Happy Birthday Maeli Rae Rankin!!!

After a long awaiting, Maelie Rae Rankin is finally here. After being in labor for 33 hours my good friend Bryton finally had her baby girl. We are so excited to welcome little Maelie to the world. She is only a tiny 5lbs 5oz. Since we don't have any pictures of Maelie yet, here are a few of Elai waiting to go see her. Congrats Bryton and Mike, we love you! And I'm looking forward to our walks Bryton!

Full of Smiles

Our little guy is getting so big! He now weights 9lbs 7oz and is 21 1/2 inches long. It is amazing how fast he is growing. Everyday he seems to be doing something new and exciting. Lately he has been full of smiles. All day long he just smiles and coos at me. Of course it just makes my heart melt. However every time I try to take a picture, he stops. Elai is also trying to hold up his head. He doesn't have it all the way down yet, but he tries. He can do it for about 10 seconds. And he can now focus on things. My favorite thing is when he stares at me with his big blue eyes and a huge smile on his face. All of these things are what makes being a mom so great.

Good Bye Pump!!!

You know you live a boring life when the only thing you have to blog about is your breast pump. Well most of you don't know about the horrible experience I had with nursing when Elai was born. He would not breast feed at all. The doctor told me that it was because he was early and sucking was just too hard for him. It broke my heart, I thought it was all my fault and that I was doing something wrong. But I was determined to have him drink breast milk so the hospital got us a pump. For the last six and a half weeks I have been pumping 8-12 times a day. But then our luck changed. On Saturday I decided I would try to nurse Elai and to my surprise he did it! I didn't think he would ever nurse because he had been taking a bottle for so long but he did and I am super excited! Oh and on another note, I have seemed to misplace my camera somewhere right after taking tons of new pictures of our little guy.

Elai Pictures

It has been crazy around our house over the past few weeks, hence the no blogging. We had a great conference weekend with a visit from the Rios'. Followed by Elai and I taking a visit to see Auntie Staci, Devin and Grandma and Grandpa Carbery. Then the long drive back from Montana. Other than that not much has been happening. Zech is as busy as ever with school and homework and Elai and I get to hang out together all day. Here are a few pictures that we have taken over the last few days.

There is a story behind this one. Every time Elai sits in this chair he tilts his head to the side. Grandpa Rios found that if you put a few diapers behind his head, it stays straight!

Elai's Day

Here is a day in the life of Elai Carter Rios.

7am- Wake up, get diaper changed, eat, then back to bed

11am- same as above

2pm-same as above except takes a nap with mom

5pm- wake up, get diaper changed, eat, then help dad with his homework

8pm- eat again, get diaper changed go to bed

wake up at midnight, and 3am to guess what...get diaper changed and eat.

So I thought now that Elai is here I would have more to blog about but for right now we live a pretty boring life!

Elai's First Pictures

Yesterday we had Elai's pictures done. Here are a few that were taken.

I have conquered...

NAIL BITING! I know how sick it is but all my life I have had the nasty habit of biting my nails. When I'm nervous or just bored I would chew away at my nails. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that I took a biology class in college where we looked under a microscope of the stuff we gathered from under our finger nails. I saw all those little creatures that live under there but that didn't stop me. I am happy to say however that ever since Elai was born, I have not bit my nails! They are the longest they have ever been. Two days ago I even had to trim them with nail clippers. While trimming my nails I had realized that was the first time I had ever had to clip my nails with clippers or had to use a nail file. So I'm pulling out the nail polish today and having a pretty day.

Happy Birthday Elai (one week)

Elai is officially one week old. It has been a week full of fun and exciting new experiences for all of us. Here are a few pictures that we had snapped this week.

I know what you are thinking, his neck must be hurting, but every time I try to straighten his head out he just puts it back.

Bath time!

Our first walk together.

We're Home!

