My Little Family :)

OK .. I know I have failed at keeping up on my goal of consistently updating our blog, seeing as it has been over 9 months since my last post... however, now that Noah is here, I feel like I have more motivation to keep this bad boy updated so that family and friends that aren't here in Utah can still keep up on our cute little boy and how fast he is growing!

I am just going to start at the beginning... (It is a long post.. tons of pictures are at the end, so if you want to skip the labor and delivery story, just scroll on down!)

I had been working at Vivint (an alarm sales company) all summer and my last day there was October 7th, seeing as how my due date was the 12th, I figured 5- 13 days off ( my induction date was the 20th if he didn't come before then) before he was supposed to come would be a good amount of prep time. To say the least, as I got further along, it wasn't my most favorite activity to go to work every day, especially on Saturdays at 6 am... so I would've been totally happy if he decided to come earlier than the 12th! But that all changed when my boss at 24 Hour Fitness called me and asked me if I could launch the new BodyPump release on Saturday... 4 days before my due date... and of course I said I would... but now that I had committed to teaching this class, and since there was a BYU game that night, I was ok with him not coming until AFTER Saturday.

So Friday came and went and nothing happened, and then Saturday I went and taught BodyPump and was feeling great! That night we went to the BYU football game and I was still feeling great (especially since we were winning)...until after the game.. I was having a really hard time walking back to our car and was feeling really uncomfortable with contractions. When we got home we tried to go to sleep, but my contractions started to get stronger and closer together, they weren't really hurting though, which I was grateful for! We decided we'd probably better go in, just in case, so at 2:30 am we drove to the hospital and checked into the Women's Center. We told them what had been going on and they checked me and I was only dilated to a 1, but was almost fully effaced... So they kept me for an hour to see if I progressed anymore... but alas, in an hours time I only progressed about .5 cm. So they gave me a shot of morphin and sent me home to wait it out a bit. By the time we got home and fell asleep I was still feeling fine, and I called my mom to let her know that I was in early labor and she might want to start making her way down here....and I am so glad I called her then, because as Sunday progressed my contractions got a lot stronger and more painful. I went on about an hour and a half walk with Katie (my sis-in-law) to see if we could help speed up the process, and I think that it definitely helped :) By 8pm that night my mom was here, and my contractions were killing me! I tried to go to sleep, but by 1:30 am I was in tears and was ready to get this baby out! We woke up my mom, grabbed the hospital bag, and once again, in the wee hours of the morning, drove to the hospital. By this time I was only dilated to a 3, but was fully effaced. So they monitored me for another hour and by the end I still hadn't progressed much more.... I was sooooo nervous they were going to send me home again, which I was not about to let happen, but they said they'd call my doctor first to see what he suggested. He said we could either wait it out, monitor me for another hour, or just get some pitocin going and see if that would help me progress more... of course I didn't want to go home and just wait it out, and definitely didn't want to just wait in the hospital for another hour for nothing else to happen... so they hooked me up to the pitocin and got things moving. I kept telling myself I wanted to see how long I could go before I really needed an epidural, but after just a couple of minutes being on the pitocin I opted to get the epidural... BEST CHOICE EVER!!!! Dante said my attitude and personality was like night and day with me getting an epidural. All I have to say is, props to all of those girls who have babies without having an epidural... Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I am a pretty tough girl, but I was having a rough time with labor... I don't know if I would've made it without the epidural... actually I am not sure if Dante would've made it... poor guy, I was such a sass to him about everything before the epidural... what a great husband for just shaking it off and still holding my hand.. I love him. Anyways, after I got the epidural life was great, we all fell asleep for awhile until a ton of nurses came running into the room, through an oxygen mask on my face, laid me all the way down and called my doctor. I guess, once the pitocin kicked in, I progressed from a 3 to a 5 in about 10 minutes and little Noah did not like that at all! His heart rate dropped to about 60 bpm... talk about scary. Even though I was kind of confused at first, once I realized what was going on, my heart sank. But luckily that only lasted for about 5 minutes, they took me off of the pitocin, and his heart rate bounced right back up to 150 bpm. At about 9 am my doctor came in an checked me and I had progressed to about an 8, and then at 9:45 he came back broke my water and told me to push! After about 20 minutes, at 10:06 am, October 10, 2011, our amazing little boy was born, Noah Ricardo Valenzuela at 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. The actual delivery went so smoothly, I couldn't have asked for anything better... Noah did have a little bit of a hard time breathing at first, so I only got to hold him for about a minute before they took him to the nursery to make sure everything was ok... but Dante went with him and kept me updated and everything turned out to be just fine :) My friend Linnea, who is an incredible photographer, came and took pictures of the delivery.... don't worry, she wasn't up in my grill while I was delivering... it is just candid moments, ect.... to see all of the pictures she took go to:

http://laf-photo.blogspot.com/2011/10/noah-birth-story.html

She is such a talented photographer, I am so glad she was able to come and take such incredible pictures for us!

It pretty much has been love at first sight... He has been a great baby so far... he slept almost 5 hours last night!! He isn't very fussy usually, and he really is just cute as can be... we are both just so in love with him! He is eating really well and getting so big! At his two week appointment he weighed 8 lbs 10.5 oz and measured in at 21 inches long! So a`whole inch longer and over a pound heavier!

Now the part you've all been waiting for.. pictures. Enjoy!

22 weeks

28 weeks....

31 weeks

37 weeks!

Getting ready to leave the hospital... we were so excited!

He loves sleeping on our pillows.. I love his little feet hanging off the end!

And he loves sleeping with daddy :)

Our little cougar... bleeding blue from the start!

Our little Cougar with a real BYU cougar!

We made pumpkin pie milkshakes... and if we look exhausted, it is because we are.

I love his little double chin!

I love his cute little (big) feet!

I always find Noah sleeping like this... totally sprawled out!

Snuggling with mamma... he's so little!

All bundled up to go on a walk.. he loves going outside.

A quick substitution until mom was ready to feed him!

He has also gotten in the habit of blowing bubbles every time after he eats.. so cute!

All ready to go to daddy's football game!

Going on a nice Sunday walk as a family. Noah loves his sling!

Tummy Time!

Wow... looooots of pictures! I love being this little boys mommy.. he changes tons every day and is the only one that can make us smile at 3 in the morning... but what can I say... we are basically obsessed... and TOTALLY in love :)

What do I love???

There are a lot things in this life that I am soo grateful for and love... so I just wanted to make a list so whenever I am doing the "girl thing" and being cranky or having a pity party, I can just look back at this and hopfully smile :)

1. I absolutely just love and adore my dreamboat of a husband!! Dante is the best thing that ever happened to me and I have no idea what I would do without him. He is my better half, and makes me laugh everyday! I can't believe that we have almost been married for 2 whole years. The time has flown by and I am sooo excited to see what the rest of our lives bring. I love you baby!

2. My familia. I have be so blessed to be able to live close to family while I have been here in Utah, and it has been the best thing ever. It is definitely going to be a sad day when we no longer all live next to each other in anymore. My older brother Cody has already moved, but we were lucky enough to have a lot of really fun memories together before he moved to the east coast. My parents are the most amazing people ever, and I can't even begin on my younger brothers. They make me laugh soo hard... I love it every time they come to visit or when we get to go up to Oregon. I am especially grateful for my new family. Dante's side of the family has welcomed with open arms and been so fun to get to know.

3. Friends. I can't even begin to describe how much I love my friends. Before I met Dante, they were who I was with everyday... and throughout ridiculous hours of the night. My friends are so important to me and have definitely helped shape me into the person I am today. Thanks for always being there!!! and for all of the crazy and irresponsible memories we have together :) I wouldn't change a thing!

