Brenden Update!

Brenden's first ride on an Airplane. He did so great. He slept almost the whole way, but we were able to snag a few photos.

Brenden loves his Daddy, can't you tell?

This was in his Gran's car, very happy and content.

On the plane ride back to Seattle. It was along day. Over 9 hours of Airports and Airplanes, but he did so incredibly well. He just slept and had fun looking around. I love that baby.

Back in Seattle. Love that place!

Brenden is such a cute baby!

This is my brother, Adam and Brenden's cousin, Rylan. She's about 6 weeks younger than Brenden and so CUTE!

One of Brenden's first times bathing in a sink.

Brenden's first night in his crib. He did phenomenally! Slept for almost 9 hours!

This is what Chris and I found when we came home from our Mother's Day Date. Haha.

And this is how Brenden likes to spend his Saturdays. 

Well my baby is about to wake from that nap, so that is all for now. Hope you all enjoy!

Mother's Day Date!

My wonderful Husband, Chris took me out on a Mother's Date last night last night and it was spectacular! Chris has to work today and tomorrow is Sunday, so he decided to spoil me early, and there was absolutely no arguement on my behalf. I love my husband!

We had dinner at Olive Garden and it was amazing! My best friend Amanda is one of the hostesses, and we got her husband, Chris to be our waiter. And honestly he was the best waiter we have ever had! Awesome. We had some Cheese Fonduta, and it was delish! Yum! And I had some yummy soup, while Chris stuck to his salad. By the time our food came we were so stuffed. Our great waiter had told his manager that another waiter gave our food away, so the manager came over and we got some good stuff. The Cheese Fonduta was free, as was some drinks and a ton of mints. Thank you Chris and Amanda!

The next stop on our date was the movies. Chris has been wanting to go see the Thor movie since he heard about it, and last night happened to be opening night. I have to say, I really enjoyed it to. Through out the movie Chris was explaining the storyline to me, and usually when he does that I get super annoyed because I just want to watch the movie, but it was very interesting hearing the storyline of a super hero. It was a pretty good movie, and Thor wasn't too bad to look at either.

After the movie we went out for cupcakes. I love gourmet cupcakes, by far the best. We stopped at the store on the way home to pick up some tasty granola.

Today I am just spending the day with my super cute baby! He has been just sleeping the day away. Perfect day for mommy and baby snuggling. My favorite! So back to Mommy and Baby Snuggles I go!!!

Warm Summer Weather

Ahhhhh!!!! Back in Rexburg and the weather is absolutely gorgeous! It's so wonderful and our Baby Brenden loves loves being outside. I think he would just live outside forever if we let him. Here I am talking about him like he's a toddler and he's still a little baby. Haha.

I have been taking Baby Brenden outside for walks every day this week and he loves it. We went out on 3 yesterday alone. And today we went on a walk with our good friends Jessica and Lauren. He had so much fun even though he fell asleep. We took a walk to Porter park and went to a baby boutique called Lulu and Oliver. Very cute things, but very very expensive. Its just nice to look. I wanted to take pictures of Brenden and Lauren today, but all the battery packs for our camera were dead and I had such a hard time trying to find the charger. I finally found it, but only about 20 minutes before we left. Sad, sad, sad.

On other news, Chris and I have decided that, as confusing as it may sounds, that we're not going to not try to have more babies right now. So if they come, they come. I have to admit I probably talked Chris into it because I have been so gung hoe on having another baby ever since we had Brenden in the hospital. I thought that feeling would go away, but here I am still wanting a baby so much! And someday we will, and I know that we will be so happy.

LIFE

I am starting to realize I'm a better blogger when I'm not actually at home. It's just a lot easier when there is nothing to take care of. When I'm on vacation my time is my own, and I get to spend it doing the things I enjoy, like blogging letting everyone know how life is going, and reminding myself how grand life really is.

I've spent today contemplating the last 22 years of life and how really great it's been. So maybe contemplating is the wrong word. All the experiences that I have been through, for better or for worse have made me into who I am today. I don't claim to have been through any rough trials by any means, but everything that I have been through have given me much knowledge and compassion for others. I also know all of the wonderful experiences that I have been through that has made my life so much better! My baptism, by someone who now is a very great friend, Thank you Elder Allred! Being married in the temple to my wonderful husband, Chris. He is truly the best thing up until then that has happened to me and everyone that knows me well, really knows how true that is. Now, I would have to say the best thing that has happened to me is my brand new baby, Brenden James. He's the greatest baby and I could go on and one about him, I really could.

This past week, well in the last couple days, I learned that Osama Bin Laden has been killed, not just killed, but murdered by a firing squad. I realize that it was for the good of many, but it does not change that we had to get there by taking another life. I have been thinking about this for the past couple days and trying to weigh on how I really think about it and what kind of person that makes me. If it's ok for me to be happy and sad at the same time or if its even possible. I feel happy that evil like that is no more, or at least that specific evil, but there will always be evil out there. So I feel pleased that Osama is gone. I'm so sad that we, as americans have blood on our hands. That we had to take a life to save lives. I really hoped that he could have just died of some sort of natural causes.

Today is a great day because I have had some great insights both provided for me by great friends and bestowed upon me by a wonderful and loving Heavenly Father.

Proverbs 17:13

13 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

Ecclesiastes 9:18

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

Amos 9:10

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

Psalms 104:35

35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.

These scriptures make me feel so much better about how I feel. Osama was a bad man and he had done many evil things and my feeling is that the longer he was out there, hiding and planning the longer and more time he has to pass his evil along to others. There have been times in past that God has commanded his righteous armies to take away the evil that exists on the earth and I believe that this project to destroy the evil of Osama was of God. I believe that our Heaven Father would like his wonderful earth to be a better place with out that particular evil. The most important thing that I have learned is that good and righteousness needs to win out. A quote that fits really well is, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." When the troops took Osama's life, they did something, not nothing, they took his life to save the freedom, agency, righteousness, and lives of so many others, and that is a good thing. Its a great thing to provide those privileges to others. I feel pleased and I know the Lord has his hand in this and I feel great that his will has been done once again.

