The Leiths

Baby stuff

2012-02-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

I had another ultrasound yesterday to check on some of the things that the ultrasound tech wasn't able to find before with the first ultrasound. The two things they needed to find was a valve on the heart, and the face. Well after some difficulty, we were finally able to find out that the heart is fine. But, this baby still wont let us get a look at his precious little face. He is always looking down or towards my back. I even got off the table to do some stretches to try and get him to move. He was finally giving us a little glimpse of his face, but had his arm covering his mouth. Bad news: We weren't able to find out if there was a cleft palate issue. Good news: I get yet ANOTHER ultrasound in a month. It really is fun being able to see my baby so often!

I'm not sure how I feel about this doctors office anymore. The ultrasound techs are super nice, but the receptionists and nurses seem so "cold". I'm pretty sure i've never seen them smile. My doctor is nice, but I always leave there having an awkward conversation with her. I was trying to figure out if it was her or me, maybe it is me. Who knows. She is really nice though, and i guess we can just continue these awkward little conversations about why Colby sometimes showers with me, and how i am able to fit in "hubby time" even though he works long hours.

This pregnancy has been pretty good to me. With Colby i was completely over the sickness between 20 and 21 weeks. With this one...so far it's week 27 and i'm still feeling the sickness. The throwing up is gone, but the nausea is still around, although not NEARLY as bad as it was the first 20 weeks. I've come to the conclusion that I will be sick the entire time with this one, but i know it could be worse and i'm counting my blessings that the only things i've got going on right now is the nausea and the back pain that comes so rarely i can't even complain about it (although sometimes i can use that to my advantage when i want a back rub). Bring on the 3rd trimester!

Nursery!

2012-01-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

Colby has reached that age! It's so bitter-sweet. Yesterday was Colby's first day of nursery. I did take him last Sunday for a little bit just to see how he would adjust, and he seemed so happy so finally be off my lap and able to play. I was so happy he loved it, but (and i blame this on the pregnancy) i was really trying to fight back tears! He didn't need me! So yesterday I made Andrew come with me to drop him off. I basically just let him go and we snuck out real quick before he saw us leave. Apparently he cried for a short time, but other than that he did great! I didn't cry when I dropped him off, but seeing how happy he was when he saw us after church made me all emotional again! Dang hormones. It really was SOOO nice being able to just sit in class and relax again after a year and a half of trying to entertain him, so i really am so happy he's finally in nursury, it's just also hard to face the fact that he's 18 months old!

18 months

2012-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

Colby had his 18 month check up today. Always so sad to see him get the shots, but he's always such a trooper. I was a proud mama when the nurse kept saying how good he was for just sitting there while they checked him. I don't remember his exact measurements, but he was a little over 21 lbs and about 32 1/2 inches long i believe. He got taller since his last appointment, and gained about a pound. Of course now he's going through a picky phase, but hopefully we can get him to eat more and more to help him gain weight.

Right now he:
Loves opening and closing doors

Loves loves loves stuffed animals

I am missing most my measuring cups/spoons because they now belong to him

He must be held while i'm cooking so he can see what i'm doing (maybe he doesn't trust my cooking either)

He says a lot of words - mama, dada, papa, nana (gma and gpa sometimes), apple, banana, orange, cracker, raisins, oatmeal, cheese, ham, potato, corn, pants, shoes, socks, jacket, pillow, hello, bye, bear, ball, door, please, thank you, and probably more than i can't remember. of course most of those words are just between his parents and him, nobody else would have any idea what he's saying.

Loves dancing

Loves being chased by daddy when he gets home

Loves reading, but not getting read to

Goes into his room to take a nap and go down for the night when i ask him if he's tired

If something is out of place in the house he'll grab it and say "back" and put it where he thinks it goes (most of the time he actually gets it right)

He loves being outside and always wants me to put his shoes on, and then he'll grab my shoes for me

He is such a joy in our home. We've been blessed with an incredibly good boy that loves to please people. I just can't get enough of his smile!

IT'S A BOY!

2012-01-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it! I am in shock, I honestly thought we were having a girl! Things haven't been too different with this pregnancy, so i don't know why i thought it was girl. We even had a girl name picked out. Now...back to ground zero. So excited to be having another boy! it's going to be so much fun with two boys, although i'm sure i'm going to have my hands full. Colby is going to teach his little brother all sorts of things i'm sure. We also get to go back next month for a bonus ultrasound since our little one wasn't cooperating and hiding his face. I'm excited for that!
So...any boy name ideas? let me know!

Christmas vacation

2012-01-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Our christmas vacation was so much fun! It was crazy busy, but I wouldn't ask for more. We drove through the night to get to Oregon because of the young one. Colby does not do that well in his carseat these days, he just wants to go, go, go and hates that the carseat restrains him. He finally upgraded to a front facing carseat for this trip and that made things so much easier to tend to him while we were traveling. We left here around 7:30 and got to Oregon around 8:30 in the morning. not too shabby, but MAN is it exhausting to drive all night. Our plan worked out great, Colby slept the majority of the way and made our trip so nice. We started off the beginning of our vacation in Sherwood, spending just a couple days there. We decorated sugar cookies, it was fun to watch colby. He got SOME frosting on the cookie.

Christmas morning was a blast with Colby able to do so much more than last year. He ripped open those presents like a pro - although he didn't care much for what was inside. Maybe next year.

My parents planned another game for us this year "minute to win it" and of course we had a great time trying to beat these games in order to get our gifts. I'm glad we are all able to get together still to spend Christmas morning together.

Monday morning, Andrew and I headed off to Bend to share the holiday with Andrew's parents. It was a great trip over there! We opened more presents, let Colby explore the outdoors a bit, and we took him sledding. We were even sledding in the rain and Colby had a permanent smile on his face. It was so much fun to watch him. Pretty sure i bundled him up enough, once he could barely move his arms i figured we were good to go.

We made it back to Sherwood for the last bit of the trip and we had a great time relaxing before our journey home (again traveling through the night). We are back in Bakersfield now, and although i miss Oregon to death, it feels nice getting back into our routine. I'm already looking forward to our next trip up there, although i have know idea when that will be.

Our Obedient Child

2011-12-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

We taught Colby to fold his arms during prayers. At dinner and for bedtime we've been teaching him how to pray. He's gotten pretty good at the routine. He's even put me in my place. Andrew was late for dinner, so I just made something small. I put Colby in his highchair and sat down to eat. I put food on my fork to give to Colby and as i turned around there was my little boy, sitting quietly with his arms folded. I had forgotten to pray and he reminded me. Whoops.

Today, I decided to read the lesson for Relief Society. I sat in bed with Andrew and Colby and started reading outloud. The lesson started off mentioning Heavenly Father, and Colby folded his arms (thinking i was praying). I continued reading, and he continued to fold his arms. Andrew had to whisper "amen" in his ear to finally relieve him from folding his arms so he could get back to reading his own book.

Now i know he is picking things up pretty quickly. I just hope he picks up more good habits than bad.

our first christmas tree

2011-12-10T09:06:00.001-08:00

With Christmas commercials all over the TV, people putting up Christmas lights, i couldn't help but feel that our home needed a little help. it was beginning to feel very empty to me. so Andrew and i set out to get a few decorations for inside our house, and to get our very first christmas tree together! This is our 4th christmas together as a married couple, and our very first tree. Even though we aren't going to be here for christmas, we are going to be home long enough to enjoy the tree. it was a wonderful idea. i love having that tree in our house and i love the smell! Christmas is my favorite time of year and i'm so glad we can actually enjoy it in our new home too!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T13:00:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving week was SO MUCH FUN! Andrew and I had decided that we weren't going to go home so that we would be able to make it home for Christmas, and it turns out, Dan and Britt weren't going home either so they drove up to our house, and my parents and Kami decided to come down to us as well. (Jason and Fe were stuck in Idaho because LAME teachers scheduled tests so they couldn't get home in time). My Aunt Robin also came up from Arizona to join us so we had a full house and i loved every minute of it! I'm so greatful that my family was able to come and spend the holidays with us so that andrew and i weren't alone during this time. I had taught Colby how to say Nana and Papa so when they came they got that great surprise :) Even now that they're gone Colby walks around the house calling for papa, it's sad, but also very cute.

Our Thanksgiving day was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. We got things ready in the morning, and hung out all afternoon. We took colby on a walk through the park (7 adults and a 16 month old, that's right). I'm going to miss my family, but we'll see them soon for Christmas!

Colby helping us make rolls

he went ahead and helped himself to the cool whip

all of us hanging out together :)

our trip to the park

he actually loves this little kid bench, but it doesn't look like it

Uncle Dan taught Colby a few work out moves. This was DEFINITELY a great end to our holiday. This kid always makes me laugh! i love him so much!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween is so much fun with a toddler! We started celebrating our halloween at a ward trunk or treat on Friday. We had the cutest little monkey there! Colby could care less about the candy, but he did have a blast walking around the parking lot and exploring.

Saturday Dan and Brittany came up from LA to join us for the day. We had so much fun! we went to the pumpkin patch and searched for our favorite pumpkins. who knew a little kid could be so obsessed with pumpkins? Colby was fun to watch and he went from pumpkin to pumpkin.

That night we carved our pumpkins. Brittany found a super cute idea, so we copied it!

baby #2

2011-10-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

so the news is out there, we're having another baby. we're so excited! i'm almost 12 weeks along i believe. my first appointment is on Nov 3rd so we'll get more information then.
i knew something was up before i took the test. we've been working so hard on the house and all of a sudden i woke up with absolutely no energy, i didn't understand why i was so tired. I waited a while to take the test because andrew wasn't ready for the results yet, but i finally convinced him :) My concern is that i was using crazy chemicals on the house before i took the test, so i hope everything is okay even though i was around bad fumes. With colby i got sick around 8 weeks and it lasted until about 20 weeks. this time around, the sickness started at about 5 weeks. I can only hope it leaves before 20 weeks so that i can eat healthy again and actually eat Thanksgiving dinner! (yes that is a big concern of mine :) ). So this time around i've got exhaustion, sickness, the random headaches, but that's about it! even though i'm not a fan of the first trimester symptoms, i'm trying to keep in mind how blessed i am that i'm pregnant and as far as we know, everything is okay with our little peanut. i know it could be worse, so i'm trying to keep the right perspective. AH i can't believe my little baby is going to be a big brother!

here's to a great weekend

2011-10-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

Colby finally got his 12 month check-up, even though he's 14 months. all this moving and insurance switching is making it hard to get into the doctor. I absolutely hate when he has to get shots, he just looks at me like i need to fix it, but i can't! we also had to go to the lab to get his blood drawn, yes they had to draw it out of his vein, so i had to pin him down while this was happening. it was horrible, but he stopped crying right after i let him go, he's a little trooper. he's doing well though! he's still a little guy, but he seems happy so i'm not too worried that he's small. here are his stats:

20 lbs 10 ounces

31 inches long

he's in the 50% for weight and about 10% for height i believe, but she said it was okay. i'm working on cutting back on his milk intake since he's getting WAY too much and stopping him from eating i think (by the way thank you everyone who gave me advice on what to do! i've tried different things and we're getting some improvement! yay!).

on a different note, this past weekend my whole family went home to oregon. There was so much going on that made it go by way too fast. i'm so glad we were able to go home, but so sad that it was the fastest weekend ever. we flew in at midnight friday night. Saturday we went to Mike and Cara's wedding (Mike is Andrew's brother). it was so much fun! it was great to see all of andrews family, and it was great to be able to put colby in such a cute outfit for it :)

On Sunday we had Leiahna's baby blessing. Congrats to Jason and Francisca for having such a beautiful baby girl! She is such a good baby! I'm sad i only got to see her for such a short time, and i wont be able to see her again until Christmas.

I thought this was such a cute picture of my mom with her grandkids. She was just so happy to have them around her.

I can't wait to see everyone again!

