Darrin and I were fortunate enough to take 2 weeks off at Christmas time. We decided to spend the whole time in Utah with Darrin's family. I have to say it was so nice to have Darrin help me get used to having two kids at home. Of course, it was nice having all of the help from family. Thanks!!!! I had a great time in Utah and realized how much I think Utah is my home town just like Idaho. I miss being so close to family. Over Christmas Grandma Craner was able to hang out there the whole Christmas holiday. That was only the second time meeting her, I have a hard time talking and feeling comfortable around others I don't know, but she was great to talk too. She has such a great personality and she is funny. I loved getting to know my Grandma better. Anyone who knows me knows I love hearing stories from their live, she had tons. I was in heaven.

Here is Ethan, he is now the youngest of the Craner Clan so he played baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.

Posted in: 2009, colby, craners, ethan, holidays, us on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 at 2 comments  

I am happy to announce the arrival of Ethan Gabriel Craner. He arrived Friday the 4th at 6:15 a.m.

My Story;
I went to the hospital on the 3rd READY to be induced. They got me right in and hooked me up to the monitors, once monitored for an hour the charts showed I was already having contractions. ( I just thought it was braxton hicks) The doctor decided to start with the cervadel instead of using pitosin. Once they started the gel I would have to wait 12 hours then they were going to do another 12 hour round if nothing happened and then the pitosin. I was not so happy about going this route. I wanted my baby that day. By 9 that night my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and still little progress. Finally at about midnight my contractions were really hurting and when they checked I was still not dilated or effaced. By this point I was not in a good mood, I was in a ton of pain and they wouldn't give me an epidural until I was a 3. I spent the next three hours crying and praying that I would be dilated. Finally 3 am rolled around and my prayers were answered I was at lucky number 3. I was than wheeled into the nice spacious delivery room, the room we were in should be called a closet. At this point I was in a ton of pain, throwing up and waiting on my epidural. A little after 4 he arrived, I was nervous because they make the husbands leave during the procedure, I would have liked to have Darrin by my side to help calm me down during my contractions. That needle is a little nerve racking. After the anesthesiologist finished I told the nurse I was feeling tons of pressure and that she should have another look. I was an 8! I knew I should have received my drugs sooner! After that the nurse barely had enough time to get Darrin back to my room and get my room ready.
I was happy with the delivery, everything went quite smoothly. This labor was a hundred times better. I am currently enjoying my mommy and husband who are taking great care of myself, the baby and Colby.  




Taking him home from the hospital, hey I could walk easier after this one!
The day we got home from the hospital, Colby was all smiles for his new baby brother!

Posted in: colby, darrin, ethan, riss on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 12 comments  

 He is so tiny in his car seat. It is amazing how much smaller my babies are when I am induced a little early. He actually fit in newborn for a few weeks. Colby skipped this stage. I am also amazed at how good my recovery is going. With Colby I couldn't even walk for a few weeks after, everything hurt and I sat on a doughnut for a month! No joke. I was walking around the day I had him. I love having a nice, normal recovery.

Ethan is home. Colby has been great with Ethan and is immediately in love with him and wants to be best friends.

Posted in: 2009, ethan, riss, us on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 0 comments  

 Second time around. Since my first delivery was so crazy and scary the doctor decided it best to induce me early. I was induced 10 days early. When I arrived they said I could choose pitocin or cervagel, they said I was already having little contractions so they told me it would be faster if I tried cervagel. Not true, and because I went that route I couldn't get pitocin for 24 hours and no epidural when I wanted. Grrrr! I wish my doctor was there but Kaiser is kind of a joke. I was hooked up and relaxed until about 8 that night. The pain started getting really bad and I was not allowed to get an epidural until I dialated to a 4. If my doctor was there I should have had one, but no luck. I don't understand why I can't get an epidural when the pain gets really bad. Other woman are dialated super fast and get drugs right away and don't feel anything. I dialate from a 2-10 in like an hour. Yes, hours before I am dialated I am in strong labor and get nothing because I am not dialated. So stupid! Yes, that is my opinion. Finally by about one in the morning I told them if they can't give me an epidural then they better get me something else. They did and it did not help much but it helped a little. The pain was really bad by 5 am and they checked me and I was finally a 4. They moved me to a labor room and Darrin had to leave the room for the epidural, yeah Kaiser is weird. The nurse wasn't being all that nice because by this point I was almost crying the pain was so bad and I kept telling the nurse that she needs to check me because I knew I was then at a 9 or 10. I am sure the nurse did only to amuse me, assuming I would be wrong. I was right! I had the epidural in for a good 5 minutes and the nurse told me not to do anything as she went looking for the doctor. Ethan was born a little bit later. I was extremely happy that Ethan came out healthy. I would have preferred drugs longer but everything went smoothly. Still a great improvement from my first delivery and am extremely happy Ethan is healthy and there were no complications! 

Posted in: 2009, ethan, riss on Friday, December 4, 2009 at 0 comments  

This is our first Christmas tree! This might sound a little silly but seeing our tree decorated makes me feel like Darrin and I are more of a family. It is fun starting our own family traditions. I had a great time today decorating the tree with my hubby.

