Time flies!

Wow, I can't believe it has been over two months since my last post! Wow...that is very unusual for me. Well, I'll give a brief update because I just haven't really had the motivation to post anything.

So we moved to Chicago and are living in a clown car of a house. I say that because there are a lot of people living under one roof! There is me, Tom, Ella, and Tommy, Toms two brothers Sam and Joseph, Toms mom, and Toms aunt Judy. One Aunt, two moms, one dad, two brothers, one daughter, a baby, and a partridge in a pear tree! There is also two cars between the six of us and two showers. That gets tricky on Sunday mornings :) Haha! Luckily the rest of the week, our getting readys are at different times.

Anyway, I have been working two jobs for the past two months: I'm the front desk/door girl at Sam Ash Music Store and I'm a host at The Melting Pot. I hated both jobs at first. The SA (Sam Ash) job because it was completely mindless and I felt like such a loser for being SOOOO over qualified for the job. It was really ridiculous, but I've come to tolerate it. My second job at the Melting Pot was okay, but I was having a hard time keeping the servers happy. Whenever they are having a problem, they take it out on the hosts because we are the ones that keep giving them table assignments. Well, its not my fault that you are getting tables - blame the customer. That is getting less now, though, since I kind of know what I'm doing.

Well, two weeks ago I got offered a full time sales position at Sam Ash. So I quit the Melting Pot (much to my managers dismay!) and my last day there is on Saturday. I told my manager there to keep me on for REALLY busy days, though, 'cause I make a lot on tips! (Hosts, Bartenders, and Busers split 3% of sales for their tips - not too bad!) So today I started my training as sales associate at Sam Ash. I am excited, but a little nervous. They work on a commission basis and the company is REALLY strict with their commission rules! Sheesh! So hopefully I don't get chewed out if I don't make my commission goals this first couple months! Haha! Oh, Tom and I got new callings at church, too: Primary teachers for the CTR 7 class! They are CUTE! I am gonna love this calling! :) Side note about church: I taught my first Relief Society lesson this last week! I was NERVOUS! But I think it went okay, I just hope I didn't talk too fast like I always do! Haha!

So that's new with me. Tom is working for his uncles and riding the scooter to and from work every day (even when it is FREEZING...which it is now). But he's a good sport and likes working the construction stuff with his uncles. He has learned how to fit windows, do drywalling, and replace a roof! He comes home sore, but happy for the most part :) So that's good. We are still waiting to hear back from AUC, but as of now it doesn't look like medical school is in our near future. Instead, we will be switching gears and trying out for law school. Tom is excited and feels that this decision will be better in the long run. He definitely was not having positive thoughts or experiences with medical school and had lost interest completely. So he is doing something he is actually excited for - which makes sense to me! So as of now, he is doing the research, preparation, and studying for law school.

Ella is three now (I can't believe that!) and is growing bigger every day and getting sassier and sassier! I'm not sure where she picks up this sassy attitude, but it is kind of hilarious! Here is an example:

Mom: Ella, you need to go to bed now.
Ella: No, mom. Don't say that word.
Mom: What word?
Ella: Go to bed. Don't say that. Too bad for you mom.

Yeah, sassy little girl. Also, much to my dismay - SOME people she is around are teaching her not-so-nice words that I really wish they wouldn't. Yes, it is funny to hear a three year old say some things, but it won't be funny when she repeats it in primary in two months! On a positive note, Ella is learning her letters and numbers. She can count to ten (but sometimes forgets the number 8) and can almost spell her name. She knows her birthday and knows everyones name. She even calls Tommy, "Wiggle Dude" (She has a hard time saying, "Little" so it comes out "Wiggles", which is what EVERYONE is calling him now :)) She also LOVES music and loves to sing! She makes up her own songs and knows almost every nursery rhyme you can think of, although sometimes they dont quite come out exactly right :) Example:

Ella singing: The itsy bitsy spider up the water spout, down rain and wash spider out. Sun comes up and rains, itsy itsy itsy itsy itsy spider up spout again.

or-

"Hickory icky dock. Mouse ran up clock. Clock struck one. Mouse ran down. Ickory icky dock."

They are adorable, to say the least :)

Tommy (or Wiggles) is getting bigger, too! He is now four months old. He still has a hard time holding his head up, but it does seem rather large for his size! Haha! :) He smiles A LOT and is generally a happy baby - when he is being held. He definitely isn't a huge fan of being left alone and loooooves attention. Ella is very sweet with him, but sometimes a little rough. She says he is her best friend and tries to help all she can. It is pretty cute :) He can roll over from tummy to back, but not back to tummy. He also HATES riding in his car seat, which is pretty inconvenient because then he cries the whole time. Blah. Oh, and yes, his hair is coming in sort of red :D

So yeah, thats whats going on with us. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but I figure everyone who reads my blog can also check my facebook and I have been putting pictures on there. :) I'm not sure who still reads this anyway since there really isn't much going on in our lives right now! Haha! :)

First couple weeks in Chicago...

Well, things have been...interesting in Chicago so far. I am actually liking the city much more than I thought I would :) I mean, I like Chicago itself, I just had a big problem with leaving California. But its actually pretty cool here! There is LOTS to do and even though the weather is hot, humid, and there are lots of bugs, I still like it. There is a really nice sense of "family bonding" and "community bonding" that is unique. There are about a bajillion parks, public pools, and community centers in every little suburb.

