In Review: December

It is now the end of January and we at last have removed our Christmas decorations. It is definitely time to record a few of the things that we experienced this past December.

The magical month of December started out with something very exciting - a visit from Grandma AND Grandpa Breakall! Grandpa was able to steal away from the cold and the responsibilities and spend time with US. Yahoo!

No one was happier to see them than Ammely. Especially since Mommy had been in the depths of pregnancy sickness when they arrived. Ammely had NOT been getting the care and attention she wanted.

Just to give you an idea of the state of our family due to my pregnancy - we sent Grandma and Grandpa Lords to pick my parents up from the airport. When they all arrived I was laying in the middle of my disastrous house in my 3-day non-showered stench. They had me call the doctor to get me on some medication - which my mom went out to get with her parents. Meanwhile, my dad cleaned the first floor of our house - a mere 3-hour project. (Sidenote: To be fair to Ammon, he was at work. And only a week before that he had cleaned our house top to bottom AND decorated for Christmas all while I slept away.) I can't say thank you enough for everything my parents did for us while they were here. It probably didn't feel like much of a vacation, but I sure am grateful!

Ammely was happy to have the grandparents. Especially Grandpa. After his cleaning frenzy he spent all of his time with her.

They went to the park. And they spent time ringing the doorbell. And he told her stories. And he played with her toys. Grandpas are the best.

We also were lucky enough to have an early Christmas with these Granparents. And here is more evidence of how glad we were to have Grandpa here:

Just when you think you're done assembling complicated toys for children, your children go on and have their own children and you're doing it all over again! Thank you Grandpa!

And thank you Grandma for picking it out! Though she was timid at first, she loves it now!

She loves ALL of her toys!

And Ammely wasn't the only one who got spoiled. I didn't even begin to take enough pictures to display how much my parents gave all THREE of  us this year.

We were spoiled. Plain and simple.

The remaining weeks until Christmas passed by quickly. For me they were filled with trying to figure out a medication that would work. Zofran was a miracle. Until the itching, hives and swelling of the mouth happened. And basically nothing else even touched the nausea.

The week leading up to Christmas went exceptionally well. I think it was about that time that we went to see trains with Belle and Kent's family - wow. That was a first for us and we were so glad for the invite!
That weekend we also got to meet up with my cousin Kailey and her boyfriend Robert (whose family lives in Scottsdale). They were adorable and for me it was so nice to see family from home.

Monday night was the Baysinger Christmas party. Everybody was there. We weren't missing a single person and it was a sweet night that filled my heart with the Christmas spirit. There was soup and bread bowls and hot chocolate and sweets and cheesecake pie. There were thoughtful gifts given all around So thankful to Boyd and Amber for hosting such a perfect event. And I am also VERY thankful to Gage who rocked my world and got me this bad boy:

I had been wanting, longing for and literally aching for one of these. And now I sleep in my own pillowy-heaven every night. Thank you thank you thank you!

Christmas Eve was a peaceful, quiet evening at home. We had lots of good stuff to eat all night: lil smokies, jalapeno poppers, boneless buffalo wings, stir fry, hot chocolate, sparkling grape juice, and Dr Pepper. Yum..

We read the Christmas story.

Started a new tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve..which didn't start out so well...

...but it got better as we went...

...and it ended GREAT! Christmas books to read together!

So we read The Night Before Christmas and then put Ammely to bed. We turned on Arthur Christmas and finished getting everything ready for the morning.

Christmas morning was relaxed and beautiful. Ammely got spoiled again. We all did.

Because this part of the pregnancy gets me so sick I didn't make our family do many of the things I normally would have. We didn't have our nativity nights this year. We didn't go see Christmas lights at the temple. We didn't bake cookies or other Christmas treats. However, we did stick to our 3-gift rule. And just to have it written down so I'll remember in years to come, here is how that played out for us this year:

Ammely
Needful: A chair to sit in (Mickey Mouse chair)
Meaningful: Chrysanthemum and McElligot's Pool (Some of Mommy and Daddy's favorite books when we were small)
Joyful: Baby Doll and Stroller

Ammon
Needful: Freezer full of Dad's breakfast burritos (The preggo wifey hadn't been doing much - or any - cooking/grocery shopping this month)
Meaningful: New Wedding Ring & Patriarchal Blessing Pictures
Joyful: Fishing Pole and Creel full of Fishing Supplies

Brelynn
Needful: Paper Shredder
Meaningful: Tent
Joyful: TV for the bedroom

After gifts at home we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Baysinger's house for a yummy Christmas breakfast, more gift-giving and lots of time spent with siblings and cousins.