4. School. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to school and receive an education. It was hard, and I was most of the time sleep deprived.. but I loved every minute of it... wellll most of it... maybe not the tests!! I have had extremely good professors that have helped open my eyes up to a great big world. I am grateful for what they taught me about health and fitness, the human body, the gospel, and how to be a grown up and responsible adult. I do feel very accomplished being out of school... but I will always have a place in my heart that still misses going to class and learning. Who knows... maybe I'll go back one day?? Go Cougars!!!

5. Exercise. I LOVE TO EXERCISE!!! I feel like these past couple of years at BYU and learning about how amazing our bodies are and how important it is to take care of them has released a new energy within me to workout reguarly and eat healthy. Sometimes it is hard to drag my tried body to the gym, but I love the challange... and oddly i love to sweat and feel my body getting stronger. I am so grateful for a family that worksout reguarly and has taught me since a young age, why it is important to be healthy. I love exercising... that is all there is to it :)

End of a great year

ok.. I know that I haven't been awesome at my two week blogging goal... but at least it hasn't been six months. baby steps.... (this post took place over a couple of weeks... so it is a little scattered.. better than nothing though, right?)

My newest highlight in my life is that I FINALLY found a new job!!! That's right, no more giving showers, feeding, cleaning up throw up, or wiping saggy old butts for me... and I cannot be happier :) I have definitely reached the end of rope working there, that is for sure. My last day was on the 15th and it was the best feeling walking out of there. I was sad to say goodbye to a couple of my favorite residents, but I am pretty sure that they won't remember me in the long run anyways. It was a good learning experience working there, so I will just take those experiences with me and move on.



My new job is at Velocity as a Velocity coach training high school and collegate athletes in speed, power , and strength. I am also working at a business called CSCCa (Collegate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association) as a personal assistant part time... and I am getting ready to audition to teach cycle classes at 24 Hour Fitness.... soooo needless to say, we are busy busy busy.

We are currnetly up in Oregon for the holidays, and it has been a blast since we arrived. We were going to fly, but Mike and Katie decided that they wanted to go, so we all lied through our teeth to my family and suprised everyone with their family when we showed up. It was one heck of a drive though. Cramming all 7 of us, including two carseats and a booster seat into a Honda Pilot made for a very cramped trip. Towards the end of the 12 hour drive the babies totally lost it and screamed all the way through Portland until we reached our driveway... that was fun. To make matters even worse, right before we were suppose to take the exit to head to Beaverton Jack announced that he had to go pee and couldn't hold it... yikes... so of ocurse we had to take any even longer detour through downtown Portland.It was quite the roadtrip, but it was all worth it coming home and suprising everyone! Speaking of suprises, Cody (my older brother) suprised everyone on Christmas and announced that he is engaged and is getting married on May 6th in the San Diego temple... (it is about time!!!!!) We are looking forward to spending the rest of our break here and hope the you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you will have a Happy New Year!

Obsessed.

Obsessed. That is what I am......

With sugar that is. I have set goals, made promises, and threats when it has come to trying to slow down on the sugar intake, but my sweet tooth has become more than an every now and then kind of habit.... that's right..... it is now an obsession. I CANNOT go one day without eating at least 3 pieces of candy...sneaking some ice cream.. or giving into any sort of craving... recently, my obsession of choice has been:


TOTSIEROLL POPS!! I don't know if it is because it reminds me of my childhood, or if it is simply because I love all forms and shapes of sugar... but I have literally been craving these things!!! (no I am NOT pregnant)

I have come to conclusion in the past couple of day though. Every time I have tried to "restrain" myself from sugar or cut down... I end up going crazy and eating every piece of candy in sight! So I have decided that instead of saying NO SUGAR... I should focus on exercising even harder so that I can eat whatever i want... just kidding...

