Craters of the Moon!

Last month, inbetween semesters Chris had a day off, so we loaded up the Expedition with plenty of food and some good friends and headed to Craters of the Moon. Chris, Brenden, and I had never really been. When Brenden was only a few months old we had taken the scenic route home from Boise and stopped there, but it being 7 in the evening the visitors center and everything was closed so we just stopped and took some pictures and grabbed a moon rock! This time we really got to see it! I'll post some photos here too! We went with Our friends Mike, Melanie, Paul, and Jes and we had a blast! We left in the morning and had banana bread to snack on in the car, along with a movie to watch. SO we ended up watching, The Italian Job while Chris drove. We got to Craters of the Moon around 11 in the morning and checked in at the visitor's center, watched a short movie and looked around the gift shop until we headed to the caves and trails. We stopped for lunch when we found a picnic table. We had made sandwiches the night before and cut up some cantelope, and gathered the potato salad and chips. It was one amazing lunch! So take a look at our photos, maybe it will feel like you were there too. :)

24 WEEKS!

Had my 24 week appointment this morning! I can't believe it less then 16 weeks left. Which means....Just over 3 1/2 months left. Whoot Whoot! In my appointment this morning, I found out my kidneys leak protein, weird. Doctor says its nothing to worry about yet since I have a healthy blood pressure and no swelling. Later on in the pregnancy if I have the high blood pressure and any swelling we'll have to worry more about it since it could be pre-eclampsia. I think I remember having this protein problem with Brenden and it turned out to be nothing to worry about, but definitely good to know. Now for this week, no more appointments, just time to have some fun! Chris turns 25 on Saturday! I can hardly believe he's going to be a quarter of a century and of course, I have to give him a hard time about it. Hopefully he can get ahead of his homework this week and we can have some fun this weekend. I'm still trying to decide what to make for Chris' Birthday dinner and what kind of cake I should make him. Hopefully he gets back to me on his dinner super soon so I can make some plans! I am all about planning ahead and getting things in order. Chris on the other hand is just very last minute about everything. I have to say, there are times that this really irritates me and why Chris never gets to help me plan anything. Chris is horrible about planning things. But he's still a great husband, he's such a hard worker, I don't know how he does it. School, work, church, homework, having fun with Brenden and I, going to all of our appointments, and taking such great care of us! Sometimes I think he's Superman!

24 weeks and 1 day!

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15 months old?

Brenden is 15 months old today! I just can't believe that much time has gone by since we brought this tiny guy home from the hospital! Now he's venturing into being a toddler, is over 30 inches tall and almost 23 lbs! Yeah, that's right. After 6 months of not gaining any weight at all and actually losing half a pound, Brenden has put on almost 3 lbs. this month! He is a growing boy! Now if I can just get him to start walking on his own. I know, I know, everyone tells me that he'll walk on his own when he's ready. You try carrying a baby at almost 23 weeks and add a 23 lb. toddler to that. Its not a joyous adventure to go anywhere anymore mostly because I dread lifting him up. Its not so much the carrying him around part because I only carry him in short bursts, but mostly its just having to lift him up from the floor. Being pregnant its hard to get up from the floor, let alone trying to do it with that extra weight of Brenden. I just have to gloat for a minute about how smart my little boy is. Brenden is absolutely wonderful, he's been picking up so many things left and right. I just have no idea how the kid does it. Maybe he's just known all along and has decided to share his knowledge with us now. Haha. Over the past week or so he has shown us so many little baby signs that he knows. Its great. And he says the words with the signs, so I really know he knows what he's talking about. He knows, more, all done, fish, milk, play, outside, game, book, and goodnight. I'm impressed that he knows so many at such a young age, but with both Chris and I having years of training in sign language and using it day to day when we teach Brenden, he has caught on really fast. I'm excited to see how he grows and the many more signs that he learns. Maybe I'll have to learn some with them. When it comes to communicating in sign, it comes almost second nature to me, but when it comes to a specific word, I almost feel put on the spot and have to think about it and sometimes even look it up. I love watching Brenden learn and grow and know that I have played an enormous part of that. And that is why I love being a stay at home mommy. And I love being able to play with him everyday. He has turned into this fun little boy. He loves to play and laugh all day long. He loves playing with all of his toys, especially if you play with him and he's already such a great sharer, we'll see if this lasts, hopefully he shares well with his new baby sister. Brenden is just so full of life! He's always in a good mood, even when he's teething these pesky molars. I'm so proud of my little man, Happy quarter Birthday handsome!

