Navin, Elizabeth & Addilyn Page

Addi's first Halloween

2011-11-09T17:04:00.000-08:00

This first one was taken at her school.

I love our little watermelon!

She had her costume on for approximately five minutes and then she was ready for bed.

Time for a quick update...

2011-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

...an iPhone picture update:

Yes, they are all of Addilyn. I'm kind of crazy about this sweet baby girl! Tomorrow, she will be officially 6 months old! I cannot believe how quickly time goes! Happy 1/2 birthday baby girl!

2011-06-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

This was my last week before I go back to work. Since when I start work, Navin and I won't have any days off together, we decided to go on some adventures and visit some places we hadn't been before. Tuesday, we went to lunch at Paradise Bakery and then to the Arizona Sea Life Aquarium at Arizona Mills Mall. It was so much fun! I just love doing things with Navin and Ms Addilyn. On Wednesday, we went out to lunch at a Hawaiian place near our house and then visited the Heard Museum in Pheonix. It was so interesting seeing all of the Native art and learning about their history. There were a few tribes I did not know about.

I'm so sad that we won't be able to spend as much time together but I sure do cherish the little time we are able to have! I love Navin and Addi-girl so much!!

Here are some pictures to document the wonderful days:

Sea Life Aquarium

Our little family.

Waiting to enter the aquarium

Enjoying the colorful fish

Taking a moment to take a picture because mommy cannot stop taking pictures

This room was circular and the fish in here just swim in a circle all day long

Addi and I in the circular room

Looking at all of the pretty star fish and sea anemones

Here we are in front of the shark tank. They had just fed them.

Navin and I in front of the shark tank. Addi got a little tired of taking pictures.

Glowing Addi

Wishing she was a pirate (I think daddy was wishing he was a pirate too)

Another pirate hat. Maybe she didn't like either of them from the look on her face.

The Heard Museum

Addi in her sling. She loves to suck on the front of it. Yuck.

In front of a painting

Judging from this picture and the last picture, there was something very interesting above her. Maybe a ceiling fan. She loves staring at those things.

She got a little tired and decided to take a nap

Had to stop and take a family picture

Addi woke up a very happy baby and just in time to enjoy the rest of the museum

We decided to chill in this canoe for a bit

Navin and Addi in front of a display

Navin and Addi in front of a GIANT Navajo rug. I can't imagine how long that took to weave.

Addi and I in front of another rug

In front of the museum outside where it was bloody hot!!

It was way to bright for all of us. We took this picture really quickly before taking cover in our even hotter yet shadier car.

What a great two days!

Then and now

2011-06-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how quickly our little Addi is growing. She is obviously a good eater. We just cannot get enough of her chunkiness. I have to squeeze her every time I pick her up because she is just so sweet and snugly. Don't get me wrong, I would love to sleep more. However, because of her big appetite, she likes to eat many times during the night as well as during the day. Luckily, she is nice to me and drifts right back to sleep after she eats.

5 days old

4 weeks old

A look into Addi's room

2011-05-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

Addi has been sleeping in her room since she was 2 weeks old. It is nice because we have our bedroom back but she still wakes up quite often during the night. This girl can eat! She is always hungry, hence the chubby roles that have taken over her not so tiny body. Even with my lack of sleep, I still love her!

Anyway, I thought I would post some photos of her room. Navin and I put a lot of thought into it. It may not coordinate or have a theme, but there are a lot of sentimental details in it.

This is what you see when you first enter. We have a play area on the floor (mainly because those pillows are too big for her crib but so cute!)

Of course, I had to frame one of my favorite pictures of my mom on her wedding day.

The rocking chair was my mom's. Behind it is a book shelf already full of books because we LOVE to read to her. She also has her very own IPOD player (used to be mine) because she cannot sleep without music. It cannot be lullabies either; she like the hard core stuff.

This is her crib and the paintings I did above it. They look pretty good if you don't look too closely! :)

More shelves for her cloth diapers and pictures.

Rice loves to sleep in here.

Changing table with the memory board that Navin made for her! I love the way it turned out! He did such a great job!

Of course, we also had to have a paper moon in there (see story about her name)

And that is it. Nothing fancy but we love it and hopefully, she does too.

The Birth Story

2011-05-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

I know this is long overdue, but I figured it may not be that interesting anyway. It is kind of long and written to Addilyn because I am making a book that has pictures, letters and stories in it for her. So here it is:

Throughout this pregnancy, I was anxious about just how my precious little baby would enter this world. I thought about all of the things that I may go through to get you out. How would I know when you were ready? How painful would it be? How long would labor last? And so on. Well, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the answers would be to these questions. However, when the time came, it was not quite what I expected.

Your official due date was May 1^st but thankfully you decided to make your debut a week early. Here is your story:

Thursday, April 21 began as a normal day with no work and some cleaning to be done. Your Dad and I had been going on walks the past few night and we had another one planned for this particular evening. The day before, at work I had been telling everyone that I hoped you came that coming weekend, but I had a feeling it just wasn’t going to happen. You see, your Papa (my dad) and your aunt (my sister) had been out of town for about a month and would be arriving home that coming Friday, the 22. I’m glad you had waited thus far so that they would not miss the birth, but I wanted to meet you as soon as possible.

Anyway, back to the story. Soon after your dad arrived home, we leashed up the dogs and headed off to Tempe Town Lake. This is where the fun began! I started feeling very light but obvious contractions. It was exciting yet scary at the same time. I thought that this was it and you would be coming within the next few ours. Little did I know, you had a different plan.

