Phoenix Zoo

I have this week off because of October Break (woo-hoo), so Abbi has been staying home and partying with me :O) Monday, we just chilled together and watched Yo Gabba Gabba! Tuesday, I had an appointment with the chiropractor (woo-hoo) and then we took lunch to my mom!

Which leads me to today! Josh took the day off of work and we went to the Zoo! Technically this is Abbi's second time going to the zoo. We went last year to see Zoo Lights, but we didn't really see any animals, so we are counting this as her first trip to the zoo. WE HAD A BLAST!! Here are some cute pics!

She just thought the world of the zoo! She loved looking at all the frogs, lizards and snakes! She ran up to this blue frog all excited!

Josh did most of the carrying and hand-holding with her! She didn't want to spent much time in her stroller!

Not sure what to think of the monkeys and all the screaming they were doing! I swear these two monkeys carried on for like 20 minutes. It almost sounded like they were arguing or getting it on... maybe they were arguing about getting it on?!?!

Petting zoo. She thought looking at the goats was cool; touching them was more creepy to her. She also was walking along and a bigger goat came up behind her and she almost died!

She did like chillin' with them though.

She's saying "cheese".

They have a spot called "Monkey Island" where you are able to walk in with some of smaller monkeys. They put zoo keepers in there with spray bottles of lemon water just in case the monkeys get out of control. It was pretty cool to be like a foot away from them with no barriers. Abbi loved it!

She crashed temporarily and we woke her up to see the lions and tigers. She looked at them and then gave us a look like "you woke me up for this?!?" We tried to get a good picture but she just wasn't up for it.

DAY OF FUN = WIPED OUT GIRL!!

Overall we had a great time and now are thinking about getting a membership! The weather wasn't too bad, but it did start to get a little warm around noon, so we took off! We did pack a lunch and snacks and took a break to eat.

I learned several things at the zoo:

1. There are A LOT of pregnant women.

2. There are A LOT of women that go to the zoo BY THEMSELVES with MULTIPLE children. I'm afraid to go their alone with Abbi, nevermind taking multiple children!

3. Maybe the reason why some women can go by themselves is because they go with a group of other women?!?! Maybe its easier to do with multiple children the same age?!?

4. The zoo is expensive! And you don't need to spend a lot of money to have a fun time, especially with young children.

So now we just need to figure out what we are going to do Thursday or Friday!! I think we might go play at the mall one day?!?!

Chalk It Up!!

So I came home from work on Monday and Abbi had discovered the chalk in my church bag for my lessons. I didn't want her to ruin it (let's face it, anything you don't want a 19-month-old to touch and they gets their hands on is ruined) so I took her outside with some big crayola chalk. She kinda got the idea of what you are suppose to do with it, but she likes having mom and dad draw stuff and then carrying all the chalk in her arms, refusing to share. She recognizes stars now, but pronounces it with kinda a "g" at the front. Its cute! We went out yesterday and today and drew some more! Here are a couple of pictures we took!

"GSTAR"

I wrote Abbi, Dad, Baxter, Mom and Josh wrote smells after Abbi's name.

"Chalk"

Running towards dad as he tries to take a picture of us.

I totally love this picture! Its totally "in the moment"!

Not sure how I was bending like that! We had a hard time getting Abbi to take a picture with me!

This is what we ended up with!

So I'm 22 weeks now! Baby Girl #2 is in the 74% for weight! JOY! Another big baby! I have to go in AGAIN in a week for another ultra sound. This will be #5 within 7 weeks. I only had one with Abbi to find out that she is a girl. I had one last week and now they are thinking the hemotoma has grown... not sure how that happens or what that means. It may just be something with the angles of how it was shot. I'm not too worried about it, but I'll keep you posted!!

Happy Anniversary!

So today is our 4 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe we have been married for only 4 years. It seems like we've been married for way longer than that!! Josh is an amazing husband and I can't imagine life without him! He is so good with Abbi and helping out around the house!Abbi also turned 19 months yesterday! Woo-hoo!! Here are some quick updates on everyone!

