We are the Workmans!!

Ouch!

2011-11-13T01:19:00.001-08:00

So here is her first black eye. Thank goodness it wasn't too hard to distract her from the fall. I'm just glad that her fall wasn't as bad as it could have been. And thank you chocolate for cheering her up.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

In Which We Bless the Baby and Party

2011-11-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

So we have been planning for Sunday since April. We wanted to be able to have some of my family who lives out of state make it for the blessing, so we chose to have it around Halloween since Nevada has a state holiday around then and Jeannie and her kids get to be let out of school. An added bonus is that Olivia's birthday is only 3 days before our chosen blessing day, so we also chose to celebrate her birthday with a party after the blessing.

So as you can see, we had a very busy weekend, but a very fun weekend. Jeannie and her family arrived late, late Friday night so all day Saturday was spent playing with her family. We made plans to have our own little Halloween party where Grandma set up a candy hunt, there was pumpkin carving and just good ol' fun playing around. At the end of the night we all went out for ice-cream. The whole day was just filled with fun. Olivia just couldn't get enough of her cousins, she had so much fun with them. She still is just going around our house saying their names.

Tractor rides with Grandpa are the best!

Grandma's candy hunt was so much fun!

Taking a walk and feeding the horses

Sunday was a very busy day, with getting everything ready for the blessing. We held the blessing at my parents house, because apparently we chose to bless JD on the day the whole valley had stake conference. It turned out just perfect. I can never thank my mom enough for everything that she did for us, and does for us. We had a really good turn out with our friends and family. It gives me such a warm feeling to know that we have so many people out there who love and support us. It gives me an even warmer feeling to know that Frankie holds the priesthood and is able to bless our family because of that. There was such a beautiful spirit there as Frankie took our infant son into his arms to give him a name and a blessing.

Once we were finished with the blessing, we ate and partied! The food was all very delicious all thanks to my mom. (Once again, I can't thank her enough for everything she does for our family.) When things slowed down with the food, we let Olivia open up her birthday presents. She didn't quite have the reaction I thought she would to her presents, she was just so reserved about all of her presents. She was just so overwhelmed with all of the people there and all of these new toys to play with, that she just didn't know what to do with it all. (Now she plays with those new toys all of the time.)

It was a very busy day, but it all passed by so fast. Thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating our two beautiful children.

(I don't have any pictures from the blessing and party because we forgot our camera. I have to get them from my mom, so those pictures will be coming.)

Happy Birthday!

2011-10-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm back dating this post because I've just been so busy and haven't had the time to post about our amazing little girl's birthday.

Frankie was able to take the time off so we could give as much attention as possible to the birthday girl. Both of us were thinking how hard it is to believe that we have a two year old. It seriously feels like just yesterday that we were at the hospital waiting for things to progress in the labor room so we could welcome our long, long awaited angel. We wanted to give Olivia as much undivided attention as possible, so we asked our good friend Alyssa Yancey to watch JD for a few hours. We decided to take Olivia to the American West Heritage Center after hearing from Hilary and Brad how much fun it was. It was fun.

We got there just ahead of the crowd, but not too soon that we missed the pony rides and train ride which started at 5:00. At the heritage center they had a corn maze, a huge slide down the hill, hay jumping, and little kids maze, pony rides, train rides and animals. We chose not to go into the corn maze because it was chilly and we didn't want Olivia to get bored with just walking around when there was so much more to do. I think that my favorite part was getting to see her ride the pony. At first she was a little apprehensive, but she decided quickly that she liked being on the pony.

After playing at the heritage center, we took Olivia to go and buy her presents. We let her pick out one toy and the rest of the presents that we bought were saved for her birthday party on Sunday.

We didn't do a whole lot, but we sure had a lot of fun celebrating our little girl. I still can't believe that she is two.

2 Months Old

2011-10-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that 2 months have already gone by since we welcomes our sweet baby boy into the family. He is growing so much and just twisting all of our hearts around his little finger. It has been a rather difficult 2 months, but I sure do love my little JD more and more every day. Every time he smiles at me, cries, falls asleep in my arms or anything for that matter, I feel my heart grow even bigger with love. Olivia has also become fond of her little brother. She loves to climb into his bassinet at the end of our bed and go "na-night". She especially loves it when we put JD in there with her to cuddle with her. I can't wait for the days when JD isn't such a fragile little baby and can really cuddle back with her.

JD has grown so much and I've enjoyed getting to notice his little quirks and see him reach certain milestones. Although he isn't sleeping through the night, he has definitely improved upon his waking up every hour. Of course using the swaddling blankets with the Velcro have helped a lot in keeping asleep. He hates them when he's awake, but since he moves so much in his sleep, I have to keep his arms confined. Now he sleeps 3-4 hours at a time. It isn't great, but it is an improvement on every 1-2 hours. Occasionally he does sleep 5 hours at a time, so I hope that he'll eventually move towards that time frame.

JD has been smiling for about a month now, which has been so wonderful to see. The first time I saw him smile at me on purpose was in the middle of the night when he should have been sleeping. He was just trying to butter me up into forgetting it was 3 in the morning. Now you can get him to smile every time he gets his diaper changed or right after he's had a really good feeding. I love to see him smile and coo, it just melts your heart (even at 3 in the morning).

He is also slowly getting past his fussiness and being willing to be put down for short (I say short) period of time. He does have his one really fussy time around 9 o'clock every night right before we put him down to bed. There are times when the only way we can calm him down is to put him in his swing, which he loves to death. Sometimes we can get him to calm down by changing his diaper, which he is really starting to like. But most of the time it has to be the swing.

I've been trying to get him on something of a schedule, but he has been quite resistant. He does not nap very well during the day at all. Some of it has to do with Olivia making noise, but he just doesn't nap for more than an hour at a time. He likes to take cat naps. Sometimes I can get him to take a 2 hour nap while Olivia naps, but not all of the time. So that is what we are trying to work on right now. And that is our little boy.

Random

2011-10-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

JD is getting better with sleeping at night, but he still likes to have an awake period at 5 in the morning where he just loves to talk and smile with mom.

The Grass Is Greener On the Other Side

2011-10-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

I find that the mind is very interesting that your mind seems to play tricks on you when it is faced with certain choices or situations. For instance, I find myself, quite often, fighting with my cats at night for space on the bed. The story behind this is; nearly every night I get settled into bed and get myself comfortable and headed towards a dream state. Suddenly I feel the bed jostle as one of the cats decides to joins us in the bed. That cat will then choose a spot to get comfortable, which just so happens to be on my legs, behind my legs or in between my legs. Any of these positions restricts my motion in bed. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because I'm already comfortable and settled in for the night, right? Wrong! My mind imidiatly starts to think 'What if I want to turn over and change positions?' Once I start to think that, I am no longer comfortable and I start to develop the urge to roll over and get comfortable somewhere else. I actually like having the cats sleep in the bed with us, just not in the area of my legs, it drives me nuts.

I also find it really funny that Olivia seems to always think that whatever mom and dad have must be better than what I have. This happens a lot at dinner time. Even though she has the exact same food in her dish, what mom and dad have in theirs must be better. Even their silverware is better than mine, so I need to use that too. I find it very amusing, but also quite useful in getting her to eat. If she wont eat what is in her bowl, she just might eat what is in mine. It really has worked wonders in getting her to eat. It is fun when you get to know the little quirks of your children.

Ickie, Ickie, Ickie: Part 2

2011-10-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know; part 2 who would have thought that there would be a part 2. Just as I was starting to recover from my breast infection, we are hit with the flu. I have been dreading the day when my little girl would get really sick, like throwing up sick. Boy was I right to dread it.

Just as I was getting ready to leave for work on Monday, Olivia just suddenly started to throw up. There had been no signs all day that she was feeling under the weather. In fact, I considered it to be one of the better days for both her and JD. So I was very surprised to see her start throwing up. Because I didn't have anyone to cover my shift I had to leave poor Frankie alone for the time being. Thankfully, one of the lab consultants was just in the lab doing his homework, so I asked if he could just do his homework and work at the same time. It all worked out great because what do you know, on the way home from work, I started to throw up too. Thankfully I had a bowl in the car, so there wasn't a gross mess in the car.

