Nic, Tammy, and Andrew

Life Lately

2012-01-24T10:04:00.000-08:00

We had a family reunion with my family in Vegas and then spent Christmas with Nic's family.

Here's the very few Vegas Pics I took

Life has been so busy lately. I feel like we're never home anymore. We took advantage of Nic's long break from school and did a lot of traveling. We did "Chritmas Around the World" with Nic's family. I don't have pictures, but we had a fun time eating delicious Brazilian, Danish, British, and Italian food. We even sent Chinese lanterns into the sky. Nic, Jon, and Kim tiled his parents' upstairs bathroom. I have a "before" picture but forgot to take an "after" picture. It turned out really beautiful.

Nic and I took Andrew to the Discovery Kids Museum in Orange. We picked the worst day to go, Free Santa Ana residents day. The place was soo busy.

Nic surprised me with a quick trip to Big Bear Lake. We stayed in this lodge

Take a closer look...the place was kind of smelly and gross. Nic ended up waking up with bug bites on his legs. We canceling our second night and spent the morning at big bear then headed back to our apartment and rented a movie. We had a really nice time in Big Bear though.

We had a delicious breakfast at the Grizzly Manor, and then headed off for the Animal Park. We saw huge Timber Wolves and a sleeping Grizzly bear (didn't take my camera, unfortunately). One of my favorites was our nature hike up above the lake.

The alpine slide was also a lot of fun. We decided to do that instead of pay $50 to go sledding.

This last weekend we went to San Francisco to pick up my mom and visit with my sister, Gena. Andrew loved seeing his cousins and having a sleep over. Nic and I explored the city a little bit and accidentally drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. thank goodness we had cash...it costs $6 to go over the bridge.

Work has been really busy for me lately. The commute has been taking a toll on our family. Nic just started school today. He is taking Labor and Delivery/Mother Baby and Nursing research this semester. I'm so proud of his hard work. Andrew is doing well. He loves, loves, loves trains right now.

Andrew's Halloween Costumes

2011-11-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Andrew's Halloween costumes thus far:

2011: Pirate

2010: Monkey

2009: Penguin

2008: Cute Newborn Baby!

Fall Fun

2011-10-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to check out Underwood Family Farm. We had a lot of fun together. Andrew liked the goats that walk up planks to get to their little house.

We survived the corn maze, thanks to this map towards the end of the maze.

Our 3 year old!

2011-10-30T10:06:00.001-07:00

Andrew turned 3 on Oct 15!! It was a lot of fun celebrating his birthday this year. We had a party with his Grandma and Grandpa Arnold a week before his birthday at Avila Farms and a barbeque at a park. It was a perfect day for a birthday picnic.

On his actual birthday, we celebrated with some of his cousins, grandparents,

and great-grandparents.

Bowling Fun

2011-08-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Nic, Andrew and I went for a quick trip to visit Jon and his family in Vegas last week. On one of the days, we ended up going bowling and then eating out at the Rio World Buffet. I was too busy eating at the buffet to take any pictures, but I did end up snapping some pictures of our bowling game.

This is what Andrew did for the first part of the game.

Then he woke up and didn't know what to think of the whole bowling thing at first. Once he warmed up to it, he loved it.

Nic and I got beat on both games. I guess we should go bowling more often!

Parachute fun

2011-08-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

Just some cute pictures of Nic and Andrew playing with a new parachute toy

Ventura Beach

2011-08-03T12:52:00.000-07:00

A fews weeks ago, Andrew had a fun beach trip with some of his cousin.

The zip line they have on the pirate ship was broken, so I was disappointed about that. But the kids all still had a fun time at the park.

Magic Mountain

2011-07-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

Nic's brother Jon and his family came to visit CA and spend the week at Magic Mountain. Since it is only an hour away from our house, Nic and I decided to get season passes so that we could go too. It was a lot of fun. We ended up going three different days this past week. Nic's parents even came for a few hours on one of the days. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of toddler rides for Andrew. He loved it! I didn't get pictures of all of them, but some of his favorites were the carousel, the bus ride, the train, and the swinging pirate ship. He went on the log jammer and two of his first roller coasters while we were there. We also went to Hurricane Harbor for a couple of hours, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures.

I was a little squished in the tweety bird cage, so I asked Madelyn to go with him the next time.

It was hot, so we let Andrew cool down in the water. Right before I took the picture he started doing this. It made me laugh. Looks like he is going to the bathroom.

My hips barely fit into this one.

New haircut

2011-07-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun experimenting with Andrew's hair. He'll probably look back at pictures when he is older and ask me why I didn't just pay the money and take him in to the barber. I love watching YouTube tutorials and having fun attempting to cut his hair. Last night I was pretty happy with the way it turned out (This morning is a different story, as I'm noticing all of the stray hairs). But all in all, it's fun to save money by cutting his hair at home.