I experienced contractions all night long that night but they were not that strong and very tolerable. Once daylight hit, I was debating whether or not to go into work. I ended up calling in but told your dad he should just go to work because I began to think it may be false labor. However, the contractions got slightly stronger throughout the morning so your dad decided to come home. Since I was planning on delivering you without drugs, we wanted to be together at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital.

We spent most of that Friday walking around the neighborhood and enjoying each other’s company. It was a long day and by six o-clock, you were still high up in my belly. The contractions, though, had become quite strong. We decided that we would eat a light meal and then head over to the hospital with hopes that I was dilated enough for them to keep me there. We arrived at the hospital around seven and I was only at 3cm. That was disappointing. They had me walk around for an hour to see if anything would change before sending me home.

After walking up and down the halls and around the courtyard, I was dilated to 4cm. I mistakenly thought that they would definitely keep then but since I wanted to deliver without drugs, the on-call doctor suggested that I go home and come back when I could no longer stand the pain. The nurse told us that we would probably be coming back within an hour or at least in the early morning, which gave me some hope that it wouldn’t be too much longer now.

Your dad and I headed home, slightly disappointed but optimistic. I had strong contractions all night that became more and more painful. I was prepared to stay home as long as possible before going to the hospital this time. We awoke Saturday morning and walked around the neighborhood a few more times. I also bounced on a yoga ball when I was not walking around. Lying in bed or on the couch was just too uncomfortable. I got sick of walking around the neighborhood and was afraid to stray too far from the house, so we started doing laps around the backyard with the dogs following close behind.

Finally, around noon, we decided it was time to go to the hospital. What a relief it was to find out that I was dilated to 6 ½ cm! They admitted me into a room and the doctor immediately came in to break my water. Surprisingly, that did not hurt. The contractions that followed, however, became extremely painful. With your dad coaching me, and later, your aunt, I was still able to breath through them.

Around 5:30pm or so, dilated at 8 ½ cm, I was extremely uncomfortable and had this tremendous urge to push and could no longer relax the lower half of my body during contractions. The doctor suggested that I get an epidural and I gladly obliged. You see, if you push too early, you could swell and end up having a c-section. I did not want that to happen! So I got the epidural (which was way easier than I thought because of the amazing anesthesiologist and nurse at my side). It was so nice to be able to sit up and talk. I asked for a mild dose because I still wanted to be able to feel myself pushing. I could still feel the contractions, but they were nowhere near as strong as they had been before.

An hour after receiving the epidural, the doctor came in and said that you were ready to come out and that I needed to start pushing right then. The moment had finally arrived and I could feel the adrenalin and fear rush throughout my body. It was exciting yet frightening at the same time. I knew that you would be in my arms soon!

I pushed for about forty-five minutes and then you finally made your appearance! Tears immediately streamed down my face. It was the most amazing feeling to see you. I looked over at your dad and tears were had been flowing from his eyes as well. It was such a happy, wonderful moment. The doctor put you on my chest and I could not stop thinking about how amazing you were and how in love I was. Forty-nine hours of labor, on Saturday, April 23, you had finally graced us with you presence. You were 7lbs 10oz and absolutely gorgeous!

The arrival of Addilyn Page Wood

2011-05-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

She is here! Born April 23, 2011

7lbs 10 oz, 20 inches long

We are so excited this little girl is finally here. It has been a week now and we are still adjusting to the new addition in our home. She has been such a good baby. We can not get over how sweet and tiny she is. Navin has been the most AMAZING dad to her!! He has helped me out SO much and been so supportive! The love I have for him has grown even more with the arrival of our baby. I could not have asked for a better husband and a sweeter baby.

Here are some pictures: (sorry, overload. I can't help it, I'm a new mom!)

Birth story to come

The story behind a name

2011-02-18T02:28:00.000-08:00

Navin and I always knew we wanted our kid's names to be special. It took a lot of brainstorming to come up with a name for our little girl that had a personal story to go along with it. What we came up with may not seem very special to others but we absolutely love it because it means a lot to us. Her name is going to be

ADDILYN PAGE WOOD

If we were going to have a girl, I knew I wanted to include my Mom's name, Lyn, somewhere in there.

My Mom has always been an inspiration to me. She was an amazing, caring person. She loved everyone and was the least judgmental person I know. As I raise my daughter, my Mom's influence will always play a role. I am one lucky girl to have been raised by such an intelligent and kind person. She was always there for me to talk to when I needed it and I knew I never had to hide anything from her. That is exactly the type of relationship I want to have with our children.

I miss her more than words can explain but I will always enjoy telling our little girl about how wonderful she was.

The first part of our baby girl's name comes for a movie that was one of my Mom's favorites and quickly became one of mine and later became one of Navin's. It's a 1973 film called Paper Moon.

It is based during the Great Depression. It's about a con artist who ends up traveling with a girl who may be his daughter. It's a great movie and Navin and I have watched it many times now. The young girl in the movie goes by Addie and has quite the personality. We fell in love with that name and, especially Navin, really wanted to include that as part of our daughter's name.

So, that's how we came to the conclusion that our daughter's name would be Addilyn.

Her middle name is special as well. Page, AZ is where Navin spent the first part of his life.

He grew up in a small house in the middle of nowhere on the Navajo Reservation. He and his family lived without electricity or running water. He loves telling stories about growing up there and looks forward to taking his daughter up there to show her where he and his family are from. I enjoy listening to him because you can tell that he has a greater appreciation for what he has now and he and his family worked hard and also appreciated what they had then.

Well, that is the story behind her name. We love it and we sure hope our little girl loves it too. We are so excited to meet her and finally get to hold her. She can't come soon enough, but I guess we will have to wait about ten more weeks.

