the wingates

Oakland Temple

2014-06-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

Pictures from our trip to do initiatory work at the Oakland Temple. Adam and I took turns watching Eloise while one of us went in and did work in the temple. It was such a great time and it was even better that we were able to experience the spirit of the temple with Eloise there.

Letters to Eloise - 5 Months to 6 (June)

2014-06-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Eloise, you hit five months and were so much fun to have around. We got season passes to Great America and had a blast taking you. We definitely made use of those passes. You went on your first carousel ride and I think you quite enjoyed it. You really love being outside. You also spent a lot of time at parks and going on the swing for the first time. It was seriously the cutest thing seeing your huge smile when we would push you.

You and I started going on walks a couple times a week. It was great exercise for me and you just enjoyed getting out of the house for a little bit. We would walk to Target, to the park, and just around the neighborhood. This month you also went swimming for the first time. You LOVE LOVE LOVE being in water, and you look so stinking cute in a bathing suit with all your chubby rolls showing.

We took you to the Oakland Temple for the first time this month. Daddy and I took turns doing initiatory work. While one of us was in the temple, the other was outside playing with you on the temple grounds. It was such a beautiful day and we got lots of pictures of you at the temple.

This month you also went to your first birthday party for your friend Preston. You spent the majority of the time eating your feet though. We played at the playground and ate lots of yummy food.

We got to celebrate your daddy's first Father's Day!! It was such a relaxing day of going to church and spending time together as a family. We had dinner with our friend's the Harris'.

You got to try your first food this month! Rice cereal, and guess what... you LOVED it! No surprise there. You definitely like to eat your food. The first time I was feeding you the cereal I was trying to take a picture to document the occasion and you grabbed the spoon out of my hand and spilled cereal everywhere. It was all over your face and all over the floor. It was super funny though, and I'm glad I got a picture of that.

You also started rolling like crazy. That was your way of getting around. You would roll from one side of the room to the other. You also started becoming more interested in TV and watching for more than a few minutes at a time. I think you were just fascinated by the picture.

Each month I am so impressed by everything you are capable of doing and how much you grow and change. You are seriously our everything and we love you so much.

Tilden Regional Park

2014-06-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend 2013 we headed up to Berkely, CA to see the area. We visited Tilden Regional Park which was beautiful. We hiked around a botanical garden, had a picnic, and visited a small petting zoo. Afterwards we stopped at Cheeseboard Pizza for dinner. We took it up to an outlook and ate it while looking at the view of the entire Bay area. It was a great day.

Trip to Vegas and Mother's Day

2014-01-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

May 9, Eloise and I went to Vegas to stay with my family. Adam had to go to Ohio for a business training. So of course I didn't want to stay by myself for over a week, so we went to hang with my family. We had a lot of fun. Eloise is at an age where she could be a lot more interactive, so it was fun seeing my brothers play with her. We did a lot of shopping, spoiling little Eloise of course. Well grandma did a lot of spoiling. Even her Uncle Casey bought her a new outfit.

We happened to be there during my first Mother's Day. It was super sad to not have Adam there for my first real Mother's Day, but it was so nice to be able to spend it with my own mother. Casey and I got her some beautiful bouquets of flowers from Costco, and Adam had sent one to me a few days before. We had a delicious dinner, and for dessert Nathan made us warm melting chocolate cake and chocolate covered strawberries. My two FAVORITES!!

We also went up to St. George to visit my grandparents for the day. It was nice to see them, and to let Eloise be around them. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and talking about the old days. I love St. George. Some day when we are old and looking for a place to settle down, that is where I hope we will be. I have so many wonderful memories there from all of the trips we took there as a child. And I love love love the red rock. It makes the city seem even more beautiful with all of the colors.

Eloise and I headed back to California on May 21, and what an adventure that night turned out to be. I am just going to copy and paste my Facebook post from it, cause it is a lot to write down. "What a night last night. I get to the airport to head back to Cali, and my brother helps me bring my suitcases in to get them checked. I load up my first suitcase, it gets checked than I take Eloise out of her carseat so I can check the carseat and she has pooped everywhere. All of her clothes were on the suitcase that just got checked, so of course I am freaking out. I head to the bathroom to clean her up and spend 10 min scrubbing out her pants and trying to decide which would make me seem to be a worse mother, having my daughter wear no pants or pants that are soaking wet. So I went with the soaking wet. I had forgotten my baby carrier so I am trying to hold a baby, a diaper bag, and pull a carry-on through security. I finally get through security after they check every single bag of expressed milk I had (usually they only check the ones in the bottle) and I am heading down the escalator and my carry-on falls all the way down the escalator. Now I am racing to my gate cause I am super late by this time. Luckily the plane arrived a little late so I got onto my flight fine. Then the night starts to get better. Elle was an angel on the flight just like she usually is. We get to San Fran and see my wonderful husband after being apart for two weeks. We get to the car and load everything in and he gives me a bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of ice cold water, and he says I figured you would have a headache after the stressful airport trip, and I could have cried. That man knows me so well. So glad I am back with him."

What a crazy night that turned out to be, but it ended well.

Adam got to spend two weekends with our best friends the Drowns while I was in Vegas, so I am going to post some pics of the stuff he did while he was there.

Letters to Eloise - 4 Months to 5 (May)

2014-01-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

Eloise, after your crazy third month of life, things kind of settled down a little bit during your fourth. We still had some fun adventures though. We had a Cinco De Mayo party with some friends from the ward. You got to hang out with a bunch of your friends! There were so many girls born around the same time as you. It was so fun seeing you around all of those babies.

