A Fun Filled Few Days!

Hello Everyone! Hope you all are doing well! We have been having a really fun last few days. To start off, of course on Wednesday we had Eliza's 1st Birthday Party. That was a blast! I mentioned in my last post how I put Eliza's picture on Good Things Utah (I'm still very excited about that, by the way!). This is the picture that was on there. It wasn't my favorite, but when I was choosing it, I didn't realize it was the one where she wasn't smiling. But oh well! She's so cute anyway.


Well, on the opening of that show on Wednesday they had a guest cohost. She brought all of the ladies these cute little gifts that her mom made and put in a store called The Cannery in North Ogden. They were pink and brown flowers and I thought that they would be perfect for Eliza's room. Well, the store was in North Ogden and for those of you who aren't familiar with Utah, North Ogden is about an hour and a half away. I gave up on the dream of having those flowers for about a minute, but I really NEEDED to have them. So, Friday my dad, Mollie, Eliza and I headed out on the long trip to North Ogden to get my sweet find. Seriously, they will look so cute once I get them up into her room. Look how adorable:


Many of you have seen her room or atleast the quilt Eliza's sweet Mamaw made so you know how fabulous it matches. I'm so excited! After we went to The Cannery (Thank goodness I only set my sights on those flowers! Believe me, I could have spent a fortune in there!) we were starving so we went to the Union Station Grille. It was in the old Union Train Station. The food was just ok. I heard it was GREAT, so I wonder if I just got the wrong thing. Eliza was a gem on this long trip! She slept all the way there and all the way back. What a good baby!

When my neices and nephew got home from playing at their friends' house in American Fork (we picked them up on our way home), we waited for my mom to get home from work and then we went to this place called "Max & Cheese." It's this really cute restaurant that features mostly kid's food. It's little logo or whatever says "Grown Ups Tolerated." It was a fun little place. I think the kids really liked it.

Today, Saturday, we headed up to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. I had actually never been up to the zoo in the 7 years that I have lived here (minus almost 2 years in Florida). I was really excited because Eliza had never been to the zoo at all and she loves animals so I figured she would be over the moon with excitement. Every animal that she sees she growls. Whether it be a bird or a lamb, whatever. Its so funny! She's finally started to understand the sound a dog makes though since our dog Phoebe barks at any sound she hears.


The first thing that we did at the zoo was head over to the White Alligator Exhibit. OK! Anybody who knows me, knows I am deathly afraid of many reptiles, mostly alligators and crocidiles. I lived in Florida for 2 years people! They walked down the street like it was normal! I had nightmares that they would come into my house or that they were chasing me down the street. My friend's little twins used to say (when they were 2 yrs old)- "Alligators will eat you for dinner!" I believe them! They are scary! So, needless to say, I was not excited to go see this "amazing" alligator. White and rare or not, its still an alligator. But I went anyway. It was actually quite interesting to see such a white animal. I wanted to know how they become like that, but I didn't feel like sticking around so close to it to actually find out the information. The kids loved it though and we ended up going back through before we left.




We next headed over to the elephants. Eliza was in awe of these animals. Naturally she growled at them and tried to get their attention by a scream and then a growl while waving her arm. It was too funny! Did you know elephants are pregnant for TWO YEARS?! Ugh! Disgusting! There are days when I thank the Lord that I am HUMAN. But then again, there are days when I do just the opposite. What would I have done if I had to be pregnant for 2 years? Oh my goodness!




Brandon wanted to go and see the gorillas next. I don't generally like the zoo. I think it smells and I don't actually LOVE animals enough to go look at them all day. This is unmistakably true with monkies. Uhh! This exhibit stunk so bad. I tried not to complain too much because Eliza was in love with the gorillas! WHY?! We spent so much time in there. I swear, Eliza and Brandon could have watched them all day. It was kind of fun though, the baby gorilla swang (swung?) right up by Eliza and looked at her through the glass. She was extatic! Silly Mommy though couldn't get the camera out in time. But watching Eliza's face when that monkey came close to her... that made the disgusting smell totally worth it.



WHO MEASURES UP BETTER?


ME?


OR MY DAD?

HAHA! I might say ME these days.

There was a merry go round at the zoo so we thought it might be fun to let the kids ride it. Eliza seemed very excited when she saw all of the animals. She showed her enthusiasm by growling the whole time we were in line. My kid! HA! She is so funny! Eliza and I rode on the wolf. It was the closest thing to a dog and I knew she would get a kick out of riding on a "dog-dog". Brandon rode an eagle, Madi- a dolphin and Amanda chose a seal. It was so great! I put Eliza on the wolf by herself but she wanted me on with her. I haven't ridden on a merry go round in ages! It took me back to the good ol' days free from stress.





