ELLEN!!!

Last Sunday I got home from a little trip with my sisters (Jen, Jill, Amy) and a few cousins (Jordan, Megan, Bryn) to LA.  We all flew in Thursday morning, the 16th.  The major event of our trip was going to a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show - totally on my bucket list!! I think most of my readers know I'm a little obsessed with Ellen.  In fact, she gets her very own label on my sidebar ;)  If I am home and able to watch Ellen (99% of the time I am because Aiden is down for his nap when she airs at 3), you better believe I am watching her! And I've been watching her show pretty much since she first started!

When us girls decided on a trip to LA, I knew we had to try to get to a taping of Ellen, so I was put in charge of watching for tickets.  For anyone interested, you can request tickets at ellentv.com.  You have to request tickets a few months in advance.  For instance, if you go to the site right now, everything is already booked until the middle of March.  

Here's the whole story of getting our tickets.  I'm really not a dramatic person, but I'm sure you all will think I was super dramatic about this whole situation!  I was just SUPER passionate about getting tickets!!  I mean she was on my bucket list for goodness sake ;) Anyway, we knew we wanted to try for tickets for the taping on January 16th.  I started checking the site every. day. at the beginning of October, sometimes a few times a day!  I did not want to miss them opening up!  Early on October 22nd, I saw the request available and immediately texted all of the girls to put in a request.  Each of us could request up to 4 tickets so I had everyone put in different names so we'd all have the same chance of getting in.  Ellen's site is a little misleading b/c they say a representative will call to book you in the order in which the requests were received.  I was definitely first of us girls to request tickets, followed by Bryn, and then Megan I think, but Megan was the first to get a call back at like 10:30 that morning and granted tickets for her, Tiersha, Jen, and Jill.  I was FREAKING OUT. I could not believe I was the one that had been watching for tickets all along and I wasn't even guaranteed a ticket!!!  Seriously, for the whole rest of the day I felt like my blood pressure was so high.  I was grumpy, frustrated, and on the verge of tears - ask any of the girls - sorry girls :/  What's funny is, in my heart I knew we'd all get tickets (I mean we had like 9 people put in requests), I just couldn't believe I wasn't the first one to get a call like the site said.  Turns out Tiersha missed a call from them that day and totally went out of her way to get back to them to get the tickets, even though we later found out she'd be moving across the country and wouldn't even get to come with us!!  Thank you Tiersha!!  And the next day Amy got a call, and I missed a call from them (I didn't bother to call back), so now we had MORE than enough tickets!  Oh the drama!  So there's the story of getting our dang tickets, but looking back on it, it was really easy to get them!  Just check back every day and get your request in as SOON as you see your wish date open up!!

Whoo, sorry for that long rant.  So anyway, a few months later and we all flew into LAX Thursday morning and headed straight for Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to get ready for our taping of ELLEN!!  It was so exciting!!

Driving up to the studio.

We all got checked in and were each given a number - this number was just the order in which we could enter the studio.  Then we all hung out in this outdoor pavilion thing for a while.

We had a staff member take this photo (above) of us and she was so amazed when she found out 4 of us were sisters and we were all cousins!  She told us to meet her in a corner of the pavilion like 15 minutes later.  4 other girls (2 sets of friends) joined us and we were taken outside to the back.  We had NO IDEA what was going on, but we knew it was something special!  They then explained to us that IF Ellen was going to have any audience participation, it would be people from this group of 11 to go down!!!  We couldn't believe it!! They then explained the games to us and got our names, ages, and a picture of each of us!  They asked a few questions such as "Who is Ellen's biggest fan?" - the girls all pointed to me - AHH!! and "Who of your group is the most competitive?" - we all pointed to Bryn and Amy.  Then they had us act out a scenario - imagine you have been called down by Ellen, how would you react.  They told us to try to make everyone in the pavilion wonder what the heck was going on outside!  We were all screaming, jumping up and down, hugging, you get it!  Then they thanked us and had us go back to the pavilion.

We got back and were more excited than before to be seeing a taping of Ellen!  We were so anxious to know if any of us would be called down!  I was in limbo - the thought of being called down by Ellen was super exciting, although I thought I may cry, but I'm also pretty shy and easily embarrassed so I also kind of wanted one of the other girls to be called down.  If you watched the show, you all know there was no audience participation that day (the staff in the pavilion never know if there will be or not - it is just their responsibility to find people in case there IS).  We were all a little disappointed.  I would have loved to have seen what that would've been like, even if it was one of the other 4 girls (not my sisters or cousins) who were called down.  Oh well!  It was such a fun experience nonetheless!!

Sisters - this was when we were pulled outside for possible audience participation :)

Waiting in the pavilion - I discovered one of Aiden's little cars in my purse.  I was missing the little guy already - it was hard to see him ride off with Tanis that morning, looking so confused.  I kept that car in my purse the entire trip :)

Once we left the pavilion we got to hang out in the Riff Raff room for a little bit before we were seated.  This is where you could purchase any of the Ellen paraphernalia :)  There was a maternity Ellen shirt that I was eyeing, but not one in my size.

Then we headed to the studio and were seated in the FRONT ROW!!  We were over by Twitch.  So fun!

All of us girls.  Two girls actually sat where Bryn and Meg were supposed to :( so they're in the row behind us.

A little more waiting.  Here was the hashtag for those on Insta and Twitter.

Then it all began!!  We were informed that the guests would be Meryl Streep and Vanessa Hudgens, to air on Monday!  Remember it was Thursday, so we had to pretend it was Monday!  We thought we may be seeing Kim Kardashian who aired on Friday, but we were happy with who we got to see!  We knew our moms would be jealous that we got to see Meryl :)  

During the taping they had us get up and dance and cheer during every commercial break, so we were pretty worn out by the end! But it was seriously so much fun!!! Before we knew it, it was all over. Ellen took a minute at the end to thank all of us for coming and supporting her, which was really neat :)  If you ever get the chance, DEFINITELY go to a taping!  HIGHLY recommended!!  Maybe I'll have to take Trent back sometime ;)

A few more photos before they forced us out ;)

Our taping aired on President's Day!  It was way fun to watch for us on t.v. :)  The staff told us they make a real effort to make sure everyone gets shown.  We knew we had a good chance since we were in the front row by Twitch ;)

Thank you to Amanda and Jessie for snapping a few shots.  We don't have Tivo or anything where we can pause, and I just wanted to be able to enjoy the show, not be distracted with trying to get shots of us.

After the taping we got to do a kind of little tour of the Warner Brothers lot and check out the little gift shop - Central Perk.  By now it was close to 5, so we decided to head to our hotel and start to wind down..haha.  We all had a good laugh about our hotel - it was a little sketchy - but it made it all part of the experience ;)

We all walked to pick up a little dinner.  Saw the Hollywood sign while we were walking.

Then we called it a night.  We felt like total dorks because it was like 7, but we felt okay about it because we had been going all day ;)  We just turned on "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" on t.v. and had girl talk.  Always a fun time :)

Sweet Dreams Part 2

All the way back when Aiden was only 7 months, I did a post (HERE) with a whole bunch of pictures of Aiden sleeping.  I meant to do another post sooner, but have never gotten to it.  Trust me, I still take pictures of him sleeping all. the. time.  He is so precious when he sleeps ;)  In the last few months Aiden always asks to bring a toy or two to bed with him (besides his regular stuffed animals) and then he ends up piling everything up in his crib - often on top of himself.  I don't know if it's because he's cold or if it's just comforting to him.  I thought I'd put up some picture proof for your enjoyment :)  

I had picked up Aiden's room this evening before he went to bed, and put his ball on top of his bookshelf, and came back to check in, only to find he had managed to get it into his crib ;)

Little goof ;)

This is later when I took the ball out after he fell asleep.

