Christmas Thoughts

Trying on Mommy's clothes

She loves to hide behind chairs.

This is the closest we got to getting her to smile in her Christmas dress.

Oh, she was not happy with us.

She loves to lick the fry sauce cup

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Ours was absolutely wonderful. I'm always amazed at the quietness and stillness of Christmas. It seems that for one small moment, the whole world is frozen in time and families come together to celebrate. Some may celebrate just being together, and others celebrate the birth of our Savior. A couple of weeks ago, Ava had woken up around 1:00 in the morning. She was wide awake and just wanted to jabber. As I rocked her back to sleep, I sat by the Christmas tree and thought about our Savior. I wondered what kind of child he was. Did he ever wake up in the middle of the night and just want to talk? I wondered how Mary felt knowing that she was raising the Son of God. Did she ever lose her patience? Over the past couple of years, I have come to appreciate the circumstances of our Savior's birth. I guess I never really thought much about how humble his birth was. When Ava was born, I had the best medical care available. I didn't have to ride a donkey when I was 9 months pregnant. There were plenty of rooms at the hospital available for my delivery, and there certainly weren't any animals around. I am so grateful for the humility of our Savior's birth. I am grateful for the humility of his life. For many, this was a humble Christmas due to the slow economy. But I am grateful for that because it truly teaches us who we should be celebrating, and that's Jesus Christ. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas!

Now, after that lovely passage, I just wanted to post a few pics of Ava. She is such a busy girl! She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, teeth, mouth, tongue, hair, fingers, and toes are. She will mimick whatever sound you make. She is walking now, and it's fun to watch her cruise around. Her newest obsession is lotion. She loves to rub it in and she is more than willing to share!

Pigtails

I love doing hair! Unfortunately for me, Ava was not born with a lot of hair and I had to put big, gigantic bows on her head so that you could tell she was a girl. (Even with her ears pierced, some people still asked what she was. Hmmmmm....) Anyway, her hair is finally growing! One of her favorite things is to sit in front of the mirror and let me do her hair. She is pretty good at keeping her little pigtails in, but once in a while she will have a moment of defiance and pull them out. Her hair is also curly (just a little bit) and it makes her look so dang cute!

Another thing she loves to do is to give herself kisses. She is honestly one of the cutest kids I've ever seen. Every day is a new adventure and I love watching her figure out things and can't wait to see what she will pick up on next.

Waxing!

In school we are learning about esthetics. It has been so much fun this past week. We have learned about disorders of the skin and how the skin is composed.... on Monday we gave each other facials, Tuesday we did Barbering and I gave my first hair cut on a live human! Thanks Collin! Today we did waxing and tomorrow we will give each other pedicures. However, I would like to elaborate on waxing.
I love to get a free wax. It feels so good when my skin is smooth and hairless. Weird, I know. I usually just get my upper lip done. I have a phobia about getting a mustache, so I get my upper lip waxed. Well, then I saw these girls getting their arms waxed, and I just HAD to try it. I hurt something fierce, I won't lie to you. I got both arms done at once. Yowzaa. But they feel incredible. Then I saw some other girls getting their noses waxed. You know, the hair inside our nose.... I decided to get mine done. It didn't even hurt at all. I feel so clean and fresh, I love getting waxed!!

Tis the Season

Tis the season to be sick, fa la la la la la la la la. Or however many freaking la's there are. Last week, we went to this amazing YW/YM production at the Conference Center. We had to be in our seats by 6:00 p.m. and I was running a little late. So, in order to be there on time, I had to run in the freezing cold and we all know that being out of shape and running don't mix, let alone being out of shape and running in sub zero temperatures. My throat started to get sore that night, but I ignored it. The next day, it was even more sore, but I still ignored it because I thought it was just from running in the cold. Saturday came and I was miserable, to say the least. After I got off work, I headed straight for InstaCare. I knew I had strep throat, I just wanted the drugs to make me feel better! So, I go back and the nurse swabs my aching throat, yadda yadda yadda. The doc comes in and shockingly pronouces that I have strep and then proceeds to ask me if I would like a shot or the pills. Being such the frugal woman that I am, I opted for the shot because it wouldn't cost me any extra money. The doc leaves and I take off my jacket so my arms won't be covered when I get the shot. A few minutes later, a male nurse comes in and closes the door. I'm thinking, "What is this guy doing?" Then it dawns on me. The shot is going into my bum. Oh crap. My bum is not a pretty sight, and I don't want anyone looking at it, let alone sticking a needle in it, but the nurse all ready had the shot ready and everything. So, I got the shot, and it stung! And I mean STUNG! My poor rear end was sore for like 3 days! I couldn't sleep on my side or even cross my legs. However, my throat felt completely fine in about 24 hours! So, this morning Nate woke up with a sore throat. Hee hee hee, I can't wait for him to get the shot in his rear. :)

