The Crespo Family

Bad Idea

2011-09-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

I gave Charlie a cupcake from Grandma while on our drive home one afternoon. It was mysteriously silent in the back of the car. So at a stop light I turned around and saw this:

my bad!

Playing together

2010-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Mesmerized by the TV, but playing nicely together

We love to snuggle

2010-12-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Carolyn's Place

2010-12-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

We went to visit my friend Carolyn twice this summer. Once in March and yet again in July to be there at her wedding. We had tons of fun visiting and playing with the boys. Here are some pictures from our March visit playing with the boys outside.

After Carolyn and Bry's wedding, family and close friends were sitting in the lodge having fun singing karaoke. At one point Lizzie went to the bathroom and came out to clap for a song that she thought was wonderful, but forgot to pull up her pants and underwear!! When she realized all the attention and laughter were directed at her she got embarrassed and ran to Jai and myself on the exact opposite side of the room through where everyone else was sitting!! We have a natural born streaker!!

Unfortunately we were so busy with the wedding that these were the only pictures we took of that weekend.

Lizzie screamed her head off as we were getting into the car to leave. She didn't want to go. She LOVED it so much there. Jai says camp bullfrog is heaven on earth. We definitely need to visit them more often. It is such a lovely place to relax and enjoy the company of friends.

My Grandpa

2010-12-25T10:00:00.001-08:00

My grandma and grandpa moved down from Utah in June of this year to live with my Aunt. My grandpa past away this October. I am grateful that we were able to see him while he was down here with us. Here is a picture of the girls with my grandparents.

Lizzie the Singer

2010-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

There's a hole in my ceiling

2010-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

While I was out on medical leave our hallway bathroom ceiling began to drip with water. Most likely it was from old pipes between the floors but this is what we had to live with for three months until the "responsibility" issues were resolved and the contractor actually kept an appointment (he averaged 1 for 15!).

After awhile the plaster started coming apart during bath time. Technically the contractor never finished the job. He was supposed to come back and paint it but he never did!!!

Charlotte month by month

2010-12-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a look at Charlotte this year by each month

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Babies grow so much in a year!!!

Drive In!!!

2010-12-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

So who knew there were Drive In's still around!! Apparently there is one in the City of Industry a little trip away from us. We went with some of our friends from our ward to see:

We had so much fun watching it outside with trains going by!! Lizzie about screamed her head off when it began!! Yeah Toy Story!

At this time we also found out that Charlotte is addicted to Sonic drinks. She wouldn't give me back my fresh fruit strawberry slush!! What a pig!!

Balboa Park

2010-12-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

So we discover this wonderful park at the very end of the summer right before it started to get too dark when I get home from work. It has several playgrounds, jogging trails, a lake with ducks, and lots of space. Jai says its like the City of Enoch in the middle of the ghetto.

So we were only able to go there one evening this year but plan to go a lot more next summer. We actually went the day that Lizzie painted her own nails!! Here is some pictures of Lizzie feeding the ducks:

I don't know if you can see it but here is a picture of Lizzie extremely upset at us having to leave, but the park was closing. She was kicking and screaming her head off. It looked like we were abducting our own child!

Elizabeth month by month

2010-12-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a month by month look at Elizabeth this year

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Amazing how time flies!!

The Nap Time Disaster

2010-12-15T10:00:00.000-08:00

This summer we learned that if Lizzie and Charlotte were in the same room for nap time they never slept. To fix this situation Char would sleep in her crib in her room and Lizzie would sleep on our bed. One naptime Jai went in to check on how Lizzie's nap was going and didn't see her in the room but heard her in our bathroom. He goes in to see what she is up to and this was the result:

An extremely proud child!!!

That's right she painted her own fingernails and toenails. Overall she did a good job. She didn't mix the polishes and it only got on her fingers and toes and a little on her t-shirt. The lesson we learned from this was to leave our door open while she naps. She actually touches less when there is a possibility of us walking into the room at any time!

Who could say no to this?

2010-12-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

Faces

2010-12-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Charchi makes the cutest faces. Here is a sampling of some:

Her favorite is the "ooooh" face with me and the above one. I love the one with her and my sister in the pool. She was so mad at us for putting her in there!!

Disneyland

2010-12-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

For our 2009 Christmas present my sister said she would take the family to Disneyland all expenses paid!!! So we went in June before Lizzie turned 3 so that my sister could take a friend with her as well and not be bored by us only. So here are some of our favorite pictures from the trip:

Belle is Lizzie's favorite Princess. So was so excited when she got to meet her!!!

At California Adventure near the Bug's Life section was a water activity for little kids. Lizzie had so much fun running around and playing in the water!! This is my favorite picture of the day.

And after Disneyland we stopped by our favorite place for drinks!! Thank goodness we found out there was one in Anaheim!!!

Mom's and Dad's birthday's

2010-12-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

So Jai and I were both born in November. One year and 19 days apart. I won't get more specific.

So for my birthday I voted and had El Pollo Loco for dinner!!

I absolutely LOVE their chicken tortilla soup. Jai's fabulous birthday banner he made for me got broken by the printer! So sad!!! Lizzie was a little disappointed that I didn't have candles on my cake, but I think we used all of them up without knowing it.

For Jai's birthday he made his own dinner, it was a delicious Pallea dinner!! (I really am a terrible cook and we would have ended up eating Mac & Cheese or Spaghetti for dinner) but I made the pie!!! Banana Cream with French Silk Chocolate and whipped cream (okay so Jai reminds me I made half of the pie, just the chocolate part...) BUT the week before I asked Lizzie what we should do for daddy's birthday and she said he NEEDS to have a Star Wars birthday. Well, not having a whole lot in the cash flow department this is what I got him:

That's right, we had Star Wars napkins at Jai's birthday. Sometimes I rock it!!!

Dr visit

2010-12-10T10:00:00.001-08:00

Lizzie at the doctor's for her annual visit. Why give her such a huge dressing gown? Isn't she adorable?

Halloween

2010-12-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

We spent the night before Halloween at our Ward Halloween Party and then on Halloween we visited family to say hello and show off our wonderful costumes. As you can tell I am VERY handy at the whole homemade costume thing!! ;)

Favorite Picture of the Night

Princess Belle and Tinkerbell

At Grandma's house with Batman (the Dog)

At Aunt Jessie's house with cousin Kendall and her friend

I just loved this video we took of the night. My favorite part has to be the very end and what Charlotte does!!!

The girls birthday's

2010-12-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Charlotte's birthday came first. Here are a few pictures of her and her cupcakes (which Lizzie insisted on having)

Since Char's and Lizzie's birthday's are a month apart and mostly family just comes to the parties, we did one big birthday blow out for both of them. We had a piñata (that Jai accidentally hit is niece in the head with) bubbles and a playground to have a blast on. Plus a massive BBQ to feed the hungry masses of family. What else could a one year old and three year old want?!? Food, bubbles, and presents!!! Here are some pictures of the shindig.

On Lizzie's actual birthday we gave her a few books and had a meal that she wanted.

Honestly I don't know if we are going to do it again next year, but we will see!!!

Illness & weight loss

2010-12-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

So for some reason after I turned 30 a few years ago I have had random medical issues. That is about the time we found out we were pregnant with Charlotte. Well with that came definite high blood pressure and a hyperthyroid, plus it was the first time I had morning sickness. The best part about the hyperthyroid was I lost weight during the first three months of pregnancy without having to do a thing!!! That's right I had some sort of chocolate candy bar and a 32 oz soda everyday and still lost weight!!! It was awesome. So I started somewhere around here:

Taken a few months before we got pregnant.

To about here:

Taken a little over a year ago.

I lost around 30 lbs being pregnant!! Not too bad but I was still overweight. So my old co-worker and I decided we would join a gym and workout during lunch. We did okay for a few months but then she got engaged and distracted and I got yet another crazy illness.

So after Charlotte my doctor took me off the blood pressure medicine and everything seemed to be fine until about 5-6 months later. I thought I needed to go talk to him again about my blood pressure and see if I still needed medicine. I, sadly enough, was right and he in all seriousness told me that I needed to lose weight to see if this was weight related problem or possible inherited problem I would have all my life. That kinda scared me. So I go on meds again and tried to see how to diet correctly.

So within the month between doctors visits, all of us got the stomach flu once but I got it about three times so I decided to bring it up with him since I was there anyway. The flu seemed so strange because I would not be able to do anything for about 24 hrs. It was extremely debilitating. He asked me a few other questions and told me that I probably didn't have a weird flu but that I probably had gallstones. Tests would have to be run.

So I looked it all up on the internet and yep he was right. There were signs and symptoms that I thought were nothing but when added together gave me a problem. I had probably been having issues for years. A few attacks after Lizzie was born, probably some of the morning sickness with Charlotte was actually a gallbladder problem.

I continued to have attacks every 10-14 days while it was verified and insurance claims were being settled. I did find that if I ate less dairy and hardly any red meat I would have them less frequently. So...I finally had the surgery to remove my gallbladder to solve the issue. And solve it, it did. Here is a picture of me and Charchi while I was out on medical leave. We had a great time hanging out for two weeks.

Yes she had pink eye that day!

While my body is readjusting I have to eat a low fat diet. No fatty meats (So far only white chicken and tuna are safe) and cutting back on all the other good stuff that makes life worth living. Basically my body is readjusting to life with out the bile back-up system. So if I do eat "bad" things my stomach goes into overtime to try to digest the food and can't, therefore giving me severe stomach/intestinal pains. The best part about this diet is that if I "cheat" I have immediate consequences of getting extremely sick for 24 hours. Hey, it keeps me honest!!

So with this problem and working out and dieting I have lost over 35 lbs since January!!! Here is a picture of me a few weeks ago.

That's right over 65 lbs since that first photo!! I still feel I have 10-15 more to go but I am now in the "normal" weight range for me!! I am now officially below where I was when we got married as well as below where I was six months after I got home from my mission!! It feels real good! I just hope that this year doesn't bring another medical issue!!!

Que Vayan Los Doyers!!!!!

2010-12-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

We saw two Dodgers games this summer. One with Jason when he came to town and the other with our ward the very next night. We had fun!! They played the Padres both days, won the first night, but got creamed the next. I thought we took more pictures, but apparently we didn't.