Josh

Josh is in his second semester of nursing school. He really loves being in school and learning all he can about his future career! We can't wait for him to be done in December 2010! He is also in 3, yes I said 3, fantasy football leagues. His work is doing one, his friends are doing one and then there's the "FHE" that involves friends, wives and kids (I'm in that one and my team name is Sailor Mouth). He is still at University of Phoenix and he hates that! He would like a new job, but just hasn't found anything that works. Josh also purchased the new Madden Football game for Xbox 360 and is pretty disciplined about playing it. He stayed home from work on Monday because of an ear infection. He was able to clean the entire house (good surprise) and also manage to squeeze in a few games :O)

Julia

I've been back to school for about 3 1/2 weeks and I really dislike it! With all the crap I've been dealing with my pregnancy and some changes they've made at school, this has been really hard year. I've had to spend a lot of my "prep" time away from school at doctor appointments, which makes it hard to keep up on my grading and lesson planning. I had to go in for a Level 2 ultra sound and they said I have a large hemotoma (like a big blood clot) and its going to take AT LEAST another 4 weeks to drain! That means AT LEAST 4 weeks of bleeding, joy! And repeat visits to the doc to make sure I'm still ok!! But I'm trying to take it easy so that I don't have to end up on bed rest! But on a good note, I was able to talk to my principal (who's been amazing with everything) and they are looking at hiring a part-time math teacher and they are going to take away one of my classes so that I don't have to teach all day without a prep (since I teach block I have a two hour prep every other day). This will be EXTREMELY helpful!!

Abbi

Abbi had a hard time at first going back to the baby sitters, but has since adjusted. Its kinda comical in the mornings dropping her off. She waits until the Sara (her sitter) opens the door and then tries to do this pathetic don't leave me here cry. She's fine 2 minutes after I leave. She also figured out how to climb out of the playpin and now has to sleep in the crib at Sara's. We bought her these new emerica skate shoes that are super cute and she plays with them all day long. She puts them on, takes them off, puts them on, etc. She also thinks she needs to blow her nose any time she sees kleenex or toilet paper. She's growing so fast, I can't believe she'll be 2 soon. Oh and she's been going to nursery and loving it! The nursery leader says she is very curious and likes to climb on everything! I told her good luck :O) She is sleeping through the nights again and we are taking her off the bottle. I know, I know, I'm a bad mom for not doing this sooner, but she's so stubborn and this summer was really hard with my first trimester. So we decided that since we are going to Blanding, UT this weekend, we are just going to do it and get it over with! Abbi is also starting the "I can do everything myself" stage, so things are a little more interesting.

BABY #2

Baby #2 needs to be here now! (I'm only 19 weeks and ready to be done) :O) We found out about 2 weeks ago that its a...... GIRL! It was during #2 of the 3 ultrasounds I had in the last few weeks, the tech was able to tell us it was a girl! Josh couldn't stop smiling and I became irritated! With this being a completely OPPOSITE pregnancy than Abbi's, I was for sure it was a boy. Everyone else was for sure it was a boy! So then I began bugging the ultrasound tech to make sure she was sure and asking all types of annoying questions, like on a scale of 1 to 10, how positive are you and what exactly are you looking at and what not. Then when I was waiting to see Dr. Huish, Josh was still smiling in the waiting room and I was mad. Completely opposite reactions when we found out about Abbi. I also hid it from a lot of people that I knew it was a girl until my level 2 ultrasound confirmed it. Seeing her dance around during the level 2 was so much fun and I've since gotten over the fact that I'm having another girl and I'm excited! We are working on a list of names and have narrowed some down! We are probably going to end up naming her when she is born.


That's it for now! Off to pack for our trip to Blanding! I'll post pictures later!

BORED OUT OF MY MIND

So its likes 11 o'clock on Friday morning and I am sitting at my house alone! Abbi is at the babysitters, Josh is actually doing a Friday lab thing for school and I'm bored! I should be at work, but I'm on bed rest for a few days. You see, it all started about 24 hours ago... it might be a little graphic, but I'll tone it down..

Thursday was my second day back to school, but since I teach block, its more like my 1st day of school again with new students. I was teaching my 1-2 block and there was about 10 minutes left when I felt like I started my period. I didn't think anything of it and finished class. During the break I went to the bathroom and there was a lot of blood.

