket, and Ben couldn't understand what she wanted. As soon as we got to the theater, I got a text asking what a "gigit" was. Supposedly Ava kept saying it and pointing to her feet and crying. At the time I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, but it rang a bell once I got home. Between that and Beckham wanting cuddles all night, I think Ben was reconsidering me ever being able to have a GNO again, but I had a blast. It was so therapeutic. Thanks, honey!

Got Milk???

2011-04-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Our Crazy Weekend

2011-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

... and by weekend I mean from Wednesday on. I won't go into detail about Wednesday, but that's really where the craziness began. Thursday, Beckham got Ava's cold, so now I had two unhealthy babies to take care of, and then Friday Ben got LASIK surgery, so I ended up with THREE unhealthy "kids" to take care of. Ben's suregery went pretty well, but his vision was really blurry for the first day, so he couldn't see to do anything. He was supposed to rest anyway, but when Ava is supposed to be napping and instead is jumping on her bed and Beckham is crying because he's starving, it's a little bit of an inconvenience to have to help Ben, too. (I love you, Ben! I was just overwhelmed!) After about 20 minutes things settled down, and we were all able to rest for a while.

Before...

After. What an improvement!! :)

When everyone got up from our naps, I took Ava downstairs and we made a fort. I wanted to watch Tangled, and this was the best way to get Ava to watch with me!

I still had to bribe her to sit with me in the fort with a LOT of snacks, but it was worth it. That night we played "Where's Ava" again.....

The view as you come into the room from the door

Where the little stinker was sleeping...

The night before

As you can see, she isn't picky about where she sleeps. My biggest concern is that I'll walk in to check on her and I'll step on her by accident.

Saturday and Sunday brought General Conference, and it was really nice to be able to sit and listen to the speakers. I think it's just what I needed to refill my spiritual tank. We made another "Conference Fort," and had fun spending time together.

Goodbye Ni-nit!

2011-03-31T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ava had her last swimming lesson today. It was a very sad thing for all of us. We are going to try and have Miss Britney ("Ni-nit") teach Ava this summer on her own. Hopefully it won't be as expensive as going through Swim Venture. I was able to get a picture of the two of them, but I still need to upload it to the computer, so it will be coming later.

As a side note, Ben has LASIK surgery tomorrow. I know it's a fairly minor procedure, but we'd still appreciate it if you'd keep us in yours prayers. We'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Pictures and Sickies

2011-03-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

A few days ago a good friend of mine came over and took pictures of Ava and Beckham. I was so excited to see the results! They are amazing. She said she didn't want me to pay her for them, but little does she know that's just not going to happen!

We are getting this one in a canvas for the wall

He had finally had enough. He was sleeping and we tried to put him in a really awkward position. After a few minutes of us trying, he was done.

Long toes run in our family...

My two little angel babies

Sorry it's so picture heavy, but they are such good pictures that I had to put them all up. So... moving on to the rest of the post. We canNOT stay healthy in our house! I swear Ava has been sick since December. She still has a runny nose and awful cough. The pediatrician says it's just the norm. Now Beckham has it, too, though. Last night and early this morning he started having bad congestion, along with coughing and sneezing. Then this morning he was running a low fever. Poor little guy is only 5 weeks old! What am I exposing my kids to??!? Well, if any of you come out to visit and see us living in a bubble you'll know why.

Humility vs. Humble Brags

2011-03-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

A quick picture of what I just saw:

This is why we put the baby gate at the top of the stairs...

Anyway, if you're a fan of NCIS Los Angeles, then you've probably heard of "humble brags." If not, let me enlighten you. A humble brag is something you complain about, but it actually is a compliment to yourself. An example of this would be, "I hate going to the gym because all the guys there stare at me and pick up on me." You are complaining about the gym, but complimenting yourself on being attractive at the same time. Why am I blogging about this? Because I feel like a lot of blogs are full of humble brags. I've had a hard time maintaining a blog because of this. I don't want to come across bragging about my wonderful family and everything we do and have, but I want to be able to keep family and friends updated on our lives. I feel I am walking a fine line. Where's the happy medium? I'm not sure, but I can tell you what the opposite end of the spectrum is- just plain humble. Let me illustrate:

Ava's prayers are one of the sweetest experiences I have been a part of. She still can't say them all by herself, but to hear her little voice saying a prayer is just a joy. I'm so grateful for a little girl who reminds me each day how to be a better and more humble person. I may be a work in progress, but at least I never have to question her love for me. That's the most humbling knowledge of all.

Ava's Many Roles

2011-03-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

Ava has many sides to her, and she loves taking on new "roles." First, there is "Dr. Ava:"

Next, we have "Swim team Ava:"

and even "Grown-up Ava:"

If you look closely at her ears, you can see the earrings she has hanging from the top of her ears.

Lately, she's taken on a new role, as "Mommy Ava:"

(She's hard to compete with... Not only has she usually had a full night's sleep, but she is a lot more fun to look at.)

She's growing up way too fast for me. Even though she wants so badly to be a little adult, it still warms my heart that her favorite "role" is "Daddy's Girl." I don't even want to try and compete with that.

Potty Training and Big Girl Beds

2011-03-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but blondes, it seems, prefer the floor. Twice tonight I've walked in Ava's room to check on her and have found this:

The first time she was sleeping on the floor at the foot of her "big girl" bed, I picked her up and moved her back in, like any loving mother would do. The floor is hard and cold, right? Well, it caused quite a commotion. Because I moved her, I started her coughing and it was hard for her to stop (she's had another cold), plus I woke a dragon. She was definitely not a happy camper, and just wanted me to leave her alone. So what did I do 20 minutes ago when I found this? I put a blanket over her and grabbed my camera. I've learned my lesson, thank you.

Here is a little blackmail video of Ava. (Revenge, possibly, for getting mad at me when I moved her from the floor to her bed??) It is of Ava pooping. She is very good at letting me know when it's happening, but never wants to go and sit on the potty. ("Button" is "Pooping.")

You can see how much concentration it takes to complete this task...Now to try and go back to sleep before kids start waking up....

Beckham's First Month

2011-03-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Ava loves Beckham!

Playing chase with Daddy

Family Visits

2011-03-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Having a baby is a great way to make your family visit! My mom (Nana) was our first helper, and we enjoyed her visit. It was perfect timing, because everyone got the stomach flu, so we were all taking turns taking care of the baby to try and keep him from being exposed. The only place we really went was the beach, and it was pretty cold. It wasn't the most exciting trip ever for my mom, but she was a lifesaver.

Next, we had Grandma Rotz come and visit us. She graced us with her cooking every night. We hope she got enough snuggle time with her grandbabies. We were able to take a trip to Zoomars, a petting zoo in San Juan Capistrano. It was a lot of fun.

Those are Build-a-Bear high heels. She wears them around all day- even though half of her feet hang off.

