The Grover Family

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

So I know I have been totally slacking in keeping this blog up, but I just haven't had much motivation to get on here and write.....To catch up....Eric is well into his Residency. He has completed Family practice, internal medicine, and OBGYN (which he actually really liked this time around) and will start ER on Tuesday. We still have not painted ANY rooms in our house yet. Dallas is doing really well in preschool and looks forward to his Slurpee treat everyweek that he goes everyday. He is learning how to pray really well and volunteers to say almost every prayer and gets upset if Mom or Dad try to help. Chloe is getting ever more girl. She loves dolls, book, and all of her stuffed toys. She mostly loves her big brother Dallas, who she follows and trys to mimmick all of the time. For example, she has suddenly become interested in the potty!! I am not pushing anything and letting her sit and try when she wants. We had one successful session and she was so proud of herself!! Maybe this girl will do the potty training for me!!

The holidays came and went way too fast. For Halloween Dallas dressed up as a GREEN crayon and Chloe was a Ladybug. I dressed up as a bumblebee. We trick or treated in our friends neighborhood (which is famous for the "hotdog" house...they barbeque and give them out as well as king size candy bars) After about twenty minutes both kids were freezing so we spent the remainder of the evening with our good friends the Youngs.

For Thanksgiving my super awesome twin was able to come out and visit. Despite some mishap which does not help Beckley's reputation at all, we ended up having a good time togehter. I showed her the view tourists sites available, had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with the Youngs of course, made cookies, and just soaked up all the time we had together.

For Christmas we went really mellow. We stuck to our 3 Gift only (from eachother/Santa which we call the three wisemen) And it was an amazing day. It felt peaceful and was centered around Christ. The kids were eccstatic with what they got and couldn't have had a better day!

Anyway, it is now a new year and time for resolutions. I won't even make the revolution to write more because I already know that probably won't happen. But What I am going to try and do is see the Good in all bad situations. I'm going to try and exercise more even if it is just a walk around the neighborhood or 20 mins on the WII. I am going to try and make most of the realtionships that help me to thrive and let go of ones that don't. I'm ready to start anew.

Well that is all for Now Happy New Year...and I will post some new pics soon....

A Christ Centered Christmas

2011-12-19T13:44:00.000-08:00

The last several years I knew I wanted to reinvent the traditions and meaning of Christmas. I can remember the exact Christmas that I trully felt the commercialism of Christmas. I was so ashamed of the little girl who pouted because she did not get exactly what she had asked Santa to bring her, even though her list of what she did receive seemed to never end. I thought in that moment I don't want my children to ever act like that.

As a child I always loved Christmas time. There was magic in bringing home a fresh cut tree and decorating it with twinkling lights, beads, and other adorning ornaments. I hated that we had to take turns to put the Angel on top of the tree because I loved doing it so much. I loved helping my mother gently unwap each piece to our beautiful nativity scene and wondering what it would have been like to see Jesus as a small babe.

As the years passed, I too started to feel the commercialism of Christmas. It had lost it's meaning to me and I was no longer finding Christ in Christmas. I tried several things to remedy this. I took Santa completely out of the equation and replaced him with The Three Wisemen. While this seemed to help I still couldn't grasp the true feeling of Christmas I had felt as a child.

As a few years passed a good friend and a close family member introduced me to a tradition that answered my prayers. It's focus was Christ. The friend explained to me that it had come from a meagerly family who did not have the financial means to creat an extravagant Christmas for their children. So they told them they would each only receive three gifts, since that is all Baby Jesus got. I thought this was a very clever idea and did more research on just how I could make this tradition work for my small family. While talking to my sister, I had mentioned this gift idea to her. She had told me that she knew a family and did something similar and that each gift and a specific meaning just as the Christ child's gifts did. One was Gold, one was Frankensense, and the other was Muir. Each in turn had a meaning. The Gold was something that the reciever trully desired. The Frankensence was something for the body and the Muir was something spiritual. I knew immediately that this was exactly what I wanted to encourage my family to do.

Although it is the first year that I have trully implemented this tradition into our home. I can testify that I have indeed felt the season to be more focused on Christ. My Children have their own Nativity scene to play with and take special care of baby Jesus.

I encourage you to find ways to bring Christ back into the season and be more like our Savior on this beautiful holiday.

Happy Holidays 2011!

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Chloe's Birthday!

2011-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

So we had a pretty good day for Chloe's 1 year birthday! I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Chloe is such a sweet addition to our family. We just love her, even Dallas has made friends with her. She has quite the personality and is turning into a little diva all on her own!!! So Chloe's birthday was a pretty typical day, we got up, had breakfast and lunch. For Dinner we had our friends from the ward over for pizza. I made Chloe's cake (my 1st attempt at a round stacked cake...pretty tasty even if it wasn't beautiful) Chloe was a little lady about getting into her cake though. once we cut her a piece she seemed to enjoy it more.

We had her check up and she weighed 20.1 lbs and was exactly 30 in long! They measured her head but I am possitive that they did it wrong because they said it was in the 98 percentile. If it would have been Dallas I would have believed it, but Chloe has been steadily at the average mark for everything. She did have to get 3 shots and blood drawn, which she totally had a melt down. Oveall she did great big Brother Dallas was there to comfort her and tell the nurses to stop hurting sister! Ya he totally loves her!

Settling in to our home

2011-07-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

So June was really nice. So far I am really liking our new home. It is definately an adjustment, and I find myself laughing at the accents, but I am sure I'll get used to them eventually. The weather was pretty good it rained at least every other day, but then really warmed up. Eric had the entire month off to get some much needed family time. We explored our home city. I made Eric drive because the roads here feel like a bowl of spaghetti, no rhyme or reason they are all so windey. WE have been enjoying our backyard and pool. Dallas likes to go and explore, usually finding a bug to show us. Chloe follows him EVERYWHERE! she loves her big bro. We got an awesome Lawn mower. Eric and I both enjoyed mowing the lawn, I know that sounds dumb, but we have never had our own lawn before. We have almost completely unpacked and set up where we want...we still have a few boxes that we just don't know where we want to put yet. But for the most part it feels like a home, now we just need to hang all of our pictures.

Breakfast time, Chloe cracks herself up she's so silly!

Dallas eating breakfast

Dallas loves building tracks with Dad. Look at how cool it is!

Sleepy girl. She loves Daddy's comfy chair.

Yes, Eric is actually mowing the lawn. He isn't allergic to the grass out here!

Doing sparklers for the first time with Dad. So much fun.

May 2011

2011-06-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

This month really flew by! We had Andrea and Melissa come out and play with us at Disneyland for a week (they helped pack too.) I threw a baby shower for my dear friend Jenna. Eric graduated!!!! YAY! The Grovers came and visited. And we moved out to West Virginia!

At the beginning of May, Andrea and Melissa came out for a few days to have one last hoorah at Disneyland before we made our big move. We spent two full days there soaking everything up and enjoying each other's company. I finally got to see World of Color (even though it got cancelled the 1st night we were there) which was pretty cool, I still love Fantasmic the best! Then we went to Huntington Beach and played for half of a day then headed to our home to start packing. We had one good day of packing before we said goodbye and they headed home.

Eric's surgery was harder on him than expected so he had a hard time lifting anything heavier than 10 lbs, so I packed a lot while he entertained the kiddos. We got a welcome break to packing when Eric's parents and brother came to visit for Eric's graduation. We spent the night before in Pasadena so we could wake up and get good seats. The kids and I got to go swimming for a short while before the wind picked up and got too cold. The next morning we all got up early got dressed and walked to the Pasadena Convention Center. We got there super early so we definitely got great seats right on the aisle so I got to see Eric walk down during the procession and snap some shots of him. Eric's parents got to hood him which was really cool. Then as Eric was walking down the stage, Dallas couldn't wait and ran and hugged Daddy and sat with him the rest of the time. The College streamed the ceremony live so my parents were able to watch it from home. We had a great time. We went to Lunch afterwards with Eric's classmate Jared Myers and family, which was a lot of fun with such a big group.

After Eric's parents left we had a week left to finish packing for our move and it seemed as if nothing was going right. after an evil con evil motorcycle accident gone wrong, children continually ripping things out of boxes, a flesh wound, chaos through the roof, we finally got the truck and both cars packed. We ran out of time to actually clean the house, but it is what it is.

While Eric and our good friend Terry drove cross country the kids and I stayed with our friends the Wolls Sunday and Monday, then headed to David and Cicely's for the remaining week. We had a lot of fun. The kids and I hit Disneyland 3 more times, 2 day time trips and one nighttime one so I could watch Fantasmic one last time. We were also able to preview the new Little Mermaid ride which was actually pretty cool despite the long, long wait. We got to spend a few quiet evenings with David and Cicely as well. Then Saturday morning David drove us to LAX to start our long journey to West Virginia! He was able to get a family pass so he could help me through security (which by the way there is no way I could do LAX by myself, so Thank You so much David.) Our first flight was just under 5 hrs and the one I was dreading the most, but both kids did really well. Dallas enjoyed being on a big plane and watching his movies and Chloe just enjoyed getting attention from people around her. They both slept for about half the flight, although they were not at the same time, so that did make it easier on me. We had a 2.5 hr layover in DC (which I had to take like 6 elevators and a train ride to our next gate!! Seriously huge airport) so we had lunch and Dallas enjoyed watching "little" planes land and take off. We finally were able to board and the flight was only like 35 mins, we had a brief stopover to let the majority of the passengers out, then me and the kids and one other lady stayed on for our final flight which also was only about 35 mins. Chloe slept through both and Dallas was ecstatic to be in a little plane. We made it to "Daddy's new home" as Dallas calls it and have been busy unpacking. When we get everything settled in, I will post some pics.

Thanks and love to all who helped us. We truly appreciate our family and friends!

Me and the kiddos at Disneyland

Chloe at Huntington Beach

Dallas at the Beach

Dallas and Eric at graduation

Chloe and Daddy

Dallas being silly waiting for the graduation to start

Mom and Chloe

Eric walking in the procession

Eric and his Mom

Dallas in front of the Mickey parking sign, so excited we got to park on that level

Brother and Sister hugs

Riding the Disney Railroad

Dallas on the Pirate ship

Dallas and Chloe on the Carousel

April 2011

2011-05-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

So April really flew by! Eric flew out to West Virginia and found us a house. The kids and I went to Utah at the end of April to visit with the Jensen family. And Eric got sinus surgery.

At the end of April the kids and I flew out to Utah and visited with the my family. We had a lot of fun. We got to go to the zoo with best buds Andrea and Dylan, and aunt Missy. It was a little cold in the morning, but once we got moving around the kids had fun. We got to have a big Jensen family style birthday party for Dallas which was so much fun. He made out like a bandit with lots of tracks, trains, train cars and cars to go with his sets at home. We colored eggs twice, one with the Baum kids and then with the Jensens' and Kallas'. We were also able to celebrate Easter and have an Easter egg hunt.