So I'm thinking okay, I'll get a tampon, finish teaching for 2 hours, I have prep and I can go home and call the doc and see what they say. So my friend Amber gets me a tampon I tell her whats happening, my other friend Sheri is on lunch and she goes to cover my class while I clean up. I go into the bathroom and start balling hysterically. Compose myself and go into class. Tell them I just am not feeling good because I'm pregnant and I start to go through the motions of class. Well about 5 - 10 minutes later I can still feel myself bleeding and through the tampon. I go get Sheri again and go to our school nurse.

She gets me a pad and while I'm in the bathroom again, there is a lot more blood. I didn't have clots and I wasn't cramping. The thought crossed my mind that I was miscarrying, but I'm 16 weeks and I just had this thought that the baby was going to be fine, but why so much blood? So the nurse calls our school secretary and they get my purse, phone and someone to cover my class, so I can get a hold of Josh, my mom and the doctor. Josh was out with his dad and was like 45 minutes to an hour away and my mom was about 15 so she came and got me.

The doctor's office called back and tells me to get to the er immediately. So we drive at Banner Gateway, I call my dad and brother Stephen to meet us and give me a blessing. I was amazed at how quickly I was admitted and I'm always amazed at how nice everyone is. There was also a TON of guy nurses EVERYWHERE! Anywho, so before they start to run tests, my dad and brother give me a blessing. I kept thinking during the blessing that I didn't want my dad to say anything about the baby, I just didn't want to get my hopes up... but he did bless me that I would carry the baby to full term and my body would heal and I would be fine. YIKES!!

So the blessing really comforted me a lot. It took my mind off of what was going on and I was able to relax and joke around. They do a vaginal exam and my cervix was closed and the bleeding slowed way down; a good sign. Then Josh gets there and then the nurse comes to do all the blood work. Josh convinces him to let him draw my blood (remember he's in nursing school), my mom was all on board, BUT I wasn't having anything to do with that! I let him tie the tourniquet and help find my veins (not hard cause I have really good veins) and that was it!

Blood work comes back good. Nothing wrong there. I go to have an ultrasound done and then have to WAIT for TWO HOURS!! It felt like forever! Oh and I was STARVING AND THIRSTY!! I had a part of a muffin at like 11 and nothing else. The nurse said I couldn't eat or drink anything just in case they had to do any type of procedures. NOT FAIR!! And they finally come and tell me there is a small tear on the placenta, but that the baby looks good and healthy! YEA!! I was also told to rest and the ER doc almost made it seem like this happens everyday, all the time, and said I could go back to work Friday, but my doctor wanted me on bed rest and I have another ultrasound on Wednesday.

I was relieved and excited that I could eat some food! My mom bought me a Thin Mint Blizzard on the way home! :O) Ken and Calie (my in-laws) grabbed Abbi from the babysitters and stayed with me to help with Abbi. Josh had to go to school to take a test and then came home. My brother Michael and his girlfriend Sandra went to get our car from Kino!

How blessed to be surrounded by good friends at school and amazing family members willing to help out at a moments notice!!

WICKED Hangover

So Tuesday I went to see WICKED with Josh, my parents, Calie (my mother-in-law) and Brooke (my sister-in-law). IT WAS AMAZING!! I could watch it over and over and over and over again and I don't think I would get tired of it! I mean I've been listening to the soundtrack before Abbi was born (that's how I would calm her down in the car when she would get fussy) and I love it everytime I hear it!! Josh even thought it was "ok" which in Josh lingo means he really liked it! I kept nudging Josh going "I've got goosebumps!!" and I resisted singing all the songs out loud!! Here's some pictures of us before. I took the first one and then Brooke took the second one! Ignore Josh, he's being dorky.


This was how the stage looked before it started! Its a map of Oz.

And then I got a shirt that says WICKED really cute. I almost bought the one that said POPULAR, but it didn't have anything on it that says it was from the musical and I feel the WICKED one would be better to where to school! :O)

I can't wait for it to come back so I can go see again! Phantom is coming in October and I'm working on Josh to take me to see it!!