JORI LYNN...COMING IN JULY!!!

So I decided I better get on here and officially write about the fact that we are expecting our second little girl in July!! She's gonna see this blog one day and think we didn't love her! But we do! After another long two years of trying, I was shocked to find out I was pregnant back in October. And I'll admit, before finding out she was a girl, I was sorta hoping to have a boy so we'd have one of each. But now I am sooo happy she's a girl!!! I love that Haylee will have a sister! We can't wait to meet the little munchkin!

HALLOWEEN!!

This is our Relief Society presidency minus Rachelle, our beautiful secretary at our ward Trunk-or-Treat! Everyone seemed a bit confused when they saw our booth, but quickly relaxed when they realized we were giving out Hershey's Kisses!:)
My parents were in town so they joined us at the Trunk-or-Treat.
Haylee wasn't too sure of the whole "face paint" idea, but we told her it was funny and then she liked it. Every time she saw a witch anywhere she'd say,"It has a green face like Mommy!"
Halloween was so much more fun this year with Haylee. She understood and recognized Halloween stuff everywhere we went! We did Halloween crafts all month to get in the spirit! It's so fun having a 3 year old for the holidays!

TRIATHLONS!!!

I am so dang behind on this blog, it's not even funny! Yes, we are still alive and well!:) And now I can officially say I have completed FOUR triathlons!! This top picture is from the Tri in the Pines in Show Low, AZ. We did this one in August. It was HORRIBLE!! It's amazing what a difference the altitude creates! I almost got hit by a car on the bike course and after being grateful that I wasn't, I immediately wished I had been hit so that I would have been put out of my misery! But hey, I did it!
This is after finishing the Las Palomas Tri in Rocky Point, Mexico. We did this one in April. It was a blast! It was open water swim in the ocean and the waves were bad this year, but it was still so fun! I actually enjoyed this tri!

Cameron and I went to St. George in September and completed the Kokopelli Tri at Sand Hollow. There are no pictures because we went by ourselves and were too busy setting up and getting ready to take pictures! I loved the swim in the reservoir (I always love the swim--it's my favorite event) but hated the rest of the dang tri! They have this hill on the bike course that is UNREAL!!! It almost killed me! I'm so happy Cameron and I have this hobby together. We can't wait until Haylee is old enough to participate!

EASTER 2010!!!

See? This is what happens when you don't blog very often...you forget which order to upload your pictures!! So....going backwards here...we came to Snowflake for Easter weekend. This is Haylee after finding all the eggs the "Easter Bunny" had hid for her! It was so fun that she understood the idea a little better this year.:) She was pretty proud of herself! And if you're thinkin' there's candy in each of those eggs, you are wrong. Fruit snacks! She LOOOVES fruit snacks these days!:)
This was definitely one of those occasions I had been dreaming of before Haylee blessed our home. I dreamed of hiding the eggs, surprising her with an Easter basket, etc. It's all the little things you can't wait for! And Haylee doesn't disappoint! She is so animated about EVERYTHING these days! She literally got excited about EVERY SINGLE EGG she found!:)
On the drive to Snowflake on Saturday morning, we stopped by the family picnic in Show Low with Cameron's side of the family. It was so fun (even though the wind was SUPER annoying...have I ever mentioned how much I hate wind? It's pointless!) to see everyone and to have Haylee participated in the Easter egg hunt!
She needed a little help from Dad to get to the eggs before the older kids got to 'em! Hey, those short little legs can only go so fast...I KNOW!!!
Anywhere there's a playground, Haylee is in heaven! Luckily, we have an awesome park right by our house! There were other things we didn't get pics of this weekend (we were having too much fun to stop and take pics!)--while Cameron, my dad and his dad went to the Priesthood session of General Conference, Penny (Cam's mom) came over to my parents' house and colored Easter eggs with Haylee, then we had dinner when the boys got home. On Sunday afternoon, we drove over to Winslow to have dinner at my Aunt Rozella and Uncle Leo's home. It was so much fun to see all the cousins (minus little Eme, who needs to remain as "germ-free" as possible!) again! The food was AMAZING, as usual at that house! And my cousin Amanda put together ANOTHER egg hunt, including baskets for all the kiddos! Love her!!:) So yes, Haylee had THREE egg hunts in two days! Score!! Overall, it really was a great weekend!

TRIPLE THE FUN!!!

