Merry Christmas to Me!

Russ and I came home last night to find

a big, huge box on our doorstep. 

This was inside! 

My glider!

I LOVE it!

(I was a little nervous having ordered it online before seeing it in person.)

Now that all of the furnature is here, I can concentrate on decorating.

What the Lizard Says

Cutting the Cake

This is how we announced to my family what we are having.

Gifts

I can't believe Keladry is already getting presents!

Here is a look at just some of the

gifts we have received.

My diaper bag

from GiGi Howard

Cute Cute Shoes

from GiGi Howard

Socks and a Turkey Puppet

from Aunt Amy

Outfit and Bib

from Noelle

Onesies and Socks

from GiGi Howard

VW Shirt

from Cousin Aspen

Onesie

from my cute piano students

I'm still in shock that this is happening to us.  I haven't been able to put anything away because I love looking at it.  The room that I have called a "someday nursery" for 9 years is actually the nursery now.  Thank you to everyone for helping me fill it!

What To Do?

Per Doctor's orders (or a very strong suggestion) my last day of work will be next week.  Though I'm not exactly ready to stop working, I know that my body is.  The question I have is, what will I do for 3 months?  I'm getting a lot of responses like sleep, relax, read...but honestly, who could do just that for 3 months without going completely insane?  I do like the idea of learning to knit (know anyone who can teach me?) or picking up some other really super cool hobby (Suggestions?), and I know I will be working on a few crafts for the decorating of Kel's nursery.  I'm also bringing my old upright here so I can re-tune my piano skills (It's amazing how much you can lose in a year when you don't play everyday.) and I figure I can pull out my flute and guitar, too.   I'm also really hoping that super clean everything nesting instinct kicks in sooner than later.

So, think of me sitting here.  

All alone.  

Waiting for the phone to ring.  

For someone to ask me to play.  

Or babysit.  

Or go out to lunch.  

Or something!  

hint-hint

Silly Russell

We all had a beloved doll or stuffed animal growing up.  Russell's was a gorilla that his mom made him.  His name is Green Gilla.  He has been sitting in our closet since we got married.  Green Gilla was much loved and has definitely seen better days, but he's Russell's stuffy so he will stay in the family.  So, while I was shopping I came across a green stuffed gorilla.  I couldn't believe it!  I almost didn't buy it.  Then I decided that I had too.  It was just too perfect.  I came home and introduced it to Russ as Green Gilla's little sister.  Russ had to take some pictures.  Here they are!

On another note, anyone have any tips to make Green Gilla look new again?

I actually made a decision

I decided what colors we are using for the nursery.  I'm committed too!  

I just ordered the material for the crib bumper.

What do you think?

(Not that I care that much, I love it and that's what counts, right?)

Our Nursery

As you've noticed, my blog is disgustingly pink.  I'm having a girl...girls = pink.  I have a problem though.  I don't like pink that much which was very apparent when Russ and I registered at Babies R Us the other night.  I also realized a couple of things:

       

   1~ My favorite color really is blue. 

2~ The colors I picked out for my nursery (check out Paxton's tie!) before I got pregnant aren't going to work.  None of the other baby stuff matches.  They look pretty terrible together, actually.

So, here are my new color ideas:

Dark Turquoise and Pink

Light Blue, Yellow, and Sage (This bedding)

Light Blue and White w/a touch of Baby Girl Pink

My walls are cream ~ We can't paint them :( ~  and our furniture will be white.  I don't want a theme. ie: bears, butterflies, Disney...

I love the feel of this nursery (with more color).

I'm thinking about making this, this, and this. 

So, what do you think?  I can't wait to get started! 

What's in a name

We are naming our baby girl

Keladry Sorenson

(Kel-uh-dree)

Sorry, Becky, for taking a K name.  ;)

We get lots of 'huhs' and head tilts when we tell people this name, so I thought I might tell everyone where we found it and why we love it for our daughter.

We came across Keladry in The Protecter of the Small books by Tamora Pierce.  Here's a description of the first book without going into the actual plot too much. 

"In the realm of Tortall, women are finally legally allowed to train for knighthood. Keladry (Kel) is determined to be the first official female knight. As the only girl in the entire training program, Kel faces many challenges. In this book, she is put on a year of probation by her training master, Wyldon of Cavall. She bitterly resents this, but is determined to prove to him that she's as good as any boy."

Keladry is loyal, brave, strong, smart, and willing to do extra work to be her best.  She respects her parents and teachers.  She isn't afraid to stand up for herself or people smaller than her.  She is a natural leader.  She is close to her family and makes true friends.  And she is great on horseback!

