Chris.Mitzi.Hayes

Funny Boy!

2012-01-20T15:24:00.001-06:00

Things I want to remember about my funny boy!

I guess Hayes sees me cover my mouth when I cough so he has started coming over to me after I cough and putting his hand by my mouth -as if he was catching the cough for me and then throwing it as if he was tossing it away. Then he says, "It's all better Mom." A mother can only hope their little boy always stays so thoughtful.

Last night before bed I was reading him The Grinch who Stole Christmas and right in the middle of the Grinch stealing Christmas he looks at me and with a concerned voice and asks, "Mom, you scared?" When I told him no he started patting my back and saying, "It's okay mom, it's okay."

I want to remember how he calls bandaids "bambi's" and how he loves to say "member" - as in "Mom, lets go in the kitchen, member" or "I want strawberry milk, member?" Remember ;)

I love how he still asks to hold "you" when he wants to be held and how he repeats anything he's ever heard Ridge say. Everything to him is so "big-BIG- BIIIIG!" Well, unless he doesn't want to do something and then claims to be too little ;) He say's "mines" when he is supposed to say "my" as in "that's mines room." He calls Gatoraide "alligator juice" and Squeeze Its and Slurpees are "squisheys". Hayes doesn't go pee, he goes "peep".

In Hayes' mind everything is always going to happen "tomorrow"and he always wants to know how you are doing. Like whenever you've been away for a bit and come home he asks, "How was work, Dad?" or "how was Bunko, Mom?" When he wakes up in the morning he often asks you, "You sleep good?"

He says some mighty awesome prayers before bed, always praying for his family and little friends. Sometimes he'll even throw in a "grateful for my lamp, grateful for my bedroom, grateful for helicopters, and grateful for that (and points at something random).

I never want to forget the time he told me, "Mom, you drive me nuts!"and after I told him that isn't nice to say and that he'd better give his mom a kiss, he replied "Dad told me not to kiss gi-yals". I'm not a girl, I'm your mom ;)

I love that today we wrestled and body slammed alligators, fought a dragon with a broomstick and pretended to be puppy dogs. All of which was Hayes' idea. Oh, cute boy! Your imagination is exciting!

Let's just leave the list at this and pretend this child doesn't ever say anything naughty. No little two year old boys do, right?

December

2012-01-10T16:43:00.000-06:00

Halloween catch up...

2012-01-10T16:41:00.000-06:00

A castle for a prince

2012-01-03T14:30:00.000-06:00

Here's the difference between moms and dads. Hayes tells mom he wants to live in a castle and we pretend that we are chasing dragons and living in a tower. Hayes tells dad he wants to live in a castle and dad really makes him one. What a cute little surprise to come home to. Made by dad, decorated by Hayes (and yes, he had to put every single toy in his castle too).

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T03:23:00.000-06:00

A session of my boy!

2011-12-13T02:55:00.002-06:00

That's right, you heard it. This is a complete session that I finally got around to editing 100% of my little stud. I swear sometimes (all the time) Hayes gets the shaft when it comes to real sessions. The one person I love to take pictures of the most is the one person that never gets more than a random picture here and there. Because I do it all the time for other people it is hard for me to remember to grab out my nice camera and take some picture for myself. Well, here you go little Hayes. I think we captured your personality perfectly!

Anyone else missing Summer?

2011-12-13T01:16:00.000-06:00

Underwear and a big boy bed!

2011-12-12T19:44:00.000-06:00

What do you get when you take a two and a half year old out from behind bars? NO SLEEP!

A couple months ago we tackled the transition from Hayes' crib to a big boy bed. We knew what we were getting ourselves into way before we did it. This kid is definitely not a sleeper so giving him the freedom of escaping those crib bars is a scary job that we are still paying for. He still has the hardest time falling asleep and often makes a 3:00 am trip to our bed (which means we take a 3:01 trip with back to his bed). Last night was especially bad as he cried for an hour and a half, "I don't want my bedroom. I want downstairs. I need to go potty. I need to brush my teeth. I want mom. I want dad. I don't want my bedroom, no, no, nope".

At least he was excited for a minute when we first got his bed set up...

After we made the bed switch we decided to tackle the potty training too. I do have to say Hayes has been hard doing a lot of things, but potty training really wasn't all that bad. We did the three day potty training where you don't go anywhere for three days and don't say anything but positive things the entire time and it seemed to work for him.

This is him after I asked him to show me his big boy moves. Now it is impossible to find pants that stay on his skinny little butt!

Love our big boy!

Have you ever made one of these?

2011-09-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to pop on here and see who wants to make this with me. Anyone? My sis and I were talking about these just the other day and after taking a peek in my closet I realized I have so so many skirts that are dying to be worn again and would totally need that little extra something at the bottom to to make them just a teach bit longer ;) Come to think of it, how'd you think one of these bad boys would look attached to my swimming suit, haha. That's where I really a little extra fabric love.

Tutorial here

So, who's up to making these with me? Preferably someone with a-) a sewing machine b-) sewing skills and c-) a cold bowl of peaches and ice cream
Because I have none of the above and would desperately pay for any of them right about now!

On another note, look who actually did something found on her "do it yourself" board on Pinterest? One diy project down 300 to go. Do you Pinterest? Here's my link Pinterest
Don't worry I probably already stalk your boards when your not looking :) Stalk me back. And here's my new addition to my front door. I don't feel like it's completely done yet. Maybe I'll add a little more gaudiness and bling because that's how I roll.

Twitterpated

2011-08-20T00:04:00.002-05:00

Yes, they love each other. Yes, I encourage it.

It was getting dark quick so I tried to hurry and catch a few shots of these rascals before the sun completely disappeared. We had just finished taking pictures of Selma's (adorable) new baby brother and I was dying over how cute Selma and Hayes were playing (in this scrumptious field might I add). They were running around hand in hand & I just about melted when Selma bent down and kissed Hayes better so he'd stop crying - Oh young love.

What I'm like @ 2!

2011-05-30T15:41:00.005-05:00

My favorite...

Toy: buzz
Color: green
TV show: Team Umizoomi
Movie: Toy Story 3, Cars
Song: Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree
Place: ~~time out~~ Pop pop's truck or bachoe
Trademark move: the pouty face
Bad habit: getting naked
Activity: ~~hitting~~ playing "pitch" aka baseball on the front lawn
Words I love: "you wel-come", "twa-qwet" (chocolate) and "come on -treats- come on"
Famous sentence: "He'll be riiiiiight back" "Where'd pop pop go?"
Treat: MnM's
Pastime: putting a bowl of water on the floor and licking it up like a puppy

When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up he said, "Toy Story" and his response to who is his favorite friend, it just happened to be, "Hayes". Lately I've heard him saying "oh crap" and "shoot" a lot, which I admit I'm totally guilty of teaching him (oops) but we have the hardest time not laughing when he says them. It's so dang cute. His answer to everything is "ummm, dumptruck". A common conversation
Me: "Hayes, whatcha doin?"
Hayes' response: "umm, dumptruck."
Or I get this one a lot too...
Me: Hey, where you goin'?
Hayes: "Ummm, dumptruck!"

I swear we have one of the funniest two-year olds around. To say he is full of personality is an understatement. And by golly, I haven't met a kid that was more stubborn and is always wanting to be in the middle of everything all the time. Busy, adorably busy!

Nudity - 2 yrs

2011-05-29T02:59:00.001-05:00

To some people it’s totally natural, to my little boy it was a foreign concept.

My son takes after my hubby in more ways then Chris would like to admit. They both like to go to bed completely and fully clothed. No kidding. Chris will even wear a hoodie to bed in summer. If you find Chris or Hayes hanging out around the house most of the time they have their shoes on. Hayes even freaks out when I change his clothes and boy does that kid want a shirt back on asap. Odd, I know.

That’s why I thought it was so dang weird when Hayes discovered (and even weirder that he liked) nudity. It was foreign to him and I guess he had to get out all his nudist desires. For two days, every stinking time Hayes would disappear he’d be found hiding behind the couch cushions taking his clothes off as fast as he possibly could. Whenever I’d get him out of his crib he was naked...and covered in pee.

Happy 2nd B-day!

2011-04-09T03:14:00.035-05:00

We had huge plans for Hayes' second birthday. The crate paper was out, decorations in check and party a go. Only problem? The dang weather.

We had plans to go to Logan for baby animal days on Hayes' actual birthday so you could imagine how bummed we were when it ~~rained poured~~ flooded the entire morning. We decided to go anyway and try our luck with the animals inside the barns. Hayes loved it despite the rain and gushy mud. We didn't last very long before we took shelter at a nearby McDonalds and let the kids warm up and run around. So much for cute decorations, but hey the thought was definitely there.

Here's Hayes spread out birthday week...
Did you expect anything but a Buzz lightyear party?

Where did my baby go?

2011-04-07T14:03:00.001-05:00

{I obviously never posted this because I never got around to uploading the pictures...oh well, here it is waaaay late, haha}

A two year-old? Really? I can't believe Hayes is going to be 2 in a couple short days. Even though I miss my sweet little baby, Hayes is so much fun now.

About our almost two-year old, (sigh)...

Our house right now revolves around "Bight-year". Oh gosh, Buzz is his favorite thing in the entire world. No joke! He used to yell "mom" for me to come get him out of his crib but now more times than that he yells, "where's Bightyear, where's Bightyear?" He'd watch Toy Story all day if I let him.
He also obsesses about everything little boy like helicopters, airplanes, trains, tractors, cars, remotes, puddles... His favorite time of day is when the garbage man comes.
He'd definitely move his bedroom outside if we let him. He'll grab his shoes and coat and he lets me know when he thinks it's time to go outside.
He's a list maker, especially when we are in the car. The other day we were heading out to Kami's and I told him where we were going so he made a list that went something like this, "Ridge, Navie, Pop pop, Ridge, Aunt Kam, Pop pop, Dax, Pop pop's bachoe..." and he says it so matter of fact like.
He likes to sing before we tuck him in at night. If he doesn't know the words he makes them up as he goes.
Hayes is quite the little counter. We went through a period where he hated the numbers 1 and 7 and always left them out but now he finally includes them and counts to ten like a champ. He totally uses it to his advantage too. It's like if he goes to all the effort to count, we had darn well better do something special when he finally gets to ten like applaud him or swing him in the air or how could we possibly get mad at him for jumping down the stairs if he just counted so perfectly before take off?!?

The last few months

2011-03-24T13:10:00.000-05:00

I'm comfy at 80 degrees, Hayes is comfy at whatever the temperature is outside.

We tried to do this cute little St. Patricks dinner for Hayes, he wanted absolutely nothing of it.

We have a little routine at our house. At least a hundred times a day Hayes heads over to our leg with the death grip and with all his might tries to pull us. With a little strain in his voice he tells us, "uuuup, please mom, uuuup." The persistent little stink won't give up until you get up, "come on, come on." Most the time he takes you to the kitchen and asks for a "treat please" but the other times he takes you to the door and wants outside. To say we are excited for Spring is an understatement!

Our biggest victory since the last update. No more binkie. I know I should be embarrassed it took this long to get rid of it, but the kid was obsessed with it and with Chris' crazy school schedule it wasn't a battle I wanted to tackle. BUT we finally did it and he still talks about it like we took a limb or vital organ from him. He asks me daily where his binkie is and before I can tell him for the millionth time it's broken, he gives me that famous Hayes scowl and tells me, "momma broke it!" Yep, I'm mean.

My favorite thing he does lately is his fake cry. The kid literally says (not cries, he says), "boo-hoo" with his lip all puckered out and it's so adorably fake. Hence the it's-almost-bedtime pout. Now dad's the mean one? Bully.

