Monday Funday!

Monday is an awesome day here at the Whipple's! Most people detest Mondays but we LOVE them! Dale has Mondays off so its just a continuation of the weekend.! So yesterday we went over to Mom and Dad Whipple's house to do our laundry (Which isn't so fun) and Dale brought along his soccer ball. He wanted to take advantage of the wonderful space Mom and Dad have out back and kick the ball around with Riley! She loves to be out there running, and kicking the ball with Daddy! There is no other person she loves to play with more! Honestly , I think Dale would say the same thing about her! He loves that she loves to run around with him gettin' dirty and sweaty! They are an awesome pair! I got to sit down and watch it all happen! I enjoyed being able to play around with my camera a bit and capture the fun moments!



Just look at how much fun they have together! All smiles!
















This was me relaxing.












This is Dale enjoying some alone time with his soccer ball while Riley was busy giving Izzy some attention!












And this is Izzy! She doesn't look happy.... (ever) but she was glad to have even a little attention!
She was scared of the soccer ball though! I thought that was funny!






Later that night Dale and I decided that we needed a date night! We hadn't had one with just us for a couple weeks so Mom and Dad Whipple watched Riley while Dale and I enjoyed ourselves walking around the mall and getting some yummy Dairy Queen/Orange Julius! YUM!!!! I love Mondays!

Who guessed GIRL on the poll???

You are soooooo RIGHT! We had our appointment yesterday and we were so excited! We took Riley with us and as the doctor was looking where he needed to look to find out what he needed to find out he didn't turn to me and He didn't turn to Dale... He turned to Riley and said.." You are gonna have a baby SISTER!" It was so cute! I will forever be grateful to my doctor for making Riley a special part of finding out! She got all excited, her eyes got wide and she said "A SISTER??!!" She was all smiles for about 5 minutes! The minute we walked out of the office I asked her if she was excited about a baby sister and she said "NO, NO SISTER!" Every time I said the word sister she would scream "NO!" at me HA HA She has gotten very protective of my belly since then! Lana went to touch my belly and Riley yelled at her "NO, THAT'S MINE!" She now will admit there IS a baby in my belly! I am glad that this appointment is what she needed as conformation that there IS a baby in Mommy's tummy! ha ha

I have to admit, I was completely convinced it was a boy! This pregnancy has been so different that I was sure there was no other option! I was totally surprised when the doctor said GIRL but I knew when I looked at it that there was no other option! There was NOTHING to tell us otherwise! We are so excited to know what SHE is and we cant wait to meet her! We have thought of a couple names since then but nothing is set in stone! We DO have quite a few months to decide! ha ha We would like it though if we could just make these next few months to go by faster! It would be nice! I will keep dreaming!

Here is me yesterday. 18 weeks and counting!!

Being positive!

I tried to post about this yesterday but no matter how good the news nothing I said yesterday came out in a positive way because of all the pregnancy hormones taking over my body! I was grumpy! But Now I can think about this and be happy so here we go!

DALE GOT ACCEPTED TO ASU! YAY!

On to the next step in schooling! Its taken us a while as a family to adjust to school and this is gonna be rough, especially with Baby number 2 on its way but we are willing to sacrifice what we need to so that Dale can get his degree. He excited that he will never have to take another English class again and he probably wont have to take a math class again (as long as he CHOOSES not to!) Its taken 4 years (and its NOT all Dales fault either, I wasn't very supportive at first- oops!) but we are excited to get this new chapter started!

Dale is very talented and very smart and I have no doubt that he will do great! I am very proud of all he is! I am thankful for all the sacrifices he makes for our growing family! Love ya Dale! Thanks for being YOU!

P.S. Isnt he H-O-T?!

What makes me Happy- 2

3 posts in 2 days! WOW! So here is another couple crazy cute things Riley does that I HAVE to document! ha ha It makes me happy when The Bug gets the hiccups (which are just as bad as mine! Poor girl) she will simply say "Hiccups!" She just says that one word after her first hiccup its like she is naming it for everyone to hear! It is just so cute! Maybe you have to hear it to understand how cute it is! Its just funny I will be getting her dressed and she will be talking to Just stop say "Hiccups" and then keep going with her conversation! She even notices when I have them before I even notice it myself. I will be so concerned or into what I am doing with her whether its getting her dressed or playing toys with her. She will just say "hiccups" and I will wait to hear hers and then I notice that she meant that I had them and didn't even catch it! I I LOVE it! She is so perceptive! CUTE LITTLE BUG!

