Lucy and Lucy?

So yesterday I was watching my friends little girls.  Ally and Lucy.  Here are Lucy and Lucy playing with each other.  My Lucy is two months old (in pink).  Lucy R.  is 6 months old (in yellow).  They can't do much as far as play dates go but they are becoming friends fast.

Lucy!

Lately I have been trying to get Lucy smiling on camera. It is a lot harder than it sounds, but these are the best ones so far.

Lucy has been a great baby. She has been sleeping almost the entire night through already. 9:00 ish to 5:30/6:00. It has been great because I am getting sleep. She is still tiny though. 2 months old and still fits in her newborn size clothes. I have started to put her in the 0-3 month onesies. She is getting so grown up it is amazing. She prefers to stand when being held and can stand when leaning on something. She makes spit bubbles like no tomorrow and drowls worse than a puppy on a hot day! She is getting really good at making noises too. Here are some videos we have captured of her.

This is Lucy after a nap. I like this time with her.

Lucy with the hiccups and trying to make noises.

Lucy in the mornings is such a nice wake up.

This is Lucy's attempt to sit up.

Lucy's assisted standing.

Lucy has been a bundle of joy since she got here. She is getting more fun everyday!

Videos from the fair.

Here are some videos from the fair. Watch what you would like. For the most part they are all under a minute. There are also plenty more to come.

Fried Cheese Cake


Butter Art


Mustang Saleen


1,ooo lbs Pig!

More Videos

Halo Helmet--Just for you Ethan!


An award winning sheep--he washed his hands before he got with in 10 feet of Lucy.


Big Tex


Really Cool, Really Large Pumpkins


Listen for Dave's laugh it is the best part of the tilt-a-whirl ride

Damian Way

Highlights:
• We put an offer down on a home in Richardson and it’s only the second best offer
• First place offer backs out, but we find major flaws in the house, we back out
• The seller wants to fix up the house and claims our agents soured the deal
• All repairs are done and seller lowers the price for us
• The house doesn’t appraise and we lose it a third and final time

As some of you are aware, Dianna and I have been in the process of buying a home. It has been quite the experience, one that has taught us a few life lessons.

We began looking at home in the Richardson area soon after Lucy was born. After about 15 homes, we decided that the first home we saw, 1709 Damian Way, was just what we were looking for. We put an offer down after a second visit, but it turned out to be only the second highest offer. Too bad. We decided to move on and continue our search, plus were really in no hurry.

A week later we get a call from our realtor telling us the first offer had backed out. Perfect! A few days later, however, we found out from our inspector that the house had problems. It had a lot of cosmetic updates, but the roof and plumbing were in bad shape. We contacted the seller’s agent and he brushed off our requests, as if to say “we have two other offers, we don’t need to help you at all.” So sadly, we had lost the house a second time (as well as a big chunk of money for inspections and other fees, phooey!).

Then…. Yes, then…. The seller calls and tells me our realtor’s got in a tiffy and caused the deal to go south. He was really interested in making the repairs to sell us the house! We felt sick to our stomachs. I only agreed to give it another shot if he would discount the original price, and if we kept the realtor’s in the background. He enthusiastically agreed.

The seller fixed everything we asked him to. A total of 63 items, including the roof and plumbing!

Seven days before closing, we get a call from the bank’s appraiser, “I can’t justify appraising this home for more than X.” X being over $30,000 LESS than the sales price! WHAAT?!?! As inconceivable as this sounded, we discovered, there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t assign a different appraiser because the type of loan we were getting specifies that you can’t change appraisers. The seller had two other offers to choose from, so he wouldn’t logically lower the price of the house. This is all despite the report from our agent (Big Grrrr!) saying the house was worth $20,000 MORE than the sales price and GEICO’s report saying the minimum insurance amount to rebuild was $50,000 MORE than the sales price. Everyone had a theory about why it didn’t appraise, but it didn’t matter to us anymore, we threw in the towel.

I called the seller and we ended on very friendly terms. Without our realtors in the way, we actually built a good, business relationship. That guy was great; he even bought little teddy bears for the ceiling fan in Lucy’s room! I could tell he even wanted to sell us the house, but he understood our exhausted and beaten emotions couldn’t take anymore. So someone else will get a great house in perfect condition (just as long as they can get it appraised).

