I've joined the ranks

So I think I am ready to officially admit that I have left the days of having any sense of "coolness" (although I didn't really have much to begin with) or even sanity, and I have entered the days of being a crazy, flaky, forgetful, clumsy mom. I am definitely not one of those cute, have-it-all-together types of moms.

Just one of many stories to illustrate this sad realization:

After a long day at work, I stopped by the grocery store to get a few items for dinner. I started my trek from the car to the store by tiptoeing across the parking lot in my fashionable boots with heels (of course I have to try and look good for work at least). As I tiptoed along praying that I wouldn't slip and fall in the slushy snow, I knew that everyone was just looking at me like I'm a complete moron. I managed to get through the store okay and pick up the few things I needed and headed to the checkout lines.

Right as I got to the register and put my food on the little conveyor belt, I realized that I forgot to get a head of lettuce. I begged the guy at the register to let me just run and grab it really quickly as he looked and kind of rolled his eyes at me. I started running before he could even answer me, and here again, I'm sure I looked extremely graceful trying to run down the aisle in my heels. I grabbed the lettuce and ran back to find the guy behind me in line a bit irritated that he had to wait the extra 60 seconds. I paid for the groceries and headed out of the store to trek again on my toes through the snowy parking lot.

As I made my way to the car, I had a moment of panic thinking that I left my prescription in the store, so I tried to hurry and get to the car to put the 2 bags and 2 gallons of milk in my hand down before running back into the store to search for my prescription. I got to the car and as I tried to hurry and put my bags in the car, I dropped the bag that contained a glass bottle of salsa. And of course with my luck, the salsa jar broke spilling salsa all over the other contents in the bag and all over the pavement beneath me. As I reached into the car to try and grab some napkins to clean up the salsa covered food, I then stepped in the salsa just to cover my fashionable boot with the sloppy mess. After cleaning my boot off and the food to take home, I gathered the broken glass and the salsa-covered bag and started yet another trek across the parking lot to discard the mess.

As I returned to the car and finally got in to head home, all I could do was laugh at myself and the sad truth that I am my mother's daughter.

The Reason

Every year when Christmas time comes around and all are busy with the hustle and bustle of fighting crowds while Christmas shopping, fighting traffic while trying to get the shopping done, attending Christmas parties, cooking for the parties, and just trying to live amongst it all, we are all often reminded to keep in our minds the Reason for the Season. Although we hear the phrase and many times we are the ones saying it, sometimes that's all it is -- just a phrase, and we don't take the time out of our busy lives to truly contemplate the miracle that took place over 2000 years ago for which we celebrate at this time of year. I, for one, know that I too often treat the season a little too lightly.

Tonight as I rocked Isabelle to sleep, I sang her some Christmas songs (as I have grown ever tired of singing the same primary songs over and over again). As I held my precious baby in my arms and sang the words to "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night," I was overcome with a feeling of awe and amazement at the miracle of our Savior's birth. After having experienced childbirth now and bringing such a sweet spirit into this world, I now have a deeper appreciation for the miracle of birth in and of itself, and now as Christmas is approaching, I have a new appreciation for our Savior's birth.

Oh, how I am grateful for that sweet Mary who brought Christ into this world and for my Savior who was willing to enter this world in such humble circumstances and live to one day take upon himself my sins that I might be able to return to my Heavenly Father.

This truly is such a wonderful time of the year. I hope that amongst the craziness of this month, I will be able to remember The Reason for the Season.

'Tis the Season

I wish I had the time and the energy to do separate blogs for Thanksgiving and the Christmas Season, but I don't, so you're just gonna get one short post and a few pics.
For Thanksgiving, we went to my parents house for a deliciously yummy meal. We all went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol and then went home for our good Thanksgiving dinner and some fun games afterward. The house was crazy as usual with people everywhere and kids running around like crazy, but it was fun to be with the family.


On Friday, the family went to the Festival of Trees which was long, fun, and exhausting. The traffic getting there was probably the most exhausting part. I vote next year, we don't choose a Friday night to go. We watched a little Sunshine Generation performance which brought back some good ol' memories of our Colorado Christmases with many Sunshine shows. Although, I have to say, I think ours were much better than the one we saw. What can I say? My mom was a dang good director. :)
For the first time in a long time, I stood in a long line to see Santa Claus. How could I not stand in line for little Belle's first Christmas. It was just a shame that we were there so late, cuz it was past her bedtime, and she was not quite as happy as she could have been. But she wasn't screaming or sleeping, so I guess I can't really complain too much.
Now that we went to the Festival of Trees and officially began our Christmas season, I guess I better get shopping and decorating. I'm just a bit behind this year. Is it bad if we just don't decorate for Christmas?

