What's worse than having your baby at Wal-Mart?

How about having it at your 10 YEAR CLASS REUNION?? Yep - call me crazy (really) - I went to my 10 year high school reunion 9 months pregnant last Saturday! I wouldn't have gone, but a small ramification of running for senior class office back in the day leaves you planning all of the reunions for the rest of your life. SO - since I was "helping out" ( which I wasn't much due to the fact that I had been on bed rest for the last several weeks), I felt I should go. The funny part was, I was having strong, hard (painful!!) contractions (4 minutes apart) that went on for an hour and a half just prior to going. Soooo - Chris and I were seriously trying to decide - should we go to the hospital, or the reunion? In the end we obviously went to the reunion which was held at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. It was pretty fun and turned out to be a success! The food was great, and we held a silent auction that ended up raising over $5000, which will go towards remodeling some bathrooms in an orphanage in Ukraine through Project Reachout. Class alumni brought items to donate for the auction (i.e. someone donated a week stay at their Malibu beach house, 1 hour massage, floral arrangement, baskets of goodies, homemade little girl hairbows, blankets, etc. etc.). Anyways - it turned out great. Thanks especially to Ali and Cami for making that such a big success!! It was fun and I still can't believe it's been ten years!!! My good friend Jill and I... she is just four weeks behind me in pregnancy. (We were cleaning up - hence the empty room. It really WAS full of people...)
L to R: Myself, Jill, Cami, Ali

I seriously couldn't have been in student government with 3 more amazing girls... we were such good friends back then, and we still are! That makes it so nice for when these reunion planning things come around. Aren't they such pretty girls? This is right as we were leaving -right before midnight and I look disgusting - but THEY all look beautiful, don't they?
Our husbands (mine and Jill's)... Such good sports to help with setting up, cleaning up, and just BEING there the entire time!

Mmmmm... Want some?

Can we all just say "HOORAY!" for a new camera! Our last took eternity to reset for the next picture, and it just had been dropped too many times or something and the image quality lately had been so awful. We knew that with the new baby coming that it was time for an upgrade... and here is the result. If you just compare these pics to the previous posts - well it all just speaks for itself. MUCH BETTER!!! Parker is not a great eater. BUT -he does have a few favorites...I bet you can't guess what this one might be.
Okay, you're right. "Appos" and "pea bu", as Parker calls them.

July trip to St. George

My little brother, myself, and Parker took a trip down to St. George to visit my Mom and Reed the second week of July(the week before I was put on bedrest).... Here are some random pictures from the trip that I haven't gotten around to posting until now. I didn't take many pictures so there is nothing too exciting....but here they are. We just got a new camera, (hooray!) so I promise these are the last of these awful quality pictures! "Gamma Jane" and the little munchkin
Apparently something was too loud for him...?
Good times exploring the shower...
Steven & Barkley
And of course, Roxy came along for the trip, too. She and Barkley like to play.

I AM NOT having this baby in Wal-Mart!!!

So today I hit the 36 week mark, and I was given permission to "somewhat" resume my normal activities. Nothing too strenuous, but I no longer have to turn my head when it's time to vaccuum, (this seriously has been the hardest thing as this is pretty much a daily ritual for my main floor!) and I can actually leave the house and run a few errands! So basically, despite all the contractions that come especially through too much movement, I don't have to be quite as glued to the couch as I have for the last 2 1/2 weeks, because we're out of the "danger zone" for the baby. If I go into labor this week, they're not stopping me. You catch my drift. So today I was so excited to run to Wal-Mart - yes Wal-Mart of all places, to pick up a few last minute items I've had on my mind that I'll need for the baby, my hospital stay, for Parker, etc. I'm definitely not a huge Wal-Mart fan - trust me! Everytime I venture in that place I swear it will be my last due to ridiculously long lines and only 2 checkers, unorganized isles, and mostly thoughts of "where in the world do all these weird people come from?" (I know, that isn't nice, but admit it - most of you have had those same thoughts.) BUT - today I figured I could pick up the items I need, AND be able to get a few groceries while I was there. So - off Parker and I went to Wal-Mart this morning. He ran to the car with excitement when I told him we were going somewhere - the poor little guy has been cooped up for almost three weeks, just like myself!