For tonight, I am going to let my ranting and ravings rest, along with my brain and body. Goodnight World!

Home with Family

Our little family left Rexburg on Wednesday for Seattle on last Wednesday night. Chris had a really crazy busy week between work and school. Chris had a bunch of finals to take after his classes and then he was working everyday, even the day that we left. I spent the week getting ready to leave, packing for us, and for a new baby, and getting the house super clean. I did all of the laundry, vaccumed, mopped, and dusted all of the rooms. Got all of the trash out, and made sure Brenden would have everything else that he would need while we were gone. And I am sure that I forgot something, but that's ok, I'm always going to forget something, that's life.

So we decided we should leave at night so hopefully Brenden would sleep most of the 12+ hour drive. And you know what? HE DID! And it was great. We left around 9:30 when Chris got home from work, and I had the car already packed up and we drove, drove, drove. Brenden would wake up every once in awhile because he was hungry or needed a new diaper, but other than that, he was such a trooper. I didn't know it before this week, but traveling really takes a toll on a baby. Brenden was pretty cranky on Thursday and a little bit on Saturday, but that's ok, we understand that's supposed to happen. We love him anyways!

So, We got to Seattle around 11 on Thursday morning and I went on some errands with my mom and Chris stayed home and tried to get some sleep and the last part of his homework done. No such luck, he ended up having a cranky baby and getting no sleep or any work done. Later on, we had a bunch of family over to see the little baby. He got to meet his nonnie and poppie, great grandma, Cousin Carrie, Cousin Garrett, and his Great Uncle Jason (I love making my Ucle sound so much older than he actually is). He loved everyone, as long as he had some food in him.

On Friday, we just kind of had a really lazy day and it was great! And on top of a really great day, Chris and I left Brenden with my parents and had a date night. It was such a relief to be able to go on a date and be so worry free. We went out to dinner and walked around Southcenter. Its a mall outside Seattle that we're both really familiar with, and it has changed so much. There are so many store that are totally gone, and a bunch that are brand new that neither of us have ever heard of.

Saturday, we went and visited with family all day. Brenden got to meet his, well one of his aunts, his great grandma and great great grandma. Yes, I just said great great grandma, its pretty dang awesome. My great grandma is in her 80's and still alive and kicking, emphasis on the kicking part.

Sunday, we went to church at our old ward in Maple Valley and saw so many people. They were so happy to see Brenden. This trip is all about him, its pretty great. I love our baby!

And today was so much fun. We just went around town seeing old friends, showing off Brenden. We went and saw our friends, Barb and Brian and Brian's girlfriend, Taylyn ( I hope I spelled that right). Barb, loved to see Brenden, except, he peed on her. Sad day. We also saw Honey, that's Brian's grandma. I love to go and visit her every time we're in town. She is so sweet and I love her! We had dinner at the Vach's with the Wheiler's and the missionaries. We got to talk a little about my conversion and how my first lesson was on the Vach's front porch, great story. We got to talk about Chris and schooling and what he wants to do and his mission. We got to talk about how the Wheiler's niece is my visiting teaching companion, small world, right? We reallt had a great night and a great week.

We are now sitting back at home getting laundry done and packing up for our flight to St. Louis tomorrow and Brenden is still asleep so we can get everything done.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Most Wonderful Baby

I love my little baby. We've decided to nickname him B.B. for Baby Brenden. My Uncle Jason came up with it a few days ago and Chris and I have decided that we really really like it. So B.B. it is. Brenden was so good today. We took him to Idaho Falls and he was so happy the whole entire time. He got hungry while we were at Sam's Club, but once we fed him, he was a happy boy again.

Our home teachers came over tonight to teach us and of course to see Brenden, and talk babies. One of our home teachers and his wife already have a baby and she sounds just adorable. And our other home teacher and his wife are expecting a baby boy in June, Chris and I are really excited for them. Hopefully they stay in the ward so we can meet their little guy and have play dates for Brenden and Aiden.

My mind keeps going around in circles of excitement and I just can't stop thinking and I just can't stop hoping for things that are to come. I'm really excited about possible becoming a Childbirth Educator. I blog about it all the time, I obviously think about it all of the time, and I spend most of my day researching Childbirth Educators and taking care of Brenden. I don't know how to possibly put it into words, but I'm just overwhelmed with excitement, just the thought of being a Childbirth Educator and knowing everything I know and went through with Brenden, it just seems to fit and that makes me happy.

The other thing I just keep thinking about is having another baby. I know, its too soon, right? But if the Lord sees fit, it will happen and he will provide a way. Being a mommy twice over would make me so happy. I know that Brenden is so young, but I want to have as many children as Heavenly Father could possibly bless me with.

My Life is Exciting!

I can not tell you how much I love our life right now and how much I love love love being a mommy to a great little boy! I can't believe that Brenden's going to be 2 months old on Sunday. It's amazing how time flies, unbelievable! I just look at this little baby everyday and think, Wow, I did that. I grew this tiny little being in my body for over 9 months. Its so amazing to me and I just want to learn so much more about the process.

I want to know what happens when. All the good and bad things that can happen during pregnancy like gestational diabetes, down syndrome, morning sickness, I want to know all about all of these things and more and what to do about them and how to try to prevent them. I want to know when each of the organs develop and how long it takes and how young a fetus can survive. i want to know about all the differences between natural births and c-sections and drugged births. I want to know the difference between hospital births, birthing center births, and home births and all of the statistics that go along with them. I want to learn about the best techniques, the right things to say to a pregnant woman. I want to have all this knowledge about being pregnant and bringing children in this world and I would love to share all of this knowledge with all the blessed mommy's to be that I come into contact with.