After the merry go round Eliza started to get tired so we laid her down in her stroller and she fell right to sleep. Bless her heart! We'd been dragging her around for 2 days straight without her regular naps. She's been so good!



I won't bore you all with many more details, but we saw the penguins exhibit. That was really interesting because I thought those were birds that live in the cold. They were outside and it couldn't have been less than 95 degrees today. How did the penguins not melt? One little guy must have gotten too hot so he very slowly inched his way to the water. It was funny because he seemed pretty nervous about it. HAHA!





We saw lots of other animals. I actually had a really good time. For not being a huge fan of the zoo, I enjoyed myself. I know everybody else had fun too. The kids were sad to leave, but they got some pretty cool souveniers to take home. Eliza was an angel and the other kiddos were perfect! Here are some other pictures that I won't explain. This post is getting pretty long.





Across the street from the zoo is a place called Pioneer Village. I have never been there either. It is where the "This is the Place!" monument is. A little history behind that monument. It stands where Brigham Young stood in 1847 when the saints got to the Salt Lake Valley. Brigham declared, "This is the place!" and they began to settle in Utah. I find that history very interesting and I would have liked to walk around but everyone had had it with the heat and they were hungry (I was too!) so we decided to do it another time. Maybe when its not so hot.


On our way to eat dinner at Paradise Cafe in Sugar House we heard a scrapping sound coming from outside the car. I just thought it was because we were on a construction road and the car was vibrating from the paving being uneven. But, I got out of the car at the stop light and lo and behold! We had a flat tire. Brandon was so sad because he wanted McDonald's in THE worst way (apparently he wouldn't have liked anything at Paradise Cafe)! We pulled into a parking lot across the street from a McDonalds and proceeded to make the arrangements to fix the tire. Such a bummer! But we got Eliza out of her carseat and she made herself "comfortable" wandering all over the car. She has started climbing up on things, so she had a great time doing that. She's also made it a habit to pull her hair out now. Its the best thing ever (please sense my sarcastic tone)! That's why her hair looks the way it does in these pictures. Lovely!



Anyways, so that's been our fun few days so far. I have been having so much fun having my neices and nephew here. Eliza loves having them here as well. She and Amanda have such a great time together. Amanda and Madison are such great helpers! I have to tell a sweet story. Sorry this post is so long and boring, but I have to tell this if not for anything else but to tell my sister and brother in law what a great job they are doing with their kids. Amanda came upstairs tonight after she had gone to bed. My mom and dad had gone to the store and I was on the phone. So I just said, "What's up?" She looked at me with these tired eyes and said, "I'm scared and I think its because we forgot to say a prayer." I was immediatly humbled by this 10 year old's humility. She knows the comfort that talking to Heavenly Father brings. I quickly got off the phone and we went downstairs, got on our knees and said a prayer. When she stood up she said thank you and I could see how much that prayer comforted her. Amanda taught me a couple huge lessons tonight. How important it is to be humble and what it means to have pure faith. What an amazing little spirit she is. Good job CB and Jay!

This was a long post! Are you all awake still? Hope all is well with everyone!

TAKE CARE!
LAURA & ELIZA

MY BIG, NO...LITTLE GIRL!

So, it seems like Eliza is so much more of a little girl today. She's not my baby anymore. I can't figure out if it's just a psychological thing on my part or if being one year and one day old can actually mature a baby into a little girl. It kind of makes me sad. She's even eating better, which let me tell you, is a dream come true! She used to be the most TERRIBLE eater! Anyways, here's what struck me today. She got this dolly from her aunts and uncles on the Capua side (Thank you Amber, Chris, Carly, Tanner & Danielle) that comes with a bottle. This afternoon when she woke up from her nap she wanted the dolly and the bottle. She went and sad in the rocking chair in her room and fed the baby its bottle. Is that grown up or what?! My dad and I just looked at her with excitement, but at the same time I was so sad because she's not a baby anymore...sniff! sniff!! Anyways, here are some pictures:






How cute is that?! Oh how quickly they grow up! Do any of you moms out there with babies who have turned a year ever felt sad that your babies were getting so big?

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY ELIZA!!

