Nothing too exciting going on here, so I thought I'd do this tag that my friend Whitney tagged me on.
ABC Tag
A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Aaron of course, mom and sisters
C- Cake or Pie: Cake
D- Day of Choice: Whatever day Aaron gets off.
E- Essential Item: Diet Dr. Pepper, mascara
F- Favorite Color: periwinkle
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: both. I love any candy!
H- Hometown: Orem, Utah, currently Iowa
I- Indulgence(s): shopping, chocolate covered strawberries
K- Kids: 1 and 1 more on the way!
L- Life is incomplete without: a nice fountain drink, family and friends
M- Marriage Date: June 12, 2003
N- Number of Siblings: 2 brothers, 2 sisters, and 1 brother in law
O- Oranges or Apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Being trapped in an elevator or somewhere small. I'm claustrophobic.
Q- Quote(s): "Let no one come into your life without leaving better and happier", "Live today as if it were your last."
R- Restaurant: The Olive Garden, Cafe Rio
S- Season: Spring and Summer. NOT winter!
T- Tag Six: Anybody!
U- Unknown Fact About Me: umm...Although, I'm an elementary teacher, I get super nervous to speak in public (to adults).
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Vegetarian
W- Worst Habit: Apologizing obsessively
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds (we find out in a week and 1/2!)
Y- Your Favorite Food: Shells N' Cheddar, French fries. (healthy huh? Can you tell I'm prego??)
Z: Zodiac: Taurus
We were able to have a great Valentines. Aaron and I were able to go out to my favorite restraurant The Olive Garden. It was SO great. We couldn't even remember the last time we'd been out on a date. It was so great to be able to spend time with my hubby. Hallie enjoyed getting lots of Valentines from family and friends. I'll have to say that "Bampa" is her favorite these days because he sent her the new Elmo movie. We love you all and hope you know how much we appreciate all you do for us! Happy Love Day!
And I couldn't resist putting this adorable picture of Rocco on here (my friend Sarah's baby). He is SO cute. I got to watch him last week and it was so fun. He never stopped smiling. Thanks Sarah and JD for letting me play with him!
Mmmmm!!!! Looks like Hallie's ready to be a big girl! She found some tampons and when I caught her, she was saying, "mmmm! Please, Please!" I think she thought it was candy!
We have been getting SOOO much snow! We had a huge snow storm last week . Everything was closed/cancelled. Even the mall! When I called Aaron at the hospital to see if he got to come home since the mall was closed too, he said, "Wow! If the mall's closed then you think they'd send all the patients home and let us leave too!" The sad part is it actually took me a minute to realize he was kidding! We can't wait for warmer weather. Yesterday was -2 when we drove home from church! So fun!
Yes, I'm PREGNANT!!! I couldn't resist putting these ridiculous pictures on (click to enlarge)! Oh my gosh!! Seriously, who would buy those? ha ha ha!!! Sorry, I had to share my laughter! Anyways, we are SO excited to be expecting another baby and couldn't be happier or feel more blessed! I'm about 14 1/2 weeks and am due July 31! We can't wait!
Today is my sweet Grandma's 90th birthday. It's hard to not have her here anymore to celebrate! So glad she's in a better place, but still miss her like crazy everyday! She would always get so excited for her birthdays and we would always throw such fun parties! I miss her cute smile and the way she would say, "how's my sweet little angel?" She just had a way of making you feel like the most special person alive and could always make me forget about everything and remember to just enjoy the simple things in life.
Could my Grandpa be any cuter? I just love him. I stole this picture off my sister's blog (thanks Nat). The whole fam went and put balloons on my Grandma's grave today and had a "birthday lunch". Wish I could've been there. I love my family. My Grandpa is adorable. When I talked to him tonight he said how he wakes up everynight and wishes she was there. But he's always so positive. He said, "it's been a hard day, but at least she's in a resting place where she's happy and probably in a better climate than what we have too!" (with his cute little laugh). It meant so much to him that the family still celebrated her birthday. What a cutie!
We are SOOOO ready for the Iowa WINTER to be OVER!!! -20 weather is really not that fun. Needless to say, we've been hibernating in our house lately. But not without some excitement. In just a week in a half, Hallie managed to make it to the doctor 3 times. Another ear infection, followed by hives from her antiobiotics, and an 18 month check up with the fun shots!!! We're glad it's all over. These pictures basically sum up what our lives are like lately. With Hallie sick and our freezing cold weather, we've had alot of stay home days. Hallie is obsessed with wearing hats, trying on 50 pairs of shoes a day, and trying on all her clothes that have zippers. She is such a girl! Seriously, everytime I looked at her, she has a different hat on and is holding a pile of shoes she wants me to put on her. When I went to take some pictures of her, she insisted that I take pictures of the following: Melmo, Baba (yes Natalie, that is my Kewpie doll), and her books. This is basically what she likes to play with all day (and sleep with). What an exciting few weeks! Aren't you so jelous? We are thankful that we have such a cute little girl and that she is healthy and well!
