Lots of Pictures of Such a Special Day. Baby Shower!

I don't even know where to start. My baby shower was perfection and I had the most wonderful time! So how about I start here..... THANK YOU....

Steph and Court were the mastermind planners and party throwers. I can't thank you two enough. You truly know how to make a girl feel special and add to the excitement of my new girl's arrival. I wish EVERYONE could have been there, because even though these pictures are beautiful, they don't do it justice. The food, decor, games, prizes, EVERYTHING was perfectly adorable! Probably the best part is just being surrounded by my girlfriends and it just makes me feel so special and happy.
LOOK! Emily came alllll the way from Vegas for this shower. Again, the only words that come to mind are thankful thankful thankful! It was truly so special to me to have her with me to celebrate this momentous event! And it's even more fun because she's totally in the same boat as me right now, so it was like truly having another version of myself to completely understand me. What a blessing! And it adds extra joy to my heart to see Easton and Carly, always. Check us out! Me at 35.5 weeks and Emily at 34. I'll treasure this picture forever. Especially when our girls are BFFs.

This is me totally ELATED to be opening my hooter hider and sling from Courtenay that I've been hinting to her about the whole time I've been pregnant. She never disappoints. Thanks, Court!

Stephanie made my girl 12, count 'em 12, skirts and hair bows to match 12 onesies for her to have her picture taken in every month until she's 1. I can't imagine how much hard work that was and they are all beautiful! I LOVE IT!
Emily spoiled my girl was the most stylish clothes and pampered me with the necessities to care for me during the rigors of breast feeding. Thank you, sis! I knew I could count on you to hook me up.
Seriously? Look at that beautiful girl eating that delicious cupcake. I just adore her so much and we had so much fun even though it was brief.

Just an example of the perfect detail that went into everything. So cute, right?!

I am so very blessed to have such great friends who will all gather to support me. I love you all so very much. Aside from my wonderful roommates, there were lots of girls from my ward, patients from my work, co workers, etc etc. I was telling my mom...It's hard to explain to people how I feel by just saying 'Thank You'. That doesn't express well enough how I feel. I feel so humbled and grateful by people's support and help and love. THANK YOU. And that includes everyone who doesn't live close by and couldn't be at the shower. I wish you all could have. Thank you for your kind words on my blog and facebook. Thank you for your texts checking up on me and baby girl. Thank you so much for all of your support. Michael and I truly feel like we have the best support system and this baby is so lucky.

Steph, thank you so much. I cannot wait for our girls to get to know each other and see what kind of a friendship their mommy's have.

P.S-- all of these great pictures were taken by Court and Emily and their awesome photog skills. Thanks!

Where'd All the Good People Go?!

I typically try not to use this blog for venting. But at this moment, I must. Or else I'll probably go cry in my bed and not get anything done the rest of the day.

I hate Winco. I seriously do. My mom used to tell me that she hated going to Winco and I just thought it was a preference thing. No, Mother, I totally understand and I stand behind you 100%. Normally, I am a Smith's shopper all the way. BUT, with baby on the way and my job coming to a close, I decided to try and save a buck or two here and there. So I thought I'd try out Winco. Big mistake.

So, I walk through the huge, big store not knowing where anything is and checking prices every so carefully as I shop. That takes quite a while. So I'm already getting really tired and feeling like it's time to go. Then, I decided to buy one of those 24 packs of bottled water because it was cheap and I hate Utah water. So I lifted it just fine, put it on the bottom of my cart just fine, and then tried to push it farther into the cart with my leg. Dear HEAVENS. Groin muscles are not the same on 8 month pregnant me as they were on regular me. I cursed. It hurt so bad.

So now I'm practically limping to the checkout. It's Friday morning, so there's not tons of people in the store, so there is only 1 check stand open. How stupid is that? If there is only 1 open, then EVERYONE has to go to it. So, that check stand is obviously very busy. Anyway. I load all my stuff onto the belt. Which mind you, is no easy task. At this point, I had to take my jacket off because I'm sweating and out of breath. Then, I have to RACE down to the other end of the belt and catch my groceries and begin to BAG THEM MYSELF. Are you serious? Normally, this wouldn't bug me so bad. BUT, I looked around. And there are Winco employees standing around everywhere! Just chit chatting and laughing. One even came over to me and picked something off of the floor next to me. Hello MISTER... I'm CLEARLY 8 months pregnant and STRUGGLING!

Halfway through my struggle of bagging my groceries, I have to pay the lady. I slide my credit card. She proceeds to tell me what they do not take credit cards. Only debit, cash, and check. I seriously almost cried. I began the fear the worst. All of this work for nothing?? Luckily, I dug around in my purse and my checkbook was in there.

