Seriously time for an update...

Whew...it's been awhile since I've updated. I've had good intentions but it's just been CRAZY busy. I've sat down a few times to blog but have either gotten distracted by other things or blogger has been down. Oh well...I'm here now!!!

We had a GREAT time with my cousin Larissa! She was here from the 20th to the 28th and boy, the time sure FLEW by! It has been SOOOO hot...we are VERY thankful for air conditioning (although our bill for that this month is $176!!!)...it has gotten past 115 degrees. Wowzers.

Here are some shots from Larissa's camera...

Swimming at dusk...yes it's even hot then. And the pool water feels like bath water from the heat of the day...



















I took Larissa to get her first pedicure while she was here. Hers are the ones with the pretty flowers on them...














We also took Larissa and Natalie to their first Major Leagues baseball game--the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Our new team (Diamondbacks) pretty much played terribly (they lost 8-2) although we had a great time at the game!














We went with some friends/staff members from church...from L to R...Jason & Melissa (Jason is the other resident working with Shaun--they just moved from Missouri)...Landon (just finished his residency)...Shaun & me...Larissa...and then Rachel (a summer intern).














Sunday night we drove up just a few miles north of Mesa to show Larissa some beauty in the desert...




























Sunday night we (re)taught Natalie how to drink from a bottle! The reason for this is because I had training all this week and was not going to be able to feed her all week. More on this later...Oh. And the reason we took this picture is because Shaun was all proud of her because she was drinking from the bottle AND watching a baseball game at the same time. =)














Monday night we went to a MSE ("Medium Sized Events" put on for the youth during the week) at Golfland to play mini golf. I was going to play but it ended up being too windy for Natalie (and to sand-y) so we just chilled and people watched. Again, friends/staff that were there...from L to R...Rachel, Larissa, me, Natalie, & Shaun, and Tyson (another summer intern)...














Random picture of our apartment/pool area...it looks so nice and relaxing but it is BLAZING hot out there.














Larissa's last night (Tuesday) we took her out for dinner to Rock Bottom (our favorite!) as a thank-you and goodbye. It sure was TASTY!!!














Yeah...so that was our week. Looks like fun...was fun!

Okay...so back to the bottle thingy. So Larissa watched Natalie on Monday & Tuesday. Natalie had drank from the bottle on Sunday night (after 5 1/2 hours of not drinking...crying & screaming) so we were hoping she would drink from it on Monday for Larissa. Turns out she ate about 1/2 an ounce or so from 7:30am until 2:30pm when I got home! She just wasn't wanting it. Ah, frustrating. When I walked in the door she saw me and immediately started crying. So funny. Tuesday I decided to try another nipple on the bottle (the dark brown Latex kind) and she took to it NO problems. She ate a bunch on Tuesday for Larissa and then she even drank more on Tuesday night at dinner. On Wednesday morning our new friend Jen watched Natalie and she drank great then too. We are so proud of her! Now we've decided to try to feed her from the bottle at least once a day so that we don't have to "train" her all over again.

Training...it went well. It's actually going to be a lot more work then I thought, at least in the beginning. There's a lot of rules and different templates I have to use and learn. But I'm catching on quick and actually have my first tape that I will transcribe for $$$. I have to turn it in on Monday. We'll see how it goes. I'm still doing the cruise thing on the side. My boss Mark is going to let me sell as much as I want to old clients/friends/family but I won't get paid upfront anymore...only once they sail (as opposed to getting paid at time of booking). So this doesn't necessarily mean money up front, but instead somewhere down the road.

Yay! It's the weekend!!! Shaun's off today and we need to go down to Phoenix again to get my green card paperwork figured out. Tonight our new friends Jason & Melissa have offered to watch Natalie so we can go see a movie...nice of them! Shaun's parents are also coming out tomorrow and staying until Tuesday (4th of July) morning. Shaun's taking Monday off but has to work Tuesday since our church puts on a HUGE firework show/concert for thousands of people. Then he has Wednesday off too. Nice. Looking forward to the weekend and catching up on some much needed sleep!

