Where to begin . . .

So after taking a 7 month hiatus- I'm optimistically recommiting to blogging.  At least more often.  Some updates:

Jeff got hired to teach P.E. at SCMS in St. George!  YAY!  It seriously is an answer to a year or more worth of prayers.  It was pretty awesome how it all happened.  Let me rewind a little bit:

In January, Jeff was told that a teacher at Cedar Middle School was retiring, so a P.E. position was going to be opening up, finally.  So we waited.  And waited.  And then waited some more.  And then found out that they filled the position within the district and did some juggling so there wasn't going to be an opening after all.  

Then, a couple of months ago, Angie & Derek applied for Derek to be a City Magistrate in Page, AZ.  While they were looking into Page, Derek noticed a teaching position open at the High School.   It was a "Reconnecting Youth" position- which required a teaching license, but it didn't have to be a specific one.  So Jeff applied and got an interview.  Then a few days after that interview, he got called back for a 2nd interview, scheduled for the next week.  The interviews were serious intense, hours long.  By the end of the 2nd interview, he was told that he had the job.  We were super excited.  Then the next week he went back to shadow the current R.Y. teachers for a couple of days.  On the 2nd day, he found out that the teaching position was only for 1 year.  WHAT?!   We knew that it wasn't a normal teachinig job, and that it was grant funded, but Jeff had gotten the impression that it was good to go for awhile.  So finding out that it was only for a year and that the health benefits were going to cost $500 a month, it started seeming less and less appealing.

At first I was feeling like it didn't matter that it was only for a year, that at least 1 year was better than 0 years of teaching experience.  (And let's be honest, I was really really excited to be potentially living 3 blocks from my sister!)  Jeff wasn't feeling good about the job because the administration hadn't been totally honest with him, and he had heard bad things about them from the coaching staff of the football & baseall teams.  By the time Jeff got home that night, we had both come to the same conclusion:  the job in Page was worth the move when we thought that it was A) a start to a teaching career & B) had good health benefits.  But now that we knew it WASN'T a start to a career in a district & the health benefits weren't all that great- we were better off staying in Cedar so that Jeff could go back to school to get his Special Ed endorsement while working @YHA w/a promotion that had a health benefits option.  Once we'd decided that, I felt at peace.  I had been feeling restless, for lack of a better word, since the whole Page interview process had began.

So he got the promotion, and that was the plan.  Then, on the 22nd, a couple in our ward, the Kroffs, randomly invited us over for dinner after church.  We had never hung out with them one on one before.  So that night while we were talking, they asked about Jeff's job situation and Steve mentioned that he had seen a P.E. teaching job on the Washington County School District website. A few days went by and Wednesday afternoon I asked Jeff if he had checked the website, he hadn't, but got up right then and checked it out.  We found the job description and the bottom of the website and then saw that the deadline was 4 pm the next day!  Luckily, Jeff had everything ready to go, it was just a matter of filling out the application and printing it out.  I turned the application in the next day in St. George a few hours before the deadline.  The next morning Jeff got the call for an interview, scheduled for June 1 at 9 a.m.

Jeff went to his interview, it was only 20 minutes, and walked away feeling good about it.  He got a call from the principal a few hours later saying that he had a really good interview, etc. but that she wasn't allowed to tell him if he got the job or not.  She said something about him waiting for a call from Human Resources, so we were thinking that meant he got the job, but didn't want to just assume it without hearing FOR SURE.  So after the longest couple hours of Jeff's life, he got the call from Human Resources telling him that he got the job.  We then proceeded to make the requisite family phone calls,sharing the good news, while roaming aimlessly through Costco doing the happy dance.

But the goodness doesn't end there.

The next day I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep. I just kept thinking about needing to get back down to St. George to find a house to rent.  Jeff had been scheduled to work that afternoon but someone had asked him to switch shifts, so he had the day off.  He agreed to go down that day to look for a place, probably realizing I would be worthless around the house that day if we didn't because I'd be so distracted!  Shanna watched Elea for us while we looked and looked.  All the houses we liked when we looked online the night before were already taken, one that was really nice only wanted to rent the top floor, and the ones that were left were crappy.  Then we just started driving around areas we liked, but neither of those felt right either- one didn't have a backyard and the other's yard was way too small.  So we were heading back to return a key to the property management company and I decided to check craigslist one last time.  I saw a listing that had just popped up in the last couple hours, called, and then we headed straight there. 

