2008: The End of an Eventful Year!

2008 Yarger Family Newsletter

Dear Family & Friends:

What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time we were a completely stressed out engaged couple who were burnt out from coordinating strenuous wedding plans. Since that time we have gotten married, honeymooned, moved out of state, had numerous jobs, had a pregnancy that ended too soon, been the victims of identity theft, attended a professional basketball game (Clippers vs. stupid Lakers), baseball game (Mariners vs. Angels) and football game (Packers vs. Vikings), went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Six Flags, and of course the beach lots of times… and we are currently planning the arrival of the newest addition to our family. All and all, it has been an excellent year.

Thoughts from Jesse the Husband:
The past year, as shown above, has been full of the good, the bad and the ugly. There were only two things that remained consistent in our lives. Those two things were inconsistency and love. We all know what it is like to have inconsistencies throughout our lives, but what is love?
We have all heard the cliché “there is no I in team,” but I respectfully disagree. I believe that marriage is a team, and obviously the fundamental component is love. Love begins with the conviction a person receives in their heart, and the choice of whether or not to act on that conviction, whether it is easy or hard. I believe the “team” Alicia and I have put together started with two “I’s” who chose to act on that conviction. There are times when I have had the worst day and Ali is waiting with love in her heart and choosing to love her grumpy, stubborn husband even though I know it’s hard sometimes. There have been times when our sweet baby was giving Ali such an awful time, that she was hardly functional. “I” chose to make her dinner and clean the room so she could be more comfortable. Alicia’s “I” and my “I” have made an incredible “we”, but we couldn’t do it without the unique, individual “I” efforts from both of us. There are times when the strengths on one “I” is counted on to carry the “we” and those “I’s” do so with joyous hearts of love. I can write this knowing full well that I love Alicia with all my heart and my unborn child who I can’t wait to hold for the first time. Merry Christmas and God bless.
P.S. If you are reading this letter, we love you and appreciate all that you have done for our “we”.

Thoughts from Alicia the Wife:
First of all, I have to comment that Jesse wrote the introductory paragraph for our newsletter, which explains the “stupid Lakers.” I, on the other hand, happen to think the Lakers are very smart to make it to the NBA, that’s kind of like my MBA, right?
Sorry, just had to add the “Parkinson” humor in here.
On a more serious note, this has been the most amazing year of my life. Although we’ve had our fair share of trials, I now have an incredibly strong, caring, loving, and compassionate husband to help me through anything. I feel truly blessed, and I can definitely say that it was worth the wait for me to find someone like Jesse. This year I recall LOTS of sickness. I think I have been sick more this year than the past 10 years of my life all combined. Most of the sickness has been pregnancy related, so it’s for a good cause. Jesse the Husband has become my caretaker and does such a great job of helping out so that I can take time out to rest.
This year I went through the takeover of WaMu, a bank I have worked for, for nearly 10 years. They are now known as JP Morgan Chase. They were one of the first fatalities in the economic crisis so prevalent in the year 2008. I decided to venture in to other fields and picked up a second job at the Behavioral Learning Center, where Jesse works, and where I now work 3 afternoons a week with autistic children. I have 3 clients and I LOVE them! This has been such an enjoyable place to work. I also applied to teach a Business course at the college here, College of the Canyons. I was hired at the last minute, a day after classes had begun, to teach an Intro to Investments course. This was definitely a challenge and kept me VERY busy, but it turned out to be the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I grew quite attached to my students and was sad to see them go at the end of the semester. The college is soooo nice to their employees as well. I always feel so respected and appreciated there, even though I look like one of the students, instead of the instructor. All my students are so excited for our baby to be born. I even had them help with names (although we came up with hers all on our own).
I am so happy and can’t wait for the arrival of our newest family member coming in February… Avrille Carmel Yarger

We hope your 2009 is blessed with many memories.

Christmas 2008

This Christmas was a little different for us this year. First of all, we were in Southern California, meaning no snow (this new Christmas idea was fine by me as I have climatized to the Southern California weather rather quickly). We had Mom and Dad Parkinson visit as well as our brother Adrian, his wife Arleen and daughtor Brittney. It was a very Merry Christmas as you can tell from the pictures below.


That is me struggling to keep up with the rate of presents being opened on Christmas morning. I procrastinated un pocito.

My wife was so happy when I completed the wrapping of the presents in time for Christmas.

So happy that she ripped open the presents! Sometimes pregnancy can cause unexplained mania and a lack of impule control. Despite that, look how cute she is when she is manic.