One thing that is driving me nuts, though, is the ROADS. Whoever did the infrastructure for this state did NOT plan ahead. None of the major freeways, oh excuse me TOLLWAYS (Don't even get me started on tollways!) are close to anywhere! Like, you have to drive 10 minutes just to get onto the expressways. It is ridiculous. And nothing is close at all. The nearest grocery store is forever far away and so is everything else. Tom teases me and says that things in California are spread out, but I disagree. Everything you need for every day living can be found in Camarillo. Here, all the suburbs blend together so they just go on and on and on, but nothing is close. And there are forests in between so you have no idea where you are or have anything for points of reference. It's super obnoxious. I can't find my way around here AT ALL. It's a little ridiculous.

It is pretty here, though. There are LOTS of forests reserves, so that means HUGE trees everywhere. The grass is SOOOO green, too! It's quite beautiful. Tom says, "Just wait till the fall...." So I'm excited to see some beautiful foliage in all these forests!

We have been doing lots of fun things since we got here. We have been going to Six Flags, Great America with our season passes (they were super cheap on sale! YAY!) and Ella sort of likes it. There isn't much for her to do, but we take her on a couple rides, then we'll go on a ride and do the "baby switch" so we can all ride.

Ella doesn't quite get that it isn't Disneyland, but that's okay. She LOVES the Merry-Go-Round best of all, of course. It's pretty cute. We'll ride that two or three times each trip.

We watched the characters do a "dance off" that she thought was hilarious! She liked all the music and thought they were "silly".

Ella likes to cuddle up with "Wiggle Tommy" and wanted to ride in the stroller with him. We tried it out...she kind of squishes him, but its still really cute :)

We also just got back from a couple days in Nauvoo, Illinois. Now, the drive to Nauvoo was WAY TOO LONG and Ella was NOT entertained with her DVD player, nor her coloring books, nor her treats. So, the five hour drive was pretty tortuous. Both directions. Ugh.

Nauvoo itself was super cool, though. I really, really liked it. It is really the first place I have been, outside of Salt Lake, that has some church history. We went on a carriage ride, a wagon ride, a bunch of tours, and through a bunch of the little houses they have. We saw how they made candles, horse shoes, wagon wheels, barrels, yarn, bread, etc. I definitely would NOT have cut it as a pioneer! Ha! I pretty much have nothing to offer....I could sing while other people worked! Ha! :)

The babies were pretty good during the whole trip. Ella is starting to get a little attitude, which has been VERY trying to me and makes me lose my temper...so I am trying to calmly and collectively discipline my child without threatening her or giving spankings. This child knows how to rile me up, though! My goodness...

Here is Ella outside the Nauvoo temple with the states of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. She is in her pajamas because Tom and I decided to take her for a walk that night and she was already in her jammies. Yeah, it was pretty fun to walk through the little town.
Here is the Nauvoo temple at night. It is really beautiful. I wish we had've brought some church clothes so we could have gone inside! Next time...and no children! Haha! :)

In Chicago, we also went and saw Yo Yo Ma at Ravinia. Ravinia is kind of like the Hollywood Bowl...sort of. There is a huge park outside of this open air stadium thingie that everyone brings picnics to. It is really fun. I LOVE IT. You can sit in the seat seats, or just bring a blanket, which is what we did. So the performance we saw was Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. It ended up being pretty modern, world music. I thought it was SUPER interesting, but it was pretty weird :) There were some new instruments I had never even HEARD of before, let alone seen or heard. It was very cool!

Some people go all out at Ravinia and bring little tables, complete with candles, flowers, wine, etc. It's really fun :) We got rained out halfway through, though. I guess the weather is kind of unpredictable here because it started out just fine...but at intermission, it started POURING and lightening...so we left. We had Tommy with us and I didn't want him to get all wet. Plus, Tom, Sam, and Joseph didn't think it was QUITE as entertaining as I did...which is understandable :)


Anyway, things have been interesting here to say the least. We have been staying with Tom's uncle John and his family. It has been a little crowded, but not too bad. Everyone is just trying to do their best to get along. We met up with Toms mom and her friend, Craig, in Nauvoo, so now there are two more of us staying at John's house. That means that there are five of us (Us four and Tom's mom) in one room. It is kind of crowded...but okay. We have been doing fun things this week to try and show Craig around Chicago. We did Six Flags again, and yesterday went into the City for a Hop on Hop Off Tour. It was fun, but EXHAUSTING. Ella was being a HUGE pill and quite the little terror by the end of the day, so I was at my wits end by the time we got in the car to go home.

So when we got home, I got her ready for bed and started the whole "bedtime process". It took me almost TWO HOURS to get her to STAY in her bed and finally go to sleep! This girl and bedtime...ugh...I dread the moment she gets in her pajamas and dream of the moment she falls asleep. *sigh*

Anyway, that has been our week and a half so far. We have four days till we move into the house. We will be living with Tom's mom, his brothers, and his aunt for a while. So once we move into the house, we will see how things go. I just hope we aren't stepping on each others toes with so many people in the house. I have high hopes, though, because the neighborhood is BEAUTIFUL and there is a super cute park a few houses down. That way Ella, Tommy, and I can get out of the house, play at the park, she can ride her bike, I can read a book in the shade, etc.

Speaking of shade, it is HOT AND HUMID here! I know I already said that, but it is REALLY hot and humid! It is like St. Maarten hot and humid. And there are a lot of bugs here. I'm not sure what I was expecting...maybe more like California? Haha! There are LOTS of mosquittos and just....bugs. Ew. Not so much into that. There usually is a nice little breeze, but not today. Sheesh....sweating....