So you have to understand, I'm a pretty sad site as it is... my back is killing me because it is so out of alignment, my toes for some reason feel as though they are going to snap in half when I walk on them, and I get pretty painful contractions when I walk much and definitely everytime I stand up. SO - to sum it up, this pregnant girl is DEFINITELY waddling these days!! ( I can't help it!) But, I was determined to make this trip, and off I pushed my cart with Parker in tow into Wal-Mart. I was doing pretty good through the food department, but headed back towards the baby stuff and the horrible pain set in. I not only was having hard, painful contractions across the front, but BAD pain and cramping through my lower back! To the point where I could hardly walk! I was totally trying to tough it out and was frantically looking for a place to sit down, but there was nothing. Soooo, there I was, ready to cry, with nightmare thoughts of "I might just have this baby here in Wal-Mart", "I CANNOT bring my baby into the world in white trash Wal-Mart", and "I've got to get out of here, FAST!" running through my head. BUT - I can be stubborn at times, and I was determined to buy what was in my basket, as I had waited weeks to make some of these purchases. So I kept walking - REALLY SLOW, hoping that no one would notice that I was in pretty excrutiating pain. I took a break in a few isles, and finally, after about 15-20 minutes, and picking up a few other items along the way, the back pain eased up a little, making things MUCH more bearable!

Well, the story has a happy ending, I made the long walk to the front of the store, made my purchases, and made my way out of Wal-Mart! I think more than I was relieved that I didn't go into labor today, barely 36 weeks pregnant while running an errand, I was just soooooo glad that I wouldn't have to be sharing my birth and delivery story with good old Wal-Mart as the setting. YIKES! Now if that wouldn't be a nightmare delivery story, I don't know what is. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be going back to Wal-Mart anytime soon... I think tomorrow I'll stay home and keep "glued to the couch" and give my pathetic body a bit of a break, but maybe Wednesday I'll venture into Target... if I haven't had this baby by then. After all, a "Target baby" wouldn't be quite so bad, would it? :)

P.S. The sarcasm in this story is REAL. It is just that - sarcasm. The author really DOES want what is best for her baby and will take the necessary precautions to ensure it. She realizes that making it another week - to 37 weeks and full term - would be ideal. No real harm was done in her trip to Wal-Mart, and she will not be attempting that again. Anytime soon.

Parker's Big Birthday Bash

Here are some pictures from Parker's birthday party last Tuesday (the 22nd). I was on "bedrest", so we were trying to keep it low key (whatever that means with a cute two year old with lots of adoring family), but it was really fun having so much family over for the event! I made his cake myself... pretty impressive for being on bedrest, ay? Yeah right. Thank goodness for Costco! I didn't get pics of everyone that came, including both of our Moms, but it was nice that my Mom happened to be in town for the event due to the baby situation. Big thanks to her for helping pull off the schindig, and also to everyone who came out to celebrate Parker on his big day!I think the cake was bigger than Parker...

This is the greatest toy! We highly recommend it for small, active little boys! Chris and I gave this to Parker for his b-day, which he found on the side of the house at the very beginning of his party, before we were ready to unveil it. It is sand and water table, (I took this pic days later, and sorry the sandbox part is covered) and Parker got so dirty from it in the first 10 minutes of his party. So much for a cute, CLEAN birthday picture... So he had a dirt covered shirt the rest of the night (just in case you're wondering in pictures... :)). But hey - that is the essence of being 2, right?
"Okay, I'm ready everyone!"
Why the head tilt, you ask? Parker was jamming to the music that this cute little ATV was playing, given to him by his Great-Grandma, Mimi.

Parker enjoying his cake. He was eating it very carefully with a fork. At least he stayed clean for ONE event.
Family photo (our camera is dying - sorry for the haziness)... don't mind my straggly hair and el hugeo belly. It pretty much sums up how I feel these days though, I must say...
My Dad, Chris' Dad, Chris, Parker, and adorable Great-Grandpa Lonczyna
Parker got a cute singing alphabet toy from G & G Hansen which he busted out the dance moves on... it was soooo funny! He kept going back to it while opening presents and played the music and danced around! He was so hilarious to watch and sure loved having an audience! Such the performer.

