7 months?! Really Annie?!

ok ok....so I'm not the best at this blogging thing. Actually, I believe I am a great blogger but I am an even better procrastinator. There have been so many changes from the last blog. In the last one I had started a brand new job...but just recently, in March, I started a career. I am now a teacher at Kiddie Academy and have a class of 4-year olds that I love to death. The best thing is that I can see Elle all day long now while I am at work. How cool is that?!

We do not have our puppy Maysie anymore. :( It's sad to talk about but she got too much of a handful and we were not home enough to give her what she needed. We found such a good home for her with Taylor! Thank you so much for taking and loving our baby. She is doing so well and I'm so grateful that we found her a loving home. I know we did what is best for her and for us but I still miss her.

But probably the biggest change has been the arrival of 3 new babies into our family. First came Katy Elizabeth, born October 5, 2009 weighing in at 6lbs 8oz. Then just 2 days later, my sister Amy had her baby girl, Sophia Grace. She was born October 7, 2009 and weighed 8lbs 1oz. Then just recently, my sister in law samantha had her baby boy 4 weeks early. His name is Joseph Edward and was born on March 4, 2010. He weighed 5 lbs 7oz. SO...that is it so far. lol. I know, alot of babies in a short amount of time but they are a blessing and the fact that they are all healthy is amazing.
Sophia Grace
Katy Elizabeth
PICTURE OF JOSEPH TO COME SOON!!!


Halloween was so much fun. Elle didn't want to wear the costume we bought her so at the last second I had to come up with this. Not bad huh?


Elle's 3rd birthday was great. We had her birthday in the park and invited her school friends and teachers and family and friends. It was a wonderful day of celebration.



We went to Disneyland for my 28th birthday! What a great time! Brad and Kristy took me out and we had a ball. .
And disneyland....well, it's Disneyland!! We had so much fun and Elle had a blast. I'm so thankful for my family and everything we get to do together.
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Christmas was awesome as always. Elle got sooooo much crap it's ridiculous! But she deserved it. She's such an amazing little girl. Seriously, I don't know how I got so lucky.We went to Flagstaff and played in the snow in January. She was so cute in her little snowsuit. We had so much fun!




Our anniversary was great at the Melting Pot and on Ollie's birthday we went to the Shouthouse! Which is now our new favorite place to go. We had a busy January but it was fantastic. February and March just kind of drifted by. We had Samantha's shower at the end of February and then she had the baby.


All these babies have me gloomy though I must admit. We have been trying for 18 months for another addition to the family and it seems impossible at this point. I know alot of people have gone through this and have waited much longer but I'm not a patient person. lol. Especially when it's concerning something that I cannot control. It is almost annoying that everyone is having babies but me. Is it weird to think that something is wrong with me?? Well, I know that's ridiculous but I can't help thinking that way sometimes.

We are going to try and put that on a backseat for now. If I let it consume me too much then it hurts worse every month when the test comes back negative. So, my priorities now are God, Elle, Ollie, family, and job in that order. I believe that as long as I have faith and hope then the time will come....I just hope it doesn't take too long!!! I'm dying here. :) lol

Easter was bittersweet. We were supposed to have a fun-filled day with the family. Instead, we had an e.r. visit because we thought Elle was having an emergency case of appendicitis! It was scary but thank the Lord, she was okay. They are not sure what was wrong with her but we are just supposed to keep an eye on her. (Picture of this event to come soon) :)

That's about it...Hope everyone else is doing well! I'll try and not be a stranger!

~Me~

.lazy blogger.

So it's been a wild few months! Obviously, I haven't written in forever....but It's not because I'm lazy, tho some people would say that I am. It's because I have been crazy busy. The last blog was one of the saddest days of my life. But since that day alot has happened. What have you missed, you say?? Well, for starters, we got a puppy named Maysie.... Isn't she cute??!! However, that was 3 months ago....and now she looks like this!

She's a monster too. I swear she wants to drive me crazy but I'm hoping it's just a puppy thing...she just loves to play wayyyyyy too much. :)

Next: we moved into our new home! it is beautiful and has way more room than we have ever had. Elle, Ollie and I fit in quite nicely with the humble abode, can't ya tell?
Here's Elle making cupcakes

Here's Elle brushing her teeth in her new bathroom

Here's daddy and Elle playing in our bedroom, sportin the Cubbies gear

Here's Elle playing Hide n Seek with me

Here's Elle playing at the new park....she was terrified!Is it bad that I find this VERY funny??


Next: We had a great 4th of July....Let me explain how it went down. We went to my Aunt's to swim and then after the fun there we left and drove back to Surprise to watch the fireworks. We made it just in time to park and see the fireworks shoot off right in front of us. Elle was a little freaked out but she calmed down. We realized like 13 minutes into the show that we couldn't hear the music from the stadium which made it kind of boring....so what did me and Ollie come up with?? We turned the car on and put our Disneyland soundtrack CD in the CD player. We blasted the last 3 minutes of the FANTASMIC show as the fireworks finale came. It went perfectly and it was the best 4th ever! Only our family could figure out how to mix Disney into everything we do.
Here's a random picture of Elle....There are wayyy too many cute pictures to not put them on here!


I digress.....NEXT: Elle and I, along with my sister in law Missy and her little boy Alex went to the circus. Elle was a little worried at first but as soon as she saw the "eleman" (that's Elle language for Elephant) she calmed right down.

NEXT: I started a new job! yay! I work at Massage Envy with my hubby. He's a therapist there and I am his Sales Associate. Doesn't sound very fancy I know but it makes good money. :) And, not to mention I'm pretty stinkin good at it. Here I am celebrating the launching of our Susan G. Komen day. We had a pink party to kick off the pre-bookings. It was so much fun.
Here's another random cute pic of Elle...How can I not show these??


NEXT: Leo turned 2! I know, it's craziness...he's turning 2 and my sis is about to pop out another one....sheesh...It was so much fun having his Remi party. I mean just check out how much he loved his cake for cryin out loud!

And Lastly but, most importantly....Elle started PRESCHOOL! I know, I know! She just cannot be that big...but she is. I needed to help out financially and Elle really needed to get out and make friends so this was the solution that fit. She absolutely loves going and I am so happy that she is happy. Everyday she sees me she just lights up and I'm so greatful that we have been given the opportunity to do this for her at no expense.
Here she is on her first day of school!
We are so proud of her and everything she is accomplishing at such a young age.

So all in all, we have had a pretty amazing, yet hectic summer and we cannot wait until it cools down. We will be welcoming 2 precious baby girls into the family in October and we are all so blessed. Amy's little girl will be named Sophia Grace and Missy's baby girl is going to be named Katy Elizabeth. We cannot wait for them to be here. So as tired as we are now, it will get more exhausting I'm sure as October rolls around. They are due 1 day apart! yikes! :)

In the midst of the craziness that has been our lives, we had 2 relaxing and fun events. First, Ollie and I went to the midnite showing of Harry Potter...YES, we are Harry Potter fanatics! Ollie is on book 4 now after seeing the latest film. He is loving every minute of them and I am so proud of him for reading a book! haha. The movie was great and we just cannot get enough of them!
Here we are waiting for our awesome movie to start


The other fun event was having some of our co-workers over. We played games and just had a good ole time. Eventually Jess wound up on the floor...it was inevitable. It was so much fun and we cannot wait to do it again!



Randomness at its finest!


So that's our summer in a really long blog. Sorry but I had ALOT to cover.

NEXT UP: Amy's baby shower and Alicia's visit....stay tuned! hee hee.

.the hardest month.

Well, I have not updated in awhile. The month of May has had some of the biggest accomplishments of my life, but also some of the saddest moments. I finished school. I graduated from ASU with a bachelor of arts degree in Psychology. I should be ecstatic about this; don't get me wrong. I am. But it is overshadowed by the clouds that came upon my life on May 5th.

My very beautiful and wonderful friend Melissa had a baby boy 3 weeks before Elle was born. His name was Aiden. He was an amazing little boy and him and Elle were such amazing friends. I took care of him and loved him since the day his mom and I became friends when he was only 5 weeks in her belly. We went to the same doctor, we delivered at the same hospital and we spent every minute together while we were pregnant and, of course, afterwards we made the kids fall in love with each other. I held him in my arms The day he was born and he was beautiful. On that Tuesday, after I completed my finals, my world came tumbling down. I received a call from Melissa's sister-in-law that said Aiden had passed away on May 2nd. He had tragically drowned in the backyard pool.



Needless to say, I didn't believe that she would tell me such a cruel joke. It wasn't until she said it 3 more times that I truly grasped what was happening. It was not a joke. It was the worst imaginable thing. My beautiful friends' 2 year old boy was gone. I part of me died at that moment. I didn't want to freak out on the phone...I'm sure Julie had had enough of that the last couple days of making those horrible phone calls. So I took down the information she gave me, told her to tell Melissa I loved her, and said goodbye. The moment I hung up the phone, I will never forget my reaction. Even right now, it's hard to describe it. The pain is still so unbearable.





I started shaking and I yelled out. The tears came and they didn't stop. Ollie ran in and asked what was going on and through the sobbing I told him what happened to the boy who was like a nephew to us. He couldn't believe it. We sat on the floor for an hour crying. It was pain that I had never felt before.




After calling my family and explaining the situation, we prepared ourselves for the funeral the next day. When I arrived, I saw Melissa. Looking sick and pale...much like I expected her to look. I walked up to her and she just sobbed in my arms. I remember her saying, "Annie...my boy...my baby boy...he's gone". I wanted to be there, strong, for her...but I couldn't. I was weak. I lost control and sobbed with her.

The funeral was worse then I could ever imagine it would be for me. I cannot even imagine how Melissa felt. They had his casket opened and his little body lay there motionless. It was surreal. Too much for me to bear. But then I saw his mother go to him and lay over him and just wept. As I watched this, I realized that no amount of pain that I'm feeling at this moment could match one ounce of what she was feeling at that point in time. I watched Melissa through the whole service. It was so sad and pathetic. Every time she started shaking and crying, I would follow. Her pain was my pain. I wanted to help her somehow so I got up and said some words to her in front of everyone. I needed to tell her what she and Aiden meant to me. I started shaking and couldn't stop. It was so bad but I got through it. After a long embrace...the service started again and then it was over. I said goodbye.






They had one more service for him in Massachusettes and then he was to be cremated. I cannot even begin to imagine what she is going through. What that whole family is going through. All I know for sure is that Aiden is safe and in my Saviour's loving arms right now. He is watching over his mother and is helping her be strong. It's hard having a mind that likes to play tricks on you. I've dreamt about Aiden....about still being alive and running and playing. These dreams turn into nightmares when I wask up and realize that it is all untrue. My mind wanders and then I picture that happening to Elle and those are the moments that I cannot handle this emotion.

I will love that little boy forever and always. Elle will always remember her best friend. Melissa will always be in my heart and I will pray for her strength everyday. This will be the hardest time of her life. I don't know how she will move on from this. BUT she will. I know it in my soul.





For those of you who think this type of tragedy couldn't happen to you....I want you to know that it can. Put a lock and gate around your pool. Supervise your children at all times. No person deserves to go through the pain that she is going through. He was her world and now her world has fallen to pieces. Make sure this does not happen to you, because it only takes an instant...one moment, and your whole world is gone.





My life is going on...we have some happy times with family and friends and school being finished. My accomplishments are great. A 3.67 GPA in school and a bright future ahead. A future that I will most definately not take for granted. I will never take Elle and my husband for granted. They are my life, my world. As a mom, this has affected me deeply. As a person, this has touched my heart in more ways than I can explain. Children are a blessing to us all and we need to cherish every waking moment we have...because it can all be gone, in a blink of an eye.

We love you Melissa, my friend.

Aiden...I will see you again. But for my short time here on Earth, I will miss you terribly. I love you.