The Hilsabeck's

Good bye 2011!

2012-01-14T11:19:00.000-08:00

2011 was an amazing year! Here's a recap:(WARNING: it's a long one!)

We celebrated our Ethan-man's first birthday January 31st. I still can't believe how fast he grew up and in just a couple weeks, we'll be celebrating his 2ND birthday! It was such a fun year with him! He learned to walk just before his birthday, he is such a jabber mouth and seriously repeats E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G you say. (we've had a few oops on that one) He is a little daddies boy, just ask him, he'll tell you! He loves anything that has to do with Disney characters, dogs, horses and pretty much any other animal. He loves to say "Why?" and "Ye-ha!" He is a very sweet and very polite little boy and will say "Thank you Mommy!" whenever ANYONE gives him something! He's learning his numbers and colors and is proving to be a very smart boy! He loves his sissy and she just thinks he is the funniest thing ever:) We just love this kid!

We were able to go to Utah to see my sister Seija take out her endowments and be sealed for all Time and Eternity to her husband Ty. It was truly one of the highlights of my year! I'm so proud of her for her decision to be sealed forever. It was one of the most beautiful weddings ever! Not to mention she was the most beautiful BRIDE ever!

My sister-in-law Molly gave birth to the first grand daughter on the Hilsabeck side. Miss Izzy Lynn was born April 4th! (Lynn after ME of coarse! OK, it's not, but I like to pretend anyways:) She is Ainsley's best friend and soon to be partner in crime I'm sure!

We purchased an RV -every time I say that I get funny looks and the comment "Those are for OLD people!" Well,I guess you could say we're just OLD at heart because we have absolutely LOVED having it!

We visited Zion's National park for the first time with Mikey and Molly (Yes I lived in Utah for 23 years and never went.) Miss Izzy was only 3 weeks old and I was about ready to POP, but we had so much fun and the boys finally got to do some "sishing" as Ethan calls it

My brother-in-law Daniel married his wife Sarah for all Time and Eternity in the Las Vegas Temple. It was so beautiful and of coarse they looked amazing and so happy! It was only May, but it was already so hot here! So we drove the RV to the Temple (yes you heard me right) we fired up the air conditioner, turned on a movie for the kids and voila! We had a place to stash the kids while we were in the Temple and a place for everyone to get out of the heat while taking pics! (See how handy an RV can be;)

The highlight of our year of coarse is when we welcomed our second baby, Ainsley Shay into the world on June 30. Her delivery was so easy and everything went so smoothly. And when they checked her heart condition that she supposedly had, it was no longer there! We were so relieved! She was perfect in every way and we couldn't have been happier to have her. She may have been a "surprise" to us, but we didn't know just how much we actually needed this little girl in our life! We absolutely adore her and Ethan couldn't be happier to have his "baby sissy" to play with!

We visited the Grand Canyon and Sadona AZ when Ainsley was just 6 days old. It was a last minute trip with all of Cris's family and I'm so glad I felt good enough to make it. We had so much fun and finally got to see what the Grand Canyon was all about.

We purchased Disneyland season passes with our BFF's Dave and Kristi Stratton and I'm telling you this will be a yearly purchase! We have visited the park almost every month. We just drive our RV down there for a few days and make a mini vacation out of it. It's been so fun! Ethan absolutely loves Micky and Mini mouse now and gets so excited every time we stroll up to the Disney gates. It truly is so Magical!

We turned down an awesome opportunity to live in Singapore for 3 years with Cris's job. Although I'm still SOOO sad about it,(I wanted to go really bad) Cris and I got the confirmation that we were to stay here for now and it was obviously the right decision, because a month after we said no, Cris got promoted to Chief pilot here in Vegas. I'm so proud of him! All of his hard work has finally paid off. He now goes into the office every day and is flying only day trips so he is finally home every night. (Except for the 2 1/2 week long trip he's currently on in Asia...ya,kinda a sore subject for me at the moment)

Cris was called to Ward Mission Leader. Cris has been so busy with work and yet he still has fulfilled his calling to the highest! I'm so proud to see him accomplish so much in just a short amount of time. He never served a mission, so to see him in this calling has been so amazing!

We went to Disneyland with all of Cris's family a couple weeks before Christmas. It was so fun to see the huge Christmas tree, the holiday parade and it actually snowed during the firework show! (OK so the snow was from a snow machine, but It was still magical none the less:)

Well Christmas came and went way to fast! At least Cris was home this time. He has flown every Christmas since we got married. So it was fun just having him home for once! The day after Christmas, the kids and I headed up to Utah to see my family. Cris had to work, so we loaded up the car and went. We had such a good time while we there! Ethan had so much fun being able to play with his cousins that he hardly gets to see. It was the first time since Seija's wedding that we were all at the same place at once. It was great!

Well that was our year in a nutshell. The year ahead of us is already looking to be fun and exciting!
There will be 2 more additions to the Hilsabeck family, my sister-in-law Leah is due any day with a little girl, my other sister-in-law Rachael finds out what she's having this week and one of our best friends Kristi Stratton is having a little girl in June! And that's the only babies we know of yet! (Hint hint Molly;)
My sister Sacha's adoption of Destiny was finalized last month and Destiny will be sealed to the family on Feb.25th. I'm so excited and so privileged to be able to go and witness this beautiful event! So we are definitely looking forward to that!

So GOODBYE 2011, and HELLO 2012!

Our first family pic!

Visiting the Grand Canyon
Daddy and his babies
Ainsley's blessing day!
Ethan loves his sissy! He's always giving her big kisses!
I just love these two!
Disneyland!!
Ainsley Shay on Christmas eve!
Ethan loves trains too!

Ainsley Shay

2011-08-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

So it's been brought to my attention that I've been a total slacker on blogging lately. (Thanks Hope:) So here is my feeble attempt to catch up on all the fun we've been having!
First, we welcomed miss AINSLEY SHAY in to the world on June 30.
She was 7lbs 7oz and 19 3/4in and PERFECT in every way!
The delivery went so smooth (especially compared to Ethan's)
The nurses were great and the Doctor actually made it this time! Truly all went well except for the fact that my epideral was so strong that when it came time to push, I couldn't feel a thing!So after pushing for 20 minuets, my doctor had to help me out by using the vaccuum AND the forceps:( Poor little girl came out with the biggest bruise on her head. I felt so bad! About 30 minutes later, the pediatric cardiologist came in to take another look at her heart. After about 5 minutes, he said eveything looked perfect! What a relief I felt! It truly is such a blessing to have a perfectly healthy baby. Oh gosh we just LOVE this little girl so much and Ethan loves being a big brother too;)

Ethan's 14 mo. pics

2011-03-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

I'm a little behind on things lately, so just like everything else, I took Ethan's 12 month photos late. So now they've become Ethan's 14 month photos.
ENJOY!

