The Billings

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T12:22:00.012-06:00

Shalom and I got to go to Louisiana for the Christmas holidays from the 16th to the 23rd. I really wanted to take advantage of Shalom being free on the plane before she turned 2. We left early, early in the morning on Friday to arrive in Lafayette by 8 in the morning. What I thought was going to be a breeze since she was sleeping the whole turned out to be exhausting! The plane idled in the air for 30 minutes in Lafayette then turned back around to Houston. So, we had to wait in the Houston airport for 4 hours until we could get on the next available flight. We must've gone up and down the stairs and the escalator a hundred times!! I'm just glad she got all her wiggles out and slept on the plane ride to Lafayette! I didn't get my luggage until the next day! Oh well! I'm just glad we were finally in Louisiana!!

I planned on going to Baton Rouge the day I got in but I was too exhausted. My parents decided to go to the temple; so we rode along with them and while they were in there I got to visit with Sarah, Lindsay, and Helen!! So good to see them! (I wish I would've taken pictures!)

After my parents got out of the temple, Sarah came along with us to Cupcake Couture to get Shalom a cupcake and sing to her since it was her birthday that day! They gave her a birthday hat and a candle in her cupcake. We sang to her, and she didn't know what was going on while she was eating her cupcake but she was loving it! She sure did like that cupcake, too!

Every night at my parents' house, Shalom had fun playing in the hot tub with Big Daddy and Grandma! She climbed all over Big Daddy and jumped off of him like he was a jungle gym.

Sunday afternoon we played golf together. This picture of my dad and Shalom is just too precious. She did pretty good for a toddler. She would walk with us (on some of the holes) to the green or just play in the bunker throwing sand around. She has really gotten good at "cheesing" for the camera. Too cute!

Monday, my mom and I took Shalom to the mall in Baton Rouge to see Sarah and Helen and Santa Claus! We must've stood in line for an hour to see Santa! Luckily Shalom was in my baby carrier backpack. She ended up falling asleep 5 minutes before we got to see him. So, I thought I'd risk it and carefully take her out of the backpack and place her on Santa's lap. I couldn't believe how perfect and cute the picture turned out! I don't think the picture would've been as cute if she was awake b/c she probably would've been screaming. It was so good to visit with Sarah and Helen at the mall, even though it was just for a few hours.

The next day, we drove up to Shreveport to visit my siblings and go to a baby shower for Julie, Laura's sister. It was so good to see so many people I don't get to see very often at all! It was like a mini reunion. Right when we got into Shreveport, before the shower, I got to go to Amy's Zumba class! She's a great teacher and has some fun music and dance moves!

Wednesday, we just hung out at Amy's house making Christmas goodies with the kids. That night, my mom, Shalom, and I visited Scott, Tracey, Nathan, Jenny, and their kids for a little bit. I don't get to visit with Nathan and Jenny's family too often; so it was good to see them and play with their kids for the night!

The next day, we drove back to my parents' house in Sunset. My dad had to play Santa Claus at their branch Christmas party. So, instead of waiting for him to come back home, we decided to go too. Shalom had no idea my dad was Santa Claus. He wouldn't even go up to him. We both sat on his lap, and she was a little more comfortable. It was so nice seeing people from their branch. As soon as my dad was in the hallway at the church without the Santa suit on, Shalom went right up to him. She sure does love her Big Daddy! The whole week in Louisiana went by way too fast! It was a whirlwind of events. We had so much fun! I just wish I knew the next time we'll be back.

It was good to be back together with Mike. Christmas Eve night we did one my family's Christmas tradition and went Christmas caroling to some family's houses and brought the missionaries along with us! It was so much fun....and it was a white Christmas too! It had been snowing all day and night! Shalom sure did love her little trike for Christmas! She couldn't wait for Daddy to finish putting it together to ride. She loves riding it while we take Roxy for walks! It was such a great Christmas holiday. It was certainly different with just us three this year, but it was very nice!

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-05T11:15:00.006-06:00

Michael's mom came in to Odessa to visit us the weekend before Thanksgiving. She came in on a Friday and the next day Michael had signed us up for a 5k run. I couldn't believe he actually signed up for it himself! I didn't need any reasons. I just went with it and had fun. He kept telling he was going to kick my butt and that I was going to eat his dust. He did pretty good keeping up with me through the first half, then he ate my dust. :) When I was done, I walked back to meet up with his mom who was pushing Shalom in the stroller. While she was walking, she met these two kids who enjoyed some of her motivation and they finished together. It was really sweet. We had a fun time with her for almost a week. On Wednesday night we all drove to Shreveport to be with family for Thanksgiving!

On Thanksgiving day, we had dinner with Michael's sister's husband's family, and Shalom had fun riding the four wheeler with her cousin Caleb.

The next day we went with my mom, Amy's kids (Brooke, Rylan, and Ava), and Tracey's son, Bryce to Sciport, a kids science museum. It was so nice for all the kids to get out of the house and to just let loose!

Shalom's poor skirt was falling off the whole time. It was kinda crazy but cute at the same time.

Having Shalom in the baby carrier backpack can be such a life/head-ache saver.

Later on that day, we went to Caleb's first birthday party! It was a John Deere theme...co cute!

Right afterwards, we went to celebrate Ava's 1st birthday and mom's birthday. (They both have the same birthday.) I helped Amy make this rainbow cake which turned out to be really nice and yummy. All the cousins sure did seem to have a lot of fun together. They were all so cute together!

The next day, some of us played some volleyball at the church building. Before that, my parents, Mike, Scott, Tracey, and I went to the driving range. It was completely Mike's idea. He really wants to try to learn more golf and improve his game. My dad was nice enough to help him instead of get a workout in.

Afterwards, Mike took Shalom up to the farm while I stayed in town to eat lunch and go shopping with his mom, Ema, and his sister, Ema-Chanel. It was nice spending some time with his sister because we really don't hang out much.

Afterwards, the girls went to see a movie so my mom and Brooke picked me up and we went tree shopping for Amy because she had a little Charlie Brown tree. Soon after that, Mike and I had dinner with his parents and his grandma. Then, right after that we had some dessert with my friend, Naomi and her boyfriend, Corwin. It was my first time to meet him, and they both seem so perfect for each other. I just wish we could've been able to spend more time together.

I would say we did a pretty good job of spending time with everyone in just the few days we had there. It's always so hard splitting our time, but we were pretty successful this time. We were just a little exhausted. Mike was so good and drove the whole 8 hours back home.

Our First Halloween in Odessa

2011-11-01T13:12:00.013-05:00

Our ward in Odessa had a Halloween activity earlier in the week with games and trunk or treat afterwards. Mike couldn't make it because he was out of town, but it was still pretty fun playing some of the games with Shalom and getting to know more people.

Saturday night, all three of us went to a different ward's Halloween activity with a family we're friends with. It was fun to participate in the Halloween spirit with Mike this time.

Halloween night, we met up with a few families at a different church that was throwing a HUGE carnival. There weren't too many games to play for all of our little toddlers so the tickets we bought for games were kind of a bust, but we still had fun being around a lot of people filled with the Halloween spirit. Mike looked pretty awesome as a rocker dude! I was kind of lame and went as his groupie. And, Shalom sure did look cute as a lady bug...all three times! ;) Later, we went trick-or-treating in a neighborhood to end the night! It was a pretty fun night!

Corn Maze with the Family

2011-10-16T21:32:00.012-05:00

Mike flew into Shreveport so met him up at my his family's corn maze and later Amy and Scott and their families (minus Tracey) and my friend, Naomi, came to hang out with us one more time. And, by the way, Shalom was SO excited to see Mike! She didn't want much to do with me after she saw him. We had a blast!! His family has so many things to do and see at the maze like, of course, the maze, pig races, inflatable trampoline, a corn pit, paint guns (but with tiny nerf balls), pony rides, a cow train, a pumpkin patch, a barn swing, a zip line, and the haunted part of the maze! Wow! That's a lot! We didn't even have enough time to do everything! I'm so glad they all made the time to come out there to the maze and say bye to us at the end of the night. I was pretty proud of myself for not crying.

His Aunt Laurie and Grandpa Kelley came out from Washington state to help out for the season!

One Last Visit

2011-10-16T21:23:00.004-05:00

Lindsay, Stacy, and Helen came over to Sarah's house later in the evening to hang out and visit one more time before I left Louisiana. I was so glad they came over and stayed pretty late nonetheless. They are all so much fun, and I am so grateful I got to know them and become friends with them. Shalom sure was sweet to all of them giving them hugs and kisses and not being shy at all around them. They made a great effort to show their love for her which I am so grateful for. They were teaching her hand gestures for "Go Tigers", "Who Dat #1", and "So no to breast cancer." I miss all of them already!

It Was a Fun 2 Months!

2011-10-16T18:59:00.006-05:00

Even though Mike and I were apart for almost two months, I had a lot of fun living at my parents' house. I will for sure cherish the time I had with them. It's not like it was a party every day, but I just enjoyed their company doing simple, mundane things like walking the dogs together, watching t.v. shows together, or doing house chores together. My mom made the best smoothies in the morning, and she is such a fun grandma to Shalom. My dad would normally work until late at night, but when came home he would always show his excitement to see me and MiMi (Shalom). Occasionally we would play golf together, and my mom and I would switch off watching Shalom while the other one hit. I hope that I can teach Shalom golf and enjoy this sport with her.

The last day my dad was able to spend with us was Tuesday because he had to go out of town for the rest of the week. He switched his schedule around and went in work late that morning. It was so nice of him to take time off of work to be with us.

Here is Big Daddy and MiMi in the hot tub together that morning.

It was so cute of MiMi running after Big Daddy on the golf course.

She had lots of fun with Grandma in the hot tub!

She's playing peekaboo with Big and Grandma at a restaurant!

She's playing peekaboo again in the golf bag trashcan with Big Daddy!

We sure do miss them already!

Conference Weekend

2011-10-15T22:46:00.007-05:00

My parents and I decided to go to Shreveport during Conference weekend and have fun with the rest of the family since Brent and his family were coming in town too....plus it was my parents' last fun weekend with me and Shalom before we left for Texas. We had a blast with everyone!