May 9, you and I headed back to Vegas to stay with Grandma and Papa Gorham, while daddy went to Ohio for a business training. We had lots of fun hanging out with your uncles and grandparents. We were there for 2 weeks! We sure missed your dad though. He got to see the Drown's while he was in Ohio. So I was super jealous of that. We also got to celebrate Mother's Day while we were in Vegas. It was super sad to not have your dad there for my first Mother's Day, but it was still super special, and I am so glad you were there with me. Also while we were in Vegas, we took a day trip up to St. George to go see Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Truman. You got to have lots of cuddle time with them, and you got your first real experience in grass! It was so fun watching you rub your hands through it. Our 2 weeks there flew by, and we eventually had to head back to California. What an experience that was. You had pooped and leaked all over your clothes and carseat, and all of your clothes were in the suitcase I had just sent through to be checked. So I had to go to the bathroom and scrub down your pants, put the wet pants back on you, and carry you through security and to the gate without a baby carrier. We luckily made it onto our flight and were able to see daddy after being apart for so long. It was a great reunion and you were so happy to see him, and vice-versa.

May 24 we did a day trip up to Tilden Regional Park up in Berkeley. It was so much fun. It was so nice being outdoors and letting you experience some of this beautiful world we have. We went through the Rose Garden there, had a picnic, and went to the little petting zoo they had. Than we ended the evening with some pizza from Cheeseboard, and ate it overlooking the entire bay. It's kind of sad to think that you won't remember any of these things, which is why I am so glad I am writing this all down for you, so you could know all of the stuff we did and experienced with you.

This month you started sleeping on your stomach. I almost had a heart attack when I woke up one morning to look at the monitor and you were on your stomach. Your dad and I ran in there so fast to make sure you were ok, and you were perfectly fine. You also started rolling EVERYWHERE!! That was how you got around was by rolling. Your hand never left your mouth. You ate your hand any chance you could get, and pretty much whatever else you could pick up and put in there. Every month you got so much more personality, and it was so awesome seeing you discover the world around you. You are seriously perfect little girl, and your dad and I love you so much.

Ashleigh's Graduation and Aubrey's Wedding

2014-01-07T22:35:00.000-08:00

April 24, we drove to Utah so we could be there for Adam's sister Ashleigh's graduation. It was a LONG drive. We left on a Wednesday night, stayed the night in Reno and left the next morning to drive the rest of the way. This was also our 4 year anniversary, and we got to spend it in a car. Hopefully our 5 year is a little better, but it was so worth being with family that weekend. We met up with Adam's family at Slab pizza, than headed up to West Jordan to stay with Adam's Aunt and Uncle. I got a terrible migraine that night and threw up, and didn't know if I would be able to get up the next morning for Ash's graduation, but I woke up feeling much better so I was able to go. We headed to Provo, and got to see her get her diploma. We walked around BYU afterwards and it was so nice to be back there. We really do miss that place. It is beautiful and it was an even more beautiful day. We went to Salt Lake to eat at Tucano's to celebrate Ash's graduation and Adam and mine's anniversary. We left straight from there to go to St. George. The next morning was Aubrey's wedding. We left Eloise with Casey, Nathan, and Chris while Adam and I joined all of my family for her sealing. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I am so grateful we were able to be there for it. I got to take pictures of the reception and the decorations were AMAZING!! It was so fun to take pictures of. It was also great to be around all of my family. This was the first time Eloise got to meet her great-grandparents on my mom's side, and a lot of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Here are the pictures from the events.

Eloise's Blessing Day

2014-01-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Eloise's blessing day was April 14, and it was a good one. She looked absolutely beautiful in her white dress. I got her dress from Zara, and made her headband and barefoot sandals. She seriously looked like an angel. We did her blessing in Vegas in my parents' ward, because it was much easier to get all the family together there. Adam's family came up from Arizona, and my Uncle Kenny, Aunt June, and some of their kids and their families came, and our great friend Tiffany Winder and her girls Lucy and Ruby came. Adam gave her a beautiful blessing. I recorded the audio so I could have it written down for Eloise. Those who stood in the circle were Adam, Larry, Tom, Matt, Marcus, Kenny, Jonathan, and Jared. Afterwards we all came back to my parents to eat. We had BBQ Pork sandwiches, salads, desserts, and other yummy food. It was nice to be surrounded by family celebrating my beautiful little girls special day. Here are the pictures from that day, and pictures of Eloise in her dress.

Picture Post (3 Month Pictures)

2014-01-07T21:56:00.001-08:00

Eloise's 3 month photo shoot, pictures of her bedroom, and some family pictures

Letters to Eloise - 3 Months to 4 (April)

2014-01-07T21:48:00.002-08:00

Eloise, month three was by far the busiest month we had had yet. In fact, so much went on that month that I have dreaded writing this post, and it is now almost 9 months later that I am writing your third month of life, so I hope I can remember everything we did.

You turned three months on March 28, 2013. I took your 3 month photos, and a couple days later we went with your dad to Lake Elizabeth and snapped a few pictures as a family. They were our first real family pics. March 31 you had your very first Easter! You got a new dress, a new book/toy, and some clothes!! Holidays get a lot funner when you have a kid to spoil. You got to experience your first General Conference. You mostly napped on us while we watched/napped. Trying to be awake during General Conference with a little infant is much much harder.

On April 11, we flew to Vegas. We had a crazy busy weekend. We hung out with mommy's family on Friday, and then on Saturday we got to go to Shanalei's wedding. You got to meet a lot of mommy's friends from high school. On Sunday, it was your day. You got blessed by your daddy on April 14, 2013. It was such a special day. Your dad's family came up from Arizona to be there, some of your mom's cousins, and aunt and uncle came, and also our good friend Tiffany Winder came with her girls (your friends) Lucy, and Ruby. Your dad gave you a great blessing. I got up and bore my testimony that day also. I don't do that very often since I get so scared being in front of a crowd, but I wanted everyone to know how special you are to me. You have changed everything about me. I could truly now feel the way Heavenly Father feels about each of us. We are all so special to Him, and he allows us to feel some of that by giving us children. I want you to know Eloise, that I have a testimony that our Father in Heaven lives. He is there for you whenever you need Him. He will listen to your prayers, and he will guide you through your trials. I'm so happy that I can now understand some of Heavenly Father's love, by watching you learn and grow. My love for you grows by leaps and bounds everyday. You are my everything, and I hope you always remember that. After the blessing, we headed back to the Gorham's house to eat some yummy food. We flew back to California the next day.