Ethan's 1st birthday!

2011-02-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

The beautiful birthday boy!!
The proud Mommy and Daddy!

Yesterday was my litte E man's 1st birthday! I can't believe how fast the time went. It seriously feels like just yesterday when Cris and I were in the hospital with him.
We LOVE this little guy so much and seriously can't imagine what our life was ever like without him.
So we got to celebrate his birthday over the weekend so Cris's whole family could be there. We had such a good time and Ethan loved all of his super cool gifts he got:) He is a very LOVED and a very SPOILED little boy:)
But how can you say no to this sweet little face?

Here's Ethan's cute cake. (No I din't make it, I'm a terrible mother, I know..)
E needed a little help here. He wasn't quite sure what to do:)
He was a little hesitant about touching the cake at first..
But then he got a taste of the chocolatey goodness and couldn't stop!
Cake and icing were everywhere! But he had fun and that's all that matters, right?
And the best part is, he never let go of his balloon! Thanks for all the birthday wishes and to all those who came. We were so blessed to have all our loved ones there as we celebrated the birth of this very special boy! We love you Ethan Lee!!

Surprise!!

2011-01-23T13:11:00.000-08:00

While Cris and I were in Florida in November we got quite a surprise...

That's right... Ethan is going to be a BIG brother! Cris and I are so excited to have another addition to the family:)
I am 17 weeks along and since the curiosity was killing me, Cris agreed to take me to do the
4D ultrasound last Monday. And the results are in!

We are having a GIRL!!
Cris and I were both SHOCKED! We thought for sure it was another boy. So it took a little while to get used to the idea of having a little princess around the house, but now we are sooo excited and can't wait!! I've already been shopping for dresses, tights, bows... you name it, she'll have it!!

So here are some pics of our ultrasound.
It was so fun to see this little girl, at only 16 weeks, be so active! Her and Ethan are already so much alike... she loves to curl up in a ball and cross her legs. She also had her hands up by her face the whole time. Just like Ethan did! I can't belive how much she already looks like her big brother too. Hopefully she's gets his sweet little personality too:)

My due date in July 3rd, hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here!

Early Christmas

2010-12-17T15:34:00.000-08:00

So Cris is away in China (yet again) and will be gone until after the New Year:(
Which is sad because it's Ethan's first Christmas and Daddy won't be here to see it. (sigh) I guess it's a good thing he's young enough that he hasn't the slightest clue of what's going on and could really care less.
Cris's family is the greatest! They did Christmas early this year since Cris is gone and E and I are headed up to Utah in just a few days. It was so fun and E man got SPOILED! It was such an awesome day. We went up to Logandale around 10 am and found the CUTEST little yard to take family pics in. The yard was full of beat up tractors and old gas pumps, it was perfect for what I had in mind! My beautiful, wonderful, talented sister-in-law Molly took the pics. They turned out so cute and I couldn't be happier with them!! You must check her out! Her photo blog is mollyhphotography.blogspot.com/

So after pics we went to my other amazingly talented sister-in-law's house. It was decorated so beautifully! It truly made it feel like Christmas eve! Santa even stopped by for a visit... that did not go over so well with the boys. All 3 of them were screaming and he literally scared the poop out of Ethan... I think we forever ruined his relationship with Santa, poor kid.
Then it was yummy food and after that, present time! I can not tell you how much Ethan got from "Santa" this year. He's been a very good boy:)

Our little Elf

posing next to the 700 ft. tree

Here is a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with the 3 little elves

Ethan did NOT like Santa...

Ethan opening his many 'Toy Story' toys

These boys were in Heaven!

Florida Fun

2010-11-17T22:11:00.001-08:00

We took a little family vacation to Florida last month. We had so much fun that it was really hard to leave. It was E's first time flying and he did so good! I don't know why I worry every time we travel, Ethan always does perfect. I am so lucky to have such a sweet and content little boy.
It was also Ethan's first time to the beach and he could not get enough! He loved the sand and the waves and chasing all the birds with Daddy:)

we took a family walk on the beach...

showed Ethan some pretty sea shells...

splashed with Daddy in the waves...

made footprints in the sand...

and visited an aligator farm...

E can't wait to go back;)

Fall 2010

2010-10-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this time of year. Here's just a few more reasons to love it even more

Kassie and Whitney

2010-10-19T17:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Cris and I had the pleasure of attending my friend Kassie's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. Since I LOVE her dearly we headed up to Utah just to turn around and come right back, but it was soo worth it! Kassie was the most BEAUTIFUL bride I've ever seen! Seriously, everything was PERFECT! From her dress, to her shoes, to the flowers, to the venue... it was amazing! Cris and I had never been to a sealing in the SLC temple before, so we were soo excited to be able to attend.

Me and the beautiful bride!

Wahoo!

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The luncheon was at the Joseph Smith memorial building. I love the Temple in the back ground! The Salt Lake Temple is so amazing inside and out!
I can't wait to go back in December and see all the lights!

Gone again

2010-09-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

We were so glad to have this guy back....

and now he's gone again.
We miss you Daddy! Please come home soon!

Tinfoil Table

2010-09-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

So while my hubby's been away, I've been trying to keep myself busy, so what's better than projects to pass the time away?!
A couple months back my sister-in-laws and I went to the swap meet and I found a little table and a dresser that I could not pass up! So when Leah came accross this amazing blog (seriously I don't understand these insanely crafty women. HOW DO THEY DO IT?) The woman had taken a cheap table, tinfoil and modge podge and created a nightstand that was to die for! It was cheap, easy and dummie proof so of coarse it was the project for me! And here's how it turned out!

The table before...

Leah and I during the process...

The table after she'd been covered in tinfoil...

And here she is all finished... It's more 'weathered' looking than I wanted, but it's pretty cute for my first time!

A single mother for the time being

2010-09-05T11:50:00.001-07:00

I have a new found appreciation for all the single parents out there. I really don't know how my mother, with 8 children of her own, did it all those years! I've only had the pleasure of experiencing it for 4 weeks... and let me tell ya I'M OVER IT!!
My husband Cris has been gone now for 4 weeks and I'm so ready to have him home. He really is so much help to me! Things around here truly just aren't the same without him. So E and I decided to go stay in Utah with my family for 3 weeks... I guess the word "stay" truly doesn't sum it up. I pretty much just MOVED IN! I took everything I possibly could fit into my SUV and somehow it just didn't seem like enough! My little sis Seij was gracious enough to fly down here and drive up to UT with me so I'd have some company and someone to keep me sane on the long drive. Thankfully Ethan is such an amazing little boy. He truly is the sweetest, calmest, most easy going baby ever so needless to say everything went off without a hitch! E was so good and the drive flew by! (THANKS SEIJ!)
So while I was up there I watched my sister Sid's two wonderful children while they were off track. We had a blast! We went swimming everyday, went to lunch, played games, watched movies and they didn't even complain the many times I hauled them off to the mall! The best time we had though was when we went to the Draper Aquarium. E loved it! Especially the little penguins. They were so cute! All in all we had a great time in Utah and I LOVED being able to see all my friends again! What a fun time we had getting caught up and seeing every one's cute babies! My family is amazing for helping me out so much while Cris is away. I love them so much and am so grateful they took me and my child in (and all our crap that came with us:)

Ethan and I with the penguins

E loves his aunt Sid!