I am just so excited to learn and I haven't had this excitement about education since starting high school. I'm beginning to really know that this is the right thing for me. The opportunity for me to love my life of being a mommy and share all of my wonderful knowledge is just a dream come true to me. My excitement is endless!

Childbirth Educator???

I'm starting to truely seriously think about becoming a childbirth educator. Being pregnant and having a baby is the best blessing any woman could ever have. And she can do it over and over again. Its so wonderful to think that We can go through 9 months of having this baby in our body and a day being uncomfortable and out comes this little human being that is exactly like us. It just amazes me. I'm a new mom and every day I look at our little boy, I think, Wow, I made that, he was inside of me for months developing into this whole person. He's got his own mind and personality, his own thoughts, and things that he wants to do, he's got his own hurt feelings, and his own happiness, I think about how all of these things are just going to grow over time and how really wonderful that is.

It would be so great to be involved in other people's journey to become a mom. Whether they are experiencing it for the first time or for the eighth time. I think about the birth class that Chris and I went through and how much fun it was and how much we learned that we would have never learned from books or just from talking to our parents and friends. We took a hypnobirthing class and it was so wonderful knowing that we had the tools to do everything that we wanted.

I really want to think a lot more about this and to pray about it and see how I feel about it over the next couple of weeks. I'm not very educated in childbirth right now. All I know is stories that I've listened to and Brenden's birth story, but I think it would be so great to learn more and to be able to teach and be there for other mother's to be through their births.

Crazy!?

Am I really crazy? Quite possibly! I have a new baby that's only 7 weeks old and I'm already thinking about more and how I definitely want more and NOW! And I have a wonderful husband who thinks its a little early, but is totally on board with the idea. What a great husband I have. I keep telling myself that I'm crazy mostly because Brenden is only 7 weeks old and I am totally craving to be pregnant again, to be in labor, to have a little brother or sister for Brenden. I'm just craving everything. I think this time around I wouldn't mind the wait since I've already had a baby.

When I was pregnant with Brenden it seemed like everything was so far away. We were about 9 weeks along when we found out about baby and we thought, great, we're almost a quarter the way there, but from that point on everything went extremely slow, well for me anyways. Its seemed like all of the doctors appointments were so spaced out, we only had 2 ultrasounds, it took forever to find a doctor in Rexburg, and then we decided to go see the midwives, they changed our due date to almost 3 weeks later than it originally was, and when I finally did go into labor, it just didn't progress.

Now that I know what to expect, I know that the next pregnancy and birth will go so much better. I'll have Brenden to keep me busy during the pregnancy and hopefully no pitocin to get the labor started. I hear that pitocin makes labor a lot more intense and a lot harder to endure. So I'm really hoping with our other children there will be no need for the pitocin and I can just enjoy being in labor and enjoy giving our babies life.

I'm just so excited about being a mommy to lots of children. And I can't wait for them to start flooding our home!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We seriously have the best little baby in the whole entire world! He is just so cute. This is his St. Patrick's Day onsie. No pinching this baby today. Haha. He had a doctors appointment today, well actually mommy had her 6-week appointment today and we had told the midwife how we were worried about him because he wasn't gaining a whole lot of weight and she suggested getting him in to see the pediatrician. He was in to see his doctor within the next 15 minutes. He got weighed and our little guy weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. A whole pound heavier than he was at his appointment last month. He isn't gaining as much as the average, which is an ounce a day, he's only gaining about 1/2 an ounce a day. But they said as long as he's gaining weight there's really nothing to worry about yet, but that we should keep an eye on it. If he doesn't start gaining more weight in the next few weeks we're gonna have to start looking into what our options are. But we're not there yet and they said nothing else was wrong with him. He's eating plenty and has much in his diapers.

We are just so in love with our baby and so glad that he is doing so well!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Baby Brenden's Announcement Invite

Not Enough Time!

So guess whose brother is having a baby on the first, and guess who has nothing to show for it?
That's right, me. Sure I could always use the excuse of just having a baby, but boy would I ever feel bad! I talked to him today and got some really good ideas. They don't have a booster highchair yet, and we happen to have an extra one and I was thinking about crib bedding, you can never have enough with little ones. So I'm going to borrow a pattern from a friend for the fitted sheet and dust ruffle and make a quilt. I'm thinking purple and green and maybe a little black. I'm having so many great ideas flow through this head of mine! Its great! I'm pretty excited about it.

I'm really excited to become an Aunt again, almost as excited as I was to become a mommy. It's really great knowing that Brenden will have cousins around his age to grow up with. All the pieces of life are really falling into place. I've got a wonderful husband, the best little baby boy, great in-laws, I love my parents and my little brothers (WOW, they're uncles now!), and I'm excited that my older brother is an uncle to Brenden and I get to his children's Aunt, I love the way that works!

I love my life and everything about it!

Life as We Know it

We have the cutest little baby boy. And he is sure the greatest baby. He 's not a cranky fussy baby, he's been sleeping through the night since he was just a few weeks old, He sleeps great during the day, he's generally happy, he smiles so well in his sleep, he's so great at holding his head up, he's got the strongest little legs, he can scoot all over the place, he recognizes so many things already. He's such a smart baby! I'm so happy that I get to be his mommy and take care of him everyday.

Chris is so in love with little Brenden. Its very cute. Not so cute when Brenden cries for almost an hour after his daddy scares him. Chris doesn't quite realize that he's still a little teeny tiny baby. He plays with him like he would a 2 year-old. Hopefully he starts to understand soon, mostly because he decides to scare him right before he has to leave for school or work and then I am stuck with this upset baby that cries for 20 minutes.

A little about our growing little boy. He's about 21 1/2 inches long and is still under 8 lbs. at 5 1/2 weeks. Its hard to believe that he'll be 6 weeks old this Thursday. Let's see, he's still in all of his newborn clothes. He's long, but hasn't put on any chub yet, we're still waiting. His feet are getting pretty big. His feet are about as long as my index finger, BIG FEET! He's got some awesome coordination. He's already to scoot across rooms, he can hold his head up on his own, he's got some great control over his hands, and he can focus on objects abotu 3-4 feet away. His favorite thing to focus on is our picture of Christ.