She was leaning in for a kiss from the bunny.

Dancing Ava

She liked the train, even though you can't tell from this picture.


The only picture we got of Beckham (he's in the bassinet on the right). We're still new at this...

Baby Beckham is Born

2011-03-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

Happy day! Basically in labor already on my own! Let's get this baby out!

Me: "He's so tiny!" Dr. Capo: "Uh, he's still about 8 1/2 pounds."

Daddy time


Beckham Connor Rotz


Wait... I had the baby, but he's the one sleeping?

Beckham Connor was born on February 19, 2011. He was supposed to come on the 18th, but the L&D floor of the hospital didn't have any room for us. Thankfully, Dr. Capobianco came in on a Saturday just for us. Little did he know he probably would have been there anyway, since I was already in labor when I came at 8 in the morning. The nurse jokingly said, "Maybe you'll already be 4 cm dilated when I check you." Well, I was. I was also having regular contractions. She still started the pitocin, though.

Around 9:30, the doctor came in and broke my water. I lasted about a 1/2 hour after that before I ordered an epidural cocktail. When I called the nurse to ask for the epidural, she asked me if I was in pain. My response? "Well, not right this second, but when I have a contraction I sure am!" It wasn't as good as my epidural with Ava because my left side took longer for it to take. My right leg was completely dead, but I was still able to move around my left side. It was a little eerie, but after a few minutes everything was better. No more pain.

At about 1030 in the morning the nurse checked me and I was 6 cm dilated, so she told the doctor he could go for his bike ride, since it would probably be a few more hours. Well, at 11 I started feeling a lot of pressure with my contractions. A few minutes of that and I called the nurse back in to check me. I felt bad, since she was just in there, but it was really uncomfortable. I was 9 cm when she checked, and as soon as she finished I said, "I need to push." She re-checked me and I was fully dilated and Beckham was coming! She stopped the pitocin, called the doctor, and I panted for 30 minutes until he got there. I remember that one other girl was waiting for him, too, but my nurse told hers that I was in the room panting, so I trumped her and got the doc first.

When Dr. Capo came in, he asked me to do one practice push, and when I did, he said, "Ok, I'm going to get dressed. Don't push." Once he was ready, it took 2 pushes and the little man was out! I thought he was so tiny, but my doctor said, "Uh.. I bet he's still about 8 1/2 pounds." He was almost spot on. Beckham was 8 pounds, 5 ounces. He was born at 1149 in the morning, and was 19.5 inches at birth (but 21.5 inches at 5 days, so ??? He was also 9 pounds 6 ounces at 5 days, too.)

We are so happy to have him here! He's such a good baby! He has much fairer skin. His pediatrician told me he was the least jaundiced baby he had ever seen. We also were informed by him that we won the prize for the most weight gained since birth at the 5 day appointment.

Anyway, he's gotten himself on a schedule, which is great, but he's still waking up every 3-4 hours at night. He eats 4-5 ounces a feeding, so I'm hoping that soon he'll calm down and sleep more during the night. Until then, I'm just thrilled if we all get showers and dressed by the time Daddy leaves for work.

Valentine's Day

2011-03-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ava lately

2011-01-31T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ava is getting to be such a grown up! Lately she loves to do whatever mommy and daddy are doing. She'll get in her toy car and say "work, work" and then "bye bye!" to let us know she's off to work. She's doing well in swimming lessons and can go underwater for a couple seconds without any problems (no coughing or eyes hurting or anything!) and she can float on her back all by herself for about 5 seconds!

Mommy is getting ready to have Baby Boy Rotz (she can't wait!) and we've all been sick for the past few days. Ava has been so good at being happy throughout it all, and as I look at how I'm acting when I'm sick, she's definitely the more mature one (daddy gets really pouty when he's sick!)

Family Visits

2010-07-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

In the past few months we've had quite a few visitors. It's been great! We've been able to go to Disneyland, the beach, swimming, and do many more exciting things while we had company. Here are some picture updates from the past few months.

Nana and Ava are reading a story together.

We needed documentation that we rode the big ferris wheel at Disneyland.

Ben's family came into town:

Ava loved having someone to tag along with. Here she found Ben's hat and decided she wanted to wear it around for a while.

Ben and I got $10 tickets (each way) to San Fransisco, so we took the opportunity to get away and go see Wicked. It was super fun!

Back at home, Ava had fun when I took her to the mall's Playground.

She's becoming quite the independent explorer, which leads to some interesting experiences:

Fourth of July was fun- we didn't do too much, but we felt pretty patriotic.

Ava has been a bit more cuddly lately, especially with Ben. I'm so jealous!!

I bought a little harness backpack for when we go to Utah in a few weeks. I put it on Ava just so she could start getting used to it, but to my surprise she loved it and didn't want it off!

Shyla and Eden are staying with us for a few days while they finish moving to Utah. Ava and Eden had a fun time in the tub.

That's a quick update on our lives! Hopefully this makes up for the months of nothing I've been doing! So sorry! Happy July!

Ava's Seventh Month

2010-04-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's been really hard to put up pictures recently, because I've been taking them with my iPhone, and the computer that downloads all my pictures just died. RIP Acer. Anyway, tonight I finally took the time to email myself some fairly recent pictures, and I thought I would put a few of them up.

"I spy with my little eye......" Ava! When Ava wakes up from naps she always keeps an eye on the door to make sure you are coming to get her....

Ever since she learned how to roll over she sleeps on her side. I think it's sooooo cute!

"What's that, Mom? There's a big flower on my head?"

Ava's BFF, Eden. Ava is keeping Eden's ear from falling.

"I just love to visit Dad at work and flirt with all the boys!!"

"Sometimes I get so excited that my arms flap like a bird!"

"Mom, aren't I so smart?! I can do this all by myself!"

Ava getting a kiss from her BFF.

Ava and the Easter Bunnies. She actually smiled, but the lady taking the picture didn't give her a chance. Oh well....

Ava is doing so many new things, such as walking along things, standing up in her crib, and growing her hair so long that I can't just leave it curly anymore. I've had to start pulling it up in pony and pigtails to keep it out of her eyes. I just can't believe how big she is getting.

Yikes!