As you can see we enjoyed Oreo Cookies and Lizzie got a pink Dodger Princess Hat. The first night Lizzie and I missed the end of the game because we had to take a bathroom break. She was so upset that everything was over without her, she demanded that I get everyone back out on the field so she could see the ending. The only thing I could do was laugh at the request!

Charchi all sugared out

In the parking lot going back to the car to "change"

The next night the girls were so tired from two late nights that Lizzie started hopping up and down the cement steps going crazy. Then Jai had to drag her back to the car kicking and screaming (Lizzie not Jai) We had a great time and need to definitely do it again next summer!!

Lizzie-lou

2010-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Mile stones Lizzie has reached this year:

-Toilet Trained!!!! (with night time successes)

-Started Preschool

-Super tall

-Non stop chatter box

-Can almost write her name ("E is for Elizabeth")

Lizzie has grown a lot this year as well. She is bossy to everyone she meets. Has a temper tantrum about everything from opening the front door first to brushing her teeth. She is sweet at times which makes up for the horribleness of the rest. She loves to play practical jokes and tries to scare people (sometimes successfully)

She likes to "take orders" and pretend to bring you food. We are very lucky that we can order anything we want!! She loves to dress up and play princess. Belle is her favorite one. She makes up stories and tries to get you to believe them. She plays nicely with Charlotte when Charlotte is not playing with the item she wants.

To sum it all up she is a typical three year old drama queen. I told my Aunt the other day that there is girl drama and then there is Lizzie drama. Lizzie illustrated this perfectly an hour later by throwing a huge fit not wanting to leave my Aunt (Toni the Tiger)'s house. We absolutely love our Lizzie-lou and hope that next year will not be as dramatic (by bringing the ferocious fours) as this year!!

Charchi

2010-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

So there are really too many milestones for a baby between 6 and 18 months. If we listed them all we would bore you almost immediately. So the only ones worth mentioning are learning to walk and then run, feeding ones self, and learning to milk everything for what its worth. It is so fun to see a baby become a toddler and personalities emerge and develop.

Char is the happiest baby in the world, when you compare her with her sister. And the grumpiest too. She loves babies, little baby animals, stuffed animals, and annoying Lizzie. She knows how to make people laugh and just immediately love her. I have never heard Jai's grandma laugh as much as when she is hanging out with Charlotte.

She is very sociable when not tired and thinks she is the cutest thing on this earth (which is actually true) She gets violent when tired (examples are sporadic punches to the face and scratching during prayer time) She has recently tried tickling others with mixed results (it does not go well when her nails are long)

We absolutely love having her in our family!!!

Favorite Billboard of the YEAR!!!

2010-12-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

We saw this while we were waiting for Jai's Grandma's birthday party. I think it says it all.

Newish Car

2010-12-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

So if any of you were aware of my only other post this year we had car problems back in March. Come to find out with Jai's car it cost more to try to diagnose the problems than the car was worth. I guess with the plastic seats cracked and the stuffing bulging out, the speakers on the doors hanging by wires, the non-functional engine, and everything else messed up with the car it was time to trade in this car:

Well this is just a picture off the internet. His car actually didn't have the side view mirror, the third and fourth doors, the sunroof, three hubcaps, the matching hood, and the unseen cup holders inside!! (and no it does not snow here either)

Anyway, here is the new car we got!!!

That's right it is exactly like the old one just a year older, a different color, automatic transmission (so I can drive it) AND cup holders inside!! That's right baby our non-existent soda WILL not spill ever again!

A few weeks later a stupid car had to go and hit Jai while he was driving in the car pool lane back from school. Luckily no one was hurt (it was a hit and run) and the "new" car only received minor scratches. The lazy highway patrolman was SO lazy he refused to write a report so nothing happened.

The year in Summary

2010-12-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

So, obviously I only posted one other thing this entire year. So...for the rest of the year I am going to try to do a post a day to "catch" everyone up on our year. I don't think I will have 30 different things to talk about but, we will see how it goes.

Happy Anniversary - The tale of two cars

2010-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

So today is our 5th anniversary. I can hardly believe its been five years already. Time flies too fast. Two kids later and Jai is still just as wonderful as ever!!!

So I took the day off of work to spend it together with the family, and run some errands. Sounds like a pretty lax day right? Well here is what really happened...

6:45am Charlotte decides its time to wake up. I guess we should be up by this time too. Lots to do

8:00am I go to the mechanic to drop off my car. It is leaking coolant and the steering column is loose. Better get them checked before something worse might happen. We still have one car left to run all of the errands today.

8:09am I am signing the paperwork at the mechanics when I get a call from Jai. "My car died on the way to get you. It won't start again" They are only 1/2 mile from the mechanic and he has all of our stuff and both girls with him.

8: 13am Talk to our mechanics and they call a tow truck to drag Jai's car down there too. Walk to the car to pick up the girls. Lizzie throws a fit on Sepulveda Blvd right after Jai realizes I walked away with his keys to the broken down car. She goes with daddy, mommy can't handle her drama today. Even though daddy is her favorite, she fights with him until they get in the tow truck.

9:10am Jai's car arrives. They agree to look at it for us too.

9:30am They let me know what specifically is wrong with my car, how much it will cost, and that they need to keep it until at least tomorrow. Great no car and tons of money to fix it. I walk to the car rental agency right down the street.

10:00am We are finally on our way to grandma's house in our rental car, to wash one load of clothes.

11:00am At the doctor's office. Yep I have gallstones. Still don't know if that is what is causing my severe abdominal cramping. Will have to wait until Monday to know.

2:15pm Go to help Vasty set up her reception.

4:15pm The girls are extremely tired, take them back to grandma's house to take a nap.

5:05pm Realize on my way back to the building that we left both sets of our keys to our house at the mechanic.

5:15pm Call the mechanic. They close at 6pm. What?!? 45 minutes to get there (in the Valley) to get my keys. Drag Jai with me so I can use the car pool lane.

5:50pm Got to the mechanic in time to grab the keys!! Life is good.

6:20pm Back at the reception building. They finished without us. Chat it up and clean up the little stuff.

7:00pm Go pick up the girls.

8:15pm Leave grandma's house for home. Home sweet home.

8:55pm While turning onto our street I realize we forgot the remote to our driveway gate in both of our cars!!! The mechanic is closed. Jai knocks on neighbor's doors to see if they can let us in!!

Next Door Neighbor: (Stoned and swaying head like stevie wonder) My Mooooooms not heeeeere and noooo oooonnnnee has a car. ask her

HOA Prez: (Drunkenly) Who is It?
Jai: Your Neighbor in 108.
HOA Prez: (Drunkenly) What the H@%$ do you want?
Jai: My car broke down, I got a rental and forgot my clicker. Can you let me in the gate?
HOA Prez: HAHA Just Kidding. I saw your daughter the other day, she's beautiful.

9:05pm Both girls are in bed. Time to relax!

Yep. That about sums up our day. My week wasn't too much better either. I know it will get better tomorrow!!

Happy Anniversary Baby!!! I love you!!!

Here are a few recent pictures of the girls. Please enjoy!!

No Mamaratzzies!!!

I dressed myself today!!

Smiley baby!

Splish Splash, we are taking a bath!!!

Lizzie's first day of Preschool!!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

I think my blogging and my husband's school quarters are connected. When he's in school, I have NO time to blog. Here are a few pictures of decorating our Christmas tree. I will update you all when I have a little more time (hopefully before next quarter starts in January)

Lizzie Tales

2009-09-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

Two funny Lizzie stories:
#1

So I was giving Lizzie a bath the other night. After doing all the necessary things a bath entails I let her play for about 15 minutes before I drained the bath water. We have found that we would NEVER get her out of the tub if the water was still in there. Well after the water was all gone we did our normal bribe-Lizzie-with-a-movie-so-she-gets-out-of-the-tub thing. This was the first night that it failed...
Us: Want to watch Beauty and the Beast?
Her: No, no, no, no.
U: Toy Story
Her: No, no, no, no.
U: Nacho Libre
Her: No, no, no, no.
Not one movie was acceptable. So I sat there for 10 minutes offering other things every once in awhile still getting the same response: No, no, no, no. So then I got a book and read for another 20 minutes with my suggestions still getting the No, no, no, no. Finally after 30 minutes of no water in the tub Jai came in and offered grapes to her and she accepted!!!

#2
Just this morning Lizzie was finishing her churro from dinner last night. She handed it to Jai while I changed her diaper but would not take it back afterwards. I told her if she didn't take it daddy would eat it. And so he did. Five minutes later she goes to Jai looking for her churro. When we told her he ate it she started whining and crying. I told her that if she wanted to cry over her churro that she would have to go to her own bed and cry about it there. And she did just that!! She walked quietly to her room and laid down on her bed and started crying about her churro. Then after 30 seconds she got up came back into the room and gave Jai a hug and a kiss and went about her business. It was so funny!! I never expected that she would actually do what I told her!

Pictures and stuff

2009-09-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

I guess my working and blogging are directly related to each other. The more I work the less I blog.

Many things have happened in the last month and a half. Charlotte had her two month appointment. She was 12 lbs and 7.2 oz (90%) 22 inches (50%) and her head is in the 50%. So basically she is a chunk.

Lizzie also had an appointment the same day with a allergist. Basically it comes down to that she is severely allergic to nuts (especially peanuts) and that she has bad seasonal allergies. For her nut allergy we have to now carry an Epi pen around with her at all times.

We also went to a Dodger game with my company (Lizzie, Jai, and myself) The Dodgers lost but we had a really great time in the all you can eat section!! Lizzie even had a great time trying to hold hands and kiss the little boy sitting next to us. It was absolutely adorable!!!

We also had Charlotte's blessing at the beginning of September. I was absolutely terrible about taking pictures so here is one of the two that I have of that day. We had a great time with the family that came into town for it.

We also ate at Bob's Big Boy sometime during the past month and a half after visiting Jai's school for some needed paperwork.

The pictures below are from a grocery store trip one day. Lizzie picked out her entire outfit. She thought she was super cool and loved the attention that everyone gave her for her outfit. Just in case you can't read it the shirt says "Everyone loves a princess" It made for one of our best shopping trips in months. Lizzie gets very upset that she can't sit in the shopping cart because Charlotte is there and so throws a fit right at the front doors to our local Food 4 Less.

