4 years ago today......

Derek asked me a question that changed our lives forever......and I said YES!

31 weeks oops i forgot 30 weeks

So i forgot to take one last week...well i was too busy/tired when we got home from Vegas and WOW i got a lot bigger lol !! I have some super cute pics of Jackie i need to post, but i am working and they are at home on my camera......

Jackies party

So Jackie had a water party/Elmo this year! She loves both so we figured why not do them together! We had a little pool for her and a slip in slide she loved both!

Here she is going down with my dad, she kept asking to go again and again
running around
Jackie eating food
The tent Dereks dad brought to keep us out of the hot sun!
the kids eating Popsicle on the tramp
Jackies Elmo cake my mom made
She loved being sung to!

Eating her cake

Her friend Hyrum who moved out of the ward and lives near my parents made it! She was happy to see him!
Her NEW BIKE!
her cute new outfit the day after

She had a lot of fun and really liked opening all her gifts! The food was great and we had a lot of family and friends come! It was so nice to spend time with everyone and watch the little kids run around and really enjoy being together!
She has been enjoying playing with all her toys and riding her bike! I love her to death and i still can not believe that she is two!

cuteness from Jackie

Derek, " Jackie what color is your dress?"
Jackie, "Gorgeous"
Derek, "What color is mommy's shirt"
Jackie, "Fancy"
Then a lot of giggles and she said, "Pink"

Its hard to believe.....

That two years ago today i was trying every thing i could think of to get her to come out! I took the day off work to spend with Derek and we did most all the wife's tales we had heard of! Something must have worked because i had contractions all night long and went to the hospital the next day! Around 8:30pm on July 25th Jacquelyn Stell was born!! !! (see pic above :))

Since then our lives have changed completely! Its amazing to me how much a little girl can change you, and your lives. I have grown so much from the experience of being a mother. I have learned how to be more selfless, how to survive on less sleep, how to love even more deeply, how much you can care about one person, how much joy that little one can bring into your life!

Sure lots of my conversations now involve Jackie, and I love it!

I absolutely love being a mother! I especially love being Jackie's mother! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful SMART daughter in my life!

We have gotten pretty lucky with her! In 2 years she really has only been sick once, no major injuries just some bumps and bruises, she has all her teeth, potty trained, a GREAT talker (who will not stop talking!), been to a few BYU classes with her daddy, went to his graduation, gotten to know all her family (its HUGE so thats a big accomplishmet!), she isdaddy's little girl, and mommy's little buddy!

She loves all things girly! She wants to paint her nails all the time, loves to have her hair done, loves purses and helping take care of little babies!

She ALSO loves all things sports related! She loves to "play" hockey with Derek, throw balls, and run around! She knows the end to the cougar fight song! She really is my little girl, we have trained her well....next time you see her ask her what a cougar says ;)!

I love my little monkey she has brought so much joy into our lives and into our little family! We enjoy ever minute of her and can not beleive she is already 2!!!!! Time sure does go by fast...i sometimes miss that cute little baby, but I am loving my little toddler!! Hold on to your little ones because they sure do not stay little for long!!!!

Jackie,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Mommy loves you so very much and is so happy you are her daughter! I could not imagine life without you in our family! Thanks for all the joy and smiles you bring to me and daddy! Always remember how much mommy loves you! Never forget you are mine and part of this family, you will always be mommys first little girl and will have a specail place in my heart! I could not wish for a better daughter!!
Love,
Mommy

what we've been up tp.....