I just can't get over how amazing his development is!

Our Beautiful Baby Boy!

Brenden has some gorgeous eyes, just like his Daddy. :)

This is one of our favorites. He is just so adorable.

Mommy and Baby in the hospital.

Daddy and Brenden in the hospital before we got to go home.

Brenden has such a serious face...ALL OF THE TIME!

Brenden's first time in his car seat. You can't tell by his face, but he really loves it. :)

I love his many facial expressions.

Brenden's Gran came and took tons of pictures.

Brenden and his Gran. She really adores him.

Brenden and his Grandad. Grandad held him almost the whole time he was in town. It was lovely.

Brenden and his Uncle Josh.

Baby Brenden's Blessing. It went great!

All of our wonderful friends who were there.

We were the happiest parents ever!

Brenden in his Daddy's blessing outfit.

Baby Brenden posing one of his many grumpy faces.

Baby Brenden is here!

Brenden James was born on February 3, 2011 at 5:24 p.m. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. I think he is absolutely perfect! He had such a hard time getting here. First off, he was just late, which for Chris and I was really frustrating. Especially with everyone else, mostly due after us were just popping out their babies left and right. But he is finally here and we are so excited. So now for the story!

Brenden's Birth Story.

The night of February 2nd, I was having some contractions and they were about 6 minutes apart so Chris and I decided to go to the indoor track and do some walking. We didn't walk for very long, maybe 30 minutes. I was having to stop pretty frequently. So we went home and decided to play some Wii bowling. Not any regular bowling, but the 100-pin bowling. So we were timing contractions, I was sitting on the birth ball and bowling. And the contractions kept getting closer and closer together. When they were about 4 minutes apart we decided to go to the hospital. This is right before midnight. We get there and they're looking at contractions, they're there, they're just looking a little inconsistent. And I was only dilated to a 3. So they told us it would be better for us to go home, that I would be more comfortable, take a bath, and be able to sleep. Chris and I went home and through the course of about 5 hours I took 4 baths and pretty much no sleep. The contractions were just too uncomfortable.

Around 6 in the morning I told Chris it was time and that we should go back to the hospital. And of course with all of our hospital visits that were false alarms he was quite hesitant. He called and told the nurses that the contractions were now consistently about 2-3 minutes apart and they told us to come in. While we were in the exam room waiting Chris was freaking out. He would have been so upset if we weren't any further dilated. Well I got checked and was dilated to a 6. Woo Hoo!

No one tells you that you can be dilated at a 6 for 7 hours though. Thank you. It wasn't too bad, it was just unnerving and uncomfortable to know I was that far along and to still be waiting and not progressing. They put me in the tub, made me walk, put me on the birth ball and gave it some time and absolutely nothing was happening. So around noon they decided to break my water. It didn't hurt like I thought it would. It was just an odd experience. They weren't sure that they had actually broken my water because I didn't have a whole lot of fluid. Turns out they did break my water.

The breaking of the water didn't really help to progress anything. Dang it! So around 2 they gave me some pitocin which is the drug they use to induce labor. And also some IV pain medication. Never again. That stuff made so loopy for the next couple of hours. There is not much I remember. I dilated a whole 2 centimeters in the next hour or so.

Around 4 or 430 they gave me to epidural. Didn't hurt at all. Granted at this point the contractions were so close together I was going through one the whole time it was being administered so I was kind of focused on that. After that. I continued to push for the next hour until Brenden was born at 5:24. Way too much pushing for me. I was hoping to push for may 30 minutes. No such luck.

Brenden came out and we had to cut his umbilical cord right away. He was dangerously blue. His cord was in a knot. For some reason they call it a true knot. It was about 4 inches away from his belly button so he just wasn't getting any oxygen. After Chris cut the cord they took him over to the table to get him breathing and clean him off. I remember looking down at my bloody gown. He was just covered in it. Normal right? I'm pretty sure.

After the initial scare of my child coming out blue everything went great! I got to eat and rinse off in the shower. It was great.

Get This Baby Out!!!

So far an update on the last few months, since I am a horrible blogger and haven't blogged in a while. What can I say, life keeps me busy, and there isn't even a baby to preoccupy my time yet. We have been in and out of doctors offices and the hospital for the last month, not because anything is really wrong, but mostly because I have no idea what's going on with this baby and my body. It's a little frustrating honestly.

The first time we went in the hospital, we were at 36 weeks since they decided to change our due date on us from January 12 to January 29. Kind of lame if you ask me. I was in labor, well I wasn't sure if I was or not. Chris and I were at Sam's Club doing some of our grocery shopping done before he had to start working. Well I started having these pains a lot like braxton hicks, but they were way way to frequent just to be braxton hicks and they just weren't easing up no matter what I did. Later on that night, they were just getting super close together so we decided to go to the hospital just in case something was wrong. Well I was in labor, but they decided that we needed to stop it because only being 36 weeks they said they would have to send him to the NICU and we really didn't want that. So they gave me some drugs to stop the labor. DANG IT!

And after this point, every day being pregnancy started to seem like an eternity, even though it wasn't. I just felt like everyone that was due after us was having their babies and I was just stuck being uncomfortable and just feeling gross. It was so frustrating.

I think it was the next week we had an appointment with the midwives and they did the regular checking on heart rate of the baby and all that good stuff. And he hadn't really been moving around a lot so they wanted to hook me up to this machine that monitors the babies heart rate and contractions. The most annoying machine ever. Every time you move or really anything it messes with the machine and it has to be readjusted. Really dumb. Well the variation in his heart rate was good, there just weren't a lot of spikes like they were hoping for so they sent us to the hospital to be monitored. LAME! So we went to the hospital and he was fine once I had some apple juice there. I think the cold juice just woke him up. He's just not very active in the day, he's always super awake at night though.