Ode to the Greatest Woman I Know

Have you ever had that one person in the world that you could go to and they would have all of the answers, the best advice, the warmest shoulder to cry on, the person that made you feel like Superman when the world was coming down around you, that one person you could go to and know that everything would be okay just like. I know that I should be talking about my husband, but lets face it, I'm only 23 and I've only been married for well, not even 3 years yet, so this is not about Chris. Although, he has grown into that person for me. But before Chris came around, I really had the best Aunt int he whole entire world. She passed away right before I met Chris, and I'm lucky just thinking that he's helped fill that void for her that I have been feeling. Enough about this silly husband of mine, I talk about him all of the time. This lucky ladies name was Terra Lane, I will be naming our little girl after her, well middle name anyways. My very special mother-in-law shares the first name of Terri, and I didn't want to take that away from her. She's such a special lady. I remember growing up and my Aunt was always there for everything that I needed. I remember following her around like a little lost puppy, I remember wanting to spend every weekend with her, my Uncle would pick me up on Friday nights after homework was done and he would take me to the store on the way to their house so we could pick up fruit loops. I remember getting paid in quarters and life savers for rubbing her feet, and massaging her neck. I would crawl into bed in the middle of the night when I had nightmares, and watch cartoons all Saturday morning long. This was all when I was maybe 6 years old. I remember being older and breaking my nose and not wanting to go see the doctor before she had a look at it and for her to comfort me first. I remember even when I was in trouble with her, always wanting to be by her side. This wonderful lady had taught me so much at such a young age. She had taught me how to do laundry, how to choose my friends, what I should watch when it came to television and movies, she taught me how to clean well, she taught me how to cook and many of these recipes, I still remember today. She gave me the best advice I could ever get from anyone. She knew me better than I knew myself. She knew the potential that I had and how to cultivate it. She knew that I had to make my own mistakes, she taught me how to discipline in love. This woman taught me the difference between right and wrong and how to make things better. This special lady made me see. She taught me that my parents had the same values and that they could help me be a better person. I am so thankful to have had someone like this in my life and I can only wish that everyone could have someone like her in their life at some point. The things that I have grown up learning from her, my children will learn from me and she will live on through them. When she past away, I didn't feel her leave, I could feel the things that she taught me in the things that my parents were teaching me.And so now every time I have a question I need answered, I call up my mom and ask her, her answers are going to be the same because she was raised by this amazing woman. Sure, I can't see my Aunt everyday like I would love to, but I dream of her often and have the fondest memories of her. I know that my children will be lucky because I will have so many stories to tell, so many lessons to teach, and some great advice to give because of this woman. I love her and will never forget, for now she lives on in me.

Salt Lake City and St. Louis!