A day after we got back Eric flew back East to look for a new home for us. After a long 4 days of looking at dozens of properties, Eric found the perfect house for us. He sent emails and the listing link to me via email so I could help in the decision making process. We are so excited to be able to move in!!

A few days after Eric got home he had to go in for sinus surgery. Everything went well, but the Dr was surprised at what he had to remove from his nose. I won't go into details because it's pretty gross, but Eric is recuperating well and feels much better now that his sinus isn't occluded anymore.

Posing with his Mickey cake

Opening presents

Pooped after playing hard at his party

Cutting a piece of his cake, two lil' stinkers

Daddy and Dallas riding Dallas' favorite ride, The Train

Mom and Chloe

We love Goofy

Wearing his hat like Daddy

Opening presents in Utah

Dallas with the cake that Papa Jensen made for him

Cheesey smile at the zoo

Chloe Girl

Easter Egg Hunt, Dallas had a blast

Family Portraits 2011

2011-04-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting.

2011-03-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

I know I have been pretty bad at blogging lately. Sometimes I seriously feel like a chicken with my head cut off. So we have been pretty busy.

The kids are always testing the waters. For example just a few days ago, Dallas decided to be a total stinker the entire day. It started out with him running away from me at Walmart (heart dropping) pooring perfume on my bed and bedding, and ending with him dumping baby powder all over poor little Chloe. Lets just say I had to lock him in his room for a while to calm myself down. I really don't think it is the terrible twos, it's the terrible three's, HA! The joys of motherhood I guess.

Chloe is growing like a weed. She scoots around and can get almost anywhere. She loves to stand and it wouldn't surprise me if she walked before she crawled! She loves loves loves Dallas and wants to be and do whatever he is doing. Dallas of course gets a little bothered and has just started pulling her by her legs to move her away. Little stinker.

Eric just finished one of the worst rotations ever!!!!!!!!!! He did ER medicine and was assigned 11 out of 14 shifts to be overnight. Lets just say nobody was happy and it was actually easier when he was out of town. But we are so glad he is done with overnights for awhile.

We just got some family pics taken today. They turned out ok, but I think once I get a hold of the CD and work my magic they will be great. Dallas was not feeling it today at all, so we will just have to see what we get.

Here are some recent photos of the kids and once I get our family pics done I will post for you all to see.

Lots of love from our family!

Dallas and me playing tea party

Dallas in bed

Chloe enjoying the sunshine

Cute little bug

Say Cheese!!!

This is a pic to prove that Chloe is NOT always happy!

Our next adventure.....

2011-02-14T17:29:00.001-08:00

It is official. We are going to be going to West Virginia for Eric's residency!! We are really excited and feel good about this opportunity and new adventure for our family!!

Lots of love to everyone! We have appreciated all of your support in this process!

Michelle

Kids making each other Laugh!!

2011-01-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our Holidays

2011-01-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well the 6 weeks of Eric's rotation in Pennsylvania finally came to an end. Since he was gone for Christmas we waited until he came home to celebrate and open presents. Dallas has been so happy to have him home that the first day at Eric's new rotation here, Dallas was so distraught to find Daddy gone when he woke up. Chloe is just in love with her Daddy. She loves to cuddle him and stroke his beard. She is already 6 mos old! I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. At her 6 mos check up she weighed 17 lbs 10 oz and was 25 3/4 in long! That's my girl. She was a total rock star getting her shots again this time around as well. Not even a flinch for the first 2 then on the 3rd she started to cry and stopped as soon as I picked her up. She absoltely loves to eat baby food. She actually prefers the veggies to the fruits! So funny. She also loves the mixed flavors best too. Such a good eater she is. Dallas is doing great too! He loves to read the Little Critter books at bedtime. He also insists on helping me anytime I cook or bake in the kitchen. He also loves to help put the silverware away when I unload the dishwasher! He is pretty much day time potty trained now. We've had a couple of poop accidents, but all in all we are on the right track. Night time he is still in pull ups. Most nights he stays dry, but there is the occasional wet diaper.

We are happy getting back into the swing of things now that Eric is home. I couldn't be happier to be done with all of the out of state rotations! We will know for sure where his residency will be on Feb 14! Happy Valentines Day! It is in the hands of God now and we trust he will send us where he most needs us!

Happy Holidays 2010

2010-12-18T13:43:00.001-08:00

December in California

2010-12-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

I seriously have to say that I love living in California for the winter. Here it is the 2nd week of December and we are enjoying 75 degree weather! Awesome! We had a lot of fun a couple of weeks ago visiting with Mama and Papa Grover for their short visit.

We also have had a lot of fun visiting this week with our good friends Andrea and her son Dylan...(we told Dylan he was going to marry Chloe when he grows up...he didn't much like that idea!) Melissa also is visiting for 10 whole Days. We have had a lot of fun playing at Disneyland. Dallas absolutely loves Autopia! He finally gets how to ride it. Everytime the car jerks he says "crazy driver!" It is seriously so funny. He also loves the train. He likes to say "all aboard!" with the conductors and wave to all the people as we pass by. Chloe has done great playig here too. She is just such a happy and easy going girl!

4 mos already

2010-11-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how time flies. Chloe is 4 mos old and doing all the things she is suppose to. She now can roll over from back to front and front to back. She weighed in at 15 lbs 6 oz and is 24 in long! She is so rolly polly that she is starting to wear 6 mos size clothes already!! Ha ha I love my sweet little girl! Oh did I mention Chloe is so good getting her shots? She hardly even cried! What a brave girl. We had a lot of fun with Melissa the few days she was here to visit. We went to Disneyland, did some shopping at the mall, and just enjoyed each other's company. Dallas really enjoyed having the extra attention. Here are some pics to see what we have been upto!

Chloe in her Halloween costume

Dallas enjoying Chloe's jumper

Chloe totally loving her jumper!

Sleepy bug Dallas!

Our Mickey Pumpkin

Pretty Princess

Aunt Missy with me and the kiddos

Just being us!

2010-10-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well I can't believe how busy we have been. Chloe is already 3 months old, and very healthy She weighed 11 lbs 13 oz and 22 1/2 in at her 2 month check up. Dallas's never ending energy really keeps me on my toes. Eric has finished his first out of state rotation in Michigan, was here for a few weeks and is already into his second week in Oklahoma. We played a lot while he was here and tried to soak up and enjoy every minute of free time we had together as a family. We went to Disneyland a couple times...once to celebrate my 27th birthday. We really had a lot of fun together. Now it seems a little overwhelming with him gone again. I don't know how single mom's do it!!! My hat truly goes off to these strong vibrant woman!! I was overwhelmed enough today that I asked a friend in the ward to give me a priesthood blessings!! ! I am so thankful for my ward family and especially Bro Hardy for the wonderful blessing he gave me. Anyway here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately!

Sweet kiddos!

Sporting Daddy's tie!

All 3 conked out!

Riding the Astro Orbitors with Daddy

My sweet sleepy girl

Being cute in the tub!

My Chubby girl!

Riding the Matterhorn Bobsleds with Dallas -- he's finally tall enough! YAY!

Chillin with Daddy

Playing peek a boo in the pumpkin.

Chloe likes Dallas' Mickey ears.

Dallas wanted to wear Chloe's Minnie ears! What a funny kid.

Dallas pretty much got freaked out to see Goofy dressed like this

Dallas likes Goofy, not so much dressed as a skeleton though!

Big Brother Love

2010-09-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

Chloe's Announcement

2010-09-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Fun in the Sun

2010-08-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying the summer! My mom and dad came out for Chloe's blessing and have stayed with us for almost two weeks. We have gone to Knott's Berry Farm to look at the shops, Redondo Beach, and just played at home! Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.

Here is Dallas seeing a wishing pond for the first time. He wanted to get all of the coins out!

Chloe sleeping the day away.

We found another fountain with coins in it! I love his cheesey smile!

Dallas and Mommy

Sweet Chloe

Tummy Time!!

Playing at the beach. Interested in all of the junk on the sand.

He had fun in the sand, but didn't like the water so much...maybe next time.

Trying my high heels on.

Chloe's Blessing

2010-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Chloe was a beautiful baby for her blesssing. She looked like an angel! Eric gave Chloe such a beautiful blessing! It was a good day!

This is the only picture I got of both Dallas and Chloe and they were both crying! Oh well.

Chloe is 1 month old!

2010-08-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well we have a had a pretty good start adding little Chloe to our family!

Week 1

We brought Chloe home and introduced her to the puppies and let Dallas become more acquainted with her. I felt good enough that I even went to church, well at least Sacrament meeting. Eric had to finish his last week of his rotation, so it was just me and my two kiddos. Everything went pretty well. Dallas fell asleep when she was asleep so I got to nap almost everyday. And I got quite a bit of regular work done too. She even slept 4 hour stretches at night! Yay, I might even get some sleep with this new baby! I took Chloe to her first Dr appt when she was 5 days old and she weighed 7 lbs 11 oz, gaining back all but 2 oz of her birth weight.

Week 2

Eric had a month off to study, so he was home to help. Things went pretty much the same as week 1. Dallas still stayed clear of Chloe. He would let me know if she was crying but he didn't want to kiss or hug her and I wasn't going to push it. Chloe's sleep patterns started to change. she still was sleeping 3 hour stretches, which is still pretty good. So far I think I can handle having my little family! We took Chloe to her 2 week appt and she got her Hep B shot. She also had Thrush like Dallas had, so we get to start treatment with her. She so far has done pretty good with it. She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20.25 inches long! Probably because all she wants to do is eat!!

Week 3

This was by far the hardest week we've had. Eric got pneumonia and Chloe started to develop colic. She want to feed every 2 hours at night now, so the happy beginning of getting sleep has gone. So I was taking care of everyone and getting very little sleep. We are still treating Chloe for her thrush, but I think the the medicine has actually made it worse. but we will finish it up and see how things go. Dallas is starting to get more used to his baby sister. He has given her 1 1hug and 1 kiss!

Week 4

Chloe is getting bigger everyday. her little personality is starting to come through. Her colic however has started to get worse so we are trying the gas drops. They have helped. But so far the only way to calm her is to rock her next to a running faucet. Dallas has developed what his Dr thinks is eczema on this hands and feet. He will climb into bed with us and rub his hands and feet on us to itch them. Poor kiddo and nothing really seems to help. Still not getting much sleep with all the night time feedings and Dallas kicking me! We'll get a routine figured out eventually. We decided to stop the Thrush medication because every time Chloe would start to be colicky was right after we gave it to her. So far it has proven to be the cause of her colic. Dallas finally asked to hold Chloe! YAY! I knew he would eventually come around!

Life has been crazy but it is our new life and I want to enjoy every minute of it! Soon Eric will leave for his 4 week rotation in Michigan, so we are going to get as much family time in as possible!!

Chloe's Debut

2010-08-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

So both of my labors have had a flair for the dramatic! This one left me in tears not just from the pain, but from all of the emotions that went along with it!