Amy taught a Zumba class for a Zumbathon in Shreveport so some of us girls enjoyed getting a workout by dancing in the morning on Saturday.

Some of the cousins all on one car at Amy's after Sunday morning Conference.

It was nice to see Brent and Laura for a little bit before they left to go back home. Hopefully we'll get to see them more by taking to Dallas. :)

Shalom sure does love her Uncle Scott!

Bryce, Shalom, and Annabeth watching Big Daddy and Grandma leave.

Scott, Tracey, Bryce, my parents, and I met Nathan and his boys at the golf course to play a few holes and just have fun together. It was so much fun! I'm sure my dad was in his heaven being with all of us on the golf course! ;) There wasn't anyone else on the golf course so the kids had some fun playing on the green and in the golf cart. Playing golf is always a great opportunity for us to spend quality time together and make memories!

Mud Run in Baton Rouge

2011-10-15T22:06:00.006-05:00

In September, I did a mud run as part of a team in Baton Rouge. It was SO much fun! Mike came in town that weekend after being gone for almost a month. It was SO nice to see him and be with him for the weekend until he had to go back to Midland. We drove from Sunset to Baton Rouge Saturday morning for me to do the race and for him to cheer me on. I'm so glad he was there! I loved having a cheerleader and a supporter. I'm so glad he was nice enough to be there for me during his weekend to see us. This race was so much fun! I wish I could find more adventurous races like this besides a typical road race. All of the obstacles were pretty challenging, especially the one with the slip'n'slide having to run up it was pretty hard for me.

Mike took some little videos of me throughout parts of the race.

I'm so glad Stacy told me about the race and got me to do it! It's been so fun doing Insanity workouts with her! She did pretty awesome for her first race! I'm so glad we were able to work out together and become better friends. Too bad I had to move! :( Love ya Stacy!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-27T21:33:00.005-05:00

We had a great time in Shreveport for the Labor Day weekend! It was so nice of the guys to watch the kids while us girls got to play tennis Saturday morning and Monday afternoon! We all had fun playing in the pool with the kids both days too! Saturday night we all hung out at Amy's house and watched the LSU game and happened to have a bunch of IBC root beer bottles....so we jokingly had our own little tailgate party! The kids loved it! :) It was fun to watch Shalom play with some of her cousins and get to know them more. She's either following them around or pushing them. I guess she'll grow out of it eventually....hopefully. :) We had a fun filled weekend that went by too fast.

Big Daddy got her this cute, yellow swim vest so she doesn't have to depend on us to hold her all the time in the pool. It ended up drowning her-no pun intended-but it just looked so darn cute on her though!

The Zoo of Acadiana and More

2011-09-19T21:30:00.012-05:00

The last weekend of August, Scott and his family came in town from Shreveport, Friday afternoon, to drive with us to Baton Rouge to make it there before 7 o'clock. And, whew, did we make it there just in the nick of time. There was so much traffic coming in to Baton Rouge, we didn't think we would make it. I really wanted to go the Baton Rouge temple one last time, especially with my brother, his wife, and my parents. [Mike had already moved to Texas. :(] Scott and Tracey haven't been in a while, and since my ward offered babysitting it was going to be nice to be in the temple with my parents too and not have to watch the kids. I was getting kind of upset thinking that it wasn't going to work out and how Scott and Tracey drove all this way, but we made it!!! I literally brought Shalom in the church to be babysat and ran to the temple. I was grateful to the temple workers for waiting for us! It was so nice being in there with them. We all definitely had thankful hearts.

Well, usually when anybody comes in town the guys play golf in the morning; so us girls....and Bryce went to the zoo in Lafayette. It was actually pretty nice and had a lot of shading and a really nice playground. I put Shalom in my baby carrier backpack which turned out to be a lifesaver! She was eye level with me and I didn't have to worry about her climbing out of the stroller and having to chase her around everywhere. (The backpack is awesome too when I go to grocery stores now b/c I put her in it and don't have to worry about her climbing out. I get so many looks like what a great idea.) So, I had a monkey on my back the whole time! We waved hi and bye to all the animals. She was totally excited to see every animal. With her being on my back, she didn't have to try to climb up the little gates to see the animals.

She was so excited to see the monkeys! This is her reaction. I love it...so cute!

Bryce had a little giraffe leash on, which kept his mom from chasing him all around. He sure did love the lizards and snakes!

Shalom is so sweet trying to give Bryce a hug and a kiss. She doesn't seem to be giving up. ;)

They had so much fun riding the golf cart with Big Daddy! We all swam in the pool together after the zoo. Shalom saw her cousin, Bryce who is 2 years old, jump off the diving board so she thought she wanted to. I wish I would have gotten a picture or video of her jumping off with Scott or my dad catching her. She went off a number of times!!

The next week, Sarah came to town to visit, and we went to the zoo since Elmo was going to be there! So, Shalom had a pretty exciting day! We got to be right up close and personal with the pig, goat, and deer. It was so cute to watch Shalom get so excited.

She finally got to see Elmo!! She was a little apprehensive at first, but once she saw and got more comfortable she gave him a high five, a kiss, and a hug. Then, she didn't want to leave Elmo!

I Sure Will Miss Baton Rouge

2011-08-23T23:40:00.009-05:00

My Primary class was so great! They were so receptive to learning more about Christ and reverent....for the most part. I sure will miss Torianna, Graham, and Lincoln. They are each so different in their own way, which made some Sundays pretty interesting at times.

Heather was one of Shalom's Nursery leaders. Shalom has only been in Nursery for a few months, and she gets so scared to go in as soon as sacrament meeting is over or if we say the word "nursery." She is too funny! She screams for a little bit and then is fine the rest of the time. Heather has been so great at making Shalom feel comfortable and having fun.

This picture is pretty random with this title, but we will really miss walking on the levee every morning to walk Roxy. It's been a great way to start our day for almost a whole year!

Me moved all of our stuff into the UHaul Friday afternoon last week. Even though we didn't live in a great neighborhood as far as safety goes, we had some really great neighbors. Mike would mow the lawn for this older lady next door when her son wasn't in town, and she would bake us cookies in return. She was so sweet. And, an older lady across the street would check in on us every now and then. They were sad to have us leave, and they've enjoyed watching Shalom grow up. She wasn't even walking when we moved here, and now she is running all over the place. She sure does love her little car. Luckily, she was playing inside the car while we were putting more stuff in the truck.

I will really miss Helen and Lindsay!! Helen's been like one of Shalom's other mothers. Shalom loves blowing kisses to her, and as soon as she Helen she'll run up to her. It's too cute! Shalom got to know Lindsay more by going over to her house a lot when she and I would do Insanity workouts together. Shalom sure did grow to love Lindsay! And, who would've thought that Insanity workouts would help us to become good friends?!

And, I sure will miss Bro. Jim Cloward. He passed away this past week of a heart attack. Mike and I got to know he and his sweet wife while we were living at my parents and going to the Opelousas Branch. Bro. Cloward sure did love Shalom. He always wanted to hold her after sacrament and just thought the world of her. He loved watching Mike hold Shalom up with her standing on the palm of his hand. While giving a talk in sacrament, Bro. Cloward even had Mike, in the congregation, have Shalom stand on his palm. It was a little strange but funny and sweet at the same time. I'm glad Shalom and I were able to visit him in the hospital this past Sunday.

Mike's Surprise Party!

2011-08-13T21:58:00.009-05:00

This past Monday I threw a surprise party for Mike to celebrate his new job. It kind of made him bummed that I haven't been showing my excitement for him; so I decided to do this for him. I gave the idea to his mom (who was still visiting in Shreveport) over the phone Monday morning, and she said that she would love to come down and would see if Mike's other brothers would like to come too. It was so nice of them to drive four hours for the party at 7 and then drive back the next morning. We had a lot of fun playing Rockband and just hanging out. I wish we could have invited more people, but it was so last-minute. Mike was so surprised, and he said it meant a lot to him. Well, needless to say, things are pretty good in our house now. :)

We are moving to Midland, Texas. Mike will leave this Saturday, and drive the UHaul with his brother, Reagan, while I stay behind for another month.

Vacation in Gulf Shores

2011-07-30T13:12:00.027-05:00

Last weekend, on the 23rd, Shalom and I went on vacation to Gulf Shores with my family. The night before Amy and Judd came to town early in the evening to go to the temple. It was nice that there was babysitting at the chapel so I could join with them. I don't think I've gone to the temple with them since Mike and I got married. Even though I wasn't there with Mike, it was nice sitting next to Amy and being in there with her and Judd.

I decided to drive at 4 in the morning to get there by the time the kids would wake up. I was not about to go through hours of screaming kids, especially mine. It was definitely not easy driving so early in the morning, but Judd was nice to talk to me and keep me awake. I was glad we made it safe and sound for the kiddos to start playing once we got there, and we pretty much went straight to the beach! Shalom wasn't too sure about the ocean, but she loved playing in the sand. It was actually a break for me at the beach rather than at the pool where I have to keep a constant eye on her. Scott and Brent, and their families were there a couple days before us; so it was fun to be with them while our each of our visits over-lapped. Scott left on Monday while Brent stayed the rest of the week with Laura's family on vacation too.

I love this video of Brent and Annabeth dancing! I don't know who is cuter.

The next day was my birthday! It was great going to the beach, the pool, out to eat for lunch at LuLu's (which was a great kid-friendly restaurant with the kids being able to play in the sand by your table), and the outlet shops. My dad, Scott, and Judd were so nice to watch the kids so us girls could play tennis with Brent and his brother-in-laws. We had a great time, especially Amy and I beating my mom and Tracey! We all ate cake and ice cream and everyone sang to me, but the singing was more like a whisper to not wake up the kids - a little lame but funny at the same time. It was a fun-filled day ! The only thing missing was Mike. :(

The night isn't complete without a glass bottle of doc!

Trying to get a picture of some of the grandkids before Scott and Tracey left just did not go so well. :)

Every day was fun playing on the beach, swimming in the pool afterwards, playing tennis, going to the play ground, playing UNO or Wii dance games at night. It was also fun being able to hang out with the Thompsons one day on the beach too.

Shalom loves to hold hands! Her and Rylan are so cute!

Shalom has become fearless in the pool. It's pretty cool but scary at the same time. She just seems like such a natural.

