Can't wait for SPRING!!

We have gotten some nice weather this week...so we've been able to take advantage of it. Charley got a bike and a scooter for Christmas, and this was the first time we've been able to take them out. Charley has been going crazy inside...and so I have I, so it has been nice to get out. Plus the last two days I've been running outside with my running stroller!...I love that thing! I will be sad when baby #2 comes and I wont have much use for it anymore.

Pregnancy Pains!

There are a lot of people that love being pregnant....I am not one of those people! I know this is an exciting time in our lives, but I just wish we could just skip the whole pregnant part! I can live through most of the pains, however, with both pregnancies I have had gall bladder problems.

Your gall bladder is what processes your fat. For some women, when they are pregnant, it decides that it doesn't want to process it. So when I eat fat I get these sharp pains under my chest. It feels like someone is sticking a knife in me. If I eat too much fat, and start building gall stones, they will have to remove my gall bladder after I give birth. The goal: no fat!....which SUCKS!....especially when you are pregnant and are very aware of food, and cravings. I am grateful for Ben being the Food Police, but I just want to eat and feel satisfied. I have been eating a lot of salad with either no dressing or fat free dressing, and yogurt, and veggies, and fruit. However, I can only eat so much of it before it doesn't even interest me anymore....I am only 18 weeks, and I still have a long way to go....this is going to be a long 22 weeks!

I have found a few recipes with chicken and rice that are low fat, but I am running out of ideas....If you have any good recipes that are pretty low in fat please send them my way....I am willing to try anything!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!

*most people who read this have my email...if it is easy to send them that way. If not just ask and I can give it to you.

Thanks Everyone!

World Hoop Dance Championships....it's a doozy!

I guess I'd better first thank Ben...it was hard for him to arrange his schedule so he could come with me to Arizona, and then he drove the whole way there and back...plus sat at the competition all day and helped with Charley! He is amazing! I have the best Husband! And also Thank you Brooktynn and Ryan. We stayed at their house, it was perfect, they literally lived 2 minutes away from the competition site! And then they stayed all day with us, and helped with Charley....which she absolutely loved...she adores her aunt and uncle (mainly Ryan...it is quite funny her little obsession with him!). And also Terri Goedel. Terri is my good friend Erin's dad! Erin could come to compete this year, but her dad has come for the last 13 of the 19 years. He helped me with all my million questions and introduced me to all the right people.

I was at a meeting with all the judges at 8:00am on Saturday. Then Grand Entry was at 9:30am. Charley danced in Grand Entry with me. while we were waiting she saw everyone with their hoops and started trying to copy everything they were doing...it was so cute.



After Grand Entry they asked all the dancers to leave except the Tiny Tots. Then they introduced the judges, the MC, the Arena Director and the drum groups. At that point Charley was already done dancing and wanted to go play. So I spent most of her little dance chasing her back to the arena. She danced for a little bit, but got mad and threw a hoop, and it landed on the forehead of another little kid!...It wasn't good for them to take 15 minutes to introduce everyone before hand...



They started the competition with the Youth (6-12 year olds). They were amazing. I couldn't believe it....I was thinking maybe I could hang with these little kids! Then they went on to the Teen division (13-17 year olds). And they were so creative...kids were break dancing and doing cart wheels. I was really impressed. Then it was the Adult Division (18-40 years of age). There were only 3 girls in my group, and the rest guys. I tried not to watch, but it was too hard. Ben kept saying ..."did you see that!?" referring to all the cool things they were doing.

When I was on deck I went to the drum group that would be singing for me and told them I was 4 months pregnant and I needed a slower song. They laughed at me and told me I was crazy for dancing while pregnant!



My dance went fine. We were on a time limit, and decided that I wasn't going to do my whole routine. Most people weren't. I eased up and got less nervous after my first hoop, and things went great....I made all of my formations and didn't drop a hoop. I think I was pretty graceful dancing and then I almost fell!....not so graceful anymore!..heehee....I had placed all of my hoops on the ground and signaled the drum that I was done and continued to dance while they finished the song...and as the song was ending I was dancing right by my hoops and stepped on my hoops as I was stopping....and almost fell....when that happened you could hear everyone gasp! I just laughed and collected my things and went off!...I didn't fall, but it was really funny!...of course I got points taken off for that!