Well...that's all for now...I feel like I'm forgetting something but oh well...I'll write more later...

Two (and a half) Month Check Up!

Today Natalie had her 2 month check up with her new pediatrician, Dr. Carroll. Since we just moved here we are a bit delayed on her scheduled appointment since she is actually already over 2 1/2 months old. Oh well.

Dr. Carroll said she is growing well! She weighed in at 10 lbs 10 oz (which is lighter than I thought she would be, but she is in the 50th percentile of other babies her age), and she is 24 inches long (which is in the 95th percentile of other babies her age)! So she's a tall girl...crazy. The one tiny concern he has is the back of her head is a tiny bit flat which is not a bad thing but there are some exercises we can do to ensure her head becomes more rounded at the back. Crazy--I had never heard this before. He said that in extreme cases they have babies wear helmuts to make their heads more round, but that Natalie's is nowhere close to being like that. The Dr. mentioned that she just probably needs more tummy time and that I should rotate her sleeping positions and changing table position (from head on left to head on right every other time) so that she has different points of interest to look at on each side. Makes sense. Hopefully it rounds out soon.

Natalie also had to get 4 pokes today...it was SO sad! I am so glad that Shaun was there with me because he held her arms while the nurse gave her the immunizations. I couldn't help but get teary eyed hearing her cry like that. Poor baby. =(

Now she is napping...I gave her some Infant's Tylenol before her shots so hopefully she won't get any fever or anything like that.

Tonight my cousin Larissa flies in!!! Yay! She is going to be here for over a week. It will be fun to have family here and show her around our new stomping pad. We're hoping to go to a Baseball Game on Friday night (Anaheim Angels vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) which would be fun. And possibly head up north to see some Arizona scenery. Should be fun.

Well...that's all for now...

First Father's Day

Boy, it's good to have Shaun home! Natalie sure missed her daddy! We had a great weekend, and a great Father's Day.

Shaun and all the youth got home safely on Friday night. Shaun had to work Saturday night and Sunday morning, but we were able to go to service together on Saturday night and I also went to the High School group on Sunday morning. After church we hung around for a pizza lunch for the youth staff, and then spent the afternoon relaxing at home. We went out for dinner to Red Lobster and then came home and took Natalie swimming for the first time. We decided to do a night time swim because it was at least 85 degrees outside and we didn't have to worry about her getting sunburnt! She looked SO cute in her bathing suit (courtesy of Debra's wonderful Nana!)...she was pretty hesitant the whole time and there were no smiles. Oh well, hopefully next time!

Here are some shots from yesterday...

First Father's Day...



















Me and my girl...














CUTE girl in a CUTE swimsuit!!!



















Flooded with kisses...oh, I just can't resist...














First swim...














Swimming with Mom...and more kisses (of course)...














Oh yes, and she's found her hands...(hence the almost crossed-eyes)!!!

Good times with "Auntie" Deb...

This week went by fast--thankfully. It was SO wonderful having Debra here. I ended up having to work scheduled hours on Tuesday (8am - 5:30pm) and then Wednesday (8am - 2:30pm) because I was answering phones for our company while the other agents were mostly all on an inaugeral cruise sailing. Lucky ducks. Anyways, Debra was wonderful to take care of Natalie during that time (except for feedings).

Hmmm...what else did we do this week? Monday night my new friend Melissa baby-sat Natalie so that Deb and I could go see "The Break-Up". Lots of fun although the movie left me quite disappointed...am I the only one???

