Such Tourists in LA :)

January 18th

Saturday we spent the morning and early afternoon on Hollywood Boulevard doing some touristy things.  We walked along the Hollywood Walk of Fame and checked out the Chinese Theatre with the famous handprints, footprints, and signatures of many celebrities in the concrete.  Apparently there are almost 200 - it didn't seem like that many to me when we were there!  I only got pictures of a handful of them.

Gotta love Will Smith.

John Travolta.

Meryl Streep - had to get her since we'd just seen her on Ellen :)

Matt Damon.

Some of the Twilight cast.

Tom Hanks.

Jennifer Aniston - she was wearing heels :)

Adam Sandler.

There was a fun mall next door with a huge candy boutique that we checked out.  These steps were piano keys and would actually play as you walked up and down them :)

We got tickets to tour the Dolby Theatre, but had some time to use up, so we did a little shopping.

The Dolby Theatre is where the Academy Awards take place and Ellen actually hosted this year just the other week on March 2nd. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside during the tour.

Stairway up to the entrance of the Dolby Theatre.

It was interesting to see and hear how they get all set up for the Academy Awards because the theatre is literally inside a mall, so they were explaining how they cover all of the store fronts with curtains and roll out the red carpet.  We got to go up on the stage and they kept telling us that we were just kind of seeing the bones and framework and that it would look a lot nicer for the Awards..haha.

We got to see an Oscar and learned that celebrities are absolutely prohibited from giving away or selling an Oscar they've won.  If for some reason they don't want it, they can give it back to the Academy and they'll receive a dollar in return.  ONE dollar..haha.  Also, they're names aren't engraved on the Oscar until the after party.  So it really is a complete surprise for the announcers (and everyone else) as to who the winner is.

Picture after our tour.

It was fun to watch the Academy Awards the other week and see how they had dolled up the whole place since when we had seen it :)

Jimmy Kimmel airs across the street.

After that we headed to lunch at The Ivy.  Jordan got us reservations there.  It's kind of a celebrity hotspot so we were hoping to see someone, but no such luck.  Oh well, it was still fun to be there :)  We were a little surprised to find out that sharing is not allowed (it's a little pricey there), but we just kind of laughed and decided it was part of the experience ;)

Such a cute group, if I say so myself :) 

Just a shot of it from across the street.

There was lots of high end boutique shopping around there, so we did a little "window shopping."  I loved the ivy all over Stella McCartney's storefront.

The girls were excited to check out DASH, founded by the Kardashian sisters.  I actually didn't know anything about it because I don't watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians..ha.

Just a quick walk through :)

More ivy love - Diane von Furstenberg.

We headed back to the hotel for naps (haha) and later that evening we got a little more dressed up and headed to The Grove, an outdoor shopping mall.  It was a nice night and fun to just take it easy.

A nice backdrop for us sisters in Anthropologie..haha.

On this night baby girl was really active and the girls all got to feel her moving around :)  Amy was a little shocked that she "high kicked" her..haha.

We shopped and picked up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, the best!

Not the best pictures, but we needed to document :)

We drove down Rodeo Drive and headed back to the hotel to get packed up.  The next day we flew home.  I was a little sad that all of the girls got to fly together.  And it stunk because their flight was like 5 hours before mine..ha.  I was so early they wouldn't even let me check in for like another hour!

Anyway, it was such a fun trip!  It freaked me out though, while giving hugs and saying goodbye, that the next time I'd be seeing them I'd have a new baby!!  Little did we know that I'd be seeing my sisters and Bryn just a few weeks later (with my Dad's accident and all).  I'm so glad to have my sisters and cousins as my very best friends :) Hopefully we can keep up the girl's trips!

Santa Monica Pier

January 17th

Well I said I'd finish posting about our LA Girl's Trip and here I am finally doing it ;)  So far I've only posted about our first day, January 16th, on the Ellen Show HERE.  The next day, Friday, the 17th, we spent much of the day at the Santa Monica Pier.  It was a beautiful day and we decided to rent bikes and ride along for a little bit.  Seems like a popular/touristy thing to do ;)

The classic ferris wheel shot.

Jill, Jen, myself, Meg, and Jordan.

And Amy and Bryn.

There were some fun homes!

We decided to just rent the bikes for an hour and I think we all agreed that that was just perfect.  That's really all we needed.  Then we grabbed some lunch at a food court.  Afterward we headed back down to the beach for a little bit.

