Be Prepared

I have finally begun to do things to help prepare my family for the toughest situations. Greg and I both feel we need to beef up our food storage and learn important skills to help us survive any sitaution. Especially now with prices of food, gas and everything else going through the roof! I am taking an active roll every day to learn something new to help us save money now and not need to worry about spending it in the future. I think every family and every individual needs to better understand how important this is, especially since we do not have any idea what the future holds.
Today I was sitting around trying to figure out what to make for dinner and I really need to go to the grocery store. I have hamburger patties but no buns, then I decided why not make hamburger buns? So I went online and found this recipe. (Bread is actually very easy and quick to make when you have a mixer, it just takes planning because you need to wait for it to rise. I make bread once or twice a week with meals. Lately I have been making extra to freeze and use later so I dont have to make it so often.) I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe but there are some changes that need to be made to make it better. I suggest mixing the water, yeast and sugar together and let it bubble before adding the remaining ingredients. Our buns were a little dense and didn't rise very much. Next time we have hamburgers I will make these changes. Just because we are on a budget and learning how to use what we have in our food storage doesn't mean we can't eat delicious food.

It's Another Girl!

I knew right when I found out I was pregnant, it was a girl. I just knew! When we went and received the ultrasound I was not surprised at all. The ideas I have are endless for matching outfits. I have already purchased material to make some. I am glad I have a few months to stock pile clothes because we all know I wont have time once baby girl gets here.

Of course there is always a chance it isnt a girl, but I think this picture is pretty obvious.

Now comes the hard part, picking a name. I have a few on my list but I still don't know. Before I was pregnant with Bella Eve I knew her name so I never had this problem. I don't think we will know till she arrives... hopefully it is July 4th, how awesome would that be?!

Side note, Scott will be leaving on May 23rd, he finally received his actual mission call. So excited!

Also, this is a hilarious article. It totally made my day! http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2012/1/17/porn-for-pregnant-ladies.html

Happy Hump Day!

Australia Perth Mission

My little brother, Scott received his mission call this week....kind of. So here is the story. Scott sent his papers in and waited around for his call, it normally takes 2-3 weeks to receive. Well he waited and waited and waited and still no call... Almost 4 weeks pass. So this past Friday he receives a letter from the travel department in Salt Lake. We were confused on what was going on. Scott opened the letter and it contained all the information he needs to get his Visa and such and it was from Australia! We didn't even know what mission he would be in... Then about a half hour later he finds an envelope that says Australia Perth Mission. But he still hasn't received his call, the stake president is calling Salt Lake tomorrow since today was a holiday. We think it must have gotten lost in the mail with all the holidays over the last month. We don't know when he is leaving but he is beyond thrilled. He almost passed out when he read Australia cause he was so excited. I should post the video, it's hilarious. I know Scott will be an amazing missionary and I am so happy with the choices he has made. Hopefully we find our when he is leaving next week!!!

Alone Once Again

Greg travels a lot for work, the next couple months he will be gone a lot. This morning Greg left for Illinois, he doesn't get back till Saturday night. Bummer!!! Then he needs to go to Utah and Arizona so he will be gone for another week. Let's just hope he doesn't have to be gone next week too. Bella and I will have lots of mommy time that will consist of Disneyland, the park, maybe the beach and anything else I can think of. We will have some fabulous adventures but wish he was here with us!

Crunchy, Hippie, Granola Kind of Mom

As I was driving today I started to think about how I live my life. I realized that I am what you might consider a hippie. Haha. I had never really thought about it before but it's true with a lot of stuff. And this is why...
- All about natural unmedicated birth, even home birth. (Hypnobabies is awesome!!!) Of course they should be assisted by a certified midwife, only if low risk. Medical interventions are great, when needed.
- I think exclusively breast feeding is very important, to wait 6 months before solids and child led weaning. If Bella is still nursing when I give birth then we will tandem nurse.
- Co-sleeping, it makes those first couple months so much easier.
- I enjoy baby wearing and think its great for mom or dad and baby to bond.
- Making baby food... Bella totally skipped this stage she only wanted solids but I did make a lot for her try.
- Organic when possible, especially hormone free milk and meat
- Cloth diapering. Now I am all about this, weird I know. Greg vetoed this idea but I think I might do it. It's great for baby (few if any rashes), cost effective and helps the environment. I think it's great if we can all do a little.
- Homeopathic remedies or other alternatives instead of traditional drugs.

Things that are a little different from some hippies...
- I am pro vaccine, but I may delay some depending on when and why.
- I am conservative, no liberal here!
- I'm not a vegetarian, we eat junk food and watch too much TV.

These are the main things that I agree with but I'm not all out "crunchy", at least I don't think. I just think its funny how much I have changed in the last few years. Knowledge is power!!!

Surprise, Surprise!!!!

I know we are! Well if you haven't heard, Bella is going to be a big sister! This definitely came as quite a shock to us. I didn't even know I could get pregnant since I haven't had a period since February 2010 (my last one before I got pregnant with Bella) because I have been nursing. But you obviously ovulate before you have a period. It took 5 tests and a good month for it all to sink in. My hands were literally shaking and I almost cried. I just lost all the weight by the end of summer and now I'm going to gain it back. And I'll admit, I am nervous because of the difficult challenges I had with Bella. However i am grateful I get the chance to be pregnant and even more grateful ut takes 9 months for the baby to get here. But we are very excited to have them close together and it will be a fabulous adventure!
Below is a copy of our Christmas card, this is how we told our friends. The next picture is Bella wearing her Big Sister shirt. It says, "Merry Christmas to me because I'm a Big Sister to be!" Bella looked absolutely adorable as you can see.

It's Almost Over

I cannot believe it is almost 2012! I also cannot believe the last time I posted it was on Bella's Birthday! So much has happened since, I dont even know where to begin.

Greg turned 28... he is getting up there! Haha JK
We celebrated Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for, I dont even know where to start.
We went out on Black Friday... It was awesome. Definitely going to do it next year, it wasn't nearly as crazy as I thought it would be.
I got the flu....uggh! But Greg was so amazing and took care of Bella.
We went on a mini vacay to Phoenix/ Flagstaff. It was really just for Greg's work but we tagged along so we didnt have to be away from eachother once again.
We had two baptisms in the family, both on Greg's side. It was so great to see Trey and Sterling make such wonderful choices. One of them was in Oregon, it was a lot of fun to travel to see Michelle and her family.
Bella and I went to Disneyland as much as possible. It is so much fun to go there and be together, just the two of us. I just love having a little girl.
I made 2 holiday dresses for Bella, they turned out soo cute! I need to post pictures. I love sewing dresses for her, she is a wonderful model.
We cooked and baked till we couldn't stand up anymore.
We had a wonderful Christmas. We got Bella way to much and it was totally worth it.
Now my family is all in town, this week is crazy busy!
Then it's the New Year... yeah we will be home. What is there to do when you have a 1 year old? haha

I don't think I had one day in the past 2 months where I could relax.... I love the Holidays but I am looking forward to January for everything to slow down a little bit.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!