erin condren Life Planners....YES PLEASE!

I just discovered erincondren.com and am happy to say I cannot WAIT for the new line to come out June 12th!! If you haven't seen her work, you need to check it out!! :) --small update--

3-5 Months! 

Marlee grew and grew as the weeks went by. 
Month 3: She started teething, and slobbering everywhere as all normal babies do. She also started to "attempt" to roll over, although not quite there yet. I was still breastfeeding her at the time, so no rice cereal yet. She was actually starting to lose some hair instead of grow it, making her look even more and more like a boy. 
Month 4: She continues to teeth and drool everywhere. She can now roll over completely by herself! I started feeding her Rice Cereal a few days before Thanksgiving, but she didn't like it so I don't feed her that too much anymore. I'm still breastfeeding full time and love every bonding moment I get with her. We also decided to get her ears pierced. She hated getting them done but literally a minute after she got them done, she was fine. Such a trooper! We got her birth stone "ruby" and it was perfect because we took my sister in to get hers done and she got her birth stone which was "emerald" = green. So she loved that they were Christmas colors together. Anyway, we are coming up to her now 5th month and her FIRST CHRISTMAS! We are stoked to have this be her first Christmas! She has grown so much since she was born. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. 

Logan: 
Now that we're home, everything has gone so smoothly. Family near us, and people to count on is such a good feeling. Knowing that my family is just a few minutes away, and that they are so happy to have us near makes me feel so good. My husband found a wonderful job. Unfortunately we are not being paid as much as we used to with the military job he once had, but he goes in for over time whenever he can just to support us for Christmas. He is such a hard worker and I'm so proud of him for going out in the cold and working hard for Marlee and I. He is my Hero and Marlee's Hero! I think we are so lucky to have a father/husband who is willing to go out and work so hard just to support a stay at home mother and baby! I love him so much and can't wait to spend Eternity with him! 

3 Months old and getting bigger!!

Marlee is 3 months old now and has been growing bigger every day. She has started to smile and laugh and grab her toes! It's amazing how fast she is progressing! She is just getting so much cuter every day!! She is a blessing in our lives, and I am excited to continue on this journey with her! She is my little miracle! 

SHOTS :(

September 26, 2012

Today we went into the doctors to get Marlee's immunization shots. It was the WORST DAY EVER! The poor thing had no idea what was coming. She was smiling at us just before she was poked with the needle. Her eyes filled up with her FIRST real tear. I had to hold back my own because I felt so bad for her. I am not excited for the next time we have to do this again. It was no fun !

Getting Organized

Getting Organized is something I love to do. Unfortunately with a newborn baby, it's hard to find a good amount of time to dedicate to organizing my home. Before I had Marlee I could organize the entire house in one day. Now it takes me 2 weeks. BUT, can I just say it is SO worth it! Marlee has been the BEST thing to happen to me since I got married! She is just my little bundle of joy, and I can't wait to wake up every morning to spend another day with her. To look into her eyes, and know we have a special bond. To see her grow and progress with every second of the day. Speaking of growing, she is starting to smile more often, and it is really starting to get fun! She knows who I am in a crowd and tries to find me if she hears my voice. Who knew being a mom could be so rewarding! I would hear moms come up to me saying, "It's totally worth it" or "Being a Mom is the hardest but most rewarding thing I've ever done" or "Motherhood is the BEST job you could ask for" All of these I thought were things people said to you to give you a good impression on Motherhood, when in fact, their telling the absolute truth! IT is AMAZING!!! Being a mother really changes you, and your priorities! It has given me a different motivation for so many things like, staying in shape, eating healthy, maintaining a temple recommend, being a better person, being a better wife, being a better home-maker, learning new things, and so much more! It's mind blowing the things that come from motherhood! Words can't describe the love I have for my husband and my daughter! I'm so overwhelmed with it, I can hardly speak. 

Baby Blessing

September 16, 2012:

At 11 AM we had Marlee Talavou Ochsenbein's Baby Blessing. We were so excited to finally bless her! My husband, although he said he was super nervous, looked so calm and ready to bless her. We had the whole family there, just the way I had pictured it. We blessed her at my old family ward where people I grew up with were there. I saw a whole bunch of familiar faces. I was so excited to see everyone gathered for our blessing. Now the time came to have Landon take her up and bless her. 
The people in the circle: My Dad, Landon's Dad, Grandpa Roy, Grandpa Brazzeal, Jody Orme, Isaac Nydegger)
My husband did an outstanding job blessing her. He said all the right things, and got emotional, but pulled through and made me the proudest wife and mother in the room. He came back to sit by me, and he mentioned how nervous he was, but throughout the entire blessing, he was calm and looked like he knew what he was doing. The spirit was so strong. I felt so blessed to have all my family and Landon's family present. 
After the blessing, we all gathered at Willow Park for a lunch, where we celebrated Marlee, and the blessing she is to all of us. Thanks to all the family members we had so much food! After we ate, we played Volleyball. It was amazing, and I don't remember the last time we had a family get together with both sides of the family where we had this much fun! We'll definitely have to do this more often. I'm so glad we were able to do it in the first place! 
I'm so proud of my husband and am so glad he is worthy to give our daughter Marlee a Baby Blessing. He has been the most amazing husband and father any wife could ask for. I'm so proud to call him mine, and to stand next to him for all eternity! I'm so happy that I have a daughter who will be raised by parents who love her no matter what, and will show her the right way to love. We have been truly blessed to have family around us who care so much about us, and are willing to take care of us in times of need. I appreciate all of you who made it to the blessing, and for those who have supported us from the beginning. We love you all and hope to return the favor one day! 

Traveling back to Utah!

Marlee and I flew home September 3rd, leaving from Monterey, and headed towards San Francisco where our next flight was to S.L.C. Landon was super sad to see us go, because he had to stay home for another day and a half to finish packing everything into the U-haul and move the following day starting at midnight. The poor thing ran into so many problems while Marlee and I had a smooth ride home. 

Problem #1: Going through security at the airport! 
-Now I was alone with Marlee, and she was also in a Carrier, which they made us take off as soon as we went through security. Now when I came out of security, I found myself with a baby, and no one to help me put her in the carrier. Fortunately, the man behind me was more then willing to help us out! He held Marlee for a few seconds while I slipped on the carrier so she could ride with me. She was such a good sport, didn't cry at all! Well it took me a while to put my stuff back on (shoes, back pack, gather up the diaper bag, etc) Then I took one last look at my husband who was waiting patiently on the other side of the glass wall, to bid us goodbye. He looked so sad, I could barely stand to look at him. He was going to make ME cry. I gathered my things, and flashed him the I LOVE YOU sign, and I was off! 

Now, lucky for us there were only a few problems, but they were surrounded by AMAZING people, and events! 

When I arrived at the terminal to wait for our first plane, I met a couple. We spoke about how they were off to Paris, and how I had become a new mom, and how to handle and teach my baby. We had a very mature conversation while sitting there waiting for our plane to come. Now our plane was delayed a little, but it just allowed us more time to get to know each other. 

Problem #2: Getting onto the Airplane
-Now when I finally reached the airplane (which was a small airplane, that you had to walk outside to board) I got up to the door and met the lady there. She noticed I had the wrong seat on my ticket, so she said I had to kick someone out of their seat in order to be on the plane. She pointed out an empty seat, so I took it. Lucky enough for me it happened to be one of the guys that I had met earlier. They were both very understanding, and I was able to sit next to one of them the entire way! Now the flight attendant came up to me and said I had to take Marlee out of her carrier for take off and landing, so I did, and the guy next to me wanted to hold her. So he held her the entire flight (which was around 20 minutes long) He was so good with her, and I was glad she returned the favor by not crying, and staying asleep. (I was truly looked after for this journey) 

Now when we finally landed, the guy next to me helped me out by carrying my bags inside. Sadly this was our time to say goodbye, so one of them handed me their card so I could keep in touch. I was very excited about this! So then I was alone again...I quickly found someone to help me out to my next destination. They were very nice in helping me. I had to take a few detours in order to get to my destination such as, stairs, a bus, more stairs, a long hallway, and then finally we arrived at our Terminal. 

Problem #3: Marlee was getting hungry...
-Now at this point, Marlee was starting to wake up, and get fussy. I knew she was getting hungry, so I picked a seat (Unfortunately there were no empty seats by themselves, so I was sandwiched between two people) I got out my hooter hider so I could feed her in privacy. The lady next to me was staring at me the entire time, probably thinking I was crazy to nurse my baby in public, I just laughed quietly to myself as she kept staring at me. Finally Marlee had finished feeding, but she was still a bit cranky, so I had to stand up with her and rock her until she was asleep again. The binky was such a Miracle worker throughout this trip. She finally was fast asleep, just opening her eyes here and there. The flight attendant went over the intercom saying our plane was ready to be boarded. I waited for our number to be called when we got up and headed for the doors. 

