Life with the Lauritzens: From the Middle of Nowhere

Christmas 2010

2011-01-14T14:35:00.001-08:00

After the wedding, we met my parents in Mesa and spent some time with my Grandma Baker. Jacob had to come back to work, so Chelsea and I stayed there until Thursday, then came to Thatcher on Thursday with my parents. Monday the 20th, we celebrated our 5th anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long. It doesn't seem like we've been married for 5 years! My parents watched Chelsea so we could go to a bookstore and look around. We actually went out and celebrated alone while we were at Disneyland, but more on that in the next post!

Christmas was good this year! Like I said, my parents were in town, so that was nice! Jacob's parents were out of town (Jacob's whole family was in Texas this year), so it was just us and my parents. Chelsea must have been a very good girl this year because Santa was very good to her! Other than presents there wasn't much going on that day, so here's some pictures!

Chelsea running out to see what Santa brought!

So excited!

Grandma Melinda wanted to find some stick horses for the kids because they had so much fun playing with them at Fort Bridger. Grandma added the ribbon to the girls' horses. Chelsea loves it!

My mom's cousin came over to see her, so we didn't jump right into presents. Chelsea was perfectly content though. She was so excited about the horse, desk, and the little things in her stocking she wasn't worried about all of the unopened presents under the tree!

Grandpa Monte reading Chelsea the Elmo Christmas Book from her stocking.

I had her open the big stuff first. I figured she would eventually get tired of opening presents and there were some that I was excited for her to open.
She opened her big present, then just waited while daddy and Grandpa opened it. She was so excited about the baby doll! I have never seen a kid so excited about a present before! It couldn't get opened soon enough!

She's holding the baby doll. She didn't want to put it down. Eventually she figured out that it would be easier to open the presents with two hands.
Check out that action shot!

Chelsea did get tired of opening presents, so we just set the other ones in her room for when she wanted to open them. She didn't want to open them that day, but I think she opened them all but one in the next day or so. I guess she just wanted to prolong Christmas! Grandma and Grandpa left that afternoon to head to New Mexico to see the rest of the family. We weren't able to go because we had made plans to go to Disneyland before Derrick decided to get married :). We had fun with my parents and wished they could have stayed longer!

We taped the Disney Channel parade earlier that day, and watched it later while Chelsea played with some of her new toys. She absolutely loves baby dolls. She knows exactly how to take care of them! Now if only she could change her own diaper...

While we watched the parade I was trying to finish up an autograph book for her to take to Disneyland. She wanted to help.

Our excitement didn't end with Christmas, though! The next day I drove to Phoenix to pick up my amazing friend Jessica from the airport! We drove back to Thatcher, then we left for Disneyland Monday morning! More pictures to come! :)

Derrick and Anika's Wedding

2011-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

December was a very busy month for us! I was really looking forward to getting to go somewhere and be gone for so long (since I don't really do much and jump at the chance to get out of town). We drove up to Utah for Derrick's wedding! We borrowed a car from my Uncle Tom (there is no way our car would have made it through all the snow and mountains), so the trip was pretty smooth! Well, except for the two times Jacob got pulled over. The first time was about an hour before Provo, and it was because the tint on the windows was too dark. (He said it was even too dark for Arizona). The second time was on the way back, about an hour from Mesa. Apparently the light above the license plate was burned out. The second cop was much friendlier than the first. I think he was surprised when he pulled us over and saw us and Chelsea sitting in the car (the car was kinda sporty looking). Other than that, there wasn't much excitement in the driving itself. Oh, except for the fact that Chelsea refused to sleep on the way there (we drove all night), and didn't really sleep much on the way back either. All in all it was a good trip, and great to see family! Here's some pictures of the great day!

This is my dad, Grandpa Carl, and Uncle Kevin. Can you see the family resemblance? It had been a while since we had seen them, so it was great they were able to come!
Derrick and Anika Turner :)

Stephanie made these adorable dresses for the 3 little girls. We got tons of compliments on them and they looked great! Thanks Steph!

We tried to get a picture with the siblings and our families. Chelsea was past ready for a nap, so she wasn't very happy. I'm holding Eliza because she wanted her mom to hold her, but she's holding Caleb. It was freezing outside! I'm finally used to this Arizona weather, so it seemed freezing in Utah to me!

After the wedding, we drove to Provo to go to the Creamery! (The Creamery on Ninth was basically my 2nd home during college...I worked there, and probably spent more hours there every week than I did at home...especially during the summer!) We were excited to take Chelsea there for some grill food and ice cream! I also got to see Hilary, Cindy, and Jacki--3 people that I used to work with!

This is the only decent picture I could find of the reception. We drove a couple hours up to Lyman, WY (Anika's hometown) for the reception that night. (I think Thatcher is tiny, there is noway I could survive in Lyman!) We got a cute picture of the grandkids! (Jay, Caleb, Carly, Chelsea, and Eliza)

The next day, in Wyoming, we were able to go to the Fort Bridger Museum. (It's normally closed, but Anika's family knew someone who worked there and was able to get us in, or something like that). It was really nice because they had a Kid Korral play area, and we didn't have to worry about anyone walking off with the kids because we were the only ones there. Despite her face in this picture, Chelsea LOVED playing with the hat and stick horse. She played with it the entire time we were there! Jacob is sure having fun though, huh?

Chelsea on the horse in the play area. Over the month we discovered that Chelsea has a love of horses. It's been fun to see her start to pick the things that she likes (like horses, babies, and Minnie!)

So that is our trip for Derrick's wedding in a nutshell. Like I said, it was a good trip and great to see everyone, and most of all to welcome Anika into the family! Stay tuned for a post on Christmas!

Year in Review

2011-01-09T17:23:00.000-08:00

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was a good idea. It's just a recap of the year with a couple pictures from each month. It helps to show how much Chelsea has changed and grown up over the year! Enjoy!

January

Chelsea in January. She wasn't quite 1, and wasn't walking on her own yet either. Notice the cyst on the top of her forehead. This was removed in February.

February
Chelsea had surgery to remove a cyst. This was taken when we were able to see her after the surgery.

Her stitches. I think there were between 16-20. This was a couple days after the surgery when we removed the bandage.

Chelsea turned 1! This isn't the best picture from her birthday, but I wasn't able to find many (our stuff is still in storage so I was limited to what I could find on the computer). She also started walking a couple weeks before her birthday!

March
Beginning of March we finally took her out to play in the snow for the first time. She seemed to enjoy it, but couldn't walk very well on the snow! It really wasn't that cold that day, but it was fun to bundle her up to go outside!

Chelsea and I made a crazy trip with my mom, sister, and her 2 two kids to Arizona during spring break. We got to see my Grandma and Grandpa Baker. Grandpa passed away a month after we saw him, so the trip was completely worth it. We also spent time in New Mexico visiting Darbie and Chad, and went to Explora! (a huge hands on science center)!
April
Easter! Chelsea loved exploring the candy from the baskets!

Jacob turned 26! (He's quickly turning into an old man...). He has this obsession with pirates, so I did a small pirate themed party for him. I just love this picture of him and Chelsea!

May
Graduation! Jacob graduated with an MA in Literature from The University of Akron on Mother's Day! Chelsea and I are so proud of our graduate!

As a graduation present from his parents, Jacob and I took an amazing vacation Chelsea free! We went on a cruise to the Bahamas, then spent a couple days at Universal Studios in Orlando. Grandma Lauritzen watched Chelsea for us in Ohio, and Grandma Melinda helped her out and watched her the last day!

June
So remember how I said I was limited to what pictures I could find on the computer? Well, for some reason I wasn't able to find ANY pictures from June! In June our amazing friends, Ashley and Kolbein Kolste, came to visit with their new daughter, Emma! We went to the zoo and Ashley and I got to take a night to scrapbook at Archiver's! It was a great couple of days, and we can't wait until we get to see them June 2011!

July
Jacob and I drove down to North Carolina for Rochelle and Scott's wedding! Jacob had already accepted a job offer from Gila Preparatory Academy here in Safford, AZ, and we had to move the next week!

Jacob and I after the wedding, right before the rain started!

Time to pack up everything we owned and move across the country!
Chelsea was clearly pulling her weight in the packing department...That is staying out of the way so we could pack everything up!

