The weekend mostly

So it's been a while since our last blog, and plenty has happened I'm just so enjoying the nursery that i find myself up there all day. Tony and I will just sit in there and enjoy it, it's so nice and put together, being in there gives us the feeling we're in a new house. Tony and our family help did an amazing job!! It looks so good it almost doesn't look like it belongs in this place! Once we finish getting everything up on the wall, we'll take lots of pictures so you can see it for yourself.
So Tony survived his first week of school!! I'll let him tell more about that if he'd like.
We had a mostly enjoyable weekend, Sat we attempted to go to the BYU game, but the weatherman neglected to mention that it was going to be a hundred degrees!! So after hiking up to Tony's parents seats(they gave us their tickets as they were up at the spruces camping)which are WAY up there, great seats!!! But way up there. We made a very comfy seat for me, and smuggled in two bottles of water. By the end of the first quarter I was wading in my own sweat, as I figure it being 9 months pregnant in 100 degree heat, I must of been running over 200 degrees!!!JK but I was so so so so soooooooooo hot!!!! But because I'm such a loveing devoted wife(who LOVES football)and knows how important BYU football is to my husband, I just kept chugging water which i finished both bottles about halfway into the 2nd quarter, and by then you probably could have made hot chocolate with it. About 5 mins before the half we decided it was just too hot, I was starting to feel a bit whoozy, and with great sadness we left the game. We did grab a cold bottle of water on the way out though. The good news is the trafic was so good we got home about halfway into the 3rd quarter, and watched the rest of the game, in our air conditioned house. Tony did get too frustrated to watch end of the 3rd though, started cleaning the house, but came back when they started doing better in the 4th. I felt so bad we had to leave early, but I've never felt so miserable in my life, but at least I tried. Then on Sun we went up to the Spruces to join Tony's family for the day, it was sooo nice and cool!! It felt really good! Until it started down pouring right as our lovely dinner feast was done cooking, the kids fled to the trailer, and they guys put out the awning, and put up a canopy, and we made it work and the food was as always delicious!! Then we bagged the cobbler and everyone crammed into the trailer and we did gifts for Tony's dad, our brother in law Derek, and my birthdays. After Tony's mom scrounged up some cookies and ice cream. The cutest thing was our little 2 year old neice who loved being out in the rain and playing in the puddles!! Tony got a picture on his phone so we'll have to see if we can get that, she was sooo cute in her little rain coat! Mon my parents came down and my dad and Tony got the doors painted and put back up, Tony finished the window, put up the blinds and our cute purple curtains, with butterfly tie backs. my mom helped with the laundry and cleaning everything in her sight ;) jk mostly dusting and organizing things, but it helped alot. Then we all went to wal mart and target and got the last few things needed for Elizabeth(that i didn't order online earlier) like a diaper pail and bath tub, and bottles. And once the changing pad and cover, and baskets i ordered online get here the nursery will be complete!!! Oh and yesterday we went and picked up the rocking chair we got from The Wood Connection and had them stain to match the crib. It turned out perfect!!! It's the most comfortable rocking chair in the world!! I love it!!! It was my mother's day, anniversary, and birthday present.(as it wasn't cheap) Well I think I've caught you up! Only two more days til my birthday!!!:)

I can see the light too!