2010-03-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

So it turns out I have a hard time blogging more than once a month. I try really hard to stay on top of things, but it never quite works out. This last month has been crazy! We've had lots of outings, but not as many pictures as I would like. In March Ben took a day off work and we went whale watching and to Disney. It was really nice. Ben had never been on Tower of Terror before, so it was really fun to experience that with him for the first time. Ava has been feeling better, so we've been able to get a lot more sleep. We've also been able to get out and swim a lot, thanks to the wonderful California weather.
Just yesterday Ava started standing up in her crib when she's ready to get up from a nap. The problem is that it might not be time for her to get up, and she doesn't know how to sit down once she's gotten up. What am I going to do??? Last night we tried to get her to go to sleep for about an hour and a half before Ben finally rocked her to sleep. (We will not be doing that on a continuous basis.) Then she was back up for me at 2:30 this morning standing and singing to us. Thankfully she laid back down and went to sleep, but it's not easy to have to keep getting up throughout the night.
Ava also has a friend named "Bob." No one really knows who Bob is, but Ava sure loves him. She goes around saying "Bobobobobob" all day long, especially when she sees her reflection in the mirror. Maybe THAT'S Bob.
Not much else has transpired over the past month. Ben's parents came to visit, so we got the opportunity to do some fun things, but other than that we just play at the pool and run errands. I know- what a rough life!

The Year of the Tiger

2010-02-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went on an outing up to Chinatown in LA to see the Golden Dragon Parade. It was a ton of fun! We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but we ended up being really impressed. There were streamers of confetti floating in the air, ethnic music and food, and of course... DRAGONS! We decided to buy Ava a little dress so she would fit in:

but I still think she stuck out in the crowd. We had to keep her pants on underneath the dress because it was still a little cool outside. Here are a few pictures of the parade:

We also saw some "Mascots" running around the festival, so obviously we had to get some pictures with them. I think Ava is wondering why they have such big heads:

In other news, Ava is really close to crawling. We also have been having a lot of fun going to the beach, the pool, and Disneyland. Even though it's February, we've had quite a few days that the weather has been sunny and in the mid 70s. I love California! Here, Ava and her friend Eden are playing dress up as a princess and a pirate at Disney. Aaarrrgghhh...

Ava and Daddy got some cuddle time in at the beach last Saturday.

Ava is getting better; she's been pretty sick this winter. She seems to get one cold after another. She still has a nasty cough, but other than that seems to be her old self. We are so happy to have her in our little family!

Kisses!

2010-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Ava has started giving kisses. She will grab your face and stick her (open and usually wet) mouth on your nose or mouth. It's so much fun! As soon as she kisses you, she goes back to whatever she was doing before. I want to get a video of it to post, but that would require the help of someone else, too. Maybe I can get Ben to help me this weekend. She also dances. I think it's the cutest thing. Whenever music comes on she stops what she's doing and starts bobbing to the music. I do have a video of that one. I will work on getting it up on the blog.

Everything else is going well. Ava is still on antibiotics, but it seems like she's less congested and generally a happier. It's a quick post, but a little update into our lives right now!

Starting Off With a Bang

2010-01-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today has been a fun morning, because I had a chance to sit down and learn how to make a header from scratch. I had downloaded a Valentine's Day background, but there was no corresponding header to go with it. So I made one. It's actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be, because it's just like when I digitally scrapbook. I was worried about the dimensions until I realized I could just use a header I already had downloaded and erase it all (keeping the background layer).

Not much else is going on. Ava's getting more fun by the minute; I can't wait for her to do more, but at the same time she's getting too big too fast. It's quite a conundrum.

This weekend a few of my friends and I took a jaunt up to Anaheim to a big Craft Convention. HOLY COW. It took us 6 hours to just make one pass through the whole thing. I was really proud of myself, though, because I only spend $2.18. Yay for me! Anyway, it was a great experience and a nice excuse to go out with the girls.

Ahhhh.. the Weekend

2010-01-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

It's always so nice to get to Friday. Even though I usually work on Saturday nights, I still look forward to Ben being home and having some good family time. Tomorrow I'm having a girl's morning out to go to a big craft show in Anaheim. I'm really excited! I don't get out too often without Ava, so I'm sure I'll feel like I've forgotten something the whole time, but it will be nice for Ben and Ava to spend some Daddy-daughter time.
It's been raining almost constantly this week. I have to admit I can't get enough of it! I love listening to it hit the house when I'm drifting off to sleep, and during the day it's a lot of fun to watch. Ava seems to be pretty entranced by it, too. There has been some negative consequences of the rain (like flooding), but that's stayed near the beach areas, not up by us. I even partied through a tornado warning without even knowing it! A friend was over and we were playing with our babies and having some lunch. We had no idea about it until after she left. Oops!

No pictures for this post- mainly because I had SOOOOO many on the last few posts to get caught up.

The Montage

2010-01-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we decided to head down to the Montage (about 20 minutes away) and walk around. It's a really fancy hotel (like $1000 a night fancy), but they let anyone walk the beaches. While we were looking out at the ocean, Ben started spotting dolphins swimming around. I was surprised at how close they were to the beach! It was fun to see who could spot the dolphins first. There were so many of them that I'm not sure who won!

Ben liked the cave the best, but I'm a water and beach nut, so I made him take some with the ocean in the background, too.

Starting solids...

2010-01-20T17:23:00.000-08:00

Because Ava had been so sick and congested, she wasn't taking as much formula as usual. So I decided to start her on some rice cereal to see if that would help. She loved it! I couldn't shovel it in fast enough. It was as if she was telling me, "This is what I've wanted all my life!" Yes, she looks like an orphan in these pictures, but there was no way I was going to give her a bath before doing this!

Utah!

2010-01-20T17:13:00.000-08:00

On New Years Day we went to Utah. The main reason was to be a part of Ben's nephew's baby blessing, but it was also a chance to see some family that we hadn't seen in a while.

We took Ben's nieces bowling as their Christmas present. They had a lot of fun.

Utah was cold, so we had to bundle Ava up really well. I think she's probably looking at me and thinking I'm a nerd, but she was warm!

I'm so lucky to have friends that drop everything when I come into town so we can get together and have lunch. These girls are some of my besties, even though it seems like we never talk enough. Thanks, guys!

Christmas

2010-01-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

Ben and I had Christmas alone with Ava this year. My sister left on the 23rd of December and my dad and grandma came out on the 26th. It was nice to have a few days by ourselves, even though we were all sick. We went to Disney on Ice on Christmas Eve, because Ben had some executive suite tickets from his work. It was a lot of fun. The Hobsons were there, too, and I was able to get a picture of all of us together:

This is how much Ava enjoyed it.

The Lion King... as if you didn't know. :)

This was at the very end, right after the Tinkerbell segment.

Christmas was a lot of fun. We totally went overboard for Ava, but I'm sure this is just the first year of many years of doing that. Ava was just old enough to be able to tear the wrapping paper, but not big enough to understand why we kept taking it away from her mouth and hands once she got it. Here are a few pictures of the day:

Ava's Christmas jammies. I'm not sure if she's smiling or crying here.

Ben modeling his wetsuit that he got from me, Ava, my mom and sister. He's gonna kill me for posting this...

This was Ava's Christmas dress from Nana. I just happened to have a bow that matched. It makes her look like a Christmas present!

One night we enjoyed going to the aquarium and seeing lots of fun fish.

So the Holidays ended up being pretty busy for us. We dropped my grandma off at the airport on New Years Day, and that evening hopped on a plane and went to Utah for 5 days.

