The Fryes!

New York!

2012-02-07T12:23:00.001-08:00

My brother lives about 3 hours from NYC, so while we were in WV, we decided to take a day trip to the city.
Of course the only day it decided to rain while we were there was the day we decided to do this. Oh well! We still had a great time. All 15 of us! :) None of us had ever been in the city before so it was a wonderful time for everyone. Luckily, we manage to keep everyone together too. I thought for sure we'd lose a kid before the day was over. Ha. Since it was just a quick day trip, we weren't able to get out and see everything we wanted, but we did cover some good ground in six hours.

update

2012-01-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

sooooo far behind blogging. Here's a semi-quick update.

September

We took a quick trip to WV in the middle of September. I was very happy to see the progress my mom had made. It was so great to see her walking again. One of my very good friends from back home just started photography, so she took a few family pictures for us while we were there. I think she did a great job for never having worked with a big group like ours before. I loved just being home with all the family. Here are a few pics from the trip..

mom, grandma, Aubree, me

Rob & I with Brooklyn

my family!

Cousins!
Aubree (4 months) Cohen (5 months) Carolina (3 months)

October

Some shots of Aubree's first trip to the pumpkin patch and her very first Halloween.

November

I had my first flight alone with Aubree in November. We flew back to WV for a week visit. I was nervous flying without Rob, but Aubree did a great job and we had a fun, relaxing trip. We stayed in Napa for Thanksgiving and had dinner with his family. It was nice having everyone together. Oh and I made my first apple pie. Actually, my first pie ever. Ha!

Aubree with her cousins in WV

my sweet baby girl

she loves her bath

Happy 1st Thanksgiving!

Daddy loves to put me in my night cap :)

December

We took Aubree to the Jelly Belly Factory to see Santa. She wasn't afraid of him at all. It was pretty cute. We celebrated Christmas with each other and Aubree on the 17th and then had Christmas with his family on the 18th before flying to WV on the 20th for a week and a half. Christmas was so much fun. I loved spending all the time that we did with Rob's family and mine. It was so fun watching Aubree try and open her presents as well. She was really good at tearing the bows off the packages and she didn't do too bad at ripping the paper off, but she got tired of it after about two gifts. We had a great time in WV, but I'll post more about that later.

@ the ward Christmas party

with Santa

Aubree and Grandma Ginnie

Aubree with her cousins again

opening one of her presents

Christmas morning before church

So that's part of what we've been up to the last few months. I do want to be better about keeping up with my blog, but who am I kidding? I'm sure that won't happen :)

aubrees book

2011-10-30T15:13:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Photo books are the perfect gift for any occasion.

so messy

2011-09-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much how Aubree looks after every cereal feeding. That is why a bath is a must when we are all finished. By the way it looks you would think I let her feed herself, but I promise I don't :) And I also promise that some of it does make it into her mouth (maybe.) Ha!

Oh how she makes me smile.

Labor day

2011-09-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

After waking up Monday morning, we decided to go to the zoo. We wanted to try one we have never been to before so we headed to San Jose. 

My thoughts: 1) very cute park 2) not much of a zoo 3) waste of money (for now)

It was a cute place, but a waste of money for us. It's not really what I would call a zoo. I think they had about 5 animals. Okay, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but honestly no more than twenty. The park part of it was nice though, but good for parents with children at least two years of age. So..not so good for Aubree. Ha! It was pretty much a flop for us, but at least we now know. We will probably go back one day, but at least not for a couple of years. I did take a few cute pics of the babe though since it was her first trip to the zoo (sort of.) 

a week of firsts

2011-09-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

Aubree has let out a few good giggles for a little while now, but I finally got a really good one recorded on Tuesday. I had to do it sideways, because if she sees the phone she quits doing what I want. Seriously. It drives me crazy. ha. *Don't judge me on the sounds you hear coming from me. Moms will do anything to get a cute giggle :)

She had her first taste of rice cereal on Wednesday. It was a mess, but she seemed to enjoy it. Did she have to have a bath right after? Oh yes! *Oh and I did take a picture, but it's not on this computer so therefore it's not going on the blog. It's more effort than I'm willing to put forth just to put on this blog post. Yes..you can call me lazy. I'm okay with it :)

We went to visit Carla on Thursday and her adorable girls got more giggles out of my baby girl. It was pretty cute, so I took a quick recording again.

Aubree does not like tummy time. Like totally hates tummy time. It makes me laugh when I try to give her a little. BUT she loves to be on her back on her play mat. She will stay on it happy as can be for hours. The past couple of weeks she began rocking back and forth and came very close a couple times at rolling over. Thursday night she managed to accomplish it. I was in the kitchen cleaning and when I walked back into the living room, she was on her tummy. I was so upset that I had missed her first roll over, but I turned her back over and she did it for me again. I was so excited (as you can tell in the video) so please, just ignore that part of it :)

Aubree slept in a rocker next to our bed until about a month ago when we switched her to her crib. It was not an easy switch (for me) but I kept at it every day. Friday night she slept from 11-9 without any waking up. Wow! I was proud, but I'm not sure if I slept any better because I continued to get up throughout the night to check on her.

This is not the picture of her sleeping through the night, but it is a picture of her the day after she learned to roll over. She now chooses to sleep on her side. I guess she thinks she's a big girl now since she rolled over from back to belly and it's okay that she sleeps like this :) HMMM...now if I could get her to roll back over from belly to back because she finds her way to her tummy now and starts crying. Oh she cracks me up. I love this little girl of mine so much. I'm having a love/hate relationship though with the whole growing up thing.

3 months!