The water was cold!  Notice Jen and Jordan's faces when the tide came in ;)

Sissies ;)

Candid :)

Jordan is due at the beginning of April with a baby boy, so we are almost exactly a month apart!  At this point Jordan was 28 weeks and I was 24.  Now she's 36 and I'm 32!!

Someone lost their balloons.

Don't know what we were thinking when we didn't bring our suits :/

Twinners.

That evening we had a reservation at Pizzeria Mozza.  I had an old article ripped out with good pizza places in the U.S. and this was on there, so we thought we'd try it out.

Jen and I shared the Bianca (white pizza).  I had been reading reviews a few weeks prior and people raved about the Fried Squash Blossoms w/ Ricotta for an appetizer and the Butterscotch Budino, Sea Salt & Rosemary Pine Nut Cookies for dessert, so I knew I wanted to try both of those, along with our pizza that night.  It was all very tasty :)

Jordan and I shared the Butterscotch Budino.  I know, totally dorky to take a picture with our food ;)  And clearly we got some sun ;)

We headed back to our hotel to get comfy, but were feeling a little lame, especially since the night before we called it a night around 7. So we decided to hop back in the van (ha!) and try to find a lookout point for the Hollywood sign.  We were using someone's phone to navigate, but there was some private party going on and the street was blocked off, so we ended up taking a twisty, turny detour up, up, up. We had no idea where we were going, but we kept driving and were noticing tons of cars and people headed somewhere.  We pulled into a parking spot, that just happened to be the very closest to the entrance, but we still didn't know where we were..haha.  Turns out we ended up at the Griffith Observatory and admission is free!! We were cracking up!  So we totally took advantage!  We felt a little silly because most of us were in pajamas/sweats and it seemed like a lot of people were there for date night.  Nonetheless we enjoyed the view!

The best shot I could get of the Hollywood sign - it was dark!

Amy and Bryn looking out.

As we drove back down the slope we happened upon a pack of wolves roaming - it was really creepy!  Anyway, it was a fun little adventure and then we were back to the hotel :)

30 Weeks

Yesterday marked 30-weeks of pregnancy, and I got to have another ultrasound!  They were specifically looking to see if baby girl's cord is still wrapped around her neck and it is NOT!  So that's good news! Now she's breech though (bum down instead of head down)..haha. Little stinker! Luckily we have several weeks, so hopefully she'll just keep moving around and get her head positioned down by the time I go into labor.  It was so fun to see her and the tech could already tell that she has a lot of hair!!  I was so surprised by that!  I never thought they could tell!  She also seems to be weighing in at about 3 pounds 8 ounces!  I can't believe how much more informative this tech has been than the one I had with Aiden.  It seriously amazes me! And it sounds like I'll get to have another ultrasound around 36 weeks!  What the heck?!  I only had 2 with Aiden and it sounds like I'll get to have FIVE with little missie!  Not that I'm complaining!  This pregnancy has sure been different than with Aiden, in lots of ways actually!

• I've mentioned this before, but heartburn has been quite a bit worse this pregnancy, and I get crazy acid reflux :(  It'll come shooting up my throat (sorry to be graphic) and it seriously often wakes me up out of a dead sleep at night.  I finally decided to try something besides Tums (my doctor gave me a whole list of pregnancy-approved medications) and Zantac seems to help much more.

• I've also been struggling more with low blood pressure.  I guess during pregnancy your blood pressure drops anyway, but mine gets to the point where I often feel like I may pass out.  This is something I've struggled with my whole life, but particularly during this pregnancy.  It happens most often right after I've showered, but it happened the other day while I was driving, which really freaked me out.  I thought I was going to pass out behind the wheel.  I seriously was just about ready to pull over, but I was in Tanis's neighborhood so I knew I could at least make it to her house to drop off Aiden. She actually has a blood pressure cuff at home and took my BP and it was like 79/52 which is really low.  I asked about it at the doctor's yesterday and I guess mine averages like 90 for systolic (top #) and I can't remember my diastolic, so it is naturally pretty low.  Anyway, the doctor said to make sure I keep up on my fluid intake and small snacks and maybe consider an iron supplement.

I actually can't think of anything else that I haven't mentioned before, but just all-in-all this pregnancy feels quite a bit different than with Aiden.

I am getting very excited to meet our baby girl though, and a bit anxious/nervous, naturally :)

This may seem a little off topic, but it has to do with big brother ;)  I had to get this picture of Aiden sleeping the other night because it reminded me of how he'd sleep with his arms above his head when he was just a newborn :)  I must be feeling a little bit nostalgic.  I just can't believe Aiden won't be our baby anymore.  Makes me a little sad, but excited at the same time for him to have a sibling :)

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.