1 Month 14 Months

A little over a month ago Mr Liam was born.

We couldn't wait for him.

So many people were looking towards his arrival.

The second grandson in Casey's family (out of 12)

and the first grandson in my family.

We were so blessed to bring another baby into our family so soon.

It has been a little crazy but with the help of my mother and my mother in law it has been great.

I fear the worst when they are gone and Casey's in school,

but I know it will be fun as well.

We had dinner at Aunt Katherine and Grandma Callister home. It was delicious like always. 

After dinner Trish (Casey's mom) played the keyboard

while we sang Christmas Hymns.

It was quite lovely. 

So peaceful both Eliana and Liam fell asleep. 

Today Miss Eli is 14 months.

(Yesterday we flew in to Texas from Utah)

It feels as if we just had her yesterday.

She has grown so much and has learn so much as well.

She likes to get on a little red stool.

She says "up" as she gets on and "down" as she gets off.

She loves books and won't ever let you finish one before she asks for another one to be read.

Her favorite books are animal books.

She makes animal sounds when asked what they say.

These are some of my favorite.

Sheep "bah bah bah"

rooster "Cackoo"

Pig "oi oi"

cow "moo"
bee "zzzzz" (while moving pointer finger and thumb together in the air)

She tries to say "bless you" when you sneeze but comes out "echu"

When we read "Four spring flowers make eeyore sneeze" 

She then sneezed "Achuuu"

Broccoli is her favorite vegetable.

Bananas and Apples are her favorite fruits. She now knows how to say apple.

She will also point at it in her book and say apple. 

She loves yogurt and juice.

We end up having to spell juice because she knows the name of it.

She will ask "jush?"

She will also sit in front of where they are and yell until she gets one or is moved.

She loves her grandmas very much and loves when they sing and play with her.

 

 

People don't quite know that side of her unless they stay with us. She can be a little shy.

She has also learned to say please but it comes out "cheez" (Which I thank Casey's mom for)

 I would have to say that this is the month that she has learn the most. I do have to say both grandmas were here and for some reason she is more obedient with them :)

She is such an intelligent child and I am so grateful to be able to be home with our children and am able to see how much they are growing and learning. A large part of it is having such a supportive and helpful husband. He is the best!

All better!

So when Mr. Liam was born
not everything was great and we had to take extra care of him
when we came home.
His billirubin was high so we had to lay him on a photo-blanket.
It was not fun to see him in it.
We did have it better than the ones that have the photo-bed
but it was still not fun.
He lost 11% of his birth weight in the first week
and we could tell that he did not feel good at all.
But he is much better.
On the 18th, 19th, and 21st we had to take him to the hospital to have him get pricked and check his blood.
We only took Eliana with us the 19th. 
She yelled at the nurse who pricked him and was taking his blood.
Later in the day on the 21st we got a phone call from the Dr. saying that it was ok that for Liam to be off the blanket.
They believed that Thanksgiving should be enjoyable for us.

At his 2 weeks appointment on the 29th:
Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Height: 20.5 in

Because he wasn't at his birth weight just yet the Dr. wanted us to come back in a week to get his weight checked again.
On Dec 6th he weighed 7 lbs 15 oz.
We got the ok that he was doing good.

Because Liam was in the NICU for 48 hours
the Dr. asked us to go in to the hospital to get his hearing checked.
His hearing is perfect to us but you can never be too careful 

So we took him in on the 13th.
Poor baby had some things that hurt to take out because it pulled his hair.
I recognized the lady that did his hearing test because she did Eliana's last year for the same reason.
When the test was over she asked "Do you have any other children?"
Why yes we do.
She said "Yea I remember you from last year."
Wow good memory.

I'm glad this was only temporary.
It's sad to see your baby ill and not be able to fix it right away.
Lots of prayers got us through it.
 

Thanksgiving

Our second Thanksgiving as a married couple and with two children.

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful about.

Our health

our love

our patience 

our relationship

and our beautiful children

our home

and many many more.

Casey cooked some great food like he did last year and 

my mother was with us.

We have so much more to look forward to.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

13 months

Eliana turned 13 months today.

What has happened in the last month.