So, I pay her and before I can even get the receipt in my purse, she is scanning the next person's groceries. Do you understand what that means?? Now THEY need to bad their groceries and mine are still all in the way! So I race back down, start throwing stuff in bags, but I'm not fast enough. She gets done checking the lady behind me and I have now stalled the whole line. Everyone is standing there LOOKING AT ME, waiting for me to bag my groceries so that they can check out too.

This is what's going on in my head at this point: IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY. GET YOUR SORRY TUSHIES OVER HERE AND LIFT THESE HEAVY WATERS INTO THE CART FOR ME. HELP ME BAG MY GROCERIES. SOMETHING!!!! So you know what I did instead? I took my sweet time. I decided that I had no reason to hurry. So I didn't.

Just to top it all off, I was walking out at the same time as a Winco employee. My cart was so heavy that it was pulling me to my car. But did he offer to help me. noooooo.

Moral of the story. Winco Sucks. Smith's Rocks. They always help me. And if you see a struggling pregnant lady. Good heavens, HELP HER!

Thank you for your patience and listening ear. I must now go put away those groceries, rid my mind of this memory, and get ready to see all my favorite people this weekend :)

Computer Dilemma & My Birthday Boy

My posts have been kind of few and far between lately and this is why:

Let me explain. Do you see how the computer is on the floor by the TV? Well, my computer is on it's way out. It CANNOT be moved. It's by the TV because we often hook it up to the TV. If you move the screen, it turns black. If you unplug it, it takes days to get it back on because there's a short in the wire and you have to get it juuuuuust right. So, the only way to use the computer is to sit criss cross apple sauce on the floor in front of it. That is no bueno when you're 8 months pregnant. Sitting on the floor to use the computer HURTS. I can get down there and check facebook and comment on people's pictures for about 5 minutes, then my back starts to ache. Then I go to the blogs and look through them and then my back is killing me. So I get up. Then I go back later in the day and comment on the blogs until my back hurts again. So, writing this post right now is taking some serious focus and I'm hoping that I can talk Michael into rubbing my back after. Anyway...

My Michael turned 24! We had a great time celebrating his birthday! Here he is opening his first envelope over his stuffed french toast birthday breakfast. I had 8 envelopes for him to open throughout the day. They all had jokes in them and a secret message. It was a hint which led him to his present at dinner which was tickets to the Brian Regan comedy show. We went to the show a couple of days later and it was soo fun! We were laughing until our faces and tummies hurt.

Lucky Michael, our first prenatal class was on his birthday. He's such a good sport. On that note, prenatal class has been very informative, helpful, and mostly terrifying. This child has to come out of me in a couple of weeks. And I'm beginning to panic. But on a lighter note, Michael got a special song at his birthday dinner where he got to play the tambourine (I think that's what that is). And since we're talking about the birthday boy, just a quick note on him...

Michael is one of a kind. Truly. He is so kind. Always. He doesn't know how to be rude or unkind or selfish. I most definitely hit the jackpot to end up with him. He's so patient. And the best part is, I know 100% all of the time that Michael always has MY best interest at heart. And now our baby girl's. I'm so grateful. And he makes me want to be better. I OFTEN sit and think about how lucky I am that I found him and got to keep him. Alright, alright. Enough, I know. But I figured his birthday was an okay time to share how I feel about him. I love you, Michael.
Life is great around here. I'm busy with work and my new calling in the Young Womens and Michael is busy with school and work. I am SO excited for this weekend! It's baby shower weekend! BEST!

My Sweet Girl's Quilt

I finished my baby girl's quilt! Thanks to my mamma, I have a new interest in sewing and quilting. Just baby quilting for the moment, because I do not know how ANYONE has the patience to make a bigger one. I sewed the top and did the applique, then took it to Oregon over Christmas and Mom helped me quilt it. Ok, let's be honest, she did most of the quilting. Here it is:

I am a TOTAL amateur so there are definitely imperfections, but I'm really happy with it. It looks so beautiful and bright in her room on her crib. I cannot wait to snuggle her in it and see her playing and rolling around on it. We don't have a lot of space in her room, but the space that we do have is decorated with these same fabrics and other cute stuff. It's starting to feel like a baby belongs in there :).
That's just an up close look at the applique flowers. Those provided many frustrated calls to my mother, but I got better and better as I went. It will be a while before I applique anything again. Anyway, I just wanted to share! Baby girl moves ALL. DAY. And I mean all day. I think she is running out of room or something, because I feel her at all times. And I love it. I am starting to be sad that pregnancy is ending. Don't get me wrong, I cannot wait to have her in my arms, but pregnancy has been wonderful for me and I will miss that.

