Lots better....

So I had my millionth dr appt today and things are going great. I've been on "modified bed rest" for a couple of weeks now and I've not had any contractions or "other stuff" going on for the last several days....so we're going to give it about another week and then I may be able to get off some of the restrictions. But little Mia's heart rate is stronger than its been and so are her movements. She is still on the small side, but growing well....so its good!! I felt really good when I left the dr office; her ultrasound looked great, her nonstress test was better than the last few have been. Its just good. Its amazing what prayers will do to help things go better. :)

Anyway, just wanted to share. :)

Silly girl...

This is just a short little video; I love her smile. :) One of her favorite things in the world is peek-a-boo and there have been many times that I hear her in her room just cracking up laughing....I go in to peek at her and she'll be playing peek-a-boo with herself....she'll be sitting in her crib and cover her head with a blanket, take it off and laugh so hard. It is so funny. And if she's sad, often all you have to do is play peek-a-boo and her smile and laugh come right back. So the last couple days, she's been climbing under the material in this little tent and she'll stop with her head IN the fabric, just waiting for you to say "Where's Aspen?" and then she'll pop through. She is so much fun; I just love my little Aspen so much! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! Mother's Day has been a hard one for me for a lot of years as I struggled with the heartache of wanting so badly to be a mommy for nearly 5 years with no luck. And this year, this May 11, 2008, I am a mother to the most wonderful little girl in the world, my Aspen. And I am pregnant with my little Mia. I feel overwhelmed and blessed with the great resposibility and joys of being a mom; I never imagined how much love I could have and willingly give. Its been a great Mother's Day and I can't help but reflect and appreciate all of the wonderful women in my life, throughout my life, who have guided me, loved me and molded me into the person I am today. To all those with a "mother's heart," whether a mother or not, I appreciate you. :)

Of course, the most obvious example in my life is my dear, sweet mom. She has been an example to me my whole life of love and unselfishness. She has always made her children feel loved and like we are the most important people in her life. I know she has had struggles and challenges in her life and it had to have been a hard thing to raise 3 children as a single mom, but none of us have EVER felt like a burden to her. She is an amazing woman and if I can grow to be even a little smidgen of how great of a mom and woman as her, I will feel like I've accomplished something! :)

My sister and my sister-in-laws have taught me so much and I love and appreciate them this mother's day, too. :)

Then my aunts, my grandmas, my friends' moms....all have taught me great things and shown me love througout my life. And for some reason, I have been so blessed with awesome friends my whole life, I feel incredibly honored to have the love and friendships I have had. Many of my friends are mothers now and I know they are great....many of them are not, but are incredible women who I learn from with every encounter.

A good friend of mine passed away last week at the age of 25. As I watched her mother at the funeral services last week, I thought about how hard it must be to see your child leave this life. It made me really want to make sure that all of the people in my life who mean so much to me know that they do...life is short and our Heavenly Father has put special people in our lives for a reason...there is always something we can learn from them.

I want to take this time to thank each and every woman in my life and wish you all a happy mother's day. :)

Ahhh...this is turning into a long post. I will end it now! :)

Animal behaviors...

I think Aspen needs some more human friends. Yesterday I was talking to my mom on the phone while holding Aspen and mom thought she heard one of my dogs barking when in all reality Aspen was "talking." She does this odd "hoo-hoo" noise that sounds an awful lot like a barking dog. But the real kicker was this - today in her bath she was just splashing around and playing like normal. Then with one rubber ducky in each hand, she bends over at the waist and starts licking her bath water....as in lapping up the water like she sees the dogs do EVERY day! Oh my! She definitely needs some human friends so she doesn't end up being like a pup! She did figure out how to get her diaper off yesterday (which she thought was hilarious and she was VERY proud of herself!) and now with the recent dog-like behaviors, I have visions of her going potty in the backyard....

I need this....

I definitely need a trip to the beach! So this picture is Hawaii...somewhere I have wanted to go all my life....isn't it beautiful? Someday I'll get there.....but in the meantime, I need a beach, any beach. One thing I really miss about living in the Northwest is being 2 hours from the coast....even though its always cold and the water is frigid, its so beautiful and I love it. I used to go ALL the time and just relax and play and it was great. Its been almost 2 years since I've been to ANY beach at all....and I'm having serious withdrawals...its so sad. There's something so wonderful about the ocean air and sand between your toes. And the romance of the sunset over the ocean....you can't beat it. Ah.....but for now, I'll just wish for it....

Names and kicks and dresses....

We've finally picked a for sure name for the squirmy little one. We thought we had narrowed it down to Sydney, but it never felt 100% right. I love that name, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to refer to her as Sydney without it feeling just a little "off." So on Sunday, we were talking about names and names and names and names and names and names....and when we said Mia...wow, that was it! Then we looked up some stuff on it...and there is a Swedish meaning of the name of "wished for child" and that confirmed it was right! So her name will be Mia Grace Hasselblad (unless of course when she is born she doesn't look like a Mia!). Anyway, I LOVE the sound of it! :)

Also, Malo finally was able to feel baby Mia (love the way that sounds!) kick last night! Or elbow, or her butt, or something....but the point is, he finally felt it! She really is a REALLY wiggly squirmer! Which is great for paranoid me to be able to feel her moving around lots and lots. Anyway, just thought I'd share! :)



p.s. I've also received lots of requests for a larger picture of Aspen's BEAUTIFUL dress that my dear friend, Allysia made for her sealing and blessing. So here are a couple. She is throwing a fit in the first picture because I took a toothbrush from her, no real tears...but its a nice picture of the dress! ;) Silly girl!

Catch up time!

We've been awfully busy this past little bit; had company until today and lots going on...so I'm going to try to catch up!

First of all, last Saturday was Aspen's sealing. I have no words to describe how wonderful it was for our family. My mom was able to come out for it, as well as Leif, Lurlyn and little Leify and Allysia and Belen. It was awesome to have people in town and at the temple with us. And we're grateful for the small group that was there who live here, too. Honestly, I don't think anything in my life has compared to the feelings I felt when they sealed our daughter to us. I'm not even going to try to find the words because there are none sufficient enough. Just that I have never felt more love and happier. :)

Malo blessed Aspen in church last Sunday, too. That was really a special time for us, too. I didn't get any pictures because Aspen was asleep after sacrament meeting. And we'll get to do that again in 3 months or so when this little baby that's still cooking is born! :)

Here are a couple pictures from the last week:

Aspen and Belen exploring the boring contents of my fridge. These two little ones got along great while visiting here. It was cute to watch them play. Belen is a walking pro and Aspen followed her as best she could crawling! :)

Taking a break and playing with what they found....

Little Leify. He is such an adorable little man. I feel bad, though, I think Aspen was a bit rough on him; she tended to body slam him and I'm not sure he appreciated it much, but the next time we see him, he'll probably do it right back. He was a little trooper though and didn't complain that his cousin was buggin! :)

And I think the last thing I'll write about now is my dr appointment yesterday. We had ultrasound #5 and it looks like things are going pretty well. The baby is growing fairly well, which is a huge relief for me, but I have to go back in a week and check again. I have just been freaked out about everything, but I think things are going ok and that's great. I've been trying not to read too much on the internet about the single umbilical artery because all the talk about birth defects and everything just stresses me out. And since my ob is mostly concerned with her growth and making sure she is not premature or too tiny, I need to not read about all the other nonsense. So anyway, things look ok and I feel great so that's good. I feel her moving around and kicking and she is very active. Its been fun to know for sure that that's what I 'm feeling! :)

Anyway, I think that'll do it for now!! :)