Through the technology of in vitro fertilization, our great friends Jose and Christy are expecting TRIPLETS at the end of May/beginning of June!!! Two girls and one boy! As you can imagine, NOBODY is ever ready for triplets! I'd like to ease their burden just a little by collecting whatever "baby items" I can for them. This is where all of you come in! Do you have any baby/ kid clothes, toys, books, blankets, shoes, bouncers, movies, Boppies, etc. that you are done with and could donate to them? I will come get it from you at your convenience! You can either leave a comment here, email me at bethanycomerford@yahoo.com, or call or text me! Thank you so much!!!

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

I've always been a pretty open person. With me, pretty much what you see is what you get. I really don't mind talking openly about issues that others may tend to keep private. A lot of that stems from the belief that I have that we are all here to learn from each other. Anyone who really knows me, knows that it took us four years to get pregnant with Haylee. Then we conceived her all on our own after 4 failed artificial inseminations and the first half of in vitro treatment. In that time, I had three surgeries (2 laparoscopies to laser out endometriosis and 1 uterine polypectomy) that I feel helped our odds (especially the polyp removal). Today the realization hit me that we may be re-entering that grueling world of infertility. This time the name has changed. It's called "secondary infertility". It means we were able to have one child, but have not yet been able to conceive another. We are at the very beginning of the road, having tried for a year with no luck.

I LOVE talking about infertility with anyone who will listen. I feel that it's not just those people going through it that need advice or support. Many times, the families and friends of those dealing with infertility have no idea how to navigate through conversation or support of their loved ones. I know of two great websites that help both the infertile and their friends and family. If you are going through infertility or know someone who is (that's all of you), please take a minute and check these sites out. And please let me know if I can offer any support-this is my new passion...:)

www.2ofus4now.org

ldsinfertility.blogspot.com (this one is put together by an LDS woman dealing with infertility)

ACHIEVING A GOAL...

So you might be wondering why I'm posting an old picture of Cameron in a wetsuit...well, the next time you see a picture like this, we BOTH will be wearing wetsuits! Sexy, I know!! Two years ago this coming May, I set a goal to do the Las Palomas Triathlon in Rocky Point, Mexico. Last year, Cameron did it for the first time. On April 24th, 2010 I will achieve that goal I set! It will be my second triathlon and my first open-water swim triathlon! It seems so crazy for me to say that! A friend of ours will be doing the run portion of the triathlon for me since I have done something to my shoulder (it hurts when I run, but is just fine when I swim...weird) and I hate running. Still, I will be participating in that triathlon! I am so excited! Guess I better start training, huh???

WHAT A DECADE!!!!

I'm stealing this post idea from a great friend/former mission companion! This past decade, 2000-2010 has been an amazing one for me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that it will probably be the most eventful one of my life. Who else can say THAT???

On May 3rd, 2000 I entered the Missionary Training Center for 2 months, then flew to the Dominican Republic (on the 4th of July, ironically). I was there for the next 16 months where I became fluent in "Dominican spanish" ( a whole lot different than regular spanish you learn in school!), learned to love merengue, platanos fritos, la bandera, and Dominicans. During that time, Cameron and I got to know each other a lot better through letters. I've said before that about halfway through our missions, we knew we were going to end up together, although we never discussed it during the missions.

I returned home in November of 2001, waited for Cameron's return in March of 2002, and we were sealed in the Mesa Temple July 6, 2002. I really did marry my very best friend that day. We got to travel back to my mission and to other great places to visit friends and family before Haylee came along. In December of the year we were married, we began trying to have a child. That struggle would challenge us for the next four years. We went through fertility treatment, considered adopting, and eventually almost went through with in vitro. In January of 2007 we learned that I was pregnant! I will never forget that day. It was a Sunday. I had taken 2 pregnancy tests in the weeks prior to that day that both came back negative. That Sunday I took the last one and decided that whatever it said must be true and I would accept it and move on. When it said "pregnant", I about lost it! I ran to Cameron, who was still sleeping and said, "Look!!!", holding the test in front of him. In that moment, all the cute, clever ways of telling our families that we were expecting went right out the window! We called everyone right then, at like 8am! Sitting in church that day was the best day ever. We had the happiest secret EVER and we were on cloud 9!!

September 28, 2007 will be one of the happiest days of my life. At 8:48am, not only was I done with a 24 hour long labor experience ending in c-section, but I was given the most beautiful, perfect little girl in the whole world, Haylee Brynn. I was finally a mom. My dream had come true. There are definitely challenging moments in the life of a mom, but I wouldn't trade ANY of the ones that I've had in the past 2 years. I adore Haylee and love learning about the world all over again through her little eyes. I love her personality--independent, funny, intelligent, etc. I love watching the joy and happiness that she brings into the lives of our friends and family. She is definitely a charmer, just like her dad.

This HAS been quite the decade for me. It definitely hasn't all been roses, but it sure has been eventful! I even did a triathalon!! I remember just after we were married, a friend of mine did a triathalon and I thought she was crazy. I wondered how that was humanly possible! Then I learned: you just keep training. I feel so blessed to have the husband I have, the little girl I have and all the other blessings I have in my life. I am so blessed...:) Who knows what the next decade has in store....

Bethany's first triathlon!

Cameron here. I had to post about what a bad@$$ my wife is. She completed her first sprint triathlon in Casa Grande a few weeks ago. I'm so proud of her! She has worked so hard and about three weeks before the race, got really sick and had to take two weeks off. And since you don't want to work too hard the week before the race, she hardly got in any training the few weeks before. I would have drowned on the first lap in the pool if I had to take that time off! She did great and kicked my butt in the pool as usual. Our friend Kristin also did her first one with us and did a great job as well. Here are some pics from the day-

Up early, ready to roll

Just before the start

In transition-

Great job honey! I'm so proud of you!

Even Haylee got in on the fun-

SCHNEPF FARMS!!

Last Friday night we took Haylee out to Schnepf Farms. She LOVES pumpkins right now and we knew she'd be thrilled to see all the pumpkins out there! It was such a fun night with her--she really is at such a fun age right now.

They have a little area you can feed goats and she LOVED it! I honestly think she thought they were just a bunch of dogs like Buster. There was no fear whatsoever!

This was the funniest part of the evening!! Haylee and I got in line to ride the Bumble Bee ride and I could tell she was gettin' a bit nervous about what we were about to do. Before it even started she was clinging to me and wouldn't let go of my hand! As it started I decided to sing Happy Birthday to her (her current favorite song) and she sang along. Then I told her how great she was doing and I said, "Go Haylee!", so she started saying, "Go Haylee!" Even though she was very ready to get off when the ride was over, she was a trooper and was so brave!:) I just LOVE her face in this picture!

Cameron and I were talking about how big Haylee looks in this picture--she looks so much older! The best part of this picture is that posing on the pumpkin was her idea! When Cameron told her to smile, she was standing behind the pumpkins. She quickly ran around in front of them, sat down and smiled for the camera! She makes us laugh every single day.:)

SO PROUD...

I just had to take a second and brag a little about my little girl.:) Sacrament meeting can always be a challenge for parents of little children. I mean, really, who wants to sit there for over an hour trying to be quiet while being confined in between two benches that are taller than you?? Not any two year olds that I know of! Cameron is the Young Men's pres in our ward so he always has to help bless the sacrament, which means it's me and Haylee for the first part of sacrament meeting. Yesterday as soon as the opening hymn began, she opened the hymn book (to the wrong page--but hey, she's 2), sat it on her lap right next to me and tried so hard to sing along for the WHOLE song! As soon as the song ended, she closed her book, handed it to me to put away, and folded her arms and bowed her head. I had to peek during the prayer to catch this special moment that made me soooo happy to be her mom. She kept her arms folded and head bowed during the ENTIRE prayer and when it was over she said, "Amen." Does it get any better than that??? I just wanted to jump up (totally irreverent) and burst out how proud I was of Haylee!! This girl never ceases to amaze me.:) I feel so blessed...

And yes, I know that by posting this, I am gauranteeing myself a total hellion in our next child!!!

"Tick o teet!!!"

Last night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat! It was Haylee's first experience with trick-or-treating and she did awesome! She was dressed as a Punk Rock Princess and her costume was a hit! She did great while I got her all dressed up, but when she saw herself in the mirror I think it really caught her off-guard!:)

So you wouldn't think that lookin' at pics of this little misfit would make me emotional, but I gotta say, last night was a special night for me. Halloween is such a "kid" holiday, and when we couldn't have kids for those four long years, it was another sore spot that made me wonder if I'd ever have a kid to take trick-or-treating and to dress up. As I walked around the parking lot with Haylee last night, I was just on cloud nine! Finally, my own little girl to dress up and take trick-or-treating! I'm grateful for the experience the infertility has given me--especially thankful that I don't take these special times for granted...:)

Happy 29th Birthday, Cameron!!!

