Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fun!!!

Ben and I have been so blessed to be part of such a wonderful ward. We have made so many wonderful friends here. A lot of the friends we've made have moved out of the ward but we still try to keep in touch with them. Thank goodness for Facebook!

On October 10th we had a BBQ/Swim Party at Ben's Mom's. I know, "Who has a BBQ/Swim Party in October?" Well in Southern California you can have a BBQ/Swim Party even in November, as we've had temperatures in the 90's the the first few days of this month already.

Well, any who, back in May we had our 1st BBQ/Swim Party and it was BYOM (bring your own meat) to grill and a side dish to share. It went really well and we all had a great time. We really wanted to do another one before the summer was over but kind of waited till the last minute. Despite waiting till October, our 2nd BBQ/Swim Party was another success!

Megan Markarian holding Bristol Nemrow and Katie Nemrow holding Ember Samford

Chris Tobler attempting sunbathing

Jason Christensen with his 2 older sons, Jarin and Hayden

Travis Nemrow and Dan Markarian playing croquet

Hayden is the main reason why it had to be another Swim Party! He loves the water

Both parties, everyone stayed mostly in the spa. "Chicken's!"

Hayden. One of my favorite kids in the world. He doesn't even know I exist!

Seth Tobler chowing down on some strawberries

Casey, Seth and Chris Tobler

Megan Markarian chowing on some good chow

Brother Watt's, Brother Nemrow and Bristol and Brother Winters

Jenolyn, Casey, Megan holding Bristol, Shawnna and Katie holding Ember

The Men. Grilling up some good eats!

I think this was what was left over

The Samford's

Me and Leah's future husband, Ammon Christensen!

Jason Christensen and Heather Meyers

The boys trying to wake up the chicken's in the chicken coop

Bristol Nemrow, 8 months - 14.5 lbs

Ember Samford, 6 months - 16lbs

Ammon Christensen, 5 weeks - 14.5 lbs!!! That's what I'm talkin about!

Happy Halloween!

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Ben Got A Job!

Okay, I don't have much time to Blog but I really feel I've neglected this.
I could make this the worlds longest post with everything that's been going on but I won't.

One thing at a time.

- Ben had and interview at Loma Linda University Medical Center and got the Job!

Just a semi-short story of how it happened:

So Ben had been out of school for 6 months. He graduated from the Nursing Program in December and was in the second group of his classmates to take the state exam. (He was originally in the first group but was begged by a classmate to switch with her because she had a family trip planned during her testing time. It seemed like a great idea to us because she offered to pay for his exam and class which was over $500.) So he took the state exam in March.

Ben had been studying like crazy for the exam. He even went and took a Kaplan course which is a class that helps people prepare for state exams. When the day came for his test he was very nervous. Even contemplating on moving the day back so that he'd have more time to study, but after a confirmation in the Temple, he stuck with his original date which was March 10th.

When he came home from the test he was so beat and told me he was sure he failed. The test is a "Smart Test" which basically means that if your not answering the questions correctly the test will automatically shut down and stop you from continuing. It also does the same if you are doing really well and answering all the questions correctly. If you are doing so-so it will continue asking questions and pass or fail you based on the % of right or wrong answers. The test stopped at 75 questions, which is the least amount that you could answer. Based on the questions, Ben was sure he failed.

On Friday the 13th, Ben got a phone call from one of his classmates saying, "Ben! You passed!!!!". Ben couldn't believe it! His friend knew by checking some website for Registered Nurses and sure enough Ben's license was posted there. My sweet husband just sobbed with joy when he was telling me. It was one of those special moments that I will never forget.

So for the next 6 months after that I saw my husbands confidence level fall every day that he put in applications to different hospitals. At first he just applied to ones in the area. Then he expanded from Big Bear to San Jose to San Diego. Then he expanded even further to different states. Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, even Hawaii and Alaska! He had applied for over 150 positions at over 50 different hospitals and never even one interview or phone call. (Actually I take that back, he did have one interview that was very promising till they found out he was a new-grad.) He'd receive tons of emails from the hospitals saying, "Thank you for applying but the position has been filled" I was so worried for him. I wasn't worried that he'd never get a job, but worried about his self esteem and self confidence. I saw him pray everyday that he'd be guided and everyday get more and more discouraged.

