The Beginning....

So yes. WE ARE EXPECTING! After 3 years of marriage we are totally stoked to be making this announcement. I'd like to also add how grateful I am that thus far everything has been so "easy" comparatively. I know there are those out there who have struggles of many kinds regarding pregnancy. My goal is to stay as positive as possible and to find joy in this experience even on the hard days....you know when nothing sounds good and I've already been to the store 3 times that week....we'll see how successful I am at that by moth 8. 

I have divided this basic post into 2 parts. This one is the basic, no TMI-ness people who just want the facts.

How far along are you?: I am 12 weeks. So yes, do the math, I totally dominated the 4th of July 10K at 6 weeks pregnant. (Those 2 bathroom stops make a lot more sense now...)

When are you due: February 27, 2014 (But we are gearing up for a March baby) 

Are you excited: DUH!!!

Was this on purpose: Ha….yes. Most of you know that we are planners. We are logical (at least for now!) and 3 years of marriage definitely gave us a lot of time to work on our own relationship before adding kids to the mix. We don't regret waiting "as long we did" at all. 

Have you been sick: Mildly. Weeks 4-7 were awesome. Then the constant need for nourishment kicked in at 7 weeks. Chocolate milk has been my favorite breakfast with varying sides of toast or waffles. I haven’t been throwing up sick but I definitely haven’t felt great. After week 9/10 I started to feel better. Now at week 12 I am fairly confident I like food again. I may or may not have had mini corn dogs, a slice of pizza and a side (yes a side) of pickle slices for dinner at the cafeteria last night.   

Do you have any ultrasound pictures: Sadly no. Most vet moms will know that unless you are at risk or your doctor is extra fun, you only get 1 ultrasound. At first we were disappointed but I learned that no ultrasounds early on = low risk. And that is all we can ask for! We had an appointment on August 6^th to hear the heartbeat and that was the most surreal experience ever! Mark said it sounded like going through a carwash....what a compliment to my innerds! We’ll find out gender and see the little one in October.

Belly pictures?: Don't expect many. I've been asked for a 12 week-er. To kill the suspense I'll tell you I look about the same just a little rounder. I'll see if I can force myself to have Mark photograph my growing size in the next few weeks. I guess I could do with once every 12 weeks. 

Bing Bang Bong. All your basic questions answered. Feel free to read the post below for more detailed post in which you are more than welcome to skim or skip over. 

The Un-Readers Digest Version

This is the story with (not all but) most of the details.

I took 2 tests and they were both negative. (So much for an EPT!) All weekend I waited and waited for the indefinite sign to come that I wasn’t pregnant. I was getting impatient and frustrated. Finally on Monday, I went to the store and bought a cheapie HPT. “Okay I thought, if this is negative then I am way too stressed out.” Tuesday morning I woke up after Mark left for work and took a test. Less than a minute and it was reading positive. I looked away and thought “okay you have to wait 2 minutes”. But having taken a few tests in the last few years and NEVER getting a positive, my heart began racing. Sure enough, there was a big old plus sign in the window. I was pretty much in shock for the rest of the day.

Mark had a church assignment to go and do that night and while he was gone I took another test just to be sure…sure enough, another positive. So I took a little onesie I had bought for just the occasion and wrapped it up. I gave the bag to him when he got home. Since I had previously told him I wasn’t pregnant, he was a bit confused when I told him I was pregnant. He also at first thought the onesie was just another thing I bought to put in our small little collection box of baby clothes. Telling him definitely didn’t go how you read about online, but once I explained that the tests just didn’t read right, he was really excited.

So….how and when did we break the news to our parents?

We made it to just shy of 7 weeks before Mark was the one to say we should tell our parents. I thought we would wait another 2 weeks but I’m glad we didn’t because I started feeling sick. Both Mark’s mom and my parents were actually surprised and couldn’t believe it at first.

Since this is Mark’s family’s first grandbaby, we did something extra special for his sister who would become an Aunt for the first time. We gave her this note. Inside the little box was a pacifier. 

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family who have been so excited with us as we anticipate this huge life event and next chapter in our marriage. We are beyond thrilled to finally be starting a little family of our own. Pregnancy has already proven to be weird and difficult at times, but we can't wait to have this little one in our lives and part of our family. 