Anyway, I will leave for now! Hopefully I will have more pictures. I can't find the cord to connect the camera to the computer, so all the pictures I have are from my iPhone! More updates soon...

On our way to the Windy City...

Well, we made it to Chicago pretty uneventfully. Mom dropped me off at the Southwest gate and I sky capped my luggage, which was awesome. I had the following to take through security though:

-One toddler
-One stroller
-One infant
-One ginormous diaper bag
-One normal sized backpack
-One child sized backpack
-One small princess bag
-One huge car seat
-One small car seat

All of this...by myself. So, I did the following:

-Toddler: teddy bear leash - tied to stroller
-Infant: Tucked into baby bjorn carrier
-Small car seat: attached to stroller
-Large car seat: placed on top of stroller
-Large diaperbag: placed on top of large car seat
-Both backpacks and princess bags, put under stroller

Yes, I looked like a pack horse! Ha! Sooo, we made our way into the airport and went through the "Family" security line, which was awesome because I could take my time and no one could say anything - it is the family line, they expect you to be slow :)

So, security sucked, but wasn't THAT bad. I disassembled my pack horse, placed everything on the security belt, including stroller and car seat, took off all our shoes and walked through. THANKFULLY they didn't make me take Tommy out of the carrier! That would have been obnoxious :) They let me keep him on - PHEW!

On we went through the terminal. We also were pretty close to the entrance, so we didn't have to walk very far. All in all, that took about 35 minutes! NOT BAD! So we had quite a while to wait for boarding. So we waited....and waited...and ate McDonalds...and waited....then they called for boarding of group A (which we paid $10 more a ticket to be in). So, me and my pack horse made our way to the front of the line and the ticket guy says, "Where is the paper work for the infant?" I told him I didn't know I needed to have any? I checked in at skycap and they didn't say anything. So he told me I needed to go BACK to the ticket desk to get paperwork. ARGH!

Soooooo, we made our way to the ticket desk where there was a HUGE line, which we waited in. While we were waiting, that was the ONLY moment on the WHOLE escapade that Ella was really being a pill. So I can't really complain :) Anyway, we get to the front of the desk, finally, and I start to chew out the lady because I'm SUPER furious that the plane is completely boarded and every seat is full except the two for me and Ella, and who knows if they are together and I have all this crap to put away and I paid extra to board first and why didn't they tell me I needed paperwork for him...and on and on...yeah. Poor lady. :) Oh well, I was mad!

SO they finally get the paperwork for Tommy, and I go to get on the airplane. Ella is on the verge of having a meltdown, Tommy is starting to wake up, and I am still pushing this huge packhorse of crap! So we get to the door of the plane and I start disassembling everything again and a stewardess sees me. Bless her heart. She was SOOOO helpful! She grabbed Ella and the big car seat and took off down the aisle, kicked some people out of their seats so we could be together, buckled in Ellas car seat AND Ella and made sure I had luggage space above for my bag! TWO THUMBS UP FOR SOUTHWEST HOSPITALITY!!!!!!

Yes, everyone on the plane had to wait for me, but that's what they get for not telling me about the paperwork! I was there WAY early and no one told me....grrrrr....

So we took off. Ella colored for a little while, then we watched Dora the Explorer, then we played with princess stickers. Tommy woke up once, so I fed him, changed his diaper, then he slept the rest of the way in the pack on my chest (which was awesome because then I could use both my hands the whole flight! Yay!)

Our flight even got in 20-30 minutes early, which was awesome! So the plane landed, everyone got off, and we were the last ones off the plane, which was fine. Another stewardess came, took the car seat, and ALL my bags while I got the babies. They helped me get all loaded up and made our way to baggage claim. One potty break (and 15 minutes later) we were with dad! YAAAAAY!

We loaded up all our bags and crap and the babies and were on the road.

We are staying with Tom's aunt and uncle right now while we wait for the lease to start on the house we will be staying in. We have to wait until September 1st, but I guess it is a really nice house....so hopefully it will be worth it.

We will be living with Tom's mom, aunt, and brothers for the next couple months until Tom starts clinicals. Wish me luck living in the Windy City (Okay, actually it is a suburb of the Windy City, but you get what I mean). The freeways here don't make sense at ALL and I am seriously NOT a fan of the stupid tollways....who ever heard of having to PAY to drive on a road!? Please....

The food is GREAT here, though, so hopefully I keep off all this baby weight and don't replace it with over eating weight! Hahah! :) Anyway, I'll keep you updated! Today is our first whole day here and we are going to try to get a little established - go look at the house, find a pediatrician, look around the city, etc. I'll try to remember to take some pictures...but I can't promise anything!

Ella-isms

Because I just finished reading a friend of mines post who has twin boys (Shout out to Katie! Woo woo!) I am inspired to do another post of Ella-isms. I think they are hilarious and it helps me remember them :)

I found Ella walking around the house with a blanket over her head -
Me: Ella, what are you doing?
Ella: I'm hiding. I'm scared!
Me: What are you scared of?
Ella: *shouting* I AM THE EVIL QUEEN!

Apparently she is scared of herself??

Grandma: How do you like your new baby brother?
Ella: He's noisy.

Ella also has been wrapping everything around herself and saying, "Pretty dress...." which is hilarious when it is things like underwear, dads shorts, etc.