Pumpkin Patch

My family took a little trip to a pumpkin patch yesterday that is owned by my mission president - The Red Barn in Santaquin. It was lots of fun to go with the nieces and nephews and to take our own little pumpkin.

I know I look incredibly fat in this pic, but this is us on the hayride.

Kathryn, Britt, and Dean on the hayride

Dad (Grandpa), Mom (Grandma), Courtney, Kathryn, and Britt

The Cook Fam (minus Courtney who was on Grandma's lap)
Camille, Mark, Jason, Spencer, and Morgan

Our cute pumpkin all snuggled up

Dad, Belle, and Mom

Britt, Dean, and the third wheel .... uh, I mean Kathryn

Us with the pumpkins we picked. Isn't Belle's little pumpkin so cute?!

Kathryn and Belle in her cute pumpkin outfit the aunts bought her

Grandpa and the Cook kids. They were so excited to see him.

3 Months Old!!!

I truly cannot believe it. As of yesterday, our little Isabelle is now three months old. She is growing so fast. It is a bittersweet thing to watch her grow. It is so fun to watch her personality develop and watch her learn new things, but it's sad as she passes through each stage of life and to know that she will never be at that stage again. I guess I will have to get used to the bittersweet, as I'm sure it won't change for me throughout the rest of her life.
At three months old, our little Belle is smiling and cooing more than ever. She'll laugh occasionally and of course it's cuter than ever when she does. Although she doesn't sleep much, she is generally a very happy baby.
She has already learned to roll over on her own, as she has done it twice now! It's so exciting to see her do new things. Each new development just makes me excited for the next.
We truly love our little Isabelle Jane and are so grateful to have her sweet spirit in our lives.

My Little Oasis

In the past, I have, on occasion, heard mothers talk about their only alone time being in the shower. And I always thought to myself that it was a bit of an exaggeration. I would think that there are times they can pass the kids on to the dad or babysitter. Or there are even times they could sit the kids in front of the TV while they sit and read a book or something. I just did not ever believe that their ONLY alone time could possibly be the few minutes they spend in the shower.
Well ladies and gentleman, I now understand. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot the last few months.)
When I step into the shower and close that shower curtain, it's as if I'm stepping into a little oasis away from my daily responsibilities - the baby, work, the house, etc.
Oh how I relish those few minutes each day.

Blessings From Above

Every day, as we watch Isabelle grow and develop into her own little person, I realize more and more how truly blessed we are to have her in our lives. To just think back to the day we found out we were pregnant with this surreal idea of a child growing in me for nine months and then to now see this incredibly beautiful girl in our arms in what seemed to be just seconds later -- it is truly a miracle.

Since Isabelle was born 5 weeks ago, I have now heard two different stories of mothers who recently had similar deliveries to mine - overly lengthy pushing. Unfortunately, neither of the stories turned out with as an incredible result as mine. Although both babies survived the experience, one has suffered from bleeding in his brain and will most likely have permanent brain damage; and the other has had permanent physical damage to his face and head. To think that our little Isabelle went through the same traumatic experience as these other babies, but came out with only temporary wounds to her head is truly a miracle to me.


Our Heavenly Father has truly blessed us with such a beautiful baby who is growing and developing perfectly. Beyond all other blessings that I have received in my life, this has been the most miraculous. I will forever feel indebted to Heavenly Father for the blessing of our beautiful daughter.

Introducing Isabelle Jane

It's crazy to think that today Isabelle is already two weeks old! I apologize that two whole weeks have gone by and I still have not posted any updates. However, I'm sure all you mothers out there will understand. It has been an incredibly exhausting two weeks with little time and/or energy to do "fun" things like blog.

Now that I am finally beginning to feel like a normal human being again with some energy, I am ready to start trying to do some normal things. So I guess I can update everyone on Isabelle's grand entrance into this world and post some cute pics of her.

To everyone's great surprise, after three months of regular and painful contractions, and early cervical progression, Isabelle did not come early. In fact, she came on her very due date! When my water broke the morning of her due date, I told Dave that she must be like her mother -- she likes to do things as planned and on schedule.

I'll start from the beginning and if labor and delivery stories bore you, I'll allow you to just skip forward to the pictures.

Everything started early July 18th. I woke up the night of the 17th with some painful contractions, but nothing too different from those prior. However, I had the thought, maybe the baby will come tonight. The contractions didn't seem to intensify so I went back to bed. Before I knew it, it was 4:30am and Dave was up getting ready to go to work. He was dressed and about ready to go when I woke up. I sat up in bed and said to him, "Darn it, I thought that the baby might come before you left for work this morning, I guess not." I then got up to go to the bathroom. Suddenly, I felt a gush of water come down, and as it continued to come, I quickly realized that my water had just broken. I told Dave that I didn't think he'd end up going to work after all. After taking a little bit of time to get ready, we got to the hospital just before 6:00am right as the nurse's shift was changing and I thought I was lucky and would have the same nurse for my entire labor and delivery. Little did I know how long the day would be.

When I arrived at the hospital, I was dilated to a 5 and the nurse and the resident thought that I was lucky and off to a great start. Of course, progressing to a 10 took much longer than anticipated, but I was progressing enough that the Dr. didn't want to start me on pitosin. I finally got to a 10 around 5:00 - just an hour before my nurse's shift was going to end. I was slightly disappointed as I knew that I would most likely not be pushing the baby out before she left.

Although at a 10, the baby was only at a +1 station - she had not dropped very far into my pelvis, so the Dr. Wanted me wait until she descended a little bit more. Unfortunately, little Isabelle didn't want to descend, so the Dr. informed the nurse to go ahead and have me start pushing. I had a painful two hours of pushing with the nurse and resident. Although I had an epidural, it didn't seem to help with the pain I was feeling from the baby being slightly transversed. And even with all my pushing, the baby still did not descend far into my pelvis. The Dr. finally arrived after two hours of pushing and she soon realized this baby was not coming very easily, so she explained my options - trying the vacuum, and if that didn't work - going to c-section. I had already pushed so long and hard that I was determined to push that baby out, so I opted to try the vacuum. We had three failed attempts with the vacuum, and my uterus was wearing out and the contractions were slowing down, even with pitosin. So finally after FOUR long hours of pushing, Dave and I decided it was time for a c-section. With the combination of the drugs and the last few traumatic hours, I had become a nervous wreck. Thank goodness I had an incredibly kind anestesiologist and Dave right by my side to help calm me down.

Although they had to take the baby to the NICU for some oxygen and fluids, they brought her in for me to see her for a few short seconds before they'd take her away again. Although she was extremely pale, all I could think and say was how pretty she was.

After seeing me, she was taken to the NICU, but recovered fast and was only there for about an hour before they transferred her to the nursery. I am told that while in the NICU, she was crying but as soon as Dave started talking to her, she calmed right down. She knew he was her daddy.

The next few days were extremely tough as I recovered from the effects of both a vaginal delivery and c-section. As I could not do much but lay in my hospital bed, Dave quickly took on his role as a father and changed all her dirty diapers and comforted her when she was upset. It was so amazing to watch him take such good care of our little girl and to also take such good care of me. I am soooooo lucky to have such a great husband who would do anything for me and for our daughter. Our days in the hospital were not only spent in recovery, but they were spent in decision making, as we thought and thought about what to name our new daughter. Although we arrived at the hospital thinking we would call her Abigail, she just didn't seem like an Abigail. As I held our new baby and just looked at her, I was just amazed at how delicate, fair, and beautiful she was and wanted a name that described all those things. Thus, we came to the conclusion of Isabelle with anticipation of calling her Belle. It seems to fit her very well.

We finally left the hospital on Wednesday afternoon to come home. Thankfully, my mom came to stay with us for the next week. I honestly would not have been able to get through the last week without her. She was such an immense help as I have been recovering while trying to take on the responsibilities of being a new mother. My mom cooked, and cleaned, and watched the baby - allowing me to rest as much as possible. She was seriously such a huge blessing especially while Dave was away at work. I have definitely been missing her the last couple days. However, I am feeling much better as I am off pain killers and feeling more like a normal person.

