The experiment

Not long ago my father-in-law sent Daniel and I an email that was asking if he  knew anyone  who wanted to participate in an experiment for a KSL story. What they were looking for was a family of 4 who would be willing to survive off of only $100 in groceries for a week. Daniel emailed the woman and said we were interested and they chose us as one of the families! They wanted families of 4, some with just a mom and 3 kids, us with a baby, a mom and  dad and 2 kids, etc. 

We thought it would be fun to try it out. We had to empty our pantry (thanks Mekell for unknowingly donating your room for our pantry items while you are away!) and make a shopping list of what we would need for the week.

Yesterday a man from ksl came over and asked us some questions and recorded us for the radio story. he took pictures of our now bare pantry and then gave us $100 cash to get our groceries. He followed us through the store just asking questions and getting to know us. 

At first I was like a hundred bucks?  that's easy! but once we started making a meal plan for the week (which we had never done) we quickly saw how fast it goes. Every meal for everyday had to be bought and ALL the ingredients for everything. Things add up fast. Especially when you have "nothing" to start with

Daniel added everything up that we put in our cart and kept track of what everything cost. After we got everything we still had extra to get treats and juice and still had like 12 bucks left over! yay! it can be done. 

Anyway it was a good experiment and it really opened our eyes. And we like the whole planning our meals for a week thing. 

Its hard though because we have all this food in our fridge and can only eat what we bought with the $100. The other stuff isn't tempting because its in another room. 

The story should air sometime next week and it's supposed to be on the internet too. 

well that was our experiment and adventure for the week. It was easier than we thought and some people say it can't be done. NO WAY! it was a piece of cake. mmmmm cake. too bad we didn't buy some of that!

Riddle me this

I have had a few questions running through my mind. LET'S DISCUSS LIFE'S BIGGEST QUESTIONS. ok ok it's really not. More like Mandi's biggest questions... of the moment

*Why is it when I ask my husband to stop at the store on his way home from work to grab some things for me- one being dr. pepper- and he reaches in the little fridges at the check out, grabs my soda, pays and comes home, plops it on the counter only to notice this:

um....... what is wrong with this picture? are you kidding me?! Who seriously opens a soda, drinks it and puts it back? 

moving on.

* Why is it I take a very grumpy Ireland out for a stroll around the neighborhood and she is wearing only a diaper, her hair is gross from sunscreen and her pony tail broke at the pool so her hair is huge and odd looking, she had a squeeze- it drink so her teeth, tongue, lips and cheeks are red, she is teething so she has red slobber rolling down her chubby tummy. and yet she still manages to look so stinkin adorable!!! How does she do that?? 

I know she doesn't ALWAYS have to look like this:

and she doesn't always look like that. but she is always so beautiful to me

next, we have this beauty:
My sweet, darling, precious baby girl is already ONE MONTH OLD!! I can't even believe it!!

next question:
*Why do they have to grow so fast????

Oh and one final question: why is my blog still winter with snowflakes and  the baby wearing turtlenecks and what not?? yikes! Better get on that! 

Good night!

So what

So what if I ALWAYS do these survey things?? I love them. 

Child/Children's Age?
3 weeks


Name?
Leighton Hallie


Birthday?
June 24, 2009


Time of birth?
10:27 a.m


How long did labor last?
less than 5 and a half hours


Who was in the room when baby was born?
everyone who needed to be 

How long did you push?
10-15 mins


Weight?
6 lbs 5 oz


Length?
18 inches


ANY HAIR?
little tiny bits of brown

Who does baby look like?
everyone says she looks like her sister


Be honest...how much weight did you gain while pregnant?
well... I went to the dr. one week before I had her and I had gained 18 lbs at that point. So anywhere between 18 and 20 I imagine


Have you lost it all?
all but 4 lbs


Was baby early or late?
she came 10 days early

Who drove you home from the hospital?
My husband


How many baby showers did you have?
0

When did baby start sleeping through the night?
She hasn't.... yet. Sister slept through the night at 6 weeks so let's hope this one follows

Did you breastfeed?
I do


Who keeps your baby the most?
I do


How did you pick the name?
We had the name picked last summer. before we even got pregnant! My sister pointed it out and we fell in love. 


How did you know when it was time to go to hospitaI?
I was having contractions 30 seconds long and 3 mins apart


Did you go home or somewhere else when you left the hospital?
straight home.


Anyone spend the night with you first night home?
Daniel, my sister and Ireland

Did you cry the first time you held your baby?
yes. 

Who cut the cord?
Daniel


Where was the baby born?
Alta View


Did you video tape the birth?
absolutely NOT

Are you happy with how things turned out?
extremely.


Do you want to have another?
most definitely!! just not any time soon!!

Oh. My. Heck

Can my girls be any cuter?!?! We had their pics done  on Friday by this awesome lady named Dana. They turned out BEAUTIFUL. wanna see??? click here  theirs  is  appropriately titled: baby Leighton and Ireland. Go see! Hurry :)

Once upon a time.....

