The countdown has begun!!!!!!

My sweet hubby will be home in 26 days!!!!!! I am so excited and my fingers are crossed that this time goes by VERY quickly.
There has been so much that has happened since we last saw daddy - it is crazy to think of all the things that have gone on in the past 6 months.
Ella has had her hair cut twice - and it is VERY short but super cute - and everyone is hoping that she doesn't cut it again ever so it can actually have a chance of growing back out - especially since she keeps saying how she wants long hair like Rapunzel -"not at the end of the movie mom the beginning of the movie"
Halee has grown leaps and bounds and while she is still mostly wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers she is huge ;) Halee has been rolling over since she was 2 months old and she started to scoot around 4 months - well she is now crawling on her hands and knees!!!! She is only 6 1/2 months old but that girl can move!!!! One of my favorite things though is that she can now say DA DA  :DI have been trying to get her to say da da forever and now she does - I always point to daddy's picture and tell her that it is da da and I'm hoping that she knows that Matt is her dada - we will see how she reacts to him when he gets home - but I am hoping she loves him as much as Ella and I do :)

The end is near....

So I have 4 weeks left till my due date will I actually make it? Only one person knows and she isn't saying :) But there has been some progress - I lost my plug Wednesday morning about 4 am and was having some very mild contractions they were fairly random but were worse when I was on my feet. So I called and left a message for Matt on his voice mail and then put my mom on stand by. I stayed off my feet for the most part and took it VERY easy (I want her to wait a couple of weeks so she is really ready and not preemie). The contractions didn't progress - and that night I only had a couple and none all day today - so my mom is no longer on stand by - and hopefully Matt has calmed down :)
When Ella was on her way labor went fast. Contractions started and were strong and frequent. I had been trying to sleep on the couch (no position was comfortable anywhere) I went in to the bedroom to tell Matt that she was coming. He jumped up got dressed and rushed out to the car then he came back about 5 min later to see what was taking me so long!!! I was having contractions every 3 min. or so and when he came back in I was in the middle of the hallway doubled over in the middle of a contraction. He was so funny in his panicked state.
Now with Halee he is panicking again - he is out at sea and so he has been getting email updates 2 or 3 times a day - and he is talking to his command about getting flown off the ship so he can take the first flight here :) I'm hoping he listens to me telling him that everything is fine and he doesn't need to worry - but then he wouldn't be himself :)

Halfway!

So we are finally at the halfway point of this pregnancy - and I already feel like I should just be waiting to go into labor at any minute - this has been the longest 20 weeks of my life!!!!! The good news is that our little girl is growing right on schedule - unlike Ella who at 20 weeks was only measuring at 15 1/2.  We did the 20 week ultrasound at 18 1/2 weeks so Matt could be there and she was measuring at 18 weeks and 4 days - right on track :) Her heart is fully formed and functioning right and her brain is developing perfectly. There is no cleft palate like some of my doctors in Virginia were worried about because of one of my meds - I wasn't worried about that - if she was born with a cleft palate it could be fixed - and I was more concerned about staying pregnant :) It was so good to see her doing so well - especially after losing the last 6 and at the end as the doctor was leaving he told me that I wouldn't be losing this one!!! I already knew that she was a keeper - because of a blessing that I had at the very beginning of the pregnancy - but it is so very reassuring to see your little one doing so well and to have your doctor confirm that everything is progressing perfectly :) - at least the baby is developing perfectly anyways.... we did get one bit of not so great news. The placenta has a fold (didn't know that was possible) and while it wouldn't usually matter to much the fold is over the cervix which means I might need to have a c-section (such a dirty word) I have NEVER wanted to have a c-section even though there was a slight chance I would need one with Ella. Some say that they would rather have a c-section  but when you are only in labor foe 5 1/2 hours with your first one a c-section just seems like it would be torture. Hopefully the fold will move or disappear and I won't have to worry about having a c-section but if not at least the baby is doing really well - that is what really matters.

ITS A GIRL!!!!!!!!

So we found out on the 29th of April that we will be having another little girl!!!!!! Ella knew all along it was a sister - but I kept saying it had to be a boy because no girl would be this mean to mommy - well I sure was wrong - because this little one is definitely a girl :) Now the name debates have started!!! Before we found out we had names picked out - if it was a boy he would have been named Erik Jonathon Loane and if it was a girl her name would be Felicity. So her name should be Felicity right? WRONG as soon as we found out we are having a girl Matt says I think we should name her Halee - really? He was even telling people we were going to name her Felicity before we found out we were having a girl. We haven't come to an agreement - we kind of decided to wait till she gets here and then decide if she looks more like a Halee or a Felicity - my guess is that Matt will win - but we will see.

Does this baby make me look fat?

So a lot of people have been asking if I am showing yet - well you can decide for yourself.....

(Picture courtesy of Ella)

Ella the photographer

So Ella has always loved the camera - especially if she is the one taking the pictures and she is actually getting really good at taking pictures that you can tell what they are :) She has been sneaking the camera  lot lately here is some of her recent work:

Self portraits

Coloring time!!!