Happy Birthday to my cute sister in law Audrey! Hope you have the best birthday ever. I am so not with it and haven't even sent off a card, so I figured this would do for the day. I love your guts. Audrey is such an amazing person. She is a great mother to 3 beautiful kids,a wonderful sister, wife and friend, a wonderful hairdresser, and is SOOO talented with flowers. (check out her business.www.studiostems.com). She is always so kind to everyone she is around and can always make you laugh. She thinks she is the best Boggle player, and since it's her birthday I'll let her think it, but we all know who dominates (no, it's not you Nate!). Audrey, I'm so glad I have you as a sister. I love all our long talks on MSN and how you always just let me vent. I miss being away from you guys. Know that we all love you and think of you often! We hope you have a wonderful birhtday!
Carly, Jen and me
Hallie (sticking her tongue out cause I took her binky), Laney and Nate
This is right before Hallie decided to take her lid off and pour water everywhere!
Cute little Laney. Looking so sweet and innocent
Aaron and I went down to Vegas with his brothers Nate, wife Audrey, and Cody. It was lots of fun and so good to spend time with them. I will say that this will be the only time you will ever see me wearing BYU attire though. I'm not a huge BYU football fan (Audrey, don't tell Nate), but I tried my best to understand the game and I think it actually worked. It was butt cold, but we had so much fun. Aaron absolutely loved it. He informed me that I liked the boringest part of the game (half time and time outs). It was lots of fun. Big thanks to my mom for watching Hallie while we left! FAMILY PARTIES
Parties, parties and more parties. We had some fun times. These pics are of Aaron's family party. We had lots of fun of ugly sweaters, white elephants, and lots more fun. The best was our skits. This year, we had to top our Neil Diamond lip sync, so we decided to conquer the Napolean Dynamite Dance! Let's just say, Aaron has some sweet moves you've never seen before. He was Napolean and I was Deb. We memorized the whole dance and performed it at his party and my family party. If only I knew how to put video on here! We also had a special visitor SANTA! Hallie did NOT like him at all. She freaked out. He asked for a five and she jumped out of my arms and ran to Daddy. She did like that he gave her a present though. Maybe next year.
VISITING FAMILY
Oh, how we love our family! It was so great to see them all and spend time with them. I didn't get pictures of nearly everyone, but here's some of who I got.
VISITING FRIENDS
It was fun to see lots of my friends. Stephanie had a Christmas Party at her GoRgEoUs house and it was lots of fun! I'm glad I got to go this year. We missed Sarah, Linds and Michelle there. We got together again at Brick Oven and it was so great to see everyone and remember all our good high school cheer days! Wow, we were quite funny :) It was great to see you all and see how freakin big and adorable your kids are. So cute! Sarah, I'm still sad I didn't get to see your boys! Sorry about Sunday. Hallie and I both got the flu. Next time for sure though.
We also saw some of Aaron's friends, but of course didn't take any pics. We got to see the Todd and Heather Fitch Fam (which was first on his list) and some other fun friends.
CHRISTMAS DAY
I don't really have any pics from Christmas. Hallie was sick and thanks to our great neighbor Dr. Yeates, he saw her on Christmas Eve and gave her some medicine. Her ears were way retracted and just had a really nasty cold. Needless to say, she wasn't too into the opening of presents or smiling for the camera. The picture of her on the couch about sums it up. She found some goldfish is her stocking and that was all she wanted. She just sprawled out on the couch and ate all her goldfish. Didn't want to open any presents. Poor thing. We did have a great Christmas though with way too many gifts. Too bad I didn't know beforehand that Hallie would be content with just goldfish for Christmas! She did enjoy opening this bike she got from Grandma and Grandpa Eakins. And I'm really hoping this Elmo phase will wear off soon. I guess my contributing of buying stuff doesn't help :)
So there you have it! There's our Christmas! We did so much! Aaron went boarding a few times with his brother and sis-in-law, I did some GREAT shopping, we caught up on our 24 episodes, had lots of Cafe Rio, Magelby's Fresh, and so much fun hanging out with our wonderful family and friends. Can't wait to see you all again.
I know I STILL need to post pics, but I just had to post this story my mom sent me. Guess it's one of those days (or weeks) but I couldn't help but cry when I read this and relate it to a few things in my own life. I love you mom! You're the best. Even far away, you're always here for me. Thanks for everything. Maybe this story will help someone else too! And I promise...pictures are coming :)
Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, 'I love you and I wish you enough'.
