And The Race Is On...

Which will it be???? Baby or house? Baby or house? Which one will win the race?

I can't believe how long it has been that I've been saying, "Yeah, we are supposed to close next week!" There are just too many individuals involved in purchasing a home - especially when it is a HUD home - this whole process is just taking forever! Of course, I'm sure I'm not being one bit impatient, considering that I'm not sure if I will or will not have a place for our baby to sleep when she comes! It is just frustrating; anything requested on our end has taken less than an hour to deliver to the right hands. We do everything right away, and then it takes "a week or so" to complete whatever stage our title company, or lender, or underwriter, or HUD agent is in. I also hate being in the dark so much. Why is it that the purchasers can't just call up the sellers and ask what stage they are in, or how much longer they expect things to take? Okay, I know the answer to that, but it is still frustrating that we can't talk to certain people without going through the proper channels. Blah Blah Blah - I just want to be home!!

P.S. Yes, that is our actual house, but not our actual baby. In case you were wondering...

A Time for Thanks

I am so glad that we got married during this season of Thanksgiving! It reminds me every time how thankful I am for such an amazing husband! Jared, you are everything to me, and I had no idea how many wonderful things would come from saying, "Yes" to you 7 years ago! You are the most kind, understanding and giving individual I've ever met, and each day I am surprised to find you still love me despite all my faults and shortcomings!

You have given our family such strength and character with all your determination and dedication to finishing school. You are an idealistic father to Anna, and already one to our little girl on the way - just by taking such good care of me! You have seen us through thick and thin, and I feel so blessed to have you in my life! I love you, sweetie and Happy Anniversary!

Little Angel

For anyone that knows me pretty well, the title of this post may come as a surprise. Not because Anna isn't a cute little angel or anything like that, but mainly because I'm not one for sissy pet names. However, I just wanted to share that I really did have a little angel on my hands today as I "caught" Anna saying prayer several times. I would walk into her room, and she'd have her chubby little arms folded as best they could be, her head sort of bowed, and she'd be whispering incoherent words for a second before abruptly stopping and clapping for herself! I'll have to admit that I clapped for her when we first learned prayers because she did so good, but now she claps after every one... it's cute enough that I'm not going to curb it. I wish I could get into her head to know what she is thinking, or what she is saying.
Also, as if to further solidify my opinion of my little angel, while writing this post, she came up to me wanting me to read her "I am a Child of God" book. She has all of her books fully accessible, and that is the one she picks, bringing it to me, pointing at the cover art and saying, "Shesus, Shesus."
She must be having a spiritual day...
Here is a recent picture that just makes me smile; I love my little girl. :)

Okay, Here You Go...

Ugh, for some reason I have really not wanted to post my pregnant picture this go-around. Last time, even though I gained about double the weight, I think I felt more excited about experiencing it all for the first time and thus didn't care what I looked like. This time, for some reason, I haven't been able to make myself post anything. But, Jared made me take a couple pictures just so we'd have a record, and I decided that I may as well indulge the curiosity of blog followers. It has also been fun creating this post because every time Anna runs behind me as she plays, she points and says, "Mama!"

Anyway, in this picture, I am at 33 weeks and explaining to PJ how the birds and the bees work... Of course, he's already had 7 kids, so I'm not really sure why he was asking. Sorry about the completely blank backdrop, we are still planning to close end of November, and thus have mostly everything packed already. Enjoy.

Cock-A-Doodle-BOO!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some pictures from our adventures! Jared was working so he missed out on the fun, but the girls had a great night. First, I briefly considered dressing her up as a mad scientist:


But then went with our original plan of a rooster...that plays piano...



Anna had lots of fun running around chasing balloons at the ward's trunk-or-treat. She wasn't very social, but liked the decorations, pumpkins and lights. I kept having to shed her layers underneath her costume as the night progressed - that thing was hot!



I just loved the yellow and orange striped legs!



By the time we made it to Grandma and Grandpa's roost, she was super pooped. We didn't stay for long, and she ended up going to bed before 7! Anyway, we had a great time, and can't wait until next year when she really will understand what is going on! :)

Anna's Moon

Anna was given a balloon the other day while Jared, she and I were walking the mall. She instantly fell in love with it and has played with it while the helium lasted. The only problem is that she is now confused about the difference between a balloon and a moon. She just officially learned 'moon' the other day, so introducing another round thing that floats in the sky, that happens to sound actually similar to 'moon' is very confusing. Every morning now, when she gets up for breakfast, she sees her 'moon' floating in the dining room and identifies it. I really don't know how to explain it to her. I guess she doesn't care anyway. :) See how much fun she has with it in this video.