These last two weeks have been filled with all sorts of emotions - anxiety, fear, pain, joy, happiness, and wonderment as we have taken on this new phase in our lives. Although getting Isabelle here was a bit difficult and traumatizing, it was also amazing and humbling. Thinking on the experience reminds me of how blessed I truly am. I am blessed to be living in this day and age when both Isabelle and I are safe and healthy even after such a tough delivery. I am grateful for good doctors and nurses. And I am especially grateful for such a wonderful husband and wonderful family who have been so loving and supportive through everything. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to have such a beautiful baby girl in our lives.

Getting Ready for Baby

We finally have the nursery coming together and most of the essentials purchased .... ahh, relief. Thanks to the generosity of friends and family with their gifts to us, I am feeling much more prepared for this child to come. We still have some more to get and more things to do, but at least we have the bare essentials ready.

The nursery isn't completed yet, but it's getting a lot closer. Thanks to Dave's hard work, the bead board is finally all up (with the exception of one corner we won't show) and the walls are painted. Yeah!!!!!

The only wall decor I've gotten up so far are these cute wall decals. They look much cuter in person, but you still get the idea.


The changing table we got at a garage sale (thanks to my sister's great eyes) and repainted -- looks brand new! The cute butterfly on the shelf will be hung on the wall eventually.

This is me after my first baby shower (in Syracuse). It was a great shower but took so much energy that I had horrible contractions afterward. I think my mom thought it would be funny to take a picture of me trying to get through a contraction. I didn't think it was funny at the time, but I guess it's a good documentation of what the last half of my pregnancy has been like.

This is Dave and me after our Provo shower with the clothes we got hanging on the banister behind us. We have gotten so many cute clothes! I can't wait to dress our little girl. It will be a sad story if we are one of those few who were told they were having a girl, but then got surprised with a boy (it happened to one of my friends). Let's hope we're really having a girl!

And for a quick pregnancy update:

At my last appointment on Thursday, I had only progressed a little bit from my previous appointment - dilated to a 3.5 and 80% effaced. Last night, I was up most most of the night until about 4:3oam with regular and painful contractions, and finally got to a point after about 7 hours when I woke up Dave and told him to get ready to go the hospital. Of course, once we got everything ready to go, my contractions started to become more sporadic so I decided to wait another half hour to see what would happen, and they grew further apart and less intense. Part of me was relieved because I started to have a bit of a freak out moment not feeling ready at all. But the other part of me was disappointed because I am so ready to be done being pregnant.
I tell you, I will never know when I'm really in labor unless something other than regular contractions takes place - like my water breaks or the baby literally starts to come and it will be too late to get to the hospital. I just keep praying and hoping I will somehow know when it is really time.

The Latest

Tomorrow I will have exactly three weeks until my due date. And contrary to what I have been wanting for the last miserable three months, I am hoping I will make it until then. I had a doctor appointment yesterday and found out I'm dilated to a 3 and 75% effaced. When I found out, I didn't think much of it because my neighbor was at that same point for about two and half weeks before she had her baby. Then the stress began as I began to tell other people. Come to find out it can be typical after a first pregnancy to stay at a 3 for awhile. However, with a first pregnancy usually once you get there, you usually progress a little faster. So now I'm being told that it's very likely my baby will come within the week! Holy crap! I am so not ready for this.
We are still lacking some baby essentials, I still need to pack for the hospital, I still have cleaning and organizing at my house to do, and most importantly, I still have so much to do at work to prepare to take some maternity leave! Our new office manager is supposed to start on Monday, and I still need to train her, plus finish training another girl to cover for the billing while I'm gone. Not only am I wondering if I'll be able to get everything done before the baby, but I'm wondering if I'll even have the energy. I have suddenly been hit with total and complete exhaustion. I feel too tired to even think.
All my life, I have procrastinated. Big school papers - the night before, packing for my mission - the night before, packing to move - the day of, the list goes on. You would think I'd learn, but apparently this major character flaw of mine has proven to be a problem even with something as big and important as bringing a baby into the world.

Why do I stress so much?

So, I am just wondering if all women stress to the same point that I am about naming their children. I yet again, came up with another list of names that I like that we could possibly use for our baby. I have never wanted to have one name picked out for any of my babies because I want to wait until I see and hold the baby to make sure the name fits. So why am I stressing so much now before the baby is actually here? It is driving me nuts that we do not yet have a name picked and I'm not getting any strong feelings about what it should be. I'd ask for help, but I don't think any suggestions are going to get me much further than I already am.