On April 20, we took you up to the city for the first time, but little did we know that it was not a good day to be up in the city. We met up with our friends the Evan's and their little boy Andrew and had lunch together. We were going to go to Golden Gate Park after that, but there was a lot of people everywhere we went. It was a day known as 4/20, and a lot of people that we don't agree with go to the park, and do some bad stuff. So we left quickly after realizing it, and headed back to our house and chatted and hung out with the Evans. It was a lot of fun talking and catching up with some of our friends from Utah. You had a lot of fun playing with Andrew.

On April 24, we started our drive to Utah for your Aunt Ashleigh's graduation. We were really dreading this drive cause it is a 12 hour drive, and we had never been in a car that long with you. But of course you were an angel as usual. We drove the first 4 hours that night, and stopped in Reno. We stayed at a pretty yucky hotel, than left the next morning to drive the rest of the way. This day was also your dad and mine's 4 year anniversary. We got to spend it driving in a car. We got all the way to Draper, UT and realized you had pooped, and it was everywhere. We had to pull over to the side of the road undress you and your dad held you while I wiped you down with wet wipes. It was disgusting. We made it to Provo and had dinner at Slab with your dad's family. We headed up to West Jordan and stayed with the Zobrists. The next morning we went to Ashleigh's graduation from BYU. We walked around BYU, then headed to Tucano's up in Salt Lake. We celebrated our anniversay, and Ash's graduation. It was delicious as usual. That night we drove down to St. George to be at my cousin Aubrey's wedding.

April 27, my cousin Aubrey got married to Logan Smith. Daddy and I went to their sealing in the St. George Temple, while your uncles watched you. It was a beautiful ceremony, and it was so fun being in there with all of our family. This is was the first time I had ever left you though. I was a little worried, but I knew you were in good hands. After the sealing, we headed to the reception. I got to take pictures of the reception for Aubs. They had it set up so beautiful. You hung out with Grandma most of the time, and got passed around all of the cousins. They all LOVED you. We headed back to Vegas that night and stayed there one more day than headed back to California. It was a whirlwind trip, but we made it through. You are pretty much an expert traveler by 3 months old.

Some memorable things that happened this month was you started laughing. It was the cutest thing ever!! You laughed when I sneezed. I would sneeze and it would scare you and you would start laughing. So than daddy and I would pretend to scare you and you would jump and start laughing, and it never got old. You also started rolling from your back to your front. Now you could roll both ways!

Letters to Eloise - 2 Months to 3 (March)

2013-08-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Eloise your second to third month really showed your wonderful personality. You started giving lots of smiles, and were such a happy baby! You also started sleeping 10 hours straight this month!! It was amazing. You had a very late bedtime. We put you down at midnight and then you slept in til like 10 the next morning. It worked great for us, since we slept that whole time with you. You have always had a hard time taking naps during the day. You would only nap if I held you, which I wish I had taken more advantage of, and not care so much about cleaning. But by the end of this month you had finally started taking a binki and when we gave you your binki before we put you down for a nap, you would put yourself to sleep. It was amazing.

I got thrush again and this was the worst case yet. It was so gross and extremely painful, so I decided to quit nursing you and decided I was going to exclusively pump. You still got the benefits of breastmilk and I finally got rid of my thrush. It was so weird but whenever you would nurse it would get so bad, and when I pumped it would disappear so it was really the only option or to switch you to formula, but that was an expensive option so I decided to pump. Luckily your dad's work gave us this AMAZING hospital grade pump for practically free. (We just had to pay the taxes on it) But holy cow was it a life saver. I would pump every 3 hours and had plenty of milk to feed you and enough to put some away to freeze.

This month you got to go to the eye doctor. Ever since you were born you had a little bit of a lazy eye, and we were really worried about it. You're dad has pretty terrible vision, and they said that the lazy eye may be an indication that you will have bad vision too. We went to the eye doctor and they said your lazy eye was barely noticeable and it would probably correct itself, and your vision was actually really good. Phew. You were so good while we were there. All of the doctors were in love with you. They thought you were the cutest thing ever.

We flew to Utah for a weekend trip. Daddy had to go out there for a recruiting event for work, and his company flew us out also. It was crazy busy. You were so good though. We seriously went from one house to the next to visit people. You got to meet your friends the Winders, the Bicks, the Altoms, the Larsons, and the Bryans. You also got to meet some of your daddy's extended family the Zobrists, and Lemmons. It was so fun getting to introduce you to all of our wonderful friends and family. It was sad it was such a short visit, but we had fun.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our usual corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and soda bread. We got you all dressed up cute and took pictures. You look really good in green.

The day before you turned 3 months you rolled over!! We were playing up in your room, and you were doing some tummy time and you were kind of rocking back and forth so I pulled out my camera cause I thought you might roll over and luckily I had my camera out cause you totally did. You are such a strong girl, and you were developing so quickly, that it kind of took us by surprise. We love you so much and are so grateful everyday to be your parents.

We ate at this yummy place called the Crepevine. It was amazing. I got a corned beef has scramble, and Adam and I shared a s'mores crepe.

Letters to Eloise - 1 Month to 2 (February)

2013-07-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Eloise your first to second month of life, was so much fun. I love that your daddy works so hard for us that I can stay home with you everyday. This second month of your life was much easier than the first. You started to learn how to sleep for long stretches at night. You were consistently sleeping about 7 hours straight and it was a Godsend. You only sleep with white noise. Daddy and I both downloaded apps on our phone with white noise, and whenever you get fussy, we would turn that on, and it would instantly soothe you, and calm you down. So every night we have that running so you can sleep really good.