So i wasn't going to post until tomorrow, but Tony started school tonight, so boredom is making me nuts! So I'm doing just about anything to keep busy(that I can, you have no idea how badly I wish I could jump on the treadmill and just run into oblivion right now!) unfortunately I run out of things to do pretty fast. As for the title, it's true!! With this huge remodel coming to an end, we're getting much more than a wonderfully remodeled nursery, hallway, stairway, closets, and carpet, we're getting our house back!! This place has never felt so tiny, as when pretty much everything we own, is in our living room! So my light at the end of the tunnel, is having a cleaner, nicer, more organized home! And in one month I'll finally be able to start cleaning again!!(given they don't take Elizabeth by C-section, knock on wood) It's the strangest thing, and I didn't think I'd ever say it, but I really miss cleaning! Tony is so overwhelmed with everything, especially now he's back in school, the only thing I can really do to help is take care of the house and cook sometimes(he's a much better cook) so he has one less thing to worry about and a nice clean place to come home to, so he can relax even just a little for a few seconds. But I can't do that right now, and it's really driving me mad. There is nothing I hate more than this useless helpless feeling, and not being able to do anything about it, as I'm not about to risk the life of our daughter for my weaknesses. My family has already lost too many Linda's too early(my older sister Linda Kay, and my g-ma Linda Mae. FYI my mom's name is Linda Gail, this is where Linda Elizabeth got her name) So I'm doing my best to be good, despite the fact that it kills me. I've only got one month max left so that too is a light at the end of this long dark tunnel, and having Elizabeth here and healthy, will make it more than worth it, for Tony too I'm sure! Tony sure is sweet to say such wonderful things about me(he's so just that way) but really he's the one whose been putting up with the worse, and I know he's done an amazing job of it!! He is such a talented person, and no one who has seen his work in our condo would deny it! Just wait til he gets the pictures posted!! And keep in mind he did all the work himself, except the carpet(he did have help from family, but he was right there doing it with them, and telling them how it's done) I really appreciate all his hard work for us, it's turned out better than imagined! Well this is the end of my rambling and venting, I feel better. We'll(hopefully) get the nursery put pretty much all put together this weekend(which will be the best birthday present ever!) and we'll get pictures posted, so you can see what you think!

I can see the LIGHT!!!

I have been really busy the past few weeks. I start school tomorrow, ya i am thrilled let me tell you, and i have been busting some major butt the past month to get the condo done. I was hoping that i could get the carpet installed before i went back to school. Well i made it by two days, the carpet was installed yesterday and it looks great! I am still not done with the remodel project, but we at least can see the light at the end of the tunnel!! I need to do some touch up painting and a few little things. My goal is to get it done over Labor Day weekend. My family goes camping that weekend and we opted not to attend this year, seeing how Anni is 9 months pregnant(and technically on bedrest) and that would not be the best. We are going to head up on Sunday to celebrate some birthdays and to have some EXCELLENT cooking, i think we eat better when we are camping. Any way i know some of you have asked to see pictures so i am going to tease you a little bit. I am going to post a few pictures and then when i get it all done i will do a large write up and post alot of pictures. Enjoy these. O Anni would kill me if i did not mention this but we started to put the furniture together today after church, she is way excited and is thrilled to be able to start to seeing it all come together. She is going to be such a great MOM, she already is a great wife for putting up with me and letting the house go (looks like a bomb went off and i have been focusing on the upstairs and let the cleaning go). She is the best wife ever!!!



This first picture is what the 2nd bedroom looked like a few days before we moved in.

This next one is when the ceiling was done, the drywall on the walls were done, the new window put in and the closet door was replaced.
This is one of the 2nd bedroom wit is painted and the border was put up.
Here is the border close up for you. I started to call Elizabeth our little butterfly and it just stuck. Annis mom was looking for wallpaper for her house and found this and we fell in love with it, the colors were dead on with what we wanted, so naturally we had to pick it up!
Right now i dont have anymore pictures on the computer of what it looks like so you will just have to wait, but the wait will be worth it!!!

Finally some good news!!