Happy Valentines!

2011-02-14T19:37:00.000-06:00

Cornflakes 21 months

2011-02-01T19:39:00.001-06:00

The Before:

My little guy looked so sweet this particular morning so I had to grab out my camera. He wasn't quite ready to wake up for the day so he layed back down on the front room floor and took another snooze...

And when he finally did wake up he looked so adorably cuddly...

The Question:
How did we get to this point just seconds later?

Everything in Between:

I guess he decided he could get himself breakfast.You little turkey.

When I pulled out the vacuum to clean it up I broke his little heart.

20 months

2010-12-16T23:45:00.002-06:00

Oh Hayes, you are too cute for your own good!

This morning Hayes and I went on a little adventure. Sure, the hospital might only be a couple hundred yards from our front door, but today we were explorers on an extensive voyage. By the time we got back home there wasn’t a single puddle that wasn’t jumped in, not a person in that hospital that didn’t get a “hi” from Hayes, and not a solitary car that wasn’t waved at (occupied or just sitting in the parking lot). The sweet little bus driver at the hospital was the only one to wave back and you should have seen Hayes' face when he realized after all that waving, the bus driver was actually waving back at him. Hayes’ lips squished together like a fish, “Ohhhhhhhwaaaaaa,” he said and when the bus driver kept waving as he turned the corner, Hayes squealed like a little girl. “Bus, bus,” he kept saying as he tried to drag me back to meet his new idol -the bus driver.

We decided to eat in the cafeteria while we were there and there wasn’t a person around that didn’t comment on how “busy” one year olds are (a nice way of saying how busy my one year old is). First he wanted to take all the candy canes off their tree. Then he booked it across the lunchroom to pet a dog for the blind (he has a small obsession with dogs), then off to the pop machines, back into the cafeteria, under the chair… all while being chased by his mom holding a spoonful of his soup. When I took him to dump our tray, he decided to “hide, hide, hide” from me around the corner. I guess that’s what I get for playing hide and seek with him at home (except at home he is ALWAYS behind the curtains or next to his crib). The poor kid needs a friend. He’s even resorted to hiding his blanket around the house and then finding it himself. He walks around saying, “Where’s nie night, where’s nie night? There it is!” Of course there it is, you hid it there two minutes ago. Silly boy.

Its cute moments like today that make me forgive him for being so sassy/hitting/kicking/hiding our keys/poking his new baby cousin in the face/not sharing/writing on our coffee table/running around the store/not staying in nursery at church... I was thinking about how awesome he's talking lately and I remembered what a proud mom I was when he said his first word “mom” (that sweet little innocent boy). Then I realized how muvh he’s changed since then. His official first sentence was, “I told you no, dad.” Haha, we love our little animated boy.

Giveaway!!!

2010-11-01T13:47:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun selling my temple pictures at a local boutique that I'm going to keep on selling! Hello, get your Christmas presents for everyone!
These pictures are printed metallic too so the color looks awesome!

Introductory Prices

8x10 print - $11

8x10 mounted - $16

11x14 print - $18

11x14 mounted - $25

16x20 print - $30

16x20 mounted - $40

8x10 float wrap - $56

8x10 canvas - $77

11x14 float wrap - $90

11x14 canvas - $120

Please ask me about prices on other sizes and custom orders (if you want special wording like "Torgersen Est. 2005" or black and white, etc).

CLICK HERE TO BUY

and to see all the details

Or visit http://buyldstempleprints.blogspot.com/

Oh man, you know me better than that! To think I would do something like this without a

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky winner will get whichever print they want in a 11x14 or 8x10 (mounted or not, words or not)

it's up to you!!!

Enter on my photography blog *here*
http://www.mitzitorgersenphotography.com/
by November 7th!

If you win and already purchased a print, you can either get another one for free (hello, Christmas is soooon) or I'll return your original money back. This way you don't have to wait to see who wins to get yourself one, you can buy it now! Saweet!

18 months

2010-10-28T02:06:00.030-05:00

(another post never published, oops. I want to remember them still, especially now the puking finally stopped)

Dilemma. What do you do with a child that pukes? Nope, it isn't reflex anymore. Hayes pukes when he doesn't get his way. Sometimes he will cry for so long and so hard that he gags himself. Sometimes he'll just stick out his tongue and force the puke to come on purpose.
It's a lose lose with sleeping. Whenever he wakes up and we decide to leave him in his crib to cry it out, you better believe we are just sitting outside his door just waiting for the gagging/puking to start.

Gagging is such a dirty word at our house. It's a recipe for another load of laundry and it's a code word for mom's going to be so frustrated (and covered in puke) in just a few short minutes.

Do you let him cry it out and just clean up the puke or do you pick him up to stop it from coming (which reinforces that he just got what he wanted and now next time he wants something he'll just gag again).

I was at lunch with my dad and Kami the other day and Hayes didn't want to sit in the highchair so what do you think his solution to get his way was? Yep, he just started gagging himself until I had to run out of the restaurant to let him puke on the side of the building (we would have never made the bathroom).

When he's not being a stinker, he is pretty dang cute though. This kid is so funny. I find myself telling Chris everyday on the phone (because I hardly see the poor guy) what cute things Hayes does. He dances, tries to jump, finally expanded his favorite word "no" to include "no night night" (and you can't imagine how much attitude is behind it) and "no mom".

We find ourself just laughing at him and it's so hard to scold him when he's just so dang funny. We've been trying to teach him not to hit so we'll take his hand and tell him to be nice or be soft and rub his hand on our faces softly (Kam's good advice). So now he'll hit you or throw a ball at you and then immedietly run up to you rubbing your face saying "niiii-ce" with a big smile. Oh boy.

15 mo.

2010-09-21T15:20:00.005-05:00

My little (gets into everything, can't hold still for a second) guy...

Aw man!

2010-09-21T15:15:00.001-05:00

I missed one! Here's another from the cabin. Couldn't leave this scrumptious face out ;)

The Cabin

2010-09-21T00:54:00.006-05:00

We try and try all summer to get up to the cabin and when we finally do, it's so worth it. Hayes absolutely loves it up there and it's just gorgeous! There's something about fresh air that makes you forget about any stresses back at home.

13 months

Does anyone else think it's funny that my son walks with his hands in the air, silly kid!

sleepover

2010-09-07T01:06:00.004-05:00

This summer we had a sleepover with Hayes' two favorite cousins. We did pizza, a movie, popcorn, the whole thing. Don't tell but I was the only one to see the end of the movie. Hayes was in heaven the entire night. Navie is totally his mini mom and Hayes loves her to pieces and poor Ridge just got followed around all night because Hayes wants to do whatever Ridge is.

Snowcones

2010-09-06T03:36:00.005-05:00

I need snowcones. I need snowcones and lemonade. Lemonade and flip flops. I need flip flops and warmth. Today was way too cold for a swim party, so I need summer back. Mostly, I need summer back because I need my hubby back.

We are officially back in full school mode around our casa. Chris is spending his days falling asleep on the couch with a stack of index cards chalk full of "name, generic name, class, brand, scheduled, dosage forms, indications, MOA, peds, interactions, contraindications, precautions, bb warning, adverse reactions, patient consultations, pregnancy category..." (I totally just peeked over while he sleeps next to me and these were just the headings I could read through his chicken scratch writing, haha). All I have to say is please give your local pharmacist a hug for knowing all this crud for you! School stinks!

We had such a fun summer together though. Now I hope to catch up on my summer blogging, not like Chris was a distraction or anything, but kinda. Little Hayes needed some quality time with his dad and boy did he get it. Chris taught him to swing a golf club and play a little baseball. What a proud dad he is too. I'd be proud except I'm busy cussing because now Hayes thinks he needs to chuck anything that's within reach. He chucks my (_____ insert any object smaller than a baseball) and then looks at his dad like we should all clap for him. Example: we were in Sea World checking out the touching part of the starfish exhibit. Cute right? Chris picks up a star fish and shows it to sweet little Hayes, setting it lightly in Hayes' hand. Just as I snap an innocent picture, Hayes THROWS THE STARFISH (pretty far) back into the water and claps at himself. Oh boy, like they aren't tortured enough already.

I guess there is one thing about the fall to be super excited about though. It's almost November. Do you know why November is the bomb of all months? Nope, it's not cause it's my birthday, but thanks for remembering. I get to be an aunt again. Absolutely can't wait to meet little baby Traain Traxz (his big brother named him that, I added the gangsta spelling for extra effect).

This is a typical routine for us. Play, play, play...

eventually we have to stop playing and this happens.

He is so sad so he runs to a blanky, grabs his bink, and crawls up on your lap.
I bet Hayes was around 14 months here when he started to walk (June 1st) and we had to put up the gates again because he wanted to fall up and down the stairs.These were last month (16 months) at dad's ball game...

Such a little boy!

15 months facts...

2010-07-29T01:47:00.000-05:00

I love that Hayes has developed such a personality. He acts like life is a parade and boy is he taking a ride on his own little float. He is the center of everything and he is literally waving at everyone and everything passing by...My favorite is when he waves at airplanes. Oh to be the center of so many people's universe!

He loves to carry around random objects... toothbrushes, keys, phones, our clothes, anything. I think we have a pack-rat on our hands.

When he cries he covers his mouth with both hands.
He loves to clap... at himself.

We took Hayes to the GI specialist this month and she told us Hayes is still way small for his age and we are still trying to get him to eat and keep things down more. He went from 1% in weight (17.5 lbs) in March to 3% in July (almost 20 lbs) at 15 months. She told us unless we want to do a major surgery at this point all the medications we've been trying are our only option. When he is closer to two we can do some allergy testing for him to see if that could be something.

Here's some pics from this month at the zoo.

Birthday Party

2010-07-28T00:38:00.000-05:00

One thing that I appreciate more than anyone can imagine is how supportive and helpful our family and friends are. Thanks so much for everyone's help in putting together little Hazard's (Aunt Kam seemed to give him that name and it seems to fit oh so perfectly) birthday party. Oh man, our cute little stink is getting so big.

Is this all about being forgotten?

2010-07-28T00:17:00.000-05:00

I have this nightmare lately that my kids (no that doesn't mean anything you over-analyzing silly people, I mean my way way way in a lot of years in the future kid(s?)) won't know anything about me. I mean the real me. The me that would spray-an-entire-bottle-of-whipped-cream-in-my-mouth-when-nobody's-looking me! The me that wants to cry when she throws a pair of shoes away because of all the sentimental memories they have. I want to leave a little bit about me behind when they "put me in a big black box and cover me up with dirt and rocks".

The solution... blog. Hello, Mitzi! Jump back on the blog wagon!

I hearby do solemly swear to document my life more, my current life and past memories.

I swear maybe someone will read this little blog of mine and I wont be completely forgotten one day when the "ants crawl in, the ants crawl out, the ants play pinnacle on my...snout?" (crap, is that really how the song goes? Gross.

Sincerely,
trying to not be obsessed with death (but it sure sounds like I am) but just wanting to finally get back in the swing of things.

Easter

2010-05-07T03:52:00.003-05:00

This was Hayes' second Easter (even though he wasn't even one yet) and as you can tell this kid loooved it! He had his first sucker and Twinky and the biggest score was his Zu Zu hampster the Easter bunny left in his basket. Hayes and the hampster jabber in the same language and he's already chucked it across the room enough times to make it stop running.

Even though Easter was so cold this year (yep, snow at the egg hunt), Easter traditions will always be a favorite around this house. Now I have to get up enough courage to hide that last plastic egg Hayes is still hauling around the house.

He's one!

2010-04-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Hayes!

Here are some things I'll remember most about Hayes at one...

