Mathias Memoirs

Christmas in Utah 2011

2012-01-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

After Steve's graduation, we all traveled to Utah to visit some family. We arrived to see this crazy dude again! Chris!

Really though, he is the best cousin ever! He also passed the BAR exam and is officially a lawyer! It's nice to know that there is a lawyer in the family, you know, just in case. :)

We also got to meet his drop dead gorgeous girlfriend Becca!

Those two are meant for each other. I hope she becomes a part of our family because she is amazing (and so is her family).

We started Christmas by going to Church, then opening presents shortly thereafter.

Santa came to Utah and gave Ben and Andy lots of presents!

Becca was on Santa's "naughty" list and instead of coal, Santa gave her a box with half eaten cereal. (it was an inside joke)

Uncle Chris got to open his presents with Andy on his lap

Aunt Gloria got a federal income tax textbook from Chris (inside joke)

Chris also gave Becca a textbook, "Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy." (So she could read it on her spare time).

Despite all the gag presents, we DID get real great gifts.

We also got to enjoy a delicious dinner at Becca's mom's house.

We also spent some time with Mike and his expecting wife Addie. Baby Gabriel will be coming sometime in February.

Throughout our time there, we ate some Guatemalan tamales. (A once a year tradition) ....

We got to visit Steve's brother's family. Brian, Alicia, and Claire. Claire and Andy loved to play with the same toys. It was too cute to watch.

And.... I got to take pictures of their awesome family!

We also got to visit Temple Square and enjoy the beautiful 50 degree December weather.

We had so much fun, and we hope to visit Utah again soon!

Steve's Graduation 2011

2011-12-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

So I just realized yesterday, that I hadn't even glanced at my blog for like 2 months! That's crazy! November was so swamped with photography that I didn't even take time and focus on blogging my family life. Well, here are some important things that happened in November:

* I interviewed for a job at Madison Hospital for Labor/Delivery, was a finalist.... and it took them over a month to get back to me and tell me that they had chosen the "other" person.

* Andy began to pull himself up to furniture and crawling around like CRAZY!

* My birthday! I turned a quarter-of-a-century old!

*We spent thanksgiving with cousin Chris and girlfriend Becca, and got to see Aunt Gloria and cousin Mike and his wife Addie too!

December was actually pretty busy. Photography wise, and everything else.

My amazing husband, Steve, graduated with his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering! He was so busy up till the end trying to get everything done, applying for jobs, and preparing for graduation. I am so proud of him, he did so great and even averaged a 3.6 GPA in all his difficult classes.

Posing by some of his professors

Steve also got a surprise visit from his Dad, Karl for graduation!

I am so proud of Steve's great achievements! He worked hard for it, and he will continue to work hard for when he goes to Grad school. I'm sure glad we both are finally finished with our undergrads.

Okay, Okay (October Edition)

2011-10-24T14:57:00.000-06:00

Yeah, okay. I was a slacker. No October posts till now..... Here's the recap:

Last week I went to Minnesota and had the chance to photograph Steven's cousin(Todd)'s wedding!

I also got to see and spend time with my dear mom-in-law, Debby and her family.

Andy was so drooly- and I found out that he had just gotten his first tooth!

Andy did great on the airplane, and he got lots of interaction with strangers at the airport. He sure loves to smile at everyone :)

I picked up on Crocheting: Since I photograph some newborns in my at-home studio, I didn't feel like buying some cute crocheted hats for $20 +, so I decided that I was going to make my own. I learned via You-Tube, and then I took off. :-) I started out with a newborn bunny hat....

then an aviator hat:

I have also done a newborn tiara, and a hat for me :) It has been pretty fun. I like learning new things. I also did some of my own headbands for cute newborn girls. Props can be expensive, but I can reduce the cost if I make my own props.

Okay, Okay (September Edition)

2011-10-24T14:22:00.002-06:00

Yeah, okay..... I have been slacking in terms of my family blog. I just seem to put it off, and then when I remember, I am too busy to post. Last thing I posted about was back in August.... Well, There are some things to catch up on. So here's just a quick recap with a few pictures of course :)

September was okay, nothing too big...

I no longer work at Seasons.

I'm looking for a job elsewhere. No luck yet. Everyone and their dog is a Nurse in Rexburg.

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Lewis in Downey.

It is now fall. Where did they time go?

Andy is as cute as ever :)

Ben LOVES his basketball

Andy tried his first bit of cereal

And... he now loves it of course.

We are a happy family!

Taken By Aly Willis

Ben's turns 2!

2011-09-04T14:06:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to my little Ben. I can't believe he is two! Time flies. We had a cute little mini birthday party for him. He really enjoyed his cake and ice cream. He also enjoyed playing with his friends/family : Weston, Paige, and Jolie.

Utah trip, Cousin Chris, and Brian the organist

2011-08-07T10:44:00.000-06:00

So my cousin Chris is amazing, we have been especially close since we went to college together. After 3 hard years of law school, and after studying for the BAR exam, he finally had some free time before he started his new job. It was perfect timing too, because Steve's brother, Brian had an organ recital in the St. Madeline's cathedral in SLC. Our weekend trip started with Brian's recital.

Brian is an amazing organist! One day he will be playing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. If you have a few minutes, go listen to him on his website HERE. The cathedral's organ was on the second floor, so you couldn't see Brian at all, but he made an awesome performance. I couldn't get a good picture of him because after he was done, he had tons of friends and fans all around him waiting to chat and congratulate. I did get a good picture of Alicia and her family though....

and managed to take a few snapshots of the inside of the cathedral...

The next day, we hung out with Chris and of course, I managed to take some pictures of him :)

On Saturday morning, Chris took us hiking at Uinta National Forest. Because our families have grown up in the metro area, we hardly ever went hiking just for fun. For some reason I get paranoid when we go to the great outdoors with our kids. I'm always on the lookout for any dangerous situations. Am I the only one? Anyways, I'm glad we went, because it was so beautiful!

That night, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Chris and his date, and my cousin Mike & his wife Addie. Mike and Addie are expecting their first baby! It is so exciting to see families grow.

On Monday morning, we headed back home. I wanted to stay longer, but I had to work.

We had a wonderful time, and we are so glad to have seen our families!

Trip to the Zoo

2011-07-31T09:35:00.000-06:00

So Ben has never been to the Zoo and I figured we might as well go to our local Idaho Falls Zoo. It's pretty small, but was surprised at how well kept it was! It was pretty inexpensive too.

Ben can do so many animal sounds and he had a blast imitating all the animals. He even got to go into the petting zoo and pet a few farm animals- he was a bit nervous though. His favorties were the Lion, tiger, and penguins.

Seems like Andy enjoyed it too!

Independence Day

2011-07-15T01:07:00.003-06:00

So at first I wanted to go to the Melaleuca fireworks in Idaho Falls, however, because there are SO many people and because it's a little drive and because of all the traffic, we decided to stay in Rexburg and watch their lame-o fireworks. We did end up going to IF the Saturday before and setting off fireworks with Bryan and Kelly (bro/sis in law). We didn't know how Ben would react with the fireworks, but as expected, he LOVED them. He loves anything that glows and makes light. All he wanted to do was light the sparklers. He also LOVED throwing the little poppers on the ground. Whenever they would pop on the ground, he would smile and grab another one out of the little box. The best part for him is not going to bed till 10pm. :)

Here's Kelly lighting a sparkler. We all had no idea that the bigger sparklers would ignite so fast and explode! haha. Bryan's face in this pic is the funniest!

On Sunday, we went to church and heard great talks about God and our country...
On Monday, the 4th of July, we decided to wake up early and head to the Rexburg Parade. We packed our double stroller and headed to Main St. Reggie and Belinda Riley also joined us. We went about 45 minutes before it started and the sidewalks of Main St. were PACKED with lawn chairs, many of them didn't even have anyone sitting down on them. Luckily, we found this one spot directly under a shady tree/bush.

Andy, anxiously awaits the parade...

There were many great people in the parade. Most of the floats and people in the parade were mostly there to promote their businesses (Since it was all brought together by the Chamber of Commerce). At least they threw candy out to the crowd. Ben got lots of good, yummy candy that he ate right away!

I really enjoyed the people in uniform. Especially the WWII veterans. I have a lot of respect for them. They fought hard. Lately I have been watching educational documentaries about the WWII, especially about Japan, Germany, and The Holocaust. I couldn't imagine what everyone went though. I'm sure glad they fought for our country. Although I'm not an official "American" yet, I definitely LOVE the USA!

Ben on the other hand, can officially say that he is proud to be an American (if he could say those exact words, hehe). We bough him a little flag and he waved it around proudly!

We love our Ben!

We also love little Annie, she had a good time as well. Even though she didn't really care about the parade, it was fun to watch her smile. Reggie and Belinda are such great parents!

After the parade we headed home. Steve had to study of course, and Ben and Andy took their naps. Afterwords, we walked to Porter Park. When we got to the park, their Merry go Round was open, so we thought it would be a good idea for Ben to go on it. He was a little shy at first, but now he LOVES to go on the "Meh Meh."

Next to the Merry go Round, there is a little splash park. Although, a little scared by all the joyful screaming children, he managed to play with some of the sprays. He enjoyed playing with the water, and so did I! Grown ups are also allowed to play with the water. Ben didn't want to go under the giant tipping bucket of water, so he just played it safe.

So I would like to show you pictures of the fireworks we saw on the 4th, however, I didn't even take pictures. I was very frustrated. We live a few blocks from the fair grounds. There was a rodeo going on that night and we were going to go, but we were all so exhausted from the heat and all the walking. The Rexburg Website said the fireworks would start at 9:30. We thought that was a typo because it's still light around that time. So we decided to watch the fireworks from one of the grass areas of our complex. We set up our blanket and chairs at 10:25pm. So Steve, Ben, and I patiently sat there waiting. We waited.... and waited.... and waited.... So when 11pm came, we were so disappointed. We decided to go inside and go to Bed. Poor Ben, he was happy, but tired. I put him to bed and he fell asleep. At around 11:30pm, we heard the fireworks go off. I was SO MAD at this point because we had waited so long and now Ben was in bed.

Ben actually woke up from all the booms. So while the fireworks were still going on, I took him outside so he could see the remains. In honest truth, I expected them to be lame, but in reality they were EXTREMELY lame- hahahaaaaa!!!

"Oh, Rexburg"... that's all I have to say....

Overall, we all had a great fourth of July weekend. Hopefully next year it will be better!!

Happy Independence Day!

Vote for Andy

2011-07-05T11:18:00.001-06:00

If I get enough votes, I can get a free I pad!

So go to the Gerber Facebook Page, "like" them. Then Search for Andrew from Rexburg, or copy & paste his ID # 154389. He is under the Birth + Division.

Here is their Link:

http://www.facebook.com/Gerber

Lets hope he wins!!

p.s. Don't forget to tell your friends and family to vote too!

The Mathias family comes to town! Again.

2011-06-27T14:13:00.001-06:00

So Steve's parents and siblings came for a visit in the last week of may and the first week of June. It was so much fun! Here are a few highlights...

Andy got blessed...

The family all came over....

We all enjoyed the playground, and Ben LOVED to play with uncle Danny

Ben also enjoyed playing with Uncle Joe...

and Uncle Sam got to enjoy baby Andy...

Grandma also enjoyed holding Andy...

We all went to eat delicious ice cream at Reed's Dairy...

Enjoyed playing with this little guy....

We all played a few games of baseball... Ben especially loved to bat.