We got to come home yesterday and boy are we excited. Zechary and I love having Elai at home in our own environment without nurses and doctors bugging us. Well except for our favorite nurse, Grandma Carbery aka Grammy Cow. We will miss her. It has been a long couple of days of nothing but nurses poking and prodding at our little man. They doctor let us come home yesterday afternoon but we don't have all of Elai's labs back yet and we have to take him back to the hospital on Wednesday for more poking and prodding. Overall everything seems to be going good so far though. We won't know about his heart until he sees the specialist in a few weeks. So right now, we are just loving spending time with our little guy at home.

He's Here!

Elia is officially here and we couldn't be more excited. I have a few minutes to post a quick blog since my mom has wireless Internet on her laptop and the nurses are drawing Elai's blood. Not everything went as perfect as plan, but Elai sure seems perfect. After delivery the doctors said that he is actually 4 weeks early therefore he is having a few respiratory issues. Nothing major, but they are going to keep us here for a few days to monitor him and they have to poke him a bunch. Overall he is really healthy though. We will post more pictures later! Keep us in your prayers~!~

Just Waiting...

Zechary and I got all of our Spring Cleaning/de-cluttering done yesterday. It feels so nice to have thrown away all the stuff that we don't need just lying around the house. We actually weren't planning to do our spring cleaning, we were just going to tidy up the house. But Zech got really into it and I thought since he didn't have class yesterday we better take advantage of our time before our little man gets here. I also packed my bag for the hospital so now we just have to wait for when it is time to go. I never would have believed I would still be pregnant at 37.5 weeks, after all I was in labor at 27 weeks. The doctor told me over two weeks ago I would have Elai within two weeks, but I guessed he showed her who is boss. I know he will come when he is ready, I just hope it's soon! Zech thinks it's funny to tease me that Elai will be three weeks late. I guess only time will tell. I do have to say that the last few days have been really easy for me. Lately I haven't felt good but these last few days I have felt pretty good however I have been sleeping alot!!! I even told Zechary if everyday was like today I wouldn't mind being pregnant again.

Baby Shower #2

Baby shower #2 is officially over! Zech says now I can have Elai. It was so much fun. I really love all the ladies in our ward. They are all such kind women and they all give such great advice. The shower ended at about 7:30 but Zech and I just got home. Some of the ladies and their husbands decided to go to Applebee's after the shower so of course we had to go. I swear it was the Alameda 2nd Ward's Night to go to Applebees. There were church members everywhere. It was great. I'm so thankful for my dear friends I have met at this ward, and of course also Anjillee and Bryton. Oh and there will be no pictures due to me forgetting my camera!

My Breakfast

I woke up this morning to one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. Zechary made me eggs in a basket! Other then that it has been a pretty lazy morning for me. Zech is doing homework and has been since 7am with the exception of making breakfast and driving the missionaries somewhere. It is now 10:30 and I am still in my pjs unshowered, laying on the couch. What a beautiful Saturday morning!

Sales Galore!!!

I have been going crazy the past few days at not being able to leave my bedroom. With me being on bed rest and the fact that we have had a few floods in our apartment in the past few weeks. I'm not to go into the living room because of the mildew that the boys are trying to clean up. So I have been confined to my bedroom. It is awful. So today with Zech skiing I convinced him I needed to get out of the house for just a few hours to get some fresh air and pick up somethings. He didn't mind since he needs some new shirts anyways and he doesn't care enough about clothes to go to the store. What a surprise I found when I went into our little mall! Sales everywhere. Aeropostale had Polo shirts buy one get one free which was perfect because Zech wanted four new ones. Then next I stopped by Sears to visit a friend that works there and . found Docker dress shirts for $9.99. After that I went by JC Penny to return some pants Zech got as a Christmas present. They had Levi's on sale. I wasn't that excited because they always have them on sale but they were $19.99. My last stop was my favorite...American Eagle. They had everything on sale. I just wish I wasn't pregnant. I had been taking Lyric's advice about not buying maternity clothes (have you seen them, yuck!) and just buying a size large shirt but now that I am coming to the end I didn't want to buy large shirts anymore. But I did find a few things for Zech. Overall I had a great morning and found a ton of great deals!

