Our Turtles

We have turtles!!! We were taking a leasurly drive last Saturday and we saw a girl selling baby turtles on the side of the street. Of course we couldn't pass it up so now we now have two baby turtles. I though it was about time that Joe and I tried keeping a pet alive. There is a family of crickets living in our house but they don't count. I think we have a boy and a girl but I can't be sure.

18 week Ultrasound

I had an awesome ulrtasound done before my amnio. They put it on a CD for my IP's. It was so amazing seeing her moving around in there. What a precious little miracle. She was in a funny position with her feet resting on her head.

Missouri trip

In July I was able to visit my sweet sister in Missouri. Her little two month old Kayala is so precious!!!! She is the prettiest baby girl I have ever seen. She rarely cries and smiles all the time. I can see why Summer is so proud of her.



We had lots of fun. We went yard sailing baked whole wheat bread. We made cinnamon rolls and had a fondue party with some neighbors. Missouri is so beautiful it was a nice break from the AZ heat. I wish I could have stayed longer. We went to Nauvoo and saw the pageant. It was such an amazing experience. It would have been nice to stay longer and see more of the sights but we had allot of fun.

Beach Trip

In June we stayed in a time share in Oceanside California. It was such a fun trip. Nolan was old enough to be able to play in the sand. He is so skinny though that he would get cold very easily. He would start shivering from just getting his little toes in the water. We took lots of walks down the pear near our timeshare. The ocean is so beautiful. It always amazes me. Being able to leave our window open and listen to the waves was amazing. Joe had allot of fun burying Nolan in the sand.



One day we went out on the beach early. We must have tuckered poor Nolan out because we came back to our unit for lunch and he had a hard time staying awake to eat his banana. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. He slept like a log during our stay there. I think it was something to do with being so close to the ocean.

Surrogate Journey

My dream to become a surrogate has extended back to my teenage years. After being pregnant with Nolan and seeing firsthand what an amazing gift a child can be, I knew this was something I wanted to do for another couple. I was matched with My wonderful IP's in December of 2007. On May 5th we transferred two perfect embryos. I am now pregnant with one sweet little girl . My IP's are amazing people and I am so thankful to have such amazing Intended Parents. They have put complete trust in me to carry and deliver their little girl safely. They are letting me complete the dream of having a home birth. In Sweden home births are unheard of so this will be a learning experience for me as well as them. We are due January 2009....Wish us luck!

I'm pregnant!!!!

My life long dream of becoming a mother has finally come to pass.  Today is Valentines day and my period is two weeks past due.  I'm buying a test to show Joe (though him and I both know were preggie) For our romantic last valentines day without kids I'm making grilled shrimp with chocolate dipped strawberries.  I am so excited to start a family with the man of my dreams! He is going to be the best father in the world.  I can't wait to see him holding our new little infant!  This image is so vivid in my mind.  My due date is October 16th!! Can't wait!!!!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Grandma and Grandpa Smith came for a visit and we were able to come and spend a few days with them! Here is the whole Smith gang all together! Taylor of course making funny faces and summer just a few months pregnant!

New Job

I enjoyed working at dillards but I am having a very hard time making my sales quota.  There are some old ladies that worked the floor next to mine and they were like barracudas when it came to customers.  They would lurk on the corner and start fitting rooms for my customers then ring them up.  I just wasn't aggressive enough but at dillards they fire you if your not making enough in sales.  It doesn't matter how many hangers I've straightened or how many ladies I've escorted to the petite section or how many people I have showed to fitting rooms.  All I am is a number, my sales number so I'm heading to greener pastures..... update to come....

I've found a job at Robinsons May (now Macy's) They don't have a sales quota.  They just expect awesome customer service which I'm great at!  I'll be working in Womens World (plus sizes) which is great for me because I tend to shop more than work if I'm surrounded by cute clothes.  The ladies I work with are super nice and my manager is young and nice.  I really wish I could find an office job... This standing 40 hours a week is killing me but I guess its nice for now.  Plus I get a killer discount on clothes!! woot!

Our first house!!!!

With Joe and I both working (Me retail at Dillards and Joe an office assistant at Arm Hauling) We figure now is the time to buy our first house.  House Prices are skyrocketing these day and I feel like if we  don't get in now we'll looses out.  Plus its an investment.  We want to start having kids soon also so our dinky one bedroom apartment isn't going to cut it.  Its 1,539 squar feet and we paid 150k We looked and tons of town houses.  The ones we were interested in would get bought up before we had a chance to even make an offer.  We feel super rushed and felt the need to get into a house right away.  So we found this town home for the price we wanted to spend and jumped on it.  We were the first to make an offer and we got it.  The lady who had lived here previously smoked and had a bunch of cats so we had to remove the carpet and had the vents cleaned out.  Much better!!! That place was filthy!!!! YUCK! I was worried we would never get the smell out.. but we did :) We chose red for the living room walls which I love and brown for the kitchen and other rooms.  Nolans room is a butter color and the den is gray.  We are super happy with our little house.   our goal is to sell in a year or two and get into a nice home with a yard....

Ours is the one story on the left...

Christmas 2004

This Christmas was one of the worst of my life.  I of course had to work because Christmas Eve is one of those black out days, no one can request time off.  So our plan was to go to Joes parents house Christmas Morning.  On the eve of Christmas we had a fun little party at work. All of us girls were working and we all brought different goodies and did a gift exchange.  My mananger cooked some awesome barbecue wings (which were awesome!!)  I left work with a smile on my face and felt good. That night at around 1pm I awoke with an upset stomach and ran to the lou and emptied my stomach of some of its contents.  This happened about six more times before morning finally dawned.  I though briefly of the chicken wings and how even though they had sat out all night we still kept snacking. I imagined other co-workers hunched over their toilets. 

So the next morning being the good wife and daughter in law that I am I faithfully went to my inlaws house.  I was so sick, I had been heaving all night.  Joe opened presents merrily and I just sat with my coat on feeling miserable.  I actually don't remember much of that day.  So the fallowing day I was scheduled to work but called in sick.  When I was finally able to go to work  my manager made a bet that I was pregnant but since I was ON my period I gladly took the bet. (we bet a snickers bar haha) Oh and no one else got sick but me!!!! :(