On July 15, 2006 Daniel and his amazing fiancee Mandi :) Were married in the Bountiful Temple in Utah.

a couple of engagement photos:

3 years ago I married my best friend

then about 15 months later THIS adorable monkey was born! Miss Ireland was born into our family. We have had so much fun with this kid!!

She can be QUITE a handful. uh...... that's not for you!! ha ha

then about 20 months after Ireland was born..... we were once again in the hospital waiting for princess # 2 to arrive.
here everything is going ok. (We had been to the hospital already that night! I hadn't felt the baby move in about 3 hours so I went in to get checked. Baby was fine and I wasn't contracting or dilating so they sent me home. I was to be induced 5 days from then anyway so I was ok with everything. We left the hospital after midnight......and was back less than 4 hours later in labor!!! ) so anyway..

Things were ok (minus the PAIN!!) and then the nurse gets freaked and calls for help. Apparently baby's heart rate dropped way too low and I needed oxygen....
and had to lay on my side and hold still.

It worked!! baby was fine. I progressed pretty quickly and from when I arrived to when she was born was less than 4 hours.
Well the labor was pretty scary. a few things were wrong and she wasn't making her graceful appearance. I was losing way too much blood and the dr. and nurse were getting pretty intense and worried. So they had to do some things to get her out immediately and literally saved her life. It was so scary!!!

They got her out. and she was posterior (head up) and that was part of the problem. Also... all that bleeding that had my dr. freaked?? It was what he suspected: my placenta had torn.

Anyway, they had to rub her back like crazy and try to get her to cry and respond.

She did and had a great apgar score and she weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and was 18 inches long. Leighton was/is so beautiful and healthy!!! and she does NOT seem to have a milk allergy like sister did! phew

Here is me and my girls!!

They offered Daniel and I an amazing dinner in the hospital (which I called our date night) I chose the salmon and he chose the chicken cordon bleu. It was so fancy and so nice!!! And the manager of the hospital came and gave me a huge, white, soft, fluffy robe. sweet! I SERIOUSLY LOVE that hospital and their staff!!

Leighton had dangerously high biliruben levels and we couldn't go home with her when we were supposed to. Daniel went home to be with Ireland and I refused to go home without my baby. SO I stayed in my room while she stayed under the lights praying she would get better. She didn't much but we got to go home that night!! BUT had to have the lights at home :(

It was soooo hard for me. 3 hours on the lights then 1 hour off. If I fed or changed her, that counted as part of the hour so the next 3 days I BARELY held the baby :(

these are at home:



well that's our story. Long, sad and scary, but we survived and are so very happy with our cute little family. Ireland is a rockstar!! such a good big sister and can NOT get enough of Leighton!! Always by her side.

LOL!!!!

And Daniel: My wonderful sweet husband, thank you for loving me. Thank you for being my friend.... since elementary school!!! Thank you for being an amazing daddy. Thank you for putting up with me. And doing all the dishes every day and thank you for being willing my entire pregnancies to get up at any hour and get what I am craving. And changing diapers... most the time without being asked. Thank you for hardly every complaining and for being the positive one. thank you for holding the Priesthood. Thank you for making me breakfast every sunday, even on fast sundays when you can't eat!

Thank you. I love you

4th of July fun

I was too scared to do much with the baby for the 4th. It is my favorite holiday but I thought it all would be too loud and I am scared of her being around a bunch of people still. So.... we had a bbq at home and took a ton of fun pics. 

enjoy:

my mom and Ireland:

Now I know my ABC's

So, Ireland is getting quite the vocabulary (and attitude!) She definitely is little miss personality and wants the whole world to see her shine! She officially knows the entire alphabet and does it only when she feels like it. We tried to film her saying them but she was super hyper and being silly. She is not dressed and her hair is a mess because we were getting her ready for bed. Sorry the filming sucks but I had to get her on tape saying her ABC's! The beginning is just her being silly with daddy.

I have lot's of video of her talking and she can say quite a few sentences now. Daniel and I can remember these off the top of our heads:

thank you daddy. thank you mommy. I want hug. I scare you. I see you. I hold you. I love you. Happy birthday to you. Are you happy. How are you. she always asks- binky, where are you? or a person like -daddy, where are you? she also says oh, thats nice. take it off. push it please. I want out. thank you for lunch (which has only been said once) ** this is mostly for our purpose of remembering what she did as a child and when. So the abc's and all the things she can say was at age 20 months**

anyway here is the video:

My Girls

I have a post I want to do about Leighton's birth and all that we have been through- the good and the bad. But as you can imagine I don't have a ton of time. So for now I thought I would post some pics of our darling little girls. Daniel and I could not be more  proud of Ireland. She is such a nice big sister. So helpful and ALWAYS concerned about sister. As soon as she wakes up she asks about her. Always running to get a blankie or binky for her. Anyway here are just a few of my favorites that I have taken this last week. 

Ireland and Leighton: