You know it's bad when . . .

. . . You can't smell your daughter's poopy diapers for 3 days when you can usually smell a poopy diaper with in 30 ft (make that 60 ft. when your pregnant!)

. . . Your throat is so swollen that you can't swallow your prenatal vitamins.

So I finally went to the doctor today, after being sick all week, to find out that I have a sinus infection and pneumonia. No wonder I have been coughing like crazy. Seriously. . . I have never had a cough like this. Good thing it's the weekend and Shaun is home to take care of Maisey! I am going to bed and probably won't get out until Sunday afternoon!

Happy Hibernating!

Happy Year of the Ox

Yesterday was the Chinese New Year, so in celebration and for FHE we had Chinese Food and made fortune cookies. We had a lot of fun making up fortunes for each other. My mom wrote one for me that said I will NOT have over a 9 lb. baby. Thanks mom!

I made this same recipe last year... they seemed to have turned out better looking then. This is our attempt this year!

I did make one pretty good looking one!

We had a great time and it was a fun family home evening!

If you were born in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 or 2009 you are the year of the Ox. Those born under the Ox sign are dependable, calm, modest, and stable!

Good to know that is what our son will be! HaHa! One can only hope!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

Over the Hump!

I've passed the 100 day mark, only 98 more days to go until we welcome a nameless baby boy into the world!

Lots to do, Lots to buy!

The BEST!!!!

I just want everyone to know that I married the BEST guy in the whole world! He amazes me everyday! He is a great, sensitive, and supportive husband, and a fun, silly, caring, and loving father!

Friday night we hired a babysitter again (Later I found out she was a 6th grader! A 6th GRADER!!!! I'll update more on that later!) and we headed to dinner and a hockey game! Just the 2 of us! It was so fun to spend a baby free night with my wonderful husband!

On Saturday, we did some shopping in the morning and then Shaun took Maisey for pretty much the whole afternoon! My mom and I went to see Bride Wars -- which was a great girls movie and it was so nice to just get out of the house for a while! Then my mom and I did some more shopping. Old Navy was having a huge sale -- I scored some pretty cute maternity clothes for VERY cheap! Then we headed to the grocery store and once again I was able to get my grocery shopping done BABY FREE!!!!! It was amazing! When I got home, Shaun had put Maisey down for her nap and while she was sleeping he did lots of yard work, frosted the cupcakes that I had made that morning, and did the dishes! All with out being asked!!! It was such a nice surprise!

Thanks for being a great Daddy to Maisey and a great Husband to Me!

I did Maisey's hair in pigtails for the first time this weekend! She looked so dang cute!

She loves to get her haid done. She sits sooooo still!

We were eating dinner one night and Mais lounged back in her chair and stuck her foot on the table! She was being so silly!!!

A few other things:

• Last Monday, Maisey learned how to go DOWN stairs. She's known how to go upstairs for 6 months now, but she would always get to the top and scream because she couldn't get back down. Well... we were playing at my cousin's house on Monday and I hadn't seen her for a while, so I went to go check on her and she was half way down the stairs! I was pretty schocked! The best part about this story is every Monday I get an email from Baby center about the development of Maisey for how many weeks old she is. This is the one that I got that night --

"Hello, Emily! By now your toddler may be able to climb up a set of stairs, turn around at the top and sit, then scoot her way back down. Some more cautious toddlers may like climbing up the stairs but will call for help to get back down. Sign your child up for a toddler gymnastics class at the local Y or community center where she can climb and tumble over soft play structures without getting hurt. Or make your own play area at home by stacking pillows on top of a mattress or futon on the floor to make a pint-size climbing course. "

• So Tuesday night we did end up going to the temple! I didn't fall asleep, and I did worry the whole time! Especially because when we left Maisey was SCREAMING!!! But the sitter (Brandy) said she only cried for a few minutes and then she was really good and she went to bed really well too!
• So Friday night I went to pick up Brandy's sister, Ashley! I had never met Ashley before. When we were driving to my house I asked her what grade she was in and she said, "6th"!!! I pretty much almost passed out! I was pretty worried all night, but Ashley did a great job and Maisey was peacefully sleeping when we got home! I guess leaving her with a babysitter isn't as bad as I thought!
• This week Maisey has started calling her baby "Baby Abby". It's totally cute that she named her all by herself. So we don't leave home with out Abby anymore.
• When I ask Maisey what we should name mommy's baby she says, "Elmo!" Of course!!!
• Maisey ate ANOTHER tube of my chapstick this week, which brings her total to 3!
  
  
  
  

A Nervous Mom!

The title only describes the last paragraph! So if you want to skip the catching up I do in the first 95% of this post, that is fine!

