Sunday, December 21, 2008

Welcome to the world Ariana Noelle


Ariana Noelle Lampano born 12/21/2008 at 3:09 am. SHE is 7 lbs 10 oz and 19.5 inches tall.


Friday, December 5, 2008

And the good news is...

I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday and learned that I am already 1 1/2 cent. dialated!! WAHOO! I also got to see my little squished baby. He/she looks a lot like elijah...chubby cheeks and all!

In the ultrasound we also learned that the baby is BREACH!!! Thats right, baby lampano has decided to come out butt first. From now on, baby will be known as shamu.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

December is here

It is hard to believe that December is actually here. I am so excited to bring in the holiday season. Eli is finally old enough to understand/get excited about santa claus, the christmas trees, decorations, etc. Not to mention--it is a great opportunity to teach him about the nativity story.

okay...and with december comes the birth of baby #2 (hopefully). Soon my family will be a little larger and definately more chaotic!! Aaron and I are making the final arrangements for the delivery while attempting to prepare elijah for "big brother day." Big brother day will be a celebration (with cake and goodies) for elijah on the day that the baby is born.

I am feeling a little anxious, excited, nervous, terrified, etc. for this new arrival. I am so excited to finally meet this new little spirit that has been taking residence inside my belly for the last 9 months. But...I am nervous about the adjustment to two children. AND the delivery of this baby. I just hope/pray that everything will be smooth and complication free.

Wish us luck!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Elijah's morning routine


He get to watch cartoons in the morning...(Today was Shrek)


If you look past Eli you can barely see him horsey, fishy, doggie, and balloon. How could anyone watch morning cartoons without their precious "fishy?"

Here he his pulling himself away from Shrek long enough to look at the camera.




Here is the beautiful tummy... (6 weeks before babies arrival)



ok...not my best picture but it WAS almost midnight. Just try to focus on the tummy, NOT on my yucky appearence.


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Elijah is Two Years Old



Well, it is official, Elijah is now two years old! Never did I think that this day would come so quickly (and I have a new one on the brink of arrival...) Time sure does fly when you are having fun!

To celebrate Eli's B-day, Aaron and I took him out to see Madagascar 2. It was so much fun! Eli, geared up with popcorn, stayed in his seat the whole time, and only turned around twice to talk to the people around him.


Then we took him to Red Robin to enjoy all of the greasy goodness!! He enjoyed a dinner of chicken tenders, french fries, mozz. sticks, and soda! (Good parenting huh?!) And to top off the birthday goodness, the red robin gang sang him the famous happy birthday song. (He was only a little scared for this)

Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH! We Love you!


Monday, October 27, 2008

New Elijah Pics

If you would like to check out Elijah's newest pictures... go to the following website:
http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/pn/tpp/home

E-mail address: rlampano@comcast.net
Password: elijah01

Thursday, October 2, 2008

WHAT!!!???

WHAT!!? 89 days to go? I could have sworn that I had at least 100 days before this baby is "supposed" to be born. I mean, sure...the stomach IS getting bigger and I might be down to my "every 2 weeks" check-ups with my doctor but... 89 days!! COME ON!!

No really, I am very excited that the baby #2 will be joining my family in the next 3-ish months. I just have SOOO much to do before it comes. I don't even have a name picked out. Aaron and I can't really agree on anything yet and... HOW are you supposed to choose names when you don't even know the gender. (Maybe we should just call it #2...that is not gender specific AT ALL!)

Any suggestions?

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ode to Daddys everywhere

There is something special about the days Daddy stays home with Elijah. When I come back there is always something different about the way that he looks.....a new sparkle in his eye maybe?

Or the look of a baby celebrity..."too cool for mommy?"



Maybe it is the fact that he has grown up a little during the 2-3 hours of my absence...?


Or could it possible be the fact that daddy dresses him in TOO SMALL bat pants with an ALSO TOO SMALL truck hoodie? LOOK AT THAT OUTFIT!!! Way to go daddy! We love you!



Sunday, September 7, 2008

Check out my new slideshow pics!












AND... some random pics of a trip to the zoo.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Toddler bed sleeping, prayer saying Elijah

I am so proud of Elijah....and amazed at how quickly he is growing. He really is a big boy now!!