We both still had thrush so that wasn't a lot of fun. I had to clean absolutely everything that your mouth had touched in boiling water so we could stop spreading it back and forth. I got rid of it for that whole second month, but you could not get rid of it. I put that medicine in your mouth after every feeding.

I had my postpartum checkup during this month and I had already lost all of my pregnancy weight plus some. I was very grateful for that. Luckily I didn't gain a ton of weight during the pregnancy though cause I was so sick, so I didn't have a lot to lose. I know I said it was easy to lose the weight, but really it was a lot of work. I lost that weight from breastfeeding you, and for some people breastfeeding comes very easy, but it did not for me. It was hard, and you wanted to eat every 2 hours on the dot, so I felt like all I did was nurse. Plus I wanted to start building up my milk supply so I could have some stored away so I would feed you, then when I would switch sides I would pump the side you just finished for 15 minutes, then would pump the other side after you finished. It was sooo much work! But I increased my supply greatly, and had plenty of milk to feed you.

You went on your first plane ride during this month. We got to fly to Vegas to go see Grandma and Grandpa Gorham, and your Uncles. You did so good on the flight. I nursed you as soon as we got on the plane, and you slept the rest of the way. We had so much fun visiting my family. They just loved you so much. It took you a couple days to get used to sleeping there, but you finally figured it out. I had to let you cry it out a few of the nights, but you finally adjusted and were back to sleeping your 7 hours. You were still so little and you still cried a lot so that took your uncles some getting used to. They didn't mind though, cause you were just so cute. Grandma took us shopping for some cute clothes for you. We got to show you off to the people in my parents ward. My friend Melissa Dunsmoor threw us a baby shower, where you got to meet some of my friends in my old ward. You got spoiled with lots of cute new clothes. We were there for a week, and had to go back home. And you did great on the flight back. You slept the whole time, and you were so excited to see daddy again.

We went on a family Valentine's Day date to the Cheesecake Factory. It was delicious. You got super fussy and were hungry and that was the first time I nursed you in public. It was a little awkward, but thank goodness for nursing covers. You didn't mind. You just wanted to eat.

The rest of the month was spent just hanging out with your mom and dad. We sure love to give you kisses and sing you silly songs. We make up a lot of songs and you seem to enjoy them. You started smiling a lot more this month. Your smile just melts our hearts. You are seriously the cutest little thing and we love you so much.

Pictures from your first to second month

Letters to Eloise - Newborn to 1 Month (January)

2013-06-10T13:11:00.001-07:00

Eloise, we brought you home from the Hospital on December 30, 2012. Your first month of life was probably one of the hardest ones I have ever had to go through in my life. Having a baby is not an easy thing. Giving birth hurts, not so much during the process but after we came home it was lots of pain. Your dad and your Grandpa Wingate were able to give me a blessing before your grandparents left and that helped a lot. It was just an overwhelming experience. Daddy and I had to learn to live off of very little sleep and I was still trying to heal.

Your dad was able to take that first week of your life off from work, and we were able to work together to try and take care of you. You liked to eat and wanted to eat every 2 hours on the dot, but you had a hard time staying awake so we had to take all of your clothes off, put cold rags on you, and constantly tickle you to try and keep you awake. You gained weight like a champion though. You were already above your birth weight when we took you home from the hospital and you kept gaining.

You loved to sleep on mommy and daddy's chest, so we just held you all day long. You were sleeping in your crib since the day we brought you home. Daddy and I slept in the room with you for that first month. I was a little paranoid about not being close to you. You did not sleep very well at night those first couple months. You were up every couple of hours and you had a lot of gas which gave you bad tummy aches. It was so sad listening to you cry and knowing you were in pain and there wasn't much we could do about it.

Grandma Gorham came out during your second week after Daddy went back to work. It was so much fun having her here. She loved to cuddle with you. She even took you during the night after I fed you so I could get some sleep. She bought you lots of clothes cause we did not buy hardly any newborn stuff. She helped me make a car seat cover and headbands for you. She was especially helpful when we were trying to take your newborn pictures. You were super fussy so I had to try and nurse you to get you to go to sleep so we could take some pictures and Grandma would change your clothes so gently so you wouldn't wake up. We actually got to get out a couple times while she was here and do a little shopping. She was here for a week and had to go back home. It was really sad cause then it was just you and me.

It was hard being by myself all day with you, especially when your dad wasn't getting home til like 8pm, but we survived. You gave me your first smile at 3 weeks and it absolutely melted my heart. We both got thrush during your 4th week of life. My friend Stephanie came over to drive us to the doctors since dad had the car. We got some medicine for you that didn't work at all. Mommy was in a lot of pain nursing you but the medicine helped the pain go away after a couple days. Then I got rid of it but you still had it. You went to church for the first time during your 4th week also. You got to wear the dress that Grandma Gorham crocheted for you. You looked so beautiful and everyone was just oohing and ahhing over how cute you are.

I learned and grew so much during that first month of your life. I relied on a lot of prayers to help me get through it. You were absolutely perfect though. You were the cutest thing that I had ever laid eyes on. It took me a while to really grasp that you were my baby. I thanked Heavenly Father everyday that I got to be your mom.

Pictures from your first month of life

Eloise's Birth Story

2013-04-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well the day finally came. Our sweet baby girl was born December 28, 2012. It couldn't have been at a better time. We wanted her to come before the new year and it needed to be after Christmas so her birthday wasn't completely robbed by the holiday. Thursday December 27 we had our last appointment at the OB. She swiped my membranes to see if that would help put me into labor. After we left we went to Target so I could go walk around for a while. Then we went to Wing Stop and got some spicy wings, cause I was desperate for anything to start my labor. We ate those and watched some movies with Adam's family. I started feeling some contractions coming on but they weren't very consistent so I told Adam I wanted to go for a walk to see if they would stay. We went and walked for about 45 minutes. It was like 40 something outside but it felt great cause I was soooo hot all the time. We came home and the contractions started getting more consistent so I started timing them. We went up to bed and I waited 2 hours with them being about 2-5 minutes apart. Around 12:30am we called the hospital and they told us to come in. We grabbed all of our stuff and headed out.