Beach Time

2011-07-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

We often forget how many beautiful places are so close to where we live. The other night, we drove along the PCH and found a stretch of beach to enjoy. It was windy, but it was still fun.

New pets!

2011-07-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

While Andrew was sick, I let him watch A LOT of tv. I wanted him to rest, so we watched a lot of netflix and favorite DVD movies. One of his favorites is "Finding Nemo".

Nic had a great idea to go get some pet fish for him. We ended up getting Mickey Mouse fish. They have little Mickey ears in their tails, hence the name. He really enjoys his new fish!

Bronchitis and asthma

2011-07-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Last week Andrew started getting a little cough, which then turned into a really bad cough and fever. I ended up taking him to the ER, was told that he had bronchitis and sent home with an antibiotic prescription for him. He kept getting worse. His respirations were very fast and labored. He was using all of his accessory muscles to breath. When I listened to him with my stethoscope I could hear wheezing all throughout his lung fields. I took him to his pediatrician and while I was waiting in the office, the medical assistants rushed to get the doctor, saying "that little boy is going to need a treatment." The doctor asked if he had any history of asthma, because he was definitely having an asthma attack. They gave him an albuterol nebulizer treatment and ordered a nebulizer for me to use for him at home. At home, he was still breathing very labored and fast. Even after the treatments, he was still wheezing really bad. His fever was 102.6 and an hour after Tylenol was still 101. We decided to take him back to the ER. We spent 6 hours in the ER filled with nebulizer treatments, chest xray, IV antibiotics, IV fluids. They debated whether they should send him to Cottage hospital, but in the end the doctor thought he was turning the corner enough to go home. Thank goodness he did turn the corner. He is finally back to his normal self now. Here are some pictures from last week.

4th of July

2011-07-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

We had a fun morning watching the Solvang Parade with Grandma and Grandpa Arnold. It was hot, but luckily we found a spot of shade. Andrew really enjoyed watching the parade this year. They threw candy out to him and he even got to see Mater from Cars there.

We headed back home to Camarillo and watched the fireworks from a nearby park. I really thought Andrew would enjoy the fireworks, but he was more interested in running around. Oh well, he had fun either way.

Safety Fair

2011-05-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Today our housing community had a safety fair. Nic, Andrew and I went and had a really nice time. We got to see a live California King snake and a Rattlesnake (behind glass, thank goodness) . We scored a lot of free pens and handouts and even a free life jacket for Andrew! They served lunch, popcorn, and snow cones.

Andrew loved the little train they had!

He got really excited when he saw "firefighters!"

The bounce houses were a blast.

They also had a Search and Rescue helicopter land while we were there. Andrew was a little scared of the loud noise it made, but later went close to it and started dancing. Silly boy.

Not quite a crazy couponer

2011-05-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

So, today I attempted to save a little $$ by couponing. I still ended up spending quite a bit in my final bill, but I did get a few steals. My favorite was getting a bottle of Ibuprofen for 2 cents!

Day at the Beach

2011-05-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent a couple hours at the beach. It was a bit windy, but still a lot of fun. Andrew loved playing in the sand and water. He was getting a little too brave for my comfort towards the end. He doesn't quite get how powerful water can be. We had to keep a close eye on him. Nic is in the middle of finals, but he came with us and brought some study material with him. It was a nice day at the beach together.

iPod Fun

2011-05-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when Andrew gets ahold of my iPod and I'm in the other room:

Caution Readers

2011-05-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

CAUTION: THIS POST CONTAINS IMAGES THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO VIEWERS.

I'm such a proud mommy. This is what Andrew did tonight.

I haven't been pushing too hard to potty train Andrew. I was waiting until he showed some interest so I wouldn't overly stress out about the whole thing. We caught him sitting on the toilet in our hotel room a couple weeks ago while in San Diego and he's been tugging on his diapers like they irritate his skin. Tonight I noticed that Andrew was squatting in the living room, so I took him into the bathroom and let him sit on the toilet for a little while. He didn't really do anything, but I decided to put underwear on him and watch him closely in the living room. He started squatting again so I said "Andrew, why don't you sit on the toilet" and I brought his little toddler toilet in the living room. He sat on it while watching the Backyardigans. I didn't really think he was going to do anything and got on the computer and started reading blogs. I kind of forgot that he was sitting on the toilet and suddenly noticed a very strong smell. He had success!!! Oh, some of the joys that come to a mommy of a 2 1/2 year old are embarrassing. Haha! I'm still a little nervous about having him wear underwear, but I guess we'll have to try it a little each day now (and maybe invest in a carpet cleaner)

Pool and Zoo

2011-05-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

It has been pretty warm the last few days and we've been hanging out here:

Nic has been so busy with final presentations, papers, clinicals, but he even took a break and went to the pool with us the other day. It was a lot of fun. Andrew loves the water so much! I just wish the pool was heated a little bit warmer. I kept trying to get Andrew to go into the hot tub with me.

