Pregnant on Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was really fun. First off - we found out on November 20 that we are pregnant. It was SO exciting. To start the story, we didn't tell anyone that we have been going to Salt Lake and working with the U of U Reproductive Medicine office because we wanted to wait until we found out any more information and see if we can even have kids. After 3 1/2 years of trying to have a kid you get really sick of questions all the time. Especially living here in Utah where people think we are nuts for being married 5 years and not have any kids yet. So the less questioning, the better.

Anyway, when we started going there in October and they ran a few tests on me and on Nate and decided they wanted us to try shots. (For those of you who don't know the history of our trying to get pregnant - long story short I have been on pills - first Chlomid and then Femara, for more than a year. We had done 3 Artificial Insemination's and none of them worked. Finally in a fit of fury I got off the pills earlier this year and decided we would just try on our own for a while. Anyway, so these shots I got on I had to give myself in the stomach every day for a little while and in the process I had to continuously go down to SLC and have ultrasounds done. So I traveled to SLC 2-3 times a week for almost 3 weeks. Finally when my follicles looked good, they gave me an HCG shot and I had to take that 2 days before my insemination. This HCG shot was what would force my eggs to release. The previous shots helped them grow and become ready. So then 2 days later we went down and did another artificial insemination. So then I just had to wait and see if I skipped my period. I know that I was supposed to start on November 20, and the doctor told me if I hadn't started that I HAD to take a pregnancy test that day.

So I had been spotting a little, but hadn't started bleeding so that morning I got up and took a pregnancy test. When 2 lines showed up I just stared. I had to re-read the instructions to be sure that 2 lines meant pregnant. (Even though I have read those instructions 1000 times before). So then I went into the bedroom and said "um... honey I need to talk to you" and he started to wake up and was like "what?" so i just said "I think I'm pregnant!" and he sat right up and went "WHAT?" After freaking out for a minute, we decided that I needed to go get a blood test at the hospital just to be extra sure. Man, that was the longest 3 hour wait of my life! But when I finally called and they confirmed that I was pregnant I was exstatic! I called Nate to confirm that I was indeed pregnant. We both freaked out a little again and then I had to call the Doc in SLC to let them know the news. It was such an exciting time! We have waited SO long for this and the feeling is indescribable.

After discussing it, we decided we didn't want to tell any family until Christmas. I had always had this little fantasy in my head about how I would tell them. I've always wanted to give them a picture frame with the ultra sound in it and have it say something cute. Well after trolling the internet for some ideas, this is what I came up with:


(I took this picture with my phone so it's not a great one). But it says "Under Construction" and has tools and stuff. I got a picture of each of the parents when we told them.

Anyway - for Christmas Nate got me a new guitar which was awesome because I've been using my brother Brent's for the last year and it was too big for me. So now I have one that fits me. I got Nate a nice 8 drawer tool chest on wheels for the garage.

Me after I realized my gift was a guitar:


Nate checking out his new tool box:


After presents we went to my Aunt Janice's for breakfast. Uncle Rudy makes a really good Mexican breakfast every Christmas with burritos and homemade salsa and stuff. So we went there and decided to tell my parents that morning that we're pregnant.


You can't see my dad because I'm sitting right next to him. But my mom instantly went " Oh my gosh- really?" and my dad stared at the picture and said "what is it?" he had no idea it was an ultrasound. So my mom told him it was an ultrasound picture and then he started to cry. My sister Deanna was pissed that I hadn't told her. I had gone to lunch with like 3 times since I found out and she was mad that I hadn't spilled. HAHA! I'm just a good secret keeper! I have to admit that it was SO freaking hard not to tell.


You can't hardly see Marie because she put her hands over her face and fell back into the couch. As you can see, Nate's dad was pretty excited. Marie and Kallie both started crying and were really excited, of course. Then Marie asked how far along I was and I said 9 weeks. She got mad and told me that it was mean to keep it a secret so long. HAHA! Again, good secret keeper!