This last week our little Freeman family went out to St. Louis to see family and have some fun. We left Rexburg last Tuesday and spent the day in Salt Lake City before our flight Wednesday morning. We were able to stay with some friends enjoy some food, yummy smoothies, and go to the new City Creek mall down by the temple. I bought some shoes. Good Day! We woke up early Wednesday morning so that we could make it to the airport by 8 in the morning! We figured since we woke Brenden up at 6am that he would sleep a lot since he normally doesn't wake up until about 9:30. Brenden didn't sleep at all on the plane. Bummer! I love to sleep on the plane. We had this 4 hour layover in Denver and he didn't even sleep there. He just wanted to play. We get on the plane to St. Louis, and no sleeping. He just loves to people watch and he was so great. He just played and read books the whole time. We got to baggage claim in St. Louis and he is asleep. There was no waking this kid up. I stood him up to walk, still asleep. We got him home to gran and gran-dads, gave him a bath and put him to bed. I'm sure he was just so tired. Most of Thursday Chris spent doing homework, so Brenden and I just played in between naps. Had some good food. We finally got Brenden to eat some turkey. Before this trip, Brenden was pretty much a vegetarian. We kept Brenden up a little late so he could see his gran-dad for a few minutes after he got in from his flight. Brenden slept so well that night. He didn't even think about waking up until 10 the next morning. He is such a great little boy. Friday and Saturday was spent doing projects around the house so it would be ready to go on the market next week. I took care of Brenden and played and read some interesting articles while he napped. Friday night we went to a stake production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat. I've only ever seen the movie, and its my favorite Sunday movie, so it was a real treat. We had all piled into cars to go and drove about 20 minutes to get there. Just as soon as we got out of the car I realized that we had forgotten the diaper bag at home. Brenden has been having bathroom troubles all week and I thought sitting through a play for a few hours would probably not be the best with out a diaper bag. It was okay though, I left and drove back to get it and it gave me time to call my little brother and wish him a happy 15th Birthday. I can't believe he's 15 already and taken driver's ed. classes. Wow, how time truly flies. I got back just in time for the play to start. Great timing! It was such an amazing play, they did such a wonderful job. I didn't know what to expect and I was really impressed. It was such a great night. Saturday night, we went to Chris' little brother, Josh's piano recital. All of these kids did so well! Its unbelievable the talent these young ones share. It kind of makes me regret not learning how to play the piano at a young age. It makes me think, should I make all of my children learn to play at least the piano if not more instruments. I guess that's something we can cover in our family home evening lesson this week. After the piano recital we went out for frozen custard. We have frozen custard here in Rexburg, but its not the same as going home with family and sharing some creamy custard. Skipping the last day of our trip, well really because it was the most fun. Chris spent most of Monday and Tuesday doing homework. Yeah, I know he's kind of boring. Ha ha. Well Wednesday we woke up and got everything packed up for our flight back to Salt Lake that evening and headed out for some real fun. We went to the butterfly house, which was awesome. Brenden loved being so close to all of the butterflies and they were so pretty. Some things there were also kind of disgusting as well. They had some nasty beetles and cockroaches. Yuck! After the butterfly house, we decided to take Brenden to the St. Louis Zoo. Sadly he was asleep for everything other than the elephants. They had some baby elephants. Brenden just kept saying baby baby baby. He is such a cute little boy. On the way back to Salt Lake on the place we discovered that Brenden was teething, he had been teething all week and we just didn't know. Which is why his diapers had been so disgusting. He wasn't sleeping on these planes either and so we decided to give him some baby Advil and some teething medication thinking maybe that would help. I had totally run out of ideas. He wasn't cranky or anything just bouncing all over the place.I was putting the teething medication on his gums and noticed he was getting one of his molars in. His very first one! He has been incredibly happy this week for a molar coming in. I am just so proud of him for being so happy all of the time. Our flight didn't get into Salt Lake until 11 that night and we still had to go to Bountiful to pick up our car and then drive back to Salt Lake for the night. We finally made it at midnight and laid Brenden down for sleep. He was awake by 7am the next morning. Jet lagged, maybe? We woke up realizing that there was no water because a water main had broken on the corner that morning! Argh! A shower would have been nice, but oh well. We went out to breakfast with our uncle and then he took Brenden out shopping. Brenden got royally spoiled. Different outfits, and toys! Our next kid won't need any toys at all! Maybe a few that a little more girly, since that's what we're having, but Brenden has been so spoiled being the first grand-kid that our other children wont need any. So just so everyone knows, baby showers in the next few months, clothes only! We had to hurry up with our shopping trip and head back to Rexburg so Chris could go to work. We stopped for lunch in Pocatello. I got Chris to work, and about 10 minutes early! I got home and unloaded the car and started some cleaning. Our neighbors were nice enough to watch Brenden for hours on end! I love having neighbors like that. And today, I figured I would catch up on some blogging while Chris worked on some homework, but now its time to get up and get moving for the afternoon!

20 Weeks!

Half way there already? With Brenden to make it to this point, really took forever!! I can't believe that in 20 short weeks, we'll have another baby in the house. Its still so unreal to me. Maybe having my hands full with Brenden all of the time makes the time go by so much faster.

