Flash Back Friday! #5

A year ago from this past Wednesday, Ayla was born. I chose to do a Flash Back Friday on this event because I didn't have a blog back then. I wrote about it in my journal but I haven't really shared pictures with everyone. So her goes.

Ayla was born February 25th 2008 at 8:19pm. She weighed 6 lbs 11.8 oz. and was 19 inches long.

My labor started the day before at 7 am. At that time the labor was pretty mild. I was having contractions but wasn't sure that it was labor. It just felt like cramping but not anything big. Plus, Ayla was not due for another week so I didn't think I was in labor. Well, I went to church and lead the music in Sacrament but by the closing song, I couldn't stand up anymore. So I had my friend Brenda lead the last song.

Everyone was asking me if I was okay. I told them I was and they were all like, "Maybe you are in labor." I was like, "Nah, not yet." I went to the whole 3 hours of church and then went home. The contractions didn't seem to stop and so I called the hospital to ask what they thought and if I was in labor and if I should come in to make sure the baby was okay. They told me to. So Kurt and I headed down to the hospital.

While we were there, I wasn't dilated enough so they sent Kurt and I to walk around the hospital. The pain got more intense. When we got back to my room, they checked me again and told me that they thought that I was in the early stages of labor. They gave me some morphine and sent me home. They told me that if the contractions were still there after the morphine wore off, that I was in labor and not to come back until the contractions were a lot stronger and more consistent. So we went home.

The next day, the contractions were still there but still about the same as the night before. So I waited. My sister and mom came over to keep an eye on me. We decided to go to lunch and get me on my feet.

My mother was terrified while watching me. She kept saying, "lets take her" but I didn't want to be sent home again.

While we were at lunch at Marie Calenders, the contractions were getting pretty intense. They were bringing tears to my eyes. My mom sat a cross the table with a look of concern on her face. She looked like she could have cried herself. She kept saying, "lets go." I was like, "Not until they are consistent." Then the contractions were coming about an average of 2 to 5 minutes apart. If the table was not glued to the wall I would have smashed my poor mother with the table because I was pushing on it so hard. So we decided to go. My mom started to wave down our waitress as she was panicking. I am sure the people in the restaurant who were staring at me were thinking, "What in the world is she doing here." I know I would have been thinking that.

I look back now and laugh at how I was in labor at Marie Calenders.

Anyway, we went to the hospital and met Kurt there at 5 pm. I was far enough along to get the epidural. I hate needles but was so ready for it. It didn't bother me one bit. After getting it, Ayla was born 3 hours later. The epidural made the delivery a wonderful experience. I am grateful for modern technology.

So needless to say, I was in labor for about 37 hours.

Down below are pictures from the blessed event.

Here I am when we first were there and before I had the epidural.

I was feeling pretty tried by then and in the picture I look like I am in pain. Maybe that is because I was.

Here is the monitor of Ayla's heart.

I love this picture because this is a picture of Kurt comforting me right after they told me it was time to push. I was so scared. Thanks honey you are so sweet.

And here she is just minutes after being born.

So cute!

Here is Kurt holding her for the first time.

Aunt Marion holding her.

When they laid her on top of me and I saw her for the first time, I thought she looked exactly like her Aunt Marion. She even had red hair like her Aunt Marion.

Notice in the picture that Kurt is looking at her in the back ground. I love it.

The next 4 pictures were taken the second day we were at the hospital. It was Kurt's birthday that day.

ZZZZZ!!

Here is one with her eyes opened.

Kurt is holding her in this picture.

I love this one.

That is Kurt's arm holding her. I wish we had a better background but for safety reasons Kurt held her inches from the bed and we just draped the sheet to hide the hospital bed.

And here is Marion cuddling with her, kissing her on the head. Marion loves Ayla and Ayla loves her Aunt Marion. Marion calls her her little La, La.

I didn't think this post was going to be this long but, when I started to type it, I went into detail. I am glad I did because now I have it documented on the blog.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Happy Birthday Kurt!

Yes, you heard that right. Today is Kurt's birthday. It falls on the day after Ayla's birthday. I loved that last year Ayla was born the day before because Kurt got to be a Dad for his first full day on his birthday. What a great birthday present!

