Our Hospital Visit in March

Starting now I am going to try to write more! Six months have gone by and I have missed writing our little stories and experiences down, but with one computer and one busy husband in school needing the computer, writing on the blog has gone on hold. So tonight while I have a minute I am going to write a few things!

What has gone on? I don't even think I can remember everything! Starting from most recent...Baby number two is doing great! D and I had a wonderful date night at the hospital last Friday after I fell during my last class. I had a few learning moments on Friday...Fourth graders will laugh at a pregnant woman falling not even realizing how scary it can be. I went to do an assemble, not even jumping into it I simply walked brushed one foot out hit a super slick spot and next thing I know both feet were up in the air not completely vertical thankfully, and I was down on my back with one hand bracing my fall. I felt wet and thought oh no was that my water? I stood up amongst the laughter and pretended I didn't hurt at all :) Thankfully it was in my last ballet class of the night and I only had about thirty minutes left! D and miss A picked me up and after calling we went into the hospital. My wonderful brother and sister in law dropped what they were doing to come pick up miss A. She didn't know what was going on, simply excited to play with her cousins and have a sleepover. Come to find out when we picked her up that she refused to go to sleep even though she wanted to sleep over. Funny girl.

We now know what the hospital is like and one of the nurses. We were there for a few hours monitoring baby and contractions. He was great! I was dehydrated...what else is new? I had just been teaching for three hours! They ended up giving me a shot to stop contractions which I was a little hesitant about, but I am glad because I wouldn't want him to have come that early. (March 19th). Come to find out my water did not break... I just wet my pants a little...I didn't think I would ever be so happy to have wet my pants! I haven't slipped since then in ballet and don't plan on it! We are grateful everything was great!

The April Fool's Jokester

We love April Fool's around our house! Miss A now wakes up every morning and asks, "What is today? Is it April Fool's day?" We didn't do a whole lot, but papa certainly got us good! We don't do mean tricks around our house, we just like the silly ones. Since we are living in my parents basement we come upstairs and visit and sometimes eat breakfast with Nana. Well this morning when we got up we found the chairs on the counters and balloons in the fridge. We called Papa immediately and miss A told him all about what she had found. He said, "The April Fool's Jokester must have come". So on went our day...we played and then heard Nana from down the hall ask, "Have you looked in the toilets yet?" Off we went to the bathroom and what do you think we found???

Balloons, in almost all of the toilets. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. She talked about it all day. The day went on. I thought for sure papa had to have done more than that, and sure enough when we went to put our shoes on we found they didn't fit anymore due to tissue paper shoved into the toes. So we decided to switch the cereal inside the cereal boxes for papa to find. We then thought about putting balloons in his shoes. We told miss A should couldn't tell him though, it had to be a surprise. What happened when Papa got home from work? This sweet girl happily and excitedly says, "Papa we put balloons in your shoes, but you won't know because it will be a surprise" and then she laughed.  The only other trick Miss A and I played was during dinner. For part of our dinner we made strawberry juice stuck in a glass. Miss A had so much fun making it...and we even tricked daddy! 

The only trick D and I played was blowing up a balloon in a shampoo container so when my dad went to use it he wouldn't be able to get anything out. Was it a success? We woke up the next morning to the balloon sitting on our kitchen counter with the words "Good One" written on it.

Until next year April Fool's.

Three and a Half Weeks and Counting Down

We are so excited for this sweet baby boy to be born! We only have three and a half weeks left. I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone by. I have so many mixed feelings! I am excited for this little one to enter this world, but oh how I have loved to be pregnant! Watching my belly grow, feeling him move, losing sleep because of bathroom breaks, not being able to lay down to sleep or find anyway to sleep...even after stacking up all of our pillows except two. I love feeling him roll around, kick, stretch, and get hiccups. I love that D and A can feel him too. We just laugh and laugh when he moves because when he moves he really moves. He pokes out until my stomach feels as if it could break!

