You're My Best Friend

I did not realize how close my kids would be so quick. Ellie loves to try and play with Jack, and Jack loves to stare and watch everything Ellie does. It's even more fun to watch now that Jack is getting older because he laughs and giggles at the things Ellie does. I'm sure they will have fights every now and then as they get older, but I sure hope they keep up this bond and friendship. They are so cute together.

I need to figure out collages.

Birth Story

I'm a little hesitant putting this post up, 5 months late..., but these are pictures not anywhere else, and oh well it's my blog so I can be forever late with posts. It's nice to reminisce. I'm so glad I have these pictures because it reminds me at one point my baby was just a small little baby.

Jackson Walter Walser. Born November 21, 2012, 4:33am. 7lbs 6.5oz and 20.7 inches. Healthy and perfect.

She was a bit unsure about what was going on.

First family picture.

My handsome boy.

He has grown up way too quickly. So not fair.

Short version of the birth story: On Tuesday, November 20 I had a doctor appointment and asked the doctor to strip my membranes. He had actually offered to do it the week before but I was nervous about it. I was dilated to a 3+ with like no effacement. Well it worked and I went into labor. I got tired of inconsistent contractions so at midnight we went to the hospital. I probably should've waited at home, but I wanted it over with before Thanksgiving. Stubborn. Plus my parents were in town and could watch Ellie while we were at the hospital and see the baby too. So we got to the hospital and they said I was dilated to a 4+ but my contractions weren't consistent enough. They told me to roam the halls and maybe my doctor would see me in pain and let me be admitted. It worked and around 2-2:30 I was in my room getting the epidural. I just want to note: I was in pain. I was a 7 when they checked me before getting the epidural. So yeah, just listen to the pregnant lady. Just before 4:30 I was ready to deliver. 2-3 pushes later came a handsome baby boy! Everything was so much easier than the first time. It was great! Recovery was especially wonderful. I was up moving about just a couple days later. I'm so grateful for that because I needed to keep up with Ellie and it would've been hard had recovery been like hers. I love having a boy. I feel like it is an entirely different bond and relationship with a boy than a girl, not that I don't love having my beautiful girl. It's fun to have one of both.

The Rest of 2012

I don't have time, and maybe I'm lacking the desire as well, to make a post about each thing that happened at the end of 2012, so here's a summary of the events!

August 2012:
Cruise to Mexico with Morris family! Every trip with my family is a blast and lots of fun. This was definitely amongst the favorites.

We went to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta Mexico. We got to do different excursions at each location, ate lots of delicious food, played games, and just had fun spending time together as a family. I love my family! :)

Matt celebrated his birthday and we got a teenage babysitter for Ellie for the very first time! She actually did really well while we were gone.

September 2012:
We got a visit from Matt's friend Evan and his family. We love having visitors so it was nice to see friends!

10+ years of being friends, and this is where they're at now :)

 Ellie and I spent lots of time at the park, swimming, and play dates with people in the ward.

And in September she finally started to say words! Dada was probably her first official word. Then ball, and they kind of just started tumbling from her mouth after that. :)

And Matt started back up with his Masters program.

October 2012:
We went to a local farm, Schnepf Farms, to do a little Fall/Halloween celebrating.

Ellie's favorite part

For Halloween we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat party. I made Ellie a cupcake costume; she wasn't that interested in wearing it. But she did for a bit to get candy. She thought it was lots of fun getting candy, and everyone thought she was adorable as she signed "thank you" back.

She got to help pass out candy Halloween night (our neighborhood has tons of kids that come through! the neighbors go all out for Halloween; it was a lot of fun!), and she loved putting candy in each kids bag!

The middle of October we went to Utah. We did the whole 10 hours the way up. Never again, at least while pregnant. It was terrible. And Matt took a pill to help him stay awake the whole time, he was messed up the whole weekend we were there. I forgot to take any pictures unfortunately! But we had a lot of fun visiting with Matt's family.

November 2012:
Our newest member joined our family! Jackson Walter Walser was born November 21, 2012. I'll do his birth story in the next post. It was wonderful to finally meet our sweet little boy! My parents and brothers were here and able to meet him. We didn't really get to have Thanksgiving unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed, but for a sweet baby boy I would say it was worth it.