In my last post I had mentioned that I had already had two false alarm "this is it" episodes, and was determined not to go to the hospital unless my water broke like it did with Dallas. Well on Wednesday night (July 7) I started getting contractions. They seemed semi intense to the point where I was rocking back and forth during them. Eric asked if I we needed to head to the hospital. I assured him that I was fine. Then I went into the kitchen and decided I better do the dishes. Eric asked what I was doing and I told him that if this really was going to happen I didn't want to come home to a dirty kitchen! I know pretty lame. The contractions seemed a bit strong so I took some Tylenol and they eventually went away.

After a couple of hours I finally got some sleep, and I mean decent sleep. Like 5 hours straight. I was ecstatic when I woke up with Eric's alarm at 4 AM. We chatted a little bit and he got ready and headed to the hospital for his rotation. Since my mind wouldn't shut down I turned on the TV to have something in the background. I fell back asleep around 5. At 5:45 I woke up to really strong contractions and pelvic pain. I went to the bathroom to see if that would relieve the pain. It helped a little, so I went back and layed down. Minutes later I had another contraction. I again stood up to see if I could help relieve the pain. After a few of these and coming pretty fast I decided that this was probably it. I had to email Eric (the hospital reception for calls or texts was terrible...this was the only way to get a hold of Eric) to tell him it was time. After about 20 minutes of no response from Eric, I knew I couldn't wait because of how fast and strong these contractions were coming. I called a friend from our ward and asked if she could take me to the hospital and have her daughter who usually watched Dallas babysit for me. She came right over.

Once we got to the hospital and I got checked in, they wheeled me to the Labor and Delivery floor. Just as we were getting there around 6:45 or 7, Eric called and asked what was going on. I told him and he said he was on his way. Since my water hadn't broken yet, they took me to an observation room to check me out. I changed into a gown and immediately asked for my epidural. The nurse said she wanted to check me first to see if I was really in labor, which really bothered me!!! Of course when she checked me I was in labor. I was dilated to a 6 and 100% effaced. I then asked for something. She said we needed to get into a L&D suite first, so she went to find a room. In the mean time the contractions were getting harder and coming faster. I was having a hard time breathing because of it. No amount of relaxation techniques helped ease the discomfort!! The nurse finally came back in and I again asked for something. She said she had the room ready and once we got there I could get it. So as we walked to the room, I had several contractions on the walk there and when I climbed into the bed I suddenly felt the urge to push. She again checked me and I was at an 8 almost 9. As she finished checking me Eric walked in and my water broke!!! I was so grateful Eric got there. I was sure he was going to miss it.

The first thing he asked is if I had had an epidural because he could tell I was in a lot of pain. The nurse told him there wasn't time and the on call Dr wasn't going to make it in. So they paged an ER Dr to come and deliver. I again asked for something. The nurse told me that since there wasn't time to put an IV in the only thing they could give me would distress Chloe and make it really difficult to breastfeed. Eric kept holding my hand and assuring me I was fine and could do this. I kept having the urge to push and the nurse kept telling me not to. This was really frustrating because that urge was overwhelming!!! At one point Eric asked if there were sterile gloves he could have because he saw Chloe's head coming out and he knew that I needed support. Finally they grabbed a Dr from the hall and had him come and deliver me. After 3 more contractions and 8 pushes later. Chloe Alicia was born at 7:44 AM. I did tear because there was no support while I was initially pushing (the nurse should have been helping...at least they did with Dallas.) But I did it with no epidural or pain medications, which I do not recommend, ha ha.

It was an extremely emotional experience because of how fast everything happened. I didn't know if Eric was going to make it and I really needed his support. I was scared that some inexperienced ER Dr was going to deliver my baby. I was in a lot of pain and knew I needed help (I kept reaching my hand down to touch her head every time I pushed. The nurse and Eric had to hold it back) I was upset at how out of control the entire situation was....not exactly what I had hoped for at all. After they showed me Chloe and I heard her cry, I broke down in tears. Eric asked what was wrong but I couldn't answer. The emotion of the last two hours had caught up to me. I also forgot our camera in the midst of everything. So we only have a few pictures tht Eric took with his blackberry.

I did enjoy the fact that they gave her right to me after they wiped her down. They let us bond and she never left my room until they had to do her hearing test. I enjoyed the bonding time I had with just her in the hospital. She is such an angel and it seems like she has always been with us. We are so grateful for our beautiful, healthy baby girl!

Chloe Alicia Grover

2010-07-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Introducing Chloe Alicia Grover
Born July 8, 2010 at 7:44 AM
7 lbs 13 oz 20 in
(Details to come...)

almost 39 weeks

2010-07-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

So I am still here and pregnant!! I am getting pretty stir crazy though. I would love to get out of my house and go to the beach or Disneyland. But I know with my luck my water would break!! I've had two false alarms, one at 36 weeks which they stopped my labor completely. At that false alarm I was close to a 4 and 70% effaced. And that the other one at 37.5 weeks I was barely a 3! I think that shot is the culprit and it will probably make me go close to or over my due date. But maybe things are suppose to happen that way. Eric will get 4 weeks off soon after the due date (July 15) to study for his Step 2 medical boards. So maybe having him home instead of trying to get a hold of him at the hospital he is currently at will be better for everyone involved!!

38 Weeks

Other than that we are doing pretty good. Dallas has definitely hit the terrible two stage. The other day he took a red crayon to my cream carpet and colored from the living room, up every stair, 13 of them mind you, clear to my his room where I was putting things away and said to me "uh oh mommy!" He is also starting to become a little more aggressive. I think he senses something is about to change. He does have good days though. I love to hear him laugh. sometimes I will just start tickling him and he'll say stop, so I stop, then he says, Tickle! He is so funny he likes to be tickled! His favorite movies right now are Cars, Wall-E, and the Three Caballeros. We watch at least one of those everyday!! Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Poor Dallas always gets bruises on the his forehead!!

He has the cutest smile ever!!

Coloring on the sidewalk with Daddy

Trying to put Stacia on her leash!

36 weeks, ready to be DONE!!!

2010-06-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

So we are still here! This past week has been full of "I think this is it!" moments. When I was pregnant with Dallas I never really had a contraction until my water broke. Now I am having them all the time.They can get pretty intense, but not to the point where I think I need to take something for the pain. So I usually just wait them out at home. They'll be pretty consistent for about an hour or two, and I think ok, maybe we should get to the hospital. But then they slowly die down. I am already dilated to a 3 and around 75% effaced. My Dr. or his Nurse Practitioner, rather, seemed pretty concerned for me to be that far along with preparing for labor. She even felt a couple contractions herself as she was listening to the babies heartbeat. Dallas has his good and bad days too. I think he is sensing the change. He gets mad if I have Daddy do something for him that I would usually do. he says "no, mommy do it!" Such a funny kid.

c'est la vie

2010-05-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

So we have been keeping busy around here. I attempted potty training Dallas and it lasted about a week before I had an emotional break down! I don't think I have the energy or patience right now to do this task...and with the baby's due date right around the corner the thought is overwhelming. The plus side of that week is that it helped Dallas realize when he needs a new diaper, so that is always good. Now if he would only sit on the potty!!!

Dallas sporting his big boy undies!

Dallas keeps me hopping though. He has never ending energy! But what can you expect from a rambunctious 2 yr old!!! Right now he absolutely loves to play with Eric. Dallas gets upset if Eric has to leave. It is so tender. He even cried for Daddy the other day when he got into trouble.

Dallas enjoying some playtime with Daddy!

Dallas can put this puzzle together pretty much all by himself!!

My emotions have been a roller coaster. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I had a lot of emotional issues when I was pregnant with Dallas. I just have to remind myself to take it one day at a time, and this to shall pass.

Eric is on his last rotation of his 3rd year! Can't believe he's been in Medical School for 3 years already. He is doing Psychiatry. He really enjoys it. some of the stories he tells me are a little scary and makes me worry. But I guess that is all part of the job.

I am now about 33 weeks pregnant and ready to be done!!!! We still don't have a name picked out. Who knew that coming up with a girl name would be so difficult. I will hear a name one day that I kind of like and the next day I will totally hate it!!

Me at 32 weeks prego

Happy 2nd Birthday Dallas!

2010-04-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Dallas turned 2 years old on April 17, 2010! I can't believe how big he is getting! I love him and his little personality so much. He is starting to put words together to make sentences. He is also starting to make hand gestures when he talks, way too cute! He still loves to help Mom do almost everything including laundry and dishes. He even has his own chore..he feeds the dogs. Most of the time he reminds us that it is time. What a smart little guy!

For his birthday we did a Spongebob theme. We fell in love with this awesome cake that was Spongebob and viola that's our theme. We invited only a few friends over, but I think we all had a lot of fun. We had sidewalk chalk for the kiddos, and the adults just hang out and chatted. Dallas got some very cool gifts; he got a mini t-ball game, a magnidoodle, more sidewalk chalk, and Daddy got him a mini basketball hoop, which both Daddy and Dallas love to play with. The biggest hit for Dallas was the balloons!!

We love our Dallas so much and are so happy to have him as part of our family!

Just us Grovers

2010-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Not much has been going on here. We keep busy, well at least Dallas keeps me hopping with his never ending energy! Whenever he needs something he will say "hand" and take our hands and lead us to what he wants. He is so fun. He is picking up on everything too. He loves to imitate Daddy most! Every morning he wakes up and says, "Where's Daddy?"

We finally have Dallas in his own bed and bedroom now. We put our crib in there too! So it is offically a kid room. Dallas actually loves being in there. He plays on his bunkbed and he likes having his toys around him to play with in there too. He's pretty good at nights. He still has some night time wakings and calls out for Mommy, but I can usually get him back in his bed and to sleep pretty quick.

The pregancy is going ok. I am just over 27 weeks nos. I feel huge and I think that this little girl is already a drama queen! She kicks and jabs a lot more often and harder than Dallas ever did!! It will be interesting to see her personality play out, outside of the womb!

Here are a few pictures from the last little while.

27 Weeks Pregnant!

Surprise!!!!

2010-03-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't already know I am pregnant. 23 weeks to be exact. It has been fun keeping it a secret. I thought about doing like they did on that show Four Christmases and just waiting until I had the baby to tell everyone. But I figured it was time to share the good news. We are expecting a little girl due on July 15, 2010. So we will have one of each! Dallas is already practicing to be a big brother. He already attacks my tummy when he gets upset. But this little girl is a fighter, she boots him back. It will be fun to see how these two interact in person.

23 weeks pregnant with a new haircut.

Profile of our Little Girl
It's a GIRL!
10 week picture of the munchkin

Dallas my sweet boy!

2010-03-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

Dallas went to his first Easter Egg Hunt this past week. At first he wasn't quite sure what to do...he even got mad and through his bag on the ground. But when he saw the eggs and other kids putting them into their bags he started to enjoy it. What a trooper. He loves being outside!!

Dallas also loves playing at the park. Everytime he goes down a slide he says "WEE!" He is so darn cute!!

