Monday, December 31

Happy New Year

This year has been a great one for our family. The big highlights seem pretty obvious:

We bought the perfect house and settled in to make it a home:


And welcomed the cutest baby ever into our family:


But thanks to this new little addition, we're exhausted and it's only 11:08 pm. Happy New Year!

Friday, December 28

Today Is The Day!

Today started out like an ordinary enough day. I was feeling well enough to do things like shovel the driveway and clean up the house. And then I went to my 39-week checkup at the doctor this afternoon thinking it'd be no big deal.

Last week, they did a routine ultrasound and said everything looked great but noticed the fluid levels around the baby were just a bit low. Nothing really worrisome; they just recommended drinking lots of water. Despite guzzling enough to fill a small lake, when they checked again today, the levels had dropped enough that the doctor decided the best choice would be to get the baby here - a.k.a. go to the hospital to be induced. It's time to have a baby!!

{This photo cracks me up because I look happy, but in reality, I'd been bawling all day. Apparently iPhones are so amazing that they can even get rid of puffy red eyes!!}

Monday, December 10

We Are Officially Homeowners!

We finally closed on our house today!

You might be thinking, "Umm... crazy lady, you already moved into the house! Don't people typically close before moving in?!"

Well... our situation wasn't typical. Yes, I posted about the fact that we've moved in and love the house. But there was one big detail I conveniently left out...

The fact that we didn't own the house yet.

I left that detail out mainly because just thinking about it made me very frustrated. {As with most things in life, M remained calm while I freaked out and stressed over it... maybe one day, I'll figure out how to be more like him!}

Our original offer was accepted October 26th and it had been agreed that the closing date would be November 19th, if not sooner. We started making the arrangements necessary to pack and move. Then, the week before closing, we found out there was a complication with the seller's paperwork. Which that complication then became more convoluted because of people being out of town during the Thanksgiving weekend meant deadlines were missed and the situation got more extreme. The seller had already moved out of the house so he agreed that we could move in since our lease was ending after Thanksgiving and because the complications were on his side of things.

Even though it seemed a little strange moving into a house that wasn't really ours yet, I am grateful that despite the delays, we were able to have that time to unpack and settle. With only a few weeks left in my pregnancy, it's so nice knowing that the house is ready for us to bring our baby home to anytime now.

And so finally, we DID close. As of today {drumroll please...} the house is officially ours!!

Friday, November 30

Checking Out Our Baby

Baby is 35 weeks {only 5 weeks left... eek!} and today was ultrasound day! I love getting to see him. According to the ultrasound tech, he's already 5 lbs. 8 oz. and we got to see his chubby little cheeks on the screen.  I love my fat baby!

{It's not the clearest picture, but it's the best we got. That's his face on the right and his arm...}

Even though the individual images the tech captured for us aren't amazing on their own, she spent a bit of time just letting us watch him moving. Watching that seemed a lot clearer and it was hilarious watching his mouth move and at one point he even stuck his tongue out.

In every ultrasound he's had, he always crosses his legs at the ankles. And he's never been sucking his thumb. I'm so excited to meet him and watch his movements once he's out of my tummy!

Tuesday, November 13

Baby Shower Fun

This weekend I had a baby shower for my family and friends in Utah that was graciously hosted by my cute cousin, Brittany, and M's sweet mum and sister, Kiera.

{This picture isn't actually from the shower but I failed to get any of her that day.}

{Aren't they adorable?!}

My awesome mom came from Idaho, driving through a snowstorm to be here! I also got to see our friend Stacy, who used to be my next door neighbor in Idaho but now lives here in Utah!

{Love them!!}

My cute BFF, Jess, also braved the snowstorm to come!

{This girl is the greatest! And she loves me even with my huge baby belly.}

Several other family and friends came too but I failed to get photos with everyone. They were all so so nice to adventure out in the snow to come and they brought such nice gifts. M stopped by after he finished work, so he got to help open a few gifts and pose like a baby product model with me...

{Don't let him tell you otherwise - he loved it.}

One final and awesome highlight of the day... we got the dinosaurs decorations I'm absolutely in love with!! So as soon as we move into the new house, we can begin decorating Baby's room. I'm so excited!

{Yes, that is pure happiness displayed on my chubby cheeks.}

Monday, November 5

Guy Fawkes Night

Just in case you didn't know {and Google suddenly stopped working}, Guy Fawkes is an English holiday. Kind of similar to an Independence Day, it is typically celebrated with fireworks as well as some other traditions such as lighting bonfires.