December 2012:
We went to California to spend Christmas with my family. We had lots of fun! We went to the San Diego Zoo and Lego Land. Unfortunately my sister and her family got sick, but it was nice to spend time together. This Christmas made me really appreciate family and the knowledge of the gospel so much more. My little nephew Jacob had pneumonia and had to go to the hospital Christmas night. As I was taking care of his sister, while my sister and brother-in-law were gone, I was very grateful to be with family and have the priesthood available. Thankfully Jacob ended up getting taken care of and better health!

We ended the year with family coming for Jack's baby blessing!

2012 was a wonderful year! We were so blessed and couldn't be more grateful for all the wonderful things that have come our way. We are especially grateful for our family and their love and support with all that we do!

Moving In

July 3rd we moved into our new home. We were fortunate to have Matt's coworkers come help us unload everything in about a half hour! They were awesome.

On July 4th Matt's parents, brother, and sister came to visit and help us however they could! They were wonderful.

I wish we could've entertained them more! But we were able to get out and swim in the pool and go see Scottsdale. Hopefully next time they come to visit will be a little more fun :)

Welcome back!

It's been a long while since I last blogged. I'm hoping to do better this next year. I'll slowly catch up with all that's been going on. :)

Home Sweet Home

The beginning of July we started our next big adventure as a family. We bought and moved into a home! Owning a home definitely is a blessing that we love, but there are some down sides to it.

Cons:
No tools because we've always lived in an apartment = more money spending.
Not enough furniture to fill the whole place, because once again we've always lived in an apartment = more money spending.
Lack of money to properly decorate. I'm sure this one takes some time for everyone though.

Pros:
We don't have noisy neighbors upstairs or next door!
We have a lot of space for baby to run around!
We have a pool! A garden! A backyard! A garage!
We have storage space!
We have a park just down the street - baby and I go here pretty much every single day.
We have enough room in our home to put everything! (We have a pantry!)

We're very blessed and fortunate to be able to have this opportunity right now. We love our first home and are grateful for it. Oh, and the ward we've moved into has been an added blessing. I was worried about settling down somewhere and not making friends in the new ward where we would be at least 5 years. But people have been very friendly and receptive. Ellie has had some play dates and I'm grateful she can meet kids. She loves kids.

 Remember how I said it takes money to decorate a house? Ya, these next pictures are when the family before us still lived there... :)

 And that is our new home!

Ellie has a Birthday!

Shout hooray! I can't believe my baby is 1 (and I can't believe I've procrastinated this post almost 2 months...). Ellie turned one on June 25th. It was fun for me reminiscing about her birth. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She does drive us a little crazy at times because she has so much energy and wants to be everywhere and into everything, but we love her and wouldn't have it any other way!

At her one year check up she weighed 22lbs (75th percentile) and was 31 inches tall (90-95th percentile). The doctor visit was not fun. She wanted out of the room by the time the doctor finally showed up. I can't imagine what the 15 month appointment will be like because she has only gotten even more stubborn and strong-willed.

8:42 am 6/25/12

8:42 am 6/25/11. She's come a long way.

Our birthday girl!

With her daddy

 

 I think that last series of pictures summed up how she felt about birthday cake. She cried - maybe because of all the attention? Bit Matt's finger when he tried to give her frosting. And just could've cared less about the cake. I never thought we would get that reaction! Normally she has a sweet tooth like her parents and loves what we offer her, but not for her birthday.

My Feelings on Being a Parent to Ellie:
It's the best thing ever! It's trying and I've learned a lot, and still have much more to learn, but I love almost every moment I get to spend with this sweet little girl. Ellie is sweet and loving. She's also stubborn and impatient. She's also very smart. I'm amazed at how much she learns or notices things we do. She makes me laugh every day. She's taught me how to be even more patient than what I thought I was before. She's the greatest thing that could've happened to me and her dad. I'm grateful she's in our family and we have the chance to see her grow and develop. Many times I'm overwhelmed with the thought of teaching her all she needs to know, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Our little Ellie is the very best! We love her so much!