New Family Pictures

2010-03-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

So we recently got our family portraits taken, FINALLY!! I had wanted to do them while we were in Utah, but with Eric and Dallas both having health issues, it just never happened.

At first I was a little hesitant to go to a studio to get them done. I have always known someone who took them for us, and we got all of the prints plus the images on CD. I loved that because I love to edit and enhance our pictures in photoshop. But I decided we needed new ones, since our last one was when Dallas was 3 mos old. Ya he is almost 2 now. Anyway, we went to JCPenney and I was so, so pleased with them. The photographer did exactly what I wanted without much direction from me. I seriously couldn't find one picture that I didn't like, so the photographer told me that I could buy them on CD, so I bought the entire CD. It was a little pricey, but this way, I can get as many prints as I want, edit, enhance, and share with family and friends, so worth it. Plus they have a club membership with free sitting fees for 2 yrs. So I was pretty satisfied with our experience and love our new family pictures. Now to decide which ones to enlarge!!!

Just Living

2010-02-01T10:05:00.000-08:00

So we have been pretty busy this month. Dallas is turning into such a sweet little guy. No more a sweet little baby. He has been pretty happy and smiley too! This past week I finally had enough courage to completely wean him from his binky. I had already taken it away during the daytime so he only had it at night. At first I was hesitant to even want to do this because as soon as he got it at night, 15-20 min later he was out. It was so nice to have him go out so fast so I could have some quiet time. But obviously I decided to go ahead with it. Eric's rotation had scheduled him for a week of 8PM-8AM shifts, so I figured this would be a perfect time to wean. The first couple of nights were a struggle, but we did it. The only downside is we are back to 45 min or longer to get the munchkin to sleep.

We also had a babysitter for the first time for Dallas. He was so good too. Not to mention cute. When she got here, he took her by the hand and showed her all of his toys. Then when I got back, he picked up her coat and handed it to her. He is so funny and so smart!! He knew it was time for her to go home. What a stud!

He is getting really good at putting together 2 and 3 piece puzzles. He is even starting to recognize the pictures and say the what they are. I love my little man and I am so happy that I get to be his mommy!

Dallas is such a happy boy! I just love his sweet smiles!

Dallas loves to try on our shoes. This day was so funny. He put on Eric's shoes and started walking around the house saying "Daddy's shoes, Daddy's shoe's." It was so darn cute!

I love this pic. Dallas has figured out how to work the camera, so this is a self portrait of himself!

Dallas totally loves to color right now. He colors everything. He was even nice enough to color most of my kitchen tiles!!

My oh so sleepy boy lasted maybe 5 mins before he crashed! Poor guy!

Dallas loves to sit and play on the computer with Daddy!

Dallas' Haircut....an all day event.

2009-12-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

Recently I just have not known what to do with Dallas' hair. It was way too long to spike and starting to get out of control. it is so fine that even when I would spray it down it would still look like he just woke up. So Eric and I decided to cut his hair. We originally were just going to trim it up really good, 1/2 an inch or so....but things don't go as plan when we have a little wiggle wort on our hands so the end result was going to Wal mart and getting trimmers to buzz his head. He still is cute as can be, and hair will grow!

This is what we started out with...Pretty long in the front, on the sides, and in the back.

This is what happens when Daddy tries to cut his hair with scizzors and Dallas will not stop wiggling!!

A little better tried to even it up with Daddy's beard trimmers, worked before, but not this time with his super fine long hair.

Finally we decided Dallas just looked silly and went for the heavy duty trimmers, which by the way work wonders even with really fine hair!

Dallas is still cute as can be!!

Thanksgiving Photos

2009-12-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

I know I have been slacking on getting these up. But here they are at last.

We had Thanksgiving at my parents home in Utah. Everyone made it except for David and Cicely...(they were suffering in 83 degree weather in California! Poor souls!:))

My Mom, Me, and Itsumi. We made California rolls that took forever to make and were devoured in a very short time!

Dallas and Itsumi

I showed my niece Sharsten how to make the 7 layer bean dip! So Yummy!

Dallas wanted to help too!

We had such a big turn out we had to 3 tables, plus the bar counter. Here is table 1

Table 2

Table 3

We got to sit at the counter!! (Dallas isn't pictured cause the poor guy tuckered out!)

Here is one of Dallas' famous dirty looks!

Dallas climbed into a box and had a lot of fun playing in the packing peanuts!

Poor Dallas was so sick!! Nothing would do but Mommy!

Nothing too exciting too report

2009-12-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We are in Utah right now doing a rotation for Eric's medical school. One week left. It hasn't been too bad, but I definately miss the warm weather. We had almost my entire family here for Thanksgiving which was a lot of fun. Right now, poor Dallas is sick and has been for the last few days. He's had a high fever and has just been lifeless and wants mama to hold him. Eric figured out what was wrong (tonsilitis) so we have him on some antibiotics, which so far, has not been very fun trying to give to him. I am extremely tired from Dallas being sick but I guess it comes with the job. I will get pictures posted of everything when we get home. So for now. Lots of Love and Happy Holidays to everyone!!

Halloween

2009-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

I know it's late but I am slow. The day before halloween Dallas and I carved his very first pumpkin. Just a regular old Jack-o-lantern. But still fun. He enjoyed it at least.

For Halloween I dressed up as a Ditsy Doctor (Eric said I looked like Harley Quinn LOL) Dallas was a skeleton, and Eric was my nurse. We didn't get a picture of all of us, but we had fun at our ward Trunk-or-treat. Plus Dallas made a total hall of Candy!

Running away to play

Dallas did not want to put on his shoes!!

Visit from my family

2009-11-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

In the middle of October My mom, dad, and older sister Tami came out to visit for a while. We had a lot of fun. Dallas loved to show off all of his toys, puzzles, and cars to our guests. He his a great helper and wated to help with everything!! He loves being a big boy!!

While the family was here we got to spend some time at Disneyland, which was a lot of fun.

Here are some pics from there stay.

Dallas and Papa eating Dinner.

Alice, The Mad Hatter, Dallas and Me

Tami and I snuck in for a picture while they were looking for Treasure in the Snow White wishing well. So much fun!

Riding Dallas' favorite ride, the TEACUPS!!!

Mommies little Helper

2009-10-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

So Dallas loves to help me in the kitchen. Everytime I go in there he will go to the step stool and pull on it until I get it out for him. He is so funny. He loves to help cook, and I don't mind it at all. He is also a great taster...he likes cookie dough better than the actual cookie. so funny. Here are some fun pics.

The big 26

2009-10-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

So on the 5th I turned 26. I don't feel any older, I feel just the same. The whole weekend was pretty fun. Eric had to work on my birthday so we started celebrating the Friday before. We went to Red Robin, my favorite, for dinner. It was just so much fun with my little family there...watching Dallas take in the new atmosphere, play at the table, and just have fun as a family. I just felt so happy and content. I love Eric and Dallas so much, and I am so thankful to have them in my life! So far my favorite birthday dinner ever!! Later that evening we went to Disneyland and watched Fantasmic, which was awesome, and we wathed the Halloween special fireworks, which were pretty good too.

On Saturday, My brother wanted me go to the Long Beach Aquarium with him and my sis-in-law Cicely. So we got up early and drove to his home there in Long Beach. When I got there, to my surprise, my twin sis, jumped out and surprised me! She had flown out to celebrate our birthday together. How fun. And yes I was fooled, everyone was in on it and I had no clue, even though everyone let little hints slip. I am dense I guess. We had so much fun at the aquarium. The sea lions love to show off, they even got close enough to the glass that Dallas tried to give them a kiss. So darn cute! On Sunday we just stayed home and enjoyed playing with Dallas, which is always fun.

For My official Birthday on Monday we went to Disneyland for there Free Birthday Admission. Since I am an annual passholder, I got a gift card in the amount of a 1-day pass, which was awesome to buy things I normally wouldn't! I got a bunch of cool stuff. A popcorn bucket set, a mickey hand spoon rest, a toast impression of mickey, silicone cutting mats, magnetic clips, and a very pretty necklace. My sis spoiled us too! She got me this Halloween decoration that I have had had my eyes on, some coasters, and a cup and utensils for Dallas. All in All it was a pretty spectacular weekend of celebration!

Car Wash

2009-10-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

So last week Eric got a day off in the middle of the week. So we thought we would take advantage of school being in session and go to the Splash Park near our house when no one would be around. Well we got there and the city must have turned the water off...(don't know why it had been like 104 degrees all that week!) So instead we decided to have our own water splash by washing our cars. Dallas loved it. He loves playing in the water, and he totally loved helping wash the cars. He is so much fun and such a GREAT helper!!

We love our sweet little Dallas.

Dallas is 17 months

2009-09-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

So Dallas turned 17 months on the 17th of this month. I can't believe how fast it has gone! His personality is really starting to shine through. He is just fun, mellow and sweet as can be. He has really had a burst of words this month. He loves to tell the dogs to "go dogs go" when we take them outside. He of course knows Mama, Dada, Uh-oh,bye bye, and hi. He also says "Thank you" after we say it to him and Love you, so darn sweet to hear that one! He will say "Amen" at the end of our prayers. He has learned what "no" means. (too bad) He also says "all gone" and puts his hands out to show that they are empty, so darn cute when hi does that! He knows most of the characters of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We just bought him a sheet set of it and he named Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. He is just such a sweet, bright spirit and we love him and thank our Heavenly Father everyday for him! What a blessing he is.

Sporting his Hawaiian outfit!

Playing Mom's piano

Playing the bass with Daddy

Fell asleep standing up...(he did this a couple of times this week, too funny.)

Cheesy smile eating mac and cheese

Being a little piggy.

Check out his legs! He got a hold of a pen and had some fun!!

Randomness

2009-08-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Nothing much new going on, so I thought I would post some random pics of the cutest little boy ever!!!!

Just loving mom!
Eating yummy spaghetti, his favorite!
He figured out how to put things in the tape deck!
Loving his puppy, Abbie
He sure loves Stacia!
Crashed after playing all day with his favorite toy!

Splash Park at a Bugs Land!!!

2009-08-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

So my water baby Dallas loves to play in the water. SO we decided to see how he would like the splash park at Disneyland. Well he loved it. He like the smaller one inside of the Bugs Land because there were only little kids there.

Fell asleep on the way to Disneyland! Isn't his hair cool!!!

Brining his shoe to mom to put back on.

Dallas the water baby

2009-08-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

It has been really hot here in California the last couple of weeks. We have loved having our little pool for Dallas, he loves it too. He loves being in the water; the pool, the tub, it doesn't matter as long as he gets to play!!! He doesn't even mind when you spray him with the hose!

Dallas' Dance

2009-07-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

So Dallas totally loves to dance right now. Anytime he hears music he starts jamming out. Don't mind my singing in the background (Dallas loves to say and hear the word "Dad" rignt now. LOL)!! Enjoy

Utah June 2009

2009-06-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well Dallas and I are back from our trip to Utah. We visited with family and friends for 3 weeks so that Eric could study hard for his boards.