Brooke is so sweet holding Shalom in the water!

We had a fun time taking the kids to grand prix! I don't think Shalom would be tall enough for the swing ride, but she absolutely loved it!!! I just love her smile and her laugh!

A Gulf Shores trip just isn't complete without going to Lambert's. We went there before we headed back home. Amy had them announce my and Brooke's birthdays on their intercom. They have you stand up to be recognized, and Brooke just felt SO special!

My parents stayed until the end of the week, but we had to leave early so Judd could get back to work and so I could get back to Mike. We were going to leave on Tuesday but ended up staying one more . My dad has a way of convincing you to stay longer. We've been having so much; he didn't want to go back to a quiet, empty condo. My dad is so sweet and tender-hearted. His eyes started to get red, trying to fight the tears, as he was giving us and the grandkids kisses good-bye. He and my mom waved the whole time and cried as we were driving out of the parking lot. (It makes me a little teary-eyed just thinking about it.) We talked to them later on, and they were doing a little retail therapy at the outlet mall. They are too funny.

Grandma Ema and Uncle Titus Came to Visit

2011-07-29T13:02:00.011-05:00

Titus and Shalom sharing an otter pop together. So sweet!

We enjoyed lots of walks on top of the levee with everyone. The boys needed a bit of a nudge, but it was fun nonetheless.

We went to New Orleans one of the weekends they were here. Ema treated us to a hotel in the French Quarter. One of the reasons we got a hotel was to enjoy a pool, but right when we got there it started raining. Oh well. We had a nice time walking around the French Quarter, eating dinner at Deannie's (for my birthday), and then going to Cafe Du Monde. We had a great time, the next day, at the World War II Museum. It was so cool and eye-opening. Ema's father is a WWII vet (his boat was the 2nd infantry boat to land on Normandy); so it was special for all of us to learn more and have more appreciation for him.

We went to the playground a few times, and Shalom already acts like she is a big kid by going to the big kid playground and showing no fear at all. She just goes on up and goes down the big slide like it's no big deal. This is pretty cool but scary at the same time.

Michael, Titus, Ema, and I got to go to the temple together to do baptisms with youth in another ward. It was so nice for Michael to be able to baptize Titus and me. It was also nice to have Michael's other brothers, Josh and Kelvin, watch Shalom on the temple grounds while we were inside. We wanted them to watch her around the temple grounds to feel the spirit of the temple. Being at the temple together was a nice way to end their last week with us. There is no place better to be together than in the temple.

Shalom had so much fun swimming with Daddy and GiGi. I can't believe how she is just such a natural in the water already at only 18 months!

The Past Month

2011-07-12T16:08:00.018-05:00

We had to say good-bye to two really good friends of ours. In early June, Steve and Mandaree left to go back to Alaska for two years to work and take care of her parents' house while they leave for a mission. We were so sad when they left. We became such good friends with them. We were doing stuff almost every weekend together. Steve and Michael became pretty good buds. I really appreciated Steve's example to him. They both kind of have a laid back humor and lifestyle with a strong dedication to the gospel. Who knows maybe we'll see them soon. The end of June, Adam and Erica moved to Missouri for school and work. We became really good friends with them also. They were so generous with having barbecues at their house (Adam is a great cook on the grill) just to hang out or for football games. They both have such an inviting spirit about them. We sure are missing both couples already!

Shalom LOVES talking on the phone! Occasionally, she'll call people from my phone and hang up, which I'm sure is a little annoying to some people. She can already navigate her way around the phone to watch videos, look at pictures, or play games. I've definitely created a monster. (Oh, and there's Roxy, in the background, playing in the water.)

Father's Day was pretty low key. We went to the pool at a friend's apartment so Shalom could go swimming with her daddy. They are so sweet together.

Fourth of July weekend, the whole family went to Dallas for the baby blessing of Brent's second baby, Camilla Kay. It was pretty amazing ALL 22 of us were there for the blessing so, of course, we had to get a family picture. (Somehow I'm gonna have to photshop a picture of my mom smiling.) Brent gave such a sweet blessing for Camilla. They are such a sweet family. I wish I could visit with them more often. It was a lot of fun, though, riding from Shreveport to Dallas with Amy, Judd, and their kids. Shalom might've been a little annoying with her constant screaming, but nonetheless it was a lot of fun hanging out with them. We were so close to getting In-N-Out Burger in Dallas, but the wait was 20 minutes. Go figure. Man, Amy and I were so excited, but somebody didn't want to wait that long. Oh well. It was fun hanging out and bonding in the car with them. It was a quick and whirlwind of a weekend, but it was super fun and special to be with everyone!

Trying to get a picture of Big Daddy and Grandma with their grandkids was next to impossible. It was pretty hilarious with screaming babies, well mine, and others trying to escape.

The day before, on Saturday, most of us met up at a swimming park. It was such a cool place with a huge kiddie area for swimming with slides and water guns, a smaller swimming area, a loop pool, a diving board area, and a big slide....all for just $3. Needless to say, we had a blast, and we've already got a little swimmer on our hands. She's already jumping out of our arms to swim on her own. She is so fearless.

Fun Filled Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T12:07:00.006-05:00

This past weekend was a whirlwind of a weekend! We left Saturday morning to go up to Shreveport for Mike's sister, Kayla's, graduation from high school. It was fun to celebrate and support her with her accomplishment. It was also really fun (and random) to run in to my high school friend, Christine Joe. It's been a year since we last saw each other. (Too bad I didn't take any pictures. She was there for her cousin.)

Sunday morning was the big race; my triathlon. This race was my first one two years ago with my brother, Scott; so it was really fun doing it again with him. The whole race was a 450 yard swim, 14 mile bike, and a 2.5 mile run. I improved my time by a whole 4 minutes! I was pretty happy about that. I felt some real motivation, though, to do more triathlons into my old age because I noticed in the results for everyone that a 60 something year old lady beat me by around 2 minutes. That's pretty awesome!

What was also pretty cool about the race was to have Mike, Shalom, and my friend, Naomi, waiting for me at the finish line. We all went to church together right afterwards. I literally left the race when I was done, went to my brother's house to change clothes and throw on deodorant to make to church. We didn't make it to partake of the sacrament, but, nonetheless, we got there about 9:30ish for the rest of sacrament meeting. I wasn't going to let the race keep me from going to church! It's too bad most of the triathlon races are on Sundays.

We left to come back down to Lafayette to hang out with the rest of my family. It was so awesome that 4 of the 5 siblings were there. Brent and Laura came to visit after just having their second baby a few weeks ago, Scott and his family came down, and Amy drove from Houston visiting Judd's family. Judd had to work on Monday; so Amy thought why not drive to Sunset and be with family instead of hanging around at home. I'm glad she did because it was so fun being with everyone and have the cousins play together. We all went to the pool that evening. Shalom had a blast playing in the big pool and the baby pool!

The next morning before the big inflatable slide came to be set up, the kids seemed to be pretty content playing with this water toy for a while. I love watching them all play together.

Finally the slide was set up! My mom was one the first ones to go down. She's so funny! At first the kids were a little hesitant to go up, but they ended up having a blast going down and just playing in the little pool at the bottom. I think they just took a little break to eat. Mike was nice enough to play with some of them and grill out while the girls needed a break every now and then. It all turned out perfect; especially with not having to pack everything up to go the pool.

I don't know if these videos will work, but one is of my mom sliding down and one is of my dad sliding down. (I talked to them later that evening, and they were still sliding down after everyone had left. They're great!)

St. Patrick's Day Parade and Sunday Picnics

2011-03-22T21:26:00.010-05:00

Last weekend, Shalom and I went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade here, in Baton Rouge, with Mandaree, Sarah, Erica, and Sara. It was so much fun! I've never been to one since we've lived here. I can't believe I've missed out on all the excitement the past few years. It's not as crazy as Mardi Gras - not as many people. We were in a nice neighborhood, and it was family friendly. I loved it! Shalom loved it! She had such a good time dancing to the music and getting all sorts of beads and stuffed animals.

The next day, on Sunday, we had a picnic in the evening on the other side of the levee. It was so awesome because we are usually pretty spontaneous when we try to get people to join us so I didn't expect so many people to come. It was a little crazy with five dogs and babies running around, but it was fun. Shalom decided to go straight towards the water. We didn't catch her in time so she ended up getting soaked. Luckily a couple had an extra diaper and pants because I didn't think to pack those things. She didn't have a dry top to put on so we pinned a towel around her. It was so much fun! I love picnics in the spring time.

(courtesy of Jane Huddleston)

)

Two Mardi Gras Parades

2011-03-22T12:44:00.006-05:00

The first Mardi Gras parade we went to was downtown on the Saturday before Mardi Gras when it was raining ALL weekend. The rain kind of let off a little bit late afternoon so we went with Mandy, Steve, and her parents. Needless to say, the parade was no that great. The floats were that great and there was hardly anybody there. It seemed kind of lame. We at least got some beads and cute little stuffed animals for Shalom, and it was nice to get out of the house.

Mandy and I decided to go the parade in New Orleans on Monday. I certainly wasn't satisfied with the parade in downtown Baton Rouge. It was too bad Mike and Steve couldn't come down with us though. I really, really like the parade on Monday in New Orleans because it goes down St. Charles where the church is there. It was so nice to be able to hang out at this little field area at the church, which is gated, (where there were lots of other members eating and hanging out) and then be able to walk over to the parade to catch some beads and watch the floats for few minutes and then go back. It was just the perfect situation, especially for kids. Shalom had a lot of fun dancing to the music and catching beads, well, really just hanging on our shoulders. (It's almost like she had 3 other moms there - Mandy, Sarah, and Helen. They just kind of take over and help out and play with her. They're so awesome, but I know it'll all change once they have their own kids.) It was so nice that Shalom was easy-going the whole time. She is a good little travel buddy.

Later on, when we got home, I found Shalom playing with Roxy in a big mud puddle in the back yard. I just laughed....what can you do at that point. I didn't think it was too funny though when she got back in the mud puddle after giving her and Roxy and bath.....ugh! What a day!