2011-08-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

3 days old

8 days old

10 days old

18 days old

2 months

It's hard to believe my baby girl will be 3 months old in a few days. Time truly does goes so fast and they grow up so quickly. I have enjoyed every moment of it though. She was supposed to have her two month check up on July 5th, but we had to move it to July 28th since we had to change our flight to West Virginia. She weighed 12lb. 4oz. and was 23 1/2 inches long. She had to get her shots as well and she absolutely HATED those. She screamed like I have never heard before. It instantly brought tears to my eyes :)

She's growing too fast for me already. I love watching her develop every day though and get a little bit smarter and a little bit stronger. I love being her mommy. She loves her bath and her hands seem to be her most favorite thing right now. She loves chewing on them. She's a very good sleeper (she most definitely got that from her daddy) although lately she's been fighting it more in the evenings. She's a pretty calm baby, but likes to know what's going on in the world when she's awake. She's still very good at snuggling with mommy and I don't want that to ever end. Mommy and daddy love you sweet girl. Happy 3 months to you!

the 4th

2011-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly how we had planned to spend the 4th, but whatever works.

I bought Aubree two cute 4th of July shirts since this was her first big holiday. We had planned on going to Silverado to watch the fireworks on Sunday the 3rd, but instead we were on a plane to West Virginia. We did see a few fireworks from the plane before landing in D.C.


hanging out in Boston during our layover

On the 4th, we had planned on watching more fireworks in Yountville, but we spent the day in the hospital with Grammy. She was very happy for the company and we were glad we could be together with the family.


Happy 4th!

She was able to spend it with her two new cousins; Carolina & Cohen


We love our Grammy


Our first 4th!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. How did you celebrate?

Why?

2011-07-03T01:48:00.000-07:00

Why do bad things happen to such good people? Why do things happen the way they do? And why does all the bad stuff seem to happen all at once? I am most definitely asking myself these questions this week.

My oldest sister has been going through a rough time in her marriage and recently found out that divorce is what he wanted. On Monday though she found out some more hard news about all that. I couldn't imagine dealing with what she is dealing with right now plus continue to raise two kids and run a business. As much as the divorce is necessary, it would still be so hard to say good-bye after 14 years of marriage and like 3 dating. I just sit and ache for her, but mostly ache for my niece and nephew. I love them beyond words and never want to see them hurting. It's hard hearing all that she's going through and being so far away. I just want to wrap my arms around her and those kids and never let go.

Thursday morning I talked to my mom quite a bit. She was shopping for Aubree so her house would be stocked when we got there. She kept talking over and over again about how excited she was for us to be there in a week. I love my mom and talk to her every single day. Thursday evening I get a phone call that she'd been in an accident. My first thought was a car accident on her way back home. Instead, she had fallen 7 feet off a concrete porch when the railing she was leaning against separated from the porch. Seriously? What a crazy accident. She broke her wrist in two places, dislocated her elbow, fractured her pelvic bone in 3 different places (2 on the left and one on the right) and fractured her sacrum. It's so hard seeing my mom in the shape she's in. She's having surgery on everything in the morning. I pray it all goes well and am so thankful I will be home all of July to help her.

Saturday morning I'm beginning to feel a little better about my mom and then my sister calls with more bad news. My aunt and uncle were involved in a boating accident and it wasn't looking good for my aunt. That was the only information she had for me until about an hour later when she called back to let me know she didn't make it. My uncle was driving the boat and slowed down to let others go around when the boat behind him didn't see him and ran over top of their boat. Are you serious? Again, an insane accident.

I bawled until I felt like I had no more tears. Then my best friend calls to check on me and I bawl some more. Then my sister calls and I bawl some more. Then I walk into Aubree's room and see the quilt my aunt made for her and bawl some more. When I'm beginning to feel a little better, my uncle calls. (I really wasn't ready for that conversation.) His last words to me before he got off the phone were, "She wanted to hug on your baby girl so badly." I do wish she could've met her ): He's excited to see us. We fly out in the morning..

So why? Why do these things happen? I know there is a reason for all of this and some day I will have the answer, but right now I can't help but ask why.

I've been feeling like something bad was going to happen soon. Things were just going way too good in our family and you can't always have everything perfect right? I just never imagined it would be any of this.

Right now I'm really trying hard to focus on the many blessings I have.
Thankful for a WONDERFUL husband who has taken such good care of me this week. He immediately got on the phone to take care of Aubree's 2 month check up that was supposed to take place Tuesday. He also immediately changed our flights to the next available one we could get. He knew how much I wanted to be with my family without me even having to say so. He really is truly wonderful and I'm so lucky to have him.
Thankful for my sweet baby girl. She helps me get through these rough patches and I can't imagine life without her now. I can't get enough of holding and kissing her. She has blessed my life in so many ways already.
Thankful my mom is still here even if she is hurting right now. It could have definitely been worse.
Thankful for the wonderful family that I have and for airplanes so I can get to the east coast to see them.
Thankful for the job Rob has and for his dad allowing him to be so flexible that he can fly and be with me through all of this.
Thankful for Katie for being so sweet and okay with the fact that I'll be gone all of July and can't help watch her cute boy, Dean. And thankful for Amanda who will be taking over.
Thankful for the gospel. Rob and I went to the temple on Friday. It felt really good. I was very grateful for that trip and for Grandma Frye for watching Aubree.
Most definitely thankful for eternal families. My aunt was a wonderful person and I'm glad she and my uncle were sealed together so they can be together again one day.

It's been a rough week. I'm beyond over it.

Carolina

2011-06-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

My brother and his wife had their first baby on June 10. She was born at 10:08 A.M. She weighed 7lb. 4 oz. and was 19.5 inches long.

Welcome to the world Carolina Marie Kimble

You are absolutely beautiful and we can't get over all that hair you have :)

Aunt Trishy can't wait to hold you and she's very excited for you and Aubree to meet.

We love you baby girl!

Labor story

2011-06-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

I imagine every girl dreams..wait, "dreams" doesn't sound right. Dreams is the word we use when imagining our wedding day, so instead I will use the word thinks.