I am feeling like such a horrible mother-to-be. I don't have a name picked out, the nursery isn't even started (let alone, done), we don't have many baby essentials - such as a carseat, our house is in a completely chaotic state with more to do than we have time or money for, and I am just sooooo not feeling even close to ready to deliver a baby or bring one home. I think the chaotic life of a mother has already begun for me. I am there ladies -- so much to do with no time or energy to do it. Does anyone ever feel ready for a baby? Please tell me that I am not a totally horrible person for not having every little aspect of my life prepared for this little one like I feel every other mother-to-be has. Is there anyone else out there who gets to this point in pregnancy with as little done as I have?

It's all overrated

The creation of life taking place, the pregnancy glow, the "eating for two," --- it is all way too overrated. I hate to be one of those people who complain all the time and I really don't want to be someone who complains about blessings that I have been given, but I can't take it anymore. So dang-it-all, I am going to take a moment to be one of those people I hate - a big fat complainer!

The heartburn, the sleepless nights, the breathlessness, the painful contractions, the sciatica, the crazy emotions, the fact that I can no longer bend over to put on my shoes (at least without extreme difficulty and making a grunting sound), the exhaustion, the inability to complete normal every-day tasks, the fight of finding something to wear . . . -- I just can't take any of it anymore! I am officially a hater of pregnancy. I'm not a hater of the result of pregnancy - just a hater of all the symptoms that go along with it.

I always wondered why delivery doesn't completely horrify most mothers-to-be, and now I know. I am now to that point where I would do ANYTHING, including pushing an 8 lb. child out of my vagina to be done with all this crap. Seriously, women. How do all of you do this more than once? And how do you do it when you have other children to tend to? I definitely have a new-found respect for pregnant women and those who go through it with smiles on their faces.

I'm not so sure I will be able to go through this again (and I'm not even done). My older sister tells me that you kind of forget about the hard part, so when the desire for another little baby comes, it doesn't stop you. Well ladies, I am officially posting the hard part - never to be forgotten. Now I will be able to look back at this and remember how miserable pregnancy really is.

Ok, I will be done now. I will step away from the complaining and hopefully be done with it for a long time. I hope none will take offense to my current bitterness as I do realize that the creation of a child is the greatest power and gift that has been given to man, and I'm pretty sure that once I have that new baby to hold, my bitter heart will be softened.

Grateful for the little things

This last week of being on bed rest has been kind of an eye-opening experience for me. I have learned a lot about myself and I have been made more aware of many blessings that fill my life. I am beginning to wonder if this bed rest has been for the very purpose of teaching me a few lessons before I have a baby.
Not only have I gained a larger appreciation for the small things in life - such as being able to walk and go to the grocery store, but I have also been made very aware of the numerous blessings Heavenly Father has given me in the recent years, such as a good job that allows me to work at home, an understanding boss, and an incredibly loving husband who will do anything for me.
It's sad how easily we forget about the simple blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

In addition to being more aware of the blessings in my life, this time is also making more aware of who I am and the changes that I am going to need to make once I bring a child into this world. Not being able to work as much or work at my office has been much harder on me than I ever thought. I didn't realize how much I actually like work and value work until I suddenly couldn't do it. It has been extremely difficult for me to take my focus off work and put it on myself and my growing baby. It is definitely a difficult adjustment for me to go from busy days at the office to trying to work at home while still taking sufficient time to rest. I cannot imagine how much harder this adjustment would have been to make with a baby to take care of in the mix (yes, I realize I have a baby to take care of right now - but a baby that cries and poops and needs to be fed regularly). I am slowly trying to learn how to balance my personal life and needs with work. It is proving to be much more difficult than I thought, but I am hoping that I will be able to have a better balance and system developed before our baby girl is born so I can be there as a mother for my baby as much as I can.

My hat goes off to women who 1) remain on strict bed rest for much of their pregnancies, and 2) learn to balance work and family life. Both are proving to be very difficult challenges for me and requiring sacrifices that I didn't quite realize would be sacrifices.

Home and bored stiff

So I am currently sitting at home (more lounging, than sitting) trying to relax on my couch and becoming more and more bored as the minutes pass. I need to take up a hobby I can do while lying down. Any ideas?

