Terry & Christina

Claire is 2!!!

2014-02-13T14:33:00.001-08:00

My Claire is 2! I can't believe it. I feel like she has grown up so fast. She is such a fun, spunky, sassy, feisty, cuddly, sweet little thing! We couldn't love her more!

We celebrated her birthday on Sunday the 9th because we were going to be busy on her actual birthday, Monday the 10th. I just kept it low key and just had my mom and dad come over for dinner, cake and cookies! I ordered these adorable Dora sugar cookies that were a huge hit!

The next three pictures are too funny. This sweet lady in our ward made heart sugar cookies for us. So naturally I let Mae and Claire have one. This is what Claire did with hers instead of eat it. She just rubbed the frosting side of the cookie all over her face :)! Silly girl!

Mae helped put a few decorations on Claire's cake

My mom gave Claire a Dora pillow pet which she LOVED of course! She loves Dora! She now sleeps with that pillow every night.

Claire grabbed that castle and a few princess and went and sat by Grandpa and just played and played with that castle. It really was too cute.

The Dora cookies! They were adorable and delicioso!!

Claire got this tinker bell outfit for her birthday and the second she put it on she wouldn't stop posing for the camera!

This picture pretty much sums up the way Mae was with everything Claire opened. Mae would stake claim on it like it was hers and was sorely disappointed when I had to keep reminding her that it was in fact Claire's birthday and these toys were Claire's. Claire luckily shared most of the time pretty well with Mae :)

Happy Birthday sweet Claire! We love you lots and don't know what we would do without you!

Deleware!!!!!

2013-05-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

This trip was thrown together so quickly! My brother Bryan offered his buddy pass for us to use and he found a ticket that wasn't terrible in price so I just decided to do it!! We booked the trip like 3 weeks before I left! So this trip feels like it came and went way too fast! And I only was able to do it because I have such generous and amazing family members! And the best husband to let us go! It was just very unfortunate that Claire woke up throwing up just the day before we were supposed to go, and then I get a call from mare the day I was scheduled to go telling me that Jane woke up and was throwing up all the night before. What a terrible way to start a trip that I was soo looking forward to. But I decided to still go and hope for the best.

I got to the airport and got through security with out any trouble and I was even able to bring Claire's car seat on the airplane with us because there were extra seats on the Airplane. It was great, I got them both strapped in and we were off. Minus a few little screams from Claire, the Plane ride there to Delaware was pretty uneventful!

all strapped in ready for take off!

The first day (friday), Jane was still very sick so Mare had put up a baby gate in the doorway to her room so that no one could come in or out :( Poor Jane! We just hung out at Mare's house and Mae and Beckham just played and played. Meanwhile Mare was starting to not feel very good herself and was cleaning up Jane's diarrhea ..awful just awful!

Because Jane was so sick, I wanted to bathe my kids separate, so we came up with this idea!

The next day(saturday), Mare had woken up and thrown up herself. So Ryan was a trooper and got me and the girls and Beckham out of the house for the day! It was such a fun day too! Although we did miss Mary and Jane terribly bad! First we went to the airplane museum on base. It was super fun. We got to see Air force 2, and lots of other cool airplanes! Then he took us to Rehoboth Beach. It was soooo fun! We got some lunch at Subway and we had to get some super yummy fries at a place on the boardwalk! Then we went to the beach and let the kids play and play! Beckham and Mae has sooo much fun! Claire loved the sand too! It was sunny out but not too hot. It was great! Later, Ryan and I decided to try out some real seafood and this restaurant called Medings! I tried Crab and scallops for the first time. It was delicious!

Claire loved the sand sooo much!

The next day(Sunday), Mary was feeling much better and Jane was better too, so we decided to drive to Matthew and Cortney's house in Maryland. It was so nice being able to see their house before they move to Cali. We went to a fun little park near their house and let all the kids play for a while! We have quite the crew of kids now, and that was not even all of the cousins :). Then we drove to Cafe Rio for dinner. Then we headed home. Such a fun day too!

My only picture from Monday?? What did we do that day?

On Tuesday we went to Longwood gardens. It was beautiful with all of the spring blooms!

The last day there, Thursday, we just hung out and played in the bouncy house! Mae still talks about how much fun she had in that thing!

These were on the horrendous flight home...Let me tell you a little story about the flight home. So Mare and I get to the airport an hour before my flight. I was a little panicked that we wouldn't make it onto our flight so right when we got there I was in high gear, and didn't even give mare a hug good by :(. Then I get to the security line and it is beyond huge...my heart sinks and tears start to well up a little bit. I just couldn't imagine what would happen if I missed my flight. So I make it through security in dang good time and head to the gate to try and see if I can bring Claire's car seat on again. No such luck the plane was full. Tears were again welling in my eyes...So after getting settled into our seats with a man next to us and Claire on my lap, I was kind of dying inside. Not to mention that the plane was delayed. Anyway, then an airport worker comes and talks with the guy sitting right next to me telling him that his dogs can't fly on this plane because the heat isn't working under the plane. I was hearing the "hallelujah" song in my head! They were going to have to get off the plane!!! So he got up to leave and I was in the process of unbuckling my seat belt to move over and make myself right at home in the third seat when a man comes and says, "where is the extra seat?" I just sat there thinking in my head "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and mind you there was an extra seat in the middle seat behind me too because that was where the man with the dogs wife was sitting. But the men sitting behind me said "its right there" pointing to the seat by me because they didn't want him to sit in the middle of them. I am still so mad about that! So long story short. I spent the entire flight wrestling with Claire on my lap who didn't want to stop moving the whole entire 5 hour flight. I was exhausted by the end! Thank goodness Mae was a complete angel!!!