Ella in the tub:
Ella: Mom! Mom!
Me: What Ella?
Ella: Mom, come here!
Me: Not right now, what do you need?
Ella: Mom! I count to three you better come here! One, two, three, four, five, seven, nine, twelve, eleven, nine, two, three! Come here!

Haha! I was getting reprimanded by my two year old!

News!

My brother and sister-in-law just had their baby!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!!! :D

He was born on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 5:17p.m. He was 6 pounds two ounces and 19.5 inches! His name is Lucas Domingues Henderson (spell check on Domingez?) I haven't talked to Dan and Barbara yet as they have been busy busy, so I'm not sure of all the details... But we are super excited for the family addition!

We are doing a double baby blessing in Utah next Tuesday, so that should be fun :) It will be interesting as our kids all get older how they all get along. Tommy and Lucas are only a couple weeks apart and Ella and Kyle are a year and a half - hopefully Ella doesn't feel too left out being the only girl! She'll just have to be the "boss" of all these little boys! :) Haha!

Speaking of Ella, I have a new "Ella-ism" that she said last night at Disneyland:

Ella: Papa (grandpa), My tummy hurts.
Papa: Your tummy hurts?
Ella: Yeah, I think I need cotton candy.
Papa: Oh really? That will make your tummy feel better.
Ella: Yeah, Cotton candy will make my tummy feel better.

Yeah, sneaky little girl came up with that on her own!

Anyway, our new addition has been fun to have! Little Tommy is a pretty well behaved baby. He sleeps A LOT and nurses really well, too. Even when he is awake, he just kind of looks around until he gets hungry - cries, then goes back to sleep. The past couple nights, though, he has been waking up between 2-3a.m. and being awake for one to two hours and kind of fussy. I think he is gassy or something, so hopefully that goes away soon...it sucks being awake in the middle of the night like that!

Tommy's hair is turning red, bytheway....which makes me happy :) I always wanted a little red headed baby! YAY! :D

Oh, also new news (we'll see if it is good news or not! Haha!): we are moving to Chicago in two weeks. We are leaving for Utah this upcoming Sunday and I will be there until Thursday and then will come home with my dad and the kiddos. Tom will be driving to Chicago with his mom and the moving truck. Then he'll be there for a couple days, then Utah again for a couple days, then back to Chicago. Then I'll meet him in Chicago with the babies. Yeah, exhausting I know! Hopefully things go smooth. I'll be traveling alone with two babies....so wish me lots of luck and sleeping children! Anyway, pictures to come soon. I know I keep saying that, but I am slacking at uploading my pictures! Sorry!

Funny Ella-isms

So Ella is getting quite the personality and is learning what is funny and what is not. Here are a few Ella-isms that cracked me up!

So we are driving in the car and Ella kept saying, "Mom! Talk to me! Talk to me!" Well, I was trying to have a conversation with Tom and so I said, "Ella! No! Just talk to the wall!" So she goes, "Okay! Hi Wall!" It was SO random and funny we just died laughing!!

Another time, Tom and I were stuck in traffic coming back from L.A. and Ella was tired and hungry and was being super cranky so to help distract her, we asked her to make up a song. We said, "Ella, sing me a song about the cars!" So she says, "Okay! Douchebag cars!!! (in a sing song voice) The end!" It was totally hilarious. Yes, she learned the word "douchebag" from her father while watching soccer and/or talking on the phone with his brothers. We had a little chat about that after we stopped laughing. She has also picked up, "Oh crap!" from me....yeah....we need to be a little more aware of what we say around her :)

She also has a couple new choice phrases. She still has a hard time pronouncing some of her words, so it is hard to understand her sometimes. If you repeat her and you are wrong, she looks at you really seriously and says, "No, look at my lips...." and then repeats herself. It's pretty funny :)

Another new phrase is "Good idea!" She says it all the time! A conversation will go something like this:

Me: Ella, you need to eat all your dinner
Ella: Okay! Good idea!
Me: Do you like your dinner?
Ella: Yeah, of course!

It's totally funny. She is getting quite the personality and has sassy little phrases she picks up.

She is getting a little more defiant, though, which is new and more than a little frustrating. She will do little things, like turn off the lights or something. If we tell her to turn it back on, she says "No" and walks out. Little stinker. Hopefully this is just a phase and a short one at that!

T-Rex! Our Newest Snugglesaurus!

Well, the big day finally came! :) Thomas Rex Penrose was born on July 9th, 2010 at 3:26p.m. weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. His hair is totally blond and he has enough of it for a small mo-hawk (which he will be frequently sporting). His eyes are bright blue, but I'm not sure if they'll stay like that. He has a little bit of a cone head and a really stocky little upper body! he is quite the husky kid. TOTALLY opposite of Ella! Ella was tall and skinny, he is shorter and chubbier. Tom says "He'll be the perfect defensive lineman!" I told him that just means he'll have a great lung capacity for the baritone sax or tuba ;) Here are some pictures, then I'll tell the whole "day of delivery" story, for those of you who are actually interested. Don't worry - no gory details. Those are yucky ;)

Ella is checking out her new baby brother. She was SOOOO excited to meet him! She calls him "Wiggle Pommy" which translates to Little Tommy. It is super cute. She calls him her baby brother and she is the big sister. She also said he was "too noisy"...but he doesn't really cry. So far she is taking the new baby in stride pretty well, but is a little cranky when she is at home. I think she can just tell something big is going on and it is throwing her off not having me or Tom home with her. Hopefully she isn't feeling too neglected :(

Here she is again! So excited! She keeps wanting to hold him and when anyone else has him she goes up with her hands out and says, "My turn!"