Dallas loved to play with his all of his cousins and they sure loved to play with him too! It was really nice to have older kids to look after Dallas. He had a lot of fun everyday with them!

We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone, but are glad to be home and start settling back in to our routine. These are some of the pictures we took while visiting!!

Lots of love-XOXOXO

Dallas' 1 yr Photos!!!!

2009-06-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

Here are Dallas' 1 yr photos. They turned out pretty cute, considering. I still critique everything though...and since he got really sick after these were taken, I think I might just have to take the rest of his pics myself!!
Enjoy

2009-05-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well we have had a lot of fun the past couple of weeks. My twin sister came down to visit for a couple of days, it went by way to fast but we had a lot of fun. Dallas really enjoyed being around her....maybe it's because she looks like mommy! My other good friend came down with Melissa. She brought her sweet little boy. We spent two days at Disneyland, and of course we all had a blast. I told them we needed to make it a yearly event! My friend's little boy got along so good with Dallas. It was a lot of fun to see Dallas interact with another little boy.

Riding the Carosel

Enjoying Aunt Missy

Eric's parents came out the around the same time. We spent two more days at Disneyland, which for me was fun, but more exhausting. I don't know how I used to go 5 days straight from open till close. I guess I have just been spoiled with an annual pass. But I am really Disneylanded-out for awhile.

Mother's Day was ok. Eric renewed our annual passes for another year. The best part was Eric wrote me an awesome letter that made me so happy!! He is so sweet and knows how to make me truly feel loved. Church was pretty bad. Let's just say my ward has no respect for the true meaning of going to church and we will leave it at that.

This Dallas enjoying our little pool! He loves the water.

Well that is all for now. Lots of love until next time!!

Dallas's Party!!!!

2009-04-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Dallas is 1 year old!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby Dallas is already 1. This year has flown by!! He is such a good boy. He loves to sit in his high chair and eat like a big boy. He will eat just about anything you put in front of him. I couldn't ask for a better eater! He can wave bye bye, but mostly just to Daddy since he goes bye bye the most. He will blow kisses that sounds like the little indian game. He loves to clap his hands and give high fives. He "slam dunks" the basketball with Daddy. Loves to play in the water and doesn't mind water being poored on his head. HE likes to go on walks with mommy. Likes to play with his puppies everyday! He is almost walking on his own. He can say dad, mama, and dog!!!

I love my little Dallas.

We had a fun birthday with my sweet kiddo. I think he may have been a little overwhelmed, but he still had fun. Didn't get too much into the cake, what he did get into ended up on mom!!

Thanks to everyone for the gifts!! I am so grateful we got more clothes than toys!! Less to clean up!! And a special thanks to my daddy for making an awesome cake for Dallas' first birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the fun we have

2009-04-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry no posts lately. We have just been busy playing and having fun. Eric has 3 more weeks of book study. So he is looking forward to a little break. Dallas is just busy being a little boy. He loves to play and laugh. His personality is really coming through. I just love to watch him!

Dallas has discovered how much fun it is to get in his toybox and play!

Dallas sure does love his dogs. Abbie was being very patient with him.

Dallas sure does love his daddy. That is his favorite word to say!

Cute as a bug!

2009-03-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing really exciting going on here. Our Fruit trees are in full blossom right now and smell sooooo good. I love the smell of citrus trees. It is finally warm enough to go outside on a walk, so Dallas and I have been doing that everyday. Other than that here are some random pictures I have taken of my little rugrat.

Being the cutest little boy ever!

Uh Oh! Mommy caught me!

Mischeif is my business, and business is GOOD!

Just checking my email like Daddy does! :)

Showing my support for the Utah Jazz!

Sharing a Coke with mom, (Just kidding Grandmas, I just like to hold the can and mimic Mommy!)

The No-Cry Sleep Solution....my LIFESAVER

2009-03-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Ok. I thought I was just a weird/bad mom. Because at 10 months, Dallas still was not sleeping through the night. All of the ladies at church, (except my good friend Jenna who went through it too,) gave me the appalled/disgusted look that I couldn't just let my baby cry it out to sleep. Dallas usually wakes up every 2-3 hours, sometimes more, and wants to nurse. If I didn't he would just cry. I tried "letting him cry it out" but either Eric would pick him up or I would just give in and nurse. Then the one night I went to our living room to do it so Eric wouldn't have to be completely sleep deprived, Dallas and I both ended up sick. So I thought there has to be a better way than making my baby cry out for me for hours on end till he's sick and being a walking mommy zombie waiting for that magical moment to happen!!

So I searched the web for a couple of hours when I finally stumbled upon this book. At first I was hesitant to even consider it, but I read up on the author and the reviews for this book and I decided to go for it. What is it going to hurt? Who new hundreds of other mommies felt the same way I did about the baby. (She also is a co-sleeping mommy herself so that was also a plus!)

And can I say after only 2 days of following this books step-by-step guidelines, I have cut Dallas' nightly wakings in half!! YAY! I am just giddy on sleep.

Seriously if you are having any problems with babies sleeping habits, newborn to toddlers she has step by step things to try. All she asks for is consistency, flexibility, and real expectations. It works!!! I know I probably sound like an infomercial, but hey I am so grateful for this book.

I bought mine from amazon. It is very easy reading and has lots of ideas to try. I hope everyone finds it as helpful as I did.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071381392/elizabethpantley

I am so happy.

Signed-

A Mommy who got 4 straight hours of sleep

Utah Trip Jan 2009

2009-02-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from our Utah trip! Enjoy!

Dallas Loves his Puppies!

2009-02-23T13:36:00.001-08:00

Dallas loves to play with our puppies! He has figured how to get them to play with him!! He just laughs and laughs!! Live. Laugh. Love. We love our sweet little boy!

Time flies when you're having fun!

2009-02-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.

Well in January, Dallas and I got to go to Utah to visit our Family. It was nice to be around everyone. All of the cousins were attached to Dallas. They had so much fun playing with him. Of course it went by way too fast and we didn't get to do everything or see everyone we wanted. But we still enjoyed spending time with our family. I have pictures, I have just been to lazy to post them.

Right now Dallas and I are just taking it easy. The weather can't seem to make up its mind...Last week it was in the high 70s, this week it has been rainy and in the 50s. So we haven't been able to go on our walks much.

We did get to go to Disneyland last week, just the two of us. The weather was really nice, and we did everything in Fantasy Land, and a couple of other rides in less than 3 hours. February is the perfect time to go to Disneyland!! Oh and they reopened one of my favorite attractions...the Sleeing Beauty Castle. Just as a remebered it with some new Digital effects.

Anyway, not much else to report. So take care everyone!

Where to begin......

2009-01-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Ok. seriously so much happened over Christmas break...so I guess I will start with Christmas. we had a lot of fun. eric and I kept up my families tradition of giving new jammies on Christmas Eve. It was fun to watch Dallas open his first present. (of course he was more intersted in the box and paper than the actual present.) the next day we opened our presents and I think Dallas got a little overwhelmed with us trying to get him to open more presents.

Later that evening, my brother David and his wife Cicely came over for dinner and fun. And we had a lot of fun. They brought mario cart to play and Eric finally had a good opponent for Dr. Mario. When we had all played and enjoyed the food. David and Cicely left....and then Dallas started to crawl!! I couldn't believe it I was so excited. I knew he was going to do it eventually..I guess it is just one of those milestones that made my heart happy. He is all over the house now. Now I have to start baby proofing. Eric had started getting a cold, and it finally started to go away around New Years, then poor Dallas got it. He was so congested and just so sad that when he would cry he would fling his head backwards, the poor little guy. That's when I noticed them! TEETH. Dallas was getting teeth. Not just one at a time like I was hoping, but his two front top teeth. Then I noticed one on the bottom, no two on the bottom!! Poor guy had a cold, and was getting four teeth all at once!!! Now the count is up to six. At least his cold is almost gone!!

All in all we had a great break. It was so nice to have Eric all to ourselves, even if he was sick. It was nice to be a family. I will be very grateful once his school is over with so he won't feel guilty about devoting some family time to us.

Enjoy the Slideshow!

I tried to upload the video of him opening his first present, but it was taking all day, so I will upload it on another post!

Take care.

Christmas at the Grover's

2008-12-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

I finally got pictures up of my decorations...now that it is one week till Christmas. I really enjoyed decorating this year, don't know why, but I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas!

This is my little Christmas tree. I finally found a star small enough for it! I was so excited!

Here is my Nativity scene that was given to me by Pete and Trenna (bro and sis-in-law) when I was first married.

This is one of the decorations I used to put up as a child! Mom was nice enough to give one to me!

This is another childhood decoration! I love that they are caroling in front of a church! Cute little mice!

These are our Christmas stockings-Eric, Mine, Dallas, and of course one for the dogs!

I really like this decoration. At night it gives just enough glow in the living room. I almost want to leave it up all year!

Well that's it! We hope everyone has a great holiday! We love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

So this year we went to our good friends the Christensen's; Jenna, Dustin, and their 2 yr old Daniel's for Thanksgiving. It was actually a lot of fun! I made the turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes, and my friend Jenna made the potatoes, gravy and a yummy apple pie! We had a lot of fun. Dallas ate a little bit off of the table, but wasn't feeling too happy. Poor boy has had a stuffed up nose for a couple of weeks now.

This is our beautiful tablescape! Jenna has really pretty dishes she got out just for our meal!

This is Daniel...he was just having fun!

My cute little Dallas in his high chair, anxiously awaiting the feast!

My first Turkey! It was really yummy!

Dallas crashed on Daddy! And Daddy loved every minute of it!!!

This a picture of my very good friend Jenna and her little boy Daniel with Dallas and me! we had a lot of fun with them at Disneyland too! Now they have an annual pass, so we will be able to go a lot more!!! (you can't see it here but Jenna is 6 months pregnant with boy #2!! Yay we are really excited!)

It was nice to have Eric home for a few days with nothing really to worry about. We went to Disneyland on the Wednesday before and the Friday after! Both with a set of differen't friends! It was crazy on Friday. We talked to a couple of people and they all said that Thrusday was pretty much empty. So maybe we will have to go on Thanksgiving day next year! We will see. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Lots of love from us!

Just having fun.

2008-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

Dallas is 7 months old now and starting to become very mobile. He will push him self up and face the direction he wants to and start to roll. It is pretty funny..and he is getting really fast. He loves it, until he gets stuck somewhere. He reminds me of a turtle sometimes cause he just can't seem to go anywhere when he's stuck!

These are just the latest random pics I have taken of my handsome little boy!

I love his face expression in this one! Just funny.

This one is at Disneyland on the King Arthur Carrousel....We were there with my brother David and his wife Cicely.

He was pretty happy until it started to move, then he got scared and started to cry. Poor little guy!

This is my favorite pic of him right now. Just so happy and content. He is such a good baby...now only if he would start sleeping through the night!

Jazz fan!