So when we went to Spokane at Christmas time, I didn't take very many pictures on my camera. Most of them were taken on Shaun's sister's camera. So I was waiting for her to send them to me so I could update. Finally I just decided not to wait any longer. I'm sure I'll post those pictures soon.

Christmas time was kind of a crazy time for us! We had so much snow on the ground and some of the freeways and highways around here were shut down. So I decided last minute that I was not going to ride in a car to Spokane. I told Shaun the only way I was going was if we flew. I said that we would probably end up divorced by the time we got to Spokane if we drove. I am a nervous wreck in bad weather. Since we decided so late to fly, there weren't very many tickets available. We ended up flying to Spokane on Christmas evening. And we came back on Sunday! It was the perfect amount of time for us to be there.

Since we didn't fly out until Christmas night, we were able to spend our first Christmas owning a house actually at our house! It was SOOO nice to just do our own thing with our own little family. Since we've been married we've switched off spending time with our families at Christmas time. I told Shaun that we aren't traveling at Christmas anymore! I just want to stay home and enjoy OUR house, OUR beds, and OUR traditions. I know it sounds a little selfish, but by next Christmas we will have our next kid and it's important to establish our own traditions.

Maisey is enjoying a frosted sugar cookie!

Maisey got a wagon from Santa! She loves it and wanted daddy to pull her around the house all morning. She got lots of fun toys from Santa! Her favorite: the $5 stacking cups! Classic!!!

(Sorry all the videos are sideways! I don't know how to change them and that's how they are taken on my phone!)

My mom was taking us to the airport on Christmas afternoon, so we headed over to her house for a bit and then just left from there!

Daddy and Mais took a little snooze....

.... while mommy and grammy squared off in a match of Beach Volleyball on the wii!

We were able to spend New Years out our own house this year also! My mom, and my sisters, and one of their boyfriends came over and we played games and ate some yummy snacks, including our chocolate fountain!

Pregnant Woman + Chocolate Fountain = BAD IDEA!!!!!!!

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So, post Christmas, Shaun went back to work! :( It took us pretty much all last week to get back in routine with daddy going to work and Mais staying home with boring mommy! But mommy loves routine and structure, so she's happy to be back on schedule!

Last Monday, we had a special FHE! It was all about missionary work. We sang missionary songs, Shaun read D&C 4, and then we wrote Uncle Ryan letters and Maisey colored him a few pictures plastered with her Wonder Pets stickers that she got from Grammy for Christmas!

Maisey is working hard on her letter to Uncle Ryan!

"All Done Mom!!!"

Maisey has really been developing into her own person lately! (Or a miniature me!) She LOVES to talk on the phone. The other day I let her call my mom. She was just walking around the house talking to her and all of the sudden she came out of the playroom pushing her baby stroller with one hand and holding the phone to her ear with the other, just talking Grammy's ear off! I just started cracking up so hard! I asked myself, "Where does she learn this stuff?" And then it hit me! She loves to be just like her mommy! We eat cereal together every morning, and the other morning, she started drinking her milk out of her bowl, just like mommy! I bought her a potty chair, and she likes to sit on it and pretend to go potty when I am going potty! It's been our routine for Mais to watch Sesame Street while I sit on the couch and read my scriptures. Well, the last few days, Sesame Street hasn't been doing the trick. She climbs up on the couch and wiggles in right next to me, and helps me read. I read aloud to her and she actually sits there. I am sure this is just a phase, but right now it is very cute!

She is also really into developing her language. My mom gave her some flash cards for Christmas, and we never leave home with out them! She loves to identify the pictures on the cards and she also loves to identify her Sesame Street characters in all of her books. Shaun helps her practice their names in the bath!




My favorite is when she says Abby Cadabby!


She also loves to point out all of her friends on the picture board that I made for her!




So tomorrow is our big day! The first day we leave Maisey with a baby sitter. We attempted this once before but then she got an ear infection so we ended up cancelling! We are going to the temple tomorrow night for ward temple night and my mom has enrichment for her ward so she can't babysit! So we set up to have a young woman from our ward come and babysit. I am really nervous because it's not like she can call us if she has a question or something goes wrong, because we are at the temple! However, Mais has developed this NASTY cough this afternoon where she was coughing so hard she was gagging. . . . so I am kind of wondering if she knows that we are getting ready to leave her so she gets sick, because I mean seriously, 2 times in a row now she has done this! I'm sure we will still go, but it's kind of a coincidence!

Wish this nervous mom some luck tomorrow night!!! (Hey, at least I will be able to stay awake the whole time at the temple because I will be worrying!!!!!! :) )