This past weekend Jackie and I flew to Las Vegas to visit my mom before Jackie's birthday! We had to take advantage of her flying free one last time! I was kinda worried how she would do on the plane ride since my daughter does not i repeat DOES NOT like to hold still. She always wants to be on the go. But she was my little angel on the flight there perfect in every way.....the flight was not full so she got her own seat and she was just happy to watch out the window and talk to me non stop about everything and anything she could think of. She kept telling me how she did not want to take the airplane to grandmas house she wanted to go on the boats......lol silly girl boats can not go to Vegas....
Well we got to Vegas and Jackie could not have been happier to see Grandma, and her Uncles! She was in heaven! She loved every minute of it and enjoyed all the attention she got from people everywhere we went....Vegas toddlers/babies are not quite as common so EVERYONE stops to talk to them and comment on how cute they are lol....Jackie does great in the spotlight and enjoyed talking to whoever would talk to her!
We took Jackie out to celebrate her birthday and went to the cheesecake factory ( i know what toddler gets that??? HAHA well I had never been there they have spaghetti her favorite food) Apparently Cheesecake factory does not have a kids menu so she got an adult size serving! She was more then thrilled to have a HUGE bowl of food and started to shove it all in!! ;) Then I got some cheesecake to share with her! She loved it and loved the company of her Uncles Sim and Andy, Grandma, and Sims friend Frank.
Jackie got to sleep in grandmas bed since grandpa was gone and she just wanted to talk and talk to grandma and tell her everything that happened that day and well in her life lol! Grandma is always a good sport!
Sunday we went to church and just hung out with family! It was really nice to be together and spend time with my Vegas fam! we miss them! We missed Derek but i think he enjoyed having the house to himself!
Vegas was VERY hot while we were there it got up to 117, but we stayed nice and cool inside the house!
The flight back was a bit harder, we sat down and I let Jackie sit in a seat but then the flight filled up and so she had to come on my lap....she was NOT very happy with the girl that sat in her seat and kept telling her, "my seat please my seat i need it" lol. The girl was sweet and talked to Jackie and then she was happier...it was hard for me to have her on my lap, its already got one girl ;) but we made it she did great! I am glad she is such a good traveler, she talked the whole way there and enjoyed it! She was pretty excited to see daddy at then end!!

TODAY i went to my doctors appointment, and I gave him my VBAC consent form they have to have you fill out and lol he was SO excited haha i thought he was going to start jumping up and down. He kept telling me how great of a choice i was making and how much better it will be. We talked alot about how i want my labor to go and everything! I told him what i did not like about last time...he told me we can change it and make it the way i wanted it! I just hope this baby does not have isses like Jackie and i get to hold her right away and nurse her soon!!!
I feel so lucky to have the doc that I have! I hear so many people complain how they have no say about labor or their docs wont let them do certain things or they push c sections and discourage VBACS, i am glad my doc and all the docs that work there care about me and what i think!! :) SO yes i decided to try the VBAC wish me luck! :)

27, 28, and 29 weeks! oops got a little behind!

I can not take picts without getting one of my little girl! 29 weeks

28 weeks

28 weeks

27 weeks and also my birthday!

there ya go! I am getting bigger and bigger!!

did ya know

Jackie: "mama Abby plays hockey"
me: "who does Abby play with"
Jackie: "Jesus"
Me: "is she going to play when she comes out"
Jackie " ya Abby play hockey with me when she comes out my tummy"

Just in case you were wondering......

ramblings of Jackie as of late part 2

"mommy, I love baby Abby"

" I big sister, Abby little sister"

while watching the fire works she kept saying, "oh wow that's pretty cool"

2 statements we here daily from her, " i want to go goon (lagoon) go boats and airplanes and fast with daddy"

the other one she states daily is "I want to go Grandpas house and swing, jump, slide, bike, see cotnet (Cotton their dog) see nana and Lauren"

"daddy go work!"

I am glad for such a funny little talker....i wish i could remember more of her little lines i always plan on putting them up and then i forget, but she is a doll!

While waiting at the hockey rink for Derek to finish up playing,
Jackie "Mama Abby play hockey"
me, "Abby is going to play when she comes out?"
Jackie " Yeah i teach her i play hockey"

4th of July...and 5th :) (3 new posts!)

We did our fire works tonight (the 5th) Jackie loved them!

see her watching soo intently

outside our place CRAZY time to live in the 4th! Luckly our roped off lawn statyed clear!

Jackie loves to steal Dereks hat

Jackie eating a sucker from the parade

just some of Jackie

So derek was on the computer Jackie was watching TV.....guess she was a little sleepy because this is what Derek found lol

Jackie still is our little good eater! She loves to dip anything and everything in salsa!

she's gotta have her cereal in the morning, just like her daddy!

Jackie and her grandpa!

Here are a bunch of pictures of Jackie with her grandpa! She loves him so much and always talks about going to his house! These are from Fathers Day! She loves it when Grandpa takes her on bike rides!

He loves it too!

she just loves going anywhere with him!

Playing ring around the roise

Jumping on the tramp with grandpa

swinging

playng around

She really does love him! She tells us everyday seh wants to go to grandpa's house! We are just glad we live close by so she can see him a lot!

I am glad for such a wonderful father who is such a great grandpa!