2008-11-08T14:59:00.001-08:00

My cute little bug in his new Jazz shirt so he and Dad can watch the games together! Go Jazz!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dallas is a little Mummy...His shirt says "I love MUMMY!"

Cheesein' it for Mom!

Cute little Mummy hat! His head is so big it barely fits him!

Cute little Halloween socks!! (great for Goth day at Disneyland too!!)

Dallas being Dallas part 2

2008-10-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

Ok. Here is the third video, for some reason it didn't post with the other ones.

Dallas loves using his voice!! We talk and play all day long! He is such a happy baby!

Dallas being Dallas

2008-10-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of cute videos of Dallas.

This first one his Dallas trying peas for the first time. As you can see he is not a big fan...but he ate them pretty good once I mixed them with his rice cereal! So cute!

This is just a fun one of him playing. He is getting better at sitting up...but if distraced he loses his balance.

Well I have some more cute pics but those will have to wait for another time...

The Big 25!!

2008-10-11T15:44:00.001-07:00

So on October 5th I turned 25. Not as scary as I thought it would be. I had a couple of friends tell me they cried when they turned 25. I however thought about it and realized my life is pretty much what I want it to be...(I, of course, would love to see my handsome hubby more often!) And 25 really isn't that bad!! My insurance rates will go down and now I can rent a car! Whoo hoo. No more exciting age-events to look forward to until I turn 65 and can use my Senior Citizen Discount...ha ha, oh well.

Anyway I had a pretty good day. Eric, of course, was busy studying hard for a test he had on Monday. So Dallas and I met up with my brother David at Disneyland, had lunch and just hung out. It was really crowded. Miss Mylie Syrus was having her sweet 16 B-day bash, so we only rode one ride. I still had a lot of fun. I think David did too. He got to hold Dallas. He didn't believe me about the strong grip Dallas has until we went down the hill of Pirates! Dallas was also great. He usually has really bad stranger anxiety, but he let David hold him until he got tired!

Eric as usual got me some great gifts. A couple more books and another cooking tool!! I love my sweetheart. Here are a couple of pics from that day!!

The green sweater is from my Mom...Thanks mom!!

I love how much he smiles for me!!

Just for fun...

2008-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

So nothing really new or exciting is happening here...so I decided to post some random fun pictures we have taken.

Here is a picture of Eric and Dallas on the motorcyle. We are trying to sell it because although it requires little fuel, it just is too expensive to try and have out in California. We are both a little sad, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Here is just a random picture of Dallas smiling!! He does that all of the time now. And laughs! My goodness this boy is sooo much fun to play with!

This is my little Grover Monster playing with his Grover Monster!!! This is his favorite soft toy because of the big pink nose. He just loves to chew on it!

This picture makes me laugh! First he is really becoming a good eater. Yes a lot of it ends up on his, face, hands, legs, well, everywhere. But what I laugh about are his eyes! He has chameleon eyes! Depending on what he's wearing they look brown, blue, or green!!! Mine do the same thing, but not so drastically!! Sooo darn cute!

Dallas and his new Jumper

2008-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Eric found this jumper for Dallas because he loves to jump on us. At first I wasn't sure about it, but Dallas sure does love it! It's great to give me about 15 minutes to do something while he entertains himself!

He is still growing like a weed! He weighs 16.8 Lbs and is 27 in long! He has finally learned to roll over (haven't caught that on video) and he also can sit up on is own (if he isn't fully reclined). It's so much fun to watch all of his milestones!

Just Dallas

2008-09-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Dallas is seriously growing like a weed! He is 15.5 lbs (50 percentile) and 26 in long!! (75 percentile) Here are just some random pics of him being cute!

Dallas discovering his toes!

Snuggling with Abbie

Watching basketball with daddy!

Giving mommy kisses

Dallas Eating Cereal

2008-09-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to record Dallas eating rice cereal. He has been doing really well with it. And this time was priceless. He would get mad everytime I took the spoon away. Enjoy!

P.S. I will post new pics of him rally soon!

What is wrong with people?

2008-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Ok. This is just a random complaint of how disgusted I am with people. So I love going to Disneyland. It is seriously one of my all time favorite things to do and has been as long as I can remember. Right now they are "re-doing" It's a Small World. When I first heard this I thought they were going to add my current decor, upgrade the sound system, etc. Nope they are redoing it because the average Tourist is now 40lbs heavier than when walt first designed it. So the boats were scaping the bottom and geting stuck. Come on people. seriously, they have to redo a ride becuase obesity is becoming such a huge problem? I am in shock.

Antoher thing that really starting upsetting me was seeing a trend of lost children at Disneyland. Now that I have Dallas I have to go to the BabyCenter to feed him. So I see the kids that get broght in. I don't understand how people "lose" their children? One Disney cast member told me a story of a little girl that was lost. A new trend is to write the parents cell phone number on the childs arm...in case it gets lost. So they called the mom and dad and told them where they were. They waited 45 min, and tried again. Turns out mom and dad were in line at Splash Mountain and didn't want to have to wait again. Seriously what is wrong with people??? Too busy for your own kids. And what is up with writing your number on them. Are they planning on losing them?

Ok that's all the venting I haveright now. Love to everyone!

Dallas Blessing Pictures!

2008-08-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Isn't he just a little studmuffin? Getting these cute smiles was more of a challenge than we had hoped for. We went to JCPenney because I got these coupons in the mail. Free sitting fee and sheets for $3, Awesome, It was a little hot, and I waited to change him into is Blessing outfit. By the time I did this and the photographer was ready, he was not happy. So the lady told us it wasn't busy at all that day. She told us to go walk around the mall and come back when he was happier. Well it just so happened that the movie theater was right across the hall. So we said what the heck we were here and wanted to see a couple of movies that were playing. Anyway...Dallas got a good nap, and got to eat good!! Happy baby=Great pics!!!

I totally love his smile in this!

Big beautiful eyes!

Cute as a button!

Another fun day at the Beach!!

2008-08-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

We had another fun day at the beach. It was still too cold to get in the water, but we let Dallas play in it with his feet. He is a California boy for sure!!

He had so much fun!

I just love this picture! His cute little feet covered in sand!

4th of July

2008-07-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

So I told you I would post about the 4th of July. We went to Disneyland with my brother David and his wife Cicely. Although we had a lot of fun hanging out, the fireworks, and being there on the 4th was a little disappointing. Eric and I had gone last year to Disneyland just for the fireworks, and thought that it was so neat that we wanted to make a tradition of it while we live in California. However this year was a mad house. We waited like 3 hours in a "sitting section" which turned out to be standing which wasn't that big of a deal, but there were really tall people in front of us. Then the fireworks only lasted like 10 minutes and they cancelled them because of wind. So we pretty much wasted time there. Not to mention it seemed so chaotic and disorganized. I seriously wouldn't doubt if I fight broke out somewhere. I thought we had more pics of the day but I guess not. So here is one with Dallas and his uncle David, and one with him and his aunt Cicely.

Dallas' First Day at the Beach

2008-07-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Dallas totally loved the beach when he was awake! The water was too cold to get in, even though we are supposed to be having record hi's here is California. So we just put his feet in the water. Enjoy!

(sorry about the angle!)

Our trip to Utah

2008-07-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy to say the least. We went to utah to visit our family and bless Dallas the last week of June. It was both fun and disappointing. I guess it is easy to take family for granted.

We decided to break the drive into two days for Dallas since he hates his car seat. He did really well. Only one little disaster. We had stopped at a gas station in Las Vegas to fill up. I decided it would be a good time to change Dallas. I went inside to find no changing table. I figured no problem I would just change him in the car. well to make a long story short, he had a blow out. The boy just kept pooping!! And it ran off of the changing pad and got onto the backseat of the car. Thank goodness for scotchguard because it came right up.

We made it to mesquite and decided to take advantage of the pool! Dallas loved it, he wasn't too happy in the beginning because his mama was caking on the sunscreen and hat so he wouldn't burn. Once we got the hat off and in the water he was having a blast!! Me too. Once we got back into the hotel and rinsed him off he crashed. Poor little guy wore himself out.

When we made it to Utah we visited with Eric's family first then mine. It just seemed like the week flew by! We didn't get to do everything we wanted or see everyone we wanted. That was the disappointing part. Oh well. Such is life. you win some and you lose some.

We did the belssing at my mom and dad's home. I just thought it would be easier and it was really nice. The belssing was beautiful. Eric always does such a great job giving blessings!! He was nice enough to write down what he could remember of it, because I had a hard time hearing it since it was so darn crowded!

Well that is about it for now. I will post more pics from our 4th of July day.
Take care everyone!

Bath Time!

2008-06-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Ok. Dallas seriously loves taking baths! He loves his bathtub and it makes our nighttime routine pretty easy since it makes him happy and wears him out at the same time!!

Baby Announcement

2008-06-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Fun, Fun, Fun

2008-06-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well the last couple of weeks have really flown by. My twin sister Melissa got to come out and visit for a few days and that was a lot of fun! I really miss being lose to my family, but life is full of sacrifices.

While Melissa was out here we got to celebrate Dallas' 6 week b-day by going to Disneyland. It was a lot of fun, and Dallas actually did really well. Better than I thought he would do! About half way through the day, Eric ended up twisting his ankle. The pain was so severe that he fainted. It was one of the scariest things I think I have ever witnessed. Anyway, we got the full Disneyland first aid treatment. A nurse, a whole bunch of cast members who made a perimeter around us so we wouldn't be disturbed, a trip to the first aid center, and a complimentary wheel chair.
Although we didn't get to do everything we wanted to, it was an exciting day.
I also got to see the Sex and the City movie with my sister. I know kind of trash but I saw all of the episodes and wanted to see how they were going to end it all. Needless to say I was disappointed. It was way to sad. On top of already being a little postpartum emotional, and sad that I only had a couple of days with Melissa, I was very sensitive and very cry-y the rest of the day.

All in all I had a lot of fun! And I have lost all of my pregnancy weight. I don't know what I have done to lose it...maybe climbing the stairs several times a day to change dirty diapers. Who knows!!

4 Weeks Old

2008-05-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Dallas is 4 weeks old today! I can't believe how fast it went by!
We had a rough start.

Week 1
Dallas had infant impaction...otherwise he hadn't gone poop since we left the hospital so the Dr. (the one I didn't like) told us to give him prune juice..so much for waiting to introduce the bottle! The first pediatrician we went to I couldn't understand at all, I think he was from Nigeria. The appointment was suppose to be for his one week check up and for his circumcision. We were the first ones there but didn't get called back for at least 20 min after I filled out of the paper work. The exam rooms were extremely cold, so cold that Dallas's feet and hands turned blue. He gained back all of his birth weight plus a half of an oz. Weighing in at 6 lbs 15 oz. When I asked if the was going to do the circ, he told me to ask the front office. He sent me out instead of waiting until the exam was over. The front office said that they never scheduled the circumcision. They were extremely rude about the situation. They informed me that the misunderstanding about the appointment was my fault not in any way theirs. I told them it took me 45 min to just get to his office and would be easier for me and an infant if we could get it done that day. They were not willing to work with me, and I don't even know what the Dr said about the exam. I left the office crying...don't they know to be nice to new moms. I was also still getting used to breastfeeding.

