Crazy

January has definitely been a month of craziness.

I started the spring semester at Weber. It started out a bit overwhelming and I seriously considered quitting after just a week. But now I've gotten myself into a bit of a routine and I'm feeling a lot better about it. I'm taking 2 classes, Human Biology and Nutrition all online. They are both proving themselves to be very interesting and I'm doing very well already. I'm trying to get ahead in both classes so that I can take a couple of weeks off when the baby is born.

We talked to our realtor about trying to put our house up for sale soon. Unfortunately with the way the economy is, we would come out of the deal still owing on our house. So we've decided that we're going to stay put here in Utah for another year or even two to our dismay. I'm really going to miss my family for the next year or even two. But I can't complain, we have a very nice house. It'll also give me some time to finish my degree.

This month Brian's work cut his hours down from 40 to 32. I have to admit, I was freaking out, because it was basically cutting our pay down $400 a month. It lasted only 2 weeks, and now he's back to full time. I have to say I am so relieved, especially since new babies are so expensive.

I like this picture of Brian all spiffed up for an interview. Thankfully still has his job though!

Lily has been a challenge this month. She's had some mean backtalk, like "You're a mean mama," and lots of "No!'s." Plus potty accident after potty accident. I would like to die, I get so frustrated, but she's still our sweet little girl and we love her so much. My mom always says kids are mean to us to make sure their parents still love them even when they're naughty. So, yes Lily I still love you when you're mean. You can start being nice again. I think when the weather warms up, it'll help out a lot. We really enjoy going outside everyday. I'm hoping she'll get it out of her system so she'll be back to being our little perfect angel by the time the baby gets here.

I love my spunky, sweet Lily

I'm 35 weeks pregnant now. I'm feeling very large and very tired. It's very hard to sleep because my big tummy makes my back hurt and I have to pee every 5 minutes. Baboo (he'll have a real name once he's born I promise) is growing perfectly and is even being a good boy and is in the downward position. Lily is so excited to meet "her baby" as she calls him. I'm in the deep throws of nesting. I can't get myself to quit. I've been organizing and getting rid of things. It's all I think about. I make long lists of what I have to do. I already know that I'm driving Brian crazy. But he still seems to have a lot of patience for me, which I appreciate. I'm ready to set everything up but there's still 4-5 weeks before he'll be here. So I'm trying to wait. I'm hoping sweet Baboo waits until my mom flies in on February 28th to arrive. I'm so excited to see her, and so excited she'll get to meet the sweet boy. She'll be staying at our house for 2 weeks! It's going to be great.

35 weeks pregnant (8 months)

It's going to be a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!
It's 2010 now and I have to say 2009 was a great year and I'm hoping 2010 will top it. 2009 had some major accomplishments for our family.
1. Brian and I finally got a real honeymoon to Denver, Colorado.
2. As a result of that honeymoon, we were pregnant with our 2nd child.
3. I started school again after a 4 year break, and got my first 4.0!
4. Lily is finally potty trained.
5. Our upgrades on our house paid off, with the most beautiful lawn on the block!

Some goals I have for 2010 are:
1. Get this baby outta me! :) Hopefully without a c-section.
2. Hopefully lose a majority of the baby weight, if not all of it.
3. Move to Tennessee! Get a better paying, and better benefited job for Brian.
4. Keep going to school as long as I'm in Utah.
5. Try to afford preschool for Lily.




I am 7 months pregnant now! 31 weeks! I only have two more months!

I am so excited and nervous too. I've been thinking a lot about labor and I'm pretty scared. I'm trying for a VBAC this time, so I really don't know what will happen. I had a c-section with Lily after about 20 hours of labor. I'm hoping for a much better result. I never quite got over feeling disappointed with my last labor experience so a VBAC is definitely the route I wanted to go. I've been working hard to not gain as much weight as I did last time I was pregnant, hoping that it helps out with the labor process. People are quick to remind me that a successful delivery is one with a healthy baby and mommy but I'd love to skip out on surgery. The recovery from a c-section is so long and painful. I remember being so jealous of the women I visited in the hospital after having a regular birth. They could get right out of bed without any pain. I was so jealous. So far my midwife and I have good expectations for a successful VBAC. But I'd go through a painful c-section if it means meeting my sweet little boy. And I would've of course gone through it again for Lily.
Happy New Year everyone! I pray everyone has a blessed year!

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

My little family had a great little Christmas. It was a little bittersweet with my family having just moved but we definitely made the most of it. We got all dressed up and went to a Christmas Eve service at Westminster Pres (where we were married). I guess because we don't make it to church very often it was incredibly special to see Lily's reactions to everything. She was a perfect angel during the service and loved every minute of it.

On Christmas morning, we woke Lily up to the sound of Brian's trainset going around the Christmas tree. She was ecstatic. There's something about a little 3 year old's reactions to the most simplest of things. She was excited the train was out, and so excited about all her new toys. Lily got a great baby care center from her Grammy. One of the gifts we got her was a new train set which I've never seen a more excited girl.


I worked hard and made homemade cinnamon rolls that morning. I'm pretty proud of myself. Everything was made from scratch. They were wonderful!

Then we went to Brian's parents house for dinner and more presents. Overall Christmas ended up being a special day for all of us.
Lily was exhausted and fell asleep in the car with her new toy.

Yes even me and Brian got presents that day also!

Christmas bells are ringing!

The Christmas Season is here and things are crazy and busy and a little sad. We have gotten piles of snow which has been a typical Utah winter (not one I'm crazy about). Brian, Lily, and I made a great snowman or actually in this case, snowwoman. It was Brian's idea to make her pregnant like me. It was quite entertaining. Lily loved it!
Speaking of pregnant. I'm about 30 weeks pregnant now. I'm really amazed I'll be holding my little boy in a little more than 2 months. We had another ultrasound and he's growing perfect. He already has some hair! I'm not a bit surprised because Lily had a ton when she was born. He weighs almost 3 pounds according to the ultrasound. I also took my Glucose Tolerance Test and everything came out completely normal. I feel very blessed that I have had such an easy pregnancy.

Well the very sad part about this Christmas is that my Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, and sister have now officially moved away to Rogersville, TN. We had a CRAZY week of packing them up and getting them into a moving truck to get on their way. They should arrive in Rogersville on Christmas Eve. It's pretty hard to not have them around anymore. We celebrated an early Christmas of food, Monopoly and presents. Brian and I are really hoping to join them in TN as soon as we can because we miss them!

3rd trimester here we come!

So now I'm officially 27 weeks along. 6 months pregnant! I'm now entering the 3rd trimester. So is it all down hill from here? I'm hoping. Everything has been going well for the pregnancy. I'm not loving the numbers on the scale but they are still less than last time I was pregnant which is something to be proud of. With the crazy amounts of snow that keep falling I am finding it hard to stay active but am doing my best to do something, workout videos, cleaning, and hopefully a walk soon when the freezer outside starts to warm up. I do feel like I'm growing so fast but I have enjoyed being pregnant so far. The woes of pregnancy haven't been too bad besides the occasional sleepless night, bad mood, back pain, and leg cramps. But I can't complain. I have a sweet little kicking boy who I can't wait to meet. I'm already nesting. I'm all ready to clean the house, put up the crib, and get out all the baby clothes but I'm making myself wait a bit longer. I do have some cute baby clothes but am so ready to go on a shopping spree for baby items. My next doctor's appointment is my glucose tolerance test, hopefully everything turns out fine with that. Brian and I have got to get crackin' on a name for this little boy otherwise he'll just end up being Baboo forever! I'm still loving Benjamin and Brian loves Mark. So we'll see where we go from there on the name subject.

