Here are 2 Dances to spread Holiday Cheer!

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Holiday Dance #2

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Thanksgiving and Alexa's Blessing (update part 2)

For Thanksgiving my family came down to California. We also blessed Alexa the Sunday after Thanksgiving so that my family could be there. It was so much fun having them come and stay with us. The girls really enjoyed them. Makayla LOVED playing with the kids and going shopping with mommy, Grandma and Lala the day after Thanksgiving. It was fun shopping with all the girls. Alexa sure got spoiled. She was held almost the entire time they were here. The boys and Grandpa sure fell in love with her. This was the first time that Grandpa, Justin, Jared and Michael had seen Alexa. For Thanksgiving dinner we went over to Mark's parents house. Dinner was so delicious! Poor Grandpa McClellan wasn't feeling good and neither was James (Makayla's cousin) so they didn't come to dinner. So sad...missing out on Thanksgiving dinner! Here are some pics from the visit with the fam! We forgot our camera when we went over to Mark's parents house for dinner.

Uncle Jubby serenading the girls. Alexa would just stare at him while he played. She LOVED it!

Cuddle time in the morning with Grandpa (he's hiding under the blanket), Grandma, and Lala.

Nap time with Jubby.

Jubby got her to sleep again. Boy, he sure loves her. He didn't want to put her down.

Grandpa loved snuggling Alexa. He thought that she was the cutest, and sweetest little thing. He sure loves his granddaughters.

On Saturday we went up to Nana's house to visit. We had a lot of fun visiting with her, Auntie and Frank. This was also their first time seeing Alexa. Grandpa Bellitti surprised Makayla with a pink princess castle bank. She was so excited! He gave her a ton of change to put in it.

Nana with the girls.

Auntie snuggling Alexa.

Makayla closing her eyes waiting for the surprise.

A bank!!!! Each time you put money in it, it makes a magical princess sound. So fun!

Kisses from Grandpa. He sure knew exactly what she would like. She asked him if she could keep it and take it home. :) Thanks Grandpa...she loves her bank!

Doesn't she look so beautiful in her blessing dress. What an angel!


Makayla holding Alexa. Makayla called Alexa's blessing dress a wedding dress. :)

My family and Mark's parents. Nikole and James came but went home after church. Ashlyn wasn't feeling well so we missed her, Ryan and Nikole and James.


Here is our little family of four on Alexa's blessing day.

Mark gave Alexa a beautiful blessing and it was so wonderful to have our families there with us. We feel so blessed and are so grateful for the Gospel and that familes are forever.

Much needed update (part 1)

I know that it is almost Christmas time and I am now just posting about Halloween. You will just have to excuse me. Life has been a little crazy and then when I have a spare moment I just want to sleep instead of editing photos and updating the blog.
This year for Halloween we went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Makayla loved it. She dressed up as Cinderella and loved going around the church gym in the costume parade. She would wave to everybody. Next we went to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party at Disneyland's California Adventure park. Makayla had a blast! We actually spent the night at one of the park hotels. We celebrated Mark's mom's birthday at the park too. We went to a pumpkin patch, decorated sugar cookies and painted pumpkins. Makayla loved Halloween and all the activities that we did to celebrate. She did not want it to end. She actually cried when I told her that Halloween was over. Here are some pics from our Halloween adventures...and a little video of Makayla riding the Goofy roller coaster at Disneyland. I know her face in the video looks like child abuse, but it was not her first, nor her last time riding it. She actually likes the ride and asks to go on it. It is too funny not to post!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!
Wow! I am speechless. This is an amazing giveaway. This lady is so talented! I want to win this gorgeous dress sooooooooooooooo badly! I cannot believe she is giving it away after all that hard work; I know that would be so hard for me to do. Take a look, it is jaw-dropping!

Wonderful Quilt Giveaway!

Over at Pigtails and Snails she is giving away an amazing quilt that she made. Head over there to check it out!

We LOVE our girls!