Hayley's Visit

2010-01-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

Aunt Hayley came to visit us for just about a week. It was so nice to have her here! I don't think we did anything but make Christmas stockings and go to the beach, but it was still a nice break from the everyday, This was Ava cuddling with Hayley. She just sat there and let Hayley rock her for a long time. I wish she would do that for me....

Hayley working on the first stocking... I can't tell if she's smiling or grimacing....

Yes, it was very late, and I look like a zombie.

Hayley's finished stockings! We were literally finishing them as we were running out the door. It's a good thing her flight wasn't any earlier!

Here are mine finished and hanging up. I know it's not a great picture for detail, but it's the best I have.

One of the days Hayley was here we went to the mall to get pictures with Santa. He was a very cute Santa. In between kids he would look up and wave to the children on the upper level. He just seemed sweet.

Ben's birthday was the 21st, and since my sister was here we had our very own babysitter for the evening! Thanks to Hayley I had cute hair and a cute outfit. It was nice to be able to celebrate together.

When we got to the beach it was pretty warm, but starting to cool off. The wind picked up a bit, so that made it even cooler. We did manage to get a few fun pictures before I had to bundle Ava up. This is Hayley, Ava, and I standing in the sand... notice how Hayley and Ava's feet look the same. We always joke that Hayley has baby feet.

Our little family- end of December.

Pretty windy, but nice for the time of year!

Sometimes she's not super thrilled that I like to kiss her so much.

Ahhh... Hayley's feet again. It was really funny to watch her try and get this shot. Every time the water came, it completely destroyed her feet impression. Instead of moving up a little farther so only the really big waves would get to it, she just kept doing it over and over until she was fast enough to catch this shot. Pretty though!

Hayley's California snow-woman. Looks a little psycho with the eyes, but it worked!

A cute shot of Ava watching her daddy and aunt run around and draw in the sand.

Just a quick shot of the sunset as we were getting ready to go.

So we did get to go and have a girls' night out. It was a lot of fun. We went to P.F.Changs (where a cricket jumped into my hair as we were sitting on the balcony), and then did some power shopping. This is Hayley and her excited anticipation face.

That was Ben. Just had to add that one in for him. :)

Ava rolled over for the very first time during Hayley's visit. How fun to be able to share that with her since Ben was at work! Once she started she didn't stop, but because she could only go from her back to her front we had to keep running over and flipping her back. She doesn't like her tummy very much.

Catching up from the Holidays

2009-12-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

The Holidays have been really busy... I have about 3 blog posts that I started but still have to finish up. So this post will be picture heavy, but not a lot of journaling. Here are a few things we've done so far:

Disney with the family...

"A" is for Ava...

I went with Shyla to the Orange County Zoo a few days ago. This is Ava looking very "Hollywood." It's one of Ben's favorite pics.
Ava and Shyla's daughter, Eden:

Ben and I took Ava to the aquarium... we didn't know it was closing for the evening, so we only got to see the fish right at the start. Silly us...

A few friends got together at my house to have a small brunch and gift exchange. It was really nice.

Ava got a crib as an early Christmas present from her Popi. This is a picture of her first night in it. The next few days I had to wake her up from her nap since she slept so long.... I guess she really likes the mattress:
Thanksgiving with the Rousch-Mehners. They were sweet to include us in their family. The 3 kernels are a tradition in their family. Before you can eat, you have to tell 3 things you are grateful for:

Orange County Zoo

2009-12-17T00:09:00.001-08:00

Today we had the pleasure of going to the Orange County Zoo with some friends. It was a little over 70 degrees, so it was perfect weather! Both Ava and I had a great time. It wasn't a very big zoo, but we got to ride a train and see a cougar (go BYU!). Here's a picture of miss Ava, looking very "Hollywood" today:

I was thrilled that she kept her sunglasses on, because it was really sunny. Anyway, life is good, keeping busy and getting ready to have family out for the holidays. I just had to sneak in a quick post so you could see my little diva.

Online Tithing Payment Info

2009-12-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

So I promised a few of you I would fill you in on how to pay tithing online once things got set up. Well, the day is here! Yay for us! I will try hard to make this as thorough as I can, without it getting too monotonous. There are two ways to do this. The first is to do a local bill pay, which means the ward gets the money. The disadvantage to this is that the ward clerk has to fill out your tithing slip for you. I guess you could fill one out in advance, but that's pretty lame sauce if you ask me. The advantage of this is that the Bishop will have record of your tithes (if that's important to you).

The second way (the way I set ours up) is through church headquarters. The advantage is that there is no filling out papers. The bishop won't know what you have contributed, but you just tell him you are sending it to church headquarters and you can still claim being a full tithe payer. Also, the church sends you monthly statements of your contributions, so you could always take those in to tithing settlement if you feel the need to prove you've been paying. Church Headquarters will also send you an end of year summary for tax purposes.

So to begin....

You need to fill out and send in a form called Bill Payment Service Electronic Donation Information. It can be found here: http://ldsclerks.com/index.php?title=Electronic_Donations

It's an editable word document, so I just filled it out on the computer and emailed it in. I got a confirmation email within 10 minutes of sending it.

From there you can go to your bank (I just logged in online), and set up a recurring bill pay. I guess each institution is different, but since Ben gets paid the same amount twice a month, it was easy for me to just set up a specific amount to be deducted then. That's it! It only takes about 20 minutes for the entire process.

Side note: You have to have your membership record number. You add that as the payee account number. It's also VERY specific as to how to make out the payee information. And wives who don't work but pay tithing jointly with your hubby: no worries. On the word document you fill out it has a column for your name to be linked to your hubs.

I hope that helps iron out the details. If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I'm more than happy to help out.

This is such a long post that I will fore go posting updates on our little family. Just know life is going well and we're excited for Christmas! Well, Ben's a little bummed that Santa gets credit for all the expensive stuff, but whatever! :) Loves!

The Things you Learn at Tithing Settlement..

2009-11-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already the Holiday Season! It seems like the past few months have gone by so fast. Ava is almost 4 months old, and we are living in California. Our days are filled with Disney, Sun, and Beach. It's a rough life, let me tell ya.

On Sunday I went to tithing settlement (alone because Ben's been a sicky), and I found out that you can pay your tithing ELECTRONICALLY!! It's the greatest thing since sliced bread! I am AWFUL at remembering to bring my tithing checks, and I inevitably forget to bring a pen so I can fill out the slip. It's nice to make the sacrifice and pay the tithing, but sometimes it's a headache to remember to bring the money when I'm trying to get me, Ava and Ben ready (yes, I've had to lay Ben's clothes out for him before just so we wouldn't be late). So my goal is to have this thingy all set up and going within 2 weeks. It would be nice to know that our tithing is getting paid, and not just hope I didn't forget a week or two in there (like when Ava was born or something).