We also had a lot of fun meeting my sister Gena and her girls at the Santa Barbara Zoo today. Andrew is so funny. This morning when he woke up I asked him "Andrew, do you want to go to the zoo today?" His face lit up he said "hat" and "shoes". He knew exactly what he needed to get ready for the zoo.

Thankful

2011-04-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a thankful post. Today I am so thankful for

#1 My husband

Isn't he handsome? Nic is such a sweet guy.

He loves the outdoors! We had so many fun bike rides when we were living in Utah.

He loves hiking. This picture is from his last hike up in the high sierras last summer.

He proposed to me outdoors at Sundance. So pretty.

Nic is such a good example to me. He spent two years serving the people of

Costa Rica as a missionary.

He works so hard in school so that he can provide for our family.

Look at all of those books for this semester.

He is doing so well in his classes. His knowledge and critical thinking skills amaze me.

He is silly with me!

I love him!

#2 This little man.

Andrew is such a sweet little guy. I can't believe that he is 2 1/2! He loves to be a big boy and help out. He had fun helping mommy put carrots and apples into bags at the grocery store yesterday. I have to remember to let him help more often. I always dread going to the store because it seems like such a big task, but it went so well when I simply remembered to let him help. Some of his favorite things right now are popcorn, ice cream hot dogs, string cheese, crackers, Thomas, Barney, playing outside, and anything to do with water (drinking water [he is probably one of the few kids that won't drink juice], playing in the pool/tub, pouring his water on the carpet and jumping on it)

#3 My health

I am so, so thankful for my health. My ulcerative colitis has been in remission for almost 4 years now! Yippeeee! (I better not jinx it, now) My memory is kind of bad on exact dates, but I remember my last year of college being rough. I had to be put on prednisone at some point and my colonoscopy had shown that my colitis had worsened. When on high doses of prednisone, my symptoms would improve, which was great. But being on prednisone has many yucky side effects and shouldn't be used for a long time. It can raise your blood sugar, cause osteoporosis, increased swelling, and the list goes on... It can weaken your immune system and I think the combination of that with the added stress of nursing school was what landed me with shingles in Nov 2005.

One of the other side effects I got was this:

Puffy face.

This was actually after I had graduated from college. This pic was taken Oct 2007.

My GI did not want me getting pregnant unless my colitis was doing well. He scared us when he said I could lose my colon and my baby if I got pregnant while in a flare up. Thankfully, I was eventually able to get my colitis in control enough and got pregnant with Andrew. I was told that about 50% of women with UC get worse during pregnancy and 50% of women get better. I was blessed and my colitis got 100% better during pregnancy. It has stayed that way ever since!!! Nic said something really sweet the other day. He said for me to think of this remission as Andrew's gift to me. So sweet. I know that Ulcerative Colitis is a lifelong illness, but I am sooooo grateful for this long stretch of remission!!!

No more facebook, more blogging

2011-04-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to delete my facebook account and start blogging our family happenings instead. I found that I was wasting too much time checking facebook and comparing myself to others (stupid, I know..but that's what it did for me) instead of focusing on all of the blessings I have. I think that blogging will be a much better way to keep friends and family up on our little family.

Here are some pictures from our family reunion with Nic's family a few days ago. We spent a day at Legoland, a day at Legoland Waterpark, and had a lot of fun eating out and swimming in the hotel pool. I sure wish I would have taken more pictures. Andrew loved going down the little toddler waterslides at the waterpark, but I didn't take one picture :(

-Tam

Nurses Make the Best Daddys!!

2010-04-07T15:45:00.000-07:00

Nic got accepted into the CSUCI BSN program!!!! I am so excited for him. He has worked so hard in school and will make a wonderful nurse.

I have a lot of fond memories of nursing school...

going to Hawaii for part of a summer

Ok, it wasn't all fun and games. But overall, I loved nursing school and love being a nurse!

Congrats Nic!!!! You will do well!!

Long time, no blog post!

2010-03-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on our blog. My excuse is that we don't have internet in our apartment, and I'm never motivated enough to post when I am using the internet while visiting family. Here's a little update about our little family. Andrew is growing up so fast. He loves to talk, and is learning new words all of the time.

He loves to play with his cousins. He loves bubbles!

He loves being happy! He loves smelling flowers!

And we love him so very much!

He loves carousels.

He loves balls (and calls balloons balls too)

And I think most of all, he loves playing outside!!

He is so much fun to be around. Poor little guy is sick right now and is still

so sweet to be around.

Nic and I have been keeping busy with work. Nic is still working as a health aid and I as a nurse.

He just put in his application to CSUCI Nursing Program!!! We're crossing our fingers that he will get in this Fall!!