Thanks Mare for letting us come and eat your food and stay at your house. It was a complete blast! Sister time really is the best! Love you!
P.S. I really struggled with the layout on this post. I could not figure out how to make it look right for the life of me!?!?!?

Easter

2013-05-21T17:42:00.002-07:00

I was looking through my pictures and I have so many that I just couldn't pass up doing a post about Easter. I really want to do a post about my whirlwind trip to Delaware by my self with the kids...and I will...next!

Mae and I did a little Easter egg dying, she was very proud of how they turned out!

We had an awesome snow storm and couldn't resist playing in it!

She is a riot!

Easter day, at Grammy's house!

My Mom's cute table decorations!

EASTER EGG HUNT!

Claire had the most fun carrying around this way to big for her basket!

her loot!

Claire

2013-02-18T14:48:00.000-08:00

Well, Claire has turned one! With only one tooth too! She is just a joy to have.

She is so sweet, happy, loving, and spunky! We just adore her.

All 3 of us!

Here are a few pictures from her very little party we had for her at my moms!

Mae had fun helping Claire open up her presents!

Claire dug right into her cake, and so did Mae :)

Can't believe she is one already!

Happy b-day sweet claire!

Where has the time gone?

2012-12-10T11:59:00.002-08:00

Well, life seems to be moving along faster than ever. It seems to just get busier and busier too! I have oh so much to catch up on!

Mae turned 3 in July and we had a fun (very hottttt) party for her at a park near my mom's house. It was fun because my brothers and sisters were in town for a family reunion that we had! So here is a picture of us all at her party!!

Jane, Beckham and Mae enjoying her princess cake. Mae picked it out and loved it!

Here is Terry and Mae in Idaho for the Family Reunion I was talking about. Sad story, Mae got sick on the way up, and wasn't better until we got home. Unfortunately, Terry and I think that was probably one of the most stressful and not fun vacations we have ever taken...oh well. Life with kids right?

Claire just being cute starting to roll over!

And get up on her hands and knees!! She is 5 months old here!!

We do a ton of this these days! Laugh and enjoy each other at home!

In September, Mae started swim lessons! It was pretty rough at first, but she is pretty good now!

doing her "airplane" arms. She looks soooo cute in her cap and goggles!!!

Another one of my beauty Mae!

My brother Bryan and Wendy were in town for their son Jack's 2 year old b-day in October and had a party to remember! It was sooo fun and so professional!

Claire swinging for the first time.

Mae enjoying the fall leaves!

In November we had an awesome snow storm! Too bad it is all melted now!!!

We just had some fun family pictures taken. They turned out pretty cute I think!

Well, that about sums up the last few months, in a very shortened version! We are just enjoying life right now! Terry is almost done with finals for the semester and me and the kids just do our thing. I can't believe how fast they are growing up! Time really does fly, so we are trying to enjoy every minute of it!

Beautiful

2012-05-28T21:31:00.001-07:00

We had a beautiful day today. Everything about this day was pretty much perfect. Do you have days like that? I love them. Let me tell you about it. We decided last minute on Sunday to go to Richfield and stay the night.

on the way down

on the way down again

We let Mae swim which come to find out she LOVES it. It was a blast! In the morning we headed out to go visit a few grave sites. First we visited Terry's Grandpa's grave in Richfield. The cemetery there was peaceful and beautiful and the weather was great. Next we headed to Freemont to visit Tyler's grave.

Tyler is Terry's twin brother who died at 6-weeks old. Freemont is the tiniest little town. But again, the cemetery was so peaceful and beautiful that we spent quite a bit of time there letting Mae run around and enjoy our time there. Then we decided to go to Fish Lake. Terry and I actually went there a few times when we were dating so it was fun to go back with our 2 girls :) Here are a few pictures from Terry and I going in 2005!!

Fish Lake is so BEAUTIFUL!

one view of Fish Lake

We stopped and had lunch in this awesome old cabin that overlooked the lake. It was wonderful. Then we took Mae to go throw rocks in the lake and to see some fish. She had a BLAST.

Mae throwing Rocks with daddy

She didn't' want to leave.

sweet Claire being such a trooper!

That was our day. And again it was beautiful! That is the only word that I would use to describe our day. What a fun way to spend our Memorial day making fun memories with my fam and remembering those who have passed on! It was so wonderful to get away from our busy busy lives and slow down a little bit. We definitely will be making time to do this more often!

Disneyland

2012-05-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Our Disney trip this year was a little crazy...it was a little harder than we thought it was going to be. But I think overall Mae enjoyed it! Claire was a little angel. I enjoyed eating at all of the fun places! :) Terry is happy to be home :) Here is our trip in pictures!

Day 1:

We got up early and were on the road by 7am on Monday the 14th. We did the drive all in one day. It wasn't that bad actually and made it in pretty good time.

terry sleeping...

Claire sleeping

Mae sleeping :)

We got there around 5 or so and had some dinner at Mimi's and then went back to the hotel to get some sleep and be ready for the next day!