I'm pretty much a sweats model with my hott PJ model.


That is the amazing food prepared by Mom Parkinson and a few other helpers. The ham was amazing and provided by the loving Grandma and Grandpa Parkinson. Oh and our beautiful family.

I think the motion picture speaks for itself...

Our Little Princess Fiona

On December 23, 2008 Avrille was at 30 weeks, 5 days and we got to see her! We made quite the spectacle at the Dr.'s office because I brought the whole family with me. My parents were just driving in to town from Utah and I wanted them to get to see the baby so they came back with Jesse and I... all 4 of us crammed in to the little tiny ultrasound room with Dr. Navi. Now the baby is getting so big she is kind of getting smashed in my little, I mean huge, tummy!

The Dr. said she weighed about 4.1 lbs and normal for this time is about 3.5 lbs so she is a big girl already! Must be all that iron she's sucking from my blood :) The Dr. said she looks good and everything is progressing well so now we just get to wait!


Here is our ultrasound pic from the appointment. Her poor, chubby little face is kind of squished. I couldn't see it at first and felt like Rachel on Friends (if you've seen the episodes where she repeatedly tries to see her baby in the ultrasound and can't see it).

Jesse and I think she looks like a little baby Shrek (and we say that in the most loving way), so we are re-naming her Princess Fiona. What a cute Princess she makes... just hope she's not green when she comes out :)

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

This year I was kind of dreading my birthday because I am no longer in my youthful twenties. I was born on Dec. 21, 1978. Since it is now Dec. 21, 2008 if you do the math, I guess that makes me 30? It really wasn't so bad turning the big 3-0. I am so grateful because I really have everything I ever wanted. I have a wonderful husband and we are starting our family with a baby girl soon! I am so happy :)

Anyway, I got lots of pampering and lots of comfy clothes. Just what a pregnant lady needs. It was just the hubby and I celebrating my bday. I opened my presents throughout the day, and just got a day off to relax, which was fantastic! The day started with a yummy pancake breakfast, a trip to church, a lunch out, a nap, homemade dinner, a nice long massage, and of course the unwrapping of gifts.


This was my new comfy outfit that Jesse gave me. As you can see, there is a lovely matching ensemble for the infant. I also got super soft slippers, socks, pajama pants, and a shirt that actually fits! It was a wonderful day. Thank you Jesse! You're pretty fun to grow old with :)
Happy Birthday to me!!

Kids say the Darndest Things

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work with a pair of 3 year old autistic kids and I just love them... Well, when I went to see them on Tuesday this week, one of them was trying to get me to crawl through this play tunnel. I told him that I couldn't fit because of the baby in my tummy. He was immediately so intrigued and asked, "you have a baby in your tummy?" I replied, yes, right here (pointing to my baby bump). He then said, "I don't see it!" He grabbed my shirt and tried to look down it for a baby. It was so funny. He then asked me if he had a baby in his tummy. :) I told him no, just me!

Then, yesterday when I went to visit my twins the same twin asked me if I still had a baby in my tummy. I replied that yes, the baby is still in my tummy. Then, the other twin chimed in with the "but I don't see it!" comment. He then asked if the baby was hiding. I replied that yes, the baby is hiding. He then declared, "oh, the baby is playing hide and seek!!!"

It was soooo cute. I had to write about it so I wouldn't forget the cute things they say.

Thank you, Mom!

We had a gift-bearing visitor drive up all the way from nope, not the North Pole, but Irvine, CA with Christmas treats for all! We were so happy that mom (Carme) could come spend our Sunday with us.


Isn't this the most adorable little Minnie dress you've ever seen? I think we have Halloween for next year all taken care of now.

We wanted to take some pictures for Xmas cards this year so we had mom take a few of Rudolph and Mrs. Clause. We couldn't find a red nose for Rudolph so we got a little mini tennis ball (intended to be a dog toy) and slit a Jesse-nose-sized hole in it and it turned out perfect! The only problem was that all the nose-pinching changed Jesse's voice making it quite entertaining to hear him talk.

And here we all are, the photographer (mom) and the hot models.