This week has been particularly crazy. This last Friday I was having contractions, so we went in, and of course we had to go to the hospital because by the time they were getting close together, the doctors office was closed. So we go to the hospital and back to being hooked up to that dreaded machine. Yes, contractions are there, but they were't too intense and I was only dilated to a 2. But I was 80% effaced. Greatest news ever! So were sent home. It was ok, I was super duper tired. So we did some walking and hung out a little bit and went to bed.

And this week we had to go back to the hospital because I thought my water broke. False Alarm! Kind of. My water hadn't broken, but I was leaking fluid. So they said just to keep an eye on that and any contractions.

Today we had another appointment with the midwives. We really love Helene, in my opinion she is by far the best! We went in to find out that I had dilated another centimeter. Great news! And they set up an induction date for Tuesday since next Friday is the last possible day to get this baby out! I'm just hoping that he decides to come before that. It would be a blessing not to have to be induced.

I have another appointment with them on Friday for an ultrasound and non stress test to make sure I can actually make it through the weekend. They just want to make sure there will be enough fluid to support that baby of ours, if not they will induce on Friday. I would really be ok with that, but I'm hoping to wait for the induction as long as I possibly can.

So this is our life for the past few weeks, hopefully Brenden will come soon.

Let it Snow!

We are so excited for Christmas to be here! Its only a few weeks away and I'm so ready. Christmas shopping is done, presents are wrapped, tree is up, lights on, ornaments made, it's awesome! Chris and I made some homemade ornaments yesterday. I have to say, I love them! Its just flour, salt, water, food coloring, and then you cut out shapes and bake. We also had some ceramic ornaments, but they were all white, so we cheated and painted them with nail polish. Stinky house! And now our tree is gorgeous!

I'm kinda sad that we'll be here in Rexburg for Christmas too mostly because we won't be able to see family, but I'm so glad that we have so many friends that will be here, stuck in Rexburg too. So far the plans are to have a formal dinner party at a friends on Christmas Eve, it will be awesome. We'll probably just do Christmas morning at our house, just the two of us and skype our families. I love skyping with our families, it makes it seems like we're not so far apart. I'll be glad when school is over and we can see family more. Just over another year. Yes!

Chris has been working like crazy lately and working really hard in school. I love him for it. He has been so crazy busy and with all of the snow, I have been sewing a lot and just trying to keep busy. I started a new quilt this last week since I'm not aloud to really touch the one that Chris has started. He is doing really well on his quilt. So cute!

Our week after Thanksgiving has been going so well. Spending as much time together as we can. Birthing Classes. Cleaning the whole house. Setting up the baby's room some more. It feels like we've been getting gifts for Brenden almost every day this week.

I'm so ready for him to come already!

December

Today is the first day of December, and we all know what that means....Christmastime is so so so close! I am so excited for Christmas this year, even though we'll be spending it here in Rexburg because of Chris' lame work schedule. I'm just Thankful that we have so many great friends and that they'll will be stuck here with us.

Chris has been working really hard today to get the house all cleaned up. We had a blizzard last week and then Thanksgiving and Black Friday came and we just haven't been home enough to get it to just the way we like it. I'm so thankful that he's so willing to clean the house and do laundry for me on his days off. Its really a blessing.

So last week, Thanksgiving was so much fun, we practically made a whole week out of it. On Monday we had Family Home Evening with some friends playing a game called Minute to Win it. It was a blast! You have one minute to accomplish a certain task or you're eliminated.

I forgot the names to all of these, but basically this one there are 5 different size paper bags and with out using your hands you had to get the bags to the table behind you in less than a minute. The only part of your body that could touch the floor was your feet. It was a tough one, I assume. Being pregnant, my task was a lot easier. My bags were set up on the couch. Haha. Talk about easy.

This game you had a yo-yo strapped to yourself and had to knock over all of these plastic cups.

This game you had to mummify yourself in a roll of toilet paper without ripping it. Chris was amazing, I think he did in like 10 seconds or so.

We had a lot of fun with this, these are not all of the games we played, but for the most part its almost all the ones we took pictures of.

Baby Classes!

We started our hypnobabies birthing classes last week and we love them! There is so much to learn and out teacher is so amazing! We were supposed to have a class last night, but it was canceled. Apparently our teachers whole family was sick and usually it wouldn't have been a big deal, but with all these pregnant ladies, we didn't want to take a chance.

The class is a lot of meditation, hypnosis and going into it we were very skeptical, ok mostly Chris, but now he loves it! The workbook that comes with the class has so much information, nothing you can really get from reading other birthing books, its great! We have homeowrk assignments every single week. We have reading assignments, communication assignments, scripts for hypnosis, and it has been so much fun! The book has a lot of references to other books on different topics.

Other than our birthing class, we are so looking forward to the holidays even though we'll be spending them here in Rexburg, but we have some great friends!!! We already have our Christmas tree up because I am very stubborn and a pregnant woman who generally gets her way. Now it just needs ornaments. And I really need to start planning a baking day here in Rexburg, that would be so much fun! Now time for so grub!!!

29 weeks today!

Only a few short weeks left to go. And I have this feeling that time is going to go by so quickly. With all the Holidays coming up and just being that busy time of season, I'm looking forward to time flying by.
We have our first doctors appointment since St. Louis on Friday. We're both really excited for that, mostly because it's been a really long time and it will be nice to hear that everything is going great.
As for some not so great news, we're going to have to spend all of holidays in Rexburg. Chris was fairly, okay, he was really upset about it. We found out yesterday that Sam's Club has company wide Black out for all of November and December, and in order for him to get any time off the General Manager has to sign off on it. Their regular GM quit last week, so they have this temp. coming up from Logan about once a week until they find someone to be their new GM. When Chris talked to the temp. guy he just flat out told him no, no explanation on either side, nothing. Chris was mostly upset about that.
Its not ideal to spend our holidays in Rexburg, but we'll make the best of it. We'll have our own Thanksgiving dinner and spend it together and do whatever we can to make it fun. :)

27 weeks, 4 days!