We would like to feel that we learned a thing or two during this process, and that it happened for some reason. We learned about everything there is to know about real estate contracts and the real estate process. I even learned how to be an agent there for a while. We learned that it’s worth it to keep your integrity and having good business relationships is superior to “using and abusing” people for your own ends. We also learned that the Lord has other plans for us and maybe he wanted to teach us some patience too (although that is never fun to admit). We still have faith that in the future we will find another place to call home.

Halloween

This was Lucy's first halloween. She was the perfect kitten. All she did was sleep and eat like real cats do. I have had these masks forever and finally decided to use them. I know they are a little scary but it went with the theme of animals.

We had to get a picture of her rear because it is the cutest tail and bow!

Fear in the Office

Wow, as soon as I announce my promotion, Highland is forced to lay people off. Having just received a promotion, I quickly learned that there was more going on behind the scenes.
My new boss called my whole group (about 30 people) into the big break room downstairs, closed the door, and said “if you are in this room right now, you still have a job. The people you do not see in the room, from our group, are being let go as we speak. We will stay in here until they gather their things and leave the building.” …. Whoa….breathe….breathe….breathe. That could have been the most terrifying experience I will ever have. Knock on wood.

As soon as Todd and I were allowed to return to our desks, we realized, collectively, that those not in our new group might have also been let go. We immediately began to check our office’s instant messenger and sure enough, people slowly start to gray out. (I know, how dramatic right?! I am being dead serious, this really happened.) Well, obviously, having come from our old group not 24 hours before then, we started to monitor the list of our old group. Our boss was the first to go, followed by two others. Now, putting 2+2 together, we realize that we were promoted rather hastily, and together, because they had plans to eliminate most of our old group! It went from ten with us, to just five and no boss. Wow. WOW. WOW!

I can only be grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to hang on to my job this long during our economy’s time of struggle. It also makes me glad to have a testimony of following the Prophets and the counsel we have received: to live within our means, save for a rainy day, have a year’s supply of food, and to have faith and hope for the best.

Dave's First Promotion!

Dave was promoted from Financial Operations Associate to Hedge Fund Accountant. He got an increase in hours along with his increase in pay. I won’t be seeing Dave for 60 hours a week now instead of 50. Hopefully the sacrifice will pay off, and Dave will be able to get up early enough (about the same time I am feeding Lucy's early morning meal) to still be home at a decent hour! Good luck.  The best part of being promoted, for Dave, was that he was promoted with his friend Todd. They were originally trying to fill only one spot, but Highland liked them enough to take both of them! Todd found out four days before Dave, and Highland didn’t tell him that both were being promoted. This was the same weekend as the blessing so the whole time Todd felt guilty.  Poor Todd! That made the team meeting announcement a much better surprise though. Congratulations!

Lots of Visitors

What a fun weekend! The whole family came down for Baby Lucy’s blessing on October 19th. And when I say the whole family, I mean Brent, Rejane, Dad, Kristy, Mom, Steve, Kathy A., Gary, Melissa C., Peter, Katy, Julie, Evan, and David M. Yep, that is 14 people, and none of them came from closer than Salt Lake City. What an amazing family we have!
Activities over the weekend included (more blog posts are to follow):
• BYU vs. TCU Football Game
• The Texas State Fair
• Spring Creek BBQ
• Rock Band
• The baby blessing
• Lots of trips to the airport
• Lots of hanging out with Lucy!

A special note to the Archibalds: thanks for putting up with the craziness of Crest/Broughton/Martinez bunch!

Baby Blessing

Dave didn’t drop Lucy! Other than that fear being conquered, there was a very nice blessing given to Lucy. In the circle with Dave was Dad, Brent, Steve B., Kerry, Evan, Peter M, Spencer, Todd, and Jed. Dave blessed Lucy to know God’s love and be able to share it with others, to honor and draw strength from her covenants, and to have good health. It was a very spiritual experience for everyone.

Dave Passed FAR

The CPA exam has dominated most of my life since leaving BYU. It is that big, daunting, ultimate task for accountants in order to really start their career. It took over a year, two additional college courses, lots of paperwork, over two months of prep coursework, and a lot of anxiety to finally be able to sit for the first of four CPA exam sections: Financial (FAR). It took much more than that to actually get a passing grade

About two weeks before sitting for the test I became overwhelmed with discouragement and fear. I had a nine month pregnant wife, a 50+ hour work week, and all the other little things that added to the pile on my shoulders. I finally broke down and said to Dianna, “I just can’t do this, I have to give up.” I can say that for the first time in my life, I really gave up on something important. Sad, right? I know!