Nothing but contractions and getting a baby here.

Sorry Eliana.

I am so glad that my mom is here. 

She has spent a lot of time with Eliana

Playing, Singing, Reading

Things that she loves.

She's been teething.

Her molars are all trying to come at the same time.

Causing her not to be herself.

She does say "Tankoo" (Thank you) and "echu" (Bless you)

At ten months her first word besides "mama" and "dad" was water.

The only thing about is that she confuses agua and water so she just says

"Guagua"

So she will let us know when she is thirsty. 

She loves for someone to sing her 

Ring around the Rosie

she says "Ashes Ashes" "Down"

10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

She will hit her head and say "Buhp"

Itsy Bitsy Spider

she will do the hand motion of the spider climbing

when she wants that one sang

Spanish songs

Ay ya ya yay Canta y No llores

She will sing Ay ya ya yay around the apartment

and in tune.

Coocooroocoocoo

 She hums the tune and does a pretty good job

I feel so bad that I missed a lot of playing with her this month.

It was just so hard to get back up from the floor.

I was just ready to get the baby here.

She did get a present mid month.

Her baby brother was born and she just loves him.

For the past 3 months I would ask her 

"Hey where's bubba?"

She would come straight at my belly hug and kiss it.

Then she began to pat his bum and say

"BuhBah"

The first time that I noticed she knew he was there...

Some friends came over in July and she was sitting in my lap facing me.

She just stared at them and patted my belly.

Then she leaned in to kiss him.

I was surprised.

I never told her brother was in there.

After that I just asked her where bubba was and she just knew.

It amazed me even more that when they were cleaning him she kept yelling

"BUHBAH"

Since then she has not looked at my belly.

She is just little miss smarty pants.

I am definitely ready to be able to pick her up and play with her.

That is something that I already miss.

Christopher Liam

On November 15 2012

we welcomed a new member to the family 

Mr. Christopher Liam

A sweet boy.

My contractions began at about 34 weeks.

I was excited that perhaps he would be joining early.

At my 35 week checkup I was 1 & 75%

36 = 2 & 80%

37= 2.5 & 90%

for 4 weeks I did not progress

Contractions were strong but nothing.

Just like with Eliana.

I went to the hospital 

(which is a 15 min drive if taking the freeway)

4 times because we were sure my water was broken.

They tested but bc the test were neutral they said it prob wasn't.

Come on ladies I was leaking to the point I needed a pad.

Not normal.

The 4th time I let them know I was going to stay for more than an hour.

After 3 hours of no progress I was sent home.

Lame. 

1 hour later at 12 am

I was laying in bed when a leakage woke me up.

I felt a lot of pressure and I needed to pee.

I went to the restroom and sure enough my water was definitely broken.

Small leaks but w meconium. 

We called the midwife and there we go again to the hospital.

Was I in pain?

Contractions were strong and good

but no strong pain.

Never really hit pain pain.

But I am good at dealing with pain.

When I was checked I was at 5 & 95%

After that every hour I progressed one.

at 1am=6 2=7 3=8 once I hit 8 I 

got the "walking epidural"

I was able to move my legs and feel some "pain"

(I mainly had it bc of the c-section. Dr said I was to have it in case of another emergency c-section.)

because of that I was at 8 for two hours.

so I was given a little pitosin.

At a little before 6 am I was checked and I was fully dilated and ready to push.

I pushed exactly one hour and at

7:08 am of November 15 2012

Christopher Liam 

was born.

A 7 lb 10 oz baby boy.

One week later but he was finally here.

Of course the last 5 min was the worst pain I ever felt.

The epidural had finished and I had forgotten to press the button.

By the time I realized it was too late to press it.

He was born with a fever and I had a fever.

So after cleaning I was able to kiss him and he was off to 2nd level nursery. (NICU)

He stayed there longer than Eliana was in the NICU.

Eliana got 12 hours 

Liam 48 hours.

I was just glad we were able to take him home.

It's so nice to be a family of four.

When walking fails

When walking fails what do you do?

Cut your hair.

For the past week we have been going to the mall 

Just about every day.

Just to walk.

But...nothing.

I do get pains and have to stop to breathe but I always get sent home from the hospital.

I WAS in need of a haircut though.

It was so relaxing.

I love when my hair is brushed and cut.

I use to let my cousins style it just for fun, for them. Relaxing for me.

So today I got a haircut.

I loved it.

After cutting my hair and my mom getting hers done as well, we walked some more.

Some lady stopped 

Asked when I was do 

look at me wanting to pop

and to not go in labor in front of her.

Yes, because I can hold him in right?

She was trying to sell something that I had already bought in the past and didn't use.

How do I get out of it?

Oh wait here it comes.

Pain.

A good one.

Couldn't walk.

She freaked.

Saved.

Thank you baby.
We also had snow.
So pretty.
 

October '12 Report

Almost there!!

To the end of the pregnancy that is.

This month has just been full of restless nights

swollen hands and feet

bloody nose

tiredness

back aches

You know all the great stuff that comes with pregnancy.

For those of you who do not know...

The reason we went to Texas for the summer is 

because Casey applied to Dental schools in Texas.

In August we were suppose to hear from the school but didn't.

Casey made phone calls and finally the beginning of the month 

he scheduled his interviews.

On the 13th we departed to Texas.

I was called crazy for flying at 8.5 months 

And I was called crazy because they thought I drove.

Either was I was crazy.

No matter.

Casey didn't want to leave us at home while he traveled in Texas.

And well I wanted to be with family.

Monday morning Casey had interview with San Antonio.

Sunday night he left for Houston with Austin & Kenneth.

From there he drove to San Antonio.

Friday he had an Interview with Baylor in Dallas.

So after the Interview he drove back to Houston.

Stayed that night.

Took a bus the next morning to Dallas.

My dad and I picked him up

Wednesday my dad took us to visit little miss Kadynn

who was born  the day before.

She is so cute and has dark hair.

They were able to see Eliana as well.

She enjoyed being around Madison who was kind enough to share Angry Birds cheez itz with her.

Friday morning Casey left for his interview.

Meanwhile Eliana, my mom, and I went shopping for Eliana's bday party.

 Casey just came in time to pick us up and head to the park.

We had a blast.

Before the party we had some family pictures taken as well as pictures of Eliana.

She enjoyed it all.

The food, the cake, the pinata, even the dancing.

Little miss Teagan was dancing as well.

At the end of it all we headed to my parents house.

We were a little sad some of the family missed it
but we hope the ones who were able to make it enjoyed it.

It was short but fun trip.

We left for home, back to Utah, Saturday.

On the 23rd Eliana had her 1 year check up.

Shots again.

Hurts me to see her in pain.

Eliana stopped drinking formula before we left Utah.

I called the Dr office before because she was ready to drink milk.

She weighed 18 lbs and 14 oz.

Height 28.5 in

She speaks a lot says about 10 words already.

She's got a great appetite and loves to eat.

He walks, she talks, she sings, she dances.

What more can she do?

I am just excited to find out what she is going to enjoy.

Ballet? Sports? Gymnastics? Music?

Maybe all.

We'll see for now she is just one wonderful child.

After my Dr. Appointment on the 29th we headed to a pumpkin patch.

It didn't quite go as I thought it would.

Eliana was a little too scared of pumpkins.

Maybe it was their size.

She did walk around and saw some animals.

But that was about it.

Maybe next year.

The next day we picked my mom up from the airport.

Oh how I miss her.

Our relationship was never great until I was married.

By then it was too late.

I no longer have her with me.

I do love to talk with her.

She's is a very busy woman but she calls when she can.

But for now I'm going to enjoy her while she is here.

On halloween we took Eliana to a block with about 12 houses.

It was a gated street so there weren't really cars.

This is the same street we took Christopher (my youngest brother) to trick or treat

When Casey and I were dating.

Eliana had a blast.

The first house had music.

When Eliana stepped on the patio the "Ghost Busters" theme song came on.

The owners were laughing because she stopped to start dancing.

It is a pretty rad song.

After that Eliana to walk the entire time, but it was too long. 

Every now and then we'd let her.

By the end she was tired and we were ready to eat her candy.

It was a wonderful month.

