A Spoonful of Sugar

This last weekend Justin and I were able to go on a mini vacation for the weekend and we had a blast! Here is the play by play.

Thursday:
When Justin got home from work on Thursday morning we hurried and finished packing/cleaning/preparing, dropped Zorro off at my parents house, and hit the road. It is a bloody long drive, but this time we didn't have any AC in the car, so it seemed especially long this time around. We stopped in Nephi for some lunch and then drove straight to Beaver Dam. My grandparents have a second home in Beaver Dam that they just bought and they were kind enough to let us stay there. It doesn't get much better than free lodging! When we got to the house we had a look around (this was our first time seeing their new crib) and then we drove the 8 miles to Mesquite to do some grocery shopping, get gas, and grab some dinner. We ate Little Ceasars while watching a movie and then we crashed- we were both exhausted. Being in the car for six hours in the heat kind of wipes you out.

Friday:
Friday morning we grabbed some breakfast and hit the pool. Justin isn't as big of a fan as the sun and swimming as I am, so it was nice of him to be such a good sport and allow me some pool/tanning time. It felt amazing. I have always been a fish and absolutely loved the water but when you are pregnant swimming is like a million times better. It just feels sooooo good on my heavy, tired out, prego body. After a few hours in the sun we headed home, made some lunch, and then showered and got ready for the Tuacahn. This last Christmas I got some money and I decided that I wanted to spend it on tickets to Marry Poppins at the Tuacahn theater in St. George. This was the fourth play that I have been to and each time I go I fall even more in love with this outdoor theater. Seriously, if you have never been, put it on your bucket list! Everyone needs to experience this amazingness at least once in their lifetime! The show was wonderful of course. My favorite musical number was by far "Step In Time". They had fireworks going off, the dancing was amazing, and there was a part where Burt was tap dancing upside down! It really was incredible. After the play we drove home, had a bowl of ice cream, and went to bed.

Saturday:
On Saturday we did absolutely nothing. Really. We did nothing. And it felt great. Justin and I both took naps that day. We ate a ton of junk food. Watched some movies and TV. I sat out in the sun for a while. Basically we were just lazy bums who vegged out. It was super relaxing and nice to unwind.

Sunday:
On Sunday we cleaned the house, packed up, and hit the road again. We stopped in St. George for some lunch where I proceeded to change from nice clothes to hobo clothes because I was so dang hot already. The drive home was way worse than the drive there. The temperature got up to 102 degrees and I literally felt like I was baking in hell. It was probably the longest most miserable car ride of my life. But its alright cause we had a good weekend and it was totally worth it. On the way home we stopped in Fruit Heights to pick up Zorro and visit my parents. They were kind enough to feed us dinner and it was fun to chat with them for a bit. We didn't get back to Logan until about 10:00 that night which was kind of a bummer seeing as Justin had to be to work at midnight. I don't know how he did it, he is such a trooper!

All in all it was a great long weekend and we had so much fun. It is nice to get out of Cache Valley sometimes but it really is nice being home and in my own bed again. Another great thing about coming home was being able to get back to work on Monday. How many people can say that?! I really do miss my coworkers when I leave and I always really look forward to seeing them again. One of my coworkers, and I hope she doesn't mind we writing this, told me how much she missed me and that she absolutely hates it when I am gone. Not gonna lie, it kind of made my whole day. It's super nice to be missed ya know? I just love my coworkers and I LOVE MY JOB!!! 

I Love Summer Rainy Days

I love rainy days in the summer. Happy summer rainy day everyone!

Outpouring of Thoughts from an Overwhelmed Brain

I was planning on writing this post on Sunday, but my thoughts were so jumbled this past weekend that it has taken me a few days to sort my brain out. It’s still a little jumbled up there so this post has a high potential of being total random ramblings. However, I know that if I don’t put pen to paper (figuratively speaking) soon that my brain may just burst. I’m sure fellow writers can relate. I just need to get all of these thoughts out. I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers, mostly about how I am going to be one in less than three months. THREE MONTHS! Ah!

This Mother’s Day was an especially emotional one for me (THANK YOU HORMONES!) In Relief Society on Sunday the lesson was on ‘Sacred Family Relationships’. I was surprised when a great portion of the lesson was spent on the commandment we have to “multiply and replenish the Earth”. You can imagine how that struck a chord with me as I am in the process of doing just that. The entire lesson my mind kept wandering to the day when there was the shooting in the elementary school. I was just a few weeks pregnant then and when I heard the news I was completely devastated. That was the first day that I actually felt like a mom. My heart was breaking for those mothers who had just lost their precious angels. But more than that, the question of “What kind of world am I bringing my child into?!” kept popping into my head. Sometimes it scares the hell out of me to think what kind of world my son will be living in. It seems to get worse every day. What kind of world do we live in that someone would go murder children in an elementary school in Connecticut? Or shoot up a movie theater in Colorado? Or bomb a marathon in Boston? The day of the elementary shooting I cried and cried to my mom. I told her how I was scared to bring a child into this messed up world. And she gave me the best comfort ever. She told me that there are spirit children in heaven that are waiting to come to this earth to receive their bodies, and that that was basically the whole reason of why I was pregnant. Because my son needs a body, and if I didn’t give it to him someone else would. It seems like such a simple and obvious answer, but it comforted me so much. Anyway, this last Sunday I kept replaying that conversation with my mom in my head. Because after all, isn’t that WHY we have that commandment in the first place? Because the whole point of coming to Earth is to get a body, and there are still spirits who are waiting.

This past year I have had friends who have lost children, had miscarriages, or their babies just came too early. Every single time something like that happens, I feel like a mom. My heart breaks right along with theirs. I am reminded of what a blessing it is to have this little guy growing inside of me. I can’t believe how much I already love him. I lie on my couch and watch my tummy move up and down and just giggle with giddiness. I constantly worry for him. Not a prayer is spoken in our home without mentioning him. I just cannot wait to hold him in my arms and express all of this love. Motherhood is such a strange thing.

Speaking of strange things- let’s talk hormones. They might as well be called HORRORmones! Lately mine have been out of control. OUT. OF. CONTROL. I feel like I am walking on a tightrope, and anything, even just the slightest breeze, is about to push me over the edge. My emotions are always right there on the surface. If you know me, you know that I am probably the most emotional person in the entire universe. My emotions have a direct line to my tear ducts, so basically I cry all of the time. So being pregnant, and having those emotions even more intensified, well, it aint no picnic let me tell you what. My poor, poor husband deals with so much. There are times where I will just be sitting there and all of a sudden tears will just be falling down my face. Justin will ask me what’s wrong and all I can do is shrug and tell him that I have absolutely no idea. Then once the tears stop I am perfectly happy and laughing within minutes after the crying session. WEIRD. And this week I learned that I cannot handle it when Primary children sing to their mothers on Mother’s Day. As soon as the first notes were out of their cute little mouths tears were cascading down my face. It was super embarrassing and Justin just looks at me with an expression like, “I wish I could help you but I know it’s hopeless” kind of face. Grrrr. I hate crying but I REALLY hate crying in public!

I guess the last thing that has been on my mind lately is this quote I found on Pinterest.

 I could go on and on about why this has been on my mind, but I’ll keep it short and sweet and just say that it seems like there is a very clear line of who is on my side and who isn’t lately. There are people who are making the effort and there are people who aren’t. And let’s just say that I am very grateful for the rowers out there. I feel like I need them now more than ever during this time of my life when everything seems to be changing.

It's May! The Lusty Month of May!

Happy month of May everyone! May brings sunshine, flowers, and all things wonderful. It also brings this lovely little number from the musical 'Camelot', which I will have stuck in my head for the rest of the month.

Doesn't it just make you want to frolic?

First Pictures

The doctor said this image captures him right after he was sucking his thumb.  You can see the trail.

He is going to be a boxer. He had his hands up the entire time. 

He has my cheeks. haha. Ah. He is already so cute to me. 

He left absolutely no room for doubt! Definitely 100% boy! 

Big Week for Baby

This has been a very big week for us here. I will start with the weekend. On Friday I was able to go to Bear Lake with my in-laws and have a girl’s night. We stayed in Justin’s great aunt’s condo on ideal beach, the same one that Justin and I got engaged in. We did crafts, scrapbooking, watched chick-flicks and of course, ate tons of junk food. Saturday afternoon all of the boys drove up and joined us for our weekend getaway. That night as everyone was on the brink of sleep, I shout, “Oh my gosh guys! I just felt the baby move for the first time!” I pretty much scared everyone out of their wits, but I just couldn’t hold it in until morning! I was so excited! At first I thought it might be gas, but it didn’t take long to realize that nope, that was my little kiddo in there moving around. I gotta say, that is probably the most amazing, bizarre, wonderful, slightly creepy but totally breathtaking experiences of my life. Feeling your baby move inside of you for the first time… wow… I just don’t know that there are words adequate enough to describe it. It was just so wonderful. I definitely fell asleep with a smile on my face that night. First I got engaged there, then I felt my baby kick for the first time, I am telling you what, magical things happen in that little condo in Bear Lake!!!

So on Wednesday we had my 20 week appointment with the prego doc. This was the appointment that we have been waiting for for ages because we would finally, finally!, know the sex of our baby. The night before I felt like a five year old on Christmas Eve, I was way too anxious to sleep. My mom was able to come to the appointment and it was so special to share that moment with her and to have my amazing stalwart husband by my side as well. The other reason I was anxious for this appointment is because this is when they check every single body part of baby and make sure that everything looks okay. You probably already figured this out, but I am kind of the biggest worry wart when it comes to this kid. So anyway, the ultra sound tech said that he would start at the head and work his way down. I was anxious to find out the sex of the baby but it really is a good thing that he waited until the end because it was hard to pay attention to anything he said after that point. Thank my lucky stars everything looked great with baby. They checked it’s brain, heart, spine, kidneys, stomach, lip (no cleft pallet), and umbilical cord. Baby is growing on schedule (maybe 8 days ahead) and is healthy with no problems! This is where I take a big big sigh of relief. Whew. 

So then the last image that pops up on the screen is two legs spread wide and a little weeny sticking out between them. Yup. That’s right. We are having a BOY!! Woot-woot! There were some majorly loud exclamations of excitement at this pronouncement in that tiny little ultra sound room let me tell you what! The weird thing is is that Justin and I first started out thinking that it was a boy. And then after all of the appointments we had we switched to thinking it was a girl. Then about two weeks ago we both switched back to boy. It was honestly the craziest thing how we would switch our minds together, without even talking about it beforehand. I even had a dream that at the appointment I found out that it was a boy and when I woke up all I felt was disappointment that the dream hadn’t been real. And now I can tell the world how much I really really wanted a boy. This whole pregnancy I kept trying to talk myself into wanting a girl, but honestly, my heart has always been set on having a boy first. I always wanted a big brother growing up, and now all of my kids will have one. Plus I gotta carry on that family name since Justin is the only boy in his family. Not to mention I have to produce a hunter and Bronco’s fan for Grandpa Wright! Haha anyway, I am beyond thrilled about having this boy. I hope he is a momma’s boy!

After the ultra sound we headed back into the waiting room to wait for my monthly appointment with the prego doc. I had planned on waiting until after both appointments to start telling people, but Justin couldn’t hold it in any longer. Out came his phone to call his mom at work. Well, gosh darn it I couldn’t hold it in either so out came my phone to call my dad at work. If you think I wanted a boy it is nothing compared to how much Grandpa Wright wanted a boy. Holy heck was he excited! My dad told me that he was going to call Pa (my grandpa) right away. I told him not to, that I wanted to tell him, but when I hung up the phone I realized that my dad was too excited and I didn’t trust him at all. I HAD to call Pa and Grandma before him! So I quickly called them and told them the news. About five minutes later I got another call from my dad. When I answered he said, “I can’t believe you called your grandparents that fast! I just called them to say that I knew the sex of the baby and then I was going to hang up, but when Grandma answered the phone she just shouted at me ‘We are going to have a grandson!’” haha it was a pretty funny moment.

 We are then taken back into the room to wait for the doctor when my little sister calls my mom. I decided to just answer with the news. Jessica informed me that my dad had text all of my siblings saying that he knew the sex of the baby and they didn’t and hahaha! (My dad is such a brat! Haha) So then I get a text from Cassie the instant I hung up the phone with Jess. So I told her too. Originally I had planned on going to the store after the appointments and buying balloons with ‘It’s a boy!’ on them and then texting that picture to my family to break the news to them. But they didn’t last that long. Oh man, it was funny how excited everyone was. It was almost as fun telling people what I was having as telling them that I was pregnant in the first place. Zach called me on his lunch break and he was ecstatic too. When I told my dad he said he had to go buy some camouflage. When I told my grandparents they said they were headed shopping that  very day now that they knew to buy blue. And when I told Zach he said that he was going to go buy some Bronco’s stuff. Can you say spoiled little boy already?!!

