Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Boy am I excited...

Well I only have a few minutes, but below are some photos of our new shelves and my new work bench. I am super excited about my work bench. My next task is to order pegs and 6S my work area. '6S' refers to a term often used in lean manufacturing, basically meaning to organize in a very smart way.

Also, here are a couple funny pictures of Emma in the bath making a new pouty face. We taught her to make that face when she wanted to put some of Ali's lip gloss on.




Thanks again Mom and Dad for the Christmas present!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

CHRISTMAS UPDATE!

Well, Christmas is over. We had a lot of fun visiting our families, and we had tons of fun watching Emma go crazy over her presents. She couldn't keep her hands of of the presents, and tried opening any she could get her hands on.
We are grateful for this time of year, for the spirit of giving, and especially grateful for the gift of the Atonement. We spent Christmas Eve reading the nativity story, that is until Emma threw up. We went home, and she threw up again. She woke up feeling better, and Emma was an angel the whole day. Ali and i got some food storage stuff, some shelves for our garage, some 72 hr kits, a picture of Christ, and money! Thanks to all of our family and friends who got us things this year. Below are some pictures:

Emma's present pile.

Here is the kitchen we got Emma. She also got a bunch of fake food to go with it. She loves making everybody food.

Here is a picture of Emma's car.


Emma's Easel and art kit below:


Emma's rocking chair.





Emma and daddy. I look drunk, though i am just tired.



Emma sleeping in the car on the way to Heber.


Thursday, December 18, 2008

Venting...TMI

I just had to get this off my chest. Yes, I'm well aware that I'm putting my personal thoughts and feelings on the internet for everyone to see....but I need to say this, it's eating me alive.

I guess I will start from the beginning. The reason Neil and I can't get pregnant is because of me. I have extremely irregular menstral cycles. Seriously, I can go for 7 months without a period. So I never know when I'm ovulating or anything, our doctor acutally told me that even if I do have my period it doesn't mean I ovulated, since my menstral cycles are so irregular the lining in my uterus just keeps building up until it starts to break down and I have my period. He guessed that I ovulate once, maybe twice a year. What clomid does is makes you ovulate, but it has some bad side effects that makes the uterus a not too nice of environment for an egg. So it still takes longer to get pregnant on Clomid than it does for normal women. The down side to all of this is you can only be on Clomid for 3-6 months because of the bad side effects. Then the doctor usually tries different, more expensive and dangerous drugs.

Well my first month of Clomid is officially over. I was so sure I would get pregnant the first time. I knew I can get pregnant and carry a pregnancy to term, the only thing is it's difficult for me to get pregnant. But I was so so so sure this would all work out and I would find out I was pregnant right around Christmas and everything would be just fine...well it didn't work out like that. Even though everyone keeps telling me that I could still be pregnant because I haven't started my period, I just know I'm not pregnant (and Brandi I took another pregnancy test tonight after dinner and it was yet another negative).

Everything's just getting so difficult to deal with. I cry everynight, I can't go to church because everyone's either pregnant or just had a baby; everytime I hear about someone I know that's pregnant it's like another stab to the heart, especially if they had a baby after I had Emma. I don't know why this is happening to me, why Heavenly Father decides to give babies to people who don't want one, but those of us who are desperate to have one and would do anything to have another child of God don't get to have this privelage. It hurts eveyday. I'm constantly thinking about it, I can never get it off my mind no matter how hard I try. I can't keep going on like this, it's getting too difficult.

I feel so alone, none of my family has ever had infertility problems and they are constantly pressuring me to have a another baby, they don't understand that I'm doing everything in my power to have another baby. It's so hard to go through life feeling so alone, I've never felt like this before. To not know what to do next, to feel like the whole world is going on and leaving you in the dust. I look at Emma and it brings tears to my eyes. She deserves a little brother or sister, she loves babies, every time she sees a baby she runs up to it and sits there in awe talking and playing with them. I feel like I'm cheating her out of life.

Anyway, sorry if this post creeps you guys out. I just need to get these things off my chest every now and then. I will hopefully get throught this stage. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow to figure out the next step in all of this, they seem to have all the answers which is nice.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It snowed!

Well, below are some pictures of last weeks happenings. Emma loved playing in the "ice" (as she calls it) Actually, the macn n cheese picture is from last night, but other than that they're from the weekend.
Christmas is coming along fine. We have got all of our shopping done. We did a lot of it online this year. it was pretty easy.
I finished my last final yesterday, and Ali will be done with hers on saturday. It will be good to have a little break.
Anyways, nothing else is really going on, just getting excited about christmas.