They are so cute when they are sleeping...

Yummy pizza :)

my recent creations







Make a funny face mommy :)

Our new little one :)

So to date we have had 3 ultrasounds - I guess that is just one of the joys of having a high risk pregnancy (okay the only joy besides still being pregnant)
Here is our little one at 7 1/2 weeks:

Here is our little one at 11 weeks:

 

While this has been a rough pregnancy - not even remotely like being pregnant with Ella - and definitely very nerve racking we are looking forward to our new little addition joining our little family.
I have been on Lovenox (blood thinning shots) for 7 weeks now and while I am sick and tired of stabbing myself every day I know that they are the reason this baby is still here :) We are just excited that this little one is doing well and growing big and strong!!!
Ella and I will be back in Utah (for good) on the 10th of April. Matt will be in San Diego where his ship is stationed and will be in and out to sea the rest of his enlistment (with at least 1 more deployment sometime during the next 14 months) and then he will be joining us at home in Utah :)

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like its been that long my how time flies. Today however we won't be able to celebrate together though since Matt is deployed. So Ella and I are going to go to the cheesecake factory for lunch - and hopefully next year Matt and I will be able to be together for our anniversary.

Long time no blog....

So I've kind of been avoiding the blogging. I've been busy with school and playing single mommy since Matt is deployed and I have been sick which really doesn't help. I am on the mend - I think and school is going well and while it has been incredibly hard with Matt gone we are surviving. I will only be in Virginia for about 6 more weeks and then my mom and Jennie are flying out to drive back to Utah with me. I'm not very excited for the drive back - 5 days in a car is to much for me I can't imagine how it is going to be with Ella!!!! It will definitely be an adventure for sure!!! It will be good to be back in Utah with family though - and Ella will have lots of cousins and aunts and uncles to play with and adore her. I am going to attempt to start blogging again on a consistent basis - but no guarantees :) We will see how it all goes from here.

Hunt Club Farm

So Megan and I took the kids to hunt club farm on thursday afternoon - (our ward and Norfolk 1st had a combined play group) it was a BLAST!!!! Ella loved the hay ride (only it was straw not hay) and as we were walking into the petting farm she saw the huge pile of straw in the middle and went charging for it! She crashed into it and then climbed up the straw and then slid down it like it was a slide - and then back up and down again. She saw an oversized wagon and proceeded to put more straw in it and then pull it around. Then it was over to the pygme goats pen where Kaitlin, Logan and Meagan were - they actually had it set up so you could go in and be right next to the goats. The kids had a blast playing with the kids (pun intended). They got to brush the goats and pet them and of course they were running around like crazy!!!! They were so fun to watch. There were also a couple of chicken coops in with the goats and they thought it was hilarious to chase the chickens - I kind of felt bad for the chickens - kind of. Then they played on the swing sets they had - and if someone didn't go down the slide fast enough Ella was kind enough to help them - so she ended up getting pushed down the really big curly slide :) She was not happy about that one - and kept saying 'pushed me :(' Then they went over to the chicken pen (seperate from the goats). Ella was trying to catch a chicken - but wasn't having much luck - she could get her hands on it but couldn't figure out how to actually pick it up - but she was determined. After a while she came over to me and said 'mommy help me' so I caught a chicken for her - Ella and Kaitlin both loved being able to hold the chicken. After that we went over to the pumpkins - we picked out 2 big ones to take home and then Ella picked out a little one. I was thinking we would carve them - but I think it might be better just to draw on them - Ella isn't allowed to use knives yet - even though she thinks she is :) It was a great day - and so much fun. I love watching Ella play and have fun and how she interacts with everything around her. She has so much energy - now if only I could get some of that energy so I could keep up with her all day long :)

ALL GIRL

So Ella is definitly a girlly girl. She has been asking to get earrings for the last couple of months and I have been reluctant to let her get her ears pierced. Well Tuesday afternoon she started asking again only this time she was almost begging - so we talked about getting earrings. I told her that it hurt and even pinched her ear with my nails to show her and then asked her again if she really wanted earrings her response: YEAH!!! EARRINGS!!!! I guess that means yes. Matt said it was fine with him - I still wasn't sure about it. I knew it would hurt her - it didn't really hurt me when I got mine - but she is 3 (almost) and for a 3 year old it would hurt. She still wanted them wednesday so while we were out running errands we stopped at Claire's in the mall and she got her ears pierced. She did fairly well - when the lady doing it told her she was going to wash her ears she freaked - she really doesn't like her ears getting wet - or anything else from the neck up really. Amazingly she did a lot better having the earrings put in than she did having her ears washed. She was a little upset that we hurt her - but after a little bit she was really excited that she had earrings now - just like mommy.

What a Cheese ball!!!!!

Such a beauty

Foiled plans....