I imagine every girl "thinks" about how their labor is going to go before it actually happens. For me, here are a few things I thought about:

1) How was I supposed to know when "true labor" was actually happening? When I would ask this question, everyone responded with; "oh, you will just know." Gee..thanks.
2) How was I supposed to know what a "real contraction" felt like? Once again, the answer I got was; "oh, you will know. It will just stop you in your tracks and you can't do anything else." Hmmm...
3) I kept hoping my water would just break and then I knew I would have to go to the hospital without sitting around questioning if I should or should not.
4) I figured once I made it to the hospital, I would have plenty of time to call and let people know we would have a baby soon, take pictures, watch my contractions go across the monitor thing, etc.. :)
5) I kept thinking whether or not I would be able to handle the pain of having a child or if I would definitely need all the "drugs" to get through. I always told everyone that I was going to try and tolerate the pain as much as I could before getting an epidural just to see how much pain I could handle.
6) I imagined every person I hoped to be in the room would be, I would have time to put on my cute laborlooks gown and get cute pictures in it, they would call the doctor to my room when it was time to push, take pictures of this as well, get a picture of Rob cutting the cord, and then hold my sweet baby in my arms.

These are some of the things I thought about before that day actually came. Let's just say I don't think one single thing happened the way I had "thought" it would.

My labor story. Yes..this is the long version.

Thursday evening mom, Rob, and I decided to drive into the city and go to Pier 39. Mom was searching for t-shirts to take back for all her employees at Fox's. Earlier that day mom and I hiked a pretty good hill in 90 degree something temps and on the way into the city I started having a few contractions. I really didn't think anything of it because I have had contractions before and they just ended up going away so I assumed this would not be any different. I definitely didn't get my hopes up at all. We ended up getting back home around 9 that night and I was still having contractions but they weren't hurting me AT ALL. I was tired and so I went to be around 11. I woke back up around 12:30. It was only an hour and a half of sleep, but thank goodness it was a good hour and a half because I didn't fall back asleep the rest of the night. My contractions had not gone away yet so I stayed up all night timing them, playing games on the iphone, reading about labor...whatever I could do to keep myself occupied while I timed my contractions and hoped it was the real deal. My contractions were about 10 minutes apart ALL NIGHT LONG. They didn't hurt at all but they were consistent.

Around 5:30, they got a little bit closer. They were about 5-7 minutes apart by this time. I woke Rob up and told him how far apart they were and that I was going to shower just to see if this might stop them or slow them down. Not that I was trying to stop my contractions, I just didn't want to go to the hospital if this wasn't real labor so I wanted to make sure. By this time, I could feel when a contraction was about to happen. My lower back would start hurting first and then the pain would move around to the front and I would feel a slight cramp. I decided to call the hospital and get their advice. Here's how that conversation went: This is my first pregnancy, I've had consistent contractions all through the night, they are now about 5 minutes apart, I can feel them coming on, I've had a little spotting, and I'm just wondering if you think I should head to hospital.
Can you talk through the contractions? Yes! How bad is the pain? Well, it def. hurts but I can handle it.
My advice to you is to wait until they are about 3-4 minutes apart and you can't take the pain any longer before heading to the hospital, because if you are able to walk and talk through a contraction then you aren't in "true labor." Here are a couple reasons you should come in: 1) you can't take the pain any more 2) the contractions are 3-4 minutes apart 3) your water breaks or you begin bleeding heavily. Call back if you decide to head this way.

I figured she knew better than I did. I mean this was my first rodeo, so I hung up the phone and decided to wait a little longer to see if they got any worse. (I really didn't want to be that girl that went to the hospital every time I felt a contraction and they just send you back home.) About 30 minutes pass and the pain does get a little worse. By now I'm having Rob time my contractions and they are about 3 minutes apart and lasting around a minute. He decides it's time to head to the hospital. I go wake my mom up and tell her what's going on. She and Rob both shower, we load up the bags, make a couple phone calls, and head to the hospital. It's around 8:20 a.m. when we leave the house. Rob calls his parents, my doctor (he's a family friend,) the hospital, and we both send out mass texts to let them know we are on our way.

The 20 minute drive there was pretty rough. The pain was pretty bad. I definitely could not talk through the contractions at this point. Rob pulls up to the hospital doors and mom and I get out while he parks the car. I didn't want to head up to labor and delivery without him and while we are waiting downstairs, my water breaks. Lovely! Rob comes around the corner like 30 seconds later and we get on the elevator to go check in. They begin asking questions like: what's your address? and all I could think was that I did not care one bit what my address was, just get me to a room. Ha!

I finally make it into the triage room where they want to check and prep me for delivery. They tell me to keep breathing and put my gown on. I don't even have time to get my clothes off before screaming: "Mom! I have to push." Let me tell you...the words "I have to push" sent those nurses into a frenzy. They were pretty relaxed and calm and probably thought I was just being a sissy about the pain, but when those words came out of my mouth, they went into panic mode. I was able to get the bottom half of my clothes off before they put me on a bed to check and see how far I was dilated. She told me to relax and keep breathing and that she was just going to see if I was dilated far enough to take me to delivery. The next thing I hear is, "She's a ten and crowning. We have to go." As they are wheeling me down the hallway I ask, "So I guess this means I don't get an epidural?" She lets me know that I def. would not be getting an epidural, in fact, I did not even have time to get an IV. All I needed to worry about right now was pushing. Ha!

We make it to labor and delivery. They barely get a gown on me and up on a bed. Nothing is ready to go in the room and the midwife (that was luckily around at the time) tells me to keep pushing and less than 10 pushes later I'm holding my baby girl. Aubree Paige Frye was born Friday, May 6 @ 9:03 a.m. She was 7 lb. 12 oz. and 20 inches long. Everything was such a blur and happened so fast. We checked in the hospital at 8:43 and 20 minutes later we were parents.

Like I said..NOTHING happened the way I imagined it to. My water did not break at home. I had contractions but I guess not enough to hurt me so that I would go to the hospital. My doctor did not even make it to the hospital in time to deliver my baby girl. Rob did not get to cut the cord. I did not get to wear my cute gown and get pictures in it the way I wanted to. I guess I did learn one thing..I don't need any drugs to have a kid. Ha.

So..that's it. That's how it all happened. All the doctors were amazed at how fast it happened. I dont know any differently.. I assume they deal with labors like that all the time, but apparently not? All I know is that it was quick and insane, but I am so thankful everything went okay and we now have a healthy baby girl. She was VERY bruised and swollen and her eyes were really bloodshot from coming so quickly. The cord was also wrapped VERY tightly around her neck so thank goodness we at least made it to the hospital.