Cravings

Since I have had two pregnancies quite close together, it has made for easy comparisons. For example, with Anna, I didn't ever get any crazy cravings. I only got strange sensations when brushing my teeth. I can't explain it, and I know it sounds weird, but I loved brushing everything in my mouth because it felt so nice! That went away immediately after Anna's birth, but don't worry, I continued brushing anyway...
With this one, I have had just a few cravings, the occasional cheeseburger or whatever, but it seems like I have basically gone through three nutritional phases; one for each trimester. The first trimester was avocados. I think I had one by itself at least once a week. They were delicious. There was even one night that I ate a whole one, but wanted another. It was pretty late, so the grocery stores were closed, but I knew of a Taco Bell that was open 24 hours. Well, to my great disappointment, they didn't actually carry avocados. I got some weird ranch-avocado sauce that was entirely unsatisfying instead. It was like experiencing Disneyland as an adult instead of a child - that kind of disappointment.
The second trimester was milk. MMMMMilk. I chugged milk like there was no tomorrow, and I usually am a 2% kind of gal, but 1% was completely satisfying and much more healthy, I'm sure. Anyway, I think I even made a couple of meals with the appetizer, entree and dessert being milk!
This trimester has been all about carrots. Ask me not if I want avocados or milk, they have had their day, but put some carrots in front of me now, and I will devour them! I finished off two bags of organic baby carrots last week, and am only writing this now because I am in the mood for some tonight, but don't have any! They are just so delicious and cold and crisp and refreshing; just irresistible! My favorite carrots are the type that have that slight mud taste to them, you know what I mean. The type that taste like you just plucked them from the ground, rinsed them off with a hose, and took a bite. Those are my favorite, which reminds me: Since the smell of rain and mud are some of my favorite smells, I've noticed that the monsoon season this year has been quite a let-down. Honestly, I think it has only rained really hard twice since we got pregnant - what the heck!?
With rain comes mud and faster growing grass which leads to my other favorite smell - freshly cut grass! I feel like I got robbed this summer of my favorite scents which could be so much more enjoyed with the intensified senses of pregnancy! :)
Oh well, I'm off to get some carrots...

Update

Well, a few updates for the Gardner family: Jared passed his NCLEX exam yesterday, so he is officially a licensed LPN - YAY! Anna is being the amazing toddler that she is, even dealing with two canine teeth coming in. She loves to have us read her books over and over again. Right now, her favorite is Jack and the Beanstalk. We have one from I think the 1970's, and it's art is horrible, but she loves it!
Little Sister, as she is called since we don't have a solid name yet, is very strong and growing fast. I don't have any pictures that make me look even remotely cute, so I'm not posting any! :) This pregnancy has gone really well, I'm just pretty tired. Anyway, we're not too tired to hit the splash pad for one last hoorah before the season ends. Here is Anna playing:

And here she is at our house that isn't ours yet. Although you can't tell, she is getting a little more hair every day.

That's it for now!!

Idaho Trip

I am ashamed to admit that it has been 2 weeks since we got home from Idaho, and I'm just now posting about it. I can't even say life has been too crazy; at least, it hasn't been more crazy than normal, I guess I was just too lazy! :) Anyway, we had tons of fun seeing family again and meeting our nephew for the first time! Here are some pics showing our great time:
Here are the girl cousins hanging out watching The Rescuers Down Under

Anna got to ride the lawn mower with Grandma; she waved at me every time they passed.

This is our makeshift icepack for when Anna took her first spill down the stairs. Not her "first spill" as if she did any more during the trip, just her first spill ever... I kind of wish that I would've taken a picture of the swelling. It went away pretty quickly, but she looked like a Klingon for a while.

Anna was able to spend tons of time outside in the grass and sun; she was in heaven. I can't wait until we get a backyard so she can continue the fun!

This is Jared with neice Emmy and Anna at his sister's new property and house. We are so excited for their new opportunity!

We also went to the zoo and spent a few nights at the family ranch, but for some reason, I don't have any pictures of the camping. At least this time Anna only walked away with one mosquito bite, not 30 on her face.
We had such a great time; thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us come up for a while! :)

P.S. We are in the process of closing on a property in Queen Creek, but don't want to jinx anything by posting pictures. We are very excited to say the least and should be moving in around the end of October!! YAY!

Wooohooo!!!

Jared is done with his LPN program - YAY!!! All he has left to do is take his license test (NCLEX) and he is finished! It has been a long road, but I am SO proud of his perseverance! He already has his career lined up with the hospital he is currently employed with, so the transition should go really smoothly! Then, within a few months, we will hopefully be residing again in the east valley. Anyway, just thought I'd throw out that little HOORAH to my hubby for all his hard work!!