Bells

Bella is a month old and I really wish that time would just stop because she is growing too fast.

This was my atempt at photography when she was around 2 weeks. I love her facial expression here!!

Bells and her two cousins. LtoR Aden 3 months, Mckrae 2 months, Bella 1 month.

Celebrating an early Christmas with Andrews family, she always seems to be asleep.

Bella Cait has arrived!!

Bella is finally here and is already 2 weeks old! She was born on October 30th at 5:57 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz at birth and is 21 inches long. We are so happy that she is finally here and that she decided to come right before Halloween instead of on Halloween!

Here are some of our favorite pics of our baby girl. We just love her!

Bella had jaundice and was put under the lights for one day at the hospital and 2 days at home.

10 days to go! Or more, or less...

Being pregnant is one of the strangest things that I have ever done. Your body creates a human being that lives off of you. This baby has the ability and the knowledge about how to labor and birth, she already has natural instincts and a personality. I am still blown away by the miracle of this process.

For the majority of this pregnancy the fact that I am actually pregnant and that we are going to have a baby and be parents has not sunk in. I have had my last baby shower, we have purchased pretty much everything that we need and I still can not imagine becoming a mother. I also can't imaging that for Bella to get here she has to come out of me. I have known that this is the case my whole life but still can't grasp this concept, again a miracle. But no matter what reservations I have I can not contain the excitement that I feel to have her here soon and to take that next step in our lives.

Here I am at 37 weeks.

I would have never guessed that my body could ever stretch this much. Lets just hope that it will shrink back down!!

I know that I am a little late on posting an updated pic but I left my camera at my parents house and so instead you just get an update. I am currently 36 weeks but am measuring a little further along which is great but am not going to expect our little Bella's arrival until at least a week or so after my due date Oct. 27 because I don't want to get antsy. Did you catch the name?... Yes we have decided to name our girl Bella Cait! Hope you like it because we sure do!!

We have had three awesome showers and still have one to go! I have gotten great things which makes this adventure seem so much more real!

L-R Kari, Kelli, Randi and me up at my parents house after a family/neighborhood shower.

Andrew has finished painting and setting up the furniture in the nursery and so now I just need to organize all of Bell's stuff before she gets here. Hopefully I will have more pics to post later!

DIY Ruffle pillows

I can't wait to try this out. I love pillows and I love ruffles, not so crazy about felt but I think that on any fabric this will look super cute!!

30 Weeks!

I am loving this stage in pregnancy knowing that my body is housing a baby. I am amazed that she grows and develops inside me and that what I do will affect her, and she lets me know when I do something that she does not like.
As of right now I am completely content with her staying inside and I get a little bit of anxiety when I think about her actually wanting to come out. I have heard that this will pass and that soon I will be dying to get her out!!
Baby R is very active and loves to push on my stomach, sometimes this is not very pleasant but it is reassuring.
Currently we are ripping out our baseboards and trim in the upstairs living room, hallway, and soon to be babies room. I am super excited to see the difference new trim will make. We have not started on anything nursery wise because of our baseboard project but I do have a good idea of what I want so let’s hope that it turns out! I am now actually 31 weeks so only 9 more to go!!

Three Years

Last week Andrew and I celebrated our three year anniversary!! It seems crazy to think that three years has already gone by and that this next year a whole new adventure starts. I love being married and I totally and completely love Andrew. Hooray for three years!!

25 Weeks

Here I am at 25 weeks! Only 3 more weeks and I will be starting my 3rd Trimester! It is crazy how fast time goes by especially when you have not even had time to think about what you need to get ready.

Here are a few things

1. I am getting over the realization that my body is no longer mine, but I still sometimes forget that I am pregnant until Baby R reminds me with some miserable pain.
2. My body expands everyday and I can not imagine it getting any bigger than it already is, but according to what I read I will be gaining at least 10-15 more pounds which will result in my stomach doubling in size from where we are now!! Can you even imagine?
3. I do not eat anymore to satisfy myself but instead to avoid intense indigestion which normally comes no matter what.
4. I am in love with stretchy pants! I know its sick but oh so comfortable.
5. I have finally found the Doula that I want!! But of course she is out of town the week before my due date so this baby better stay inside until she is back!
6. For now I am finally getting used to and liking the little movements that reinforce that Baby R is alive and growing. And sometimes her movements are so intense that Andrew can feel my stomach jerk.
7. My energy level is very inconsistent, some days I can go and go but most days all I want to do is lounge and sleep.
8. My brain filter has become very thin. I constantly say things at work that are very sarcastic and the majority of the time they are centered towards my boss. It's a good thing he likes me. Lets just hope that this doesn't stick after Baby R is born.