Ben and Grandma got to tighten their bond...

Uncle Sam also tightened his bond with Andy...

We got to go to a fun center where we played with their mirrors...

laugh at each other...

and take pictures of my midget self...

Sam got to ride a pony...

and the boys decided to play some laser tag...

We also ate some pie shakes at Sammy's and took pictures of this little fellow....

We also visited the Great grandparents in Downey, ID and got to go to my cousin Maggie's baptism. It was wonderful!

We had such a great time and we are sad that they could only stay a few days. We will be visiting them soon in MN, we hope!

Worst Anniversary Ever!

2011-05-30T12:41:00.004-06:00

I had a gallbladder attack last week which was not fun. I was nursing Andy and watching TV when all of a sudden I felt a little pain under my rib cage, it didn't bother me. Within 30 seconds the "little pain" turned into MAJOR pain. It was safe to say that it hurt more than labor pain. I had to stop what I was doing and 10 seconds later I was holding my stomach and rolling on the ground. The intense pain lasted about 20 minutes and it got better but I was still hurting. That night I went to bed in pain.

The next day I woke up and it was still there so I avoided all fats and grease. I went about my day, ran errands, played with the kids, but I still had pain. Two days later I noticed that anything I ate hurt me even more, and that when I peed, it was dark. That's when I knew something was wrong so I decided to go to the Emergency Room.

I was expecting them to take my gallbladder out that same day, but when I talked to the surgeon I found out that my Liver was backing up and that my Pancreatic enzyme levels were through the roof. They admitted me and I spent the weekend at the hospital until my levels were normal and until my pain went away.

They didn't let me eat for almost 3 days, which DRAMATICALLY decreased my pancreatic enzyme levels.

On Monday I finally got my gallbladder removed. Finally! I was already scheduled to get it removed, but I guess my body couldn't wait any longer. Needless to say, I am now recovered and eating delicious beef, bacon, eggs, burgers, chocolate, and all the foods that I couldn't eat for 3 months!

Our anniversary was spent at the hospital and at home recovering from my surgery. It stunk! Steve was there for most of the time and he even took care of the boys overnight. We had so many great people help us out. My sister in law Kelly took Ben for a few days and many people made us dinner. We are so grateful for our Church's Relief Society- they took care of us when we needed it.

Happy anniversary Steve! We have had 3 happy years, and despite the fact that we couldn't celebrate our anniversary on our date I was still happy to know that you are my bestest friend and that I am so happy to be your wife. I love you!

Easter 2011 and the transition to two kids

2011-05-14T11:52:00.005-06:00

On the Saturday before Easter we decided to participate in our city's "Easter Egg Hunt." This was the first time we went. The signs and posters said it would be at the High school's field and would start at 9 am SHARP! So we were there just before that. The parking lot was full so I dropped Steve and Ben off so we wouldn't miss the start. I finally found parking and put Andy in my Moby Wrap so I could carry him around. I heard the horn go off and I heard kids laughing and screaming. From the time I heard the horn and crossed the parking lot, it was OVER.

What??? I thought to myself. That can't be!

I couldn't find Steve so I called him.

Me: Where are you?
Steve: I'm by the car, where are you?
Me: I'm at the field. Why are you by the car?
Steve: It's over
Me: What?! That was it????!
Steve: Yeah, it lasted like 30 seconds.
Me: Hahahaha!!! Did Ben get any eggs?
Steve: Yeah he got one. Then some kid gave him a few more.
Me: Awww. Poor Ben! (chuckle)

The other kid was very nice to give Ben some of his own eggs. Apparently Ben had no idea what was going on and when the horn went off he just stood there. Steve helped him pick up one egg but there were so many kids around that there weren't any more eggs left. Basically there were hundreds of eggs laid out in an open field and hundreds of people around. This was no easter egg hunt. It was an Easter egg scramble! The saddest part was when we headed back to our car and we saw a mom with 3 kids. Two of her little girls were crying and saying, "I didn't get ANY eggs!"

When we got home and opened the eggs, we found one piece of small candy (tootsie roll) in each egg. We had fun laughing at what we got. We decided to have our own easter Egg hunt. We bought tons of candy and filled each egg with the most candy we could. We gathered a few friends that have toddlers and set up our own Easter egg hunt. A "real" hunt. We hid them, but made them easy to find. Ben knew what he was supposed to do this time and he did it well. :)

On Easter Sunday we went to church, came home and skyped with my mom, and went to our good friends home (Missy and Marq's) and had an extremely excellently decadent Easter dinner. That was so awesome and Yummy. I am going to miss Marq and Missy when they move to Arizona this summer, but who knows, maybe we will get to visit them if we end up living there for Grad school or for Steve's future job.

---------------------------------------------------

Almost four weeks have gone by since Andrew came into the world and so far it has been a wonderful 4 weeks. Having two kids is not as bad as I thought. I expected it to be really chaotic. I expected to be extremely sleep deprived and drained of energy. It has been like the opposite of what I expected. It was a little stressful the first few days home because of the adjustments of having a toddler and a newborn, but now that I'm used to it, I love it! I have just been really blessed. Ben also LOVES his baby brother. He gives him lots of kisses everyday, and when the baby cries Ben tries to put the pacifier back in or tries to rock the baby on his bouncer. He once tried to pick him up- that was quite a surprise, but now he knows that he shouldn't pick him up.

Andy had his nights and days mixed up until he was about 5 days old. Now, he sleeps through most of the night and only wakes up to feed 2-3 times a night. Last night, he slept for 5 hours straight without waking up. What a little angel. Everyday he gets a little bit bigger and cuter.

Here is Andy having his first bath. The only times he cried was when I took him out of the water and he got cold.

The day after we got home Ben decided that after he was done eating his yogurt, he would pour the leftovers on his head. Oh dear!

He managed to style his hair like an old man.

At the end of the day though, I forget all the crazy things they have done. I LOVE my boys!

Andy's Birth Story

2011-04-25T14:43:00.001-06:00

I must say that this was quite the birth experience for me. It all started last Monday morning. I woke up around 7 to Ben pounding on the door wanting to come out of his room. I then realized my contractions were actually a little uncomfortable and painful with lower back discomfort. I had a Dr's Appointment that morning at 10:20 but having been in labor for more than 24 hours with my first pregnancy, I wanted to know if I should go when scheduled, or go later when I'm more dilated. I was told to go in right away. So I took a hot shower to help me relax and headed to the doctor's office. I practiced some of the hypnobirthing techniques I had read from a hypnobirthing book. So far contractions were a little painful, but I was relaxed and focused. The contractions were about 4 minutes apart.

At the office, my midwife checked me and found me dilated to 4cm and 90% effaced. She pretty much told me I was going to have the baby that day. I didn't really believe it though. She told me I could either go to the hospital and check in, or go home and relax until the contractions get closer together. We chose to go home.

Steve made me a hot soup and I sat on the couch timing each contraction. We called my sister in law Kelly and asked her if she could come over and take care of Ben in case we went to the hospital. She was to come around 1pm. I had a visiting teaching appointment set up at noon and I was determined to go since the contractions weren't as painful (but that was around 10 am). At 11, I realized I was definitely not going to make it!

We let Ben take a nap while things progressed. At 12:30 contractions got more intense and I realized that if we didn't head to the hospital, I was going to have the baby at home. Steve asked our upstairs neighbors (The Rileys) to watch Ben until Kelly got here.

At 12:45 we call the midwife and began to head to the Hospital. Steve was still packing some stuff. As I opened the door to go outside, my water breaks (just a trickle though). Without any time to change we go in the car. At this point I was still able to walk and talk during contractions.

We park and head up the hospital elevator. There was an old couple in the elevator and they seemed pretty nervous when they saw me have a contraction. We arrived at Labor and Delivery, but we had to answer some questions first. I was going to preregister on that very day, but I ended up going into labor instead. After a few questions, we check into the hospital at 1pm. They put me in a room and the nurses begin to scramble. My midwife is already there and checks me. I was dilated to a 6.

I gave the nurses my birth plan, which basically said that I didn't want an epidural, IV fluids, or anesthesia. This time I wanted to do it ALL NATURAL.

At 1:45 my contractions were less than 2 minutes apart and I felt intense pressure and the urge to push. With no time to check me again my midwife gave me the okay to push. After about 4 contractions and about 10 minutes, I pushed the baby out!! It was very awkard- especially since I actually had pain sensations down there. With Ben, I had an epidural and I had no pain whatsoever. This time, it was the real deal.

The contractions were painful but I was able to manage the pain pretty well- I think. The most painful part was the pushing. Holy Cow! It felt like there was no more room to accommodate the baby's head. Steve and the nurses were all saying "Puuuuuuuuush!!!"

" I AM PUSHING!!!" I replied. What if pushing took hours like it happens to some moms? I decided this was not going to happen to me. I immediately gave my biggest "push" ever and heard them all say "his head is out!" He finally came out! Once he was out though, the pain was immediately over- it was incredible!

The baby was placed in my chest right away and I was able to hear his cry for the first time. My hands and body were shaking, but I didn't care- I had just given birth! I had an amazing birth crew with incredible nurses. I also had a wonderful and supportive husband that helped me through it all. He held my hand, he rubbed my back, he continually repeated "you can do it!" and "push!" We both couldn't believe it. All this happened so fast. Less than 7 hours of labor and one beautiful baby boy.

Andrew was born at 1:58 pm on April 18th 2011. He weighed 8 pounds 8 oz and was 20 inches long. He couldn't be any more perfect! Andy had perfect timing because the last day of coverage for my insurance was on the 18th. Ha! I think the Lord answered our prayers. Who wants to be stuck with a pricey hospital bill? not us.

Here is Andy just a few minutes old. What a little trooper!

Big Brother Ben comes to visit just a few hours later. He held Andy for the first time and he LOVES his new baby brother.

His favorite thing to do? Kiss baby Andy's head.

Our first family picture with the new baby. Can't wait for our family photo shoot in June!

All snugly in his car seat ready to go.

One more big brother and baby shot. Ben is excited!

Of course, I had to include this newborn photo-shoot picture of Andy. He is very photogenic! He is my little cuddly teddy bear.

Thank so much to those who helped us out with Ben and who took care of us the days after the birth! Kelly, you are the best!

Maternity Pictures- about time!

2011-04-12T21:31:00.001-06:00

I was looking through my pictures a while ago and I realized that I didn't have any pictures of me and my belly. Most of the pictures taken were of my face or didn't emphasize "the belly." When I was pregnant with Ben, it was fun to see my progress and I took several pictures of me at different times. I realized that the reason why I did that was because I was so excited about pregnancy that I wanted to document every single process. I felt that if I took belly pictures again this time, it wouldn't make such a difference because I already knew what I looked like pregnant.

I decided to get some maternity pictures this time so this baby could see what I looked like when I was carrying him. And so... I asked my husband to take pictures of me. Unfortunately, Steve wasn't in any of the pictures, but I did manage to get a few with Ben and I. Steve did a pretty good job for not being a photographer. I did have to do all the settings and final editing though, but the rest was all him. Yay!

and this last one, just shows you the out takes of the the photoshoot.

Do you think kids are always the perfect little angels you see in pictures? NOT!

haha! Can't wait till his sibling is old enough to understand how Ben felt at the time! :D

Vivian's Graduation (BSN edition)

2011-04-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

Yes folks, I have finally graduated with my Bachelors Degree! I don't just mean "finally" because it was difficult, or it felt like I was here for a long time. The fact is, I HAVE been going to college for a LONG time!