A few weeks ago I got called to be the Enrichment Leader in our ward. For those of you in the 411, you know it's no longer called that. So my official title is "Relief Society Meeting Coordinator." In our ward at least, the trend is to specifically target individual sisters' needs, so the groups may be smaller, but hopefully more meaningful. We'll see how things progress as I get a little further along.I really wasn't nervous until the prior Enrichment Leader came and talked to me. She told me she had "a few things in the closet" and then she'd give me the key. Just knowing your calling is a big enough deal to warrant it's own closet is intimidating!

I'm pretty excited for the Holidays. We won't be making it out to Utah, but there's a few of our friends coming out to Disney, and we'll get to see them. I'm really looking forward to that. Plus, my sister is going to try and make it out before Christmas, and my Dad and Nannie will be coming right before New Years. Yay!! What a great time of year!

1 Whole Month...

2009-11-05T10:37:00.006-08:00

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted something on here. There's been so much going on that I haven't even thought about updating my blog. In short, I've taken a quick trip to Utah, had family out for a funeral, and celebrated Halloween. I guess it doesn't seem too exciting, but it didn't really leave me much time.

Earlier this month I went out to Utah to see family for a few days and get our house finished up for our renters. I have to tell you, it was stressful, but I'm glad we are finally able to get some income for that house.

About a week after I got home, Ben's uncle unexpectedly passed away, so we had his parents stay with us for about 3 days. Last Friday we went to Moreno Valley for the funeral, and then hit the beach and Sea World on Saturday. It was a full day and I was tired when I got home, but I still had to do dinner and get Ava ready for trick-or-treating. We didn't really care about getting candy, but we just wanted her to be able to dress up and get some pictures. Here's a few from October:

This is Ava getting ready to go trick-or-treating for the first time.

This was from Sunday morning before Ben's parents left.

Ava's outfit for the funeral.

Our cute little Ava

Ava and my cousin Jason. I can't believe they have the same expression! Classic!

Entrepenuer

2009-10-06T22:03:00.002-07:00

We had a great combined priesthood/relief society lesson on debt and the economy a few weeks ago and it's stayed with me. The guy giving the lesson is a real estate lawyer, so the brunt of the lecture involved learning about short sales, foreclosures, etc, but he also touched on making your own business. He spoke about finding something you can do and doing it- there was also going to be a fireside on how to get started. It really got me thinking, "What can I do?" As a nurse I can't really work from home, but with Ava I usually have some time to kill throughout the day.

As I've pondered that question, I've stumbled upon a few things. First, Utah has a few things by way of "crafting" that California doesn't offer. Second, I keep getting compliments from people on those same things. SOOOO.... I think I've finally narrowed down what I'd like to do. If it doesn't work out I'll still be able to use my product, and I will be able to refine a talent in the process. If it does work out, I'll be posting more about it within the next few weeks.

I also have an interview with a family in the stake who has a 4 year old daughter in need of some nursing care. She is a PICU candidate, so I would feel right at home. I'm not sure how it will go, but the family seems nice, and if it doesn't take time away from Ava then it might be good. It would also give me a chance to keep my nursing license current.

Stay tuned!

Shots

2009-10-06T15:18:00.002-07:00

This morning Ava went in for her 10 week appointment and to get her 2 month old shots. She is still between the 75-90 percentile in height, weight, and head circumference, but I don't think she's been getting as much to eat as she should be. The past few days Ava has been acting like she's hungry about an hour after she eats. That's normal, but usually a pacifier soothes her right down. Not lately. She sucks on the pacifier for a few seconds and then starts crying around it. So I started feeding her for longer than usual and offering her both sides, but that didn't help. I also noticed that she would wake up from her nap early if the pacifier wasn't in her mouth. Then yesterday, I finally buckled down and gave Ava a bottle of formula about an hour after I'd fed her. She drank 5 ounces and then went to sleep for the afternoon! I couldn't believe it! I felt so bad. I just knew I was starving my daughter. Well, the rest of the night went off without a hitch, but today I decided to pump right before I was going to feed Ava and just see how much I got. It was only about 2 ounces. I think with her going so long between feeds and only eating on one side it's caused my milk supply to slow down. The doctor told me to go get some "mother's milk" tea and pump after I feed her to boost my supply. Until then I think I'll just keep feeding her and then offering her a bottle. My poor, starving daughter!

Anyway, so shots were definitely a black spot on our day. Ava cried for almost an hour straight, and that's after me giving her Tylenol prior to the vaccinations! She was feeling pretty poopy, so I've held her for quite a bit of the day. She seems to do better that way, and I don't mind it one bit! It gives me an excuse to sit and hold my Ava all day long and do nothing else!

Splish Splash

2009-10-05T08:42:00.003-07:00

Bath time is an exciting time in our family. First, Ava loves being in the water and splashing around, and second, I love that she gets tired enough to have a good nap once she's out and dressed. Here's a look into our bath time this morning:

And after:

On a side note, I think that it's really cute that Ben loves to have us sing the "Snuggle Song" when we get Ava out of the bathtub. He hasn't memorized it all quite yet, but he's getting close!

Punkins!

2009-10-04T08:54:00.004-07:00

While Daddy went to Priesthood session of Conference last night, I took Ava and some other girls in the ward to a pumpkin patch in Irvine. At first it looked a little ghetto, but once the kids saw the free face painting booth they were hooked. It was also free "do it yourself" face painting which led to some really unique looks. Other fun things they had there for the kids included a petting zoo and a bounce house. It was fun to get out for a bit and enjoy fall. I got a few snapshots of Ava amid the pumpkins. Her shirt says "daddy's little pumpkin."

We also went to Disneyland the other day with some ward friends and their kids. It was the best exercise I've had since before I was pregnant! I love being able to just go for a few hours and then head home. It's much better than trying to cram everything into one day. Here is a picture of Main Street at Disneyland- decorated for Halloween:

Ava and the Vent

2009-09-30T11:02:00.002-07:00

I caught Ava talking and cooing to our bedroom air vent the other day. I was lucky enough to catch it on video, but for some reason it won't load. Anyway, when I played it back, she heard herself and started smiling and talking back to it. It really makes me wonder what kind of conversation she was having with herself..? It must have been pretty good!

Bragging a little

2009-09-24T16:28:00.002-07:00

I just have to take a few minutes to brag about my dear husband. Not only does he go to work to provide for our family so I don't have to, he also comes home and jumps right into "Daddy Duty." He loves taking Ava for a little bit while I make dinner or run errands. He helps me out so much.

Another exciting thing in the life of Ben is his promotion. He is now officially the "Director of Operations" at his work. What a smarty-pants! He even got to make up the title for his position! I'm so grateful for these blessings.