The other day I decided to take a harmless stroll through Anthropologie. I figured that I wouldn't find anything because of my expanding belly. Oh how naive I am, we all know that Anthro is never harmless and that you will always find something that you just can't live without. Well lucky for me I found this amazing rug! It has the perfect color scheme and I think it will look brilliant in front of a crib. It was the only one left and I had to have it. I took it into work and showed all my co-workers, who of course loved it too, and then took it home and showed Andrew, who's reaction did not come close to that of my co-workers. Even though I have no idea where to go from here at least we have a rug and a color scheme and I am happy!

20 weeks

Here is Baby R at 20 weeks!

Baby sucked in

Baby hanging out

Prego

Well hopefully you were able to get that we are Pregnant!! Right now I am 20 weeks (which is already half-way, holy cow!!!), and the baby is as healthy as can be!

Our estimated due date is October 28th and we have confirmed that we are having a girl! I say confirmed because at our last appointment the Dr. said that he was 89.9% sure we are having a girl and hello 89.9% really does not tell us anything. So we were lucky enough to have our friend Miranda's dad check us out again while we were in St. George last weekend and he said that it is a girl!! I am still a little skeptical maybe because I wanted a girl and we are getting a girl, but we are super excited!

Here are a few pics up to this point.

10 Weeks.

I know it looks like a blob but at this point the baby's major organ systems are developing and is the size of a kidney bean. It has distinct, slightly webbed fingers and a strong heat beat.

19 weeks

Baby R's hand and fist.

Baby R's Foot

This week Baby R is about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces. Her bones continue to ossify and toughen while her finger and toe pads are finishing up. She now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. Her limbs have reached their relative proportions and her cute pink lips are more defined, and eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible.

It is crazy how much I already love this little foot!

Mad Gab

See if you can guess our big news!! 

Over Christmas we decided to play a prank on one of my co-workers and thinking of the Holiday season and how much we love wrapping presents we decided to wrap her entire cubical in wrapping paper, everything that was visible was wrapped even her pens! Well just last week another co-worker decided to take her birthday off and of course we couldn't pass up another opportunity to wrap a cubical.

Here are a few pics of our wrapping. We are seriously becoming pros!

Walk Now for Autism

This Saturday is the annual Walk Now for Autism. I am so excited for this years walk, it is for such a good cause and all the money that is raised goes straight to Autism research. We walk every year for my nephew Noah who is super excited about this years walk. I love seeing Noah develop and grow and know that with the money raised many questions about Autism can be answered.

If you want to walk or donate please go to the TEAM NOAH site. Details about the big day are below.



Date:Saturday, May 2, 2009
Location:Utah Valley University
Registration opens: 8:30am. Opening Ceremonies: 10:00am. Walk Start: 10:30am

The Happiest Place on Earth

At the end of February Andrew and I went to Disneyland with my sister and her family. Andrew was a little skeptical since the last time he was there was when he was around 6 and come on it has changed quite a lot since 1985. But I am glad to say that he liked it! Not the lets go once a year like, but maybe every 5 years type of like, and I can deal with that. Andrew's favorite ride was Tower of Terror, which is on the top of my list. But mine will forever be Space Mountain! Luckily Kelli and Jared have kids which allow us to go on every ride at least twice. It was awesome! Here are a few pics to prove that Andrew really did have fun.

Waiting to get on the tram. As you can see Andrew is still a little skeptical.

I present to you...

From the collection of the late Marve and Ethel Terry, all the way from Tijuana I bring you our treasure from their past the great and marvelous El Matador.

Now I know that this might look like something you would get off of craigslist but I just couldn't pass it up. When my mom asked if I wanted anything the only thing that popped into my head (besides the beautiful velvet furniture), was this picture. Painted on a velvet canvas with a detailed wood frame. How could anyone resist?
I remember as a child staring at this picture and wondering first why in the world my grandparents had this interesting picture, second not only had one but two of these beauties, and third hung them up in their basement. Well I have no need to wonder any more because every time I look at it, it puts a smile on my face! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Here are a few pics of Andrew hanging the picture over our stairs.

GrANd cANyON

Andrew, Eric, and JD went on a 4-wheeler trip to the Grand Canyon a couple weeks ago and I didn't even think to post about this until I saw it on Eric and Tiff's blog so thanks for the reminder.
Andrew planned this 4-wheeler trip starting in St. George and ending up at the Grand Canyon. It sounded so fun and hopefully this late spring or summer I will be doing the same trip with Andrew!

Pics of their trip.

On their way they ran into this old school house that was out in the middle of no where. Aren't they so cute?