One proud papa! Tom was a little worried the baby was going to be a girl because when we had the first ultrasound the nurse said, "Oh! Ella's going to have a baby sister!" Then after a few little shots she said, "Oh wait! It's a boy! Yep! Look! A boy!" So Tom had been a little worried ever since! Haha! :) But he's a boy alright, and as Homer Simpson put it, "And what a boy!!"

Just after delivery! Mom and Baby are doing great!

Okay, so here is the story (I put the pictures first, so if you don't care about the whole story, you don't have to read it :))

I was supposed to be induced on July 8th because that is the birthday of Tom's grandma, who was the original "Thomas Penrose", so we thought that would be cool if they had the same birthday. So I was supposed to check into the hospital at 7:30a.m., but at 6:00 I got a phone call from the nurses station saying to not come in that it was WAY too crowded with women who went into labor that night and that they didn't have any rooms open. They would call me later that day if I was even going to be induced at all. So, naturally, we were a little disappointed. After a terribly sleepless and anxious night, now nothing was going to happen anyway!

So we waited and waited and finally got a phone call around 12:30 saying, "Yes! Come in at 2:00p.m. Your doctor wants to get this on the road!" Fabulous! So we packed our bags, kissed our kid good bye and was out the door! We checked in and got into the labor and delivery room at 2:30.

I thought it was going to be smooth as butter like when Ella was born, but no. Apparently my body just wasn't ready to give up being pregnant so they had to give me this thing called Cervadil to get my body prepped. It is a 12 hour process....and I didn't even get it until 4:00p.m. So that meant we missed Grandpa's birthday. That was pretty disappointing. My mom kept telling me that normally you don't even get to plan your kids date of birth....but I was still a little disappointed.

Anyway, they originally said they would wake me up at 4:00a.m. (12 hours later) and start the pitocin...but then they changed their mind and said I could sleep in until 8-9a.m. and then they would start it. That was much better :) Even though I didn't sleep very much that night, it was better than having to wake up at 4:00 to go into labor! Ha!

So one very sleepless night later, the nurses come in and get me going on Pitocin. Actually, I had an epidural first (which sucked getting 'cause it hurts like a mother...but is TOTALLY worth!) So epidural first, then Pitocin, then water broken, then the waiting game. After the epidural kicked in and I was feeling very relaxed, we watched some Simpsons and My Big Fat Greek Wedding and then the nurse was like, "Well, let's see how you're doing...Give me a big push....yep...I'll go get the Dr."

I was really surprised she was getting the doctor so soon 'cause with Ella I pushed for a WHILE before the Doc even came in. But I figured she knew what she was doing, so she went and got the Doc.

Four pushes later - POP! Out comes the baby! I'm not kidding. The whole process took thirteen minutes! It was pretty spectacular. The nurses and doctor were laughing at me because after two pushes I said, "This is tiring!" They laughed and started teasing that I had only done two pushes. I had to clarify that I said it was TIRING...not that I was TIRED (But I really was tired! Haha! I'm such a baby :))

So out came little T-Rex! No, we didn't name him Thomas Rex so he could be T-Rex, it just happened to work out like that. Thomas and Rex are both family names and it wasn't till after we decided on the name that someone was like, "Hey! T-Rex!" and we thought it was even more awesome :) So yeah....everything is dinosaur themed....of course. :)

Little Tommy is VERY mellow. He hardly cries AT ALL and it is only when he has burps or is about to load his pants. He eats really well and looooooves to sleep (which is fabulous!)

So far everything has gone super smooth. I am healing up nicely and slept really well last night. All in all things are pretty good! :)

Thank you everyone for all the sweet comments and prayers! I am feelin' the love, for sure!! :D

Update :)

Here is a little update on what is going on in our lives. Just quick little bullet points and a few more Ella-isms:

1. Kathryn, my youngest sister, just got married on Friday and had a super fun reception at Spanish Hills Country Club.

2. I have five weeks left of this pregnancy, but I may get induced a week early (just because) so I only have FOUR weeks left! AH! So close!

3. Ella is slowly becoming potty trained. We have been using positive reinforcement, bribery, and brain washing by surrounding her with potty training books. It is sort of working...

This is Ella with her pretty American Flag she made in nursery. She LOVES nursery, especially her two friends "Cody" and "Mia", which are really Cordy and Mina. She says she likes to push Cordy, though....which concerns me a little bit...maybe its like when boys throw dirt at little girls when they have a crush on them?

This is all the girls from work, and Mom, at the Dodgers Game for my birthday. We got to walk on the field after the game and meet one of the players, Danny Worth, who happens to be Breanne's fiance (the blonde). It was SUPER fun! I had a really great birthday weekend, complete with going out to dinner on Saturday, the Dodger game on Friday, and a yummy birthday dinner and cake on Sunday! It was great :) I'm the big 2-5 now...crazy...

Here are a few new Ella-isms for your entertainment:

Somewhere along the lines, Ella has picked up and understands what boobs are. Well, she saw grandma in her swimsuit this weekend and said: (Oh, and she pronounces grandma like Monga...its like grandma backwards sort of?)

Ella: "Monga boobs! Monga BIG boobs!"

After Tom had been gone for a week in Utah, Ella woke up in the morning and saw him there, she said:
Ella: "Daddy! I pooped in the crib!"
Dad: Why did you do that?
Ella: It's yucky!
Dad: Yeah, it is yucky. Do you poop in the potty now?
Ella: *Laugh* Noooo....
Dad: Why not?
Ella: *Laugh* Silly daddy...