Life is wonderful

2010-12-26T13:03:00.000-08:00

It seems like we have been so busy lately. The pregnancy is going so well. I am now 22 weeks and feeling huge but that is to be expected. She moves around so much! We are just so excited for our little girl to be here! We are having so much fun preparing the nursery together. We love talking about our future and how we want to raise our children. Navin is going to be such a great dad because he is already an amazing husband!

These are pictures from the events of December:

Allie graduated from ASU! Yay! I decided that December graduations are so much better because they are quite a bit shorter. I graduated in May and I think it was over three hours long.

Within a week, my belly grew A LOT! This picture was taken at 21 weeks

We made ginger bread houses. Obviously, Navin and I need to practice. Our house fell apart pretty quickly so we improvised by making angry snowmen that attacked our poor little house.

Of course, Allie and Nick's turned out very nice.

Beans decided he wanted to pretend to be a reindeer for Christmas Eve.

Carlos also wanted to give the antlers a try.

We enjoyed Christmas dinner with my family. (Notice how much bigger my belly is from the last picture. This is at almost 22 weeks)

Allie likes to feel our baby girl kick.

Navin, Nick and Bender.

It is a tradition that we have Christmas crackers and wear the crowns during dinner.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We are excited for what the upcoming year brings and celebrating the holidays with our baby girl next year and the years to come.

Updates

2010-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we have been quite busy for the last few weeks. The pregnancy is going well and we are getting more and more excited to meet this little guy or gal. Here are just a few random pictures from the last month or so.

Carlos or Lil' Los, as we like to call him, made it through his battle with the parvovirus and is getting bigger. He is actually really funny looking now and we have no idea what he will end up looking like.

Navin and I have been cooking together a lot lately and this was our first attempt with sushi. It turned out quite yummy.

We made another memory board. A friend asked us to make one for their new house so this is the end product. It is huge and very heavy! Navin and I enjoy making those together.

I am now 18 weeks along but this is me at 16 weeks. I have grown quite a bit since then. I will post another one when I remember. Next tuesday, Dec. 7th we have another ultra sound to find out what we are having! YAY!!!

My dad, sister and I took a trip up to Zion at the beginning of November and enjoyed the fresh air and beautiful surroundings.

We also took a trip to California to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Unfortunately, Navin was unable to make it but it was still very nice.

That's all I have for now.

New additions...

2010-10-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while since I have updated. Navin and I have started new jobs over the summer and I began yet another semester of school in August. Navin is back to being a Corrections Officer and I am an assistant to a PA at an orthopedic surgeons office. I love my new job and learn so much! I cannot wait until I am able to attend PA school. It will be tough but I have a lot of support from Navin.

In other news... we are now a family of five!

Yes, that is right. We have acquired yet another dog. We now have Beans, Rice and Carlos.

I have to include some pictures of Carlos when we first got him because he is too cute to resist: here we go!

He still dives into the bowl to eat his food.
This is why he is so chunky.

He fell asleep while chewing on my slipper.

He fell asleep inside the doggy door. When we
first got him, he would run around for five minutes
and then pass out wherever he was.

He was only about 4 weeks in these pictures. He is now about 14 weeks and getting over the parvovirus. He is back to being a terror and pretty much the worst puppy we have ever had. Hopefully, his behavior will improve soon!

Speaking of additions... we became a family of five in August, but in May we will become a family of SIX!! I know what you are thinking: NOT ANOTHER DOG??!!

No, we are not getting another dog. We are expecting our first BABY!!! We are so incredibly excited! We have been together a total of almost six years and now we are adding another human to the mix. We figured we should probably even out the dog to human ratio in our house. Three dogs and three people all living under one roof. Soon we will be like the Duggars, only with 19 dogs and counting.

Anyway, my due date is May first and I am almost thirteen weeks along. Last week we were able to hear the heart beat for the first time! The best thing about this is that I have not been really sick just extremely tired. I still have lost weight ( I weigh less than I did before I became pregnant), but I have a feeling that will be changing soon.

Here is baby's first picture at 7 1/2 weeks:

Backyard adventures

2010-07-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

I love having a backyard. When Navin and I first moved into our house, we had no furniture out back except for a giant dog bed. After work, we would both go out there (when AZ weather permitted) and sit on the dog bed and chat. That was always my favorite part of the day. We would watch our dogs chase each other and admire all the pretty birds that would come eat at our feeders.
We got rid of that dog bed because our dogs were reluctant to even go near it. Now we have some patio furniture and we still enjoy sitting out there and even having an occasional meal while relaxing on our porch.

When we moved, we planted an Ash Tree seed and since (a little over a year) it has grown to be about 5 feet tall. Hopefully we can transfer it soon to a spot in the yard. For now, this little orange tree is our only source of shade. We love this little tree. It produces so many delicious oranges. It is also a good spot to hang one of our many bird feeders.

We also have a box outside that holds the dog toys. They quite enjoy digging through there, looking for their favorite toys. Our favorite is watching Rice pushing each toy with her nose. We don’t know why she does this. She likes to push a lot of things with her nose; she likes to watch what happens, whether the object will fall or roll. She is our entertainment.

Graduation

2010-05-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

ASU GRADUATION 2010
Graduation was such a fun day!! Some of my family including my Grandpa and Summer and her little boys were able to come to AZ for my graduation! Navin's parents and two of his brothers were also able to make it to my graduation. And of course my amazing sister and Dad came. I absolutely love my family, in-laws included!