I am grateful little miss A is excited for him to be born. For a while there were some rough moments- the first one being at the "big ultra sound". We took Miss A with us, which was so funny. The moment the ultra sound tech showed us and out loud said it looks like you're having a boy, Miss A started to do all she could to tell us he was not a boy but a girl. She said to the tech, "no it's a girl, Heavenly Father made her to be a girl". After that anyone who said she was having a brother would be told that we were not having a boy but a girl. We have now gone from that, to her being very excited about having a baby brother. The other morning she woke up and asked, "Daddy is it May?" because she knows her baby brother is supposed to be coming in May. She does pray for her baby sister in heaven and never fails to remind us, "after my baby brother is born my baby sister will be born". We have many colored pictures of ultra sounds of her baby brother :) She loves to draw the ultra sounds.

I am very nervous about the changes that will happen, but I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for our growing family. We have been blessed so much already. In one of our family classes up at school our teacher once said, "It doesn't take money to have a baby, it takes faith". I know it does take money, but when we prepare in all the ways when we can, and when the Lord says it's time, you do your part and the Lord takes care of the rest. We found that with miss A and now with this little guy. Things work out! I definitely found myself saying, "but how?" but little by little and putting trust in the Lord things really do unfold and work out. One funny thing that still keeps me laughing is how I just started a new job, as a ballet teacher, and was expecting. I kept thinking what funny timing right when I start this job we are also expecting a new baby! I know it wasn't just coincidence. Soon after that I found out with this job I get six weeks paid maternity leave. I was placed with level one ballet classes, which although have been very challenging at times, I have been able to keep up teaching the entire time.

We have been blessed, and I never thought I'd say this, with loan money not taken out from the bank but through the school! We were very happy to hear that! We have been blessed with baby needs and just so many things! So if I could say one thing I have learned through this pregnancy I think it would have to be gratitude and attitude.

The Lord does know all things!

Five Months Later...

Wow I have been terrible at keeping up our little love blog. From now on I hope to be better!  What's new? We celebrated our anniversary!!! That's about it.

Have you ever read in the scriptures a few verses that just STAND OUT? I have found more! I think that is the beautiful thing about scriptures...and marriage...the more you read them (even if it is the same verses over and over again) the more you learn. Same with marriage the more you put into your marriage, the more you serve...even if it means washing the same pair of jeans twice in one week, or doing dishes again and again, the stronger your marriage becomes.

We are experiencing this right now. I have found out that switching roles even slightly can be a challenge. D just started grad school...HOORAY!!! He isn't working during school, we didn't want to take our more loans, need I say more? and a job came to me at the perfect time. It has been a BIG blessing in more ways than one. I only work a few times a week for a few hours a day. I am grateful that it isn't a full time job because all the money in the world wouldn't be worth being gone from our little lady all day. So even though money will be tighter than ever, we will be okay. Little lady asked me to turn on this little video one morning and we watched it together...she watches it for "the little girl swinging on her belly on the swing."

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001 

To be honest I feel like one of the little children in the video. The father talks about how they expect food to be in the pantry when they open it, the crayons and toys they use, the clothes they wear are just there. All of it is provided for them. With D working I knew where our money was coming from that he was providing, but I never really felt the anxiety that he felt, that a father feels in needing to provide for the family. I never had to think If I miss work today we'll be short money this month. But I have felt that now, not to the same extent. This has helped me appreciate D more and I am grateful that one of his roles as a father is to provide for our family. Wow what a sacrifice that is.

So goal for each of you...Take a step back and think about the sacrifice that your husband makes for your family each day to provide the necessary things in life and vv. D and I, being in school since we got married, have always been pretty good with our money, we haven't had much and we have lived pay check to pay check for four years. We've really learned and still are learning to live within our means, buy the NEED not the WANT. It is hard sometimes, but worth it to us. We have been able to not fight over finances and know we are on the same page.

So back to that scripture that has stood out to me. And not it doesn't have anything to do with the above thoughts...Proverbs 31:10-12

"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies."

"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."

"And she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."

This is one of my live by scriptures. Virtue is one value that isn't well known in the world. It is a value that I believe should be known and practiced by all in our home and our lives.

Love Stories

Quotes, quotes, quotes. There are SO many quotes. I have been and still am a quote girl. I love writing quotes, reading quotes, and hanging quotes up all around (which I realize is missing right now in our house). This has been my newest addition which I painted on copy paper and hung up in our house. It is this...