How long you ask? Well, I have been attending BYU-I since 2004! Yes, I admit I have been going to college for 7 years! While all my high school friends have gone and received Masters Degrees, I was here getting my undergraduate education. It wasn't really all that bad though.

I began my BYU-I journey as a Biology Major doing pre-med. I originally wanted to be a pediatrician. Then, realizing that I didn't have to major in Biology to go to med school, I switched my major to Health Science. I really liked studying public health. After taking more biology and chemistry generals, I decided that Med school was not for me. What I really wanted to be, was a nurse. I knew this all along, however, I just wanted to go for the higher degree (MD). I also had the feeling that this is what Heavenly Father wanted me to do for now.

As I prepared to apply for nursing school, I learned that once you had over 30 credits, you had to get all the pre requisites for nursing done before you even applied for the nursing program. I began to take all the pre reqs in the Winter semester of 2005. After so much hard work and hardly any social life I finished all the requirements and I applied for the program in the summer of 2007. Now, some people already know that the BYUI nursing program is EXTREMELY competitive: Hundreds of applicants and only 42 spots and once in the program if you got a final grade of 74% or less, you got kicked out. The department had stated that the average GPA of admittance was 3.7-3.8. This discouraged me a little since my GPA was 3.6, but I applied anyways because I felt good about it. Some of my classmates had applied more than twice until they got in.

I got lucky. I got accepted on my first try. I found out I had gotten into the program and was to start January 2008. I met Steve over my fall break and we ended up getting engaged. Steve was attending school in MN and was planning to transfer to BYUI sometime later. After realizing how hard I worked on getting into the program, I convinced Steve to move to Rexburg.

Because the nursing program is very structured and you have to take courses back to back. Anyone starting the program had to "start over." So technically, I had to start my quest for a degree all over, except this time I had all the generals out of the way. I graduated with my Associates Degree in Nursing (ASN), and passed my board licencing exams in the summer of 2009 (while pregnant with Ben). Click here for the official post.

I applied for the Bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and started in January 2010. All that time I was only going to school half-time and working as an RN while being a mommy. It was tough, but I can assure you that it CAN be done. I realized that both times I graduated I was pregnant. :-)

I have enjoyed going to BYU-Idaho. It is a wonderful University and I highly recommend it to anyone who is seeking a positive learning experience...

And now, without further ado....... I present myself! Yay! Congrats for me!

Meet my niece- Claire Elizabeth!

2011-03-27T23:18:00.000-06:00

She is absolutely Gorgeous!

She enjoyed sitting on her Great Grandpa Lewis' lap...

and enjoyed snoozing in her Aunt Vivi's arms...

She loves her parents. Proud parents (Brian and Alicia Mathias)

Brian and Alicia live in Kansas. They were able to travel to Utah and Idaho to see some family.

We were all glad they drove to Downey for a visit. I wish our visit could have lasted longer :(

We were happy to finally meet her and we can't wait to see her again!

Weston turns 2!

2011-03-27T22:44:00.000-06:00

Weston turned 2! I can't believe how time flies.

I don't think Weston had a clue of what was going on. Haha. Here he is while all us sing "Happy Birthday." I just love the puzzled look on his face.

After the cake, he opened his presents...

He got lots of new and exciting toys.

We even got to see our Grandma and Grandpa Lewis!

Even Ben had a fun time playing with Weston and all his toys!

What a fun and special day for Weston. Happy Birthday!

The Gallbladder

2011-03-10T20:52:00.002-07:00

My evil gallbladder!!! Notice the knife and the gun trying to kill me.

lapierrefamily.org

Pregnancy has been going pretty good since the beginning. The only thing that is bugging me is my gallbladder. Unfortunately I have started to develop some kind of gallbladder sludge that is not "rock" consistency just yet. On and off for the past 3 weeks I have been in pain. The pain attacks are mostly at night, but sometimes last all day the next day. I had pain that started 2 days ago along with some indigestion issues (I'm not going to get too detailed) but last night things got really really painful.

So for the first time ever, I visited the ER. To sum it all up, I got an IV and fluids in, they took some blood work, monitored the baby, and gave me some antacids. After 3 hours, and after throwing up. I felt much, much better. My pain practically vanished and I was me again. So they sent me home with a Rx for a nice pain killer in case this happens again.

I am now down a few pounds, which overall, makes me have gained less than 5 pounds this pregnancy. So far, they have told me the baby is measuring right where he should be. Now comes the tough part:

I have to follow a strict diet- and by"strict" I mean non-fat.

I have transitioned to skim milk again. I can't have any fast food, chocolate, or ice cream, or anything that is greasy and has bad fat in it. So I ended up having to buy a new refrigerator "wardrobe." I found out that it can be super expensive to eat healthy. I feel bad for Steve because he might lose weight because the snacks are all non fat! Poor thing! We all know he needs to fatten up.

Today was a good day- pain free. Thank goodness. I just hope these next 6 weeks go by fast. I'll keep you updated and let you know if my evil gallbladder will have to be removed or if it will stay and serve a life sentence. ;)

A look at the past and a warning...

2011-02-27T22:59:00.002-07:00

Ben is a year and a half today. Time sure went by so fast. I can't believe that 18 months ago I gave birth to such a beautiful baby! It's unbelievable that I will be giving birth to another baby boy in less than 2 months. So far this pregnancy has been great. We have a name that we have been thinking about, but we are not 100% sure, we will just have to wait until April.

As far as school goes, this semester I will be finishing all my nursing classes. I'm still unsure about graduating in April though. It seems like I just don't want to let go of school ;( School has always been a part of me, I kinda feel like I should still go on.

I do want to be a stay at home mom eventually. I might not have that chance until Steve graduates and gets a job though. I can't wait. :D

Anyways.... I was going through my picture files and found some old pictures of Ben from last year. Here are just a few:

Ben with Uncle Chris in January

enjoying his Johnny Jump up. He LOVED that thing. (February)

posing for an informal photoshoot in March

trying to keep his balance He was just learning how to walk at this point. (April)

Asleep after a 2 hour car drive to visit the Grandparents (May)

Ben's official First Hair Cut (June)

Sucking on a lollipop and making a big mess (July)

Enjoying the Guatemala vacation (August)

Being silly on his daddy's shoulders (September)

my little child model [and his companion bear "Oso"] - (October)

Doing his fish face (December)

Enjoying his new favorite snack- chips and salsa! (January 2011)

aspiring to be an engineer like his daddy. Gotta love the "nerd" shirt! Thanks G-Ma Mathias. (February)

He has sure made us smile! His new tricks this month include doing somersaults all by himself, jumping up from the floor (which he actually gets like 1/2 inch of air!), and opening the doors even with the doorknob safety covers. He is learning how to say many different words and is finally letting go of his sign language and actually speaking the words.

Potty training is still going, and he is doing really well. Every time he pees, he gets up, looks in the potty, and claps his hands and cheers. Even if he just squeezes a drop or two (which he sometimes does), he always claps his hands. He still has a few accidents, but he is learning how to hold it in. We ended up getting a new potty chair for him because his old one was extremely unsanitary. P.S. to those looking to buy a potty chair DO NOT buy the "comfy cushy potty" by Safety 1st. Sold at Walmart.

It was a good potty for a while, until one day, I couldn't figure out why that thing smelled like pee after sanitizing it several times. As I was rinsing it out, I accidentally squeezed the cushion a little too hard and pee came out of of it! I was petrified. The "comfy cushy" ring acts like a sponge and soaks up all the urine-GROSS!! I immediately got online and read the reviews on Amazon for this particular piece of trash. I wasn't surprised to see that it got 1.5 out of 5 stars from more than 70 reviews. I should have returned it to the store, but we just ended up throwing it away.

We got a new potty, which is simple and nice and best of all, easy to clean. I really like this one because it doesn't have the fancy shmancy buttons and decorations. I don't want Ben to get too worked up about characters and designs. I got the all white color because it looks the most like a real toilet.

I had to order it online because the other types of potties that are sold in the nearby stores were still questionable. This new one had an average of 4.5/5 stars from more than 400 reviews. Anyhow, the important lesson to be learned was: if you are unsure about a product, look up the reviews online. You will be glad you did.

That is all I have for now... I will try to write about something more interesting in my next post.

The potty...

2011-01-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

This is what we have been up to these past few weeks....

So far, so good. We still have a fair share of accidents, but now Ben signs the word "potty" when he wants to go. Sometimes he tells us before he goes, sometimes as he is going, and sometimes after he has gone, but at least he recognizes what he's doing!! Haha!

He has even pooped in his potty several times. I haven't had any poopy accidents yet. He still wears a diaper when he goes to bed and when he naps. In the beginning, we let him run around without a diaper. Now we have been putting on "big boy underwear." He really likes that.

I know most of you probably think it's WAY too early. But I am a firm believer that you can train them earlier with success. I know that kids may not be able to communicate or talk yet, but if you really learn your child's signs before they "go", it will be a lot easier. Many kids around the world are already potty trained at this age- and this is the age they used to be trained before the disposable diapers were invented. Also, being Ben's mom, I knew he was ready to learn. He's such a smart little boy!

It hasn't been easy, but I think it will be worth it. It might take us a few months until Ben masters the art of the "potty"... so I will let you know how it goes. Wish us luck!

Of Christmas 2010 and the Mathias Family Flu

2011-01-09T00:00:00.002-07:00

We had quite the eventful 2 week Christmas vacation! We first started our journey in Utah. We drove to Cedar Hills and stayed with my aunt Gloria and my cousin Chris.

Gloria has 2 dogs: Skippy, and Oscar. Ben absolutely LOVED playing with them. Ben loves anything with fur and he will attempt to pet anything with fur.

After spending a few days with Gloria and Chris, we headed to Minnesota. Ben did surprisingly well in the airplane. I made sure to pack lots and lots of snacks. That's pretty much all we needed to keep him busy.

After a long day of traveling, we were sure glad to see the Mathias Family.

We saw Steve's Brother Sam (who currently lives in NY). At first, he was a bit unrecognizable. He grew his hair out and grew a beard. While in MN he got a haircut and transformed himself from

This to This

I like the new look wayyyyyyyy better, don't you?

It is Mathias tradition to make a whole lot of yummy, and not to mention, fatty treats On Christmas eve, however, it got moved to the 28th so that Steve's Sister Kelly could enjoy the treats as well. She didn't get to fly in until the 28th.

On Christmas day we all got up bright and early at 6am to open presents. If you ask me, 6 am is WAY to early to wake up on Christmas day, in fact, growing up, my family always stayed up and partied till 6am! Haha, there's a Latin Christmas for ya!

Ben was SUPER thrilled to open presents this year because now he can actually rip the paper all by himself. That was his favorite part.

Danny (Steve's little brother) has such an imagination. It occurred to him to make a "Cardboard Wii" console. He taped a whole bunch of cardboard together to make the remotes and the console. He played while we were there, and he got us to play with him. We played the wii sports bowling game, and guess who kept on winning the entire time? Danny! Anyways, Danny decided to give his dad a 42" cardboard flat panel TV to go with the cardboard wii for Christmas. What a riot!

This year was a lucky year for Danny. Santa decided to give his parents a REAL Wii!! Horray! After we got the real Wii set up, no one even played with the cardboard wii anymore.

Popcorn and a family movie on Sunday nights is also a tradition. Ben had no problem with watching a movie....

and had no problem eating popcorn. Ben LOVES popcorn.

and of course, he loves his mommy.