The actual ceremony was pretty long but it was worth it to have my five seconds of fame while walking up to receive my empty diploma holder (they mail your diploma 8 weeks after graduation). Until I arrived at the ceremony, I did not realize that the seating was not in alphabetical order. I was able to sit by my good friend Abby during the ceremony! We ended up having most of our classes together for the last two years and it was a blast! We had some good times!

After the ceremony, most of us went out to eat to Costa Vida! Yum!

Later that night, my Dad had made dinner reservations at this really nice restaurant in Tempe called House of Tricks! The food was so yummy and I had such a great time spending that evening with my family. I have such a supportive family! I am really lucky! Navin has been really patient with me as my stress levels and emotions went up and down throughout each semester.

School starts back up for me June 1st though and I figure I should keep going while I have the motivation. Eventually I plan on applying to PA school but I still have some prerequisites to complete since I decided a little late that this is what I want to do.

Here are some pictures from the wonderful day, in no particular order. Sorry for the overload but it was such a fun day I could not help myself.

What a wonderful gift

2010-01-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO

So my dad gave us such a wonderful Christmas gift his year... he took Navin, my sister, and I to San Francisco! My dad was the only one who had been before and Navin in I have been dying to go for a very long time now. It was such a wonderful trip. The hotel we stayed in was amazing and right in the middle of all the action. The first night we were there we went to the most delicious Italian restaurant. While there, we had so many good meals. Navin and I are already planning on going back! We absolutely love that city.

Here are some pictures of our trip...

In front of our Hotel--Park 55

The entrance to China Town

Waiting in line for the cable car/trolly.

Riding on the cable car.

On our way to Acatraz Prison

Prisoners hanging out in the recreation yard

(this reminded me of the Shawshank Redemption)

Some prisoners in one of the jail cells.

The ROCK/ Alacatraz

This picture was taken at Golden Gate Park. Gorgeous park!

We got to see WICKED at the Orpheum theater! It was amazing!! We all enjoyed it immensely!

Golden Gate Bridge

THE END

2009-10-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Facials!

So Navin and I had some free time this last weekend and I convinced him to do a facial with me!

I didn't not think he would do it but I told him

how relaxing it would be! I even used fresh cucumbers for our eyes! At first the cucumbers were a little too cold and started to burn our eyes. After a while we got used to it and turned on some music and relaxed. Navin was such a good sport! I'm surprised he let me take a picture. Little did he know I was going to blog about it!! he he he shhhh!

Our faces felt so refreshed afterward!

I forgot...

2009-10-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention, in my update post, that we went camping before school started this summer. We planned it so that when my cousin, Candice, got into town we could take her camping. We went up to a place just past Payson. We arrived at a camp sight that was pretty full but after some driving around, we found a place that looked like a good place to camp. After we had unpacked everything, we began to set up our tents. Navin and I get ours almost done when some ranger pulls up in a golf cart obviously angry. He then precedes to tell us that we cannot camp in this particular spot because it is not a designated camping area. It was so dark by the time we got there, we failed to see any signs. However, there was no reason for this dude to be so rude about it!! Navin was talking back to him and we were all not very happy about the

situation. He had us pack everything up while he watched us! It was lame! Anyway, long story short, we found a better place up the road where there was no one in sight!

The next morning we had planned to go to Gisela but when we got there it was closed due to water contamination. Yet another set back! We then decided to go to the river. There is an area we like to go to that you can only access if you have a Native with you. We usually go to this spot where there are rocks you can jump off into the water. The water was the perfect temperature and it was not crowded!

Overall it was a good camping trip!

Allie and Candice in their tent.

Navin and I at the river (please excuse the no make-up face!)

Allie, me, Navin, Marcus, and Candice

2009-10-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

COOKING ADVENTURES:

Since we have a new kitchen with properly working appliances, I have been cooking a lot more than before. I love our kitchen and I have discovered that I actually enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. What I hate most is the cleanup afterward. Luckily, now we have a dish

washer and if I cook, Navin is in charge of the clean-up! I like our arrangement! So here are a few of the meals I have prepared lately:

For dessert: Rolls and cinnamon butter

Healthy Fiesta wraps with homemade tomato vinaigrette dressing

Costa Vida-like salads with homemade cilantro ranch dressing

Cajun Jambalaya pasta (one of my favorites!)

Salmon with a basil pesto sauce and rice pilaf

I love it cause theses are pretty healthy for the most part. Also, none of them have meat in them. I don't really cook a lot of meat, mainly because I don't like it all that much. I have some other yummy recipes but these are our usual meals and I just thought I would share them!

I'm bad at this!

2009-09-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

I know it has been quite a long time since I have posted anything (not that many people are interested in my boring life...). So here goes the update:

1. Another semester at ASU began in August. I actually love all of my classes! I am hoping to graduate in May but I will have to make my Spring semester a tough one to reach my intended graduation deadline.

2. My family and I went to California at the beginning of the month to celebrate my sister's birthday! Happy 22 Allie! I love you! The weather was amazing!

3. We have been slowly but surely getting our house set up and decorating although, I don't think we will ever be done! We

still need quite a few things and we seem to get caught up in the decorating aspect instead of focusing on the necessities.

4. Our dogs are doing great! I meant to mention a long time ago that the third dog that I talked about in the last post is no longer with us. No, she didn't die. She lasted about three days at our house before we figured out that our little dogs we just not going to adjust. They were so stressed out by her that they stopped eating and going outside. It was a nightmare! We decided she would be better off at her old home with my brother in law.

5. Navin and I got to go to an ASU football game last weekend. It was a

blast! We got free ticket through his work. We also got to join a tailgate party as well, which was a first for me.

That's about it, I guess...

What's been going on...

2009-06-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a long time since I have updated! So much has happened! I don't even know where to begin! Well...

1. The Spring semester of school finally came to an end! I ended with 4 A's and a B+. I was happy about that.

2. Allie and I decided we needed a break so as soon as school was out we headed to CALIFORNIA! We had a blast!

It was just the two of us relaxing for 5 days!

3. I colored my hair back to dark. The light only lasted about 3 weeks or so. I walked Allie through it and she put bright purple over the blonde and colored the rest super dark. I love it!! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures…

4. I finally finished my memory board! I made one before but I didn't like it very much because it was my first one and it had a lot of mistakes. This time I actually measured everything! Navin helped me with it as well. We picked out the fabric together and the ribbon! I love doing projects with my hubby!! We always have so much fun! We loved the way it turned out and it fits perfectly in our kitchen!

5. Finally for the BIGGEST news of all… we MOVED in to a house! We said goodbye to our blue toilet, seashell shaped sinks, and wood paneling. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to being next door to my family as well! It's hard not being able to walk next door and chat with Allie and my dad but at least we are not that far away from them!

My favorite part of the house is the kitchen!! It has granite counter tops and a lot of cupboards!

Here is a view of the back door of our kitchen and our pretty travertine floors.

This is another view of our kitchen showing the cupboards and the granite counter tops.

This is the guest bathroom

6. Lastly we have a new addition to our family. Somehow we don't have any kids but we keep growing... oh that's because we have 3 dogs now!! Now, I don't want anyone to think we are crazy dog people... they are clean, well behaved (for the most part), and healthy. Our third dog is just a little bigger than rice and beans by like only 30 lbs! Ok so she is a German Shepard and she is A LOT bigger. Her name is SAM. She is a sweet dog and made her self at home 5 minutes after she got to our house. I don't mean to be gross but this was really funny... so when sam first walked into the back yard she had to go to the bathroom really badly. We were out there watching the dogs and Sam farts SOO loud!! It was so gross but so funny! We just did not expect that! It was nice of her not to let it out in the car on the way over to the house though! Thanks Sam!

That is basically it for now. Oh and we finally got Internet today so I don't have to go to my dads house to do homework and look at blogs!

photography

2009-05-30T17:29:00.001-07:00

I love this photographer! She is having a contest! I could not help it but to enter! She is amazing! I never win anything but I thought I would try it out! Here is the link: http://piedpiperphoto.blogspot.com/

2 years baby!

2009-04-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend we celebrated two years of being married! It is has been an amazing two years! I am so grateful for my fantastic husband. I just feel so luck that I have his love and support. He does so much for me even when I am being a grump he is always there for me.

Last year we went on a cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate our one year anniversary so this year we decided to keep it simple. We started out the day with a picnic at Fountain Hills. The last time we had a picnic was 31/2 years ago when we were dating. After we spent some time at the park we ran some errands together and Navin helped with a project I am working on for our house. We cleaned our entire apartment and then cleaned up and went out to dinner at Outback Steak House! It was such a great day just to spend together. I absolutely love spending an entire day with Navin! With school and work during the week it feels like we don't get to see each other as much as we would like.

I am just grateful that i have him in my life and I look forward to having many more great years!

Our wedding day: April 19, 2007

This is a picture of our first picnic 31/2 years ago!

Then:

Now:

Then:

Now:

Side note: new hair! It's a little lighter. I think I'm going to keep it for a month and then go back dark. I was in need of a short change.

This is our picnic set up!

Navin

At dinner:

What a great day! I did not want it to end!

D-backs game!

2009-04-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

Navin's work had tickets to the D-backs game so we went Easter weekend. It was so much fun especially since it was FREE! We found matching shirts with Navin's favorite players name on the back!

Our shirts

This is what happens when we get bored during the game... first the punching.

Then more drinking.

Too much to drink...

When we first got to the game.

A night with Andrew and Hailey

2009-04-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

So our niece and nephew had been begging to spend the night for about 3 weeks. Finally, we let them come over last Friday night. We had planned to watch a movie that night that we didn't want the kids to watch. It wasn't that bad but it wasn't appropriate for them. Besides, they really wanted to watch Elf. So.... we put my lap top in our closet and set up a little bed for them! They loved it! We made them popcorn and they loved having their own little "movie room." Don't worry we didn't shut them in! We left the door open so that we could still hear and see them. Every once and a while, they would come out and say "I have to go to the bathroom," "Andrew hit me," or "Hailey spilled the water." It was so funny! They are just so cute!!

Birthday Wishes

2009-04-16T09:54:00.001-07:00

I know this is about two weeks late but I finally uploaded pictures from my BIRTHDAY WEEK! I started off the week with a birthday dinner with my family. We have my favorite: East Indian food! Everyone should at least try it! I also had apple pie and vanilla ice cream for desert! I know its a little weird to have apple pie instead of a birthday cake but I don't like cake all that much. On my actual birthday, my good friend Abby took me to Paradise Bakery for lunch! YUMMY! We love that place! Then, that night, Navin took me to Cheesecake Factory! I love their Cajun Jambalaya and the avocado egg roles are to die for! I ended the week with a BBQ at my in-laws house! What a week! It was so much fun! Here are some of the pictures from my birthday extravaganza:

My birthday pie

My dad and I

My new camera! Thanks DAD! (my other one broke during our last Utah trip)

Navin got me the movie Australia and Allie gave me money to get my hair done!

Abby and I at Paradise Bakery

Navin and I at Cheesecake Factory

My YUMMY cake!

we need a vacation!