Collin, Ava, and Hanah

I love how big her head looks. It's awesome!

Eating birthday cake and loving it!

This is the cake I made for Ava.

Could life get any busier? YES IT CAN! Whew! I feel like I've been in a whirlwind the past few weeks, and life's only going to get crazier! Just some quick updates:
Nate is working as a bookkeeper for a restaurant in Park City called Bangkok Thai. He works right off of Foothill Dr. in his boss's home. We feel EXTREMELY blessed for Nate to have that job. Some of you know, but some of you don't, but he was out of a job for 6 weeks, and it was just a little bit hard. It's definitely one of those experiences where you have to count your blessings hour by hour and constantly remind yourself of all the things you do have. It's also one of those experiences where you learn that earthly things can be taken away in an instant but when all is said and done, you only have your family and the gospel. Going on, he is doing well in school and has decided to become a Forensic Accountant. He plans to graduate with his bachelor's in May 2010 and he'll have his master's the following year. He has just been called as the 1st counselor in the Young Mens.
I am still loving school. Whoever said that getting up at 5:30 a.m. would get easier is LYING! I still have to drag myself out of bed, pry my eyes open, and I have lovely bags under my eyes. But I love school and am grateful that I can go and that I have an extremely supportive family (in-laws included) that are willing to help me. I was just called as the Secretary in the Young Womens. I don't feel old enough to be a leader. Last week we had a lesson on dating, and I was dating 3 years ago. Weird.
Ava just had her first birthday. She got tons of cute clothes and a cute stroller that she can push around, although she tries to crawl in it. Hee hee hee. She was a lady bug for Halloween. We went trick-or-treating at Grandma Cash's work and then we went trick-or-treating to Grandma Senten's house. She hated her costume, but she looked so dang cute in it!! She still won't take a dang step, no matter how hard we try to bribe her. She loves giving hugs and kisses and is just the light of our lives.

Happy Birthday Miss Ava!