September '12

I feel that days have become slower, lazier, and longer.

It's all downhill from now.

With this pregnancy I feel much heavier, slower, lazier.

Going out just isn't my thing but I wanted to get some pictures.

We can't afford a professional just yet but my cousin-in-law (?)

Volunteered to take pictures for us.

They came out really pretty.

We went to several locations different days.

But that was as much as I could take.

The weather was quite warm at times.

But here are some pics.

During this month I also went on a sewing frenzy.

Guilty.

I can't help it.

I love it.

Self-taught.

I have had many projects just to get practice.

I made myself a diaper bag, car seat cover for a boy to cover the girly stuff.

I also made myself a skirt and a cardigan.

As well as other things but the reason I wanted to learn was to make Eliana some dresses. (I'll come back to add the pictures when she wears them.)

I made her a pink shirt

Dress out of my skirt 

 

Blue cardigan and yellow dress

And her snow white costume to wear for halloween.

I had so much fun

And I am happy to know that she will be wearing them for her birthday.

I look forward to making more.

And if someone was wondering.

I made my own pattern.

I used the same one for every dress I made.

I just used one of her dresses to make my own pattern.

 

Do your research!!

So with this pregnancy we have the same Doctor.
Correction...
HAD!!
Why?
When I had the C-section with Eliana
we thought it was because I really needed it.
We found it I didn't .
On August 13. We had our last visit with Dr. Gourley.
The visit was horrible.
We are wanting to try having a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section)
So we asked Dr. Gourley if we could have a trial.
It was as if we had pushed the wrong button.
He didn't make sense.
He couldn't explain to us what exactly went wrong.
In the end he said "You can't have a vbac. You are too small. But if you think that I don't know anything even though I am the doctor than that's fine."
We just said "Ok well thank you for letting us know if we had the option or not."
We left the office and only went back to pick up our records.

I was 27 weeks pregnant and no doctor.
We did our research and found an office in American Fork.
Before we asked for our records we met a midwife at the American Fork office.
We  loved her! We loved the office, the people, the environment.
We went home afterwards and prayed hard.
We had the feeling that we were making the right choice.

On September 5 we registered and on the 6th we met Dr. E William Parker.
He went over the whole "uterine rupture" and asked if we wanted him or the midwives.
We discussed the differences and what would work better for me.
Casey and I went home and we talked about it and prayed.
We switched to midwives.
At this point in the pregnancy they explained that I needed to come in every week in order to meet every midwife.
So that is the plan.

We have such a great feeling and we can't wait to get this baby here safe and sound!

Eliana's Second Steps

For the longest time Eliana has been standing on her own.

Probably since about 4 months.

She stands while holding onto things.

We've been looking forward to the day she'd take her first steps.

She began walking while holding onto things since about 5.5 months.

She began army crawling at about 5 months but was better by 6 months.

She's a fast one.

Then she decided to crawl on all fours at the baby shower while I opened gifts. (8.5 months)

Everyone was more excited about that. Even I was!

That same day she finally stood up and let go of the furniture and stood on her own.

Since we got back from Texas, Eliana walks everyday but she has to hold on to one finger.

Why?

No idea. 

She just does.

One finger.

She even walks just by brushing the walls with her hands.

But she will not walk on her own. 

I knew it wasn't  going to take long before she started walking on her own.

Then today.

It happened.

Casey was studying at the table, back turned to us.

I told Casey I was taking a nap on the couch.

I closed my eyes.

Seconds later....

I opened them and caught Eliana walking towards me by herself!!

No wall

No couch

No finger.

Just air.

I yelled "Casey she just walked by herself!!!"

We took the camera out and told her to walk again.

So here it is! Eliana's second steps. (Click Here)

Brigham Temple

Casey has been wanting to visit his mission field area for quite some time.

The last time we went was when we were engaged.

It has been almost two years now.

I am 6.5 months pregnant with a 10 month old.

And even though this pregnancy has not been the best,

You know all the nausea, lost appetite, and all that great stuff,

I still wanted to drive about 2 hours to visit the area.

Plus, we NEEDED to go to the Brigham Temple Open House.

Last Saturday the 18th

We picked up a friend of Casey's (Colby)

who wanted to join us.