Taylor and Canyon cutest kids ever!

6 months going on 12 months..

2010-08-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

My little Ethan is 6 months old! Where has the time gone? It truly seems like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital and started our new life as a family. Life with Ethan has been so amazing and has been the greatest blessing we could have ever asked for! I love being his mommy and had no idea I'd love anything as much as I love him. Every day that I look at him I thank Heavenly Father for blessing our lives so fully! He is growing up so fast and doing so much now.
Here are some of E's accomplishments this month:
He went swimming for the first time and LOVED it!
He sits up all by himself now!
He is now in size 5 diapers and size 12-18 months clothes (crazy I know!!)
He weighs 18.8 Lbs and is 27.5 in. long
He is sleeping through the night (It's been a long time coming!)
He LOVES food! Anything we give him the kid devours! Hence the reason I'm having to buy him 12-18 month clothes:D

Family Vacation 2010

2010-06-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I've been putting off posting about our familly vacation for a few weeks now. We did so many fun things and we had a ton of awesome pictures that it became overwhelming trying to post them all... so I've decided to pick just a few of my favorites and move on. So our big family vacation this year was a trip to Yellowstone. I was really not that excited to be going at first, but we had such a fun time! We stayed in Driggs ID in a beautiful cabin. It was a great location and from there was easy access to all the places we visited: Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Rexburg (where we went shopping and to Bear World, and the Grand Tetons. So in 10 days we conquered 6 states and Ethan was such a champ! He loves to travel and be outside so lucky for us he is such a good baby!

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72 hour kits

2010-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Our Stake here in Vegas has really been encouraging everyone to get their 72 hour kits together. So my wonderful sister in laws found this website. WWW.BEPREPARED.COM
There Cris and I ordered the Personal 72 hour kit with MRE's (Meals ready to eat)
They are a little pricey at $69.95 each, but I think it's well worth it for all you get! (You can opt to just buying everything separate and creating one yourself, but then you'd have to replace all the food according to expiration dates. The MRE's in this pack are good up to 5 years.) This one pretty much comes with the bare essentials, but there are others that you can buy that come with absolutely everything you'd need in an emergency. The pack they come in leaves you with plenty of room to add other necessities such as: an extra pair of undergarments, socks, sweats (if it's hot outside you can just cut them into shorts!) and a blanket. I also bought extra water pouches off the website to add to the pack for only $.31 ea.
As for Ethan, I started a Baby 72 hour kit of baby essentials and put some of the extra water pouches in it for formula. My sister in law emailed me a list of all the supplies needed for a baby kit- 3 years of age. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to forward the list to you.
It's not the easiest thing to get motivated about, but I know how amazing the blessings are when you're obedient!

Help from the mommy's please!!

2010-05-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty sure E has started teething and it is awfull! He is totally not himself! He's typically a very happy baby but has become really fussy throughout the day. He's drooling all over the place, tugging on his ears and chewing on everything he can get his hands on. But the frustrating part is I'd just finally gotten him to sleep through the night and now he's up every hour or 2! I feel SOO bad for him, I've tried just about everything. I have rubbed the soothing gel on his gums, gave him the teething tablets and have given him tylenol, but he's still unsettled. Does anyone have any ideas?? Is there something that you've tried that seems to work? Am I doing something wrong? And how long is this supposed to last? I hope not long for both our sake cuz this teething thing sucks!!

for your viewing pleasure!

2010-05-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

This little boy just melts my heart!! He pulls the funniest faces and I love his little pout! He definately knows how to use it:)

3 months

2010-04-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

My little Ethan Bear is 3 months old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He is growing up so fast and is already trying to be like Daddy:)
We love this little boy so much and are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Utah

2010-04-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

We just got home from a wonderful trip to Utah. It was so good (and long overdue) to see my family! We always have the best time together and some of them finally got to meet Ethan.
As for Ethan, he is doing great! He is going to be 3 months next week... where did my little baby go?! I knew this would happen, the last month of my pregnancy Cris and I would talk about how excited we were for him to get here and I kept telling Cris how I felt he was growing up too fast and he wasn't even born yet! Well now here we are 3 months later and I honestly don't know how we got to this point. But I've loved every second of it! At E's 2 month check up he was already 13 lbs and 24 in. long.. um can you say HILSABECK?! This kid is huge! My doctor keeps telling me what good milk I must have cuz he is definately NOT starving! lol thanks for the compliment?!
He does so many fun things now:
He rolled over for the first time last week
He has so much to say and is talking all the time
He now laughs at some of the goofy things mommy and daddy do
He can actually play with his toys now. He starts swatting them out of his face and hanging on to them with dear life.
He does this pouty face with his lips when he doesn't like something.. It is the cutest thing! He definately knows how to use those LIPS!
He likes watching TV.. I don't know if this is necessarily a good thing so I've tried only putting on shows with some educational value

So there is just too many cute pictures over the past month to post so I'll just post a few of my favorites. I just can't get enough of this beautiful little boy!!

7 Weeks old

2010-03-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ethan Lee is 7 weeks old today, so I decided to do a little photoshoot..

I JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS FACE!!

He is changing everyday and I just can't handle it! He is his mommy and daddy's pride and joy and of coarse we are a little biased, but he is just the most beautiful thing on this earth! He is such a happy baby and is so sweet. We are so blessed to be his parents and can't imagine life without him!

Ethan's Blessing Day!

2010-03-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

My little man was blessed this past weekend. It was such a special day! Cris did such an amazing job, I'm so proud of him! It was the best thing ever seeing him take Ethan in his arms and give him his own special blessing. It was so emotional and the spirit was so strong. Ethan looked so handsome in his little white outfit. We put Cris's little vest that he wore on his blessing day on him and it was so cute to see him in the same thing his Daddy wore:) Some of my family came into town and it was so good to see them! Cris and I are so blessed to have such loving and supportive families. Thanks to everyone who made our day so special. We love you!!