The day came for me to actually take the test. I asked Dianna if I should even bother going. Without a hint of judgment or condescension in her voice she said “it will be a good experience, even if you don’t pass. Just go do your best.” Thank you, Dianna, for being a wonderful wife. I began the test and to my surprise I still recognized most of the topics! I didn’t feel like I was answering them all correctly, but I wasn’t lost. I reached the final 30% of the exam: the written section. In this part you are given two topics from the hundreds of topics available. I’d say I know four or five topics really well, even from before I started preparing for the exam. To my astonishment, both topics on the test were from that short list of four or five I knew well. I finished the written section thinking I hadn’t missed a single point. “Darn, if I had only studied a little more I would have done better on the multiple choice. What a blown opportunity! Oh well, I can’t be mad. I will just try again later on down the road.”

A few weeks later my buddy Todd, who had taken a section of the exam around when I did, asked me if I had checked my score. I hadn’t. A few days later I had gotten to work real early, before anyone else in my department even. I took a moment to check my score. “I got a 75, I passed. I PASSED! I GOT A 75! ….” I was speechless. I looked around, then back at the computer, then down at my desk and just cried. I had never felt a “tender mercy” of that magnitude before and I may never again.

From the beginning I had asked the Lord for help in my prayers. When I first realized it was going to be really difficult (pretty early on), I prayed the way I prayed on my mission, “Heavenly Father, I will do my best and I will put the rest in your hands.” Even when I was overwhelmed at the end, I told Heavenly Father “I really tried my best, I just couldn’t do it all.” The Lord was okay with that though. He didn’t want me to do it all, or be perfect, He just wanted my best.

Fun with Daddy

This is how Dave spends his evenings after work.

It was the calm before the storm and I'm not talking about Lucy.

Dave's version of play time. Eat Lucy!

I think she fought back pretty well.


Daddy daughter moments are fun. I recommend them.

More videos

This is a video if me holding Lucy just after she was cleaned up. The other video is of Dave holding her for the first time. I know neither are funny, but they are very sweet moments I don't want to forget.

Video

I finally figured out how to post videos and pull them from our camera. This is from when we were in the hospital the first night.

Lucy Goosey!!

More pictures-because we never have enough!!

This is Lucy debating whether or not she wants to wake up.

Shall we dance?

Megan and Lucy.  Megan is great and has a little brother on the way, so this was good practice for her!

Auntie Melissa and baby Lucy!

Auntie Katy and baby Lucy!

More pictures will come, I promise.

Round 2

Back by popular demand, the one and only, the three-day life veteran, the reigning world champion of cute....
Lucy Renee Crest
3 days eyes closed, 2 hours eyes open. Hours spent taking pictures - 2.
Nice to hold you in my ARMS.
Lucy the break dancer. Pose!
Another Cougar.... FIRST DOWN! Raaarrararar!
Oh stop! Snap!
Happy mom-visiting-grandchild = happy memories.
Put up them dukes! I'll fight you daddy!!
3 days of sleep, about 2 hours of work. Not bad.
Nice tie daddy. (My interpretation).
Left to right, Dianna, Lucy, Dave (passing the wave-shoulder dance on), Rejane (Dianna's Mom from New Jersey)

Lucy Renee Crest

Here are the long awaited (27 hrs 41 min) pictures of Lucy.
Disclaimer: I filmed most of the action on my video camera, so the still shots below aren't the best. I will post video clips and better stills later.

This may seem silly, but I included this picture just to show that the day Lucy was born was by far, the most beautiful day with the biggest, bluest skies, we have had all year. =)

YM Camp Out

The weekend after returning from Puerto Rico, we had an overnight campout planned for our YM (I am the second counselor in the YMs for those of you who don't know.)  We only did a night;s worth of camping for a few reasons, (1) Dianna is 9 months pregnant (it was only 25 miles from Dallas, but still), (2) It was the first time our deacon, Dima, had been camping, and (3) it was the first time either Spencer or I had ever been camping as leaders (we were just as scared, if not more, than Dima-I'm sure).  It turned out great and we had a lot of fun!.  Dima got half of his tenderfoot knocked out and a few Duty to God goals taken care of with this one trip.  Friday night when we arrived we made dinner, set up camp, read some of the Joseph Smith history for a spiritual thought, and went night swimming in the lake.  Saturday Dima cooked breakfast, learned to tie the knots necessary to pitch an old-school tent, went on a hike, went swimming again, and struck camp.  Here are a few pictures of out campsite and our two YM, Bryce and Dima, being Bryce and Dima.  I hope we get to a lot more of these trips!