I need help

2011-09-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

my issue for the past weeks or possibly months is this.... Colby hardly eats! i'm a picky eater, and andrew is picky with textures...when you put that together you get a child that doesn't eat! I don't know if anyone has figured out sneaky ways to get their child to eat. Here's our situation, for breakfast i feed him a banana (sometimes he eats almost the whole thing, sometimes it's 2 bites) then he has maybe a couple crackers and goes to town on milk. For lunch i can get him to eat a chicken nugget and maybe a little bit of string cheese (if he's in the mood). for dinner...NOTHING. i try to feed him what we're eating, but he wont touch anything if it's not chicken nuggets or fruit. he wont even put it near his mouth. i try to feed him yogurt and such, but he wont eat anything off his spoon because he thinks i'm giving him baby food (which he hates now). eventually i get desperate and right before bed i'll give him a bagel (which he'll have a couple bites) and then i give him more fruit. the last couple nights i haven't given him fruit because i don't want him to get used to the thought "if i don't eat that, i'll get fruit" but then again i don't know if he's too young for me to be putting my foot down that much? i know he drinks a lot of milk, so thats basically where he's getting the idea that he's full, but even when i take his milk away he still wont eat food that easily. as far as veggies go, SOMETIMES he'll have corn, but veggies usually don't happen. oh and 1 more thing...i haven't been feeding him in the high chair because all he does is throw his food over the edge and i get mad, so i just put a plate on the floor and he eats on the go. it's not what i want him to do, but i need him to eat! any advice?

a lot of random

2011-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

sucking colby's boogers out is no fun, to him or me. i literally have to pin him down to get him to stay still enough for me to be able to get his snot out. We were both sick a couple weeks ago, and now colby is sick AGAIN. he has only been sick once in his life and now twice in 2 weeks?! poor guy.

he's also teething like crazy, so that could play a factor. he has 2 more top teeth on his left side and is working on 2 more on his right, so right now my little boy has 12 teeth. he's really growing up!

as of Saturday, we are officially done nursing. I've been tapering him off since around 11 months or so, and i've been super scared to stop nursing him before bedtime, but i guess he didn't care. haha. i think it's harder for me than him. my little man is growing up so fast!

he's walking everywhere like he owns this place, and i guess he pretty much does.

He also loves swimming. I was just planning on letting him walk around in the backyard, but he had other plans.

2011-08-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

I feel likes its been forever since i've posted a blog. here's a little update on whats going on with our little family.

We officially moved into our new house on the 6th of this month, and it's been crazy for the rest of the time. We decided to completely remodel our home...while living here. Andrew, Jason, Bob, some help from Andrew's friend, and I were luckily able to get most of the tile laid before we moved in. We painted the walls, and we are painting the cabinets (which means nothing can go in the cabinets), we replaced the countertops (which means no sinks) and because of the kitchen remodel all we had was a microwave and the fridge for 3 weeks (yay for frozen burritos!). I'm the happiest lady in the world since we put in our kitchen sink, dishwasher, and stove. Even though we still can't put things in the cabinets, i'm so happy to be able to somewhat use our kitchen! Things are coming along, andrew works all day, and then comes home and we work until about 12-1 getting things done. perhaps we took on too much, but its fun in a weird way. All this work and no sleep has apparently taken a tole on us, colby and I are now sick (although he's handling it better than me) and i'm praying Andrew doesn't get sick - he can't afford to be even more drained than he already is. Even though it's incredibly hard living with your house torn apart with a very curious 1 year old, it'll be worth it. it's fun to start to see all of our hard work to pay off. I'll post before and after pictures when we're done! (hopefully that'll be soon)

Dana Point

2011-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

This past week Colby and i were in Dana Point with my family. Andrew was in LA for training, so it worked out perfectly that my parents planned this little vacation during the same time so that i didn't have to be alone all week. We had such a great time, i just love going to the beach! The beach is just so much more fun now that i get to watch colby enjoy it. He actually hated the sand at first (not sure why, we've been to the beach lots before and he never had a problem) but by the end of the week he was eating the sand, so i guess he was ok with it. He could hardly control his excitement about the ocean though, he just loved the waves.

He built sand castles with Uncle Jay
Went surfing with Aunty Kami

and ate cheerios that were thrown on the sand for the squirrels

I love the vacations where we just hang out together and go to the beach every day and have some good laughs. my favorite.

We were an hour or more away from Andrew in LA, but one of the days last week we were able to meet up with andrew in Huntington Beach (halfway point - kinda). Colby was so so so happy to finally see his daddy! We were trying to take cool pictures by the ocean, all of a sudden andrew takes colby from me and starts running the opposite way without saying a word. Thank goodness i have catlike reflexes and i see the huge wave thats headed towards us...thanks for the heads up hubby. love you too.

when it rains....

2011-07-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

This last week has been one heck of a week! i'm ready for it to be over. andrew and i need to be done stressing out! it all started when we woke up Sunday morning to see that somebody had ripped one of the ski racks off our car (no, those weren't cheap). so we only have one ski rack now. what can you do with one ski rack? it makes me sad to think there are people out there that do that. welcome to the real world i guess. Things started to go smoothly at the beginning of the week, we were cruising through our loan documents and signed them on Tuesday. i talked to someone who said we should get the keys in 24-48 hours after they receive the documents (so on thursday or friday). we were pumped! it would work out perfectly since we are going to be in LA from the 22nd to the 29th, we were excited to get started on the remodeling we wanted to do on the 22nd before we headed down since my dad would be here to help. On Wednesday i did a lot of running around with my parents to get things ready. We picked out the tile we wanted, and i was able to drop my car off at the shop to get it looked at since it's been acting up. when i picked up the car the guy balanced my tires for free! oh it was such a blessing! i was so happy on wednesday! everything was working out for us! thursday came and we didn't hear a word about the house, and the car started acting up again. so today (friday), i took the car to the honda dealership (a different place cuz i felt weird taking it back to the guy who just "fixed" it for free). well... turns out it's an axel problem. there goes $500. and the house...well we'll be lucky if we even get in by next weekend. apparently our lender has just been sitting on all the paperwork we gave him for 3 weeks, and today they sent us a bunch of things we still needed to sign. now we have to close while andrew is in LA on business and i'm 30 minutes away at Dana Point with my family. i mean, we'll make it work, but it's frustrating to be told one thing and then it turns out completely different.

ok so i know this sounds like i'm just venting, and maybe i am - but i'm really trying to see the blessings it in all.

the ski racks - yeah that sucks, but now we don't have a whistling sounds when we're driving down the freeway right? our car may look a little more girly, and be harder to spot when i'm walking out of the grocery store and forget where i parked, but the racks can be replaced.

the axel? well, sure i wish it was just the tires being unbalanced, but thank goodness that guy didn't charge me to balance the tires since that wasn't really the problem. his intentions were good, and thank goodness we had the car checked out today and found the problem so we can leave that car in the shop while we are in LA. That was the car we were going to take to LA, i'm glad we found out the way we did, and not when we got in a huge accident. besides, $500 isn't bad to put into a car that we've had for 3 years. i'm also glad we found out while my parents were here so we have an extra vehicle and the time to figure out what was wrong with the car.

not getting the house today... still trying to find the blessing, but my mom made a good point. andrew is exhausted. he hardly comes home before 8 at night. he's working 12+ hours a day, and if we got the house, he would go right to work and work ALL day saturday to get as much done as he could. and now, he has to relax. there is nothing for him to do. it will be very nice for him.

everything happens for a reason.

I have a 1 year old!

2011-07-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast this year went! Colby is 1! He is such a joy to have around. He sure keeps me busy! For his birthday he had lots of family in town! Bob and Diana came down for the weekend, and my parents were also able to come down, Dan and Brittany came up from LA for the weekend too! Dan's birthday was a few days before, so we had a little combined birthday party celebration. We had so much fun that day!

We went swimming. The pool was pretty cold, but Colby handled it pretty well.

Ate cake. Actually the rest of us ate cake. Colby just stared at his.

and opened presents. lots and lots of presents.

then checked out Dans new ride

I love having a little 1 year old. He is showing that he understands me more and more. I can ask him where something is (only a couple things) and he'll go over to it. He even started signing a couple things out of the blue. I hadn't taught him anything since he was like 9 or 10 months because he didn't seem to be paying attention, and all of a sudden he starts signing. He loves putting things in boxes and taking them out. He loves trying to walk. Loves taking things out of the fridge and trying to put them back in. and loves the dishwasher. He "talks" all the time, but of course it never makes sense.

I'm so glad and grateful that my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and in-laws were able to make the trip to be here for Colby's birthday. It really meant a lot to me that they were here.

Some videos

2011-07-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Colby absolutely loves his daddy! whenever Andrew comes home from work he goes crazy and gets so hyper! He's grown more attached to Andrew than to me, even though i'm with him all day (perhaps he just needs a break from me), whatever the reason, i love watching how happy he is with his dad!

Colby also started walking more and more. He's still a crawler, but loves to walk when he gets the chance! Don't mind that i laugh at him fall, he gets mad at me for that :)

4th of July

2011-07-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend was so great, i LOVED having Andrew to myself for 3 days! (unfortunately now he's going to be working super hard the rest of the week). We were invited over to a friends house for the 4th, we had a nice bbq and good company.

The crying crawl

It may appear as though they were sharing, but really they were both trying to get it to themselves

It was 105 degrees out, so we only set off a few fireworks. I wanted to see Colby's reaction, but since we weren't at home he didn't get his afternoon nap, and by this time could really care less about the fireworks. Poor boy was on the move so much he was just sweating like crazy.

Six Flags

2011-06-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Andrew, Kami, Colby, and I went to Six Flags...for FREE! CBIZ was having a company picnic/party thing there, so we all got free tickets. It worked out perfectly that Kami was going to be visiting that weekend so that we could go and actually go on rides! We switched off who went on rides and who had baby duty. Can i just tell you...that place is AMAZING! We're planning on going back sometime in the next month when my parents are here for Colby's birthday, so they can just babysit and Andrew and I can REALLY enjoy the park and go on lots of RIDES. Colby sure did make it fun though, he was so good and didn't complain even though the only place it let him play was the stroller because the ground grossed me out.

karma

2011-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Andrew and i were having an interesting conversation yesterday. The whole argument started a couple days ago when andrew called a little skit, a "sketch". i proceeded to call him an idiot, and ask him (or tell him) that he meant "skit". I decided to look it up yesterday as the argument resurfaced. This is a great example of why you should proof read before you talk smack. this is how that conversation went:

Tara: "See andrew! you google sketch and you get drawings, you google skit and you get....a comedy sketch"

CRAP! Well he won that one.

Well later that night we watched "Did You Hear About The Morgans?" I was telling Andrew how I have a big nose, just like Sarah Jessica Parker. His reply, "no you don't, she doesn't have a big nose either." i responded with the smart remark "yeah huh!" I looked up pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker to prove my point. He still didn't budge. So he told me to google "girl with big nose". so i did. first thing we see... HUGE picture of Sarah Jessica Parker.

Scoreboard
Andrew: 1 Tara: 1

Soccer

2011-06-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Andrew signed up for a soccer league this summer. He had his first game yesterday and they tied! (the other team scored at the last second! dang). Andrew was DYING! He hasn't had time to work out very much the last 6 months. i made him go running with me in the morning, and after 20 minutes of playing soccer his legs were pretty much noodles. but he had fun, and colby and I had fun watching him.

what a weekend

2011-05-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Andrew made his own dinner the other night.

Ingredients: mac and cheese, black beans, chilli powder, pepper, ketchup, and cheese. i know it's been a while since he's cooked, but what the heck? that's completely wrong! He had a spoonful ready for me to taste it. after some convincing on his part, i told him i'd try it if he made me brownies so i could counteract the disgusting taste in my mouth.

Turns out it was good! i'm a little bummed about that, i didn't get my brownies.