During the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy I remember telling Rob a few times how I felt so much pressure as if she was just going to fall out any minute. He of course looked at me like I was crazy and reminded me that it just doesn't happen that way. Well..apparently it does! :)

Even though it was a day later than planned, I did manage to get a picture in my laborlooks gown with my sweet baby girl.

mom visits

2011-05-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

My mom flew in on the 1st of May. I kept hoping baby girl wouldn't arrive before she made it here. Once my mom got here, I was ready for her to make her appearance at any time.

Sunday-mom flies in late. We pick her up around 9:30 and get back around 11. Straight to bed..this little lady is tired.

Monday-we hung out, went to lunch, and of course went on a nice long walk (anything to try and get the baby out. ha) That evening we went to Scandia for a ward activity. It was fun. My mom won the miniature golf game and it was probably only her second time ever playing :)

Tuesday-Happy Birthday to my mom. I love spending her birthday with her. Mom and I took a big hike up Westwood Hills. It was pretty intense, but we made it :) We took her and Rob's dad out to eat that evening @ Cheesecake factory since his birthday is Friday. We had a good time.

Wednesday-lots of hanging out. We went to Yo'bell for yogurt and went on another walk. Made dinner that evening and went for another walk after Rob got home.

Thursday- Guess what? Mom and I went for another walk today. ha! It was another intense hike up a hill in like 90 degree weather. We went into the city that evening to go to Pier 39. My mom wanted to buy t-shirts for all her employees. I had some contractions start while we were there. I didn't worry about it, but they did continue through the night.

Friday..had my baby. That story will be in another post.

Happy Birthday! Absolutely loved having you here with me.

viewer discretion is advised!

2011-04-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

I tried my best to get a weekly shot of my belly during the pregnancy. I didn't start until I was 12 weeks along, but I think I only missed like 3 weeks from that point on. I only shared these pictures with my family and two close friends back home so I'm surprised I'm actually putting them on my blog. Ha! Oh well...good memories AND i did warn you before you looked :)

I am now in my 39th week of pregnancy. I will hit 40 weeks on Wednesday. Although I'm ready for her to make her debut, I am hoping she waits until Monday. When Monday hits, I will allow her to come any time she wants. By then my mom will be here and Dr. Wagner will be back in town. I'd really like to have them both present when she decides to come into the world :)

We own a home!

2011-04-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

After about 6 months of REALLY searching and putting in offers and all the "fun" stuff that goes into trying to buy a home, we did it! We officially own a home now. It's a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home on Beckworth Drive. We've been in the place for about a month now and we really like it. I'll let you know if I still feel the same way after we make the first payment :)

It's been a lot of work trying to get everything organized how we want it, but it's been a lot of fun making the decisions together.

Here are pictures of the house before we moved everything in...

We almost have it put together the way we want it and we plan on having people over soon, but life is just a little crazy right now with a new house, work, church, and a baby on the way. We promise it will happen soon though.

Cohen

2011-04-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

My cousin and best friend had her baby boy yesterday.
He weighed 8lb. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long.
Welcome Cohen Edward Hiett!

You already have my heart and I can't wait until I can hold you.

one last trip

2011-03-23T16:49:00.000-07:00

In February I took one final trip home before the baby arrives. I was there for ten days and it was great. They threw me a baby shower, I attended two other baby showers, helped my brother move into his new house in Pennsylvania, spoiled my niece for an entire week, got to watch my nephew's basketball game, was able to spend time with friends I hadn't seen in awhile, celebrated my brother and sisters birthday, ate a lot of Fox's, and spent a lot of time with the family.

I arrived Friday morning and they threw me a shower on Saturday evening. There were about 40-50 people there and it was so much fun. Rob and I were truly blessed with many gifts, cash, and giftcards. I'm still not sure how I managed to get it all back to California.

with my beautiful sisters and niece

the preggos @ the shower

fun friend picture

with my nephew and niece

she loves baby girl Frye

with my wonderful mom

part of the gifts we got. It was so much fun :)

I also got to celebrate my brother and sisters birthday. We just had cake and ice cream with the family. Darren was born February 12 and Natalie came seven years later on the exact same day. I think they enjoy sharing a birthday now, but I don't think Darren was too happy when it was time to celebrate his 7th birthday and mom and dad were at the hospital having a baby sister :)

Darren, Natalie, and Brooklyn

We drove 3.5 hours to Pennsylvania to help my brother and his wife move into their now home and then drove 4.5 hours a totally different direction to Buckhannon all in one day just so I could watch my nephew play a game during his basketball season. I think I win the super aunt award for that one :)

with Ryan after his game

My best friend/cousin is due 4 weeks before me and they had a shower for her while I was home too. I'm so glad I was able to be there for it. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to meet baby boy Hiett.

she's such a cute mommy to be

with the bestest

baby girl Frye and baby boy Hiett are already best friends :)

anyone else?

2011-01-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

Anyone else have those days when you just need a good cry? I feel like I've been having them more and more lately. Rob probably thinks I'm going crazy, but I'm just going to blame it on the pregnancy :) Normally I'm a very happy, stress free kind of person, but lately I've been having those days where I just cry for no reason at all really. Sometimes it's just a few tears here and there, but other days it's full on alligator tears most of the day for no reason. It just happens. Let me give you an example of some things that have brought me to tears lately.

*House shopping. You sit back and think; really, how hard can it be? Well trust me. I feel like I know what every house in Napa looks like and what the asking price is. I am totally over it.

*The cost of a house. Yes, I know house prices in Napa are at a wonderful price right now and it's a great time to buy, but seriously? It makes me sick to think how much we may end up paying in order to own a home here, especially when I know how beautiful of a home we could get back east for that price. I'm just saying...

*Say Yes to the Dress. I just can't seem to get enough of those wedding dresses. I love seeing all the different dresses those brides try on and how much they end up paying for them. Most of the time I think they're just crazy, but the other day..one brought me to tears.

*Extreme Home Makeover. Every story on this show is usually pretty sad, but lately I think I've cried every time I watch it.