New Video

2009-09-24T11:37:00.002-07:00

This is a new video of Ava having tummy time on the boppy. She HATES it, so the only way I can get her to do it without screaming is to sit her on the boppy and let her watch TV. I know... bad mommy award.....

Restrictions, restrictions

2009-09-24T09:58:00.004-07:00

So today I am throwing myself a small pity party. Don't worry, I'll make it brief. I spoke to Ava's pediatrician regarding her poops. Let me just point out that she brought it up first. Anyway, she's concerned that Ava might be sensitive to more than just me drinking milk, so she took me off ALL dairy for the next five days. That's added to the no eggs in anything rule. SO... what can I eat? Toast but no butter, salads but no creamy dressings, uhhh, sandwiches but no cheese or mayo, and meat but no battery stuff on it. Aren't you all jealous?? On the plus side, I get all the fresh fruits and veggies I want and I might just lose the rest of the baby weight with this strict diet. Hmmm... maybe it's not so bad after all. :-) Be sure to check out the video of Ava "talking" to me- it's my fave!

What the $&@!?

2009-09-22T02:12:00.003-07:00

So many weird things have taken place in my body since I became pregnant and delivered Ava. Take for instance my new found intolerance to eggs. Yes, eggs. I first noticed something funky when we were out here in California staying in the hotel and I ordered some eggs for breakfast one morning. By that afternoon I thought I had eaten something bad because I felt a bit crampy and nauseated. That has since escalated in severity. Last night I made crepes for dinner-a family favorite, but about 20 minutes after eating felt extremely nauseated, with a stomach ache and chills. That lasted for about 8 hours until about 30 minutes ago when I finally woke Ben up to give me a blessing. Needless to say, I don't want to have to be dependent on blessings to help me digest food.

I was grateful, though, because Ava went almost 10 hours in between feeds. I definitely saw the Lord helping me with that one. I'm not sure I could have taken care of her any earlier. I guess one of the reasons I'm struggling is because Im not sure what foods I will now be able to eat. Ava has an intolerance to me drinking milk, and now I'm finding I have a tolerance to eggs. What does that leave me with? I guess that makes me a vegan that still eats meat... Not necessarily by choice but by necessity. Anyone have any good recipes??

Ava is 8 weeks today!

2009-09-21T12:26:00.003-07:00

I've been thinking all day about how fast time flies. Ava is two months this week, and I can hardly remember where the time went! As I've reminisced, I've thought about some of the things she has learned since she was born:

1. She smiles all the time. I know she started smiling early, but now it is really evident that she is smiling at you. She will look you straight in the eyes and give you a huge gummy grin that just melts my heart every time I see it.

2. She sleeps (mostly) through the night. Ava is really good at giving me a 5-6 hour stretch at night before she wakes up and wants to eat. I think she'd sleep longer if I would just put the binky in her mouth, but usually feeding her gets me back to sleep faster because I don't have to keep jumping out of bed to re-bink her.

3. She has found her hands. Ava has started to pull her hands up to her mouth if her pacifier isn't close and she needs some soothing. It works some of the time. :-)

4. Ava has been really good at self-soothing. When she is ready for a nap, she wants to be swaddled, "binked," and put down in her bassinet. By the time I turn the humidifier on, she's usually asleep.

5. She has lots of best friends: the mobile on her swing, the air vents in the house, and the blinds in our room. Basically anything that contrasts with the background wall.

6. Ava is getting so big! I took her into a well baby checkup, and here are her stats: weight- 12 lbs 5 oz (90-95 percentile), length- 23.5 inches (95 percentile), and head circumference- 39 cm (75 percentile). What a big, healthy baby!

That's a quick run-down of our little girl's new tricks. She is so much fun and we are both having a blast with her!

In other news, we are still getting things settled. Our dressers were killed in the move, so we've been in the market for new dressers. Once thing we didn't expect was how wonderful garage sales are here out in California. We got a great deal on a bedroom set. It included the bed, box springs, mattress, dresser, tall chest of drawers (all from Ethan Allen), mirror, duvet cover, and 3 sets of sheets. We actually didn't get it during the sale, but called the lady the following day and asked about it. She didn't want to have to advertise in the paper, so she threw in a lot of extras and took $400 off. Lucky us!

We also live right next to 2 families that are in our ward, but I don't think they're active. Maybe Ben and I will have to start working on that! Time will tell.... We love you friends and family!

Oh yes- the video bar at the top has all the videos I've taken of Ava on my phone. This way, even if they aren't thrilling, you get a chance to see her in action. Mostly this is for my family.

Pictures from today

2009-09-20T00:17:00.003-07:00

I put Ava in this sweater just to see what it would look like on her, and I love it! The kitty ears make her look so adorable!
I think she agrees that it's a cute sweater.

Ava and Daddy watching the BYU game. I'm amazed it held her attention for so long!

How Time Flies

2009-09-20T00:03:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, and much has happened in that time. First, Ava and I came out to California to be with Ben, and we all stayed in a hotel for about 9 days until we could get into our house. We decided to rent a home until we know if we like California and where the best places to live are. It's a really nice home, and our landlords seem good. As we unpacked I got out all my fall and Halloween decor, so I feel pretty "at home" now. I will have to get and post some pictures.

The rest of the time has been utilized by unpacking and getting settled. I took Ava in for her 6 week appointment (even though she's 7 weeks this week) and she was in the 90-95 percentile for both length and weight. She's a big girl! I told the doctor I must make cream, since she keeps growing so fast. Speaking of the pediatrician, I absolutely LOVE her! She gave me samples of everything, was very thorough, and even gave me referral cards for her OB and dentist! Now that's covering all the bases!

The area here is really great. We found out that we have 2 next door neighbors that are LDS, and the community itself has quite a few. I also found out that an old friend from Colorado lives in our stake with her family! What a small world it is in the church!! We've already been to the beach, just to dip our feet in the water. Ava was a trooper but a bit scared.

Ava has been really good about self-soothing, but it makes it a little hard when she wants to be swaddled and left alone and we're not home. She isn't too thrilled with me when that happens. Other than that she is a really good girl. She smiles all the time and has even started to "talk" to me a little bit. She will copy the tone of my voice and coo. It's amazing how much she has done in 2 months!

Well, I will get more pictures up soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

More Family with Ava

2009-08-31T18:34:00.005-07:00

I was able to get a few more pictures of Ava with my family before we moved, so here they are:

This is Ava with my Uncle Allen. What a teddy bear! I love his blue eyes.

My grandpa ("Papa") had never wanted to hold Ava because he was always scared he would hurt her or drop her, but the night before I left he reached out for her. This is possibly the only time he will do this, so I had to get a picture. He's starting to get emotional here. It was really hard to see this and not break down and cry.

I love this picture of Ava smiling at my grandma. She always does that for her.

I Wish We All Could Be California Girls...

2009-08-31T17:51:00.005-07:00

I'm so relieved! I know we are not completely through all the stressful things regarding the move, but I feel like a lot of them are over. This morning was our official move to California. We met up with the owner of Ben's company and flew out to meet Ben. It was a little scary, because Ava's never flown and I wasn't sure how she would handle it, but she was a champ! I fed her a bottle during takeoff, and then she fell asleep until we landed. The owner actually complimented her on how good she was. If nothing else, at least she made a good impression on him!

After we landed, we had to wait for about a half hour for Ben to arrive and pick us up. He had driven our other car and was coming from Las Vegas this morning. Once he picked us up we waited until about 2 to get a hotel room and then all of us had a nap. I think Ava was beat by this time- I changed her into her pjs and swaddled her, and she fell right asleep for a few hours. In fact, she still has her eyes closed.

I miss our family back home in Utah, but I think this will be a good and fun adventure for our little family. Thanks to my friend, Bonnie, I have some good ideas of things to do while we're here. We also supposedly live in a great ward, so once we get settled into the house (around September 10) we'll be able to have lots of good LDS families around us.
This is Ava smiling at me while we waited for Ben to come get us from the California airport.

We didn't have the bassinet last night because Ben was driving down with it, so I had to improvise and put Ava in a dresser drawer. At least she slept well!

On the Road Again

2009-08-30T05:08:00.002-07:00

Well, it's official. We are going to California. The movers came yesterday and hauled all our stuff away. I'm still feeling overwhelmed, because we don't technically have anyone to rent this house, plus there's still some thing scattered around everywhere. Will it ever be done? I would much rather UNpack than pack things up.

Ben is going to be leaving today to drive down to California, and I will be following tomorrow with Ava. Luckily I get to fly on his company's jet, but I have to fly with the owner... alone... with a baby who's never flown before in her very short life.... ugh. Hopefully Ben will still have a job when we disembark at the airport.

I apologize for the somewhat stressed theme of this post. I'm sure everything will be just fine, but I'm still a bit pessimistic and delusional from laying on an air mattress all night last night. It wasn't very restful, and I'm really looking forward to a real mattress tonight!

More blessing pics

2009-08-28T08:00:00.006-07:00

Cousin Morgan and Ava
Jane and Ava
Family at the blessing
Aunt Sharon holding Ava
Ava with her Popi (my dad)
Ava with her grandparents (Ben's parents)
Hayley and I

What a cute head!!

California Dreamin...

2009-08-27T11:48:00.001-07:00

Wowee! A lot has happened in the past few months since I last posted. To think that a cow getting stuck in our fence was the highlight of the week for me! I feel bad, but I haven't really blogged since I got onto facebook. It just seems like blogging takes a lot longer! But I digress...

Ava Mackenzie Rotz was born on July 27, 2009 at 9:07 PM weighing 8 lbs 12 ozs. She was 19 inches long. Crazy, huh! And to think my doctor kept saying I was measuring small. She had (and still HAS) lots of curly hair. She is amazing! I love being a mom!

Ben has been traveling back and forth to California for work, and we are moving down this weekend for good. I will fly down next Tuesday with Ava to meet him. We will be living in Ladera Ranch- a part of Orange County by Irvine. I'm looking forward to being settled and being with Ben again, but first we will get to stay in a hotel for a week until our rental house is ready. Oh boy, oberto!

We had Ava's baby blessing while my father was in town and were able to have most of our family members here for it. It was nice. The Oquirrh temple dedication was that day, so we had the blessing at our house. My only regret is that we didn't get pictures of Ben, Ava and I together.

Well, that's the 411 on our lives. Thanks everyone for staying in touch. We love you all!

My beautiful family

2009-08-27T11:12:00.006-07:00

Ava getting her picture taken by my cousin, Jen.

She is such a smiley girl!
Ava in her blessing dress.
On her blessing day with Ben.

I love this picture of Ava's feet with our wedding rings!
Me with Ava, my mom, my sister, and my grandmother on her blessing day. 4 generations!

Another First...

2009-05-29T12:17:00.002-07:00

The most hilariously weird things keep happening to us this week. Today I looked out our kitchen window and saw one of the cows from our neighbor's pasture sticking it's head through our gate and eating our rose bush. That was all fine and dandy until I noticed that the cow was stuck. She kept trying to pull her head out of the gate, but with no luck. After trying to help her myself, and getting a few good "cow kisses" for my effort, I finally gave in and called our neighbor. Her son came and after a few good pushes, pulls, and a wrench to take apart our gate, we finally got her free. Hopefully the cow has learned her lesson... otherwise I'll be removing a pretty pink rose bush from our yard!

The Police Came Knockin'

2009-05-27T08:17:00.002-07:00

We had quite the exciting night last night. At about 330 this morning our doorbell rang along with a loud knock at the front door. We opened the door to find a policeman standing there. At first I got nervous and wondered if my family was okay. Luckily, however, it was just our car that got killed. I guess someone had parked their car but it popped out of gear and rolled back and hit our car. It was quite a sight to see at 4 AM. Anyway, to make a long story short, our car received some damage to the right front light area, but other than that it was just fine. Both Ben and I were up pretty much the rest of the night, though. Neither of us could get back to sleep for a few hours. I think it's kind of funny how most of the "accidents" I've been involved in take place when my car is parked and no one is in it. How weird is that??

My first blog post ever

2009-05-08T07:39:00.005-07:00

So yesterday Courtney and I went to this class on the Bradley method which is supposed to help us prepare for labor. I figured that it would be several couples giving each other awkward massages with some acoustic accompaniment for an hour, and while I was partly right, there were a few surprises that I was not expecting.
One surprise came during a video we were watching on a little teeny 9" television. The video was showing microscopic views of the egg and sperm, and how after fertilization the cells began exponentially increasing, etc. In the background Bach's Overture No. 3 in D Major (specifically Air on the G String) was playing, which didn't quite sit right with me for some reason (baby-making is going on, and they're playing melodramatic Bach??). Anyway, all of this is really putting me to sleep: the music; the heat; the long, motionless scenes that reminds me of a 7th grade biology class that I never had.
Suddenly, in what turns out to be the last 20 seconds of what has previously been an informative video if you were a six-year-old who had never heard the word "vagina", the video switches to an action-packed close-up of a middle-aged chick spread-eagle giving birth to a hideous baby. The zoom is literally 6 inches away from the baby's head, and oddly enough Air on the G String is still playing through all of this. Yeah G String my A String that is NOT the right music for that type of business. The video suddenly cuts to credits, and I feel really weird inside.
While both Courtney and I thought the video was rather strange, the class made us excited about the upcoming labor and generally more comfortable, so it's definitely a worthwhile thing. I think that most of the learning comes from our out-of-classroom reading, but the class helps propel that.

Promises, promises....