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Ethan's photo shoot

2010-03-03T20:58:00.001-08:00

So I'm a little late posting these pictures. They were taken by Ethan's amazing Aunt Molly when he was 2 weeks old. She is an INCREDIBLE photographer but bless her heart, she got more than she bargained for with Ethan! He defenately wasn't the easiest baby to shoot, but he was by far the CUTEST!! To see more of Molly's work, you can visit her here http://mollyhphotography.blogspot.com/
Thanks Auntie Molls, we LOVE you!

3 weeks old

2010-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today my little man is 3 weeks old. I know this sounds like nothing, but to me the time has flown by! I've honestly done nothing but sit around and enjoy everything this little boy does! I can't seem to get enough of him, even at 3 o'clock in the morning when exhaustion is setting in... I LOVE being his mommy! Parenthood truly is the greatest blessing ever:)

Ethan's Story

2010-02-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

Wow what a week! I can't believe that my little boy is already a week old! I can already tell that I'm not going to like this growing up thing....
It seems like I don't have much time for anything anymore, but I really don't mind in the slightest!
So last Saturday Cris and I went to the hospital, bag in hand, for the OCT test. We still weren't sure if we were going to stay to be induced or not.
So they did the test and by the end of it I was only dilated to a 2... not much progress... so Cris and I decided that I just wasn't ready yet and to go home and continue to wait it out. We were a little disappointed, especially since my mom had flown in to be there. So the next thing I know, I got up, went to the restroom, came back to the bed and as soon as I sat down, my water broke! I just started balling! It was like my prayers had been answered! I'd been praying about what to do and now I didn't have to decide, I was staying whether I liked it or not!
So once my water broke, the contractions started coming really fast. Before I knew it I jumped from a 2 to a 4 and boy was I ready for the epidural! The nurse called for the anaesthesiologist and for some unexplained reason HE WAS AT HOME! I could've killed someone when they told me that... the main reason I delivered at that hospital
was because they said they have one there 24/7. Apparently just not when I needed it. So they tell me that he lives only 5 minutes away, well an hour and a 1/2 later he shows up and I'm dilated to a 6-7. He claims that he just moved and got lost trying to find the best route to the hospital... That was mistake #1
So as soon as I got the epi it was a totally different experience! I don't know how women do it naturally nor do I ever want to know.
So a couple hours later my nurse checked me and told me I was at a 10 but she just wanted me to sit up and let gravity do it's part and let him come down on his own... Mistake #2
So another hour goes by and the nurse tells me we are going to do a "practice push"
Mistake #3
So at this point I know I have to be getting close so I ask her if she's called my doctor yet. She said no, she was going to let him sleep a little longer since this was my first baby I'd probably be pushing for a while... Mistake #4
So she has me push about 4 times, on the last push she yells for me to stop pushing and runs out into the hall... when she comes back in, she's followed by 3 nurses one of which is the charge nurse. I could tell by the look on her face that I must have been a good pusher becuase Ethan's head was just about out. She then tells me to put my legs down and roll onto my side and wait for the doctor to get there...mistake #5
Five minutes later 2 more nurses come in and before I know it they are all surrounding my bed and telling me to push...minus my doctor. I didn't really know what to think at this point, all I could do is what they told me and in 3 more pushes he was out! It was amazing to hear him cry for the first time! At that point nothing else mattered to me. I was just so happy he was finally here and that he was healthy.
So 10 minutes later, my doctor walks in and says ok looks like you guys are ready for me to scrub in. Then he looks over and see's Ethan lying in the warmer... He was furious! No one had even called to tell him I was that close to delivering, let alone tell him that the nurses delivered him on their own and on top of all that, they delivered the placenta as well. Mistakes #6 & 7.
Apparently this is a HUGE no, no but they did it anyway. So as they are getting things cleaned up, I asked one of the nurses if I had had an episiotomy. She looks at me and giggles a little bit when she says "Oh no, we aren't allowed to do those, only the doctor can." Are you freaking kidding me?! I was so pissed I just looked at her and said "What, did you just let me tear then?" She looked at me and said "Nope, you didn't even tear." Wow was I relieved! I can't imagine what would've happened if I would've needed one and my doctor wasn't there.. Sorry that was a little TMI
So Baby Ethan Lee Hilsabeck weighed 8lbs 1oz and they said he was 19 inches long, but when we went to the doctor he was really 20 and 1/2 inches long.. Mistake #8
So to make a long story even longer, the nurses taking care of him ended up turning the warmer up too high so when they took his temp he had a fever. Mistake #9 That little misshap cost us 5 different blood tests and 4 days in the hospital!!
Apparently the excuse for so many mistakes was that the labor and delivery ward was brand new and no one knew how to use anything and not to mention our nurse was brand new also... lucky us! Needless to say, everything worked out and our beautiful boy is healthy and we had no complications. Now we are just enjoying life with our little Ethan! I love being a new mommy, it truly is the best blessing in the world!

Ethan Lee Hilsabeck

2010-02-03T17:11:00.001-08:00

Our beautiful Son Ethan Lee Hilsabeck is finally here!!
He was born Sunday morning @ 1:22 am. He weighs 8lbs 1 oz and is 19 in long (Although i'm going to measure him myself because he seems so much longer than that!)
He is our pride and joy and we already can not remember what our life was like without him.
Here are a few pictures, but his story and more pics are to come. I just can't get enough of him!!
Hope you enjoy this sweet face as much as I do!!

Undecided

2010-01-28T18:48:00.000-08:00

Ok so I'm STILL pregnant and STILL only dilated to a 1... My doctor has now given me the option of being induced on Saturday. I've been telling myself for the past 9 months I was not going to be induced if I didn't have too... After all, my body knows what to do and when to do it, so why go against nature, right? Well at this point having a baby in less than 2 days sounds pretty dang good to me!!
Cris and I have weighed all the PROS & CONS so let me just share a few:

PROS:

1: Having him in a controlled environment (when we did the stress test on Monday he was NOT liking it... his heart rate dropped a couple times and freaked us out!)

2: Less wait time- we could have him here in 2 days instead of playing this waiting game and not having to rush to the hospital...although this is on the Cons side for Cris as well. He WANTS the adrenaline rush of fleeing to the hospital in the middle of the night. Crazy men.

3: My mom will be able to be here with me since she will have to catch a flight ahead of time. Otherwise she might not make it in time.

4: My doctor says Ethan is going to be a pretty big boy... if you've seen my hubby, you know why.:) He's also mentioned that his head is measuring 2 weeks BIGGER... um can you say OUCH?! So is it wrong of me to maybe want to get induced before he gets any bigger? That way if he's too big anyways I can have a C- section now instead of fighting the inevitable??

5: I could have my epi sooner hopefully before things get really intense

Pretty justifiable Pros don't you think??

CONS:

1: I've heard being induced is a beast and makes everything a million times more painful.