*The kid is obsessed with sticking his tongue out and rolling/twisting it all over the place.

*He could totally walk if he wanted to but the second he realizes he's walking he sits right down and crawls.

*He mocks what we say, "bye-bye, outside, up, no, Hayes, mom, dad, ball, dude, hat..." after we say it and jabbers all the rest of the time like he's having a conversation with us and we should understand what he's saying.

*He has the cutest 8 little teeth.

*He loves balls...and mac-n-cheese!

*He points at everything. He'll point at the front door and then wave bye-bye all day long like hello, don't you know what I want.

*He takes after Navie and Ridge and gives a little grunt if he doesn't like what your doing.

*He rarely takes a nap.

*He goes up and down the stairs a million times a day.

*He loves rough housing and being right up in your face.

*He loves his mom! What? If you write a post about him you can say whatever you want too!

We love our little one year old!

I need this kid!

2010-03-16T00:04:00.000-05:00

Sure he might depend on me for food, clothes, to tuck him in at night, to kiss away his owie, for just about everything, but no matter how much he needs me I need him more.

I need to see his new toothy grin when he knows he's into something he shouldn't be. I need to hear his fast little doggy pant as he scurries away to not get cought. I need to hear the giggles of anticipation as he's swooped up in the air and tickled all over, the way he dives into my arms (separation anxiety and all), waves with both hands, bounces to music (especially Lada Gaga), is obsessed with his tongue, wobbles as he stands, tugs on my pant leg, yells "momma" throughout the house, can't get enough of the stairs...

I can't imagine a day without my little buddy. I can't wait to pal around for the rest of forever with him because as much as I think he needs me, I'll always need him just a little bit more!

Here are his 9 month stats (our little squirt).
Weight 16.5 -3%
Length 29 - 76%
Head 27%
Yes, I know he's 11 mo. now. So I'm a little behind but I had to share still :)

And what would a post be without talking about a little reflux? The puking is FINALLY slowing down (knock on wood) but definitely not gone. I'm happy to say there are a couple days a week we go without any puke at all! Maybe we can get him to frump up a little now!

I wanted to take some 9 mo. pics of my baby and I am so happy to say that Hayes is actually pretty photogenic. Wahoo! We got these in like 20 min. Please bless he always stays this way!

This mom seriously needs this kid!!!

Hayes' First Christmas!

2010-02-06T03:25:00.004-06:00

I remember thinking last year how different things would be this year. It would no longer just be the two of us and we'd have someone else to share our traditions with. We had no idea just how great it'd really be.

Here are a few of the things that I want Hayes to know about his first Christmas.

this kid has so many people that love him
his favorite part of opening presents were the bows and ribbons
he hated going Christmas shopping so bad that he puked all over his momma in the middle of the mall (and then on himself, the floor, and the people around us)... multiple times
we thought he'd terrorize the tree but he actually just liked to stare at the lights. He left the terrorizing to the garland and beads on the banister
he loved all the noise making toys he got, his dad didn't so much
snowballs are his favorite treat (thanks to his pop-pop) or maybe just going outside to get them is his favorite

We had such a fun/busy Christmas with Christmas Eve with Chris' family in Murray, an early waking up to see what Santa left, breakfast with the Christensen's and presents with my dad, back to Murray with gma/pa Udarbe, and finally back to Ogden to see my mom. Holy cow, it felt as busy as it sounds, but for me that's how it should be. Christmas has always been a little of jumping from here to there to see all the people we love!

temple square and santa

2009-12-24T00:46:00.002-06:00

The second we sat Hayes down on Santa's lap he was mesmerized by his big white fluffy beard. As soon as he noticed something behind the beard, not so mesmerized anymore. Maybe next year. Temple square was so cold, but Selma and Hayes didn't seem to mind all bundled in their blankets. I don't think either of them blinked the entire time. Nothing better than a fun night to get us in the Christmas spirit!

Hummm...

2009-12-12T03:31:00.003-06:00

I’ve decided that I don’t need sleep. I think I’ve gotten used to being on cruise control and in that zombie mode my body switched into eight long months ago. What does being refreshed even feel like? I’m not complaining. Well, I'm not meaning to be. I just want to remember how long it took me to feel like life was “normal” again after having a baby. You know, just for the record ;). I wouldn’t change a darn thing though because it’s so worth it. I do also realize it’s only a matter of time before it all comes catching up to me too. So, for now I’ll go with not getting much sleep. One day I'm sure I'll look back on this time in my life and think, "If only I could go back when Hayes was a baby..."

Chris on the other hand needs more sleep. Oh man, he could use some sleep. Poor kid has been studying his butt off and working so (obnoxiously) hard lately! I have a love hate relationship with his pharmacy school. I love that he comes home and has all these neat stories (that definitely can’t be topped by my stories about baby poop). I love that he is pushing himself and actually seeing how stinking smart he is. I love how he would have given up the first week of class but he sticks with it everyday because he wants to be able to provide for our family.

I hate that he always has that little red mark on his forehead from falling asleep on his laptop. I hate that on the first day of his school they introduced his class to a suicide and marriage counselor. Above all, I absolutely hate that he has to be gone so much.

Speaking of snow (wasn’t I?). Hayes was introduced to his first snow storm the other day. At first he just looked at it with “bird mouth”. No, I’m not being a jerky mom. One of his most popular faces looks like a baby bird waiting to be fed. It’s adorable. Anyway, after a minute of open-mouthed concentration on the little flakes of cold, he decided he LOVES the snow!

In all, we are hanging in here and our little family is doing great!

October

2009-11-14T13:41:00.003-06:00

A whole lotta Hayes

2009-11-02T00:33:00.000-06:00

What do you get when you put baby food and Hayes together?
Colored puke!

No kidding. In our desperation to get this kiddo to keep anything down, we gave baby food a try when Hayes was 5 months old. It might have helped a little, but mostly it just added a little tint of color to his puke. Let me tell you, the kid doesn't discriminate when it comes to food! He loves it all!

I was so excited when Hayes starting sitting because I just knew he would be entertaining himself in no time. Wrong. Days after he learned to sit, he started scooting around like crazy. He has been scooting for a few weeks now but is just barely getting those darn knees under him to really get around.

So here were the 6 mo. stats...

Height 27 in. 80%
Weight 15.3 lbs. 9%
Head 23%

The doctor's response to these, "He's pretty small, try getting him to keep his food down...and lets feed him baby food at least five times a day." As if my life didn't already revolve around his schedule and trying to stop the puke! :)

The latest update is our little guy got his first tooth. There it was poking out on the bottom as white as could be. He got it at 6 1/2 months and I do have to say that it is quite adorable! Now he has number two pushing its way through.

The funnest thing about Hayes right now is how much he LOVES attention. His new thing is diving into people's arms when they sit down next to us. The other day he was playing in the exersaucer and just started laughing hysterically. When I looked up to see why he was laughing, he was just staring at me with I'm-so-cute-so-give-me-all-your-attention eyes. He definitely knows how to get attention.

I'm the type of mom that gets sad that her baby is growing so fast. He is so big! Seeing him just standing there makes me want to grab him in my arms and make him stay little forever. So let me just say that I do not love that he already stands so big with a little something to hold on to.

"Noddin my head like yea"

2009-10-27T00:24:00.009-05:00

Me, my girly, and a little Miley

Girls night with my little ‘V’ (she made me laugh when she gave me permission to call her that). I am a little biased because she is my only niece, but I do have to say that Nav just might be the cutest little 5 year old ever! No joke. I just can’t get enough of her and her geniusness.

It was so fun to spend the day just the two of us. We went to dinner and then rocked out at the Miley concert. It took her a little bit to get used to her crazy aunt jamming to the music before she started getting into it herself. Next thing you know she was dancing in the aisle.

The funniest part of the day was seeing my little social butterfly in action. We saw some of her friends while we were eating dinner and our aunt Meri when we were in line getting a shirt, so she knew her friends and cousins were among the million of other girls in the crowd. The entire night she kept searching for her little friends, hoping to see them again.

After the concert…
Navie: “Um, can we just wait here on this statue for a minute?”
Me: “Sure, how come?”
Navie: “Ya know, I just want to sit and look for a minute.”
Me: “What are we looking for…your friends?”
Navie: “No, just looking.”
Long pause. Deep concentration as she obviously looks into the crowed pouring out of the Delta Center for her friends.
Navie: “Kaitlin was wearing a red shirt, wasn’t she?”

Lol! She is a hoot! On the way home I was asking her about her favorite part and before she could answer, the sweet girl was asleep. She was so tired after all the excitement! Oh man, I love that girl!

Dude, blogger keeps making my pictures blurry too. What the heck?

Psst

2009-10-24T02:52:00.004-05:00

Wanna know a secret?

I have another blog.

I couldn't keep it from you any longer. Check, check, check it out.

mitzitorgersenphotography.com

I know I only have a few posts so far, but keep checking back because I have tons more to upload!

Hellooooo world! Meet Mitzi!

2009-09-28T00:39:00.009-05:00

This is me. Not the old me, the new me. I think I kind of lost myself for the past little while, but its way past time for my reappearance. So I figured while I'm taking the time to find myself again, I might as well find a new/improved/better me.

Hummm, what do I want the new me to be like?

A girl that isn’t so scared...
Someone full of goals and ambitions...
A person who can do something for just herself and love every minute of it...
Someone that laughs out loud (often and annoyingly loud)...
Someone that stands up for herself...

Don't call me lame for quoting Dr. Laura, but I listen to her radio show whenever I can. I think I like her so much because a lot of her strong personality traits are my weaknesses. Do you think Dr. Laura needs validation? I don't think so. She's a woman, hear her roar! I'm just a girl that sounds more like a squeak. Anyway, she said on her program that we are the architects to our own lives and we can really build whatever we want. We can be who we want and do whatever our hearts desire and at the end of the day if we don't like who we have become, we have the power to erase the blueprints and draw up some new ones for tomorrow.

The new me is taking some risks for MYSELF (well and my little family). There is no reward without risks, so here I go. I’m going to risk it up. Risky, risk risk. I decided I am not going to just sit and watch Chris fight through this school situation by himself day after day. I can help us. No matter how vulnerable or nervous it makes me, I want to help out our little family. I want to grow, stretch my mind, and do a few things that I can feel good about at the end of the day. Old Mitzi, meet entrepreneur Mitzi. Call it a quarter life crisis, but la-de-da, it's a dang good one!

It feels good to write my thoughts down again and think. I hope I (we) like who I find at the end. This might be a little scary, but a whole lotta fun!

Bare with me, and I beg you to stick around to see where I end up. I’m curious myself.

Why am I all of a sudden singing Bon Jovi? "It’s my life, it’s now or never. I aint gunna live forever…"

A new trick!

2009-09-24T00:06:00.003-05:00

We've been working on it a few weeks now, and he's still a little wobbly...

awww, but isn't he cute!

Last month we mastered rolling both ways, this month is sitting, next month sleeping through the night, right little buddy!?!

Summer

2009-09-16T00:19:00.004-05:00

I just realized how much time we have spent outside this summer.

My baby loooves it!

Here are a few random pictures from our summer. outside at the air show at the beginning of summer

Hayes' reaction to these... ...was so funny! He wouldn't even blink!

watching dad and pop-pop golf in a derby

a little drive in fun

hanging out in Park City and at the cabin

Look really close at the outfit my dad bought Hayes. Yankees, Chris' family just loved that one!

and tons of swimming

(these ones are from a day at the pool with some teacher friends at Davis, I miss them already)

Summer was so fun! Now bring on the hot chocolate, chilly nights bundled in blankets, cozy sweaters, and (finally) some good TV!