Thursday I had a job-type meeting/interview. Crazy--the Lord sure has His hand on us! I found out about a company in the Mesa-area called Transcription Express. They employee transcriptionists who work from their home office and basically do 24-hour turnaround typing for different companies nationwide. I went to a Q-and-A session to hear more about the position and am VERY excited about it. NO MORE SALES!!! So I had to be tested on my typing speed (85 words per minute!), spelling (12 out of 12)--one of the words was restaurant, which I ALWAYS spell wrong!, and homynyms (there, their, they're). On the homynyms test I got 30 out of 33--it was a lot harder than it sounds. But I passed, and I have been offered the job! It really is in the Lord's hands...He has worked out ALL the details. For example, training starts on Monday the 26th and goes till Wednesday the 28th (from 8:30am to 2:30pm each day). Shaun works all of those days so where would I leave Natalie? Well, turns out my wonderful cousin Larissa is going to be here for over a week and it just HAPPENS (right!) to fall during that time. We are blessed. I am excited about this new opportunity. Sure, it may be mundane work, but it's NOT SALES. It's pay per page...and I can do it on my own schedule, even if Natalie is talking/screaming/sleeping in the room with me. And if I put in 4-6 hours a day we should make ends meet. Praise the Lord!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

Hmmm...other exciting news...SHAUN IS COMING HOME TONIGHT!!! Boy, we've sure missed him! Today I played a little digital video clip for Natalie of Shaun singing to her...she kept turning her head around as if--hey, where is this guy?!? Then she got tears in her eyes and her little bottom lip pouted out real cute. We can't wait to see him...we will probably leave here in the next half hour or so. Yay!

Oh, and I found a nice dress to wear for Ben & Kari's wedding. Black and simple--makes me feel confident. Hopefully Shaun likes it. I'll dress it up with cute shoes and earrings, fun necklace, etc. Phew--I was worried with this post-baby body that I wouldn't find anything I like!!!

Anyways...should get going here...enjoy these pictures, and have a GREAT weekend!!!

Smiles for Mom...














Sleeping on Auntie Deb...














Natalie just LOVES her bath-time...so content.



















Big smiles for Auntie Deb...














Saying good-bye at the airport today...














The girls...

GN LY SG

Here's a shot from tonight...we took our normal "Shaun & Kristal" shot, but this is our first time with Natalie in the mix. Ben (my brother) has termed this type of photo the "Shaun & Kristal" shot because we always take pictures of ourselves and we're pretty darn good at it, I must say. I must have really long arms or something. Anyways...this was us tonight.

We're up late because Shaun is packing...he's leaving tomorrow for Jr. High camp so I will be a single mom (kinda)for the week. THANKFULLY my wonderful friend Debra is coming on Monday to spend the week with me (and Natalie, of course)!!!! I am SOOOOO excited to see a familiar face and get in some girl time. I will definitely miss my hubby though. This is the first time he is leaving me at home...every time we've been separated since we've been married it's been me leaving him to go visit family in B.C.

We've had a great weekend so far...Friday was Shaun's day off so we relaxed and I worked some. In the evening we went shopping for a baby crib for Natalie but were unsuccessful. We did find & buy some bedding for her crib though. I guess we'll have to wait another week or so to put her in her own room. We also went out for a family date to Rock Bottom...yummy. Good times.

Well...I'm off to bed.

GN LY SG (Good Night, Love You, Sleep Good)...

SOS

Okay, so I'm not dying or anything, but I do need some help. I've been asked to sing two songs for Ben & Kari's wedding (my brother and future sister-in-law) at the end of July. We are having some trouble finding a somewhat original love song. So I need help with some ideas. I'm going to do one worshippy type song, and one love song. For the worshippy one we are thinking "Your Love is Extravagant" by Casting Crowns. But the love song...ah, who knows!?!?! We really don't want those typical wedding love songs, which ARE wonderful but (I'm sorry to say) overused. Some of these include:

"Everything I Do" by Brian Adams
"I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman
"From This Moment" by Shania Twain

No offense to anyone who has used these songs at their wedding...I just feel like I've heard them a gajillion times, ya know? Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!!