2: I could be in labor a lot longer, he could become distressed and they'd have to take him by emergency C-section (Please note PROS #4)

3: Face it, my body may just not be ready yet

So obviously my PROS out-weigh my CONS at this point, but I'm still undecided... What do you guys think??

Dear Ethan, where are you?!

2010-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

My doctor's apt. last week was a little disappointing, yet AGAIN! My body has done absolutely NOTHING! So I'm going into the hospital today for a Contraction Stress Test...I guess what happens is I go in for 2 hours and they give me a mild dose of petocin to get some contractions started while they monitor me and the baby. If the baby gets stressed they will keep me there and induce me... if he does fine they send me home and hope that the petocin gets things going. Has anyone ever had one of these? My doctor is hoping it gets things started or else I'll go WAY over my due date! I was not excited to hear that! So I'm packing up my bag and hoping this little guy makes an appearance this week!! Wish me luck:)

Blondes really do have more fun...

2010-01-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my mom and little sister Seija came out to visit me. It was so good to see them! I don't get a whole lot of visitors out here so when I do I LOVE it:) So I'm not sure if it's the pregnancy hormones or what, but I've been needing a change... Seija's in hair school and with her being down for the weekend I'd thought I'd take advantage of her and make her dye my hair. Everyone, including my husband, thought it was a really great idea to do it all dark since I've been blond for so long. It took a little bit of convincing on their end, but I ended up giving in...

And oh dear! Not sure it was the best idea being 9 months pregnant, hormones raging and 30 pounds overweight... because I don't like it! Seij did a GREAT job, but I feel like it's not me! I guess cuz I've been blond for so long I can't imagine me with anything different...Oh well it's too late now! I keep telling myself it's good for me right now since my life is going to get a whole lot busier soon, I won't have the time to up keep it. It's a lot less maintenance so I guess I'll keep it for now. But let's be honest, Blonde's really do have more fun!

So as far as the baby update...

I'm 39 weeks this week and this little boy could come at any time! So we're just playing the waiting game:) I go into my doctor again tomorrow so I'm crossing my fingers that at least something is going on... but we'll see! Time has gone by SO FAST! Where have the last 9 months gone?? It feels like just yesterday that Cris and I found out we were going to be parents and now we will be any day now! It's just so exciting and we can't wait!!

37 weeks... sigh

2010-01-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

So I'm 37 weeks along and now seeing the doctor once a week. Cris and I went in this morning with hopefull hearts that maybe something would be progressing... Is that bad that I still have 3 weeks to go and I'm hoping to be dialated to a 2 and somewhat effaced? All week I've been trying not to get my hopes up about it, but Cris kept telling me "You're dialated babe, I just know you are!" Ok so now he's the Doctor? How could he possibly even know that!? I wish he wouldn't have said anything because it really got my hopes up! So what happens when we go in today... NOTHING! And to make things worse my Doctor says "Ok so you only have 29 more days to go!" At that very moment I swear all my hormones raged and I wanted to punch him right in the face! I got a little heated when I asked "How could that possibly be when my due date is on the 29th? I know I'm not that good at math but wouldn't that mean I have 23 days left?" Why this bothered me so much I don't know.. It's only a matter of a few days! So he looked at my chart and said "No your due date is Feb. 4th.. is that not the date we discussed?" Me, heated again.. "That was the date in the beginning, but you told me at my last ultrasound that he was measuring bigger so you moved it up to the 29th!" I think he could see me about to burst into tears so he said "Ok we'll change the date to whatever you want!" I must say I felt a little stupid after all said and done, but I get so frustrated everytime I go in there and he acts like he's never seen me before in his life! He's a great Doctor, but I swear the man doesn't know one patient from the next! I feel like I have to remind him of everything that went on just the week before and now is not the time I want to be feeling like that! Did anyone else feel like this with their doctor?? He's a great doctor, just a little scatter brained at times. I know he's going to take good care of me and the baby come delivery, but honestly! I just want to be reassured about everything in this important time in my life. I don't think that's asking to much. Anyways thanks for letting me vent... I feel much better now:) Hopefully week 38 will bring some good news. As for now, I'm going walking 2 times a day and eating all the spicy food I can to get this little guy going:)

2009-12-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Cris and I had the BEST Christmas ever! The best part of it all was he was actually HOME this year! Christmas Eve we went to his parent's house and had a delicious family meal, took some family pictures round the Christmas tree and then it was time for presents! And boy oh boy did we get spoiled! Ok well more like Ethan got spoiled... and he's not even here yet! It was so fun!

The next morning Cris woke up at 7 SO excited to open presents!

I wasn't so stoked
due to the fact that I thought I had guessed what Cris had gotten me, but I was totally wrong! He suprised me with this:

It's a Canon Rebel XS and I love it! I kept saying how I needed a better camera before Ethan got here so I could take all the cute pics I wanted and now I can! I don't know much about it yet, but I can't wait to find out. Cris is the best husband ever and I'm so lucky to have him!!!
I hope everyone had an AMAZING Christmas. Here' to the New Year!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

2009-12-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday night my wonderful husband and brother in-law Mikey, planned a romantic date for Molly and I up at Mt. Charleston! It's only 30 minutes away from our house and it's the closest thing I can get to snow right now.. It was freezing and it was a blizzard outside but somehow that made it feel all the more like Christmas! I absolutely LOVED it! First, we went up to the old Lodge and sat by the fire as we ate our delicious meal and sipped hot chocolate. Then we went out to the deck and took some pics that didn't turn out so well do to the blizzard. (Did I also fail to mention that Cris LOVED the fact that it was a blizzard outside so he could FINALLY use our 4-wheel drive that he never gets to use since we live in the desert- hhm MEN!) After dinner, we went down to the big Lodge to sit by the fire and sip MORE hot chocolate. I felt like I was back in Utah at Park City! It was beautiful! We are hopefully going back up next week so Molly can take some maternity pics of me and Cris. I can't wait!!

8 months and 4D ultrasound

2009-12-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

So I am officially on the home stretch! I've entered my 8th month and now I can finally say I'm due next month when people ask me:)
I've seriously had the best pregnancy.. I'm going to be a little sad when it's all over, but on the other hand I'm so dang excited for little Ethan to get here!
Yesterday Cris and I went and had the 4D ultrasound done. Cris was a little skeptical of it at first, but me being the curious person I am, convinced him it would be fun to see what he looks like. So we went and it was AMAZING! I loved being able to see him stretch, blink, yawn and smile! It made it all so much more real to me. It's all felt like a dream so far. Seeing those chubby little cheeks and button nose just melted my heart! I already love this little guy sooo much and just can't get enough of him! We got a DVD of the whole session and I've watched it about 6 times! It's so crazy that we can see what our little guy looks like already! He definitely looks like Cris to me. Except for the lips and chin.. those are for sure mine! The first thing Cris said when we saw him was "Look at those Lips! They're huge!" And it's true.. he definitely has the cutest, most pouty lips ever! I just love them and can't wait to kiss them:) He also has a TON of hair! The tech said that his head is covered in it and it's LONG too!Now I can't wait for him to get here so we can really see what he looks like!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Best Birthday Ever!