Ben got to spend lots of time with his uncle Sam.

This Christmas was a little sad this time. Almost everyone got the flu. It first started with Danny, then Joe, then Sam, Steve's mom Debby, His dad Karl, then Kelly.

We never got it, thank goodness. We were on the edge thinking we were going to get it but we realized that everyone who got the flu-shot, didn't get the flu. Thank goodness for vaccines!

While everyone was sick in bed, we managed to escape and take a trip to St. Paul to see a few friends of ours.

We got to see Scott, Candace, and little Rebekkah Cornelius. Scott will be graduating with his Bachelor's degree soon. He will be going to law school. He has a tough choice to make. He got lots of offers, scholarships, and application requests from top law schools, including Yale and Pepperdine, UCLA, and much more. Hope it all all goes well for him.

Ben played and gave kisses to Rebekkah...

She also kissed him back...

We also visited my good ol' friend Diana and her husband Matt

and got to see the Galindo family. Laura and I have been friends since Jr. High.

After St. Paul, we headed back to Crystal to see Ben's great Grandma and Grandpa Mathias. We ate, and played a game.

On the 30th, we went to the Mathias Family get together. Unfortunately, Karl, Debby, Sam, and Joe couldn't join us because they were all still recovering from their illness. Danny was already feeling better.

Kelly did get to join us- but we left early because Kelly was starting to feel sick after we got there. Bummer... :( luckily, Weston didn't get the flu.

Don and Sheryl... little did they know that they were going to get sick too, but just a week later.

Uncle Dave. Enjoying the get together. He and his wife Deb had gotten the flu bug a week earlier.

After being bed ridden for almost 2 days, Debby was able to play with Ben again...

Ben and Weston got to enjoy little uncle Danny! He always kept them laughing and entertained.

Ben really enjoyed sitting on a whoopee cushion! It's quite funny to see his reaction.

Our trip to Minnesota could not have been complete without a trip to the Mall of America. We boarded the lightrail and made our way to the biggest mall in the US.

We went to Lego Land and let Ben and Weston play.

A life size, Lego Woody

After the Mall, Ben and Weston decided to watch Blues Clues. They both love that show! They are the cutest little boys.

On New Years Day we went to Anita Lewis' house to celebrate the return of her son from his LDS mission.

We ate lots of yummy food, and got to chat with the Lewis Family (Steve's mom's side).

To top it all off, we went to the Oakdale ward and saw many familiar faces. I grew up in the Oakdale Ward and I sure do miss everyone there. I hope to one day return and perhaps be a part of the ward again. Lots and Lots of wonderful people. One of the coolest families in the ward are the Daums. We got to eat at their house for dinner, and catch up.

On January 3rd we headed back to the airport to begin our journey back home. We made it to SLC safely and stayed the night at Gloria's house again. I developed a bad cold, which migrated to my voice box. I ended up losing my voice for 5 days. Now we are back in Rexburg! It was such a fun trip and I hope that we will be able to go to MN again next year!

Santa Take 2

2010-12-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

This time Santa was at the Colorado airport. We took advantage of the free pictures provided by Southwest Airlines. This time Ben didn't sit on Santa's Lap, but he was a lot happier. he even gave Santa a High Five! We love our Ben. Merry Christmas!

Santa's Lap

2010-12-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Santa came to visit us in Idaho already. He will be also be stopping and visiting in Minnesota as well. :D Ben didn't seem very happy about Santa. He cried and he told Santa that all he wanted was his mommy and daddy back!

After Santa's lap, he got a cookie....

Which he devoured in less than a minute...

And finally, a happy boy!

It's a...........

2010-12-02T21:48:00.001-07:00

BOY!!! There is no doubt in that. I can finally rest!
We are all very happy and cannot wait to welcome this little bundle of joy. Here is a profile ultrasound picture. He looks very similar to Ben when Ben was in the womb.
Now... the tough thing: choosing a name.

Benjamin's pictures

2010-11-09T23:02:00.001-07:00

I took some of these pictures a few weeks ago and just forgot to post these on the blog. Ben has a gift- he is extremely photogenic! Also, everything he does is just so amusing, even when he throws a tantrum!

He never goes anywhere without his bear, and as you can see with most of these pics-"Bear" is his bestest friend!

Look at this little man- just walking so confidently!

Ben LOVES to be tossed in the air by daddy.

and LOVES to be upside down...

A tender daddy/son moment.

I am kinda curious to see what our next child will look like. We kinda have an image from Ben, but will all our kids have some sort of "Mathias look?" I guess we will just have to see. We love our little Ben!

A little secret...

2010-10-23T23:15:00.000-06:00

Okay, Okay, maybe it's not a secret anymore!

If you haven't been following Facebook lately, perhaps you haven't heard yet. Our little Mathias family is expecting another baby Mathias!!! Hooray! I am due April 24th, 2011 (Easter Sunday to be exact).

Maybe the Easter bunny will give us a girl. Here's for hoping!

This month's update

2010-09-26T22:56:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it has been more than a month since my last post. I have been pretty busy with life. I am only taking one online nursing class instead of two, and I picked up a water aerobics class-which I really enjoy!

Work is going alright. I am working part time at the clinic and I am on call about one week out of the month- meaning that I take the midnight/early hours phone calls from worried parents about what they should do about their sick child. Being on call can be a breeze some days and a real annoyance on some nights. I can't remember how long ago this was but I got a call from a worried mom around 2 in the morning stating that her infant child had a fever of 98.6---- now- some may recall that 98.6 is between the "normal/average" human body temperature, but this mom had absolutely no idea! I explained to her that unless her child had a low body temperature all the time, she shouldn't be worried. She still wanted to know how much Tylenol to giver her, even though she didn't need it at all.... Anyways-that is just an example. I do get very urgent phone calls too, such as a baby not being able to breathe, or a child who has fallen and is unconscious. Regardless, I really do enjoy my role as a nurse and I feel blessed to have other people ask me for advice. I never realized how hard it could be to part with a sick child until you have a sick child.

My Photography hobby/business is going great! Right now for some reason, I have been overwhelmed with phone calls and emails of people who want me to take their pictures! I love it! Hooray for extra income!! I now have a vinyl sticker on my back window with my logo and website. I feel "official!"

Ben is growing up fast before my eyes. He now knows how to climb on the chair and can almost climb the couch all by himself! I can't believe he is one! What a big boy! We spent his birthday in Guatemala. We decided to visit lake Atitlan and after our trip, he ate his very first Happy Meal! Of course he didn't care much for the food, just the toy!

When we ask Ben, "What does the snake say?" he goes, "ssssssssssssssssss"

Also, when we ask him where his belly is, he taps his belly.

He loves music! He doesn't dance to it yet, but he loves to clap to it.

He is a smart boy! :D We love him so much!

So those are just some highlights of what has been going on. There are more highlights, but they are going to have to wait until the next post! Stay tuned!

Greetings from Guatemala!!

2010-08-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

It has been quite an adventure!! Here is a little sneak peek from our trip. So far, it has been wonderful. It is so beautiful here. We are staying in a suburb of Antigua. Most of the streets here are made out of cobblestone and most houses and businesses have a Spanish baroque architecture style. Antigua has SO many colors around and so many different types of people. There are even many ruins from the sixteenth century that were destroyed by a major earthquake in the 1700's. Many ruins remain preserved and are now tourist attractions. If you want to learn more about Antigua go HERE

The food is also great and delicious, but it sure has done a number on us ;)

Here we are in the Palace of "Ayuntamiento" in front of the Central Park (Parke central)

A street in the city of Jocotenango

An old church in the picturesque city of San Juan

An old church in Antigua

Ben cruising Central Park with his new backpack

These are some of the clothes that some of the Guatemalan native indian people wear

Pathway to the "Finca Filadelphia".

We went with my mom (Virginia)

There is a coffee plantation,and a hotel and lodge with a restaurant that has GREAT food and an even BETTER view.

plants and flowers are around everywhere. They are always in bloom and they are so beautiful.

Daddy and Ben

Posing for a picture in Antigua- central park by one of the fountains.

These next few days we will be touring different parts of Guatemala. We are all so super excited! Look for our next post soon!

The Mathias family comes to town!

2010-08-12T00:40:00.002-06:00

WARNING: photo overload...

It all started July 23rd... Steve's parents and siblings were driving from MN to come visit all of the family in Idaho. Their van broke down near Yellowstone. So instead of having them wait and spend the night at a hotel, Steve drove to Yellowstone, picked them up, and drove them to Rexburg. The next few days were filled with F-U-N!!!!

We all played a night game of Frisbee

the game was full of action: Catching and falling

First we have Steve's awesome catch... *wink wink*

Then Joe's fall...

Danny's dramatic catch...

Karl's even more dramatic catch...

and we even got Debbie to do a dramatic catch!

The next day we went swimming in Idaho Falls. Ben, as you know LOVES the water...

loves to chew on his thumb...

and loves splashing water with his uncle Joe.

A few days later we also played some mini golf...

Ben loves to set up the ball...

and likes to putt...

and likes to pick up the ball before it goes in the hole...

After nine holes, and 90 degree weather, we took a break... we dipped and splashed our feet in the cold water.

We came home and set up our new wireless camera remote... we couldn't wait to try it out. So we took a few pictures... and one great picture by the Rexburg LDS temple.

We also had some family from Downey meet us at Bryan and Kelly's house. We chatted with Dan and Jodi and saw Maggie, Rubie, and Jonah once again.

Ben, Weston, and Jonah cooled off by taking a dip in the kiddie pool...

Debbie hung out with Ben...

we watched the kids' excitement over the sprinklers...

Continued watching Ben and Weston splash and squeal..

We got to see a few drops of rain...

We chilled outside after it poured...

We also watched Weston's cute little face...

And decided to let him lick the brownie batter spoon...

Can you say yummy?...

We also saw the Blue Angels...

photo courtesy of Steve and Becky

got to see an AFLACK duck...

fed the aflack duck...

and the rest of his gang...

Ben posed for a pic with Uncle Joe

and uncle Danny...

and..... with the rest of the Mathias family...

What an AWESOME week!!!!!! I will miss you all. We'll be looking forward for a Minnesota celebration with them this Christmas. Glad your van is all fixed. See ya guys soon!

Swimming!

2010-07-20T23:04:00.000-06:00

So a few weeks ago we took Ben swimming for the first time- he LOVED it so much! We put him in a baby float and he was giggling and laughing and "chasing daddy" on the water. Since then, he has had the opportunity to go in some kiddy pools and splash and have fun.

Ben's first time swimming (phone pictures)

I think his little "floaty" suit looked hilarious on him! He looked buff!

This is Ben a week later- still having fun... by himself

He is such a cutie =)

Independence Day and our adventures at Mesa falls

2010-07-05T22:21:00.002-06:00

Maybe because Independence day fell on a Sunday, to us it just felt kind of "Blah" in terms of celebration.

The Melaleuca fireworks were on Saturday but we didn't go because I just know that Ben would have been SUPER cranky past 9pm.
Almost all stores closed early on saturday and a lot of them were closed today.
I really wish we could have seen the Boston Pops Fireworks on TV. Living in an area where we only get one chanel and you have to use an HD antena and hold it 4 feet above the TV and not move, we opted out

Saturday we got up early and started watching the World Cup. It was INTENSE! No offense to the english narration of the game, but the Spanish hosting keeps you on your toes and makes you excited! I think it's mainly because soccer is such a big deal in Central and South America. Uruguay is the only south american country left in the game. I hope they get to the final.