I guess the average time a person gets placed in a job is 6 months upon graduating, but we were always told as an RN it would be different. "Registered Nurses get hired before they even graduate!" "As a strong white male, who speaks fluent Spanish, hospitals will be fighting over him!" We soon found that these statements that had been filled in Ben's mind, although normally true, at this time in the current economic conditions was not. Hospitals were having hiring freezes, canceling new-grad programs and hiring only experienced nurses.

I could only imagine how Ben was feeling. We found out a month after he passed the state exam that we were expecting. My poor husband had even more pressure to get a job ASAP. Our goal was always to wait to have children till we were in a position that he'd work and I'd stay home. So I know this added stress was not helping.

In August he was at his lowest and told me that he was at home one morning filling out more applications online when he had a breakdown. He said he was so angry and frustrated that he just wanted to give up. He got down on his knees and just prayed again because he didn't know what else to do. He said that he prayed for wisdom of what to do.

After his prayer he got on the computer and looked up Loma Linda University Medical Center again for open positions. There was actually a new position available so he quickly sent in his 13th application with that particular hospital.

He got down on his knees again and prayed again because he was still upset. His prayer was interrupted by the phone ringing. It was a woman named Joy Riddle who was from the HR department at Loma Linda University. She asked how Ben knew the application was available because she just posted it 5 minutes before receiving his application. She also said upon reviewing his application she was very impressed by Ben's responses to the questions on religion (it's a Christian based University, and they asked questions such as, prayer in the work place) She told Ben that she really wanted him to get the job and that she was going to forward his information immediately to Michelle,the Nurse Director. She even gave him example of the types of questions they would ask him in the interview. Next thing Ben knew she was transferring him to the Nurse Director to set up an interview.

He was finally given his first chance! He was so excited and anxious. He was one of 9 applicants that was chosen for an interview for only 3 positions, which over 300 people had applied for. On his interview day he was the first one and was interviewed by 3 different people. He was told that he'd be notified by next Tuesday whether he got the position or not.

On Tuesday morning Ben received an email saying that, "The position at Loma Linda University Medical Center had been filled by someone more qualified. Thank you for applying." Ben was so distraught that he just wanted to get away from the house and computer and from anything having to do with getting a job. After calling me at work and letting me know the bad news, he called his brothers and they went for a hike up in the mountains to Deep Creek.

It helped get his mind off everything, until he pulled into the carport at our house. When he got in the house memories of the email flooded his mind and again, he was back in depression. He checked the messages on the answering machine and one of the messages was from the Nurse Director of LLU, asking him to call her. By that time it was late and she was already gone for the day. So he was going to try again in the morning.

We didn't sleep well that night. Both of us were wondering why she called. Was it just a courtesy to say, "Sorry, you didn't get the job." First thing the next morning, Ben called and left another message for Michelle. I went off to work and Ben stayed home and waited. He called her again a couple of hours later and left a message. Finally at about 10am she called him back and offered him the position! Ben was so confused but so excited and grateful! Again he got down on his knees but this prayer was different.

Ben called me at work to give me the good news. Everyone in my office was screaming and crying. So much frustration and confusion was let go that day!

I know this is long and most won't have the time to read it. I'm posting it so I have record of it for myself and to remind myself the power of prayer. Our testimony has grown so much this past 2 years as far as prayer and patience. Even though we think we are praying for the right thing and that we are doing the right thing and have righteous goals set up, we have to remember that Heavenly Father knows more than we do. He has a plan for us and knows what's best for us. We just need to continue to be faithful and doing what he asks, which is so simple and so unworthy of the blessings that he gives us. I hope we can always remember the lessons we've learned these past few months. Thanks to everyone who prayed with us and helped keep our spirits up in our time of need.

By the way, the email Ben got was for a different position that he had previously applied for with LLU. It just happened to come on the day that he was told he'd hear about the position he interviewed for.

23 Weeks

So on Tuesday, I'll be 23 weeks pregnant! Besides the current cold I have, (4th one since pregnancy) and still puking up breakfast every morning, I'm feeling so much better. Yes I'm eating very healthy, getting my rest and taking my vitamins. I've only gained a total of 4 lbs so far and I'm very proud of that. My body has changed so much though. If I didn't have a scale, I'd think that I had gained 20 lbs. It's weird because my fat has shifted so even though I've only gained 4 lbs my once baggy clothes are now tight and uncomfortable. I still don't look very pregnant, just very wide. My sweet husband keeps reassuring me that I'm still beautiful. My wonderful mother-in-law took me on a Maternity Clothes Shopping Spree on Friday, so now I have more comfortable clothes. I also treated myself to a "Royal Pedicure" on Saturday so I'm feeling quite pampered now.