2009-11-29T21:47:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my birthday and thanks to my wonderful husband, IT WAS THE BEST EVER! Well Cris knew that I was starting to stress out about not having a nursery yet so on Monday night we went to Lowes and we picked out a paint color for the nursery. I really didn't think anything of it and when I got home from work on Tuesday I was SO surpirsed! He greeted me at the door and said in his cutest little voice "Are you ready for your Happy Birthday Surprise?" He then told me that if I wanted it I had to close my eyes. So I closed my eyes and he led me upstairs. When we reached the nursery door he said "OK you can open your eyes." The door to the nursery was closed, so I asked "Where am I going?" He just smiled at me and said "Where do you think?!" He then opened the door and my jaw dropped at what I saw! He had not only started, but FINISHED the entire nursery! He even went out and bought my crib and dresser that I've been stalking for the past 5 months! It was absolutely PERFECT! My husband is a little O.C.D so everything was done so well! I couldn't believe he had done it all in less than 24 hours! He is seriously the best husband ever!! I just stood there in amazement for about an hour. It made it all so real... I can't believe our baby boy will be here in less than 2 months!
So I spent all the next day washing and putting everything away. It was so fun! Now all I have to do is figure out what his bedding will be (yes i'm still undecided) and then I'll be all ready for him!

Baby shower!

2009-11-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my wonderful sister-in-laws threw me an amazing shower with family and friends from our ward:) It was so much fun and Baby Ethan got SPOILED! I can't thank everyone enough for coming and celebrating with us! So a HUGE thank you to Rachael, Emma, Molly, my mother-in-law Cristina and to Leah who opened her heart and her home to everyone:) She spent the last 2 months renovating her house so she could have the shower there. She worked so hard to have it done in time,and even worked on it up untill the first guest showed up! She is amazing! So thank you ladies for making the day SO special for me! You are the best and I love you all soo much!

A LITTLE HELP...

2009-10-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Ok so I need some help deciding on Ethan's bedding... I think that I've looked at so many bedding sets now that I'm totally confused on what I want to do! The furniture is black and everything I like has brown in it. I want to do something neutral gendered so I can use it in the future and I love the bedding that has alot of different prints... I feel like once I decide on the bedding then I can finally start getting the nursery ready. So please, a little help would be much appreciated:)

This is the bedding set that I originally wanted.. I'm thinking now that it's a whole lot of brown and green and I kinda want something more colorful.

I'm seriously considering this one.. It's still brown and green but it has some blue in it.

I love the print in this one.. I wasn't really wanting to do a whole lot of blue, but it's still cute

I really like this one... not the colors I originally wanted though

See why I'm having such a hard time choosing? They're all so cute in their own way!

6 Months!

2009-10-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all! It's been a while since I posted anything. Nothing too exciting going on. Still just waiting on this little guy to finish cooking:)Only 107 more days to go! I see everyone's cute blogs and all the new babies and I get so excited for our little boy to get here!! I feel like such a slacker because I've done absolutely nothing to prepare. I've been trying to decide on bedding and what I want for the nursery, but this pregnant mind of mine is even more undecisive than before I got pregnant.. and that's pretty bad! I can't decide on anything! Well except for his name... that's about it! So I have no cute nursery pics to post so until then, here are a couple of my ever growing tummy and some of Cris's too:)

WE ARE HAVING....

2009-09-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

A BOY!! We are soo excited! We pretty much knew we were going to, but it was so fun to actually find out for sure. My sister-in-law told me to drink apple juice before I went in for the ultrasound so that he'd be moving around more and I'd get a better shot at seeing him. And boy was he moving around!! The nurse told me that she gets one problem child a day and that mine was defenately it! He would not stop moving long enough to take a good picture. He was all over the place! As soon as she'd try to get a picture of his profile, he'd turn his face away. When she tried taking a picture of his little footprint, he'd start kicking me! It was so funny! I love that he has such a little personality already, but boy am I in for it!
I'm sad we didn't get any good pictures of him, but we got to see him healthy and very active and that's what we wanted! He is very healthy and very big! My Dr. moved my due day up because he was measuring so big! So now I am due JAN 29, 09!
Yeah! Cris and I are so excited!

So Cris's brother Michael got married yesterday and his wife Molly took her endowments out last thursday. I hadn't really felt the baby move much, but when we were sitting in her endowment session he was kicking like crazy! It was the cutest thing! I think it was due to my Temple skirt being a little snug around my tummy and he was not liking that! It felt like he was tapping my tummy as if to say " Hey get this thing out of my space!" He did it like 3 times! It was so fun to feel, especially as we sat there in the Temple. I can not wait for this precious little boy to join our family!

Boy or Girl??

2009-09-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

So Cris and I go in tomorrow for our big ultrasound!! Can't wait to make sure the baby has all ten fingers and all ten toes and of coarse to see if it is in fact the little boy we've been thinking it is:) We really will be thrilled either way, all we want is a strong, healthy baby.
Can't wait!!! Hope all goes well!

Just decided..

2009-08-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Ok so I've decided that everyone has WAY more fun and exciting lives than I do... Cris and I seriously do NOTHING! Especially this summer... there have been absolutely no trips to Hawaii, Lake powell, Disneyland, Florida, camping, hiking, boating, swimming, no not even walking, etc.. and if you can't tell I'm a little bitter about it. So instead of wining and complaining (like I have done so in 100% of this post already) I'm going to take it apon myself to do somthing about it! Cris doesn't know it yet, but we are going to take a vacation! I have this ever-growing belly that to my surprise, keeps getting bigger by the minute. So therefore I need to plan something ASAP! I'm not sure where yet, but if anyone has any suggestions, please, please for my sanity leave them below:)

As for the ONE exciting and totally stoked-about thing that's happening to us, I am now 15 weeks along and having another Ultrasound next Wednesday! We are HOPEFULLY going to find out if it's a boy or a girl and can't wait! So please keep your fingers crossed for us that our little babe keeps his/her legs un-crossed!!
Yeah! I absolutely LOVE being pregnant and love how everyday it feels more and more real to me! It's such an exciting time in my life, I could'nt imagine life getting any better than this!! ( Except for maybe a last-minute vacation to add to the fun;)
So please help a sister out with some fun ideas!!

