LIFE IS GOOD

I'll be writing another post this weekend because we have a Murder Mystery dinner tonight :) But I couldn't help but write about this discovery...
Chris, Liz, and I drove down University Parkway to Ross last night. We were primarily looking for some work pants for Chris. We happened to find a good pair of dark green khaki, which will also serve as good scout pants (if Chris happens to be involved with the scouting program when we get to Maryland). We also found a cute summer outfit for Liz and an ADORABLE something for Channing Griffin--I must say, I just love looking at the little boy clothes and I just want to buy everything for him and he's not even my kid ;)
There was nothing going on at Old Navy, so we venture over to TJ Maxx. Chris found a FANTASTIC pair of Perry Ellis dress pants, gray in color, he heads to the dressing room to try them on. I'm looking around with Liz, I find some AE jeans and I want to try them on. Chris is done, the pants are a YES, I try the jeans on and they are a NO. (Way too baggy in the back...which is nearly always my problem with jeans haha.) So we're heading away from the dressing room when we pass the belts on their collective rack. I just glance at them and I happened to spot a glimmer of something I love--VERA BRADLEY.
No way, I thought. TJ Maxx has Vera Bradley? I go over to investigate further, and sure enough, it's a Vera Bradley belt; in fact, there are a few different styles. And they're on sale for $7. I picked it up and put it on the stroller. Then I thought, what if they have Vera purses? We go over to the purse section (all right, we'll be honest, I ran over there) and what do you know--purses, cosmetic bags, mini wallets, drawstring backpacks, etc. I was in Vera Bradley heaven. And since I have a wonderful husband, he was kind enough to buy me a glasses case in Raspberry Fizz, a drawstring backpack in Capri Melon, and the belt I had spotted first, in Petal Pink.

I was completely estatic and I have decided TJ Maxx is now THE store and we we will stopping by OFTEN to see what other Vera Bradleys they may receive.
My love for Vera Bradley began during my senior year of high school. Many girls had them but I never thought to ask them where they got them. When we ladies took a trip to AC during the springtime before we graduated, we of course stopped by the Quarter at the Tropicana. It was there, at a luggage and accessories store where I spotted some Vera Bradleys, and I bought my first Vera Bradley: a Chelsea Green Wallet.

Since then, I have bought or received Vera Bradleys as gifts, and boy do I love them.

When I discover that a store has them, I stop by that store often to admire them. For instance, the Deseret Book in the University Mall carries Vera and I've been eying a beautiful bag with the Hope Garden design...(*cough cough* graduation present? *cough cough*). Ahhh my love for Vera will never die...


We couldn't leave TJ Maxx without getting something for Liz, so we bought her an Infantino Whale Baby Belly mat and she loves it. It's designed to help strengthen neck muscles, and it's too cute.

PICTURES! FINALLY!

Meeting Granny for the first time!

Meeting Aunt Millie for the first time!

Liz with Grandma

Liz with Grandpa

Dancing with Daddy in the living room!

Blessing Day:

Tia Carina made Lizzie's dress: gorgeous!





Question--when I post pictures, I can only see the html stuff. Anyone know how to fix it so I can see the actual pictures again? Thanks!

Two Month Stats!

Well, Miss Elizabeth is in tip-top shape. We took her to the doctor for her two month checkup and we left with a clean bill of health! Her stats:

Weight: 11 lbs, 11 oz; 75th percentile

Height: 22 inches; 50th percentile

Head Circumference: 40 cm; 80th percentile


So we've determined (although she has plenty of growing to do) that she has the short genes from both sides of the family. But that's fine by us because she's a cutie. Short girls are awesome (aka I am 5'2"). She still has a big brain in there, and she's right on target with her weight. I thought she weighed more, but that's all right because our arms get a workout every day!
Lizzie had to get the vaccine for rotavirus, which they give in the form of sugar water. Her face was so cute when they gave it to her! You could clearly see she wouldn't mind having more of the sweet stuff! But then came her three shots. I held her hands and talked to her, but oh did she SCREAM when she got poked. Poor lady! She was okay afterward because it was time for her to have lunch, and she fell asleep quickly after that.
I PROMISE I will have pictures up here ASAP! We are going up to Grandma and Grandpa's for the long weekend, so after I work on my Anthropology paper, I will post some pictures. I'm in the JFSB lab between my classes, and Lizzie is with Chris and Valerie--talk to you soon!

Maryland Details!