Today is Ava's first birthday. I can hardly believe that she's a year old all ready. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. A year ago at this moment, I had just had my epidural. Holy cow. Ava came as such a surprise. I was at work the day before she was born. At 4 a.m. my water broke, but I was so exhausted, I thought I was peeing my pants. Seriously. But the water wouldn't stop coming, so I called my mom and she said to go the hospital. Poor Nate woke up to me sobbing on the toilet. We packed up and headed to the hospital around 6 a.m. My mom and mother-in-law met us there. I wasn't having any contractions, so they gave me some petocin to get things started. At 9:00 I had my epidural. Around 11:30, the nurse came in and said they were having a hard time monitering my contractions, so they would have to stick this thing up me to tell how hard I was contracting. She started to stick it up me, and then she said "Well, you're at a 9 1/2, so we'll start pushing now." And at 12:18 p.m. my beautiful baby was born.
I sobbed for 20 minutes after she was born. I couldn't help myself. She was so pretty and just perfect as can be. When they weighed her, she was only 5 lbs 4 oz. So tiny! I vividly remember holding her for the first hour while she just looked around. She had the biggest eyes and I couldn't stop looking at her. I was in love.
Fast forward one year, and she is a wild one year old. Some days, I can harldy keep up with her. She is so stubborn and opinionated it's ridiculous. She has 1/2 of a tooth with 6 more almost poking through. I can't believe just how much she's learned. She knows what a doggie says, how to wave hi and bye, and patty cake. She wants to feed herself everything and loves drinking from her princess sippy cup. She knows how to put the binky it all by herself, except half of the time she puts in upside down. She loves putting on necklaces and loves draping them around her neck. She is trying to put her clothes on by herself and helps me put her shoes on. She loves to read books and she points at everything! It's hard to take her grocery shopping because she doesn't just sit there anymore. She's up and down, in and out. I have to put her in the big basket and she watches over the food for me. She is also standing up by herself. She won't take any steps, but she will squat and then stand up.
I seriously can't imagine my life without her. It's crazy how I thought my life was complete when it was just Nathan and me. How wrong I was. I now understand the joy of parenting. When she accomplishes something or learns something new, I am so proud of her. When she is sad,it breaks my heart. When she giggles, my heart is full. I am so blessed to have her and to be able to teach her and love her. She's my little Ava bug.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Nate's birthday is tomorrow, but I am going to be super busy, so I thought I'd get an early start on wishing my hubby a happy 25th birthday! I thought I'd post 25 reasons why I love and appreciate him:
1. He loves me for me, despite my fat rolls,stretch marks, crazy morning hair, and all my random thoughts.
2. He is the best daddy in the world to our baby Ava.
3. He makes me feel safe when he hugs me.
4. His testimony.
5. His love for hash (not the drug, it's a family dinner thing).
6. His crazy love of ketchup. He practically drinks the stuff.
7. He makes me laugh every single day.
8. His dedication to his schooling.
9. He is constantly planning everything.
10. His love for sports.
11. He can speak Chinese. I love it.
12. He helps me with the housework.
13. He changes poopy diapers.
14. The way he tells Ava that she has cute "feetsies" and that he needs more "huggies" from her.
15. He will eat anything I make despite what it looks like or how it smells.
16. His crazy love of black Nike ankle socks.
17. He takes me on dates even when he doesn't want to go out.
18. He lets me go to the D.I. whenever I feel like it.
19. His crazy Napolean Dynamite impressions. It's amazing.
20. How clean he is.
21. He will start dinner when I am running late.
22. He will donate plasma for 2 months to make sure that I can go to a freaking concert.
23. His love of Taiwan and the people that live there.
24. His patience and understanding.
25. He's just an amazing husband and he's my best friend.

Caricature

Every year we go to the fair. My sister in law is the Public Relations Assistant so we always get free tickets, which is why we go. It was so much fun! I tried a deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chocolate syrup drizzled on top. YUMMY! I also went on a ride with my brother that made me so sick! But it was fun. We also saw a guy carve a bear out of wood with a chainsaw. Interesting. The funnest part was getting a caricature of Ava. It's so cute!

Pics of Apartment

I have finally taken some pictures of our apartment. I do have to say that I'm quite pleased how everything has turned out. We were lucky enough to get brand spankin' new carpet, so it smells just heavenly! I love having a dishwasher and covered parking. We do miss all our neighbors in the village, though. :( But we know we're in the right place and it's so nice to be close to family. They have been so wonderful in helping us out.

Cake Decorating

Wow, life is in full swing! School has started and our lives are crazy! We have finally settled into our new apartment. We painted one of the walls, and I love it. It feels good to have everything in it's place and organized. I just can't believe how big it is! School has also started, and I'm sure most of you know how busy things get. I love going to school though. It's hard waking up at 5 a.m. but it's worth it. So, along with school and moving, I took a cake decorating class! It was 4 courses long, and I am pretty pleased with my end result. I love cake and can't wait to decorate more!

Cash Annual Cabin Trip

Every year, we go to the cabin with Nate's family. I love spending time up there. It's so peaceful and quiet, and it's just a nice place to get away from the city. Nate's mom always rents ATV's (or ABT"S according to our 4 year old niece, Hanah) and we ride all over the mountain with them. This year was a little different because we had Ava... she loved playing with her cousins and being outdoors. Saturday morning, Nate, Ryan, and Trevor all went fishing. I thought they were nuts to get up early on a Saturday to go sit around a freaking lake and do nothing. Little did I know how exciting fishing can be. I was dragged into going fishing late Saturday evening.... I sat there for the first hour when Trevor asked if I wanted to go fishing. I was extremely hesitant because it did not sound exciting whatsoever, but once I got out there, I turned into a maniac. Trying to catch the fish is so fun.... you cast where you think they are going to go and waiting for them to bite is more than I can bare. When you finally catch the little suckers, it's such a thrill to reel them in and hold them down. I can see why people love to go fishing. I ended up catching two fish. The last one was huge. While we were gutting it, we found out it was pregnant and we pulled out all the little fish eggs. I was so proud of myself! I can't wait to go the cabin next year!