Kurt is such a wonderful guy and I am glad that I married him. I want to share the top 10 reasons I love him.

This was taken at Disneyland on our honeymoon. 

It is one of my favorite pictures of him because I think he looks so hot.  I used to have this picture on my desk at work, when I still worked.

Anyway, here are the top 10 reasons:

#10- I love that he is a movie buff because I am. We like to just relax at home and watch a movie. It's wonderful. We just got an account with Netflix. So now we are starting to watch a lot more movies. 

#9-I love that he loves to spend time with me. He is so fun, we laugh all the time together and we can talk all night long if we wanted to.

#8- I love how creative he is. He makes me cards for every occasion and they means so much to me. They are also very funny. 

He is into animation and he is making one right now for his work. So far it is hilarious from what I have seen and I can't wait to see the final product. Who knows, maybe I will post it on my blog.

#7- I love his sense of humor. It is a lot like mine. We find the same things funny. We can get laughing to the point were we can't stop. It is so fun. I also love that he dances and sings all the time to make me laugh and he is really good at it.

#6- I love how patient he is and how mellow he is. He is such an example to me. The other night our computer crashed and he thought he had lost 7 hours of work on his animation. He just sat there calm as can be. He was stressed, of course, but he handled it so well. If that would have been me, I would have been in tears. I have a lot to work on to get to where he is.

#5- I love how unselfish he is. He is always thinking of others before himself. He is always putting Ayla and I before him.

#4-I love that he holds the priesthood but, not only does he hold it, he honors it. 

#3- I love that he works so hard and goes to school to make it possible for me to stay home with Ayla and give her the care she needs. That is the best blessing he can give his daughter. He is such a great dad. Not to mention, it is a blessing to me to be able to spend time with Ayla.

#2- I love that he truly honors me as a wife, a mother and a woman. He is so respectful. And he still opens doors for me. People always told me that would go away after time but it didn't. He still treats me just as good as when we were dating.

The #1 reason I love him is that he loves me and, just like I said in Ayla's birthday post, I just plain love him. We grow closer every day in our relationship. He made me a mother and that is such a blessing that has brought us closer together. 

Happy Birthday Kurt!!

I love you! I hope you have a great birthday!! XOXO!

Happy Birthday Ayla!!!

Yes, today is Ayla's 1st birthday. I am happy but sad at the same time. My little Sweet Pea is growing up. I can't believe she is 1.

She weighs 18 lbs and is 28 3/4 inches long. She gained a pound and she grew 1/4 of an inch. So she is growing. She is just little. She still fits in 6 to 9 month clothing. So we are getting our use out of them.

She stayed up last night until midnight and then I made her go to bed. She cried a little but went to bed. I think she knew it was her birthday or something and was trying to stay up for it.

The happy birthday girl!
This was taken today when she first woke up.

And of course below are the 5 top reasons I love her.

#5- I love that when ever I clean her toys up in the living room, she is literally right behind me pulling her toys back out. It's almost like she is saying,"Mom, what are you doing? I don't want them there. It took me a long time to get them where I want them."

#4-I love to watch her learn new things and accomplish milestones from rolling over to walking. It has been so amazing watching her grow. She is learning to talk and I love how she answers me every time I ask her a question. Of course it is in her own baby language but she still answers me. It is so cute.

#3- I love how she makes me laugh. She is so cute and funny. She will walk around the apartment talking to herself and then she will start to laugh. It is so adorable. She always makes me laugh when she dances. She loves to dance whenever she hears music. I also get a kick out of her when shes see another kid or a dog. She gets so excited and she squeals with excitement and shakes because she can't contain herself. She is so adorable.

#2- I love that she is a little cuddle bug. She will be walking around and then all the sudden she will turn and want to hug me and sit on my lap and cuddle. She did this before she could walk. She also will come and lay next to me on the floor and cuddle with me. She also can give kisses. They are a little slobbery but I love them just the same. I guess I just love her hugs and kisses!

The number one reason I love her is that I just plain love her and she loves me and always wants me. I love being her mother and I love that I can comfort her. I love ever minute I have with her. I love that I get to wake up with her no matter what time it is because I always love to see her. She makes the tittle of Mother feel so wonderful. She is such a blast.

