The Pearce Family

Where has the new year gone?

2012-02-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

Everyone please forgive me that I have long periods of time between posts as my schedule does not allow for much leasuire time these days. I cannot believe it is almost the middle of February! That means I only have 7 more weeks to complete my Masters project and turn it over for edits if I want to graduate in May. Just thinking about it is making me anxious! It will all be worth it in the end, right? My days consits of leaving before the rest of my famliy wakes up and then getting home at dinner. I am glad I get to spend 2 or 3 hours with Em before he goes to sleep but then it is back to homework, writting my report, and reading scientific papers. Trust me, you can take any subject and instanly make it boring by putting it in scientific journal format. This semester has been interesting. I changed my Masters from Geology (a thesis reguired and due to late and early snow I could not get field work done) to Applied Enviornmental Geoscience (a project reguired as well as 9 extra class credits). I had to take classes outside the Geology department which made me really nervous but I am survivng and things are coming along. From my Remote Sensing class I have been learning all about the physics of radiation and it makes me wish I went to school to become a meterologist like I had originially planned. There are lots of things I would like to go back to school and do (pastery school, dietician, meterology, chemist) too bad school isn't free or maybe I would take a class or two at a time and be an eternal student! My other class is Restoration Ecology which has not been as exciting as Remoste Sensing but hey it is a means unto an end. Just wish me luck that I can keep up this crazy schedule!! One fun thing I am able to do right now is Irish Step dancing! I am SO happy I can do it again. When I was in 8th and 9th grade and we lived in Germany I started dancing. I basically ate, slept, and breathed dance and then we moved to South Dakota and it was only sadness. That was the hardest part about moving, no more Irish Step dancing :(. But a certified dance school opened up last yearish and there is a free preforming group that I get to be a part of!! If I could I would be at the dance studio all day instead of school. Kids can start taking Irish Dance classes when they turn three and I already plan on signing Emmett up :). Gerg has been a busy stay at home dad. I don't know what I would do without him, he certainly keeps our family going! He has enjoyed spending so much time with Emmett and Cyris but both of us will be greatful when our roles can be reversed and he can go to work and I can stay home with my babies. I hope that role reversl can happen sooner rather then later, the stress of not having a job just might kill me.

When Life Gives You Lemons

2011-12-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

I am not very good at journaling so I haven't written about my family's experience with job searching. I want to write down my thoughts and here seemed an easy place where I could read it again later. For the past year Greg has been searching for an entry level mechanical engineering job. He tried a semester of Graduate school but with budget cuts the classes he wanted to take were no available, the professor in the area he wanted left and it just didn't seem worth the student loans for something he would not enjoy. Fortunately I had my TA job from January-May and then September-December and Greg worked with facilities on campus from April- November so we could pay the bills and have some money to do fun things but of coarse we were stressed out about finding Greg a real job, a career, something he would enjoy doing. Greg has had several interviews in the past year but no luck (obviously). It has been quite the experience and I just wanted to share what we have all learned this past year. From January to April I was SO stressed out, I didn't feel like Greg was doing enough to apply to jobs and I was always nagging him to be doing stuff. Needless to day it wasn't very much fine. Sometime in May I finally realized Greg's job search is up to him, I cannot be in charge (which is what I had been trying to do). I told him I was willing to help with whatever he needed help with and most importantly I realized the Lord knows what we need to do and where we need to be, we just have to be patient. Since then the Lord has blessed us in so many ways. I have come to realize there is not a lot I need in this world to make me happy. Sure there is a lot of stuff I would like but to be happy I do not need it. I have found such joy in raising and just being with my little family. I realized I just want to be able to provide a stable, nurturing atmosphere where the gospel and learning and laughing and loving are what we do. I have realized that by following the Lord's simple commandments I have more joy then I know what to do with! I started a gratitude journal and by doing so have realized how many amazing blessings the Lord has given me, I have never felt happier before in my life then I do right now! There are three specific experiances I want to share related to our job search.

In September I was stressing about what happens if Greg never finds a job and I have to go to work everyday and leave my babies at home to provide for my family. What is it takes another year to find a job how are we going to provide for ourselves, etc. On Sunday I was sitting on the couch in the foyer during sacrement (we just cannot be on time to church lately!) and I was stressing about my families situation when the phrase "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it" came into my mind. I know that was Heavenly Father speaking to me, telling me everything would be fine, just have some faith and a little patience and I have something great instore for your family. I just hold that promise for the Lord in my heart and just let him guide us as we look for a job and go about taking are of our family. Since then I have not worried about the future, we will be provided for in some way as long as we just keep following the course He has for us.

The second experiance came when Greg and I were reading Elder W. Christopher Waddell's talk from Conference "The Oportunity of a Lifetime" The talk is about serving missions and about an elder from Spain who was called to serve in Arizona he didn't know why he was sent to Arizona because most forgin missionaries are called to serve in their own countries. He came to realize the Lord knows excatly where everyone needs to be. This missionary was able to meet the man who baptized his father in Spain and able to show this man that he had been a wonderful missionary (the man all these years had thought his mission a failure because he only baptized on man). From this talk the Lord told me that he know where my family needs to be and that is in Mendon with my family. We have been living with my mom and sister for a year and a half and we are so grateful that we can do so. There is no way we could afford to live on our own and I wouldn't have been able to continue my masters degree without my mom to watch the baby. This whole time though I have wanted to live on my own. I am a adult, I want to be self suffient etc. I feel like people look down on me when they know I moved back home but after this talk I know this is where the Lord needs us to be. He needs us to be here so my parents can help us survive and we need to be here to help my mom and sister while my dad serves in DC and Afghanistan. I am at peace now with living back at home.

My third experience came while reading "Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done" by Elder Robert D. Hales from conference. By turning our selves over to the Lord and waiting for the right time and season for everything we can receive so many blessings. The talk made me realize that since I turned myself over completely after that experience in September the Lord has blessed us in SO many ways. Greg and I have never been closer, I feel such a strong love for him. I find myself filled with so much joy I feel like I am going to burst. Emmett and Cyris bring so much love a fulfillment to my life, I have the desire to sever the Lord and to follow his commandments with renewed conviction, and I KNOW that we will find a job, the Lord will bless us with a way to provide for our family.

Life usually doesn't turned out how you planned it and it is better that it doesn't because the Lord has a plan in store for each of us and while we have to pass through trials, we come out of them a stronger, happier, more faithful person.

Here are my 3 favorite pictures we had taken in October. I just love my family!

Dr. Seuss Birthday Party for the Birthday Boy!!

2011-10-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

Our little man turned ONE on October 20th. First off, he has such a cool birthday, 10/20/2010! What a wonderful year it has been! We all just love our little guy so much! He has such a personality! He is such a great sleep compared to a year ago ;), he loves to eat his finger foods and will try new things, he says mama, dada, dog, and talks all day long. When he plays he talks in a really high pitched voice, he loves bath time, loves to be snuggled at bedtime, LOVES to play with the dogs, is a flirt, and there are so many other things I could say but the post would be way to long.

Emmett David Pearce

One Year 10/20/2011

20lbs (15th percentile)

29 inches (30th percentile)

Emmett had a Dr. Seuss Party. I went all out on his party because he is my favorite little boy and needed an awesome celebration! My sister made his invitation (she is so creative)! There was a picture from Oh the Places You'll Go and it said: Big B Little B what begins with B? Birthday Bash Bonanza, B, b, B! Oh me! Oh my! You'd better come by for dare I say it's Emmett's First Birthday! So Please, Oh Please pick up your keys and join the fun as the clock strikes one on the 22nd day of the 10th month. Where in Mendon you will find a party right out of Dr. Seuss' mind! So be inspired and come seussically attired. Be a smarty and come join the party!

For the party my mom made a Cat in the Hat felt hat and a banner with all the Dr. Seuss characters. She also helped me make the onsie. I made a ton of Dr. Seuss inspired food, what kind of party would it be without food!

Beezul Nut Juice (sprite and Jello cubes)

Water From the Cool of the Pool

BBQ Iota (little sausages)

Poodle Eating Noodles

ABC's of Dr. Seuss

Fruits and Veggies From the Jungle of Nool

Cheese Trees

New Blue Goo (Carmel Rice Crispy Treats dyed blue)

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Seuss cakes, we also had red and blue homemade ice cream

Emmett's Cat in the Hat Smash Cat

Emmett eating his smash cake. He loved it!

We gave these out as party favors, they said: Today was good! Today was fun! Thank you, thank you everyone.

A slideshow of our little man

The sign says: WAIT! Stop here you see, and write a very special message to ME! A Birthday Wish or just to say HI, to your very favorite ONE year old guy! On the front, the back, or any pages. It is something I will treasure all of my ages! Signed Mayor Emmett.

This will be a fun tradition to read this to him every birthday and read how much his family loves him

We had three guessing jars. They said: tell me the correct number of candies in the jar. If you're the winner you'll take them home in your car!

There was a Dr. Seuss Trivia Quiz that said: Think you know your Dr. Seuss, take a guess but you won't win a mousse.

We played pin the star on the sneetch

We also had Ring the Gak (horseshoes) and Tweetle Beetle Battle (croquet)

My cousins came seussically attired, aren't they so cute!

He had fun opening presents. He got books, a ball, some food, a stuffed animal, his Caterpillar Halloween costume his Grandma Pearce made, and a wooden dog his Grandpa Pearce made. Thanks everyone!

He likes to play on his toy caslte from his Koontz grandparents

And he is in LOVE with the dump truck that makes sound that me and Greg got him.

Thanks everyone who came to his party! We love this little boy so much and are so glad we could all celebrate him!

What the Pearces been up to

2011-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well I do not have a good excuse for not posting the past two months. August we spent hanging out with my dad. We had so much fun with him! Emmett certainly loves his pappy! Emmett turned 10 months old!

We had a fanily reunion up in Idaho. Emmett had fun grabbing everyones plates and causing a few messes and playing with the grass.

We went down to my cousins daughters baby blessing. (Matt is my cousin who married my best friend from eight grade Alana, funny huh!)

Emmett loves Cyris. He loves to play in his dog kennel. One day I got all three of the boys in there. Now I know what to do with them when they are being naughty.

Emmett has progressed from standing with assistance to all on his own from the middle of the room. It won't be much longer before he is walking

Emmett is obsessed with his tooth brush. He is going to be a dentist someday.

Emmett is bound to be an animal lover with the amount of critters in his life. This is my sisters horse.

Emmett and his cousin Hayzlee getting into trouble! They are so cute together!

Cyris turned 2 on September 19th. Here is his birthday peanut butter concoction.

Emmett doesn't hold still anymore and keeps me on my toes all day long. Here he is planning on what pony to buy with my money.

September 20th Emmett turned 11 months old. He is so goofy, what would we do without this boy?

Emmett keeps himself pretty entertained with whatever is around.

