The Malnar's Come to Town.

Ben and Allison & their 3 children live in Wisconsin so we do not get to see them very often. Since they were in Utah for Christmas they thought they would stop by Arizona for a few days to spend time with the Ash's. They got here on Saturday and ever since then it has been one fun activity after another. All the fun started off with Speedway Raceway on Saturday. Everyone (minus Katie and Jordan) went down to Speedway and we raced two races. Linda did not race but she actually watched all the children. I am not sure if it was more exciting in with all the kids or out on the racetrack!

Here are all the guys wearing the little sock things on their heads

Jacob and I ready to go!

Now for the record. (because their might be some complaining or even some excuses from other's....these are the facts) The first race I came in 3rd place which was 1st place in the Ash family. The next race Jacob got 2nd place which was 1st with the Ash's, and I got 4th which was 2nd with the Ash's. So if you figure that out that makes me the WINNER!!

Like I said we all had fun, but we all came out with our battle wounds too! Jacob, Allison and Adam say they got in the worst accident, but I have the wounds to prove it. Here are my wounds courtesy of Daniel.

You can see bruises in the middle of my back.

Jacob and I stopped in the tunnel during the race. No just kidding this was from the seat belt.

After racing we headed to dinner at this Indian food place. The year before Jacob and I got married most of his family went to India, so they like to eat the food and reminisce. I have eaten Indian food before and have not like it, but this last time I found something I liked yippee!

Allison & Ben

Allison had a little boy named Jacob just 3 days after Eli was born. We have been so excited for these two to get together. I know they are young and that nothing would really happen when they saw each other, but it wasn't true. They were so interested in each other. One time I had them both on the ground tickling both of them it was so cute, because they were cracking up together. I don't know about the boys, but I had a blast!

I walked away from the computer for a few minutes and the following is what I returned to. You have to love those Ash's...they are hilarious.

And by the way, Daniel our brother/brother-in-law is the most awesome person on earth we've realized. All we do these days is sit around and wait for him to come home from college each time.

Christmas Eve & Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE

On Christmas Eve we went to Jacob's parents house for dinner. Every year Linda makes homemade pizza crust and we all get to put toppings on them. The pizza's are delicious and it is a lot of fun. This year Fred and Laura came with Tressa and all her family that was in town. We had fun with all the conversation and food.

Daniel and Jacob putting toppings on a pizza.

Fred, Tressa, Laura, Daniel, Cecil, Linda and Eli eating and talking.

Eli, Stacy, Tressa, & Laura

Ash Family

After eating we took turns on the Segway.

After dinner with the Ash's we rushed over to the temple to meet up with my family. We watched Jordan Bluth sing. He did a wonderful job...wow he has such a wonderful voice. We looked at the lights for a little bit then we headed to my parents house.

Every Christmas my parents get us new PJ's I forgot to get pictures of Jacob and I in ours but here is Eli in his PJs. Stephanie picked them out she thought they were perfect because they had little monkey's on them and she always calls Eli a little monkey.

Once everyone got to my parents house we got all the Gilmore's and Austin and headed out on a little adventure. Jacob and I earlier in the month contacted our bishop and asked him if he could give us a family in the ward that needed help for Christmas. We got them new clothes, toys, and family games and wrapped them up for what he hoped would be an amazing Christmas for this family. Since, they lived in an apartment and we didn't want to get caught delivering the presents we took as many people as we could to drop them off quickly. After looking for the apartment (which seemed like forever) We all grabbed arm fulls of presents and headed to their door. On our way to the door Jacob (who was leading everyone) says, "that's them!" I looked ahead and there were two people walking right past us. We all froze hoping they wouldn't see us. Lucky for us they just walked right into their apartment and didn't see us. PHEW!! We all talked for a few seconds wondering if we should take the presents now or come back later. We decided to make a mad dash since we knew they were home and we were worried earlier that they wouldn't be. As we were walking up to their door we were all joking that we might get caught at the door putting the presents down and what we would do. Aly had the best response. She said we would just have to pull a Madagascar. I guess in the movie one of the creatures got caught and they said you don't see anything moving their hands in circles. Right then we all bust up laughing...PHEW lucky for us they did not hear us.

We set down all the presents I banged on the door has hard as I could really loud, and we all took off running. The Gilmore's and all the kids ran one way and Jacob and I ran another. (We wanted to try and see them open the door). As we are hiding around the corner Jacob said, "Stacy you forgot to leave the money." I looked down and saw the money envelope I forgot to put down. We start laughing again, because we have no idea how we are going to get them the money with out getting caught. Since this family has never seen me before I did a casual walk by and I could hear the family moving in the presents and all their fun comments. So we waited for them to finish and then Jacob dropped the money at the door, knocked and ran again. Lucky for us all three times we never got caught!

CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

We woke up at about 6 am and started opening presents. We had a lot of fun and we all got some exciting things...

Aly and Ethan getting things out of their stockings.

Austin with his stocking

Eli's first present!

Eli really liked the ribbon on the present.

Buddie got tired from all the excitement.

My mom got Eli these little wind up toys he loved them. We would just wind them up and he would watch them and try to get them. I loved this picture because of his cheeks

Mamo and Papa getting cuddly.

Jacob surprised me big time this Christmas. Since we decided to get Christmas for another family we were not going to get presents for each other. I ended up buying him some special running shoes and some clothes for it that he had wanted. So I thought he was going to get me a present. On Christmas morning he told me that he forgot it and that I couldn't have it. I was sad. Then a few seconds later my sister goes Stacy here is a present for you from Santa. I looked over and I saw the wrapping paper is from our house and I knew it was from Jacob. I opened it up and I saw this beautiful necklace. I loved it. I wanted to put it on so I went and got scissors to cut off the tag. The tag was so close to the chain and to make a long story short I cut the chain!! I ran into the room where everyone was and I was almost in tears when I told Jacob what happened. He was such a sweetheart and didn't even get mad at me. I kept saying, "leave it up to me to want something for two years and then when I get it ruin it after only 10 minutes!!"

About 30 minutes go by and my sister said Stacy there is another present here for you. I looked and it was the same wrapping paper. I was confused because this time the box is pretty big. Then she handed it to me and it was really heavy. I looked at Jacob totally confused but I started opening it. I soon found out why it was heavy; because Jacob put a bag full of change in there to confuse me. I looked closer and I saw another jewelry box and inside was a ring I have wanted forever!!! I went CRAZY!!

For some reason I can't get a good picture of it, but isn't it so pretty!! I never got a picture of the necklace, but they match so picture this but as a necklace.

After we finished opening presents we had a delicious breakfast with my family and then we all took naps. At one o'clock we headed over to Jacob's Aunt Tressa's for her yearly Christmas party, where we ate and had a white elephant gift exchange.

Here is some of Jacob's family as we are waiting to start the game.

Tate, Fred and Jacob waiting for the game as well. We ended up winning a razor scooter and a $25 gift card to Home Depot.

Over all our Christmas was amazing. We had so much fun with family. The highlights of Christmas for me were...

• Giving the presents to the other family
• Spending time with our families.
• Having a sweet baby boy to share Christmas with this year.
• All the yummy food.
• Jacob's sweet and thoughtful present to me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Last Night....

I won Eli slept the whole night and has already taken a nice nap this afternoon. Everything is off to a nice start. Last night was extra special because Eli woke up when I laid him down and I left the room. I heard him talking to himself for a few minutes and then put himself to bed! I don't know why I didn't try this earlier.

Just One More...

We found just one more way Eli is like his Dad. My mom put on a Baby Einstein video for Eli the other night. Eli couldn't get enough of it. It is so cute to watch because he tries so hard to get right up to the screen. I say this is another way he is like his father, because anyone who knows Jacob knows that Jacob loves movies. Actually to say Jacob loves movies might be an understatement. Here are two videos of Eli watching a clip off of Youtube. This clip is not a Baby Einstein, but Eli really likes music and this Hippo is dancing so he really likes it.

I wonder who has bigger cheeks Eli or the Hippo?

