As promised day 5

Day 5: something from a high angle

Today was a super crazy day full of cleaning and organizing. If we're being honest here, I really actually made a ginormous mess in my living room in for the sake of organizing my hallway closet that hasn't been clean and organized for 2 years a really long time!

I had really big plans to find a cool shot for today's photo challenge...not so much.

Alas, my sister saved the day! She was able to get all my picture files from our old computer that died. I had completely forgot that almost all my mission pictures were on there. 

Here's one of my ABSOLUTE favorite places in all of France. Les Calanques in Marseille. I could spend forever there. It's truly breathtaking. Whenever I stood on the cliffs overlooking the mediterranean, smelling the fresh, clean air. I always felt as if everything were right in the world. I like to think of it as my outer sanctum.

 

oops! Day 4 AND later day 5

Well yesterday, started out pretty good. I put on this super cute green eyelet skirt, of course to use for the this blog...30 min. before we were supposed to leave for church I glanced int he mirror and GASP!!! That stupid skirt made look 4 months pregnant! So, after fighting back, I'm chubby tears and vowing to start running again and to stop eating eating cookies...I changed.

I also forgot about day 4!

Here you go day 4:

This little guy and I swam together for almost 30 min. (that's when I realized I was more than a mile away from the shore and a baby man-of-war- decided to wrap itself around my ankle. If someone scream 4 letter expletives underwater does it really count?)

Day 5 to come later!

Day 3: Clouds

Living in the Pacific NW you always hear how it's always so gray and cloudy...I mean entire vampire clans live here without even getting noticed. Until the day you need some of those awesome NW clouds for you 30 day photo challenge!

Bella and I set off outside to get some amazing cloud pictures and well, this is what we got:

We have some lovely cherry tree branch, which annoyingly, said cherry tree is not fruit bearing! What the???

 I'm pretty sure this is Bella being avant garde?

 And of course she did capture a national geographic moment of me being nuzzled to death attacked by a lazy ferocious cat wild beast

For the sake of clouds here's a fave from our trip to Maui:

 This was at the Grand Wailea in Wailea. We went here everyday at sunset. There was a little cliff that you could lounge on and watch the sea turtles swim and the sunset. It was amazing!

30 day photo challenge Day 1 and 2

Here it goes!

Day 1: A self-portrait

Okay so not super flattering! This is me trying to show off the super mushed tour d'eiffel from my birthday cake!

Remember the whole OCD thing???

Here's Day 2: A Picture of what you wore today

 

What!? Don't tell me I'm the only one who runs around their house in spandex pants and giant orange sun hats!

30 day photo challenge!

Okay so I always see these and think it would be fun to do......and that's as far as I get!I'm committed this time!

As you will notice I'm doing day 1 and 2 at the same time because, let's face it, thoughIwouldneveradmitIamslightlyOCD and just can't handle doing the first day on the second day of the month!

 

Yikes!!!

Well, I suck at blogging!

What have we been up to the past 7 months???
Well, I have been teaching at Metropolitan Arts Academy, Joe is going to grad school to get his MBA in Finance, Bella is growing up way too fast and getting even sassier and entertaining and Ava is growing right before our eyes! She's ready to start crawling any day here! I just got back from a week at girls' camp (it was amazing!) and sat down to read some blogs and realized I haven't blogged in 7 months! Here's some photos from the past seven months:

 Ava's blessing

 Our little Christmas package

 bella had surgery. Her Scentsy Buddy was the only way we made it through!

 Our Christmas tradition at Thornton's treeland

 We went to Mesa for Michelle's wedding

 Bella and her cousin Sarah at the Mesa Temple

 Christmas

 Our entourage trying to get through the Phoenix airport

 See I told you getting too big too fast

 I went on a skirt making binge

 Many trips to the zoo

 Bella discovering her inner artist

 once again...too big!

Well, there you have it! The past 7 month in a nutshell! I've recommitted to blog more often, we'll see how it goes!

Miracle Baby

6 months ago I thought I would never get to hold this precious little girl in my arms. On Mother's day I started to hemorrhage and continued bleeding until the end of July. I spent every waking minute wondering if my baby was still alive. I stayed up at night crying and pleading with my Father in Heaven to heal my body so that the bleeding would stop and the chances of a miscarriage would go down.

Our prayers were answered and on Nov. 16th Avalyn Genevieve Wilcox was born at 2:40 am weighing 7lbs 5oz!

I started having contractions late Sunday night and at 1:30am made my way to the hospital. Joe waited for his mom to get there and then came and met me. They were hesitant to admit me because I was 37weeks and 5days. Since I was dialted to a 5 they sent me on a walk to see if my contractions would pick up and if I would dilate to a 6.

Well, I power walked my butt off for an hour and it paid off because sure enough I was a 6! This was about 3:30 am. I thought for sure wed have a baby by mid morning.

OH NO!!!! My contractions started to fizzle around noon...they started me on pitocin and I once again power-walked my butt off! I dilated to a 7 and stayed there forever!!! They finally broke my water...and I was stuck at a 7! The mid-wife checked me and discovered that Ava was sideways and couldn't fit under my pelvic bone. Which explained the excruciating back and nerve pain I was experiencing. This was about 8pm! I finally caved and got an epidural. The pain was so intense I couldn't breathe! (I pulled all the muscles in my lower back!) The OB came in and said I wouldn't deliver her vaginally and we needed to talk C-Section...I said I wanted to talk to the mid-wife. She came back and checked me again and was able to turn Ava.

30 min later I was a 10! I pushed for 45 minutes and Ava was born at 2:45 Tuesday morning!

She ended up having Jaundice and we had to spend 24 hours in the NICU under photolights. We're still trying to get her levels down. She's now at home with a light band that goes around her waist.

She is the sweetest baby. We just adore her. I was so worried throughout my pregnancy about being able to divide myself between two babies. For 2 years Bella has been my entire world. It's amazing how your heart stretches and makes room for more. I couldn't imagin life withought my little miracle.