I have been trying to work on my thesis project. I finally got to go up the first weekend of October. My field area is in Franklin Basin. It is an hour drive and then a 3.5 mile hike to my rocks. My project is to measure the thickness of the Garden City Formation and describe the rocks and fossils to determine what sea level was doing at this location and what life way like back in the Early Ordovician Period (about 450 million year ago when Utah was about 5 degrees north of the Equator forming the shore of a warm tropical sea). Greg is my field partner. He is convinced now that Geology is boring after all we did for two days was measure the thickness of rocks. The current title of my thesis is "The Sequence Stratigraphy and Paleoecology fo the Garden City Formation, Utah and Idaho" although it needs a new title "The Seris of Unfortunate Events". My project has been doomed from the beginning. Summer of 2010 was when I was suppose to start but my professor went on a trip to India and Nepal where he got sick until the end of July. By the time he was better I was almost 8 months pregnant and hiking 3.5 miles up to 9000 feet is not something a pregnant women should be doing. Summer 2011 was a contunuation. The snow in Franklin Basin did not melt unitl the end of July. In the beginning of July the snow was still 66 inches deep! August my professor injured his leg and could not hike. Finally the first week of October I made it out and got a lot done but still need 6-8 more days to finish. Now there is 6 inches of snow in the mountains again. Who knows is I will ever get my degree.

Here is Greg in front of the snowmobile cabin in my field area. There was so much snow this past winter that this cabin was completely covered, nobody could find it (note:Greg is 6 feet tall, that is a lot of snow!).

Here I am in my geology get up

Here is my field area this weekend. My friend Ryan took us up on his Rino but we gave it up. There was no chance of finding rocks under all this snow.

This evening Emmett fell asleep in his high chair. Poor boy was so tired!

East Coat Vacation

2011-08-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

On the 24th we drove down to Greg's parents house. Scott and Heather and the girls were down too so we had a fun night haning out with all of them. Here Emmett and Hayzlee are crawling around together.

We got up the next morning at 4:15 am and headed to the airport. Remind me not to leave on a 7:30 am flight again. Here we are waiting to board the plane.

We sat on the last row on all three flights. It kept Emmett entertained with all the people going back and forth and the flight attendants right there getting things ready. We flew to Detroit where we were zooming down the runway to take off when we braked really fast. Apparently there were thunderstorms in Baltimore. We sat on the tarmac for about an hour and a half. Deplaned and hung out in the terminal for another hour and a half and then got back on the plane and waited another 45 minutes. It took three attempts to land but we did get on the ground in Baltimore eventually. We were traveling for about 12 hours and during that whole time Emmett did not fuss even once! He slept most of the fly time and when awake jibber jabbered, charmed all the passengers around us and played with his toys. He was a perfect angel, we are so lucky to have such an easy going boy!

We headed to my dad's house. He is stationed at Andrews AFB in Maryland. On Tuesday we toured the base. Went to my dad's office and meet his work family as he calls them, and hung out with some of my dad's friends that night . On Wednesday we were going to see the sights in DC and go to the Smithsonian but Emmett woke up in the night with a fever. We spent all day Wednesday relaxing. For being sick Emmett was still happy and easy going. He slept a lot. We would give him medicine every thre hours (alternated with Tylenol and ibprophen) but if you gave it too him too close to when he had just nursed he would throw up everywhere. Mom went through several pairs of jammies that day.

Thursday morning Emmett only had a slight fever so we got up and headed to Harrisburg Pennsylvania where Greg had his interview. While he did that the rest of us went to the National Civil War museum. It was really nice! They had it laid out chronological and all from an unbiased view point.

That afternoon we headed over to Bedford, PA to surprise Emmett's Great Grandma Koontz. She couldn't believe we were there, it was so fun!

Great Grandma Koontz loves chickens so Emmett wore a special shirt just for her.

Friday we headed in to town to see the sights. At the Bedford Historical society my moms quilt was on display. She made this quilt to auction off for the Historical Society in celebration of Bedford's role in the underground railroad. Each block represents some aspect of life for the slaves.

We visited with all the Aunts and Unlces. Emmett loved playing with Aunt Janet.

Here Pappy and Emmett are playing peeka boo, one of Emmy's favorite games.

Saturday morning we went to the Bedford County Fair. My cousins Ashley was fair queen but I don't have the picture we took her on my camera :(. Emmett had fun petty all the animals.

That evening we went to the cemetary and got the traditional Koontz family history lesson. Emmett is sitting between Eve and Nicolas Koontz, the first Koontz in the USA.

Here is my Grandmas house.

We had so much fun in Bedford and enjoyed all the amazing food my grandma makes. That night we headed back to Maryland to my dad house. Sunday we got ready to come home and had fun watching Emmett play with the Rocking chairs. Aren't these matching chairs so cute!

We got home late Sunday night and boy was Cyris happy to see us. While we were gone our garden exploded. How cute Emmett is sitting with all the veggies!

9 months old, what?!

2011-07-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy yet relaxing month. Mostly Emmett, Cyris and I have stayed home and played and kept house while Greg has gone to work and played with us in the evenings. Emmett gets in to everything these days.

This box kept him entartained for quite sometime, a good peak boo box.

Our biggest adventure this month has been potty training! I got the book Diaper Free before Three by Jill M. Lekovic. It is such a great book. The author is a pediatrician and a mom so she know what she is talking about. We started June 30th and since then I have hardly changed any poopy diapers. What I do is put him on the potty when he wakes up in the morning and he usually poops then and then through out the day if he looks like he is straining to go poo I put him on the potty. Some people have told me that I am not potty training him, he is just training me but that is just silly. The way I think about it is for the first couple of months of solid feeding we feed the baby with a spoon to teach them what it is and how to use it, we dress them for the year or two so they can learn how to do it themselves, and this is the same way I feel about potty training. By teaching him so young I will avoid the resistance to the potty that crops up when you wait and potty train a 2 year old. Another benefit to starting early is he will be done potty training sooner. Studies have shown that it takes the same amount of time or less (depending on the resistance of your toddler to the toilet) to potty train a child when you start so young. In countries besides America children are potty train by 18 to 24 months. In America children are not potty training on average until 30 months or later. As Dr. Lekovic states "Isn't it sad that we have 3 and 4 year old who can swing on swings, climb monkey bars, talk in full sentences and write their names but they cannot use the toilet".

Here is Cyris the spoiled dog. When we first got Cyris the rule was he could not be on the couch. Well not the couch is his and me and Greg sit on the floor.

Here he is, out 9 month old!!

Weight: 19 lbs 10oz (25th percentile)

Length: 27 inches (15the percentile)

Head: 17 inches (5th percentile)

He has tried honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, yogurt,tomatoes (didn't like), cherries, spinach, strawberries, braised beef, chicken, cottage cheese all pureed. 3 days ago I gave him some finger foods. He doens;t like them to be put in his mouth, he likes to do it himself. Today he finally got it donw how to get the food in there. He has had yogurt melts, sweet potato and banana puff cereal, and little pieces of pear.

Emmett crawls everywhere. The best way to describe his crawling is the butterfly stroke on land. He has also started pulling himself up on this and balancing on his knees.

Cyris and Emmett have become buddies this past week. Cyris will play so gently with Emmett and Emmett squeals whenever he sees Cyris. Unfortunately Emmett would rather play with Cyris' toys than his own.

Emmett gets into everything!

Today we went to Mendon days. It was a lot of fun. When Greg sat down on the bench Cyris just jumped up next to him and laid down. I am pretty sure Cyris does not know he is a dog.

Emmett tried out his new bumbo. He kept looking upside down and my mom and grandparents behind him. He loves hanging upside down so this is an added bonus to the bumbo chair.

Emmett played on the play ground for the first time. He was too busy watching all the other kids to bother looking at the camera.

He also got to play with a little bunny. His bunny privileges were taken away when he got hold of the ear and picked it up.

Our most exciting news is on Monday we are flying to DC!! Greg has a job interview with the Defense Logistics Agency in Harrisburg PA. We are going to spend a few days with my dad who is stationed at Andrews AFB, head to Harrisburg on Thursday for the interview, and then surprise my Grandma Koontz in Before PA and stay there until Saturday. I am SO excited to go yet a little nervous for Emmett on the airplane. Wish us luck, I will post about our trip when we get back!

Our Underwater adventure

2011-06-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Living Planet Aquarium with our friends Tom and Melissa Chopan and Katie and Hans Anderson. I was so fun to see them after a very long year! Poor Emmett was such a good baby even though he had only had a 30 minute nap and was awake from 6:30am till 5 pm. We had so much fun. The Arapaima was mine and Greg's favorite followed closely by the penguins and the jelly fish. Getting to touch the rays and starfish and horseshoe crabs was really awesome too!

Emmett and Daddy trying to pose with the arapaima but the darn sucker fish got in the way!

This is the arapaima, one of the monsters of the Amazon River. If you have never watch River Monsters with Jeremy Wade on Animal Planet you should!

Hanging out in the Utah waters room. The brine shrimp were really cool but the 6 inch water bugs were disgusting!

Emmett and the Lion fish. He had fun watching the fish swim around and trying to grab them.

Mommy and Baby screaming next to the shark tank. If I ever saw a shark when swimming around I would just die!!

After the aquarium we went to hang with Heather and Scott and got roped in to running the Ragnar next summer. Wish us luck!

Summer Fun

2011-06-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Another month gone by, here is my monthly update. Our house has been a very busy place this month. At the end of May my dad was able to come out for a visit. We had so much fun with him. Papi has promised Emmett a gun for his first birthday so all the boys can go hunting so we will see how that turns out ;) Matt and Alana came up to visit that week and it was fun getting to see them and the new addition to our Koontz Family Baby Alice! My sister Gemma graduated from Mountain Crest that week and we are so excited for her! She will start the Equine program at Utah State University in January. The first weekend of June we went to the zoo! Unfortunately Emmett was teething and he gets flushed really easily (that is why he is just in his onsie) so he didn't have the best time but it was fun to see all the Dinosaur robotic things and hang with the Pearce Fam.

June 6-16th Emmett had swim lesson. He had fun splashing in the water and didn't mind being dunked but the day we passed him underwater he cried and cried, very sad! He is on his way to being the next Olympic swimmer.

This week has been full of fun with our friend Dan Bridenstein staying with us while he takes a class on campus. It has been fun to reminisce about the old days. Also our friends Mikey and Whitney and Macaroni came out from Missouri for two days. We spent most of our times going to yummy food joints in Logan (Great Harvest, Gossners, the Crepery, Temptation Cupcake, and Sweetly Divine).

Emmett is 8 months old!

My little baby thinks he is a puppy dog. He pants when he plays and carried toys around in his mouth, so funny!

Em has 2 teeth! Not looking forward to the rest popping up, he would hardley eat anything that week and when he doesn't nurse well it stresses me out!

He is crawling now.

We spend most of our time keeping Emmett away from doors (he likes to play with them but repeatdly smacks himself in the face), making sure he doesn't eat carpet fuzzies, keeping him way from the dog food and from licking Cyris toys. He finds the dogs toys much more exciting then his own.

Emmett is in love with Cyris, he giggles and crawls over to him and gets SO excited when Cyris comes into the room.

Murphy the fish is very entertaining and Em tries to grab him. Emmett is such a good baby. He sleeps through the night or only wakes up once or twice! He is always happy and laughs and makes happy sounds all day long! I am so grateful to have such a happy boy especially one who sleeps SO much better!! He eats solids like a champ but no matter what he will not eat fruit!! He has tired avacados, bananas, apples, prunes, plums, peaches, apricots, mangos, bluberries, pears, and honeydew melon. The only ones he will eat are bananas, pears, and melon. He scarfs down his veggies and fruit though and as you can tell is still my chunky monkey so it is okay :).

