Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day Rick and I decided to take the family on a little trip. Sunday morning we loaded up the car and headed south. We first stopped in La Mirada where Rick's Grandparents live. Rick's grandpa just turned 85! There was a big party planed for the day before but Rick had to work and we couldn't attend. So we spent several hours at their home visiting and having a good time. Matthew really enjoyed himself! One of Rick's aunts brought over a bunch of trains and tracks. Matthew had a blast playing trains with his Great-Grandma!

We then headed over to the Red Lion in Anaheim where we were staying the night. We unloaded, then got the stroller out and went for a walk. We walked over to Down Town Disney and watched their Valentine's Day firework show. Then we headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

The next morning we checked out and headed to Disneyland! We had a lot of fun! Matthew got to see his two favorite Disney character, Lightning McQueen and Mater. He loved ridding the train!! Lilly did really well she was happy most of the day! We got to see lots of fun characters, and we also got to meet up with our friend Kimi! After spending the day at Disneyland we met Eric and Kimi at The Cheese Cake Factory for some dinner. We have really missed spending time with Eric and Kimi since they moved down south, so it was really nice being able to get together with them! We had a very fun Valentine's day and we had a blast spending it together as a family!

Spring is in the air!

As the weather warms up I can't help but anticipate spring! All the new green plant growth and beautiful flowers, and all the time spent outside in the nice weather! We had a few days of wonderful weather recently, and we ventured outside to take some pictures. I also took Matthew to McDonald's to play for the very first time and he had a blast! My mom met us there and we had a good time eating lunch and visiting!

I took Lilly to the doctor for her four month check up, but I was a little late and she was almost five months. She is getting so big! I can tell she really wants to be mobile! She scoots on her back all over the place! At her last doctor appointment he weighed 14lbs. She has the cutest personality and the sharpest temper! She always has a big smile for anyone who talks to her. We love her so much!

Matthew is getting to be such a big boy! He helps me a lot with Lilly. He is a very good big brother, he loves to play with Lilly and he is even getting better about sharing! He speaks in full sentences and can count to 12, he knows all his colors and shapes. He loves cars, trains, clocks, playing with play dough, painting and drawing, and more than anything he loves to be outside! He always has to stop and smell ALL of the flowers! Matthew also loves to pretend, he loves to make pretend trains out of boxes. We have been working on potty training but it is extremely slow going! I can't believe he will be 3 in just four short months!

Christmas...Finally!

Well I know it's been a few months but I have finally found the time to post about Christmas. This year Rick had to work on Christmas Eve, so Matthew, Lilly and I spent Christmas Eve with family. During the morning Rick's parents had all the grandchildren come over to decorate gingerbread men, open presents and act out the nativity/ take pictures. Matthew had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. Later on in the day we went to my parents house to get together for Christmas Eve. We then all headed over to the Mallory and Brian Taylor's home for dinner and games. Bryce was home for Christmas and Cameron got to call home from his mission in South America! After many games and much merriment I headed home with the kids so that Santa could visit. After putting the kids to bed I did all the elf work by myself, and went to bed. Rick came home Christmas morning, and we actually had to wake the kids up to open their presents. Lilly of course had no clue what was going on and it took Matthew a little while to wake up and realize Santa had been to our house! After he realized that Santa had brought all these presents for him he got pretty excited!

After we finished opening presents we headed over to my parents house to open presents with them. Matthew wasn't too pleased to be leaving his new toys at home, but all was forgiven when he open his train set from his Grandma and Grandpa! After we exchanged gifts and had breakfast, we headed over to Rick's parents house for lunch and to exchange gifts. The food was wonderful and as always Matthew had a blast with his cousins! After we finished up at Rick's parents house, we headed over to my Grandma's house to pick her up for Christmas dinner.

After we got back to my Parent's house, I helped my mom prepare dinner while Rick played with Lilly and Matthew played with his new train set. After the food was ready we had an amazing Christmas dinner! A bit later our friends Eric, Kimi, Bryce and Keith joined us at my parents house. We then all (my Mom, Merrie, Eric, Kimi, Bryce, Keith, Rick, myself and the kids)traveled over to our house so that we could put the kids to bed and play games. We had so much fun playing games and eating Christmas goodies, that was played into the wee hours of the morning! We had an amazing Christmas and I am so grateful Rick was able to spend Christmas Day with us! I had so much fun explaining the reason for the season to Matthew this year! We got out Matthew's Nativity set and we talked about who all the little pieces are and how on Christmas we celebrate Baby Jesus' Birthday and how he was very special. I wasn't sure how much he understood until a few days later I over heard him playing with his Nativity set and talking about special baby Jesus. It just warmed my heart! New Year's Eve was not very eventful for us. Rick worked his last 24 hour shift that day(yay no more night shifts for Rick)! So it was just me and the kids. We had all been sick so we stayed in. I spent the night watching Thomas the Train and Blues Clues with my kids and we went to bed early. This past year has seen us through many trials but even more blessings! I am so thankful for my beautiful family and I thank God for them everyday! And I pray that this next year holds many more wonderful and health filled experiences for us!

It's Been Awhile!

Quite a bit has happened since Lilly was born in September and she has changed so much! We have been really busy, not only with a new baby in the house, but we also moved, I had to have surgery, and then the holidays! It has been a nightmare! But, I will attempted to post updates on all accounts! First Lilly! She is such a sweet baby, that being said she is also very picky (I'm told that's a girl thing?) She is also a mama's girl, don't get me wrong she likes Dad and Grandpa is good too but that's about it. I have come to discover that she really likes her brother however! Whenever she hears his voice she looks for him and she loves to lie next to him on the floor while he plays. As far as growth is concerned, Lilly is getting big! She has just about doubled her birth weight and has grown several inches. She Loves to smile, I have even heard her laugh and squeal! She can roll over and hold her head up when she is up right! Shes so Strong (and strong willed)I have no doubt she will be crawling as soon as she is strong enough! She is truly a joy!

Halloween was not so fun this year! It fell right during the time that we had to move. I did at least make sure the kids had costumes (Matthew was a scarecrow and Lilly was a pumpkin) and Matthew got to do some trick-or-treating, but it was crazy and I'm glad it's over! Rick also had to work on Halloween so the last of the moving responsibilities fell on me. And I would just like to thank my parents and some very wonderful people from church, with out them (I can't think of the appropriate words to describe what things would have been like with out them, but lets just say it would have been VERY bad!) We did however get moved! And Matthew got to trick-or-treat!

And we arrive at the next update. Where did we move? My parents recently bought a project, a cute little home in east Bakersfield. I fell in love with it right away! It reminded me of a doll house! Unfortunately it needed a lot of TLC!!! All of the windows had to be replaced as did all of the flooring. There was layer upon layer, decades worth of wall paper in just about every room! We all worked very hard! Especially my parents and Rick, day in day out to fix the house up so we could move into it! My Aunt Ellen (Gay) and Uncle Rowe were amazing!! They came down from Utah and layed all new flooring through out the whole house, they layed tile, painted, cleaned, and did so much more! I am so thankful to them for doing everything they did (they did a whole LOT!!) I am once again also very thankful for my parents for there love, help, generosity and so much more! I also want to thank my little sister Merrie for watching the kids so much during the madness!!

Shortly after we moved into the new house, and while we were still trying to unpack, get settled and paint the kitchen, I had an emergency. (Monday) I kept getting these awful pains in my stomach, back and chest. I scheduled a doctors appointment but it got so bad, I finally had to go to urgent care. (Tuesday) On my first trip to urgent care, the doctor was a moron! She ran a couple test, thought I had a kidney stone and sent me for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed no kidney stones but it did show possibility of gal stones. Instead of addressing the possibility of gal stones she told me she still thought it was kidney stones. She gave me some vicodin and sent me home. (Wednesday) 36 hours later, still in pain and vicodin not helping. So I returned to urgent care. This time I had an amazing doctor! He right away knew what was wrong! He did an ultrasound himself to confirmed his suspicions, I had a mess of gal stones! But then he drooped the bomb. I needed to go to the hospital and have my gal badder removed asap. The Doctor hooked me to an IV and gave me meds through the IV for the pain, as we waited for a bed to open up at the hospital. My dad came by on his way home from work and he and Rick gave me a blessing. We only waited about 30 minuets for a bed, and then headed over to the hospital. I was very nervous! I had never been under the knife before. And I was upset I had to be away from my babies! (once again a special thanks to my parents, Rick's parents and Merrie for taking such wonderful care of my babies while I was in the hospital! And thanks to my wonderful husband who stayed with me the whole time!!!) Wednesday night I was admitted into the hospital, Thursday afternoon I had my surgery. They did not get all the stones out in the surgery and I was in a lot of pain when I woke up not only from the surgery but from the remaining stone(s) so the next day (Friday) I had to have a scope put down my throat to collect the remaining stone(s). I was really hoping I'd be able to go home Friday but no such luck (and I actually cried when they told me I had to stay another night!) Saturday afternoon I was finally discharged! We went to our house and found my parents there painting and working on the kitchen (there aren't enough thank yous in the world but here's another one!) I was so happy to see Matthew!! I missed him so much! Then we headed over to Rick's parents house to pick up Lilly. (another special thank you to Larry and Shelia for keeping a cranky 2 month old baby who was not used to being bottle fed!) It was so nice to finally be back home with my family!! (Update: One month later I am completely healed up)

Thanksgiving! This year Rick had Thanksgiving off for the first time in 3-4 years. We watched the Macy's parade, I cooked a turkey with all the fixings. We ate at our house in the late morning, then we went to my parents house late afternoon and ate again. We played games and made some new friends! It was a fun and relaxing holiday! Reflection: My family really has a lot to be thankful for this year! We added a new little baby to our family, and she truly is a sweet spirit! We love her so much! I am thankful for the men in my life, my sweet husband and my sweet sweet Matthew! I am truly thankful that Rick has a job during these economically trying times, and I am thankful that we have health insurance, in light of all that has happened recently! I am thankful for family and the love and support that they have shown us! I am especially thankful for my parents, for everything that they have done for us ( I couldn't even begin to list the things!!) They are truly the worlds best parents!! (And I am so lucky that they happen to be mine!!) And lastly and most importantly I am thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ everything and everyone that has enriched my life has all come from them, and words cannot express my gratitude!

Lastly, the month of December! My favorite month!! My dear sweet husband turned 27 during the first part of December! My not so little sister turned 17. Matthew is officially 2 and a half, and Lilly is 3 months old! I absolutely love this time of year! I remember how magical it was when I was a child! And now that I have children of my own I get to experience that magic again! I have really enjoyed watching Matthew discover Santa, and presents and all the fun that comes with this time of year! (I have tried explaining that it's Jesus' birthday but I'm not sure he quite gets it but he will eventually!) He recently told me that he wants Santa to bring him cars and trains, so I know he understands how that works! He loves our Christmas tree and the Christmas lights outside on the house! And his favorite movie right now is the Polar Express! I love seeing the magic of the season come alive! Well I am pretty much caught up now! There is one more week till Christmas so I will have something to post about very soon! Can't wait!!

Baby Lilly is here!

The newest addition to our family is finally here! Lilly Anne Davis born September 12 at 1:18pm she weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and 20in long! I started feeling strong contractions around 5am Sunday morning, I wasn't sure if I was actually in labor so I tried different thing like walking around and sitting to see if the contractions would stop. Once I determined that they wouldn't stop I started timing them they were 5min apart and 30sec long I called my mom cause I wasn't sure if I should go to the hospital. She said to call my Dr. office who then told me to go to labor and delivery. Now that I was sure I was in labor I woke Rick up and told him that we needed to go to the hospital. We were pretty prepared the bag was packed and in the car the infant seat was already installed. We grabbed some last minute things and ran out the door as soon as my mom arrived to stay with Matthew. ( It felt so strange leaving him sleeping in his bed, and yes I cried!) We arrived at the hospital around 6:45am. They put us in the last labor and delivery room they had (they were on overload that night). By the time the Dr. got there to check me I was 4cm and 50% that was around 8am. I got my epidural around 9:30am. We started pushing around 1pm and Lilly was born at 1:18pm. My mom brought Matthew to the hospital a couple hours later, and he cried and wanted no one but his grandma at first. After a few minuets he let me hold him and then he wanted to see the baby. Along with Matthew and my mom, we also had visits from my sister Merrie, my Dad, Rick's Dad and Shelia and our good friends Eric and Kimi (who were in town for the baby shower which was Saturday but I'm so glad they got to see her! And thank you Kimi for the pictures since I forgot to bring the camera!) And another special thank you to Rick's sister Susie and her husband Steve and family for bringing us a wonderful dinner that night! (we all know how horrible hospital food is!) We had to stay the night at the hospital, but we hoped that we would be out of there in the morning, but no such luck it was late afternoon before we were discharged. My mom brought Matthew to the hospital so we could ride home all together. Lilly has been a wonderful baby she sleeps well eats well and rarely cries. Matthew is adjusting, everyday gets a little better. He loves to give her kisses and loves. Rick and I take turns doing things with him so he gets plenty of attention. We are all so happy to have our little Lilly home with us!