After we watched the game, we all felt tired since we hadn't slept much the few nights before. We went back to bed and ended up sleeping till 11 (Even Ben!). It was a weird saturday morning. I think I should get my iron levels checked because I have been feeling a little more tired than usual. Anyways after we woke up I realized we missed the parade. Ooooops!

So to celebrate our independence and to enjoy God's BEAUTIFUL creation, we went to Mesa Falls. We went with The Wagstaffs (Joel and Mira) in our ward. Boy, were we glad we went. It was a PERFECT day today. High's in the upper 70's- sunny, and beautiful!

Just to show you how beautiful: take a look at THIS!!!

We went on a trail and walked around the edge of the canyon. It can get scary if you have kids up there. Absolutely NO wandering around the edge. Joel was serious about this one. Just look at him carrying Johnny.

Johnny was on a child leash. You can never be too safe.

Joel, Mira and the kids-Johnny and Becky

There were so many trees!

Daddy and Ben.
Ben is being a silly goose- like always. He was looking at...

THIS!!!!

Holy HUMUNGO beetle,batman!

Ben is a heavy boy, so I carried him the rest of the way

A happy camper!

Ben is practicing his waving skills.

We then had to stop for a little while. Ben wanted out! I showed him the river...

Then let him stretch his little legs...

yes, Ben is quite the walker now. Soon to be runner.

After some snacks, we started heading back to our car and to upper Mesa Falls.
It was absolutely gorgeous!

Here we are all looking at the camera, oh wait... Ben! Quit checking her out! She's too old for you.

So this is our way of celebrating life and our freedom.

Happy 4th of July! We may not have seen any fireworks-but we sure had our own ;)

Our week with family

2010-06-20T18:12:00.002-06:00

So Steve flew out to Minnesota last Friday and drove out our new car! Now we have a four door. It was such a pain having to put Ben in the car seat on our 2 door VW golf. Our 03 Toyota Corolla runs so smooth!

Steve's mom Debby and Danny came along from Minnesota and visited us and Kelly (sis in law) and her family. They visited us first, then the next day, we went to Downey Idaho to see Grandma and Grandpa Lewis, and cousins Ruby and Maggie.

Kelly, Steve, Debby, and Danny

Weston and Danny had such a blast! As you can see-they got along super well.

Grandma and Grandpa Lewis

We had fun talking to Grandma and Grandpa Lewis and they enjoyed playing with their Great grandchildren Ben and Weston. Ben seemed to be a little clingy at first-maybe because he had just woken up from the long drive. Kelly managed to snap a picture of Ben smiling.

Ben and Weston had such fun playing the piano. They also got to hear Maggie play piano and Ruby sing.

Here is Weston playing to Beethoven's moonlight sonata. He is actually quite good. Don't be fooled by those little hands.

The next day we had yummy breakfast at Kelly's and said our Goodbyes. The goodbyes weren't too long since Debby and all of the boys will be coming again next month.

After we got home I got to see this:

He always keeps us entertained!

Can you think of anything more relaxing?

2010-06-03T22:47:00.001-06:00

Seriously, can you?

Semifinalist

2010-05-18T13:05:00.002-06:00

You may remember a little while ago I entered Ben into a magazine cover contest for American Baby. If you don't remember or you want to refresh your memory click here to go to the blog entry or here for a direct link to American Baby. I wasn't expecting to hear back. To my surprise I got an email back saying he got selected as a semi-finalist!!! What are the odds??

Out of 42478 entries only 10 got selected as semifinalists. My little Benjamin made it!!!
Although he wasn't selected as a finalist to go to a photoshoot in New York City, I can now rest assured that Benjamin is officially a "cute baby."

Ben,walking already?

2010-05-05T08:20:00.002-06:00

Ben has been taking steps lately and thought I should get it on camera. We noticed that last week that he let go of the furniture and started to take steps on his own. Of course he only took like 3 steps before he stumbled. He just turned 8 months old-so I don't know if this is normal for their age, especially for boys.

Last Christmas I decided to buy Ben a little push cart so he could support himself and walk when he got old enough. I wasn't planning to give it to him until his first birthday but seeing that he is showing interest in walking, we gave him an early Birthday gift. He actually pushes the little train around and walks, it's really cute.

Anyways, here are some videos of Ben. This one is hilarious!

This one is the real deal...

Our little Ben- he keeps us entertained!

Look for my next post soon, it includes Ben and over 42, 000 kids ;)

Finally... A break

2010-04-17T09:48:00.001-06:00

The semester is now over! Finally!

So, I was kinda surprised when I looked at my grades. I was happy that I got a C in my online Pathophysiology (Bio 381) class, because frankly, I hardly studied. Partly because I had to memorize like 30-40 pages of notes for each test which I took every other week. Biology classes are not all that great to take online- I wouldn't recommend it. I wish I could have signed up for the campus class, but I had to work during class time.

I got an A in my 5 credit nursing class, and A- in my 3 credit nursing class, and I got an A- in clothing construction. I learned a lot in that class. I learned how to read patterns and understand all the symbols, how to sew collar-button up dress shirts, skirts, and pants. Just the basics though. If I have enough time and money, I may take advanced sewing. I am happy that I am officially done taking all of my generals. All I have left is just nursing classes.

My mom came to visit us this week:

We went to the temple together, went shopping together, took amazing pictures (which are on my photo blog), hung out with Ben and drove down to Utah to stay at my Aunt Gloria's house in Cedar hills.
On our way to Utah we stopped by at Uncle Dan and Aunt Jodi's house to visit.

The only thing missing in the Lewis household was Ms. Maggie. She was in school and I wish we could have seen her. We also saw Uncle Dan's art studio-which looked awesome! If you don't recall, Uncle Dan illustrates for the Ensign and he made a painting of me and it made it into the June 2008 Ensign issue. He is an amazing artist!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

While in Cedar Hills Utah, our car Ted started beeping and flashing the oil light at us. We checked the oil and it was okay. Later we had our cousin Mike take a look at it. We found out that the oil hose was cracked, we needed to replace our brake pads, and our belts. Mike ended up fixing Ted for us- which ended up taking a long time.Thanks cousin Mike!

We also had the opportunity to get sealed on behalf of my Grandparents. They had been waiting a while to get this done. It was a great experience. After 3 days and 2 nights in Utah, we said our goodbyes and headed back home. Home sweet home.

We are having a good break so far and still look forward to this weekend!

Silly boy!

2010-04-06T16:55:00.002-06:00

I caught Ben doing this today. He cracks me up-especially how he huffs and puffs.

A family update

2010-04-05T09:45:00.001-06:00

Ben has been scooting for more than a month. He is almost crawling. He likes to be on his hands and knees but can't advance using his arms and legs. He gets really frustrated. The other day I sat him on the crib and went to the bedroom, came back, and he was standing against the railing all by himself! It scared me because the mattress is is set up high so he could have fallen off. That night Steve and I moved the mattress down to the lowest level. Ben likes to stand up against the couch and is wanting to walk around the furniture. The other day he weighed in about 18 pounds and he was 27 inches tall.

When we put him to bed he barely cries anymore. He lays down, and gnaws on his blanket and then babbles himself to sleep-it's the cutest thing ever. His top two teeth have come through so now every once in a while I can hear him grind his teeth.

Steve has been very diligent with all his homework and will soon get a break at the end of this week. I can't believe he is going to take 2 physics classes and 3 engineering classes next semester-what a psycho idea! I guess he thinks he can handle it and he probably will be able to do it now that he doesn't work.

I am taking 2 online nursing classes. For one of them I have to do 4 hours of clinical each week which I will be able to set up a preceptor at my job. So technically I will be working for 8 hours a week at Season's Pediatrics except 4 of those hours are volunteered. It should be interesting. If I do well in my classes and take them all on schedule I will be able to graduate in December-that way I could just get it out of the way and just focus on being home with the fam.

A Facelift!

2010-03-31T09:06:00.003-06:00

actually it's a bloglift! I have been working on my blogs this week, especially on my photography website/blog. I even did some tweaks to this blog. Doesn't it look so cute? I love spring and I'm looking forward to it. Anyways you can click on this link: HERE to go to my site. I am looking for families, babies, brides, children, and couples to photograph so if you know someone who wants FREE pictures they can contact me. If you have any other blog tips too, don't hesitate to leave a comment. I love comments by the way! ;-) So go and stop by and let me know what looks good or bad. I am working on making a bigger, bolder, more colorful header for the site, but for now, I have to focus on school and finals first- I am almost done. Wahoo!

So I'll probably be posting more often after this semester!

Copy Cat

2010-03-18T19:56:00.002-06:00

So before Ben's bedtime, we all decided to just chill out in our bedroom. Steve was holding Ben on his lap while I talked to both of them. Ben started to slap the bed, so Steve decided to copy him.

This is what happened next:

Ben is such a cutie pie!

Sunset at the Rexburg Temple

2010-03-15T11:34:00.002-06:00

Yes, I took this picture. I really like it! Hope you do too. Let me know if you want a non watermarked copy and I can send it to you. :)

A kiss from Ben

2010-03-13T23:05:00.002-07:00

Oh, yes, Benjamin loves to give kisses!
Actually, they are more like face eatings. Ha! He loves his mommy!

Sleeping while standing up

2010-03-08T22:48:00.004-07:00

Okay, so today Ben was a little grumpy. He wouldn't let me put him down at all.

I would sit him up, he would be okay for a minute or two, then he would topple over and get so frustrated because he wants to crawl, but can't. Anyways, so I had some homework to do so I decided to put him in his Johnny Jump up while I sat next to him and did my online homework on our desktop computer. I put some fun guitar music and went away with my homework while Ben jumped and jumped and jumped.

I must have been too into my homework because the next thing I notice is THIS:

Didn't think a baby could fall asleep while standing, did ya?
Ben never ceases to amaze!

The kids in our ward

2010-03-07T15:01:00.004-07:00

We have a lot of children in our ward. They are all so adorable! One day I decided to take my camera along to a ward activity and took some pictures of some of the older kids in our ward. Here are the pictures. Sorry it took me a while to post these.

First we have Ms. Hanna and Ms. Sabrina. They are such cuties.

Here they are posing as reconciled BFF's after a Hula hoop fight. lol.

Ms. Sabrina- She loved the camera. After I was done taking pictures of her and Hannah, she asked, "Can you take more pictures of me?"

She is showing off her cool new hair style. She's a natural!

Mr. David- a camera shy little guy.

Hopefully on my next ward activity I will be able to see more kids and take pictures. Perhaps I may put together a little project for their parents. ;)

There is one more kid I have to show you. Last but not least. Mr. Benjamin!
He is not happy in this snapshot in time. He quickly recovered after I gave him some food. :)

That is all Folks!

Benny Jump up

2010-02-21T17:34:00.005-07:00

This is little Ben on the Johny Jump up. He loves jumping and blowing raspberries at the same time. I'll let you see how much he loves it:

Ben and the snow.

2010-02-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were bored, so we decided to go outside in the snowfall. I had to take some pictures of Ben.

MN trip January 15-22

2010-02-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

I went to Minnesota again a couple weeks ago-it was great! Most of the time was spent with my mom and my family. I had a good time and I'm sad it was over-but glad to be back in Rexburg with my husband. Steve didn't get to go, but Ben went with me. The first part of the trip was spent with my mom, my aunt Gloria and my cousin Chris. Then my Aunt Ana from LA came to visit!