It turned out to be a great Christmas and of course, everyone is very excited for us that we having a baby. I can't believe it's finally here. I'm due July 29th. Luckily it's during the Summer so that I don't have to take time off during the semester. My senior year in college is going to be busy as hell with my practicum, school, work and a new baby - but it's totally going to be worth it!

Here are just a few other pictures from Christmas:

Cooper and Kilee opening their gift from me and Nate


Allen with his new 9mm gun from Marie


Peytynne opening Christmas and Birthday gifts all in one (her birthday is Dec. 20 and she was with her mom, so we did them all on Christmas day)


My dad thinking he is so sneaky. He had my sister go to the dollar store, buy $30 worth of gifts and wrap them individually. He made my mom open them each up before she could open the envelope in her stocking. She opened the envelope and it was the description of the trip to Hawaii he bought her. This will be their 4th time going to Hawaii. They absolutely love it over there. This time they're going to the Big Island of Kona. My mom was definitely surprised and very irritated after opening $30 worth of dollar store stuff. (At least most of it was useful like dish soap and crackers and stuff.)


My mom on the phone next to dad's Globe. He has always wanted one and this year my mom found this and was able to give it to him for Christmas. He was definitely excited about it.


All in all Christmas was great this year and next year will be even better because we will have our new baby to share it with.

Halloween at Hawns

Halloween this year was definitely the best one ever! Simple as Suicide was playing at Hawns in Hyrum so a bunch of us went out and watched them. Afterwards, me, Nate, Becky and her husband Nate (fondly known as Nate and 5/8), Enis and Dallas came back to my house. It's amazing the things that happen after you go to bed. When I woke up the next morning - there were 5 people in my King Size bed (THANK HEAVEN I HAVE A KING SIZE!). And I guess a couple of the guys thought it would be funny to shave Dallas' eyebrows off and put steps in one side of his beard. HE WAS PISSED! It was definitely the highlight of my day though- waking up to that. I have pictures on my phone- so if I figure out how to send them to my email I will post them. But here are a few pictures from the evening at Hawns. I hope you all had a good time and really enjoyed your Halloween too!

Look at Nate's beard! He shaved off his Go-T. I actually kinda like it (even thought it looks a little white trash!)


Me and Megan


Bart and Jed (Bart is lead singer for Simple as Suicide and Jed plays the guitar)


Homer - he plays bass


My georgous friend Skye (she is married to Homer)


Oh Enis - only so many people can pull of this costume... and he is definitely one of them :)



This is the bed I woke up to (except I was in the very middle)


Oh Dougie and his mustache



Twiggy and Meg (we decided that twig was a Mafia guy and if you read Megan's name tag it says "Major Trouble" haha:) )


Cute Becky and Nate and 5/8. We love them!


As you can see - it was quite the event with great friends. I seriously have the most amazing friends and I wouldn't trade them for anything! LOVE ALL YOUR FACES!

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!

Well, yesterday, October 23 was our 5th Wedding Anniversary! We celebrated the day by going to work and Nate sent me a beautiful bouquet of roses to work too. They were pink and yellow roses. They were ABSOLUTELY beautiful! Once the work day was finally was over, we went to dinner at the new Elements restaurant here in town. There was a "Dine Around" special that I got from work so they were offering a 3 course dinner for 2 for $40. The food was great! I don't know if we'll go back any time soon (mainly d/t the price) but it was a very nice restaurant and just the ambiance inside made it very romantic. We enjoyed just spending our evening together. If we had our way, we would be going on a nice vacation (probably in December after finals) but because we can't afford it we are going to Wendover next month to see a show and gamble (with a very small limit of money mind you).

I find it a little ironic that it poured rain on our wedding day (and pretty much the whole month of October that year) and today I wake up, and it's raining. Interesting. And the one thing I find a little depressing is that 5 years ago today I was in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I am so glad we took such a good honeymoon. We had so much fun and I was glad that I got to experience that with Nate. When we got married he had never been on a plane, been to Mexico or seen the Ocean. I showed him a lot very quickly and he loved it! My love for vacationing has worn off on him. He can't wait for our next adventure (and neither can I).

