Valentine's 2014

I thought I'd post a few pictures from Valentine's Day.  I love Valentine's Day!  I think I came to realize how much I love it once I left for college and realized how fun my mom always made it at home :) I also just love hearts so much!  I think Valentine's decorations are the most fun :)

This year I had Aiden "make" Valentine's to send to his aunts in Utah and deliver to Amber and his grandparents here.  Really he didn't help me make them at all.  I tried to get him to help, but he wasn't interested..haha.  He was very good about handing them out though :)  I found the printables on Pinterest.  Thank you to Passion for Savings and The Crafting Chicks :)

Tanis and Kent watched Aiden for me for a few hours while I ran errands on Friday.  I had to get emissions done on the car.  We passed emissions, but failed the equipment part.  First time that's happened! Stupid gas cap!

Aiden with Grandma and Grandpa Knuckles and their Valentine's.

They got him a little gift and then I couldn't get him to look back at the camera!  He really likes his new front loader and bubbles ;)

That evening I dropped Aiden off at Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's so that we could go out to eat at Maggiano's.  We were in a huge rush to make it for our reservation in Scottsdale so I only had time to get a quick picture with Grandma.  Dad was out (he got to come home from rehab earlier that afternoon).

Maggiano's was delicious, but I was uncomfortably full afterward so we didn't get a picture then either :/  I'm bummed about it, but I was not in the mood.

We made it home and before we put Aiden to bed we quickly opened our little gifts.  Aiden was on a Finding Nemo kick for a while so we got him a little Nemo :)  Since we've been in our new place though, Monsters Inc. has been his new go-to.

I missed the photo with the wrapping paper.

I think he likes it ;)

Kisses!

It's hard for me to believe that next Valentine's we'll have a 9-month-old baby girl!  I'm already daydreaming about how I'll dress her for V-Day!  I love dressing in pinks/reds and hearts :)  Oh and check out my Valentine's label on the sidebar to see how Aiden has changed over his last 3 Valentine's Days.  It's crazy!

My Absence

The week of January 27th - February 1st was possibly the most overwhelming week of my life, and things have still been crazy since, hence my absence from the blog.  It's taken me several days just to write this post :/

I got back from the girl's trip to LA Sunday the 19th (and yes, I do plan to finish blogging about that trip, even if I just throw the pictures up). Monday the 20th we found out the home we were fairly certain we'd get to move into had been leased to someone else. So we were back to square one with the house hunting (I guess I haven't mentioned on here that our apartment lease was up February 1st so we spent all of January looking for a rental home). We spent the next few days looking at several more homes and applied to one that weekend.  Monday (the 27th) we found out we got the home!  We were so excited and relieved that we could move into it over the course of the week (move out day was Saturday). Well scratch that, Tuesday Trent got a text that there was a mistake and they had accepted someone else's application before ours.  Major let-down.  We resorted to moving in with Trent's parents while we looked for a new home.  We didn't want to pay all of the extra money to stay in our apartment month-to-month (we had already done that for January).  THURSDAY we got another call saying never mind, those people backed out, the house is ours if we want it.  WOW.  We seriously didn't know whether to be happy or not - we were just so frustrated with the whole situation and had already started moving stuff over to Tanis and Kent's.  Of course we decided to take it though.

Amidst all of this, my dad suffered a brain injury late Wednesday afternoon (the 29th).  Are you keeping up (ha)??  My mom called saying my dad was in an ambulance on his way to Mercy Gilbert Hospital.  She said they had been to their new personal trainer earlier in the afternoon and during/after the workout Dad was saying more than usual that he was really light-headed.  Afterward he still decided to go straight over to help with the horses (his close friend, Pat, owns a whole bunch of horses and Dad has been able to really help out with training them - his absolute passion!).  None of us really know what went on after this point.  Kayla (Pat's daughter - probably about my age), came into the workroom (with all of the saddles and such) and Dad was lying on the concrete with his feet propped up.  She asked him what was going on and apparently he said something about how he was feeling very light-headed and something wasn't right.  She stepped out for a minute and apparently heard a shuffle and then a loud thud.  She said it is a noise she will never forget - my dad's head hitting the concrete :/ The rest of this is all assumption from Kayla and Pat according to where/how they found him.  They assume he had decided to stand up, but could feel himself starting to pass out.  He went to grab onto a ledge or something, but it was too late.  He passed out and fell forward hitting his face/head HARD on this ledge or whatever, which then propelled him backward, and they found him flat on his back.  The initial fall forward broke his nose and two bones at the top of his skull and caused his brain to start bleeding.  They called an ambulance and could not get Dad to respond for like half an hour.