I'm so grateful for the the wonderful weather that we've had lately. Being outside and playing and taking walks has really lifted my spirits. Most of my days are spent with Brenden and myself, and it gets quite boring. I wish I could figure out some fun activities for Brenden and I to do during the day. Something a little bit more enriching than playing with toys all afternoon. If any mamas out there have any ideas, please let me know, I'm going a little crazy. I'm just thankful that we can play outside a little bit every day.

As far as pregnancies go, I have to say, this is the best one! No nausea, no morning sickness, I don't have those tired spells like I did with Brenden. I don't have any food aversions, or cravings really. The tiredness only sets in if I try and clean the house. Bummer. I'm not too tired, but I'm lacking all of the energy that I really want. I want to run marathons, I want to hike all day long, I want play with Brenden all day long and be able to lift him up high, and pick him up when he wants it, I want to be able to take some serious Pilates classes, I want to do some crazy dancing all day long!

This energy needs to come back to me so I can have my life back. I know it will, I'm just a little impatient.

19 weeks, 1 day

18 weeks, 1 day

I know something you don't know!

Chris and I had the gender ultrasound on Wednesday! Chris won't let me share the results with anyone, but I finally feel like I can start doing the mommy thing and start making tons of little baby things. You know, burp cloths and blankets. We have done such a great job of keeping our pregnancy off of facebook, and we're so ready to share now! We will be making the announcement on Sunday! We're still undecided on whether we'll share the actually gender, or make that part of our April Fools day joke though. So, keep a look out!

17 weeks, 2 days!

Paranoia!

Since going to the doc this week I have been so paranoid! Ever single thing I feel with my body, I think the placenta is breaking apart from my uterus! I just feel like such a paranoid mama. I don't know what it is. I know deep down, that nothing is wrong with my baby and that I am 100% completely healthy and everything is going according to plan, but I can't help but feel a little bit concerned. Dang doctors telling you these things that could go wrong and silly me for letting it all go to my head. Well, that's whats been going on in my life lately. I'm just a paranoid freak!

16 weeks doctors appointment

Yep, that's right! I had our 16 weeks doctors appointment this week. Originally it wasn't going to be until today, but Brenden got me super sick over the weekend and it was just getting worse so I called my doctor's office on Monday morning and they happened to have an opening that afternoon. Great! We went in and my blood pressure was great for being so sick. Last time I went in it was a little high, but we contributed that to having a stomach flu for days before. But this time I was happy that everything was fine. They also needed to draw some blood to test for birthing abnormalities. I'm not too worried about it, you'd think that if something were to come up it would have shown up while I was pregnant with Brenden, but hey, you never know.

Our doctor came in and did our sonogram, heart beat is still right around 160 bpm. This babies heart beat is so fast!! Brenden's heart beat was always around 130 bpm. So maybe its a girl, I have heard that baby girls heart beats are faster, but we'll see. Speaking of gender, we get to find that out next week!!!! We asked our doctor about it when we went in this week and he said that it is a little early, but since we'll be out of town most of next month that he'll do it. He said for insurance reason he would need to have a specific medical reason to put on the order. So he said that he would say he had concerns of a subchorionic hemorrhage on there. Basically what happens is blood can gather between the placenta and the uterus, in more severe cases causing the placenta to tear away from the uterus. I'm not really concerned about it, it sounds like our doctor needs something to check out during the ultrasound.

I'm just excited to find out, I can finally start making baby stuff!! Burp cloths, bibs, blankets, clothes, and so much more! That's the really fun part about being pregnant. That and once we know gender, we'll be sharing our news with everyone!!!

16 weeks, 1 day!

I'm a few weeks into my second trimester and I'm loving it!! I really have nothing to complain about except some neck pain. Which, I will take over morning sickness. I feel so great! I don't get to tired, which is great for having a one year old on the go. I don't really get sick unless I brush my teeth before eating something in the morning. I just can't say how great I feel, but I guess a lot of it is me comparing this pregnancy to when I was pregnant with Brenden. If you're not in the know, Brenden's pregnancy went smoothly, but I was super sick almost the whole time and had no energy at all. But hey, this is great!! But for now, this pregnant mama is hungry!