August
Chelsea on a walk to get a snow cone. Hot. Hot. Hot. No other way to describe the weather. Welcome to Arizona!

I had to take a first day of school picture of Jacob! He was so excited for his first day as a high school English teacher!

September
We braved the Arizona heat and went to the Phoenix Zoo. It was hotter than heck that day, so we only got through half of the zoo. (We decided to get a membership so we could go lots more!)

Pigtails! Need I say more?

Development of September: HAIR! Where did all that hair come from? It seemed that when we moved to Arizona she sprouted hair and teeth...during the move she had 4-5 teeth coming in. Where did my little baby girl go?

October
Graham County Fair. I was really excited for this. It was fun, but it will be more fun when Chelsea is a little bit older and we can do more.

My mom came to visit! We spent a couple days in Mesa with my Grandma Baker. We also got to meet Derrick's fiancee, Anika. Here's a 4 generation picture we snapped before rushing back for Jacob to work!

This is Joseph. Hiding in the ferns on the mountain. This is the first time we went hiking in the mountains. We had lots of fun! Maybe after the snow is gone we'll do it again!

Halloween! Chelsea was Alice (costume made by Grandma Melinda). This is her running at trunk or treat at the church. She had lots of fun!

November
We went to the Zoo again, focusing on the part we hadn't done before. The weather was much nicer so we had a much more enjoyable day!

Chelsea LOVES shoes. The first thing she asks for in the morning is shoes and socks. She gets so excited about them. She loves to walk around in Jacob's shoes!

December

I would have to say that December was our busiest month, by far! Derrick and Anika got married in the Mount Timpanogas Temple!

Of course we HAD to go to the Creamery for some burgers and ice cream! Chelsea LOVED it!

Christmas! Chelsea absolutely loved opening her presents! Santa was good to her this year!

We went to Disneyland with Joseph and Jessica! It was great to see Jessica and get to spend so much time with her! We had a great trip and it was a great way to end 2010!

So there is a recap of our year in pictures. We had a good year. We're very blessed for Jacob to have found a job right out of school, and we're getting used to living in Arizona. We'll see what 2011 holds for us! Who knows...maybe it will hold more regular blog updates!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

So, I was ambitious this year and decided I was going to make Christmas cards this year. I figured with not working, I had plenty of time to finish them. Well, things got busy with the holidays...my brother got married, we visited family, then went to Disneyland the week after Christmas. So the cards didn't happen this year. Maybe next year! Here's the poem Jacob wrote to send out. Check back in the next few days for LOTS and LOTS of pictures of our adventures this last month!

“The Lauritzen’s 2010: A Year in Review”

2010 was a year of transition

With graduation and moving and paying tuition.

Here is a poem with some of our story

Sit back and relax (I hope it’s not boring).

Upon graduation, we left on a cruise.

We flew to Miami for food and to snooze.

We ate Key Lime in Key West and saw Hemmingway

And in the Bahamas we played all day.

We left Ohio towards the end of the summer.

With vacation over it was back to a number

Of “unfun” stuff; moving and packing and driving cross-country

From East to West to make some more money

Jacob got a new job, or two, or three

At a high school, a college, and university.

Now he is teaching, and teaching, and tutoring students

Wiping their noses and grading their truant … papers.

Chelsea had surgery to remove a cyst

She turned one, can run and climb onto … well, let me list:

Her crib rail, the table, chairs and benches

Computers, and scooters and did I mention … everything?

She is starting to talk, saying, “peeze” and “more.”

It’s so cute and precious we cannot ignore

When she tugs at our fingers and drags us in place

To play Legos or balls or to clean off her face.

She loves Minnie and Mickey and going to the Zoo,

Dora and Diego and Ming Ming too.

She is our bundle of joy;

Our love and our world!

We love her so much—

Our Baby Girl.

Whitney has been scrappin’

and a little head scratchin’

To find what to do

in our town of like two

Or three thousand,

a Walmart, and mountains.

She has been reading a lot of murder mysteries

Where the killer kills with new recipes.

Then, she tries them on Jacob to see how they taste,

And when he survives she puts some on her plate.

But still we have fun

Out here in the sun

Through good and bad days,

Through the sweat and the tears

Merry Christmas from us

And have a Happy New Year!

Halloween

2010-11-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty good Halloween. Chelsea wasn't feeling too well, so she got kinda cranky by the end of the night. We also weren't able to get any great pictures of her in her costume, so later this week we'll have her put it on again so we can get some pictures.

Grandma Melinda made the most adorable Alice costume! I made the headband :) and in true Turner fashion, finished it promptly a few minutes before we left! We went to Basha's, a grocery store, to do a little trick or treating. She had lots of fun running around the store, and we got LOTS of compliments on how cute her costume was and how cute she looked in it!

This seemed to be one of the best pictures showing her whole outfit. Most of the other pictures only have half-a-Chelsea in them because she was running.
She loved getting the candy!

The last week has been pretty busy (Jacob had to help with the haunted house that Gila Prep was doing) so we hadn't had time to carve our pumpkin yet. We did it after going to Basha's.

Chelsea really wasn't interested in sticking her hand in much further than that. She did have fun picking up the seeds, putting them on her spoon, then putting it in the bowl. She had fun watching us get messy, though.

Jacob with his masterpiece. I tried to get a picture of Chelsea with it, but she was more interested in the buckle on her booster chair. She's been fascinated by them lately.

We laid Chelsea down for a second nap since she was sick and we wanted her to be able to enjoy herself Saturday night at trunk or treat. She had fun playing the games, got some cute little toys, and seemed to have a good time.

Chelsea really liked this game. I think she looks so cute sitting there, and I love the bright colors in the picture. This was the beginning of the night, so she was still in good spirits. About 10 minutes later, not so much.

She had a good time though. There were a ton of kids, because it was 3 wards combined at the activity. There weren't too many trunks to go to, maybe between 25-30 total for the 3 wards, but Chelsea eventually caught on to the getting the candy part. Overall the holiday turned out ok.

The next day, Chelsea and I stayed home from church because she was sick. That night we were going to the temple to take some pictures for Jacob's parents, so we got her dressed so she could run around outside a little bit. When we told her we were going to change her clothes, she went to her room, went right for her Alice costume and got all the pieces so we could put it on her. I think she'll be ok with putting it on later this week for a photo shoot!

We're Still Alive

2010-10-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it certainly has been awhile. Our lives have completely changed. Jacob graduated and was lucky enough to find a job teaching high school English in Safford, Arizona. We found out about the job at the beginning of July. Jacob left JC Penney, I left Archiver's, and we moved. On July 24 we packed up the truck and left Ohio on July 25.

My amazing friend Jessica helped us pack. There is no way we would have finished without her! Chelsea was laughing and covering her mouth :) (Jul 24)

When we first got to Arizona, I was excited to be able to go to the Baker Family Campout. There is one every year, but because every member of my family has lived too far away to come, I was happy to be the Turner Family Representative. It rained all weekend and was cold and muddy. Chelsea had a great time. It was great to see everyone, but I was happy to go back to a nice warm bed.

Chelsea LOVES playing with dogs. Even if they are twice her size. This is my Uncle Tom and Aunt Ginny's dog. (Jul 31)
Chelsea loved being able to play in the dirt. I never let her get dirty. (Jul 31)

It sure was hot here. Chelsea and I decided to go for a walk one day. It was about 3:00. We walked down the road to get a snow cone. I was hot, and immediately regretted even coming outside. But we wanted that snow cone!

She wasn't very interested in eating it but she did insist that it was on her tray. That was the only day we went for a walk at that time--I decided we needed to go earlier next time. (Aug 2)

Chelsea has loved playing in the kitchen. Not cooking, just playing with the dishes. She gets them out, runs around the house with them, and sometimes puts them back where they belong. She loves the water jugs, rolling pins, and brushes. Oh, and we have to check things before using them because she likes to put Legos in them. We'll be in trouble when she figures out how to open the oven...

(Aug 12)

This apron was made by Jacob's Grandma Lauritzen. Chelsea loves wearing it! (Aug 23)

Chelsea also loves to play with Grandma and Grandpa Lauritzen's Legos. She loves to put them together, take them apart, carry them around, and put them in and out of things.

(Aug 24)

We blew up her tiny pool and put it out in the yard. She had fun playing in the water, but wasn't really sure what to do. She lots of fun though!