So yesterday was the determining ultrasound. Tony came with me, just in case we ended up in labor and delivery. They did just what they did 3 weeks ago, measured every part of Elizabeth, and the amniotic fluid. The nurse said she looked good to her, she tried to get a good picture of her for us, but as I've come to totally believe, she's shy, and wouldn't cooperate. She said it looked like she weighed about 5 1/2 pounds, which is great!! That would mean she gained a good 2 pounds in 3 weeks! She then went and got the dr(who was the only dr there that day, so it took quite a while, and those bed things are NOT very comfortable, my back was totally protesting!) He came in and said she looked good, definitely bigger, so the bed rest was successful(which is good cause I'd a been upset if it had all been in vein) but the amniotic fluid is still borderline too low, so I'm still on bed rest, still going in twice a week for NST's and monitoring things closely, but if all keeps going as it has been, she'll be born on the 26th of September(here's hoping). And with any luck her nursery will be done in time for her homecoming! JK, Tony found out today that the carpet should be installed this Sat, which means we should be able to start putting up furniture Sun, and start putting everything in the room together. The best part will be having a place to put all her cloths!! oh and start washing things and have a clean place to put them away. So about the fiasco with the carpet that we ordered the 22nd of July. We found a great deal on some patterned berber carpet. The manufacturer made a deal with Lowes and passed the saving on to us! We were thrilled! We told them we needed it installed by the 22nd, and they said that was completely doable.
They said they'd call when it was at Lowes then we'd set up an instillation date. Well we waited and waited, and the beginning of Aug Tony called and asked what the status was, they said it was being shipped, and should be at lowes by the end of the week, well that came and went too, so he called again, and they said it was to be shipped out the next day.?? So he called and talked to someone else and found out that the manufacturer didn't even have the yarn color, they were waiting to get it in, and then they could weave the carpet and then they could ship it. (we were not very happy) I kinda wonder if tony hadn't of called when they would have told us about all this? Anyway, the guy we ordered the carpet from at lowes told us our options were to wait til the carpet we ordered got there(which could be a month out!) unfortunately we don't have that kind of time, as I could go into a NST anytime and be sent to labor and delivery to have this little girl, and the middle of Sept is cutting it WAY too close, even if she makes it to her due date! Or we could pick a different color in the same carpet, and see if it's in stock(which we did, but of course it wasn't in stock either) so we ended up picking a different(not as nice)carpet, it's pretty much the same type of carpet that's in here now. It's not bad really, at least it'll be clean!! And be put in correctly. We just keep telling ourselves that we should only be in this place for another couple of years max, so it's not like we have to live with it forever. So that was our fun ride with the carpet, hopefully the kinks are out and we'll have most of the nursery put together in the next couple of weeks. It's going to be a crazy busy last month, so Liz had better be good enough to make it to the 26th, cause I'm gonna need all that time! I'm way super excited to finally get to start putting the furniture up, and see it all come together, and of course the best part...Decorating!!!!! Anyhow that's the good news!

Labor and deliver

So I have a few stories to fill all in on. So I've been going in and getting NSTs(non stress tests) done every tue and fri, and she's been borderline on most of them. Well last sat at about 8pmish I was sitting on our foot stool which is in front of our entertainment unit at the moment, I was switching out a dvd, and when I stood up I felt a hard sharp pain all under my belly, it only lasted a few seconds, but man it hurt! I went back over to the couch and lay back down, but I kept getting a sharp pain in one spot under my belly. Because of how I am, I kept telling myself that it'd just go away in a minute. So Tony and I headed out to his parents house to return their truck Tony borrowed to get supplies for the almost completed remodel. It was a bumpy ride and by the end of it I was in tears with pain. So he called the dr, and we headed off to the hospital. My OB called when we were on our way, and said that was great, and she'd call and let them know we were on our way, and what she wanted done there. Basically when we got there, I had a dr's visit/NST, as they took a urine sample, took my blood pressure, and hooked me up to the same machine used for a NST, that monitors baby's heart rate, and any contractions(as they were concerned it may be pre-term labor) Elizabeth was more active for this than she has been during any NST I've had! Probably because I had major adrenalin flowing, which is way better than sugar! After they told me I wasn't going into labor, and Elizabeth looked fine, my blood pressure went down(surprise surprise), they found that I had a Urinal tract infection, and that may have caused some of the ongoing pain, but the initial pain was most likely Liz sitting so low, that it strained my ligaments. I was put back on bedrest, and sent home. Sun I had a seriously upset stomach and I forced myself to eat throughout the day. Tony picked up my prescription for the infection. So that was our labor and delivery experience and if nothing else I now know I'm definitely bringing my own pillow!! Oh and it's a pretty nice room! Then on tue I had a NST, which went better than any one before it, then I went right up to my OB appointment. She measured my belly, and it passed! She said it's still on the small side(but so is Elizabeth so..) and took my blood pressure which was acceptable! She even listened to the heart(despite the fact that I just spend 45 min having her heart rate monitored :) she said if the ultrasound next tue has as good results, I just might have a chance of making it to sept 26th!!! But I'm still being monitored very closely and she'll still pull her out at the first sign of worsening conditions. She won't let me go an hour past sept 26th though, so my hopes for an oct baby is out :( but as long as she's healthy that's all that matters. This whole bedrest thing is driving me absolutely crazy!!! I'm ADD I don't do the staying down thing, but it's helping Elizabeth do better, so my sacrifice as a mother begins. Because I love her more than anything!
I'll blog about our carpet fiasco later, but the remodel is almost done!!!