On another completely unrelated note: I've decided house hunting is DEFINITELY not as fun as it may appear. I thought it would be awesome to look through a bunch of homes and then pick one that i liked and make an offer. Not only do i have to sacrifice a lot of what i was hoping to get, but most the houses we find we get outbid on. I knew in some homes you get into "bidding wars" but i didn't realize it was on EVERY house. There are other homes that have been on the market for a long time, but then i start wondering...why have they been on the market a long time? what's wrong with them? turns out looking at homes is completely exhausting when you only have an hour or so during Andrew's lunch, and a baby that needs to nap. And then you deal with getting a loan. UGH. but i'm SO anxious to get out of an apartment and make our house our own :) ultimately, i know we'll end up where we're supposed to. we just have to keep our spirits up and keep looking.

This last weekend Kami came up to visit from Arizona. She spent some time here, then went to LA and then came back here with Dan and Britt, we went out to dinner, and made smores over the stove.

Kim and Jeff were also on a trip and were able to stop by on sunday for a bit to see us. it was a great weekend filled with visitors! Kim and Jeff also have a dog, Nessie. I thought for sure colby would start crying once he saw Nessie, but turns out he kinda liked her, even though he was getting knocked over. i guess the dog licks all over the face made up for that, plus Nessie brought some new food for him to try.

going private

2011-05-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

it's that time... i'm making my blog private. just leave your email address if you want an invite on my blog or on facebook!

Best Toy Ever

2011-05-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

Colby was having a little too much fun out of our sight this afternoon. When you don't hear anything at all, it's never a good thing.

Sherwood

2011-05-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Being in Sherwood this last week was amazing! i just love being back in my home town. Colby was having issues all week....issues with his bowels that is. we had many dirty diapers a day, most at VERY inopportune times. He even left a little surprise in Nana's bathtub, and no, it was not a snickers. To make things even better, Nana was on bath duty that night.
And then there was the restaurant as we were heading out of town. We heard some intense pushing coming from the backseat on the way to the restaurant, only to find that colby's little Huggies did not do their job. It took a tag team with my mom and me to clean up the explosion in the bathroom at the restaurant. Needless to say, there were casualties - the new shirt my mom got me now bears colby's mark forever. But who can stay mad at this kid? Especially when he's at the wheel.

Andrew and i were finally able to go on a date. It was a short date, we made a break for it while colby took a nap. We jumped on my dads motorcycle and headed straight to.... the movie theater. kinda pathetic right? we finally get to go on a date and we go to a theater. well we had movie ticket gift cards that we had to use. truthfully, it didn't matter what we did, it was just great to be the two of us for a couple hours. and to ride on the back of a motorcycle again!

My first Mothers Day was fun! i told Andrew that i wanted a couple shirts and molten lava cake for mothers day. We celebrated mothers day on Tuesday when we headed to the Woodburn outlet mall so i could pick out the shirts i wanted, and that night we made molten lava cake. PERFECT mothers day. It was a perfect mothers day as well - Colby got super spoiled by Nana at the outlet mall.

Bend

2011-05-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

After Cabo, Andrew, me, and Colby headed up to Oregon to extend our vacation for 2 more weeks. We went straight to Bend to spend some time with Andrew's parents. We went shooting, walked around Sunriver, and went shopping at the Bend Outlet mall (which i thought would be a lot bigger). It was a fun week and great for Colby to get to know his Grandma and Grandpa Leith better.

All ready to go shooting! looking like a big boy!

A new toy

Spending time with Grandma while we shoot the guns

Protecting his little ears

My parents were also there for a bit, and fed Colby oranges

and bones

Next week: Sherwood

Cabo San Lucas!

2011-05-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week in Cabo San Lucas with my parents and we had SO much fun! This is your warning, this is going to be an INCREDIBLY long post, but i want to be able to remember it for the future.

We went down to LA Friday night because our flight left out of LA on Saturday morning. That was such a hard night! Now that colby is pulling himself up, we took his bassinet out and we found out that his pack n play is SUPER loud. about an hour after he went to sleep he moved and it woke him up, then came the screams. we couldn't put him back in the crib because he was way too upset about it, we tried to make another crib with the couch by pushing it against the bed, but that only worked for a couple hours before he started to crawl on the bed. after colby and i hardly slept that night he ended up sleeping the last hour and a half in the bed with us (which was super cute). BUT the good thing about the sleepless night was that he flew so well, he passed out on the take off and was great the entire flight.

As soon as we got to the airport we were immediately hassled! for anyone that has ever been to mexico you know that they always try to sell you stuff, they just hassle you like crazy! it's very overwhelming, but eventually we made it to our condo and it was beautiful. My parents ended up giving us the master suite because we had to fit the crib somewhere, that was a major bonus :). even though the condo was super nice, we realized the first night that we were in the center of all the partying. it was so loud with all the music blasting well past midnight, i had a hard time falling asleep with all that noise. Colby and Andrew had NO problem.

colby was such a good baby! he had a blast exploring cabo. he crawled all over the condo and just loved the terrace! especially since there was a hot tub on it and we could just take him in there to play. We were able to get him to go to sleep just about anywhere, he looked like a little angel! he just took super short naps because he wasn't in his crib, but it still helped so that we didn't have to sit in the condo during his naps. He fell asleep on the beach and left andrew and me to sit there holding up a tent for him. as soon as we found a stick to fashion a tent, he woke up. figures.

We took colby swimming a lot. He was such a ladys man. we had so many people coming up to us commenting on how adorable he is. i totally agreed with them of course. through the swimming process we realized how much the swim diapers SUCK. the only size we could find was a size medium and apparently they are too big. we would be holding him after swimming and all of a sudden we would feel warmth running down our leg, or he would be crawling around and leave behind a puddle. Not sure what to do about that, so sometimes we just took him swimming in the hot tub with his diaper on.

We went on a few adventures. We took a water taxi over to the arches. it was pretty incredible, so pretty. every 5-6 years i guess the tide is low enough that you can actually walk under the arches. i guess the water taxis usually drop you off at a beach right next to the arches called Lovers Beach but because of the tide and the waves crashing they weren't dropping anyone off, but we took a tour around the arches onto the pacific side. pretty amazing. we thought colby would have a blast on the boat, but he kinda seemed like he didn't care much about it.

The next day we decided to hike over to lovers beach. it was going to be quite the hike and it would definitely take mom out of her comfort zone since we had to climb over a bit of rocks, but we did it anyway! it was so much fun, it was the highlight of my week! i had a blast hiking over all those rocks. i'm still paying the consequences though. we were running from a wave on one of the beaches, andrew had his shoes on and had to run past me, so i was running backwards to try to let him past so he didn't get his shoes wet. i totally ran into a ruge rock and nailed my ankle and bruised my tailbone. still can't sit well :( colby passed out in the backpack and missed out on the fun, but he woke up when we got there for pictures. Of course when we got over there we were greeted with HUNDREDS of people. yeah, the water taxis started dropping people off at the beach again. i'm still glad we hiked over there though.

Andrew and i went out to the beach to ride wave runners later that day. i had never really been on one before and had so much fun! i'm so glad we did it, we had so much fun!

We spent one of the days walking over to the pacific side. you aren't allowed to swim in that ocean because it has too strong of a current, so it was very peaceful. there was hardly anybody on the beach. it was such a nice break from our condo where we are hassled every 30 seconds.

We found great places to eat, the best places were the holes in the wall restaurants (if you can call it that). they had cheap food that was AMAZING.

In the airport coming home we went to Subway for some cookies, the lady gave us a couple suckers for Colby. They turned him all blue! but he loved it!

Cabo was definitely a great vacation! Completely different from what i'm used to, but it's a great experience.

9 months young

2011-04-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

Colby is growing up so dang fast! He is just so much fun, i don't know what i would do without him! He is my whole life. Now that he is 9 months old, here is what he is doing:

-crawling around everywhere

-pulling himself up in his crib, and he attempts to pull himself up everywhere else but is too small to reach it

-he walks along the furniture

-bites/chews everything

-loves dropping things over the edge and looking for it, and loves it even more when i hold him upside down to get it

-loves his bath time and splashing. he probably pees his diaper with excitement waiting for the bath to fill up

-enjoys playing with his toys, but would rather have our cell phones, computer, paper, ipod, or remote

-he's getting better on his walker

-he enjoys eating everything

-he is starting to really try and figure out how things work and inspect things

-he says "dadda" but has no idea what it means

We went to the doctor today for his check up. He's healthy, but tiny!! Apparently he doesn't weigh enough so we have to fill our little Tank boy up with more food than he already eats. He also used to be a super tall baby...and now he's short. at least he's still healthy!

Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz - less than 5th percentile

Height: 27.75 in. - 30th percentile

head: 17.5 in. - 25th percentile

He also loves to run:

Wildflower Wilderness

2011-04-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was my favorite weekend in a long time. why you ask? because andrew had a THREE DAY WEEKEND! Because taxes were due on the 15 (his firm kept the original date) they had a firm holiday and everyone got Monday off. So instead of being sad that Sunday was almost gone, i was happy because we still had monday together! We were going to go house hunting, but thanks to procrastination we don't have a realtor...so we met up with some friends (a co-worker of andrews). They wanted to go to a wildflowe field, so we tagged along.

We began our journey at In-N-Out.

After realizing Andrew and I forgot almost everything Colby may need (the armfulls of stuff we brought were apparently the wrong things) we put Colby in his borrowed girl hat and were on our way through the wildflowers (which turned out to be just a lot of grass). We crossed dangerous terrain.

We saw wild life

We took a detour and actually went on the bridge for cute pictures

We fought the urge to break out in "The Sound of Music" songs

And after a long hot walk, we let our kids play in the dangerous watery road (smart parenting)

Playing around.

a little somethin special

2011-04-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing that i need to put more videos of Colby up. Here are a few. This took me FOREVER to load. so i hope its worth it!

Colby just LOVES to be in the kitchen when i'm cooking. He's still trying to master crawling on the tile, he's doing better now, but i thought it was funny that he couldn't quite move on it.

This is Colby using his walker. He's not that good at it, but he always wants to stand so it helps me keep him entertained (Andrew's hovering over it because he often pulls back and pulls the walker on top of him, never a good outcome).

Perhaps i'm a mean mama, but i also find it funny that he doesn't like the cold tile and tries to keep his legs off of it.

video

2011-04-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

I sent my mom a video of Colby crawling from my phone, but she wanted a bigger video so she and my dad could actually see it. here you go nana and papa.

things that make you go hmmmmm

2011-04-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Why are there "girl" toys and then "boy" toys with a girlish touch? i mean come on! There were two choices of walkers, one was completely decked out pink and purple, and then this "boy" one with pink and purple still on it. What the heck? if they're gonna make a girl one anyway, why can't they make a boy one that's actually BOYISH. i run into this problem all the time having a boy.

Does anyone else give their baby this flouride/multivitamin stuff?

It's aweful. I give it to Colby every day and he gags on it almost every day and looks up at me with those eyes saying "why would you do that to me?" I've never tasted it, but it smells horrible. Poor guy.

Andrew officially graduated! Although he is still doing his internship, he's done with it at far as the school is concerned, and he finished his last online class on Thursday. What a huge relief, he's so happy, and i'm happy for him not to have anymore homework! at least until he starts studying for his CPA exams soon.

On another happy happy note, Colby is on his way to crawling! (finally). not a pro yet, but yesterday he started to crawl and i'm soooo happy!! he looks so cute wiggling his little butt in the air too :)

General Conference

2011-04-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Dan and Brittany came up this last weekend for General Conference. I'm so happy that they aren't too far away so that we are still able to see them. It was such a fun weekend, and they even played with Colby most of the time so I was able to take a little break, which was also very nice.

chillin

rapping with Uncle Dan

Unfortunately Dan had to work most of the weekend, but Colby was more than willing to help (anything to get closer to a computer)

We went down the street to the park.

Colby needed to have a little more fun on the slide and i needed to have a little less fun.

They didn't have the baby swings (lame) so daddy just held him on the swing.

Newel K. Whitney Award

2011-04-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Andrew may not care too much about this, and may be even more embarrassed that i'm blogging about it, but i think it's a HUGE accomplishment and i'm so proud of him. We received this letter in the mail the other day:

Dear Andrew Leith,

The Brigham Young University-Idaho Accounting Department is pleased to announce that you have been selected to receive the Newel K. Whitney Award.

The Newel K. Whitney Award is in memory of the early church member who used his gifts, talents, and means to build the Kingdom of God. Whitney was innovative, frugal, and honest - a true entrepreneur. Additionally, Whitney was able to improve his business yet remain loyal to the Church despite hard times. "He was a successful businessman, a presiding bishop of the Church, a prominent civic official, and a notable member of his community." (D. Michael Quinn, "The Newel K Whitney Family," Ensign, Dec 1978, 42.) Whitney was part of the school of the prophets and an in-depth communicator.

This award is given to students who have displayed similar traits that Newel K. Whitney possessed. Specifically, students are honored for their character, diligence, and desire to build the Kingdom of God. Selected students must be nominated by at least three of the Accounting Department faculty who feel the student would represent the Church, University, and Department as an exemplary employable quality graduate.

Please send a photo of yourself in business attire, so we can display your picture with the other Newel K. Whitney award recipients for this semester.

How great is that?! Just thought I'd blog the letter so we would forever have it!

g'ma and g'pa visit

2011-03-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Leith came to visit this last weekend.

We went Elk watching. Unfortunately the Elk were way too far away to see. Colby had a blast just being outside. we went shopping, out to eat, and he got LOTS of attention. of course he loved it.

ps i jinxed myself. apparently waiting 2 months to say anything about colby's sleeping wasn't good enough. he's waking up at night now and i don't know why. fun. guess i wont be saying anything once he figures it out again.

Happenings

2011-03-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

Just a little update of the family -

Andrew is three weeks away from finishing his internship at CBIZ.  He loves it, and i'm so happy for him that he works with great people.  He's working long, hard hours, and sometimes doesn't get home until after 8 or 9.  He received an informal offer there, so we're just waiting for his formal offer to make it official that we'll actually be LIVING in Bakersfield for a few years. How crazy.  After his internship we're going to Cabo for a week with my parents. I can't wait! Colby and I got our passports last week, and Andrew already had his, so it's official. We can go! Not sure what is happening after Cabo, but I think we'll be headed up to Oregon for a few weeks to relax before he starts work (which i also don't know when he starts either).  We're looking into buying a house here, it's one thing to look at houses, and it's another to actually BUY a house.  Right now, I enjoy looking.  I'm not sure if i'm ready to buy a house, but it's gotta happen sooner or later!

I've started crocheting again.  Problem is that i crochet a bunch of stuff and end up putting it in a box. i mean who needs 20 different baby beanie's and 10 shoulder bags? but i love to crochet, so i do it anyway.  That's pretty much what i do, Crochet and watch a baby.  it's awesome.

Colby has 8 teeth now! he just got 2 more teeth this last week, it's insane. he's had 6 teeth pop through this last month.  He's such a fun baby. Of course there are his bad moments too... like him wanting to move everywhere and not being able to crawl. i really want him to start moving, everyone tells me to enjoy this time when he's not moving, but yeah i'm ready for him to move because he pretty much fusses until i pick him up and take him to where he wants to go. BUT that's just the way things are, and i'm trying to enjoy this time that he actually wants me around and needs me!  On another note, i've been debating with myself whether or not i should blog about this or not because it's been a wonderful 2 months and i don't want to jinx it, but COLBY SLEEPS NOW! yes that's right, he sleeps! I've struggled with him taking naps for 6 months and one day it finally clicked and i'm in heaven! i had tried almost everything to get him to sleep, i didn't want to leave him in there to cry because i've tried it before and it didn't work, but this one morning he wouldn't stop crying and i was trying to rock him to sleep and i was losing my patience, so i put him in his crib while he was crying because i just needed a break, so i took a shower and before i got out he was asleep! i was shocked. ever since then it's been bliss! now i put him in his crib and he smiles at me and then rolls over and falls asleep. don't get me wrong, it's not perfect everytime and i don't just let him cry when he obviously needs me, but it's a HUGE relief for me. Colby and I now have a much better relationship :)

Here are some cute pictures from tonight, he was fussy when he's on the floor by himself, but loves being in the laundry basket, especially with his sock.

Auntie Time

2011-03-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

The other day Auntie Brittany came to visit for a few hours. The visit went by WAY too fast. It was fun having her come visit. It felt like we were back in Rexburg just hanging out again. Too bad instead of walking across the parking lot we now have a 2 hour drive. Colby just loves her.

2011-03-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

This morning i went to go check on colby to see if he was awake yet and i saw this

maybe he was hot? Or just wanted something to chew on so the obvious choice would be to take the pants off...

instantly happy

2011-03-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

To keep occupied during the day (other than taking care of a baby) I've been watching some TV shows through Netflix. Colby will completely ignore the show, until the very end. He does this every time, he just loves the credits at the end. He doesn't even have to be watching it, he knows it by the music. He goes from grumpy to happy instantly EVERY time, and i get a kick out of it EVERY time.

Oh and don't mind the end of the video, he got so excited he fell over and i thought he was about to hit the tile...but he didn't. all is good :)

Newport Beach

2011-03-07T12:40:00.001-08:00

I know i just posted a bunch of pictures on facebook, but i'm going to post them on my blog too. I always do that, same thing on facebook and my blog, but this way i have a little entry that goes with it so i remember the weekend.

My parents had a work convention in Newport Beach last week, and since they were going to be just a couple hours from us, a half hour from Dan and Britt, we decided to make it a little family get-together. Jason and Francisca flew down from Idaho Friday, and Kami drove up from Arizona on Friday afternoon. Andrew and I were going to leave early Saturday morning, but we started thinking about it and wanted to spend more than half a day at the beach, so Andrew was able to get off work at 5:45 (he was shooting for 5:00, but 5:45 is good considering he was getting home after 10:00 all week) and we headed down. We got there a little after 8:00 and met up with the family at Yogurtland (delicious!). Once we got there Jason and my mom came running past me to get to Colby, and Andrew took Colby and started running the other way... so with a mixture of it being past Colby's bedtime and running away from all these people that now wanted to hold him, colby took a while to warm up to them again, but after a few minutes he was finally his adorable self again.
Saturday we headed to Laguna Beach where we were most the day. Mike and Tamara were there, and it was so great to see them again. Kyle also stopped by for a bit and it was fun to see him too. Colby absolutely loved the beach, the ocean...not so much. He didn't mind the wet sand, but when i put his feet in the ocean he cried. I don't blame him though, it was too cold for me so i couldn't expect him to enjoy it, but i wanted to try. Colby got a great tan, I got a great burn. At least i remembered to put sunscreen on him.

He loved the feel of the sand in his hands

Between his toes

And on his face

We went back to the hotel and he LOVED LOVED LOVED the pool, well mostly the hot tub. He liked the pool, but started to get pretty cold. He had a blast in the hot tub though.

My little water baby

Loving the water

Saturday night we headed to Huntington beach to eat at Dukes right by the pier, and their hula pie was amazing as usual.

At the pier by Huntington Beach

Sunday we went to church with my cousin Beth, her hubby Ryan, and their cutest baby boy Colton. Colby and Colton are about 2 months apart (Colton being older) and they just loved each other. We went back to Beth and Ryans house afterwards for lunch. Colby hasn't really been around another baby, so it was fun to see how they reacted to each other, they were fascinated. It was too cute.

Cousins Colton and Colby

They love each other

Everyone together (minus mom who is taking the picture)

you're so vain

2011-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Colby found his way to the mirror today and wouldn't stop looking at himself, he was even trying to kiss himself. a little vain perhaps?

He has a preference of the way he wants to roll over, and that ways happens to lead him right into the mirror, therefore, he's stuck. Every now and then he would rest from the fight with the mirror and lay his head down. He is hardly ever relaxed like this, so I'm very surprised i actually got a picture of it.

Andrew has been working very hard, he comes home late most nights. Colby and me are addicted to most TV shows like, Amazing Race, The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, Survivor, Mr. Sunshine, and even more, we're entertained most days.

We're working on getting me and colby a passport. When Andrew is done with his internship we're going to CABO! SO excited. 60 Days. You know how pleasant the workers are at the DMV? Well they're just as pleasant at the Post Office where you get your passport.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T22:17:00.001-08:00

i'm pathetic. i panic when it comes to giving gifts - so i often don't do it. i knew valentines day was coming, and as it came closer, i decided maybe next year i'll get andrew something. my excuse for not getting andrew a gift: i don't have a car and couldn't leave the house to get him anything. he had to work late so we ate dinner alone, but when he came home he surprised me with beautiful flowers.

of course you can't forget the wonderful ice cream

I love my husband!! i am so blessed to have him in my life!

fun

2011-02-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

my parents and sister went to LA for a couple days to visit Dan and Britt, so of course we made a trip down there on saturday to join them and to see the beach.
(of course the following pictures are all about Colby)

wondering what this sand is about (he's sick so he looks a little groggy)

exploring

just riding a bike

he LOVES daddy

do they look alike or WHAT?

Santa Monica beach

a day in the life of Colby

2011-01-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

i absolutely love this kid! he means the world to me, and i can't get enough of him! i just thought i'd post what we do all day!

wake up and work on my fitness

play - a must

play some more

relax after play time - remote and bottle in hand. ahhh could life get any better?

gotta get some daddy time in - i like to copy him

and admire him....

a kids gotta eat!

i love to eat ducky - favorite part of bath time

after a long day - pass out! (notice the lifted hand still)

bath time

2011-01-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

I was doing the dishes and asked Andrew to take Colby and get him ready for a bath. I walked into the bathroom while andrew was filling up colby's tub and saw this...

I guess andrew didn't know how to fill up the tub while holding a baby. problem solved - stick him in the laundry basket.

happy 1/2 birthday colby!

2011-01-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

6 months ago i was just meeting my little angel boy for the first time. i can't imagine my life without colby. he has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. i love him to death! i can't believe he is 6 months old already! so far he....

smiles ALL the time

giggles

eats his feet

has 2 teeth

loves to stand

loves eating cereal/veggies/fruit (or really just loves eating)

still not rolling over (he rolled from stomach to back today...so we'll see if that was an accident or not)

i think he's about 15 lbs

sleeping about 12 hours at night

he reaches out for anybody

anything and everything belongs in his mouth (which means he now takes a bottle!!)

i've always hated to iron. we bought and iron and ironing board a couple years ago, and i think andrew used it once. never me. i strongly believe in throwing your clothes in the dryer to get some of the wrinkles out. now...andrew has an internship and wants to look all spiffy every day. now i'm ironing. ALL THE TIME. on sunday i even ironed MY shirt. this world is crazy. don't worry, i'm still me. i lost a button on that same shirt and have absolutely no idea what to do to fix it. no thread, no needle, no talent. guess i don't have to worry about ironing it again.

andrew takes our car to work, so that means i'm housebound all day. which is fine with me because i'm terrible with directions and i'd just let lost - tough luck for andrew because that means no grocery shopping all week. saturday we went ALL OUT. our fridge is full, our freezer is full, our pantry is full... and i still have no idea what to make for dinner. but at least we have food now.

living in the armpit

2011-01-10T14:27:00.001-08:00

Whenever i told someone we were moving to Bakersfield they gave me that pitiful look followed by "i'm so sorry" or "hope you aren't staying there long" or "have you heard that it's the armpit capital of the world?". well let me tell you, I LOVE IT!! We are in a good location, in a very friendly ward and there is a TON of shopping to do just a mile up the road (such an improvement from Rexburg). I would never guess it's the armpit capital of the world, there's a lot to do here! Moving down here, there are a few things i've learned:

Colby travels incredibly well
I'm sick of driving
Target makes me happy
Our upstairs neighbors are definitely NOT lds (the eminem blasting at midnight while she got ready to go clubbing gave that away)
I love our new apartment
I have the best parents and parent-in-laws
Cheez-its taste good with chocolate

If you're anything like me, you love looking at different apartment/homes. so here are some pics...