Day 2:

The girls Ready for some Disney fun!

carousel!!

Terry and Mae mesmerized by the Mickey Parade!

It really was an awesome parade!

We stayed in Disneyland and California Adventure all day! We watched the parade at the end of the day from a distance and then headed back to the hotel. We decided that we would try and get a better seat for the parade on Thursday because it was seriously so awesome!!

Day3:

Doing a little shopping! Mae loves hats!

DUMBO RIDE! Mae was very particular about wanting to ride in a pink one :)

meeting Minnie! She was so cute with Minnie!

Claire was such a trooper the whole time! Such a happy and cute girl!!

I am pretty sure I have this exact picture from last year! This was 1 of a total of 2 fun rides that Terry and I were able to do!

We got Mae this Ariel that turns over and is princess Aurora and Mae LOVED IT! As you can see she took very good care of it :) She even gave Ariel a baby toy to play with :)

Day 4:

Meeting Tinkerbell!

Here we are waiting for the parade! We had front row seats this time!!

The drum line that started off the parade! They were so awesome! Definitely Terry and I's favorite part of the parade!

Me and my girls enjoying the parade!

Day 5:

We decided to go to the beach for a little bit before we headed home since we were so close! I am glad we did. Mae loved the sand! She loved throwing it and trying to feed it to the little birdies! She also loved to find all of the seashells!

Throwing sand!

Moons out! ha ha

Going on a walk with daddy!

Mae took this lovely picture of me!

We headed back to Utah after the beach. We originally were going to try to go all the way home but only made it to St. George. I am glad we stopped though because we got to swim and just relax for one more night! So that concludes our trip to Disneyland 2012. Looking back at the pictures makes me miss being there even though it was a lot of work with the kids. I definitely am looking forward to going again and making wonderful memories with my awesome little family!

I had to throw these darling pictures of Claire smiling! She is such a little sweetheart and that face melts my heart!

Recent Happenings

2012-05-10T22:09:00.002-07:00

Well, things around our house hold have been pretty uneventful lately! That is a good thing! We did bless Claire this past Sunday. The blessing Terry gave was beautiful, but everything besides that was kinda terrible...I hate days like that. Oh well. you live you learn I guess!

I met up with my really good friend from High School today, Kayla, it was so wonderful! So fun to catch up and watch Mae and her darling little boy Boston play so well together! We haven't seen each other in years, and now we both have 2 kids! so crazy!

We are going to Disneyland next week and I am too excited! I can't wait to see Mae there. I think she will love it. We have been talking it up for the past 2 weeks! I think she will die to see the real live princesses and castle. She also loves Cars so I think she will have a blast with that too!

I have started to run again. Well, more like a slow jog but hey, at least I am doing it! I am sure I will get back to my old running pace soon enough. I just joined Daily Mile so if anyone else is on there be sure to add me!!!

Here are a few pictures as of recently . Of course some of Mae holding Claire. My world revolves around them!

Claire's new trick! Isn't that crazy :)

Of course Mae had to do what Claire is doing!

Mae showing Claire how to play with her toys. She is so thoughtful :)

Her curls were so pretty this night!!!

Some one in the park made these little booties for Claire and they were TINY! Can you see her big toe sticking out :)

She looked so sweet in her cute little dress!

Lounging on the couch! Just waking up from naps.

A mom to 2 kids?!

2012-04-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I don't feel old enough or something to be a mom to 2 kids. It's kind of a surreal feeling sometimes when I look at them both. How did I get here? I love them both with all of my heart. They are wonderful and I can't imaging my life without them. Just a few months ago I only had Mae, and now I can't imagine life without Claire. I also couldn't be happier. I love being their mom. I have also grown to love all of the duties that come along with that responsibility like keeping the house clean and organized, the laundry done, dinner cooked and cleaned up after...and many more! I never really thought I would be any good at that kind of stuff. I just hope and pray that I can be a good mom to these 2 precious girls. That is a pretty big responsibility! I know there are LOTS of ways that I can improve too. Sorry for the ramblings...on to some cute things. Mae is really a sweetheart to Claire. She has been saying all the time lately "That is my sister!" She always kisses and rubs her head. I hope they will be the best of friends someday just like my sister and I are. There is never a friend as good as a sister! Here are a few professional pictures that I had taken of them both a little while back.

Thanks Mae for this one :)

Mae asked to hold Claire!

Sorry for the picture of Mae on the potty but do you see her "mom" sitting on the potty next to her on the floor? Mae is too funny sometimes!

My life really is so wonderful and sweet with these 2 lately! They are so much fun! I am so glad that it is summer now! Terry is done with the Junior Core! HOORAY! We are going to make the most of our summer together. I am excited :) Sorry for the random post!

Easter

2012-04-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

Just a cute picture of Mae and her tower she made... Moving on...

Our easter this year was wonderful!! The girls and I got to go to Delaware! It would have been perfect if Terry could have come but he was too busy with school finishing up. I felt a little crazy going on an airplane with a not even 2 month old baby, but we made it and nobody got sick and died! :) but before we left Mae got her first haircut!

She did really well. And my hair cut lady it wonderful!

Here we are on the Airplane heading to Delaware. The flight there was really rather uneventful!

First day there! We went to the funnest little airplane park! Mae absolutely loved this swing and almost fell asleep swinging in it!