2009-02-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

So I was going through some of our photos of our most recent vacations and it was making me a little depressed. We have been dying to go back to Hawaii and the Bahamas! Unfortunately, we are saving for a house, going to school, and just too busy. We got used to going out of town quite a bit. Soon we will be able to VACAY once again. Until then here are some pictures to remember what it's like to be relaxing on vacation.

P.S. sorry if I go a little picture crazy! We just love taking pictures!!

HAWAII HONEYMOON! WE WANTED TO STAY THERE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!!

CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS! FREEPORT WAS AMAZING!

THESE ARE THE TWO DOLPHINS WE GOT TO SWIM WITH

TOWEL ANIMALS!

WASHINGTON STATE! IT IS GORGEOUS THERE!

Yet another semester has arrived.

2009-01-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Last week was the beginning of another dreadful semester at ASU. Actually, it really isn't all that bad. I do love the major I chose and I am also thinking of minoring in social work. This semester I'm taking 15 credit hours as well. That may not seem that bad to some, but I have never taken that many classes in one semester. The first day I was bombarded with research papers and projects that will be done all semester. The one I am dreading the most is a 25 page research paper!! YIKES!! KILL ME NOW! At least it is all on interesting subjects.

So I may be MIA for a few months. With school, work, a husband, and two dogs, that is pretty much all I have time for. Oh and also spending time with the fam.

Anyway, that is what is going on in my life right. BORING! I know! But at least I feel like I am accomplishing some things in my life. I am very grateful for the life that I have. I am so grateful for such a supportive husband and family!! I could not do it without them!!

Happy Birthday Navin!

2009-01-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

This is the last post of the day, I promise!

Navin turned 27 on January 4th! We celebrated all day! I made pancakes, homemade buttermilk syrup, eggs, and sausage for his birthday breakfast.

Then he went and played softball with his brothers.

Finally, that night I took him out to his favorite restaurant, Delhi Palace! It was so yummy!

Yay for Birthdays!

Yikes! Sorry if this is offensive to anyone! I just think it's funny!

Eating yummy Indian food!

Its all gone!!

2009-01-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

My hair is gone! I got really bored with my long hair so I decided while we were in Utah, I want to chop it off! So I did! I love it! Thank you Summer! It is so much fun!

I like it so much more! I think I am just a short hair person. When its long, I don't do much with it. When its short, I have more fun with it!

Before:

After:

When we got home, I was dying for a fresh color! Sooooo, I walked my sister through it and she colored my hair! It looks awesome! She did a great job! We did purpley-red low lights and all over darkest brown. Its so shinny and fresh!

New Years in Utah!!

2009-01-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a great New Year! We just spent a week in Utah with my family!

It was so fun! It was so pretty with all the lights and snow everywhere!

Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip!

One day Navin and drove up to Salt Lake from Provo. The lights turned on about 5 minutes after we got to the Temple. It was gorgeous!

Our New Years Eve kiss...

Our cousin Candice, Me, Navin, Allie, and our cousin Amanda!

Hayden with their new sugar gliders!

Me, Allie, and Candice! We love you Candice!

Aw... sisters!

Navin and I

It snowed the night before we left! It was so awesome! I love when it snows!

Yay! Sisters and our favorite cousin!!

Another day at the OFFICE??

2008-12-16T16:09:00.000-08:00

My office is a big room with bright blue walls, cloud curtains, miniature tables and chairs, toys everywhere and a bunch of screaming kids. Today was a particularly hectic day. I don't know if it was the cold drizzly day or what they had for breakfast, but the kids were going wild. Sometimes I wonder about my job. The kids bite, hit, spit in your face, scream, lick your leg (yes this actually happened today), scratch, and sneeze all over you! One of the kids didn't want to wash his hands because he didn't like the smell of the soap when his hands smelled like poop and dirt! Another one will tell me I'm her best friend in the whole world and then turn around and punch me because I stopped her from hitting our littlest one on the head with a block!! I do not remember being like this when I was a kid. I remember being afraid of of teachers and bigger kids! Not these ones! Yesterday, a college student was walking by our playground and one of the kids insisted on throwing a ball at him! Before I could stop it, it happened. I asked the kid why he would want to throw the ball at someone and he said because it would be funny if it hit him in the head. Luckily he missed and the guy was nice enough to throw it back over.

My job can definitely be chaotic but kids will be kids! I work with the 3 and 4 year olds and most of them are going through their "terrible" stages. But it is totally worth it when you can just sit there with one of them and have a conversation. They say the funniest things! They are so innocent and can be very sweet. I am grateful to be able to work with these kids. It gives me a taste of what it is going to be like when I have my own kids!! I can't wait!

I'm obsessed with my husband!!

2008-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

So I was going through the pictures on our computer and just loving the funny ones of Navin. He takes the best pictures! I love his faces and I especially love his smile!! He means the world to me and I couldn't ask for a better husband! You could say I am a little obsessed by the many pictures shown below but I just can't help it. He is SOOO good to me! The other day I wanted to paint my toe nails but I always have such a hard time because my hands shake. He came

into the bathroom and offered to paint them for me! So he did! And he did a great

job! He does so many things for me! Last night I woke up with a really bad stomach ache and

I didn't really realize what time it was so I just said "My stomach hurts Navin!" Not

realizing that he was asleep. I woke him up (on accident), but he was so sweet. He just cannot get any nicer. When I'm tired or woken up in the middle of the night, I am grumpy! Navin is never grumpy! Sometimes I feel like such a jerk compared to him!! But I'm a girl I have an excuse right??

Well I just wanted to dedicate this post too my wonderful husband whom I love very much!!