These are all qualities that we would be proud to have in our baby girl.  I can't wait until she is old enough to read the books herself.

So yes, Keladry is a unique name, but we love it and hope you will too!  

(It doesn't hurt that it sounds Celtic, either!)

That's right. 

 It's a girl! 

 I had completely convinced myself I was having a boy. Mostly, I think, because I wanted a girl and didn't want to get my hopes up. 

She measures right on and weighs 11 oz. 

 We are thrilled!

Sia - Soon We'll Be Found

I am obsessed with this song!

If at First You don't Conceive....

....Try, try again.
It looks like we will be trying again this month.  We are doing pretty much the same thing we did last month (Femara, hcg trigger shot, and insemination.) but we are doubling the dose of Femara.  Hopefully that will give me more than one follicle.  (Twins?)

Keep prayin', baby dancin', or finger crossin' for us.  We'll take any help we can get!

Liana

PS My emotions are in check and I feel hopeful, so don't be worrying about me. :)

Plans

Many of you know that we are going through some aggressive infertility treatments.  I haven't been shy about talking about what we've been going through, or the time lines that we are following.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell people right away if I was preggo.  I kinda figured that I would because you would know that I might be anyway. Now that we are getting close to the end of the "Two Week Wait" I've made my decision.

I am NOT going to tell people right away...also, I am not going to tell you if the procedure failed.  I might start talking again if we need to go through more treatments, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I guess what I'm trying to say is...Please don't ask me if I am pregnant because if I am, I don't want to lie and if I'm not, I don't want to have a break-down in the middle of work, rehearsal, practice, family dinner, ect.

I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Think Baby Dust!!!
-Liana

Happy Easter!

Holi Festival or The Festival of Colors

russell, sam, mike and i went to the holi festival at the krishna temple in spanish fork.

it was an absolute blast!!! i think i will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

fresh faced and not knowing quite what to expect

this was after our first attack.

we hadn't even bought powder to fight back with.

love the blue eye though

russ actually did that to himself.

it looked awesome though!

zombie russell

my hair

after one of many powder fights

we're in there somewhere

tossing bags of colored powder

trying not to breath in too much dust

way too much fun!

throwing handfuls of chalk at total strangers was a riot!

i will definitely be attending next year.

want to come?

hopefully it will be warmer {it is a spring festival, after all.}

On Our Way....

.....to the Festival of Colors!

Pictures coming soon!!

lent

I've never observed lent before, and I am not entirely sure why I chose to this year,

but I have given up carbonation.

That means no

for 2 whole months!!!

The first couple of days were the hardest...I was tired and my head hurt...and I had the soda fountain at work taunting me every time I filled a customers drink...but I'm over it. almost.

{We probably shouldn't talk about the dream I had last night about root beer}

I never thought that I was addicted to soft drinks, but maybe I was, just a little.

Are you "addicted" to anything?

Have you tried to give it up before?

How'd that work out for you?

Two weeks down and Only 33 days to go!

How 'bout Eggs?

I'm getting ready for Easter.

I've decorated {for the most part; I need to get my Easter Tree up}

and have planned a couple of Easter Projects

This video has me laughing.

The whole thing is pretty funny, but I posted it specifically for the part at 1:15.

That being said, I am excited to dye eggs this year! I found this post on one of my favoritist blogs Our Best Bites. I then found a box of 60 100% silk ties for $20 on Ebay. I spent a Saturday prepping the ties for my project and now I just need to patiently wait till April to dye eggs. {really really don't want eggs sitting out for a month and a half}

Do you have any fun ideas for Easter decorations? Care to share?

Races Anyone?

I made a sort of goal this year that I was going to sign up for a race a month all year to help keep me training.

So far I have:

June: ?
July: Park City Mountain 5k (Third year in a row)
Deseret News 10k
August: ?
September: The Dirty Dash (SO excited about this one!)
October: The Halloween Half (Will be working up to this one all year)
November: ?
December: The Winter Sun 10k in Moab (Also the 3rd year in a row)

Remember when a 5k seemed like the impossible dream? Now, with three 10k's under my belt, they even seem doable. It's the half marathon that scares me. I know I can do it! Last year I signed up for the Halloween Half but gave up my training due to pretty severe shin splints. This year I am taking it slow and working up to my long runs.

If you hear of any races in those missing months let me know. I would love to run a race in California, Washington or Oregon. Anyone want to join me?

PS Last year I told myself that I couldn't run at night so I didn't. Well I just totally proved myself wrong! Yee-haw!

9 Years!!!

Celebrating 9 years today!

Can you believe it?

We've come a long way, and I love you more than ever!

Happy Anniversary to the bestest husband around.