Mommies Day Out

Today was a good one! Woke up around 7:30am to feed Natalie and put her right back down to bed so I could get an early start to working! Then at around 11am I left with my new friend (and neighbor) Kelly to Scottsdale, which is like the "Beverly Hills" of Phoenix and is about 20 miles away from where we live. Kelly grew up in Scottsdale and wanted to show me around! She also had an interview at a Day Care Center out there since they are moving back there at the end of this month, so I stayed in the care with our two baby girls while she went in for that. After the interview we went to out to a TASTY lunch at Rock Bottom, which is a GREAT restaurant. Had a tasty (love that word) salad and half sandwich combo. After that we walked around this cool outdoor-shopping mall. It was VERY hot...at least 110. CRAZY. Here are some pictures of our cute girls and our adventures.

Resting in the car while Kelly was at her interview...



















My cute girl...finally taking advantage of her hair and using a cute little pink hair clip in her hair!!!



















Natalie & Haidyn in their strollers...














When we got back from Scottsdale there must have been some kind of sandstorm because the sky was all dark and gold-ish...I didn't want to go outside for fear of getting sand in my eyes and mouth...so here's a picture from our window.

Pics from today

Here's a couple of pictures from this morning...

Here's my sweet pea right before her bathtime. Oh, and also right before she peed all over her towel and through to the carpet. Lovely. The fresh air must be so freeing. =)




















I decided to try our sling and see if she'll relax in there while I work. So far so good...here she is just chillin'...Oh, and our mirror really isn't that dirty! I think the flash bounced off and makes it look dirty. Don't want you all to think I'm a bad housewife or something!

Definitely time for an update...

I feel like I haven't really blogged much lately. I know I've posted all those adorable pics of my baby girl but I haven't been very good about keeping you all up to date on the goings-on of our lives. Sorry about that.

Sooo...what have we been up to?

Shaun's been working a LOT. Last week he had Monday off (since it was a holiday), then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday he was at work from 8am until after 9pm each day. Crazy. Then Friday he had off (he always does), yesterday he worked from 3pm until 8:30pm, and today he was at church from 7am-2:30pm. Crazy. I can't complain though. My man has found a job that he LOVES. Not just likes, but LOVES. I am SO thankful for that. Oh, and it shouldn't be this busy always...they're just starting summer kick-off events so that's why it is so busy.

So what did I do all week? Let's see...Tuesday I had to go into downtown Phoenix to the government building to try to get an extension on my green card, which I'll need to get in order to travel to Canada this summer for my brother's wedding. Yeah, kinda important. I've put in the re-application (over a year ago) but haven't gotten my new green card yet. Finally I called them (the Immigration Office) and they said to come in and just get an immigration officer to extend my parole to travel in and out of the USA. So I made an appointment a couple of weeks ago for this past Tuesday. Of course, I forgot. Luckily my Mom is WAYYY more organized than I am these days (she had been praying it'd go smoothly) and called me to see what time I was going in at. Oops...good thing she called! I ended up having another new wife (Melissa) from the church (her husband just got hired as a resident as well and they just moved in from Missouri) come along with me since I'd never been into downtown Phoenix. So we get there, everything was going smoothly...then they tell me that I need to have something with my new address on it, showing I am now a permanent resident in Arizona. Great, why couldn't someone have told me that on the phone? So now I have to wait until beginning of July to go back in (my address should be changed in their system by then) and I should get it extended. Lame-o. All I can say is good thing I didn't wait until mid-July to try to get this extended! So Tuesday was interesting!

Wednesday I worked in the morning and then in the afternoon I met up with Melissa for a pedicure. Didn't really want to spend the money but was excited about spending some quality time with another girl! Good times. Then in the evening Danielle called me (another wife of one of the youth team) and told me Landon (her hubby) and Shaun had a meeting that evening and that we should hang out. They have a little boy, Trenton, who is 8 months old. So we had dinner and were going to watch a movie but ended up chatting the night away. Shaun & Landon came by when they were done and we all hung out talking until 11pm. They are a great couple and we definitely look forward to spending more time with them!