White coat ceremony

2009-09-03T23:38:00.004-05:00

Boy, you look good in white! So professional! Sucky that school already keeps you up way too late at night. At least one of us should be getting some sleep. Anyway, I just wanted to say that you worked hard to get here and we are darn proud...you little pharmacist (in training) you!

p.s. Update from last post...we didn't find a darn thing wrong with Hayes. Good news, but now we must look elsewhere for answers. A third medicine maybe, a voo-doo doctor, anything else we can think of... we are pulling out all the stops here.

Officially crazy!

2009-08-30T14:52:00.005-05:00

It is way too hard to blog with one hand. In fact, it is really hard to do anything with one hand for that matter.

Let's just say that we have quite the demanding child (to say the least). I feel like I haven't been able to do anything for the last four months let alone catch up on a little blogging. Why? One hand is always full. All I do all day is try to entertain a fussy baby. He DOES NOT want us to do anything except sit outside and bounce his little stubborn bum. Let’s not even talk about the sleep issue. I know what you are thinking, just put the baby down and he'll get over it. I've heard it over and over, you have to let him cry it out and he'll learn. Nope, not this child. He'll cry all day and night and it doesn't even faze him. Hayes sucks at sleeping!

Lack of posts lately, that's the least of my worries. I still have a stack of thank-you notes to send out from baby presents. Oops! Seriously, I apologize to everyone for the lack of...well the lack of everything. I truly want to be thoughtful, but my brain can't get past the yearning for sleep. I am not trying to stare into space all the time, I really want to be normal but normal is hard lately.

The puking has to stop. Four months of wiping puke off everything is quite enough. We have tried everything from Zantac to Prevacid and rice cereal and nothing seems to work. I stopped eating dairy and chocolate (and just about everything else) for months, but still more puke. At times I think it is even getting worse.

So tomorrow Hayes has an ultrasound and Barium x-ray to see if we can find the problem. I'd love to tell you more, but my brain is already shut off and refocusing on the screaming child.

I do love you child. I wish we could figure out what's wrong so we can stop the puking/fussing.

Hayes’ 4 mo. stats…

Weight 13.2 lbs. 18%

Length 25 in. 57%

Head 23%

Oh you little stink, you are just too adorable!

And the winner is...

2009-08-09T17:51:00.001-05:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You are all awesome for helping me spread the word about my eyelash extensions!

Because I have had such a great response and so much support, I want to sweeten the deal even more! If you were one of the people who posted my link and picture on your blog, I'll do a full set for you for $55. I know, I'm crazy! The only thing is you have to book by Sept. 1st.

Can you feel the excitement?

...

Are you ready for this?

...

Are you sure?

...

Okay, here it is...

Random.org picked the lucky winner to be...

The Thompson's that said...
Super FUN! I am a friend of Kami's and saw this on her blog! I would love to get this done! I bet you will do so well doing this once the word is out! Who can resist a set of great long lashes.:)
August 6, 2009 11:46 AM

E-mail me at mitziray@yahoo.com to set up an appointment!

Giveaway!

2009-07-30T21:15:00.006-05:00

What started out as a personal obsession has now become my new business...

Eyelash Extensions!

What better way to celebrate then a giveaway worth $75!

Here's what you have to do:

1- leave a comment by Aug. 8th at 6:00 pm (Saturday)

2- to help me get the word out, make a post on your blog with this ...

AND a link back to this post from your blog!

http://mitzirae.blogspot.com/2009/07/giveaway.html

If you are the lucky winner you'll get your eyes glamourized with a beautiful, flirty lash set for free!

If you don't win, I will still give you $10 off a full set just for posting on your blog!

Starting price for a full set is $75 and a fill (within 6 weeks) is only $35!

How about a before and after

BeforeAfter

And a big fat thanks to my gorgeous eyelash models! The pictures don't even explain how awesome you look!

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this! Thanks for your help in spreading the word!

Oakley

2009-07-24T01:51:00.000-05:00

Aly, I know I just barely met you, but you and Oakley are already some of my favorite people! I felt like a little girl at a slumber party because we were giggling so hard during the entire shoot! Oakley couldn’t have been more adorable! Just a few of the many...

A perfect day

2009-07-24T01:09:00.000-05:00

What an incredible blessing!

June 7, 2009

family, friends, and a heart full of gratitude

Rosie and Spencer

2009-07-13T13:32:00.008-05:00

This was way too much fun! Thanks for letting me take your pictures! Girl, look at you work this one!
Or maybe edited like this?

And my favorite!

What to do?

2009-07-07T20:00:00.008-05:00

I am not a decision maker. With that being said, I have about a week to make my decision.

The question isn’t can I do it, because sure I can. The question is do I want to do it and is it worth it. Is it worth my sanity?

For the last month or so I have had anxiety about starting school again. The last two years have been so hard for me. Maybe it’s just my personality, but sadly my entire life revolves around school from August to July. The housework slacks, the good wife disappears, and out comes the obsessively stressed out teacher with way too much to do. Teaching is like a heavy burden that follows me around everywhere and is constantly in my head telling me how many papers I still have to correct and how little time I have to do it.

After the first year of pulling in my parking space in the early morning dark and pulling back out at night without seeing a drop of daylight, I decided something needed to change. The obvious answer was that I was trying too hard and doing too much. Yes, I am a perfectionist, but the solution of slacking a little more and depending more on teacher aids still didn't solve the problem. I feel like I slack already, how can I let even more go? I decided I picked the wrong subject to teach. It’s not just me, all the English teachers seem to have my same time problem.

So, is this what I really want again for this year? Do I want to jump back into school when I just barely found happy Mitzi again these last few school free months?

With Chris’ first year of pharmacy school and a new baby, I often think I need to be at home. With us both going full speed, I'm sure Hayes would suffer if not. When school starts, Chris would have to give me more laundry responsibilities and dish scrubbing lessons though so I could be a good wife again. But at the same time, I think I shouldn't waste my degree and give up on something that helps society and doing something that I think I do well. Why can't I make a decision? Either decision I make makes me feel guilty and like I'm doing something wrong or letting people down.

I have one week to decide or I'll have to pay a $500 fine if I quit. Right now I'm leaning toward staying with my family and trying to make money wherever I can. My family is my numero uno priority, so I need to do what is good for them, but thinking of quitting makes me sick to my stomach. What to do, what to do? To leave on a happy note, here is a picture I snapped of my 3 month old!

Hayes' birth announcement

2009-07-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

front back

So it took me a while to post this, but here it is!

The need for speed

2009-06-15T18:37:00.000-05:00

Going somewhere? Here, take the sweet sleeping baby with you. He loves the car. Unless you encounter one of these...
then as quickly as the brake touches the floor he looks like this. and if you happen to stop at one of these...you get this.

Don't worry, it's not permanent. The second you get above 30, wa-lah, he's magically back to normal.

Oh man, sometimes we have such a cute little stinker.

Who does he look like?

2009-06-15T18:11:00.003-05:00

Tons of people say that Hayes looks like his daddy ...

Hayes

Chrisbut he also gets a lot of people saying that he looks like his cousin Navie...

Hayes

Navie

but nobody seems to think he looks like his momma (it's okay, I don't think so either).

me
What do you think?

He's already changed so much!

2009-06-10T18:05:00.001-05:00

Week 1

Coming home - This picture makes me want to run and snuggle his newness!

Happy Easter! (FYI-Hayes' bday will actually be on Easter in 2023)

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

At four weeks Hayes already started rolling onto his side and is so good at holding his head up by himself.

Week 5

Week 6

We have such an active baby! Most of the time when I go and get Hayes out of his crib (since six weeks) he had wiggled himself sideways. He also HATES being swaddled in his blanket unless his arms can be free to move about.

Week 7

His signature waking up pout face...

I can't believe our little baby is already

2 months old now!!!

We went to the doctor yesterday and he got his first shots. It was the first time I've ever heard his hurt cry. It was SO SO SO heartbreaking!

Weight 11 lbs. 14 oz. (57%)

Head (27%)

Height 24 in. (86%)

Here's our little man now...

The nursery

2009-06-03T00:05:00.000-05:00

At six weeks old our little stud slept in his own room.

Bitter-sweet...

Bitter- Can parents have separation anxiety? I find myself staring at the video monitor way too much!

Sweet-He went from taking cat naps to sleeping about five and a half hours in a row. Mommy is no longer a sleepless zombie.

But more bitter because this means my baby is getting big!

This was his first night in his crib.

Here's some pictures of the nursery. Yep, it's finally done. Putting the room together was so fun! Besides Breklyn making the darling rug, I enlisted Kam and my aunt Meri and we got our creative on and basically made it all. Seriously, the bumper pad and skirt fabric came from a Pottery Barn table runner we found in San Antonio, then we used the extra fabric for a lamp shade and pieces of the quilt. Kami made the sweet tree picture and I tried to copy it with an owl to match (her's turned out way better). I found out that it is harder than you think to find single colored gumballs on the internet and with a little paint and a new knob, ta-dah, Chris' old table is transformed into something new.

Pictures

2009-05-11T17:45:00.000-05:00

These pictures are one of the few things in life that are absolutely priceless to me. I can't even tell you how long I've spent just staring at how perfectly they capture the first few days of Hayes' life. Thanks sis for using your incredible talent to capture these memories. You never stop amazing me! There are SO many good pictures. Can you believe that these are only some of them? I can't resist posting all my favorites so bear with me. I'm already a proud mom!

Love

2009-05-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

I would never have believed how much our lives would change these last few weeks. I find myself just staring at our little man so that I'll never forget his little tiny smiles, puckered lips, and newborn stretches. (His signature move is a fist pump/knock combo straight into the air. He’s either knocking on an invisible door or celebrating his first victories of life, I can’t decide which).

Sure I’ve been extra emotional lately, but I decided that there is nothing better than watching your husband love on your new precious baby. Of course I’ve always loved Chris, but seeing him with Hayes these last few weeks has been amazing and my love for him has surpassed any expectations I’ve ever had! It’s like he was born to be a dad. Thanks for taking such good care of us and for holding my hand during my late night break downs!

So our baby is over three weeks old now and is the sweetest thing. At his two week app. he was almost back to his birth weight, 8lbs. 7 oz. now (39%) and is 22 in. long (90%) with a little head (27%).

Operation Billibed

2009-05-04T15:32:00.000-05:00

There is absolutely nothing worse than watching your child scream and not be able to do anything about it. Absolutely nothing! Hayes’ first four days of life were spent in this little torture chamber.

Basically the only times this little champ cried his first two weeks of life was when he was hungry or strapped to the darn Billiebed. We were up night after night trying to comfort him in his bed and bounce it the best we could. Knowing that all he wanted was to be held and that we couldn’t get him out to snuggle on him made his momma cry right along with him. Poor thing!

Day 3 of life, jaundice level 11

Day 4-17

Day 5-15

Day 6-14.7

Day 7-14.2

Labor

2009-05-04T14:20:00.001-05:00

After all those episodes of “Bringing Home Baby” and “A Baby Story” on TLC, I was prepared for whatever torture the big delivery day might bring. Watching the screaming, cursing women go through their 5 days of labor got me in the mindset that I could conquer any near death experience that was going to come my way. I was surprisingly prepared for a painfully horrific labor.

“Chris, wake up. I think my water just broke," I couldn’t hide the tone of giddiness in my voice. Chris opened his eyes a little, turned his head to face me, and gave me a hello-my-sleep-is-precious look. Then, just as fast as he registered what I was saying his expression changed from sleep deprived to astonishment. “I was having a dream I was chasing someone and I peed my pants,” I continued without a pause, “but it was really just my water breaking.” By this time Chris was up and grabbing our things to start our adventure. It was 5:00 in the morning and my contractions didn’t start for an hour or so, so we took our time getting ready for the hospital.