Makayla is full of energy and excitement! Sometimes when we are low on sleep (and energy) we can't keep up with her! We sure love her and the fun that she adds to our family. Life would be boring without her! We love you Makayla!

Alexa is such a sweetheart. She LOVES Makayla and stops and listens whenever she hears her voice. (I know that they were good friends up in heaven). She adds peace and love to our home and we all can't seem to get enough of her! We love you Alexa!

Growing!

Sisterly Love! This picture just melts my heart! (Kids are definitely worth all the pain and uncomfortableness of pregnancy, labor, and delivery!)

Alexa had her 2 week dr. appointment last week. She is doing so well. She weighed 8 lbs 6.5 oz. and was 21 inches long. She was just below the 50th percentile for weight and was in the 75th percentile for height. I can't believe that she has grown so much! They are so tiny for only a short time. We absolutely adore her and are so grateful to have her in our family. Makayla has been so sweet to her little sister. Something funny...we keep mittens on Alexa's hands so that she doesn't scratch her little face all up. We were giving her a sponge bath and Makayla looked at her and said "She has hands!" It was so funny. She also sings her little songs all the time. We love our girls!

I wanted to say "Thank You" to both of our families.

I am so grateful that we live by family. I felt so comfortable knowing that Makayla was in good hands while we were at the hospital. Mark's parents watched her...mostly Mark's mom. She is such a cute grandma, and Makayla adores her. She also did a lot of our laundry for us and filled our fridge full of food. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa McClellan! (Also, thanks for picking up my mom and Angela at the airport for us!)

Soon after we got home, we were so lucky to have both my mom and sister come to stay with us and help out. They were here with us for a week, and it seemed to go by too fast. It was so great seeing them and they were so helpful to us. Angela was great playing with and entertaining Makayla. They sure had a lot of fun together. My mom made us home cooked meals like Chicken pot pie, lasagna, chinese, and philly cheese steaks. YUM YUM! She also cleaned for us too. She secretly found my cleaning list, and went to town. Mom, I am so grateful that you were able to come. We sure appreciate your help! You too La! Thanks for also taking Makayla to get her pictures taken! We miss you both already!!!

Thanks to both Grandma's for bringing home my favorite....White Lime!!!! We love you guys so much and are so thankful for such great grandparents to our kids. Being a parent makes you even more grateful for your own parents and all they sacrifice and do for you! Thanks again!

Jamie, Mark's little sister is going on a mission to Orsorno, Chile. She left last week to head to Utah and goes into the MTC on the 15th. We said our goodbyes to her, and will sure miss her! We are so proud of her decision to serve a mission and know that she will be an awesome missionary. The people of Orsorno, Chile are lucky to have her coming to teach them. We love you Jamie!!! You're the best!

LABOR STORY

Mark was so sweet to post about our new little addition to the family. We just love Alexa and she is such a sweetheart.

As for my whole labor story, well I will attempt to tell it to the best of my recollection...

I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday the 16th in the morning time. I had some contractions the night before, but only 3. Then in the middle of the night, contractions woke me up. These ones were pretty uncomfortable, but not painful. They were about anywhere from 7-20 minutes apart, here and there. Anyways, back to the doctor appointment. Mark came with me and the doctor checked me and told me that I was dialated to a 4 and 75% effaced. She said that it could be anyday now, and maybe she would even see me that night. (I really wanted her to deliver the baby because she is my favorite doctor at my office, and she was on call that night). We came home and my Visiting Teacher came over, we had lunch, did some things around the house, went on a walk with Makayla and just hung out.