(Aug 28)

We had been wanting to go down to Phoenix to do some shopping. There really isn't much shopping in this town. We decided that Labor Day weekend would be a good time to go, hoping to catch some sales. We also wanted to go to the Phoenix Zoo. We decided to get a membership so that we could go whenever we head that way. The weather said it was supposed to be 104 that day. We had been looking forward to it, so decided it wouldn't be that bad, so to go ahead and brave the Arizona heat. Bad idea. It was so hot the animals weren't even really out and we were sweating like crazy. Chelsea was a trooper. We decided to spend the rest of the day in an air conditioned mall.

This picture wasn't too long after we started. It was so hot! (Sept 4)

We let her out of the stroller to run around a little bit. We have a picture from last summer on a frog at the Cleveland Zoo, so we thought it would be fun to get a similar picture. (Sept 4)
She didn't want to go back into the stroller. (Sept 4)

I try to let Chelsea help me do things during the day. She likes to help put dishes away (of course) but she loves to help me with the laundry. I decided to take some pictures of her :).

(Sept 4)

We go to the park every once in a while to play. She loves the slides but won't get on the swings. She also loves to play in the dirt. But, her favorite game would be keep away...keeping Chelsea away from Daddy, that is. I have also managed to get her hair in pigtails a couple of times. She doesn't sit still for me to do it, so it hasn't happened much. This girl is finally getting some hair though!

(Sept 10)
We went to Taco Bell after playing at the park. She was treating her burrito like a baby doll. Here she is hugging her "baby." I wish we would have gotten a video because it was the cutest thing in the world. We just didn't realize what she was doing, and when we did, she stopped. (Sept 10)

We don't have church until 1, so Sunday mornings Chelsea gets alot of playtime with Daddy.

Jacob built her this out of the waffle blocks. She was having a tea party. Notice the boots? Yeah, she found them and wanted to wear them. Napoleon Dynamite? (Sept 12)
You can never start too young! :) (Sept 12)

Jacob built her a pirate ship. It was so much fun to watch them play together. This is Daddy and daughter being pirates--notice the hooked fingers? (Oct 3)

One thing that I was excited to go to was the Graham County Fair. It was hot outside, and we weren't really interested in the rides, so we just walked around and looked at stuff. Chelsea loved seeing the animals. Some of the chickens and turkeys were so big I was really surprised.

(Oct 8)

That same weekend we got to go to Mesa. My mom was in town, as well as Darbie, Chad, and the kids, and Derrick came down with his fiancee, Anika. It was great to meet her and we are excited for her to join the family! It was a fast weekend, but it was amazing to get to spend some time with my mom!

We took a four generation picture before we left town! (Oct 11)

We had been wanting to go hiking, so for Jacob's friend Joseph's birthday we took him to lunch then we went hiking. It was fun. The views were just beautiful.

Jacob and Joseph after the hike. (Oct 16)

I made cupcakes one Sunday and decided it would be fun if Chelsea helped me frost them. She was actually more interested in eating them, but we got a family picture!

(Oct 17)

So, if you made it through all that, that is what we've been up to the last 3 months in Arizona. It's hard to believe that we have been here that long already. In other news, Jacob is working like a madman. He teaches high school English, adjuncts at Eastern Arizona College, and is doing ETutoring for The University of Akron. He's surviving, but we are excited for the semester to be over and have a vacation. We decided that after Christmas we are going to go to Disneyland with my friend Jessica (who is coming out to visit) and Jacob's friend Joseph. We decided it would be a good way to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary, and it isn't too far.

I love being able to spend so much time with Chelsea, but I decided to take a class at the college to give me something to do. It is just a break, and I'm really enjoying the class. I've been scrapbooking LOTS, and am starting to get into doing other little crafts as well.

Chelsea is growing like crazy. We finally had her 18 month appointment, and she was 33 inches and 23 pounds. When we left Ohio, she had 5 teeth. Now she has 13 or 14. At least 4 of them came during the move. She is trying to talk, and can say basic words like Mom, Dad, Up, Ball, Book, Box, Dog, Purple, and a couple others that I can't remember right now. We're trying to teach her to say trick or treat for this weekend. Other than that, she just plays all day. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and will sit and watch it for hours. We have gone to story time at the library a couple of times, but most times I am too lazy to get up to take Jacob to work.

Anyway, things are going alright here in Arizona. We really miss Ohio, but we're settling in here with Jacob's parents. Maybe I'll actually start updating this thing to make everyone think we actually have real lives out here...:)

Pictures

2010-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our little Princess from the last couple of months!

March 2010, in New Mexico at Explora!

At Darbie and Chad's in New Mexico, March 2010
Easter 2010. Don't worry, this wasn't her Easter Dress. Since we had General Conference that day, she wore her Easter dress the next week.
Her 1 year pictures. She totally posed for this picture :)
Beautiful blue eyes.
I have 5 teeth! Can you count them?
Daddy on Graduation Day!Chelsea and Grandpaon Daddy's Graduation day!

During the Graduation, Zippy (the mascot) was outside waiting. My mom took her outside to play with him. She loved it!

Family picture at Graduation. If you look closely, you can see that Chelsea is actually showing her teeth in her smile!

Here are some pictures of our little Princess the last couple of months!

What We've been Up To...

2010-05-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Life has been quite busy lately. Since the last update (almost 3 months ago...) Chelsea turned 1. That's probably the highlight of things. We had a little Cupcake Party with my parents and a couple of close friends. Chelsea seemed to enjoy herself. She was very polite when opening her presents...opening it, giving it some individual time, would look at the person and smile, then put it aside when it was time to move to another one. Very cute, and very polite. (We can't figure out where she learned that one...but we're proud of her :)) At her 1 year appointment, she was 29 inches and 19.6 pounds. She is right around the 50th percentile for height, but only the 25th for weight. The doctor told us we need to feed her more, but she eats what she wants, then throws the rest on the floor to let us us know she's done. I hope she gets out of that stage soon...and learns just to say she's done :). She's got 5 teeth (finally) and loves to brush her teeth. Or at least play with the toothbrush.

For Jacob's spring break, Chelsea and I were nice enough to go out of town so that he could get some good work done on school. We went to Arizona with my mom, stopping in Illinois to pick up my older sister and her two kids, then driving to New Mexico to visit my other sister's family, then on to Arizona. It was alot of driving, with 3 kids in the car, but it was completely worth it. My Grandpa passed away a couple weeks ago, and we got to see him when we were out there. Just knowing that he's gone now made the crazy trip totally worth it. Will we ever make the attempt again? Who knows. It was a fun trip. We were also able to see Jacob's parents and his little brother, Dallin. Dallin hadn't met Chelsea yet, so he got to meet her.

Jacob has been working hard trying to finish up with school. He graduates on Sunday. As of now, there are no job prospects, so we're just planning on staying here for a while still. We haven't completely given up, but we are ready to move on into the next stage of life. If anyone knows of any English teaching jobs, send them our way :). He's still working at JC Penney's, although the hours have been very minimal.

I'm still working at Archiver's. I got a promotion to receiver, so the hours are much better for my schedule (no nights and weekends...yay!) and I absolutely love it. I basically just open all the boxes when they come in. I'm the first to see anything new that comes in, so it's hard, but I'm doing pretty well at not buying everything that I want. Maybe some day. Other than that I've been doing alot of scrapbooking. It helps me to relax and get away from life for a while. Jacob lets me have time to do it (Thanks Babe!) and is excited to be done with school so that he can have a hobby--other than homework.

Chelsea is growing up so fast. She's almost 15 months. I can't believe it has been that long already. It seems like she was just a little baby the other day. We love watching her grow from day to day. She's walking like crazy (actually, she's working on running now), and is finally starting to play with her toys. Up until now, she didn't seem all too interested in them. She's learning to climb--anything and everything that she can. She was standing on the handle of her toy stroller the other day. Gave me a heart attack. I don't see how she could balance on it. She hasn't figured out how to get out of her crib yet, but she uses it for a snack when she wakes up. We try to cover it, but she just finds an area that not covered to bite on.

