100 Things You Might Not Know About Me

Reading everyone else's lists made me want to do one too! Although, coming up with 100 different things was a lot harder than I thought it would be! It has taken me almost 2 weeks to think of things! Some things on here you probably know already, anyway...

1. I hate mayonnaise and have returned many sandwiches because of this
2. I won a burping contest at a family reunion when I was about 10 years old
3. I hate driving
4. I've never been pulled over or gotten a ticket
5. I like really spicy foods
6. I love Labrador Retrievers and want to get one for our family someday
7. I never blow-dry my hair
8. I am not very "tech-savvy" luckily Dan is!
9. I like hospital food
10. I go through a bottle of conditioner every week
11. I love being pregnant
12. I always wanted a family more than a career
13. I love acting in plays, although I haven't since High School
14. I hate seafood
15. I really like living in Utah
16. I love all of the Harry Potter books
17. I am very paranoid of raw meat
18. I have asthma
19. I haven't had a job since 2002
20. I went to 2 different public High Schools, a Christian private school, and was home-schooled
21. I cannot watch horror movies because I get too scared afterward, thinking about it
22. Being a mom is the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also the best
23. Dan & I didn't kiss until we were engaged
24. Like Amber, I raised tadpoles into frogs as a kid
25. I don't like to exercise
26. I was born pigeon-toed and had to wear a corrective brace as a baby
27. In Junior High, I got the award for "Outstanding Actress"
28. After 2 1/2 years, I still need to decorate my house
29. My favorite flowers are daisies
30. I love "Scrabble," but can never get Dan to play it with me
31. Second to Dan, my mom is my best friend
32. I broke my collar bone the day before my 3rd Birthday
33. I love to look at model homes
34. I did gymnastics off & on from age 8-16
35. I loved having an epidural with both of my baby's births
36. I like wearing pink
37. I am terrible at playing video games
38. I like to try out new recipes (let me know if you have any good ones!)
39. I like practically anything cooked in a crock pot
40. I like watching the Disney channel
41. I am not very good at sports
42. I hate cleaning & wish I had a maid
43. I still keep in touch with my friends from High School
44. I like playing with my girls' toys (can't wait to get an easy bake oven!)
45. I never change my earrings (I should though!)
46. I definitely want more kids
47. I've only had 3 jobs in my whole life
48. I don't really know what color my eyes are
49. I miss going to the ocean all the time
50. I am halfway done with my 100 things!
51. I like having my girls so close in age
52. My favorite hymn is, "If You Could Hie to Kolob," the melody is beautiful.
53. I believe in "love at first sight" (see # 54)
54. Dan & I decided to get married 6 weeks after we first met
55. I really like Biology, it fascinates me
56. I got married when I was 19
57. My first car was a white Ford Tempo c. 1993
58. I have been pregnant or breastfeeding for the past 3 years (Yikes, I need a break!)
59. I rarely wear my hair up
60. I never wear lipstick or eye make-up (mostly because I'm not very good at applying it)
61. I am not very talkative
62. I hate breaking the rules
63. I like to draw
64. I haven't seen any of the "Rocky" movies
65. I love miniature things
66. My first job required me to wear a very embarrassing monkey costume for children's Birthday parties
67. I don't like to watch the news ( I just ask my dad what's going on)
68. I moved out when I was 17
69. I love peanut butter cups
70. I get lost very easily
71. I like to color with Eliška
72. I get motion sickness quite easily
73. I cut Dan's hair (not very well!)
74. I love to hang out with my sister
75. I love a good steak
76. I played the violin in grade school and wish I had stuck with it
77. I played Aunt Edith in "Charlotte's Web" (3rd grade)
78. I then played Aunt Eller in "Oklahoma"(8th grade)
79. My favorite beverage is water
80. I also love smoothies (especially Jamba Juice)
81. I love to curl up with a good book
82. I love the color, yellow
83. I love eating out
84. I used to catch salamanders in my backyard
85. I never went to Prom
86. I am an expert diaper changer
87. I love flip-flops
88. I would like to learn to sew
89. I love baby stuff (clothes, baby fat, baby laughter)
90. I like being a young mom
91. I would like to get my degree in Elementary Education (if I can ever get through my generals!)
92. I love sunshine
93. I am not a morning person
94. I want a rambler style house next time(1 story + basement)
95. I can never think of a good "comeback" line
96. I love being married
97. I get very queasy when I get a shot or have blood drawn
98. I love getting fresh flowers
99. I love it when my family visits me
100. I love my life

Tired of Being Sick!

It has been a very hard month for us here! First Eliška got really sick with Bronchitis. She had a raging fever and a terrible cough. Luckily we caught it before it was Pneumonia. She kept pointing to her chest, saying, "Hurts". Then I got sick with a bad flu bug and couldn't keep anything down for a while. I was just starting to feel better when I got hit with a bad cold! Then Dan and Emma caught it. Then Emma got a bad ear infection, which consisted of screaming all night! Yikes! I am finally starting to feel better, but still have no energy. It is so hard to be sick as a mom because you still have to take care of everyone else! Plus, I feel bad having to make Dan take a sick day to help with the kids, you know. Now my house is a complete disaster, but hey I lost nearly 5 pounds, not that it shows! Anyway, both girls are feeling a lot better now, thank goodness. It just makes me thankful for good health! Hopefully we will all be healthy for a good long streak now!

Eliška at Gymnastics

What's New With Eliška

I can't believe that my little baby is two now! I know it's such a cliche, but she's just growing up so fast! She started gymnastics late August and just loves it. It's really fun for me to watch her, since I did gymnastics when I was growing up. She loves to swing on the bars, do forward rolls all over the house, and jump off of everything. She is very social, spunky, and full of energy. She definitely has her "terrible two's" type of days every once in a while, but I just love her to pieces! She makes me laugh every single day. She loves to play CD's in her CD player, grab my hand and shout, "Let's Dance, Let's Dance!" She has some of the funniest little dance moves. She also loves to color. At first it was just scribbling all over the page, but now she actually stays in the general vicinity of each picture, which I find impressive. She loves to run around singing, "La, la, la!" and "Doo, doo, doo!" She loves being a big sister to Emma. I'm surprised that they already find ways to play and make each other laugh, I'm glad that they are so close in age now. Her vocabulary grows by the minute, she loves to point to everything and say it's name. She loves Winnie the Pooh, Nemo, Sesame Street, Elmo, and everything on Playhouse Disney. She loves to play games online and type on the keyboard. She is quite picky, but she does enjoy cheese-its pretzal mix, mashed potatoes, and fruit snacks. She also loves to play house with her little kitchen that she got for Christmas.

Disney World

For Christmas my parents took everyone to Disney World in Florida. It was so nice, especially since it was the first vacation we've ever had since we've been married, besides visiting our parents. Although it was a little crazy with an infant and a toddler, we had such a blast and I will treasure all of the memories we made there! I know it sounds cheesy, but it was such a joy to watch Eliška meet all of her favorite characters. She really feels like they are her best friends because she reads about them and watches them on TV. We think she has a crush on Leo from "The Little Einstein's" because she just stood at his feet, smiling at him and no one else (see picture below). She also loved meeting all of the Winnie the Pooh characters at The Magic Kingdom. Emma slept through most of the excitement. It was fun to watch all of the cousins playing together, especially since they hadn't seen each other in a while. Eliška did not want to leave them or Grandma and Grandpa. I had so much fun with Dan and my sister, riding all of the thrill rides. Some of my favorites were Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Aerosmith's Rock and Roller Coaster, and Expedition Everest. I hadn't been on a roller-coaster in so long because I'm usually pregnant! It was so nice to have my mom baby-sit the kids for a night. I felt like I was a teenager, riding roller-coasters with my boyfriend, instead of a tired mom covered in spit-up! After being in Florida for a week with highs in the 80's, it was a bit of a shock to come back home to a big snow storm! Anyway, we had fun and there are lots more pictures from the trip on our main family website.

Highlights of 2006

Dan & I saw a bunch of plays for my theater class. Some favorites were Aida, Crazy for You, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Much Ado About Nothing.







Eliška's favorite Birthday present was the balloons!











Our trip to Disney World in December












Eliška got a play kitchen for Christmas









Daddy's Biggest Fan









Emma's Baby Blessing











Emma's Birth









Eliška's first trip to the zoo








Eliška became a big sister













Look what the Easter Bunny brought










Dan built our first vegetable garden in our backyard










A bunny & a witch for Halloween










Eliška's first tea party, a big moment in every little girl's life!










Eliška trying to steal Christmas ornaments










This was the first "theme" cake I ever decorated. I watched Martha Stewart make it on her show. It was fun to make and I was glad it turned out alright. Eliška loves monkeys.

Spotlight on Emma

Looking back on 2006, of course the most memorable event of the year was adding Emma to our family on Friday July 7th, at 9:06 PM. We all love her so much!

Bringing her into the world had its challenges. The pregnancy was a little scary with Placenta Previa and the partial bed rest towards the end did not do anything for my figure! Her birth was pretty painful, but it's crazy how quickly you forget about all of the trouble! I'm so grateful now that I have my sweet little angel and I would definitely do it all over again!

At first, Emma was easy and slept all the time. Unfortunately, she gradually became quite an unhappy little baby. It was sad because we could tell that she really wanted to be happy, but she just wasn't feeling very good. Finally, after going out of our minds with all of the crying, she had some X-Rays and an examination by her Pediatrician and we began treating her for Gastroesophagal Reflux Disease (GERD). The medicine is a little annoying to have to constantly administer 5 times a day, however it is worth it! She is much happier now.

At her 6 month check-up, she weighed in at almost 14 pounds, which is in the 10th percentile on the growth curve. So, she's a bit small for her age, but still growing well. She has mastered rolling over and will move all over the house. We are far from sleeping through the night, which can be rough for me. She just cut her first tooth and I am reminded of how much teething stinks, I just feel so bad for her! She will be trying solids for the first time next week. All in all she is darling and I just want to cuddle her in my arms all day!

Welcome!

I now have a place to post the latest pictures of the kids and keep in touch with all of my friends and family! I'm excited because most of you live so far away and it is easy to feel disconnected at times. Plus, everyone is always asking me what the kids are up to and what my days are like with two under two. Anyway, I look forward to sharing with you the "going-ons" of my little family! Please check back regularly, as I will try to update as often as I can.