Once we got to the hospital they put me in a wheel chair and took me to our room. They hooked me up to everything and I was having super consistent contractions and I had a fever so they had to put me on fluids. I got checked and I was still at a 2. So we went the rest of the night waiting for me to dilate. 6 hours later they came and checked me I was at a 3. I couldn't believe it, I was so sick of the pain, and I wasn't progressing at all. They told me they usually recommend waiting til you get to a 4 before they give you an epidural so it doesn't slow your labor down, but I was done with the pain so I told them to give it to me now. I got the epidural which I was SUPER nervous about. I was shaking like crazy when they brought it in, but it was so easy. I stressed out over hardly anything. After that it was a breeze. haha JK. But seriously epidurals are gifts sent straight from God. For those who do it naturally, I commend you for it, but when I have a drug that can take away the pain there is no way in heck I am going to pass that up. 2 hours after I got the epidural I still was at a 3 so they broke my water and gave me pitocin to get my labor going. 2 hours after that I had progressed to a 6. Hallelujah!! The nurse said to let her know if I started feeling pressure down low and you felt like you needed to push. I was expecting that to come later, but after 20 minutes I was starting to feel the pressure like crazy. We called the nurse in and she was like woah you are already at a 9, I am calling the doctor. So we waited like 30 minutes for the doctor to get there and then we got to start pushing.

What a crazy experience that was. I did not take a birthing class so I had no idea what to expect which I was glad about that way I didn't need to stress if I was doing it right or wrong. I kept pushing and about 30 minutes in our doctor and nurse told me I needed to stop pushing. Every time I would push Eloise's heart rate would drop. They were getting nervous and started saying we might have to do a c-section, if I couldn't get her out soon. So I prayed and pushed like crazy. Another 10 minutes passed and they were like if we don't get her out in the next few pushes we are doing a c-section. They got the vacuum to help and I pushed and with the vacuum she finally came. She had the cord wrapped around her neck. It was seriously so scary. They took her straight to the carrier to make sure she was breathing and that she didn't inhale any meconium when she came out. She was doing well enough that I got to hold her for a few minutes while the nurses took some pictures for us, then she went straight to the NICU. She was there for maybe 2 hours and came back to us completely healthy. We were so beyond happy. Our perfect little girl had finally arrived, and she was flawless. She arrived at 2:07pm 8lbs 1.5oz and 19.5in long. She was absolutely perfect and we had never felt so complete.

Labor was a breeze. Epidurals definitely helped with that, but once that epidural had wore off, holy cow.... I don't know why people don't warn you about the pain that you have AFTER giving birth. I tore pretty bad so that was not very fun. We were at the hospital for 3 days and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep during that time. It was crazy, but our little girl was finally here and that was all that mattered. And here are some pictures from that day.

Waiting to dilate

She's Here!!

First Family Picture

Grandma Wingate

Grandpa Wingate

Aunt Ashleigh

Uncle Matt

Aunt Jill

Aunt Jordan

Sleeping with daddy

Getting ready to go home

Heading home

December 2012

2013-04-02T16:00:00.001-07:00

December was the longest month ever!!! We just wanted to have our baby. We went to Adam's work Christmas party which was kind of fun. We got free food so that is always a good reason to go.

Dressed up for the Christmas party.

I was also 35 weeks pregnant

I kept myself busy by making Christmas decorations and getting everything ready for Eloise's arrival. Adam had to work crazy, crazy hours in December. Some nights he wasn't getting home til 11pm-12am, but mostly it was around 9:30pm he was getting home. It was extremely long days. I just slept most of the time.

Merry Christmas banner I made

Adam's family came out December 22 to spend Christmas with us and to hopefully be there when Elle was born. Christmas eve we went and saw The Hobbit. Loved it. We just hung out the rest of the night. Christmas day I woke up having contractions, and was just praying that she would not come on Christmas day. It made Christmas morning kind of terrible though cause I was in some pretty bad pain the whole time opening gifts. We ate a big breakfast and relaxed most of the day. The day after Christmas we went to the mall so I could walk around and try and get labor started. It didn't work. Wednesday passed and still no baby. Thursday Adam's family went up to the city so Adam and I spent the morning cleaning the house, cause I felt like the baby could be coming soon, and I was right I started going into labor that night.

39 weeks, getting ready to go to the Dr.

The rest of December was spent in the hospital and we celebrated New Years Eve at home with our sweet baby girl. It was a crazy monthbut we made it through.

November 2012

2013-04-02T15:40:00.000-07:00

I am just going to post what I can remember from November, which is pretty much what I have pictures of. So picture post! I think most of my posts are picture posts since I have a hard time keeping up with blogging and blog stuff that happened months ago. Oh well, at least I have something.

November 17 we went to the BYU football game. They played San Jose State. It was a fun game, and we got our tickets super cheap from groupon. We sat on the endzone right in the front. It was a great view. We lost but it was still super exciting. There was so many BYU fans there. I think there was most BYU fans than there were San Jose St. It was crazy.

In front of the field

Watching BYU warm up

Picture with Cosmo at half time.

This is a random picture of Adam trying his first Dorito taco from Taco Bell. It happened in November though.

The week before Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas decorations. I love coming home from Thanksgiving and having all of our stuff already up.