The cute girls playing out side Mary's house!

We we went to a bouncy house place and Mae literally was so scared and only wanted to play on the toddler toys. It was kinda disappointing but in the end she warmed up and went on a few of the big slides!

Mary and Ryan took us all over Dover and to see all the sights. This cute little farmers market had these darling horse tire swings!

We went to the beach and found a dead horseshoe crab. Those things are carazy looking!!

Cute Jane and Beckham with Baby Claire!

Such a cute picture of Beckham and Mae having a snack! They look alike!

My awesome Brother Bryan and Claire!

Mary's beautiful table! Is this not the cutest table ever?! I should have gotten a close up of everything she did!

Enjoying the wonderful Easter dinner Mary had slaved over. Did I mention that she is amazing?

Finding Easter Eggs and digging right into their candy!

We tried to get a cute picture of all the kids, this is as good as it got...

Mae and Beckham played sooo hard!

This was on the last day there before Mary took us to the airport. Sad day.

Thanks again Mare for all your hard work with preparing for us to come and for making it so comfortable and fun for us while we were there. I loved your house and loved being there with you guys! It for sure makes me miss you even more!!!

Mae is funny

2012-03-08T08:07:00.004-08:00

So Mae is just getting more and more fun! She is too dang smart and comes up with the funniest things! Well, the other day Terry and I were running around the house trying to find his wallet. We were looking for a little while and them Mae came in and asked "what are you doing?" which she asks me about 2900 times a day, I said " we are looking for daddy's wallet, do you want to help Mae?" Then she just casually says, " I put it in my bedroom." I was like seriously? Did you really put it in your room Mae? So she takes me in there and says "its right here." pointing to a little lump under her comforter. We pulled back the blanket and there it was. She is such a stinker! We would have never found it! That's what Terry gets for leaving his wallet laying around I guess! And we will have to start in her room first next time we are looking for the keys or his wallet!

Mae is such a sweet big sister! She always comes in with me when I have to change Claire's diaper. She always tells me when she is awake and she also always says that baby Claire is so cute! She is such a sweetheart!

Claire is also really sweet! She has been getting better at sleeping at night and we have learned that she is a little sensitive to a few things that I eat. So If I stay away from those things she is such a happy baby! Isn't her chubbyness just the cutest! Love our chubby babies!

A night to remember!

2012-03-02T08:07:00.005-08:00

So yesterday at about 4:30, my sweet mom came over to watch my 2 kids so that Terry and I could go to the Utah Student Top 25 Businesses Gala. It was AWESOME! It was up in Salt Lake at the Grand America Hotel which is soooo beautiful. That place has the most amazing bathrooms! They didn't tell anybody what spot they won beforehand, you found out at the Gala which was so much fun! We got there in time to network and talk with other students who have started businesses. It was so awesome to see all the businesses that Students have started, there were some really impressive ones! 2 of Terry's class mates were there and he had no idea that they had started businesses. What was even more cool was one of his classmates had just been to Solase to get a massage! Then we started the fancy dinner. While we were eating they had some past winners tell us about where they are today and what winning did for them. Terry was eating up every minute of it! When they finally started to call out the winners, it was so fun to have them keep calling the numbers and Solase still wasn't called. When they got to number 11 and we still weren't called, we were so excited! We had made it to the top Ten!! Then they called number 10, "Solase Massage and Oxygen Bar"!! It was such a fun night! It actually felt really good to get a little recognition for all of our hard work and sacrifice. This was definitely a night for the books and one to remember forever!

I had to add these pictures of me and my girls! cutest ones of us so far! Mae would not look at the camera though...

Claire...where to begin!

2012-02-20T21:41:00.008-08:00

Claire is finally here! It was not an easy road getting her here either. Where do I begin? Let me start with Thursday, the day before I was scheduled to be induced. Well, to start things off, Mae threw up twice on Thursday Feb. 9th. and needless to say, I was freaking out! I couldn't believe Mae was throwing up sick and I was scheduled to give birth the next day. So many things were going through my head like should we postpone getting induced?? Who is going to want to watch my sick child?? Will Claire get sick when she gets home?? I was just basically freaking out about all of the unknowns! Luckily, My cousin Natalie, bless her heart, had the day off from her crazy schedule and agreed to watch Mae. My mom helped me get tons of popsicles, crackers ect. for Mae to eat while she is here in hopes of her not being sick again. We just decided it was best to go ahead with being induced. By the time Thursday night rolled around, I was exhausted and still had so much to do to get ready for Friday. I had to clean Mae's car seat because she got sick all over it. Pack my bags. Write instructions for Natalie. ect. I was tired!

Friday morning came and I got the call at 5:30 that I can come in at 6:00am. So I grabbed my bags and headed to the hospital. Leaving Terry there to wait for my mom to bring Natalie over around 9 or so. The morning at the hospital was pretty uneventful. They started my antibiotic, and the pitocin and I just basically sat and waited. I listened to music, read some, wrote in my journal. My doctor had come and we decided to wait to break my water until I had the 4 hours of antibiotic I needed. Terry got there around 10 or so, he had homework and things that he was able to finish before he came.

