3 Days to 3 Weeks

I started my New Year in Las Vegas so I could see my older sister Ashley get married to the love of her life Cameron. Ella and I fly down to Vegas the day before to surprise the whole family! We were only planing on staying for the weekend, because I thought I had to get home. The wedding was awesome, the sun was great, and my family was AMAZING! Saturday rolled around way to fast and flew by with the wedding and the reception.

The next thing I knew it was late on Saturday night and I was talking to my mom about leaving. She said "now Rachel why would you leave after just 3 days ask Paul if you can stay longer!' She was right because I was there and I didn't have a job to go home too. I called Paul and asked him if I could stay a little longer. He said that was a great idea because he would be working swing sifts as well as night while we took down a huge freeway in Washington. PERFECTION! Elleanor and I were going to stay longer and my parents couldn't have been more thrilled!
My parents soaked up every minute having Elleanor with them. It was so great to see them with her because she is the 1st grand baby and she is pretty friggen awesome. We had a great time during the week sleeping and playing with all of my friends, and of course enjoying the sun. I had started calling Ella the Vampire Baby because they first time she saw the SUN was when we walked off the plane in Las Vegas! Haha insane I know but we do live in Seattle. Ella and I were able to go to wedding receptions of girls I used to babysit which made me feel REALLY old and think they were way to young to be getting married when it turns out they were actually my age when I got married! Insane! Elleanor got to go every where and where ever we went people stopped me to just look at her. Which is awesome to have people tell you how beautiful your child is haha makes me feel great.

I mean look at that face!! Anyway every Saturday for 3 weeks Paul told me he was working another week of nights and to stay in Vegas a little longer....which we more then happy to do. Just to stay in the sun a little longer.

We loved Vegas but we knew we had to come back. It was a great trip but Elleanor and I had been gone to long, and finslly made it back 23 days later haha!

One Month Mommy

My sweet baby turned a month old on Friday and I am yet again shocked at how fast time has gone. My sweet baby is changing so much every day all I want to do is tell her to slow down so I can enjoy every possible moment. Our New Year started off pretty eventful. My older sister Ashley was getting married to her sweet husband Cameron New Years Eve and I wasn't planning on being there. Paul and I had, had tickets but we weren't sure how Elleanor would do and I wasn't convinced I could fly with her. Any way 2 days before Ashley's wedding after I had put Elleanor to bed I knew I wanted to be there. So Paul being the sweetest husband ever let me buy a ticket and leave for Vegas the next morning. I have no idea what I was afraid of Elleanor was a better flyer then I was she passed right out in her carseat! I even gave her the window seat! Landed safely in Vegas, Cam and his dad came and picked me up so we could keep it a surprise for my family that I had come down for the wedding. I walked in the door and everyone flipped out it was so fun to be home again! The wedding was fantastic Ashley was beautiful and it was so nice to see her with someone she truly loved and truly made her happy! I was planning on going back that Sunday, but my parents were like hey you are down here why would you leave??? UHH good question it's not like there was a whole lot going on at home. Paul is on a big job with the company tearing down a highway and working nights and well into the morning. He told me to stay because he wouldn't be much help anyway and that way I could spend more time with my family! It was a great idea, my little baby had never seen the sun before because since her birth there hasn't been any sun in Washington. I needed to show my little vampire what the sun was. She isn't a fan! Haha, any way its been a great two weeks enjoying family, friends, and fun!
Back to what my post was orientally about. I have been a mother now for over a month and I couldn't be in awe and how much better my life is with my sweet little girl. I have learned so much! Some of those things include
*poop IS AWESOME
*sleep is overrated
*little hands and feet are the best thing ever
*i am ok being used for food
*nursing is my favorite time of the day and I am so happy it happens so many times a day
*bath time is more fun then ever
*i dont' mind diaper duty
*i can spend hours just watching a single person
*i am the happiest i have ever been
*i love my husband more then ever
I thought I would never be one of those mothers who only talked about her baby and how great she was, but boy was I wrong. My life could not be better in any sort of way. I am totally and completely in love!

Christmas Time

Ah there is a nip in the air, which meant this year Christmas was here. I can’t believe that it has come and gone already, and what a year it has been. I wasn’t even prepared this year and poor Paul suffered from it. I swear he will get some presents soon. Christmas this year was different of course, we had our beautiful baby Elleanor there which was awesome. She had a great time haha well at least I think she did. We dressed her up in a little reindeer outfit she was adorable. Christmas Eve was spent at my sister-in-laws house and it was a great time being with Paul’s family. We ate great finger food and played some Harry Potter Uno. Uno is friggen awesome, and the way the Thatcher’s play is pretty intense. Any ways played Harry Potter Uno for a while and then my sweet baby had a melt down because she was exhausted, so we went home. After the little one was in bed Paul and I enjoyed some time together after he did his last minute Christmas shopping for our niece and nephew I told you we were terrible this year. Christmas morning came bright and early because the little kids could not wait to open their presents from Santa.






It’s great to watch Christmas through little kids eyes. They were so excited and it was so fun to watch them open their presents and be so excited that they had been good enough for Santa to drop by. Paul hooked up out nephew with a gatlan battery powered nerf gun that shoots 25 bullets at you. I think it was a bigger hit with all of the adults then it was with the kids. The morning was great, but yet again we had a fussy baby. (she is going through a growth spurt) Later that night we headed over to Paul’s parents house to have a nice Christmas dinner of Mexican food! Haha which was great because I love it. Elleanor was able to meet her Great Grandparents who just adored her. It was a great night and we were able to enjoy the whole family which was great. I love being around family its nice to have the extra help and support that they all offer. It was a nice quite Christmas and I can’t believe another one has passed. I am especially thankful for the best gift I could have ever received my sweet daughter. She has been such a blessing in my life and I can’t believe that she chose me to be her mother. I never thought I could be this happy, this tired, and this in love with someone. I am thankful for the Christmas season and her birthday so close to it to make me remember what Christmas really is all about.

Elegant Elleanor

Holy Lanta I am a Mommy! I know its been months and I am a terrible person but I am finally updating haha if I even have anyone who reads! Haha Any way so the store of our sweet babies arrival begins on the evening of the 5th of December. I guess I was going into labor but I was convinced it was gas or my back was just aching from taking Dexter on a killer long walk earlier that night. Anyway, about ten that night I am having some pretty intense "back pain" that seems to be coming about every 2-3 minutes. I called my mom and dad and talked on the phone with them while Paul sat on the floor and timed the contractions. I lapped around the downstairs as I tired to convince myself that nah it couldn't be time although she was a week overdue! Paul and I got into bed around 11:30 and tried to sleep. Wait let me rephrase that. I tried to sleep Paul straight passed out haha! Lucky man that sleep came in handy later. I am sure I got some sleep but I was awake at 1 and about ready to DIE or so I thought. I tried to walk through those contractions and was reduced to tears. I thought I was tough but I have never felt anything like that before. Finally at 2 I woke up Paul when I couldn't handle it any more. Paul got up in a flash and was dressed before I finished yet another contraction. I ask Paul if he had gotten the car seat in the car and before I knew it he was out of the room and outside. By now I just wanted my mom so I called her and woke her up telling her she better be on a plane in the morning because I was in labor. My mom talked me through some of the contractions as Paul ran around the house getting things ready for us to leave. Poor Dexter was so confused he had been following me around trying to figure out what was going on with his Mommy. Paul threw our poor disoriented sleepy puppy into the crate and we were out the door. Paul drove really fast I even had to have him slow down because the curves we take to get down to the highway were making the contractions even worst haha! We made it to the hospital in record time and walked into the ER and it was empty which was great because I was ready to get thing moving. We got all checked in and then we wait and waited and waited like half an hour in the waiting rooms which SUCKED because I was IN PAIN! Finally a nurse came down to take us up to our room! I walked the whole way to try and walk through the pain haha! We got up to our room which was one the 14th floor and had an amazing view of Tacoma but I didn't really check it out. One of the night nurses came in and she was amazing! She did deliver shocking new to us though! I was only ONE YES I REPEAT ONE centimeter dilated! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! She told us that we had to walk around for a while and if I didn't progress they would send me home with some pain meds and tell me to come back later. I wasn't about to let that happen so Paul and I walked around in circles for what felt like forever but I only lasted like 20 minutes. I went and laid down and waited for the nurse to come back in and tell me I had to go home. Lucky I was dilated to a 3 and ready to start this process. She asked me if I wanted some pain killers to help with the contractions. Um hello yes! I got some drugs and then she drew me a bath . Crazy right? Uh no it was amazing I sat in the bath for like 2 hours and it was ten times better in there. By seven in the morning they asked if I was ready for the epidural? Um yes I thought I could go natural turns out I am not as he woman as I thought. I got the epidural and it wasn’t scary at all. My lady just talked through the whole thing and I didn’t feel it at all. After I got that I felt amazing and passed out till like 9:30. Nurse came in told me I was getting a does of pitocen to help move things along and I am not even joking you 3 hours later I was fully dialted which shocked everyone! I asked if we could wait for my mom she should be landing any minute but it didn’t work out Elleanor was ready to come. Luckily I had Paul and my amazing sister in law McKenzie there to help me through the process. Birth was awesome I had an amazing experience. I am not going to lie for me birth was super easy I only pushed for 30 minutes and Ms Elleanor showed up all by herself. They placed her right on my chest and I was instantly in love. She is so beautiful and she is all mine. The feeling of love was so over whelming of course I was reduced to tears. She was yelling so loud when she came out and when they placed her on my chest and I spoke her name she stopped crying. She knew me and it was amazing. Needless to say she has been a dream and I am beyond in love with my little one.

Vacation Part One

This is our excited faces! You maybe thinking why do Rachel and Paul have these wonderful smiles on their faces??? Well it's because we had just signed all the paperwork for our house! OMG we did it! We made it through and our house has a brand new roof! Yea it finally happened! It was a whirlwind of a day, not only did I have to combine both my breaks with my lunch to make sure I had enough time to sign Paul had to drive the 3 hour drive from Hanford to make sure we were able to meet each other on time! I was thrilled so was Paul even though his smile isn't as, as excited! He was tired from driving haha! After the signing I had to jet back to work and Paul had to get everything ready for us to leave for Vegas that night! It was a crazy day! After I got home from work we seriously had to jump into the car and head to the airport to go to beautiful Las Vegas! It was awesome flight and we got into Vegas around 10 and it was a friggen 109 degrees! Are you kidding me! Yea it was insane! It was so nice to be home and see my mom and dad! It had only been a few months but it felt like longer! So we made it home my mom basically undressed me the second I walked in the door because she wanted to see my belly! IT was funny but she was excited to see her grandchild!! Well after hardly any sleep Paul and I drove up to Provo, Utah to see one of my very best friends Ashley and her husband Seth! They are having a baby boy in the next few weeks and we wanted Ellie to meet her future husband in the womb! Ashley and I were reunited after almost 2 years of not seeing each other!! It was great to sit down and talk to someone who is going through exactly what I am going through! Her sweet baby boy sits on the right side of her belly and its crazy! Paul and Seth were very happy to see each other they always have a great time together! Saturday night we went out to dinner at Tucanos and OMG I PUT EVERYONE TO SHAME! Being prego has made my appetite shoot through the roof! Tucanon's was amazing! Meat after Meat after Meat with some pineapple! I loved it! IT was soooo good and sitting down with Ashley and Seth and talking about the future! IT was crazy because it's super scary to think that we are both going to have this huge life changing events happen in the next 1 to 3 months haha! After dinner we went up to Sacaqw Peak or something like that. There was an awesome thunder storm rolling in, and we were able to watch the the lightning strike and it was pretty awesome! What a cool thing to see! Then we went back to their house and watched the BEST D movie Splice you should probably check it out! It was a great catch up weekend although it was only for a few days it was great to spend time with one of my favorite married couple friends haah!

HUGE NEWS!!!!

OMG we got our house! As some of you many know i have been lamenting over this house for months! It has been an epic battle to get everything taken care of! BUT WE FINALLY WON! Now I am going to talk about this sweet gem! Not only did we get it for a killer price but we also got A NEW ROOF, NEW WINDOWS, NEW CARPET, AND THEY REPAINTED THE WHOLE HOUSE!!! Uhh yea could I be more excited??? I think not! 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a den and a bonus room I could not be more thrilled! This is the house that I see Paul and I raising our children in! It's in a cul-da-sac, our kids will be going to school with their cousins and we are right up up the road from Paul's parents. They love their grandchildren so it will be nice to have them so close! Paul and I also made our first big purchase for our home the Samsung 4 drawer refrigerator! Oh yes we have been saving and saving and we finally found our Fridge! OHH and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!


We have been dealing with so much lately, with Paul being called back to Handford and the baby, the house being so uncertain for so long, just a whole lot. This weekend has been such a blessing to have things confirmed that if you stay strong and keep your head up good things will happen! As Paul and I drove to church this morning we talked about how lucky we were, and how many things we have to be grateful for in our lives. It's so true, he told me that we can't forget all the blessing we have been receiving although I won't lie I was feeling like we were being tired. I realized as I looked at my very handsome husband how lucky I was to have someone there to remind me all the things I had to be thankful for.
The Week with him being gone wasn't to terrible either, I had something going on almost every single night. I went to a new Dentist which is huge for me because I have had the same Dentist since I was 9 YEARS OLD!! IF you know me as well I am very skid-dish of doctors which means, I never go to the Doctor or the Hospital and I have avoided getting a dentist for over 2 years. Full blown panic attacks when I go to a doctor or someone I don't know I know ridiculous but its me and it drives Paul crazy! Apparently I under play everything which I have been trying to work on since we are having a child and I have been in a doctor's office once a month for the last 6 months! Anyways the dentist was awesome I really liked him and he actually turned our to be LDS which was a great topic haha!
I got to hit up a baseball game! It was for a retirement party for Gerald Gehring which is related to us through a cousin or something to that effect. Anyway the part was in a private box at the Rainers game which is Washington's minor leagues! OMG it was so much fun! Plus Paul got to come home and surpise me which was even better because I sleep terrible without him!



It's so nice to have so much family around and so many fun things to do with them. The game was good I think. I didn't really pay attention I was mostly just talking away and hanging out with all the cousins. We also had a new addition to our Family Laura and Gunner had there sweet baby girl Lydia!!! Gunner is one of Paul's cousins and I adore Laura she was a sweet baby omg so little! It was shocking! Most of the shockingness was the story that went along with it. She gave natural birth which I am most leaning too and pretty much scared the BEGEZZUES out of me! hahah but only time will tell how things go! I can't wait to see how this week goes! All I see is good things!

the last 3 months

Things are a changing....including my due date apparently I am ahead of schedule, little Ellie will be hopefully arriving November 29th! I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is true just because I would like not to have a baby in December as silly as that may sound its true I would rather focus on her birthday then her birthday and Christmas and New Years all in like 4 weeks so we shall see. I got to see her again and it was more magical then I remembered. Our sweet little baby girl was curled up on her stomach with her legs and arms all tucked in. She looked like a little turtle. This didn't bod well with us because we needed to get a clear shot of her heart. Thankful everything checked out with her heart I had been worried for a bit. Anyways she was sound asleep when I walked into my appointment and she did not want to wake up. The ultra sound tech had my lay on both my sides shake my belly and move around to try and wake her up haha! I was cracking up because I like when she sleeps. Those long little legs are getting powerful and she is taking things out on my kidneys! Well the tech finally took the little stick thingy and poked it into my belly until she finally started to move! haha it was soo cool watching her kick and feeling it! Her heart checked out and I got to find out that she is growing perfectly she is just as sweet as I remembered. Got some GREAT NEWS, I wish you could hear the sarcasm in my voice.......Paul is back at Handford. AGAIN. For the next three months working 5 tens and coming home late Friday night and leaving Sunday afternoon. So that means I get maybe 30 hours with my husband a week, as we move into my third trimester, into a new house, and start a new part of our lives. YEAH! Although an answer to prayers this is a hard pill for me to swallow. Our house is turning out to be a bigger pain in the ass yes I did say ass then we thought it was going to be. My hell if we could finally get this taken care of I will be singing off the roof tops! Thankfully I do have a 10 day vacation to Las Vegas coming up in 2 weeks and I can't wait to see my family! I have missed them dearly! Anyways back to the house Paul and I bought our first big ticket item we bought the fridge of our dreams! THE SAMSUNG 4 DRAWER FRIDGE! It's a beauty and I am in love! It was so great to be able to save for something that we wanted to so bad and then blow it all on one awesome thing! I am guessing I will be blogging more because I will have the nights to myself.....well me and Dexter I would be so lonely without my sweet boy!