In the 20 minutes I was gone for work, Olivia had thrown up 5 times; poor Frankie. Both of them were in the shower when I got home and she was crying. Sweet JD was so good and just chilled in his swing the whole time, what a blessing that was. For two hours or so, Olivia and I just sat in the bathroom throwing up. Poor little girl was so terrified and confused with what her body was doing. At one piont we were so exhausted that we just fell asleep on the floor in the bathroom, needless to say it was a very long night. Frankie was a true saint through the whole ordeal, we never would have made it without him.

By the next morning we were no longer throwing up and were on the mend, but then it became Frankie's turn to be sick. Thankfully he wasn't as sick, and was able to keep from throwing up, but he still had a sick stomach. So far JD hasn't been sick, and we are trying real hard to keep it that way. I must say, that it has been a real blessing to have a washer and dryer in our house, because there was a lot of washing to be done.

Well, we are now on the mend and we hope to keep it that way. I don't want to see my poor little girl so confused about being sick for a long time.

This is just because he is so cute

Ickie, Ickie, Ickie

2011-09-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

I would first off, like to thank my husband and my mom for everything that they have done for me this past weekend.

Thursday night I went to bed shivering with a headache, but didn't think too much about it. It didn't help that JD, once again, had a hard time sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time. When I woke up I still had a headache and felt cold enough to sit in front of a portable heater. It was a very hard day to get through, to say the least. Olivia did fairly good, but JD cried a lot in the morning before I was able to get him down for a nap, that didn't last very long. When Frankie got home from work, he decided to take Olivia to the Sky View homecoming game to watch Uncle Yab play. So it was just me and JD for a little while, so I was able get some down time. Then my mom offered to take both kids for the night giving me a chance to get some much needed sleep. As sad as it was to be away from my babies for the night, I knew that I really needed to catch up on some rest. Later that night, I discovered that I was running a fever, making my rest all the more important.

On Saturday, we lent our car to my brother Yab to use for homecoming. It appeared that my fever was gone and I was feeling much better so I didn't think much more on the night before. But once again, that night, I was back and forth between shivering like a Californian in Alaska and sweating like and Alaskan in California. It was decided that I was going to go to the Instacare the following day. When I woke up Sunday morning I had broken my fever and was completely drenched in sweat. I was so wet and so were my sheets, it wasn't fun.

At the Instacare the Dr. confirmed the suspicions of my husband that I had a breast infection, not fun at all. So now I'm taking some pretty strong medicine 4 times a day. And the thing that sucks about it is that I have to take it on an empty stomach, which is kind of hard at times. After the Instacare, Frankie took me and the kids out to Smithfield to get help from my mom, and he went to church. He also was so sweet and cleaned around the house for me, since this infections has just floored me for the past couple of days and toys were everywhere. It made me so happy to walk into a clean house, that always makes me excited, especially when I wasn't the one who did it.

So here we are on Monday and I'm feeling a little better because I'm finally able to keep my fever at bay, which means my headache is also at bay. My milk supply has dwindled a little, but for me that honestly isn't a big deal at all since I have enough milk for twins just about. So here is to feeling better.

Oh, and JD is starting to smile a little here and there. He gave me a big smile on Friday, which just made all of the crappiness of day disappear.

Habb vs. the Hellfire Challenge

2011-09-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my brother Habb's birthday. In celebration of this day my parents took him to Salt Lake to Kobe Sushi where he took on the Hellfire challenge. A few weeks ago my dad was watching Man vs. Food where they came to Salt Lake to Kobe Sushi to take the Hellfire challenge. Because Habb is such a lover of really spicy hot food, my dad thought that it would be something he would like to try. So for his birthday that is exactly what he did and my parents were kind enough to let us tag along as a family.

The rules of the challenge are this: To begin the challenge you need to eat 1 piece each of a level 4,5 and a 6 sushi roll or two number 6. If you make it past this then you can begin the challenge. The next step to the challenge is that you need to eat two pieces of a 6 and a half roll. Once you eat those then you must eat an entire roll of a number 7, which is 6 pieces. They will allow you to drink or eat other things along with the sushi as long as it is provided by them. So that is the challenge Habb took.

Before

When my dad first mentioned that Habb would be attempting this challenge, I thought that it would be fairly easy for him considering how much that kids loves spicy hot food. But watching him attempt this challenge really changed that view. The poor kid was sweating, tearing up and many other things. It was so hot for him that he even agreed to drink milk, even though he is lactose intolerant. (My mom asked if they would allow them to get soy milk for him, but they said no.) Seeing Habb really struggling with each piece, I began to realize that the warning signs they had put up in the restaurant, were very necessary.

During

As hard as it was for him to complete this challenge, complete it he did and his prize: a picture on the wall of fame and a T-shirt. And every time he wears that T-shirt to the restaurant he will get 10% off his order for the rest of his life. The chef also told us that the challenge that was aired on TV was a lot easier than what Habb really ate. They toned down the hotness of the spices so the show host could complete the challenge. In all reality, only 4% of the people that attempt the challenge actually complete it, so way to go Habb. It was a fun filled Saturday night, even if he did get sick at the very end, but that is because his stomach was rejecting all of the milk that he drank. Once it got rid of that, he did a whole lot better.

Our Hellfire Champ

Happy Birthday Habb!!

His Story...

2011-09-15T01:18:00.001-07:00

Ok, Angie. Since you insist on hearing all about life from the perspective of the Frank, I will divulge a few of my secrets.

There has really been a lot that has transpired in the past couple of months. I'll say this, in terms of all that has happened, I haven't felt so many highs and lows since my mission. To sum it up, we found ourselves in a situation where we were being strongly persuaded to move by some of the people in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, though, I seem to have developed some stubbornness issues and I had no desire to leave my neighborhood. So, when our dear friends, the Cleggs, offered us their apartment, we couldn't refuse. The week of moving, however proved to be one of the most eventful weeks we have ever lived through. It started with a tragedy, however.

One of our closest friends to our family unexpectedly slipped beyond the veil. When he left, it left a void that, for some reason, I still somewhat struggle with trying to fill. I suppose the most difficult thing for me to realize was just how much I had really tried to be like him without even realizing it. What deepened my loss was learning just how much he had looked up to me and deeply admired me. The funeral services were probably the most beautiful, and yet the most surreal services I had attended to date. For one thing, though I wasn't a member of the immediate family, they treated me as though I was. Also, I gotta say this: it's one thing to be in the presence of someone you've lost and still feel close with that person, but when his or her presence is so close that you swear you can see him sitting in the stands out of the corner of your eye, it just leaves you really wondering just how thin that veil really is. I could have sworn I heard him laughing and even crying a bit at some of the things that were said about him. It's amazing how a singular experience like that can leave you feeling such a strange sense of unity and brotherhood to the amazing man I called Benjy. I'll miss my dear friend and older brother. I hope I can be the honorary uncle he would wish me to be for his beautiful, beautiful daughters. I love you Brooke and Bailey.

So, upon returning to Logan, we made some plans for a very busy upcoming week. You see, we had planned on moving first, then having the baby, but our little Chili-Bean kinda decided he had plans of his own and he decided to come earlier than anticipated. So I found myself quite blessed indeed when my friends, neighbors, and my amazing sister and niece came to help me get moved. Though Angie couldn't be there to help, it was so nice to leave the work-in-progress that was our home and visit her and our Chili-Bean in the Hospital. It was also nice to have them return to the new house when we got unpacked. There was a bit of a strange feeling, though, to be moving into the home we had always dubbed as the Clegg's place. It is hard to know that they are gone now, but I find solace in knowing that they are chasing broader horizons and bigger dreams now.