Whenever we go through the drive through window at fast food places she has to have her window rolled down in the car so she can say "Hi" and "Thank you" as they are handing me my food! Today she had a full conversation with the Arbys lady about getting the "bouncies" (curly fries) and the drinks and straws she was handing me. The lady had a lot of fun talking to her! Then as I was pulling away she must have yelled "THANK YOU" a dozen times! She is so polite and so social. Oh Man I love My little BUG!

What Makes Me Happy

I am so happy that I get to have full conversations with Riley about the frog in her pum every time she passes gas. It makes for a VERY interesting and entertaining day! It gives me little times to laugh randomly throughout the day! These are the Joys of motherhood that make it ALL worth it! hahahahaha

Ramblings.....

Not much going on here but its been a while since I posted so I figured I could spare a minute to refresh the page a little! Ha ha Feel free to NOT read this. Its just rambling and ventings and journal writings. I don't expect any of you to actually finish this! lol

Well Dale FINALLY got his "NORMAL" schedule back...as normal as it can be. All normal means is that instead of getting home at 10:30 every night he gets home at 9:30 every night! It doesn't seem all that great but that hour makes such a difference! We are able to put Riley to bed a little earlier and that means Dale and I are able to go to bed a little earlier. If we go to bed earlier I am not so tired the next day. I need all the energy I can get right now! Of course its easier on the Bug so she isn't so cranky the next morning either! Two cranky girls does not equal a happy Dale. Dale also kind of likes a nice clean house and now i have a little energy to help him out a bit. Again that makes for a less cranky Dale! YAY! We are all less cranky!!!!

Riley had her first bout with the flu bug on Tuesday..... It was a first for both of us! I have never had to try to play nurse before. I had no idea what I was doing! Mothers instincts- I have none!!! Everything I thought would help BACKFIRED!! Poor girl was my little flu bug test dummy! Luckily Mom Whipple gave me quite a bit of advice and of course she knew what she was doing. It worked well and Riley was better by the next morning. Poor girl was Miserable i felt so bad for her. Although, I have to admit it was kinda nice........ The Bug is very independent and is not a "Cuddle Bug" by ANY means and all she wanted to do was sit down on the couch and cuddle with her Mommy! I soaked it up knowing that it probably wasn't gonna happen again for a very long time! Or until she gets the flu again (which I DO NOT want to happen ever again) As much as I loved to cuddle with her for once it was not worth it to see her in tears every time she needed to puke! Miserable Bug= Miserable Mommy. I am grateful she was able to kick that flu to the curb as fast as she did! GO IMMUNE SYSTEM!

On baby news... Nothing to exciting to report. We DO find out what kind of plumbing the baby has on the 23rd!!!! YAY! It is just coming too dang slow! We just want to know already! I am starting to pop out pretty well. This experience has been sooooo different for me. I didn't show ANY signs of pregnancy until I was 6months with Riley. Unless of course you count staring into the toilet all day a sign, but luckily no one really had to witness that except for me! I lost so much weight with Riley that I wasn't in pregnancy clothes until about 6 months. I have never hated the words "WOW! You are so tiny" until they were talking about how pregnant I DIDN'T look. Thank you everyone.... but you spend 4 months staring at the inside of a toilet all day long and then I will harp on you for 5 more months telling you how "You CANT be pregnant, there is no way, you don't LOOK pregnant." I might not look it but I FEEL it! Can you tell I have some built up frustration. I would rather be told I look like a whale than that I don't look pregnant! I am already having to adjust my wardrobe and try to make some clothes work in aways they haven't had to work before. I am not excited to have to purchase maternity clothes but the trade off will be nice. Watch me regret all of this when I am so lopsided that I can barely stand up at 9 months! HA HA That's about all that has been going on.. Our lives are EXTREMELY exciting! I know all of you are jealous and you should be!