In my efforts to get ready for baby #2, I decided it was time to get Eli adjusted to sleeping in a big boy bed. So we went to goodwill and found a really cute IKEA bed for $7, bought new big boy bedding (including the ever-cool pillow) and changed the room around to make a special "eli space" After everything was set up--I tried naptime in the bed (VERY SUCCESSFUL), and then bedtime. To my surprise, the transition to the new bed was very smooth. Elijah LOVES his new bed!! It is very cute...

One a new note....Eli has begun talking LIKE CRAZY! He copies everything that we say, and he is pretty good at saying most of it. With this I thought, "Oh wouldn't it be fun if he could say his own prayers!" So we tried. I tell him what to say, and Elijah copies me (in his very proud "big boy voice") He is so proud of himself for saying his own prayers. He smiles BIG everytime that we finish. Good Job Eli!

It occured to me the other day, that I am not recording this new pregnancy as well as I should be. With Eli, I had a special "belly book" to record my thoughts/changes, AND I always knew exactly how far along I was, the growth of the baby etc... With this one, NOTHING! Poor baby #2... With that said, let me record a few of my thoughts.

I am officially (almost) 23 weeks pregnant. We have had our ultrasound and still do not know the sex of the baby--although my "mother instinct" is saying a....Girl? I say this because there are a lot of real differences between this baby and Elijah. This baby moves around quite a bit (especially at night), my cravings are very different, and I am carrying this one differently. (higher? lower? I can't remember...) As far as names are concerned, nothing really set yet. I like the name Ava Corene if it is a girl, aaron likes Leonitus if it is a boy. Needless to say, no agreement on the name. Any suggestions?

I love being pregnant, and I feel great. To tell you the truth, aside from getting bigger every second, I forget that I am pregnant...until the baby moves or I have to pee.

Monday, August 25, 2008

International Kite Festival


We headed to Long Beach over the weekend to attend the International Kite Festival. WOW! What a cool event! (Aside from the LONG drive...) I have never seen so many kites in my life AND the variety/size of the kites was amazing. One gentleman was flying 3 fighter plane kites simultaneously. It looked like the real thing--he could do some neat tricks.
Aside from the kites, there were the normal coast activities available--horses, sand, waves, sun, etc. Elijah had so much fun playing in the water. He would grab a handful of sand/mud, run as fast as he could to the nearest wave and throw it in, then he would quickly run away from the water (to avoid getting swallowed by the BIG waves). He has also recently discovered the joys of running fast. So Eli loved just running on the sand (chasing grandma/grandpa).
With his current fascination of horses and riding them, we took him to the look at the horses. The owner was nice enough to bring out a small horse (or mule...) named 'Cody." Eli got to sit on the horse and pet him. It was very cool! Next time, we will do pony rides...


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Elijah's modeling at its best

























Elijah "cheesing" for the camera



Saturday, August 16, 2008

Back from Texas and ready to blog!

Stay tuned for an exciting post about my texas trip....

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Good Laugh!!

I got this as a forward from my aunt. If you have already seen it...sorry. I guess that you will have to laugh your way through it again.

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall. (By Shannon Popkin)

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library,the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask himto turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called,so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening,this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall: "Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on DA toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonnago stinkies on the potty?" At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued, "Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh ... Mommy!I'm trying to see in dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl,Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!" I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to! divert him, I said, "Why don't you lookin Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy We'll both have some!" "No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!" He started to gag at this point. "Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy,doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!" As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone. "Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!" He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I couldhear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count thefeet outside my door. "Oh, are you wooking underdere, Mommy? You wooking under DA door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?" More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation. "Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now,Mommy." He started pounding on the door. "Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!" I saw that my "wait 'em out" plan was unraveling I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, "Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?" But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids ,Michigan , where she no longer uses public restroom

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Calling all POTENTIAL sax/flute/string students...!

For those of you who have been dying for some private instruction on the saxophone, flute, or strings your prayers have been answered!!! Beginning August 1, 2008 I, (a certified music instructor), will being moving into a studio space at Mill Music in Lynnwood to teach private lessons. Do not wait! Reserve your space today by calling me at 360-820-1430. (all ages/ability levels welcome) Remember, It is never too early OR late to learn an instrument!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Do you ever just wake up cranky?

Alright I admit....I did stay up pretty late last night playing video games. (well one game in particular) AND I was forced to sleep on the wrong side of the bed due to aaron already sleeping ON MY SIDE!!! I guess it is just going to be one of those days. Maybe I should lock myself in the bathroom, take a llloooonnnngggg bubble bath, do a little reading, and shave my legs. Wouldn't that be great!? If only I wasn't a stay at home mom "forced" to clean house, cook food, take care of the baby...etc. So much to do, so little time!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Please don't abandon my blog...I promise that I will write!

While I have been silently making blog posts in my mind...unfortunatly those posts did not make it to this page. I apologize and promise to recommit. I swear I have a good excuse though....I have been insanely busy, out of town, tired, pregnant, mother to a toddler, etc....

Without recaping all of the news thoughout the last month, let me touch on a couple of exciting new changes in my life. First of all: I have officially survived the first trimester!! (**heroic music ringing in the background) I am currently 16 weeks pregnant (I think) and due to have baby number two on December 30, 2008. To make this the ultimate Christmas gift, Aaron and I have decided not to find out the sex of the baby until the big day. So, send in your votes and together we can await the arrival of baby BOY OR GIRL Lampano.

Next: WE GOT A NEW CAR!!!! WAHOO!!!! WIPEE!!! HORRAY!!!!! Aaron and I are finally retiring the "hand me down minivan" given to us by the in-laws. On Monday we purchased a Chrysler Town and Country LIMITED edition. This car has all the bells and whistles: heated heats, remote everything, rear climate controls, built-in latch system for the car seats, leather interior, captain seats, etc...
The best part is this: the KBB value on this car is$10,000-$11,000 but aaron and I paid a happy $7500! The car is in great condition (engine included) and we are feeling really blessed to have found such a deal.

Finally, Aaron, Elijah, Baxter, and I went on a really fun camping trip to Deception Pass Last week. Without going into too much details I will say it was very fun! Eli was great and the weather was awesome! Pictures of this trip can be found on the right side of the blog in a slideshow.

One last thought/question: I am thinking about beginning the potty training (I shouldn't ignore Eli's cues any longer) any suggestions???

Monday, June 2, 2008

Indoor Camping

Elijah loves to play in tunnels! We have one of those "play tunnels" and Eli will always pull it out and say, "tunnel?" I will then ask if he wants to play in his tunnel and he will respond with a very energetic "YES!"

While playing with his tunnel this afternoon, I got the idea of pulling out our tent and playing with it in the living room. Needless to say a very cool idea...and Eli loved it! This then progressed into pulling out the flashlights to make shadow puppets, attaching the tunnel to the tent, and even making smores. Such a fun afternoon!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Life in "Lampano Land"

Being a teacher--I am lucky enough to bring home germs, germs, and more germs. While I try to avoid it as best I can, I still manage to bring the "yucky" home which occassionally results in sick.

Well, we got sick--all of us. It started with the stomach flu (me--of course) and migrated to strep throat (aaron) and ended with a nasty, nasty head cold (elijah/me) Boy o' boy! When the sickness begins it is not fun. I feel as though we have been living in a daze for the past couple of weeks just trying to keep our heads above water.

And wouldn't you know, aaron missed a full week of work (he claims he is going to become domestic now. A "stay at home dad") Elijah missed a bunch of days with the babysitter (sorry sara) and I was left working over-time trying to get my elementary students ready for their final orchestra concert. No longer did a routine exist in our house--chaos...ALL CHAOS!

I am happy to say that we survived! And what did I learn?

1) Aaron is an incredible dad/husband. He is so supportive to me. House cleaning, taking care of Elijah, shopping, laundry, etc can sometimes be overwhelming especially when I am sick. For a number of days, I was forced to lie in my bed, lights out with nothing but tylenol at my side. I was a little worried about how the "house" was going to survive without me but I trusted aaron and his ability as a father. He treats Eli well. They did not spend every moment watching tv, eating candy (I think) and in the end, Elijah was taken care of, the laundry was done (sort of) and there was food in the cupboards. (aaron is a really good cook). This was a HUGE burden lifted off of me while I was trying to get better.