So let me talk a bit about my Chili-Bean. JD officially dubbed the nickname, Chili-Bean, because he has this funny tendency to go extremely red when he cries. The hospital refers to this type of crying as purple crying, which I worry about, but then again, it can be pretty funny at times. He just goes extremely red... plus he farts a ton. So he is now the Chili-Bean. Part of me acknowledges the fact that he may be a bit colicky at times, but then again, I guess he is my son after all. :) Another perk is that our Lady-Bug just adores him. I have been so impressed with her gentleness. My sweet Olivia just loves getting attention. It helps me realize just how careful I have to be when it comes to responding to everything she does, whether it's dropping a whole toilet paper roll in the toilet, eating chap-stick, or playing with her mother's breastpumping parts by placing them on herself. It was so funny! She is incredibly observant. I love watching her learn! She can be such a character at times. It is so crazy to realize she's going to be 2 in less than a month now. Man, how the time is flying!

Over Labor Day weekend, I decided to leave Angie and the Chili-Bean and take our Lady-Bug on a new adventure. What I thought was going to be a nice trip to be with a few family members turned out to be nothing short of a delightful reunion with some old and new faces of the Workman Family. Altogether, I'd estimate that there were at least 50 people there at one point. See, our Labor-Day trips date back to as early as when I was 13 or so. Every year, around Labor Day, we'd get together with my aunt and uncle from Colorado and we'd go camping. For a season, we'd alternate between going to Colorado and having them come into Utah to camp. By the time I left on my mission, we'd easily hit attendance numbers in the 20s, but this time around, I have never seen so many people that came to enjoy each others' company. The one person who stole all the limelight and attention from everyone else was none other than Olivia herself. I must say she had a blast just running around, getting dirty, and four-wheeling. She had a blast. She just simply gave me no opportunity to really keep her clean. She loved playing in the campers, the trailers, and even with all the dogs. She was all about having fun and it left me feeling so relieved that I didn't have to baby her so much. I really enjoyed telling and hearing stories around the campfire and reminiscing on old times with old friends... no pun intended.

Work has been quite interesting indeed. Though I don't particularly find myself fancying what I am doing, I will say that it has become a bit easier to transition from service into strictly sales than I thought it would be. I'm posting good numbers, which makes my boss look good, which makes his boss look good, and so on and so forth. My life is a very simple one, really... and that is certainly a different twist on things than I thought it would be. I can't help but feel, though, that something big is coming. I feel as though I am on the threshold of something huge that we have been prepared for. I look forward to the challenges and the dangers that lie in the great unknown. My family is my everything and, despite their antics, I certainly couldn't live without my children.

Well, there you have it, Angie. There's a brief sum of some of my perspectives of this crazy adventure you and I call eternity. Ain't it a fine life?!

Playing around in one of the trailers

Peek-a-boo daddy!

What a beautiful model

Ahh, so peaceful

Hey dad, don't you know I need my beauty
rest if I'm to pose for your pictures?

3 Weeks and Counting

2011-09-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was JD's 3 week birthday. Because so much has happened since he was born it seems like he has been here for a much longer period of time. I am slowly, but surely, adjusting to my new life as a mother of two and let me tell you, it hasn't been that easy. I have heard from lots of people that having two children isn't that bad, in fact it can be easier because the two children can play together. Well, I haven't reached that point yet, so right now it is pretty difficult to have two children. I guess it doesn't help that I'm still trying to get my house in order from the move. I have it in working order, but not presentable order. Maybe someday soon I will feel comfortable showing my new house off, but not yet.

Since moving in there has been so much to do. Poor Frankie spent three days just deep cleaning our old apartment in hopes of getting most of our deposit back. We lived there for 5 years so of course there is the usual wear and tear, but for the most part we did take care of the house. It was cluttered, but I did clean it. So that was a fun project, NOT!

Once we had that out of the way, Frankie took some time to go camping with his family over Labor Day weekend giving me a chance to just bond with my new little man JD and of course clean the house. Mostly I spent the time bonding with JD through sleep.

Of course, I didn't expect JD to sleep through the night, but I did forget how hard it is to go without so little sleep. And it is even harder this time, because I can't just sleep when the baby sleeps, because I have Olivia to watch. So I only get the one nap and the rest of the day is spent in a daze trying to slowly clean the house, play with Olivia and feed JD. JD is starting to stay awake more during the day, so I'm hoping that he'll start to transition his days and nights. As nice as it is for him to be awake more, it also makes it harder, because he just does not want to be put down. He fusses if he isn't constantly being held, so I hope that he can get past this soon as well because I have a hard time getting dinner on the table in a timely manner when he is crying because I can't hold him. I know that we will get there, it is just a matter of surviving until we get to that point.

So enough about my sleep deprivation and more about our family. Olivia is growing up so fast. Her vocabulary is growing, but she still can just talk up a storm in her own made up jibberish. She loves her little brother and is very soft with him. She loves to pat his back after I've fed him and then rub it. She loves to hold him as well. When she wants to hold him she'll just say "Me, me!" and hold out her arms while beckoning with her hands to bring JD to her. She has also become a very good jumper and climber. Unfortunately, she is beginning to see that she can climb something and then jump off it, thankfully nothing has happened yet. She loves to have an audience for everything she does, so she is constantly asking me if she can do something to draw my attention to her, even if she wants to drink out of my water jug. Her favorite movie is 'Tangled', she could watch that movie all day long if I let her, but I reserve it for times when I really need her to be out from under my feet. She has adjusted quite well to our new home and is loving the new layout. She loves driving her little car around the kitchen and putting her doll in the baby swing. There are just so many new things that she is learning every day that it is hard to

remember them all.

I forgot to mention that Olivia is obsessed with putting on shoes

Here is Olivia at the beach with her cute cousin Charis

JD is doing his part and growing very well. I'm very thankful that I have a good milk supply to help him grow. It is kind of funny, when a new baby comes into a family everyone tries to see if the baby looks more like mommy or daddy. But when it comes to JD, he looks like Olivia. There are little things that you can see clearly came from one parent or the other, but honestly the best way to say it is that he looks like Olivia. JD is also learning to smile, several times in the past couple of days he has almost smiled at me. Of course, he has smiled plenty in his sleep, but I'm looking for that smile where he knows he is smiling at me or dad or whoever he smiles at. There are so many milestones ahead for him and I'm excited to see them all.

Here is a comparison of the two

Olivia

As for me and Frankie, not much has changed. Frankie did have a birthday on September 1st and is now 28. I know that technically we aren't that old, but there are times I feel really old and other times I can't believe that I'm really 26. Sometimes I still feel like the 20 year old who just got married. So that is the Workman update for now. I'll have to see if Frankie is willing to post about his camping trip.

Ready......Or Not.....Here I Come!!

2011-09-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Jon Desmond Workman

Believe it or not, but that title totally describes everything about the last week and a half. It has been the most hectic week and a half that I've experienced since I was in high school. So here is our story.

At the beginning of the month we were given notice that the terms of our lease agreement on our apartment were changing due to some circumstances concerning our cats. So it was either get rid of our cats and we can stay there for an extra $25 a month, making rent $500. The reason they changed the lease is a whole other story that is really, really annoying, and gets us going, so we just will pass over that part of the story. So needless to say, we didn't want to get rid of our cats who are a part of our family, so we started the process of looking for a new place to move. Around this time, our friends and neighbors, the Clegg's, were preparing to move to South Dakota for graduate school and were looking to sell their apartment. We talked with a loan officer and were accepted for our first home loan. And on the bright side, our monthly payments will be about the same as the rent on our old apartment, so the logical choice for us was to purchase their apartment

As scary as it has been to get a mortgage, it will finally be nice to actually own our home. We have loved the townhouse that we've lived in for the past 5 years and are very sad to move, but at least we truly have a place to call our own. But really, the moving part is only half of the story to be told here, and the more hectic part as well.

I know that it wasn't the smartest move to be moving and having a baby all in the same week, but honestly, we didn't have much of a choice now did we. But in our defense, we did have something of a plan that would have worked out just fine. Because our new residence is literally in the back yard of our old residence, we figured that we could move the small items over and get them in their place and then have one day where we got help with moving the big items and then we would be moved in allowing me to be induced on Thursday evening, the 25th. I honestly think that it would have worked out just great, but unfortunately, that isn't how it all played out.

