Introducing grandchild #8 -- Daxson Allred

Carly had an ultrasound Tuesday to verify the reason she has been nauseated and gaining weight. These photos show the result along with mommy's comments....

This is his belly and heartbeat. His little head is still lodged quite low, so his legs and arms have a lot more room to wiggle than his head, but maybe one day he'll get bored down there and move. The larger spikes in the heartbeat (shown toward the bottom of the picture) are actually hiccups. Seems like he's taking after mommy on that one!

This is a 4-D picture of his face. It's not as clear as it could be, again because he insists on being squashed so far down, but you can see the eyes, nose and mouth pretty clearly. It looks like his little hand is up by his face, and you can see his belly toward the bottom (he's right in the middle of the picture).

Pretty clear shot that he is indeed a "he." Robbie and Uncle Matt both wanted Machel, my midwife, to measure it..... Anyway, that's our little baby! It's starting to get more exciting, but still slightly surreal. Though it's been a rough pregnancy for me so far, my heart aches for the people I know that have had struggles to get or stay pregnant. You are in our prayers! Love, Carly

Hello from down under!

Clay and Jen are currently in Australia visiting with Jen's sister. They sent some photos of some of the sites they have seen. Clay is becoming a very accomplished photographer. I would love to be there with them!

Fun in Arizona

The week before Easter, Talya, Eric, Tyler, Rylee and I drove all the way to Queen Creek to spend the week with Matt, Lindsay, Shae, Audrey and Eliza. I found the perfect way to capture some cute pictures of my grandkids without begging them. I just suggested that we walk through the neighborhood and take random pictures and then make mommy and daddy guess where we took the picture. They loved the idea as you can see.

Way to go Chuck!

I have to brag on Erica's husband, Chuck, for a minute....Last night an award dinner in honor of Outstanding Students UVU was held. Chuck recieved an award for his amazing skills in math. This is what his advisor had to say about him:

"Selected as one of the two UVSC/UVU Mathematics students of the year for 2007-2008, Charles Lindberg is a highly capable and competitive student. With a major GPA of 3.97, his record of academic excellence speaks for itself. He is determined to succeed, thrives when given a challenge, and is driven to be the best. He is consistently at the top of each of his classes. How many classes? By the time he graduates Charles will have taken EVERY Mathematics course which could possibly count toward his major.

"Not only has Charles left his mark of excellence in the courses he has taken, but he is also an exceptional student who will leave his permanent mark on the Mathematics department. Since his intended career as an actuary requires him to pass a sequence of exams, he set out early in his studies to be the catalyst for putting in place at least three actuarial exam preparation courses. The first two courses are being offered in the Mathematics department this semester. The other will be offered in the fall, 2008. In addition, he and five other students will take their first actuarial examination in May, 2008.

"Charles is married to Erica. They have a 10 month old son, Keagan. His parents are Paul and Erline Lindberg of American Fork, Utah. Spending time with family, skateboarding and doing math are a few of the activities he enjoys. He works as a drywall installer. His future plans include passing his first actuarial exam this spring, graduation in April 2009, and then securing an actuarial position at a top firm."

I'm just very sad that "an actuarial position at a top firm" means they will be moving across country. And what is an actuary? An actuary is one who calculates insurance risks and premiums. Gotta love math to do that. Way to go Chuck!

From Birthday Cake to Bathtub....

We celebrated Rylee's first birthday on April 1st. What a year it has been watching her grow from premie to average. We are so grateful that she is healthy and strong. Her personality has come shining through. She is definitely the life and princess of the party! With her cute round face she reminds me of a Cabbage Patch doll. Talya and I searched high and low and we finally found one that looks just like her. Do you agree?

Keagan -- the missing grandchild!

Keagan did not make the trek with us to Arizona so he wasn't in any of my new photos. His mommy gladly shared these photos with me so I could show him off!

Why pamapapa.blogspot.com?

I thought I might explain the origin of the name of my blogspot. A few years ago, when my grandson, Tyler, was two years old he couldn't say "grandpa." The best he could do was "papa." So logically "grandma" was "pama." He still calls me "pama" once in a while. Gotta love the logic of a two year old!

Photos of some of my grandchildren

During my trip to Arizona last month, we took the kids to have some professional photos taken. The photographer was great! Everyone was enthralled by him except Rylee and Eliza. They were wary of the noises and faces he was making at them. We are hoping to do a repeat this summer and include Keagan.

General Conference Ponderings and Mothering

I love General Conference! What an incredible experience to be a part of a Solemn Assembly and sustain a new prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I have watched President Monson since he was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. I was eight years old then. I can't imagine a General Conference without one of his stories. I love General Conference! It is like a summer rain for my thirsty spirit. Some of my earliest General Conference memories are from my elementary school years. Back then General Conference was held Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. What a feast. I remember hurrying home from school as a 5th grader to watch the broadcast. I wish I still had my notebook full of notes of a young girl. Contrast that with today -- I have all the sessions on my DVR and also downloaded to my iPod. Guidance from the leaders is mine whenever I want it. No more drought...just a constant summer rain.

President Monson spoke to mothers today -- specifically young mothers. I want my daughters to know how incredibly proud I am of the effort they put into mothering my grandchildren and into preparing to be a mother of my grandchildren. I wish I had been more like each one of you! But being a gamma is an incredible experience also. I get a second chance to do things right. President Monson counseled mothers to express love to their children. I want the whole world to know how much I love my children! They are noble ones of the earth. Each one of them has chosen an exceptional person to be their partner and now I have ten fabulous children. Some of them are already parents and have blessed our family with almost eight grandchildren. I can't neglect to mention the man that made me a mother. I love my husband with all my heart. He treats me better than I deserve to be treated. I never imagined I would be so blessed! Truly together is the best place to be!

Welcome to my blog!

I have now officially joined the world of blogging with help and encouragement from my daughters (which when I say "daughters" also includes my daughter in-laws -- the same applies to my son in-laws). It is my hope to keep my friends and family up-to-date on what is happening in my life but more importantly to serve as an electronic journal. I am a miserable journal writer. I understand the importance of keeping a journal but that doesn't mean I have kept one. Having been strongly prompted to do so, I decided that a blog would be a fabulous format to use to act upon that prompting. In addition, I am using the learning process as a Personal Progress Value Project (more about that later).