Here is my mom and Ben posing for a shot at the Old Country Buffett

Chris and Gloria

Chris had his friends over his apartment for a "small" get together that ended up with almost 30 people. As soon as they saw Ben, they all wanted turns holding him. He enjoyed that!

We also hung out with Grandma Mathias, G-grandma and G-Grandpa Lewis!

While on my trip I got to visit few friends. First I went to visit my fellow family in the Oakdale Ward- The Lees. I have known the lees for a while now, about 5 years or so. I used to watch little Tomina and Daisy while their mom ran errands. It was a lot of fun. They wanted to get to know my little Ben.

Tomina, Spencer and Daisy

Ben had a fun time getting lots of attention from the Lees. He especially liked being carried by bro Lee. Ben returned the favor by sucking on his head! haaha! :D

I also visited my friends Candace, Scott and their new baby Rebekah Cornelius. When I got to their place, my high school seminary teacher and long time friend Sister Larsen was there too. It was good to chat and catch up on each others' lives!

Candace, Scott and Rebekah

Rebekah

My mom and my aunts had a blast, I enjoyed taking pictures of all of them. They are adorable!

Mom, Ana, Gloria

Heading back to SLC

When we landed at SLC, Ben blew out! It was yucky! I carried him in his onsie until I got my baggage. We drove 4 hours to Rexburg, then we came home and took a nice long 10 hour nap!

Home sweet home!

The Big Bad Wolf!

2010-01-06T19:49:00.003-07:00

Instead of reading Ben a bedtime story, we decided to have Steve tell him the story of the Three Little Pigs. Steve was the little pig that built his house with straw, I built mine with sticks, and Ben built his with brick and cement. This video is the last part of the story. I love how Ben is so engaged in the story and laughs when "daddy" huffs and puffs! Enjoy!

The holidays and our new addition to the family

2010-01-03T22:11:00.015-07:00

Christmas and New Years was great! We stayed in Rexburg this year since we went to Minnesota last year. Christmas Day was great, but the days before it were kind of weird. Steve worked almost 12 hours a day at FedEx everyday for 2 weeks. His last long shift was Christmas eve, which we didn't do much. Steve got home, we ate, went to our friend's house for desert, and then went to bed. The next day we woke up early and opened gifts! I got a rotary mat, a rotary blade, Home Alone 2 DVD, The three Amigos DVD, Hand made cricut cards by Debby, a Red Robin gift card with Free Babysitting provided by Kelly Visser :) and some other cool stuff. Steve got some tools, a nice tool box, Dark Knight DVD, and many other cool things too. Ben got a new noisy toy that he likes, a hand imprint box, a gift card from Grandpa Nunez, a bear with a cute blanket from Great Grandma and Grandpa Lewis, and other cute things.

After helping Ben open his presents, he was more interested in playing with the wrapping paper rather than the gifts he received.

Yum Yum!

Then we went to Bryan and Kelly's house and ate Christmas dinner. We had amazing potatoes and Ham and watched the babies play. The rest of the day was spent counting our blessings, reading from Luke chapter 2, and talking and laughing.

The day after Christmas was great too. We bought a nice pre-lit, rotating, 7 1/2 foot tall Christmas tree for half the price! The best part though, was finding out that our tree price included all the deluxe Martha Stewart decorations. We ended up buying the display!

This is our old tree(3ft)... which we gave away

This is our new tree. The picture does not do it justice.

So our new years was Lame. First of all, Ben has been teething (with his first tooth out now, and second coming out soon) We didn't get much sleep the nights before New Years eve so we were both tired. I almost didn't make it past midnight, but did so- only to be dissapointed. We had the countdown going on on our TV and all, we were ready to do our own countdown when all of a sudden, our power went off. LAME-O!!! We lit some candles and gave each other hugs and kisses, wished each other a Happy New Year, then fell asleep.

So anyways, we have a new addition to the family...

No I'm NOT pregnant.

Even better- we bought a new camera! It's our new baby!

Meet the Nikon D5000

We have been wanting to get a much nicer camera than our point-and-shoot one that we currently have. I have been wanting to get a Nikon D series camera for a long while. I would like to have better pictures of our family and friends. I love taking pictures and fell in love with photography in High School. I also want to start taking engagement pictures, wedding, pictures, and family portraits as a hobby. For now, I am just a beginner and learning to use our Nikon D5000, but maybe later, once we get good enough, we can upgrade to a super professional camera.

We are both so excited! It was our little New Year's splurge, or perhaps our BIG new years splurge. Mwah hahahaha!!! Luckily we paid it all in full.

Here are some picture we took today-our first day of pictures:

And there you have it! Our new addition to the family!

Can't wait till I get to know my camera better. More pictures to come soon. For now, hope you enjoyed our post!

Rice Cereal

2009-12-20T16:30:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was Ben's first spoonful of rice cereal! He liked it, then hated it, then liked it again, then he just got bored. Overall it was a good experience. I got great pictures out of it at least!

The Spirit of Christ(mas)

2009-12-16T11:17:00.005-07:00

click to see A Mormon Message Video

Spreading a little happiness

2009-12-04T20:51:00.003-07:00

Ben can laugh now. It's too cute. Here is a video of Ben's first giggles-it's dedicated to everyone, especially the family. Enjoy!

Trip to Minnesota

2009-11-24T21:50:00.002-07:00

So on November 14th, we headed to SLC and flew to Minnesota to visit the family. It was such a wonderful trip! We first spent time with the Mathias family and went to church with them. We heard Danny (Steve's younger brother sing in the primary program. The next half of the week we spent at my mom's place hanging out and going shopping. We went to my home ward, the Oakdale ward and saw many familiar faces. Many of whom had no idea that I had had a baby. It was wonderful to get so much attention!

Here are some of the many pictures we took. We begin with Steve's parents and family. Here is Grandma Mathias with our smiley Ben. They had so much fun together. She loves Ben and Ben loves her. She loves to hold Ben and enjoyed every minute of it!

Here is uncle Danny. He loved holding Ben.

Uncle Joe... too bad Uncle Sam wasn't there to hold him.

Grandpa Mathias

Benjamin the superstar!

Cousin Amy

And part of the Mathias family. You can see 4 generations in this picture.

Great G-ma and Great G-pa, Grandma and Grandpa, Steve and Vivian, and little Benjamin.

Ben enjoying a nice warm bath from Grandma. He loves bath time and loves the water. He doesn't like being cold after coming out of the water though.

Time flew at Steve's parents' home. We had to spend some time with Grandma Morales' too.

We ate some dinner at Baker's Square... a family tradition when we go to MN. Here is grandma Morales aka "mamita" with Ben. He didn't smile here, so we took more pics later of them both.

Here is a smiley one. He is even waving in this one. He wants to grow up so fast. He can now reach and grab his toys from the handle of the car seat. He sucks on his fist constantly, and today he let out a giggle. It was darling.

We were all invited to a dinner. I picked up cute little Sister Quinn and when we walked in they all SUPRISED US with a nice party and cake. My cousin Chris Morales was there too. He is in Law school at Hamline University in MN.

I'm holding Ben's pant sleve up too high. hehe

The best cousin in the World! He tried to give me bunny ears-but failed.

Chris loves Ben!

I saw my little Nephew Giovann. I didn't get to see my sister however. I miss you Nubia!

I stopped by to see our good friends the Cornelius' and their soon to come baby girl! Congrats Candace and Scott!

To finish our trip we saw the Daum family. They have grown so much since I met them. They had only 2 kids when we met them. We ate dessert at their house and chatted. They are an amazing family! We owe them so much for their service!

We had a great time. We also hit some thrift stores and bought some books and a few toys and other cool stuff. We really miss MN thrift stores. They're amazing! Goodbye MN! We will see each other again soon.

On November 23rd we woke up very early and headed back to the airport and back to Rexburg. We flew stand by so we had to wait 4 hours for an open flight. Ben did great in the airplane. We had lots of people come up to us and tell us that he was one cute baby! We know he is :) We had a wonderful time with family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our Halloween.

2009-11-04T18:29:00.001-07:00

here are some pictures of our Halloween:

First we carved our pumpkins. Steve did the Witch, I did the mummy, and Ben did the baby pumpkin( oh, okay, okay, I did it, but it was for Ben)

Then we went to our Ward's get together Halloween party.

Ben ended up being a giraffe. He's a cute giraffe. Steve was a FedEx man. haha

Daddy and Benjamin

And here is our cutie once again!

We ended up getting 3 trick or treaters (they came at 3:30 pm!) that was it!

Then to wrap up the night, we saw Jaws 2! It was hilarious but nerve racking at the same time. I love the shark-it looks soooo fake. And there you have it, that was our Halloween. Perhaps next year it will be better. We can take Ben trick or treating!

photoshoot and experimenting with editing software

2009-10-26T19:09:00.017-06:00

So today We took Ben to Sears to get some portraits. We got a good deal that allows us to get a good size package for ten bucks. The people at Sears were so-so when it came to taking the pictures, and then kind of pushy when it came to what we bought. We just had to be insistent though, and we got what we wanted. The pictures we have to post are pretty small because they're online proofs, so some of them aren't cropped, and in one of them you can see the lady in the picture. When we got home and saw what we got, we decided to shoot our own photos, and see how good we could do. We took the sheet off the bed and put it as backdrop, disassembled our tall lamp for a spot light, and took our own pictures. Combine that with with the free photo editing software we downloaded and see what you think. We'll never give in to paying ten bucks just for black and white enhancement now that we know how easy it is.

The software is called paint.net, it's easy, it's awesome, and it's FREE! Here are the picures from both Sears and our own photo shoot.

Sears pic #1

Sears Pic #2

Sears pic #3 ( the final product was cropped, and we picked this as our favorite pose)

Pose #4

Pose #5 (sears lady in picture)

NOW, for our OWN Photo shoot, here it is... (drum roll please...)

Original Picture

Deluxe edited final pic

Original #2

#2 Final

and some cool features...

Original #3

Final #3

with a vignette

playing around with features...

cool black/white dots

Original #4

Cool color editing...

And there you have it! What a simple digital camera, some editing software, and some time can do! Hope you enjoyed, if you are interested in the software, just go to Paint.net (I also downloaded the "ED Harvey" plug in for more features-[like the vignette feature])

6 weeks and counting...

2009-10-23T21:29:00.002-06:00

I finally got my camera fixed! I missed more than 2 weeks of Ben's life- oh well. I made up for it today though. There is so much to tell...

The first 6 weeks have been so tough. I barely got any sleep during the night. Well, last Sunday Ben actually slept all night-not completely "through" the night, but he went to bed at 10pm got up at 2am, 4am, and 6am. We were thrilled! It was the first time it had ever happened! Then, the next 4 nights were even better! Woo hoo!!

Ben is starting to smile socially now, and he lets out squeals of joy! He hates sleeping flat on his back. Ever since he was home he has been sleeping on his bouncer. I have tried many times to place him on the bassinet and crib, but 5 minutes later, he wakes up. The first night he was here he didn't really sleep well. Now he sleeps on our chests. He loves sleeping on his tummy. I was scared at first because of SIDS, but I'm more at ease now that he can hold is neck up and turn it from side to side.

Today we went to Aunt Kelly's place and hung out with her and Weston. Here are Ben and Weston letting the world know that they are BEST BUDDIES

Happy Bud! He has a cute little dimples!
"snort-snort"

Ben loves to stand with support, here he is without support against the couch.