Michele and Casey were set to move out on the 22nd which is when we would begin the migration of our smaller items and then our big items. So on Sunday evening we put Olivia down to bed and began cleaning and putting some items together so start moving them the next evening. I new that this week was going to be hectic, but I was prepared to face it all, but JD had other plans for us.

As we began our cleaning and organizing, I made sure that I took frequent breaks, due to the fact that I was 9 months pregnant. I had also been having contractions throughout the day, but they hadn't been painful, so I just labeled them as Braxton Hicks. But as the cleaning wore on, they began to get a little more uncomfortable, but once again I put them from my mind. You see, with Olivia I was induced at 39 weeks because of the diabetes, so I honestly didn't know what it was like to go into labor on my own. So you can see why I wasn't considering the fact that I was in labor as I cleaned around my house. As the hour got late, we headed to bed to prepare ourselves for a very hectic week. I was only able to lay in bed for a few minutes before I got very uncomfortable, so I relocated to downstairs to try a different environment. But as the minutes wore on, my contractions got worse and a lot more painful. Now I was finally thinking "I might be in labor". But I didn't really know how to tell if it was true labor or false labor. I really didn't have the luxury of going into the hospital only to be told that I wasn't in labor. I had a 22 month old that I didn't want to wake up. So I downloaded a free contraction timer on my ipod touch and began timing. When they really seemed really close and extremely painful, I finally accepted the fact that it was go time so I woke Frankie up, called mom to come watch Olivia and headed to the hospital.

We arrived there around 5:30 and were immediately shown to a room. Thankfully I was already preregistered with the hospital, so I didn't have to do much paper work. In our room I put on my hospital gown and got hooked up to the monitors and was ready to get settled in for a couple of hours of labor. But of course I really didn't get settled until I got an epidural because I was in a lot of pain. I don't know how women can do it without an epidural, because it was really painful for me. But all I can say is, power to those who can tough it out because I can't. I was there for about an hour before I received my epidural. One very painful hour. Once I received my epidural I was prepared to settle in for a few more hours, boy was I wrong about that.

With Olivia I was in labor for 18 hours because my labor was jump started. So even though I wasn't expecting an 18 hour labor, I wasn't really expecting a 6 hour labor either. They called my doctor at 7:45 while he was at the gym. He would be right in after he was finished there. Shortly after 8 he came to check on me and to break my water (I wasn't sure if it had broke on its own or not). He came in, said hi to me checked my dilation status and then looked at me and asked if I was ready to push. I was totally shocked to see that I was already dilated enough to push. I felt like I had only just got my epidural. Dr. Olsen left to scrub up and the nurses got everything out to prepare for our new little baby. At 8:58 am on Aug. 22nd our beautiful JD arrived in a whirl wind. He was 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long, almost a 1/2 lb lighter than Olivia. He was a week early, but he was ready to be here even if we weren't quite ready ourselves. But ready or not, here he came.

The rest of the day was spent resting while Frankie ran around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get everything ready to move without me. I felt so bad that I couldn't help him get things ready, but honestly I was very glad not to be pregnant anymore. Already it was easier to get comfortable and get some sleep.

I know that there were so many people from our ward and our neighborhood who helped Frankie out and I'm very grateful to all of them, I'm just not sure who everyone is so I'll just throw a thank you out there to everyone. But the person I really want to thank is my mom. I couldn't have done it without her helping out with Olivia. I'm so blessed to have her for a mom, and to have her living close to us right now.

I checked out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon, but I didn't go to our new home, I checked into my parents house so Frankie could continue to get things put together. It was nice to still have the help of my mom with Olivia while I got into the swing of being the parent of two. It is going to be hard, but I'm up for the challenge. But it will be easier to be the kind of parent I want to be once I get this extremely messy house in order.

Olivia's first meeting with her little brother

JD meet your mom

JD and Daddy

Just sleeping life away
First family photo

Every time she sees JD she asks to hold him

Proud new parents

Ahh, home at last

Now I can sleep without getting poked and prodded

Family Fun

2011-07-12T17:00:00.000-07:00

(Warning: Lots of pictures)

Last week, we had family visiting from all over and it was so much fun! My sister Lorinda and her family came from Oregon. Jeannie and her family came from Las Vegas and Scott and his family came all the way from Alabama. My parents house sure was one mad house with close to a dozen of my nieces and nephews running about (not to mention our own little lady-bug causing a ruckus), but it was such a blast.

We started off our activities by visiting the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Olivia had so much fun just running around with all of her cousins. I don't think that she was as interested in the Dinosaurs as she was in playing with her cousins. She certainly had no problems voicing her opinions toward that big set of teeth in the background of this picture. It was quite funny that she was so oblivious to the size of the shark and just seemed bent on talking it down. Above all, though, it was nice to see her interact with her cousins, especially McKenna. Mckenna was just so much fun for Olivia to play with.

On Friday, the first, we went to the Logan city fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July. I was excited for Olivia to see the Fireworks, but a little nervous that she would be scared by the noise. Considering the magnitude of the show, it took her a while to get used to the fireworks, but once she realized that we weren't going to put her down she began to relax just enough to allow herself to watch the show. I must say it was a spectacular show indeed.

On Saturday we got to see our niece, Mckenna, get baptized. It is just so weird for me to remember her as a newborn baby and now to see her growing up to be such a beautiful young lady. We are so proud of her. After the baptism, we had a luncheon at Mack Park. Olivia had a lot of fun running around with her cousins once again and playing on the play ground.

On Sunday we all packed up and left to go camping up St. Charles canyon. When we pulled into our campground, our cars were swarmed by thousands of mosquitoes even before we got out. In fact, the people who got there before us, didn't even dare to get out of their cars because they didn't have any bug spray. Thankfully, Frankie had the gumption to race out and grab our bug spray out of our trunk. It was nice to have that spray to keep the bugs at bay while we set up camp and got a fire going. Man! There were a ton of bugs!

Monday, the 4th, was spent on Rendezvous Beach at Bear Lake beach. My parents rented some wave runners for everyone to enjoy and even though I was feeling quite pregnant, I even managed to jump on for a ride with Frankie. The day started off really gloomy and a little cold, but there were still people daring the cold water to play on those wave runners. In the late afternoon, the weather really changed and became warm, almost hot, which made it even more fun for everyone in the water. All in all, I must say that it was a fun day. We then we went back to camp to enjoy a delicious dutch oven dinner.

Tuesday morning, we all broke camp and headed up to Minnatonka cave to enjoy walking up and down 444 stairs. (All together it was 888 stairs.) I really had to pace myself for this one. Poor Frankie had to deal with a little girl who just wasn't too happy to be sitting in her baby backpack. She kept jumping up and down and kicking him in the back. Other than that, it was a fun experience. Our guide even pointed out a few bats that were sleeping in the cave. We all had a blast, but it sure was nice to get home to a nice hot shower.

The rest of the week was just spent spending time together as a family, going to the park, the zoo and playing games. It was so much fun for all of us, especially Olivia. It's sad cause she is now going through grandma and grandpa withdrawals. Every time we go out to our car she starts chanting "mama, papa" thinking that she gets to go and play with them. It was so much fun, but also sad to see everyone leave. I don't know when it will happen again, but I can't wait until we can all get together again.

National Workmancito's VEGAS VACATION

2011-05-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

At 4 in the morning on April 19th, we packed and loaded in the car and headed to LAS VEGAS! It had been a year since we took a vacation as a family, so we made plans to go and visit Jeannie and her family in Las Vegas. We left really early in the morning hoping that Olivia would sleep at least half of the way to help the drive pass by quickly for her. Thankfully the drive went very well, thanks to her favorite Baby Einstein video. We arrived at 1 in the afternoon, and had time left in the day to play with the family. Frankie, however was a bit incapacitated due to his lack of sleep, but he still managed to put on a happy face. I must say, though, while everyone up here in Utah was freezing and putting up with snow and rain, we sat out that night in a very warm 75 degree evening and ate ice cream. It was so warm! We loved it!