(i realize the garbage can is not located in the kitchen...there is no room)

Baby Shower!

2011-01-05T07:33:00.001-08:00

This past week Diana threw me a baby shower!! nope, not expecting, it was for Colby. we weren't able to have a shower with andrew's side of the family while i was pregnant, so now was the perfect time! it was so much fun having colby help open his gifts (plus it took the pressure off me!)

Smile!

2011-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

While my sis was here for Christmas I asked her to take pictures of me and Andrew (and Colby, but he wouldn't stay happy long enough, so i took matters into my own hands for that one)

and our fun photo shoot of the boy (sorry for the picture overload... I can't stop taking pictures!)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we had Bob and Diana come for dinner. it was fantastic (both the company and the dinner). Since we were spending christmas day with my family, they brought our present over to open on Christmas Eve. I was completely shocked! they got us a camera! it was exactly what i wanted...so needless to say i'm obsessed with taking pictures now even more than ever.

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning we all woke up at 7:00 with smiles on our faces

We opened presents

flew in the air

and shook our tail feathers

Colby played with his toy from Santa

and ate his toys from us

Hope you all had a great christmas too!

graduation and more

2010-12-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

The last week has been crazy!  Prepare for TONS of pictures.  Last Friday morning, we went to the dedication of the BYUI Center, and the rededication of the MC. We were so excited to go and to be in the building.  Too bad we missed the whole thing (thanks Colby).  He was either super cute and wouldn't stop talking so we had to take him out, or he was fussy.  Oh well, it was still amazing to be there.

At the dedication of the BYUI Center

Friday night, Andrew and Britt graduated!!!  Such a huge accomplishment, I'm so excited and proud of them!

Before graduation (PS Britt made this dress)

Lovin on Colby

Getting ready to graduate!

Thor!

Can't get enough of this kid!

  These pictures were before Andrew graduated, but you have the take the opportunity with a happy and awake baby!

Such proud parents!

Dan and Britt - So happy!

The graduates!

So happy for them!

Right after graduation, Andrew and I hurried back to our almost empty apartment so finish cleaning it out.  Not gonna lie, i shed some tears as we drove away knowing it was the last time i'll ever see our place.  We had a great apartment, amazing neighbors, and a fantastic ward.  I couldn't ask for more and we lived there for so long, it was definitely hard to leave.

our empty place:

We missed the commencement Saturday morning and took that opportunity to head home early.  We were making great time considering the massive amounts of snow falling everywhere.  The Blues were pretty intense, and we make it to La Grande before they closed the freeway.  We thought it was going to be for a couple hours, but then we read that there were numerous cars sliding off the road and finally made the decision that we should make it over the rest of the Blues in the morning, so we got a motel.  Definitely a good decision. BUT we made it home Sunday a half hour before church and were able to go in time for the christmas program.

With that being said...IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!  We got a tree Monday!  I got a picture of the tree when it was finished, but i have to take a picture with the flash on or else it's crazy blurry and the flash doesn't give the tree justice, so i didn't put it up.  we didn't realize until we turned the lights on that we have a very patriotic tree (red, white, and blue).

Trying to bite santa

Colby is very curious about the christmas tree. so cute!

I just love the Christmas season!

payback

2010-12-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Lately, Colby has been having explosive diapers. I'm thinking it's the rice cereal, but they are out of control, and his diaper changes often involves a change of clothes too. As i was changing his diaper and trying to get his onesie off with the least amount of poop getting on him, i was thinking that i would love if andrew were home for one of these diaper changes, just one. But since Andrew can't be home to await that diaper change, colby decided to take things into his own hands:

i think that spit up makes up for it.

a little bit of christmas

2010-12-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

This past weekend a lady Andrew works with was throwing a Christmas party for the students that work with her in the office. We first went to her ward christmas party (mostly for the roast) and then went to her house for more food and games. it was a lot of fun! Her ward christmas party had the whoville christmas program thing going on, so some dressed up like Whoville characters. Andrew and i put a santa hat on, that's about as festive as we get. we were pretty proud of ourselves.

Rockband

love/hate relationship

2010-12-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

Over thanksgiving we gave colby this a lot:

This is why i love it:

if i'm desperate for him to stop crying, i can pop it in and he easily takes it

i don't have to worry about going out in public and have him start crying with no way to sooth him

he falls asleep easily with this

This is why i hate it:

he doesn't know how to put it back in his mouth, so if it falls out in his crib i have to keep running back in to pop it in

he wakes up in the middle of the night crying for it

he will NOT go to sleep without it now

what is a mom to do? still can't decide if i want him to have it or not....

On another note - i was reading a baby book that Andrew's mom gave me when i was pregnant called "Your baby & Child from birth to age five" the pages are turning yellow so i checked when it was published: 1983. it's older than me! anyway, i turned to a teething section and i quote

"So as soon as toys go in your baby's mouth, he or she should be given hard foods to put in too. Peeled pieces of apple are good; so are hard crusts or zwiebacks, raw scrubbed carrots and even cooked, smooth chop-bones."

ummm excuse me? no i didn't type that wrong. chop-bones. now i don't know if you've tried this, but personally...seeing how I'M NOT RAISING A DOG, i think that might be slightly confusing for, not only colby, but to those who may see my child gnawing on a bone. not sure how i feel about this book. and i'm not sure if andrew's mom gave him chop-bones to chew on. i'm scared to ask.

Thanksgiving in Arizona

2010-11-29T06:35:00.001-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we spent it with my family down in Arizona. I was super anxious to get down there and have a week to spend time with my family, and to mostly be able to spend time with Andrew while he had a little break from homework. Friday night before Thanksgiving we loaded the car up with a little bit of stuff for me and andrew, a little bit for jason and francisca, and a ton for colby (can't believe such a little guy demands so much room!), and the 5 of us headed out on our 15 hour journey to beautiful sunny, hot arizona (only it was kinda cold). we made it a night trip so that colby would sleep most of the way. he was such a little angel! i'm so impressed with how good he was for being in a carseat for so long. the only time we struggled a little with him was when we were only 15 miles away and he woke up hungry, i didn't want to stop to feed him so we tried to distract him, and it worked for the most part!

Arizona was full of family, hiking thunderbird mountain, FOOD, shopping, card games, and SUNSHINE! We even got our family pictures taken. it was such a great week! i loved being able to actually spend time with my hubby. we held thanksgiving day at my parents house and there were 36 people there! CRAZY! so exciting though. my only regret is only having one slice of pumpkin pie :( we had so much food that i forgot to eat more! at least there's always christmas!

on the flip side of our wonderful vacation...there was colby. he was sooo entertaining during the day. and then there was the dreaded night. he was sleeping in the same room as me and andrew, and apparently he didn't want to let us forget that he was there. he was waking up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours just SCREAMING and the only way to calm him down was to feed him (which he wasn't even really hungry). i was so confused and getting sooo incredibly emotional from the lack of sleep. we were giving him a binky for his naps because i didn't want anyone to have to deal with the crying during the naptimes, so i was worried he was completely hooked on that, but in the back of my mind i was thinking maybe he just knew we were in the room with him and wanted attention. after a sleepless week, i found out why he was such a pill! little man has a tooth! it popped up on friday when we were headed back home! i can't believe it! (and i'm sooo glad there was a reason for his sleepless nights). apparently diarrhea is a symptom of teething - do you have any idea how fun that is to deal while in a car when he blows through his diaper?

on our way home we were going to make another night trip saturday night, but we heard there was supposed to be a storm on sunday in utah and idaho, so we left at about 10:00 on saturday morning and i was worried colby wouldn't do so great during the day. WRONG! he was even better! he didn't even cry when he was getting tired, he would just close his eyes and fall asleep. he was sooo good and that made me soo happy because i have always struggled with getting him to sleep. on our way home we wanted to see the hoover dam, but they built a new bridge that had the walls too high to see the dam, and we looked at the exit and saw an endless line of cars that would take hours to get through so we skipped it (sorry jason and francisca - we'll see it another day!) we were driving up to salt lake city and staying there saturday night and i was so excited! i've never seen the christmas lights at temple square! we were cutting in close though! they turn the lights off at 10:00 and guess what! we got there at 10:00 - so we saw them close the gates! (we'll have to do that another day too). but we saw the city lights and they were so pretty! Andrew's parents were on their way back from spending thanksgiving in colorado and stopped in salt lake that night too, so we were even able to see them and andrews neice and nephew, Daniel and Alli. they were sooo cute with Colby. Everything he did just cracked them up and they'd fall on the bed laughing. we woke up to lots of snow and we went to breakfast with andrews parents the next day (yes it was sunday....i payed for that later). and then we headed out (dan and britt also stayed in the same hotel so we were all able to caravan). the roads were HORRIBLE! i was scared for colby's life, not to mention i wasn't feeling well (probably from lack of sleep) and i just wanted to get home. once we got home it hit. yes, i was going to pay for going out to eat on sunday. i couldn't unpack, i could hardly hold colby. all i could do was lay on the couch and run for the bathroom. i couldn't keep my food down! poor andrew had to deal with colby while trying to get his homework done because i couldn't take care of him. it was so nice though! i went to bed at 9:00 dreading the night (i was thinking colby was going to keep waking up like he did in arizona). he only woke up once in the middle of the night to eat, and then he slept the rest of the night! oh i am one happy mom! plus i'm feeling much better, so i'm hoping it was that belgian waffle i had. i really really don't want to get colby and andrew sick.

chillin in the carseat

after one of his explosive diaper changes, Colby drove over to the dumpster

Aunty Kami with colby and a cute hat

4 Generation picture

Papa reading to Colby

little blessing

2010-11-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

This morning i was cooking myself some breakfast (actually heating up oatmeal) and i couldn't stop smiling. i could hear colby through his monitor just laying in his crib cooing. usually i'm welcomed in the morning with a desperate cry to get food, i was pleasantly surprised that he was just in there talking to himself. so i let him talk to himself for a while until he started to cry, when i went in there he had rotated himself and was facing the wall just talking away. when he saw me he got the biggest smile on his face. (i totally forgive him for crying for hours last night instead of sleeping). this was the first morning he woke up happy and i LOVE it :)

he also had to get his 4 month shots today. sooo sad, but he's a trooper!

always trying to chew on his hands

still being adorable

here's his stats at 4 months:

weight: 12.1 lbs - 6%

height: 25.5 in - 73%

Head: 16 in - 14%

2010-11-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

what a great trilogy! i can't believe 'back to the future' came out in 1985 and i had never seen it before! guess i thought they would be super strange, but they were so good! i highly recommend them.

it officially started snowing monday, i was going to get a picture of us outside for colby's first snow, but by the time andrew got home from work to take the picture it was dark, not to mention it's freezing out there! the snow doesn't seem that bad this year, i guess it's because i see an end to the snow.

10 days until arizona.

39 days until we say goodbye to rexburg forever.

Colby's blessing

2010-11-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

Alright I know this is just a few months late, but i'm finally blogging about Colby's baby blessing! I just recently got some pictures from the blessing (i, of course, forget to take pictures with my camera that day) We had the blessing on September 26 after church in the clubhouse here at our apartment complex. we had a lot of family and friends that were able to make it. andrew gave an amazing blessing, and colby helped make it memorable. colby decided that right in the middle of the blessing was a good time to fill his diaper...loudly! (apparently the 2 minute long blessing was much to long to hold it in) it was way hard to keep from laughing, but andrew somehow managed to make it through the blessing and we all had a good laugh afterwards (and some even had a good laugh during the blessing). overall, it was a great (and very memorable) day.