Now that I have the reminiscing over with, I will tell you about Eliza's 1st birthday. What a great day we had! Since my dad has been off school he has been so nice in the mornings to take Eliza so I can sleep in. This morning was no exception, but I woke up earlier than normal because I wanted to see my little Birthday Girl. SAD! She was taking a nap. So, I went downstairs and turned on Good Things Utah and ate a donut. Good Things Utah is a show that comes on at 10 in the mornings here in Utah. The ladies that host the show are so funny! Well, not so much funny as totally cheesy. My sister and I can only describe this show as "So Utah." But I love it! Anyways, towards the end of the show everyday they do this little mini segment of babies who are turning one that day. Well of course I had been planning on sending my child's picture in to be on the segment when they turned one since before Eliza was even thought of. So, I sent in Eliza's picture on Monday so that it would be up today. I was a little bit worried because I sent it Monday night and it has to be there 2 days before the actual birthday, so I wasn't sure if it was going to make it on for her official BIRTHDAY day or not. I watched intently hoping to see her picture and there it was! I was so excited!! That will always be a fun memory. Anyways...when my dad and I screamed when her picture came up, the dog barked and then Eliza woke up. Dang it! But that was ok because I wanted to give her a big birthday hug and kiss. The rest of the morning and afternoon was full of getting her party ready for 5 o'clock. I made pasta salad, cut up tomatoes for the hamburgers, my dad (what a saint!) ran around getting last minute groceries like picking up the cute cake, I picked up balloons and her little ONE YEAR OLD cake (by the way, Albertsons makes ONE YEAR OLD cakes for FREE! Amazing! Just a little tip!). It was a busy afternoon but all so worth it! Oh! I also wrapped all of Eliza's presents because, for some reason, I never like to think ahead and do that kind of stuff the day before or something. That would clearly be too organized. The party started at 5 with my parents and myself still running around taking care of last minute things (if anyone has a solution to getting RID of the last minute run around, I would love to hear it). It was so fun! John's sisters Carly and Danielle and his brother Chris all came and hung out for a little bit. Eliza LOVES Carly! Then our family friends Kaylene and Bryant came and brought their cute little boy Carter. My friend and Eliza's babysitter Lisa came with her two kids Olivia and Coleman. Then it was the rest of the fam: Mom, Dad, Phil, Mollie, Carlos and Carrie Beth's kids Amanda, Madison and Brandon. A couple of neighbors stopped by as well. It was a really great time! Eliza devoured her cake again. She was a disaster to clean up. Even after I gave her a bath she still had chocolate frosting in her ears and nose. What a mess! I literally had to hose her down before I took her inside to put her in the bath, thats how messy she was. I'm so glad we went all out for her party! Mollie took some great pictures (as usual) that I will put up later. Here are some highlights:








WHAT A FUN AND EVENTFUL DAY! I can't wait to post the pictures Mollie took. She's so awesome! Hope all is well with everyone!

TAKE CARE!
LAURA & ELIZA

Remembering...One Year Ago Today

I just wanted to take a little bit of time and remember the day Eliza was born. So, if you all have heard this story, feel free to skip over this blog post. I remember being 38 weeks pregnant and thinking, "Oh my! I am going to be pregnant FOREVER!" I hadn't had a very easy pregnancy and I was just ready to be done. Plus, I felt like a whale. I had Eliza on a Monday, but I started having contractions on that Saturday before while my parents, Megan (Duzy) Tanner and I were walking around Park City. For those of you who are not familiar with downtown Park City, the streets are very steep to walk up. Anyways, my contractions continued throughout that night and calmed down on Sunday during the day. They started getting worse and worse as Sunday night into Monday morning went on. I truly felt like I was going to die! At about 5:30am, I went up to my mom and dad's room and begged to go to the hospital. The pain was too much. I was either labor or something was very wrong. I had my money on the labor idea. (A little background on my situation: John and I were still married and he was doing a rotation down in California. I was living at my parents' house and working.) My mom and I headed to the hospital at about 6:30am. I waited to call John so he could head up here until I knew they were going to keep me. The nurse checked me, and sure enough, I was dialated 4cm. HOORAY!! I did not want to be sent home. I called John right away and he got on a plane. Thank goodness there was an anesthesiologist on the Labor & Delivery floor at American Fork Hospital because, let me tell you, I was SO VERY done with the ouchy contractions. Ugh! Even if I could get pregnant right now, I wouldn't because I still remember what the pregnancy and contractions feel like. I got my epidural about 20 minutes after I got to the hospital and then I was in HEAVEN! I was totally relaxed! I had the most amazing nurse who even came in and gave me a back massage. What an angel! I loved being in labor. I had nothing to do, I wasn't hurting and everyone was around me making sure everything was ok. John's family came to visit, my family was there. My sweet brother came in and out all day to check on me. All in all, it was fabulous! Except for the fact that I was hungry! When John got there the doctor uped my Pitocin so that I would progress faster. OH! And another thing that was so fun about being in labor, I had a cathder!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I have a bladder the size of a pea and being pregnant made it so very much worse, so being free of having to get up and go to the restroom every 5 minutes (thats NOT and exaggeration) was absolutly wonderful! OK! So, John got there and then they broke my water. Unfortunatly at that point, my epidural slowly started to wear off and I could feel the pressure to push. I was so sad to feel anything at all. So the nurse had me practice pushing. At one point they brought out a mirror so I could see the baby's head. YUCK! That was not a pretty picture. I quickly ordered the mirror away. I pushed for about an hour and a half which is apparently normal for first time deliveries. How come other women who have their first babies push only 3 times and the baby is out? I don't get it! Needless to say, the pushing made me really tired. I loved my doctor though. Dr. Andrea Smith with Legacy OB/GYN. Anyone in the Utah County area who needs a good baby doctor, SHE is one of a kind. I loved her! Anyways, as I pushed I got really excited to see my baby. I was curious to see if she was really a girl and if she really had as much hair as the ultrasound techs had said. At 7:59pm on June 25th, 2007, Eliza Capua was born with a FULL head of dark hair with a smooshed in nose weighing 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 18 inches long. I could not believe how tiny she was. I honestly could have sworn I was pushing out a 9 pound baby. She was so sweet though and I could not believe that she was actually here. Its amazing! When I held my new little baby girl, I felt so much love for her. I never knew I could love someone I had just barely met, but that moment, I felt like I might just explode with love. I also knew that she was the light of my life. It was just such a wonderful feeling. There was such a spirit of calmness and peace in that room through all of the caos. What a fabulous moment! (P.S. Pardon my double chin in this picture; the picture was taken at a bad angle )
I adore being Eliza's mommy! This past year has been the best one of my life dispite all of the yuck that went one. I just focused on Eliza as my "Number 1" and we got through it. She has the sweetest little spirit. She is so stubborn yet so funny! I can't help but laugh in adoration when she throws her little fits. I love having to chase her aroung the house. And, don't tell her this, but I love when she wakes up at night. I live to have those tender little moments with her when there's no one else around and I'm the one she wants and needs. I love how in the mornings she sees me and wants to love me. Eliza is...the only way I can explain it is "love." She has shown me what pure love is. She has taught me how to be unselfish. She's schooled me in so many other subjects as well that I can't remember right now, but all I know is that she is the light of my life. She was the day she was born and she is even more so today on her first birthday. I love my little Eliza!

**Please excuse my mushy, sentimental walk down memory lane. I just felt it was appropriate to remember.

Drinking out of Straws

Tonight, we all went to the mall. My sister Carrie Beth's kids are here and so we all needed a little outing. My mom and I also needed to get the rest of Eliza's birthday presents for tomorrow. After we went to the Gap we were so thirsty so we went and got some water. Eliza wanted to put the straw in her mouth but I knew she wouldn't get anything out of it; she just likes to chew on it. I turned to my mom and said, "Oh man! She's going to be hard to get off of a bottle." As we were walking back to our car I heard my mom say, "LAURA!" I turned around and there was my cute little Eliza drinking water out of the straw! I know! Maybe not a big deal to other people, but I was so excited! This means that she won't be walking around with a bottle in her mouth when she's 5. Either that or WE would be feeding her when she's 5. She won't even hold her own stinking bottle. She's ONE people!! That may sound exaggerated, but my child is THE MOST stubborn baby I have ever even heard of. It doesn't help that she came from 2 of the most stubborn people alive. HOORAY Eliza!! I didn't have my camera, so I had to take a picture on my neice Amanda's phone. The quality of cell phone cameras aren't that great.

Eliza's Capua Birthday Party

Last night John put together a little party for Eliza's 1st Birthday. He starts his residency in California next week so he won't be here for her actual birthday on the 25th of this month. We went out and got all of the cute party favors including birthday hats. The theme was "1st Birthday Princess." So fun! She loved her little cake. She absolutly devoured it! Her Papaw, Uncle Tanner, Uncle Chris and (soon to be) Aunt Azy all came. Her Mamaw and aunties got stuck in Lake Powell so they weren't able to come. It was such a fun party!














I KNOW! So many pictures! But it's her 1st Birthday for Pete's sake! We are having a party for Eliza on the 25th. I'm so excited! If anyone in the area wants to come, let me know. It's going to be the best 1st Birthday Party ever!

LAURA