"Hey guys! I'm on my way to sunny Las Vegas today!
I'm hoping to find a good strike of luck here, but Dad say's
I'm too young to gamble. What he doesn't know, though..."

"I figure as long as I'm here I may as well
enjoy a bit of festive Easter-Egg coloring.
I think it would be cool to be able to make
one of these eggs camouflaged and hide it
somewhere cool!"

"The only thing more cool than camouflaging
Easter Eggs is getting to do it with my cousins.
These guys totally get me!"

Our trip to Las Vegas included plenty of shopping and lounging, but this time around, we decided to avoid the main crowd on the strip and stick to more local amusements. For instance, it has become a tradition for us to eat at In and Out Burger at least once and to also hit one of the famous buffets in one of the casinos. That little venture to the buffet at the Sunset Station Casino proved to be one of the most entertaining outings with Olivia we have had yet. Not only did she manage to eat everything we offered her, but she even managed to make off with her mommy's dinner a number of times as well.

"I don't think Mom will miss this turkey...
Uh oh! she does! She's chasing me! Gotta go!"

"Whew, I escaped! I told you she wouldn't
miss that turkey... but man, I think I
should have. Man, I'm beat!"

"I love sunny days that involve just chilling out
and suckin on a pouch of the good stuff.
It's funny too, cause Mom and Dad both think
this thing contains juice... Hee Hee Hee!"

Our trip also includes a visit to one of the malls there simply because there is a pet-store there that Olivia just totally loves. We even had an opportunity later in the week to take her to a petting zoo in the nearby mountains at Bonnie Springs and visit the Ethel M Chocolate Factory where they make M&Ms. Everywhere we took Olivia, she just had to chase the pigeons around. Jeannie also managed to find someone in her ward to watch Olivia and her children while we went to the temple there. That temple is so beautiful inside!

"I'll bet mom and dad didn't know I could pull a total
wind-mill here in the children's area Boo Yeah!!"

"Pigeons!!! I'll catch one yet!"

"Here I am with my cousins enjoying some
good ole sunshine here in a cactus garden.
Unlike the Prickly Pear, though, we make quite
a pleasant pair of kids."

"Ooh! A Peacock!"

"Yeeeah! I'm touching a pot-belly Pig!
With any luck, mom will let me keep him..."

"Here we are at Bonnie Springs enjoying the warm weather."

"Ok, seriously, what are Mom and Dad doing?
I'm so glad I was off to the side on this one!"

"We're waiting to board the train here.
I don't know, but it's kind of hot here."

The day we left, we took Olivia to an outside shopping district where she got to participate in her first Easter Egg hunt. She did quite well, actually and managed to collect about 5 eggs. Her favorite part of that venture, though wasn't the Easter Egg hunt or even the candy, but the outside water-spouts in the childrens' area. She loved the splashing water and managed to walk away completely drenched! The weather was so warm there and it was so pleasant to not feel rushed to be anywhere or to get something done. It was very strange indeed, though, to go from 90 degree weather at 4 in the afternoon to 32 degrees that night as we refueled in Cedar City. I hope that warm weather gets here soon enough! We had so much fun Jeannie's family and can't wait to play with them again this summer!

"Water Spouts!! Aaah! Best Day Ever!!!"

"Aaaiiiie!! It almost got me!"

"Wow, that was fun! I'm getting tired and I
suppose it's good too. I suppose I'll let dad have
it easy tonight and I'll sleep the entire way."

"Well, there you have it, I loved Las Vegas!
I hope mom lets me keep that Pot-Belly Pig..."

What's It Going to Be?

2011-04-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the half way mark of the pregnancy and ready to know who we are expecting in the next 20 weeks. Since we found out that we were expecting we were leaning towards having another girl because is would just be convenient to already have the clothes from Olivia. I tried not to lean too far one way or the other because I really didn't know what to expect with this pregnancy. I'm very glad that I wasn't pushing too hard for a girl, because I'm very excited to announce:

We are having a BOY!

He is doing the same thing his sister did during her ultrasound;
he's keeping his hands by his face

We have both enjoyed getting to know our little Olivia and seeing how her own personality is developing and what things she has in common with each of us. I am getting really excited to see if this little one is going to look a lot like his dad, I've already started to think of him as a little Frank. Of course I'm also preparing myself to be worn down by him and his sister, of whom I'm sure will both have Frankie's high energy.

It is still a bit weird for me to know that I'm pregnant because half of the time I really don't feel very pregnant. Of course, I've been feeling the little guy move more and more at night, so that is bound to change soon. Along with having the ultrasound done this morning, I also took my glucose test as well. Bwagh! I know that there are women out there who don't mind the drink at all, but it makes me so queasy from all of the sugar in it. I hope that these results come back negative, but even if they do, I will have to redo this whole test again in 8 weeks. If it comes back abnormal I really don't want to do the three hour blood-test again; it is so miserable. I wish I could just ask them to assume I have diabetes, start monitoring my diet and skip the whole test all together. Is that too much to ask, really?

There you have it, the update on us, pretty exciting huh?

Who Would Have Thunk It

2011-03-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are at week 16 and the baby it still growing strong. I had my 16 week check up yesterday and had some blood drawn this afternoon (how I hate to get my blood drawn). I got to listen to the baby's heart beat and feel him/her moving around in protest to the heart monitor pushing on my belly. I was very pleased to learn that I had lost 6 pounds since my appointment 6 weeks ago. I was a little worried about my weight when I first found out I was pregnant, because I had really wanted to lose some weight before I got pregnant again. So my next option was to hope that this pregnancy would be similar to my first pregnancy, where I lost 10 pounds instead of gaining weight.

I know, who would have thought that getting pregnant would be a good diet plan. Well, honestly it isn't, but it really makes me think about really taking care of my body for my baby's sake. Plus, it really doesn't help that I started my pregnancies out being overweight. With Olivia, I managed to maintain my weight for most of my pregnancy, then I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. Because of that, I really had to watch what I was eating to make sure that there were no complications with the baby or myself. Mostly I was worried about the baby. Thankfully, I was able to keep my blood sugars under control and because of it I lost 10 pounds during the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy which put at a very healthy weight for my pregnancy. Once I had Olivia, I told myself that I was going to keep to the diet and that with nursing I would be back to the weight I was before I was married. Well, I got lazy and relied too much on the fact that I was nursing so I was already burning calories.

So, here we are with baby number two on the way, thankfully I'm not as overweight as I was when I started off my pregnancy with Olivia, but slightly overweight non-the-less. Even though it hasn't been confirmed yet that I have gestational diabetes, I am treating my body the same way. Even if I don't have gestational diabetes, which isn't likely to happen, I intend to keep going with this diet so I can be at a healthy weight when this baby arrives. And this time, I've got a head start.

Catching Up on the Ole Noodle

2011-03-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

"I figure while Mom and Dad spend their time
catching up, I'll just take a munch break and
chow down on this tasty spaghetti noodle.
Mmmm Nmmm!"

Well, it's a bit late for our holiday updates, so lets just say that we had a blast. Really, the biggest news right now is that we are expecting baby number 2 on August 30th. We were both completely shocked when we found out, because we were thinking of trying in a few months, but this baby had other plans for us. We are very excited; shocked, but excited for this new addition to our family. At my first appointment with the doctor, he said that everything was looking great and that the baby was a wiggler. I seem to remember him saying the same thing about Olivia. I am very glad to be back with Dr. Olsen, because he knows what to expect with my pregnancies. Even though I didn't feel like I had a difficult pregnancy with Olivia, I know that having gestational diabetes can be dangerous so I'm glad that he knows how to handle it and that I know how to take care of myself. Even though it doesn't tend to show up in a pregnancy until around week 28, he will be testing me at week 20 to make sure it doesn't show up earlier. Since that is the case, I will be going back on my diet now that my morning sickness is passing.