*Emily on The Bachelor. Her story brings me to tears every time I hear it. Plus she's a West Virginia girl, so she already has my heart :)

*My family. I miss them so much every single day. People tell me that it gets easier, but for me it has not. Lately, it's only been harder. I had quite the melt down the other day, but I think it was because my entire family was together for my dad's birthday and I hate being the only one not there.

*My mom. She's having a hard time lately with me being gone. I mean..she hasn't liked it since day one, but I think it's becoming more real to her lately since we've been house shopping so much. She tells me she doesn't like it because it just feels too permanent for her and she can't stand the thought of this baby growing up so far away from her. I think she would seriously buy us the house herself if it was on the east coast. She's really having a hard time...

*Traci. She's my best friend and is having a little boy due 4 weeks before me. I want to help her get the baby room ready and go baby shopping with her. I will be home for her baby shower which I am thankful for, but it brings me to tears every time knowing that I won't be at the hospital when that baby is born and that he will probably be almost 4 months old before I get to hold him. I don't even like to think about it...

*Kayla. She's another good friend from back home. I got a sweet little gift from her the other day and I cried as soon as I brought the package in from outside. I miss having all my WV friends close by.

The list could go on and on...Ha! I hope I'm not the only person out there that has hard days and just needs a good cry. Don't worry, I have really good days as well and am very thankful for A LOT of things in my life. I will soon post a list of all those good things too. Until then..the tears will probably continue to flow. I'll just go ahead and cry and then laugh about it later. Hopefully I won't make Rob think I've gone too nuts and he's wondering what kind of crazy person he married :)

Happy Birthday!

2011-01-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to this man: my dad! He turned 55 (WOW!) on Sunday. He's a fantastic dad and I miss him every day. Here are a few things I love about him.

*Has a BIG heart

*Would always "pimple" my back when I was a little kid to get me to fall asleep. I loved it.

*Let my little sister and I put his hair in lots of ponytail holders when we were little because it was so much fun for us.

*His hands are ALWAYS warm no matter how cold it is and when I was little and would ask him why, he replied with: "because I have a warm heart." Ha!

*Does anything my mom asks him to.

*Goes everywhere my mom goes. He loves to be with her.

*Never says much, but when he does, we all know to listen.

*Baptized all of his children.

*Gives good hugs.

*Has always been a hard worker and great supporter to his family.

*Can build a snowman better than anyone else I know.

*Such a patient man.

*Great hide and go seek player.

*Love that I'll never be too big to sit on his lap.

*Enjoys the simple things in life.

*Knows how to save his money...he is very tight :)

*How his nostrils flare and turn red when he's trying to hold back tears.

*Drives me (2 1/2 hours one way) to and from the airport every single time I fly home.

*Is always waiting with mom inside the airport for me to walk through the doors with a big smile on his face.

I just love how much love my dad has for me and all of his family...even if he never says it :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Christmas. Family. Love it.

2011-01-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Rob and I were able to spend Christmas in WV again this year. I absolutely love everything about Christmas, but being able to spend it with my family makes it that much better. I have so much with them.

Pictures from the Fox's Christmas party and the Ward Christmas dinner.

On Christmas Eve we always load up in dad's truck and drive around to look @ Christmas lights.

We woke up Christmas morning with snow falling to the ground. It was beautiful and a lot of fun having a white Christmas. After we open presents @ the house, we drive 2 hours to my sisters so we can see what Ryan and Brooklyn got and have round 2 with them. We always have Christmas dinner together at my sister's house. I love spending Christmas with my niece and nephew. I think I enjoy playing with all their toys more than they do :)

I just love these two so much. They have definitely stolen their aunt's heart. Ryan got Rob and I matching WV bracelets for Christmas this year. His presents are always so fun. He gets so excited to give them to everyone.

Sunday was spent going to church and then spending the last few hours together before heading back to the airport. Christmas was wonderful and I loved every moment of being home with my family. It's always so hard to leave them.

Think Pink!

2011-01-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

We are having a girl and we are soooooooo excited!!!! She is expected to be here May 4. So far I have absolutely loved being pregnant. I really can't complain about anything. Morning sickness..what's that?? I guess I probably just got very lucky. I kept waiting and waiting for it to come but it just never happened. In the beginning, I was more tired than I normally am but that's really the only thing I could complain about. And really, what's to complain about doing NOTHING for like 12 hours straight and having a really good excuse for it?

Anyway..back to my little girl. I cannot wait to be a mommy to her but I am really excited for Rob to be a daddy. I was always a daddy's girl and I'm sure it will be no different with our little one either. I know Rob will be a wonderful dad. I just keep thinking about how much fun it's going to be to start a family together. I will be 23 weeks this Wednesday. It's hard to believe I am already over half way there. I think one of my most favorite things so far is feeling her move. It's the best feeling ever. Yay for little girls. I am very excited to buy all those cute girly clothes they make. Actually, I already started :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not a mom yet, but I love being an aunt to these two wonderful kids...

Brooklyn wanted to be a cowgirl this year, but only if her big brother would be a cowboy. He was a good sport about it and I think they looked adorable. I love these two so much and they know they have their Aunt Trishy wrapped around their fingers. It really is hard to be so far away from them and it breaks my heart when I see pictures like this because I want to be able to..


trick or treat

carve pumpkins

and go to the pumpkin patch with them.

People tell me there is nothing like being a mom, but I don't know, being an aunt is pretty awesome. I just love these two.

My brother got hitched

2010-11-06T20:34:00.000-07:00


The bride


The groom


The wedding party

My brother got married back in August (yes, I know, this is old. Like I've said before, I'm horrible at keeping up with my blog) which meant another trip to the east coast for Rob and I. Anyway, they had a beautiful day and everything went well. I chose some of the favorite photos to post on here. Enjoy!

It was fun. The trip went fast because we were busy with the wedding but I am very happy for my brother and his new bride, Heidi. My brother and I have always been very close and I'm glad he finally found someone. They will soon be moving to Pennsylvania and are already expecting a little one. It wasn't quite a "honeymoon" baby, but not far off :) I am very excited for them.

Just ask God

2010-09-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

I taught a class of 29 Kindergarten students today. It was a blast! I'm always excited to hear what they have to say because they know it all and are so wise at that age ya know :) One of the girls wanted to have a conversation with me about kids. It went like this..