Where's the frog Riley??...

So the Bug has a new saying. We have no idea how on earth she came up with this. No one told her this or made her think the frog is where she thinks it is. BUT(t) Ahem. Riley, yesterday morning was playing with her toys and she started "brumping." This is a word Dale made up when he was little meaning - to fart. She she was brumping and she turned to Dale and said
" Uh oh, what was that?? Its a frog!!"
So Dale asked her
"Where is the frog?"
Riley pointed to her Pum (another word Dale made up when he was very little meaning-bum) and said
"There it is!!!"
So now every time you ask Riley where the frog is she will most definitely point to her pum! Ha ha Apparently the noise sounds like a frog to her. Like I said no one has any idea where she could have learned this. Her little mind works in the funniest ways!

Sure why Not....Oh how sad......

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in bold and/or underlined. How much have you done?


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain ( Does an Arizona mounatin count?)
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy
I have A LOT of livin' left to do

Life with child........

Ok so I haven't come up with something better for those post than that. I'm sorry! I am not sure if its better or worse being "Life Knocked up" or Or "Life with Belly" I dont really have a belly yet so that really doesn't work. This is the best I can do maybe I should work on my creativity....hmmm. Anyway I decided that I would do some "Blournal-ing" Um....Ya I made that word up. (Cant tell can you?!) Its another lame attempt at creativity. Like I said I SHOULD work on it. (shoulda coulda woulda) So some blog/journal-ing is required. (Blournal-ing) I decided (for my own journal-ing purposes) that I needed to write some things down about this pregnancy. Maybe some comparisons to the previous pregnancy. (which I unfortunately wrote like ZERO about) So here it is....

"Life With Child" (it just keeps sounding worse and worse)
This pregnancy has really taken a lot out of me. I'm not HARDLY as sick as I was when I was pregnant with Riley, but I am for more exhausted. I don't think much can compare to losing 20lbs in just 3WEEKS, but with a 2 1/2 year old its hard not having the energy to please her. Its all I want to do. I just want to be in bed 24 hrs a day. I am a zombie. I don't feel sick on a continual basis, but if I don't eat at regular intervals "Baby" does not seem to be too happy. I have gotten to the point though of forgetting to eat. I think I need to set a timer for me to know when to eat.......Dales GENIUS idea! It would probably would work very well. With Riley it didn't matter how much I ate, when I ate, or what I ate, it was all doomed to the same fate.....Porcelain Express. Doctors prescribed pills, gave me eating schedules and everything! Nothing worked! Spicy things seemed to help me a little, which was nice except I didn't know how to cook the things I wanted and Applebees and Wendy's couldn't always be an option. This time around I want eggs. I joked with Dale that he had to be half vampire or something because all I want are eggs. (Twilight series reference. Just in case there are some of you who have not read the entire Twilight series) Either way fried eggs and toast and Egg McMuffins (homemade NOT from the place with the Golden Arches) have been a must have. But at least I have been able to find something that works. Something that gives me a little energy. I can not walk around for very long without feeling faint. Trips to the grocery store are not pleasant. I wish I could drive around those things they have at Walmart for people that cant ACTUALLY walk around the store. Or I wish Dale could stick me in the cart and push me around. I would gladly hold the groceries. This might cause quite a scene though...I defiantly don't have the energy for a scene. Everyone keeps telling me, when I tell them the differences between pregnancy #1 and #2, that I am having a Boy. There are less hormones running through me and its easier to take I guess. But who knows... If I have learned one thing from my family (10 kids, 20something grand kids) its that every pregnancy is different and that there is no one thing that signals a specific gender. We will just have to wait and see. Patience is something I lack though and i am getting very very antsy! I want to know! Its not to far away though I just have to try to remind myself of that. I am almost 12 weeks so I am looking forward to seeing if the sickness stays or goes.Hopefully goes! ha ha

"Say Bless You"