I loved the location right away, then we walked through the house, and it was PERFECT for us.  PERFECT.  The family that owns it is in the process of moving to Texas,  had just found out that week, and needed to be there in a month.  They were only planning on leaving the ad up that afternoon and were planning on deciding that night.  So as we were checking out the house, there were boxes everywhere, toys, etc. and it didn't even matter.  Jeff and I didn't even talk about it by ourselves before we asked them for a rental application, we both just knew.  It was pretty funny actually because they didn't even have an application, I just wrote out our info on a half sheet of printer paper.  We sat and chatted with them about the house, our history, etc. for almost a half hour.  When we left, I immediately called my friend Amanda whose husband works with the owner of the house and BEGGED her to call them and tell them we are good people.  (And they did).  I was more nervous about whether we were going to get the house than I was about Jeff getting the job.  I felt confident about Jeff getting the job because I trusted in his qualifications, etc.  But I had no idea what the owner's of the house were going to use to make their decision.  But luckily, they called that evening and told us they'd rent it to us!

We went to sign the lease yesterday and are so excited to move down to St. George and into the house.  They are leaving the playhouse in the back for Elea. We're allowed to paint it if we want to, they don't really care WHAT we do to the house cosmetically because they never plan on living in it again.  We won't have bi-yearly inspections or anything like that.  And, if anything goes wrong, we'll just call someone to come fix it, and send them the bill.  Fabulous!

So anyway,  this week has been pretty much perfect.  (knock on wood and all that).  So many prayers have been answered in such a short time for us, it's pretty amazing.   Now we're about to go through our storage unit-- like I said, knock on wood.

Elea Laughing

I think this is the hardest I have ever heard Elea laugh.

It's sort of unfortunate that her giggling stems from thinking she is kicking me in the face.

Provo River Trail- 1st Half Marathon

Angie and I ran in a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday morning. I didn't get as nervous for it as I have for the triathlons, at least until I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back asleep before my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m. We had to be at the Shops at Riverwoods at 5 in the morning to take a bus up to the starting point up the Provo River Trail. Too early in the morning. WAY to early in the morning. We were both sort of slap happy (I will post pictures tomorrow proving as much). The race started at 7 a.m. and by that time my toes and other appendages were pretty numb. There were a lot of people-- it was a different atmosphere from the triathlons since people weren't busy messing with their gear-- everyone just stood around talking.

Anyway, the race started and I ran. And then ate some GU. Then ran some more. Then ate another GU. Then finished running. My time was 1:59:??. I think. Our (mine and Ang's) goal was 2 hours and 20 minutes. But then at about 9.5 miles I realized that if I kept my pace I could finish in 2 hours so for the last 35 minutes of the race that was my new goal. :) I "sprinted" the last half mile or so to make it. Hopefully they will post our official finish times soon.

Angie made it a couple of minutes under our goal too! Yay!

Elea's 1 year Dr. visit

She's getting taller!! Elea weighed in at 19 lbs 1 oz so she is in the 14th percentile for weight but she is 29.75 inches tall so now she's up to the 64th percentile for height. Her head circumference measured 18.5 inches but the girl measuring her didn't take off her cloth headband so I think it's actually less than that. Regardless, her percentile at that measurement is 91%!! That is so funny to me. Our little midget.

Everything else was good- I didn't realize that she should be able to point to her eyes, nose, etc. by now. I haven't ever even pointed those out to her. BUT, we did have a break through with the sign language. She was drinking from her sippy cup and her doctor said something to her about her drink and elea took one hand off the cup and did the open fist/close fist sign for milk. Now ask me if she's done it since then. NOPE. But, she is atleast recognizing the signs when we do them. If I sign "eat" she says "yaaass" and walks over to her high chair. Also, today in church she had a little zip lock bag with crackers and such in it. I would open the bag, she'd grab one, then I would zip up the bag and hand it to her. She would play with the bag until I did the sign for "more" then she would automatically hand me the bag to open up for her to get "more." Pretty fabulous-- it made me feel telepathic not having to talk out loud to her during church! ha.

Back to her doc appt., she had the 2nd to last round of immunizations for awhile. They also pricked her finger to draw blood for an anemia test. She wasn't too appreciative of either of those things but at least they are over with for now and the immunizations didn't seem to affect her the way they have in the past.