When my division was done dancing they had our scores posted within five minutes. (they had been tallying while everyone was dancing.) I was pretty pleased with my scores. Of the 5 categories my scores matched all of the top dancers...except the speed category. I knew me dancing slow would cost me some points, but I didn't realize that I would lose so many. I got 28 out of 50 points, and everyone else got in the 40's. I was 16 points from the top 10, and if I had just danced a little faster, and not tripped at the end, I would have made it to the finals. I ended up tied for 12th place, and 2nd of the females!

I wasn't upset or disappointed with the scores. I learned a lot from this trip. It has always been a goal to compete and I did it. I had people come up to me after I danced and told me how beautiful my dancing was, and even when I wasn't wearing my regalia I had people come tell me how great I was. It just made me fell good, and know that I don't suck and am actually pretty good. I am hoping to go next year, when I am not pregnant!

I'll post a video later!

Happy Birthday Karly

So I am leaving to Arizona tomorrow, and I have a million things to do...but I decided I wanted to make a cake!....It calms me in a way! I have gotten so weird in my older years...heehee. Anyway, Since it is Karly's birthday tomorrow, I decided I should make her a cake!

So Happy Birthday Karly!...Here is your yummy cake!

Thank You!

I just read up about the hoop competition...and it looks pretty hard!...They only take the top 10 dancers from each age division (which mine is the biggest division) to compete in the finals. There are so many dancers that go down there....This first time will have to be for fun! But I am glad Ben was able to work out his work and school schedule so he could come down with me. It will be a nice little get a way for us.

And thank you everyone for all your warm wishes and support!....I have the best family and friends! I'll update on the competition when I get back.

And thanks to everyone who made my Birthday special! It was a great day! 3 more years of the 20's before I hit the big 3-0!!!

Thanks again!

Dance Update...

Many people have been asking me if I am still going to dance even though I am pregnant. And the answer is YES! It is kinda like my marathon, I knew I wasn't going to win, but it was something I need to do for myself. I want to see what I can do. Ben has been amazing, he has always supported me in whatever crazy thing I decide I want to do...whether it is watching Charley while I go running for 4 hours, or figuring out how I am going to get down to Arizona. But I am in good shape, and what ever the outcome of the competition may be, at least I will never wonder. Plus, I am just barely getting into the "I don't look Pregnant, I look like I ate way too much for dinner" stage, so my dress still fits!

These last few weeks have been crazy for us, and among the mists of everything, I have been working away at fixing up my regalia. It isn't amazing, or as decorative as others, but I am proud of it. A HUGE thank you to my friend Mari...she literally spent an entire day with me helping me sew the designs on my skirt. There are 4 butterflies going around my skirt, and with the little pieces, they were a pain, but she never complained! Then I have my head band, I attached some combs to it, in hopes that it stays on a little better. The bead design is really simple, but I added the metallic pink that I used in the butterflies to help tie it all in. My hoops are the last thing I have left. I have re-taped about half of them. I am adding a sliver metallic tape to them that I found at a car place. It is supposed to catch the sun light!...I hope they will catch a few judges eyes!...heehee

I have one week left! I'll be ready! Wish me luck!

The secret is out....

So, many of you may know that Ben and I have been trying to have another baby for awhile. But not a lot of you know that we have had two miscarriages. (one for sure, the first one I was a week late, but I remember being in as much pain as when I had the second one.) The second miscarriage happened in October, and I was about 8 weeks along. It was pretty sad there for a while.

When you have a miscarriage you can ovulate anywhere between 2 and 6 weeks after. So after 8 weeks, and I still didn't get a visit from Aunt Flo, we were a little suspicious. We took a pregnancy test, and it was positive. However, you can also get a false positive up to 8 weeks after a miscarriage. (we did a lot of research on the Internet...google is great!) So we didn't get our hopes up. We went home for Christmas and still no visit. We were pretty sure we were pregnant, but not sure how far along.

When we came back to Utah, we got an official pregnancy test, and finally went to the doctors today. They did an ultrasound and they could tell for sure how far along I was by how far the baby was developed.

It turns out I am almost 14 weeks along! I guess I ovulated right after the miscarriage. The baby was very active which made it hard to figure out what the gender was. They wont know for sure until I go in for my 20 week check up, but they are almost positive it is another GIRL! ....but that is still unsure...