So I decided to write down a couple of the cute things Riley says while I am thinking about it! First of all though, I cant believe that Riley just keeps getting more beautiful everyday! Every time I see her its like she cant get prettier than yesterday.....and she does! She proves me wrong every time I look into those beautiful grey/yellow/blue eyes! (AMAZING!) I recently Read in one of the books I am reading in my Psychology of Parenting class "Avoid Being embarrassed by the fact that you think your baby is the most fabulous human being on the face of the earth. This attitude will help her develop a positive self image" So All I am doing, when I tell her she is beautiful and funny and silly and cute and clever and smart, is helping her grow to be confident. Every parent should think their child is "The cream of the crop" There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! She is so smart that I cant handle it! She WILL pass me up sooner than later! I will say it again....AMAZING! Anyway..... on to the reason for my post!

This morning Dale, Riley and I were sitting on the couch and Riley sneezes...... I was paying attention to the game Dale was playing on his i-pod and I didn't think about saying anything to her so she says "Mommy say Bless You!!!"
Oh boy!!
Me- "Sorry Bug... Bless You!"
R- "Thanks Mommy!"
I was taught a lesson in manners by my 2 1/2 year old! It was hilarious!

Whenever Riley wants something she will say
R-"Mommy can I want (enter item here, Mostly chocolate milk.)"
Me- (trying to teach her through repetition the "Right" way to ask) "Yes Bug you can HAVE (Chocolate milk)"
I think its cute that she asks if she can want something! I cant help but laugh every time!

A Dang Cute Discovery!

This DANG cute little Bug right here TALKS IN HER SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!! AdOrAbLe!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant stand it! I just heard her in her room talking and I assumed she was awake so I go to give her the waking-up-from-naps-loves that she gives OH SO WELL and i realize she is totally asleep!!!!!!! I didn't catch everything she said but it was something about Pants and a Mouse!!!! AAHHHHH She is so cute I cant stand it! That's all!

Tag Attack! And a week with my man!

I have like 5 tags to post! I WILL do it I promise I just haven't wanted to do it this week! Dale And I had a GREAT week All to ourselves! That much time together is Extremely sparse so we soaked it all up! Dale had from the 24Th of January to February 2Nd off and we had a BLAST soaking it up and having some much needed (wanted) family time! We did a whole lot of not much. Ha ha Make sense?? We organized a few things that we don't normally have time to do on a normal day. We painted and Got Riley's big girl bed ready for her. Dale still had school in the mornings (really really early) but he was back by 8 so we still were able to have full days to do fun things! We planned a trip up to the snow because one thing was lacking SNOW! It was nowhere that we wanted to drive to! We thought Payson would be good enough but they hadn't had snow for about two weeks and the only place that did have snow was north of Flagstaff and there was no way we were gonna try THAT day trip! Most days we just stayed at home watched movies and enjoyed the down time. Some days we did that most of the day and then visited Grandmas and Grandpas in the afternoons. We had blast being lazy! Last night though (Dales last night of freedom from work) We were able to visit with one of Dales companions from his mission. Washington DeLima is a Brasilian Native from Sao Paulo so Dale was excited to be able to have real conversations in Portuguese and to be able to visit because he obviously cant see him all the time! We thought he was only going to be here for a week or so but he is gonna be here for another month so we are excited to see him again! Riley LOVED him! She normally doesn't take to strangers easily But she warmed up to him in about 10 minutes! She wanted his attention all night and he was more than happy to give it to her! They had fun playing "Spider" and "Hide the Piggy" I loved watching her have so much fun! Same for Dale too! I love love loved being able to hear Dale REALLY talk in Portuguese. He loves the language and he was truly happy being able to speak it all night! Dales Family wanted to see DeLima as well so we spent the whole night at David and Shannons (Mom and Dads) just talking and eating! We had fun little Family night! It was a great ending to a great week!

Some Sugar and Spice......

And of course everything nice! we finally got Riley's bed done! it took a few days because when ever we had time to go paint it, time was not on our side! It would be too dark and too humid and too cold! There is no way with a combination of those three things it would have dried right or on time! So we waited.... and then waited another day... and then decided to not break the Sabbath and then ...YAY we got it done yesterday! Thanks to Dale for being the master of this project. The only things i could do were to scrape off the old stickers from the previous owners and then make sure it was all wiped off and clean! Then Dale had the hard part! Inhale all the fumes! When I finally thought .... "hmmm we don't have any masks, maybe if he held a paper towel with a couple layers up to his face that will help, I handed it to him and he said " Danget, I was just starting to feel happy!" ha ha He is a funny one! It wasn't that bad looking before but it just had some scratches that were noticeable and a few little imperfections and I thought it would look great green! And it does! Dale was very happy with the color I picked! He thought I was smart. (that right there could be the whole purpose of the task!) But, it wasn't. This was!

Isn't it adorable! Dale did such a good painting job! Its perfect!

Riley fell in love with it quickly She thought it was so cool that she had a bed her own size! She didn't want to get off of it! It was NOT hard to get her to go to bed last night! YAY! She does so good sleeping without a crib! The first night we took down the crib and laid the bed on the floor and I laid down on the floor next to her thinking she might need some comforting to get to bed! I WAS WRONG! She just wanted to talk! Mommy was there..... it was talking time! Nope, I wasn't gonna do that! So I kissed her goodnight and walked out she had a little crying fit on and off for about 15 minutes but after that she went straight to bed and didn't make a sound until 8:15 the next morning! Nap time was a little harder but it wasn't bad! Now, there are no problems! It is pretty exciting!

NOW its time....

Well it was a false alarm last time I said Riley was ready for her TODDLER BED but now its official! She is able to get out of her crib without any assistance from a nightstand or a LARGE stuffed Gorilla! Now we have to get the toddler bed that was given to us and give it a little sugar, spice and everything nice! Then its on to figuring out how to transition from crib to bed! I don't think it should be too hard. Every time we go to my sister Jamie's house Riley always wants to take naps in Bubbas bed! She thinks its fun that she can crawl in and out of it and that Mommy can help her fall asleep! (This might be cause for concern) It will be a couple days before Riley will be able to actually try out her new bed because I have to paint it and of course the baby in my belly prevents me from accomplishing such a goal myself. I have to wait for the Man of the House to be able to have a sufficient time frame to accomplish such a goal for me! So until the beginning of next week I hope ( Your hope would be helpful as well. I don't think I can obtain enough hope all by myself) that nap and night time, from now until she is able to move into the bed, wont be complete torture for all of us! You know.... the finding her in the kitchen eating all the snacks that she can reach in the middle of the night......... waking up to hear her playing with toys, not knowing how long it has been since was actually IN her bed! Ugh I am HOPING we are not in for a LONG few days!

Something exciting!

I said when there was something exciting to share I would share it! Well, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat today! Riley was there when they were showing us the pictures and letting us hear the heartbeat. She was so cute! he kept saying "That's Water....... That's the beach!" Ha ha apparently thinks it sounds like the waves on the beach. I didn't think she would remember the sound! We haven't been to the beach in over 6 months! Its so funny what they do and don't remember! But The tech. gave us a couple (although not so great) pictures! But I cant expect much when I am only as far along as I am. I love hearing the heartbeat! It Helped me realize (you know besides the nausea and the cravings) that this is actually happening! I was also very excited because they recorded the baby's heartbeat and a little video of them moving the scope(??) around. When I watched it really closely I could see the baby's heart beating! Moving really fast inside its little chest! The Dale was actually able to come with me! With Riley he couldn't get off work to come hear the heart beat so we recorded it and my Sister-In-Law Brittany was able to go with me! But Dale was excited that he could come this time because I scheduled it early enough (actually way to early) that he could come before he had to leave for work! Just now when i was loading everything up into the computer I watched the video and was trying to explain to Riley that what she was seeing was a baby (more of a white blob to her) and that it was in my tummy...... She DID NOT like that! She pointed to me tummy and said "NO!!! THAT'S MOMMY!!!" She was not having any of that baby in my stomach talk! I love being able to have another one of these experiences and that I get to share it with Dale again and also that I get to share it with Riley! This makes it an all new experience. Along with all the other stuff that is totally different than I expected!