With the weather finally warming up, we try and take her outside for at least a couple minutes each day. She loves the sunshine and loves the wind in her hair. Yep, she's finally got some hair. She still won't really wear a bow, but we're trying. Chelsea jabbers alot, but not much is distinguishable other than "dada," "mama," and "dis" and "dat." At least we think that's what she's trying to say. She loves to point at things. She has a picture of Mickey and friends above her crib, and when she wakes up she points to it when we walk in the room. Yep, we've brainwashed her already! She gets excited when we ask her if she wants to meet Mickey this summer, so she for sure recognizes Mickey, and is getting really good at bringing you things when you ask. Especially your shoes, her shoes, her coat, and her purse. She loves her purse.

We love her to death and can't wait for her to keep growing and learning. She changes so much from day to day. It won't let me upload any pictures right now, so I'll try again later. Look for a post full of pictures. :)

Last Update of Chelsea's First Year

2010-02-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

That's right! Chelsea will be 1 year old on Saturday! Hard to believe that it has already been a year! It's been challenging, but we love our little girl and are so grateful to have her in our family! We are having a small party for her, so I'll do a post on that and talk more about her developments lately.

Chelsea has been doing great since her surgery. We took the bandage off a couple days later, and she really didn't scream when we did it. The incision was larger than we expected (which we had been warned about). She didn't even seem to realize that anything had been done to her head, because she never really touched it or picked at it. She did hit it a couple of times, but she did pretty well at moving her head just before she would hit it.

She got the stitches removed this last Tuesday, the 16th. She was definitely not a fan of the nurse that was removing them. Jacob held Chelsea, I held her arms down, and the nurse had to hold her head still. She screamed and screamed. I'm surprised how quick it was considering she was being anything but cooperative. THere is still a scab covering it, which should fall off in the next week or so. The only thing we can't do right now is dunk her underwater, for another week. After that, she should be perfectly fine. It's still just a little bit swollen, but looks great! Here's some pictures of our little princess :)

This was just before we took it off. She loves books, and I think she just looks adorable in this picture!
Right after we took it off. She had 13 stitches in that tiny little area.
This was her on Valentine's Day. It's actually her Christmas dress, but I never got any good pictures of her in it at Christmas. We were all sick, and really didn't feel like doing much, and never got around to taking the pictures. But I fell in love with the dress when I first saw it, but wasn't willing to pay $40 for it. Just before the holidays, it was marked to half off, and then we had Jacob's employee discount at JC Penney's, so we got it for only $16!

After the stitches were removed. Her hair is finally really starting to grow, so you really can't tell anything is there. When the scab is gone, you really won't be able to tell at all because her hair is getting much thicker. It's still too fine to put a bow in, but hopefully soon!

Chelsea's Surgery

2010-02-03T14:20:00.000-08:00

The last that I think we posted was that she was going to have a CT Scan. What the doctor found was a scalpal dermoid, which was deforming her skull, so it needed to be removed. She had her surgery this morning, and everything went well. It was exactly what the doctor had thought, and it was a pretty simple fix. She seemes to do pretty well, and we held it together as well (this could have been the toughest part of the day). Here's a summary of the day for those of you interested. Otherwise, just skip to the pictures. But be warned, as cute as she is, these pictures are not necessarily the most flattering.

We had to be at the hospital at 6 am this morning, and we actually arrived a little bit early. Amazing, I know, since neither Jacob or I are morning people, and have trouble getting up for 9 am church...Anyway, we had to wait a while to check in, but things moved pretty smoothly and quickly. We got her changed into the hospital gown, and she was doing pretty well for not having eaten since 11:30pm last night.

Her first (and perhaps only) "ouchie" was when they had to prick her finger for some blood. She didn't like it, and there was nothing we could do to console her. Between exhaustion, hunger, and then the poke, she was not a happy girl. From there we went to get her height and weight and answer health questions. (Side note...she was 18.4 lbs and screaming loud enough that we couldn't hear her height.) After that the anesthesiologist came in and met her and asked more questions, and told us what was going to happen. She seemed to like him more than the nurses...she didn't think he was trying to hurt her...which he wasn't, but he was going to make sure she didn't feel anything.

From there we went back into the waiting room to wait for the Life Specialist (or something like that), who was going to do a practice separation and let her play with the mask. Chelsea did fine with the separation (basically just walking into the other room with a stranger...kinda scary, I guess). Chelsea and the nurse brought us back some "funny hats" for me and Jacob to put on just so Chels could see them. She picked the raspberry Lipsmackers to go inside her mask. (They put it in there to make it smell good to help the kids...then before they know it, they are out.) They told us that when they took her away from us, everything was ready and she would be asleep within a couple of minutes. We gave her hugs and kisses, and they took her away. We headed to the waiting room.

The surgery was supposed to take about an hour, so we ended up falling asleep waiting. We hardly slept last night, then had to get up early, so we were exhausted. The doctor came out just after 9, letting us know how everything went. He said everything went fine, but he was worried about her soft spot closing up, because the bone had rough edges, or something like that. Anyway, the skull has three different layers, so he took a little bit of one of the layers and put it in the soft spot area (i.e. a bone graft) to stimulate the growth. He said it wasn't anything to worry about, he just wanted us to know that he had done it. We then found out that Chelsea would get to go home today.. We had been told that she was going to have to stay overnight. Then we got to go back to see her.

As soon as we started heading back to the recovery room, we heard her drying. She sounded so said...you could tell she was uncomfortable, exhausted, and had a sore throat from the breathing tube. After Daddy took her, she calmed down pretty quick. She hated the blood pressure cuff, and didn't like being hooked up to everything. We went into the second recovery room, and from there we left within about 30-45 minutes. We had tried to feed her, but her sore throat stopped her from drinking...anything. She fell asleep and slept until about 3:00, and is much happier now. She's crawlin' around like crazy, still looks tired, but is being surprisingly pleasant for having had surgery this morning. She has to keep the band-aid on until Friday, and she gets her stitches out in 2 weeks. Overall, the surgery was a success (as far as we can tell) and we are excited for everything to heal up! She's gonna be cuter than ever :)! Here are some pictures from today:

This picture is actually from the other day, but I had to put at least one super cute picture of her!

This was right after we got her dressed. Ignore me, just look at her. She's not quite sure what's going on, so she's still pretty happy.

This was us in the "funny hats." I think it's a pretty good picture, actually! This was just minutes before they took her back.

They brought out a little doctor kit for her to play with. Raffe (her giraffe) is taking a listen to her ticker :).

I just think this picture is cute :)

Recovery. They only had to take off just a little bit of her hair, which we were able to bring home with us. I'm thinking of keeping this hairdo for everyday use...what do you think? I'll admit, I didn't realize she had this much hair! The thing on her arm is a splint to keep her from moving it because of the iv. They couldn't get it in the top of her hand, so it's underneath her wrist.

Back at home, having a bottle, and just relaxing. My friend Jessica brought her that Minnie and the books..thanks Jess! Like I said, she's pretty pleasant considering she just had surgery!

Overall everything went well. Thanks everyone for your prayers and thoughts for our family. We appreciate them and are glad that it's over and can't wait for her to heal up! Then, maybe, just maybe, I can put a bow on her head and people will stop calling her a he...maybe!

Pictures Of Chelsea

2009-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Some people have been requesting an update, or at least some pictures of our cute little girl, so here are some pictures to enjoy :)

Daddy and Daughter (6 months)

Happy after a nap (7 months)

Meeting cousin Caleb (7 months)

After the blessing before my dad and Jacob headed home. (7 months)
Pumpkin Patch (7 months)

Pumpkin Patch (7 months)

Picking out Chelsea's pumpkin (7 months)

Yes, she's watching TV...we're terrible, I know. (8 months)

At Trunk or Treat (8 months)

Trick or Treating. She held on to this Reese's cup for quite awhile (8 months)

Until the Krabby Patty, which she held on to for the rest of the time...(8 months)

See, home and still holding it. Until...(8 months)

She saw the rest of the candy! (8 months)

Good girl, goes right for the chocolate. (8 months)

So now a little update. Chelsea is growing like crazy. We have her 9 month appointment on Friday, so maybe I'll post her stats :). No teeth yet, but she eats that baby food like a champ. Still generally sleeps great at night, but still isn't much of a napper. But that's ok. She loves to stand, and is getting so close to crawling. She started doing something like an army crawl today, so maybe soon. She can say Mama and Dada, and seems like she does it consciously. We left her with Grandma Melinda for 5 days while we went to St. Louis. We missed her like crazy, but it was a nice break. (Jacob was presenting a paper at the MMLA Conference.) With the semester winding down, Jacob is just trying to finish surviving his classes, on an average of 4 hours of sleep a night. Other than that, there isn't much going on. Oh, as far as Chelsea's cyst, we had to cancel her appointment, but she is now scheduled to have a cat scan on December 7. Hopefully we'll find some stuff out. It still doesn't bother her, unless you touch it or try and put a bow on her head, so even when wearing all pink, strangers still refer to her as a 'he'. Her hair is growing in, but slowly, and it's so light you can't see it very well. But life is pretty good here in Ohio, we're just chuggin' along.