Dave's Business Trip

As many of you know, I recently went on a company trip to Puerto Rico.  It kind of had the appearance of a vacation, but wasn't really.  Being "forced" to go on a company retreat can only be so much a vacation, especially when leaving a 9 month pregnant wife in Dallas!  Still, what could I really complain about?  It was an all-expense paid trip to a gorgeous, tropical, island resort.  It's just a good thing (BLESSING) that Lucy is still in the oven.  Here are some of the pictures of the resort, El Conquistador:

This is a picture of a wild iguana I found on the resort's own private island.  The island is about 3/4 of a mile from the resort, a quick boat ride.  The coastline of the resort on he mainland was actually used as a marina.  The private island was for sun bathing, beach volleyball, etc.  We rented it Thursday night for a luau and friday afternoon for company olympics ( I am now realizing I should have taken more pictures).

These are my Mormon buddies at Highland.  We didn't drink yet by the way we are acting goofy here I wonder if anyone could tell.  It's the MM, "Mormon Mafia"  for those of you who haven't ever seen the hand signs before.  Silly.

Anniversary

Dave and I had our 3 year anniversary yesterday and it was fantastic.  Dave wanted to do something special because it is our last one before Lucy arrives.  So he surprised me by taking the day off from work and spending time with me.  Which is the best!  Early in the morning he got up like he was going to work, but really went out and got flowers and breakfast from Panera Bread.  We then had breakfast in bed and did a comp evaluation.  (this is when you make a list of 7 things your companion is good at or does, etc)  We also exchanged gifts, he got me some Godiva chocolates--yummy!  I got him the mp3 player he has be dying to get because it will also play videos.  After that we played rockband.  

When it was time for lunch he took me to a New York style pizza place.  Which was excellent.  Also earlier that week I asked him if he would take care of my feet because I can't really reach them anymore (the perks of 9 months pregnancy).  So he took me to get a pedicure.  It felt so good to have my feet massaged and taken care of.  My feet will look great for all the Doctors and Nurses at the hospital!  It actually started to down pour so we went home to relax and watched the Olympic basketball games.  (DVR makes those games go by so quickly it's great!)

When it was time for dinner we used a gift card we had and went to Dave and Busters.  For anyone who hasn't been it is kind of like a big sports bar but family oriented with a kids arcade and what not.  We didn't really go for the food but for the games.  We just got a salad and split it and went to play skee ball.  Which is usually my favorite, but the machines were acting funny.  So Dave and I played some basket ball.  I never beat him but I close 31 to 34 and 23 to 26.  So I still know a little from the one year in high school.  With the tickets we won, we got a prize for Lucy.  It looks like a maraca but it is small, purple, and lights up.  We figured she would have fun shaking it once she figures out how to hold things.

After that we went home to watch a movie and the last bit of the Olympic basketball games.  So on a scale of 1-10 for anniversaries this was a 10!  I will never forget this day and it was the best date we could have ever had for before Lucy arrives.  3 years of happiness have gone by and I hope for much much more!

Announcement

I have a question for everyone.  Who wants to be called once I've had Lucy and who wants announcements?  Just leave your name on the blog, if I don't have your phone number or address I will email you to get it.

Side note everything is going well with Lucy.  My Dr. says everything is progressing well and on schedule.

39 Weeks

So I had another Doctor's appointment and my Doctor is surprised to how fast I am progressing.  She thinks that I may have Lucy a week early!  In two weeks she is going to do one more sonogram to make sure Lucy is still progressing, see her position, and see how big she is.  2 weeks will put me at 39 weeks-so we will see if she is right!

On a side note, to keep  my self busy for the past few weeks I have been canning.  I am glad to report that I am almost done.  I have been to the cannery and have done flour, milk, rice, beans, etc.  At home I have done fruit, veggies, and meat.  This should set Dave and I up for a full year of food storage.  We had to buy bed risers and place all the boxes there.  I am just so happy to finally be doing it!