Life is moving right along for our little family. I can't tell you just how happy I am that I get to stay home with our little girl; it is such a blessing. I'm grateful that Frankie has a good job that allows him to support us. It is so much fun to stay at home to see just how fast Olivia is learning and growing. She is starting to pick up words here and there that she adds into her nonsense jabber. Slowly, but surely, her language skills are building. There is a funny little story behind her first word phrase, "get down". When Olivia started to become mobile, we had to move the cat dishes onto the table so that Olivia wouldn't eat their food out of their dish; we really didn't have any other option. So whenever we eat dinner, or any meal really, the cats try to sneak up on our food and eat it. So, we are constantly yelling at them to get down. At times we will smack the table to try and scare them down because yelling at them just doesn't work sometimes. Well, a few weeks ago Olivia and I were just playing with some of her toys in the living room, when Winston jumped up onto the cat food bin just to perch there. Olivia saw him there, stood up and practically ran toward him. When she reached the container she yelled "Get down!" and smacked the lid of the food bin. It startled Winston, so he ran off, but I just couldn't stop laughing and just couldn't wait to tell Frankie what our little girl had learned. Now whenever she sees the cats in the kitchen, she just starts to yell, "Get down!" at them regardless of where they are. She loves to play with the cats, even though they don't like it so much. She loves it whenever she can get one of the cats to chase a string or play with a stick. But she really loves it when we can get Millie to chase the laser pointer. The first time she saw Millie running around, being all crazy just made her laugh uncontrollably. We just had to capture it on camera, but are having a hard time getting it to load, so maybe next time. In the mean time, please enjoy our late, late Christmas photos and some recent photos.

"I just woke up and now I get to go see what
I got from Santa. This is sooo Awesome!!"

"It's Christmas morning and here I am, stuck waiting
for Dad to grab his camera. Oh well, I guess I'll at
least check and see if anyone called me..."

"Whooaa! This Santa-pede is enormous! I always
wanted one of these! Dad says I'll have to share it,
but I think he's just jealous. This is soo cool!"

"Hmm... It's hard to say which binkie I like more.
I mean, the pink one helps me stand out and all,
but I feel like I don't exactly need that cause
the yellow one is like, hey, look at me. I'm cool and
I can handle myself. Yeah, we'll go with the yellow one."

"Dad, it's a good thing you're the one behind the
camera cause 1) I'm the cute one who gets to open
presents here and 2) you have a booger on your face."

Olivia! The Musical

"Welcome to my first showing of 'Olivia! The Musical,
starring myself. Please no flash photography during
this unrehearsed performance and hold your applause
to the end of the show."

"da da da dummm... ping! Maa maa maa geeet
dooowwn maaaweee geeet dooowwn maaweee!!

"And now... Act 2! Now what page was it again...
This would be so much easier if I had bigger hands!"

"Hey! I said no flash photography! If you want my
signed photograph, I'll be signing albums after my show.
Now beat it! Oh, Hi Dad, it's just you!"

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T23:33:00.001-08:00

We are so excited for Christmas! It's kinda hard to say, but we are really looking forward to giving our little angel her presents and teaching her about the birth of our Savior. There is just something so special about feeling the excitement of one who is so innocent. So, to start things off right, we did our annual run through the first snow storm. To give you an idea, as our official way of ringing in the long and cold season of winter, we go out in our bare feet after the first major snowfall and we run around for a minute. Although it makes for some cold feet, it certainly adds a good laugh. Olivia even decided to turn out for this annual event, although she declined the offer to go barefoot.

Bundling up

Daddy is Nuts!

Part of our holiday tradition includes the night we get to decorate the Christmas tree. Each year, we try and pick something of a different theme, whether it's bulbs, bells, silver, or gold. It is a way of looking at the variety that Christmas brings. Last year, however, when we were poor beyond all belief, we couldn't be as original as we had hoped. So, we got to decorating the tree one evening and although we imagined gold and silver ornaments and lots of tinsel, we simply didn't have enough money to really go all-out. So we decided instead to decorate the tree with the plain and simple things in our home that made us happy. Before we knew it, we had a tree decorated with an American flag, teddy bears, cat-collars, Rubix Cubes, binkies, a mini Book of Mormon, bi-wing airplanes, and Frankie's missionary plaques. They look like such simple things but they carry so much meaning to us for one reason or another. It has since stood as a powerful reminder to us of what we are truly grateful for during this holiday season. We may not have much, but we are so lucky to have the blessings we do have.

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

Eating the chocolate Advent Calendar "num-num"

It will be fun to see how Olivia will be with opening her presents. She didn't quite understand the concept at her birthday, so hopefully she'll catch on a little more with her Christmas presents. We are trying to get a Christmas card sent out, but so far I've only been able to do hand delivered invites since I keep forgetting to go to the post office and I don't have a lot of addresses. We decided to take the pictures ourselves in front of the Christmas tree and boy did we go all-out!. We even put our red bed sheets up for a background cover and fixed the lamps in our home to provide proper lighting. The only thing we weren't prepared for was... well, Olivia's temperament. For some reason, Olivia just wasn't feeling very happy that day so what could have taken a few minutes ended up lasting the whole afternoon while our little diva got her beauty rest and a full belly. Although we didn't get as many pictures as we would have liked, we got a few good ones.

Getting her ready

Checking the lighting

And.........ACTION!

Nope not ready yet. Gimme a minute.

Ok, maybe some chocolate might do the trick...

Daddy, what did you do to this? I'm hungry! Get my agent on the phone NOW!

Yeah! Grub time!!

Now we're getting somewhere

And...... Success!!

Yay! I am sooo cute!! Merry Christmas to all of you!

She's on the Move!

2010-12-20T23:18:00.000-08:00

Well, our little girl is now on the move. We officially declared her a walker on Thanksgiving, but she didn't see the benefits of walking over crawling until last weekend. We have such a small apartment and if her toys are on the ground, she has a hard time navigating the floor, so it was just so much easier for her to crawl. But she has discovered that if she walks, she can take her toys with her. It is just so cute to see her taking her small baby steps while carrying one of her stuffed animals or her ball.

We went my my cousin Aleisha's wedding this weekend in Bountiful and Provo. She found the balloons in the ballroom, claimed one and walked around the entire evening with that balloon. It was funny to see a balloon moving along the crowd at the reception. Now she just walks around our house just holding the balloon, it is such a cute sight to see.

These are exciting times for us. I know that there are people that tell us that we will wish that she was still crawling, but I'm just so excited that she has hit this milestone in her development. She has also started to say other words other than "ma-ma and da-da". Her new word is "Hi!" she'll even say it in the same tone of voice I say hi to her in. When I walk in to her room in the morning and after naps, I'm greeted by her high pitched "Hi". She will also ask "What's this?" and say "Thank-you". She is a fast learner and gets excited for many new things.

Meet Olivia

2010-11-12T23:24:00.001-08:00

Now that we have a beautiful daughter I'm not so inclined to talk about our cats as much. Now I just can't say enough about our little Olivia. This past year has been and incredible year with adjusting to parenthood. Olivia has brought so much joy into our home and has developed quite the personality. Now that I get to stay home with her everyday, I get to see all of her little quirks start and grow. So let me introduce you to the littlest Workman; Olivia Judith Workman, she is also known as Livia, Livs, Livy, Lady Bug, Munchkin, Munch (short for Munchkin), Olive and Olly. Some of these names have been given to her by aunts and uncles, but mostly from Frankie and me.

Olivia is a very pleasant and happy baby to be around, but be aware that she is a baby who will do things her way in her own time. It took a while to learn that Olivia will go at her own pace when it comes to learning new things. From day one she has been teaching us this very thing. We thought that she would come on October 26th, the day I was induced, but no it wasn't to be she would arrive on October 27th. For weeks I tried to help her learn how to roll over, but she would have no part of it what so ever, so I gave up. Then when I least expected it, I put her on her belly and what do you know, she just flipped over with the ease of a rollover champion. It was the same thing with crawling and going down the stairs. She doesn't want to do anything until she knows that she can do it perfect. She hasn't started walking yet, even though we know she is so close, we are just waiting for that day when we just put her down and she'll start walking like a pro, she's done it with all of her other stepping stones, why not this one.
Olivia loves to be where that action is, especially if that involves the chair by the computer. No matter who is sitting in that chair, Olivia wants to be there with that person playing with the computer. Olivia has found that she still loves to play with her kick and play bouncer, just not in the same way. She loves to climb on it and bounce up and down. She has also found that it is a nice chair to lounge in and catch her breath after bouncing so much. She also loves playing in the dishwasher. The minute she hears me open that door to start loading the dishes, she is there, ready to push the bottom tray in and climb onto the door itself. She will then begin to pull out every item that is easy to pick up and pull out, mainly the silver ware and plastic bowls.