So the plan was to get Ella a bike for Christmas.... I've been getting all my birthday/christmas shopping done early this year so I don't have to deal with it latter on - December is way to busy - and I hate the crowds in the stores. So I've been looking at bikes and helmets and everything trying to find one that Matt would approve of and that would be a good bike for her. I got her helmet on Monday night - but I was so tierd when I got home from shopping that I just left the bags by the door - I had completely forgotten about the helmet. Well, Ella found the helmet the next morning and automatically assumed that it was hers - she thinks everything is hers. She didn't connect the helmet to bikes - so I figured it wouldn't be a problem, she could play with it and it would just be gone one morning. Well Matt had duty tuesday so he didn't see her playing with it and I forgot to make it disapear that night - so when he got home from work on Wednesday she ran and put it on to show daddy her helmet - his first question was where is your bike? She didn't have a bike - I hadn't bought one yet - but Matt didn't believe me - hello if I bought one where was I hiding it? I finally convinced him that there wasn't a bike - but Ella automatically started saying that her bike was lost, gone, and then all of a sudden she was saying Mommy took it!!! So Matt decided that I was going to take her to get a bike right then. I told him he could do it - because it was supposed to be her christmas gift - we ended up going as a family to toys 'r us and got her a bike. Daddy won - he said if I didn't want her to have her bike then I shouldn't have gotten her a helmet and then given it to her - but I say that if he hadn't mentioned a bike we wouldn't have had a screaming child wanting her bike 'back'.
Ella doesn't know how to pedal - so I took her out yesterday - basically it was mommy pushing and stearing and Ella rang the bell - not really what I wanted to do - but it was good exercise for me. Maybe we will work on trying to teach her how to pedal some more today - if it stops raining - on second thought - daddy can teach her since it was his idea to get the bike in the first place.

A Crazy day..........

This past week has been CRAZY!!!! On Tuesday we got a new car - a dodge nitro - I picked it out all by myself - and Matt just finished the deal - which is the first time I have ever picked out a car. Usually Matt picks it out and does all the paper work and everything and I get to see it/drive it before its final. Which is really nice for me since I really don't like having to deal with all the little details - and Matt is really good at dealing with those.
While we were at the dealership finishing up all the paperwork and stuff Ella colapsed - she had been running around and talking to people moments before - and she was in the middle of eating a granola bar when she fell straight back - like droping a board. She was facing away from me and the people she was talking to said that her eyes rolled back in her head and then she passed out. She was only out for a couple of seconds before she started screaming - as I was holding her and trying to calm her down and love her better her eyes rolled back and she passed out again - this time she was out for a couple of minutes. After the first one I was like okay that isn't normal I need to make an appointment with her doctor but after she did it again I was on my way to the ER - something was wrong - and it seemed like I was losing my happy, crazy baby right before my eyes. She was really out of it on the drive to the hospital - Chesapeake regional was only about 10 min away - we made it in about 5 [since I was speeding and ran a couple of red lights :)] They did the triage really quickly and then we had to wait for a couple of hours - they had a couple of severe people come in on ambulances - so we were waiting a bit longer than they were expecting us to. About an hour & a half after the second episode she started acting normal again - it was like she had come out of her stance and was back to normal. She ran around the waiting room and was talking to all kinds of people. I was shocked because just a couple of minutes before she was screaming and scarred and not even remotely like she usually is. They did a cat scan, looked at her heart rythmn (they wanted to do an EKG but she wasn't going to have anything to do with that one) and did blood work. Everything came back normal - they couldn't see any reason why she had passed out twice and been so incoherant. After about 5 hours we were on our way home - we stopped at wendys and got her a burger and after she ate that and drank some choc. milk she went to sleep.
She hasn't had any problems since - and has been her crazy, wonderful self since. She even got excited when I told her she was going to see the doctor on Monday (after the er experiance I thought she would never want to see a doctor again as long as she lived). She has a follow up appointment in the morning - and we will probably be doing more tests to make sure everything is "normal" - I am starting to relax a little bit - since she has gone almost 5 days without any problems and seems to be just fine. I was definately the scariest moment of my life. I hate seeing my little princess sick - it breaks my heart. Hopefully things will keep going well and we won't have to deal with any more scarry er trips in the near future.
Thank you to everyone for thier prayers and everything - they have been a support to us and I know they have helped Ella be okay.

Happy Birthday

We were visiting my aunt and uncle who live out in Roanoke, Va. I wasn't planning on doing anything for my birthday - Matt and I went out to dinner and a movie - and I was good with that. I really didn't want a cake or anything like that - but come to find out my aunt and uncle had other plans :) They also have this "stupid" tradition where the birthday person has to take a bite out of thier cake - just like you did when you were little (think 1st birthday) and you had to hold the pose so they could get a picture. It was actually fun to laugh and talk about - especially since the blue frosting stained my face a bit :0

Trying something new

Well I am trying to figure out this whole blog thing - and I think for the most part its working ok - I have never done anything like this so it is completely new to me. I want to have a really cute blog like I have seen so many people have - its just a tad confusing figuring out how to make everything go together the way I want it too. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have it all figured out and how I want it. We shall see.....