BUN IN THE OVEN

2009-07-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Cris and I have some great news! We are expecting our first baby Feb. 4, 2010!
I am 12 weeks along and feeling pretty good. I have my good and bad days, but who doesn't when they have so much going on inside of them! We are so incredibly happy and hope that all goes well from here on out! We've had 2 ultrasounds and got to hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday and boy was it strong! It was such a relief to hear it so strong cuz what can I say, I'm a worrier and think the worst in everything! So now it's just the waiting game... Cris and I can't wait to find out the sex of the baby. ( Even though he's CONVINCED it's a boy) He went out and bought this test called "Intella Gender"
(Please excuse the fact that I posted a picture of my urine.. sorry if you're easily grossed out!)Anyway,has anyone heard of it?? Or used it? It says that it's 78-80% accurate and it said BOY! So I guess we'll find out in 6 weeks if Cris is right or not:) As for me, I don't care what we have, just as long as he/she is healthy... I'm not gonna lie though, I've done a little shopping and I have way more girls clothes than boy! So I guess if it's boy, I'll just have to do some more shopping:)

To my Hubby on his 26th birthday!!

2009-06-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this post to my wonderful husband on his 26th birthday!! He is out of town (the story of my life) so of coarse we didn't get to celebrate yet:(
So here are 26 things that make my husband the greatest!
1. I love how he loves me! He makes sure he tells me every 5 seconds:)
2. I love the little nicknames he comes up with for me on a daily basis. Today: Honey Bunny Bear!
3. He is OCD and it's good cuz it makes me be a cleaner person!
4. I love how he watches all my shows with me and swears he doesn't like them, but gets into them more than I do!! (i.e. American Idol, So you think you can dance, Grey's Anatomy, Jon & Kate plus 8 just to name a few:)
5. I love love love how he puts me in the "sleeper" when I can't sleep and then I'm out for the whole night!
6. I love how important it is to him to save money for our future and already has our retirement all planned out:)
7. I love how he wants to serve a mission with me one day
8. I love how huge and cuddly he is! It makes me feel so small and so safe!
9. I love how he CAN'T wait to be a daddy and everytime he see's a baby he looks at me with those big eyes and says "PLEASE, BABY, PLEASE!!??"
10. I love how every time he puts on his Pilot uniform I get butterfly's in my tummy and can't take my eyes off of him! He looks soo HOT!
11. I love the way he laughs uncontrolably with his brothers... you can't help but laugh with him
12. I love how his left eye twitches every time he's lying or when he gets really excited about someting:)
13. I love how sensitive he is.
14. I love it when he crys.
15. I love how he has to clean and detail my car every Saturday.
16. I love that he always makes sure my car has gas and that I've NEVER had to fill it up. To be honest I don't even know what side my gas cap is on!!
17.I love that he goes canning with me and his family and enjoys every minute of it!
18. I love how amazing he is with kids.
19. I love how he is always waiting at the door for me when I come home from work.
20. I love it when he has dinner made for me when I get home. (Which let's be honest is 85% of the time.)
21. I love how he always gets me a clean towel when I'm in the shower, cuz yes I always forget!
22. "YOUR MY BEST FWEND!"
23. I love how our favorite thing to do together is to just rent a movie and cuddle. It's the best!
24. I love how he makes me feel about myself even when I'm having the worst day and I feel totally gross, he still thinks I'm the most beautiful thing he's ever seen:)
25. I love how he tells me how pretty I look every morning and yet he never even opens his eyes.
26. The greatest thing I love about him is that he never gave up on me! He saved me from more things than just the cold winters in Utah:)

I love you Cristopher Lee sooo much! I'm so blessed to have you in my life and can't believe that next month is our 1 year anniversary. It feels like yesterday when we were sealed together for Eternity and yet it feels like we have a lifetime of love already! I love you baby boy, Thank you for loving me so much! Thank you for giving me the most wonderful life and the most thoughtful and caring husband a girl could ask for. I can't wait for the future with you!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Michael's Graduation!

2009-05-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Cris's brother Michael graduated from the academy on Friday. He is now an officer with Metro P.D Corrections and we couldn't be more proud of him! He graduated 3rd in his class with only .8 seperating him from the top spot. It was a long, hard process but it totally paid off. My husband Cris is especially excited about this because now he can dress up in Mikey's uniform, pretend he's a police officer and frisk and handcuff everyone... (This is now a regular occurance at the Hilsabeck home) Congrats Mikey, you did it! We love you!

D.C AND N.Y.C

2009-04-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

Cris and I just took the best vacation ever! Cris and I, along with our friends Dave and Kristi, went to Washington D.C and New York City.
First we started out in D.C and it was amazing! It was so green and so beautiful! I was obsessed with all of the Cherry Blossom trees! The first day we got there we went to the "National mall" and toured all the amazing museums.( It took us a while to realize that it wasn't an actual mall... go figure!) We went to the Smithsonian and the Air and Space museum, which my husband especially loved! He got to see the original airplane that the Wright brothers took the first flight in.. he was in Heaven! We also visited all of the monuments in D.C. like the Lincoln Memorial, The Washington monument, the Vietnam memorial,The Vietnam wall, Arlington cemetery, the Pentagon and of coarse the White House, where we got to witness some crazy lady insisting that she speak with the President... That was a real treat! Overall I loved D.C. and can't wait to go back when I've got more time.. There's still so much we didn't get to see!
So we stayed there for 2 days and then headed to New York City! We stayed in New Jersey which was only 15 minutes away from down town NYC. It was great having our own car (we didn't have to ride the subway at all!) Parking wasn't bad and Dave did an amazing job battling the City traffic!
The first night we got to New York, we headed to BROADWAY where we saw WICKED! It was seriously th most amazing show ever and defenately recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to see it. We loved it so much that we decided to go to another show the following night. So we went and bought tickets to MARY POPPINS and boy was it "magical"! (Thank you young enthusiastic man that was hassling us in line to buy the tickets, it really was all you said it would be;)
I especially loved Central Park! Eventhough we didn't even get to see half of it! It's soo big! I also enjoyed taking the Ferry over to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We also went and visited Ground Zero. There was not much to see since they took the memorial down and they are now building a new memorial in it's place. But still so sad to see the huge pit and the hole in the New york skyline where the Trade Center used to be.
All in all we had the best time! I'm so glad that Dave and Kristi were there to share the fun(and the cold) with us! We love you guys!!

Baby Briggs is finally here!

2009-03-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Cris's sister Rachael and her husband Shane welcomed Baby Briggs Hickman into the world on St. Patrick's day at 5:10 am! He weighed 7lbs 10 oz. and was 19' long and he is adorable! He's got all 10 fingers and all 10 toes and has the cutest little chin! Mom and baby are doing really well, a little sleep deprived thanks to us! But other than that, everbody's healthy! Rachael and Shane are such proud and loving parents and we couldn't be happier for them!

NEW YORK CITY HERE WE COME!!