Best Buds

2011-03-21T17:24:00.003-05:00

One things' for sure, Roxy sure is patient with Shalom with her always sitting on top of her. Roxy is so sweet with Shalom. She never takes anything out of Shalom's hands, and if Shalom takes something from Roxy she'll let her have it. They are so cute together.

Another Niece in the Barrow Family

2011-03-21T13:01:00.007-05:00

On November 28th last year my sister had her third baby, Ava Ruth Maranto. My mom was super excited because her and Ava get to share a birthday together. I was so excited to see her and our friend, Megan, who came down from Utah (who I haven't seen in years). It was so good to see her and her son, Walker, who is just a month younger than Shalom.

Shalom could not stand her grandma holding another baby.

Bryce pushing Shalom around in a toy baby stroller...too cute!

Shalom's 1st Birthday...Weekend

2011-03-21T12:45:00.004-05:00

(Just playing a little catch-up.)

On Shalom's birthday, Auntie Sarah and I were in the mall, and we decided to take her on her first ride on the carousel. I think she kind of enjoyed it. We went to our ward Christmas party where she got to get a picture with Santa's elves aka Helen and Zack. ( And, I just couldn't resist putting up the picture of her on Santa's lap at the mall.) The next night we had a little birthday party for her. I don't think she knew what to do with the cupcake...with any food for that matter - just kidding, it's just hard to get her to eat sometimes.

We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She definitely has a bubbly personality! We love her sweet smile, sweet personality, and go-with-flow attitude...for the most part. :)

Rocky aka "One-Eye"

2011-03-21T12:20:00.003-05:00

So it's certainly been a while since I last blogged. About three or four months ago, Mike decided to bring home another dog while I was out of town...without discussing it with me. Needless to say I wasn't too happy...at all! But, you have to learn to "roll with it" in a marriage...right?! Mike found Rocky on craigslist...gotta love craiglist! This family had him for 5 years and wanted to give him a new home because they couldn't take care of him anymore. Personally, I could never give up my dog after 5 years. Who does that?!

So, not even a week after having him we leave to go somewhere and didn't realize that Rocky had somehow slipped out the front door. We came home and there was no Rocky. We looked around the neighborhood...couldn't find him. I was thinking it was a Christmas miracle, but Mike called the pound and somebody had turned him in after getting hit by a car. He ended up having a bad limp on one side and his left eye bulging out. It was so pitiful. He ended up having to get his eye taken out, hence "One-Eye."

Mike also got the dog thinking that Roxy would have a playmate, but he just sits around; so that was too bad. And, we were so glad that he is good around Shalom. He just lets her sit on top of him all the time.

Although he can be sweet sometime in his own way, he can get a bit of a temper. And, last night he let it out on Mike at our picnic. He bit his hand pretty bad. Right then, Mike decided that we shouldn't keep him anymore. I honestly feel bad for that dog and Mike. He was kind of Mike's little buddy, and I think Rocky was getting better taken care of by us than the previous owners. I certainly won't miss taking him on walks anymore, or his snoring, or his stench. He will be missed though. He certainly brought a new dynamic into our home.

Children's Museum

2010-12-10T21:27:00.005-06:00

Annabeth and Shalom just love their grandma!

We went to Sunset (near Lafayette) for Thanksgiving, and we went to the children's museum in Lafayette to get out of the house. Shalom had such a great time with each of the different areas. It was fun to watch her explore. Mike seemed to have had a little fun of his own making a tower out of blocks.

Shalom's First LSU Game

2010-12-10T21:11:00.003-06:00

November 20th we went to the LSU/Ole Miss game. Thanks to my dad we were able to sit in stadium club seating. It was Mike's first time in this seating, and he LOVED all the great food and drinks they offered. They almost didn't let us go in with Shalom because she didn't have a ticket. Apparently, everyone has to have tickets for football games...crazy! We were so glad the let us bring her in. She was so good the whole time. Everyone around us was amazed at how she sat still the whole time.

Shalom's First Halloween

2010-11-01T22:31:00.006-05:00

We went to church on Saturday night to celebrate Halloween and have a Fall Festival with apple bobbing, a pie walk, and trunk or treating. Mike dressed up as one of our friends in the ward, but what's funny about it is that someone else did the same thing too. It was pretty funny! Shalom was the cutest little pumpkin! I might be a little biased. ;)

We can't seem to take a picture without Mike not making a silly face.

Park Outings

2010-11-01T21:52:00.009-05:00

Every time Mike has the day off we have been going outside on walks and go to the park and dog park.

October Weekend in Shreveport

2010-10-31T21:30:00.007-05:00

Two weekends ago, we went up to Shreveport to visit family and go to a friend's wedding. Friday, Shalom got to see her great grandfather at the corn maze and hang out there with the rest of the family. I was so glad that Mike was able to get off work and come up to hang out. I was glad we got to go to my friend, Becca's, rehearsal dinner because I didn't know hardly anyone.

The next morning, I got Scott and my friend, Sanda, from college (I haven't seen in a few years) to run the Autumn Breeze Run. I didn't know if I wanted to do the 5k or the 10k. I was just going to run whatever distance they wanted to run. They both just wanted to run the 5k. All the people doing the 10k started 10 minutes before the 5k people. Literally 30 seconds before the 10k people started we decided to run the 10k. It was crazy! I'm glad we did because I felt great afterwards. I made a pretty good personal time of 52:15. It was fun to run in it with both of them. It was also great to hang out with Sanda later. We were both saying to each other that it didn't even seem like it had been a few years - it seemed like it was just yesterday.

Later Saturday night was Becca's WEDDING! Her and all of the bridesmaids had fun getting ready together in the afternoon before the ceremony. She was such a beautiful bride. It was a very small, laid-back ceremony. The music got a little mixed up before she walked down the aisle. Heavy metal music was playing for a few seconds. Everyone started laughing. It was pretty funny. It was great to witness Becca and Paul declaring their love and devotion to each other in front of all of their close friends and family. I loved this table at the reception. Their initials together are P (Paul), B (Becca), and J (Johnson); so they made crafty jars of peanut butter and jelly to give away. I thought it was really cute. The reception was really nice too. It was perfect for Paul and Becca - laid-back yet elegant set deep in the country area at the Dixie Cotton Gin (just a few minutes away from the corn maze). (I wish I would've gotten a picture of me in my bridesmaid dress, but the durn thing kept falling down. I was tired of pulling it up every few minutes.)

I just love taking pictures of my little girl. She has such a fun smile!

After church on Sunday, we hung out with Amy and her kids at her house. It was fun to watch Brooke try to help Shalom and take care of her.

Mike and I later ate lunch with all of his family. It was so nice for them to be able to hang out with Shalom all weekend and have fun with her. Her Auntie Kayla is so sweet with her.

On the way home, we stopped by Big Daddy and Grandma's house to visit for a little while. Big Daddy was so happy to see Mimi (his name for Shalom). Shalom was so excited to see Big Daddy and their little kitty.

It was a great weekend, and time was time well spent being able to visit everyone (for the most part anyway).

We Have So Much Fun with Our Smiley Girl

2010-10-31T21:22:00.001-05:00

Morning Walks

2010-10-10T11:11:00.002-05:00

Now that we are back in Baton Rouge, it is nice to walk around the lake again. I seemed to have gotten in to a routine already after moving back. Just about every morning I'll take Shalom and Roxy around the lake. Roxy loves it because I'll let her play in the water for a while. I love it because I get to be outside and get a little exercise. And, Shalom loves it because she loves being outside and chillin' in her stroller around the lake. It's a win-situation for all of us.

Corn Maze Fun

2010-10-10T10:39:00.003-05:00

This past Friday we took Sarah and Kip out to the corn maze. It was fun to see Donald and Vicky (below). They were so nice to let all of us go through all phases of the maze.

Shalom didn't know what to think about all of the corn, but after a few minutes she LOVED it. She is just too cute in her pumpkin outfit!

Mike and Kip burying Sarah in the corn.

Shalom's first car

2010-10-10T10:32:00.004-05:00

I loved playing with these cars when I was a kid; so when I saw this on craigslist I had to get it. She loves it. She's still a bit small for it and still trying to figure out how to move forward. Moving backward is pretty easy for her.

She looks so serious behind the wheel.

Conference Weekend

2010-10-10T09:43:00.008-05:00

Conference weekend Brent and Laura came in from Dallas to visit for a few days. There's not a whole lot to do in Lafayette and New Orleans is too far so Friday we all went to the zoo in Baton Rouge. We must have come at a good time because we almost had the place to ourselves. It was fun to see Shalom and Annabeth enjoy all the animals, especially the tiger. She had mixed emotions.

Just looking at the tiger.

All the sudden she got scared of the tiger and wanted grandma to save her.

Then, she got really excited about the tiger!

Brent and Annabeth with the giraffe. (I wish I would've gotten more pictures of them.)

The next day, Scott and Tracey came in town. While all the boys played golf, us girls played with the kids. We went to Target and the park and later Blue Dog Cafe (a REALLY good cajun restaurant). Before the restaurant, we went to the park, and I got a really good shot of me and Shalom on the swing.

Annabeth wanting to push Shalom in the stroller,

Sunday, we all stayed home to watch the Sunday morning session of conference. I love it when we all get together to watch conference. We usually pig out on food. (And, boy did I! It's like I couldn't stop stuffing my face with food.) Tracey brought some cinnamon rolls and my mom made eggs on toast (an old family tradition breakfast meal). It was a great conference Sunday.

Monday, my dad, Brent, Scott played in a scramble Our Lady of Lourdes golf tournament. My mom was nice enough to take care of Shalom while I played. (I'm sure my mom loved it because she knew she wasn't going to see Shalom all the time like before.) The tournament was pretty fun. We had a PGA golf pro play with our foursome - Mike Gove. I've never heard of him, but he was a really nice guy and a great player. Since we were playing a scramble, I was thinking that they would play most of my drives since I would be teeing off from the ladies tees and my drive is the best part of my game but I didn't have as many good drives as usual. It was pretty cool that they got to use all of my shots on a par 3; that was pretty cool. I had to take a picture of Scott's tee shot on a par 3. His ball was 7 inches from the hole. Needless to say he won closest to the pin.