Around 4:30ish I was having pretty regular contractions and so Mark called his mom and told her that she might want to stick around Temecula, because we may be going to the hospital soon. I was not wanting to go, but Mark thought that we should. I was afraid that they were going to send me home. Finally around 6:30 we arrived at the hospital. The contractions had gotten a lot stronger. They admitted me and hooked me up the monitors. I was a 4 and they said that they wanted to watch me for an hour, and if nothing had changed, then they would send me home. So, an hour passed and I was having some pretty good contractions, but at the end of the hour, I was still a 4. Right as the nurse was checking me, I had a really painful contraction, and even after I changed into my clothes to go home, I was still in a lot of pain. They told me not to hesitate to come back if I was in too much pain, or the contractions got worse. The whole walk to the car, I was having a hard time walking and talking to Mark because I was cramping and contracting a lot. Even in between contractions, I was still cramping. I was thinking to myself the whole ride home, "why am I leaving the hospital, we need to go back." I was tossing and turning to the best of my ability in the car, because of the pain.

We got home and I went straight upstairs to lay down. This did not help and poor Mark was starving (we hadn't eaten since 1 p.m. and now it was like about 8:30 p.m.). I was in horrible pain and nothing was helping. I called Mark on his phone and told him to come upstairs. I told me that we needed to go back to the hospital NOW. We had probably been home for like 25 minutes. Ever since we had left the hospital, my contractions had been strong every 3-4 minutes, with bad cramping in between. The front entrance of the hospital was closed and so we had to go in through the ER. I went by myself while Mark parked the car. When I called they told me that I needed to wait for a clean room and to have a seat. I was dying, and sat down. With each contraction I was trying not to make a scene in all my pain in front of all the family members of people who were waiting to see their loved ones who had just given birth. They were all looking at me like what's wrong with her. (I didn't care, I just wanted the epidural).

They finally got me in and hooked me up. I was in so much pain that Mark had to help me get dressed into the gown. Then the worst thing happened. The monitor was not catching ANY of my contractions. Both the nurse and Mark would look at me and say "You're having one right now?" I would say "YES!" They would preceed to say "How bad is it?" I would tell them, "Really, really painful." Then they would exchange glances like I was insane. I was in horrible pain, and the monitor was not catching any of it. I was so afraid that they were going to send me home in this pain and that the baby would be born at home. (oh yes, I forgot to mention that all of those contractions on the way home and back to the hospital didn't even dialate me anymore...I was still a 4).

I asked the nurse if I could have something for the pain, and she said that she would have to talk to my doctor. It seemed like she was gone for hours. I cried to Mark telling him that no one cared about me and they all thought that I was crazy (even him) and that no one believed me that I was having contractions and in all this pain. He reassured me that they did care and that they were just trying to find out why the monitor wasn't catching the contractions. Finally the nurse came in with a shot of demarol. I was so happy. It took awhile for it to kick in and it didn't make the contractions go away, but took the edge off. (She said that if it was false labor, it would knock it out, but if it was true labor, it would kick it into gear.) Well, a little while later she came in a checked me and I was a 5 and 100% dialated...YEA for me, They finally could see that I wasn't insane. She started my IV and I signed for an epidural. No more than 2-2.5 hours after she gave me the shot, was Alexa born. It all happened so quickly, and I was so in and out of it...tired and completely exhausted from all the pain. My water broke and she checked me and I was a 7 or 8 and then only like about like 5 minutes after that I was a 9. She screamed at the other nurses to call my doctor. It was at this point that the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural, that I wouldn't be getting. (A little late...thanks buddy!)

I just remember feeling this strong urge to push and the nurse was telling me, "NO, NO, don't push." It was the hardest thing ever to not push...and I tried my best. The doctor did NOT make it in time to deliver the baby...my darling nurse did (I loved her...after all she was the one who gave me the shot and was so sweet to me the whole time...even when she might have thought that I was a little insane about the whole contraction thing). The doctor did make it in time to deliver the placenta. I don't even remember feeling the pain of the delivery when I felt the need to push, all my energy and focus was on not pushing that I felt no pain, or very minimal pain. Not having an epidural was not as bad as I thought...not saying that I planned it that way, it is just how it happened. Mark had given me a blessing before we went to the hospital the first time and in it he said that Heavenly Father was aware of me and that all would go well, everything would be fine. It made me feel relaxed. When I was in the middle of it all, I was so scared and in pain, I felt like no one cared. I know that Heavenly Father blessed me and that I was okay, and made it and that the baby was healthy. I am grateful for the priesthood and that Mark is worthy to give us priesthood blessings when we need them.