Either way, we are very excited for our new baby!

2 more weeks

I have two more weeks to practice and finish Glamorizing my regalia. I literally spent all day yesterday at a friends house sewing. We met up in the morning and went to the fabric store and picked out some glittery fabric, and them went to her house and sewed. We made some cool applique butterflies to put on my skirt! And I am almost finished beading my headband. With my short hair, I hope this works, and will stay in. And I went and got some silver glitter tape to put around my hoops. They aren't going to be covered in it, just a splash of sliver to make them shine in the light!
I am getting more and more anxious to go out to AZ and dance!

I actually went and danced tonight at PHS's multicultural assembly, and it was not cool! I know I am in good shape, but I don't know what it is about dancing....I can run for an hour with out breaking a sweat....but have me dance for 7 minutes, and I get the wind knocked out of me.

16 more days...Phoenix here I come!

Just passing time!....

Today was a SUCCESS!!!!....Charley used the potty twice today! After 4 accidents(we put Tinkerbell panties on her...a new tactic we decided to try), she finally pooed in the potty!!!...then after her nap, we put her panties back on (we put a diaper back on while she slept). After about a half hour she ran to the bathroom and told us she had to pee, and then went!!!! After the morning of sitting in the bathroom for what seemed like hours, she finally caught on! And the best part, she told us she needed to go!!! We're not quite done yet, I know we still have a long way to go, but I feel a lot better...not so frustrated!

It's only 5pm, so we still have the rest of the day, but I am so excited I needed to tell everyone!!!

Yay Charley!

Happenings

Ben told me I needed to update!....however, nothing really cool has been happening. "American Idol" is back on, and so is "Biggest Loser". Besides "Friends", they are two of my favorite shows! The only bad side is that they are on at the same time! We don't have DVR or Tivo, so recording them is out of the question. So the only thing left to do is to flip channels every few minutes or watch one while the other is on commercial break. I don't think I could ever try out...and hope I don't ever have to try out for ("Biggest Loser" especially!) but they are fun to watch!


In other news...I am trying to potty train Charley...AGAIN!!! It didn't work so well last time. After a few days of me sitting her on the potty every half hour, she refused. She literally would arch her back and screamed when I tried to put her on the potty. But lately I have been thinking that she is more and more ready. She wakes up with a clean diaper, she hides when she poos, and she'll tell me when she does go potty...now only if she would do that before she goes.

Last night at a meeting for work, I was talking with some ladies who are potty training their girls. And for them "Elmo's Potty Time" movie has helped. It doesn't really teach them how to potty, but gets them excited. Maybe that is what Charley needed. So today I went out with Charley and got her the movie! When we were done I asked if she wanted to try the potty and she said yes. We are on the right track but not quite there...she pushed and tried to go potty, but I think she had already gone. We'll keep trying though!

Prima Ballerina....

This is funny....

A few more Bday Pics

There are a few pics that look like Charley throwing up gang signs, but she is just telling you that she is 2.

My Baby is 2!!!...

How has this happened?!!...how did Charley get to be 2!? We had such a fun birthday party for Charley....However, I think with Christmas, and her birthday, and Grandpa and Schramma sending gifts, she may expect gifts every week now!

We had another Tinkerbell themed party (she will have a Tinkerbell party until she tells me the no longer likes Tinkerbell!!!) I even made her a Tinkerbell cake...I got a Tinkerbell cake pan for Christmas! and she got a tink doll, bed set, tea set baby stroller, movie, shirt, puzzle....and probably stuff I am forgetting, but she loved it all!

Zoo in the Winter!

For Charley's birthday we took her to the zoo back in Omaha. We took her the day before her birthday because there was supposed to be an ice storm on her birthday. Plus, we needed to get her out of the house and let her run around. ...and my parents had a family zoo pass, so it was free! The zoo in Omaha is open year round because they have so many indoor facilities....the indoor jungle, aquarium, butterfly house, dessert dome, monkey house....and more.

Christmas Morning!

Here are a few pics of the morning. Charley got her bike and scooter, and tons of clothes, and shoes....and plenty of Tinkerbell!
There are also some pics of us playing American Idol on the Wii...complete with back up dancers!