I Wish Vacation Never Had to End

Is it really over? Christmas was wonderful, WONDERFUL! Michael and I took a nice, long vacation home to Oregon and had such a fabulous time. We absolutely love spending time with Mom and Dad, and not just because they spoil us, but because they're so dang fun and hilarious! Not to mention the mega bonus of seeing Darren & Fam, Marc & Fam, Brad & Kristy, Cierra & Fam, the Mitchells, Whitney, Aliya, and all our friends in the ward from over the summer. It was just so much fun! Every moment! We played games, watched movies, ate and ate and ate delicious food, chatted, visited, baked, shopped, etc, etc!

Some of my favorite hi-lights:

- Surprise Baby Shower! My mom was as thoughtful as she always is and gathered all my favorite ladies for a surprise baby shower. It was so special!

- Playing with my nieces and nephews. I adore those children so much.

- Finishing my baby girl's quilt with the help of my mom.

- Watching the Duck's win the Rose bowl.

- Opening presents and baby girl being spoiled!

- Playing games with Dad as the constant comedic relief :)

- Hanging out at home with family and friends around me.

Here is the evidence of our awesome trip!

30 weeks after Christmas. I'm 31 now and bigger already! But this is the most recent picture.

Cameron grew up so much since this summer! He is such a fun, smiley baby! So adorable.

Great Grandpa with baby Harlan. Thank you Cierra & Michael for coming to see us!

Whitney was missed at the shower, we had such a wonderful time and everyone was so good to baby girl and I!

I'm sad to see this great time of year go by once again, but next up... 8 weeks until baby!

Thankful for our Calling

For the past year and a half, Michael and I have been teaching the 16-17 year old Sunday School class. Best Ever. We have loved every minute of it! Seriously! I remember the very first Sunday we taught them, they were all so quiet and not sure of us. Now, we have such a great time with them every week and we just thoroughly enjoy them! Teaching these kids has eased my fears of raising teenagers in this world. They are smart! They know so much about the scriptures. They are funny. They are nice to each other. They put up with our crazy, scrambled, learn-as-we-go teaching methods, and they are truly amazing people. We truly miss them when we have to miss a class or when one of them has to miss a class.

Michael and I have been SO grateful to study the Bible while teaching this class. 2010 was the Old Testament, and 2011 has been the New Testament. It has been so wonderful to study the life of Christ and to hear these kids thoughts. You'd be amazed at how thoughtful and honest they are. Like I told them yesterday, I am 100% positive that we have learned SO much more from them, than they could have ever learned from us.

Here's our current group:

We've lost some to graduation and growing up and such, but these kids, and the ones who weren't there for picture day, have been such a JOY in Michael and I's lives. We feel so proud to watch them graduate and go on missions and go to college and we love hearing about their band concerts, football games, plays, boyfriends, etc. They just do so much good. And make the people around them feel so good. Our favorite part is how different they are. It's like one of every personality in our class and we LOVE IT! And they work and blend so well together.


Lakeridge 3rd Ward 16 & 17 year olds, you rock! Seriously. Thanks for making church even better :) I've always had a tender heart, but man I think this pregnancy is making me more sentimental than ever! haha!

Christmas is Coming, The Goose is Getting Fat

Michael and I had a Christmas photo shoot! lol! It was pretty funny, but I'm happy to have some Christmasy pictures. So I thought I'd share one :) We are doing just wonderfully over here. Michael is taking his last final as I type and we're gearing up for Christmas. YESS!! I cannot wait! December has been great to us. No snow. NO SNOW! Oh my gosh it's a dream come true every morning when I wake up and realize there is yet again, no snow. We're working and shopping and enjoying feeling our baby girl move LIKE CRAZY!

And of course, the best part of this month is all the parties and social gatherings!! So far we've had a relief society Christmas dinner which was awesome, then we had a party with Michael's accounting group last night which was great fun, and last weekend we had our 2nd annual white elephant with our favorites. It was at the DeVard's this year (Lauren & Josh) and we had SUCH a great time!
Last year, Michael gave this framed picture of himself to Lauren for the White Elephant. She brought it back this year and Loni got it. It was hilarious! We decided that whoever gets it has to display it all year and then disguise it at the next year's party. It will look beautiful in Loni & Corbin's soon-to-be love nest. We had such a great time! Delicious food, games, and presents. I love these people so very much. They are all so special to Michael and I. We were just talking the other day about how lucky we are to have spent these years dating, engaged, and married with friends that we adore. Sadly, Tiffany & Collin weren't able to make it due to sick kids. We missed you guys! But here's the group:
Here's my lovely ladies now. Take note of how dang good Stephanie looks! She's really putting on the pressure for me with her 2 months post baby skinnyness!
And here's my lovely ladies in 2006 when we met. I love picture flashbacks obviously. They all knew Steph at this point, but she wasn't in Rexburg for this picture unfortunately!
I sincerely hope you're all enjoying your holiday season! We're feeling as blessed as ever.