WARNING: a lot of pictures! (but they are cute)

Fry Bread MADNESS

2008-11-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago, our family participated in the Red Mountain Pow Wow. It was so much fun. We set up a booth to sell Indian tacos. I made fry bread for almost 12 hours straight! But I was so fun because my in-laws are so much fun! Here are a few pictures from the pow wow.

making some tacos...

still making fry bread that night.

The spot light dancers. This was amazing to watch because they turned off all the light and had the dancers dance only with a spot light!

Nate and Jared

Cooking up some steaks for the steak tacos

Our family's booth

Eating some yummy tacos!

2008-11-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN

Wood Family annual Halloween party and pumpkin carving contest!

It was so fun!! This year, Navin and I went as opposites. I was an Indian girl and he was a cowboy. All the little kids called us Sacagawea and Woody.

It is always fun to get together with Navin’s family! We have so much fun! Here are a few pictures from our party:

A walk in the park...

2008-10-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

The weather was so nice last Saturday, we decided to take our dogs for a walk at Tempe Town Lake. Bean likes to walk on the little wall that goes along the water. Most of the time they are pretty good when it comes to walks. Rice just hates the car ride over there!

Anyway, Here are a few pictures from our walk.

A NEW LOOK!

2008-10-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

So we have had this table and chairs since we got married but it is actually about 17 years old! It used to be in my parents house when I was about 5 or so. It is pretty old and ugly! I don't know why we didn't think of restoring it before but we finally did. It took two days straight! But it was SO much fun because Navin and I did it all together! It was so great to spend that time with him! He was so helpful too because I didn't really know what I was doing. We did it out in our front carport. We actually had some neighborhood kids join us as well. They really wanted to help sand so we had them ask their parents and then they came over and started sanding! It actually slowed down the job a little but they were so funny! Especially one little boy named Ben. Since then he has come over to our house everyday just to see the inside and how our furniture turned out! On Conference Sunday he knocked at our door around 7:30 or so to invite us to his Conference camp out. I don't think his parents even knew he came over and he looked like he just woke up cause he was still in his p.j.'s and had no shoes on! He is a funny kid!

Anyway, I got the idea to restore our table and chairs from another blog so I just thought I would share our results. It actually worked really well! We love the new look!

BEFORE:

MIDDLE:

We painted it red underneath so that after we painted it black and distressed it, the red would come through instead of an ugly color.

We used candle wax on the edges where there would be potential distressing and then painted the black over it and then sanded the candle wax off.

FINISHED PRODUCT:

This is what it looks like in our home!

I also decided to add pictures of our latest Halloween decor.

Warts!!

2008-10-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

So this giant TOAD was just hanging out by our front door the other night! It was so crazy. First of all, I don't think I have ever seen this big of a toad in the wild. Second of all, I have never seen one at my house. Maybe its more common than I thought but it was kind of weird. Plus, our bigger dog wanted to eat it and our smaller dog was totally scared of it! We didn't touch it though for the fear of poison or perhaps warts.

Indonesian Rice Salad!

2008-10-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

INDONESIAN RICE SALAD!!

So this has become one of our favorite dishes for dinner. I have grown up on a wide variety of food so I am used to it, but this might sound weird to others. It is super healthy though and when we have had friends over for dinner they have loved it too! It kind of has an exotic flavor to it. It has become almost a weekly thing that I make this dish and it is also great for leftovers. I always make a lot! So here is the recipe, I recommend trying it because it is fast and easy and very yummy!

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups basmati rice

1 14.5 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained well, save juice

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped into small squares

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped into small cubes

1 large handful of green peas, defrosted, if frozen

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

2 cups bean sprouts (optional)

3/4 cup chopped peanuts or cashews

5-6 radishes, sliced thin (optional)

Small handful cilantro, chopped finely

Dressing:

3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 teaspoons mirin (Japanese market) or honey

1 1/2 teaspoons chili with garlic sauce or to taste ( I like it a little more spicy so I add a little more).

Wash basmati rice well. Place in a sauce pan and add 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 2 sups of water, and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit undisturbed for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dressing. Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and whisk until smooth.

In a large bowl, turn out the rice and fluff and separate the grains with a large fork. Add the pineapple, vegetables, nuts, sprouts, and cilantro. Mix well.

Heat the dressing in the small saucepan over medium heat just until warm, about 1 minute.

Pour dressing over rice salad and mix well. Serve immediately.

Notes:

-If you think the dressing is too thick, thin it with a little pineapple juice.

-Substitute chili and garlic sauce with any chili sauce, chili powder, or your favorite fresh chilies.

-Substitute any vegetable with chopped jicama, edamame beans, finely chopped green beans, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, or baby corn.

-Substitute basmati rice with any long grain white or brown rice. Follow instructions on the package.

So thats it! It seems like a lot of work but the chopping is what takes the most time. It takes me probably a total of 30 to 45 minutes to do. It has a slight peanut butter flavor to it but it goes well with the rest of the dish. If prepared correctly, this is a great meal!

I'm in love!

2008-09-28T17:26:00.001-07:00

So Navin is SEVENTH of TEN brothers and sisters. So obviously he has a lot of nieces and nephews! Since I am the oldest and have no nieces or nephews, I have acquired many from Navin's side! I just love them so much!! I love that I am an AUNTIE now! It is so much fun. I love being able to spend time with them. Everyday after church we have a herd of kids asking us if they can come with us. It is so sad when they leave cause we get a few criers. I love being the cool aunt and uncle that the kids want to hang with. We have even had six at once spend the night in our tinny little apartment! The first time we let them spend the night we had a bed wetter. So the next time they spent the night, we bought Goodnight Pampers and had three of the potential bad wetters wear them. They were actually very good about it. It also worked out for us too cause it was a lot less laundry to do the next day. Now they always ask me to make pancakes with my homemade syrup. They love that stuff and so does Navin cause that is usually the only time I make them.