Dr. Appointment

So I had a Dr.'s Appointment today.  It was pretty interesting.  Like I have said in the past I have been measuring small and finally the Dr. decided that I needed one last ultrasound to see how small she really is.  During the ultrasound they measured and guessed that she weighs 5.6 lbs.  That put her in the 17%.  Which is low sure, but not unhealthy.  They also checked everything else-her breathing, reflexes, all of her organs.  All have developed and are doing great.  She is just a petite little girl.  The sono tech guessed that she would gain another pound and half or maybe 2 pounds.  So she will be average when she is born.  

Sorry no  pictures.  It turns out the further along you are the blurry and harder to see what is happening, it gets.  I don't know how she could see anything.  All I could see where her bones like the rib cage and the femur.

Also my Dr. checked, even though she thought it was too early for it, to see if I have dilated.  And I have to 1 cm.  Also my cervix is now forward-which apparently is awesome because that is one of the most important things.   So I have 4 weeks left until the due date--but who knows when I will really go!

Happiest baby on the block

At our birthing class this past Tuesday we went over what we could/should bring to the hospital with us and we watched a video call "Happiest Baby on the Block".  That video was the best thing I have ever seen.  

For all of those who are not familiar with happiest baby on the block, I will give you a quick summary.  The person who wrote it is a pediatrician and has been for many many years.  He said that when a baby is born you need to still think of her as a fetus and that the next three months are the "fourth trimester".  Keeping that in mind will help you to be able to keep you baby happy.  He gave 5 S to sooth a baby and stop crying generally in seconds to minutes. 

The first S is swaddling.  He showed how to swaddle a baby with a blanket and explained that swaddling is a way to help the baby calm down and stop scaring herself with all of her movements which she is not used to.  The baby in the womb had little to no space and felt comforted by the close quarters.  Swaddling is as close as the baby can get to feeling that way again.

The second S is side/stomach.  It is recommended to have the baby sleep on their back, but one of the quickest ways to calm a baby is to hold them on their side slightly tilted toward their stomach.

The third S is shhing.  When the baby starts to cry you can shh the baby making sure your shh is as loud as the baby is crying.  If it is not than the baby can't hear it and it is like you aren't doing anything.  As the baby calms and isn't as loud, so should your shhing.  Besides saying shh you can have just static noise.  The reason these are so helpful is because as the baby is in the womb, she is constantly hearing noise and it is quite loud as loud as a vacuum cleaner.

The fourth S is swinging.  The swinging motion or a giggling motion mimics being in the womb because the mom is constantly moving and thus leaving the baby in constant motion.  Swing or giggle at the rate the baby is crying, lessen as the baby's cry calms down.  Just like shhing.

The fifth S is sucking.  Whether it is a bottle, a pacifier, or a finger sucking is one of the best ways to calm a baby.  Remember, to build the baby's sucking muscles, you should slightly tug on the pacifer.  Yes tug not hold in place its a little bit of the reverse-psychology.

Dave and I were amazed to see him calm the babies so quickly.  It was like magic!  I hope I can get these down for when Lucy is here to help keep her happy and calm.  Apparently doing these steps help the baby to sleep better and longer-which would be fantastic!!

For all of those keeping track with me I have 6 weeks until her due date!!

Baby Shower etc.

Saturday I had my baby shower and it was great!  Thank you all to those who helped and got things for us.  I really appreciate it.  The shower was fun and we got to play some games, like guessing belly size.  A lot of people under estimated how little my belly is!  But I still have 7 weeks so I will get bigger!  The theme of the party was Winnie the Pooh.  Kari ordered a cake that not only tasted amazing but was super cute.This week I also took the time to set the crib up.  I think it is a great looking crib, it has a drawer on the bottom.  Our good friends the Rhiens, gave us the crib.  They got it for free and didn't need it because they already had a crib.  So we very gladly took it off there hands.  It was a great blessing.

On Tuesday we had our second birthing class.  Class last night was a tour of the hospital.  This was amazingly helpful.  We now know where to park to go to the hospital, where to first go, where the family waiting area is and we got to look at one of the rooms where I would give birth (as long as it doesn't turn into a c-section).  The room was amazing!  They also have everything you could ever want to help with the labor and delivery.  Baylor is going to be a great place to give birth. 

I am now 33 weeks and have 49 days until my due date.  I found this picture online, this is potentially what Lucy looks like at the moment.  She is about 16 inches and 4.5 pounds. However, I have been measuring small, so she probably isn't quit that big.  I can't wait until she is here!!

33 Weeks Pregnant