Cyris had an adventure last week. He and the neigbhor dog both ran into the street and Duke to dog bit Cyris, they didn't fight or anything he just bit him and went back home. It took us like 15 minutes to realize he was bit but off we headed to the vet. He had to get eight stitches. Poor buddy!

Greg and I have been busy playing hostess, tending the garden, applying for jobs, not doing field work (grrrrrr) and taking care of our babies and loving every minute of it!

My thoughts on what to feed my baby

2011-05-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

Long before I had Emmett I knew I wanted breastfeed my babies. It just seemed amazing to have that bond with my child and to give them exactly what God and nature intended for them to eat. While I was pregnant I saw a book for homemade baby food am I became hooked. I LOVE making Emmett's food! There are so many wonderful fruits and vegetables that babies cannot get from a jar that I can make right at home! By making his food myself I know that the food is in its most nutritious form. Yes jarred baby food is nutritious too but during the bottling process nutrients are lost when the product is heated so the jars are less nutritious then what I can make myself. Making the food is so easy. All I have to do is peel, core and chop the fruit or veggie, steam it till soft then puree the heck out of it until it is the consistency I want. The food is frozen in ice cube trays then popped out and place in freezer bags for up to 6 weeks! Another benefit to making baby food is cost. Jarred baby food is on average $0.25per/oz whereas I can do it for about $0.05per/oz. Now I know that not everyone has the time or the desire to make their baby food and you know what that is perfectly fine! Making baby food is just something I enjoy doing.

As Emmett is getting to the finger food stage I have been thinking about all the processed foods out there we all snack on and I started to freak out a little. I really do not want Emmett having some of those things, at least not for a while! My number one no nos for a long time are juice (unless sick I really do not see the purpose of it, empty calories to me), soda (why do we even drink the stuff? Tasty? yes but full of stuff that is not so good for us.), crackers (have you seen the sodium content on those things and the preservatives!!!) Now I know that in moderation or as an occasional treat these things are just fine but I do not want my kids having them as part of there daily diet. Do I sound a bit paranoid? Yes I am sure I do but seeing all the health problems kids have these days I am really worried! I want to make as many homemade things as I can. Something I have decided to do for the rest of the summer is try recipes for processed food I use on a daily basis (i.e. cream of chicken/mushroom soup, crackers, etc.) and see how I like it and that is will not be all time consuming. Also from now until school starts in August I am only going to drink water and see how that makes me feel.

What we did in May

2011-05-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

You think I would update this blog more often but there is no time during the day and once Emmett is in bed Greg is on the computer fill out job applications. But today I finally have some time while Em is napping to update. Three weeks ago I took my last final, I am DONE with classes!! To think I will never have to take another final again is so wonderful! I got As in all three of my classes! You might ask well what now? I still have to finish my thesis. The last 3 weekends in June Greg and I will be in Boss Canyon doing field work then I have until then and December to analyze the data and get my thesis written up to defend! I am a little nervous for field work because Em will be at home with Grandma and I have never been away from him over night! I am nervous about pumping and if Em is going to do okay with a bottle for 8 feedings each weekend!

Greg is busy working with the facilities crew on campus keeping everything green and beautiful! He has applied to several more jobs this week and I pray that we will be able to find a job by the time I am done TAing in the December so Greg does not have to go work at Pizzza Hut or something. I joked with him the other day that if he does not have a job by then I will just go get my PhD and keep being a Teaching Assistant so we will have income.

Cyris has been a very moopy dog. He stretched his crucious (?) limb and hasn't been able to run and jump around for about 3 weeks. We have tried to keep him calm and lazy so it can heal but that is nearly impossbile for a hyper goldendoodle. He thinks we hate him since we cannot take him on long walk and dont wrestle with him.

Emmett is pretty much sleeping through the night now!!!!! What a miracle!!!!! Some nights he wakes up once or twice but we all get so much sleep these days that there is no need for mom to take a nap in that day! I am just loving being at home with Em and Cy all day. We wake up around 7:20 am, Em takes 3 great naps, he eats his solid food really well, goes to bed at 8 pm and he goes to sleep so easy like he always has and STAYS asleep! Em is so much fun! Although he canot crawl yet he can get anyhwere he wants by rooling, pushing backwards abd rotating. He can get up on his hands and knees and then up onto his feet. Before we know it he will be crawling! He loves his solid food! He eats oatmeal and barley cereal, carrots, butternut squash, summer squash, zuchini, sweet potatoes, ruttabaga, cailiflour, parshnips, broccoli, avacados, bananas, and pears. He does like peas but when he ate then he got hives so he hasn't had then sicne. He favorites are by far butternut suqahs and bananas. His least favorits are broccoli and avacados but he wil still eat them.

Emmy likes to roll under his crib and play peekaboo!

His church outfit on mother's day!

Not sure who gave him permission to do this!

One crazy baby!

The family on Mother's Day. I am obsessed with Zebra's so all of us but Cy have zebras on

7 months old and 19 lbs, I love my chuncky monkey!

Last saturday we went to the Dinosaur Park

Emmett after our exciting time at the Dinosaur Park

He loves to open and close this basket that has his toys in it!

The Pearces are still alive

2011-04-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

So it has been a month since I updated so here is what the Pearces have been up to since then.

Cyris has continued to be his lovable, dorky self. He sits on his bum like this all the time, I swear he is not a normal dog.

Emmett loves to grab anything within his reach and proceed to eat it. He and Cyris often play with their toys by each other. They are going to be the best of buddies when Emmett is a little older, every little boy needs a dog and every dog needs a little boy!

Emmett is Mr. Rolly Polly, when he wakes up he rolls right over and jibber jabbers until someone comes to get him.

Emmett turned 6 months old on the 20th!! He has brought so much love into our family and we are so grateful for him! He now weighs 17 lbs 9 oz and is 26.25 inches both the 50th percentile, he has evened back out, no longer short and supper chunky. He is very interactive now. He rolls all over the place, rotates himself and pushes himself forward a bit to reach his toys. He is a champion at sitting up. He has been mommy's little snuggle bug and love to give wet, sloppy kisses! He is daddy's little buddy and loves to touch Cyris and watch him run around. He laughs all the time is such a happy, content baby, although when he gets upset he lets you know. He loves to talk and has all sorts of cute noises. He still isn't sleeping the best but I tell myself someday he might! He loves barely and oatmeal cereal (he decided rice was too boring) and he has tried carrots and butternut squash. He was not impressed with them. At the end of this post is a video of him eating carrots, hilarious! Below are the many faces of Emmett

Emmy had a fun first Easter!

He had fun playing with his doggy basket

He got this Greg Olsen picture for his room, books, and a stuffed chick

He thought mom and dad's basket looked fun to play with too!

Cyris got a bone for Easter and Emmy wanted to play with that too (no way Emmy too slimy!)

He likes to play in his highchair while the rest of us eat

We dyed eggs and Emmett grabbed the tray during the picture and we almost lost the eggs, he is a quick little bugger!

Greg has been busy being the stay at home daddy, Emmett and Cyris are a handful! He has a job interview with Parker Haniffan(Sp?) tomorrow and we will see how it goes! He will be working with the irrigation crew on campus again this summer and lets home by fall he has an engineering job!

I have been busy with school. I cannot wait for next Thursday afternoon when I take the last final of my life! This summer I am looking forward to being a stay at home mommy!

2011-03-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

Emmet tried rice cereal for the first time and was not a fan. He likes it now but it sure was fun then

Murphy the Beta

Emmett found a new favorite toy in the kitchen, don't worry Greg is holding him up from behind

Emmett and aunt Gemma's St. Patrick's day outfits

He is wearing his 6-9 month clothes now since he is such a chunk!

He is getting really good at sitting up on his own!

Cyris treed his first cat and would not leave it alone

5 months old and 17lbs, we have a big baby and we love it!


Emmett and super fuzzy fluffy Cyris before the shaving

This shows how skinny the Cyris really is

Isn't he such a cutie! Everyday I am excited to wake up and play with him! Life is pretty busy in the Pearce house hold. Taking care of a baby and a dog is a lot of work but so worth it. Emmy and Cyris get lots of Daddy time while I go to school. I have no idea how mommys who work full time do it! I have a hard time just going to class for a couple hours each day! Beside being Daddy Greg is still busy with job searching I hope by the end of this year we have a job, I am sure we will but I am just scared to death over it!

Our life in February

2011-03-06T19:10:00.000-08:00

Well I suppose it is time for a post since it has been a month and a half, time is just flying by these days! In the wise words of my friend Melissa "Time is subject to quantum mechanics meaning that it behaves as both a wave and a particle. This is why even though time is continuous, it sometimes seems to make discrete jumps". That is how these whole year has been, just jumping through the days until all of a sudden it is March! The first three pictures are our family pictures from December. My friend Tiarra did an awesome job!

We try to go on walks everyday and on really cold days Emmett gets bundled in his puppy dog suit. When I put him in it he was screaming his guts out. I stuck in the binky and about 5 seconds after this picture was taken he was asleep.

Here Emmett is in his cowboy outfit. Aren't those little boots so cute!

Emmett is a very silly boy. He is happy most of the day unless he is tired or hungry. He laughs all the time and pulls the fumiest faces. There is no way you could be sad with this little baby around he just brings such joy!

Cyris loves this duck. He fell asleep the other day cuddling it. Unfortunately a game of tug of war ended with duck having to go in the trash, poor Cyris.

February 20th Emmett turned 4 months old!! He is getting to be such a chunk! His thighs are so big I cannot wrap my fingers around them. Even his knees have a fat roll!! He is 24.5 inches long (40th percentile), 15 lbs, 9 oz (75th percentile) and his head is in the 20th percentile. Basically he is short and fat! I just love how chunky he is!

Life for me right now just got a little busier. Two of my classes started on March 1 so now I spent all day Tuesday and Thursday on campus as well as Monday when I teach lab. I am so grateful that this is my last semester of classes EVER! After this semester I will have half the work done for my masters degree. This summer I will do field work and analyze date, the fall will be spent writing my thesis and in December I will defend it! I will officially graduate May 2012 once I make whatever edits are required after I defend. I am so ready to be done with school. I look forward to staying at home with Emmett and Cyris and perfecting my new hobby, cooking!

Greg has been playing the job search game. He has applied to a couple of jobs here in Utah and we are waiting to hear back from them. Hopefully it will be good news when it comes! This whole job search thing is really scary and I just want it to be over! Greg has a freaking awesome resume so I don't know how the hiring committees wouldn't want to meet him and interview him! I would like to move out of Utah just because I have always moved some place new every 2-4 years growing up. We want to stay in the western US though but hey wherever we get a job I will be grateful and I won't complain, even if we had to move someplace hot and humid like Mississippi or freaking cold like Wisconsin.

Very sad day

2011-02-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to update about Emmmett and our job search but that will have to wait for a diffrent day.

Monday I ended up getting the stomach flu which means for 24 hours I could not eat or hardly drink anything. Due to this and some medicine I took Emmett had to have a bottle for 24 hours and I pumped for that time every three hours. of course my milk supply suffered as I could not keep any food or liquids in so now 4 days later I am still hardly making any milk. I have talked to three different doctors and lactation specialist and what I get to do until Monday morning is try and feed Emmett for as long as he will stay latched on. He then gets a bottle while I pump. Then at 8 when he goes to bed I pump for one hour, 10 minutes on 10 minutes off. Then feed him at 10:30. Do the pump again for one hour like before at 1 am. Feed him at 4:30. Emmett is very frustrated and doesn't want to latch on. I am quickly running out of stored breast milk and am trying to get him use to formula. The doctors are hesitant to start me on the drug that will help me start lactating again because it brings on depression. Right now I am a big ball of stress and anger and frustration and sadness and whatever other sad words you can think of. Greg gave me a blessing last night so I am just trying to keep my faith, maybe that is what Heavenly Father is trying to do, give me a lesson on faith. So if anyone has any advice or knows of some way to distract me be my guest! Hopefully on Monday I will either be making milk again or be on the drug! Pray for me!

Comparisons

2011-01-20T21:05:00.001-08:00

Poor Cyris was tortured today. He had to get a haircut and a bath!! Usually we take him to the groomer but it costs money and they never do what we ask so this was his first home hair cut. This a a picture of before, he is supper shaggy and no longer white

Here is the after picture, all white and soft and fuzzy! Greg did the hair cut and for having no idea what he was doing it looks pretty good!

Our little baby is 3 months old!! How did that happen, how does time go by so quickly? Here is a picture of him and one week old when he weighed just over 7 lbs

and here he is at 3 months. He is getting to be a little chunk!

He now weighs 14 lbs (63rd percentile) and is 23.75 inches (40th percentile)! We love this little guys so much! This past week and a half he has done the most amazing thing, he only wakes up once at night!!! I thought this day would never come. Before he would wake up 4-6 times, 2-3 times between 2 and 3 am and 2-3 times between 5 and 7 am. I am so glad we bought a sound machine, it has made a world of difference!

Greg and I are enjoying being together all the time. We both have really laid back schedules this semester. I only have to go to teach labs on Monday and Tuesdays until March 1st when my two classes start and Greg decided Graduate school just wasn't for him so he is working on spiffing up his resume and applying for jobs. I am really excited and nervous to begin this new phase of our lives. I am nervous because of everything says how hard it is to find a job and just the whole how do you actually go about applying for one, etc. I know that the Lord is with us though and will guide us to where we need to be. Who knows what will happen this year and where we will end up, it is pretty exciting!

nEW hAPPENINGS fOR a nEW yEAR

2011-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

On occasion Cyris likes to lay near the baby. mostly because he felt bored that nobody would play with his goose any more.
Emmett is a champion at holding his head up. Sometimes he will lose control and become a bobble head, it is pretty cute
Here he is Mr. Happy Baby. This was after a week of screaming everytime it was time to feed him. It didn't matter what position I fed him in, if it was way before he was suppose to eat again or right on time. We took his temperature every 3 hours, and he wasn't sick. That was a week of a lot of frustration on the parents part. Luckily that seems to be passed now or I might have had to be taken to the Loony bin!
Emmett gets a bottle once a day so he stay well practiced for when I have to teach labs and go to class. He was holding onto Daddy's finger, so cute!

These are just a glimpse of the silly, happy guy he usually is

Shortly after Christmas Cyris destroyed his most prized possession, a toy known simply as wheezy ball. We had been fearing this day and had started to look for replacements. After much searching we thought we found some winners, only to behold what one day of Cyris can do to a toy. the original weezy ball was found in the yard when we moved here and lasted six months, we are currently still looking for a replacement.

On the 7th Emmett new little cousin Hazlee was born! We got to see her on Sunday, she is pretty darn cute!! I love to see all my friends and families new little babies but don't worry it isn't making me baby hungry, we won't be having another one for 3 or 4 years and no that will not change, trust me!

Christmas and Baby Blessing

2010-12-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

We put milk and cookies out for Santa Clause (I love the milk and Cookie set sooo much!!)

Dad being weird and Emmy not knowing what is going on

Cyris wishes he was Santa Clause so he could eat the milk and cookies

Our little Christmas tree with out presents that Santa brought

I have the coolest tag ever!!

Emmy getting his first present on Christmas morning. After this one he fell asleep for the rest of present opening :)

Here he is when he woke up being a crazy baby!

Cyris absolutely loves boxes, here he is in action.

Here are the presents Emmett got. Santa brought him books and he got clothes and toys and diaper Genie from grandparents, I don't have the present from the Great Grandparents in here or the Pearce Grandparents.

Greg was very excited about all his hot sauces!

Yes that is a zebra straightener, I love zebras!! Also now I have books to read while I nurse Emmett

Cyris Christmas presents

Here are the presents I made for my family. The nesting instinct made me very crafty and my goal was to get them done by Christmas and I did!!

Christmas was a lot of fun. It was fun to start new traditions and do the ones I grew up with with Emmett. Being a family is so fun!! We did Christmas with my family and went down to visit Greg's family that afternoon and went to the Kendall Christmas party that night, it was a fun filled Christmas day!! It is crazy to think next year Emmett will be all in to present opening and walking!

On the 26th Greg blessed Emmett. It was such a perfect day to do it, half the congregation was our family (most people gone for Christmas Break) so it just felt really special. I am so grateful that Greg is a worthy priesthood holder. He gave Em a very special blessing and it was wonderful that all the men in our families were worthy to stand in the circle.

Isn't he just perfect!

2 Months and other going ons

2010-12-23T19:56:00.000-08:00

Emmett turned 2 months old on the 20th. I cannot believe he is already 2 months old!! He now weighs 12 lbs 3.5 oz (60th percentile) and is 23 inches long (50th percentile) and his head is in the 15th percentile, maybe that is why he is so cute, he has a small head! The doctor was impressed with how big he has gotten and said he is a perfectly healthy little boy! I love this little boy so much!!

Here is our other baby. This is a picture from last Christmas. Cyris also had a check up this week and weighs in at 58 lbs, so yes is does hurt when he runs full speed into you, especially when you aren't expecting it :)

Hehe don't you love how chunky he is getting!

Daddy and Emmy love to hang out.

One of those cute smiles!

Greg was making silly faces at Emmy and he was laughing and talking back, it was so cute. I would upload the video but it take a thousand year on blogger!

My boys!

Emmett finally got to meet his Pappy! He loves to hang out with him. We will be so sad when he has to go back to D.C. My dad has been waiting for a boy in the family for a long time and he calls him his boy. I have hardly held Emmy since my dad got here :) When me and Greg found out we were having a boy I was most excited to call my dad and tell him.

We went on a walk today and I could not resist putting Em in this! It was way big on him so he looks so funny and cute! He was all snugly in it and fell asleep right away.

Em helped me make dinner tonight, he likes to just hang out and look around

I made 179 cookies today. They consisted of snicker doodle, chocolate chip, and pumpkin-oatmeal chocolate chip. Tomorrow is sugar cookie day!

Greg made this storm trooper snowflake today, isn't it awesome!

I am loving this break from school. I get to spend so much time with my boys! I love being a mom and am so grateful for the cute, happy little boy I have. Em has been such a good sleeper, the other night I woke up and my phone said 4 am, I ran into his room thinking he must be dead! The next night he didn't wake up till 3:30. Something fun we started today was baby massage. We both really liked it! He talked and smiled the whole time and I can't wait to do it again tomorrow! Life is just so wonderful, there is nothing I want more than what I have right now!

Lucky Girl

2010-12-18T16:27:00.000-08:00

I a beginning to realize what a lucky girl I am with regards to pregnancy, labor and delivery, recovery, and the sweet little boy I have. Pregnancy was in no way enjoyable. I loved feeling Emmett kick but other than that did not like it. I was nauseous the whole time but that I was healthy and Emmett was healthy and I am so grateful for that!! My labor and delivery was non complicated and one of the most amazing and enjoyable experiences of my life. I was only in labor for 7 1/2 hours, I pushed for 1 hour and 15 minutes and that was only because we were waiting for the doctor to show up :). Once the doctor was there I pushed twice and Emmett was out. Emmett was completely healthy. At his first two appointments he has only gained weight and has been growing so fast. He figured out breastfeeding right away, and I have not had any problems with breastfeeding like soreness, mastitis, etc. My milk came in right away, I recovered quickly with no problems there. Emmett has been healthy for the past two months, just one little cold (knock on wood :)) He is a happy little guy and sleeps really well at night (overall I get about 8 hours of sleep with his 2 feedings :) ) I am so grateful for all of this!!

A happy little boy!

2010-12-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

Can you even believe how cute he is!!! He smiles all the time and will just jibber jabber away. When he talks he has turtle lips, I just lover him so much!! He is generally a happy little guy most of the day, finally, when he first got here he would scream most of the day and I thought I was going to die, it was a good thing he was a cute little thing to help me get through it :). Lets see....Emmett doesn't sleep through the night yet but he goes to bed at 8 then wakes up between 12:00 and 1:30 and then 3:30 or 4:30 and then thinks that 6:00 is the start of the day. I have given up on getting him back to sleep in his bed so the past two mornings I have just held him and we went back to sleep together until it was time for him to eat again. He goes right back to sleep after I feed him now so I don't even mind feeding him twice at night. At first it would take 30-45 minutes to get him back to sleep :(. He is only a cat napper during the day but that is fine with me since he does so good at night.

Greg wins the best daddy award! He is so good with Emmy and I just love watching them together. Greg helps me out so much. He changes diaper without being asked, he helps me put the baby to sleep at night, will take him when he is crying or fussing, and sometimes won't let me hold him because he wants baby time :)

Cyris has decided he likes the baby too. The other morning I let Cyris outside and he hadn't seen the baby yet. When he came inside the baby was in his bouncer on the table (I know not the safest but I sit right there the whole time so nothing can happen, better than the Pomeranians liking him to death on the floor). Cyris was freaking out because he didn't know where the baby was, he went downstairs and sniffed around his room and only calmed down when I showed him where the baby was. Crazy dog!

Tomorrow Greg will be done with the semester and on Wednesday I will be done. Greg has been so stressed out this week so I cannot wait for tomorrow afternoon when he is done. It has been a crazy semester with the baby but over all it was good and now almost over! I don't have to go back to class until Feb 28th. I will be TAing labs in January and writing my thesis proposal until classes start.

2010-12-06T09:53:00.001-08:00

I got my hair cut. I have been wanting to do it for a while but just finally got b rave enough. I am still getting use to it...I miss my hair but it is okay, hair grows back.

I left the room to grab something and when I came back this is what I found.
naughty boys lol!

Emmy falls asleep in the funniest positions

He got all dressed up for hid friend Hadleigh's blessing!

My boys! Cyris got a face lick in before we could stop him, crazy dog!

6 weeks old!

He is sporting some major old man hair lol!

Last sunday I was downstairs with the baby and Greg sent Cyris in when he left fo meetings. Cyris never came downstairs and this is why, he was eating this pumpkin pie! He ate half of it and only stopped because Greg came back due to yucky roads.

Turkey Day and other happenings

2010-11-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here we are on our first Thanksgiving, Cyris is even covering himself up for the picture :)

Here is our chubby cheek baby! He got lots of Grandma snuggles on Thanksgiving

Aunt Gemma found him this reindeer coat thing to keep him warm, so cute

Our Friends Mikey and Whiteny came to visit, Cyris lovers them soooo much!

Cyris like to be under the table when I feed the baby, he stole the book and the burp cloth, silly dog

He is a pirate, Arrrgh!

All smiles!!

On November 20th Emmett turned one month old!! He weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 21.5 inches long!! He is getting to be such a big boy!

We are all doing good! Emmett is getting into a pretty good sleep pattern at night. He has gone 5 and 6 hours between feedings and he goes back to sleep really easily after I feed him. He has tummy troubles so the days can be a little rough. I hate it when he just screams and screams and get little tears in his eyes :(

Only 2 1/2 weeks until the semester is over. Some how me and Greg have survived the semester!!

3 weeks old!

2010-11-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

We have made it to 3 weeks! I cannot believe Emmett has been in our lives for that long! He is such a sweet little boy. He only fusses when his tummy hurts so in our house we are grateful for gas drops :). He spends half the day awake and the other half asleep so that is pretty good. He is a good sleeper at night, he eats every 2-4 hours and is usually pretty coopretive in going back to sleep after he eats. He giggles all the time in his sleep and has the funniest facial expressions. He thinks his tongue is really cool and is working hard on getting his thumb in his mouth. He has gained a pound since last week which is crazy!! He is getting so big and I love it but at the same time wonder where my little baby from the hospital is :). Greg and I are a pretty good team! We are all a little tired but a happy little family!!

The Sleepy Wrap

2010-11-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

My sleepy wrap came yesterday and I will tell you right now it is the most awesome thing in the universe!! Look how snugly Emmett can be but I still have my hands free to get stuff done!! I would recommend this to any of you moms out there!

2 Weeks Old

2010-11-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

2 weeks old!

After his bath, poor little baby was shivering so bad!

As of yesterday Emmett is two weeks old!! The good news is we are all still alive, a little sleepy and wondering when we will get in a routine/normality in our lives but happy and healthy! Emmett has been such a good baby. We have had our rough days and night but overall we he is a good baby. He isn't the best napper during the day but sleeps really well from about 7 pm to 2 am and then has some rough spots from 2 am until I decided to finally call it the start of the day (between 7 and 8 am). He just wants to eat more often then and doesn't want to go to sleep on his own. I was trying so hard to get him on a routine where he ate every 3 hours and didn't sleep right after I fed him. I was trying to follow the baby whispere but Emmett really just has a mind of his own and trying to make him do things just made him really mad so we stopped that. The doctor says not to worry about getting him a schedule and feed him when he is hungry. We have been a much happier family since we started doing that. Sure it is a little frustrating not knowing exactly our routine everyday but he generally follows the same pattern so it is okay. At his appt. today he weighted 7 lbs 13.5 oz and is 20.75 inches long. I can't believe he is getting so big!! Guess I don't have to worry about his eating :)

Halloween adventures

2010-10-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

This is when he was being a panther and sleeping
Cyris and Emmett, poor Cyris thinks he doesn't get any attention but he is doing pretty good with the baby other than that

He was pretty sleepy and feel asleep like his pappy would with his belly poking out

Cyris stole a piece of pumpkin while we were carving them, he ate it and keep looking for more the rest of the night

I don't scoop guts so I just carved Emmett's little pumpkin while Gemma and Greg did the dirty work

Here we are, our first Halloween as a family

A skeleton in a pumpkin

He was so totally out of it when we put him in his costume, he played the part of skeleton quite well.

It has been an adventerous 12 days since he was born. It has been a lot of work and a lot of tears on my part but Greg has been so patient and helpful and my mom has been there to help when Greg was at school and give advice. He is such a cute and sweet baby. He has been so good at night, puts himself back to sleep if he wakes up, eats every 2-4 hours. During the day is a diffrent story. It would be hard to be a baby, just trying to figure everything out and make your body work. He is either eating, trying to sleep (doesn't do so good on the napping) or screaming. I really don't know what to do when he screams so sometimes I cry with him :) We will get it all worked out and hopefully soon be able to actually cuddle and have fun playing instead of being so upset.

Adventures of the baby

2010-10-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

The last two nights have been kinda long ones for everybody. Poor baby boy has tried to sleep, and be a good sleeper but it just wasn't working out. Whenever he was laid down it sounded like he was major congested and when I would hold him on his side to feed him it was the same thing. Me and Greg got to listen to him both two nights try and breath. It was very distracting to all three of ours sleep! I tried like 500 different ways of laying him down to help, elevated, not elevated, swaddled, blanket on top loosely, etc. and nothing would work! At his appt on Monday the doctor said to get a saline mist to put in his nose and use the bulb booger sucker thing but those weren't doing anything for him. We went back to the doctor today and got the good news that he is perfectly healthy, his nasal passages are just so tiny that any little congestion will make it hard to breath out his nose. We were given a nebulizer with saline mist we are to do twice a day for a week to get everything cleared out. When the doctor gave it to him today I was afraid he would scream for the 10 mins it takes to go through all the mist but he fell right asleep :). Other good news is he weights 8 pounds, I can't believe it, he is growing so fast!

2010-10-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Pictures are out of order and are too much work to fix. if that causes problems please respond to the editor. In other news at his 5 day visit to the doctor baby had gained seven ounces and a quarter inch. making the grand totals 7lb 3 oz and 19 3/4 in

1 week old

My best friend

My friends Lynsie and Hadleigh

Dino day with Aunt Gemma

Our first adventure( to the doctor)

Da boys

Grandma and Grandpa Pearce

Bath time

Grandma Koontz

He is here!

2010-10-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

Our baby is here!!! At my appointment on tuesday he recommended getting induced the next day so on Wed the 20th we called the hospital and they said to be there at 7:30 am. By 8:15 I was hooked up the the pitocin, the fluids, the heart rate monitor for the baby, the contractions monitor, and the heart rate monitor. My blood pressure had to be taken every thirty minutes to make sure it didn't spike too high and to make sure the baby responded well to my blood pressure. I was only allowed to be unplugged from everything for 10mins and I had to wheel the iv thing around with all the cords attached that I gave up walking to ease the contractions. I was dilated to a 3 when I first got to the hospital so things were progressing nicely. By about 11:30 my contractions were very close together and getting painful. I had to have Greg or my mom stoking my check to keep my body all relaxed. My mom was so patient and Greg was so sweet coming over every time I needed him so I could stare at him to relax through the contractions. I got a dose of phentonol to help at about 10:30 and that didn't ease the pain of the contractions but made me be able to relax through them. By about 12:30 the contractions were no longer berable. I think I could have gone longer if I had been able to walk around to ease them but when your only option is to sit there during the pain I could no longer do it. By this time I was dilated to a 5. I got momentarily hysterical when the anesthesiologist was taking longer to get to my room then I thought he should but I quickly calmed myself down once that contraction passed. The anesthesiologist (who also breeds goldendoodles :) ) showed up and told me I couldn't move while he put in the epidural. Apparently I impressed him cause I was as still as a statue, even through two contractions. It was now 1:00. The awesome thing about the epidural was I could still move my legs and bottom half and feel the contractions but nothing hurt! At 2:30 when they checked my cervix I was dilated to a 10!!! I waited an hour and then started pushing with the nurse and Greg helping me. Emmett did not like it when I pushed his heart rate would drop below 80 and take about a minute to come back up. I only pushed every third or fourth contraction so that his heart rate would come back up and becasue he was so low and starting to crown. They called the doctor to come over at 3:45 but he didn't show up till about 4:30. He then got everything all ready, I pushed twice and he was here at 4:44 pm on October 20, 2010!!! He was the cutest, maddest little thing ever!! Greg was so excited and my mom was crying and my sister was so happy. I was just happy and trying to see him around the doctor stitching me up. I only had to be cut a little so just had to have a couple of stitches. Emmett weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He had the biggest blue eyes every and just stared around at everything. He didn't fall asleep until around 9:00. I will have to post more later but I will just say my new favorite thing is watching Greg hold and talk to Emmett :)

40 Weeks

2010-10-18T17:29:00.001-07:00

Here is proof that I am still pregnant and wondering when my little baby is going to get here. I know most babies don't usually come on their due dates but he should! :)
Here is me at 40 weeks in a nice picture that doesn't show how sad I am. Emmett can come whenever he wants, we are all ready (our hospital bags are even in the car and the car seat is installed and even been checked by a state car seat checker person to be sure it is all safe).

Tomorrow is mine and Greg's three year anniversary!! Three years that is such a long time, it certainly doesn't feel that long. A lot of amazing things have happened in the past year. We got our little puppy Cyris who isn't so little anymore, I graduated with my BS and started my masters, we bought a car, we got pregnant, Greg graduated with his BS and started his masters, and may, just maybe we will have our baby....

A Cyris

2010-10-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

For anyone who thinks they really want to take Cyris off our hands now is your lucky chance. With a baby coming soon certain things just had to go. That is false but he did get placed in he box for the picture

39 weeks and ready to be done

2010-10-12T11:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was officially one week until my due date! I am so ready to be done!! This week I am doing all of my assignments and making a study guide for my test so that the week after he gets here the only thing I will have to do is pay attention to him :). The doctor wasn't as promising as I would have liked yesterday. Still 1.5 cm and 80% effaced just like last week. His words were, well you have a lot more contractions to get you there. My next appointment is on Tuesday and he said if Emmett isn't here by then he will induce me. He doesn't' want to wait a week like he normally would since my blood pressure has been boarder line for the past 6 weeks. I don't really want to be induce I just want him to come one his own sometime this weekend. Too bad you can't just tell them to come when you are ready.

38 weeks!!

2010-10-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

13 more days, I can do it right? 13 days isn't that long.... It is crazy to think this baby is actually almost here. I am excited to go through labor and even more excited to meet my little man. To make the time seem to go faster I am staying busy with school work and getting the house ready. Yesterday for whatever reason everything had to be washed. The dog was forced into the bath (very funny, he hates bathes), I washed the couches, cleaned all the dogs toys, did the laundry, and vacuumed. Eventually Greg made me stop and sit down or who knows what else would have been cleaned.

37 weeks!!!

2010-09-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Only 21 days left!! I am getting so excited! Our bags are packed and only a couple more things to buy. I have a baby shower on Saturday with Greg's family so that will be fun. At my doctors appt. today he said I am 70% effaced and 1 cm dialated. Yahoo! Baby is head down and at a -2 station and heartbeat sounded good. Only problem is my blood pressure which is still high. Have to go back on friday to get that checked. At least I am almost done so won't have to worry about the blood pressure much longer.

36 weeks and Cyris' first b-day

2010-09-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well we have made it to 36 weeks!! At my doctors appointment yesterday he said I am not dialted but am 50% effaced. My blood pressure was kind of high so I am suppoe to call in if I wake up really swollen to make sure everything is okay. Other than that everything is fine, baby's heart beat was strong and he is head down. I made Greg come with me in case he needed to hold my hand while beign examined (the joys of being a woman) but I was brave and didn't even tense up! After that I feel a little more confident in my ability to have a natural birth. I almost have the hospital bags all pack and we have all the important baby gear so Emmett, we are ready for you!

I was thinking last night about when me and Greg first found out we were pregnant. For like the entire year before that I was obsessed about having a baby and really just wanted to graduate so I could be a mom. Then Greg and I had the impression that I should go to grad school. I was really upset beacsue that would mean no baby for another year or two. I finally got my act togther and applied for grad school but was still upset about the baby thing. In January I finally accepted Heavenly Fathers time frame and was perfectly fine with waiting to have a baby. A month later we found out we were pregnant. I was thinking are you freaking kidding me, really, seriously! I was of course happy to be pregnant but I wonder if it had happend even 2 months before I would have been freaking out and actually enjoyed the whole experiance of being pregnant more. Oh well. It doesn't matter now. I love this little guy and can't wait for him to be here, even if it is like a year before I expected.

Cyris turned one on the 19th!! He is no longer a puppy! We had a dog party for him complete with a dog cake.

this is sunday, the day after the dog party, he was so tired. He got the kong as his b-day present and when it rolled away from him he just laid there and stared at it. Poor sleepy boy!

On satruday night we had Remi and Roxy and there people over for a dog party complete with a dog cake, all the dogs were very excited to eat it. I have never seen food disaper so fast!

Here is Remi, Roxy, and Cyris playing in the backyard

And a close up of the dog cake. It was a peanutbutter and honey cake. Complete with peanuts for the words.

2010-09-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting at the library where I should be doing research for my term paper in geophysics but it sounds boring and I don't really understand my topic anyway so here I am on my blog.

School is in full swing. This semester is one of the best so far. Me and Greg both only have 6 credits and no class on Tuesdays or Thursdays. We don't even have to be to school until 9:30 when we do have class. Everything is great so far. Of curse once Emmett gets here everything will be completely different but we will just go with the flow and work that out when he gets here.

Only 33 more days until the little monsters due date. I am really hoping he comes sometime between the 15th and the 18th. I hope he doesn't decided to come really late. I would cry if that happened! Earlier would be bad too since I have a bunch of assignments I am doing early so I don't have to worry about them once he comes. Once Em is here I will take a week off class and then my mommy will watch him while I go in for my two classes. I will only be gone for about 2.5-3 hours at a time and will only have to go in twice to school on Mondays. It really worked out pretty good this semester. The only thing I a really worried about is they say if you are breastfeeding to no give them a bottle for 3-4 weeks but he really won't have a choice, I have to be gone for class and if he is hungry he will have to take a bottle of pumped milk and still breastfeed. He better just be able to breastfeeding cause we cannot afford formula.

Cyris turns one year old on Sunday so he officially won't be a puppy anymore. We are going to have a little party with he golden-doodle friends complete with a peanut butter cake for the dogs.

in around six weeks our dog becomes last years model

2010-09-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

this is how precious the little guy is. he is shaggy and snuggly and a little obnoxious at times. his only problem is that it about six weeks there will be a baby taking up some of his attention and play time. but until then he is all we have so for the next six weeks we will share how great of a dog he really is. After that let the baby stuff begin. Until then long live Cyris, king of the house master of our domain.

When he was smaller he forgot to slow down before he slid on the kitchen floor and hit the door.

his newest trick is to bury toys in the couch for storage, not to mention he can actually hide behind the cushion very well and if you don't know where to look you can't find him.

2010-08-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Emmett's crib, the bedding is still being made, it is a cowboy quilt
My glider!! I love this thing and sometimes nap in it. The glider is going to have a cover on it of the cream and brown cow print so it looks all western

we didn't buy a changing table so here is the changing station

The extent of my crafting ability due to patience

The only piece of furniture we bought in this room is the glider. For using furtinure we got from others the room matches pretty good. Maybe the next kid will get matching furniture

School starts on monday!! I can not wait!! Tomorrow and friday I have orientation things and meetings to be to so today is my last lazy day, thank goodness. This summer has been very long but I guess that is how it is when you literally have nothing to do for 3 months :). I love the fall, it is my favorite time of year. The whole exitment of back to school, the crisp days, the beautiful colors, the cozy sweaters and this year our little Emmett!!

Emmett gave us quite a scare last night and this morning. I had some pretty bad cramping yesterday and then last night was having contrations about 10 mins apart. I called the doc and he said to get somethign to eat, get some fluids and relax and if that didn't make then stop to go into labor and delivery to be checked out. Trying to relax in that situation was not the easiest. The contrations did stop so I only had one an hour but eveytime I would get up in night I would have one. I was getting scared thinking what if I have to be on bed rest or what if he comes 8 weeks early, ahhhh! This morning has been much better so little Emmett, please stay in there for 8 more weeks okay!

This is what happens when i post things without Heidi knowing I might get in trouble. the Zebras are for Heidi

2010-07-31T19:21:00.001-07:00

So Heidi doesn't know about this and i kind of want to see how long it takes her to notice that i updated a few things on the blog. Before anything else here is what Heidi is most concerned about and that would be the belly picture.

And now on to other things. Most people like to check for pictures of babies and kids and as far as that goes look at the picture above or continue on and see the puppy fun. Our so called puppy isn't so puppy anymore and here i give you proof if any is needed. here he is when we first got him and compare this to a more recent photo. I am only in both pictures to be used as a scale to compare puppy growth, and he only acts like a puppy and does not look one any more.

This next picture illustrates the going ons of this past week. Heidi insisted the dog smells bad or was dirty and needed a bath so he could sleep on the bed with her in the morning. Against my will and better knowing we went ahead and gave him bath and a few hours later he ran played and dug in the mud. making the dogs mother very irritated, and it got even funnier when he did it again the next day, this would be a perfect time to insert a picture of angry Heidi but i don't have one of those and would risk losing my life for posting that instead i substitute a muddy puppy face.

Some pictures

2010-07-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Greg and I are taking a series of birthing classes at the hospital to get ready for this baby. We have been to 2 so far and they are really great. I have been practicing my breathing and relaxation techniques from this classes so I can be as prepared (as much as you can) to have this baby naturally. It may sound crazy but that is what I want to do.

Here is me at 20 weeks

Here is me at 26 weeks (not the most attractive picture)

We went to Arches in May with some of our friends and family. It was fun after you got over the heat and the 60 mile an hour gusts blowing sand everywhere. The nights were the most adventerous. I brought an air mattress since I was ~16 weeks pregnant and didn't think sleeping on the ground sounded very comfy. I ended up on the ground anyway. I thought my air mattress had a hole but I just didn't screw the cap on right. The next night, with my air mattress fully blown up and not leaking, I thought the tent was going to blow over with all the wind gusts. We went to sleep in the car since the noise was impossible to sleep to but suprise the car battery was dead and it make this awful clicking noise every 2 seconds. I ened up back in the tent, it was a very long night.

Here is a picture of Greg at graduation, unfotantly my camera ran out of battery so I didn't get anymore pictures. His sister did though so sometime I will have to remember to get them from her. He finally got his diploma in the mail so he is official now!

Pearce going ons

2010-07-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Another picturelss post, I am sorry! Lets see what have we been up to.... Well Greg has been working on campus with the irrigation crew so he is at work from 6:30 until 4:00. Not the most excitingjob but it brings home the mula! He got a dollar raise yesterday so that is exciting :). Greg is such a hard worker. I spend most of my day pretty bored. I work like 20 hours a month a Levens but on the days I don't have a shift I just sit around and fold laundry and sleep and well mostly sleep. My excuse is that once the baby is here I won't be able to sleep whenever I want so I better do it now. I love sleep. I have always been this way. On breaks from school I usually wake up around 10 do something for like 3 hours then take a 3 or 4 hour nap and go to bed around 10. That is how most of my christmas breaks have been spent. But no more! Soon this little monster will be here and I will be too busy loving him to sleep :). The most exciting part of the day is when Greg gets home from work. Cyris knows when it is time for daddy to be home (yes we are some of those crazy dog people that we are Cryis mom and dad). All I have to say is Cyris, dad is coming home and he perks up and likes to go outside to meet him. Other than sleeping and poopy scooping (3 dogs produce a lot of waste) I have been working on the baby's room. I have washed all his clothes and organized them. I have started decorating and we have purchased the strollar, carseat, and travel crib/bassinet.

Greg has officially been accepted into grad school. YAY Greggy!!! He has a meeting today with his advisor to figure out his class schedule and what he needs to take over the next 2 years etc...Also Greg is waiting to hear back about a job he applied to. It is basically the same thing he is doing now but would include benifits and it is contracted with the school so he would get half tuition! That would mean 3 years instead of 2 to get his masters but he would actually have a job during the school year that wasn't Taco Time or something, he would have insurance and we would be able to put all the money he made into savings to pay off student loans or have a down payment on a house when we graduated!! We should know in the next week! At least he got into grad school so even if he doesn't get the job we will still know what he is going to do.

Its a..........

2010-06-22T09:42:00.001-07:00

BOY!!!!!!! We are naming him Emmett David Pearce. I finally took some pics of my belly but my sister has my camera again. I have been getting Emmett's room put together. Greg and Cyris set up the crib (you can imagine how helpful the dog was....) and I started washing his clothes. We already have a lot of clothes as my aunt was getting rid of all her boys baby stuff, jackpot! I have decided to decorate his room cowboy. We have a rocking sheep in there and cyris is scared to death of it, it is hilarious! I have started to feel Emmett moving. He isn't too wiggly yet so I regularly poke him, which earns me lots of comments about how he is going to have a bad disposition when he comes out, whatever!

I can never think of titles....

2010-05-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking the other day that I should take a picture of my baby belly but I couldn't find my camera. I discovered last night it is because my sister has it, she has had it since spring break! Silly sister! I should get it from her for Greg's graduation on Saturday. I am so excited that Greg is graduating!!!

So I feel like I have been pregnant for an eternity. I am excited I am having a baby I just wish it didn't take forever to get them here. This weeks mark 16 weeks pregnant. Before I was pregnant I always thought how I would love being pregnant and how exciting it would be to have a life growing inside of me. So far I have just felt starving 24/7 and nauseous in the evenings. Greg is probably so tired of me saying how sick I feel or tired I am. I use to love food. My day was planned around all the delicious food I was going to eat. Now I do not enjoy eating, not even dessert. All I want is some ice water and coke. If I could survive off of water and coke I would. The only food item I can think of that even sounds remotely tasty is fried rice.

I really do like this baby and I am so excited for it to come I just want to feel somewhat normal again and be able to feel the baby move. I hope once I find out what I am having and I can feel the little monster move I will find this whole experience enjoyable and amazing.

2010-04-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally come to Cache Valley!! Of course I spend most of my time indoors but it is nice to look out the window and see the green grass, the sun shining and people everywhere! Cyris has loved the warm weather beacuse he gets to go on longer walks :). So lets see, what new and exciting things are happen...oh my dad got his new assingment. He gets to move to DC and do pentagon/president security. My mom said no way am I living there, I am moving to Utah, see you when you get done lol. My parents bought a house in Mendon and has an apartment thing in the basement so we are moving in. I said I would never move back in with my parents or my inlaws but it just works out perfect this way. My mom and sister won't be all alone, Cyris will have a backyard and the two pomoranians to play with and he won't have to be in his kennel all the time, and maybe the best part free daycare! Me and Greg will also be able to save some money as rent will be cheap :).

Other exciting things, Greg took the GRE and got awesome scores. He has also had really good grades this last semester so will be completing his application for grad school soon. Even more exciting is that he graduates in 17 days!

I am now 14 weeks and am in my second trimester! The sickness should go away soon, right? I haven't enjoyed the whole experience since I get sick everynight and am starving. No matter how much I eat feel like my stomach is going to turn itself inside out! It takes forever to get babies here! I wish the baby could be all cooked and ready to come out like next week! I had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and the Doc said everything looks perfect. I have my next appoinment next wed. and am excitied to find out what is going on in there. I haven't felt the baby yet. I really want to so I know everything is okay and so being sick can be worth it lol. I am hoping once I feel the baby move or see the 20 week ultrasound I can start to feel a connection. Right now I just feel...well I mean I like the baby and all but I don't feel a love for it yet, maybe because it doesn't feel like there is really a baby in there. I am sure it will come through I just hope sooner than later.

Valentines Weekend Suprise!!!

2010-02-23T14:03:00.000-08:00

On the Friday of Valentines weekend me and Greg got a very tiny surprise (One with a big impact though). An addition to the Pearce family will be arriving sometime around Oct. 18th. We are very excited and very surprised!! This little addition will be either an Emmett or a Chloe, we will find out in May

2010-02-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! This is one of our most exciting Valentines Days ever! We bought a new car for 3000 dollars on Friday and yesterday Greg's parents helped us pay for new tires and an alingment. Now the car is all ready to go. It is a 2003, red Impala. We had to get a new car in order for Cyris and all his stuff to fit. Now I will drive the escort and Greg will get the Impala. The other exctiting thing is we did our taxes this weekend and are getting back over 2000 dollars!!! That will help us pay off our car!! Here is a picture of our new car

2010-02-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing new has really happened but school is progressing so that is a good thing :). The fifth week has started and soon the snow will melt and it will be spring! I spent my morning looking for dental insurance, very exciting I know. I actually found a good plan through vantage care. Soon me and Greg will have clean and healthy teeth. Right now I am writing this instead of doing a very frustraiong geophysics lab. I will never ever be a geophysicist. If any of that stuff is needed for my job I will simply hire someone to do it. Greg has officially decided to go to grade school in the fall. In two year and 3 months we will be a house full of folks with masters degrees, paid a lot of money for them, and know a little more than we do now.

2010-01-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Here is an update. I really do mean to write on this more often but no internet at home and I am not at school as much as I use to be.

Lets see...Oh yes so I graduated on Dec. 12. Yay me! I then spent my christmas break hanging out with family and doing absolutely nothing. It was fun! School then started and I entered as a grauadte student. I have 3 classes this semester (9 credits). I have a seminar, Techniques of gorundwater, and Geophysics. I also TA the structure lab, which is the class I disliked the most...I am suppose to help the students in the lab and I have to go ask the profssor all the time, the students probobly think I am so stupid...oh well. I am not a fan of my classes at all this semester but just need to make it though to may when I can start field work, that will be fun! You know what the first week of class I was pissed that I was still in school. As I said I do not like any of my classes, I could be working, getting ready to have a baby, etc... but if I wasn't in school I would not be making as much money working in town as I do as a TA, I wouldn't have health insuranse so therefore no baby, I would be extremely board so therefore I really am suppose to be in school. Heavenly Father really does know what is best, and he is very patient...I am sure he is sick of me questioning the grad school desicion.

This is Gregs last semester as an undergrad! We are not sure what he is going to do when he graduates May 8th. He might get an internship for the summer then either go to grad school or get a job. It is very up oin the air right now. Heavenly Father will take care of us so I am not as concerned as I would be otherwise.

Cyris is the funniest, cutest puppy ever! He is huge now! In the 2 1/2 months we have had him he has gained ~25 pounds and tripled in size.
I figured he is a pretty smart puppy so he should be able to teach himself some tricks....he just chewed on the book. He is good at the tricks he knows and eager to learn new ones for treats. He is a sucker for treats. When we are eating he will sit there are randomly do his tricks in hope we will give him some of our food. It is hilarious!

This is just after a bath. He is so funny when he gets a bath. He also likes to curl up on this pillow even though he doesn't really fit.

He likes to hid under things especially when he knows he has something he shouldn't. Here he is opeing the mail for me.

We had a goldendoodle party last week. Aren't they so cute!! It is Cyris, Remi, and Roxy.

We love out little guys Cyris and I have decided (not yet comvinced Greg) that in ~2 years we are going to get another goldendoddle.

Pround Mommy of a...puppy!

2009-12-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

So 3 weeks ago we pick up our baby....a furry goldendoodle named Cyris! At field camp there was a mastif named Cyris, he was a hoot, so in honor of Cyris the Mastif we have Cyris the goldendoodle. He is soooo cute! He is also a little monster (he loves to chew shoes). The first night we had him he cried and cried so I slept in the crate with him (Greg was threatining to sell him). The second night he was in his crate alone and we slept on the air matress next to him. He cried all night. At this point I was thinking, ah what have I done! Now everything is great. He is quite at night when he goes in his crate. He knows 3 1/2 tricks, sit, lay, shake, and roll over (kind of). He look mostly like a retriver, only his ears are curly oh and his tail....so cute! He hops around and sits in your lap. He is such a good little puppy and I love him so much!! Here are some pictures of when we first got him. He is twice this size now.

2009-11-05T17:57:00.001-08:00

Okay so I feel me and Greg are pretty good with money. Well I have realized maybe not. In the past 3 months we have spent ~3000 dollars on things that were not part of our monthly budget. And guess what now I want to buy a dog that costs 500 dollars. How does one decided that they should not spend money? Hum.... thankfully for us we do not do the credit card thing so even though we have spent a lot of money it was all our money. Darn what to do....it all comes down to me not being patient and wanting things now. Let me review what we have spent this money on. Going out to dinner (was spoiled at field camp by not having to cook), our 2 year anniversary, a new computer (our old one died), a new wedding band for Greg, my pearl ring (my graduation, birthday, and Christmas present), and well now thinking about the dog.....ahhhh, Ali you need to help me!

2 YEARS!!!

2009-10-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Wow Greg and I have been married for 2 years as of Monday October 19th 2009. We were married in the Logan Temple on a beautiful fall day in 2007. The past 2 years have been so wonderful. Greg is so good to me, he is so sweet, keeps me on my toes, and loves me. I love him so much. Here are some of our wedding pictures.
For our anniversary we stayed 2 nights at the anniversary in in Logan. We stayed in Juliet's Balcony and Nefertiti's Court. It was a lot of fun!! Unfortunately Greg and I do not have a working camera hence the reason there are never pictures posted. We are getting one for Christmas though!

I was thinking of all the exciting things that have happened and all the things that are going to happen by our 3 year anniversary. Heather will have a baby (my second cousin or first cousin once removed?), I will graduate in December, Greg will graduate in May, We will welcome a new niece/nephew, See our dear friends Mikey and Whitney married, maybe have our own little one on the way, have a puppy dog, and have made a million more memories with each other, our friends, and family!

Going ons

2009-10-06T16:49:00.001-07:00

So some good news and some bad news. Last week Greg's grandma passed away. Today my great-grandma pasted away. It was time for both of them though. They are no longer in pain. One problem, are my professors gonna believe me when I have to miss class for another funeral in a one week time span? We'll see....

Good news, cause being sad is, well sad, Greg talked to his counsler today about maybe retaking some classes to get better grades but she said he was fine, so that means he will graduate in May!!! YAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAYYAY!!!!!!!!!

I should really take some pictures and post them huh?

2009-09-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

Well I am posting again, amazing huh!! Life was crazy this week. Greg and I get to school at 7:00 and haven't left campus before 5:30 the past 3 days. Monday there was a seminar I had to go to then a geo club meeting and then I spent 5 hours in the OSL lab cleaning seives so didn't get to bed until 2 in the morning on mondaynight, well it would have been tuesday morning actually. Tuesday I had to help a girl in my lab make up a lab and then stay and fix my quantitative assingment. Wedsnaday I had to set up a booth for geo club and then make the lab exam for my lab class. With all of this I did not have time to figure out how to do my GIS lab so I turned it in incomplete!! I have never turned something in incomplete in college, it feels awful!! I am hoping to do the last part of it for a 10% deduction. Ah I feels stupid for not completeing my lab!! THis weekend and next week are going to be just as busy but maybe I will find time to make up the lab.

2009-09-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Look I am posting something after 2 months!! Okay so summer has ended. After I got back from field camp Greg and I just spent the rest of the summer working. I could not wait for school to start, it was a long and boring 2 months. Now that school is started my days are booked from 7 am to 10pm and that is why I haven't updated. Life is busy but good. I have 19 credits this semester, have a senior thesis to write, 3 lab sections to teach, a club to be president of, and a house to clean. I have a lot to do! WOW! Greg is busy with 14 credits and a luner landing project he is working on for NASA with his design class. He had a lot of scary homework and is up late trying to do it all. I love my man, he works so hard but still has time to be with me and make me feel special!

We had to buy a new computer on Saturday cause ours went kaput. I will post the pics we took at the zoo this summer and some of my field work so that my blog is actually exciting!

Field Camp Summery

2009-06-29T09:46:00.001-07:00

Here is an update of what I was doing at field camp. I will break it down by weeks. Now Scott will have something to read at work!

Week 1
Katie and I arrived in SD and got lost driving to Ranch A, the place we would spend the next five weeks.
I met my roomies Zoe and Emma and field work started right away. This weeks main project: a satratigraphic column of Ranch A Amphitheater and Thompson Gulch. This was tues and weds.
Here is the Ranch A Amphitheater. It took 9 hours to measure the section and collect data on the rock types.
Here are all of us Geo-nerds at Thompson Gulch. Another 9 hour day
Thursday was a driving field day. We drove around to various rock outcrops to become familiar with the diffrent units. The Pahasapa Limestone has the coolest name by far. Some how my name at field camp became Princess Pahasapa (Thanks Zoe, hehe).
Here's me touching the Great Unconformity. A quarter of earths time(~1.5-2 billion years) is missing in between these two rock types (the lower pink one is a metamorphic phyllite of the Precambrian and the upper brown one is the Deadwood Sandstone of the Cambrian).
Here is the Homestake Goldmine. The brown line things are a Rhyollite intrusion. The intrusion turns from a dike to a sill (would you call it a dill or a sike, hehe!!)
At the end of the day we hiked up Look out Mt. to see the view. Look at all the Geo nerds!!
Friday and Saturday are doom days. These are when projects are prepared. This week a Strat column and a 1 page paper about the Pahasapa Limestone. Doesn't sound to bad except the Strat column took ~24 hours to prepare and ink. Ahhhh

Week 2
This weeks project: Map the rock units of Green Mountain (more like Green Hill if you know what real moutains look like, lol). Green Mountain exists due to an igneous intrusion ~55 million years ago (recent in geologic time).

I spent 32 hours this week running up and down this thing to map it. I had tree stumps rock outcrops memorized by thurdays, I could give you a giuded tour of this mountain I knew it so well.
Here's me in my geologist get up.
The cows would follow us around. There was a lot of cool wildlife: deer, owls, different birds, green racers, rattlesnakes, elk, mountian lions (saw there poo and mauled deer so knwe they were around), antelope horny toads.

The reoprt this week was a field map a final map a cross section and an eight page paper!

Week 3
Project: Map the rock types of Crow Peak.
Me collecting data on that there rock outcrop

On weds we did the four mile hike up to the peak and it was raining like crazy and there was mist so you couldn't see a darn thing. Spend 5 hours with the hike up and then down and didn't even get field work done, that was a very cold, wet and annoying day.
The view on thurday was beautiful, here's me and Zoe.
Here's Emma, me and Zoe after we finished our project on thurday. Yes we lost our minds, geology 24/7 will do that to you.
I am pretty much ganster.

Week 4
The worst week because all it did was rain contsantly. Mapping in the rain sucks, so do metamorphic rocks which is what we were mapping. All the metemorphic rocks look the same in the rain so it was basically guess work.
Here we all are on monday getting an intro to metamorphic rocks. We are all lined up drawing a sketch opf the outcrops, we look like dorks, hehe.

I got sick of listening to the pofessors lecture so I caught a frog instead. No pics were taken the rest of the week due to the crappy weather of rain and hail. Not a fun week

Week 5
There is an end to hell!! I thought I would be stuck there forever!!! Only one more week. This week we went to Reva Gap and camped for two nights. My allergies killed me the while time, when I was wearing my sandles at the campfire I walked though some grass I was allergic to and me feet got little bumps all over them which the next day started pussing and then were itchiy and swollen and hurting until firday. Luckly the senery was pretty and the field area was a lot smaller then the past four weeks.
Beautiful, nothing more needs to be said.
Me and Zoe were parteners that week.
My geology glamor shot.

There is my summery. Hiking 32 hours a week with a huge prjoect every week, no cell phone reception, no internet, and little sleep it was good experiance. I learned a lot but would not want to repeat it. Now the next big step is graduation. December, whoot whoot as my minnesota roomates would say!!

The Friendly Cop

2009-05-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

First post of my field camp adventures. Today me and my friend Katie drove to my parents house in Wyoming. Tomorrow is the final leg of the jouney to South Dakota. I have never driven on a road trip but I am pretty sure I am now initiated. On my way down a hill in the great barren state of Wyoming, I was going 89 mph in the 75 mph zone. The wonderful Wyoming state trooper pulled me over to see how I was doing and to give me a speeding ticket, my kind donation to the Wyoming transportation department totals $130. They had better spend it well. Darn troopers! I think the worst part about getting the ticket is having to tell Greg. Opps. Well I better get to bed, another 350 miles to drive tomorow.

2009-05-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well the semester is over!! My grades were all good and now I am on the last week of freedom before I leave to South Dakota for 5 weeks of filed camp! I am excited to go, the only downfall is that my Gregory will be he in Utah. I am going to miss him like crazy!!! He will be getting a call from me every night while I am gone! Today's assignment: Finish my research poster to present at GSA. My research is so exciting! I won't bore you with the details but there are these sand dunes in Idaho and they have alternating layers of sand and soil. From this I have been able to contsruct a record of drought on the Sanke River Plain for the past 3000 years, and my resutls match up with climate records from fires, tree rings and other dunes in the midwest!! Whoo! I will keep everyone posted on my geology excursins in SD!

2009-04-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I haven't written in a while. I guess I feel like there isn't really anything in my life interesting enough to other to write about. It is finals week, thank goodness! I am so ready to move on from my classes right now. I did really like any of my geology classes this semester and not sure if i really learned anything either. I am sure I did learn something but nothing I find interesting I guess. Only field camp and one more semester to go!!

On Sunday I was having a pity fest for myself. One thing I dread about Sundays is gong to church and being surrounded by all the cute babies and everyone talking about babies. I love to play with the little kids and to see them so sweet and cute and they just make me so happy. I want my little babies. I want to hold them and watch them grow and the thought that I won't get to until I am done with grad school breaks my heart. How can I last 3 more years like this! I cired a lot this last sunday about it. I have cried about it most sudays for the past couple of months. I am crying about it right now. I am trying to accept my curretn path and be grateful to Heavenly Father for the wonderful oppornunity and belssing to go to grad school, everything is falling into place and working out perfectly for grad school that I know that is where I am suppose to be. I do not want to go to grad school, I scared to death. I don't feel I know enough to go. I just want to be at home, holing my sweet baby, sing to him, rock him and tell him how much I love him.

Almost convinced

2009-04-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

I think I have almost convinced Greg to get a puppy. He keeps saying when you have you puppy blah blah blah. It is going well! Unfortunately I can't think much about puppies or anything fun until my freaking term paper is written. I have 3 pages out of 15-20, yay me!! Ugh, I really am dreading Sunday when I will spend all day writing it. It really isn't that bad except I would rather sleep in and enjoy the fact that it is Sunday. I better get use to writing with grad school and all.

A puppy please

2009-04-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

My new mission in life-- convince Greg we need a puppy. I found the type of dog I want and found a breeder. There is a Basenji breeder in Pocatello ID. Basenjis are african dogs. They are one of the 3 primative breeds left. They only breed once a year (in the fall) so I would get my puppy in December!! These dogs are so awesome, they don't bark, they yoddle. They are hunting dogs, they are mischevious, they are intelligent, they are dang cute, they are active, and they like to be a part of the pack, the family. I have made arrangments to be able to bring the puppy to my grad office several times a week (at least while it is a puppy, and they need to be walked like 3-6 times a day.) Oh I am so excited. In like 3 weeks we are going to visit the breeder so that will hopefully help convince Greg!!

A picture!

2009-03-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

Here is just me being crazy and then my freaking hot sister Nicole. I am so excited she is coming to USU in the fall!

I survived

2009-03-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well I took my dreaded test am I am still alive, yes even after all of the test I have taken in my life I still expect them to kill me. One might someday but at this point it will probably be a really long and ugly paper that does the job. Grad school, what was I thinking, I hate writing papers, hehe. I am getting excited to talk to my professor about my grad project. I hope to do paleontology stuff! Way cool, I know. hey someday I am going to post pictures on my blog, that would be pretty exciting. Here is another random thought since that is what this post is, I bought a purple zebra purse. So awesome!!

2009-03-25T10:03:00.000-07:00

It is now the last week of March, and so of course it is snowing. Ah spring weather, I don't know if spring actually exists, it just keeps snowing and then one day mother nature decides to get warm and roast us all to death. I wonder if other places have spring or if it is like cache valley everywhere. Since all the gross snow has melted this new snow does look really pretty. I don't mind this snow so much, spring would be nice but oh well.

Today was one of those day where you wake up and you dread the entire day. I have an optical mineralogy test tomorrow and I cannot answer a single question on the practice test. What am I going to do? I read the chapter the test is on, and didn't learn anything and oh I am just done for. I really don't like these tests he gives because you basically have all the questions before hand (which is good) but then you just have to memorize like 6 pages of info. luckily this is the last test I will take like this besides the final. After a whole year of Mineralogy and then Optical mineralogy I am so done!

dying?

2009-03-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well it is now day 4 of being sick and I still don't feel any better. I had to beg Greg to let me come with him to campus because I cannot stand my house anymore! I am so tired and my body hurts so bad but laying down is out of the questions because my nose plugs up and I can't breath. I feel high on all the drugs I have taken the past 2 days and moving (walking around, bending over, etc) just takes too much energy. I missed 3 days of school last week and now have 5 hours of lab, a 4 day field trip, an a quiz to make up. I missed work and don't see how if I still feel this miserable it will be better by monday. I just want to cry but then that makes everything hurt worst. My house is a mess and I can't even clean it!!

A quick question

2009-03-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

How do I follow other peoples blogs. Some have a little link on their page saying follow this blog but others don't, like Amy Trees and Jes Trinkellas? How do I get to follow them?

The World is Piling Up

2009-03-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

Wow so much for a organized, stress free semester! I was realizing there are only like 7 weeks of class left and I have to spend all of Spring Break studying for the GRE, then write a 20 research paper for geochem, and get my poster presentation ready for GSA. GSA is a meeting where all the fancy geologist meet to show off their research and they will all be coming by my poster and asking me questions! Yikes! I really need to show that I know what I was doing with my research project! Of my, there are alot of big things to do, and not enough time to do them in!!

Upset

2009-03-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

I am not one to get upset at people. I really am an easy going person and pretty chipper. Well last week I got really upset at one of my friends over some silly test. I was upset because I felt she had hurt me. Now I feel pretty silly for getting upset although I still think it wasn't wrong to be upset over, just not as upset as I was. Anyways this doesn't really make sense probably but I just needed to rant.

Graduate School

2009-03-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well I am heading off to Grad school. It is funny how Heavenly Father gets you to do what you need to do. This Grad school decision was practically forced on me. I had talked to my Professor about Grad school in January and was like hey thats a good idea but I just want to be a mommy now. Apparently it is not my time to be a mommy yet. Heavenly Father has a different plan then what I was hoping for. Darn it! Oh well Grad school will be exciting and I really will learn a lot! Both my parents and Greg's parents and Greg have been really supportive. My dad couldn't stop saying how proud of me he was and how wonderful grad school is. I am almost done with the application process. My department is planning on me coming so unless I completely bomb the GRE I should be good to go! I am really sacred for the GRE. I take it on March 17th. luckily I will have all of Spring Break to study. I plan on putting 30 hours in. I am not sure what my grad project will be, maybe it will be geomporhology and OSL like my senior thesis is now or maybe I will do Sedimentary stuff. Either way I am off to Grad school weather I like it or not. I am mostly excited though, just a little sad I have to wait until 2011 to be a mommy. My plan is to graduate May of 2011.

Term Paper

2009-02-22T20:21:00.001-08:00

Well the fun of the semester has ended. I have to spent the reset of the semester writing a 20 page paper about DNAPL contamination and removal. Today I started my research and so far all I know is that the Air Force is primarily reasonable, lol, well as long as they are cleaning it up I suppose it is all good. I have never written a paper that was more than 7 papge long. This 20 page min is text only, I have to write 20 pages of text! Once I add figures and refrences it will probobly be liek 30-40 papes! Ah! That is one determent to Grad school, you have to write like 5 term paper a semester plus your bazillion page thesis to gradute. No thanks!

2009-02-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well I am going to try and update this at least once a week. This past week so exciting things happened. My parents made a suprise visit to Logan from Cheyenne todo some house shopping. My dad is going to air war college for a year in Alabama and my mom and sister do not want to go to Alabama. Since my sister Gemma needs to be somewhere for two years to finish high school, my sister Nikki is coming out to USU for school, and me and Greg live in Logan too, my parents decided to buy a house in Cache Valley! They found a house in Amalga, complete with castle play room with slide for the grandbabies, hot tube for Nikki, room for all my moms antuque furtiture, room for my dad to build on, and space for horses for Gemma!! They are moving our here n June and will be here for 2 years!! We will all miss my daddy while he is in Alabama but he will enjoy his time being a student again, he deseres a break from securinty commander.

Other exciting news, only 298 days until I graduate!! I know that is silly that I have a count down already. hehe. Well that is all for today, I can't be too late to class!

2008-12-31T21:16:00.000-08:00

Alright here is my second post!! YAY!! Happy New Year everyone!! Well my background looks a little retarted with the double polka dots, hopefully I can fix it somehow. I am going to try and put some pics on and all that. I am working on it!

2008-12-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Alright, I have finally created a blog. I really have no idea how to do all this so everyone will have to be patient till I figure it all out.