Our 2nd Anniversary

So we celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Mon, August 4th!! We started the day off, with a visit to my OB(what a way huh?) They weighed me and took my blood pressure, which was too high, so they had me lay down on my left side for a few minutes then they took it again, and it went right down. So Dr. Kinghorn came in and told me I need to keep it real low key, she put me on modified bed rest, so the very few last things I was allowed to do, are no more. I get up to eat, and make sure my feet still work other than that I'm on my left side keeping my blood pressure down. She suspects I have mild toxemia, so she ordered tests for it. I get to collect my urine for 24 hours, and have some blood tests done, then they'll know more. Elizabeth's activity has been way down lately, so she changed my non stress tests to twice a week. I kinda feel like I should just pitch a tent at St. Marks!! Jk. Anywho, after that delightful visit, we drove up to Park City for my last big thing before lying around like a little beached whale all the time. We went to the outlet malls, and got lots of stuff for our daughter, who is almost assuredly going to come early and be really little, and therefore had 2 outfits to wear(as we weren't planning on buying newborn size clothes)Now she has plenty of way cute stuff that should last her til she gets big enough to fit into her 0-3 month clothes. Tony is such a cute dad already!!! This little girl is going to be the biggest daddy's girl ever!!(and that's coming from the previous biggest daddy's girl!) most of her clothes have "daddy" on them somewhere, or butterflies(as she's Tony's little butterfly) I think he was having almost as much fun as I was!! I got a couple of maternity shirts, and he got a pair of khaki shorts from Old Navy kinda by default, as the zipper busted on the pair he was wearing :) After our shopping trip, we went and saw the movie Hancock, and then went to The Olive Garden for dinner. We stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home and got cookies and ice cream. When we got home, he had made a 2nd anniversary video. He is sooooo sweet!!! I feel bad this anniversary wasn't as "romantic" as it could have been, but it was so nice to just be able to spend time alone together, enjoying each other's company, without worrying about anything but having a good time together. Life's kinda got away from us, what with the pregnancy complications and worries, and the huge rushed remodel, and preparing to be parents, we haven't had a heck of alot of time to enjoy each other, without feeling guilty about not getting things done we need to. All in all it was a fabulous day, and I love Tony so very very much!!! He is the most amazing man, and he is soooooo good to me, I'm so blessed he's mine forever!!!

Our San Francisco Vacation!!!