Anyway... I can't believe it's been 5 years already - but it's an amazing feeling. Nate and I have had some great times (and some not so great times) through out but he is an amazing husband. He is my best friend and I honestly don't know what I would do without him. He pushes me to be a better person and I can't thank him enough for it. LOVE YOU HONEY!

Tuacahn

My sister Deanna called me in August and said that the play AIDA (eye-ee-duh) was playing this summer at the Tuacahn Amphitheater in St. George. I've never seen the show so I was like "hell yeah lets go!". So we decided to get tickets for Labor Day weekend. We got 6th row, center stage tickets for $49! That's freaking cheap! I knew Nate would be going dirt biking so this was the perfect opportunity to spend some time with my sister.

AIDA takes place in Egypt and it's the story of the Nubian Princess (Aida) and she gets captured and is made a slave for the Princess of Egypt. Nobody knows she is a Princess because that would mean immediate death, so she keeps her identity a secret. Anyway, I'm not going to give away the whole story, but she ends up falling in love with the Egyptian Princess' betrothed named Radames (rah-dah-mays). If you want to know the rest of the story, you have to see it for yourself. It's a good one!

We left Friday and drove down. We stayed the night at the Best Western Abbey Inn in St. George. The reason I say the name is because it was a really nice hotel, with a HOT breakfast in the morning, and it was only like $89 bucks a night! So if you're going to St. George I would highly recommend this hotel. Here are a few pics of the outside. It just had a "homey" feel to it.








Anyway, so Saturday we went and walked around the Temple and kinda bummed around. Then we went to dinner and the show. The dinner was catered by Golden Corral - it was really good. You had the option to eat inside or out, but the weather was so nice we decided to eat outside. Well, little did we know that there were going to be like 1000 bees swarming everywhere. It was ridiculous! Luckily neither of us got stung, so that's good.

You're not allowed to take pictures during the show, but I snapped a few before hand of the set. If you've never been to Tuacahn, it's amazing! Because it's an outdoor amphitheater they can do crazy stuff. For example, there is a scene during the show where they're having dinner with the Pharaoh and all of a sudden, a camel walks onto the stage carrying a belly dancer. How many times do you see a camel walk onto the stage during a play? Um... NEVER! They can shoot off fireworks, and they even have the option to flood the stage. They can control the waterfall and stream behind the set to flood the stage. It was awesome!


Right at the entrance to the parking lot









This is the boardwalk to the theatre




from the amphitheater




the set of AIDA




Anyway - the weekend with my sister was awesome and it was great to just spend time with her. We are planning to go back next year because they are doing CATS, Crazy for You and Tarzan!
You should check out their website, if you haven't seen it already. it's http://www.tuacahn.org and if you get a chance to go down, I would say it's totally worth the drive!

Growing Puppies & Wedding Fun

Kristin Elizabeth Peterson Smith.... wow that is a long name! My good friend and front desk comrade at work Kristin got married on August 15, 2009. She looked SO FREAKING PRETTY! Kristin is from Tennessee and her husband Aaron is from Ogden. Because they met at USU they got married in the Logan Temple and then had their reception at the Ogden Country Club. Then two weeks later they had another reception in Tennessee.

I went to their lunch at Hamiltons (YUM!) it was amazing! She had the biggest selection of food and then at her reception there was another very big selection of food. Her decorations were gorgeous too! See, when normal people get married it take roughly 3 months (if not more) to plan a wedding. Well for Kristin.... it took 3 days. Her mom flew out from Tennessee and they had 3 days to get all the big stuff done. It was the BUSIEST 3 days I think ANYONE has ever been. It was hilarious how tired she was, but then 90% of her wedding stress was done, over, finished. She's a genius. If I ever get married again (ha ha) she is going to plan my wedding. (She doesn't know that yet.. probably because getting re-married are not any plans I currently have for my future). Anyway - here are a few pics from her wedding.