2) Prayers are awesome! Sometimes Eli has a difficult time sleeping--whether it be bad dreams, or sickness. There was a couple of nights when I found myself rocking Eli in his bedroom trying to calm him down. I remembered what my mom used to do for me when I was a little girl. She would hold me close and say a prayer to Heavenly Father on my behalf. I tried this with Eli. I told him that I was going to say a prayer (and explained to him how Heavenly Father would help him) and then I held him close and said a prayer on his behalf. It was amazing to me how quickly Elijah's mood changed following the prayer. He calmed down very quickly and within minutes he was ready to lie back down in his own bed to go to sleep. WAHOO!!

3) A little sleep does wonders! Taking naps can save you!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My baby hates me!

As some of you know, I am expecting another baby on 12/20/2008. While this is very exciting and planned... (sort of) I think that my unborn child hates me. See, with Elijah I did not have any "morning sickness" instead I had what I called a fat schedule meaning that as long as I kept food on my stomach I was okay. Not much nausea and no yucky vomiting.

Well, this baby has taken my happy fat schedule and turned it into a yucky, roller coaster feeling, nausea that (while not causing the throwing up part) makes me tired, cranky, and hating food. I feel like I want to cry/scream all of the time and unless food is placed in front of me--and shoved down my throat the thought of it makes me sad...AHHHH!!! How do I make my baby love me and not make me sick?! I promise I will provide a good uterus for the next few months...I promise....!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

First real attempt at FHE in the Lampano Household...

Now, I know that we have been asked to have Family Home Evening with our families once a week--regardless of if children are present, etc. But well, aaron and I just never got real good at doing it. He is a convert and did not grow up with that tradition and well...I don't remember doing it on a regular basis either (maybe we did and I just blocked it out)

But....with Elijah finally in nursery (a post that was supposed to happen) I realized that it would be good for us to do FHE in an effort to "train" eli for his future in sunday school classes. Right now, nursery is going great...except for lesson time where he just looses it. In his defense, if I was 18 months old, I am not sure I would want to sit still to listen to somebody reading out of a book with NO PICTURES!!!

Well, tonight we did it!! WAHOO LAMPANO FAMILY!!! WAHOO!! We had our good sit down dinner, then elijah and daddy went to bathtime while I cleaned the kitchen and then FHE. It started out GREAT! We said our prayer (which eli is getting real good at), sang songs, (also another eli.ah plus) and then came the lesson. It was almost as if he could feel it coming. The lesson I chose was about how we are made in the image of God. I started by having eli show me where all of his parts are, he seemed really excited--next I asked aaron to read one verse in the scriptures--this is where eli lost it! aaron quickly read the scripture and then I continued on with the lesson. I tried every trick in the book to keep him interested in what I was saying but, he was not going to have it. I quickly finished the lesson and then moved onto the activity. For the activity I decided Eli would have fun tracing his hand and writing a cute little message (with mommy's help of course) Just like i thought, he loved it. We did his hand, and then daddys, and then attempted mine. it was about this point that eli realized that he wanted ALL of the "colors" so in true 18th month old fashion he threw an ENORMOUS TANTRUM!

Well, tantrums do not work for mommy, so I set him down and told him that we would wait until he was all done with his tantrum and then we would finish FHE. He cried and cried--I sang happy hymns, and aaron kept making fun of the snot hanging out of his eli's nose.

I am happy to say that eventually the tantrum ended and we we able to finish the pictures, hang them up on the fridge and eat our treats but--whoa--who would have thought that FHE could be so dramatic!! WOW!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Teaching music can be frustrating

While I mostly enjoy teaching orchestra, there are those days....!?!? I teach orchestra at the elementary and middle school levels. Most of my frustration comes from teaching in the elementary schools. Orchestra class for them is held 2 days a week for 30 minutes! In this time I am supposed teach 11/12 year olds the fundamental of playing an instrument, reading music, composers, musical terms, rhythm reading, etc. IF all of my students attended every rehearsal AND brought their instrument/book all the time then this would be almost manageable. Unfortunately, my attendance is awful!! Students come to orchestra when they feel like it (despite my unfailing efforts) so I am forced to teach and reteach the same materials over and over and over and over.....AHHHH!!!

If I had it my way things would be different...its too bad that music is no longer a priorty at the elementary level. Students should not be forced to choose between recess and playing an instruement.