Anyway, so if you haven't noticed, I love to post pictures. So here are some pictures of just a few of the many kids in our family!

This is Joseph! He loves bananas!

This is Nathan at our wedding blowing bubbles! He has always been really close with Navin! He is such a sweetie and full of love!

Loryn, he has the funniest personality!

Colin, another very sweet boy!

Hailey, one of the few girls in the family! She is small and trendy! We absolutely love this girl!

Loryn and I

Andrew helping me make pancakes or as he says, "pan-a-cakes." He woke me up at six in the morning, on a Saturday, after a long night, cause he really wanted my pancakes!

This is when they spent the night for the first time. Hailey, Gabe, Andrew, and Jared.

This is Courtney. She is super spunky and has a million different hobbies!!

NAVIN'S PHOTOGRAPHY

2008-09-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

So Last year for Christmas Navin got me this really fancy camera. I was going through this phase of wanting to be a photographer. So because of how thoughtful he is, Navin surprised me with this amazing camera. But once I got the camera I was not as interested in it and felt that I was not good enough. So Navin started playing around with it and it turns out that he is pretty good at it. He takes pictures of all kinds of things! My dad is way into watching birds so Navin has gotten really good at taking bird pictures and also flower pictures. He has become very creative with the pictures that he takes. Here are some of the pictures that he has taken:

Two year olds.

2008-09-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Oh I can say so much about two year olds. I work with over 20 of them all day and I try my hardest to be nice but sometimes you just want to scream! They are so cute and adorable until one decides to punch the teacher (me) in the eye. They can be so mean sometimes! They literally beat each other up sometimes! This one little boy is raelly so cute and he is so little with a cute little voice but when he gets mad, he always yells "SHAME ON YOU!" I have no idea where he got it, but he will yell it no-stop when something upsets him! I think my job is a love hate thing. It is convenient because it is right on ASU campus but then again sometimes I just can't wait to get off campus. Anyway, just thought I would vent a little. This week has been very long and I am so ready for the weekend!

School...

2008-08-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

So school has started once again. My classes are pretty interesting but even so, I have a hard time concentrating when I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning. I have to wake up extra early because I park out by Tempe Town Lake and then have to get on the bus to take me to ASU! It's just a little ridiculous! But I also have to work on spending less time hang around with my awesome husband and going out with friends and spend more time reading school books and doing homework. Sometimes I just don't care though! With my new schedule I don't get to see Navin as much so as soon as we do see each other we just want to hang out or going shopping (one of our favorite pass times which Afton could attest to!). We just love spending time together. I think during school I need to move away for the semester so I could actually get some work done. But that won't happen either. So my goal for this semester is too focus and maybe start spending more time in the library! I guess we will see what happens!

A little about us...

2008-08-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

Navin:

Well right now Navin is working at the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale on the reservation. He teaches some classes at a school and also goes over to the jail and works with the juveniles. He is pretty much a mentor to those kids. He is great at what he does! He loves working with kids and he is amazing with them. Well he should be since he comes from a family of ten and has a million nieces and nephews. But that is what really attracted me to him, his relationships with all the kids in his family.

He loves sports. We play on a coed softball league together and he also plays basketball every Thursday night with some of his friends. Besides playing sports he also coaches our family T-ball team, Woodstock. It is so fun watching them play! They are too cute.

This is a picture of them after a long day of playing but winning first place in a tournament. Navin loves this team!

Liz:

Well right now I am just going to school and working. After high school I went beauty school and then started working in a salon in Scottsdale called Salon Krush. I love that salon. But I decided that I didn't want to do hair everyday, all day, for the rest of my life. So now I am going to ASU and majoring in Family and Human development. I love it! I also got a new job. I work at the Child Development Lab at ASU. And no we don't stick needles in the kids or anything like that. It is basically a preschool but people do come and observe the children and watch how they interact with others. It is sometimes challenging but also very rewarding. I have learned so much from those kids!

We don't have any kids yet but maybe as soon as a graduate we will be thinking about it. We are so happy with our lives right now, even though life can get crazy, Navin is always up beat and puts me in a good mood. That why I love him so much!

These are our babies for now. Beans and Rice. We never wanted little dogs but these dogs are the best dogs! They keep us entertained.

What's new...

2008-08-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

So I am new at blogging, but here goes nothing... Navin and I just got back from Washington and had a BLAST! We love to travel! Since we have been together, we have been to California about five times, Utah four times, Idaho, Hawaii, Florida, the Bahamas, and now Washington together. Navin went on his mission there and is officially obsessed with the place and would move there in a heartbeat. He is just having a little bit of trouble convincing me. It is just so far away from both of our families that I don't think I could handle it. Anyway, it is really beautiful there. It is so green and the mountains are so freakin high! We traveled around the West coast visiting the places where he served. They were mostly small towns but the people were so nice and I could tell that they really loved him as their missionary. They were so excited to see us. We also went to Seattle, which is my new favorite city! They have this outdoor market called the Farmers Market. They had fresh fruit and vegetables everywhere. It was just like in the movies where they throw the fish around when people are ordering. It was like no other place I have been. Lets just say I am a little more convinced to move there.

2008-08-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

We found a starfish on the beach!

On a Pier in Port Angeles

The Space Needle in Seattle

The Farmers Market in downtown Seattle

Up at Mt. Rainier, it was so COLD!

Ruby Beach

Gorgeous water fall!