Is my little boy doing the "worm"? (Is that even what it's called??) Parker was break dancing to the music! Really! He would kick up his legs and then ride his body down to the ground. I was crying I was laughing so hard. Where in the world did he learn this???

He loved the way Great-Grandma Lonczyna played around with the balloons with him. He was laughing so hard at her while she teased him with them. So cute to watch! This is whom, by the way, Chris (and Parker I guess you could say) inherited their red hair from!All ready for bed... playing with Aunt Bethany and her boyfriend, ( :>) Brett. Ahhh, aren't they cute?

What a fun night! Thanks again for coming everyone and for all the FUN new toys!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

I can't believe my baby boy is TWO! It has been such a joy in every way to have Parker as a member of our family - we truly can't imagine our lives without him. He is so much FUN and has truly been a tremendous blessing to us. What started out as our little red haired peanut has blossomed into a little white blonde firecracker - full of energy, good humor, what seems to be an exceptionally high IQ (says his parents), silly antics, and a bit of sass.

Here are 24 things I want to remember about Parker at 24 months:

(Sorry for the long post!)

1. Has turned into a chatter box over the last couple of months

2. He loves music and LOVES to dance - has quite the collection of dance moves

3. He love love loves to be outside!

4. His "babies" that he sleeps with are: Nemo, Mickey, and "Me-me"

5. He mostly just drinks milk and water, but he LOVES "choco" milk

6. He loves to play with balls

7. He is a good sleeper these days, taking at least an hour nap in the afternoon and sleeps through the night - 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.

8. His once red hair has turned almost white blonde with maybe a TINGE of strawberry to it

9. He loves the TV show "Little Einsteins", which he calls "Pat Pat" (because they pat-pat to take off in the rocket ship)

10. He isn't a great eater - but good enough as the Dr. says...He'll eat any fruits, yogurt, scrambled eggs, waffles, taquitos, carrots, mac and cheese, parmesan noodles, apples with peanut butter, cereal... those are the staples these days.

11. He loves to show off how he knows his shapes and colors

12. He loves to follow me around and "help" me clean the house... if I have a clorox wipe, he isn't content until he has one to clean with too (I try to trick him and give him a baby wipe instead...)

13. We're working on counting but does pretty good up to #5 but after that he skips around a bit

14. He loves to read books - recent favorites are: "The Best Nest", "Russell the Sheep", and "What Dad's Can't Do"

15. He loves to take his nightly baths & I swear he'd stay in there an hour if I let him

16. We have a pretty set routine that we do our best to stick to. He likes the repetition and he does much better when it is followed than when we have to deviate from it

17. He continues to torture the poor dog, but he loves her and likes to have her nearby

18. He still gets rocked to sleep for both his nap and bedtime (For bedtime - just until he's sleepy)

19. He has a funny sense of humor and likes to tease

20. He loves ALL of his grandparents and his aunts and uncles and gets excited to visit them

21. He LOVES popcorn!

22. The only movie he really watches these days is Finding Nemo, but he for some reason gets mesmerized by the Sound of Music and will sit and watch all those nuns...must be the music.

23. He's very coordinated and catches on surprisingly quick when I teach him something new

24. He pretty much understands whatever I say and is great at following directions. If I ask him where something is or to go and get something, he always finds it and follows through. He LOVES to be a helper!

I could go on and on.... but to wrap things up, this little boy is the best thing to enter our lives! Each day he is doing something new and life seems to always be an adventure with him in our home. We love you and adore you, Parker!

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!!

Below is a slideshow of his first two years. I'm sure it's way longer than you have to sit and view it, but it was so fun for me to look back and reminisce on all these pictures! What a journey this last two years has been!

Parker's First Two Years

5 FAVORITE THINGS IN THIS PREGNANCY

1. CRUSHED ice!!! I seriously can't get enough of it. I am so content to just sit and stare at a wall if I have a glass full of ice to munch on. I especially love Sonic ice or movie theater ice, but regular crushed ice from my fridge will do. I probably go through at least 3 or 4 glasses of it a day. Yuuuuuum!