Here are two picture of Charlotte that I took today. I figure I need to add a few more of her since most of the pictures are about Lizzie. Char char is getting more fun. She is smiling all the time and giggling. Jai just found out she is ticklish, when in the right mood. She loves watching Lizzie and you can tell loves her big sister. Lizzie also loves Char char (Lizzie's nickname for Charlotte) and gives her dozens of hugs and kisses everyday.

Birthday Week

2009-08-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

So Lizzie's birthday was almost two weeks ago and I am finally posting it. We started the week on Sunday with the usual Dittman family dinner. Since she was born on her Aunt Michelle's birthday it was a double birthday dinner. I found a great idea on a friend of a friend's blog about a cake and so I made it (a little different than the original recipe called, but I think it was a hit)

The funniest thing is that I made it a white cake (and just dyed it with food coloring) put whipped cream on top and lots of berries. Unknown to me my sister requested for her birthday cake an angel food cake with whipped cream on top and berries. So they were VERY similar, but everyone thought mine tasted better (we are guessing that it was because it was colored and not white)

On Monday we went to the LA Zoo with Michelle and her friend (I totally forgot his name, it starts with a B)

Lizzie and Aunt Michelle

Lizzie has to buckle everything she sees.

Charlotte at the Zoo

Lizzie and Daddy

Lizzie LOVED the animals. We then went to Porto's in Glendale (a Cuban restaurant) We had tons of fun.

We then chilled out for most of the rest of the week. On Tuesday we went out to eat with some family to celebrate Uncle Brian's (not my brother, but my brother-in-law) birthday.

Jordyn, Lizzie, and Kassidy

On Saturday we had the Crespo family dinner/BBQ. Lizzie had tons of fun playing with her cousins.

Charlotte with Grandpa

Aunt Jessie and Kendall

Kendall and Jackson Dancing to some music at the dinner

Things I have learned this weekend

2009-07-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Do not go camping with a three week old. Wait until they have some sort of sleeping and eating routine.
If you are traveling from LA to Sacramento Route 99 had TONS more Sonic's on it than Interstate 5!!! Totally worth driving through the armpit of California for!!!!
Do not go camping unless you are 100% sure that you can set up camp by yourself, even in the dark. It takes 1-2 adults to watch a newborn and two year old while setting up camp.
Its probably best to go camping about only 3-4 hours away from home. Any longer and the traveling gets extremely tiresome for all involved.
Never give into peer pressure (or parental pressure) and always go with your first instinct.
I don't want a tent trailer. If I ever feel that I am too old to sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent I will just not go anymore. Maybe one day I will be singing a different tune, but it seems to me to be too much effort for a little extra comfort.
GPS's are convenient but you might want to check a map (or bring one) just in case. Here are a few funny clips that I thought of while we were on our trip. Cars clip (about 8 minutes into it) The Office - GPS clip
MP3 players and earphones are my two year olds best friend. She would only fall asleep with lots a people around if she was listening to her music. This weekend was the first time I rock Lizzie to sleep in well over a year!!!
My entire family (Jai, Lizzie, and Charlotte) start sweating at 70 degrees. I think we might do better living in a cooler climate than Southern California!!!

Lizzie did have a great time. She loved to swim in the river, taking showers, squishing ants, and making someone else swat away flies from everything she felt was hers (her baby doll, blankey, food, the seat she wanted to sit in, Charlotte, etc.)
While we were taking down camp she sat in the car and pretend to drive us all around!!! It was really funny!!

Elizabeth Update

2009-07-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Lizzie just had her two year check-up today!!! She is doing great and growing normally. She is now up to 25 lbs (30%) 35 inches tall (65%) and her head is in the 93rd percentile!! The doctors visit was pretty traumatic for her (she cried the entire time) and she received one shot. It looks like we will have to make an appointment with an allergy specialist for her peanut/nut allergy. She had a pretty bad breakout last weekend and we don't even know what exactly she ate that she was allergic to. She loves to sing and request different movies to watch. She talks to mom and dad a whole lot but will be extremely quiet for everyone else. Her favorite thing to do is to use just the first letter of a word instead of the whole word. So B is for Blankie, bacon, bath, etc. You just have to know the context in which she is using the word to understand what she wants. She LOVES baby Charlotte and gives her lots of hugs and kisses. It really is amazing how much bigger she is now that she is a big sister. She has grown up soooo much!!

Charlotte Update

2009-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow!! The first month has really flown by. I swear it was TONS faster than Lizzie's first month. Nothing spectacular really but she pulls her head up like a pro. She can sleep through her sister's tantrums, but easily wakes with Lizzie's loud whispers. Over all she is really pleasant and fun!!

pictures

2009-07-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

Pic of Charlotte in the hospital

Lizzie loves to hold her little sister!!!!!

This is what I found one afternoon after Lizzie's nap.

I don't know who would rather sleep on a hard wood floor rather than their bed, but we do have a unique child!!

I have caught both Jai and Lizzie sleeping with their hands behind their head. It gets annoying when you are sleeping next to them because they take up half your pillow while sleeping this way. Well just this week I caught Charlotte doing the same thing. It looks like I have absolutely no luck!!!!

Jai says that all Hispanics automatically assume this position from fear of the Po Po!!!

Potty Training

2009-07-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

So we are attempting to start potty training Lizzie. One reason is that our garbage can gets really full really fast with diapers and the other reason is so we can have her go to daycare/pre-school at Jai's school. We have a training seat permanently attached to one of our toilets and when ever we remember or she asks we take her in there. Well this morning Jai was feeding/helping with baby while I was washing some bottles when Lizzie awoke. She told Jai she wanted to go to the bathroom so he told her to talk to me. Well by the time she got to me this is what I found:

She had let baby doll try to pee in the toilet and she fell in!!!! It was quite funny.

Here are a few other pictures I took today to make her stay longer on the potty.

Any tips on toilet training? We are not trying too hard but it would be nice to have a good response and experience with it.

Comparison

2009-07-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth................................................Charlotte

These are my two girls at about the same age. This just proves that Lizzie was super small!!! She was able to fit into that outfit for about three months and I think that Charlotte will have out grown it in the next few weeks!!

Horrible

2009-07-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

There really are worse things in life. But its hard to imagine them when you have a whiney sick toddler for two days and you are still running off little sleep because you also have a two week old. We have all slept in until 10 for the past few mornings. Hopefully today will be a little better now that Lizzie doesn't have a fever!!!

Welcome to the world!!!

2009-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Announcing the arrival of Charlotte Marina Crespo!!!!

She was born on Wednesday June 24th 2009 at 8:52 am weighing 7 lbs with length of 19 1/2 inches.

As far as the birth was concerned it was VERY fast. I went in for my appointment the day before and I was 3 cm dilated. Knowing how far we lived and how fast Elizabeth came he had me come in the next day to be induced (he didn't want me to have to give birth in the car on the freeway while on my way to the hospital).
I came in at 6am found out I was a 4-5 then they started the pitocin drip about 7am and I had her less than two hours later. It was so fast that by the time I told Jai to get the nurse and she came in, my water broke, they paged the doctor and less than 5 minutes later the nurse had to deliver her!!! It was really amazing that your body really knows what to do. I think it was less dramatic than Lizzie's birth and just really cool (probably because it didn't take so long to push the second time)

I will post more pictures later. But here is one where you can see her dimples already!! Definitely in a different place than Lizzie's.

Honesty is the best policy

2009-06-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

I think every parent finds their children funny.

So the other day in an attempt to be cheap but have a stir-fry experience, Jai experimented with stuff that we had around the house. Needless to say it was disgusting (I sent him out later to get me chips and salsa)

When Jai and I had our fill of dinner, Jai asked Lizzie if she liked it. She finished the noodles in her mouth looked up from her bowl and said with a blank expression "NO" and then bent back down to eat some more noodles even though they were so disgusting to her!

We laughed so hard!!

Serious Pregnancy Brain

2009-06-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

So I am the one in charge of paying the bills in our house. I usually know about when each bill is due and when I should probably pay it. Well last month at about the time when both our car insurance bill and phone bill were due I could not find them. I did a quick search of our apartment and my purse and just decided to send the approximate amount with our account number on it in so we wouldn't be late. Well it turns out that when I got the bills for this month I had paid both of them twice!!! I had totally forgotten that I paid them both earlier that month!!! That also explains why we were around $200 off budget for last month. Hopefully I will have the baby soon so that the pregnancy brain will start to go away!!! 11 days and counting (til the due date at least!)

Where do I live again?

2009-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

I know somethings get me confused really easily, but I could have sworn I lived in Southern California! Now I know that no other state in the nation would have transported my little ghetto neighborhood to their state overnight, so then what is up with all this cool weather and rain? I know I shouldn't be complaining about it because as always we are in a drought and we really do need the rain fall. But it is hard when you finally get yourself and your two year old ready to head out the door only to find that she needs a rain coat, that I should really change her sandals to shoes, and that I really should not be wearing my worn out flip flops in the rain at 9 months pregnant. Well at least I got her rain coat on this morning!

May

2009-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

A picture from our first attempt to get Lizzie to sleep in a big girl bed. We tried to make it seem like fun, but were unsuccessful for a week. Now I don't think she would ever go back to the crib.

Lizzie LOVES to pretend to go bye-bye. She has to find a pair of sunglasses, all her purses, and any pair of keys. All we are hoping for is that she doesn't figure out how to unlock the door and open it, otherwise we will be in BIG trouble!

Guess who my child looks like the most? Mom or Dad? Can't tell? Look at their profiles a little closer!!

This was taken a month ago. I finally started to look pregnant. I don't look too much different now.

Not too much has happened the past month and a half since my last post. That's probably why I don't have too much to say. The doctor has told me to stop working to make sure that I at least get to 37 weeks with this pregnancy (last week at 35 weeks I was already having contractions and 2 centimeters dilated) So all I have left is at LEAST one more week to get through. I don't know if working is actually more stressful than watching an almost 2 year old all day. All I am hoping for is that this one is bigger than her older sister when she is born. But then again I think we have a really good chance since Lizzie was only 5 lbs and 2 oz. But then again we will see. I will update everyone when she is born.

There is only one more thing that I think is funny. I usually drop Lizzie off in the mornings before work at a family members home. During the past few weeks she has gotten so comfortable with this that once everything of hers is in the home she hands me my keys and either tells me "Bye" or "Go" Its pretty funny. She also does this when she is really tired and is going to bed. Once prayer has been said and kisses given we are to leave immediately. It makes me laugh.

Abuelita's twin

2009-04-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

So I was going through pictures on my phone and I found one of Lizzie and Abuelita (Jai's grandma) I noticed that they have the same bald spot (or cow-lick) on the top of their heads. I guess Lizzie is Abuelita's twin!!!

Randomness

2009-04-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

These are the biggest Smarties I have ever seen.

Recently at work I have been known to open a few packs of the small ones. Line them up by color. And then eat them. My co-workers think I'm nuts but it appeases me. So Colleen found these in the store one day and had to give them to me. They are right next to a regular size pack. I haven't found the courage to eat them yet.

So how come when you have a toddler wiggling and elbowing you, your other child inside you decides to kick and elbow you too? Don't they know it hurts when just one is doing it let alone both from each side? You'd think they planned it or something.

So I know quite a few of you have seen the movie Twilight and love it, or at least like it. I have decided to come out in the open and just say this:

That was the WORST movie adaptation of a book I have EVER seen.

The whole time I was watching it (during lunch times at work mind you) I kept thinking to myself I could have written this better, or I could have done those special effects myself and made it look better. I usually don't have those thoughts come to me cause I usually just don't care. If you can convince me of another even worse movie adaptation of a book, please do so. I have been trying for weeks to figure one out, but I really can't.

I couldn't help but laugh

2009-04-04T12:30:00.001-07:00

So my mother in law had bought this collectors doll and her dog had eventually gotten a hold of it and messed it up.

Jai was trying to describe the massacred doll as the ugliest thing he had ever seen. I didn't believe him. How can a doll be that ugly?

So about a week later I was over at their house and Jai brings out this doll and I couldn't stop laughing. IT WAS THE UGLIEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN!!!!!

He had described it so accurately and it was so pathetic looking. It took me awhile to control myself.

When I showed my co-workers these pictures they were freaked out but I still just laugh my head off. Am I crazy?

Miracle of Miracles!!!

2009-04-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

Jai decided one day to just tough out the tantrum of Lizzie and her big bed. He said the screaming lasted about 15 minutes and then there was quiet. When he went in to wake her up a few hours later he found she had fallen asleep on the floor. So we decided to brave out the night with the screaming and crying and miracle of miracles it only lasted two minutes. When we went to check on her an hour and a half later she had crawled back into bed and fell asleep. On the second night she just laid down after prayer and was perfectly content to lay there as we said good night. We have had very few problems since. A few times she doesn't sleep during her naps and somehow she manages to fall out of bed about once a week (its only 12 inches but it is on hard wood floors :(
She also managed to loose her Binky during a Sunday nap time. Come that night we looked everywhere for it (she helped us, it was soooo cute) but after 5 minutes we couldn't find it and she was okay with going to bed without it. She has not questioned it since (it has been found and tossed since then) It is amazing how fast they grow up.

Question...

2009-03-13T17:20:00.001-07:00

Which type of bear is best?...

I'm just kidding. But seriously. How do you get a one and a half year old to sleep in her new big girl bed? We tried it last weekend and we bombed horribly. I think partly due to she had a cold, but it really scared her. Are there any suggestions out there that might help us with this problem?

Crespo Cousins

2009-03-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

Lizzie and all her Crespo Cousins
(yes my kid is the one crying)

back: Trenton, Maddie, Paisley, Kassidy, and Jordyn
front: Lizzie, Jackson, and Kendall

Pictures...Finally

2009-02-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

Wow time really does go by really fast. I didn't realize that it has taken me two weeks to get these pictures posted. Sorry!!!

Lizzie with her cousins Corina and Hannah

Lizzie enjoying a snack at Disneyland

Eating a corn dog with the Princess crown her Aunt Michelle gave her

At Grandma Sonia's

For all those who will still have young children in 11 years: Lizzie will be a great "baby-sitter" (Just an FYI for those who are interested)

The monster with my glasses on.

A post two months in the making

2009-02-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

So, yeah. I have been terrible about blogging and I have thought of a plethora of reasons why I have been so horrible:
1. Pregnancy takes a lot out of me
2. Working and wanting to spend time with my child during the few hours I have available doesn't lead to a lot of blogging time
3. We moved to the Valley
4. We don't have internet in our new place
5. I spend so little time at my parents (where internet is) that I thought it would be rude to spend tons of time on the computer
6. I had lost the cord from the computer to the camera (it was just found a few days ago)
7. I have been really forgetful lately...

So you get the idea. I have more excuses but I might wait to use them later.

To update you on our family. We have moved to an unnamed location of the San Fernando Valley. Both of our parents are completely freaked out thinking we live in the ghetto of LA. Its not at all that bad. Its half way between Jai's school and my work, so it works for us. Jai starts school at Cal Poly Pamona at the end of March. So for now he is watching Lizzie full time. He is really excited that he can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as finishing his degree.

In Elizabeth news. She turned 18 months a few weeks ago. She is in the 61% for her height, the 91% for her head size, and the 8% for her weight. I like to sum it all into that I have a tall skinney bobble-head of a child. She also started nursery in our new ward. It has not gone over too well. Its probably because there are a lot of new people. She has cried both Sundays when we have left. Her vocabulary has grown greatly, but will only say her words when she wants to and not when you ask her to. She LOVES books, baby dolls, and the movie CARS (Jai had to watch it three times one day)

This pregnancy has not been too bad. I have had both cronic hypertension as well as a hyper thyroid. All that means is that I have to have a lot more doctors appointments, have been lucky enough not to be on bed rest, and that I have had a lot of blood tests done. My blood pressure has been kept in check with medication, but it is still elevated. Most likely this means I will be enduced near the beginning of June. I also get to have tons of ultra sounds just to make sure the baby is growing correctly. With my hyper thyroid I have lost about 25 lbs so far and have not gained a single pound, as of the moment. The weight loss has slowed so I am hoping by my next doctors appointment I will be up a pound or two. They are still doing testing to see if it was just a fluke or if it is something more serious (either way it won't affect the baby)

We have found out that we are having another GIRL!!! We were kinda hoping for a boy because we already had a name in mind, now we have to start from scratch. But its not too surprising because both sides of our families are filled with girls!!! Out of 10 neices and nephews we only have 2 nephews!!! We are excited. When ever we ask Lizzie where the baby is she pulls up her shirt and points to her belly!! Its soooo cute.

Well I better be going. I will put some pictures up soon, since I did find that cord to my camera (and maybe I will sneak a little bit of internet time at work to do it, we'll see)

Surprise!!!

2008-12-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Literally this was a surprise!! Also I can make it an excuse to why I have been a horrible blogger. We are due (at the moment) June 24th. Jai has also made a decision about schools. We will be going to Cal Poly Pomona. Not too far from here (about an hour and a half) so we have decided to keep my job and live half way in between to try to manage both. His Spring Quarter doesn't start until about March 30th so after his last final this Monday he will be spending months of quality time with Lizzie!!! As far as details are concerned we have no idea. We will probably be moving sometime in January mainly because my brother Brian will be home from his mission at the beginning of February and we just can't share a room with Lizzie anymore.

So the month of November was filled with the flu. I swear I caught three different ones. Plus having morning sickness did not help. The whole month just felt horrible. We also had a miscarriage scare so I was on bed rest for a little while. Basically I used up all of my sick days this year (I never ever get to do that). I also got a migraine that made me sick to my stomach as well. It was just a bad month.

Thanksgiving was nice. Craig and Kristy came down to visit from Utah. So we got to hang out some. Unfortunately Kristy caught the flu at the end so that was a little bummer (we had it earlier so we were okay that time). Jai also had his birthday and turned 29 this year. Yet again we did really nothing special.

As November ended I was excited to have a healthier month to look forward to, only to catch a cold starting December 1st. I was luckily able to work through it (except for the weekend) because as I said earlier I ran out of sick days. I still have a slight cough but all is going better now. I still have some morning sickness but I can tell its starting to go away. This pregnancy so far is a lot harder than the one with Lizzie. Maybe its always harder when there is already one that you HAVE to chase around.

Lizzie is doing really well. She is running around like the little monster she is. One day she just decided to start walking and within three days she was a pro. I figure she could do it but that she just didn't want to. She is talking a lot more as well. We were out to dinner with Jai's family for his birthday and a waitress brought Jai another drink. As the waitress was walking away Lizzie said thank you to her. Jai and I were in shock because she had never said that before. Then the next day she said it to my dad. Since then we have never heard those words again.

When ever we are trying to teach her a new word and she doesn't really want to try but wants us to feel happy she will say "bah".

Dad: Hot Dog

Lizzie: Bah

Dad: No...Hot

Lizzie: Bah

Dad: ...Dog

Lizzie: Bah

It is usually accompanied by a huge smile. Her food selection is starting to expand but when she has a choice she will usually choose veggies or fruit. The last time I weighed her she was about 22 lbs. She is still in 12 month clothing and still is just a skinny little girl.

Not too much else is happening here. We are looking forward to the Holidays. My brother Eric and Cassie and their two girls will be coming here for Christmas. It will be good for Lizzie to spend some time with her cousins. Jai's brother Jason and his family will also be in town so ALL of Lizzie's cousins will be around. It will be fun to see them, its been a long time since they have visited.

Happy Birthday to me

2008-11-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

Turning 30 for some reason seems like a huge birthday to me. I am starting to actually feel older. Aren't people who are 30 suppose to be more responsible? Have their life in order? Know what they are doing with their life? My life seems so out of order. Maybe by the time I turn 40 I will have all these questions answered!!!

My birthday started out with a bang by getting sick at about 1015 the night before. So for the entire day I spent trying to recover from the 24 hour flu. Nothing special really happened so yeah!! I guess there is always next year when we celebrate Jai's 30th birthday.

Hopefully soon I will update everyone about our special Halloween! Hope everyone had fun!!

September, in summary

2008-09-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

"Drinking" Dr. Pepper

So some months I keep up to date on my blog, and others I do not do as well. I know its been a month since my last entry, (I told you I would get around to it Kelli...;) but really my life is REALLY boring. So here is a summary of the most boring month of the year...

Lizzie had another doctor's appointment about mid month. She was 19 lbs., 15 oz. Add a diaper and some clothes to that makes about 20 lbs, just enough for a forward facing car seat. So we finally got her one. We anticipated that she would LOVE it, but our dreams were smashed when she acted like it was just another day, nothing special. Go figure.

One of the other things we have learned about Lizzie is that she CAN walk by herself, but she WONT. When she is with her older cousins playing around she will walk everywhere. When she is playing with us she will just crawl. So frustrating!!!

I do have to thank all of you who have music on your blogs. When I want to check my email all I have to do is pull up one of your pages and Lizzie will dance to the music until I am done. It is really funny to see her bopping up and down to the music she likes.

Jai is in his last semester at the local community college. He will have two Associate Degrees come December. He is applying to schools all over the West for January and next Fall. We will see what happens next.

As for myself I have just been working, working out, and doing other various activities. We just had our Primary presentation on Sunday which went rather well. Trying to control six Sunbeams is really a hilarious job. I have also gotten hooked on the following book series.

I read all four books in nine days (which is over a total of 2200 pages). I know, I know totally out of control. I read every spare second I had trying not to neglect my child TOO much, or my household chores, and I stayed up WAY too late for having to work every morning. I actually perfected the art of working out at the gym and reading a book at the same time. It really is harder than it sounds. I am really pathetic. Now I am looking for another book/series to read. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

That is just about it for our pretty mundane life. We are looking forward to having the house almost to ourselves for two weeks in October while my parents are in Greece. We are also excited about two of my cousins getting married within two weeks of each other!! Hopefully I can find a fluffy dress for Lizzie.

Peace out, Homie-G.

Yes this is really my kid in a tutu

Craig & Kristy's Wedding

2008-08-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

(Lizzie and Me)

Our trip to Utah went really well. Lizzie did really well on her first plane ride. She just whined a little about being on our laps, but over all it went better than I anticipated.

(Jai and Lizzie in the park)

On Friday after we landed in Salt Lake City we were able to visit a few friends while we were out there. We hung out with Emily, Julian, Issac, and Mateo for a few hours. I hope they move down to California so that we can hang out more. We also had dinner with Kristi, Liz, Brent, and Annabelle. I should have taken a picture of Lizzie and Annabelle sitting in high chairs and being sweet to each other, but I forgot. I wish our visits with everyone could have been longer.

(Craig and Kristy with our family)

(Kristy and Craig with the nieces and nephew)

On Saturday was wedding day. There was a brief scare Friday evening when we received the news that the bride and groom had forgotten to get the marriage license. After many phone calls they were able to get a hold of someone in charge of the Recorders office. He was able to find an employee that was nice enough to go into the office Saturday morning and issue the license to them. I don't think either side of the family will let them live it down. It really is something funny to think about.

(Kristy and Craig coming out of the temple - my sister-in-law Cassie is in the foreground)

Saturday morning we had a nice breakfast with Kristy's family and were able to mingle with them a little bit. I feel a little bad that because our family hardly sees each other that we just hung out and talked together and mingled very little.

(my nieces Hannah.......and......Corina)

The sealing was really beautiful. I love going to sealings because it reminds me of the covenants I have made with my Heavenly Father. There was a nice elegant dinner afterwards at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Overall it was a very simple and beautiful wedding to attend. I really hope Kristy doesn't mind our crazy family! I guess she will find out.

(Todd and Michelle)

(Lizzie and Hannah playing, sort of)

(My bother Eric's family: Hannah, Corina, and his wife Cassie)

(Craig and Lizzie in front of the Salt Lake Temple)

(Lizzie with her grandpa)

Nice..........

2008-08-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

So when I went to move my pictures from my camera to my computer, this is what I found:

Apparently my boss, Scott, took this while I was at lunch and my camera was sitting there all alone on my desk. Nice..........

2008-08-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is how I feel today:

How is it when you take two days off of work it ends up taking twice as long to catch up? I am on day three of being back and am no where near finished with the work that I missed. The same goes for my house. I always try to clean it before I leave, but no matter what when I get back there is twice as much to clean. It is almost as if the Universe is against people taking vacation. When you know it will take you twice as long to get back into your routine you might as well not take a vacation.

I NEED HELP!!!!

2008-08-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Okay this might not be a crisis to anyone else but I need help!!! I don't know how to do Lizzie's hair for Craig and Kristy's wedding. Her hair is always out of control (like the picture in the header-and that was a good day) How can I try to make it look more tame? Her hair is still baby thin on top and super curly in the back. Do I use product in her hair? I need some help and good ideas!!!!!!

One year check up

2008-08-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

So my Lizzie-monster had her one year check-up this week. She is now in the 78% for height, the 85% for her head, and the 10% for her weight. So we have a really skinny, tall, big headed daughter. The doctor is slightly concerned that we have to have another appointment in a month to make sure that her weight is still on the right curve or starting to catch up. If anyone has any ideas on how to help her gain a little bit of weight (the healthy way of course) please give me your suggestions. We will see how she is doing next month. It might have just been a fluke due to her being sick the week before.

Tag...you're it.

2008-08-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

My cousin Bethany tagged me about a month ago and now I am finally getting around to responding. What a slacker!!

Attached or Single? Obviously attached.

Best Friend? Jai

Cake or Pie? Hmmm, depends on my mood. Cake most days.

Day of Choice? Definitely Fridays. The last day of work for the week and a nice weekend to look forward to.

Essential Items? Wallet, chapstick, and cell phone (ONLY because if I don't take it with me it will be ringing off the hook otherwise its usually silent)

Favorite Color? Recently it has been Purple.

Gummy Bears or Worms? Gummy Bears. There is something about biting their heads off that thrills me every time.

Home Town? Hmmm, I guess where ever my parents are. Moorpark currently

Indulgences? Music. I haven't attempted to look at it recently to keep myself in our budget. I think I can go back at anytime.

January or July? July, I love the warmth and its the month my baby was born in.

Kids? One. Elizabeth the loud.

Like or Love? love

Marriage Date? March 19th

Number of Siblings? five. Eric (Cassie), Craig (Kristy), Michelle, Brian, and Todd.

Phobias/fears? Heights, the dark, spiders, some one breaking into the house, and something happening to one of my family members

Quotes? "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side" - Yoda

Reason to Smile? Lizzie giggling, its way better than her screaming

Season? Spring, everything seems so bright and new

Tag Four: Emily (or Julian), Carolyn (welcome to the blogging world!), Mandy, Kristi

Unknown fact about me? My secret love is a TI-89 Graphing Calculator. I even took it on my mission with me. (sorry Jai)

Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Definitely Oppressor of Animals! I gotta have my meat

X-Rays or Ultrasounds? Are you asking how many I have had more of? If so then its X-rays ( I am a klutz) but Ultrasounds are so sweet and awesome

Your Favorite Food? Chocolate, Taco Bell (there is just something about their cheese sauce that melts my heart), and stale candy corn and peeps.

Zodiac? Scorpio (I hear it is a dominate personality but Jai is one too, so I don't see how that would really work)

It's a cool pool party!

2008-08-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Lizzie's first birthday we had a pool party for the family and some friends. We all had a great time swimming and eating. Thank you to all who came and provided food and gifts!! Lizzie was extremely worn out from partying so hard that she slept through the night for the first time in a week.

Lizzie's cake

Elizabeth was sad to get out of the water to eat cake and open presents.

Uncle Craig helped her open them

Cousin Kendall enjoying the party!

Having fun swimming away.

Two months of random pictures

2008-08-03T18:31:00.001-07:00

HEY YOU!!!

CUTIE PIE

LAUGHING HER HEAD OFF

PASSED OUT IN THE MORNING

CHILLIN' IN HER CHAIR

LIZZIE AND HER UNCLE CRAIG

The first year

2008-08-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe how fast this past year has gone. It doesn't seem like that long ago I was holding my little baby in the hospital. Now she is my little monster that is passed out in her crib. It really is amazing how fast they grow and how much they learn. Last year all she could do was cry, eat, and poop. Now she added crawling, almost walking, temper tantrums, screaming, playing with toys, clapping, poking your eyes out when she wants you to wake up, feeding herself (if you could call it that), stealing others toys, beating other babies up with their own toys, hugs and kisses (discretionally), babbling, talking, singing, dancing, smiling (with those two adorable dimples), flirting, head-butting, rib kicking (I swear she never did it to me while in my stomach), and so many more things that I just can't name them at the moment. It really is amazing how much I really love her no matter what she is doing at that time. Happy One Year Mark to you my Lizzie Monster!!!!!

Here are a few pictures of her first birthday. She shared it with my sister who turned 24 on the same day. My favorite part is her eating her cake. She just licked the frosting that was closest to her. Jai showed her that it was okay to smash her hands in it, but she kinda thought the frosting was gross on her fingers. It was so cute.

Jackson

2008-08-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is not about our nephew Jackson, but about my bosses dog. We dog sat for them while they went on vacation a few weeks back. Jackson is still a puppy, just a little more grown than the little ones that you think about. At first Lizzie was a little scared and tried to tell him to sit (she was just trying to copy what we were telling him) then they became best buds. It was like having to watch two babies about the same age. They wanted each others toys (and would try to steal them from each other). They wanted each others food (Lizzie had her first taste of hard dog food, I think she liked it). While one was being disciplined for naughty behavior the other one would get into trouble. I think they knowingly tag teamed us so they could do stuff they normally would not get away with. There are two things that Jai and I took from the week of dog sitting. One is that I don't think I want to have twins...EVER. If a dog and one baby can do that to us imagine two babies. The second is that we are NOT getting a dog until all of our kids are at least age five and older. I never realized how hard it is to control them. Here are some pictures of Lizzie and Jackson having fun.

Fourth of July

2008-08-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

So I am about a month late in really updating my blog. It has been a crazy crazy month.

So our little city of Moorpark has their firework display on the 3rd of July rather than the Fourth of July. We met Jai's family down at the park where they set them off at. Lizzie had a great time seeing her cousins and play with toys. The best park for Jai and myself is that she did not like the feel of the grass and would not crawl off the blankets (I think she has over come her phobia now) Then came the fireworks. Within 30 seconds Lizzie was screaming her head off in fear. All she wanted us to do was get away from there and go home. So we made our dramatic exit by packing up and leaving as fast as we could. At least we beat the foot traffic home.