Exhaustion

     We have finally moved out of student housing! Man, it has been an exhausting couple of days. Yesterday we moved everything out, and today we spent 5 hours cleaning that tiny apartment!! My brother, Nelson, came with us and watched Ava so Nate and I could clean. We can't move into our other apartment until the 22nd, so we are staying at my parents house for a week. I would personally like to thank Jessica and Brent for helping me last night. It was much needed! And Jen, thanks for watching Ava for a couple of hours.

    Over the past couple of days, my testimony has really been strengthened. I'm grateful for the promptings I receive and for the faith to follow those promptings. I realize that I am guided to places so that other events (good or bad) can fall into place. I don't ever think things happen by accident or coincidence. I strongly believe that we have a guiding hand in everything that happens to us. I'm grateful for the many blessings I've been given. Sometimes, it's hard to look at them, and it's really easy to say "Why does everything happen to me?" but you just have to keep on going and recognize the good things in life. 

Updates

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd give some updates on what's happening with the Cash family. Both Nate and I are preparing to start school in a couple of weeks. I start on the 20th and Nate starts on the 25th. I'm nervous because I haven't actually gone to a campus in over 3 years. I've taken classes, but they've been online. So, I'm super nervous about finding the right building, getting the right supplies, yadda, yadda, yadda. I will work Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Nate is going to be extremely busy this semester. He is such a good guy and sacrifices so much so I can stay home as much as possible with Ava. He will work about 30 hours a week, work at the U football games, help coach a Little League football team, and is starting upper division classes.
With all these changes, we have decided to move to Magna. We found some nice apartments that fit our budget, and will be moving in the next couple of weeks. It was a really fast decision, but things have fallen into place nicely, and we're excited. It'll be nice to be close to both our families. My mom and his sister will watch Ava while we're at school, so I know she'll be in good hands. Since we only have 1 car, he'll ride into town with his mom, and either my mom or dad will give him a ride back. We'll be in his sister's ward, and my parents are in the same stake. Our apartment is really nice. It is almost 900 square feet, has a kitchen, dining room, and a DISHWASHER! YAHOO! We are on the bottom level, so I won't have to carry groceries up a freaking hill anymore! We have absolutely loved our time in student housing and have met absolutely fabulous people. That's the only downside to moving.
Ava went to the doctor today. She is normal and healthy. She weighs 17 lbs 12 oz (which is only in the 24th percentile) and is 19.5 inches long (which is in the 94th percentile). She started crawling about a month ago and is pulling herself up to furniture and is starting to cruise. Her personality shines through more and more every day. She now can "dance", "growl", fake cough, and shake her head "no". She is so much fun!

Memories....Comment, dang it!

This sounds fun!
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you can come up with!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.I'm looking forward to seeing the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll trackback to your blog and leave one about you!

So busy

Life is just plain crazy right now. Ava is growing up so fast! She learned to crawl a couple of weeks ago and can now pull herself up to furniture. She keeps me on my toes constantly! The other day, she woke up and when we went to go get her, she was butt naked in her crib. She had managed to pull her diaper off and pee in the bed. But we couldn't help but laugh because when we went to go get her, she was on all fours just grinning at us. Some days, I feel like I just don't have the energy to keep up with her. She is quite the character. Very stubborn and opinionated, but I love her anyway!
Nate and I have been busy doing family history. We are taking a class, and it's so much fun. You just realize how much work there is to do for your ancestors. It's been fun researching them and learning more and more about our heritage.
Nate bought me a keyboard which is freaking sweet! I love it! Now I can practice the hymns that I'll play every Sunday. Before, I would try and get over to the church, but there is a rule that ladies can't be there without a Priesthood holder.... needless to say it was difficult sometimes to get over there. But now I can practice any time I want!
Nate had a job interview last week, so we're waiting to see if he got the job or not. I hate waiting for things like that. It stresses me out.