When we got there, the nurse told me I was still dilated to a 2 ½ (same as my appointment the day before when Dr. Beirer striped my membranes). She told us that she “thinks” they’ll let us stay. “I’ll see what I can do to get you a room,” she told us, “but they might send you home still.” Hello, Niagra Falls here. What does she mean “thinks”? I looked at the clock as we waited in our make-shift room. It was now 7:30 on a rainy Thursday morning and my contractions were starting to pick up.

After moving in our room and getting situated, we did the only thing we could do. We anxiously stared at the little blue line that showed my contractions getting closer and stronger on the monitor. When the nurse asked me for the fiftieth time, “on a scale of 1-10, where is your pain?” I told her I was ready for the epidural. It was either that or listen to her ask another fifty times. Good thing I did because the next hour was the most “Baby Story” it got as we waited for the anesthesiologist to get out of a c-section. Chris stared at me in disbelief as I kept saying with every breath, “Chris, it hurts, what do I do?” Before this moment I would have prided myself on being pretty tough, but during this hour I was quite the wimp.

When the anesthesiologist finally came, the needle in my back felt like nothing compared to the contraction pains I was having. God bless that man in blue. If only he had a tip jar on his little cart he rolls around, I would have given him our entire life savings at that point. The epidural came at 11:00 AM when I was almost dilated to a 5 and after that I have Kami and Chris to thank for pumping me with pain killers. My amateur thinking thought that I wouldn't push it until I really needed it, lesson learned!

Our little piece of heaven entered this world at 6:30 PM, a mere 13 ½ hours after my water broke and after pushing through only a few contractions. Labor was actually an awesome experience and nothing horrific at all. We waited all this time for this little guy and being a parent is even more amazing than we'd ever imagined! Lungs screaming, arms wailing, Hayes David came to us 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21 ½ inches long. He’s been a healthy, active baby from the very beginning! We were in love at first sight with his long dark hair and chubby little cheeks. Now we are just soaking it all in and loving him as much as we can while this little guy is still little! What a perfect day!
Kami, thanks once again for sharing this experience with us and capturing Hayes' big entrance!

He is HERE!!!

2009-04-09T23:43:00.003-05:00

Was it my persistent begging , with my face pressed up against Mitzi's belly every time that I saw him?

Was it the full moon?

Was it because we just finally got his nursery done yesterday, and he knew they were ready?

Or maybe it was the little something that the doctor stirred up at Mitzi's appointment yesterday... What ever it is, IT WORKED! He is here, and he is BEAUTIFUL!

Let me introduce...

Hayes David T

04.09.09

6:30pm

8 lbs 8 oz

21 1/2 in long

I'll let the glowing mommy tell of her wonderful birthing experience, but it went PERFECT and Mitzi is feeling great!!! Stay tuned for all of the pictures I already had the opportunity to take of this cute little boy!

Oh, and did I mention... I AM AN AUNT.... hee hee ;)

-Kami-

Showers!

2009-04-08T14:21:00.008-05:00

My family had a huge shower to get us a little more ready for baby to make his big debut. Seriously, there were so many of us. Kam and Meri are really getting taken advantage of during this entire baby ordeal. Thanks for the shower and help once again! If there is one thing baby will have when he gets here, it's definitely a lot of people who already love him.

Then at work we went to Wingers and had a little baby party. It is so nice to have such awesome, supportive friends to hang out with at school. I really hope I can go part time next year so I can stay with all of them!

After that my high school friends all got together and had a little shower for me at Olive Garden. It was so fun to just sit and catch up on life. I love these girls!

And to wrap it all up, my mom's family finished all the spoiling with a shower last weekend. His room is so full of fun things now!

This is the cute little dog that Navie picked out for the baby all by herself, and was so excited to give to me! She really is the most thoughtful little girl!

Thanks again guys!

Big news!

2009-04-04T10:50:00.002-05:00

As if having a baby in the next week or so isn’t big enough news, Chris got the best phone call on Thursday.

My super smart, amazing husband was accepted into pharmacy school at the University of Southern Nevada!

Wait, it gets even better…

All of his hard work paid off because he got accepted in the top 10% of all 2,000(ish) people that applied and got to pick his campus. As tempting as Las Vegas would be for him, he picked the South Jordan campus and it couldn’t be more perfect for us. There are only two pharmacy schools in Utah and it’s really competitive to get in, so you can only imagine how proud I am of him! Plus, it’s an accelerated program so he will be done in three short years instead of four. Sweet!

Good job babe! You deserve this!

These girls rock!

2009-03-26T13:01:00.000-05:00

We took second in our first tournament by 5 shots last Tuesday, but we came back Thursday and beat everyone by 21 shots! That has to be some type of a record! After how hard they have worked lately, these girls definitely deserved a win!

Week 37

2009-03-24T21:44:00.006-05:00

While you were pregnant, did you ever...

have more zits on your face than your entire class of 16 year olds combined?
eat Ramen in the bathtub because you were so sick and the bathtub was the only solution for you to breathe (and you just happen to be on the "eat every couple hours or die" schedule)?
puke so loud at the Circle of Life that every head nodded with empathy at you when you came back into the waiting room?
take a power nap behind your desk at work and hope nobody would see your feet sticking out?
cry so hard (because your stressed about grades being due the next day and you can't stop thinking baby is going to come early to be welcomed by a desolate house of unpacked boxes) that you make yourself sick, literally.
cross your fingers (and legs) every time you sneeze, just praying your bladder holds true?
yearn for the smell of the mall?
sign up for parenting magazine because you should, even though you haven't read a single one?
not want this little baby to come out so you could always be inseparable?
want this little baby out so bad because you can't wait to snuggle his face?

I haven't done any of these things either, I was just wondering if you have ;)

Anyone need some post-its?

2009-03-20T13:00:00.001-05:00

I wish it was, but unfortunately this wasn't staged. Welcome to my desk...
Okay, so I like post-its. Wait...what's that under the binder?
My deepest darkest secret-I go a little overboard with to-do lists. I came to school one morning and looked at all my post-its, overflowing with things I haven't done yet, and it made me sigh in disgust. My reaction, I pushed them under my binder so I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed. I don't think it worked. Now those hidden yellow squares of horror are always lingering on my brain.

Can I quit yet?

Moving to Las Vegas

2009-03-17T11:29:00.014-05:00

No, not really. We are just moving across the street. I just wanted you to realize how much you'd miss me for a second!

Yep, along with work, the Praxis test, coaching, my family shower, my google reader account with 100's of unread blogs (you guys, don't take me so seriously...I'm not that addicted to blogs), and everything else this week, I am nine months pregnant and we are moving. As if my toes aren’t hanging off the cliff already. I guess it could be worse though, it's just across the street.

The story goes that my grandpa will be selling our condo, so he wants us to move into one across the street. I guess it's better now compared to the week after the baby comes like we were first told. It's newly refinished with new carpet and appliances and it even has an extra room, so that will be nice, but packing is such a pain.

Now the rush is on to paint and set up the baby’s room so we can get everything ready before he comes. Thank heavens for everyone's willingness to help our desperate butts.

Week 35

2009-03-12T14:02:00.001-05:00

I’ve heard that a man can get the same “symptoms” as their pregnant wife before, but I never thought my husband would be one of them. Don’t worry, he isn’t lactating or getting colossally huge (like I am), he’s taken on nesting. Obviously, I wasn't going to do it.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night (baby hates it when I try to sleep) and I could hear banging downstairs. When I went down to see what the heck was going on, you can imagine the glee in my eyes when I smelt cleaner and saw our organized cupboards . Cleaning in the middle of the night, man do I love this guy!

This wasn’t the first time I’ve caught him doing such a thing either. I’m so grateful he’s gotten the cleaning bug the last couple weeks because it’s perfect timing for our MOVE. We just found out that we are going to be moving a week from Saturday. Wish us luck!

Bring on the moving, bring on the end of the quarter grading, bring on the weekly I-hope-I’m-not-dilated-more-so-this-baby-doesn’t-come-early appointments, bring on the beginning of coaching another girl’s golf season, and bring on the pressure of not having a name picked out yet! I think I can handle it. I don’t think I can get anymore crazy than I already am, can I?

Love-sitting (it really wasn't babysitting)

2009-03-10T16:59:00.008-05:00

I love them, but is it rude to ask Kami & Dax to leave town more often? What could possibly be better than an entire weekend with two of my favorite kids ever? The world was ours, so we decided to do the insane...Chuck-E-Cheese's. This was our first time experiencing the disneyland of Layton and it was truly a test of our parenting skills. Why didn't anyone tell me it was a requirement to bring every kid on the planet to Chuck-E-Cheese's on Friday nights?

Navie loved her uncle Chris all weekend long and was his best buddy. First she shoved her feet in his face and forced him out of bed during the night. When she realized he had moved to the couch, guess who ditched me and followed him? This is what I came out to see in the morning. Isn't it the sweetest! Ridge was actually pretty good for the most part too. We'll definitely have to have more sleepovers this summer!

I can't leave these out

2009-03-10T14:42:00.008-05:00

Here are a few more pics from the shower. I can't resist this one. Amelia guessed how big my belly was and the string was almost big enough to fit around both of us! It's okay melia, I feel that big! Rosie gets props too because I'm sure her string would barely fit around one of my legs when I'm not pregnant! Thanks for the well needed ego boost.

One word...perfect!

2009-03-06T14:06:00.014-06:00

Think your looking at shots from a magazine? Nope, your not... this was my shower! I'm still baffled by all the amazing little details everywhere! How do I possibly say thanks enough? My sister did her thing, like normal, and rocked the decorations. Seriously, can you believe her? Steph planned some crazy games and they made the most delicious food! These guys should go professional! I can't even tell you how perfect it was. Ever since the shower I've felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and support. People are so thoughtful and giving. I got spoiled and I still feel guilty that a bunch of my greatest friends came together for me and little baby, they gave him the most thoughtful gifts, and I have nothing for them in return except a thanks and a hope that they know how grateful I am for them in my life.

I wish I got pictures of everyone there, but I guess I missed the boat on that one. Anyway, thanks again for an amazing shower!

If the secret door out was on the left, he'd never get out.

2009-02-12T13:15:00.000-06:00

If my right side is a Royal Suite, my left side must be a Best Western.

I always thought my left side was my good side. Obviously, I've been wrong all along.

Baby thinks my left side is ghetto. Every appointment we go to, there he is always squished into my bladder as far right as possible. Anytime I see a bulging body part, it's always on the right. It never fails, if I lay on my right side I squash his little paradise and he gives a hi-ya right back at me full force. If I lay on my left it's like those mattress commercials where the glass of wine withstands a bouncing bowling ball right next to it, he doesn't move an inch.

Meet my ever-so-protruding right side. Yes, I do think my stomach is going to be permanently lopsided.

Texas

2009-02-08T17:35:00.006-06:00

My sister already blogged about our fun trip to San Antonio here, but I can’t leave something THIS BIG without a little of my own input.

First of all, girl trips rock! Only a girl could really appreciate…
1- How funny it is to know you are blocks from your hotel and yet can’t quite find a way there.
2- Aaaaw, the magical smell of Pottery Barn.
3- A guy with long chunky blonde highlighted hair that’s wearing a way too low v-neck shirt and tall black boots rubbing your feet while chatting about Chet on the Real World and Utah stereotypes.