All right. Let's flash back to January 8th--Lockheed Martin contacted Chris to tell him they wanted him for a position within Informations and Global Systems in Gaithersburg, Maryland, right outside of Washington D.C. (Remember, Chris worked for Lockheed when we lived in Fort Worth.) They originally scheduled a phone interview, but then they called Chris back to say they would fly him out to D.C. to make the process go faster. So, in a whirlwind of a weekend, Chris flew out three days later and interviewed in the Gaithersburg office. Chris comes home on January 12th; the very next day they emailed him to say they were going give him an offer and they wanted him immediately! Relocation package and salary information to follow...
Well, that information didn't arrive until January 28th. Part of the relocation package (which is a pretty sweet deal, I must say) was a trip for our family to fly out to D.C. to check out housing; they would take care of our tickets, our hotel, our food, everything. So a day and a half later, we found ourselves in the Dulles airport, picked up our rental Chevy Malibu, and headed to the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg. My family drove down and spent the weekend with us and they watched Liz so we could go on the apartment search. We had a spectacular time with them and my dad, brother Joe, and sister Julia were so happy to finally meet Lizzie!
While on the trip, we got to talking logistics. This is my last semester of college, I have my scholarship, I'm nearly halfway through the semester. Do we really want me to quit so I have to take Independent Study and pay out of pocket for classes that I'm currently taking for free? Do we really want to mess with the sweet schedule I have, seeing as I'll be done in two months for good? Chris wants to go to grad school and Lockheed will help pay the cost--but do we want to go into a lot of debt? Does Chris want to work for Lockheed again? We talked through all these questions and decided that no, it wasn't worth all the extra stress.
When we arrived back here in Utah, Chris contacted Lockheed and explained our situation. However, he offered a compromise--rather than come out immediately, Chris offered to begin on April 1st and work extra hours. Liz and I would stay here for my last two weeks of classes, my few days of finals, and my graduation. My family offered to fly my mom out for those three weeks, and the rest of my family is driving out for my graduation anyway a week later. Part of the relocation package will pay for Chris to fly out for the graduation. After that, we'd all fly out together to Maryland for good.
We waited for two days to hear Lockheed's answer...and they accepted it! Chris starts March 30th and will work those three weeks before my graduation. I will finish school and life will work out. We are so happy that this will happen.
We are BEYOND excited to be going back to the East Coast goodness. Ah, I love the East. We will be in Jersey AT LEAST once a month; we will be close to my family. We will spend our weekends in the city, and naturally we'll be seeing NYC and Philly...heck, Boston, too. Haven't been there in awhile! Bottom line, we are excited for our new phase of life on the East Coast.
Lizzie is sick this morning, so I'll put pictures up later. We blessed Lizzie yesterday, so I'll write about that too!

Pregnancy Tag

I'm not writing a blog about the move to Maryland until we have allllll the details covered. That'll save us time and energy. I found this on Kate's blog and I thought it would be fun...Lizzie is relaxing in her swing, so I have a few minutes!

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant? Our apartment in Fort Worth, TX
2-Who was with you? Chris was in the bedroom while I was in the bathroom
3- How did you find out that you were pregnant? Peed-on-a-stick test haha
4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? ...I was dismayed, to tell you the truth. I thought, "I still have a year of school left!? What the heck am I gonna do?" That lasted for about two seconds. Then I was all right.
5- Your Husband's reaction? He was very happy to hear the news!
6- Who was the first person you told? Pretty sure we called our parents, then everyone we could call, we called.
7-Did you plan to get pregnant? No. I had been off of birth control for about three months, and we had decided that whatever happens will happen--the Lord knows best.
8-Was everybody happy for you? Of course!
9- Did you go out and celebrate? Yes! ...Chris will remember where we went haha
10- Did you want to find out the sex? YES. Duh!
11- What was the sex? Female!
12-Did anyone throw you a baby shower? I had a shower here in UT and plenty of people in NJ gave my mom gifts for Liz, which she brought over when she flew out for the birth.
13- If yes, who? Brianna Stapley :)
14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby? Nope. Everything was beautiful!
15- How much weight did you gain? Bah, close to 45, I think. But I never looked at the scale when I had my appointments because I never wanted to be depressed haha!
16- Did you loose all of the weight that you gained? I think I've got less than ten pounds to go. Once it gets nice outside, Liz and I will take lots of walks!
17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks? Just around my belly button. That's it!
18- What did you crave the most? Pretzels and Papa Murphy's Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza.
19- Did you crave anything crazy? Nah. Nothing disgusting or anything like that.
20- Who or what got on your nerves the most? Not being able to sleep on my belly; not being able to bend down properly; not being able to eat KETCHUP! Travesty!
21- Were you married at the time? -What kind of question is this? OF COURSE I WAS.
22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? -During pregnancy? No.
23- Where were you when you went into labor? Utah Valley Regional Medical Center
24- Did your water break? Yep. I woke up around 5:45 am because I felt really weird. I stood up out of bed and WHOOSH--the floodgates opened!
26- Did you go early or late? I was due on December 12th and Elizabeth arrived on the 13th.
27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth? Chris, my mom, nurses, doctors
28- Was it video taped? HECK NO.
29- Did you have any drugs for the pain? Epidural
30-Did you go Natural or have a c-section? C-SECTION, BABY! I despise it when people ask me if her birth was "natural." She is alive, isn't she? A C-section is just another way to bring a baby into the world. *Note: The cord was wrapped around her neck so I had to have a C-section.
31- What was your first reaction after giving birth? Exaustedly, deliriously happy.
32- How big was the baby? 7 lbs, 13 oz; 20.5 inches long.
33- Did your Husband cry? No.
34- What did you name the baby? Elizabeth Cheronne Killion.
35-Did the name have any significance to you? We love the name Elizabeth, and Cheronne is my grandmother's first name--had to keep it going in the family!
36-Does the baby's name fit? Oh but it does. This girl is a Lizzie through and through!
37- Did the baby have any complications? No, she had 8/9 on the apgar test. Her only complications came during labor--the cord was wrapped around her neck and she wasn't descending because of that. Her heart rate dropped when I contracted, too, thanks to the cord around her neck. But she is perfectly healthy today!
38- How old is your baby? w0w. She'll be two months old on the 13th!
39- When is the next one coming? NOT UNTIL LIZZIE IS AT LEAST A YEAR OLD. And I mean it! haha
40- If you could would you do it all over again? Yeah. At least three more times. ;)