Time is flying and I'm sure going in the winter holidays, life is just going to get even more crazier and everything is going to go even more faster than it already is. We're really excited for January and for Baby Brenden to become a larger part of our lives, but at the same time, we think, "Ahhhh, we have no idea what we're doing!" We're in the 3rd trimester, I'm definitely in the nesting stage, Chris has been going to school and working non-stop. It has been a crazy couple of months, and the next few months are going to be even crazier. But overall we're really excited. For the holidays, for family, for friends, and for baby.

We have met a lot of new friends the past couple of weeks being in Rexburg. It has been so much fun. We met a couple in our ward that have connections to St. Louis, and they are so wonderful. They're so sweet, helpful, and absolutely hilarious. We also met a couple where Chris knew the husband from home and from his mission, we had a game night with them last night and hopefully we can get them over for dinner this week when Chris has a day off from work. I really look forward to getting to know them better, especially the wife, Shayanna, she seems so great! I like her already. :)

As far as medical and doctors go, we haven't seen a doctor since St. Louis, but hopefully soon. We're turning in the last bit of paperwork in tomorrow to get approved for Medicaid so all the baby expenses will be paid for. We have to turn in this form for Plasma. Chris has been donating plasma for awhile, so we kind of have to estimate how much he's made and let them know and sign a document because according to the state of Idaho, since Chris donates and earns money from it, he is considered self-employed. Ridiculous, I know, but that's life and how the system works, I'm sure everything will work out, and hopefully soon.

For now, we need to got o bed, Chris has an early morning of classes and work for tomorrow.

Baby Brenden James

Here are some of our Ultrasound pictures from the last time we went to the doctor in St. Louis. Its been awhile!

This is the ultrasound we had when we found out we were having a boy! So exciting, :D

This is a picture of the baby's face, personally I think he looks like Chris.

This was just a picture they did for measurements, and apparently Brenden measures a bit below average, but that's ok.

Boy picture!

Oh Whoa!

So much has been going on in the last almost 2 months. I am a horrible blogger since we've been back to Rexburg. When we first got back it took so much time to get our home back in order, from all the cleaning, grocery shopping, putting all of our stuff back together after subletting for the summer. It was a lot of work and I have to say its still really not completely done. Especially with a baby on the way and trying to prepare for that also. Work, work, work!

Chris transferred from the Sam's Club in St. Louis to the one in Idaho Falls, which is wonderful. Trying to save as much money as we can. He loves it, he works in the wireless department, but he also works in electronics and jewelry when they need it. He just got cross trained in jewelry this week, and I'm pretty sure he is doing great at it!

While Chris is at work, I have been cleaning and working on a lot of projects. I've made a blessing blanket, 2 maternity skirts, and a fabulous quilt so far. Its been a lot of fun. I'll have to pot pictures once I take some. I have to say that most Christmas presents this year will probably be homemade. :D

I have to say, I love my mom! She has been so great! I remember when Chris and I first got married everytime I would call her, "Am I gonna be a grandma yet?" Never failed, and as soon as she gave up and stopped asking, it happened. It makes me laugh. I call her everytime I don't understand something about pregnancy or think something is maybe a little weird. From morning sickness to what should I eat to all these cool baby crafts to Ack! I'm not showing yet, she has been so amazing and I love her! This weekend after General Conference on Saturday she's throwing me a baby shower. I get to see my wonderful family, it'll be great! I don't really know anything about it other than its on Saturday at 3. Haha. I think it'll be a lot of fun. I'm excited.

And then I think, Wow! Am I really so far along to having baby showers. Wow! So real and so cool! You read these pregnancy books and they're usually week by week and they'll tell you what your baby looks like and how its developing. Its so amazing. So hard to even comprehend how amazing life really is. 25 weeks along on Wednesday! Thats so weird to me still. I'm going to be the woman delivering a baby still in shock that its really happening. Haha. And after this semester its going to be right there. Wow!

Doctor's Appointment

Today we went and saw a doctor for the first time, well pregnancy doctor that is. The best doctors appointment since we've been in St. Louis. We've been to about 3 other doctors and its been really hard to try to figure out insurance stuff and try to make doctor's appointments at the same time. Its just been one huge mess. And the only thing the doctors at the past appointments would do is take pregnancy tests. OK, look, I may not look like it, but I'm in my 2nd trimester, having morning sickness like you wouldn't believe, have had pregnancy tests up the bazooka, definitely knowing we're having a baby! You think the doctors would understand. I hate peeing in a cup, I don't think men understand how utterly impossible it is for us.

So doctor's appointment today...Great! We have a great doctor even if she won't be our doctor for very much longer, with us moving back to Rexburg for school and all. But she really was great. She asked for a full medical history, did some tests, took blood, that was cool. Kind of like donating plasma, but way way way faster!!! She said that some insurance companies don't like doctors to do ultrasounds the first appointment, but she didn't much care, she was as excited as we were. So we did one of those heart beat ultrasounds, and I have to say, it really is as weird as it sounds in the movie. No picture, just the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, Ha ha.

And then, and then we got to go do the picture ultrasound!!! So cool. Some things were hard to make out, but you can definitely tell, the head is a head. The heartbeat was really awesome to see. It was really fast! And we got pictures! :)

Quite a fantastic day!!

Escapades in St. Louis!

Ahhhh!!!! This is the life! You know, going to bed early just because we're married. Weird, getting married is like vowing you will forever more be drowsy after 9 at night. I used to love being young, well of course, I still am, but I used to love staying up late fitting in everything I possibly could in that 24 hour period, going to bed super late and being able to wake with all the farm animals. Now I'm lucky if I can stay awake for those Friday night movies. Yeah, I'm the one asleep on couch before the previews even start. But you've got to love it!!!

Well today was was mommy daughter day with my mother-in-law. Best day ever! Love her! We went to down town St. Louis and had lunch at Lemp Mansion. Its on the10 most haunted houses in the U.S. list. Apparently it was owned By a Adam Lemp who came to America in the early 1900's to be a grocer. He owned his own store and started making his own ale to sell in his store. The Ale was turning out to be a better profit than the store. He then started his own Beer company. He died and left the company to his son William, who renovated the house for offices for the Lemp Brewery. In 1904, William Lemp committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in the upper room. William would not be the last Lemp to commit suicide. There would be 3 others, ending in the 1940's. The brewery went to the Bank. The last Lemp to live was Edwin Lemp, his life was service to others, and upon his death his orders were to destroy his art collection and his family heirlooms. This place wasn't very creepy, but it was a lot of fun to go and have lunch together. As we opened the front door it even had that creeky sound. It was really cool.And apparently they have murder mystery dinners there. Definitely want to go to one of those!!!!

After lunch at the haunted mansion, we went antiquing for a few hours. Man, we found some crazy things. Some really cool things, and some really really ugly things. Ha ha. But it was really hot outside so decided to call it a day, especially since a lot of the shops were closed. Went to go get ice cream in town, but the Ben and Jerry's in town went out of business. Someone please tell me how an ice cream place goes out of business. I admit not everyone has those baby cravings, but come on its summer time and ice cream, its like me and my right thumb, can't have one with out the other, or it just hurts!

EXCITEMENT!!!

Our first doctors appointment for baby is coming up soon!!! Next week we can finally get in to be seen by a doctor. Hopefully we will be able to hear a heartbeat. :) We're both really excited, hopefully Chris doesn't have to work that day so he can go too! And then in a few more weeks we can tell everyone if we're having a boy or girl. Ahhhhh!!! All this excitement to deal with, I don't know what I'm going to do!

Last Weeks in the Sweat!

Time for some disney!!!! I have been really craving watching disney movies lately. I'm thinking today is good rainy day for Sleeping Beauty or maybe even Pocahontas!!! I never liked Pocahontas as a kid, I don't even know if I've ever seen it all the way through, but Chris says its awesome, mostly because he was in the play as a kid. He was in many plays as a kid. Story time anyone???

My other mommy, Chris' mom, loves to tell this story, but my lacking qualities will have to do for this purpose. Ha ha. When Chris was a lot younger, we're talking 6 or 7, he was in the play Aladdin, and he was super stoked about it! I mean what kid wouldn't be, Aladdin is by far my favorite Disney movie. Well when it came to casting, Chris got the lead role of Aladdin, and you would think he would be so excited, best part ever! Right? NOPE! He was devastated that he didn't get the part of Raja, the big kitty. :) Thats my husband for you, full of unexpected, EVERYTHING!

So now for some news on whats going on in our lives in St. Louis. Well for one, its been a long feat, but we finally have our first doctors appointment for baby set up for next week! We're super excited, frustrated that its taken so much. Chris parents are also leaving next week for Florida for a week, so it will just be the 2 of us in this big house for a whole week. Kinda scary. I guess we have the 2 dogs as well, but they're no bigger than a footstool. :)

I really hope that next week we can make it up to Nauvoo to see the Pageant, we had a lot of fun going last year and hopefully we'll be able to do the same this year. Our plan was just to take a day trip and see all that we can see. We'll see how far we get!

Its been a great summer in St. Louis for us and sadly I'm looking forward to its end to get back home. I miss it a lot and we're both excited to go back! See a lot of friends, and get situated back in our apartment, rearranging from Chris and Amanda's sublet over the summer, and stalking up on food. :)

We love all of friends and our wonderful family that support us every single day!

Lazy Days in Missouri!

So here we are, settled into Chris' parent's home in Chesterfield, MO. This is Chris speaking, my first attempt at blogging, so you'll have to excuse my lack of general knowledge as to how to do this. I'll still try to speak in third person though, to eliminate confusion for those who can't keep up with the fact that I'm writing it. 

Anyway, We're here in Missouri. Sadie is keeping busy around the house, and trying to take it easy to keep from getting sick. She's over most of the morning sickness now, but waves will still hit her. At least now she feels well enough to get out of the bedroom consistently and go do things out and about. This makes life nicer for everyone, because now the family is starting to feel complete again at the dinner table. 

Chris has been keeping busy with work at Sam's Club. He's a cell phone salesman, to put it simply. He's becoming quite proficient at activations and upgrades, though there is always the customers who want to do something really difficult, or just don't understand the fact that the things they want are just not obtainable. He's hoping to transfer to the Sam's in Idaho Falls when He and Sadie move back to Rexburg for school. 

Sadie is hoping to throw another Scentsy party soon, because she really enjoys throwing them, and feels like a party in this area would be extremely successful. It would be nice to have a few extra dollars in the bank, what with the baby on the way and all. 

We're still in the dark as to gender of the baby, but upon our arrival back in Idaho, we should be able to find that out. Very exciting. Anyone who reads this would be more than welcome to throw a baby shower for Sadie and the new arrival. :) The more the better! 

Well, this is pretty much starting to sound like a Christmas card, so I think I"m going to stop now. Hope everyone who reads this is doing well (unless you're planning on doing something mean or damaging to us, then we hope you.... well.... you get the idea), and we look forward to seeing all of our friends again in the not-too-distant future.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

What can you say to that??? That one statement covers everything. We are so excited for the next couple of months!!! We're due on January 13, 2011, and about 10 weeks along right now. You pray for something for such a long time and it happens, and it seems so wonderful and sudden you have no idea what to think next. That's us! My brain feels like a dog chasing its tail, its so odd to explain.

So the best and worst things about a baby on the way at this point, best part, being able to share the news and excitement with everyone you love! Worst part, for me anyways, it would have to be that cold hearted morning sickness. Hate it like the plague. No one ever tells you it comes and goes as it pleases and that it can last all and I mean all day long. A little warning would have been nice. I hear that it does go away after the first trimester, I am having a party that day!! And everyones invited. Haha. I'm sure Chris will be glad when that part is over too. He does not enjoy the morning sickness at all. On my good days, I'm ok, I'm making it through the day, and on my bad days, boy are they ever bad, sometimes I just never roll out of bed, fearing the bathroom.