Baby Shower #1

Last Saturday Zech and I made our journey to Montana/Spokane where I had the first of two baby showers. It was a long trip. We flew over Friday evening, after our first plane was canceled, drove three hours to Montana just to turn around and go back Saturday for the baby shower. Over all it was very fun. Here is what we did...

Guess the baby food....

It wouldn't have been a party without eating...

Opened Gifts, Eden was of course my favorite gift...


And Nicole showed us how be the champ of the baby bottle drinking contest.

Overall it was very fun, and we got tons of stuff for our little guy. Now...we just have to find room for it all!

Thanks Nicole!

Thanks for the sweet picture. We love you!

Belly Pictures

I thought maybe it was time to post a few new belly pictures.

These were taken the Jan. 16th, the night before our sealing.

Our Excitement~!~

Yesterday Zech and I woke up to a funny smell. We traced it to one of our water heaters.

It was flooding our storage room.

You can't really tell, but the pictures above and below show all the water on the floor.

So we got a new water heater, but our landlord got the wrong size. It was double in

size so it doesn't fit. We are praying that we can have hot water again sometime

today. The worst part about the situation is that we had to take everything out of the storage

room and put it temporarily in the Elai's room until the new water heater gets installed. I know

it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but I just put all the stuff in the storage room

a few weeks ago! At least nothing was ruined.

Lots of Puppies~!~

There is lots of excitement going on

at my mom's house. Both dogs had puppies!

Lola had 10!

And Charlie had 5!

They are all so cute wouldn't you say? My brother loves having

all the puppies around, put I don't think my parents are that thrilled.

Especially since two of their cats are going to have kittens any day!

Valentine Cookies

A few weeks ago Zechary got called to be the ward mission leader so it is only fit for us to finally go meet the neighbors. So for FHE on Monday Zechary and I decided to make some Valentine's Day sugar cookies and take them to the neighbors (the best recipe in the whole world thanks to our lovely cousin)! However then we realized we didn't have a plate to take them on and Zech's car was having problems so we weren't going to be able to go get a plate from the store. Well it's now been two more days and we still don't have a plate or hardly any cookies left. Every time Zech walks by the cookies he breaks a peice off and eats it. So today I will be making another batch of yummy Valentine Cookies and we will be trying this again. Through this I have learned I am not very good at frosting things! Thank you so much Becky for the recipe, we will be trying the chocolate chip cookies next!

25 Random Things About Me Tag

1. I love circles, I want everything in my house to have circles on it. Just looking at them makes me smile.

2. My favorite food is pot roast and I would eat it every night if I could (It has to be beef though, I'm not a fan of pork).

3. Growing up I always hung out with "the guys" however when I meet a special girlfriend our bonds we make are for a lifetime.

4. I have never been crafty, but the last 6 months I have dreams of making crafts. However in my dreams they always turn out better then in real life.

5. I am a co-dependant of my mother. I have to talk to her everyday. And usually multiple times a day. Every year she goes on a two week camping trip where there is no cell service and it about kills me.

6. The greatest thing in my life is the gospel...what more can I say.

7. When I was little the only thing I wanted to me when I grew up was a mother. Now that the time is about here, it terrifies me.

8. I love to laugh.

9. I love meeting new people but whenever there is a large crowd I get shy. I'm more of a one on one person.

10. I had a ten year plan. Bank manager at 23, married at 25, and children at 30. Then I met Zech and everything changed.

11. Black and white movies are my favorite. I even like old foreign movies.

12. I want to me more like my grandmother. She is a smile and her faith is stronger than anyone else's I know.

13. I love to cook, but I don't like to try new things. In fact when we go out to eat, I always order the same things because they are safe. Then I convince Zech to order something new.

14. I hate frosting (Yes, Becky we have this in common). Everytime I eat cake, I scrap the frosting off. I made Zech have cheese cake at our wedding because I dislike frosting so much.

