Pinks and Greens

Last weekend I finished my second baby quilt. Yay! I made the entire quilt top all by myself this time which I was pretty proud of. I wasn't as proud of some of the corners that didn't match up too nicely, but hey, I'm still a beginner, give me a break (warning: I could easily be saying this very same thing 50 years down the road). 

It wasn't until after I finished the quilt top and realized that the fabric I had left wasn't enough to cover the back that the tears came. No worries. I've decided that it's healthy to allow myself one breakdown per quilt. Thankfully we had Thanksgiving with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law (who are expert quilters I should add) They were my lifesavers on this quilt. 

And now it's done. Hallelujah. It's exciting and a little sad to finish it. After two quilts I'm realizing that I sort of have this love-hate relationship with quilting. There are moments when I really love it (usually when I'm looking at the finished quilt top or the finished product) and then there are moments when I really hate it (usually when things don't match or the bobbin freaks out or my yarn needle won't go through the fabric or or or. I'll stop there). I keep telling myself, maybe quilting's not for me... but then when I finish one I get this burning desire to make another... who knows. Only time will tell if quilting and I can keep a steady relationship going. But for now, here's my quilt! (I kind of get really attached to these little things and have a hard time gifting them).
But, I forced myself to do it anyways :). I'm so excited for Sunshine and Jason Cardell and their new baby girl that is a month away. Can't wait to meet her!

Sometimes

Dear Baby Boy,

...sometimes you wake me up kicking before the alarm goes off, but it's okay because I enjoy feeling you inside of me.

...sometimes you wake me up kicking before the alarm goes off and it's not okay because I'm tired and want to keep sleeping.

...sometimes I go into your room just to look at the little baby clothes we have and imagine you wearing them.

...sometimes I get really excited for you to meet your grandparents, aunts and uncles and to see them love you.

...sometimes I get scared for you to leave the womb.

...scared of being entrusted with your life.

...scared that things will change between your father and I.

...scared that I'm too selfish to be a good mom.

...scared that we won't have money to support you.

...scared that my body will never be the same again.

....sometimes I get distracted in class watching my belly move.

...sometimes your father reminds me how beautiful God's plan is and that YOU are a big part of that plan. 

...sometimes I'm selfish and don't want my life to change.

...sometimes I can't wait for my life to change as you take the place of my school and work and I get to dedicate myself 100% to your happiness and success.

...sometimes I wonder what you will look like and what kind of personality you will have. 

...sometimes your father kisses my belly and talks to you and it makes me so happy that he is your father.

...sometimes I spill things on the floor, on me, on the couch... 

...sometimes it's difficult to shave my legs because you get in the way.

...sometimes I forget things that I'm supposed to do or bring with me when I leave for the day.

...sometimes I should be doing homework, but instead I write a blog post that will mean more to me in 10 years than my homework will.

...sometimes your father tells me I'm beautiful even though my body has completely changed.

...sometimes I realize that choosing a baby name and dealing with the opinions of others is a lot more stressful than I ever would have imagined.

...sometimes I wonder what you are doing in there, where your head is, where you baby bum is, if you're comfortable, if you're okay... 

...sometimes I forget that you are really truly inside of me.

...sometimes I can't fully express how grateful I am for so many beautiful blessings that fill my life.

...always I'm thankful for Jesus Christ because he makes all the "what ifs" that fill my mind okay.

...always I kneel down and pray and thank Heavenly Father for giving you to me. 

I love you baby boy.

Turkey Break

It's been said that all good things come to an end. I don't fully agree with that, but considering this past week was Thanksgiving break and tomorrow we have to get up and go back to school and work, in this context, I do agree.  

It was a well needed break. Started off Wednesday night after work. We pulled the mattress into the living room for a little Thanksgiving BFF sleepover and watched Quantum of Solace in preparation to see Skyfall the next day. What better way to start off a vacation than with a little Bond, James Bond. 

Thanksgiving day started out with pumpkin pancakes and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

 

After whipping up some pie and a veggie casserole, we made our way up to Salt Lake to spend Thanksgiving dinner with Darin's mom and sister. We had a really nice afternoon full of amazing food, great company, more James Bond and board games. I do hate that my family is so far away, but I'm very grateful that Darin's family is so close. I've never had family close so it really is a blessing. 

Doing his manly duties

Darin was pretty stoked about this.

 

We spent the night up in SLC and went to the temple with Darin's mom on Friday morning. We hit up a few stores after the temple. Thankfully, it was late enough at that point to miss all the crazies. 

Friday night and Saturday day it was back to work for a few hours, but Saturday night we were able to enjoy some Cougar basketball (and free shirts! thank you Jabari Parker).

I spy an apostle 

 

After the game we went home and got our Christmas on. Decorated while listening to Christmas music and then watched The Muppets Family Christmas while eating leftover pie. Mmmmmm, great way to finish the break, especially because it reminds me that we only have 2 weeks of school left before Christmas break! Woot woot!

 

Definitely gonna be making the chocolate cream cheese pecan pie again someday. 

Goodbye Thanksgiving break. Hello Christmas season!