After a not so fun few days, my Dr. has put me on a temporary bed rest. I went to the hospital Monday night with pretty painful cramps and contractions. After a few long hours at the hospital, I left with a shot to stop the contractions and a prescription for antibiotics for the stupid UTI that won't seem to go away and which seemed to be the cause of the contractions. The plan was for the contractions to stop and all would be better.

Unfortunately, they haven't yet stopped. So, after a trip to the Dr. today, I was told I need to be on bed rest until I go two full days without any contractions. I've already spent a lot of time working (and resting) at home for the previous two days since I was still in so much pain, so here I am on my 3rd day inside my house, and getting ready to go crazy. It doesn't help that Dave has had to work late the last two nights, so I've been stuck at home by myself with my two crazy dogs. AAAHHHH! I don't know how women do it who are on bed rest for months at a time.

In more seriousness, I am really hoping that the contractions do stop and don't lead to pre-term labor and/or don't lead to me having to be on bed rest until the baby comes. I think I had a mental breakdown today thinking about what we would do if that would happen. We couldn't afford it financially, and I am so not prepared for either of those things to happen. I still have so much I need to do at work and things I want to get done at the house, and I have so many preparations to still take care of, such as buying a crib for starters. I am wondering if these orders for bed rest have actually had the reverse effect of their intentions and just put under more stress than I should be dealing with right now.

Anyway, so I guess for the next few days, I will be spending a lot more time on the internet in attempt to communicate with the outside world. So feel free to send a message or two and be prepared for some more meaningless posts.

A Week of Tender Mercies

WARNING: Very long post; read at your own risk. May cause drowsiness, boredom, and/or fatigue.

So, after being home for over a week, I am finally going to write about our week in Florida. It not only was a week of vacationing and fun, but a week of constant reminders that our Heavenly Father is aware of us.

We flew standby which turned out to be an experience in and of itself. I have flown standby before with horrible luck, but was hoping that with two of us this go around as opposed to four from my first experience, we would be able to make all our flights . . . and I was wrong. We have officially decided never to fly standby again.

Fortunately, we made all three of our flights on the way to Orlando. We flew to Vegas, then to JFK, and finally to Orlando. It was on the flight from JFK to Orlando, when I received my first reminder of how aware Heavenly Father is of me and my current needs as His daughter.
As we came to our seats on the plane, I noticed the woman I'd be sitting next to as she sat quietly just staring at the window. From the moment I saw her, I could tell she had a very heavy heart. I felt a very strong impression that I needed to talk to her, but had a very difficult time doing so.

My mind was flooded with thoughts as I tried to think of a way to begin a conversation. She was a spanish-speaking woman, so I frantically tried to remember some Spanish that wasn't a door approach. However, I didn't want to say anything too shallow, as I knew I needed to talk to her about something more than what the weather is like. And then of course, my biggest challenge was just getting up the courage to talk to her. My shyness was getting the best of me, and I could not get up an ounce of courage to approach this woman who would not look away from the window as tears welled up in her eyes.

After 20 minutes of babbling in my head and praying for courage, I finally decided to pull out my scriptures to try and gain some strength - maybe read some classic missionary scriptures to get me motivated.

The second I opened my Book of Mormon, before I could even pick out a place to start reading, this woman leaned over to me and asked me to help her. She asked me to pray for her. My heart was pounding with gratitude to my Heavenly Father and also with humility as I still did not know exactly what to say to this woman. I asked her what was troubling her. She told me that her daughter had passed away only three hours prior.
My heart hurt for her, and all I could think to say was to share my testimony with her of eternal families. I found some scriptures to share with her and with horrible spanish translation explained to her what they meant. I wrote the scriptures down for her with my simple testimony. She then thanked me and after de-boarding the airplane, we parted ways.

This experience left me with a few strong feelings. The first was a feeling of gratitude, as I felt this experience was something that I greatly needed. It had been so long since I shared my testimony with another person, let alone a complete stranger. I felt grateful that my Heavenly Father was so aware of me and my needs that he allowed me to sit on that plane, next to that woman. My second feeling was one of humility and almost shame. I felt horrible that I was not the one to speak to this woman, but that she is the one who first spoke to me. What if she had not had the courage to ask me for help? What if those 2 1/2 hours passed by with neither of us sharing a word? I would have failed my Heavenly Father and the promptings I had received to speak. I also felt horrible that I did not have any pass-along cards with me or anything to give her with the church's information. What happened to my missionary-mindedness? I used to never leave the house with some pass-along cards in my purse.