I really am starting today... ok well actually today has already been ruined... so tomorrow, I am going to start putting myself on a sugar restriction.. to ONE small sweet thing a day... I know (from experience) that if I go cold turkey I will turn into a crazy sugar craving monster (kind of like when I am on my period... but worse because it is all of the time instead of just once a month).. so I need to just set limits. here is my limit. ONE. SWEET. THING. A. DAY. AFTER. DINNER. NO. EXCEPTIONS. Why after dinner you ask? because that is when the cravings are strongest. During the day I am actually quite good at eating healthy and avoiding sweets... it is after dinner that I turn crazy. Kind of like how old people somehow become crazier after the sun sets. ... but if I know i can treat myself to one sweet thing after dinner... it doesn't seem to bad! Of course holidays and birthdays will be an exception to sweets... but that doesn't mean i have to give up on any kind of portion control. You are all my witnesses..... Tomorrow marks day one... keep your fingers crossed.... maybe I should fill Dante in on the details so he doesn't wonder why all of a sudden I am ten times more emotional and twenty times or irritable.

Just some thoughts...

So I know it is a bit past the two week blog posting I was shooting for... but this is progress, it hasn't been even a month since my last post!! Baby steps right?

Speaking of babies, I work at a nursing home... which is basically like babysitting a bunch of babies in a big peoples bodies. I am constantly saying things like, "don't play with yourself; we don't say mean things like that to other people, it is not nice!; please wash your hands after you use the restroom; please chew and swallow all of your veggies; don't hit; don't shout; use your utensils when you eat... it goes on and on... I am currently searching the market EVERYDAY for a new job... but for the time being I have decided that I need to stay positive and just laugh at all of the weird things these crazy old farts do....

1. We have a resident that is 101 years old... yep.. 101.. and she cannot hear a dang thing. Even when my lips are practically inside of her ear yelling to ask her something... she without fail will say... "I can't hear what you are saying.... do you even speak English?" Or my all time favorite is... "I can't understand you... I don't speak danish!!" She is my favorite resident.. mostly because she makes me laugh everyday.

2. The other day I was asking one of the residents if they were ready for their shower.. without skipping a beat, she asked me, "oooooo what kind of shower??? A baby shower, bridal shower??" And then proceeded to get dressed for the occasion... what????

3. One day I walked into another residents room and he was packing his suitcase. I asked him where he was heading and he told me to tell the Nurse he needed some time off because he was goign on vacation from this place. Sadly, he probably will never leave the nursing home, but i wasn't about to be the one to crush his dreams.

Almost everyday someone thinks they are getting ready to go home or heading to the basement to do laundry... it is funny to get a taste of what they used to do daily or what they used to be like... but they also DEFINITELY have their days where they make work a living hell, literally.... Almost on a daily basis, these are some of the things that happen that drive me insane..

1. In an 8 1/2 hour shift, we had one resident press his call light 65 times... 65!!! it is already crazy working there, but that definitely didn't help one bit. I am fine helping when they REALLY need help, but he would say things like hiss legs didn't work anymore and he couldn't stand (lie), he would call us in there, but once we would get there he would be "sleeping"...

2. We have one resident in particular who likes to be manipulative... and will dump his urinal all over the bed to get attention... or poop, liquid poo (after taking a laxative), on purpose all over the floor and then will be a finger painter... yep exactly what is sounds like... and would smear it everywhere.. just to make us mad.

3. We have a lot of residents with eating disorders, someone throws up their meals at least once a day.. I hate throw up... it already smells and is disgusting.. but coming out of a body that is over 80 and is already breaking down, it is ten times worse.

4. I don't think I will ever get used to the smell of grown human urine or poo... ever.. I dry heave at least twice a day. I feel bad that these people are to the point in their lives where they cannot even use the restroom on their own, but really... their bodily functions smell anything but good. It is so strong and toxic smelling, it could take out a whole room in a matter of seconds. I think the smell of old people urine and bowel movements will forever be stuck inside of my nasal cavity.

5. Most people in our facility are extremely proper... but i think when they got old that they lost their filter... i don't think I have ever heard one group of senior citizens swear more than this group. Whether they are happy, sad, mad, sleepy, or just relaxing, I haven't had a conversation that doesn't include at least one profane word spoken. Of course I don't get offended... it is actually quite funny to see these little old ladies without teeth and crazy hair swearing up a storm.

i love helping old people and listening to the crazy things they have to say.... however, this is definitely the hardest job i have EVER EVER EVER had. I have a love.. but mostly hate relationship with it... but, until I find that magical new job I will listen to their crazy ramblings, their profanities they shout at me, wipe their soiled and saggy bums, and take them to their showers... no matter what kind of shower they think it is.