When we were done with the doctors Justin headed to Gossners to tell his dad because he couldn’t get a hold of him on the phone and my mom and I went to get the balloons. I figured that even if I couldn’t send the picture to my siblings, I could still send it to my friends and Facebook. We met at home and took some pictures and then headed to the Blue Bird to celebrate.  On the way to the restaurant I finally got a hold of Grandpa Paulsen and when I told him he just started screaming. He informed me that he was in the car and every time he would pass someone he would scream, "I am having a great grandson!" at them. Oh goodness I have a funny family! It was such a good day and I literally could not peel the smile from my face! IT’S A BOY! IT’S A BOY! IT’S A BOY!!!!!!

Here are the two announcement pictures. I will scan the ultra sound pictures  later since I don’t own a scanner. 

February

Well folks, February has come and gone. I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for February. It's the month that means that the dreadful January is over (hooray!) and it is so short  that by the end of it you don't know where the time went but find yourself all of a sudden one month closer to spring (I think that deserves another HOORAY!). Not to mention it is a month filled with love and yummy sugary sweet treats. So thank you February, it was nice having you around but even nicer to have you over so quickly so that spring can get on its way.

This last month I made two crafts for Valentine's Day. Crafting is something that happens only on occasion for me so two in one month was kind of a big deal. Also, I am very very new and inexperienced at the whole 'domestic crafting' thing so I was pretty happy with the way these turned out.

I had a really good Valentine's Day this year because basically I have some really awesome men in my life. Before I went to work that morning the delivery guy visited me twice. I got roses from my grandpa and chocolate covered strawberries from my dad. They are so incredibly sweet to do this for me every single year as far back as I can remember. 

So yeah- I might have dived right in before I realized that I should probably take a picture haha. They were SOOOO good!

My flowers from Pa

I didn't get home from work until 7:30 that night so Justin and I just went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, and thanks to call ahead seating, we didn't even have to wait a full minute before our name was called. For my present this year Justin framed our wedding picture, something that I have been meaning to do for ages, but never got around to doing. It was such a beautiful frame and so thoughtful that yes, I must admit, the gift brought me to tears. But maybe that was just my hormones showing themselves again. Anyway, my husband is the sweetest man alive. Seriously. But being the dummy that I am, I didn't actually take any pictures of us this Valentine's Day. Oops, I am such a slacker.

Another highlight of February was that Justin and I got to get away for the weekend last week. Sunday was my dad's birthday so we decided that we would treat ourselves to a little get away the night before in Layton. (Exciting I know). We stayed at the Best Western there which was honestly one of the nicest hotels I've been in for a while. The room had hard wood floors, something that I had never seen before, but just felt so much cleaner than that nasty hotel carpet ya know? Anywho. That night we checked in the hotel, went swimming (wow that felt super great on my prego muscles!), went out to eat, and then came back and watched a movie in our hotel room. We had planned on joining my parents for church that morning but decided to sleep in and watch another movie instead. (Naughty, I know). When we checked out of the hotel we drove to my parent's house and had a family dinner and then some extended family and some neighbors came over later to have cake and ice cream with us. It was a fun little get a way and completely rejuvenated  my spirits. Sometimes you just need to escape the world and I was definitely getting to that point. If I haven't said it before I'll say it again, pregnancy is hard! And kind of exhausting. And sometimes you just need a break from it.

The last little highlight of February is that Justin finally found a transmission for his 1969 Chevy Nova that he is rebuilding. He found the transmission on KSL. It was in Provo so we decided to kind of make a day trip to go and get it. It was such a beautiful drive full of sunshine. I love sunshine. We got the transmission but were also able to spend some time with my older sister who lives in Provo. I finally got to see her new pad and we went to Red Robin for dinner and ended up talking in the booth for over two hours. I am sure our waitress was sick of us and wanted the table back, but oh well, we had fun. This is a picture of Justin in front of a car that was in the restaurant. He thought it was pretty cool.

And that was our month of February. We are excited that it is now March because on the 27'th we FINALLY get to find out if its a boy or girl! I can't wait! Happy March everyone!