Baby Update

Haha, I just saw this cartoon and it was just so funny I had to post it. Jesse can certainly relate to this. He hasn't seen it yet so I can't wait to see his reaction when he reads this post. It is so dead on (at least in my case). Jesse gets a good laugh out of the things I cry at. He monitors what shows we watch because he's worried I might cry, even on the happy endings. I think I cried on an episode of Gossip Girls. Yes, I watch that show since I had the flu for a week and needed a TV series to get in to. XOXO, u know u love me :)

Anyway, pregnancy news is nothing too new and exciting. We are just counting down the days now. Its only a couple months now, I can't believe it! The baby kicks a lot more now throughout the day and I can often watch my stomach suddenly expand out of nowhere. I started having very painful contractions in my lower abdomen but they are sporadic and the doc says not to worry unless I have more than 6 or so in an hour, so I'm not gonna worry.

Also, I finally had my dreaded glucose test where you get to drink the very concentrated Pepsi-tasting drink and you only have 5 minutes to get it down. That was harder for me than the drawing of the blood. It didn't taste THAT bad I guess, it just was a lot to swallow and made my head all spinny. I just got the results back and there was good news and bad. The good news was that I do not have have gestational diabetes so I don't have to go back for the 3 hour blood test. The bad news is that I do have a severe iron-deficiency so I am officially anemic. I have all the symptoms and have suspected anemia for months now (especially after my fainting spells) but the nurse told me I tested normal last time and everything I'm experiencing is normal during pregnancy. I told her that I really think I'm anemic and she insisted that I'm fine. Anyway, the point of that story was that I was RIGHT! Ah, so satisfying. I just have to take iron supplements so the baby doesn't keep stealing all my blood and all my iron stores. She must be like a little baby Iron-girl. That's ok, I'd give up all my metallic substances for her :)

In Memory of our First

Today was the official due date of when our first baby was to be born. It is weird to think I would've been all done with the pregnancy by now. We feel very blessed that we were able to become pregnant again so quickly after the first. I just wanted to post something in memory of our first little one.
This was the poem I found on my bed, from my amazing husband, after we found out the news that I was pregnant the first time...

...and here is a poem from us now, dedicated to our first:

To the baby that I carried
But never saw your eyes
Or told you how much I loved you
Or ever heard your cries.
You will never be forgotten
The excitement we had for your coming
When I realized I'd never hold you,
The feeling I had was numbing.
My angel baby is who you are.
My angel baby you'll always be.
Your loving memory will live in my heart
So you will always be right here with me.

Thanksgiving in Montana

As long as Jesse and I have known each other, he's been talking about visiting his family in Montana. Finally we found the time to make it up there, and I'm so glad we did! It was so nice to get to meet all the cousins, aunts, and uncles. We had a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving dinner, and felt so welcomed and loved. I can see why Jesse likes them so much :)
The plane trip from Burbank to Billings was incredibly pricey so we opted for the part fly/ part drive option. We flew in to Salt Lake City, quickly visited family in Logan, then took off for the 8 hour drive with Shelby. Shelby was kind enough to let us use his car for the trip. Luckily, the weather was beautiful with no storms so we arrived safely.
On Thanksgiving day Jesse and Shelby got up and played football in the annual Turkey Bowl. I am going to brag a little and say that my husband made 3 of the 4 touchdowns. But alas, they lost to the old guys somehow. I wish my camera had been working to get some action pics :(
Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of everyone. My camera battery only likes to last for a few shots so here's what we got:


At Aunt Suze and Uncle Dick's place. We got to stay in their beautiful home :)

Jesse with his cousin Annie. They were sooooo happy to see each other...

Shelby and his Grandma

Shelby stole my camera and took some pictures with it. Here he is with his cousin Annie....

...and here with his Aunt Star.


Aunt Star took us shopping at the Hobby Lobby and the Cracker Barrel where we looked for some great after Thanksgiving sales. I bought some letters to paint and hang on the wall in our little girl's nursery and some scrapbooking supplies. Jesse took a pic of me being a goof ball.

We got all packed and ready to drive back to Utah and as we started to drive off we noticed there was a major problem. The tire was completely flat. Here is my handy husband putting the spare on. Turns out the tire needed replacing. We went to a lovely church service with the family, picked up a tire on the way home, and off we went on our road trip back.


Back in Logan the next day... we had to fly out that night so we crammed all kinds of errands in to one day. While dining with grandma and grandpa Parkinson at the Sizzler, Ina stopped by with quite the surprise! Look at all the cute little girl clothes! Thank you Ina :), and much thanks from our little one too, I'm sure she'll love wearing these.

Since we can't make it back up to Utah for my birthday and Christmas this December, we celebrated early and fit a mini birthday party in to our jam-packed day. My mom made this yummy pineapple cake for me with 3 candles.... I think its for 23, maybe? :)