Finally my doctor came and broke my water around 12 or so. Then things moved really fast. The contractions very quickly became stronger and so I asked for an epidural. I got one but I could still feel the contractions just as bad as when I didn't have the eipdural. I kept thinking, it will kick in any minute. My legs were numb, but I could still feel the contractions, it was awful! I even asked the nurse if the anesthesiologist could come back and help with the contractions. But before he got there, I could tell that I was ready to push. So the nurse checked me and I was complete and the doctor was on her way. When my doctor got there, I pushed through one contraction and she was out! So quick! But this is when the fun started...oh and by the way, poor Terry was pretty queasy through out this whole time. He didn't do well with me in so much pain from the contractions so he had to sit down. Anyway, Claire was out and they were just doing the normal routine, they weighed her, 10lbs, 2oz, 21 in long. She was born at 2:55pm.

They let me have some skin to skin time with her.

My doctor stitched me up but the bleeding wouldn't stop. I just kept bleeding and bleeding, and I would look over at Terry and he did not look good at all! I though he was going to throw up or pass out or something! Then the charge nurse came in and started to help, they gave me a couple kinds of medicine to help the bleeding to stop, a pill and a shot. At this point my doctor looked at me and asked if I was feeling ok and I could tell I was starting to not feel good. So they took Claire off me and asked Terry to take her down to the nursery with them. I could feel all of the color drain out of my face and I felt really light headed, I felt like I was going to pass out. I just closed my eyes and hoped it would pass. I was feeling really weak and weird but the Dr told me that they were going to put a certain kind of catheter up to help the bleeding to stop. So they did that and they felt like the bleeding was pretty under control at that point. I still felt really weak and queasy. So I just laid there while the nurse was going around and doing different things. Then finally the anesthesiologist came in and checked on me. He said he was stuck talking with someone in the OR I think...lame. Anyway, after a little while the nurse came and wanted to take the tape and everything off from the epidural. Well, that killed! It was seriously so painful that it made me throw up. The force from throwing up made the catheter thing pop out. I just couldn't win for the life of me. It was thing after thing! So they wanted to keep me up in Labor and Delivery longer to keep on eye on my bleeding since the catheter came out. That normally was going to be left in until the next morning. So after a while of being up there I was feeling sort of ok again and I asked if I could see claire. So they brought her up to me. I was so fun to be able to see her after so long! Her poor little face though, she looked like she had been beat up!

Is that not the saddest thing ever! Her face was sooo swollen and bruised! Anyway, then we finally decided to try and have me move down to mother baby. I thought I was feeling ok enough to try the wheelchair, but when I stood up, I instantly felt light headed and had to lay all the way down again. So the nurse had to go and get a stretcher to wheel me down that way. So finally I got down to mother baby. By this time it was like 7 at night. My sweet mom and Natalie and of course Terry were there and we all got some dinner and ate it together. My mom kept telling me that I had no color in my face and that I just didn't look that great.

So on Saturday, it was pretty uneventful for the most part. They had me stand up in the morning and see if I got light headed at all. I could stand and not get light headed but I had no strength at all and I didn't feel like I could stand for very long. I desperately wanted to take a shower but I didn't feel like I could stand for that long. So I spent the day mostly sitting in bed and just getting up to go to the bathroom. Later in the afternoon Dr. Savage came by and talked to us a little bit. Since we don't have insurance at all, our original plan was to go home as soon as possible. So she mentioned that I could get some blood to help me feel better and I could probably go home later that night. So we thought about it and that's what we did. I got some blood in hopes that I would be able to go home later. Well, a couple things happened to foil that plan. First, Claire's blood sugar dropped again and they had to keep her in the nursery for a little while to watch her. And after their blood sugar drops they have to check her again before and after 2 feedings. Then as I was almost done with the blood, I thought we were in the clearas far as having any side effects from the blood, I started to feel like I was getting hives on my eye and ear. So needless to say, we had to stay over night again. Crap! I took a benedryl let the nursery take care of Claire, and basically was knocked out!

Then Sunday morning came. I felt awful. I had not showered at all since arriving at the hospital and I felt like my eyes were almost swollen shut from the hives...it was awful! I had hives everywhere. But Dr. Savage came bright and early to help us get out of there! I called Terry at home and said that we can go soon so he came right over! We got everything ready to go. I still wasn't feeling all that great but I could get up and get dressed and I was so excited to get home to Mae. Well, we got home around 10:00am. I don't know if I was just up and around more than I should have been or what but not 20 min later, my heart started to race really really bad and I was short of breath and felt light headed again. I didn't know if I was going into anaphalactic shock from the hives or what was going on, it really scared me bad! I had to just go lay down and once I laid down my heart started to regulate a little bit but it seemed like it took a while for it to go back to normal. I had called the Dr. on call and my brother while I was waiting for it to regulate! I basically couldn't do anything. I laid in bed and tried to rest. I frankly was scared to get up again. And that's when I started to take benedryl every 4 hrs around the clock. I think I took benedryl for a good 2 days straight, maybe even longer. It was so hard to just lay in bed and not be able to take care of my 2 kids. I could hear Mae being crazy and screaming and acting out and I knew I could help her calm down but I couldn't get up and help. I think it was really hard on Mae too. Poor thing she didn't know what was going on. I was just all of the sudden gone for 2 days and then for another 2 days I couldn't get out of bed! And she had just been sick on Thursday. Oh my, I am glad that is all over!!!!! Thankfully, Terry's mom came into town to help us for when Claire was born, and I am soooooo glad we had her come. Little did we know we were going to need her help more that anyone knew! She was so wonderful too, she cooked meals, did laundry, kept the house clean, fed Claire and took care of Mae. Bless her heart, she was probably sooo ready to go home! But I can't thank her enough for how much she helped us! My mom was so sweet too, she brought dinner a couple of nights and called all the time to check in and see how we were doing! It was a rough little while and I seriously am sooo happy that is behind us!