We celebrated the holiday with shepherd's pie for dinner and a spice cake called parkin that I found the recipe for online. These are supposedly some of the traditional foods associated with the holiday in England. 

But, luckily for my sweet tooth, one of the things M's family used to do to celebrate was to go out for donuts and hot cocoa. So, of course, we did that too! Yum!

Sunday, November 4

Adventurous Adventures

I'm too tired to think of a more clever title. But today I'm grateful for all the adventures M and I have shared since getting married two years ago.

Saturday, November 3

All About Babies

Yesterday, I made M take a couple of belly photos for me. Here I am at a whopping 31 weeks!


We are so excited for our little man to be here! And it's the final stretch - only 9 more weeks! I am so grateful that I have had an easy and healthy pregnancy so far. And even more grateful that my doctor says our little guy looks healthy.

The thing I'm most excited about with our new house is to get his room put together! It's unbelievable how much I love this little guy and yet I've never even met him! Apparently feeling him dig his feet into my rib cage repeatedly is a powerful bonding experience...

Feel free to skip this paragraph if you don't care to hear about pregnancy dramas, but I want to document a few things because I don't have the most reliable memory. My pregnancy has been so easy. I had mild queasiness during my first trimester but was never actually sick the way a lot of girls experience. Second trimester was great and I repeatedly said I actually enjoy being pregnant. Now in my third trimester, the only unpleasantness I've encountered is never-ending heartburn {probably my own fault because I want to eat Mexican food all the time...} and being really tired {I'd be so happy if I could take multiple naps each day!}. I've had several friends who's pregnancies seem miserable but I feel lucky because mine is honestly fun.

I love feeling Baby wiggle around. I had worried because it wasn't until about 23 weeks that I definitely felt him kicking in my belly {which had his dad worried since he's destined to be a soccer player and definitely needs to practice his kicks!} but ever since 23 weeks, he's let it show that he knows how to use his legs! One of my favorite things is when I'm sitting at work and glance down to see my whole stomach visibly shift with his movements. This past week, he discovered my rib cage and I've started feeling his little feet stretching out for more room. It's a strange feeling but adorable.

While I do love my baby belly, I feel like I weigh close to 800 pounds! It's amazing how awkward it is to bend over and pick something up off the ground! Or to get comfortable sitting on the couch or laying on my bed. Being pregnant is a fascinating experience.

Well, that's a lot of talk about babies. I love this kid and can't wait for the chance to meet him. As much as I'm excited to hold him in my arms, I think I'm more excited to see him meet his dad. I married the greatest guy and I love how excited he is to be a dad.

Wednesday, October 31

Happy Halloween

Well, we officially had zero trick-or-treaters again this year. Second time in our three Halloween's since being married. But I'm not too disappointed because that means the bowl full of M&Ms is left for me!

But despite the lack of small children visiting our door, we still had an awesome evening of carving pumpkins! Apparently we're both obsessed with babies because we both tried to make our pumpkins look like a baby. I needed to borrow some of Baby's clothes {he won't need them for 2 more months!} to help my pumpkin look like a baby and not just a crying pumpkin...






Sunday, October 7

Idaho Baby Shower

This weekend, I got to take a little trip up to Idaho where my cute mom and sister threw a baby shower for me {and Baby, of course!}. For a kid that isn’t even born yet, he got more presents than any birthday party I’ve ever been to! I am so fortunate to have amazing friends and family who offer such an outpouring of support and love for me and my little family.

The party looked a little something like this:


There were so many of the ladies that played a huge role in my life as I grew up. Many of them were my youth leaders in church and great friends in the neighborhood.


But I was also fortunate enough to have some of my friends from high school that still live in the area to come by. And three of them brought their own babies! I love babies!!

It would have been a fantastic party just getting to see and spend time with all of these great women! But then they topped it off by all bringing such generous and thoughtful gifts. We got so many cute outfits, a great beginning supply of diapers and wipes, and much more!





I am so grateful for the generosity and adorable gifts that we received. Our baby is gonna be one well-dressed little man!

A little side note: this trip to Idaho was the first time in my married life that I’ve left my husband overnight. We’ve been apart before when he’s had to leave on business trips but it was really odd for me because this time it was me that went somewhere else alone. It was really fun to spend time with my family but I definitely missed my husband! But he had the new FIFA 13 and his XBOX, so I’m not sure if he even noticed I was gone… Ha!