Check out the gifts for the children full-grown men:

If you look closely you'll see the darts stuck to the window.

We were spoiled again.

And one of the great benefits of living in Arizona is the beautiful weather this time of year. So we spent lots of time outside enjoying each other and this beautiful planet.

That evening was Christmas dinner at Aunt Tammy and Uncle Patrick's house. Dinner was extra delicious. And we were all in for some more Christmas presents. Ammely was especially happy with this visit.

Just look at how happy she is! 

She only loves this gift more and more with every passing day. Grandma and Grandpa Lords had a hit!

We were exceptionally blessed this Christmas season. We were fortunate to see so many of our loved ones. We had help and concern from everywhere we went. And the generosity that poured out upon our heads was beyond what we deserved.

I am so thankful for the precious memories that are mine and my family's.

Merry belated Christmas to one and all!

In Review: November

November sort of crawled by in "morning" sickness misery. Plus, the preggo hormones kicked in and I did a crazy-pregnant-lady thing and chopped off all of my hair.

Well, it wasn't ALL of my hair. And I didn't do it personally. The lovely Chelsea did it. And she did a pretty darn good job if I say so myself.

The morning after my extreme makeover we headed to see Dr Layton and he told us the good news - there really is a baby in there! We saw the heartbeat and got a picture of our little bean to send out to the family. Baby #2 is expected to arrive on or around June 24, 2014.

Upon leaving the doctor's office (no easy feat as our car had died while we were inside - the good doctor himself had to give us a jump) I pulled a surprise mini-vacation out of my pocket and handed it to Ammon. Onward to San Diego!

We pulled in to the hotel late that afternoon after driving through many rainstorms (how often does it rain in Arizona?! Oh yeah, only when you're trying to cross the state - on a day that your car died - and your husband had no previous plans of doing so...sigh). We unloaded our stuff and headed out for some local dinner at The Pier Cafe.

Pretty good seafood in an AWESOME location. But we were tired and I was sick so we didn't enjoy it as much as we normally might have.

Normally we might have tried to see a few things that night too, but it was back to the hotel room for this sick lady. That was a-okay with Ammely. She was over-the-moon happy to do laps around the bed, and the room, and pull open all of the drawers, and pull out the notepads and wave around the TV schedule...you know, all the things she can't do at home. This picture was taken the next morning, but it gives you an idea:

The big event of this miniature vacation was a trip to the San Diego Zoo. This Baysinger really enjoys Zoo-going and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the world famous San Diego Zoo.

This zoo is HUGE. I don't think we saw half of it. If ever we were to do this again, I think I'd prefer to do a 2-day pass. Then maybe you'd have a better chance of doing and seeing everything you want to do and see. Plus you maybe wouldn't be so thoroughly exhausted at the end of your day of fun.

Still, we had a ton of fun here. We broke in Ammely's brand new monkey backpack leash...which worked great!...for the first ten minutes.

...and then we may have gotten her feet tangled up in the leash and she may have gone crashing down onto the cement and she may have landed on her head.

So we made a detour from the hippos to the help where our little girl got a brief examination and an ice pack for her head.

It turned out pretty well all things considered. She had a bit of a bump on her forehead but other than that she just needed some love through the next few exhibits.

We took the opportunity to see a couple shows while we were there too - very nice to sit down for a little while and very nice to see the animals in a way you normally don't see at their exhibits.

Did YOU know that dogs and Cheetahs could be best friends? Ummmm...neither did we! That's why you have to go to the shows! - To learn those kinds of facts.

The zoo isn't all about the animals though. There's also the grub.

And the local plant life. This interest passed from father to son to daughter I believe. I think picking up leaves off the ground was Ammely's favorite part of this zoo experience - ha!

And the awesome rides.

By this point we were ready to leave. So we took a picture to prove we were there and headed out to our next adventure.

The beach at sunset. A first for Ammon. A love for Brelynn. Fun for the whole family.

After her little dip in the ocean, we decided it best to head out and warm her up. Again, we took one last picture to prove we were there...

...headed up to the walk and cleaned off our feet and wrapped up the Ammely.

From there we headed to this lovely area for some dinner.

Once again, this is somewhere I'd love to have been able to spend a little more time. But we were tired. And hungry. And at least one of us was pregnant.

So we took a little walk through Little Italy to our destination: Filippi's Pizza Grotto. We ordered our pizza to go but this place was really cool. If we'd felt up to it, I would have liked to have actually stayed to eat. You walk through a meat shop to get back to the restaurant (the meat shop reminded Ammon of grocers in Russia) and once you're back there, the restaurant is adorable! Very Italian (obviously). Plus, since we ordered ours to go we got to wait next to all of the pizza making-action. Can you see that behind Ammon and Ammely?

They made SO many pizzas SO fast - it was fascinating to watch.

It was a night of strange hotel movies and pizza for us. Too tired to even go to the pool.

The next morning it was time to say goodbye - but not before we left our mark.

November was also home to Thanksgiving - but I did not take any pictures. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it was great. Lunch at Grandma and Grandma Hatch's and dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Lords. Amazing food and company all around. Beautiful weather. 

We also bought a few more trees and played outside. I mean, it's November right? Sledding in the backyard is totally feasible, right? 

Anything is possible folks. Even backyard sledding in the Arizona desert. 

In Review: The Rest of October

It's certainly been a while since I've attempted to document the passing moments of this Baysinger clan. It is time I try to catch up.

So let's go back a bit. You know, three months is all. Yes, October. What happened to the rest of it?

Well, for starters THIS happened:

...so I rushed out to get some Taco Bell and McDonald's Hot Fudge Sundaes (cravings from my first pregnancy)...just so I could post this lovely on the door for Ammon...

It was a very exciting day. And since the beans have now been spilled I feel that you may now have some greater understanding as to why nothing has posted on this blog of mine in the last few months. The first few months of growing a person are not fun. Quite miserable actually.

Anyhow. The misery did not set in for another couple of weeks so we had just enough time to do a few awesome things.

Like carving pumpkins.

And partying hard at Oktoberfest at Belle and Kent's. This event was amazing. Root beer tasting. Food of all kinds. Company to die for. I will be attending this party every year for the rest of my life. I hope the Metcalf's are prepared for that.

We continued the partying by dressing up and heading over to Amber and Boyd's for their annual Halloween shin-dig. Another amazing event. I did not take enough pictures.

Bert of Mary Poppins

Mary of Mary Poppins

The Olmsteads as...umm...awesome! You may read more about their costumes here if "awesome" is not explanation enough for you.

The Joker

Maleficent

There were many more party participants in equally awesome attire - but as I said, I did not take enough pictures.

And then Grandma Breakall flew in to help us celebrate on Halloween.

She took us to the awesome Halloween/Fall Festival at Schnepf Farms. This was AH-MAZING. There was SO much to do, we didn't even begin to touch all that there was at our disposal. I plan to return annually. With or without children. Seriously, this place was SO much fun.

Ammely got her face painted.

And then we rode the carousel. Well, we tried. She was not sure about this moving horse.

Fortunately, the operator was kind enough to let us try again - this time with a stationary horse.

We went to see the pig races.

But our little girl did not have enough patience to wait five more minutes for the pigs to emerge.

So we measured ourselves.

And headed off to get in line for the flying bumblebees.

By this time we need to refuel. Again, I was VERY impressed. This food was yummy. Chili. Cornbread. Corn on the Cob. Hot Dogs. Chips. Soda. Kettle Corn. YUMMY.

With full tummies we headed off to ride the train around the farm...another VERY impressive attraction.

The full tummy, busy morning, and rhythmic chugging of the train pulled this little girl into her nap time.

And because we wanted her to be ready for her big night of trick-or-treating, we let her sleep. We took one last picture and then headed out.

After a restful afternoon, we started prepping for Halloween night.
All it took was a couple of pigtails and a little blue hairspray...

...and voila! Bo-on-the-Go!

If Ammely doesn't look familiar to you, you are not alone. Bo on the Go is a Canadian show that just so happens to be on Netflix and just so happens to be Ammely's very favorite show. Here's a picture to give you an idea.

Or if you're really interested, you may watch an episode here.

After some practice and preparation we hoped that she would be ready...

...and she was! It's just that the neighbors weren't quite ready. But fear not, her first door was not a failure. The homeowner rushed out just as we were leaving with a treat for our first-timer.

Ammely was thrilled. And it didn't take her long to realize that people were giving out candy and that it was okay for her to take it.

As well as she did, she's still only one...and one street was quite enough. So we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Lords (sadly no pictures) and then came back home to wash away the evidence of our crazy night.

But even though the holiday was over...the fun was not. Grandma was still in town afterall!

And when Grandma comes to town, you get gifts from her trip to Mexico.

And she teams up with other Grandmas to take you to the park.

And you get to go shopping...for toys!

We're always so happy when a Grandma comes to visit...and always so sad when she leaves.

In other exciting October news, we purchased and planted our first tree! A Cara Cara Navel Orange tree. In a few years, we'll have our own fresh oranges!

We're one small step closer to a lush, green Eden-like yard.