Potty Training is Full of Crap....

Yes, we are still trying to potty train Ella. No, it isn't going well at all. I have tried everything:

- Pretty princess panties
- Candy bribes
- Cute new toilet for herself
- More candy/treat bribes
- Brand new toy bribe that she only gets if she goes on the potty
- Moved the toilet location

I can't even think of anything else to do. Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm about ready to invest in some toddler, child, teenage, and adult sized diapers because I don't think my child will ever go on the toilet! I know that kids don't work well under pressure and stuff, but I haven't really been pressuring her. We tried a couple months ago, gave up because it was causing Ella to majorly stress about it, and now we are trying again. She doesn't even care to try to go on the potty and doesn't care when she goes in her pants.

I am getting extremely frustrated with this situation. I only want one kid in diapers at a time and the baby is due in two months.

Ella-isms...

Mom: Ella! You ready to go?
Ella: Of course!
Mom: Of course?
Ella: Yeah! Of course!
Mom: Okay...do you want to take a nap instead?
Ella: *laugh* No, Mom! Let's go!

Mom: Did you take a nap today Ella?
Ella: Yeah! I sleeped good!
Mom: I dunno, Dad said you didn't take a nap. Did you take a nap?
Ella: Uh huh...sleep good! No nap!

Mom: Okay, Ella, its time to go to bed. Good night...
Ella: Wait wait wait!!!
Mom: What?
Ella: Um......I need a drink.
Mom: Okay. *gets drink of water* okay, good night sweetie.
Ella: Wait wait wait!
Mom: What Ella?
Ella: Um.....umm.....um....sing song....
This then continues for quite a while until I finally just let her scream "Wait wait!" till she falls asleep!

Ella: Watch this!
Mom: What?
Ella: Um....*looking around* *picks up toy* Look at this funny toy!
Mom: Wow! Go show Dad!
Ella: No. No dad. Hide.

Mom: Ella, come here, lets put your coat on.
Ella: No! No touch me!

Ella: Mom! Ella big fart!!
Mom: You had a big fart??
Ella: Yep! Silly goose!

Dad: Ella, want to watch hockey?
Ella: No! No Blackhawks!
Dad: Okay, its time to go to bed then.
Ella: No! Wanna watch hockey! Go blackhawks!

Easter Egg Dyeing!

Ella got to dye Easter eggs for the first time this year! She had a great time! She would keep naming the colors and then put the eggs in each cup. When they would come out she would say "Wow! Cool!" It was very cute :)

We stripped her down because I wasn't sure how messy it was going to get...

We used the Toy Story Egg Dyeing Kit. She had a really fun time putting stickers on the eggs and saying the characters names, "Woody....Buzz....Horsey..." It was very cute :)

Here is a picture of Ella helping Grandma cook Easter dinner! Ella LOVES to "Cook", which usually entails pushing the "start" button on the microwave, or stirring something in a bowl. She is quite the little helper! More pictures to come. I don't have any pictures of Ella in her Easter dress yet, but I will dress her in full Easter regalia this Sunday so I will take pictures then :)

Hilarious Church on Sunday...

So Sunday is usually pretty tame around here and church is, too. We struggle through some sacrament meetings keeping Ella quiet and entertained. Well, this last week was absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so hard, I almost had to leave!

I had just drawn pictures of everyone in the family as little stick figures because Ella had asked me to. All of a sudden, Ella took the pen from me and started scribbling all over the stick figure of herself! Tom and I said, "Ella, what are you doing?" and she said (quite loudly) "Bye bye Ella!!!!!" and scribbled all over herself until you couldn't see the stick figure anymore! It was SO funny! I still chuckle when I think about it. Two thumbs up for my funny child :)

She also thinks its hilarious when she toots. She giggles and says, "Ella fart!" It's pretty funny. :)

Hilarious new words

So Ella is turning into quite the chatterbox, but my new favorite words are definitely as follows:

"Jew Hat" in regards to a yamulka

And when she tries to say "Shirt"....which does have an "r" sound in it....sooooo yeah. She says she is wearing a pink "Shi*t" It is hilarious. It cracks me up every time :)

She also says "Oops." which sounds like, "Ups." and "Thank you" which sounds like "Gank Goo". When she says bye to anyone she also adds "Seeyouinmorning" in one big word. It is very sweet :)

I love the little things she comes up with.

Week 23!

Dr.'s appointments have been going fine. I am definitely showing now and have quite the little belly. I have also been gaining more weight....quite rapidly. Oops! Haha! :) My goal is to not pass the 150lb mark. I was only 152 with Ella....so hopefully we can stay around there! Haha!

I'm pretty nervous about this baby. Two babies. That is a lot. Ella is so high maintenance as it is....I'm wondering why decided to have another one! Until I see a baby...then I get that "aaawwwwww!!! I want a baby!!" feeling...so hopefully that will stick around!

I am excited its a boy, but scared, too. I don't know how to raise a boy!? I am excited to buy him a little suit, though. He is going to be so cute. I even told Tom that he could dress him as a football for Halloween this year if he wanted, since he'll be a couple months old...instead of Ella, who was a couple days old at Halloween AND a girl. :)

Anyway, that's about all for now. Don't ask for pictures. You won't see any. You will only get pictures of my pregnant tummy if there is a reason for a picture anyway....not of my tummy.