This past year has been so amazing watching Ayla grow and growing as a family. I look forward to all the years in raising Ayla. She makes Kurt and I so happy.

I have found that she makes me the most happy when she is having fun and is enjoying herself. It is pure joy to watch her be happy. There is nothing like it.

Happy Birthday Ayla!

I hope you have a wonderful day and mommy is going to spend every minute playing with you today!

Watch Ayla Grow! #3

Well, it has been another 4 months since my last Watch Ayla Grow post. So it is time for another one. I couldn't decided on what picture to post for each month, so there may be two or three for each month.

Ayla at 9 months.
During Ayla's 9th month, she mastered crawling and pulling herself up and walking around furniture.

9 months still.
She is wearing my favorite onesies. Isn't it so cute on her?

Same day as the picture above this one. I love this one because of Ayla's cute little legs and I love that Kurt is playing with her.

Ayla at 10 months.
She turned 10 months on Christmas day. I think this picture was taken that day or the day after.

During her 10th month, Ayla's four front teeth came in all the way and she started to stand on her own. She stood on her own a few times but then stopped for a while. She had put walking on the back burner for a while. I thought she was going to be walking at 10 months, like her dad, but I was wrong.

Still 10 months.
Notice the cute little sleeper? My friend, Ann gave it to her along with another sleeper and a jacket, that her daughter Mary grew out of. We had gone to visit her a little bit before Christmas. I love this sleeper. It is like the pig sleeper in the picture above this one. They both fit snug around her cute little legs. They are like skinny jeans on her. They are so cute. I also love that this sleeper size is 12 month, so it will fit her for a while. Thanks Ann!

Ayla at 11 months, in the cute sleeper that still fits her.
She is just relaxing in her daddy's computer chair. Too cute!

11 months again.
I love her eyes in this picture. Also notice the cute jacket? It is the one Ann gave her.
The rest of these pictures are 11 months.

Ayla started to officially walk on February 6. She had walked 5 feet and then the next day she was walking all over the living room. A week later, she didn't need to have her hands up in the air for balance anymore. She was walking all over. Then on that following Monday, she learned how to get back up on her own after falling. She didn't have to pull herself up with the help of furniture anymore.

Now she is a walking machine. She doesn't crawl anymore.

Notice the ball she is holding? This is an early birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma Wiechert. It cost a whole dollar. They got her something else but she doesn't get that present until her party this Saturday. Anyway, she loves this ball and plays with it all the time. It is the simple things that make us happy, even a dollar ball.

This was taken today.
I caught her in the action of walking. Also, notice the toy Nativity in the background? I don't have the heart to put it away. Ayla loves it and still plays with it every day. Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma Perry for the Nativity.

There you have it! Ayla will be a year in two days! I can't believe it!

Our Valentine's Day!!

I know that Valentine's Day was almost a week ago but it is Flash Back Friday right?

Well I wanted to share how our Valentine's went. Kurt had a four day weekend, so he was off Friday through Monday! Yeah, it was so nice to have him home all weekend.

Anyway, Kurt's birthday is this month and during the week of Valentine's, I had ordered a present online and was waiting for it to come in the mail. Well, during the day on Friday, the doorbell rang and I sprang out of bed from a nap and told Kurt, "Don't you dare open that door!"

He stood back and let me open the door and when I opened it:

I found this!
I felt like such a jerk. It was a package for me. I had felt bad that I didn't let Kurt get the door and set it up for me. He then told me it didn't matter because he probably would have not been home when it came anyway, so he would not have been able to set it up. I didn't feel so bad after that.

Here is Ayla trying to get into the package.

Here is what was inside!
A bear, some chocolates and roses, of course. Kurt opened the package and set it up for me anyway.

Here is a close up. Aren't the roses beautiful?

On Valentine's, the roses started to bloom and I took a close up of my favorite one.

Here they are, all in bloom.

And a close up of them in bloom. I loved my Valentine's gift. Two of my favorite things, roses and chocolates and the bear was a bonus.

Here is a picture of the gifts Ayla and I gave Kurt.