Olivia adores Millie and Winston, but they are still getting used to her noisy and very physical attention. It is funny, but Olivia's main way for showing affection to people, she learned from Millie. Because Olivia is down at the level of the cats, she learned that when Millie is being affectionate with someone, she will but her head against you. So now you can know that Olivia approves of you when she buts her head against yours. Both of the cats will take long naps up on our bed, so every now and then Olivia will climb up the stairs to find the cats on the bed. She will then give them a hug and lay her head against their side. Of course that cats don't really like this because her way of hugging the cats often ends up with them being dog piled upon by Olivia. Thankfully, if they get too much love from Olivia, they will get up and vacate the premises. One very interesting thing to note about Millie, is that she has laid claim to Olivia ever since she was a newborn. There have been times that Winston will walk by Olivia and give her a little sniff only to get wolloped upon by Millie because he dared get near her baby. She isn't a very territorial cat in our neighborhood, but if Olivia is outside playing, she will attack any cat that is within 50 feet of Olivia, even if that cat was just wandering by. Poor Winston has been the main one for those beatings.

It is so fun to just see how much of us is in Olivia, and not just in looks. Olivia has definitely inherited her dad's very out going personality. She isn't shy, although she does prefer her mommy or her daddy. She has now problem in letting herself be heard. In fact when she first found her voice, I became a little worried that she would lose her voice from all the screaming she did. It wasn't crying, it was just playing with her voice. Now she just loves to talk up a storm, even if she has food in her mouth. She is also a little daredevil and will climb on things, just like her dad. From me, she has developed a love for music and has a good feel for the beat. She loves to just dance to the music. She has also inherited the trait of talking in her sleep that all of the Wells sister do. It is just funny that in the middle of the night we will hear talking on the other end of the baby monitor. The first couple of times, we went in there only to find that she was fast asleep and talking. Now was just smile and listen as she talks.

Well I know that there are so many more things to say about our little munchkin, and I'm sure I'll write about them sometime, but for now I'll just save it for another day.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

This month has always been a very special month for our family. I guess you could say that Halloween is our family holiday. Frankie and I met at a Halloween dance and of course Olivia was born 4 days before Halloween, it is definitely a month that we hold dear to our hearts. We had so much fun dressing our little girl in her ladybug costume. She wasn't exactly as excited about it as us, but she was just so cute. Ever since she was born she has been her daddy's little ladybug, so when Halloween came around we were so excited to be able to find a little ladybug costume at the store.

On Friday Frankie's work had a little trick-or-treat activity at the office, so we dressed her up and showed her off to his co-workers. We all dressed up and had some fun together. We also took Olivia out on Saturday night for a little trick-or-treating around the neighborhood and out to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here are some pictures of our family fun.

Happy Birthday Ladybug

2010-10-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are with a one year old. Boy does the time fly by fast. We are so excited that Olivia is a Halloween baby where we get to celebrate her birthday and Halloween. Last Saturday we had a really fun party for Olivia at her grandparents house in Smithfield. All of her family from dad's side came to celebrate with us, it was so much fun to have so many people there to show how much she is loved. She also had her friends Jackson and Easton came to party too. Daddy and I decorated a Ladybug cake that we had hoped she would just rip into, but she was a little hesitant to play with the cake. We had some sugar cookies that everyone got to decorate. Overall, Olivia had a blast and absolutely loves all of her new toys that she got for her Birthday.
On her birthday, Frankie took the day off which allowed us to spend time together as a family. Because it was such a nice day we took a little outing to the temple grounds and got some fun pictures.

It's Fall

2010-10-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well here we are in the middle of the fall season. The leaves are changing colors and falling off of the trees. I love to see just how beautiful nature can be with all of her colors. Because of the upcoming holiday, Halloween, we as a family participated in our annual pumpkin carving. Frankie is very much a person who likes to tell a story with his pumpkin so we tried to find some fun carvings that went right along with us as a family. I'm sure that you'll be able to figure out the story from the pictures.

Even though Olivia didn't get to do any of the actual carving, she sure did have a fun time exploring the end results.

I love getting to stay home with our little girl, especially now that she is at such a critical learning stage in her life. She is so close to walking and is getting into everything. She loves our cats, Millie and Winston, and has even attempted to say their names a few times. Of course we have to monitor with the cats because she can get really, really physical with them and hurt them which then causes them to lash out at her. Winston is willing to put up with a lot more discomfort than Millie, but even he has reached his limit. But we have been having some success with teaching her how to be soft and to use one finger with the cats.

This past weekend we were able to go and visit with Frankie's family in Sandy. On Saturday we took a little drive to the property that his parents own in the Okur Mountains. We had a little picnic, did some crafts and went for a four wheel ride. Olivia had so much fun on the ride that she fell asleep.

Olivia's Birthday is just a week away and we are holding a birthday party for her this Saturday at her grandparents house in Smithfield. I'm excited to give her her presents so she can have some fun new toys to play with. Some of her toys are becoming to boring for her, so she finds new ways to play with them. Her old kick and play bouncer chair has now become a rocking horse for her. She loves to just climb on it and bounce and rock away. It is just so funny to watch her with it.

Learning and Growing

2010-10-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

It is just so crazy to think that at the end of this month our little baby girl will be turning one and entering the toddler stage. Olivia has just brought so much joy and laughter into our home. An update on our family; Frankie finished classes in August and is now done with his Bachelor degree. Because he is now able to work full time, I was able to quit one of my jobs and work on being a stay at home mom. Even though I really enjoyed working at LaBeau's for the past 5 1/2 years, it is nice to get to stay home with my little munchkin.

Olivia is learning and growing so fast. At her 9 month check up she was in the 84th percentile for her weight and height. Who would have thought that little Frankie and me would have such a big girl. Olivia learned how to crawl on the 4th of July and hasn't stopped moving since. We are trying to get her to learn how to walk, but she just loves crawling too much. This past month she has learned how to climb onto things, mainly our love sac. She is a fearless little devil and has to be watched all of the time. She also loves making messes, especially when I am doing laundry. When she sees a basket with something in it, she just has to pull everything out of it because the basket needs to be empty apparently. She has also recently discovered that she loves to stand up and push things around the floor. We probably should buy her a push toy, but she enjoys pushing our cooler around so much, why bother with the expense right now.

Catching up!

2010-03-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I woke up to a new sensation today. It wasn't my alarm clock waking me up as usual or the odd feeling of my cats licking my nose or hands to communicate to me their need to be fed. It was the acute sensation of having my mouth and cheek pulled apart by a baby girl exploring her surroundings. All I could do was laugh as she looked at me and smiled that big, toothless smile.

Olivia has gotten to be so big! She had her big 4 month appointment on Tuesday and the doctors pronounced her big, healthy, and happy. She weighed in at 15 pounds, 6 0z, and she was over 25 inches long. As far as passing up her dad, in terms of height, she's almost there; Only 3 feet and 6 more inches to go. She has also discovered her voice recently and man! she sure knows how to be vocal. It's quite humorous to suddenly have her start squealing and cooing in church. Sure makes going to church more fun!

Angie and I are doing great as parents. I have less than a year left of school and Angie is doing great as an assistant manager at a nearby restaurant. She gets credit for being the first person to make Olivia laugh and that doesn't bother me one bit. We have a new car now and life is going really good. Pretty cool, huh!

We're Parents!!!