America

I love the 4th of July! It's my favorite holiday. I love going to the parade and being with family and friends. I love seeing fireworks and grilling on the BBQ. But most importantly, I love what America stands for. America is the greatest country on the planet. We have so many different cultures, opinions, religions, and freedoms here. I took a political science class last semester and learned more about our founding fathers. They were so inspired. It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear the Star Spangled Banner and see fireworks. I used to not be so emotional, but when my brother joined the Marine's, I saw America in a whole new light. He has told me of some experiences he had in Iraq, and I realized just how blessed we are. I am proud to be an American

10 years ago....

Maybe some of you know, and maybe some of you don't. 10 years ago, my little brother was diagnosed with cancer. He had a stage 4 tumor on the side of his face. Quite an experience, let me tell you. He had radiation for 6 weeks and chemotherapy for a year.... it has been ten years since he was diagnosed. He has been in remission for five years, and I feel extremely lucky to have him as a brother. We also are celebrating his 1 year anniversary from when he had a major surgery. He was in the operating room for about 9 hours and in ICU for 3 days and in the hospital for 11 days total. This wasn't his first surgery, but hopefully it was one of his last. Since the tumor was in his face, they had to radiate his entire face, which has caused some complications.... but that's a whole other story. I am so lucky to have him in my family. He has strength and courage beyond any mortal comprehension. I used to be upset and ask why he had to have cancer.... but over the years I can see that it was a good thing. That's where I gained my testimony. I saw miracles performed and saw how the gospel truly works. I saw the power of the priesthood heal his body when modern medicine couldn't. I gained a testimony of prayer, fasting, tithing, and most importantly, eternal families. It's because of that experience that I knew I wanted an eternal family and I knew I could never settle for anything else. I'm so grateful for my family and for all the good doctors that Nelson's had over these past years. Here's to you, Nelson....

Upper Division.... Here We Come!

We just got a letter saying that Nathan was accepted into upper division classes for the fall!!!!! So, he is officially on his way to becoming an accountant!! He has worked so hard, and I'm so proud of him! Sometimes school seems to drag on forever, but we're one step closer! We were kind of scared that we would have to be pushed back another semester, but this is a true testimony builer... Heavenly Father really does look out for you. He knows your desires, and hears your prayers. I am so grateful to have such a hard working husband. I don't think he will ever know just how much I appreciate him. He works so hard so that I can stay home with Ava, and he is going to school so that someday we can have a home and provide for our family. I have been so blessed.

Swimming

We took Ava swimming for the first time. It was an adventure, to say the least. Our court has a little swimming pool, so we went and got it out of our laundry room. We didn't have any hose hook-up's near by, so we had to hook it to our washer and put the hose through our window and fill the pool up. At first we just did cold water, and we put Ava in and she screamed!! So our smart little minds thought that we should add some hot water so she could actually enjoy her first swimming experience. After we got the water just the right temperature, she loved it!! She stayed and splashed in the pool for about an hour! Our neighbor, Mackenzie, came down and even got in the pool!! It was so much fun! On the other side of things... I have started working at the credit union again. I have been in training the past two weeks, and will officially start a week from today. I will be working Tuesdays and Saturdays during the summer, and when school starts, I will just be working on Saturdays... I'm so excited to go back to school.... I'm going into cosmetology, which is what I've always wanted to do... so if any of you out there know of anyone who would like to babysit Ava... just let me know!! Yes, I'm even willing to pay the babysitter... I don't expect you to do it for free...:)

Petting Zoo Mania

Today was a beautiful day, so my friend and I decided to go to Gardner Village and visit the petting zoo. It's only $2 so, what the heck. We had so much fun! Even though Ava really didn't know what was going on, she loved being outside in the sun. There were goats who wandered around and who loved to nibble on our strollers. They came up and sniffed my diaper bag as well as Ava's feet. There were ducks, pigs, chickens, a llama, and a HUGE pig. The petting zoo was just the right size. Not too big and not too small. It was also really clean, which I liked. It was so much fun... I know I'll be visiting again!

Say Cheese!

Ava is almost 8 months old.... and she loves having her pictures taken. When you put a camera up and tell her to say "Cheese!" she gets the goofiest grin on her face and gets really excited. Being her parent, I think it's the cutest thing ever. She has so much personality it's ridiculous. Lately, she throws little tantrums when you aren't paying enough attention to her.... woops.... gotta go. The little drama queen is awaking from her slumber....