Brandon has arrived!

Our son Brandon decided to come 9 days early!  I totally wasn't expecting that.  I had asked my doctor what the likelihood of me delivering late was and he said that 80% of first time moms deliver past their due date.  Since I figured I'd be like most first time moms, I was super surprised when my water broke the evening of Aug 11.

We were home from church for about an hour and thirty minutes.  I was sitting on the couch surfing the internet and decided to get up (I don't remember why).  Then it happened!  I thought, "what the..!?" and ran to the bathroom.  Sure enough my water broke!  Thank goodness just about 3 days earlier we packed our hospital bag!

So we headed to the hospital and got there around 5 PM.  The nurse did some tests, found that my water did break, and admitted me at around 6:30 PM.  I ended up getting pitocin since my contractions weren't getting all that strong by themselves.  At around 2 AM, I got the epidural because not only did I have regular contraction pain but I had back labor pains as well.  There was NO way I was going to do natural childbirth with pain like that (I hadn't planned on it anyway)!  I labored for a few more hours and at around 7:30 I started pushing!  It was NOT fun because the pressure was so intense the epidural didn't seem to help at all.  But almost an hour later, the best thing ever happened!  Brandon made his debut!  He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

It was such a great feeling to know that he finally arrived!  Both Greg and I choked up (well, I flat out cried lol).  He's such a beautiful baby boy!

Greg and I are so blessed to have Brandon!  We love him so much, and already we are experiencing the joys of parenthood (as well as the not so fun bits, but who doesn't haha).

Here are more pictures of our little guy!  Can you figure out who he resembles most?  We can't tell!

Where we are living now

Looking back on the posts I've made, I completely forgot to mention where Greg and I are living now!

We've been living in Provo, UT since June 2012 because Greg got accepted to BYU's Physics Masters program.  He's been doing really well :)  We currently have a 2 bedroom apartment in BYU's married student housing, Wymount Terrace.  When we first moved here, it was kind of weird.  I didn't think we'd end up back in Provo to live for a while!  But, it's really nice to move somewhere and already know how to get around, like what grocery store to go to, what things there are to do, and stuff like that.

Not only were we so excited that Greg got accepted to grad school but that we were moving closer to my younger sister Meaghan, who's working on her bachelors at BYU.  It's been absolutely fabulous living near her and being able to hang out often!  She lives just down the street, which makes it super easy to get together.

Greg now has about a year left to go and during the next year he'll be taking additional teaching classes to go towards a teaching credential (Greg wants to teach physics at high school or community college level).  I know he'll be a great teacher and he's working really hard to get there.

As for me, I currently have two part-time jobs.  One is working for Nu Skin as a Product Assembler in their distribution center and the other is bookkeeping/accounting for my dad's two companies.  The latter I do from home, which is super nice since we have a baby on the way and I can continue to do that after the baby's born.

There!  Now I've given a little general update about where we're living ;)  

13 more weeks!

So in case you don't know, Greg and I are expecting our first and I'm due August 21!  I'm currently 27 weeks along (only 13 more to go! yikes!).

We found out a week before Christmas.  We couldn't wait to tell our families especially since a holiday was coming up, and we were going to spend Christmas with Greg's family.  This is their first grandchild!  So we told everyone when I was only 6 weeks along!  Super early I know...we were just so excited and couldn't hold it in!  

So far, pregnancy for me hasn't been that bad.  During my first trimester, I had some nausea but never actually vomited because of it and it didn't last all that long.  I think I'm one of those super lucky women because I've heard stories of how other women had nausea for almost half their pregnancy or longer!

My second trimester has been great!  I've got to feel our little guy move (yes, it's a boy!) and Greg has been able to feel him move also!  Our little boy is funny especially when it comes to letting his daddy feel him move.  Almost every time I tell Greg "Hey wanna feel him move?"  Greg would excitedly put his hand on my belly and the baby would stop moving!  Silly little guy.  I haven't taken any belly shots yet because I don't think I look pregnant!  I know and Greg knows I'm showing but I think I look like I just gained a bunch of weight and that's it :(  I'll take one today, post it, and see what you think.

Here's a picture of our boy at 21 weeks.  He's a cutie :)

We are so excited for our son to come, but at the same time it's kind of scary!  Being responsible for something so precious and completely dependent makes me nervous even though I've babysat plenty of babies and toddlers.  I guess the fact that this one is actually mine to take care of makes me feel that way.  But I know Greg and I won't be horrible parents and that we'll have plenty of support from our families and friends to help us out when we need it!  

We can't wait to see who he looks like, if he will have red hair or not, what color his eyes are, what kind of personality he'll have, and everything else that comes with such a bundle of joy!  

What's his name you ask?  Right now, it's Brandon James.  (Flows pretty well don't ya think?)

Baby Brandon, we love you and are looking forward to getting to know you!

His little foot!

  

What I Am Grateful For...

So you may have noticed how rare a post is made for this blog...yes I'm very bad at it, but my New Year's Resolution is to be better at keeping this blog up to date so hopefully it will stick!

A lot has been on my mind recently.  I've been thinking about decisions I made and second guessing that they were the right ones for me to make.  After much reflection I have come to this list of things I am grateful for that help dispel any doubts I have had:

1)  I am grateful that I know I am a daughter of a loving, generous, caring Heavenly Father.  I came to this knowledge when I was 11 years old and it has never, ever left me.  This knowledge helps me get through any challenges I face in my life.  I know it will continue to do so.