I also made him a card that had a shirt on it that said, "I am the best" and on the card it said "If the shirt fits wear it!" and on the inside it said " I think the shirt fits because you are the best husband / daddy!"

Kurt and I always fight over who is the best!! And Ayla and I got him some new shirts to wear. That is why I drew a shirt on the card. I know I am cheesy but oh well, I liked it!!

Kurt reading his card and Ayla not looking too happy!

Ayla helped her dad open his presents.

Here is Kurt with his presents.

Notice how tired he looks? It's not because he didn't like his gifts. Well, we had stayed up late on Friday and it was after midnight when I decided to give him his gifts. So it was Valentine's already. After opening his gifts, we all went to bed.

On Valentine's day, I was supposed to go to breakfast with my dad and visit my sister-in-law, Krista and her kids but the weather was horrible and so I didn't get to do those things.

I did get to take the young women to the Salt Lake Temple and do baptisms though. That was so nice. I always love to go to the temple. There were so many weddings that day but, go figure, it was Valentine's day and people wanted to get married that day. The temple looked so beautiful with the fresh snow on it. I wished I had my camera but I didn't.

After the temple, I had to get home to get Kurt and Ayla because we went to our ward's Valentine's dinner party. It was fun!

They had line dancing there and I was having fun dancing but I had to stop because I have not been feeling so good lately and I have been dizzy. So being dizzy and not having energy was not a good mix so I stopped.

Here is a picture of Allie and Ayla in their Valentine's outfits. Too cute!

Mike is holding Allie, he is her dad and Hal is holding Ayla. Ayla kept walking up to Hal and so he picked her up and I had been wanting a picture of Allie and Ayla together, so I took my chance.

Kurt kept walking around with Ayla. I love the look on her face in this picture. I think she looks like my sister, when she was little.

Kurt also was dancing with Ayla.
Kurt never dances in public. So I had to take a picture. Too cute!!

Kurt noticed I was taking a picture and so he had to shoot me the "I got you babe."

Kurt and I were asked to be in the Newley Wed Game for the entertainment at the dinner. It was a lot of fun and we won!! Yay! We won dinner at Cafe Rio! Kurt did really well. He got 8 out of 10 questions right and he would have gotten 9 but I had changed my answer on one of them. I didn't do as well as him. I only got 5 out of 10 right. So we won because Kurt is the best!!

We had a wonderful Valentine's and the best part was being able to spend it with the people we love!! After all, isn't that what Valentine's is about?

My 100th Post!!!

I can't believe this is my 100th post!

I have to say I am so grateful for blogging. It has been so fun to do. I have been wanting a way to write a journal and I always found it so boring to go and write things down. It was hard for me but, with blogging, it is so much fun because you get to share your journal with others.

It has helped me create new friends and become better friends with friends I knew before. It has helped me keep in touch with friends from out of state.

It brightens my day to be able to read other blogs and post comments and receive comments. It is such a great part of my social life right now because I stay home with my sweet little girl. Not that I don't love every moment of it but it helps me talk to other adults every day.

In honor of my 100th post I wanted to give the Kreativ Blogger Award away.

I received this award from my friend Rebecca at A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I would like to thank her for it!

Now I would like to pass this award to (in no particular order):

1. Cherie - Bakow Babble - I have just started to read her blog but she has tips on blogging and how to do things like linking and enlarging your pictures. She has helped me out a lot in just the past week. She has a lot of other things too, to enjoy.

2. Ann - An Old Fashioned Girl - Her blog is full of traditions and family history. She is talented in decorating and has wonderful decorating ideas. She is great at organizing and shows how to do it. She also has some amazing gratitude post that help me realize the things that I am grateful for. She also keeps it real with how she feels about things.

3. Nancy - Nancy's Nonsense of Nothingness - She has a sense of humor and every one pulls faces in all the photos. It is pretty hilarious. Her blog is full of variety.

4. Leah - Wonderful World of Wampler - She is really good at hosting parties and I love to see the pictures she shares of beautiful Tennessee. She also shares what you can do in Tennessee. Not to mention she is one of my best friends, who moved away and now I love to go visit. I love to see photos of her home and family because I love them all so much and they remind me of being there.