From there we went to a parking lot near the temple 

where buses picked people up to take to the temple.

Eliana enjoyed that ride.

The Temple was beautiful.

But what Temple isn't ?

Eliana has never been that reverent.

The spirit was so peaceful and sweet.

Now we can say we have been in at least 5 Temples in Utah.

There were so many people.

Members and non members.

After the Temple trip we dropped Colby off, ate, and headed home.

This past Saturday the 25th we headed once again to Brigham/Ogden.

We were able to meet people he served around.

I could see the great love that they have for Casey.

Not only could I see but they let us know.

Eric was baptized while Casey served and as he told me the story he began to get emotional.

It was nice to meet someone that joined the church and see how they change.

His wife gave me a handkerchief that they got in Relief Society with the Brigham Temple on it.

Quite lovely.

That night we stayed at Casey's cousins house where his Aunt & Uncle Woody live also.

They enjoyed little miss Eliana.

Surprised at how quick of a crawler she is.

The next morning we attended church at their ward and headed home afterwards.

These were trips that we were excited to make and really enjoyed them.

The Lord has blessed us with such great love from people that I just met but love because of who Casey is.

I was very blessed to have met and married Casey.

I am glad that he has taken me to meet the area he served and the people there.

Summer Blast! 2012

So this summer we had the great opportunity to spend it in Texas!!

Oh how we miss our family and would love to see them as much as we can.

It was so much fun!

It was a hot summer but we went out more than we ever have in Utah.

During our summer in Texas 

Eliana got her first haircut (by me of course)

She played a lot on her play station where she just about ran around the whole thing and would slide.

We got to spend a lot of time with my grandma 

who walked for an entire day just to be in Laredo, Texas in time to meet our little girl.

Eliana just loved her!

She picked at her teeth and a mole she has on her neck.

We visited family in Laredo, Texas.

We were going to stop by San Antonio but Casey had to work.

Luckily Casey was able to find a job. He's friends with the owner of the Bahama Bucks in Rockwall.

I got free BB like every day.

We went to the zoo with my parents.

That was fun.

Eliana was in love with the black sloth bear.

She kept blowing kisses at him.

We celebrated Casey's birthday by going to get an Ultra-sound and found out we were expecting a boy!

It was a great birthday gift!

We ate a restaurant and spent the evening at chuck e. cheese.

We went over Kristies (FW) home and went to a water park close by.

We went to the Firewheel Mall.

We took her to Build-A-Bear Workshop for the first time.

As soon as we walked in she was overwhelmed with so many stuffed animals.

Maybe she'll be a Vet one day.

We were able to be in town for Peters birthday (which also had a water park)

It was fun!

And we ended the trip with a baby shower for our little man.

While I opened gifts Eliana began to crawl perfectly.

Oh the joy.

My parents helped us return home.

On our way to Utah we took a different route and visited Anthony, April & the kids in Kansas.

That was a nice stop.

We stayed there a night and we were off again the next day.

We had a little problem an hour from home, that got us home later than expected.

But, we finally made it home safe and sound.

It was truly a great summer.

Casey's Birthday

Today was the most exciting day of the year.

It is Casey's birthday.

We scheduled a sonogram in a place near by to find out what the baby's gender is.

About 4 years ago I had a dream.

I was at Lake Ray Hubbard with my mom.

It was as if we were having a picnic.

It was a pretty day.

We were at a picnic table.

Sitting on a picnic table was a little girl.

She was about 18 months.

She was cute with little pig tails.

Dark hair, dark eyes, light skin.

Her eyes were a mixture of almond/round shaped. Bright eyes.

Next to her on the picnic table was a carseat.

There was a baby.

I couldn't tell the gender but I felt like he was a boy.

About 6 months old.

That was the end of the dream.

I didn't know what it meant.

When I had Eliana we planned on waiting 2 years. 

That was not the Lord's plan.

It just didn't match the dream lol.

After Casey finished his shift.

He came home, got ready, and we headed to the sonogram appointment.

When we were going to the sonogram with Eliana I kept saying 

"Are you ready to find out it's a girl?"