OH WAIT!!! GOOD NEWS!!!!

I almost forgot! Anyone who has been around Elea for longer than 5 minutes since she was born has probably noticed her nose running. All. the. time. So I finally took her to the N.A.E.T. (allergy doctor) in St. George last week. He tested her for a milk allergy since the runny nose is a common side effect and she was allergic so he treated her for that and sent us home with the vial to wear for 24 hours. So her nose was still running that night but not as bad. Then the next day it was still running but not near as much. But by Friday it wasn't running at all!!!! And she isn't snoring anymore either! Which kind of freaks me out because I'm used to being able to hear her in her room when she is asleep-- but I'm getting used to it because I can tell she is sleeping better even though I can't hear her sleeping. If that makes any sense at all. So yeah. It's pretty amazing. Sitting in church today I realized it was the first time I'd left the house without grabbing kleenex or some other nose wiping utility for I do not even know how long.

Elea's 1st Birthday

Yesterday went really well. If the wind would have stopped for her party I would call it a perfect day. But it didn't, and in the end it just saved us money on some tablecloths and crepe paper we couldn't use.

For her birthday we rented a bouncehouse-slide combo and had it at a park in St. George that has a splashpad and sweet playground with rubber under it instead of sand or woodchips or whatever. Anyway, Jeff and I were able to run around and get all the food and decorations, etc. while she took a nap so that worked out perfect. It was fun to get to spend that much one on one time with Jeff too, just running errands or whatever.

The party started around 4-ish and the slide was in constant use except for a break long enough to eat. The kids all loved it and the adults with swimsuits (and even some with regular clothes) had fun on it too. We had checked to make sure there was a water faucet at the park but were dumb and didn't check to make sure that we could actually turn it on. So we weren't able to connect the slide to the water, so instead the guys would go fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water at the splashpad and then throw the water at all the kids waiting at the top of the slide. So it worked okay and I think the kids got a thrill out of getting blasted in the face with the freezing cold water.

We took Elea down the slide a couple of times-- she didn't hate it but she didn't love it either-- we hung out in the bounce house a little bit but I think she preferred sitting in her highchair getting to squeeze a capri sun out all over her rolls and sandwich meat more than anything else. For dinner we just did some meat & cheese trays, veggie trays, fruit bowls, and some chips. Nothing too extravagent and none of it involved cooking!

I made her a little 4 in. square cake to devour. Or touch. She's not a fan of sweets so I didn't think she was really gonna dig into it. AND . . . she didn't. She got her hands into it and then was annoyed that they were all covered in frosting. We tried to get her to at least taste the frosting--- yeah, she wasn't a fan of that either. In the end she ended up with frosting all over her face and in her hair, but I don't think she ate any of it. We got the obligatory "1st birthday cake" video and photos though. :) Angie was a champ and took a lot of the pictures during the party for us. So this time I am actually documented as present in my daughters life but her closest aunt isn't, once again. Almost everyone stayed and played hard until after 8 pm and the kids probably would have lasted longer but all the adults were tired.

Elea opened her presents after we got home, way past her normal bedtime. I was sort of embarrassed that people brought her presents in the first place-- I should have made the disclaimer ahead of time not to bring gifts. It was fun to watch her pull the tissue out and try to rip the paper off. (It made me really excited for this year's christmas 'cause I can tell she's gonna have so much fun opening presents).

So it turned out to be a great day-- I am determined to make a big deal out of my kids' birthdays. Not that we're going to throw a big shindig every year or anything, but I want them to feel special on their birthday somehow, in someway. This year, let's be honest, this was more for me and Jeff- she won't remember it and wouldn't have noticed if we never sang her happy birthday-- but it is going to be a good memory for the rest of us. Thanks to all the friends and family that were able to come celebrate with us- it made the day better to have all of you there with us.