Labor and Delivery shows

Don't watch them. Period. Especially if you're pregnant for the first time. I just had a first time mama tell me that her nurse at the hospital told her to watch these shows. I think that is just ridiculous! These shows are in no way a true reflection of what normally happens in the delivery room. I swear TLC just seeks out the most high risk pregnancies and documents them for added drama. Even me, being pregnant for the second time, I get freaked put by those shows. Why would you let yourself endure watching such bull? Obviously I feel very strongly about this, so if you disagree, please just ignore me. When your pregnant the best thing you can do for your growing baby is to surround yourself with positive thoughts. Birth stories on television does not do that for me. Which is why I love posting my pregnancy affirmations, they just make me feel great!

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Baby!

We're really hoping to find out baby's gender the week after next even though I'll be just over 17 weeks. We're hoping because the weeek after is finals and then we'll be gone for the rest of the month. We just don't have time to fit it into our schedule after the end of this month, sadly. But we're hoping the doc let's us find out early. We found out with Brenden at 15 weeks, so there's hope.

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Gah!

I'm only blogging about this because I'm so irritated. I'm not naming names not because I don't want to embarrass people, but because I think its not very considerate to do so. I don't rant and rave and be angry on Facebook so I go angry in my posts here just so I can get it out somewhere. It really makes me feel better.

Today I had this experience with a friend that made me just furious. I had some friends ask me if I wanted to go to the timeout for women convention in Idaho Falls. I said yes, thinking I could just buy my own ticket. A few weeks ago this friend asked me if I still wanted to go, after having bought group tickets the month before. I said that I still wanted to go and they said I could pay them and how much it was. I emailed them this morning saying that I wouldn't be able to make it this weekend and that we could work together to find someone. I got this rude email back saying that it was my responsibility and that I still needed to pay. I was totally okay with finding someone to replace me, I just think I was hurt and offended the way it came across and I didn't know how to respond. I took a few hours to respond because I didn't want to respond when I was angry because that's always a bad idea at least for me. I didn't know if I was so upset because I was supposed to be or because I'm pregnant. Dang these pregnancy hormones. The emails just kept getting worse and I just kept getting more and more hurt. Good news is that I did find someone to take my ticket. I sent this friend an apology hoping to feel better even though I didn't think I did anything wrong. There's just something about apologies that make me feel better even if they're not accepted. I didn't think I should have to pay for something I wasn't partaking in, but I had no problem helping out to find a replacement. I don't think I'll ever hear or see an apology, but I don't really care, that's not what its about. It's about doing the right thing for me and feeling good about it.

And my rant is over! Thanks for listening or you know, reading.

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15 weeks, 2 days

15 weeks tomorrow?

Seriously? I know I do this every week, freaking out that yet another week has gone by, but these weeks are going by so incredibly fast. I just can't believe it. I'm well over a third of the way there. Amazing! I remember being pregnant with Brenden and I felt like I wad pregnant forever. This time I just got pregnant looking super fast. This time, I love being pregnant, I love not sharing it with everyone on the face of the planet, I love not being nauseous, I love the support from family, I love our doctor, and I can't wait to hear what we're having because as soon as we find that out, the whole world can know. This pregnancy is so refreshing!

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14 weeks, 1 day

I took these on Sunday, so they're a few days late, but hey, my blogs private right now except to a select few that already know we're having a baby. So I would say, I'm already over it.

Bahhh!

I felt this little lemon sized baby move for the very first time tonight. I'm feeling this baby move and everyone around doesn't even know there's a little one in there. So weird!

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Ahhhhh!

14 weeks tomorrow. Seriously? How is this possible? Time is just flying by and I gotta say I love it. I couldn't imagine going through another pregnancy like I did with Brenden. I just can't wait to find out if its a boy or a girl. Little secret, I'm hoping girl!

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Wow!

I just can't believe I only have 2 days left in this first trimester. Weird. This pregnancy is just flying by. Maybe its the whole having a one year old to preoccupy me thing. All I know is that this is wonderful!

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13 weeks, 1 day

12 weeks appointment

I had my 12 week appointment today and it went so well. Brenden had been sick today and even though Dr. Jones isn't Brenden's doctor he offered to take a look at him and write a script for the poor sick baby.