15. My mother saved my life when I was 14. I wouldn't be here today without her.

16. When I was 16 I convinced my mom to let me move to the city with my friends for school.

17. I like to entertain. I love having people over for dinner and putting place settings on the table.

18. I don't like to read, however for the past two days I haven't been able to put a book down.

19. I'm afraid of heights, going on the space needle made me throw up.

20. When I was seven I went through a stage where I wouldn't let anyone brush my hair. Everyone in town thought my sisters and I were neglected.

21. I was bald until I was 2. My mom used to tape bows on my head.

22. I love to salsa dance, but I love watching Zech salsa even more.

23. The first thing I ever drove was a combine.

24. I grew up in a town of only 940 people, where everybody knew everybody else's business and I loved it.

25. Family is the most important thing in the world to me. I wish we could be closer to everyone.

Tag: Donna and Bryton, it is your turns~!~

Brown-Sugar Pound Cupcakes!

Yesterday I made some delicious

Brown-Sugar Pound Cupcakes

for a lady's birthday that Zechary

home teaches. After delivering them

last night We had about 10 or so left.

We were robbed in the middle of the night!

Of Cupcakes I mean. I woke up and now there

are only a few left. I know it couldn't have

been my darling husband in the middle of the

night. I found the recipe on Marthstewart.com

I would recommend everyone try them.

Becky Vip, this is for you!

I always here this talk about how you love Martha, so yesterday I found myelf exploring her website. All I can say is AMAZING. I am headed to the craft store tomorrow. I love it! Thanks for the pointer!

This is how I feel...

As we are trying to get ready for our sealing tomorrow I just now finally realized just how much I need to do. I'm trying to get everything done so we can be in Idaho Falls by 2:30 to pick up my parents. I don't know that everything will get done.

My Testimony

Since I went to the temple for my endowment yesterday I felt as though I was obligated to bare my testimony in church. I personally only wanted to do it in RS however Zechary made me share in sacrament. And I say MADE ME. I'm not one that likes to talk in public, I am rather a one on one type of person. Sometimes I feel as though because I have not been a member for very long maybe my testimony isn't good enough and that people will make fun of me. However my fabulous mother-in-law asked if I would share this, so here you are Donna! Here is my testimony especially for you. Love you!

I want everyone to know I have a testimony of this Gospel. I know Jesus Christ lives and I know he atoned for our sins. I know my heavenly father loves me and knows me personally. I know he cares about me and I look forward to the day I can be with him again. After going through the temple yesterday I can know say, I have a testimony of the temple. Of the sweet yet strong spirit that is there. I know for certain that the temple is the house of the lord and the ordinances preformed there are God's true works. I have a testimony of the power of service. I often believe that I get more out of serving others then the people we are helping. I have personally experienced the blessings that come from visiting and home teaching. I have had the opportunity to experience changes in peoples lives because of it. I am thankful that Zech and I have had the chance to go out together and spend time with some of the inactive people in our ward. I'm so thankful for my husband and the great person and example that he is. I'm grateful that he pushes me to do things that I don't want to do. I"m thankful that we can be sealed in a few weeks and that we will get to be together with our family for eternity. I love the members of this church and the friendships I have made. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Going to the Temple~!~

And we're going to the temple and we're gonna get married....okay so we are already married but we are going to get sealed. Finally the time has come. I have been a member for a year now, well not officially until the 30th of December but close enough. Next Saturday I am going to the Idaho Falls temple for my endowment and then we will be getting sealed Jan 17th in the Rexburg temple. We are very excited for this wonderful day to come. We hope that you can all join us at 11am!