Emma eating Mac n' Cheese at 1:30 in the a.m.-


Emma inside from playing in the snow-


Emma watching yo gabba gabba (her favorite show)


Emma swinging in the park.



Emma licking the snow off her face-






All she did was eat the snow-


Getting Emma ready to go outside-

Chomping the snow for the first time-

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Temple Square Trip




Today Ali, Emma and I went to see the lights at Temple Square with Dan, Brandi and Lukas. We had a lot of fun. We started out by eating at Sweet Tomatoes. It was good. We then drove a few blocks to the trax station (in Sandy), and took the trax to Temple Square. Emma and Lukas loved the ride. When we got there, we pushed our way through the busy crowd, and looked at all the lights. We had fun, and the kids liked it a lot. Below are some photos from the trip.























Lukas & Emma on trax

Monday, December 1, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree!


Well, over the weekend we acquired a christmas tree. It was a very fun process.


part 1


First, Ali and I grew up with different style of trees, so it was very difficlut to come to an agreement. None the less, we found one that Ali liked, and we got it.

When we got it home, we put it in a stand Ali got from her Grandma's house. We then started decorating it, and Emma was a really good helper.

When we finished, we were glad. The house looked ready for christmas, and most importantly, it smelled like it.


part 2


Well, later that night, about midnight, the tree started tipping. we realized that the stand we had wouldnt work. So, i had to go and find a stand at the springville walmart. All would have been fine, except for the fact that it took them an hour to tell me that they didnt have a tree stand.

I made the mistake of asking them to find another store that had one. thirty five minutes later they informed me that payson had one. The thing that killed me was that i could have driven to payson, orem and then back to springville, in the time it took the walmart employees to help me. So, needless to say, i got home at three in the AM. At that point, I had to lift the already decorated tree, and have ali pull out the new slide, and slip the new one in.


I am thinking about a fake tree next year.

we will upoad some pictures from our camera shortly. until then, have a great day.
***ONLY 24 MORE DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS***


Monday, November 24, 2008

It's Dancey Dance Time!!!

I finally got my computer to work so I decided to add the pictures from Halloween. It's a little late, but oh well. Emma was little Red Riding Hood and Lukas was a ninja. They were so cute and had so much fun.










Emma LOVES to dance, and I mean loves to. It's been really hard to get any video of her dancing because our camcorder broke, but last night Neil was able to get a short vidoe of her on our camera. It's not the best quality but it's so cute and funny. I thought I would put it on here so you all can see how fun our little girl is.


Friday, November 21, 2008

Who's the Best? Ali Is!!!!

I've had one of those days today. You know, one of those days where nothing can go wrong and you've accomplished more than you ever thought imaginable, it's that kind of day for me. Last week I had a research paper due in one of my classes, and to say I was scared would be an understatement, I was terrified about it! I didn't even start writing it until three days before it was due, and I had so much going on in my life that I couldn't even focus on it. Well today my teacher came up to me and said, and I quote, "I just wanted to let you know that I was a young mom too so I wanted to make sure you have a good weekend, you got 99 on your paper. It was an amazing paper, good job." I was like WHAT?! A 99! YES!!!!! All day long I've been telling Neil about it, I think he's getting sick of it, so I'll blog about it. Seriously, this teacher grades extremely tough, its not an easy class, I would have been excited to get a B. I can't stop thinking about it. Now I just want to know what I got docked on...

Everything with Neil and I is fine, we're loving life right now. I've been on Clomid for 4 days now (only one more day left) and I HATE it. It makes me so flipping tired. I will sleep 12 hours at night and still not have enough energy to get up in the morning. I'm not just a little sleepy, I'm exhausted. But I can live with it, as long as it works. Other than that nothing else is going on. Emma is as cute as ever, I really need to get some pictures of her on here. Soon hopefully, very soon.

Friday, November 14, 2008

What about Baby?

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant?
At my parent's house on July 4th.
2- Who was with you?
Neil.
3- How did you find out that you were pregnant?
Home pregnancy Test
4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant?
I knew I was pregnant before I "knew" I was. Scared...18 and pregnant...and only been married for a month....
6- Who was the first person you told?
My mom.
7-Did you plan to get pregnant?
Not at all.
8-Was everybody happy for you?
I think so...I don't think they knew what to think.
9- Did you go out and celebrate?
Not really.
10- Did you want to find out the sex?
Of course, I couldn't wait to start buying clothes.
11- What was the sex?
All girl.
12-Did anyone throw you a baby shower?
They would have if I wanted one. I hate things like that....but Cecily kind of threw me a surprise one...it was just close friends though.
13- If yes, who?
Cecily.
14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby?
Nope, my friends have good taste.
15- How much weight did you gain?
Last time I checked it was 22 pounds.
16- Did you lose all of the weight that you gained?
Nope....dang it!
17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks?
HAHA!!! Yes.
18- What did you crave the most?
Nothing...but towards the end I started craving chocolate ice cream.
19- Did you crave anything crazy?
Nope
20- Who or what got on your nerves the most?
Smells, touching, and how emotional I was.
21- Were you married at the time?
Yes
22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
Not during the pregnancy but during the labor...
23- Where were you when you went into labor?
I never went into true labor...but I had contractions for about a month and a half.
24- Did your water break?
Nope
25- Who drove you to the hospital?
Neil.
26- Did you go early or late?
Three weeks early.
27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth?
Neil, my mom, and the doctors and nurses...no one else was allowed...that's what you get when you have a C-section...my mom usually shouldn't be there either.
29- Did you have any drugs for the pain?
You have to. It would take my breath away to pee.
30-Did you go Natural or have a c-section?
C-Section.
31- What was your first reaction after giving birth?
Where's my baby, how is she? Will she be ok? Is she breathing? I can't hear her!!!!
32- How big was the baby(s)?
5 lbs. 2 oz. 19 1/2 inches.
33- Did your Husband cry?
Yes.
34- What did you name the baby(s)?
Emma Thomas
37- Did the baby(s) have any complications?
Yes, she wasn't breathing so she was life-flighted and staying in NICU for 6 days.
38- How old is your baby today?
20 months.
39- When is the next one(s) coming?
I hope really soon....We've been trying for so long!
40-If you could, would you do it all over again?
Oh of course...ten times over...as hard as it was.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

What's going on in our lives...

So I was going to tell everyone about Halloween and put pictures up of Emma being Little Red Riding Hood BUT my computer's being retarded and won't let me. So pictures will be on here shortly. Since I can't brag about how cute Emma was and how fun Halloween was I decided to update everyone on our lives.
For the last year Neil and I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant, so after waiting 2 months for our appointment we went to the fertility specialist yesterday. He gave us a lot of information. We found out the the likelihood of me getting pregnant is 1 in 36. Yep, you heard me, On average it would take me, without fertility treatments, 3 years to get pregnant. He then went on to say that he wouldn't be surprised if it took me up to 6 years to get pregnant. WOW! All this information made me realize how much of a miracle Emma is, even more than we already knew. So he put me on a fertility drug, Clomid, the most popular one. The doctor seemed very optomistic so it put Neil and I at ease. It was good to finally get our questions answered and to get on the right path to having a baby. We can't wait. We hope and pray that it takes. We ask everyone to please keep us in your prayers. It's been very hard this past year. But hopefully if all goes according to plan I will be pregnant in a couple months. We want to thank our family for all their support through this. They've been our rock and saving grace.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Tag! You're it!

Brandi Tagged me...here it goes.

8 favorite t.v. shows
1) House
2) What Not to Wear
3) The Office...who doesn't like it?
4) Intervention
5) The OC (even though it's not on anymore...)
6) The Secret Lives of Women
7) Yo Gabba Gabba (actually it's Emma's but I like the bands that come on)
8) South Park...it's actually Neil's but I do find it funny at times

8 favorite reasturants
1) Happy Sumo
2) Los Hermanos
3) Tepanyaki
4) Clifornia Pizza Kitchen
5) Goodwood
6) Olive Garden
7) PF Chang's
8)Taco Time

8 things that happened yesterday
1) We got our new accent table
2) Got Neil his birthday present
3) I slept in
4) Emma woke up early
5) I decided that I don't want fall to end
6) I didn't get ready until like 1 (pathetic, but it was nice)
7) I drove around Spanish Fork (still trying to figure everything out)
8) Went to the Distribution Center

8 Things I am looking forward too!
1) Going and seeing the fertility specialist
2) This semester being over
3) Halloween (Emma's going to be the cutest little red riding hood EVER)
4) This semester winding down
5) Neil's birthday tomorrow...no Emma...ah....
6) Going home and watching The Office with Neil
7) Emma's second birthday (only 4 months away!!!! AHHH!)
8) Christmas I love getting presents for people, I could care less about my gifts.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

UPDATES WITH PICTURES

Well, we finally have internet, thanks to the good folks at SFCN. We quit with qwest because it took them 2 weeks to get us internet, and when they said we had it, it didn't even work; So we switched to the city's server. We also have cable, wich is a first in almost 2 years.
Over all, things are going great. We are adapting to life in spanish fork, though it feels like most of our time is spent at work or school. None the less, we enjoy the splendor moments of comfortability that the weekend brings.
Below are some pictures of parts of the house, and Emma carving pumpkins.