2. PINK! It's been so fun shopping for pink things this time around. There are so many cute things out there...too many in fact... this is probably Chris' LEAST favorite feature of having a girl in that it can get expensive... although - I have to say I am a total bargain shopper! Finding high quality things for a good deal is one of my favorite pasttimes!!

3. Knowing where every PUBLIC RESTROOM is in every public store I visit. (A little sarcasm here in case you didn't detect it...) I don't know if this is a GOOD thing but I'm a great person to ask where the bathroom is if you are ever in need of one.

4. CEREAL - I'm not sure myself or the baby would be alive right now if it weren't for cereal (mixed with water - I'm lactose intolerant so no milk for me) during this pregnancy. Cheerios, HN Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats, LIFE - those are just a few of my faves.

5. PARKER'S NAPTIMES = my naptime! I've been so drained this last trimester of pregnancy - I don't remember being this tired with Parker. By the afternoon I just hit a wall, and thankfully I've been able to get somewhat refreshed through taking a nap when he naps over this last 2 months or so. Somedays I really don't know what I'd do without them!

Good news!

Here is a quick update on the baby situation... Despite a trip to the hospital on Sunday afternoon where I was given a shot to stop contractions (which were occuring every 5-10 minutes )- we are still hanging in there and have kept this baby in a whole week since this bedrest thing started! I had another doctor appointment yesterday and I haven't dilated anymore than I was last week - so that was such a relief to hear and great news!!! I'm continuing to have painful contractions on and off - especially when I get up or am on my feet - so I am just trying to take it easy as much as is possible with a two year old running around! I will be 35 weeks this Monday, which would be a great milestone to hit, so for now we're just doing our best to keep this impatient baby girl happy in this big belly of mine! I have another appointment on Monday morning so we'll keep you posted!

BED REST??

So I haven't been feeling great lately, but then again - I'm pregnant. Comes with the territory (for the majority of us...), right? I've had what I thought were lots of painful contractions lately and suspected that something might be up, but then again I didn't want to be a hypochondriac, either. Maybe my body was just painfully "stretching" or something. Well, my suspicions were confirmed at my 33 week Dr. appointment yesterday. I'm almost dilated to a 3! At 40 weeks with Parker, I was barely a 2, so this was surprising news! So, as you can guess, I am pretty much on bed rest for the next 2 1/2 weeks, with hopes of making it to 36 weeks so that this baby's lungs can finish developing properly. How in the world I'm supposed to stay down with a 2 year old climbing and hanging on me like I'm some sort of playground, and constantly needing my care, is beyond me! But thank goodness for my Mom and Mother-in-Law. My Mom is able to come up from St. George to help out until next Wednesday, and then Chris' Mom will be able to step in once she's gone.

I'm grateful for their willingness to help! I guess maybe I'll have a little time on my hands to get up to date on my blog now. We'll see how all this pans out... let's cross our fingers that this baby doesn't make too early of a debut!!!

Happy Anniversary

This is such an overdue post, but I just wanted to mention it.... On June 24th we had our EIGHTH wedding anniversary! Can you believe it?? I can't. Crazy. This isn't a great picture of any of us, but our most recent family photo. Chris and I went out to dinner and then to see the new Indiana Jones in celebration (the night of this pic) while the Hansens watched Parker for us. Probably sounds lame to most of you for an anniversary date, but it was great for us because it is the FIRST movie I've seen in a theater in the TWO YEARS since Parker was born! Tell me about it -- we need to get out more! But with the arrival of a baby coming soon, most likely it will be another two years before we hit the theaters again. Okay, so we'll try to do better this time. It was a fun night though and fun for Parker, too, who got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa H. Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you.

Swings

Parker LOVES to swing! He loves to go to the park for this pastime or over to the Hansens who have a swing set in their backyard.
Swinging with Chris and Grandpa H
Isn't he just the cutest?

Afternoon at the museum

Once again, our summer is proving to be pretty go go go and hectic with all kinds of things I won't bore you with now (maybe later)...but I wanted to post a few quick pics from June. Parker and I just got back from St. George today so I will post a few random pictures from that venture later, but for now, I am just trying to play catch up! Several weeks ago my friend and I (who lives down the street) took our kids to the museum at Thanksgiving Point. Parker really likes hanging out with these cute brothers, Jake and Cameron and their newest baby brother, Tyler.... See below......