Just some fun facts...both Makayla and Alexa were born 6 days early (I was induced with Makayla because of Toxemia, and Alexa came on her own). They were both born just after midnight (Makayla at 12:05 a.m. and Alexa at 12:31 a.m.). They were close in birthweight and height (Makayla was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 in. and Alexa was 7 lbs 1 oz and 18.5 in). We are so blessed to have Alexa in our family. She is a little angel and such a sweet, sweet baby. She hardly ever cries. We gave her her first sponge bath and she cried hard then, but that is it. She is precious and we are so glad to have her here. Makayla loves her so much and it is sweet to see her want to hold her and my heart just melts at the way that Makayla looks at her with such contentment and joy. I love both my girls and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is absolutely my best friend, and he is so good to me. Makayla calls him her prince...he is now a prince to 3 girls!

Introducing....

Alexa Marie, born
Sept. 17th 2008 12:31 a.m.
7 lbs. 1 oz. 18.5 inches

She is such a sweet angel and a wonderful baby!

For those of you who are curious if she looks like Makayla when Makayla was born...

Below is a picture of Alexa

and here is a picture of Makayla. Can you tell they are sisters?

Makayla was soooo excited to see her baby sister. She just loves her, and always wants to hold her and talk to her. She is going to be a great big sister.

When Makayla saw her with this headband on she said "Oh, she's cute." We both agree, she is adorable.

Makayla's Bedtime Story

Tonight as we were putting Makayla to sleep she decided to tell us a bedtime story. The actual story lasted alot longer but here is an "short" version of her story. Enjoy!




FYI: White Lime = Our favorite self-serve frozen yogurt place

Update!

On Monday I had a doctor appointment and it was the first time that she was checking me to see if I was at all dialated. She told me that I was a small 3 and I was just shocked. I didn't expect to be anything or if I was dialated at all I thought I would maybe be a 1. She said it could be anyday now, and I felt both excited and nervous all at the same time. I still feel like I have a lot of things to get done, but I can't wait to meet her and be done with all the lovely aches and pains of pregnancy in the 9th month (plus chasing after a toddler). I feel like she is already a big part of our family, because we talk about her everyday. Makayla is always talking about her and saying how she is going to take her to Disneyland and "hold her safe on Madderhorn". It melts my heart that she is so excited to have a baby sister. She tells me all the time all of the things that she is going to share with "baby sister" and it just makes me smile. I know that she is going to be such a good big sister and I can't wait for her to finally hold her in her arms. That moment will be so precious and sweet.
I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl in my life and another one that I will soon be able to hold, snuggle and kiss. As the due date gets closer, I feel both excited and nervous. Remembering the laboring and delivery is not the most pleasant, but in the end, it is all worth it. I am a little nervous, because with Makayla I had toxemia, so they induced me a week and a half early. I am nervous about knowing when I am in true labor (because I didn't go into labor on my own, although I do know and remember what labor feels like). I have had several contractions sparatically over the past few days, but nothing consistent. When she is ready, she will come. My next doctor appointment is on Tuesday, so until then, I will just hang in there and continue to get things ready for baby.
I have a cute little video of Makayla, but Mark is not home to help me upload it. I will post it later. Well, there is the update on pregnant mommy, until next time....

Sweet girl!