Onto the actual appointment. My blood pressure was a little high, but probably from being sick throwing up all day yesterday. Nothing to be worried about. I got measured. Well my belly got measured. I'm measuring 12-12 1/4 weeks, which is great because I'm officially 12 weeks, and 4 days. We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat which is still super fast! Dr. Jones also gave me some prescription prenatals to give a try. I had to have a prescription last time so it was no surprise.

I would say that today was a very successful doctors appointment. Heck the whole day was successful! I also got a bassinet!

Good days!

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

I know thus nausea won't last forever. We're almost through it. Tomorrow marks 12 weeks, so this nausea will slowly start to disappear now.

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

I love the feeling of freshly brushed teeth, but what's even better is being able to keep everything down.

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

I'm so blessed this Valentine's day. I'm so thankful for such a wonderful husband and great little baby. I can't wait until this little one joins us. All in time.

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11 weeks

Seriously? This first trimester is just flying by! Where is all of the time going? Two more weeks and I'll be totally out of this trimester. Amazing. I'm excited that this pregnancy is going so incredibly well. It's seriously been a piece of cake! There's been a little bit of nausea, but nothing like it was with Brenden. With Brenden I was so sick, I had to spend the summer in a basement right next to the bathroom. I had never been so sick in my whole entire life. It was horrible. But this time although I feel like I already look six months pregnant I'm still able to do things. This is a major plus having a one year old who wants to do everything! I'll be happy when I can get some energy back! And I'm well aware it probably won't come back until the third trimester. Poo!

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

I'm so glad that we were able to find a new and awesome doctor!

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

I'm so blessed that this pregnancy has been so easy and I know I have a healthy baby.

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Pregnancy Affirmation of the Day

Brenden will be 18 months a month before the new baby. Yes!

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Wow!

I'm feeling so pregnant already!!! I can't decide if its because its a second pregnancy and this is just how the cookies crumble, or wait maybe I'm really having twins! I have been having so many twin dream lately. Crazy, huh! I thought these crazy twin dreams would end when we only saw one heartbeat a few weeks ago at the ultrasound, but no. They have not! Then I heard a story about my Aunt Julie. She didn't know that she was having twins until later on in the pregnancy. One twin was hiding behind the other.

I just finished reading a bunch of forums and it looks perfectly normal to start looking pregnant a lot sooner the more pregnancies you have. That makes me feel more relieved. Although, this secret is going to be a lot harder to keep until April if I just keep getting bigger and bigger. I'm only 10 weeks and already in maternity clothes. This is insanity! I was around 6 or 7 months with Brenden when I started wearing maternity clothes. Its so weird to me that I'm already looking pregnant. Does that mean I don't have to be pregnant as long, I sure hope so.

Chris and I weren't planning on telling people about the baby until we found out gender, but I'm showing so much already, I just don't know if that's going to be possible. Right now I just have a granny belly. Gross!

Wish me luck that we can keep our little secret!

10 weeks, 1 day!

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New Car!

New Car!!!

Chris and I got a new car today! Well new to us. It is amazing and I love it!!!!! We went to that dealership today and test drove it, fell in love, and bought it!!! Cash! That's right. It feels so good to have done that.

Its got some amazing add-ons. Its got this dvd/vcr system for the back seats. It has this back-up camera that fits over the rear view mirror that can switch over to the dvd/vcr. Its got this huge amp and massive 16-inch subwoofers. We'll probably end up selling that add-on. Its just not that practical. Its got this in car system for your phone that works through the stereo.

The downside of getting this for such a great price? We have to clean and detail it ourselves. Bummer, right?

All in all, we ended spending $8700 including dealer and doc fees. Amazing! I just love it.

Pictures to come.

Blessings

The best thing about this pregnancy, you ask? NO MORNING SICKNESS!!! Sure, I've got some nausea from time to time, actually more often this week, but I'm not glued to a toilet for 4 months! It feels great to be able to get out and do things. Brenden's got 4 playdates every week, and if I had morning sickness, those would not be happening. I'm feeling so blessed in life right now, I'm kind of regretting my decision not to tell people about this pregnancy. I just feel like I don't have anyone to talk about my excitement with. That was until this last week. Chris and I decided it was okay to tell people that we see frequently. It wouuld be hard not to and I think they would have caught on pretty soon.