Now the senimental. I'm not usually big on birthdays or anniversaries- I don't usually get all excited about them. But yesterday I was more excited about Elea's birthday than I think I was about our wedding reception (not our wedding, just the reception). I am so grateful to have her in our family. She's a smart, beautiful, good-natured little girl. I am always getting comments about how there is just something different about her, that she's special in some undefinable way. It's been awesome getting to be her mom and having the joy that comes with knowing her little personality and quirks better than anyone else in the world (except maybe Jeff). It took so long to get pregnant and when I found out that I was pregnant I was sure that I would never be able to be in a bad mood ever again, that's how thrilled I was. (But we all know that by the end of the 1st trimester that wasn't the case!) Anyway, while we were trying, I spent a lot of time and energy obsessing over it and being upset-- but now I am grateful that Jeff and I had those years of being married and our relationship improving and I was able to experience working full-time, etc. so that now that I am home with her I am happy with it and not resenting it or wondering if I would be happier going to work somewhere all the time.

Yesterday throughout the day I was remembering where I was a year ago-- at what stage of labor, etc. I'd always heard that you don't know how much love you are capable of until you have a kid. It's possibly one of the truest statements I have ever heard. I am so grateful that she is healthy and developing well. I know that she knows she is loved and is growing up in a good environment and hopefully we'll be able to keep it that way her whole life.

But in the meantime, yay for 1st birthdays.

**pictures will come later-- oh, & if you were at the party & took pictures will you let me know? thanks!**

False Alarm.

This week has been stressful. It feels like Monday was a month ago, not 2 days ago.

It all started out normal, I took Elea to her 6 month Doc appt. She has gotten back up to the 50th percentile for height and 45th percentile for weight (up from 25% since we started her on formula). Her head circumference is getting bigger on the percentile scale every time, last time it was 70th and this time it was in the 80th percentile. Big heads run in the family, what can I say.

Then the doctor starts telling me how because her face is narrow and the bridge of her nose is flat and wide it gives her the appearance of having crossed eyes. In my head I'm thinking, yes, I know, we've covered this. . . Then he does the light test and the reflection is on the pupil in both eyes. So she really doesn't have crossed eyes, it just looks like she does sometimes. It's called pseudo_____________ (whatever the medical term for crossed eyes is). But she's adorable so who cares.

Anyway, so that was great and then the doctor does the hip check thing. And he says he feels a "clunk." Not a click, a clunk. Then he says that he has to go check with the head doc in the practice to find out if they can do the ultrasound in Cedar or not. He thinks she has congenital hip dysplasia. So then he comes back and says that they can do the ultrasound in the hospital in town, and not to worry too much, yada yada. He also gave us a referral to an orthopedic surgeon. Then Elea gets her immunizations and handles them like a champ, I am very glad though that this is the last round of shots for awhile. On the way home I called Jeff and he instantly got really stressed out. So then I get home and call my mom and ask her what she knows about it. She says that she doesn't think it's a big deal, and looks it up online.

Congenital hip dysplasia/dislocation is when the baby's hip socket in utero is pushed out of joint and the head of the femur bone never gets back into place once the baby is born. So it's fixed by a brace, and if that doesn't work, then they put the baby under anesthesia and ram it back into place (delicately, I'm sure) and if that doesn't work then they have to do surgery. Then my mom starts describing the brace and it's a shoulder to toe contraption that has to fit just right or it can be ineffective or problematic. Fantastic. If the problem isn't corrected the child limps and/or walks like a duck the rest of their lives.

We went down to St. George to pick up Jeff's computer and met his parents for dinner. His dad has a way of just saying over and over whatever Jeff needs to hear. This time it was, "Everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine. She is healthy. Be thankful she is as healthy as she is." (and repeat). When we got home later that night Jeff and Jace gave Elea a blessing.

Then Tuesday I took her to the hospital to get the ultrasound. 2 1/2 hours, 1 bottle and 1 poopie diaper later, they finally called us back to get the ultrasound. Supposedly there is only 1 radiologist in the whole hospital that can oversee that kind of ultrasound and he doesn't do appts until 2 hours after they scheduled my appt. Anyway, he was a nice guy and him and the ultrasound tech were good with elea. He looked and looked and moved her leg all around and pushed on it and tugged on it and didn't see or feel a thing. So then I asked if it was worth seeing the orthopedic surgeon and he said that it never hurts to get a second opinion. And he also ordered an x-ray just to be thorough.

So I left the hospital feeling a little better about things.