Riverwoods Weekend

On Friday night the Riverwoods (little outdoor mall/shopping center in Provo) had a fun festive night to kick off their Christmas season. They turned on their Christmas lights, which are doubled from last year and absolutely beautiful! They also had ice sculpting, face painting, food, mini-concerts with people singing Christmas music and best of all SANTA CLAUSE! We pretty much just walked around and looked at everything, walked in shops and dreamt of buying expensive gadgets that we don't need (but it's fun to dream). There's just something romantic about walking around tons of Christmas lights like this with my besty. 

After the Riverwoods we went to Enlighten, a new cute bakery on Center Street. If you haven't been there, you have to go try their hot chocolate. I got White Chocolate and Darin got Cinnamon Roll. Um, yum. We recommend getting the 12 oz. though. We went with 16 oz. and it's just a little too much... but delicious. Wow. Do it. 

 

What a fun evening! Definitely gets me excited for the holiday season.

Saturday afternoon I hit up the Bijou Market down on Center Street with the girls. It was a really cool market. I really enjoyed walking around looking at all the home-made crafts and fun vintage things that they had laying out. It's kinda fun to look at other people's crafts and get ideas of things that I could do on my own. Like these books for example. I might feel guilty doing this to a book (and if I didn't, Darin would surely make me feel guilty), but it makes for a cool decoration.

 

 

 

Aren't weekends just the best?

Experiencing Change

It would appear that the baby and I are not the only ones experiencing change in our household. Darin has been going through some changes of his own. It's a family affair. We kind of have this unity thing going on in our family. When something happens to one, it happens to both. He's so sweet to follow along.

Within the last 2 weeks, this has happened twice. Pobrecito. He's becoming a little spacey too!

 

 

Besides turning into the most forgetful person on the planet, this probably the biggest change that I am experiencing:

(along with a tad bit of back pain and trouble sleeping, but I'm told that's normal...)

18 weeks

24 Weeks

26 Weeks

28 Weeks

Our little boy is an active one. He's started distracting me during class as I watch my belly randomly move. It can be a twinge annoying when he does his work outs at 6am and wakes me up (I always grab Darin's hand and make him feel it too... unity, remember? If one wakes up, why not both?). In reality, I really love it. I love feeling him move around in me. I have a baby growing inside of me! What a miracle. 

Nine Weeks Gone

It's amazing how close you can become to a person in nine weeks. What's even more amazing is becoming so close to six people in a nine week time frame. 

The group of missionaries that I have been working with for the past nine weeks left last week. It's always a little bitter-sweet when they leave, for me that is (they're pretty dang excited to get out of the training center and into the "real" world).

It's so fun to see their progress. To see them learn English. To see their understanding and testimonies of the atonement grow. I feel so grateful for the time that I get to spend with these amazing young men and women. I learn so much from them.

Here they are: (sisters from Japan, Madagascar and China. Elders from Korea and Puerto Rico).

Elder Almeida was always so thoughtful when we had morning classes and brought me cinnamon rolls because he knew the "baby" would be hungry.

What can I say, I love the missionaries. 

Goodbye Riley

Saturday night marked not only the last home football game of the year, but the last home football game of Riley Nelson's career. I have had a slight crush on Riley Nelson ever since our Spanish Literature class last winter semester (When I was too chicken to actually get his autograph. Now you remember). Don't worry, Darin is fully aware of this and supports it in every way (right sweetheart?). After all, I 100% support his Hugh Jackman crush.











And in case these photos of Riley weren't enough for you, here's some videos of the boy for your viewing pleasure. (I know it's tempting to skip these, but don't. They're short and they tell a story. Just do it). Oh, he's number 13 by the way, in case you might have missed that somehow.


It was a cold cold cold night at Lavell Edwards stadium so we only stayed until half time (Darin said that as long as they were up by 42 we were allowed to leave, and what do you know, they just so happened to be up by 42 at half time... ttthhhhaaannnkkkk yyyooouuu). It was fun all the same. Our last BYU football game as students. Student life is slowly slipping way.







 It's been real cougar fans. Peace.

Election Day

I've been on a blogging hiatus for the last little while due to some issues with Blogger not letting me upload pictures. Rude. Good thing I have my handy dandy amiga Kaitlyn to help me out.

As many of you know (hopefully all of you), Tuesday was a pretty big day. Election day. Little did I know just HOW BIG this day would be (how could I have been so naive). This day is a pretty big day for my husband. It's like a Christmas that only comes every four years. He loves this stuff, and frankly, I love that he loves it. He had trouble sleeping on Monday evening because he was so giddy for what would come the next day. As soon as the alarm went off on Tuesday morning, the boy jumped right out of bed and got ready with no complaints. 

We spent the evening at a party at his professor's house with all of his MPP buddies. I've never been to an election party before and I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed it. Darin taped up a big map so that we could follow the results. There was tons of yummy food and educational conversation that I tried to follow. A TV upstairs with lots of people gathered around it and a big screen in the basement where more people watched and waited to see who our next President would be. 

We might just have to make this a family tradition.