Mom had no idea what was going on as she headed to the ER and just assumed he was dehydrated and they'd stick an IV in him.  It had to have been pretty shocking when she found out he had sustained a significant brain injury and was in critical condition.  Many tears were shed.  There were just so many questions.  But amidst all of this, that night I actually felt really calm about everything.  I just couldn't believe this was all happening right when we were moving out of our apartment (and being pregnant) and was bummed I couldn't be there more and of more help.

The next days proved to be a little more difficult.  We found out that in addition to his broken nose, skull, and bleeding brain, he also couldn't move his right leg.  It amazes us that this all came about because he simply passed out.

Friday morning (the 31st), after another MRI, the neurologist told my mom that "there is significant damage in the brain" and that there was a possibility Dad wouldn't remember anything (we later came to realize that he was probably just giving us the worst-case scenario). I was a sobbing mess when I got off the phone with my mom.  Tanis had come over that morning to help us really get moving on packing and cleaning. I couldn't stop crying, so when Aiden's nap rolled around, Trent and Tanis decided I should just take Aiden back to their place and put him down for his nap and get some rest myself (Tanis, I cannot thank you enough for all of your help).  I couldn't sleep though.  Too many things running through my mind.  That was the worst day of the experience for me.  Amidst everything else, the girls decided to drive down from Utah and Jill's car completely broke down somewhere outside of Vegas. They had to have the car towed and rent a car to make it the rest of the way down.  WOW.  So Jill spent a good portion of her time down here in AZ buying a new car..ha.

I won't update about every day since Dad's accident, but we have seen some good progress.  For instance, the day after the accident he knew my mom was Kim, but thought she was his sister, and he could not tell the doctor his birthday.  He also didn't realize he was in the hospital and just assumed he was at the doctor's.  He has that all back now, but still has a little bit of short-term memory loss, like sometimes he can't remember what's happened just a few hours ago. But doctors/therapists anticipate a full recovery over time.  February 1st he was moved from the ICU into a regular room and then on the 4th, his birthday, he was moved over to a rehab facility for 10 days. While there, he spent about 4 hours a day working with a speech, occupational, and physical therapist.

This is just a quick picture from Dad's birthday.  He is looking so much better now and hardly has any bruising around his eyes anymore.

And just a quick story.  That night we brought Dad a banana cream pie - one of his favorites.  Jill called while we were there to wish him a happy birthday and they were chatting for a few minutes.  We could tell he was thinking really hard what pie we brought him, but he just couldn't remember, and ended up telling her that we brought a sour green apple pie!!  That gave us a good laugh!  We were wondering what in the world Jill thought on the other end of the line ;)

Friday, Valentine's Day, he was released from rehab, but will continue outpatient therapy for a while.  He had to be fitted with a custom brace for his right leg and will need to use a walker for a while.  I think he's happy to be home, but he's giving Mom some trouble with eating and drinking much.  His therapists said it's likely his brain is not telling him he's hungry.

Anyway, sorry for the long post.  I wanted to have this for my records and inform you all why I've been away.  Just in closing, I already told Mom this, but I have been so impressed with how she has handled everything.  It is not easy.  She has really stayed very calm through this whole crazy experience and Dad is sure lucky to have her waiting on him.  We are so grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers and well wishes.  My aunt Karen (Dad's sister) flew in last night to help out for several days, which we are so grateful for.  We think she'll really lift Dad's spirits (and Mom's) and give Mom a bit of a break.  I hope to be able to help out more as well now that we are pretty well settled into our new home.

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.