2)  I am grateful for miracles.  Miracles happen everyday and in different sizes.  Greg and I have been blessed by God with miracles that may seem like nothing to someone else but mean the world to us.  Through our faith we have been able to see the miracles of God performed in our lives.  Through these miracles we know that Heavenly Father is always watching over us and cares about us.

3)  I am grateful I married Greg.  I can't imagine myself being with any other man.  Greg is kind, considerate, funny, caring, worthy of the Priesthood, spiritual, faithful, great with kids, smart, willing to follow the Lord's will, thoughtful, respectful, and my best friend!  I feel so blessed everyday that I get to wake up and see him next to me.  It is hard to describe in words the love I have for him.

4)  I am grateful for the opportunity to become a mother.  This is the role I've been dreaming about and have always desired!  I'm super excited that in August my dream will come true!  I'm even more excited that Greg will be a father.  I know he'll be a great dad and I can't wait until I get to see him play with our son/daughter.

5)  I am grateful for my parents and my siblings.  I have felt their love for me ever since I was little.  They teach me every time I'm with them and I love them so much!  I hope they each know that I love them!

6)  I am grateful I spent time living with my in-laws.  When Greg and I got married we moved into his parents' house until one of us got a job.  I'm grateful that I got to know them better and become more comfortable around them.  They now truly feel like family to me and I don't think I would've gotten to that point yet if we didn't live with them.

7)  I am grateful we lived in Wisconsin for the time we did.  We met so many wonderful people in Madison, especially in our ward.  We made some great friends who provided advice and love to us since we were both so very far away from our own families.  During this time I served as a Young Women adviser in the our ward.  I loved that calling!  I was able to share a bit of my testimony with the 12-13 year olds every Sunday and Wednesday.  By spending time with them I was able to see how much I've matured since I was in Young Women's.  I miss those girls.  Greg and I learned so much from our time in Wisconsin and we wouldn't trade that much needed experience for anything else.

8)  I am grateful for the jobs I had and have.  I spent some time babysitting part-time, processing claims at a fitness equipment manufacturer, and now I'm working as a product assembler.  Each job taught me some lessons that I don't think I would have gotten anywhere else.  I learned more business smarts, how to be more professional, to own my mistakes as soon as they happen, how to treat others in general, and  that every job no matter how menial is essential to the business it's in.

As I was thinking of the above things I'm grateful for, I realized that if my various decisions had been different I probably wouldn't have had the above experiences at the time of my life that I needed them.  I know the Lord has a plan for me and Greg.  I've tried to follow His plan for me and yes some things have been hard but that's what life is for!  Without the hard things, we wouldn't learn how to become more like our Heavenly Father.

One last thing I'm grateful for is that I can say I'm HAPPY!  I'm happy because I married the love of my life in the temple and that I have a testimony of the Gospel.  I know that if Greg and I strive to continue living the Gospel that we will always be happy and have true joy!  I hope each of you will be able to have some happiness today and thank you for reading!             

Cross-stitching project done!

I finally finished a cross-stitching project I started years ago! I got this pattern at the Reagan Library. But now I don't know what to do with it! Should I frame it, make it into a pillow, or what??? I have to think about it some more.

Our 1st Anniversary!

So, I'm not the greatest blogger in the world. But that's okay! Haha.Greg and I recently had our 1st Wedding Anniversary!!! We couldn't believe it has been a year already! We both felt (and feel) very grateful that we have each other and that we'll be able to spend the rest of eternity together. Here's a run down of what we did:

1) I got up before Greg to surprise him with French Toast for breakfast!

2) Greg surprised me by telling me he took the day off and made all sorts of plans for that day!

3) We went to the park and had a picnic and played card games. Greg got all the food the day before and made sure I didn't see it until the next day. He likes to surprise me and I like surprises :) Good combo.

we were also going to fly kites but it was rainy :(

4) We went to the zoo! Because it was rainy, a lot of the animals weren't out like all the big cats, rhinos, etc. But we did get to see red pandas, giraffes, otters, seals, bears, wallabies, meerkats, and more including huge cockroaches (yuck!). I took lots of pictures but decided to upload just a couple.

5) Then we went to see the movie "Arthur". Greg and I liked it :)

6) We had made reservations at a restaurant called Liliana's. They serve Cajun cuisine and it was really good! We even got free dessert because it was our anniversary :)

7) We went home and got out our cake top! Since we were so full from dinner we split a small piece of cake.

All in all, it was a fantastic day! I feel so blessed to have Greg in my life and I love him so much!

what's new with us?

Not much. But I realize now that I haven't posted pictures of our apartment with stuff in it! So here you go :)

Let's see...I've been called to be a Young Women's Music Adviser in our ward. Greg doesn't have a calling yet but I bet he'll get one soon! Next week Tuesday I'm going to a hiring seminar for the local Apple Store! Apparently, Apple has quite a few interview processes and I hope I get through them all and get a job there! I think it would be fun to work at the Apple Store. Also, ever since we got Guitar Hero, I've been listening to (or rather playing in the game) the song "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes. It has such a great beat! I don't think I'll get tired it! Anyway, that's about all I can think of that's new with us. Have a great day everyone!