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!!

Can't Wait

So, I don't have any pictures to post for this entry; it's mostly just a chance for me to vent and whine. We have been at our current residence (if you can call it that) for about six months. Granted, we moved here because it would save us a great deal of money while Jared finished up his LPN program, and it was somewhat closer to his school/work at the time. Well, now I have just about had it, and can't wait to buy our house in October. Everything is lining up great so we will be able to, but for the time being, I'm going a little crazy and I'll tell you why. Here is a list of the lovely ambiance-creators in my neighborhood:
*Car alarms - at least 30 times a day
*Yapping dogs - at least 3 times a day
*Ice cream trucks (3) - at least 3 times a day
*Walking, bell-ringing ice cream vendors (2) - at least twice a day
*Extremely loud garbage trucks (with the banging and the beeping) - at least 4 times a week (twice over because the garbage bins for the adjacent complex is less than 50 yards away from my window)
*Revving engines and peeling out - I can't tell you how many ghetto vehicles in this complex are modified to be excruciatingly annoying, but each one has to show it off right in front of my place at least twice a day
*Loud neighbors - I mean, I'm sure Jared and I have our moments of not being quiet little mice, but honestly, I think I have the loudest neighbor on earth. I can hear her talking (term loosely used) on her phone every night around 11pm from the parking lot all the way up the stairs and once she's inside her apartment, it's even louder
*Airplanes - I think some days that one is going to crash through our roof - at least 30 times a day
Y'know, other than that, we have a very lovely peaceful quiet residence for a really great price.
I can't wait to move.

I Sleep With Guns

Soooo, I was awake the other night, which happens to be a frequent occurrence, and I was thinking about having two girls - whether they would be girly or tom-boyish like I was. I then started thinking about the fact that I definitely have some traits that make me quite girlish, aside from actually being a girl... I mean, I do like to shop, I love pedicures (I've only had one manicure in my life given to me by Michelle Lambson when she was going through beauty school. It was nice, but the nails fell off within a few hours, so I didn't become real hooked.), and I can have pretty emotional days, or weeks, or... well, you get the point.

THEN, I thought about the way I was laying in bed and how nice it was that I had a perfect position to be in while I slept as my belly grew each day. Y'know, slightly on my stomach/side, leg bent, one arm tucked under my chin, the other extended under the pillow with my hand resting on the cold steel barrel of my Mossberg 12 gauge behind my bedstead... at that point I figured that I probably wasn't a normal girl.

First off, now everyone knows where I keep one of my guns, but I don't think that anyone about to rob me is going to check my blog first, and I'm not a paranoid internet person, so there you go. Secondly, I don't have my hand on my gun because I am a paranoid house person, either. It just happens to be there, and the cool touch feels nice at night.

To continue with the strange ramblings of my mind, I had to smile to myself when I realized that the other favorite position of mine to sleep in is exactly the same but on the flip side, this time with my hand on the other set of guns readily accessible to me:

K, so they aren't that big, and they don't usually tote a sledge hammer, but I found it interesting that on one side I'm holding my real gun, and on the other, I hold my hubby's guns. It is nice having such a protected night! :) So, I concluded that although I have many traits that make me a girly girl, I am still unique, and I'm sure that's how my girls will be as well.
P.S. For those who think my post contains a bit too much information, aka: TMI, too bad. It's my blog.

Little SISTER!!

After our ultrasound on Monday, it was determined that baby #2 is going to be a GIRL! Jared just loves it; he grew up with girls and just adores Anna, so he's definitely stoked. I am thrilled as well, a little wary of the idea that I so far am only raising girls, but I think I've done okay for my first year with my first one. The baby appeared extremely healthy and strong, which I could already attest to with the kicks she's dishing out! Jared has already felt her kicks which is always a neat thing for Daddies. As a big sister, Anna is already a favorite, for every time I hold her, the baby kicks against any part that is touching "her side". I can't wait, it's going to be one intense ride having two girls in the house that close in age.

As far as my pregnancy goes, everything is still really great, just pretty exhausting. I can't believe how frequently I just want to crash in my pillow and not move for hours. Kudos for women who have many children. I'm pooped. The doc did bump up my due date about a week, so now we have a Christmas baby instead of a New Year's. It didn't surprise me since Anna grew so fast as well. She is going to be a great big sister. Here is a sweet pic of her and Dada a few days after returning from Colorado. Her poor mosquito bites - at least they are healing fast; she looks much better now!!

Colorado Camping

The week began with a successful eight hour drive where there really were few issues despite having three toddlers in the back seat. We arrived at our camping spot in the afternoon with plenty of time to set up. It was a really beautiful area just outside Delores, Colorado with huge mountains all around and a river about fifty yards away. The first night was pretty cold, but Anna slept pretty well.

On Tuesday most of the family went hiking to the hot springs but Anna and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in camp (I just wasn't sure how far I could get carrying that sack of potatoes on my back...). It was probably good because I was able to help cover everything up when the hail started coming down. It was a pretty good storm that seemed to completely miss the hikers, thankfully. Then, once everyone got back into camp, the real storm hit. It rained so hard and had quarter-sized hail for about an hour! My tent, Grandma and Grandpa's old one, definitely had to be retired after the storm. You should have seen the way it sagged under the weight of the hail as it piled on top, just pouring water onto my bed and gear. I was able to salvage some of Anna's and my stuff during the storm so we only had to run into Delores with an Armada full of everyone's wet gear. Ugh, it was a challenge, especially not having Jared there to help me, but we survived. I moved into the trailer that we had hauled our gear up in (special thanks to the Lambsons for such a sturdy vehicle that perfectly fit a mattress and crib).

The rest of the week was mostly storm free aside from a few drops here and there, but the worst part was freezing at night. I was forced to create a "family bed" for most of the nights as I tried different tactics to keep Anna and I warm. There is a reason that she hasn't slept with me since she was a day old - I don't sleep. Anyway, we survived, and finally on the last night, Friday, we both had a VERY successful sleep. It just came down to the perfect arrangement of bedding and pajamas so that circulation was maintained and heat contained. She slept all night by herself and all I cared about was that I slept! But, despite the rough nights, we had glorious days. The food was terrific, the scenery breathtaking, the mosquitoes hungry. I think that Anna and I taste especially scrumptious to those evil hovering bugs because she now looks like she has chicken pox (despite the ample amounts of "OFF" I used on her). I will try to get more pictures later, but this is the only one I have - Grandma, Anna and I went for a hike that was mostly straight up the mountain next to camp. It was gorgeous and exhausting; I'm such a tired, out of shape, pregnant mom, it's not even funny! :)

Toy Box Time

I like to think that Anna really enjoys her toys. Most of them are homemade from fun items around the house (like the Fanta bottle with rice for a noisemaker...) and it seems that she explores them differently each time she comes across one. She certainly decided to do some exploring today as I found her in her toy box digging through her treasures.


I couldn't even get her attention long enough to get a cute picture of her until I started making monkey noises. This was the reaction I then received, I think its a smile...not sure:

Look at all those teeth, though! You can even see her upper molar in the back there! Anyway, it was such a cute face, I had to share it with everyone. I'm so lucky to have such an awesome kid. :)