Saturday, September 29

The Best Five Years

This day, five years ago, is the day I met M. In some ways, it seems so crazy that it’s been that long already… but yet, at the same time, thinking back to my life before he came along seems foreign so it feels more like we’ve known each other forever! Whether the amount of time has been long or short doesn’t really matter though, because it really has been the best five years of my life!

So here’s to the beginning of something awesome, M + K, five years ago.


{This is actually our first picture ever taken together, one week after we met. Yes, my blonde hair was dyed dark.}

Sunday, September 23

Fantastic Baby Shower Gift

We went to Idaho this weekend to visit my family. While there, something happened that makes me happy... and makes a great story.

My dad grew up in a rural area with lots of brothers and guns, and they enjoyed hunting together. Twenty-some-odd years later, he had a small herd of kids and a collection of guns of his own. The days of actually hunting animals came to an end but he taught his to shoot. We love setting up targets made from anything we can find! Shooting is a family favorite for quality bonding time together.

Family has always been important to my parents. And as their kids started growing up and leaving home, my parents began looking forward to the days of grandkids. My dad jokingly began to tell me how I needed to have kids so he could be a grandpa. And I jokingly began to tell him I wanted things like a handgun. Well, these jokes turned into one big joke of how the day my dad gets a grandkid, he’ll give me my very own firearm.

Well this weekend, my dad brought out a sparkly gift bag. He told us that because boys don't go to baby showers, he wanted to give us the baby shower gift from Baby's to-be-grandpa in person.


I had honestly thought our jokes were nothing more than just that - jokes. But I got my very own handgun now that my dad is getting a grandbaby!

Sunday, September 2

My Husband Is The Best!

When we go visit my family in Idaho, we rent a car {because our 1998 Nissan Altima isn’t too fond of the drive and I happen to know a guy who can get us a pretty good deal on a rental}...

So this weekend, M picked up the rental car for us and we hit the road. About an hour into the drive, he asked me what I put in the trunk that kept thumping around. I told him I hadn’t put anything back there but that my stuff was all in the back seat. And we kept driving.

Finally when we stopped at a gas station, he said he was going to check what was back there. Sitting in the trunk was a gift wrapped box from Nordstroms and we realized whoever had the car before us must have forgotten the gift was back there!

M’s response: We’ll give it back for them to put in the lost and found, in case the people realize its missing and want it back.

My response: I wonder what it is!! Let’s open it!!

And, of course, my curiosity won. So I {and all my classiness!} opened someone else’s gift!

And then I realized my husband is a very good liar {No, this is not the first time I’ve made this realization either… maybe I should be worried…} because it was a new pair of shoes for me!!


They are red Toms just like the pair that I used to have and loved, but ruined when we were in Switzerland. A couple weeks ago, I had off-handedly mentioned that I’m gonna wish I had more Toms for this winter when my feet swell up and I want something comfortable to wear on my feet. It was a great surprise and made me so happy! I definitely married well. M is a total sweetheart!

Monday, August 20

Obsessed With Babies

This weekend was baby-filled! Friday afternoon started it off with the 20-week ultrasound of our little guy. I think he decided to show he can already be rebellious by burying his head and refusing to show his cute face! I was a little bit sad because I had been looking forward to getting more photos of my adorable boy. I can’t believe how much I already love him!


Then we had the chance to run to the hospital and spend the evening with our first nephew, Oliver!! Oh my goodness, he’s precious. As I was holding him, I had to remind myself several times that it would be bad to kidnap him and run away! His mom and dad probably wouldn’t appreciate that...


And then, the next day, when I was hanging out by myself just rubbing my ever-growing belly, I got a little teary eyed thinking about holding Oliver and how much I couldn’t wait to hold my own little guy! Ever since finding out Baby’s due date, I’ve been fine with the 9-month plan. But holding Oliver really squelched any patience I had and made me wish the next 4½ months can fly by so I can hold my son!

It’s still kinda crazy to think we’re gonna be parents and have a son. But then at the same time, it’s also crazy realizing how much I love him already!! Oh em gee, I am so obsessed with babies.

Monday, August 13

Happy Pearl Anniversary!

Today my parents celebrated 30 years of marriage! I am so grateful for the wonderful example they have set for their kids and for their friendship in my life.


Ahhh... I love them! Congratulations Mom and Dad!

Monday, July 23

Surprise Surprise!

Today was the gender revealing for our little baby!! I was so giddy all day long and could barely focus at work {sorry boss!} so I was definitely ready by the time the 4:00 pm appointment finally rolled around.

I had flip-flopped between thinking it was a girl, but then thinking maybe a boy, or maybe a girl… back and forth. M was pretty consistent in thinking that it was a girl. But for both of us, it was totally a guess and not based on any specific reasoning.

We’d asked friends and family what they guessed as well and got a majority of people thinking it was a girl. So needless to say, we were feeling we’d have thoughts of pink and frills after the ultrasound…

Well we were in for a surprise… our baby is a BOY!!! And he’s already looking pretty adorable!

This is our little guy from the side. I love his cute little nose!!


And he was waving his arm. We were convinced he was saying hi to his mommy and daddy!


I love this picture – he has the cutest little leg!!! Which is important, since he’s gonna end up being a soccer player {because let’s be honest… with a dad like his, he doesn’t stand a chance to NOT love soccer!}!!


We think he is adorable and we are SO excited!! I already love him so much!! And I am so glad to know for sure that he’s a boy because now I can start buying blue stuff!! Pinterest, here we come!

Monday, July 16

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy birthday to an amazing dad and the best soon-to-be grandpa in the world!! I think you are marvelous and I hope your day is too!


Wednesday, June 27

Only 27 More To Go...

I had never stopped and thought about doing the math on 40 weeks {which is how long it takes to make a baby in your belly} until recently… and realized that 40 divided by 4 weeks in a month equals 10 months!! I don’t know where this “you’re pregnant for 9 months” rubbish came from!

Well, today is the first day of Week 13… which means there’s 27 more weeks. But when I realized that I’m pretty much 1/3 of the way through this pregnancy, I have to admit it’s gone so crazy fast!!

{Note: Dear friends who don’t care to read updates about the baby in my belly… it’s so exciting to me and this is my blog… you might just have to get used to it or stop reading my blog!}

Backtracking a bit {because I want to document things before memory becomes too scatterbrained}, I wanna talk about it from the beginning.

So here’s the story. I actually realized I was pregnant during the first weeks. It’s funny to say, but what tipped me off was the fact that my abs started feeling crazy sore for several days even though I hadn’t worked out at all. Then a few days after that, there were some of the other common factors you hear about such as my bra suddenly fitting much more snug and my sense of smell was suddenly waaaay sensitive!

After a couple weeks of this, we decided it was time to take “The Test.” M waited anxiously in the living room for me to come declare the results. There is a line that is supposed to appear if it’s positive, but when the line appeared for my test, it was really faint. So we were super excited but still a little nervous to be getting our hopes up just in case the faint line was a cruel trick. Luckily, I had a doctor appointment that I had scheduled months in advance only two days later. While I was there, I had them do a pregnancy test. And as we were hoping, it came back positive! The doctor calculated and figured I was right at the beginning of Week 5.

And then a few days later, we were hopping on a plane to travel Europe. But as our travelling began, so did my morning sickness. By the beginning of Week 6, I was feeling sick on and off all day long. From what I hear from other girls, I have been really lucky because Baby has been timid to just leave it as queasiness. I’ve been able to still travel, work, and do all the things I needed to… just with an upset stomach.

While we were on our trip, I had symptoms that made me worry a little bit about things were going. I had my first prenatal checkup the week after we got back, which was Week 8. The doctor did an ultrasound just to make sure everything was okay, and getting to see our baby for the first time made my heart melt! I looked over at M as the image was up on the screen, and he had the biggest grin on his face. We love our Baby!

{During the ultrasound, they said Baby was the size of a cinnamon bear. So cute!}

I haven’t had any cravings but I have had one really strange food aversion – chocolate sounds disgusting! I’ve been a chocoholic for as long as I can remember, and yet for the past couple of months, the thought of a chocolate bar makes my stomach turn.

Now, I’m at Week 13. There are two awesome things that are happening right now. The first is a drastic lack of queasiness! It’s so nice eating and not feeling nauseated 20 minutes later! Secondly, I’m starting to feel flutterings in my stomach! I’ve heard people try to explain what it feels like before and now I understand. There’s no way to really describe it! It’s just like a little tickling feeling in my tummy that I have no control over. It’s adorable!

Tuesday, June 26

When Parents Become Grandparents

To announce Baby to our families, we made picture frames for our parents {yep, M helped paint!} and put our Toms shoes photo inside of the frame. I think they turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself…


Then we wrapped up these cute little things as gifts for the to-be-grandmas and to-be-grandpas!


Because we’d found out about Baby before leaving for Europe, I told my parents that their Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts were going to be awesome souvenirs from England {oops, I lied!} and it worked because they weren’t suspicious at all!

Push play and you can watch the moment my parents learned they are going to be grandparents. Note: watch my dad’s face – it’s priceless.



{We told M’s family while we were in New York last week, but we were unprepared with cameras so unfortunately we didn’t get any photos or video. But they were adorably excited as well!}

Monday, June 25

We're Having A Baby!!

We’ve finally told all the people we were supposed to announce big news to first {yeah, those important people like family}, so now we can finally tell the rest of the world!

WE’RE HAVING A BABY!!

And we are so so excited about it!


We actually found out about Baby before we even left to Europe! I’m twelve weeks along right now, which means that Baby should be coming at the beginning of January. Possibly a New Years baby!

We’re hoping that it’s a patient child and won’t try to come early, because then it’ll have to share it’s birthday with Christmas. I was born on a holiday and I know firsthand that sharing your birthday with a holiday is not very much fun as a kid!

So far, Baby has been really nice to me and my morning sickness has been pretty mild. I feel great and am so excited to meet the little guy or girl in about six more months!

This will be the first baby on my side of the family! My parents are so excited!! It will be the first great-grandkid for my paternal grandparents too. And this is the second baby in M’s family, but the other baby will only be 5 months older than our baby. So I’m super excited because they will be cousins that can be friends!

Yay for babies!!

Wednesday, June 20

Wedding Season!

Yep, it’s that whole “mawwage is what bwings us togethew today!” kinda post. But it’s true. This summer will be a time of getting together with some of my favorite people because of a few weddings that make me really happy.

This past weekend, M and I were in New York for Auntie Tracey’s wedding. It was so fun to see her and Mark’s new house on Staten Island and to spend time in NYC {I love “the pulse of the city” … that one was for you, Tracey!} at places like Max Brenner. Yum! If you don’t know what MB is, stop reading this and Google it right now!


New York is so fun to explore with this great guy!

Tuesday, June 12

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Yesterday we celebrated our wedding anniversary. Has it been two years already?! Although the time has flown by, it’s have been an excellent two years and I’m so grateful I married my best friend.


 M spoiled me a little bit when he came home from work with roses, gifts, and took me out for my favorite dinner. He is the best husband ever!

Thursday, June 7

Final Stop: Italy

We only had a few days left for our trip, so we crammed a lot in to be able to see everything we wanted to in Italy. I would love to go back and spend more time there because I really loved Italy!

Our first stop was Milan. We got there in the evening but only planned on staying the night there. We hadn’t booked a hotel in advance and had to try several before we could find one with a vacancy! After a bit of walking, we found one and luckily it turned out to be a nice one!

The next morning, we left for Venice. We were only able to stay there for a few hours but it was fun to see a city with all of its transportation being on canals!




By afternoon, it was time to take off for Florence. I loved the streets and the Italian feel.



There were also several churches that we went to see. They had such amazing architecture!

This one was M’s favorite because it looks fake in background.


We also saw lots and lots of art.

M strategically placed his head to block certain parts of the David statue…


I am pretty clueless when it comes to art, so the magnificence of Florence was kind of wasted on me. Rather than seeing the beauty in it, I just felt like there were way too many naked people {for some reason, that’s considered art... gross.} everywhere!

But Florence had plenty of other things that made it amazing. Like this bridge…


And the food was amazing. Oh I love Italian food!!

Then came the time to leave for Rome. Of the time we had allotted for Italy, we decided to spend the majority of it in Rome, and I’m so glad we did! I loved Rome!

We took a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Our main reason for signing up for the tour was so that we could skip the lines, but it turned out we had excellent guides that really made everything come to life.





Our tour was so good that we signed up for their tour of the Vatican as well! The guide we had actually works with National Geographic and knows so many fascinating facts.

The tour he gave for the Vatican was focused on Michelangelo, because the tour would be ending in the Sistine Chapel. He talked about details that blew my mind—such as the fact that Michelangelo had never painted before creating that masterpiece. Our guide pointed out obvious flaws in his work and explained how Michelangelo was an amazing creative genius, even though his actual masterpieces were lacking in true talent. {If that doesn’t make sense, come talk to me one day and I’ll show you examples. It’s truly fascinating!}