We are enjoying living in California near family. Recently, we have been able to visit with Miranda and her sweet husband Jordan. They will be venturing off to Brazil tomorrow! We will miss them, but know they will have a great time there together!

I will try to post again soon!

Just a few pics from Christmas

2010-01-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Santa left footmarks in our apartment this year. It was so exciting to watch Andrew notice the tracks on the floor. He absolutely loved the ball pit that Santa brought.

Photos of my baby

2009-12-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

My sister Gena took some awesome pictures of Andrew a few weeks ago. Check them out at here.

Almost one year old!!!

2009-10-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

Andrew will be one year old on the 15th, so I decided to get my camera out and snap a few one year pictures! I've been so bad at remembering to take pictures, but I'll try to take more of this little cutie!! He is so funny and is really starting to talk a lot. His favorite things to say are "daa-daa", "uh-oh", "tank tou", "hiii", "eyes", and "dog." He loves to eat crackers, tortillas, and "Hawaiian Delight" baby food. He loves to play with his cousins and just learned how to break dance. He'll sit on the floor and go 'round and 'round like he's break dancing!

MJ and Jordan!

2009-08-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last night we got some exciting news from Miranda and Jordan!! They're engaged to be married! We are so excited for them!!

We love you guys so much. It was great to see you this past week!

America's Funniest Home Video

2009-07-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday someone at church heard Andrew laughing during the meeting and said that we should enter a video of him into America's Funniest Home Videos. I don't know if I'll really do it, but I do think he's pretty funny!!

Andrew- 7 Months

2009-06-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

We love this happy little guy!!

He's has such a pleasant personality! Such a joy to be around!

And Daddy loves his little future Cougar fan!

Tide Pools!!

2009-05-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had the chance to go see the tide pools with Nic's parents and MJ! It was a lot of fun. There was so much beautiful sea life to see and we got some great pictures! Andrew loved looking at everything. It is so much fun to see him learning and taking in so many new things!

The Famous Snowy Plover

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She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

2009-03-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Nic has been having a blast working on the ranch. Since we've been in California, he's helped feed the animals, round up horses, put in new piping in my parent's well, fix the dirt road, and repair plumbing in the barn. He loves to ride the ATV and tractor all around. I don't mind it too much either because while he's working, I've been able to hang out with family all day :)

California!

2009-01-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

Hip hip hooray!! We made it to California! The past few weeks have been crazy. We've been busy moving into our new apartment, Tammy's been interviewing for jobs, Nic's been registering for classes, and Andrew's been happy and very fun to be around!! Nic changed his career path with an end goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist!! He just started his Certified Nurse Assistant class and will start applying to nursing schools soon!! We love living so close to family and are very excited for this new step in our lives!

Gena shot some very cute pictures of Andrew yesterday while we were out on a walk! Thanks, Gena!! Here are a couple.

Family Pictures

2009-01-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky to have two very talented photographers in the family. Gena and Tonya take beautiful photos. Tonya shot some family pics for us the other day. Thanks Tonya!!!

http://www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy/?p=309

Blessing Day

2009-01-01T19:34:00.001-08:00

Andrew Eugene Arnold was blessed on December 28, 2008!! He looked adorable in his blessing outfit! Here's a picture of the Arnold side of the family. I wish I would have caught one with the L side, too. It was great to have everyone the

Christmas in California

2008-12-31T16:59:00.000-08:00

We have been enjoying the holidays in California. We have been able to visit family, eat lots of yummy food, shoot clay pigeons (Nic is a great shot!), watch elephant seals fight on the beach, and much much more.

Don't be fooled, these elephant seals may look sweet but they fought each other until they bled!

Here I am testing out the gun

Nic gave us all lessons

Andrew has lots of cousins to help feed him

Nic and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary on December 29! I love you Nic!!!

http://tammyandnic.blogspot.com

2008-12-16T10:34:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Two-Month Birthday

2008-12-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

A family portrait taken at my work party

Having a little ''tummy time"

Look at what Mommy found in the laundry the other day!!

I'm jealous of his long eyelashes! He definitely got those from his daddy!

This little guy is really getting social. Smiles and coos more and more each day!

Daddy thought it would be funny to take a picture of Mommy and Andrew taking a nap

My two handsome boys!

Andrew's First Cry!!

2008-12-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

I loved hearing Andrew's first cry!! He is such a blessing in our lives.

Thanks MJ for the awesome filming skills

Happy Baby

2008-12-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Mommy and Andrew

2008-12-05T20:46:00.001-08:00

Growing up

2008-12-01T07:13:00.000-08:00

Andrew has been growing up so fast. I can't believe how much he's changed in just 7 weeks. He is really starting to socialize. It's fun to see social smiles and hear lots of coos. He has such a cute voice. At the moment, his voice sounds stuffed up, though. Poor little guy is sick for the first time. He was up every hour last night coughing, sneezing, and congested.