It was a great weekend. I don't always to get to see my siblings; so it was pretty awesome. Since Mike didn't come up and it was just me, I slept on the couch with Shalom in the office room right close. I didn't hear her screaming in the middle of the night two nights in a row. (I must've been pretty tired.) My dad was so sweet to take care of her and feed her during the night. He could've woken me up, but he just took care of her with my mom's help of course. He almost gave her apple cider instead of apple juice. And, when she didn't want straight formula he put chocolate syrup in with it. Gotta love Big Daddy!

The only thing missing from the whole weekend was Mike. :( He had to work. Boooo!

Our Smiley Little Girl

2010-10-10T09:32:00.005-05:00

Shalom is almost 10 months old, but these pictures were taken when she was around 9 months. At her 9 month check-up, she measured 16 pounds 7 ounces (in the 12th percentile) and 27 1/2 inches (in the 48th percentile). She's still a little munchkin, but she seems to be developing fast. She is a fast little crawler and on the verge of walking soon. She took her first few steps last night!! She is just always on the go.

I love that she always has a smile on her face brightening up my day. It is so true that when you serve some one you learn to love that person more, and I definitely love my little girl more and more each day! I am so thankful for her sweet spirit. These are just a few of some fun pictures that depict what a happy girl she is.

Already excited to use the golf club! Her Big Daddy would be so proud!

Enjoying making a mess.

Playing outside in the dirt. She loves being outside.

Being a flirt eating her food. Love her!

She LOVES bath time!

Enjoying playing with the water in the sink while I try to fix my hair.

Already trying to get behind the wheel.

Her first time on the swing.

Washington Family Reunion

2010-08-17T17:20:00.042-05:00

Wednesday, August 4th, we left for Washington state for a family reunion. Reagan was returning from his mission from Japan and Mike's grandpa (on his mom's side) was celebrating his 90th birthday with everyone. We were also celebrating that fact that he is a surviving soldier of World War II (he was on one of the first boats to land on Normandy).

It was kind of a stressful day on Wednesday because I had a test early that morning in Baton Rouge and then had to hurry and get back so we could get to the airport on time. (I ended up missing the rest of lecture for that day which covered all the information for the last test - the day after I would return. Needless to say I had a busy and stressful week ahead of me.)

This was Shalom's first airplane experience. She didn't handle as great as we'd hoped. She did fine until we had a layover in Memphis, and she was fussy almost the whole time. We got really lucky though because we had a seat in between us on each airplane. She at least slept two hours of the four hours going to Seattle. It was a long day day because we didn't get to bed until 2 in the morning our time. Then, we had to gear up for a busy, busy week ahead. We got to stay at his Uncle Andy's house; so in the morning we visited with him and his wife and two kids, Maya and Sofia. They just fell in love with Shalom.

The next morning, we met up with Mike's mom, his sister and her husband (Ema and Josh), his brother, Titus, his Aunt Anna, his family friend, Colin (from Hawaii), and his old boss/family friend and his family for breakfast. It was fun catching up and letting everyone meet Shalom for the first time.

After breakfast, we went to Pike Street Market to walk around, and then we went to the Seattle Center to the big water fountain. Later in the afternoon, we drove three hours east to Othello where his grandparents live. His grandma prepared homemade tamales, mexican rice, chicken, tortillas, and more. Mmmmhhh, it was so good.

(I really wish I could get this picture bigger.) The next day, we had a family reunion on his dad's side in Tricities. Almost everyone from his dad's side (aunt's, uncles, cousins, grandparents) came to the airport to welcome Reagan home off his mission. It was so fun to see everyone and for them to meet Shalom. A lot of them I had not seen since we got married four years ago; so it was nice to have this family reunion. (Although, facebook really helps to be able to keep up with everyone so it almost seems like it wasn't too long ago.) I wish I had more pictures, but our camera got lost. I had to steal this one from someone. It was so good to see Reagan, finally, after two years. Mike's really been missing him. It was really exciting, though, to see all of his younger siblings happy to see him and to have an example of another brother that's a return missionary.

After our family reunion for a few hours, we drove an hour back from Tricities to Othello to have dinner at his grandparents and a baby shower for Ema - due on Dec. 21st (my same due date last year), Tiffany (his cousin) - due in October, and for me (eventhough Shalom is already 8 months). It was really too nice of everyone to get her more gifts.

I love, love, love these two pictures of her. These pictures really do portray her true personality. She is just a happy girl; always smiling and laughing.

Saturday, we all went out to eat lunch for Aunt Anna's 50th birthday!

Shalom with her Uncle Reagan. We call Reagan Papa Zero - kind of like Coke Zero - no quite the real thing but almost as good.

Shalom and her Aunt Ema.

The man of the hour - Grandpa Guerra (the one with the orange lei) with his sister and cousins.

We don't really get to spend a lot of time with Ema and Josh so it was really nice to spend more time with them. After four years, this was the first time I got to know Josh a little better. I don't think I've ever laughed and joked around with him before. He was a lot of fun.

Uncle Andy and his wife, Julie, and their girls Maya and Sofia.

Aunt Lisa and her husband, Chris, and their kids Ryan and Lizzy

We all danced the night away until midnight. This family can go all night!

Shalom was able to sleep amongst all the music and partying. She is too sweet.

She was so wasted the next day she was too tired to even drink her bottle.

Sunday evening, Monday, and Tuesday Shalom stayed with her Aunt Laurie (Mike's dad's sister) and Grandma Joan in Yakima so I could study for my test on Wednesday. Mike and his dad, Reagan, Titus, his other brother, Josh, his sister, Kayla, and his cousin, Charlie all went to go climb Mt. Stewart. They all said that they had a blast but it was very hard at the same time. They said that they go so cold they were all huddling close together. They started hiking at 3 in the morning on Monday with a 5 mile hike into base camp and the rest was actual climbing. I wish I had pictures of their climb, but Mike lost it somewhere on the mountain. :(

Well, I took my test on Wednesday, and I did not end up passing the test or the class. It's definitely put me down. It's been a week, and I am trying to keep myself busy and build back my faith in myself and my faith in God. I studied every chance I could get, and I felt like I was ready for it. I am really trying to understand the reason for this if there is one. I haven't really been in the mood to talk to anyone, but I'm getting better every day. Shalom sure does keep me in good spirits. I turned in an appeal form for the progression and retention committee to decide whether or not they'll allow me to progress in the program.

My First Rocketchix Triatholon

2010-08-17T17:03:00.002-05:00

On July 31st I did my 2nd triathlon and my first Rocketchix triathlon. I really wish I could have been able to do more this summer, but with my schedule I wasn't able to do but one. It hasn't been too easy trying to train, study, take care of a baby, and other responsibilities, but I somehow managed it. I love working out though. I always feel so much better afterwards.

Mike wasn't able to watch me because he had to work and my mom watched Shalom back at home, but I was fortunate enough to have Sarah and Helen cheer me through the whole thing.......in the blazing, hot sun. They were taking pictures at each transition but I don't have those pictures anymore because Mike lost the camera! (I'm over it.) Man, do I have some good friends or what?! It really does make a difference when you have people cheering you on.

I think I have the triathlon bug. Now, let's just hope I don't get pregnant so I can do more next summer.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-08T23:52:00.012-05:00

Saturday, we all got together for the Firecracker 5k in Shreveport. Almost the whole family was there: Brent and Laura, Amy and Judd, Scott and Tracey, my mom and dad with all the grandkids except for Nathan and his family and MY HUSBAND. I thought he was going to meet me there, but the fag slept in. He was talking earlier in the week how he was going to beat Scott (yeah right), but it was still fun and nice that he was excited about it. Whatever, I'm over it. He worked all day the before and drove all the way up; so he was tired.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Scott, Brent, Judd, and I ran in it while everyone else walked with the strollers.

Her are 5 of the 8 grandkids: Bryce, Brooke, Rylan, Shalom, and Annabeth. Aren't they all just so cute?!

All of us together....except Mike.......I'm really over it. ;)

I stole the pictures I found from TimeBox Photography's website of each of us in the race. All of us that ran in it walked back to meet up with the rest of them to walk in with them. We had a lot of fun, and it was a great way to start off the weekend.

The rest of the day we just chilled at home. In the evening we all got together and grilled at Nathan's swim club, Town South. (Swimming seems to be our favorite past time this summer.) Laura's parents came and her sister, Julie came with her husband Nick. All the guys were showing off their different dives and flips off the diving board. Then, we all played some water volleyball.

Sunday, we went to the Clyde Fant Frisbee Golf Park to watch the fireworks.

We stayed in Shreveport another day, and, of course, we hung out at the pool and played a little tennis. It's always fun at the pool with the kids.

Annabeth looks like a little Laura. She is just too cute.

All the playing we did this weekend, the kids were worn out.

Father's Day Weekend

2010-07-08T17:48:00.009-05:00

On our way back from the temple that Saturday, I got some great giggles out of Shalom. She is just so cute and fun when she laughs.

When we got back from the temple, Amy, Judd, and their kids came in from Shreveport to celebrate Father's Day. And, of course, we played at the pool. Big Daddy and Grandma watched the kids while Amy and I played doubles tennis against Mike and Judd. We thought for sure we were going to beat them, but they killed us with Mike being so tall (Amy says "long") and Judd being so fast. We were so bummed, but I guess it was a good Father's Day gift from us. ;)

On Father's Day we, of course, went to the pool. Mike is so sweet with her in the pool, and Shalom just loves playing in the water. It started to rain for a little bit, but it didn't stop Mike and Big Daddy from playing in the water.

Grandma Ema Came to Visit

2010-06-25T10:58:00.007-05:00

Shalom finally got to meet her third grandma on the 9th of June. I was so happy they finally got to spend some time together. I'm also glad she was able to come during this time instead of when Shalom was 2 or 3 months. Shalom smiles and giggles so much. It is so much fun to interact with her. All of the family was together (minus Titus and Reagan) Friday, the 11th, to celebrate Ema-Chanel's husband, Josh's birthday. We all hung out at the farm on Saturday. We ended up taking turns jumping off a ledge while connected to a bungie cord; so you jump off and swing around. It's pretty fun. It took my forever to jump off. It's only about 15 feet high. Mike's little 5 year-old brother was jumping off it like it was no big deal.

It's pretty cool that Ema is due this December the exact same day I was due with Shalom on the 21st.