Excuses, Excuses

2009-09-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

So apparently having a child is still no excuse to blog...So I'll just post some pictures of Chelsea... for each month since the last update of her (6 weeks)...

This is basically the first smile that we got on camera. (2 months)

Trying on some shades getting ready for Disney World. (2 months)

The first of many attempts to start solids. (3 months)

(3 months)

I think this picture is adorable! (3 months)

Precious. These last 3 pictures are from our trip to Disney World with Jacob's family. These three were taken by Jacob's brother, Kyle. (3 months)

After her 4 month appointment. (4 months)

Just playing :). These last two onesies were made for Chelsea by my cousin Paula. Thanks Paula! (4 months)

We were helping Darbie and Chad move, and I was attempting to get a picture with all three cousins...this was what I got. (4 months)

Family Photo are some concert thingy we went to with some friends. (4 months)

Getting ready for church..a little tennis player :) (4 months)

Cleveland Zoo with the Kolstes (5 months)

Exhausted at the zoo. (5 months)

5 months.

Super Baby! (5 months)

Backyard camping. (5 months)

Sippy cup. (5 months)

I'm 6 months old TODAY! (6 months)

I can sit all by myself! (6 months) She could actually sit on her own well before this, but I had to write something!

Happy 6 months! (6 months)

Daddy's hat. (6 months)

6 months.

Go Cougars! (6 months)

So there is the basic life of Chelsea. At her 6 months appointment, she weighed 15lbs 14.9 oz and 26in. She is between the 45th-55th percentiles for both, so she's average and just perfect :). If you look at the progressive pictures, you'll notice the bump on her head growing. We have found out that it is a benign cyst (after an ultrasound and then an x-ray), and have to go see a specialist to find out what to do about it. It doesn't seem to bother her unless someone is poking at it. She seems to like most solids--sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, peas, carrots, squash, but not peaches yet. Chelsea still sleeps all night (she will occasionally wake up at night, but it's still very rare--and we're not complaining!) Other than the doctor visits, everything is good here in Ohio. Jacob started his last year of his Masters program (Hurray!) and has a new calling...Seminary. That's right folks. Jacob is teaching Seminary. At our apartment, and there are only three girls in the class (that actually come, anyway). So he teaches them while Chelsea and Whitney sleep. Jacob has also had a paper accepted to be presented at the MMLA Conference in St Louis in November. He is very excited and we are so proud of him! Whitney is just working...that's about all. We're all still alive here in Ohio, despite the lack of life-changing updates!

Catching Up a Bit ...

2009-07-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we've let our blog get dusty and it's past time to clear the cobwebs. In April Chelsea experienced her first Easter so we had to match! Lookin' good, huh?

Jacob turned a quarter of a century old. Yikes.

In May he finished his second year in graduate school and then we went to Disney World ... again. It rained a lot, but was still fun!

In June we went to Whitney's friend Susan's wedding. It was our first traditional wedding. Not ours ... just ours to go to. We had a great time.

We also went to Cedar Point. Snoopy is the one on the left.

6 Weeks

2009-04-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Alot has been going on. Chelsea is 6 weeks old today, and things have changed so much since she's been born. Here's a quick update of the last month:

Jacob's parents came to Ohio for Chelsea's blessing on March 8th. We loved having them here and had lots of fun. We went to Amish Country to go to Lehman's and Heini's Cheese Factory. This picture is of Chelsea on a little church pew that was in Lehman's.

My sister Stephanie, her husband Mike, and their daughter Eliza also came to visit. They weren't able to come down for the blessing, but they came a couple weeks later. It was fun to see Eliza around Chelsea. Eliza really likes baby dolls, and seemed to enjoy Chelsea. She only tried to hit her a couple times, but she didn't succeed :) Here's a couple pictures from when they were here.

I think that about hits the highlights...not too exciting. Chelsea isn't smiling yet, at least not in response to anything. She gets little smiles on her face, but they are usually when she is dozing off. Hopefully we can see her beautiful smile soon! But today was an exciting day though! I had just changed her diaper and went to throw it away so I left her laying on the changing pad on the floor. Jacob came back in the living room and noticed she had rolled onto her side. We stood there and watched her and she finished rolling over. She rolled completely over from her back to her stomach! Who knows when she'll do it again, but she has successfully done it once! Just after that, when I was feeding her, she grabbed the bottle and was holding it all by herself. She's definitely getting stronger. Before we know it she'll be crawling! Here are a bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Daddy and Daughter :)

She loves her baths!

Jacob is getting her ready for Disney World!

The other night we were trying to get her to hold Big Bird. When Jacob took the picture she stuck out her tongue and we just thought the picture was cute!

This is Chelsea just after she successfully rolled over!

This is her holding the bottle. It looks like it's resting on her stomach, but it's not--she's holding it! I forgot to turn the picture, sorry!

Doing some tummy time :)

Pay it Forward :)

2009-03-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've seen this a couple different places and thought I'd join in:

The first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a super-duper hand-made decoration or goody from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!

The catch is that you must participate as well--before you leave your comment here, write up (or copy & paste as I did!) a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!Remember that only the first FIVE comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make or send!
2. It will be done in the next month or so.
3. You will have no clue what it is going to be.

Chelsea's Blessing

2009-03-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Even though Chelsea is only 16 days old, we took her to church and blessed her today. Jacob's parents are in town to see their new granddaughter so the timing was great. Here are some pictures from our photo shoot this evening!

This is her beautiful dress, made with lots of love by Grandma Melinda :)

Chelsea's Birth

2009-03-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

So it has taken us awhile to update again...but it's been busy getting used to having a little baby to care for! Here is the rest of the birth story for those of you interested:

On Thursday, February 19 I started having contractions when I woke up that morning, about 8:30 or so. My stomach was hurting really bad, so I called my visiting teacher and canceled our appointment that morning. I called my mom and then laid back down for a while. Jacob didn't have to work until noon, so we eventually got moving and he took me over to my parents house so I could be with my mom so if I did need to go to the hospital it was a little bit easier. Anyway, the contractions continued until about 3:00--they were somewhere between 3 and 20 minutes apart. Around 3 they seemed to stop for a little over an hour and started back up a little after 4. I had mentioned to my mom that I didn't think anything was going to happen until after Jacob got off work at 5. Sure enough, right around 5:00 that evening my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. I called the doctor after an hour, and the midwife that was on-call called me back. (I was happy to know that it was the midwife that I had wanted to do the delivery). I talked to her and she said that since it was my first pregnancy there was no rush to get to the hospital because my water hadn't broken. She said that I could either wait around for another hour before heading there or I could go and they could check my progress. I figured it was a little after 6, and by the time I got there it would be about an hour or so later. So Jacob and I packed up our stuff and headed to the hospital.

We got there about 7, registered, and I was back in triage by about 7:30. They checked my progress and I wasn't even 2 cm...I was frustrated. I was in so much pain, and had been all day, and then it didn't seem to be helping things move along. The nurse called the midwife (she was over at the other hospital) and they decided to have me walk around for a half hour or so and see how things were after that. The baby had apparently turned around because I had started to have back labor, so walking around the hospital wasn't a very easy task. Jacob and I went down a floor where there weren't as many people to watch me struggle to hold myself up :). Anyway, we walked around and then went back to triage. She checked and I was 3cm, so they were going to admit me! Apparently there had been alot of people who went into labor that day, so I had to wait for a delivery room to be cleaned.

We got to a delivery room sometime around 9:00-9:15ish. I told them I wanted to epidural, so I was put on the list. There were a couple of other patients ahead of me, so I had to wait. By this time the midwife, Laura, had arrived so she was in there with Jacob and I. The contractions were incredibly painful, but Jacob said as soon as Laura arrived I seemed to be able to breathe better and seemed more comfortable. I got the epidural about 10:30 or so. My parents were in the waiting room, so after I got it they came into the room. At about 11:30 or so, Laura broke my water and checked my progress. I was between 6 and 7cm, and the baby was facing the wrong way. I was told to lay on my side with my leg up in order to get the baby to turn around. Laura had another patient in labor as well, so she said she would be back around 1:30 to check things, figuring that since I still had 3-4 cm to go it would be at least a couple of hours.

After the epidural, the pain was gone. It was amazing. At about 12:15 am or so, I started feeling a lot of pressure. Laura happened to stop in at about 12:30 and when I told her that she checked and I was 10cm, so it was time to push! She told me that I would probably have to push between 1 and 3 hours, but it seemed like a relief that the end was actually near! They brought in everything for the baby and by about 12:50 I was starting to push. Chelsea was born at 1:09 am on Friday February 20th. Everything was fine, but her blood sugar level was too low. It went back up after she was given some formula, but the whole time we were in the hospital it was monitored.

We got to come home on Sunday. It was nice to be home, but a little scary that there weren't nurses to take care of everything anymore. Well, except my mom :). But anyway, we are still adjusting to life at home. The first night home was terrible, but it has gotten better since then. Chelsea does pretty well at night now, or at least has been for the last week or so. She slept a couple nights in a row for the entire night--about 8 hours straight. Last night she only woke up once, I fed her, then she went back to sleep. I don't expect this to keep up, but it sure would be nice if it did :)

Here are some pictures from right after she was born and some random ones from being at home. Most of the pictures she has her eyes closed since she still sleeps most of the day, but when she actually has her big eyes open she is very alert. She likes to stare at lights, but that is about the only thing we can tell for now :) Hopefully we can do better about updating since now there is actually something exciting happening in our lives! Jacob's parents come into town tomorrow, and we are blessing her this Sunday. My mom is making her blessing dress, so stay tuned for pictures!

This was right after she was born.

Our first family photo :)

I really like this one of Jacob and Chelsea.

Wide awake!

The color is a little bright, but I like the picture.
Ready to go home! I was worried that she was going to be a big baby and not fit into newborn anything...but everything is huge on her!
She has such a hard life, she's exhausted already!

Getting ready for bed.

Bright Eyes.
It's a little blurry, but I thought it was cute. She was sleeping in the recliner with Jacob. She opened her one eye just a bit when I went to take the picture.

She's here!

2009-02-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Our Beautiful Baby Girl was born early early on Friday morning (1:09am) after only twenty minutes of pushing ... and lots of contractions. But she's here! She scored a 9 and 10 (because she's perfect). She was 21 inches long, 7 lbs 2oz, looks to have something close to strawberry blonde hair, a dimple in her chin, Whitney's face, and maybe Jacob's nose. We'll write more later, but she's here and she's wonderful!

A week might as well be a year ...

2009-02-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

That's about how Whitney feels right now. She's ready for Baby Girl to come and so is Jacob. 39 weeks is long enough, right? Apparently Baby Girl doesn't agree because tomorrow is her 39 week mark and there are little to no signs that she'll be coming soon (but of course that doesn't mean it can't happen sooner).

But we think her room is finally ready! Baby Girl that is. Or at least that we have basically everything that we need: crib, mattress, bedding, cute stuffed animals, clothes, car seat, baby rocker, toys, stroller, diapers, wipes, cute wall decorations, more clothes, pack-n-play, toiletries, nasal aspirator, etc. We're pretty set until she comes and then we'll realize everything we don't have. We're just ready for her to come!

See! Everyone seems to think that Whitney hasn't gotten that big. A lot of people have said that she looks good (which of course is true). But she feels terrible.

She looks good though! We're just both ready to meet Baby Girl. We're excited, but very very ready.

Five Weeks and Counting ...

2009-01-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

Somehow we've made it through 35 weeks! Whitney feels like she can't get comfortable. She's having trouble sleeping. She can't bend over. The medicine works most of the time, but she can't go without taking it. Even when she does, she gets nauseous almost every night. Despite all of this, everyone tells us that these last several weeks are going to drag on. We're excited though! We can't wait to meet our baby girl, despite how hard it's been for the last eight months. It's going to be great!

Jacob set up the crib about a month ago. It's a beautiful cherry wood. We hope it lasts for years and years, but it didn't take long to discover that it appears to be a pretty soft wood. We have the mattress sitting inside with a couple packs of diapers and wipes. We're just waiting for a baby. Jacob thinks the baby is going to come early, but she doesn't agree. She thinks the baby is going to come right on time. That or on Valentine's Day. We bought a "stinking cute" Minnie dress today that is obviously supposed to be for the holiday and what better day to celebrate our love child than Valentine's Day?

She's Showing!

2008-11-01T21:47:00.001-07:00

We've been wanting to take some pictures of Whitney's stomach because she's showing, but we didn't get around to it until just now. So, here she is--beautiful Whitney!

Today at work, one of Jacob's coworkers was really excited to see that she was showing. He's been tracking her progress as she stops in from time to time. He likes to comment about it. So, we guess that everybody else can too. Baby's getting big and before we know it she'll be ready to meet everybody. On yeah, did we mention that she's a girl?

According to the technician all of our little baby girl's limbs and little budding parts are perfect! Here is her hand. You can see her extended thumb.

She's a girl!

And here is one of her feet.

And her profile. Whitney wants her to have Jacob's nose, but not his ears. It looks like she just might get what she wants ... at least the nose that is.

We're so excited! Little by little we're starting to get baby girl some clothes. No, we don't haven't decided on a name, but we're open to suggestions! Our list is growing (just like baby) so if you have any ideas let us know. We want our amazing girl to have an amazing name. So what do you think?

Poetry, Anchovies, and Pirates

2008-09-16T19:49:00.001-07:00

July 22, 2008 (Disney Trip Continued ...)

Each morning Jacob wrote a couple of poems for Whitney that he gave her with a small gift. He and Kolbein had made a plan to do something special for the girls each day. The trick was to sneak it past them. To avoid any problems, Whitney's mom went out and bought the treats for them. Jacob made a list of themes for each day which Melinda (Whitney's mom) followed when buying the treats. On Tuesday, the plan was to eat at the Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) where Pooh and his friends greet everyone. We decided against it after arriving, and so Jacob had to try and compensate for it when he wrote his poem for the day:

When you drop by the Thousand Acre Woods

Here is a treat to make a good

First impression with that silly old bear

Here’s a hint – It’s got honey, so you better

“bee” ware!

The first treat was a bag of "Bit-o-Honey". The second treat was to match our plans to eat at EPCOT. We'd made reservations for Le Chefs de France. Here's what he wrote:

If something’s amiss

I can help you with that

The food here, you see,

It’s made by a rat

But that’s okay, he’s a friend of mine

A cousin of sorts, so dig in and dine!

The treat was some candy rats. Jacob was pretty proud that Melinda was able to find something to go along with Ratatouille.

We got up early, like every other day, and jumped on the bus to Magic Kingdom. Ashley and Kolbein weren't ready so we made plans to catch up with them later. It was strange being at the park so early because they would let you in, but most of the park was still blocked off from access. We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride and then made our way over to the Haunted Mansion. Whitney loves this ride! Last year, she was so disappointed that it was closed. We'd learned that there were supposed to be some major renovations and we were excited to see them ourselves.

As we made our way through the house in our Doom Buggy Whitney commented that this was probably her thrill ride for the day. Not riding big rides was tough for her all week long. She was glad that she could at least ride the Haunted Mansion.

We still had some time so we trekked over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Several months before we'd bought Hidden Mickey's, a book that has scavenger hunts for hard to find Mickey shapes and other subtle character outlines in the parks. As we made our way through Pirates we tried to find these clues, but some were more difficult than we thought. Even when we rode it later, we had a hard time. It was fun though. It's a good book to check out!

After meeting up with Ashley and Kolbein we jumped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. The ride is simple; you sit down and it takes you on a tour through Tomorrowland. The best part though is that you hardly ever have to wait to get on, and it's something to do to rest your feet. Well, when we got a longer trip than normal because the ride broke down. We're not even sure how long, but it was a while. This picture above was during that wait. It was fun, but we were glad to get moving again. The breeze always feels so nice!

After a few more things we rushed over to EPCOT. Well, rushed might not be the right way to put it. We waited for a long time for the monorail to take us between parks. We were almost late for our lunch reservations. It was hot too. Whitney wasn't doing very well, and as we rushed to Le Chefs de France, we had to take a break or two, because she wasn't doing well. But she made it and after a short wait, we got into the restaurant. And not a moment too soon either! Shortly after being seated the clouds let loose and everyone outside got soaked. It rained most days. We were glad to miss this downpour.

I don't know why, but throughout this trip Jacob kept ordering fish. He likes to try things he hasn't had before and our trip to France at EPCOT was no different. Whitney got quiche and Jacob sot a salad, but Jacob couldn't just get a "salad." No, he had to get the Tuna Salad. Sounds pretty safe, right? Well, it was a wonderfully large salad with a huge block of tuna, two strips of anchovies placed on top, and something that looked like caviar spread on a small piece of bread. He just had to take a picture:

Whitney knew she had to be careful with fish, but this wasn't something that she would have ever ordered under any circumstances. But she likes tuna okay.

We spent the rest of the day at EPCOT. We spent a while at the French Pavilion where we watched a movie and shopped. Then, we mulled around before it got dark. We watched some of the firework show, and rode on Maelstrom, a simple water ride at the Norway Pavilion. It was a fun day, but a fishy day--A great day at Disney World!

Nobody Here But Us ... Animals?

2008-09-07T20:10:00.001-07:00

July 21, 2008 (Continued ...)

We jumped on a Disney bus and rode to Animal Kingdom. We both love the look of this park. It's so beautiful!

We try to figure out what to get Fast Passes for and someone gives us some extra passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was something Whitney was dreading. She loves rides, but was sad to find out that she couldn't even go on the Safari ride because she's pregnant. So, Whitney parked herself on a bench with a book and the rest of us went on the Safari.

Jacob was a little disappointed though. Where Whitney and Jacob had seen animals in the past, there weren't any. The ride is simple. You and about twenty of your closest friends jump onto an oversized jeep and drive through a "wildlife preserve" until being derailed on an adventure to trap elephant poachers. It was sad though. There were animals at the end, but either way Whitney wasn't there and it just wasn't as much fun.

When we got off we found Whitney near the parade route for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. She needed some water, so Jacob went to get some for her. These are some of the pictures he took along the way.

We rode a train to our next stop. Kolbein helped us to get a deal on our trip because his boss' daughter works at Disney World. We went to see her at Rafiki's Planet Watch and to thank her for all she did. She told us about her job training small alligators. It was fascinating. She held it in her hands as we talked. Each of us got to touch the gator's tail.

The year before Animal Kingdom started showing Finding Nemo: The Musical. We hadn't seen it, but made sure to see it this year. It was something else! The music was fun and the theatricality was spectacular. We both have a fair degree of experience with theatre and we loved it.

The rest of the night we wandered around the park. We had some Chinese food for dinner and made our way around. Jacob kept trying to take pictures in the dark, but without any luck. All in all the day was a wonderful adventure and so, so much fun. Our first full day--what a wonderful day! A great start to an amazing vacation!

Back to Neverland!

2008-09-07T19:18:00.001-07:00

Around 9pm on July 19th we jumped into a car with two of our friends and started the sixteen hour trek to the Happiest Celebration on Earth! It was our third trip to Disney World--once a year for the past few years. We love Disney, but this trip was different. Whitney is pregnant and we knew that was going to change everything.

The drive down was pretty uneventful. We (Whitney and Jacob, Ashley and Kolbein) got reasonable gas prices, the car worked fine, we didn't get caught in any construction.Kolbein and Jacob drove most of the way.

We stayed in the 1950's building of the resort. This was outside of our room.

July 20, 2008

We got to our hotel, the Pop Century Resort, around 2pm or so the next day and just relaxed. For dinner we rode the bus down to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. We were all starving. Jacob got a burger and promptly forgot what that meant so when he dropped his fork on the floor he asked the waiter for another one--even though he didn't need one. Embarrassed, he ate his whole burger with the replacement fork. Naturally, Whitney laughed and made fun of him and probably called him a "dork."

After dinner we made our way over to EPCOT to watch their firework show, IllumiNations. We got there a little late and so the best spot was sitting on the ground behind several large groups of tourists. Naturally, when the show started they all stood up so we couldn't really see anymore. Unfortunately part of Disney is having to accept that you aren't there alone. Oh well. We still had fun.

We slept well that night and got ready for the next day--the first full day of our adventure!

July 21, 2008

First on the schedule was going to Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM Studios). Even though we'd been here several times before, this was one of the most enjoyable days we'd ever spent there! Once we arrived we headed straight over to Toy Story Mania, the newest Disney ride, to get fast passes. Then on to the rest of the park.

We did some of the classics like The Great Movie Ride and Muppet Vision 3D. While watching the 3D show Jacob was careless with his sunglasses and ended up leaving them behind. Someone found them and asked Kolbein if they were his. He didn't know Jacob had lost them, so he said no and they were lost in time. Jacob tried to find them, but no luck. We'd end up getting him new ones later.

After some shopping we went on to the Back Lot Tour. As we stood in line we were asked to be part of the special FX show. Jacob and Kolbein agreed and were taken back stage. As part of the show they dressed us up as crew members of a boat that was about to be attacked. They call this show, "Harbor Attack." Kolbein and Jacob played the Wild and Crazy Tech Crew. Our job was simple: react when water cannons shot up around us representing bombs and bullets, and then point to what was supposed to be a torpedo. We had a lot of fun, and got soaked enough to enjoy ourselves despite the heat.

One thing we wanted to do on this trip that we hadn't done before was eat at some of the nicer restaurants. For lunch we had a reservation at 50's Prime Time Cafe. The idea for this place was really fun. The place is designed so that every group feels like they're eating in their own kitchen and the servers are supposed to treat you like an overbearing parent. Whitney wanted me to encourage our waitress so I intentionally didn't eat the "greens" on my plate. After a few cracks, she finally got the attention of everyone around us and asked for their help. She asked everyone to make airplane noises as she flew the food around and into my mouth--like an airplane. It was fun and Whitney got a good laugh at it. The fried chicken wasn't that bad either!

To be continued ...

It's about time we made this public ...

2008-08-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to keep this hush hush, but felt it was about time that we let everyone know that Whitney is pregnant! We've known for a little while now (June 11th), but wanted to wait until Whitney was a little farther along. Well, she is, but there's still a long way to go. The baby is due on February 17, 2009! That's right we're having a digital baby! If you haven't watch TV in the last couple of months then you might not know that February 17th is also the day that TV switches from an analog to a digital signal so we're having a digital baby! Even though its funny to say that, Whitney will tell you that this baby is very real as she's experienced on two trips to the hospital and several doctors appointments. She's had a hard time with being nauseous, but she's got the good drugs now and is doing a lot better. We're hoping to post pictures from our recent trip to Disney World soon, but as you now know we've been preoccupied by other things--Little Baby Lauritzen!

2008-04-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

That last post was supposed to have more pictures, but I (Whitney) decided that it was way past due, so I published it anyway. Maybe one of these days we'll put up some more pictures.

Sometimes people write on their blog to make some big announcement, like being pregnant, graduating, a new job, or something of the sort. This post, however, is related to none of the above, just me (Whitney) being bored on Friday night while Jacob is at work.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last week or so, and I've got a cold. How nice of those little kids to share their germs with me, again. I guess that's just one of the bonuses of dealing with two year olds. Oh well, it will go away, eventually.

Our plans for the summer keep changing. As of now, we are planning on going to Utah in June to spend time with Jacob's family. We will only be there for a couple of days, but it will be fun. This trip, of course, is pending, on approval for time off work for Jacob. Our other plans for the summer consist of our annual trip to Disney World. We have decided to keep this a tradition until we have kids, in which case it would be awhile before we could afford it, and they would remember it. We aren't the only adults that love Disney World...a little boy in my class went with his family, and when I asked his mom how she liked it (she had never been before) she said that it took all her self control to, while watching the last parade, not stick her thumb in her mouth and cry that she didn't want to leave Disney World. She can't wait to go back. At least Jacob and I aren't the only crazy people.

Snowed In!

2008-03-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, we've had quite the year for snow here in Ohio! Jacob has missed two days of classes, one day of work, and now today we missed church due to it's being canceled! A little bit of a summary. For the past two days (Friday and Saturday) Ohio got slammed by a really big storm. On the news they kept referring to it as "The Big Storm." Not their most creative stroke, but all the channels seems to have come to a consensus on the name. Anyway, yesterday morning (Saturday), we both slept in--Whitney because she's been sick, and Jacob because ... he was lazy--and were woken up by a phone call. Jacob answered the phone and found out that JC Penney (where he works) was going to close at 1pm that day so he had the day off. That meant that we both had the day off!

So what did we do? Not much. Whitney was sick and Jacob was ... lazy. So, we just hung around the house. We watched Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Whitney watched most of the first Harry Potter movie. Around 10 or so, Jacob braved the elements to check the mail. Whitney ordered the Disney World Planning DVD for 2008 and we had been hoping that it was waiting in the mail. It wasn't, but it was worth a shot we thought. Then we got the call that church had ben canceled.

So we slept and woke up to see that it was a beautiful day outside. After a wonderful pancake and egg breakfast we got bundled up and went on a walk. the walk didn't last long because it was cold (that usually comes with snow), but not before I got Whitney in the face with a snow ball. More like a snow grenade. We were getting ready to go inside and she packed up a ball of snow. Jacob hid behind a dumpster and packed up a ball of his own. He peaked up to see her ready to throw, so he threw his as well. Unfortunately he ducked dodging hers, but she didn't and got a big face full of snow. Jacob felt a little bad. Whitney just felt cold.

Whitney says she doesn't remember there ever being this much snow at once before. I'm not sure what the grand total for the storm was, but it's probably close to two feet in some places. We had maybe a foot and a half.

Still Breathing

2008-02-08T15:23:00.001-08:00

Whew! Our lives our getting a little more intense now with school work, and life, and work, and life .... Whitney is working hard to finish her two independent study classes so she can graduate from BYU and Jacob is trying to survive all the reading that being a lit major entails. Whew!

We're also saddened by the passing of our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. We watched the funeral online; switching back and forth between video feeds when one would stall or go offline. It was neat to be able to do that from our home.

Listen to President Hinckley's funeral service here

We both loved President Hinckley and are excited to become better acquainted with the new First Presidency (President Thomas S. Monson--President of the Church, President Henry B. Eyring--First Counselor, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf--Second Counselor).

At church, Whitney is still organizing musical numbers every week and Jacob is teaching the twelve and thirteen year olds. We both think it's fun to be able to see Whitney's parents each week--even though they've been so sick lately. We're enjoying Ohio and doing our best to make it through our hectic lives without too many bumps. We're still breathing!

Good Bye Holidays, Hello 2008!

2008-01-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

We obviously aren't very good at this blogging thing, so we'll see if we can do better. But, since we don't have any kids or pets to post on, this really is just about us; in other words, not too exciting considering our lives are pretty uneventful at the moment.

For the holidays, we were lucky enough to go out to Arizona to visit with Jacob's family for the majority of the time and stay with Whitney's grandparents for a few days as well. As we packed, we filled four suitcases full. Gifts for others seemed to take up more room than what was originally planned. Anyway, we figured that on the way home we would just put an empty bag inside of another. Much to our surprise, we came home with more than we left with. Jacob's brother, Ammon, and his wife, Penny, had us for the gift exchange. They gave us their Game Cube and PS2, along with games, controllers, and a DDR dance pad. When we opened it, Whitney said to Ammon that he really didn't want Jacob to actually get through graduate school. Nobody really thought it was a very funny comment...Anyway, these large, heavy gifts were joined by two air mattresses for camping (to go along with the 3 room 8 man tent that Jacob's parents had shipped to our apartment), and lots of random little gifts. We had a great time with family, as well as thoroughly enjoying our time off work. We went to see Enchanted, and National Treasure 2 with Jacob's family, and took advantage of small town life in Thatcher, Arizona.

We flew back to Ohio and jumped right back into real life, again.

For the past week, we were babysitting for a friend from church. Jacob's schedule was pretty open which allowed him to play mom while the kid's parents were getting sun burned on their cruise around the Gulf of Mexico. Whitney enjoyed being able to watch Disney Channel on a regular basis, including catching up on the High School Musical Phenomenon (with a little prompting by Jacob). We hadn't seen either of the movies until this past week.

Jacob successfully finished his first semester as a grad student, leaving only 5 more to go! (Or 2 full years, whichever takes longer of course!) He is still working as a shoe salesman at JC Penney, albeit the end to the holidays took a toll on his hours. We just look at it as a chance for Jacob to really focus on his school work...we hope.

Whitney finally finished her senior thesis, which leaves only two online classes for her to finish before being able to graduate--finally! She plans on graduating in April, then only to get on with her life. She is still working full time at Kids Academy of Copley, potty training and fighting with kicking and screaming two year olds.

So Jacob didn't have to work today, but Whitney did. Since there were so few kids, Whitney got to leave a little more than an hour early. Yea for holidays! With his free time, Jacob cleaned up around the house, including finally putting the rest of the Christmas decorations away. After a little evening shopping, Jacob hung a new curtain in the bedroom and Whitney finished reading the Dan Brown novel, Deception Point.

And there you have it, the exciting lives of Jacob and Whitney Lauritzen for the last two months. Unbelievable excitement, we know! Wahoo!

A while ago, Whitney had made some signs ("I love you a bushel and a peck" and "Families are Forever") for our apartment, but we didn't have a way to hang them. Jacob used his new power drill (which Whitney gave him for Christmas) to make some holes to hang them with.

Now we just need someone to visit us!
(Hint Hint)

Marching to a New Beat

2007-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to Gabriel Brothers in Akron to get some inexpensive stocking hangers, but as we walked in the door we saw something else that we had to have. Whitney and I both love just about anything to do with Mickey Mouse. There at the front of Gabe's was a Mickey Mouse toaster for $14.99! We already had a toaster, but not one that not only had Mickey on it, but also toasted the shape of Mickey onto the bread! Needless to say, we decided that the ability to have Mickey become a part of our breakfast was worth the small price.

When we got home later that night, we read the box more carefully. To our delight and glee we read that the toaster played the Mickey Mouse March when the toast popped up. This got Whitney excited (and me a little bit too). So, we hurried and plugged it in. We'd been trying to decorate our kitchen in Mickey things anyway, but now we had theme music!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Post Thanksgiving De-tox

2007-11-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

"Shopping!" Jacob said this morning as he attempted to wake me up around 3:30 am so that we could get to JC Penney in time to get the free Mickey Mouse snow globe they were handing out. Kinda ridiculous to get up that early, but we are big fans of pretty much anything with Mickey Mouse on it. Plus, it was free and we like free stuff. (When Jacob went into work around 8 am at JC Penney, he found out that they had set a snow globe aside for all of the employees.)

So we started our day early and hit the big sales, but not looking for anything in particular. We hit JC Penney and Wal Mart, then headed to Bob Evans for breakfast. Then we went to Staples until Jacob had to go to work. While he helped the mad rush of shoppers buying shoes, I continued to shop. I went to JoAnn Fabrics and spent some time with my mom, then went to Target (where I was able to complete most of Jacob's Christmas shopping).

I finally got home around noon, and attempted to watch a movie while wrapping gifts, but I was quite tired. I decided to take a nap, but my phone kept ringing, so I really didn't get a good nap. Then, before I knew it, I had to go pick Jacob up from work. We made a couple of last minute stops, then headed home where we had leftover Thanksgiving for dinner and got out the Christmas decorations!

We started playing Christmas music and watched ELF while we put up the Christmas tree. Even though we aren't going to be in Ohio for Christmas (we are spending it in Thatcher, AZ with Jacob's family), we still wanted to put up all our decorations. Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving, as well as our apartment "beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"

The place cards that Whitney and Melinda made.

The final table setting.

Dad carving the turkey.

Us before leaving around 4 am this morning.

The snow globe from JC Penney.

"O Tannenbaum"

The beginnings of the Lauritzen Family's Christmas Village.