Oh, I am also NOT excited to be HUUUUGE pregnant for my sisters wedding! Barbara and me both! Haha! :) We are going to look like two pink Elephants! At least Barbara has dark hair and skin and will just glow in a pink dress....unlike me...the fair skinned red head! Oh well... :) At least the dresses should be comfortable, they are maternity dresses...so that is fabulous! :) We better have cute shoes ;) Haha!

Busy wedding stuff!

Well, spring is in the air and its time for everyone to get married! :) At least it seems that way in our family. My little sister, Kathryn, got engaged and is getting married June 4th in Los Angeles. Tom's brother, Seth, just got married a couple weeks ago, so we are in the "wedding mood" for sure! haha!

We have been crazy busy traveling all over the country, too, for all these said weddings. Two weeks ago we flew to Chicago, then drove to Nauvoo for Seth and Jacquelyns wedding ceremony at the Nauvoo temple. It is only supposed to be about a 4.5 hour drive, but it turned into a six hour drive because those Penrose's were not "Road Trip Trained" by my dad! Haha! I was thinking, "Oh, a 4.5 hour drive, we dont' even need any stops....we'll make good time." Nope, we made TWO stops...one for lunch, one for bathroom. So it took us quite a while to get there. By the time we got there, everything was closed in Nauvoo since it is kind of "off season" and things aren't open all day like they are in the summer. I was pretty disappointed because even though we were in Nauvoo for 48 hours, the only thing we saw, literally, were buildings driving by and the Temple. The temple was pretty spectacular, but I was really looking forward to the brick factory, the blacksmith, the bakery, and the fudge place. Oh well...next time maybe?

So after 48 hours in Nauvoo, an endowment session, a marriage ceremony, and a wedding lunch, we were back on the road to Chicago. We spent two nights in Chicago then flew back to Los Angeles. All in all, we traveled 4,668 in one weekend. We left Wednesday night and got back Sunday night.

After working Monday, Tuesday, and part day Wednesday, we were back on the road to drive up to Utah for the wedding reception. No, they did not have a reception in Illinois, just in Utah a week later. So Wednesday we left and drove to Cedar City where we spent the night in the scariest little motel! Haha! :) It was only $40 so you can't beat that. We would have made pretty good time, except Ella decided to throw in a little surprise at a pit stop in Vegas. I went to change her diaper and there was massive destruction all in her clothes. Oh my goodness. I was only equipped with a single diaper, so I yelled out of the bathroom for Tom to come in. He hesitatingly entered the womens bathroom to which I yelled at him to run to the car get a change of clothes, a change of socks, wet wipes, and a towel. I then proceeded to strip Ella and give her a bath in the gas station sink. At least there was warm water! I had Ella soaking in one sink, and her poopie clothes soaking in another. All in all, it took about 45 minutes for me to rinse, soap off, and repeat, and dry off my child and her clothes. It was pretty frightening. Wow. My child owes me big time.

So by the time we got to Cedar City, it was around 1:00a.m. and we threw Ella, her clothes, and the car seat cover into the shower where Tom proceeded to scrub them all with bar soap till the smell was gone :) Haha! Good times....we then fell sleep and were on the road again in the morning. We drove up to Provo where we helped with wedding planning for the reception. Friday was the reception, which went off without a hitch! It was very fun! The music was great, the food was fabulous, and the company was pleasant.

The hardest thing about this little trip, though, was that Ella got REALLY sick with a cold that she caught in Nauvoo from another little girl that was NOT supposed to be around Ella :( Dana was supposed to babysit just Ella while we were in the endowment session and wedding ceremony, but at the last minute some of Seth's friends dropped off their SICK child for Dana to babysit, too! I was NOT pleased. So Ella caught that cold and had it full blown the next weekend at the reception. She was cranky, whiny, and tired all weekend. She wouldn't sleep, and she wouldn't eat...and she threw up at the reception from too much dancing. She ended the party in nothing but a diaper...but what can you do?!

After that sort of chaotic and tiring weekend, we were back on the road home to California. THANK GOODNESS! I am so traveled out! That little weekend trip was around 1400 miles, not including superfluous driving to and from places within Utah. Ella was pretty good on the drive home, except we got stuck in traffic and snow, which added another two hours onto our drive. Boo.

So over 7000 miles later, over $1000 in traveling expenses alone, and all of this in only two weekends, we are glad the trips are over for a while! Needless to say, we were THRILLED when we pulled into the driveway! Since we have been home, Ella has been a happy little camper, sleeping through the night AND eating all her food! Who can ask for more?! :)

So that has been our past couple weeks! Yeesh!

Another blog...

I have another blog going of my tales in the bridal business. Here is the address:

http://brattybrides.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

It's a Boy!

Yep! Baby number 2 is on the way, and Ella is going to be a big sister to a little brother! Tom and I are VERY excited! When the nurse first did the ultrasound, she said it was a little girl...but then as she was looking around she changed her mind and said, "Nope! Definitely a boy!" Maybe he's just a little shy ;) Tom is SUPER excited to have a little man around the house. Now he'll have someone to watch football with! :) The babys name will be Thomas Rex ("Rex" after my dad) and his nickname can be T-Rex! Tom says thats what we'll put on all his jerseys. ;)

So far all my Dr.'s appointments have been going well (all two of them! haha!) The ultrasound looked good and all my blood levels are normal, so that's nice. I had kind of weird impressions of my Dr. the first time I met him, but yesterdays appointment went much better and I really like him. So that's a relief :) As for the pregnancy in general, it has been going pretty well. I have been SUPER tired and there are days of just general discomfort and nausea, but overall...not too bad!