I'm holding the little guy right now and hope that he gets better soon.

I've been slacking in the picture department. Here are a few cute ones that I took a couple weeks ago.

Our handsome boy!

2008-11-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Today I dressed Andrew up in cute overalls and snapped a few photos. I personally only snapped a few, and then Miranda Jayne grabbed the camera and went to town. Man, I think we have a new photographer in the family! The pictures she took were so cute!! I had fun playing around with editing them. Enjoy!

...just posting more pictures

2008-11-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

Andrew and Aunt Mimi

I love this picture of Andrew and his daddy

Andrew's first bath. Notice how he timed spitting up right when the picture was taken.

Daddy and Andrew taking a nap

Grandma Arnold made this beautiful floral arrangement while she was visiting!

Andrew's first Halloween

Andrew is three weeks old today. I can't believe how much he's grown!

He has been filling in with his cute baby fat!!

Andrew's first week

2008-10-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today is Andrew's 1 week birthday. Here are some photos from this past week.

Andrew, Daddy, and Aunt Mimi, shortly after birth

I thought this was a cute picture of Nic waiting for Andrew to have a test done in the nursery.

Daddy surprised Mommy with some beautiful roses!

Going home from the hospital

I think he is such a little cutie pie!

On the way to his first Dr. appointment

He loves his Daddy

Nic after tests, homework, and late nights partying with Andrew

Checkin' out his new toy from Aunt Sharon

I caught a 1 week old smile!!!!

And the winners are...

2008-10-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I haven't had much time to go back to look at the baby stat predictions to see who guessed the closest.
The winners of guessing Oct 15 were:
The Workmans
Gena
MJ (my friend from work)

Erick and Mary guessed 19.5 inches

Papa Gene
BJ
Erick and Mary
guessed that he would be born with brown hair.

I don't think anyone guessed 7lb 7oz, but several people came really close.

Thank you everyone for putting in your predictions. We had a lot of fun reading them!!

More pictures of Andrew!!!

2008-10-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky to have my sister Tonya jump on an airplane when she found out that I was in labor so that she could help support me and meet little Andew. She is a very talented photographer and I am SOOOO HAPPY that she was there to do Andrew's first professional photo shoot. Check out her beautiful photos of Andrew at http://www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy/?p=281

Love you Tonya!!

Introducing Andrew Eugene Arnold

2008-10-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Born: 12:51 PM 7 lb 7oz 19.5 inches

Delivered by Dr. Scott Jacob

Welcome to the world

Momma's Little Boy

Onlooking Grandma

The nurses gave Andrew a handsome part

A little puffy around the eyes

giving Daddy kisses

Dad and Andrew trying to urp up some burps!

Disclaimer this blog-feed was done by Dad.

Preserving the sacred institution of marriage

2008-10-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Right now in California, the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman is at stake. The Supreme Court recently went against the majority vote of the people defining marriage as such. On November 4 of this year, Californians will have the opportunity to vote on a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that will restore the definition of marriage as previously approved by the voters.

Nic and I feel very strongly that marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God and that marriage and family life is one of the greatest blessing we have.

We both plan on voting yes on proposition 8.

Right now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with the Catholic, Evangelic, and Orthodox Jewish churches are joining together in an effort to encourage those who also agree to let their voice be heard by voting yes on proposition 8.

We found a great website that contains more information on proposition 8.

http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

If you are a California resident living out of State like us, you can request an absentee ballot at http://www.govoteabsentee.org/

Beautiful little Gwen!!!

2008-10-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our new niece Gweneth entered the world! Congratulations Gena, Jeff, and Emma!!

My sister Tonya snapped some beautiful photos of her.

To see more, go to http://www.tonyajoy.com/myjoy/

Place your prediction now!

2008-09-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Let the guessing begin!! We are taking baby stat predictions.

We have been told that he is due anywhere from Oct 15 to Oct 19. Going from my dilation and effacement at my appointment a little over a week ago, my doctor said that of course there are no guarantees, but the baby could come a little early.

Post a comment with your prediction of the following info:

1. When our baby will be born? (day, time, however specific you want to be)

2. How much our baby will weigh

3. How long our baby will measure

4. Hair or no hair?

To help you out, we took some pics of my belly today. I felt huge in this dress today. My belly is growing everyday.

Baby update

2008-09-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

I had my 36 week appointment today and the doctor said that I am 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Nic and I are excited to welcome Andrew into our family. We decided today that we better pack our hospital bag so that we are ready for Andrew whenever he decides to come.

Which one has the watermelon under her shirt??

I'm just hope that Andrew doesn't weigh 17 lb like the big watermelon we got the other day.

MJ and I were being goofy

Growing

2008-08-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Our little Andrew has been busy growing, as so has my tummy! I haven't taken very many belly pictures throughout my pregnancy, but here are a few that show how much I've grown.