Every love story is beautiful,

But Ours in my Favorite.

Growing up I liked watching chick flicks, and sometimes still do, they are fun and when I was younger I liked thinking about how my own love story would be. As we were getting ready to watch the movie I kept dragging my feet, I wasn't really in the mood to watch but it ended up being an okay movie :) I realized why I didn't really like it...because it isn't as good as our love life story!

One thing that D and I love to do, and I believe it is healthy for every marriage relationship is to look back and remember how your love story unfolded. We love talking about it and realizing more and more how the Lord guided us all along, through the hard and the wonderful times. We love going back to Rexburg Idaho. Beautiful, cold Rexburg is where we met. We love walking into the ballroom in the MC, going to Craigo's (now Pizza Pie Cafe) for some yummy cookie dough pizza. I could go on, but that's for another day. Simply remember. Choose your love and love your choice.

Home is Where We...

So I have been going through my college bin, looking at what assignments, talks, articles etc that I had saved. I came across one of my favorite classes, home decor! The first assignment of the class was to answer the question, "Home is where we..." Have you ever thought how to answer that question if you were asked? You could substitute many things in here, like marriage is...motherhood is....fatherhood is... and so on. Why not take the time to write it down, I find that reflecting on questions helps me to realize where my priorities are and where I want them to be. So here goes my list.

 Home is where we...
1. Are taught and teach our own children that God loves them. They are His children. He is their Father and He knows them individually.

2. Learn and teach our children that marriage is ordained of God and essential to His plan of happiness. We are created in the image of God. We each have a different plan, different struggles, but we have been given ways to make it through life and become who God knows we can be.

3. Gender is essential to God's plan, and we existed before as we do now, as a male or female...that never changed.

4. Learn and are reminded of premortal life (or life before we came to earth). We worshiped God and chose to follow His plan. Which meant we would come to this earth to gain a body and experience trials and tests that, with our choosing, will either bring us closer to Christ or farther away.

5. Learn that we can be an eternal family.

6. Teach our children about the sacred way in which children are created and that that sacred power is only to be shared between husband and wife after they are married. Teach it is a sacred thing that the world portrays as only for pleasure and getting gain.

7. Teach our children the wonderful roles of being a husband and wife, father and mother. Raise our children in love and righteousness. They learn rules, respect, discipline but in a way that is firm and fair, not degrading or abusive.

8. Help our children see how wonderful marriage is and children. Help them see that fidelity in marriage is vital and possible.

9.  Learn to pray, study scripture, keep the commandments, follow Christ and come to know Him.

10. Teach our children to stand up for what they know is right, even if it means standing alone. That means as parents you are committing to always stand up for the right even if you stand alone, because what you do speaks louder than what you say.

11. Learn to have fun together, to serve, learn to laugh, love, enjoy life!

The Sort of Getting to Know Us Post

Well, we are doing it. We are starting our little marriage and family blog. We hope you will enjoy it and maybe even take something from it...I know we certainly will! Like I said, I am in NO WAY an expert or a counselor, just a married woman with a lot to say.

D and I have been married for over 3 years. We met in our social dance class our first semester at school. We knew soon after that we wanted to marry each other, and after a few months of bumps and mountains we knew even more and got married in the Salt Lake LDS temple. We have a beautiful little girl who we sometimes call little lady. She has been the biggest blessing in our life! She keeps us moving, laughing, sometimes crying, and every day praying to be able to know how to teach her and for me not fear raising her in a world that is scary to me.

We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, believe in God our Heavenly Father, in Jesus Christ, and in being able to be together as a family after we die. You may think me crazy...but why come this far through life, being this happy, having children, gaining experience and then at death have that all just end? I do not believe a loving Father would let it end, family is central to His plan and can bring the greatest happiness of all. Even if I you don't believe the way I do I hope you still stick around. 

One of my minors at school was in Marriage and Family studies. The classes, books, and studies we did in school have greatly blessed my life, our marriage, and helped me see even more that the world is a tricky place with society tearing family and marriage apart, but we do not have to be fearful. Take a stand against it by keeping your marriage strong, faithful, happy, and teach children.