Posted in: 2009, christmas, darrin, holidays, riss, us on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 5 comments  

Yeah! I thought this day would never come fast enough but it has finally arrived. My Ob Doc finally was able to give me an official Induction date- December 3!!!! I knew from the beginning that I would be scheduled for an early induction but my doctor has never given me an official okay until today. I feel so relieved and happy right now. I will be able to be induced a week early which will be much needed. My last ultrasound showed that Ethan was already 6 1/2 pounds so by the time I get induced I should have a 7 1/2 -8 pound bundle of joy. A much more manageable size. I am so ready to be done with being pregnant. I respect all girls who can have multiple pregnancy's in a row. This one has finished me, I am exhausted and can't wait not to be pregnant. I will take having two kids close together any day of the week than being pregnant. SO EXCITED! The end is finally insight. Yeah!

Posted in: 2009, ethan, riss on Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 4 comments  

 Most of the Craners came to California to go to Disneyland and finally go to the beach. They normally only go to Disneyland but I told them they are all crazy and need to go to a beach! :) I don't think they loved it but they were good sports about me dragging them down to the sand, salty air and the ocean. Colby and I love the beach!






I forgot his bathing suit but he had a great time, I am sure everyone loved it, saggy diaper and all!

Posted in: 2009, colby, craners, darrin, riss, us on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 0 comments  

Darrin's family has been in town the last few weekends visiting Disneyland, oh wait I mean us. JK. I am impressed at how much we were able to see them during there down time from Disney. We had a great time being able to see family and hanging out with the Craner clan.
The Craners are Disney experts and little did I know but Disneyland has Trick or treating at California Adventure. They close down the park and have Trick or Treat booths throughout the park, it is also nice because no one is there except the people who bought the special Halloween tickets. It was super enjoyable. I thought that it would be fun but Colby wouldn't really understand, oh let me tell you. He is way smarter than I thought. He knew exactly what to do, he loved holding his trick or treat bag and going around getting candy. He had a blast. Darrin and I had a great time watching him. He is just so dang cute in his little monkey costume.

Posted in: 2009, colby, craners, darrin, riss on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 4 comments  

We headed down to our friends house to watch the BYU game only to find out that it wasn't on the satellite, we decided to go swimming instead. We all had a blast. I was impressed at how much Darrin enjoyed playing in the sand:)

Posted in: 2009, colby, darrin, riss, us on at 3 comments  

So, while in Boise, I discovered that your mother is needed at all times during pregnancy. With hormones galore I should have just stayed up there the last 4 months of pregnancy. I should say if crazy pregnancy hormones were rated on a scale of 1-10 I think I would have been a 10 or even an 11. With that said I am now for the most part a 5, so doing much better. I do have new found respect for anyone that lives away from family or their mommy especially during pregnancy or just raising little kids. I will say crying helps because then my parents get to see me more. :) Haha.
I had a blast in Boise. Good thing I am pregnant because all of my mom's wonderful cooking and my favorite joints to eat at did not help the scale much but of course well worth every bite. Yum, Yum. Colby and I had a blast getting spoiled and loved every second of it.



Colby was able to play in the cockpit on our flight home. He loved pretend flying. The captain was super nice and was letting him hit buttons that made missile sounds and lots of cool things like that.

Posted in: 2009, colby, millers, riss on at 3 comments  

I love to decorate and am so excited to get great pictures and keep adding. Here is the start of the boys room.

Posted in: 2009, home project on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 0 comments  

Darrin is a crazy Diet Mountain Dew fan. He is a horrible influence and I am now on the band wagon. :) There was a crazy awesome sale and since California is more expensive with a crv tax and pricing... we could not resist.

Welcome to our Mountain of Dew

We went around every store in Rancho, in one night, and loaded up!!

Posted in: 2009, darrin, riss, us on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 0 comments  

These pictures describe our little guy the best. He just loves to chow down. Food, food and yep more food. I seriously can't believe how much this kid can keep down. I don't know how we will afford this kid and Ethan. How did Penny and Greg do it with all those boys?

After he loves his yummy food, he must sleep.

Posted in: 2009, colby on Monday, September 7, 2009 at 7 comments  

Moving to California has been a great experience for me and a really tough one. I have always lived with or close to family. I was so comfortable always relying on family that I never had to reach far from my comfort zone. When I moved here everything changed. I knew I wouldn't have any family and that it was going to be rough. Luckily we stayed with a great family until we found an apartment which put us into a great ward. I don't think I could have made it here this long without the ward that we have. The girls in my ward have been so great. It is becoming our California family. I have never been the outgoing type or comfortable calling others to hang out but the friends I have made in the ward have made it so easy and they all have been so sweet. It can get lonely talking to a toddler all day- it has been so nice to have park day, hang out, do activities together and trade babysitting or for dates. Just want to say thanks for making a really tough situation easier.

P.S. This message does not mean that blood related family should feel like they are getting off the hook. I love visitors. Please come visit! We miss u! Honestly- how can you turn a face like that down?

Here we are at Huntington watching the awesome bike show, these guys are all crazy good. Huntington Beach always has the funnest events all year long. We first watched a surf competition from the pier. Gotta love the beach!

Posted in: 2009, colby, darrin, riss, us on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 4 comments