Yesterday we only went to part of church. We had to leave sacrament meeting a little early. Mark had taken Makayla out into the hall and was gone for a little while. When he brought her back in she had tears streaming down her cheeks and she was holding her arm, but she was not crying. He had been holding her hand and was about to walk back into sacrament meeting with her when she decided to become dead weight and when she did her body twisted and Mark heard a loud "pop". We wanted to make sure that she was okay. We offered her some fruit snacks (her favorite) and told her to hold the bag with her one hand (the supposed hurt arm) and when she took the bag her whole arm started to shake and she started to cry and said that she didn't want them anymore. We knew something was wrong then. If we even touched her arm or moved her body she would cry. We left and took her to an Urgent Care. The first 2 we tried to go to were already closed, but we found a 24 hour one. They quickly got us in and there were only 2 other families there. The guy was so nice and gentle with Makayla and she did great. He just moved her arm up, then down, then up again, and it was all better! She did sooooo good, and hardly cried at all. She got a sucker for being so good and even ate it with her previously dislocated arm.
It broke my heart that she was hurt and I just wanted to make it better and take away all the pain from her. In fact, she kept asking me for a band-aid to make it feel better. We sure love her so much and are so happy she is a part of our family. I am so glad that she is all better too!

Happy 4th Anniversary!

So yesterday was our 4 year anniversary. We are trying to save up for a house, so we decided to just do something simple and not to extravagant. Mark kept joking with me saying that he was going to take me to In-N-Out and we were going to share a 10x10 (meaning 10 hamburger patties high) and we would meet in the middle and kiss, like on Lady and the Tramp. He is so full of it!

We went looking at some new homes yesterday and around 2 he was kinda acting weird and saying that we really needed to hurry and get home. I was curious and asked why...he just said that Makayla really needed to go down for a nap (which she did). Once she was sleeping he told me that I only had about 45 minutes to get ready before we had to leave and that I needed to wear a skirt. Now I was really curious, but he would not tell me ANYTHING! So, I proceeded to get ready, constantly asking him questions that he would just brush off with simple answers like we were going to dinner early and he wanted us to dress up for it to be special. Frustrating, but so cute that he wanted to surprise me. He also told me not to get my hopes up because he had not planned anything special (RIGHT!).

While driving he took a freeway that would take us to L.A. and then I told him that I knew where we were going....to see WICKED! He told me that he didn't get tickets and that is not where we were going. So, I figured it must be a special restaurant that he wanted to take me to.

He gave me my choices of dinner places and I told him that it looked fun to go to the Farmers Market up there. We ate at a French Crepe place that was really good. Then, we drove and I just knew we were going to see Wicked, and he just kept denying it...until we pulled right in front of the theatre. I was so excited! I have been wanting to see it for soooo long. It was so great and we had the best time together! (I didn't even have to worry about Makayla because his mom was babysitting her...Thanks Grandma!)

Mark made me feel so special by surprising me and he was so cute about it. I just want to take a minute and tell him how much I love him. He is such a great husband and father. He is truly my best friend and my life wouldn't be the same without him. He tells me all the time that he wants me to feel like a princess, and he does make me feel like a princess! Happy Anniversary honey, I love you!!!! And, thanks for a great 4 years, and many more to come!

I'm Back!

I know that I have totally been neglecting to blog lately. I just have so much stuff to blog about that it has been kind of overwhelming for me. AND instead of just putting a little up here and a little up there, I have been avoiding it. Well, I am going to post about a couple of things that have happened recently. In July we went to Utah for Mark's cousin's wedding and also got to spend some time with my family. Makayla loved the whole dancing part of the wedding...she did not want to leave. It was so cute! I got some pics of her and Mark dancing together, she had so much fun!

We also went to the Scera Pool while we were visiting my family. They have this little slide for the kids that is so cute, they slide down it into the water and can get back up and climb up the stairs and go again. This is where we spend most of our time; Makayla LOVED it. She probably went down the slide seriously 50 or 60 times. Thanks Grandma! We had so much fun!

One night after dinner we went to the park by the Scera Pool and Makayla enjoyed playing on the playground and running free

Also, it has been so hot lately (especially for me, being 7 1/2 months pregnant) so we have been taking advantage of our community pool and going swimming almost everyday. The other day we put Makayla's floaties on her and let her go in the pool. She was just fine and loved the freedom. She was swimming by herself. Now she asks to go just about everyday.