I was suddenly aware of how much I am lacking in the spiritual realm and how much work I need to do to get to where I should be in my life. I truly feel that flight was a blessing for me.

After arriving in Orlando late Sunday night, we drove straight to our friends' (George and Lana Taylor) house where we would stay the next 3 days and went straight to bed. What a blessing the Taylors were for us - in so many ways. They not only opened their home to us with such short advance notice, they let us drive their car all week, they let us eat their food, and they shared with us their incredible examples of strength in the gospel. We were and are so grateful for the chance we had to spend a few days with them.

On Monday, we slept in until about 9:00 or so and woke up to some good company while we ate breakfast and enjoyed a relaxing morning before heading off to Gatorland, where we saw lots of "Gators" and enjoyed what I might call the white-trash park of Orlando, Florida.

Then our Disney adventures began on Tuesday with what I believe to be another tender mercy from the Lord. Amongst all the favors we received from friends for this Florida trip, Dave got a 3-day Park Hopper pass to Disney World from a friend of ours. She had never used it, and even though it was about 5 years old, we had great hopes that it would still be good. When we arrived to the gate to purchase our other ticket, the lady told us that the ticket was actually not good. It had been purchased as part of a package deal that was only good for the time of the package. We kindly argued with her that the ticket stated right on it that it expired "14 days from first use." She understood where our frustration came from and tried to make a couple calls but we were not having much luck. So we begrugingly handed over our credit card to spend the FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS it was going to cost us to spend our two days at Disney World. After running our card, she told us it was declined, which was weird because we had plenty of money on it seeing as how we never use it. So I pulled out my cell phone to call the credit card company to authorize the transaction. While on the phone, a supervisor came over to the girl helping us and Dave explained our situation. By the time I got off the phone with American Express, the supervisor had authorized a complimentary park-hopper pass for us to use. I honestly think it was a blessing from the Lord that our credit card declined, because if it had not, we would not have been blessed with that ticket. It gave us the amount of time we needed to talk to the right person.

We enjoyed a very long and crazy day at Animal Kingdom and Epcot that took a major toll on the poor feet of this pregnant woman. I honestly did not think it was possible for my ankles and feet to swell up as much as they did. I quickly realized that a vacation of running around like crazy at Disney World, was probably not the best idea for a pregnant woman. But I decided to try and make the best of it anyway.

Our second day of Disney, we went to Magic Kingdom and enjoyed some of the easy going rides there as well as the lovely atmosphere of Magic Kingdom. However, after a few hours there, Dave and I really wanted to return to Animal Kingdom to go on one of the rides we didn't get a chance to. It was a river rapid ride, and those are my favorite, and I decided I just couldn't live with the disappointment of not experiencing it. So we returned to find out it was an 80 minute wait and there were no more fast-passes. Man, some major disappointment until .... yep, another blessing. A couple standing near the ride overheard Dave's disappointment and offered us their fast-passes as they had decided not to use them because they did not want to get wet. I cannot even explain to you my relief when we were able to hurry our way through that line and get to experience the shortest river raft ride of my life - a whole 3 minutes of getting drenched.

After all the excitement of Disney World, we spent the third day at Sea World with our good friends Ashley and Dan, who we then spent the remainder of the week with. Who knew I was such an animal lover? But I ABSOLUTELY loved Sea World! All the shows were soooo cute and I was amazed at how well trained these animals were. I just wish I had videos of all the shows to post so all could see them. I guess if you haven't been to Sea World before, you'll just have to go sometime.

On Friday, our last full day in Florida, we spent a relaxing day browsing through antique shops and then sitting on the beach. It certainly was nice to have a day that wasn't so busy and filled with crowds of people.

And then Saturday afternoon came and what I would like to refer to as the travels from Hell began. We didn't get on our flight from Orlando to JFK by just one seat! And then the hormones and stress of a pregnant woman who just wanted to be home kicked in. I cried, I stressed, and I frantically searched for a way to get home. We were able to get on the next flight to JFK which of course would not get us there in time to catch the flight to SLC. With the flight loads for the next day, there was no way we'd make it back to SLC within the next 24 hours, and I really didn't want to spend the next two days in New York. There was a flight we'd be able to catch to Denver from JFK that night, and I was ready to do it and then rent a car and drive to SLC, because I just wanted to be home. After getting off the plane at JFK, we frantically ran to the gate for the Denver flight as it was about to take off, then we were told a flight to Las Vegas had been delayed and was just now boarding. So we then ran down to the gate going to Las Vegas and made it on the flight! I could not have been happier. Again, I felt blessed that the flight had been delayed. If not, we would not be able to make it to SLC for another 2 days .... ughh.
After arriving to Vegas and checking the flights for the next day to SLC, we decided that it would be best to just rent a car and drive the rest of the way home.

