Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

From our little pumpkin

We are proud to introduce...

Marta Gretel Snow. She was born Thursday the 21st of October @ 3:40 in the afternoon. She was a HEALTHY 8lbs. 6 oz. and she was 20 inches long. She is quiet an angel. We are so glad that she is finally here!

Thursday was quiet a day. Not only was I worried about the whole labor and delivery thing, I was also so worried about my little Ella and how she would deal with this new arrival. I had arranged the Tuesday before with my Doctor to be induced that Thursday. So, Thursday morning we left for the hospital and were supposed to be there by 9:00. We arrived in time and by 10:00 that morning I was all IV'd up and ready to go. Brennan hung out with me for about an hour and then my mom came to join the fun. It was a good thing she came because as some of you know my sweet husband can NOT do hospitals. One of my favorite parts of the day is when Brennan purposely went to get lunch because they were going to give me my epidural. To make sure he missed the whole thing he texted me and said "Am I clear to enter?" The nurses got a kick out of him.

Anyways, after I was all hooked up and had my epidural it was about noon. Then the waiting game began. I would watch the monitor and would notice that my contractions were getting more frequent and stronger and stronger. During this time my dad and sister Gretel came to join the party. They hate being left out. the nurse came and went and kept me posted on my progression. Eventually, my water finally broke when I was at a five.

(Brennan was freezing at the hospital so he wore my robe to keep warm)

As some of you are aware, when you are in labor they have you sit half of your body on a pillow so you are not laying totally flat. Well, around 1:30 I started feeling contractions on only my left side of my abdomen, and it REALLY hurt. So, I called in the nurse and come to find out that gravity causes the epidural to not work sometimes. She pulled out the pillow from my left side and moved it to my right side. I painfully had to wait for about 30 minutes for gravity to numb my left side. Once it finally kicked in, life was once again good.

(Coming home for the first time)

Brennan, my parents, sister, and I continued to wait. It was good everyone was there. We laughed and told stories while we waited for the doctor to come check me. Finally, around 3:15 the Doctor came in and informed us he had been helping with an emergency c-section and he was going to check me to see where I was. Well, suprised he said I was at a 10+ and said let's get this going. They quickly got things ready for the delivery, Brennan quickly left the room, I pushed twice, and she was born.

We (Marta and I) had a nice time at the hospital for 2 days, but by the end I started getting very anxious to get home and to see Ella. We left Saturday as soon as I got the O.K. to leave. When we got home it was quiet interesting. To quickly sum up those first couple of days at home, Ella didn't like her new baby sister. She didn't like me on Saturday. She didn't like Brennan on Sunday. By about Wednesday she finally got used to Marta and now she is the best little helper ever. I caught her this morning giving Marta a kiss on the forehead and saying "I love you baby sister." My heart melted. I am so glad to have two beautiful healthy girls. They are amazing. I am looking forward to getting to know them better and grateful for the opportunity to rear them, and be their mother.

Ready or Not...

Here she comes!

Tomorrow is the big day. Snow Baby number #2 will be coming whether I am ready or not.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Sticker Toe

Even though I am the furthest thing from being a dancer, I thought I should let my little girl try it for herself. I have already blocked her from things like squash, beets, and brussel sprouts. She needs to be her own person and decide for herself if she likes dance.

So, I signed her up for Miss Julie's. Miss Julie has taught my nieces for years and they have all enjoyed it. Miss Julie treats them all like princesses and has an amazing amount of patience.

It amazes me because Ella needs to have ballet shoes and tap shoes and they actually do positions and tap. Ella loves it and actually for a 2 1/2 year old listens to Miss Julie and does well.

It is amazing however, my insecurities towards dance even come out watching a class of 2 year olds and younger. To each their own.

Time just goes by too quickly

And I don't mean being pregnant. In fact, this has been a very long pregnancy. Ella's seemed much shorter. When I tell people that they seem to say things like, it is because it is summer, and you have a family to take care. I would have to agree with both of those reasons.

I am however, talking about summer. I can't believe how fast summer went by. The Snow's had a fun summer and we are sad that it is over. The first thing that happened was: we started by potty training Ella. Really she has done quiet well with it. Of course we have had our "days" but for the most part she has it down.

Second: Ella and I also spent a lot of the summer swimming at Grandma's house. She enjoys spending the time with her cousins and of course she loves to swim. We also spent time in the garden and she loves going on her "new" scooter. Brennan is very happy because all signs lead to her being a goofy foot, just like her dad.

Third: We had our semi annual summer beach trip with the fam. The weather this year was a little crazy and colder than normal. Everyone was a little upset except for the pregnant lady. For me it was just right. We enjoyed 2 weeks of the sun, water and family. Brennan is already counting down the days till Winter beach.

Now that fall is in the air, we are starting to think of other things, like the baby. Like I said at the beginning of the post, it has been a long pregnancy. However, I am not sure if I am totally ready for her to come. We don't have a name yet. Ideas come and go but nothing has stuck quiet yet. We also had to get ready for school. As some of you are aware, I am teaching part time. This year I am job sharing with another teacher who had a baby. I am loving it. I only work Wednesday and Thursday and every other Friday. Not to shabby. It has worked out quiet nicely.

I am also looking forward to colder weather, Halloween and being on maternity leave until January. Life is going to get a little crazy in the next month or so. I will try my hardest to keep you all updated.

In case your wondering...

Just in case some of you want to know....

We found out June 2nd what we are having....

The Dr. said it.....

had a heart, lungs, and.....

Had cute little fingers and toes....

She also told us it was.....

A Girl!

We are very excited! Brennan thought it was a girl the whole time. I was convinced it was a boy... This is how it was with Ella... So, I need to trust Brennan's instincts more than mine.

Baby Chick

About a month ago, Brennan and I thought it would be fun to take Ella to the local IFA to show her the baby chicks, ducks, and bunnies. All I can say is she definitely has a love for animals. We had to pull her away kicking and screaming when it was time to leave.

Well, last Friday night I told some friends about this little experience and one of our friends- The Cracrofts- thought it would be a good idea to take her kids on Saturday.

Saturday came and while Ella was taking her nap and Brennan and I were watching Conference the Cracrofts showed up at our door. I opened the door and heard "Chirp, Chirp, Chirp..." and Corey saying he needed a small container. I couldn't believe it. Had Corey and Kim bought Ella a "special" Easter present? You bet! Nothing but a small, very cute, fluffy baby chick. Thank you to Corey and Kim for probably the best present Ella has ever received.

Brennan and I couldn't wait for Ella to wake up. We knew she would freak out when she saw the baby chick. I will let the pictures tell you just how she felt.

To end this story, unfortunately there is not a happy ending. I was a little overwhelmed to have a baby chick. So, I arranged for my brother and sister in law to take the little chick. This arrangement would work better because they had a placed to send it when the baby chick got older. My nieces and nephews enjoyed it for a day. My brother called that night and told me it was loved a little too much. R.I.P. baby chick.

I wonder if she'll be as excited about her new baby brother or sister coming this fall?

Birthdays, Beach and Disneyland

We have had a very full January. We had birthdays, we celebrated, and even went to Southern California for 8 days. During that time, we spent 2 days at Disneyland. Let me go back to the beginning...

We Celebrated Ella and Brennan's moms birthday on the 20th of January. We had a wonderful time with some of our family and friends over at the new house. Ella is so loved and received more presents than she needed. But, she is loving them all!

The birthday girls

Ohh and Ahh over the presents

Being sung to

It is funny after last year's cupcakes took me hours to make, I vowed to do things easier for her 2nd birthday. Well...that didn't quite happen. However, these didn't take me as long. Anyways, I always feel that since her last name is Snow and she was born in the dead of winter that she should have a snowman theme. I wonder how long it will take me to get over that?... So, I made snowman cupcakes. The funny thing is I enjoyed them more than anyone else. Brennan says they were a little too intimidating. Oh well, they were sure cute!

After we celebrated her birthday, that Friday after school we packed up and headed to Newport. My parents have started this new tradition going to the beach for a month in January and February. My siblings and I definitely benefit from this decision. We went down and enjoyed the sunny, but cool weather. It was better than Salt Lake weather! We had a lot of fun going to the beach, looking for shells, and playing in the water.

The tide came up so high and went down so low that when the tide was low the beach created these warm tide pools. Ella loved them because the ocean was so cold!

Newport after a week of storms, crazy huh!

Ella's actual birthday was the first sunday that we arrived at the beach. I bought a brownie mix and thought I would just do something easy. Well, I forgot to buy oil, and I didn't want to break the Sabbath so I made brownies with applesauce... Well I needed 2/3 cup of oil so I put in 2/3 cup applesauce... Needless to say, when the brownies came out of the oven they were flat, tasteless, and really it was like eating cardboard. So, to make up for my mistake we headed down to the doughnut shop and ate doughnuts and muffins for Ella's birthday "cake". She loved the sprinkles.

Heading back from the doughnut shop

lighting the candles

She blew them out all by herself!

The one day that it rained, we headed to Disneyland with my parents and my sister and her children. Even though it was cold and wet, it was nice because there were no lines. It was fun going with Ella for the 1st time. I don't think she quite understood what was happening but she liked the rides, especially the Matterhorn. I was very surprised when we saw all the characters (Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy) she was not scared at all. In fact, I told her to hug them and she would. She was however scared of the princesses. Like I said, she doesn't get it quite yet.

See... no one around!

Our first Disney pick and she is asleep... Oh well!

She loves Cars. That's what happens when all the cousins around her age are boys! Princesses... not yet!

We had a wonderful time and can't wait until July when we head down to California again.