The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom'.
They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?'.
Yes, I have,' I replied.
'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'.
'I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.
'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?'.
She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone'. She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. 'When we said , ' I wish you enough', we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them'. Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
She then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them but then an entire life to forget them.
TAKE TIME TO LIVE..... To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH
Today is my Grandma Janice's 75th birthday. She is such an AMAZING person. I hope to be all that she is when I am her age. She is always so kind, thoughtful and sweet to everyone she meets. Not to mention the most in shape grandma EVER! She goes walking every morning, takes Yoga classes and is always so active. Only about 3 years ago she hiked the whole Havasupai with us and camped for a few nights. She was the one pushing us all along. We love you Grandma! Thanks for all you do for us. Hope you have a great birthday! 
So I've been pretty lame at blogging lately. I guess maybe one reason is because I knew I would have to post about one of my bestest friends leaving me and I have been in denial!! Carly has decided to leave me in "The Hamptons" and move onto bigger better things in Des Moines. I am so excited for her that she gets to be by family and stuff, but so so sad that she's leaving. She is SO AWESOME! Carly was the first friend I met here in Iowa and we knew we'd be friends forever. We soon realized that we had LOTS in common (picky eaters, our love addictions for Diet Dr. Pepper, shopping addiction, red hair,) and not to mention everyone thinks we're sisters. I remember everywhere we go people would ask if we were twins, sisters, cousins and then be shocked that we weren't even related. Carly, I have so many fun memories with you! I know we'll still have many more to come because we'll be visiting frequently, but I'll miss you tons. Guess the day had to come where we couldn't live like we were still in high school and play everyday. My drink runs will not be the same without you. And Hallie will miss her sweet friend Laney too. (she just saw the picture of them matching and said "maymee" and started waving.)
And you have to check out Carly's awesome business! Sweet Sugar Baby. It's so cute! I love it. Her and her mom have worked so hard and have had such a great success! Check it out! http://www.sweetsugarbaby.net/
I am so thankful for Hallie. I swear kids know and can just tell when their mommies need some love. Yesterday I was having a hard day and today Hallie just made me forget about everything. What a great day we had together. This morning I got her out of bed and she went straight to the rocking chair and wanted me to read to her. She cuddled with me forever while we read and sang songs. It was the best!! Then we went and played outside since it was such a great day! We went to see the ducks and play at the playground. And of course, I took my camera! Look at that cutie! Tonight she was being so funny too. She had been in bed for awhile and I heard her just sorta whining. I went to peek at her and she blew me and kiss and then waved bye to me like saying, "get out now. Just wanted to blow you a kiss." What a silly girl. I am so lucky to have her. Children have such a sweetness about them. I am so blessed to be able to have her in my life. So my friend's Jessica and Lindsay both tagged me. I'm horrible at these things but I'll try my best. (I've done this once before so I'll try to not repeat myself).
6 things you may or may not know about me...
1. I love playing cards. I could play them FOREVER! When Aaron and I get a free sec, we are playing our latest game Hand and Foot. I remember my sisters and I would judge our dates off of if they liked playing cards. Aaron and John were pretty bad but we kept them :)) My sisters know that I'm the best. ha ha.
2. I honestly think shopping is my #1 hobby. (I have other one's too :))
3. I love photography. Someday..faraway...I'd love to be a photographer (still have lots to learn).
4. I take 2 HOT showers everyday. Every morning and every night. Aaron says I'm burning myself everytime I shower. I LOVE showers. I have the hardest time getting out of the water.
5. I LOVE music. I don't know how people lived without it. I hate silence in my house.
6. I am SOOO ticklish. Even the thought of Aaron tickling my feet tickles. I can't stand it.
K, so those were pretty lame, but I'm tired and I'm not that interesting. Now I get to tag people. I will tag...Sarah Sparks, Jen, Chelise, Carly and whoever wants to. Get to it girls! I'll be checking up. J/K.
I had to post these two pics to give just a small glimpse of how Hallie thinks anything she wants can be her own personal chair. She loves to turn anything into her sitting throne. She wheeled her doll stroller into the bedroom, threw her doll across the room and tried forever to get into the stroller to watch "melmo" (Elmo). She was so proud of herself when she got in it. It was hilarious. She also has been opening the dishwasher, crawling up onto the door just to sit for a bit. She's been so funny lately. Maybe it's because we've been little hermits in our house. Hallie has had a double ear infection so we've been chilling at the home. Hey, I got lots of organizing and cleaning done though!