Then today Jeff and I drove down to the orthopedic guy in St. George (we weren't huge fans of trusting one in Cedar). His dad was able to get us an appt. w/the surgeon who did his knee replacement. He checked her legs and looked at her x-ray and didn't see or feel anything either. She's totally fine. If she walks like a duck or with a limp it will be because she has her mother's coordination, not because of congenital hip dysplasia that was left untreated. The orthopedic guy seemed almost apologetic that he didn't find anything wrong. . . which was weird because it was the best news we could have heard, obviously.

So yay for it being a false alarm. Not cool that there was an alarm in the first place because between that and her trip to the ER for her RSV a couple weeks ago I think we're going to be meeting the health insurance $1000 deductible for the year 2 weeks into 2009. Fabulous.

I'm just grateful we were able to get it checked out so quick. And maybe next time I'm gonna try and see the specialist before the tests are done. Because honestly, I think that he wouldn't have even bothered with the ultrasound or x ray to begin with. So who knows if there was a clunk on Monday and the blessing healed it. Or if there wasn't anything to begin with. I'm very grateful that giving her a blessing was an option and that it's all good now.

And sorry Derek, you don't get to call her Elea Gump anymore.

Elea's feeling better!

So last week I ended up taking Elea to the E.R. Not because it was really an emergency but because it was New Year's morning and it was the only medical facility open within 50 miles. She had had an insane runny nose the days before and a mild temp but Thursday morning she did not look good at all. And she was acting like she didn't feel good which was what made me the most nervous. And she was basically refusing to drink anything. The E.R. doc said she had an ear infection and a cold. He ordered a breathing treatment and when the respiratory therapist came in he kept talking like she had RSV. So then we were a little confused. He did give us one of those giant green bulb syringes which is pretty fabulous except that now if it gets within 12 inches of Elea's face she starts thrashing her head around, crying/yelling, kicking her feet while simultaneously issuing a series of karate chops with her arms until the syringe is no longer aimed at her face.

But besides that it works fantastic.

Friday she seemed even worse than Thursday. Shanna had lent us her breathing machine (nebulizer?) so I called our pediatrician to see if they would prescribe her something but when I described her symptoms the pediatrician wanted to see her himself. So we took her in and her oxygen level was still good so he didn't do an official RSV test but he said that all the symptoms pointed to RSV but that we caught it early. And he didn't see any sign of an ear infection. So who knows what was going on with the ER doc, but I trust our pediatrician- he's very thorough. He also said that the 5th day was always the worst and then they start to turn around. And that was about the 5th day, luckily. So since then I have kept her on lock down. Partly for her sake, partly for the sake of all the other little babies around.

One would think that since I have been home for almost 2 weeks straight I would be getting all sorts of things done around the house. Yeah, not really. I feel more like a giant snot rag than anything else at this point. She is doing much better though and I am so glad. Now that she's breathing easier she has been sleeping 12 hours at night (not completely straight through, mind you). I don't know if it's because she's still fighting the bug(s) or if it's angels descending from heaven on my behalf. I guess we'll see.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our 4 year anniversary. Jeff asked me today if it felt like 4 years. I told him I felt like we've been married for forever. He took that as an insult. . . I meant it as a good thing. I'll try to tone down the butterflies and rainbows but I am a really lucky girl to be married to him. The other day I was sitting on the couch while he vacuumed with Elea in a baby bjorn on his chest. Not many men are willing to take care of their kid while cleaning all on their own just because they want to. I am seriously spoiled. Except for a couple of months early on, I have been able to stay off the anti-depressants since we've been married too-- so that's a good indicator of our life together I suppose.

So anyway, yay for anniversaries. I'll probably post a picture of our wedding if I get around to scanning it in the next day or 2. Crazy how being married ages a person. I think I looked exactly the same when I graduated high school and when I got married. But definitely don't look the same now.

Elea's 1st Christmas

break for me

Saturday I went to the "First Annual Southern Utah Crop till You Drop" with my sis-in-law Shanna. It was a lot of fun. I was looking forward to it for about a month leading up to it but then the "week of" came and I started to stress out about it. I haven't been away from Elea for longer than 2-3 hours at a time since she was born. And that's only happened twice that I remember. Jeff took her to the priesthood session last week and she started freaking out an hour before I was able to get home so that didn't make me feel too calm about being gone for so long on Saturday. If I hadn't already paid for my spot I would have chickened out-- but I am glad that I went.