It was really hot in the clubhouse, so we ended up just taking his blessing outfit off

so busy being a mom

2010-11-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Just showing off our attractive side :)

2010-11-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

Colby is growing so fast and is so much fun! he's a huge blessing in our lives and we just love him to death! Here are few things that he loves doing at 3 1/2 months old -

- sitting up (with help of course)

- attacking his toys

- talking and mimicking us

- standing up (with help)
- chewing on his hands (both of them at the same time)

- tummy time ( actually he hates it, but he's doing much better! still not rolling over completely on his own though)

He's still sleeping the majority of the day, but i love those precious moments when he's awake.

He just loves his daddy

He's actually hooked on the TV here

His new best friend and the first church outfit he fit into

Spending time with daddy

Tummy time - he's not sure if he likes it or not

It's hard to get a picture of him smiling - might have something to do with the bright orange focus light that comes on, but he LOVED the box

He twitches so bad that he has to be swaddled, but dang it if he's gonna try and break free! He always gets his hands out

Our pumpkins!

i was getting anxious to put him in his johnny jumper - apparently he's still too little

So maybe this is mean, but we just love his reaction when we blow in his face

Copying his daddy - so cute!

project pre-colby

2010-10-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

i was just looking through all my pictures on facebook and got to the pictures of hawaii for both my honeymoon and for a family vacation, i must say it was quite the motivation for me. i remember working so hard to look beach ready and never felt like i reached that beach body i wanted, but boy oh boy would i take that now! i've been working out about 5 days a week since i had colby, but i hardly ever push myself beyond the point to get my body to tone. it's more of a relaxed work out i suppose (but don't get me wrong, i still sweat like a pig). i couldn't seem to find the motivation to WORK to get my body back, i kinda just wanted to go to the gym and work out for 30 minutes and basically just expected it to happen. well it hasn't, and i don't see it happening in the near future unless i change something. it's very hard to be motivated to push myself when i have a baby (even though he's sound asleep in his carrier at the gym) and not to mention the gym here at the complex has the heater on - which i'm not complaining about because it's cold outside so of course they need it on, it's just unfortunate it's on in the weight room too because i get SOOO hot. anyway, enough excuses - I'M GONNA DO IT! i'm gonna get the body back that i had pre-colby. i'm gonna drop those 5 extra pounds and TONE my body again, i'm sick of the fatness. project pre-colby, here i come!

(probably not a good idea to have this goal right before the holiday season - which is why i'm writing it down, so i feel obligated to do it - wish me luck!!)

New chapter in life

2010-10-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

Our time in Rexburg is coming to an end, Andrew graduates in December and then we are outta here! I've been so excited for this time to come, but now i'm realizing how great this place is and how much i'm going to miss it. Here are just a few things i'm going to miss

- living in a place where 99% of the people believe the same thing you do
- having good friends and family a few minutes away
- living in a small town where everything is less than 10 minutes away
- not scared to leave the door unlocked
- craigo's - please open in more places
- camping
- the snow
- G's dairy
- the temple so close

Those are just a few things that i take for granted here. in january andrew, colby, and i will be headed to bakersfield, california for andrew's internship at cbiz. i'm excited for the new opportunity, but also a little scared to be completely on our own. andrew and i were talking the other night and realized this is going to be the first time we are going to be living in a place without the temple close by - we've totally taken that for granted. we are so blessed to have gotten an internship in bakersfield, and we're both pretty excited for the new experience. (and my mom is already figuring out travel plans so she can come visit all the time to see her grandson. pretty sure the distance is going to kill her)

DATE NIGHT

2010-10-17T12:13:00.001-07:00

Francisca and Jason told me early on in the week "Tara, we're taking Colby Saturday, and you ARE going on a date" so basically, i had to go. i was SO nervous to go, i didn't know if Colby was going to fall asleep for them or if he was going to take the bottle. I told them I'd think about it and let them know, but of course i decided i could trust them with Colby for a couple hours and that he'd be JUST fine. Afterall - Jason is a master at putting him to sleep and Colby has a huge crush on his auntie francisca, so i knew they could handle it. I was just praying that he wouldn't be a pill for them.

Andrew and I took off for our great amazing adventurous date. We tried a new restaurant (new to us) called Gringos (yeah you've probably all heard of it). Turns out it was very delicious. We didn't want to venture too far out of Rexburg just in case Colby wouldn't eat from them, so we stuck around town. and what could be a better date than to go to Walmart! Yes that's right, our first date night in MONTHS and we head to Walmart so i could go shopping without Colby. It was very relaxing though, and i didn't have to worry that Colby would get fussy halfway through my shopping. We were gone just 2 hours (you gotta start small). Turns out Colby was AMAZING! He fell asleep so good for them, and we got back before they had to feed him so they didn't have to try to tackle that obstacle. It really made me feel so much better to leave him more often (maybe like once a month - i missed him!)

Today

2010-10-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Colby rolled over! Only a LITTLE help from his mom :)

All Day Colic?

2010-10-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor this morning for Colby because he's has a cold for over a week now and yesterday i saw signs that there might be an ear infection. As bad as it sounds, i was hoping there was something wrong with him so we could get some antibiotics and be on our way and in about a week or so I would have a baby that slept again. Turns out there is NOTHING wrong with him, just a little cold. Doc says he might be a little colic. Excuse me, a LITTLE colic? Every time he's tired he cries and cries and doesn't want to go to sleep. and this is ALL day for EVERY nap. I thought colic was more of an evening thing that lasted for a few hours, but all day? only when he's tired? Basically, i think colic stands for - "sorry you're baby is a pain in the butt, nothing i can do so good luck" Now don't get me wrong, i absolutely love Colby to death and just one little smile from him makes my day, but that mood changes just as fast as his does when he goes from smiling to screaming in a second. I'm stressing all day wondering if he's going to go down easy for his naps, or if i'm gonna end up rocking him to sleep for an hour. I've tried rocking him and putting him in his crib asleep - and he wakes up 5 minutes later crying, i've tried putting him in his crib when he's almost passed out - and he wakes up crying, i've tried just letting him cry it out - and he cries for over an hour and a half and starts spitting up, i've tried just rocking him and holding him (what kind of a person wants to hold their baby for hours and hours and get nothing done?) well he finally sleep after an hour or so of crying, and then wakes up after only a half hour nap, if i get lucky enough that he takes his pacifier - i have to sit there and hold it in his mouth. I'm all out of ideas, i'm going crazy! the only upside to this is that if it is colic...that should dwindle in the 3rd month right? Good thing he's cute right? :)

Update

2010-09-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Colby:

Playing on the grass

He is now 11 weeks old and growing like crazy. He's showing more personality and smiles ALL the time. He's so adorable, and catches everyone's attention when we walk into the room (I walk into a room holding him and everyone is all "OOHHHH HI!!!" for a split second i'm flattered, and then i realize no one cares that i walk into the room, they just want the baby).

Making my day

He had is two month shots on the 16th and, honestly, it wasn't as had as i thought it would be - mostly because i was reading a piece of paper when they gave him the shots. He gave two huge screams and then quieted down right away, he was so brave! (plus he went to sleep REALLY well, who wouldn't enjoy that?). I lost the sheet of paper that had the percentiles on it, but here's his measurements (with percentiles according to the internet)

weight: 9.69 lbs 5%

Height: 23 inches 25%-50%
Head Circ: 15 inches 5%-10%

After bathtime, just reading the paper (we start learning how to read at a young age around here)

I've been reading and going off of the book "babywise". Basically, they tell you to go off of an 'eat, wake, sleep' cycle so that the baby learns to fall asleep on his own. he would fall asleep on his own up until he was about 6-7 weeks and then slept HORRIBLY. He would scream and scream when i put him down for a nap and just hated it. It was hard on all three of us, but we stuck with it. this past week has been incredible, colby's been falling asleep really well. He usually sleeps from 11:00 to about 5:00 and a couple nights he has even slept until about 7-8! (i love those mornings) Basically, I love being a mom. Trying to get him to sleep in his crib was REALLY hard and i hated it (lots of tears) but i'm finally seeing the benefits and i LOVE what i see.

Getting swaddled for bedtime

Andrew:

About a month ago we went down to Pocatello for Andrew to take the GMAT. He did very well on it, i just hope it was well enough to possibly get a scholarship to help him through grad school. About a week before the GMAT, he volunteered to help out at an Extreme Makeover: Home edition house. He had a great experience and helped lay the bricks in the front of the house. We're both anxious for it to air this fall so i can finally see the inside of the house! It's just cool because it's something andrew helped do - so that makes it interesting to me. So when we went down there for the GMAT he took me past the house and it's HUGE.

Taking up the whole bed in Pocatello

Andrew is now in his last semester of school and working hard as ever - and i'm sure it's even more hard since all he wants to do is come home and play with Colby - but instead he has to do homework. BUT he graduates in December and we both can't WAIT.

Daddy's study buddy

He has interviewed at a couple places to intern at in the winter (he even interviewed for a firm in alaska...AHHH) so well see where we end up!

Colby's goal:

2010-09-16T08:41:00.001-07:00

To stay awake and drive me CRAZY!

Colby - meet your uncle and aunties

2010-08-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Kami, Jason, and Francisca finally met Colby. They were all so cute with him! I just love seeing people fall in love with my baby!

Saturday we headed out on an adventure to Cave Falls. It was amazing! Such a beautiful waterfall. We found out when we got home that there is actually a cave there (go figure...cave falls and there's a cave) but there was a rock slide so you aren't allowed to go into the cave anymore, we didn't even know there was a cave, but i was still beautiful.

2 wonderful years!

2010-08-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

August 15th was our two year anniversary. Unfortunately, i forgot that you actually GIVE something for your anniversary until Friday night. I've been so caught up in Colby that i completely forgot to even think of something to give Andrew. I looked up the gift you should give for 2 years of marriage, and it was cotton...are you kidding me? I was expecting a good idea to pop into my head, i can't for the life of me figure out why nothing came to mind when i saw the word cotton. So instead of giving andrew something for our anniversary, we decided to go to Mesa Falls to celebrate.

It's so beautiful there! It would have been fun to have a picnic, but Colby was getting hungry so we had to head back, but still had a great time getting out.
Of course Saturday night I found out Andrew got me something for our anniversary. Nothing completely HUGE since i reminded him about our anniversary Friday night as well. He's just much better at thinking of something on the spot that i am. He got me soap for a bubble bath ( i just love baths) and lotion for a massage (carrying colby wears on you!) and the best movie thus far...17 again! I absolutely love that movie, and he remembered that i said a while ago that we just need to buy that movie.
I think it's safe to say that i completely failed in the anniversary department this year... good thing i have an understanding husband! better luck next year! I am so blessed to have Andrew in my life. I love that I married my best friend. He's a wonderful husband and dad, i couldn't ask for more! I love him sooo much!

CHOCOLATE

2010-08-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Nobody warned me about post-pregnancy cravings! oh my goodness i'm out of control! I don't even know if there is such a thing as having post pregnancy cravings, but i swear i have the disease! All i want is chocolate, ALL THE TIME. i've always loved chocolate of course (i am a girl afterall) but i can usually control myself, and at the present time...I have no control! I didn't even have cravings during my pregnancy, which is why i'm completely taken off guard by this realization that i'm in love with chocolate. It makes it very hard to lose the pregnancy weight.

But my little Colbster is completely worth it.

All about Colby

2010-08-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm becoming one of those moms that only blog about their children, but i have so many cute pictures of colby that i just HAVE to put them up! He's so adorable! I absolutely love him to death and i'm so blessed that i get to stay home and be with him all the time. I get my break when i go work out, but i miss him so much when i'm gone for that short time! I look forward to Andrew coming home from work all day so he can see how cute he is! of course, by the time Andrew gets home he's usually doing his nightly fussing. I must say, i think i have the cutest kid ever!