Claire is now 2 weeks old and we are all doing wonderfully! Mae is back to her normal super sweet self and loves baby Claire. Baby Claire is also super sweet and just doing so great! As of right now, she hates binky's though which is so different from Mae. But she has gained weight and is in the 95% for height and weight. I am feeling totally back to normal and couldn't be happier about it!

Cute daddy and Claire

Grandma Sharp and a much better, less swollen looking Claire.

Cute big sister and baby "cwaire". Mae doesn't say the "L"

Finally some pictures of all of us! We are looking a little raggedy but happy to be home and feeling better and back to normal!

LOVE my little family!

Christmas and such!

2012-01-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Well, we had quite a nice small Christmas this year! It was definitely different to not have any of my siblings home for Christmas! On Christmas eve we did our usual Shepard's Dinner which was just lovely! It was just my mom and dad and terry and I and of course Mae. Mae was loving being able to try all the different drinks that we had! Then on Christmas morning I made breakfast and we opened some presents. Then we went to church at 11 to hear my dad speak. It was great!

Mae enjoying all of her new coloring books. My favorite line from Mae this year was when she was opening a caillou dvd she exclaimed "a Caillou book, Just what I wanted!!!" Where did she even hear that line from! Terry and I just cracked up!

Terry opening the toaster that santa brought him this year.

Mae's new favorite thing lately has been for us to take pictures of her and she will do different faces like: scary!

probably silly or funny
scary again with daddy
obviously scary is her favorite one to do!
Happy!
Here are a few fun pictures of Mae...

There is actually a really funny story that goes with the next 2 pictures. So a few nights ago Mae had thrown up in her bed so I let her sit on the couch and color while I cleaned up so she could go back to bed. I was very tired and suggested that Mae could bring her markers and coloring book back in bed with her in attempts to get her to go peacefully back to bed. Well, it worked but in the morning we woke up to this... And in the middle of the night Terry checked on her and thought oh no, she has thrown up again and it is all over her face...but no, when he turned on the light to get a better look it was just marker! Smart I know to let my 2 year old have markers in her bed with her...it was late ok!!! And I was tired of cleaning up throw up!!!
She had carefully colored her nose, eyes, hands and as much of her face as she could!!

mae

2011-12-31T14:06:00.001-08:00

pictures of Halloween through Thanksgiving! And the quickest trip to Temple Square ever!

2011-12-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

We have had some fun over Halloween and Thanksgiving. I am just terrible and blogging and posting about it! Here are a few fun pictures!

My mom is the cutest! She was the "word fairy" at work for haloween

My dad took this picture! we asked him to get the food, he just cut off my head in the process!!

Too much people, no food. My dad is a great photographer.

Our table for Thanksgiving! Terry looks really happy to be there. It was also Terry's B-day!

Gpa reading to Mae and Jack! Darling!

My dad's side of the family were getting together at temple square for the christmas party this year and we all decided to go. Only problem was we left Orem at 6:30 at night. Ran into traffic. Both ways. Got to see family for about 5 min. We were all starving. and freezing. But at least we have these few gems to show for our effort!

I love this picture. Mae screaming, Terry laughing.

We are definitely trying to live it up a bit while Terry is done with the semester. Terry is always busy but hopefully we can squeeze a few more fun things in while we have a break! I just have to say too that Terry did AWESOME in his first semester of the Accounting Program at BYU. I couldn't be more proud of him! It was not easy at all. Literally, we barely made it through, but we did. Now here's to making the most of Christmas 2011!!

My Conversation with Mae today in the car...

2011-11-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Mae: mmmmm that's yummy!

Me: What you eating Mae?

Mae: That's delicious!

Me: What is it?

Mae: That's my favorite! (as she rubs her tummy)

Me: Mae, what are you eating??

Mae:..........Booger.

Fall Fun!!

2011-10-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

PUMPKINLAND

We have been able to do a few fun things lately to enjoy the fall festivities that are going on! The other week Terry had Friday off of school so we decided to go to Pumpkinland in Orem. It was cold, but so so fun! Mae had a blast looking at all of the animals and just being able to run around!

Then my cute nephew Jack had his first bday and we got to go to cornbelly's at thanksgiving point for his birthday party! My brother Bryan and Wendy went all out on his party and it was the most darling thing ever!!!

My dad ran all around with Mae. They had TONS of things for the kids to climb and play on it was awesome!!! But it also was like almost 80 degrees so we were all HOTT!!

Mae thoroughly enjoyed the piggie cupcake!!

Cute mamma Wendy and baby Jack who enjoyed his cupcake!!

Look at how cute this sunflower is!! They made these!!

Here is the darling family! Thanks you guys for an awesome day!!

Lastly, here are a few random cute pictures that I have taken lately!

We are having a .....