I was able to finally feel Baby Leah move at about the 21st week. It's such an amazing feeling. It's really hard to describe. It's really been the best part of pregnancy so far. Ben, my niece Reagan, my co-worker Patty and Ben's brother Isaiah have all been able to feel her too. I can't believe how much she moves. The last 3 ultrasounds we've had, the tech's have commented on how active she is. Sometimes they can't even get the snapshots and measurements they're going for. It's really cool to now feel what they are talking about.

My wonderful sister-in-law Carrie introduced me to Hypnobabies. It's a program where you learn self-hypnosis to get yourself in a relaxed state of mind so that you can naturally birth your baby without any drugs. I've been practicing it daily for about 2 months now and truly feel that it will work. You learn to use hypnosis as your anesthesia. You learn that pregnancy is natural, normal, healthy and safe. Not your personal real life horror film everyone talks about. There are many hypnobabies videos on youtube if any one's interested in looking them up. Carrie used Hypnobabies with her first childbirth and did so well. She had no epidural and was even snoring through most of her labor. I'm so excited to give birth and am very confident in my birth experience.

I've been lucky to have had so many ultrasounds during my pregnancy. I hear from most women that they only have one ultrasound throughout their entire pregnancies and I've already had 7 ultrasounds at only 5 months. My first OBGYN did an ultrasound at every appointment. My new OBGYN has done 1 in office and sent me on 2. It's just amazing to see how our little girl is growing and progressing.

At our first ultrasound I was only 3 days pregnant and we didn't see anything. That was a little scary but our doctor assured us that everything was normal. She didn't expect to see anything but she just wanted to try.

Our second ultrasound, at 6 weeks, we got to see the Gestational Sac and learned that my hormone levels had doubled as normal.

The Gestational Sac - 6 weeks


Our third ultrasound, at 8 weeks, we actually saw a little blob hanging out in the sac and were amazed to actually be able to see the heart beating.

The Blob - 8 weeks

At my fourth ultrasound, at 12 weeks, we saw what looked more like a little peanut with a heartbeat that this time we actually got to hear it too. I cried at this ultrasound. The doctor told us that it was a very strong little baby. We even saw the arms and legs kicking.

Our Little Peanut - 12 weeks

Our fifth ultrasound was at a place in Costa Mesa that was referred to us by a friend. It was a self elected ultrasound where we got to learn the sex of our little baby. This one was the most exciting ultrasound because at 16 1/2 weeks the baby had grown so much. It actually looked like a little human being and we got to see all the body parts. When the tech was trying to get the "money shot", our modest little baby was covering itself with both hands. It was so funny. Most exciting was when it finally moved it's hands out of the way and we learned that we were having a little girl! At first Ben wasn't so excited. My whole pregnancy thus far, Ben was convinced that we were having a boy. When the tech said it was girl, Ben asked, "Are you sure?" I could tell in his voice the disbelief and disappointment. The tech said that she was 100% sure and explained to us how different the anatomy looked. Ben was quite for a long time. I looked over at him and he was mouthing his thoughts but no words were coming out. This is something that Ben does when he's in deep thought. I squeezed his hand and after a few seconds he smiled and said, "Well, looks like I'm going to have my "Daddy's Little Girl!". He also told me that he was more excited then disappointed. This made me feel so much better. I knew how badly he wanted a boy especially since we only have females on my side of the family. A few nights after this ultrasound, we were in bed, scriptures read, prayers said, goodnight kiss and lights were off. I could tell he was still awake and asked him what he was thinking about and he said, "You know. I'm never going to be able to leave this little girl alone." It was so sweet. He is so excited to finally be able to be a Daddy.

Baby Skelatora - 16 1/2 weeks

1st Profile Picture "Baby Charlie Brown" - 16 1/2 weeks

The Arm and Hand - 16 1/2 weeks

100% Girl! - 16 1/2 weeks

Our sixth ultrasound at 19 weeks, was the one where all the measurements are taken and the baby is checked for any abnormalities. The tech was getting so frustrated because Baby Leah was moving all over the place. The ultrasound took over an hour just to get the snapshots she needed. I even almost passed out during this ultrasound because I had been laying flat on my back for so long. She had me move onto my side for the rest of the ultrasound. She said that the baby had very long legs that most women would die for. The tech also confirmed that yes, Leah was 200% girl.

Big Feet at the End of Very Long Legs - 19 weeks

Baby Leah's Big Head and Spine - 19 weeks

Leah "Loo-Who" Profile - 19 weeks

My last ultrasound, at 22 weeks, my doctor wanted me to see a specialist because my pregnancy is considered "high risk" because of my under active thyroid. Everything is fine and normal with both me and Leah. I still have to continue going to a specialist though to make sure that my TSH levels are staying on track. I guess with thyroid disease your chances of miscarriage are high if your levels aren't monitored. I'm so grateful that I have such good doctors that really care for my and my baby's well being. I'm also grateful because I get to have more ultrasounds done, for free! So at this ultrasound we got more snapshots of Little Leah. They even tried a 4D, but Leah doesn't have enough fat on her yet to get good shots

4D of Leah - 22 weeks

You can see the right half of her face and her right shoulder. Her right arm is up covering her left side of her face. The lightest part of the ultrasound is her forehead. You can see her right eye and little mouth.

I'm more and more excited everyday for our little girl to be here. Even though my pregnancy has been pretty rough so far, it is already totally worth it and I can't wait to do it again and again and again and again!!! Ben does want 8 little ones you know. He's told me that since before we got married. Hopefully we'll have a couple of sets of twins somewhere in there so I don't have to go through this too many times but I will if needed!

Family Photos

Two weeks ago my family went to Laguna Beach to have our family photos done. A student from my stepmother's school offered us a free session so she could get practice.


My Family
Eric, Ben, Me, Kerry, Son, Naynay, Papa, Reagan, Brenda, Todd, Kim, Brook, McKinley & Madison

The Oril's

Naynay & Papa

The Oril's

Naynay, Papa & Eric

The Baran's

Reagan (6 years), Todd, Kim, McKinley (2 years) & Madison (1 year)

The Lam's

Brenda, Son, Brooke (8 months) & Kerry (5 years)

The Winters'

Ben, Melonnie & Leah (due in December)

Eric

My Cousin

The Men

Ben, Dad, Eric, Son & Todd

The Women

Me, Brenda & Kim

The Girls

Reagan (6 yrs), Kerry (5 yrs), Madison (1 yr), Brooke (8 months) & McKinley (2 yrs)

I love my cute little family!

Pregnancy!

So I always had this romantic idea of pregnancy.



We'd get pregnant right away, I'd be glowing, no morning sickness or other symptoms (since my mom and sisters didn't have any), my tummie would be nice and round, everyone would treat me like a queen, , food would taste so wonderful, I'd be able to rest when I wanted, I'd have extra energy, I'd do pregnant yoga and I would be at home knitting and sewing beautiful things for our baby...

Ha! Yeah right!!!

So far it's been pretty much just the opposite. I'm currently at home right now with my 3rd cold in the past 4 months. This one is a doozie! I've been sick for 2 1/2 weeks now and it hit me really bad about a week ago. I have a throat infection that turned into a sinus infection with discharge coming out of both eyes, sore throat, sore face, coughing, sneezing, congestion, runny nose and I feel like I coughed a little bit of my lung out through my ribs. Oh, it's so painful every time I cough.

The morning sickness! Although finally over, it lasted for about 12 weeks straight. Everyday, sometimes twice a day. It was horrible. Sometimes even projectile and a few times even through my nose.

My stomach isn't nice and round as you would imagine a pregnant woman who is in her 4th month. It looks more like a spare tire with it's own spare!

I haven't had energy to do anything! All the things I love to do are now seeming like such a bothersome chore. I haven't cooked a real homemade meal for us pretty much since mid March. I used to cook dinner almost every night! I haven't really taken any pictures. I don't even know where my camera is right now. I haven't blogged in over a month. I haven't even wanted to go out for date night.

Pregnant on the first try! As most of our family and friends know, it wasn't so for us. We had tried for 12 months! The doctor kept telling us to relax and it would happen. Finally we decided to start some testing to see if we'd even be able to get pregnant on our own. Well this was in early March, right after Ben graduated and passed his state exam, we had an appointment to get the results for our testing. Three days before the appointment, I had missed my period. Even though it was just one day, I just had this feeling. I took the test and sure enough there were 2 lines! Although one was very light, there was still 2!!! I had been waiting to see those 2 little lines for 12 months!!! Finally there it was! So I took 5 more tests and all came out positive! We were so excited and when we went to get the results of our testing (which all came out normal) our doctor screamed when she found out that we were pregnant! I'm so grateful that it happened naturally. This was really important to me.

So, so far, this whole pregnancy thing hasn't turned out to be this beautiful romantic journey I had been dreaming about, but I am still so grateful for this opportunity to finally be pregnant. To finally start my family with my wonderful husband. Even though it's been rough, especially with me being sick and Ben still not being able to find a job, we really are grateful and excited. We've had a couple of really special moments talking about our little baby girl who will be here in December!

Nothing Says Lovin Like a...

Ingredients:
1 Happy Husband
1 Happy Wife
Lots of Patience
Lots of Fun
LOTS OF LOVE!

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to: 98.6 degrees

Bake at 98.6 degrees for approximately 9 months.

Bun removes itself from the oven when good and ready,

but this one should be done by mid December

Easter Weekend!

Okay, so in the past 2 weeks I've been sick twice! I don't know what's up because I never get sick. So now I'm on my second really bad cold. It's been so bad that it's like my poor little nose is just crying. I went through 2 boxes of tissue in the past 2 days! The big boxes!!! Thank the man or woman who had the brilliant idea to put lotion into tissues! It made this cold so much easier. Now they even have tissues with Vick's, Aloe Vera and even Anti-bacterial tissues!
Anywho... We had a really great weekend. On Friday we all went over to Papa and Naynay's (my dad's) to hang out and color Easter eggs.

Me and Brooke

Me and my 3 youngest nieces - Mc Kinley 2, Maddison 9 months, Brooke 5 months

Mc Kinley and Uncle Ben

An Afternoon Bike Ride

Stopping to pick some flowers for Papa and Naynay

Reagan 6, pretending to be a Little Indian

Reagan - the 1st Grandchild

Wild Flowers

Hangin out

For some reason I thought this photo was so funny

Kerry 5 and Reagan 6 - Crazy Girls

Mc Kinley - She is one of the sweetest and funniest kids I know

So Silly!

Then on Saturday we went to Salt Creek Beach. This is seriously one of my new favorite local spots. It was mine and Ben's 3rd time there in the past month. The beach is kinda secluded, the sand is really clean and soft, it's never crowded, there's great waves for surfing and body boarding, it has a great little picnic area with a basketball court and there's trails where you can bike or walk. This time we took my sisters and their families. We had just planned to go out there for a picnic since the weather was so ugly but when we got there it was perfect beach weather! All of us rolled up our pants and our sleeves and played in the water after our picnic.

Salt Creek Beach

Picnic Area

Salt Creek Golf Course

One of the walking trails

Me and Otis

Ben and Peanut

Kerry and Daddy

Ben and Me

The Baran's - Todd and McKinley, Kim (my oldest sister) and Maddison

The Lam Family - Brenda (my second oldest sister), Brooke and Son

McKinley and Daddy

Ben and Me

Me, Kerry and McKinley

Then on Easter Sunday after church we went to my dad's. Ben's dad and little brother were over again and all the kids had a ton of fun. Across from my dad's house is a big open field. Dad mows a path through it and we always go out there to play. For Easter we hide the eggs all through the field and the kids really love it. We usually have rules on which eggs which kids can collect to try and make it fair for everyone. This year we just counted all the eggs and divided them by how many kids we had. So each kid got 18 eggs and once they found 18 they were done. It actually worked out really well. I started getting sick on Easter so I stayed inside most of the day.
Brooke

So Sweet

Maddison

Brian and Eric

Kerry and Brooke

Maybe there's more chocolate inside!!!

It's a Chickie!

Tweet, tweet, tweet

A fun craft from Family Fun magazine

Happy Easter!

I love spending time with my family. I look forward to Sundays so much. It's such a wonderful day to spend time honoring our Savior and keeping in touch with family.