Here we go... lots of car seats! Parker and this cutie - Jake, have the exact same birthday - July 22nd and will both be turning TWO in just a couple of weeks!

Cam the ham - isn't he cute in his BYU gear? Parker thought it was pretty cool to ride next to a friend in this double stroller.
3 little monkeys playing in a cave.... I tried fixing their eyes in photoshop with no luck... I know it looks a little freaky but I still think it's such a cute picture of the three of them having fun and just being boys running through this cave and giggling.
There really are dinosaur bones behind us but apparently I stood right in front of them for this photo op. It isn't too hard to block things, however, these days with this big belly of mine! :)
Despite the bored look on his face, Parker really WAS fascinated by these shark jaws. He of course wanted to crawl in them and had to be carried away kicking and screaming. Thankfully, my friend Karen was there to help calm him down. Such a boy! Thanks, Karen, Jake, Cameron and baby Tyler for the outing!

Father's Day Weekend Pics

The last few weeks have been crazy around here with all kinds of projects we have going on and appointments, etc., so I'm really late in posting all of this, but I just wanted to put up some pics from Father's Day weekend. We enjoyed BBQ's both that Saturday and Sunday, and here are some pictures from the events... My two favorite boys! Chris is such a great Dad to Parker and we're both so lucky to have him!
My Dad & Parker. Parker loves to give him a workout by being thrown "up high" over and over again. He thinks it's the greatest thing...we're still trying to come up with a good name other than "Grandpa" for my Dad to be called... any suggestions? (My Grandpa and G-Grandpa were "Papa" and "Gramps", so those are out...)

My little bro and I with our Dad
Parker and his Uncle Dustin (Chris' brother) playing on the swings at the Hansens. The facial hair is a new summer look for 25 year old Dustin... What do you ladies think??
Aunt Bethany (Chris' sis) is always good to make Parker laugh. He has a lot of fun with her!

I didn't catch a picture of Chris' Dad, Lance on Father's Day, but here is a good picture of him from last Fall (with Chris' Mom and the little monkey). He loves to give Parker tours of their backyard and help him be "all boy" and play in the dirt in their sandbox out back.

Flash forward ten years

( L to R: Nicole, Sara, Lindsi, Jill, Amanda S., Amanda P., Cami, me, Lacey)
Speaking of high school, my good friend Amanda arranged for a bunch of old high school friends to meet up at the park several weeks ago at the park for picnic. It was fun to see everyone that could make it & catch up for a minute! Some of these girls I see pretty often and some I hadn't seen in years! We decided that overall we all pretty much look the same as we did 10 years ago, despite three of us being in our third trimesters of pregnancy (Jill, myself, and Lindsi). Thanks Amanda for arranging the get together! She's always been the planner... some things never change! We decided that those who haven't yet started blogs need to get on it so that we can all stay in the loop this way! :)

Ahhh the Days

I really can't believe that my ten year high school reunion is coming up! It seems like just the other day that I was going to football games, school dances, hanging out with friends, trying to find my locker in the windy and confusing halls of BHS... those were sure fun times, but at the same time I'm glad those days are behind me.

Here's a little flashback....

THE GIRLS 1998

(L to R) Cami, me, Tammy, Amanda, Lacey, Jill, Megan

So why didn't someone ever tell me to cut my hair??

Graduation was held on Brighton's football field. What a crazy night! There was a wind and lightening storm & I'm glad we all made it out alive. We're all a little wind blown here...

High school dances were the best. I swear there was one every month but it sure kept us busy with creative asking, answering and planning the big events. Here we are at girl's choice MORP senior year. We obviously chose the theme of brides and grooms... I borrowed someone's real wedding dress from the 70's! We put a ton of hours into planning this... we had every detail from fake wedding invitations (as the way we asked to the dance), cans tied to the back of our cars with "Just married" written on them, ring pops, a "wedding dinner" at a church with Brittany's dad as the wedding photographer, a "wedding video" playing with clips from famous movie weddings, (Princess Bride, Cinderella, Runaway Bride, etc.), and then AFTER the dance we went back to Lacey's and changed into hawaiian shirts and lays and went on our hawaiian "honeymoons". (Pretty innocent - we exchanged wedding gifts with white elephants that each couple brought and watched a movie or something.) Anyways, it was a good time!