It was in St. George so Jeff dropped me off and then had a bottle that I'd pumped earlier that day (he hung out at his parents house). Then he came and got me during the dinner break and I ate dinner then nursed Elea. Then I went back and she lasted a few more hours-- then Jeff brought her to me and I fed her really quick in the car. Then I was able to stay for the rest of it. It was a lot of fun and it lasted 10 hours-- it didn't feel like it was that long though!

I love being home all day with Elea, but I would be lying if I said that the break wasn't needed or appreciated. I'm so lucky to have a husband who loves spending time with his little girl and let's me do the things that make me happy. :) After this little adventure I think I am converting to digital scrapbooking completely-- I'll probably sell most of my regular scrapbooking supplies-- but I haven't decided how yet.

I made this page before I went to the scrapbook thing-- I finally gave in and bought a kit from Scrap Orchard and it was worth it-- makes it so much easier.

Scrapbook page

Naps have consistently been a struggle for Elea. It takes about 20-30 minutes for her to fall asleep and then she sleeps for 44 minutes and almost to the second, 45 minutes hits and she is awake. Most times I can move her or put the binkie back in and get another 20-30 minutes. HOWEVER, miracle of miracles, this morning she slept for over 2 hours, almost 3 total!

I was able to make this page on my computer AND eat breakfast while she slept. Pretty fantastic morning if you ask me.

Twilight Series Confession

About a month ago I was at Costco and saw the book Twilight on CD. At that point I felt like my brain was going to ooze out of my head because I'd been watching so much TV. I figured it would last me awhile, and that I would just listen to it while nursing Elea.

It didn't quite work out that way.

I put the first CD in on my way back to Cedar City. Then I came inside and put it in the CD player at home and continued to listen to it every possible moment that Jeff was sleeping or not home. Needless to say, it was a lot better than I expected and definitely more suspenseful than The Awakening by Kate Chopin, which is what I had been reading.

I ended up buying the second book, New Moon, 2 days later and finished it 2 days later. Then I bought the next 2, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn and finished both of them within 4 days. It was a fantastic discovery to realize that I could hold Elea and/or nurse Elea while reading. Duh. Sometimes I am kind of slow grasping the obvious.

But then I finished the books and wasn't too thrilled with the ending. Sort of a let down. But besides that I really liked them. A lot more than I expected too. And I really wouldn't mind being Stephenie Meyer's version of a vampire.

While I was visiting Angie in Omaha we looked up the Twilight movie that is coming out November 21st. I got all goofy excited and I am not one of those people who goes to a movie the day it comes out. But this one-- definitely gonna be there and I just hope it doesn't break my heart by not being fantastic.

Happy Birthday to Us

Today was Jeff & my birthday. He turned 27 and I turned 25.

There are some great things about having the same birthday-- if you forget it's their birthday then you get off the hook really easily because that means you've forgotten it's your birthday too. I baked him a German chocolate cake last night and felt pretty dang proud of myself and pathetic at the same time because it is the first birthday cake I've baked for him since we've been married. Having the EXACT same birthday causes this weird canceling out phenomenon. We don't really celebrate either of our birthdays. Or maybe it's just that we're getting old(er) and growing out of the thrill of the "birthday."

Last year I was in Arizona and he was in Utah on our birthday so I worked and he went to school to celebrate our birthdays. This year he had an away game in American Fork (they won 56-8 or something ridiculous like that) so he was gone all day. However, Elea was a little darling today and slept pretty good and I hung out with Gwen in St. George for a few hours. That combined with listening to the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyer on CD pretty much made my day.

Anyway, yay for being 25. And 27.

my favorite part of the day

In the mornings when Elea wakes up she is happy. Obviously, she takes after her father because he wakes up happy every day too. This morning I was finally able to get my camera in time to catch some of her smiles because she quickly loses patience and wants to eat. NOW.

It looks really dark but that's just my camera. . . she's been sleeping in until 8 am and it is pretty fantastic. :)

Football game #1

I don't remember if I've mentioned that Jeff is helping coach football at Cedar High this year. Tonight was the first game of the season. Cedar won 32-6 so that is good. My mom and I took Elea and were able to stay for about an hour-- not too bad I thought. She totally slept through the band and the cheering and everything for about a half hour but then she woke up and was hungry and the wind was blowing, etc.