Thank goodness for daddy! Every night when he comes home from work Colby needs the football hold from daddy to help calm him down.

See what i mean? He loves it though!

Must be a guy thing, but when my parents were here my dad was able to calm him down right away!

His overalls from auntie brittany! He loves them!

cute right? :) I love my little family!

My precious boy!

Yellowstone

2010-07-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

My parents have been here since the 17th to be with Colby and to help out around the house. It's been such a blessing! My mom is always doing the laundry, cleaning the house, and most importantly...changing those diapers. She'll do anything just to get some time with the little guy! My dad is a huge help when the evening comes and Colby gets fussy! He has a way of calming him down, I don't know what i'm going to do when they leave!

On Monday, Andrew had the day off work so we decided to make a trip up to Yellowstone. After living here for 4+ years you'd think Andrew and I would have made it up there already...NOPE. It was crazy crowded so I'm not sure if we'll go again, but it was an awesome experience. Too bad it was so hot Colby probably had a different opinion, but we did our best to keep him cool.

Colby Andrew Leith 7.16.10

2010-07-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I had my baby boy on July 16th! He came almost 3 weeks early, but it was a wonderful surprise! I had thought he might be coming early, but i didn't know how early. I was hoping he would make it until the 22nd of July so that Andrew would be finished with his finals, but instead he came the week of finals...luckily it was the weekend so Andrew was able to go a couple days without sleep.

So here's my story for those of you who might possibly be interested (sorry it might be gross to some). It was about 11:30 Thursday night, I had just crawled into bed and thinking to myself "man i wonder what it'll be like to go into labor" and all of a sudden i felt a gush of water and was beyond confused. I ran to the bathroom and was pretty sure my water broke, but didn't know for sure. Andrew was studying for finals so i didn't want to bug him too much, but i told him i thought my water broke and we were debating whether to go to the hospital or not. i didn't want to go right away because i didn't know if my water really broke, i didn't want to go just for them to tell me i pee'd my pants! After about an hour of debating, we decided to head up to the hospital. After testing me and having me wait there for almost 3 hours, they told me my water didn't break and i might have just pee'd my pants (although they couldn't figure out why i kept leaking either). i didn't want to argue with them because they're doctors after all, even though i knew something was up. so at 3:00 they sent me home and told me to go to see my doctor in the morning to make sure. so we get home and andrew falls fast asleep, as for myself i get another gush of water at 3:30. and then again at 4:00. By this time i'm just counting down the time until i can call the doctor and figure out what is wrong with me. I called the doctor in the morning and talked to a nurse who told me that the litmus paper is so super sensitive so if there was any amniotic fluid they would know, so most likely i just pee'd my pants (apparently over and over). They tell me to come in at 9:50 (yeah that seems like forever on top of a sleepless, leaking night). I head to the doctors by myself because i told andrew the nurse thinks i just pee'd my pants, so he can just go to class at 10:15. I get to the doctors office and i'm struggling with my leaking problem, so there i am sitting on the bed and the doctor is asking me if i've been leaking, he goes to check me and i gush ALL OVER THE FLOOR!! Of course i'm all embarrassed, not only is this uncontrollable water coming out of me, but i didn't know if i was peeing or not! He just calmly tells me "well, i think it's safe to say your water has broken" THANK GOODNESS!! I quickly call andrew and catch him on his way to class and tell him they are sending me to the hospital and expecting me within an hour.
sooo in the hospital i got induced about 12:00 pm. Andrew called his parents right away when we got to the hospital, but my parents volunteer at the temple friday mornings until 12:00 (oregon time) so i couldn't tell him i was having a baby until 1:00, of course i couldn't tell anyone else either until my parents knew, so i had to wait. As soon as i could i called my parents and my mom started freaking out. they quickly went home and packed and headed over here as soon as they could. They got here Saturday about noon, and will be here for a couple weeks to help out. Meanwhile, I didn't even know i was having contractions until they hooked me up to the monitor and told me i was. i've been having braxton hicks contractions since about 6 months so i ignored all the tightening of the stomach. the contractions didn't hurt until a couple hours later, and as soon as they were hurting to the point where i had to concentrate on breathing the pain away (still not too bad, but not pleasant) the anesthesiologist came in and told me that he could give me the epidural within half and hour, or i would have to wait about three hours, so of course i took it then. I had already felt light headed when they gave me the IV so i was worried i would pass out with the epidural, i was so nervous! As i was selfishly thinking of myself and the huge needle that would soon be stuck into my back, i hear Andrew say "i'm not feeling well". Poor guy was about to pass out! Luckily, neither of us passed out, and the epidural was the best thing i've ever had in my life!!
The birth was so amazing, i'm so happy that i didn't feel any pain and that it was a wonderful experience for both Andrew and myself. i really didn't want andrew to have to see me in pain, and i didn't want to hate the whole experience. i spent about an hour and a half pushing, but it went by so fast. I would push during the contractions, and in between Andrew, the nurse, and myself would just talk and joke around. The doctor came in to catch the baby, when the head and arm was out he told me to reach down and hold my baby's hand while he was cleaning his face (ok i know that sounds gross, i was totally against doing this. i had seen people on tv do it and thought it was disgusting, but it was amazing!) so i was holding my little baby's hand, and then when his torso came out he told me to wrap my hand around his torso and pull. i pulled my baby out! it was so awesome! the whole labor and delivery experience was amazing. the most pain i felt was when they took the tape off my arm from the IV! (seriously...WAX JOB!) Colby Andrew Leith was born Friday July 16th 2010 at 9:47 PM weighing 6 lbs 12 oz and was 20 in. long. I'm glad the little guy decided to come early, if not he would have almost been a 9 lb baby! He was completely healthy and was able to come home with us Sunday morning. He's been such a blessing in our lives.
Wow, well that's the long story, and here's our little boy!

Summer lovin

2010-07-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time has flown! This summer has been pretty low-keyed for the most part, especially since Andrew is either going to school, doing homework, or at one of his two jobs. He seriously amazes me, he does so much for our little family and i don't think i could ever show him how much i appreciate him. We are both looking forward to the end of the semester on the 24th VERY much so he will get a little break from school and homework, and just have work over the next 7 weeks. Oh and we are both looking forward to the end of the semester when we meet our little boy in about 3 weeks! I'm getting so anxious now, and so terrified, but either way the time has definitely slowed down. Andrew is getting pretty anxious to meet the little guy as well. The other day he was rubbing my stomach and says, "hasn't he been cooking long enough?" haha it was so cute! i'm glad he's just as anxious as i am! He loves to feel him move around in my belly.

We have been able to get away a couple weekends this summer to enjoy ourselves. Over the 4th of July we went to the parade here in Rexburg for a little bit with some friends, and then headed out to the lake in the afternoon with some friends from the ward and had a GREAT time. I loved to see andrew out there tubing. Unfortunately, i'm a little too huge to fit into a lifejacket, so i wasn't able to go tubing or anything, but I loved watching people. We didn't stay long because we had to get back for a BBQ with some of my old roommates, which was well worth it as well. It was great to see them again and spend time with them, and to watch Amber's little baby Lucy make the cutest faces! After the BBQ, Andrew and i headed down to Idaho Falls to watch the most amazing firework show i've ever seen. I heard it was the best show west of the Mississippi, and you know what...it kinda was! it was incredible. We had a great time with friends from our ward there. Unfortunately, the only thing i took a picture of was i Idaho Falls.

In Idaho Falls before the firework show

This last weekend there was a mountain biking trip scheduled for the elders quorum Saturday morning up around Kelly Canyon, so a few couples from the ward decided to camp out the night before up there. It was pretty much the funniest camping ever since we found a spot around 9:30, and 3 of the 4 couples were blowing up air mattresses to assure a wonderful sleep. I don't usually do my camping like that, but at 9 months pregnant, you better believe we brought an air mattress and pillows! I still didn't sleep much, thanks to my bladder, but i got enough. The following morning the guys took off and went mountain biking, and the girls stayed behind and played some card games and enjoyed good company. what more could we ask for? it was a great weekend. I love any time i get to spend with Andrew since he is always so busy with homework, so of course i had a great time.

As far as the pregnancy goes, i'm 37 weeks tomorrow, i can't believe i have about 3 weeks left! We haven't quite picked out a name for sure, but we've got one we like. We'll see what happens in the hospital when we make up our minds. I'm looking forward to being able to move again...and to lay on my stomach - if only for a few minutes. Our little boy is moving like crazy, and seems to be doing just fine.

Here i am at 36 weeks

Our Beautiful Nursery

2010-05-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I went to go pick up our crib sometime last week! This whole baby thing is actually becoming a reality! I ordered it with my mom back in Oregon and they had it shipped to a store in Idaho Falls. I ask the guy that's ordering it for us how big the box is because we just have a car. He confidently tells me that the box should fit in the car with no problem. ummm PROBLEM!! that box is HUGE! thanks dude. Luckily we have racks on our car and actually had ties in the trunk so we were able to tie it to the top of the car and made it home safe and sound. We couldn't wait to put it together, so we began the project that night. It was so much fun! When the crib was halfway put together it hit me, they sent us the wrong color. I ordered the honey color and they sent us the cider...so we welcomed the surprise and we have a darker crib! it wasn't worth the hassle to complain, and i think it looks really nice!

You know how mostly everyone has a cute little nursery that they decorate like crazy for their little baby? Yeah that's not ours. We have a spare room, which is used as storage for all the junk we don't know what to do with. so our "cute" nursery is really a room full of junk with a walkway to the crib (which also has junk in in at the moment cuz i don't know what to do with anything - can't wait to get a house!) So here are some pictures of our beautiful nursery room so far!

The crib - right there next to the messy bookshelf and printer

and on the other side of the crib is the stroller and carseat with a black bag full of other baby stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else (not even the closet, you'll see)

in this corner we have our camping gear along with stuff we are keeping stored for Jason over the summer, and a beautiful dresser which is full of our nicer dish sets that we aren't using at the moment - sadly there is no room for baby clothes in there

And finally we have our amazing closet. Who would have known you can fit so much stuff in there! Where do the baby clothes go? I haven't figured that out yet

This is me at 29 weeks, i'm growing so much!! Not even 7 months and it takes me the extra time to get off the couch and moving. Oh and i really am happy in this picture, i was just getting ready for bed so i was super tired.

update!

2010-05-10T07:34:00.001-07:00

It seems like so much has happened since the end of last semester until now! Andrew did very well in his classes and i'm so proud of him. He worked so hard to get those good grades and i'm glad it paid off. Too bad he only got a week break before he had to dive into another semester. He's trying something a little different so far...he's seeing how much he can slack off and not have his grades affected. I love that i'm actually able to spend time with him, so this new plan is working for me!

Once school got out for Andrew, we left Rexburg and headed over to Bend, OR to spend a few days with his parents. They live in a beautiful house surrounded by a bunch of trails to explore, and a very pretty waterfall not too far away.

Bend, OR

We left Bend on Friday so that I could work on Saturday and get some money! I worked while I was home for those 4 days, it's not much, but i'm grateful that i'm able to work when i go home to get a little extra cash.

My baby brother got married on Friday the 16th of April. I just love my new sister-in-law! Our family is growing and we have amazing people in it! Jason and Francisca looked so great, it was a beautiful wedding!

Jason and Fe 4.16.10

On our way to the temple

After the wedding, Kami, mom, and I headed off to our two week vacation in Hawaii. The first week we were in Kauai, and we got rain most of the time. Lucky for us we were able to find a little bit of sun each day, and towards the end of the week the sun finally started to come out. We stayed around the pool most of the time in Kauai because we didn't know how long the sun would stay out. So we would sit in the condo and wait until we saw sun, then run outside and soak up as much as we could, then ran back inside as soon as the weather turned again. We made it to the beach a couple times. The second week we headed over to Maui, which i just love. The sun was always out and it was beautiful. The hardest part about going to Hawaii when you're pregnant is trying to tan your back. When we went to the beach i would dig a hole in the sand for my little bellly, but that's only comfortable for so long. I also struggled with wanting to play in the waves, but i always fought against it since i figured it wouldn't be good to be tossed around in the waves. My dad was also able to make it that second week. He came over on his birthday because he found super cheap last minute tickets. I'm glad he was able to come. Sadly Kami had to leave a few days early to get back to work, so that last few days it was just my mom, dad, and I. It was a great vacation overall. Two weeks is a long time to be away from Andrew. Needless to say, I was happy when the vacation was over and I was able to go home and see him again!