5. Tierra - Tierra Lynne - She has wonderful writing skills and some of her posts are so creative on how she tells a stories. She is very passionate about what she writes. She writes to her future hubby every so often. I love it.

6. Elizabeth - Elizabeth & Company - She always blogs about events with all her children. I learn so much about parenting from her.

7. Monica - {Mo} ments - She is very talented in Stamp em up and makes such beautiful cards. She shares her feelings on things and her talents in painting and creating things.

8. Lauren - Busy Bee Lauren - She has a variety of things on her blog and she also has quite the sense of humor. She is Nancy's daughter and between the two of their blogs, you can be laughing for days.

9. Clair - Chad & Clair - They keep you update on what they are involved in. They both are really talented in different ways. Clair is really talented at pottery. Plus I love to see pictures of their niece Brielle. She is such a doll.

10. Deb - Dennis and all the girls - I like to read hers because she keeps it real. She always has interesting things to say and share and it is quite the variety too.

This is what you need to do. Thank the person who gave you this award to you, post the award on your blog or on a post, then pass it onto 10 blogs which show great attitude / gratitude, link to the people you chose on your post, and comment on their blogs to tell them about the award!

Note: If the link is not showing, it is because I have not yet got that person's permission to link to their blog. Just some blog etiquette I learned recently form other bloggers. Hopefully I will have their response in the next few days to link it and if you want to come back to this post, feel free to see their blogs. I put the ones that haven't respond yet on the bottom of the list.

Also I don't think there are rules to this. So when you go to give this award away, if you want to give it to some of the people on my list feel free. I just know that a lot of us read the same blogs and I am sure you feel the same way I do.

I had a hard time only giving this award to 10 blogs. I love reading everyone's blogs on my side bar. I think each one is creative in it's own way.

Also notice that I put "Follow my blog" on my sidebar.

I thought of doing this and I had a friend request it. So this one is for you Tierra. So if you want to follow my blog feel free.

Plus, one last thing - the verdict is in.

I am going to have to reload all the pictures on my previous post to make them large. I can't just enlarge them through the html. It would not look as good. People have told me just to forget about it and do it from now on but I have decided to print out my blog myself due to the fact it will be cheaper and plus, I can have all my pictures on it without having a constriction of 350 photos only. I would not really care about them being large but I have been keeping this journal / blog for a book of remembrance for Ayla and I want the best for Ayla. And in my opinion, having the largest photos I can print is the best. I will do this on the side little by little and I think, as I go I will label them as well.

Flash Back Friday! #4

This Flash Back Friday, is in honor of Valentine's Day. Seeing how it is Valentine's Day tomorrow. 

This is a picture of me and my honey when I had just gotten back from a trip to go see my friend, Leah in Tennessee. We were engaged at this point. This was 3 months after Valentine's Day. But I wanted to show this picture because of the flowers. Kurt would always give me flowers when I would return from a trip and, like I said, we were engaged when this picture was taken. And Valentine's Day that year was a turning point for Kurt and I. 

I had returned from a trip to see my sister in Washington and had returned on Valentine's Day. I was so nervous to see him again. We had only been dating for about 4 months and I was gone for a week, so that was why I was nervous. Well, when I had seen him that night everything had changed. I really had missed him and he had felt the same. He brought me the most beautiful long stem roses. I wish I had a picture of him and me with the roses but I don't. That is why I wanted to post the picture above to show how he would bring me flowers. Kurt was the first guy to buy me flowers without me having to hint to him. I don't care who you are, if you are a girl, there is something about receiving flowers. It makes you feel so special. 

If fact after the first time Kurt and I kissed he had roses delivered to me and they had Hershey kisses on stems in between the roses, to symbolize that we had kissed. He is such a great guy and usually guys like him would make me turn away but I knew I needed someone who was sweet like him. I was so used to having guys that didn't treat me so well. I am glad I stuck with him because he is a blessing in my life and he still gets me flowers.

Here I am with the long stem roses he got me. The picture doesn't justify them of course.

And here is my dad holding them. Just one of the many times my dad has been a good sport and let me take a picture of him holding my roses, even though he felt stupid. I love you dad!!

I tried to get a picture of the flowers with my mom but she wouldn't let me.