Everything else is going pretty well. Ella is NOT doing very well potty training and it is kind of frustrating. Hopefully she'll pick up on it soon...everyone is sick of changing dirty panties. Ew...much worse than dirty diapers.

That's about all that is new for us, though. We were in Utah this last weekend for Baby Kyle's first birthday. It was super fun! You can see pictures on Barbara's blog. Ella did pretty good traveling - it is about an eleven hour car ride, so we watched LOTS of movies and tried to get her to sleep through a lot of it! We were glad to be home, though...for sure.

Baby Poll!

Okay everyone - what do you think I am having? The winner (or closest) gets a prize! I'm not sure what the prize will be...but I'll think of something :) I have another five months, so no rush...

You have to answer the following questions:

Boy or girl?

Due date? (I am due July 13th, but I was 12 days overdue with Ella and had to be induced!)

Weight? (Ella was 7.6)

Time born? (Ella was born at 5:35p.m.)

So yeah, put a comment and let me know what everyone thinks! I find out if its a boy or a girl on Monday, so even if you are wrong for that but right on everything else, you may still win! :)

Videos :)

Yes, I am on an updating spree!

Picture Update 2!

Again, another set of long overdue photos!

St. Maarten Zoo

Ella loved getting the peanuts and feeding them to all the animals. There were these little monkeys, though, that she didn't like. When she tried to feed one of them a little peanut, it accidently grabbed her finger instead of the peanut and she FREAKED. It was kind of funny :)

It was SO hot at the zoo! Thankfully the fabulous Spouses Org provided slushie juice boxes and treats for all the kids!

Piano Students on St. Maarten

Performing at the "Christmas/Farewell to Laura the Teacher" Concert :) Seriously.

Trying to potty train...its still going on...its a slow process....

Pretty princess day! Ella LOVES her tutu!

Food prep for Book Club! We discussed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It is a fabulous book about a book club!

Memories of St. Maarten

This is for all you med students out there....a beauty salon on Front Street...love it. I don't think I'm getting my hair cut there, though...heheh :)

Just a little reminder of Maho... hahaha!

And a reminder of Cheri's Restaurant

Ella's Birthday Party!

Layla's, St. Maarten

Ella's pretty princess cupcakes!

Ella was having a blast opening presents and licking the frosting off her cupcakes!

Happy Two Year Birthday, Ella!

Dancing with Papa in her new sparkley shoes! This picture doesn't do them justice. They are COVERED in white sparkles! Ella loves them!!

New costume jewelry for her birthday!! :)

Heading to the Butterfly Farm!

It was kind of squishy in our full car! :)

Ella loved the butterflies and kept trying to chase them!

Lounging at Sarafinas...I don't know where she learned to lay like that,

but it is pretty freaking cute :)

More Memories of St. Maarten

A makeshift chapel they made across the street from my piano ladys house. It is just in a vacant lot surrounded by broken down cars :) It makes me smile...

Ella watching the singers at Cheri's

She was quite enthralled.

Ella and Daddy in Maho

Mommy and Ella in Maho

Yummy desserts at the Creperia in Simpson Bay

Mommy and Ella in the Jolly Jump outside of Burger King...before it started pouring!

Sugar Apples. Definitely NOT my favorite fruit...

Baby Bananas! YUM!!

Starfruit! Yum! They taste like apricots!

Picture update!

Okay, here are some posts with pictures of all the things I have been telling about! :) Haha!

CHRISTMAS: Chicago and Salt Lake City

All of us at the Jelly Belly Factory in Wisconsin! It was fun :) We got to ride the Jelly Belly Express!
Giant floating Jelly Beans!!

Daddy and Ella waiting in line! Woo!! Jelly beans!

The Jelly Bean store. It was CRAZY insane! So much jelly bean goodness! :)

Ellas new "mean face" Just for fun :)

Mommy, Daddy, and Ella on the Jelly Bean Express!

Ella in the COLD COLD weather in Chicago!

This was supposed to be a super cute picture of Ella with Santa Claus....but needless to say she had a complete MELTDOWN when we got up to Santa....so we took her on the merry-go-round instead...we are such suckers...

Flying from Utah to Chicago!

Uncle Seth and Ella riding the little train in the Mall in South Jordan. Ella LOVED it! She would say "Choo choo!!!"

NAMM: National Association of Musician Merchants
Anaheim, California

I saw Weird Al. I waited in line for a LONG time to meet him, but they cut off the line 10 people in front of me! Grr....So here is a picture anyway...

Same story with John Petrucci *disappointed sigh* Lead guitarist of Dream Theater

I did get to meet Jordan Rudess, though, which I was SUPER stoked about!! :) He was a really nice guy! I also saw him give a demo on these new synthesizer products that was AWESOME. Two thumbs up for Jordan Rudess (keyboardist of Dream Theater)

I met David La Rue and Steve Morse (recording artists for a lot of bigwigs!)

Display dedicated to a guitarline based around the old Bat Mobile

Peter Frampton!! Such a nice guy! He had fabulous teeth, bytheway!

Alice in Chains. They were super nice. When I asked them if I could get a picture, they said, "Of course! It always looks good for us to get pictures with hot chicks!" Ha! They said I was hot!!! Talk about a good self esteem booster :) Hehe...especially being three months pregnant! Woo! I've still got it! :) haha!