Adam putting up the tree

For Thanksgiving we drove to Tempe, Arizona to celebrate with Adam's family. The drive down wasn't too bad. It took us about 11 hours. It was fun to get out of town for a few days. We left Wednesday afternoon and drove back Sunday morning. Thursday we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving meal and Thursday night we hit up Walmart for some black friday deals. We got all of the Harry Potter movies and some kid movies to have in stock for when Eloise could watch them. Saturday we did some shopping and just hung out with family. We also went to downtown Glendale where they were having a big start of Christmas celebration. The streets and trees were all lit up with Christmas lights, and they were having a big festival with rides and booths. It was fun to walk around and see everything going on. There were a TON of people though and was pretty hard to maneuver around when you are huge and pregnant. Sunday morning we started the drive back, and it was terrible. Traffic was soooo bad. I had to pee so bad, and I was trying to hold it and it was giving me contractions. 15 hours later we finally made it home.

Sunset outside of Los Angeles

Thanksgiving Dinner

The hubs and I

We visited the new Gilbert, AZ temple

Adam's grandparents got a Chiefs snuggie so Adam had to model it

Downtown Glendale, AZ

Halloween!

2012-11-28T13:40:00.003-08:00

For Halloween this year we decided we weren't going to dress up since I am huge pregnant and I couldn't find maternity costumes worth doing. But as Halloween got closer I started perusing the internet for some ideas and finally found one that I thought was pretty creative. So the day of our ward's Trunk or Treat I decided to put together our costumes. We were Humpty Dumpty and the King. It turned out to be quite the success. I didn't spend any money on the costumes and was able to get them done by the time Adam got home. We had fun passing out candy and the Trunk or Treat and then a few days later we carved our pumpkins. Then it was Halloween day and we went to Adam's work party and had some delicious finger foods. We came home to some pumpkin chili and watched some Halloween favorites. We were sadly disappointed that we got only 1 trick or treater (and he was a teenager), and we still have a bowl full of candy that we have not been able to get rid of yet. It was a fun holiday though.

Before the Trunk or Treat

Our cute pumpkins... Adam did the Hulk, and I did Linus and the Great Pumpkin.

Adam dressed up as Furby for his work Halloween party.

The front of our home decorated for Halloween.

Enjoying some pumpkin chili and Haloween movies.

Trip to Vegas

2012-11-28T13:32:00.003-08:00

Since the beginning of September I had been wanting to go to Vegas and visit my family. I kept looking at flight prices and trying to figure out when a good time would be to go. Then Adam found out he had to fly out to England for a week for work, and so I decided I was going to Vegas. There was no way I was staying by myself for an entire week. So I flew out a few days before him. It was such a nice break. I loved being with my family. My mom and I went shopping for baby clothes and we found some killer deals, and a ton of awesome stuff. I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. I got to enjoy my mother's delicious cooking and just got to relax and have fun. It was a sad day having to say goodbye, but it is nice to know my mom will be coming out when baby girl gets here, so it wasn't a long goodbye. I didn't take very many pictures while I was there cause apparently my fam has something against cameras (so dumb) but here are a few from the trip.

Casey and I at Raising Cane's. My all time favorite place ever!!

Mom and Brandon were there with us too.

Heading out for a sonic run.

Hanging out in the backyard, Mom looks like she is doing a little dance. :)

Playing with Nathan's gorgeous locks.

Nathan made me some delicious Krinkle cookies.

Life lately... pics from the android

2012-11-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

So our life here in California has been different. Adam works a lot. He usually isn't getting home from work til 7-7:30, so that has been pretty difficult having to get used to. It is hard but I am so grateful for the job that he has, and that he works so hard for our little family. Even though he has had to work so much we have still found time to do some fun stuff. Beware this is a picture overload.

I got to hang out at the beach with some ladies from our ward, and it was seriously one of the most beautiful days to be there. We were very lucky to have so much sunshine.

We love all of the farmers markets. Fresh fruit has never tasted so good.

Enjoying some food from the farmers market in Sunnyvale that we visited. Adam got a Brat, and I had a giant baked potato.

I celebrated my 24th birthday in August and Adam got me these beautiful flowers, we went to my favorite ice cream place (Coldstone), and he got me a sewing machine!

We can't get enough of BYU football. (Even though they were not so good this year)

We went to this place called the Boiling Crab and it was amazing.

We visited a park that is nearby our place. It was beautiful.

A 25 week pregnant belly.

We did an endowment session in the Oakland temple. As much as we dislike the city of Oakland, we cannot dislike this beautiful temple. It is up on the hill and gives the most amazing view of the bay.

Adam celebrated his 26th birthday. We celebrated with some Fuddruckers, and opening presents.

We headed up to San Fran to go to a big food truck gathering with our friends Nolan and Tiffany Tong. It was super cold so we didn't stay long, but there was like 30 different trucks to choose from and they had a creme brulee truck which was probably the best one ever.

Conference weekend we enjoyed listening to all the wonderful talks, lounging around, and eating delicious brunches. We missed having the Drowns there with us sharing food. It just wasn't quite the same without them.

I think that gets me caught up to the beginning of October. Wow, I really need to start being better at doing this cause trying to play catch up is definitely no fun.

We are having a GIRL!!

2012-11-28T13:03:00.001-08:00

August 16, 2012 we found out that our little baby is going to be a girl! We are so excited. Going into the ultrasound we had no feelings either way. I thought we were probably more likely to have a boy since that is what I grew up in, so I was a little bit surprised when they told us it was a girl. We can't wait to meet her and are so beyond excited to have her in our family.

Proof that she is a girl. :)

Her profile. I can already tell she is going to be one cute little girl.

My first purchase after we found out she was a girl.

I did some drawings to hang in her nursery.

First attempt at sewing and I made some little shoes for baby girl.

This is her super cute quilt. We are doing coral and aqua as her nursery colors.

We painted her changing table white.

I made some pacifier holders, here is to hoping she will take a pacifier.

We are really looking forward to having her, and are super excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

Family Time

2012-11-28T12:34:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of August my family and cousin Isaac came out to visit us and enjoy a little vacation. It was so nice having the whole family here. My dad even came out which does not happen very often. We spent the week doing some touring of the area. We spent some time at the park, visited the beach (which always happens to be freezing cold and cloudy when they are here), saw the Redwood Forest, and visited San Francisco and Monterey Bay. We also watched the Olympics whenever we were at home which is always a ton of fun. Here are some pics from the week.