Ben, say cheese!

Ben inside my Moby wrap. He LOVES it! It helps me get things done around the house.

Aunt Kelly sporting the "Moby"

It's hard to say what color his eyes will end up being, but for now, they are bluish gray!

Ben in his Bumbo chair, it helps him sit up.

He is sooo amazing, I love having a baby! I'm sad to go back to work next week. Aunt Kelly will be baby sitting him while I'm at work. Both Steve and I's schedules clashed this semester. Hopefully by January he will quit FedEx and take care of Ben while I'm at work.

I applied to the Bachelor's of Nursing program for next semester. They will let me know mid November whether I got in. I applied to do the online program, that way I can be at home with Ben while I do school work. It's a 3 semester program, so I might finish around the same time as Steve. Hope I get in!

Glad you enjoyed the pictures of my super cute son! More to come...

My first 4 weeks!

2009-09-24T21:59:00.006-06:00

I am 4 weeks old today! This picture was taken earlier this week after Grandma Mathias bathed me. Aren't I so cute?

I am sad that both my Grandmas are gone. They held me, changed my diapers and even fed me! They were great! Thanks Grandma Morales and Grandma Mathias!

For now, I keep my mom very busy and don't let her sleep very much at night since I have tummy aches and have to drink all my milk.

I have been smiling more often even when I'm awake and can hold my head up without difficulty. I like to hold my weight up with my cute little legs when I'm on my mommy and daddy's lap. I can track objects with my eyes, I make very cute cooing sounds, and enjoy having conversations with both my parents-especially with my daddy. My daddy loves me very much! I'm a little sad when he leaves for work, but very happy when he comes home.

I had my baby blessing this past Sunday. I was dressed up in white. I looked really cute. I wish my mom's camera wouldn't have busted the day before-but lucky for me, Grandma Mathias had her camera and took pictures of us. I am sad to say that my mommy didn't end up taking pictures of the whole family or of Grandma Mathias because she forgot and also because her camera stopped working. Oh well. Here is a picture of us. I was hungry at the time, so I don't look very happy in this picture.

These are my second cousins Maggie and Ruby. Ruby is holding me- she smells nice. My Great uncle Dan is in the background and his wife Jodi is helping Ruby hold me. They all came to my baby blessing. They drove about 2 hours to come see me and see the whole family. Thanks!

Here I am again, cute as a button! This is one of my mommy's favorite outfits-it brings out the gray in my eyes.

I hope this has been a pretty good update for all of my mommy and daddy's friends! I'll keep you posted!

and... even more pictures!

2009-09-13T12:52:00.004-06:00

Life has been so amazing these past few weeks! Ben is so precious!
He is full of surprises. Steve and I love him very much. Steve has been really good about getting up and changing his diaper in the middle of the night, and I have been feeding him almost around the clock every 2-3 hours. He is a very hungry boy, he's gonna be just like his daddy. Ben also has a tendency to pee on his daddy almost every time Steve changes his diaper! Ben keeps us very busy. We have been getting lots of help from my mom. She has been wonderful. She has cooked and cleaned for us! We are very lucky to have her- Thanks mom!

At his 2 week appointment Ben weighed 7 lbs-15oz, and was 21.5 inches long! He has grown a lot since he was born. He's starting to fit well in his 3 month baby clothes.

We love him very very much- and are so excited to watch him grow, and to teach him everything he needs to know about the Gospel and about the World!

My little milk monster

Enjoying bath time

Sleeping happily in his bouncer

This is a video of Ben chillin' in his crib-haha

Isn't it great? We all were posing for this picture! We couldn't help it when we saw Ben's face while taking his nap- so we joined in!

More cute pictures of Ben

2009-09-02T17:40:00.005-06:00

Dreaming about.... being happy

So happy in Grandma's arms

In contrast, getting his first bath. He didn't like getting bathed, but loves being clean...

Enjoying himself in his bath robe after his bath. All fresh and clean!

Yay for bath time!

Taking a nap after a long day!

Welcome to the World Benjamin!

2009-08-30T13:10:00.003-06:00

So I had a baby! FINALLY!! I tried blogging about it at the hospital but the hospital blocked facebook and photo upload on blogger. Anyways, Here is the story:

I was having painful contractions ever since early Monday morning although they were irregular, so Wednesday night Steve timed the contractions-they were about 7 minutes apart, regular, and painful. So I scheduled an appointment on Thursday morning. I got checked, and Dr. said I was 5 cm dilated and 100 percent effaced. Woo hoo! So we headed to the hospital!
This was the real thing!

This is me in between a contraction in my hospital gown.

So I ended up getting an epidural and got Pitocin to "speed up" the labor.
After 4 hours of little progress, Steve made a discovery! The Pitocin wasn't even hooked up to my IV line! haha! After hooking it back up, 2 hours later, I was ready to push!

The Dr. wanted to help me out with the vacuum suction, but the vacuum wouldn't work because Ben had so much hair! After about 45 minutes of pushing, and with the help of forceps, Benjamin came out!

here he is about 1 minute old:

Born at exactly 11:00 pm August 27th
He weighed 7 lbs- 4 oz
measured 19 inches long

The first picture with the newest member of the family!

In his "coming home" outfit

Who does he look like most?

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Home at last! Daddy and Ben taking a nap

We love our baby soooooo much! He is so wonderful. Birth is so amazing!

Our first night was tough. I managed to get some sleep though (1 hour). I have probably slept like 6 hours in TOTAL from Wednesday, but our baby is worth it!Benjamin, we love you!

There will be plenty more pictures to come!

In labor?

2009-08-25T13:28:00.005-06:00

Yes, I have had pre labor signs! My water hasn't "broken" yet though-but I'm not due until this Saturday.

Plus the past 2 nights I have had painful contractions. Even my non painful "braxton hicks" contractions are becoming closer together. Every time I have a painful one, I get intese lower back pain. I keep thinking I'm going to be one of those moms that might not get to the hospital on time. I want to wait longer since I know he's not coming within the next few hours and plus, Last friday I wasn't even dilated yet. The last thing I want is to get my hopes up and go to the Hospital and have them send me back home again. So i'm waiting. He'll probably end up coming at the end of this week anyways, even though I want him to come out ASAP.

I definitely feel more pressure on my pelvis and bladder so I know that he has "descended." I'm nervous and scared! TERRIFIED!!! but Excited and happy for this pregnancy to be over. I know that I might be experiencing false labor, but I'd rather wait to see if it gets worse. My next post will probably be after I have the baby, so wish me luck!

My cousin Chris and the Idaho Folk Dance Festival

2009-08-14T17:58:00.007-06:00

Last week my cousin Chris came to Rexburg. It was so great to see him, even for the 3 hours we spent together. It was fun. Most of the time we watched clips online of America's Got Talent and laughed so hard! We ate really good brownies made by Steve. He's the Master Baker in the house.

Being goofy

That same weekend we went and saw the opening ceremonies of the Idaho Folk Dance Festival in Rexburg. It was pretty good. I was expecting fireworks this year, but it turns out that last year, the shells of the fireworks or whatever the remains are called ended up burning and hurting a couple of spectators, so they banned that company of fireworks. So instead, this year they had a lame "lazer" show that was all one color.

The countries they had dancing this year was

Chinese Taipei, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Mexico, Romania, and a Rexburg "USA" team. Which was pretty much the BYU-Idaho swing team.

Live Chinese music

Some teams were really good, like Mexico, and others were just plain boring. but overall it was a good event- and best of all- it was FREE!

Hanging out with friends and family

2009-07-25T11:27:00.005-06:00

Last week we went to Rigby to visit the Scholes. Brit and I were room mates in the summer of 2007, which was like the best semester ever! All our room mates were amazing! Here are a few pictures that our room mates took together back in July of 2007. Lots of fun times and good memories.

from left to right ( Katie, Meaghan, me, Emilee, Brittaney, and Heather)

watch out!

I looked a lot thinner back in the day, hopefully I can restore my body to my old self soon.

Aren't we cute?

Anyways,
Brittaney married Kaleb and now has Carter who is 7 months old. He is super cute and very active;) They now own a really big and cute house!

Baby Carter, Kaleb, and Brittaney

We ate some burgers and played Ticket to ride- Steve and I had lots of fun.

----------------------------------------------------

Yesterday Steve's older brother Brian (the master Organist) and his wife Alicia came to visit us in Rexburg. Although there wasn't really much we could do in Rexburg, we showed them the temple and a very brief tour of the outskirts of campus. We ate some Ice cream and then headed to Idaho falls to Visit Bryan and Kelly Visser (Steve's sister and Brother in law)- and baby Weston of course.

Brian and Alicia

Steve and Brian hanging out at our apartment

Baby Weston

We had a fabulous dinner, then played bocce ball- Boys against Girls. The girls lost :(
But it was way fun!We sure were glad that Brian and Alicia came to visit us though. They will be moving from Utah to Kansas where Brian will be getting his PhD in Organ Performance. We won't be able to visit them often, but hope that everything goes well for them! Best of luck! We love you guys!

I think I can... I think I can... I think I can...

2009-07-18T23:24:00.009-06:00

Only 6 more weeks to go!

34 weeks have gone by pretty fast!
My feet have swelled up, my wedding band that I bought a size bigger is starting to be snug, and even some of my maternity clothes are tight. I have gained a bit over 30 pounds-but it feels like 50! I can't believe I'm having a baby soon.

Just a few weeks ago I started feeling so fatigued. I have been taking 2-3 hour naps during the day, I don't feel like cooking, I can't bend over without losing some balance, I can be moody sometimes, I drop lots of things on the floor without meaning to, and it takes effort to remember stuff. It's been so crazy these few months that I kinda forgot what it's like not to be pregnant. I'm getting used to all the symptoms.

Despite all these things, I am happy and I can't wait to see the final product! I can't wait! I can do this!

I think I can...I think I can... I think I can...

A piece of pie and a cutie pie.

2009-07-14T09:41:00.005-06:00

So Steve and I decided to make pies for the fourth of July, they were sooooo good! We even decided to make them patriotic pies. The filling was strawberries, and then we decorated it with cool whip, blueberries and more strawberries- like the flag (well, we ended up with one more stripe, but that's not the point). It was so good!

This year we didn't go to the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration, just cuz. Maybe because you have to get there like 6 hours early to save a spot and because it's so darn hot. We hung out with the Vissers (Bro and Sis in law) and we saw the Boston Pops show. It was just as good. Then we left right as the Melaleuca fireworks began (we parked our car right by the freeway) and watched them from the car. It was a bit far and we couldn't feel the booms that you normally feel when you see them right above you, but they were okay. We actually saw the big finale. Then we just got onto the freeway and got home- no traffic- no slowing down. It was great!

Bryan and Steve enjoying a McFlurry

Baby Weston-He's such a cutie pie!

We figure we will get to see more fireworks shows soon anyways!

The nursery, almost done...

2009-07-01T19:10:00.004-06:00

The nursery! I'm almost done with it. It's exciting how far my ideas have gone, but it's been great. I still need to actually find a crib skirt that matches, or just make my own (I don't have a sewing machine though), I also need to make curtains.

So I didn't want the walls to be plain and since I can't paint them, I bought fabric, cut it, bought laundry starch and pasted it on the walls. If we move, I can just peel it off, wash it and re paste it. It works out great!

this closet will get full over time (hopefully)

New pics that I missed-our anniversary and more

2009-06-21T21:21:00.010-06:00

Me and my belly growth. I hate the gaining weight part- but the rest is okay.