On a random note, many of you know that we are moving out of our apartment by the end of the month.  This is a major reason why!!

Aiden had a lot of toys to begin with, but then his birthday and Christmas came around and we have had to resort to keeping a bunch of his toys on his dresser so that they're not all over the ground!  And this isn't even all of them.  It is just crazy.  We desperately need some more space and feel like we are just bursting at the seams in our apartment, especially with baby girl coming in May.  We do not have a rental home set in stone yet, but hope to by the end of the week.  We will keep you updated!

On another random note, Aiden has started saying "thanks" instead of "thank you" in the last week or so and I don't want to forget it.  It cracks me up because he says it like he feels more grown up saying it.  I love that little stinker!

Baby Girl's Sonograms :)

Here are some of the sonograms from December 11th when we found out we are having a baby GIRL!  I also put up 2 videos - they're super cute :)

Very exciting!!

Crazy how clear her hand was!

I love these videos because you can see she had the hiccups :)

In this one you can see her moving her hand/arm around in the back :)

I had another ultrasound at my last appointment (this last Wednesday, the 8th) because they wanted to get a closer look at her spine.  During my December 11th appt. the tech got the measurements and everything she wanted from the front, but then had me go "empty my bladder" (ha) in the hopes that baby girl would flip over so that she could check out her spine and count her vertebrae.  Well baby girl did not flip over, so lucky me (really!) got to have another ultrasound on Wednesday and she was in the perfect position to see her whole spine - yay!  Everything looks great!  It was a quick ultrasound and I didn't get any sonograms from it, but I was happy to see her again and confirm that she's still a girl..haha.

Also at this appointment I found out that the cord is around her neck. My doctor says this is pretty common and that there's nothing they can do about it, so it's nothing I should worry about it.  I am really hoping she unwinds herself (we have some good time left, right?!) because I would hate to have to have a C-section in the end :/  Come on baby girl!  Keep rolling around in there!

I have been absolutely terrible about documenting my pregnancy this time around, so I'm going to recap some things that have been going on.

• During the first trimester, I craved pizza like CRAZY!!  Like I could've had pizza every. single. day.  I definitely still crave it here and there, but nothing like the first trimester.  That was basically the only craving I experienced.

• I first felt baby girl moving, around 14 weeks.  It's crazy how much sooner I've been able to recognize things this time around.

• Trent felt her kick around 21 weeks.  It would've been sooner if I had been better about telling him when she was moving.

• I feel like this pregnancy has been beating me up (well just compared to with Aiden), I know it could be a lot worse.  It could be because now I have Aiden to take care of and run after and I can't be resting as much.  But this time around I have had terrible heartburn and indigestion.  Tums are my best friend, but they don't even cut it sometimes.  I have also been experiencing some bad round ligament pain in the last few weeks.  But again, I know it could all be worse.

• Baby girl is very active and can be seen moving around from the outside.  In fact, Amber saw her kick today during Church..haha.  Also, it seems any time I have to pee she starts bouncing on my bladder like a trampoline. That sure makes me hurry to the bathroom!!

This bump picture is from the Sunday following Christmas.  On Christmas day I was 21 weeks.

Aiden was totally cracking us up because he kept jumping in the picture ;)

I am currently about 23 and a half weeks :)

Mesa Temple Lights

This is kind of old news now, but we went to see the Mesa Temple lights last Monday (the 30th), so I thought I'd just put up the pictures from that.

Aiden wasn't cooperating for pictures (he was running around), so we thought we'd take one just the two of us, but apparently he decided to jump in ;)

A few more tries at a family picture :)

Closer up.

Different angle.

Amy's boyfriend, Richard, flew in that day (for about a week), and none of us had been to see the lights yet, so we thought  it would be a good time to go.

Jen and Jill weren't ready ;)

"The kids" minus Amber.

Looking at a different camera.