Week 2
Eric had to go back to school which was really hard for me, even though both my parents were there to help, Eric usually didn't get home until around 10 pm every night. I found an office that is only 2 miles away from my house, and I can understand the dr! Yay! a win-win situation. Not that the children's Dr's are in short supply I am just on Medi-cal (California's version of medicaid) So only a few Dr's accept it. Dallas was a healthy baby and had gained more weight and grown an inch. 7 lbs 3 oz 21 in long. The Dr. performed the circ, I didn't have to be there to watch, he did an exam and we went home. Although Dallas had a rough few days he handled it really well. We survived. My mom and dad had to leave and it was really sad. My mom had helped so much. I think I cried the rest of the day after she left. It takes becoming a mom to truly appreciate what your own has done for you. I was still having trouble feeding, my nipples started to bleed and Dallas drank some of it. i was turning my baby into a vampire!

Week 3
The day before we had to go back to the Dr for a follow up, I noticed what looked like small canker sores on Dallas's mouth. At first I questioned it, I asked my mom and she said it wasn't normal as far as she knew. I knew deep down what it was, because after all I was the Valedictorian for my Dental Assisting school. So we went to the Dr the next day and he confirmed it. Dallas has Thrush. I was so devastated I know it is common in children but why my baby. (I'm sure every mom asks that question when there child gets sick!) We got a presciption that I have to give to him 4X a day. (seriously, 4X?) And the symptoms seemed to be getting better. The plus side is he gained almost a full pould! 8 lbs 2 oz.

Week 4
I got to celebrate my first mother's day and take him to church for the first time. The only thing that bugged me is every one thought he was a girl. How Rude! Finally able to feed with out the cracking, bleeding, and just blaine out balling...by me! He still has thrush so the Dr gave us another presciption. He gained 3 oz, but grew an inch and a half! 8 Lbs 5 oz 22.5 in long. I still am not used getting up every 2-2.5 hours to feed, but I am sure I will eventually. I seem to be getting more done around the house, although now I am having problems with my hip and I am limping around. He finally slept in his crib for longer than 45 min. He actually slept for 4 hours, although they weren't consecutive, It was nice to be able to cuddle with Eric. Oh, and I dyed my hair dark brown! Still; not used to only one color!

Well that is all for now. I will still keep you all posted. Sorry this is such a boring entry, it is just hard when time is limited!

Hugs and Kisses!

And Baby Makes Three....

2008-05-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

So here is how it all happened.

As you all know we had decided that we wanted to be induced so we could "control" the situation...being far away from the hospital, wanting my doc to deliver etc. Well with my luck that is not how it happened.

On Monday I had my final doctors appt. I had dilated now to a 3 and was still 100% effaced. So my doc assured me that we would still be on for induction on Thursday. On Wednesday, even though I was feeling pretty tired I decided to do some last minute cleaning thinking it would be easier for my mom to keep things tidy if they were already in there place. At around 4 PM I started to get contractions. But never were they really regular. When Eric got home about 5, I joked with him and said we may be going tonight to the hospital. My contractions started to get stronger and were about 7-10 mins apart. Lasting about 45 seconds each. My doctor had told me not to go to the hospital until they were 5 minutes apart lasting 1 minute. At 8 I told Eric I was hungry and just wanted something fast and easy to eat, so we went and got fast food, Mcdonalds actually.

I ate my dinner and by this time it has been about 45 min since I felt my last contraction so I figured things would just go as planned for the next morning. So I asked Eric if he wanted to go on a walk with me, the dogs needed to go out anyway and I figured it would be nice for them since they would be locked up in our kitchen all day the next day. I decided that I also wanted to try out our stroller. So we walked around our complex for about 15 minutes than went back inside. I sat down on the couch and started to relax. All of a sudden I felt something pop in my stomach. So I ran to the bathroom, I thought maybe I was sick from the food. I sat down on the toilet, (I know this is a bit descriptive) and I started gushing liquid out. Eric asked if I was ok, and I told him that I thought my water had broken. He ran in and I stood up over the toilet and it was still running out. Eric said that he was pretty sure that this time it really was my water. So we quickly tried to get all of the last minute things together. By this time my contractions were coming on full force and I was in tears the entire time. Eric put eveything in the car, and put some towels down in the back seat for me.

We were finally off, but just as we got to on the interstate, it was bumper to bumper at 9 PM! We finally figured out why, they had closed it down for construction! Just my luck. I was screaming and crying because as I had mentioned earlier the hospital is a good 15 miles away. So Eric got on the shoulder and started driving so he could exit. We finally made it off and Eric was trying to get our Navigation system to work to find another route to the hospital. Mean while I am in the back in full blown labor screaming that this would be my only baby. I told Eric not to worry about stopping at the red lights if it was clear, I was dying and figured if a cop saw us driving at 90 mph in a 45 zone it would get some attention and we would be escorted to the hospital...no such luck? Where the heck are the police when you need them? Finally we were getting closer and Eric yelled back at me that there was a bump coming up. Well the bump turned out to be railroad tracks that started a hill, so Eric hit them going pretty fast it felt like a scene from a movie and when the car landed I had a very painful contraction start, I was ready to give up.

Finally we get to the hospital about an hour later, Eric gets his security badge and we get up to the labor and delivery floor, where someone tells Eric that they will be right with us. I am in so much pain from the contractions that I just sit on the floor and basically start screaming. A nurse comes out of another room and asks if I am ok. And I just look at her and think "here's your sign!" She gets me in a wheelchair and takes me to a room and gets me all set up. I started begging at this point for some sort of pain relief, but they said the baby wasn't active enough to give me anything. So i start balling some more. I couldn't concentrate on anything and I was having a hard time breathing. The nurse did the exam and I was at a 5. They asked if I wanted an epidural. I've decided that the people here weren't very bright. Didn't I just ask for some pain relief. So A very rude nurse comes in and puts an iv on the side of my wrist and I started having a contraction. It was so painful that I thought I was going to die. I couldn't breathe and told Eric I just wanted to be put under. The nurse started snapping at me and said you have to breathe and hold still otherwise you won't be able to get an epidural at all. I seriously wanted to hit her!

So finally all of the liquids that I need for the Epidural have gone into me and the anesthesiologist comes in. by this time my contractions are coming one right after another. I couldn't sit upright, So I had to lay on my side in a curled up position. All of a sudden I start pushing. I couldn't control it. It was my bodies natural response. So the nurse checks me. I was at a 9.5! I had only been there for and hour the anesthesiologist had only put the tubing in and hadn't given me anything. he said oh well I'm already this far, at least you will be comfortable while you push the baby out! Oh did I mention the entire time the doc is giving me the epidural, he is quizzing Eric on the anatomy of the skin layers...not exactly what I want to hear right now, but I think it was calming for Eric! The effects of the epidural set in and I tell the Dr. He was my hero, and told Eric that he should be an anesthesiologist, and every women would love him!

The on call Dr, Dr. Saenz gets there and tells me he was shocked how fast my labor was, he said when they first called when I was at a 5 he figured it would take another 6 hours or so. He goes and "scrubs in" (gets ready for us non-doctors :)) and when he found out Eric was a medical student he let him do the same, but told him that if something went wrong he was going to push Eric aside. He has the nurse give me a pitocin drip because I cannot feel my contractions now, thank goodness. And he tells me that it looks like I will be just fine and doesn't think I will need an epsiotomy! Yay! Well I start pushing, and the baby's head starts to crown, and he tells me he has to do a little cut. Well Dallas's head was a lot bigger than we all thought. So I ended up getting a diagonal episotomy, (sooo Painful in the healing process.)

I pushed a total of 45 minutes, and our sweet Dallas Richard was born. We couldn't decide on the name until the next day. At least he came on the day we planned.

All in all it was a good experience. My doctor told me I was just made to have Babies. Relatively easy pregnancy, and a very fast labor!

Dallas Richard Grover

2008-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Introducing Dallas Richard Grover

Born April 17, 2008 at 12:32 AM

6 lbs 14.5 oz 20 in

(Details to come...)

38 Weeks

2008-04-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. At my last Dr's appt my Dr checked me and told me I was already starting to dilate and I was 100% effaced, and he told me I was going to probably go into labor 2 weeks early. After a lot of talking Eric and I decided that inducing my labor would be the best thing for both his schedule and to insure that we got the Dr we wanted and trusted to deliver our baby boy. So I am scheduled to be induced on April 17! Yay! IT is only 10 days earlier than my due date. Only 1 week away.

Well this past Sunday, we had stayed up late just watching movies. About 30 min after we had gone to bed, I started feeling what I thought were contractions. Intense pain radiating from my back to my lower groin. I turned to watch the clock, and they were consistent for about 30 mins, so I heard Eric stir and asked if he was awake. He said ya..(I think he was half awake.) I told him that I thought I was having contractions, He quickly sat up. After another 20-25 minutes the pain seemed to lessen, so I figured I wasn't in labor. But by now, I was wide awake and couldn't find a comfy position. So I went downstairs to watch TV. At about 5 Am I got up to go potty. I settled back down on my couch and dosed off. Probably 30 minutes later, I woke up in a puddle. I started to panic because I didn't know if my water had broken, my puppy Stacia had vomited or peed near me, or if I wet the bed! I touched it and smelled it. It didn't smell like anything I recognized. So I went upstairs to by bedroom and told Eric. He literally jumped out of bed and dashed down the stairs. Since my couch is a dark brown, we really couldn't tell what color it was. Eric blotted it with a paper towel and it was light yellow. So it could have been any of the things I just listed. So he got online to look up his medical stuff. We did a couple of tests that were listed and both came out positive, so he figured that more than likely my water had broken. I still wasn't sure and got a little anxious. He said not to worry we had time and to go and everything I needed ready while he showered and got ready.

I told Eric that before we left I wanted to take a picture of me on my last day of being pregnant. My not so glamorous shot at the top of the page. So finally we were off, and just with our luck we hit traffic on a Sunday in Cali. Not pleasant. We finally made it to the hospital. It took us a few minutes to figure out just where to park. We get inside the hospital and Eric has to leave ID and get a security pass. All visitors have to have this. You can't get anywhere with out one. You have to use it on the elevator. So we make it to the Labor and Delivery floor, I tell the nurse that I think my water has broken, and they start my check-in procedure. They give me the paperwork I need, Take me to a room, give me a gown, and then hook my tummy up to monitors. Although I started to feel some light cramps I felt pretty comfortable. The nurse came in after about 15 minutes of monitoring. She said the baby looked great, but I wasn't having any contractions. So she then did some sort of test to check if there was any amnio fluid present. She said usually when the water does break there is pooling near the cervix but she didn't see any. She sent it to the lab and we waited. After about 30 min of me being somewhat patient and Eric pacing the room (I finally turned on basketball for him to watch, he was more nervous than me!) The nurse came in and told me it was just a false alarm.