4- Helga the navigation system on my sister’s phone.
5- The joy of shop after shop, sale rack after sale rack, day after day.
6- Trying to shove all our purchases into carry-ons that were way too small and bulging out everywhere.
7- Strolling around the same riverwalk night after night and never getting sick of it.

8- A chicken duck. Really, his name is Chuck. Why am I so intrigued?

9- Scary murder stories told by the river late at night.

10- All of the amazing hours spent at the Alamo, the fun things to do there, and the high expectations well exceeded. ;)

This is exactly what I needed. Thanks girls! Let's say we do this again very very soon!

My "nemesis" left me a note

2009-02-08T16:54:00.012-06:00

If you know me at all you know this isn't my style, but I almost left this reply on the board for my Spencer/Ben night time enemy. I erased it just as I was walking out the door. I guess I either have a conscience in there somewhere or I figured my reply wouldn't necessarily get me anywhere...

but one day I'll be the type of person that says whatever I feel and actually leave it around for people to see.

You want to play that way do you?

2009-01-23T19:01:00.003-06:00

As childish as it gets, I won’t lose. Ask anyone, I am a Christensen and deep down being stubborn runs in my blood.

All I ask from you stupid college classes that come in my room at night is to not erase ONE of my four sliding whiteboards, just one. I know it’s not convenient for you, but it’s not convenient for me to rewrite my board every stinkin day either. Do you know how long that takes? Nor is it convenient for me to bend my big fat pregnant butt over and pick up all the textbooks off the floor that you "somehow" dropped out of their bins, but that’s another rant.

So let’s make it clear. The first time you erased my entire board I was bugged, but you didn’t know the rules so I forgave you and hung a sweet little note in pink and brown polka dots on the board saying pretty please. The second time you did it, you even went so far as to move my sign and erase away. This time I got a little mad.

Now that it still isn’t stopping, I’m seeking revenge. I’m hiding every single dry erase marker in my room so now YOU have an inconvenience just like me. Go ahead and find your own markers. Oh ya, and I’m unplugging my Airwick every night too so now you won’t even get a swoosh of harvest spice greatness every 36 minutes either. And as soon as I can think of something else mean, I won’t hesitate to do that either. I bet the evil perpetrator looks like one of these two...

Sometimes people ask me if I can see a change in my moods now that I am pregnant. I simply smile at them and politely answer, “not at all.”

It's your birthday

2009-01-22T15:17:00.005-06:00

It's your birthday so shout hooray. We want to sing to you today. One year older and wiser too…happy birthday, to you!
Okay, so I really wish I could go back to primary sometimes just to sing songs again, but an ordinary "happy birthday" won’t work for someone like Chris...so, he gets a song!

What a sweet week it’s been for my hubby. Not only is it his birthday today, but he also started a new job that is exactly his style. I can’t think of another place that Chris would love to spend his days than a golf course, so he is officially the new assistant golf pro at Eagle Mountain. Whoot whoo!

Without writing some gushy love poem, I just wanted you all to know what kind of a husband I have. I came home last night from work as sick as I've ever felt. Every single time I’d stand up, I’d lose my balance and almost black out. Throughout the night things just got worse as my head stuffed up, heartburn flared, body ached, and temperature flew over 100.

Finally, after an entire night of tossing, turning, and staring at the alarm clock, I decided to go downstairs. Just as I’m on the verge of tears from exhaustion, Chris came down and magically made everything all better, just like he always does. Along with some sweet words, he put my pillow in his lap and tickled my arm until I fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning and realized he had slept sitting up all night just to make me more comfortable, I was reminded that I am married to a pretty great guy. I’m lucky to call Chris my husband and our baby will be so lucky to have such a great dad!

Happy Birthday!

Week 26

2009-01-06T08:18:00.003-06:00

I talk to myself. Does that make me weird? Fortunately, most of the time I don’t end up actually saying the words out loud, but instead repeat them over and over again in my head. What’s the dialogue lately? “Dear life, you win!” or depending on the day it could morph into “Dear life, slow down I can't keep up!” Surprisingly, talking to myself isn’t the weird part at all. The weird part is how frequent the talking is.

I think I need professional help. The more I have to do, the more I don’t want to do it (and the more I just tend to complain). My poor husband. My to-do list is overflowing with boring work things and instead I just want to surf the internet to find a name for our little baby. Now that we are officially counting down the days in the two digits, I am starting to feel the name pressure.

3 months of teaching left this year. 59 actual teaching days. 30 “A” days or planning days before spring break and hopefully maternity leave will come right after. 13 weeks. That’s all I have to survive through. Just 3 more months.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-05T15:49:00.005-06:00

We celebrated by doing what we always do...

playing games and goofing off!

A glimpse of our Christmas

2009-01-02T14:00:00.012-06:00

A Christmas twist at the Treehouse Museum

Christmas morning at Kami's with my dad

Mom's family

Chris' family

Service

2008-12-27T17:52:00.006-06:00

This was one of my favorite parts of the holiday season! Every year our family and friends get together to serve some of the less fortunate in the community. We collect as much clothes and toys as possible and head down to Mound Fort Middle School to sort all the goodies and give them to the needy. Days like this make me fortunate for how much we really have.

Isn't he the cutest?

2008-12-26T20:27:00.001-06:00

Highly emotional pregnant moment #753...and #754

2008-12-22T10:20:00.002-06:00

#753 - I’m not quite sure when I cried harder, at dinner or after. The crying started when my aunt Meri asked me how work was and before I could even attempt an answer the tears were streaming. I guess she didn’t need an explanation at that point anyway. Dramatic, I know. I couldn’t hide the river flowing over my cheeks as my mind filled with all the things on my to-do list and the hours of correcting I had before parent teacher conferences the next day. Teaching English is overwhelming, so I just cried.

At this point most people would have responded with a simple, “that sucks Mitzi” and maybe even felt bad for me for a minute and went on their way, but that’s not my family. Instead, they all jumped up and started helping out.

After I got home that night I was thinking about my sister, husband, and aunt sitting there on the front room floor with their red pens in hand and I was so overwhelmed with gratitude. The tears started streaming once more and just the thought of my family's love for me brought me to my highly emotional pregnant moment #754.

What happened to me?

2008-12-22T10:00:00.003-06:00

Meet my picture-less blog. The funny thing is that I love pictures. When did I become one of those crappy bloggers that never posts any pictures? Well, here goes a little catching up. Let's take it all the way back to our amazing trip to Hawaii in October with Lisa, Brian, Dax, and Kami...

Halloween

Thanksgiving

and just a few random ones for fun, well not necessarily that much fun for me. Want to know ackward? Try taking a picture of only you just standing there. Anyway, here is my fat progression.

Go ahead, laugh it up. I know your just jealous you aren't getting fatter everyday too!

Necklaces!

2008-11-25T14:59:00.006-06:00

A little while ago Kami and I decided we were going to make these necklaces for ourselves. Maybe it was just her ravishing neckline, but when Kami wore hers people asked where they could buy one. So we thought to ourselves, “why not sell them?” So that is exactly what we are doing.

$30.00

We could do almost any name or saying that you'd want, as long as it fits. If you don't want names or a tree, here are a few short sayings you could use that are kind of cute:
· Life is beautiful
· Carpe diem (or "seize the day")
· Love, dream, hope
· Cherish the journey
· Be true to yourself
· Blessed beyond measure
· Love with your whole heart

We could do other shapes like this too, but it might take a couple weeks to order the metal and finish them. We have little stamps now that would probably fit a name on the small tag.

This one is available, but out of stock for a few weeks! It will be $35 when it get's back in!

If you want one (or five) let us know early so we can make them before Christmas comes around. You can e-mail me at mitziray@yahoo.com or kami at kami_nels@hotmail.com or just give us a call.

The birthday bash ends

2008-11-24T15:17:00.002-06:00

Birthdays are awesome. Birthdays are even more awesome when they are stretched out over a week and filled with parties.

It seems like every year I get spoiled on my birthday. This year was no exception. My husband is actually a pretty good shopper and got me an outfit complete with a purse, shoes, and everything. The fam gave me some money (that I plan to splurge on fat clothes) a bunch of baby stuff, a hat, a bracelet, a pedicure gift certificate, and Chris’ family even made me the coveted Udarbe slush for Sunday dinner. I’ll give you the recipe as long as you promise to bring me some whenever you make it.

Slush

1 46 oz can pineapple juice

6 oz frozen lemonade concentrate

6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate

5 large bananas, mashed

6 C water

3C sugar

apple juice or 7-up

In a large saucepan, cook water & sugar together until sugar is melted. Add juices & fruit; stir to blend; freeze in containers (not too deep) at least a day before serving. To serve, remove from freezer & let thaw slightly. Combine with equal parts of apple juice or 7-up.

One of the things I look forward to the most is birthday time at my aunt Meri’s. I love just being at her house. Last night I walked in and the smell of delicious food hit me before we even got through the front door. I love the noise of all the family gathered in her kitchen. I feel like it’s my other other home. You know, it’s the place you miss if you don’t visit often. It’s the place that holds so many of our family memories.

My aunt Meri always goes above and beyond at birthday time. This year I got made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls that were to die for. She even sent a pan of them home with me that is just waiting for me to devour. It's always a burden choosing what I want for my birthday dinner, but this year Meri outdid herself with the best ham dinner ever. My dad made gravy that seriously tastes like candy.

I can’t even tell you how loved I have felt this last week. Thanks everyone for being so thoughtful!

Kicking

2008-11-19T15:18:00.001-06:00

To a professional NFL punter, it means his career. To a toddler, it means a timeout. To me, it means life.

That’s right, I think I can officially say I finally felt a little kicker in there.

Anytime that I thought I could feel our little baby fluttering around this last week, I’d quickly talk myself out of it. It’s easy to blame the very little movement that I was feeling on my imagination or just my lunch digesting. I wanted to feel him so bad, but the hardest was Tuesday when I could actually see him doing flips on the ultrasound machine and couldn’t feel a dang thing.

But then it happened.

So there I was sitting at my desk before school started and just like that I felt a little flick in my lower abdomen. Could it really have been him? I sat there waiting for any other sign to tell me it wasn’t a fluke. The flutters continued to come and go sporadically, so yep, I think it's safe to say I felt him kick, or at least wiggle really hard.

I was already pretty excited at this point, but that obviously wasn't enough for our little over achiever. After our dodgeball game (tear, I’m going to miss it for a while) I could have sworn he was holding a little powwow in there. He was probably pissed I had been shaking him around to run after little rubber balls (don’t worry, it sounds ridiculous to me too) and this was his chance to get me back. Little does he know that I loved every second of his dance dance revolution and I’ve actually been contemplating trying cartwheels to get him to do it again.

Week 19- already a worried mom

2008-11-19T14:29:00.000-06:00

With every doctor’s appointment that comes, you can pretty much bet the same routine will happen time and time again. Days or even weeks before the appointment, I start to get nervous and worried that we might get bad news. I make myself sick thinking about all the possibilities that could go wrong. Without fail, I promise Chris that I’ll be less worried after the next appointment and Chris always reassures me that everything is fine. I swore to him that I’d feel better after the first appointment, then it changed to three months, then it moved to four, now it’s lengthened to "after the big ultrasound” and when the baby could possibly be able to survive by himself.

Who am I trying to kid? Nothing is ever going to change. I know I’ll worry about him even after he is born when I’m snuggling him in my arms. I’ll worry after leaving him with someone else or when I watch him walk into school for the first time. I’ll worry as he grows, makes friends, and faces trials. That's what moms do, they worry. I'm just getting a good start.

So when the hospital called and offered me a free ultrasound this Thursday just for letting them probe me and look at the size of my cervix, of course I agreed. I know it is silly because I get ultrasounds every 4 weeks, but I can't pass up another chance to see my little guy and feel a little more relieved he’s okay. Plus, how many people get the opportunity to measure their cervix? You know you're jealous.

We have three appointments in the next five weeks, so hopefully we can get at least one good picture that we can actually tell what we are looking at.

Thanks Katie!

2008-11-10T14:41:00.003-06:00

Did anyone read that comment? Katie is going to give all of us 20% off any purchase at Puj until April. She found my soft spot, a discount. I want one of their slings too!

Okay, I'll cooperate

2008-11-09T10:13:00.001-06:00

For those of you guys who gave me a little tag.
8 THINGS...

8 TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH
This is way too easy for me!

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. The Bachelor (ette)
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Survivor
6. Big Brother
7. Lost
8. Gossip Girl

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Olive Garden
2. Outback
3. Chilli’s – have you ever had their molten chocolate cake?
4. My aunt Meri’s. Well, she should have a restaurant!
5. Sizzler
6. The Timbermine

I can only think of 6, so can I choose some of my least favorite to balance it out?
1. Wingers. I swear they hate me at all Wingers because I always get a crappy meal that looks like leftover remenents from a few days ago.

2. TGI Fridays
3. Subway

4. Quizno’s

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY
1. I actually slept in past 5:30!

2. I had lunch with Chris. I can't remember the last time we did this.
3. I played with Navie and Ridge all day long, I just love them!
4. Kami took pictures of my cousins and second cousins, so I tagged along.
5. I also went to the fabric store with Kam to find little boy fabric, no such luck.
6. After the fabric store we met Chris and Dax at Cafe Rio for dinner.

7. I bought a diaper bag off of E-bay.

8. We talked a while in bed before finally falling asleep.

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Having a healthy baby boy (and our next appointment on Tuesday).

2. Being organized.
3. Making things for the baby. Even though this isn’t real fabric, maybe I could find something funky like this.

4. Actually having a real house one day (then I could have a nursery that looks like this).

5. The day Chris can finally tell his boss he quits!
6. My birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

7. Making Chris finish reading Breaking Dawn with me.

8. Did I say a healthy baby yet?

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
I wish…
1. For my principal to let me go part time (he didn’t sound like it was going to happen). I don’t want to find another part time position somewhere else! I'd have a crappy “first year lesson planning” experience again and I'd really miss all my friends at my job.
2. For this puj tub for our baby. Our condo really is pretty nice for us, but the thought of bathing a new baby in a 30+ year old bathtub makes me shiver! I’ll never buy it though, it’s pricey, but it's foam that folds up into a little sheet and can fit in any sink snuggly around little junior. You can read more about it here.

3. For clothes and cute shoes that I can wear with socks.
4. For a crib, car seat, stroller, nursery stuff, etc.
5. For Chris to finish Biochemistry and burn his textbook.
6. To feel the baby move.
7. For a fully decorated house. I got some funky frames from Hobby Lobby a while ago to arrange on my wall and still haven’t done it.
8. I have so many things. I guess I wish for a lot. Can I add them all on the eighth line and count it as one? I wish I didn’t have to stop playing dodgeball. I wish I had more time to scrapbook, craft, and make jewelry. I wish I could get my lesson plans organized in my binders again and ready for a long term sub. I wish I could actually make dinner every night…

Who else wants to do this tag? Please do!

Week 17

2008-11-03T18:50:00.003-06:00

I stood in the shower yesterday unable to look away from my ever-so-protruding bump. My eyes tricked me into thinking I could see my belly growing with every breath I’d take in and out. It’s like I just woke up and wah-lah, a small cargo where my stomach used to be. Just like that, there’s no easing into it. I’ll either have to buy new pants or not complain when my “lack of circulation line” leaves a perma red tattoo around my muffin top. I stare in awe and can’t stop wondering how there could actually be life in my newly found bump.

Kami bought the baby the cutest little shoes the other day. They are brown plaid and so cute that I plan on leaving them on my side table until the day he arrives. Chris’ family also bought our little man something too. It’s a tiny red sox bat with a little note that said, “It’s never too early to be a Red Sox fan." These guys are so thoughtful. I haven’t even got him anything yet. Shopping is normally my thing too. I should be all over it, but I guess my mind has been elsewhere lately. Sometimes when people ask me about being pregnant it takes me a second to remember he’s really in there.

Work has been engulfing every last brain cell I have available. I only slept an hour last night because I had to submit grades today. Normally I would blame my procrastination, but this time it just took so freaking long to read all the papers. I’ve probably got a good 35 hours of correcting in this last week myself, plus Chris and Kami’s help. If you were ever considering being an English teacher, join the circus or wash toilets instead. Besides a few minor breakdowns, I survived and it’s all just a bad dream now.

I did tell my kids at school the news though. Since my classes are 90% boys, I got some interesting remarks back. “What happens in Hawaii doesn’t stay in Hawaii, does it Mrs. Torgersen?” a short boy in the front row chuckled. “Mrs. T, you’re p…the p word?” I heard another boy ask in a very serious tone as if I just told him I had cancer or something. A lot of the kids were surprisingly mad that I kept this secret from them for these last few months. I think my favorite though was a fairly shy kid who I could see squirming with delight as he said, “So, we actually get to watch you get fat…cool!” Oh boys!

I love these...

2008-10-20T14:25:00.001-05:00

I keep saving these pictures over and over in my google reader account. I can't let them go. I look at them and I just get happy. Yesterday Kami asked me what blogs I look at, so I think I'll share some of them so you can love them too.

This picture reminds me of my childhood. My dad would make us ebelkivers and suzies on weekend mornings. My mouth waters just looking at them. This picture came from A Little Sussy . She is a photographer and chef!
When she posted these cute crafts, I put them on my "if I only had time, I would make these" list.

Whenever I get a post from Tangle and True, my adrenaline picks up a little. They alway have the cutest kids stuff. I guess I can be into that now without it being wierd. They also do a bunch of awesome randomness. A mobile, family tree picture, robot cupcakes, and homemade samoas all on the same blog! Love them!

Here are some good ones from Design Mom.

On to photography. Julie Parker's blog is one of my sister and my favorites to look at. She also takes the pictures for one of our favorite baby stores ever, Little Cherry Blossoms on 25th street.

This picture gets me excited for a little boy!

Now I shared all my favorites, let me know what blogs you like.

I got the best deal ever!

2008-10-20T14:17:00.010-05:00

Before we left for Hawaii I took some pictures of Breklyn's kids, Ivie and Zander. It really wasn't a big deal at all, in fact it was pretty fun. In return, Brek said she would make me a rug. She actually looms them herself and they are incredible! She just finished one for her sister that I seriously wanted to steal. If I picked what colors to use, it'd be so cute in the baby's room.

The funny part is that when she offered, she hadn't even seen the pictures yet. Maybe when she sees them she'll change her mind and offer a washcloth instead. I definitely got the better end of this trade because the rugs take forever to make and her kids are adorable!

Think blue!

2008-10-15T09:18:00.011-05:00

Chris and I went to our appointment last night and we got some big news...

Legs crossed, body parts hiding, and modesty in full force, I threatened to not leave until this little baby cooperated. So stubborn already! After a few long minutes of searching, our doctor finally thought he saw what he was looking for. Chris could see it too, but I couldn't tell a darn thing.

This is when I asked the doctor how sure he was so I could have some sanity during the next four weeks. The doctor decided to do a little more wiggling and adjusting in there and sure enough, there he was. Our little man! Chris was right from the very beginning and we are so excited! The doctor said he is 99.5% sure we are having a little boy. Everything looked great and the best part was seeing him suck on his little fingers.

It's just a little more real now, but just a little! I can't wait to feel him moving around in there.

Weeks 9-12

2008-10-13T13:54:00.004-05:00

How did we tell everyone? With these… It’ll be the first grandbaby (and great grandbaby) on Chris’ side of the family and they were all way excited. Anita even squealed a little. My dad’s family is so huge that our baby will fit right into the litter. I knew Kami and my aunt Meri would be thrilled (which they were) and I’ve got a ton of phone calls and e-mails from them and my friends just asking how I am. I don’t think they realize how much I appreciate that! Out of everyone I wondered what my dad’s reaction would be. He’s so cute and is way excited, as you can tell. After we showed him the ultrasound picture, Navie told Kami we were silly for giving Pop Pop a picture of an eye…or maybe a sidewalk. Sometimes I feel like it’s a huge piece of cement in there myself, good call Navie. She thinks we should name the baby Spiderman if it’s a boy or Abigail if it’s a girl. The way our name ideas are coming, they are actually starting to sound good. Good thing we have a long time to think of the perfect name.My mom was pretty excited too. When I told her the news, I don’t think it really registered at first. Later that night I got a text saying, “my baby is having a baby” and that's when I think it finally sunk in.

My survival kit this week:

Tums - heartburn sucks

Milk - it seems to lessen the heartburn

Gum - I heard chewing produces more saliva and reduces heartburn

Google - pregnancy & heartburn

I’ve always hated taking “real” medications, even simple stuff like Tylenol. I don’t know why. Maybe I feel weak when I take them or that they are going to come out with some recall in ten years that whatever I took will eventually cause cancer and kill me. I am especially more paranoid now that I'm taking medication for someone else. Marry into a family of pharmacists and try to explain that to them. Seriously, my in-laws have a mini pharmacy in their kitchen and they set out handfuls of pills every night for everyone to take the next day.

My first big accomplishment has been taking prenatals religiously and that is big for me. Now I think I’m officially ready to take the next step in life, Zantac. I'll probably ask my doctor at my next visit before I do anything huge. Mitzi, get over it!

Catching up, weeks 5-8

2008-10-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

Here’s how the next few weeks went…

First comes nausea, well actually first came cramping or maybe even having to pee a lot, (it's all a blur already) but nausea was definitely at the top of the list. Really, already? Week 6ish came around and I thought I had some bird flu. No fever or sweats, just random nausea. Obviously not the flu. Aren’t you supposed to feel pregnant before the puking feelings emerge? Warning, warning. Who’s up for a little foreshadowing with the puking?

My recurring nightmare - I walk slowly at first as a room full of teenage eyes glare into the back of my head. “Where is she going?” they mutter. Once I make it to the door, I’m free to book it down my hall and dodge a few random students. It reminds me of a giant game of Frogger. I’m the frog half way across the street that is about to get pummeled. I lose all my pride as I bump into a kid that smells like the mall, Abercrombie to be exact, and he gives me an oh-you-just-didn’t look. Yes, I did and I would apologize if my mouth wasn’t full. I dive the last 30 feet looking for the safety of the bathroom. Luckily, I have only had one really bad day at school so far, and thankfully I was able to sneak away without being too obvious. I'll knock on wood about that one.

At this point I should have invested in some duck tape to slap across my mouth or a big fat muzzle to shut me up! I have to stop talking. I know I’m going to let the secret slip and yet I feel like everyone already knows somehow. If you know me, you know I talk about everything from my morning toothbrush session to a pair of shoes I saw at the mall, so something as huge as this is killing me to keep quiet. The less I talk the better!

Speaking of the mall, I run into an old friend and seriously wish I could be wearing one of those “I’m not fat, I’m pregnant” shirts so she doesn’t tell everyone how chunky I am. Yes, I know I’m not supposed to have really gained weight yet, but ugh, I swear my stomach is so squishy! I want these t-shirts for every day of the week. Think Chris would wear this one? Number overload. Brain conversions begin. Months turn into weeks, weeks turn into appointments and appointments turn into “whoa, what’s that?” The first doctor’s appointment was definitely an experience. Like a good sister, Kam gave me the heads up about this wand and rubber thing that looks like a…well, let’s just say I was shaking in my chair before they paged us in. What am I getting into?