This time I kept saying

"Are you ready to find out it's a BOY??!...That would be a perfect bday gift!"

We saw it.

It was indeed a boy!

We could tell lol

He just wanted to flaunt it.

They took a picture of us afterwards.

Casey and I are obviously excited...Eliana is just trying to be cool about it

but she's excited :)

We celebrated by eating at Kyoto.

Eliana enjoyed watching the guy cook our food.

We had a great time.

Then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese. 

Eliana played along with us.

We took pictures and Eliana was pooped at the end of it.

Afterwards I gave Casey his gift. (Madden 12)

Then we announced the baby's gender on Facebook.

It was a great day!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!

HOPE YOU REMEMBER THIS DAY FOREVER!!

March & April '12 Report

March month brought me a great surprise!

Casey said he knew all along that I was pregnant.

I did not...

On March 2nd it was my birthday.

I felt terrible.

I felt like I had a stomach virus.

I hardly ever get sick so I was sad.

It was my birthday.

So we had pizza and cake that I made (both) 

Casey gifted me with the Twilight books and movies.

It was a fun day even if I was ill.

Although Casey did take me to Cold Stone later that week.

My favorite. Mmm

On March 17th we got The Big Positive.

I was surprised.

I even took another one to make sure it was right.

I also had to look close and count the lines make sure I was counting right.

When I showed Casey he wasn't surprised.

He said he knew.

Well then it hit me.

That explained my "sickness."

I didn't have any symptoms like this with Eliana so never did it cross my mind I was.

On the 23rd Melinda and her fam came to visit, so we had dinner at Aunt Katherines.

It was yummy like always.

Eliana kept rolling over. Didn't want to be on her back.

One of the times that I went towards her to roll over, she wailed away trying to crawl.

It was cute and funny.

On the 30th we went to Casey's mission reunion.

Everyone is so nice and just tell me how great Casey is.

I already knew that though. 

That's why I married him.

That night we wanted to tell the mission presidents but no one in our family knew so we held it in.

April 1. April fools day.

We sent an email blast to the family with a this picture of Eliana.

We wondered how long it would take.

Guess no one believed us because we didn't get much of a response.

Some asked "are you serious?"

Some just didn't bother.

I had to call my parents and tell them it was real.

We were given advise when we had Eliana to wait years for the next one.

Guess the Lord had different plans for us because this was not planned.

We are a thrilled couple though.

On the 17th we picked my dad up from the SLC airport.
He came to help us drive down to Texas.

stopping to eat. awesome hair.

The next day we had dinner at Aunt Katherine.
They asked Casey to say the prayer.
During the prayer Casey said "...and bless Crystal and the baby that we are expecting...."
After the prayer Aunt Katherine said "Oh you got her huh?" (Laughing)
We looked at her and said "No it's true."
And that is how we told Grandma and Aunt Katherine.

On the 20th we drove to Texas after Eliana's 6 month checkup.
Poor baby got shots.
Now she was going to have a long drive.
She did great though.
Slept just about the entire time.
It's now the drive back that worries me.

The last week of April was the first we spent in Texas.
Casey got a job at Bahama Bucks but
I convinced him he needed a break between school and his first week there.
During that week we went to Laredo, Texas.
My grandma was the reason I wanted to go but we didn't know if she'd be there.
She walked a day just to meet our sweet little girl.
She fell in love with her.
My mom's bday is the 30th and my dad the 28th so we had a little bday party for them there.
Since Casey was going to work we couldn't stop by San Antonio.
Oh well, one day.

We look forward to the rest of the time we will be spending in Texas.
Feels good to be with family around.
 

Chaos huh?

Welcome to the newest family page.

Cr-asey Chaos

is the name.

A chaotic life is the game.

Not really.

Be ready to read 

how unorganized our life 

is going to be.

Casey and I met when we were young in the same church ward.

We didn't date but went to homecoming together our junior year.

We began to date once we both moved up to Utah in 2010.

We got married the last day of that year.

We had a beautiful girl 10 months later.

And today we found out we are expecting again.

People may think we are crazy.

We don't care.

Life is just going to get very interesting.

And chaotic.

But that is what makes life

wonderful.