So on Friday Chris and I threw a Scentsy party for our friends, Melanie and Jess. Afterwards, we hung out with Mike and Melanie, and Paul and Jess. Mike and Melanie have known as long as we have about this pregnancy. They knew before our parents did! Heck, Mike knew before I did! Well Paul and Jess had no idea. So all evening I kept dropping hints about pregnancy and we kept deferring the conversation back to pregnancy and birth. I think Jess finally caught on when Chris and I decided it was time to let them in on our little secret.

Here are some of my hints:

Jess had mentioned that they will probably start trying to have a baby after this semester is over. She asked if Chris and I were wanting to try and have another baby. I of course said yes. She said, hey, maybe we can be pregnant together. I responded, only if you're pregnant now. Haha. Nothing!

Melanie was talking about dollar store pregnancy tests and if they really worked. I mentioned something about taking one and we'd really know. Haha. Nada.

These are just my most memorable hints, I was dropping hints all night long!

I'm so glad I have a few people to talk to. My favorite it actually this girl in my ward. Her little one, Aria is about a month older than Brenden. They're both at the same stages though, which is great. We were in the foyer with them during sacrament on Sunday and they were just having so much fun, crawling after each other, banging on the walls and doors. Laughing at each other. I thought it was hilarious. And then we found out that we have the same due date! Small world, right? Now, I'm thinking, its just too many commonalities not to be friends.

I'm so grateful to be pregnant with another little angel and to feel the love and support of all of our family and friends who have been let in on the secret. And for those of you who have to wait to find out, we still love you, you're just too kind to keep our secret. :)

Car News!

We found something!!!!

We found a Black 2003 Ford Explorer for $7999!!!! Which is an amazing price. We just never heard back on the other one which is okay. But we did call on this one and its at a dealership in Idaho Falls.

We called the dealership today and talked to a man named Blaine. Its his day off today, so we're gonna go look at it tomorrow. I'm really excited if you can't tell. I'm just feeling so blessed that our tax return was so mighty this year! I can't wait to see what it'll look like next year. Although next years tax return will probably be going towards Chris' student loans. Which is okay. I would rather be an average joe after taxes and feel great about paying off some debt than be the person who buys that 80 inch tv. Haha.

Chris and I test drove this 2003 Eddie Bauer edition of a Ford Expedition a few months ago when Brenden was like 4 months old. I absolutely fell in love with it! I wanted to get it right then, right there, but it just wasn't in our cards at the time. They were asking $12,000 and with Chris and I not having any credit at all we didn't pass the credit check to lease a car. I was okay with that because personally I would rather buy a car with cash and not owe anything than have to lease it!

And now that this option just landed itself in our laps, its awesome! We'll be saving at $4,000 dollars. Their asking price is $8,000, but I'm sure we can talk them down a little bit. :)

We'll let you know how the test drive goes. And who knows, maybe we'll bring a new car home tomorrow.

Bigger Family, Bigger Car

Chris and I are in the market for a new car and the great thing? We didn't have to take forever to save up the money. Right now, we have about $3,000 saved up for a car, which is okay, but we could do better! We're thinking we could sell the Grand Am and make another $1500-$2000 from selling that. That puts us in the $4500-$5000 range, which is getting much better. Now the kicker! Chris and I just finish our taxes and we're looking to get back $4500 back this year! Amazing! That doubles our budget! So now we're in the 9,000-$9500 which is an amazing price to upgrade to a used SUV or minivan. As much as I would rather not have a minivan, I realize that it may be the better option.

We've been looking at 2003 and 2004 Ford Expedition. We found one locally. Its a white 2004 Ford Expedition, it comes with an extra set of tires and a utility trailer all for $8000! We called on it yesterday, we haven't heard anything back yet, but it sounds like an amazing buy! I can't wait. We've even talked about waiting until Memorial Day weekend and going to car dealerships finding some great deals. I know that we'll find something that we love! With this growing family of ours, its just going to be better to have something bigger that will last us for awhile.

We're excited to buy a newer car and to love it!

9 Weeks!

More Pregnancy Updates!