Yeah, he's probably gonna hate me for posting this picture, again.:) While lookin' for a picture to post for his birthday, I decided to go with one that sums Cameron up pretty well. No, he doesn't wear tight clothing daily. But this picture shows one of my favorite traits about Cameron--his sense of humor: one of the MAIN reasons I married him. My mom always told me to marry someone who makes me laugh. Cameron has been makin' me laugh since the night I met him. If you missed the Rocky Point triathlon post, this was the shirt they gave him by mistake--they thought Cameron was a girl's name in this case. Luckily, before he exchanged this shirt for the men's shirt, he let me take a picture! I will forever be grateful!!:)

Cameron really is the best husband out there. He'll do ANYTHING for me!! I could brag that I have done an exceptional job in training him, but honestly, he came this way. He is a giver. He is a peacemaker, which, trust me, he needs to be in order to be married to me! He is so quick to forgive my faults and annoying habits. He compliments me DAILY on everything from how I look to how hard I worked out at the gym. He is always encouraging me in my goals and cheering me on in my endeavors. Right now, he is my triathlon coach and I couldn't ask for a better one. Cameron is just one of those people that makes you feel better about yourself just by being around him. When it comes to being a father....wow. He's a pro. And he's been a pro since day one--changing the really gross first diapers while I was out cold after my c-section. Haylee adores her daddy and gets soooo excited to see him every time he comes out of his office (in our house!). She will always know how beautiful and special she is because her daddy tells her every day. He really is the best daddy. Cameron has been an awesome provider for our family, too. I remember last year when his business was almost non-existent. He IMMEDIATELY went out and got two paper routes to make sure we had SOME type of income. I know I will NEVER have to worry about our financial situation as long as Cameron is here. Basically, I just really love this guy. He's the best...and he's my best friend.:) Happy birthday, sweetie.:)

If you would, leave a memory you have of Cameron as a comment!! We would love to read them! Thank you!!!:)

Am I really gonna do this???

Well, it sure seems that way! As the little blinky thing to the right implies, I AM training for my first triathlon! Cameron has now done four, so I figured I ought to do one at least! I'm going to do the Casa Grande Triathlon on November 7th. In all fairness, it is a shorter one, so I thought it would be perfect for me to start with.

Most people would consider the swimming to be the hardest part of a triathlon, but not me. I LOVE swimming! I remember when I first began learning to REALLY swim laps (the right way!) I thought, "There is NO way I'm ever gonna be able to be a swimmer!" But now? I could swim laps all day! The part that worries me the most? The running. Yup, I said it. My knee has been crappy for a couple years now. I did physical therapy for it, lost some weight, got a sweet knee brace and it has gotten better. But I have not run a long distance for a LONG time cuz I didn't want my knee to flare up. So now I am back into building up my endurance and hoping I'm ready by November 7th. I do have a backup plan though--her name is Brittney and she is wiling to do the last leg of the triathlon for me (the run). How awesome it that??:) Thank you, Brittney! But hopefully I won't even need ya!

As far as the biking goes...our good friend Molly let me borrow her bike for this triathlon (thanks Molly!) and I'll be honest, last Saturday was my first time on a road bike! Whoa! It was waaay different from any other bike I've been on! I almost fell over trying to switch gears! But once I got the hang of it, I LOVED it!:) Now Cam is lookin' for a bike for me!:) I really wish we would have gotten into triathlons BEFORE Haylee came along! I was in way better shape and we wouldn't have had to get a sitter every time we wanted to go riding together! Oh well, at least we'll be teaching her good habits about exercise! In Show Low they have a kids version of a triathlon that one day Haylee can be a part of! How cute is that??:)

Well, wish me luck! And pray I don't pass out and die!!!:)

The Dora Birthday Party!!

Here sits the birthday girl herself! Haylee LOVES Dora (or as she says "Dooora") right now! So we decided to go with that idea for the birthday. A couple weeks ago, I found a lady on Craigslist selling her daughter's Dora stuff for super cheap, so I got it all! This chair is one of the items I got (along with another pink plastic chair) and she LOVES them! She moves them all around the house now and for some reason she has to have them side-by-side ALL THE TIME (um...OCD???)!