Hanging out at Lake Elizabeth Park and having a BBQ

Chasing the crazy geese that kept trying to eat our food.

Up in San Francisco touring around the city.

At the Great Basin Redwood Forest.

In Monterey Bay.

We ate dinner at Bubba Gump there in Monterey, it was delicious.

Sadly I forgot to bring my camera the day we went to the beach so I don't have any pictures from there. We didn't do much while we were there cause it was so dang cold. Maybe next year we will get to have a sunny beach day. We can only hope. haha. It was a lot of fun having the family here and we sure do miss living so much further away from them all, but we are glad there is plenty to do here so they can have fun when they come back to visit.

Trip to Ohio!

2012-10-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

Adam only had 2 days at work before he had to fly to LA then Cleveland for training. So before he took off he dropped me off at the airport and I headed out to Dayton to visit the Drowns. This was my first time flying by myself, so I was definitely a little nervous. But the flights there went pretty smoothly. I had a little delay on my flight from Chicago to Dayton, but it wasn't too bad. I was welcomed by Brittany, Maeli, and Blaze. I was so excited to see them. Maeli was a little scared at first but then I think she finally recognized me and gave me a big hug. We stopped and grabbed some food on the way to the Drown's home, and then Brittany and I got to catch up on everything that had been going on since we had last seen each other.

The sign that welcomed me once we got to the Drown's house.

Got to give some lovins to my 2 favorites

We went to Maggie Moo's while Adam was here the first weekend and they let Mae scoop up her own ice cream and add sprinkles. She loved it.

Also while Adam was here we sat out back looking at firefly's while Mae had fun blowing bubbles. We were also video chatting with Clay so it was almost like we were all together again.

We went to a park and had fun playing with the kids and enjoying a picnic.

Maeli loved chasing the ducks.

We visited a museum in Cincinnati. It was awesome. And the kids loved it. There was 3 museums in 1. There was one especially designed for kids with all kinds of interactive stuff. They also had a huge treehouse/playground that was fun but there were so many older kids playing in it that Mae had a hard time getting to do anything. So we went to the play area for kids ages 4 and under I think.

Then we went to one of the other museums that was mostly on the history of Cincinnati. It had all kinds of stuff about people who had served in the wars, and they had a huge miniature replica of the entire city. It was awesome.

Cincinnati's city line.

One of the other days we went to an Amish village. What an adventure that was. It was so interesting getting to see how they lived, and of course eating their delicious home made goods. :)

Maeli decided to go play on one of the play grounds built by the Amish. She went on that green slide there and landed in a huge puddle at the bottom. Her whole backside was soaked and she was so upset and crying and all I could do was laugh. I know I am such a mean aunt. :)

This was the first Amish store we went too.

We had to get a picture of this horse and buggy sign.

Another Amish store

We got to see a real live horse and buggy.

Some of the Amish goodies that I got.

I made my first baby purchase while at the Amish village. Couldn't pass up these cute moccasins

I gave Mae and Brittany a haircut while I was there. Mae is showing hers off for me. Look at how cute that smile is. I sure love this little girl.

Clay flew in the last weekend we were there and we spent all of Saturday at a theme park called King's Island. It was a ton of fun. It was also Clay's birthday weekend so we had fun helping him celebrate. Since I couldn't really ride most of the rides, I took the kids over to the little rides while Adam, Clay, and Brittany did some roller coasters. Mae had a blast going on all of the rides, and it was so fun seeing her so excited.

View from where we parked the car.

Front of the park. (Can't get this picture to turn right side up)

Riding the rides.

Sunday I took some family pictures for the Drowns

And of course I needed one with all of us together. Our little family brought together again.

That night we celebrated Clay's birthday with some delicious steak dinners. And yummy cake. That night the boys had to fly back home. My flight left the next day, so we just hung out the rest of the night and watched the Bachelorette season finale. I had so much fun hanging out with Brittany and the kids for almost 2 weeks. It was so good to catch up and see our best friends again. I can't wait for more future reunions. I left on Monday and after a terrible experience with delayed flights, missing my flight from Chicago to San Fran and having to wait an extra 2.5 hours for another one, I finally made it home.

We Moved!

2012-10-08T12:22:00.001-07:00

At the end of June we packed up all of our stuff with the help of some great friends and took off to California. My mom was able to come up for a few days to help with the packing and cleaning. It was so nice having her there to help. I don't think we would have been able to do it ourselves.

The last time in front of our Provo home.

The truck all packed up and ready to go.

We stopped in St. George on the way to Vegas to see my grandparents. Then headed the rest of the way to Vegas. We stayed the night there and got up nice and early Monday July 2 and started our journey to California. What a long drive. I think it took us around 12 hours when it was only supposed to be 10. They had closed down one lane on the freeway in between Bakersfield and the Gilroy turn off so we sat in bumper to bumper traffic for a good 2 hours. But we finally made it to our new place in Fremont, CA.

We had a couple guys from our new ward there to help us unload our stuff. We love our new apartment. It is a townhome style with an upstairs and downstairs. It is 2 bedrooms and has 1 1/2 bath. There is a ton more living space than our apartment in Provo which is super nice. The only bummer is we don't have a washer and dryer. Luckily the complex's laundry room is just around the corner from our apartment so it hasn't been too bad.

Here are some pics of our place. Don't mind the mess these were taken the day we moved in.

Staircase

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Other half of kitchen and dishwasher!!

Backside of living room

Downstairs 1/2 bath

Upstairs full bath

2nd bedroom

2nd bedroom closet

Master bedroom

My closet in master bedroom

Adam's closet in master bedroom

We also have a little patio out back but I didn't get a picture of it, you can kind of see it in the dining room picture.

Adam didn't start work til the 15th of July so we had a good week and a half to get used to the area and get everything unpacked and in its place. We had no internet/cable so that was terrible. They weren't able to come out for like 2 weeks after we got there, and by that time we weren't going to be in town so we just had to wait it out. We watched lots of movies and drove around the city trying to get a feel of where everything was.

The 4th of July also happened during that time and we decided to head up to San Fran to enjoy the fireworks. We left around 3pm and took the Bart train up. It is so much nicer taking the train and not having to deal with traffic or parking. Especially cause you have to pay a ton of money to park anywhere up in San Fran. We brought our bikes with us so we had easy transport around the city. It was so nice being back up there. I love the city. There are definitely a ton of crazies, but I guess that keeps it interesting.

We visited all of the touristy areas again. Then hung out waiting for the fireworks to start. The later it got the colder it got. The wind was brutal. I really thought we might freeze to death. We found an area that was pretty much dirt, but it had a big wall that helped block some of the wind, so I sat on the backpack and Adam found an old newspaper to sit on, and we waited for the fireworks there. We saw a ton of people smoking marijuana, and then they would come smoke like 2 feet from where we were sitting. Adam finally had to tell them that I was pregnant and they should really go do that somewhere else. Then we saw some guys rolling marijuana, and other guys taking turns peeing in a corner like 10 feet away from us. Then this guy came by and found a used cigar that had been sitting in the dirt right next to us, picked it up, lighted it, and started smoking it. So gross. We decided that holidays in the city weren't really our thing anymore. I was so disgusted that I was about ready to leave, but we had been waiting there for so long we had to at least wait for the fireworks. So we did, and they were awesome. They made the trip worth it.

Riding the train to the city.

Riding around Fisherman's Wharf

Trying to stay out of the cold.

View during the day where the fireworks went off.

Once they were done we now had to fight our way through 1000's of people to get back to the train station which was probably 2-3 miles away. All of the people just flocked into the streets. Cars could go no where, so I was especially grateful that we didn't drive. We were on our bikes weaving in and out of all the people walking. It was such a thrill. We made it back to the train station and headed back to Fremont. It was definitely a day to remember.

The rest of our first week there we spent going to places where we could get free wifi, aka Panera Bread and the library. We went to Ikea and got some stuff to start decorating our place. Then we mostly hung out. Adam started work on the 15th and then we started getting ready for our trip to Ohio.

Last Summer in Provo

2012-08-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

Luckily BYU gets out for summer super early, so we were able to enjoy about 2 1/2 months of relaxation before we were moving to Cali. Adam only worked til 3 which was awesome considering I needed a lot of help since the pregnancy made me so sick. But in between being sick we were still able to have a lot of fun with our friends before we left.

We went on lots of bike rides, the weather was so beautiful you couldn't help but be outside.

Had a lot of bbq in the fire pit with the neighbors. S'mores never got old.

Ate out... alot.

Babysat this little cutie and watched her devour her cake on her 1st birthday.

Hung out with this handsome guy.

Made a surprise trip down to Vegas for Memorial Day weekend. It was a much needed break to help me feel a little better.

My mom made some delicious food like always.

Went to Trafalga with the Woodalls. Having a pass of all pass was awesome. So many free activities.

And spent most of the summer hanging out with these three. Adam and Greg wrestled, Tiff and I got to enjoy being sick and pregnant together, we went on tons of bike rides, got snow cones, ate out, went to Seven Peaks, watched movies, and had a lot of fun. We miss these three like crazy.

The week before we were getting ready to move my good friends Tiff and Jacquelinne threw me a baby shower. It was so thoughtful of them and was a good chance to see all my girlfriends before we took off. It turned out so dang cute. The food and decorations were absolutely amazing.

Love and miss all of these girls. We seriously had the greatest friends. It was so hard having to say goodbye to them.

It was a great last summer in Provo. We look forward to the day we can go back and visit all of the wonderful people that are still there.

We're Pregnant!

2012-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Adam and I found out we were pregnant on April 21, 2012. What an exciting day that was. Of course I called my mom right after I told Adam to tell her the news. It was hard for the first few weeks to really get excited since I had already had a miscarriage. I didn't want to get my hopes up that this pregnancy was going to be different in case something bad happened again. But those fears were quickly alleviated when the sickness came a week later. I mean how can something be wrong when you feel like you are going to die everyday. haha. I don't want to go into details about how sick I was cause I want to have more kids and let me just say weeks 8-12 all I could think was I will never get pregnant again. There were so many days where I would just cry to Adam telling him he had no idea what it felt like to feel so sick every single day. I don't know how I would have made it through those weeks without him though. He waited on me, would come home early from work if I was having a really bad day, drive around with me for hours looking for places to eat that I may be able to stomach, letting me eat out every single night cause the smell or thought of cooking food made me sick, holding my hand while I complained and cried, and threw up, and slept, and the list goes on and on. I married a good one, that is for sure. Luckily I was able to get some medicine from the doctor that helped a ton. I still have a few bad days a week, but I will take that over everyday.

We are so grateful to be pregnant though. We got to hear the heartbeat at 11 weeks and that was the best feeling ever. To know that our baby was alive was just the reassurance I needed to keep going.

My first 5k!

2012-06-18T11:01:00.002-07:00

Adam and I signed up for a 5k back in early March, and we ran it the last Saturday of April. It was the first time I have ever ran in a race, and I somewhat trained for almost 2 months for it. I am not a runner and I really hate running. If you give me a ball or something else to do while running then I don't mind it as much, but just to go out and run to run is probably one of my least favorite things to do. So training to do this was kind of a killer, but once I accomplished it, it made it so worth it. I ran pretty much the entire thing (there was one uphill part that I briskly walked on), but it was such a fun race. I mean who doesn't love colored corn starch being thrown at you at 1kilometer intervals throughout the race. We ran it with our good friends the Altoms, which made it a lot more fun to see us all accomplish this.

Before

And After