"Can you show me your kids?"

" I don't have any kids"

"You don't have any kids here or you don't have any kids at all?"

"I don't have any kids at all yet."

"Oh! Well do you want to have kids one day?"

"Yes! I would love to have lots of kids one day."

"Oh ok! Well all you have to do is ask God. Just ask God and he will bring one to you."

Loved it! It made me smile.

Some of you are aware but not all...so I'll share. I got pregnant VERY quickly when Rob and I started trying but I lost it around 8 weeks. It was a tough process to go through but I was thankful to know that I can get pregnant and very fast for that matter so I just kept my head up and said okay we will try again soon.

So remember...just ask God. Little does she know that I already do :)

family reunion!

2010-09-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

My great grandparents had 14 children so every year @ the end of July generations of the Hartman family get together for a two day reunion. There is usually close 300 people each day and we have a lot of fun.

A hay ride kicks off the reunion on Saturday followed by a pig roast. Some sort of band usually always plays as well (mostly for the older generation) and this year there was square dancing. Ha! That was pretty hilarious.

Sunday's festivities begin @ 1 with a huge lunch followed by a few door prizes. This year Rob and I took home the prize for furthest traveled. Who would have guessed? The rest of the day is filled with games like: water balloon toss, egg toss, watermelon seed spitting, 3-legged race, horse shoe pitching, crawl-dad catching, and a few others. Team Harry has claimed victory over the egg toss for four years now. We are pretty stoked about that!

Our reunion is pretty country but it's a lot of fun. I love spending time with family on the beautiful nine acres of land that my mom grew up on and where I spent a lot of my childhood days. The Hartman reunion is one trip home I hope Rob and I will always take every year.

Harry Hartman crew!

I love being an aunt

2010-08-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

I love this girl..


..and this boy.


I miss their adorable faces.

They are growing up so fast and I miss being so far away from them. With Ryan being in school and busy with all his sports, it's hard for him to come to Brandywine when I go home for visits, but it is a MUST that Brooklyn is @ "Grammy's" when I arrive so that she can spend every minute with her Aunt Trishy. I love every second that I get to spend with her and I'm pretty sure she loves spending time with me too. This is how the day went the last time she rode to the airport with us:

It was the day we had to take Rob back to the airport. I woke up that morning and found Brooklyn playing with her toys. She looks up at me and says, "Aunt Shishy (Trishy) you not go on the airplane with Rob. You not go to Calwiforna (California)." I informed her I would not be going on the airplane and in return I got a big hug and smile.

As we headed to the airport she continuously reminded everyone that I would NOT be going on the airplane. By the way..it's a 3 hour drive to the airport so we heard it quite often :)

When we pulled up to let Rob out, I of course got out of the truck to tell him goodbye. When we both went around to the other side of the truck for Rob to say goodbye to Brooklyn, we found her sobbing. No joke! Through her tears she says, "No Shishy. You not go to Calwiforna. You not get on the airplane with Rob. You not go to Calwiforna. You stay at Grammy's."

I promised her I was not going on the airplane, but she wasn't satisfied until I was back in the truck and she could see for herself that I really wasn't leaving.

It was the sweetest yet saddest thing all at the same time. It broke my heart to hear those words come from her mouth and watch her cry. I am just glad I really wasn't getting on the plane and still had another week and a half to be with her. It would have been so hard to leave her at that moment.

I miss her. I miss him.
Thankfully I will be seeing them again in 5 days!

1 year!!

2010-08-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary, we went and explored southern California. We went to Santa Monica, explored Hollywood, went to San Diego, watched Toy Story 3 (and loved it) and went to the Wild Animal Park. It was fun to get away together. Happy 1 year to us!!!

catching up

2010-08-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Traci & I @ the castle

Mom, Traci, & Brooklyn flew out @ the end of April for a 4 day visit. I was so excited to have them out here with me. We toured the Jelly Belly Factory, went to Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pebble Beach, drove up the coast, went to the castle, went into the city, and did a lot of eating out. It was such a blast having them here and having someone to hang out with every day, but I think I cried for like 3 straight days after they left. Ha!


@ the aquarium


in front of the Lone Cypress

Happy Birthday Rob!

2010-05-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

Rob's birthday was Thursday, May 20. Since I was in St. Thomas that day, we started celebrating his birthday the Saturday before. He was able to open a gift every day from Saturday until Wednesday (the day I left.) I wrote a rhyme with every gift I gave him too, but I'll leave that part out of the post because I don't want to torture everyone with my horrible rhyming skills :)

SATURDAY: tickets to the giants game. 

This was my first Giants game and it was a lot of fun. I almost caught a ball (my fingers touched it) but the dad in front of  me got to it first. The weather was perfect and the Giants won. 

Go Giants! 

SUNDAY: Hershey bars, graham crackers, marshmallows.

Rob mentioned that he wanted to go camping, but I didn't really know how to plan that without his help so instead I planned a camp-out in our living room :)

This was our sleeping area for camping. Yes..we did sleep here the entire night :)

Rob making our campfire popcorn. It was cooked perfectly.

MONDAY: gift card to Rutherford. 

Rob's favorite place is Rutherford so I wrapped up a gift card for him and we had dinner there with his family. Afterward, we all came back to our place for cake and ice cream.

@ dinner

TUESDAY: tickets to the movies.

We went to Vallejo and watched this:

It was good. We both really liked it. Russell Crowe was great. It's worth watching.

WEDNESDAY: gifts. 

Nothing very exciting today. Rob just opened a few gifts; a couple shirts, granola bars, and a new pair of Rainbows.

Happy Birthday Rob!

St. Thomas

2010-05-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

My friend decided to have a destination wedding and I was her Matron of Honor, so I was able to spend 4 days on the island of St. Thomas. I had fun spending time with the people I grew up with. I've missed hanging out with them. The plane ride there and back was very long and the weather was extremely hot, but I'll take that super hot sunny weather over this rainy cold weather we've had here in Napa any day. Her wedding was very pretty. It was everything she had dreamed about and I'm glad everything turned out the way she wanted it to. Congratulations Corey & Kayla!