We're excited for the rest of the pregnancy, doctors appointments, we have our first ultrasound appointment in a few weeks, YES! Looking forward to shopping for baby, going through and registering, baby showers, EVERYTHING! I haven't had a lot of the cravings yet, but I'm sure they're on there way. Made my husband go get corn dogs today, I never liked the things before now. Had a real craving for Watermelon and Sour Candies this week, of course Ice Cream, the regular kind, you know with out the pickles. That just sounds gross. The only truly odd thing has been peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, weird, weird, weird everyone keeps telling me, but they are amazing! This week the only thing I can seem to keep down is peanut butter and honey sandwiches, does this change from week to week? I hope so, I'm ready for something new.

 And some news I know everyone eants to hear, well its not here yet, but it will be! Chris and I have decided to know ahead of time whether we'll be having a boy or girl, please pray for no twins. :) We'll know by the end of the summer whether it will be a boy or a girl and be finishing up our registry at that point and getting it up for everyone to see.

 We'll keep you posted!!

Loving Missouri!!

We've been in St. Louis for a few weeks now and we've been loving it. The weather has been amazing, it been really cloudy lately, but that just means it doesnt get as humid, which we think is awesome! I found work our first or second week here and have been working like crazy. Chris on the other hand has not. And why is he not updating our blog.....uhmmm....great question. Totally stumped on that one. 

I started working at Subway when we first got here, I was a total shoe-in. I called a day or so after turning in applications, talked to the Manager, went in the next day for an interview, and asked when I could start. I started the next day. And have been working at least 40-hour weeks ever since. I really like the people I work with, although some of them are really lazy. Its great!!!

And Chris had frantically been looking for work with no results and just getting more and more frustrated by the day. He finally got a job last week. Working for Sam's Club!!! He works in the wireless department, I know, so him, right? He loves it and gets paid extremely well for it!

We've really been enjoying our time with the Missouri Freeman's and trying to save money at the same time. My in-laws are the best and I would never trade them for anything.I'm a little biased and love my mother-in-law the most! She has been so great to me this past year, and it would have been hard to have done a lot of things with out her. She is a true blessing in our lives, they all are and we're so thankful for them, and this summer, being able to spend it with them!

MY PERFECT DAY!

Today has been such a great day!!! I was sick last night, with not a lot of great hopes for today, but it turned out to be a beautiful day! I woke up to breakfast in bed provided by my wonderful husband. He's the best! He even made me the famous Mickey Mouse pancake. So cute, a little burnt, but that's how I like it. Haha.

I had a very mellow and serene morning spent with my hubby!! Chris left later in the morning to get some work done. The Missouri Freeman's have an interior decorator to make there house purdy and hired Chris for the day to help move columns. It sounded like a lot of heavy lifting. Poor guy. :) He came home and we both had interviews for jobs today. We had an interview at Olive Garden and Chris had an interview at Lenscrafters. The interview at Olive Garden, I don't think it could have possibly went better. We feel so great about that interview. The hiring manager was amazing and seemed to love us and they're hiring 3 servers, which is great for us, so we'll know by Thursday if we got the job. Keeping our fingers crossed and praying like crazy!

The Lenscrafters interview did not go as well. They pretty much told Chris that they wouldn't hire him. Poor guy. They said that they would need at least 6 months to teach him everything that he would need to know for the position, sadly we will only be here for less than 3 months now. But we have Olive Garden, hopefully!

So while Chris was in at Lenscrafters, I decided I wanted to tour around the mall we were in. I went to one store and ordered an anniversary present since our 1 year anniversary is just over a month away!!! I can't believe it! Time just flies by. I also went to Borders and bought a new cookbook and a Birthday Present for Chris. 1 out of the 3 presents I am working on for him. So 2 down now! Borders is having this great sale! got to books and spent less than $10!!! Awesome!

I also bought Chris' big expensive Birthday present online this morning. Why are boys so expensive??? Luckily we're not paying for anything else right now. :)

AND THAT WAS MY DAY!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

So I have been a horrible blogger since we left Rexburg! Ack! But thats ok. I'm going to tell everyone about our wonderful Mother's Day in Missouri. I got to sleep in, yes! I have been doing a lot of that since we've been here, I can't get to sleep until way late and find myself waking up around 9 every morning, sometimes earlier at about 6. No middle ground. :) 

Well this very special Mother's Day, I was able to sleep in and come downstairs to a breakfast that was prepared by all of the boys, wonderful breakfast. I'm sure glad that breakfast is there thing and not mine. It makes coming down to breakfast and breakfast in bed so much better!!! So we has yummy yummy crepes and everything to go with it! My absolutly wonderful mommy-in-law and I had some Mother's day thing to open. I had a card from my hubby, so sweet! She had a few cards, and Chris and I got her this digital steamer, it looked really cool and she had been talking all that week about this electric steamer that she had had when they were in England, needless to say, SHE LOVED IT! I hope anyways, if she doesn't like it, I will gladly take it home. 

We All went to church together. For lots of candy and cupcakes in Relief Society. It was great! And Terri gave the lesson, every time we're here and she gives a lesson, I always learn so much more about her that I would never get the chance to even wonder. She is truly amazing! I know that I married into one of the best families possible. I love them!

We came home after Chuch and Chris helped me make some mini carrot cakes for his mommy, I changed the recipe a little bit, but they were so good. (I'll post the recipe on my recipe page later on this week!) 

We all had steak for dinner, I have to admit I was a little worried because when it comes to steak I am a little biased and tend not to like anyone's steak other than my Dad's. But I have to say, it was very scrumptious! Sorry dad...

But then again it is....

MOTHER'S DAY!!!