Problem #4: Getting onto the airplane
-Now when you have a baby in a front carrier, a backpack and a diaper bag to lug onto a plane, you find yourself a little overwhelmed with everything. I've learned now to pack light when I have a baby with me. Although she was great, it was a huge stress for me. Lucky enough for me, the flight attendant wanted me to kick someone out of their seat again...yay, that's so much fun! :$ So I quickly found my seat and was waiting to give the person whose seat this really was, the bad news. They finally arrived, and they understood, and were willing to work with me. Another mom came up behind me to help me put my bags up in the baggage carrier above our seats. She said she understood the stress I was having, flying with a baby. She was very nice! 

Well the plane took off and halfway to our destination, a guy came up and  sat by me, claiming his seat was making his feet freeze! I didn't mind, because I was by myself, and almost asleep. He was playing Sudoku and kept asking me if I could help him out. I tried a few times, but the puzzle he had was extremely hard. 

WE FINALLY LANDED, AND I WAS HOME FREE!! 

I waited for everyone to get off the plane before I attempted to get off. When I finally did, I rushed to the baggage claim. My family called and they had arrived. Unfortunately, I saw them, but they didn't see me, and they walked right by me. Now I would've called them over, but a lady had me waiting right there so she could grab my stroller and carseat. So after a few minutes, I had my stroller, carseat, my backpack, my diaper bag and my luggage. Hauling it towards the direction they went. Finally they saw me and helped me out. I was home free! This was the first time my sister Ashlin was able to see Marlee in person. She was so excited, and I couldn't wait until she could hold her. Anyway, I was home free, and so excited to be back! 

Now for my husbands journey...not as fun as mine.


Problem #1: Cleaning the Apartment
 -Landon had to clean the entire apartment all by himself. (Now note, this is usually my job and because of timing, and a cold everyone in our family caught, we were falling behind schedule, that's why I ended up leaving the apartment a complete mess for Landon to fix) I felt terrible because he was sick, and was already under a ton of pressure. He did a great job though cleaning everything! 

Problem #2: Putting the trailer on the U-haul, then the Equinox onto the Trailer
  -Landon is so good with things like this. He had to put the Trailer on and the Equinox onto the trailer all by himself, AND in the middle of the night (Midnight) So it was not only hard cause he was by himself, but he was doing this in pitch black. My sweetheart was such a trooper!

Problem #3: Flat Tire on the Trailer
 -Who would've thought it could get any worse! He pulled over and the entire tire on the trailer had come off, and he was running on the metal part. He called for assistance, and they arrived about an hour afterwards. (He did get a good one hour power nap in, although that's never enough, he had a long road ahead of him) They finally came and fixed the tire and he was on his way. (The customer service was amazing, which helped a ton) 

Problem #4: The Trailer FELL OFF the U-haul
 - I know, this has to be the end right? Well Landon had a feeling there was something wrong, so he pulled off the high way and started going over some speed bumps to check the trailer, as he did so, the trailer popped off and was hanging on by the chains that were attached to the U-haul. Another car driving behind him stopped and helped him try to re-attach the trailer. They had found that the bolt that holds the trailer into place had stripped, and was really loose. Once again Landon had to call for assistance, and they told him he would need to go to the nearest U-haul to trade in that trailer for a new one. Well 1 hour later he arrived to the closest U-haul where he found NO new trailer waiting for him. The guy there though was super nice and wanted to do as much as he could for my sweetheart. He took some tools, and bent a metal bar around the trailer hook and made it so it would last up until he reached his destination. So off Landon went, heading home finally! 

Problem #5: Pop explosion in the U-haul leading to another thought....THE CATS!! 
 -The first time we traveled to California it was FREEZING, so we had to keep the windows up in the Equinox while the cats were in there or else they would've froze to death. Well...this time the weather was "EXTREMELY HOT" and Landon had forgotten to roll the windows down. Well he was driving along when his Pepsi can exploded because it was so hot, and that's when he thought of the cats! He pulled over immediately and ran to the Equinox where our cats lay completely dehydrated and hot! Aero (our black cat) was panting like a dog, while our other cat Bo (our grey cat) was sprawled out on the floor not moving! He was devastated and saw that there were sprinklers on just a few feet away. He took his jacket and drenched it and laid it across our poor cats. They finally got better, and he took them to the front of the U-haul where they rode with him the rest of the way. 

Problem #6: Phone STOPS WORKING! 
 -Now we had to lean on the GPS system to take us home. Otherwise, we would be completely lost! Well, his phone stopped working! He calls me up and I found where he was via google earth and tried to explain how to get home from where he was. Finally after an hour, his phone started to work again. YAY! 

FINALLY HOME!! 

He finally made it home! I ran outside to meet him, only to find a very very tired man who looked like he was at his wits end! I gave him a huge hug and welcomed him home. Besides, this is the moment we were all waiting for! The entire family finally home together!!!