I’ve never prayed so hard for something to be healthy. To be perfectly honest, I was scared to death that we were going to see a herd of babies chilling in there. As the doctor starts doing his thing my fear starts to become a reality as the word “babies” slips out of his mouth. Oh crap! I hear Chris take in a huge breath from over my shoulder. I don’t dare look in his direction. “Oh, I mean baby,” the doctor says as he lets out a few giggles and chomps his gum a few times. “Just kidding, for sure there is just one in there.” Not funny, not funny at all!

Congratulations, it looks like a lot of blotches with a little smudgy core. That’s the cutest smudge I’ve ever seen! The doctor showed us its little head and we tried our hardest to use our imagination to believe what we saw was a little baby. I immediately fell in love with its flickering heartbeat, what a relief. Our due date is officially April 13th which couldn’t be more perfect! I’ll take a little maternity leave and then slide right into summer vacation!

Remembering weeks 1-4

2008-09-29T15:00:00.001-05:00

Like everything else I do in my life, I’m probably going to go way above the norm and blog way too much about this new pregnancy thing. I apologize now. I want to document all this because 1-) I want to remember every nitty gritty detail about pregnancy so if the time comes when a baby number two ever crosses my mind I can make an informed decision, and 2-) this is the only first pregnancy I’ll have and I’ll probably be way too busy to write stuff down next time. I realize most of this is TMI, so read as you wish and remember, I warned you! So, here is a catch up from the first few weeks.

The pregnancy scare. We’ve all had them. You have this feeling deep down that there’s a baby Mildred attached to your uterine wall and she’s clinging there with the death grip because she knows that you’re just not ready for a baby yet. Call it intuition, but you know you’re pregnant. Your mind tricks you into making up pregnancy symptoms and all. Then aunt Flow shows up and you take a deep breath. It’s happened to us all. In fact, mine came just a few months after we got married and were both still in school.

So, the month that I found out I was really pregnant, you’d think I’d see it coming...right? I guess my sixth sense has never really had a full battery because I’m always the last one to find out everything. Good thing I had already peed all over that little stick because I might have wet myself when I saw that very faint positive line. Was I imagining it? I didn’t (and still don’t) feel pregnant at all. I couldn’t just take one test, I had to be completely positive so I ended up taking three. One gave me a faint blue line, one was barely pink, and I finally had to get one that would blink “pregnant” at me. I still feel like going into the bathroom at 12 weeks and taking just one more test, just to be sure.

Wow, me a mom? The only thing I’ve ever taken care of was my brainless goldfish, Boris, that was blind in one eye and would ram into the tank going full speed. It’s sad to say, but I gave my fish away when I realized the only things fish do are eat, poop, and make a huge mess for me to clean up. Hummmm sounds like something else in my future!
Planning ahead - oh man, prego in Guatemala at 25ish weeks? Let’s play good idea, bad idea. Good idea- travel before you have a baby. Bad idea- before you have a baby travel to a foreign country, sleep on the floor, don’t drink the water, steer clear of the local food, try to build a building, slap a million mosquitoes, and have hardly any health care all while being knocked up. Do they have ice cream or pickles in Guatemala? What are we thinking…Guatemala?

I’m hoping something will change in the next little bit to make me realize I’m pregnant. I’d get excited over any change about now. I’d love a new motherly outlook on life or a change of eating habits even, but life just feels like life and I’ve always ate like I was feeding two.

What a present

2008-09-28T15:01:00.000-05:00

In August Chris went on his yearly golf trip with some buddies to Vegas. Even though they had to golf in the hottest part of the day, they played for cheap and from the stories I heard had a lot of fun. To top it all off, Chris won over $600. Sweet! When he was gone I really missed him, so I decided to give him a present when he got home to show him how much I love him!

Here’s the letter I gave him…

Chris,

The other day when we were out at Meri’s, I walked outside and saw you jumping on the tramp with the kids. Nobody knew it, but you snuck away from the family and brought huge smiles to the faces of a handful of little ones. When we were standing in line at the grocery store, a girl with big brown eyes sitting in the cart in front of us couldn’t keep her eyes off you as you smiled at her. When you talk to Navie, you talk to her like she is the most important person in the world. You care, and kids love you for that.

When we make decisions about our lives, you are always strong and have faith. When I feel a little down, you are comforting and know exactly what to say. You are a rock and strong at times and carefree and full of laughs at others. Your laid back personality draws people to you and you have such a generous heart, and everyone loves you for that.

You’ve always talked about the little things in life like playing catch with our kids in the yard or teaching them how to use their first set of golf clubs, and I saw how your heart melted when you saw those little Red Sox onsies we passed in the store. You talk about being a dad like our dads have been, the one on the front row of the recitals, games, or whatever new adventure a child could bring. You will always be there for our family and our baby will love you for that.

I’m so glad to start this journey with you. You are going to be an amazing dad and I love you for that.

At this point I could see the crease in his forehead appear and he looked at me with a little question in his eyes. He quickly reached in the bag I had given him and his eyes got even wider as he pulled out the things inside.

Chris would never admit it, but he even got a little choked up. Priceless! I can’t believe how much I love him!

Now we can’t wait until April 13th!

I tag Kami, Paige, Erin, Michelle, Lisa, Ruth, & anyone else that's up for this. What? We tag people for everything else, why not a baby? Come on, you know you want to!

Called to serve

2008-09-08T14:28:00.005-05:00

Andy,
To be honest, when I first met you I didn’t really know what to think. You were 14, full of stories (which most of them had to be double and triple checked for accuracy) and crazy about life. If something was in the making, you were smack dab in the middle of it. Now, five years later, I can’t believe how mature you have become!

You rocked your farewell speech sharing your testimony with us all! Chris and I still haven’t been able to stop the tears. You can’t believe how much we are going to miss you, but go out there and conquer Minneapolis. We all know that you have a gift that’s going to make a difference in a lot of lives.

Congrats Elder Torgersen and go rock the Hmong language!

The last day of summer

2008-08-17T12:42:00.008-05:00

Today officially marks the last day of summer for me as I head back to work bright and early in the morning. As I think of my alarm blaring at me at 5:30 for the next nine months, I feel a little tear start to gather in my eye. Not only that, but my next job is putting hundreds of names to their cute little faces and forcing them into long term memory. Not bad enough you say, try getting a stupid yearbook picture taken tomorrow. I thought I was over the days of worrying about a bad yearbook picture!

To honor this summer, here's one last hooray for the fun I've had these glorius last three months. What better place to start then with a picture of the girls I love. What can beat a girl's night out?

I can't think of this summer without thinking of all my dodgeball friends, our giggles, and our outbursts at the refs (and occasionally a select few on the other teams).

The sidelines. This is unfortunately where most of us spend our time! And the best part of this summer is just getting together with friends. Kam and Dax made us the best food this last week and let us all hang out in their newly finished yard!

For one final shabang, my family came up tonight to celebrate some birthdays at the pool.

Here's the cakes Kam made.

These were so cool, you need a closer look.

So, wish me luck for this school year. I'm afraid with coaching the boys and girl's golf teams I'm going to really need it!

On a more serious note

2008-07-31T12:19:00.000-05:00

When something's bouncing around in my brain, my first reaction is to reach for a piece of paper. I guess that's why I love blogging so much. It's somewhere to lock all my thoughts in one place and who knows, maybe even entertain someone for 30 seconds. So, I'm not trying to be like Rev Run who sits in a bubble bath and spreads encouragement through his blackberry, but I do want to make sense of the rubble in my head. Here's my fragments...

Sometimes it’s so easy to get down on ourselves. I’m sure I shouldn’t be saying such things out loud because it has to be some type of social disaster to let others know you aren’t perfect, but sometimes our lows seem unbearably low. It’s hard to accept that cloudy days are a part of life too. I’ve been starting to believe that I was the only person born with tear ducts, so therefore I had to overcompensate for others lack of.

Our world sets us up to believe that everyone has a perfect life…except us. People are fast to talk about their perfect this and that, but how fast are we to tell the real stories? Real is so refreshing. We hide the hard things and put our “perfection” on a pedestal for all to see, and we continue the cycle that makes us all believe that everyone else is perfect, except us.

At any given time during the day, each one of us could probably look up and see the handful of expectations hovering over our heads. If by some random chance that just one of those expectations fall, we chalk it up to being a complete failure.

Instead of trying to help each other out in this tricky world, we feel like we have to compete. Instead of working on our relationships, we are quick to feel alone. Instead of asking for help, we hide. Even though I have a lot of great blessings in my life, I’ll tell everyone right now that my life isn’t perfect and yes, I have bad days too. I think we are all a little more alike in this category than we talk about. Lately, I have felt like no matter how hard I try, I always trip and fall just short of the finish line. No matter how much I give, I’m not quite there. There’s always something I should have thought about.

All we can do is be better. Let’s all forget each other’s faults, be real, and then try to help each other survive this crazy world. No more unreal expectations. Everyone needs a support group and it can never be big enough.

My new to-do list:
embrace who I am
let those that rock know they rock
don’t drag myself over the coals
be a better friend

My life is incomplete without you...

2008-07-30T22:12:00.011-05:00

My long lost friends...where have you been? I desperately (no pun intended) need your company. I know, Chris is sorry...he really doesn't hate you! Andrew Firestone was my favorite... but now I pray Jason is next! I'll patiently await your return but please come back soon! I've kind of been sick, sigh...again, and I've spent some serious quality time with my couch the last couple of days. First I got my wisdom teeth yanked, now all this stuffy pressure from a cold that won't go away! Seriously, who gets sick in the summer?

It wouldn't be so bad, except I have now come to the conclusion that daytime television sucks! Have you ever honestly watched an entire episode of The View? Gag! Could someone teach them that it's rude to interrupt. Hello, we can't understand that pandemonium you call a conversation. And Whoopi for heaven sakes, could you be a more pessimistic person? Maybe I'm just extra sensitive because her voice made my head hurt even worse than it already did. Does anyone else think so or have I just become a crabby old couch lady?

Hummm, crabby...come to think of it, Chris did leave an hour early for work today. You better believe I texted him when I realized just how early he left. "Let's play a game," I said. "You are either A- in love with your job, B- sick of your wife, or C- at the golf course." His reply, "well it's not A or B." Now I think about it, it very well could have been both B and C! When did I turn into such a prickly person? Call me crabby crab head. A grump from the city dump.

At this point I need good reality TV and fast before my desperation and I turn to Flavor of Love for entertainment! Pathetic, sure but don't we all have weaknesses! Hey, maybe I could share one of your obsessions instead.

By the way, who do you think will win Big Brother 10? My votes go to Ollie or Dan

Red Sox Governor

2008-07-27T18:03:00.013-05:00

PLEASE, PLEASE, VOTE!!!

Chris' dad is running for Red Sox Governor for Utah!

If you knew Dave at all, you would understand that being Red Sox Governor for Utah would seriously be his dream job.

If he won, he would get"special access" to Fenway, which I'm sure would bring tears to his eyes (not even kidding, he cried in Fever Pitch) and he would be in charge of local Red Sox parties, which I'm sure you all want to go to...you know you love the BoSox ;).

All you have to do is go to http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/fan_forum/rsn_gov_support_form.jsp

and put in his information. The more votes the more chance he has to win!

Name: David Torgersen

E-mail: dmtorgersen@comcast.net

State: Utah

You can vote 10 times per e-mail, so the more you vote the better!

Polls don't close until August 5, at 9:00 pm.

Thanks a bunch and good luck Dave!

P.S. I won't tell if you vote for your grandma, sister, and best friend too!