I had my first doctor's appointment last Tuesday!! I thought about going back to Season's medical, but the experience I had with one of the midwives through Seasons, I just decided it would probably be better to see a different doctor all together. I had been hearing so many wonderful things about Dr. Jones in town. I have not one, not two, but three really good friends that had said some amazing things about this doctor, and were they right!

I went into my appointment and had to have all of the routine womanly tests. Including some pregnancy blood screening tests, not a bog deal at all. The nurses in the office are all great, and Dr. Jones is both friendly and lets me know everything I need to know even if I don't think to ask. Its wonderful! They also had an intern there that day, and it was kind of cool to be part of his learning experience.

Everything turned out to be perfectly fine, other than we couldn't nail down an exact due date. I just couldn't remember when my last period was. With the holidays and just everything going on it just totally slipped my mind. So what did they do? They scheduled me for an early ultrasound! I was totally thrilled. They scheduled it for the very next day, Chris was able to make it which was fun for us.

We learned a lot about the uterus. The Ultrasound Tech was very helpful and told us what everything was and what was going on. And based on the ultrasound, I'm 9 weeks, and 2 days along with a due date of September 1st. During the ultrasound, we also got to see the baby's heartbeat, which was around 165 bpm. Which was astounding for me! Brenden's heartbeat was always around 130-140 bpm. So a heartbeat of 165 I just didn't know what to think.

I have heard that little girl's heartbeats beat fast than little boys heartbeats, so here's to hoping. I know, I know, I would really be happy with whatever pops out in 9 months. I admit that having a girl would just be a dream come true, to have a little mini me, to be able to shop for all of the cute baby clothes, the little girl bows, to play dress up everyday. But on the other hand, it would just be more convenient to have a boy. We already have all of the little boy things, and hey, I've already done that! Haha. Either way both Chris and I can hardly wait to invite another little angel into our lives.

Big News!!!

Chris and I have decided to let our blog go private again, but only for a little while. So as of right now, the only people who can read this are ourselves, and our parents. After this post I'm sure you'll figure out why it needs to stay this way just for a little while. This is also why its been awhile since I've posted anything on the blog.

Chris and I are having another baby!!! Crazy, huh? That's what I thought at first as well.We will be welcoming the new baby in early September. I'm due on September 1st! It seems a long ways away, but I know as soon as this semester is over its just going to fly by. The summers always seem to do that.

So here's the story. I hadn't been feeling that great since Christmas really and when we got back from Seattle I decided to take a pregnancy test just because if that was the case, I really wanted to know. I took a pregnancy test early one morning, because I hear that's the best time to take one. Too much information? Well, get your own story. Going on, I looked at the test and it was dark, but I could have sworn it said negative, so I just went back to sleep. Later that morning Chris woke up and started getting ready for work, and he decided he wanted to take a second look at this test I had told him was negative, just to be sure. And you know, it was POSITIVE!!! So instead of waking me up to tell me the news Chris just goes to work and hides the test. Yeah, I thought that was a little weird too. Well, Chris is at work freaking out because at this point he is the only that knows we're about to have another baby! Good thing he works with his best friend, Mike. So he tells Mike and kind of rants about it until he feels better.

All the while I'm texting Chris that day while he's at work saying, maybe I should take another test, maybe that one was wrong. I was feeling pregnant. About the same way I did when I was pregnant with Brenden, just not as bad. Just nauseous! I loathe that feeling! Chris kept telling me I wasn't pregnant because the test I took that same morning said so. He finally convinced me. Later that afternoon Chris comes home from work and tells me that we need to talk, very serious like. I thought I was in trouble, that's what Dad would always say. The next thing I know, Chris is showing me this positive pregnancy test. I had no idea what to think at all! Maybe he had some pregnant lady at work pee on a stick. I really had no idea. Then it was my turn to flip out! I did a lot of counting that night trying to figure out how far along I was, how far about Brenden and this new baby were going to be. After figuring everything out I felt much more relieved and could actually start to get excited about the idea. Chris was just excited to probably be the first man in history to tell his wife that she was pregnant. Haha.

That's out story for now, our home teachers are coming over, so I'll blog again soon and talk about the first 9 weeks of being pregnant!