Finally, after 24 straight hours of no sleep and staight traveling, we made it home! I had never been so glad to be at my parents' house (which is where we went first to pick up our dogs). What a trip it was, and certainly some great (and not so great) memories.

Our first and last real vacation as a married couple without children was a good one with such good memories and blessings from the Lord.

It's a Girl!!!

I know not everyone knows yet that I'm pregnant, but now you can all know. I wanted to wait until we had the first ultrasound to make sure that there really is a baby that is growing before we announced it to the world. And now we have, so now all can know.
I am only 17 weeks along, but the ultrasound technician will do gender checks early, so I jumped at that opportunity to not only find out what we're having, but just so I could actually see my baby before my dr. apptointment at 22 weeks.
We went in yesterday and got to see our baby for the first time moving around on the screen. It was great to actually see it. Although, the experience didn't really make it feel any more real to me. The only thing that made me feel pregnant was the horrible nausea and exhaustion during my first trimester. Now that I'm over that, I just plain don't feel pregnant. I have to keep reminding myself that come July 18th, we are going to have a baby, and life is going to be very different for us.
Dave and I are very excited to have our first baby (aside from the two babies we already have - Emmy and Porter). It will definitely be an adventure to add a baby with two full time jobs and full time school between the two of us.
Dave will still be in school, as he still has another two years ahead of him (I feel like I've been saying "two years" for the last two years .... oh, wait, I have... hopefully, it's really two years this time). For those of you who don't know, Dave changed his major last semester from Construction Management to Secondary Education in Business and Marketing. He is extremely excited about the change and loving his classes so far. He has also decided to double major while he's at it in Business Management. It will be a lot of work and take a lot of patience and endurance to get through, but it will be worth it.
I will keep working at the neurology office where I am right now, and Dave will hopefully still be with Kohl's Dept. Store. He recently got a job there in Customer Service and Cash Office. He is only working part-time for now, but we are hoping he will be able to get a full-time management position soon.
So that is where we're at right now. Staying busy and planning for a new baby girl. I will keep everyone posted as time goes on.

Funny Videos

I posted these on my facebook account as well, so you don't need to watch from both. Porter was being hilarious on Sunday, so I decided to record a little bit of his personality. Dave was sitting at the counter going through coupons when he heard Porter knocking on the wall. When he finally looked over, he noticed Porter was trying to get the reflection on the wall, from Dave's watch. He loves to chase a laser too, but we just thought this was funny since we weren't even trying to get him to play. Now you can all get a little taste of our funny Porter.
With the first recording, I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to rotate the picture, so I apologize for the sideways video, but you'll get the idea.



The second video is the funniest, I think (you'll be able to tell from my uncontrollable laughter in the background). He was looking for the reflection for like 5 minutes before I started recording. Even today, two days later, he was in the kitchen looking for it. He is so stupid, yet so smart at the same time.

Holiday Update ... A little late

So I know I'm a little late in posting, but I've been too busy and tired to even get online lately. Just like I usually report on these posts, we didn't really do anything too exciting, but still had a good Christmas and New Years.
We spent Christmas with my family in Syracuse and had a lovely time with them. And again, as usual, I am horrible at taking pictures so I don't have any of Dave and me, but I did take some of Camille's family on Christmas Eve. After doing a little nativity skit, Camille read some Christmas stories, and the kids loved them.
It turned out to be a pretty humorous Christmas morning as we opened presents and discovered that my parents got both Dave and me the same presents we got for each other. I guess that goes to show how boring our lives have become -- we are so predictable and with such little variety that there are only so many things we want and need.
The next week, we were able to go to Blanding to spend a New Year's Eve and a few days with Dave's family. We had a good time getting away from the hustle of our life at home and being able to just relax for a few days and spend some slow-paced days with family.
Unfortunately, we are now back into the groove of life and back to work and school. I hope we can last until the next holiday ... whenever that will be.