Don't you love the rolls.

Now an update on Eli and his night time actives. On Saturday night Eli did great. He did not sleep through the night, but I still consider the night a success. Eli did not eat well before he went to sleep so he woke up hungry at about 3 o'clock. I fed him and he went right to sleep on his own. He then did not wake up until around 7:30. Such a good boy. I am fine with getting up with Eli if he needs food. I just don't like to get up because he just doesn't feel like sleeping.

On Sunday night though it was a different story. Eli woke up and 12:20 screaming. Normally he just kind of grunts for a while and then starts crying. He never screams. That should have been my first clue that something was wrong, but I am so determined to be strong that I kind of let him cry for 5 minutes then I gave in and picked him up. Once I picked him up I smelled something awful and I thought Eli had bad gas. (Since he is breastfed they never stink) Then the smell didn't go away and I realized he had a Poopy diaper and that is why he was crying. Darn that banana because the smell almost made me sick. I changed his diaper fed him and then he went right back to sleep. I thought to myself OK he can cry for food and a diaper change. Then at 5:30 he started to cry again. I myself was too tired to fight him so I just got up and brought him into bed with me. So Eli won last night. So far the count is mom 2 Eli 3. Here is to me winning tonight.

p.s Since Eli has been sleeping better at night he has been taking really good naps during the day. Here are some pictures of Eli at nap time. I just thought he was being so cute. Oh I love being his Mommy so much.

Look at those rosie cheeks.

So peaceful

Jacob is so excited for Eli to grow up and watch sports with him. So when he saw this PJ's for the Cardnals he said I had to buy them. I guess you can never start to early.

Some More First for Eli

Today Eli had some more firsts. Lately Eli has been showing such an interest in me while I am eating. He seems so fascinated by the whole process and I can tell he is dying to try what Mommy is having. I hate to admit this, this week we started to let him have little tastes. It started innocent enough with me giving him a taste of my yogurt. Then it progressed to tomatoes. (Oh my he loves these) I basically would just let him suck on it for a while then take it away. Well today i realized I might have started something a little too soon. I was nursing Eli and he stopped, but I could tell he was still hungry. So my dad went and got a banana a mashed it up, and we fed him a VERY small amount. Eli LOVED IT!! He went crazy and ate what was on the plate. I think he would have eaten more, but we would not let him. Here are some pictures we got.

He is the first officially taste.

Here is the video we got of it. If you listen closely you can hear Jacob say, "Should we be doing this." To which I reply, "It's a Banana what can go wrong." (ha ha famous last words)

After my parents house Jacob and I drove home and then we decided to go for a walk. We took Eli down to the park and we put him in the swing. He LOVED IT. Jacob started pushing him and he started laughing, he just loved it. Then I thought it would be a great idea to go down the slide. Jacob thought I should do it and he would watch. I was so nervous it would go so fast that I was not paying attention and I ended up landing on my bottom at the end of the slide. Jacob then took him down twice and he never fell on his bum (he was so kind as to point that out to me). I am not sure if Eli liked that slide I guess we will just have to try that again sometime. While we were there some little boys showed up and started playing. Eli loved watching them. He wants to grow up so fast it is breaking my heart. Eli please stay little just a little bit longer!

Sleep Eli...PLEASE SLEEP!!

For the past month I have really struggled with the fact that my sweet baby boy has not been sleeping through the night. I tossed around so many things that must be the problem, I started with, he is just hungry. Then I wondered if he was just waking up out of habit, or was it the fact that he was teething and he was in pain. After a few weeks of the teething problem I could tell when he was crying because of that so this week I figured I could safely assess when that was the problem. The only thing I couldn't was to make sure he had enough food in his belly to sleep through the night. I agonized over giving him a little bit of rice in one of his bottles. I use the word agonized because the doctor said he only needed my milk until he was 6 months old, also he seemed perfectly healthy and happy, why change a good thing. After getting way to tired one night and talking to Stephanie, Katie, and Linda I decided it was time.