We had so much fun on the jumping pillow (or Mike and his dad call it a DIY Inflatable). It's like a really huge trampoline. Mike was doing back flips and front flips. I forgot how much fun it is to jump on it.

I don't know who was having more fun; Shalom or Grandma (aka Gemmy).

Our last night we went out to eat some good ol' cajun food at Blue Dog Cafe. We wish she could have stayed a little longer. We had so much fun just visiting and hanging out.

Memorial Weekend and More

2010-06-03T12:53:00.008-05:00

A few weeks ago, my parents hosted a company crawfish boil at their house. They had tons of food and TONS of crawfish! A big truck was brought out to cook all the food. There was fun music and horseshoes to play. The Shalom was pretty much the hit of the party. I love the cajun accent from Lafayette. It is very distinct. I also love how some of the women around Shalom kept saying, "Shaw Baby." (I don't now how to spell what they were saying.) "Shaw" means "how cute" or "how sweet." They kept saying, "Oh shaw!" It was so sweet.

Shalom is getting her first taste of crawfish.

My mom probably spent a couple months getting their courtyard all ready for the party. There were weeds every where! I never knew weeds could grow so tall! It was glad I could help her; it was hard work yet therapeutic at the same time. Of course the courtyard doesn't look the same today. A lot of the weeds are back. At least it looked pretty for the party.

Shalom just loves standing on her daddy's hands. It seems to be their favorite thing to do together.

The Friday of Memorial Day weekend we played 9 holes of golf with my dad. It was Shalom's first of many on the golf course. It was definitely a challenge and little interesting trading her off to take turns to hit our ball, but we had a good time.

Saturday, we all went up to Shreveport to be with everyone up there and went straight to Southern Trace. It was a lot of fun all of us together hanging out. I think Shalom enjoyed her first time in the pool. She was just as content as she could be.

Amy and Judd with their kids, Brooke and Rylan and one on the way.

Bryce is very much attached to his daddy and mommy. Grandma just was not cuttin' it.

Brooke and Grandma. They are like two peas in a pod.

All the guys having a putting contest . I can only imagine what they could be betting on. . . who is gonna buy Burger King on the way home like the old days (but of course Dad would alway end up buying it).

Poor Tracey having to carry all the bags back to the car. She's so awesome!

Monday, all of the girls (me, Amy, my mom, Tracey, and Jenny) played in a doubles tennis scramble at Southern Trace. It was really casual; for fun. Every 20 minutes, they would blow the horn and switch you with a different partner and different opponents. It was really fun. It was my first time to play with other people other than just my family. I think I'll have to look in to playing on a team. Afterwards, we all had fun playing in the pool some more. (I wish I would've gotten pictures with Michael's family on Sunday. I couldn't find my camera at all. We had a good time hanging out and letting Shalom get to know her Aunts and Uncles some more.)

Brooke was so brave and went down the slide with me.

Big Daddy with some of the grandkids.

I think we wore her out from a busy weekend and being in the sun a lot.

Shalom has had a few firsts lately. When we got back from Shreveport, I thought I would feed her in her little Bumbo for the first time and spoon feed her rice cereal. Let's just say she is still grasping the concept.

We came home to four cute, little kittens. My parents' cat, Stella (aka Stinky Stella, aka Slutty Stella), had her kittens while we were gone. I really wish I could've watched the process. These kittens are Stella's second set of kittens. Just two or three months ago, her last set sadly didn't make it due to their dogs being a little too curious.

It's been an Adventurous Fourth Year

2010-05-13T22:27:00.005-05:00

The twelfth was our fourth wedding anniversary. Instead of getting Michael a card, I thought I would make a slideshow of our fourth year of marriage. It's certainly been an adventurous year with me being pregnant, living in Hawaii for the summer, moving into a new apartment, me going back to school, getting a dog, having Shalom, moving out of our apartment, and more.

Our Family Pictures

2010-05-10T21:41:00.004-05:00

About a month ago we got to take some family pictures. Our friend, Lindsay, did a really great job. It was so much fun getting our pictures taken, and it was definitely interesting trying to take pictures with a baby and a dog. These pictures are some of my favorite.

I can't decide if I like the black and white picture or the color picture better.

I love being a mother, especially to this sweet, little baby! I love her so much!

I just LOVE her smile!

The two loves of my life! I am so thankful for them in my life.

Our Day in Shreveport

2010-04-27T21:03:00.013-05:00

Friday night we went to Shreveport. We were going to go to Festival International in Lafayette, but it was supposed to rain all weekend. My mom was going up to Shreveport for Bryce's 1st birthday party; so we decided to go hang out with family since we didn't have anything else planned.

I hung out with my family while Michael hung out with his family. (This usually ends up happening whenever we go to Shreveport. We're trying to be together when we're with each side, but since we were just there one day we split up.)

I got to hang out with my mom and Amy and her kids in the morning before we went over to Scott's house for his son's 1st birthday party. Tracey, Scott's wife, did a great job making it special for him. She had a Barney themed party with purple cupcakes and purple balloons with Barney plates and napkins. It was a lot for a 1st birthday, but it was fun laughing and hanging out with every one.

Bryce, the birthday boy!

We went out to the park in their neighborhood to celebrate since it was so pretty outside, and Carson decided to pull his pants down to pee in the grass. He is such a funny kid. I caught him right when his mom was telling him to pull his pants up.

It was kind of funny at the park. The wind was blowing kind of hard so we had cups, napkins, and plates flying everywhere, and we were trying to keep kids from getting windy. All I could do was laugh. It seemed a little chaotic, but it was a lot of fun.

Caroline is only ten years old and already passing grandma up!

I wish I could get to know Caroline, Jackson, and Carson more. They are such cute kids.

This was me riding around in the back of Amy's van. I had to climb through the back with the car seat every time I got in.

We had to get a picture with the pretty princess. Brooke was so excited and shy being around Kayla, Michael's sister, all dressed up like a princess for prom. Brooke was so funny. She was so wide-eyed once she saw Kayla.

While Michael was with his family, Kayla told him that morning that it was prom but she hadn't planned on going and didn't have a dress either. He couldn't have that. He wanted her to go to prom and have a really fun time. So, she changed her mind a little while later and they went dress shopping. He helped her pick out the dress and jewelry and paid for it all. It was so sweet of him. He call her date up and told him that he had to do two things: take her somewhere really nice to eat and buy pictures. We're glad that she didn't miss out on going to prom.

Kayla and her date, Patrick. (They are dating now. I guess she had a good time.)

We had a lot of fun hanging out with family all in one day! I wish we could visit more often!

French Quarter Festival

2010-04-12T11:33:00.005-05:00

Saturday, we went to the French Quarter Festival, to have us some good ol' fun with friends and to get a break from moving. We have never been to this festival or any festival for that matter in New Orleans (I don't know if Mardi Gras counts). There was A LOT of walking, eating, and listening to music. Shalom was so good the whole entire time. Half the time she was in a baby carrier backpack, and the other half she was in my Moby wrap. She was just content as can be the whole time. She was definitely spoiled, thought, being right on us most of the day. With all the walking, eating, and music listening, we topped off the night with some beignets.

Somewhere along the way, Michael lost the keys to our car. Luckily, we didn't drive our car to New Orleans and then get stranded there. We left our car in Baton Rouge at a friend's house. We couldn't find the keys ANYWHERE. I was so frustrated with him, but he kept a good attitude about it all. I was definitely learning patience from the situation and from him. He ended up driving a friend's car to Lafayette to get his set of keys and then he made it back in time for church towards the end of sacrament meeting. It was craziness, but there was a lesson to be learned; patience (and maybe not to let him have my set of keys anymore).

We Moved! :(

2010-04-06T14:59:00.011-05:00

Well, we no longer live in Baton Rouge anymore. We're so sad. Michael got a job in Lafayette about a month ago; so he was commuting an hour each way every day for a week or two. Since we weren't seeing each other too often, we decided to stay at my parents (they live 10 minutes north of Lafayette in a town called Sunset) from Sunday evening to Thursday. On Thursdays, I would leave early in the morning to make it to clinical at 6:30 in the morning while my mom would watch Shalom all day on Thursday. Michael would bring the baby back home to Baton Rouge after work, and he would just commute on Friday mornings. I would have Sarah or Erica watch Shalom on Fridays. We would start this all over again on Sunday right after church. Saturdays were OUR days. They were and still are special to us because it is our time to spend together.

We couldn't get out of our lease with our apartment; so we put our apartment up on craigslist for someone to take over the lease. We didn't realize we would find someone so soon. A lady that wanted to take it over was approved and everything with the apartment last weekend. Instead of paying for a week of April, we decided to pack up Wednesday night and Thursday all day and pack up a truck on Friday. So, we drove from Sunset to Baton Rouge Wednesday night. Michael packed all night, and while I was in clinical Thursday he packed everything up. Besides not having to pack, it was nice that I wasn't the one packing up because I would've been reminiscing over every little thing. Michael just throws stuff in boxes; not exactly how I would've done it but whatever it got done.

We called up some friends to go out to dinner Thursday with it being our last night in Baton Rouge. They thought we were doing an April Fool's joke on them. We wished that we were. We couldn't think of anywhere new that we haven't been before but have been wanting to go to; so we just went to good ol' Sammy's for some good ol' cajun food.

Early Friday morning we got the packing started. We kept telling ourselves, "I can't believe this is happening so fast!"

Thank you so much to everyone that helped!!! We really appreciate your friendship and your love! We are so sad to leave Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge 2nd Ward. As soon as we were finally bloomed in Baton Rouge, we are having to be planted somewhere else. Although we are sad to leave, we are excited for our new adventure.

A Little Smile Goes a Long Way

2010-03-31T16:34:00.002-05:00

I just love taking care of her and being with her. The past couples weeks I've been able to get some smiles and even a few giggles out of her. It's been so fun! As I've been trying to smile every second I'm with her, I've noticed that it's made me a more cheerful person. It's helped me to learn to go with the flow and not sweat the small stuff.

Shalom and Roxy

2010-03-30T22:26:00.006-05:00

Shalom and Roxy are so cute together. Before I had the baby, I was a little worried about the dog would be around Shalom. Roxy will treat her like Shalom is her own baby sometimes. She'll give Shalom "kisses" whenever she walks past her or lick or hand when Shalom is crying. It's so sweet.

Race for the Cure Fun Run

2010-03-10T17:33:00.002-06:00

We had fun last weekend running in the Race for the Cure 5k fun run. Michael never runs, and he's never run in a 5k fun run; so I was so excited when he said that he would run in it with me. I got to watched him run through the finish line just pushing it....and with a stroller too. He did awesome! It was fun to see my friend, Kelly, at the run too. Her mom has been a survivor of breast cancer for 5 years.

It was so nice spending time with my husband. What I've definitely learned lately is that it is so important to spend time with each other. Since I don't really see him much during the week, the weekend is our time together. It has really made us closer by making time for each other.

Fat Tuesday in New Orleans

2010-02-21T22:14:00.004-06:00

We couldn't celebrate the Mardi Gras holiday without going to New Orleans. We thought it was going to be too cold for Shalom, but it was a beautiful day and Mike had the day off so we just had to go. Sarah and Kip were still there so we met up with them at her parents' house early in the morning to drive together to St. Charles Street where the parade was held. We were able to park right next to the parade at the church parking lot. Some people from church provided a bunch of food. It was so nice to walk back and forth across the street to the parade. It was definitely more family oriented than other parades have been. I loved it. It was perfect. It was great to spend that time with Michael because we don't get to spend time like this together much.

We couldn't leave Roxy out. She has definitely become part of our family.

The baby and Sarah were like my lucky charms. Whenever the floats would stop, she would go up to one and ask the people in the float for a stuffed animal or really cool beads. As soon as they saw the baby, they gave us something really cool. Thank you Auntie Sarah!

Roxy's first Mardi Gras. I'm not sure if she enjoyed it or not.....maybe it was all the beads around her neck. :)

Shalom's first Mardi Gras and many more to come. Thank goodness I had her in my wrap to shield her from all the cigarette and barbecue smoke. She loves being in that thing. Whenever I would open up the wrap to show the baby, I felt like I was getting ready to flash them. It was kind of funny.

Super Bowl Night

2010-02-21T22:07:00.006-06:00

We watched the Saints beat the Colts at our friend Adam's place two doors down. There wasn't enough seating for everyone to sit so we brought our couch over. It was funny watching them try to fit it through the door. It was a lot of fun watching the game with Michael's dad, grandma, and two siblings. I don't really get into football, but it was a really good game to watch. This was the first Superbowl for Shalom, and she'll have many more to come.

My Cuddle Buddies

2010-01-26T23:05:00.004-06:00

This is what Mike woke up to the other morning. My two cuddle buddies right next to me. It is so nice waking up to this. I want her to stay little for a long time. She is just too darn cute........and warm too.

My Dog Cheers Me Up

2010-01-23T17:26:00.004-06:00

I know I post a lot about my dog, but I was looking through my pictures on my camera and remembered how much she cheered me up. I was feeling a really down about school this day last semester. I came home and took her out and just sat outside and let Roxy roam around a few minutes on her own. I heard her making some noise so I had to see what she was doing. I caught her digging a hole. I stared at her and I just had to laugh. She looked so funny and just seemed to be having the best time. At that moment I thought about how glad I was that we have her even though she can stress us out sometimes she can make us laugh and enjoy the little things in life. She was so muddy, but it was worth it.

I caught her digging the hole.

She looked at me like, "Is this okay?"

And then she continued on digging her hole.

TriFiesta Birthdays

2010-01-22T18:29:00.009-06:00

We celebrated Michael, Adam, and Josh's birthdays Mexican style. Everyone brought Mexican food and just hung out. It was a lot of fun. For some reason Michael wanted a taco on the cake....weird. Even though they might be getting a little old for birthday parties, it was still fun to celebrate.

Each of the guys took a shot at the pinata!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-22T17:06:00.004-06:00

Christmas this year was kind of quiet compared to the past Christmases. The past two years we've gone up to Shreveport to celebrate, but this year all the kids came down to my parents' house in Sunset (in between Lafayette and Opelousas). Not all of us kids were there at the same time of course; otherwise, it would have been a crazy house. Nathan, Scott, Brent and their families came down at the beginning of the Christmas week. Scott and his family left Tuesday to spend time in Kansas where Tracey's family lives. Nathan and his family left Wednesday to have Christmas with Jenny's family in Shreveport, and Brent and his family stayed until the end of the week. Mike and I came in early Wednesday night; so we got to see Nathan and them for a little bit before they left. And, Amy and her family came in late that same night to stay until the end of the week. It was sad not being able to have all of us together, but it was still so good to have most of the family together at a time and to spend time with everyone.

I'm glad I got to see Scott and Tracey before Christmas. They were so nice to drive to Baton Rouge to see our new addition to our family. (I'm so glad I decided to have the baby on the 17th instead of the 22nd so all the family could see her before Christmas and so I could have a nice, relaxing Christmas week).

A week before Christmas my dad got knee surgery. Pretty much the whole Christmas week he was out of it. We all felt so bad. He loves the holidays and celebrating it with us. It just wasn't the same. He is usually the life of the party. I'm just glad after all these years he finally decided to get it done and he can be a little more active without so much stress on his knee.
With all of the families together in one place, there are more dogs in one place. There were my parents' three dogs plus all the rest of our dogs; so there were seven dogs in the house. The dogs just gravitated towards my dad. They were around him all the time. It was cute and a little obnoxious at the same time.

Brooke just didn't know what to think about all of these dogs surrounding her.

Some of the cousins together. Brooke, Anna Beth, Rylan, and Shalom. They all look so cute!

I couldn't resist putting Shalom in her stocking! She is too precious!

We couldn't resist getting Roxy a big, huge bone for Christmas. She is still chewing on it. It was so big, Posey thought Roxy needed a little help with it.

Shalom Brielle Billings

2009-12-20T18:12:00.008-06:00

We went into the hospital on the 16th at 10 pm so I could be induced and have her some time the next day. I wanted to get a picture of me before all the pain started. I look like I have no idea what I was in for. haha.

Mike got a picture of me while I was in major pain. I look so miserable. It was different experiencing what it was like as a patient since being in nursing school I'm used to taking care of the patient not being the patient. It almost felt like getting the IV was a little more painful than the contractions. I squeezed the heck out Mike's hand. They gave me Ambien so I could sleep in case I was a little anxious during the night. I woke up around 5 am and had Mike rub my back because it was starting to hurt. I soon realized that I was having contractions. I started to have every 2 minutes. I quickly went from 2 cm to 6 cm in 2 hours. The night shift nurse asked me if I wanted the epidural but I was like, "I think I can handle it for a little longer." The morning shift nurse came in soon after and asked me I wanted to and this time I was like, "Yeah, I definitely want it." After receiving the epidural, it's almost as if I went straight from 6 cm to 9 cm to 10cm! The doctor really didn't think I would have her so soon. She thought I would have her around 4 pm. She came to my room out of breath ready to deliver the baby because she was definitely ready to come out. And she came out at 9 am on the dot!

I kind of wanted my mom in the room because I wanted some of her support. She called Mike around 8 am (thinking that she would have plenty of time to drive from Lafayette to help me along with the labor process), but Mike's like, "She is about to have her any minute." He told my mom to get back in the house and get on the internet to get on skype video to watch it to be somewhat a part of it. His mom from Hawaii got to watch some of the labor and then my mom got to watch the last part of my labor. It kind of worked out perfect because it was just us two in the room with our moms able to watch and see parts of it through a skype video chat. (The computer was at the north end.)

After four or five pushes she was out! I was still a little out of it from the Ambien. At one point I was like, "Is is supposed to be this easy?" The epidural definitely made the experience better. (My original birth plan of wanting to do it natural and have a water labor was out the window once I decided to be induced. Oh well.) I am so blessed to not have had a difficult labor. The whole process was smooth and fast with not as much pain as anticipated.

It was so surreal to see her and hold her.

It was so nice to have my mom make it. I really wish my dad could have made it, but he just had knee surgery that Monday and is still in a lot of pain and not doing so good. My mom's so sweet. She brought Sparkling White Grape Juice and wine glasses to celebrate and other goodies for us.

It was nice to have Sarah arrive soon after my mom arrived.

Michael's family came soon after Sarah did. It was so nice to have everyone come visit and a little surreal especially after having not even 2 hours earlier. Michael's dad seemed super exicted. She is his first grandbaby!

Our first night as parents....CRAZY! (I wouldn't recommend sharing a hospital bed; not the best idea.)

Before Leaving for the Hospital

2009-12-20T17:53:00.003-06:00

I had to get one last shot of my belly before going to the hospital and, of course, with Roxy. She will soon be at the bottom of my list, but I still love my dog.

I couldn't have been more blessed to have such an easy and healthy pregnancy.

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-20T17:32:00.003-06:00

It was fun hanging out with friends at the ward Christmas party. We had to get a picture with Santa's Helpers. They look so cute. We had a lot of fun singing Christmas carols on a hayride around the LSU lake. The singing wasn't fantastic. There was a few people on the hayride that could actually carry a tune. We had fun laughing at ourselves and throwing hay at each other. By the end of the hay ride, we were all covered in hay.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-20T17:30:00.003-06:00

I wish I would have taken more pictures during our Thanksgiving weekend. We had so much fun visiting with family it's easy to forget about the camera. We had Thanksgiving at my parents' house in Sunset (10 minuts north of Lafayette), and Michael's family from Shreveport came down to stay and visit too. Scott, Tracey, and their son, Bryce, also came down to celebrate Thanksgiving. We definitely had a full house, but it was nice to visit with everyone. It was different not having Thanksgiving dinner with my mom. She was in Utah helping her parents and visiting with all of her brothers and their families. I really missed her wheat rolls. She makes the best rolls. I love it when she leaves some dough left over and fries it and puts honey on top.....mmmmmmhhh soooo good! I missed her cooking overall. I think Tracey, Leilani, and I did a pretty good job.

I'm used to my mom deboning the turkey, but this time I did it. I now appreciate all the work she goes through to debone it. It is definitely not fun. Tracey got this picture of me. My belly could not look any bigger. It looks my belly is making my butt stick out too. haha

Roxy is so sweet when she is sleeping. I love it when she falls asleep right next to me.