Sorry this has taken so long to get this up, life is just nuts, we barely have time to breathe some days, there's just so much to do, and less and less time to do it in! That and we took LOTS of pictures in San Fran, so it took a while to narrow down to a decent amount, but I managed it.
We went from July 17th to the 21st, Tony had an old friend and mission companion that got married the 18th, and he hasn't seen him in years, so we decided to crash their reception ;) on the 19th, then we decided heck if we're going down there we might as well make it our only vacation this summer!(and it was cheaper to fly Thur and Mon) So we arrived late Thurs night, and pretty much just got to the hotel and hit the sack. Friday we woke early, to get to the Asian Museum to pick up our City Passes(which covered our transportation with the MUNI and cable cars) we got to the museum at 9am and found out it didn't open til 10am, so we waited for about an hour and enjoyed the nearby scenery, as I wanted to save my poor feet for all the walking we were going to do the rest of the day. Once we had our passes we took the MUNI down to catch the old trolley(cable car) at the bottom of the line on Market street, and waited in line for about 45 mins to get to watch them turn it around. We rode it up the Cable Car Museum, well almost we got off at the wrong stop so I treked up a San Fran hill which nearly killed my lungs, not to mention my back and legs! But we made it. Then we took the trolley to China Town. That was soooooooooooooo much fun!!!!! We found the cutest little Chinese outfit in light purple for Elizabeth, and a matching one for our niece Melina in light blue and yellow(which we gave her yesterday at her 2nd b-day party!) and a sorta matching pink dress for our niece Emily. That is going to be such a cute picture for next year!!(as Elizabeth's is for 6 months) we went in and out of shops for a couple hours, and found a couple more things for Elizabeth(who somehow came home with more souvenirs than we did?oops;)) We did find San Fran T-shirts for a $1.88 each for us!! Then we ate at a little eating place in China Town and Tony got really yummy Chinese food, I got a really yummy hot dog!! :) Then we took the trolley to the street car, to get to Pier 39, and Fisherman's Wharf, we got some info on the Blue&Gold Bay Cruise(which was included with our City Pass) then went to The Aquarium of the Bay. I love fish!! I went a bit picture happy in there, the coolest part was the tunnel! It was surrounded by water so the fish swam all around and over you, it was awesome!! Then we took the street car to Ghiradelli Square. MY HEAVEN ON EARTH!!! Somewhat literally because I have an intolerance to chocolate, if I eat too much I get sick and throw up, if I have way too much my body just goes into a type of shock.(but that doesn't stop me from my addiction!!;) I was quite literally like a kid in a candy store! One of Tony's favorite pictures is of me booking it as fast as I can to the next chocolate store. I was one happy girl!!! Then we went back to the pier and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and i got my shot glass(without the shot ;) we've been to the ones in Las Vegas, Tijuana, and of course Salt Lake! Then we headed back to the hotel and called it a night. Sat we went and picked up our rental car, and drove to the Jelly Belly Factory and took their free tour(which was actually pretty darn cool!)then we had a jelly belly shaped pizza for lunch(how many people can say that!!!) Then we drove to the Oakland temple and walked around,as it was closed for cleaning. It was absolutely beautiful!!!! Then we somehow found our way to the reception, visited;Tony managed to find some avid BYU fans in his family to talk to. Then we took the car back and called it a day! Sunday Started out as kinda a flop, we got up early, hoping to catch the BART at around 7ish to make the most of our last day, except it doesn't start running til 8:08 on Sundays, so we had a nice breakfast, and got on the first train. We thought we had a way to get sold out Alcatraz tickets but that flopped, due to stupid Shell Vacations Club(long story if you want to hear it we'll tell ya later) So we went to the top of the trolley line and rode it all the way to the bottom, it's was tons of fun, Tony really loved the trolleys. Then we caught it one stop up from the bottom(they make you get off at the end) so we didn't have to stand in a long line, and took it to Lombard Street. Tony walked to the bottom and took really good pics while I stayed at the top and watched people go down in on foot and by car, it's a very very pretty road, with all the flowers and brick road!! Then we went back and walked around the Wharf and looked at shops a bit, then we went to the Boudin Bakery Museum and did their little tour(for free thanks to the City Pass) It was cool too! I'm just a history lover, and Tony loves to see how things are made and done, so we really enjoy things like that. There was one place where you could take a quiz on some computers and find out what kind of bread you are, Tony and I were both Dark Rye!! And we didn't even cheat!!! Then there was another part with a computer game that let you try your hand at being a baker, Tony was an Expert bread maker on his first try!! It took me three times, and I barely made it! The best part was the free samples at the end! They had a chocolate chip raisin bread that tastes just like chocolate covered raisins! YUM!! Then we ate lunch there, we both had clam chowder in their special sourdough bread bowls, it was delicious!! Then we went on the Blue&Gold Bay Cruise. That was my favorite part! We went past the Bay bridge, Angels Island, under the Golden Gate Bridge and back, and around Alcatraz Island, there were tons and TONS of breathtaking views, of the Golden Gate Bridge coming down from the clouds, and of the beautifully stunning San Fransisco skyline, we, (well mostly Tony as i was sitting the whole time, my balance sucks on boats right now) took lots of great pictures and video. Then we walked down the street at the Wharf and found a guy doing really cool caricatures and got ours done, he was the nicest guy! He even got my baby bump in! It turned out way cool, we really like it! Then we went to the Rain Forest Cafe, and had a very lovely dinner, I had to pick up a shot glass there too, cause I have one from the Las Vegas, and Down Town Disney restaurants also! Then we hit up one more store and got Elizabeth a pink "someone who loves me very much went to San Fransisco, and bought me this shirt" onesie dress, with headband, then we were going to catch a street car back to the BART station, but that turned out to be a complete joke, so Tony took his first cab ride, to the station instead. Monday we packed things up and flew back home!! What a trip!! It took my feet and ankles 3 days to go back down to a normal size, and my back was so outta wack that it took my physical therapist nearly 20 mins to realign me!! But it was worth it, cause it was a great trip, and most likely Tony and I's last vacation just the two of us for a quite a while!! And we sure enjoyed it!!!

Here are a few pictures of us from the trip







Here is a Slide Show of some of the pictures. ENJOY!