On Wednesday night Eli received his first little rice bottle. Why I choose this night I am still asking myself. Jacob was gone so I basically had to figure out how much milk and how much rice all while Eli is tired and starving. Lets just say it went well but honestly if any one would have been watching they would have thought I was a crazy mother! For example Eli is crying in my arms so instead of measuring the rice I just dumped it in the bottle ( my sister did this all the time why couldn't I) well that worked out fine until I realized I had no clue how much I gave him so how was I going to know if that was too much or too little. Then there was the problem with the nipple. Duh it was only putting milk through before it needed a bigger hole. Eli is still crying so I cut the top with scissors very quickly and very desperately. OOPS I made the hole way to big. Eli being the sport that he is ate the remainder of the bottle by me basically pouring some in his mouth and him swallowing. POOR GUY! I wish I could say he slept through the night, but no he woke up at 1. Since I knew he was not hungry I tried not to pick him up when he cried. I just gave him his binky and would rest my hand on his chest and tummy to comfort him. This kind of worked. I finally gave in and picked him up and rocked him back to sleep. I realized he liked something pressed close to his face so I pulled out this super soft burp rag and let him rub that on his face. He loved that. He woke up again at 4 and this time I fed him. Then he slept until around 8:30 hmmm things were already getting better.

NIGHT 2
This night started off with a rice bottle again. This time Jacob was home and he watched Eli while I got the bottle ready. I measured the rice this time...good job Stacy. Then instead of cutting the nipple with scissors I cut it a little with a knife much better right...WRONG. I again cut it to big and the pour guy drank like 2 oz in 30 seconds NO JOKE. This made Eli really mad and I think he decided then and there he no longer liked rice bottles. He let out a huge burp and refused to eat again and went to sleep. He slept from 8 to 2 am. 2 am is the time I think he wakes up out of habit so I would not feed him. I tried the soft burp rag, the binky and comforting him. I even let him cry a little. TRUST me there was not much crying and I am sure it was more painful for me then for Eli. At 2:45 I gave in a rocked him to sleep. He slept until 6 this time. I fed him and put him back in his crib. I thought he slept until around 8 but I was wrong. I guess Jacob heard him talking in his crib so he went and got him and played with him until he had to go to work.



NIGHT 3.
I decided Eli and I both had enough with the rice bottle and so I just decided to nurse him and see if I noticed any difference. He ate for a little bit then wanted to play. He played until 9:45 then became fussy I put him in my arms and 2 minutes later he was out!! I put him in his crib and I went to sleep in the guest room. I spent the rest of the night wondering what time it was, because the guest room does not have a clock. I kept worrying Eli was going to wake up any minute and I would have to listen or fight the crying. I didn't hear Eli and I heard Jacob...could it be? Did Eli sleep through the night? Then my thoughts shifted.OH NO IS HE OK?? I called Jacob and I told him Eli didn't wake up and I was worried he was not ok. I was too scared to go check so I made Jacob...Eli was sound asleep. Yippee he did it. Eli didn't wake up until 7 am! Now lets see if he does it tonight too!! I am xso greatful for my wonderful husband and great baby who hopefully will start sleeping through the nigh from here on out. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bonfire at the Ash's

Lowe's was having a huge sale this weekend so Jacob stoped by to get a few things. Among some needed items Jacob brought home this...

On our first date and ever since Jacob has loved making fires and hanging out around them. So I can see why he made such a compulsive purchase. I decided to try this out with him and maybe it could be our new thing we like to do together. So I made us some hot cocoa and we hung out around our fire.

Eli has been teething so I have not gotten much sleep so don't mind how old and tired I look in these pictures! It was so funny because Daniel was taking the pictures and Jacob wanted to be holding the hot cocoa, so everytime Daniel went to take a picture, Jacob would grab the cup real fast because he had to be holding it, I thought it was funny.

Daniel was in town still and so he joined us for our little party.

Like I said before Eli loves it when we call him a cutie pa tootie. Last night Jacob was walking around with Eli on his shoulder and he would say it and Eli would just start laughing. I caught it in a picture...look at those chunky cheeks.