View of St. Thomas

from the hotel

  hanging out before dinner one night

Kayla with her girls

Love this pic!

26

2010-05-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit behind on this post, but hey..I'm not so great at this whole blogging thing. Anyway...I turned 26 on April 13th. I started celebrating my birthday in Cabo sort of by accident, but I liked how it turned out. We had a pinata night (see pictures from previous post) and whoever found the biggest marble inside won a birthday party, and that just happened to be me. What fun!! We had a mariachi band come to the house, everyone brought a gift, we had a nice dinner, and celebrated with cake. It was a lot of fun!

On the 13th, Rob's family took me to dinner and then they came over to our place for presents, cake, and ice cream. I love ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and have had one for my birthday for @ least the past 5 years if not longer. Rob is aware of this so he did try by getting me an ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins, but it just wasn't quite the same. I still appreciated the effort though. Rob took me out to dinner the next evening to Benihanas. It was delicious! They sang to me, gave me ice cream, and took our picture. It was a fun evening out.

Turning 26 was fun. It was hard being away from the family. I think this was my first birthday celebration without them. Those are the moments I miss so much.

The year 25 brought tons of blessings, celebrations, and wonderful memories and I'm very thrilled to see what my 26th year has to offer.

Highlights

2010-05-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Rob and I went to Cabo, Mexico with a few other couples and had such a good time. I would like to post every picture with explanations, but that would seriously take FOREVER, so I'll just summarize with a few highlights. ENJOY!!

Jeepin' it one day to enjoy some beautiful beaches and experience what some of Mexico living is really like.

The crew that went deep sea fishing.

We caught this. A Marlin. Awesome!

And enjoyed seeing other amazing ocean life.

We loved relaxing by the fire pit..

..at this AMAZING house we stayed at.

We had a pinata night

I found the biggest marble..

..which led to having a mariachi band come play for us.
Great times!

We took a boat to the famous arch..

..and hung out on Lovers Beach!

The beaches were so gorgeous!

We loved our trips out on the town for some fine dining.

And it was great to wake up to these wonderful breakfasts made by the awesome chef @ the house.

CABO+FRIENDS+GOOD TIMES=
WONDERFUL TRIP!

Country Roads

2010-04-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

I went for a visit home during the last week in March. My trips home always seem to go by quickly and this one went extremely quick because there was quite a bit going on.

My niece greeted me @ the airport with a BIG hug and kiss and then she was able to spend a few days @ the house with us. While she was there, we dyed Easter eggs together. She is so much fun.

My friend is getting married in St. Thomas in May (another exciting trip to look forward to) and I am the Matron of Honor so I threw her a bridal shower while I was home. It was fun seeing everyone and I'll see them all again in about a month.

With the Bride

All the ladies

The wedding party

Saturday & Sunday I was @ my sister's house. We watched WV play in the NCAA tournament, had a baptism for my nephew, and celebrated my niece's 3rd birthday.

They got a bunny for Easter. Poor bunny..It probably wishes another house would've bought it instead after spending a few hours with Brooklyn.

With my sister cheering for the Mountaineers!

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

She wanted to paint my nails : )

Mommy & Ryan. It's great to be eight!!

I love my trips home and the time I get to spend with my family. I miss every single one of them so much.

Let's Go...

2010-04-03T17:14:00.000-07:00

....MOUNTAINEERS

Most of those that will read this will either: 1) have no clue as to what I am talking about or 2) will not have the same amount of enthusiasm as I have right now. Either way, it's okay, I still feel the need to blog.

I've always loved my home state of WV and now that I've moved away, I think I love it even more. In about 45 minutes, the Mountaineers will be playing in the final four of the NCAA tournament in hopes of moving on to play for the national title and I will be watching every minute of that game. Yes! I do get into the games. Yes! I do scream and yell at the television. Yes! I do get very nervous and can hardly stand to watch at times. Yes! I love college basketball. Rob thinks I'm crazy, but I think deep down he finds it to be cute. Ha! Although I can't be in WV sitting in the living room watching this game with my family, I will be wearing the blue & gold, showing my support, and cheering on the Mountaineers because.. It's a great day to be a Mountaineer wherever you are.

Unexpected gifts are the best

2010-02-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend brought a few surprises and they were all so fun. On Friday my doorbell rang and I found a box at my door. As soon as I saw the hearts drawn on the outside of the box tears came to my eyes. Inside I found a musical card that said "even though we're far apart, there's no distance between our hearts... I miss you so much and I love you even more." Along with that was a fun message from my nephew and a valentine teddy bear from my niece. It made me cry and cry. I miss them both so much.

My next surprise came about 30 minutes later when my doorbell rang again and standing outside were two cute Curren boys with a Valentine treat for me. So fun!

My last fun surprise was on Sunday evening while I was making dinner. My doorbell rang and 3 beautiful young ladies and 1 super cute little lady delivered a singing gram and a single red rose to me from my secret admirer. Ha! It was a great last surprise.
Happy Valentine's Day!

The picture my nephew drew for me on the cover of the card. Love it!

Facials are a must

2010-02-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Being pampered in a warm bed with comfy blankets should be a must for women. Amanda and I were treated to facials on Saturday as part of our Valentine gifts from our wonderful husbands. It felt absolutely amazing. Everything about it was so relaxing. My favorite part was some chocolate mixture she put all over my face. Loved it! As we left and walked out the door Amanda looks at me and says something like this, "Oh there is a world out here after all." Ha! Great job Briant & Rob. I guess we'll keep you around. ( ;

-30..YIKES!

2010-01-29T15:38:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Yellowstone with Rob's family during the first week in January. After flying to Utah, we drove to Idaho to meet Christine and then traveled on to Yellowstone. When we arrived that night the temperature outside was about -20. It seriously took your breath away the minute you stepped outside. We were scheduled to start our snowmobiling session through Yellowstone around 8:00 in the morning, but they called to let us know they had to push it back a couple hours because it was -30 outside. Way too cold for us to be on snowmobiles. Ha! When the time came to go you definitely wanted A LOT of layers on and make sure no skin was exposed to the outside air. I knew this was going to be an exciting time. ( :

It really was an awesome experience. I had such a blast. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was so excited to see what might be waiting around the next turn. I would recommend this to anyone. Don't let the insanely cold temperature stop you.