Beautiful! I was kind of slouching down because I had on 3 inch heals and I was WAY taller than she was. I didn't want to "tower" over the bride.








I think my favorite part about this picture is that all the boys were standing down (behind Aaron) to catch it and when he lifted her dress she was like "AH! You boys have to turn around!" it was just so funny.


This is the view from the country club patio. Talk about a perfect day. It was actually raining in the morning when they were at the temple, but it cleared up very nicely by the afternoon.


Oops... I caught the guys decorating her car. They were smart and locked her car and nobody had a spare key so luckily the inside of her car was saved.





Growing Puppies:

Nate and I went to see our puppies again the other night. They are getting SO big! And they're adorable. There is this one that looks JUST like tommy when he was a pup. SO CUTE! I want to keep one so bad - mainly just so Tommy can have someone to play with, but I really don't think I could handle potty training another dog. Not right now at least. Anyway, here are lots of cute pictures so enjoy!

This is the one that looks just like tommy. Doesn't he look like he's done something wrong? i love how his paws are curled. SO CUTE!







This one was just chasin his tail! he was NOT going to give up until he had it and by dang he caught it eventually.



These two would not stop wrestling. As you can see, they are at the "biting" stage with each other. The one on bottom has the face of "oh crap. you got me"



All of the babies with Mama Maggie. She is such a good mommy.


He was nibbling on me and it was so cute i had to take a picture. I would wiggle my fingers and she would paw at me trying to get me to hold still.



The puppies are going to be ready to go to new homes around the 21st of September. It's so sad to think they will be gone but at the same time I'm so excited that these little pups will make people really happy. Tommy has seriously been the best money I've ever spent! He is such a devoted dog. Anybody who's reading this that owns a dog, knows what I'm talking about.

Puppies and Family

PUPPIES! I am proud to say that on July 31 my baby boy Tommy became a proud parent of FIVE little shih tzu puppies! Mama Maggie and all the babies are doing great and we are just so excited to watch them grow! (well at least until we sell them all - but these 6 weeks are going to be fun!)






They look a little bit like gerbils. They still haven't opened their eyes yet. In a little bit maybe.






My cute hubby with a teeny tiny puppy






You can't really tell... but the one closest to Maggie is the runt. If you look close you can compare him to the fat one next to him. Sad... but he's a cutie though :)





FAMILY! Well, Nate's Aunt Kathy passed away a couple months ago. He hadn't seen her daughter Sharon since he was like 8 or 9 so last week Sharon came up with her 5 daughters (she has 1 son but he stayed home and didn't come on this trip.) They live in Grand View Idaho. I've never been there but rumor has it that its in BFE so it was nice for them to come to a real town with humans instead of animals. The oldest daughter Megan told me her graduating class had like 18 i think. TINY!!! We had a family gathering at Uncle Jacks house in Willard. He has a classic car museum so we went down there. I got some fun pictures. This car museum is way cool. It's open to the public too for tours, so if you wanna go and see some crazy old cars this would be a good place to go. Here are a few pics.










Coolest little BMW







Amanda on the inside. You should have seen her climbing in this thing. HILARIOUS!





Marissa leaning on the freaking awesome car!









This is one of those "boat" cars. They can drive on the road and then you can drive them right into a lake and they will float. They have propellers on the back and the exhaust is re-routed so its safe to drive in water. Jack said the engine hood is sealed so water can't get in and they came with one ore when you bought the car. There aren't very many left in the world and i think his sign said that in 2006 one of these cars was bought in Scottsdale Arizona for $145,000. AMAZING!






Anybody in the mood for a coke?




Jacks museum is really cool and he has so much stuff in there that its really a blast from the past (and for a lot of us, a blast from farther than our past). HA HA.