Spring, Summer, Anniversary.Graduation. Crruuuuuuuise

I have personally set a new goal to update my blog AT LEAST once every two weeks. I am tired, as I am sure that you are too, of reading ridiculously long blog posts every 6 months that update you on our lives. So lets cross our fingers and hope that this will be the last "catch you up on our lives" post!!

I have to say that these past four months have been super crazy, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our summer here in Provo. After winter semester ended in April, we both jumped right in to Spring term. I have never had classes spring or summer term, but it was definitely hard to sit in class when the sun was shining! I took classes both spring and summer classes and started my internship at Y-BE-FIT on BYU campus. Classes were hard. at an accelerated pace. and took every fiber of my being to concentrate on them! However, I did love working at Y-BE-FIT as a fitness and nutrition counselor for the summer. I had clients that I met with every week and set little goals with to help them reach their overall fitness goals. It was so amazing to see everyone accomplish their goals and get back into shape. I think the thing that I loved most about it though, was seeing people who just a couple of weeks ago hated exercising, get excited and about working out and eating healthy. What a rewarding internship that was!


In May we celebrated our one year anniversary! I honestly cannot believe that I have been married for a year (well now it is almost a year and a half)! Our anniversary was on a Sunday this year, so I made us a big pot roast dinner that day and it was delish! We did take a lot of pictures, but I am technology challenged and deleted most of them :( so here is a picture of the dinner I made.


At the end of May we took a road trip out to California for our friends Jeremy and Kelsey's wedding. It was so fun to see such great friends get married and enjoy a short vacation together. We went to the beach ( and got soooo sunburned) the wedding, and as an anniversary gift to ourselves, we went to six flags with our friends John and Amy.























June was a looong month. However, we did get season passes to the Seven Peaks water park, and I am pretty sure that I went just about everyday of the week! It was great that my sister-in-law and her kids all had passes as well as other friends from our ward did. With Utah's hot summer days, it helped pass the time and gave me a nice tan :)

July was pretty hectic, but a month packed with fun! To celebrate the 4th, we went and watched the Stadium of Fire celebration at the BYU football field, and it was so fun! We went early with a bunch of friends to find a good place to watch from and layed out blankets and played games and ate popcicles while we wait for the show to begin. It was such a great way to celebrate our independence day!






















The next week Dante, my old roomie Mandy, and I all piled into a car and drove all the way up to eastern Washington to Lake Sacajawea to go wakeboarding and camping with my family and other friends. Dante had never wakeboarded before, so it was a blast have him get out there and give it a try. I also hadn't wakeboarded for almost 2 years!!! So it felt good to get back in the water and bust it out. We were only able to go for 4 of the 8 days they were there, but it was such a great and relaxing trip. We didn't have any cell phone or internet access all week and we loved it! Although we were hurting when we got home because of how sore we were, it was all worth the "pain" and hated having to go back to work and classes after such a fun trip!

































































August was also jam packed with things to do, but we both loved it because we graduated from college! I cannot believe that I am a BYU grad now! It was such a surreal feeling getting my diploma. Mine and Dante's family both came to Utah for the trip, and it was such a fun weekend to have them both here. We went to Seven Peaks all day with everyone, had a graduation party, played games together, stayed up way to late talking, and of course went to graduation. We arranged it so that Dante and I could walk together, and even though I graduated with the Sociology Department, it was such a fun day being able to finish up our BYU experience together.











































To celebrate graduation and our honeymoon that we never went on, we decided to go on a cruise with our good friends Sean and Alena. We piled into a car on Saturday and drove to California, and then on Sunday boarded the Cruise ship for a whole week of absolute fun! I cannot even begin to describe the great time we had on the ship. From the time we got on, to the time we got off, it was a blast!