2011-10-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

I am pretty excited about what we are having! I think Mae will have a blast with a little SISTER!!!!! I hope she has the kind of relationship with her new sister that my sister and I have! HOW FUN! And not to mention we won't have to buy much of anything because we already have tons of girl stuff. I am so excited! We also have done pretty well choosing a name this time around! With Mae, it was hard to figure out the kinds of names Terry likes but we have one already that we both like!!!

So, my mom has brought over a bunch of old videos and pictures lately from back in the day. They have been fun to look through but for some reason has made me kinda sad and nostalgic too. Looking back to when my parents were still married, by brothers were all in the house still, we lived in our old house...things were so simple and fun. Oh how things have changed since then. But, you can't stop time. No matter what time is still going to pass and things are going to change and that's ok. I just need to make memories for my kids that I once had with my family. Boy do I miss the days where all my bothers and sister were still at home and my brothers would tease me, they would bring all of their hott friends over and Mary and I had so much fun talking about which one was the hottest. Jared would blast his music before his football games. Bryan and I would go to blockbuster and get treats and a movie. Matthew would always play rough house games with us to which my mother would be sure to tell us, " there better not be blood on my carpet!!" As I was watching the videos last night by myself, I wished so badly that someone in my family was there to laugh and cry with me. Anyway, I am totally rambling...thanks for listening. I really was blessed with the most awesome family in the world! I am definitely going to try and make it that great for Mae too!

Nerd Alert!!

2011-08-29T20:52:00.001-07:00

So how nerdy am I to take a 1st day of school picture of Terry?!?!

You can tell he is very excited about me taking the picture as well. I just was proud and excited for him to be starting the Accounting Program at BYU that I didn't want to not get a picture!

Here he is looking very studious! And handsome in his suit! They all had to wear a suit and tie the first day.

Way to go Terry! I am so proud of you and I KNOW you will do awesome!!

Since my sister is gone now, Mae and I have been figuring out a new routine. Here is a lot of what we do!

On this day, Terry actually was watching her. He got her ready for the day can you tell? :) He also took her around the park with him to do some work. The hat she is wearing is Terry's awesome work hat! :)

I bought a little paint set and coloring book from the Dollar store and Mae loved to paint! She seriously painted for so long this night!

We also go outside and Mae likes to water the plants. She also loves this hat! She put it on the other day and exclaimed "I'm a cowboy!"

We also went to this awesome new park in Spanish Fork that had a water fountain that the kids could play in and tons of swings. Mae loves the swings!

Mae and Dad enjoying some popcorn...Mae also loves popcorn.
Saying "cheese" at the same time!

Mae also did this little number on her leg with markers while I was making dinner one night. She was very proud of her artwork!

I must say we have had a lot of changes in the last little while. Some good, some not so good. But all in all we are doing pretty well. Life is definitely more lonely without my sister...but things are good right now for us. I feel like we are on a good path! And Mae is growing up too fast! But I sure love her.

FINALLY!!

2011-07-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last little while...where do I begin?? Well, Mae turned 2 on July 11th. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She talks like crazy. I would say she talks in 6-7 words sentences. She is so dang smart too! She loves playing with her cousins...so sad that half are already gone and the other half will be leaving soon. What are we going to do?!?!? Here are a few pics from her little party that we had at my mom's house.

Beckham needed to help of course!

He also needed to try on a pair of the princess shoes too!

Jane and Beckham definitely admired what Mae got

She loved opening her presents this year!

My mom got Mae and Jane these darling crowns!!

We have moved!! We are now in Provo living where Mary and Ryan used to live and took over their job as managers of Crestline Estates. We are so grateful to have this job and I think it is going to be great for us! But since we moved I decided to transition Mae into a big girls bed! She has done suprisingly well! Some days I really wonder if she naps though...she has been quite cranky lately! She wakes up with awesome hair though!!!

I need to take some pictures of our house! We got brand new carpet and it is wonderful!

She also had her first black eye! She fell, like she does on a daily basis, and happened to land perfectly on this one spot on a chair with her eye. It looked awful!!!

one more funny random picture...Terry likes to put stickers on his glasses and Mae thinks its so funny so she tried to do it herself...

She is the joy of my like, it doesn't get any sweeter!!

Quick trip to Cali!!

2011-05-10T21:07:00.001-07:00

On Monday the 2nd, terry and I decided to go to California. So we left Monday night. It was such a fun quick trip!! And this just sums terry and I up, we fly by the seat of our pants! But I am so glad we did! So we left monday and stayed over night in Vegas. Then early Tuesday morning we got on the road because we wanted to hit sea world on Tuesday! We finally got to sea world around noon! It was a hot day, and mae was not a fan of sitting and waiting for the shows to start.

She wasn't really into the shamu show very much. I always like it though!

She liked looking at all the animals!

This is the pets show, she is clapping for all the animals! This is the one show I think she kind of enjoyed.

At the pets show again! she looks homeless :)

This is what terry had to do with Mae while waiting for the shamu show to start.

Mae is loving life...

Then on Wednesday and Thursday we went to DISNEYLAND! I just love Disneyland! I just think its magical!

We had to get a picture of Mae in some mickey ears!

And you know we had to get the traditional Disneyland picture!

Mae was seriously such a trooper on this trip! She did awesome, she slept in the stroller pretty well and even though she didn't get the best nap she wasn't that cranky! I just love her!

We carried Mae around like this a lot! this was in line for a bugs life ride that she loved!