First Christmas!

2010-01-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Our first Christmas was so much fun. I love Christmas time as it is, but being married made it even more fun. I love everything about Christmas: lights, cards, decorating the tree, wrapping presents, and esp. family time. Rob and I spent Christmas this year in WV with my family. On Christmas Eve we all piled in dad's truck and went looking at all the Christmas lights. Afterward we came home and baked cookies and finished wrapping Christmas gifts. After opening Christmas presents the next morning, we drove 2 hours to my sisters house to open presents with my niece and nephew and have dinner with everyone. Christmas weekend brought all the aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters together at our house. (oh yes and 6 puppies and ESPN) So let's just say that the Kimble home was VERY loud, but it was wonderful having everyone together.

The night Rob and I returned to Napa we opened presents with each other. One of my gifts was tickets to see WICKED!! We go this Saturday and I am very excited.

My nephew with his most favorite Christmas gift Kayce Jo

With my niece Brooklyn. She's one of the hardest reasons to be away from WV.

love my husband

My sister Natalie with her husband Seth

My sister Monica with her husband Chris

Every year my nephew shops at the Santa store at school. He is very particular about what he wants to get for everyone. Watching everyone open their gift from him is one of my most favorite parts about Christmas. It's exciting to see what thought he put into buying for everyone and how excited he gets to watch us open the gifts. These next few pictures show some of the gifts this year. I love it!!

Natalie with her gift

Darren wearing his gift

Opening my gift

Christmas was great and the year 2009 was absolutely wonderful. Now I'm ready to see what 2010 brings!!

Festival of Lights

2009-12-30T15:00:00.000-08:00

Rob flew in on Wednesday before Christmas and since his flight didn't land until 11:30 that night, we decided to spend the day in D.C.

We shopped and also decided to go the D.C. temple to look at the Christmas lights. What should have been a 30 minute drive to the temple ended up taking almost 2 hours because of traffic. It was absolutely insane. There were a few moments when my brother almost turned around, but after arriving and seeing how beautiful the lights were, we all decided it was worth it.

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-30T13:55:00.000-08:00

I flew home on the 17th right before the big storm hit. I got home around 1:30 a.m. on Friday and the snow started coming down around 4 that evening. If I had flown a day later I definitely would have been sleeping at an airport somewhere. By Sunday afternoon the snow finally stopped. It was so exciting to see 2 feet of snow on the ground when it was all over. On Saturday night a few of us got together and decided to go tubing in the road. You would have to be pulled on a tube behind the 4-wheeler, go over the snowbank, and land in a foot of powder. It was a lot of fun.
Oh and I most definitely got the white Christmas I was hoping for.

With my niece on the John Deere

Us girls taking a spin on the 4-wheeler

Me, my niece Brooklyn, and my sister Natalie playing in the snow.

My backyard. The snow was so pretty.

Everyone that went tubing in the road

The bank you went over

Where you landed

My niece. She's such a poser.

10 days!

2009-12-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

10 days and counting until I get to go back to WV. I am so excited!! I will be there for almost 2 weeks and it's going to be great. I'm already looking forward to going shopping with my sisters, making sugar cookies with my mom, and spoiling my niece and nephew a little more. I'm also crossing my fingers for a white Christmas. I don't miss the freezing cold weather, but I do miss how beautiful the snow looks and the excitement of the first snowfall.

My backyard. This is what home looks like right now. It's beautiful!

Surprises Everywhere

2009-11-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Rob made me the cutest card ever and surprised me with a trip home to visit the family. I flew on Halloween day and then surprised my family with the visit. I rang the doorbell on Halloween night and yelled, "Trick-or-Treat." The look on my nephews face was priceless and it took a minute for it to "click" for mom. Traci's face the next morning @ church was definitely the best though. She was so surprised. Along with surprising them, the trip was so much fun. I stayed until Wednesday and had such a good time. It was a great surprise for everyone. I loved spending time with my family and Traci. It felt so good to be with everyone, but I did miss my husband.

Halloween time!

2009-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight was combined young men and young women @ Scandia and you could dress up in a Halloween costume. The Napa 2nd YW leaders decided to dress up as beauty queens. Thanks to Char, I was able to find a dress for the occasion. We played a few arcade games and then two games of laser tag: boys vs. girls. We had a blast!

Disneyland!

2009-10-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

Rob & I decided to take a small honeymoon trip to Disneyland. This was my first time to Disneyland and I was very excited. We had 2 full days to enjoy Disneyland & California Adventure. Everything was decorated for Halloween which was absolutely adorable. I loved it! The weather was perfect, but it was pretty crowded. I enjoyed the rides so much. They were all so fun and so cute. We had such a blast. I can't wait to go back!!

Our first place..

2009-08-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Rob and I found an apartment in Napa to make as our first home and we love it. It's a cute, one bedroom, one & a half bathroom apartment. It was so empty when Rob first moved in, but together we quickly filled it. We have a small garden area in the backyard, so we decided to plant flowers in it. We had fun working on this project together. It looks good right now, but we'll just have to see how long that lasts. Ha!

Napa

2009-06-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

We had an open house in Napa on June 26. My family flew out for this and stayed for a few days. It was fun to have them here. We took them into San Francisco. We toured the city a little bit and went to the zoo. I was sad to see them leave.

Our "Honeymoon"

2009-06-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Rob & I spent our honeymoon traveling across the country. I had to get my car and things out to California, so we decided to drive from WV to CA the week after we got married. We left Sunday evening and arrived in California Thursday morning. It was a long drive, but we truly had a blast doing it. Our favorite part was stopping in Nebraska @ the zoo. That place was huge!!

June 20, 2009

2009-06-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

Our wedding day was such a blast. We were sealed in the D.C. temple and then had a reception outside @ my granddad's on Smith Creek. It was a beautiful day and evening. I couldn't have asked for anything better!