The Power of Home Teaching

Two weeks ago, the last Sunday of the month, Zechary was in a rush to get his home teaching done. It was his companions turn to schedule visits but that never happened. Since Zech is secretary of the E.Q. and his main job is to bug people about getting their home teaching done he was in a panic. Here it was the last day of the month and he needed to visit five families and his companion was unavailable. So being the good wife that I am, I went with him. I am pleased to say that we got all of our visits done but even more pleased that we found an inactive member. We went to her house and after hearing we were from the church she let us in. We shared our lesson that Zechary prepared and then we both shared our testimonies. We invited her to church and offered her a ride. The next Saturday night she called and asked if we could still give her a ride. We of course said yes. She stayed for all three meetings and during a break she mentioned she had not been to church for over a year. Well last night was our ward Christmas party, which was amazing but that is besides the point. We tried to call this member to invite her to go with us but her phone was disconnected. As we were getting ready to go Zechary got a phone call and it was her. She wanted to tell us that she was sick and couldn't make it to church. Zech told her about the party and said there would be a free meal and invited her and her friend to come. She agreed and we picked the two of them up. They had a great time. Everyone was very kind towards them, which doesn't always happen in our ward. They felt very welcome. On the way to drop them off, Zechary invited them to attend church with us today. After a few mins of silence, the friend of the inactive woman mentioned he didn't feel comfortable because he didn't have anything to wear. Well we fixed that! I offered some of Zech's old clothes and I am going by to pick them up at 12:15. I have already seen the changes in this woman's life. It brings me great happiness to know that Zech and I were involved in bringing it. I don't know if I will ever share to this woman at the testimony which she helped me grow, but it wasn't until I met her that I realized just how important home teaching and visiting teaching are.

Elai Carter Rios

Here he is, Elai's first debut.

Our Finished Product

That's right, Zech and I have finally finished our home made Christmas presents. And I do have to say they look fabulous thanks to Zechary's amazing ribbon tying skills. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to tie them so he stepped in and did the finishing touches. I'm so very grateful for such a wonderful husband who doesn't mind helping me with all my silly little projects. And I'm so thankful that he doesn't complain at all the crafts that I have going on at once. He still lets me by all the stuff I need even when I do ten crafts at a time. I just love Zechary, he is truly amazing. I do think he really got into the ribbon tying though, he started to tell me that some of them didn't look good!

We have conquered Canning!

In my family it is a tradition that every year for Christmas we give home made gifts. Things that we can make for $5 or under. About a month ago I was trying to decide what I was going to throw together. I couldn't think of anything! Then it hit me. I love spaghetti! I decided to make and can home made spaghetti sauce. So I went out and bought the jars and all the ingredients I needed. Then I just had to find a caner, I ended up borrowing one from a lady in our ward. The only problem is that she didn't have any instructions and had never used it herself. After bugging Donna almost everyday for a couple of weeks and doing some research online I figured out how to use the thing! We were all ready to go, and then we found out the caner is to heavy to use on a glass top stove. Somebody suggested we use it on the bbq, but we found the water wasn't boiling (later we found out we weren't doing it right so that is why the water wasn't boiling!). Well we finally found a solution! Zech and I put everything in the car and drove to our friends house and used their stove!!! We are finally done, and it worked! Our first canning experience worked out perfectly. Though we stumbled along the way, we never gave up. Here are a few pictures of us trying to figure out the bbq situation!

Our First Pie~!~

Zechary and I are attending an eternal marriage class every Thursday. During each class the teachers try to teach us a skill that we can actually use. Last Thursday we learned how to make home made pie. It was really exciting. We have made two since! Here is a picture of our very first cherry pie. Oh course it had to be cherry, Zech always wins! I wanted apple but he put out his bottom lip so I just had to give in.

Pampered Chef~!~

So as most of you already know I have been selling pampered chef for a few months now, and I just have to brag about how fun it is. There is nothing better then a girls night/cooking show. I recommend all of you have one. I am the biggest pampered chef fan and now I get paid to do my Hobbie. I love just love it!

A Night At The Park~!~

The other night Zech and I decided to go play at the park with some friends. Here are a few pictures (Wow, my belly is getting so big!!!).

I'm a mean wife!

My poor husband had to work the graveyard shift then go straight from work to take a 4 hour long practice MCAT test. When he finally got home, his wife didn't have the bed made for him. I washed our sheets this morning but they weren't finished in time when Zechary got home. I am the meanest wife in the whole world. He just grabbed a pillow and and extra blanket and there he sleeps anyways.