Ali's Pumpkin is on the left. Mine is on the right.
Emma's Room



Ali's corner.
Emma's bathroom

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Can I Get a What What?

I've been seeing this on a lot of people's blogs and I thought it looked interesting, plus I'm bored because Emma is napping and my grandma is gone. It's 50 facts about me and 50 facts about Neil.
50 Facts About Ali:
1. I'm very OCD, everything has to be in even numbers or multiples of 5.
2. I would die to have a baby right now, literally, if I was told that if I were to have a baby I would die right after birth I would do it, no questions asked.
3. I want to travel the world before I die. I actually told Neil that I won't marry him unless he can promise me that we could do that.
4. I love my life, I'm the happiest I've ever been.
6. I hate germs, I never used the bathrooms at school, if I have to go I wait, even if it's for 4 or more hours.
7. I LOVE school, my dream job would be a professional student, too bad that doesn't exist.
8. I love to read, in our house I actually added a reading corner just for me, it includes a nice big, comfy chair, a book case with all my books, and a lamp. I haven't been able to use it yet...depressing.
9. If a book becomes popular I refuse to read it, Harry Potter NEVER, Twilight series YOU WISH. They just don't appeal to me.
10. I wish I was crafty, but I'm not. I keep thinking I will be but it never pans out.
11. I'm the second youngest of four kids, the first to get married, and the first to have a baby.
12. I love the internet, I can find out anything about anybody.
13. I spoil Emma way too much, she has a ton of clothes that she has never worn and it makes me upset because they are dang cute but she doesn't fit into them anymore.
14. I love taking baths, everytime I'm tired, stressed, sick, or anything I soak in the tub, my parents acutally bought us a jetted tub in our new house, it's well used...Emma is taking after me.
15. I love our new house, I couldn't ask for a better place.
16. I'm a spoiled brat and if I don't get what I want I through a fit and fight until I get it...fortunately I've learned how to use this properly and it always works in our favor.
17. I would love to have twins, I actually hope I do, I think it would be so fun.
18. I was married at 18, and had a baby at 19...I was creeped out too.
19. I don't trust doctors and dentist unless I already know them...that's why I traveled 30 min. to my doctor when I had Emma and whenever I go to the dentist I travel up to Heber. I don't know what I will do when they retire.
20. I can't sleep unless Neil is next to me...so I end up waiting until 12:30 at night to go to sleep.
21. In high school there were many rumors going around about me that wasn't true...it still baffles me to this day tht people thought I did half the stuff I heard about.
22. I'm going into Social Work...it's the best.
23. I'm going to UVU and I think UVU is a joke...it's more like high school than high school...most of the time. I actually have a teacher this semester that is challenging.
24. My husband proposed to me on New Years Eve, right at midnight. He said it was the first thing he wanted to do that year.
25. I think my parent's love Neil more than me half the time...but that's good.
26. I love making fun of people, I never mean the things I say, I'm just very sarcastic. But more often then not, people take me seriously and I end up in trouble.
27. I have never drank or done drugs once in my life.
28. I new I loved Neil the first time I met him, but it took me a little longer to really come around to those feelings.
30. I met Neil because I dated his best friend, but Neil and I never met while I was dating Dylan. 31. In high school I went to at least one concert a week.
32. I didn't want to get married until I was like 27 or 28.
33. I don't have a middle name, and either does Emma...I just don't see the point in girls having middle names.
34. Neil and I have very different styles, but we somehow find things we both like.
35. I know a lot or random information that will never help me out in life.
36. I don't know what I would do if Emma wasn't here, she really is my world.
37. I'm scared to death of getting Alzheimers, my grandma has it and I don't want to end up like that.
38. My children have no chance in life, ADHD and OCD run in both Neil and my family's.
39. I HATE spit with a passion. The thought of it makes me sick.
40. I hate sports, I think they are a waste of time...at least to watch.
41. I love fruits and vegetables, way more than anything else. I could eat them everyday.
42. I love my name, it's unique. I don't know of anyone else whose full name is Ali and spelt like mine.
43. I hate, hate, HATE it when Alison's or Alice's or whatever go by Ali, it's not your name jerk wad!
44. I don't have a favorite color, I like pretty much any color.
45. I hate taking out the trash, even though it's right outside the door, I pretty much refuse to do it.
46. I like learning about people's lives.
47. I'm really smart, I just don't apply myself. I don't get the point of trying to get an A, when I don't have to try and I get an A- or B.
48. I can pretty much tell when anyone is lying.
49. I love not having to work.
50. I've had more stuff taken out of my body than put in. I've had my appendix taken out, my gall bladder taken out, and I had Emma via C-section. Yes, my stomach has 8 plus scars from these "wonderful" surgeries.

50 Facts about Neil:
1. He loves Emma more than anything.
2. He works non-stop so I don't have to work, he refuses to lete me work.
3. He's extremely smart. He hates it when I procratinate.
4. He's very protective of Emma, it's a good thing though.
5. He's a twin. He hated it when he was younger though, they were always trying to be their own person, but every one knew them as "the twins".
6. He was born 3 months early. Him and his twin almost died. They got down to about 1 pound each.
7. He loves surprising me, even if it's just flowers.
8. He can't wait to be an Engineer.
9. He loves his job. I don't mind either because it's a great company.
10. He loves being a daddy, and he's wonderful at it too.
11. He's extremely funny, but I get annoyed at times.
12. He HATES BYU. Everytime he passes someone who is wearing something BYU he makes a barfing noise and calls them funny names.
13. He will be going to BYU next year, because UVU doesn't offer his degree, I laugh.
14. He has 5 brothers, no sisters.
15. He's the youngest.
16. He convinced everyone in high school that his name was Corneilious, it was even in the yearbook. Evern his friends thought that was his name.
17. He loves comic movies.
18. He's an AMAZING artist, he can draw anything in 5 minutes flat.
19. He's an amazing piano player. He can learn prety much any song by ear.
20. He loves to talk in different accents, but it drives me so crazy he doesn't so much, at least around me.
21. He pronounces borrow "burruw" it drives me up the wall.
22. He hates Bush, when I met him he had a sticker on his car that had a picture of Bush and on it it said, "Not my President".
23. He knew he loved me before we met. And he knew we would get married the moment he saw me.
24. In high school he grew his hair out, permed it, and dyed it orange, I gag whenver I see those pictures.
25. He also wants twins.
26. He is totally different than any of the guys I ever dated.
27. He's been in 5 fatal car crashes.
28. He used to live on a farm.
29. He likes buying things for Emma more than I do half the time.
30. He wants to travel the world.
31. He wants another baby as badly as I do.
32. He's very patient and caring.
33. Whenever he gets sick he assumes the worst.
34. He's really good at helping out around the house.
35. He served his mission in Tampa, Florida.
36. He can never keep a surprise from me, as hard as he tries.
37. He loves South Park and Family Guy.
38. He's very outgoing, which I am not.
39. He's very good at lying, he can trick anyone.
40. He loves making up stories, they are some of the weirdest stories you have ever heard.
41. He used to have OCD extremely bad, but as he got older it wore off...a little.
42. He's just like my little brother. It's a joke that I married my little brother, but I hated my little brother growing up.
43. He can get alond with pretty much anyone.
44. He never yells.
45. He can't fall asleep in a car, no matter how tired he is.
46. He can't sit in the back seat of a car, unless he absolutely has to, but it drives him crazy.
47. He's very indicisive (as am I)
48. His favorite food is Italian.
49. He hates any kind of melon.
50. When he was younger his older brothers would duct tape him and his twin to the wall so they wouldn't have to baby-sit them.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

No Internet!

Sorry Neil and I haen't updated this blog in a while. We just moved and we don't have the internet until the 13th....we're pretty upset but we will live. But yes, it's true...we have finally moved. I LOVE our new house. I didn't realize how much stuff we had. It took us about 7 or eight trips to get everything from our apartment, but it's finally all in and almost all unpacked. We have a few more things to get set up. But as soon as it's all ready to go and we have the internet I will post pictures so everyone can see it. I must admit driving the extra 20 minutes to get to school is kind of annoying, but I'll get used to it and it's worth it.
Yesterday Emma and I went ot Cornbelly's with our friend Brandi and her son Lukas. It was a blast! They kids were so good and it was fun for all...but I must admit a little expensive, but it was ok because Emma liked it so much. I actually forgot my camera so I will have to pawn some pistures from Brandi and get them up here. It was fun to finally do something with someone who has a baby Emma's age.
Other than that nothing new. Oh, and Neil's last post was not true one bit. I guess it's a joke at work...whatever. Weird boys!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

PICTURES, PICTURES, and more PICTURES!

Okay, so not much to say except we are just playing the guessing game as to when we will be moving. until then, enjoy a bountiful amount of pictures: