Life's Helmet

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

More Fun By The Day

This little girl gets more fun by the day! We're constantly amazed at what a calm baby she is. Since we realize that this "calmness" may not last forever, we're doing all that we can to cherish it while it lasts.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bath Time!

In the last week we've experienced a lot of "firsts" with Maeli. Today marked one of the most momentous "firsts" as she had her first bath. Surprisingly, she put up more of a fuss when we took her out of the water than she did when we put her in. She made bath time especially fun for her Mom by peeing on Dad right before being put in the tub. Obviously this girl knows how to have a good time!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Maeli Grace McFarlane

Dear Maeli,

Where to even begin...It was almost two years ago that we realized that our lives were missing something special...you. We thought that once we came to that realization that you would be here in no time. Boy were we wrong. ;-) We had no idea what a rough road we would have ahead of us as we tried to bring you into this world. The following year definitely had its ups and downs but it was all worth it the moment we found out you would soon be on your way.

I still remember that first ultrasound...You were only 8 weeks old and about the size of a tiny mustard seed. Although the ultrasounds didn't show much at that point, we always counted down the days until the next ultrasound where we could see your progress. As we went back week by week, all of the nurses consistently commented on how much you looked like a little gummy bear - hence, the gummy bear video. At the beginning of each ultrasound we would first look for your heartbeat. One time, when your dad didn't see the flicker of your heart, he quickly asked the doctor if everything was okay. We never realized that worrying would begin so early on.

Just like your mom, you like to be early to all of your appointments and decided to grace us with your presence 3 weeks early. In one day, I went from working full-time in an office to working full-time as your mom. Talk about a great promotion. ;-) All I can say is thank goodness for your dad. Even after only two days, I'm convinced that you and your dad have a special bond. Your dad and I have been married for almost 4 years now and I've never seen him look at anything with the love and admiration that he does for you. Throughout the entire pregnancy he was at every doctor's appointment and would openly admit that his favorite part of every day was getting to come home at night and lay on the couch feeling your movements inside my belly. You've been with us for two days now and your dad has taken every chance he can to cuddle and gaze at you. I hope you always realize how lucky you are to have a dad that cares for you so much. You are his pride and joy and there's nothing he wouldn't do for you.

Maeli, words cannot even begin to express how much we love you. We're so thankful to have you in our home and to watch you grow into a beautiful young lady. I'm sure this will be the first of many letters that your dad and I will write to you. I hope that you will read this letter along with the others throughout your life and realize that we want nothing but the best for you. It's been a long road coming which makes us appreciate every moment we have with you even more. Not a day has gone by in the past two years that our prayers haven't included you and you can be sure that moving forward, you will be a permanent fixture in every prayer, thought, and memory. Thank you for being an angel in our home. We love you and are so happy you're finally here.

Love,

Your Mom

Nursery

After months of hard work, we finally finished the babies room just in the nick of time!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Baby Shower

This last weekend we completed the last big milestone before the baby comes...the baby shower!! My Aunt Mary was nice enough to throw me a great shower with the help of her daughters, my mom, and several of my other aunts. The shower was absolutely perfect and I can't say thank you enough to all who showed up and sent their best wishes. Ryan and I are so thankful for all your love and support!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

4th of July Campout

To celebrate the holiday weekend we decided to go camping with some friends up by Heber. Sadly, it took Ryan and I four years to take our first camping trip together. ;-) Although it was a short trip, we were pretty amazed by how much food and lounging we could fit into 2 days.

Altogether there were 7 couples and 10 kids that went on the trip which made for quite the crazy campsite. The kids seemed to have a blast exploring and opened Ryan and I's eyes to how dirty kids can really get when given a little bit of freedom outdoors.

On the last night of the trip we went to the "big" fireworks show in Heber (big for Heber at least). The show was great and it was nice getting to watch fireworks in cooler weather. While it was nice getting to come home and sleep in our own bed, camping definitely made this 4th of July a weekend to remember!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Movie Night

Our friends Mike & Alecia have a sibling who owns a company that specializes in home theater installations. At their office, they have a small theater they use for showcasing their products. As payback for a favor, they lent our friends the theater for the night and let us have our own movie night. The night was spent playing Xbox, watching movies, and binging on theater popcorn and candy. It was great getting to watch movies on the big screen while lounging in their giant recliners. Overall, I think it's safe to say that movie night was a success!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

One Last Hoorah

In an effort to celebrate our final "freedom" before becoming parents, Ryan and I planned a trip to the Bahamas with our friends Melanie and Jared who are expecting a baby in September. Although it probably wasn't the smartest idea to plan the trip for when I was 6-month's pregnant, I think it's pretty safe to say that the trip was a success!

We quickly learned that being pregnant is not a very common thing in the Bahamas - and having two of us didn't help. You would've thought that we were celebrities with the amount of attention people gave us.

On several occasions we ventured over to the Atlantis resort to explore their aquariums. I'm pretty sure we saw it all - we even found Nemo!

Although we were out of the country, the boys made sure that we found a place to watch the Sun's playoff game. I think they may have regretted it a bit when the Sun's ended up losing.

Since everyone has been bugging me for a picture of my "belly," I figured I'd snap one while we were on our trip. Looking pretty good for 6-month's, eh? ;-)

One of the days we ventured out and did some shopping in the city of Nassau. My favorite stop was at the local Straw Market where we were able to test out our bartering skills.

On our last day of the trip, we took a boat out to Rose Island where we spent the day snorkeling and relaxing on a private beach. The weather was perfect and it was a nice end to a great vacation. The best part of the vacation by far was getting to spend some one-on-one time with Ryan. Now it's time to bring on the baby!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Rattler's Game

This last weekend, Arizona's indoor football team, The Rattlers, gave away free tickets to their first game. Always being up for some cheap entertainment, we went to the game with Ryan's brothers and their wives. We're not huge indoor football fans, but it was pretty entertaining watching our sister-in-law Cami make it on the jumbo-tron twice. In fact, BOTH of Ryan's brothers and their wives ended up on the "Kiss-Cam." Apparently Ryan and I don't put off the "kissing" vibe. I guess that's what three years of marriage will do to you. ;-)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Our Gummy Bear

Oh, and it's a GIRL!!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

1st Project of 2010

At the beginning of the new year, Ryan and I committed to checking more home projects off our to-do list. One of our most recent projects has been to paint and finish up our loft. It took a while, but after a lot of hard work, we can officially check it off our list. One down, only a hundred more to go! ;-)

Before

After

Sunday, March 7, 2010

A Nice Break

I know it's been a while since I last blogged but life has been a little crazy lately. This last week provided a nice break from normal life as my sister Adrienne and her 2 kids came to town. Luckily, I was able to take a couple of days off of work and spend some time with my 3 favorite people. As usual, we did plenty of shopping, eating, and watching trash tv. ;-)

On their last day here, we had a bbq in the perfect AZ weather. We all had fun hangin' with the kids and watching Brooklen pig out on Cheetos (in case you can't tell).

Ryan and I always look forward to when Adrienne and the kids come to town. It's always sad to see them go but we're already counting down the days until their next visit!