2009-03-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

So Cris and I are going to New York city in just 3 weeks with our Bff's Dave and Kristy!! Dave just got excepted to the Metro police department and this is our celebration! I'm so excited! I've never been back East before and can't wait! We have a few things planned but if any of you have any ideas for us on where to eat, places to visit, shows to see, let me know! We will be there for a week and we want to do absolutely everything we can! We've already booked our hotel and flight so now I just have to get the time off of work... Whooopsie! I probably should've done that first! Oh well, Sorry Dr. G but New York City here we come!!

Braces for all Ages!

2009-03-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

So I've been saying forever that I wanted to get braces again because I was stupid and stopped wearing my retainers. (well actually my dog kept eating them and I didn't want to shell out any more money to get another one!) Well I should've just paid the money cuz here I am 9 years later and back in braces. Oh yes! As if the first 4 years weren't enough, I'm back in 'em and feeling about 10 years younger!
I work for an Orthodontist and hey, they were free! So why not! So thank you Dr. Griffiths for hooking me up with my new Grill and for not letting me back out at the last minute!

Happy Valentines Day!!

2009-02-14T22:13:00.000-08:00

So for Valentine's day me, my hubby, his mom and sister all went to the cannery here and canned our food storage! It kinda sounds like a lame thing to do on V-day but it was surprisingly fun! We canned SO much food in just an hour! It feels really good to finally have a good food storage going. Hopefully we'll never need to use it, but at least we'll be prepared! So if you have not done it yet, I suggest you do it! It was alot of fun and you're doing something productive. But here is a little hint when going to purchase... just buy in BULK not by can! Not only is it so much cheaper it's easier for the nice little man that's checking you out at the register:) On that note, I'd like to say sorry to that nice man.. I was not completely understanding the whole bulk vs. cans thing and got a little onry.. So I'm sorry nice man working at the cannery that was just trying to help! We thank you for your service!

(Notice there are no pics from the cannery cuz we were all decked out in gloves, aprons and hairnets... and you know I ain't postin that shiz!!)

Via Las Vegas in 2009

2009-01-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

I think it's so funny that so many people come to Las Vegas for New Years to hang out on the strip. Ya it may sound fun if you don't live here, but battling the traffic and being shoved around by intoxicated idiots did NOT sound like fun to us. So this year we had a little party of our own!
We had all the Hilsabeck clan come over and our BFF's from St. George. We had so much fun! We ate dinner, played games and when the ball dropped Kristi and I ran outside and made as much noise as possible! (Apparently this is a Utah thing and no one else would join us! Not to mention my neighbors didn't seem to happy about it either:) But we enjoyed ourselves anyway!The next day we went bowling and had more fun ringing in the new year! Thanks everyone for making it GREAT IN O8' and here's to 09'! Can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead!!

Merry Christmas from the Hilsabeck's!

2008-12-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Here we all are on Christmas eve hanging out with the whole family. We had so much fun! We ate a huge dinner, played games and opened presents! There's alot of us so we drew names and did white elephant gifts... well all of us except for Leah. She is quite possibly the nicest, most sincere person I've ever met! So of coarse she couldn't bring something totally rediculous and useless like white elephant gifts are supposed to be, she had to bring the cutest most usefull stuff and I got to benefit from it! So thank you Leah for being so sweet and wonderful! I love you!(and I love my sign;)
So as we are right in the middle of our fun little Christmas eve, of coarse Cris's phone rings.. and who other than the dredded dispatcher saying that he has a flight at 6 am the next morning... yep on Christmas! So we leave early so Cris can do his flight plans and get some sleep. Luckily he was home by 3pm and we got to spend Christmas night together. We ended up opening our presents at 7 that night. So Christmas wasn't a total bust. Luckily I have Cris's family near by that I was able to spend Christmas morning with. Hope you all had a wonderfull Christmas and got to spend it with the people you love!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

2008-12-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Finally! It's finally starting to feel like Christmas to me! All growing up we knew it was Christmas time when it snowed outside. Since I've lived in Vegas, It's been hard getting into the Christmas spirit. Not any longer! We got 3 inches of snow at our house yesterday and I'm loving every minute of it!! I feel like I'm a kid again back in Utah seeing the first snow of the year.
So this weekend was so much fun! Not only did we get snow, but our best friends Dave and Kristi came down from St. George to play for Kristi's birthday! We had so much fun! We first went to Bj's pizza for dinner and then went to Opportunity Village to see the lights. It's a fun place to go and you're also helping a good cause!! Thanks for spending your birthday with us Kristi! We love you guys and can't wait for you guys to move here!!

EXCUSE ME?!

2008-12-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

So Cris and I had quite the night tonight! We went to Meadows mall (or what we like to call "Ghettos mall" you'll soon know why..) to do some Christmas shopping. As we are walking out to our car this SUV with 3 thugs pull up. .As we walk by, one of the guys starts cat calling me and saying "Hey mommy!"(But ya know how they say it all ghetto..) UM HELLO?! I was with my husband who, if you haven't met him, is 6'4 and 225 lbs! WHO DOES THAT!?
So this infuriates Cris (and if you know him, it's a pretty scary sight! ha) So he starts chewing this guy out and the guy starts calling him on! Cris is 3 times this guys size! So I start pulling Cris away but I thought for sure these guys were gonna jump us or worse, pull out a gun!
So now Cris is convinced that nowhere is safe and that he needs to carry his gun with him everywhere... better yet, he's set on me getting my CCW so I can carry a gun everywhere!
Wow, Merry Christmas to me!

2008-12-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

Mr. & Mrs. Hilsabeck

2008-12-09T17:48:00.000-08:00

Cris and I have been married now for almost 5 months! My oh my how time flys!!
We were married in the Las Vegas NV Temple on Juy 19th, and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! The weather was beautiful and it was only 97 degrees out! (That's good for Vegas in July!) Cris and I both took out our endowments together the day before.. it was soo amazing! We absolutely love the Temple and I'm so amazed at all the woderfull blessings we are promised if only we do our part! I'm so thankfull that Cris and I will be together FOREVER! And I know we're only newlyweds but forever just doesn't seem long enough to me!
Cris and I went to Kauai on our honeymoon... what a beautiful place it is! We honestly did nothing but lay out on the beach and swim in the ocean. It was so fun and so relaxing.. I hated the day we left!

New beginnings!

2008-12-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

So I'm new to this whole blog thing... I've always thought that you had to have kids to have something to blog about! Well Cris and I don't have any kids yet, but there's never a dull moment here in Vegas !
Cris and I got married July 19th, 2008 and have loved every minute of it!
We have a house in Las Vegas where Cris flys for the Venetian Hotel and I work at an Orthodontist office. Our schedules get a little crazy at times but we make it work!