I am now officially done with the fall semester! I'm so happy to have a 3 week break until next semester. I've worked hard and am hoping for some good grades. Hopefully spring semester is a breeze because I'll be having this baby right smack dab in the middle of the semester. I'm taking lower division freshman classes, nutrition, and human biology so I'm hoping for a low stress and workload.

My mom, dad, 2 brothers, and sister are moving to Rogersville, TN on December 19th, less than 2 weeks now. It's going to be hard to have them gone but I'm glad they are getting the chance to move. My dad will be the new pastor for the Presbyterian church. They'll be living less than an hour from most of my mom's family. Brian and I are hoping that 6 months or less from now we'll be able to sell our house and join them in the same area. We're hoping and praying it'll be possible!

Alright, you can stop growing, Lily

Lily has been going through this fabulous phase. I just can't believe how sweet she is. I told her the other day after a very sweet day, "Lily, don't grow up any more. I like you just the way you are." She responds with, "Mama, I'm gonna get this big," standing on her tippy toes and reaching her hands above her head. So I said, "Well if you have to grow up, just don't do it too fast, cause I like you the way you are." She is full of sweetness. Everyday I get to hear, "I love you Mama." She helps me do everything, from cooking, to sweeping, to cleaning up her toys. She makes me laugh with all her silliness. She says sorry, please, and thank you. I just want to cherish this amazing time in my life with her. I don't want her to grow up and someday not shower me with hugs and kisses. I love taking walks with her and talking about the things we see. I love to play with her in the yard and watch her imagination take flight. I love to take her to the park and see her run and climb. I love to watch her draw amazing pictures and dance until she's exhausted. I'm so excited to have another baby soon, but I really want to appreciate the time I get to spend with Lily and having just one child. Things are going to change fast and they'll never be the same again.
So Lily, try not to grow up too fast. And know that I love you forever and ever. You are my little girl, and the thing that makes life so worth it.

We've been busy

A lot has happened the past couple of weeks. We had a great Halloween celebration. Lily was the cutest puppy, actually Lady from Lady and the Tramp. She loved dressing up and being a puppy. Brian and I didn't dress up this year or carve pumpkins. I guess we've been really busy, but we made sure Lily had a good day. We took her to the library's Halloween party where Lily got to do some fun activites. Then we went home and had our annual root beer making fun. Lily loved watching the witch's brew being made. And boy did it ever taste good! Lily absolutely loved trick or treating. Everyone thought she was adorable in her costume and she loved getting all the candy. We had a little Halloween party afterward with my family. Yummy food and fun conversation. It was a great day!

I am 23 weeks pregnant now. Things are going great. I have back pain all the time but I am learning to manage. My weight gain has been right on target for how far along I am and the baby seems to be growing perfectly. He's a very active baby and loves to kick a lot which I love because I know that he's doing good. Still no luck on a name. We keep calling him Baboo but we'll think of something soon, especially when we meet him.
The fall semester is going really good. It'll be over in less than a month so everything's due around the same time. But I'm doing great, my grades have never been this good. I may finally get my first 4.0. Hopefully!


Brian, Lily and I all went to a train show at the Utah Fairgrounds last weekend. Brian and Lily are train fanatics and I enjoy it too. There were bunches of model railroads with lots of great miniature "towns." Lily got take a ride on the train outside all by herself and loved it. She seemed a little nervous to be going alone but she handled it great. Brian got a dream train set there at a great price, a very overdue birthday present with his birthday cash. It's this great Lionel starter set. Brian was like a little kid in a candy store, he was so excited. Lily loves it too. In fact I think she thinks it's hers.


After a lot of VERY hard work, I think we may FINALLY have a potty trained little girl. She's still having accidents here and there but she's out of diapers during the day (still in one at night). I'm so proud of my little girl. I truly believe that you can only teach your child so much, and when it comes right down to it, they have to decide to potty trained. That's what happened with Lily. It'll be worth it to be done with diapers til the next one gets here!