I didn't really know how to feel. I was a little relieved that I had a more time to prepare but disappointed because I am ready to not be pregnant anymore. So we went home. I think Eric was really disappointed. He was pretty quiet the rest of the day.

The good news is that now, I have at most 1 week left until my little guy is here. So If I don't write again until he comes you all know why! Thanks for everyone's love and support!

35 Weeks

2008-03-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well I only have 33 days left until the due date! I am so excited. I remember women telling me that I just would want the pregnancy to end during the last month, and I thought no, I would want to enjoy every minute of it. While I still have some of that thought in my head, I am ready, at least Physically, to have my baby. I am sick of being uncomfortable. But I guess it is a catch 22: I want the baby to come, but feel like I am still not ready to be mom, or that the house isn't in order, etc. Just normal worries I am sure.

We saw the Dr. yesterday, and after doing his routine measurments he thinks that the baby will end up only being about 7 lbs! Sigh of relief. After the last ultra sound saying he was in the 90th percentile for weight, I was worried that I would have a huge baby like Eric was. (his mom actually carried him 42 weeks so that is why he was 11lbs!) So we are still on schedule. At this point we are debating whether or not to have our Dr. induce the pregnancy. He is from a large clinic and may not be on call when I go into labor, so that means some Dr. I have never met would deliver him. Also my neighbor had my Dr as her on call Dr, and he was great she said. It would also be nice to work around Eric's schedule so if he was at school I wouldn't be home alone waiting for him to drive from school (at least an hour if traffic is decent). But at the same time I kind of wanted to experience going into labor naturally. All the things to be thinking about. I guess it is a good thing I am not working anymore! LOL

We have our bedroom/baby room already to go. We decided to put the crib and changing table in our Master Bedroom (since it is huge) so that when we have company they can have their own privacy. It actually turned out nicer than I thought it would. Still plenty of room to walk around, and my glider and ottoman fit great too. I am excited to use evnerything. I will have to take pictures of the bedding! It is really cute. It is Classic Pooh and is sage green and cream. Perfect colors I think for either a boy or a girl.

Well nothing much else to report. Eric is on Spring Break this week so it will be really nice to spend one last week of just the two of us before our twosome becomes a threesome! Love you all!

34 Weeks-On bedrest

2008-03-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

So the last couple of weeks has been up and down. On Monday night I started getting severe abdominal pains, they weren't coming and going so I knew they weren't contractions. So I panicked called my mom and asked if it was normal, she said it can be but to call my Dr. for sure. So after debating exactly what to do (I hate calling dr's especially when I am emotional!) Eric called the dr. and of course he wanted to talk to me. After probably 50 questions he said it sounded like the baby had dropped and was putting undo pressure on my pelvis which can cause similar type of pain. So he told me to take a hot bath, do hot and cold compresses, and take some tylenol. If after an hour of doing these things the pain hadn't lessened or it got worse to come in to the hospital and get checked out. Luckily the pain went down enough for me to get some rest. The next morning I woke up and the pain seemed more severe than the night before. When I would breathe in the pain would radiate. So I tried to stay calm. I did the same things that the dr had told me to do the night before since that helped with the pain. This time the pain wasn't getting any worse. So I called my dr.'s office and he told me to come in. He checked me and the baby out. Said my cervix was still hard, the baby was fine. So he examined the sight of the pain. Turns out "grover monster's" head is putting a lot of pressure there just like the other dr had thought and it is stretching some ligaments which I guess because of there placement isn't good so to avoid tearing, he put me on bedrest for the week, gave me some pain medication, and is going to reevalutae me on Monday.

After being forced on bedrest, I didin't realize just how fatigued my whole body was. everytime I would try and get up to do normal tasks I couldn't. I just wanted to lay down and sleep (that my have been due partly because of the meds). Even today I felt good enough to actually dry my hair after I showered and thought maybe I could go out to buy groceries, but I am just pooped. And the pain isn't getting any better and I doubt going back to work having to lean over while assisting the dentist will be good for me anyway. So I think when I go back to him on Monday I am going to express my concerns. I was only scheduled to work 2 more days this months because I took the last week off for Eric's spring break, and I think I just want to be done with work. I don't think it is good for me to try and commute 2 hours a day as tired as I am, and being in so much pain. I just feel like a big baby. I don't know why. I know I am pregnant, but I just didn't want to be one of those whiny pregnant girls that complained about every little thing. I guess I have done pretty good. Only 6 weeks left. So we will see what happens on Monday!

32 Weeks

2008-03-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

So we had our second ultrasound on Friday. We got some interesting/exciting news. Our litle guy is doing great. Everything looked good as far as the ultrasound technician could tell. So I asked out of curiousity just how big my little guy was after she had taken all of the measurements. Turns out he is really big, 5lbs to be exact (90th percentile for his age in the womb, WOW!). So now I start to freak out just a little bit, ok alot. At the beginning of my pregnancy, after having my exam to make sure everything was okay, my Dr. told me to keep my weight gain on the lower end because I would want a smaller baby (9 lbs would be pushing it) because my tailbone is pointing up into the birthing canal and this would cause some problems. So I have 8 weeks left, I have only gained 20lbs, and baby still has a ways to go as far as growing. (at least I am all baby:)).

She told me as much as she "was able to." She hinted at the fact that he (my Doc) may want to induce me early since size wise little guy will be more developed. Okay. that is fine and all I really don't have a problem being induced as long as the baby is developed enough to come and because I really want my Dr. to deliver instead of someone else in the clinic, (he lets the Dad's "catch" the baby). But I kept having the feeling, or at least hoping that I would go into May and have a little more time to prepare, and less time in school for Eric, (his semester doesn't end until June 16). So right now I am just a little stressed about the whole ordeal. I know everything will work out the way it is supposed to. I will have Eric there every step of the way and with his education (can't believe how much med students learn their first year) he will be able to help me make the most educated descions when it comes to birthing. I see my doctor tomorrow, so I guess he will have a long string of questions to answer for me.

Here are the pics we got from the ultrasound, they are not as good as the first since he is sooo big and squished inside of me.

Baby Profile

Baby Face

31 Weeks

2008-02-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

So on Friday I was officially 31 weeks pregnant. It seems like I am getting bigger and bigger, but I don't know how much more I can stretch!! Arrgh!

This past couple of weeks has been interesting to say the least. I have been very moody. It is starting to feel like the beginning of my pregnancy again. One minute I am just fine, the next I am upset or angry at the most insignificant things, the next I just want to start crying. Maybe some of if has to do with the fact that Eric has pretty much been studying from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. I know he needs to study, but I need a little attention too. And I feel guilty for asking for any because I know how important doing well in Medical school is for him. Who knows why I am emotional, but I am.

Sleeping is getting much harder. I can fall asleep downstairs on our couch but when it is time to go to bed, my body wakes up walking up the stairs, taking out my contacts, and finally trying to find any somewhat comfortable position. So I go back downstairs so I don't disturb Eric, (Little Stacia, our youngest pup however wakes up and makes him let her downstairs, she has to be near me at night, a little bit clingy I think.) I try to read, watch TV, eat something light, anything that might make me tired again. But to no avail I end up not being able to fall asleep for several hours. Last night it was around 7, and we have to get around 8 to make it to church at 9. Yes I still went. I enjoy going to church, although I did leave after Sunday school. It hurts to sit on hard benches and seats for that long.

Sorry this is turning into a venting session, but I need some release. Next one will be more upbeat, I promise.

On to some good news. I have my next ultrasound this Friday, and I am so excited to see how different he looks from the first one I had! I can feel he is getting bigger and moving a lot. I hope he is very active during it!

Anyway, love to all!

Top pic 30 weeks, bottom pic 31 weeks

29 Weeks

2008-02-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

29 weeks! Only 11 to go! I had my Dr. appt yesterday. Everything is going well. The doctor said that I am having his favorite type of pregnancy, a boring one. So that is a good thing. I really like my doctor. When ever I have a question or a concern he really listens and helps me feel better about it. My questions yesterday I guess were typical questions according to him. I have been having pains all over and just wanted to confirm that everything was okay. My biggest concern was for the last few weeks, I have felt like I broke my tailbone, so it has made it difficult to do a lot of things, i.e. drive my 2 hour commute everyday, and sit through church on hard benches. I guess this pain or sensation is caused from the uterus putting pressue on the pelvis bone and in return the pelvis bone is putting pressue on the tail bone. Up side to this is it is very common in the last trimester. Down side, not much you can do that I am not already doing-using a donut pillow to sit on. I feel so silly. Sigh.

Little guy has been moving like mad this week. Eric finally got to feel what he does at night. My little one likes to do what feels like summersalts, and stretch and kick mommy. To Eric's shock, he asked if the baby did that everynight, when I told him yes, he was surprised that I got any sleep at all.

The ball for Eric joining the Navy is finally rolling. After getting over all of the humps, they have found a way to get around Eric's medcations and different conditions. So now we are just waiting for the bloodwork to be completed. This has been so stressful, at least on me. I think once he is offically in, I will feel much better knowing that we will be financially sound so that I can stay at home and just be a mom! YAY! I think God is trying to teach me patience during this pregancy.

I am still contemplating how long I want to continue working, especially with my commute. I have already cut my hours so I work 3 days a week, and now that it has been slow, the office manager cut them further so every other week I only work two days. This has been nice, but now I am starting to go a little insane. There is only so much I can clean in my house. And this being my first baby, I really don't know what else I need to do to prepare for the arrival of my sweet little guy.

All about Baby Grover

2008-02-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I am a little new to this. A friend of mine did this and I thought it would be a great way to share how we, (Eric, Baby, and me) are doing since we live far away from our families. So here it goes. I am not quite 29 weeks pregnant and both loving and hating it. At the moment I feel huge. I've never been a big person so having a basketball stick out in front is completely foreign to me. I do love bonding with my little guy. He is pretty mellow, but does have some attitude when he is uncomfortable. He really responds to Eric. Eric can come over rub my tummy and say hello, and my little guy gets very active. He is quiet in the mornings and starts up moving around 11 pm or so, right when I want to get some sleep. It has been very difficult to sleep for several reasons. Since I already have back issues, it is hard to get comfortable to begin with. Now that I am getting bigger if I try to lay on my side I get chest pains because the baby wants to move up and squishes my lungs. Mom I don't know how you were ever pregnant with twins!! Some nights my maternity pillow helps support everything; other nights it is more of a nuisance. So I am lucky to get 4-5 hours of consistent sleep. The women at work says that at least I'll be prepared when he comes.

We have already had one ultrasound and were so excited for it. We will be getting another one at the end of this month. All of my check-ups have been fine. The doctor says I'm having is favorite kind of pregnancy; a boring one. Which is a good thing. No problems with the baby. Well that is all for now. Until next time. We love and miss you all!

(Pictures from top to bottom-Profile of Baby Grover, me at 25 weeks, me at 28 weeks the most recent shot of Michelle and Baby Grover-I feel huge!)