Oh well...

Thursday, April 24, 2008


I am soooooo tired! Friday will not come soon enough...

Saturday, April 19, 2008

out is sickness, in with the crazies!!

I am happy to say that the sickness is officially out of my house! WAHOO!! With that being said, I think that eli is making up for lost "crazy time" He is giggly, wiggly, and crazy ALL THE TIME.... I love it!

Tonight we went to a spring social at church. Eli, in his sneaky ways, walked up to the food table and snagged a toquito. Once the food was in his posession he waltzed around the room, food in hand, and danced with it, talked to it, etc--as if to say...."nothing can stop me now...I can reach anything in this room...ITS ALL MINE!!" Very cute!

On a separate note, I found out this afternoon that my grandmother has to move from her apartment into a nursing home due to some medical problems. While normally this is not something to be too worried about, I think that my grandmother is lonely--and this breaks my heart. She has family around her (in utah) but with the loss of my grandfather she spends quite a bit of time by herself. And now that she is having to move away from her home--I am afraid that she will feel sad...
I wish that I were closer, so that I could drop by occassionally to keep her company. I feel helpless here--a phone call can only do so much. Maybe I will put together a package with goodies, pictures, crossword puzzels, etc.............I will definately keep her in my prayers...

Thursday, April 17, 2008

too much to do and not enough stickers to go around...

I have come to the conclusion that women (mommies?) need more hours in the day and more hands to accomplish all that needs to get done.

I feel like every morning I am waking up with the "to-list" and somehow between working, taking care of eli, cleaning the house, running errands, cooking, walking the dog... my list remains untouched. Aaron and I purchased our condo last year (LAST YEAR!!??) and there are so many little projects that I would like to complete around the house to make it better: paint the bathroom, redo elijahs room into "big boy room" repaint doors that are supposed to be white, finish putting pictures up around the house, organize kitchen cabinets... (and the list goes on and on and on and on.....) It feels like I do not get anything done!! AHHH!!!

okay with that said, I will move on to a proud moment! After weighing in at weightwatchers yesterday I have officially lost 18.2 pounds and 10% of my starting weight! WAHOO!!! What a proud moment to step and the scale and to have lost that kind of weight in 12 weeks. I never thought that would happen (and I can't believe that 12 weeks ago I was walking around with that much extra weight around my bootie) Wish me luck...I hope to continue on my weight loss journey, until I am am pregnant, and to eventually loose an additional 14 pounds.

Until next time...

Friday, April 11, 2008

Here Goes....

Well, I have finally decided to join the rest of the world and blog!! Wahoo!!
While it has taken some time to begin to create my page I am a little excited about the possibility of releasing some of my thought into cyberspace.

One thought came to me as I was beginning to update my profile. The title "ABOUT ME" was given and with that I was supposed create 1-2 short paragraphs that would best describe me. One thought came to mind...WOW!! I don't know if I am the only person totally overwhelmed with that feeling or if it is natural for someone to type and erase a bunch of times in an attempt write information about themselves. I didn't know where to start....should I start at the beginning with my youth (because that is afterall where my personality was molded) or do I explain my current situation? Am I supposed to discuss my profession? My mommy status? My relationship with my husband? My schooling? (Because all of that really expresses me...) WOW!! I guess that I will continue to think on the statement "ABOUT ME" and hopefully a more detailed description will be provided at a later date.

My poor son..... Elijah woke up this morning with a temperature. Not a high one--but enough to make him feel sicky. As a result, my day was spent attempting to communicate with him to find the best way to make him feel better. I never realized how difficult it could be for a 17 month old to communicate with a mommy who doesn't speak baby. I would give him something that I thought was appropriate and then he would whine and shake his head until I grabbed the right item. (if I found the right item) The most difficult part of our afternoon was when he got super tired. Eli is not one who will fall asleep in your arms while watching a movie. He has to be put in bed with the light off. Unfortunately, he didn't want me to leave his side. So as I would even walk toward his bedroom he would scream. (breaking my heart) and then I would walk to the couch and try to bribe him with finding nemo (which I watched at least 3 times today) and he would cry some more because he was so tired...

Poor Elijah....

Alright, my bed is calling me.