Weekend in Shreveport

2009-12-20T14:22:00.002-06:00

November 7th, I had my baby shower thrown by Laura, Amy, and Tracey. They did an awesome job. Everything looked great. I loved Laura's "lil punkin" idea for the theme. She had most of the food made with pumpkin flavoring like pumpkin cookies and pumpkin dip. I really appreciated all of the hard work they went through. I was also so nice to see people from Shreveport that I don't get to see all the time. They really showered me with nice baby gifts.

My parents just got back from a trip to Italy and France, and my mom got these aprons embroidered with our names on each of them for us at a local shop.

It was so nice to see Naomi at the shower, even if it was just for a few minutes. Always good to see you, Naomi!

Michael hardly ever gets to see his sister so we were glad we were able to have breakfast with her and visit with her for a little bit.

Sunday, Michael's brother, Josh, got ordained as a Teacher. It was really nice to be a part of it.

At the Baton Rouge Corn Maze

2009-12-20T11:08:00.003-06:00

I finally made it out to the corn maze to hang out with Mike. This year, he worked out there to help our friend, Donald, with the haunted section of the maze instead of managing the whole maze and working there all time. I didn't see him on weekend nights for over a month. I wasn't too busy with school work; so we all just hung out there for the evening while he worked some. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with each other and watch Roxy run around crazy. I thought we would go ahead and try to take pictures for some Christmas cards. We decided to go with the thrid picture. Later in the night, it was a little cold so Roxy curled up on top of my lap. She's so sweet.

LSU Football (Auburn and Tulane)

2009-12-19T22:25:00.004-06:00

Ward Halloween Party

2009-12-19T21:39:00.003-06:00

We dressed as Juno and Pres. Obama for Halloween. It was a fun to see everyone dressed up and watch everyone in the talent show.

My cute Achievement Day girls, Olivia and Toriana.

Sarah, dressed as a sad Tulane fan, and Kip, as a cowboy.

Paige, dressed as a sock hop girl (I think), and Gerald, as a 80s white trash wrestler (who knows, but it was funny).

Adam and Erica dressed and pencil and paper; cute idea.

Andrea and her son, Liam, dressed as a hula dancer and a lion.

Benji and Anne. Benji dressed as halloween. I thought it was funny and clever.

Roxy

2009-12-19T21:22:00.005-06:00

Roxy has been like our baby, well, at least my baby. It's been so much fun having her as our puppy. She is so sweet and so cute. I love taking her to the dog park and on walks. It will be interesting with baby Shalom.

Playing Catch Up

2009-12-19T21:12:00.001-06:00

I have not blogged in a long time! I feel like I have to catch up before posting new pictures.

My Growing Belly

2009-09-29T21:50:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is. I was told to put up a picture of my belly; so here it is! I have reached the 28 week mark or 7 month mark. It's been a pretty good pregnancy so far. I just hate that I can't do some things if I wasn't pregnant like lick cake batter off the spoon or workout like I used to. It's all good though. Whatever it takes to have a healthy baby. :)

Another ER Visit to the Vet

2009-09-23T19:13:00.003-05:00

We had to take Roxy to the ER vet again. Monday, I came home and her right front leg was hurting really bad, and she had no appetite at all. She just was not acting like her normal self. We thought, "Well, since she is not vomiting and doesn't have diarrhea we'll just wait and maybe take her our vet." She didn't better at all. She was so pitiful. Late at night, Michael took her to the ER to get checked out. After staying the night there, they came to the conclusion that she has cellulitis. We were so relieved!

They put two incisions in her leg to because they thought she had an abscess and they wanted to drain, but it wasn't the problem. Because of the incisions, she has stitches. We didn't get a chance to get her a cone to wear to not pick on her stitches so we put on the next best thing. . . a baby onesie. We could not stop laughing at her when we put it on. Doesn't she look so dang cute?!

We're Having a Girl!

2009-09-14T20:23:00.003-05:00

This is a little late because I found out over a month ago, but it was exciting for the both of us to find out together. When we both left Hawaii, I went back to Louisiana (to go to a wedding in Dallas) and Michael went to Washington state to visit family. I had a doctor's appointment the day after I got back. I have been so anxious to find out the sex of the baby. He wanted us to find out together, but he was out of town and I couldn't wait any longer. Luckily through iChat, we found at together at the same time. (He wanted to find out before anyone else because I was bad and told my sister and mom before him that I was pregnant.)

I was really good and didn't look at the monitor during the ultrasound. The technician told me when to look away and then she put the little picture in an envelope. It was so hard not to peak until later on that night.

Walking Around Campus at the LSU/Vanderbilt Game

2009-09-13T19:37:00.004-05:00

We met up with my friend, Becca, from Shreveport to hang out with her and her tailgating group. We mostly just walked around though. It is always so good to see her. She always lifts my spirits.

Every where we walked people stopped to pet Roxy and play with her. I was like, "Mike, if you were single you could get so many girls with this dog." He said that he could write a dating book, but it would only be one page.....Get a really cute puppy. It was fun bringing her on campus and exposing her to the noise and the people.

Right before the game started, we met up with our friend, Andy. (also from Shreveport) We found him just before he was going into the stadium with some friends. We only got to visit with him for a few minutes, but it was still good to see him. Later on, I was thinking that it's crazy that we've been friends for about 15 years; so many memories!

Roxy looks really worn out! She was definitely done for the day.

Our New Addition.....Roxy

2009-09-08T19:15:00.004-05:00

I can't believe we got a dog; a puppy for that matter! Two weeks ago, Mike decided that he really wanted a dog. It's been his dream of his to have an English Bulldog. Being the craigslist fanatic that he is, he happened to see English Bulldog and Yellow Lab mixes being given away for free. The type of dog and the word "free" caught his eye. He just had to have one of them. Not but a week or two before this I was telling my mom that I could not handle and train a dog and transition into a new home and start school. I don't know why I didn't have this conversation with my husband. Well, I couldn't resist. Mike seemed so excited to go get this dog and fulfill 1/2 his dream (haha). I couldn't say, "No."

When he came home, I heard a little bell coming up the stairs. I just fell in love with her right away. I am such a sucker for dogs, especially puppies. She is so, so cute! Mike hates to have dogs in the bed; so I was so surprised that he let her sleep with us the first night. We must have gotten up three times during the night to let her out. Who knew that she would be preparing me somewhat.

She definitely prepared both of us last week when she threw up 5 times in the middle of the night. Because of our experience with Duke and Parvo, we got pretty worried. She is just a nine week old puppy. A week before this though, we took her to the vet to get shots because we were not going to make any mistakes with this one. So, our initial concern for her was whether or not she had Parvo. We took her to the emergency vet at 4 in the morning to check her out and run some tests. It seemed like I was having a Marley and Me moment. I was telling her that she couldn't leave us yet. We've only had her for a week. I want her to grow up with us and our kids. We only had her for a week, and she had me in tears. Thankfully, the Parvo test was negative. She must have eaten something crazy from the grass.

She's been a lot of work, but so much fun! It's fun to watch her learn new things like walk up and down the stairs and experience new things like creatures in the grass. I guess I am catching just a glimpse of what it will be like in a few months.

She just sat right on my lap and put her head on my belly right when we got in the car on the way home from my parents. She didn't stay there too long though since the baby was kicking at the time. It was too cute!

2009-08-19T19:20:00.002-05:00

After the hike, we went to Castles Beach just a mile away form where we stayed. We all just hung out and played in the water while Michael tried to catch some more waves. It was great way to end the last full day in Hawaii. We sure did keep everyone busy. I think everyone needed a little vacation from us taking them every which direction.

Maunawili Falls...Again!

2009-08-19T11:16:00.008-05:00

We pass by this little mountainous island every time we drive South down the island. They call it Chinaman's Hat.

Always waiting on my dad. He was the last one ready to start the hike.

We had to cross a number of streams. Not once did my dad ask for help. He did awesome with one bad knee.

Sarah and Kip did great on the hike, especially after Kip still feeling a little sick.

You can't tell, but my dad is jamming to his headphones. You can't help but laugh.

I can never get a shot of Mike smiling right. He always has to do some crazy face. I kept trying to take the picture really fast....it didn't work. He's so retarded. :)

It was so fun going back to the waterfall and jumping off again. (It's a small jump.) Mike jumped off all of the cliffs tons of times. It was kind of fun just watching him. I tried to get my parents to jump off, but they didn't want to. They were plenty satisfied jumping off the rock at Waimea Bay. We finally got to Sarah to jump off though.

My parents did pretty awesome! I was so proud of both of them for finishing that hike. I totally remembered it being kind of easy. I forgot about all of the steep steps and difficult streams to go through. It was all worth it though. This was our last hike and last full day in Hawaii; not a bad way to spend it.

Bonfire at Chailoh's

2009-08-19T10:34:00.006-05:00

We hosted a bonfire at Chailoh's house later on Sunday night. We wanted to show our gratitude to all our friends we met for all the great help they have been in making our experience so wonderful in Hawaii. Chailoh was so nice to let us use her house on the beach to have the bonfire.

We really enjoyed getting to know Chailoh. She is the sweetest person you'll meet. She seems to always be so positive and cheerful. She cleans condos at Turtle Bay, and let us stay in two of them while everyone else was here. She also coaches gymnastics, and Mike really enjoyed helping her a few times.

Summer was so fun to get to know. I wish we could have been able to do more stuff Summer!

These girls are so cute. It was fun getting to know them.

Thad (Summer's husband) and Michael showing us the right way cook a hotdog in the fire.

We met Mark, Terry, and their daughter Isla through Chailoh at the 4th of July barbeque. We got to know them a lot more as we all helped Don and Alison finish their theater.

We met Don and Alison also through Chailoh at her 4th of July barbeque. They told us they were opening up a theater, and we decided to stop by one day after that just to see the progress. We ended up putting ourselves to work helping them finish up in time for their opening. It was a lot of fun getting to know them and everyone else that helped out.

Sunset Beach

2009-08-19T10:19:00.003-05:00

After we visited the temple on Sunday, we went to Sunset Beach for a while to relax. I love this beach too. The water is so clear and beautiful.

My dad was out! He seems to definitely be taking a break from work.