12 Weeks

...and 20 weeks later (32 Weeks)

Arnold Update

2008-07-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

I just realized that I haven't posted anything for quite a while and needed to post a little update about our family. Nic has been studying hard for his Chemistry and Statistics classes this summer. He impresses me with how much he's been doing lately. In spite of being busy with a new church calling, work, school, etc, he still finds time to help me and little Andrew. We are almost done decorating Andrew's room and had a lot of fun doing it.

My pregnancy has been going well. I'm 28 weeks along and have been able to continue working full time at the hospital so far (i better knock on wood). I've been trying to stay active and am going to a step aerobics class when I can. Andrew seems to be growing stronger everyday. It's so much fun to feel and see him kick and roll around inside my tummy.

This picture was taken at one of Nic's softball games

He's a slugger

Hannah

2008-06-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

My very good friend Hannah and her fiance Robbie will be sealed together for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles Temple tomorrow! I am so happy for them. Hannah has been such a good friend to me for several years. I will never forget all of the fun times we had as roommates.

Congratulations Hannah!! I wish I could be there tomorrow.

I know that you will be a beautiful bride!!

Our Night at the Castle

2008-06-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

On Monday Nic and I both had the day off, so we thought we'd do something fun together. Nic suggested that we drive to Thanksgiving Point to see the gardens there. Afterwards, he told me that he was going to take me to this great maternity clothes store in Sandy. I was oblivious to the fact that Nic had planned a surprise for me. As we came into Sandy, we pulled into a parking lot of a Castle. I knew that something was up then and kept asking him, "what is this?, what are we doing". We walk into the castle and Nic told the lady at the front desk that we had reservations for "Arnold." He had secretly made a reservation at a cute little Castle Creek Inn. We stayed in the Scottish themed room for a night. It was so relaxing! Such a nice way to break up the monotony of school and work in Provo. They told us to feel free to have any drinks or snacks from the kitchen, take any movies from the cupboards to watch, or play any board games that they had. Our room had a huge jet hot tub, which I was very excited about. I love taking baths, but our little apartment has a tub that is so small it must have been designed for a little kid. We had a nice time and hope to go back again. Thank you Nic for the fun surprise!! I love you.

Here's Nic enjoying root beer in the huge tub!

We had our very own knight to guard our room.

Here I am setting up a board game

They had beautiful scenery right outside our window

Our stay included a delicious breakfast!

Fun Surprise

2008-06-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago I came home from work to find a surprise in our future baby room. As I walked past the door I noticed what appeared to be a person sitting in a glider chair! Nic had surprised me with a new chair for us to rock the baby to sleep. He and MJ had fun creating a mom holding a baby out of my clothes.

Alicia and Devin's Wedding Reception

2008-06-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Our friend Alicia just got married in the Salt Lake Temple and we had the opportunity to attend her reception. She and Devin looked great!

Miranda put together the beautiful flowers for the wedding!

Here's the beautiful bride

Gena's Pictures!

2008-06-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Check out my sister Gena's awesome pictures that she took of us. Thanks Gena!

We miss you guys!

http://genasue.blogspot.com/2008/05/tam-tam.html

Visit to California!

2008-05-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

Nic and I took 10 days off to make a trip out to California. We stopped in Las Vegas on the way down to visit with Jon and Kim's family. We also had the chance to stop in LA go to Ava's birthday party on our way back to Utah. We had a great time staying at the Ranch and Arnold home during our visit. I am working on downloading all of our pictures from the trip. Here are a few that I have so far. More to come.

We had the opportunity to have a photoshoot session with Gena. Jeff gave Nic some photography lessons, too. These photos were the ones taken by Nic and Jeff with our camera.

Here we are checking out the pictures Gena took with her camera

Tammy+Nic = Happy!

19 weeks along. I started feeling our little baby move this week!!

Nic caught a sassy picture of me

And it's a.........

2008-05-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Nic and I were just too excited to see some images of our little baby, so we went to the fetal studio in the mall today. We got a DVD of our little one moving around and some great pictures. We also found out that we are expecting a little baby...

BOY!!!!

I absolutely love his profile!! Look at that cute nose!!

We are very excited and couldn't wait to share the news with everyone!!!

Starting to show

2008-04-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

Either Tammy needs to lay off the cookies, or she has a baby growing inside her tummy (or maybe both! Haha) Just thought we'd share some pics of my little baby bump.

16 weeks!!

Camping

2008-04-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

We went camping last night and tried out our new tent and sleeping bags. I think we were pretty much the first campers of the season at the camp ground, but it was a lot of fun. We ate hamburgers and chips for dinner. Nic chilled our rootbeer in the river while we prepared dinner. My favorite thing to eat was the corn on the cob. We threw the corn in our fire coals, turned it over once, and a few minutes later it was done. After peeling the husk off, we had a perfectly

cooked corn on the cob!

Baby's heartbeat!!!

2008-04-16T17:21:00.001-07:00

Today Nic and I got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time!!! My doctor found it right away and it sounded so clear. The heartrate was about 140 beats per minute and was the most exciting noise!!! I can't stop smiling today because of the miracle of life!!

You can hear a similar fetal heartbeat at this website.

Coming October 2008!!

2008-04-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

We are very excited about the newest addition to the Arnold Family, expected to arrive October 19, 2008!!

We found out the day before Valentine's Day. Nic was at work when I did the first test. I couldn't wait until he got home!!!!

Another positive test after Nic got home from work!

We love reading the weekly updates about our baby through email. One week said that our baby was the size of a blueberry, so now we've nicnamed our baby "the blueberry." We are about 14 weeks now and the lastest update is that our baby is about the size of the average fist. It keeps on growing!!

On Wednesday our doctor is supposed to do a doppler to listen for the baby's heartbeat!!! We are so excited!!!

We are also very excited that Baby Arnold will have a cousin born approximately the same time!! Gena's baby is expected to arrive October 17, 2008!

Pregnancy has brought some morning sickness and fatigue. Nic likes to tease me about my sleeping ability. On my days off, I can take a 3 hour nap, go to sleep at 8PM, and sleep in 'till 9 in the morning. I always seem to be tired.

I've been feeling better lately though, though I still have a hard time dealing with food. For example, these are my comfort foods right now:

The strangest craving has been taco bell! I rarely liked taco bell before I was pregnant

Here are some foods I cannot eat right now:

I used to LOVE chocolate, but I CANNOT seem to stand it right now. I've tried a few times, but the texture and aftertaste do not settle well with me. Maybe being pregnant will help break some of my chocolate binging habits. Haha!

Fun with balloons!

2008-04-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny brought Nic balloons in his basket and we had a lot of fun making things with them.

Happy Easter

2008-03-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny came to our apartment last Saturday! The first signal that he had been in our apartment was his raisin droppings that led a trail to our gifts.

The Easter Bunny brought Nic some USB drives to use for school!

And he brought our family a Christus statue! Perfect gift for Easter.

"He is not here: for he is risen" -Matthew 28:6

We hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Take me out to the ballgame

2008-03-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last week Nic and I went to watch a BYU baseball game and Nic caught some nice shots.

During the baseball game Tammy kept sneaking a peak at the softball game going on at the same time.

Touchdown!

2008-03-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Nic woke up at 5:00 AM this morning and said, "I can't sleep, I'm too excited about playing football today." He got together with some guys from the ward to play flag football and I caught some fun shots of him in action.

Here's Nic's Touchdown

I think Nic forgot that they weren't playing full tackle football.

Sweet surprise

2008-02-27T14:25:00.000-08:00

The other day I came home exhausted from work to a beautiful pot of orchids!!! Nic is such a sweetie!

Yummy cake

2008-02-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

Last night Nic and I ate out at Olive Garden. My sister Alana had recommended the lemon cream cake for dessert and so we tried it. SOOOO GOOD! Try it next time you eat at Olive Garden.

Summer days

2008-02-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Top reasons why I can't wait for Spring/Summer/Fall in Utah:

1. Picnics and campfire dinners in the canyon

2. Playing softball and going to softball games

3. Bike rides

4. Hiking

5. Flip flops

Or maybe it doesn't have to be hot outside to wear flip flops...

Demolition of Deseret Towers

2008-02-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

It's so weird seeing DT torn down. Nic was really sad when we watched the wrecking ball knock his freshman "Q-Hall" down to scraps few months ago. Here are some pictures I took today of another tower that is almost all the way gone.

Tonya and Alana, wasn't this the dorm you lived in?

Crazy day at work

2008-02-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days where I questioned whether I was in the right profession or not.

Oh boy! Between tranfusing blood to one patient, transferring another quickly declining patient to the ICU, calling up grumpy doctors (I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to have their job), not having a nurse's aid half the day, while at the same time trying not to ignore my other three patients, I was exhausted. On a normal day I'm supposed to go off shift at 6:30 and I didn't leave until 8:00 because I had so much charting to catch up on. The thing that always makes it okay at the end of the day is the people I work with. My patients were so kind and my co-workers were so understanding and helpful. This makes the stress of being a nurse all worth it!

Roman Shades

2008-02-05T22:05:00.000-08:00

So I decided that I wanted to make some curtains for our bedroom and Alana sent me excellent instructions for making roman shades! I made a lot of errors in these curtains simply because I was too excited to see the finished product. Nic kept asking me why I was rushing through all of the steps. I'm just excited that they actually work! Here are some pics.

Pics

2008-02-01T13:11:00.001-08:00

Goofy Couple

2008-01-28T14:25:00.001-08:00

Little Lainie

2008-01-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

We've had the blessing of being able to watch sweet little Lainie Zollweg on my days off.