2009-10-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

So, here's the scoop. Olivia Judith Workman was born on October 27th at 1:45 in the morning. As Natasha noted, she followed her dad's example of coming late, but making a big entrance. She had no complications exiting the womb and within minutes found herself bonding with mom for her first feeding. She was 7 lbs, 2 oz, and measured in at 19 inches long. She's now a bit more than a day old and she is absolutely beautiful. When asked how she felt, Angie replied "It's such a surreal feeling to finally be holding her in my arms. She's my little angel and I love her so much. It's so exciting!!" Frankie's response was, well, definitely Frankie, "I'm just glad she wasn't a fugly baby." After taking a slight beating from his wife for that remark, he indicated that Olivia is quite honestly a miracle. She represents absolute goodness and we know that she will be a happy child that will bring joy to her parents and anyone she comes in contact with.

On the 26th, we called the hospital at just before 6:00 am to see what time would be good to come in for the induction and were told to report there at 7:15 am. After reporting, getting checked in, and Angie getting all changed out and ready, she was induced just before 8:30 am. The contractions began within minutes and we were hopeful that she might be quick. By 12:30 however, she still hadn't shown any major progress with her contractions and her cervix was at a solid 2, so Dr. Olsen came and broke her water at 12:30 pm. When her water was broken, there was a considerable amount of mecosium (the baby's first bowel movement) present in the liquid, which could be a potential risk if Olivia inhaled it on her first breath. Dr. Olsen was superb at reading the signs and had Deanna, Angie's nurse, double-check the inventory to ensure that they would be ready with suction bubbles and pumps for Olivia.

At around 2:15 pm the contractions started to get much stronger and more painful. At one point, Angie hit a solid 8 on the pain scale. At 3:00 pm Deanna and Dr. Mortenson (Junior) gave her the epidural. At 4:00, Deanna measured Angie's cervix again. The measurement indicated that she had progressed to a 3+, so all we had to do was wait. Angie progressed a bit slower than normal, but she had no complications and Olivia's vitals indicated that she wasn't under any stress. By 6:00 she was at a 4+ and by 8:00 she had gotten to a 6. By 9:00 she was at a 7 and by midnight she was at a solid 9. At 12:30 am she was pronounced fully dilated and Anngee (yup, that's what her name-tag read), her new nurse, put Angie on rest and descent to prepare for the pushing. At 1:00 am, Angie began the grueling task of pushing, but Olivia crowned so quickly that she had to be stopped so Anngee could page Dr. Olsen. Dr. Olsen was in by 1:30 am and within 15 minutes, Olivia was out. She had no complications during birth and Dr. Olsen did a great job ensuring that her first breaths were clean. Pretty cool huh!

Lets Begin the Countdown

2009-10-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

It seems like it was only last month that we were finding out for the first time that we were going to be having a little girl and now we are 6 days away from meeting her now. Today I had an appointment with my doctor and was told that because of my gestational diabetes he wanted to induce me at 39 weeks. I couldn't believe how excited I was when I first heard that. But now I'm still excited, but I'm also nervous that the time is finally here. So much is going to change in our daily lives and it scares me just a little, but I'm still so very excited to meet my little girl, Olivia.

It's about time!

2009-10-11T22:20:00.001-07:00

So we have finally decided that we need to stay more current on our blogspot. Ok, so here's the scoop: Angie is now officially getting ready to pop out her first baby. The baby's name is going to be Olivia Judith Workman and it is already evident that she is definitely a wiggle-worm. She is being called Olivia in honor of olives and Judith in honor of Frankie's mother, Judy. Sources say that this baby has been over 3 years in the making. A close friend to Frank and Angie notes that Angie is going to be relieved to finally have this pregnancy over with. Other sources confirm that Frankie is very anxious to become a dad and can't wait to start teaching his little girl the how-to-always-remain-a-kid techniques as soon as possible. Angie recently acknowledged that she actually had a kid about 4 1/2 years ago when she consented to marry this guy and is now ready to take on the challenge of 2. All we can say is it's gonna be one crazy ride for the both of them. Do you think she's up to it? Write Away right away.

My Moped Vs The Oncoming Car... Guess who lost?

2009-04-23T17:13:00.001-07:00

So if you haven't really heard anything about me and this particular accident I was involved in, I'll make brief mention of it. Back in September of 2008, I was involved in a fairly serious accident that nearly claimed my life. By all odds, it probably should have. I was going about 40 down the road near USU campus when an oncoming car made an abrupt left turn without looking. I went face-first right into his front frame and shattered everything from my eye-brows down to my lower jaw. I had dozens of fractures in my face and nose and had to be Life-Flighted down to Ogden from Logan for immediate medical treatment. The accident was so severe that I had to be given a tracheotomy to breathe and I spent about 5 hours in surgery and a total of 10 days in the hospital. Of all the things I remember, I know that my stay would have probably been longer had it not been for my wife and the support of my family and friends. Angie never really left my side from the time of the accident and my family was there to see me every day that I was in the hospital. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family that was there to remind me yet again that they're always gonna back me up. It's so hard to believe that I came that close to losing more than just a few teeth. Day to day life is a bit different now from what it used to be, but I know that somehow, as long as I stay true to my ideals, I'll somehow be looked out for.

In Memory of President Weipert

2009-01-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, January 28, my former mission president passed away after a diagnosis of cancer took a turn for the worst. President Jim Weipert was a Spiritual Giant with an enormous heart and a love for the Lord Jesus Christ. He will long be remembered for his sense of laughter his deep sincerity and the work he dedicated himself and his family to those years on the other side of heaven in Paraguay.

When he became president, I only had about 2 transfers before I was about to finish up my service there. I quickly grew to like him because of his sincerity, but more particularly because he knew how to make us laugh. I found out from one of the elders that worked in the office that they regularly had to keep their eyes open whenever they were in the office because you'd never know when Pte Weipert would come in and go on a shooting rampage. To get back at him, the office Elders would take his ties and hide them from him... usually by wearing them around him until he figured out where his ties were missing. He knew how to have fun, but he also knew how to work and how to motivate the Elders to work and never stop learning, especially how to love the gospel they taught. More particularly, he helped me realize that if I knew my or our decisions were truly influenced by the Holy Ghost, that I should never need to question that judgement. He helped me to be very strong in my confidence and I am grateful to him for that.

Hesukristo resurreccion rupive jajuhechata jeyta ha jajukuta! Thanks to Christ, We will be Together again to renew those good times. Thanks President Weipert

Hey, It's Us!!

2008-10-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

So here's the scoop on me and Angie. Angie and I met on October 29, 2004, just a bit more than a month after I returned from my mission. Ya know when you see something you like and you just know that it is gonna be perfect for you for, like, forever? Well, that is what dating and falling in love with Angie was like. She has always been my very best friend from the first time we started dating. I gotta hand it to her, though. Just what on earth was she thinking in taking a chance on a guy like me?! I'm amazed at how lucky I am to have such a wonderful friend and companion by my side, through thick and thin. Not a day goes by where we don't end up laughing with or at one another. She's a talented musician who has helped me to listen to the music all around me and discover the music of the heart. I love her with all of my heart and I am so grateful to know that I may have her for eternity. She's definitely worth it.

Man, I love my family!!

2008-10-08T09:58:00.001-07:00

So here's the original Team. Mom and Dad adopted me and my little sister when we were little kids and since our adoption, we have been well received and well cared for by the coolest big sister in the entire world. That's the One, the Only, Natasha Alisa Workman Nielsen. She's been married for almost 12 years now and has an awesome husband named Keven (that's right, sis, I still remember how to spell your name and his too... Boo yeah!!) 4 of the craziest and most hilarious kids in the entire world. My younger sister, Andrea was married a month before us to a man that puts a capital "E" in Extreme. Her husband, Jason, has been able to excel in paintballing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and now rock-climbing. Jason is a huge example of just living life. Andrea, my little sister is probably the most genuine and loving girl I could know and call my sister. She just had her first child not too long ago and I gotta hand it to her and her husband: they made a cute kid. Dad is a sermon in a sentance kind of guy. Everything I am, I am because of him. He's an outstanding man with a heart of gold. My mom is probably the most generous person I have ever known. Growing up, she always made sure we had everything we wanted and she has always been so good to us as a mother and a loyal friend. So that's My Family!!!