Getting dressed up for dances was always fun. Here I am all ready for girl's choice W.A. (Women's Association). So you're thinking, "GOLD?" Yes, I know. I've never even been a fan of gold, but for some reason I ended up liking this dress. We picked up our dates for this one in Gloria's motor home! Her dad and uncle were nice enough to dress up in formal suits and top hats and be our chauffers for the night.

Prom was always so much fun at the state capitol building. I was so excited to be going in a limo (my first time!) for this dance. My best friend Lacey and I (far right) ended up shopping for dresses together and fell in love with the exact same ones! The only difference was the color. I don't think it was that noticeable, but we didn't care anyways. We just wanted to look good...typical girls. I think we kind of liked that we matched. We went to the JS Memorial building for dinner & if I remember right we took a carriage ride around downtown, then headed to the dance. It was a ton of fun! Seriously, how often do we get to dress up like that post high school besides our wedding days? In my world, pretty much never.

My senior year in high school I was a hostess at Dos Serranos Mexican Grill (it has since closed). Steph Daniels also worked there with me. It was a decent job, although I think I was happy to have an excuse to quit when I headed up to USU the fall after graduation.

The things we did to entertain ourselves.... once in a while we used to drive up Parley's Canyon and take Quarry's Exit (a tunnel turn around off the freeway) and freak each other out with the tales that scary people would set up traps in there to capture the innocent drivers trying to turn around late at night. We would really get pretty scared! Hey -free entertainment, right?

SO there is a little glimpse into my high school experience! Before I know it, my own kids will be experiencing the same things, and I'll be the worried, paranoid parent waiting up late for them to get home.... what goes around eventually comes around, right?

Thanks to all those who helped make the BHS experience a good one. I'm not so sure I'll be making it to the reunion as I'll be 9 months pregnant at that point and so huge that you might have to roll me in or something... :)
P.S. I hope no one minds me posting any of these pictures!

A Day at the Spa!

So I am a little late in posting this, but - I feel inclined to brag a little... last Thursday I got to spend four awesome hours at the spa being pampered! For Mother's Day Chris gave me a spa package to have a one hour pregnancy massage, a facial, a pedicure and lunch! Well, I finally was able to redeem this awesome gift last week, and it was absolute heaven!! I can't remember the last time I had four hours to myself with no miniature little person attached to my side. I was going to take a picture of my pedicure to post along with this, but let's just say my feet are looking a little swollen tonight due to the onset of pregnancy induced edema. Not so flattering. But I'm happy to say that I still have ankles. When I was prego with Parker in AZ, I became so puffy they disappeared the last few months of pregnancy! (It was 118 degrees the day I had Parker - July 22nd.) I am getting off track - like usual - but I just wanted to thank my sweet husband for giving me such a thoughtful gift. I absolutely loved it and I guess he knew I really could use a a little R&R. EVERY girl deserves a little pampering now and then, right?

P.S. -- Surprisingly, the facial was my FAVORITE!!

The Fam

This is Parker's on-command "happy face". He sticks his finger to his cheek, but doesn't always remember the smile. That's okay, we still think he's pretty darn cute.

Six months prego by the way! We're getting close! :)

Fun before church

Told ya he loves stickers. (Then again, what kid doesn't, right?)

Green grass + warm weather = Happy Michelle

Hooray for grass in the backyard! Chris worked all day Thursday and part of Friday and Saturday laying sod in our backyard. I am soooo excited to have this underway. It is so much fun to play with Parker outside and now that we're finally experiencing some warm weather, you can bet that we'll be out there a ton this summer. Next comes a fence... hopefully we can get that up in the next month or so. Thank you, Chris for all of your hard labor back there! You are the best and I can't tell you how nice it is to have a "handy" husband. (He also installed the sprinkling system!)