Nic raced home from school one day so that he could see her in between classes. I snapped a few pictures of Nic holding her. She's such a sweetie! Thanks Jenae and Aaron for letting us watch her!

Sleeping Beauty

2008-01-20T16:49:00.001-08:00

We are pleased to announce that we are related to the one and only Princess Aurora. See for yourself, Miranda-Jayne is Sleeping Beauty!

And the beautiful seamstress making alterations to beauty's dress MJ also was a beautiful bride
...or is that Cinderella's stepsister?
and then there was the beautiful dancing napkin

And Hercules' muse

And the snake bellydancer from Aladin

...and then there was another sleeping beauty.

While Tammy was taking her Sunday nap this afternoon, Nic thought it would be funny to come snap some pictures of her.

One Year!

2008-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

Nic and I celebrated our one year anniversary on December 29 and I just realized that I never blogged a one year anniversary message. I thought I'd post some of our dating pictures I was just going through. I love pictures!

I love you Nic!! I'm so lucky to have married you! Thanks for being my best friend!

A little home redecorating

2008-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

Out with the old....

...and in with the new

King Tut lying in his new tomb

Nic and I decided that our futons had had it. They were broken and were not in good enough condition to be given to DI. Since they wouldn't fit into the garbage whole, Nic came up with the idea to dismember them. And we had a whole lot of fun doing it. (We only took apart the truly broken one and the other futon is in our guest bedroom). Our Anniversary gift to each other was a brand new loveseat, sofa, and ottoman from RC Willey! Boy are the comfortable!!

New camera!

2007-12-29T17:43:00.000-08:00

Our new camera is awesome!! Look at the clarity in all of these pictures. We are having fun learning how to use it!

Belated Christmas Morning!

2007-12-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Santa knew that Tammy was scheduled to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas so he surprised us last night. This morning we woke up to find that our bathroom had been made over. New towels, shower curtain, floor mat, and cute seashore decorations covered our small bathroom. I didn't know our bathroom could look so good! Santa sure has good style!

Robert and Rebecca trying to guess what was within the wrapping paper
Nic and I got cool hiking packs!
And MJ was thrilled about her Brita filter
Robert looks pretty snazzy in his BYU garb I love my new Emus!
Nic got jealous and wanted to model his leg also

Nic surprised Tammy with a new Camera for our family!!!
Pictures from our new camera soon to come!!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

I worked Christmas Eve and was scheduled to work half of Christmas, but was put on call for Christmas! Last night we had a little Christmas Eve celebration and here are some of the highlights.

We got to open two gifts! Here is a picture of our creche before opening the 1st gift

And here's the picture of after...we have wisemen and stars now
MJ got a Gingerbread Man

...and a cute "It's a Wonderful Life" ornament

And here's our cute "1st year of marriage" ornament

Merry Christmas!

The Biggest Loser!!

2007-12-11T18:37:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, Nic and Tammy will begin an intense competition to get healthy. Our goals are to exercise at least four times a week, exchange water in place of juice and soda, and practice portion control. Here are our "before" pictures. Wish us luck!
This one reminds me of a football program pose

I just finished washing dishes and have a nice water stain on my shirt

Snow!

2007-12-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

Nic and I thought we'd go sledding yesterday, but it ended up that we went sledding in our car on the way there, too.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-11-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

We bought a Christmas tree! Since we aren't allowed to have a live tree in our apartment, we picked out a nice fake one. We learned that it isn't worth it to buy the cheapest tree. Tammy brought home a $39 tree and as soon as we opened it we knew why it was one of the least expensive trees at Target. Tammy was able to easily return it and pick out a tree that actually resembles a live tree. It was Nic's first Christmas in several years decorating a tree. We had a lot of fun.

Tammy cut her hair yesterday. Here are some pics.

Back in the day

2007-11-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

These pictures of Nic were too cute not to post.

Nerds

2007-10-27T20:00:00.001-07:00

Our ward had a halloween party last night and Nic and I went as ourselves....NERDS! haha. It was really fun to see just how nerdy we could look.

"Sew, a needle pulling thread"

2007-10-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Tammy's been keeping busy on her days off playing with her new sewing machine. She finished her first set of curtains a few days ago. Nic was thrilled to go out and buy a set of power tools so that he could install our curtain rod. The curtains really add warmth to our little Wymount apartment.

Study, study, study

2007-09-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

Nic has been keeping really busy with school lately. He is currently taking Chemistry, Psychology, Biology, and College Algebra. Chemistry has proved to be the most time consuming class at this time. Tammy took the class six years ago, so it has definitely been a good review for her.

There isn't much else going on in Provo. Both our bikes became victims to some sharp stickers which left all tires flat. We just got around to replacing the tubes on the diamondback, which means more fun bike rides are to come!