Happy Independence Day

I'm pretty sure my brain is not wired right anymore thanks to my sister Shelene. What person in their right mind thinks "Hey why not celebrate this holiday by getting up at 5 in the morning to run?". I've done this twice now not to mention on numerous Saturdays. There were a few reasons why I wanted to run the Freedom Run last week:
1. My mom runs it and she usually utilizes our local-ness to the starting line anyways.
2. You get a medal
3. I hadn't done a 10K since October and wanted to push myself to do better. 5K's are fun but are no longer challenging to me, though I guess I could push myself to run faster and see what happens.
4. I wanted to brag about it of course!

 My mom spent the night previous to the race and of course we stayed up way too late being distracted with other things. Both of us were on about 4 hours of sleep. Thanks to my 2 bathroom stops (apparently I hydrated too much before and during the race) my mom caught up and we crossed the finish line together. I love running with my mom. She's a champ and despite her scoliosis, she runs like a boss!

 After a lovely 3-hour nap, I met up with my parents for Stadium of Fire. The fireworks are always really cool and this year they had Carly Rae Jeppson and Kelly Clarkson performing. Both were really fun to watch. You can tell they both love performing and can feel their energy. I admit at first I thought I was going to be disappointed by Kelly Clarkson as her first 2 songs were not all that impressive. But once she was warmed up she was right back into her powerhouse mode. I missed not having sisters to stand up and sing along with me. I sat quietly, with my parents who weren't too sure what to think of the music.

 They used several dance studios within Utah county to create this routine which was a tribute to the Navy. It was...interesting and very modern but props to these girls for performing in front of a crowd of 60,000.

My favorite part was when they had these giant "slinkies" that they climbed into and danced in. The effect was really cool. 

The MC whose name escapes me at the moment sang Lean on Me as a tribute to the armed forces. Gotta love modern technology. As you looked around the stadium, everyone had their phones out in lieu of lighters back in the day.

I'm grateful I got to hang out with my parents and enjoy the evening. 4th of July is one of those holidays where some things have to be done/seen to feel like a real holiday to me. A big fireworks show is one of those and I'm glad my husband allows that. I sure missed homemade ice cream but perhaps that will come with Pioneer Day.

California Again

In the last several months, we've made a lot of trips (mostly Mark) to California. This time was for a much happier reason and an exciting occasion. One of my cousins was getting married and was kind enough to invite her cousins to the small and intimate event. We spent just over 48 hours in California and packed it with fun, adventure, and great food. Because of the craziness of the trip, I got about half the trip on my phone and half of the trip on my camera....sorry.

Friday: We arrived in Los Angeles at 8:30AM. After waiting in line for a good 45 minutes for a rental car, we thought we were on our way out to freedom keys in hand. Sadly, I dropped my license in the car somewhere. They wouldn't let us out at the gate because I didn't have it on me. After a mess of digging, retracing steps and the hassle of getting approved to let Mark drive out rather than me, we were on our way to Simi. Yet I was still fearful my license was gone and I'd have to call my boss and tell him I wouldn't be back until Tuesday because I couldn't fly. Thankfully Mark happened to peek in a cup holder and see it tucked under the rubber part that grips the cups 5 hours later. Thank goodness! That afternoon we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Baja Fresh. Think Cafe Rio/Costa Vida but less (visible) grease and 10 times better. Summer time is the best because they have the mango salsa to eat with your chips.

Friday night we caught a Dodger Game with my parents, 2 of my sisters and my Aunt Kath (who is a MAJOR Dodger fan) and her 2 girls. We got Dodger Dogs, malts and sang 2 energizing rounds of "Take Me Out the Ball Game" at the 7th inning stretch. Afterwards, they had a fireworks show, which made the game worthwhile despite Dodgers losing 17-1.

The next morning, 16 of us went to Reds, a local barbecue far better than Texas Roadhouse or any other BBQ joint for that matter. My Aunt used to have a tradition of taking us there on the last day of school. It's actually where we ate lunch (though I do not remember) while my parents went to the hospital to have my younger sister back in 1990. Needless to say, we put our hand over our hearts each time we talk about it.

After stuffing ourselves of their signature rolls and yummy food, we all hopped into cars and made the 80 minute trek north to Carpinteria for my cousins wedding. The wedding was beautiful and though the temperature was a tad warm, it wasn't bad at 4:30 in the afternoon.

The bride's sister (my other cousin) Ashley was the maid of honor. She looked beautiful along with the other bridesmaids.  

 The bride and her dad walking her down the aisle. She looked beautiful and though you can't tell from the picture, she was glowing!

After the ceremony (not during I promise!)

 I picked out Mark's tie all by myself! 

After the ceremony they had an hour of cocktails. We enjoyed a few lemon lime fizzes (Sprite) and found giant Jenga that kept us occupied as we enjoyed alternating breezes of manuer and salt water from the ocean below the ranch. 

 My two younger cousins Kaelyn and Natalie and Cheriss. Natalie missed the memo that I was taking a picture....

 As you can see, the tower got pretty intense. Especially when a few blocks were put on their side based on the listed rules. I'm just glad no one put them standing up! We may or may not have detained some guests (and the photographer) from taking their seats for the dinner because our tower was so high. Our apologies to the bride and groom for stealing the show hehe! 

 After dinner was the best part and by far a must in any wedding...dancing! My grandpa even got in the circle and cut a rug for a little bit. 3 of the 4 sisters that were there had spouses and ironically, none of them like to dance. They were at least good enough sports to dance a few slow songs. The best by far was dancing with my husband to Brad Paisley's "Then". Total cheesy moment. But dancing with my favorite man to my favorite country musician? What could be better? We really had fun dancing up a storm and the best part was most of the other guests had been drinking. So no one cared that we were doing goofy moves like "the sprinkler" and "the shopping cart"!

 I just happened to capture this cute moment of my cousin Ashley dancing with some of the flower girls. So cute! 

Table centerpieces: mason jars with tea candles in them. It was perfect for an outdoor wedding with an evening reception. It was so fun to be able to take part in my cousin and her new husband's special day! I don't think I've been to a wedding that fun since my own! 

Although we had to leave Sunday afternoon for our flight back to Utah, we hung out for a few hours at my grandparents' house and were able to visit with my uncle and his kids who live in Texas. It was great to see them as it's been a few yeas since we've seen them. 

Although our trip to California was a blur and went by way too fast, we had so much fun cramming so much into those 3 short days. Although Utah naturally feels like home after 7 years, it still feels good to and see palm trees, the ocean and the things that Utah just doesn't have...pretty much everything we did in those 3 days! I guess I'll always be a California girl at heart. 

Finding Happiness

I've been pondering life a bit lately. In my non-creative writing capabilities, here's the result of my thought process put into words:

Looking back on my childhood and early adulthood, I admit I am guilty of wishing years away and spending time counting down rather than truly enjoying life as it was. The "older" audience of this blog is probably going to laugh when I say that the past always seems so much simpler than the present. I am aware that that will probably always be true no matter how old I get. I'm sure even a few years from now I'll look back on today, this week, this month, and think "life was so simple then" event though it doesn't feel that way.

When I think of simpler times, my mind wanders back 6 years ago to a little city called Rexburg in the great state of Idaho. A freshman in college, living away from home, life was mostly carefree. I lived on a beautiful campus with a beautiful temple in the making:

 There were also some lovely gardens that were so pretty to walk through (when it wasn't cold and snowy which means any time between May and October).

The gardens had some beautiful spots that honestly put BYU's south gardens to shame. 

  In the gardens, there was this cute little house

On the inside of the house was this saying: 

Non-shocking fact: Within happiness is the word happy. There is no way we will ever find happiness in life if we are constantly miserable along the way. Don't get me wrong, ask anyone who has lived with me (family, roommates etc), I can be onery, cranky and miserable. But really, if we spend the majority of our days thinking "Ugh I just can't wait until..." or the classic "I will be so happy and life will be so much easier when..." we will eventually realize how much time we have wasted waiting to be happy rather than just being happy. 

During the summer I spent abroad there were a lot of days I spent feeling sorry for myself, or angry at things going on. With these pictures, you might wonder how could I be anything but happy: 

How I wish I could go back in time and rather than spend many days being irritated or frustrated, realize that I was truly getting a once in a lifetime opportunity and that I should appreciate the good, the bad, and even sometimes heartbreaking for what it was. I love the saying that happiness not a destination, but moreso a way of life.

More often than not, I fail at being content with life as it currently stands. I suppose in a way that's what keeps us progressing to something better. But even when we're waiting for that degree, new car, new house, kids to grow up, etc., we should take a moment to stop and simply just be happy- because misery loves company, not happiness!  

Family Camp-Out

We went camping last weekend with Marks 2 brothers. We couldn't find any friends to go with us, so at the last minute we practically had to beg and plead Mark's brothers to come with us. Since we were just going to get our fill of camping in, we did the basic mandatory camping foods: Foil dinners (chicken potatoes, carrots and onions), S'mores, and Muffins for breakfast the next morning.