I've decided to keep track of the number of hours I spend sitting on bleachers over the next 25 years. I am really horrible at actually watching what is happening on the field-- I spend most of my time people watching but as long as I'm there, I get wifey points for being supportive.

Elea's Baby Blessing

Last Sunday, the 20th, we had Elea's baby blessing at Jeff's parent's house. We originally were going to do it this Sunday, but all the family was in town last weekend for a mini family reunion so we decided to do it then.

Jeff was called to be the 2nd Counselor in Elders Quorum last week too, so he was set apart on Sunday too.

Because of Jeff's setting apart and me having to get ready, by the time we got down to St. George, Elea hadn't eaten in 4 1/2 hours and I knew everyone was waiting to change out of church clothes until after her blessing-- so like a true hormonal/emotional new mom I had a nice, short, little emotional breakdown. I was worrying about her being hungry (and at that point in my mind--starving to death) and at the same time worrying about the 30 family members waiting in the family room. I was holding it together until I took her out of her car seat and she made a sound-- looking back, I don't even think it was a sad sound, or the beginnings of a cry, but it was enough to get me crying because I felt so bad that she might be hungry while they gave her her blessing, etc. So my mother in law and my sister told me to just feed her and everyone can wait-- which is what I should have decided in the first place, really. Sounds silly that that was enough to send me over the edge-- but it did.

So anyway, after nursing her, we put her in her dress and went out to the family room. It was really sweet to see her surrounded by all the big men in the family. Jeff gave her the blessing, and my dad, his dad, Derek, Spencer, Justin, Jace, and Eric (a good family friend) were in the circle. The blessing was really good- Jeff did a great job. I am glad that we did it at home because he was able to take his time and the room was really quiet-- and all the family was able to be there.

More pictures- Elea's first few days.

NO MORE SCHOOL FOR JEFF!!

Jeff's finished with his student teaching!! What a relief.

It will be great for him to be able to just go to work without having to worry about school stuff anymore.

Jeff's finished in 3 weeks!!

I don't know if it is because of the baby or what but Jeff has worked out a sweet deal for his student teaching. Normally, for secondary ed, student teachers have to put in 6o days, 6 hours per day. Instead of having Jeff put in the requisite number of days, they are allowing him to do the hours, anyway that he likes. So, this week, if he goes from 8-5 everyday, it will count as 9 hours, which equals 1.5 days. Thursday night we went through his time sheet/log and figured out his hours- and if he shows up for the standard 40 hour work week, he only has 2 weeks and 4 days left.

YAY!! So we should be able to move up to Cedar permanently by the 4th of July. I am really not a fan of the cold- but I can say that I like the summer temperatures up there. Especially being pregnant, anything under 100 degrees is pretty fantastic.

. . . Speaking of which, my feet and ankles finally returned to their normal size 1 week after we began the move from AZ-which was a relief because I was afraid my ankle bones were gone for good until after the baby was born.

We went to Cedar again this weekend. We were able to sort through every box in the garage and for the first time in our marriage have a 2 car garage that we can fit 2 cars in! The rest of the house is pretty close to being put together as well.

Jeff's mom let us borrow her steam cleaner so we took turns going around the house steam cleaning everything we could think of. Jeff even declared our toilet the cleanest toilet in Cedar City at one point. It's really kind of gross what come out of stuff that looks clean to begin with (I didn't ask if this happened with the toilet- didn't want to know). Or when you realize that the tannish-brown grout in your kitchen is really supposed to be more of a creamy-beige color. So gross. But at least now I can rest easy that the majority of the germs and dirt in the house are going to be our germs and dirt- that I can handle.

We also screwed the bookcases to the wall so that we don't have to worry about them tipping over on some unsuspecting toddler sometime down the road. Or more likely, me.

One fun reality check this weekend was how much it costs to get all the "staples" for a house- like cleaning supplies, ketchup, mustard, tin foil, toilet bowl brushes, plastic wrap, toilet paper, etc. When we were first married, the majority of our gifts came in money or gift cards. We used the gift cards to buy all that kind of stuff for our house- and since then have just moved it with us everytime we've moved- replacing them one at a time, as needed. Except this last time, I just left all that stuff for the 2 guys renting our house, hoping that if they already had the necessary materials to clean the house, they would be more likely to keep it clean. So now we are starting over and it is somewhat painful. Although Wal-Mart probably loves us right now.