On Sunday they called us as said the girls wanted to go skeet shooting, so we went up to Richmond with the guns and had a hell of a time shooting skeet and playing with the guns. (safely playing of course). I didn't get pictures of the whole family because my battery was being stupid and dying. There was Sharon (the mom), Megan, Jessica, Amanda, Joey and Marissa. They remind me so much of Marie. You can totally tell that they are related. It's hilarious! They really want to move up here and we're all hoping they do because it would be freaking awesome!

Nate took Marissa on a ride. He took Amanda too but the battery died in my camera so I didn't get a picture of that. Sad :(





Sharon and Marie sporting their guns and sexy outfits. (Apparently the girls had all showered and taken the hot water so neither of them got to shower and get ready on Sunday... yeah right... its just an excuse! j/k)





Amanda walking back after kicking some serious butt shooting skeet. She hardly missed any!






Marissa shooting Nates 22 pistol. Pretty sweet.




Well this weekend was way fun and it's exciting to meet family that I never knew existed! And it was so nice to see the families reunited again after a very long time. These are definitely sweet memories.

Girls Day

Well, Me, Kelsey and the Brittany's have been talking about having a girls day for a really long time. We finally were able to pick a day and go. After consideration about what we wanted to do, we decided to go to the Massage Therapy school in SLC and get massages. BEST IDEA EVER!!!!! I got us appointments at the Healing Mountain Massage School in SLC and after reviewing the many many choices of what we could do, we all decided we wanted the Hot Stone Swedish Massage. Now when you hear that title, you thing BIG BUCKS, BUT.... because we're smart and went to the school clinic and not a spa we got a 70 minute massage for $35 bucks!!!!! They told me when I made the appointments that there were 3 girls on staff and 1 boy, so I put the boy with me because I figured I was the only one that would be comfortable with that.

So Friday (yesterday) finally came and we headed down to Salt Lake. We stopped in Layton and ate at MiMi's Cafe. I hadn't eaten there before and it was way good. I got this turkey croissant sandwich that had almonst slivers and slices of apple. It was way good.

So we get to the massage appointment and they have you fill out a paper saying how much pressure you want, and then they have you X the areas of your body you want worked on and color in the areas you want them to avoid. So I colored in my my boobs to my butt and X'd everything else.

The guy came in (who by the way looked like he was 15) and started the massage. It was freaking awesome! He was new at clinic cuz he hadn't been there more than a week, but he was skilled. I could tell he was nervous because when he would switch out the stones he kept one hand on my back and it was shaking. Poor kid. When he worked on my legs and feet, he sat a stone on my foot and wrapped it up while he did the other leg. Then he left both feet wrapped while he did my neck. It felt so freaking good!

After he had me turn onto my back, he was massaging my neck and the top part of my chest just below my neck and then he took the stones up behind my ears and rubbed there. It was so relaxing. He worked on my legs again (on the top this time) - I was getting so relaxed that my leg twitched. I didn't say anything, but when we was working on the other leg it twitched so bad it came off the table. It startled him and he thought he had hurt me, so I told him it was just my muscles and he didn't hurt me. I felt bad cause he kinda freaked out a bit but oh well. He calmed down pretty quickly after I told him it wasn't his fault. The lady at the front desk told me that when your muscles are relaxing like that it's almost their way of giving in, so they spasm before they relax.

Anyway, we ended the day with Custard Shakes and headed home. It was such a relaxing day and we decided that we want to go down and get the wraps and heat soak bath things next time. It was a confirmed agreement that we are definitely going back.

It was really nice to just spend time together and chit chat because we really don't get to do that at all and this just put the icing on the cake. We can't afford to do this every month, so we are going to have to go every 2-3 months, but that works for me! Oh, if you want to know what school we went to, it was Healing Mountain Massage Therapy School. Their website is healingmountain.org/slc -- if you click on the "clinic" link - it takes you to their "menu" if you will. Definitely worth the drive.