So the next day we were at Jai's sisters house for a BBQ (This is on the 4th) because his Aunts were in town from New York and Texas. Lizzie had a good time eating and swimming with her cousins. Well came evening time and they started shooting off some fireworks in the backyard. So within 30 seconds of just seeing the lights Elizabeth starting getting scared and we made yet another dramatic exit with her. Now when ever she hears the bells at church she starts crying so loud. Its really funny but sad at the same time.

Some pictures of swimming fun.

Our Niece

2008-08-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures of our new niece Cornia. We will be meeting her for the first time in a few weeks at Craig's wedding in Utah.

Another new family member!!!

2008-07-11T02:46:00.000-07:00

Okay I really am a big slacker in the posting department, and I promise I will post more in the next few days.

On Tuesday we had a new addition to the family. My brother Eric's wife Cassie had a little baby girl early in the morning. Her name is Corina Lynn Dittman. I will post a picture when I get one. I think the worst part for Cassie is going to be moving next week from Ohio to Colorado with a 22 month old and a newborn. I wish her the best of luck and am truly glad it is not me!

Feeling hot, Hot, HOT!!!

2008-06-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

OK, for those of you who do not live in Southern California, it has been HOT here!!! I am so grateful we are not living in the apartment we had last year with our swamp cooler, it would be nasty. Luckily my work and my parent's house has some good air conditioning, otherwise both Jai and Lizzie would have been sweating non stop all week. The extremely unfortunate thing is that my car's air conditioning doesn't work. Now, its not so bad in the morning when its a little bit cooler (it is 70 degrees as I am writing this) but in the afternoon when I leave to go home it is nasty. It seems that even rolling down the windows makes it feel worse.

All week I have been trying to come up with an example of how hot it is. I know I have had this feeling before, but it just sat there at the edge of my brain not moving...until Friday. As I was driving in the 109 degree weather it came to me, this is just like when you go camping and you are sitting next to the fire, just a little too close. You know the point where it feels like your pants and your legs are just about to spontaneously combust and you pull away from the fire right before they do. Yep that's what it feels like driving in 109 weather with slight humidity with your car window rolled down.

Music and the Spoken Word

2008-06-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

Maybe its just me, but my daughter makes me laugh. Elizabeth LOVES to sing. Every time music comes on she is either singing or dancing with it. While we sing hymns at church, she is too. She will pause what ever she is doing to sing with us. Now her singing consists of holding just one note and saying "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" She will sing softer for a more reverent hymn. So a few Sundays ago we walked into Sacrament Meeting right when the organ started to play for the opening hymn. Well Lizzie got excited and started singing at the top of her lungs. My parents had decided to sit on the other side of the Chapel in the front so we had to walk through everyone one with our baby "singing" VERY loud. It was sooooo funny.

She not only sings in church but she also sings in the car. When we go on a little 20 minute trip and she is tired she starts singing so she won't fall asleep. Usually that is a cue for Jai and myself that she will be asleep in a few minutes. Last night we all went to bed early because the night before was a really bad teething night. Even though she was tired Lizzie thought she wasn't so she decided to sing to herself. She sang probably for seven minutes before falling asleep. We were laughing so hard.

I guess we can say officially that Lizzie's first word is fish. My parents have a screen saver that is an aquarium and she absolutely loves it so this is where she picked up the word. Now you may ask, why not mom or dad or dog like other little kids. My answer is: I don't know. She also doesn't pronounce the "f" in fish, so its always "ish" or "ishes" when talking about them. She has now taken to calling everything that moves by itself "ishes"

"Lizzie look there's the dog"
"ISH!"

"Lizzie do you see those birds over there"
"ISHES!!!"

I guess now we will have to try to expand her vocabulary beyond ishes and dada.

Funny thing happened on the way to the...

2008-06-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

At church there is this little girl named Julia (5) who loves to play with Lizzie. We did not sit by them in Sacrament Meeting this Sunday so Julia came up to us afterwards to say hello to Lizzie. Well Lizzie decided to give Julia a hug and some kisses, which was very sweet and cute. But then she would not let go of Julia. I tried pulling her off and she held on tight. Jai and I were busting up laughing. Even Julia tried to pry Lizzie off of herself, but with no luck. So finally after three minutes of this we were finally able to separate them from each other. Jai was a little worried that Julia might have gotten a hickey from all of Lizzie's kisses and hugs. It was one of the funniest things that I have seen Lizzie do.

LA Zoo

2008-06-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the LA Zoo. Jai's father works there so we were able to get in for free. Like my absent minded self I totally forgot the camera. So the only pictures I have are from my cell phone and they are really grainy. Lizzie had a great time watching the people more than the animals. If I could guess which ones she liked the most it has to be the gorillas. She saw a mommy and baby one and couldn't take her eyes off of them.

I got extremely sun burnt. I guess I was worried that Elizabeth would get burnt that I totally forgot to put the sunblock on myself. Overall it was a very fun day!!!

In Other News...& Pictures

2008-06-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

Lizzie with Jordyn at Kendall's baby naming

We officially met Michelle's boyfriend a few Sundays ago for dinner. He seems nice, and I think he likes our family's sense of humor. I guess we will get to know him better over the months (as long as he's not scared off by us) Here is a picture of Lizzie swimming with Michelle, Jai, and Jerrid (he's the one in the bottom left corner with the black hair)

Elizabeth now has two official teeth. They are the two bottom ones in the middle. We keep thinking that a few more are coming out but they are still not there.

Jai and myself had two hamsters before we had a baby. The first one, Fatty Lumpkins, died about a week and a half after Lizzie was born. The second one, Marzipan, though greatly neglected stayed alive for months afterwards. A few weeks ago Craig and Jai decided to set it free in the backyard. At first it didn't want to leave the patio so Craig flung it into the bushes where Jai thinks it got jumped by a rat or something. We have not seen any signs of it since so that is a good possibility.

Lizzie has been chasing Schwartz the dog around. She thinks its the greatest game and he is very annoyed by it.

Playing with bubbles.

Craig's girlfriend, Kristy, came down after the Memorial Day weekend to spend a week with our family (ok, so it was mainly Craig she wanted to spend time with) They did all things Southern California such as Disneyland, Hertz Castle, beaches (esp Malibu), etc. On that Thursday Craig proposed. We are pretty excited to have Kristi as a member of our family. We'll break out the craziness after they are married (when its too late;) I don't have a picture but will post one as soon as I get one. They will be getting married in the Salt Lake Temple in August. We are all pretty excited by it.

Water baby

2008-05-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took Lizzie swimming for the first time. We took her once to our friend's swimming pool and then to the pool next to my parent's house. I was a little worried about how she would react to it, since I wanted to have her 1st birthday party at the pool.

She absolutely LOVED it!!!!

She tried to drink the water and sit down at the bottom of the kiddie pool. It was a great success. Looks like the pool party is a go at the end of July!!!

Mother's Day

2008-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

This year was my first Mother's Day. It was really nice. I got an MP3 player from my little family and celebrated the rest of the day with both my family and Jai's. For Jai's mom we went out to eat at her favorite Cuban restaurant in the Valley. It was fun to hang out with the entire family that is out here in California.

Cousin Jordyn with Aunt Jessie

Cousin Kassidy

Uncle Brian with Cousin Kendall

Abuelita with Cousin Jackson and Jai with Elizabeth

With my parents, my sister made breakfast and Craig, myself, and my dad made dinner. The funniest part was the dessert, it was a four layer whipped cream coconut disaster. My dad started making it, but does not do baked goods. About five minutes into putting the frosting on he got completely frustrated so Michelle and I tried to fix it with about two dozen toothpicks and serving it up as fast as we possibly could.

Video Killed the Radio Star...

2008-05-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

My brother Craig's camera takes video which is really nice. So here is an edited video of Lizzie playing around and trying to pose for the camera. I think she's hillarious.

Teething Troubles

2008-04-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

So about everyday I wish that my child would be one of those children that hardly makes a peep when their teeth come in. And everyday I am severely disappointed. Some of Lizzie's new habits are not taking naps, not eating unless I give her a bottle in her crib, throwing fits (she will arch her back and throw herself on the floor to get her point across) , and screaming at the top of her lungs no matter what she is doing.

She was extremely tired Saturday afternoon and did not want to take her nap. So instead of giving in we just left her in her crib until she past out from exhaustion. After it had been amazingly silent in her room for about a half an hour, I had Jai go and check her to make sure she was okay. He opened the door and then told me to bring the camera and come look what she had done. My guess is she had been standing in her crib whining trying to make us feel bad for her when she finally just passed out. Here is the picture:

TOGA PARTY!!!

2008-04-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend my parents left to go to Utah so we had the house to ourselves. My sister also took advantage of this opportunity and threw a party here on Friday night. It was a Toga birthday party for her "friend" Jerrid. (My parents still are not up to date on the whole Michelle-has-a-boyfriend thing) We were invited, but only stayed downstairs for about five mintues (I just don't party hard any more)

Lizzie lived it up in her very own Toga laughing and "dancing" (she really was just bouncing) for the entire five mintues of her apperance. Here are some cute pictures of her living it up.

Lizzie Milstone News

2008-04-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

I really have been a slacker on posting for the past few weeks. My only excuse is I have been busy, that's all. So in Lizzie Milestone News we have a few exciting things happening:

First off the day before Lizzie turned 8 months she finally started holding her own bottle. Now we knew she could do it before but she was just being really lazy. Why hold your own bottle when someone else will do it for you? It all started when I was going up stairs to feed her before bed. She was screaming her head off because she was hungry and I wasn't walking fast enough. So to temporarily appease her I gave her the bottle to hold on to until we got to the bedroom. That's when she took the initiative to actually feed herself. It has been heaven for Jai and myself ever since.

The second milestone is clapping her hands. I don't know where this came from, but one day she just started clapping along to songs, television, and when ever she is happy. Cool.

Lizzie is a very independent spirit and wants to do everything herself (I don't know where that came from) She is trying to move on her own. She pulls herself to almost standing on some of her toys. We are always prepared for a huge fall. So far on her belly she can go backwards, around in circles, and get up on her knees and rock back and forth. She'll also lunge forward and hit her head on the floor, its pretty funny. She is not quite crawling but we know she'll figure it out soon and before you know it we won't be able to keep up with her (Watch out Schwartz!!! You won't be safe ever again)

The last milestone happened today. Her first tooth broke through. It's not really obvious, but you can kinda see it and feel it. Finally at 8 1/2 months she is starting to teethe. One day she will be able to chew foods and not gum them!!!!

Spring Break/Easter Weekend

2008-04-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

So when you live with their parents (or in-laws) you start to feel very claustrophobic. So our family's plan for Jai's Spring break week was such: Paint the spare bedroom & leave town.

So on that Monday we started painting the spare bedroom/Brian's room/Lizzie's room-while-her-uncle-is-on-his-mission. We thought we would be nice and paint it a color my brother would like. It's a this metallic green that my parent's '67 Pontiac use to be with a silver metallic trim. It looks rather nice in my opinion. My mom hates is (score one for Team Crespo). we still have to figure out what we are going to do with the trim near the ceiling and also look for some central lighting for the room. I think Brian will really like it. (When I get a picture I will post it so you can see how AWESOME it looks)

For our plan to get out of town we were fortunate enough to visit our friend's the Jeffs' in Northern California. We left on Thursday and had a great time until Sunday. Lizzie was able to meet Parker and Bear for the first time. She LOVED playing with Bear and letting him lick her face.

On Friday we were able to go to the Jelly Belly factory and smell Parker's skunk jelly bean.

And on Saturday we had a very relaxing day chillin' and visiting a park. It was Lizzie's first time at the park, and I think she had some fun, even though she could not do too much on her own.

She did like the flower that Parker gave her on our way home. She didn't let go of it until I took it away from her.

On Easter Sunday we left Northern California and headed south for home. We visited my in-laws briefly to wish them Happy Easter. It was a very nice break to a crazy life.

Mullet Massacre

2008-04-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

So as many might have figured out, my sister did not make it past round two in Jack FM's March Mullet Madness. I still give her props for making the dramatic cut into a stylish one. Here's a pic of Lizzie and her Auntie:

Even with her ugly hair cut Michelle was still able to score a boyfriend at the same time!! Congrats, Miss!!!!

Mullet News

2008-03-20T19:21:00.001-07:00

Just in case you haven't checked, my sister has advanced to the next round in Mullet Maddess. Please visit the following website and vote for her to continue on!!!

www.931jackfm.com

The Love of my life

2008-03-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I accept Kelli's tag. I just put off answering it until after my anniversary (so what if I am a day late or so). It really is amazing how fast three years just flies by. Here are my answers to the questions. Sorry if any of them are too long to get through.

1. Where did you and your husband meet?
We met at the Moorpark Institute. Not too shocking, I was early to FHE and so were Jai and the Elders. They were talking to each other when I got out of my truck. Then Jai yelled across the parking lot "Who are you?" How romantic!

2. First thing you said to each other.
If you've read question number one you already have the answer to this one. Just in case you were wondering my response was "Hi, I'm Angelia."

3. Where did you go on your first date?
We actually had four first dates. I know it sounds ridiculous, but its true. Here they are:

#1 - The Fake Date
Nov. 2003 - There was this big group date that a bunch of people in our ward were going on and it happened to be on Jai's birthday. Well some of the girls realized that Jai hadn't been asked and I happened to be near them at the time (I think I needed to ask Linda a question, but I can't remember what about) and so they told me to ask Jai. I wasn't planning on going but I figured, hey whatever. We had a "surprise" birthday dinner which turned out not to be a surprise and then we all went bowling afterwards. It was okay. I say that Jai kinda ignored me and talked to other girls and he says that I ignored him and talked to other boys. Jai claims that this date doesn't count.

#2 - The Headache Date
April 2004 - So months later Jai asked me out after I had slugged him for saying he fell asleep during General Conference (I at least got his attention that way.) It was a nice date. He took me to a Japanese Restaurant to eat. In the middle of dinner I felt a really powerful headache coming on. I tried to ignore it as best I could. He then took me to Farrell's (the ice cream place in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure) where in the middle of ice cream I excused myself several times to go to the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. I told him that I knew it sounded like a lame excuse but I had a migraine headache and I needed to go home. He was really nice about it and got me some medicine and water on our way home. I figured he just thought I was trying to get out of the date cause our next one wasn't until months later.

#3 - The Family Group Date
July 2004 - All of my siblings were going to be in town (which is very rare) and since we were all single I thought we should go on a big family group date. By this time Jai was a really good friend of mine so I asked him. We went to Shakespeare in the Park at CLU (I think we saw one of the King Henry ones) and out to Denny's after. By this time I knew Jai liked me but I had decided that it would never work out between us so I was going to tell him that during the next two weeks but never got a chance.

#4 - Our "First" Date
August 2004 - Two weeks after the Family Group Date Jai accidentally asked me out. During the week he had casually asked me to go ice skating with him via text message. Our other friend and his girlfriend were going and he didn't want to be odd man out. Well I had plans to go shopping with a friend so I told him maybe some other time. He asked me when and I told him maybe Friday or Saturday. He then realized at that point the he had asked me out. So he planned a last minute date. We went out to eat and ice skating then decided that the night was still young and we had some friends who were at the beach having a bon fire. We went but decided to take a walk down the beach. We found some rocks and climbed on top of them and just talked. Thats when I realized that I would be an idiot if I didn't date him.

4. Where was your first kiss?
It was the Thursday after first date #4, but the day before I was to leave for Melanie's wedding. It was in the entry way to my parents house as we were saying good bye for the weekend. :)

5. Long or short courtship/engagement?
We started dating at the beginning of August 2004. Got engaged December 5th, 2004 and were married March 19th, 2005. I think it was a good length of time.

6. Where did you get engaged?
Jai took me back to the beach where I started to fall in love with him. He then took me to the same rocks we had sat on talking for awhile. He popped the question right there on a beautiful cool December night. He was so nervous and shaking (he won't admit to it though) The box even had a light for the ring. It was beautiful.

7. Where were you married?
We were married in the Los Angeles California LDS Temple. It had rained all weekend but had stopped long enough for us to take pictures.

8. Where did you honeymoon?
We went on a five day cruise that stopped at San Diego California, Catalina Island, and Ensenada Mexico. It was really nice not to have to worry about anything. I wish it could be like that everyday!!!

More Mullet Pictures

2008-03-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures of my sister's hair cut. My favorite one is the third one where you can see the guy laughing in the back.

My crazy sister

2008-03-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

So sometimes I wonder about my family. There is a radio station down here in Southern California that every year in March they have a "March Madness" campaign. Last year it was Mustache Madness and this year the theme is Mullet Madness. The Grand Prize in this competition is a '69 Camaro SS. Now my brother Todd really really wants this car, but his hair (and all of his friend's hair as well) is not long enough to cut into mullets. Todd offered me $10,000 to cut my hair into a mullet to enter this competition and win the car for him. I declined the offer.

Now I know you are saying $10,000 is a lot of money. Let me fill you in on all my thoughts in my split second decision. First off to win the car you have to have the same hair style at the end of the competition and I just do not want to go to work and church looking like white trash. Second I have had a really short hair cut before (on my mission) and it looked horrible on me, I don't want to repeat that. Third I don't think Todd really has $10,000. And fourth I am not that desperate for money. I know that I am living at my parents house and that I have to work while Jai is in school cause we have to pay the bills, but we are not doing too bad for our situation.

Todd still desperate to find someone to cut their hair into a mullet offered my sister Michelle $3,000 to do it (The reasons why I think it is less is because he probably figured I wouldn't do it in the first place and so offered me more and second like I said before I don't think he had $10,000) Now I don't know if Michelle is really strapped for money but she accepted Todd's offer and cut her hair into a mullet. Apparently she called a hair salon in Studio City and told them what was going on and they told her to come down right away. They actually cut her hair for free because they thought it was sooooo funny!!! (This is the best picture I have so far for her, I'll put up another one when I get it)

The best part about this radio station competition is that everyone can see my sister's hair cut and vote on-line to help her win. I think there is one vote per computer per day so please visit http://www.931jackfm.com/ and vote for my sister!!!! Tell your friends, neighbors, and family members. I would really like to see how far her horrible hair cut can go. Currently she is in the Top Hat Bracket, Match Up #1. Now I can honestly say that my family is crazy!!

Mommy and Daddy time

2008-03-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Some cute picture of my baby.

Here she is with her daddy. She wanted me to take these pictures while she was eatting. It was soooo cute!!

Here she is with her mommy. To get her to stop whining I took some pictures with her. You can see that her eyes are not dark but that they change colors...they are kinda green here.

Our nephew finally has a name. Its Jackson Beckham Grey. I think my other sister-in-law had some sort of say in the middle name (she's a BIG soccer player and fan). I saw him again yesterday, but both him and Kendal were sleeping so I decided not to take a picture of the three of them until later (I think I forgot my camera as well, so that didn't help).

That's about all for now. We are excited to see the Jeffs next week and can't wait until we are there!!!

The boy with no name

2008-03-02T21:39:00.001-08:00

I still can't figure out how my sister-in-law can't figure out a name for her little boy. It just boggles my mind. But to each his own. Here is a picture that Jai's brother took while the baby was in the hospital still.

So we tried this weekend to see if we could visit them and see the baby, but to no avail. So we decided to stop by my mother-in-laws house to visit and found our new nephew's sisters spending the night. I was able to take a few good pictures until Jordyn decided she wanted to take some as well. Here are some of my favorites:

I think its so funny when little kids try to take pictures!!!!!!!!!!

Glory free at last

2008-02-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Freeing the Glory felt good. Here is the email I am sending Aaron tonight:

My Dearest Aaron,

My captures have let me email you a brief note (not more than 150 words) to let you know that I am safe. They will take the liberty of editing it if they feel I have devulged too much information. It has been a very terrifying experience being held here at ########. #### has been especially mean to me. They have ##### and #### me, and then they made me do #### ##### in a row!!!! Although I am not allowed to see you, please visit my blog at www.glorysbigadventure.blogspot.com so that you will continually know what I am up to. Please hurry and met their demands so that we can be reunited once again.

Love,
The Glory

Check it out!! Link from the above address or look to the right and find my lind titles The Glory and link from there.

Mad Skills

2008-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

It is really amazing to see how much a baby learns. So this week I have noticed that Lizzie has been picking up some amazing skills that I never realized she knew. She is getting so smooth about moving toys between her hands and fast about picking up new toys that she wants. She has also become so wiggly and seriously trying to move around to grab new toys and objects. She still has yet to master crawling or even effectively creeping around on the floor, but she is rolling around like an old pro. She also has learned how to pull her self up to standing from sitting by holding onto our hands. In recent days she has also become extremely ticklish, it is soooo funny I just love to hear her little giggle. It seems that she has learned all of this so fast. Seven months has just flown.

As far as other news in our life. Most of it is just the same. We are still waiting to hear back from the colleges that Jai has applied to. Jai's sister Paris just had a baby boy yesterday. Unfortunately he doesn't have a name yet, and I don't know what I have done with my camera so we have no pictures at the moment. I think we will be visiting them this weekend anyway. He is our second nephew, to be added to the mix of six nieces and the seventh niece on the way (my sister-in-law Cassie is having another girl in July). Other than that everything is still the same. Laundry to fold, baby to entertain, and a room to clean. I hope you all are doing well.

The Glory of it all

2008-02-27T19:11:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I haven't updated the blog on what has happened with Aaron's wrist rest. Apparently its nickname is The Glory. Well he did not easily find our Ransom note. We had to have Jai leave an anonymous message on his work phone. He finally found it on Friday and some how figured out it was down at the SV office. It might have been the keyboard, we didn't realize that we had the only one that looked like it. Of course we never admitted to have The Glory, but it was getting pretty tense there. On Monday we received a note with a large bag of M&M's. It read (spelling and grammatical errors have not been corrected and the victim's last name has been omitted due to privacy issues):

Dearest Evil Kidnappers,

Elvo request more time to be given to your demands. Elvo has recentely suffered a tragic accident with a pepsi can, some pyrotechnics and sheep. His hair has been badly damages and request some extra time so he can regrow his proper pompadore. I have included the bag of M&M's and hope this will be sufficient to keep my treasured possession safe until I hear your response.

Thank you

Aaron Cxxxxx
Victim

So that night I wrote a draft of our response letter. It read:

Aaron,

Rather than demanding video proof of Elvo's unfortunate accident, we believe you deserve a little break. We will give Elvo until Easter to recuperate and shoot the video (we have nothing against Elvo and wish him only the best on his journey to good health). In the mean time to show you our good will, we will let your treasured possession go, but not into your hands. We will let it roam free around California while tracking it with our own sophisticated GPS tracking system. Your loved one will not be captive anymore, but it will not be returned to you until ALL of our demands are met. We will let it contact you in the next few days, please check your mailbox or email to confirm its safety.

Sincerely,
The Evilest of Kidnappers

So I sent it to the other three people in the office in on the joke to get their okay on the note. Then my manager Scott cracks and shows Aaron the email before it was completely ready (I was going to send it through a junk email account that I have) So now Aaron knows who exactly is in on the joke, but we still haven't cracked and admitted our guilt. We are going to continue and have The Glory start blogging about its adventures. In a few days you will have more info on where to find the blog and what happens next.

Messing with Aaron's head

2008-02-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

So there is this manager in our Ventura (VTA) office that keeps making fun of my co-worker Vasty's hat (it looks like a railroad conductor's hat).

So as Vasty was complaining to Jenny in the VTA office, Jenny had a brillant idea of taking his keyboard wristrest that he is completely obsessed with and sending it to us in the Simi Valley (SV) office as a hostage. It arrived Monday morning disguised as a box of sheet protectors. Aaron immediately assumed that Jenny or Laura in the VTA office had stolen it again from him. So last night I wrote the ransom note below.

Then this morning we took the following pictures:

and are sending the note and the pictures later today in a sealed envelope with an unsuspecting technician to drop it off to Jenny.

In the mean time we have received a missing poster:

(that we hung up all over the SV office) and an Amber Alert via e-mail.

AMBER ALERT!

MISSING OFFICE SUPPLY!

Missing from Ventura Pest Control on Aaron’s desk.

Last time it was seen was on Friday afternoon hanging out with its friends Candy Keyboard and Kingston Hockey Puck

He has no idea it was us. Stay tunned to see what happens next...

The Eight Days of Valentine

2008-02-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Okay it may sound a little lame, but I don't get to dress my baby every day. I always come home from work wondering what her daddy dressed her in today and it usually turns out to be the same few outfits that her dad LOVES. So for the week of Valentine's Day I was awarded the opportunity to pick out her outfits each day. In observence of the holiday they are all either pink or red.

Sunday: Lizzie awoke from a nap and was trying to wake up her daddy

Monday: I don't know what's up with her hair but its crazy

Tuesday: If anyone knows homestarrunner.com this onsie is from that web site

Wednesday: Not to much to say about this one

Thursday: Valentine's day and the day of her doctor's appt. The doctor said her body is in the 23rd percentile of children her age but her head is in the 98th percentile. I always knew she was a bobble head.

Friday: She wore this outfit for an hour. She had a slight fever from her shots the day before so I put this on just to take a picture

Saturday: She was sooo tired all day that this is the only good picture of her

Sunday: Nuff said

Lizzie meeting the new baby

2008-02-12T21:02:00.001-08:00

Elizabeth staring at cousin Kendal held by Grandpa Ellis

So Lizzie met her cousin for the first time today. She gave Kendal the same type of attention she shows to dogs. She tried yelling at her to get her attention and wanted to touch her (which we won't let her do until she learns how to touch softly) Overall it was pretty successful. At the moment she is still the center of attention for her grandparents and aunts and uncles, which is the way she likes it. I can't wait until Kendal, Lizzie, and the cousin on the way can take a picture together. It will be fun. They will all be about seven months apart in age from each other. A few more weeks and the next baby will be here. The last picture is of her and Uncle Jason when he came to visit last weekend. He is in a tight race with Uncle Craig for being Lizzie's favorite Uncle.

Mel-Dawg

2008-02-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

For all those who know Melanie (Dance) Hallburg, I actually talked to her on Saturday. She is pregnant with her second boy (due March 12th) and is having a blast with Payton at the same time. Chad is almost halfway done with his four year program. Her parents have been called as English speaking Mission Presidents, but they do not know where they are going yet. Look in the Church News the next few months for more information. Not too much is different. Both of her brothers are married and do not have any kids yet. Two of her sisters are at BYU and little Emily is a Senior in High School (boy does time go by really fast) If anyone wants her number just email me and I will give it to you. Thought all would want to know since we hardly hear how she is doing.

Sunshine, Shopping, and Surprises

2008-02-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

"Hanging with Big Baby Head and Monkey"

For the last few days we have had really nice weather for Southern California. Probably about mid 70's during the day and perfectly cool at night. It really doesn't feel like the beginning of February, but its so nice that I don't mind.

So this weekend has been a little crazy for us. It all started when my mother-in-law called us to have dinner with them on Friday night because Jai's brother Jason was in town from Colorado on business. After dinner we hung out at my in-laws house with the family. Just as we were about to leave my mother-in-law got a phone call that sounded like someone was seriously hurt. Then we found out that it just was her normal over-reaction to finding out that her daughter Jessie just had her baby. So we all packed our stuff at 9:15pm and headed off to the hospital. There we all met our new niece (except for Lizzie) Kendal Bailey Ellis who was only a few hours old. After a few more hours, we left the hospital and got home in time to pass out right before midnight.

Saturday morning was filled with laundry, dealing with an extremely tired baby and going to the store to get medicine for Elizabeth's first diaper rash and a few new binkies that don't irritate her sensitive skin.

We then went shopping at a local outlet mall to get Jai some new pants. Lizzie celebrated by:
wearing her sunglasses
and passing out halfway through.

Not only did we get Jai some shorts and jeans, but we also found a perfect outfit for baby Jeffs. As we were in a children's clothing store, Jai points across the store and told me that was the outfit that he wanted to get him. I would tell you what it was, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for Kelli. We will see you soon, so you don't have to wait too long to find out.

Our weekend isn't over yet. Stay tunned for our next few posts "Lizzie meeting the new baby" and "The Eight days of Valentine"

6 months!!!!

2008-02-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

Okay I have been trying this entire week to post and am finally able today. On Sunday Lizzie turned six months! We took a few pictures.

This is Elizabeth getting her hair done. It was the first time she didn't wiggle and complain a whole lot during the hair perfecting process.

After Church we had a baby shower for one of her aunts. It of course was during her nap time but too much was going on that she didn't want to sleep. She played with her second cousin Jacquline and cooed at everyone that walked by her.

By the end of the party she passed out from too much fun.

The next picture is one of my favorites. It was taken a few weeks ago. I had taken the pig tails out of her hair and she was sad and crying about it. It was soooo funny that we decided that we needed to take pictures of it. Once she realized we were taking pictures of her she tried to stop crying and this is the picture:

I will try to be better at posting blogs. I know funny things happen everyday, but its trying to find the time to get to the internet to tell you all about them that is a little hard for me. Soon she will have two more cousins and tons of pictures with them so there will be more I promise.

Christmas and all other events

2008-01-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

So its taken me over two months to update this blog. Lizzie's first Christmas was a smash. She liked the presents, bright colors, but most of all the wrapping paper! She did have a terrible accident with a small souvenir metal cannon which landed on her head in the middle of opening presents. After about 5 minutes she was calmed down enough to finish opening the rest of the presents. A bonus to it all she did not even get a bruise on her head.

Elizabeth had tons of fun over the Holiday weeks playing with her Uncles, learning to eat veggies, and sit up by herself. Jai has been on break for the Holidays from school so he was able to spend tons of time with the family and baby. He goes back this coming Monday to start the new semester. I have been back at work after the holidays. Its been a little slow but that makes it nice to do end of the year clean up and filing.

One of Lizzie's favorite new toy has to be her blocks which she loves knocking down while we pile them on top of her. I think she just likes the noise they make when they fall all over the place. The other new thing that she like tons are dogs and cats. Unfortunately they usually do not like her back. Maybe it is because she smells like a baby or that she hits them instead of petting them at the moment. Everytime they walk by she is totally intrigued by them. Maybe one day they will love her back.

Giving in

2007-10-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that tons of people I know have blogs so I really thought I would start one too. For the first post I will just update what is going on with my life. Jai, Elizabeth, and I live in Moorpark CA with my parents while Jai goes to school and I work to save some money before we go to a University. My maternity leave ends this week so I am a little bummed. Lizzie was born on July 27th at 5 lbs and 2 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. Well that's it for the moment. I have a wiggly baby in my lap.