My friend Melissa let me, though.

I even took a picture of them with my dog, Chico. Isn't he such a cute dog? He lives with my parents because I can't have dogs were I live and, plus, I couldn't take him away from my dad. My dad loves him. I have never seen my dad love a dog like he loves Chico. Plus, now with Ayla, I don't trust Chico around her. Chihuahuas are not kid-friendly, dogs.

Anyways, I hope every one has a wonderful Valentine's Day and gets to spend it with people they love. And that means not just their significant other. Valentine's Day is about love and that means anyone that you love. Share the love tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Four!!

I was tagged by this tag a long time ago by my friend Rebecca and I was recently tagged by it from my friend Christy. I planned on doing this tag when Rebecca tagged me. I just haven't gotten around to it until now because I have been doing a lot of other posts. There are a few tags that I am behind on. 

Anyway, this tag is, go to your picture folder, go into your fourth folder and post your fourth picture and tell about it.

It is a picture of Baby Kurt. He is about a month in this picture. Isn't he such a cutie? 

I was pleased that the picture wasn't something terrible looking. 

Plus, notice how big the picture is? Yeah, I am pretty frustrated because I recently just realized I can post pictures on a large scale. I found this out from my friend Ann's recent post about blog etiquette. She had a link on it and I found out from that person's blog that you can make your photos large. I noticed that people had large photos on their blogs and I wanted large photos on my blog this whole time. Well anyway, I had this woman come to my blog to see if my pictures were too small and she commented that they were fine and that I had them on a medium scale. I was like, "medium scale?" Then  I realized that when you post your pictures there are options that you can make your pictures small, medium or large. I was so angry with myself because it has been there the whole time in plane site and I am just a lazy reader sometimes. So now I am wanting to go through my whole blog a enlarge all the pictures so that when I print it out, they will be large pictures. The only problem is, I know I can enlarge them through the Html but I am not so sure that the pictures will be the same quality. I might have to upload all of them again. I hope that is not the case. Anyway, wish me luck!

Lane's Birthday Party!

This past Friday, my nephew, Lane turned 12. We celebrated it that night at my sister, Marion's house. I, of course, made him a cake. I did a dinosaur cake and I loved how it turned out. It is on my favorites list of cakes I have made.

Here it is.

Top view.

I made the volcano out of an ice cream cone and I tried to make it look like the dinosaurs were fighting and make it look like one was drinking from the river. It turned out just the way I had imagined it. I was pleased.

Here is Lane with his gifts he got earlier that day.

This is my cousin, Shawn. I had him come to the party at the last minute. He lives below my brother and, when I went pick up Lane, I went downstairs to his apartment and asked him to come. He usually comes whenever I ask him to. We have been close cousins ever since we were little. Even when he moved to Alabama and came back, it was as if time never passed. I love my cousin Shawn and his brother Levi. I am close to him too. I just love his whole family. His mother, Ruth is my dad's sister.

My sister-in-law Carolyn made shepherd's pie for us for dinner. 

Uncle Ernie and Marion's boyfriend, Monty just chilling.

My dad just a chillin too. 

My sister just bought him this Utes shirt for his birthday. He looked great in it. I think my dad should wear red more often.

I had to put a picture of my Sweet Pea in the post. 

Ayla and me at the party.

After dinner, we all sang to Lane.

Him blowing his candles out. 

This post reminds me of something. Oh yeah. It is a lot like Morganne's birthday post, that I just recently posted.

Lane was so funny. He decided to put some of his cake on his nose. He was actually wanting to have a food fight. I told him to go ahead and start with Grandma. My mom was not too happy about that. I always tease my parents. It is my job to tease. I am the baby of the family. Needless to say, we didn't have a food fight. Sorry Lane. Maybe next time.

Here is Lane showing off what he got earlier that day.

 He got a light saber from his parents and Madagascar 2 from my parents. Our present was the cake, so he had a lot of dinosaurs to play with.

Marion and Monty got him a small fish tank with a small betta fish.

Here is the fish. He is in the left bottom corner of the tank. It was a cute little tank. Don't you like the little Shark statue?

We all had a great time celebrating Lane's birthday. 

Happy Birthday Lane!! I love you!!!