Thursday I got out of my comfort zone and went to a Bible Study that just started at church for Women. It's a 6 week study on "Igniting a Passion to Pray". Honestly I didn't care WHAT the topic was I just wanted to meet some other Christian women! It was kinda strange...I didn't meet any girls my own age (well, I guess I am technically a woman now, how strange!) but did sit with some nice ladies who were a bit older. And the study will be great. I am anxious to be more passionate about my prayer life and also to be more consistent in this. I don't think it's by accident that the Lord has me in this study. =)

After the study I went to say hi to Shaun and the whole office team was going out to lunch for a goodbye party for one of the girls on staff. That was a good time...a tasty Mexican place (really cheap!). On the way home Natalie was SCREAMING so I had to pull over to feed her. Not a big deal but I just can't figure out why she's screaming so much while I drive (it's happened a NUMBER of times lately). I have a feeling she's getting really warm while driving. We don't have backseat air-conditioning so I don't think she's getting much air to her since she's facing backwards. Any ideas on this???

Friday we slept in...lovely. Natalie does such a good job of sleeping and then having her first feeding at around 8am-ish. I just put her right back down after her feed and she went to sleep...which meant good sleeping in for us! In the evening we had Jared over (Shaun's boss/co-worker who hired him) and I made dinner and we caught him up on the Lost episodes on our Tivo. We have 2 episodes left...he's actually coming back over tonight to finish it off before he leaves for leadership camp tomorrow morning.

Have I told you about our neighbors??? Derek and Kelly live right across from us...they have a 8 month old daughter, Haidyn, and they are also Christians. Crazy!!! Even weirder...Hayden was our other name we had picked out for a girl. Oh, and Landon Casey was our boys name, by the way! Anyway, Kelly was nice enough to take me around Mesa to show me the baby stores...Babies-R-Us and this cute 2nd hand kids store owned by Christians. Good times.

After that I went to church to meet up with Shaun (we have been going to the 4:30pm service together) but he was too busy setting things up that I ended up sitting on my own. Lame. Don't like that so much. But the service was great. We're doing a 2 week series on The DaVinci Code. Very interesting. I haven't read the book but plan to...I am going to borrow it though. Don't really want to give any more $$$ to Dan Brown!!!

Today I went to church to see the highschool youth service. Shaun was on worship team and they did awesome. They had summer kick-off this weekend so they put on this big concert-type feel performance. Even did a Coldplay song with cool lights and a fog machine. My goodness...perfect job for Shaun! After church we went to In-N-Out with Landon, Danielle, and Trenton (yes, they have In-N-Out in Arizona, thank goodness!)...good times, again.

So the Lord has been definitely blessing us with wonderful people already. I can see the beginnings of some good friendships which I am thankful for!!! Thank you all SO much for your prayers.

Another prayer request...can you pray about my job situation? I am NOT a big fan of sales, especially since I can invest a bunch of time and make little to no $$$. Especially having Natalie now...I don't want to put in so much time and not end up making anything. My dream would be to have some type of job that I can just do when she's napping...something that is NOT sales oriented but would pay the bills. There's a possible position that may come available within the company I'm with. We'll see...this would be a MAJOR answer to prayer.

Anyways...hope I haven't bored you with this LONG update...I'll try to be more consistent from now on so that I don't have to write a novel update every few weeks. =)

2 Months Old!

It's kinda nice that Natalie was born on the first because it's easy to remember her month birthdays. I can't believe she's ALREADY 2 months old. What a big girl!




















Here she is just chillin' today while I tried to work. This last week and a half have been pretty good with me working while she naps. Today (for some reason) she kept crying every 10 minutes or so, so I didn't get any good consistent work time in.















Wearing her new sweater made by Grandma Sawyer! It is so beautiful...we had to at least get a shot of her wearing it once. I'm not sure she'll be wearing it too much this summer...it is BOILING here. And apparently this isn't even hot yet. Right!
















Picture with Mom...