Beach in Kauai - proof that we actually made it to the beach and not just the pool.

Our last night we had to get out of our condo and stay at a hotel with crazy nice pools.

Dad and I comparing stomachs

As far as the pregnancy goes, everything is going well. I went in to the doctor on Wednesday and I'm measuring just at 27 weeks so that right on schedule. I feel him move more and more and i'm so happy when Andrew is able to feel him move around. I had the blood glucose test and i failed the first one, so lucky me, i got to go in a few days later fasting and get pricked every hour for 3 hours to make sure i didn't have gestational diabetes - but it's ok because i PASSED! i'm happy i don't have to worry about gestational diabetes and i can keep eating the way i want to! :) So other than that, everything is going fine with the pregnancy and on Wednesday I am beginning my third trimester!

Crochet projects

2010-03-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

Since I found out we're having a boy last week I got right to work on that baby blanket. It took about a week to do, but I actually finished it and I think it turned out pretty good! I had some extra yarn so I decided to make a little beanie as well. Not sure how much we are going to use this stuff for the baby, but it's fun to make!

Baby Blanket

Andrew trying out the blanket

And a little beanie!!

Cutest Little Princess

2010-03-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

Since my days are usually full of doing nothing but crocheting a blanket, i'm able to watch my cousins little girl a few times a week for a couple hours. I just love her so much!! She's so precious! I just thought I'd put some pictures up of this little girl. Oh and sometimes Jason and Andrew come over to see her, but I swear I'm there too!

It's A Boy!

2010-03-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I went in for our 20 week ultrasound and found out we're having a baby boy!! We're both so excited. I've always wanted a boy first so this is perfect! Now we just have to sort through the 100,000 names and find the perfect one. No big deal right? So if you have any names you like just let me know, one might stand out to us!

Here's our baby boys head with his hand up next to it, soooo cute :) I think it's safe to say that for the most part, I'm over my sickness. It feels great! I'm still not craving anything, but food doesn't make me want to run to the toilet either.

A week of SUN

2010-03-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

This last week I was in Arizona to see my mom, dad, and sister, and all the rest of my family that lives down there. I was sad to leave my husband, especially since i was gone over his birthday, but it was so great to get out of the house and to actually be WARM for a week.

My parents are huge into hiking the mountains around their house for a work out every day, so i joined them. I felt i was in pretty good shape since i've been working out for an hour everyday, but it turns out my feet weren't prepared for the intense hiking. We would be gone for 3-3.5 hours every day hiking up and down the mountains. The first couple days i was limping because i was so sore, but my legs got used to the hiking, and then it turns out i was limping because of all the blisters that accumulated on my feet. After about 10 minutes of hiking they got used to the walking to my feet didn't hurt during the hike, just afterwards. I really enjoyed it though, there are so many pretty views out there!

Friday night just as I was getting up to get ready for bed, Andrew calls me so i decided to lay down on the couch and talk to him for a bit. a few minutes into the conversation i look over and in the darkness i see a man that looked an aweful lot like dan. i even said to myself "man that looks so much like Dan." and then i realized, there wasn't anyone else in the house, that had to be Dan! and then i saw his wife Brittany right behind him followed my dad, mom, and kami. Those little stinkers knew they were coming and were lying to me all day about why i had to change rooms and blah blah blah. but i was so excited to see them! i couldn't believe they came down from Cali to surprise me!

On Saturday the girls went out shopping while they guys golfed and my mom kept saying "we need to get going, we're running late." Yes i thought it was strange, but i thought she just wanted to get back to the house REALLY early to clean before our dinner party at 4:30, so i didn't ask any questions and just went along with it. When we got back home I opened the door to see Julia, Emily, Aunt Marla, and Grandma all sitting on the couch with presents in the center of the room. I was in complete shock! I was NOT expecting a baby shower at all! So once again my family proves to be VERY good at lying, and I prove to be completely Naive. Since I don't know if i'm having a boy or a girl yet, all my gifts were very gender neutral...exept my Grandma's. Apparently she had a reason for getting me boy clothes, but forgot that reason once it came up at the shower. She just said those little blue clothes that said "daddy's little sport" were "gender neutral" we all had a good laugh about that! I had a great shower and was so happy to see everyone.

All in all it was a great week. I'm so happy i went, but I am also very happy that I am home again with my husband, and to finally give my feet the rest they need. :)

I have a hobby!

2010-02-24T20:53:00.001-08:00

For a while now I've been thinking about doing something in all my free time. At first I wanted to learn to play the guitar, but I'd have to buy one. Then my dad thought it would be a good idea for me to do some geneology, still pondering that one - not a clue where to start though. Then the idea of crocheting popped into my head. So one day while Andrew and I were at Walmart, we headed over to the unknown section of talented crafty people, and picked out some yarn and a book to learn how to crochet. I was so excited I wanted to start right away, I began to read the lessons and had no idea what I was doing, so I had to call Andrew over to teach me what the book was saying. So once I finally started to catch on, I decided to make a blanket. Yeah that was turning into more of a necklace thingy for a dog, so I quit that idea after an hour or so, and thought I'd start simpler and make a scarf. Which I did, it's even straight! but the yarn was really ugly and basically it was for practice so I don't even want to post it. On the up side, once i finished that project I decided to make a bag. I know, big step for me, especially being an Andrus (and those who know where I come from know there is no talent to be found). So I began my handbag project and really enjoyed it, I couldn't put it down - and I only needed Andrew's help at the end :) but I'm so pround of myself that I made this handbag! My ultimate goal for learning how to crochet is to make a baby blanket, which I am patiently waiting to find out if it's a boy or a girl so I can begin. Meanwhile, I'm just trying little things here and there. Not sure what I'll do next, but I'm really excited that I have something to do during the day while Andrew is gone and busy, and I feel like I'm accomplishing something!

Baby Leith!

2010-01-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

That's right, we're having a baby! I just went to the doctor today and found out I'm twelve weeks along, which makes me due August 4th. I sure am hoping that the ALL DAY sickness will begin to back off soon. Don't get me wrong, I feel that I'm incredibly blessed that I'm not throwing up all the time, but does the nausea really need to be there all day? I'm looking forward to actually wanting food again. It's a lot better than it was a few weeks ago, and I can just hope that it continues to get better. Well here is a picture of our baby at 12 weeks, and I can actually see it's cute little arms and legs! By the look of things, i'm pretty sure we're gonna have the cutest baby ever!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY JAY!

2010-01-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the 18th, was Jason's 22nd birthday (and the name baby jay will forever be there). Andrew and Jason were planning on going snowboarding for his birthday, but Jason went snowboarding on the 15th AND 16th already and said he didn't care what they did. So we somehow ended up in our spare room the night before his birthday and we were looking at the brand new snowshoes Andrew and I got for Christmas from his parents that we have yet to use, so Jason said "hey why don't we go snowshoeing?" so that's exactly what we did. After waiting in line for about half an hour at the ORC and listening to the 2 most annoying guys in the world try to hit on every single girl in the room, we were able to rent some snowshoes for Jason. We headed up to Island Park and stopped somewhere on the side of the road and explored. After about an hour or so of that, we drove a couple hundred yards down the road to a frozen lake to see what fun can come from that. We were going to uncover the snow and build a fort, but the snow was way too soft and the lake is pretty nasty so we just had fun walking in the snow that was up to our knees.

Thebeginning of our journey

Jason just wanted to fall over, and Andrew wanted to hit him

The camera is a little wet here, but we all decided to make our own seats in the snow and relax

Of course we can to try this!

Bad news for Jay

Done like a pro

That's my man!

This was after our snowshoeing adventure at the lake

Jason says this is quite peaceful and warm

Of course we have to end with Jason's amazing backflip!

Hello Again!

2010-01-15T11:40:00.001-08:00

SOOO I think I've finally figured out this blogging thing, and soo much has happened since I last updated this thing. Andrew and I are back in Rexburg enjoying ANOTHER amazing winter here (hopefully our last one).

Andrew is going to school for accounting and he's also working part time at a great job on campus that will really help spice up his resume. Poor guy is ALWAYS busy. He goes to school all day on Tuesday and Thursday, and works all day Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He also has a season pass up at Targhee so he goes snowboarding or skiing on Saturdays. Needless to say, he has very little time to fit me in, but i'm totally okay with that. He's working so hard and doesn't need a complaining wife in the mix of it.

I graduated this last December, and I worked over the Christmas break to put in my share of money to help pay a month of rent :) So while Andrew is working hard all the time, I'm working very hard at being a stay at home wife. That's right. It's a job. So I clean the house (more often than it needs), watch WAY too many reruns on TV, and believe it or not, I've been trying to learn how to cook so that he has dinner on the table when he gets home. I am actually really enjoying myself, and my cooking skills aren't that bad, i just have a problem coming up with meals to make...So if you have any ideas - let me know! So that's our lives, Andrew is too busy for his own good, and I have way too much free time on my hands...yep that pretty much sums it up. So why am I not out trying to find a job? We'll just leave it at...I don't want to :)

The BURG

2009-10-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

We are now in Rexburg living at Stonebrook apartments and we both LOVE our place. This fall we have been able to go explore the outdoors a lot more. We have some banshee's, tents, and sleeping bags. Needless to say, we've been having a BLAST!!

First pumpkin in YEARS and YEARS!

COOOORN MAZE!

TOYS R' US with my bruuther

Temple 2 Temple Relay

Camping near Kelly Canyon (30 degrees out!)

Set up Camp

Dunes at St. Anthony

DUUUUNES

first year of marriage

2009-07-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Soooo since Andrew and I have been married there have been a few adventures mixed in with the seriousness of school. For Thanksgiving 2008 we made our way with Dan and Brittany down to Phoenix, Arizona passing through Las Vegas and saw one of the great wonders of the United States. They were the best dam pictures we ever took, Hoover that is. Once we got to Arizona we relaxed with my family and with Bob and Diana who were able to meet us down there for Thanksgiving. We were there in time to see the christmas lights come on at the Mesa Temple and that was an amazing experience. to Oregon for the christmas vacation and built the most perfect snowman out of 4 inches of snow that you will ever see! I was also able to try out my new snowboard on our hill with the help of Andrew. Back in Idaho we decided to make the most of the massive amounts of snow that Rexburg dropped on us. We went snowboarding every few weeks and Andrew is very patient with teaching me, believe it or not I am improving. We also went snowshoeing up near Yellowstone, we both had a blast on that first time experience. Andrew was on a basketball team, he really enjoyed getting back into the sport scene. After the semester we headed back to Oregon and have been able to go hiking Multnomah Falls and take a kayaking trip down the Tualatin River (don't worry, we didn't touch the water). We went to Multnomah Falls, and went on a hike around Mt. St. Helens with Jason, my dad, and Andrew.

School

2009-07-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I are currently going to college at Brigham Young University - Idaho. I have one more semester of school and will be graduating in December with a degree in Exercise and Sports Science, and no i don't know what i want to do with that degree. My main goal is to get a degree and to eventually be a mom. Andrew is going to school and is majoring in Accounting and is pluggin away at those numbers. He has a few more semesters, so for all i know we can be living in Rexburg, Idaho for another 3 years! When we go back to school in September we will be moving into a brand new apartment and we're both very excited to be in a place long enough to make it a home for the next year or so until it is time for him to get an internship.