We decided to mix the joy of cake and ice cream and went with the Baskin Robbins ice cream cake! Once again, Dora themed!I'm sure Halyee was wonderin', "What kind of toy is that??" when she saw the cake! She loved it!
Haylee did so good opening her presents! She would open it, study it for a second, then put it aside to open another gift. We're not sure what was up with the tongue hangin' out of her mouth...probably too much quality time spent with Buster...

My parents got her this birthday card that plays "Itsy Bitsy Spider" when you open it. Yeah, they really could have saved the money they spent on her gifts and she'd have been just as happy with that card!
One gift Haylee got was a lifesize Dora doll! We've decided we don't need to have any more kids cuz now Haylee has a friend! She spends all day putting Dora in the chair next to her and talking to her! Today I caught her putting her toy phone up to Dora's ear (which, by the way, Dora doesn't even have!) and telling Dora to say something into the phone! Hilarious!

This is happiness.:) Haylee did wonderfully during her party! There were no tears, no meltdowns, no tantrums! It was a success! She made sure to thank all her guests before they left and I'm pretty sure each of them got a "big hug".:) Man, I love this girl so much!:)

Haylee's Two Years Old!!!

It's true, two years ago yesterday, Haylee finally made me what I had always dreamed of being: a mom.:) It's hard to put into words how complete I feel finally having her. I finally feel like I am doing what I was born to do. It was a long, hard road we went down until we had Haylee, but every single step, every heartache, every let-down was soooo worth it. She is an AMAZING little girl.:) If it's not in the cards for us to have anymore children, I will forever feel blessed by being given such a perfect little daughter. I love having this blog so I can record all these little things about Haylee.

At this point in her life, Haylee is VERY independent. I have already accepted the fact that she and I will butt heads A LOT while she is growing up. But I love that sense of confidence she has. I love that when we leave her ANYWHERE (gym daycare, nursery, with a babysitter, etc.) she waves to us and says, "See ya later guys!" I love that we can communicate with her now and have little conversations. The other night she was eating dinner in her high chair and she was telling Cameron that she wanted down so she could play with her new toys. He told her that she had to eat her food first and then she could get down. She said, "Okay" and finished eating. Easy as that.:) I feel very blessed that I can take her to run any errand I may have and know that there will be no tantrums or crying. Haylee just really isn't into that. She knows what she wants, and will express that, but if we say no, she may try to cry, but she just seems to know it's not worth her time or energy (probably cuz it never changes the outcome anyway!). I love that Haylee talks so much. She really is my little "parrot", repeating whatever I say. I know everyone thinks their kid is brilliant and I'm not claiming that Haylee is advanced, but she just seems to grasp things so quickly and so well. She counts to 15 now and has for about 4 months. She says her ABC's, she says prayers every night, and she has lots of songs memorized already. I am just so entertained by her every day. She is hilarious and loves to make people laugh. She invented her own little "goofy walk" a while ago that I need to add to the blog. It is so funny!! I am so blessed to have this special little person in my life.:) I love you, Haylee Brynn.:)

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND!

Okay, these pics are backward...again and I don't really feel like rearranging them, so just go with me on this one! For the 4th of July weekend we went up to Snowflake/Show Low. Small towns are the best for the 4th! My mom set up a little play pool in her backyard that Haylee LOVED!!! But she kinda looks like Thing 1 or Thing 2 in this pic...scary!
On Monday Cameron went golfing with my nephews Austin (in red) and Weston (in blue). They're both way talented when it comes to sports--it was so fun to have them here for a couple weeks--they're hilarious!! I'm sad they don't live closer...:(

"Ms. Independent"--goofiest pic ever!:) Haylee had like four 4th of July outfits! So we had to wear them the whole weekend--this was her Sunday dress.:)

Chillin' at the parade in Show Low!

Daddy and Haylee at the parade. Lots of things made loud noise during the parade, so Haylee chose to stay close to Daddy to be safe. Smart girl!

RANDOM CUTENESS...

We've been takin' Haylee to the Tempe Town Lake splash park this summer and it was fun the first time. Notice in this pic that you can't see the splash park...that's because Haylee loves running up and down the hill NEXT to the splash park instead of playing in the water...but she is one hot chic in that suit!!!:)

Isn't this what we all do while waiting for the doctor to come in? Haylee had a little bout of the flu for a couple days and it took me back to her newborn phase with all the projectile vomiting. Sure don't miss those days!

Cam took these two pics at our gym daycare--so funny! They have this big thing for kids to climb in and she was lovin' it! My favorite is the smashed nose!!!

Haylee and her shades...she loves wearing them!