2009-03-13T21:48:00.002-07:00

So I promised everyone I would post what we are having today if I couldn't get the video up. Well, after a very tiring and long day at the hospital with my grandma, I just decided to write a quick post and tell you all, since I seem to have some of you on pins and needles (Bre and Stef). Ha ha... Okay, enough with the small talk. Ben and I are going to be having......... a little GIRL! I am so excited! I've already gone out and bought a few outfits! I'm feeling her kick and move every day now, and it's so fun to talk to her. I'm sure people think I have some mental disorder because it looks like I'm talking to myself, but I am really just ecstatic!

My Crazy Life

2009-03-12T08:51:00.002-07:00

Sorry that I haven't gotten the video up yet. My grandma has been in the ICU at Timpanogas for some kidney issues, so any non-sick time I have I've been sitting with her. I hope to get the cord I need today, but if I don't make it out I promise I will post the news tomorrow.

Announcement

2009-03-06T09:16:00.002-08:00

Well, it's kind of an announcement. We found out on Wednesday what we are having. I don't want to spoil the surprise, though, so you all will have to wait until another posting to see the video of how we found out. I'm just so excited (and scared) to be a mom! It's been so fun to enjoy feeling the baby for the past few weeks or so. "It" is getting stronger each week. So.... until I get the video up, you'll just have to guess! :-)

Catching up on a few things...

2009-03-06T08:57:00.008-08:00

I've been so sick up until this point that the idea of sitting and writing on my blog seemed overwhelming. BUT, last week Ben's family but my name on the temple prayer roll and we had a big family fast for me. Since then I haven't thrown up once! It may seem like a small thing, but for me and as sick as I've been it's a miracle.
Most of you know, but a year ago from Valentine's Day weekend, Ben surprised me with a trip to New York. I had no idea where I was going until his parents dropped me off at the airport. We went to see Wicked on Broadway, then at the end of the night he proposed to me on top of the Empire State Building. It was perfect! I remember I started to cry, and he told me, "People are going to think I'm abusing you if you keep crying." What a romantic, eh? It was still a wonderful trip. I can't believe how lucky I am to be married to such a wonderful person!

Finding Joy in the Journey

2009-02-06T05:31:00.002-08:00

Well, friends, I guess it's about time I post something new here. I'm currently 16 weeks prego, and still sick! Can you believe it? I can't. But this post is about something else. Lately, reading scriptures on my own has been difficult, because it makes me feel more sick, so I've been listening to conference talks from last October. Last night I listened to a few that inspired me somewhat. I realized that I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself, wondering why I have to be one of those really sick pregnant people, when in fact I should let things "come what may, and love it." So I titled this posting "Finding Joy in the Journey." I can't just keep waiting to feel better. I'm already so excited about this baby, that I want to remember that part about pregnancy. Here are some things I want to share with you that I've experienced during this pregnancy that I would never have been able to experience otherwise. Hopefully you can share in my joy, if not my laughter, at some of these crazy things I never want to forget:
1. Fruit Loops: I may never eat this cereal again, and I'm sure my blood sugar is well above normal limits, but since I started getting sick, it's been my saving grace. Mmmm... fruit loops.
2. Milk: to go with Fruit loops, but even more than that, all my medications seem to work much better with a glass of milk. I go through so much I should probably buy some kind of stock in walmart milk.
3. Zip Lock bags(the gallon storage containers): no one but sick pregnant people could ever be grateful for these bags in quite the same way. 'Nuff said.
4. Rubber bands and long shirts: the staple of every newly pregnant woman's wardrobe. Do they even make cute, long jeans in maternity???
5. Pillows, pillows, and more pillows: some behind me, some in front, and one for the head. Poor Ben! Good thing we have a king bed.
6. Salsa, and other cravings: Sometimes they're worth the heartburn.
7. Toilet seat lids: This is probably the funniest one of all. I actually broke the hinge to the lid from being sick so much! Time to invest in a better made seat. Seriously- never thought I would have to say that.
8. Shower gel and toothpaste: I love that there are so many brands and scents/flavors of each of those out there. Once I got past the worst of the morning sickness I actually had to change brands because the smell of those made me gag. Good thing I'm not hooked on Colgate.

Those are just a few of the funny and crazy things that I've come to have a greater respect for since I've been pregnant. Maybe it sparked a few memories for you. If so, I'd love to hear about them.

It's Official!

2009-01-08T15:10:00.004-08:00

So we are having a baby. I'm three months along and still sick! Hopefully it will only last for another 2 weeks or so. So here is the interpretation: In the top picture the baby's head is on the left, there is an arm at the top of the picture and bottom of the picture, and the two legs are on the right. The bottom picture is a profile shot, with the head on the left and the little arm and hand waving at us. Legs are on the right. I hope I decrypted the pictures well enough. Well we just wanted you all to see our little one! We love you!

Get together with the Girls

2009-01-02T17:56:00.005-08:00

Here is a pic from the day I got together with some friends from High School. From left: Stefanie, Kristen, Mara, Breanne, Me, Erin. Front row: Annika and Keilah.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T18:56:00.002-08:00

I can't believe it's 2009. It's been nice to reflect and see how far our family has come in one year's time. Just a few months ago my grandma was comatose in a hospital. It was such a scary time, but I saw my family rally together and make adjustments to their lives to help her out. A month after that she was at my wedding. Who would've thought so much could happen in just twelve months. We are so blessed.
A few days ago I got together with a few high school friends. It was great to see everyone! I just can't believe we are so old! Everyone is married, and most of the girls have children. As we caught up on each others lives I thought how grateful I am for the gospel. We all have trials and struggles in our lives, but we are all grounded by the same beliefs and principles.
So, on a lighter note, Ben gave me a macbook for Christmas. I've been playing around with it (and Photoshop) and learning how to do more and more things. Hence my new header. :-) I'm hoping as I get more and more into blogging that I will just keep getting better.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2008-12-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like we will have a white Christmas after all. It has been snowing non-stop today! It looks beautiful, but I'm sure grateful I don't have to go out in it. I can sit and enjoy it from inside my house. Lately I've just been trying to survive. I had to take a leave of absence from work due to some medical problems. So it leaves me with a lot of down time. On my better days when I feel like I can actually function, I've been turning into a little "Holly Homemaker." I've done a lot of scrapbooking and sewing. Thank goodness I got most of my Christmas shopping done before this whole sickness-thing hit!
Ben's birthday was yesterday. We had a family dinner at his parent's house. It was really nice. I wish I had taken pictures!! He ended up getting coupons to Brighton so he can go snowboarding this season. I'm so excited for him! Merry Christmas all!

2008-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Ben and I got married on August 8, 2008 after dating for almost a year and a half. We are currently living in Orem, Utah, and plan on buying a house in the near future. Ben is working for an advertising company called Bloosky (pronounced "blue sky"), and I am still working as a nurse in the Operating Room at American Fork Hospital.