Tarzan's Tree house

It wasn't until after the ride was over (i think it was alice and wonderland) that we looked at the pictures and Mae looks kinda terrified!

and tired

She wasn't really that big of a fan of tink.

Before the world of color show which was Awesome by the way!!! We saw the world of color show on Thursday night, our last day in Disneyland!

Stylish Mini sunglasses

So pooped!

Terry on his favorite ride!

This is in the bugs life part of California Adventure! She loved this little water park!

Cute family picture!

Then on Friday we went to Long Beach for a bit. We played on the beach for a little while and little did I know that 1. Mae loves the beach, and 2. she has no fear and ran right into the water, shoes and all! I didn't have my camera with me so sadly no pictures of that part. :(

Then we finally got to Bryan and Wendy's house and had a lovely dinner with them at Cheesecake Factory!

Mae was way too big for Jack's toy but Jack was kind enough to let Mae try it out :)

Jack is seriously the most adorable baby! He is sooo smiley and laughs like crazy! He must have some pretty good parents :)!! Bryan and Wendy were kind enough to let us crash at their place Friday night. Bryan and I had a fun night! It reminded me of when I was really little and Bryan would take me with him to blockbuster and we would get a scary movie and treats and hang out together! What an awesome brother I have! Then we drove home all day Saturday!

Well thats it! Some might think we are crazy for going so last minute but I am sooooo glad we did! What a fun little family vacation we had! We are definitely going to do this vacation thing more often! And maybe with a little more planning next time....or not!

Hospital...

2011-04-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

So just a few weeks ago, Mae had her first visit to the emergency room. It was not fun at all for anyone!! Here is what happened. She basically had a fever of 105 degrees for about 3 days straight. The doctor thought she may have had a urinary tract infection so we got her on some antibiotics. But on the third day of her super high fever that wouldn't budge even with medicine in her every 3 hrs, I finally couldn't take it anymore and took her to the emergency room. I mean she was in a Luke warm bath, acting very lethargic, with a fever of 104...what would you have done. Anyway, they gave her an iv with an antibiotic, took some blood for tests, and took some urine for another uti test... it was awful. Luckily we didn't have to be at the hospital for too long and that night her fever broke. Come to find out though she didn't have a uti, so I stopped the antibiotic which was giving her raging diarrhea (poor girl!). But I was looking online at Roseola and the symptoms lined up pretty much exactly with what Mae was having. She even had a rash once the fever went down...and come to find out you don't have to give them ANYTHING for it and it goes away on its own after a few days. Why couldn't someone have thought of that before I took her to the emergency room!!! Oh well, better safe than sorry I guess! I am just glad she is OK and I have my sweet playful Mae back! Seriously while she had such a high fever all she wanted to do was cuddle with me which I LOVE but I just new she didn't feel good, you know! Here's to flu season almost being over!!!

This picture is of Mae at the hospital with her iv in and everything!

10K and randomness!!

2011-03-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, a few weeks ago I did the rex lee run 10K. This was my first race since I have been running again, and it was awesome!!! I really really love races for some reason. I am not super fast or anything but I just enjoy being out there and running with others I guess. I did 6.23 miles in 56min. I was proud of myself!

Here is Mae and I post race. She is enjoying some of my post race food. Watching really made her hungry :) It was sooooo especially awesome to have Terry, Mae, Mary and my Mom there at the end cheering me on! That was for sure the best part!!!

A few fun things that we have done lately! Mary and I took the kiddos to Provo beach resort and ate at the BEST pizza place afterward, and I just really love this picture!!!

I try out new ways to do Mae's hair! This french braid turned out pretty cute!

Mae makes messes at Grammy's house!

Daddy loves cuddles from Mae!!!

Mae and Jane play with Jane's princess stuff!!

These last 3 are when Mary and I went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. They are playing in a sand pit that has dinosaur bones that you can find!

Mary tucked Jane's dress into her leggings that is why jane has a bubble butt :)

We really have had some fun times lately!

life lately!

2011-03-02T21:07:00.001-08:00

Well, I continue to run and love it! I ran outside last Saturday and it was snowing lightly but it was wonderful! I really forgot how great it feels to run outside. I LOVE it! Can't wait for better weather though :)!

Terry has been doing onsites lately so Mae and I are home alone. Its not that bad really! We have fun together! We miss daddy but we make the best of it. We go over to my sister Mary's house and Mae just plays and plays there with Jane and Beckham. The last time we were there, it was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. As soon as Jane walked in Mae ran up to her and gave her the biggest hug and just held her for the longest time!!! long enough for me to get a picture! that is pretty long considering I had to go and get my camera out of my purse!

Then Mae put on one of Jane's many princess dresses and they LOVED to just run around and laugh together. It was really precious! They are really becoming buds! Just in time for them to leave :( :( :( :(

Mae also loves to play with Beckham! They sometimes get on each others nerves a little but for the most part they like to play with each other!

My brother and sis-in-law came in to town for a few days and we sure enjoyed hanging out with them and their 2 cute kids! This is Mae and Charlotte

Then poor Mae was so tired one night that she actually fell asleep like this!

She sure loves her "rora" (Aurora) Pj's!!! They are really tinker bell but the only princess she knows how to say is Aurora!

And last but not least, Mae had her first big fall on the cement and totally scraped up her nose! It was really sad but she is ok now!!! This was the best picture I could get. Not the best picture but you can sorta see the damage!