We left after the boys finished work at 5 and took the 30 minute drive up Mapleton Canyon to Whiting Campground. It really is only about 10 minutes from civilization. But it's just far enough up the canyon to get dirty, smell like campfire and escape the brutal valley heat for a bit. The campsites were nice (though small) and had a lot of families camping. We were also surprised when the host came up and told us we COULD use sticks and lose brush to kindle our fire. Most places that's a felony. So that was nice, though this time we remembered to pack extra wood. 

 This is Ryan surprised how good the foil dinners taste. (Let's admit it, it's hard to get them to really taste good)

 I figured I ought to get a picture of Mark and I since these were for our blog. He did this one and Ryan willingly put up with the pose. 

 

 After enjoying foil dinners we played a few card games and then figured we might as well start enjoying s'mores. There was quite the debate on how s'mores should be cooked (charcoal outside vs golden brown). This is definitely where I differ from Mark. I believe light brown and bubbly are the best characteristics of a marshmallow where he believes the more burned the better.

 Yummy marshmallows!

After s'mores we sat around and told "Ghost Stories". Really they were just random stories being retold or made to sound scary but weren't. We had a lot of good laughs. I wasn't sure what to expect camping with 3 boys but I was surprised at how much fun we did have. Sure I got a little nostalgic for Girls' Camp and wanted to sing a round of the Jell-O song or Princess Pat but since I would have been singing alone, I decided I could survive and take a more "masculine" (read: normal) approach to camping.

We had so much fun camping and are thinking about going again before the summer is out. There are just never enough weekends for us to do everything we want!

Looking In On Motherhood

With this past weekend being Mothers' Day, I thought about how although I am not a mother, I have had the opportunity to take mothering roles through babysitting children since I was 12. 

Over the years of babysitting, I became the family babysitter. I went to Utah for a week and took care of my niece Kaylie when she was just 7 months old. Two years later, I took care of her again 5 days a week 8-5 while her parents worked for 2 months. That definitely was a challenge because babysitting never seemed to end! Although I was no longer in charge, Kaylie would still want to  play with me. Babysitting/Daycare never felt more like motherhood at that point in my life. 

As the years have passed, I have been the one to babysit my nieces/nephews over night, all day, and a few weekends while parents got away. I learned some lessons about parenthood. I would say that the experiences I've had babysitting my nieces and nephews while studying child/human development helped me to realize that no matter how much research and text books I read, there are moments where you just can't be the exemplary textbook parent. Tempers get lost, instincts often overrun what you know to be right, and sometimes, you find yourself yelling over the two screamers to make yourself be heard....I confess that I have definitely had some less than shining moments as an aunt. Thankfully, I've also learned that children are forgiving and usually within minutes or by the end of the day, they like me again and I have regained my fun aunt status.

My love for kids has not disappeared despite the days and weeks spent babysitting. If nothing since getting married 3 years ago, it's intensified. I have come to be content being childless, especially at the end of the day when I once again am in silence, allowed to sleep in, and keep a clean house. I am grateful for women (particularly my sisters) who have given me a glimpse into motherhood, letting me see what 24/7 parenthood is like, and above all, learn things that will hopefully make me a better parent. No not better than them, but help prepare me in ways that I wouldn't have been prepared for had I not been given various opportunities. Allow me to explain with some imagery that is precious to me:

I've learned how to be a good storybook reader. Reading books to any of my nieces/nephews who will sit next to me (or in this case squeeze into a rocking chair with me) is one of the best things. I've learned more about Dinosaurs, Pirates, and exactly why the old lady swallowed a fly. Very crucial facts to know.
 

I've learned from these two girls that if you have paper, glue, tape, scissors, you have everything you could possibly need play. I've helped build a WebKinz Hotel out of a cardboard box and put together a Harry Potter Lego set. I've also learned a little bit about managing Diabetes, giving shots and counting carbs and that in some situatations, the only word to describe a moment is "Awkward!" 

I've learned that there is nothing better than holding a sweet infant in your arms and watching it learn to explore the world around them. I've also learned that my husband is pretty much a natural when it comes to holding kids. (He just wouldn't agree!)

 I've learned that you can never be fancy enough! Sparkles, crowns, and bracelets make everything more fun!

 I've learned that even little ones can be musically inclined...and that at some point, you have to draw the line at sharing germs. 

I've learned that there is no such thing as "no room" on Aunt Brittany's lap.

I've learned that twins takes some crazy juggling but is twice the fun simultaneously (most of the time). 

Most importantly, I've learned that no matter the age difference, the distance, or gender,there is nothing better than family! 

So thank you sisters, friends and family who have allowed me to learn from you what motherhood is like, and for trusting me to take care of your precious little ones. I can only hope it will make me a better parent one day.