So, I haven't been putting up pictures lately. I lost my camera's battery charger, and Steve's old camera stinks. So here are some pictures that Steve took on his Blackberry.

May 24th was our one year anniversary-which we decided to celebrate by going to the Temple. It was nice to see several brides and grooms walk out so happy. It brought back so many memories!

Me and my maternity dress I bought for the special occasion. Here I am- 26 weeks along.

It was a very windy day! I had to put this one up.

Eating at Applebees

Having Cold Stone ice cream afterwards. It was soooo delicious!

It was a fun anniversary. I never would have figured that I would be almost 7 months pregnant by the time.

Another special occasion was 2 weeks ago Grandma and Grandpa Lewis came to town to pay us a visit. We went out to eat at Red Robin (Yum!!!) along with Bryan, Kelly, and Weston. It was so great having them around. They are so sweet! They are like my own Grandparents.

G&G Lewis with Bryan, Kelly, and Weston

Weston asleep amongst all the red robin noise

I wish we could have had more time to spend with them, but they had to get back to Downey where they were staying. Perhaps we will pay them a visit sometime. We love you Grandma and Grandpa!

Taking my RN board exam!!!

2009-06-18T18:08:00.007-06:00

Okay, so I didn't really write about when I would be taking my boards just because I have been scared that I would fail. This past Monday I had to drive to Ogden, Utah just to take my test. I had been doing a Kaplan course that our school provided us at no extra cost. Some of the scores on Kaplan that I got were very disappointing. On some of the practice exams, they wanted you to achieve a score of 60%. At first I thought it would be so easy, but then I took them and they were so hard. All the questions were very detailed and you had to know lots of information. Well, my maximum score on the tests was like 58%. It stunk. Anyways, I disregarded the score and focused on the test strategies.

Last week I started to get way more anxious. I was studying a lot more, and at the same time I had to work more hours at the clinic. I said LOTS of prayers. My whole entire family prayed for me. I was getting freaked out. I even had a blessing from Steve. I felt a lot better after that.

So Monday I got to Utah and went into the testing center. They took my fingerprint, took my picture and let me in. I was being video taped and recorded for sound. It was high security-I couldn't believe it. My first question was hard. Then the rest got even harder as the test went on. I was hoping and praying that I would get the minimum amount of questions which is 75. Depending on how you do, if the computer cannot decide if you are above or below the passing line, it will give you more questions. Every now and then someone at random gets chosen to do all 265 questions. I didn't want to be that person.

On the 75th question, the computer logged me off and told me I was done. (sigh)
I either passed with flying colors or failed miserably. I had no clue.
On Wednesday my results were released. I had to pay 8 dollars to see the results right away. It was that or wait 2-4 weeks to get the results by mail. By that time, I would have bit my head off. I didn't get any sleep the day of the test or the day after.

After paying the 8 bucks and going to the website. My results were revealed...

YAY!!!! I was so excited to see those words. This means I can officially be a Registered Nurse. It was a great feeling. Of course, I called Steve right away with the news.

My lunch hour was spent celebrating at one of our favorite restaurants. Craigos.
I could not have done it without the help of Heavenly Father. Thanks to everyone that had me in their prayers! :D

NO more studying for the NCLEX. It is over. Now I can move on to the next thing on my list...

Decorating the nursery perhaps?

We are moving...

2009-05-28T17:56:00.004-06:00

Yep, this is the 3rd time we have had to move since we got married. It stinks, but I'm excited. Not only will rent be cheaper, but our apartment has LOTS of storage, AND it's on the first floor which means no more huffing and puffing to get up to my apartment!!!

This last weekend Steve and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary. I can't believe it has been a year. That was fast. The "being married" thing was just starting to sink in- now, the "we are expecting" feeling is sinking in. I am 26 weeks along now. I took some pictures but I have not put them up yet since they are on Steve's new toy-his Blackberry Bold. We got an awesome deal from AT&T.

I'll put up pics as soon as I have time. Lots of packing to do.

Our baby: It's a....

2009-04-17T15:03:00.014-06:00

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Monday and it went great! I'm right along with the developing pattern for our baby. The ultrasound tech said everything concerning the baby was within normal limits, all organs are where they are supposed to be and our baby is about 7-8 inches long!

Anyways, here is a very obvious picture that shows the gender of our little one. I'll let you figure it out:

Ha! Yes, HE is definitely not shy!!! It's a boy!!

And here he is with his hand on his forehead. How cute :)

You can see his profile a little better on this one.

Steve, my mom, and Steve's mom were able to be in the ultrasound room with me. My mom came for graduation and Steve's parents came for Steve's sister's baby blessing. It worked out perfect. We were all shocked to hear that it was a boy, happily shocked of course. For some reason all of us thought it would be a girl. Maybe next time.

So we have several names picked out already that we like for both first and middle names. Here they are:

First Names:
Alexander
Andrew
Benjamin
Eric
Christian
Gabriel
Jonathan
Nathan
Samuel
Spencer

Potential Middle Names:
Alexander
Levi
Maxwell
Bennett
Preston
Sterling

Long ago, before we even got pregnant, we decided we wanted to name our son Benjamin.
But now, I'm wondering what sounds best. It's hard to come up with just one first name and one middle name. Here are some of the most recent most wanted names:

Benjamin Alexander Mathias
Benjamin Bennett
Benjamin Maxwell
Alexander Bennett
Samuel Sterling
Nathan Alexander
Spencer

I can't make up my mind... Some of those names have already been taken by some of my family members, so it's kind of hard to chose. But anyways, moving on...

Easter was fun! We went to Steve's Sister's (Kelly) ward for a baby blessing. Little Weston is really cute, and it was a treat to see some family from back home. Although I had a good time, it was a little frightening because I was sick that day. Horrible nausea, upset stomach, gas, etc... At first I thought it was food poisoning, but then I didn't throw up. It might have been like a stomach flu of some kind. I was so scared for our baby. Regardless, I drank a lot of water, ate lots of yogurt, and rested- the next day, I was fine again. Weird.

Steve, my mom and I dyed some eggs before Easter. It had been a long time since I had done that. There were not enough egg dippers, so I suggested Steve slip an egg inside a whisk. It worked out great! No mess.

My mom and her Charlie Brown egg

Our wonderful colorful creations! Who will eat them now?

Happy Easter! Anyone want some egg salad?

I finally Gradumatated!

2009-04-11T19:17:00.011-06:00

The day finally came!! I am officially a graduate nurse. It makes me happy that I have finally finished that arduous nursing school! Oy!

My mom was able to come to my graduation and is still with us until Monday. It's so nice having her here, she makes the day brighter. It was a great week. On Thursday I had the nurses pinning ceremony. What made this special was the fact that Elder Neil L. Anderson was present at the ceremony and was able to shake everyone's hand and congratulate us. Our school's president, President Kim B. Clark was also there with us. On Friday, we had commencement, with the whole cap and gown thing! I look silly! There were more than 1400 people graduating this semester. After commencement was convocation, where they formally announced everyone's name (only those from the college of Life and Ag science-who were about 150). Then we took pictures, received more great talks, and finally went out to eat to celebrate!

Here I am shaking Elder Andersen's hand. Yay for the Quorum of the 12!

Here we are before the ceremony started, all so happy to be done! We all had to dress in white. I had the toughest time finding a white dress or white skirt around town. I finally found a skirt, but was scared to buy it because of my growing belly. I bought it last month, but luckily it still fit me, I just couldn't zip it all the way up.

My lovely mom and I after the pinning Ceremony.

Here is a classmate of mine. Her name is Anne. She was like my best friend! We would laugh and tease those that fell asleep during class sometimes.

Sister Hunter, my Metabolics teacher-one among the many faculty in the nursing program

Diedre (pronounced "dee dra"), me, Liz, and Ashley. Liz is 6 months pregnant with her 2nd boy.
Can you tell that I'm 5 months along?

During Convocation. Yeah I graduated Summa Cumme Laude. Top 1% of my graduating class. Ha! just kidding, the cords I'm wearing are nursing department cords.

Proud!

Sister Garbett (Cardio teacher) , Sister Funk(Neuro), and Sister Hunter(Metabolics). Not Pictured are Sister Barnhill (Obstetrics), Sister Dicus (Pediatrics), Sister Dalling (Cancer/GI) Sister Parson (Fundamentals), Bro Atwood (Psych nursing), and Bro Van Wagoner (ethics and legal nursing)

I did it! Yay!! Now I have another graduation coming up in August or September. I get to be a Mommy!!!

Happy April Fools

2009-04-01T18:15:00.004-06:00

Today is a nice day outside, it's nice to see the sun! Idaho is so unpredictable though, it can be warm one day, and the next day it will snow like 3 inches! So I woke up today and remembered it was April Fools day. I told Steve that the weather was going to be 20 below, and then that I was tired of school and wanted to drop out. Haha. He didn't realize it was April Fools, but he didn't seem to be very interested in what I was saying. He didn't believe me. So I gave up on trying to trick him.
Anyways, last week was an awesome week!! So I got back from clinical and checked my email. To my surprise, it was from the staff at Upper Valley Pediatrics. This is what it said:

"Please Vivian, call Shawn at Upper Valley Pediatrics. We Nurses really want you to come to work! We need you NOW or soon after graduation! "

I was taken by surprise!!! I had done 2 clinical rotations at Upper Valley Pediatrics (UVP) this past fall and the nurses there were SUPER cool, and they really liked me because I just went in and took charge, and worked well with the patients. So I called the HR guy and left a message.
The next day, he called back and practically offered me the job on a plate! The funny thing is that he was telling me that there are like 2 nurses that are pregnant-one is due in June and the other in July and he said that one might be quitting. So I had to tell him I was pregnant, because
I didn't want to surprise him later and telling him I would need maternity leave. He chuckled in the irony and asked when my due date was. in the end he said that they still needed me anyways! Now there will be nurses due in June, July, and August!

So I agreed to get the job. I start April 20th, it's so soon, but I can do it. The only thing is that I'm so scared that I will fail my Board exam. I'm terrified! I have prayed every day to help me learn, relearn, and review the material that I need to know to pass the exam.

So now, I applied for a temporary nursing license while I prepare to take my boards. I don't make as much as some nurses make working on the hospital floors, but thinking about it- I'm about to have a baby! I can't afford to do 12 hour shifts 3 times a week without seeing my baby. I will work 2 full weekdays (8hours each) and saturday morning. Working at a clinic will be wayyyy less stressful than a hospital, plus I get to work with little kids and I will use my spanish speaking skills there.

I will have to drop my parenting class this summer because it won't fit with my work schedule, so I might pick up an online class. We'll see. I'm still going to work for Melaleuca too, and I won't plan on quitting there unless it's necessary. There are so many changes!!!

Some girls in my nursing class decided to throw me a baby shower. It was awesome! It was on March 26. We had tons of fun talking about the nursing program, babies, and our future jobs. I got plenty of diapers and wipes, cute onsies, and blankies. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Tammi and Elise

Noreen and Katie

Tatianne, Liz, Ashley, Emily

Me and Chelsea

Tammi with a chocolate smeared diaper. Kit Kats? Raisinetts? Who knows

They dressed me up whenever I would guess wrong on the gifts

There is another picture, will balloons stuffed in a robe, but it might be offensive to some ;)
That Saturday there was also a Nursing Graduation Party. It was fun too! Lots of food and games. Parties are great! :)